Outside 48: Hotter than Inside

[Shadowcaller]

The Triple B - Ambrosia

"I am no poet, but I feel that no single poem could express how I feel right now. Such a poem would have to be divided into two seperate parts." The other dragon remarks as Lydia can feel how she continues to coil around her. She can feel Ambrosia's snout nuzzle into the back of her head just before she wraps around it, her head poking into view. She now appear to nearly match Lydia in size. "One of sorrow and one of passion."

Without giving Lydia any time to ask for a clarification, the other dragon nuzzles her snout into hers and starts to murmur affectionately directly into her ear.
"The first part would be divided into three stanzas.
One stanza about your friends that only get to see a fraction of your radiance.
One stanza about your lovers that only get to caress a fraction of your body.
One stanza about you that never get to feel the sensations you awake in me."

Ambrosia pause as she starts nuzzling into the other side of Lydia's snout.
"The second part would evoke those feelings loud and clear. But alas, it's too intense for words. However, there is another language I could use to explain. If you would open your mouth..." Once more the other dragon pulls back. This time stopping right in front of Lydia and pokes her snout right into hers. Opening her mouth she let's out her serpetine tongue to touch Lydia's.Once they two meet, a strange sensation will start to spread through the dragon. Starting from her tongue and then going out through the rest of her body.

First she can feel as if she's tasting anothers essence through her tongue, a feeling not unlike a pleasant meal but with a intense spice that she never encountered before. Then the pleasant intense warmth of what can only be another dragon breathing against her. A breath that she knows can at any second turn into a smouldring fire which only makes it feel more vivid.

The breath escapes down her throat where she can feel her own mighty body work relentlessly with each breath. A primal force that only seem to grow stronger as she faintly hear her own heart beating. But that sound is nothing compared its movements as she can feel as if she is coiling around her own body. Two mighty hearts beating against one another, their movements only growing more rapid as that intense burning feeling of passion intensifies.

The sensation then moves outwards and into other parts of her. Unlike her own scales, Ambrosia's feel oddly receptive. The sensation they get from rubbing against anothers is more than pleasant. A feeling that is growing even more intense as the other dragon starts coiling even more tightly against her.
Finally, as the sensation seem to have spread through all of her, it's as if she can see herself through Ambrosia's eyes. She could see Ambrosia's attraction to her might and awe-inspirting qualities but what really inspired such lust in the other dragon were Lydia's feminine beauty. She gets the feeling that Ambrosia only really felt sexual attraction to her own gender.

[Fendrick]

[Tower Near Edelina's Farm]

'Ch-Charlie? Oh, I think he's neat. A paperweight? Hmm.'

Edelina pauses, before asking of Dipsnig and Kray, 'Should we have a look around, while we let Matilda sleep?'

Edelina nods to the old man, 'Okay if we look around?'

Edelina is absent mindedly touching her plaited hair. She really wants to see Matilda, but they really need to find out just exactly what is going on in this tower, and make sure it is safe. Edelina doesn't really trust the old man. Perhaps they should check out the whole tower? Edelina will make a start for the stairs up, she will be very quiet at this point, making sure she won't disturb Matilda.

Edelina is feeling on edge, this whoie thing is pretty creepy - a talking gargoyle whose mouth doesn't move, an old man who can't move far because of an amulet, it's just weird here.

[Recaiden]

The wasp twists away from the imp's tail claw. The same trick rarely works on her twice. Unfortunately, she has no way to counteract the sleep spell. She'll start to fall asleep as well, slumping partway over. The blades drop from her grasp into the water covering the floor.

Great, the wasp and the spider are asleep! Unfortunately, the imp proves unable to sleep so easily. Young imps are the bottom of Hell's power hierarchy, and they're motivated purely by survival. This one has adapted to the risk of being killed by making sure it doesn't sleep. It's aware the wasp and the spider aren't fighting back, so once again it backs up and keeps a remaining eye on them, whilst it works on getting the sword out of its back.

Benedict is meanwhile struggling and wriggling, trying to get his hand free so he can continue to use his magic, and hopefully bind or banish the imp. Until it's dealt with, there's not much point to escaping; it doesn't see him as a threat yet, so it's not attacking or doing anything else, so it doesn't attract the attention of anything else that may be lurking about. When he's content his hand is free, he moves his hand to create a green shape in the air, ageing visibly as he does- feeding as much power as he dares into it, because he's only going to have one chance. It'll take thirty seconds to make the symbol, and when complete, the symbol flares and the imp disappears.

Then he can start trying to wriggle out of the rest of the web and make his escape properly, even though he's now white-haired and one of his hands is getting trembly.

The spider keeps sleping. This has been a tiring investigation.
So she won't disturb Benedict's attempt to banish the imp at all.

[Gullara]

Treehouses

"Trust me. I've had hotdogs. You're not missing much." Leap explains as she heads to the other half of the treehouse to get to the kitchen to see what edibles might be left after all this time. "Though, um..." She pauses, oddly hesitant and unsure of how to broach the subject despite all her cool and calm mere moments ago. "I should warn you. If we do more than cuddle, my body has urges that it'll try to satiate." Leap really hoped that it wasn't half as horrible sounding as she figured it was. In case it wasn't quite clear enough, she reaches back and slaps her chitin coated spider abdomen. "This thing's filling with eggs and my instincts might get the best of me is what I mean."

[Treehouses]

Treeisa blinks in surprise, but then a grin spreads across her face. Ooh, how direct. "I wasn't planning on just cuddling." She walks up alongside Leap, reaching out her hand to brush along her abdomen. "I have urges too." She stops in front of Leap and places a hand on the other woman's waist. "I think your instincts are good. You should follow them." She reaches up to touch Leap's cheek and try to draw her in for a kiss.

[Reinholdt]

[New Inside - Castilla]

"Alright... name and ID, miss?" The operator asks after a brief pause.

[New Inside - Castilla]

Ilpholin narrows her eyes. What is this inefficient, illogical system they have in place? The desk clerk collects that information because it's her job. If this is a system in place for those who have already gone through the desk clerk than it's redundant. If this is a system in place to automate the process then why have the desk clerk do anything but direct them to this? And if a visitor already said sharing their name would endanger people, why does the desk clerk think making the visitor share their name with a stranger on the phone to be recorded would be even remotely safer or desired? The most likely situation Ilpholin can think of is that Savannah never bought the story and was absolutely screwing with Ilpholin just to be a witch for Spooktober.

"Yes, my name is Patricia Ma-" Click. Oops. Ilpholin accidentally managed to thumb the hang up button mid-sentence. How clumsy of her. "-rtin- Hello? Hello?" She repositions the phone to look at it and frowns before redialing the number on the console. This time however, she'll just leave the phone to cycle through the initial options without actually choosing one. In the meanwhile she'll rest her other arm next to the keyboard and let her hair slip through the sleeve to discreetly plug into the computer's USB and connect directly with it.

[bc56]

Old Wood

The wasp is also still asleep. She won't be resisting much either. It's not a particularly deep sleep though.

[Morty]

[Tower Near Edelina's Farm]

Dipsnig peers at the man closely. Something here is not right. He reaches into one of the many pockets of his coat and produces a lens, which he places on his eye. The lens is magical and helps pierce illusions and similar effects. Let's see if this man is real - Dipsnig suspects he's not.

"It seems your sister stumbled on this place and became its resident wizard somehow. Did she have any actual magical training before?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Tower Near Edelina’s Farm]

Kray does her best to focus at the task at hand.
”Forgive us, But I hope you don’t mind if we ask you a few questions about your new mage. Given the fact that she vanished only to appear here. We would hate to think that her newfound career was compulsory.” she tells the illusory man.

[Arkhosia]

A Different Sort of Party

Very worthwhile benefits, it sounds, Cantata responds. Not to mention the degree your organization has managed to dominate the marketplace. Many clients certainly seem to favor what it has to offer over freelance workers. There's no sourness in her expression as she types this; it's simply a statement of fact, not a complaint.

I would greatly appreciate to accompany you there, she states, nodding in agreement.

[Earl of Purple]

Old Wood

Now the imp's banished, Benedict can start to get free of his cocoon. It'll take a while, I think; whilst it wasn't created around him (because he wasn't there when it was made), spider silk is sticky and he's currently a rather academic-looking man in his mid-sixties. He's not particularly strong, and he can't just magic his way out, since that banishment took quite a lot of power and it'll take a bit longer than usual to replenish his personal battery.

Tower Near Edelina's Farm

"No, she has no prior magical training. That's actually a good thing, since she hasn't got any bad habits from other teachers. And she's free to leave at any time, the gargoyle was tasked to find a suitable replacement for... Well, me. The real me. She did no stumbling; the gargoyle found her, and asked her to follow. She chose to follow, and the gargoyle can't do illusion itself. It's a construct, like myself but not as intelligent. It's also perfectly fine for you to look around, at present those defences we have are not being used, save for the gargoyle, the door and a slightly tweaked Meganthar's Proximal Invisibility Field. Oh, and... No, I shouldn't mention that one." The man shakes his head slowly.

Dipsnig's lens shows that the old man is an illusion, though a potent one; the man is translucent through the lens, but still visible. And the longer Dipsnig looks, the more real it seems.

[Recaiden]

You know, prey struggling in a web is very wake-up-now sort of thing to a spider.
But she's very sleepy.
Just five more minutes....

[CosmicHobbit]

[Dismal Swamp]

Something approximating a chuckle seems to roll over the swamp. It doesn't have a lot of humor to it, though. It sounds like a dying deer's death rattle more than anything.

"Very well, then. I can give you one, tiny secret. You will use it as you see fit and to the best of your ability."

Dismal Swamp

Thryscir nods, ignoring the chuckle, and the King may get a sense he's grinning mentally. "Very well. Throw in the faerie weapon and that freedom I discussed earlier and you got yourself a new...soldier, would it be?"

[Ashen Lilies]

[City Out of Time]

The red-robed sorcerer sighs.

"We dearly wish this place could be stable too. But the world has moved on."

The golden-robed one, meanwhile, promptly answers Electra's question.

"The library of the city's loremasters would be an obvious place to look, yes. Or the sanctuary of the city's Jotunn patron."

"Could be in the halflings' district too. I think they lived alongside us back in those days. And someone could have decided that putting it with them will be safer, given how resistant they are to fey."

[Tower Near Edelina's Farm]

Dipsnig follows Edelina inside, though he keeps his eyes on the gargoyle all the while. Rigu follows his master.

[City Out of Time]

Cass' smile seems to steel Electra just a bit, as she listens to the dwarves' answers to her questions. She looks over the maps, and makes notes on the locations, before checking the maps she's pulled into her internal HUD, to be sure that the maps she has have these important locations marked.

"I'm going to hope they weren't entrusted to the halflings. Searching an entire district may take longer than we have," Electra muses, before looking back to Cass. "I've got the maps. Are we ready to get started, then?"

[City Out of Time]

Cass nods. "I'm ready," she says.

[Shadowcaller]

[New Inside - Castilla]

Ilpholin narrows her eyes. What is this inefficient, illogical system they have in place? The desk clerk collects that information because it's her job. If this is a system in place for those who have already gone through the desk clerk than it's redundant. If this is a system in place to automate the process then why have the desk clerk do anything but direct them to this? And if a visitor already said sharing their name would endanger people, why does the desk clerk think making the visitor share their name with a stranger on the phone to be recorded would be even remotely safer or desired? The most likely situation Ilpholin can think of is that Savannah never bought the story and was absolutely screwing with Ilpholin just to be a witch for Spooktober.

"Yes, my name is Patricia Ma-" Click. Oops. Ilpholin accidentally managed to thumb the hang up button mid-sentence. How clumsy of her. "-rtin- Hello? Hello?" She repositions the phone to look at it and frowns before redialing the number on the console. This time however, she'll just leave the phone to cycle through the initial options without actually choosing one. In the meanwhile she'll rest her other arm next to the keyboard and let her hair slip through the sleeve to discreetly plug into the computer's USB and connect directly with it.

[New Inside - Castilla]

The nurse gives her a glance when her phone call seem to get interrupted but then just smiles at her and turns back to her work.
There is no USB port on the machine as it isn't actually a computer. More of a terminal specifically designed for this. However, Ilpholin will still manage to find an opening where she can connect directly to the terminal.
Now is the question what she wants to do. No one seem to have reacted to her intrusion yet at the very least.

[UncleWolf]

Treehouses

Well, that certainly brings a wide and happy grin to the Drider's face. "Well that's certainly a relief. It's hard for me to judge how other people think. Reading subtlety isn't my strong po-" She's cut off by the kiss, happily so, and proceeds to simply try to grab Treeisa by her hips to set her up on a counter. "Another warning...or rather, excuse before I let my instincts take over. It's been a long while. Especially with someone so wonderfully shaped."

She leans forward, kissing the nape of Treeisa's and she'll feel the lips form a smile. "And one more thing. I do nibble."

Triple B - Ambrosia

A warmth spreads from Lydia's body as she feels herself heat up both physically and emotionally. An alluring musk of spice and smoke seems to come from the dragon as she finds herself wrapped around by Ambrosia. For a moment, she twists and coils speechless as she attempts to wrap her split tail around Ambrosia's and entwine her neck with her own. She listens to the scholar's words, taking them in as she nuzzles her cheek and jaw against Ambrosia's own.* "Such pretty and flowery words. It almost makes this old dragon embarrassed to hear them wasted upon myself." She admits with a voice full of amusement.

Ambrosia's request gives her a moment of pause however, and she twists her viper shaped head to look at her face to try and judge her purpose. Everything so far had been something she could potentially extricate herself from if necessary, but opening her mouth and exposing a truly soft point of weakness...

Despite betrayals of the past and her quickened pulse, Lydia only hesitates for a moment before opening her mouth and allowing her long tongue to loll out so the pair of them can wrap them around one another. When the magic hits, there's surprise, confusion, and finally acceptance and bliss. Lydia practically melts into the other dragon as her black hide flashes neon in sporadic and random patterns. Thankfully no one else is nearby lest they confuse the lightshow with a concert or rave. As the truly massive dragon-shaped curtain falls, Lydia definitely wasn't finding herself with any words, so as Ambrosia explained, she was going to allow her body and and what she felt explain it all for her.

Camping Trip

For a few heartbeats the monster doesn't seem to know how to answer that. Wenomir's clarification wasn't quite right. How become more than Hunter? More than Flesh? Chosen?

[Deathkeeper]

[Camping Trip]

Koshal leans over ever so slightly towards Wenomir.
”I think he’s asking about the Riddle.”

[Nova_Eclipse]

A Different Sort of Party

Electra smiles and nods.

"One last thing before we go, then. How did Malice find you for this job in the first place? Did he just take out an ad or something?"

[Reinholdt]

[New Inside - Castilla]

The nurse gives her a glance when her phone call seem to get interrupted but then just smiles at her and turns back to her work.
There is no USB port on the machine as it isn't actually a computer. More of a terminal specifically designed for this. However, Ilpholin will still manage to find an opening where she can connect directly to the terminal.
Now is the question what she wants to do. No one seem to have reacted to her intrusion yet at the very least.

[New Inside - Castilla]

Ilpholin will upload the virus Tauron designed and attempt to convince the terminal that she is single and lonely and Ilpholin is a sexy half-computer plugged into her port. The terminal would feel so good if it just told Ilpholin the door code she needs and helped her create any permissions in the system she might need using a fake name and ID. Ilpholin would be ever so grateful and promises to thoroughly massage the terminal's C Drive.

[Gullara]

Treehouses

Well, that certainly brings a wide and happy grin to the Drider's face. "Well that's certainly a relief. It's hard for me to judge how other people think. Reading subtlety isn't my strong po-" She's cut off by the kiss, happily so, and proceeds to simply try to grab Treeisa by her hips to set her up on a counter. "Another warning...or rather, excuse before I let my instincts take over. It's been a long while. Especially with someone so wonderfully shaped."

She leans forward, kissing the nape of Treeisa's and she'll feel the lips form a smile. "And one more thing. I do nibble."

[Treehouses]

Treeisa laughs. "I hope so." With that she wastes no time and the curtain must be promptly pulled.

[bc56]

Old Wood

The wasp is also still asleep, but stirs a little. She might wake up soon, especially if something touches her.

[Morty]

[City Out of Time]

The dwarves watch the two mercenaries leave... then they seem to get right back to arguing. As they near the walls and gates of the ancient city, they will notice an odd, eerie silence fall on their surroundings. It's more than silence - even the sounds of the camp behind them and the nature around them seem muffled. The city's walls rise before them in this quiet. They've been fashioned out of a bright grey stone and are strangely smooth. No sorcery was used to form them, but rather craft of a quality long since forgotten. There's a solid iron wall before them, sealed tight. The maps Electra studied indicated that there are side-entrances elsewhere, unless they wish to simply fly over the walls. The libraries and the sanctuary the dwarves spoke of would be located deeper within the city, while the halfling district is located on the side, but away from this particular gate.

[Dismal Swamp]

"I give you a title I once wore, then. In an era long before this one, on another world, I was called Whisper of Wings. Mortals trembled as I passed above them in the night." The King in Rags looks down on Thryscir. "That is the first payment to you. Now, swear to serve me as we've agreed, and I will swear to leave you your freedom and bestow a faerie weapon on you. Phrase your pledge as you will. The Wyrd will hear and remember."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[City Out of Time]

Electra admires the craftsmanship of the walls for a moment as they come close to them, and runs her hand over the iron gate. She could probably blast it open with her weapons, but she'd rather conserve her supplies in case they're needed further in. Instead, she looks to see how tall the walls are, and brings the map up on her internal HUD for a moment, before looking to Cass.

"There's some side entrances down that way," she says, pointing. "Or we can try going over the top, if you're feeling more adventurous."

[Shadowcaller]

[New Inside - Castilla]

Ilpholin will upload the virus Tauron designed and attempt to convince the terminal that she is single and lonely and Ilpholin is a sexy half-computer plugged into her port. The terminal would feel so good if it just told Ilpholin the door code she needs and helped her create any permissions in the system she might need using a fake name and ID. Ilpholin would be ever so grateful and promises to thoroughly massage the terminal's C Drive.

[New Inside - Castilla]

The terminal doesn't have enough intelligence to react properly to Tauron's virus, but it still has more than the intended effect. She will be granted permission to enter with whatever name she wants. The central computer will be told that she's a legitimate visitor and guide Ilpholin to her desired destination.
Fortunately, that destination is not in the high-security wing of the hospital which would have things a lot more complicated. Therefore, she should have no problem going there without running into additional security checks.

If she simply goes into the elevator the central computer will take her to the intended floor. Then she can use the map there to go to room (13)719656980. Apparently, besides the first two (secret) numbers, the rooms change codes every day.

Triple B - Ambrosia

Later, as the curtain has long passed, Ambrosia slowly starts to untangle her own massive body from Lydia's. "I think we might have made a mess." The scholar remarks with a deep chuckle. Pausing for a moment to look out over the landscape that had to suffer the consequenses of their lovemaking.
Trees turned over, fields of grass turned into mud and a small creater created around them.
"I don't usually go all the way up to your size for this reason, but how could I resist after seeing you, hm?" She says as she turns to look into her lovers eyes, the purple dragon now oozing this sublime feeling of tranquility that feels quite different from the burning passion she seemed to be consumed by before.
Lydia can no longer feel the other dragons feelings directly however, their bond broken some time after their amorous encounter.

Ambrosia straigthen herself out and shakes her long body in the same manner a wet dog would. The mud, dirt and traces of vegetation that sticks to her scales suddenly falling off like water. "I do hope we can do this again some time. It was far too long since I could share something like this with another dragon, and I suspect the same goes for you based on what you told me."

[CosmicHobbit]

[Dismal Swamp]

"I give you a title I once wore, then. In an era long before this one, on another world, I was called Whisper of Wings. Mortals trembled as I passed above them in the night." The King in Rags looks down on Thryscir. "That is the first payment to you. Now, swear to serve me as we've agreed, and I will swear to leave you your freedom and bestow a faerie weapon on you. Phrase your pledge as you will. The Wyrd will hear and remember."

Dismal Swamp

Thryscir nods, then thinks for a moment. Finally speaking, he says, "I hereby swear my allegiance to you and towards the reclaiming of the Fairest of Lands, so long as I am left my freedom to do as I wish beyond what is requested of me in pursuit of that goal, given a faerie weapon, given the secret which I asked of you. Should my freedom be restricted by you in a way which does not contribute to the reclamation of the Fairest of Lands, or if I am not given the weapon or the secret, then this pledge shall be null and void." He clears his throat. "Was that good?"

[Morty]

[Dismal Swamp]

"And I pledge to give you a weapon of the Faerie in exchange for your service, while giving you the measure of freedom I agreed on," the King says. Every word he speaks seems heavy; fair heavier than simple sound. Something indeed hears and remembers every word of it. "It is done. Retrieving one of the weapons that my hunters and generals used to wield will take some time. But you will have one."

"Though it'd help to know what kind of weapon you're after," Amalungak adds, speaking for the first time in a while.

[Fendrick]

Tower Near Edelina's Farm

"No, she has no prior magical training. That's actually a good thing, since she hasn't got any bad habits from other teachers. And she's free to leave at any time, the gargoyle was tasked to find a suitable replacement for... Well, me. The real me. She did no stumbling; the gargoyle found her, and asked her to follow. She chose to follow, and the gargoyle can't do illusion itself. It's a construct, like myself but not as intelligent. It's also perfectly fine for you to look around, at present those defences we have are not being used, save for the gargoyle, the door and a slightly tweaked Meganthar's Proximal Invisibility Field. Oh, and... No, I shouldn't mention that one." The man shakes his head slowly.

Dipsnig's lens shows that the old man is an illusion, though a potent one; the man is translucent through the lens, but still visible. And the longer Dipsnig looks, the more real it seems.

'Shouldn't mention what, old man?' Edelina is not happy with the old man's words. And is rather suspicious of him. She is yet to leave the room; struck by the old man's words.

Edelina knows that Matilda has always known her own mind; it comes as no surprise that she would have followed the gargoyle somewhat willingly. But she is only ten years of age, how could she have ever known what she was getting into?

Edelina frowns to herself. This just gets more puzzling, and more suspicious. She waits for a response from the old man, or for Dipsnig and Kray to interrogate the old man further. Edelina will need to be told that the old man is just an illusion; she has not encountered such things before. She senses that something isn't right, but it's that kind of feeling she just can't quite put her finger on.

[Morty]

[Tower Near Edelina's Farm]

"This old man is an illusion, but he did just admit it himself," Dipsnig says. "How long has this tower stood here? And what is this thing you shouldn't mention?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Tower Near Edelina's Farm]

Kray stays silent on this one, drumming her fingers along a nearby piece of wooden furniture. If Edelina's sister is here of her own volition, then it comes down to her if they want MERC to remove her. She wouldn't make any move at the moment with the current situation.

[Arkhosia]

A Different Sort of Party

Cantata shakes her head with a chuckle. No, we ran into each other and exchanged contact info last Spooktober. He kinda called me out of the blue and inquired about hiring me.

[Earl of Purple]

Tower Near Edelina's Farm

"The tower? Well, it's been here-ish for three hundred years. You know what the Nexus is like; more with people and creatures than places, I'll grant, but even so. The thing I shouldn't mention is a defensive illusion, one hiding a secure library of more advanced techniques and magics. When Matilda is advanced enough in her studies that she can find it herself, and disable the traps behind the illusion, she'll be ready for the learning it contains. Until then, I'd have to ask that you try not to find it. Illusion is the magic of deceit and trickery, and trying such advanced magics before one is ready- especially for one with no experience or knowledge of illusion- could be dangerous to one's mind and body. Plus, the traps underneath the illusion are expertly hidden and harmless so long as they remain so." One day, Matilda will be able to find and dismiss the illusion herself, if she stays here and continues to study illusion.