[Nexus] Trog's Tavern CCXLVIII

[Recaiden]

Seeing as the passive approach doesn't seem to work well here, Alistair - once finished sipping his tea - decides to try another method. After getting up from the chair, he approaches the bartender and the centaur, having overheard them talking about something that sounded like "errand". Unfortunately, he couldn't hear the rest, so he doesn't know that the task has already been completed.

"Mr. centaur...Miss..." he begins, politely nodding towards them, "Sorry to interrupt, I could not help but overhear you conversing about a certain errand. Incidentally, I happen to be looking for work...may I be of any assistance?"

"I'm afraid the task is done, right Arty?" The bartender drums a few fingers against her helmet. "But there might be something else you can help with. What are you good for?"

*CRASH!*
Wenomir and Dena may be surprised to see Sophia crash back-first through a window and land on their table, possibly knocking it down to face the window when she hits it!
Goddamnit!
Sophia utters, standing up and brushing glass off her jacket, numerous shallow cuts on her face and arms healing slowly, with small amounts of steam pouring from them as they do.

Joking, that bartender calls out to Sophia, "That window's going to your tab, girl." The windows fix themselves. She waves Cosmo over to clean up the glass, which he does with a grumble.

[Shadowcaller]

Before she lands, Dena is already standing up, having shifted away from the table pretty quickly. Luckily she hadn't ordered anything to drink yet, had been a waste of good money. She looks at Wenomir, "Excuse me one moment." She then looks at Sophia. "Miss, I hope you intend to pay for that window. MERC has been hired to keep an check on things here and you're causing a disturbance." She gestures at the bartender. "So go to the nice woman and make sure he keeps serving us drinks, 'kay?"

Without skipping a beat she looks back at Wenomir, already writing up a note for the warrior. "A wise decision my man. It's yours for a mere -whatever a license cost-." She holds out the note with the price while retrieving the license with the other. "You deserve more than fish golems and childish gods, I can see that."

[Deathkeeper]

Arty shakes his head.
"Sorry. I've done my part for now. I'm just going to wait around to make sure I don't miss anything if Arbil does anything about his Quest."

[Arkhosia]

Before she lands, Dena is already standing up, having shifted away from the table pretty quickly. Luckily she hadn't ordered anything to drink yet, had been a waste of good money. She looks at Wenomir, "Excuse me one moment." She then looks at Sophia. "Miss, I hope you intend to pay for that window. MERC has been hired to keep an check on things here and you're causing a disturbance." She gestures at the bartender. "So go to the nice woman and make sure he keeps serving us drinks, 'kay?"

Without skipping a beat she looks back at Wenomir, already writing up a note for the warrior. "A wise decision my man. It's yours for a mere -whatever a license cost-." She holds out the note with the price while retrieving the license with the other. "You deserve more than fish golems and childish gods, I can see that."

Apologies, sir. Am I correct you are a high-ranking member of the organization, sir?
Sophia replies, the latter after turning to Dena and saluting.

Spoiler: Salute

Show

And sir, if you wish for a challenge, I am more than able to provide one for you if you wish.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Alysha walks in, presumably with Annie, Celica, and Mustardseed.

Actually, she flies in. Mustardseed shrunk her and gave her wings.

[Hyperbolic sine]

"I'm afraid the task is done, right Arty?"

Arty shakes his head.
"Sorry. I've done my part for now. I'm just going to wait around to make sure I don't miss anything if Arbil does anything about his Quest."

"I see...that is unfortunate. Good luck with this Arbil, then"

"But there might be something else you can help with. What are you good for?"

*CRASH!*
Wenomir and Dena may be surprised to see Sophia crash back-first through a window and land on their table, possibly knocking it down to face the window when she hits it!
Goddamnit!
Sophia utters, standing up and brushing glass off her jacket, numerous shallow cuts on her face and arms healing slowly, with small amounts of steam pouring from them as they do.

Alistair glances over his shoulder at Sophia, raising an eyebrow, then thinks for a moment how to phrase the sentence without drawing the hostility of non-humans: "Not for repairing windows, I'm afraid. Until recently, I was a...security officer. The sort you call when the normal methods do not work. I have not been here in the Nexus for long, but I did not see anything looking like a law enforcement agency: however I need money, so I'll take any job, as long as it is not something like babysitting". "Or participating in running competitions" he adds, with a hint of a smile, patting on his right leg.

[Darkcomet]

Entering the tavern now is a woman in an Altaran Irregular uniform, markings distinguishing her as one of their pilots, and a rather high-ranking one at that. That combined with the bluish skin, short black hair, and tall and spindly frame mark her as Major Noelle Xanatov, noted connoisseur of alcohol and antagonizer of Walls. Being military, she is armed, though just with what appears to be a sheathed sword. She doesn't head to the bar, taking a table to herself.

"Security," she states, causing the tavern's ever-present yet inconsistent holographic guardian to show up.

"Major Xanatov. You have been granted limited security clearance."

"Yeah, yeah, go get me a...er..."

"I was informed that your tastes in alcohol tended to be more mundane than much of the selection. I will..." N'alae's holographic near-doppelganger begins, before Noelle speaks up again.

"No booze. One of those odd luxury drinks, maybe?"

The hologram, for a very brief instant, could be said to look almost flabbergasted. "Unusual behavior logged." Then she vanishes, reappears where she probably shouldn't actually be..."There is a prepared account for this eventuality. Do not be alarmed or mistake this for theft."...and gets a hot chocolate, of all things, to bring back to the Major over there.

And then the security hologram is gone again. Still listening, though. Always listening.

"Hate this place..."

[Morty]

Wenomir also gets away from the table, seeming almost as though he moved before Sophia even arrived. His fast reflexes border on precognition sometimes.

"That would make you among the few who can see that," Wenomir says tersely, before turning to look at Sophia. "Is she one of yours?" he asks Dena.

[Shadowcaller]

Dena looks over at Sophie again. "Considering she doesn't know who I am I find that unlikely." She remarks while looking over Sophie. "But you're right soldier. I guess I'd count as 'high-ranking' within MERC. So who are you and what about this 'challenge'?"

Arty shakes his head.
"Sorry. I've done my part for now. I'm just going to wait around to make sure I don't miss anything if Arbil does anything about his Quest."

Just as the centaur finishes that sentence what appears to be a dark maw opens underneath him and a dark menacing voice calls out for him from the void. That'srightArty!
ButnowyoumustfacetheULTIMATECHALLENGEdeathawaitingifyoufail! It growls as the maw threatens to consume him whole.

[Arkhosia]

I hold a license due to having no remains to show my skill, sir.
The two may notice a bit of irritation of the fact in Sophia's voice
I'm a Titan shifter, sir. I possess regeneration powers and can transform into a giant, sir.
Sophia replies, still saluting

[Deathkeeper]

Arty will now experience one of the many inherent design flaws of centaurs. When the ground is no longer ground and is in fact a hole, your legs are not going to be much help in escaping the situation. And when that leaves your arms to do all the work, and your arms are those of a creature not intended to carry a nine hundred pound rear end, then there's little hope your arms will be able to pull you out of that hole.
In theory Arty could use some of Chadwick's power to make a platform for him, but being part horse he never thought the "carry stuff" spell seemed like one investing in.
And thusly one college-age centaur is dropped into a divine trap door shaped like a hungry maw, sputtering a word that the Nexus would rather not translate for general audiences.

[Recaiden]

The prepared account is charged well over the cost of a drink: one hot chocolate and one belligerent hologram fee.

"There's a sort of security force, but trust me, you don't want to get mixed up with them. You'd be better off looking at MERC for jobs, but-"
The bartender then stares as a pit opens up and a rainbow voice booms out.
"How about we go help him?"
Not actually waiting for a response from Alistair, Ashna grabs her gun and jumps over the bar towards the maw-trap.

[Hyperbolic sine]

When he witnesses the centaur falling in the pit, Alistair tries to telekinetically catch him, but his reaction time is not fast enough...it's not like he was expecting something like this.

"How about we go help him?"
Not actually waiting for a response from Alistair, Ashna grabs her gun and jumps over the bar towards the maw-trap.

"Ahhh...it's been long since I felt like this" he thinks: a thrilling chill crawls through his spine, while he remembers some past missions. He can't let this occasion escape...without a word, he steps in the hole. "Here I go".

Also, if needed, Alistair uses his telekinesis to slow everyone's fall.

[Morty]

"How interesting," Wenomir says in a bored tone before looking at Dena. "Since you're the one who knows where the dungeon is, you can decide if we should bring her along."

[ImpSyndrome]

"Speed Limit? I never mentioned anything about that. "Mr C looks back confused.

"Well, That may be right, but that would assume he came here while I didn't saw him." C replies blinking back on Leo so they can go.

((Best if I play the barkeeper?))

((Zefir, I generally play the bartender here, but if you need them to provide exposition that you'd rather not send in OoC, go ahead and play a watcher-as-bartender.))

((Unless there is indeed some detail that needs to be provided by you specifically, I think it would probably be better to let Recaiden keep control of his own character. If anything, maybe include something in your post that would suggest whether or not he/she/it might have a certain memory or tidbit of knowledge. It's a practice I've learned that keeps players in control of their own characters but still directs a conversation with a third-party individual in a specific direction when needed.

Also, the post before your last one briefly mentioned speed limits, which is why Leo brought them up.))

"Right, of course," Leo responds, "but if the bartender's memory is lucid, that'll still at least tell us that he hasn't been here since you last saw him. Either way, we have a chance to learn something." With that, Leo approaches the counter and tries to get the barkeep's attention (assuming, of course, that this is happening some time either before or after the rainbow-screaming centaur-eating hellspawn mouth thing*). "Excuse me," he'll ask if he succeeds, "my friend and I are looking for a certain person who may have visited this tavern. Is there any chance you might help us try to learn where we might find him?"

[Shadowcaller]

I hold a license due to having no remains to show my skill, sir.
The two may notice a bit of irritation of the fact in Sophia's voice
I'm a Titan shifter, sir. I possess regeneration powers and can transform into a giant, sir.
Sophia replies, still saluting

Arty will now experience one of the many inherent design flaws of centaurs. When the ground is no longer ground and is in fact a hole, your legs are not going to be much help in escaping the situation. And when that leaves your arms to do all the work, and your arms are those of a creature not intended to carry a nine hundred pound rear end, then there's little hope your arms will be able to pull you out of that hole.
In theory Arty could use some of Chadwick's power to make a platform for him, but being part horse he never thought the "carry stuff" spell seemed like one investing in.
And thusly one college-age centaur is dropped into a divine trap door shaped like a hungry maw, sputtering a word that the Nexus would rather not translate for general audiences.

The prepared account is charged well over the cost of a drink: one hot chocolate and one belligerent hologram fee.

"There's a sort of security force, but trust me, you don't want to get mixed up with them. You'd be better off looking at MERC for jobs, but-"
The bartender then stares as a pit opens up and a rainbow voice booms out.
"How about we go help him?"
Not actually waiting for a response from Alistair, Ashna grabs her gun and jumps over the bar towards the maw-trap.

When he witnesses the centaur falling in the pit, Alistair tries to telekinetically catch him, but his reaction time is not fast enough...it's not like he was expecting something like this.



"Ahhh...it's been long since I felt like this" he thinks: a thrilling chill crawls through his spine, while he remembers some past missions. He can't let this occasion escape...without a word, he steps in the hole. "Here I go".

Also, if needed, Alistair uses his telekinesis to slow everyone's fall.

"How interesting," Wenomir says in a bored tone before looking at Dena. "Since you're the one who knows where the dungeon is, you can decide if we should bring her along."

Dena ignores Wenomir for the moment. No one had mentioned the dungeon until he had. "So you came crashing through that window to prove your future as a living canonball then?" She asks Sophie with a smile. "Or are you intending to prove yourself some other way?" The rogue crosses her arms over her chest, looking at the titan-shifter intently.

Meanwhile Arty and company will fall into the maw which quickly will close, transporting everyone that happens to be inside it to Random Plots.

[Recaiden]

[At some point relative to the rainbow-maw, which doesn't specifically matter because time travel]

"Sure thing. Lots of people come through here; a number only once. Your friend isn't dead, is he? Or maybe not quite as dead as he should be?" The barmaid gives a meaningful glance at all the vampires gathering around the main room, and a few sparks jump up from behind the bar.
"Just tell me who you're looking for."
The bartender has long, loosely tied blond hair, and no helmet, so I guess this is earlier in at least one timeline.

[Arkhosia]

Dena ignores Wenomir for the moment. No one had mentioned the dungeon until he had. "So you came crashing through that window to prove your future as a living canonball then?" She asks Sophie with a smile. "Or are you intending to prove yourself some other way?" The rogue crosses her arms over her chest, looking at the titan-shifter intently.

Meanwhile Arty and company will fall into the maw which quickly will close, transporting everyone that happens to be inside it to Random Plots.

Sophia chuckles.
I mistimed a shot with my maneuver gear, sir. Didn't expect a building's walls to be so tough I couldn't get a grip on them.
I wish to prove myself either through a duel or an adventure.

[Morty]

Wenomir shrugs and lets Dena discuss things with Sophia.

[OrchestraHc]

"Funnily enough, I'd noticed the weird and creepy. Don't worry, I won't talk about the skull. She's quite pretty, but... I haven't known many nice pretty girls." He was segregated from the slave girls, and then was sold to a racist elf-woman and psychotic aasimar, who wasn't much interested in men anyway.

Krayger can't add much at this point, as his mention of trying the thingamajig Justin mentioned was unanswered and he hasn't much idea of their current conversation. He'll give them a moment.

"I am the last person on earth to give advice on women," Justin says with odd seriousness. "Tech on the other hand, I'm an expert. Yeah I can see how your wrists might get in the way. I'm qualified enough to mod the wrist guard, but I'd have to get some custom parts from somewhere."

[Earl of Purple]

"There's an electronics shop in Mallside, might be they've got what you want there." He's only heard of it, however, and hasn't visited it himself so he doesn't know what they specialise in.

[Cloud Rat]

Alysha walks in, presumably with Annie, Celica, and Mustardseed.

Actually, she flies in. Mustardseed shrunk her and gave her wings.

Mustardseed flies in behind her, grinning happily!

Alysha, do you see any other vampires here?

[Arkhosia]

Mustardseed flies in behind her, grinning happily!

Alysha, do you see any other vampires here?

Annie flutters in, grinning slightly as she does so, joyful to be in the company of friends.
An onlooker may detect a slight, dark magical aura around the pixie, as if she's been cursed.

[Ionbound]

Noelle doesn't seem to recognize the pixiepires, though they'll probably be able to recognize her very pale skin and red eyes.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Alysha looks around briefly before nodding towards Noelle.

She might be. Vampires usually have pale skin like hers.

Unless stopped by the others, Alysha will fly right up to Noelle and give her a huge grin.

Hi! My name's Alysha!

Alysha has longer brown hair and hazel eyes. She wears sneakers, jeans, and a black hoodie. In her hand is what appears to be a comparatively large skeleton key made of engine parts. She also currently has wings.

[Deathkeeper]

Krayger shrugs. "Depends if you think the effort's worth it, I suppose. I mean, for all I know my fingers are too thick for the buttons." it's already a problem with his phone, but he doesn't care because he found it.

[Cloud Rat]

Mustardseed, a cute, pale litle pixie will flutter up behind Alysha and grin, showing her fangs.

I'm Mustardseed... are you a vampire like me?

[Zefir]

((Unless there is indeed some detail that needs to be provided by you specifically, I think it would probably be better to let Recaiden keep control of his own character. If anything, maybe include something in your post that would suggest whether or not he/she/it might have a certain memory or tidbit of knowledge. It's a practice I've learned that keeps players in control of their own characters but still directs a conversation with a third-party individual in a specific direction when needed.

Also, the post before your last one briefly mentioned speed limits, which is why Leo brought them up.))

"Right, of course," Leo responds, "but if the bartender's memory is lucid, that'll still at least tell us that he hasn't been here since you last saw him. Either way, we have a chance to learn something." With that, Leo approaches the counter and tries to get the barkeep's attention (assuming, of course, that this is happening some time either before or after the rainbow-screaming centaur-eating hellspawn mouth thing*). "Excuse me," he'll ask if he succeeds, "my friend and I are looking for a certain person who may have visited this tavern. Is there any chance you might help us try to learn where we might find him?"

((Thought he sais it to Mr. C because he didn't see anything and I didn't really notice it. ))

[At some point relative to the rainbow-maw, which doesn't specifically matter because time travel]

"Sure thing. Lots of people come through here; a number only once. Your friend isn't dead, is he? Or maybe not quite as dead as he should be?" The barmaid gives a meaningful glance at all the vampires gathering around the main room, and a few sparks jump up from behind the bar.
"Just tell me who you're looking for."
The bartender has long, loosely tied blond hair, and no helmet, so I guess this is earlier in at least one timeline.

"He should be alive in the not dead or undead way. He is a mage. He looks like ((Fill in description of Jace von LDK))." Mr. C replies to the question of the bartender

[Shadowcaller]

Sophia chuckles.
I mistimed a shot with my maneuver gear, sir. Didn't expect a building's walls to be so tough I couldn't get a grip on them.
I wish to prove myself either through a duel or an adventure.

Wenomir shrugs and lets Dena discuss things with Sophia.

"And you said you can turn into a giant?" A giant swinging around with grapple-hooks would be a sight indeed... "Doesn't sound too useful in a dungeon but maybe I have something better suited for your skills. I suppose you're after full MERC membership correct?"

[Arkhosia]

"And you said you can turn into a giant?" A giant swinging around with grapple-hooks would be a sight indeed... "Doesn't sound too useful in a dungeon but maybe I have something better suited for your skills. I suppose you're after full MERC membership correct?"

Sophia, who is still saluting, nods.
Yes sir. A 15 meter class titan with the ability to harden skin into a diamond-like substance in fact, sir. Yes, though it's not my only motivation sir. I need to prove to my father that I'm worthy to be his daughter. Well, he's not exactly my dad. It's a long story.
Sophia explains.