Town-Shops

Service workers are used to all manner of strange customers, but being accosted by a plague doctor and a corvid was probably a new one.

"I told you ma'am, we don't take these, you have to use one of these currencies." they repeated pointing at a display slowly cycling monetary units in a variety of languages.

"I was told these are taken anywhere in the empire!" a muffled but decidedly feminine voice issued back. The beak shaped mask and long greyish-green cloak looked strange next to clean economy shelving and the various products held upon them. A bulge on her back indicated where something bulky like a backpack may lay under the robes.

"And why did you bring that filthy thing in here?" the clerk asked pointing. The corvid in question was content to sit placidly on the doctor's shoulder, occasionally snapping it's head about as noise or movement piqued its interest. Only it's larger size and two extra secondary eyes behind it's primary ones suggested its eldritch origins. At the clerk's accusation, it gave it's best indignant look and cawed loudly.

"She's a valuable test subject!" The plague doctor answered and indicated a small basket of herbs and some jars of less pleasant substances with a gloved hand. "You are holding back progress and I was told this town needed it, now I see why!"

"Ma'am, if you aren't going to buy anything I'm going to have to ask you to leave." the clerk said.

"Mediocrity, always mediocrity." the doctor spat and turned to leave; a string of guttural sounding syllables following.

"Ma'am, please don't swear in our store?" the clerk said, voice trailing off as they tried to identify the language. The doctor responded with a scornful laugh and limped out of the door. The raven hissed as it's farewell; a strange undulating tone that sounded as if it had multiple harmonics in its composition.

"Fools." The doctor muttered, mostly to herself, she turned to look at the raven and sighed. "I suppose we must found a party or procure some local currency."

edited 25th Feb '18 10:29:23 AM by Slysheen

The Scar - Approaching the Town (Jann, Varg)

At the edge of the forest, some distance away from the slanted wall of the enormous trench bisecting the landscape, stood a man known as Jann of Grimmsford, observing the town on the other side through a brass-plated spyglass.

He appeared to be in his early thirties or so, somewhat skinny with soft facial features, thick brown locks of hair, a large but neatly trimmed mustache, and the fair but lightly tanned skin and dull yellow eyes typically associated with someone from the central League.

At the moment, he was dressed in a simple but well-made brown longcoat, with a much fancier green waistcoat, dress shirt and cravat combo underneath. He also wore a thick leather belt full of various pouches and haphazardly attached trinkets, as well as a large satchel on his back and a gun - similar in shape to an old flintlock, but with a revolver drum attached - at his right hip.

"Ah, finally some people," Jann mumbled to himself as he lowered the spyglass. He turned around. "How's it going with the... thing?"

A few steps closer to the trees, Varg was busy hacking away at the remains of an ape-like beast with her large cleaver-like sword. She was a haugr, easily a head or so taller than Jann, very muscular with rough, angled features, gray skin with an almost stone-like texture, pointed ears and piercing red eyes, and somewhat messy dark hair in the shape of a sidecut.

She was dressed in an expensive looking but heavily worn black tailcoat with plenty of stitches and patches, a light chain-mail shirt and metal bracers, simple pants - with a long, arrow-tipped tail poking out at the rear - and heavy leather boots. A huge, quad-barreled shotgun was strapped to her back.

"Almost done," she responded with her deep voice, as the creature's head finally came free from it's neck. "You still sure this is a good idea? Depths, for all we know the locals might worship these things."

Jann sighed. "You need to cheer up," he said, tucking the spyglass into his belt. "Soon you'll say that the town over there is full of evil snake monsters or something..."

Varg glared at him. "Don't be silly."

edited 25th Feb '18 12:45:06 PM by Corvidae

Town Square

This town, a shining beacon of hope and a symbol of a new start after a disastrous cataclysm. The clean aesthetics of its buildings contrasted hardly with the large, ramshackle wagon stationed at the square, next to the park. It was a double-decker, and it was obvious it had seen years on the road. The animals supposed to pull it, two beetles the size of a rhino, one a red stag beetle and the other a green rhinoceros beetle, grazed without a care nearby on the park's grass. One crooked figure was next to the wagon, behind a table littered with varied objects.

"Feast your eyes and your spirit! From lands far away I bring you the best you can ask for a comfortable life." The figure advertised the assorted collection of trinkets, charms, and bottles of different stuff, to whoever passed the streets. It was an old woman clad in long sleeved dark blue robes and a shawl on her shoulders a lighter shade of blue, although she was not exactly human. Her hands resembled bird talons, with two fingers and a thumb, and her forearms were covered in dull grey feathers that extended downwards, giving the arms a slight resemblance to wings. Her head also had grey feathers, making it look like she had long straight hair, although her hairline (or feather-line?) had receded back to near her pointy ears. Her face, wrinkled through age, bore an aquiline nose and a pair of inquisitive eyes, and a devious smile void of a few teeth. Her neck also seemed a few inches longer than it would be in a normal human. All in all, she had the look of a witch, if witches also looked like vultures.

"How about a good luck charm for the gentleman in his first day of work? An ointment for that back pain! Or a dream catcher to get rid of those pesky nightmares!" Chitara had set up shop early, and been trying to sell her stuff nearly all morning, but until now it was met with failure. The few people that walked around barely paid attention to her, probably thinking of her as a scammer or someone you should stay away from. This frustrated her to no end.

The only thing that frustrated her more was her current company. Sitting on the steps of the wagon, was another member of her species. He was much younger than Chitara, and the purple red-tipped feathers on his arms and head, giving the appearance of short slicked back hair, had a luster that Chitara's own had lost many years ago. He wore a sleeveless dark purple robe, with slits all the way down the length of the legs on both sides. This gave his legs, with short feathers covering the thighs, and ending in thing bird-like talons, with three fingers on the front and two on the back, ample freedom to move. He was playing a happy tune in a harp, with both hands and one foot, trying to sing a long a song about some long-forgotten story, but he was off tune and missed some notes trying to keep up.

Finally, Chitara had enough. Giving out a frustrated sigh, she turned to her companion. "Would you cut it out already? Your incessant squawking is driving away the customers."

The minstrel stopped playing, and turned to the old woman. "My squawking? It's not my fault no one likes your useless duds."

"Useless?" Chitara retorted in a disbelieveing tone. “I'm not the one that can't play a kids' song worth a damn here, Naiolo."

"Hey, it's harder than you think!" Naiolo justified himself. "All you do is sit there trying to sell those ugly things and potions of I'm not sure what they are made of."

"Well, at least I'm the moneymaker here. I don't remember you being paid to play something. In fact, I'm pretty sure someone once paid you so you would stop playing."

"You take that back, you old hag!" Naiolo let go of the harp and walked angrily at Chitara.

Chitara gave him a sarcastic laugh. "Or what? You'll leave me deaf?" She raised both hands in front of her, intending to fight. "Come on, give me the pleasure! I'll give you another spanking!"

Naiolo walked up to Chitara, but just gave out a frustrated sigh, dropping any sign of threat on his body. Chitara took the chance and slapped him on the head. "Alright! That's it!"

It must have been quite a sight: a young man-bird tussling with an old woman, both slapping each other whenever they had the chance. A minute later, they let go of the other. Chitara, heaving, sat down on the stone floor. "Alright, alright. You got me."

Naiolo sat down next to her, all traces of anger gone. "So, what do we do? Should we skip town?"

"Nah. Give it time. It's still early." Chitara looked over her shoulder, abck at the park. There seemed to be a group of people gathered around the bulletin board. "Any idea about that?"

Naiolo looked at what Chitara was looking. "Oh, it looks like there's more people visiting."

Chitara smiled. "Well, with some luck, we can get some money from them."

Naiolo couldn't help but roll his eyes. "So you plan to scam them."

The old hag snorted. "Please, Naiolo. I can't believe you still think I just sell duds."

(Hotel- Saen, Nycene)

"Warm daysss to you, Nycene. I am Saen." The lamia flicked her hood open and closed, her equivalent of a friendly greeting. "It isss niccce to sssee another of my own speciesss, though in my experience, only males refer to themselves as naga." She extended a smooth-fleshed hand in response to the other snakewoman, and when Nyceme took it, she'd feel a slight brush against her mind. That was another thing about her gift, it was far more sensitive with touch. "My apologies, I forget myssself sssometimesss."

Town: Square - Notice Board

Kris smiled when Leone qualified her origin with "an Earth" in recognition of the possibility that it was not the same Earth as hers and James' or Gwion's. 1924 - that put Leone around Pearl's era, but there were bound to be differences so it wasn't safe to make assumptions about her world based on that.

Gwion couldn't resist asking "what fashion sense?" - not just only on his own behalf, but that of the rest of his companions.

James nodded when Leone directed her final comment to Kris and him. "We've learned to not worry about the hows, whys and wherefores and focus on the 'what do we do in the here-and-now?' It gets a lot more done that way."

Although they were talking with Leone, Kris, James and Gwion were well aware of the arrival of a pair of young women, no older than their late teens but clearly older than Leone, with astoundingly patterned hair and vaguely militaristic clothing - one of whom carried a rifle.

They were drinking coffee and behaving casually enough not to trigger any alarms or heightened awareness conditions and it was clear that their only intent was to look at the items on the noticeboard.

As they got closer, their unusual eye colours became apparent and were noted as distinguishing characteristics. Gwion wondered if the strange snow-flake eyes were prostheses like his own and wished Sophia or Kaitlyn were here - a quick inquiring glance in either's direction would be understood and get a subtle shake or nod depending on what their thermal imaging revealed.

The one who had orange-and-black hair and carried a bolt-action rifle spoke with a cultured British accent and expressed interest in the legendary musket mentioned in one of the notices.

Kris was briefly distracted by the sight of Adam and Maya approaching and so had no advance warning or chance move out of the way when the shorter, purple-haired, one of the two young women bumped into her.

The woman was instantly apologetic and very pleasant in demeanour. She introduced herself and described the taller one as her 'little sister' - from the fact that both appeared to be very close to the same age, there can't have been much more than a year between them if they weren't actually sororal twins.

Kris smiled pleasantly in return and introduced herself, James and Gwion; forbearing to introduce Leone as that was the teen's right and privilege to do so if she so decided.

James noted with interest, when Adam and Maya arrived and started perusing the notices, that Adam could understand Maya's sign language as he responded to whatever it was she had said.

Town: Parking area between the square and the hotel

Teri couldn't help but grin. Still the same Not-Chaos-Hunters, squabbling incessantly. She looked at Nick and Jackson. " 'ere, will you two stop bloody flirtin'."

Before anything much more could be said - not even a brief 'see ya' to Adam and Maya as they wandered off - there was a bright flash and loud boom that announced the arrival of, of all things, an old VW beetle.

Sophia tracked the car as it parked up, ready to react if the occupants turned out to be hostile. Consequently she saw, and instantly recognised, the man who got out of it. She shook her head in disbelief.

The others had also turned and looked when the car literally exploded into being. When Wolfe saw who got out, he chuckled. "I don't fuckin' believe it." Teri, Karl, Peggy, Pearl and Aubrey all looked to see what he was talking about.

Karl demonstrated his mastery of English idiom by saying, "bugger me! It's the bloke we met in Capital City."

This was news to Sophia, who hadn't realised that the Mad Bastards were acquainted with him. "He was in the Frontier, too - at the water tower."

After talking into his phone, Henry approached and introduced himself, announcing that he believed he had met some of them.

Sophia nodded, unsurprised that he had recognised her - after all, aside from the black hat and the G36C slung over her shoulder, she was dressed and styled pretty much identically to when he last saw her at the fort. "Yes, we've met, and you probably remember Kaitlyn and Finn as well - they helped with tidying up after our little adventure at the fort."

Teri nodded. "An' my friends 'n' I met you in the book store in Capital City - 'bout eighteen or so munfs ago... our time, anyway." She introduced Peggy, Pearl and Aubrey as it was unlikely he had met any of them.

Wolfe pointed towards the noticeboard. "James, Kris and Gwion are also here. What brings you here? Still trying to find your way home?"

edited 26th Feb '18 9:29:27 AM by Wolf1066

Town Square ~ Solstice Cafe (Carol; Cormack)

Carol raised an eyebrow, "Notice? Nah, I was just interested in why a kid like you would be carryin' around so many weapons," she said in her rather gruff-sounding voice, leaning her chin on one arm, "Anyway, I am in the king's army, just not your king's army. Name's Carol Hunter, and I'm with the Royal Milit'ry o'the Isles o'Cadia." She frowned, "Oh, and I'm only a quarter dark elf, by the way— not that it really matters; I got accepted into the military after I introduced the recruiter t'one o'me favorite words: defenestration."

She leaned in to get a closer look at Cormack's pendant, "So, uh, a sprite..." She vaguely recalled someone mentioning that sprites were either a type of fae or a type of explosive, though she wasn't quite sure which. Carol briefly scratched the bottom of her ear before asking, "are they like fluffs?"

Casually tilting her head back, Carol glared at the waitress, "I'll take a beer. If you don't have any," she said, taking a moment to grumble something about flowers before continuing, "I'll take a cup of black coffee."

Town-Parking area between the Square and Hotel (Henry)

As the group responded to him the memories of those events came back to Henry.

He laughed. “I thought y’all looked familiar.”

He looked at Sophia. “I’m sorry for bailing on you all those years ago. I didn’t have the technology to control my dimensional travel as well back then, and by the time I could it was eight years later.”

He then looked at the others. “Only eighteen months for you?” He started to laugh more. “Goddamn it’s almost been thirty five years for me! A lot has changed since then for me.”

After laughing a bit he looked over to the other group of people by the board. “What do we have here?” He looked back at Sophia and her group. “What’s on that board?”

[Parking Lot]

Before anyone could respond to Teri, there was yet another light; this time with the arrival of a...car? And once again, it was a familiar face; Henry. The guy who almost shot Howell.

"...Yeah it was better when we arrived." Nick said, chuckling. "Heya, Hen."

"You're not shooting lizard kids now, are you?" Marie asked, her face stern and her arms crossed, "Don't think I forgot what you almost did back in the city."

Amy gasped. "That's not nice! Shooting young people is not how we make friends!" She glared at Henry, "Don't be mean!"

Jackson then noticed Maya and Adam walking back from the notice board, blinking. "So? What'd ya find? Anything good?"

Well...we can find some elf kid that can lead us to a weapon. Maya signed, That is...if any of you are interested. she looked at Henry, Who's this dude?

Town: Parking area between the square and the hotel

When Henry said that it had been almost thirty five years for him, Sophia looked at his youthful appearance afresh and wondered if he used a similar nanobot cocktail to the one that kept Gwion's appearance in stasis. She nodded acknowledgement and acceptance of his apology. " 's OK. We left the fort not long after you did 'n' then got caught up in a hunt for an abducted man th'next day."

Teri stared. A lot has changed since then... "I'll say! Looks like y'discovered the fountainayoof, for a start."

Wolfe laughed. "Yeah. Gotta say the last thirty-odd years've b'n a lot kinder t'you th'n the last eighteen months've b'n t'me." He looked over at the notice board. "It's a cross b'tween one-a the odd-job boards at th'supermarket 'n' general notice board - covered in employment opportunities 'n' warnings about frumious bandersnatchii, jub-jub birds 'n' the killer rabbit of Caerbannog... trés 'Dungeons 'n' Dragons'."

Sophia, who had yet to see what was on the board, gave Wolfe a curt nod of thanks. What Marie said about Henry almost shooting a "lizard kid" in "the city" - by which Sophia presumed she meant Capital City - caused Sophia to recall the incident at the water tower when Henry killed three unarmed former prisoners who had been making a bid for freedom and could have easily been subdued without resorting to lethal force.

Amy's shocked response, that took the word 'understatement' places it shouldn't have to go, brought a smile to Sophia's face. "Yeah, Quick-draw, it ain't 'nice'."

Wolfe well remembered the incident in Capital City - Howell had behaved in a smart-arsed manner that got Kris angry and Henry had been concerned that it would escalate to the point where firepower would be needed. Wolfe fervently hoped that the young American had gained some restraint in the intervening 35 years. Before he could ask, Maya and Adam returned from the noticeboard and mentioned the 'Legendary Musket'.

Teri turned to the Not-Chaos-Hunters once Amy finished translating. "Depends on where it is - we've got a group of places we wanna explore, so if it's in or near one-a those, we could be interested."

edited 26th Feb '18 11:24:46 AM by Wolf1066

Town Square ~ Notice Board (Diantha, Lily; Leone; Gwion, Kris, James)

Diantha noticed the inquisitive stare they were getting from Leone. She pointed to her eyes, "Wondering about this? We got it from our mum."

Lily nudged her slightly, whispering, "No, I think she means our eye, not out eyes. You know, the one we inherited from our dad?" She turned to the others, "We inherited our mother's heterochromia, and we inherited the snowflake shaped iris from our father, who's a miri," she explained, before sighing softly, "Better to explain it now than to awkwardly stare at someone for an hour," she said, briefly glancing over to where her sister had dragged Carol off to.

Her attention was brought back by Diantha's less gentle nudge, "Hey, sis," the shorter sibling said quietly, "Oz is telling me some of these folks don't have an aether resonance, which might mean they're otherworlders, like Moobly and Nora"

Lily raised an inquisitive eyebrow, "I caught that from when she mentioned she was from "Earth"," she said with a bemused frown, before pointing out a flaw in her sister's statement, "You do realize Moobly can use aether, right?"

Diantha palmed her face before continuing, "What I mean is that they might not know what a miri is..." At this point, Diantha briefly addressed the others, "Miri are, uh, snow people."

It was Lily's turn to facepalm before turning her attention towards Gwion, more specifically, his trousers. "See, I keep suggesting that R&D should take a page from Moobly's book. Instead, they tell me to go back to tinkering with my toys, like I don't know what I'm talking about. At least someone has the right idea," she mentioned, earning a shrug from her sister. "How many times have you managed to accidentally bump into her?" Diantha quickly frowned before glancing away.

Town-Parking area between the Square and Hotel (Henry)

Henry laughed. "Well it helps when you don't age in the first place and then get aged backwards by about ten to fifteen years back in '90."

As he wa trying to catch up with the group another came over towards them and they looked angry with him.

Henry saw the hostility he was getting due to his past actions and knew he deserved all of it as the memories from that time came back to him.

He looked at Marie and spoke in complete sincerity. "Don't worry I remember what happened and I'm sorry. That was a really bad time in my life from being on the run at all times back then, and being on a combination of morphine, LSD, heroin, and a lot alcohol. I acted completely out of line there and if you want to hate me for that then you're more than welcome to hate me. I'm a politician I'm used to it."

[Town, Restaurant - Vrask, Koyel, Layi, Sindar]

Layi responded with a curt nod and said, "yep. Family business. Learned from my father. Teachin' it to my son. He'll teach it to his kid..." she gave Koyel a fond slap on the back, "if'n he ever settles down."

Koyel gave a wry half-glare at Layi, as one does at embarrassing parents who intermittently forget their children are adults. "I just ain't found the right person yet," he muttered. Then, aloud, he said, "aye. Mostly back home it's sneaking up on rock lizards and deer. Venison, lizardmeat, leather." It didn't occur to him that Vrask might have something negative to say about lizard meat. Or perhaps not. Rock lizards weren't any more like him than pigs were like people. "Tough work, but it keeps us fed. Ma Etasa makes a mean rock lizard stew anyhow, and a damn fine venison jerky." He paused, then absentmindedly added to himself, "shame them boars put up so much of a fight. Can't blame a critter for not wanting to go on the grill, I s'pose."

Then Koyel returned to Sindar and said, "damndest thing, nobody knows for sure, just rumors. The name I got was on this side of the portal, apparently they've sent folks over, and people recognized this." He lowered his voice and showed a patch pulled off a uniform — a spring green hummingbird silhouette on white. "Nobody wants to talk about 'em, though. Real creepy. Same back home; if anyone knows anything, they keep their mouths shut." He looked around and said, more quietly, "Priestess I talked to back home whose cousin's boyfriend's mother once bought corn from a woman who spoke to a Terran says they're robots, y'know, like in those radio serials. Robots who wear human skin like masks."

He suddenly remembered something very importand and added, "ain't liable to meet 'em if I keep my head down, though, so ain't to worry about. So let's just forget it." This last part was a bit too urgent; he'd remembered that evil spirits were attracted to talk about them. Maybe robots from another world worked the same. "So, whaddya mean by 'Fairy King of the Underworld', and what's that gotta do with hunting?" Was he one of the spirits, perhaps? Surely not. Or maybe. He'd never met a spirit so simply before. "I'm guessin' your kingdom's more an honorary title? If'n not," and here his tone was mostly playful, but with an undertone of deadly seriousness, "well, don't be expecting any kneeling outta us. Uelane don't kneel 'fore any but Uelane." At this last sentence Layi, who had been observing quietly, gave a sharp nod of agreement.

edited 26th Feb '18 6:27:15 PM by KillerClowns

[Town Square — Chitara's Wagon (Chitara, Naiolo, Alice)]

A small, pale woman with neck-length black hair and expressive brown eyes approached the wagon. Her age was hard to place; something about her demeanor, her gait, her posture, was oddly childish, yet she otherwise seemed to be (and was) in her mid-forties. She dressed simply in a loose, ankle-length black skirt, white leggings, black flats, and a white blouse, and greeted Chitara with an agreeable smile and a slight curtsy.

She showed no surprise at Chitara's appearance, and asked no rude questions about it. Instead she said, "morning, ma'am." She skimmed it with her eyes and then said, "I'm looking for a good luck charm for... a friend of mine." With an apologetic sort of shrug she added, "see, these sorts of things tend to, uh, react oddly around me. Jinxed, I guess." She gave a but what can I do about it? wave of her hand, then continued, "anyways, a few questions before I buy." A slight grin played at her lips as she said this. "How do they work? Not asking for trade secrets, naturally, just need to know a few basic details. Luck's a slippery word, slippery thing. So do your good luck charms take the wearer's intentions and definitions of 'luck' properly into account? Consider the long-term effects of short-term fortune? Y'know, envy, ennui, stuff like that?" She was already at her wallet — a sincere potential customer, not one just looking to chat.

If Chitara and Naiolo had any items capable of detecting evil, they'd be reacting quite clearly to the sweetly smiling, unassuming woman's presence.

edited 27th Feb '18 8:55:02 PM by KillerClowns

[Parking Lot]

Well that explained a lot.

He did seem genuine in his apology—plus it has been a while since it happened and no doubt he's changed by now—so Marie's look softened. "Alright; I'll give you another chance."

"The elf could be somewhere in this place." Adam said, looking around, "Which reminds me...we should really check into that hotel. I know we might not have enough, but we still need to recover from our fight." he rubbed his neck, "My whole body is still sore."

"Yeah, and falling from the sky didn't help." Nick said, "But why are we looking for an elf and a weapon?"

He could tell us about a musket somewhere north in a place called Warpfields. Maya signed, Could help us...though I'm also hoping he gives us some damn money.

"Holy shit, a musket? That's badass! I'm so down for that!"

"Me too!" Amy said cheerfully, "Yay! We can go exploring again!"

Jackson raised a hand. "Yeah, that's all fine and good, but like Adam said, we should get ourselves into better shape. I don't think in our current condition we would be good enough to go weapon hunting, don't you think?"

edited 26th Feb '18 8:01:10 PM by Masterofchaos

[Town, Resturant - Vrask, Koyel, Layi, Sindar]

Vrask nodded, "You should listen to your mother. Settle down, and stick to hunting. It's an honorable path and you'd be better off."

They turned to Layi, "My kid ended up hooking up with a human and becoming an adventurer," the 'adventurer' part was clearly said with venom in their voice, "There's honor in killing a beast with a fight within you, but there's nothing worthwhile about dying in the city because someone stabs you in an alley."

Vrask gave a sigh, "Listen," they said, addressing both Koyel and Layi, "I can't sit around forever. I'm gonna try and find a job to do something out in the wilderness. Since you're both clearly skilled hunters, a hunting companion or two would be appreciated."

Vrask then looked at Sindar, "I also extend that offer to you."

Town: Parking area between the square and the hotel

Wolfe stared at Henry in surprise. The revelation that Henry not only didn't usually age, but had somehow been 'aged backwards' at one point was a bit of a shocker, but certainly explained his appearance.

The cocktail of drugs and alcohol that Henry used to explain his behaviour in the pub was also quite a surprise - Wolfe hadn't suspected in the least and rather doubted that any of the others had, either.

Those revelations were surprising enough, but politician? Wolfe gave a grin. "A politician, eh? Well there goes th'neighbourhood. Though kinda handy for cover if we get in a firefight."

Teri chuckled. Given that one of their closest friends, Sir Archibald, was heavily involved with the Council that ruled Terra Nova's 'New England' colony, she knew Wolfe was only joking - but you had to make jokes at the expense of politicians... especially if there weren't any lawyers around.

She, too, was shocked to learn of Henry's state at the time of their last meeting.

Aubrey smiled. The presence of a politician would mean fewer jokes at his expense for being a banker.

In England of his time, morphine and other opium derivatives were commonly available, as they still were on Terra Nova, and Aubrey saw little problem with their use - aside from the tendency of some of the lower-ranked members of society to over-imbibe. The name heroin sounded familiar, but he had never heard of 'LSD' - in context, it was most likely another recreational drug. Alcohol, in his opinion, was also fine if not taken to excess.

Finn stared at Henry, astounded by his candid admission of the drugs he had used. "Sure I'm surprised y'remember anyt'ing at all after that lot." As a gang member in late twenty-first century Hamilton, he was no stranger to the idea of drugs - far worse things than heroin and cocaine were used on the streets - but the Warrior Rockers of Cú Chulainn had always been more partial to the abuse of alcohol than other drugs. Unlike many gangs, they didn't deal in anything, banding together for mutual strength, companionship and good times rather than as an illegal 'business concern'.

Sophia looked askance at Henry. "I'm guessing by what you've said that you're sober now 'n' intend to stay that way, but I've gotta know - as one who was in the line of fire - were you using at the time we met you?"

Peggy found the entire exchange between Marie, Henry and the others quite confusing. It obviously referenced parts of their shared history and sounded as if it had been rather unpleasant. Thankfully, Henry sounded quite sincere in his apology and willing to admit that he had fucked up and Marie seemed satisfied.

Wolfe shook his head when Amy translated for Maya. "Sadly, the Warpfields aren't one-a the places on our Tour Schedule. We're planning on going to the wasteland - which is near the Warpfields accordin' t'th'map on th'notice board - forest, ghost town 'n' the Necropolis." He turned to Adam. "If you're headin' to the hotel, I'll come with you - we need t'check in, too." He fully agreed with Adam and Jackson; the 'Not-Chaos-Hunters' looked in pretty rough shape and probably should at least tend to their injuries before hieing off to the Warpfields after some musket.

edited 26th Feb '18 8:59:38 PM by Wolf1066

Restaurant (Koyel, Layi, Vrask, Sindar)

As Sindar listened to the mother and son talk about their hunting and cooking practices and the lizard man welcome them as fellow hunters, he could help but feel out of place among them. Half of what Koyel said, especially, flew right over his mushroom head, specifically the stuff about a portal and about robots.

"Robots?" he asked, cocking his head to the side. "Never heard of them. Are they a rival people who hunt humans?" Needless to day, mechanically powered automata did not exist where he was from. There were automata, but they were rare, and powered by magic.

At the same time, though, he listened intently to what he had to say about hunting, recalling how elven hunters would venture into the woods above his "kingdom" and leave behind carcasses after taking what they wanted from their prey. And how he would scare them off when they overhunted, or when foreign peoples chopped down too many trees.

"It's the Underwood, not the Underworld," he added dryly; people had made that mistake a few times too many back in Crownen. "I have no power over spirits. Don't you have fairies where you are from? Guardians of nature? Often mistaken for spirits ourselves? Anyway, most fairy kingdoms are what people might consider honorable, but mine, sadly, is not. Each fairy has a domain, you see, and their appearance reflects it. The seaweed-bearing ocean nymphs, they are revered by fishermen, as they lure fish ashore. The lantern fairies give guidance to those lost at night. For that reason they can get away with the trickery we're so infamous for.

"My domain, on the other hand, is death and decay—I represent that which returns to the earth. I presume you hunters know that you do not take everything from the animals you hunt - you might take the meat, the pelt, perhaps a bone here and there or the rare organ, and then you just leave the rest to rot, right? Well, guess who takes in the carcasses and looks after them as they decompose, and aids them in the process. Needless to say, those who handle the bodies of the dead are not held in much regard, and Maia help them if they happen to be capable of using magic."

He sighed, and looked over to Vrask. "I can see what you mean about dying unceremoniously in a losing fight; I lament the many elves I've seen killed by a wolf they were trying to hunt, for instance. I take them in too. But let's face it - death happens. Happens as often as shit, no matter where you are." He uttered a small giggle; "shit" was a new word he had heard a group of sailors in a tavern say. "I wouldn't call that a reason to not go exploring - don't you technically do that when hunting? Regardless though, I'm up for joining you on some exploring. Maybe I could show you what I mean regarding the work I do, and you three can show and compare your hunting skills as well."

However, there was some hesitation in his voice. There was one place in particular, a place that almost seemed to call to him when he glanced at a note about it on the bulletin board. It did not seem like a place for hunters, but a map of the region did show it as adjacent to a forest and a river, where there were plenty of hunting opportunities.

Whoops, I'm out of time... will have to get to Cormack and Nyceme later.

[Restaurant (Koyel, Layi, Vrask, Sindar)]

Koyel looked blankly at Sindar; his explanation simply didn't fit into the Xayusa worldview. He slowly pieced together his theological knowledge; a bit tricky, given it came from a lackadaisical rural priestess supplemented by radio sermons. Very slowly he said, "I ain't sure we understand one another. I still ain't seeing any difference between a spirit and a 'fairy'." (The last world went untranslated when Koyel heard it, simply because "spirit" and "fairy" both otherwise translated into Uelane as a single world, "esini", and that would have just been more confusing.) "You tell me what you are, but still sounds like a spirit to me. A nature spirit, naturally, not an ancestor spirit, but cousins." He licked his lips, trying to figure it out, then sighed. This was all beyond him. "I dunno. I give up. Y'are what y'are."

It was Layi who commented next. "Don't know what hunters you've seen, but my people," there was more than a hint of pride here, "don't let anything go to waste if we can help it... anyone who's ever tasted what my wife can do with a rock lizard's kidneys will understand why." She grinned. "If eating it won't kill us, we'll find a way to eat it." Then she considered, and added, "not much of us rots either; we burn our dead. Helps the spirit let go. We don't leave you folk much work, I s'pose."

Then she turned to Vrask and said, "Right, Vrask. You look capable. We been thinking of taking on bigger game for bigger coin." She waited for Koyel to nod in agreement, then continued, "thinking of grabbing one of them bounties?"

Town - Bulletin Board (Leone, Gwion, Kris, James, Diantha, Lily)

"So I see," Leone said simply in response to the two sisters, "Pardon my rudeness. I thought it might had been...." She trailed off, then shook her head. "...something else."

She left it there as she turned back to Gwion. "I meant in the sense that clothing of your style isn't something I'm used to. Though I suppose not having a fashion sense in general could explain things further."

Town: Square - Notice Board

Gwion quickly gathered from Lily's explanation that the heterochromia was natural rather than the result of replacement surgery but then the explanation started to branch off into territories beyond his ken. 'Ether resonance' made little sense, so he presumed it had nothing to do with a volatile liquid that used to be used as a solvent and anaesthetic or the related family of chemicals he vaguely remembered from High School Organic Chemistry some three-score years in his past. Which was a pity, as 'using ether' would have then made sense.

The only other reference to 'ether' he could recall was what Nana had briefly said in the Moonshine bar aboard the Carpe Noctem about 'ether cores' causing automatons to develop self-awareness. It had seemed to be something peculiar to her world and now 'some of them' not having 'ether resonance' was being cited as evidence that they may be 'otherworlders'... although 'some otherworlders - such as the mysterious 'Moobly - could'' use it.

The explanation that their father was some sort of 'snow person' was not a lot of use without some sort of context or common frame of reference.

For James, 'ether' or 'aether' meant the elemental essence of the universe - a scientific concept current in his own time that, according to Wolfe, had been thoroughly discredited in later years and replaced with other - even more fantastic, by James' reckoning - explanations for the propagation of light and gravity.

'Heterochromia' was a word James had never heard before but self-explanatory in context. 'Miri' was completely alien but fortunately Diantha provided an explanation - albeit a strange one. Whether she meant 'people who live in the snow', 'people made of snow' or 'people who had characteristics that were reminiscent of snow', he had no idea, though the last seemed most likely.

Kris nodded to Lily and Diantha. "No doubt we are, from your standpoint, 'otherworlders'. We have never heard of 'ether resonance' or miris."

Gwion grinned and laughed at Leone's comment about not having any fashion sense explaining things further. "It also has the advantage that you never have to worry whether or not your outfit is out of date. I'm from the late twenty-first century and my companions are from the Land That Time Forgot - James, here, seems to be intent on wearing the closest fairly modern equivalents to eighteenth century fashion and Kris doesn't seem to mind what she wears as long as some shade of purple is involved. I suppose that it would look odd to someone from the nineteen-twenties."

James was astounded at Gwion's assessment of his clothing as he had, indeed, chosen clothes that approximated the breeches, weskit and frock coat of his era.

Kris took the dig at her clothing and colour choices with a good-natured smile.

edited 28th Feb '18 1:45:25 AM by Wolf1066

Town-Parking Lot/Henry

Henry looked at the others it wasn't that hard for him to admit to this, he's done it many times on the campaign trail over the years.

He smiled at Marie. "Thank you for the benefit of the doubt. I promise that I'm a different person."

After hearing Wolfe he laughed at him. "Go a head with all the politician jokes. I've heard them all. I've been an independent State Senator in the state of Oregon since 2002."

He chuckled at what Finn said about remembering things. "You don't know the half of it. There's a gap from 1970 to late 1974 where my memories are a bit fuzzy."

Sophia then voiced her concerns and Henry knew she was right. "Again I do apologize for my actions then. At that time I was doing cocaine, but haven't done that since 1979. The only thing I'm taking beyond coffee and the occasional drink is medical marijuana that I take due to ptsd and headaches I get because of how fast my mind functions since my brain waves got scrambled in 1988."

Once he was done getting everything off his chest, something that he's gotten good at since he was pardoned a few years ago, he looked the hotel and nodded to the idea of checking in. "I think it would be a good idea to setup a base of operation here. I need to investigate this area for what I need."

[Town, Restaurant - Vrask, Layi, Koyel, Sindar]

Vrask gave a hearty chuckle and smiled (or at least the closest thing that their crocodile mouth could smile) and clapped their hands, "Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful. I will be getting the best looking ones I can."

Vrask got up and grabbed their Maul, slinging it over their shoulder before heading out of the restaurant and heading toward the bulletin board.

[Town, Bulletin Board - Vrask, A whole lot of other people]

Vrask weaved around the group of people who were standing around the bulletin board and looked for the best they could find. Taking three contracts, they headed back to the restaurant.

[Town, Restaurant - Vrask, Layi, Koyel, Sindar]

Heading back into their spot in the bar, Vrask laid the three pieces of paper in front of them, "Alright," they said, "I've got three of the best I could find. The first is going after the head of a demon that lives in the lava lake. The second means going after some wyvern called a Lanceros. The third and final one involves taking out some devils near the Hellmouth. No do you all want to do all three of them or just one?"

Town: Shopping District

The blazing star was radiating over her skin with nothing to shield her, while the gaping maw of the void above threatened to spit comets over her or suck the air from her lungs, and strange, blindingly white formations floated above like ghost ships waiting to fall. People around her pushed, shoved and shouted words with hidden meanings in tones of pleading, demands and accusation while they delivered precise amounts of rounded metal bits and took from the variety of supplies on display. There was no order, no direction... it was as if a true inhabitat had been splattered on the planetary dirt and people didn't bother moving its pieces from where they randomly fell.

Sweeping the sweat from her brow, Cas raised her head a little and pushed down on the long steel pipe she used as a staff with her mechanical arm, so she could stand on the tip of her feet without crumbling under the weight she carried. Her natural eye was not used to so much movement, so much light, and she did not have an idea of what to look for with the other, but she managed to detect her target. There it was, a small stand giving strange, multi-layered rations to people. Cas approached, but felt uncertain of what to do. Her guild most likely had no business with the locals, but they couldn't just let her starve, right? And what was the deal with those bits of metal?

"Hey girl, are you just going to stand there or will you eat something?", said the man behind the stand.

Cas jumped back and glanced around, before lowering her head again and saying "I... I would like something to eat."

"Then pick a meat for your sandwich and put your money on the stand."

Meet? Sand-wish? Mah-ney? What did that man mean? "I... I think I don't have any mah-ney, if you mean those round things...", Cas said.

"No money, no sandwich. Sell some scrap to a workshop if you want to get some, or that shiny arm of yours. People would kill for a piece like that, so you are safer without it anyway."

Cas gasped and turned her back to the stand, stomping away from it. With each step, her hydraulic claws bent her staff more with their grip, but she didn't care. She just wanted to get away from that man and his words, and find some rations, drinking water and a flow recharger. Speaking of it...

"Observation: this social subsphere seems to be trade-based.", said a synthetic voice coming from her heavy package, a golem core hidden in an improvised burlap bag.

"Is that why people want to take my arm, chrome-head?", Cas asked, still wandering amidst the barracks, looking for a place where one didn't need metal circles to get food. Giving up, she settled on sitting on a bench in the shade to rest her back and legs a little. "Why must planets have fucking gravity and lack a covering?"

"Planets are naturally formed..."

"I know. I am just stressed. What now?", she said, and lowered her left eye to her arms. One of muscle and bone, covered in calloused, scarred dark skin, the other a large prothesis made of unbreakable holometal, its covering plates patterned in rings of silvery, turquoise and metallic blue. The later was a gift from her Guild, along with the camera the replaced her right eye, the former how she conquered said gifts. She wouldn't just give that up. "Did you manage to decrypt that message already?"

"It predict that it will take about three hours. Entering focus mode could speed up the process, but doing so would deprive me of my senses in the interim.", the machine said, "I recommend securing basic resources until then. You should be able to acquire currency to barter for goods by executing necessary services. Notices for available short-term positions or required tasks should be publicly displayed in an area of great circulation, if I understand correctly the preferred methods of communication in this sphere."

"Uhn... thanks? I think I understood that. So I go to somewhere open and read a list of things to do. Alone. In a place where some people may be willing to tear out my arm."

"The risk of being assaulted is negligible if you stay in public view, or locate a group you can trust."

"A crew... alright, I will have to do this sooner or later.", Cas said, standing up with help from her hollow staff and slowly making her way to the Town Square. She was a proud child of the Flower, a dumb ball of dirt wouldn't stop her, even if it was large enough to retain a breathable atmosphere.

[Parking Lot-Hotel]

So it was decided; hotel first, adventure second. It may sound slightly disappointing and less adventurous, but at least they wouldn't be in pain while they went searching.

"Well...good luck with your operation, dude." Nick said, "We're gonna go get a room. Catch ya later!"

As they walked, Amy looked down and gave a small sigh. "I miss my plane already..."

Maya patted her back.

"Don't worry, sweetie." Marie said, "I'm sure we'll find another plane here. Then you can start flying again."

"Yay!" Amy cheered, "I can't wait!"

"...Not Chaos Hunters, huh?" Jackson said to Wolfe, "Wouldn't that be a mouthful after a while?"

[Restaurant (Koyel, Layi, Vrask, Sindar)]

Koyel looked at the list offered, reading it over slowly. He blinked. Read it again to be sure. "Ancestor's ashes," he said of the offered options, "you wanna hunt a Dead God for dessert?"

"Probably ain't that bad," Layi said.

Koyel read the jobs to Layi.

Layi looked incredulously at Vrask. "Ya know two of these jobs involve the damned, right? I ain't a priestess, and my son obviously ain't one. I gotta draw a line somewhere, and unless you got a specialist out somewhere, that's about it." That made clear, she softened and said, "now, that 'wyvern' thingy, I heard 'bout them. Some sorta lizards with wings for arms?"

"I think," Koyel said, "sounds like something we might be able to put down and get ourselves some real coin." He looked over at Sindar. "You got thoughts?"

Sorry to post outta turn, but wanted to get Layi and Koyel's WTF out of the way.

edited 28th Feb '18 5:12:02 PM by KillerClowns