Serious Plots 5: No lulz.

[Deathkeeper]

Abandoned Facility

The Lounge is a large room, with an old dusty pool table, old dusty computers, and indeed, an old, dusty bookshelf!
Oh, and an old, dusty body. This one appears to have been a woman, though killed in a similar manner to the first. She's dressed in simple clothes under a once-white lab coat.

[Rebonack]

[Abandoned Facility]

Oof.

Death by being flung into a wall.

At least it was relatively quick.

Red moves to inspect the book shelf first. She is looking for a book after all.

[Deathkeeper]

Abandoned Facility

Sadly, the title that Velvet is looking for does not appear to be on this particular book shelf. It's actually mostly fiction, along with a small selection of journals and other informational things. Still, they're almost all recreational reading. Not what she's looking for.
On the plus side, if she found this disheartening there's a bunch of comfy seats nearby...

[Rebonack]

[Abandoned Facility]

Alas, the book she's looking for is in another castle!

Or on another bookshelf.

Or whatever.

She wraps a tendril around the corpse and drags it over to herself, "I don't suppose you knew where it was, did you?" she inquires of the cadaver. Barring something really unexpected happening, she'll deposit the body on the couch and check to see if the dusty computers are still working.

The place still has electricity, right?

So it's worth a shot.

And there's no way she's going to sit on those couches herself. Who knows what horrors lurk between the cushions?

[Deathkeeper]

Abandoned Facility

The computer flickers to life, and soon a prompt appears:
IDENTIFY USER

Well, that's no good. Though Velvet does have two people she might be able to find ID's of.

[Rebonack]

[Abandoned Facility]

Red purses her lips at the screen and moves to drag that corpse over again. Should said corpse have any ID she'll be giving that a shot.

Dead people can be really helpful sometimes.

[Deathkeeper]

Abandoned Facility

You know, Velvet probably could have searched the corpse without moving it.
Anyway, her ID (let pocket) is a bit bloody, but scratching some of that off reveals her name to have been Lucille Derish, ID number 010.
Punching in the name and the ID# prompts a welcome screen.

The computer seems to have been filled with some classic video games, databases and such for browsing, and some personal files on Lucille's account. What would Velvet want?

[Murkus]

[The Gilded Green]

"Yeah. Silly," Adir rolls his eyes and hops in with his wife, followed after by Turro, who sees that Cessie isn't going to budge. She's a sorceress. You don't argue with those.

The two ladies and their three boyish charges swim downward. Finding it colder than the last portal, they'll feel gravity reorient as they begin to rise rather than push downward. Five splashes and soft exhalations later, they appear in a clear spring at the edge of a massive clearing, ringed with ancient pine trees that seem to rise up forever. In the center of the clearing - and indeed, claiming much of it's space - is an enormous lodge, a long rectangular building with a thatched roof pointing at the sky. Windows are small and few, as the place seems to have been damaged many times before. Fixed just as many, it looms with a calm, elder defiance, spewing smoke into the cool air. It's brighter browns and cozy exterior seem welcoming, a boon to travelers in the deeper woods. Humans and Fey alike are allowed here, provided they can make the trek.

It is notably colder here. The three Frescot brothers climb out've the water in a noisy rush, loincloths clinging to Tiro and Turro's shiny-wet behinds. Tiro's tail - a feature he seems to possess solely - wags excitedly. "We're back!" Cries Tiro, shouting through his hands. Turro waves his arm to the left. "Bring blankets, lads!"

All around the court-house, in the dying grass, amidst the slight bumps of tiny hills and beneath the shade of slanted boulders, there are Frescots. There are other peoples - little groups of humans, fair skinned and dressed in their leathers or wool, circled around campfires that burn bright where they lie. Far more numerous are the antlered men and the long-eared women with skin spotted white. They tan hides hung from ramshackle wooden racks, carve weapons or sharpen arrows, eat hot vegetable stew as they break from their tasks. They turn to look, as the humans do, but a couple dozen of them leave quickly, and a second wave walks behind, feeling no great hurry to push past their more rambunctious brothers or sisters.

While his brothers shout, Adir turns and offers a hand to each of his lady companions. In a tongue of their people, he speaks something rich and pleasant sounding. And with a grin, he repeats for Cessie, in the Common tongue, "Welcome to the house of my father." Though Sakura may have heard it as 'welcome back'. The stag seems so excited.

An array of bronze-brown faces press into a semi-circle, all eager for a glimpse of the pair. A few among them cry out greetings to Adir, at which he turns his head and looks, flashing them his trademark grin. It's met with bright smiles and a few whoops, along with a few more sarcastic boos from the same beaming faces. They're dressed much more modestly than Tiro and Turro - mostly colorful furs and woolen dresses stolen or bought from humans, among a few more elaborate suits of what looks like charred wooden armor. These guardians stand slightly back amidst the crowd, not speaking, antlers sprouting from behind curved, ominous masks.

The frontmost Frescots babble in their language, leaning in toward Cessie and Sakura, not quite encroaching on their personal space but definitely being nosy. Sakura will understand they ask questions about the swimsuits, spout greetings, while others just stare curiously at the dryad and the lady-wizard. Rarely do they see dryads, and rarer still a human so beautifully pale and with such flawlessly dark hair.

"Shuuuuut iiiiiit!" Turro draws out, his booming accented voice breaking above the crowd. "Our brother Adir sent word ahead, you all heard it. This is Missus Sakura and Missus Cessie, our lady-guests. While they're here, they're our sisters, so treat em' nice n' spare em' no botherances." Turro's grasp of the common language may lack, or he may simply make things up as he goes along. "Where're those blankets?!"

A few much smaller Frescots squeeze out've the crowd. Adir turns and stands between Sakura and Cessie, smiling, his eyes flitting back and forth between them constantly. The little fae children carry what look like the coziest, most comfortable linen blankets that a tailor's hands ever made. A freckle-faced boy, tiny antlers jutting from above his ears, a small white-speckled girl with wild hair and a little dark dress, six or seven more just as adorable, all between the ages of eight and twelve.

What comes next must have been practiced. The blankets are passed to Cessie and Sakura, little hands brushing theirs. In unison, the children bow deeply, hands stretched across their chests and gripping their shoulders. The same words Adir used - mostly fae, for they haven't yet been taught Common - tumble from their mouths beautifully. "Welcome, to the house of our father."

As though encouraged, the crowd beyond throws up their hands in unison and cries the same, cheering it, some clapping or laughing as they do so. A few of the men grip their shoulders and bow, following the children's suit, who are arranged in a crescent before them. Warmth and love pour out to envelop the weary travelers.

[UncleWolf]

Parting Ways

When the adventurers turn towards each other, the Captain gives a deep bow to them before raising a lance in salute. "Farewell, comrades. I shall keep you in my prayers until your safe return." He swears before trotting off to catch up to the others of the Honor Guard.

Finally alone, the four can decide how they want to proceed, if they want to proceed at all in regards to their contract. After all, the consequences can't be that bad if they don't complete it, can they?

[FireFox]

[Scripture and SORD....]
Carrie just watches Allie quietly; she seems to be doing pretty well, but things could go wrong. Going wrong is, more or less, the national pastime of things.

Scripture and Sword

Ashley stays outside of the inn for now, as Ally heads in. People are already going to be suspicious of her, it'd be better if she didn't head inside without any protest.

The publican is in the front room of the inn. He's a bit surprised at her just instantly asking for a map, but he's also quick to get her one, since he knows not to make knights of any kind mad. "Not from around here, then?" he says, trying to strike up a conversation.

[Scripture and Sword]

I am from Ivela. Her voice is professional and her posture is bored. But not the completely relaxed kind of boredom. No, she cautiously scans the rest of the inn before turning her attention to the map and, while she keeps her body deceptively loose, a keen observer would note the way she balances her weight on her feet and how close she keeps her hand to her blade. Ally is copying the physical mannerisms of the few experienced mercenaries she's seen. Now, a lesser talented actress would stay shut up. After all, Ashley counseled her to play the strong and silent part. But the innkeeper is currently accommodating and answering his question with the stoic minimum will only put him on edge. Therefore, a certain amount of courtesy is called for. Not enough to seem friendly, just enough to be polite while reinforcing her legitimacy. What news do you have, anything... strange going on in the area that I should know about? She idly asks while committing the map to memory.

[Rebonack]

[Abandoned Facility]

Hmm....

HMM!

All very interesting!

Well, not the video games. Those are totally irrelevant. But those personal files?

Better check those out.

If Red can figure out what was going on here she might be able to more easily find the book.

And/or avoid getting murdered by whatever killed everyone here.

Red is pretty fond of her unlife, thank you very much.

[Deathkeeper]

Abandoned Facility

Well!
Velvet will probably figure out a number of things, depending on how much she's willing to read. For example:

Spoiler

Show

-The one with the robot was Linus, which was apparent because no one else there was a parent. Lucille thought he was kind of sappy, but a good programmer.
-Bob was the only person with any military training, doubling as their robotics expert and security guard. She makes a few comments about how he must be hitting the bottle a bit, considering their state of maintenance.
-Lucille and her husband George were doctors working on a serum that could regenerate certain cells and potentially revive those that were otherwise recently considered dead. It seemed to have been going well. Lucille gushes about her husband a lot.
-Beth was focused on electrical systems, and maintained the facility's systems. Lucille thought she was stuck-up and they didn't talk. She especially notes how terrible a musician she was.
-Vera was the leader of the project. She was less scientific than the others, but was very good at keeping everyone on-task and kept all the numbers correct. If the project had a specific goal, it's not mentioned on account of it being obvious to the author.

[Gullara]

[The Gilded Green]

Sakura beams at the Frescots, especially the littlest ones. She could scarcely feel more welcome. "Thank you." She says in the fey tongue, though the language feels unpracticed on her tongue. No doubt it sounds the same. She pulls her blanket over her shoulders and looks at Cessie, wondering what her friend is thinking right now. But the Frescots are all still watching them, so she adds. "Thank you all so much. It's so good to be here." In the common language this time.

[Shadowcaller]

[The Gilded Green]

Cessie have trouble hiding her surprise as she's helped up from the water. Where this mass of people really all relatives of Adir? It seemed like an entire village of people, if not more!
Her family might have been large but this was just beyond all comparison. Was this what had inspired Sakura or did all fey simply have this many children? It just seemed so... much, this swarm of people all staring at them.
She didn't even know what to say as she suddenly realized that she had no idea who these people really were besides being Adir's relatives. "Thank you." She states though with far less enthusiasm than Sakura, her attention is instead directed at the towels that have been brought to them and she is quick to accept. She hadn't planned to strut around half-naked around all these strangers.
She nod back to the children, once again repeating a quick 'thank you', before warping it around herself, in her mind shielding herself from their gazes. She turns to Adir and says in a low voice. "Perhaps we should move further inside?" Anywhere would be better than here.

[Devixer]

Scripture and Sword

"Mage hunter, huh?" the publican says, glancing out the window at Ashley. She quickly leans away from the window, and he shakes his head before turning back to Ally. "Well, bandits are more active than usual from what I hear. There've also been crazy rumors of a dragon, but don't believe those. Dragons have been dead since before I was born," he says.

The map Ally received is of the region they've all found themselves in. The names are foreign to her, but at least they're readable. There isn't much in most cardinal directions from where they are. The nearest town is Havenhedge, a few dozen miles west of them. Further west are the Barioth Mountains.

[FireFox]

[Scripture and Sword]

Indeed. Ally looks for the largest city on the map, reasoning that it is child's play to get lost in a big urban area and that they are more likely to have someone who knows something about magic. Once she finishes with the map she leaves it on the bar and steps back. Then let us hope they continue to stay dead. Thank you and fare well. With a parting nod to him she turns and casually walks back out.

[Devixer]

Scripture and Sword

When Ally walks out of the inn, Ashley walks next to her and keeps her head low. She had to look the part of a captive for now. "You got the lay of the land? I'm still a bit fuzzy," she mutters.

[FireFox]

Scripture and Sword

We go west until Havenhedge and figure things out from there. The thief takes a short length of rope from her pack and pulls Ashley's arms behind her back. It's a bit of a trek though, so we'll probably have to camp out at least one night.

[Beans]

[Scripture and Sword]
Carrie helps to get Ashley tied comfortably and convincingly. I'm no stranger to roughing it for a night. Or... like a thousand. How are you two on that?

[Devixer]

Scripture and Sword

Ashley lets her arms get tied, trying (and mostly failing) not to let her mind wander to what Ally could do to her right now. "That's fine with me too, I've had to run away from a couple settlements." She gets used to having her movement restricted, then chuckles a bit. "I never got why mage hunters would tie me like this. It's not like I can't use magic in this position."

[FireFox]

[Scripture and Sword]

Ally irritably bats Carrie away. She is perfectly capable of tying knots, thankyouverymuch. Not that she is directly tying Ashley's hands together, oh no, that would be too simple. Also rough and cutting off way too much circulation. The thief's end result is a constraining system of loops that secures the mage's arms behind her back while connecting them to her throat. If she tries to move them, she'll choke herself. Ally holds the loose end, allowing her to strangle her girlfriend if she tries to run away and, despite the way that sentence is worded, she does feel a little uncomfortable about where this is going. How fast can you cast a spell anyways, Ash? Carrie, I don't need to sleep, like, ever, so whatever. Gimme your hand. Now she pulls out a short length of chain with two T-shaped handles. This is the best picture I have of what come-alongs look like and how they function.

[Beans]

[Scripture and Sword]
Oh, fine. She holds her arm out, letting Ally put the chainy... deedlydoot on her. She doesn't really know how much she likes the look of Ashley's bindings---sure, Ally's clearly not trying to hurt her, but the sight of it isn't any less uncomfortable. But, she supposes, that's sort of the point---for show.

[Devixer]

Scripture and Sword -> Roughing It

Ashley fidgets a little under her restraints. It wasn't comfortable, but then, she asked for convincing, not comfortable. "I can cast magic pretty much whenever I like, I don't even have to move much," she says.

[Murkus]

[The Gilded Green]

A few more hollers of greeting and praise meet Sakura and Cessie's graciousness. Cessie is smiled at by the tiny girl that hands her the blanket, perhaps the youngest of the bunch, and she steps back quickly as if sensing the lady-wizard's discomfort. A few do stare, but they're more just looking at the three of them than anything else. A few brothers have stepped forward to shake Adir's hand, or in a pair of deer-twin's case, to give him a hug. He's just finished letting them go when Cessie leans in.

"Oh, sure thing. Sorry, I know it's cold," He smiles brighter than anything. The stag clearly can't sense her discomfort in this sea of pleasant faces. The stag leans in to whisper a few words at Turro's ear. The ginger Frescot nods and turns, mustering himself as he raises his hands to the crowd.

"They'll listen to Turro," the stag whispers to Cessie and Sakura in a quiet voice. "He's one of our eldest brothers. Plus he's, um..."

"One side, peasants! Make a hole, make a hole! Yer crampin' the lady's style!" Turro barks in that thick Scottish jibe of his, shunting his siblings aside gently. A few laugh, crack wise, or slap his arms, but they do make a hole as he asked.

"...he's a great loud ass."

The siblings part to make a wide gap. A group follows after, in particular the children, but the rest keep their distance or return to their work.

And just outside the ring of people, a pair of large oaken chairs wait. Carved simply but solidly, they look fit to be thrones. Turro bows deeply, throwing out his arms toward the seats. "For the ladies. O'course. I'm sure we'll have our wench sisters burning something in no time, if you'd like to take yer rest."

"Uhh..." Adir wasn't aware of all this. Though he doesn't object. A pair of lads gather at each chair, strong as an ox each one, and trying to show it off even with the modest clothing the arrival of guests has forced on them. They cross their arms, flex subtly, look big. It's very silly.

"Oh knock it off, Azren," Adir says, shoving one of his bigger brothers with a laugh. They lock arms, straining as though they're about to wrestle for a minute, but in a flash they end up hugging and back-slapping instead. "How've you been?"

"As well as can be expected," Azren replies, his voice ringing deep. He makes a great show of bowing to Cessie and Sakura, straining every dark skinned muscle that's showing between his furs. "Beautiful ones. Welcom--" Adir knocks him onto his side with a shove. The other brawny brothers bust up laughing, and Turro merely shakes his head. Tiro, meanwhile, seems to have disappeared into the crowd. Or perhaps he went inside?

"Welcome," He finishes from the ground, rolling onto his stomach and smiling bearishly.

"Sakura, Cessie, Azren," Adir points to the great mound as he starts to gain his feet. "I guess he'll be helping spoil you tonight."

[Gullara]

[The Gilded Green]

It's like being in the middle of a storm. All these Frescots whirling around them, and she and Cessie just get to watch from the thick of it all. She wonders if her family will be such a whirlwind when they're bigger. Well, the same blood does run in their veins.

"Nice to meet you." Sakura says with a smile. "So we're being spoiled are we? Here I thoguht it was just gonna be a little visit." Not that it looks like she minds. The dryuad spares a glance for Cessie. She alone hasn't forgotten her friend's discomfort. "I think Cessie needs a minute alone so she can get changed, though." And Sakura might as well join her. Probably a better idea than giving everyone here an eye full.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Parting Ways]

Jazirian shrugs as he listens to the information. The numbing gas was interesting. Jazirian possessed a poisonous weapon of his own, though his put people to sleep. Also there was the fire breath. Being a flyer was certain to give him a natural advantage over a burrower on the surface - though of course if the thing went to ground, they'd pretty much be in stalemate, neither being able to touch the other. All-in-all, he doesn't expect too much of a challenge.

He keeps quiet at the moment, running a hand over the hilt of his sword. He's not sure how much he wants to reveal to his companions until they get closer to the actual fight, though of course he would have to do so eventually.

[Deathkeeper]

Parting Ways

Spako gives a respectful bow to the Captain as he departs.
"Is that disguise age-proportional? Because if it comes to getting out I don't know if anyone besides us can fly."
whispers the kobold to the dragon.

[FireFox]

Roughing It

Ally locks the handles together, holds them in her fist, and is all set to break Carrie's wrist with a single quick motion!

But once they get away from this Inn, they shouldn't need to keep up the appearance for very long. We should move as fast as we can, then try to find a good campsite off the main road. Far off it.

[Beans]

Roughing It

Ally locks the handles together, holds them in her fist, and is all set to break Carrie's wrist with a single quick motion!

But once they get away from this Inn, they shouldn't need to keep up the appearance for very long. We should move as fast as we can, then try to find a good campsite off the main road. Far off it.

Carrie nods, following along. Her eyes flicker over the woods as they walk, searching for indications of good places to bed down.

[Shadowcaller]

[The Gilded Green]

Her towel shields her from their gazes!
Cessie does mange to smile bow a bit before her host which she hopes will come out as polite. She had no idea what they were trying to do here but she assumed it was some form of greeting. "There is really no need to spoil us, I simply want clothes to wear. Perhaps my own if I could go back and fetch them." She didn't actually believe they would let her fetch them herself considering she was a guest and all, but she was somewhat hesitant to wear whatever the fey saw as 'fashionable'. "Don't want to leave them behind."