[NEXUS] MaGLoG II: Alcoholic Boogaloo

[Reinholdt]

Ilpholin takes the tennis orb.

"And I just speak through it to talk to you, yes?"

[Earl of Purple]

"No, you think through it. Talking might help, if you haven't done it before, but isn't really necessary." That might seem confusing, but is easier than it sounds. It's possible to practice, but there's no way of knowing if you're practising properly without something affected by your thoughts.

[Reinholdt]

"I see. Well I'll put it to good use when the time comes. Thank you." Ilpholin says, giving him a bow.

[Slii Arhem]

The Front Doors

A swift knock at the doors of the casino heralds them flying open as a woman with beautiful golden hair pulled up into a ponytail and emerald eyes glimmering cruelly as she scans the entrance once with a hand on her rounded hip.

The woman in question is wearing a two piece white outfit that consists of a brief white belly top that barely covers her chest and a longer skirt that is made out of one piece of fabric, hanging down to below he right knee and tied above her left hip in a decorative knot, leaving that entire leg bare.

"Who do I need to talk to to get a party started around here?"

[Lord Magtok]

The Front Doors

A pair of filthy, disgusting, homeless bums look amongst each other, as if waiting for one amongst themselves to volunteer for such a thing. One staggers away from the campfire they were holding on top of a roulette table, as if to address the strangely beautiful invader, only to step right into a telewarp portal, and fall into some unknown abyss with an ear-rattling scream. His compatriots rise up to flee in every direction, only to fall into floor-portals of their own, lost forever in that dark void as the portals close themselves behind the hobos.

"That'd be me, ma'am. Excuse the decor, it's been a while since anyone of note has taken an interest in this place."

A Magbot strides in with a fire extinguisher, immediately dousing the roulette table vagrant barbecue. Some others show up, too. Mostly armed with mops, brooms, and so on, to clean up after the less than glamorous visitors to the casino. Despite the voice, Magtok's still nowhere to be seen. Stupid coward and his intercom system.

"So while maintenance is doing its thing, let's get down to business. If my calendar's right, this is preparations for a...Guy Fawkes Day thing?"

[Slii Arhem]

The Front Doors

"Oh, don't apologize for the grime, the discordant feel to this place is just what I'm looking for. I think you've skipped over one date in that calender of yours darling. We're doing something with Halloween this year, and so I needed a place as spooky and grungy as possible, and this old relic fit the bill. You don't mind do you? It might give you a decent reason to get it up to livable conditions after we've cleared out." The woman saunters up to the nearest Magbot and tries to gently knock it over with her index finger while snatching at its broom to prevent it from cleaning anything.

[Lord Magtok]

The Front Doors

"Right, Halloween. Better tell the MagMart folk to start preparing for Thanksmas, then. Can never start the holiday shopping season too soon."

The Magbots cease their cleaning.

"Can I at least have them clean the bathrooms a little, though? It's a nightmare in there. And not the good kind. After that, you can do whatever you need with the place."

[Slii Arhem]

The Front Doors

The woman puts a finger to the side of her chin, tapping as she considers the request, "Have them leave the cobwebs and any spiders large enough to carry off a small child, but you can have them clean anything that's infectious or will drive them away based on smell. Just don't let them work too hard on the grime, I'll need it for atmosphere. Thanks again darling, I hope you'll show up in person once I've got everything ready. Ciao!" The mysterious woman waves at the nearest visible security camera and then hefts the broom over her shoulder jauntily as she wanders through the casino, considering what she has to change to complete the haunted mystique of the place.

[Lord Magtok]

Doors

"I'll consider it. No promises, though."

The Magbots get to work!

[Reinholdt]

Pre-party

Ilpholin arrives here, walking in. She looks around.
"Man you let this place go Magtok."

"You'd better still have employees. Or former employees addresses..." She mutters mostly to herself. She's not even here to see Magtok really.

[Shadowcaller]

Pre-party

Ilpholin don't actually have to look long as just outside the casino she's jumped by a bum! Dressed in grey rags with torn brown hair this wretch dares to approach the leader of AMEN.

"Change? You got chan-oh hey! It's you!" The bums voice cries out, revealing itself to be female. "You asked something from me!" The bum exclaims.

[Reinholdt]

Pre-party

Ilpholin is a very approachable leader. Her outfit and stance suggests approaching.

Though admittedly, generally not by bums begging for change.
"I... did? Lolth, I hope not." Ilpholin peers at the bum. "Are you Libra? Did Magtok turn this place into a bum factory?" And order all his employees to dress like bums? That'd be just like him too...

[Shadowcaller]

Pre-party

"I'm Libra!" She exclaims, indeeding sounding like the part. "I dunno about that though, I lost my job when I died, but now I'm back, hah! So! Are you like here to ask something more of me maybe?" She asks hopefully, sounding rather desperate.

[Reinholdt]

Pre-party

"You don't... look very dead." Ilpholin didn't even know she had died! She might be a little upset to hear Watch worked on killing Libra without Ilph though. Ilpholin totally wanted to fight Libra way back after that Cessie vs. Ilpholin arena deathmatch blowout argument.

"But, yes, actually. I am here to ask something from you."


...
You gotta actually ask it Ilpholin.
I think she might be waiting to see how desperate Libra is to have it happen. See how much leverage she has in all this.

[Shadowcaller]

Pre-party

"Oooh! And what's that? I might ask something of you too, you know, in return!" Libra replies with an hopeful tone.

[Reinholdt]

Pre-party

"Hmm... we'll see."

She steps closer and lowers her voice. Don't need errant ears listening in. "Look, I've kinda run into... problems with my... me. I need to look like my old self normally most of the time, but when fighting and stuff happens, I need to be able to switch to demon queen again."

Think Jamie/Mikani, but with magical demon princess queen form instead.

[Slii Arhem]

Halloween Night

((Since I'm to understand that the Pre-Party stuff has nothing to do with this, I'm going ahead with the first post for the party.

Out over the slums surrounding the casino, the sound of a deep, ominous bell tolling can be heard. Once, twice. thrice. The sound is hollow and ethereal, raising in pitch with each ringing strike and howling with the winds that sweep trash and dead leaves into little dunes and dust devils along the forlorn streets. Before the last vibration of the bell can fade from the ears and minds of those listening, a voice begins speaking, drowning it out with a rasping baritone that is filtered through the casino's outdoor PA.

"Welcome mortals, welcome... and beware. For if you can hear my message this night, know that you can crossed into a realm where the veil between the quick and the late grows thinner with every breath, and the face you see in the coffins we bury may be your own." Again, the bell rings out, louder and higher once more. Once, twice, thrice. By the sixth stroke it has ceased sounding like anything of this world, rolling together in an unworldly wail that rattles loose pebbles and can be felt in the lungs of those near as a distressing pressure.

"But take heart, while your courage still beats in your chest. If you would seek the mysteries of flesh cold and dead, spirit filled with naught but anger and woe, and bone that rattles and rises to unheard beats, there are answers waiting beyond our doors. Guise yourself as a monster, a love, or a friend, and pray that the true monsters prowling the night do not see past your ruse." Once, twice, thrice. The bells can no longer be heard by human ears, but they can be felt in the bones of everyone still in the area. Dogs and cats fill the silence with screeching, painful howls as the pervasive ringing assails their ears.

"And if the specters of the night don't dissuade you, seek your answers at the casino. Be prepared to gamble more than mortal coin is worth for the solace you seek, for the temptations of the beyond hang thick in the air like an accrid smoke. We are waiting..." Three more tolls, in a pitch beyond all mortal hearing that calls instead to the soul, jarring and disrupting to spread a lingering unease that crawls through their skin and scuttles into the dark corners of their minds. The last comes precisely as the hour strikes midnight, leaving silence in its wake as even the animals cease their protests.

Then the doors to the Gambling League of Gambling creak apart, shadowy, limbless forms fluttering away into the night, fleeing from the flickering candlelight that illuminates the interior with a thick, spicy scent. The shades herald a rolling fog that clings to the ground and spreads like a pool of mercury, separating and forming pools in low places. Each pool of the ankle-deep, unnaturally thick mist will drench to the bone anything moving through it as if it were cold, brackish water.

The interior, for those brave enough to glimpse it, is no less morbid. Thick, unidentifiable stains flicker in and out of sight as the barely functional overhead lights come on at random intervals, The banks of slot machines are dim and grimy, but at least half of them seem to be functioning by some miracle. In the lobby, tables have been laid out for the arriving guests, manned by gruesome beasts from every corner of a child's nightmares. A spectral bouncer stands at the door, who's only job is to check entrants for costumes and refuse admittance to those who've come without. Traditional casino games of poker and blackjack have been interspersed with massive tubs of thick red liquid, signs proclaiming them to be "bobbing for heads" competitions. One whole wall has been reserved for a massive refreshment table, covered in candies, pastries, and sugary drinks without a single healthy morsel in sight.

From the shadows, the mistress of this event observes her handiwork and waits for the first guest to arrive.

[Shadowcaller]

Pre-party

Libra scratches her dirty hair. "So uh, you want to look like you did before? But be able to turn back the way you look now?" She asks, probably a lot louder then Ilpholin would have wished for.

[Reinholdt]

Pre-party

Ilpholin waves her hands a little trying to get more quiet.
"Yes. Shapeshifting. Should be easy right?"

Oh Ilpholin. You can't have your cake and eat it too. Either go for your love or go for your lust for power and stick to it. Toeing this line can only end in disaster and tears.

[Shadowcaller]

Pre-party

The former oni actually seem to think for a moment. "Yes... but will you do something for me then? Huh?" Libra asks with a raised eyebrow.

[Reinholdt]

Pre-party

Libra and thinking don't go together! Don't try to fool anyone!

"What did you have in mind?"

[FireFox]

Halloween Night

It looks like the first guest is a handsome, red-headed druid. His costume mostly consists of a wooden staff carved to look like a rifle, magically colored pink eyes, and blue, fake cat ears and tail. ... Never mind that Reinholdt's human form doesn't have those last parts.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Halloween Night]

A youung woman, not, as the one she emulates, a maiden, though still barely adult* - perhaps, at the oldest, twenty-three, though likely younger - her pale skin covered by thorn vines, just enough to clothe her, though she might as well have had nothing on for all the protection they gave from the elements, waits on the corner, just up the street from the building the party is being held in, looking around idly in the hopes of spotting Ivaz.

Spoiler

Show

*To clarify, Talia is somewhere around nineteen or twenty, though even she doesn't know exactly.

[KerfuffleMach2]

[Halloween Night - Outside]

Talia doesn't have to wait too long. Her companion for the evening walks towards her, a large grin on her face. Ivaz lets out a whistle when she gets closer.

Damn, girl. I'm finding myself strangely attracted to plants now.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Halloween Night - Outside]

Talia grins back, and waves to Ivaz, the thorns apparently digging deeper as she does; judging by the blood welling up around them, they're entirely real, and truly are biting into her flesh.

"Does that mean I get to call you Ivy now?", she teases, chuckling, though it should be quite clear that she doesn't really mean that. "And thanks. I thought you might like this... You look pretty good yourself."

[KerfuffleMach2]

[Halloween Night - Outside]

Ivaz chuckles at the nickname.

Yeah, gonna have to say no to that. She raises an eyebrow as the thorns bite into Talia. Actual thorns, huh? Kinky.

She claps her hands together.

Well, let's say we go make an entrance, huh?

Unless stopped, Ivaz will walk to the doors, kick them open, and pose in the doorway, so whoever's inside can get a good look at her.

Those who have seen Ivaz before will notice a significant difference in her appearance. For one thing, her bleached hair has been dyed black, and her bangs have been styled to fall over her right eye. On her face, she wears a yellow tinted visor that is a single lens stretching from earpiece to earpiece. On her body is a bright pink unitard. The sleeves are cut off halfway down her bicep, while the legs of it are gone completely. In fact, the suit has been cut in a way that the bottom of it resembles a small bikini, with the sides of it left open all the way up to the sleeves. There is a bomb shaped cutout on the front and back. The front one exposes her cleavage, while the back one sits right between her shoulder blades. From just below the knee down, her legs and feet are encased in steel boots, with yellow circles sitting where her ankles would be. From mid-thigh to the top of the boot, her legs are covered in the same material as the suit. From her elbows to her wrists she wears a metal glove of sorts that encases her arm, but leaves her hand free. The edge of this near her hand has a yellow stripe with three red circles protruding up.

[Shadowcaller]

Pre-party

Libra smiles mysteriously, "Glad you asked." She says, her voice actually an octave lower. "See, to get back all my powers, I'm gonna need help from another puppet. Oni. Whatever. See, you know that world you were at at that wedding? Oh yeah, I totally watched you. It was pretty hilarious. In any case, when I 'died' the others made a new puppet to communicate with terrestrials and that puppet could give me my full powers back! I doubt I can convince it of it though but I'm sure you can! All you need to do is go back into that world and call for it's attention. They always watch for stuff that passes through the barrier so it shouldn't be so hard. It will probably come to you."

[Reinholdt]

Pre-party

Oh good. If it was some time consuming thing, Ilpholin'd have to turn it down.

"So... that's it? Go to Cessie's world, call for it, and ask nicely?" Ilpholin doesn't have a clue why another oni-puppet thing would help Libra, but she'll figure something out.

"You going to make a portal for me?" No way is she going through Cessie on this one.

[The Bushranger]

[Halloween Night]

The next to enter the party are a pair of young women. One, at least, happens to be wearing her normally blonde hair in a brunette shade and in twin pigtails, a blue-checked apron-like dress over a modest white top, basket on one arm and a set of ruby slippers on her feet.

"C'mon, we're here!" Dorothy GaleCrissy tells Dorota.

[Morty]

[Halloween Night]

The other woman is wearing a rather bulky black dress, an enormous pointy black hat and is carrying a broom. It appears her hair has been hidden under the hat.
"So we are," Dorota says uncertainly. She's not sure if coming here was a good idea. Unfortunately for her, she just can't say "no" to Crissy. "Looks like it's some party."

Another person to arrive at the party is Sophie. She's wearing a black dress that is much more fashionable than Dorota's. It shows off her arms and a good part of her legs and has an impressive, wide collar. She's also wearing a pair of fake fangs.