Trog's Tavern CCLII

[Recaiden]

Sophia considers saying something encouraging about quality over quantity, or righteousness, or something.
She doesn't.
There are enough of us.
Ready.

Is there something under her feet, behind the bar stool, something aflame with tentacles and gossamer?
No, definitely not. Must just be the weird shadows the fireplace casts.

[Morty]

"I don't know." Fade replies.
"I never met him. Maybe we were his test rats or he watched us for his entertainment. I would need to ask him to know it."

"It's hard to deny you were wronged," Wenomir says. "Or that your creator doesn't deserve some responsibility. Do you have any idea where he is?"

[Zefir]

"He is in this world." Fade replies.
"It's odd, but something tells me he is here. I have followed him through different worlds and found at least some others with simular destiny. Thats where I knew my kind was created by him. The problem is without knowing his look or his voice it is near impossible to find him."

[Morty]

"That would be a considerable difficulty," Wenomir says. "There's not much that regular investigation can do about that. Except possibly finding someone with a reputation for creating people like you."

[Ashen Lilies]

"You may lead the way to the village," says Kalya, inclining he head deferentially.

[bc56]

"Excellent, let's go!" Dave leads the way outside toward his village.

[Zefir]

"That would be a considerable difficulty," Wenomir says. "There's not much that regular investigation can do about that. Except possibly finding someone with a reputation for creating people like you."

"That is right." Fade replies. "It must be someone who plays with people. That is all I could say."

"I think I could try this material arts out."

[Morty]

"Do you mean the Riddle of Steel?" Wenomir asks, surprised.

[Zefir]

"If that is possible." Fade replies. "It's not like I can do anything to speed up my search."

[Sniccups]

J puts many more potions together and finishes some more doses of the mind-tricking door potion.

[Morty]

"If that is possible." Fade replies. "It's not like I can do anything to speed up my search."

"The Riddle is open to anyone," Wenomir says. "You need to think about what's important to you, beyond simply finding your creator, and what you're willing to sacrifice in pursuit of the Riddle."

[Zefir]

"Sacrafice?" Fade says. "What kind of sacrefices would you mean?"

He is a moment silent looking around the tavern. He suddendly speaks up even if Wenomir has already started to answer.

"That also reminds me of the lost shadows that roam in the nexus. It seems I lost track of myself and my stuff since I lost a clear goal."

[Morty]

"My sacrifice was to decline from relying on magic and technology even though I could have done it easily," Wenomir says, finishing his original thought. "You will have to find your own burden to carry. There are many paths to the Riddle, but none of them is easy." Now to answer the other thing Fade said."So they're your shadows that detached from you and now wander on their own?"

[Zefir]

"Exactly." He says. "It happened due to an unexpected event of solar eclipse. I would go for them myslef, butif I get close they know I'm there and they escape."

[Morty]

"Are they dangerous?" Wenomir asks. "How self-aware are they?" If they're dangerous, he might send someone from Vigil to deal with them...

[ChaoticHarmony]

Armonia walks into the bar beaming. The grin in his face is very wide and his body language hyper. "BARTENDER! A round of drinks for everyone, on me!" The human looking fellow strides toward one of the many inexplicable corner tables, his demonic friend Tethrik behind him.

[Zefir]

"Yes." Fade says. "They are dagerouse and selfaware. I know about a few. A time ago a big one was roaming through inside . Someone stopped him so I was able to get him back."

Fade looks up at the person giving a free rund. As the bartender looks at him he gets a nod. Fade only drinks one thing here so the bartender knows what he can bring.

[bc56]

Tethrik follows Armonia, looking much more somber. The events of earlier today weigh heavily upon him. "Blood, please. A lot of it." He sits down. "Full disclosure, do you want to go first, or should I?"

[ChaoticHarmony]

"I think we need something stronger than straight blood my friend." Armonia calls over the waitress. "Two tankards of Ichor Liquor please, and keep them coming. Oh! And a couple of burgers please." When the first round of drinks arrive, Armonia takes a sip then says "Ok....I'll start. First things first, what happened back at the temple, well.....it has been a long time since I've done anything that powerful.....so don't expect or worry about that happening too often. I guess I'll start with what I am.....I'm not a human Chaos Mage, I'm a demigod...." Armonia lets that sink in for a moment before continuing. "Now don't be thinking too high or low of that fact, the fact is even some of the more powerful demigods from my universe are pretty weak compared to the ones most universes seem to have, we totally got gipped in that department. When I was created, as when all demigods were created, we got ONE power from the domain of our creator. Mine was the Greater God of Chaos, so in order to be serve him, I asked for the power to make stuff randomly happen to things. Including that, I get eternal youth, immunity to direct divine effects cast by those of equal or lesser strength, and an immortal soul. Any questions so far?"

[bc56]

"It's not like the alcohol would change much. I'm highly resistant. No, no questions so far. That explains a lot." Tethrik accepts anyway, after all, he's not paying.

[ChaoticHarmony]

"Riiiiight.....so note that I said immortal SOUL. This means that I can die, over and over and over, and every time, my soul is reborn into a new body in the immortal realm(though to be honest, I don't know where I'll end up next time since the immortal realm I USED to go to isn't directly connected to the Nexus) My body can be killed just about as easily as any human's. I've been stabbed, slashed, bludgeoned, beaten, poisoned, suffocated, burned, ripped apart, had my neck broken, shot, drowned, squished, squashed, eviscerated, had my head chopped off, died of disease, tortured to death, exploded, imploded, crucified, stoned, and/or otherwise slain in almost every conceivable way, about half of those times by my own hand. Anyway...the revival process takes at least 24 hours, giving any god, demigod, or celestially blooded being the opportunity to loot my dead body. Anyone who ISN'T celestially blooded in some way can't steal my stuff, touching me or my things will instantly turn it/my body to dust."

[Morty]

"Yes." Fade says. "They are dagerouse and selfaware. I know about a few. A time ago a big one was roaming through inside . Someone stopped him so I was able to get him back."

Fade looks up at the person giving a free rund. As the bartender looks at him he gets a nod. Fade only drinks one thing here so the bartender knows what he can bring.

Wenomir likewise looks to the people offering free drinks. He shrugs, and has some tea. He rarely drinks alcohol, and usually it's with friends.

"I suppose I can tell my people about them, then. They won't be easy to find, but we are rather good at it."

[bc56]

"What about demon lords? After my explanations, the question will make sense. Could an archfiend take equipment from your body." Tethrik is leading into his explanations, regardless of Armonia's answer.

[Zefir]

"Sure." Fade replies. "You should inform me if you knocked them down so I can catch them. I can narrow down the areato search for them. As i mentioned they know when I'm close and the other way around."

[ChaoticHarmony]

Armonia downs his drink then raises his hand to the waitress for another one. "That's hard to say, demons didn't technically exist in my universe. Anything or anyone that could be considered one was either a demigod, or the result of a demigod or God's power. The latter weren't able to take things unless they were imbued with a Divine Spark....boy.....if I knew THAT was what we were going after......anyway the only way we could know for sure is if we tested it" Armonia's second drink arrives, as well as the burgers. "Why do you ask anyway?"

[bc56]

"I don't plan to go after any demon lords, but there might be one coming after us. By making Iuvenus disappear, you've made some powerful enemies in the underworld. It's time I told you the rest of my story." Tethrik pauses to take a bite of his hamburger. "I was a union organizer, which really didn't add up to much more than a wannabe demon lord. I amassed a small following and we holed up in a ruined fortress that was isolated enough to not attract too much attention. It was there that we found the box, although at the time it was several layers larger, about as tall as you are. I spent a long time solving the first few layers. Each time a layer was solved, the box dispensed a few soul gems. Eventually we needed to scavenge for resources, and that put us in conflict with established demon lords, who did not like my recruiting tactics. They wiped out my union, stripped me of most of my souls, and banished me into space, where I drifted until I arrived here. At some point, they discovered I'd had the box on me, and decided they wanted it. I think they know what's inside, because ever since I was freed, I have had to fight their agents."

[ChaoticHarmony]

"Harsh, there has got to be something pretty powerful in that box.....makes me kinda nervous being around it. As for the demon lords, I wouldn't be too worried about them, depending on how loyal he actually is, there might be some serious management changes when Iuvenus eventually gets back." Armonia takes a large bite of his burger, grease and sauce dripping down his chin when he does. "What's a soul gem?"

[bc56]

"These," Tethrik places the black stones from the box on the table, "are soul gems. Each one contains an evil soul. They're a form of currency where I come from, far more valuable than the rubies I keep on me for dealing with mortals."

[ChaoticHarmony]

"Why? Do they like boost a demon or devil's power the more they have or something? I understand the value of souls, at least as far as my realm is concerned, but I've never seen them in such an......easy to take form...." Armonia picks a stone up and looks at it closer. "Hmmm.....is the box made of this stuff?"

[bc56]

"Yes, and more. We're made of souls. If you look at these gems, they're black, so they contain evil souls. If they were white, they would be holding good souls, and I wouldn't be able to use them." Tethrik takes one and the color drains out of it. "Ahh..."