[Nexus] Riverside X: Take a Walk on the Wildside

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Manor]

"I know, Irena." Nadia gave her an understanding smile before looking down at her stomach again. She couldn't get over that the baby was moving inside her right now. "We can worry about that a bit later still. After the appointment."

[Terumitsu]

[The Rusty Dagger]

Ghoul mentally filed away the information as she set down the stone she had been sharpening the knife with and held the blade up to the light once more. "Ryhe and Harold.. And yet I can't imagine them just walking around with white canes. What's their main aquisitional sense? I mean, surely if you've seen one during the ceremonies, then you should know a little, right?" the muse said as she tilted the knife just enough for the light to glint off of its edge before setting it on the table and selecting another.

"In fact, these ceremonies.. Sounds like something a charismatic leader would get up to. What kind of occasions are these? Or is it so they can just pick a few underlings from the pack and siphon away their memories? How do they do that, while were at it? These stones you mentioned too." she inquired, picking up the sharpening stone again but keeping her eyes fixed on the blade she held.

On a bit of a whim, though, she brought up a module on her sonar and sent out a subsonic pulse through her feet into the ground. It would have a larger range than normal although it would be rather more focused as well. With the earlier mention of these Erath, it would be best to stay on guard for any of them that might be lurking about.

[Gullara]

[The Rusty Dagger]

Samona stays silent for the moment. This was half the point of this little exercise after all. Another opportunity to take stock of Ghoul.

[Zefir]

[Hunter Recruitment - Upstairs]

"I see. You've been with the Democracy Now movement since its inception, as I recall. Luckily, there wasn't any need for protection back then. It's about to change, however. We might be required to do our best to defend Eastside very soon."

[Hunter Recruitment - Upstairs]

"That's right Sir. I was happy to help back then, even thought I heared strange noise from the Manour the Democracy Now stand in front of. I will do my best to help the people."

[Reinholdt]

Kami Hunting

Cessie chuckles, "I recall the time when I did eat a whole cow, with the farmers permission of course. It was rather... fulfilling." She says with a grin.

Kami Hunting

Now Harnel takes a surprised and jealous look. "Uh... uh... no faiiiir." Harnel hasn't eaten a cow in any recent memory that I know of.

"Well now we're going for steaks." Harnel says, turning towards a steakhouse. Might as well get the next best thing.

[Morty]

[Hunter Recruitment - Upstairs]

"That's right Sir. I was happy to help back then, even thought I heared strange noise from the Manour the Democracy Now stand in front of. I will do my best to help the people."

"And it's possible we're going to need everyone's best," Johann says. "Riverside has never been stable, and a change of government always draws opportunists."

[The Bushranger]

[HRC]

"In the future, yes. For now, there's a training ground in a nearby office building. Go there. Right now, as you can see, I have another recruit to brief."
With that, he turns to the winged man.
"I am. And you are another of our new recruits. Both your numbers and diversity are good signs. What's your name?

Andromeda nods respectfully, and heads for the training grounds.

[Shadowcaller]

[The Rusty Dagger]

For the first time the woman actually turns to look at Ghoul, if only to correct her. "Don't be grotesque!" She exclaims with a grimace. "I know you people live by different standards then us, but we aren't savages. The ceremonies are great celebrations, we dance and eat and sometimes play games. Not anything like that. The lords wouldn't feed in public, in fact I have never seen them feed or met anyone who have been used as food. I don't mix with such people. So I wouldn't know anything about it." She claim with a shake of her head, turning back to Samona once again. "As for the stones, well, they're harmonical of course. You know, their structures vibrate in a certain way to causes a effect if they are shaped in the right syntronical pattern?" She continues while looking at Samona at any sign of recognition. "...you do get an education even down here?"

As Ghoul is checking underground she won't sense anything underneath them... but there is a large displacement of earth some distance way from the tavern, near the surface.

[Suncrest Manor]

"Alright, so let's get that thing over with already. It won't take long right?" She asks with getting off the coach, eager to be able to return here soon enough.

Exbourne Manor

"Even if I know you will cooperate, I'm less sure about your subconscious who we already established is paranoid and powerful, a less then ideal combination for these things. I can try putting up a few fail safe mechanisms but this method requires me to have physical contact with you. You're a smart girl though so if you have any ideas of your own, I'd like to hear them before we start this." Astrana explains.

Kami Hunting

Cessie laughs loudly at the half-dragons reaction. "You're priceless, you know that? Steak it is, I'm buying. You need some kind of reward for all work you done after all." She says with a wide smile.

[Reinholdt]

Kami Hunting

"Oh? A reward for your pet dog now, is it?"

"Guess something has to keep me hunting these things. Might as well be steak." Steak is a good motivation.

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Manor]

Nadia laughs a little and sits up. "We probably won't be able to get an appointment until tomorrow, and that's if you're lucky. Just grab me the phone and I'll see when we can get in."

[Terumitsu]

[The Rusty Dagger]

Setting the stone and knife down on the table, Ghoul took a few slow steps forward before leaning her back against the wall with her arms crossed in front of her; her amber eyes never leaving their captive's. There would still be some room between them but a short lunge for the vampire could close the distance if necessary. However, now that her back was to the wall, she had a better area to send out another pulse with, this time aiming at the displaced earth. Given that the room was apparently under ground, this wouldn't be too much of an issue with translating through the varied earthen mediums.

"Grotesque? My.. aren't we the sheltered one?" the muse said, taking on a hauty tone although it was more like a dagger sheathed in velvet. "Your ethnocentricity betrays you. I mean, certainly you know that people of all kinds exist around here, right? I don't assume that you're uneducated even if you couldn't even do the basic calculations involved in high velocity ballistic physics." Ghoul said with a sneer. "Besides, that would make me a bigot, wouldn't it? And there isn't much worse than that, is there?"

Having decided that was enough needling for now, the fledgeling turned again to questioning. "But we can solve that later. You say these.. Celebrations, parties or whatever recreational term you want... They happen how often? And where while we're at it." the muse asked as she tapped in to the local network and began searching for just what 'syntronical' meant. It wasn't a term she was readily aware of and it certainly wasn't making any matches in her dictionary.

[Lost_Deep]

Exbourne Manor

"I don't really know what to expect. I want answers, I want to know what's going on with me." She looks down at the veins that haven't faded yet. "I want to know what the power wants. Does it just want to fill me with power? Is it turning me into something?"

She's quiet for a moment.

"Maybe you can knock me out? Not just put me to sleep, but make me unconscious? Could you still get into my mind then?"

That's an idea. There is a difference between sleep magic and just KO magic, right? However, chances are that chemicals aren't going to work, since they have to go through the sleep state to cause unconsciousness. Unless she has something with some REAL punch...

Or a hammer. You know, while a slight concussion isn't the best idea, chances are the power would keep it from getting worse.

[Zefir]

"And it's possible we're going to need everyone's best," Johann says. "Riverside has never been stable, and a change of government always draws opportunists."

[Hunter Recruitment - Upstairs]

Jeu nods.

"I understand. Do you have any information I should know of right now, Sir?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Suncrest Manor]

"Don't you have your own phone?" Irena asks as she hands Nadia her cellphone. "I don't get why all these things need to take such a long time. Can't they do it right away?"

Kami Hunting

The dragon smiles at Harnel as she resists the temptation to run her hands through his beautiful black hair. "You know I don't see you as that, but you did give me an idea. Do you really want a cow to eat?" She asks curiously.

Exbourne Manor

Astrana nods thoughtfully. "I was considering just knocking you out until I realized a blow to the head wasn't really going to do anything besides giving you a concussion. I could attempt to mimic the effect though but I might need some help with that. Just wait here a moment." She says before leaving the room looking for her little demon helper.

[Reinholdt]

Kami Hunting

Don't resist temptations Cessie! It's bad for your blood pressure!
Unless said temptations are triple-chocolate cakes. That's probably worse for your blood pressure.

Harnel pauses to look at Cessie, eyebrow raised and wondering what she had in mind. "Yeah. Certainly."

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Manor]

"I forgot it in our room." Nadia says as she takes the phone. "And she might be too busy with other patients or something to see us now. Unfortunately, the world doesn't revolve around our schedule."

Nadia dials Dr Coral's number, and the setting up of the appointment can be handwaved. After she's done, she hands the phone back to Irena. "Okay, looks like we're going to the hospital tomorrow."

[The Rusty Dagger]

"I would advice you tread carefully." Samona adds, not appearing impressed by the woman's attitude. "Remember your position here. And please, direct your attention to my associate while she's speaking to you."

[Exbourne Manor]

Astrana will find Cynthia after a bit of searching. The little demon has been watching cartoons downstairs. She gives Astrana a toothy grin when she appears. "Astrana! You're back!" She bounces off the couch and hurries over to her to give her a hug.

[Lost_Deep]

Exbourne Manor

Eadelain nods and will wait patiently for Astrana to get back.

[happyturtle]

Wildside

Jeanne has changed her appearance to look a bit fey-ish. She is presumably followed by Miss Doss. The two of them enter the woods.


Hunter HQ

Having been sworn in offscreen, Xifra and Salome begin their jobs as the public liaison officers for the Hunters.

There is no way this can ever go wrong.

[Morty]

[Hunter Recruitment - Upstairs]

Jeu nods.

"I understand. Do you have any information I should know of right now, Sir?"

Johann shakes his head.
"No. For now, you need to go and patrol the streets. We need to be seen so that people know we're here to protect them."

[Shadowcaller]

[Suncrest Manor]

"Great, then we can catch the One Piece marathon on toonami now." Irena replies as she slumps down on the coach yet again and puts on the TV.

[The Rusty Dagger]

There are indeed vibrations coming from the recently created underground room though they start off as violent, they slowly cease to be.

The woman makes no comment at all at Ghou's statement, looking at her with a completely neutral expression before answering her question. "About one time a month within the Kastuian gardens in the middle of the castle. But they don't invite people like you, or anyone else outside the castle walls unless they're important." She claims.

[Exbourne Manor]

"Heh... hello Cynthia, how have you been doing?" Astrana asks with a smile as she returns the hug.

Kami Hunting

Don't resist temptations Cessie! It's bad for your blood pressure!
Unless said temptations are triple-chocolate cakes. That's probably worse for your blood pressure.

Harnel pauses to look at Cessie, eyebrow raised and wondering what she had in mind. "Yeah. Certainly."

Kami Hunting

"Great, do you know a good place where I could get out of these clothes? I'm taking you for a ride." Does she even know how easily that could be misinterpreted?

[Reinholdt]

Kami Hunting

Harnel has to close his eyes to keep his mind from breaking and from creating a spontaneous nosebleed.

"Ummm... there should be... someplace around... maybe?" Thinking about something other than what he's thinking about is hard right now.

But he recovers after a moment. "If it's outside the city, we can just go back to where we landed in the first place." Back when they Harnel rode Cessie into the city.

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Manor]

Nadia chuckles and slides over to lean against Irena. "You were watching this show the other day, right? It's so hard to keep track of them all." She'd never quite understood her fiancee's interest in anime.

[Northside Hospital]

The next day, Nadia walked into the hospital hand in hand with Irena. They headed right past the reception desk and toward the waiting room. They'd been here enough already that Nadia at least knew where they were expected to go.

The lampades had been a bit nervous all day, and just plain restless. She gave Irena's hand a squeeze and looped her arm in hers to pull her closer.

[Exbourne Manor]

"Good. They make me help clean a bunch of stuff still, but after I can watch TV or play with Eadelain." Cynthia says.

[Terumitsu]

[The Rusty Dagger]

Rather than firing off a single pulse, Ghoul decided to try for a clearer image by a short series of pulses through the wall. The existance of that room was sitting on her mind and her paranoia was urging her to simply pack up now and relocate. Still, best to find out what it was rather than jumping at shadows.

Choosing to ignore the 'people like you' remark, Ghoul simply continued with another question. "So, the castle. What's it like there?" she asked. It might initially seem like an odd kind of question but there was more behind it than what might be at first glance. Particularly, though, she was looking out for information that could be used to determine just how easy it would be to slip in or around it unnoticed.

Nodding to Samona, though, the muse tried to indicate that she could slide in a question or two of her own in a moment. Even if this scan of the newly made room turned out to have nothing, it was something she wanted to check out. Just in case.

[Shadowcaller]

[The Rusty Dagger]

Ghoul can probably sense one large or two conjoined smaller shapes (hard to tell if it's either one) are within the underground room which she might now learn isn't much a room as it is a hole, having a connection to the surface.

((Will wait for ghar before letting to woman reply.))

[Suncrest Manor]

"There are a lot of episodes so you got to keep track." Irena replies as the theme music starts to play...

[Exbourne Manor]

"That's good to know, I might need your help with Eadelain though and it won't be much of a game, okay?" Astrana replies, giving Cynthia a serious look.

[Kami Hunting]

"I suppose that will do." Cessie replies, giving the half-dragon an odd look. "Come with me then." With the lack of other places, the dragon simply have to change into her true form outside the city, more specifically behind a tree where she can undress like a movie that just couldn't afford the transformation effect.

"Perfect." The dragon speaks with her deeper draconic voice while handing Harnel her human clothes with a toothy grin. "Mind scratching my back a bit while back there? I got this itch in my scales..."

[Northside Hospital]

Irena gives her a quick kiss and smiles comfortingly as she returns the squeeze, "Feeling any better now?" Morning sickness Irena had learned was a terrible thing.

[happyturtle]

Spoiler

Show

[Northside Hospital]

The next day, Nadia walked into the hospital hand in hand with Irena. They headed right past the reception desk and toward the waiting room. They'd been here enough already that Nadia at least knew where they were expected to go.

The lampades had been a bit nervous all day, and just plain restless. She gave Irena's hand a squeeze and looped her arm in hers to pull her closer

[Northside Hospital]

Irena gives her a quick kiss and smiles comfortingly as she returns the squeeze, "Feeling any better now?" Morning sickness Irena had learned was a terrible thing.

Northside Hospital

Dr Coral is running a bit late, but eventually they hear the tap tap tap of her high heels as she turns down their hall and makes it into the examination room.

"How are you, Nadia? Are you having any difficulties?"

[Gullara]

[Northside Hospital]

"Pretty good." Nadia says with a smile for Irena just before Dr Coral arrives. "Nothing out of the ordinary. Mostly just my feet killing me.And the baby's started kicking a lot since yesterday."

[Exbourne Manor]

Cynthia nods, suddenly looking serious herself. "What do you need help with?"

[The Rusty Dagger]

Samoa smiles a little, as if at some private joke that she's not sharing. "That is a shame, isn't it. It's a good thing we have you out here to answer our questions then. Now, your lords strike me as the sort to move into Riverside for the view. Do they have any particular goals they'd like to accomplish while they're here?"

[Reinholdt]

[Kami Hunting]

"Oh. Oh, you just set me up to give you a back massage. You're terrible." Harnel says, as he goes to climb on Cessie.

"Must be really inconveniant to change in and out of clothes like this all the time. Maybe you should wearing something different?" Less than what she usually wears and easier to get out of. Harnel would be more than happy to make some suggestions.

[Shadowcaller]

[The Rusty Dagger]

"Malchenar is an amazing place, enormous and with very part filled with the most fantastic collection of art, culture and design gathered from all the islands of the world. As for why they're here I heard that Ryhe wanted to study the physics of this world, oh and I guess they need the water for the gardens." The woman explains, ignoring the two's attitude towards her.

[Exbourne Manor]

"Cynthia, you do have some form of demonic magic, right? I need something that could knock Eadelain unconscious for a while so I can visit her mindscape. I'm just knowledgeable enough about the human body to know that simply knocking her over with a chair leg isn't going to work." Astrana explains.

[Northside Hospital]

"Yeah, I have to give her foot massages all the time." Irena unlike some people did not have a foot fetish. "Isn't there like some pill you can give her that takes away all the discomfort?" She then asks the doctor.

[Kami Hunting]

"I was actually considering that." The dragon replies as Harnel have climbed up on her back. "This is a different world after all so perhaps there are clothes that would change with me when I shape shift. Do you know anything like that Harnel?"

[Reinholdt]

[Kami Hunting]

"Mmm... Probably. I've heard of an enchantment shop and a clothes shop that I thinks sell magical clothing. At the very least you could take the latter to the former."

Harnel says, before going to scratch her back.

[happyturtle]

[Northside Hospital]

"Pretty good." Nadia says with a smile for Irena just before Dr Coral arrives. "Nothing out of the ordinary. Mostly just my feet killing me.And the baby's started kicking a lot since yesterday."

[Northside Hospital]

"Yeah, I have to give her foot massages all the time." Irena unlike some people did not have a foot fetish. "Isn't there like some pill you can give her that takes away all the discomfort?" She then asks the doctor.

"I'm afraid there's no such pill. Most pregnancies cause discomfort, but accelerated ones put far more stress on the body than a standard pregnancy," Dr Coral says. She puts her stethoscope on Nadia's belly to hear the baby's heartbeat. Presumably all is well.