[Nexus] Inside 53

[Lycan 01]

[Carousel Court - Doc Zam's]

Nightnight, Lydia. She probably wouldn't enjoy this part of the show anyway.

"It hurts!" Dawn whimpers through grit teeth, as the burning pain in her skull grows. "Wh-what-?!" she tries to ask, but the pain is too distracting for her to speak or think clearly.

~RECOLLECTION CENTRAL!~ Doctor Zamedi sings with a wide, almost deranged grin, twirling about before punching a hoof through the very air in front of him, ripping over a roiling green rip in the fabric of reality.

~Recollection Central!~ the carved masks echo enthusiastically.

~RECLAMATION CENTRAL!~ he proclaim, ripping his hoof back from within the rift - a silver charm dangles from a chain wrapped around his hoof. It looks like an equine skull, covered in intricate tribal runes and etchings, and with two ruby gems set within the empty eye sockets.

~Reclamation Central!~ the chorus repeats.

"Oh boy here comes the good part!" Vance chimes from his seat on the unconscious assassin's shoulder, clapping his little burlap hands in excited glee. "Give 'em hell, Doc!"

~MIND-PURIFICATION CENTRAL!!~ the Death-faced Zebra bellows, lunging forward to hold the silver skull-charm in front of Dawn and Geneva.

The ruby eyes of the skull ignite with a vibrant glow, and the pain inside Dawn and Geneva's skull intensifies dramatically. It almost feels like something is trying to claw its way out of their brain.

Or rather, claw its way back in, as it's being forcefully dragged out...

~Can ya feeeel it!?~ Doctor Zamedi melodiously inquires as the voodoo magic attempts to fully assert itself over the two cursed friends.

Dawn tenses in her chair, her eyes going wide as an unholy glow begins to shine from within them. Crackling red energy sparks around them, before streams of roiling phantasmal flame begin to slowly seep forth, being dragged and drawn from her mind and into the charm itself. Though painful, the removal of the tainted memories from the pegasus' psyche shouldn't be too difficult, especially since her mind and soul are more than willing to part with the profane recollections.

Geneva, however, may have a slightly more difficult and potentially more agonizing experience, since her cursed memories may be more deeply rooted, and though logically she's willing to part with the them, her subconscious mind and soul may not be quite as eager to part with the tainted thoughts...

[Rebonack]

[Carousel Court - Doc Zam's Cottage]

Can she feel it?

HELL yes Geneva can feel it!

The horrible scrabbling clawing grating feeling of a greasy alien will trying desperately to burrow its way back into her psyche. A tugging on her mind as though there were a tick lodged in her brain.

And to make matters worse she can feel some part of herself frantically grabbing at the repulsive wrongness that's staining her soul.

It hurts.

It hurts so much!

Though at last her eyes snap open and the fell power begins flowing from her eyes in tainted streams. It'll be over soon. It HAS to be over soon! Please... please let it be over soon...

[Everfree Park]

The Queen doesn't attempt to defend herself. She doesn't even try to dodge. She simply holds her arms wide and allows the flurry of punches to smash into her with earth-shaking power.

And when the brutal assault ends? She hasn't sustained the least bit of harm and her aura of chilling hate has only grown all the more powerful.

Then comes the riposte.

So say that she moves in a blur would be a woeful understatement. The Queen aims to backhand Serph out of the sky and into the ground with the combined force of every attack he had used against her returned seven fold.

Suffice to say that will probably hurt.

"Do you understand yet, little warrior?" the Queen sneers. "Your power is nothing. You are nothing. You thought you could step into the lioness' cage and escape unharmed? Fool."

[Asha'man]

[Redzone - Everfree Park]

The hit just imprints on his face. He feels the pain of a regular backhand. The damage of the physical attack isn't really felt. Just like earlier, he felt the pain of being stabbed but not the damage. With the Queen's hand still on his face he looks her eye to eye. "I'm nothing if not persistent. My power maybe meaningless to you, regardless I must push on even if you stand in my way. Sorry but I'm not going to stop 'till my goal is reached. 'Till then I neverplan on dying." So Serph did the only thing he could do, Attack as relentlessly as he can while attempting to devour her whole.

[Beans]

Four-Oh-Four Snail Way

"It's a nice place. Nice people, they're maybe a little weird but who ain't around here?" Riley nods, before glancing over to the chairs in the living area. "Uh, why don't we grab a seat. I could get us some tea?"

"I can make tea." Marky is still hanging around at the edge the conversation, seeming a little lost.

I, er, suppose I'm used to unusual... tea sounds lovely. She looks a little nervous, but smiles.

[Hawkflight]

The little girl wasn't sure what to do. She'd never rented an apartment before, so she had no idea what to do. The man in charge was currently assisting the winged woman she'd entered with, and she wasn't sure whether she should join her and they take care of this in a batch, or if she should hang back and wait to be called upon. So instead, she stood to the side, waiting to be called on.

[Gullara]

[Hodgepodge Street - Fountain Way]

"Stay-home dad? You sure you want that Val?" Astrana asks in surprise. "I mean, you haven't really worked all your life. Maybe you should try working a bit first before we get into this?" She suggests.

[Hodgepodge Street - Fountain Way]

"Hey, I've had a few jobs. It's not a lot I admit, but I know what working is like. And I can just look at my dad for the kinds of jobs I'll be able to get. Menial jobs that most people don't want to do. And I won't even have the selection he does because I'm not as big as him." Valente says. He's definitely thought about jobs and stuff before, even if it wasn't in this context.

"Besides, being a stay at home dad isn't a bad idea, is it? I mean, it'd make things easier when it comes to taking care of kids. Heck, I could figure out how to cook even." He chuckles a little at the thought. He never thought he'd hear himself say that. "I'm just putting ideas out there right now, but it's worth thinking about I'd say."

[Shadowcaller]

Abandoned Factory

The object does have the same magical signature: It's the same kind of bizarre mishmash magic as found before. There are no pulses: it's a constant effect. That means that this takes a LOT of magical energy. There is no connection to another plane, so... it must be able to produce all that power on it's own.

Abandoned Factory

So what kind of energy does it produce exactly? Is she able to determine a specific purpose of it, she realizes a lot of energy must be to maintain the containment, but what of the other energy? Is this artifact here only to contain or is there any other reason it's here? She starts to file out energy she can see is a part of the containment spell and tries to filter through this bizarre web for any clues of it's purpose. If it produces so much energy it must have a purpose other than containing itself right?

[Lost_Deep]

Abandoned Factory

Hmm... it appears to be that no, the entire purpose of the ring is to maintain the petrification effect. However, the pillar of not-liquid does not seem to be accomplishing anything. Therefore, it stands to reason that whatever this liquid is, they REALLY did not want it to go anywhere.

There IS magic in the pillar itself, but it took a bit to sort through the metric ton of petrification magic. It's like trying to read a billboard through pea-soup fog, though; she can't read details through the containment magic.

[Shadowcaller]

Abandoned Factory

So it was the petrification effect she had traced so far? Strange, why would a petrification effect be involved in Harnel's kidnapping? Unless he had been petrified of course but why had she been able to track it then? It had to have something to do with the spell used. Or was she tracking something else here?

The only way to find out was to take a closer look at the artifact, but by the look of it, that could be very dangerous. All of this had been made to contain whatever was in there. But for what purpose exactly? Why place it here of all places? It didn't seem to be anything special about this place, it had likely just been remote enough to hide whatever this was.

"The energy readings I'm getting from it suggests it's more of a prison than something that were actually used in the kidnapping... unless Harnel have been made into a liquid and frozen like this of course." The moment those words left her lips she shuddered. That was quite a disturbing thought. "I don't think anyone have actually been in this place for quite a while besides these puppets. Whoever made it however is likely our culprit." She falls silent for a moment. "You know, if I went through the trouble of arranging all this to prevent whatever is in there to get lose, I'd probably have some sort of alarm system as well. I bet if we actually tried to open it up, the culprit would be made aware of it. If he or she isn't already."

[Hodgepodge Street - Fountain Way]

"Hey, I've had a few jobs. It's not a lot I admit, but I know what working is like. And I can just look at my dad for the kinds of jobs I'll be able to get. Menial jobs that most people don't want to do. And I won't even have the selection he does because I'm not as big as him." Valente says. He's definitely thought about jobs and stuff before, even if it wasn't in this context.

"Besides, being a stay at home dad isn't a bad idea, is it? I mean, it'd make things easier when it comes to taking care of kids. Heck, I could figure out how to cook even." He chuckles a little at the thought. He never thought he'd hear himself say that. "I'm just putting ideas out there right now, but it's worth thinking about I'd say."

[Hodgepodge Street - Fountain Way]

"I suppose, I just don't like the idea of either of us just staying at home. Plus we might need more than just my income and if you're just a home-dad you will completely depended on me for income. Do you really want that Val?" She asks. Definitely thinking about it as well.

[Morty]

[Abandoned Factory]

"Maybe we could use it to set an ambush, then," Wenomir says. "Let them come to us."

[Shadowcaller]

[Abandoned Factory]

"That was my idea, of course, we don't know of what nature this alarm is or if it even exist. It's hard to get any readings at all through the petrification effect and or if trying to dispel it will cause the entire place to go up in flames." She looks thoughtfully at the artifact. "There isn't a way to know for sure unless I get a better look at it in my lab."

[Morty]

[Abandoned Factory]

"I'm not sure if hauling it back to your keep is safe," Wenomir says. "Who knows what it can do."

[Shadowcaller]

[Abandoned Factory]

"My point exactly. So if we want to poke at it, we probably have to do it right here. Maybe we could somehow trick the alarm..." She reaches out again, trying to "poke" at the functions of the enchantments that aren't part of the petrification spell. "I'm going to be crude here and just poke and see what happens so be prepared for anything."

[Morty]

[Abandoned Factory]

Wenomir turns away from Cessie and starts looking around, raising his axe slightly.

[McBish]

[Nearmall Park]

Unless anything stops them Angie and Cuff should find there way to the small park near the mall. The park is filled with small gravel paths looping around dozens of streams and small ponds filled with all manner of aquatic life. Small well groomed trees with trunks and branches matching the paths in their twists.

Angie still is holding Cuff's hand as they walk in smiling like she hasn't in a long time. Several bags of clothes freshly brought to add to Cuff's wardrobe are being carried along as well.

[Zefir]

Everysize Hotel

I'm reasonably sure my head-canon had them do the Labyrinth during the days Jace was crafting. Regardless,
"Maybe. Either way, we should go and let you sleep. If you need anything give us a call."

Everysize Hotel

Mr. C still alys upside down.

"I would just need someone to turn me around later." The he yawns and if Jace leaves he will immediatly fall asleep.

[Atriol]

((Ah... then my memory was just messed up. ))

"There are," agrees Akira. "But other things will benefit greatly from it. Overall, it'll be a worthwhile investment, yes?"

[Atriol]

"Well, it will need much time before the benefits show off."

[Hodgepodge Street - Fountain Way]

"Zombie apocalypse?" Olive replies somewhat nervously. "Sorry you had to go through that. I've heard about these crises that have caused so much trouble in the past, but I haven't actually been here from one of them."

Which would mean he's been in the Nexus for... less than two years?

Or maybe not.

Time is really wonky here sometimes.

[Hodgepodge Street - Fountain Way]

Mia holds her feet with his arms while sitting around.

"Wasn't that bad. I didn't even saw them. I was lucky, but after they where gone I notice I was the one who got bad luck."

[Lost_Deep]

Abandoned Factory

Hmm...

That one appears to fuel the petrification spell...

That one keeps the target in the ring so that it's not easy to remove...

That one is for resistance against dispelling effects (really strong, too)...

It seems there are no traps or tricks in the thing itself.

[Shadowcaller]

Abandoned Factory

After a while the sorceress shakes her head. "Nothing as far as I can tell." She looks around, reaching out to see if there are other enchantments or spells nearby that might already be tracking them as they speak. Or anything visible like say a camera.

"It also appears like it would be very hard to dispel this enchantment. But without an alarm I don't see any reason to, unless whatever lies within could give us a clue who did this and their location. If it comes to that, perhaps you could give the artifact a good bash?" She suggests to the hunter.

[Morty]

[Abandoned Factory]

"Looks like this might be our last chance at finding a clue," Wenomir says. "So dispel away and if that doesn't work, I'll use conventional methods."

[Lost_Deep]

Abandoned Factory

Cessie will confirm that there are no magical or mundane means spying on this place that she can find.

Huh. Presumably whoever set this up never thought that someone might attack the puppets.

Lots of Hope Hospital

Cedric should wake up in a hospital bed, an EKG machine strapped to his arm and little... rocketpack... robot... fairy... things flitting around him.

[Morcleon]

[Atriol]

"Well, it will need much time before the benefits show off."

[Atriol]

"Of course." Akira chuckles. "I don't expect things to happen overnight. Most of our major projects take decades to complete."

"Do you have any plans for how you will extend your deity's influence?"

[Shadowcaller]

Abandoned Factory

That was worrying, it might mean that the person didn't consider it any risk that anyone would come here to want to destroy the person since there was nothing to gain from it. The puppets was probably just here to make sure the prison functioned properly... hmm...

"Ignore the artifact, I fear it's more dangerous than we suspect." She turns to look at the still alive puppet. "I think our best clue might be in that things mind actually, or whatever remains of it. There is a chance that creature once were a living being who could have seen our culprit before he or she turned him into that."

[Morty]

[Abandoned Factory]

"Unless its mind has been wiped clean. But alright. If that doesn't work, we're left with no clue to follow," Wenomir says.

[Shadowcaller]

[Abandoned Factory]

"Yes, problem is, I need to get my artifact that's in my lab. Do you think you can get it for me? I need to stay here to maintain the force cage. Just tell Garn I sent you." This can probably be hand waved however.

[Morty]

[Abandoned Factory]

Wenomir sighs. "I suppose I can do that. I'll be back quickly."

He will leave the factory and go to the Keep, running all the way there and back. It's best to handwave it, indeed.

[Shadowcaller]

[Abandoned Factory]

"Good work, let's get back to work then." Cessie says as Wenomir hands over the small box. She gently places it near the fallen puppet but before she activates it she needs to do an extra scan with the scrying device she burrowed from Arik. She needed to make sure it wouldn't be dangerous to enter it's mind.

She will proceed to scan the mind for any sort of enchantments.

[UncleWolf]

Sitar's Strings

A tall pale man with slightly curly shoulder length black hair enters, wearing a black suit that accentuates his gymnast build of wiry muscle and slender frame. He wears a pair of white gloves and seems to have a constant small smile on his face. At Javert Olearius' right side is a tarnished silver rapier, but when he enters, he offers his sword to the Matre D. "I believe I made a reservation for one at Seven. If you could guide me to my table, I'd much appreciate it."

[Lost_Deep]

Abandoned Factory

The body has no mental defenses. If Cessie is willing to push, she can get things from it.

The body is directed to guard the prison to the best of it's ability, to keep the prisoner inside.

Now, the best of it's ability is quite high. It has a lot of training and skill... or so it seems. It has no memory of such things. Just the skill left behind. It's a good thing that Cessie and Wenomir took them down so fast; it might have been very hard to do in a stand-up fight.

Actual information in the puppet's brain is few and far between. It's mainly just information on how to live life; once again the skill without the connected memory. The personality is unremarkable, reeking of brainwashing to a certain force that communicates with the puppets magically. Cessie learns this because the puppets will only consider properly magically given orders to be real orders, that much she can find out if she pokes around enough.

[Earl of Purple]

Poverty Lane

Where he's from, Sorcerers and summoning don't go together. Shamans, Spiritualists and Daemonologists focus on summoning; Druids, Witches and Necromancers focus elsewhere but have summoning as part of their repertoire and Terramancers, Aquamancers, Aeromancers and Pyromancers can do some summoning, but it's only a very small part of their spell-list.

The old man is slightly worried that it's disappeared, but at least it doesn't appear to be devouring his face, soul, essence, life force, mind, memories or years of life.

Carousel Court- Prancing Pony Pub; Pretty Pastel Pony Pirates

"Yes! Or, uh, were. Our ship ran into difficulties, let's say, and we were sunk. The pegasi abandoned ship, I fell overboard and teleported to the ground and... I have no idea how these two survived. But nopony else did." Piracy isn't too legal in official ports, and Inside looks suspiciously like an official port. So Volley will try to avoid the subject.
"I was in my bunk. Lots of spring in a decent hammock, protected me from the worst." I have no idea if that would work or not.
"I fell into the medical supply cupboard. It supplied enough padding to not break my bones." That, I think, could work.

[ThirdEmperor]

Black Goat Woods

Carefully backing away from the fallen zombie, the cultist leans down and grabs a fallen branch, after first giving it a kick to make certain of what it is.
There. Now he has a club, a weapon with some heft and reach to it.

And now he'll let the ghouls come to him.

Hodgepodge Street- Fountain Way

Hah. Bet you ten crisp internet dollars that the movie he sees is really bad.
Maybe even Adam Sandler bad.


Truly, Sebastian is a cursed soul.


Four-Oh-Four Snail Way

"I'll make tea." And he vanishes into his own room, presumably to do just that.

Riley settles into one of the armchairs, leaving the other and the couch for his guests. "So, uh, what are you two looking for, housing wise? It's a good neighborhood, not a lot of crime, not a lot of dangerous things going on." Which is about what you can hope for safety wise in these parts- Somewhere quiet enough that the villains and the troublemakers don't bother stirring things up.