[Nexus] Random Places and Plots 5

[Rebonack]

[Abbey Sanctuary]

It...

Uuhh...

It smells like goat? Maybe lamb?

Some smallish animal that can be raised in tighter spaces high up on the mountain. Cows and mountains don't get along very well.

The food is taken back to the tables and all the Sisters take their seats. All at once again they repeat that same phrase that totally isn't Latin and begin the nomming!

...

Given that Agatha isn't yammering endlessly this is probably a silent meal, yes.

[Rotting Baron]

[Abbey Sanctuary]

In that case, Hildur is also silent, as she starts to dig into the meat. She eats as slow as she can despite having worked up something of a hunger throughout the day.

[Rebonack]

[Abbey Sanctuary]

The meal will be tasteh!

But relatively uneventful!

Though as soon as the food is eaten the Nuns begin speaking with each other. And one of the major points of interest?

"You learned to fly already?"
"The Emperor has given you a great gift, child."
"...it must be so nice..."
"I totally saw her! She was going ZOOOOOM!"

It sounds like they're excited for her!

How nifty!

[Rotting Baron]

[Abbey Sanctuary]

"Um, yeah, I did." Hildur is a little overwhelmed by all the praise she's been getting. "I don't know how I'm able to do all of these things so quickly." Figuring out that she was apparently a master of something she'd only just learned existed was still a shock, and now that the adrenaline of flying around, she's still a little confused.

[Rebonack]

[Abbey Sanctuary]

A few of the Nuns go up for seconds!

Apparently that's a thing you can do.

Other types of food have been set out as well in the mean time. Apparently only the first course is the solemn part of the ritual.

"You are clearly gifted of the Emperor, child," Sister Phoebe replies. She's a really tall, skinny woman. Old and almost skeletal. She's kind of creepy. "It is a great gift indeed. I hope you plan to use this gift for his glory rather than squandering it like so many other Shapers."

Sister Agatha sticks out her tongue a bit. "Hildur isn't even sure if she wants to join the Order yet or not. And remember, there are lots of other gods that people worship around the Nexus. I'm not sure if our usual assumptions about piety will always apply."

[Rotting Baron]

[Abbey Sanctuary]

Hildur looks down at her plate for a second or two. Talking about religion had always made her a little uncomfortable, if only because she hadn't really been brought up around that subject.

She does still try to converse, though. "I don't really know much about the Emperor, that's why I don't now if I should join or not." What really worries her is if she has to give up snowboarding or not to join, but that's not something she was going to ask at dinner.

[Harnel]

Originally Posted by Murkus

"Let's just say my gran-dad wasn't from around these parts," Adam says with a smirk. "Now, Evan, pal, just some friendly advice - try not to break anything else. Naitiri does not like her stuff getting broken." He forks a thumb toward the clinic. "Especially those girls over there. You know how much cash goes into one clone?" Knowing that Evan doesn't, Adam answers for him. "Too much. We're lucky Tina has some deal with these platinum miners on E-407, or this whole place wouldn't exist."

[Clinic]

Evan can't help but grin at that, and even starts to laugh, "Is that what she told you? Damn, that's good!"

After giving himself a moment to calm down, he says, "You don't need to worry about the girls. From what I can see, they just need a bit more specific instruction, but I'm not allowing any of them to kill each other. They're too eager to follow orders to break that one. If nothing else, they'll be training outside the armor from now on."

"Anyways, do you mind if I ask who they're cloned from? I feel like I should recognize the face, for some reason."

Originally Posted by Murkus

"It's your birthday man. Wish for whatever you want," Adir says, the opposite of Cessie's comment. He thinks Harnel should get to choose, especially since if he's actually getting a wish out've a fey, it almost always comes around to bite you in the ass.

[Harnel's Birthday Party]

Harnel contemplates a bit more, before taking a deep breath and blowing out the candle. The one thought in his mind is 'I wish Cessie and I had everything we needed for our children, stored in the baby room in Mithar Keep'

[Rebonack]

[Abbey Sanctuary]

Some people get that way around religion. Especially people from worlds where the gods don't commonly throw rocks through the windows of atheists. Because in worlds like those pretty much everyone has a religion of some kind regardless of how fast and loose it might be.

Anywho!

"Well! Ask about stuff then!" Agatha replies cheerfully!

That seems like a pretty solid way to learn of things.

Meanwhile!

The Mother of the Abbey seems to be fetching a really big, old book.

Must be important!

[Rotting Baron]

[Abbey Sanctuary]

"Oh. Okay," Hildur says. She's a bit of a loss as to what to ask first, though eventually she just settles on a simple question of "How long has this Order been around?" That will hopefully open up a few more avenues for information.

[Slii Arhem]

Harnel's Birthday Party

Your wish is totally lame. Also granted! Enjoy the rest of your birthday! Mintbalm is going to grant that wish to the best of her abilities! Now, what the heck do babies need...

Well, a crib, obviously, better make that two. And some formula for when they get older, right... And diapers, lots and lots of those. Some binkies for when they start teething, and clothes that'll fit ranging up into toddler age.

Wow, there's still a lot of room in that room. Better fill it up, just to make sure she's got absolutely everything covered.

So, Mintbalm does the safe thing and fills the room, from top to bottom, with toys. Stuffed animals and racing cars, plastic dolls and action figures. If you can find it in a child's toy box, it will go into this room. At the end, she simply tops everything off with a coating of bouncy balls that would fill a good sized ball pit, and her work here is done.

Mintbalm has done her good deed for the day, to cheer her up after she broke off ties with Kate. She wonders how excited these future parents will be to see all their nice new baby stuff!

Oh, and cake. Can't forget about that, I mean, she baked it herself and everything.

[Rebonack]

[Abbey Sanctuary]

The Nuns exchange looks!

"Do you mean this Abbey?" asks one.
"Or the Sisters of Silence as a whole?" asks another.

Because y'know what?

That's a very important distinction!

And both have very interesting stories behind them!

Which story will Hildur pick?

Which tale will she hear?

Stay tuned to find out!

[Rotting Baron]

[Abbey Sanctuary]

"The Sister of Silence as a whole," Hildur says. "I'd like to know how it all came to be."

[Rebonack]

[Abbey Sanctuary]

"It all began because of Discord," Sister Phoebe replies in that stoic tone of hers. "Discord is the source of many of the world's woes. And because of the blight it set upon the world the Emperor gave his divine spark to his servants. To the Priests. And to the Nuns."

Yay, nuns!

"The Sisters of Silence was founded as a means for Nuns to hone that spark so that they might better defend the Empyreum and all the works of the Emperor."

So...

They're like divine ninjas!

Or something.

[Rotting Baron]

[Abbey Sanctuary]

Hildur nods in acknowledgement. "And what exactly is this divine spark? What does it give the Priests and Nuns?" She asks.

[Shadowcaller]

[Harnel's Birthday Party]

After a moment of nothing happening once Harnel blown out the candle Cessie leans forward and whispers. "So what did you wish for?"

But before he can answer the question the half-dragon can hear that his wives breaths are getting more labored as she groans loudly. It even takes her a moment to realize her water just broke.

[Harnel]

[Harnel's Birthday Party]

"I wished for-"

Harnel recognizes that something's wrong right away, cutting off mid sentence to stand and put an arm around Cessie, "Is something wrong? Should we head for a hospital?"

[Gulaghar]

[Harnel's Birthday Party]

"Are you okay?" Sakura asks, suddenly very concerned. It occurs to her just how long it's been. Yes, it's definitely been long enough. The dryad's eyes widen. "Cessie. Is it the babies?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Harnel's Birthday Party]

"I-ohh..." She clutches her stomach again and makes a quick decision. "Yes. Hospital. Now." She manages to say with a meaningful glance at Harnel before staring down at her heaving belly once again, breathing heavily.

[Harnel]

[Harnel's Birthday Panic]

Harnel turns to Sakura and Adir, "Could I get you two to finish up here? Thanks." and then he'll try to pick Cessie up, taking off into the air. He'll be moving at the closest he can get to maximum speed without being in danger of dropping Cessie. Have to get to the hospital immediately!

[Murkus]

Clinic

Adam doesn't make comment on Evan's laughter. It was odd, sure, but he could always ask Tina himself he got curious.

"Oh, nobody special. Some coma patient, I think. Donated her body to science. Who knew we'd just make more of them?" He grins. "Tina's dad fixed her up a while back. Put her brain in a new body. Free augments. Everybody wins." Evan might recognize the clones - their faces, anyway - being markedly similar to the cyborg secretary in front of Naitiri's office.

"Hey..." Adam says, floating around to put a hand around Evan's shoulders. If allowed. "Do you actually have any augmentations yet? Are those real?" He points at Evan's horns.

Harnel's Birthday Party

"Hey, I've got a car!" Adir calls after them, figuring his hoverjeep is probably quicker than Harnel's wings. Of course, it has to use roads, so...

He looks at Sakura, surprised. "Well crap. Did it, uh, happen so fast with you?"

[Harnel]

[Clinic]

Evan grins, tapping one finger against a horn, "Completely real, made of bone and everything. you may actually be surprised to know that this is quite far from my natural form - picked up a bit of shapechanging during my time as a world hopper."

[Gulaghar]

[Harnel's Birthday Party]

Sakura looks after them for a moment then turns to Adir. "Not really. It's still hours after the water breaks before they'll be born. We should still get going there though. I want to see them as soon as I can." The dryad ends with a grin on her face.

It's just a shame her veggie burgers went untouched. Oh no... she's so disappointed. Yes. <.<

[Rebonack]

Originally Posted by Rotting Baron

[Abbey Sanctuary]

Hildur nods in acknowledgement. "And what exactly is this divine spark? What does it give the Priests and Nuns?" She asks.

"The divine spark is a tiny fragment of The Emperor's power," Sister Phoebe continues. "It provides us with the ability to carry out the Emperor's sacred rituals which protect the people from the ravages of Discord."

Like their special dinner!

"It is the Priests, however, who minister to the people more often than not. As Nuns we serve primarily as silent guardians. As watchful protectors."

They are the hero the Nexus deserves. But not the heroes the Nexus needs.

...or something.

[Rotting Baron]

[Abbey Sanctuary]

"And how does Discord ravage the people?" Hildur asks as she gets up to get a little more food. She's a little slow in this, though, because she's paying more attention to Phoebe and her story.

[Rebonack]

[Abbey Sanctuary]

"By twisting them into servants of its will. If something like Discord can even have a will," Sister Phoebe replies. "It is in disharmony with all things. Including itself. And thus it is unable to form plans or thoughts beyond the sowing of more Discord."

That sounds terrible!

"That monster you saw outside?" Agatha speaks up. "That used to be a bear. But it was possessed by a spirit of Discord."

And that was enough to warp it into a horrible monster.

Yish...

Can see why the rituals are so important...

[Rotting Baron]

[Abbey - Sanctuary]

Hildur shudders as she sits back down. If Discord did that to a bear, she didn't even want to imagine what that might do to her.

She sits back down at her spot, and resumes eating. Soon, she asks, "So, how long ago was this Abbey founded?"

[Murkus]

Originally Posted by Gulaghar

[Harnel's Birthday Party]

Sakura looks after them for a moment then turns to Adir. "Not really. It's still hours after the water breaks before they'll be born. We should still get going there though. I want to see them as soon as I can." The dryad ends with a grin on her face.

It's just a shame her veggie burgers went untouched. Oh no... she's so disappointed. Yes. <.<

"Oh, I know that. But was it so sudden?" Adir turns and walks off toward the cake. He picks it up off the stump, not wanting a perfectly good pastry to go to waste.

Unfortunately, he's not quite done with those finely crafted veggie-patties yet. "Oh, did you wanna take the burgers along?"

Originally Posted by Harnel

[Clinic]

Evan grins, tapping one finger against a horn, "Completely real, made of bone and everything. you may actually be surprised to know that this is quite far from my natural form - picked up a bit of shapechanging during my time as a world hopper."

"Cool, man. World-hopper huh? I see why you and Tina get along." Adam lets go of Evan and starts floating off toward the clinic. "C'mon, I wanna show you some things. We're gonna be open for business soon."

[Shadowcaller]

[Harnel's Birthday Panic]

"Gods... I'm going go panic, this'll never end well! I can't deliver them..." Cessie mutters as they are flying towards the hospital. She doesn't seem very calm at all.

[Harnel]

[Clinic]

"Oh yeah? Sure." Evan will walk behind Adam, wondering what could be important there.

[Gulaghar]

[Harnel's Birthday Party]

"Yeah, it was pretty much like that." Sakura gathers up her stuff and starts transferring Laela to the truck. She pauses when Adir mentions the burgers. "Uh yeah, we can bring them too." She says unconvincingly.