Seaside 3: A load of carp

[Felandria]

[Beachside - Party!]

It's easy to find the bar... though it'll take a minute to get up to a spot where she can order something. Of course, depending on Fel's current size, it'll also be easy to get the barkeep's attention. He's... strange. An enormous tentacular fellow, glowing various neon hues, his limbs arcing out to catch empty glasses or fill new ones. He's humanoid above the waist, though not exactly normal looking, as his complexion has an almost cartoonish rubbery quality and the top of his head becomes a little array of tentacles merely mimicing hair.

The octo-man runs a hand over his 'hair' and straigthens his black sunglasses, looking at Felandria with widening eyes. "Tell me what you need," he says, with a bit more dramatic bartending flair than is really necessary.

"Hey!" comes another male voice a moment later, this time from beside the giantess. It's Adir! The brown-skinned, scantily-clad fellow seems to have come down from his lifeguard's perch. His nose twitches and his large deer ears lance outward from his very human head in a friendly, inquisitive manner. "You're Felandria, aren't you? You own the house VIGIL's put up in?"

A nice fruity drink, one of those fishbowl things, please.

Fel smiles as she puts the money on the bar, then Adir introduces himself.

Yep, that's me.

Course, very soon the house will be empty again, fortunately and unfortunately.

And who might you be?

[Recaiden]

No 'nearly' here, Anchor runs right into the mermaid's tail and goes sprawling into the sand.
That's what one gets for staring out at the ocean while walking along.

"Ow! Oh, sorry, sorry sorry. I didn't see you there."
The woman's wearing a one-piece black swimsuit, and right this moment getting back on her feet and dusting herself off.

[Reinholdt]

[Beachside - Party!]

Two further party goers are present and about. One bare chested human Reinholdt wearing a pair of blue swimtrunks that might be one size too small is enjoying the sights. His appraisal of determining who he knows and who he doesn't gets immediately distracted by the presence of the beach bar. He pretty much makes a bee-line there immediately once he finds it. It's important to stay hydrated after all.

The other looks decidedly out of place. What appears to be a small child or a large gnome wrapped heavily in cloak of inky darkness that's only half metaphorical. This mysterious hooded figure is doing their best to stay out of the light and not draw attention to itself, though their contrasting appearing makes that difficult. Still, it does the best it can under the shade of an umbrella stuck in the sand, staring out unceasingly at the party goers from its little 'safe spot'. Staaaaare.

Spoiler

Show

[Shadowcaller]

[Beachside - Party!]

Zhareen who's been looking down at the sand underneath her this entire time suddenly stops with a, "Eep!". She starts looking around in surprise, almost as if she just realized that she was at a party. She puts away the dowsing rod in a tool belt she wears around her waist, filled with other odd tools, and crawls over to the fallen woman and offers her a hand to get up, but also look worriedly at Fetty. "Oh, dear, oh dear! Neither of you hurt yourself did you?" Besides the tool belt, Zhareen is wearing a colorful kitenge, covering her chest, and a short skirt in the same colors and patterns just underneath the tool belt. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

[Tanari Island]

"Deliver, as in, 'get the job done'? It's figure of speech, kid, you-" Gnizel, who is starting to sound really annoyed, suddenly pauses and then expresses a sigh as it sounds like he's calming down. "Look, when you started talking about negotiating a deal, I expected that you had some amazing compromise that would solve the entire issue. So spit it out kid, you've already talked to the gnolls, what is the arrangement you're offering us here?"

Meanwhile, Sargera looks on quietly, her eyes more kept on the goblin soldiers than Orion.

[Rebonack]

[Gold Bluff Beach]

"Your dad didn't give you any other instructions?" Geneva asks as she begins assembling some equipment around the edge of the ring. Aside from being imposing and glowing, the ring isn't really doing much right now. At least nothing that a normal ring of polished obsidian wouldn't be doing. "Just give me a moment to get my equipment ready, then you can try poking it with your stick and I'll be able to tell you if anything happened! How does that sound?"

Geneva knows her stuff!

Once she's got her gear ready to go, she'll be able to tell if the bridge starts doing anything unusual.

"Okay, I'm ready!" Geneva announces after a few minutes of fiddling. "Go ahead and poke it with your stick. Poking things with a stick is a time-honored scientific practice."

It's the best way to nudge things that might bite your arm off! Stick poking has a long and distinguished history.

[Tanari Island]

Geeze... is this guy naturally obtuse or does it require effort on his part? Orion never offered to negotiate a deal. He offered to mediate negotiation as a neutral third party so that people wouldn't be killing each other.

Well, hopefully wouldn't be killing each other.

"The gnolls want access to their heritage site for the purpose of binding demons, not worshiping them. From what little you've told me, your aim is to learn from the artifacts here to use as a weapon against the demons that have been harassing the Nexus. Given that the gnolls here represented by Sargera and her party already have a working understanding of the demon binding artifacts, wouldn't cooperation be in the best interest of both parties? War is expensive, after all."

Very true.

War is quite expensive.

[Beachside - Party!]

As the festivities really get kicking, making the most of the sun and the surf, another newcomer arrives!

Or, well, not really arrives per se. Arriving would require that he come to the beach from somewhere other than the beach. And considering that the little sand-bee pixie drake just poked his head out of a hole in the sand he was ostensibly here the whole time. There are quite a few holes over there, as it happens, along a sandy dune held together in roughly the same shape by tufts of beach grass waving in the wind in addition to a wide, rubbery mat of iceberg succulents in full bloom. It's a nice little sandy hill, really. And while there are many like it, this one happens to be Drake's. Because he made burrows under it. And when you're a hive-minded swarm of stinging faerie dragons people typically don't argue with you setting up shop unless it's a hive on the side of their car.

Drake has been keeping himself busy collecting pollen and nectar and other such things. Busy as a bee and all that. But he's still a person, not just a bug, and so that means he's more than happy to spare some time for fun!

A single pixie drake crawls out of his burrow, gives his wings a buzz to warm them up, and takes off toward the party! The mouse-sized drake alights atop a conveniently placed sun umbrella, hanging onto it with his little feets while watching the fun from his new vantage point. "Oh wow! Oh neat! That's so many people! I wonder if anyone wants to buy some honey? People are always wanting to buy honey since it's the best. Maybe I should set up a booth? Or talk to someone? Or buy a drink? When's the last time I had a drink? I think I left some of me at Trog's, but the networks kinda thin out here..." he chatters, waving his horn-like antenna (or maybe antenna-like horns?) in the general direction of Trog's Tavern.

"Hello under that umbrella!" he calls down to the staring girl. His voice is amazingly loud for how small he is. "Why aren't you out there having fun? Are you worried about skin cancer? Skin cancer is the worst. What do you think, should I sell some honey? People love honey. Especially magic honey and I've got more than I know what to do with."

[Morty]

[Beachside - Party!]

"What can I say, red is my colour," Fayyaad says, as he kisses Fetty back and puts an arm around his shoulders. "Just like blue is yours. And... probably. Just a hunch."

[Murkus]

[Beachside - Party!]

A nice fruity drink, one of those fishbowl things, please.

Fel smiles as she puts the money on the bar, then Adir introduces himself.

Yep, that's me.

Course, very soon the house will be empty again, fortunately and unfortunately.

And who might you be?

"You got it," the tender says, and so it is, as he deposits a multilayered, colorful cocktail in... something that much too closely resembles a fish bowl after all. A straw is poking out the top.

"I'm Adir! I used to work with Watchtower. Been doing a little work helping VIGIL here and there," Adir offers his hand to shake, still stuck in that obsolete means of greeting even when it comes to women. A symptom of being culturally enriched by middle-aged humans. Of course, it helps afford him a certain element of courtesy not present in young men such as he... he couldn't be any older than twenty-two, surely. "What, everyone's leaving for the new base that soon?"

[Beachside - Party!]

Two further party goers are present and about. One bare chested human Reinholdt wearing a pair of blue swimtrunks that might be one size too small is enjoying the sights. His appraisal of determining who he knows and who he doesn't gets immediately distracted by the presence of the beach bar. He pretty much makes a bee-line there immediately once he finds it. It's important to stay hydrated after all.

The other looks decidedly out of place. What appears to be a small child or a large gnome wrapped heavily in cloak of inky darkness that's only half metaphorical. This mysterious hooded figure is doing their best to stay out of the light and not draw attention to itself, though their contrasting appearing makes that difficult. Still, it does the best it can under the shade of an umbrella stuck in the sand, staring out unceasingly at the party goers from its little 'safe spot'. Staaaaare.

Spoiler

Show

While the small, strange robed figure goes unnoticed for now, Fettina/Fetty spots Reinholdt headed for the bar, and makes a note to at least say hi later on.

It's as easy to get the barkeep's attention for Rein as it was for Felandria. The spectacular tentacular creature looks at Rein from behind his shades. "Hey, baby," He smiles invitingly. "Tell me what you need."

No 'nearly' here, Anchor runs right into the mermaid's tail and goes sprawling into the sand.
That's what one gets for staring out at the ocean while walking along.

"Ow! Oh, sorry, sorry sorry. I didn't see you there."
The woman's wearing a one-piece black swimsuit, and right this moment getting back on her feet and dusting herself off.

[Beachside - Party!]

Zhareen who's been looking down at the sand underneath her this entire time suddenly stops with a, "Eep!". She starts looking around in surprise, almost as if she just realized that she was at a party. She puts away the dowsing rod in a tool belt she wears around her waist, filled with other odd tools, and crawls over to the fallen woman and offers her a hand to get up, but also look worriedly at Fetty. "Oh, dear, oh dear! Neither of you hurt yourself did you?" Besides the tool belt, Zhareen is wearing a colorful kitenge, covering her chest, and a short skirt in the same colors and patterns just underneath the tool belt. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"I'm okay, sweet-cheeks, but the nice girl there took quite a spill," Fetty starts to try to help Anchor up with Zhareen before retreating to Fayaad's side, smiling like the handsome lad he is. "That must be quite a hastle, going to parties with your... all of you like that. But you're very pretty!" Fetty assures her with a nod.

[Beachside - Party!]

As the festivities really get kicking, making the most of the sun and the surf, another newcomer arrives!

Or, well, not really arrives per se. Arriving would require that he come to the beach from somewhere other than the beach. And considering that the little sand-bee pixie drake just poked his head out of a hole in the sand he was ostensibly here the whole time. There are quite a few holes over there, as it happens, along a sandy dune held together in roughly the same shape by tufts of beach grass waving in the wind in addition to a wide, rubbery mat of iceberg succulents in full bloom. It's a nice little sandy hill, really. And while there are many like it, this one happens to be Drake's. Because he made burrows under it. And when you're a hive-minded swarm of stinging faerie dragons people typically don't argue with you setting up shop unless it's a hive on the side of their car.

Drake has been keeping himself busy collecting pollen and nectar and other such things. Busy as a bee and all that. But he's still a person, not just a bug, and so that means he's more than happy to spare some time for fun!

A single pixie drake crawls out of his burrow, gives his wings a buzz to warm them up, and takes off toward the party! The mouse-sized drake alights atop a conveniently placed sun umbrella, hanging onto it with his little feets while watching the fun from his new vantage point. "Oh wow! Oh neat! That's so many people! I wonder if anyone wants to buy some honey? People are always wanting to buy honey since it's the best. Maybe I should set up a booth? Or talk to someone? Or buy a drink? When's the last time I had a drink? I think I left some of me at Trog's, but the networks kinda thin out here..." he chatters, waving his horn-like antenna (or maybe antenna-like horns?) in the general direction of Trog's Tavern.

"Hello under that umbrella!" he calls down to the staring girl. His voice is amazingly loud for how small he is. "Why aren't you out there having fun? Are you worried about skin cancer? Skin cancer is the worst. What do you think, should I sell some honey? People love honey. Especially magic honey and I've got more than I know what to do with."

It certainly wouldn't be hard to sell some honey to the right people here. Especially depending on it's effects. Unfortunately, nobody approaches the drake on their own, aside from a seagull-person who veers to one side.

"Watch where you're treading air, pal!"

He descends toward the party.

[Beachside - Party!]

"What can I say, red is my colour," Fayyaad says, as he kisses Fetty back and puts an arm around his shoulders. "Just like blue is yours. And... probably. Just a hunch."

Fetty chortles as he's smooched and snuggles up further against Fayaad, winking at him. "Wellll, maybe I should try anyway. Or you should. She looks like she's got a strong back." Fetty peers at Zhareen again. "Do you have a strong back?"

[Deathkeeper]

Gold Bluff Beach

Nak nods and slips off his pack, dropping it to the floor. He goes over to the hole and plunges the end of the staff into it. Immediately the staff begins to glow and absorbing...something. Who knows what Geneva will pick up?

[Lost_Deep]

Ben nods.
"Well...okay. Let me know if you want to see a movie some time or something." he asks a bit bashfully and drags his feet back to his own room for the night.

Continuity Cruise Lines

Well, the pair never come and knock on his door, but it's not that they don't think about it. It's more that they never get together enough to do it. Of course, good intentions don't count for that much, and in the end the night will pass without incident unless something else happens.

[Reinholdt]

Bar Party

Reinholdt takes a moment to look over the bartender in return, definitely appraising him. It's, uh, clearly curiosity and nothing else, I'm sure. Though his gaze does linger a little longer than necessary. "I'll take a long island iced tea please." Mixing it up today. If anyplace would have rum it'd be a beach bar. But this is a party! Gotta change gears every once in a while.

"You remind me of someone I used to know. Really into the neon thing. Some sort of body modification parlor was involved I think?" Rein didn't look into the business too closely because he was too wrapped up in a pirate's arms at the time. Said time has past.

Umbrella Party

Mysterious Hooded Figure looks up and the shadows under her waver briefly as if startled. Must be a trick of the sun. This creature was strange. Wholly different and unusual from the characters out at the beach hitting balls and swimming and forming sand into their own tiny kingdoms. Exactly the kind of creature Master loved to dissect and experiment with. He would probably be really happy with her if she brought it home to him. He... he might even actually smile at her.

On the other hand, it is far too bright out there to be performing kidnappings. Plus, it talks. It talks to her even. It would be extremely rude to kidnap someone while they're addressing you. Not to mention there were way too many witnesses here. Besides, the creature seemed much cuter than the rats they had back home. If Master got it, then it probably wouldn't look cute for much longer. And that would be sad. Maybe just for today she wouldn't kidnap anyone. So long as Master doesn't find out, it should be ok.

Drake did talk a lot though. Was he an adult... thing? Adults could talk. Children should be seen, not heard. Except for being directly asked a question by an adult. Even then she should avoid talking. People usually disliked it when she talked. She would just have to find another way to communicate with the excitable creature.

She had heard of fun second hand before, but it was much too bright out there to go and try the so named 'fun'. Beyond that, though, she had no idea what the creature meant. So she tilted her head to one side while staring at him inquisitively with the dark eyes of an empty, deep spanning void. She had found this an effective non-verbal communication for What is? It seems to work decently for dogs. What is skin cancer? What is honey? What is the creature? What is?

If this fails to be understood, well then she would have no choice but to give voice to her thoughts. And that would be bad.

Drake will probably also notice that the temperature near the umbrella was several degrees cooler than the rest of the beach. As if the little girl herself was somehow removing the heat from the area immediately surrounding her. That or it's a magical umbrella. Climate control umbrellas would actually be super handy to take to a beach on a hot day.

[Slii Arhem]

Beachside - Partay!

Cresting over the last hill before the ground gives way to sandy dunes comes a cart! Well, first comes a woman, tan skin and tiny bikini and curves and... light scatterings of pale, electric blue scales and wavy blonde hair that gives way to deep ocean blue all trudging up to scout for the party before waving the cart onwards.

Then comes the cart. Well, then comes the beast pulling the cart. And beast is an apt descriptor. Despite the nereid treating it like a favored pet and scratching it under the chin...s, the two-headed, quilled, scorpion-tailed Thing that is somehow both vaguely feline and canine in movement, looks, and attitude is definitely not what one would call a natural animal. But after its (Her, if the reader must know) stallion-sized bulk is out of the way, you can definitely see a cart somewhere there behind it.

Riding up in front, most people can see a pair of identical looking women in wide-brimmed sun hats sitting side by side. The more eagle-eyed among them might even notice some particularities, such as the thick, fuzzy red belts cinched around their middles or the gleaming silvery horn decorations strangely decorating their hats. Even closer attention would espy a third passenger, sitting on the shoulder of one of them. Practically minuscule compared to her roughly six foot companions, or indeed compared to most people partying today, the luna moth pixie's arm is behind the neck of her seat, steadying herself on the bumpy ride.

That is, if anyone can bother to look past their rather unconventional pack animal, which is a rather unlikely prospect. Especially as the ambulatory one of the quartet begins to remove the harness from the impatient beast, its forelimbs tearing up dune grass in its eager haste to get free of its restraints as it eyes the shoreline with wide, predatory eyes.

The loaded cart has the emblazoned logo for HG Industries on the side, and Misha's already excited for what they brought with them, eying the sturdy box she packed herself even as she undoes buckles to help free Imp and let her roam at her own leisure. It's so gratifying to find a beach without any leash laws.

[Rebonack]

[Gold Bluff Beach]

"Huh..." Geneva hums as she watches the readings do...

Well.

She isn't totally sure. There's clearly some sort of information transfer going on. And that's certainly something. That implies the bridge is still somewhat active, at least in the sense of being able to transmit information. She's encounter tiny bridges like that plenty of times.

"Well! That was certainly illuminating," she says brightly. "Now we just have to wait a little while until the tide goes out and the bridge opens up properly. Did you have anything else you needed to do out here?"

[Beachside Party!]

Drake is peering over the edge of the umbrella at the girl. She isn't replying! Not even a little bit! She's just doing that confused head tilt thing! "Oh! Oh no! Are you mute? Or maybe shy? Or maybe swarms of angry biting flies come pouring out of your mouth whenever you say anything out loud? I met a weird goblin that did that once. He was really weird and flies are rude. Did you know that bee flies lay their eggs in bees? I sure didn't! Having a maggot eat your insides and then burst out of your chest really hurts. You shouldn't ever let a baby animal burst out of your chest, it's the worst. You must be really good at listening 'cuz you do it so much. Hey! Want to try some honey? I'll give you some for free since you're such a good listener!"

The little pixie drake buzzes his wings and takes off toward the bar.

Um...

Wasn't he going to share some honey with-

"Hiya!" chatters another Drake. Still a weird little dragon-bee, this one looks slightly larger and his coloration is a bit different. The first one had a sand-bee color scheme, all grey and black, this second one is black and orange and QUITE a bit fuzzier. He's also holding a small piece of honeycomb. Considering that he's about the size of a rat, the piece of honey comb in question isn't terribly large, otherwise he wouldn't be able to fly with it. "Here you go! I made this from the iceberg plant flowers that grow on the beach! It's pretty great." The insectish drake hovers a bit closer to the girl, holding out the honeycomb. It's a pleasant yellowish color, full of dark amber honey.

The first drake, meanwhile, lands over at the bar. He grins up at the barkeeper with a tiny, toothy grin that would look quite in place on a gecko. "Hiya! I'm Drake Apis and I want to sell some honey to people! I've got a batch of red honey for clubs and bars and parties and stuff that I've been told is a lot like absinthe that makes people feel really relaxed and tingly when they eat a little bit but I don't know anything about that since whatevers in it doesn't make me drunk. But it's nice! And it tastes great! Because all my honey tastes great because I'm pretty much the best and only honey-making pixie drake in the Nexus how come your hair is made of tentacles?"

Ah, you were doing so well, Drake.

You manage to almost get through a whole conversation without getting distracted by something.

[Deathkeeper]

Beachside- Party

With the sound of hooves behind the cart, another partygoer quickly catches up to the cart. She's a bit less strange than the cart and its beast, but perhaps more than others at the party. The young woman in question looks to be in her late twenties, pretty, slim, and curvaceous from the waist up, and a pretty white mare from the waist down, wearing a swimsuit top and carrying a small bag of things as a saddlebag.

"Hey there! Just coming in? Pretty crazy friend you've got there." she says conversationally to the little person as she passes the cart.

Gold Bluff Beach

After a while, the glyphs on the staff burst into light and stay lit, and Nak cheerily pulls it from the bridge.
"No, that's it. Just got to give it back to Daddy." he says, still all smiles as he waddles over to the water's edge and places the end of the staff into the water, whereupon it sinks slowly despite there not seemingly being enough depth for it to do so.
Also?
After the staff is gone, the bridge should stop getting more open. And it likely won't for some time.

[Terumitsu]

[Beachside Party!]

Watching the hellbeast scamper off to make a mess of the dunes and sand, Riss held in a chuckle as she hopped off the cart to start unloading a few things. Or rather, one of her did.. Though even that was a misnomer. The muse had trouble enough when trying to explain to people that she was all a single entity despite how many physical bodies they might see doing things otherwise. At least, she had trouble explaining it in a quick and easy way that didn't come off like she was following in the footsteps of Elder Things From Beyond The Pattern Of Existence.

At any rate, wearing a red beach skirt and a black bikini that left more to the imagination than Misha's, though that was hardly much of a feat, the muse shifted her 'belt' a little before lifting a wheeled cooler up and off the cart, the inside sloshing somewhat in the way that ice, water, and miscellaneous other things tended to when jostled.

Still, given that the 'little person' was on her shoulder, or at least one of her form's shoulders, Riss responded anyway. "The little hell-raiser or the sea-and-sun haired one?" she replied with a laugh. "Yeah, we just got here... Probably brought a little too much with us but there's enough people here to where it'll be fine, I suppose." she added, her tone shifting just slighting at the idea of being so close with so many others at the same time. Still, it could be far worse. At least there was plenty of room here rather than needing to bunch up in a crowd.

[Gullara]

[Beachside Party!]

Mimi stands up on Riss' shoulder and leaps into the air. Her wings flutter, keeping her effortlessly aloft. The pixie, standing at eight inches tall, is wearing a two piece that brings all new meaning to 'itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polkadot bikini'. "She better not be talking about me." Mimi flits over and stares the centaur lady down. Not that there was any indication she was.

[Recaiden]

[Beachside - Party!]


"I'm okay, sweet-cheeks, but the nice girl there took quite a spill," Fetty starts to try to help Anchor up with Zhareen before retreating to Fayaad's side, smiling like the handsome lad he is. "That must be quite a hastle, going to parties with your... all of you like that. But you're very pretty!" Fetty assures her with a nod.

[Beachside - Party!]

Zhareen who's been looking down at the sand underneath her this entire time suddenly stops with a, "Eep!". She starts looking around in surprise, almost as if she just realized that she was at a party. She puts away the dowsing rod in a tool belt she wears around her waist, filled with other odd tools, and crawls over to the fallen woman and offers her a hand to get up, but also look worriedly at Fetty. "Oh, dear, oh dear! Neither of you hurt yourself did you?" Besides the tool belt, Zhareen is wearing a colorful kitenge, covering her chest, and a short skirt in the same colors and patterns just underneath the tool belt. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

Oh my. Look at all this help! This handsome lad at one hand, this...long woman on the other. Given that, Anchor has no trouble getting back up.
"I think I'm okay."
"No, I wasn't looking either. Sorry, very sorry."
Oh. Zhareen isn't mad? Well. What a nice surprise.

[Murkus]

[Beachside - Party!]

Bar Party

Reinholdt takes a moment to look over the bartender in return, definitely appraising him. It's, uh, clearly curiosity and nothing else, I'm sure. Though his gaze does linger a little longer than necessary. "I'll take a long island iced tea please." Mixing it up today. If anyplace would have rum it'd be a beach bar. But this is a party! Gotta change gears every once in a while.

"You remind me of someone I used to know. Really into the neon thing. Some sort of body modification parlor was involved I think?" Rein didn't look into the business too closely because he was too wrapped up in a pirate's arms at the time. Said time has past.

The tender grins, his tentacles work, and in a flash a tall glass of the old half n' half is glistening dusky brown in front of Reinholdt. He plops a lemon wedge on the rim as his limbs stretch out to accommodate the other patrons.

"Neon? Like my signs, my man?" The tentacular fellow glances upward at the Shipwreck's swinging lights. "Sorry, no mods here. Not on me either." He curls his tentacles up such that they bulge - even if there doesn't seem to be a defined musculature, somehow - and he grins a deep grin. Of course, he has to busy those multiple arms a moment later to keep the booze flowing, but he very obviously winks at Rein behind his glasses. "It's all natural baby."

[Beachside Party!]

Drake is peering over the edge of the umbrella at the girl. She isn't replying! Not even a little bit! She's just doing that confused head tilt thing! "Oh! Oh no! Are you mute? Or maybe shy? Or maybe swarms of angry biting flies come pouring out of your mouth whenever you say anything out loud? I met a weird goblin that did that once. He was really weird and flies are rude. Did you know that bee flies lay their eggs in bees? I sure didn't! Having a maggot eat your insides and then burst out of your chest really hurts. You shouldn't ever let a baby animal burst out of your chest, it's the worst. You must be really good at listening 'cuz you do it so much. Hey! Want to try some honey? I'll give you some for free since you're such a good listener!"

The little pixie drake buzzes his wings and takes off toward the bar.

Um...

Wasn't he going to share some honey with-

"Hiya!" chatters another Drake. Still a weird little dragon-bee, this one looks slightly larger and his coloration is a bit different. The first one had a sand-bee color scheme, all grey and black, this second one is black and orange and QUITE a bit fuzzier. He's also holding a small piece of honeycomb. Considering that he's about the size of a rat, the piece of honey comb in question isn't terribly large, otherwise he wouldn't be able to fly with it. "Here you go! I made this from the iceberg plant flowers that grow on the beach! It's pretty great." The insectish drake hovers a bit closer to the girl, holding out the honeycomb. It's a pleasant yellowish color, full of dark amber honey.

The first drake, meanwhile, lands over at the bar. He grins up at the barkeeper with a tiny, toothy grin that would look quite in place on a gecko. "Hiya! I'm Drake Apis and I want to sell some honey to people! I've got a batch of red honey for clubs and bars and parties and stuff that I've been told is a lot like absinthe that makes people feel really relaxed and tingly when they eat a little bit but I don't know anything about that since whatevers in it doesn't make me drunk. But it's nice! And it tastes great! Because all my honey tastes great because I'm pretty much the best and only honey-making pixie drake in the Nexus how come your hair is made of tentacles?"

Ah, you were doing so well, Drake.

You manage to almost get through a whole conversation without getting distracted by something.

"Thanks for noticing, little dude," he says, slicking his tentacles back with a touch of the hand. They spring back up defiantly... and he doesn't answer the question. "Oh, sure little man, how much have you got? I could use a good mixer."

Oh my. Look at all this help! This handsome lad at one hand, this...long woman on the other. Given that, Anchor has no trouble getting back up.
"I think I'm okay."
"No, I wasn't looking either. Sorry, very sorry."
Oh. Zhareen isn't mad? Well. What a nice surprise.

"I think maybe everyone here could stand to do a little drinking," says Fetty, though he'll say no more as I don't want to get the scene too far ahead of Morty and Shadowcaller.

[Beachside - Mimi, Misha, and Riss]

The three arriving ladies are met with a variety of stares, some lewd, some surprised, some apprehensive at the presence of the monster that accompanies them. A few people blather amongst themselves. Does the trio have something to sell? Or give out, maybe? Even better.

[Rebonack]

[Beachside Party]

Not too far from Drake's sandy hill is a large patch of moss, lichen, and small flowers that has spread over the dunes. Normally patches of cryptobiotic crust like these are fairly unremarkable in sandy environments, but this one sports a rather unique feature. A ring of unusually large cup fungi have grown here, the mushrooms glowing with dull lime green light and giving the patch of soil a distinctly uncanny feel. Within the ring shadows and shapes flit and roil when viewed out of the corner of the eye, a testament to another world that exists just beyond the veil of perception. There is, briefly, a fluting sound as of blasphemous pipes being played as that veil grows thinner, heralding the arrival of a small swarm of pixie drakes.

There's no flash of light or puff of smoke. They simply weren't before.

And now they are.

Each one carries a small wax bottle reinforced with paper large enough to hold about a teaspoon of honey. The flight of faeries takes the air and converges on a little seaside bar not too distant...

"Bunches!" Drake announces to the octo-bar-tender just as a few dozen more pixie drakes come buzzing into the room, each carrying a shot of red honey. They begin unloading it on the counter in a predictably hexagonal pattern before taking off again to fetch more. "It's really really strong, though, okay? If someone is already drinking they shouldn't have more than one of these otherwise they'll get sick and throw up everywhere and feel awful and I don't want people to feel awful because this is a party and parties are supposed to be fun so don't let anyone have more than one shot okay? Will you promise? You've gotta swear that you won't give anyone more than one."

[Shadowcaller]

Beachside- Party

The merwoman giggles. "We shouldn't stand around and say sorry, we... we are apparently at a party, after all!" She grins widely with all her sharp teeth. "But, ah, to answer your questions, all women in my family have strong backs. So I guess there is something you need to help you carry, sir? I carried a big keg of beer at a party once, so I have experience in party-related carrying tasks and I was hired to do beach-related tasks at work, so it's a double-fit! I'm the perfect woman for whatever beach thing you need carried at a party."

[Tanari Island]

Now Sargera decides to speak up, suddenly stepping forward. "As I already said, our warlocks can help you identify each item for free, as long as we get to keep them. We'll even sell them to you for a discount. With our help you can actually get them to work."

"But in exchange I have to hand over everything to you. Plus, I have still no way to actually trust you. Each time I find one of these sites, they're usually crawling with demon-worshipping gnolls that we have to drive out. I lost a lot of good women and men to those crazy bastards. So is it really that insane that I want some proof of your allegiance, or lack thereof? You got here by using those things 'gating' and use their magic to animate those golems of yours. With all that, am I just supposed to take your word for it? I'd not just be risking my soldier's life, but the ones of my entire race if you're secretly aiding those creatures."

Sargera bares her fangs again. "Aiding? Those monsters have enslaved my people! I started all this to fight back, so don't you dare call me a 'demon-worshipper'!"

Orion might want to add to this discussion before things get out of hand.

[Morty]

[Beachside Party]

"I won't say no to a drink or two," Fayyaad says, looking over the assembly. "This is a party, just like the lady said. I'm Fayyaad, by the way." He decides to leave his full family name for later.

[Slii Arhem]

Spoiler: Quotes

Show

Beachside- Party

With the sound of hooves behind the cart, another partygoer quickly catches up to the cart. She's a bit less strange than the cart and its beast, but perhaps more than others at the party. The young woman in question looks to be in her late twenties, pretty, slim, and curvaceous from the waist up, and a pretty white mare from the waist down, wearing a swimsuit top and carrying a small bag of things as a saddlebag.

"Hey there! Just coming in? Pretty crazy friend you've got there." she says conversationally to the little person as she passes the cart.

Gold Bluff Beach

After a while, the glyphs on the staff burst into light and stay lit, and Nak cheerily pulls it from the bridge.
"No, that's it. Just got to give it back to Daddy." he says, still all smiles as he waddles over to the water's edge and places the end of the staff into the water, whereupon it sinks slowly despite there not seemingly being enough depth for it to do so.
Also?
After the staff is gone, the bridge should stop getting more open. And it likely won't for some time.

[Beachside Party!]

Watching the hellbeast scamper off to make a mess of the dunes and sand, Riss held in a chuckle as she hopped off the cart to start unloading a few things. Or rather, one of her did.. Though even that was a misnomer. The muse had trouble enough when trying to explain to people that she was all a single entity despite how many physical bodies they might see doing things otherwise. At least, she had trouble explaining it in a quick and easy way that didn't come off like she was following in the footsteps of Elder Things From Beyond The Pattern Of Existence.

At any rate, wearing a red beach skirt and a black bikini that left more to the imagination than Misha's, though that was hardly much of a feat, the muse shifted her 'belt' a little before lifting a wheeled cooler up and off the cart, the inside sloshing somewhat in the way that ice, water, and miscellaneous other things tended to when jostled.

Still, given that the 'little person' was on her shoulder, or at least one of her form's shoulders, Riss responded anyway. "The little hell-raiser or the sea-and-sun haired one?" she replied with a laugh. "Yeah, we just got here... Probably brought a little too much with us but there's enough people here to where it'll be fine, I suppose." she added, her tone shifting just slighting at the idea of being so close with so many others at the same time. Still, it could be far worse. At least there was plenty of room here rather than needing to bunch up in a crowd.

[Beachside Party!]

Mimi stands up on Riss' shoulder and leaps into the air. Her wings flutter, keeping her effortlessly aloft. The pixie, standing at eight inches tall, is wearing a two piece that brings all new meaning to 'itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polkadot bikini'. "She better not be talking about me." Mimi flits over and stares the centaur lady down. Not that there was any indication she was.

[Beachside - Party!]



The tender grins, his tentacles work, and in a flash a tall glass of the old half n' half is glistening dusky brown in front of Reinholdt. He plops a lemon wedge on the rim as his limbs stretch out to accommodate the other patrons.

"Neon? Like my signs, my man?" The tentacular fellow glances upward at the Shipwreck's swinging lights. "Sorry, no mods here. Not on me either." He curls his tentacles up such that they bulge - even if there doesn't seem to be a defined musculature, somehow - and he grins a deep grin. Of course, he has to busy those multiple arms a moment later to keep the booze flowing, but he very obviously winks at Rein behind his glasses. "It's all natural baby."



"Thanks for noticing, little dude," he says, slicking his tentacles back with a touch of the hand. They spring back up defiantly... and he doesn't answer the question. "Oh, sure little man, how much have you got? I could use a good mixer."



"I think maybe everyone here could stand to do a little drinking," says Fetty, though he'll say no more as I don't want to get the scene too far ahead of Morty and Shadowcaller.

[Beachside - Mimi, Misha, and Riss]

The three arriving ladies are met with a variety of stares, some lewd, some surprised, some apprehensive at the presence of the monster that accompanies them. A few people blather amongst themselves. Does the trio have something to sell? Or give out, maybe? Even better.

Beachside Party!

Those poor fools should be more apprehensive of Misha, and less of her now bounding, loping dope of a murderbeast. The last time she was at a beach party, she sort of threw a tidal wave at it as a prank. She should be fairly infamous! But lewd stares are commonplace where she's concerned, and she's plenty used to them. In fact, she doesn't even seem to mind, wriggling her hips as she searches around in the cart for what turns out to be a massive backpack, sturdy cloth sides fitted with two side dispensers about the size of a softball. Straightening her back, she scans the crowd of miscreants, perverts, deviants and drunkards. A deft flick of her fingers opens a hatch, letting a perfectly filled water balloon slide down into her palm. She hefts it experimentally, considering her targets with care. And then shrugs and just begins flinging balloons from atop the hillside with glee, letting her inborn control over water arc and guide the projectiles farther than they should possibly go. A few will even expertly bounce through the doors of the bar, curving impossibly with the last of their momentum to strike out at targets who should have otherwise been safe. It wasn't quite a tsunami, but Misha wanted to ensure everyone could get good and soaked regardless. Well, everyone who didn't have very good dodging skills. She could only fit so many in the pack, and so at most she could allocate one per person.

Imp, the great big hellbeast, has decided to charge straight past everyone on the shore and wade out into the surf, intent on playing with some sharks. Failing that, dolphins, squids, manatees, or moderately sized whales will do in a pinch. Misha expects they'll have to cook more than one whole aquatic monster before the day is out, but the barbecue pit isn't her duty, so she's fine with that.

Rather than throw at Willa, Misha simply ambles up to her and tries to slap a water balloon against the centaur's chest, "I think she was talking about me, Mimi." She turns to Riss with a smile, "Have I told you how great it is hearing things now that these big long ears aren't just for show?"

[Deathkeeper]

Party!

Willa does absolutely nothing to stop her, and even grins the entire time. After all, it takes a lot more than the snapping of a plastic balloon to make her flinch. And she's already dressed for water.
"I meant yer pack-beast, actually. Ya don't look all that crazy from where I'm standin'. I'd have said somethin' else if I meant any of ya. Fun, maybe."

[Reinholdt]

Umbrella

Well the strange creature before her seemed far more interested in asking questions than in the answers to those questions. That suits the mysterious hooded figure just fine. It could talk and she would listen. No problems there...

Unless the discussion turned to horrible nightmare fuel. Which it does. Being the small child creature that she is, the casual mention of maggots bursting out of your chest and eating you alive is really quite terrifying. Maybe someone else would find it fascinating. Master would probably find it fascinating. She doesn't. Coalesced darkness well at the corner of her eyes, threatening to spring forth in a manner normally reserved for making a oil prospector ecstatic.

The suddenness of Drake's departure and arrival of Drake 2: Drakier provides just enough unexpectedness to keep her confused instead of crying though, as her mind focuses on keeping up with the events. New Drake seemed to be offering her something. Was this the honey he kept mentioning? After a moment's hesitation, a slithering shadow protrudes from the ground just beside her, pushing upwards and growing. The tendril of darkness stretches until it reaches the offered honeycomb and wraps around it, gently constricting and pulling it to her. Where it and the shadow tendril hover uncertainly, bobbing lightly in the air.

The mysterious hooded figure then performs a deep bow in Drake's direction. Well deep for someone that small at any rate. Always be thankful for gifts, even odd ones.

Bar

"Ah. I thought you were- never mind." Reinholdt looks embarrassed to have mistaken the neon reflection to be neon body modification. Typical. He clearly hasn't been drinking enough and starts to work on remedying that problem.

Whatever thought he might have had about the tentacular man and/or Drake's honey ends up waiting though as a number of round objects bounce in the door. Instinct immediately kicks in. "Grenade!" Rein slams his hands down on the bar, pushing up and kicking off as he dives over the bar. He'll probably end up smashing into the barkeep and landing on top of him in what seems a most heroic effort to protect the man. Really though, getting behind the bar is just the safest place that pops into Rein's mind in his split second decision making.

It does him absolutely no good though, as one of the bloons lands next to him and explodes in a brief torrent of water, getting him soaked. The now glistening fey looks decidedly grumpy and pissed as he gets to his feet. Who the hell thought it was ok to throw water in a bar? Water. Ewww.

[Felandria]

[Beachside - Party!]



"You got it," the tender says, and so it is, as he deposits a multilayered, colorful cocktail in... something that much too closely resembles a fish bowl after all. A straw is poking out the top.

"I'm Adir! I used to work with Watchtower. Been doing a little work helping VIGIL here and there," Adir offers his hand to shake, still stuck in that obsolete means of greeting even when it comes to women. A symptom of being culturally enriched by middle-aged humans. Of course, it helps afford him a certain element of courtesy not present in young men such as he... he couldn't be any older than twenty-two, surely. "What, everyone's leaving for the new base that soon?"

Felandria happily snatches up the fishbowl in her hand and pays for the drink, then turns to Adir, shaking his hand.

Hopefully, not that I neccesarily want to kick everyone out of my house, but more like I want to make sure the new base is up and running as soon as possible.

Plus it'll be nice to have a bit of alone time, I'm just coming off of an emotionally wrenching breakup.

But enough of that....

Fel waves her hand as though swatting away a bug.

What's past is prologue, today is for partytimez!

Meeting new people, getting buzzed, having fun, all the good stuff.

Enough about me, what about you, Adir?

[Recaiden]

"M-maybe one."
Anchor agrees. Not out of any apparent actual hesitance. Just that one must have made an effort to hesitate.

"I think you might need to carry him over? I'm Anchor, by the way."
Fayaad is right. Family names are too involved. Tedious, even, at times.

[UncleWolf]

Rotten Ship

"So you're saying that a gnome didn't make it then? Good. Just practical, human engineering, I can live with that." Faithel replies casually as she continues to attempt to put on her gear. Her hands appear to be a bit shaky though, which might not be all that strange considering the only source of nutriments she have had, for gods knows how long, is alcohol. "Who are you anyway, and why do you come to the rescue of a poor drunkard like me? I can tell that you're human and hell of a fighter but not much else."

Rotten Ship

Sorrow gives a shrug. If you can call the Mechanicus humans, then it is good enough. She thinks to herself before quashing such heretical thoughts. It didn't do well to think of them as anything but human and loyal to The God-Emperor. "You crashed at the base of the cliff I'd been meditating on top of." She explains as she reaches out to set a hand on Faithel's shoulder to steady her. There was a bit of hesitation in that gesture, but she pushed through it. She even offers a small metal flask with her other hand. "Drink this. Its water. I have ration bars at the top of the cliff. They are not particularly tasteful but they will help." She tells the other woman.

[Murkus]

[Beachside - Party!]

[Beachside Party]

Not too far from Drake's sandy hill is a large patch of moss, lichen, and small flowers that has spread over the dunes. Normally patches of cryptobiotic crust like these are fairly unremarkable in sandy environments, but this one sports a rather unique feature. A ring of unusually large cup fungi have grown here, the mushrooms glowing with dull lime green light and giving the patch of soil a distinctly uncanny feel. Within the ring shadows and shapes flit and roil when viewed out of the corner of the eye, a testament to another world that exists just beyond the veil of perception. There is, briefly, a fluting sound as of blasphemous pipes being played as that veil grows thinner, heralding the arrival of a small swarm of pixie drakes.

There's no flash of light or puff of smoke. They simply weren't before.

And now they are.

Each one carries a small wax bottle reinforced with paper large enough to hold about a teaspoon of honey. The flight of faeries takes the air and converges on a little seaside bar not too distant...

"Bunches!" Drake announces to the octo-bar-tender just as a few dozen more pixie drakes come buzzing into the room, each carrying a shot of red honey. They begin unloading it on the counter in a predictably hexagonal pattern before taking off again to fetch more. "It's really really strong, though, okay? If someone is already drinking they shouldn't have more than one of these otherwise they'll get sick and throw up everywhere and feel awful and I don't want people to feel awful because this is a party and parties are supposed to be fun so don't let anyone have more than one shot okay? Will you promise? You've gotta swear that you won't give anyone more than one."

"Scout's honor, little dude," says the tentacular man, crossing his tentacle over his chest. He's wearing, of course, an obnoxiously pink Hawaiian over his hypnotic bioluminescent form. "YO, EVERYBODY, FREE SHOTS!" He hollers at the bar, and a cheer rises up in return.

Beachside- Party

The merwoman giggles. "We shouldn't stand around and say sorry, we... we are apparently at a party, after all!" She grins widely with all her sharp teeth. "But, ah, to answer your questions, all women in my family have strong backs. So I guess there is something you need to help you carry, sir? I carried a big keg of beer at a party once, so I have experience in party-related carrying tasks and I was hired to do beach-related tasks at work, so it's a double-fit! I'm the perfect woman for whatever beach thing you need carried at a party."

[Beachside Party]

"I won't say no to a drink or two," Fayyaad says, looking over the assembly. "This is a party, just like the lady said. I'm Fayyaad, by the way." He decides to leave his full family name for later.

"M-maybe one."
Anchor agrees. Not out of any apparent actual hesitance. Just that one must have made an effort to hesitate.

"I think you might need to carry him over? I'm Anchor, by the way."
Fayaad is right. Family names are too involved. Tedious, even, at times.

"Ooh, yeah, she's right, I'm pretty sure you strained my... like this whole thing," Fetty winces and holds his foot out daintily, wobbling on one leg. He sucks air through his teeth, a little hiss of pain. "It could be broken. Can you gimme a ride to the bar? Me and Fayaad and... Anchor." Interesting name.

Beachside Party!

Those poor fools should be more apprehensive of Misha, and less of her now bounding, loping dope of a murderbeast. The last time she was at a beach party, she sort of threw a tidal wave at it as a prank. She should be fairly infamous! But lewd stares are commonplace where she's concerned, and she's plenty used to them. In fact, she doesn't even seem to mind, wriggling her hips as she searches around in the cart for what turns out to be a massive backpack, sturdy cloth sides fitted with two side dispensers about the size of a softball. Straightening her back, she scans the crowd of miscreants, perverts, deviants and drunkards. A deft flick of her fingers opens a hatch, letting a perfectly filled water balloon slide down into her palm. She hefts it experimentally, considering her targets with care. And then shrugs and just begins flinging balloons from atop the hillside with glee, letting her inborn control over water arc and guide the projectiles farther than they should possibly go. A few will even expertly bounce through the doors of the bar, curving impossibly with the last of their momentum to strike out at targets who should have otherwise been safe. It wasn't quite a tsunami, but Misha wanted to ensure everyone could get good and soaked regardless. Well, everyone who didn't have very good dodging skills. She could only fit so many in the pack, and so at most she could allocate one per person.

Imp, the great big hellbeast, has decided to charge straight past everyone on the shore and wade out into the surf, intent on playing with some sharks. Failing that, dolphins, squids, manatees, or moderately sized whales will do in a pinch. Misha expects they'll have to cook more than one whole aquatic monster before the day is out, but the barbecue pit isn't her duty, so she's fine with that.

Rather than throw at Willa, Misha simply ambles up to her and tries to slap a water balloon against the centaur's chest, "I think she was talking about me, Mimi." She turns to Riss with a smile, "Have I told you how great it is hearing things now that these big long ears aren't just for show?"

Bar

"Ah. I thought you were- never mind." Reinholdt looks embarrassed to have mistaken the neon reflection to be neon body modification. Typical. He clearly hasn't been drinking enough and starts to work on remedying that problem.

Whatever thought he might have had about the tentacular man and/or Drake's honey ends up waiting though as a number of round objects bounce in the door. Instinct immediately kicks in. "Grenade!" Rein slams his hands down on the bar, pushing up and kicking off as he dives over the bar. He'll probably end up smashing into the barkeep and landing on top of him in what seems a most heroic effort to protect the man. Really though, getting behind the bar is just the safest place that pops into Rein's mind in his split second decision making.

It does him absolutely no good though, as one of the bloons lands next to him and explodes in a brief torrent of water, getting him soaked. The now glistening fey looks decidedly grumpy and pissed as he gets to his feet. Who the hell thought it was ok to throw water in a bar? Water. Ewww.

Oh no! Some of the more skittish patrons (or those with feathers-slash-fur) flee from the torrent of balloons! A few giggle or fume or look, startled, in the direction from which they've just been bombarded. A few squeals and startled screams from nervous ladies (or Fetty's) echo from around or within the seaside bar. Fetty even has to duck (behind Fayaad, of course) giggling as he does.

The barkeep, meanwhile, is tackled! How... not heroic. Ah well. The tentacled man smacks Rein on the back with his colorful appendage. "Yo man, I got drinks to serve!" He follows Rein back to his feet, arm around the fey's shoulders. "Look, I'm all for being hit on, but I don't get off for another coupla hours..." He says slowly. "You, uh, want some water balloons? You look like payback is in order, man." He grins and his sunglasses tilt jauntily to one side, revealing a multi-faceted eye that twinkles with starlight.

Felandria happily snatches up the fishbowl in her hand and pays for the drink, then turns to Adir, shaking his hand.

Hopefully, not that I neccesarily want to kick everyone out of my house, but more like I want to make sure the new base is up and running as soon as possible.

Plus it'll be nice to have a bit of alone time, I'm just coming off of an emotionally wrenching breakup.

But enough of that....

Fel waves her hand as though swatting away a bug.

What's past is prologue, today is for partytimez!

Meeting new people, getting buzzed, having fun, all the good stuff.

Enough about me, what about you, Adir?

Adir is tempted to say 'sorry to hear that' but the lady wants to forget! He can understand. The stag grins. "What about me? I'm not the big, beautiful giant hero girl. But I can drink to meeting new people," He holds his up to her fishbowl and offers a little clink.

[Shadowcaller]

Rotten Ship

"Water? You better not try to make me soober..." Faithel remarks in her heavily accented voice while she leans heavily against Sorrow's hand to take a sip from the bottle. She grimaces once she managed to swallow it down. "Blech, I think I forgot what water tastes like." This is followed by a series of coughs. "Food... food sounds good though, don't even care what it tastes like. After eating scourge mushrooms, pretty much everything else taste great." She laughs weakly and humorlessly, her voice very thin.
Then she closes her eyes for a moment. "You know Sorrow, this might be the alcohol talking, and we've just met and all, but do you think you could carry me? It should be easy as I'm pretty sure I've must have lost a couple of pounds on this all alcohol diet. One of ten draenei would recommend..." Faithel muses, her eyes remaining closed.

[Beachside Party]

"Uh, I'm Zhareen. Unless I already said that, sometimes I forget what I said the moment it leaves my mouth." Then water balloons starts flying all over the place. "Oh no, we gotta hurry!" And with those words Zhareen will attempt to lift up Fetty with one arm, carrying him as if he was nothing, and quickly crawl over to the bar under the barrage of water balloons. "Parties are so intense these days!"

[Rebonack]

[Beachside Party]

Over at the umbrella, Drake decides to be encouraging. "You pull the top off and squeeze the insides into your mouth! It's really good! You should try it, I'll bet you'll like it because honey tastes great and I make pretty much the best honey in the Nexus 'cuz I'm pretty sure I'm the only honey-making faerie in the Nexus but I guess there might be another one that I don't know about and-"

And then he gets hit with a water balloon.

He makes a comical gurgling sound and flops into the sand, flailing his six little legs.

Poor Drake!

Now he's all covered in damp sand, too.

What a terrible turn of fate. "Being wet is terrible!"

You said it, Drake.

Meanwhile, in the bar!

"Oh hey water balloons are coming," Drake observes, giving his wings a buzz as he zips under the projectile intended for him and lashes out at it with his tail. He's swift enough to avoid getting soaked! This time. Seems the other him might have taken the proverbial bullet for the girl under the umbrella. That accomplished, he lands on the wall and begins watching the goings on. He would keep chattering at the bar tender, but he seems to be getting groped by some other guy right now so Drake will be polite and wait.

[Tanari Island]

"It sounds like we're making progress here, but I think focusing on common goals would be best," Orion pipes up. "There are worries about subterfuge. How many warlocks would it take to properly identify and activate the artifacts here? If there are fewer gnolls on the island, I suspect the goblins may feel slightly less threatened by their presence."

The goblins could handle a half dozen nerd-gnolls if it turned out to be a trick, right? And if not then what chance do they think they have to begin with?

[Reinholdt]

Beachside Blast

The creature under the umbrella thinks it understands. The honey is to be eaten and is being held like in a cage. Honey might be something living then. Non-living food never tasted very good. Other people seemed to enjoy it for whatever reason. It was strange. Living food was usually much warmer.

A second shadow tendril rises from the ground, approaching the container to open it and eat it as instructed. But before she can even pop the lid off, Drake gets bombarded with a water balloon meant for her! Oh no! The inhumanity!

That, uh, might be the wrong word involving these two. Or the very, very right word. But the concept is solid all the same.

The cretin of shadows redirects the second shadow tendril to the towel beneath her, grasping it and extending it out to the poor waterlogged Drake. She's seen people use these things before to get dry when water bothers them. Water is clearly bothering Drake, so the towel it is. She even awkwardly tries gently rubbing it against him, to help dry him off. It probably is nowhere near as effective as just taking the towel from her and doing it himself.

Gotta wonder whose towel and umbrella these belong to though. Because it sure isn't hers.

*****

"I, um, errr... That is..." Reinholdt mutters most embarrassedly before climbing back over the bar and avoiding the stares he was getting. "I, uh, no thank you." He didn't even see where the dowsing attack came from and certainly wouldn't want to fight water with more water.

"Sorry for the... interruption." He orders a replacement drink for the one he knocked over and decides to spin in place to face an entirely different direction now. Namely, watching the entrance to make sure nothing like that happened again without him being ready for it.