The Shocking, Spine-Chilling, 2018 Spooktober Spectacular!

[Morty]

[Foyer]

"Thanks! Your costume looks cool, but, uh... what are you going as?" Brinika asks, her ears drooping a little.

Meanwhile, Tuskfang scurries over to Cheasadh.

"Come on, Cheasadh! Let's go smite some candy before it can smite us!"

He seems to like the word 'smite'.

[Earl of Purple]

Jesting Jokers

"I'll take your word for it. Fighting people for fun does not appeal to me at all. I'd rather sit down and talk, or sit on a rooftop somewhere and watch them walk by. Very relaxing and interesting, imagining where all they're all going and why. Violence doesn't interest me much at all." Besides the interest she has repeatedly shown in individuals who fight for a living, anyway.

Foyer

The little Blood Raven grins at the Woblin Space Wolf. "Yeah, smite the sweets like they've not gone to bed on time!" Cheasadh will run with Tuskfang to the sweetie table to gobble gummi bears, jelly babies and coconut mushrooms. Whatever she can reach with her short arms and short legs, ideally without standing on a chair. That's just undignified.

[Hattish Thing]

[Phantom Mingling]

Kuriko seems to have become frozen in time. A common affliction to denizens of the Nexus.

Between that and the sight of Libby, Ivaz seems to have lost interest in staying with this little group.

She gives the cat girl a sly grin and a wave, then holds up a finger, signaling her to wait just a moment. She turns back to Marco.

Here. She reaches up into her hat, and pulls out a pen and paper. She jots down a number, hands it to Marco, and returns the pen. My number. Give me a call sometime. She pats the side of his cheek a bit. Love to hear how you actually got that bruise. She gives him a wide grin, then saunters over towards Libby.

Man. She is putting a lot of sway into those hips.

By the time she joins Libby, a new person is there as well. Wait. He looks kind of familiar. Ivaz swears she's seen him before. What was his name again?

Magtok! That's right. Used to be a big figure around here. Hell of a party you got going here, guy. She'll go to prop an arm on his shoulder and lean on him a bit, facing Libby. Care to introduce me to your friend here?

By this point, Ivaz realizes that she may have been interrupting something. Oh well.

Marco remains quiet and attentive as she retrieves her pen and paper, though that assured smile remains upon his blocky face. This one was far too much of a threat, while she had no ironclad evidence of anything unusual, she seemed the sort to spread rumor. As such, Marco intended to take a bit of a risk. When she hands over the paper, before pressing closer, the suited figure whispers softly into her ear.

"You won't believe me, when I tell you."

--

[Mingling]

Once she steps away, Marco's gaze lingers for a few seconds, before once more stepping into the crowd.

[Devixer]

Foyer

Well, Cassidy really should've expected this question. It wasn't like the source of her costume was gonna be popular with kids, after all. She doesn't didn't expect to be someone's introduction to it. Now how to handle it...

She grins again, then starts to twirl her bat in her hand once more. "Why, yer lookin' at the ex-patriarch of the Majima family, and current president of Majima construction, Goro Majima!" She strikes a pose and laughs a bit, before quickly regaining her composure. "Er, he's from a video game."

[Rebonack]

[Joking Jesters]

"What a fascinating and punctuationless tale," Fortuna says wistfully. "Can't say I particularly approve of that style of prank. Dead people aren't very interesting. And if everyone where the same person, why, that would probably be just as dull! I don't suppose that 'Frank' you mentioned was the same Frank that Lucky Break, Down Feather, and Swiss Cheese slew after a rather harrowing encounter?"

Huh...

How would she know about that?

Wait.

Probably better not to try to figure it out.

The answer would probably be really weird.


[Refreshment Table]

"I don't know exactly what she did or how she did it, but when she was done I felt... calm inside, I guess? Like da undead part of me and da livin' part of me wasn't tryin' to murder each other no more," Sunder recounts. "I started goin' aftah feral undead wit da help of folks from Inari's. First one I got was dis shadow, she's Dark Dreams now. Works at da fox temple. But, I uh, everyone I ate became like me. Same for everyone dey ate, too. Sorta like how undead do with livin' folks, we do with undead. Scared da pants off some of 'em. Dey didn't like tables gettin' turned much."

Which is understandable.

Most people don't like getting eaten.

"Aftah I started makin' my little ponies I could feel Sweet Spring's virtues in me. I did some soul searchin', getting strongah wit each bit of the old me I got in harmony wit. Den Inari's got attacked by dis jerk Orcus sent to punish 'em for helpin' me. I beat da guy, but I died in da process. Laid down my life foh my friends and..."

A small smile tugs at the corner of her mouth.

"And I woke up somewhere else. Da words, dey just kinda popped in my head when I looked at it. 'My God. It's full of stars.'" She gives her head a little shake. "I don't remembah exactly what happened dere. But I remember... like... music? A song, maybe? But den I wake up and I'm huge 'n I've got a horn. An alicorn. A princess. Da foxes say I count as a goddess, but I ain't sure how any of dat works."

She gives her wings a shrug. "So since den I've just been tryin' to make tings bettah for my home. I figure, maybe if tings are good enough here, maybe Atropus ain't nevah comin' back? So we build gardens and free the hungry undead. Protect the city from nasties." She glances back at the mark on her hips. An shield with an emblem of a circle of chain, the whole thing broken into three pieces. "My talent is breakin' stuff. I used to tink dat just meant breakin' door and monsters and stuff. But it's more den dat. I broke da chains of undeath. I set my little ponies free. So... I guess dat's who I am. Dat's who we are."

[bc56]

Jesting Jokers

"I can understand that." Jason really does understand. It took a special set of circumstances to get him to start heroing, but now, he'd never stop. "I'm out patrolling, about every other night, mostly in Inside, sometimes in Skyside as well."

[Reinholdt]

[Alcoholics Corner]

Reinholdt pauses to consider Nigel's derogatory question about his age, giving it actual serious thought. "I... don't know. I could be." He tilts his head, staring out into space for a moment longer, darkly reminiscing of past lives but gets distracted by alcohol of a variety completely different from what he ordered. Good enough! He takes the drink and downs about half before returning to reality.

"That's correct. A... Blanche is my daughter. I'm Reinholdt, Treasure Hunter Extraordinaire." Rein gives Nigel a large smile and trademarked flourish. "Nice to meet you Nigel."

His smile swiftly fades to a frown though and starts scanning the crowd of monsters and fiends. "Need me to tag someone? Just say the word and the moment they leave will be their last." Rein asks Blanche. Granted, setting up a sniper's nest outside of the cave and blasting someone's brains onto Magtok's front door as they leave is probably an overreaction. She only nearly punched them. Maybe just leave it at that.

[Bowsette and the Noble]

Rachel stops as the noble like man confronts her. Oh. She hadn't expected to go full on LARPing here, but it seems that's where this is carrying her. Some people's enthusiasm cannot be contained and this man seemed to be one of them. Rachel was more than happy to play along though.

Bowsette curtsies in a dignified manner. "And a good evening to you as well good sir. I am the almighty ruler of the Koopa Kingdom and soon to be ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom. Who, may I ask, dare approaches the great Bowsette?" Rachel asks in an over the top, friendly manner despite the lofty tone.

[Lord Magtok]

By the Laser Cannon

Spoiler

Show

By the Laser Cannon

Oh, I understand! the Russian Red types after a brief pause, eyes sparkling with a glimmer of realization. She had to take a second to wrap her head around all the casual mentions of cats causing the apocalypse. But thankfully, unlike some folks in the Nexus, the songstress had actually taken the time to read up on the place's history and understood what Malice was talking about.

Magtok failed to keep up a certain appearance, dominate the public eye. He let others emerge to build up a reputation, steal the spotlight, because he faltered and let lapse a constant reinforcement of his own villainy. Cantata had briefly dabbled in the PR game, so she had a little bit of insight into how all that worked. Building a presence, a brand... well, it was something she'd done herself, back before she was just another mercenary.

The question earns a befuddled look. ... no, I don't think so? Well, it depends on your definition of "kidnap". She'd captured and brought in a couple of bounties before, but she wasn't sure if that counted.

Malice excitedly slaps the side of the phony laser cannon, and points a finger right after the redhead. "Exactly! That is exactly what happened, Cantina!" Uh, Malice, it's Cantata. I know you're excited to finally find someone who seems to agree with you on something, but try to get the name right, please. She's not the bar from A New Hope.

"Why does nobody else understand that?! Why are they all content to wallow in this...this malaise of feelings and angst and pain and despair?! They would all be so much happier if they just let me replace their Magtok and start committing supercrimes all over the place, Copacabana." Okay, now you're just getting her name wrong on purpose, Malice. Knock it off. Plus, if you look around you, and just ignore Magtok's little drama over there, you'll see people are a lot less miserable and angsty and full of feelings than you might expect. In fact, you're the one who's angsting here, Malice. I bet if you just stopped dwelling on the past, maybe give the present a shot and stop waiting for Magtok to drop dead, you could have a grand time in the exciting future world of 2018. Let's just-

"Who do you think would work best? Peach? Meme Queen? The fancy lady with that creepy German fellow? The plague doctor mixing drinks?" Malice, what are you asking Cantata here? Who would work best for what? "I know the plague doctor's a guy, that's fine. The damsel in distress doesn't have to be a woman, after all. Definitely not going for the kids, though, I don't kidnap kids. That's how you tempt people into doing morally ambiguous things to stop you. You put children in harm's way and suddenly it's open season on your backside. Plus you have to figure out a way to be cool and intimidating without making children cry, and that's just a huge ugly mess and I don't even want to think about it," Malice shakes his head, before turning to Cantata for her input. Does he honestly expect her to recommend fellow party-goers for some kind of hostage scenario? Does he just expect her to accept everything about this situation and play along right up until the moment there's a gun pointed in someone's face because of her?


Phantom Mingling

Spoiler

Show

[Phantom Mingling]

Libby's ear twitches.
This is quickly covered up by the dress robe she finally accepts from Magtok and tosses over herself.
She takes a moment to look herself over and laughs a bit.
"I don't think this suits me quite as well as you, Maggy dear. But thank you."
Now people can stop being so worried about her state of dress!

Though the smile droops at the aggressive tone of Magtok's question.
"Hate you...? How could-oh, hello there!"

Yep, definitely interrupting and right at the good part.
She adopts a smile again and inclines her head to Ivaz.
"I'll save him the trouble. I am Libitina, though Libby is a little easier on the tongue."

[Phantom Mingling]

By the time she joins Libby, a new person is there as well. Wait. He looks kind of familiar. Ivaz swears she's seen him before. What was his name again?

Magtok! That's right. Used to be a big figure around here. Hell of a party you got going here, guy. She'll go to prop an arm on his shoulder and lean on him a bit, facing Libby. Care to introduce me to your friend here?

By this point, Ivaz realizes that she may have been interrupting something. Oh well.

Magtok takes a deep breath, trying his best not to have some sort of psychological meltdown less than an hour into the party. This isn't even that big of a deal, really. We know it's not Libby, so we're not in any real danger of being fooled, and we don't really care if anyone here dies (except Renee, of course, and maybe Blanche, to a lesser extent), so there's not a whole lot at stake here, right? There's nothing to lose from letting the fake continue faking about. It's just really kinda gross and insensitive.

"This is a creature masquerading as Libby for the Spooktober party, yes. I'm not going to make a scene if she insists on continuing with this charade, but I think it's a pretty tasteless idea for a costume and I was just about to ask her nicely to stop," Magtok explains, tempted once more to reach for that flask in his costume and take a swig. Who is this tiddy witch, exactly, and why's she got her arm on our shoulder like we've been friends since way back in the day or something? Is that the alcohol in action, maybe? Is tiddy witch already drunk? Yikes, the party hasn't even been going for that long. Did she pre-game before she got here or something, or is time just moving faster for everyone in the room except us?

[billtodamax]

Alcoholics Corner

Why was this weird cat cowboy dude bein' so weird about-

Oh woops he's Blanche's dad.

Oh, jeez, sorry for calling you underaged then. He will not apologise for giving him a better drink. Please don't...kill anyone. Nigel turns to look at Blanche, raising his eyebrow to her in a gesture that is, again, completely lost behind his big dumb mask. He finishes his own old fashioned, dropping the orange rind in, and lifts up his mask to take a sip. Fistfights are fine, just, y'know. Know when to stop.

You'd probably win. Nigel adds, after some consideration.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Joking Jesters]

Persimmon doesn't really look surprised at her weird knowledge (she's a Discord thing! They know stuff), instead giving it a moment of mostly-serious contemplation.
"You know, I'm not actually sure. Those bandits Frank totally ignored set the place on fire and the Frank I left with might not have been the same Frank I came in with! He could have died with all the other Franks, but man it was a confusing night."
What a great ending to a great tale.
So great.

His head lolls around to the other side of Fortuna's head.
"But just between you and me, I kind of hope it was. He sucked. Wouldn't stop talking about his mom."

[Shadowcaller]

[Refreshment Table]

"Quite the tale." Faith admits. The kind of tale people made movies or tv-series about.
"And it looks like it had a happy ending too. Far happier than most stories I hear at the very least." Faith had finished her drink at some point during the interview, the empty mug still held in her hand.
"There is one thing I'm curious about though. I heard a rumor, or more accurately a theory that you can turn the living just like you turn the undead, only that you refuse to. Is that true?"

[Rebonack]

[Refreshment Table]

Sunder shifts uncomfortably at that question.

Very uncomfortably.

"I never told no one," she replies, her tone dropping to scarcely above a whisper. "Folk who knew about how nightshades work probably guessed, but I never told no one. My little ponies can't. Dey can't even tink about it. I made sure of dat. I can't command 'em like a vampire lord or whatevah, but I can set rules when dey is born, y'know? Dat's one of dem. A big one. I could do it, me personally, but I wouldn't. Evah. Dat would make me and my little ponies public enemy numbah one. Brin' da whole Nexus down on our heads. I don't want dat. Wouldn't be good for no-one."


[Joking Jesters]

"It DOES sound like he sucks, yes," Fortuna muses. "How unfortunate that there appear to be some Franks trotting around here, now. And here I had thought that your friend Down Feather and that lovely pony Red Velvet had taken care of that little problem. Ugh. I'm going to have to actually go out of my way to be helpful now, aren't I? How awful. Especially when there's a perfectly good party to cause mischief in."

She strikes a dramatic pose, one wrist across her forehead as she leans back as if in anguish.

"My dear, sweet Persimmon, I'm afraid I'm going to have to bid you farewell for a time. I have some strings to pull and heroes to cajole into activity. Not like I would personally see to a Frank infestation. How dull would that be? Where's the tension? The suspense? The fun? Nowhere, that's where. But before I go, I have another favor to ask of you my friend."

Fortuna holds her claws a precise length away from each other and then pinches at nothing, causing a little purple statue to appear between them. A figurine pristine and perfect, unworn by the ravages of time.

"I thought I could keep her for myself, but no such luck. She won't even talk to me. Spirit of chaos and such, I suppose. A sacrifice I must make!" she laments, waggling the little statue at Persimmon. "Give this to the frumpy hippogriff over there, the one in that hideous white hat. She might be pleased enough to give you a hug. As for me, ta-ta for now!"

And then with an echoing laugh Fortuna vanishes, leaving Persimmon slumped on the floor with a little statue sitting in front of him.

His front legs are still tied together.

[Shadowcaller]

[Refreshment Table]

Faith turns off the recorder on her cellphone as Sunder finishes talking and nods. "Mhmm..." She agrees. "Let's keep that as a theory for now." Though strictly she didn't need to as anything confidential had to be agreed on before Sunder revealed it. Faith didn't see much reason to betray the trust of her source in this matter. It wasn't too relevant, until of course evidence of Sunder turning the living turned up...

The journalist then turned on the recorder again. "But, one final question, how many of your ponies are there now and what are your plans for the future? Do you plan to extend your protection to other cities such as Riverside? It got attacked by demons and I heard that a group of your ponies once fought off a very similar foe from Inside. A big blue-glowing stone giant. Saved a small community of halflings."

[Rebonack]

[Refreshment Table]

Sunder gives a small laugh. "I don't know. Lots? I wanna see dem live and thrive. Just like anyone else, I guess. I ain't got any big mission. Just wanna see my home be a bettah place, y'know?"

At the mention of Riverside her ears fold down a bit.

"First I heard of it. We ain't got any agents out dere. Inside is my home, yeah? And tryin' to tink of how big it is? Dat's enough to give someone a brain-wedgie. So we focus dere. It's a tidy gig. And a few teams patrollin' around da little villages and stuff Outside. Undead like hittin' dose. Soft targets. Dey need da help," she gives her head a little shake. "I dunno. We probably got enough foh a couple squads at Riverside. But I don't wanna step on any toes. Don't want people to tink we's makin' a powah grab. Dere is lots of us. And we's pretty tough. I'm pretty tough. I dunno what you know about our conflict with Orcus, but when his demons see me comin' dey run."

The Princess of Broken Chains gives a little snort, glancing back at her prop slash costume.

"I ain't lookin' to be Conquest. It would be an easy trap to fall into, y'know? But I ain't lookin' to fall into it. Heh... maybe I picked dis costume to remind me of what's at stake."

She takes a deep breath, ruffles her feathers to straighten them, and then stands a little taller.

"Thank-you, Miss Faith, for this opportunity to speak with you. I hope my answers to your questions have been enlightening?"

[5a Violista]

[Mingling]

Marco laughs confidently in response to Ivaz's accusations, careful not to appear too rehearsed as he offers a brief explanation of his more unusual behaviors, leaning back in a relaxed sort of way as he does so.

"Me, fight? I think you may have had a bit too much to drink, miss. As for this, well," he gestures to his bruise before continuing. "You see, recently, I've taken up tennis as a hobby. I'm afraid I'm not quite the best at it, just yet."

"Still, I enjoy it. It's good exercise, and it's important to stay fit."

[Mingling]

Ivaz narrows her eyes at Kuriko. Then she turns her suspicious gaze at her glass, bringing it up ti her eyes to examine the contents within.

This stuff better have alcohol in it. Either that, or somebody slipped some kinda inebriation spell on me when I wasn't looking.

No, no, it's alcohol. I put some in. Always bring a flask to a party.

She gives a wide grin to Kuriko. Wanna know where the flask is now?

No comment on the alcoholic remark.

She looks to Marco again.

No. No, that's not a tennis related mark. But, hey, you do you. Just know that I know. She gestures with two fingers towards her eyes, than points them at him.

And then the nudity happens!

Ivaz seems to have lost all interest in Kuriko and Marco now as she stares at the naked cat girl.

Damn. Is it that kind of party already?

She's good on her own feet again, no longer leaning on Kuriko for support. Still has a hand on the woman's shoulder, though.

Marco remains quiet and attentive as she retrieves her pen and paper, though that assured smile remains upon his blocky face. This one was far too much of a threat, while she had no ironclad evidence of anything unusual, she seemed the sort to spread rumor. As such, Marco intended to take a bit of a risk. When she hands over the paper, before pressing closer, the suited figure whispers softly into her ear.

"You won't believe me, when I tell you."

--

[Mingling]

Once she steps away, Marco's gaze lingers for a few seconds, before once more stepping into the crowd.

[Mingling]

See? When Kuriko tries to do a cool thing, Ivaz just proves her wrong. She tried to show off all this "sociology magic" that everyone was insisting she do and she was insisting didn't exist, but noooooooo Kuriko just had to prove how square she really is.

"No, thanks, I don't really want to know where your flask is." She can imagine a couple of places and she is unsure if she wants to have one of them in particular confirmed. Sure, it's probably somewhere innocuous like in her hair or it was slipped into one of Kuriko's pockets or something, but she doesn't know if she wants to risk that chance.

No longer supporting Ivaz as much, she doesn't have to look towards the one catgirl, which is why she notices two other catgirls come in. Peach and Bowsette.
The sociologist chews her lower lip. Now her own Peachette costume just looks like an off-brand knock-off. Should she just change? Find an excuse to get away from Ivaz and just leave the party? But then she would be missing out on this opportunity to observe and study this party.
When asked that quasi-rhetorical question "is it that kind of party", Kuriko just says, "Yeah, I guess so."

[Shadowcaller]

[Refreshment Table]

Faith turns off the recorder again and grins as the princess chuckles. "Well, the bad undead at least." She remarks, Sunder had used a few generalizing statements about undead before, but the journalist felt she probably should get a reminder as not everyone would be as easy-going. Being a public figure was hard. "I'm too too complacent to even leave the city." A light joke should clarify any doubts...

"But yes, talking to you have been very enlightening. Thank you for sharing your story, it was very brave of you. I hope it will make readers understand your people better." She offers Sunder her hand to shake.

[Hattish Thing]

[Refreshment Table]

After striding over towards the Refreshment Table for a refill, his mind still occupied by Ivaz's somewhat ominous words, Marco becomes somewhat distracted by Faith's conversation. Once she's finished, he speaks up, offering a charming smile which highlights the stress lines upon his face.

"Readers? You're a journalist?"

[Morty]

Foyer

Well, Cassidy really should've expected this question. It wasn't like the source of her costume was gonna be popular with kids, after all. She doesn't didn't expect to be someone's introduction to it. Now how to handle it...

She grins again, then starts to twirl her bat in her hand once more. "Why, yer lookin' at the ex-patriarch of the Majima family, and current president of Majima construction, Goro Majima!" She strikes a pose and laughs a bit, before quickly regaining her composure. "Er, he's from a video game."

Brinika blinks.

"Oh. This sounds like the kind of video game I'm too little to play," she says with brutal honesty. "But your costume's cool anyway."

Foyer

The little Blood Raven grins at the Woblin Space Wolf. "Yeah, smite the sweets like they've not gone to bed on time!" Cheasadh will run with Tuskfang to the sweetie table to gobble gummi bears, jelly babies and coconut mushrooms. Whatever she can reach with her short arms and short legs, ideally without standing on a chair. That's just undignified.

"I wonder if Cern and Gwydion are going to be here," Tuskfang wonders aloud. "They're my friends and they've got a lot of siblings and friends who are like dragons."

Meanwhile, another guest arrives. This time it's everyone's favourite tiefling, dressed in a fur-lined sleeveless tunic, loose cloth pants and a circular helmet. He's hefting a hammer in his hand and feeling altogether odd in this getup. Is this really what people wear in colder climates? Seems counterproductive.

[KerfuffleMach2]

[Phantom Mingling]

Ivaz gives a huge, toothy grin to Libby.

I bet that's not all about you that's easy on the tongue...

She takes a swig from her glass as Magtok gives his description of the catgirl. Ivaz gives the cyborg a sidelong glance, her eyebrow raised in curiosity.

Let me guess...she's your ex?

[5a Violista]

[No Longer Mingling] => [By the wall, not partying again]

Kuriko-as-Peachette, glad that she is finally alone again, takes herself, her cup, and her notebook over to a wall so she can observe more of the party and write about her observations.

She sets her near-empty cup down on the ground, re-retrieves her pen, and goes back to writing silly thinks like microcultural observations and what sort of people hang out with whom and so on.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Phantom Mingling]

"I suppose it was a little tacky to just show up as myself...kind of...figured it fit the holiday?"
Everybody likes to dress up as spooky spirits and demons and reapers and stuff!
She's already one of those, so why dress up more?

Although Ivaz is going in a less hostile direction, it's really not much better here.
Libby quirks an eyebrow and a small smile threatens her face a bit.
"Are you this forward with everyone you meet at parties?"

[Lurking Towards the Mutant Vats]

A weird little purple statue of some nerdy looking broad? What he's supposed to do with this?
Well, give it to Geneva clearly, but still. This doesn't look like a fun toy.

"Bah. Fiiiine. Only because Fortuna asked though."
Persimmon proceeds to eat the statue then slithers off in the direction he last saw Geneva and Nick.
Not directly up to them of course, that would be boring. He disappears somewhere underneath a chair to plot his ambush.

[Lord Magtok]

Phantom Mingling

Rather than immediately respond to either Ivaz or Fake Libby with the fire and fury that sits in the back of our cyborg’s throat, Magtok instead gives in to temptation, reaches for his flask, and takes another long swig of his drink. It helps put out a couple of those fires, but he still really wants to scream at them both. Desecrating the memory of the only goddess he ever loved like this, at his very own party, in his own home...no, we can’t go making a scene here. Let the degenerate animals have their fun; just walk away and let it be someone else’s problem.

”Not an ex, and I’m just...sorry, I am not equipped to deal with this right now. You two have fun,” Magtok brusquely apologizes, trying to extricate himself from this nightmare scenario, not particularly concerned as to whether pulling away from Tiddy Witch’s arm on his shoulder might unbalance her and send Ivaz tumbling to the floor.

[KerfuffleMach2]

[Phantom Mingling]

Ivaz's grin somehow widens at Libby. Not just parties. Of course, you being naked earlier kind of brought me over faster. You should go like that more often.

She does fall a little bit as Magtok moves away, but she catches herself just fine. She scratches her head a bit under her hat as the cyborg leaves.

Huh. Something's eating him, I guess. She shrugs a bit, then turns back to Libby.

[Devixer]

Foyer

Cassidy scratches under her eyepatch again. "Ah, yeah, probably. Wait a few years to play that one, when you're... I dunno, 16? Or hold up, your parents probably know way better than I do." Cassidy really doesn't know how kids work, and it shows. But still, she flashes a grin Brinika's way. "Hey, yours too. You plannin' on smiting some candies too?"

[Arkhosia]

By the Laser Cannon

The silent redhead tilts her head as Malice makes his declaration, her expression shifting to a look of skepticism at his claims. The picture he was painting certainly didn't seem right. I mean, she could literally feel the emotions of the room. The MagCave was brimming with cheeriness and excitement, not gloom and moroseness. Well, there was an underlying tinge of concern and unease that she felt from a few people over by one of the tables, but it wasn't nearly as glaring to the empath as the other emotions.

Before she can begin to consider pointing this out, though, Malice is already shifting gears.

...I'm not comfortable with electing someone else to be imperiled like that. A somewhat stunned Cantata responds, reflexively taking a small step back. Maybe she should have just walked away in the first place... or maybe she could convince Malice that no one here was a worthwhile choice in the first place. Besides, I believe the two princesses are Reina's kids, and the plague doctor is talking with the cat himself right now. I don't think you want to let him get involved, do you? The songstress types quickly before pausing, closing her eyes as she exhales gently. Inwardly, the mute reaches out into the crowd, focusing her senses to identify the emotions of one individual in particular... and after a second, she opens her eyes. A look of concern takes shape as she types, As for the maiden, there's something... off about her. Something very wrong.

Alcoholics and Medical Advice Corner?

"That seems a little excessive, dad." Blanche responds with a chuckle, before her lips curve into an almost predatory smirk. "Besides, if I wanted him dead, I'd want to do it myself." It's a heartwarming offer, it really is - knowing that her dad honestly feels protective of her, even though they knew each other so little? - but Blanche can take care of herself... and more importantly, it just doesn't sit right with her to have other people take care of her problems.

The smile mellows out into a more friendly one as Blanche shifts her attention to Nigel. "I'm not going to end someone's life just because he acted like a Machiavellian little sleaze." she reassures, although the spiteful tone that she mentions Kramolagh with isn't terribly reassuring. She takes a deeper sip of her drink before the doctor makes another remark, her eyebrows raising in surprise as a light blush emerges. "Er, t-thanks." She responds, a little flattered... but clearly not used to anything approaching flirtation.

[Rebonack]

[Refreshment Table]

"You said it. People like you and I are very fortunate," Sunder says with a sad smile. "Most undead are slaves. Of their warped hunger. Of dark spirits dominating them. Of the will of necromancers. The good ones are few and far between. They're people we consider allies, and I hope it stays that way."

Then a hand is raised to shake!

Sunder stifles a small, proper titter of a laugh.

"Make a fist," she says, amused. Should Faith do so, Sunder will bump it with the frog of her hoof. "Hoof bump. Equestrians don't really shake hands. No fingers."

And then it's time to say goodbye!

"Thank you for the interview, Faith. Harmony guide you."

While all this is going down?

Sunder refills her punch. Yay fruit punch!

[Zefir]

[Bowsette and the Noble]

Rachel stops as the noble like man confronts her. Oh. She hadn't expected to go full on LARPing here, but it seems that's where this is carrying her. Some people's enthusiasm cannot be contained and this man seemed to be one of them. Rachel was more than happy to play along though.

Bowsette curtsies in a dignified manner. "And a good evening to you as well good sir. I am the almighty ruler of the Koopa Kingdom and soon to be ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom. Who, may I ask, dare approaches the great Bowsette?" Rachel asks in an over the top, friendly manner despite the lofty tone.

[Bowsette and the Noble]

"I'm the 11th Prince of Britannia and maybe soon King as my older siblings seem to decease in the war." he replies.
"But you might know war or does your new kingdom come from a royal wedding? I would envy this lucky men."


------------------------------------------------------------------

The Girl in the jumpsuit has found something very beautifull. The sweets! She will step right up so overwhelmed by the varity of the food. What should she eat first? And what next? and will she be able to eat all befor falling unconscious.

[5a Violista]

The Girl in the jumpsuit has found something very beautifull. The sweets! She will step right up so overwhelmed by the varity of the food. What should she eat first? And what next? and will she be able to eat all befor falling unconscious.

Another of my characters enters the battle!
[=> Snack? Table]

Harley Zorzo enters the MagCave for the Spooktober party. She is, of course, masked (as usual) and wearing a costume. ...Honestly, it's a little on-the-nose this time. Anyone fans of a certain Latin-American hero could recognize her as Lady Zorro, the misguided vigilante who commits acts of vengeance in Zorro's name.

Spoiler: img

Show

Unfortunately, the mask doesn't completely cover all of the scars on the left side of her face, so...the shapeshifter is probably easily recognizable by everyone who knows her. (Then again...even when she led AMEN, many people who were actively fighting AMEN didn't even have a clue to who she was, even when she publicly announced her name. That led to some funny stories. Maybe she'll tell you about them some time, if you ask her.)

She walks in with her usual confident gait and then...hesitates. This is Magtok's place after all. Should she go talk to him? Should she just pretend she didn't see him? There's definitely people far more important here already, taking his time. She bites her lip and looks down at her hand. They're just friends. There's probably no need to talk to him, anyway, she tries to tell herself. Besides, this is a party. No need to make things awkward. Why did she even come here in the first place? Harley almost decides to turn around but somebody just entering and leaving would be pretty strange.

She should first go check out the food.

She walks up and looks at the sweets. Somebody coming in just to eat the food is a normal thing that happens at parties, right? I mean, it's not like there's any dancing going on so there's not really anything for anyone else to do besides talk or eat food, so...

...she decides to talk. Harley speaks to the foxy jumpsuit girl next to her, at the same table: "This all looks pretty good. Do you have any recommendations on what I should try first?" True to her costume, Harley has a slightly noticeable Mexican accent.

[Deathkeeper]

[Refreshment Table]

With Geneva occupied and a certain other equestrian not, Nick sneaks off to the table and the now alone Sunder.
”Good evening Princess. I don’t think we’ve ever gotten a chance to talk normally.” he says conversationally. They’re usually caught up in job things. Or one of them having to keep up appearances for someone around.

[Shadowcaller]

[Refreshment Tables]

"You said it, hoof bump of the fortuned." As she gives Sunder a fistbump, silently praying the princess wouldn't sunder her knuckles with her hoof or something. "Likewise, saints blessing."

But she can't but turn away from Sunder when someone new approaches her.
A person she couldn't place the moment she laid her eyes on him.
Curious.

Faith, as its described here, is currently dressed up as a rocking Sylvanas Windrunner, her blue-glowing iris-less eyes seemingly doing a quick scan of him before she replies. "Yes, Faith Sunsworn of the nexus herald. You might have heard of me." The nexus herald was a Inside based newspaper that was considered, while not the largest, one of the most respectable newspapers in the business.

The journalist offers her gloved hand to shake. "I don't think I've heard of you though, sir...?" She raises an eyebrow inquiringly.

So let's see what she could tell about about him. Lines on his face, hair turning grey, fairly unoriginal costume (some people might be offended at the caricature) but clearly trying to make up for it with sheer volume. Just that cloak looked like it had cost a fortune and white was so easily stained. Not to mention those glasses, she didn't even know that those lenses were supposed to be made of.

Yeah, this guy was a businessman of some sort. Likely a successful one that had spent far too much time at work and far too little time at leisures.
Now the question was what someone like that did at a party hosted by Magtok. Had they a connection to him? Were they here to gloat at his supposed fall from grace? They probably weren't from Inside at least and Riverside was made up of fairly stable factions which she figured he probably couldn't be from as she would have heard about him. That left Skyside or an outsider, a nexus newcomer. She just hoped he wasn't some dumb slaver...

Spoiler: Reference.

Show

• More clothes (a larger vest covering her chest fully)
• Different hair (the roots of her hair seem to be a natural bright red color, the rest looks like it has been dyed white)
• Different colors (all purple, the shorts, the guitar and the shoulders are red instead of purple)
• No giant ears (She appears to be human, well, human undead)
• Gloves fully covering her hands (who seem claw-like)