[Nexus] Riverside IX

[Halae]

[The Mouth of the River]

Cosiellio will appear through the gateway, hands on his hips and an expression concern on his face. He's currently decked out in a flowing red sleeveless robe, and he moves to sit down beside Dionysius, "I've never seen you this angry, Dionysus. What happened?"

[Slii Arhem]

The Mouth of the River

"A choice, a very precious choice, was taken from one of my followers. And so I'm taking a choice from Riverside in payment. Have I ever invited you to a proper revel dear Cos?" Dio speaks softly, leaning back and letting the dewy grass soak his toga and hair.

[Halae]

[The Mouth of the River]

Cos stretches his feet out and takes off his boots, to let his feet join dio's in the water, "You haven't. What choice was taken?" Cos is frowning at this point. He wants to help Cos, but he doesn't approve of what the god of wine is doing to the river. Still, Dio is his friend, and he knows that it must have been something serious to get the vineyard god to be pushed this far.

[Slii Arhem]

The Mouth of the River

"They've forced a child on her. Claimed part of her body as their own to raise something that should be hers and hers alone, that they've declared theirs in advance."

"Such a joyous occasion, a birth is meant to be. So the city will rejoice and celebrate this birth. A proper revel, stradling the river and hanging from the walls and dancing on the ashes in the streets." He sounds almost wistful now, his hands locking behind his head as he becomes lost in memory for a moment.

"Would you join me, if I extended the invitation? It's hardly your usual fair now that you've... come into your own a bit more."

[Reinholdt]

Kami Hunting

The water and stone thing looks at the two, and begins to inch away, not sure what to make of this. It speaks, a bit of fear in it's voice.

"You... what? Why? What's going on?"

Kami Hunting

The sorceress stare at the kami, for the first time not really sure what to do. If it could talk it meant they would be killing a sapient being here.

"Who are you?" She instead asks the spirit. A voice in her head said that she should destroy it however, it was probably just a trick after all.

Kami Hunting

"Isn't that It?" It is definitely proper noun now.

Harnel stops searching to peer at It.

[Lost_Deep]

Kami Hunting

The Kami blinks a bit. I think that's a blink...

"I don't know. Do you know?"

[Halae]

[The Mouth of the River]

Cos runs a hand through his hair. That was seriously bad. Rape was one of the very worst things Cosiellio could think of. But he also idn't approve of what Dio was doing; Taking away their choice wasn't something that should be done. Still, the fact that he's doing this to the entire city means it bears more weight than a simple rape. He wouldn't be doing this unless nothing short of a demigod was involved here.

If Cos didn't support Dio, some may interpret it as his supporting the other offenders. He wasn't about to let that happen. Besides, Dionysus is his friend, and while he may not always agree with his friend's choices, he'll support them.

"Alright, Dio. I'll join you, and get what few followers I have to join in as well, as long you can promise me they'll not have anything bad happen to them. Just know that while I don't support the action you've taken already, I won't let this go unpunished, as I can't stop you now anyways."

[Slii Arhem]

The Mouth of the River

Dio smiles serenely, "I told you it was too late. You can keep what followers you have clear, as if they also have followed the goddess I've declared this revelry against, I can offer them no sanctuary. I extend you the invitation though. Maybe you can keep the suffering to a minimum where you wish to. Maybe not. No harm if you try my friend, no harm at all." There's more to what Dionysus is saying than a simple platitude. He's declaring Cosiellio's actions, whether against his own efforts or not, to be free of retribution from his side. An old but simple oath between gods that knew their portfolios to be at odds, and did not want their natures to cause them to be locked in an eternal struggle. One Cos might not know the importance of, being so new to divinity.

[Halae]

[The Mouth of the River]

Cosiellio may not understand the history behind the statement, but he's intelligent enough to catch the meaning, "I'll look into my followers then, and see if they've had any truck with the goddess you speak of, and bring the ones that haven't."

"I'm just going to do a bit of damage control, make sure that anybody not deserving of your retribution doesn't come out with a bad hand from the revelry. I'll stay out of your way, otherwise, and just enjoy the party."

[Shadowcaller]

Kami Hunting

"No..." Was it trying to confuse them? "Look, you need to stop... whatever you are doing right now or I must devour you." She states while trying to come off as confident as possible.

[Slii Arhem]

The Mouth of the River

"Once I know her name, you'll be informed. The one who told me was quite irate about the event, as she should be after being informed of an unexpected and unwanted pregnancy forced on their lover. She wasn't in a state where she could tell me much of use." Dio opens his eyes and mimes tipping back a bottle to indicate what he means.

[Halae]

[The Mouth of the River]

Cosiellio nods, "I'll be waiting for it then. We need to show her she can't screw around with the followers of another god. I'll go talk to mine then, and leave you to your preparations. Good luck." After a moment, cosiellio will be gone in a similar light to the one he arrived in. Dio will have a chance to say something and perhaps stop him before he goes, however.

[Slii Arhem]

The Mouth of the River

"And merry revels ahead." Dio calls back. Now he'll wait for Irena to sober herself, and for the vines to work their influence on the water. Then the romp can begin with purpose.

[Reinholdt]

Kami Hunting

The Kami blinks a bit. I think that's a blink...

"I don't know. Do you know?"

Kami Hunting

"No..." Was it trying to confuse them? "Look, you need to stop... whatever you are doing right now or I must devour you." She states while trying to come off as confident as possible.

Kami Hunting

"You don't want that." Harnel says, shaking his head. Getting devoured is not pleasant!

[happyturtle]

Mouth of the River

Possibly near Dio, or at least within his sphere of awareness, should he choose to be aware of drunken revellers in the local area, Billie stumbles out of a garret. "No, YOU shut up!" she yells into the door, then begins flouncing down the rickety steps, obviously considering herself to have gotten in the last word, and a very decisive and witty last word at that. She's very clearly drunk, and very clearly just crawled out from behind a curtain. Her clothes are barely pulled on, and one fishnet stocking is ripped and drooping.

She makes it down most of the way with her pride intact, muttering about men being selfish jackasses, when she trips and sprawls down the last few steps, landing hard on the ground and busting open her chin.

It looked like a pretty serious tumble, but she's up again in seconds, her only seeming notice being a hand against the bleeding wound and her kicking off her heels and leaving them behind on the street, continuing on in her stocking feet.

Should she see Dionysius, she calls out to him cheerfully, "Hey! You were at that party!" Of course she was a red panda at the time, so she shouldn't expect him to recognize her, but that's not likely to be a problem for Dio.



((It's the middle of the night, yes?))

[Zefir]

"Fair enough. Anyway, we don't really need defense against violence yet. Noone has tried to shut us up with force so far. But feel free to be altert in case someone does."

The man will just nod. Nothing to say right now since both is true. He places himself somewhere he can't be spoted right away, but where he still is able to react.

[Slii Arhem]

Mouth of the River

Possibly near Dio, or at least within his sphere of awareness, should he choose to be aware of drunken revellers in the local area, Billie stumbles out of a garret. "No, YOU shut up!" she yells into the door, then begins flouncing down the rickety steps, obviously considering herself to have gotten in the last word, and a very decisive and witty last word at that. She's very clearly drunk, and very clearly just crawled out from behind a curtain. Her clothes are barely pulled on, and one fishnet stocking is ripped and drooping.

She makes it down most of the way with her pride intact, muttering about men being selfish jackasses, when she trips and sprawls down the last few steps, landing hard on the ground and busting open her chin.

It looked like a pretty serious tumble, but she's up again in seconds, her only seeming notice being a hand against the bleeding wound and her kicking off her heels and leaving them behind on the street, continuing on in her stocking feet.

Should she see Dionysius, she calls out to him cheerfully, "Hey! You were at that party!" Of course she was a red panda at the time, so she shouldn't expect him to recognize her, but that's not likely to be a problem for Dio.



((It's the middle of the night, yes?))

The Mouth of the River

((It sure is.))

"I was! And you must have been too, if you recognized me so quickly. Still, you might have to be more specific. I've been to a lot of parties, and we might have even met at more than one of them." Although he doubts he saw her at the auction, or at Beachside where both times he was scoping out potential followers. He would have noticed someone who radiated such a desperate call to be guided down the path that ended in self-gratification.

"Dionysus, at the service of those that want me."

[happyturtle]

Mouth of the River

"I'm Billie," she says, tipping her hat. Or rather, trying to tip her hat. She'd forgotten she was wearing a fascinator rather than a hat. She only succeds in jostling it down over one eye, and looks a bit silly as she works to straighten it. "It was the party with all the animal scrolls. Sorry I didn't make it to the orgy, but my buddy Vinny wanted someplace more private for nookie. I gotta tell you, Vinny's a swell ****. Not like that flat tire up there. Serve's him right I lifted all his jack."

[Slii Arhem]

The Mouth of the River

"Ah, you mean my party. The hosts made it happen as a little favor to me between friends. You missed the orgy then? A damned pity that is." A damned pity indeed. Right under his nose and he never got the chance at a second glance or some words with this lovely young lady.

"Knicked his dosh did you? Right fine example of justice that is. I'll tell you something Billie, that party back then was half dead and buried even before you left, and only got worse when some gatecrashers showed up later. I've been fed up with the sorry state of the events that the Nexus can provide, so I'm enlisting some outside help of my own to throw the biggest party this place has seen since its heyday. How's that sound to you?"

[happyturtle]

The Mouth of the River

"If I'm gonna get treated like a hooker, I 'spect to get paid," Billie says. She takes out the wallet and flips through it, chortling. "Ha! He'd have saved himself a lot of dough if he'd just told me he wanted a 5 minute lay and asked for a price. Dumb sap."

When Dio mentions his plans, Billie grins. "When it comes to parties, I'm your dame. Heck, I'm rolling in mazuma. Need some help buying the giggle water?" She grabs a wad of money out of the wallet and offers it to him.

[Slii Arhem]

The Mouth of the River

That gets a laugh out of Dionysus, "Billie darling, I own all the giggle water. I'm the god of wine and high spirits, and they're about to get as high as they possibly can be. Ever witness a miracle firsthand?" As he speaks, the god dips a wooden cup from this side of nowhere into the river and offers it to Billie casually; clear waters flows over its lip and spills on the ground as his hand dips slightly at the wrist.

[happyturtle]

The Mouth of the River

"No way! You're feeding me a line!" Billie laughs. But she takes the glass. "Cheers to your cheek!" she says, and drinks.

[Slii Arhem]

The Mouth of the River

As soon as the cup leaves his hand, the water inside becomes a deep purple, black currant wine. Of course, if Billie isn't looking closely at what she drinks, she'll probably still realize something fishy is going on by the time it passes over her tongue.

"No, I'm feeding you some wine. How does your first miracle taste?" He inquires, tongue firmly in his cheek.

[happyturtle]

The Mouth of the River

Billie was expecting fishy - both from it being river water, and from the fella she just met being an obvious con man. She was simply going along with it because he's pleasant and she's in a good mood. She was pretty used to drugs and drink, so if he's slipping her a mickey, she's confident it won't incapacitate her. And if he's doing it just to trick her into drinking icky river water, then she has no problem laughing at herself.

Actual wine - the best wine she's ever had, though she's really too drunk to appreciate it properly - she was not expecting. Her eyes go big, and she might have spit in surprise if it weren't an absolute sin to waste wine this good.

She doesn't say a word, just looks at him in awe, until she finishes the glass.

"That is one fine tasting Miracle you got there, Sir."

Of course she doesn't remember his name. He said that a whole two or three minutes ago!

[Slii Arhem]

The Mouth of the River

"Dionysus, or Dio if it's easier for you to remember and pass around. So, still don't believe me when I say I can provide enough liquid memory eraser to get this whole town right and rowdy?" The god smirks twirling his fingers in a slow circle as he limbers up his wrist.

At the end of the superfluous gesture, a rose dangles from his fingers, yellow petals glistening with dew. He runs the index finger and thumb of his other hand down the stem, causing all the thorns to fall off and clatter to the ground before offering it to Billie as if she were a proper lady.

"Because that's just what I plan to do. Before the week is out, if this whole town hasn't abandoned the comforts of home and family for my desirous delights, I will eat your tiny little hat."

[happyturtle]

The River's Mouth

Billie lets her fingers brush against his, brings the rose close to inhale deeply, and then tucks it behind her ear. "I believe you, Dionysus," she says, and steps close to him, looking up into his eyes. The cup dangles loosely from her fingers, and it'd be clear to a stammering virgin that she's making an offer.

[Slii Arhem]

The River's Mouth

"You do? It's been a very long time since someone believed me, rather than just believing in me. Even longer since someone has approached me like you are now." Dionysus is certainly no stammering virgin, and mild interest shines in his eyes.

"What if I proposed to finish you off where John Dunce barely started?" Hard to make it any more plain than that without whipping off his clothes and straddling her right there on the riverbank.

[Lost_Deep]

Kami Hunting

"You don't want that." Harnel says, shaking his head. Getting devoured is not pleasant!

"Why would you?" The Kami moves away. "Can't you go be hungry somewhere else? There's an ice cream place down the street that way."

[happyturtle]

The Mouth of the River

Billie likes direct. She likes to let a guy make the first overt move, but she makes sure they know ahead of time when that move is going to get a positive response.

Of course she's never been propositioned by a god before, and that leaves her uncharacteristically unsure of herself - enough that she actually colours a bit. Normally her next move would be a kiss or a grope, but is she allowed to do that? So instead, she just puts her hand on his arm and answers him in words. "That'd be swell."

[Morty]

Democracy now rally

"I'm a member of an organization that stands to gain a bit from democracy. Some of us want a chance at being mayor, true, but beyond that we want to shake up the existing groups a bit, encourage some social mobility."

To the hunter's scan, the woman is... unreadable. Not just that she's normal, but that the scan straight up does not work on her.

"That's fine with us. Social mobility is what this is all about. I mean, in the current set-up, you won't amount to anything unless you join a faction, which requires becoming a vampire or worshipping some whacked-out deity and I don't think the freaks ruling Southside even let anyone join them. We want to change that."

Meanwhile, the suspicions to the Hunter in the crowd are aroused. This woman must have some pretty good reasons for blocking magical scanning. Maybe it's nothing to worry about but maybe it isn't...