Hello and welcome reader, to the 28th instalment of the Character Development Threads
! These shared story exercises help budding writers develop their characters alongside the characters of other budding writers. No sign-up is needed; just jump right in with your characters. It is recommended that you read the thread page and the last couple of pages before starting.
Discussion Thread Thread Page Town Map
This is a "Main Series" thread and, as such, an element of risk is expected. Rules and participation guidelines may be found on this page.
The thread page groups active characters under the areas in which they are active, enabling you to see who is at a given location in which you might be interested or to find out where to go to encounter characters with whom you wish to interact.
Kindly add your own characters to the thread page, with a link to their initial post, under the area in which they are located and update the page if they change location.
Bear in mind that if your characters are arriving at a location, they are likely to know little more than what they see and hear as they arrive - what the location looks like, what other characters are there (both of which can be read on the thread page) and the last few lines uttered and actions taken as they are arriving (which can be found in the last few posts for that location in the story thread itself), so inserting characters need not be a terrifying process.
If you need help, have any questions, or want a quick recap (if the page count is daunting), head over to the discussion page, and someone is sure to help you out!
To help guide character interaction, having your character come in with a at least one short-term and one long-term goal or motivation is strongly recommended. It is not required, but it does make it easier to drive the plot forward. Feel free to come up with rumours about what treasures, adventure, locations, and dangers may be found in the setting - they need not be true or accurate, just some hook on which to hang an adventure.
The setting is specifically designed to be a vast sandbox into which details can be inserted by participants (for example, you are free to decide that there is a particular temple in the midst of the forest in which something may be found or that there is a particular shop/hotel/restaurant in a section of the town), if you come up with a location that you desire/expect other characters to visit, please add it to the thread page as a sub-location of the relevant area.
Things change as the story progresses. If, for example, a massive battle occurs at a location and the area is now strewn with bodies and buildings are damaged, kindly update the thread page to reflect those changes, in order that other participants have an up-to-date description of the location prior to sending their characters there.
Special thanks to all those who helped in getting the thread launched or provided ideas and feedback. In alphabetic order, they include:
Blackfire667, Collen, Corvidae, daird, DarkbloodCarnagefang, EternaMemoria, Gault, Kkutwar, KillerClowns, ladytanuki, Masterofchaos, nrjxll, Pyxo, Slysheen, TroPartner, WillDeRegio and yours truly
Apologies if I missed anyone - just let me know and I'll update the post.
Between dimensions, and linked to the rest of the multiverse, lies a strange post-apocalyptic environment made up of various regions strewn with the remnants of past glory - ruins, lost technologies and magic. Here and there, nature has found its way back amongst the ruined temples and towns.
In the midst of the blighted landscape, a fresh new town has emerged - a synergy of technology, nature and magic; clean and eco-friendly; a beacon of hope for a brighter future - where travellers can rest, recharge their batteries both literally and metaphorically and get whatever they may need - technological, magical or otherwise - to aid them on their adventures.
New arrivals can turn up by diverse means in the transportation area in the north-western part of the town or by whatever other means they deem appropriate. Here they may also find for rent, lease or hire, any transport they desire from riding animals to vehicles.
The wilderness areas have not been fully explored since the mysterious apocalyptic events that ravaged the area some time ago and no one is really sure what's out there - but rumours abound.
All that is known for sure is that both magic and technology have existed here for a long time, so anything is possible...
Currently in Day 1.
Current Time: 10:00 PM
Current Weather:
General Setting: Fine, a few light clouds Rainforest: Moderately misty, the fog is slowly thickening
See the thread page for updates.
Edited by Wolf1066 on Feb 11th 2021 at 12:12:29 AM
[Town]
Everyone panted, while Nick and Marie sat on a bench.
"God, it's been a while I ran like that..." Marie said.
"Same here." Jackson said, before angerily turning to Amy. "Hugging the demon? What the bloody, bloody, bloody hell were you thinking?!"
Amy teared up. "I-I'm sorry...I thought they would help us find the musket and I...I wanted us to get along...I-I'm sorry..."
Marie glared at Jackson, then went over and rubbed Amy's back.
"It's not your fault, sweetie." she said gently, "We didn't know this would happen."
If we're being honest, Maya signed, It's Nick's fault.
"My fault?!" Nick argued, "She healed us and we needed some extra help! I didn't know her goddamn eldritch friend was gonna do that!"
"Well, you should've been more bloody smart!" Jackson yelled, pointing at him, "We all knew that thing was gonna be a problem!"
"Hey, I-"
"STOP!" Adam screamed. "Please, for the love of god stop! This is getting us nowhere! What happened, happened! We're away from them! Please...stop fighting...."
Silence filled the air, before Jackson gave a heavy sigh.
"...Sorry." he muttered.
Me too. Maya signed.
"And I'm sorry for causing all this." Nick said, "Well...since that's over with, let's go get that musket. Maya, where did you say we need to look?"
Not where to look. Who to look for. Said something about an elf that carries way more then he should.
"Well, looks like we're looking through town." Marie said as they started walking, "If we see anyone with pointed ears with a lot of stuff, that's our person."
Amy wiped her eyes, and a huge smile grew on her face. "Alright! Exploring time!"
edited 29th Mar '18 3:06:27 PM by Masterofchaos
Town Square ~ Restaurant (Diantha, Nora; Leone; Gwion, Kris, James)
Diantha headed towards the table Gwion had picked out. She turned to James to respond, "I'm not sure how long Nora might—"
"Sup."
The purple haired girl nearly dropped her coffee at the unexpected arrival of a black-haired, black-eyed teenage-looking girl who was rather causally dressed in a white hooded sweatshirt, blue denim jeans, and, most notably, a pair of black Converse All Star shoes.
"Nora!" Setting her coffee aside, Diantha enthusiastically embraced her comrade, who was barely moved an inch by it. The other girl smiled, before gently prying herself from the power hug. "Where have you been?" she asked.
"Eh, out hunting mufretas, worked up an appetite," Nora replied, before ducking inside to place an order.
Said order consisted of steak and Eggs Benedict, a steak and egg sandwich, a dozen bagels, a half-dozen hard-boiled eggs, steak and eggs, coffee, and a dozen Boston cream donuts.
Nora then proceeded to pull up a chair at the group's table.
Town ~ Hotel Lobby Entrance (Cynthia, Moobly; Justin, Valerie; Miron; etc.)
With the strange duo's action taking a turn for the horrifyingly bizarre, the brigade of teenagers subsequently getting the hell out of Dodge, and the arrival of a man in a dark red(!) uniform challenging the demonic Justin to a duel, the knight and the dragon immediately went on the defensive.
Cynthia instinctively channeled light magic through her gauntlet, causing the metal armorment to glow a pale white. She rubbed her left arm gently before drawing her sword, while Moobly took to a street lamp, tonfas drawn and humming with an aquatic aura.
"Geeh~! Explanations, s'il vous plaît," the young knight asked of all present.
The cynthonic took a wild guess from her perch, "Crazy boy is an invoker like Diantha, only don't know how to control his noble spirit. Noble spirit not happy; thinks we're trying to hurt the cute witch."
Cynthia momentarily gave Moobly a blank look before adopting a defensive stance.
Edited by WillDeRegio on Oct 14th 2019 at 8:07:17 AM
Restaurant (Leone, Gwion, Kris, James, Diantha, Nora)
Leone saw absolutely no reason to follow the others to their chosen table, upon reaching which she chose to sat down. She would've contented herself with just listening to the others talk had Kris not asked her a question. In response, she looked up briefly with a thoughtful expression while tapping her foot. It was a couple of moments before she replied.
"...Some kind of long-range weapon would be nice. I'm used to fighting close up, but with some...enemies that gets very dangerous very quickly. I tried talking my father into teaching me how to use a gun, but I haven't had much luck there."
She sighed, just as a friend of Diantha's showed up and caught her attention for a moment or two. The fact that Nora placed an order larger than her own made her frown thoughtfully. However, once again she kept her thoughts to herself, and before long she'd gone back to her own conversation.
"...Besides that, I suppose I'll see when we get to shopping. I'd have to see what's available before I really know if there's anything I'd like to have."
Icon by Civvi the Civilian!
Mouth of the Smaller River -> Upstream (Mustang Herd)
While stepping over two driftwood logs, Thunder slipped and got his hoof stuck between them. Most horses would have panicked and broken their own leg trying to thrash free from the Sabertooth logsnote , but this herd was descended from smarter bloodlines than that. Instead, Thunder stopped after his experimental tugs proved ineffective. Fiddler had heard the thunk and came trotting over to see what the problem was, followed by the rest of the herd. First Fiddler twisted her head around so that one eye was staring at the trapped hoof. Then she used the other eye. Then she snuffled around the wedged hoof with her nose and lips. Oddly enough, she could smell sawdust and non-equine flesh — were the logs even more Sabertooth than just trapping hooves? Then she eyed the logs up and down their length. They weren't quite parallel, so she shoved her nose against the hoof in the direction where the logs were spread further apart, budging the hoof by a hair. She stepped back as Thunder twisted himself around and tried tugging his hoof in the new direction that Fiddler had indicated. His hoof popped free.
The weak, desperate homunculus's plans were ruined — it had replaced one of the two logs and was waiting for the horse it caught to break his leg so that killing him would be easier. The horse breaking free instead had caught it off guard. Looks like the homunculus would have to do this the hard way — it morphed and tried to embed its chitinous spurs into Thunder, but the herd was already galloping away.
The log is Sabertooth! Sabertooth log! the entire herd thought. Sabertooth log! Just as I suspected! thought Thunder and Fiddler. The herd kersplooshed across the river and Lead Mare Flashfoot signaled for a hard swerve upstream.
edited 30th Mar '18 10:24:55 AM by Miss_Desperado
If not for this anchor I'd be dancing between the stars. At least I can try to write better vampire stories than Twilight.
To dream is my right
Solstice Café
Cas, still confused but feeling relieved by Peggy's voice, smiled and nodded, then went for the counter and asked for the meal she described after she and Karl asked for "espressos".
"We... we should look for a table, right?", she asked, standing on the tip of her feet to look for empty spaces. "There is an empty one next to those people." she said, gesturing to the direction of the group of armed young people she saw before. Generally she would be afraid of being close to people like that, but they didn't look violent, and it was in a good position. "Maybe we can even see more birds from there. I think I saw a large black one with the corner of my eye."
Then she started slowly walking that way, with a small smile still on her lips and eyes. Peggy and Karl had been so kind. Why couldn't everyone be that way? Thinking of that... it would be better to get to know them, for when she had the chance to repay their favors.
"Thank you two for everything.", she said to them. "Uh...", damn Cas, think of something. "... do you two live here? In this planet, I mean?"
"The dried flowers are so beautiful, and it applies to all things living and dead."
Crazy Kiwi
Town: Parking area on way to hotel
[Miron, Saen, Nyceme, Kaitlyn, Pearl, Aubrey, Finn]For Aubrey, the conversation got steadily stranger, with Saen and Nyceme talking of occult and mystical matters such as telepathy, spells and warding or bending the 'mindless undead' - which, again, brought to mind what Joshua had said of 'zombies'. Nyceme seemed to be of the opinion that the dead at the necropolis were not likely to be as restful as he and MÃron thought but was obviously confident that the diminutive and unusual-looking Sindar would provide sufficient protection.
Also, according to what Nyceme told Pearl, her soul was apparently contained within her sceptre, which made no sense at all and was probably bordering on dark - if not completely black - magic if it were indeed the case. Yet she was clearly not evil, for all her strange appearance and talk of ungodly matters.
To Pearl, Nyceme's reply was fascinating. The concept that the soul could continue to animate a body if it was carefully preserved in some form of vessel, was new to her. It had previously been quite simple: your body died, your soul moved on and the body rotted as a natural consequence of no longer being a living entity. The limitations sounded arbitrary - if the soul's presence outside the body could continue to animate it, why couldn't it prevent it from rotting; conversely, if the soul couldn't prevent rotting, how could it animate the body and provide the semblance of intelligence?
Nyceme again spoke to some person that Kaitlyn could not see - and apparently, despite professing to be a lich. with her soul contained within the sceptre she carried, the snake-woman had difficulty believing in vampires - then MÃron approached Nyceme and started to speak with her.
As Kaitlyn was tuned into the local conversation, trying to detect whatever it was that the others were reacting to, she was taken by surprise by the Not-Chaos-Hunters suddenly exiting the hotel at speed and running off, obviously scared and distressed. She managed a quick "gotta go, back soon," before wheeling about and taking off after them.
Finn was as surprised by the departure of the Not-Chaos-Hunters and Kaitlyn as he was by MÃron's sudden angry reaction to something and charge into the hotel. He turned to look at Nyceme. "I'm after understandin' what it is y've been talkin' to that caused all that ruckus."
Town
[Not-Chaos-Hunters, Kaitlyn.]The G36C slapped painfully against Kaitlyn's back as she ran so she shifted its position and trapped it against her side as she pursued the group of teens.
Fear had clearly lent them wings, but Kaitlyn was no slouch when it came to running, especially on clear and even urban terrain, and she was actually gaining on them when they suddenly stopped, panting heavily, at a bench.
Kaitlyn slowed to a walk, swinging the carbine behind her once more, and got out her vapouriser. She was scarcely breathing hard - she had had to run much further in the past.
Even without her enhanced hearing, she would have had little difficulty hearing the argument that brewed about hugging a demon.
She stopped near the group. "You guys orright?"
Town: Restaurant - outside seating area
[Leone, Diantha, Nora, Kris, Gwion, James]James grinned. No sooner than had they stepped outside - and just as Diantha was saying she had no idea when her companion would get there - a dark-haired teen dressed in civilian clothes showed up and was quickly identified as the aforementioned 'Nora'. One speaks of wolves... as they say.
Nora professed having worked up an appetite and vanished into the restaurant and James settled himself at the table beside Gwion, where he was quickly joined by Kris and Leone.
Kris gave Leone a smile. "Well, if y'wanna learn t'use a rifle or pistol, y're in luck - our group h's a number-a people who c'n teach ya. We'll be headin' inta town later t'pick up supplies 'n' y're welcome t'come along 'n' see whatcha need."
Nora, returned and took a seat and Gwion acknowledged her with a nod. "You've gotta be th'famous 'Nora' we've 'eard about. Was expectin' another soldier but I gather y're a hunter." He had never heard of the 'moufretas' she had mentioned.
Town square —> Solstice Café
[Cas, Peggy, Karl, Lily, Carol, Cormack]Karl caught the comment about two ravens and remembered the picture on Wolfe's phone of two crows, captioned 'Attempted Murder'. It had been quite funny, once Wolfe explained the term for a group of crows. By that logic, they had an attempt at 'unkindness' happening outside. Nowhere near as funny. The terms the English used for groups of things were quite strange.
After Cas had ordered her omelette and suggested a table from which they could possibly see more birds - clearly a novelty for her - Peggy started heading towards the suggested table.
"You're welcome." She shook her head at Cas' question. "Nah, we're visitors here. We come from a different planet, called Terra Nova, but originally we came from yet another planet, called Earth. People tend to arrive on Terra Nova with very little to their name - nothing but what they happened to have on them when they disappeared from Earth - so we're used to helping people with no food or money. Just as we were helped when we arrived."
Karl nodded. He had arrived on Terra Nova with more than most, but would not have known what plants to eat had it not been for James' extensive knowledge. "It is a horrible thing, to find yourself somewhere strange with no means to feed yourself. You say you are not used to planets. Do you come from some sort of orbital habitat?" The words felt strange in his mouth. It was not the sort of thing you said - unless you were Kris or Wolfe... and even then, not often. Before being plucked from Earth and encountering the others on Terra Nova, he never imagined such things. For Wolfe, from the early twenty-first century, they were possibilities that had been tried on a small scale for short periods of time; for Kris, from later that same century, they were a possibility only for those who could afford to go to them or were born in them.
edited 30th Mar '18 2:32:33 PM by Wolf1066
[Town]
They all turned their heads when Kaitlyn talked to them. Amy smiled and waved.
"Hello!" she said, "You're one of the Terra Nova friends, right? It's nice to see you again!"
"We're...ok...." Jackson said, "...If you forget about us running from a crazy ass demon." He sighed, "If you see a little girl, a blond dude, and some...demon thingy...run."
"Right now, we're going to look for a musket." Nick said, "It could save our asses in the long run. Wanna come aboard?"
Augh, sorry for the shortness.
edited 30th Mar '18 6:12:28 PM by Masterofchaos
This is my good side.
Town Square
Chitara gave a satisfied smile as the two new people asked about her sale. "Ah, you would be amazed. Simple charms and amulets, these may seem. But I assure you, they will make your day-to-day life a much easier endeavour. What do you think are in need of? Health? Wealth? Love? I can give you that and more." The old crow swept a feathered over the table, and all the assorted goods rested over it. "I have protection against hexes, curses, and bad dreams." At the last one, she pointed at a dreamcatcher over the left.
"I also have talon-made remedies for any everyday maladies, if you have them. Or maybe you want some luck with that special other?" Chitara winked at them with complicity. Even if these two were not a couple, they may be interested.
(Hotel Parking Lot- Saen, Nyceme, et al.)
"Not telepathy; that tendsss to fail over longer distancesss, let alone crossing dimensionsss. Rather, the parchmentsss themssselves are magically linked to each other. Whatever I write on this one will appear on any of the others I choose. In thisss case, I was talking with our resident necromancccer. A good woman, onccce you get past her appearance."
Saen nodded at Nyceme's question. "Indeed I did, but it seemsss I do not have the materialsss. You wouldn't happen to have willow branchesss on you, would you?"
Forward, boys! For God's sake, forward!
Crazy Kiwi
Town
[Not-Chaos-Hunters, Kaitlyn.]Kaitlyn grinned. "Actually, I'm from Earth. So're Soph, Finn and Gwion - it's the 'Mad Bastards', Pearl and Aubrey that're from Terra Nova, we're just along f'r th'ride." She looked at Jackson. "Yeah, the witch witha capital 'B' - I was there, remember? What the fuck was goin' down? You guys were actin' like you were freakin' at somethin' I couldn't see or hear - 'n' I c'n see 'n' hear some fuckin' amazin' things - then y'went inside 'n' everythin' seemed like was settled until all fuckin' 'ell broke loose 'n' y'came flyin' out like y'r arses were on fire."
She paused to take a puff on her vapouriser then vapour escaped her mouth and nose as she spoke again. "You sayin' there was some sorta demon there? The old snake lady was talkin' t'somethin', too. So was MÃron - that's th'tall bloke in th'red uniform I was talkin' to - was that this demon as well?"
Town 'Square': Chitara's Wagon
[Teri, Sophia, Chitara, Naiolo, plague doctor]Teri and Sophia exchanged glances at what the strange woman had to say about her wares. Both were from worlds where such things were commonly offered but were fraudulent baubles and trinkets aimed at the gullible and credulous - however, the woman selling them looked like... Teri didn't want to say 'a harpy', but part bird, part woman did fit the broad description... and their friends were talking with a couple of snake-women, so it was distinctly possible that - in this place - the goods were as described.
The ribald wink the old woman gave when mentioning getting luck with 'that special other' left nothing to the imagination at all and Teri grinned. "Doin' al'right for 'ealf, wealf 'n' 'appiness, fanks, but we are plannin' on goin' out t'the wilderness - t'the necropolis, forest 'n' stuff. What sorta fings d'you recommend we take to protect ourselves?"
Sophia nodded. Good thinking. She had no idea what they might encounter out there or whether or not a few rounds of 5.56 NATO would have any effect.
edited 30th Mar '18 5:13:38 PM by Wolf1066
The Scar -> West Gate (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)
The meander back to town was proceeding slowly in fits and starts as everyone kept pausing to gab.
Was it Rosalind's imagination or did she notice some ever-so-slight reluctance when the giant revealed his name? Was he, like her, afraid that news of his identity would reach specific enemies or provoke friendly strangers into becoming enemies? She had no idea how to find out for sure if they had that fear in common.
Rosalind glanced awkwardly at Jann and Varg, unsure if they would try to shake her hand and what she would do in that case. What would cause more attention, her cold hands or a handshake refusal? Humans could get cold hands under certain common circumstances, could she get away with bluffing that's what happened to her? But what if hugging upon introduction was the cultural norm here? She'd never be able to bluff her way out of most of her body being cold! What if...
Meanwhile, Rosalind's eyes unfocused, her runaway train of thought prevented her from noticing that her arms were subconsciously drifting up, forward, and away from her sides, moving slowly in vague, extremely diluted hints of the myriad of greeting gestures she was thinking about.
Author's note: Other characters can interrupt her, probably without even trying.
edited 30th Mar '18 9:19:48 PM by Miss_Desperado
If not for this anchor I'd be dancing between the stars. At least I can try to write better vampire stories than Twilight.
The Scar, South of the Town – The Inquisitor and Sa'ad
Thirsty, sleep-deprived women seldom think of something interesting. They do, if despair intrigues you. Let's see if the Inquisitor's thoughts defy conventions of what is interesting or not.
How long can a conscious man suffer being dragged on the ground face-first?
I'd say they're something of both.
The morning sun gives her red coat covered in road dust a darker shade. She feels the weight of her prisoner on a thirty-feet long chain pulling her arm, hears the unpleasant sound of his body chafing against the ground but refuses to look back at him.
It was "Bring him alive or dead". Preferably alive.
And with the High Inquisitor, "Preferably" meant "absolutely, utterly and without compromise and I don't care that it conflicts with the other option".
Finally, she stops.
It's better to get chewed out for bringing a dead prisoner than getting overpowered by the one playing dead and start the whole thing over again.
She turns around and gives the body she was dragging along a long, hard look.
It's not like getting scratched by the ground can kill you.
She sighs.
Getting electrocuted, on the other hand, can.
The chain in her hand emits a sheaf of sparks.
"Aw! Fuck!" Sa'ad jumps upright, assuming a battle posture.
"Do you think I'm an idiot, pirate?" The Inquisitor puts her free hand on her hip.
"Yes? I also think that you're-" Another electric shock interrupts him. "Shit! Piss-fuck!"
"Move it!" yells the Inquisitor. "We might be able to get to the town before the noon."
South Gates → Town Square
Judging by the gate guards' blasé reaction to them, a woman in leather armor and a hood dragging a six-feet tall thug in dirty tattered black clothing on a chain wasn't even remotely the strangest thing they've seen today. Or this year. The inquisitor finds the thought oddly comforting.
They move past the stores and the cafes, Sa'ad with hunger in his eyes, his captor without interest.
"Aren't you hungry, woman?"
"I am."
"Then why don't you stop at one of the cafes?" He scoffs. "Don't you want to bring your prize alive?"
"That's at the bottom of my list of priorities. And a couple of hours more won't starve you to death." She pauses. "And all the money was in the pack of the horse you scared away."
"Then where the hell are we going?"
"I'm carrying you to the Technocracy. For that I'll need transportation."
"And how are you going to pay for the trip?" Sa'ad stops and pulls the chain, halting the Inquisitor.
"I'll work."
"Now that's interesting." Sa'ad grins. "You scrubbing the deck would be a sight to behold, muehueh- Ah!."
The woman yanks Sa'ad's chain, adding a weak electric shock for good measure.
Wired. Shut.
Spiral out, keep going.
[Notice Board — Henry, Alice, Nui, Jean]
It was the Inquisitor's great misfortune to draw the attention of Alice Winters.
A woman with a stick up her ass, and a... prisoner? Slave? Interesting...
Two possibilities. First, that the man had his fate coming. Or he's innocent — either actually innocent of what he's accused of, or guilty of something Sigmund and such wouldn't call a crime. Either way, it may be possible to separate him from his captor and earn his loyalty. But how? Do I send in Walrus Squad or Carpenter Squad? Or do I play the Ace of Hearts?
Wait, did I seriously consider the Ace of Hearts for this? It's too fucking early in the day for a body count, and that's what the Ace would bring. Walrus or Carpenter, gotta be.
Walrus Squad is clean, and can be sent out in our colors or the orange. They'll seek the truth, and react appropriately to it — if the man deserves to be dragged around like a dog, he'll get dragged around like a dog. Unfortunate, that. Having another cold-blooded killer in my debt would be nice. Put him in the orange, or not, and you've got a nice little extra-deniable killer.
Which makes Carpenter tempting, but... Chaudhari's an asshole. A useful trait in a soldier when combined with loyalty and a touch of fear, but I'd have to send him out in the orange, and I can't tell if she's magical or not. He might escalate things... though not as certainly as the Ace of Hearts and her squad would. Then again, he's been reprimanded for a few messes before, maybe he's learned his lesson. And he knows this place can fuck him up, that might keep him careful.
Alice considered, then finally pulled out a small communication device. (Not a cell phone — she knew better than to trust a cell phone with business!) "Queen of Hearts to Carpenter," she whispered, quietly enough the others would have to visibly strain or use special abilities to hear. "Got a potential slaver in Town Sector South. Investigate and take appropriate actions, protocol zero."
Still waiting on Henry to respond to the rest, but Alice is taking a quick reaction to an opportunity.
[South Gates → Town Square - The Inquisitor, Sa'ad, Dominic Chaudhari, four Wardens]
Chaudhari loved protocol zero. He and his men were dressed in the looted orange and black uniforms of the now-defunct Sol III, with the emblem — a large orange S orbited by a small 3 on the edge of a circle, in imitation of a planet orbiting a sun — still visible. Western Amalgamated and Sol III were both Labatoria Pereria-Merquior customers, so the equipment was familiar but deniable. In these colors, he didn't have to put up with any bullshit.
Chaudhari and his squad were armored comparably to a SWAT team, aside from the distinct color scheme, and had a mixture of lethal and non-lethal weapons; most prominently, stun batons and sleek black plastic submachine guns, both with quick reach.
Chaudhari understood Alice, or at least understood what Alice used him for. If Alice was certain they were dealing with a potential slaver, she'd have sent those goody-two-shoes in Walrus Squad. It wasn't like they were busy. Alice had sent him instead. The implication was that Alice wanted the prisoner freed if he could be of use to Western Amalgamated, and the woman disposed of if she seemed like a potential nuisance. Legal and moral details were irrelevant.
Still, no need to go in weapons hot. The squad slipped through the crowd, used to armored warriors, and suddenly coalesced as a five-man squad approaching the Inquisitor in a sort of third-circle. "Ma'am," Chaudhari said, in a flawless Received Pronunciation accent, "we got word of a potential slaver in this sector. We're hoping this is just a misunderstanding, but we'll need to see paperwork." He couldn't keep himself from mirroring the woman's cold expression, and adding a slight sneer to it that gave his professional, courteous words a nasty undertone. We need to see paperwork, his expression said, because we rule here, not you, and I enjoy reminding people of this.
A soldier like the Inquisitor would be able to read this squad pretty well. These were not law enforcers, but soldiers. And not just any soldiers — disciplined killers who would remain polite (if sneering and condescending) so long as she did, but brutalize her in a heartbeat if she made any sudden movements. If she was going to reach for any paperwork, she'd need to do so very slowly. Their body language, the tenseness in their arms, suggested they'd go for the stun batons first, and they had training to retrieve and use the weapons very quickly and remorselessly.
Chaudhari himself was a heavily-built man of average height in his thirties, of mixed British and Indian descent; notably, he had his mother's dark skin, but his father's blue eyes, allowing him to pass for Uelane in a pinch. There was also an impressive mustache that either said "cop" or possibly "Stalin". He might have been handsome, were it not for his cold demeanor, perpetual scowl, and questionable taste in facial hair.
edited 31st Mar '18 7:45:49 AM by KillerClowns
Town Square - The Inquisitor and Sa'ad, Dominic Chaudhari and four Wardens
Sa'ad smirks. The woman's cold gaze moves from the crowd to the squad of soldiers, from one armed man to other, marking each and every one of them with slightly negative electric potential, in case things will get ugly.
A crowd of civilians. A prisoner chained to me. Five trained soldiers. Heart conditions unlikely. Sent five ordinary men to deal with lone woman. Show of force. Potential backup. Scenario?
She sighs and … whoa!
- Start a fight. No metal weapons present. Lead bullets present. Immunity to electricity unlikely. Scenario?
- Five hostiles incapacitated/dead – definitely, acceptable. Stray bullet hitting a civilian – probable, acceptable. Panic in the crowd - definitely. Scenario?
- Prisoner escapes in the ensuing chaos – probable, unacceptable.
- I incapacitate the prisoner - probable, acceptable. He's liability in the next fight with the backup – definitely, unacceptable.
- Hostiles are local authorities – probable. Political shitstorm over the capture of one pirate – definitely, unacceptable.
- Five hostiles incapacitated/dead – definitely, acceptable. Stray bullet hitting a civilian – probable, acceptable. Panic in the crowd - definitely. Scenario?
- Comply with demands. Scenario?
- Feelings hurt. Can live with that.
- Hostiles are bandits. Scenario?
- They don't have backup – definitely. Fight them in more advantageous conditions – acceptable.
- Hostiles are local authorities. Scenario?
- Demand assistance for transferring the prisoner. Leverage through superiors – probable, acceptable.
- That mustachioed cunt is also an idiot - probable, acceptable. See 1.1, but without the shitstorm and the fight with backup – probable, acceptable.
Merciful Ether. This woman draws flowcharts in her head. I'm leaving.
She sighs and slowly takes off the hood, revealing short black hair.
"My name is Parthenia the Keraunos." Her voice is firm. "I'm the Inquisitor of Technocratic State of Shattered World's Scarab Shard. On a mission to bring this pirate Sa'ad to justice. My ID is under my coat."
She slowly removes the clasp holding her coat on. It falls to the ground revealing a silver brooch attached to her armor. She removes the brooch and shows it to the soldier. The brooch had an image of scarab with outstretched wings and claws holding a sword and a shield. Above the bug was the Watchful Eye. Below it – her name written in Scarabian Common and her ID number.
"I don't have other ID's on my person. If this is enough, I request to talk with your superiors. I require your assistance."
edited 1st Apr '18 1:07:11 AM by Millership
Spiral out, keep going.
[Town]
Nick quirked his eyebrow.
"Don't know this Miron guy, but he ain't the demon." he said, "He fused with that blond guy that serves the witch. We got the fuck out of there...demons are not something we wanna mess around with."
Jackson rubbed the back of his head. "Now we're just gonna do what we originally planned to do...find that elf, then look for the musket."
Amy held Kaitlyn's hands and bounced up and down excitedly. "Wanna come? It'll be fun! We get to go exploring and maybe make some new friends!"
Rewinding back, Adam blinked several times. "Wait...you didn't see the demon?"
Town Square ~ Restaurant (Diantha, Nora; Leone; Gwion, Kris, James)
The girl nodded, "Aye, I'm Nora." She crossed her arms, "Not necessarily a hunter by trade; I noticed that they were offering a reward for every confirmed dead moufreta. I can always go for a bit of extra cash and resources," she said. "Anyway, I'm closer to an honorary soldier, due to hanging around the academy so much."
Diantha, meanwhile, scanned Leone once over when the latter mentioned she fought in close-quarters. "Nora and I are also accustomed to fighting up close and personal," she mentioned, taking a seat at the table.
Coast of Chills ~ The Scar (It Came From The Sea)
It didn't take long for the beast to encounter its first obstacle; a great concrete trench that it failed to notice before suddenly plunging over the side of it.
Annoyed, the beast picked itself up from the crumpled heap it found itself it, prying its eyeless face from the cold, hard ground. Lashing out with its back hooves, it succeeded in chipping a piece of concrete off the wall.
Pacing about for a minute, the beast turned right, deciding that this trench would lead it to civilization, whereupon it could enact its vengeance upon humanity.
It managed to take eight steps before being beset upon by strange, cacophonous, neon orange lizards that ran about on two legs. The first made its unstealthy entrance with a lunging kick from above... where upon the beast below sidestepped, causing the leaping lizard to miss its intended target and crash into the ground.
Another one leaped at its face, where it was met with a swift slap from the beast's long arm, sending the orange creature smashing into the wall of the trench, dead. A third one attempted to attack from behind, and met a swift demise by a pair of hooves to the face.
By this point, the first creature had recovered from its crash landing and, noticing the rather deceased state of its comrade-siblings, decided rather uncharacteristically for its kind, that this beast was something that it shouldn't further mess with, and proceeded to flee the ditch by jumping away.
Screeching with annoyance, the beast returned to its planned route of following the Scar.
Moufreta Kill Count: 2
edited 31st Mar '18 7:52:07 PM by WillDeRegio
Crazy Kiwi
Town
[Not-Chaos-Hunters, Kaitlyn.]Kaitlyn looked at Nick. "Yeah, nah. I know MÃron's not th'demon, but he 'n' wossername, Nyceme, were talkin' to somethin' I couldn't see or hear - like you guys were - 'n' I was wond'rin' if it was th'same thing." She wasn't surprised that the demon was in some way connected with Justin - something about the obsequious little tit had given her the creeps.
Kaitlyn was bemused when Amy grabbed her hands and started bouncing up and down like an over-eager puppy. She gave the teen a genuinely sorrowful look. "Sorry, hon, I can't. I've gotta go t'th'ghost town with James 'n' Kris. I just came t'check up on you guys - y'looked spooked 'n' I couldn't just leave ya hangin'."
Adam seemed to be as surprised that she couldn't see or hear the demon as she was that the teens could. "Yeah, nah. Didn't see or hear a fuckin' thing, 'n' I had me thermographic vision on at th'time 'n' I can 'ear a mouse fart at a hundred metres - 'n' far higher frequencies th'n normal humans, too."
A thought occurred to her. "Hang on, you wanna find this elf 'n' go huntin' f'r th'musket. I think I c'n help y'there." She fished in a pocket and dug out a small earpiece, that she fitted into her ear, then reached down onto her belt and pressed the master call button on a compact radio. A few moments later - time enough for the others to put their own headphones on and acknowledge the call - she spoke softly. "Any-a you guys know anythin' about an elf an' a fantastic musket?"
She smiled as replies came in from Wolfe and then from Peggy. "Cheers. Oh, 'n' it might pay for us to keep our headsets on from now on, shit's goin' down." Wolfe's terse reply made it clear that 'shit' was definitely still 'going down' at the hotel. "Roger that. Out."
She turned back to the group. "OK, apparently you're lookin' for an elf with lotsa weapons, right? Peggy says there's someone matchin' that description in the Solstice Café. He's talkin' to a couple-a women." She looked back towards the square then turned and gave them a smile. "If y'r worried about goin' back, I c'n walk with ya."
Hotel Lobby
[Justin, Valerie, Cynthia, Sindar, MÃron, Wolfe]After putting in his earpiece and answering Kaitlyn's query, Wolfe's right hand was back on his right hip, thumb hooked into the top of his trousers and resting casually - mere centimetres away from the pistol concealed beneath his vest.
"Cheers. Oh, 'n' it might pay for us to keep our headsets on from now on, shit's goin' down."
The uniformed girl had also drawn her sword and her gauntlet was faintly glowing. Wolfe's gaze flicked between Justin and the two sword-wielding military types. "I know."
He looked up at Moobly when she spoke. "They seem to always think someone's trying to hurt her. Can't think why - she's got such a pleasant and sunny disposition." The deliberate stressing of the adjectives would be enough for even a Sheldon Cooper to recognise sarcasm.
edited 1st Apr '18 1:15:13 AM by Wolf1066
The Scar, Bridging the Smaller River (Mustangs + Inquisitor's Stray Horse)
Redirecting the momentum of their escape, the herd slid down one side of The Scar and bounced back up the other side, except for poor Stomper and Wheezer. Stomper's conformational defect (insufficiently sloped shoulderblades) combined with his fatigue meant his forelegs couldn't reach quite far enough to make it. Wheezer had a coughing fit at the wrong time and lost all his momentum on the floor of the trench. Stomper whinnied, Wait for us! The herd stopped and turned around.
An unexpected whinny from the north turned half the herd members' attention away from the tired entrenched geldings. Lead Mare Flashfoot and her daughter pointed their ears in that direction and sniffed the wind, curling their upper lips in a Flehmen response. Judging from the scent, a lone gelding was approaching. She'd be able to gather more information once the scent was stronger.
Meanwhile, Thunder was the first to peer into The Scar and glare down at the geldings. Wheezer recovered from his coughing fit, guessed what Thunder was about to do, and scrambled out of The Scar. Thunder slid down and gave Stomper a perfunctory nip on the rump. Stomper squealed as he successfully jumped out of The Scar, followed by Thunder.
Flashfoot whinnied, Ahoy there! She got a second answering whinny from the north. Mouse wondered if it was one of her previous herd members and let out her own whinny that was a few tones higher than anyone else's. By this time, the newcomer was a dark smear of movement in the distance who didn't whinny back, he could see them now too so there was no need.
If not for this anchor I'd be dancing between the stars. At least I can try to write better vampire stories than Twilight.
Mr ship
[Notice Board/Henry]
Henry scanned Alice. He knew her type, a high up person in a company. He'd have to keep an eye on her just in case. "Western Amalgamated Industries? I've never heard of that one."
Henry looked at Nui and smiled a bit. "Ah a professor, and a engineering one at that. Nice. I'm a engineering graduate of the United States Military Academy myself." He said holding up his right hand to bring attention to the class ring on his index finger that had the inscriptions of 'USMA Class of 1898' on it. "As for my vehicle, I have my good old VW parked over there."
He looked at Jean when she mentioned a group going out to explore. "You know I might join in on that. I'm looking for something and perhaps it would be in the forest. Do you mind if I join too?"
Just as it looked like they were about to go a pair of people showed up. One was a woman who called herself the inquisitor and who looked as up tight to him as his wife back home. The other was what looked like a prisoner being dragged with her. He couldn't tell if it was legitimate prisoner transport or a slave transport.
As he was looking at the two he noticed Alice out of the corner of his eye. He saw her pull out a device and it looked like she spoke into it very quietly, so quietly that he couldn't hear here but he was able to read her lips a bit to get the point that she thought the same as him. He was definitely going to have to keep an eye on her.
It's a bird.
Outside West Gate (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)
"Jann of Grimmsford," Jann said. Unsure of how to interpret Rosalind's flailing arm movements, he ended up going for a somewhat awkward handshake and a short bow.
"Scientist and... uh, licensed mage..." he continued, his words trailing off as his eyes widened and his muscles tensed up. He stood there for a few moments, struggling to regain his composure. As cold as the Pale Lady herself...
"Gods, your homeworld must have been freezing," Jann finally said. "Here, borrow my coat."
As he began to take off his brown longcoat, he hid his hands beneath it and discreetly moved his fingers in the pattern of the simple eavesdropping spell that had often proven itself very useful throughout his career. He focused on Rosalind and tried to listen for a heartbeat. She didn't look like any kind of revenant he'd seen before, but one could never be too careful.
Varg, noticing the nervous behavior of her companion, raised a skeptical eyebrow and let out a quiet chuckle. Come on Jann, she's not that pretty...
"So, what's this artifact?"
"An ancient reliquary," Varg answered Ozurr. "Rumored to contain a piece from 'the lost crown of the Death Goddess herself', apparently. That part sounds like arselsnakk to me, but the people who made these things where known for collecting powerful magical stuff... And we're getting paid a decent amount either way, so I'm not complaining."
"In fact," Jann added, "I suspect that this object might be at least partially responsible for this whole cosmic converge conundrum that we've all found ourselves in."
edited 1st Apr '18 10:26:28 PM by Corvidae
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.Outside West Gate (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)
Rosalind's train of thought derailed and she let out a quiet "Eep!" as she felt the warmth of Jann's hand soak into her own and noted his distracted reaction to the thermal exchange. Was she busted? She didn't correct Jann's assumption on the temperature of her home, and accepted his overcoat with a grateful smile. "Thank you so much."
Rosalind was unaware of the eavesdropping spell that had just been cast, except for a small innocuous itch between her breasts that she had no reason to suspect wasn't mundane. Rosalind's heart was indeed beating, albeit erratically and much too slowly to sustain life and activity. With one smooth motion, she twirled into Jann's coat, flaring it wide so the insides faced the sun for one brief moment before closing it around herself. Her heartbeat steadied as she slipped the coat on, though it was still slow. By now, it would be obvious that Rosalind wasn't breathing at all. As Rosalind secured the coat shut, she tried to mask a discreet scratch on the itch between her breasts, which was immediately soothed, though the eavesdropping spell was still active. Her grateful smile widened to a blissful grin as she murmured, "Oh my stars! So warm!" inadvertently letting what was previously a barely noticeable Texas drawl thicken as her guard dropped. Just a single breathy exclamation, and her lungs ceased to move again. She reveled in the heat that the coat had absorbed from Jann. She felt her own body temperature start to rise towards something less suspicious. With this much insulation, maybe she could finally hold on to the meager heat she generated long enough to match human body temperatures.
The long time Rosalind had spent among horses had sharpened her alertness towards body language. No matter how subtle Jann was being, Rosalind quickly noticed where Jann's attention was and assumed that her scratching had drawn Jann's attention to her chest.note Her face suddenly got a lot paler between her freckles than it already was as it belatedly dawned on her what she'd just done, then the color returned as a luminous full-faced blush as she covered her mouth with both hands, too embarrassed to speak. Her heartbeat revved up as her face changed colors and slowed down again once the blushing reached its peak.
Still red in the face, Rosalind tilted her head at what Varg had said. "Wait, what's a reliquary?" she queried. Again, she only breathed when she spoke. Her drawl had switched back to barely noticeable.
If not for this anchor I'd be dancing between the stars. At least I can try to write better vampire stories than Twilight.
[Town]
Now this gotten a little more disturbing. Were they the only ones who saw the demon? How was that even possible? None of them were magic users, so that was already out of the question. Whatever it was...they only hoped they would never see it again.
Amy frowned when Kaitilyn said she couldn't come, but when she said she would at least walk them to the hotel, a huge smile grew on her face.
"Yay!" she said, hugging her, "You'll hang out with us! Even for a little bit!"
"And...about us going back..." Adam said, looking down and twidling his thumbs. "W-We'll be fine. We just need to spend some time away from there."
Marie nodded. "Ready to go?"
Friendly Neighborhood Lich
In front of Hotel (Valerie, Justin, Aubrey, Pearl, Finn, Miron, Sindar, Nyceme, Saen, Cynthia, Moobly)
Though the demon was incapable of pooping, Nyceme was growing tired of his shit, listening to him with arms crossed and clawed finger tapping against an elbow. Yet at the same time, what he said amused her, in a more pitiful sort of way. Demons... they do not understand the intentions of mortals—well, former mortals in my case—do they? The reason why she stayed "alive", the fact that he thought her body didn't rot... he had no idea.
Then one of the girls offered him a hug; at this Nyceme actually had to work hard to hold back a laugh. The result was not quite what she expected, but at least it was the sort of thing to expect. Something terrible. In this case though, it was Justin who took the brunt of it, being merged with the suddenly unstable demon. It reminded Nyceme of a ritual she had read about in the Sakh's private library, in which one had to weaken their body to let them channel such dark power as the likes of a demon would offer.
After Justin issued a challenge—madness, Nyceme reckoned—Miron, the same person who had given her warning of the demon's offer, took the bait. Hypocritical much? But before going over there, she addressed Saen, who had asked her about a willow branch. "A ssspell ingredient I presssume? I have no need for sssuch thingsss, ssso unfortunately I do not have any. But I mussst asssk: how much do you know about necromancccy?"
Meanwhile, Sindar had quite a different reaction to Justin's transformation: horror. Especially when he impaled himself. This led him to dart behind a support beam in the front of the hotel. It was there that he caught a glance of a uniformed swordswoman with a strange gauntlet and... a chameleon wearing clothes? Not surprisingly, the former asked what was going on, though the talking chameleon gave a pretty good guess. Scratching his mushroom head, Sindar thought of a reply.
"Well... you got the jist of it," he said, gesturing at Moobly. "You don't see it do you? That was an incorporeal demon attached to that blond..." he glanced back, "I mean, black-haired man there, who... huh. Well, fused with him. Must have had a bad reaction to human touch when that girl hugged him. Think that's about it."
He glanced over and noticed Miron accepting Justin's challenge, and saw some rather sinister form of magic enveloping him when he spoke. Binding magic... He knew it instinctively, as some of the more orderly sort of fairy folk engaged in such magic when dealing with humans and the like. A magic he himself, sadly, was incapable of. Flying up in between the two, he said, "Well, I would help if I could, but it seems this is between you two. Good luck," he added to Miron as he flew off toward Nyceme.
He just barely caught what Nyceme said to Saen about spell ingredients. "Oh, I just remembered... the witch there mentioned going to a magic shop. You said you were looking for ingredients, right?"
Nyceme nodded. "Yesss. I wasss jussst about to ssspeak with her; she ssseemsss quite adept, and I should like to invessstigate their waresss. Sssaen, would you like to come along? They might carry what you need. And Sssindar? Why don't you exxxplain to thisss fellow about the demon?"
"Uh, sure." He noticed that the man Nyceme was pointing at didn't seem to react to the demon's presence; not surprising since "muggles" could not see purely magical beings. Watching as Nyceme slithered toward Valerie and invited Saen to follow, he flew up to Finn.
"You didn't see it did you? Most can't—it was a demon without a body, bonded with that man there. Must've taken quite an interest in Nyceme. Seems it just now returned to his body though. Well, I guess if those two ladies are magic shopping and those two gentlemen are dueling, then... we should probably arrange for some place to meet up before heading off. Perhaps a stablenote where we can arrange some transport?" There was something about his smile that suggested something devious.
Nyceme, meanwhile, spoke to Valerie, positioning herself so that the brim of the witch's hat would hide her from Nyceme's face. "Ssso, Sssindar told me about a magic shop that you were heading to. Would you mind if the two of usss came along? Alssso..." and here she lowered herself down and spoke in a more hushed voice, her flicking tongue almost touching her ear, "...you wouldn't happen to know how to um, calm your ssservant down, would you?"
Then she rose up and spoke to Miron. "You know, if I were you I'd heed your own adviccce regarding demonsss. I myssself appreciate it coming from you. Jussst sssaying."
edited 2nd Apr '18 1:10:45 AM by ladytanuki
Come, my child of the devil. Your mother is calling you. Hear my call in Hell's grand hall, where all our dreams come true.
Crazy Kiwi
Town
[Not-Chaos-Hunters, Kaitlyn.]Kaitlyn grinned. Amy's exuberance - especially in the wake of the shit the teens had just gone through - was uplifting. "Yeah, I c'n hang out fora bit - we're still tryin' t'find trav'ling companions, ourselves, so I don't see 's leavin' inna hurry."
She took a puff of her vapouriser as she turned to look at Adam, who was still rather nervous after his ordeal. "There's no rush, mate. We'll head back when y'feel up to it." She indicated the earpiece. "If y'like, we c'n wait until those at th'square notify 's that it's safe t'go back - once the shit-storm's calmed down - 'n' y'don't haveta go t'th'hotel, just the café."
Then she gave Marie a nod. "Whenever you guys are. I'll let y'z decide that f'r y'selves." She was mindful that, having only just met them, she didn't know Marie, Nick, Jackson and Adam as well as she knew Amy and Maya - and, to be honest, she really only knew the latter two from one evening's picnic in the desert... when her mind had mostly been on other matters... "So, tell me, why do the rather-appropriately-named 'Mad Bastards' call you lot the 'Not-Chaos-Hunters'? I gather they've met y'z before."
Masterofchaos, if you want to have them head back towards the café, you can assume Kaitlyn will wander along with them.
Town: Parking area on way to hotel
[Saen, Nyceme, Sindar, Pearl, Aubrey, Finn]Aubrey gave a concerned frown when Saen mentioned knowing a necromancer. Necromancy was one of the Dark Arts: actual Witchcraft, tampering with God's Design and therefore distinctly Ungodly. That Saen should know a practitioner of such arts, and refer to her as a good woman, was rather worrying. He glanced about at the others to see if they were as concerned but Pearl and Finn seemed completely unfazed by Saen's pronouncements.
He was beginning to feel that coming here had been a mistake. To be fair and honest, the others had tried to dissuade him - and had specifically warned him that it would challenge his beliefs and values - but he had insisted. True, at the time he had been thinking more along the lines of how he had previously challenged by the diverse religious, or irreligious, views of his former travelling companions, but that didn't alter the fact that he had brought this on his own head.
It was too late to back out now, and he remembered the problems he had experienced trying to force his own viewpoints on the others during The Long Walk - it didn't go down well and he was not keen for a repeat of that. It seemed his only choice was to go on and trust the judgement of his companions. Nyceme was apparently some sort of 'undead' entity - though clearly not a 'mindless' specimen - and she seemed 'good', so why not a 'good' necromancer? Saen didn't seem the sort to associate with evil crea— people, either.
The sudden vibration at his hip caused him to jump and let out a slight yelp. It took a moment for him to realise it was the small 'wireless' on his belt. He groped in the inside pocket of his jacket for the earpiece and it took some fumbling to get the curved loop over his ear and the device positioned correctly. Beside him, Finn and Pearl both seemed to be faring better.
The brief exchange finished with Kaitlyn warning everyone that stuff was 'going down' and suggesting they keep their headsets on to facilitate communications. Aubrey wasn't thrilled with having to wear the earpiece, but it made sense and improved safety and security.
Pearl was fascinated by the conversation between Saen and Nyceme. Long distance communication using some sort of magic writing rather than technology, necromancy and the need for willow branches.
The small flying man wearing bits of mushroom returned and she overheard what he said to Finn about a disembodied demon taking an interest in Nyceme. The mention of the demon bonding with Justin, dueling and the brief exchange between Wolfe, James and Kris - resulting in Kris heading to assist - suggested to Pearl that things were getting rather heated inside the hotel's lobby, so she was rather concerned that Nyceme had chosen to go in to talk to the rather childish little 'witch'.
Finn, raised by Celtic Neo-Pagan parents, had only sketchy knowledge of Christian concepts - such as 'demons' - that he had picked up in later life. He didn't believe in them any more than he believed the tales of gods, goddesses and otherworldly beings told to him by his parents, but if there could be a world in which something resembled one of the mythical Little Folk, then there probably existed worlds in which there were things that resembled - at least in demeanour - mythical demons, as well.
Being closer to the hotel than any of the others, he would have gone to render assistance to Wolfe, but he knew that Kris was on her way and his attention was taken up by Sindar. "Well, accordin' to the map, there are plenty of stables and such in the transport centre over yonder, "he pointed off in the general direction. "We have our own steeds already. How about ye meet us back here when you've organised everythin' y'need? There should be at least one of us hanging about."
The Scar -> West Gate (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)
"Ozurr," Ozurr said, following along back to town. "Pleased to meet you." He wasn't sure if he should try to shake her hand or not. From what he understood, humans and Frost Giants shared this custom, but his own hands were so large he wasn't sure he could trust himself not to crush hers. He ultimately decided not to.
He also decided not to tell her his full name. He had taken a rather foolish risk telling Jann and Varg his patronymic, and while they hadn't reacted to it, if anyone who knew the name Einarr Silverteeth put two and two together, he could be in a lot of trouble.
"So, what's this artifact?"
Tidesson Son of the staves of time