Outside 48: Hotter than Inside

[Fendrick]

Tower Near Edelina's Farm

The gargoyle doesn't react to Edelina walking past it, turning its attention instead to Kray.

The doorhandle is warm under Edelina's fingers, but it doesn't zap her with arcane energies. At least, not immediately. Unless she tries to open it, she won't know if it's locked or defended. Or if she's invited, for that matter.

Edelina tries to open the door, and if she is successful she will step inside and look around.

She doesn't turn her back on the gargoyle, but a side effect of this is that she's not paying attention to the door handle. As soon as it opens (if it does) then she will turn away from the gargoyle. But she is wary in case the gargoyle were to attack if it decides she is not invited.

If she makes it inside, she will shout back that she invites Kray and Dipsnig inside... in case she's able to offer them an invitation. She doesn't know how these things work. Figures it's worth a try.

[Earl of Purple]

Tower Near Edelina's Farm

The door is easily pushed open, without a sound. And it stays open, unless Edelina wants to close it. But then she'd better hope the invitation she yelled to Dipsnig and Kray worked.

If either of them try to enter the tower, the gargoyle will watch but they will be successful. Edelina's inside, and she sees a single room with a mostly-illusory fire burning in the middle. The floor's marble tiles, and the turret in the corner contains a spiral staircase, heading both up and down. Also in the room is a large sofa and a mahogany drinks cabinet. There's a table with some books on and a three-foot-tall onyx statue of a wizard holding a sphere.

[Ashen Lilies]

[City Out of Time]

"We do not know," the sorcerer in the golden robe admits with a sigh. "The name could have been a metaphor, as far as we can say. Or just poetic."

"The sorcery could well be the cause, if not intentionally. High concentrations of it... warp reality. Back when this city stood and was filled with people, it was different. But it could be something else."

[City Out of Time]

"I see," Electra says, her voice tinged with just a bit of worry. Mostly, that's coming from the fact that she's now unsure whether she's brought the correct equipment for this job, but there's nothing for it now, especially since there's something of a time limit on how long they can take to finish this job. She looks to Cass for a moment, trying to gauge her reaction, before looking back to Shayna.

"Where are going to be the best places to look for the information you want us to retrieve? I would assume libraries, but are there any other specific places that might not be immediately obvious that you're aware of?"
[B]

[City Out of Time]

Cass listens, rapt, with a thoughtful expression on her face. So, fighting against the King in Rags? That's how it is, huh?
"I've heard of places steeped in such magic before," says Cass. "But they were always stable, the ones I read of." She says.

Noticing Electra glancing at her, she gives her a reassuring smile.

[Morty]

[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.

[Deathkeeper]

[Tower Near Edelina’s Farm]

Kray follows Edelina as well, looking around at the furnishings.
”Classy. I like it. Wizards usually decorate more ostentatiously. Anyway, if I had to guess, I would say that the living quarters would be upstairs. We should try that first.” she suggests, gesturing at the stairwell.

[Reinholdt]

[New Inside - Castilia]

The nurse seem to hesitate for a moment before she grins back to Ilpholin, looking a bit shy. "Oh. I see miss. Again, I am sorry for the missunderstanding. But I'm afraid you will need the daily room code. Considering the, ah, circumstances you could call this number and they'll send you an email with the information. Once you have it, simply type the code and your, well, any personal information you can give, into this terminal here. The computer will guide you the rest of the way." She indicates a nearby computer terminal and a number that is written on it.

[New Inside - Castilia]

Ilpholin smiles at the nurse, a bright warmth emanating from her, the kind that invites you in for dinner. "Thank you Savannah. You've been very helpful."

Ilpholin then turns and heads over to the computer terminal indicated, pulling out the smartphone Tauron gave her. She'll dial up the number listed and glance around, smiling again at the nurse, but largely just checking to see how closely the nurse is watching her. While the phone rings, a strand of hair discretely gets longer, traveling under her shirt along her arm.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[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?"

[Arkhosia]

A Different Sort of Party

The query earns an intrigued glimmer. Not remotely. I've spent most of my career working as a low-level agent for the Aeon Entertainment Network, but I chose to go freelance a couple years ago, shortly before I arrived in the Nexus. She pauses, before adding, That's not to suggest I find such an idea unpleasant; I have entertained the thought of joining one, but felt there was a need to... well, further compose my performance portfolio, for a lack of better term.

[Fendrick]

[Tower Near Edelina’s Farm]

Kray follows Edelina as well, looking around at the furnishings.
”Classy. I like it. Wizards usually decorate more ostentatiously. Anyway, if I had to guess, I would say that the living quarters would be upstairs. We should try that first.” she suggests, gesturing at the stairwell.

[City Out of Time]


[Tower Near Edelina's Farm]

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

Tower Near Edelina's Farm

The door is easily pushed open, without a sound. And it stays open, unless Edelina wants to close it. But then she'd better hope the invitation she yelled to Dipsnig and Kray worked.

If either of them try to enter the tower, the gargoyle will watch but they will be successful. Edelina's inside, and she sees a single room with a mostly-illusory fire burning in the middle. The floor's marble tiles, and the turret in the corner contains a spiral staircase, heading both up and down. Also in the room is a large sofa and a mahogany drinks cabinet. There's a table with some books on and a three-foot-tall onyx statue of a wizard holding a sphere.

'Oooh. Pretty fire.'

Edelina pauses a moment, before bellowing up the stairs

'MATIIIIILDAAAAAA WE'RE HEEEEERE! YOU UPSTAAAIRS??'

Edelina waits for a response, and as she does so, her eyes scan the room. Are any of the books of any importance? Do they catch her eye?

[Morty]

[Tower Near Edelina’s Farm]

"Yes, for some reason wizards tend to be attracted to wealth and opulence like magpies," Dipsnig agrees. His ears flatten a little when Edelina yells. "Well, if anyone's here, they certainly knows we're here too. And this has been too easy so far."

[Deathkeeper]

[Tower Near Edelina’s Farm]

Kray shrugs.
”If we’re lucky we just have to whack something or promise them we’ll find them someone else who wants to be a wizard. Gods know that will be an easy task.” Kray rolls her eyes. Hells if it wasn’t for the obvious strings she’d consider it herself. The Fourth Tower isn’t cheap with its lessons. At least she doubts they are.

[Fendrick]

[Tower Near Edelina's Farm]

Edelina shrugs. The fire caught her attention, but any show of wealth does not particularly grab her interest; she just likes the colour of the flames.

Before going upstairs, Edelina takes another look around the room. Deciding (rightly or wrongly!) that there is nothing of real note here, Edelina moves towards the stairs.

If nothing else seems to happen that would grab her attention, she will head upstairs. Edelina does not seem to realise that there would be anyone inside other than her sister Matilda... even after Dipsnig's remark. She does not feel afraid of any danger.

[Earl of Purple]

Tower Near Edelina's Farm

The next floor of the five-storey tower appears to be a library. There's bookshelves against the walls, save only where an enchanted floor-to-ceiling mirror is affixed to the wall. There's several stone benches around a central table, on which lie several other books and a large, rat-like skull, a crystal bottle containing a miniature castle, a map of the Moon with a cross over Petavius crater, a broken digital camera and a small leather pouch.

Light in this room comes from the mirror, which displays a view over a vast grassland somewhere in Outside, with a massive three-wheeled vehicle visible headed towards the horizon, scattering herds of giraffe, giant deer and wild goats and kicking up clouds of dust and thick exhaust fumes.

[CosmicHobbit]

[Dismal Swamp]

The King stares at Thryscir in silence for a long moment.

"A very bold request, that one. Are your services truly so priceless that I would give you the keys to defeating me?"

Dismal Swamp

Shrugging, Thryscir says, "Maybe, maybe not. Would it help if I pointed out that it doesn't matter how much it helps your enemies, it just needs to help them?" Regardless of what he's saying, he starts looking around him for an escape route, should this turn nasty.

[Morty]

[Dismal Swamp]

"Any help given to one's enemies can be too much." The King seems to be calm enough while explaining it and the swamp remains silent. "It can make one small chink in one's armor through which a blade can enter."

[Tower Near Edelina’s Farm]

"Still empty. But there's what looks like a portal or a scrying mirror here. With no one to use it," Dipsnig says. "It does look like someone has been here recently, though."

[Deathkeeper]

[Tower Near Edelina's Farm]

Kray takes a few steps around the room. Darn, but she does have a weakness for libraries. At least the private ones. Public ones always have that one person who stares at you funny because they don't think buff shirtless men can appreciate books. Or uh, buff women. Kray hasn't ever actually been to a public library wearing this body but she doubts she'd get a different treatment.
She idly checks out the pouch on the table.
"We should keep going up." she comments.

[Nova_Eclipse]

A Different Sort of Party

Electra nods.

"I can understand that. However, there is a way if your records aren't available here in the Nexus. MERC offers licenses. We give you access to jobs, and if you choose to become a full member later, any work you've done on MERC contracts is taken into consideration." She looks to Fayyaad. "In fact, Fayyaad here is a license member, and I started out that way, too. We do have a few rules, but they're mostly to protect both our members and our reputation."

[Recaiden]

Old Wood

Benedict gasps as he ages suddenly, dropping his pistol and drawing a symbol in red light. Once complete, red needles dart out to impale the Hound's soft tissues and explode. He's looking to be in his fifties now, losing about ten years. If he loses too much more he'll start to get shaky hands, and that would hamper his magic.

The wasp continues to shelter behind the doorframe. No sense in coming out from under cover now and risking death.

The hound is far from happy about thing stabbing and exploding the inside of its mouth. Blue ichor drips from between its teeth and one of its front pseudofeet gives out from the shock. But it isn't stopped, and it takes another lurching step towards Benedict and makes another wild stab. Less likely to even connect with Benedict's body or timeline.

Moschu is starting to see the shapes and colors of the room again, and takes a tentative four-step back towards the battle.

[Earl of Purple]

Old Wood

If Benedict knew what reality this Hound came from, he might be able to put wards up against it. But he doesn't have the raw power to make truly effective wards on the fly, even if he did know how to block it. So for now he's going to scrabble away from the Hound towards the door, drawing the same symbol for the same effect, also at the Hound's face. It doesn't make contact again, for which he's grateful.

Moschu might see him, though he's quite low to the ground. His pistol's not in hand, unfortunately. He doesn't want to lose another gun, it's getting to be a habit.

[Morty]

[A Different Sort of Party]

Fayyaad nods.

"Quite so. The MERC license has worked out rather well for me. And we have seen your competence first-hand... if on the opposing side, as it were."

[Shadowcaller]

[New Inside - Castilia]

Ilpholin smiles at the nurse, a bright warmth emanating from her, the kind that invites you in for dinner. "Thank you Savannah. You've been very helpful."

Ilpholin then turns and heads over to the computer terminal indicated, pulling out the smartphone Tauron gave her. She'll dial up the number listed and glance around, smiling again at the nurse, but largely just checking to see how closely the nurse is watching her. While the phone rings, a strand of hair discretely gets longer, traveling under her shirt along her arm.

[New Inside - Castilia]

The nurse smiles back widely. What a nice lady. "Just tell me if you need any more help, miss."
She has to quickly turn back to her work though. While there weren't many people here today she still had to manage other things. Ilpholin will know that there are still cameras watching her however.

She soon as to turn back to something else though. Meanwhile, once Ilpholin calls the number she gets an automated message which asks her to press a number that will direct her to various specialized call centers. According to the instructions on the sign she should just press "2", which is easy enough. But then she's of course placed in a line. It likely won't take more than ten minutes to reach the call center at the very least based on how quickly the electronic line is moving according to the automated messager.

[bc56]

Old Wood

The wasp is starting to see again too. She helpfully steps out from behind her corner and blocks Benedict's path of escape, buzzing threateningly.

[Fendrick]

Tower Near Edelina's Farm

The next floor of the five-storey tower appears to be a library. There's bookshelves against the walls, save only where an enchanted floor-to-ceiling mirror is affixed to the wall. There's several stone benches around a central table, on which lie several other books and a large, rat-like skull, a crystal bottle containing a miniature castle, a map of the Moon with a cross over Petavius crater, a broken digital camera and a small leather pouch.

Light in this room comes from the mirror, which displays a view over a vast grassland somewhere in Outside, with a massive three-wheeled vehicle visible headed towards the horizon, scattering herds of giraffe, giant deer and wild goats and kicking up clouds of dust and thick exhaust fumes.

[Tower Near Edelina’s Farm]

"Still empty. But there's what looks like a portal or a scrying mirror here. With no one to use it," Dipsnig says. "It does look like someone has been here recently, though."

[Tower Near Edelina's Farm]

Kray takes a few steps around the room. Darn, but she does have a weakness for libraries. At least the private ones. Public ones always have that one person who stares at you funny because they don't think buff shirtless men can appreciate books. Or uh, buff women. Kray hasn't ever actually been to a public library wearing this body but she doubts she'd get a different treatment.
She idly checks out the pouch on the table.
"We should keep going up." she comments.

Edelina picks up the rat-like skull, holding it in her left hand. The mirror thingy looks cool, catches her attention for a moment. But then Edelina nods towards the stairs further up, 'Shall we keep on going? I'm concerned that Matilda hasn't called down to us.'

[Recaiden]

With the second rune and set of explosions, the Hound has had quite enough of this. It reduces to vapor and slithers into the corner of the room, where it begins to disappear.

Vision clearing, Moschu closes in on the semi-cornered Benedict. She stretches out a leg, whose claws start to glow with a blue-white light.
If she should manage to touch him, Benedict should be sent one minute into the future.

But, more immediately, the spider seems to have miscast something. Shadowy shapes from unexamined Universes C-Z appear around them, flickering between timelines. Wasps they never met draw nearer and nearer to this reality. And that feels right. Everything is now as it should be.

[Morty]

[Tower Near Edelina’s Farm]

"Seems there's no way but up, yes, Dipsnig agrees. "This place is much too quiet."

[Deathkeeper]

[Tower Near Edelina’s Farm]

Kray nods. ”Come on, then.” She’ll go up the stairs in front of her smaller companions. She’ll try to resist being distracted by the next floor if the missing sister isn’t there either. They have objectives to fulfill.

[Arkhosia]

A Different Sort of Party

Well, it wouldn't be the strangest job interview I've had, Cantata quips with a sly little smile. Her demeanor returns to a more professional look as she continues, addressing Electra more directly. A license seems like a very good prospect, but I would prefer a more in-depth understanding of said rules and restrictions. Not that I expect any duplicity in them, but I've signed enough contracts without reading the fine print in my life.

[Earl of Purple]

Tower Near Edelina's Farm

The skull's quite hefty, and very large- the rat it came from was probably about four feet long... or tall, as it's a Skaven skull. The pouch is filled with topaz dust, probably a spell component.

The next floor is the first with natural light, coming in from the arrowslits in the wall. The room's a bedroom, with a large bed against the opposite wall, one that's recently been slept in. There's more bookshelves in here, though not as many and the books are considerably more tattered. There's a book lying open on a cabinet next to the bed, next to a brass candlestick, complete with a brass candle that has a little flickering blue flame at its tip. There's also a large wardrobe hanging open, and a dirty green child's dress lies in a crumpled heap on the floor just outside it. Hanging inside are a host of robes in various colours, including one that shimmers in rainbow hues. There's several different sizes and cuts; as though the robes have been collected by a number of individuals through the years. There's also a collection of shoes and hat-boxes in the bottom, again for a number of different people, and a featureless string-puppet without any strings crumpled in the corner.

After a couple of seconds, an old man descends from the staircase behind them. He's tall, with pale brown skin, coruscating eyes of many colours and silver-white hair and long beard. He wears bright yellow robes and a deep purple homburg hat. He's also an illusion, though a very high-end one; it resists most methods of seeing through illusions and appears, sounds and even smells real. "Your sister is safe, do not worry Miss Edelina. She is upstairs, having a nap. I'm afraid the training is quite exhausting, but she instructed me to ensure her sister was allowed entrance. I'd have met you sooner, but my existence is tied to an amulet Matilda has around her neck." He's currently focused primarily upon Edelina, paying little attention to Kray or Dipsnig.

Old Wood

Benedict grimaces as Moschu approaches and starts drawing another symbol in the air, a more complex one than both the flash of light and the needles he produced earlier. The lines are black, but he's too busy focused on what he's casting that he doesn't react in time and is shunted a minute into the future, though the magic he's casting goes with him.

[bc56]

Old Wood

The wasp is unnerved by the twisting visions of other universes that swim at the edges of the room. She sees herself desperately fumbling with the container she stole from the human as the spider looms over her, she sees herself cutting the spider down from behind. She also sees the human disappear. Disappointing. She was looking forward to killing him. She backs off, unsure of what to do now.

[Reinholdt]

[New Inside - Castilia]

The nurse smiles back widely. What a nice lady. "Just tell me if you need any more help, miss."
She has to quickly turn back to her work though. While there weren't many people here today she still had to manage other things. Ilpholin will know that there are still cameras watching her however.

She soon as to turn back to something else though. Meanwhile, once Ilpholin calls the number she gets an automated message which asks her to press a number that will direct her to various specialized call centers. According to the instructions on the sign she should just press "2", which is easy enough. But then she's of course placed in a line. It likely won't take more than ten minutes to reach the call center at the very least based on how quickly the electronic line is moving according to the automated messager.

[New Inside - Castilia]

Hmm. Cameras aren't nearly the end all of surveillance and small things are frequently missed without multiple watches or knowing what to look for. Still, they weren't completely a non-factor either. Sometimes they just caught on right away. Ilpholin holds off on jacking into the computer just yet. For now, she presses 2 and waits out the call center. The more she can do without hacking, the better.