[Nexus] Riverside VIII: A New Side

[Shadowcaller]

[Suncrest Manor]

Oh yes, it was good to Irena as well. It's always good at the start.
"...there is something you could help me with later. Right now you could go back to massaging Nadia if she's cool with it." The witch glances at her girlfriend.

Westside- Alleyway

Wandering towards Exbourne manor a figure notices the fight taking place in the alleyway. It pulls a longbow from it's back and takes aim at the skin-stealing vampire and releases a arrow blessed with radiance in front of it. The shining arrow is aimed to pass Durin and then hit the other vampire in the chest, infusing it with holy burning light.

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Manor]

Nadia glances between Irena and Aubrey. "Ah, that's probably fine for now really." She's not sure she could get back into it at the moment. She's probably just being reluctant again.

[Westside - Alleyway]

Durin grits his teeth at the minor pain and ducks below the reaching claw. He hold one hand upward to ward it off as he picks up his sword with the other.

[Halae]

[Suncrest Manor]

Aubrey smiles to Nadia, understanding at least a little, "Irena, how about you? I'm sure after all that tenseness you could use a good massage."

[Shadowcaller]

[Suncrest Manor]

"Sure." She replies. "I mean, I never had one before but Nadia seemed to enjoy it." If she hadn't been so tense that is.

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Manor]

Nadia was enjoying it quite a bit until Irena went and brought up an uncomfortable topic! "That sounds okay to me." Nadia pulls her legs up on her seat to get comfortable. She expects this will take a while.

[Rebonack]

[Riverside Hospital]

Earlier

He had heard it through the grape-vine, so to speak. That there was a part of this hospital in Riverside that's haunted. Not haunted like that creepy place over on Arkham Street. But probably slightly safer, too.

Powerful ghosts tend to attract lesser spirits. That just seems to be the way things work for whatever reason. And whatever specter is calling the shots down here probably isn't that potent.

Because otherwise the Huldra would have been able to smell it quite a bit further away.

He had been met with a few instances of, 'Hey! You can't be down here!' but a quick beguiling illusion and a bit of diplomacy later those objections tended to fall by the wayside.

And so, down here among the corpses, the Huldra found his prey. Muttering and gibbering to itself, the apparition seemed to have a nasty habit of moving the corpses when people were looking away. Suffice to say it was a bit unnerving. But now those ghostly hijinks are at an end.

Ethereal chains bound the spirit, locking it into a concrete form as the Huldra's mouth yawns before it like a bit into hell itself.

Now

Freddy, currently holding the shape of a human nurse and feeling quite content with herself is now roaming the hospital in search of anything else that might be interesting. She's pretty sure there's another ghost around somewhere. Just a matter of finding it...

[Slii Arhem]

Riverside Hospital

Freddy, should her wandering take her near the ICU, will begin to smell a delightfully sweet aroma, just on the edge of her senses.

For there, in the recovery ward, is Shayan, sitting in a borrowed wheelchair and clad in a heavy wool sweater and grey slacks. The sweater is very bulky, and her vines are wrapped around her midriff to make her seem doughy around the middle, rather than a freak.

There, she has been speaking at length with the patients about their health, their hopes, their dreams, and any family they might have waiting for them back home. She plays the role of compassionate caretaker so well that none of them have questioned her presence there.

Partially responsible for that might be the smell of flowers that lingers around her, heady and fresh. She has a bouquet of odd yellow flowers in her lap, and it seems she's wheeled herself around to each bed to deposit a single flower in the hands of each patient.

She has a mental list now. Six people here that wouldn't go amiss for a few days, and by then tracing where they'd gone would be all but impossible. The few family members left for them do not visit often, and she can easily convince the staff to sign them over into her hands while they are under her influence.

Best of all, they are desperate for a cure, and will die without her direct intervention. If they do survive, they will be eternally grateful to her. If not, she has changed nothing but the where and how they have perished.

[Rebonack]

[Riverside Hospital]

The smell is what got her attention.

That smell is oh so very familiar. Just like the sweet aroma at the park where that creepy wight-making plant was rooted. The one that Templar Gregoire burned off the face of the planet.

And if that smell is here...

That means those plants might be too!

And that might mean someone is in danger!

The Huldra that currently looks like a rather shapely nurse heads toward the ICU, following her nose toward the source of the scent. Who knows what kind of horrible things she'll find!

Like a lady in a wheel-chair giving out flowers.

Oh.

...maybe she just doesn't know what they are?

Freddy approaches the lady in the wheelchair in a totally non-threatening fashion. "Ah, excuse me miss? Those flowers are dangerous. We can't have them in here."

[Slii Arhem]

Riverside Hospital

Shayan smiles up at the unfamiliar nurse who knows far too much. No one outside of the park that night would know the dangers of these blooms, and that park burst into rather spectacular flames soon after she left.

Which means this is either an amazing survivor, or one of those responsible. She would remember the face, if it was one of her test subjects who was cured of the seed too soon.

"Why, these things? I have a patch growing in my garden, and they're perfectly harmless. Practically weeds, but they smell so nice I really don't care to get rid of them. I thought they would brighten up the ward a bit, don't you agree?" Yes, just ignore the allegations of harm for now, and find out what this woman's game is. Did she see you that night, or get a description of you from a survivor? She may have been a first responder, or tended to some of the survivors here, but why would they be transported to Riverside for treatment?

[Rebonack]

[Riverside Hospital]

Hmm...

Now that's an interesting reply. Freddy really doubts that there's any truth to it, however. Especially given how virulent the spread of the vines seemed to be. Certainly not the sort of thing that would be content to just sit in someone's garden without making all sorts of horrible plant-wights.

No...

This lady must know something.

Buut... going and accusing her outright would cause too much of a scene...

Freddy decides to respond by looking worried! "Oh dear! A whole patch of them needed to be incinerated for the good of public safety just a few weeks ago Inside. If they've spread to Riverside then they need to be removed quickly."

[Slii Arhem]

Riverside Hospital

"Hm, Riverside? Whatever do you mean? I live Inside, in the blue zone. They just started growing up one day a few weeks ago in my backyard garden. I really did just think they'd be a nice addition to my volunteer work." What a crock. This was no nurse, or Shayan would eat her own vines. It was an amazing parody of one, for certain, but only that.

"Could they really be so dangerous? They smell ever so lovely."

[Rebonack]

[Riverside Hospital]

Parody is about right... Freddy is a dead-ringer for a sexy nurse right now. She should probably be careful about who spots her. Might be bad for someone's heart.

"Inside...?" she echoes, still sounding worried. "Oh no... That means Templar Gregoire didn't get them all..."

And he's not exactly alive to burninate them again.

Whoops!

"There must be someone who can take care of the infestation... maybe those Remnant people I keep hearing about...?" the nurse mutters as she takes her attention off the lady for a few moments and begins pacing. It's clear that she means to find any new vines and toast them!

"But one thing at a time. Those flowers," she points at the yellow blossoms just to make it clear what she's talking about. "Those need to go right away."

[Slii Arhem]

Riverside Hospital

Jackpot.

"Well, if you say so, I don't see any harm in giving them to you instead. Although, if you don't mind me asking, who exactly is Templar Gregoire? Do you mean to say this templar burnt down an entire patch of forest on his own, without Remnant's knowledge? That sounds an awful lot like arson to me. I mean, what if someone was in the forest at the time, and they got hurt or, worse yet, killed?" Shayan manages to keep from smiling as she holds out the bouquet of flowers, and gestures to the reluctant dying patients to do the same with their single flowers. She'll have to come back later for these ones, but the seeds of their compliance were already planted. So long as this new factor didn't mess with things so badly that she was found out right away, she'd be fine.

[Rebonack]

[Riverside Hospital]

"Arson? Possibly," Freddy replies as a few wisps of fox fire begin to incinerate the flowers. Burny burn burn! "I used to think he always had everyone's best interests in mind. But now..."

Freddy shakes her head.

"It doesn't matter. He was killed a few weeks ago by some sort of monster."

DEAD.

Those some sort of monsters are always causing trouble.

"I'll need to track down the rest of those flowers now," Freddy mutters as she starts heading toward the door. "Shouldn't be too hard considering how strong the smell is..."

[Slii Arhem]

Riverside Hospital

Shayan's eyes cross as she sees the foxfire destroy the flowers, but makes no comment. The way this "woman" flaunted her powers was astounding.

How nice to know that the one responsible for ending her little experiment died biting off more than he could chew. There's a slight twinge of regret that she could not put him down on her own, but it was minimal.

"Just please, if you come across my garden, kindly remove the flowers before torching them? I'd hate to have the rest of my plants burned senselessly." Not that she'll find any plants Inside, unless one escaped the carnage of the night and began reproducing.

"Take care now!" Well then, back to her charges, yes? Assuming the "nurse" is headed out the door on a wild goose chase, that is.

[Shadowcaller]

Riverside Hospital

There are actually two hospitals in riverside, one haunted and one not so haunted. The haunted one is in what remains of Eastside and the standard one (which still is in use) is in Northside.

It sounds like they are in the northside hospital though which is only controlled by NPC's so Freddy can peacefully nom whatever ghosts which haunts the place.

He might hear about the other one however, one that some people have attempted to rebuild only to be chased away by angry ghosts. Rumors of mass suicide and disappearances surrounds the place. It's a painful part of Riversides history, full of tragedy and death.

[The Flying Castle]

"Good to know you're more stable then some of our visitors, flying heads can make anyone queasy." Celestel says as she continues along the path once again. "We should be out of the gardens soon enough where we will find our crop fields where we grow most of food. We also keep a number of domestic animals to be able to support ourselves."

And as she said, you finally emerge from the thick gardens as the environment goes from thick rain forest to flat crops fields which stretches to the very edges of this enormous hall. Leaving only a small path to walk on.
Right now it appears to be harvest time, a couple of large flesh-golems are busy harvesting the yellow seed growing around you. These lumbering beasts appears to have been stitched together by a number of corpses and got several sets of arms which they use in their labor, putting everything in large woven baskets mounted upon their backs. They don't pay the two any attention as they come wandering out from the garden.
"We try to maintain a set population limit so there is just enough food for everyone."

[Gullara]

[The Flying Castle]

"Oh, I never even thought that you might eat like this." Dacio admits, sounding just a little surprised "I guess I'm probably assuming a few things about you that aren't true."

[Lost_Deep]

Exbourne Manor

Astrana gives her a short description of the way there, "Just be polite and tell him I recommend you. Try acting more like a vulnerable little girl then an adult though, I bet it'll increase your chances to get to stay. Perhaps you can make old Ramiro's unbeating heart beat for you." She says with a smile.

Eadelain nods. She goes to the office.

Act more like a vulnerable girl? How would that help? Why would he accept her for being a weak little girl?

In any case, she knocks on the door of the office. Here goes nothing.

[Gullara]

[Exbourne Manor]

"Come in." The vampire's deep voice can be heard from within.

Cynthia, meanwhile, has been following behind. She stands next to Astrana, looking eager. She hopes Eadelain will get to stay.

[Lost_Deep]

Exbourne Manor

Eadelain opens the door and steps in. Imagine the scene: A twelve-year old with black hair. She's wearing a white dress, but stained in several places with ink. She's not really acting like a twelve-year-old, though. And her eyes... is there something odd with her eyes? They don't really have the "old" look, nor even an eager one. She looks like she's willing to look reality in the face, and take it as it comes. What's up with that? You never see that in children. Sometimes you don't even see that in grown men. Someone can go their whole life without ever having that kind of look in their eye.

She closes the door behind her.

"My name is Eadelain. I was dropped on the front of the temple, Light's Heart, with no memory. I've been living there, but I want to move. I met the girl Cynthia. She told me about this place. Introduced me to Astrana. She encouraged me to ask you. And so, here I am. I would like a room here. Before you say no, hear this: I'm young, but I'm smart. I know my options are to stay here with you, go there and hope that things lighten up, die in the streets, or hope for a miracle. Except things aren't going to lighten up like magic, and I doubt a miracle is going to decide to happen. Much less to me."

"So here I am. Know what? I'm not going to ask for charity. I'm going to say I'm a smart girl that's willing to work for my keep. I'm here to say that for safety and food, I'm willing to work. It's not going to be easy, I know that. I don't expect it to be easy."

"There it is: Give me what you want or ask me to leave."

...oh snap. Someone check the lost and found for her childhood.

[Earl of Purple]

Westside- Alleyway

The Skin-Stealer shrieks when she's hit by the arrow, screeching like a banshee (but without the effect expected in RPG games). Her skinless flesh burns and blackens around the arrow, though she's fed too recently and therefore too moist to burn easily. The holiness hurts, though, and sears her fingers as she plucks it from her breast.

Her green eyes with red flecks glare at the intruder before darting around for some means of escape- a drain, patch of soil, open window, anything. If it's available, she'll retake her worm form and dive for it, burrowing if necessary, anything to escape. ((Westside is Gulaghar's terrain, and I'll let him decide if there's an escape route or not.))

If there is no escape route, she does something risky- she charges Durin, aiming to leapfrog over his back as he stoops for his sword and tries to close with the archer, trying to knock them over and bury her fangs into their throat. Unless she can't hear a heart, in which case she'll try to run past and escape.

[UncleWolf]

Center of Eastside

The girl stares at Sarah, apparently not recognizing the name. "Um... I could ask my uncle about it. But nice meeting you then." She says with a smile.

"So will you be there?" The girl then asks, leaning in a bit, "I get 10 gold for each person I manage to invite."

Center of Eastside

Sarah smiles a bit before nodding and whispering. "Sure. I'll be sure to snag a couple of my friends too so you can get a bit more." She tells the girl with a wink. Unless stopped, she'll start heading towards Southside.

[Shadowcaller]

Exbourne Manor

Good speech, maybe she could have asked one of the families here for adoption or something. That ship ha probably sailed now though, not that it was ever likely to work.

The tiefling watches the exchange curiously, she wasn't really prepared to offer up her room to yet another little girl though even if Eadelain was more mature then normal.

[The Flying Castle]

The stewardess smiles pleasantly, "I think you'd be more surprised by the next stop of the tour then. We got a university right here in the castle. A small one, but very exclusive, only the best are allowed to enter and instead them coming there, we come to them. We are very proud of it."

The tour will take quite a while actually as Celestel shows Dacio the living quarters, the experiment chambers, the various engine rooms, a small theater, a store, the place where they hold the cattle, a large water reserve...

The castle seems to have everything. It looks even larger on the inside and that's saying a lot.

Center of Eastside

"T-thanks! I'll see you later then!" The girl exclaims before Sarah goes off.

Westside- Alleyway

((I'll wait for ghar to confirm if there is an escape route or not.))

[Gullara]

[Exbourne Manor]

Ramiro raises and eyebrow at the child. Surprising. He folds his hands under his chin and is silent for a long moment. "Very well. You can assist the servants with cleaning. You'd be paid a fair amount and some will be taken off from you lodgings." The vampire glances at Astrana briefly.

[The Flying Castle]

Dacio is quite obviously impressed as they proceed on the tour. It's really all quite amazing. He asks the odd question here and there, but otherwise just follows and listens.

[Westside - Alleyway]

I would imagine that there is indeed a drain nearby. So let's go with that.

[Lost_Deep]

Exbourne Manor

"Thank you, sir. I will get what I can and move in soon."

Net gain: enough money to get some possessions of your own! And not sharing a room with a demon mage.

If allowed, she will respectfully bow and leave. She wants to get going and see if she can pull anything out of Light's Heart and bring it with her. Like clothes.

[UncleWolf]

Riverside Hospital

"Do you have any other symptoms?" the doctor asks his patient.

"No sir. Like I said though, I don't know if it has to do with my Mitichlorian count, but I thought I'd come here for another opinion, just in case." The young woman tells the doctor. She was in her late-teens and seemed quite shy, but it hadn't taken long for him to get her to open up. It didn't take a look around the damaged room to tell what her "Mitichlorian" count enabled her to do, and since she lacked control, she had come in to see if it could be removed. "Well, if you don't mind a tissue sample being taken, I'll see what I can do and give you a call back." The middle-aged doctor tells her with a warm smile.

"Oh, no. Not at all."

About a half hour later, Professor Cin steps out of the patient's room with the sample in hand as he listens to music on his mPod and writes on a clipboard. My dear colleague, I apologize for the lack of post of late, but I had to avoid the bothersome authorities after my last subject. I'm glad to let you know that I've found a much more subtle way of continuing my research. Sadly, the results aren't nearly as wholesome. Just today though, I met this wonderful girl with an intriguing medical condition that requires further study...

Southside

Sarah, a tall and pale woman with long brown hair enters the foggy area to look around. She appears unarmed except for a black mask and a laspistol at her side. Even so, she's cautious and only seems to be taking the measure of the area.

[Slii Arhem]

Riverside Hospital

As Cin scribes his latest note, he may notice another hospital occupant heading his way, wheelchair bound and wrapped heavily in a floral scent and bulky sweater. Her eyes light up as she sees what appears to be a doctor. "Mockingbird I hear your cries, mimicking with narrow eyes. See the things that you despise..."

Shayan's song sings out clearly, possibly audible through Cin's music, but not intentionally. She slowly pushes her chair towards him as she sings, so pleased with her progress today that she's in no hurry to get back to AMEN.

[UncleWolf]

Riverside Hospital

Professor Cin is much younger in appearance than before thanks to the Troll's regeneration. He's merely middle aged with dark hair that's just beginning to gray at the temples. He's actually somewhat handsome with a cleanshaven face and a wonderful smile. When he sees Shayan, he flashes her that smile as he removes his earbuds. "Can I help you?"

[Slii Arhem]

Riverside Hospital

"Can you? I often wonder if anyone truly could, or if I can truly help anyone. If it's possible, perhaps we could help each other. What are you working on?" Like the birds she seems so fascinated with, Shayan flits from one subject to another without a care.

[UncleWolf]

Riverside Hospital

"I'm making notes about a case I'm working on. Fledgling Force User wants to get rid of her powers." He tells her. Cin doesn't worry about doctor/patient confidentiality as he's not a doctor. Well, technically he is, just not a medical one. "And what kind of help are you looking for?"