GLoG 90

[Morty]

[Ironoak Cabin]

"Oh, no. I was just finishing giving this little gentleman a bath," Reelshka says, as she scrubs behind Tuskfang's ears. The woblin looks up at Natalie with his big, yellow eyes.

[Earl of Purple]

Ironoak Cabin

Natalie looks back at the woblin with green ones. "I don't think I've properly met him. Hello, there. I'm Natalie." She smiles at the child and gives a little wave.

[Morty]

[Ironoak Cabin]

"Hi 'Talie. 'M Tuskfang," the child says, perking up a little.

"He's quite the talker already," Reelshka says with pride. "Let me just towel him off and then we can talk."

[Cyber Punk]

"I was brought here against my will," Sophie says. "But I made the most of it. I probably wouldn't have live long of I'd stayed home," she adds. Then she spots Tobias by the lake. "And as it happens, the person responsible for the med lab is over there."

[Infirmary]

"It all turned out well in the end." She nods her understanding.

Ruth looks over at Tobias and notes it down. "I see. Perhaps another time, let us continue with the tour."

[Earl of Purple]

Ironoak Cabin

"Okay, Reelshka. Can I do anything to help?" Natalie smiles, but has little experience with small children. She doesn't know if there is anything to help with.

[Morty]

[Infirmary]

"Hmm." Sophie ponders it. "I feel like I should point out that I'm less... normal than I look, so to speak. Back on my homeworld I was endowed with powers. Against my consent, mind you. But they do come in handy sometimes."

[Ironoak Cabin]

"Thank you, but I'll get it done quickly." Reelshka takes her son out of the water, towels him off and puts his clothes on. The woblin toddles away to get his favourite stuffed wolf. He then unsteadily walks over to Natalie and sniffs at her. Reelshka smiles.

"What did you want to talk to me about?"

[Earl of Purple]

Ironoak Cabin

Natalie has an interesting smell. She smells of human, with otter, monkey, chameleon and chickadee mixed in, with lemon-scented soap over the top. It's unlikely Tuskfang's smelt anybody quite like her before.

"I bought a rock whilst I was Inside getting some new clothing, and the person at the stall didn't know what it was. I thought you might, since, well... You're a goblin, who lived underground surrounded by rocks, and an architect, which might know more about which rocks are useful for building and which aren't." Natalie reaches into the paper bag, and pulls out a lump of pyrolusite, a globular mass of shiny black spheres all compressed into each other to make an amorphous chunk the size of Natalie's fist.

Pyrolusite is an ore of manganese, so it's not used in building. Looks quite cool, though. Might see if I can get a bit.

[Morty]

[Ironoak Cabin]

Tuskfang seems pretty excited by Natalie's strange smell. He keeps sniffing at her and his little tail wags.

"You smell funny," he says.

"Well then, let me see it," Reelshka says, reaching out with her hand to take the rock from Natalie.

[Earl of Purple]

Ironoak Cabin

"That's because I'm an otter, Tuskfang." Natalie smiles at the little woblin and hands the chunk of mineral over. I don't have any, so I don't know how heavy it is. But it is the rough size of Natalie's fist, so it isn't a small piece of stone.

[Morty]

[Ironoak Cabin]

Tuskfang blinks and stares at Natalie. He doesn't know what an otter is.

"Wha's an otir?" he asks. His mother is silent for a while, examining the chunk of rock.

[Cyber Punk]

"Hmm." Sophie ponders it. "I feel like I should point out that I'm less... normal than I look, so to speak. Back on my homeworld I was endowed with powers. Against my consent, mind you. But they do come in handy sometimes."

[Infirmary]

"I see. May I ask what they are?" Ruth inquires.

[Recaiden]

[Inside Med Lab]

Omecha pauses for a second, thinks, and nods.
"Two days from now. Anything I need to know or do in preparation?"

[Morty]

[Infirmary]

Sophie begins counting on her fingers.

"I can stop people from violent acts briefly. I once managed to project a larger calming aura around myself, but I don't know if I could do it again. I can also heal people by breathing into their mouths. Useful, if awkward," she says jokingly. "I also get brief flashes of precognition sometimes... usually in tense situations like a fight."

((I'm actually sort of thinking about rearranging Sophie's power list, so what she just said might not remain accurate. >.>))

[Earl of Purple]

Ironoak Cabin

"I'm an otter, Tuskfang. Do you want me to show you?" She doesn't really want to turn into an otter whilst Reelshka's turned away, because then the person Natalie came to talk to might not know where she's gone.

[Morty]

[Ironoak Cabin]

"Yeah!" Tuskfang squeaks, his tail wagging.

"I think I recognize it," his mother meanwhile says. "It's called pyrolusite. Goblins have their own name for it, but you'd twist your tongue into a knot trying to say it. It's used for making some kinds of paint. Alchemists have their own uses for it, but I don't know about those."

[Earl of Purple]

Ironoak Cabin

"Thank you, Reelshka. It's very pretty, all nice and shiny." She then puts her rucksack down before she starts to change. Short brown hair grows all over her body as she shrinks, a tail growing from the base of her spine. Her clothes merge into her body and her entire shape changes. When the process is complete, she's a Eurasian otter, standing on all four legs upon the cabin's floor. She tilts her head and looks at Tuskfang.

[Morty]

[Ironoak Cabin]

Tuskfang squeals in excitement and jumps up and down. He's never seen anything like that before. A person turned into a fuzzy animal! He toddles over to Natalie and tries to touch her nose. Reelshka watches it with a smile.

[Earl of Purple]

Ironoak Cabin

Natalie's scent has changed, too- she smells of otter, mixed with human and all the other things. Otter, not human, is the main underlying scent.

She lets Tuskfang touch her noise before bounding off a few feet, turning to look at him and tilt her head to one side, inviting him to a game of chase.

[Cyber Punk]

Sophie begins counting on her fingers.

"I can stop people from violent acts briefly. I once managed to project a larger calming aura around myself, but I don't know if I could do it again. I can also heal people by breathing into their mouths. Useful, if awkward," she says jokingly. "I also get brief flashes of precognition sometimes... usually in tense situations like a fight."

((I'm actually sort of thinking about rearranging Sophie's power list, so what she just said might not remain accurate. >.>))

[Infirmary]

((It's alright. After all, I rearranged Asher's, now, didn't I? ))

"Very useful. With your abilities, the League is safer and all the better for it." Ruth responds with a chuckle. "Mine are primarily based around bending light and taking on its properties." She's being modest, she can do much more than that.

[Morty]

[Ironoak Cabin]

Tuskfang does pick up on it, and isn't sure what to make of it. Shapeshifting is confusing to someone so young. However, he happily gives chase after Natalie, giggling. Reelshka watches with amusement.

[Infirmary]

"I have a... complicated relationship with my powers," Sophie says. "Like I said, they weren't given to me with my consent. What do you mean, taking on the properties of light?"

[Earl of Purple]

Ironoak Cabin

Natalie will keep herself a pace ahead of Tuskfang for a few minutes, though after that she'll slow down so he can catch her.

Natalie needs to be careful, or she'll be one of his favourite people and expected to do this every time. Like how I'm expected to pick up various small cousins because I'm the tallest person I'm related to.

[Morty]

[Ironoak Cabin]

Turning into an otter and letting him chase you is a very good way to become one of Tuskfang's favourite people. He squeals with joy once he catches her, and tries to give her a big hug.

"You're like Bouncy!" he proclaims.

[Gullara]

[Salix's Willow]

"Do they have names?" Brinika asks. "I know they'll run away if we get closer, but it's fun to watch them."

Salix's Willow ((Sorry for the delay, guys. I forgot it was my turn.))

"As an addendum to Brinika's question, are they names that can be used by humans, or are they more like unique scents?" Rabbits are very different from most people, and don't tend to make much noise, as I vaguely recall. It's been years since I had any major contact with rabbits.

Salix's Willow

Asher beams back up at Salix. "I c-can talk t-t-to b-bunnies! A-and o-ther a-animals!" He turns to the bunnies. <Hi I'm Asher. Can we be friends?> Asher chirps in bunny-speak, to the hearing of the bunnies.

Then he attempts to tug her towards the direction of the bunnies. He's not that strong (or at least, he can't access his enhanced strength at will), so if Salix doesn't move, then Asher isn't going anywhere.

[Salix's Willow]

"I named all of them I think, but they don't really listen to their names. Maybe some of the younger ones don't have names. I can ta-" Salix just lets go of Asher's hand, since she wasn't expecting that, but she wishes she hadn't when the rabbit's scatter. They were still a bit on edge already, and they weren't sticking around for that sudden movement. "Hey, what're you doing?!" Salix scolds.

[Cyber Punk]

"I have a... complicated relationship with my powers," Sophie says. "Like I said, they weren't given to me with my consent. What do you mean, taking on the properties of light?"

[Infirmary]

"They are difficult to use?" Ruth asks, a bit confused.

"I can create, mold and manipulate light, and in return it has shaped and modified me. As my son ages and improves, he will learn to harden his skin like granite. I am the same, I can become light for a time. Even when I don't appear to be light, I can move accordingly."

[Morty]

[Salix's Willow]

Brinika sighs and her ears droop. This isn't going well.

"They don't like it when things move suddenly," she says to Asher. "They're kind of like rats that way. All little animals learn to run away when something moves."

[Earl of Purple]

Ironoak Cabin

Natalie doesn't know who Bouncy is, but accepts the hug, attempting to hug back. Otters aren't really built for hugging back, though, so she'll just rub her face against him instead. If Tuskfang tries squeezing too tight, she'll squeak and start to wriggle.

Salix's Willow

"It's called the fight-or-flight response, with flight meaning 'running away', rather than literal flight. Rabbits, rats, squirrels, mice and so on rely on running away to stay alive. Wolves, bears, rhinos and so on are more likely to pick fighting than fleeing." Though rhinos have very poor eyesight, and a very good sense of smell, making them more dangerous because they won't see the sudden movement until it is close enough to them that whatever making it will have a very hard time escaping.

[Cyber Punk]

"I named all of them I think, but they don't really listen to their names. Maybe some of the younger ones don't have names. I can ta-" Salix just lets go of Asher's hand, since she wasn't expecting that, but she wishes she hadn't when the rabbit's scatter. They were still a bit on edge already, and they weren't sticking around for that sudden movement. "Hey, what're you doing?!" Salix scolds.

Brinika sighs and her ears droop. This isn't going well.

"They don't like it when things move suddenly," she says to Asher. "They're kind of like rats that way. All little animals learn to run away when something moves."

"It's called the fight-or-flight response, with flight meaning 'running away', rather than literal flight. Rabbits, rats, squirrels, mice and so on rely on running away to stay alive. Wolves, bears, rhinos and so on are more likely to pick fighting than fleeing." Though rhinos have very poor eyesight, and a very good sense of smell, making them more dangerous because they won't see the sudden movement until it is close enough to them that whatever making it will have a very hard time escaping.

[Salix's Willow]

Asher flinches at the scolding, and for a moment it appears as though he'll start crying again. Then he sees Brinika's ears droop and instead goes to her and hugs her. "I'm s-s-sorry for m-making you s-sad." That's what it means, right? Her ears drooping?

He nods as Natalie speaks, smiling. Natalie is real smart! "Y-you know l-lots of t-things, Nata-lee!" He squeaks out. He wants to be cool like her at her age.

[Morty]

[Ironoak Cabin]

Tuskfang keeps giggling happily. His pudgy little arms aren't really capable of hugging too hard yet. He's larger than a goblin his age would be, but still small.

"I like you, 'Talie!" he squeaks. Seems he recognizes that the otter is the same person as the girl.

[Infirmary]

"What I mean is that I didn't ask for them," Sophie says. "I was suddenly granted them at one point in my life."

[Earl of Purple]

Ironoak Cabin

Since Natalie's got a physical transformation rather than simply disappearing in a flash and reappearing as an otter, the continuation of self is easy to watch.

Natalie licks Tuskfang's cheek. Her tongue's rough, and fortunately as she brushes her teeth regularly, and lacks the otter's diet of raw fish, her breath smells of mostly mint toothpaste. Otherwise, it'd stink. Otters are some of the smelliest animals I've had the pleasure of working with.

[Cyber Punk]

"What I mean is that I didn't ask for them," Sophie says. "I was suddenly granted them at one point in my life."

[Infirmary]

"Yet you seem to have made the most of it. I recall a saying about life and lemons, though I know not how it relates to such a situation." Mortals and their sayings with hidden meanings.

Ruth begins to look around the infirmary, where she'll be working. Curious, she decides to check out the materials and supplies the hospital has. "Fascinating. When shall I get to meet this 'ghost'?"