Riverside 19

[billtodamax]

Riverside Hospital - Pre-Invasion

What's supposed to be happening now?

Was... oh, god, that hurts.

Nigel winces, eyes curled in pain.

A boring lecture on organic chemistry - Nigel's barely paying attention, looking into a sale on phones on his tablet. Occasionally he tabs back to a mostly empty word document to type out a few notes before flicking back. Now he's arms deep in a security officer's torso, quickly and messily hacking away at the bones while a horrible worm squirms around beneath the rib-cage. An engineer and another doctor lie slumped against the wall next to him, up next to have the parasites cut out of their torso, while a maintenance worker welds the vents shut behind him. He's in a complicated lab, looking bleary eyed at a pair of rats as he administers a couple drops of liquid into their feeders. This should cure them if his theory's correct. Dragging a bloody body backwards into the medbay while franticly dosing them with medicine, throwing them quickly into a cryostasis tube and hoping he made it in time. Scolding an engineer as he stitches up his face after he got into a fight over the best way to maintain the engines. Blankly digging bullets out of what is clearly a corpse, hidden in a dark closet while gunfire sounds from outside. Looking with intense focus at a beaker suspended over a bunsen burner, watching for the slightest change in colour. Sitting in a library rereading the same page for a third time in a row. Closing a leg back up after a successful surgery. Typing up some notes on the design for a prosthetic arm. Carefully distributing the contents of a sealed beaker into six different syringes. Sprinting at a dead heat through a corridor as he rubs ointment into his scorched shoulder. Sighing as the same scientist came back for burn meds for the third time in a row. And on, and on, and on.

[Shadowcaller]

[The Lotus Gardens - Approaching]

Well, as they seemed to prefer to stand around talking waiting for the other one to do something, someone else had to take initiative around here.

The bear will attempt to first gently nudge Archera's hand with its snout and then take the cage in its jaws so it could carry it to Jezebel.

Riverside Hospital - Pre-Invasion

Zhareen simply watches, she did seem to have fetched a first aid kit from somewhere though (this was a hospital after all) just in case Nigel needed some help. Not that she doubted her wives expertise, Nigel might just be unusually sensitive considering that he hadn't been exposed to a lot of magic yet!

[Northside - Post-Invasion]

The first part would be to clear off the debris and drain all the water and ice that was lingering in basements and other subterranean areas of the city section. It looked like there was a lot less manpower working on this than before however. Malechenar hadn't just their iconic castle in the invasion, it looked like they might have lost much more.

They would need outside reinforcements...

[UncleWolf]

Glade => Lotus Gardens

"She's not the mayor anymore." Topaz mumbles, getting up from her spot where she'd been half asleep. She looks quite a bit better now that the potions have done their work, but she was going to need a long time to truly recover and heal from her wounds. It doesn't look like she'll have her wings regrow either considering the wounds have sealed over. She picks up her bags, throws back another potion, and nods, ready to be teleported back.

And the moment she is, she just takes a look around before heading towards the chapel.

Lotus Gardens

Those looking to turn a prisoner over will find a short woman wearing a suit and black mask organizing people as they leave the Chapel. Her suit is ragged and she's gotten several cuts on her face where it is exposed, but Anna the Receptionist is very much acting in-charge at the moment. Her left arms ends in a large single daemonic claw, but it seems to be slowly reverting back into a hand.

Felandria

The Hunters still depart, but Jones lingers for just a moment. "Felandria, if you want Hunters, give us a reason to be Hunters after this. The mayor's office will have our numbers. Call and make us an offer." He explains, ignoring that she's on the phone before departing himself.

Outside the City

Eric looks more tired than excited at the offer of anything(within reason) as a reward for having helped get the Lord out of the castle. He reaches up, touching his swollen and horribly cut cheek. It hurt like hell, particularly with his teeth exposed to the air like that. "...if my face can be fixed, that will be all I ask for. I make my living with it." He admits quietly before staggering and collapsing, his body just unable to keep up with his injuries anymore.

[Lord Magtok]

The Faction's Totally Secret Headquarters - Harley

Spoiler

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The Faction's Totally Secret Headquarters - Harley

On the one hand, Harley is disappointed that that didn't work as intended.

On the other hand, she's glad it worked out in the end, regardless. She hasn't had to do something like that since she worked as an assassin, so she was afraid it would totally fall flat. So she smiles a bit, before wiping that smile away and turning back towards the station and the Vlad and Haz.

And.
"Goes to the gym" is actually a good look, she decides.

Since this is exactly the opportunity she was looking for, this is great! She takes a couple steps back towards the two. "So both of you probably already know," she says, "that I was elected as one of the councilors in Eastside." At least, it seems reasonable that they would know. And even if they don't, acting like they know makes her seem more confident in their competence, which should help suggest she thinks they're the right group for what she's asking for. "And Eastside was hit particularly hard by the demons."

Harley prepares herself, because this is the part where she asks them for help: "Not long ago" - literally, on the drive here: thanks Stu - "I spoke with the new mayor of Eastside and we discussed some of the things Eastside needs to help with the refugees, the rebuilding, and the relocation."

What did Magtok tell her would help convince The Faction? Oh, right: emphasize how much the people need help; and, the group is looking for legitimacy.

So, she tells them what they'd likely want to hear: "The people of Eastside really do need help rebuilding. Some peoples' houses have burned, others were destroyed. Lots of people are in shelters, and likely separated from their families."

"I've been looking for groups that could officially work with the government to help rebuild."

Then, she adds, (who doesn't like getting their ego padded?) "I figured I'd start with the groups that seem competent and trustyworthy first, so I haven't had an opportunity to visit other groups yet."

Haz raises a finger to shush Harley before she does any more ego-padding. "I'm going to have to stop you right there. Either Magtok has a much greater opinion of us than I figured, or you're laying it on a little thick with the praise." They only just met a moment ago; Harley probably didn't even hear about The Faction for the short few weeks or so when it was active. Disingenuous praise or not, though, this isn't an opportunity The Faction can afford to pass up, even though we're compromising opsec and it's clearly got Magtok's dirty fingerprints all over it.

"Anyway, I'm Haz, this is Vlad, we've got a bunch of other people scattered about Riverside, and a bunch of hovercopters, if you need to do any surveying, aerial rescues, or simply moving from point A to B quickly. There's some equipment still lying around from when we were pretending to be a construction firm which could help with getting people out of the debris and clearing it out. Probably do some actual construction too, maybe. The General's not too fond of us, so we'd appreciate not being asked to help out anywhere near the borders, but otherwise we can mobilize and have everyone ready to lend a hand in...I don't know, maybe later this afternoon?" Wow, that's pretty fast. Almost like The Faction's just been sitting around being useless for ages, waiting for an opportunity to just fall in their lap like this.


Faction HQ - Ithuriel

Spoiler

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[Faction HQ - Ithuriel]

Oh, hey, Magtok's here.

...

Oh. Magtok's here. Why is Magtok here? "Hi Magtok. Didn't expect to see you here either. Got yourself into another little situation, I see?" She doesn't really pay attention to the 'tok telling her to wait a minute, instead strolling over so she can deliver a quick slap to Magtok's face. Probably putting a little more force into it than intended, might shake a circuit or two loose, make his eye roll a bit. "That's for- uh, something. I'm sure you deserved it. Something about discussing why you're a jerk with Ambriel, oh yeah- for threatening to do evil stuff because I actually tried to connect with you over a drink. How dare someone care about your feelings, huh?"

Assuming she's allowed to get away with that, she'll step back and lean against the wall. "Hi guys, I'm Ithuriel, Ambriel's very real girlfriend who really was stuck in deadtime for ages, so if you ever made fun of him for talking about "that angel he once met", I expect you all to be nice and apologise. Also while I definitely owed him a slap, I think I probably also owe him a favour for pointing me in Ambriel's direction, so could you kindly explain what's going on here and how we resolve this without you killing him?"

"Sure, I'll explain. They're being a bunch of whiny babies because-" Oof! Magtok gets cut off by another slap, except instead of Ithuriel's hand, it's Haz's gun smacking him in the face this time. Ouch. He visibly winces, looks toward Ithuriel for sympathy, and then thinks better of it and gives his best apologetic look to Haz instead.

"Sorry, were you saying something? Something about whiny babies?" Haz challenges Mag, his pistol ready to give the classic cyborg another smack if he's out of line again. Maybe send him home with a black eye, force him to explain to the latest catgirl paramour how he got beaten up by his own clone.

"I misspoke. What I meant to say was they were understandably upset-" Magtok's tone makes it very obvious that he thinks nothing of the sort, but when Haz doesn't smack him for it, he continues talking. "-because this gas station is supposed to be a secret, but I could track them down without even trying because not one of them thought to switch to new hardware, so it was like a huge strobe light right in the middle of the city. I directed a local politician their way because she needed help rebuilding this city after the invasion, and then I came here to talk about some things and now there's a gun in my face."

"Right, and we were just about to get to the subject of those 'some things' when Ambriel's girlfriend got here. Hi Ithuriel, hey Amb. I'm Haz. Pale guy over there is Vlad, we've got Intrepid, Squiddly, and I think Needs said he was out doing some Thanksmas shopping in Pannasosia? Or did he say Haluth?"

"It was Haluth. Pannasosia's where he gets his mirror honey," the pale one with the fangs chimes in.

"Right, right, of course. Anyway, I'm sorry your first impression of us has to be this, but you know how Purple here can be. There's drinks in the mini-fridge on your left, help yourself and we'll try to wrap this up and then get moving right along with the get-to-know-yous." Haz explains, his gun still pressed firmly against Magtok's face and his eyes locked on the weaselly little cyborg. I don't think he's actually so much as looked at Ithuriel or Ambriel yet, for fear of Mag slipping away and trying something stupid.

Meanwhile, Ambriel senses an opportunity. He opens the mini-fridge and grabs three cans. One for himself, one for Ithuriel, and one for Purple. He's not about to hand it off to Magtok just yet; he's holding onto it, waiting for his chance to play good cop.

[5a Violista]

The Faction's Totally Secret Headquarters - Harley

Harley sticks out her tongue playfully. "I figured that at least some of you would appreciate the complements."

Anyway. Serious time.

Harley nods. "It's fortunate you have those resources; they will be very helpful right now. I'll get you the contact info for some of the other government employees and will try to have all the info you'll need for later today."


Later this afternoon is pretty fast. Let's hope Harley can talk to all the right people in time and set it up. She'll probably have to use her phone more today than she ever has. So much for what she had planned later today...

[Shadowcaller]

Jezebel's Manor

Cessie will finally arrive here.
She hadn't actually really responded to that picture she got on her communicator, just said "okay" which was hardly a satisfactory response.

The changes Jezebel was going through was concerning to say at least and she felt queasy just thinking about it all, not to mention the number of injuries the former mayor (and daemon) had sustained. This was especially difficult considering their new situation...

Assuming she will be let in, Cessie will sit down by Jezebel's bed, folding her hands in her lap. "Jez... what have happened to you? What have you done to me? I barely could sleep last night. I'm so worried that your operation will go wrong..."

[UncleWolf]

Jezebel's Manor

Cessie is indeed let inside where she'll find Jezebel still resting in bed despite having been cleaned up. A good deal of food is set aside for her to nibble on, as well as an array of medications ranging from painkillers to anti-biotics. When Cessie asks her questions, she doesn't answer for a bit and just leans over to snag Cessie's robes to give her a tug. "You can hug me, you know. I'm not going to break. I've done enough breaking for a long time. As for what's happened...well, I survived. Gave up all of my power to do so, but I survived. And so has my home."

[Nova_Eclipse]

Glade => Lotus Gardens

Electra nods, places a hand on Topaz's shoulder gently, and teleports them to the Gardens. Once the world snaps back into focus for the both of them, she'll look around for Anika/Wenomir, even as she's following Topaz towards the chapel. She might as well stick around and help out where she can. At the end of the day, she's still stronger, faster, and more durable than an ordinary human, and she's helped clean up after wars before. Even though it probably won't pay, it's worth it if MERC can be seen on the scene and helping out.

[Zefir]

"High Priestess, of course, sorry 'bout that." It's not like we see many normal priests of Deus Mechanicus. Just Mia.

"Quite lucky. As you noticed that the demons did attack our portion of Southside with that second-wave meteor and storm."
"Now, in the past we've been enemies, but we think, and I hope you agree, that the demons are a greater threat, a danger to the whole city. Now is a time to work together. If you can offer any help with rebuilding, we would all appreciate it."
The Commandant nods.

"She made it through the fight - you know plenty of people didn't, bless them. She's busy running the recovery, as you can imagine."
That isn't exactly the same as saying that The General is 'all right'. Actually she was quite badly injured. But there's no reason to advertise that fact.

[DMside]

There is one other, but people just slowly rise into priester status. It's like a job and you can only get it by training.

"I see. Yes I think we can work on a closer relationship." Mia just says.

"We already started to send out help. With your agreement I will tell them to go even futher away from our teritorry without fearing attacks.

[Shadowcaller]

Jezebel's Manor

Cessie is indeed let inside where she'll find Jezebel still resting in bed despite having been cleaned up. A good deal of food is set aside for her to nibble on, as well as an array of medications ranging from painkillers to anti-biotics. When Cessie asks her questions, she doesn't answer for a bit and just leans over to snag Cessie's robes to give her a tug. "You can hug me, you know. I'm not going to break. I've done enough breaking for a long time. As for what's happened...well, I survived. Gave up all of my power to do so, but I survived. And so has my home."

Jezebel's Manor

Cessie is, to her surprised, pulled forward by her robe and takes a seat on the bed, right next to Jezebel. "You could have just told me to come." She remarks, thought can' help but smile. She recognized that passion, but it wasn't like they were teenagers.
"I'd still hesitate to hug you in this state though, Jez." Cessie continues, placing her hand over the former daemons, giving it a gently squeeze. "And I'm well aware, I'm talking to you, aren't I? But that also means that thinking short-term is over as there is no struggle of simple survival anymore. If you don't treat your injuries seriously, they could have lasting effects. Therefore, I'm going to treat you exactly the way you don't want me to treat you, like you were a noble lady made of porcelain."

[UncleWolf]

Jezebel's Manor

Jezebel gives a small sigh, leaning back against her pillows and headboard. "...fine. I get it. I'll be sure to care for my health. But physically that just means taking it slow, taking my meds, and doing the physical therapy I'm assigned. I won't be fighting or overexerting myself." She promises before she finally reopens her eyes. "Mentally though...I don't know, Cessie. I don't know how I'm going to be fixed. If I can be fixed." She whispers before picking up a picture of Sergei and Ariel off of her nightstand. "I don't remember them, Cessie. I remember going back, I remember finding them, but almost everything after that is just...gone." She whispers. Jezebel is well past the point of tears and just looks tired as she talks about it. "I've spent all morning going over things with Charles, drilling things back into my head that should have already been there and I don't know what to do about it."

[Shadowcaller]

Jezebel's Manor

Cessie grip around Jezebel's hand gets firmer as the former daemon talks.
As she finishes, the sorceress runs her hand gently through Jezebel's hair. "Time heals all wounds, Jezebel. The reason I'm so concerned about your physical health is that since I know that if you recover it, you'll also recover everything else. Your children loves you and lost memories won't change that. Just look around you, everyone here loves you, Jez. They will fill in any the blanks you have, nothing was lost, its all here, bits and pieces in Charles, me, your children, even your other servants. Talk to them and they will be overjoyed to get a chance someone who have done so much for them, to give just a fraction in return." Her hand moves down as the caresses Jezebel's cheek. "What I'm saying is, what you've lost won't be gone forever. You'll recover it bit by bit, the people who love you will make sure of that. All of us."

[Rebonack]

[A Terrific Elf Relief Shelter]

Oh boy is Riverside ever a mess.

That's what happens when a gaggle of awful demons show up with their minions and ruin everyone's day.

But you know what's just absolutely fantastic?

That relief shelter recently set up by a group of terrific elfs. It took a few days of cultivation, but before long via application of wonderful elf magic a series of buildings have grown in an area cleared of rubble. A large central building dominates the complex, surrounded by numerous smaller huts just big enough for a family. They all appear to be grown like a hedge, branches so tightly knit together than not even an unpleasant breeze could pass between them. Inside, little hanging mushrooms provide a soft glow. Fresh, clean water is available and three meals a day are provided consisting only of the most glamorous of foods.

Since the elfs are such tremendously marvelous people, no one is turned away from the shelter. All the poor, the bedraggled, the bereft of homes and families? They're welcomed here so they can eventually get back on their feet as the city is rebuilt after the army sacked it.

And even more wonderful is the fact that the shelter never seems to be full or overcrowded! Why, it's no doubt a completely marvelous feat of elf magic.

Missing?

Oh no. No one has gone missing from here. The terrific elfs would surely notice if someone vanished, and they aren't concerned at all! So why should you be? So just sit back, relax, and enjoy your enchanting days of recuperation. Why, before long, you'll be back on your feet and living the dream!

[bc56]

Terrific elf relief shelter

Someone comes.
The raven-haired man looks battered and bruised, worn by the elements and seems like he hasn't slept in days. He wears a suit of complex leather and steel armor, rubber tubes and brass pipes running across it to numerous small tanks and nozzles scattered about on it. It does not look dissimilar to an old fashioned diving suit. Strapped to his back is an equally well-worn carbine, brass fittings aged, but well polished and cared for, alongside a large, steel sledgehammer which has glass tubes full of glowing blue fluid running up its handle and embedded in the head of the weapon. He smells strongly of diesel fuel and sweat. He seems hesitant, suspicious, and for good reason. He's heard this is a place where people can rest, but most of the pleasant surprises he's seen recently have turned bitter quickly.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Faction HQ]

Three cans, Ambriel? Three? Well the good cop schtick might be a good idea but you're probably going to have to force that can into Ithuriel's hand. She's a bit distracted by the scene playing out in front of her, and she's not particularly happy seeing Haz wave that gun around. So much so in fact that she steps a bit closer, reaching one hand out to clamp around the dangerous end of the shooty-thing and gently pull it away from Magtok while she rests her arm on the helpless (probably not actually helpless) cyborg. "You know Magtok, I do recall you saying that it was important for you not to directly acknowledge these guys exist and that you really wanted to make sure you didn't come into contact with them for fear of it causing further conflict. And yet here you are, huh?"

You've got to admit, it looks a little bit dodgy, right? He must have known something like this would happen and yet he's here anyway, which does make Ithuriel a little suspicious. What's Magtok's angle here? Is this all some sort of setup? A sneaky attempt to do away with all these "faulty" clones or something? She'd like to think he's better than that now, but their prior conversation in Trog's suggests he's still got a villainous streak in there. "You're right Haz, I do know what Magtok is like. So you probably ought to realise that beating him up with a gun isn't going to be very productive. So, Magtok, be a pal and tell your friends what's going on, without any snarky comments. And as long as you play nice, I'll make sure they do too, okay?"

[Morty]

[Southside]

Rats are headed towards Southside. No shortage of them in the city, of course, especially after a tragedy struck, but they sure are drawn towards one particular place. Roaches, too. And spiders. Crows, ravens, magpies and bats are also flying there in great numbers. All the vermin slowly congregate and gather, even though quite a few of them should be trying to eat the others. At one point they all merge together into one packed mass.

The mass of little carrion-eaters starts climbing and landing on top of each other, the grotesque column eventually reaching as tall as an adult human, then taller. It shifts, warps and blurs, taking on more defined contours, before finally becoming a tall figure in a black ragged cloak, under a rat's skull with antlers, its empty eyes burning with cold fire and a mangle of branches resembling burned black wings trailing behind it. A Lord of the Faerie has come to pay his due.

[Earl of Purple]

Terrific Elf Relief Shelter

Somebody else approaches. An elf with deep green skin, orange-gold hair the hue of autumnal leaves. She's young, though hard to age. There's a tattoo on the left side of her face and down her neck, of creeping vines, with spiky leaves and harsh thorns, curling up her throat, spiralling on her cheek and wrapping around her eye. She's wearing a simple green gown and leather walking-boots, caked with dust and mud. She has a rucksack slung over her back, which occasionally rattles as though it contains chains or something. At her waist is a hand-crossbow and a short sabre, as well as an athame. She wears a pair of gloves and her left arm is heavily wrapped up.

She's trying to find a healer or helper, some helpful soul that is here to help the dispossessed and desperate of which she appears to be.

[5a Violista]

[A Terrific Elf Relief Shelter]

Someone else shows up!
It's not somebody looking for relief, though. Instead, it's a government official.

Harley Zorzo Martinez, the masked populist and totally-not-a-shapeshifter, shows up armed with a clipboard and pen because she's here to look at all the different shelters that have popped up, and thank them for their help, and whatelse they need. On the clipboard are several things like "where's it located" and "on a scale of 1 to 10 how safe is it" and "what is the capacity and how close are they to it" and "will they need resources? Or what?" and "what sort of people would be a good fit for it" and "do they secretly work for anarchist vampire demons or something like that" and so on. That way, people can be organized better and more people can receive the relief they need.

Wearing the most businesslike uniform she's got (and a fancy mask) she walks up to what looks like an official office of the shelter to speak with the people running it. "Hello? This is Ms Harley Martinez. I'm a city councilor. I had someone call ahead for me."

[Gullara]

[The Lotus Gardens - Approaching]

Wenomir responds with a frown of his own. It doesn't look quite so menacing in Anika's body but he does what he can.

"...fine. Just take her to what's left of the city's leadership. She is the only prisoner we have."

If Archera follows, Wenomir will also contact Electra again.

"The battle is over. The demons withdrew, taking the Malechenar castle with them, and AMEN decided not to take any territory in the city but capture a woman named Ilpholin."

[The Lotus Gardens - Approaching]

Well, as they seemed to prefer to stand around talking waiting for the other one to do something, someone else had to take initiative around here.

The bear will attempt to first gently nudge Archera's hand with its snout and then take the cage in its jaws so it could carry it to Jezebel.

Lotus Gardens

Those looking to turn a prisoner over will find a short woman wearing a suit and black mask organizing people as they leave the Chapel. Her suit is ragged and she's gotten several cuts on her face where it is exposed, but Anna the Receptionist is very much acting in-charge at the moment. Her left arms ends in a large single daemonic claw, but it seems to be slowly reverting back into a hand.

[Lotus Gardens]

Upon arriving, Archera decides to put the first foot forward. She steps out in front of the others and addresses Anna. "Are you with the Eastside government in some way? We have a prisoner. One of the invaders."

Riverside Hospital - Pre-Invasion

What's supposed to be happening now?

Was... oh, god, that hurts.

Nigel winces, eyes curled in pain.

A boring lecture on organic chemistry - Nigel's barely paying attention, looking into a sale on phones on his tablet. Occasionally he tabs back to a mostly empty word document to type out a few notes before flicking back. Now he's arms deep in a security officer's torso, quickly and messily hacking away at the bones while a horrible worm squirms around beneath the rib-cage. An engineer and another doctor lie slumped against the wall next to him, up next to have the parasites cut out of their torso, while a maintenance worker welds the vents shut behind him. He's in a complicated lab, looking bleary eyed at a pair of rats as he administers a couple drops of liquid into their feeders. This should cure them if his theory's correct. Dragging a bloody body backwards into the medbay while franticly dosing them with medicine, throwing them quickly into a cryostasis tube and hoping he made it in time. Scolding an engineer as he stitches up his face after he got into a fight over the best way to maintain the engines. Blankly digging bullets out of what is clearly a corpse, hidden in a dark closet while gunfire sounds from outside. Looking with intense focus at a beaker suspended over a bunsen burner, watching for the slightest change in colour. Sitting in a library rereading the same page for a third time in a row. Closing a leg back up after a successful surgery. Typing up some notes on the design for a prosthetic arm. Carefully distributing the contents of a sealed beaker into six different syringes. Sprinting at a dead heat through a corridor as he rubs ointment into his scorched shoulder. Sighing as the same scientist came back for burn meds for the third time in a row. And on, and on, and on.

Riverside Hospital - Pre-Invasion

Zhareen simply watches, she did seem to have fetched a first aid kit from somewhere though (this was a hospital after all) just in case Nigel needed some help. Not that she doubted her wives expertise, Nigel might just be unusually sensitive considering that he hadn't been exposed to a lot of magic yet!

[Riverside Hospital - Pre-Invasion]

As quickly as it came the pressure begins to subside. It's only moments before it's gone completely. With his next exhale a plume of smoke comes from his mouth, and then everything is normal again. Though he might have a more normal headache after all that. "I believe that was satisfactory. You appear to be capable enough." Vax concludes. If she knows exactly what went on in Nigel's head, she doesn't seem to show it.

[Rebonack]

[A Terrific Elf Relief Shelter]

Dieselpunk Guy

The shelter is, by all accounts, more or less what one would expect. People in various states of disheveled, but glad to be alive. Some are recovering from injury or trauma. Other as using the shelter as just that, a shelter while they help with the rebuilding efforts. Here and there young children chase each other about the compound, oblivious to the dire nature of the situation they just lived through. Normal children things.

The main building is probably where people can register and be assigned a place to sleep, though it doesn't look like anyone is about to pounce on the fellow and herd him off to fill out forms. He could head in there himself, surely, or just investigate the shelter grounds. Maybe peek into a few of the smaller buildings and rifle through the NPCs' stuff? That's what any self-respecting PC would do of course.

Thus far nothing appears particularly bitter.

Just lots of people trying to survive.

Stabby Undead Murder Quest Gal

Hmm...

People that look heroic and helpful?

Let's see... There's that fellow over there in the drab brown and grey outfit with the wide-brimmed hat, a few locks of silver and black hair sticking out from under it. He's armed on first glance, a small crossbow holstered at his hip and a collection of daggers. He's currently kneeling next to an elderly woman, talking with her amiably while bandaging her burned arm. They're too far away to pick out the details of the conversation.

There's also a very drawn, haggard looking woman wearing a red and white robe trudging between buildings and groups of people, inquiring of them, zeroing in on people with nasty, hacking coughs. Every now and again she'll find what she's looking for and channels holy light from her hands into the person. When she's done, the coughs appear to be healed. She smiles briefly, a look of genuine happiness, then sets out in search of more sick people to cure. From the way she moves, wobbling every now and again, one might guess that she hasn't slept in at least a day.

And an elf! Tall, golden haired, perfect complexion. There's a distinct air of unearthly beauty about them, manifesting in a subtle glow as of moonlight. They're carrying a woven basket full of water bottles. They look more like a chrysalis than plastic. Leave it to elfs to find an eco-friendly alternative to plastic sealed water. The elf is moving from group to group, smiling serenely and handing out bottles of water to poor, bedraggled refugees. Every now and again they'll strike up a conversation with someone. Sometimes it's brief. Sometimes the elf takes the person's hand and gives them a dainty kiss on the wrist. Those kissed track the departing elf with their gaze, enraptured.

Harley

Harley will be able to walk into the main building without trouble!

It looks... pretty much like what someone would expect an elfy tree house to look like. Living wood on the inside, lots of smooth curves and little in the way of angular shapes. Weird glowing growths on the walls that shed pleasant, soft light. There don't appear to be any slave cages or cauldrons of evil brew or vampire demons (anarchist, authoritarian, or otherwise). Just a hospital room where the most gravely injured are being tended to in one wing and a common cafeteria in the other. There's a big fancy archway at the back, all decorated with twisting vines and flowers. Beyond it? A pretty unremarkable looking store room. That's probably where they keep all their stuff.

An elf approaches Harley! Tall, golden haired, perfect complexion. There's a distinct air of unearthly beauty about them, manifesting in a subtle glow as of moonlight. "Councilor, we've been expecting you," the elf says, their voice pleasantly musical. "Did you wish the interview the staff? Or perhaps a tour of the grounds? Or maybe get all the boring administrative questions out of the way first?"

[Recaiden]

[DMside]

There is one other, but people just slowly rise into priest status. It's like a job and you can only get it by training.

"I see. Yes I think we can work on a closer relationship." Mia just says.

"We already started to send out help. With your agreement I will tell them to go even further away from our territory without fearing attacks.

"Excellent to hear!"
The Commandant offers a hand to Mia to shake.

"I'll see to it that all your people get safe passage in our territory. Let us know if there is anything they need. Hopefully we can look forward to a quick reconstruction."

[Northside]

"Excellent. Tell them that we're located on this address." Sekai says as she writes down a note to hand over to the angel before it leaves.

The first part would be to clear off the debris and drain all the water and ice that was lingering in basements and other subterranean areas of the city section. It looked like there was a lot less manpower working on this than before however. Malechenar hadn't just their iconic castle in the invasion, it looked like they might have lost much more.

They would need outside reinforcements...

The angel takes the note, and eventually the note is read when that angel meets up with the other survivor. From then on all of the angels who need to know the address.
It's the next day that the demon angel Françoise arrives at the address to see what they find.
Assuming it's something like an ordinary building, they phase into visibility and ring/knock on the door. The note Sekai gave them is held in one hand.

As members of their strain flight usually are, Françoise is dressed in a simple hooded brown robe that hides everything except the tips of one's talons and the glow of one's night-vision eyes.
Unusually, they have brought a bunch of gear in bags and bandoleers. Potions, disguises, the silly money peopl here use, a sack of still-squiggling lunch-creatures, etc.

[Southside]

Rats are headed towards Southside. No shortage of them in the city, of course, especially after a tragedy struck, but they sure are drawn towards one particular place. Roaches, too. And spiders. Crows, ravens, magpies and bats are also flying there in great numbers. All the vermin slowly congregate and gather, even though quite a few of them should be trying to eat the others. At one point they all merge together into one packed mass.

The mass of little carrion-eaters starts climbing and landing on top of each other, the grotesque column eventually reaching as tall as an adult human, then taller. It shifts, warps and blurs, taking on more defined contours, before finally becoming a tall figure in a black ragged cloak, under a rat's skull with antlers, its empty eyes burning with cold fire and a mangle of branches resembling burned black wings trailing behind it. A Lord of the Faerie has come to pay his due.

Take care. There's no shortage either of things that would like to eat little scavenging vermin. Cats and birds and tiny dragons.
But I'm sure he'll be fine.

The faerie minions already given to Southside's service could hardly miss the return of their master.
So the King doesn't have to wait too long before a very nervous soldier comes to escort him to a meeting with the city's representative.
The city center still looks like a warzone, a ruin. There's the rubble of buildings shattered by the chthonian, the one miraculously-still-standing tree, and the one dragon-woman underneath the tree waiting for the lord.

[Earl of Purple]

Terrific Elf Relief Shelter

The man is dismissed immediately; Elimnae's not looking for men with her dagger. The woman's more promising, should be quite easy to lure her away for a short break, or maybe ask her for advice in a more private area where the disposal would be easy. But that'd be a second healer in her dagger... But with a total of forty people to slay, that might not be a bad thing. The elf, though... When she sees it, she feels a spike of hate.

She approaches the elf, keeping half an eye on the healer, as a back up if this doesn't go well... Or as a second victim if everything goes better than she plans. Not that she's really planning anything. She's not sure she likes the way it enraptures those it kisses, but she's not intending on letting it do anything like that. She's hiding the hate well, and throwing on a distressed expression, but it's all faked and an empath would see through it. "Excuse me, uh, sir?" She can't tell what gender it is. That's unusual. "I... I need to tell you something. Not here, too open, somewhere private." She clutches her wrapped arm, seeming to imply it has something to do with that.

[Morty]

[Southside]

"I have come to fulfil my part of the pledge," the King in Rags says, getting straight to the point. "For the gift of fire, a monster. Tell me what you need, and I will make it so."

[5a Violista]

[A Terrific Elf Relief Shelter]
Harley

Harley Martinez looks around at decorations and architecture. Now, she's not an expert in tree-based architecture so she doesn't know if this place is structurally sound or if it stands up to all the fire codes. She'll have to ask them about it, and maybe inform them that send an elven civil engineer over as soon as she can find one in the city. "It looks nice," she says to herself, before writing things in her clipboard.

"Hello," she says to the elf, "I'm glad to be here."

In response to the questions, she looks over her clipboard again. "I'm going to eventually have to do all three and finish up with interviewing a few of the people using the shelter, and as soon as possible I'll send a building and safety inspector to finish everything else up, so let's start with the most tedious first," she suggests.

She looks up and waits a moment the elf to suggest which one is the most tedious. You can tell something about someone if they think doing the administrative things is the most exciting part.

...
If the elf doesn't suggest one, she just says "So let's get the tedious administrative questions out of the way."

Regardless of which they do first, she interjects: "Oh! But first, almost forgot. What name should I put down for the shelter? And who is running it?"

She gets ready to write.

[bc56]

Terrific Elf Relief Shelter - Diesel Punk

As the man gets closer to the shelter, it becomes more and more clear that this is not a man. That armor is very, very modest. Her hair is also not so dark as it first appeared, becoming increasingly obvious that it is filled with oil, dirt, and mud. She enters the shelter and begins looking around for nothing in particular, mainly out of curiosity. If this is a place where she can rest, that would be good. She hasn't slept since...
The boat. Mare Vaporum. Awakening to the sound of cannon fire and tearing metal. Tepid water engulfing her. Something hits her head and everything goes dark...
She snaps back to reality. She's tired. Very tired.

[Rebonack]

[Terrific Elf Relief Shelter]

Stabby Plot of Stabbing

The elf doesn't correct Elimnae, they simply smile serenely. "Of course," they say in a melodious voice that's just as difficult to pin a gender on as it is to figure out what their sex is supposed to be. Ugh. Elfs are weird. Without a further word, the elf will follow Elimnae wherever she wishes to go.

Assuming, of course, it isn't outside the shelter.

If Elimnae tires to get the elf to leave, the elf will inform her that they have other duties to attend to.

Hmm... That tree hut over there looks empty.

Maybe that would be a good place?

Harley

The three is, in fact, up to code. Assuming there exists building code for magical tree buildings. And given that this stuff is made out of living wood rather than dry, it's probably a bit more flame retardant than your average house.

"Of course," the elf replies when Harley states that she wants to do the most tedious thing first. And then just stands there, looking obnoxiously pretty. Looks like they're going to allow her to take the lead. To her actual questions the elf replies. "This is the Birch Grove Relief Center," the elf replies. You can tell because they're all birch trees. The white, papery bark is a dead giveaway. "And it is being run by myself and my associates, the Terrific Elfs."

That's just terrific.

There are high elves and low elves and dark elves and sun elves and moon elves and wood elves and wild elves and shadow elves and sea elves and goodness knows how many more. What's one more type of elf?

Diesel Punk

It's easy to mistake a sheen of grease for five oh clock shadow.

Regardless!

There are plenty of those individual tree huts, all papery white bark and leafy canopies. There appears to be one right over there that's empty. Would it be alright to just step inside and crash for a bit?

There's a group of people surrounding a machine of some kind, poking and tinkering with it. After a moment there's a shout of surprise as the machine belches out a cloud of black exhaust before sputtering and dying.

As the armored gal moves further in, she'll spy a long, low building behind the main lodge that looks suspiciously like a set of bathrooms. The kind with showers.

Aside from those interesting places, there's also that black and silver haired fellow providing first aid as well as the white mage woman who's focusing on curing diseases.

[bc56]

Terrific Elf Relief shelter - Diesel Punk

Hmm. Awfully quiet around here. Not much going...
Are those bathrooms? The woman makes a slow, armored jog toward the bathrooms, careful to watch for ambushes. This could all be an illusion. She could still be on that Bureau-forsaken rock in the middle of that Bureau-forsaken sea, dreaming of peace as a rogue fumaton or worse creeps up on her. She enters the bathrooms cautiously, sweeping the doorway with her carbine in case something jumps out at her.

[5a Violista]

[Terrific Elf Relief Shelter]
Harley

That's good that it's up to code. I've seen birch trees fall over before, and if the shelter fell over it would really be bad for the survivors.

"Okay," she says, writing down the name of the center and the group who run it. She already has the address, she wrote that down earlier before coming here. "Great." She's a little jealous of how obnoxiously pretty the elf is.

"So I have several questions here and it may take a while; let's sit down unless you prefer standing."

Regardless of whether they sit or not, Harley starts running through all the more important questions on her clipboard. Some of them are inane enough that there's pretty much no reason to state them here because it would just be a little boring. Others, however, are probably important or interesting enough to be highlighted. "What is the max capacity of this center and how close do you think you are to reaching it?" is one of the questions. "What measures are you taking to ensure the safety and relief of patrons? Do you have guards around to protect them? If not, will you need some?"

"Have you hired any demonic volunteers and, if so, how visible are they? Normally, we wouldn't ask this, but because the recent incident was caused by demons, many survivors have fears regarding demons and probably will take some therapy to be comfortable around demons again."
Of course, Harley has a thing of silver on her just in case any of the people around here are secretly the demons from the war disguising themselves for some sinister plot. It'd glow if they were nearby.

Another important question is this: "Are there any specific kind of refugee that you would prefer to work with?" and these: "What sort of compensation are you looking for? How many and what kind of supplies will you need? Will you need some other sort of support?"

"Does anyone in your group have any conflicting interests that you'd like to state at this time?"

You know, standard questions that need to be asked.

...The various subspecies of elf really aren't something Harley ever had to deal with before coming here. So she doesn't question it.

[billtodamax]

Riverside Hospital - Pre-Invasion

Nigel coughs up the smoke as the spell fades, rubbing the back of his head. Sweet. He says blearily. That sucked really bad.

He reaches into his belt and pulls out a pill bottle, shaking himself out a pair of pills and swallowing them dry. Oh, these are little baby painkillers, not.... opioids. He adds to the administrator.

[Zefir]

[DMside]


"Excellent to hear!"
The Commandant offers a hand to Mia to shake.

"I'll see to it that all your people get safe passage in our territory. Let us know if there is anything they need. Hopefully we can look forward to a quick reconstruction."
.

[DMside]

Mia will shake the hand, but more like a lady.

"Any resources for rebuilding would be preferable." she says. "We can provide more workers if we got the materials to build them and if we got the materials for the rebuilding. As you can guess our own resources are limited due to our size."
Mia seems to have more to say, but the just shakes it away. Nothing that can't wait.