[Nexus] Serious Plots 4 - So Srs it hurts.

[Gullara]

[The City of Tarum - The Dragon Gate]

"I think I might need to know more about the Underworld, then." He rubs his eyes and tries not to look quite so out of place. It's a futile effort, though. "Um, right. I was wondering why your clothes aren't so colourful. Like, your clothes you brought from here. Is that not a very widespread fashion?"

[Shadowcaller]

[The City of Tarum - The Dragon Gate]

"I wore an worn fourth tower robe robe if I recall correctly. It was actually fairly colorful when I first got it. It was about six years ago though, it wasn't so colorful by then." Astrana explains.

As she talk Valente might note that there is a small crowd gathered around what appears to be another tiefling. She have a lighter skin tone than Astrana, more pink-ish than red and her horns just small stubs. She has an more athletic build than his girlfriend and it's easy to see why, she seem to be some form of acrobat.

Dressed in what isn't more than a yellow bikini-top and a matching skirt she is juggling what appears to be small fireballs, using her tail in occasion to make the already impressive performance even more complex looking.

With her is a blue skinned tiefling dressed in a simple vest and loose pants. Neither of them wear shoes. Her partner seem to be more concerned about watching the streets than doing any tricks however.

"Anyway, I haven't been in the underworld but I know people who have. Apparently it's natives call it Mortis so you might want to keep that in mind."

[Gullara]

[The City of Tarum - The Dragon Gate]

Valente is a bit distracted by the show being put on. That's not something you see everyday. At least, he doesn't. Admittedly, he's not just distracted by the show of acrobatics. That skimpy outfit she's wearing is sure catching his eye. Wait, wasn't Astrana saying something? "Um, what was that?"

[Shadowcaller]

[The City of Tarum - The Dragon Gate]

"Moris." Astrana repeats as she stops to catch a glance of the juggling tiefling. So that's what had caught his attention huh?

"It's pretty impressive, I can't do that for sure. I didn't train my fire control to that level." She comments. "...and she looks pretty good too, especially in that outfit." The warlock smirks at her boyfriend.

[Gullara]

[The City of Tarum - The Dragon Gate]

Valente coughs and averts his eyes from the other tiefling. Oops. "Um, yeah. She's pretty talented." Yes, because that was clearly the only reason he was staring.

[Terumitsu]

The Marbled Halls

"Let's see..."

Magtok attempts to read the QR code, having no idea what to make of this. Rebels of some sort? A righteous secret peasant revolution in the works, a nefarious scheming nobility one? Some other third thing, a test of Maggy's trustworthiness?

The Marbled Halls

Pat tilts up onto her toes and props her head up on Magtok's shoulder to look over it easier before raising an eyebrow. She'd never understood why people used those codes.

Magtok would find himself linked to a rather bare site. There was quite literally nothing else aside from a timer counting down from ten and two sentences in plain text: 'What protects the silver moon? The black armor of midnight.'

Well that hardly made any sense... Either this was indeed some kind of prank done by that 'troublemaker' or something highly suspect was going on here. Of course.. Weren't there pass phrases made in question and answer form? It might be worth remembering, at any rate, as once the timer hit zero, the site automatically refreshed only to display that there was no valid address anymore.

There might not be much time to ponder this as there was another rap at the door although the person on the other side managed to make even their knock somewhat bombastic.

[Shadowcaller]

[The City of Tarum - The Dragon Gate]

"Be careful though, I used the same trick while my partner in crime would have emptied your pockets." Astrana remarks as Valente will feel her still invisible tail discreetly sliding into his pocket.

[Gullara]

[The City of Tarum - The Dragon Gate]

Valente touches her tail and gives her a sidelong smile. "Hey, I did grow up in a city, you know. I'm not entirely naive." He glances toward the juggling tiefling again. "But what's this about you robbing people? I don't think I approve."

[Shadowcaller]

[The City of Tarum - The Dragon Gate]

Astrana shrugs a bit, her tail retreating from his pocket. "I admit it, I was a thief once. I thought I told you." Or maybe she forgot to mention that part. "It was dangerous and it's not something I want to do again but it was the only way to get by." Not entirely true but as they talk a patrol of armored men are approaching the scene.

The blue-skinned tiefling quickly spots them and makes a bow to the audience, his fair-skinned companion quickly doing the same. "Thank you for your support, I love you all!!!" She says with a smile before the two quickly retreat, taking the little hat they had with donations with them.

[Gullara]

[The City of Tarum - The Dragon Gate]

Valente watches as the pair of tieflings take their leave. It takes him a moment longer to notice the armoured men approaching. "Do you think they were up to something similar then? They sure never wasted any time getting out of here." He asks.

[Shadowcaller]

[The City of Tarum - The Dragon Gate]

The guards try to force their way through the crowd with little success as the two tieflings disappear into the mass of people.

"Very likely. I know this scam. We always had a human companion emptying the pockets of the audience while we performed. Preferably a child, if the victim manages to grab the child she or he is going to scream like the victim is hitting her and no one likes child abuse." Astrana explains.

[Gullara]

[The City of Tarum - The Dragon Gate]

"Astrana, I never knew you were such a bad girl." Valente lets go of her hand to give her a squeeze around the waist. "It's kind of hot."

[Shadowcaller]

[The City of Tarum - The Dragon Gate]

It might be noted that people around them seem to be fairly open about public intimate contact considering the way they all dress. The fashion is fairly open.

The tiefling barely suppresses a giggle. "I think 'bad' me would be a bit much for you to handle. I'm a reformed woman now you know? You redeemed me."

[Gullara]

[The City of Tarum - The Dragon Gate]

"A bit hard to handle, huh? But now I'm just curious." Valente smirks at her. "I'm happy with my sweet, good love, though." He plants a kiss in her hair. He doesn't intend to get any more intimate than that, though.

[Shadowcaller]

[The City of Tarum - The Dragon Gate]

"And you should be." She warns with a mischievous smile. "Warlocks aren't to be trifled with you know? Just imagine what I could do to you with all my evil pacts..." She then whispers suggestively.

[Gullara]

[The City of Tarum - The Dragon Gate]

"Oh, I'm imagining. You'd have to punish me for my insolence I imagine." He whispers back with a lecherous grin. He may be enjoying this train of thought a bit too much.

[Lord Magtok]

The Marbled Halls

"What protects the silver moon? The black armor of midnight. Can you remember that question and answer if I forge-"

There might not be much time to ponder this as there was another rap at the door although the person on the other side managed to make even their knock somewhat bombastic.

Magtok hurriedly tries to toss the scroll aside and hide it under a bed. He's not entirely sure why he's doing this, but that doesn't stop him from doing it anyways, and doing his best to maintain a neutral, impassive facial expression when he opens the door.

[Shadowcaller]

[The City of Tarum - The Dragon Gate]

"Oh, I'm imagining. You'd have to punish me for my insolence I imagine." He whispers back with a lecherous grin. He may be enjoying this train of thought a bit too much.

[The City of Tarum - The Dragon Gate]

"You're really too much into this, you know that?" Astrana states with a smile as they manage to get out of the thickest crowd. They're now approaching the gate itself, adorned by a sculptured dragon head.

"Perhaps you aren't as good as I once thought..."

[Gullara]

[The City of Tarum - The Dragon Gate]

Valente laughs and squeezes her around the waist. "So I made you a good girl, and at the same time you made me into a bad boy?"

[Shadowcaller]

[The City of Tarum - The Dragon Gate]

"I'm more inclined to believe you were already a bad boy under the guise of a good one considering the things you told me about your past." Astrana says with a smile.

There is a line out and apparently Astrana is guiding them towards one of the shorter lines which is filled by tieflings and other non-humans such as a plant person of some kind and a merman.

[Gullara]

[The City of Tarum - The Dragon Gate]

"Oh, so I was fooling you this whole time, was I?" Valente laughs a bit. "Well I guess that would be a bad thing to do too." He looks over toward the lineup they're headed toward and frowns a bit. "So I guess that sort of thing is why we're disguised." He says quietly.

[Shadowcaller]

[The City of Tarum - The Dragon Gate]

"Yes." Astrana curtly replies, not looking as carefree as she did a moment ago as they approach the line, a few people from the other lines glancing at them. They do look rather odd among the tieflings and other humanoids gathered there, Valente fitting in more than Astrana thanks to his odd skin color.

They stand there a while, the line moving a lot slower than the other ones as the security appears to be a lot tighter. Then all of sudden two familiar tieflings moves into the line behind them. They're wearing brown travel robes now but it's definitely them.

The fair-skinned one even seem to recognize him. "Hey! I saw you at our show! I never forget a true 'brother'." She says with a wide smile.

[Gullara]

[The City of Tarum - The Dragon Gate]

"Oh, hey. Yeah, that was a good show you were putting on." Valente seems a bit surprised to see her. Or rather, that she decided to talk to him. "Um, what do you mean 'true brother'?" He's a bit confused by that too. He glances at Astrana, seeming a bit unsure.

[Shadowcaller]

[The City of Tarum - The Dragon Gate]

The tiefling gives him a confused look. "I'm sorry, I guess I should have realized you weren't from around here."

"She means that you're both from Mortis Valente, your skin color. You're both from the underworld." Astrana attempts to explain with a gesture at the other woman.

The blue tiefling don't say anything, he seem to be much more interested in their surroundings.

[UncleWolf]

Marbled Halls

Pat doesn't try to figure out what it was and simply pays attention to the timer, waiting for it to count down. When the knock comes, she looks up but continues the count in her head.

[Gullara]

[The City of Tarum - The Dragon Gate]

"Oh! Oh right, Mortis, right." Valente says, chuckling just a bit nervously. "My bad. It just never occurred to me that you're from there too."

[Shadowcaller]

[The City of Tarum - The Dragon Gate]

"All white-skins are from there hun." The pink-ish tiefling explains. "So what are you doing around here? No offense but it doesn't look like you belong in this line unless there is something more of you than meets the eye."

[Gullara]

[The City of Tarum - The Dragon Gate]

"Uh, you know how bureaucracy is. Give them a funny look and they slap you with demihuman status. Hard to argue with those guys." Valente shrugs. What can he do. "But anyway, I'm up here visiting with my wife." He gives Astrana a squeeze around the waist as he says wife and gives her a little sidelong smile.

[Shadowcaller]

[The City of Tarum - The Dragon Gate]

"Where going to visit my parents together." Astrana explains, returning Valente's glance as she takes his hand into his and returns the squeeze.

"Well, you just look adorable together. Don't you think Mias?" She glances at the blue skinned tiefling who gives them a brief smile. "A beautiful couple." He agrees.

"We're personally looking for a little change of scenery, we have spend far too long in this city. It's constraining." She comments, shaking her head. "The name is Ilsa by the way, who're you?"

[Gullara]

[The City of Tarum - The Dragon Gate]

"Ah. I'm Valente and this is Astrana." He introduces them. Is his name going to sound odd here? Maybe she'll just assume it's some foreign naming convention. That's just what it is, after all. More or less. "It's nice to meet you."