Seaside 4: Where Every Week Is Shark Week

[Shadowcaller]

[Beach Party - Tanning with Tina]

"Of course I do, I've been in bed with him. You clearly haven't." She sticks out her forked tongue again before moving to the stage.
And she actually handed Rein her drink in my last post. Easy to miss though.
"Alright, let's do this."

[Beach Party - Tropical Island]

The marker is called "Pantaroru Temple", it appears that its more of a city temple than a single building. There are some markers here with numbers "500 uni". All other temples (and settlements) are marked with similar numbers ranging from between 100 to 3,000.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Beach Party - Stage]

Electra returns shortly with the drinks, carrying a bottle in one hand along with a short glass filled with something dark, and a larger one, filled with a creamy blue concoction of some sort..

"I've had this once before, I think you'll like it, Fayyaad," She says, holding the bottle out to him. The label proclaims it as "Berry Weiss", must be some sort of mix of berries and beer. Or beer brewed with berries; it's hard to say. She hands the larger glass off to Cass with a small smile. "And for the lady, a Blue Lagoon. I thought it was appropriate, given our surroundings." Her own glass is filled with a whiskey Old Fashioned; Fayyaad probably knows she likes whiskey drinks in general when she's not drinking the stuff straight up, so he might be able to guess what she's drinking. She takes a sip of her drink after handing the others their own, and looks to both of them.

"Well, how'd I do?"

[Beach Party - Stage]

"Refreshing." Says Cass, smiling. It's certainly not what she was expecting, but enjoyable nonetheless. "Well, I suggested the karaoke, so it's time for somebody else to take a turn choosing what we do next."

[Murkus]

[Beach Party - Tanning wit' Tina]

"Hold my bag too, will you, sweetheart?" She says, trying to hang it on one of his arms. The neon girl drops her shades over her eyes and ascends to the stage, tossing out her piano for it to expand as a full sized Baby Grand. A mic and stool even pop out of the hardlight construct.

Once Dena is ready and in position, Fettina starts to play a piano rendition of the aforementioned song. She sings, her voice sultry, filled with low and smoky tones that almost seem to allude to the night ahead. Her fingers dance their little jig without fail, something that pleases her greatly. Maybe it helps there's so few people left. If Rein is watching the whole time, the attention while she gets back into her piano-groove might cause the tiny neon girl to blush again.

[Morty]

[Beach Party - Stage]

Fayyaad takes his drink from Electra and tastes it. Hmm, interesting. The drinks to be found in the Nexus still manage to surprise him. He'll keep on a conversation with the two women for a while and watch Tina's performance before saying:

"This has been fun, but I think I'm ready to head somewhere cooler. But you're free to tag along, especially if you've got a location in mind."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Beach Party - Stage]

Electra watches Tina's performance with an appreciative ear, but her attention is mostly occupied by Fayyaad and Cass. She thinks for a moment.

"Do you mean that literally, or figuratively?" She asks, a grin playing at the corners of her mouth. "'Cuz I can think of places that fit either criteria...."

[Ashen Lilies]

[Beach Party - Stage]

Tina's performance doesn't even attract the slightest bit of notice from Cass, as enraptured as she is by current company. "Please do enlighten us."

[Morty]

[Beach Party - Stage]

"I meant it literally, but I wouldn't mind it in the figurative sense," Fayyaad says, his tail flicking. "Do share any ideas you have."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Beach Party - Stage]

"Well, if you want to cool off, there's a lake I know of. I know we're next to the sea and all, but this is up near a mountain. It's a lot cooler up there. We could have a private little camp-out," Electra says. "But if you want cool in a figurative sense, I know of this neat little blues bar in Inside. It's dark and smokey and...cozy, is really the best word for it." The grin finally manifests itself. "Of course, if you have something else in mind, I'm not going to complain."

[Ashen Lilies]

[Beach Party - Stage]


"Private lake?" A camp-out, huh? Ordinarily Cass would be quite suspicious of the prospect of being outside for such an extended period of time. The outdoors are evil. This is different, though. "I'm interested."

[Morty]

[Beach Party - Stage]

"Somewhere cooler and more private does sound good," Fayyaad agrees. "Let's go for it."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Beach Party - Stage]

Electra places a gentle hand on Cass's shoulder.

"I'll teleport you both there then. I can only take one at a time, but it won't take long. I'll take you, first, Cassandra, and then I'll be back for you, Fayyaad."

Unless either Cass or Fayyaad objects, Electra and Cass will then disappear in a beam of blue light. A few moments later, Electra will reappear in the same beam of blue light, take Fayyaad's hand, and they'll both disappear once more, reappearing at the lake Electra mentioned.

(The scene will move to the [Lake Cabin - Private Party] scene in Home).

[Reinholdt]

[Beach Party - Tanning with Tina]

Oops.

Reinholdt takes Tina's bag as well, putting it on the arm holding Dena's drink so he can remember which drink is which. At least they keep promising him a lot of tongue for this. Also teasing him with theirs. For now, he'll just listen to the song with a smile.

A conflicted smile. It's a good song. And Tina's a fantastic singer. And... Maybe the song wasn't about him. If he was lucky. He probably wasn't that lucky. That's how everyone saw him wasn't it? The wrong choice. The bad choice. The mistake. And any basis he had to refute that point was shaky at best. It's... not what he wanted in life. To be the guy every best friend warns you about. It's worse knowing he's tried, and he's tried and he's still not there. That he'll probably never be there. Where even is there? Maybe the best he can ever be is the hot one night stand you should avoid. He could be reading too much into it. It might just be a song. Sometimes songs are just songs.

Reinholdt does well covering his emotions, keeping up a silly smile. He has to live in the moment. He has to. He won't be able to survive if he didn't. And at the moment there is a very interesting woman who has been flirting with him and a different sort of interesting woman dancing. His attention gets split between the two so while Rein is watching the whole time, he's not just watching Tina. If that helps her any.

[Beach Party - Tropical Island]

"I have no idea what these mean. Faith points? Population? Maybe the amount of seeds this ship was supposed to deliver to each of these?" Ilpholin shrugs and zooms back out trying to see if she recognizes any of the shorelines or islands from nearby. "Granted, I think I'd rather explore the temple in front of me than these snake ones." Ilpholin says with a lascivious smirk as she looks past the map at the far more interesting Druid in front of her.

[Shadowcaller]

[Beach Party - Tanning with Tina]

Dena takes position on the stage and closes her eyes for a moment while replacing her sunglasses for an blindfold. No way she'd be able to dance like she did and not accidentally petrify the crowd if she was wearing sunglasses. One had to adapt.
It had been a while since she had done this in front of a crowd but these people would hardly notice that she was essentially making the moves up as she went along. It looked like the thirsty trio had gone off to drink either way so it looked like she was performing solely for people she didn't know.
She starts by just standing there and swaying as Tina begins playing, her snakes moving to the same beat as her hips.
Then she puts her hands together above her head and starts stepping to the music while giving the audience a seductive smile which she holds for the entire performance.
Starting out slowly she takes a step forward, then one back to the side, and then to the other side, never stepping back into a position she had been in a moment ago and thus always moving about the stage one step at the time.

Her arms are nearly always outstretched, curving gently like waves as she occasionally swirls around. As she swirls her snakes hold themselves into a long mane that moves with her, occasionally switching sides as her arms are gesturing in the opposite direction in a style that's less fluid and more robot-like in movement, fitting with the beat of Tina's music. This breaks up into a series of swirls as her arms are held out fully to the sides once again.
Then she stops and remains still for a moment as she bends backwards for a moment, only to suddenly be upright again with a beat of her hips. She then lets her arms vibrate to the music as she makes a slower 180 degree swirl around while slowly starting to bring her arms closer to her hips even as they continues to vibrate. Once her arms are nearly fully pressed pressed up against her sides she suddenly puts her hands on her hips and lets them sway from side to side in a sporadic manner adapted to the piano music.
Then she sway forward in the same sporadic manner, essentially her hips and body twitching from side to side and back and fourth and she raises her hands above her head once again lets them move with her hips, moving in the opposite direction of her hips, swaying left and right, thrusting back and fourth. Her snake-mane mimics her hips movements instead, making it so the snakes are never pointing in the same direction as her hands as she moves to the music.

Finally, as the music starts to slow down, so does Dena as she finishes by giving an elegant bow to what little of the audience that remains. The snakes, still formed as a mane, makes the same bowing motion with their bodies.

[Beach Party - Tropical Island]

There is actually this glowing blue dot on the map which is pulsing and doesn't appear to be a permanent marking like the other notes which were made in red. Its in the water, just off the shore of "the mainland".

Anika who had been studying the map until now suddenly looks up and grins back as Ilpohlin mentions "temples". She puts her hand on her hip and leans forward as the make up for the height difference between them. "Temple am I now? Most people don't start off by comparing me to an inanimate object." She teases as her grin widens slightly, putting her sharp canines on display. "But as far as inanimate objects go, temples are alright and I can tell you're a person who knows her temples."

[Murkus]

[Beach Party - Dancing wit' Tina]

It helps somewhat, Rein - especially once Dena gets going, considering how damn distracting that is. Tina watches every jerk and hip-jive with rapt attention, doing her best to keep the song rolling forth. Her words don't stumble once, and her fingers dance a merry jig. For all her skill, Fettina is just the backing, Dena is the real show, and the neon girl minds not a little.

Dena is like a mirage, never in the same place when you look at her twice. She might as well be six dancers at once. Those hips in that outfit are pure hypnosis, rendering Fettina dumbstruck save for her hands and her mouth. The three or so minutes that Tina is playing just can't last long enough.

The notes are scarcely winding down and Dena is busy bowing (snakes and all) when Fettina hops up from her piano to join the gorgon. She practically crashes into Dena's side, hugging an arm around her waist and grinning as she tries to join her in a second bow. "Dena that was absolute murder! You're amazing!" She spouts. "Better every time I see ya!"

[Reinholdt]

[Beach Party - Tanning with Tina]

Don't spill the drinks Reinholdt. A difficult proposition given his unusual mixture of perturbed, awe-struck, and a desire to applaud. Since he cannot give proper praise with hands, Dena will have to settle for his mouth, which probably couldn't give her her due justice anyways given the limitations of the spoken word. "That was extraordinary! Both of you. Why aren't you guys on the professional circuit yet? You would make way more money doing that then you would at MERC or Treasure Hunting."

There's a pause for a moment as he considers something. "Do you need a manager?" If there's a large amount of money to be had, Rein wants a piece!

[Beach Party - Tropical Island]

"Oh I'm very pious. I commune every day," Ilpholin claims. That might be true. She's always been a bit heavy with Lolth. It's definitely true if she means it in that other way though.

"So wait. You've never heard the saying 'my body is my temple' before?" Ilpholin asks, suddenly closing the gap by standing on her tip toes until they're almost touching. Not quite though. Close enough to feel the heat off her lips for sure.

[Shadowcaller]

[Beach Party - Tropical Island]

"Really?" Anika asks, still grinning mirthfully as Ilpholin claims to be commuting. She had no idea if it was true or not but it was an entertaining though considering what she related to communion. "Oh, I've heard it. Just teasing ya'." Anika sticks out her tongue. "I want to hear more about this pious Ilpholin though, perhaps you are a priestess of sort? Very... pure."

[Beach Party - Dancing wit' Tina]

Dena takes a deep breath as she attempts to cool down after that short yet intense workout.
But then she is jumped by Tina and Rein.
They were certainly eager to congratulate!

She smiles, even if she can't see them the same way with a blindfold, she could hear them well enough and feel Tina squeeze her waist. Dena gestures dismissively. "Psh, I quit that business a long time ago. Not going back to it. And Tina is just into it for the danger. Good to know that I still got it though." She grins widely.

[bc56]

Open Sea
Open Scene - Interaction wanted

It's a bright calm day, unfortunately for anyone sailing a ship which is powered by wind. Still someone is managing. A wooden sailing ship, a three masted barque, to be precise, is slowly passing along, carried by the current. The sound of an accordion comes from its deck, as well as a more or less out of tune chorus singing a sea shanty. A brass plate on the rear of the ship proudly displays its name, The Golden Serpent. The ship rides light, clearly with little cargo in its hold.

[Zefir]

Honeysuckle takes a seat, leaning forward with her elbows on the table.

"I don't mind." She shrugs and tosses her head carelessly. "It's been like this as long as I can remember. Don't know where it came from. My mother didn't know either. I wish I knew..."
"Anything I see starts to burn, disintegrating until there's just ashes left. It follows my eyes; whatever I focus on goes much faster. It doesn't affect me as badly; when I close my eyes, just a little warmth."
"It lets me sort of sense things, though. 'm not really blind."
She happens to be wrong about that. Her mass-sense and heat vision are separate powers. They're just both uncontrolled since she's never had training in how to use them.

"The heat doesn't come from any real physical place. Doesn't seem so, anyway. Just endless energy. Waiting to pour out."
"I hate it." She finishes.

"Oh" Mia says. "Have you tried some healers or some magicans? If it really is some kind of energy you could learn to controll it."

[Murkus]

[Beach Party - Dancing wit' Tina]

Fettina gives a little scoff at Rein as she smiles, thinking that he's just using hyperbole to butter them up. "For your information, flatterer, I've already been on the professional circuit. So to speak. I quit too, sure, but it was only after a sordid affair with one of my bandmates," she says mysteriously. "I know I could go pro. Definitely. I just... don't need to. So much work, you know?" Yea, Tina, that's it. Well, laziness probably does factor in there somewhere. Tina will go to hop down off the stage.

[Earl of Purple]

Open Sea

The Golden Serpent may note something steadily getting closer. A small rowboat, with five people- all seemingly human- on board. The boat is wood, and doesn't seem to have oars, a sail or an engine; it's just drifting around aimlessly. The five people look like they're in trouble, too; only one is standing up, lurching from side-to-side with the movements of the boat on the waves. The other four are lying or sitting down; one seems to be dead, as a seagull has landed on its shoulder and is pecking at its face, and nobody seems to be doing anything about it.

The standing up figure looks to be a man, wearing a pair of jeans and a hooded yellow hi-vis jacket stained with blood; the hood's up, hiding the man's face. As they get closer, it's apparent that another of the boat's occupants is very dead indeed, consisting primarily of bloody bones.

[Recaiden]

"Oh" Mia says. "Have you tried some healers or some magicians? If it really is some kind of energy you could learn to control it."

Honeysuckle shakes her head.
"Healer said I'm fine."
"And I couldn't afford the help of a magician."
She sighs.

"Wouldn't that be nice, to control it? But I can't imagine how; it's never worked before. "

[bc56]

Open Sea

The lookout of the Golden Serpent shouts, "Boat ho!" Someone else shouts as well, "Avast! Bring her about!" The ship turns to intercept the rowboat. A bearded man looks over and throws down a rope. "Ahoy there! You look like you could use a hand!"

[Earl of Purple]

Open Sea

The man in the hi-vis turns towards the ship towering over, and stumbles towards the larger vessel. The waves bring the smaller boat against the hull of the ship with a thud, the blow heavy enough to be heard but not so forceful as to damage either party. It does throw the stumbling man off his feet and overboard, however, where he lies floating on his back, reaching towards the ship and those aboard.

The other four people on the boat are in a bad way. The person pecked by the seagull, a woman in a blood-spattered yellow floral print dress with both eyes pulled from her head, doesn't move. She's not the only person aboard who is clearly deceased; another man lies on his belly in the bottom of the boat, trampled beneath the feet of the stander, and it looks like he's been cannibalised- the flesh has been stripped from his arms and legs, though his bearded face is just visible as his head is tilted to one side. Another woman, not quite twenty by the looks, lies on top of his legs, reaching for the boat and groaning, her long blonde hair dangling in the water off the side. There's a knife embedded in her side, between her two lowest ribs; the injury has stopped bleeding, but there's a lot of blood stains on her white t-shirt and denim hotpants. The final individual is an old, balding black man in a creased and dirty suit, who pulls himself up; there's an injury to his left forearm, though it has also stopped bleeding... It looks like a bite.

[bc56]

Open Sea

The bearded man clambers down the rope swiftly. His hair and beard are read, and he's stocky and well built. He wears a grey overcoat, patched numerous times, as well as a black tricorn hat with fading red trim. He leaps into the small boat. "Ugh, that looks nasty. Let's get you to safety " He ties the rope around the wounded woman and shouts "Heave!" and she is pulled onto the barque. Moments later, the rope is lowered again, and and the procedure is repeated with the injured man. The bearded sailor then reaches down to the man who fell overboard, pulling him back into the boat. "What happened to the five of you?"

[Earl of Purple]

Open Sea

Well, that's a little godmoddy, but that's fine for me!

The injured woman reaches out for the bearded man as she's tied and hauled up, growling and moaning as she ascends, looking down hungrily as she goes up. When she's untied, she'll try to grab and bite the closest person.

This likely means the sailors are too busy to lower the rope for the wounded man, who is meanwhile trying to grab hold and bite of their would-be rescuer.

Alerted by the commotion, the eyeless woman starts to move, crawling towards the sounds of commotion to get her own bites in. Meanwhile, the corpse on the floor is unable to move- not enough muscles left and attached- but may get a bite of an ankle.

Anyone who is bit and who manages to survive the attack will, probably within half an hour, die and return as another zombie.

[bc56]

Open Sea

"Zounds!" The sailor leaps onto the railing of the rowboat as the zombies attack, drawing his cutlass and slashing downward at them. Meanwhile, on the ship, the sailors attack the zombie with their weapons, but not before one is caught by surprise and bitten.

[Reinholdt]

[Beach Party - Tropical Island]

"Really?" Anika asks, still grinning mirthfully as Ilpholin claims to be commuting. She had no idea if it was true or not but it was an entertaining though considering what she related to communion. "Oh, I've heard it. Just teasing ya'." Anika sticks out her tongue. "I want to hear more about this pious Ilpholin though, perhaps you are a priestess of sort? Very... pure."

[Beach Party - Dancing wit' Tina]

Dena takes a deep breath as she attempts to cool down after that short yet intense workout.
But then she is jumped by Tina and Rein.
They were certainly eager to congratulate!

She smiles, even if she can't see them the same way with a blindfold, she could hear them well enough and feel Tina squeeze her waist. Dena gestures dismissively. "Psh, I quit that business a long time ago. Not going back to it. And Tina is just into it for the danger. Good to know that I still got it though." She grins widely.

[Beach Party - Dancing wit' Tina]

Fettina gives a little scoff at Rein as she smiles, thinking that he's just using hyperbole to butter them up. "For your information, flatterer, I've already been on the professional circuit. So to speak. I quit too, sure, but it was only after a sordid affair with one of my bandmates," she says mysteriously. "I know I could go pro. Definitely. I just... don't need to. So much work, you know?" Yea, Tina, that's it. Well, laziness probably does factor in there somewhere. Tina will go to hop down off the stage.

[Beach Party - Dancing wit' Tina]

It doesn't seem like hyperbole to suggest they could be pros when they've both just admitted to being professionals in the past. Rein frowns a little. "You do indeed still have it. But if neither of you want to, that's just the world's loss I guess." Their talent shall remain hidden away from the public's eye.

"I guess I'll just ask for private performances more often." Rein says with a wry smile. At least he'll get to enjoy it every now and again. Or just now. Depends. "You got quite a stir from the crowd though. We may want to move on before a line of brave suitors come calling." They're NPCs Rein. They surely don't have the courage to approach PCs so recklessly.

[Beach Party - Tropical Island]

Well if Anika's going to stick out her tongue this close to Ilpholin, she's going to try and wrap her lips around it, sucking it into her mouth as she closes the gap into a brief, but powerful reverse French kiss. Very pure indeed. It can't last too long though. "I'm better at showing than telling. If you want, you can participate in the nymph priestess' relaxation and pleasure rituals." Ilpholin suggests, her fingers moving to dance along Anika's side.

[Earl of Purple]

Open Sea

There's not much railing, on this particular boat. It's not really designed to be this far from shore, to be honest. These people were desperate to escape the virus, and didn't make it.

The cutlass hits the older man in the shoulder, next to his neck- the blow passed close enough to his head that the zombie's lost an ear and a string of loose flesh dangles from the side of his head. The cutlass might have lodged in the shoulder-blade, however, so freeing it will require some leverage and strength. The zombie keeps the attack up, however, reaching to grab the arm holding the cutlass and moving its head round to bite.

The blind zombie is being guided by its ears and somehow manages to not fall into the ocean. Its right hand is close to the sailor's ankle, opening and closing as it grasps at the air. It might miss; it can't see where the ankle is to grab it. But if it does, it's not letting go.

On the ship, meanwhile, the knifed woman stumbles and lurches towards the largest concentration of people, ignoring any weapons and not caring too much about injuries, either. I don't know what weapons are being used, nor how they are being used. If they're levelling muskets at her torso, she might fall over and be riddled with lead, but that won't kill her. Stabbing her with dirks also won't work, and bludgeons only if they hit her head hard enough to smash her skull- though she'd be hindered if arms or legs were broken, she'd ignore the injury.

The zombie knocked overboard remains overboard.

[Shadowcaller]

[Beach Party - Tropical Island]

Anika expected Ilpholin to advance, but not this soon. She blinks, yet sees no reason to not respond to the kiss at the moment, so she does.
But just as she felt like they had actually started kissing, Ilpholin stops!

"Um... yeah, I'm all about showing rather than telling." She says, grinning once again.
Though those rituals might have to be hidden by the curtain.

[Beach Party - Dancing wit' Tina]

"Technically, you could hire me over MERC to dance. I'm not declining getting paid. MERC has just never been advertised my dancing services." Dena remarks as she suggestively flutters her eyelashes as she also steps down from the stage. "But, I don't mind leaving, pretty much everyone else have. What about us visiting MERC, huh? Must have been a while since you've been there Rein."

[bc56]

Open Sea

The sailors on the ship started by using pistols, then when that proved ineffective, switched to cutlasses.

The sailor in the boat leaves the cutlass where it is and jumps to the side, balancing on the edge of the boat. He jumps up and down, attempting to capsize the boat and spill the zombies into the water.