[Nexus] AMEN XLIV: Beware Falling Flowers

[Sneaky Weasel]

Ilpholin's Office - Red Head

As he is concentrating on the ground, the red headed man doesn't see the cake-bearing drone until it is too late. The confectionery object lands on his head with a splatting sound, covering his face with sugary frosting.

Giving forth a peculiar hissing sound, the red headed man shakes his head violently, sending bits of cake flying all over the room. Glaring after the retreating drone, he snaps at the air and growls, as if he would like nothing more than to eat the drone instead of its gift.

Apparently satisfied that he has scared it off, he wipes some frosting from his face and sniffs it carefully. Licking off his finger, he grins, then finally looks around to see what the office is like. The remains of the cake are already freezing into his hair, a fine coating of frost covering them.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Main Room]

"Sorry Jeannie, can't help." Says Kal, in between scribbling on a Hitler-stache and several curse words.
"On account of the fact I have absolutely no clue how. Well, except for whackingyou with a magic dispelling axe, but you can probably see why I'mma saving as an option of last resort."

[Reinholdt]

Ilpholin's Office - Red Head

The office, believe it or not, is still behind the closed door that the red arrows are pointing at.

Presuming that he knocks, the door will swing open of it's own accord, as Ilpholin, sitting behind a desk in a very much not decorated office, will call out "Come in." And proceed to motion to two chairs sitting in front of the desk. Before peering at the red head a bit more closely.

"Errr..."
There are no words.

Ilpholin's Office - Harley

"Because it's the room with the desk." Ilpholin says. Duh.

She'll take the form and look it over.
One thing at a time then. "So, you're immortal are you?"

[Ilphy's Office - Hatter]

"Perhaps unscheduled combat scenarios is not the best for keeping people alive..." Ilpholin suggests, peering at the Hatter.

"Alright. Who is Chezchire?"

Flying Fiasco

"The only thing I was told about the wards is that they were standard. What that means for a flying castle full of vampires, I have no idea." Ilpholin shrugs. Probably just traps or something.

[Drowlord]

Gates of AMEN

A shadow flitted up the path to the gates of AMEN. If an eagle had looked curiously down, they would have seen the shadowy form coalesce into a drow, one with red eyes, a lithe grace, and skin as black as shadows.
Of course, if he did not want to be seen, our hypothetical eagle would probably be dead. The drow carefully scanned the door for traps, then knocked lightly on the door with slim, dextrous fingers.

[Reinholdt]

AMEN's Gates

There are defenses, but nothing that'll go off from walking up and knocking! Well except that an eye pops out of the nearby wall.



Greeting: Welcome to AMEN!
Query: What is your business here?
Query: Would you like some cake?

[Drowlord]

Gates of AMEN
"Lord Magtok has sent me here to talk with him. If thee wouldst also not be too incommoded by it, I would indeed like some cake."

[Reinholdt]

Gates of AMEN

Glee: There shall be cake shortly!
Oh. And you can come in too, I guess.
The eye goes back into the wall and the door opens up to let the drow in.

[Sneaky Weasel]

Ilpholin's Office - Red Head

Oh yes, he does indeed knock. Irregularly.

Upon entering, he stalks over to the left hand chair and sits down, looking around the office as he does so. He doesn't seem surprised be the sparsity of it, simply nodding his head and grinning. Then his gaze snaps back to Ilpholin, and he puts both hands together before giving an awkward little bow, remaining in his seat the whole time of course.

"Ilpholin, I presume? My name is... Reinhardt. Phineas Reinhardt. Or at least it was." He stares into space for a second, as if pondering the name. "I bring greetings from my Mistress, a newcomer to the Nexus. Being that she shares...a certain disagreeable disposition with your organization, she thought it would be best to negotiate a no interference policy, before any altercations occur." He's trying to be extraordinarily careful with his wording, and obviously takes the role of a diplomat quite seriously. Perhaps he might in turn be taken seriously if he didn't have frozen cake all over his head.

[Drowlord]

Gates of AMEN--> Common Room
The drow made his way through the halls, looking in each room before coming to one larger than the others, and with more people.
He slowly walks inside. "Hello. I am looking for thy Lord Magtok. Doth any of thee know where he might be found?"

[happyturtle]

Common Room

Among the other inhabitants of the room is a human sized sturgeon with graffiti on her face.


Oh wait... some of the effects seem to be wearing off. Jeanne is only a reverse mer-maid now. Bottom half is a pair of human looking legs wearing jeans, while above the waist, is a fish with graffiti on her face.

That lust aura is still going crazy, making the half-fish ridiculously attractive to those who are susceptible to such things. Surprised it hasn't drawn Stu out of hiding.

[5a Violista]

Ilpholin's Office - Harley

In response to the obviously obvious reply, Harley, with a scar, shrugs. Some people just don't understand the importance of interior decorating.

The woman clarifies what she wrote. "'Immortal' as in immune to old age. I can still die to natural deaths, like, say, gunshot to the head or stabwound to the heart."

Then, she starts to muse. "Then again, a stabwound to the heart would only succeed in separating the body and the spirit, which is easily reversible. That would make everyone immortal, if they know how to recreate a body."

Harley leans back in the chair. Continuing about immortality, she says, "Then again, I guess that the same thing can be said of every shapeshifter. If you get a wrinkle, just shapeshift it away. Bad liver? Just make a new one. Heart disease? Don't even have to wait in the 'donation hospital' lines. Just get one anew." Then, she remembers where she is, and suddenly shuts up and sits up straight.
"So, immortal in regards to old age and cancer and other likewise things."

[Reinholdt]

Common Room

Why? WHY would you do such a horrible thing such as mention Stu?

The flower in a power suit heads over to the reverse mermaid, completely ignoring the drow for now.
"Hey there goldfish. How about I carp you back to my room so I can teach you how to swim upstream?"

Spoiler

Show

In the meantime a drone floats in with a rich chocolate cake for the drow. It figured the drow might like things a little dark.

Ilpholin's Office - Phineas

Ilpholin peers at Phineas, deciding whether to laugh at his words or the cake, but decides it's almost too pathetic to mock.

"And your mistress would be...?"

Ilpholin's Office - Harley

Ilpholin hadn't really considered shapechangers that way before, but supposes a powerful enough one would make that true.

"So, you were born a shapeshifter? And an evil one at that, apparently?" It is a bit unusual for people to include evil in a species descriptor.

[5a Violista]

Ilpholin's Office - Harley

She, Harley nods before answering. "Yes," she says to the first question, "and yes," to the next.

The reason she didn't give a long explanatory description of why she put "Evil Shapeshifter" instead of "Shapeshifter" is that she thought it was so obvious that there's a distinction between "Evil Shapeshifters" and all the other kinds of shapeshifters, that if she just put Shapeshifter, she'd be asked "Which sub-species?" and she's not that interested in the scientific naming system.

[Reinholdt]

Ilpholin's Office - Harley

Ilpholin stares at Harley for a bit, expecting more details. When she sees that she isn't going to get any, she moves on.

"What do you mean by no good deed goes unpunished? I take it has to do with your curse?"

[Drowlord]

Common Room
"Ah, thanks."
He pressed the torc's jewel, and a pentagram of light trapped the cake and brought it inside the jewel. For storage.

[happyturtle]

Common Room

Great. Someone else after sex. And Jeanne can't even talk to tell him to meet her somewhere she doesn't intend to be, and she suspects kicking him in the groin will be less than effective with power armour.

She concentrates and casts an illusion to make the television look like a really hot girl. The hottest girl she can think of - her great aunt Morgana, Archdevil of the First Circle.

Spoiler

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(Art by Vulion)

There! Go bother the tv!

[Reinholdt]

Common Room

But then it might get stale and not eaten! D=

I'm surprised Morgana wears that much clothes to be honest.
Not that it stops Stu's attention from being diverted.
"Hey there. Why don't we go and cook up something special in my room, cause baby are you hot."

[happyturtle]

Common Room

It's handy to have a bit of cloth draped over her to use as impromptu restraints. Helps with the pain part of her duties. *nodnod*

TV-Morgana says nothing, but blows kisses and wiggles to keep Stu's attention. Meanwhile, Jeanne takes advantage of having legs again to try and slip away to her own...

... oh hell! She never joined! She doesn't have a room to slink away to!

Realizing this abruptly, she tries to sneak away to Magtok's office. If she can get there without being accosted by anyone else, and is able to get in, she'll barricade the door with furniture until she's de-transformed enough to have proper control of her magic.

The illusion will gradually falter, go staticky, and eventuallly disappear, starting when Jeanne is about 20 metres away.

[Lord Magtok]

MagOffice => Main Room

So an inexplicably sexy fish is walking around on devil lady legs, wearing jeans, and moving all of Magtok's furniture to block the doorway. That's...that's definitely something, isn't it? Enough to make you think about taking up acid, to try to make the world look less ridiculous.

"I umm...I'm just going to telewarp out now. So erm...see you later, Jeanne? Bye...and stuff."

Magtok opens up a portal and shoves himself into the common room, desperate to get away from the irrational desire to make out with a reverse-mermaid. He doesn't even care that the TV has been replaced with some scantily-clad devil goddess; so long as it's not a fish, she could be ripping his arms off and beating him to death with them for all he cares. That drow guy will probably see him, staggering about awkwardly like he just got kicked in the face by a ghost.

[D_Lord]

Common Room

Oh Stu I think that cake should have been mine. You still own me cake.

[Reinholdt]

Common Room

"I don't make cakes, I make love."
The drone made the cake. It's probably off making more to be honest.

"No wait, don't go yet sweet cheeks. I still haven't shown you my... NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Stu drops to his knees dramatically as the image disappears.

[Sneaky Weasel]

Ilpholin's Office - Phineas

Phineas grins humorlessly, or at least, pulls back his lips to reveal teeth. It's also of note that the temperature of the room is slowly decreasing, and some condensation begins to freeze on the walls.

"She's called the Wraig Golau, the Pale Lady in your tongue. Think of her as...a force of nature, ancient and uncaring. She made me into what I am today." He gestures at himself, his jacket crackling in protestation at the movement. Such a sorry sight compared to what he used to be. At least now he has a cause, if you can call it that.

[Reinholdt]

Ilpholin's Office - Phineas

"And what are you? Wraith? Wight? Ghoul? Cake Golem with Frosting?" Ilpholin says, adding frosting at the last second, noting the ice forming on the walls.

"But more importantly, if she is so uncaring, why is she at odds with us exactly?"

[Sneaky Weasel]

Ilpholin's Office - Phineas

"Oh, but that's the best part," says Phineas, rubbing his hands together, "I'm human. But the Lady can change humans into something...different. I don't have any of those silly moral things that used to plague me. Now I just serve Her."

He leans back in his chair. "And she's not at odds with you, she's not your enemy. But you are a powerful organization, and she doesn't want you to be surprised and angry when she starts taking over parts of the Nexus. It's sort of a...politeness thing. I mean, no one wants any bad feelings going on, right?" His constant grin is getting a bit unnerving, or perhaps merely annoying.

[The Alexandrian]

[Ilphy's Office - Hatter]

"It isn't like any of the robots cudgeled anyone. Heck, they never even lacerated anyone! Nearest any came to seriously mangling anyone was when a member became the subject of one's tenacious grip."

Hatty gripes, pinching his arm in an effort remain awake. Must. Stay. Awake. Must. Complete. Interview.

He should've brought a bowl of hot soup to pour on his face to remedy this scenario. He should've seen it coming!

"Chezchire was this cat that used to be a member of AMEN. I think he's a little dead now. He might not be, but he hasn't been around in a long while and he was the type to make a scene so chances are..."

"But if it really is necessary, I could ask my necromancer friend to try and raise any references you'd like to consult if they are dead!"

[5a Violista]

Ilpholin's Office - Harley

The girl who seems incapable of simplifying and summarizing (Must've skipped out on her Literature classes) responds affirmative. "If you guess that, then you'd be correct, indirectly."

"So, then, it all started several years ago. While I was on some stealth mission, I saw something that caught my interest - I thought that there was something in Good that I was missing." Then, she proceeds to tell her great story about trying to redeem herself from her evil conduct, but how it hopelessly failed and her family disowned her and, despite trying to do good things, everyone (especially the Good people) didn't support her and just claimed that she was trying to trick them into trusting her, and then Harley had an epiphany.
Good and Evil are just the same person wearing a different mask at the Fancy Mask Ballroom, so he can just dance with two different partners. So she might as well stay with those who accept her.

"Unfortunately, during my whimsical journey," she says, using a metaphor where the journey is the journey through Good, "I received this sword." She taps the hilt of the sword on my back to show which sword. It's a longsword. Very old and rusted and dusty. Looks like it was once beautiful, but not anymore. "It prevents me from killing anything (even a rabbit) out of any motive other than 'defend the innocent', and it threatens me with insanity every time I try to remove it."
She shakes her head, as if to say, "It's a rather pitiful plight, isn't it?"
However, should Ilpholin look at the sword, it will seem rather innocent, like a little child. Looking hard enough, she may see big poofy eyes and an angel's halo around it.
Or, maybe she's just tired and began hallucinating.

"I guess a part of me still longs for Good. Namely, my left shoulderblade, my right arm, and my two lungs." She then points at the part between her scar on her face and her nose. "And this part of my face."

If Ilpholin doesn't have a good attention span, she might be a little drowsy after that long story.

"But I've come here in hopes that I can just drive out this blight of insanity (Meaning the desire to be Good) through heinous acts and the such."

((Sorry for suddenly deadtiming; I went to my cousin's house.))

[Drowlord]

Common Room
It's orders. He needs to let the demons have the cake's soul first. Besides, what kind of cheap knockoff magic talisman lets items become stale?

"Hello, Magtok. What is it you would like to speak about?"

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Common Room]

Isabelle walks into the room, Cedric perched on her shoulder as always.

That lil' squirrel is inseparable from her. Probably a good thing. If Cedric ran around on his own there'd likely be someone chasing after him trying to kill him with fire.

...and several corpses.

Corpses good, killing with fire bad. Isabelle likes her pet in an non-burnt state.

The magical mutant monster maker has a cage in one hand, which she sets down beside her. Inside the cage are a trio of ferrets. The ferrets are going absolutely mad in there, thrashing about in their attempts to break free of the cage. They seem disturbingly strong, causing the cage to bounce about violently, almost tipping on its side. Oh, and the metal bars of the cage seem extremely thick...

Several of the bars have got chunks bitten out of them.

Isabelle smiles and whispers softly to the ferrets, then takes out a pocket-watch and stares intently at it as the ferrets continue in their attempts to break free.

[Zefir]

[Main Room - Plane of Chaos]

The irascible Clarissa braces herself as she is bumped backward several feet. She raises a hand to block some of the wind to keep it from tousling her hair.

"Can it and hurry up. You're a mania and without you dominating his mind, I'm sure Zefir will be fine."

Clarissa knows that Zefir can handle himself, most of the time. She thinks that he wouldn't have survived the Nexus this long if he couldn't whip a couple of "bozos" into shape.

[Main Room - Plane of Chaos]

"How unfriendly."

Handle himself In the Nexus? Oh clarissa is much to high in the ranks of power to understand what that means. Zefir barly won any thoughts he fled near everyone since every damn person in this Realm has an ability to beat hi without getting exhausted. Otherwise he didn't need to pick up such strong but dangerouse Items he got.

Well Chaos just picks the things said before and heads to Ele. He goes whispering with him and since I'm not sure how good Clarissa can hear I Spoiler what he sais.

Spoiler

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"Listen Ele. You will stay here. I fear that when you leave as well, this guy will have some seriouse problems and we both know this guy can't handle things. Stay behind and work for him until I come and catch you."

After Ele nods Chaos wents over to the body giving him something to drink from it and after a few moments the body starts moving and chaos in this plane dissapears. The man suddenly flips up from his laying possition taking the falling spear.

"Ah nice thing here, but I need to break some bones and stuff to get all in."

While he brakes his arm and readjust it the world changes and makes a much more normal world. Ele and the new chaos are the only remaining things even the blob and the golem dissapear. Ele takes of the chains from Zefir and throws the body at Clarissa.

"Now let's go back then, shall we?"

He heads for the portal geting smaller now. The portal willlead them back to AMEN.

[Reinholdt]

Ilpholin's Office - Phineas

Ilpholin wants to point out all the logical fallacies she sees in Phineas' statements about being at odds and about being human. It seems fairly clear to her that they'd be lost on this mind-addled gentleman though.

"And which parts does she think she can take over?" Ilpholin asks, drumming her fingers on her desk.

[Ilphy's Office - Hatter]

"Errr... that's alright. You seem to have plenty of other references. What do you mean by Almost the Moon? Did you nearly destroy the moon recently?"

Ilpholin's Office - Harley

"Those are some very specific parts. Did the sword cut you there or something? I know some scientists that could probably amputate all those places and replace them with something probably normalish." Ilpholin suggests. Though Iron Lungs are great for filtering out poisons in the air!