Inside 61

[Murkus]

[Main Street]

That draws a smile out of the drow. It was a friendly, honest grin, much like his father's. "I am Sornnolu Xar'Cha of House Xabaresh Chaeron. However, you may just call me Sorn if you like." There was only the slightest hesitation before he took her hand and bowed over it. He soon straightens and gives her a curious look. "And what does my being a wizard explain?"

There are a number of reasons why the pale Cornelia starts to blush so furiously. Lords, what a mouthful of a name. She might have had a little laugh if it were just that, but he takes her by the hand and bows. Fully bows. Not even a shake! The combination is an intimidating presence. A much higher class of person.

And bowing to little old Cornelia. Taking her ruined hand and bestowing on her a greater respect than she sees most whole, handsome folks get from men like Sornnulu.

She puts a hand on the skin just beneath her neck as she watches him bow, a motion born of surprise. Poor Nelia even forgets to mention her own name, merely replying, "Well, I mean, whys yer so smart!" Hard to joke on the rebound from that. "Er. Yer bein so smart s'why yer a wizard. Ye look like a wizard!" At least as far as Cornelia knows!

[UncleWolf]

Delmah Phor

In the middle of the coin rain is an odd looking young man. He's a little short, standing at only five and a half feet tall, but he's lean and packed with wiry muscle. Despite the muscle though, he's rather scruffy with dark brown-black unkempt hair and rather hairy arms revealed by his plain white tank top. Even his bare feet are rather fuzzy, but he doesn't seem to mind as he holds a slouch cap upside down in order to catch as many of the coins as he can.

His smile is lopsided due to the large fang that pokes out over the left side of his lower lip and even though he appears young, perhaps twenty, he is quite scruffy with dark facial hair. His nose is slightly too large for his face, and the same goes for his wolfish ears. If someone turned a random mangy coyote into a near-human, this man would be the result. Those who are keen might notice that his arms have lines of metal ports along the back and that under his shaggy hair he also has one at the base of his skull. Lumps under the tank top tell of even more of them as well.

Despite the appearance of a ruffian and the potential hazards of the coin fall, the man weaves through the street with his hat to catch the coins, balancing a newly bought cup of hot coffee on top of his head as he does so, positioned right between the animal ears. He seems to be quite enjoying himself and once the coins stop falling, he wanders over to the scroll with curiosity written all over his face.

[Artemis97]

[Main Street]

Sornnolu's smile broadens and he gives a shrug. "I do try to look the part. My aunts want me to show the proper power of the family, after all. Wouldn't do to seem less than I am. Ah, also, I am afraid I did not catch your name, Miss...?" He trails off, allowing her to fill in the gap as she likes.

[Delmah Phor]

Aly'ithra looks over to the man balancing a cup on his head. "What do you think it is?" She wonders aloud.

[Lost_Deep]

Delmah Phor

"Something that is trying to sell itself as important," The woman in green says casually as she walks up. "Shall I, or does someone else want to? Someone went to great expense to send this with such hurrah, it's only polite to see what the fuss is about."

[Beans]

[Delmah Phor]
A woman in an eye-confusing ensemble of crisp blacks and whites emerges from an alley, the dimness therein bringing out the glow of her red eyes. She looks at the aftermath of the coin-shower and the flowing scroll of gold, her long white hair swishing from under her peaked cap as she steps closer to investigate.
As she gets closer, it is noticeable that her skin is the same milk-white as her overcoat and hair.

[UncleWolf]

Delmah Phor

"No idea." The shaggy man admits as he reaches up for his coffee and takes a long pull from it. He frowns after a moment and sets the cup back on his head before spitting a coin out into his hat. "Knew I should have gotten a lid for that." He mutters before leaning over to read the scroll. Remarkably, he keeps his head right to keep the cup balanced, even as he fiddles with his watch a bit.

Several blocks away a shadowed form registers his movement and begins to sneak on over. The guards of the place might get a bit of a fright if they notice the camouflaged several meter tall wolf shape.

[Morty]

[Sewers]

Dipsnig descends into the Inside sewers in his power armour. Presumably, Fade is with him.

[Zefir]

[Sewers]

And so Fade is. The only difference in his gear is a belt, which is a bit more colorfull then his typical dress.

"How much light do you need?" Fade asks as they look into the (assumed) darkness infront.

[Artemis97]

[Delmah Phor]

The guards at the gate leading into the Enclave are quite shocked by the massive wolf shape that enters Delmah Phor. A wave of concern ripple through the militia guarding the drow home, but it was noted that the beast did not seem hostile. Still it was worrisome, and a few plain clothesed members of the militia were dispatched to follow at a distance. In the barracks, soldiers mustered and prepared for possible hostilities. Drow were nothing if not paranoid.

Near the scroll, Aly'ithra looks at those gathered around and shrugs. "I may as well." She decides before approaching the scroll and carefully picking it up to read. The gold seemed so delicate. "Tokens?" The dragon blooded drow wonders as she begins.

[Lost_Deep]

Delmah Phor

"Read it through before you read it aloud. If it's some kind of magic spell then we don't want to cast it accidentally," Copi suggests.

[Slii Arhem]

Delmah Phor

The scroll reads thusly:

The owners of the land this lance has pierced have been invited to glorious challenge, to risk all to gain all in triumph or defeat. When the challenge is at an end, if the lance remains buried in the earth, whoever claims that earth will lose all they own to the contract should they fail in the tasks presented, or gain all of the one they challenge.

The first test is simple. Among many identical Tokens, seven have been marked, and up to seven champions must be chosen. One may be of those who own the land, the others must be proxies chosen to act on their behalf. Find these tokens, and select those worthy to complete the tasks. There must be one, three, five, or seven champions, and they should stand before the lance come the height of the next day to receive their tasks. If none appear, then the challenge ends and no risk, nor gain will be had.

Seven indentations, marked with seven inlayed carvings that would hold seven different coins surround the top of the lance. Places for the tokens, if they're found. With how many drow have turned opportunistic in collecting the sudden surge of sky-birthed wealth, the chances grow slimmer and slimmer all the while. While the scroll is massive, only the outermost part has unravelled, and bears only those words of challenge for the time being. The rest seems welded to the shaft, and trying to pry or pull it free is more likely to damage the shimmering paper than extract it.

[Artemis97]

[Delmah Phor]

Seeing that it wasn't a spell, merely instructions, Aly'ithra reads them aloud, her voice ringing clear throughout the street. The drowess frowns, reading over the lines again "Owners of this land? House Xar'Cha? The other Houses? Do they mean just here or the whole Nexus?" She could, in theory, represent House Xar'Cha, but if she lost, they would lose everything? What had the power to take that wealth away? Should the Matron be consulted? Or would Aly'ithra play and deliberately lose to bring ruin to her cruel kin? It was an enticing possibility.

[Deathkeeper]

Delmah Phor

A large winged shape circles above the fortress before descending down into the square. A black griffin, about the normal size for the male panther that makes up his feline aspect, lands solidly on the cobblestones. He's lightly armored in high-tech materials and weave, just enough to turn a simple attack or two but not enough to encumber his flight, with an arm-band proudly displaying the Union Star on his left foreleg. His right side has a large bolt-action rifle slung over it.

"Um, pardon me. Miss? We received word of a Class One disturbance here. Is everything all right?" he asks of the nearby drow, sounding sincere in his inquiry.

[Artemis97]

[Delmah Phor]

"Oh, Hello." Aly'ithra says to the griffin. "There was a storm of coins falling from the sky and then a bolt of lightning came and left behind this scroll. It's a challenge, a wager, to the owners of this land. I guess I count as a representative of House Xar'Cha." The dragon-blooded drowess figures, rubbing the back of her neck. "Whoever they are, they want us to find the unique tokens that fell with all the rest. Anyone who brings a token here will act as a proxy in the challenge, representing House Xar'Cha. It looks like the tokens go into these slots on the scroll. They have dragons on them. Do you think a dragon did this? Is it betting its hoard against the wealth of House Xar'Cha?" she wonders.

[Slii Arhem]

Delmah Phor

The indents on the scroll do indeed have dragons on them. As does the coffee-soaked, silvery coin that the scraggly, wolf-eared man standing next to Aly'ithra might notice sitting at the top of his little hatful of coins.

There are still a smattering of coins left on the ground for people to pick up and look at, but the largest concentrations have been picked clean by drow already. Hard to say where any of the other unique ones might have wound up.

[Deathkeeper]

Delmah Phor

Nick tilts his head a bit in a distinctly avian mannerism.
"I don't know too much about dragons, Miss. Just one in particular, and my little brother isn't the hoarding type. Different how?" he asks, scanning the pile of coins scattered about. His eyes are trained to pick out a single target among a vast landscape that all looks the same, but he's not sure if that really applies here...

[Lost_Deep]

Delmah Phor

The woman in green begins to flit over the remaining coins, feeling each one with her telekinetic power. The master of multitasking and attention to detail, she hunts to see if any of the tokens left has a dragon mark like the one on the scroll. For most people, this would be arduous and time-consuming, but Copi can check every coin within ten feet every second and perfectly remember which ones she's checked. Might as well get this part over with, right? Someone is going to have to check all those coins, might as well be her.

[Morty]

[Sewers]

"I'll start getting worried if I ever have trouble seeing in a human-built sewer," Dipsnig says. "There's enough light for me here."

[Inigo Montoya]

[Delmah Phor]

Aly'ithra will hear a mocking laugh coming from down the street. A tall Drow Matron walks towards her, regally dressed, her face slightly obscured by a dark parasol being carried by a male drow who was respectfully looking away from the Matron. The female drow approaches and looks down at the younger elf. Her tone is saccharine.

"Oh, you are so cute! Thinking that you have any authority in this matter. That's really something precious sweetie. Now, where are the real grown-ups? What do they make of this?"

[Artemis97]

[Delmah Phor]

"I don't know." Aly'ithra admits to the griffin. "They must be marked somehow." She summises.

The voice of the approaching matron causes the dragon=blooded drowess to frown and hold her head a bit higher. "I am an adult, thank you, and the only member of House Xar'Cha here. Who would you have represent us, on such short notice?"

[UncleWolf]

Delmah Phor

The wolfish man looks down at the coin he'd just put into his hat and reaches up to take his coffee off his head so he can finish it in one long pull. After his gulp he tosses the cup into a trash bin before picking up the coin and popping it into his mouth to suck the rest of his coffee off of it. Only when it is clean does he spit it back out into his palm so he can look closer at it.

When he hears the Drow Matron, his ears flick towards her for just a moment. "Why, I am so honored you've chosen me to help represent this place." He says before quickly reaching out to press his marked token into a slot. "So what is this place again?" He asks as he turns around to face the Matron so he can attempt to shake her hand vigorously. If she's not careful she'll find him either up against her with no regard for personal space or being pushed away from Aly'ithra with his attempted handshake so he's between the two. "Obviously someone as old as you is in charge of this place, right?"

At the same time, the keener eyed individuals in the group might notice a large shadow planting itself down in an alleyway nearby. Whatever it is, it is hard to keep track of as it constantly seems to shift patterns.

[Slii Arhem]

Delmah Phor

Copi's scanning finds two tokens that have somehow escaped the scramble for loot that the other drow engaged in, just as Nick spots one of the two Copi has found. Meanwhile, the token that Biter presses into the indentation on the lance tumbles back out into his hand. If he tries again, or anyone else tries with another token, they'll find that it won't accept and hold them yet.

Noon tommorow may hold other promise, though.

[Deathkeeper]

Delmah Phor

Nick snatches up the coin.
"Ah, here we are. This is what you meant? I'm afraid I don't know what else is the scenario." the griffin comments.

[Lost_Deep]

Delmah Phor

"And a third, if someone wants it," Copi says as she telekinetically lifts the token into the air, "If more want to go, you may have to barter for them."

[Inigo Montoya]

Delmah Phor

The matron steps back away from the man, a look of pure disgust on her face. As she does this, the man holding the parasol steps forward, placing himself between the two of them. He speaks in a low, slightly tinny voice.

"Please step away from my mother."

The request is polite enough, but there is an edge of menace to it. While that small drama is going on Inala addresses herself to Aly'ithra.

"I would have us throw the damn scroll away, and forget we ever found it. 'To risk all' seems like a bet that no one needs to make. Especially the Xar'Cha's , who technically own everything here. I for one don't approve of you gambling with my property."

[Artemis97]

[Delmah Phor]

"Well, it isn't your property at risk, is it?" Aly'ithra shoots back. If the Xar'Cha own everything, then Inala owned nothing. She sighed, hating to have to play this card, "Why don't we present the situation to Matron Danube? Certainly she can decide for her own House. Of course, we'll need all the tokens first."

The dragon blooded drow lifts her voice again, so those on the street can hear. "People of Delmah Phor, among the riches that fell are seven distinct tokens. Three have been found, but four are still missing. Bring me those tokens and I will trade you a gold piece for each." Hopefully that would get people searching. "Or else present yourself before Matron Xar'Cha herself if you wish to act upon the behalf of House Xabaresh Chaeron."

[UncleWolf]

Delmah Phor

"You and her expression say no, but her eyes say...intrigued." The wolfish man whispers to the son before turning his back to the Drow to give Aly'ithra a bow. "It would be an honor for me and my partner to meet her, but I insist that we are part of this endeavor. I did find a coin after all, so I will be going on this adventure with her approval or not." He explains before reaching into the air to wave towards the shadowed figure in the alleyway, beckoning.

The shadowed figure steps out, revealing itself to be roughly five meters tall and nine or ten long. It has the shape of a wolf, but is made entirely out of metal with a mottled black, grey, and dark brown camouflage. All four of its legs have jet boosters on either side of the paws and there's others on the actual flanks of the beast. Despite being metal, the joints that make of the middle section between the shoulders and hips are incredibly fluid, almost as flexible as a living creature. Along the spine stands small spikes about a foot long from the base of the neck all the way down to the tail, radiating heat, and in the middle of the back is a large turret with a harpoon in it ready to launch.

Finally, the head is quite broad with a "mane" made of metal to help act as a shield to protect the body and a mouth that is fully operative with twin pulse guns on either side of jaw. The mechanical wolf pads over to stand over the wolfish man, who grins. "I am Biter, and this is my companion, Claw." He says, reaching up to pat her head gently and lovingly.

[Deathkeeper]

Delmah Phor

Nick looks between the two drow.
"Well, I've got my statement, and it looks like things are getting political, so maybe I should just check in with you folks tomorrow..."

He turns just as Claw enters the picture.
"...do you have a permit for that mobile weaponized unit?" he asks, with a face so straight it's hard to tell if he's joking.

[Lost_Deep]

Delmah Phor

Copi hmms as she takes the token out of the air. "I've never met a drow matron before. This is as good a reason as any." She flips it idly. "Better, in fact, since I likely won't be jailed or executed."

[The Alexandrian]

Red Zone

Zero spreads his hands in a placating gesture, deciding to sidestep that entire thought process entirely and take Valaira's hand.

I wouldn't worry about it. Anyway, we're here.

He steps into the side alley and knocks on a brick wall.

I'm calling it in.

[Red Zone]

Good, because Valaira didn't do it!

Zero successfully takes Valaira's hand! Hey, she uses that for picking things up!

"This isn't shady at all!"

The mud caked Valaira sarcastically yet lightheartedly comments. If she hadn't been going steady with Zero for years, she'd be slightly suspicious about being led to a secret wall in a side alley in the Red Zone where no one can hear you scream because the guy being stabbed in the neighboring alley is screaming louder than you are (He had three lungs! That's cheating!).