[Nexus] Outside XXXI

[Reinholdt]

{Melody's Island- Cottage}

"What?"
Vincent's just trying to convince her to play more mini-games for free loot. =x

[Artemis97]

[Degenburg Castle]

Endrik nodded, stepping back from the table the envelope had rested on with a sidelong look at Sszy. Then, he stopped. He really wasn't sure where to go with this. The blasted woman was still here, and Sszy wasn't excusing them. How was he supposed to talk confidentially right in front of the messenger?

Sighing inwardly, he inclined his head slightly. "Excuse us," said the paladin. "I do not doubt you will have your answer shortly."

[Degenburg Castle]

"I'm sure I will." She agrees, smirking.

Sszinyon simply turns to leave the room.

[Shadowcaller]

[Wilderness]

Valente thinks for a while longer, trying to sort this out. Then at last his shoulders slump. "What do I do?"

[Wilderness]

"I can't tell you that Val." The tiefling says with a sad expression. "You have to decide that on your own."

[McBish]

{Melody's Island}

Derek reaches over to gently lift up Jezebelle's chin to look into her eyes.

"Don't worry about pushing me. I've been told I am pretty solid."

And with that they should gently run aground on shore.

[Gullara]

[Wilderness]

"I can't tell you that Val." The tiefling says with a sad expression. "You have to decide that on your own."

[Wilderness]

"Alright, I'll go with you." There's some hesitation, like he's still not sure what's right, but Astrana's gotten through to him at least. "You know I can't go back to Riverside, right? Ramiro would have my head." How literal that is is unclear.

[LOTRfan]

Skyship- Above A Village

The zombie doesn't resist M'Kota's finishing move. The mutated lump of flesh with several large mouths has stopped its writhing, unable to survive without the zombie's magical nature to sustain it; it hadn't completed its development before the crewman died, otherwise it would have eaten its way out first.

Another zombie is stumbling forwards. This one has a length of worm-ridden wood replacing its right leg. It's wearing a loincloth that reveals its skin is covered in tattoos and criss-crossed with scars, some of which have been carved into the wooden leg. Its skeletal hands reach out for M'Kota's head; several fingers are missing, and most of its left hand, in addition to its nose and both ears.

As soon as the hands reach for M'Kota's head, she will attempt to dodge. So far it seems that these zombies aren't exactly fast, but it seems that even the classic slow zombies are capable of quick bursts of speed, so her attempt might not be very successful. If she does dodge the blow successfully, she'll attempt to sever the wooden leg in an attempt to slow the decaying freak down.

[Devixer]

Sznovf- Wizard's Tower

Opening the door to the caravan atop the precarious magically-supported structure of scaffolding reveals a rather barren interior to the caravan with most of its furniture ripped out. The walls have had marble slabs attached to hide the unappealing wooden supports, and the floor is covered in lime-green thick carpet; a gold ring is fitted to part of it and seems out of place. Standing proud in the centre of the room are three shiny silver doors. One is fitted into an archway made of highly-polished jade with a red jasper inlay depicting twining branches. Another has a practical, almost boring frame of solid mahogany. The third hangs in the air with no visible frame; it's definitely a door because it's slightly ajar and there's a different room beyond; a larger, more ornate room, one that may exist in a very different place from the rest of the tower. Doubtless such chambers exist beyond the other two doors as well.

The larger window has had the perspex removed and replaced with an ornate stained glass window depicting a green-robed figure chanting over an open coffin with a skeleton climbing out. The smaller one is still perspex and is open; the monkeys use it to get in and out of the tower.

Cass studies her surroundings in silence, again using astral vision to detect any notable magic. She puts the Apache pistol back in her coat and grabs her SMG, and paces to the door with the mahogany frame.

[Shadowcaller]

[Wilderness]

The warclock breathed out, he had made the right choice. The nightmare was over, everything was going to be just fine. Worry wouldn't let go of her so easy however. She had to deal with one thing at the time or she would lose it all again.

"But what about you family? You can't just give up on them right? They haven't been able to talk or see you in months." Astrana had already given up on two 'families' and she really didn't want Valente to do the same thing.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Cyan Beach]

The flying pit lord don't reply, mostly due to the fact it wasn't actually speaking to Damon. Instead it looks like it's going to fly away once the other one have been hit by his black fire. Unless The Zern's fire is special it seems to be resistant to it, the flesh quickly healing once Damon have showered it with fire.

It appears to have temporarily blinded it though judging by it's roar and full out blind attack against the Zern.

Resistant to fire the pit lord may be, but just how much fire can it handle? Damon uses the same trick again, shifting shape and moving out of the way before shifting back again, to keep out of the way of the blinded pit lord's blades. And then he resumes blasting away with fire.

...but at the same time, the black fire on the ground is still spreading. And now it's trying to spread up the pit lord's legs. If not dealt with quickly, soon the pit lord may find his entire body coated in flames, burning away at him.

[Mindfreak]

Village of Thingummywhat Worshippers
"I have no idea what you just said, but if you do not do as I said you will feel my wrath."
Megan continues to sit there.
Man, the sun was nice and warming today.

[Morty]

Fugitive
Michalson opens the tent to find a single woman matching the description of the assassin inside. She has earbuds in and is staring at the screen on her phone, and in one hand she's holding a pistol against her chin. She doesn't respond immediately to her tent being invaded. Perhaps she hasn't noticed?

The tent is large enough for Magbot 2.0 to also enter.

Michalson reacts quickly. He can't allow the woman to commit suicide... he needs her alive. His hand lashes forward, surrounded in grey smoke as he mutters a spell. Black tentacles erupt from the ground and wrap themselves around the gun, trying to wrench it from the woman's hand, or at least away from her.

[Reinholdt]

Fugitive

Magbot 2.0 readies its laser gun! Though points it a bit down, towards the legs. No shooting yet.

Winston is peering in just barely through the tent flap. He would say something, but he doesn't want to startle her before Michalson can get the gun.

[Gullara]

[Wilderness]

The warclock breathed out, he had made the right choice. The nightmare was over, everything was going to be just fine. Worry wouldn't let go of her so easy however. She had to deal with one thing at the time or she would lose it all again.

"But what about you family? You can't just give up on them right? They haven't been able to talk or see you in months." Astrana had already given up on two 'families' and she really didn't want Valente to do the same thing.

[Wilderness]

"I know... but I still can't be anywhere near the manor at least. I'm surprised no one has come for me yet to be honest." Valente rubs his eyes. s much as he disliked AMEN, he supposes that it was at least keeping Tenebras agents from getting to him. "I have no idea where to go or what to do."

[Halae]

[Picnic]

Having already stepped away from any consumables previously, it would seem that Peter's request was quickly met with almost atemporal expediency "That all depends on what you mean by normal. I would probably be completely normal by my standards if I could find another of a similar sort which with to make a more accurate assessment of.. And I do believe that I'm expounding on the unnecessary again. Pardon.

"Though I suppose it would be much easier for me to perform an amending service if my capabilities were more public." the entity said, leaning back somewhat to sit down as a large, golden ring appeared behind them. The ring seemed to be quite ignorant of the fact that it was ignoring the basic function of gravity but that was likely the least of the problems at hand. "Well, I specialize in the augmentation, degradation, and general utilization of motion and dimension but I am able to perform acts that would be of sufficient potency with the intent to alter or otherwise render a current state of affairs into something more preferable. Though, please do not inquire about any fiddling with things on a temporal axis, be it past or future. Though potentially possible, there are repercussions that I simply find bothersome to deal with. It's what one would expect from altering any value on a co-ordinate plane, though. The equation necessary to map the new point must also be altered and that just turns out to be a complete mess in the long run. Now, Simultaneity is perfectly fine, however, but can be rather confusing for those who do not readily think in such a manner that would engender such an action." The entity took another draw from their tea as they almost sheepishly waited on the reply. While apparently potent in scale, it seemed this particular being was rather loath to be so overt about their abilities. It was so much hot air and bluster after a while, anyway, and it generally made conversation that much more difficult.

[Picnic]

Ormirrah blinks for a moment, absorbing everything that had just been said, "You're a wish granter?"

A very simple way of saying the above, but in the end a summarization may have been somewhat necessary.

[Destro_Yersul]

[Degenburg Castle]

"I'm sure I will." She agrees, smirking.

Sszinyon simply turns to leave the room.

[Degenburg Castle]

Following Sszy, Endrik waited until he was sure the drowess was out of earshot, then lowered his voice just to be safe. "So. What do you think about this?"

[Artemis97]

[Degenburg Castle]

"I do not believe I can trust any plans my family makes." Sszinyon says, frowning. "However, if the Matron is coming here, it may be a chance to make amends. As risky a venue as these parties can be, there are often too many witnesses for any serious moves to be made."

[Destro_Yersul]

[Degenburg Castle]

"Hmm." Endrik considers the statement, tapping an armoured finger against his helmet as he thinks. "Myself, I would not go. If you think there may be some value in the event, though... There could be a lot at stake, too. People talk, at parties. Alcohol can have a way of loosening tongues. I do not know how applicable that is to a naturally suspicious people, but even so someone might say something interesting."

[Earl of Purple]

Skyship- Above a Village

Unfortunately, chopping the wooden leg isn't very successful- the pirate learnt the mistake of that before, when his original one was removed, and so chose its replacement to be made of a wood that is harder than bone. The woodworm's weakened it, but the core of the wood remains solid. The zombie tries to grab at M'Kota, reaching for any part of her that is easily accessible and grasping with its mutilated hands.

Sznovf- Wizard's Tower

The walls are enchanted to strengthen them and enable them to hold the heavy marble without collapsing. The carpet is enchanted to massage bare feet when given the correct command. The marble cladding is enchanted to be lighter so it is less likely to fall through the floor and also to polish itself. The door frames are enchanted to prevent undead creatures and those on a select list cannot pass through. The window is enchanted to keep out breezes and draughts. The doors themselves are magical portals to other places, ones hidden from scrying and magical detection and sealed in distant caverns to prevent unintentional entrance. The hatch in the floor is enchanted in the same way as the doors. A small box in the corner is enchanted to be invisible and larger inside than outside.

There's so much magic that Cassidy might just be blinded, at least temporarily.

Village of Thingummywhat Worshippers

The chief grunts again and runs off to find the priest. Thinking needs doing, and the chief isn't the man for that. Hence why he runs around all day doing nothing and wearing the skull of deer and nothing else.

[Devixer]

[Sznovf - Wizard's Tower]

Cassidy grunts in pain and covers her watering eyes. She isn't quite blinded, but all the magic definitely hurts. She has to wait a moment after switching back to her normal vision to get back to normal. She shakes the pain off and heads through the mahogany door.

[Mindfreak]

Village of Thingummywhat Worshippers
Megan lays on her back, letting the sun warm her.
It was pretty nice.
She was thinking she just might replace the chief of this village.

[Earl of Purple]

Sznovf- Wizard's Tower

Well, it's a wizard's tower. One should always expect everything to be magic. Usually, it is.

No examining of the invisible box? It's not hidden from magic-vision, so Cassidy could likely find it whilst her eyes water.

If she carries on through the mahogany door, she will discover a large chamber with three doors leading away. This main chamber, however, is a laboratory, with a workbench against one wall and scattered liberally with wands, cogs, springs, gears and tools. Some of the tools are rather mundane; others are clearly enchanted- either made of solid crystal or another unusual material, glowing slightly, or scuttling across the worktop on many articulated legs, each ending with a different sized screwdriver. In the centre of the room is a large, white table with four chains leading to a currently-open manacle. The table's very clean, though a nearby rack of knives, wands, and strange implements that seem vaguely surgical stands nearby- as with the worktop tools, some of these are also enchanted, though none seem capable of self-locomotion. On the walls are more racks of tools, surgical implements and also diagrams- some of anatomy, some of constructs like the monkeys and some of them describe the necessary processes for enchanting swords, guns, clothing and armour, amongst other, stranger articles.

Village of Thingummywhat Worshippers

The priest approaches respectfully, though doesn't want to interrupt Megan's thoughts so is left standing awkwardly a few feet away from Megan, ideally behind her.

[Mindfreak]

Village of Thingummywhat Worshippers
"What do you want? Can your chief not think for himself?"
Yep, old chiefy is most likely going to get replaced now.

[Earl of Purple]

Village of Thingummywhat Worshippers

"If he could, I wouldn't have made him chief. He looks to me for guidance, assistance and reassurance that he's making the right decision. All of his decisions go through me; I decide what we do, whom we raid and who goes out to seek a spouse from which of the neighbouring villages. The chief just formalises things. The last chief that thought for themselves led a raid on a travelling band of wizards, with these barking staves that killed from afar and a wheeled monster that roared. We lost all our warriors, and then our sheep and goats when others raided us. We starved for five years until we had enough warriors to regain our flocks." So despite being very remote and surrounded by others in the same late bronze age culture, others do pass through here occasionally.

[Mindfreak]

Village of Thingummywhat
"Right, well, what would you say to having him replaced?"
"Further more, you didn't answer my question: What do you want?"

[Earl of Purple]

Village of Thingummywhat

"Well, that depends on whom you choose to replace him with. But traditionally one's a chief until one either dies or runs away from an enemy before they do. As for what I want, he said you made swords appear from mid-air and said something he didn't understand, so I'd quite like to know what he was blathering about." He smiles thinly.

[orb_of_blood]

Forest outside the SG

Tyalla looks surprised. "I- I wasn't going to move. I don't think there's much in the Nexus or Laira that persuade me to leave you now. I'd just appreciate it if you didn't ask about Laira."

She's quiet for a moment, contemplative.

Laira. So beautiful. So dangerous. For just about everyone. Except the favorites of Andaress. The dragons were nearly always safe.

Dragons...

Nixa...

"Elkandar- your people... I know little of them. But, I did have a drowess friend once, and while there are huge gaps in my knowledge, I know they wouldn't like to see you with an elf. We both know I'm not one, but I do look it. I want you to stay safe Elkandar. Do you have a preference for a specific race? I can't stay in this form any longer."

[Dark Elf Bard]

Forest

Elkandar chuckles. I really don't care if they see me with an elf. I love you, in all of your forms.. They can't change that. He leans down to nuzzle her neck.

Hmmmm. She was right though. Drow are serious xenophobes. Mating with anyone but drow- especially with what appears to be a surface elf- wa a crime puishable by death.

Or worse.

Hmmm... you're right, though. Maybe a drow would be sfest? It's close to how you usually look, and they probably won't mind it.

He blushes a bit. I- um also find drow a-attractive.

[orb_of_blood]

Forest

"Yes... yes, I suppose you're right." It'll make her life a tad more difficult though, as some amount of attention will have to be constantly maintained in order for the morph to be kept. Still, it'd be good practice.

It only takes a few seconds for the color to bleach from her black hair, draining into and darkening her skin. Not the ashen-gray tone of Elkandar, and his sister, Nixa, Tyalla's gone for an entire oil-black.

Aside from that though, there's little else she needs to change. She can keep her features and her pointed ears, and the only out-of-place thing about her are the dark-green eyes of every Shifter alive.

"How's that?"

[Dark Elf Bard]

Forest

Elkandar blinks once and whistles under his breath. You look... amazing! Not that you aren't, anyways, Tea!

The pet name just pops out of his mouth, like he's been trying to hold it in.

He lies back, onto the soft grass and sighs. How in the world did I get so lucky?

[Mindfreak]

Thingummywhat Village
"Remember that village of fish worshipping heathens? They worship me as well now. Be nice to them. That's what I said."
"Further more, who I plan to make chief of this village is my child, who is more than capable at protecting this village and any others that worship me. Got a problem with that?"