[Nexus] Riverside VIII: A New Side

[Halae]

[Suncrest Manor]

The witch takes a deep breath and squeezes Nadia's hand a bit firmer before she turns to look at Aubrey again. "I don't blame you, I was just looking for answers. Or something... I don't know. Do you think you could check on me at least? You must know something about Daemons." Irena says.

[Suncrest Manor]

"It had changed her a bit too, but we kind of got rid of that." It was more a cosmetic thing though. Nadia will let Irena decide if she wants to go into more detail about the scales and such.

[Suncrest Manor]

"I don't know as much as some of the other cultists, but I know a human body, so I should be able to tell if anything is wrong, alright?" Aubrey says, "I'll just need to check you over." He seems genuinely concerned at this point, and while the hermaphrodite doesn't move any closer to Irena or Nadia at this point, they can probably tell she wants to check Irena over right away.

[UncleWolf]

Center of Eastside

One of the robed persons, a woman, or rather a girl considering just how young she looks turns her attention to Sarah. She appears rather nervous at first, but as an elderly robed man nods in her direction her back straightens and she slowly approaches the cultist.

"...yes. We are raising awareness about what's going on in eastside and like to invite people to an open debate about the subject. Everyone is welcome." She says, covering up her initial nervousness about the masked person with a smile, handing over a pamphlet.

Apparently they are offering lunch...

Center of Eastside

Sarah takes the pamphlet and looks through it, skimming it over. She doesn't say so, but she believes the schism to be a good thing for the most part. Less opposition. "Well, my group is moving here at the moment. If you wish, we can help look into what's going on. May I ask who you people are?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Suncrest Manor]

"I got scales before." Irena admits. "Purple ones, they covered a lot of my body." She gestures towards her general body.

She then pauses and look up at Aubrey, "...so should I lay down or something? I could tell you some of the more obvious changes if you want."

[The Flying Castle]

"I'd hope so, this city looks like it could need some cleaning up. It looks like it could use a stable government and you're pretty much the only stable group around here. We might leave at any point and that court is not someone we like to support." She explains while leading him towards the jungle before him. Already the distinct sweet smells start to get even stronger, even his companion who likely is used to this holds her hand against her nose.

[Exbourne Manor]

"Ramiro, he's the head vampire around here. Large guy, should be in his office by now. You'd have to request your own room though, I'm already sharing mine with Cynthia so I don't think I can have another room mate." Astrana replies as she slowly start to eat from the tray she brought into the room.

Center of Eastside

"We are from the temple of the burning light here in the city. The purpose of the meeting is not to spread our faith however. We just like to offer up our home as a forum for discussion, a haven in these trying times." The girl continues with more confident. "We... appreciate any attempts to help though, but who are 'we' exactly?" She continues, the elderly man seemingly listening in to your conversation.

[Gullara]

[The Flying Castle]

The smell must be especially strong to Dacio's enhanced sense of smell then. Dacio opts to stop breathing. It's useless with that scent anyway. Still though, it isn't completely stopped.

"We do our best." He sounds a tad distracted. "What is that smell anyway?"

[Lost_Deep]

Exbourne Manor

Okay...

"Right. Where is his office? I will ask him myself." She's not entirely sure why she feels that she must talk to him herself. She just feels that she needs to do it herself... go straight to the top. If he gives her permission, others will at least be more hesitant to wrong her.

[Halae]

[Suncrest Manor]

"Well... yes. I'd like to take a look at the different parts of your body where you were changing, and see if there's anything lingering there. You'd of course need to tell me where it all happened." Aubrey says

[Shadowcaller]

[The Flying Castle]

"Illumia, or ilucus acravicus they bloom these time of the year. You can tell by their smell." She gestures casually towards a huge purple colored flower nearby. It looks similar to this but is a bit larger and seems to be hanging upside down with tendrils coming out of it's opening, dripping with fresh yellow nectar.

"It can be used to produce some rather interesting effects on the human body, I guess you wouldn't be able to experience it though. Since you are 'undead', correct?"

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.

[Suncrest Manor]

"...okay." Irena says before slowly laying down where Nadia had been not long ago. "So it mostly effected my mind. Made me want things like sex and other things like that. You know, things that felt good." She explains while laying there.

"After a while pain also started to feel good... which crept me out a bit. The physical changes, except the scales weren't so bad though. I had terrible acne before and other imperfections but they all disappeared when I got this bleak skin and the scales. Then I got slightly wider hips and larger breasts." Irena finishes.

[Halae]

[Suncrest Manor]

Aubrey is going to be feeling around the spots that Irena mentions, just pressing at the skin and running his hands along the muscles. She'll hesitate when Irena mentions breasts, deciding to skip them for the sake of Nadia there. Does he find anything inhuman about them, or out of the ordinary?

[Gullara]

[The Flying Castle]

"Pretty much. I suppose it depends on how you define it. I don't imagine your flower would affect us though." Dacio chuckles.

[Suncrest Manor]

Nadia sit down an watches anxiously. Sh never really thought about the possibility of detrimental effects at this point.

As for Irena, nothing seems too out of the ordinary. You wouldn't think there was anything strange if you hadn't been told. There's only so much such a check up can discover, but nothing seems harmful.

[Shadowcaller]

[The Flying Castle]

"It seems to effect your sense of smell at least, that's interesting. A great deal of smells are potentially dangerous. We have a few examples which potentially could be useful for you. In this castle we have collected some of the most dangerous plant life in all of Elshar after all." And the plant-life around her do look odd. The grass is red with yellow balls at the end which could be mistaken for eyes. There are brown thorny wines which seems to twitch from time to time and large black trees which strange purple fruits grow from which look awfully a lot like misshapen human heads.

[Suncrest Manor]

Irena shudders a bit at Aubrey's touch and squirms a bit under her examination but makes no protests. She just look expectingly at the cultist once she's done with it. "So? Did you find anything?"

[Halae]

[Suncrest Manor]

Aubrey smiles to Irena, "I didn't find anything at all. At least physically, you're completely human."

[Gullara]

[The Flying Castle]

That's mildly disturbing. =x "That's impressive. I like to think I have a bit of a green thumb myself. Nothing like this, though." His little garden box he has going right now isn't much. With any luck they'll be able to get a house and have a proper garden. *nodnod*

[Suncrest Manor]

That's a relief. That there's nothing bad rather. Nadia hasn't been human for a long time after all. "That's good to hear." She smiles.

[Shadowcaller]

[The Flying Castle]

More disturbing that the fact a misshapen head-like fruit suddenly flies right in front of them?

Celestel just seems to be mildly surprised however as the flying 'fruit' opens it's mouth and speaks. "And just who is this young man?" It asks, having something which vaguely resembles a tongue inside it's mouth.

"I'm sorry for not introducing you keeper. I thought you had your afternoon nap." She says with a curtsy. "This is Dacio of Tenebras." The stewardess says as she turns to him. "Dacio, this is Gardene Lumeen, she is our garden keeper. An air vampire."

The head laughs as more of them comes flying, surrounding him and Celestel and joins it in a choir of laughter. "Look at the boy, I think I'm scaring him to death."

"I don't bite though." Another head joins in.

"I'm really a nice person once you get to know me." A third head says.

[Gullara]

[The Flying Castle]

Dacio does indeed start when the 'fruit' flies in front of him. He looks at it, then the other two that join it, with wide eyes and is speechless for a moment. "I, um- It's a pleasure to meet you."

[UncleWolf]

Center of Eastside

"Oh, right." Sarah says before gesturing at the mask at her side. "Not sure if you've heard of us here, but in Inside, we're known as The Masks. A Charity organization within the Red Zone. We've decided to open up shop here too." She explains. "I believe we've met some of your compatriots Inside once or twice though."

[Shadowcaller]

[The Flying Castle]

The heads amused laughter rings in their ears once again, "Don't worry boy, everyone have that reaction the first time. I don't mind, the heads are just my avatars. It's not how I really look."

Celestel points out the tree from which the weird head fruits hang from. "Her body is buried underneath there, in a way, she is the tree."

"Kind of." Another head says.

"Sort of." A third adds in.

"I've grown used to it, just as I guess you have grown used to your state. Somehow I think adapting to it was easier though, still so young-looking and beautiful... I was that too you know? Ebony-black skin, leg's to die for... just like our young stewardess." The first head states.

[Suncrest Manor]

Irena looks relived as well, "Yeah... that's really good to hear." She says with a faint smile.

"But have you like met a Slaanesh Daemon then? If you can tell the difference I mean."

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."

[Halae]

[Suncrest Manor]

"There's a few around the temple, actually," Aubrey says, then blushes, clearly thinking about them, "They can be... a lot of fun." Juan, for instance...

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Manor]

Nadia shifts uncomfortably. Everything she's heard about Slaanesh still screams bad news. Aubrey's nice and all, but it makes her nervous.

[The Flying Castle]

"Ah, that's a shame." Dacio replies uncertainly. He's still not all that sure how to respond to this air vampire.

[Shadowcaller]

[Suncrest Manor]

"Riiight." She imagined that they could be fun, but that wasn't what Nadia wanted. Besides, she didn't trust demons anyway, whatever they used an extra a in their name or not.

"Not into demons thought, my last 'boyfriend' was one and that didn't end specifically well. They are just bad news, trust me." She tells Aubrey.

[The Flying Castle]

"That's enough Lumee." Celestel tells the heads in a sharp cold voice.

They respond with a fit of giggles, "But they are so much fun! And if I can't scare newcomers with my appearance, what use is it, hm?"

"Go away, this isn't a playground. Dacio is an very important guest and if you can't behave properly around him I suggest you leave. Now."

"Hmph, you never let me have any fun..." The head says but flies closer to Dacio to whisper. "But if you want to know the real secrets of this place boy, I suggest you return some day and we can talk for real."

Then the heads laugh again and fly away back to the tree.

"You have to excuse her, she attempts to tease all the new guests and she isn't very good at it. I think she just want some company."

[Earl of Purple]

Southside

The zombie just continues lurching as far as it can before it's stopped. Mortius has placed a tracking spell on it so he knows where it is and what state it's in, but he can't see anything- he dare not use his usual link in case it's unmade again.

Westside- Alleyway

A man, rather tall and willowy, is here. He's bald, and there's an unhealthy cast to his skin. He's wearing dungarees that don't quite reach his ankles over a yellow shirt. His eyes are green, with faint red specks. The air around him has an unpleasant smell; a mix of strong deodorant and rotting flesh.

The person he's with doesn't seem to mind, however; she's shorter than he is, and wearing a short pink skirt and a blue t-shirt that dips low in front and reveals her belly. Her long blonde hair is in an artful state of disarray; one that took hours of preparation to look natural. Her blue eyes stare vacantly ahead and her head is tilted to one side, giving the man access to her neck, where he's drinking her blood.

((Interaction wanted!))

[Gullara]

[The Flying Castle]

Dacio watches the heads disappear. Now that's something to consider. He returns his attention to Celestel and laughs a little. "No, that's fine. Just a bit startling."

[Westside - Alleyway]

Tap tap tap

The sound of metal striking concrete echos through the cool night air. "I'd advice that you put the girl down." A voice comes from just outside the alley. There stands a man; Tall, dark skinned, his face a grim mask. He wears Tenebras armour with a long jacket over top.

Tap tap tap

"I'm going to kill you regardless, but it might be easier on you." Durin stops tapping the ground with his sword and points it at the other vampire. He bears his teeth in a grim smile.

[iElf]

[Southside Road - Brutalist Building]
They keep driving and, eventually ((and I hope I'm allowed to do this!)) come upon what seems to be an old, unsightly house in blocky Brutalist architecture. A multi-storied concrete affair, it looks stark and out-of-place.

the driders looks outside "hmm... that looks good. nice and isolated..."

[Earl of Purple]

Westside- Alleyway

"Put her down? OK then." With a savage twist, the man snaps the girl's neck. "You wish to kill me? Humph. You traditionalists are so boring. All I do I do for survival. Not everyone is lucky enough to keep their skins into undeath, y'know." The man hunkers down into battle-ready position, flicking open a switch blade.

Suddenly he launches up and tries to slash open Durin's face. He's fast; slightly quicker than human possible, and strong- far stronger than he looks.

[Gullara]

[Westside - Alleyway]

Durin takes a small step back to brace himself and moves his sword up. He points the blade right at the other vampire's heart. With any luck he'll skewer himself on it without Durin even having to put any effort into it.

[Earl of Purple]

Westside Alleyway

The skin-changer vampire is, indeed, skewered through the heart. Although that doesn't seem to have stopped him at all (unless the sword has a hawthorn wood blade, in which case ignore the following). He drops his knife and tries to grip the sides of Durin's head before repeating the manoeuvre he used on the girl to break her neck. "That hurt a lot, but I'll live. Sort of. Dibs your sword." The vampire's eyes gleam, green with specks of red.

[Gullara]

[Westside - Alleyway]

As the skin-changer grabs for Durin's head, the drowpire lunges forward to headbutt the other vampire before his hands can gain purchase. At the same time he'll wrench his sword to the side with his own supernatural strength.

[Earl of Purple]

Westside- Alleyway

The skin-stealer vampire was headbutted, then the sword was twisted. Ouch.

The skin-stealer's response is to open its mouth really wide; at this point, it lets go of everything as a large, raw meat coloured centipede-like thing with many tiny humanoid arms instead of legs and a flayed humanoid face with a mouth full of fangs and green eyes with red flecks writhes out, leaving its now useless home shrouded around the sword blade. The worm-like skin-stealer's shape darts out, aiming to sink its fangs into Durin's cheek as the rest of its body wraps around the other vampire and starts squeezing.

[Gullara]

[Westside - Alleyway]

The skin-stealer is able to sink its fangs into Durin and start wrapping around him in his surprise. He's not about to stand there's stupefied, though. The vampire lets go of his sword and tries to sink his now fanged fingers into the worm and tear it away.

[Halae]

[Suncrest Manor]

"Riiight." She imagined that they could be fun, but that wasn't what Nadia wanted. Besides, she didn't trust demons anyway, whatever they used an extra a in their name or not.

"Not into demons thought, my last 'boyfriend' was one and that didn't end specifically well. They are just bad news, trust me." She tells Aubrey.

[Suncrest Manor]

"We're all entitled to our own beliefs, and experiences can decide things for us," Aubrey says, "I've made my choice, and so far it's been nothing but good to me. Since you have me right now, is there anything else you want me to do t- for you?" he blushes slightly. Nicely done, moron.

[Earl of Purple]

Westside- Alleyway

The worm-shaped skin-stealer vampire is torn off, likely taking part of Durin's cheek with it. It hisses, and changes shape again. This time, it's turning into a purple-skinned hag-like person with no hair. It's figure is feminine, and closer examination reveals that its purple skin isn't skin at all- it's exposed flesh. She jabs her left hand with its bony claws at Durin's face. She stretches slightly, so she can reach further than it looks like she should.