[Nexus] Trog's Tavern CCXLI

[Lady Serpentine]

Indeed. Much more major a heart dump than Lass would have gotten from Lellienth if it weren't for the fact that the drowess has been out in various places for most of the night, and her current drink, surprisingly, isn't the strongest thing she's had. She loses her sense of when to shut up about things when she's like this, besides getting depressed.

"You're probably right... And if not, I guess I'll either get shot by the entirety of HALO or go back to wandering," the bard replies, sounding like she's not entirely sure which of those would be the better option. "The real issue I can see is that her perception of what I am now might change when she learns this, but... She will want to know, like you said, and she does care for me, so I'll tell her next time I see her."

[Hattish Thing]

Kestrel laughs a little herself, deciding she rather likes Jacob. Until... wait, no, she wasn't meant to laugh. Dammit all, five hundred years and the mask was still difficult to wear. Of course, her siblings were the least amusing creatures ever, so it was easier around them.

She takes Jacob's offered hand delicately, careful not to scratch him with what appear to be very long and wickedly sharp draconic claws. Kestrel. Of her tolerance... well, it becomes somewhat clear that she isn't a heavy drinker, as the words have already started taking on a mildly slurred tone.

Nexus? What? How'd I teleport myself unknowingly off my planet? Ooh her master would not be pleased with that at all. I've heard of this place. It's already sucked in too many of my siblings. I'd hoped to avoid it, but... she shrugs.

Pyrus notices the commotion caused by the beautiful, if apparently deadly creature. He stares for a minute behind his round glasses before he opens his mouth to say something, but decides not to. Apparently he doesn't particularly like talking to new people. He goes back to deciphering the copy of an ancient tablet. Pyrus decodes the hieroglyphic runes with a runic dictionary he probably made himself, and a calculator...how odd. The man with the premature white hair and brown eyes turns back to Kestrel. Er....you were teleported here? He adjusts his glasses. Which seem to be a habit of his.

[Rebonack]

"We just called it Heaven."
She stops to ponder something for a moment before continuing.
"The demons of our world are fallen angels, the servants of God. He cast them out after they tried to take over. Obviously they want back in. Hence the soul trading. He gave me his power in return. He's powerless now, sort of human."She frowns.
"I don't think you should see yourself like that. They turned you into something against your will, but you're still Frederick. I don't think your Emperor will punish you for something you have no fault in."

At that reply Freddy balks! Folds his ears back in shocked and everything! "Heaven? You mean... you mean like the sky?"

What's so wrong with the sky?

"That's Azazel's domain. A horrible cold, bleak, dark place. Though... I, heh," ears start perking up a little again. "I guess it's probably different in your world, isn't it? Angels... I haven't ever heard that word before... Maybe they're like Archons?"

Probably not like Archons. Archons are more or less akin to Saints.

As she continues Freddy begins slouching again, looking increasingly uncomfortable. "No it... it doesn't work like that. Discord can't exist in the Golden City. The best I can hope for is being set to work in the Emperor's Refinery when I die... And if I displease the Emperor I might be consumed by Discord instead..."

[Maxios]

((Yep.))

"I see... Well, we don't have to have good reasons for working, so we'll do it, I suppose, if the money's good. How much will you pay us?"

"Ma'am," Jack says, "I was sent to this...Nexus with only the clothes on my back, two packages, and a travel guide that is severely out of date. Perhaps...you could do it for free? The knowledge you would gain about the Nexus would surely cost more they any currency. And you know what they say, about knowing being half the battle."

[Eadin]

"Hm, more like the sun. Guess everything's a bit different." She says.
"Angels are creatures God created to help him take care of the humans. They have a lot of forms, but most look fairly humanoid."

Oh no, slouching! Cathy bites her lip, petting his back.
"Isn't there any way to cure you? There must be a way to turn around whatever they did to you..."
She's starting to feel really bad for him.

[Zefir]

((The woman is Lellienth; she met Mr. C. in the Time-Tower plot. He might be able to recognize her harp, the sword, her clothes, or all three.))

Meanwhile, further ahead in the timeline, the cloaked woman shrugs at Mr. C.'s words.

"Works for me. Pick whichever side you like. And I know your name because we've met, though I was, to be fair, not quite as concealed when we did. Remember that weird place with all the clocks? I was the one whose shoulder you were riding around on."

((Didn't read the name so I wasn't sure who she is.^^))

"Oh yeah right. The last trapp was horrible. Got some time running and slowing. Lellienth was it, right?"

Mr. C jumps down from Fredderik who still didn't seem to notice him.

"White beginns, black winns. I take black."

[Rebonack]

The Huldra's back is made of mossy oak bark! Oddly enough if he's patted there he feels completely hollow, like knocking on a rotted out log. Anywhere else and he feels like a creature of flesh and blood. Oddly warm, too.

"That's so strange. There isn't anything like that at all back home. The Archons all used to be human before they ascended," Freddy replies, trying his best to seem a bit more up-beat since his gloomy mood is starting to be a bit of a bummer. He still has his soul! He can be thankful for that at least. Most people who get warped into Huldra totally lose themselves to the hunger of Discord. He's... fortunate. All things considered.

Freddy flashes a foxy grin. "Hey, don't worry about me. Maybe the Emperor has something special planned for me? Maybe I'll live long enough to collect another seven tails and then..."

His eye go wide as he gasps!

"Of course! That's it! Instead of a tenth tail it's said that a Huldra becomes human again! I'll have to eat a ton of ghosts to pull it off, but..." that foxy grin grows a little wider. "If I devour enough other Demons I can earn my tails and win my humanity back again! I just need to survive long enough to pull it off!"

[Eadin]

Strange things, those Huldra's. Cathy will move the petting to his head. Feels less awkward.

The grin looks weird on a fox. But at least he's perking up.

"Ten tails, how does that work?" She doesn't know a lot about Huldra's.
She looks a bit uncomfortable when he says 'demons', then she remembers it doesn't mean the same as in her world.
"Right, looks like you got a plan!" She smiles at him, glad there's some sort of solution.

[Devixer]

After about a half-hour of waiting, Ashley sighs and heads to the bar to order some wine. If she was going to be here for a while, she might as well ge tsome alcohol.

[Rebonack]

Of course they're weird!

All Discordant creatures are weird! And some are weirder than others.

Freddy quickly decides that getting pet feels really nice. Without really thinking about it he tilts his head to one side so Cathy will be rubbing behind his ears. Mmm... ear scritchings...

"Well... Huldra eat souls, right? They might be lost souls like ghosts, or tainted souls from another Huldra if I can kill it, or even souls from other Discordants like Revenants or Weredeor."

Oooh! Did you hear that Cathy? The Nexus was just kind enough to translate 'Demon' into a more fitting word from your language! Isn't the Nexus nice?

"Or... uuhh... souls stolen from people..." Freddys adds uncomfortably. "But I'm going to try not to do that. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to resist. Especially since there are so many ghosts in the Nexus for me to hunt."

He's a ghostbuster!

"Every one hundred souls a Huldra eats they get another tail," the demon-fox waves his two tails as a visual aid. "I've only got two right now. But I can earn more!"

He'll then spin around on his bar-stool and boop Cathy with his nose. "What about you? We need to make a plan to get your soul back too!"

[Eadin]

Cathy smiles a little as she scratches his ears.

She nods as she listens to his explanation.
"That many souls? Sounds like an awful lot of work."
And a very long time."800 souls... 's a lot of killing.." And he doesn't look much lik a murder machine now, while he's enjoying his pets. "So why do you have two tails already?"

And then there's nose booping. Cathy will hold on to her chair as to not fall off. "Well... I have no idea how..Maybe by trading or something."She frowns.
"I honestly have no idea. Most people are too busy enjoying what they traded it for to want it back."

[Lady Serpentine]

"Ma'am," Jack says, "I was sent to this...Nexus with only the clothes on my back, two packages, and a travel guide that is severely out of date. Perhaps...you could do it for free? The knowledge you would gain about the Nexus would surely cost more they any currency. And you know what they say, about knowing being half the battle."

"We can get knowledge anywhere," Wolf points out, probably frowning, though it's hidden by the helmet. "So no, no deal. Get us money, goods, or information on the rest of our team, and we're hired, but 'free' isn't an option."

((Didn't read the name so I wasn't sure who she is.^^))

"Oh yeah right. The last trapp was horrible. Got some time running and slowing. Lellienth was it, right?"

Mr. C jumps down from Fredderik who still didn't seem to notice him.

"White beginns, black winns. I take black."

In that case, one of his knights is a Huldra, specifically Fredrick, while the other is Ermine. His king and queen are Spreagadh and Elanna, and one of his bishops is Sticks and the other Kestrel. His rooks are Cathy and Wolf, with seven of his pawns being Fear, Sorrow, Torment, War, Carrion, Weary and Despair (all of whom, save Despair, are scattered throughout Trog's); the last pawn slot is filled by Nina, the Tiefling server here.

Lellienth's pieces have Angela and Lightning Lass as king and queen, and the Baobhan Sith and Bean Sidhe as pawns, along with Paige and Ashna. One of her rooks is Apprentice-Pilot, and the other a ghost (an NPC sitting in a secluded corner as far away from Fredrick as possible), while her bishops are Phoebe and Ambrosia. Her knights are a pair of werewolves, one male, one female, the analogues of which are sitting near them at the bar.

"Yep, that's my name," she replies, moving the female werewolf (who started on black) three squares forward and one left, as she sees the board (or three forward and one right from Mr. C.'s perspective).

[Rebonack]

"Yeah, it's a ton! It'll take a long time to collect that many ghosts," Freddy agrees. "But if I can beat a few strong Huldra I'll be able to get my tails really fast. I know Templar Gregoire was hunting a Four-Tails before he... well... died..."

Got murdered by a murderin' giant.

"I'm only a Two-Tails. I doubt I would stand a chance by myself. But if I can get some help I'm sure I would be able to beat it! And since it lost its soul to Discord it probably doesn't have any problems with seducing and devouring people."

The Huldra narrows his eyes slightly. "And if the Emperor has given me the power to stop other Discordants then that's what I'm going to do. I know all to well what it feels like to be gnawed at from the inside by Discord. And with the Emperor as my witness I'll do my best to make sure I save as many people from my fate as I can!"

Yay, heroism!

And then questions!

"Uuh..." Freddy glances back at his tails. "A Huldra can be born because of the sins of his or her parents or by being sired by another Huldra. When a person is directly twisted by Discord rather than turned they act like a beacon of power. So I was like a ghost-magnet when I was being transformed."

He doesn't go into any further detail on the whole 'sins of the parents' thing. It's probably really painful to the demon-fox.

"But enough about me!" he concludes with that foxy grin! "We need to make plans for you. Maybe you can trade your soul back to that fallen angel? Then you'll be able to go to that Heaven place when you die."

[celtois]

Indeed. Much more major a heart dump than Lass would have gotten from Lellienth if it weren't for the fact that the drowess has been out in various places for most of the night, and her current drink, surprisingly, isn't the strongest thing she's had. She loses her sense of when to shut up about things when she's like this, besides getting depressed.

"You're probably right... And if not, I guess I'll either get shot by the entirety of HALO or go back to wandering," the bard replies, sounding like she's not entirely sure which of those would be the better option. "The real issue I can see is that her perception of what I am now might change when she learns this, but... She will want to know, like you said, and she does care for me, so I'll tell her next time I see her."

Silly Lelli, drinking is bad for your health.
(Also whew. Essay draft mostly done now. 2684 words. So I'm a bit on tired of writing side. Probably won't stay online too long this time.)

Well then Lass. I think you just gave some advice. Good one. ....Lets hope you're right. Social heroing is what that is.

Lightning Lass is now definitely starting to get more on the tipsy side, as she polishes off her third drink of the night. "From what I know of HALO, they aren't exactly likely to shoot you for your past." (Sleep with you maybe, but not shoot you. ) Wandering is tough, particularly when you feel like you're being driven to it by guilt. Lightning Lass can definitely understand the almost wishing for ones death over that. "So long as you don't drop everything at once. Things tend to be taken better if you don't have to deal with it all at once." Thankfully she still seems to be thinking sober for now.

Lass...are you ordering another drink? ...you probably should do that. Lass! ...Oh whatever, you can drink if you want to.

[Maxios]

"We can get knowledge anywhere," Wolf points out, probably frowning, though it's hidden by the helmet. "So no, no deal. Get us money, goods, or information on the rest of our team, and we're hired, but 'free' isn't an option."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Jack says. He begins walking way. "If I find out anything about the rest of your team during my travels, I shall let you know."

[Eadin]

"Yeah, it's a ton! It'll take a long time to collect that many ghosts," Freddy agrees. "But if I can beat a few strong Huldra I'll be able to get my tails really fast. I know Templar Gregoire was hunting a Four-Tails before he... well... died..."

Got murdered by a murderin' giant.

"I'm only a Two-Tails. I doubt I would stand a chance by myself. But if I can get some help I'm sure I would be able to beat it! And since it lost its soul to Discord it probably doesn't have any problems with seducing and devouring people."

The Huldra narrows his eyes slightly. "And if the Emperor has given me the power to stop other Discordants then that's what I'm going to do. I know all to well what it feels like to be gnawed at from the inside by Discord. And with the Emperor as my witness I'll do my best to make sure I save as many people from my fate as I can!"

Yay, heroism!

And then questions!

"Uuh..." Freddy glances back at his tails. "A Huldra can be born because of the sins of his or her parents or by being sired by another Huldra. When a person is directly twisted by Discord rather than turned they act like a beacon of power. So I was like a ghost-magnet when I was being transformed."

He doesn't go into any further detail on the whole 'sins of the parents' thing. It's probably really painful to the demon-fox.

"But enough about me!" he concludes with that foxy grin! "We need to make plans for you. Maybe you can trade your soul back to that fallen angel? Then you'll be able to go to that Heaven place when you die."

"So do you know what he gathered about that Four-Tails? Any leads or anything?"She asks, thinking on how to best handle this. Hunting demons is no simple thing.
She grins, the whole hero thing is sort of cute. Just a little.
She doesn't ask more about the whole parents thing, he apparently doesn't want to talk about it.
That grin again! It's still weird.
"Hell if I know where he is. Maybe already dead. And he'll have to agree. Which he won't, of course."

[Lady Serpentine]

Silly Lelli, drinking is bad for your health.
(Also whew. Essay draft mostly done now. 2684 words. So I'm a bit on tired of writing side. Probably won't stay online too long this time.)

Well then Lass. I think you just gave some advice. Good one. ....Lets hope you're right. Social heroing is what that is.

Lightning Lass is now definitely starting to get more on the tipsy side, as she polishes off her third drink of the night. "From what I know of HALO, they aren't exactly likely to shoot you for your past." (Sleep with you maybe, but not shoot you. ) Wandering is tough, particularly when you feel like you're being driven to it by guilt. Lightning Lass can definitely understand the almost wishing for ones death over that. "So long as you don't drop everything at once. Things tend to be taken better if you don't have to deal with it all at once." Thankfully she still seems to be thinking sober for now.

Lass...are you ordering another drink? ...you probably should do that. Lass! ...Oh whatever, you can drink if you want to.

It does tend to be slightly less so when you're friends with a deity and a healer, though. Still, she probably shouldn't have had that one thing that was spitting bubbles hard enough to ding the ceiling...

"Fortunately, they already know most of the big picture," Lellienth agrees with a nod, seeming somewhat cheered. "Where I got my scars, for instance.

And if they're not one of the members who's met me, they might be... Llolthites aren't exactly well thought of there, and it's hard to tell me from one without talking to me."

It seems the drowess is thinking somewhat less soberly than Lass, and has forgotten that she's wearing her hood, gloves, etc. Even though she always does that in public. Though to be fair, she had stopped after Din removed the scars, for the few weeks until they came back.

As for her wandering, she's less 'driven to it by guilt' and more 'driven to it out of a desire to avoid having to actually show her face, stemming from a desire to not get lynched/burned/otherwise killed'.

[Rebonack]

Weird?

Weird!?!

C'mon! Foxy grins are adorable!

Anywho!

"I know it was stalking people Inside. And it's been targeting ghosts mostly sorta like I have. Trying to keep a low profile," Freddy replies. "So if I can find a place that would make for a great hunting ground I might be able to track it down. I've heard there are some abandoned hospitals in the Nexus that are just stuffed full of ghosts."

Then on the other subject of the day...

"Well, then we'll have to find him! Or at least try. You can't just sit here and give up!"

A beat.

"Eerr... wait... Doesn't your God have Priests? People He gives power to in order to protect his people and stuff? Why did you have to make a deal with a demon?"

[Maxios]

Jack stops walking, about two feet from the exit. "Does, uh, anyone know where this WATCHTOWER place is?" he asks, somewhat loudly.

[celtois]

It does tend to be slightly less so when you're friends with a deity and a healer, though. Still, she probably shouldn't have had that one thing that was spitting bubbles hard enough to ding the ceiling...

"Fortunately, they already know most of the big picture," Lellienth agrees with a nod, seeming somewhat cheered. "Where I got my scars, for instance.

And if they're not one of the members who's met me, they might be... Llolthites aren't exactly well thought of there, and it's hard to tell me from one without talking to me."

It seems the drowess is thinking somewhat less soberly than Lass, and has forgotten that she's wearing her hood, gloves, etc. Even though she always does that in public. Though to be fair, she had stopped after Din removed the scars, for the few weeks until they came back.

As for her wandering, she's less 'driven to it by guilt' and more 'driven to it out of a desire to avoid having to actually show her face, stemming from a desire to not get lynched/burned/otherwise killed'.

Probably not. BUT than again, everyone is entitled to a bad decision or two.
"If its mostly specific details, you're probably fine." Lightning Lass agrees before continuing with her next drink. Drinking without a concern for the morning was often quite fun.

..Lass: scars, Llothites. This could be a problem. Mysterious Lady(tm)'s totally plastered, doesn't she realize that she's talking gibberish. To be fair though this is a bar. People can do that here. Besides maybe she looks funny under the cloak, which is what she means. I mean, not everyone is totally accepting, they're still racists and stuff.

Lass nods and chimes in an "uh huh" here and there. Having no idea what the drowses is talking about.

Good desire. I hear living is nice.

(Okay. Too much writing for one day. Deadtime, might come back later, once my brain is no longer in essay burnout mode)

[Eadin]

"Inside, right..."She thinks for a moment."Well, if you need any help with that..I'm pretty good at zapping and ruining hair." She gives him a smile. It's better than doing it alone.

"And I guess I could keep an eye open.Maybe I'll find him.." A hint of hope apears in her eyes for just a second. Blink and you miss it.
"Erm, that's what the angels are for... Guess they were not nearby or had bigger things to worry about."
Not that they care for little villages.

[Rebonack]

"Some help would be great," Freddy replies, his mood finally perking up quite solidly! "I need to make as many friends as I can here since I can't get home. And... well... Since the Empyreum might send people here to kill me..."

Which would be pretty terrible.

He would hate to get killed before becoming human again!

That would just be awful.

"So... these angels only help sometimes? That seems so strange..." the Huldra replies, pondering the young woman's odd situation. Villages get attacked, but there's no one there who can really defend them? "Back home every village had a Temple. And every Temple had a Priest. Before they could become a Priest they needed to serve for seven years as a Templar hunting the forces of Discord. So they were always well prepared for whatever horrible things might try to attack."

The idea of a village being left undefended just seems so... wrong.

Oh!

And the demon-fox totally provides directions to WATCHTOWER. He's helping!

[Eadin]

"Why would they try to kill you? Do they even know about what happened?"
Maybe they have spies everywhere.

"The angels only pass by every now and then, and only in the big cities.
Small numbers don't matter, there was a big war going on and I guess they were needed there..." Priorities and all.

[Maxios]

"Thank you, fox creature." Jack says. He then leaves the Tavern.

[Warpfire]

Leaving deadtime, Jacob blinks a few times and looks around, his brow furrowed.

"What the hell was that?"

He continues to scan the area cautiously, then suddenly a lightbulb comes on.

"Oh, right. That stuff."

The archer shakes his head and pours himself another glass.

[Rebonack]

"Ah... he... well..." Freddy looks down at his tails and begins to study them very intently. "When they don't get any word from Templar Gregoire for more than a day they'll assume that he's been killed and send a replacement. Being a Templar is a really dangerous job and I think Gregoire had only be at it for a year or two."

Or in other words he was still new at it. And not necessarily expected to last long.

"And when his replacement learns that there's another Huldra poking around the city. And when they realize that I haven't been dragged back to to the Bishop after being leashed... well... they'll put two and two together and assume that I'm loose and not under their control."

And they just can't have that!

Then to the subject of angels!

"Eerr... not to sound rude or anything... But if your God created angels to protect people who doesn't He just make more so they can do their job better? That's what the Emperor does when He needs more Priests."

Once the dead-time is gone the archer will find that weird talking fox-thing still chatting with that one lady! Wonder if said fox-thing is from that fox-temple? It totally had a lot of fox-things in it.

[Eadin]

'' Guess we'll have to make sure the new guy doesn't find out. Keep your tail hidden, try to stay in human form as much as possible and stay out of their way.'' The control bit doesn't sound very good.
''Do they like having everything under control that much?'' Sounds a bit scary to her

''Honestly, we haven't heard from our god in a long while. Which is why the war started. People believed he had abandoned us or had died and tried to take over, like the fallen angels did. Not everyone agreed with that.'' Suddenly the floor is very interesting!
'' We were just a little town that was in the way.''

[Warpfire]

Jacob eyes the fox-creature curiously as he lights up a cigar. What manner of strange being had he come across this time? He briefly considers just asking, but the creature seems to be engaged in a conversation already.

[Earl of Purple]

Jacob might also note the two people sitting at a table. They aren't chatting; just sitting next to each other, having a drink and watching the other patrons.

The first is a human male wearing a suit of chainmail under a red tabard emblazoned with a black two-tailed scorpion symbol. His hair is black, and his face is rather plain. At his waist is a wooden club that glows with mystic runes and a pouch. Around his neck is a silver amulet depicting the two-tailed scorpion on his tabard.

The other is a gnome wearing a red velvet waistcoat over a yellow silk shirt. He is also wearing green satin pantaloons and a purple cloak fringed with orange tassels. His head is adorned with a pink top hat, with a long blue feather sticking into the hat band. Around his neck is another silver amulet depicting a two-tailed scorpion; a symbol also represented on the shiny brass buckles of his waistcoat.

[Rebonack]

It's a good thing Jacob doesn't ask Freddy what he is.

Asking a Huldra what it is happens to be very rude. Much like commenting on their tails while they're in a human shape. Such questions would probably just fluster Freddy. But other Huldra?

They would use it as an excuse to eat your liver.

And that's terrible.

Anywho!

At Cathy's suggestions Freddy's ears droop. "Ah... heh... that would be hard... Allheal lets people see through a Huldra's glamor. And any Templar worth his salt would have protective herbs with him."

So much for that plan.

"And having things under control is very important to the Empyreum! I mean... I guess I was really mad at being lied to when all this happened to me. But what they were doing was for the best. They had no idea that I had found a way to keep my soul. And if I had lost it like Huldra normally do..." the demon-fox takes a deep breath before smiling sheepishly. "As awful as it sounds I would have rested better knowing that I was enslaved to the decrees of the Empyreum instead of running around free and eating people."

Eating people is pretty bad.

"Maybe... when they realize that I still have my soul I won't be killed?"

He sounds hopeful at least!

Oh great. Now they're both sulking!

Bah!

None of that! "Okay! I think that's enough dwelling on gloomy things for both of us. Right now we have some plans to make. And maybe some more drinks to drink?"