[Nexus] Inside 44

[Beans]

[Blue Zone]
To escape the evil clouds of Cleveland death, Pesty decides they should go into one of the theaters.

[Rebonack]

[Blue Zone]

Down from the clouds descends a small army of Menacing Crabs with wings! And top hats clutched in their feet!

The crustaceans swoop toward the streets below!

[DoomITP]

Grant will also walk into the theater.

I haven't actually been to this particular theater...

[Slii Arhem]

Blue Zone

The halfling-sized members of the Order Rodentia scurry into the monastery across the street from the movie theater, adjusting their too-small capes.

Should've listen to the weather reporter when she said it'd be raining dapper shellfish, even though it seemed a bit early in the year for it.

[Beans]

[Blue Zone Theater]
Neither have I!
Pesty shrugs.

[Terumitsu]

[Slums => Market Street]

Nephea wasn't about to say just how corny that phrase sounded given that Freddie was willing to help her out. The temptation was there but she decided to keep it to herself until she was out of earshot to laugh at it. Bidding the Huldra farewell, the catamander would wait until she was sure she was at least a few blocks away before trying to snatch a few coins out of another pocket. Being a little ill with an empty stomach wasn't how she wanted to spend her night, after all.

---

It would be a bright and early morning on the Market street when Nephea was setting out the colorful, if slightly patchwork, blanket and arranging several small wooden chests filled with straw so as to keep the various phials from knocking together. Also kept them out of the sun, for that matter. Few potions were supposed to be hot, after all. Except for the ones that set something on fire. Those were normally pretty hot on their own. Had to be stored separately even.

[Rebonack]

[Blue Zone]

Down come the crabs, hats in claws and ready to be placed on every unfortunate head they can find!

Anyone who already has head-gear may find it stolen and replaced with a top-hat.

How dreadful!

[Market Street]

It won't be too long before the Catamander gets a rather familiar visitor to her blanket!

Fredrick arrives, having taken the same human shape that the Catamander had initially met him in. Wouldn't do much good to take a form she wouldn't recognize, right? He's dressed quite snappily, too!

Upon arriving he quirks an eyebrow at the blanket.

"Alright. First of all, this won't do. Take a look around," he gestures at the surrounding Market Street. The place positively bustles and bursts with activity and colors and aromas! People shouting about the amazing nature of their wares, booths filled with exotic spices and cloth!

"You have to grab attention. Make people interested in what you're selling. And just sitting around won't do that."

A wisp of foxfire appears in his hand as the Huldra raises the ghostly blue flame above his head before hurling it into the ground!

With a POOF! an extravagant booth springs into being!

[UncleWolf]

"Well, I had to ask who you were. At any rate, I'm going to have to ask you to point me towards the bank manager. Something was stolen from this vault, and I just managed to take it back."

He shows Viscose the stolen gem, impassively observing the man as he speaks. "A criminal who goes by Salixtra broke in, and then blasted her way out through the wall. Luckily, she dropped it in her attempts to get away from me."

Robbed Vault

"This vault was mine." Alizarin informs him with a bit of an angered growl. It's not directed at him, instead at the thought that his place was broken into. "And you've been duped if you think something as cheap as a gem is something I'd keep in here." He says with a snort before laughing a cold and harsh laugh. "Want to know what she took? She took that!" He says, pointing to a rolled up blueprint laying on one of the open shelves. "You're damn lucky she didn't know how to use it."

[Slii Arhem]

Blue Zone

The humungous rats are caught by the crabs and hatted, and stop their fleeing to begin a spontaneous dance number. In the background, faint, tinny sounds of "Hello my Baby" echo through the streets.

[DoomITP]

[Blue Zone Theater]
Neither have I!
Pesty shrugs.

You three can decide on the movie. I haven't been around to see what's out, unfortunately.

[Beans]

[Blue Zone Theater]
They pick a movie with ducks and explosions in it.
One of the ducks is made of explosions.

[happyturtle]

Spoiler

Show

Master Dahl's Bakery

Kashi is also pleased, having finished up his scones and moved onto a rack full of hot cross buns. Hekta would certainly have a hard time keeping up with his gullet.

"Snyuuuii? <Maybe I should come here every night, and eat all the leftovers?>" He's momentarily forgetting that neither of them can understand him as he mumbles to himself around several sticky buns.

Master Dahl's Bakery

Seeing how Kashi manages to be even more greedy then she is, Hekta attempts to stuff three chocolate muffins and stuff them into her mouth at the same time while trying to respond to Elias.

The results are not pretty.

"Muumgh yemm thees..." She mumbles through the layers of chocolate goodness. Her wings flaps once again while the demon makes some inane gestures, apparently trying to explain something to Elias while stuffing herself full at the same time. Multitasking is fun.

Master Dahl's Bakery

"Er, yeah, so I don't understand either of you." Elias says. And alarmingly, the food is starting to run out.

[Rebonack]

[Blue Zone Theater]

Knowing a quality picture when they see one the crab swarm pays for a gaggle of tickets entirely in top hats. Armed with pop-corn and sodas the dapper winged crustaceans will fill in the theater to watch the movie about ducks and explosions.

One of them is talking on its cell-phone, though hopefully not when the movie starts since that would be really rude.

[DoomITP]

Ducks?

Grant asks when he sees the movie.

[Beans]

[Blue Zone Theater - DUCKS: THE MOVIE]
Shhhhh, it's staaarrrting.

[DoomITP]

Grant will be quite and watch the movie.

[Rebonack]

[Ducks: THE MOVIE!]

As the film starts the cell-phone crab has a monocle thrown at it. The dapper bit of eye-wear thwacks into the crustacean and soundly gets across the point that now isn't the time to be bubbling at that nice shrimp you met over the internet.

The crabs watch the movie!

[The Bushranger]

Soul Quest- Market Street][/b]

The hospital's not far from here. If you trust me, I'll take care of them once we get there, Judy says, indicating Lilliane and Pearl. and you can go look for your other friends. I used to be a member of GLoG, if that helps ease your mind. she adds with a friendly smile.

"Oh. Did you know my mom? Quinn Druid?"
Mikani smiles gratefully at Judy, then looks to Pearl.
"Will you be OK with that?"

[Terumitsu]

[Market Street]

Extravagance was certainly one way to grab attention. Like bright colors or fine fabrics as long as it wasn't too opulent. Otherwise, that would be begging for someone to try and nick the decorations when a person wasn't looking.

Nephea appeared to be taking notes at least. Well, mentally anyway. Strangely, though, while Nephea didn't appear to be the sort who balked at talking to others, she seemed a bit put off by the idea of drawing so much attention to herself. Really, she seemed like the last person who'd be afraid of talking in front of a crowd but there it was.

"I gotcha but, uh, do I just sit up here and yell at people then? Because I'm not sure if I can give out free samples at the moment. And some of this stuff isn't supposed to be sampled now that I think of it." A person deciding to drink acid wasn't even on the list of 'last thing I want to see' out of how horrific it would be.

[Rebonack]

[Market Street]

Hmm...

Freddie takes note of the Catamander's seeming reluctance to drawing attention to herself. That, pretty much without question, is going to be an issue in this line of work.

"Not yelling at people. Encouraging them. You need to let them know why they need your product as opposed to someone else's."

An important skill to have!

"You need to be able to sell yourself as well as your wares. Make people believe that it's in their best interest to buy," he grabs a potion at random. "This vial of vitriol instead of someone else's."

They called it vitriol, don'tcha know. Not acid.

[Terumitsu]

[Market Street]

"I dunno, it's not all that much of a critic in the first place. I mean, it's pretty mellow unless you throw it at something. And then that's your fault." the catamander said, poking a bit of fun at Freddie's choice of words as well as his choice of potion. While it would certainly burn when applied, it would be more of the literal sort. "Right.. I think people would go after something less volatile though. Unless they had some really really tough stains they needed to get out of the carpet." Though a stain that required burning the carpet entirely was probably more than just tough. Cursed more like it.

"So.. Wait, I've just gotta convince them that what I've got is something they need?" That sounded a bit like a con... But not? She could do that but it felt a bit weird in a way.

[Rebonack]

[Market Street]

It does sort of, doesn't it?

Freddie nods in reply to that last question. "Exactly. You need to give people a reason to believe that buying your product is a better idea than buying someone else's. Otherwise why would they want your stuff when they can get stuff from someone else who has lead them to believe that his stuff is clearly the superior choice?"

Such is the nature of selling stuff on Market Street.

One can't really be passive about it.

Well...

Unless one does all their selling off screen. Then it doesn't matter all that much.

[Lex-Kat]

[Soul Quest- Warehouse]

Irene blinks at the security robot.
"Yeah. Ok. I surrender." Might buy them some time. She's not horribly concerned, cause well, ghost.

You must leave immediately. It tries to prod her. The first time likely goes through her. But a second attempt she just may feel. It has ghost-touch abilities.

Sophie points her shotgun in the direction of the sound.
Stop right there, will you? She asks calmly.

The person running toward Sophie comes to a screaching halt. Then she can hear him trying to run back the way he came.

Soul Quest- Market Street][/b]

"Oh. Did you know my mom? Quinn Druid?"
Mikani smiles gratefully at Judy, then looks to Pearl.
"Will you be OK with that?"

I believe so. Judy says, starting to carry Lilliane toward the hospital. I think I was starting to frequent GLoG less and less at the time.

Pearl clings to Mikani. Do you trust her? she asks, frightened.

[Eadin]

[Animal Shelter]

The vine twitches a little when it's poked. Arel reacts as if any other part of her body had been poked. "I control them. They're a part of me just like any of my other limbs."

The druid woman will nod.
"Doesn't seem like a parasite. You see, dear, your friends have asked me to take a look at you. They're worried. But I don't see any reason to try remove your vines unless you want to."

[Gullara]

[Animal Shelter]

"Oh." Arel glances at Rein briefly. "You don't need to worry about it. They feel right, you know? I don't want them gone." Maybe if she stopped to think about it it'd seem odd to her, but she doesn't.

[Terumitsu]

[Market Street]

"I think I understand... But I have to get their attention first before I can make a sell." the catamander replied, the gears, springs, sprockets, and various other machinery in her mind starting to tick away at a tidy pace. "And though I don't have enough for free samples, a demonstration will probably do the job here." Grabbing a slightly fizzy, amber colored potion, the catamander made sure to check for any flammable or otherwise potentially incendiary materials nearby before popping off the cork and downing it in one go.

For a moment, she paused, waiting on just the perfect moment. A moment later, Nephea spewed forth a jet of green flame with a loud 'Fwoosh,' the smoke curling into a large butterfly before vanishing in the wind. She was particularly proud of that little effect, having taken months to find the proper assortment of ingredients for it. The downside was that everything would now taste like brimstone for the next hour or so. Well, that and the tip of her left ear had caught fire but this was something she had yet to notice. Grabbing a small clay jug, she leapt on top of the counter in front of her and began a speech. "Ladies! Gentlemen! Sprites, pixies, shapeshifters, and spellshapers! Orcs, Ogres, Orkz, and man with crabs in his mouth...? *Ahem* Have you found yourself or a loved one suffering from ills lately? How about you adventurers out there? Find yourself in need of a good salve after a pitched battle? Or maybe you just an extra edge? Well simply step in line for I've got the mixtures for your malady, the brew for your bruises, and the elixir to ease you on top."

Well... That certainly would draw some attention... Freddie would probably be the only one to notice given his proximity but although Nephea seemed to be rather poised, her tail was still twitching nervously. Oh, and that little bit of flame hadn't gone out yet either. Didn't seem to be hurting her at least.

[Shadowcaller]

Master Dahl's Bakery

"Er, yeah, so I don't understand either of you." Elias says. And alarmingly, the food is starting to run out.

Master Dahl's Bakery

After having fit in some other goodies in her mouth Hekta finally responds somewhat coherently. "Mmm... maybe we can make more?" She suggests hopefully.

"I can pay!" She triumphantly says while picking out the idol she just 'found' in the temple of dalachrech. "See? It's super-money."

[Slii Arhem]

Master Dahl's Bakery

Oh right, well time to fall back on another old trick. Kashi concentrates a bit, leaving his current snack of muffins undefended for a moment, and spits out a rolled up scroll of copper parchment with the words he already spoke to Elias embossed into it. He nudges it over to Elias' foot before going back to his current prize.

By this time, a significant pile of gold, silver, and gems has piled up around him, having constantly fallen from between his scales as he's been eating. Since he reached full grown size, it seems like Kashi only makes money when he eats, or when he wills it to happen these days.

Either way, Hekta really shouldn't bother trying to pay to have more food made. The big dragon apparently has that covered.

The note says, for reference, "Maybe I could come by here every night and pay to eat all your leftovers?"

[Devixer]

The Hunters nod at each other and open fire from their guns, aiming for where the doctor told them the carapace is weakest.

Because those weak spots are not only small, but difficult to access, most of the slugs don't penetrate the armor. There are a couple of hits, though, but none of them would hit organs or other vital areas.

Alerted to the Hunters's presence, the creatures shift into combat ready positions, and then two of the Hunters are each rushed at by two of the creatures, in an attempt at a pincer maneuver.

[happyturtle]

Spoiler

Show

Master Dahl's Bakery

After having fit in some other goodies in her mouth Hekta finally responds somewhat coherently. "Mmm... maybe we can make more?" She suggests hopefully.

"I can pay!" She triumphantly says while picking out the idol she just 'found' in the temple of dalachrech. "See? It's super-money."

Master Dahl's Bakery

Oh right, well time to fall back on another old trick. Kashi concentrates a bit, leaving his current snack of muffins undefended for a moment, and spits out a rolled up scroll of copper parchment with the words he already spoke to Elias embossed into it. He nudges it over to Elias' foot before going back to his current prize.

By this time, a significant pile of gold, silver, and gems has piled up around him, having constantly fallen from between his scales as he's been eating. Since he reached full grown size, it seems like Kashi only makes money when he eats, or when he wills it to happen these days.

Either way, Hekta really shouldn't bother trying to pay to have more food made. The big dragon apparently has that covered.

The note says, for reference, "Maybe I could come by here every night and pay to eat all your leftovers?"

"Hekta! It's cursed money! You stole that from a temple! Give it back! You know I won't let you starve!" Elias says, quite alarmed. He's remembering the church they burnt down and how much trouble they got into for that, and how he still hasn't saved a life.

He blinks, then reads the note from Kashi. "Er, I guess that would be okay. I'll have to check with Master Dahl, but as long as it's not stolen money, it should be fine... Where does the money come from?"