Inside 68: Dawn of a New Season (or two)

[Morty]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

Michalson shakes his head.

"It often does, but I'm a livin' proof it ain't always the case. Sometimes you just need to know where to poke it. Or whoever nicked 'em does have power and knows how to charge 'em before usin' them. They're mixin' magic and tech, one way or the other, and that's not a safe blend. I suspected they'd be makin' a tinman army. Guess I was right."

[UncleWolf]

Rambling Shop - Lum

"These may be calling to you, Lum, but they're not broken. I wouldn't fix them hastily any more than I could bring myself to fix you." Damaged, worn, but not broken. Never broken. It's as plain to him as the beak on his face, "Some of them are damaged beyond usefulness, and those I will have you help with. But in order to help them, we must first help your tools." Grabbing a banker's box out from under his small collapsing work shelf, he hauls it up to the shelf with a grunt and some effort. It's full of old, second-hand tools that they can scavenge parts from or use in the fixing.

"Now, what's most useful in first? Which of these would help fix the others first?" Because if the tools fix each other, that will only increase the scope of the story here.

Rambling Shop - Lum

The little insect woman seems to ponder over the question very heavily when she returns to where her tools have been laid out. She runs her more delicate hand over each of them, and even she can't help but look worriedly over every piece. She traces her fingertips over the wear lines, stress fractures, and spot welds before finally stopping when she gets to her little plasma cutter. Lum takes it and gives it a few attempts at ignition, only succeeding upon her sixth click of the switch to produce a small flickering light at the end. It fades after just a few moments, the tool proving erratic at best, but she nods and sets it back down before tapping it twice. That was the one that'd be best suited at helping to repair the other tools. It was the most complex as well however.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

"So the question is, who took the stuff, and what do they hope to gain with it?" Misty asks, more musing to herself than actually expecting an answer.

"I don't care who it was, we just want our warehouse and its contents back!" The gnome protests, clearly growing impatient. She points a finger at Michalson. "You implied you have magic, can't you cast some kind of spell that could find it?"

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Hotel]

”Alysha is very nice.” Sam assures Lucy.
”So. Uh. Wanna do something? I haven’t seen you in days. We could get food, go shopping, something.” he tries to find something that will get her off that couch. Sam misses Lucy as she was. He needs something that can get that back, even just a little.

[Hotel]

"Yeah. Yeah, we should do something." Lucy nods, gently setting the cat to one side. "I...I dunno what, but going somewhere sounds good. I-is there anything you need to get? I-"

As soon as she's up on her feet, Lucy falters and her lip trembles.

"I-"

She pauses for a moment, then runs over to give the big pig-man a hug, as best as she can anyway. "I-I'm sorry, Sam. I'm sorry for everything."

[Chaotic Bob]

Spoiler: Docks Spoils

Show

[The Docks - Angelic Postmortem]

Gotta be the facestealers or whatever they called them right? Or at least that's Anika's conclusion as she changes back into her humanoid form. "Okay guys, let's with patting ourselves on the back until we dealt with those shapestealers. Geneva and I found them down in the sewers and I bet my sweet ass that the inn is connected to them so let's head there and investigate!" She won't actually rush ahead this time however, she is waiting for confirmation from the others.

[The Docks - Angelic Postmortem]

Calm Reed nods.

"Then let's push our advantage. With luck, the loss of their toys has them off balance so we can finish them off."

With that, she heads into the ruins of the inn.

[The Docks - Angelic Postmortem]

Quin nods in agreement with Calm's assessment, and follows along behind her, watching closely for more danger.

[Docks]

Oh hey, here comes Geneva!

She's still small and pink.

Why is she still small and pink?

Because she's counting on needing to head down into the sewers again now that the angel thing is gone. They still need to flush out all the awful stuff lurking down there. And given what she knows about skinwalkers, she would NOT want to be caught in close quarters whilst a hippogriff.

As a mew she has barriers and potent telekinesis. And a nice little side of fire if all else fails. All excellent tools for dealing with close quarters combat.

Otherwise?

Well... otherwise she would probably be in a great deal of trouble.

She spies the other VIGILanties heading down into the ruins and dips low to catch up with them.

~That orb blew up and killed everything in the blast radius,~ she reaches out mentally. ~Thank Arceus it only caught a stray bird.~

Yeah no kidding.

That would have been a bunch of dead people otherwise.

~The communicators I built for everyone double as light sources. It's really dark down there.~

Geneva will be following the others, a faint iridescent bubble flashing into view around her every now and again when the light hits it just right.

[The Docks - A Ruined Tavern]

The good news for everyone is that there isn't a horde of screeching monstrosities waiting to meet them in the collapsed building, or rushing out to overwhelm the surrounding area more than it already is. It's actually pretty quiet, as long as you ignore the sounds of unstable rubble shifting and settling.

The less good news is that this is going to pose a travel obstacle.
While the walls themselves are intact enough to simply walk past, perhaps ducking under a beam or two, a large portion of the ceiling/roof collapsed directly inwards. There's no real supernatural obstacle here, so adequate displays of strength or petite nimbleness can get everyone where they want to go, it's just going to be annoying and probably not as quick as they would like. (Or not, maybe someone just disappears all of the rubble at once? Options!)

However the group elects to deal with that, they will inevitably come upon the lower portion of the angel-flower's stalk. It's an ugly brown now, seemingly having gone some form of rapid dehydration and death, and has very clearly erupted up from the floorboards of the tavern's main room where it presumably then clawed up through the ceiling and became the nasty problem everyone is familiar with. Boards are cracked and lopsidedly bent around it but there is a distinct lack of "enter here!" doorways or paths built into it.
It's not a very hard leap of logic to assume it has originated from the sewer area below the building, the question is just how to get there from here.

Remove the plant? Remove the ground? Alternative path?

[Deathkeeper]

[Hotel]

Sam’s not so wide that Lucy can’t get her arms at least kind of around him. Sam puts an arm around her, while using two others to slip the silver necklace around her neck.
”You didn’t do nothin’ worth saying sorry for Lucy. So don’t. Okay? We’ve always been square.” he assures her.

[Morty]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

"I can use such magic as I find, but I don't cast spells," Michalson explains patiently. "I understand your concern, ma'am, but the investigation is ongoing. I'm pursuing all the leads that I can uncover."

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Hotel]

"I- I could have, you know. I could have just flown us out of there. B-but I had to be a coward about it, and get us both hurt. It is all my fault, Sam. It is." Lucy mumbles, shaking.

Sorry Sam, seems a bit more encouragement is going to be needed to get Lucy out the door.

[Deathkeeper]

[Hotel]

”Lucy, we both know that last time we tried flying me around anywhere the flight lasted about two minutes. There were all sorts of things flying around in the sky. You’d never have made it out lugging me around. And that’s not making fun of my weight; it’s the truth.” Sam’s near death experience has really helped him accept his body image. That doesn’t mean he’s in denial about what it is.

[Morty]

[The Docks - A Ruined Tavern]

"We need to get down there." Calm Reed isn't hesitant to state the obvious. "Any ideas? We can probably just tear the floor up and open a way, but that'll take time and effort."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

The gnome throws up her hands in disgust and sighs theatrically.

"Fine, whatever."

Misty looks down for a moment, placing a hand to her ear, before nodding.

"They've managed to pull some video from some cameras around the factory that was gutted. It might not lead us to where the stuff was taken, but it might give us a better idea of who we're dealing with."

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Hotel]

Lucy nods quietly and steps away from Sam. He's right. Of course he's right.

It brings some relief, actually. She could try to argue it, but it'd be pointless. And besides, Sylvess isn't out here to really dig his heels in over it. It's not her fault! It's not his fault!

It's never quite that simple, but it helps. A few more reminders like that and it might properly sink in.

"A-alright. Alright, I get it. Come on, let's go do something before I do something stupid." She darts around him, heading out the door.

[Morty]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

Michalson sighs, but there's not much more he can do about the owners. An entire warehouse full of their property was stolen; there's really not much that can be said to make it better.

"Knowin' the dark of how in every Power and their mother an entire warehouse vanished overnight will be a good start. Can't be too many bloods who can pull that off, even in this anthill. Let's see the video."

[Rebonack]

[Golden Flock Orphanage]

Red will be... Occupied. For a while.

She's carrying quite a bit of weight here. And before long she's confronted with the rather lovely hole she created in the floor just a few minutes prior. No worries!

She'll just set this mess of unfortunate children down and begin levitating them up through the hole one at a time. This is, as one might imagine, something of a time consuming process. Telekinesis gets more difficult with mass, distance, and number of objects. And given that Red isn't exactly a magical prodigy (in this field at least) she'll have to take it slow.

So.

One at a time.

Up through the hole they go.

Hopefully the floor won't collapse under any of the kids after she sets them down. That would be aggravating.

[Docks]

~We could use one of the storm drains,~ Geneva points out as she frowns at the heap of rubble clogging their path. ~It would probably be easier to pull a few iron bars out of the concrete than digging through all of this. We don't know how it might shift when we start pulling pieces out.~

Are there any storm drains nearby?

Seems like there would be some, considering how close our heroes are to the Docks. Or... considering that they're at the docks at the moment. Storm drains tend to get pretty plentiful the closer one gets to the water front.

[Abrajin's Library]

Oh good.

Ask the snake in the tree for directions.

There's no way that could go wrong, could it?

The snake looks at the scout. Staring. On account of snakes not having any eye-lids.

Its tongue flicks at the air.

...yeah.

Hmm.

Maybe it's just a normal sna-

"A lamb, you say? Yes yes, I've heard all about it. This poor lost puppet has been blathering about it for the last three hours. It has gotten dreadfully old."

Oh.

Well.

That's something but not actually helpful?

[Shadowcaller]

[The Docks - A Ruined Tavern]

The good news for everyone is that there isn't a horde of screeching monstrosities waiting to meet them in the collapsed building, or rushing out to overwhelm the surrounding area more than it already is. It's actually pretty quiet, as long as you ignore the sounds of unstable rubble shifting and settling.

The less good news is that this is going to pose a travel obstacle.
While the walls themselves are intact enough to simply walk past, perhaps ducking under a beam or two, a large portion of the ceiling/roof collapsed directly inwards. There's no real supernatural obstacle here, so adequate displays of strength or petite nimbleness can get everyone where they want to go, it's just going to be annoying and probably not as quick as they would like. (Or not, maybe someone just disappears all of the rubble at once? Options!)

However the group elects to deal with that, they will inevitably come upon the lower portion of the angel-flower's stalk. It's an ugly brown now, seemingly having gone some form of rapid dehydration and death, and has very clearly erupted up from the floorboards of the tavern's main room where it presumably then clawed up through the ceiling and became the nasty problem everyone is familiar with. Boards are cracked and lopsidedly bent around it but there is a distinct lack of "enter here!" doorways or paths built into it.
It's not a very hard leap of logic to assume it has originated from the sewer area below the building, the question is just how to get there from here.

Remove the plant? Remove the ground? Alternative path?

[The Docks - A Ruined Tavern]

A better question would be if there were stormdrains that were large enough to fit them inside, or they would have to do more than just remove a few bars.
This question can likely be attributed to differences between EU and the US as Anika's player is from the part of EU where stormdrains are very rarely large enough to fit a person inside. Least of all a 7 feet tall person like Anika.

"Can't we just blow it up some more, with fire, just in case something decides to crawl out of there?" Anika suggests. "Then we can go searching for an alternative way in, or just go through all that."

[Not-so-Strange Happenings]

Nothing was strange about Kiph today.

And that made Kiph dangerous.

Being a gigantic wolf man tended to do that on its own, but Kiph was also a thoroughly unpleasant individual. So much so that no one even batted an eye when he was running through the streets snarling like a madman. That always happened when he had a bad day, or so everyone living near his apartment said.

Yet if nothing seemed strange about Kiph's behavior, when his immediate family soon started to act the same way, people started to realize.
Kiph was especially dangerous today since nothing had been strange about him as he was the patient zero for a new mental affliction that seemed to have no physical symptoms and only infected people that were somehow related animals or supernatural beings.

No one would actually understand this until far later however. All that was reported in the papers was about a peculiar, but isolated, incident where Kiph and his family lived. Would that be enough for anyone to investigate further? The Azure Clover was taking keen interest at least...

{Plot Post 2}
Previously: Plot post 1 - The The Azure Clovers Seaside Testing Facility
Next: Plot Post 3 - New Inside: President Sierra's Office

[Arkhosia]

The Docks - Ruined Tavern

"We could, but I don't have any explosives on-hand. Going through the grate seems like it would attract a lot less attention than any of the other options, too. Blanche comments.

[UncleWolf]

Golden Flock Orphanage

Mo smiles at the kid, ignoring Ithuriel for the moment. Mentally she sends her beloved a message in dots and dashes, telling her where she is and what's going on as well as getting a reliable nuclear engineer called, but physically she shakes her head. "Don't worry, Angel, I'll be alright. And that goes for you too, kiddo. You have every right to be scared, but you don't gotta be. Just concentrate on me an' I'll take your hand. I'm like a big ol' toy, got it? I've got a giant battery in me that you don't ever gotta worry 'bout draining. I can just charge it right back up an' I've even got a few back-up power sources I can run too that'll activate if anything's drained. So why dun we do something a bit better than just taking your hand?" She suggests.

She'll reach out, take Zane's hand and pull him into a big gentle hug. "Just let it all out, Mo's got ya."

[Slii Arhem]

Rambling Shop - Lum

The little insect woman seems to ponder over the question very heavily when she returns to where her tools have been laid out. She runs her more delicate hand over each of them, and even she can't help but look worriedly over every piece. She traces her fingertips over the wear lines, stress fractures, and spot welds before finally stopping when she gets to her little plasma cutter. Lum takes it and gives it a few attempts at ignition, only succeeding upon her sixth click of the switch to produce a small flickering light at the end. It fades after just a few moments, the tool proving erratic at best, but she nods and sets it back down before tapping it twice. That was the one that'd be best suited at helping to repair the other tools. It was the most complex as well however.

Rambling Shop - Lum

Digging through boxes of old wiring, defunct power tools, and bags upon bags of old spare parts ensures as Fezziro salvages capacitors, circuitboards, screws, and even an old plasma cutter tip he managed to scrounge somewhere. Anything Lum asks for, he'll try to provide in short order and often succeed in doing so. His unique filing system helped him there, though he could already see this would be an expensive job. Just in parts, this commission was destroying the possible usefulness of several other future projects he could have done. Though if pressed he would admit he always had more things to enchant than he could ever finish, people being all too willing to trade away treasured memories in exchange for a discount on a useful new toy.

Still... that would be part of the story now too. Greedy, hungry tools. Jealous too. They'd work better in Lum's hands than any other tool set, provided she kept them fed and used them before any others... He scribbles a note as he holds out a green thing with a couple of strange curly bits. Already a narrative was taking hold here, and strongly.

When the plasma cutter is done to Lum's satisfaction, Fezziro will have to enchant it. And this... he must sadly shoo her out of the wagon for "It's not that I don't trust you, and if you wish to learn my methods while working off your debt, I'll consider it. But for tonight, I need solitude for this." He's already laying out an old granite mortar and pestle, a very thin glass rod, and several bags of strong-smelling substances, one so acrid it might make Lum sneeze. Fezziro takes no notice, likely because of his mask.

Mr. Fezziro's Wonderful Emporium - A Brand New Day

After working quite late last night on a commission, on his first day in the city no less, Fezziro gets up to set up his shop bright and early. The world waits for no man, and Fezziro's exactly where he wants to be. Making money, telling stories, and improving lies.

After yesterday, he makes sure the ABSOLUTELY NO WEAPONS sign is buffed up and gleaming where it hangs off of the counter, and then he starts setting out some of his displays. A hat/coat rack with several old fashioned but dashing examples of haberdashery are hung, a folding table with a set of carving knives, several watches both pocket and wrist, many old, battered, and tarnished coins. A small box of books, set on its side on the edge of the table to act as an improvised shelf. And then there are all the treasures on the wagon's counter, strapped down so that they don't need to be rearranged for display every time he moves. Each object has a little tag with the price, a summary of its story (very brief) and a note about its abilities. There's also a number in the bottom right hand of each attached card.

[Halae]

[Mr. Fezziro's Wonderful Emporium - A Brand New Day]

This morning, there's an unusual individual approaching the shop - someone who's been out all night from the look of her windblown... wig? Indeed, that's not real hair, though the wearer has done a remarkable job of making it look so.

After all, it's rather unlikely someone completely covered in scales would grow a normal head of hair.

Standing the better part of ten feet tall, she towers over the shop, and is bulky to boot, with all of her limbs packed with muscles. A crocodilian tail drags along behind her, and she smells of the wind, her outfit revealing much of her body, customized for movement, flexibility, and durability as it is.

The large seemingly reptilian woman steps towards the cart curiously, and when she speaks her harrowingly gravely voice is kept low - it might have been a near whisper in the throat of a normal person, but with Emily's massive throat and lungs, the volume is approximately close to what a normal human might manage with a normal speaking tone, "Uh, hi. I don't think I've ever seen an actual peddler's wagon before."

[Slii Arhem]

[Mr. Fezziro's Wonderful Emporium - A Brand New Day]

This morning, there's an unusual individual approaching the shop - someone who's been out all night from the look of her windblown... wig? Indeed, that's not real hair, though the wearer has done a remarkable job of making it look so.

After all, it's rather unlikely someone completely covered in scales would grow a normal head of hair.

Standing the better part of ten feet tall, she towers over the shop, and is bulky to boot, with all of her limbs packed with muscles. A crocodilian tail drags along behind her, and she smells of the wind, her outfit revealing much of her body, customized for movement, flexibility, and durability as it is.

The large seemingly reptilian woman steps towards the cart curiously, and when she speaks her harrowingly gravely voice is kept low - it might have been a near whisper in the throat of a normal person, but with Emily's massive throat and lungs, the volume is approximately close to what a normal human might manage with a normal speaking tone, "Uh, hi. I don't think I've ever seen an actual peddler's wagon before."

Fezziro's - Emily

"That's because the art of peddling is a lost one!" The beak-masked and thoroughly strange man behind the counter exclaims, the words "I've never seen a nine and a half foot croc-lady either" dying before ever being uttered, or perhaps never even being thought at all. Whatever she was shaped like, this was a Customer.

Hopefully. He'd done well by Inside so far, three customers last night just as he set up shop and now another one first thing this morning! Maybe he'd get some browsers later on around mid-day when people went on lunch. They might tell their coworkers, who might stop by after work... Well if not, at least he could try something more bombastic to attract attention.

"Tell me your troubles, tell me your worries! If I don't have a trinket somewhere here that can brighten your day, I'll hand you something special just for browsing my shop, no charge! And everything here is special. I don't have a single item to sell without an extensive history. And special powers? Oh my I'm swimming in ancient mystical amulets, thrice-blessed coffee grinders, and unknowable tomes of mystic scribbles! I can't move for special powers. Go ahead young miss, ask me for the story of any object you're interested in, or tell me a problem you're having or a special item you could do with having, and I will guarantee you results!" Everything is said in one huge burst of air, matching her whispers with explosive enthusiasm.

[Halae]

Fezziro's - Emily

"I'm..." Emily rubs her chin a moment, great clawed hands moving over scaled flesh, "I'm not sure I qualify as having many troubles. At least not something you likely can deal with. Unless... hmm."

She finds a place to sit close by, bringing the pair of them to something approaching eye level, "The biggest problem I have is with tools. Most of them simply aren't designed for my hands," She extends a hand so that Fezziro might see, "my fingers are too large for most things. Makes cooking a lot more difficult than I'd like it to be; most of everything else I can deal with. You got any special cookware in there?"

[Slii Arhem]

Fezziro's - Emily

"I'm..." Emily rubs her chin a moment, great clawed hands moving over scaled flesh, "I'm not sure I qualify as having many troubles. At least not something you likely can deal with. Unless... hmm."

She finds a place to sit close by, bringing the pair of them to something approaching eye level, "The biggest problem I have is with tools. Most of them simply aren't designed for my hands," She extends a hand so that Fezziro might see, "my fingers are too large for most things. Makes cooking a lot more difficult than I'd like it to be; most of everything else I can deal with. You got any special cookware in there?"

Fezziro's - Emily

Behind the goggles of the quite ridiculous plague-doctor mask, Fezziro's eyes gleam. "There's a box tied down to the roof of my wagon. Dark oak, low, burnt orange leather straps? Can't miss it. I can get it down for you, but it was all I could do to get it up there." He gets out of the wagon regardless, leaving by the small back door and sweeping into a bow, "Now as you can see, valued customer, my sign says no weapons bought, sold, or worked on and while that's true... There are exceptions to every rule. I only ask that you keep an open mind as you feast your eyes and ears on these most singular implements, and the tale of their first and only owner, the Battle Chef. No doubt you've heard of Iron Chefs before now?" He waits patiently for her reaction and reply, and to see if he's really going to have to risk pulling his back getting that case off the roof, or if the kind, patient, and incredibly muscly customer can handle that part herself.

[Halae]

Fezziro's - Emily

Emily's hand reaches out rather easily, with only a bit of effort, to bring the thing down from above, so that Fezziro may reach in for what he needs. Out of politeness, she doesn't crack open the box herself, as doubtless some customers have tried, as she knows that's basically the first step towards theft, "Iron Chefs. that's that show where everybody is forced to work with stuff they haven't prepared for to see how well they cook under pressure, right?"

[Slii Arhem]

Fezziro's - Emily

Emily's hand reaches out rather easily, with only a bit of effort, to bring the thing down from above, so that Fezziro may reach in for what he needs. Out of politeness, she doesn't crack open the box herself, as doubtless some customers have tried, as she knows that's basically the first step towards theft, "Iron Chefs. that's that show where everybody is forced to work with stuff they haven't prepared for to see how well they cook under pressure, right?"

Fezziro's - Emilly

"Yes! Yes indeed. And the Battle Chef grew up on such entertainment, his mother being a producer for one such series when he was young. Later in life, he had these incredibly impractical tools made and decided on his true calling." Undoing the buckles on the straps, Fezziro pulls back the lid and shields his eyes. Inside the case are a pair of cooking utensils, one a long turning fork and the other a truly massive knife, though styled just like an average three use kitchen knife. It would be called a sword if not for its utilitarian shape. And underneath them The Pan. It's domed and likely would not sit evenly unless on a specifically made stove, but that hardly matters as The Pan glows with its own internal heat. Taking a pair of welding gloves from one of his folding display tables, the shopkeeper puts them on and removes all three implements. As soon as he touches The Pan its heat begins to fade from glowing red to mere straw yellow. And then again as he strains mentally with it, the metal sheds all of its heat and cools instantly.

"Alright, they're safe to handle now. As you can see, the knife and fork have wonderful horn scales on their handles, and are several times as large as a human could ever need. But the knife is always sharp and will guide the unskilled hand through the proper cuts until its wielder can learn through repetition. The fork can change its tip to a number of configurations, from ladle to tongs to spatula. It can even become a fish slice, though I have no idea why. It's a bit of a kitchen multi-tool, just know what you need and add a bit of will. The pan supplies its own heat, and is big enough to cook a meal for 20. Without a master, it simply sits gathering heat until it catches fire to most things. Thankfully once it recognizes you as its master, it will only get as hot as you need it to. And I'll throw in this nice fire-retardent case, as a precaution." Fezziro intentionally leaves out the rest of the Battle Chef's story, in case she decides this isn't what she was after.

[Halae]

Fezziro's - Emily

Emily will take the fork and knife in hand, twirling them experimentally a couple times - Fezziro may get the sense that Emily is extremely familiar with good kitchenware despite her earlier lamentation. This is a woman that knows her knives and forks. She'll pick up the pan as well, running a hand along the inner surface, getting a sense for it, "How fast does it heat up? What happened to the old owner?"

[Slii Arhem]

Fezziro's - Emily

Emily will take the fork and knife in hand, twirling them experimentally a couple times - Fezziro may get the sense that Emily is extremely familiar with good kitchenware despite her earlier lamentation. This is a woman that knows her knives and forks. She'll pick up the pan as well, running a hand along the inner surface, getting a sense for it, "How fast does it heat up? What happened to the old owner?"

Fezziro's - Emily

"Without an owner? I have to force it to cool down about once every two weeks or things start to smolder. That's mostly due to the case. It will get dull red after two or three days, but at a comfortable cooking temp, say a nice simmer, in a matter of hours. Of course, if you will it to go hot as its owner, it will get hot very quickly. Very quickly indeed..." Fezziro doesn't elaborate, but it does feel like there's some... urgency there, underneath the pan's surface. A desire to be used again, be hot enough to sear and taste all of the flavors it was once used for.

"As for the owner, he decided to hunt wild game with only his wits and these tools. Made what might have been a decent show out of it, using his connections in TV. But it was cancelled due to animal rights controversy before even the pilot aired. According to him, if they'd seen the show they would have known how much he cared about conservation and using all parts of the animal and of every wild edible plant. But that's in the past. He sold me these to recoup some of his debt and I enchanted them, knowing that they'd only ever been used on animal flesh and even then only in the most respectful of ways. They're hungry for a new purpose now that their intended one was cut short before it truly began." He seems remorseful, perhaps because of having brought a small measure of awareness to these sad, purposeless novelties had introduced a sliver more sadness into the world.

He brightens for a moment, "They're also all self-cleaning! They eat away at food residue left on their surfaces before bacteria can develop. It may be strange to have a pan that eats a little bit of your food, but it's very hygienic."

[Halae]

Fezziro's - Emily

Emily nods, "Well, they certainly fit what I'd want. Good size too - I need a lot of food in a given day," she places the utensils onto the top of the case, "The question is what, precisely, you'll be looking for in exchange. While I've no doubt you're fine with money, you seem like the type to prefer trades over money when you can manage. do I have that right?"

[Slii Arhem]

Fezziro's - Emily

Emily nods, "Well, they certainly fit what I'd want. Good size too - I need a lot of food in a given day," she places the utensils onto the top of the case, "The question is what, precisely, you'll be looking for in exchange. While I've no doubt you're fine with money, you seem like the type to prefer trades over money when you can manage. do I have that right?"

Fezziro's - Emily

"No, actually money's just fine." Fezziro says a little quickly, "I won't ever turn down a trade-in with an interesting story, but money is far more portable, and often I can find new objects to enchant at auctions and flea markets and yard sales." He gestures to what is admittedly a very cramped wagon if he's storing all this stuff in it every time he moves.

"What about yourself though, is there anything else you'd like to ask about before we seal the deal? Even if you don't buy a given object, I relish the chance to tell a good story."

[Halae]

Fezziro's - Emily

"Alright. What's it cost?" Emily will reach into a pouch on the back of her waist for the money she needs to pay for the cookwear, paying what's asked for when Fezziro asks of it.

"As for stories... well, you're a man that's been around, right?" She'll pack up her new purchase into the heat-resistant box it had all come from, "and you appear to be excellent at customer service. When you look at me, does anything come to mind? A particular item, a particular story?" Perhaps it's not for his merchandise that she's really asking, but ask she does.

[Slii Arhem]

Fezziro's - Emily

"Alright. What's it cost?" Emily will reach into a pouch on the back of her waist for the money she needs to pay for the cookwear, paying what's asked for when Fezziro asks of it.

"As for stories... well, you're a man that's been around, right?" She'll pack up her new purchase into the heat-resistant box it had all come from, "and you appear to be excellent at customer service. When you look at me, does anything come to mind? A particular item, a particular story?" Perhaps it's not for his merchandise that she's really asking, but ask she does.

Fezziro's - Emily

Fezziro names his price, a reasonable one for a set of high quality cookware, influenced both by the magical nature of it and by its startling impracticality in the hands of anyone other than Emily. One raises it, and the other lowers, meeting somewhere in the middle with enough of a profit margin that Fezziro's investment and the fact that he'd lugged the case around all this time won't go to waste.

Once he deals with the receipts and offers them for Emily to sign, he gets to the formal part, "Now young mistress, you might be wondering why I insist that nothing in my shop be used as a weapon. Especially about these particular instruments. Perhaps you are not, as you seem a very sensible sort. I'll spare you the full admonition and just say that these objects are all a least slightly aware of how they're used and treated. Neglecting them, abusing them, or abusing others with them all tarnishes their histories, and can turn their benefits into curses. If you have any trouble, I'll give you my card so you can call me and arrange a consultation. If you wish to know more, I'll give you the full spiel." Emily's lucky. Not many people get the option to opt out of Fezziro's full warning about his shop's merchandise.

"As for other items.. Hmm. Let me take a look at you." And he appears to look her up and down, really noticing her physique and more unusual features for the first time. He takes in the fetchingly styled wig, the tail, the musculature, the hands that could probably pinch him in half like an industrial press.

"Ah-ha! I have just the thing. And she's been looking for a new home again anyway." Going back to the wagon he goes deep into its shadowed recesses, pulling free a cardboard box and taking it out into the light. When he opens it, Emily can see that it's packed full of stuffed toys, and he roots around inside until his hand brushes up against one that purrs at his touch.

What he pulls free is a ragged, worn, heavily mended and not very adorable anymore cat plushie. She's missing most of an ear, and one of her glassy eyes is entirely gone, replaced by a facsimile of a sewn-shut lid.

"Now I know she doesn't look like much. Some of the stuffing has been taken out of her, so to speak. But she'd be quite grateful for a warm home and a warm body to sleep next to, and she guards the dreams of anyone she's touching while they sleep. Nightmares, demons, and other invasive mental gribblies have all learned to fear her claws. You'll notice the damage of a bad night appear on her the next day, but so long as you're ready with a sewing kit to help mend her wounds she'll love you forever. Even if, in true catlike fashion, she'll never admit it."