[Nexus] Outside XXXVII

[Reinholdt]

This place is just as it sounds. It's outside.
Want a change of scenery? Go outside.
Always wanted to visit the beach? Come outside.
Looking to have a climatic fight on clifftops? Attempt outside.
Secret meetings being held where there's no cameras? Try outside.
Want an ambush without nasty base defenses? Yep. Outside.

Any and all are welcome here. There are no NPCs unless you bring them in. The major exception is the creepy eyed squirrel. The creepy eyed squirrel does not interfere with anyone. The creepy eyed squirrel is everywhere outside. The creepy eyed squirrel is always watching. The creepy eyed squirrel never sleeps. The creepy eyed squirrel can not be damaged, manipulated, or killed by anyone. The creepy eyed squirrel will eat anyone's very being who attempts to do so. Anyone can god-mode the creepy eyed squirrel. You may pet the creepy eyed squirrel at your own risk.

Other NPCs currently include:
The menacing crabs. These intimidating creatures are usually found by the shore.
The non-existent duck. You'll miss every time you shoot at it.

There is very little you can't do outside. However, like always, please follow the forum rules and general rules of conduct. Private conversations can be held outside. If it seems like a private (secret) conversation, please respect that. Those having such a conversation should do their best to indicate it as such. Otherwise, other characters may stumble upon you. Those desiring to spy in on private conversations should first PM those holding the private conversation, more out of courtesy than anything else.

There are many areas outside, and people can be in multiple places outside. In order to keep areas outside separated so there's no confusion, consider bolding your outside location at the start of each of your posts, like so:

The Fields

Reinholdt sets up various targets and practices his sharpshooting. All these events recently has made him a bit rusty. To his left, he notes the creepy eyed squirrel. Giving him the heebie-jeebies, Reinholdt decides to head somewhere else.

The Cliffside

Calublufiok broods over his latest scheme as he flies over the cliffs. The creepy eyed squirrel is watching him again. He finds occasionally landing and telling the creepy eyed squirrel his plans helps him find holes in his plotting.

Note Reinholdt and Calublufiok do not interact because they are in different areas outside. They could interact, if Reinholdt moves to the cliffside. Of course, various things like telepathy help bypass this. Also, please note outside has no major buildings, though minor ones crop up from time to time.

And most importantly, enjoy outside. That's what this is all about.

Outside now contains various Outside locations! Such as...

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[Dead Pine Lake]

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This lake lies in the middle of the forest. On the eastern shore, woodpeckers feast on the dead pines that give the lake its name. Sometimes one can find Lady Death here, the Aspect of Eve also known as The Grandmother, or Jedwiga.

(Please PM happyturtle if you wish to interact with Jedwiga.)

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[The Islands]

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An island cluster forms an archipelago along the coast. Some of the islands are settled, some not, but most are at least occasionally visited by the fishermen who work these waters.

[Gersemi's Island]

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Now more commonly known as Melody's Island, since Gersemi has long ago retired.

Where once was a single hut with a few sheep, now stands a single hut, a barn, a few sheep, and a small tented community of orphans. Gersemi's loom still rests in one corner of the single hut.

Melody, like Gersemi before her, is a healer for the surrounding islands.

(Please PM Lex-Kat if you wish to interact with Melody.)

[Redbrick Falls]

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A mountainous, cliffy region with a prominent waterfall. A large quarry once was worked in these cliffs. Now, only a few scattered villages and solitary dwellings remain.

[Norosa, Great City of the Elves]

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A Lawful Evil city with an incredibly strong military and a very charismatic leader (Archmage Tyrion Lannister). It has a few CG resisters, but, otherwise, it is a city of peace and law, despite its evil nature.

[Brillian's Baneful Bestiary]

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A secret series of caves where a mad scientist lives. A mad scientist who creates mutant attack creatures. These can be purchased for the right price.

[Auxiliary MagCave]

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A relic from the days of the Age of Apocalypse, this abandoned cavern was once used by the infamous cyborg Magtok as a back-up laboratory and underground fortress, should Calublufiok have ever stormed the primary MagCave.

[The Katz Motel]

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Located in the middle of Nowhere, our roadside motel is the only decent place for miles near the Taverna that has a bed. Run by a suave anthropomorphic cat, there is a strict No Dogs policy.


A bellhop by the name of Bates is always ready to assist in carrying your luggage. Please ignore his constant mutterings about his mother. Other more unsavory employees can occasionally be found. Please try to avoid eye contact with them.

We at the Katz Motel wish to ensure you have a splendid stay. Any inconvenience due to randomly locking doors, giant spiders, secret passages, vampires, creepy paintings, and the occasional possession and subsequent exorcism are incredibly rare. Just look at our complaint cards! Not a single one mentions dying horribly in their sleep or becoming food for the monster in the basement.

And if you get bored, the owner will always be up for a game of sport, old boy.

((The Katz Motel is a horror filled place with the highest casualty rate of any motel in the Nexus area. Checking in is usually pretty easy and pleasant. Checking out is rare. Anyone can play the Motel and the NPCs within, free to invent their own horror. The NPCs within that can die usually only suffer death temporarily, the supernatural force causing the disturbances bringing them back to life for its own nefarious purposes. PCs get no benefit from this.))

[The Troll Cave]

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A cave in a craggy hill. The undergrowth outside is trampled completely flat, and there's not much wildlife. There's a burned patch where a fire is sometimes there. Inside are a few large caves, linked by surprisingly smooth tunnels that look like something big has been regularly pushing through them.

[Blind Cat's Bluff]

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A sheer cliff dropoff that travels straight down into the water, this is a favored point of people who commit suicide, romantics wanting to watch the sunset and anyone looking to get rid of evidence. The drop is pretty far and there are rocks at the bottom that spell almost certain doom, so watch your step.

[North Forest]

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A magical forest with a mythical spring of beauty. A bit like the Weald, but not nearly as dangerous. For starters, you can find your way back out and the pixies aren't cannibals.

Frozen Forest & Hermitage
A large forest of tall trees and once very pretty flowers lies here. The entire forest has been completely frozen over, and a blizzard constantly storms and snows over the forest, but doesn't affect even an inch past the forest border. The forest is still very pretty; the flowers and mushrooms glittering under a frozen layer. The place is pretty safe, if you're used to constant snow and cold temperatures.

PM Reinholdt if you wish to add locations to Outside.

[Beans]

Essarin

Rather than spend any time on pillow talk, Hildur just softly kisses Thyrza's head and gets to sleep.

In the morning, Thryza stretches and yawns in her fiancee's arms, then nestles closer.

[Felandria]

[Transport road]

The location she is, offers less cover then the wood. It's a bit away from it, but there are still enougth trees to cover.

It will need at last an hour for the transport to reach the area. As told the transports will drive to the side and make a short break. In this time the two men in the front change place with two others who came out of the back. Each of the thre trucks got a few smaller enchantments like stronger wheels and planes that prevent detection. Nothing strong after all.

Hmmm.

Decisions, decisions.

Well, when it's a hard decision, go with the smashy.

But why take chances?

Option C it is.

As she sees the transport head towards the area, Felandria concentrates and grows to her maximum size, which is less impressive in a world this size, by scale she's now a little over 10'

And now for the test.

This should be interesting.

She casts Righteous Might.

She feels the magic flow through her and she grows again, doubling in size.

So in this world, she now stands around 21' tall, but she almost shudders when she realizes that back home she would be over 100 stories tall.

((Hopefully one day I can do this without spelling out all the math))

She sees the trucks come to a stop and the men exit the truck.

Showtime.

Felandria pulls out the scroll and casts the spell.

Time Stop.

She sees the men freeze in place, time is of the essence.

Felandria runs out from her hiding spot at full speed towards the convoy.

She yanks the doors off of each truck, reaches in and rips off the steering wheels.

Then she pulls open the hoods and pulls out whatever various parts she can to disable them, flinging the parts into the distance.

With her remaining few seconds, she gathers the men into one group and stands looming over them, her sword in her hand resting on her shoulder, a smile on her face.

[Slii Arhem]

A Hillside

"Yeah. I might ask Cos about it... maybe. But I'm not getting my hopes up. It sounds like pessimism, but... I can't even cope with her dying once. I don't want to not even cope with her dying, and then her being really most sincerely dead."

She takes a deep breath. "I've never felt so broken before. I knew I was broken, but now... it feels like I'm really broken. Truly most sincerely broken."

A Hillside

"We all are, some of us are just more broken than others." That's really all she can say. It's no comfort, just something to say.

"All the power in the world between us, a god, a fae, and a you, and it's all useless where it counts."

[Gnrlshrimp]

Elven Diplomacy

The word "watchtower" seem to make it all make sense to her. "You can say that, I meet the last two persons Watchtower sent. A pregnant dryad and a dragonman. Good to see they're sending some more competent people this time." She smiles. "But I don't recall asking for help this time around."

"A preg-" Ithuriel blinks and takes a moment to process this information. That...does sound like an odd choice of person to send on any mission, diplomatic or otherwise. "I see. Well I'm sure they were competent...in their own way. They did say they were a bit lacking in people who talk before resorting to action. Anyway, you're quite right, no one sent a request for help. Rather, we've been sent here with an offer for the fae who live in the grove here."

[Devixer]

Essarin

"Morning, love," Hildur says, starting to wake up herself. "Wanna go find a shower?"

Elven Diplomacy

Boris looks a little perplexed at the mention of a pregnant dryad, wondering when Sakura was here. He still doesn't speak, though. He can probably be skipped for now.

[Beans]

[Essarin]
Thryza stretches and yawns, purring.
Mmmm, a shower would be amazing...

[Lost_Deep]

A Hillside

Copi nods.

"Mintbalm, please put on some clothes. I think I need to cry, and as is it would be very awkward to cry on your shoulder."

[Slii Arhem]

A Hillside

Copi nods.

"Mintbalm, please put on some clothes. I think I need to cry, and as is it would be very awkward to cry on your shoulder."

A Hillside

Grass weaves itself up over Mintbalm into a thick green blanket that she clutches around her shoulders. It's sealed fully around her with only a hole for her head and two for her arms which aren't being put to use, the blades of grass not detaching from the ground as they lengthened up around her.

[Lost_Deep]

A Hillside

Copi rolls over and begins to cry. It's a little at first, small tears for good memories and the future she now faces.

And then her eyes decide that they would rather be waterfalls.

Like a dam breaking Copi begins to blubber a weep and sob like someone whose life is quite hard. She's been holding it in for a while now, and it all comes back with compound interest. Suffice to say she's going to be weeping for quite a while.

[ThePhantom]

Essarin

Hildur decides to let actions serve as her answer, lowering her body and trying to kiss Thyrza.

Haunted Castle

"Fantastic. They vanished from the Soliton Radar," Shark says, starting to make her way to the throne room. "We have to find them the old fashioned way."

(Since stuff...)

Haunted Castle

Shark and Albert can feel free to talk with each other all they want, 'cause it doesn't look like the room is doing anything different for now. It just looks as it did ten seconds ago, with shadows dancing and the occasional drip-drop of water.

"I'm afraid yes. Well, your'e guess is as good as mine as where they are."

Albert goes to fallow after Shark.

[5a Violista]

Haunted Castle

The Throne Room is large, as expected. The water is still halfway up to the calves, and there are large pillars along the side of the room. Once again, there's a central doorway on each side of the room. Sadly, thanks to the water, weeds, and mud, it's rather difficult to see everything in the water unless you're practically standing on top of it.

Shark and Albert enter the Throne Room; the most visible and central thing is the throne itself. It's on an elevated floor (so that it's not wet), and there's a skeleton wearing armor and wearing a crown, sitting unmoving on the throne. If he were alive, he would look ponderous and lost in thought, given by the way his hand is in relation to the skull.


The Soul-dar shows that there is, in fact, somebody sitting where the throne is, and there's a smattering of souls scattered around the room. The exact amount fluctuates, but there's roughly 5-7 of them; likely lost spirits.


EDIT: I think I should have made this more clear, since rereading this post really didn't make it so clear.
Obvious Exits are (going clockwise): 1. Behind them, back to the entrance hall 2. To the left, to some hallway that splits off to the Treasury and the Armory 3. Behind the throne, straight ahead, there's two doors - one on the right and one on the left. The wooden doors are falling off their hinges. 4. To the right: it looks like stairs that go down into the water. Even underwater, those stairs are lit by the blue light.
(Sorry about having to edit this in. I thought it might be important.)

[ThePhantom]

Haunted Castle

And here is the King. Well, its likely he is the source of the haunting, but without Harley, now is not the time to try to fight.

"So, any trace of Harley?"

Albert whispers.

[Devixer]

Essarin

"There's one in this room, right? I don't feel like putting clothes on yet." Hildur sits up and stretches.

Haunted Castle

"Nothing on the Soliton," Shark replies. "But the skeleton on the throne's probably alive, and there are some other ghosts here."

[Beans]

[Essarin]
She nods.
Mmmm, clothes are lame right now.

[Devixer]

Essarin

Hildur grins and slides out of bed, giving Thyrza a bit of a show, before looking around for a bathroom or something.

[Beans]

[Essarin]
Thryza follows, directing her to the attached bathroom---not very big, but it's got a sink and toilet and shower and it's lovely and well-lit.

[Devixer]

Essarin

Hildur reaches for Thyrza's metal hand to try and lead her into the shower. "C'mon, it'll be nice to shower after being in a spring all this time."

[Beans]

[Essarin]
Thryza giggles and nods, walking in with her and kissing her cheek.

[Devixer]

Essarin

Hildur smiles and turns on the water, making sure it's nice and hot for both of them.

[Beans]

[Essarin]
Thryza slips in, sighing happily.

[Devixer]

Essarin

Hildur seems mostly interested in getting herself clean for now, only occasionally bumping Thyrza.

[Halae]

Nothing can be seen or heard from inside the manor. Magtok will be able to approach unhindered, until he reaches the door. He's free to go in if he chooses.

Sure, why not. He checks for a doorbell, but even if there is one and he presses the button, he's still going to go on inside anyways. They're expecting him, right?

There's a small buzzing once Magtok enters the building and, likely before he has a chance to react, he'll see what seems to be a massive blue ethereal hand reach out to grab onto the front of his robes.

If this happens successfully, everything around him will feel like it's shuddering, before it completely realigns itself. Disorienting, to say the least. Once the distortion stops, he'll find himself in what appears to be a containment field. It's cylindrical with a metal top and bottom, but large enough to be its own room. He'll also see the source of the hand - one of Rilla's Golems, though now that he's through to the other side of the dimensional transport it'll look solid. The force-field is, oddly enough, rainbow in color, changing constantly like a prismatic kaleidoscope, though it's not opaque and thus can be seen through. The Containment field itself is in a bland and empty square room.

Oh, yes, and the receiver for the teleport where Magtok was captured? It overheats itself explodes.

[Lord Magtok]

Manor => Somewhere Else

"Of course," Magtok mutters bitterly, caught as he is in the containment field. "Walk in expecting a trap, and it doesn't do me even the slightest bit of good when the actual trap happens. ****."

[Shadowcaller]

"A preg-" Ithuriel blinks and takes a moment to process this information. That...does sound like an odd choice of person to send on any mission, diplomatic or otherwise. "I see. Well I'm sure they were competent...in their own way. They did say they were a bit lacking in people who talk before resorting to action. Anyway, you're quite right, no one sent a request for help. Rather, we've been sent here with an offer for the fae who live in the grove here."

[Elven Diplomacy]

"What sort of offer? Fey aren't always easy to deal with, getting them to remember anything is a challenge in itself." The elf replies.

Research Station

"...uh, look if you want to get the pokemon you have to talk to Gina first." Jonas says before quickly hanging up. He then looks up at Mawile. "This is never going to work! The boss is after you and you're gonna drag me with you when she start to fuse you. The best option is just getting away."

[5a Violista]

Haunted Castle

The Phantom, in case you didn't see my edit, here it is again:

EDIT: I think I should have made this more clear, since rereading this post really didn't make it so clear.
Obvious Exits are (going clockwise): 1. Behind them, back to the entrance hall 2. To the left, to some hallway that splits off to the Treasury and the Armory 3. Behind the throne, straight ahead, there's two doors - one on the right and one on the left. The wooden doors are falling off their hinges. 4. To the right: it looks like stairs that go down into the water. Even underwater, those stairs are lit by the blue light.

I'm not so sure you can call a skeleton 'alive'.

Regardless, if Shark and Albert move together, then the skeleton's head will swivel to face them. If they move separately, then it will look at whichever one is making the most noise at the moment. Right now, I think that's Shark.

They can also hear the sounds 'drip' and 'drop' every once in a while, echoing throughout the room.

Then, a splash across the room, and the ripples spread across the entire room before they fade.

[Lord Magtok]

EMBOH Code Vault

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The notMagtok grins wider, the jagged tear of a mouth seeming to cut ever slightly around the side of its head. There's a faint chittering laugh crawling out of it, separate and distinct even as it talks.
"Oh, my job isn't to be intimidating, so don't worry the chrome dome.
Although having a taste is so...tempting."

Which has an almost immediate result of it flinching, drawing a long hand up slightly above its head.
"Shut up."


Libby frowns deeper, but focuses on her Magtok instead.
"The box is undoubtedly connected to the structure of the place itself. At least superficially, since this soul used it as a transportation medium."
Once far away, then here. What other conclusion could she make?

"We could try to get information from the soul, but maybe you could just extract it from the system itself? It may be more simplistic."

"Probably. Male Val or whatever's going on here doesn't seem the helpful sort."

Magtok frowns at his left arm, attempting to establish a connection and then forcibly transfer the consciousness to his own form, dangerous as that might be.

"Alternative idea: Hijack the box. The soul can use it to get from Point A to Point B, maybe it goes somewhere useful."

...You sure about that, Magtok? Shoving yourself even deeper into the software of this bank vault could be awfully risky. I mean, all this soul business and whatnot might make the whole procedure a lot messier and more convoluted than it needs to be, and the safety of your own soul isn't something to scoff at.

[ThePhantom]

Haunted Castle

I saw the edit. Hmm, going near the throne is likely a bad idea, so Albert points at the passage on the right.

"Best look elsewhere then."

[ThirdEmperor]

TARDIS Adventures

"No? Greece was invoked, I was quite sure I..." Wilhelm grimaces, dismissing the issue with a wave of his hand. "Ah, well, it seems I am mistaken. In that case I will throw in my vote with the rest." But he seems dissapointed.

[Asha'man]

[The Successor]

Shui'yan is unaffected, and launches a kick at the first one to come within reach. As he does so, his hands shoot out at the fairies coming for the baby with pinpoint accuracy. All the blows are delivered with power and speed belying his aged appearance.

The Successor
)(Sorry, I was waiting on a reply to a pm I sent Asha'man. If it makes more sense yo drop out, I'll delete my last post end edit this one accordingly. For now...)(

Zane draws and splits the Rod down the center, pouring flame along the technological masterpiece. He's now wielding two, three foot blades of a semisolid fearblaze.[/QUOTE]

(Since GrandDM's character was the one invited for this specific scene I'll let you decide if you want Zane to step out.)

The first succubus that arrives gets hit in the gut. Since Shui'yan is a grand martial artist the kick will be strong enough to hurt the low level demon. The other two snarl and go to claw him in the torso with demonic speed. Since he isn't enamored they will attack with extreme predjudice.

The Fairies aren't very strong, thus their need to be in a swarm. So the Fairies going for the babe are struck and are in a bit of pain. Though not very strong they are agile so they do manage to avoid a full on hit. They decide to let Shui'yan be dealt with by the succubi and decide to go to help the swarm attacking Zane. The two swarms cast 'Zan' a low level wind magic that would still cut the flesh of a human up pretty badly, in Zane's general direction.