Riverside 16: Turn and face the strain

[goto124]

[Masq Island - Royalty House]

Sharpe smiles and pokes Kelcey on the side. "I heard that. Also, that's a good idea." He sticks the blade on the wall, then puts his hand on it, causing it to glow in a bright silvery light. When he takes his hands away, it becomes a rune.

Sharpe follows Kelcey (not like he's got much of a choice). He examines the heads and the tags. "A hunter, and a mighty good one at that." He points to the painting. "What was there before?"

Sharpe continues observing the area. He spots a ratling lady and waves with a smile.

Then the staircase scenario. Sharpe can't keep from laughing as he throws a knife and teleports to Axanot's side. "Pff-hahahaha... Are you alright, my love? Hehehe... I'm so... heh... sorry..."

[Masq - I don't even like the word Royalty, purple's just an awesome color]

Axanot's crumbled on the floor, but very much alright. The ratling scuttles down the stairs as well as Axanot dusts herself off.

'Does she need help, Lord Nassah?' squeaks the ratling servant, who is facing Kelcey.

'Nah, she's good.'

'Very well, my Lord. I shall return to my work.' With that, the maid returns upstairs.

'I thought I made the stairs easier to walk up and down!' Kelcey comments as she helps Axanot stand up. Both of them laugh with Sharpe.

'Well, anyway, we should see the island proper...'

[Cyber Punk]

[Masq - Lord Nassah's Domain]

Sharpe calms down and stops laughing. "Heh, you're so adorable, Axxie."

Sharpe pauses. The ratling maid just called Kelcey Lord Nassah. "Lord Nassah?" Sharpe asks Kelcey, an eyebrow raised.

And she says to go see the island. "After you, Lord Nassah."

[Shadowcaller]

[Suncrest Manor]

Irena doesn't reply, she just nods and soothingly runs her hand over Nadia's hair. Then she slowly moves her hand down Nadia's back until she reaches her rear and will then attempt to lift her wife up. "Whoop! I shall carry you to the land of dreams fair maiden!"

Eastside Hospital

The wall crumbles against the force of the demons mace, acting exactly how a wall should. Yet there is just more wall beyond it. No matter how many times Tep strikes the wall it's more grey cement beyond that, far thicker than any wall should be. The same thing will happen if he strikes the ceiling, the floor or the other wall. It is if the world outside this corridor is nothing but grey cement.

[Malechenar Castle]

The lord shakes his hand and takes a seat in one of the chairs, his guards standing stiffly at either side. "So describe yourself to me mister Sharpe. You seem like a ambivious individual, you must have come here for something important."

[Cyber Punk]

[Malechenar Castle]

Sharpe bows and takes a seat as well. "I am Klaus Sharpe of the Order of Bladepires. I am a ranger and an ambassador of sorts for them, but I'm here of my own volition. I seek knowledge on the other kinds of vampires out there. We do have different kinds in my world, but before I came here I never heard of candypires." He's also an assassin when situation calls for it, but diplomacy is his first choice to solve conflicts. "Bladepires feast on metal, and blood via stabbing." Sharpe spawns a throwing knife from thin air, then noms on it.

[goto124]

[Masq - Lord Nassah's Domain]

Sharpe calms down and stops laughing. "Heh, you're so adorable, Axxie."

Sharpe pauses. The ratling maid just called Kelcey Lord Nassah. "Lord Nassah?" Sharpe asks Kelcey, an eyebrow raised.

And she says to go see the island. "After you, Lord Nassah."

[Masq - Kelcey's Domain]

'Oh, let me explain. I used to be the NPC Lord Nassah. I later gained sapience, and got a new name of Kelcey. So, please call me Kelcey; Nassah's a silly NPC. Also-'

Kelcey turns around, facing away from Sharpe, and quickly checks under her robes. She then turns back.

'I'm female now. Thought you might want to know.'

Then they head out through the doors!

Spoiler: Mansion Foyer

Show

A pair of windows flank the large rosewood doors. The curtains on the windows are drawn and the sunlight pours into the room, creating a rainbow of colors across the floor. There are fresh floral arrangements placed on tables under each window. A few human and ratling women in simple t-shirts and cargo pants are busy keeping the mansion clean and tidy. Not a French Maid costume in sight. To the north, is a small hallway leading to a spiraling staircase.

[Masq - Royalty Row]

Spoiler: Royalty Row

Show

Royalty Row is made of glossy marble. It gently inclines down a large hill from the highest point on the island, where the mansion is. Tall trees grow along the side of the road, with orange and purple tulips circling each tree, and green bushes grow between the trees. Wooden benches line the road as well. Attractive ladies, gentlemen, and couples walk along the road, all dressed up in high-class fashion.

The outside walls of the mansion are made of pearly white marble, the front doors engraved with a midnight blue dragon battling a large lion. In front of the doors, stands a large, broad-shouldered guard, covered in armor from head to toe and armed with a spear.

'Hello, Gardu,' Kelcey says to the guard as she gestures to her vampire friend, trying to sound pleasant. 'This is Sharpe, and he's allowed free access into my mansion. Did you get that?'

'My pleasure, Lord Nassah.'

'Thank you. You NPCs.'

And they walk down the road! 'See all these people? They're NPCs, and they respawn. If you ever feel like stabbing lots of people to death, just drop by and knock yourself out.'

Sharpe, with his blood vision, may sense an unusually large number of people to the south, hidden behind the trees.

[Cyber Punk]

((Going a little too fast there, don't you think?))

[Masq - Kelcey's Domain]

Sharpe just stares at Kelcey. "If you used to be male, and you're now female, does that mean..." He glances at Axanot, then back at Kelcey. "You like girls?"

[Masq - Royalty Row]

Sharpe grunts disapprovingly. "They may be NPCs, but they're still people, and there will be no mindless killing while I'm here. Goes against everything I stand for." He sighs as something occurs to him. "Besides, what if they remember how they die everytime?"

Sharpe points to the south. "Why are there people there, Lord Nancy?"

[goto124]

[Masq - Royalty Row]

(Sorry. I shall slow down.)

'Nah. I crushed on a man in a bar earlier on. Haven't done the same for any lady. So there's that.'

It's not like Kelcey has a terribly clear idea of her (his?) own sexuality, either.

'Come on! Mindless killing is one of the main reasons I made and coded this island - it's a key feature brought over from Andolor! I checked everything here- they're not really people, they don't remember how they die, and have terrible memories even if they live. Maybe I should make everyone zombies. Literal zombies. Masq is a haven from the exhausting thou-shall-think-before-killing moralities of other places in the Nexus, the one place where you're released from the shackles of ethics. Feel free to make use of it.'

Kelcey stifles her laughter at the phrase 'Lord Nancy', and grins. 'Well, you can check it out! Your turn to lead, Sharpe. Push through the trees. Or something.'

[Cyber Punk]

[Masq - Royalty Row => Trees]

((Don't be so formal! ))

Sharpe glares at Kelcey with his mouth wide open. "Exhausting? Why are you still a paladin, then?" He spits at the ground. "Now look here, I will not abide mindless killing, and that's final. Either that, or I leave." If Kelcey objects all the more, he'll stare at her angrily. "There was a time I was evil. I don't want to go back to that, it's not who I am."

Sharpe presses his hat to his head, then walks towards the trees, his eyes fixed on the silhouettes of the people he's seen.

[goto124]

[Masq - Trees!]

'Why so serious? What does me being Paladin have anything to do with-'

All of a sudden, Kelcey clutches her waist and bursts into a hearty laugh. Is she crying from laughter?

'You mean the Dungeons and Dragons kind of paladin? The ones that can lose their powers for a lot of things? Good thing I've been reading the sourcebooks, otherwise I would've been lost.'

Kelcey nearly topples over, but catches herself on a nearby tree.

'I'm not a Dee and Dee paladin. I'm from Andolor, where the term 'Paladin' means you get Lay Hands at Level 1, Detect Evil at Level 4, Holy Fury at Level 9, and so on. Nothing else, no Falling nonsense. This island is our little pocket of Andolor, and we shall run things the Andoloran way here. Which means killing without a care for silly morality. Funny how you don't welcome that.'

A pause, while Kelcey just smiles at Sharpe.

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Manor]

Irena doesn't reply, she just nods and soothingly runs her hand over Nadia's hair. Then she slowly moves her hand down Nadia's back until she reaches her rear and will then attempt to lift her wife up. "Whoop! I shall carry you to the land of dreams fair maiden!"

[Suncrest Manor]

That gets a sile out of Nadia. She kisses Irena's cheek and puts her arms around her neck. "Does that make you my knight? Very well, then. It would bring me great joy if you would accompany me."

[Cyber Punk]

[Masq - Trees Trees Trees!]

Sharpe whirls to face Kelcey. "I don't know what Dungeons and Dragons is, but I know that everywhere else, paladins are expected to keep the peace." A pause, as he shakes his head. "Silly morality?" His tone turns feral. "How about I kill you now, since morality don't matter?"

He advances upon her with a menacing grin, then stops. "Ah, heck." He takes out a bottle of blood from his pouch and downs the whole thing. He puts the bottle back in his pouch to be refilled. "Sorry. Getting a little blood-starved there." He pants for a while, clutching his chest.

"That'd have sucked, for both of us. Listen, Kelcey. I don't care how things were done in Andolor. I refuse to be a part of this killing mindless people for sport. I used to be married to an NPC for crying out loud... and then she was killed by people like you, who have no value for human life. So, no killing, or I'll bladewalk back to my home immediately."

He adjusts his hat. "Now, I believe we have some PEOPLE to see behind the trees."

[goto124]

[Masq - Trees]

Kelcey is speechless for a moment, and the smile drops off her face.

'Can't argue with that. No mindless killing since it's evil. Because these are people, even though they're NPCs, and morality is still important. Which means life has value.'

Sharpe should eventually bump into the door of a nondescript yet unusually large building, which has been painted the same green as the surrounding trees. The people are inside the building. It sounds like a party in there.

[Cyber Punk]

[Masq - Trees]

Sharpe's eyes widen a bit. She agreed pretty fast. "Yes. That's what I'm saying. Thank you." He does a mock bow, then turns to keep walking, stopping when he stumbles on a laaaaarge building.

"Now, what's this?" Sharpe grips the door handle of the door and attempts to open it.

[goto124]

[Masq, Trees => The Flamingo Casino]

Good thing Sharpe didn't try to phase through the door. He would've gotten bounced back by magical wards. Andolor tends to be like that. As Sharpe steps in, the door shuts behind him.

Anyway, it turns out to be a casino!

The inside of the casino is huge. Along the eastern wall, rows upon rows of tables have been set up. Each table has a dealer ready to deal a hand of blackjack. To the south, large roulette wheels are spinning away. To the north, is a large bar. A waitress is serving drinks to the patrons to keep the gold flowing loosely.

There's a problem.

The patrons don't appear to be human.

Well, they do have a vaguely humanoid shape.

But they're horribly disfigured, with boils and warts everywhere, and what sort of human has long claws?

The waitress and the dealers are just like the patrons too.

Seems foreboding.

They haven't noticed Sharpe yet.

[Cyber Punk]

[Masq, Flamingo Casino]

Sharpe looks around, wondering what he's walked into. He attempts to open the door and go back out, then he'll ask Kelcey about what he just saw.

[Slii Arhem]

[Suncrest Schoolgirls]

"Oh jeez, this is never gonna end. Eliseo watches as the game goes on for a bit. What even is this anyway? Are they just making up names? "How about we switch teams up once in a while? Then everybody gets to be on everyone's team." Why do all these girls want to be with him so badly? .-.

Suncrest Schoolgirls

Silly Elisio, it would never occur to him to just ask, would it? But eventually for the sake of sanity they do manage to agree to Elisio's plan, and even to who is on his team first. Then something else becomes evident. The girls who decided to play against him are awful at basketball compared to the ones on his team, to the point where they're barely able to dribble and pass, much less shoot effectively.

What's even stranger is that, when the teams switch, the same is true of the ones he just barely played with, while the ones he was against manage to gain leaps and bounds worth of skill in the blink of an eye.

[goto124]

[Masq, Flamingo Casino]

The door refuses to budge. Kelcey's voice can be heard from the other side.

'Wait, what? Oh no Sharpe are you alright?'

The patrons -there's many of them- now have their eyes on Sharpe.

'Hey look, what do we have here?'

'Seems to be some kind of cowboy.'

'Everyone start betting on it!'

The patrons attempt to push Sharpe onto the roulette table!

'How much do ya think it's worth? 1000 gold?'

Plastic chips and gold coins start flying everywhere.

'Nah man, can't be that much! More like 500 gold!'

Uh. Erm.

This isn't good.

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Schoolgirls]

Eliseo is actually pretty good himself, despite the fact that he's pretty short for his age. He figures that it's just luck that the teams ended up so unbalanced at first. But that's fine, because that means they'll just switch them up sooner. When the second game goes the same, though... "Hey, are you letting us win?" He asks after he's shot yet another basket. He sounds pretty irritated at that prospect.

[Cyber Punk]

[Masq, Flamingo Casino]

"HOLD IT!" Sharpe yells. "What do y'all think you're doing?" He attempts to phase through the patrons, making it so that he's unable to be grabbed. "Kelcey! Did you plan this?"

[goto124]

[Masq, Flamingo Casino]

The smiles on the patrons are wiped off, and their voices start to take on a much darker tone as their arms go through Sharpe.

'You won't get away so easily...'

'No, this was not supposed to happen!' Kelcey screams back as the door is repeatedly slammed against. 'I'm not even able to do that!'

A sickly green magic aura surrounds the claws of the patrons.

'I don't know why things turned out like this! I'll - find a way out for you, alright?'

And the patrons attempt to strike Sharpe! They hope he can't phase through magic.

[Slii Arhem]

[Suncrest Schoolgirls]

Eliseo is actually pretty good himself, despite the fact that he's pretty short for his age. He figures that it's just luck that the teams ended up so unbalanced at first. But that's fine, because that means they'll just switch them up sooner. When the second game goes the same, though... "Hey, are you letting us win?" He asks after he's shot yet another basket. He sounds pretty irritated at that prospect.

Suncrest Schoolgirls

The girls all seem confused by his irritation, some of them looking around amongst themselves and the others tilting their heads comically, "Weeeell... yeah? I mean, one team gets to practice how to win, and the other practices how to lose. It's all for fun anyway, so why does it matter who wins?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Malechenar Castle]

Sharpe bows and takes a seat as well. "I am Klaus Sharpe of the Order of Bladepires. I am a ranger and an ambassador of sorts for them, but I'm here of my own volition. I seek knowledge on the other kinds of vampires out there. We do have different kinds in my world, but before I came here I never heard of candypires." He's also an assassin when situation calls for it, but diplomacy is his first choice to solve conflicts. "Bladepires feast on metal, and blood via stabbing." Sharpe spawns a throwing knife from thin air, then noms on it.

[Suncrest Manor]

That gets a sile out of Nadia. She kisses Irena's cheek and puts her arms around her neck. "Does that make you my knight? Very well, then. It would bring me great joy if you would accompany me."

[Malechenar Castle]

"The Order of Bladepires you say?" Ryhe asks with interest. "I'm more than willing to share any knowledge of mine but tell me more about this order of yours. Why are you so interested in other types of vampires? What type of organization are you exactly?"

[Suncrest Manor]

Irena smiles widely. "I'm always your knight, I even have the blade to prove it with, sworn to uphold your honor!" Irena had actually learned a bit about knights from the games she played, probably since they used her favorite weapon, the sword. Not a wimpy one either but the true longsword with a proper guard and everything.

She will then gently put down Nadia in the bed. "Next time let me know, okay?" She asks softly. "A knight is supposed to protect her lady, remember?"

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Manor]

Nadia gives Irena a kiss. "I will." And another. "I feel safer already, ser. Will my knight stay with her lady tonight?" She tries to pull Irena down next to her.

[Suncrest Schoolgirls]

"What? No, you don't practice losing. That's not how you play sports. You should try your hardest to win. Besides, it's no fun to lose and it's no fun when it's too easy to win." Eliseo is wondering if these girls have ever played a sport before.

[Slii Arhem]

Suncrest Schoolgirls

"If you don't know how to lose then what do you do when you're supposed to lose? And losing is too fun!" The girl gives a little irate foot stomp to punctuate her sentence, the rest nodding rapidly in a show of surprising solidarity, "If you're losing on purpose then you get to see how good you are at being bad."

[Cyber Punk]

[Masq, Flamingo Casino]

The smiles on the patrons are wiped off, and their voices start to take on a much darker tone as their arms go through Sharpe.

'You won't get away so easily...'

'No, this was not supposed to happen!' Kelcey screams back as the door is repeatedly slammed against. 'I'm not even able to do that!'

A sickly green magic aura surrounds the claws of the patrons.

'I don't know why things turned out like this! I'll - find a way out for you, alright?'

And the patrons attempt to strike Sharpe! They hope he can't phase through magic.

Sharpe quickly throws a knife to the ceiling and teleports there. "Stop this, NOW!" He thunders at the patrons, while bringing out a flash-bomb just in case they don't yield.

[Malechenar Castle]

"The Order of Bladepires you say?" Ryhe asks with interest. "I'm more than willing to share any knowledge of mine but tell me more about this order of yours. Why are you so interested in other types of vampires? What type of organization are you exactly?"

"Well it's a personal interest, Lord Rhye." Sharpe begins as he leans forward. "My organization is one that brings order to our world. Our world is a troubled one. It's so nice to see so many kinds of vampire in one castle. It's not as commonplace in the world I come from, a group is always constantly at war with another group."

He pauses. "The Order of the Bladepires houses all bladepires, but I'm from a sect within that hunts down malcontent vampires, if diplomacy doesn't work."

[goto124]

[Masq, Flamingo Casino]

Claws slash through an empty space where Sharpe was just was. How does Sharpe stay on the ceiling by the way?

The patrons don't yield. When the flash-bomb goes off, a bright flash of light appears momentarily, followed by a sudden, inky black darkness enveloping the room, as if the patrons have casted a darkness spell. They probably did.

Should Sharpe be able to see through the darkness with his night vision, he'll notice that the patrons have transformed. They become even more disfigured, their bodies turning scrawny and bony, and they start sprouting body parts- sharp fangs from their mouths, horns from their heads, even longer claws from both hands and feet.

A group of monsters lift up the roulette table, and swing it through the air, trying to smash Sharpe with it.

'LET'S KILL IT!' the sinister voice of the monsters fills the room as they charge up their magic and attempt to tear Sharpe up again.

[Cyber Punk]

[Masq, Flamingo Casino]

Sharpe levitates on the ceiling, using his night vision to see through the darkness. "My word!" He exclaims as the patrons reveal their true nature and become monsters.

The roulette table is swung towards him, and Sharpe phases through it to avoid getting hit. And then the monsters decide they are going to kill him.

Sharpe chuckles as his teeth become more pointy. These monsters won't listen to diplomacy. These monsters don't deserve mercy.

Sharpe mutters some words while pressing the palms of his hands to the nearest wall, causing several runes to appear. The runes begin to shoot daggers at the monsters.

[goto124]

[Masq, Flaming Casino]

It's raining daggers!

The monsters let out growls as they're stabbed, though the roulette table catches some of the daggers before it smashes into the floor with a loud *CRASH*.

While some of the patrons drop dead, the remaining ones continue slashing at Sharpe, and a few have taken broken table legs and try to knock him off the ceiling.

They're not particularly smart, at least.

[Cyber Punk]

[Masq, Flamingo Casino]

Sharpe begins to use each stuck knife to bladewalk slashing monsters with a newly-materialized katana each time he emerges from a blade.

((Sharpe: Vampire 'Fourth Hokage'! ))

He slashes each time in a wide arc, aiming to cut up as many monsters as possible.

[goto124]

[Masq, Flaming Eagle Casino]

((Google isn't showing what Fourth Hokage means in this context...))

Black blood and body parts (impossibly scrawy limbs, long claws, and the like) fly everywhere for each cut Sharpe makes, followed by the dying groans of the monsters.

Well, violence works!

As the last one - the monster that used to be a waitress- dies, a small pop sound is heard, followed by the click of the door.