Inside 61

[Halae]

[Trick's Investigations]

As a matter of fact, Trick can see in the dark easily enough, "Souls are my specialty, actually, as far as a warlock's magic goes. Now, why don't you take the hood off? I can see you just fine anyways. I prefer to have a chat with my potential clients when they aren't attempting to hide things."

[Recaiden]

[Absurdly Spacious Sewers]

And all those other narrow, little-seen places under the city. Layer upon layer has been built and more or less forgotten.
A handful of creatures scamper through narrow passages, out from the muk-pits they came from, which no longer hold much of interest. The eight-little legs seem to have little to do with their movement as they glide through low-flowing pipes and around rusting water-purification equipment. When they find something they're looking for, metal and soft stone of the right sorts, their crab-like claws snap open, tearing chunks of material from the walls with unreasonable ease.

The little wasp-demons work away happily, every once in a while one of the five gathering up their harvest and walking off with it back the way it came, only to return some minutes later. Steady scraping sounds and the occasional chitter of communication echo down different spillways and staircases and tunnels.

((Interaction available, especially if C'nor isn't too afraid of posting in this thread too much. , but to anyone as well))

[Ionbound]

[Grey Zone Rooftops]

Elizabeth shrugs and says, "There's a punk gang at my school...They like to beat me up. So...It was easier for me to feed on her. That's it. But...I would like to go somewhere else so you can explain how all this works. Being a vampire, I mean."

[Lady Serpentine]

[Trick's Investigations]

Welp. That backfired spectacularly then; instead of letting her deal with Trick on a neutral footing, it got her upset, apparently. Still, though, no reason not to, so Llolfaen pushes back the hood, her face coming into clear view, if it wasn't already; Trick might be able to guess why she was trying to hide it, given that the person sitting in her office is, from the dark grey skin to the red eyes and fine white hair, very obviously a drow - and the fact that she's got scars covering her face in a spiderweb pattern, running into the bandages wrapped around the upper part of her head and her throat, doesn't help matters in the slightest.

"So. Now you know what I am... Guess there's not much point in sticking to the fake name, is there? I'm Llolfaen, if you want the full version." She frowns a bit, but extends a hand to shake - which is also covered in spiderweb scares -, if Trick does nothing to stop her, settling back in her chair to await judgement quietly once that's done with.

[Grey Zone Rooftops]

Sarah flares with raw, venomous, anger at that for a moment - though it's not directed at Elizabeth, quite clearly, given it's accompanied by a surge of protectiveness and affection; rather, she's angry at the gang, and it's a pretty safe bet that at least one of them will be getting an uninvited guest at some point, whether Sarah herself or a kami she sends in her place. "C'mon then... My place work? Or do you have somewhere in mind you'd rather go, or just not like that idea?"

[Ionbound]

[Grey Zone Rooftops]

Elizabeth shrugs, frowning and says, nervousness suddenly rushing through the bond again, "Y-yeah. I mean...I can't really take you back to my place. Why not."

[Lady Serpentine]

[Grey Zone Rooftops]

Sarah frowns a bit too, half-turning to look back at Elizabeth, uncertainty and a little bit of worry for her flowing through the bond. "Something wrong? I mean, we can go somewhere else, I just was thinking it's not too far away and it's comfortable... If you're not comfortable going there, that's fine, though? Just say the word."

[Ionbound]

[Grey Zone Rooftops]

Elizabeth shakes her head and says, still nervous but slightly less so, "N-no, it's fine. Lead the way."

[Halae]

[Trick's Investigations]

The tiefling reaches out a hand to shake, "You've never been to Neverwinter, have you? There's a surprising number of drow there, ever since Drizzt came up from the underdark, so you're not a big surprise to me. Now then, what's the trouble, Fae?"

[Lady Serpentine]

[Trick's Investigations]

"I... Honestly, it's kinda tricky where I've been." Llolfaen sighs, her gaze flickering down towards the table. "Ties into my problem. Which is that this is... Well, honestly, it's probably easier to show you and then explain. You mind?" She gestures to the bandages, looking nervous, but also somewhat relieved since Trick didn't seem to object to her being a drow.

[Grey Zone Rooftops]

Sarah's still worried about that reaction, but... Not much she can do about it, really, with Elizabeth saying repeatedly to go ahead and go there, so off they go, winding up in another apartment building after perhaps ten minutes, though this one's slightly on the higher end of things.

[Halae]

[Trick's Investigations]

"Go ahead. I can provide you some healing potions if you need them as well." Trick says, gesturing for the drow to continue.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Trick's Investigations]

Llolfaen flashes her a lopsided smile, shaking her head as she unwinds the bandages from her throat. "I appreciate it, but, well... I think it's a bit too late. Probably do more harm than good at this point." And, soon after, it's clear why; the drow has a ragged, though bloodless, gash across her throat, obviously severing at least one major artery, and probably having caught the windpipe - whatever's keeping her going, it's plainly not just life and good doctors.

[Halae]

[Trick's Investigations]

"I don't mean you any offense, but you're not revealing anything helpful. If you're asking me to resurrect you, you'd be better of seeking help at one of the temples - I understand there's a fairly active god operating out of Riverside." Trick says, once again unimpressed by the problem she'd been hiding.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Trick's Investigations]

"That's... Sort of where it gets complicated." Llolfaen sighs, shaking her head. "Resurrecting me? No way; not my body, and that's long gone. And I don't... Well, honestly, being undead is what it is. The issue is that I'm in my sister's body, and she did some stupid things when we were younger? She's been carrying my soul around in her head for years." She grimaces, fidgeting with her cloak as she tries to figure out how to explain. "And then we're both priestesses, of different goddesses, but she used to be one of my goddess, and so there are two claims on her soul... Adding more divinities into the mix isn't going to help much."

[Halae]

[Trick's Investigations]

the tiefling nods, "So, somehow you got two souls stuck in one body, and now you're wanting me to get them separated. Never anything easy, is it?" Trick smiles, "I can run a few tests on you to see how exactly you're merged. How we go about the split depends on exactly how badly smushed together you two are."

[Lady Serpentine]

[Trick's Investigations]

"Plus maybe getting her unclaimed, and hopefully doing something about the whole bit where she can't get her body back, since..." Llolfaen frowns, but despite a slight pause, can't really sugarcoat matters. "Well. Honestly, she deserves to be out in the world more. I'd been dead for years, and I don't want to go back to that, but... That does mean that I wasn't the one who had anyone who cared about me, that was her. And they deserve her back."

[Halae]

[Trick's Investigations]

"I can't do anything about that unfortunately. Tell you what; if you can provide a receptacle - a phylactery of some kind - I can probably enact a forced possession of it. If it has moving parts, like a mannequin or a skeleton, she should be able to move around freely in it with a little effort. That way you can see about getting a real body for her later." Trick offers. Well, it's something.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Trick's Investigations]

"Ah... No yanking me out and shoving her back in, huh?" Llolfaen sighs softly, having resigned herself to that, almost looking forward to it since she really does feel Lellienth deserves life more at this point. "I had been hoping that you could do that and then... She could go get resurrected by her own temple. But I get how it'd be... Not really workable, even if I don't understand the specifics of what you do."

[Halae]

[Trick's Investigations]

"Honestly?" Trick says, "I don't know which one of your spirits is more attached to the body. As such, I might not be able to salvage the body at all, or it might be you that gets taken out, or I might not be able to take either of you out. Souls are extremely tricky, and that's why I need to run the tests first."

[Ionbound]

[Grey Zone Rooftops]

((It's funny that Sarah is so worried about this. The nervousness is just a manifestation of Elizabeth being very awkward.))

Elizabeth follows Sarah to her apartment. When they get there, she looks around and says, "Huh...This is where you live? 's pretty nice, as far as apartments go."

[Deathkeeper]

Cafe 124
[closed scene]
Maybe it's the number of the address? Maybe there were 123 different cafes in Inside before this one? Maybe the owner is a robot with those numerals for a name? Who knows?
The cafe is rather simple, full of light from windows, glass, and nice, wooden furniture. It's not terribly upscale or expensive, just a little bit nicer than the more everyday places on city corners.

It's here that Pat waits for the man who sent her a business card and a question about an appointment. She's wearing a nice red vest with a green (lighter than her skin) blouse underneath it. And nothing else really, save for a watch, since her body fades into smoke underneath where her belly-button is. She hasn't ordered anything yet, and is just waiting for the mysterious gentleman.

[Slii Arhem]

Cafe 124

This is assuming he's a man, and gentle, and mysterious! All very safe things to assume, since he's sent a card to a seeming stranger, with the name Damien Miles on it, and he's standing right there with a dashing, enigmatic grin plastered across his face.

"Good Day." He states, as if he's surprised by that fact. It does indeed seem to be good. Good weather, happy people, no random acts of mayhem about in the immediate vicinity.

[Deathkeeper]

Cafe 124

Pat gives a polite smile to the man. "The same to you. Sit down, and maybe you can tell me about whatever it is that made you ask out a person you haven't met before."
Or at least she's fairly sure they haven't met already. She supposes anything's possible. She also supposes he could have known about her because he was stalking her or something, but she'd prefer to stay optimistic about the whole thing.

[Slii Arhem]

Cafe 124

"You're a djinn, the word gets around. And quite frankly, I wanted to ask you how you felt about that. About being a brand new djinn, the freshness of it, the power that's not yet mundane. I won't hint around the shrubbery." He snaps his fingers purely for effect, and a burst of power that stands out to any wish-granting being like a lighthouse reflecting a solar flare during an eclipse flares into existence. The world is tilted sideways, or perhaps just the sense of perspective of everyone within a few blocks, for a scant second before reality slowly oozes back to normal.

"I've been around the block a while. So long, I can't even relate to things that measure their lives in spans anymore. And it sucks." Ooooh boy does it ever. Damien doesn't order anything, but he does make a suggestion for Pat that he assures her is good, but sounds decidedly archaic, possibly eldritch.

[Ionbound]

[Grey Zone-Over The Sewers]

(Closed Scene)

Phoebe strolls along a street, running one errand or another, paying no mind to the manholes and other things that may lie beneath the streets.

[Terumitsu]

Huntside Imports Delicatessen

Isaac gives a slightly embarrassed look.
"Uh, I think so? But uh, I think you lost me on the analogy there. Uh, which is which, exactly?" he says, clearly not following as a model student should be!

Huntside Imports Delicatessen

"Which is what part now?" Hiram said around a mouthful of meat. Swallowing, he dabbed at his mouth and tried to clarify a bit further. "Uhm.. Well, Runes are based on the shapes that leylines take and each one corresponds to a specific kind of energy to draw from. Or maybe a function that you want it to perform. Any rune can be a 'noun,' which is what energy is going to be manipulated, or a 'verb' which is what you want that energy to do. And then you have all the other bits of a sentence to modify the end result or mix in more kinds of energy. Thing is, it can be quite fluid as one ley-rune circle can be used to perform a variety of related tasks while a ritual-rune circle, that's a term for that symbol based branch I told you about, can only perform one task. Course, what ritual circles gain is that they can be ludicrously complex in what you can make them do while ley-runes do have a point where all the different energies and manipulations start to interfere with each other. Rule of thumb says that you should stop at a third degree inscription, or, that is, a third layer of instructions beyond the first. Like.. 'Conjure fire. Designate an area. Cause fire to explode in that area' for a fireball spell's instructions. 'Coarse, that's just general use. Any skilled ley-rune magician can stack up to nine or so with ease with only limited feedback and I've seen documents where scholars use upwards of fifty using 'synonymics' which are methods of converting the way the energy is being manipulated without actually adding another full rune. Back to that language analogy I was using, it's like going from 'Run' to 'Rush' to 'Hurry' to 'Push' as in to goad someone along and then 'Push' again in the meaning of giving it a shove." he said, the spark in his eyes making it clear that this was definitely his passion.

"That's all advanced stuff, though, so I don't expect to really get too heavily into that, though." he said, taking another hearty bite.

[Deathkeeper]

Cafe 124

Pat looks troubled, and not just at the ridiculous display of power.
"Well, I'm pretty sure that I'm not actually immortal. I like being what I am, but I can't actually use m powers for much unless someone makes a wish for it. So, without other people I'm nothing all that spectacular. On my own I can only give myself a snake tail instead of smoke legs and maybe mess with my clothes a bit. It hasn't gotten me too out of tune with people. I think." she shrugs, certainly entertaining the idea that she might be wrong.

Huntside Imports Delicatessen

Isaac resists his reflex to scratch his head. This is...complex...to be hearing over lunch.
"Oh...kay. I think that I follow you?"
Isaac thinks he saw something like this in a game book somewhere.
"So uh, I'm not sure I follow that analogy. I can see how all of those words have a somewhat similar meaning, but I don't see how stacking so many words that would do roughly similar things would do...anything, from what you just described about instructions and inscriptions." he says, interested but confused.

[Slii Arhem]

Cafe 124

Damien nods minutely to himself in understanding, "I see, I see. Well I wouldn't recommend the immortality thing, for a start. If you're ever offered it, anyway. Or any sort of lack of restrictions to your powers. Restrictions breed creativity. Unlimited power means unlimited choice, means the death of all point. And pointless wish fulfillment is only meant for the realm of horrendous fiction novellas." He jokes, poorly, his timing slightly off. He truly doesn't remember how to politely interact with people, and he's letting it show this time rather than blustering through with falsified charisma and sauveness.

"But it is truly a shame you've lost your bipededness. From your bone structure and the hint of your hips in the billowing of your smokey lower half, you must have had a spectacular pair of legs. Don't suppose I'd be allowed to offer them back?" Why he's hesitating is anyone's guess. Perhaps he's going by some unspoken code of genies that Pat hasn't yet become privy to?

[Deathkeeper]

Cafe 124

Pat blushes a little bit, and looks down at herself.
"Well, I've kinda gotten used to not having legs, but if you can help me figure out how to change myself in more than just the one I've figured out, I suppose that would help. Or...unless you had some other way in mind?" she asks, liking the fellow but not being exactly sure what to think about him.

[Slii Arhem]

Cafe 124

"I wish that you were able to change your lower body into normal, bipedal legs resembling your previous set in addition to the other forms you've already acquired through your own skill and power, and back from that form painlessly and effortlessly to the others at will." He speaks aloud, in a tone that Pat may suddenly, viscerally react to with the urge to grant his request. Be free in your own powers long enough and you'll learn exactly how they work.

[Deathkeeper]

Cafe 124

Pat flinches, straightening in her seat and snapping her fingers.
Then...just sort of sits there.
"Well, that was awfully specific. Uh, thanks, though." she says, notably not making use of her new ability.