GLoG 92: Generosity, Love, Opportunity, Growth

[Recaiden]

Leap gives a wave in return and walks on over before turning and gesturing at the person-sized package on her abdomen. "I've got someone to drop off. Smuggler off of a transport ship and I've made something of a bargain to leave her here." She explains. The drider sounds a bit glum to be doing a good deed however, as if she really didn't want to be doing this. "She's probably going to need food and water and some medical attention as she's been unconscious for most of a day. My fault, I admit, but my venom shouldn't leave too ill of an effect apart from a nasty headache."

So that is and entire person in the webbing. 'Needs medical attention' doesn't quite square with 'nothing but a headache' but the important thing right now is looking after this new patient, not picking part Leap's words.
"Bring them over to the clinic, then, if you don't mind. It's right over here."
It's very close to the entrance, actually. Every minute can count.

"So were you going to eat her?" And then someone made her agree not to eat this person? That's usually what happens to people wrapped up in webs and bitten by spiders. Anchor just sounds curious, not like she's out to catch Leap in admitting to something.

[Purple Eagle]

Off to see the DORFS!

Oh yeah! Olon nods enthusiastically. Pretty sure she hasn't thought about the sort of people that live in underside. You always come down here but we never- WOAH! Endok interrupts. ASHER YOUR SKIN GOT ALL COOL AND SILVER! He reaches out to gently prod Asher.

Tuskfang giggles.

"Yeah! He looks like that sometimes. We can go to Underside but I'd have to ask mom first. It's far away from here and deep underground. Like here, but bigger."

[Off to see the DORFS!]

"Oo! Haha!" Asher squeals as he's poked suddenly, grinning and giggling along. "T-This is my real skin!" He clarifies. "L-Let's go and ask your momma, Tuskie!" He says, making up that nickname on the spot.

[billtodamax]

Off to see the DORFS!

It's cool! Endok proclaims. Underside sounds cool too. I think dad's cooking us dinner though. Olon says with a frown. Daaaaaaaaaad! Can we go to Underside? Endok says running to the door. Wherever that is will have to wait till tomorrow. Comes the call from the kitchen.

[Morty]

[Off to see the DORFS!]

"We'll have to go with a grown-up anyway," Tuskfang says. "It's like a big city, but underground. My cousins live there and there's molerats, and slinks and beetles and rockmanders," he babbles on. "My mom grew up in another colony like that."

[Gnrlshrimp]

Memory Woods

"My name is Legion; for we are many. We act now," Needs insists, shaking his head as he dismisses the idea of recruiting people from the facestealer fighters outright. His brother has struck some bad deals and made some questionable decisions in the pursuit of power. Tenuous, fleeting, temporary power, which won't remain with us once this chapter of our lives is over. The Nexus public doesn't need to know about all of these things, and most of them, no matter the strength of their sword arms, are more likely to get in the way of The Plan than help bring it to fruition.

"It's time," Needs says to his wrist.

"You're talking about Operation Saint George?" asks a voice within his arm, another Magtok half a world away.

"Owner of a Lonely Heart, Roundabout, Starship Trooper," he answers plainly, tracing some runes in the air with his free hand as he waits for the admiral to decipher his meaning.

"What? Oh, song titles. Let me just look that up to be sure-" There's a brief pause, as the clone confirms that those songs are all by the same band. "Right, okay, I get it. I'll have everyone ready in-"

"Seven and one minutes, thirteen seconds."

"****, Needs. You're on all the magic right now, aren't you? Fine, eight minutes. I've got a lock on your coordinates, so get your **** together and make sure Magtok goes to bed on time." Needs taps a button on his wrist, ending the call, and then discards his prosthetic arm entirely, the whole thing turning to ash at his touch. It won't be needed where he's going, after all.

[Memory Woods]

"I couldn't have put it better myself, Needs. I've given Magtok everything he could possibly ask for, for this. A way in. An army. The knowledge that his beloved is still alive. Even my support. If he can't claim victory with so much at his disposal, well, then I think he deserves the death that awaits him, hmm?" The MagPuppet chuckles. "What would a few swords do at this point anyway?"

The MagPuppet shakes his head, then shrugs and offers a hand to Needs.

"Well, Mage? You might as well do as you wish with this Magtok now, hmm? Get him in position for his grand scheme." The smug Affy-grin is turned on Delilah again. "Dear, dear Delilah, it seems we're going to continue doing things our own way. No plan ever survives contact with the enemy...or allies who weren't properly kept in the loop from the start. There's a lesson to be learned in all this, I think."

[UncleWolf]

So that is and entire person in the webbing. 'Needs medical attention' doesn't quite square with 'nothing but a headache' but the important thing right now is looking after this new patient, not picking part Leap's words.
"Bring them over to the clinic, then, if you don't mind. It's right over here."
It's very close to the entrance, actually. Every minute can count.

"So were you going to eat her?" And then someone made her agree not to eat this person? That's usually what happens to people wrapped up in webs and bitten by spiders. Anchor just sounds curious, not like she's out to catch Leap in admitting to something.

Entrance => Infirmary

Leap gives a wistful sigh as she follows Anchor. "Oh, yes." She says dreamily before blinking and shaking her head. "Ah, no. Sorry, not like that. My venom is merely a paralytic. I don't eat people nor do I liquefy their insides to feed off of them like spiders." She explains, reaching up to open her mouth with her fingers to show off short fangs tucked into her cheeks. "Ee?" She asks before letting go. "Besides, I like to chew my food. Preferably cooked and seasoned."

Once at the clinic, Leap will help put the person on a bed.

[Purple Eagle]

Off to see the DORFS!

It's cool! Endok proclaims. Underside sounds cool too. I think dad's cooking us dinner though. Olon says with a frown. Daaaaaaaaaad! Can we go to Underside? Endok says running to the door. Wherever that is will have to wait till tomorrow. Comes the call from the kitchen.

"We'll have to go with a grown-up anyway," Tuskfang says. "It's like a big city, but underground. My cousins live there and there's molerats, and slinks and beetles and rockmanders," he babbles on. "My mom grew up in another colony like that."

[Off to see the DORFS!]

Asher's saddened at it, not to the point he has to hold back tears (and fail after a few seconds), but Tuskfang comes to the rescue with descriptions of Underside. "I wish I c-could take you to my house, u-up, Tusky, but m-momma says mortals can't live there." He's quite sad about that, too. "I-Is that where Brinika and Chea live?"

[billtodamax]

Off to see the DORFS!

We're not mortals we're dwarves. Olon says confidently. Endok nods along. I bet that means we could go. PLUS Tuskfang is a woblin which is like a goblin plus a wolf which definitely makes him good enough to go. Endok is still very jealous of Tuskfang's ears. OH I bet Brinika can take us! She's pretty much an adult. Olon has had a brilliant idea.

[Morty]

[Off to see the DORFS!]

"Yeah! Cheasadh moves there when Aunt Tralka adopted her," Tuskfang says, his tail wagging. "What's a 'mortal' mean?" He then asks. "Is a woblin or a dwarf a mortal? Brinika is older than us, though."

[Recaiden]

Leap gives a wistful sigh as she follows Anchor. "Oh, yes." She says dreamily before blinking and shaking her head. "Ah, no. Sorry, not like that. My venom is merely a paralytic. I don't eat people nor do I liquefy their insides to feed off of them like spiders." She explains, reaching up to open her mouth with her fingers to show off short fangs tucked into her cheeks. "Ee?" She asks before letting go. "Besides, I like to chew my food. Preferably cooked and seasoned."

Once at the clinic, Leap will help put the person on a bed.

Oh my.
"Well, too bad you'll have to miss a meal."
Anchor leans in to admire the non-liquefying fangs. "I see. Cute. And useful, I imagine."

Now in the infirmary, she lays the victim out on a bed and peels away some of the silk wrapping.
"So what did happen? Any other injuries or factors?"
Then it's a stethoscope for checking the woman's breathing, move on to getting her pulse, taking a blood pressure reading (with some more difficulty), paging through her spellbook for a basic diagnostic spell. Leap is surely right about needing to hydrate her, but she doesn't want to miss it if there's anything seriously wrong.

[UncleWolf]

Infirmary

Leap helps remove the silk wrapping to reveal a somewhat rugged, but quite pretty, sapphire skinned woman wearing a dark green and orange striped jumpsuit. She's got a short pair of antennae on her forehead, shoulder length glossy black hair, and a rather peaceful look on her face. She sports a pair of bite marks on each side of her neck from Leap as well. She's somewhat dehydrated, but her vitals are strong. "She was my kidnapper and caretaker on a smuggler's transport ship." Leap points out, frowning a bit as she crosses her arms in front of her. "The ship crashed, I got out, got my revenge on those that roughed me up, and I took her with me afterward. She probably has some other bumps and bruises from an escape pod and the crash beforehand, but I made sure she was padded pretty well. I was going to claim her as my salvage, but a talking cat made a bargain with me for her freedom. That said, she has a tracking chip in her thigh. That's to stay there."

[Recaiden]

"What is she?" Anchor asks after the silk is all away.
"And more important - how long does your venom last?"
Anchor gives her another look over and shakes her head.
"Okay, nothing seems badly hurt. You know you really oughtn't take people as salvage. Let them go or take revenge, but do something final." She doesn't say anything about the tracking chip. They can just remove that after Leap has gone. Or not, depending on what the sapphire woman says and does.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Memory Woods]

Delilah has a sour look on her face for a second or two, but after doesn't really look terribly put out by all of this here.
It's not her plans on the line. She's just the very unhappy facilitator.

As far as she knows, this is also accounted for. Or it isn't.
This entire divinity arrangement was a foolish gambit from the start, no matter who started it and how they progress it.
But it's going to see a resolution, regardless of who does what.
"I guess all I can say to that is 'good luck'. It's only the fate of everything that hinges in the balance."

She could say something snippy here, probably, or be otherwise discouraging.
But it's a waste of energy. There's still things to be done.

[UncleWolf]

Infirmary

"Absolutely gorgeous is what she is." Leap says with a wistful sigh. "Woulda looked so pretty with chitin." She adds in a whisper. "Alien is all I know. The transport ship was taking me through space and dimensions when something else escaped and wrecked the place." The Drider explains before turning to peruse the rest of the Infirmary. "I gave her a dose about two hours ago. A small one. Probably a couple more hours before it wears off, but she might sleep the night to be perfectly honest." She gives another sigh before waving her hand dismissively at the last comment. "Maybe, but I wasn't planning on keeping her permanently. She was a solution to a literal life or death situation I have going on. And may still be if things don't fall through, but this organization is not the sort of place to go into that I suppose."

[Recaiden]

"Better get something for her in the meantime." Anchor sets about preparing an iv hydration setup for the kidnapper. Fluids, needles, getting her partway out of that jumpsuit.

Anchor's shadow follows Leap as the drider looks around the infirmary. Not too many patients in at the moment, but the place remains haunted as ever.

"You know, the League is here to help people in bad situations. Are you saying someone has to die, and you'd rather it be her than you?" 'Hello GLoG, please make sure my sacrificial victim stays healthy' is not exactly what the infirmary is here for. But there's a lot of other explanations that fit what Leap said, and hopefully she'll provide a less grim explanation.
Anchor is definitely hoping the cute alien wakes up soon to get some more answers.

[UncleWolf]

Infirmary

"Oh god no. If I wanted her dead, I'd have done the deed ages ago. I very much wanted to keep her alive and even possibly happy." Leap explains hastily, holding up her hands defensively at the implication. Even so, she can't help but stare at the chiseled muscle that Anchor uncovers by removing part of the jumpsuit. "But that's not to say my intentions are better, I suppose. Could be worse depending on how you view it." She admits, crossing her arms again. The IVs will be put into the alien without any issues either. Despite being an alien, her anatomy is very much human.

"If the full truth matters, then I was going to use her as a host mother for my young." She says plainly with a slight frown, deciding to stop beating around the bush. Man, first the cat and now her. But at least there'd be no more misconceptions about her purpose. "And to be even more truthful, I'm not sure she'd be enough. My breed of Drider is particularly unstable, and if I do not fulfill certain biological needs, it will quite literally eat holes in my brain and turn me into little more than a mindless man-eating monster. I'm a monster, sure, but I would very much prefer not to lose my sense of self and sanity. And without my sanity, instincts kick in. Very very terrifying instincts for those who run into me."

[Recaiden]

"But that doesn't kill her." Anchor confirms, a little puzzled.
Mostly just expressionless. Yes, that's pretty horrible. But Leap is here at GLoG, giving up her captive, and deserves the benefit of doubt.
"Well, the full truth matters so I can know if we could help you here. Now, I don't know your particular subspecies, and I'm sure you've looked into protecting your brain with hormones and incubators so you don't need to paralyze hosts and so on, but our medical labs are quite extensive. We could investigate, if you wanted."
"I do understand your position, though."
Anchor checks over the alien again, admitting to herself that the kidnapper is pretty cute.

[UncleWolf]

Infirmary

Leap shakes her head at the suggestions. "Surprisingly enough, I had this exact conversation with her when they were assessing my value. The smugglers might have thought I was lying though." She admits before shrugging. "It's just how my specific kind were created. We weren't naturally occurring. Chimeric creations forged out of magic and then were able to sustain a population in the wild. My species was made to be let loose behind enemy lines well before a war breaks out, to develop raiding cultures and to rely on the local population to grow more of us. Almost parasitic in a way. If we failed, the "kill-switch", activates and sends us into a pure instinct mode that typically results in us dying. We cannot breed within our species either. It just doesn't work. It's a combination of screwed up genetics by people who had no idea what genetics was, as well as a magical timer from a kind of magic that just plain does not exist in this world." She gives another shrug. "I'm pretty nonchalant about it, but that's just the reality for us. There are ways to get me back to the home world, but nothing that'd get me there in time so I took what answer was readily available to me." She adds, gesturing at the alien on the table.

"In a way, we're some of the luckier Chimeras. There were alchemists back home that'd create some with a lifespan of days before their organs failed and they died horribly."

[Recaiden]

If you pay attention, you can actually feel the improbability of Leap's story.
Anchor nods. "I believe it. Actually, I expected as much. If something like that weren't true, you wouldn't have ended up in this crazy situation, right?"
"You know, that's actually a really clever design for you guys. From the alchemists' perspective, anyway. Shame from your end, of course."
She tenses up for a moment when Leap gestures to the alien. Is she going to try something? No, no, looks okay.

"Anyway, you'll have to find some alternative, ... ah, what was your name? I'm 'Anchor'."

[UncleWolf]

Infirmary

"And I'm Leap. Pleasure." Leap says, taking the offered hand and shaking it. "The Cat-Guy, Rain something or other, that I found on the crashed ship who has a mini-fortress should be looking for a more willing host, but I did promise to drop her off here at GLoG in the meantime. If you have an alternative, I'm all ears though I've got a month or so before I'm too far gone. And I should note that I don't hold any ill will towards the alchemists who made us. It was centuries ago. Driders ended up being a pretty common form, some more stable than us. I just got the short end of the stick is all." She says with a shrug. "Pretty ingenious designs all in all. If they worked. If I were back, I'd just go back home where there's a community ready to support this kind of thing. There's a pretty hefty communal fund to pay for hosts." The Drider spies the coffee machine and skitters over, going about preparing a pot of it.

"Not that I have much on me at the moment. Most of my wealth was just in a tree house near here where I was nabbed. They wrecked the place and I imagine it's picked clean by scavengers by now. Probably going to have to go back to bounty hunting to try and gather up a small fortune again. That or selling my thread, but that takes ages to amass clean working material."

[Rebonack]

[In Search of a Fortress]

"That's so cool! I haven't ever met any actual wizards before, what was she like?" Khannie asks as she sets the book down.

Here it is.

The moment of truth!

Khannie opens up the book revealing-!

Tolkien style elf script.

Lots and lots of it.

The book is currently upside down, but Khannie can't really tell.

"I have no idea how to read this," she admits.

In Search of a Fortress

She was weird. Olon says authoritatively. I think it's cause she was a weird sorta wizard. Endok nods along as he tries to read the book (also upside down). He can barely read dwarvish but damned if that's gonna stop him. I bet we just need to like... feel what the magic words are. He says after some study. It probably beams it into our brains without having to read it. Imagine reading the entire book! Endok barely gets through his books and they're way thinner than that one PLUS they have pictures.

"I dunno if reading works like that, Endok," Khannie says skeptically. "Everything I've heard about wizards says that they say magic works just right and do crazy stuff with their staff or wand or something and then the magic happens. But that's no good if we can't read the book. Reading the book is important!"

She glances up from the tome, looking around the room for any similar writing.

Definitely not dwarf script.

It looks all angular and this stuff is all... swoopy.

"Is there anyone in the fortress that knows how to read lots of different languages? Maybe we should ask for help?"

Khannie doesn't like admitting that she's a bit out of her league, but there's no sense in being stubborn, right?

[Recaiden]

"Glad to meet you too. Shame about the circumstances."
Then she sighs. "Reinholdt? Huh. I'm impressed."

While Leap prepares coffee (thank goodness!) Anchor flips through her spellbook, looking for ideas. Immediately, she can think of so many bad ideas. Most of them she refrains from mentioning.
"You can't breed with other driders you said. So what kinds of races are you...compatible with?"
"I would normally say start with the timer, but a month isn't close to the time needed to work with another world's magic with no practitioners around. I could definitely help you rebuild your funds, and if he doesn't have luck finding anyone willing, it might be plausible to create one. I'm sure I could do plenty to minimize the impact on the host, depending on the details of the magic trigger..."
Anchor bites her lip.

[Lord Magtok]

[Memory Woods]

Delilah has a sour look on her face for a second or two, but after doesn't really look terribly put out by all of this here.
It's not her plans on the line. She's just the very unhappy facilitator.

As far as she knows, this is also accounted for. Or it isn't.
This entire divinity arrangement was a foolish gambit from the start, no matter who started it and how they progress it.
But it's going to see a resolution, regardless of who does what.
"I guess all I can say to that is 'good luck'. It's only the fate of everything that hinges in the balance."

She could say something snippy here, probably, or be otherwise discouraging.
But it's a waste of energy. There's still things to be done.

"My brother's parasite doesn't speak for me," Needs reminds Delilah, scowling at Affidavit and his inability to go five minutes without irritating someone, as more and more chrome components of his body turn to ash, their absence slowly being replaced by icy-blue reptilian scales that fill the air with an unearthly chill.

"I have been impudent. I have not engendered trust and respect in my actions. You lack faith, which is entirely understandable. I promise a coherent explanation when this is over," he swears to her, as a shuttle's cloaking device disengages, and a few dozen steel, faceless humanoids in purple robes leap out, hurrying over to fall to one knee and bow before the orange-robed sorcerer.

"Prepare a window, Affidavit. The Rule of Three dictates another threshold broken," Needs commands, still trying to adjust to this whole 'Needs is in charge now' thing. Regardless of their respective power levels, Magtok was supposed to be the central protagonist in all of this. There may be other 'clones' provided by the Hegemony, and the reinforcements his sleeping brother will bring in later, but Needs still has a greater connection to this narrative than any of them, and unless one of them is a much greater showstopper than expected, he won't be able to fade back into the secondary protagonist role so easily. This is going to be dicey, to say the least.

[UncleWolf]

Infirmary

Leap pulls out a pair of coffee mugs, takes a look at the blue alien on the table, and pulls out a third just in case. "Mostly humanoid females. And it's not something like those chestbursters from that one movie. Or parasitic larva. Nothing like that. It's, uh, more...natural. And that's why I wondered if she were enough depending on clutch size." Leap explains. "Only takes a couple months of gestation inside their host-mother though, then the eggs get placed into an incubator for another month. There's a few more steps to it than that, but I'm not sure how much detail I should be going into. Though I suppose if you're a doctor or researcher, then there might be some benefit to explaining some more. I never did ask if you were one or just a helper. Sugar? Honey?" She asks.

[bc56]

Lake, evening
Interaction wanted

A Tiefling girl sits on a bench overlooking the lake. She looks about 17, with dark red skin, horns like a gazelle's, and a forked devilish tail. She's wearing a long, blue dress and a corset, and her black hair is pulled back into a ponytail. Closer examination reveals that she has a partially carved branch and a short-bladed whittling knife resting in a pile of wood shavings on her lap, and that she's sniffling, as if she just finished crying. The tear stains are still visible below her eyes.

[Recaiden]

"I don't watch a lot of movies." But the name makes it pretty clear. "But that's, I mean, it sounds like it could be a lot worse than it is."

Anchor is filling out a chart so if the alien doesn't awaken anytime soon, the nurse will know what to do.
Wait, is Leap saying...? This is all twisted around.
"Sweet of you, but I'll take it plain."
"And yes, I'm a proper researcher at the lab here. So ... you can call me 'Doctor'. I mean, if you don't mind going into more detail about your particular type of chimera...?" Anchor then grabs up a clipboard and pen. She can take notes!

[billtodamax]

In search of a fortress

Aw but reading is haaaaaard. Endok protests. Plus this doesn't even look like real writing. It's all dumb curves and stuff. Oh I bet Gusil could read this! Gusil knows how to read a bunch of different stuff. He's normally in the tavern. She tells Khannie. Mum says we can go as long as it isn't after dinner so we should be ok. Endok says standing up. Olon stands up too and starts heading to the door.

[Rebonack]

[In search of a fortress]

"You've gotta be SUPER great at reading if you wanna be wizards," Khannie points out. "The three most important wizard things are reading, writing, and memorizing magic words. Oh! And having a cool wizard beard and hat. But that's five things."

Khannie scoops up the book and begins following the dorfs.

"Do we have to do anything with your weird bird and bat pets? Do they just get left on the table?"

Or do they come on this little adventure?

Khannie really isn't too clear on how most pets work.

The only pet she has isn't even hers. It's her dad's stupid pet pokemon.

Khannie hates it.

[billtodamax]

In search of a fortress

Nah they're ok they can get down with the chairs. Plus we aren't allowed to take them outside yet cause Taguz said they have to learn that this is their home. Olon tells Khannie as she leads the way to the tavern.

I'm learning how to read. Endok tells Khannie seriously as they walk. So it won't be a problem. Gusil can just write it all down in proper writing for us and I'll read it easy.

The tavern is a short distance away, through a couple of twisting hallways and up a short flight of stairs. It's reasonably full for the time of day, with various dwarves having a drink and a rest between jobs. The dwarven siblings march up to the bar and drag themselves onto seats. Hi Gan! Endok says cheerily. Hey there sprouts. Gan says happily, pulling a pair of glasses out and filling them with what looks like ale. Who's your friend?

Lake, evening

A heavily armoured dwarf comes strolling along the lake, whistling aimlessly. Her armour is a brilliant teal colour and she's holding a fishing rod over her shoulder, with a shining steel crossbow strapped across her back. She pauses when she notices the tiefling, brain working in overdrive for a few seconds, before continuing to approach, sitting down next to her on the bench. She calmly starts attaching her fly to the pole while she waits to see if the tiefling will speak first.

[Rebonack]

[In search of a fortress]

"That makes sense," Khannie says as she tucks the book under her arm, giving the pets one last glance. "Because otherwise what if they try to run away, right? Didn't you say they get really big? Where will you keep them later?"

So off they go, twisting and turning through the tunnels of the fortress with Khannie getting the occasional odd look.

What's a human doing down here, anyway?

Shouldn't she be on the surface, getting swindled by dwarves into accepting lopsided trade agreements?

The times are changing, that's for sure.

"I can read pretty good too. One of my teachers said that sometimes the Nexus will translate writing since there are all kinds, but sometimes it doesn't," Khannie points out.

This is because of plot. When plot calls for something to be illegible, it is. But plot is WAY too advanced of a subject for a ten year old.

"I'm Khannie Vallarm!" she announces as she thumps the book onto the counter. "I found this wizard book at the market and Olon and Endok are trying to be wizards so I brought it here for our sleep-over but it's written in weird swirly letters do you know how to read it?"

On the off chance that Gan can read it, he'll quickly discover that it's a hand-written cook-book.

Whether or not he wishes to divulge this to the children is up to him.