[Nexus] The Outside XXXIX

[McBish]

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 the thread maker if you wish to add locations to Outside.

[Arkhosia]

Storms

An enormous amount of clouds is above this scorched plain, raining profusely. Very often, lighting descends from the clouds to scorch the plain.
Almost too often...

INTERACTION WANTED!

[Morcleon]

[Walking to Inside]

"Yikes, still pretty raw then I imagine. Time will help." There it is clear that she is speaking from experience. "I don't mind listening, good to know I'm not the only one that is screwed up. No offense."

She then takes the next step into a NEW THREAD.

[Walking to Inside]

"It will," Yuki agrees, smirking at her next words. "None taken. Acknowledgement of one's own oddities is a good thing."

"So, I don't suppose I could interest you in a graft or two?" He smiles cheekily. "It won't be painful or expensive, I promise~"

[McBish]

[Walking to Inside]

Amelia shakes her head. "I'm guessing those grafts are magical right? Me and magic don't mix any more." She says sounding regretful at the fact. Maybe not about missing the opportunities to get grafted, but more about the magic in general.

[Ionbound]

The movement between the trees halts.

A man wearing chainmail steps out into the clearing, crossbow held at the ready and aimed at Therlynn. The nocked bolt is silver and barbed, leaving no question to it's a purpose, a weapon meant specifically for werewolves.

"I won't speak with you, not as mutts. Take human form, now, and this will end better." Hannod calls, still keeping as much distance from the girls as the clearing will allow. His free hand rests on the pommel of a sword slung to his belt.

[Glade]

Therlynn resumes human form, and nods to Ezra, hoping she does the same. She eyes the bolt nervously, and says to the man, "Alright. I can see that you're serious here...And from your choice of tactics, I can guess that you're self-styled "hunters". Word of advice, the scent trick doesn't work on people who've used it before themselves...Is there no chance of dealing with this quickly and peacefully?"

[Arkhosia]

[Glade]

Therlynn resumes human form, and nods to Ezra, hoping she does the same. She eyes the bolt nervously, and says to the man, "Alright. I can see that you're serious here...And from your choice of tactics, I can guess that you're self-styled "hunters". Word of advice, the scent trick doesn't work on people who've used it before themselves...Is there no chance of dealing with this quickly and peacefully?"

Ezra nervously does so, subconsciously inching behind Therlynn

[Morcleon]

[Walking to Inside]

Amelia shakes her head. "I'm guessing those grafts are magical right? Me and magic don't mix any more." She says sounding regretful at the fact. Maybe not about missing the opportunities to get grafted, but more about the magic in general.

[Walking to Inside]

"Mm... some of them are. I can get you a nonmagical one if you'd like." Yuki gives her a confused look. "Ah... if you don't mind me asking, what happened?"

[McBish]

[Walking to Inside]

"I used to be a magician. There was a group of us, and we we were on a project to try and expand our powers. We were smart and bored and thought we were looking at something big. There was an accident, it was... it was bad. I barely survived it, the others weren't so lucky." There is a lot of regret and guilt in her voice there. "When it happened something was torn from me. Now I can't work magic like I used to. Almost any type of magic that I could try to use comes with a side of pain."

[Lex-Kat]

Melody's Island

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Happy kisses Melody on the forehead. "It's okay, hon. Lyanna's taking good care of you. I'll be right back."

As much as her maternal instincts are screaming at her to stay with Melody, she knows Jezebelle is suffering even more, with one daughter missing and a barrier keeping her from the other. And shapeshifting is an excellent tool for shifting rubble.

Then she pauses. Lyanna has no doubt seen her shapeshift before. But the thing she's doing now is much more extreme than growing wings or stretching an arm to reach something on a high shelf. She might end up completely unrecognizeable as a human. "Lyanna, I'm going to do some crazy shapeshifting to help your momma through. It'll look kind of ugly, but it doesn't hurt, and I'll be back to normal in a few minutes."

She places her hands on the rocks and has her fingers extend like roots, searching for crevices to grow between. Once she has found a likely spot, she'll force more mass into the "roots" and push rocks aside, being careful to support what she's doing to prevent any further collapse.

If she succeeds in making an entry for Derek and Jezebelle, it's quite likely that her entire body will be incorporated into the effort.

Derek starts trying to shift the rocks around so he might be able to get through. "Jezebelle I think I can get through up here." Of course that is before Happy starts to shift around the rocks. Derek will probably have to scramble back out of the rocks when she does that.

Jezebelle was just about to start climbing when Happy begins to shift the rocks doing something Jezebelle never thought possible.

Lyanna watches at first, wondering just what Happy was going to do that would be "ugly". But when she sees just how ugly, she turns her head with a squeek, "Eeep!" and closes her eyes.

Jezebelle stands back, looking up and offering a hand to help Derek get down. Once he's down, she'll wait for a hole in the rocks big enough for her to climb through, then immediately hug Lyanna tightly. Momma's here, baby. I'm soo, so sorry. she says, tears coming to her eyes.

[Shadowcaller]

[Luna Lake]

"It's not that bad. I have this carrier thing, and I breast feed Annie right now. It's not that hard to figure out food for myself." Kitty says... somewhat optimistically. It has been pretty tough, though...

[Luna Lake]

Oh right. Breast feeding was a thing. Like those... yeah, the tribal women. Though she was pretty sure women did it in town too, just less publicly.
She puts on her shirt, immediately feeling more comfortable. "We should go back to civilization then, I need to buy some new clothes anyway and you could buy... something for the baby."

[Morcleon]

[Walking to Inside]

"I used to be a magician. There was a group of us, and we we were on a project to try and expand our powers. We were smart and bored and thought we were looking at something big. There was an accident, it was... it was bad. I barely survived it, the others weren't so lucky." There is a lot of regret and guilt in her voice there. "When it happened something was torn from me. Now I can't work magic like I used to. Almost any type of magic that I could try to use comes with a side of pain."

[Walking to Inside]

Yuki winces. He puts on a comforting expression. "Ah... that's pretty bad. Still, I can't help but wonder if I can help fix it, or at least lessen the pain. I am a doctor, after all."

[Gullara]

[Luna Lake]

"Right, sure. Something for the baby." Kitty says. It's obviously just an invitation to come along, but why would she turn down that? "Let's get going then." She sets about gathering her belongings and getting Annie back into the carrier, and then they can go.

[Shadowcaller]

[Luna Lake]

"Uh... would you help me with the binding first please?" Kitty seemed pretty open about that even if it was a bit awkward. She really had to get a new one first. She holds up the binder and smiles sheepishly. "I was thinking of buying a new one on mallside, ever been there?" She didn't want to linger on the subject of breast binders too long, or at all.

[ThirdEmperor]

Wolf Glade

"You could always surrender." Hannod says, obviously without the slightest expectation they'll do so. He almost seems to find the thought funny.

His friends in the trees are moving again, splitting up to circle around the grove and flank Therlynn. It's easier to see them now: Three more men, all carrying crossbows, armor bearing the crest of a shield wrapped in sunlight.

[Ionbound]

[Glade of Men]

Therlynn says, "And if we surrender, I assume there is no pleasant fate in store for us?" She changes and leaps at him, trying to, if not bite him, then tackle him.

[Arkhosia]

[Glade of Men]

Therlynn says, "And if we surrender, I assume there is no pleasant fate in store for us?" She changes and leaps at him, trying to, if not bite him, then tackle him.

Ezra's eyes burn with anger.
No! I will not be held against my will EVER AGAIN!
She yells, charging at the nearest soldier while transforming and leaps at him when finished, trying to pin down and savage him/her.

[Deathkeeper]

Western Ghost Town

Krayger nods and follows the human back out to the bike she left outside. No comment for now.

Wintry Palace

Tep shrugs. It's not his place to judge.
Behind the door his a short staircase leading down.

[Lost_Deep]

Western Ghost Town

She straps on the helmet tightly. "If I'm going to be in crazy town, I want my head to be protected." That done, she takes a deep breath. She calms noticeably. "Okay... now what? Call an expert on creepy stuff?"

[Deathkeeper]

Western Ghost Town

Krayger nods.
"Yeah, I should probably call HQ on this one. I've got experience with magic to some degree, but I'm still no mage, and if the place actually is haunted or infested with demons I don't know how to handle either."

[Lost_Deep]

Western Ghost Town

"I'd like to think I can take on demons, but I'm not sure. It's never come up. Ghosts... likely not, but I don't know much about ghosts. And I know bugger all about magic." She sighs. As there is very little light right now, she turns on the headlights on her motorcycle. "Want to see if the post office is less doomy?"

[Deathkeeper]

Western Ghost Town

Krayger seems to consider this for a moment.
" I suppose we could. It couldn't hurt to confirm a supernatural presence throughout the whole place. Do you have experience with demons?"

[Lost_Deep]

Western Ghost Town

"Uh... no. I've fought a few powered individuals, but not really any demons. Well... there was one where I wouldn't be surprised if she... or it... WAS a demon, but I don't know anything for sure," She admits.

[Deathkeeper]

Western Ghost Town

Krayger shrugs.
"Trust me, it's one time where while handy, you really don't want to say you've got experience with that sort of thing personally. Because then that means you've fought a demon, and that sucks. Would you like me to lead?" he says, gesturing to the office.

[Lost_Deep]

Western Ghost Town

She grabs the cycle's handle and turns it to point at the office. "Yeah, I'll be right behind you." She'll walk the cycle after him, giving plenty of light.

[OrchestraHc]

Wintry Palace

Tep shrugs. It's not his place to judge.
Behind the door his a short staircase leading down.

Wintry Palace:
Still slightly embarrassed, Romeo begins a steady descent downward. Downward feels like the right direction for a dungeon to be.

[Deathkeeper]

Wintry Palace

At the foot of the stairs Romeo will find himself in the cellar. Or rather, the entire basement level. The wine cellar is dusty and untouched for the most part, but Romeo is looking for the dungeon. Which may be rather hard because there's basically no light down there, since undead don't need it. He might still be guided in the right direction past around a corner or two and up to a metal door with bars over its window by the very soft sound of singing.
"From the mists of the mountains a deafening call
bellows down over the plains,
On a host of battle-worn ears it does fall
pushin' out through the thunder and rains,
This Man of the North, he has suffered too long,
the anger it swells in his veins!
Of the spirit that roared this lost warrior's song,
distant echoes are all that remain... "

Of course, Tep will summon a little ball of red light for the two of them if Romeo has no such ability, smirking a bit with his canine features.

[ThirdEmperor]

Wolf Glade

Hannod fires. And unfortunately, due to Ezra's attempting to hide behind her companion, even if Therlynn dodges it will only put the other wolf in the way of that terrible silver bolt.

But the hunter barely pauses to see who's hit. Nor does he waste time trying to draw his sword in the instant before Therylnn is upon him. Instead he drops the crossbow to lunge towards his attacker, throwing himself under her leap and into a roll that brings him back to his feet with a good distance between them.

Ezra's eyes burn with anger.
No! I will not be held against my will EVER AGAIN!
She yells, charging at the nearest soldier while transforming and leaps at him when finished, trying to pin down and savage him/her.

Panic flits across the soldier's face, and he fumbles as he lifts his crossbow to fire. The shot flies wide and there's no second chances. Ezra's inhuman strength is more than enough to tear him apart.

But there's two more soldiers across the clearing and both fire as she sets upon her victim. One shot buries itself harmlessly in a tree, but the second is aimed dead for her right shoulder.

[OrchestraHc]

Wintry Palace

At the foot of the stairs Romeo will find himself in the cellar. Or rather, the entire basement level. The wine cellar is dusty and untouched for the most part, but Romeo is looking for the dungeon. Which may be rather hard because there's basically no light down there, since undead don't need it. He might still be guided in the right direction past around a corner or two and up to a metal door with bars over its window by the very soft sound of singing.
"From the mists of the mountains a deafening call
bellows down over the plains,
On a host of battle-worn ears it does fall
pushin' out through the thunder and rains,
This Man of the North, he has suffered too long,
the anger it swells in his veins!
Of the spirit that roared this lost warrior's song,
distant echoes are all that remain... "

Of course, Tep will summon a little ball of red light for the two of them if Romeo has no such ability, smirking a bit with his canine features.

Wintry Palace:

Romeo nods to the book imp as a silent thanks for the light. He'll also try to open the door.

[happyturtle]

Melody's Island

Assuming Derek climbs through as well, Happy will extract herself from the rockslide and return to her normal shape.

[McBish]

[Walking to Inside]

Yuki might notice that Amelia is holding her lower stomach, like you would if you were queasy. It is an unconscious move that Amelia doesn't realize she does when talking about her accident. "No that is OK. I've seen a few specialists and they haven't been able to help me." She sounds almost embarrassed about her affliction.

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Melody's Island

Derek manages to crawl backwards as the rocks shift around, following Jezebelle through the opening Happy made. He does his best not to step on any parts of Happy he might have to crawl over to get through the hole. Once on the other side he see's Jezebelle go straight to her daughter, but he moves over to kneel down next to Melody. He will try to quickly look her over to see the extent of her injuries.