Home 23

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Cassandra's Tower]

Electra nods at Cassandra's assessment of the situation in Southside. Truth be told it was the info on the now-former Mayor that she and Dena dug up that made her start considering joining an org full time; the General's offer just spurred her into action on truly considering and making the decision. Normally, she'd have already made her decision, but since the Nexus is home to so many different factions, she wanted to make sure she was siding with someone she could work with for the long haul.

"Yeah, I'm not too keen on tying myself to the situation, but it is a very tempting offer. Most of the rumors I've heard about VIGIL are more general; that they're fairly hide-bound and stuffy, and from what I can tell, they really only show up when something serious is going on, and keep to themselves the rest of the time. Maybe you know a bit more about them than I do, like I said, I've only ever met the one ex-member, and everything else has come pretty much second hand."

[Recaiden]

"I'd like to go, um, everywhere. See as much of the world as I can while we're out. But first, the Seaside. Th-"
Alexis wavers a bit as Sarina straightens up. If it weren't for her magical balancing shoes, I'm sure she would have fallen.
"No reins?" she jokes, before wrapping her arms around and holding on tight.

She'll probably find that she can actually go pretty far, and fairly quick, with Alexis's aura shimmering around like it is.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Cassandra's Tower]

Cass can't help but smirk a little at the characterization of Vigil as 'stuffy'. That particular one seemed to have a life of its own. As the smirk fades, however, Electra might catch a quick flash of another emotion before Cassandra resumes her composure and takes on a more measured expression. Guilt.

"I know but only a little of their inner workings," she says carefully. "It's true, they try not to involve themselves too heavily in general politics or everyday threats. Not as an organization anyway, though some of their members do their own adventuring when time permits. The full focus of the organization is only brought to bear against truly world-ending forces." Like demons and liches and eldritch babies.

"Fayyaad was very complimentary of your skills when we spoke - they certainly have the room for talent. I don't trust any rumor about them to not be at least somewhat exaggerated... but the mission they have is a harsh one. They ask a lot of those who sign on."

[Murkus]

[Cloudy Palace]

There are some 'acks' and 'oofs' from behind Artie as Frescots are swatted away willy-nilly. Most of the battered just throw confused glances her way, though, and continue on with their donated items. The two nearest, however, jump back a little bit in surprise as she changes shape.

"Ah!"
"She's a changeling!"

The more... naked of the two bends toward her, switching his rugs over to a single arm and rubbing at his stubbly chin. "You look kind of like... us. Wow." He chatters something at his fellow in a tongue she'll be familiar with as one unique to the Frescot clan, and his brother natters back. They look at eachother, then at Artie, and share a laugh. The broader of the pair offers his hand to her though and a smile by way of a more proper greeting, laying a quick but firm smooch on the back of Artie's petite knuckles if she gives up her hand. That done, they both amble on.

She can hear the sounds of things being moved around, more chatter, and the clink of glass from the adjoining rooms in the manor.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Cassandra's Tower]

Electra chuckles warmly.

"Was he now? I'll have to pay him for the compliment later, then." She grins for a moment. That will be fun, but business before pleasure. "But yes, I have an extensive service record, the gist of which is that I served a world-spanning para-military police organization for about thirty years before being trapped here in the Nexus. I survived three world wars as a special forces squad leader, and during peacetime, served as a special investigator, though the duties often amounted to intelligence work." A roundabout way of saying she was often a spy. She takes another sip of water, and looks back to Cassandra. "We often faced overwhelming odds, where failure might result in the destruction of the planet, or at the very least, the genocide of the race that created us, so I'm not exactly a stranger to those sorts of situations, though here, with the addition of magic and everything else, I'm not so sure I'd fare so well."

[Ashen Lilies]

[Cassandra's Tower]

Cassandra looks away awkwardly as Electra mentions Fayyaad, grappling with the unexpected shooting streak of envy that had suddenly taken root and bloomed in her mind. What a silly, messy, and utterly frivolous thing to have to deal with.

"An impressive record - you're probably more than qualified to be honest," says Cassandra, still a little off-handedly. "It's not like any of us were already experts in saving the world. Most of the time surviving seemed to come down to blind luck."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Cassandra's Tower]

Oh dear. That's an interesting reaction, one Electra hadn't counted on. Cassandra has a crush on Fayyaad? Eh, there are more important things to attend to at the moment, but it might merit some investigation later. She smiles gently, leaning towards Cassandra slightly, fixing the sorceress with those deep blue eyes.

"I do thank you for the compliment, but now I'm compelled to ask: why did you leave VIGIL? I mean, clearly you were a member at some point, given what you just said. I think I should mention that the former member I talked to before was Adir Frescott. I know why he left; I asked him, but I'm curious as to why someone of your obvious talents wouldn't want to be putting them to use there as opposed to hiring them out to the highest bidder."

[Gullara]

[Underside]

Iknika shuffles over to Claire and looks at the sketches.

"I feel like it should be from the front, if I'm supposed to be riding it. We can go look for other angles, but I don't think its owners are used to someone drawing it," she adds with a grin.

[Underside]

"That's fine, I draw people all the time, and usually they're not used to being drawn." Claire stands up so they can move to another angle. "Usually they don't notice either."

[Morty]

[Wizards' Tower]

"I'd like to see the gardens, if you've got them," Batu says. "After that, bed sounds nice. This has been a long day."

[Underside]

"Well, I noticed," Iknika says, tossing her hair. "And I'm pretty glad I did."

[Deathkeeper]

Wizards' Tower

Spako chuckles nervously. "Uh, I think that Cleo should show you the gardens. They're uh, hers. And kind of...dangerous? Like, very? So yeah I don't recommend going there at your level." he tries to explain. If not for his scales he might have gotten stung by a few of Cleo's terrible science experiments.

Cloudy Palace

Artie allows the Frescots to stare, though she does a bit of it herself, and also continuing to blush furiously (she blushes blue, of course). At the first excuse, she gives a shallow bow, an "Excuse me!" and kicks off the wall to float into the room with the glass sounds in an effort to remove herself from these prying eyes.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Cassandra's Tower]

Oh dear. That's an interesting reaction, one Electra hadn't counted on. Cassandra has a crush on Fayyaad? Eh, there are more important things to attend to at the moment, but it might merit some investigation later. She smiles gently, leaning towards Cassandra slightly, fixing the sorceress with those deep blue eyes.

"I do thank you for the compliment, but now I'm compelled to ask: why did you leave VIGIL? I mean, clearly you were a member at some point, given what you just said. I think I should mention that the former member I talked to before was Adir Frescott. I know why he left; I asked him, but I'm curious as to why someone of your obvious talents wouldn't want to be putting them to use there as opposed to hiring them out to the highest bidder."

[Cassandra's Tower]

Cassandra curses inwardly. Damn, she hadn't been intending to give so much away. That's... unfortunate. I guess she just has to kill Electra now.

"Sometimes you're not lucky." She says blandly.

She comment or even seem to react to Electra's giving away Adir Frescot as her previous contact, merely meeting Electra's gaze with a neutral expression.

"Will that be all?"

[Morty]

[Wizards' Tower]

"You realize that you've only made me more curious," Batu points out. "But if they're dangerous, they're dangerous. I suppose I can go get some rest."

[Gullara]

[Underside]

Claire laughs. "Yeah you did. And why's that? Is it because you get a free picture?" She teases.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Cassandra's Tower]

Electra's expression shifts slightly, a knowing looking that borders on comradely. While she hasn't actually died, she's come pretty close, and she has her own mental scars surrounding the experience. She hadn't been expecting on that sort of parting from VIGIL, and she hadn't been intending on potentially drudging up a potential mental scar for Cassandra, but the question was relevant. Judging by the circumstances, though, delving further into the subject is most assuredly not advisable. In fact, it might be a better idea if no one else knows what Cassandra just told her. VIGIL is ostensibly supposed to be the good guys, but considering they apparently abandoned her to die and someone else brought her back to life, there's probably a good reason to keep people in the dark, including herself.

"Yes, I think so. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up a painful memory." She rises from her seat, but pauses, and fixes Cassandra with a grave expression. "For what it's worth, I swear on both my and my siblings' names that I won't tell anyone about your previous affiliation." A somewhat odd thing to swear on, but anyone who's gotten to know Electra knows she takes promises seriously. Her expression shifts to one of gratitude. "I do very much appreciate you talking with me about it, though. It's given me a lot of things to consider about my own situation, so, thanks. I'll get out of your hair now." She smiles gently again, then turns towards the door and heads towards it.

[Murkus]

Cloudy Palace

Artie allows the Frescots to stare, though she does a bit of it herself, and also continuing to blush furiously (she blushes blue, of course). At the first excuse, she gives a shallow bow, an "Excuse me!" and kicks off the wall to float into the room with the glass sounds in an effort to remove herself from these prying eyes.

[Cloudy Palace]

Here, a few of the stouter Frescots seem to be unloading crates, stuffed with hay and bottles of varying liquids. Which... they seem to be uncorking. And drinking. Hmm, that doesn't look like furniture. A few of them have started to sit on the overturned crates at least?

[Morty]

[Underside]

"Maybe," Iknika says, tilting her head and pursing her lips. Which looks a bit odd on someone with tusks. "Or maybe I'm very glad to have met the artist and got to show her cool stuff."

[Deathkeeper]

Wizards' Tower

Spako nods and will open the door back to his tower for Batu to pass out on his bed. Spako will work on getting a second one in the meantime.

Cloudy Palace

Oops. These aren't Azren.
"Uh. There isn't a cellar or anything. So you can just...put those wherever. I guess?
....have you seen Azren?" she asks bashfully.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Cassandra's Tower]

Electra's expression shifts slightly, a knowing looking that borders on comradely. While she hasn't actually died, she's come pretty close, and she has her own mental scars surrounding the experience. She hadn't been expecting on that sort of parting from VIGIL, and she hadn't been intending on potentially drudging up a potential mental scar for Cassandra, but the question was relevant. Judging by the circumstances, though, delving further into the subject is most assuredly not advisable. In fact, it might be a better idea if no one else knows what Cassandra just told her. VIGIL is ostensibly supposed to be the good guys, but considering they apparently abandoned her to die and someone else brought her back to life, there's probably a good reason to keep people in the dark, including herself.

"Yes, I think so. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up a painful memory." She rises from her seat, but pauses, and fixes Cassandra with a grave expression. "For what it's worth, I swear on both my and my siblings' names that I won't tell anyone about your previous affiliation." A somewhat odd thing to swear on, but anyone who's gotten to know Electra knows she takes promises seriously. Her expression shifts to one of gratitude. "I do very much appreciate you talking with me about it, though. It's given me a lot of things to consider about my own situation, so, thanks. I'll get out of your hair now." She smiles gently again, then turns towards the door and heads towards it.

[Cassandra's Tower]

If there's anything worse than Electra opening up wounds, it might be Electra's reaction to the realization that she's opened wounds. Cassandra has never been the sort to take sympathy well.

"Yes, I have... sorcerous things to attend to." Very sorcerous things.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Cassandra's Tower]

Electra nods, but doesn't reply, instead simply showing herself out, closing the door quietly behind herself and teleporting away once she's outside. Sometimes, you just rub a person the wrong way no matter what you do, whether you intend to or not, and in that case, it's best to just leave well enough alone.

[Gullara]

[Underside]

Claire blushes a bit, but laughs it off. "Well that's better I guess." She settles into her sketching again for a moment. "Well, I probably have enough if we wanna go somewhere for you to pose."

[Morty]

[Wizards' Tower]

Batu does promptly fall asleep on the bed. It's been a long couple of days.

[Underside]

Iknika considers it briefly.

"I think I know a place. It's... I guess you could call it a park. Under a big, glowing mushroom."

[Murkus]

Cloudy Palace

Oops. These aren't Azren.
"Uh. There isn't a cellar or anything. So you can just...put those wherever. I guess?
....have you seen Azren?" she asks bashfully.

"Yeah, we are on it," says one of the nearby lads, thrusting a thumbs up at Artie just before he takes a swig.

"Would you like some?" Asks a slender man in a loincloth with beads and braids shot through his tuft-y red hair. He wags one of the dark bottles at her.

"Artie? Artie!" Calls a voice from nearby. The boisterous Azren appears from behind Artie and puts his hands on her shoulders, raising his eyebrows. He looks concerned! "Artie, there you are. What did you do, invite them in?"

[Deathkeeper]

Cloudy Palace

Artie doesn't really know how to respond to all of this. Especially given her innate ability to feel any and all desire directed at her during the entirety of this encounter. She's starting to look nearly shellshocked by the time Azren arrives.
"I...I...yes? You said they might stop by some time, I thought. So..." she trails off, unsure of what to say.

[Murkus]

[Cloudy Palace]

"Yes, but the Frescots don't just drop by," Azren says, and gravely. "We've got to find a way to get rid of them that still ensures they leave their things... and..." The big stag pauses, cocking his head to one side and peering at Artie as he holds her shoulders. "Are you alright?"

[Morty]

[Isaac's Home]

A certain young goblin shows up at Isaac's place. She's wearing a simple dark blue dress, with a geometric pattern. Her hair is braided, and she certainly doesn't look like a knight in training.

[Deathkeeper]

Cloudy Palace

"Well, I could park the palace close to the ground and just open up the floors. I'm fine, Azren. Just...not used to the stares is all." so many manly men around! What is a girl to do?

Isaac's House

A slim blonde lady answers the door. She makes the correct assumption that she's one of her son's friends. She sends Iknika down to the basement after calling her four kinds of adorable. Isaac's door is painted with a series of bright, colorful runes.
Iknika may choose to announce herself.

[Morty]

[Isaac's Home]

Iknika bristles at being called adorable. She's not adorable! She's a knight in training! But it'd be rude to argue, so she keeps it down. She knocks on Isaac's door instead of barging in, as amusing as the latter might be.

[Deathkeeper]

Isaac's Home

"You can come in!" Isaac calls, voice coming from one of the little runes like a speaker. Isaac was quite proud of that one. He doesn't tell anyone how many tries it took him. He's really rather awful at magic that aren't his specialties, potions being an exception as he's ok at that.

[Morty]

[Isaac's Home]

Iknika slowly opens the door and steps in. She's curious what Isaac's room is like.

"Hi Isaac! It's me!"

[Deathkeeper]

Isaac's Room

Isaac's room is cluttered. In one corner is a weight set and a training staff. Magic homework projects and artworks scatter the walls and shelves. Large sketches cover the far wall featuring Isaac's family, a shy-looking teenager holding an odd sheep-like creature that grins mischievously, an extremely fat elephant-person in robes, and an exact recreation of the drawing Isaac made for Iknika the day they met.
A dusty suit of power armor hangs out of the closet, too small for Isaac to wear, and an entire shelf of comics has been deposited on Isaac's desk. Doctor Strange, HunterXHunter, My Hero Academia, and Unsounded. He certainly seems intent on drawing something, and he jumps with a start as he looks up.
"Iknika! Hi! How uh, are you doing?" he asks shakily. He was clearly not expecting her.