[Nexus] Random Places and Plots 7 - Cat Herders Wanted

[Earl of Purple]

Green Fields

The wandering Rebecca will be approached by an attractive aasimar woman with long, silver hair and golden irises. Her skin is quite pale, and she's clad in a suit of platemail armour, which despite being plated in gold (or something gold-coloured, at least) was designed with practicality in mind and therefore hides much of her figure. Over the top of the armour is a black tabard with a white centipede emblazoned upon it, and at her waist hangs a short rod.

Azurelle will attempt to take Rebecca's hand and bow to kiss it. "Good day, milady. I am Azurelle D'Langley, of the Order of the Centipede. Could you grace my ears with your name?"

[5a Violista]

Green Fields

"Hmm," replies Harley, officially walking away from the buffet table, trying to decide which one would be the most interesting to talk to. Which one would give the best reaction?

((Is there anyone who wants to be talked at? I would have her interject a statement with the Riverside people, but I'm afraid that Harley probably knows more about Riverside than I do.))


Valley of Corruption

Conrack grits his lupine teeth as the bird-crystals swoop at them. Under his breath, he interjects some word in frustration; why do these birds have to fly at them?

He holds his sword out, ready to parry and riposte as soon as the birds attack him.

[Aric Kale]

The Valley of Corruption

Marcus ducks behind his shield, stabbing upwards at the birds in an attempt to ward them off. Not expecting this to work, his jabs will soon be delivered with a lethal intent.

[Shadowcaller]

[Green Fields - Dipsnig & c.o.]

((I'll post here later. Too tired right now.))

[Temple of Purity]

It takes a few moments for Astrana to come to her senses, but once she do all time lost come back with an vengeance. Nabrius had honestly lied to her for this? Before she even started working for him? Geez.

Well, no sense keeping her part of the deal either then. Sleepily she looks at the imp, her whole body felt sore and exhausted but she had to force herself to move on. Some adrenaline would make it easier. "Is she alone?" Astrana asks before literally crawling out of the bed, falling to the floor with a slam. Ouch.

[ThirdEmperor]

Green Fields

Icarus makes no move to follow, hanging back at the buffet table. He simply doesn't have much else to say to AMEN for the time being. Instead he waits and observes, tracking the other individuals at the party, listening in on what he can of their conversations.

A little known fact is that Excelsior's commanders have amazing hearing.

[Reinholdt]

Spoiler

Show

Green Fields - Reina

"Ha! That's the strangest thing, actually. I had a memory wipe done on myself way, way, waaaaaay back, so I actually have no clue. Well okay, not entirely clueless, but-" Magtok shrugs, and gulps down some more wine.

"Alright, so Winslow Warwick? He says he knows me from back in the day, that I was an intern of his named Thomas Godlark, before I stole all the research and stuff we'd done on synthesizing and reverse engineering the human brain. Memory wipes can never be totally perfect and precise, so since that sounds true and such in my head, I suppose it is. The only problem is, I don't know for sure if Thomas Godlark was my real name, which was later turned into an anagram, Lord Magtok, or if Thomas Godlark itself was an anagram of my villain identity, an alias I was just using while undercover in that laboratory. I don't feel like a Thomas, I don't think of myself as a Tom sort of guy, so...I don't know!"

Mag grins, apparently completely unbothered by this bizarre mystery that will never go solved. He also seems to be totally overlooking the possibility that he may have became Magtok because he never felt like Thomas was the right name for himself.

"I hear Reinholdt and Vyrn are princes of lost lands, though. Not sure how you can have traditional monarchies and sophisticated rifle technology, though. You'd think, with guns being the great equalizer and all, they'd both have been overthrown long before lasers or sniper rifle scopes were being manufactured."

Green Fields - Reina

"From my understanding, it would have been so much better for everyone if they both would have been overthrown and shot long ago. It's a shame." Reina takes a drink a bit more boldly now.

"But that's not true in the Nexus, is it? What with the gods, demons, and eldritch creatures right? Am I just missing it? Is there some great equalizer here or are guns the best we get to hope for?"

[UncleWolf]

Green Fields - N'alae

Hicks nods. "That reminds me of...dammit, that one restaurant. Enchante? The place where you got to pick the theme?" He wonders out loud, tilting his head in thought as he tries to remember if that's the place or not. "Whatever the name, I should head there again. There are some neat choices. Have you been there?"

Green Fields - Riverside

"Well, perhaps East, West, and North should gather together for another forum?" Jezebel suggests. "If we need a location, The Lotus Gardens could work. I can bring music, food, and anything anyone else desires. I'm rather good at finding such given time. I've been thinking about hosting a banquet someday soon anyway." She admits with a small smile.

[Darkcomet]

[Green Fields]

"No. And before you ask, no, I am not interested, and your continued attempts at subverting my impartiality will be in my report." For some reason, a scowl crosses N'alae's face briefly, followed by (most likely incomprehensible due to being in a language I doubt many around would know) muttering. <"I sound like a Vulcan.">

"Not that I expect your organization will take the complaint seriously this time, either."

[Gullara]

[Temple of Purity]

When Astrana hits the floor, Valente sits up fast and looks around. "What's going on?" Jeez, what the heck happened... He pulls the blanket over him a bit more when he sees Sylv is here. Okay, something's up, that's for sure. He just has to wait to find out what.

"Looks that way. She's sneaking around int he dark for some reason. No idea what she's up to, but I'm willing to bet it's got to do with you. You're done here, right? Let's bail." The imp urges. They can probably squeeze out of the window, though it's not very big.

[Valley of Corruption]

Well, it was too much to hope for. It'll be the elemental that gets to fire the first shot. A the birds near, she puts out both her hands. Two powerful jets of water, one from each hand, shoot toward one of the birds.

[UncleWolf]

Green Fields - N'alae

Hicks starts to speak, but stops after a moment, choosing his words very carefully, though they're still quite rough and thickened by a human accent. <No. They...quirk their eyebrow. Never frown.> The Intelligence Officer says before smiling.

"Terrible, I know, but I'm required to research and practice the languages of those I work with. Also, I wasn't suggesting we go. Just you. If you don't get to go along, how would you ever get a chance to research the place?"

[Darkcomet]

[Green Fields]

"You seem to have studied more than languages, if you recognized that specific species and habits associated with them. I do not believe those from our galaxy are very common here. I certainly have not heard of any of those in particular, but then, I have not dug through the entirety of the civilian population for them. Any further 'study' and I suspect I may have grounds to press stalking charges, and I doubt your organization wants to deal with the PR disaster that would cause," N'alae replies, rather coldly. It's clearly evident she's getting rather suspicious here.

"Unless of course they want you to look like a veruul, but I doubt that."

That word there being a rather unpleasant term that ought to remain untranslated.

[UncleWolf]

Green Fields - N'alae

The man raises an eyebrow at that point, but she doesn't get to see that. "Let me rephrase that. I'm a diplomat. It is my job to study the societies and interactions of the various races and cultures I speak with, lest I insult them unwittingly. If I was choosing to stalk you, I wouldn't have let it known that I'm learning about you, would I? Nor would I be meeting you at formal events when I would have better luck catching you unguarded away from such. Your race isn't the only one that I choose to learn of, nor should it be. If you think you are special in this case, you're sorely mistaken." He says in a neutral tone.

"What is special is that you truly are the first known Romulan here. However, that doesn't mean it's impossible to research. Merely incredibly difficult."

[Lord Magtok]

Green Fields - Reina

"From my understanding, it would have been so much better for everyone if they both would have been overthrown and shot long ago. It's a shame." Reina takes a drink a bit more boldly now.

"But that's not true in the Nexus, is it? What with the gods, demons, and eldritch creatures right? Am I just missing it? Is there some great equalizer here or are guns the best we get to hope for?"

"Not one great equalizer, no. There's too many counters for this or that, no singular thing that will balance out every fight. The upside to that is everyone is absolutely fudging terrified of what everyone else might be able to do, though.

Peter might be capable of shooting lasers out of his hands at Paul, but John's got his back with a big scary ball of superheated magical fire. Suddenly Luke gets involved with his telekinesis and about half a dozen hovering butcher knives, and then it's anybody's fight after that. Groups like Remnant can only defend against so many things in so many ways; there's bound to be loopholes, vulnerabilities, and weaknesses if people look hard enough."

Magtok shrugs. "Not that I'm doing any of the hard looks these days, though. I always figured I'd wring some clever use out of the AMENites if I waited as second-in-command long enough, but that's all fallen apart now. I think I'm going to need another hobby or something."

[Darkcomet]

[Green Fields]

"Yes, no doubt it involved tracking down those familiar with us, bombarding them with questions and trawling through their computer records. Thus, it is approaching unpleasant territory when you practically perform a criminal investigation in order to learn about a single non-criminal individual, though it may be somewhat excused given my current position and that it may not remain a single individual." Though Hicks is likely aware that the Romulans are not known for respecting privacy like that themselves. How odd. Perhaps she's just decent at respecting more local laws. Or it's standard paranoia. Or the lack of privacy leads them to value it when they can have it. Or the possibility that knowledge of her species's reputation will make her job harder. Or perhaps multiple of these things.

N'alae isn't saying.

"I suppose I can only hope suspicion stemming from what you may have learned does not damage Remnant-Irregular coordination in the future."

Well, that's something.

[Shadowcaller]

[Green Fields - Dipsnig & c.o.]

Dipsnig snorts. He manages to be diplomatic and not mention how he considers chivalry to be a set of rules telling humans when it's appropriate to get themselves killed.

"How kind of you to number me among the attractive ones, Dena. But you forgot Rilla."

Green Fields ~ Dipsnig and Co.

Aric is pleased by Kirk's seeming approval. He chuckles and replies to Dena in an equally theatrical fashion, before responding in a more serious tone to Kirk. Alas, no white horses, though perhaps a unicorn. People say chivalry is dead, but I know of too many resurrection spells to believe it.
Indeed, sir Kirk, If I set my mind to something, there's no stopping.

[Green Fields - Dipsnig & c.o.]

Aric isn't out of the woods yet, but Kirk's expression does soften some. Apparently Aric's behaviour is acceptable! Yay! "I'm sure if he puts a little effort into it, he'll get his chance to join is. Isn't that right, Aric?"

As for Dena, Kirk gives her an amused look. He all but rolls his eyes. "It's tragic, really."

[Green Fields - Dipsnig & c.o.]

"You ought to try it sometimes Kirk-y, you need to update your repertoire, get a new set of clothes, keep things fresh." Dena urges him before returning her attention to Aric and Dipsnig. "Ah, of course. Aric, Rilla is the boss sweetheart. An absolutely brilliant woman who engineered her way into our boss heart. Why didn't you bring her to the party?" Dena asks the goblin in a curious tone.

Green Fields - Riverside

"Perhaps if it was handled differently than last time. The forum was simply dreadful. Everyone was shouting and no one agreed to anything. I would rather discuss things in small groups like this. Much more pleasant. I also urge you to not invite AMEN to such an event. I think invading the city by force disqualifies you from joining." The noble suggests in a firm tone.

[Temple of Purity]

Alone?

Suddenly Astrana felt fully awake, her mind going through the possibilities. Why did she go to her room alone?

She didn't have much time though, a plan had to be made. "Val, get out the window." She orders her boyfriend, giving him a quick kiss. "Just go home, I'll be fine." She will hand him the orb that presumably ended up on the floor.

She then goes to get her bag to get the charm. "Sylv, will have I time to get my clothes on?" She asks while making a new carving in the charm, changing it's purpose slightly.

[Gullara]

[Green Fields - Dipsnig & c.o.]

Kirk doesn't need new clothes! He has many different suits and an array of shirts! And shoes, and ties, and even a few alternate hats!

"Something tells me that this isn't Rilla's kind of party, Dena." Kirk says and shifts closer to her so he can put a hand on her waist. "Wouldn't want to drag her away from her work for this, eh boss?" He says, glancing at Dipsnig.

[Temple of Purity]

"...Alright, Astrana. Come home soon." Valente kisses her back. He grabs his clothes and only takes enough time to put on his pants before squeezing his way out the window. He doesn't leave without worries, but it really doesn't look like anyone here would actually hurt her.

In the meantime, Slyv replies. "If you're quick about it. But if you're staying just hurry up." She urges.

[GrandDM]

Green Fields

Harald is standing on the edge of the party, watching everyone and sipping his glass of wine, holding the bottle in his other hand.

((Interaction Wanted!))

[Shadowcaller]

[Temple of Purity]

"I will." Astrana hastily tells Valente as she is busy throwing on her dress.

"Put back the illusion once I'm dressed or she starts turning the key, whatever comes first." She orders the imp while dressing.

If she manages to do it before the door opens she'll quickly lay down in bed (assuming Sylv casts the illusion on her) and pretends to be sleeping, hiding the dagger underneath the bed cloth and the charm on her person.

[Devixer]

Green Fields - Harald

There's a man in a business suit that hasn't done much talking at all, has turned his gaze towards Harald. There isn't much of any emotion behind it.

[GrandDM]

Green Fields - Harald

He notices the gaze and ambles over.

"Good evening."

[Gullara]

[Temple of Purity]

Astrana has just enough time to throw on her clothes and get under the covers before the key turns in the lock and the door slides open quietly. Sylv is hiding in the corner of the room rather than with Astrana, but the illusion is as complete as ever.

Allison stands silhouetted in the dim light outside of the room for a moment before she takes one step inside. "Julianne?" She says uncertainly. She's obviously unsure about what she's doing, but determined none the less. "Are you awake?"

[Devixer]

Green Fields - Harald

"Greetings. You are?" His voice is a near monotone, like someone trying to be social.

[GrandDM]

Green Fields - Harald

"Harald. Doctor Harald. You?"

[Devixer]

Green Fields - Harald

"Merrick Hayes. Just a business man." Merrick keeps glowering at Harald. "And what exactly are you a doctor of?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Temple of Purity]

Astrana turns around then slowly raises from the bed. "Your highness?" She asks the high priestess.

Now Allison is in range for the charm which the warlock now have adjusted for persons. It will amplify whatever "positive" feelings Allison have for her such as respect, pity, general friendliness etc. a great deal.

[Morty]

[Green Fields - Riverside]

"I do not think inviting AMEN would ever be a serious consideration," the Mayor states. "They are tolerated as long as they stay in their territory, nothing more. I wasn't present at the previous meeting, however. I believe the Hunter-Commander and the current head of the Democracy Now party were, but unfortunately, they're not here with us."

[Valley of Corruption]

The bird targeted by the water elemental dips downwards through the air, evading one of the jets. The other one, however, catches it on the wing and sends it spinning. It takes a few seconds for the vulture-thing to regain control of its movements.

Another bird swoops down on Marcus, but is forced to fly up again by the thrust of his spear. It appears that the corruption did not take away their sense of self-preservation. It then tries to attack again, but Marcus' other thrust hits home, penetrating flesh. Said flesh proves quite resilient, so the puncture isn't too deep. However, the bird bleeds blue-black ichor as it takes into the air again.

Conrack's riposte also manages to strike the third bird. One of the thing's legs is cut off, but it does not appear overly bothered by it. It attempts to attack his face with the remaining talons and the beak.

[Aric Kale]

Green Fields ~ Dipsnig and c.o.

Aric glances at the goblin's obvious disapproval of chivalry, and also takes note of Kirk's attitude. He decides they must be in some sort of relationship and backs down, not wanting to cause trouble.

Valley of Corruption

Success! Marcus continues on with his current tactic, as it seems to be working.

[Morty]

[Green Fields - Dipsnig & c.o.]

"Yes, Kirk, you're right," Dipsnig says. "Rilla doesn't feel that well on this sort of gatherings. If there was a science fair I was attending, I'm sure she'd love to come along, but she wouldn't enjoy herself here. And yes, Rilla's the beautiful and brilliant lady of my heart as well as NO's engineer."

[Gullara]

[Temple of Purity]

"Please, just call me Allison." The high priestess closes the door behind her and goes to light a candle at the desk. "I'm really sorry to wake you like, this, but I've been wanting to talk to you alone for a while now. I haven't been able to sleep and we'll avoid any old women meddling." She says with an amused look.

[Shadowcaller]

[Temple of Purity]

"Oh..." Astrana gives her a confused look as she turns to face the high priestess. She might note she still have her clothes on. She did manage to at least flatten the bed a bit before Allison entered.

The warlock smiles back awkwardly. "Sorry if... it smells. I sweat a lot. Probably shouldn't sleep with my clothes on." She chuckles quietly. After the time she spend with Valente in there it probably smells pretty awful though. But hopefully the charm would make her ignore all that for the moment. "But what did you want to speak to me about... Allison?"