[Nexus] Random Places and Plots 6 - Chaos Theory included

[ThirdEmperor]

The Cloud

"Right." Glancing out at the congealing darkness of the skyline, James draws his own conclusions on the good captain's competence.

"Want a smoke, cap?" After a week and a half he's running low on drugs of any caliber, but still, he offers the half-emptied packet of cigarettes to Pete after taking one for himself.

[PurityIcekiller]

[The Cloud]

Kyinde sniffed the air. "Looks like we're in a spot of trouble. How exciting!"

She first looked up to see how much sail they were carrying, then started to climb up the mast for a better look. She hoped things were all in order, although she considered pulling rank if necessary. The only thing she wasn't prepared to do here was try to counter the storm magically, as wet and windy weather wasn't quite within her area of expertise.

[ThePhantom]

[The Cloud]

Pete shakes off the smoke. "Ye need your own. I'll be fine." "Yah, best to let the crazy man stay as focused as he can."

Right now, most of the sails are still up, as Pete thinks the ship can handle this storm. As the crew, they keep seem like they know what they are doing. This isn't their first storm at sea.

"Hopefully you won't forget about that no singing rule Pete.""Quiet Polly."

[happyturtle]

Wine Tasting - Cole and Enthi

Wine Tasting-Cole

"Don't share the details aloud, people might get ideas. And I dare say that would be bad."

Enthi steps over to the table and pours herself some extortionately expensive champagne. She walk back over to Cole, sipping it.

"I'm abstaining from the good stuff because if I drink it all there won't be any left for anyone else." 'good stuff' being the mead, of course. However, the brewer of that champagne would burst into tears if he learned that it wasn't being referred to as 'the good stuff.'

"I can't imagine anyone being able to replicate Lenai's mead," Cole says. He notices Magtok's antics, and stifles his laughter. "I believe that person has had a taste." 'That person'? Yes, believe it or not, Cole is one of the few people in the Nexus (barring new arrivals) who doesn't recognize Magtok by sight.

[Lord Magtok]

Wine Tasting - Wherein Magtok Makes A Fool of Himself

"Right. Not everyone is speaking the same English, Basic, Common, Terran, Gothic dialect. Or has a different home language, and is just bilingual. Or wearing magical perfect space translator braces. Or some other thing that hasn't occurred to me yet."

He peers at the needle he was thinking of stabbing himself with, and puts it away.

"Yeah, better to look the fool than incite war...I think. You guys could use some scandal every now and then, though. It's fun. I've been accused of having liaisons with Vasquez, one of her lieutenants, the leader of the Masks, a Riverside vampire, Butler, a co-founder of GLoG, Vespe, Moff, Reinholdt, Calublufiok, a catgirl death goddess, my own security detail before and after I had her replaced with another, an intern who tried to usurp me, a green-skinned alien conquistador, an elven adversary of mine from way back..."

In all fairness, quite a few of those supposed liaisons actually happened, Maggy. The public has absolutely no idea what to expect from you in the bedroom anymore. After Jezebel, anyone could accuse you of anything and still sound credible.

"Hell, people are probably already writing headlines about us, even, just for talking this long, and me being visibly intoxicated somehow. Best not make anything that might look like a kissy face, by the way. They could easily photoshop in with an old picture of me and put that on the front on every gossip rag from here to Inside. They do that a lot."

[Lost_Deep]

Wine Tasting - Cole and Enthi

"Hmm... he's talking with Jade, not much chance for entertainment there. She's entirely too collected to let such things happen. However, I find it entertaining that the man with only half a body did not consider it might lower his tolerances."

She smiles to herself and sips her drink.

Wine Tasting - Wherein Magtok Makes A Fool of Himself

"I have people in the paparazzi. Any group that ships us is going to look like fools. And may coincidentally go out of business."

As coincidental as someone winding up dead, but without the in-depth police investigation.

[Lord Magtok]

Wine Tasting - Wherein Magtok Continues to Make a Fool of Himself

"Ha! I think I would've found that funny even if I was sober. Mysterious disappearances and quietly crushing things is fun. I don't do that nearly enough anymore. Keep meaning to smush someone like that, can never find either the time or person or right approach. Probably doesn't help that I usually try to do that stuff personally, too."

Magtok pauses thoughtfully for a moment, and then peers down at his drink.

"I'm just on the edge, right? Where my behavior could be mixed up with my usual eccentricities? I could probably take another sip, eliminate any doubt, confirm that it's the mead. But then that would make the aftermath my own fault, I couldn't say I just picked the wrong drink to mess with, could I?

...How do people live without mead like this to numb them to the crippling doubt and uncertainty present in everything they do, anyways? You can never know if something you'll do is for the best, and sometimes never will. Every moment of life, we're divorcing ourselves from hundreds of thousands of millions of things we could've done instead. At least a few of them could've been better ideas.

That genuinely terrifies me, that knowledge. There's blood on my hands, and I'll never know for sure if it was ever avoidable, or ought to have been avoided. I've taken some lives and refused to take others, was any of it right? All of this doubt and self-pity and understanding of everything...and I keep going. Everyone keeps going. Why? Why do any of us drink the mead and go out and seek adventure, when we could just as easily sit in stagnant self-pity forever?

It is all chemicals? Hormones and chemistry making us out to be little more than animals with an ego? I don't understand, I gulped down a drink that stole my hesitation and the grotesque mask of civilization, but I just as easily could've had the champagne; I don't even like mead. I used to think I had such control of my life, and not just my life, but all the lives in the Nexus too! Now? Of course not, I'm pouring my heart out to a stranger whose very name is an accidental punchline because magical honey wine has stolen my self-restraint. I'm dying, Ms. Alime. I'm unraveling before your very eyes and nobody cares. How did it come to this? What did I do to make it all go wrong? Why did she have to die, and why can't I bring myself to bury her?"

Oh dear, Magtok's gone there. I'd have security escort him out of here maybe two or three paragraphs ago if I were Ms. Alime.

[Lost_Deep]

Wine Tasting - Magtok Breakdown

The first part has a rather simple answer, and then Magtok goes deep.

"At the risk looking suspicious, would you perhaps prefer to bare your soul in a more private area? I'm more than willing to listen if you want to talk."

Sounds like some paparazzi groups have a chance at getting large sums of bribery money and/or quietly disappearing.

[Lord Magtok]

Wine Tasting - Magtok Completely Loses It

"Yes? No? I don't care at all either way in the slightest. That should probably worry me. It might worry me. I think I'm beyond understanding that, too.

...This drink was supposed to free people to do whatever they want but can't bring themselves to ordinarily do, wasn't it? What the hell does that say about me?"

Magtok's more than willing to be dragged wherever in his current state. At least then he wouldn't have to be making a decision himself.

[Lost_Deep]

Wine Tasting - Magtok Completely Loses It

"I haven't the foggiest idea what's in the drink, only that the local critic loves it. Of course, she doesn't hide behind much of a social mask in the first place."

Jade will lead him to some out-of-the-way room.

"Now, then, do you really want answers to the questions you asked? Answers are my line of work, but you're asking questions that might be better off not being answered."

[Shadowcaller]

[Shade Street]

Harnel's eyes narrow, and he sends telepathically to Cessie, Can you detect any magic from the house? as wariness spills through the bond.

At first, he looks at the rug on the floor to determine if there's any distortions in its shape, such as one made from something underneath. Then he'll look at the various things around; is there dust? Cobwebs? What state of repair are any umbrellas (if any) at the moment?

Harnel won't take a step in just yet. Darkness or gloominess make no difference to him, when compared to a dungeon environment. Given, he's never been a skilled trapfinder like some people he's known, but in the end he wants to make sure that he's not about to let his wife walk into something dangerous.[Wine Tasting - Near the Entrance]

Something in the mead. Not sure what, but it's not normal.

Harnel just sort of stands there for now, but Cessie may be intercepted by a pair of short people! oh my!

Rilla doesn't seem to know how to start the conversation, and just remains silent, hoping Dipsnig has some way to start things off.

[Wine Tasting - Little People]

"Ah, Mrs. Mithar," Dipsnig says politely when he and Rilla approach Cessie. "I'm glad to see you. I'd like to introduce the charming lady with me. Her name is Rilla and she's a brilliant magical engineer who joined my origanization recently."

[Wine Tasting - Medium People]

"Ah, how nice." The sorceress replies, sounding somewhat distracted. She glances over at Harnel at again. Just what was in that drink?
She still manages to look back to nod politely at Rilla however. "How are you enjoying the event so far?" So far nothing had really happened beyond some political conversation that she hadn't cared much for.

What is it? Fey juice? She at the same time asks her husband.

[Shade Street]

"I- what?" Cessie asks in surprise, looking over at her husband. Why are you suddenly acting like we're on some secret mission? Can't we just knock and see if anyone comes out to meet us? She does attempt to feel any eldritch energy in the area though, but this just felt silly.

[Lord Magtok]

Wine Tasting - Magtok Completely Loses It

He stops to think about that one, before taking another small sip of the mead. It was starting to lose its hold, and he absolutely needed to answer this question to the affirmative, no matter how much a large part of him demanded that he stop.

"Yes."

[Lost_Deep]

Wine Tasting - Magtok Completely Loses It

Jade nods. "The question, however many ways you asked it, is "How do people do anything?" How do people decide? How do people live? The answer to that is, believe it or not, common sense. You can do anything you very well want. You can kill yourself, you can kill me, given your reputation you might be able to blow this whole place sky high but you don't want to. Your reasons are your own, but you decide that it's a bad idea and you push it out, wither consciously or subconsciously."

"But then, something comes up that isn't simple. You honestly can't tell which one is the right thing to do. That is where something innate in every successful being comes in: the ability to make a decision despite the uncertainty. To do it anyway, either on instinct, morals, random chance, or what might be described as a "gut feeling." Part of me is tempted to call it insanity... but it is not. It's a natural part of anyone with a healthy mind."

"Finally, the matter of the existential ramifications? It seems that the most solid answer there is, "It doesn't matter." Because it doesn't matter, does it? There might be an occasion where timelines spill into each other, but for the most part? What matters is the choice you make. You learn from what happened in the past, but the present and future are what you can effect. And the choice between doing nothing and doing something? That's what boredom is for. You want to stop the boredom, so you go out and do something. That's how the world works."

She sips her drink. "Now, do you want to give me enough information to look at your specific case, or are you happy with the general answer?"

[The Bushranger]

Wine Tasting

"I suppose we do at that." Lenai says, her smile not lingering for long before she huffs unpleasantly, "I don't suppose there's anyone pleasant from another faction of Riverside that you could point me to. Now that I've spoken to you, I might as well stop being a wallflower and introduce myself to at least one other before the night is out."

"Alas, this is the first time I've really had a chance to get groovy with people outside of Southside."

...Nae, you're starting to scare me here...

"Perhaps you could speak to Monsieur Defelent?"

...and now she's French.
That stuff is weird.

[Earl of Purple]

Wine Tasting

Currently standing alone from the other groups is a red-skinned tiefling with a pair of stubby horns growing from his forehead and a pointed, waxed black goatee. His eyes are red, and his hair is black. He's wearing a black robe with a white two-tailed scorpion emblazoned upon it.

[Gullara]

Pearhouse Manor

Jamie and Brinika may note that the book's author was named Steel Waraxe. Not a very human-y name; in fact, more of a dwarfen name. This is due to the author being a dwarf. It also seems more focussed on the material properties of the various rocks and crystals- strength, hardness, sharpness, beauty, etc, rather than their spiritual properties- what they can be used to do by which types of magic, suitability for providing a scrying surface, and how they can assist in the creation of magical artefacts.

"So, I think that's all my presents opened. What do you want to do now?" They can either ask Natalie for a further tour, play party games, or do both off-screen and end the scene.

[Pearhouse Manor]

"I dunno. How long is it before dinner?" And cake. "We could maybe go outside or look around the manor or something?" Jamie suggests.

[Pearhouse Manor]

"Ooh, yeah. Let's go look around the house more." Salix agrees readily. There's probably lots of stuff to see here.

[Morty]

Pearhouse Manor

Jamie and Brinika may note that the book's author was named Steel Waraxe. Not a very human-y name; in fact, more of a dwarfen name. This is due to the author being a dwarf. It also seems more focussed on the material properties of the various rocks and crystals- strength, hardness, sharpness, beauty, etc, rather than their spiritual properties- what they can be used to do by which types of magic, suitability for providing a scrying surface, and how they can assist in the creation of magical artefacts.

"So, I think that's all my presents opened. What do you want to do now?" They can either ask Natalie for a further tour, play party games, or do both off-screen and end the scene.

[Pearhouse Manor]

"I dunno. How long is it before dinner?" And cake. "We could maybe go outside or look around the manor or something?" Jamie suggests.

"I think we should play something!" Brinika says. "Then you can give us a tour after dinner."

((I think it's best if we wrap the scene up here and have them do all that off-screen, though.))

[Halae]

[Wine Tasting - Medium People]

"Ah, how nice." The sorceress replies, sounding somewhat distracted. She glances over at Harnel at again. Just what was in that drink?
She still manages to look back to nod politely at Rilla however. "How are you enjoying the event so far?" So far nothing had really happened beyond some political conversation that she hadn't cared much for.

What is it? Fey juice? She at the same time asks her husband.

[Wine Tasting - Medium People]
Rilla seems nervous about speaking with Cessie, but she manages to keep herself from panicking, "Well, I'm not much for parties. I'd much rather be back in my lab working on an aetheric pulse regulator or one of the enchantments I'm supposed to develop."

Well, at least that should get Cessie's attention.

Harnel, meanwhile, shakes his head out of habit, No, it's not quite the same. It feels... primal. Like I could do anything.

[Morty]

[Wine Tasting - Medium People]

Dipsnig chuckles.
"I know that your approach to sorcery is pretty scientific too, so I figured you have something in common," he says.

[Terumitsu]

[Shade Street]

"I- what?" Cessie asks in surprise, looking over at her husband. Why are you suddenly acting like we're on some secret mission? Can't we just knock and see if anyone comes out to meet us? She does attempt to feel any eldritch energy in the area though, but this just felt silly.

[Shade Street]

Harnel's eyes narrow, and he sends telepathically to Cessie, Can you detect any magic from the house? as wariness spills through the bond.

At first, he looks at the rug on the floor to determine if there's any distortions in its shape, such as one made from something underneath. Then he'll look at the various things around; is there dust? Cobwebs? What state of repair are any umbrellas (if any) at the moment?

Harnel won't take a step in just yet. Darkness or gloominess make no difference to him, when compared to a dungeon environment. Given, he's never been a skilled trapfinder like some people he's known, but in the end he wants to make sure that he's not about to let his wife walk into something dangerous.

There would be a lack of overtly eldritch emanations aside from the standard background wyrd-ness. As such, all that would be able to be seen was a rather battered but still quite serviceable umbrella just inside as well as a few corners where some dust stood; likely due to some sloppy cleaning from the looks of it. There was even a cobweb but given that it was up in the high vaults of the ceiling, it was likely a matter of simply being too much trouble to deal with than anything.

There was the scent of a fire, though. Not the choking sort of a myrad different materials alight but of a specific wood with the hint of something else hidden underneath. It was definitely a ceder smell but with herbal undertones.. Rather relaxing scent, all things said, and to the keen nose would be able to pick out rosemary as the other main ingredient. One odd thing, though, was that from searching about, a far room might come into view with sheets pulled over it's furniture. A rather curious practice to set a fire in a place that was assumably going to be unattended.

[Shadowcaller]

[Wine Tasting - Medium People]

"I'd say most "sorcery" is scientific. It's just a matter of finding out what makes the world tick." The sorceress starts before turning to Rilia. "I couldn't agree with that statement more though. I don't even drink wine. But we all have social commitments we have to fulfill, we can't do what we want all the time. Besides, I'm sure this event can't be that bad. People seem to be enjoying themselves." She gestures towards the various groups talking with each other.

I see, and this was the wine the caused this? Perhaps you should take a bathroom break for a few minutes. She advises the half-dragon. The effect of the wine was obviously very powerful though. Wonder what they had put in it?

Wine Tasting - Near the Entrance

"Say, Ramiro. Would you mind if we discussed something in private for a moment while I take something to drink?" Celestel asks.

[Gullara]

[Wine Tasting - Near the Entrance]

"Of course. Excuse me." Ramiro nods to Vyrn and accompanies Celestel wherever she should lead.

[happyturtle]

Wine Tasting - Cole and Enthi

"Hmm... he's talking with Jade, not much chance for entertainment there. She's entirely too collected to let such things happen. However, I find it entertaining that the man with only half a body did not consider it might lower his tolerances."

She smiles to herself and sips her drink.

"Even so. It is ill-bred for him to talk so in front of the ladies." Cole says. It seems some of his upbringing still holds.

[Lord Magtok]

Wine Tasting - Magtok Completely Loses It

She sips her drink. "Now, do you want to give me enough information to look at your specific case, or are you happy with the general answer?"

The cyborg shakes his head.

"I'm not. On some level I definitely knew the general answers. Now, you've been informed of permanent deadtime before, yes? People just vanish sometimes. Mostly they're not noticed, because it's people without connections to others who go first, people who have found their happy endings or reached the epilogue of their life story, but every now and then it strikes someone you wouldn't expect.

It was...gradual. I could tell time with her had slowed, that clones with her were still on Tuesday when everyone else was working through Friday, and she didn't have long. I proposed, hoping I could get to her before the deadtime enveloped her, be the reason for those forces to keep her here instead of whisking her into the void, that I could reverse what was already in motion. I was wrong. My fiancee appeared once, twice after that, with months in between each resurgence, but that was years ago. I never told her what was going on, never let on that her days were numbered. As I said before, I've never buried her. No body for a funeral or cremation, and I was the only one she had, so nobody to attend an empty casket gathering, either. An old adversary told me I should find some closure, but I have no idea where to begin, how to reconcile my dating since her passing...

I don't...I shouldn't be telling any of this to anyone, much less you, a complete stranger with mysterious ties to a mystery organization which might intend to blackmail me with it in some manner, but again, magical mead. Awareness of its effect on me is not the same thing as resistance to the effect on me. I want you to know that as much as the uninhibited me desperately wants to tell all of us to someone and try to understand everything that's happened, the parts of me that are absolutely helpless and at the mercy of this mead are furious with the rest of me, and you, by proxy, just for being on the receiving end of this."

[Lost_Deep]

Wine Tasting - Magtok Completely Loses It

"No fear of the secret getting out. To me, a secret is the most precious of things: to give it to others is to destroy it, turning it into a rift, an injury." She seems to be familiar with secrets, and she nods sagely.

"As for your love, to be lost in that way, it might be worse than disease. A lost love never heals, and I will not tell you otherwise. I can not tell you some secret to moving on, because there isn't one. Each person moves on in their own way. Some can never move on. Some move on with a rip in their soul, some move on like nothing happened, some move on stronger than they were. All I can recommend to you is to never forget the time you had together, mourn in whatever way your soul deems fit, and not retreat from the world."

She looks distracted here. "I hear my voice, and it certainly doesn't sound useful. I apologize, I have never felt such loss, and as thus cannot properly empathize. The most I can offer is to listen and some admittedly generic advice." She's disappointed at herself, it seems, that she can not be more useful.

[Slii Arhem]

Wine Tasting

"Oh?" Lenai quirks an eyebrow, not getting the change in languages. For all she knows, monsieur is a title for this Defelent person.

"So who are they then? It's hard to learn everyone's names and titles when this is my first outing into the city properly." It doesn't count when you're either stuck tending vineyards or just there for a few moment.s

[Hattish Thing]

The Cloud

Clegg has been on deck the majority of the time. Ignoring James and occasionally helping the sailors. Clegg does love to sail, he's just...a little less grumpy when he's at sea. At home. He clunks close to the captain, opposite James. Wot, are ye afraid to get a little wet?! Bahahaha! Wonderful storm coming....I 'ope it's big an' proud! Waves bursting' over th' deck! Bahahaha!

[PurityIcekiller]

[The Cloud]

One thing Kyinde knew for certain was that in a storm, you either shorten sail or have your sails shortened for you, and the latter was rather hard to undo. "Right. I think now might be a good time to... What's the right term? Reef? Shorten sail? Well, you know what I mean." She smiled at the kobolds. "You'll keep things under control, right?"

With that, she went to join the others. "Heya! I don't mind water too much, but I hear drowning can be a little inconvenient."

[The Bushranger]

Wine Tasting

"Oh?" Lenai quirks an eyebrow, not getting the change in languages. For all she knows, monsieur is a title for this Defelent person.

"So who are they then? It's hard to learn everyone's names and titles when this is my first outing into the city properly." It doesn't count when you're either stuck tending vineyards or just there for a few moment.s

"Well, if you could follow me, I can introduce you," Naethalee suggests, turning to head in Defelent's direction.

There's a definite sway in her hips as she does so.

[Shadowcaller]

[Wine Tasting - Near the Entrance]

"Of course. Excuse me." Ramiro nods to Vyrn and accompanies Celestel wherever she should lead.

[Wine Tasting - Near the Entrance]

Celestel will lead away Ramiro a bit to a place where she can get some champagne. Taking a glass in her hand she smiles at the vampire. "First of all I must say that I really approve of your initiative to build the light of evolution. It's an truly amazing structure and I'm personally glad it have been built in Riverside." She says before taking a sip of champagne. "But what I really wanted to talk about was one of your former employees. Valente to be specific."