Riverside 18

[Shadowcaller]

Westside - MERC office

"Paranoia? Please. that's just a natural reaction in our business. You'll feel right at home then." Dena replies as she pats the seat of the chair in front of the desk, offering him to sit. "Though admittedly, these days you think more about how to use people than to kill them. A shift of priorities that comes with being in charge I suppose."

[8BitNinja]

Westside - MERC office

"Paranoia? Please. that's just a natural reaction in our business. You'll feel right at home then." Dena replies as she pats the seat of the chair in front of the desk, offering him to sit. "Though admittedly, these days you think more about how to use people than to kill them. A shift of priorities that comes with being in charge I suppose."

"Strange, all the mercenaries I've worked with over the years were being paid to kill people. Well, actually, it was to attack military targets, but same difference. This is actually the first time I was ever told to guard something, usually if I'm at a building and I'm on duty, I'm blowing it up or killing the people inside." Tier stops, as if to briefly think and says "So what do you do here?"

[Shadowcaller]

Westside - MERC office

"Boy, then you better get ready for an adjustment as the boss has strictly forbidden assassin contracts. We're still allowed to kill people, but only indirectly." Dena explains as the snakes that makes up her hair appear to be watching Tier intently with their red eyes. "So what we're doing here is simply enforcing Malechenar's law and hand over all the criminals to them." She gestures at a nearby window. "Malechenar is that flying castle above the city, you couldn't have missed it. It's pretty big." She pauses. "Unless you asked what I did specifically, since that's something completely different." She grins at Tier.

[8BitNinja]

Westside - MERC office

"Boy, then you better get ready for an adjustment as the boss has strictly forbidden assassin contracts. We're still allowed to kill people, but only indirectly." Dena explains as the snakes that makes up her hair appear to be watching Tier intently with their red eyes. "So what we're doing here is simply enforcing Malechenar's law and hand over all the criminals to them." She gestures at a nearby window. "Malechenar is that flying castle above the city, you couldn't have missed it. It's pretty big." She pauses. "Unless you asked what I did specifically, since that's something completely different." She grins at Tier.

Tier says "I'm assuming you're going to say slave driver, or something to that extent, when you refer to your occupation. Another guess could be that you are the last person I ever want to see. Unless you're referring to a specific job, which then you are going to tell me how you did something horrifying or brutal But I might be wrong, so what do you do?"

[Recaiden]

Skye shakes her head and returns to her seat, curled up on the sofa.
"Not important business, no. Only a little more than stopping in to say hi myself."

This is fine again. Everything is going very, uh, humanly. The general smiles.
"Are you not bringing the important business?"

[Shadowcaller]

Westside - MERC office

Dena raises an eyebrow. "You don't have high thoughts of me do you?" She muses, still smiling. "I must have given you a pretty rotten first impression, or is that just the snakes?" She runs a hand through the crawling snake-nest takes makes up her hair. "Since they harmless, really. I was just gonna say that I'm just lazing about right now. When you're the boss, you can let other people do dangerous things for you while you do all the paperwork." She pats the folded up laptop behind her. "So, yeah, to answer your question. I do the paperwork and occasionally I also dungeon-dive."

[8BitNinja]

Westside - MERC office

Dena raises an eyebrow. "You don't have high thoughts of me do you?" She muses, still smiling. "I must have given you a pretty rotten first impression, or is that just the snakes?" She runs a hand through the crawling snake-nest takes makes up her hair. "Since they harmless, really. I was just gonna say that I'm just lazing about right now. When you're the boss, you can let other people do dangerous things for you while you do all the paperwork." She pats the folded up laptop behind her. "So, yeah, to answer your question. I do the paperwork and occasionally I also dungeon-dive."

"I hope you don't feel offended, but even if you are I honestly don't care. I don't have high opinions of anyone, except for myself. You may call it evil and you are probably correct, and I don't care about philosophy, but in actuality, I'm just embracing my natural instincts." says Tier "But anyways, if that's the case with promotions, desk jobs seem boring, but the less people telling me what to do, the better, so I hope to be promoted sometime in the next decade or so. If it doesn't happen though, I don't care."

[Shadowcaller]

Westside - MERC office

Dena rubs the right side of her head slowly as she stares at Tier from behind her sunglasses. "Right. So I'm guessing you don't care that much about this job either then as I think that must be one of the worst things I have ever heard someone say to their superiors on the first day on the job." She is still smiling though, despite her reply. "But I get you, socializing is not your thing. Loner-type of guy I'm guessing? Preferring to go solo? I can dig that as long as you keep in line. Since you have to care about my opinion of you if you like to keep the job. Just informing ya', trying to help you out, ya know?"

[8BitNinja]

Westside - MERC office

Dena rubs the right side of her head slowly as she stares at Tier from behind her sunglasses. "Right. So I'm guessing you don't care that much about this job either then as I think that must be one of the worst things I have ever heard someone say to their superiors on the first day on the job." She is still smiling though, despite her reply. "But I get you, socializing is not your thing. Loner-type of guy I'm guessing? Preferring to go solo? I can dig that as long as you keep in line. Since you have to care about my opinion of you if you like to keep the job. Just informing ya', trying to help you out, ya know?"

"You're definitely right" says Tier "I usually sign onto a team of mercenaries, although once I worked with some assassins, and another time where I worked with some bandits, but that isn't important. Anyways, I usually just sign on to a team and then we're told by the higher ups who are paying us to attack a target, military or otherwise, and carry out the job. Although since it's against the rules to directly kill people, I'm pretty sure the job works a bit differently. So I'm not that good at socializing. But that's no excuse to break one of the rules of being a professional."

[Shadowcaller]

Westside - MERC office

Dena gets up from the table and saunters over to sit down in the chair behind it. "Yeah, law enforcement is actually a lot about the social aspects though. Therefore I'm not sure where to locate you. You have any opinion on that?" She leans back. "Since so far, we haven't had use of the heat you're carrying. At most we got robber-bugs and spirits on our hands and our problem isn't really killing them. So I'm not sure what I'm gonna have you do."

[8BitNinja]

Westside - MERC office

Dena gets up from the table and saunters over to sit down in the chair behind it. "Yeah, law enforcement is actually a lot about the social aspects though. Therefore I'm not sure where to locate you. You have any opinion on that?" She leans back. "Since so far, we haven't had use of the heat you're carrying. At most we got robber-bugs and spirits on our hands and our problem isn't really killing them. So I'm not sure what I'm gonna have you do."

"You honestly want my opinion? I just joined on and have no idea what to do." says Tier "Right now I'm a new recruit, and I'm just learning how you guys do things, so I'm just doing what you tell me to do right now. However, If you do want me to stop criminals, I can do that, although don't expect them to be alive or in one piece."

[Shadowcaller]

Westside - MERC office

"Yeah, that's kinda the problem." Dena says flatly. "I don't want you to explode people for jaywalking, Tier. As you said, people would call that 'crazy'. If you want to be a part of MERC, you might have to try to adapt. We aren't in a warzone here, and even if we were you might need to tone down a bit dude. Buy a stun gun or something, arm yourself with non-lethal weapons."

[8BitNinja]

Westside - MERC office

"Yeah, that's kinda the problem." Dena says flatly. "I don't want you to explode people for jaywalking, Tier. As you said, people would call that 'crazy'. If you want to be a part of MERC, you might have to try to adapt. We aren't in a warzone here, and even if we were you might need to tone down a bit dude. Buy a stun gun or something, arm yourself with non-lethal weapons."

"Alright, I've got a stun gun I can get from my ship really quick. It's called the Zeus x250, fires 250 million volts into the target's system. It has a small chance of incapacitating the target while keeping him alive, but that's the closest I have. And I'm pretty sure that a handheld electric chair isn't considered nonlethal." Says Tier.

[Shadowcaller]

Westside - MERC office

Dena lets out a defeated sigh and quickly starts scribbling down something on a post-it note. "Look, go to this store and ask for some non-lethal weapons for law-enforcement. I'm sure the clerks can help you pick something up. Just tell them that Dena from MERC send ya' and that you are a member, alright? That will give you a discount."

She hands him the post-it note where it is written "Erin's Emporium in Mallside at -address-".

[8BitNinja]

Westside - MERC office

Dena lets out a defeated sigh and quickly starts scribbling down something on a post-it note. "Look, go to this store and ask for some non-lethal weapons for law-enforcement. I'm sure the clerks can help you pick something up. Just tell them that Dena from MERC send ya' and that you are a member, alright? That will give you a discount."

She hands him the post-it note where it is written "Erin's Emporium in Mallside at -address-".

Tier takes the note and looks at it. He stands up and says "Alright then, I guess I'm off to get some tasers and nightsticks." Tier leaves to Mallside to the said address.

[8BitNinja]

((Forgive me for double posting, but it's the only way I can think of to reenter the scene))

Tier walks back in the door, but this time, he has a Glock 18 in his handgun holster and a SPAS 12 in his hands. On his belt are still the grenades, but also a Nightstick, Stun Baton, Taser, and Stun Gun. He asks Dena "Is this more appropriate gear for the job? I assumed that I didn't have to completely lose the lethal weapons."

[Shadowcaller]

Westside - MERC office

Dena is seated in the office, typing something on her laptop with one hand. She spares tier a quick glance. "Looks good. You know how to use those things I assume? Since I might have a job for you, a non-violent one."

[8BitNinja]

Westside - MERC office

Dena is seated in the office, typing something on her laptop with one hand. She spares tier a quick glance. "Looks good. You know how to use those things I assume? Since I might have a job for you, a non-violent one."

"Believe me, I am not a big dumb brute with only an insatiable desire for blood. I can handle whatever job you give me." Says Tier.

[Shadowcaller]

Westside - MERC office

The gorgon taps her finger against the table as her snakes lets out a quiet hiss. "Really now? Then I suppose you can find out more about the Eastside candidates? Eastside is having a democratic election and we have been hired to find out more about the candidates. Quite a delicate job that must be done in uttermost secrecy. Not something I'd normally allow completely new members to pull. But since you are so confident in your competence I'm going to give you a chance, though if you get captured or cause a lot of destruction and chaos, we don't even know you, alright? You'd be cut right out."

[8BitNinja]

Westside - MERC office

The gorgon taps her finger against the table as her snakes lets out a quiet hiss. "Really now? Then I suppose you can find out more about the Eastside candidates? Eastside is having a democratic election and we have been hired to find out more about the candidates. Quite a delicate job that must be done in uttermost secrecy. Not something I'd normally allow completely new members to pull. But since you are so confident in your competence I'm going to give you a chance, though if you get captured or cause a lot of destruction and chaos, we don't even know you, alright? You'd be cut right out."

"Understood ma'am" says Tier as he walks towards the door. He stops and turns around and says "I mean no disrespect by this, but if I'm cut off, it's what was destined to happen if you believe in karma. Luckily for you, I myself don't believe in it." With that, he heads to Eastside.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Xar'cha Residence]

Kal has the right of it, for the most part. And Ilpholin hasn't yet taken to spiking everything in her kitchen with holy water. She'll take the first sip.

"Nothing that won't grow better with anticipation," Ilpholin says, giving Skye an appreciative glance.

"You're not horribly upset I threw AMEN under the bus then? I know of at least one man still there who holds a grudge."

Skye shakes her head and returns to her seat, curled up on the sofa.
"Not important business, no. Only a little more than stopping in to say hi myself."

This is fine again. Everything is going very, uh, humanly. The general smiles.
"Are you not bringing the important business?"

[Xar'Cha Residence]

Kal waves a hand dismissively.

"I never had any loyalty to AMEN. It was an amusing distraction, and I enjoyed the company of some of the people there, but now that those people are gone, I don't owe them anything. The current leadership seems set to run AMEN into obscurity, and I don't really care enough to intervene."

Kal takes a sip of his wine.

"So we're just all sitting here having a social gathering, then? That's something I don't mind. How are you doing?" He asks, directing the question to both of them.

[Shadowcaller]

Westside - MERC office

Dena is actually going to get up from her seat and stop him before he leaves. "Whoa, hold on there. Not so fast." She hands him a paper. "At least take this list of the candidates you're supposed to find out more about. Their policies and so fourth. It also has my number in case you need to call me. Just try to avoid mentioning MERC, the boss, or me, alright?"

Spoiler: List of Candidates

Show

• Amyria
• Stu
• Tep
• Jezebel

A phone number is also written here.

[UncleWolf]

The Lotus Gardens - Riftline

Hekta raises an eyebrow, sounded good, perhaps a bit too good. She crosses her hands over her chest. "I'll pick my home myself, god-lady." She directs a point claw in Jezebel's direction. "I just got one question for you, can you make cakes?"

The Lotus Gardens - Riftline

Jezebel can't help but laugh. "Me? I can't cook anything well, much less a cake." She admits with a grin. "But I know people who can."

The Empress' Estate - The Frescot's Vegas Riverside Vacation

As the Frescot's truck rumbles close, Adir will notice that the entire estate is much more complete than before. The stone bridge has high railings, the walls are finished, and there seems to be a tower that's been built inside without any real issues. All that's left for them to do with it is put on the roof. The entire family will notice that the cool air is chillier than the surrounding area when they get closer, and when they pull in through the gate that's been made into the massive wall, Adir will be forced to stop as one of the pale grey-blue elves from before stands in the way of the truck with her hand held out. He'll recognize the scar that shows through her hides, starting at the nape of her neck and crossing underneath her armor until it is shown at her waist once more. Her name had never been said, but she's definitely one of the entourage he'd met before.

Sakura will notice that despite the elf's fit and overall youthful appearance, her eyes and mouth have lines already forming, betraying that either she's older than she looks or has seen a hard life. Likely both. "Please, your..." She pauses for a moment, trying to remember the word. "Your truck can be parked to the left. The Empress is awaiting you." She explains before noticing the children. Instantly she gives a sincere and happy smile as she waves to the gaggle of youngsters.

[8BitNinja]

Westside - MERC office

Dena is actually going to get up from her seat and stop him before he leaves. "Whoa, hold on there. Not so fast." She hands him a paper. "At least take this list of the candidates you're supposed to find out more about. Their policies and so fourth. It also has my number in case you need to call me. Just try to avoid mentioning MERC, the boss, or me, alright?"

Spoiler: List of Candidates

Show

• Amyria
• Stu
• Tep
• Jezebel

A phone number is also written here.

"My apologies" says Tier. He takes the list and scans it. "Alright, I should be good to go." Tier heads for the door to leave for Eastside.

[Gullara]

Moth Park

Bravery, however forced or faked through spell or illusion, is still a mighty power indeed. As the tendrils of fear and shadow encroach upon the group once more, they steam and boil away. A loud primal scream of frustration and pain rises up through the area, near-deafening in its volume, but it dies off after a few moments. The once-encroaching shadows fall back a fair distance, giving the group its room and leaving them alone for now like they were in the eye of a hurricane. Once more the sun shines above, natural in its appearance, but even with the rightness returning to their immediate area, the swirling black that encircles them from afar appears to be watching. It waits for its moment, gathering strength...

But even as it does so, the very base of the old lightning-cracked tree can be seen. Unless they literally trip on the real roots in the forest, it seems they'll make it there with ease during their moment of shining valor.

Moth Park

Zhareen looks at the guards in surprise. "Wow! You guys..." She turns to Vax with a smile, which immediately falters once she sees her wives smile. Oh.
"Uh, good work, Vaxy. They'll probably appreciate it once all this is over." Probably. Much better than being murdered by a demon, that's for sure! She pats the dim's back encouragingly. "Now let's waste this outsider!"

[Moth Park]

Well their guards did volunteer, basically knowing what kind of influence Vax could exert over them.

Vax gives a more genuine smile to her wife. "Yes, let's. Best not fall behind." The two fall in behind their guards. Once they reach the tree, the two warlocks will move next to it while the guards form a perimeter. "Now what do we have here?" Vax takes a moment to examine the tree.

[Architect Meeting]

Nadia is thanked for her useful professional advice.

"That much, we're ready for. This is Riverside, after all. Haven't seen the place flooding personally, but-you know how many folks around have, that information's no problem to research."
"I think the shape of the shore makes a difference; the land has some character here, even after all that's happened."

[Architect Meeting]

"Good, as long as we're on the same page." Nadia looks over the area some more, already visualizing a structure there. "Here, let's walk this way." She gestures, merely wanting to see another angle. "So I imagine you're going to want to do some landscaping. Have you had any thoughts about that?"

[Reinholdt]

[Xar'cha Residence]

"A social visit for everyone then," Ilpholin says, sliding in to sit beside Skye.

"I'm doing awful Kal. Just awful. There are just sooo many demons floating around these days, especially ones hiding behind laws and politics and such. I'm at a loss at how I'm going to hunt them all down." The loss she's at seems highly exaggerated, as does her gestures. Still, the point stands. There are far too many demons for just one person to deal with. Theoretically.

[Recaiden]

[Xar'cha Residence]

"I- ...wait. There's no reason to trust Kal. To be honest, there's barely any reason to trust Ilpholin, even if everyone who's been willing to play catch before has turned out to be a good person. Got to be a little more careful.
"-have plenty of sunlight, but there's a new challenge every hour, it seems like. Just this morning we had to execute a traitor for the first time, and he was fireproof, so we couldn't even burn him at the stake like other capital criminals. Such a mess. And she's right, you know. My adoptive father's cousin's friend's grandson's mother had her body stolen by a demon just the other day."

"Have you been well since you left AMEN?"

[Architect Meeting]

Raneon follows, looking this way and that across the plot.
"It's going to be mostly filling; we don't want the side opposite the center of Southside to be too low. We hav ea gardening solution in mind. As you can see it's somewhat sparse already."

[Murkus]

The Empress' Estate - The Frescot's Vegas Riverside Vacation

As the Frescot's truck rumbles close, Adir will notice that the entire estate is much more complete than before. The stone bridge has high railings, the walls are finished, and there seems to be a tower that's been built inside without any real issues. All that's left for them to do with it is put on the roof. The entire family will notice that the cool air is chillier than the surrounding area when they get closer, and when they pull in through the gate that's been made into the massive wall, Adir will be forced to stop as one of the pale grey-blue elves from before stands in the way of the truck with her hand held out. He'll recognize the scar that shows through her hides, starting at the nape of her neck and crossing underneath her armor until it is shown at her waist once more. Her name had never been said, but she's definitely one of the entourage he'd met before.

Sakura will notice that despite the elf's fit and overall youthful appearance, her eyes and mouth have lines already forming, betraying that either she's older than she looks or has seen a hard life. Likely both. "Please, your..." She pauses for a moment, trying to remember the word. "Your truck can be parked to the left. The Empress is awaiting you." She explains before noticing the children. Instantly she gives a sincere and happy smile as she waves to the gaggle of youngsters.

The Empress' Estate - The Frescot's Vegas Riverside Vacation

Adir leans out of the window and watches the ghostly elf for a moment, his ears flickering. When directed, he does as he's bid, pulling over out of the way. Before he exits the car to start disembarking the troops, he glances at Sakura and grins. "Isn't this place something? It's like I'll be working for Cessie!" He'll hop out, perhaps even before Sakura can voice a proper reply.

"Sorry, this is gonna take a second," he shouts to the elf, though he doubts she'll mind any. He reaches into the back and picks out the first kid he can reach that walks, grinning as he pulls the toddler out. "Ready to see the castle?"

[Ashen Lilies]

[Xar'cha Residence]

"A social visit for everyone then," Ilpholin says, sliding in to sit beside Skye.

"I'm doing awful Kal. Just awful. There are just sooo many demons floating around these days, especially ones hiding behind laws and politics and such. I'm at a loss at how I'm going to hunt them all down." The loss she's at seems highly exaggerated, as does her gestures. Still, the point stands. There are far too many demons for just one person to deal with. Theoretically.

[Xar'cha Residence]

"I- ...wait. There's no reason to trust Kal. To be honest, there's barely any reason to trust Ilpholin, even if everyone who's been willing to play catch before has turned out to be a good person. Got to be a little more careful.
"-have plenty of sunlight, but there's a new challenge every hour, it seems like. Just this morning we had to execute a traitor for the first time, and he was fireproof, so we couldn't even burn him at the stake like other capital criminals. Such a mess. And she's right, you know. My adoptive father's cousin's friend's grandson's mother had her body stolen by a demon just the other day."

"Have you been well since you left AMEN?"

[Architect Meeting]

Raneon follows, looking this way and that across the plot.
"It's going to be mostly filling; we don't want the side opposite the center of Southside to be too low. We hav ea gardening solution in mind. As you can see it's somewhat sparse already."

[Xar'Cha Residence

"I have. And that's pretty sad to hear. You know, when I went to AMEN I found a whole bunch of demons guarding it as well. At a guess, I'd say that AMEN and the demons have an alliance of some sort. You know, just in case there needed to be demons in more places." Says Kal in a very serious voice. "Have you thought about finding people to hell you kill demons?"

[8BitNinja]

Tier walks towards the Lotus Gardens entrance. He takes out the shell and opens the chamber of his SPAS to show that he has no malicious intent.