[Nexus] Trog's Tavern CCXLVII

[Jacklu]

Protective gear will not be needed. She can just be... squirmy... at times.

She pulls out a pocket watch and checks it.

If we are agreed, we must leave now or else we'll have to wait until tomorrow to try again.

She drops several coins on the table and stands.

My name is Terref, by the way.

[Deathkeeper]

Arty nods and waves down a waitress to get a bag for the rest of his meal. He has no compunctions against eating on the road.
"Oh, sorry. Artorias, call me Arty. Do you have transport, or am I walking?" most people don't have horse-sized cars.

[The Alexandrian]

But the nine tails are so cute and fuzzy! Warm too! They're even wagging excitedly because (seemingly) the woman to which they are attached is so happy to have the rare opportunity to talk to one of her own kind again!

"I wasn't born here, but I've lived here for about a year. This is the first time I've visited this tavern, though. I don't live in the city, and I've never needed to travel to this part of town before. I don't really like large crowds, so I usually avoid them unless I really need something. I guess it's mainly because the little kids who live here never seem to stop trying pulling my tails. Kinda takes all the fun out of shopping when you must constantly watch out for little kids, y'know. I'd have covered them up by now except I can't for the life of me find any comfortable clothes that would hide all of them from sight. Heck, I have to shop at specialty stores or special order my clothes because most stores here don't carry pants or dresses or robes with enough tail holes in them, let alone clothes that are comfy."

[Zefir]

"I'm sorry, but I didn't got that problem. Where I live there is..." she stops biting her lips. "Was a shop center specialized for our kind. And no kid has acted like you described."

[Rebonack]

Arty should try one of those UFO taxis.

Rumor has it they're bigger on the inside than they are on the outside.

"And I'm Alessandra," the person who's name totally isn't Alessandra replies. It's quite possible that just happens to be the name of this particular persona. Allo has a ton of them living in her head ready to hop out and take over at a moment's notice.

Hmm...

At some point she must have finished her meal, because it's certainly gone now.

"We should leave right away if time is an issue."

And with that she rises to her feet, having slipped the chosen ID card into her pocket.

[Fenric]

Fenric enters the once-familiar Tavern and looks around. Seeing an inordinate amount of deadtime (or perhaps people foolish enough to have drank the water), he heads up to the bar.

Martini, please. Straight up, twist of lemon

Cosmo looks at him

"Huh. Didn't know you still existed."

Fenric shrugs

Who says I do?

Cosmo walks away to make the drink, shaking his head and muttering something about calling animal control.

[Rebonack]

"Working on tentative existence, huh?" comes an adorably squeaky voice from the rafters of the tavern. "You never stuck me as the sort to be into ontological uncertainty. Though I guess I'm really not one to talk, am I? I've barley been around myself."

Well if it isn't Mini-Maph, perched in his usual spot above the hubbub of the favored bar. The cat sized dragon-like thing is grinning down at Fenric in exactly the way that a dead groundhog doesn't.

"People come and go, but the Nexus endures. So far at least. How are the swarms of relatives doing?"

Well!

Familial small talk sure is the departure from musings on existence, isn't it?

[Fenric]

Fenric smiles

Hello, Maphtey.

Fenric chuckles

Considering that at one point I existed in at least three different places, and since then this one has changed drastically, another one has since ceased to be at all, and the third cares precious little for the continuity of these other two... I'm doing allright.

[Rebonack]

"Well, you know what they say. You can't maintain a trans-multiversal smoothie without breaking a shovel over continuity's head."

Or...

Something like that?

Maph is pretty sure someone somewhere says that. When faced with the Cosmos' infinity of infinities everything is bound to be a saying somewhere.

"Turns out Llymic is back. Remember him? Big pudgy, jolly blasphemy against existence that wants to blot out the sun? Some heroes are trying to kick him to the curb at the moment," Maph grins a toothy grin. "I bet they will, too. Ending all life would make things really dull around here."

[Fenric]

Fenric shakes his head

Doesn't sound familiar, but I heard rumors of his activities. I figured someone would do unspeakable things to whoever it was, and that got me thinking of old sky-blue-Koi Limnos.

[Rebonack]

Maph's silly grin gets a little wider at the mention of that. "That's the trouble about reoccurring villains. Having a come back once or twice is okay. You know, swearing revenge and all. But after they've been beaten several times it just starts getting it becomes old-hat."

Maph rises from his perch, stretches, turns into a little circle, and lays down again.

"If the bad guy just keeps coming back it makes the heroes feel like all their effort is meaningless. Sure they might have solved one problem, but that's just treating the symptoms instead of the sickness."

A beat.

"I probably give too much thought to this protagonist/antagonist stuff."

[Fenric]

Fenric nods and chuckles

Too true - if they're too easily disposed of, then it's an anti-climax. But if they're too stubborn, everyone gets disgruntled.

Fenric shrugs

Then again, killing off a good villain can really waste a lot of good character development.

[The Alexandrian]

"Perhaps I've just been traveling through the wrong parts of town, then."

The dark robed woman muses after a brief delay. She shrugs and leans back in her chair.

"So why doesn't that store you mentioned sell clothing designed for our kind anymore? It's always a shame when something useful is closed down. Gods know I could use a new wardrobe."

[Zefir]

The other Kitsune seems abit nervouse likly she isn't really ammused by talking about that things. Obviously bad memories come with it, but she can't deny this knowledge to a nine tailed.

"It's not like they wanted..." she says, seeking words that fit. "... not due to business terms. You konw about the Zombie apocalypse? With that the whole district was either destroyed or abonded, since then the area is abonded fearing the undead."

It's not like there are any, but you know people.

[The Alexandrian]

"That's terrible."

The dark robed woman sympathetically laments, disappointedly shaking her head from left to right.

"The zombie invasion wasn't that deadly, but it wasn't any fun either. I was dating an ex-Umbrella employee at the time. Apparently, the Umbrella facility was overrun when the virus was released. I managed to sneak into the building after the outbreak. From the looks of it, no one in the upper levels of the building survived."

What with the lockdown, purge, and monster infestation that followed.

"Thankfully, memories about that kind of thing don't usually last very long at all here. After one has acclimated to what transpires here everyday, zombie infestations aren't worth batting your eyelashes at. If the abandoned area is near an upscale area of Inside, it's probably still worth quite a lot of money."

[Rebonack]

"Well, you don't strictly have to kill a villain to make them a non-threat. You could always turn them into a fish. Or maybe a nice houseplant. There are plenty of ways to end a villain's threat without resorting to death."

Death is a nasty thing, really. They say it's the worst thing you can do to a man, to take away everything he is and everything he could be.

"It's just important to have a source of conflict and adventure available! Things would get really dull if the heroes just faffed about all the time."

Faffing about is the worst.

"Maybe I should see about getting more Random Encounters scheduled. People seem to really like the Random Encounters."

And the lewt said encounters inevitably result in.

[Fenric]

Fenric chuckles again

That used to be most of what we did, you know - all these convoluted epic adventures and things that make one late for dinner came later. We sat around in here (or next door, in Sneak's) and debated the merits and demerits of various rules, house rules, comics, systems, and general nonsense. Once in a while, one of Renrik's guys would come in and murder someone, or the goblins would have a riot, or pirates would attack... some such short lived thing. Personal back story stuff would show up, but rarely ever resulted in more than a brawl in here.

And really, some of the best adventures were the ones nobody planned...

Fenric eyes the mirror behind the bar counter with a critical eye.

... or things that started off completely silly like the Plane of Lost Things.

[Zefir]

"People still fear what may be there. So I'm very alone there." The Kitsune replies. She seems to be very intimiddated by the whole Story. It's obviouse that nine tails contain hidden powers, but going right into the source of the Zombie apocalypse seems a bit over the top.

[The Alexandrian]

"That sounds ever so lonely and dreadful. I wouldn't want to live all by myself. I live in a mansion quite far from the city. My neighbors visit me every once in awhile, but I don't like how quiet the house has been recently. I don't need any servants, so it's just me and my daughter living in the house. I've been thinking about searching for tenants for some of the spare wings of the house, but I don't know if anyone would want to live so far from Inside - even if I did spend the money on a permanent portal leading here. I would if I thought that might help, but to be honest, I don't even know where to start! It's a really nice place, though. It's safe, well-maintained, and nothing of any interest whatsoever ever happens there. Everything is modern and stately. Truth be told, I'd be willing to just give a room to someone if they'd be willing to use it. Anything to break the monotony."

The robed figure half-lies. She's remarkably good at it. Her tale is seamless and her mannerisms not at all different from when she is telling the truth.

[Rebonack]

"I think I can approve of silly things," Maph replies with a sage nod. "I'll admit I wasn't here in the early early days. I'm not sure how well I would have done with constant faffing about. I'm a Random Encounter after all! I subsist on conflict! Especially silly conflict."

Silly conflict is the best kind.

Or at least that's Maph's stance on the issue.

Serious conflict is a little too serious.

"I wonder sometimes where everyone who moved on went. Are they just locked in stasis in some obscure corner of the Nexus? Are they happily pursuing adventures and lives somewhere else? Are clowns still absolutely terrifying?"

[Fenric]

Fenric smiles, and answers out of order, as he always tends to do.

Clowns are simply a manifestation of the unknown. Is that terrifying, or thrilling? It depends solely on you.

Fenric shakes his head

For the others... I tried to find some of them, you know. I found another dead world, and many portals to blank walls. I have spoken to the spirits of some, but none recently

(( Gah... Fenric, shall we just move on? ))

And, of course, HE still doesn't respect much of anything. So, as he says, moving on... Our view has always been that everything that can possibly exist DOES exist - always and everywhere. It is our perception that is limited: not the universe. Time is an illusion caused by our inability to experience everything and therefore "Nothing" and "Everything" are at once the same and indistinguishable. In some remote possibility, Earin is sitting beside you, drinking tea while Exachix chats with the somewhat unsettling clone troopers from Earth Force and meanwhile an assassin is creeping up behind you with a tautological dagger simultaneously dodging Gatamu who still wonders if anyone would like to be eaten.

[Zefir]

"Then good Luck miss. There are quiet a few people in need of a room in the Nexus."

It's not that the Kitsune knows she lies. It's just that she isn't really sure to leave her home and on another note doesn't assume the offer is for her.

[Fenric]

Higgeldy, piggeldy, my fine hen:
foxes dress like gentlemen!
Post on the board,
then do it again!
Higgeldy, piggeldy... *CHOMP*

Fenric finishes a fine chicken dinner, then contemplates being at a New Year's party at the same time while giving an introduction that isn't part of his official canon yet continues somehow nonetheless.

Yes, Maph'tey... perhaps something needs to happen to the mirrors again... or the water... Or the Theatre of Masks needs to re-open. Wouldn't that be chaotic?

[TechnoScrabble]

Taverns. Probably a strange place for a recovered drunk to spend most of his time, especially when he has no money, but Garrett remains here none the less. He still has yet to get a decent haircut, and his clothes are still in tatters, but he's found a way to keep himself clean. He's much happier now that he's not terminally I'll, but there's still a somber air around the young empath as he casts his fortune stones for any who ask nicely.

[Deathkeeper]

Spako Highclaws enters the place where he first learned of the Nexus for a break. He's finally invested in a coat despite his oversized kobold feet still being bare.
He stops at Garrett's table.
"This seat taken? Being alone at a bar sucks."

[TechnoScrabble]

"No' at all, seat yourself as you will. What brings you to me?" Garrett scoops up his fortune stones and pockets them politely to focus on the kobold.

[Deathkeeper]

Spako shrugs, trying to settle his wings comfortably in the chair. His scales are a bit more brassy than his player's avatar would indicate.
"You looked like you could use someone to talk to. And I just don't like spending all my days alone, myself."
Rather curiously, Spako appears to have a box strapped to his belt roughly the size of a deck of cards which he places a hand over.

[TechnoScrabble]

"A story is seldom writt'n of one person," Garrett smiles welcomingly.

Garrett is a powerful empathy, he feels the emotions, thoughts, and physical states of others, sometimes after they've happened. His headband is enchanted to limit it since he can't control it well, but it's become frayed and damaged. Does Garrett feel anything from Spako?

[Deathkeeper]

Spako smiles (which, since he's a reptile without lips or eyebrows, means his mouth pulls back slightly and his ears perk up) and takes his Deck from its box, shuffling them. They're hand-painted cards similar to a tarot deck, although it's unlikely that Garrett recognizes them.
"Don't mind me, just a little ritual of mine." he says, most likely meaning the colloquial meaning, not the magical kind.

Spako has a lot of conflict in his mind. The brass dragon part of his genes pushes him towards good, while his upbringing and the common tragedy in his life push the opposite way. Both affect him physically, which is why two-thirds of his scales are a shiny brass color and the rest are a dull sandy yellow. Those proportions should indicate which is winning without any powers. The kobold is a group-minded person, so having been separated from his friends by the Nexus he's gotten very lonely. And while it's mostly healed he still has some trauma from a few personal events that happened in rapid succession.
And yes, this is all that obvious. Spako has little to no personal protection from psions and empaths.

[TechnoScrabble]

"I have rituals of my own," Garrett pats the pocket of pebbles on his jacket, "Mos'ly a calming technique, but it bleeds off the excess magick rather well. There's a disturbance in your tranquil, friend. The light and dark blind you to each other, and the roots to your tree need soil. What has so ter'bly torn the pages of your story?"