Riverside 20: Another day, another disaster

[Recaiden]

Françoise nods along.
"What is it supposed to look like?"
This is the first time they've ever visited a library.

"And I'll meet other people, who've dealt with the sincubbi before?"

[Arkhosia]

[Seeking Help]

The pillow hits her in the face and her expression immediately darkens as she grabs the pillow before it even lands on the floor. "Maybe if you stopped being a little ****?" Despite her sentence not exactly being a reply to what Eliseo just said, or anything at all really, she won't let it stop her from throwing back the pillow at him.
"Geez, it's my house, kiddo. I can be in bed to dinner if I feel like it." Not that Nadia would ever allow that.
Ana is ignored while Irena let's her emotions flare.

Seeking Help

Pillows are hurled and counter-hurled! It's kinda endearing, and Anastasia can't help but titter softly as she watches. She doesn't pipe up and interrupt the family scuffle though. That would probably be rude, right?

[Gullara]

[Seeking Help]

"Like mother like son I guess." Eliseo shoots back. They could probably go on like this, if it weren't for one thing.

"What the heck is going on in here?" Nadia marches in, a few shopping bags in one hand, the other planted firmly on her hip. She gives the two a baleful look. "Can't I leave for an hour without you two fi-" She spies Ana and blinks. She shoots Irena a 'What are you thinking?' look.

"You must be Anastasia." Nadia says, giving the girl a warm smile. "Did you want something to eat or drink? Or anything else?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Seeking Help]

Welp, that was abrupt. Irena could swear Nadia was sneaking up on them intentionally sometimes to catch them in the act. She hadn't even heard the front door open. "We're not fighting." She still insists though as she attempts to meet her wives gaze. "The kid and I was just introducing me to-" She pause as Nadia introduces herself. "Anastasia. We were just kidding around really." Irena once again attempts to reach out to ruffle Eliseo's hair before he can pull away.

[Northside - Fourth Tower Compound]

"More orderly, more books, less acolytes moving about." Zula remarks. "But I for one have met them, it was in my younger days though. Must have been almost two decades ago now. I barely remember it now, or maybe I just suppressed it as it's pretty memorable." She chuckles. "Maybe its better if you talk to the younglings. They should remember their encounters pretty well, I know Tamika had an encounter but the girl is too shy to speak I suspect. Maybe it's best to go and ask Sekai, she keeps track on all these things."

[Recaiden]

Aww. The acolytes trapising around make it feel lively, home-ish.
Françoise nods rapidly, trying not to look confused.
"I'll go speak to them. Do you know where?"
If Zula has nothing more to say or just gives directions, they click off the phone and head out into the Compound to look for Tamika and/or Sekai.

[Arkhosia]

Seeking Help

Suddenly, a new parent approaches! The response gives her a quick little startle, but Nadia's welcoming greeting is fairly good at setting her at ease. "Er, yes - I mean, no, I'm fine, but I appreciate it."

Okay, perhaps not entirely at ease as she stumbles over her manners. "So, um... I presume Eliseo told you about my, er, situation?" She ventures. Perhaps a little hopefully; she wasn't super eager to explain her woes all over again.

[Earl of Purple]

The Third Circle, Northside

Somebody enters the bookshop, with a determined stride. They're an elf, slender of build, and not particularly muscular. They're male, judging by the way their shirt hangs open without buttons to close it. He has light brown skin, bright blue eyes and long, silver-white hair cascading down their back. The shirt is thin, nearly translucent in places, red silk, and he wears a matching pair of baggy trousers, with pointy-toed red leather boots on his feet. A large rucksack has been slung over his back, and a dagger with an opal pommel sits in a sheath at his waist. His chest and arms are covered in tattoos, the ones on his arms mostly being small, lone symbols in black ink; there's a circle with a cross inside tattooed on the backs of his hands, with black flames around his right wrist, moving up into broken arrows, then keys before being covered by his shirt, whilst there's black daggers around his left wrist, moving into feathers, then jagged lightning bolts. Tattooed on his stomach is a large rearing bull and above that broken chains and a soaring eagle. Whoever did the tattoos is very good; possibly even a master, even if they only used black ink.

He'll look around for now, trying to find a book on tattooing or runes, ideally ones with power. To those with magical sight, he's a mage, and every single tattoo is a spell waiting to be triggered. Also, since his shirt hangs open, and he's thin, a major difference between elves and humans- in addition to the more obvious pointed ears, though his are hidden mostly by his hair, he has an extra pair of ribs.

[Deathkeeper]

The Third Circle

There are several books on the art of tattoos, and some on the linguistics of runes and the basics of rune magic. There doesn’t seem to be any advanced magical literature on display.
”Can I get you anything?” asks a small, furry imp sitting at the desk.

[Earl of Purple]

The Third Circle

The basics of rune magic is quite useful; the tattoo-mage can't use runic magic, but his magic relies upon symbols with set meanings or ones that have an obvious link to an effect. So he'll pick up a copy of an encyclopedia of runes, if one is present, or a basic guide to runic magic if there isn't.

"Yes, I suppose you can. Do you have any higher level tomes on tattoo magic, or grimoires about runes or symbology?" The elf's voice is surprisingly deep. "I would be willing to buy them, or possibly trade knowledge for knowledge. I have copies of my own guides and spell books I could trade." He slings off his rucksack, to make reaching inside easier if it's required.

[Deathkeeper]

[The Third Circle]

The imp looks over the elf with an appraising eye and nods. ”Come with me, sir.” The imp leads him past a curtain in the back to a second section of the store that is seemingly almost as large. He will find that the selection here is much larger and more relevant to his interests.

[Earl of Purple]

The Third Circle

"Ah, I thank you." He nods his head to the imp and follows. He'll wander off to peruse the shelves, unless the imp stops him. Which it might; he's a wizard, and probably a decent one, given the amount of enchanted tattoos covering his body.

[Deathkeeper]

[The Third Circle]

The shelves are home to several old grimoires on runes. Large and dusty and bound in various leathers and buckles. Tattoo magic is much rarer; it only has two entries. The imp follows him only to prevent him from shoplifting or from reading too much without paying.

[Earl of Purple]

The Third Circle

"You do not have much on tattoo magic, I see. I did not realise the art was so rare outside my people. Or perhaps it simply has not spread to this world." Not wholly true, the last bit; Ingrid knows a bit of tattoo magic, though her version is slightly different to the elf's. "The rune grimoires are promising, however. My people were late to literacy, so our symbols tend to be more direct. That, I feel, is a disadvantage. A single rune can represent more things than a feather." And as he draws the symbols on and then channels the magic into a shape linked to the symbol later, that nebulousness is far more useful.

[Deathkeeper]

The Third Circle

The imp blinks.
”I would implode you not to judge the veracity of our volumes simply because there aren’t many of them. If you wish to buy anything though, we accept both currency and volumes of equal value.” he tells the elf. ”And mortal souls.” the creature coughs.

[Earl of Purple]

The Third Circle

"I was not commenting on value. I was commenting on scarcity. I do not doubt that the knowledge contained within is valuable, simply that there isn't much of it." The elf holds up a placating hand, before turning to the books. "Currency... I have little in metal. I have some sandshark teeth, if those are acceptable. Or I have copies of my own folios, and the symbology and learning I have gathered thus far." He pulls out a bag of teeth, and one of his own books. It's a leather-bound book, rather battered, with an old gilt design stamped into the leather, long-since faded. The elf heard the soul comment, but the other two options are so reasonable it's not worth going there, he thinks. The book is filled primarily with designs, words written underneath showing what the design is supposed to evoke.

[Gullara]

[Seeking Help]

Welp, that was abrupt. Irena could swear Nadia was sneaking up on them intentionally sometimes to catch them in the act. She hadn't even heard the front door open. "We're not fighting." She still insists though as she attempts to meet her wives gaze. "The kid and I was just introducing me to-" She pause as Nadia introduces herself. "Anastasia. We were just kidding around really." Irena once again attempts to reach out to ruffle Eliseo's hair before he can pull away.

Seeking Help

Suddenly, a new parent approaches! The response gives her a quick little startle, but Nadia's welcoming greeting is fairly good at setting her at ease. "Er, yes - I mean, no, I'm fine, but I appreciate it."

Okay, perhaps not entirely at ease as she stumbles over her manners. "So, um... I presume Eliseo told you about my, er, situation?" She ventures. Perhaps a little hopefully; she wasn't super eager to explain her woes all over again.

[Seeking Help]

Irena gets a look like they'll talk more later, but Nadia put it out of her mind for now. "Of course. You must be having such a hard time." Nadia puts down the grocery bags and sits down across from the girl.

"Uh. I never told Irena." Eliseo admits, and gets a withering look from his mom. "She never woke up!" He tries to defend himself.

Nadia sighs and looks at Ana again. "Can you give us a few minutes? Irena and I need to talk briefly."

[Shadowcaller]

[Seeking Help]

Irena resists the urge to sigh and/or roll her eyes. She hadn't done anything besides lightly throw a pillow at the kid. How was that worth an lecture?
"I was awake." She insists in turn as she turns to Eliseo. "You can just knock on the door kiddo, I'm in bed playing games. You should know this by now." She have resigned herself to listen to her wife explaining whatever tragic backstory this kid had though.

Looking at her own kid, she couldn't help but wonder why he was acting more like her than Nadia despite not even being related to her. She must be rubbing off on people.

[Northside - Fourth Tower Compound]

Zula will actually lead them to what appears to be a altar under construction in the middle of the campus ground. The vanara looks around, but doesn't seem satisfied with what she sees. "I guess she must be at home."
She gestures for them to follow. "Come."

They will now arrive at one of the smaller buildings of the campus. A single house that is some distance away from everything else surrounded by a garden. "Now, Sekai is rather paranoid after what happened before the invasion. The betrayal has led her to invest even more in summoned servants. Therefore, just let me do the talking and don't make any unexpected moves, alright? This house has a lot of security and you wouldn't want to trigger anything by accident."

[Deathkeeper]

[The Third Circle ]

The imp frowns.
”I’m afraid we don’t accept teeth as currency.” How uncivilized!
”If your volume proves adequate, we would be willing to exchange it for one volume of equal worth.” it explains.

[Recaiden]

Françoise follows.
The altar is empty, unimpressive. Nothing yet, is it?

They listen to Zula with growing apprehension.
Paranoid, alone except for summoned entities? How lonesome and pathetic. Can Sekai really know anything worth knowing?
A nod confirms that they'll stay quiet and unalarming, although actually, seeing the security measures would be interesting...

[Earl of Purple]

The Third Circle

Yeah, what kind of barbarian has no interest in teeth?

"I wrote them. That would make them rare, yes? All my own work." Containing his knowledge of tattoo magic, all compiled and sorted into one place. Except he's written a copy to keep, since it's basically his spell book that he's filled with all the symbols and meanings he's encountered. As well as several recipes for tattoo-ink and techniques of tattooing.

[Arkhosia]

[Seeking Help]

Irena resists the urge to sigh and/or roll her eyes. She hadn't done anything besides lightly throw a pillow at the kid. How was that worth an lecture?
"I was awake." She insists in turn as she turns to Eliseo. "You can just knock on the door kiddo, I'm in bed playing games. You should know this by now." She have resigned herself to listen to her wife explaining whatever tragic backstory this kid had though.

Looking at her own kid, she couldn't help but wonder why he was acting more like her than Nadia despite not even being related to her. She must be rubbing off on people.

Seeking Help

"It has been... difficult." She brushes the parted sweep of her bangs back somewhat, less out of irritation than nervous habit, before nodding. "Of course, it-it's no trouble at all." She winces minutely at her own choice of words. No trouble at all? As if she had the privilege to complain that the couple might be troubling her. She was a guest, invited by their son, not themselves, and came here to ask for their aid. If anything, she was troubling them.

[Deathkeeper]

[The Third Circle]

The imp takes the book, flips through it and nods.
"Very well. You may take one volume as recompense." it says astutely.

[Earl of Purple]

The Third Circle

The tattoo mage will select one of the books- the more advanced tome of tattoo magic- and turns to leave. He'll bow to the imp before he does. "Thank you."

[Gullara]

[Seeking Help]

Irena resists the urge to sigh and/or roll her eyes. She hadn't done anything besides lightly throw a pillow at the kid. How was that worth an lecture?
"I was awake." She insists in turn as she turns to Eliseo. "You can just knock on the door kiddo, I'm in bed playing games. You should know this by now." She have resigned herself to listen to her wife explaining whatever tragic backstory this kid had though.

Looking at her own kid, she couldn't help but wonder why he was acting more like her than Nadia despite not even being related to her. She must be rubbing off on people.

Seeking Help

"It has been... difficult." She brushes the parted sweep of her bangs back somewhat, less out of irritation than nervous habit, before nodding. "Of course, it-it's no trouble at all." She winces minutely at her own choice of words. No trouble at all? As if she had the privilege to complain that the couple might be troubling her. She was a guest, invited by their son, not themselves, and came here to ask for their aid. If anything, she was troubling them.

[Seeking Help]

Nadia smiles at Ana and then guides Irena to the kitchen. Once there she sighs and leans against the counter. "So... Anastasia's parents... died in the invasion." She frowns. "So she's in pretty dire straits. Honestly I'm not sure how to approach this."

---

Meanwhile Eliseo rolls his eyes as they leave. "I did knock. Believe me I'd hear her if she was playing games."

[Shadowcaller]

[Seeking Help]

"Uh-huh." Irena remarks as she scratches her head. "So is she staying at some homeless shelter or what? Since I'm pretty sure we can't do anything unless you're suggesting giving her money or something."

[Northside - Fourth Tower Compound]

((Will post here tomorrow...))

[Arkhosia]

Seeking Help

After Nadia and Irena leave the room, there is an awkward silence before Anastasia musters up something to fill it with. "Your mother is, um, quite lively." She'd never known any other parents who played video games, for one. Her father always thought such things promoted idleness, and thus were not worth the cost.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Faction HQ]

The Faction may well come to regret giving Ithuriel access to their secret hidey-hole.

Well, one of them likely will anyway, as the angel makes her way inside, grabbing and shaking the first Faction member she sees, with an utterly distraught expression on her face. "I need to see Wi- Ambriel. I need to see Ambriel now."

[Gullara]

[Seeking Help]

"A homeless shelter is no place for a young girl, Irena. She's Eliseo's age for pete sake. She needs someone to take care of her one way or another." Nadia bites her lip as she thinks. "I'm not entirely sure what to do, though. She still has her home, but she can't make payments forever. We could get her to the Sacred Order of Cunningham. They have an orphanage and they can probably make arrangements for a foster family if she's lucky."

---

Eliseo snorts. "When she's not sleeping in past noon." He folds his hands behind his head and looks at her out of the corner of his eye. "But eh, she's fine."

[Lord Magtok]

Faction HQ

"Miss, that's n-" Vamptok starts, before realizing who he's talking to. If Ambriel's cop girlfriend (who could probably bring all of Intersection and/or her divine patron's wrath down on their heads) needs to talk to him right now, then she's going to talk to him right now. If that means telling Squiddly to step aside or moving one of Needs' rituals out into the hall, so be it.

"Fine, this way. He was in the middle of-nevermind, it's not important," Vlad corrects himself, hurrying down the corridor, giving a fiendish look towards anyone who so much as dares to delay his mission to escort Ithuriel through the base for even a moment. Needs is going to have to talk about saving the world later, thank you very much. Haz better stop chatting in the middle of their way and press his back against the wall if he doesn't want to get run over.

"Mind the wires," he warns Ithuriel, gliding over the floor as they enter a room where the floor is covered in thick, tangled cables, and every wall is plastered in computer monitors, regaling the viewer with all sorts of esoteric and seemingly nonsensical data about a long list of unidentified individuals, displaying everything from heart rate to political views, hourly wages to horoscope readings. I think Ithuriel might be up there, Subject 3452 possibly, but it's hard to tell, given the endless tide of data washing across the screens. Ambriel looks surprised to see her, pulling an odd VR helmet-looking thing off his head as he raises an eyebrow and wordlessly looks to both her and Vlad for an explanation. Why didn't someone send him out there to meet her? Why have her walk all the way here and let her look at all of this stuff? It's nothing he'd be ashamed to tell her about, but it is work stuff, and he's been trying to keep his personal life out of that nonsense.

[Shadowcaller]

[Northside - Fourth Tower Compound]

They approach the little cottage and immediately Françoise will be hit by the sensation of being watched. There is more to this garden than what the eye can see as he can't see anything out of place. Though the garden gnomes and the plastic flamingos standing around can probably look a bit creepy considering the context.

Nevertheless, Zula knocks on the door and then stands back. "We probably have to wait a while." She whispers to the acolyte.

But soon enough, the door is opened by an middle-aged human woman with strange grey skin and dark eyes. Her intense gaze immediately focus on Francoise as the door is gleaned open. "Our new intern I suppose?"

"Er, yes. Hello to you too, Sekai. I'm giving him a tour of the place right now. We need some help with contacting Sinccubi. It's to reach out to a yu-seed."

Her gaze shifts down to the short ape-woman. "Which one?"

Zula blinks and glances up at Franscoise. "Doesn't really matter I think. Just whichever one-"

But Sekai cuts her off. "Of course it matters, each yu-seed is unique. If they are really serious about reaching out to them, they should learn that before coming and asking a bunch of questions." The grand warlock looks at him again. "Why are you interested in the seeds? It's not something a mere acolyte should start off with. Dealing with entities like that takes charisma and a iron will or they will lose interest the moment they lay their gaze on you, or worse."

[Seeking Help]

Irena shrugs helplessly, this wasn't exactly her expertise. "I guess that could work. Since she's too young to take a job and all..." Which ironically was Irena's only idea. "Unless, uh, the company, you know the one I 'owe'." Irena makes finger quotes as she mentions the company that she inherited as a part of her get-rich-scheme.

She was never took any decisions involved in it and mostly got money from its stocks on a monthly basis. Apparently, they dealt with the supernatural by selling appliances such as silver bullets, spirit wards and stakes but also had a number of 'exterminators' in their employment. In the nexus they did really well considering the demand on it and their dominance of the market. They weren't that big in Riverside however and made most of their profits in Sky- and inside as well as a certain other city...

"Maybe if I put in a good word she could like... work at a counter or something? I mean, it doesn't even have to be an official job. She just could show up and... I throw her money." Nadia always told her to do something for the community, and this was it right? Giving some little girl money. That probably made her the saint of the year or something.