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[Morty]

[Lake Cabin - Private Party]

"That, at least, won't be a problem," Fayyaad says, turning back from the lake and snapping his fingers to produce a spark of fire. "An evening by the fire sounds great. Just tell me where to start it."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Lake Cabin - Private Party]

Electra chuckles.

"That depends on where you want to have it. There's a fireplace inside the cabin, or the fire pit out here," she says, gesturing towards the ring by the cabin. "I do have the stuff to make s'mores if you want them, too."

[Morty]

[Underside Waterfall]

Isaac grins genially, putting aside what he's fairly sure was a slur. After all, that's the best strategy he's come up with for dealing with troublesome...family. He's guessing family based on Iknika's reaction. Or an ex.
Isaac snaps his fingers to create a small disc of force under the goblin's feet so he'll be lifted a foot up to Isaac's level, where Isaac has a hand extended.
"I'm Isaac. Nice to meet you."
His other strategy is showing off.

"Whoa!" The young goblin is lifted off his feet, not expecting this in the least. He shakes Isaac's hand uncertainly. "I'm Madub. Iknika's brother. I didn't know she was dating a human sorcerer."

"Not for lack of trying. He and his brothers are as nosy as they get," Iknika grumbles.

[Chaotic Bob]

[??? House]

There is nothing of particular note to impede the rats from going through the door, unless they really don't like oak.
There is also nothing of particular note to impede the rats from disassembling the envelope and getting to the small scrap of paper and cloth within.

they're engaged onsite

The cloth seems to be a scrap from someone's white shirt. Smells like salty ocean smell and sweat.

It's right about the moment that its all separated out that a young man in a courier's uniform starts to walk through the one of the doorways up ahead and freezes as he beholds the scene.


For clarity, the rats find themselves in a small little opening hall, with an empty coat rack off to one side, and a three way split to the right, left, and forward for going deeper into the house.
There is a closed door to the left, an open doorframe to the right (looks to be a sitting room of some sort, it has those covered windows visible from outside), and straight leads into a hallway. Said hallway has one door (on the right, which the man is halfway out of) and then continues into another open doorframe, which is presumably leading to a kitchen, judging by the visible table and counter.

Approximate one and a half seconds will pass before the man starts yelling and running for the kitchen.
"Purple! PURPLE!"

[Lord Magtok]

??? House

"3'44," the head rat whispers, firing a burst of noise-dampening thaumaturgical energy at the young man. With that settled, the rats hurriedly reform into a bald man in an orange robe, who pounces at the boy at an incredible speed, weaving past any and all obstacles in his path without losing even the smallest fraction of his momentum. By now, to call this sort of leap supernatural would just be pointing out the obvious, I imagine. "Purple would be a blessing compared to me, boy. I am Orange."

[UncleWolf]

Thad's Apartment

"A bit special for you." Thad admits with a bit of a smile as he gets coffee poured out. "I try to entertain any guest that Vivi brings here. And she knows better than any that I'm not interested." He points out, sticking his tongue out at Vivi before settling down into his own seat once the rest of the food and drink is prepared. Thad doesn't even do more than just glance at the naked or mostly naked bodies in front of him. "And since I trust Vivi's judgment at least a bit, if you need to stay a couple nights you can go ahead."

[Murkus]

[Thad's Apartment]

Vivi is probably almost completely silly, it is quite certain.

As Lucy goes to sit and drink and talk, Vivi wobbles over with slightly more certain footing, starting to dish up a few particularly tasty looking things onto Lucy's plate. She has to bend over the table a little to reach everything, and is clearly spoiling her for show, but won't sit down until the younger woman has a bit of everything she wants.

Vivi plops down in the nude and seizes some coffee. "Now see here, Thad, this is only my second time using up your place. And the first was with you-know-who," she adds, winking at the boy. "I'm pretty sure he and I didn't get a spread like this that first time. You must have guessed Lucy and I would be quite famished."

"And indeed, I'm quite secure in my conquests regardless of young Thad here," Vivi says with a nod as she slathers butter onto a piece of toast. "I doubt we'll need to stay, will we, Lucy? Do you live quite far?"

[Chaotic Bob]

[??? House]

It is disappointingly easy to tackle the man from behind, he doesn't seem to have much in the way of reflexes as is, let alone ones fast enough to deal with Needs' magical cheatery.
He does, however, struggle with all the desperation of someone convinced they're going to be dead soon.

The shouting plan having gone out the window, he saves his breath for trying to ram his head and elbow back into his attacker, while getting his legs back underneath him.

Depending on whether the sound-dampening allows sound in or not, there is some quiet cursing from just around the corner and the sound of shuffling papers and boxes.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Lake Cabin - Private Party]

"We just got here - it'd be a shame to go inside so soon," says Cassandra, raising a hand. Some of the wood from the firewood stack will begin to hover at Cassandra's gesture, assembling themselves into a cone in the middle of the firepit.

[Morty]

[Lake Cabin - Private Party]

"Agreed. Sitting outside by a fire sounds very nice right now," Fayyaad says as he claps his hands and thrusts them forward in a strangely theatrical motion, sending a gout of flame towards the wood. He'll keep it up until it's burning nicely. "I don't know what s'mores are, but as always I'm eager to learn."

[Lord Magtok]

??? House

Needs extends his right arm down the hallway, stretching and curving more like wet noodle than an actual arm with actual bones inside it, pointing his finger directly at the individual cursing over there. He doesn't even seem the slightest bit fazed by the poor boy stuck beneath him, his own legs splitting apart into a dozen or so tentacles to hold him still and dissuade any further struggling and panicking. "You. I am here for information. You will be given one chance to comply. I will demand cooperation, and you will cooperate immediately, or I will be terribly violent and terribly petty. Do you understand?"

[Chaotic Bob]

[??? House]

Oh yes, legs turning into a mass of restraining legs will totally keep the guy from panicking.
...this is not at all what happens and he continues trying to squirm away (albeit ineffectually).

The other person seems to be applying a little bit more to their particular brand of surprise. They do pause when Needs' somewhat disturbing arm swings around on them, briefly.
Standing in the kitchen behind a table is a woman in a courier outfit, holding a bag attached to a string an inch or so above what looks an awful lot like a portable hole on the floor.
She has an incredibly nervous, but resolved, look on her face as she glares down the pointing hand.
"I quite literally do not have time for this. **** you."

And then she drops the bag of holding in her hand.
Who likes violent rifts?

[Lord Magtok]

??? House

The arm lunges forward, extending out even further than what was already unreasonably long, to catch the bag and smash it against the courier woman's face, before everything ends up being violently rifted and ruined forever. She shouldn't have waited long enough to make a pithy, vulgar remark. That's the sort of thing Magtoks do in situations like this. That's why everything always ends so poorly for them.

"You would martyr yourself for this? Stupid child." Each finger on his hand bursts, splitting into another new hand and forearm. He really shouldn't be able to support all of this additional weight, and yet, here we are. Each hand reaches out to push the woman against the wall, to hold her in place as his main body considers what to do once he's established control over the situation.

"I am looking for a dragon. She will not be permitted to hide any longer," Needs insists, as his slightly less gross and distended hand attempts to sink into the face of the first courier, dipping his hand in as if the young man's face had the viscosity of water. The goal here is simply to grip the young man's brain and siphon any and all relevant knowledge out of his head, but it's probably going to hurt and terrify a whole lot, too.

[Chaotic Bob]

[??? House]

Needs is rapidly moving into the territory of Visually Distressing, by the standards of any vaguely normal mind.
But then, most abnormal minds would probably agree as well, by the time hand-into-face insertions begin.

Mostly seems to be really ticking off the woman he has restrained to the wall though.
"You're looking in the wrong goddamn place, then, you godforsaken stain."
By the time Needs is facially molesting the man, she is bending and twisting in ways that should really be shifting (or breaking) or normal person's arms if they kept holding on, but then her aggressor isn't particularly normal.
So who knows.

The guy just screams.
Which precludes Needs learning something he probably didn't want: this guy has no idea what he's talking about. Not really, anyway.
He just met that woman over there a few months ago in a bar and after a few evenings of entirely unrelated things, she mentioned that she needed a hand with some life or death task. This has mostly amounted to letting her re-tailor some of his uniforms for herself and getting information on the various delivery routes through the city.
Also to shout "purple" if something magical and terrifying showed up, or "gray" if something more mundane but still unpleasant showed up.

The poor guy was mostly in it for the more interesting things she did with the outfits.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Lake Cabin - Private Party]

Electra chuckles, then heads inside the cabin for a few minutes. She emerges carrying a small bag and three long metal forks with wooden handles.

"Well then, let's make the most of it."

She gives one fork to Cass, and one to Fayyaad, before seating herself on a log and removing the contents of the bag: a bag of jumbo roasting marshmallows, several bars of milk chocolate, and a box of graham crackers. Last, but not least, she pulls out a bottle of peppermint schnapps. Might as well keep the buzz going.

"Fayyaad said he didn't know what s'mores were. Have you ever had them, Cassandra?"

[Lord Magtok]

??? House

"Then perhaps you could direct me to the right place?" Needs asks, before that mass of hands attempts the same procedure again. The rest of himself stands, dusts his filthy orange robe off, and leaves his first victim to try to recover and/or helplessly slap at him or something. Have to take a closer look at that white fabric he encountered when he got here. Should anything about it seem familiar?

"I won't be more than another moment or two of your time. I apologize for the mess. Please understand that I have visited this pain and suffering upon you because the Nexus as we know it is at stake, and I have a duty to my goddess. If you would like your memory of this encounter removed, I would be more than happy to help you before I leave," Needs promises the courier, whispering a few protective chants in an alien tongue in the midst of his offer, preparing himself for whatever resistance the false courier has planned.

[Chaotic Bob]

[??? House]

There is a certain point where hatred typically defers to slightly more appropriate survival instincts.
Which here manifests itself in the form of the woman putting quite literally everything she has into making sure that hand thing doesn't happen to her.

A combination of that and what Needs says nudges her closer to a more scared sort of panic, too.
"We're playing for the same team, dammit! Stop! You'll end all of us!"

The poor mentally abused guy just kind of lies there, staring onwards with a sort of haunted look.

That cloth...well, any given piece of cloth could be used in a lot of different things. Having spent any time whatsoever in the Docks, though, would make that smell on it pretty familiar.

[Lord Magtok]

??? House

"You didn't seem so worried about ending anyone a moment ago. Cut to the chase," he demands, withholding the brain drain for now, even as he paces the room, looking for some sort of clue or lead more substantial than 'a piece of white cloth smells like the docks.' There's no guarantee that particular message is even vaguely connected to what he's doing now, after all.

[Morty]

[Lake Cabin - Private Party]

"Trying and tasting new things is what this is all about, isn't it?" Fayyaad asks with an innocent smile as he leans back. He couldn't resist that little innuendo, relaxed as he is. He's here with two friends, having a good time, and things might get even more interesting later.

[Deathkeeper]

[Underside Waterfall]

"Whoa!" The young goblin is lifted off his feet, not expecting this in the least. He shakes Isaac's hand uncertainly. "I'm Madub. Iknika's brother. I didn't know she was dating a human sorcerer."

"Not for lack of trying. He and his brothers are as nosy as they get," Iknika grumbles.

Underside Waterfall

Isaac shrugs.
”Well that’s no problem I’m sure. You got a thing with sorcerers, Madub?” Isaac asks, not breaking his genial tone.

Leah nods and waves for Koshal to follow her into the fort's briefing room.

"Remember, you don't need to stake any vampires. You're just supposed to rescue the living people from the the dungeon."
She pulls out a couple of papers.
"We have an old map of the fort here." It's a veritable tiny castle! Towers at each corner, building with underground mausoleum and so on in the center, on the edge of a crumbling cliff, only 1 gate.

Skullfort Town

Koshal frowns.
”Well, my feet are a little noisy. I could try to get in through the windows again. But if the people are held in the basement it’ll be a long trip down there...” he muses, looking to Leah for guidance.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Thad's Apartment]

"W-well it's very kind of you." Thad's general not-caring-about-nudity does an excellent job of putting Lucy at ease and it's only a few moments before manners fly out the window as her ravenous hunger gets the better of her. Food is attacked and consumed with glee. It's a little messy.

At some point she remembers to cease her devouring of food long enough to reply, "You saw Sam at the beach, right? I'm just mooching in his apartment. I might have been a little distracted on the way here-" She turns to let her gaze roam over Vivi for a moment, making it very clear what the source of distraction was, "So I don't know how close we are to Riverside? I wouldn't want to impose here anyway, but it's not like I need to head straight back there either." That's it. Too much talking. Back to chomping on food with those remarkably sharp teeth of hers.

[Morty]

[Underside Waterfall]

"I'm just surprised," Madub says, and he sounds like he means it. "I've never actually met a sorcerer. There's not many of them down here."

"Sounds like an argument for poking your nose out of here more often," Iknika points out.

"So what else do you do? Do you lift Iknika up like this?" Madub asks, seemingly ignoring his sister.

[Chaotic Bob]

[??? House]

Most of the room is just what you would expect from a rather boring kitchen apartment.
As long as you ignore the big portable hole in the middle of the floor.

His less physical senses can probably pick up quite a bit of that "Libby scent" he followed here though. Seems to be concentrated into the table, hole, and the courier woman.

Said woman is looking increasingly frustrated, but no less worried about things.
"Before, I thought you were an ***hole on the other side and it would have been fine. Now that you're an ***hole on our side, I have an interest in that not happening."
That seemed kind of obvious to her, but she's probably not thinking straight. Although she wouldn't be surprised if Needs is completely mad and calling Feia a goddess or something, giving her the completely wrong impression of his good-guy-ness.

But still.
"I have no idea where the dragon is and I would like to keep that way. If I know where she is at some point, it'll probably be because she's getting ready to tear my head off. I like it where it is."
Although, maybe that would still be preferable to Needs sticking his hand into her face?
"I've been given an...uh, itinerary? to work with that no one else can see or everyone involves gets to die horribly. Something about preserving paramoxes and giving us a chance."

[Lord Magtok]

??? House

Needs reluctantly lets the woman go. Feia wouldn't put this much time and effort into distracting the brother of Magtok, surely. She may not even know he exists, depending on how much time she spends divining the future every morning. No, the woman is probably working towards the same goal, as embarrassing as it may be to admit such a thing. Needs kneels beside the real courier, and sets about repressing the poor boy's memory of this entire encounter. A sudden octopus attack or getting pelted with moldy oranges might trigger a flashback, but hopefully he'll be able to go his whole life without anything like that ever happening again.

"I'll try not to interfere with your itinerary further," he mutters weakly, before oozing over to that portable hole, peering into the abyss. "She's been here before, yes? If I can locate her, trace the path she took, I can inform the people who are going to fight the dragon." Part of Needs is still hoping that he can just stick to a support role, just hide in the periphery and tell his brother where to go, hand him some of tools for the upcoming battle and pat him on the back. He knows, deep down in his scabby, misshapen heart, that nothing is ever that easy or that simple. We are going to be involved in that fight. Every good story needs some pathos, some great tragedy to make you really feel for the protagonist. Would the death of a well-meaning, unselfish brother not make for the perfect sacrifice? Better Needs than Libitina, surely.

[Recaiden]

Koshal frowns.
”Well, my feet are a little noisy. I could try to get in through the windows again. But if the people are held in the basement it’ll be a long trip down there...” he muses, looking to Leah for guidance.

Leah shakes her head. "The vampires live down in the tomb. The prisoners will be upstairs somewhere." Almost certainly.
"And I'm sure you can wear something to muffle your feet."
Shame Koshal isn't a cat.

[Chaotic Bob]

[??? House]

Nothing like some good repression to keep your sanity in the morning, huh?
The proper courier decides that this is probably just a good point to pass out and lie on the floor like a lump for the rest of the evening. Mental exhaustion is as powerful as physical.

Over by the hole, the woman vigorously rubs herself down everywhere that Needs touched her, vainly hoping that it will help her repress some of her own issues with the encounter.
"Uh, no. She hasn't."
She moves (reluctantly) closer to Needs to sort of warily shoo him back from the hole.
"No one has been in here but me and him, as far as I've noticed. And stay out of the hole, it probably runs the same rules as the rest of the itinerary. Most of it is just packages and...mementos. Although. Um."

There is a small part of her that just wants to spite him, tell him there's absolutely nothing to be learned here, and that he is free to leave now.
But, if he is a good guy, then this probably wouldn't be too big of a deviation from the itinerary, would it?
"I'm going to be delivering a package to the folks at MERC soon, to keep a look out for some half-dragon and his gross friends replacing people around the city. Maybe they're what you want."

And if Needs is a bad guy, this is the part where she dies, but that seems unlikely at this point.

[Lord Magtok]

??? House

"Maybe. Godspeed and good luck to you," Needs bows his head, before shifting into a swarm of poisonous toads, which hop along out the door and back into the street from which Needs came.

[Deathkeeper]

[Underside Waterfall]

"I'm just surprised," Madub says, and he sounds like he means it. "I've never actually met a sorcerer. There's not many of them down here."

"Sounds like an argument for poking your nose out of here more often," Iknika points out.

"So what else do you do? Do you lift Iknika up like this?" Madub asks, seemingly ignoring his sister.

[Underside Waterfall]

Isaac shrugs nonchalantly.
"Oh, you know. Healing, force manipulation. Moving stuff, hitting stuff, crushing stuff." It's no big deal, really. Obviously Isaac doesn't talk about the elephant thing. There are some things he wants to keep as close to his chest as possible.

Leah shakes her head. "The vampires live down in the tomb. The prisoners will be upstairs somewhere." Almost certainly.
"And I'm sure you can wear something to muffle your feet."
Shame Koshal isn't a cat.

Don't be silly, narrator. Koshal would make an awful cat. He's clearly a dog person. But it's true that he can't be as naturally quiet as his master.
"Well I'd need something that still has traction or I'd slip!" he says, thinking.
"I guess my crossbow might be quiet enough. Uh, maybe. I haven't really done this many times." he admits. He's done it exactly once. But he can probably use Faye as an escape plan.

[Recaiden]

Maybe a hyena then? Slightly cat, slightly dog!

Leah nods.
"It's good that you're thinking this through. And yes, crossbows are meant to be quiet. More or less."

"That's why you're doing it again now." she encourages.

[Deathkeeper]

[Skullfort]

That would probably work.
”Well yeah but people aren’t usually quiet after they get shot. It’s not like the movies.” Koshal is clearly nervous about his ability to be sneaky. He is rather large.
”What do you think would be my best approach, Lady Danir?”