Dancing Fox Inn XIII- Luck Costs Extra

[Lord Magtok]

Lost in Thoughts, All Alone?

"Just more proof that nothing's too fowl for the great Lord Magtok," Caelynn teases, peering over the menu to add a good-humored little smirk. Something has clearly influenced her for the worse, but the jury's still out on whether the fault lies in the company of Magtok, or the general state of parenthood. "I was thinking maybe some fish. It's been ages since I've had a good salmon."

The woman chuckles. "I'm afraid I've got my client confidentiality to obey, but I promise I haven't dealt with anything quite so dramatic. A few fun minor colds from worlds I don't know terribly well, but that's been the extent of it." She looks back towards Magtok. "How about you? Anything wild you've had to wrangle in the depths of the Magcave?"

"Nothing too crazy, but one of the mercenaries helping me clean the place out turned out to be my long-lost mecha pilot daughter. That was kind of a huge, unexpected surprise. See, a few years back, I had three kids just suddenly appear in the Nexus all in the same month, all claiming their father in some other reality was also a Magtok. They were also all telling the truth and not just pulling some crazy trust fund scam, like I first assumed. Crazy, huh?" Also pretty flagrantly unfair. How dare some other Magtok in another dimension get away with bedding their mothers and then not dealing with the bratty consequences themselves?

"Listen, that's not the thing I wanted to talk about, though," the cyborg frowns, his brow creasing with unease. He's got to just say it already; he's not going to get another chance. "Caelynn, I...I love you. I didn't think I was going to, I didn't plan on it. I originally thought I was just going to use you like some kind of emotional stepladder and then dump you once I got my act back together, but obviously that never happened. We're still dating, and so now I'm caught in the dumbest relationship triangle of the century. An evil dragon sorceress has kidnapped a death goddess I used to date back in the day, before a stupid accident got her killed. I'd worked with the dragon to bring her back from the dead after that, not realizing or just not caring the dragon had ulterior motives, but now it's been revealed what she was planning all this time. Now I have to rescue the goddess and slay the dragon to save the world, or else she'll use Libby's power to reshape reality and obliterate us all. That's the easy part. The hard part is when I finally find her, and have to explain I'm kinda already dating someone right now without hurting either of you." That's an...interesting way of looking at things, Magtok. I mean, bringing enough force to bear against a dragon in her own demiplane to keep her from becoming a capital-G God and becoming reality's sole arbiter is the easy part?

[Arkhosia]

Magtoks and Family Drama - Name A More Iconic Duo

Another quasi-stepdaughter? The news takes Caelynn by surprise, but her reaction may not be what Magtok expects, since she lights up with joy rather than recoils with shock or shrinks in worry. Either she really likes being a mother, or she's just happy on Magtok's behalf.

Hopefully the latter, considering how well the last kid she raised turned out.

"Whoa, I totally forgot about that! That's pretty amazing to hear, I'm glad you've been able to reconnect with her." She remembered all too well how it felt to lose contact with her own daughter; it must have been awful to experience something like that four times over.

That cheery look fades as she senses the gravity of the newest topic, ears perking to listen intently. Her brow creases as Magtok speaks more and more, but it's almost definitely sympathy and concern rather than anything wild like betrayal or disappointment. She reaches forward to clasp his hand. "Geez, that's... that's a lot to shoulder." No wonder he had practically broken down back when they first met. "And, well, quite a bit to process....

It takes a second for Caelynn to think of what to say. "I love you, that's not something that's gonna change whether or not there's some terrifying death goddess who would hold a terrible vendetta over it." She looks a little uncomfortable as she ventures a suggestion. "I... I'm not terribly frightened over how she'd react about me, I'm more afraid of how it might affect you." Probably because she doesn't know the woman's personality and doesn't grasp the terrible weight of her wrath and power, she thinks to herself. "I- maybe I could meet her when you pull this thing off, try and help come to some sorta... resolution." Or she could accept the state of being just a rebound like Magtok originally planned, though she's a little scared to suggest it.

[Lord Magtok]

Sadposting with Magtok and Caelynn Again

"So just...figure things out as we go along, then?" Magtok weighs the notion quietly for a moment or two. Is it just being lazy and delaying the inevitable, or was trying to force some kind of answer here and now too hasty and foolish? I mean, waiting certainly sounds a lot better than breaking up with Caelynn right here in the DFI, or plotting to give the funerary goddess the cold shoulder and foist Libitina off on Needs as soon as she's been rescued. There's been something akin to a spark in Needs' eye whenever the subject of Libby has come up lately, but our cyborg's favorite brother can barely even speak most of the time. I don't know if Libby would be willing to put in the effort to learn how to understand him like our Magtok has, and even then, our grasp of Needs is so very full of holes. It would be an insult to the both of them to try to solve his own problems by pushing them together, wouldn't it?

"Yeah, okay. That could work. I mean, that's how I've always done everything, right? Just make it up as I go along, keep throwing train tracks down as the metaphorical locomotive of doom I'm riding is chugging away at a thousand miles per hour and there's a bunch of people tied up at the next intersection and I have to choose whether or not to push a fat man in the way to crash the train or pick the path with less people on it or-" Change the subject, Magtok. It's been almost a whole year of you two dating; she can tell when you're only pretending to be confident.

"Aaaanyway, I don't think you have to worry about her coming after you or anything, though. She's very...I guess you'd call it patient, I guess? I think she'd be more likely to just wait for me to die and go wherever all the other Magtok souls go, rather than try to do anything about us. Wait it out until there's a dead or single Mag to smooch. Divinity gives you a sort of long view of things, I suppose." He lets out a sigh of relief, one he didn't know was being held back until it's already passed. This is going a lot better than we expected it to, isn't it? She's not getting upset at us for not already knowing what to do (pick her, of course), he didn't stupidly suggest some sort of polygamous solution wherein Caelynn would share with a woman she hasn't even met yet, and he hasn't had to take advantage of the DFI's no fighting rule to keep himself from getting mauled for 'cheating' on Caelynn before they started dating again. Don't get me wrong, this whole 'wait and see' strategy isn't exactly perfect, and there's bound to be more drama later, but nobody's been hurt and everyone's fine and the entire world hasn't been destroyed yet, so I'm going to chalk this one up as a win for Team Magtok.

[Arkhosia]

Cracking Open a Sadpost With the Boys

"And quite the standard to measure up to," Caelynn jokes as their orders arrive, pausing the conversation to thank their server and hand over menus. "But I'm sure we can manage to figure things out once we get to them. Things have turned out well for you so far, right? I mean, sure, having to rebuild after a couple years isn't the best of times, but just look at where you started!" The doctor leans closer with a smile, clasping Magtok's hand again. "Think back to all that time before you went off in search of archenemies to vanquish. All those wild plots, all those harebrained schemes and vast financial empires of yours. You built all of that. You've proven yourself far stronger and far cleverer than you think."

[Lord Magtok]

Reservoir Toks

There's a weak, half-hearted smile on Magtok's face at first, as this kind of talk about the good ol' days usually just leaves him feeling wistful and nostalgic, but then he stops to really think about Caelynn's words, and by gods, she's right! We've bounced back from worse than this! We've gone through hell and back, dragged ourselves out of messes hundreds of times worse than this one! Reinholdt and Calublufiok were way bigger threats to the fabric of reality, and now one is dead and the other is just some smelly housecat. Affidavit is just an AI ghost thing, nobody even remembers the KNAVES, and there's not a single person alive these days who has any clue who 'Saurous' was or why Magtok didn't like him. Everyone else has perished, but he's still standing! In fact, our cyborg hasn't even aged a day! Not a day older or wiser, because he also never learned a damn thing from any of those wild and crazy escapades!

"You know what? You're right. I'm going to rob a bank."

Yeah, that's right! We're gonna rob a bank! That'll show everyone! We're going to get a gun, find a suitably vulnerable financial institution in Inside, and-hold on, we're doing what?! Magtok, are you sure about that? Are you...are you really, honestly, totally sure that's the direction you want to take? Did you forget all that prattle shortly after your big return to the Nexus, about trying to be good and honest, about being a better person than you used to be? How does robbing a bank fit into any of that?

[Zefir]

As the door opens a sudden blast of wind enters the Inn followed by rain. It is stormy outside even so stormy you would avoid going out at all. Obviously not everyone had this option for one reason or another. A man stands in the door and immediatly closes it behind. The cape he wears is soaked, but as he looks around the Inn he doesn't even think about removing it. He then heads for the bar, avoiding the well known cyborg and his company. He looks out for anyone to talk, but then decides to order a drink first.

"A hardliner, please." he says. "Anything sweet, a Zombie if you serve that."

[billtodamax]

The man might find Nigel, sitting at a table at a prime spot near the fireplace, looking still slightly damp from the weather outside but improving by the minute. He was determined to salvage his nice night out even if that meant spending all of it sitting by the fire enjoying a small glass of expensive whiskey and reading what looks like an alchemical textbook. God he's such a nerd.

[Zefir]

As he notice Nigil at the fireplace he points to the bartender telling her/him that he will take place there. His clothes still wet he takes a seat near Nigil befor he address him.

"Excuse me." he starts. "Do you have a moment? I would like to ask you some questions if you got a minute or two."

[billtodamax]

Uh... Oh great a weirdo. Nigel just wanted a quiet evening out and this is what happens. Sure, yeah, what's up. He says, setting down his book. Best to get this done quickly then get back to his whiskey.

[Zefir]

It is a bit hard if he thinks everyone is a weirdo. Especially since he just don't want to be noticed for some reason.

"For once I would like to know what is up with the Acronyms here. You know Vigil, AMEN, MERC and so on. I have been away for some time and want to know who's in charg and what people heared about them."

[billtodamax]

Oh thank god this isn't some religious thing. He got stopped for 10 minutes talking about Thor the other day, of all the things. Oh, uh, sure. There's HALO, it's like a charity... research... thing? Not entirely clear on that. I think Felandria and Reinholdt are running it. Nigel you should definitely be more clear on that. You've worked there. VIGIL's some sorta vigilante thing? I guess that's just legal here. Sure. MERC is uh, just a mercenary organisation I think. I don't really know about any other- oh, GLoG, of course, the uh, the charity. Nigel doesn't get out much.

[Zefir]

Zefir listens, at least a few informations came out like Reinholdt and Felindria lead HALo now. wasn't there some angel guy doing that? Well still this guy seems less informes then he hoped.

"Hmm, well that is much less then i expected for an update on them. I at least thought there is some more chang and it seems you didn't hear anything about AMEN. They normaly tend to do some stupid violent stuff.
Is there anything else to know? Like some peolpe jumped into the spotlight of attention?"

[billtodamax]

Uh... Aren't they those terrorists? Nigel asks. I heard they did something during that invasion of Riverside. Some people. He adds. Aren't those AMEN folks horrible! I'm sure you'd never have anything to do with them. Taking advantage of a tragedy like that. Whatever it was they actually did. Nigel didn't follow the news much.

[Zefir]

"I thought they are a bunch of evildoer." the man replies. "It's allways good to know what they are up to. It makes it easier to avoid them."
The man nods and lightly turns his head to a side making a pudle of water drop on the ground. "They did something while demons attacked riverside? Well, that seems to be their style. Making things worst. At least it seems they don't start any big apocalyptic things."

The man obviously relaxes a bit in his seat for whatever reason.

"Is that all?" he asks curious. "May I ask what you read their? It seems like some formulas where writen on it."

[billtodamax]

Well y'know, evildoers, terrorists, same thing right? No I hadn't heard anything else about them. Don't need that sort of negativity in my life, you know? Nigel says, before Zefir this mysterious stranger asks him about his book. Oh, uh, this? It's just a textbook on applied alchemy. Pretty intermediate stuff but I'm still learning so, engaging enough. He says, showing Zefir the cover. Ye Practical Applicationſ of Ye Alchemical ſcienceſ

[Zefir]

The player can't do much with the book and the char as well since in his world things are different.
"May I have a look inside? I do some stuff you might put under alchemy, but I haven't had the chance to read through stuff from other worlds."

[billtodamax]

Oh, uh, sure. Nigel says, passing it over. I dunno about other worlds, this was from a university store. He says, taking a sip of his whiskey. Oh unless he means he's from another world? Sure. Oh, sorry, I didn't catch your name - I'm Nigel. He says, suddenly realising how rude he's been. He offers a hand to shake.

[Zefir]

"My name is C4." he says shaking the hand. "Befor you ask, it's an Artist name. I used it so much it became my name." Depending on how much Nigil knows about the AMEN leader he might think it sounds simular. Also if he got intressed in fireworks he migth have heared that name before since he owns a very popular fireworks company. Using a websearch he will find some very artistik ways to do fireworks. People willmostly describe it as art rather then just lighting up the sky.

He then flips through the pages , stopping sometimes when something catches his attention.
"It's not the hard stuff, but nothing for starters. Are you working in a lab or just study those things?"

[billtodamax]

Oh like a stage name or something huh? Nigel asks. Nigel cares very little about fireworks. The chemistry behind them is fairly boring. No I don't uh... I don't do any alchemy professionally or anything. I'm actually a doctor. This is just a useful little diversion, really. I've got some home equipment, y'know. I actually have gotten to use HALO's labs once or twice, they've got a pretty good set-up there.

[Arkhosia]

The Grand Adventures of Magtok Dian and Caelynn Harvent

The clear rejuvenation all these thoughts have for Magtok is almost infectious, and Caelynn can't help but grin as she sees that exuberance return into the cyborg's eyes. Well, technically eye, but that's not important. What is important is what he says next, and the response it gets as his girlfriend blinks, the spell broken.

"Wait, what?"

There's a hint of worry there, but she looks more confused than anything else. "I-I mean, don't get me wrong, I'd love to join you on some wild and crazy escapade, but are you sure that's the sorta look you wanna go for this time around? Maybe something a bit more heroic and daring than sprinting from policemen, y'know?"

[Lord Magtok]

The Post Where Magtok Complains A Lot

"And how do you propose we get in on the ground floor of something heroic and daring? Aside from my own private little apocalypse business, all the plot hooks and calls to adventure are going to be passing through VIGIL or HALO, and they hate me. That's the one thing they can all agree on, that Magtok sucks and he never should've declared himself leader of HALO when Tobias left, that he never should've been involved in the process of trying to merge HALO and Watchtower. That's half the reason why they split right in the middle of that demon attack, you know. Neither side wanted to have to deal with that sneaky, duplicitious cyborg, and both thought the other would be the one to keep me around. Then they both collapsed, and they've only recently started to put their pieces back together, which I think says a lot, obviously," Magtok declares, forcing me to sigh in exasperation and insist the the tin man's views on the acronym organization landscape are both ignorant and in no way meant to reflect my own thoughts on the matter. Obviously there were much bigger things going on, more important issues faced by the organizations at the time, but good luck convincing him anything in the Nexus has ever been more important than Magtok. He shakes his head, and tries to get his mind back on track, to return to the very important bank robbery business.

"They're not the only ones, either. Inside's police force has an angel cop that's constantly looking for an excuse to go after me. I think we'd be saving everyone a huge headache if I just went out there and gave her one. I mean, all this morally ambiguous, 'is-he-helping-or-is-he-scheming' nonsense isn't doing me any favors; people stopped giving me the benefit of the doubt years ago. I think I should just lean into it and commit to the 'mostly harmless but incredibly stylish villain' routine." And what, make a name for yourself as Malice, but less cool and less evil? You'll just be redundant if you do that, Mags. It's not the way to go.

[Zefir]

Oh like a stage name or something huh? Nigel asks. Nigel cares very little about fireworks. The chemistry behind them is fairly boring. No I don't uh... I don't do any alchemy professionally or anything. I'm actually a doctor. This is just a useful little diversion, really. I've got some home equipment, y'know. I actually have gotten to use HALO's labs once or twice, they've got a pretty good set-up there.

"Yeah, you could say that. " he replies. He doesn't seem so eager to talk with Nigil about it. Right now he appears as the to busy looking at a book then notice what goes on around. I guess Zefir can notice the odd eye unless it's in some kind very very normal and also the arm whos not a real one.
"You work at HALO and know little to nothing about them? Isn't that kind of rude if they let you use their labs?"

[billtodamax]

Hey I know enough! They help people with research and stuff. Probably get a grant from the government. Nigel says defensively. Besides I'm not just like... stealing their labs for my own stuff. I'm helping out with the disease going around. The meme one. He is totally also doing a bunch of personal projects in there. They have such nice tech!

[Zefir]

"Gouverment? Has riverside take a liking to HALO now?" he asks curiously. "Inside was never stable enougth to get a proper gouverment and had the resources to finance an acronym, but Felindria got voted in eastside if I remember correct. She is the mayor there." he makes a paause to think.

"A Meme Disease? Since you didn't mention it befor it's no big deal?" hes more asking if it is dangerouse right now and not how difficult it is to heal.

[billtodamax]

I dunno dude! Nigel shrugs. She runs HALO too so there's probably some conflict of interests there. Maybe Reinholdt and her just fund it? She is a god after all, right? Probably pretty rich. Uh, no, the disease shouldn't be a problem for you. You're a human, right? Good to check. You should steer clear of any non-humans acting strange in any case. They can be dangerous.

[Zefir]

"Sounds resonable." he says. Felindria sure got some money with her business and as a major and Reinholdt was known as an adventurer he coold own hoards of Gold.
"A desease that only effects specific races?" he wonders. "I am a human, but why is it so specific. It sounds more like some kind of magical curse then a desease. In which case I would be even safer."

[billtodamax]

Uh... yeah, actually. That's my theory, at least. Nigel says, motioning with his glass as he talks, and taking a sip for a break in between talking. It's based on stereotypical behaviour. Why um... why specifically would you be less effected by a curse, though? He asks, frowning at C4.

[Zefir]

"You should try to consult a mage or someone withabilities to form a curse. maybe they can help you with that." he says. an idea forming in his mind how this may work out.
"It's not so scary" he says obviously noticing the frown. "You might know that somedragons have a high resistance against magic? It is like that for me, too. Just that I'm so resistante that I can barly use magic and never will be able to cast spells," She shakes the head a bit. "No curse spellcaster has managed to curse meyet."

[billtodamax]

Well, y'know, that's what the- what the alchemy's for. Nigel says, motioning toward his book. I'm doing some cool things integrating it into tech, running the results through some software I wrote to interpret it, good crunchy stuff. Nigel is a huge nerd. And I'm reading up a little on how to go about cursing someone, common cures, that sorta stuff. He polishes off his whiskey, looking at the empty glass with a frown. You drink? He asks.

[Zefir]

Right then C4 gothis cocktail served, no 'Zombie' as he wished he got told it's quiet simular from what he told them. He would perfer a glass of cohnac, but he is here is disguise so he goes with something people wouldn't assume.

"I don't think technologie is able to analyse everything, especially if it has to do with magic. Better call someone with experience. Just my 2 cent." he says. "Be carefull with what you read. I know enougth about curses to tell you that reading through them can trigger some." For his last question he points at the new served drink.