[Nexus] Outside XXV

[Reinholdt]

This place is just as it sounds. It's outside.
Want a change of scenery? Go outside.
Always wanted to visit the beach? Come outside.
Looking to have a climatic fight on clifftops? Attempt outside.
Secret meetings being held where there's no cameras? Try outside.
Want an ambush without nasty base defenses? Yep. Outside.

Any and all are welcome here. There are no NPCs unless you bring them in. The major exception is the creepy eyed squirrel. The creepy eyed squirrel does not interfere with anyone. The creepy eyed squirrel is everywhere outside. The creepy eyed squirrel is always watching. The creepy eyed squirrel never sleeps. The creepy eyed squirrel can not be damaged, manipulated, or killed by anyone. The creepy eyed squirrel will eat anyone's very being who attempts to do so. Anyone can god-mode the creepy eyed squirrel. You may pet the creepy eyed squirrel at your own risk.

Other NPCs currently include:
The menacing crabs. These intimidating creatures are usually found by the shore.
The non-existant duck. You'll miss every time you shoot at it.

There is very little you can't do outside. However, like always, please follow the forum rules and general rules of conduct. Private conversations can be held outside. If it seems like a private (secret) conversation, please respect that. Those having such a conversation should do their best to indicate it as such. Otherwise, other characters may stumble upon you. Those desiring to spy in on private conversations should first PM those holding the private conversation, more out of courtesy than anything else.

There are many areas outside, and people can be in multiple places outside. In order to keep areas outside separated so there's no confusion, consider bolding your outside location at the start of each of your posts, like so:

The Fields

Reinholdt sets up various targets and practices his sharpshooting. All these events recently has made him a bit rusty. To his left, he notes the creepy eyed squirrel. Giving him the heebie-jeebies, Reinholdt decides to head somewhere else.

The Cliffside

Calublufiok broods over his latest scheme as he flies over the cliffs. The creepy eyed squirrel is watching him again. He finds occasionally landing and telling the creepy eyed squirrel his plans helps him find holes in his plotting.

Note Reinholdt and Calublufiok do not interact because they are in different areas outside. They could interact, if Reinholdt moves to the cliffside. Of course, various things like telepathy help bypass this. Also, please note outside has no major buildings, though minor ones crop up from time to time.

And most importantly, enjoy outside. That's what this is all about.

Outside now contains various Outside locations! Such as...

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[Dead Pine Lake]

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This lake lies in the middle of the forest. On the eastern shore, woodpeckers feast on the dead pines that give the lake its name. Sometimes one can find Lady Death here, the Aspect of Eve also known as The Grandmother, or Jedwiga.

(Please PM happyturtle if you wish to interact with Jedwiga.)

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[The Islands]

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An island cluster forms an archipelago along the coast. Some of the islands are settled, some not, but most are at least occasionally visited by the fishermen who work these waters.

[Gersemi's Island]

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Gersemi the seighkona lives on a small island in the archipelago with a single hut and a few sheep. Inside the hut, there is a single room, and a fireplace. A loom rests in one corner.

(Please PM happyturtle if you wish to interact with Gersemi.)

[Redbrick Falls]

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A mountainous, cliffy region with a prominent waterfall. A large quarry once was worked in these cliffs. Now, only a few scattered villages and solitary dwellings remain.

[Norosa, Great City of the Elves]

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A Lawful Evil city with an incredibly strong military and a very charismatic leader (Archmage Tyrion Lannister). It has a few CG resisters, but, otherwise, it is a city of peace and law, despite its evil nature.

[Brillian's Baneful Bestiary]

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A secret series of caves where a mad scientist lives. A mad scientist who creates mutant attack creatures. These can be purchased for the right price.

[Auxiliary MagCave]

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A relic from the days of the Age of Apocalypse, this abandoned cavern was once used by the infamous cyborg Magtok as a back-up laboratory and underground fortress, should Calublufiok have ever stormed the primary MagCave.

[The Katz Motel]

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Located in the middle of Nowhere, our roadside motel is the only decent place for miles near the Taverna that has a bed. Run by a suave anthropomorphic cat, there is a strict No Dogs policy.


A bellhop by the name of Bates is always ready to assist in carrying your luggage. Please ignore his constant mutterings about his mother. Other more unsavory employees can occasionally be found. Please try to avoid eye contact with them.

We at the Katz Motel wish to ensure you have a splendid stay. Any inconvenience due to randomly locking doors, giant spiders, secret passages, vampires, creepy paintings, and the occasional possession and subsequent exorcism are incredibly rare. Just look at our complaint cards! Not a single one mentions dying horribly in their sleep or becoming food for the monster in the basement.

And if you get bored, the owner will always be up for a game of sport, old boy.

((The Katz Motel is a horror filled place with the highest casualty rate of any motel in the Nexus area. Checking in is usually pretty easy and pleasant. Checking out is rare. Anyone can play the Motel and the NPCs within, free to invent their own horror. The NPCs within that can die usually only suffer death temporarily, the supernatural force causing the disturbances bringing them back to life for its own nefarious purposes. PCs get no benefit from this.))

[The Troll Cave]

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A cave in a craggy hill. The undergrowth outside is trampled completely flat, and there's not much wildlife. There's a burned patch where a fire is sometimes there. Inside are a few large caves, linked by surprisingly smooth tunnels that look like something big has been regularly pushing through them.

[Blind Cat's Bluff]

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A sheer cliff dropoff that travels straight down into the water, this is a favored point of people who commit suicide, romantics wanting to watch the sunset and anyone looking to get rid of evidence. The drop is pretty far and there are rocks at the bottom that spell almost certain doom, so watch your step.

PM Whoever's posted the current Outside thread if you wish to add locations to Outside.

[Halae]

[Clearing in the Woods]

Harnel nods, "I'm fairly sure I can remember them easy enough."

[Mindfreak]

[Clearing in the Woods]

Harnel nods, "I'm fairly sure I can remember them easy enough."

She smiles.
"Alright then! Remember though, the last one I showed you requires a drop of Wyrmhunter blood. Just use a tiny drop from the vial I gave you."

[Recaiden]

[CBI]

But of course. They wouldn't leave a seventh of their original body behind!

One body (it's Kai, if you must know. Dressed as an old astronomer, but still got the replacement eye and left part of face) pops up behind Val. "Yo. What brings you back to our home?"

[Halae]

[Clearing in the Woods]

"In that case, how about I show you a few things you can do with a weapon to fight off human sized opponents? Seems fair since you taught me something."

[The Bushranger]

[CBI]

Hurrah!

Val jumps in surprise as Kai pops up!
Then smiles turning and nodding to (part of) her friend.
"Hey there. I thought, well, I'd just kinda drop in. It'd been awhile, I wanted to see how you were doing...sorry I've been away for so long..."

[Mindfreak]

[Clearing in the Woods]

"In that case, how about I show you a few things you can do with a weapon to fight off human sized opponents? Seems fair since you taught me something."

She thought about it.
"Hm.......Sure, why not?"

[Halae]

[Clearing in the Woods]

Harnel stands a little ways away from Kathrine, then says, "Alright, if you were to attack me, where would you aim first?" He's not even standing in a battle pose right now, just getting her to answer the question

[Recaiden]

[CBI]

"We're succeeding!" Kai says with a grin. Then she removes her fake beard and mustache and stuffs them into a pocket.
"It's not trouble Val; we've been very busy as well. How has your life gone?"

[Mindfreak]

[Clearing in the Woods]

Harnel stands a little ways away from Kathrine, then says, "Alright, if you were to attack me, where would you aim first?" He's not even standing in a battle pose right now, just getting her to answer the question

"Depending on how tired you looked.....If you looked tired I would do the chain swinging manuever around your legs. If you weren't tired, I would go for an upwards swing from your right side. From your hip to your left shoulder."

[happyturtle]

Wilderness

At some point in the journey, but after he's finished his bath, Hope goes to find Waterstrider. "I found Wolfen tracks."

[The Bushranger]

[CBI]

"You should have used the deerstalker hat and pipe for a disguise," Val says with a chuckle, as she smiles. "It's been well enough. I still haven't figured out any way to get home. But...well...I think I've realised in the end that maybe I don't really want to go home...or that it's not even 'home' anymore.

Here is."

[Halae]

[Clearing in the Woods]

"Ah, but how do you follow that up?" He says, smiling, "The thing you have to remember is that you want to end things quickly, otherwise you risk getting tired yourself and leaving yourself open for the next moron who wants to take a chunk out of you."

[Recaiden]

[ICB]

"Aww. You've realized it! We're quite proud of you Val. Hey, welcome home!" Val gets a hug. With no attempts to murder her. They must have forgotten about that part of the plan.

[Mindfreak]

[Clearing in the Woods]

"Ah, but how do you follow that up?" He says, smiling, "The thing you have to remember is that you want to end things quickly, otherwise you risk getting tired yourself and leaving yourself open for the next moron who wants to take a chunk out of you."

"Hm....interesting.....I would follow up the chain by yanking it tight around their legs then yanking them towards me. I would then either kill them or tie them up. For the second one, if it hit I would bring down the sword on my opponant's head. If it didn't hit, I would elbow my opponent in the face."

[Halae]

[Clearing in the Woods]

"And there's where you're missing things," Harnel says, smiling, "Do you remember what I did? I just moved my head out of the way and your attack glanced off. Attacking the head before your opponent is well and truly open is a recipe for disaster - there's so many reflexes built into the humanoid body to protect the face and head that it's a little scary. Your best bet is actually to keep attacking the torso until you can maneuver well enough to get rid of your enemy's footing. Once they're laying on the ground, one or two well aimed shots are enough to kill just about anybody, and rarely will they have a chance to move their heads out of the way then."

"Of course, if the chain maneuever actually works, you skip right to the final step, but leading in with that attack is going to fail more often than not. If someone doesn't see you, however, or doesn't have the chance to get out of the way, like if you were constantly attacking his torso, for instance, then that would be your opening and you're free to coup de grace your opponent."

"Why don't you try it on me? We'll see how well you can do with that." he picks up the training sword he brought again.

[UncleWolf]

Wilderness

At some point in the journey, but after he's finished his bath, Hope goes to find Waterstrider. "I found Wolfen tracks."

Wilderness

It's probably been a few more days by this point.

Waterstrider's ears perk up a bit at the news. "Mind showing me?" He asks. Renetta will have noticed that he seems to be giving her quite a bit more space now, which is at odds with how he's been acting earlier.

[The Bushranger]

ICB]

Val blushes, and smiles broadly. Returning the hug with joy in her heart!
"Thank you! It's good to be home. With my friends."

There's no place like home! Hurrah!
And no stabbity death is good, too.

[Recaiden]

[ICB]

"Glad you've picked it up. Let's head on back now that the machine is away."
Recaiden deadtimes. Good night.

[The Bushranger]

[ICB]

Val nods happily, and motions for Atorre-Kai to lead the way!

Good night!

[Gullara]

[Wilderness]

Renetta is getting mixed signals, that's for sure. His suddenly being more distant isn't helping her general confusion.

At least there is some news to break the awkwardness that was no doubt present in the last few days. The elf perks up a bit as well at Hope's arrival. "Who do you think it could be?"

[happyturtle]

Wilderness

Hope leads him through the woods and shows him the tracks. "They're a few days old, I think," she says. "But even so, I knew they weren't yours."

[UncleWolf]

Wilderness

Waterstrider gets to his knee to examine the prints. After a moment, he lets out a slight smile before taking a deep breath, smelling who left the tracks. "No worries. it seems it's my brother." He informs them. "I guess the others headed this way."

[Gullara]

[Wilderness]

Renetta smiles. It'd be nice to see some of the others again. "Are they headed the same way we are?" Of course, she wouldn't be opposed to changing direction to go the same way they did.

[happyturtle]

Wilderness

"Do you want to follow him?" Hope asks. Then to Renetta, "It looks like he was hunting alone, but I imagine his trail meets back up with the others at some point."

[Mindfreak]

[Clearing in the Woods]

"And there's where you're missing things," Harnel says, smiling, "Do you remember what I did? I just moved my head out of the way and your attack glanced off. Attacking the head before your opponent is well and truly open is a recipe for disaster - there's so many reflexes built into the humanoid body to protect the face and head that it's a little scary. Your best bet is actually to keep attacking the torso until you can maneuver well enough to get rid of your enemy's footing. Once they're laying on the ground, one or two well aimed shots are enough to kill just about anybody, and rarely will they have a chance to move their heads out of the way then."

"Of course, if the chain maneuever actually works, you skip right to the final step, but leading in with that attack is going to fail more often than not. If someone doesn't see you, however, or doesn't have the chance to get out of the way, like if you were constantly attacking his torso, for instance, then that would be your opening and you're free to coup de grace your opponent."

"Why don't you try it on me? We'll see how well you can do with that." he picks up the training sword he brought again.

She smiled and picked up her training sword. She held the chain in her left hand while the longsword was in his right. She threw the longsword at an angle so it would go around the people.

[UncleWolf]

Wilderness

"He'll be with the others, where ever that is." He says, completely sure of things. He doesn't mention about how it was his brother's part of the pact to watch over the little halfling family. "It'll be safe though."

[Gullara]

[Wilderness]

"Someplace safe would be good." Someplace they can relax and recover. Before I forget to mention again, Renetta does still cry at night sometimes. Only when she thinks Waterstrider is asleep, however. No doubt he's still heard it.

[Halae]

She smiled and picked up her training sword. She held the chain in her left hand while the longsword was in his right. She threw the longsword at an angle so it would go around the people.

[Clearing in the Woods]

Harnel isn't terribly surprised by this move - it's how she opened last time, too. If it's aimed at his upper body, he'll simply duck under it. if it's going after his legs, he'll jump over it. either way, he'll avoid it. He's still not attacking when he says, "Come on now, do I really look tired?"

[happyturtle]

Wilderness

And the party follows the tracks to GLoG.