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animemetalhead Runs on Awesomeness from Ashwood Landing, ME Since: Apr, 2010
Runs on Awesomeness
#451: Oct 27th 2011 at 5:37:02 PM

Amaya looked at Asayu, an expression of near-panic on her face. "Oh! I'm so sorry, that wasn't directed at you, it's just... Wow, look at the time, it's getting late. I'll be in our room, okay, Yuki?"

Before Yuki could answer, however, she had already hopped off her stool and left the bar. Instead, Yuki turned to Asayu. "What was that all about? You don't think she... you know?" She felt her face flush, though whether it was from the alcohol or the situation was unclear. "I'm so confused," she said finally, rubbing her temples.

No one believes me when I say angels can turn their panties into guns.
Sonzai Since: Sep, 2010
#452: Oct 27th 2011 at 5:39:57 PM

[Bar]

"Can't say I've met anyone or anything like that before, although here would seem like as good of a place for it as anywhere." Harrison said to Dante, "So, have you met any of these aliens or demigods personally?"


The sun melted below the horizon, now only casting a few rays into the sky, and deepening the changing color. The sky began to darken, as lights flickered on outside the Resort, illuminating the surroundings with an artificial white glow.

In the forest, fireflies began to light up, and dance around the exterior, swarming in fluid forms around the trees and gates.

[ Current Time: Twilight to Dusk ]


[Beach]

Watching the sun finish setting and the area darken, "You are right, it is getting late - would you like to go inside?" P'jwakh said, "But I do hope you find the time to talk to them. I might not talk to my family a lot, but it's valuable time when I do."

"Also, I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the term "low-K" species, would you mind explaining it?"

edited 27th Oct '11 5:43:34 PM by Sonzai

KillerClowns Since: Jan, 2001
#453: Oct 27th 2011 at 5:57:14 PM

[Bar]

Asayu smiled, amused. "I didn't think Amaya meant me. I'm a bit old for her. Still..." she considered Yuki, and advised, "you should really have a talk with her." She leaned back, and added, "when you feel like it. So. This news to you, or are you more surprised you didn't see it before?"

edited 27th Oct '11 5:57:29 PM by KillerClowns

animemetalhead Runs on Awesomeness from Ashwood Landing, ME Since: Apr, 2010
Runs on Awesomeness
#454: Oct 27th 2011 at 6:10:20 PM

"I don't even know what to think right now," Yuki admitted. Her eyes darted back and forth as she wracked her brain, searching for any signs she may have missed. Sure, Amaya had always liked teasing and joking, but none of it had ever seemed serious before.

"I just thought Lena was rubbing off on her," she finally said. She slumped in her chair. "I can't believe I didn't see it. Ever since we were kids. We were always the only people we could count on. I guess it kinda makes sense."

No one believes me when I say angels can turn their panties into guns.
draconiansuperior The Draconic Superior from Home, doing stuff Since: May, 2011
The Draconic Superior
#455: Oct 27th 2011 at 6:16:09 PM

Dante nodded, "Used to work for one. He always appeared as a human Nyarlathotep, then there's the little girl who lives with us Cthylla, then there's her uncle Hastur, and the other uncle Kthanid, and a bunch of other ones, that are really nasty in their true forms, so they always look human to us, but they've got that feel of not being human," Dante scratched her head, "Yeah, my universe might be weird..."

edited 27th Oct '11 6:16:36 PM by draconiansuperior

KyleJacobs from DC - Southern efficiency, Northern charm Since: Mar, 2011 Relationship Status: One True Dodecahedron
#456: Oct 27th 2011 at 6:17:56 PM

Asariel noted the sudden absence of a need for his services, and decided that since his purpose here included spending time among humans, he should go wherever they were most highly concentrated. He found himself at the bar, looking at a very confused man wearing a shower curtain.

"What the hell?" thought Ryan. "Did this guy just... whatever." Thinking for a moment, he said, "Excuse me... sorry about this, but would you happen to have a change of clothes I could borrow?"

Asariel's arms appeared to transform into solid darkness that flowed out of him and formed the shape of Ryan's usual T-shirt, sweater, and jeans, with one key difference: rather than the usual colors Purple sweater, some variety of green t-shirt, blue jeans, they were instead a uniform, very strong black. "Will this do?" asked Asariel.

Ryan was a bit shocked - he hadn't seen anything beyond party tricks on display so far, and given what Asariel had done to make the outfit, Ryan realized that there had to be far more power where that came from. "Thanks, that's perfect," he said. Suddenly, he froze. "Wait a minute... it's a bit too perfect. How did you know my sizes? Hell, how'd you—"

Asariel cut him off. "Would you prefer your old uniform? I have seen enough of you to recall that, as well. It is not an easy thing to kill enough people to merit a place in my memory, Mr. Davidson. You can relax, by the way - aside from the fact that you make my job more difficult, I have no negative feelings towards you. Now, kindly go put those on."

Ryan stared for a moment, his usual grin replaced by something resembling panic, then walked out of the bar as quickly as he could. "What the hell was that guy?" he thought.

Asariel approached the bar and sat down, staring straight ahead while absorbing as much as he could of the goings on around him.

To elaborate - for those who were in the cantina who are wondering where that came from, Ryan has only killed 13 people that were directly involved in or were the cause of his Roaring Rampage of Revenge, but his body count outside of that is well into the hundreds. And no, Asariel is not part of the Remusverse.

edited 27th Oct '11 6:19:18 PM by KyleJacobs

KillerClowns Since: Jan, 2001
#457: Oct 27th 2011 at 6:28:08 PM

[Bar]

Asayu said, with remarkable calm, "well, if I were you, I'd just go upstairs, start up a shower and ask her to join me. But that's just me. I don't even know if you're interested in her at all." She shook her head and said, "besides, you probably shouldn't take relationship advice from a woman who just fucked a guy she only knew for an hour. But, whatever you do, keep in mind you'll have to live with it. Oh. And try not to get too drunk. Like I warned earlier, you might do something I would. So. How are you enjoying your drinks?"

TeraChimera Since: Oct, 2010
#458: Oct 27th 2011 at 6:30:41 PM

[Bar]

"Well," said Vincent to Rachel, "if you want to get technical, I'm a gramaryist; I study magic. But where I come from, magic and science are intertwined to the point that any serious gramaryist is also a scientist.

"Take an 'ordinary' fire." He held up a palm, and a small flame blossomed on it. "I know how that works, what kind of energy it's using, how much it's using, how it's using it, and so on. Changing how much can make the fire bigger or smaller..." It grew and shrank in response to his words. "...while changing how it's being used can alter the color or shape." The flame flitted through the visible spectrum of colors briefly and turned into a small, ill-defined humanoid figure before winking out.

"However, most of the terms used to describe it can't be translated into English, so I can't explain it to you."

edited 27th Oct '11 6:30:55 PM by TeraChimera

KillerClowns Since: Jan, 2001
#459: Oct 27th 2011 at 6:38:54 PM

[Bar]

Rachel said, "and since you seem sane, I'm guessing your magic doesn't involve any many-eyed, many-mouthed manifestations of unthinking hate. It's so weird to think of magic as something science can actually deal with." Then she considered a small, bothersome thing he'd said. "But... well, I'm surprised you say there's no words to describe your sort of magic in English. It's like saying there's no word for 'Koran' or 'Samurai' in English. The language just grows to fill in the gap, by borrowing from others. If the concepts can be understood, they can be translated."

There was a pause, and she said, "yeah... I should explain. My father's a linguist. I don't know the topic as well myself, but a bit of him seems to have rubbed off on me."

edited 27th Oct '11 6:40:06 PM by KillerClowns

animemetalhead Runs on Awesomeness from Ashwood Landing, ME Since: Apr, 2010
Runs on Awesomeness
#460: Oct 27th 2011 at 6:45:19 PM

Yuki snorted, failing to suppress her laugh. "Yeah. That'll go over well." She desperately needed to change the subject before she reached some kind of awkwardness singularity. "Drinks are good. Definitely good. Not sure why I didn't do this before, most taverns in the magical realm don't care how old you are."

Speak of the devil, there was the bartender with another drink. "So tell me," she said. "How does one get to be a person such as yourself?" Holy crap this stuff brings out my vocabulary. "I can't immagine you were simply born this way."

No one believes me when I say angels can turn their panties into guns.
TeraChimera Since: Oct, 2010
#461: Oct 27th 2011 at 6:51:13 PM

[Bar]

Vincent paused. Why hadn't words for magic leaked into English yet? He'd have to look into it. "It's more than simply filling in the gaps," he said. "Humans simply have no baseline for magic. I can go on and on about avrasey all day in Menyic, but I couldn't even start describing it to you. With, say, the Koran, it's the Muslim holy book. Already you can compare it to something else, like the Bible or Talmud or Mahābhārata. You can't do that with magic."

He rubbed his forehead as he searched for a better metaphor. Something clicked in his head, and he said, "Pretend I'm completely blind, and have been since birth. Describe green."

KillerClowns Since: Jan, 2001
#462: Oct 27th 2011 at 7:23:18 PM

Asayu sighed. "Oh, Sulah... where to start. Hmm... at the beginning. My father was one of the finest glassworkers in all of Uel. Our family was famous across the continent for its masterpieces, and he was no exception. Lords dined upon his plates, the jewelery he made of simple glass was worth more than most jewels... and even the Emperor of the mighty Mauros was proud to say he owned goblets made by my family's long tradition." Then, offhandedly, she grumbled, "a pity he didn't buy them from us; they were stolen from an Uelane noble back in the war. But anyways."

"Thing is, where I come from, if you're the first born, you have to be really stupid to not inherit the family business. And my older sister, Malo, was not stupid. She was smart, pretty, successful... everyone loved her... so of course, I was convinced she was the biggest bitch on Alos."

She sipped her tea, sighed, and said, "but she wasn't. Everyone loved her because she really was a nice person. But try telling that to a jealous younger sister." She groaned, angered at the foolish girl she had once been. "Thing was, everybody, everybody who ever looked at a woman with any sort of interest wanted to screw her. Oh, Sulah, the love poems she got from men and women who wanted her. But she was a romantic... and even then, only the men had any chance at all. She was always very kind and considerate, of course, but she wouldn't just throw anyone into a bed."

Another sip of the tea, and when Asayu put the cup down, she was smiling darkly. "And that's the one thing I had over her. I would. I wasn't quite as pretty or as smart as my sister, but that didn't matter. Because for would-be suitors, she was sitting in her workshop, learning the family trade, while I was right there, ready to have a good time. At first, they just imagined they were finally in the embrace of their beloved, distant Malo." A great bitterness shone in her eyes at this, but it soon turned to spiteful triumph. "But after a while it was me, truly me, not my sister, who haunted their dreams. And..." she stopped, regret and sadness showing in her eyes as she contemplated the steam rising from the tea. But no. This was not a part of her life she was quite ready to share with anyone.

She quickly hurried along. "And then I joined the Blades, since inheriting the family business, especially given my appetite, was out of the question. They appreciated my talents... and appetite. Now, let me make it clear: we're courtesans." She supposed this wasn't directly relevant, but she always felt a need to explain. "I've laughed off a lot of questions about what separates us from the usual whores. But we don't just screw our customers on a fancy plush bed and walk off. We'd be real overpriced if we did. We might hang on their arms when they go to a party. Play girlfriend. And we don't just look pretty, either. If someone insults our client, we'll whisper a witty retort in his ear and let him — or her, of course — pretend he was the one to come up with it. We'll sit around with the chatty ones and deliver to his ears any gossip he wants. And we aren't called the blades for nothing, either; we're some of the best damn bodyguards money can buy. You getting the picture?"

Without waiting for a response, she finished, "so. There you have it, all I've got to tell about my life story."

As should be obvious, despite the relative size of her tale, there's a lot Asayu isn't saying. But don't expect to pry anything more out of her here. And she can and will lie outright if pressed about something she'd rather not be honest about.

[Bar]

Rachel considered. "I see your point. But... you said you could study magic. You could say green is... uh... whatever wavelengths of light looks green. It wouldn't carry the same meaning... he'd only think of wavelengths and numbers, not rustling trees and wet grass on a warm summer day. But you could give him a... uh, what're they called? Spectrometer? Yeah, one of those, with an audio readout and he could tell you what was and wasn't green." She knew it wasn't a full answer: explaining what green really 'meant' was impossible. But she'd have thought the words would at least bleed over in the form of technical jargon.

edited 27th Oct '11 7:33:58 PM by KillerClowns

Sonzai Since: Sep, 2010
#463: Oct 27th 2011 at 7:28:39 PM

[Bar]

"I wouldn't know, I've only been in one universe before, this place excepted, of course." Harrison said to Dante, "But that does seem rather unusual - all the aliens I know are pretty obvious at all times - and come to think of it, I don't know any who can change their form or shapeshift."


[Bar]

Noticing the encroaching darkness outside, Ivin had now entered the Bar and was scanning the floor with the same metal-detector-like device from before. It continued to beep softly at regular intervals.

edited 27th Oct '11 7:28:50 PM by Sonzai

draconiansuperior The Draconic Superior from Home, doing stuff Since: May, 2011
The Draconic Superior
#464: Oct 27th 2011 at 7:45:06 PM

Dante shrugged, "They're not shapeshifting often, most of the time they take avatars."

She pulled a glass of water and a pepper shaker toward her, "This represents them," pointing toward the glass, "And this represents their avatar," pointing toward the pepper shaker. "They have to send an avatar to communicate with us Puny Humans, because most of them are trapped," She put a napkin over the glass to emphasize being trapped.

TeraChimera Since: Oct, 2010
#465: Oct 27th 2011 at 7:47:49 PM

[Bar]

"But," said Vincent, "none of that captures the essence of greenery. It can't tell you why green and blue go together, but green and red don't. It can't tell you why some green looks ugly but some looks absolutely beautiful. If you've never seen color, you can't define green in anything other than abstract terms, and so can never really understand it.

"It's like space," he said suddenly. "You know the earth is ninety-three million miles away from the sun, and you know that's a massive distance. But you can't really get how far away it is until you see a comparison. If this is the size of the earth-" He held his claws about a millimeter apart. "-then the sun is about..." He ran a few numbers in his head. "...forty feet away. That's probably a lot bigger than you were expecting."

He sighed. "It doesn't help that around 99.9% of humans don't even need to understand magic. Human scientists do use abstract concepts, but all work with magic is done by chimeras. Kinda like biology: words like panspermia, homeorhesis, apoptosis, and protobiont are technically English, but pretty much useless to anyone who isn't actively studying them."

edited 27th Oct '11 7:49:21 PM by TeraChimera

animemetalhead Runs on Awesomeness from Ashwood Landing, ME Since: Apr, 2010
Runs on Awesomeness
#466: Oct 27th 2011 at 7:55:14 PM

Yuki frowned, torn between sympathy and an emotion she couldn't quite place. "Sounds a lot less made up than my story," she said. "I can't really identify, unfortunately. Amaya's the closest thing I've ever had to a sibling, both my parents are dead, and my grandfather died in my arms because of the bastards that took over the country."

She didn't really want a trip down memory lane, but the seed was there if Asayu really wanted to know. If not... well, there was always the issue of Amaya waiting upstairs.

No one believes me when I say angels can turn their panties into guns.
nrjxll Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Not war
#467: Oct 27th 2011 at 7:58:56 PM

Beach

With the sun gone, the beach began to grow increasingly cold. Qrlil folded her arms into her sleeves.

"You are right," she said to P'jwakh. "I believe it is time to go in."

She ran her fingers over her sleeve, and her robe shimmered briefly as the smartfabric devoured the grains of sand on it. Turning towards the resort, she had walked to the stairs onto the deck when it suddenly struck her that she had left her robes unchanged. She thought for a moment. For the one side, while it wasn't as if they could be seen through completely, they were quite a bit more revealing then what she was used to. But for the other, compared to all the totally unclad humans that seemed to be roaming the grounds, this was positively prudish.

I might as well try it and see if anyone minds.

And who exactly is the 'anyone' you want to 'mind', hmm?

Qrlil tilted her head and sighed at herself. She looked back towards P'jwakh. "Are you coming, Vice Imperator?"

edited 27th Oct '11 7:59:11 PM by nrjxll

KillerClowns Since: Jan, 2001
#468: Oct 27th 2011 at 8:09:45 PM

[Bar]

Rachel briefly drummed her fingers on the table, before saying, "true. I don't pretend I quite get how big the universe is. But English has words to describe those scales." Then, she stopped drumming and said, "but I see what you're getting at. There's no words for it in English because nobody who only speaks English needs to use those words. Who knows? Maybe once humans start studying magic more, they'll steal your words, or find a metaphor that works for, well, a practical, if maybe ugly, understanding." She considered this, before saying, "us humans might not be born understanding the 'feel' of magic... but we aren't born able to read or drive either. We learn. Just give us a few hundred years to catch up."

[Bar]

Asayu grimaced and said, "and here's me whining because I thought my parents didn't love me as much as my sister." After considering for a bit, she decided it would be rude to ask Yuki about her past, given how little she'd said of her own. But then again... "is it one of those stories you'd feel better about after telling me? If not, I completely understand, but you don't have to worry about how I'll take it." With a far away look, she reminisced, "I've been hired by enough people who found the comfort of telling their dark and bitter stories more satisfying than the comfort I actually give them."

edited 27th Oct '11 8:19:30 PM by KillerClowns

Sonzai Since: Sep, 2010
#469: Oct 27th 2011 at 8:19:42 PM

[Bar -> Rooms]

"Hm, I think I see what you mean..." Harrison said to Dante, noticing his drink was now empty, "Now I don't want to sound like a featherweight, but I think I'm going to head out early tonight. It's been a long week, and I could use the rest." He got up, and walked back to his room.


[Beach -> Bar -> Rooms]

"Yes, but I think it might be time for me to head in for the night, actually." P'jwakh said to Qrlil, walking towards the bar and noticing Harrison walking towards the rooms, "I should check in with the rest of my companions and get some rest. It was enjoyable meeting with you and having our discussion. I hope to see you again sometime again."

She then proceeded to walk into the bar, and saw Ivin scanning the floor. "Ivin."

"Yes?" Ivin said, looking up from the device.

"Nevermind, just keep doing whatever you're doing." P'jwakh said, walking out and to her room.

"Okay then!" Ivin said, proceeding to walk into the game room to play some more Galaga.


The final rays of light evaporated, and the sky dimmed to black, as thousands of stars came out and shone down from above.

[ Current Time: Evening (Dark Outside) ]

I'm going to be ridiculously busy tomorrow, and will likely have minimal or no time to post.

edited 27th Oct '11 8:27:48 PM by Sonzai

TeraChimera Since: Oct, 2010
#470: Oct 27th 2011 at 8:31:18 PM

[Bar]

Vincent tilted his head back and forth, thinking. "I won't say it's impossible. In fact, if the theories that magic is simply dark energy are true, then I'd say it's likely that terms get invented. But until then, humans won't be able to truly understand how magic works. That's not a bad thing, it's just the way you are.

"Although some terms exist in English for magic. The most used one is hammerspace: it's where Thor kept Mjolnir, but it's now generally used for referencing things that are bigger on the inside. Like, incidentally, these pockets." Vincent stood up and plunged his arm into his hip pocket almost up to his shoulder. "I brought quite a bit of stuff," he said, pulling things out, "just in case I needed to do any testing." He set a laptop down on the table. "It's unlikely, but I'd rather be safe then sorry." He pulled out an opaque sack about the size of a snack bag, but from that, managed to pull out several items larger than the sack itself. "See?" he said to Rachel.

He began putting the items back in his pockets. "Another one is caloric, which is, simplistically speaking, heat energy. Concentrate enough of it, and you get fire. Of course, the subtleties of it can't be explained in English quite yet, but we're getting there."

As they talked, Kat walked up and sat down at the next table, filming them.

KillerClowns Since: Jan, 2001
#471: Oct 27th 2011 at 8:34:45 PM

[Bar]

Rachel considered this. "Huh." She couldn't help but feel a slight inferiority complex for her species' sake, even though she knew it was petty. But she absolutely had to ask, hoping that Vincent wouldn't be offended. "So... is there anything that works the other way? That us humans take for granted but leaves your head scratching?" Part of her thought it wouldn't be "fair" if that wasn't the case, but... well, life wasn't fair, as she had learned time and time again. Still, there was that twinge of envy, as little as she liked it, that hoped there was some secret humanity could claim as its own.

nrjxll Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Not war
#472: Oct 27th 2011 at 8:47:22 PM

Bar/Lounge

Qrlil stepped back inside and blinked a few times as her eyes adjusted. She took in the patrons, recognizing Vincent and Asayu by name and a few others by their physical traits.

She asked one of the passing maids to bring her a glass of water and stood awkwardly in the entrance. The patrons all seemed to be busy already with conversations of their own.

Hint, hint.

KillerClowns Since: Jan, 2001
#473: Oct 27th 2011 at 8:50:44 PM

[Bar]

Asayu glanced at Qrlil, eying the outline her subtly translucent robe made with interest. And not just her usual perverse curiosity either. She waved at Qrlil, and motioned for her to join herself and Yuki.

Gault Laugh and grow dank! from beyond the kingdom Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: P.S. I love you
Laugh and grow dank!
#474: Oct 27th 2011 at 8:52:57 PM

Jean’s hand came down on the armrest of his chair, hard enough to make a small thump. “The Grey Men aren’t the people who have proven, by their actions, that they can’t be trusted with power! People have! Nations have! Accounting for the faliures of YOUR system was the entire reason the Grey Men were created in the first place- needed to be created in the first place. You would destitute the UN of the power it has used to bring about so much good in the world, and for what? If the Grey Men were accountable, if the ‘people’ had their say, the United Nations would be torn apart by the thousand grasping arms of special interests. Or worse, it would stay intact, its resources and infrastructure hijacked in it’s entirety to serve some national power or corporate oligarchy instead of Humanity as a whole! The exact opposite of what it was created to do! Tell me, who would you trust to hold us accountable? Who could you be sure wouldn’t fall prey to their own desires, twisting the UN and its goals to serve their own ends, hmm?! I can’t name a single government, corporation, NGO or supranational union that wouldn’t- and if there were one, I would know! I have to deal with the lot of them on a daily basis! I'm sorry, it's simply the nature of realpolitik, and until we transcend it, which CAN’T be done without the Grey Men’s help, no one can be trusted more than the Grey Men to do the right thing. What you propose would leave the UN open to the machinations of people with FAR less benevolent agendas than us!"


Wesley polished off his latest beer, noticing it was pretty late. Saliha and Xavier were gone. Asayu had returned to the bar and was speaking with someone else. Perhaps he'd stick around for a while.

edited 27th Oct '11 9:00:25 PM by Gault

yey
nrjxll Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Not war
#475: Oct 27th 2011 at 9:00:05 PM

Bar

Qrlil took the glass of water and looked around. Seeing Asayu motioning a hand at her, she quickly moved over and seated herself gratefully.

She took a sip and studied the other human female at the table, who she recognized from the hot spring earlier. She took a surreptitious sniff - the girl had the coppery tinge of slight intoxication. Her head bobbed a little as she tried to come up with a conversation topic.

"Er," she finally began, glancing at the unknown human, "I am Qrlil. And your name is?"


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