[Nexus] Inside 44

[Morty]

[Soul Quest]

Sophie peers at Irene. Can you feel your soul somewhere out there? She asks.

[Slii Arhem]

Master Dahl's Bakery

"Aw, come on! I'm hungry too! Can't you come out with food to us then, pleeease?" Hekta asks as she looks at Elias with puppy eyes. "I'll let you fly Sparklewings."

Master Dahl's Bakery

Let him fly Kashi? Silly Hekta thinks she could stop Kashi from giving rides to anyone he wished. Still, food sounds good, and Kashi can certainly pay for it if that's an issue.

But how best to communicate this... The obvious answer is to show them the money! Without hesitation, Kashi spits another coin at the back of Hekta's head, expertly aiming it so that if it hits it should bounce off and land on the windowsill.

He's getting too good at that.

[happyturtle]

Spoiler

Show

Master Dahl's Bakery

"Aw, come on! I'm hungry too! Can't you come out with food to us then, pleeease?" Hekta asks as she looks at Elias with puppy eyes. "I'll let you fly Sparklewings."

Master Dahl's Bakery

Let him fly Kashi? Silly Hekta thinks she could stop Kashi from giving rides to anyone he wished. Still, food sounds good, and Kashi can certainly pay for it if that's an issue.

But how best to communicate this... The obvious answer is to show them the money! Without hesitation, Kashi spits another coin at the back of Hekta's head, expertly aiming it so that if it hits it should bounce off and land on the windowsill.

He's getting too good at that.

Master Dahl's Bakery

Elias looks at the coin, then at the dragon. "Er... it's not really opening hours." But then again, if a FREAKING DRAGON wants the shop opened late, it probably was better to comply. "I guess I can go ahead and let you in. But you two better not make a mess!"

He can only hope Hekta has bathed recently. He did try to instill that habit in her - mostly by refusing to give her sweets unless she was clean.

[Earl of Purple]

Red Zone- Rooftops

The gargoyle is shrouded in icy fog. It can't see, and decides to roar. The roar is loud, and may temporarily stun Kyinde, preventing her for moving briefly. The gargoyle can't see her, though, and lands on the roof it knows she was on and flails randomly with its claws.

[Hattish Thing]

The Dusty Flagon

As Ray walks in Mr. Poe runs to greet him. "Oh my! Another victim....b-but who?! What's happening?! A few of the flagons patrons stare over at the pair.

[Devixer]

[Hunter Safehouse]

The two Hunters take it to one of their compatriots, who is a doctor. In one of the Hunter safehouses, he'll try to take the thing apart and examine it.

The creature is exotic, to say the least. It has a lot less organs than it should, seemingly to make room for its muscles and abnormally large heart and lungs. Its brain is simple, but still has a hyper-advanced sensory system. It really doesn't seem like any sort of natural creature.

[Morty]

[Hunter Safehouse]

Well, the Hunter didn't expect it to be natural, really. Things that hatch from still-living people seldom are. He will try to examine its digestive track and look for any reproductive organs.

[Reinholdt]

[Soul Quest]

Mikani successfully places her hand on the woman's shoulder. She looks confused as the pain seems to drain away. "Thank you."

She tries to stand up again, but with a yelp, decides to sit back down. "I thought you healed me?"

Pearl wanders over to Irene.

Whatcha lookin' at? she tries to follow Irene's stare.

Irene can feel the presence of her soul in the gawker. He glares at her, and she may get the feeling that she wants to strip and dance.

[Soul Quest]

Sophie peers at Irene. Can you feel your soul somewhere out there? She asks.

[Soul Quest]

"It's over there. They've got it." Irene says, pointing her once again in her hand flaming sword at the gawker and glaring at him or her.

And largely just doing that. She's concentrating all her energy into her indignation at this creep to keep from doing a public strip dance. No power in the verse can stop her convince her to strip publicly, not even her own soul.

Being so distracted though, she could use Sophie's help in the matter.

[Morty]

[Soul Quest]

Alright then... Seeing that Irene is being held back by something, Sophie turns towards the gawker with a stern expression. You have my friend's soul. It would be both kind and smart of you to give it back.

[Devixer]

[Hunter Safehouse]

The creature doesn't have a digestive tract, which only further proves that it is not natural. Its reproductive system is a little strange. It has egg sacs near each of its claws, along with what appears to be a storage of some sort of poison. It indicates that the creature may deliver its eggs into its victims, living and dead. The Hunter that got cut by it was really lucky, if that's the case.

[PurityIcekiller]

[Red Zone Rooftops]

The gargoyle is shrouded in icy fog. It can't see, and decides to roar. The roar is loud, and may temporarily stun Kyinde, preventing her for moving briefly. The gargoyle can't see her, though, and lands on the roof it knows she was on and flails randomly with its claws.

Kyinde was indeed stunned, both literally and figuratively. Before she could recover, the gargoyle got lucky and landed a blow on her back, knocking her down on the roof. Ack! So you're not as weak as I thought.

She rolled to the side and cast a spray of sharp icicles. Playtime was over. Now she was getting serious.

[Lex-Kat]

[Soul Quest]

Mikani shakes her head apologetically.
"No...I can't, not yet anyway. I can take the pain away, but you still need to see a healer in order to get properly fixed up. We can help you if you can't walk though," she says. "I am Druid Princess Mikani, what's your name?"

"Lilliane. Can you tell me what just happened? I was just coming to get some dinner, and then I was running from a lunatic with a flaming sword, half nekkid." She's covering up as best she can. She looks around. "Do you see my clothes anywhere?

Sophie peers at Irene. Can you feel your soul somewhere out there? She asks.

"It's over there. They've got it." Irene says, pointing her once again in her hand flaming sword at the gawker and glaring at him or her.

And largely just doing that. She's concentrating all her energy into her indignation at this creep to keep from doing a public strip dance. No power in the verse can stop her convince her to strip publicly, not even her own soul.

Being so distracted though, she could use Sophie's help in the matter.

Alright then... Seeing that Irene is being held back by something, Sophie turns towards the gawker with a stern expression. You have my friend's soul. It would be both kind and smart of you to give it back.

Noticing his suggestion is not working on the ghostly-woman, Gawker to his focus slightly to her (let's say) left.

Mikani! I feel funny! Pearl yells out.

If their attention is not diverted, they'll see Gawker running away.

If they look toward Pearl, they'll see her starting to itch at her clothes.

[blackouttwo]

Grey Zone - Back Alley

Salixtra has no intention of being trapped in this alley and leaps straight up, while with a flick of the hand a small stick in her hand telescopes out into a a long staff. She uses it to push off the walls to direct her leap and lands on a fire escape, several storeys up from ground level.

"There was no way to be sure there was an air supply. And what if I was a claustrophobe? I might have succumbed to panic." Salixtra says.

[Grey Zone - Back-Alley]

The demonic figure paused, looking up at Salixtra on the fire escape. "I see. Tell me, what do you have there? In that pack?" It wasn't hard to piece two and two together. The ransacked vault, the small pack, and an explosive escape, combined with the staff, tools, and an attempt at getting away from him all added up in his head. It was clear she was a thief.

He looked around the alleyway, trying to find some way to quickly ascend and cut her off. Might need to break out a few nastier spells for this...

[Outside the Needle and Thread]

Susan, flipping switches to ensure that nothing exiting (or just walking under) the ship gets crisped by reactor coolant venting, picks up the ship's intercom microphone.

"Lady and not so gentle man, we have arrived at our destination. We hope you have enjoyed your flight, and that you will accept a complimentary bag of stale, unsalted peanuts as a token of our appreciation. Thank you for flying Kelly Air, do enjoy the veal."

[Outside the Needle and Thread]

Lucas slowly stood, the dim lighting inside the ship revealing the stitches in his scalp, and his shaved head. "Listen, Kelly. Thanks for helping to get me out of there. It means a lot." Grunting, the ex-pilot stood shakily. "I don't think I can walk on my own quite yet."

[happyturtle]

Grey Zone - Back Alley

"Something dangerous that I intend to dispose of safely," Salixtra says. "No need to worry."

Internally she's facepalming at herself for answering instead of making good her escape. She doesn't even understand why she's doing it, unless...

... ugh. The magic he'd used on her. Probably a truth spell or something.

"Listen, nice to meet you, but I've got places to be." she says, and lightly runs up the fire escape steps towards the top, which is the fifth floor. From there it will be an easy leap to the roof.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Random Street]

Bobbie will probably mean that smelly druid that sells overpriced herbal stuff on the corner of Random street.
And what do you know, she's sitting there right now!

An elder woman, skin tanned from being outside and dark hair streaked with silver. Shewears brownish robes of a rough material, an otterskin is being used as a pouch which hangs in her hip.
She's sitting behind her wares, stalled out on a cloth. She mostly sells teas, infusions and balms for various illnesses.

It seems that Bobbie's definitely not random choice in direction will be leading them to a druid after all!
And she totally deals with plants!

That's what Reiny wanted, right? Yay!
"Oooh, oooh, over there! That's one I saw. She sells plant-stuff, so she's probably someone who could help Arel, right?"
Her eye doesn't even twitch when she says Arel's name.

But it wanted to.

[Reinholdt]

Spoiler

Show

[Streets]

"Uuuuuuum...."
Where was that one druid again?
Bobbie knows she saw one somewhere...

In the city? Not in the city?

So she does the one fool-proof remembering technique that comes to mind!
She claps a hand over her eyes and sticks her other hand out, before spinning in a circle.
She stops with her finger pointing That Way and grins.
"This way!"

[Random Street]

Bobbie will probably mean that smelly druid that sells overpriced herbal stuff on the corner of Random street.
And what do you know, she's sitting there right now!

An elder woman, skin tanned from being outside and dark hair streaked with silver. Shewears brownish robes of a rough material, an otterskin is being used as a pouch which hangs in her hip.
She's sitting behind her wares, stalled out on a cloth. She mostly sells teas, infusions and balms for various illnesses.

It seems that Bobbie's definitely not random choice in direction will be leading them to a druid after all!
And she totally deals with plants!

That's what Reiny wanted, right? Yay!
"Oooh, oooh, over there! That's one I saw. She sells plant-stuff, so she's probably someone who could help Arel, right?"
Her eye doesn't even twitch when she says Arel's name.

But it wanted to.

[Street Stall]

Fez Hat Reinholdt raises an eyebrow at Bobbie's technique. Yet it seems to be effective.

"Well selling plant things is an herbalist, but they might be a druid too. Never hurts to ask." Reinholdt says with a nod and a smile to Bobbie before stepping up to the stall.

"Excuse me. I have a bit of a plant problem and was hoping you might be able to help?"

Spoiler

Show

[Soul Quest]

"Lilliane. Can you tell me what just happened? I was just coming to get some dinner, and then I was running from a lunatic with a flaming sword, half nekkid." She's covering up as best she can. She looks around. "Do you see my clothes anywhere?

Noticing his suggestion is not working on the ghostly-woman, Gawker to his focus slightly to her (let's say) left.

Mikani! I feel funny! Pearl yells out.

If their attention is not diverted, they'll see Gawker running away.

If they look toward Pearl, they'll see her starting to itch at her clothes.

[Soul Quest]

Irene is distracted momentarily by Pearl.
Then she gets far more angry and is suddenly dual wielding fire swords. I didn't even know she could.

"Jamie, watch these two. We're going after the perp." Which is then what Irene does! She's a bit behind though. Sophie or the pixie is probably going to get a better start than her since she stuck around to tell Jamie that.

[Shadowcaller]

Master Dahl's Bakery

Let him fly Kashi? Silly Hekta thinks she could stop Kashi from giving rides to anyone he wished. Still, food sounds good, and Kashi can certainly pay for it if that's an issue.

But how best to communicate this... The obvious answer is to show them the money! Without hesitation, Kashi spits another coin at the back of Hekta's head, expertly aiming it so that if it hits it should bounce off and land on the windowsill.

He's getting too good at that.

Master Dahl's Bakery

Elias looks at the coin, then at the dragon. "Er... it's not really opening hours." But then again, if a FREAKING DRAGON wants the shop opened late, it probably was better to comply. "I guess I can go ahead and let you in. But you two better not make a mess!"

He can only hope Hekta has bathed recently. He did try to instill that habit in her - mostly by refusing to give her sweets unless she was clean.

Master Dahl's Bakery

If she bathed or not might be hard to guess as her journey through the wilderness around GloG left it's mark so to speak.

"Hey! Not on me!" Hekta tells Kashi as she rubs the back of her head. In the same motion she picks up the coin and grins widely as she look up at Elias. "I promise! We get all we can eat right? Sparklewings can make coins for both of us."

[Rebonack]

[Arkham Hospital]

Welp.

This is going nowhere fast.

Winifred isn't sure how long they've been standing here at the cross-roads. Cross-halls? Something. Everyone other than herself appears to be dead timed. And she's been sitting here for what feels like hours at least. Whatever that thing in the basement is... it needs to be destroyed.

Why?

Because it's powerful and malevolent and... umm... bad?

And if she has to do it on her own then that's what's going to happen! With any luck a little action on her part may wake up all the people locked in temporal stasis.

The grip on the haft of her halberd tightens as she sets off down the hallway toward the bathroom! Why check there first? Honestly isn't sure... May as well be thorough, right?

[Eadin]

[Street stall]

The druid woman was sort of daydreaming when suddenly, customers!
Quite the odd pair it seems..
"Plant problem, sonny? Let's hear it then, see if old Catalyn can help you."

[ThirdEmperor]

[Arkham Hospital]

Welp.

This is going nowhere fast.

Winifred isn't sure how long they've been standing here at the cross-roads. Cross-halls? Something. Everyone other than herself appears to be dead timed. And she's been sitting here for what feels like hours at least. Whatever that thing in the basement is... it needs to be destroyed.

Why?

Because it's powerful and malevolent and... umm... bad?

And if she has to do it on her own then that's what's going to happen! With any luck a little action on her part may wake up all the people locked in temporal stasis.

The grip on the haft of her halberd tightens as she sets off down the hallway toward the bathroom! Why check there first? Honestly isn't sure... May as well be thorough, right?

Hey! Winifred isn't alone!

Oliver's still totally on board with smacking around mysterious, powerful and probably malevolent entities who will probably turn out not to be that malevolent after all in a SHOCKING PLOT TWEEST.

He's not about to follow her into the bathroom though. Whether or not splitting the party is universally agreed to be a bad idea, that would just be creepy.

Instead he heads for the radiology lab, keeping an eye out for ghosties as he pokes around for treasure. Hopefully treasure that won't give him radiation poisoning or make him sprout a third arm, as useful as an extra limb might be.

[Morty]

[Hunter Safehouse]

The creature doesn't have a digestive tract, which only further proves that it is not natural. Its reproductive system is a little strange. It has egg sacs near each of its claws, along with what appears to be a storage of some sort of poison. It indicates that the creature may deliver its eggs into its victims, living and dead. The Hunter that got cut by it was really lucky, if that's the case.

Interesting. It suggests two possibly things: either the creature's only purpose is to infect as many other beings as possible before dying, or it derives sustenance in some other, bizzare fashion. Either way, they need to be stopped. The Hunter moves on to trying to find weak spots of the monster.

[Soul Quest]

Irene is distracted momentarily by Pearl.
Then she gets far more angry and is suddenly dual wielding fire swords. I didn't even know she could.

"Jamie, watch these two. We're going after the perp." Which is then what Irene does! She's a bit behind though. Sophie or the pixie is probably going to get a better start than her since she stuck around to tell Jamie that.

And Sophie indeed gives chase! She'd rather not use her Edge agan so soon.

[Asha'man]

Hey! Winifred isn't alone!

Oliver's still totally on board with smacking around mysterious, powerful and probably malevolent entities who will probably turn out not to be that malevolent after all in a SHOCKING PLOT TWEEST.

He's not about to follow her into the bathroom though. Whether or not splitting the party is universally agreed to be a bad idea, that would just be creepy.

Instead he heads for the radiology lab, keeping an eye out for ghosties as he pokes around for treasure. Hopefully treasure that won't give him radiation poisoning or make him sprout a third arm, as useful as an extra limb might be.

[Arkham street Hospital: Crossroads]

Freddie and Oliver still have Grantz as a companion. What kind of adventurer would he be if he deadtimed on his first adventure?

What happened to the door with claw marks anyway? If that path is still there
Grantz will go there, just not in the bathroom with a huldra!

[Rebonack]

[Arkham Hospital]

Aaaand so after talking about how bad of an idea it would be to split up the party splits up!

Hazzah!

And come on! It isn't like Winifred was going into the bathroom to use the bathroom. Just checking to make sure there aren't any important clues or anything in there! Sheesh...

Regardless of the direction taken it will be dark. Very dark. With little more than the occasionally flickering florescent light to see by. Thankfully everyone seems equipped with some form of sensory enhancement or light source.

Winifred finds that the bathroom door is barricaded shut. Which of course only makes her all the more curious about it! Huge claw marks on the door suggests something tried to force its way in, though wasn't successful. The Huldra, however, has other useful means at her disposal! She thrusts her halberd into the door and ignites the weapon with fox fire, slowly burning away the barrier!

Once a goodly portion of the door is gone it isn't too hard to shove the vending machines that were blocking the door off each other before crawling over the top of one...

Meanwhile!

Grantz follows the claw marks down the south hallway. They scrape along the wall, gouging deep into the sheet-rock and then... just... Stop at a dead end. Though it looks like the claws should continue. There's just a wall in the way for some reason. Weird.

Also meanwhile!

Oliver heads into the radiology lab! Most of the equipment in here looks like it has been smashed pretty solidly. Cabinets empitied and rifled through. But by who? Probably by that dead adventurer looking guy on the floor. Given his state of deadness he's probably been here for a while. Perhaps the oddest thing about the corpse is the face that the whole face of the skull is gone, from the upper jaw to the eyes.

Just one big hole...

Speaking of holes! There's a huge hole in the floor, probably leading down to the next level of the hospital. A rope-laddered tied off to a really heavy looking piece of machinery descends into the darkness.

[ThirdEmperor]

Arkham Hospital

Man, that's just creepy. Oliver's waaaay too attached to his face to not shiver a little at the thought of some horrible creepy-crawlie ghoul trying to eat it, like what no doubt happened to the poor sap on the floor.

Kneeling down by the mutilated carcass, Ollie recites a short little prayer for the deceased's adventurer's safe passage to the afterlife. It's a pretty poorly thought out prayer and delivered in a manner more sing-song than serious, but hopefully it'll be enough to convince any lingering spirits not to haunt him for looting the remains of the dead.

Which is precisely what he proceeds to do.

Dusty Flagon

Glancing at the bar's customers, Ray gives a nod towards Mr. Poe's office. "Come on, lets talk somewhere we won't be disturbing you're clientele."

[Earl of Purple]

Red Zone- Rooftops

Most of the gargoyles have a magical trick up their figurative sleeves. Just the one, though. Normally.

The icicles mainly skitter off the gargoyle's stony hide as it lurches towards her, swinging its claws randomly and rather slowly- the cold is definitely effecting it. Blunt attacks are likely to be most effective, however.

[Rebonack]

[Arkham Hospital]

As soon as Oliver begins to start looting the body said body's cavernous skull suddenly lights up with a rancid orange glow as the cadaver jerks upright suddenly as it twists and contorts and mutates!

Wuh oh!

That's probably bad!

Meanwhile!

Winifred is having a much less violent time!

Inside the barricaded bathroom Winifred finds ten corpses, all emaciated and mummified. Though these ones still have all their faces. Nor do they look like they died due to struggle or violence. Some off by themselves. Some with arms wrapped around another.

Did they die of starvation? Did they poison themselves? There's no way to know for sure... Except, perhaps, by watching the show.

To each corpse is chained a phantom. Each silently watching the door with fear and dread as they continually play out their last moments in life. Without words they speak to each other as a cup is passed between them. And one by one they lay down, still.

Seems they decided to kill themselves rather than be overtaken by whatever happened her.

It's all very sad... and touching...

The Huldra noms all the ghosts after watching the scene.

[PurityIcekiller]

Most of the gargoyles have a magical trick up their figurative sleeves. Just the one, though. Normally.

The icicles mainly skitter off the gargoyle's stony hide as it lurches towards her, swinging its claws randomly and rather slowly- the cold is definitely effecting it. Blunt attacks are likely to be most effective, however.

"All right, just stay on the ground for now..." Kyinde used her magic to gather the fallen icicles together, attempting to freeze the gargoyle's feet to the roof. She wasn't interested in destroying the creature; she would rather leave it beaten but functional.

[The Bushranger]

[Soul Quest]

"It's Mikani!" Mikani protests at Irene, before noticing Pearl...and rushing over to her friend!
"What's wrong! Is something biting you? An allergy?" she asks, looking around frantically!

...she might or might not have dragged the other girl right over with her.


****

[Outside the Needle and Thread]

Lucas slowly stood, the dim lighting inside the ship revealing the stitches in his scalp, and his shaved head. "Listen, Kelly. Thanks for helping to get me out of there. It means a lot." Grunting, the ex-pilot stood shakily. "I don't think I can walk on my own quite yet."

Susan powers down the ship (she calls it "setting the parking brake") and stands, nodding to Lucas. "S'no problem. Got some good loot and had some fun and did a good deed at the same time. I can help you walk out if you need it."

She clearly thinks Lillith can handle it.

[Reinholdt]

[Street stall]

The druid woman was sort of daydreaming when suddenly, customers!
Quite the odd pair it seems..
"Plant problem, sonny? Let's hear it then, see if old Catalyn can help you."

[Street stall]

Reinholdt explains the problem as best he can. Which is basically, Arel's become part plant zombie.

"... So now she has vines in her back and I'm afraid it'll get worse over time."

[Asha'man]

[Arkham Street Hospital: Dead End?]

Grantz sees the dead end and becomes curious. He readies himself for a powerful lunge. If the wall was an illusion he'd stumble through, If it was a thin wall then it would break, If it was truly a dead end then nothing and he would go back to the crossroads.