[Nexus] The Black Dragon's Den XIII

[Nova_Eclipse]

"Well met, Vai," Kendra says, "I do hope you don't mind if someone else joins us, I was actually waiting for an old friend of mine here. I'm not entirely sure when she might show up, but she's a lot of fun."

[billtodamax]

A cautious hand pushes open the front door of the den, Nigel's bald head following it through.

A lot nicer on the inside. He mutters to himself, strolling up to the bar and trying to ignore the predatory looks he's getting from the bar's patrons. He drums his fingers on the bar a few times trying to get someone's attention. Hey, any work going? He... he doesn't exactly look the bartender type, and it's clear (to the patrons at least) that it's been a long time since he's been in a place this shady. His light blue jacket is still pristine and he's not even carrying an obvious weapon - although some of the smarter sort have to concede that it's possible there's something hiding in either his satchel or his metallic left arm.

[Artemis97]

"You'd have to talk to my uncle." Pipes up a young woman sitting at the bar. Victoria Rock was in her early 20s, with honey colored curls pulled back in a high ponytail. She was dressed in a white skirt and a pink halter top. She also had a pair of red feathered wings, and a set of small horns to match. Her left wing was damaged, sticking out at an odd angle, instead of being neatly folded behind her back. She was also reading a biology textbook, while enjoying a steaming cup of coffee. "He owns the place."

[billtodamax]

Nigel glances over, apparently having just noticed her. When he sees her wing he winces slightly, but carries on regardless. Your uncle huh? You know if they need a bartender who knows all the fancy cocktails? He takes another look around, frowning. I guess I can also mix moonshine if that's more this place's speed.

Seemingly giving up on the job hunt he crashes into a seat next to her and peers over the textbook. What's that there? he asks, motioning towards it.

[Artemis97]

"It's mostly shots and beers, here." Victoria says. "'But I'm sure Blackeye there wouldn't mind some relief." The heavy lidded goblin behind the bar huffs and makes busy cleaning things. The fiendish girl just smiles at him.

Tori holds up the book so Nigel can see. "Biology. Got to study while I can, if I want to pass my next exam. Trying to become a nurse."

She extends a hand. "I'm Victoria Rock, but you can call me Tori."

[billtodamax]

He shakes her hand. Nigel, Nigel Rutherford. You no joke trying to become a nurse? He asks, looking a little shocked. Good luck to you, honestly, world needs more nurses. I used to be a doctor. He adds, by way of explanation. That was back home.

God it's been so long since I had to do any actual study. You doing any placements yet? He asks, interested.

[Artemis97]

"Oh wow. That's awesome." Tori says, smiling. "Nothing solid, I do volunteer work here and there, when I can fit it around my class schedule. Hospitals, clinics, temples. Things pop up and fade again, around here." She explains. "So it's hard to find something that sticks."

[billtodamax]

Is that why this map I got is so useless? He asks, pulling a crumpled bit of paper out of a pocket and waving it around a little with his metallic arm. I swear this place is twisting itself around to get me more lost. Three separate clinics I couldn't find today. He leans back further in his chair, tossing the useless map onto the bar as he does.

Temples is a good idea though. He admits. Didn't think of temples.

[Artemis97]

"They tend to be a bit more permanent, as lots of people go to them." Tori says. "You're new here, I take it? Yeah, the Nexus is twisty, you have to have a real clear picture of where you're going, and even then you can still get lost. Have you got a cell phone?" Nigel seemed like he cam from the right tech era for one of those. "Map apps are better than paper, they can update more often. Unless you get a magic map."

[billtodamax]

Yeah I've got a cell, but I don't have any data or any bars aside from emergency calls. He flips it out of his pocket and spins it around in his hand. Need to head out some time and grab a disposable sim or something.

He pauses for a sec.

Sorry, you mind if I ask you something? It'll bug me all night if I don't. He asks, glancing at her broken wing.

[Artemis97]

"You should head to Mallside, they probably have a kiosk there." Tori advises.

She follows the direction of his gaze and sighs. "Oh, yeah, that." She stretches the wing out as far as it will go, which is, admittedly, not too far. "I was... well, kind of kidnapped once. Bunch of gangsters in Skyside, trying to pressure my brother. I almost escaped, and they didn't like that. They broke it, healed it the wrong way. I can't fly now. I miss it." Tori ruffles her feathers, settling the wing back into as natural a place as she can get it. "I can't really afford to get it fixed. They used magic to heal it, so now my body thinks it should be that way. Restoration might work, but there's no guarantee. Surgery is the only real option, but that's delicate, and expensive."

[billtodamax]

Wings are tricky. Nigel agrees. His right eye suddenly lights up with tiny unreadable lines of text as it scrolls past his vision, an implanted hud trying to analyse the damage done to the wing. As he does his left hand starts... rippling, various sections of machinery rising and falling out of the otherwise smooth surface as he thinks. He frowns for a second, his eye and hand quickly returning to normal, before muttering: Sorry, distracted.

You said they used magic to heal it? I'll be honest the only people I knew who could use magic before coming here pretty universally wanted to murder me or my employer so I'm not too familiar with it - they use it much for doctoring work around here? He's pretty obviously trying to distract the conversation away from the otherwise more uncomfortable topic. Providing support is hard!

[Artemis97]

Victoria blinks at the machinery on Nigel's arm as it moves. "Healing magic? Yeah, it's common in the temples, especially really simple spells, but the major stuff is hard to get sometimes, so people go for conventional healing. Hospitals and clinics are more likely to sew you up too. My mother taught me some healing spells, but I know you can't always rely on magic, so I want to learn conventional medicine as well."

[billtodamax]

Hell yeah, well rounded education, that's the spirit. Nigel says, getting back into the swing of the conversation - and apparently not noticing his arm's previous fluctuations. Did your mother have the uh... He motions to her wings and horns. The accoutrements? Hell is that insensitive? Sorry I don't know much about all the new species around yet.

Hell yeah dude just jam that foot back in your mouth! Poor guy is not used to being out of his element.

[Artemis97]

Victoria giggles. "The wings, the horns? Yeah, she even has a tail. She's a succubus-erinyes hybrid fiend. Shapeshifting, the works. Dad's a retired space fighter pilot. My brother, Arthur, and I are twins, he got bat-like wings, I got the feathery ones. We were born in the Nexus."

[billtodamax]

I think I missed just about every word there. Nigel says with a chuckle, before his brain catches up and he starts. Wait hang on, fiend? Jesus they're everywhere here. Sorry, sorry, I'm sure you're... good? He frowns in consternation. Is that even a compliment... he says to himself.

Man this place. Goddamn. He pulls a pack of cigarettes out from his satchel, thinks for a second, then offers the pack to Tori after taking one.

[Artemis97]

Tori waves the pack away, politely declining. "Yeah, fiend. You'll meet angels too. A few gods kicking around, of various sorts. Orcs, goblins, elves, vampires, werewolves, all sorts. If you can imagine it, it's probably here. Don't assume they're evil, no matter how bad they look, but don't presume everyone's good, either. My uncle Raril taught me that. He's a dark elf, drow. You can't be too idealistic, here, no matter how much you want to see the good in people."

[Ashen Lilies]

"Well met, Vai," Kendra says, "I do hope you don't mind if someone else joins us, I was actually waiting for an old friend of mine here. I'm not entirely sure when she might show up, but she's a lot of fun."

"I certainly don't mind," says Vai, smiling. "New friends, old friends, or fun.

[billtodamax]

He lights his cigarette up and takes a long pull as Tori talks.

He's the guy that owns this bar, huh? Raril? He rests his elbows on the bar as he speaks, frowning.

You ever look into surgery? Like the costs and everything? Seems like something's floating around in his mind.

[Artemis97]

"Yeah, Raril Xar'Cha" Tori confirms.

"I have, it's just.. not cheap, plus physical therapy. And covering shifts at my mom's tailors shop isn't going to cut it. Poor student life, you know?"

[billtodamax]

PT would hurt like hell for sure. Or uh... hurt really bad. He only has so many swears he can use but he's pretty sure that he shouldn't be using hell around fiends.

It'd probably be more like... 3 or 4 surgeries if I had to guess. First couple just to undo the weird bone fusing you got going on - from the healing magic, I guess - before you could go back in put stuff back in the right place. Then likely you'd need one later just to clean up any issues that show up down the road. His arm has started to shift and move again, more than before, with a couple tiny blades visible below the surface.

Sorry this um... this isn't how it sounds but I uh... He trails off, pulling on his cigarette again before launching back into it. I could probably help, but... look this my first day in this place and I don't even know where I'm going to sleep tonight. He trails off, staring at his cigarette.

[Artemis97]

Victoria gives Nigel an odd look. "You just met me, but thank you. Let me help you out first." She gestures to the Goblin behind the bar. "Give him a room for the night, I'm sure Uncle won't mind." Tori looks back to Nigel, "It's not the cleanest place, or the quietest, but if you think you can help me... I'd really like that chance."

[billtodamax]

Yeah, well, I'm a doctor right? S'what we do. He is clearly not keen in going into why he feels compelled to perform complex surgery on someone he just met in a bar.

He waves her wing closer to him. C'mon, lemme have a better look. I should take down some notes. His other arm digs through his bag before pulling out a small white device with a scanner of some sort on one end and a medical display on the other. He also grabs a small notebook and pulls a red pen out of his jacket pocket.

[Artemis97]

"Sure." Tori turns in her chair to let Nigel have a better look at her injured wing. As long as he's gentle with it, she won't pull away.

[billtodamax]

He barely touches it, for the most part. Mostly just using the small scanner (which must be some sort of x-ray) and drawing out sketches of the bones on his notebook.

Oh, and swearing. He swears a lot.

He'll eventually do a quick once-over of her other wing as well just to confirm the general structure looks like he thinks it should, before putting away all his gear.

Alright alright that's enough nerding out. Jeez they really messed it up huh? His first cigarette long finished he pulls out the packet again, frowns, and tucks it away without taking a second. We'll say 4 surgeries minimum. PT's going to be a real pain I don't envy you. Firstly though we'll need to find a real surgery table, I'll need to make sure you don't have any weird reactions to a few of my medicines here, and I'll need to restock on antiseptic. He glances around the bar. Nice as this place is I don't think you want the battlefield surgery in here.

[Artemis97]

Victoria frowns at all the swearing.

"I might be able to get you talking with one of the local hospitals. Maybe somewhere in Riverside would be more steady? It's not as bad there as in the center of the Nexus. Less hauntings too. But... renting time in an OR would cost money I don't have, and I'm sure you don't have either, now that you're stranded here."

[billtodamax]

That like another city? Nigel asks, stretching out his back as he sits up. But... yeah, money is a problem. I'm sorta hoping they need more doctors there. This guy I talked to seemed to infer that losing your credentials on the uh... transition here isn't that uncommon. He takes out his pack of cigarettes again and gives them a hard look.

You know the way? He says, dropping them back into his bag again.

[Artemis97]

Tori pulls her cell phone from her bag. "I can get us there." She hops off her barstool and puts away her books, throwing her bag over he shoulder. If it seems Nigel is ready to follow, she'll head out the door and lead the way to the train station and off to Riverside.

[Earl of Purple]

Sat in a corner of the bar is a man. They look to be a pretty normal human, with blond hair and pale skin. They're wearing a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt with 'I <3 RS' in white, with the heart in pink. As a concession to his surroundings, he's got a machete strapped to his leg. On the table where they sit is a black rucksack, and he's reading a book in Welsh. His one unusual feature are his eyes- he has heterochromia, and one eye is a deep and bottomless black, and the other is a grey so pale the iris almost fades into the sclera.

He's also wearing an illusion; underneath he appears to be a slender half-elven woman with black hair, purple eyes and pale skin, and wearing jeans and a white t-shirt with 'I <3 Inside' written on it. That's also not her true appearance, simply a more complex illusion under the relatively simple one of the human.

[Hattish Thing]

After several moments, a particularly imposing individual steps into the battered tavern.

The stranger stares ahead from beneath a tall, wide-brimmed leather hat, his sunken eyes of burning coals shielded by a pair of black spectacles as he looks over the occupants within the den. The barest hint of the stranger's scarred and weathered face can be seen from certain angles, despite the fact that a majority of the man's maimed and half-melted face remains hidden behind a dusty, black bandanna and a tall, blood-spattered leather collar. His skin is flaky and burnt, dotted with liver spots inflicted by dozens of years spent laboring under the hot sun. Scars of all shapes and sizes race across his leathery flesh, the wounds never fully having healed due to poor self-stitching, giving him a rather imposing appearance. Many of the scars appear as deep lines in the flesh, which split and spread into smaller branches of painful scar tissue, the result of seemingly supernatural injuries.

An impressively large, crooked nose with a shape that suggests it having been broken several times hooks over the bandanna that the stranger wears to hide his lower face.

The nearly seven-foot-tall stranger is clad in a long, threadbare leather greatcoat lined with accents of faded silver, worn over a thick breastplate inscribed with silver runes. The stranger wears a dented, well-worn skymetal gauntlet on his left hand, decorated with bones and runes similar to his armor, while the other appears to be a particularly bulky cybernetic limb, each industrial-sized metal finger as thick as a lesser being’s wrist, pipes and pistons visible beneath heavy, spiked plating meant to crush, and grind, and utterly pulverize with brutal efficiency. Dozens of blood-stained bandages cover the prosthesis, and bones taken as trophies from successful ventures now decorate the arm, giving it a frightening, claw-like look. A cracked metal lantern decorated with flecks of gold and silver hangs from his belt alongside a trio of sentient severed heads attached to blackened chains, while a sharp, angular collar rests upon the man's broad shoulders, wrapping about his neck, where it attaches to an enormous black cloak.

The man walks confidently towards the individual at the table before sitting down as comfortably as possible, the chair creaking beneath his enormous frame. After several seconds, he chuckles darkly to himself before speaking, the sound of his voice similar to the sound of nails on a chalkboard.

"I suppose this is the part where you say something like, "we've been expecting you", hm?"

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