Trog's Tavern CCLII

[Deathkeeper]

"Well. Um. That's a problem."
Jim isn't sure how to respond to that. Sticks has always been a little on the enigmatic side, and so when there's things he doesn't know about Jim is pretty much at a loss. Most of the time he's a boundless well of seemingly random information divvied out at the old man's scrutiny. So this? This is new.

[Recaiden]

Someone tumbles out of the rafters who wasn't there a moment ago. This sort of thing happens. Sometimes people come in from other worlds through the door, sometimes it's the window, sometimes they just appear in midair.
In this case it's a slightly short woman dressed in a kimono, late into middle-age such that she no longer bothers to dye her hair away from grey. Luckily(?) she falls on what's just a spot of floor. She's followed a moment after by a set of luggage, which stops and hovers an inch or two off the ground.
After a moment to catch her breath she picks herself up.
"I suppose it must have slipped his mind to mention the drop." she mutters to no one in particular.

[bc56]

The thump of the woman on the floor attracts the attention of a being clad head to toe in armor as white as new-fallen snow. The armor is made of a strange material, somewhere between metal, stone, and plastic. His face is completely covered by a mask of the same stuff as the armor.

Spoiler: like this, but white

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He carries a spear on his back, its ornate point reminiscent of patterns of frost on a window, but nothing seems to visibly hold it or the strange gadget hanging next to it in place.
Alewer laughs inwardly at the comical notion of someone falling from the rafters. "Careful there. Wouldn't want to land on top of someone."

[Recaiden]

She turns to face the armored figure, and her luggage slides through the air to stay at her side.
'You're from that cartoon.' is something the woman doesn't say. She was warned that many things portrayed in fiction were all too real in some corner of the universe.
Instead, she responds, without much seriousness: "Thank you for the advice, sir. I'll do my best to fall more carefully in the future."
"Now, would this place be, uhm, The Nexus?"

[bc56]

I'm interested to know what cartoon he's from. I did base him on an existing fictional universe, bit I wouldn't have thought of it as a cartoon.

The woman may get the distinct impression that Alewer is smiling, despite the mask showing no expression."Indeed it is. I am Alewer, Toa of Ice. Who are you?

[Recaiden]

((I was thinking of The Mask of Light. Which happens to be a movie. Perhaps in her world the animated series came earlier than in ours.))

"My thanks." Although if the portal had brought her somewhere else, that would have been exciting in another way. "I am Danir Telue. 'Mrs. Danir', I believe is how it's said here."
"An honor to meet you."

[bc56]

The disconnect here is that I knew about the animated movie, but didn't think of it as a cartoon. But yes. He's from that universe. (Not a canon character)

"An honour to meet you also. I am a newcomer here myself. You fully organic creatures are a mystery to me.

[Recaiden]

"A shame; I had hoped that I could ask you directions. But no matter."
Telue nods.

"So would you be are a machine then, under that-?" She doesn't quite finish the sentence, unsure if 'armor' is quite the right word. "We have nothing like that in my homeland. There are men of ice, but...not the same at all."

[bc56]

"Not a machine. Look closer." If Telue does so, she will be able to see through chinks in the armor. Through them, mechanical parts, intricately wrought gears, and similar things will be visible, but also living tissue. Not human tissue, and certainly not skin, but rather some sort of greyish muscle. It's not an especially pleasant sight, and can be a little off-putting.

[Recaiden]

Telue does lean in to look at Alewer. She stiffens slightly once she realizes what she's seeing. "Vampyre. This truly is a strange world. I should have realized when you said 'fully organic'. But I imagine there is much in common anyway. Might I inquire what brings you here?"
She's trying to hide how unsettled she is, but certainly not doing perfectly.

[bc56]

"I didn't intend to come here, it just happened. I took a wrong turn in a dark cave and emerged here, rather than where I was supposed to. Still, protecting the innocent here is as good as protecting them anywhere else, only they are fleshy things rather than Matoran."

[Recaiden]

Protecting the innocent. Huh. That's not the sort of thing she expects biomechanoids to do.

"If I might suggest, they would appreciate more if they weren't called that. I, for example, am a 'human'."
"Do you then consider yourself some sort of hero?" Telue asks with a smirk.

[Zefir]

"My sword is the Answer to the Riddle of Steel, and there's no weapon it can't touch," Wenomir says, placing his hand on its hilt. "And I'm willing to test it against yours."

"The Answer to the Riddle of Steel?" Fade says still without any emphasis. Hard to get if it's a question.
"We can do that and to be fair, just because my blade can't cut things, it can still kill people in this world.
Is there any battlefield you would prefere?"

[bc56]

Alewer isn't sure why Telue smirks. "Yes I am. It's part of my title as a Toa, and moreover, it is my duty, some would say destiny. Human. Human. Interesting." He doesn't pronounce it quite right, but he'll probably figure it out.

[Murkus]

"Well. Um. That's a problem."
Jim isn't sure how to respond to that. Sticks has always been a little on the enigmatic side, and so when there's things he doesn't know about Jim is pretty much at a loss. Most of the time he's a boundless well of seemingly random information divvied out at the old man's scrutiny. So this? This is new.

Michalson rubs the back of his head.

"Could it be you're older than six centuries after all? And you started adventurin' and academic pursuits after settin' up those vaults?"

"It's possible, Mr. Barring. Very much possible. I was flush with power in my middling years, and I had access to an untold number of extremely potent artifacts. It's possible I stepped outside of time, perhaps fashioned a little bubble of my own personal reality, and retreated subsequently within. This is not an unknown practice among the more eccentric of my profession," says Sticks.

"I could have spent centuries that way. Longer. With my instruments, I could potentially have observed any point in time or space that I wished. One can only imagine what it does to a man's mind. Would it be better to live out one's immortal eternity in the Gods reality, watching your land and your loves wither to dust time and again, or to insulate oneself in a cold and lonely world of your own choosing?" Sticks postulates. "It is perhaps this bubble theorem, or perhaps I really have forgotten, or it is one of a dozen other circumstances I have not yet even considered. Perhaps my mind is muddled with that of another Sticks, my doppelganger from some other realm and time, and his thoughts are bleeding into my own. Mayhap I shall be trespassing upon his own most solemn and inscrutable works. Who knows? The possibilities contend sanity."

"This is part of why I need inside," he looks about the table. "Are you still willing to help me?"

[Morty]

Michalson shrugs.

"I don't walk out on a job easily," he says. "So I'm still in. 'Sides, this case sounds barmy enough to be interestin'. And I've 'ad some experience with lemon- uh, I mean, time magic lately."

[Recaiden]

That's for the best. Heroes deserve more respect that Telue is likely to give them at first glance.
"I am, personally, not a great believer in destiny. How did you come to be Toa of Ice? If you would tell such a thing to a stranger."

[bc56]

"A Matoran does not choose to become a Toa. It is something which happens by destiny. I found the stone while exploring an icy ruin amongst the frigid towers of my home city. The stone drew me to the city's temple, wherein I met five other Matoran who had found similar stones. We placed the stones into the shrine, and were transformed. What sort of person are you, who does not believe in Destiny?

[Recaiden]

"I am someone who has turned aside from the path that was very clearly laid before me, and gone to extreme lengths to thwart grand designs. I sought only to live a quiet life, and protect my daughter. It's more difficult than you might imagine to simple live untroubled." Telue answers, not very informatively. "Perhaps you could say it was my destiny to rebel against my destiny but...that seems rather silly, don't you think? Could you not have given the stone to another? Instead you chose to embrace this transformation."

[bc56]

"Perhaps, but I doubt a Toa Stone is ever given to one not curious enounce to use it." Alewer hasn't thought about that before, but he definitely doesn't regret his decision.

[Recaiden]

Telue admits that makes a kind of sense, and nods.
"Where might a Toa find his next destination to be, after wandering into a new world? As for myself, I think I ought to set out; it doesn't look too late in the day, but if this is Trog's Tavern as the sign over there suggests, I have a long way to go."
A long-winded way of asking what Alewer plans to do.

[bc56]

"I don't know. Find some worthy cause to put my spear and launcher behind." Alewer is really unsure of any future plans.

[Morty]

"The Answer to the Riddle of Steel?" Fade says still without any emphasis. Hard to get if it's a question.
"We can do that and to be fair, just because my blade can't cut things, it can still kill people in this world.
Is there any battlefield you would prefere?"

"Yes. It's the heart of my fighting style, and I had to prove myself worthy of it," Wenomir says. "Once we've finished the duel, I can tell you about it. We can't fight here, but just outside might do. There's some space."

[Deathkeeper]

"Of course Boss-man. I'm with you all the way. Regardless of how useful I'll probably be..." Jim mutters. Yeah, in the face of all that he's not sure how well some illiusions and the couple of pragmatic spells Sticks taught him will do. It seems very...intimidating.

[Recaiden]

Launcher, right, that's what that thing is.
"It was a pleasure to speak with you, Alewer. Perhaps I will cross your path again on my way home."
Telue inclines her head - you couldn't quite call it a bow, even a shallow one - and rises to leave, her luggage hurrying after.

But she doesn't get far before someone steps out and blocks her path, a hunched yet towering figure of inhuman proportions, concealed between layers of yarn.
"Well, well, look what I found." His voice is the cold howling of winter winds. "You made a serious mistake in coming here, traitor."

"I suspect you've mistaken me for someone else-" Telue begins, confused and slightly alarmed.

[bc56]

When the figure appears and begins threatening Telue, Alewer rises and moves toward it. "What's going on here?" His voice has also taken on the cutting edge of bitter cold, and his hand instinctively reaches for the haft of his spear.

[Recaiden]

"You are of the line of Kr-"

Telue cuts in, scowling sternly at this figure. "Oh, pardon me, but are you one of those ridiculous foreigners who blame my family for the war way back? This is exactly the sort of thing I was hoping to avoid. I wasn't even born back then."

They turn to Alewer.
"Nothing to worry about. Nothing personal. I'm just taking this pseudo-human captive to use in a prisoner exchange or something like that. It's just one of those opportunities I've got to look out for. I'm sure if no one does anything rash, no one will get hurt." A many-flanged mace of ice-blue crystal appears in the figure's mitten-like hand.

"Less composed people could take offense to 'pseudo-human' as a descriptor, you know. You may want to use a smidgen more respect."

[bc56]

When the mace appears, Alewer draws. Not the spear, but rather the gadget adjacent it. He holds it in one hand and draws a disk-shaped object from a pouch at his hip with the other, loading the disk into the wide end of the mostly triangular device. The disk has a symbol and three digit number, 685, stamped on it.

Spoiler: image

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"I don't think you want to do that. If I were you, I wouldn't cause any trouble in front of a Toa Hero, bit I doubt you know what that means."

[Recaiden]

"And if I were you, I wouldn't get in the way of a cataphract. But I guess we're both underinformed."
"Why don't we find out!"
Disregarding his target, he lunges forward and swings his mace at Alewer.

[bc56]

Alewer twists out of the way of the attack and fires the disk. Not at the cataphract, but at Telue. If it hits her, she will be teleported randomly a short distance away, if it misses it will return to Alewer, curving like a boomerang. Alewer's spear leaps into his free hand.