Riverside 16: Turn and face the strain

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Schoolgirls]

"Okay..." They're totally going to climb the gate the second he walks away, he just knows it. "You can come in for a bit and tell me what you want, okay? But you have to listen to me. No running off or something or my moms are gonna get mad at me." Unless they outright contradict him, Eliseo pushes a button nearby and the gate slides open.

[Murkus]

[Eastside Hospital]

"Taxing? Pffah. What do you take me for?" Sticks puts forth bravely, internally calculating just how much of his energy this would take. Total concealment - from all things, all sight, all ears - is an extremely difficult veil. He's sure he can do it, but those parts of his brain are, ah, oh so rusty...

With a low murmur, he raises his hands and presses the fingers together, somehow managing to create his personal Sigil in their tangled joints. A bit of flourish to ensure it reads as a spell of escape, a few extra lines to stop the demon probing, a node of Silence he very nearly forgets to scrawl...

Sticks' Power pours out through his feet, climbing and crawling over the floor. The dirt and dust that coats the place billows out from them in waves. Debris flutters away down the hall in either direction. A low thrum builds to a mounting whine of Will weighing against the Materium and, in a flash of violet light, the two adventurers are gone.

Normal eyes are so easy to fool. Light shifts. The eye tracks, but can be convinced not to linger. Sticks specialized particularly in attacking the mind and sensory organs, manipulating the person rather than the world around them. It is the will and the gaze of the immortal that takes a true practitioner to manipulate. If the demon attempts to probe the spot where Sticks and Tep were with any extramaterial senses, it will be given a false reading - a powerful mental block fed to it by the tall man's magic. They will read as a separate section of the hallway, a true empty space, and thus create an all the more convincing facade.

Essentially, they have been displaced. Unfortunately, Sticks, in his excitement, did not think to guard against simple material methods of detection. If something bumped into them, or was tossed against the veil...

"It is done."

[Deathkeeper]

Eastside Hospital

Tep nods in approval. An interesting weave of power. He'll have to ask about it later. Now is not the time to be putting knowledge over safety.
"All right, it seems like your spell has taken hold. What now?" he asks of the mage.

[Cyber Punk]

[Malechenar Castle]

Lihana chuckles amusedly. "You are really too much of a charmer mister Sharpe. I am a floating head unless you missed that little detail. I can barely make expressions through this damn thing." She complains. "Which makes me wonder what you're going to do it about it mister charmer. Or are you all talk, hm?" She teases.

Sharpe chuckles. "If I could tickle you now, I would!" He grins at her teasing. "No, honey. I'm not all talk. In fact, I plan on getting Lord Rhye to help. Wouldn't that be grand?" Unless she has reservations, of course.

[Murkus]

Eastside Hospital

Tep nods in approval. An interesting weave of power. He'll have to ask about it later. Now is not the time to be putting knowledge over safety.
"All right, it seems like your spell has taken hold. What now?" he asks of the mage.

Sticks purses his lips. "No monster appears, thus, perhaps it has set it's trap and left us here without means of keeping watch. Perhaps we are in it's realm and it is not aware of all the comings or goings. In either case, I suggest we proceed forward for now. Let us see what we can see. If the realm itself has a will, perhaps it too will think we've gone and it will... 'reset'. In theory."

With trackless steps and the weight of Power tightening his shoulders, Sticks begins to make his way forward. The tunnel is, but for dust and shadow, entirely empty.

[Slii Arhem]

[Suncrest Schoolgirls]

"Okay..." They're totally going to climb the gate the second he walks away, he just knows it. "You can come in for a bit and tell me what you want, okay? But you have to listen to me. No running off or something or my moms are gonna get mad at me." Unless they outright contradict him, Eliseo pushes a button nearby and the gate slides open.

Suncrest Schoolgirls

"Of course." "As you wish." "Should we start tidying up?" All of the girls are still hanging on to the gate, and only slowly unfreeze and descend, grouping around Elisio and following him closely, a few brushing up against him in the jostling crowd, possibly unintentionally.

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Schoolgirls]

Eliseo doesn't really go far, especially when they start to crowd around him. "Uh, what are you doing? You're not just gonna stand around, are you?" This is really awkward with all these girls crowded so close. He blushes just a bit and tries to shift away from them.

[Slii Arhem]

[Suncrest Schoolgirls]

Eliseo doesn't really go far, especially when they start to crowd around him. "Uh, what are you doing? You're not just gonna stand around, are you?" This is really awkward with all these girls crowded so close. He blushes just a bit and tries to shift away from them.

Suincrest Schoolgirls

"You didn't want us running off." "So we were sticking close by." "So you could keep a close eye on us." They all nod in agreement, but apparently take the hint and let him squirm his way away.

"Cleaning would be a start. We've always done that before. Do you have any maids right now? You should fire them, no need for them anymore."

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Schoolgirls]

"You want to clean?" Eliseo is utterly baffled! Cleaning is the worst. It's not fun at all. "I mean, I guess you can do that if you want, but don't you want to do something fun?"

[Slii Arhem]

Suncrest Schoolgirls

The girls confer amongst themselves for a moment, just looking back and forth, blinking at the unexpected question. "I mean... yeah, but can we? It's up to you I guess. What do you do for fun?" The apparent leader amongst them speaks up for the rest.

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Schoolgirls]

"Well yeah. I was swinging before, but there's only two swings. Uh, there's video games, or I could show you my lego." Eliseo suggests. There's kind of a lot of them, though. What can they do with so many people? "Oh, we could get a ball, too. Like, a football or soccer ball. There's a basketball hoop over on the house, too."

[Slii Arhem]

[Suncrest Schoolgirls]

"Well yeah. I was swinging before, but there's only two swings. Uh, there's video games, or I could show you my lego." Eliseo suggests. There's kind of a lot of them, though. What can they do with so many people? "Oh, we could get a ball, too. Like, a football or soccer ball. There's a basketball hoop over on the house, too."

Suncrest Schoolgirls

Immediately there's discussion and mild debate over the merits of videogames over basketball over lego, the two sides eventually devolving into lego and videogames or two teams worth of basketball. Of course, every single one of them wants to have Elisio on their team, and it doesn't seem like anything is going to be resolved unless he makes a decision or gives some input.

In fact, with the way they're arguing past each other, it almost seems like they could just keep going on forever.

[Shadowcaller]

[Suncrest Manor]

Nadia tries to take Irena's hand and smooth it out, hold it tightly. "We won't let this happen again. Nobody will lay a finger on our boy."

[Malechenar Castle]

Sharpe chuckles. "If I could tickle you now, I would!" He grins at her teasing. "No, honey. I'm not all talk. In fact, I plan on getting Lord Rhye to help. Wouldn't that be grand?" Unless she has reservations, of course.

Sticks purses his lips. "No monster appears, thus, perhaps it has set it's trap and left us here without means of keeping watch. Perhaps we are in it's realm and it is not aware of all the comings or goings. In either case, I suggest we proceed forward for now. Let us see what we can see. If the realm itself has a will, perhaps it too will think we've gone and it will... 'reset'. In theory."

With trackless steps and the weight of Power tightening his shoulders, Sticks begins to make his way forward. The tunnel is, but for dust and shadow, entirely empty.

[Suncrest Manor]

Irena takes a deep breath, Nadia can feel her wives fingers tighten around her own. "Do you know what the goddess did to that demon-bitch?" The last time she had encountered Tzlolth she had made a scorpion sting her so Irena hoped whatever she did to the demon was a million times worse.

[Malechenar Castle]

"Interesting choice of words, Mr. Sharpe." The head replies. "But what do you intend to tell the great lord? You can tell me you know, perhaps I can help you with whatever project you need."

[Eastside Hospital]

Nothing seems to have changed from what they can tell, but considering they're in a grey corridor, that's not easy tell.

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Schoolgirls]

"Basketball might be the easiest with so many people?" Eliseo offers as a suggestion. Otherwise they might be here arguing all day!

[Suncrest Manor]

"No, I never saw her. I just got Eliseo and got out as quickly as I could. I don't think she will be bothering us ever again." Nadia leans her head on Irena's shoulder.

[Cyber Punk]

[Malechenar Castle]

"Interesting choice of words, Mr. Sharpe." The head replies. "But what do you intend to tell the great lord? You can tell me you know, perhaps I can help you with whatever project you need."

Sharpe smiles at Lihana the floating head. "Heh, for starters I'll ask if he can help grant your wish to move about, while finding a way to keep your need to feed on living air in check..." He thinks for a bit. "And maybe see about becoming a member of this castle. A blade vampire ranger that's a knowledge seeker. That should pique his interest, wouldn't it?"

[Murkus]

[Eastside Hospital]

"Mm," Sticks makes a low noise in his throat, staring down the length of the hallway to the swarming shadows. "Do you have, perhaps, another suggestion Tep? There isn't a way to tell if we've succeeded, and I see no end to this." He glances behind them briefly as he walks.

[Shadowcaller]

[Suncrest Manor]

"I hope that for her sake." Irena says in a low voice, almost like a hiss. She then let's out a tired sigh and Nadia can feel how her shoulders sink down as she starts to relax. "Are you okay? Those things didn't hurt you right?"

[Malechenar Castle]

"The lords have lately been interested in hiring new talents so I bet you have a good chance." She pauses. "In fact, Lord Ryhe says you may met him now. He should be here any minute and he wants to talk to you alone."

[Cyber Punk]

[Malechenar Castle]

Sharpe beams at that statement. "That's wonderful!" Then his face turns serious and he nods. "Let the show begin. Wish me luck, darling."

[Deathkeeper]

Eastside Hospital

Tep looks at the mage.
"Didn't you say you had some plan to use illusion to make them think we'd left after we tried the invisibility? Otherwise, I could just try making a window and either make it think we've left, or actually leave." the demon suggests.

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Manor]

Nadia puts her arms around Irena and hugs her tight. "I'm fine, Irena. There's nothing you need to worry about." Though she's sure that Irena will disagree when she sees the burns on the back of her neck, shoulders, and down her back...

[Murkus]

[Eastside Hospital]

"That bit of light and power was my illusion. It even looked like a transportation spell," Sticks explains. He's just that good. "I could have made us disappear with a breath, if I wished. Making a show of it was the complicated part." And, of course, making sure they were hidden from extrasensory sight.

"I'm willing to try it your way if you're ready."

[Shadowcaller]

[Malechenar Castle]

"Mm, hope it won't end a disaster... darling." Lihana says before the servant let's her out of the room. However it won't take long before he's joined by two tall brown-robed figures with hoods pulled up to their heads who enters from the other side of the room. Without any greeting they simply enter the room and remains standing as a third figure emerges from the same door. Towering over them is a tall figure better described here.

The figure offers his hand to Sharpe. "I bid you welcome you Malechenar, mister Sharpe. I am Lord Ryhe. A pleasure to meet you." His two guards remains deadly silent, just staring right ahead.

[Suncrest Manor]

"You're not okay, you need to be looked over by a doctor. I won't have it any other way." Irena insists as she pulls her arm around her wife and squeezes her closer, gently.

[Cyber Punk]

[Malechenar Castle]

"I hope so too, hun." He blows her another kiss as she leaves.

Sharpe gets up as Lord Rhye enters the room. An imposing figure, indeed. By his appearance, there is no doubt that he's someone important... and someone you probably don't want to mess with. He bows and takes Lord Rhye's hand. "The pleasure is all mine, my lord."

[Deathkeeper]

Eastside Hospital

Well, then. Tep simply strolls over to a nearby wall, grips his mace in both hands, and makes a titanic swing with all his demonic strength behind it. Normal stone would likely crumble, but who knows what this place is really made of? Tep steps to the side of the wall whether or not the blow destroys the wall, careful to avoid possible consequences.

[Slii Arhem]

[Suncrest Schoolgirls]

"Basketball might be the easiest with so many people?" Eliseo offers as a suggestion. Otherwise they might be here arguing all day!

[Suncrest Manor]

"No, I never saw her. I just got Eliseo and got out as quickly as I could. I don't think she will be bothering us ever again." Nadia leans her head on Irena's shoulder.

Suncrest Schoolgirls

Immediately the bickering over what to play ends, and the fighting in earnest over who gets Elisio on their team begins! A hearty game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, Magtok, Warlock Wheel, Apocachild, Reinclone, DC, Childpocalypse, BR, Yog-Sothoth, Draken, Kate, Shee, Calublofiok, Libra, Jezebel, Eris, Zee, Iron Queen, Wolfy, Edijar, Vice, Lizard and Spock begins, ostensibly to solve the problem, but more likely just to cause even more confusion as they somehow all wind up picking DC fourteen times in a row, and counting.

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Schoolgirls]

"Oh jeez, this is never gonna end. Eliseo watches as the game goes on for a bit. What even is this anyway? Are they just making up names? "How about we switch teams up once in a while? Then everybody gets to be on everyone's team." Why do all these girls want to be with him so badly? .-.

[Suncrest Manor]

"You're not okay, you need to be looked over by a doctor. I won't have it any other way." Irena insists as she pulls her arm around her wife and squeezes her closer, gently.

[Suncrest Manor]

"I know... Eliseo should go too, but I want to let him rest." He's been through so much today, she's loathe to keep him up any longer. Nadia threads Irena's hair through her fingers. "In the morning we'll go. We'll be fine until then." Nadia's eyes feel so heavy. Eliseo isn't the only one exhausted by this ordeal.

[goto124]

[Masq, Before the Bedroom of Lord Nassah]

As Sharpe steps through the portal, he will find himself before a large bay window, beneath a large skylight in the ceiling. The walls are painted purple, and the lush carpet beneath his shoes is a bright yellow.

And, of course, Kelcey is there, in her usual blue silk robe. The first thing she does is tackle Axanot.

'Hi Axxie! How's it going? I removed the nosummon room flags- er, anti-teleportation wards so that you could come in more easily. Glad it worked!'

'Thanks! Oh, just had a... great time with Sharpe.'

Axanot gestures to her boyfriend, and beams.

'So, what have you two been up to?' Kelcey asks, letting go of Axanot.

[Cyber Punk]

[Masq, Before the Bedroom of Lord Nassah]

Sharpe observes his surroundings. "The colors of royalty." Then he smiles as Axanot and Kelcey interact with each other.

When Kelcey asks about how they've been, he puts his arm around Axanot. "We had a very special night, filled with adventure and love." He beams at his girlfriend and pecks her on the cheek. Then he looks around. "I guess it's my turn to visit your island, eh KC?"

[goto124]

[Masq, Before the Bedroom of Lord Nassah => Staircase]

Kelcey snorts at the mention of 'royalty', then tries to act as if nothing happened.

'Sharpe, you can put your knife here! So you can bladewalk here whenever you like!'

'Good idea. Just stick it on a wall or something.'

Afterwards, Kelcey will ask Sharpe to follow her. Assuming he does, the trio start walking through the mansion.

Spoiler: Hallway

Show

Various trophies adorn the walls of this hallway. The heads of unicorns, gryphons, demons and basilisks (with their eyes removed, posing no danger) stare at each other. Little tags are stuck below each head with the date of when the hunt was successful. Two chandeliers hang from the ceiling, illuminating the hallway. There is an empty space with a single nail in the wall, where a painting had been.

'So er... firstly, Axxie, Masq isn't the same as before. Many things have changed, in fact.'

'What? Like how?'

Spoiler: Hallway of Guest Rooms

Show

The hallway, lined with rosewood doors, resembles a 5-star hotel. The yellow carpet here has an intricate pattern woven into it. A bronze full-body armor suit stands along the southern wall, being dusted by a ratling lady. Actually, the entire hallway is bustling with servants- human or ratling females in simple loose shirts and cargo pants.

'The NPCs are now sapient, and will respond like PCs.'

'Oh...'

'But don't worry! Masq still has its respawn timer. It's 20 minutes long. So if something goes wrong, you can go back to good old violence.' Kelcey grins widely.

Spoiler: Staircase

Show

This staircase spirals down to the ground floor. Each step is carefully cut out of marble. The handrail is made out of blown glass with golden thread intertwining inside of it.

Axanot stops before the staircase, and stares.

'descend stairs'

'No, Axxie, it's no longer like that. Climb down the stairs like a normal person.'

'But how- AAAAAAAOW OW OW OW OOF OW AH OW ARGH OOF GAH'

Axanot's slipped on the marble, and she's sent tumbling down the staircase!

'Are you alright?' Kelcey shouts as she holds onto the glass handrail and dashes after Axanot.

[Cyber Punk]

[Masq Island - Royalty House]

Sharpe smiles and pokes Kelcey on the side. "I heard that. Also, that's a good idea." He sticks the blade on the wall, then puts his hand on it, causing it to glow in a bright silvery light. When he takes his hands away, it becomes a rune.

Sharpe follows Kelcey (not like he's got much of a choice). He examines the heads and the tags. "A hunter, and a mighty good one at that." He points to the painting. "What was there before?"

Sharpe continues observing the area. He spots a ratling lady and waves with a smile.

Then the staircase scenario. Sharpe can't keep from laughing as he throws a knife and teleports to Axanot's side. "Pff-hahahaha... Are you alright, my love? Hehehe... I'm so... heh... sorry..."