[Nexus] Trog's Tavern CCXLIII

[ThirdEmperor]

"Uh.. An eyebrow is quirked and brow furrowed with slight confusion, the strangeness of Samantha's backpedalling not entirely lost on the wizard. But then, weren't they just discussing how different their cultures were? In all likelihood it's another strange mannerism of foreign lands, no more.

So he shrugs and drops the matter for now.

"Yes, I suppose if there is the Etheric there might be other worlds still. But I think simply another continent is enough strangeness for me. What could live in other realms I cannot imagine. Perhaps they're all blue with twenty-seven arms and hair made of eyes!"

[Rebonack]

Oh hey!

What's this?

People chattering about alternate realities?

Wow! That's something the tiny unicorn is well equipped to talk about! "The weird discombobulated look is actually because you can only see a three dimensional cross-section of n-dimensional critters," he speaks up.

Well.

That... umm...

"But for just plane old weird you don't have to look very far. The Nexus is full of that."

Y'know.

Like the talking pony with a horn?

That's pretty weird. Though that knight made completely out of shrubbery playing darts with a giant sea anemone is probably just as strange.

[Me.]

Samantha can't help a fit of laughter from bursting forth.After a few minutes of laughing, she regains her breath through some heavy gasping and looks back at the wizard "Yes, I suppose that is very possible. " She gives him another smile, this on slightly flirtatious, as she pulls a strand of hair from in front of her face and tucks it behind her ear.

[5a Violista]

"I've heard of a woman with snakes for hair," adds Levi without really adding anything to the conversation. "'course, don't know if she's real or not."

Addressing Samantha, Levi says, "The universe's a big place. Enough room for lots of different worlds." To be honest, he's pretty sure that he's on a different world than he started on. Because humans using magic is something he's only seen once before coming here, and that had an interesting story behind it.

"Like that, for example. I've never seen a talking horse before. That kind of stuff only happens in The Wizard of Oz."

Levi, who has a sword, turns in his chair towards the talking unicorn. (He decides that it'll be cool enough just to leave the wizard and the healer talking without him butting in the conversation.) "How much do you know about this place, The Nexus?" he asks, wanting to know more.

[Rebonack]

The unicorn in question has no sword.

He has a fork though! His salad finally arrived. Again, without really thinking about it, he picks up the bowl and fork and begins munching the snack. The dish and utensil just kind of... stick... to his hooves. For some reason.

Sigil munches thoughtfully at the swordsman's comment. "The Wizard of Oz had a horse. But it didn't talk. Just changed color between cuts, I think. And technically I'm a pony."

Ponies are a type of horse, silly.

"Fair bit! I was born here after all. Plenty of people are," om nom nom salad. "What do you want to know about it? I'll do my best to answer your question in the spirit of inquiry!"

Sigil raises his fork triumphantly!

FOR GREAT SCIENCE!

[ThirdEmperor]

There's a unicorn talking to them.

...

"Uh, yes, that would make sense." No. No it wouldn't. Nothing makes sense. A unicorn is talking to them. "So, is that what you are? An... en-dimensional creature?" The wizard asks, glancing helplessly towards Levi or Samantha in the hopes they'll know what to do.

[5a Violista]

Levi also has a cape that is usually blowing dramatically in the wind. Not right now, though, because he's inside a tavern.

The swordsguy, who, in fact, has never actually seen The Wizard of Oz, makes his inquiry to the pony. "Okay. I've got three questions." Three's a good number.

"First, do ponies usually talk here?" he asks.
"Second, outside of this city, what else is there here?"
"Third, do you know where I could find a good set of strong iron chains? The kind that's used to hold down handcuffed criminals."

[Rebonack]

Sigil Stripe wrinkles his nose at the wizard's question. "What? No, of course not. I'm a pony."

Duh.

What else would he be?

"A unicorn pony, if you want to be specific. I'm sure you have noticed all the... eerr... unique beings milling around in Trog's. There's a pretty simple reason for that. This place?" he waves a hoof at the surroundings. "Is less a place and more a places. A point were many different realities mix and mingle together. It's even more striking if you wander around in the city or the wilderness beyond this tavern. The surroundings can quickly jump from what type to another."

That sounds pretty crazy!

"One moment you're walking on a grassy plane? BAM!" he clops his hooves together. "The next moment you're on top of a mountain made of discarded tires and chains."

Then more questions! Wee!

Sigil loves chatting with people about neat and crazy things!

"First, yes. Sort of? The ponies that look like me talk pretty much without exception. The ponies that look like horses in miniature usually don't. In fact, horses are one of the few animals in the Nexus who are almost always just animals. Huh... wonder why..."

That's something to muse about later.

"Second, everything. Yes. Everything. Head outside of the City and you can end up anywhere and anywhen. Just be careful with your wandering or you might end up in a planescape that has acid for air."

That's always pretty terrible.

"Third, MagMart. It's a store you can find over at MallSide. I'm pretty sure they carry hardware."

[5a Violista]

"Acid for air?" Levi's definitely surprised. In fact, his eyebrows go up just to show that. Both of them, in fact.

"That's got to be unpleasant," he understates.

He silently puts the name "MagMart" into the box of his mind for "Places that I need to Go to"

"It sure sounds really convenient to have the setting change so quickly here," remarks the guy who was recovering from being possessed.

[Rebonack]

"It doesn't happen that often. Usually someone has to actually want to show up in a lethal environment to get there. Just make sure to have proper protective gear or spells ready before hoof!"

Y'know. Instead of before hand?

Since he has no hands?

...anyway.

"Ah, well. Maybe not convenient," Sigil replies as he polishes off his salad and starts in on a muffin. "But really neat! I've done a lot fo exploring around the Nexus and I haven't even started to scratch the surface! This place is like a dream come true for anyone interested in reagent magic."

Reagent magic is the best!

[5a Violista]

"What's Reagent magic?" asks Levi the guy with a sword on his back.

...I don't even know what it is, either. Some kind of magic, I guess. Levi guesses the same, but doesn't know what kind it is.

((Sorry for the short post.))

[Rebonack]

Sometimes less is more.

Though Sigil doesn't seem to think so. Especially when magic is the topic. He'll ramble endlessly about that subject.

Behold!

"Ah! You aren't familiar with reagent magic then? Well! Allow me to elucidate then, my two legged friend! There are many different ways to focus magic, just as there are many different power sources magic can be drawn from. Reagent magic in particular uses specific ingredients as a vital portion of the spell that is consumed by the magic in the process of casting. Generally speaking reagent magic is able to produce more powerful effects than spells that can be cast through concentration and will alone."

That's...

Umm... Interesting? Sort of?

"Many reagents are rare and unusual. Difficult to come by. But because of how varied the Nexus is it's often relatively easy to find a planescape where the reagent you're looking for is common."

[ThirdEmperor]

That's... interesting. The wizard isn't sure how much of it to believe, coming from a talking non-n-dimensional unicorn pony, but, interesting.

"When you say reagent, would you mean something like this?" Reaching down the neck of his heavy woolen coat, the wizard withdraws a small cylinder of gold with a thick loop on top, through which runs a thin chain holding it around his neck. Although tarnished green in some spots, the metal glows with a faint yellow-green light that marks it as either magical or radioactive.

For his sake, let's hope the former.

[5a Violista]

"No, I'm not familiar with magic. I usually just beat stuff up with shiny swords, and plan out the defense of cities and the like," he agrees. Magic's not really his thing. He doesn't mind guns, but he prefers shiny swords.

Of course, he doesn't count what he can do with light as magic, because it's so common to him that there's nothing mystical or arcane to it.

Levi turns to the wizard, and looks at the revealed necklace that is probably radioactive, in his opinion.

(I am going to sleep! Goodnight.) Levi can be effectively ignored for all intents and purposes.

[Rebonack]

Bopping things with swords, shiny or not, is a long and prestigious tradition.

And Sigil has a very exhaustive definition of magic. As far as he's concerned 'Magic' is a much wider subject than usually considered. Case in point- "Magic is nothing more than imposing one's Will on the world around them. Whether your tool is a rod of psionically resonant crystal or a lever with a sharp edge-"

Like a sword.

"-you're still using magic."

He kicks his hooves a bit, glancing over at the glowy thing in a bottle. Ooooh! "Probably! Mind if I take a closer look?"

His horn begins to glow a pearlescent white in anticipation of grabbing the object with his telekinesis.

[ThirdEmperor]

It's a small weight of solid metal, not a bottle. The glow emanates from the gold itself.

"Sure." The wizard says, lifting the chain over his head and holding the pendant out. Letting go of your focus, even for a second, is not something wizards are supposed to do, but, he has a hard time imagining Sigil as malevolent.

[Rebonack]

Sigil then uses the focus to suck out the wizard's soul! Bwah ha ha!

A glow matching Sigil Stripe's horn shrouds the bit of metal and pulls it over to himself, hovering in front of his face. The unicorn narrows his perception as he probes at the object to see if he can't figure out what sort of properties it has.

How it interacts with the user's Will. What power sources it taps into. Things of that nature.

"Does it have a name?" he inquires curiously. "See, I study magic. Magic in all its forms and diversity. I'm writing a book. Or... it might end up being a series of books."

A bit of nose wrinkling follows.

"I've been trying to catalog and describe every form of power source and focus used by various forms of magic. The Nexus is the perfect place for such a study! But it's understandably pretty daunting."

[ThirdEmperor]

Well that answers the question of how Sigil intended to hold it without any hands. And brings up quite a few more in the process.

And as for Sigil's own inquiries;

The unearthly metal from which the pendant is forged seems to act as a stable link to another realm, through which flows a slight trickle of magical energy. Too slight to power even the meanest cantrip. But with a little more poking around, the unipony might be able to puzzle out that this energy is highly psychoreactive and, with a little concentration, more can be channeled through the link.

[Rebonack]

"Ah! I see! No, this wouldn't be related to reagent magic," Sigil replies as he floats the chunk of metal back to the wizard. "Near as I can tell it shouldn't be consumed in the casting of spells. It serves as a conduit for power, a fetish."

Yes. A fetish is an object used to channel magical energy. Not a kink. At least not in this context.

"Wands, talismans, pendents, dorjes... They're all fetishes of one kind or another. A tool to focus and shape and draw power to be harnessed by the mage's Will," Sigil points a hoof at the bit of metal. "The power source seems to be extra-dimensional, though I can't quite tell where exactly. Would you mind using it to cast a spell? I'll bet I would be able to track the power source better if you did!"

Indeedy! He needs to classify this new finding for SCIENCE!

[ThirdEmperor]

"Yes. If you'll answer my questions in return." Taking the pendant back, the wizard turns his palm upwards and closes his eyes in concentration. The yellowish glow briefly intensifies tenfold and a small bud of flame blooms into existence above his hand.

As one might guess the link to the Etheric is opened in full during this process, giving Sigil enough time to catch a glimpse of what lies beyond; Power. A rolling ocean of pure magical power, or, perhaps a storm would be a more appropriate metaphor, boundless energies forever in motion and on occasion clashing against one another with cataclysmic force.

Identifiable within this maelstrom are distinct subcurrents, magic tinged by residual emotions leached from the concurrent area of the mortal plane. Anger, sorrow, distrust, fear and joy are all present, along with a million different flavors, all fighting between themselves.

[Rebonack]

The unicorn's eyes light up at the sight! Well. Not literally. But he's still fascinated. Being able to see magic and how it interacts with things makes his studies quite a bit easier. Magic is a very concrete thing to Sigil Stripe.

"Ah! Pathos as a power source! A plane of potential and clashing emotion, that's pretty interesting!" and with that said he levitates a notebook and quill out of his saddlebags and jots down a few observations. "Metalic... pendant... fetish... Elemental pathos power source... eerr..." the unicorn looks up from his book. "Is there a name for the place the magic is coming from? Oh, and your name and the name of your home would be really useful as well. I want to make sure you get proper credit in the documentation."

Would be rude otherwise.

"Now then, what's your question?"

[Devixer]

Imesah walks into the tavern, possibly followed by Sam Saturday. She absorbs her surroundings, reaching to take off her helmet.

[ThirdEmperor]

((Yo, Rebo, just so you know, I'm not ignoring you. Waiting on Me. to post, cause I suspect his characters would be rather interested in all this.))

Sam Saturday indeed following Imesah, closing the door behind them before sauntering over to a table. "I think you'll find yourself fitting in well here. There's no shortage of work for wandering adventurer types, quite the opposite, truth be told."

[Devixer]

"It has been a while since I did some more plain adventuring," Imesah says as she removes her helmet and heads to the same table that Sam occupies. Sam may note that if her face had less dirt and grime on it, she would be quite striking.

[Lord Magtok]

"Reality alterations,"Jean says. "Like I said, disgusting. Also, hard for non-fae to control." He sees the message on the dessert menu, and hopes this whole thing goes well enough for him to get out quickly.

Magtok Errol Flynn looks about, and shakes his head. Crap, this is exactly his punishment for expecting the tavern to just power down for his own convenience, isn't it? So many strangers with unknown skills and talents, and only himself and his devil ally to help him. Next time try to keep that hubris under control, would you?

"On the count of three, then. One..."

Flynn puts his drink down and tenses, getting ready to spring into action.

"Two..."

Well okay, one last Trogtilla chip. But that's it! At least your other hand is in that pocket, tightening around your new weapon, so it's not like you'll be completely unprepared for your own wicked shenanigans.

"Three!"

[happyturtle]

At "two" Jean aims a shot at Reinholdt, though if his player wants to handwave that he already left for his quest, then that shot went at a particularly dangerous looking npc instead

At "three" Jean jumps up on the table, and Errol Flynn and his first mate suddenly look like Honey Bunny and Pumpkin from Pulp Fiction

"Any of you ****ing ****s move, and I'll execute every ****ing last one of ya!" she shouts. And then Jeanne / Honey Bunny starts firing anyway, and with a gun that isn't capable of executing anyone. She just really wanted to use that Pulp Fiction line.

The pistol she's shooting fires a beam that, if it hits, will attempt to convert the victim into a mer-person: top have unchanged, bottom half fish. It is a temporary effect, perhaps lasting an hour or two of IC time. Unless you happen to be Kate Kyland. Then, who knows?

Pew pew pew!

[Earl of Purple]

The hobgoblin wearing the long, concealing trench coat with the collar up and a wide-brimmed hat pulled low over his face reaches into his coat and takes out a two-barrelled flintlock pistol. He doesn't shoot yet, preferring to duck for cover first.

[Hattish Thing]

Enshadu growls and burst up at the attacks. He was hiding away in the corner, and was lying low. He had been watching the three though. When they fire, Enshadu looks through his specially designed eye. (Yay Elexxion!) His right hand shifts into an odd gun-like machine full of special buttons and a switch. He'll then generate a magical burst of energy from his gun, and the burst will go to where the magic eye has targeted: "Jean". The black burst that flies out will try and hit here in the stomach, where should it hit, it will sink into her stomach. Enshadu will move up to confront the three, his left hand shifting into a long black claw with pincers. He'll speak out. Heh...you three think you're so tough! Gonna execute me? Hehe. I was waiting to test out my new body...Elexxion remade me ya know? (They had the technology.) Now These nanobots re-shift my hands into any weapon, and I got more protection under my very skin. So, you three going to pick a fight, do it with me. I know I can at least kill one of you...

[Rebonack]

Oh.

Crazy people with guns. Crazy people who clearly aren't Magtok, right? Clearly. Crazy people that...

Apparently...

Have weapons that turn anyone who are blasted into mer-things.

...

All of the pain and suffering heaped on his friends. All of it. Had started because of fleeing Trog's when Magtok and that buddy of his started causing havoc with a similar weapon. If his friend hadn't been forced to teleport when she was hesitant about it then that thing wouldn't have gotten the chance to glom onto her.

Not-Magtok had better not be Magtok. Because when the dust settles? If he is then Sigil Stripe is probably going to be really pissed off.

For now he mutters a few words as his horn flares, a bubble of percentile magic appearing around himself and anyone who happens to be within about ten feet or so. The mer-morpher rays poing off the barrier harmlessly.

"That had better not be you again, Magtok!" the cute little talking pony snarls in as vicious of a voice as he can manage. "If someone else gets hurt because of your insipid nonsense then I swear I will end you!"

That isn't a very cute thing for a cute talking pony to say.

[ThirdEmperor]

In an alternate time bubble securely parallel to the flow of events involving Definitely-Not-Magtok-But-Maybe-Errol-Flynn, Sam pulls out a chair for Imesah like any gentleman ought to. "Really? What might that spot of demon slaying I observed have been then, if not adventuring?"