[Changeling] A Gathering of Mists IC

[Thanqol]

Okay, it was Rockbiter or a Justice League bad guy. Let's go with Rockbiter.

She squeezed through the crowd, skipped easily up onto the stage, and ghosted up behind the DJ. Raising her voice to be heard over the music, she asked "Whatcha doin'?"

[Anarion]

Without even turning to look at her, the DJ shouts back "Hey, get off the stage, bitch! Employees only, can't you read the sign?!"

It's unlikely he even realizes he's talking to another changeling, and there is indeed a sign that says employees only had Stephanie tried to take the steps up to the raised stage instead of sneaking up covertly.

[Thanqol]

Without even turning to look at her, the DJ shouts back "Hey, get off the stage, bitch! Employees only, can't you read the sign?!"

It's unlikely he even realizes he's talking to another changeling, and there is indeed a sign that says employees only had Stephanie tried to take the steps up to the raised stage instead of sneaking up covertly.

"Yeah, sorry, it's just that I was under the impression that I went forwards in time five years, not back twenty six," said Stephanie. She went to hop off the stage and rejoin the crowd.

[Anarion]

"Yeah, sorry, it's just that I was under the impression that I went forwards in time five years, not back twenty six," said Stephanie. She went to hop off the stage and rejoin the crowd.

"forwards in time?"

He turns to look at the crazy girl and realizes that he's staring directly at a darkling, cloaked in shadow and looming right over him. When he sees her, it's as if a miniature earthquake happened. He shakes and the rocks around him and in the big mane around his neck move about, shake and scatter like a sudden avalanche.

"Woah, damn dude. Don't sneak up on a fella like that, y'hear? Now what's this I hear that you got a problem with my music?"

[Thanqol]

"forwards in time?"

He turns to look at the crazy girl and realizes that he's staring directly at a darkling, cloaked in shadow and looming right over him. When he sees her, it's as if a miniature earthquake happened. He shakes and the rocks around him and in the big mane around his neck move about, shake and scatter like a sudden avalanche.

"Woah, damn dude. Don't sneak up on a fella like that, y'hear? Now what's this I hear that you got a problem with my music?"

"I was just kind of eager to catch up on what I missed when I was out, not to revisit the 1980s," Stephanie said, brushing past the startled reaction. "What kind of nightclub plays 'Don't Stop Believing' anyway?"

[Anarion]

"Dude, stick around long enough, everything old is new again, y'dig me? Anyway, it gets these sops well enough. Can't you feel that sweet taste o'love out there?"

He inhales deeply, with a sound like pebbles knocked loose on a slope.

[Thanqol]

"Dude, stick around long enough, everything old is new again, y'dig me? Anyway, it gets these sops well enough. Can't you feel that sweet taste o'love out there?"

He inhales deeply, with a sound like pebbles knocked loose on a slope.

"Yeah, it smells like pot is new again too," said Stephanie, unimpressed.

[Anarion]

"Well, I hope you enjoy it anyway."

The rock guy smiles and turns away from Stephanie, even as her heart tightens and she feels short of breath as red strands of Wyrd settle between her and the rock man, enforcing the oath he just proposed to her. "stick around" he said. As the Wyrd settles in, she understands the agreement.

[Final form is stay the rest of the night, get a glamour, lesser curse if she breaks the oath. Rocky is forbidden from physically hurting her.]

Edit: He also puts on a new song. Better than the last one, but he doesn't quite seem to grasp the concept of DJing for a dance club.

[Thanqol]

Urghhh. That was a cheap trick. Stephanie was irked - stuck listening to this jerk's taste in music for a whole day? She considered just wearing the curse and walking out.

Maybe later. There was still stuff to find out here first.

"So, did all the electronic and trance musicians leave on a spaceship to found an utopian society on Mars, leaving us with reruns or something? Or did you just decide to fulfil your lifelong dream of opening a nightclub that played songs from an ipod set to shuffle?"

[Anarion]

Rocky switches his tone from trying to be smooth and seems to just be pissed off that Stephanie is criticizing him. "I decided it was fun screwing around with the mortals who don't care anyway. Besides, this place is called the Enchanted Dungeon, baby, people don't come here for boring stuff. I'll start up the Disney songs in another few minutes." Then he smiles "Don't run off now, y'dig?"

Stephanie also notices that the big beast working the bar seems to be staring at her, as she's been up on stage for a few minutes now.

[Thanqol]

"Wait, what? 'Mortals'?" Stephanie would have taken the cue to leave, but completely stumbled over that word. "Are you saying you're a god, then?"

[Anarion]

"Are you saying you're a god, then?"

"Well yeah. A god. Not the god. Wouldn't want to be too full of myself, y'get me? Look at the fools out there. You tried talkin to any of them?" He sneers, the rubble mane around his neck garbling and crackling as it stands out. "They're mine, uh, ours, one and all." He glances over to the big guy at the bar during that last sentence.

[Thanqol]

"Well yeah. A god. Not the god. Wouldn't want to be too full of myself, y'get me? Look at the fools out there. You tried talkin to any of them?" He sneers, the rubble mane around his neck garbling and crackling as it stands out. "They're mine, uh, ours, one and all." He glances over to the big guy at the bar during that last sentence.

Creepy oath, check. Bad music, check. Thinks he's a god, check. Turns out that supervillains existed in reality after all.

The pleasure of that thought outweighed everything else. She'd just promised not to leave. That didn't stop her from doing whatever she wanted while she was here.

"Okay," she said, and without so much as a by-your leave she turned away and went over to see Donkey Kong. May as well see what else was going on here before she started lighting fires.

[Anarion]

The giant horned bison gorilla man just looks at Stephanie as she slides her way over to him. "Darkie, huh?" he says, sliding a glass out from the bar and not really looking at Stephanie. "You want a drink?"

[Thanqol]

The giant horned bison gorilla man just looks at Stephanie as she slides her way over to him. "Darkie, huh?" he says, sliding a glass out from the bar and not really looking at Stephanie. "You want a drink?"

"That's racist," said Stephanie, glancing back at Rockbiter. "Sure. Something sweet."

[Anarion]

"That's racist," said Stephanie, glancing back at Rockbiter. "Sure. Something sweet."

"Hahahaha, racist, that's a good one girlie." The big guy slaps Stephanie on the back as he's laughing, with enough force that she feels rather like falling to the floor, though she's agile enough to maintain her balance and isn't actually harmed.

"Here, have the first one on the house. It's made from licorice." He pours her a small glass of a think greenish-colored liquid from a bottle with Spanish writing on it.

[Thanqol]

"Hahahaha, racist, that's a good one girlie." The big guy slaps Stephanie on the back as he's laughing, with enough force that she feels rather like falling to the floor, though she's agile enough to maintain her balance and isn't actually harmed.

"Here, have the first one on the house. It's made from licorice." He pours her a small glass of a think greenish-colored liquid from a bottle with Spanish writing on it.

"Thanks. Your friend is insane," said Stephanie, taking a drink.

[Anarion]

At about this time, Charlotte arrives outside the awning, where she too can feel the intoxicating scent of desire and ecstasy seeping out of the building.

"Thanks. Your friend is insane," said Stephanie, taking a drink.

"My servant is delusional." He slams his own glass to the table with a sharp rap, but does not look at Stephanie as he pours himself a drink. "And you just trapped yourself here in conversation with a delusional man. So...what does that make you?"

[Thanqol]

"My servant is delusional." He slams his own glass to the table with a sharp rap, but does not look at Stephanie as he pours himself a drink. "And you just trapped yourself here in conversation with a delusional man. So...what does that make you?"

"Confused. Angry. Armed," deadpanned Stephanie. She had a knife, it counted.

[SiuiS]

Spoiler

Show

We are dispensing with the glamour addiction rules for this chronicle, yes?

Can't even use a corny excuse for the delay, "oh I thought it ha only been an hour!" because I use a twenty four hour clock. mass effect multiplayer has challenges, and I have a friend who offhandedly remarked how he was beating me, and honestly the only reason I'm alive is I got about half the dishes done before Braz came home and unsheathed the flaming sword of her ire upon my lazy bachelor plot for not doing anything at all.

And then it was Wotan's day, and Starry wondered where time went when you didn't keep an eye on it.

Charlotte looks over the basement facade, not sure what to think.

The black on gold (or is it hold on black) reminds her of one of the gaudy pleasure palaces staffed by all the maids from the old songs and stories, that Marchande had told her about. well, sarcastically quipped, but Charlotte gave her the benefit of the doubt as even if she was being sarcastic such a thing had to exist somewhere. It is even adorned with faux old English calligraphic script, like those novels in the corner stand she passed that we're all heaving chests and tartan an had little quotes about "Bosoms aflame" and "Hair like golden fire".

But then, it was a dungeon. The kind of place they would expect to find Rose, their knight errant, setting sword to a beast foul and Mnemean while some unsuspecting Cobb sat in awe an fear of its life... Again, much like those corner stand novels.

And yet, it was a place for adventure, whatever that meant (as Charlotte had only ever been on the other side of the curtain, she supposes she can take Stephanie's adventures on faith). And if the man and his saxophone and hat didn't invite her curiosity or stickity fingers, and if the winged statue didn't know where she went (or much at all, save whispered promises of victory and grandeur, which Charlotte was content to do without), and none of the other places felt right, not even that jazz club where everyone whore latte black and st on stools. And it was a long walk, and the colors, the feel – the Glamour, one simply must learn the parlance, mustn't one? – Well, it was enough of a temptation that Charlotte thinks perhaps she should check in here, just in case, and I'd Stephanie is nowhere to be found then maybe she should look harder?


Charlotte steps lithely into the Dungeon, braced for the worst, her mind nattering all the while.

[Anarion]

Marchande finds a blistering array of websites for the wine connoisseur, listing everything from the uncouth rosé to the classic Merlot.

The Faerie Fire vineyard has only a small webpage. The main address is in Napa, about an hour and a half drive from San Francisco, but their sales branch is in the SoMa district (South of Market Street, right near the Bay and the Baseball Stadium). Their logo is a curled flame looping around a stylized woman's head inscribed in argent on a navy blue background. [Would any of you enterprising artists care to draw this?].

The website has the following blurb "Faerie Fire is a new wine label, established in 1992. We breed a special type of grape for our chardonnay and use a recipe brought over from the mysterious deserts of Ethiopia. The unique blend has a fiery tang that will make you feel like you're drinking the nectar of the gods themselves.

Our vineyard also produces several fine varieties of Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio."

"Confused. Angry. Armed," deadpanned Stephanie. She had a knife, it counted.

The great beast rounds on Stephanie, lips pulled back and teeth bared in a snarl. "Armed! And exactly how are you armed?!"

Charlotte steps lithely into the Dungeon, braced for the worst, her mind nattering all the while.

[Glamour is still addictive, just not physically so, though I never disallowed the flaw. It's better than sex, basically.]

Charlotte, lacking Stephanie's night vision, is greeted with a dim vision of shapes and colors when she enters. Unbeknownst to Stephanie, the lights have even further dimmed in the intervening 10 minutes. Charlotte is greeted with the sight of a massive throng of black silhouettes, a few with multicolored glowsticks and basically no other light. There is a large deep shadow at the bar where Stephanie is, but Charlotte can only see the big outline and can't tell that Stephanie is actually there.

Rocky also stays true to his word and puts on the next song.

[At this point, I'm just going to open up the ooc thread to requests for wildly inappropriate music.]

[Thanqol]

The great beast rounds on Stephanie, lips pulled back and teeth bared in a snarl. "Armed! And exactly how are you armed?!"

Stephanie held up a finger in a 'wait a moment pause while she drank deeply. She was quiet for the few seconds while she finished it.

Meanwhile, she quietly slipped the knife out of her sleeve behind her back, and invisibly tossed it up into the air.

With a satisfied sigh, she slammed down the empty cup on the table. Half a second later the knife landed blade first in the empty glass, shattering the ice cube into fragments. It seemed to have fallen straight out of the ceiling.

"Got any more of those?" Stephanie said brightly.

[Anarion]

The beast grabs the knife, sending the cup flying and shattering into little glass shards. "Nobody makes fun of me!" He growls, sending the knife slamming into the bar behind him so hard that it vibrates in place with an almost audible twang for several seconds.

He then takes out a new glass, puts it on the table with a sharp crack, pours another glass of absinthe nearly to the brim, and sends it sliding over to Stephanie at some speed.

[SiuiS]

Oh my stars, it is worse than we feared.

Charlotte stares in horror, writ on her face as a sort of sculpted, beautiful shock. All these people trapped in darkness, listening to some banshee wail while struggling to crawl over each other out of the pit... This really was a dungeon!

But, then... No that doesn't make sense. She just walked in. What stops them from walking out? The world – the real world – doesn't work that way. And now she has a headache. Alcohol helps with that, right? As there's a bar over there, and bartenders are good at giving information, all the games say so. And Stephanie seems to have played all the games, so that's where Stephanie would go, right?

... Well, no, Stephanie would climb into the perditious pit of lost souls, to be honest. But it's late and Charlotte is tired and she has her limits. So with a while and a swish and the click click click of her heels over the sometimes sticky, sometimes not floor, she makes her way to the bar to to perhaps get some more of that stuff Stephanie gave her, and to see if anyone had seen a pretty blond thing running about without a care.

[Anarion]

Charlotte arrives just in time for the glass to quite coincidentally break nearly at her feet.

[Thanqol]

The beast grabs the knife, sending the cup flying and shattering into little glass shards. "Nobody makes fun of me!" He growls, sending the knife slamming into the bar behind him so hard that it vibrates in place with an almost audible twang for several seconds.

He then takes out a new glass, puts it on the table with a sharp crack, pours another glass of absinthe nearly to the brim, and sends it sliding over to Stephanie at some speed.

"Nobody needs to," said Stephanie.

It was reflexive. Quips were a vital part of standing up to supervillains and/or monsters and everything she'd seen so far in here had triggered both of those instincts.

She took the drink because it'd be a shame if it got broken.

[Anarion]

She took the drink because it'd be a shame if it got broken.

Chance die to see if Stephanie gets hurt (1d10)[1]
[edit: Oh this is fun.]


As Stephanie picks up the drink, the entirety of the bar shelf goes toppling towards her after it. The beast seems to have overestimated his strength just a tad, however. The shelf itself snaps and breaks into several splinters, it's center of mass not able to bear its own weight. Stephanie ducks and weaves around these effortlessly. Indeed, she's surprised by how slow they seem, she's practically matrix dodging it's so easy.

The bison, meanwhile, apparently forgot that he had horns. Well, he didn't forget anymore because there's a 2x4 stuck to his head that's blinding him. And since he can't see well and he just flipped a table, Newton's third law got to set to work, causing him to lose his balance backwards.

Have you ever seen a soaking wet dog that's rolled around in a mud puddle? Imagine that, but reeking of an ideal mix of brandy, vodka, and tequila, and with a now 2x2 piece of board still stuck to its horn at a lopsided angle, and that's about what you're looking at. Only, you know, 5 times larger and roaring like a pride of lions.

Rocky, unfazed, puts on his next song.

Charlotte is just outside the disaster zone and Stephanie isn't, but she's entirely unscathed and even managed to sip her drink during the storm of splinters and alcohol.

[Thanqol]

Chance die to see if Stephanie gets hurt [roll0]

[You see this? You see this botch? This is how Stephanie wins fights, right here.]

[Thanqol]

Chance die to see if Stephanie gets hurt [roll0]
[edit: Oh this is fun.]


As Stephanie picks up the drink, the entirety of the bar shelf goes toppling towards her after it. The beast seems to have overestimated his strength just a tad, however. The shelf itself snaps and breaks into several splinters, it's center of mass not able to bear its own weight. Stephanie ducks and weaves around these effortlessly. Indeed, she's surprised by how slow they seem, she's practically matrix dodging it's so easy.

The bison, meanwhile, apparently forgot that he had horns. Well, he didn't forget anymore because there's a 2x4 stuck to his head that's blinding him. And since he can't see well and he just flipped a table, Newton's third law got to set to work, causing him to lose his balance backwards.

Have you ever seen a soaking wet dog that's rolled around in a mud puddle? Imagine that, but reeking of an ideal mix of brandy, vodka, and tequila, and with a now 2x2 piece of board still stuck to its horn at a lopsided angle, and that's about what you're looking at. Only, you know, 5 times larger and roaring like a pride of lions.

Rocky, unfazed, puts on his next song.

Charlotte is just outside the disaster zone and Stephanie isn't, but she's entirely unscathed and even managed to sip her drink during the storm of splinters and alcohol.

"Like I said," said Stephanie, putting her drink down.

"Want me to watch the bar for you?" asked Stephanie to the downed minotaur.

[SiuiS]

"Oh, goodness. The liquor cabinet seems to have attacked this minotaur! Miss, we need to help him!"

Perhaps unwisely, Charlotte bundles her skirts between her knees and hunkers down, to try and help the Minotaur up by bracing her hands user it's neck. She keeps an eye on Stephanie though, to see if she perhaps missed something. Having watched her nonchalantly drink something the color of giddy competitive spirits, she suppose there wasn't anything remotely approaching danger, but who knows?