[Nexus] Dancing Fox Inn VI: Wait, there used to be a Ribbajack here?

[Felandria]

Naku shakes her head once at the comment, and informed Felandria that "It's all right. Anyone who was bothering me isn't exactly around to bother me any more." She says with a slight smirk, running a bloody hand through her hair, which serves only to make it clump more. But whatever.

"But no, so long as you're in my inn," odd emphasis on the possessive there, "if you need anything, just come talk to me; not the other way around."

I will.

I didn't mean to offend, but when I see blood like that, I remember my experiences in the underdark and, well, after what happened down there I feel obligated to make sure something like that never happens again.

See, there was this guy, his name was Chance, he's... like you.

He wanted to make me his bride, I barely knew him, but I have to admit the offer was tempting, but there was this sick bastard, an old wizard who was also a...

He stole my body, he convinced my friends that Chance was a monster, he quickly figured out what was wrong, but he couldn't convince them and the wizard used me to kill him, along with our bard.

They managed to save me and get my body back, and Chance was able to restore himself, he told me he loved me, I told him I couldn't accept his offer as long as my quest was incomplete.

But now, I don't even know if he'd want anything to do with me now, you know, it's funny, at first, I never would have even considered his offer, but now....

Felandria starts to cry.

I'm sorry if I offended you, it's just....

[Mee]

Aiden looks at Naku before nodding and standing up. "Thanks. It's really cold out there, shocking as that is." He moves to the fireplace to warm himself.

Naku nods once to him, making a mental note to get him a warm drink when she got back.

The woman scrunched up her face at mention of the fireplace. She rather disliked warmth, but resumed a more polite demeanor and thanked Naku for the offer anyway. "Before you go - if you don't mind - how much is a room here?"

"Oh, um . . ." Naku says, wiping a hand across her lips to try to clear the blood away. It fails and smears horribly.
"Right now fairly cheap, like . . . first few nights are free.

Yeah."
Granted; Naku has NEVER charged for sleeping here, but that's not the point.

I will.

I didn't mean to offend, but when I see blood like that, I remember my experiences in the underdark and, well, after what happened down there I feel obligated to make sure something like that never happens again.

See, there was this guy, his name was Chance, he's... like you.

He wanted to make me his bride, I barely knew him, but I have to admit the offer was tempting, but there was this sick bastard, an old wizard who was also a...

He stole my body, he convinced my friends that Chance was a monster, he quickly figured out what was wrong, but he couldn't convince them and the wizard used me to kill him, along with our bard.

They managed to save me and get my body back, and Chance was able to restore himself, he told me he loved me, I told him I couldn't accept his offer as long as my quest was incomplete.

But now, I don't even know if he'd want anything to do with me now, you know, it's funny, at first, I never would have even considered his offer, but now....

Felandria starts to cry.

I'm sorry if I offended you, it's just....

Naku just waves a hand slightly.
"Stop crying; it's unbecoming. Especially if it's about me. If it's about your friend, then that's fine. And you're fine, I'm not offended at all, in fact, I appreciate the offer, but it's really not necessary.
There's nothing left here that's out to kill me. Anything that wants me dead is safely . . . you know.

Not here.

I just badly need to bathe."

[Siena]

[snip]

Felandria starts to cry.

I'm sorry if I offended you, it's just....

The woman with the floppy hat pulled the rim down over her ear on Felandria's side, but swirled her paper fan to summon a tissue box for the sobbing girl. It appeared in front of the half-giant along with a little purple smoke and had the faint scent of apples and cinnamon.
She addressed Naku. "Wonderful. I may stay a few nights, then."

[Felandria]

The woman with the floppy hat pulled the rim down over her ear on Felandria's side, but swirled her paper fan to summon a tissue box for the sobbing girl. It appeared in front of the half-giant along with a little purple smoke and had the faint scent of apples and cinnamon.
She addressed Naku. "Wonderful. I may stay a few nights, then."

Felandria takes a few tissues and wipes her eyes.

Thanks.

I guess the stress is getting to me, that's why the party took some time to take care of things while the danger is dormant.

Any of you know a good place nearby to do some shopping?

[Lady Serpentine]

Sorrow, a tall Tiefling with pale hair, apparently some sort of mage, judging by the staff made of human bones on his back, and the robes, has finally come out of deadtime, so while Fade is in limbo, he's resumed his normal duties, and, judging by the fact that her glass is now filled, and he's the only one behind the bar, got Felandria her drink at some point during her speech.

His sister, Fear, who's wearing much-patched leather armor, and a pair of thin knives which are perhaps the length of her forearm, smiles at the half-elf from a nearby seat, laughing softly as she does.

"There's nothing near the Dancing Fox. That's sort of the point. But I might know a few good places in the cities. It depends on what you're looking for."

[Mindfreak]

Songdancer had been rather silent since Naku returned, mostly from the shock of how she looked.
And now he was at the fireplace, prodding the ground with his hoof with a sad look on his face.
Someone should totally ask him what's wrong!
Or perhaps not, if that's how you feel. Either way, there's a sad cartoon pony prodding the ground with a hoof.

[Morty]

Dipsnig undeadtimes, sitting by the bar. He recognizes... none of those people, and that's something that doesn't happen to him very often. Some of them are probably new, of course, but it looks like the DFI keeps a select clientele too.
His wolf, meanwhile, goes to curl up by the fireplace, unbothered by the pony already present there.

[Felandria]

Sorrow, a tall Tiefling with pale hair, apparently some sort of mage, judging by the staff made of human bones on his back, and the robes, has finally come out of deadtime, so while Fade is in limbo, he's resumed his normal duties, and, judging by the fact that her glass is now filled, and he's the only one behind the bar, got Felandria her drink at some point during her speech.

His sister, Fear, who's wearing much-patched leather armor, and a pair of thin knives which are perhaps the length of her forearm, smiles at the half-elf from a nearby seat, laughing softly as she does.

"There's nothing near the Dancing Fox. That's sort of the point. But I might know a few good places in the cities. It depends on what you're looking for."

Equipment, mostly, one or two magic items and some new clothes, ideally custom made.

[Zefir]

Dipsnig undeadtimes, sitting by the bar. He recognizes... none of those people, and that's something that doesn't happen to him very often. Some of them are probably new, of course, but it looks like the DFI keeps a select clientele too.
His wolf, meanwhile, goes to curl up by the fireplace, unbothered by the pony already present there.

The guy behind the bar still looks at the goblin.

"Can I bring you anything?" he asks again.

[Morty]

"Another rogues' rum for me," Dipsnig says. It's good enough and this place doesn't seem to have too many goblin-oriented drinks. He turns on his stool towards Felandria.
"If you want to buy this kind of thing, you can't really go wrong with Erin's Emporium. They have everything there."

[Devixer]

Aiden keeps sitting at the fireplace, though now he's making an effort to ignore the cartoon pony, occasionally glancing at the wolf who's not attacking anybody.

[Luka]

The crusader would just remain sitting where he was, he would notice the stuff around: a wolf, a man trying to get warm and... Wtf is that?

He just stays there, wondering what should he do or how to proceed or something.

[Felandria]

"Another rogues' rum for me," Dipsnig says. It's good enough and this place doesn't seem to have too many goblin-oriented drinks. He turns on his stool towards Felandria.
"If you want to buy this kind of thing, you can't really go wrong with Erin's Emporium. They have everything there."

Excellent.

I'll set out there in the morning, but for now, it's about time I got a real full night's sleep, the ring of sustenance works fine, but it's just not the same, you know?

Felandria grabs her key and flask and starts to head back to the room......

[Siena]

Sorrow, a tall Tiefling with pale hair, apparently some sort of mage, judging by the staff made of human bones on his back, and the robes, has finally come out of deadtime, so while Fade is in limbo, he's resumed his normal duties, and, judging by the fact that her glass is now filled, and he's the only one behind the bar, got Felandria her drink at some point during her speech.

The woman with the witch hat contemplated helping Fel with the magic items bit, despite her internal clock - wonky from a lifetime of magic - telling her it was no longer Sunday. Hm.
She decided it was Sunday until she had been in a bed for at least three hours, which meant she wasn't doing anything resembling work, and magic items were work.
Instead, she took a moment to look at each of the tavern goers, landing on Sorrow. The staff was interesting... and he worked here! She took a seat at the bar and studied his Teifling features with a sort-of scholarly interest.

[Mee]

The woman with the floppy hat pulled the rim down over her ear on Felandria's side, but swirled her paper fan to summon a tissue box for the sobbing girl. It appeared in front of the half-giant along with a little purple smoke and had the faint scent of apples and cinnamon.
She addressed Naku. "Wonderful. I may stay a few nights, then."

"Of course; stay as long as you like."
With that, it seemed the staff had everything under control, so Naku went upstairs into her own room to go bathe and change her clothes.

[Lady Serpentine]

The woman with the witch hat contemplated helping Fel with the magic items bit, despite her internal clock - wonky from a lifetime of magic - telling her it was no longer Sunday. Hm.
She decided it was Sunday until she had been in a bed for at least three hours, which meant she wasn't doing anything resembling work, and magic items were work.
Instead, she took a moment to look at each of the tavern goers, landing on Sorrow. The staff was interesting... and he worked here! She took a seat at the bar and studied his Teifling features with a sort-of scholarly interest.

He seems to be half-starved, though apparently improving, and doesn't seem to be noticeably impaired by it.

His skin is a dark red, with faint paler bands in places; he also has mid-length straight horns covering his head, a thin tail, ending in a vicious barb, and yellow eyes. Otherwise, though, he seems fairly human, and would probably be reasonably good looking if he weren't so thin.

If she can tell such things, she may be aware that the staff is... odd... in some fashion, and connected to him.

Meanwhile, Fear would have pointed out that Erin's actually pretty much only does weapons and similar things, but Felandria headed off before she got a chance to, so instead she simply rolls her eyes and mutters something about impatience.

[Luka]

From his table, the crusader would notice the tiefling and the woman, he.... kinda frowns below his helmet, mostly at the staff made of bones and the hat; the later may not mean something that bad, but the former.... Well, the material would feel just plain wrong or something like that.

He would kind of shift to a side a bit, still not really knowing what to do at the moment, and a bit more suspicious of where he is.

But then he would see the wolf, the cold one and the..... way-too-childish-for-what-he-likes looking thing. He would just stand up and approach the cold person, strange, he didn't remember it being that cold outside, or maybe it's because he would like cold so much .

"Hey, are you ok, or it's just cold? I could heat the shield and would help you if you want" He says, youngish voice coming from the helmet again.

[Mindfreak]

Songdancer keeps prodding the ground with a hoof.
He looks even sadder now.
Come on! How is no one not heartbroken from the sight?

[Felandria]

Excellent.

I'll set out there in the morning, but for now, it's about time I got a real full night's sleep, the ring of sustenance works fine, but it's just not the same, you know?

Felandria grabs her key and flask and starts to head back to the room......

Before Felandria reaches the stairs, a tiny arrow shoots out of her hair and whizzes past Fear.

Styx, what the hell?

I told you I didn't want to get in a bar fight.

A tiny, horned imp with wings, not quite a foot tall, emerges from Felandria's hair and lands on her shoulder.

Come on, Fifi, it'll be fun.

I've been so bored the last week or so, it'll be funny if you fling some little dudes around.

First of all, I told you not to call me that.

Secondly, I promise you we'll have some fun once we get to a big city, but tonight I just want to relax.

Ugh, fine, no more arrows, I promise.

Good, now we're going over there and you're going to apologize to those nice tieflings, understand?

Or What?

Or I'm getting a nice short haircut and you won't have your nice warm place to sleep.

Okay, okay, geez, I'll behave.

Felandria walks over to the tieflings and takes a knee, Styx hops onto the bar.

Sorry about that, he didn't hit you, did he?

[Lady Serpentine]

As the arrow flies past her, Fear begins to grow, armor and weapons reforming to fit her new size, crackling sparks running up and down the pair of long, straight, horns that sprout from her dark brown hair, forming a ball of lightning between them; she settles at several inches taller than Felandria, right around the time that Styx mentions it would be funny for the half-giant to throw some people around.

When Felandria arrives at her table - which, along with the chair, seems to have resized itself as well - the Tiefling shakes her head, smiling at her and the imp.

"No, I'm fine. Though in the future, your friend might want to make sure that the people he shoots at will stay smaller than you are..."

She sounds more amused than upset, and motions for Felandria to take a seat, if she wishes to.

[Devixer]

Aiden is still ignoring the pony. Some kid talking to him helps with that, and he glances at the crusader. "I'm fine, kid. Don't need your help to stay warm."

[Felandria]

As the arrow flies past her, Fear begins to grow, armor and weapons reforming to fit her new size, crackling sparks running up and down the pair of long, straight, horns that sprout from her dark brown hair, forming a ball of lightning between them; she settles at several inches taller than Felandria, right around the time that Styx mentions it would be funny for the half-giant to throw some people around.

When Felandria arrives at her table - which, along with the chair, seems to have resized itself as well - the Tiefling shakes her head, smiling at her and the imp.

"No, I'm fine. Though in the future, your friend might want to make sure that the people he shoots at will stay smaller than you are..."

She sounds more amused than upset, and motions for Felandria to take a seat, if she wishes to.

Felandria pulls up a chair and Styx lands on her shoulder.

This is a lot better, thanks.

Apologize, Styx.

S..Sorry, miss, didn't mean anything by it.

That's better.

So, it's nice to look someone in the eye like this, where are you from?

[Lady Serpentine]

Felandria pulls up a chair and Styx lands on her shoulder.

This is a lot better, thanks.

Apologize, Styx.

S..Sorry, miss, didn't mean anything by it.

That's better.

So, it's nice to look someone in the eye like this, where are you from?

She nods in acknowledgement of the imp's apology, reaching back to pull the arrow out of her chair, and passing it through the ball of lightning between her horns, then going to hand it to him.


"It's a nice change to be able to talk with people normally, yes... And I was born in the Nether - my world's Hell, basically, though as someone who belonged there, I found it quite pleasant -, then ended up dragged into Taelarys by House Ostrim.

Which is probably meaningless to you, admittedly..."

[Felandria]

She nods in acknowledgement of the imp's apology, reaching back to pull the arrow out of her chair, and passing it through the ball of lightning between her horns, then going to hand it to him.


"It's a nice change to be able to talk with people normally, yes... And I was born in the Nether - my world's Hell, basically, though as someone who belonged there, I found it quite pleasant -, then ended up dragged into Taelarys by House Ostrim.

Which is probably meaningless to you, admittedly..."

Honestly, not really, but your home origin doesn't faze me, last year I found out my father is Zeus, So at this point, it would take a lot to surprise me.

So, which size is your normal one?

[Lady Serpentine]

Honestly, not really, but your home origin doesn't faze me, last year I found out my father is Zeus, So at this point, it would take a lot to surprise me.

So, which size is your normal one?

"Either, both, neither... This is the expression of my demon side, while the other is that of my human one. I could make a case for it going any number of ways.

I take it Zeus is a famous figure in your world?"

[Siena]

If she can tell such things, she may be aware that the staff is... odd... in some fashion, and connected to him.

She could indeed tell such things, and, silly as she was, thought the off-color bands were cute. "Why do you wear the staff while you work?" the witchy woman asked Sorrow, tapping her fan against her shoulder idly.

[Felandria]

"Either, both, neither... This is the expression of my demon side, while the other is that of my human one. I could make a case for it going any number of ways.

I take it Zeus is a famous figure in your world?"

It would seem so, I had not heard of him, but it turns out he is an Olympian.

Is many cultures, they are considered gods.

I don't know about all that, but I activated a portal and suddenly I'm this big, because activating it awakened something inside me, some kind of power I inherited from him.

Tell me about your world.

[Lady Serpentine]

She could indeed tell such things, and, silly as she was, thought the off-color bands were cute. "Why do you wear the staff while you work?" the witchy woman asked Sorrow, tapping her fan against her shoulder idly.

He shrugs, smiling at her, and waving to his brother, presumably so that Torment can take over if it should prove necessary.

"It bears my name, so I prefer to keep it around. And it can help with things like what happened earlier, which occur surprisingly often, too..."

---

"What do you want to know about? My birthplace? The mage-houses? Other aspects of it? Simply 'my world' is a rather broad category, especially as it could refer to two..."

[Felandria]

Well, what is your family like, what caused this House Ostrim to bring you here?

[Lady Serpentine]

"My family is... Unusual. If you like, I could introduce you to them? My brothers are here, and some of my sisters.

And House Ostrim didn't bring me here, I got here from where they pulled me," she clarifies, standing, and turning so that her back is to Felandria. "As for why..."

She pulls on a hidden catch, which causes the back of her armor's right shoulder to disconnect from the rest, and pulls it away from her back, revealing a diamond-shaped brand, glowing a dull red, and looks back at the half-giant.

"...Tieflings make good slaves."