Riverside 17

[The Bushranger]

[Lotus Gardens]

"Oh, I considered that," Quinn agrees with a nod. "But...he's not the type to leave a secret note, I don't think. Of course, I could be surprised." She giggles softly, shaking her head. "Jamie won't tell me who she thinks it is, though. She wants to figure it all out on her own."

[goto124]

[Masq Island - A Beach]

((Eagle, if you're reading this, the Nassah here is NOT the same person as Kelcey. This Nassah is evil, and pretty much the opposite of Kelcey.))

Who says he isn't surrounded by guards? They could be wearing beach clothes and acting normal for all you know.

Looks like Lyn isn't looking to steal from this rich man. Yet.

Nassah turns his head to face the woman. He may be scanning her up and down, or arching an eyebrow- his overly large sunglasses hide the expressions of his eyes, making it difficult to tell.

'One could say the same of you, lady,' he chuckles. 'I must say, I've never met a pretty catgirl like you are before. Most I've met are more of silly anthropomorphic cat-people. Not nearly as elegant.'

Clearly, vulpans aren't a thing in Nassah's world. He lifts a bottle and takes a sip from it.

'Now... what kind of material are those clothes made of? he asks, referring to the bikini she's wearing.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Masks on Masq]

"Cat-girl?" Lyn arches a delicate eyebrow at him, coughing politely. "Hardly. I," she says, sittng down on the edge of the beach chair and flicking her tail (as long as her torso, if not more, and very fluffy) along his leg. "Am a fox-girl. And I hardly see myself being as flashy as one so golden... And these?"

She smirks down at him, idly tugging her top out a bit, which, while it seems an innocent enough accompaniment to her question, also flashes him just a bit. "Silk, unless I'm very much mistaken. Certainly what they ought to be. Why? Am I overdressed for your tastes?"

[Zefir]

[Southside- DMside]

As this hasn't seen much use in the last time, it might be soon.
This small area containing the big church and a few buildings around, seems to have survived up to now. People have moved in, happy about the wall they build against the other Southside partys. The streets have been colorfull and busy, but now (a few hours after Vigil attack) the streets have been abonded. The flags hanging around ahve been hoist to half-mast and the big banner on the church, showing their god, have been replaced by blank black Banner. even the big weapon placed in the middle of the area doesn't aim at the sky.
The priests have started to line up in front of the church. Their robot companions allways by their side. They seem to wait for a guest or something.

[goto124]

[Masked Masq]

By now, Nassah's really glad he wore sunglasses, for reasons that probably shouldn't be mentioned on this family-friendly forum.

'My, a fox-girl? That's something I haven't heard of, let alone seen before...'

'I suppose you could say that,' he smiles at Lyn's last question.

There's a pause, during which he just looks at her, before he speaks up again.

'Ah, I almost forgot. My name's Lord Nassah- perhaps I could have the pleasure of knowing yours?'

[Morty]

[Lotus Gardens]

"Let's just hope we don't end up with a teenage love triangle in the middle of the camp," Sophie says, half-jokingly. "They tend not to be pretty."

[The Bushranger]

[Lotus Gardens]

"Let's just hope we don't end up with a teenage love triangle in the middle of the camp," Sophie says, half-jokingly. "They tend not to be pretty."

Quinn can't help but giggle softly at that. "True, that could lead to all kinds of sturm und drang," she agrees, finishing off her tea. "But if it encourages Kevin to get over his shyness with Jamie...well, that would be a good thing," she adds.

[Morty]

[Lotus Gardens - Quinn's Office]

"Teenagers can be pretty reliably trusted not to do the reasonable thing when it comes right down to it," Sophie says. "I am curious now, though. But I shouldn't stick my nose into it," she adds with amusement.

[The Bushranger]

[Lotus Gardens - Quinn's Office]

"Teenagers can be pretty reliably trusted not to do the reasonable thing when it comes right down to it," Sophie says. "I am curious now, though. But I shouldn't stick my nose into it," she adds with amusement.

"Only if they let things get out of hand," Quinn agrees with a chuckle, shaking her head. "I'm glad you visited, Sophie. It's good to keep in touch, you know?"

[Deathkeeper]

Fourth Tower Complex

There's a small rush of air as the doors swing open. In steps a tall canine demon, as described in the second paragraph here, carrying a large tome, as always. He goes over to the unmanned desk (how unprofessional!) and gives the desk bell a ring.
"Pardon me. My name is Nyarlahotep. I was told by an associate of Lord Rhye's that I should contact your people at some point. So I'm here to make an appointment." he says with a pleasant smile as the person arrives.

[ThirdEmperor]

[The Skies -> The Power Plant]

The nice thing about this plan is that it limits the odds of being spotted via visual distortions, since no one wants to look at the faux-sun. It also helps that the Chimera Syndicate lacks major countermeasures against more magically-reinforced stealth methods, as their world utterly lacks such things, barring a few rare Anomalies that might manifest such powers. Of course, the opposite, that some Anomalies might be able to pierce that kind of stealth, is also true. That doesn't happen yet, though.

What is clear from the air is that the area around the facility has seen far better days, smoking defensive emplacements surrounding it. The main building itself, the reinforced shell built around the actual power system, is rather dull, aside from the scorch marks on its walls. It is only notable in that there are fire escapes built into the outside of the structure. They could be useful for getting in and having to deal with less of the Syndicate troops.

Speaking of which, any present capable of bypassing invisibility will see much the same as others who've tried have-though with the better angle, the number of stealth shuttles rises to 10. They might want to be careful not to hit any of them as they fly around invisibly, though as they're not exactly silent that shouldn't be hard. Ground patrols are all around the building, and while the emergency exits are guarded by at least two commandos each, with others on patrol of the catwalks, it is much lighter, and it can be guessed that the shuttles are more likely to hesitate to fire on them, for fear of damaging the facility or killing their own men.

As they fly over the beacon of the false sun, the stranger guides his bat forward alongside Szzy, raising his voice above the wind as he gestures to the space in the air where the nearest gunship is hidden. "Get inside as quickly as you can. I will attempt to weaken them for when we must escape." And at that he kicks the spurs again, driving the ridge of the saddle forward to push his stead into a sudden drop towards the craft below. He slides himself forward to perch upon the stead's back with only his feet, remaining impossibly balanced as he tugs sharply on the reign, twisting the bat until the beast is forced to ignore instinct and twist into a rolling dive -

In the moment he crosses overhead the craft, whatever force holds him there vanishes, and for a brief instant the Harlequin is visible as he tumbles down towards the helm. The monowire blades spring out in a thin glitter of metal, one, two, three, his rolling fall allowing them to score a triangle out upon the armor below, each lash as powerful as a gunshot. As he rights himself in the air he draws his weapons, and brings the blade crashing down the weakened segment. The bare metal is wrapped in a forcefield, lending an impossible force to the blow, just as his belt allows him the perfect balance to land crouched within, gun already turning towards the nearest of the pilots.

Or so one would hope.

It would be less impressive if he bounced off, fell down, and went splatto.

[Morty]

[Lotus Gardens - Quinn's Office]

"It is. I'm glad we could catch up," Sophie says, emptying her mug. "Good luck with your work here," she adds.

[WarKitty]

[Westside - Club Pulse]

Spoiler

Show

Gathering what leads he could, Marcus Runeheart managed to find his way to one of the more well known night clubs in Riverside. From what he'd learned, there was a chance that some of the regulars here might either know about buying servants or have affiliations with someone who does. It was a bit difficult to track somebody down discreetly only by means of word of mouth. The entire time combing Riverside, he'd been magically detecting any signs of manipulation magic, pulsing like a Wizard radar.

Before entering the loud establishment, he took his staff and etched a familiar sigil into the ground, strapped his staff onto his back, and braced himself. The lights and modern noise music made him feel pretty on edge. Once inside, he looks around for the people he had been told about. Trying to be inconspicuous, he taps a runed brooch on his robes. It shimmers a dark purple and fades, allowing Mark to hear the thoughts of any around him unprotected from such things. Should he pick up on anything of value, he'll attempt to silently probe some surface memories for anything more useful.

The club is buzzing with various words and memories. Nonetheless, Marcus manages to pick up something from a tall character in a purple cloak, something about new, exotic workers.

[Cyber Punk]

Desulus and Jinkei

Desulus' grin comes back, revealing his fangs slightly.

Alright then, lead me to where you can practice.

[By The River]

"I've been thinking... a combat fan would be nice, so let's train for that!"

Jinkei gets into a poor and generic fighting stance. "How's this?"

[DoomITP]

By The River

Desulus shakes his head and steps to Jinkei's side, using slight prodding motions to shift the position of Jinkei's hands and feet.

You need to balance yourself or else when someone puts any sort of force behind their strikes you will fall. He says as he puts his hands on Jinkei's shoulders and shifts her into a better stance.

[Cyber Punk]

[By The River]

Jinkei lets herself be shifted to a better stance and tries her best to remain in that position. She's determined to see this through to the end.

The things one is driven to do when tired of current state of things!

"What next?"

[DoomITP]

By The River

Desulus nods.

Go from standing in a neutral position to shifting to your stance until it feels natural. It won't do you any good if you can't move into position quickly.

[Gullara]

Fourth Tower Complex

There's a small rush of air as the doors swing open. In steps a tall canine demon, as described in the second paragraph here, carrying a large tome, as always. He goes over to the unmanned desk (how unprofessional!) and gives the desk bell a ring.
"Pardon me. My name is Nyarlahotep. I was told by an associate of Lord Rhye's that I should contact your people at some point. So I'm here to make an appointment." he says with a pleasant smile as the person arrives.

[Fourth Tower Complex]

It's like a weight is lifted off Kate when Vax's eyes shift away from her and back out of the room. Oh, another visitor. How vexing. She steps out of the room wordlessly and makes the short trip back to the desk. However, she barely is there a moment until she nods for Nyarlahotep to follow her and she heads back to where Kate is. Unprofessional indeed.

[Cyber Punk]

[By The River]

Jinkei does this a few times, sometimes getting it right, and other times getting it wrong. She counts on Desulus to guide her and will keep doing it until she's done it rather satisfactorily.

[Deathkeeper]

Fourth Tower Compound

Tep just mentally shrugs and follows the woman, not bothering to strike up a conversation with her as she seems to be doing her job...
And then he'll make the aforementioned nod to Kate once they get there.

[DoomITP]

[By The River]

Jinkei does this a few times, sometimes getting it right, and other times getting it wrong. She counts on Desulus to guide her and will keep doing it until she's done it rather satisfactorily.

Desulus consistently corrects Jinkei's technique before deciding that she had done enough of this particular exercise.

There are many ways to strike an opponent. If done correctly, you can compensate for the fact that you are small and potentially physically weaker than your attacker. Moving your body in time with your strikes allows you to accomplish this.

At this point Desulus takes up a position next to Jinkei and starts to guide her through a series of punches, kicks and other seemingly odd ways to strike an opponent until she can follow the forms on her own.

[Lost_Deep]

Fourth Tower Compound

Kate stands up when she sees the new person. "Hi! Are you, uh," what was the name? "here to tell me about the computers I need to install?"

Kate, for her part, looks like she could be the generic human woman in an encyclopedia entry if not for a few little details. She's of average build and height, with a face that reminds you of that other person you know, but not really now that you get a good look at it. The two notable things about her are the orange hair, rare but not nonhuman, and the fact that her skin is made of a silvery metal.

Hopefully, Tep does not react oddly to mithril.

[Cyber Punk]

[By The River]

Jinkei is guided through the motions and the forms. This, she picks up rather quickly, though it's mostly due to her determination.

She squeals rather happily when she follows the forms on her own and tries to squash down thoughts on the evils of violence. Besides, if the people she aims to protect are weaker than her, how will she defend them (besides the use of her illusory powers)?

[DoomITP]

By The River

Desulus grins, though this one isn't his normal predatory expression, it has far more in the realm of approval than it normally would.

Nicely done. You learn quite quickly. Though understand that it will be quite a bit more practice before you are ready for the real thing.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Masked Masq]

By now, Nassah's really glad he wore sunglasses, for reasons that probably shouldn't be mentioned on this family-friendly forum.

'My, a fox-girl? That's something I haven't heard of, let alone seen before...'

'I suppose you could say that,' he smiles at Lyn's last question.

There's a pause, during which he just looks at her, before he speaks up again.

'Ah, I almost forgot. My name's Lord Nassah- perhaps I could have the pleasure of knowing yours?'

Presumably that they hide where he's looking?

"A fox-girl. We're not too rare around here... Though I started off as a human. Well, mostly." She shrugs, stretching a little to give him a different, but still good, view, then lays down beside him, as best she can. "And my name is Lynette Mizori. My apologies, m'lord - I should really have introduced myself sooner." She smirks a bit as she uses his title, clearly not all that impressed, especially as her voice is lightly teasing.

"Perhaps you'd like a taste of what being vulpine like me is like?" She quirks her head curiously, draping an arm across his chest, if he lets her. "I have something that can transform you, temporarily. Not what changed me, but of course, that was permanent, so it's probably a good thing."

[goto124]

[Masq - Lyn & Nassah]

Lord Nassah is more than happy to make space for the fox-girl. Lyn might notice that he has pointy elf ears.

'There're more fox-girls?' he starts off, but is quickly distracted by Lyn calling him "m'lord". His ego is big enough that he misses her sarcasm, and misinterprets her teasing. 'No problem, dear, it happens.'

He lets her rest her arm on his chest, which is bare apart from his large gold chain necklace. Why refuse such a nice girl who's practically throwing herself at you?

'Sure, why not?' Nassah smiles as he reaches to stroke Lyn's hand. 'Just make sure it's temporary, or else!' He laughs, but it may be slightly unnerving.

[Cyber Punk]

[By The River]

"I understand." Jinkei nods dutifully. "I don't care how long it takes, though I'd rather it were faster. I'm an elf kitsune, so I probably have millenia or something to learn."

She continues to practice her new moves.

[Shadowcaller]

Samantha salutes smartly

Captain Samantha Llewellen, Town Expeditionary Force of the Vulpine Empire under the direction of the Temple of Inari. We're here to offer you three main assets: cloak-defeating probes, air support, and cloaked forces of our own.

She grins

Because in their own logic: they have to see me to shoot at me.

[Fourth Tower Complex]

It's like a weight is lifted off Kate when Vax's eyes shift away from her and back out of the room. Oh, another visitor. How vexing. She steps out of the room wordlessly and makes the short trip back to the desk. However, she barely is there a moment until she nods for Nyarlahotep to follow her and she heads back to where Kate is. Unprofessional indeed.

Fourth Tower Compound

Tep just mentally shrugs and follows the woman, not bothering to strike up a conversation with her as she seems to be doing her job...
And then he'll make the aforementioned nod to Kate once they get there.

Fourth Tower Compound

Kate stands up when she sees the new person. "Hi! Are you, uh," what was the name? "here to tell me about the computers I need to install?"

Kate, for her part, looks like she could be the generic human woman in an encyclopedia entry if not for a few little details. She's of average build and height, with a face that reminds you of that other person you know, but not really now that you get a good look at it. The two notable things about her are the orange hair, rare but not nonhuman, and the fact that her skin is made of a silvery metal.

Hopefully, Tep does not react oddly to mithril.

[Malechenar Castle - The Gardens]

"Well, that's a lot to ask for. I'd take off my glasses to show you my form, as a fellow windpire, but it tends to drive non-windpires mad from utter terror. A curse... that can be rather awesome." Archibald sighs. "We could get you a good-looking body, but we'll either have to make one, or get your old body and rez it for you to wear as a skin."

"As for what Ezra would want? It might be hard to believe, but he's the sort to do things out of kindness. In fact, the only thing I can see him wanting is your heart, but that's if you are willing to share. His girlfriends are rather open-minded... aaand I've said too much." He keeps quiet for a moment. "He's a gentleman though... he'll take no for an answer."

[Malechenar Castle - The Gardens]

"He has... other wives?" Apparently the distinction of wife and girlfriend isn't very clear. Needless to say Lihana sounds surprised. "And he didn't even tell me?!" Now it's more upset and annoyed than surprised. "And you don't even have any idea what I am. I'm not like you. I'm not even dead!" The head suddenly becomes inert and falls lifelessly to the ground.

[Power Plant - Barricades]

The officer returns the salute and then looks over the units they brought along with them. "Our weapons are not nearly advanced enough to deal with this kind of terrorist so any help is appreciated. Do you have a engagement plan we can assist with? Right now we're just attempting to keep outsiders away. We haven't been informed about any plan to take down the terrorists yet."

[DoomITP]

By The River

Desulus nods understandingly.

I've had centuries to practice this and many other ways of fighting. Only way to get good is the old fashioned way. Now take a shot at me.

[Cyber Punk]

[Malechenar Castle - The Gardens]

"No, girlfriends! Not married. Also, he would have! Eventually."

Archie gets a bit of a shock when the head goes inert. "What." He looks around for her.

[By The River]

"With pleasure... wait, really?"

Jinkei finds she can't bring herself to hit Desulus. "I..."