Dancing Fox In XII: Dance If You Want To

[Deathkeeper]

Welcome to the Dancing Fox Inn! Come and try our one of a kind beverages and food, chat with friends, or grab a private room and relax. All are welcome to the Dancing Fox Inn.

We would like to ask, please, no smoking in the establishment unless you are on fire. We understand that there are often exceptions. Thank you for understanding. Be sure to enjoy your stay.
If your characters are upstairs, please say so to avoid confusing the other occupants

Description:
The inn is . . . indescribable. Size wise, anyway. It has as many tables as needed, and as many chairs as needed. So that needn't be said as well.

The floors are smooth hewn logs. In fact the whole inn is made of wood, with a solid foundation of stones. There is a downstairs common room of tables and private booths, and an upstairs with bedrooms. There is a bar, behind the bar is a kitchen. The tables and seats are made of well-lacquered and cared-for wood, old but cleaned often. The private booths are also made of wood but the seats are cushioned with new upholstery of deep, earthy colors. There is also a basement that acts as storage for the drinks and food (and a secret meeting place). Access to the basement is through the kitchen.

Mist Anders is usually at the bar, with all sorts of convenient tools in his pockets. The fox-boy is currently the bartender and the waiter despite co-owning the place, but don't worry, his hands won't shed into your drinks.
Kitty is around the inn, waiting tables and keeping things running. Just don't stare at her poofy dress. Or the tails that it's supposed to be hiding.
Kestrel is...around. He does lots of things, and it's kind of difficult to pin down what he's doing and where he's doing it at any given time.

The inn as a whole can be described as homey, and great pains have been taken to fix it up and make it as good as new where it counts. New paint, new wood, everything. It's not the kind of thing to be shiny, but if it was, Mist would have gotten it sparkling.
Current Staff:
Mist Anders- Barkeep And Waiter And Owner (LordDeathKeeper)
Kitty- Waitress (Gulaghar)
Kestrel- Janitor, Medic, and All-Purpose Employee (recaiden)
Vemnon - Cook (Devixer)
Empty - Bard

HIRING: Pretty covered right now.
THE MENU:

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Under Complete Overhaul. Until it's done, just ask Mist or Kitty for something.

Wines*:
Fender Bender Mender: A nice wine mixed with a healing potion. Comes in non-alcoholic. No one can quite decide on what it tastes like, as it likes healing taste-buds and making itself taste divine.
Bar Drinks*: Nuka Cola Cleansed. A fairly decent knock-off without the unfortunate ingredient of radiation. Plus all sorts of other things on tap!
Beers, Ales & Such*: If it's found in the Nexus, there's probably a pint of it somewhere
Food: Roast Pheasant, barbecued ribs, fresh fruit, and honestly anything you could probably think of. Once we have a cook, that is.
Dessert:

*Can substitute the alcohol for a magical liquid that can make anybody drunk, no matter what the resistance, for a little extra.

Some Excellent Poems
Dancing Fox Inn and DFI '09
The Ballad of the Inn
We Dream of a Town

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Side note: The DFI is not in any way, shape, or form, inside Inside. It's just a quiet little place off somewhere, that would like to stay free from apoco-plots, various inter-warring factions, and all that jazz.
Everyone is equally welcome here, just please leave it at the door.

And, as such,
On Violence:

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The DFI is a peaceful place. There has been some IC, as well as OoC, talk about it, and the end result is 'please, for the sake of everyone else, don't do it'. If you want to fight, go elsewhere.
If you insist on fighting here, you will probably find your weapons turning into nerf versions of what they used to be, until you leave. After you leave they'll be returned to what they should be.
If you try to teleport someone out so you can kill them, it will fizzle and not work. Teleporting out in order to go do plot or RP stuff is fine. Just not to work around the rules and kill someone.
Lastly, if you choose to ignore these and keep trying to fight, you will either be ignored, or the entire inn and everyone else in it will be teleported off somewhere else, leaving you where it had been completely alone.
Or, you might find that there's a Nerf gun in your holster instead of your Glock. And a cheese stick in your knife sheathe. And generally other odd coincidences which would make that loadout rather useless.

Though please just don't.

Enjoy your stay.

And no, Mist can't dance, no matter what the name might have led you to believe. Kitty might. He hasn't asked her yet.

[Recaiden]

A violent red gash appears in the air, quickly turning to orange, yellow, green, and so on through the rainbow. As it finishes the colors, a human-shape Cleo in a fabulously rainbow-colored-scarf appears out of the magical disturbance, and it swiftly closes.
"Hey, Mist!"
"Do you think you could do me a favor, answer some questions, give some advice? In exchange for a service soon to be arranged or an owed favor of your own, of course."
She strides up to the bar, smiling brightly.

[Deathkeeper]

Mist jumps in surprise at the gash, but his embarrassing yelp is soon forgotten as Cleo enters.
"Well, I don't know if I have any services to arrange, unless you had something in mind. But sure, I can answer some questions for you." he says, with genuine friendliness. He would very much like to know Cleo better. She doesn't really act like family to Leah sometimes. So aloof. He really wants to make sure they can all get along. And new friends are nice, too.

[Recaiden]

"Perhaps you don't. But you'll come up with something, now or later."

Cleo sets an elbow on the bar and leans forward.
"Not to be typifying, or offensive, but I have a friend, and sometimes they're a fox-person. Is there anything not common with humans that I ought to avoid, or to do?"
"And unrelated, where do you see your relationship with Leah going?"

They have an aloof pattern established. It avoids them ever trying to mind control the other any more. But Mist, there's no danger of that.

[Deathkeeper]

Mist nods. It's a reasonable request.
"Assuming they don't have augments or magic to be different than the base animals, foxes can't have caffeine, or grapes. Avoid wine and chocolate. Vixens tend to be dominant, so they'll probably be expecting you to take charge. Unless they're a she, in which case that would really be your call. You'll want to have a home picked out, that's usually part of the courting thing, the fox and vixen digging a burrow. I think you already have one, though?
Make sure you have food for her, that's important. Uuuh, I can't think of much else. I'm basically just rattling off what I know from instinct and what I've learned talking to some of the folks at Inari's.

And well, I guess that although her full self is much more powerful, Leah is still a minor fae. I suppose if I want to keep up with her aging-wise I'll have to get my own stuff straightened out. As far as I know, I make her happy, and I her. I don't know if I'm ready to marry her or anything, but there's no reason to think we'll separate any time soon." he says optimistically.

[Recaiden]

Cleo listens attentively, lifting her head up to nod after the first set of advice.
"Nothing poisonous to them, right. Oh, so that's a general tendency, not just the people I know."
She gives a smirk there to the bartender.
"You guys don't actually dig a place with your hands, do you? That sounds ... beyond traditional. In that vein, what if they're also a ridiculously powerful angel-thing at Inari's temple? Any particular advice?"

"Straightened out? I haven't heard of what you have tangled up."
She nods, clearly pleased by the news. Mist is probably okay for Leah. He at least knows the right things to say to avoid suspicion.

[Deathkeeper]

Mist blinks. "I'm fairly sure they don't do that. I certainly wouldn't have even thought of it. And uh, I don't think that I can properly understand the thought process of an immortal divine messenger given my experience as an innkeeper and very occasional adventurer.

And you know. I'm still mortal. I don't know if, when, or how I'd become a fae, but if I don't and I don't find some other means I'll be dead within a century like most normal mortals and Leah will be almost the same, since as far as I can tell people like you don't age much if at all. There's other issues about our differing fae status, but that's the most pressing. Leah has never vocalized any dislike that I never got to full fae status." he explains.

[Recaiden]

Mist blinks. "I'm fairly sure they don't do that. I certainly wouldn't have even thought of it. And uh, I don't think that I can properly understand the thought process of an immortal divine messenger given my experience as an innkeeper and very occasional adventurer.

And you know. I'm still mortal. I don't know if, when, or how I'd become a fae, but if I don't and I don't find some other means I'll be dead within a century like most normal mortals and Leah will be almost the same, since as far as I can tell people like you don't age much if at all. There's other issues about our differing fae status, but that's the most pressing. Leah has never vocalized any dislike that I never got to full fae status." he explains.

"Oh, that's easy. Simply imagine you haven't learned anything from the experience. You just have magic powers and no need to worry about the future."

Cleo shakes her head.
"While her age has gone back and forth, we do get older. I think it's more slowly now for me, and it might not be at all for Leah, given the odd circumstances of her coming back. Maybe the djinn did something. At first, you know, it was a certainty that I was going to outlive her. Seemed she'd get five years at the very most. We're lucky to have decades ahead of each of us."
"Someday I guess we'll have to worry about you dying. What do you think happens to you?"

[Deathkeeper]

Mist considers the questions. Both if them.
"In that case...you're gonna want something big, probably shiny, and impressive to propose with. Just because 'I' have all the power and time in the world doesn't mean it isn't the proper way to impress someone.

And I guess that makes sense. Your bodies and Selves are separate.
And uh, I don't really know what happens to me. The nexus is weird. I suppose if Leah is doing her best to be a proper goddess she can probably help me figure that one out. It's... Not something I have considered before. Why do you ask?" he says to Cleo.

[Recaiden]

"Something big and shiny. On the proper scale for them. Ideas are already appearing."

Cleo gets an evil scheming smile and shakes her head.
"Just wondering. There's a million things people might believe. My-our world, that was something that magic never made any progress in. Ghosts and necromancy and finding an afterlife. Doesn't stop people believing, or even being right. There's something there that is different between fae and mortals and elementals. And here in the Nexus, I've seen the dead walk inside two days of being here, and gods are people you can actually meet."
"It's weird."

[Deathkeeper]

Mist shrugs. Maybe Leah can't help him with that.
"Yeah, it probably is. I guess I can't do anything about it right now though." he says with a shake of his head.

[Recaiden]

"Oh, I'm sure Leah will sort you out. That's still their main enterprise right now, sorting dead people off to the right place. I'm sure it'd be no trouble to make an exception." It's not actually that straightforward or easy, but Cleo doesn't quit know what she's talking about.

"Heh, and look at us calling something weird."

[Deathkeeper]

Mist's ears flick.
"Exception? Why would it be an exception? And in comparison, you full Fae are still plenty more weird than I am." he says with a smile.

[Recaiden]

"Because you're you, obviously."

Cleo takes in a deep breath, and lets it out as a six-eyed rayman-dragon.

"I guess so. But you can't call yourself normal anymore."

[Deathkeeper]

Mist laughs.
"I guess I can't. But I do blend into the crowd around here, don't I?"

[Recaiden]

"Certainly nothing people would give a second look. Blended right in."

Cleo sighs and looks back towards the window.

[Deathkeeper]

Mist raises an eyebrow. Was it something he said?
"Is everything all right, Cleo?" he asks hesitantly.

[Recaiden]

She looks back to the bartender, a bit surprised.
"Yeah. Not perfect - I was reminded that sometimes I don't understand Leah in troubling ways, but things will be all right."
"Any last advice?"

[Deathkeeper]

Mist nods. He gets that 100%.

"Use discretion when you should be completely serious. Foxes are mischievous, especially when given power and time. She'll expect you to have a sense of humor." he says after some consideration.

[Recaiden]

"Where am I going to get one of those?"
Cleo rolls her back set of eyes.
"Thanks, Mist. Take care."

A light starts up around her, red through purple, same as before, and when the last color finishes, she's gone.

[Deathkeeper]

Mist smiles and watches her go.

He'll come up with an idea a while later, though he won't really have any idea how to tell her about it. He is patient and can wait. He's sure she will know when she is needed. She's very mysterious that way.

[Recaiden]

"I hear you needed me."
Cleo strolls into the inn a while after a while later, in human shape. Possibly disorienting to Mist, she doesn't have a scent of her own.
"Do tell."

[Deathkeeper]

Mist takes a deep breath.
"I want to cash in the service you owe me. I want you to help me understand more about the fae. I know what the Charities are and such but I don't really understand, and I think I won't really get Leah until I do. That's not too vague for you, is it?" he asks.

[Recaiden]

[COLOR="#FFA07A"]"No, that's not a problem at all. And it's rather fitting to trade information for information."[/COLOR

Cleo slides into a seat at wherever Mist is. Probably at the bar.
"So, people have bodies. Pretty incontestable, right? And those bodies give rise to minds. People are people because they can think, they are aware. They have willpower. Mumble mumble waving of hands, because they have minds that are good enough, they have souls."

[Deathkeeper]

Mist sits down on a seat behind the bar with a nod.
"yeah. I'm with you so far." he says.

[Recaiden]

"Great. So our Charities, they're like artificial minds. That's not quite the right word, ugh. Your janitor, that's an artificial mind. Charities, they aren't, definitionaly, people. But they still make souls happen. They codify and solidify parts of who you are, and let you grow outward and upward. But you aren't just yourself but more. You go to places and ways you couldn't have." Cleo shakes her-
No, I'm narrating now. So I look Mist right in the eye, kind of crazy-earnest, and I smile.

"So at first, this just lets you do things. Like how I nearly always have objects I need on hand and don't have to carry things - I can disevoke them. Even extras, the least of us, can learn to do that. But as you go on it gets categorically different. I knew you wanted to talk to me. You start to see how the universe is held together. When you have enough and the right Charities, you stop needing a body. Your mind and soul become a closed, sustaining loop. That's what Leah's doing; she isn't anywhere, or anything. She just is."

I lean back a little bit and wait for Mist to ask questions, because now the explanation gets weird.

[Deathkeeper]

"So being a fae is essentially an evolution of the mind in a specific way, such that your mental self becomes a full entity on its own? How do you get a new body if yours gets killed? Someone mentioned it was hard but Leah seems to be making all sorts of things on her own." he asks, not quite lost so far.

[Recaiden]

I nod. He gets it, that's good.
"Right. To make a body, you uh make one, with Grammar. I hear it's a lot like programming computers and circuits. You've gotta lay out the physical form and get the pattern down right in every exacting detail. Then you run magical energy through it until it exists. Which could be just an instant, if you have ludicrous reserves of magic available for some reason, but it generally takes a while time. Now, remaking a body you just had is the easiest thing to do, because you won't have to do any design. It's just a matter of plugging the magic back into the pattern you had."
I give a shake of my head.
"That's how Leah got three of her so easily. She was pretty quickly subjected to a resurrection, a genie's wish, and some new black magic the world had never seen before. Lots of energy there, and there were three of her more or less the same. A lot of what she's doing is...not that, though. I don't think so. Leah learned it off in the shadow world, and I don't understand it."

I get out a pencil and notebook and start drawing a diagram. Stick figure, above it a brain and four little boxes in a row, and above that, uh, I dunno, some geometric thing. A star, let's say.
"So you have a body" the stick figure, easy "a mind" the poorly drawn brain "and some charities" these boxes, "and a soul." This star here. "Everything except the body, right, is the person in some way. But, you can exchange some of these parts. It's, uh, recursive." Down from each Charity box, I draw a couple shapes. A sword, a cup, a hand-mirror. "Right, you have these physical objects. But what you can do is-" Erase the body. Just gone. Then erase one of the charities, draw in its place a brain, and a body below that. "-make them complex enough to have minds of their own."

[Deathkeeper]

Mist considers this, his head moving back and forth a bit.
"So originally, each body was one of her three Charities? As far as I know though the Leah who I'm with seems to be a little different than the others. Was it not an even split, or is it just that Hunter got really weird really fast with that Song thing of hers?"

[Recaiden]

I nod, and reach out a hand to stop Mist's head moving back and forth, a look at him making it clear how silly he's being.
"It's more of the latter, although each of them is going to show influences of who they were."

"Hunter is supposed to be the most human-" Another charity is erased and expanded into a person, who is then surrounded by music notes.

"Leah, your Leah, will care the most about people-" Around that first figure, one level down, new Charities are drawn in. "And to complicate things, she is, apart form having been a Charity, a fae herself. A much lesser one than the original Leah got to be, but all the same."

"And Alkania will have the most impulse towards good, altruism, and also manipulation. They've grown apart quickly." The third charity is expanded into a plain, ordinary stick-figure.