Outside 41: Inside Outside, outside Inside

[Shadowcaller]

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:









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

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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.

The Rabbit Hole

Spoiler: The Rabbit Hole

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The Rabbit Hole is a portal to another world, located in the forest. It looks like an ordinary rabbit hole, minus it being large enough for whoever stumbles upon it to enter. Some say it originated in a different universe, outside the Nexus, others say it shows up in different universes as a result of the Nexus growing.

If found naturally, it will take you to Underside, a world said to lie beneath the Nexus.

But sometimes, you'll see a white rabbit in a waistcoat. He looks at the time on his pocket watch, and mutters the phrase "Oh dear! Oh dear! I mustn't be late!" and runs off. No matter how fast you are, you always seem to be just a bit slower than him, which has to make you wonder how he could ever be late for something.

If you follow the rabbit and find The Rabbit Hole, it will take you to Planeside. Where specifically in Planeside depends on who fell through The Rabbit Hole.

Either way, you should always survive the fall, even if it seems like you were falling forever.

And a warning, it's a one way trip, so if you want to get back, you'll have to do some traveling.

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

[Arkhosia]

Peaceful Springs

I'll try to find a good location.
Invidia replies, smiling. She's rather pleased that her idea was accepted, and happy not to be a bit of a third wheel (in her opinion, at least).

[Recaiden]

[Lactase Quest]

"Which we do, of course."
Cleo smirks and waves Geneva deeper into the temple.

"Maybe with a bit of preparation."
She stops for a moment, reaches into her pocket for an mp3 player, and puts on the 'Adventuring Buffs' playlist and one earbud in her left ear.
More agility, warning before attacks, and a little bit of elemental resistance.

"Better us who knows they're there than some random passerby."

[Shadowcaller]

[Darkwater Mine]

Wenomir remains in cover. He wishes to maintain the element of surprise, so he'll let the others draw the enemy attention.

[Darkwater Mine]

The odd-looking being is quite ominous...what is he doing with that computer? A scan? That would be bad...it could ruin the surprise element...

"Who are you? Who do you think you are to be able to send mercenaries here, kill my teammates and then go unpunished?" Wraal shouts, exiting from his hiding place and slowly walking towards the pair of spectacled goblins, shotgun in hand and with a sort of purplish barrier surrounding him. It is a risk, but two thirds of surprise elements are better than none.

Sophia watches silently, blades drawn.

[Peaceful Spring]

"That sounds like a lot of fun to me. We'll definitely have to do that sometime." Kitty agrees. "Someone else can pick the place next time, though. This time was my turn." She adds jokingly.

[Peaceful Spring]

"Great, I love exploring. I used to do it all the time when I was younger and I still do really. It's the reason I came to the nexus in the first place." Obriane says with a smile.

[Darkwater Mine]

All the goblins suddenly stop, looking panicked and confused at Wraal. One of the ones with glasses gestures at the bandaged being. "Egarath, do something." She commands while the other goblins appears unsure what to do, where were the mercenaries that were supposed to protect them?
The being looks up it's computer. "Ah. One moment." He presses a button on the wrist computer and suddenly he and the two goblins with glasses are surrounded by some sort of forcefield.
"No! Get rid of that thing!" The goblin states angrily as she points at Wraal.
"Honored customer, that is not what you have hired me for."

While they are talking the group might want to act.

[Rebonack]

[Lactase Quest!]

"I... suppose..." Geneva replies as she commands her HUD over into combat mode and pulls her rifle out of her inventory spell. Keeping it slung across her back lets her bring the huge weapon to the ready more quickly. Sure she could try fighting some digestive disorder daemons with talon and feather, but she would rather avoid touching something that the word daemon is applied to if at all possible.

Fighting really isn't very high on Geneva's list of enjoyable activities.

It's near the bottom, as a matter of fact.

As our heroes near a corner in the temple's corridors Geneva speaks up in a hushed tone, "There's a hostile contact around the corner. Just one. It's about human sized."

Wow.

Her PIPcolt sure is handy for this sort of thing, isn't it?

[Morty]

[Darkwater Mine]

Wenomir jumps out of cover and tries to get behind the ethereal being in a single, fast bound. But he doesn't attack yet.

"Your plans went awry, friends. Why don't you settle down so we don't have to do something ugly?"

[Recaiden]

[Lactase Quest - Optional objective go!]

Cleo, on the other hand, quite likes fighting. Not that she's necessarily good at it. But she does like it.

First, she gets out her syrinx and starts playing a mellow tune. Everyone else around should feel very calm, very peaceful. And then she steps around the corner, still playing.

[Ionbound]

Sophia will be passed out for about an hour, and wake up then, sitting up if possible.
Ugh... sorry, assuming titan form and regeneration can take a lot out of me...

[Displaced Spirits: Stage 3 Ending]

Hiizumi struggles out of the titan's grasp, and says, in a very dangerous monotone "I swear. When we we catch Chiaki, let me handle her. I want her to pay for that. She doesn't get to mess with my mind. Not without consequence."

[Rebonack]

[Temple Run]

'cuz the Lactase Quest is complete and stuff.

Our heroes step around the corner and find-!

Something awful.

It's an emaciated creature of general humanoid build with irregular horns and nasty claws. Everything from its stomach up to its lower jaw appears to be torn open and dripping molten... something. It turns toward our heroes and gives a crackling cry of malevolent glee before spitting a gout of molten awfulness at them!

Geneva eeps and ducks back around the corner.

Looks like our heroes found their first D3!

A Heartburn Daemon.

[Recaiden]

[Temple Run]

Well that isn't calm at all.

With a squawk, Cleo turns into a parrot-eagle and flaps heavily over the demon, resuming human form a little way behind it.

"Come on, Geneva! Nothing to fear!"

You know, except the literal demons.

And zzap! With the other end of the wand, attempting to turn the demon to nothing but a statue.

[Hyperbolic sine]

"No! Get rid of that thing!" The goblin states angrily as she points at Wraal.
"Honored customer, that is not what you have hired me for."

"Indeed, those who were hired for that are dead". Wraal laughs as he keeps approaching: if nothing stops him, he arrives very, very close to the goblins. "You'd better listen to my friend...you won't have a second chance" he says, staring right in their eyes, the shotgun pointed at (their) face level.

[Rebonack]

[Temple Run]

The heartburn daemon turns toward Cleo as she leaps over it, raising an arm to block the beam. Said arm gets covered with a sheet of marble and immobilized, but otherwise the monster is still moving around. The vile creature spits another gout of flame at Cleo!

Geneva, meanwhile, pops back around the corner with her rifle at the ready, activates her targeting spell, and squeezes off three shots into the vertebra where the monster's neck meets its torso. The Gauss rifle's report isn't nearly as loud as one might expect a gun of that size to be, though it still makes a pretty noticeable sound. The force of the ferrous spikes smashing into the demon first stagger it and then knock it flat on its face.

...is it dead?

Nope!

It's getting back up!

Holy crap this thing is durable.

[Recaiden]

[Temple Run]

Cleo's main defense is not being there anymore, so she does a bit of that, cartwheeling down the passage.

Huh. These are pretty literal.

Better zzap it again, now that she's upright.

[Rebonack]

[Temple Run]

Zap!

The daemon gets a ray right to the face and turns into a statue.

Take that, you awful thing.

Geneva pops the magazine out of her rifle and begins reloading it now that the immediate threat has passed. She doesn't want to run out of ammo in the middle of a battle after all. That would be terrible.

"That monster took three needle rounds like a champ, all direct hits, too..."

Sounds like she hasn't ever dealt with something that has damage reduction only broken by holy magic before.

Probably because holy magic isn't a thing in her home world.

[Arkhosia]

"Indeed, those who were hired for that are dead". Wraal laughs as he keeps approaching: if nothing stops him, he arrives very, very close to the goblins. "You'd better listen to my friend...you won't have a second chance" he says, staring right in their eyes, the shotgun pointed at (their) face level.

Sophia walks towards the group, blades drawn.
Now, mind telling us what you were hired for?
She inquires, biting into her hand and ripping out a small piece of flesh to intimidate the group with a display of her regenerative powers.

[Recaiden]

[Temple Run]

Zap!

The daemon gets a ray right to the face and turns into a statue.

Take that, you awful thing.

Geneva pops the magazine out of her rifle and begins reloading it now that the immediate threat has passed. She doesn't want to run out of ammo in the middle of a battle after all. That would be terrible.

"That monster took three needle rounds like a champ, all direct hits, too..."

Sounds like she hasn't ever dealt with something that has damage reduction only broken by holy magic before.

Probably because holy magic isn't a thing in her home world.

"Maybe we should leave the rest of the things here. Head back to town."

This whole place is like some sort of awful theme park, and Cleo's starting to have second thoughts.

"I mean, it was a demon. They're tough. Can shrug off bullets and stuff, less it's holy or iron."

[Rebonack]

[Temple Run AWAY!]

Geneva gives a nod and a stifled laugh. "See, that's what I was saying. These monsters are sealed away inside the temple, right? We can just pull the tooth out when we leave and close the door behind us."

Which is the perfect comment to make!

Why?

Because that means that now is the perfect time for the tooth to fall out of its own accord!

It doesn't.

But that would have been the perfect time for it to do so.

Geneva begins trotting back toward the exit.

[Recaiden]

[Temple Flee]

"Good point. We leave, there's one less demon if anything bad does happen..."

Off they go.

No bad luck. Nothing going wrong.

[Deathkeeper]

Mushroom-Dotted Forest, Closed

Isaac Saunders is on a field trip.
Sadly it was actually was relevant this time, so he couldn't even complain that it was a pointless boring exercise or that the teacher was just getting the students to do his job for him. In an Alchemy class, identifying and picking reagents was rather important.
On the other hand, Isaac was easily getting an A in the class thanks to his friends' help and the fact that it really wasn't that hard if you tried at all. So Isaac decided to look at the scenery more than listen to the droning on of the sixty-year-old gnome in the front of the group.
And what scenery it was! The trees were high with thick canopies, which allowed many kinds of plants and fungi that thrived in low light to grow here in large numbers. Fungi seemed to dominate the place especially, and while the ones in view were not very big, there was probably the extreme variety around here somewhere.
And so Isaac is a bit behind the main crowd, just a few steps, look around curiously at all the things that he'd read about or seen in the shape of chopped squares in bags but never as living organisms. It was all very cool. Isaac liked this subject matter. Alchemy only blew up in his face if he did something wrong, and not whenever it felt like it. Although he's happy to say he hasn't had that issue as often recently. And despite being a city boy he felt right at home among these huge trees. Maybe Mr. Miles really did make him part elf or something. It did make sense if he was right about the nature magic.

[Rebonack]

[Temple Running Away]

Out they go!

Geneva yanks the tooth out of the doorway, causing the stone slab to side back into place with a sound of grinding rock.

Now THAT is a sound that can set a person's teeth on edge.

"Okay then! We have what we came for. Now I can treat you to my favorite ice cream parlor Inside."

Trek back time now?

Yes.

Trek back time now.

Geneva spreads her wings and takes to the air.

[Lost_Deep]

Mushroom-Dotted Forest

A few minutes after Isaac stops paying attention, the professor's tone changes. All of a sudden, it's a conversation, and someone else is talking. If Isaac looks, he'll see some girl in a hiking outfit talking with the professor about the chemical properties of some of the items, and how to get them. The girl seems to know what she's talking about (Much to the professor's annoyance) but there's more to it than that.

She's the crazy woman that released body-warping diseases on the school when Isaac first got there.

There's no doubt about it. The same face, for sure... except for the fact that she's the wrong age. The height and build is consistent for an early-blooming high schooler, not a woman in the prime of her life like that crazy person was. However, only Isaac, Merissa, and Tabitha ever saw the crazy woman, and this student (while very knowledgeable) seems to be... sane.

[Recaiden]

[Temple Running Away]

And off they go to Inside, an eagle and a hippomonster.

[Abandoned City]

Atorre's little beacon lights up, and in a moment there is a minion beside it, gun drawn, looking about curiously. Has this place chagned at all in their unplanned absence?

[Fenric]

[Abandoned Elf City]

It hasn't changed in the slightest. The large central structure still sits imposingly, with roads leading off like the spokes of a cart-wheel. The road that leads back down toward the main gate shows the newest activity, where the temple party passed seven years ago: the door to a building just a few blocks down has very clearly been broken open (and was rather broken in the process).

[Deathkeeper]

Mushroom-Dotted Forest

Isaac starts at the voice. It's a little bit higher, to be sure, but it's the same.
That damn woman. Caused all sorts of misery for the whole school, and she has the nerve to infiltrate his class? Or at least this trip. If she'd been disguised before she would be now, so she must have just shown up today. He's worried but not terrified, because as much as infuriating and arrogant as she was during the Zaff's incident she clearly just liked making people miserable, not getting them hurt. She probably just had a nasty surprise waiting for them at some point. Damn, if only he could sniff or see magic like Tab and Merissa. He's no good at identifying general magics, just his specific schools, and that's more from identifying the effects than detecting their energies.
Isaac doesn't know what else to do but tear himself from the view (and blast it, he'd been enjoying that!) and walk a bit faster, moving up to the middle of the group so he could keep an eye on this "girl."

[Recaiden]

[Abandoned Elf City]

Atorre strolls about the city, first choosing to investigate the broken door where the temple group had been before. Maybe there will be some information or clue left and useful.

[Fenric]

[Abandoned Elf City]

Along the way, Atorre should note one critical fact on the way to the broken-into building: doors are in rather short supply, in general. Anything that could decay long since has in the ages this place has stood empty... but that door remained. Examining the door and its lock, Atorre may note that the lock was probably quite advanced in its day, though it is a trivial example by modern standards. A poison-dart trap inside the lock has failed due to sand and corrosion, and while they had attempted to pick the lock, the previous visitors apparently resorted to force.

(( As an aside: they picked the lock just fine... it was the hinges that didn't work anymore ))

A treadle-blade is similarly frozen in the "up" position just inside the door, with no particular signs of having injured anyone. The room inside is large and empty, with a fine coating of dust everywhere showing footprints: Two sets of human feet, and two of Vulpan. A stairway generally lacking in intact steps used to lead to a second floor, and a second "formerly locked" door stands ajar (though undamaged) to the right, having traced an arc in the dust where it had been opened. All of the footsteps lead both inside and out of the doorway to the right (and the building in general) with no signs of any struggle, so it is likely no one met their demise in this place.

[Lost_Deep]

Mushroom-Dotted Forest

So far, her plan seems to be to gain brownie points with the class by showing up the professor.

"...so basically, gnomeblight is useless, unless you want to kill gnomes, which is evil."

"I make no exceptions for my kind! There are kinds of dark or mountain gnomes that are little more than pests."

"But in order to get the kobold bulbs, you need to go into wetlands, and at that point it's such a bother that you would be better off planning to get something worthwhile!"

"Where did you learn all this, miss, ah-"

"Vivian! Yeah. I've just always had a good head for chemistry and plants and animals and all."

Aha. A name. That will be useful, assuming that she didn't just make it up on the spot.

[Deathkeeper]

Mushroom-Dotted Forest

Isaac gives a small smile. He'd bet five dollars that it's a name she made up, or at least altered slightly. He'll give her credit, she's probably not dumb enough to give her real name, even if she did come across as arrogant. It takes some serious arrogance to think going undercover with your real name is smart. Or you're just James Bond.
Isaac quietly moves up in the group until he's just a person or two behind her. In case she doesn't know he's here or doesn't recognize him, he'll be keeping quiet, although for a second he considers starting to call out some things too, just to be annoying. Nah.

[Lost_Deep]

Mushroom-Dotted Forest

After a bit, the assignment part of the trip kicks in and every student is handed an assignment sheet. The cliques form and head off, the professor follows certain groups to make sure they keep on track, and Isaac is left alone with 'Vivian'.

She definitely recognizes him, you can tell from her eyes, but her voice says something different. "Hey, what's on the list?"

[Recaiden]

[Abandoned Elf City]

Along the way, Atorre should note one critical fact on the way to the broken-into building: doors are in rather short supply, in general. Anything that could decay long since has in the ages this place has stood empty... but that door remained. Examining the door and its lock, Atorre may note that the lock was probably quite advanced in its day, though it is a trivial example by modern standards. A poison-dart trap inside the lock has failed due to sand and corrosion, and while they had attempted to pick the lock, the previous visitors apparently resorted to force.

(( As an aside: they picked the lock just fine... it was the hinges that didn't work anymore ))

A treadle-blade is similarly frozen in the "up" position just inside the door, with no particular signs of having injured anyone. The room inside is large and empty, with a fine coating of dust everywhere showing footprints: Two sets of human feet, and two of Vulpan. A stairway generally lacking in intact steps used to lead to a second floor, and a second "formerly locked" door stands ajar (though undamaged) to the right, having traced an arc in the dust where it had been opened. All of the footsteps lead both inside and out of the doorway to the right (and the building in general) with no signs of any struggle, so it is likely no one met their demise in this place.

The worst part is that after all this time, footsteps are still here. In and out Atorre goes as well. There must have been something important here, at least once, to warrant such a door.

He goes over the first floor, and then attempts to climb between the walls to the second, assuming that much of the building is still standing.