[Nexus] The Black Dragon's Den XII

[Artemis97]

This old warehouse by the docks and on the edge of the city slums has numerous secret passageways and tunnels leading to it. When you walk in, either from the street or below, you see a freshly cleaned interior that actually looks somewhat welcoming, however, as a seedy hive of smugglers, pirates, and home of the local wererat assassin guild; this is a rough place to have a drink.

The back half of the building has been converted into a set of rooms, used by those who need a bit of privacy, whether to have a private card game, hold a secret meeting, or just to get away from the world while enjoying a dose of some of the more exotic items the Den serves. We don't care what you do here, just don't leave a mess. Just keep in mind, the walls are a little thin back there, and can be listened through (or busted through), so be careful.

The gambling scene is lively here, with craps, three-dragon ante, and darts, among other things. There are certainly not knife-fights held in the ring in the basement. Come early for a ringside seat. Gambling is permitted. Anyone caught betting against themselves will be killed, or worse. So don't do it.

The servers are all NPC goblins. They are: Blackeye, Hooktooth, and Daggernose.
The cook is a goblin woman named Sicklewort.
The NPC bouncer is Gnarl, the orc.

Floorplan:

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The menu is as follows:

Drinks

Common Drinks
All the common drinks are available in an extremely wide range of qualities, brands, and prices. Just remember- you pay for what you get.

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Absinthe
Ale
Beer
Brandy
Coffee
Hard Cider
Kumis (Fermented milk)
Mead
Rum
Tea
Tequila
Vodka
Whiskey
Wine

Specialty Drinks
The specialty drinks are either crafted here or ordered specially from other sources. Normally they are higher class and more palatable, but that is not always the case...

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Black Shadow-
A strong concoction guaranteed to send a chill down your spine at any temperature.
Damned Soul Nectar-
Yummy. Damned souls. Perfect for demons, devils, or anyone else lacking a conscience.
Devil Brew-
It tastes good, though drinking it will gradually corrupt your soul to evil.
Drow Spiderblood Wine-
A specialty drow wine with a strong bite, and a hint of spider venom. Alcohol isn't the only thing you have to worry about when drinking it... but it does taste good.
Firewine-
This wine is created in a way that literally leaves the top simmering and flaming. Only recommended to those who have a good fire resistance. However, it is extremely warm and has a fairly sweet taste.
Frenzywater-
You want to know what it is like to see red? Frenzywater will having you raging like a barbarian.
Goblin Thudrud Beer-
A favorite of goblins... but described by others as smelling like a rotten, flaming cow.
Hearth Brew Mead
This is a sweet mead with raspberries, rhubarb and some kind of ingredient that makes you feel warm when you drink it.
Ichor Liquor-
A mixture of blood and alcohol made especially for our vampiric friends. It can be served neat, on the rocks, or specially heated to 98.6 F.
Liquid Agony-
A drink brewed and distilled from the agony of victims, and quite sweet and tasty, but very addictive.
Mindflayer Mead-
A special brew for those squid-headed fellows. Also appropriate for Zombies, or anyoen else who likes the taste of brains.
Mushroom Wine
An Underdark drink fermented from mushrooms. It has a good deal of sugar added to it and tastes sweet, but may cause hallucinations...
Orc Kragg Liquor-
Strong. Disgusting. Manly.
Poisonbite Cocktail-
This brew is mixed of several poisons and rum. It induces extreme euphoria, and will drain the drinker's strength and mental capacities for a day or so.
Rat Mead-
This foul concoction is meant more for drinking games, and less for taste. You'll need a strong stomach to keep it down.

Other

Food
Like the drinks, the food ranges in quality and price... the menu is currently under improvement.

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Bread-
Crusty, burnt, soggy, or rotten. It's not your choice. A better bakery is "under construction" in the back. Thanks to a newly built brick oven, the bread is actually quite good now, baked fresh daily.
Dragon Steak-
This tender, extremely tasty steak is excellently prepared, but its source is undisclosed...
Fish of the Day-
The catch of the day, or yesterday... be sure to specify "fresh."
Puffer fish liver-
Tetrodotoxin, anyone? Extreme poison is ahead.
Soup-
Most common soups are available, but pay for what you want, or you'll get something else. Served in a bread bowl.

Mushrooms
Our mushrooms are well acclaimed for their taste and subtle poisons. If you have enemies, make sure they you didn't get something other than what you asked for...

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Amanita-
A hallucinogenic mushroom that is fairly toxic. May cause nausea, sensory distortions, mood changes, and loss of equilibrium. Retrograde amnesia frequently results following recovery. Serious poisonings cause delirium, seizures, or comas.
Chanterelle-
An edible but unremarkable mushroom. Available pickled or dried.
Lorchel-
Also known as false morels (due to similarity in appearance), eating these raw results in extreme liver failure or death. Properly prepared, however, they are quite delicious. Available both raw and parboiled (properly prepared).
Morchella-
Also known as morels, these very prized and tasty mushrooms are available raw.
Omphalotus-
This mushroom looks the same as the Chanterelle. It is extremely appealing in smell and appearance, but has a mild toxicity that will lead to vomiting and cramps.
Oyster-
Unlike other mushrooms, this one has no confusing look alikes, and is prized for that quality alone. Served raw or stuffed.
Porcini-
Also known as Boletus ("superior"), the porcini is highly regarded and is served raw or sautéed with butter.
Portabello-
While edible, this is either described as plain or only slightly sweet. Available raw or stuffed.
Psilocybin-
This mushroom is famed for its hallucinogenic effects, while lacking dangerous toxins. Available raw and dried.
Shiitake-
These mushrooms are normally added to ordered soups. Available dried or raw.

Drink Additives
Buy them for your drink, or for someone else's drink... everything goes here.

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Doze Pill-
A combination of magical energies and herbs guaranteed to put the drinker to sleep in a few minutes.
Hanger's Drop-
Ask for this in someone's drink to put them six feet under. Commonly means poison, though other methods can be bought depending on the target.
Happy Juice-
As seen in Malleo's shop. Turns the hair pink, and makes the drinker extremely happy.
Wonder Trip-
A mixture of magic and poison that causes extreme hallucinations and delirium which are not directly harmful or toxic.

Other Additives are available, you just have to ask.

Other Drugs
If it doesn't get you drunk, and it isn't a mushroom... we still sell it.

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Arhtorvin
A gray powder made by different magic plants, Arthorvin is extremely calming. It is ingested, and numbs emotions and reactions.
Baccaran
A paste made of numerous, undisclosed substances, this is a mild hallucinogen that becomes more powerful as it is used in repetition and increased dosage.
Dreammist
This drug is formed into a tea, and then the vapors are inhaled. It causes incredibly beautiful and wonderful hallucinations that make the world seem dull in comparison. Overdose is extremely debilitating, as is directly drinking the substance.
Devilweed
A tobacco-like substance that is moderately addictive and makes the smoker skittish and more easily confused. Users enjoy it because it glazes over the memories of whatever happens during its effective.
Luhix
A powder made from plants grown in the abyss. It is sprinkled on self inflicted wounds- initially it causes intense pain, then numbs the body entirely. It is one of the most addictive substances known amongst the planes, but overdosing even a little may cause terrible, painful death.
Mertoran Leaf
This leaf is dried and treated. It is not very addictive, but it is cheap, popular, and boosts confidence. Ingested, not smoked.
Redflower Leaves
These leaves are only moderately addictive, but are known to give a boost to hand-eye coordination, making them popular among those who often engage in knife tossing or dart throwing. They are consumed raw and chewed.
Sannish
This blue liquid is made out of unknown ingredients and causes euphoria. It has a tendency to stain flesh and anything else it touches. Overdosing causes intense numbness.

This is by no means the limit of what we can get our hands on, just ask and we'll see what we can do.

Games
As a new addition to the Black Dragon's Den, there is a back room where all kinds of gaming take place. Goblins generally oversee the games and make sure things are fair... but everyone here can be bribed. Best to keep an eye on things yourself.

Card Games
-Coming Soon-

Dice Games
We provide all of the dice used here... unless you slip them out of our sleeve. "Better" dice can be bought with a quiet word and a few coin, though we don't provide protection from those who find out that you've used them.

Coin Pass

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This is a simple dice game played with a pair of six sided dice, and is generally best with four or more players.
Each player puts out two coins (generally one type of coin is chosen, copper, silver, gold, or platinum) and then, in turn, each player rolls the dice.
If a player rolls a one, they take one of their coins and place it in the pot.
If a player rolls a six, they take one of their coins and pass it to the person on the left. This continues until only one player has coins, at which time they take the pot.
If a player has no coins left, they have one round to wait for someone to pass them a coin (by roll of a six), after which they can buy their way back in. You can only buy your way back into a game once.

Serpent's Eyes

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This game is played with a pair of six sided dice, and a game board in the shape of the world serpent.

Before the game begins, the number of rounds to play are determined, though the game may end ahead of time, or when one player runs out of coins/chips. Generally people play with a large number of rounds (double digits).
A round is completed once every player has rolled the dice once.
The dice start with the player closest to the seven on the board.
When a player rolls the dice, he does one of three things.
If he rolls any number 3-11, he places a coin on the corresponding number on the board, or, if the number is already filled with coins, they take the coins off of that number.
If he rolls a 2, he places a coin on every number on the board.
If he rolls a 12, he takes all coins from the board.

Warship

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This game is played with five dice for each player. The person who rolls first is normally determined randomly.
The goal of the game is to create the best 'ship', where a 'ship' is a straight formed either forwards (1,2,3) or backwards (3,2,1). To create a straight, you roll the dice, and choose anywhere from 0-3 numbers from them. Your first chosen die is your starting number (IE, a number on either end of a straight), the second die chosen has to be the middle number of your straight, and the third die chosen is the last of your straight.
You have three rolls of the dice to form a straight. Whenever you choose one of these die, you remove it from the dice you roll to get the next number.
The game progresses like this:
1) Each player places an amount of money agreed on when the game starts.
2) Each player rolls the dice once, chooses any dice from their roll that they want, then either adds in the money first agreed on again, or passes from the game, but leaves any money they first bet in the pot (Note that everyone can see what die you have chosen, if you have chosen a die already).
3) Repeat the second step once more, then every player rolls the dice once more, and the person with the ship with the highest straight wins. If someone creates a ship one the first or second roll, they still bet, but do not have to roll until the last round (which is only done in case of ties).

If no one has a straight, the winner is based on the person with the highest number set aside (with only players with dice set aside competing). If there is a tie in highest numbers, they go to the second die set aside (with only players with two dice competing). If there is a tie between set aside die, they proceed with the same process into the dice they last rolled (excluding those set aside)

If two people have the same straight, they compare the numbers rolled on their last turn (not including the ones placed into their "ship"). The person with the highest numbers wins.

The winner takes all money in the pot. Generally, more than one game is played at once.

Other Games
These may be more or less 'games' as such... but are just as entertaining.

Darts

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Bet on how well someone will throw, whether they can do it with their eyes closed... with their left hand... or if they can dodge a knife- it's all good. There are a few different dart boards, so any number of rings and scoring areas can be played with.

Knife Fights

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We hold knife fights here every once in a while, down in the basement. To surrender or death. Place your bets, folks.
-No current list of PC fighters. Contact management to arrage something 'formal.'

Previous Threads

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The Black Dragon's Den
The Black Dragon's Den II
The Black Dragon's Den III
The Black Dragon's Den IV
The Black Dragon's Den V
The Black Dragon's Den VI
The Black Dragon's Den VII
The Black Dragon's Den VIII
The Black Dragon's Den IX
The Black Dragon's Den X
The Black Dragon's Den XI

[Hattish Thing]

When Caius attacks, Sophia moves quickly.
An Attempt Follows!
She darts to his side, sweeping her leg to knock him down. Sophia moves behind Caius as she does this, grabbing the collar of his shirt and wrapping her right arm around his neck to pin him. Sophia then draws a knife with her left and points it to his groin.
Make one wrong move, one move to harm anyone...
She utters threateningly, relying on that strong bond between a man and his manhood to incapacitate Caius.

Caius watches his darts embed themselves into Malice, though they don't seem to have much of an affect. That was fine with him, for he needed to get information out of the cyborg in red. After all, Malice may be the only individual who knows where one could find Magtok alone, and killing the key to his revenge would be foolish. He raises his arms again just as Sophia tackles him. With a growl, he's brought down to the ground, her arm around his neck. Now, Caius was hardly one to enjoy killing, and wasn't fond of the idea of attacking a woman. But, as he assesses the situation it becomes clear that incapacitating the girl would be the only way to continue with what he was doing. Besides, the woman had to have been tied to either Malice or Magtok, else she wouldn't have gotten involved. No one hanging out in the Black Dragon's Den just showed up to kill baddies.

That'd be silly.

So, the telekinetic watches as she holds a knife to him, his lip curling in disgust as he closes his eyes to concentrate. It always took a little bit more effort to use both of his hands to control objects. As he does this, an entire table will rise up silently behind her, before flying her way, aiming to knock her in the back of her head. Hopefully that will knock her out. She may also find her knife is suddenly bent right over backwards, hilt and blade alike, maybe even curving back to stab herself in the hand if the dagger was that long.

Finally, he'll make a lunge out of the way, attempting to get as far away from her as possible.

"This isn't your fight."

[Rebonack]

Well.

It looks like this are getting to be all sorts of fun now!

That super-wonderful, injury causing sort of fun.

Fortuna grabs the baton Malice had put down and shoves it back into his arms. Don't put it down, you stupid derp! Just stick it in a pocket or something. Because Fortuna doesn't seem terrible happy about all this nonsense, mostly because they're being interrupted by the crazy person.

"Enough!" she yells, loosing a mental blastwave in Caius' general direction. It's the sort of thing that generally pummels the pie out of someone's mind with a tendency to leave them dazed, confused, or potentially unconscious. Has the capacity to erode a person's mental defenses, too. In general a pretty nasty, though typically non-lethal, attack.

Also?

Fortuna's hair has turned pink for some reason.

And...

Are those cat-like ears poking out of her hair at the top of her head?

Weird.

Hopefully Malice won't suddenly feel attracted to her.

[Arkhosia]

By pin I meant more of a "Meatshield!" kind then a "Eat dirt" kind.
Anyways!
Sophia is beaned upside the head by a table, but recovers. Steam surges from the back of her head, and now she looks rather pissed.
It is. Magtok is my father, and I will defend my family to the bitter end!
Sophia replies, approaching swiftly with balled fists.
When the mind blast happens, Sophia reacts quickly. If Caius is still conscious he'll receive a punch to the head to knock him out.
Fortuna, is it? You don't happen to have any antimagic handcuffs, would you?

[Lord Magtok]

The darts had a hell of an effect on Malice, actually. MagClones usually have a rather spectacular pain tolerance, and this one is no exception, but there are darts. Motherfudging darts, embedded in his skin. He's not going to cry about it, because there are other people watching and judging, but holy Raptor Christ is he in a lot of pain right now. Pulling the darts out helped a little, he thinks, but right now he just wants to sit down in his chair, drink his Black Shadow, and stay out of the way until the fight is over. Maybe, in all the excitement, nobody will hear him whimper in pain.

As for Fortuna's attractiveness, Magtok's whole catgirl thing started like a year or two after Malice died. Malice himself still thinks girls are icky and gross and just a little bit horrifying, actually. Kidnapping them is fine, silly villain/heroine scenes with romantic subtext is fine, but anything physical, even something as small as a kiss, and he gets the shakes.

[Hattish Thing]

By pin I meant more of a "Meatshield!" kind then a "Eat dirt" kind.
Anyways!
Sophia is beaned upside the head by a table, but recovers. Steam surges from the back of her head, and now she looks rather pissed.
It is. Magtok is my father, and I will defend my family to the bitter end!
Sophia replies, approaching swiftly with balled fists.
When the mind blast happens, Sophia reacts quickly. If Caius is still conscious he'll receive a punch to the head to knock him out.
Fortuna, is it? You don't happen to have any antimagic handcuffs, would you?

The mind blast sent towards Caius prevents him from unleashing a further attack with his powers, but it doesn't knock him out straight away. His mind was a fair bit stronger than his body, after all. He's still at his knee though, unable to move with much proficiency due to how drunk he is. An arm is gestured out towards Fortuna, as if he was about to cause something decidedly unpleasant to happen to her, but he's met with a prompt punch to the back of the head. Caius is unable to say anything else, for he's been knocked out and now lies upon the floor, his face bloody, a large bump forming on the back of his head.

He's out.

[Rebonack]

Why on Earth would Fortuna have anti-magic cuffs?

She isn't into that kind of thing.

"Of course I don't! Why would I have something like that?" Fortuna asks. And then she frowns. "So now what do we do with him? This guy obviously has a grudge with Magtok. Do we hand him over to the Union? Or VIGIL?"

Fortuna has no idea what the proper course of action would be here.

[Arkhosia]

Why on Earth would Fortuna have anti-magic cuffs?

She isn't into that kind of thing.

"Of course I don't! Why would I have something like that?" Fortuna asks. And then she frowns. "So now what do we do with him? This guy obviously has a grudge with Magtok. Do we hand him over to the Union? Or VIGIL?"

Fortuna has no idea what the proper course of action would be here.

Hey, you never know here.
I'd suggest VIGIL, personally. Either of you mind helping me bringing him there?
Sophia asks as she attempts to pick up Caius

[Lord Magtok]

"Putting away criminals isn't exactly part of my job description," Malice snarks, getting up from his seat to give Caius a good kick in the ribs as he heads towards the door. He's been here too long already; someone else is bound to follow him. Someone he won't be able to convince others is just some deranged loony with no real reason to be mad at him. Krystal maybe, or Ashna. Even that psychic guy might come down here once in a while, who knows?

[Rebonack]

Well.

That wasn't exactly how Fortuna was expecting this exchange to go.

But good enough!

"Alright, you take him to VIGIL then," she says as she shoves back on her chair and rises to her feet. "I have to bother someone."

Wait.

Bothering someone?

Does that mean she's going to follow Malice?

And complain at him about eeeevil?

Quick Malice!

Do something clever to escape!

[Hattish Thing]

The man says nothing, and accepts the kick in the ribs. That was going to leave a massive bruise.


He can be godmodded here.

[Arkhosia]

And so, presumably Caius is taken to Vigil!

[Lord Magtok]

"Alright, you take him to VIGIL then," she says as she shoves back on her chair and rises to her feet. "I have to bother someone."

"I have to go buy groceries," Malice lies, hoping an explanation as boring and lame and dull as that will be enough to get Geneva to leave him alone. She couldn't possibly be so obnoxious as to follow him around if she thought he was just refilling his secret base's pantry, right?

[Rebonack]

"Come to think of it, so do I," Fortuna muses aloud. "I used up all of our flour again. And I think we need some more eggs, too."

Oh no.

This plan is backfiring already, Malice.

"You weren't thinking of buying your things at MagMart, were you? Wouldn't that get kind of awkward?"

Not as awkward as this conversation.

[Lord Magtok]

"No of course not, I go to that one other place. The one in Skyside, next to the deplorable slave shops and the mystery meat butcher's place. And what's this 'we' business, anyways? I don't live with you." His underwater city ruins might be sprawling and massive, but surely Malice would've noticed by now if anyone quite so loud, frustrating, and consistently oblivious to how unwanted she is was hidden away in a cabinet somewhere. His Malbots cleared out and contained most of the natives weeks ago, after all.

[Rebonack]

Fortuna just kinda stares at Malice for a few moments.

"So... do you go there for the prices or the ambiance?"

Seems like a pretty legit question.

"And by we I mean myself and my room mates, Jace, Henry, Zebes, Kell, and also Kell."

There's an interesting story behind that.

But then, there's an interesting story behind lots of thing sin the Nexus.

[Lord Magtok]

"For the lack of questions and attention," Malice answers bluntly, as he heads out the door in a hurry. Damn this weird human-form version of an insane griffon-hippo thing! When will she give up?!

"And you said 'Kell' twice."

[Rebonack]

"I did, yes," Fortuna replies cryptically.

Huh.

Guess that wasn't a story after all.

Oh gods, now she's just standing there waiting for Malice to walk out the door. She's going to keep following him and being annoying, isn't she? Is he going to have to do something villainous to get rid of her?

[Lord Magtok]

Malice takes into the air. His ability to fly is really quite limited, so he floats upwards at a wimpy snail's pace for a second or two, before a pair of Malbots swoop down, grab his arms, and rocket away. Maybe if he's lucky, Geneva/Fortuna won't be able to shapeshift in time to keep up!

I doubt it, though. He already told her which direction he'd be headed, too.

[Rebonack]

Well.

That's pretty fast.

Thankfully 'pretty fast' is something Fortuna is good at.

She dismisses her alternate form and drops back into draconequus shape with absolutely no transition to speak of.

It's really pretty jarring.

That done, she hunkers down, spreads her wings, waggles her butt in the air, and then launches herself after the rocket-powered robots!

Pchoooooooo!

[WarKitty]

A black panther enters the bar, settling down in a corner with a nice big bowl of irish coffee. Ears perked up - she's got things to be listening for, but doesn't everyone over here?

[DJ Yung Crunk]

One of these observant little people is HOOD. A rather conspicuous fly on the wall, clad as he is in his trademark white mask. But chances are the person who he's tailing doesn't even recognise him. HOOD has spent the better part of 45 minutes listening to the monsieur's boring anecdotes. For a criminal thug he does love the sound of his own voice. Whatever intel HOOD was supposed to have gathered about the man has been buried under useless factoids like "My mother has never set foot in a natural body of water", "Under normal circumstances I wouldn't show my face in such an establishment".

HOOD's been clinging on to his every prissy word for long enough that his eyes start to wander. His mind makes up elaborate stories about the people in the bar. He's about twelve pages into the tragic past of a panther when it dawns on him. "I know that panther...!" As he moves to greet her his atrophied muscles sigh in relief. Bar stools; who invented them and are they dead yet? "I'm afraid I'm terrible with names. I want to say 'Zen'?" he begins. As good a way as any other to open up a dialogue, I suppose.

[WarKitty]

Xun. the cat says, flatly. Her ears perk as the man continues talking. Something about docks?

[DJ Yung Crunk]

HOOD hears it too, but he doesn't let on.

"Right, Xun. I'm sorry, I'm not good with names. So what's a gal like you doing in a dive like this?"

[WarKitty]

Drinking, obviously. Speaking of, I need another. Would you be so kind? They know where to send the bill.

[DJ Yung Crunk]

"I puzzled you for someone who'd be more interested in the atmosphere. Lord knows if I want a drink I'll just pour myself one alone in the dark"

HOOD motions impatiently for the barkeep. As he waits he pretends to scope the place out for its "atmosphere", but really he just wants to get another look at the perp. It's easy because he sticks out like a sore thumb. Who wears fur vests, I mean, honestly?

[WarKitty]

Mixing things myself is dull and never turns out quite right. Besides, there's plenty of people who'll buy a kitty a drink, even out here. Xun seems relaxed. She has far sharper hearing than most humanoids though, and her ears are perked up. Docks...meeting someone...payment...hiding...really, this guy's an amateur, isn't he?

[DJ Yung Crunk]

HOOD notices his friend's busy ears perking up. Curious. She can't be thinking of the same-- Time for a little investigating

"Check out the fashion disaster at eight o'clock" he says, motioning vaguely with his head.

[WarKitty]

Tsk, really. Amateur. Guy's asking for a mugging - almost tempted to follow him just to make sure he gets wherever he's going. Xun shifts slightly, crossing one paw over the other. Oy, bartender, where's my drink! she growls.

[DJ Yung Crunk]

"His friends look like they can handle themselves. I wouldn't worry about him, personally. I would worry about the retinas of anyone in his vicinity."