GLoG 90

[Cyber Punk]

"They're just sitting on a shelf looking pretty. I'm not likely to need it for anything else. A walkie-talkie would be good. What do I need to charge it?" She can probably get the electricity from one of the cabins, but she doesn't have any cables at the moment.

What possible use could she suddenly gain for a skull, when she's had them five years?

Baccata's Yew

"Well, I'm not really comfortable holding human skulls, so the walkie-talkies it is." She's never killed anyone before, and doesn't intend to start. Of course, that doesn't stop her from filling the heads of people who cross her with bad dreams until they come back and apologize/return what was stolen.

Jinkei hands Baccata a yellow walkie-talkie with texting functionality, as well as a yellow cable with black and green stripes. "You can use these to charge it. I got an old friend to help me modify it, so mine is linked to yours, no interference. As long as we're in the same plane, we should be able to contact each other."

She copies the list onto another sheet of paper, then hums a few tunes, causing a small winged creature to appear beside her. "Oh, it's the mistress!" The winged creature exclaims in a deep voice. Seeing Jinkei's frown at being called 'mistress', he clears his throat. "I mean, Jinkei. What can I do for you today?"

"Felix, can you please help me fetch the materials in these list? You don't have to find everything, just the things that can be found. Tell you what: find half of them, please."

"Anything for you, Jinkei. Okay, not anything, but what are friends for?" The two exchange a smile, then the Tengu flies off.

Spoiler: LIST

Show

Many rare and exotic herbs, minerals and similar things.

• albino mandrake root
• a pinch of Dead Sea salt
• the seeds from a black rose
• a millilitre of a cockatrice's tears
• dew collected from the footprint of a mountain giant at the crack of dawn.

"There. That should make it easier..." She smiles at Baccata.

[Earl of Purple]

Baccata's Yew

Baccata isn't a dreamherald, and cannot work within that realm. And bad dreams wouldn't have helped her in the situation in which she slew the men.

Stellax watches the Tengu hungrily. He doesn't need to eat, but some things trigger the response within him, and small flying things are one of them.

"I don't know how to brew them, so you'll have to look into that as well. It's helpful, but not complete. Sorry I couldn't be more useful. Thanks for the walkie-talkie, Jinkei." Baccata smiles at Jinkei, much appreciative of the communication device. It'll go on the shelf next to the skulls when she's not using it.

[Cyber Punk]

[Baccata's Yew]

Jinkei nods. "I'll be sure to do so. It was lovely meeting you, Baccata, Salix." She curtsies once more to the both of them, then turns around to leave.

[Gullara]

[Salix's Willow]

Brinika pulls her attention away from thinking about the similarities between rabbits and goblins. Her ears twitch.

"Be nicer, Salix. Asher is just a little shy," she says.

Salix's Willow

"He's not been here long, and wants to make friends." Also to gawk at the dryad, and learn some magic. But the friends is the most important part.

[Salix's Willow]

Gawk at the dryad he does, a look of wonder on his face as he continues to hide behind Brinika. After Natalie finishes speaking, he stretches out a hand. "C-can we b-be f-friends?"

[Salix's Willow]

"I'm not being mean! He talks weird." Salix points at Asher. What's mean about that? Salix looks at the boy's outstretched hand and looks slightly puzzled. She's supposed to do something with that, right? She's not sure, so she just says, "Uh, sure I guess?" She's pretty sure no one's asked to be her friend before.

[Recaiden]

[Med Lab]

How interesting. I don't suppose you'd have a phone number for this committee, perhaps an address? As a job reference. He apologetically smiles at her as if to say one must adhere to the formalities of the job interview. Even if one has but a single applicant. And as for your studies, they certainly sound pertinent. What is that, magic or genetics?

"Of course." Omecha gets a pen and pad from her pocket and scribbles down a line - name and phone number. "Here." She offers a matching smile.

"It's genetics. I've heard of this place for a long time; why are you just now looking for an assistant? Did something happen to the last guy?"

[Morty]

[Salix's Willow]

Brinika's ears twitch. She forgets, sometimes, that Salix an be rough around the edges if people don't know her well. She decides to change the topic.

"When do you think your rabbit friends are going to come out? There seems to be a lot of them now."

[Earl of Purple]

Salix's Willow

"I suppose they've been... Well, breeding like rabbits." Natalie looks around, and tries to count how many rabbitholes she can see. It doesn't give an accurate read on the population, I don't think, but it does let her know how large the warren is and therefore how likely a large population is.

[Cyber Punk]

[Salix's Willow]

Asher decides he doesn't like Salix. "N-no, you're m-mean!" He withdraws his hand and clings to Brinika for dear life, looking at the dryad with big golden eyes. His eyes are moist, and he's looking at her with a mix of sadness and anger.

Luckily, the rabbits become a topic again! "I l-like rabbits!" He says, stuttering less at Brinika and Natalie, seeing as he's become more comfortable with their presence. "B-but momma says t-they are into-varted!"

Letting go of Brinika, he walks towards a warren, stopping until he's several paces away. Then he sits on the ground cross-legged, takes out his harp and starts to sing, partially to impress Brinika and partially to try and calm the rabbits with a soothing melody. His voice is dreamy, but his timing is rather off, which should be obvious to Brinika. He pauses for a bit to say: "M-music helps!"

[Gullara]

[Salix's Willow]

"...Huh?" Salix frowns at Asher. What is his problem anyway? Well fine, he can be like that if he wants. Salix will just answer Brinika and Natalie.

"Uh, there's a bunch more now. It's safe here by my tree so less of them get eaten." The dryad sure doesn't skirt around that topic. As for how many there are, Natalie will have a hard time getting a count, but she might be better off counting the warren entrances. There are a lot of those. "They don't come out till they want to, though. Standing outside their holes won't make them want to come out." Even so, a couple do peak their heads out to look at Asher. It at least gets them curious even if they're not coming right out.

[Morty]

[Salix's Willow]

"Salix isn't mean, she's just..." Brinika looks for an appropriate word or phrase. "...rough around the edges."

She then looks at the rabbits.

"You've got a pretty voice, Asher. The bunnies seem to like it too. Music always helps," she says. "I'd never even seen a rabbit before Salix showed me one."

[Earl of Purple]

Salix's Willow

"What keeps the predators away? Why is it safe here? I'd have thought the camp would have attracted foxes, if anything. They do like to scavenge from people." Warren entrances are what I meant by 'rabbitholes', and what Natalie was counting. She's aware she doesn't detect them all, though; there's many she can't see.

Also, urban foxes scavenge from people. In the countryside, the foxes tend to be shyer and more elusive, with less dependence upon bins and rubbish.

[Cyber Punk]

[Salix's Willow]

Rough around the edges? What does that mean? Asher doesn't know. Maybe it means she's ugly.

"R-rough a-round th-the edges? B-but she's s-so pretty!"

The little angel boy smiles brightly when Brinika complements his voice. "T-thank you!" He bows, then continues singing to the bunnies at a lower and softer tone this time, locking eyes with them as his tone becomes soothing.

[Gullara]

[Salix's Willow]

((I totally misread you post, Earl. Oops. ))

"I'm not rough around the edges." Salix says quietly, crossing her arms and pouting. But she's already focusing on Natalie's question. "I keep them away. I like my bunnies to be safe when they're home. I never knew there was so many foxes by the camp, though." They're actually a fair distance from the camp, though not incredibly far either.

Asheer might notice that the rabbits he locks eyes with behave nervously, while the others grow a bit more bold, moving just out of their warrens. The music is soothing, and Salix's scent is in the air.

[Morty]

[Salix's Willow]

"That just means she's nice but doesn't always get along with people," Brinika explains. Then, the rabbits come out. She takes Asher's hand to make sure he doesn't get overexcited again and scare them.

[Earl of Purple]

Salix's Willow

"Well, I can't say I've seen any, but I've smelt a few around, when I've been swimming in the lake. They don't stay for long, from what I've been able to determine." Her otter sense of smell is slightly better than that of her human sense of smell, and works underwater as well. It's not as good as a fox's, however.

I also just read on Wikipedia that the Eurasian otter will, in winter and colder climates, prey on small mammals. Perhaps the rabbits are more nervous of her than she realises.

[Cyber Punk]

[Salix's Willow]

Asher notices that the rabbits don't like him looking at them, so he looks up at Brinika instead when she takes his hand, stopping him from playing his little harp.

"I c-can h-help her." He responds, smiling up at Brinika. Salix's scent is in the air, and it smells earthy and nice.

Deciding to do just that, he gets up slowly so the rabbits don't run away and walks up to Salix once more, looking at her and reaching up to take her hand.

[Infirmary]

Ruth decides to head over to the infirmary, as she has decided to help out there.

[Morty]

[Infirmary]

Sophie is there, as it happens, putting a bandage on the knee of Carth the griffin cub. He seems to have scraped it somewhere.

[Cyber Punk]

[Infirmary]

((You know, I was thinking of replacing Ruth with Asher's cousin i.e. Ruth goes away, but Asher wouldn't let me. ))

Ruth walks towards Sophia, her arms at her front. "Greetings, fellow healer." Then her eyes go to the griffin. It's still marvellous to her how griffins exist in this plane.

Without a word, she watches Sophie work.

[Morty]

[Infirmary]

Sophie is a little puzzled.

"I wouldn't say I'm a healer. I was just administering some first aid."

[Cyber Punk]

[Infirmary]

Ruth smiles. "Do not sell yourself short. If you had not been here, the injury could have been infected or worse. Your timely intervention might have well saved this cub's life."

Deciding it's probably time to start work, she offers to help. "Might I help you with that?"

[Deathkeeper]

Infirmary

"Thanks Miss Sophie!" says the cub dutifully, and will almost immediately attempt to squirm back to the floor and out of the door, scraped knee already nearly forgotten.

[Morty]

[Infirmary]

"Take care of yourself, Carth," Sophie says as the griffon leaves. "I was just finishing, like you saw. He'd only scraped his knee while playing. I'm Sophie, by the way."

[Cyber Punk]

[Infirmary]

"Greetings, Sophie. You may call me Ruth." She bows slightly. "I very recently joined this organization with my little boy, Asher, and offered to work here. Is there more to be done at present?"

[Morty]

[Infirmary]

"It doesn't look like it," Sophie says. "No more than usual. By 'here' do you mean the infirmary, specifically?" she asks.

[Cyber Punk]

[Infirmary]

"Yes, Sophie. The Infirmary." Ruth nods in the affirmative. "Reelshka informed me I could start as soon as is possible. Who shall I have to see, as well?"

[Morty]

[Infirmary]

"If one of the camp councillors says you can work here, then that's all there is to it. One of the other two people who normally take care of the infirmary is on leave and the other is.... hmm. Preoccupied," Sophie says after a pause. "Family matters, you see."

[Cyber Punk]

[Infirmary]

Ruth nods in understanding. "I understand fully. Very well, I shall begin immediately. Is there anything else I would need to know to work more effectively?"

[Morty]

[Infirmary]

"The place is surprisingly well-stocked and well-equipped, as you can see," Sophie says. "I understand it can treat even serious injuries and diseases. Which, I suppose, is necessary in the Nexus. Also, don't be alarmed if you see a ghost nurse. She's one of the resident ghosts who helps out in the infirmary."

[Cyber Punk]

[Infirmary]

"Ghost?" Ruth blinks twice. "Ah, you mean disembodied spirits. Reelshka informed me about that. Is this place averse to using light energy to heal?" She raises up a finger, which glows.

"Using my lightforming should help preserve some of the materials available. They will last longer, then."

[Morty]

[Infirmary]

"I don't think anyone here particularly cares about the methods used for healing," Sophie says with a shrug. "Also, the ghosts and spirits here aren't... quite the same. The spirits were summoned here by Pathfinder. The ghosts were already here when the League moved in, as I understand it."