The Nexus

Outdoor Movie Place Americans call them 'chips', but to me those are the thick, fluffy fried potato wedges served with battered fish at the seaside. Crisps are, in fact, crisp and crunch when eaten. Agate heads over to the rubbish bin and peers inside it. "Hey, Asami. Will you be able to see t...

The scan reveals something wrong with the Keldon's brain. There's no worms or other obvious parasites like there were with Ser Daeron, but the brain still fits uneasily in the skull and is folded oddly. "That's a pity, if you're not up for the job then I'll have to keep looking." Had they ...

Ecbatana "Oh, you might not be the one getting cursed. It may be me, with the shouting and the insults. And the name-calling and the stone-throwing and the mob and the shouting." Irrgoth nods quite enthusiastically, as though the possibility of being called names and getting stoned by a m...

Outdoor Movie Place Unaware of Koko, Darko, and Asami, Agate arrives here. She's been saving up a while for tickets, and is not in her usual school outfit. Instead, she's wearing a pair of distressed jeans, with holes in the knees and frayed at the bottom, and a dark green t-shirt under a red baseb...

A Real Arcade "You think I can afford a decent one? Nope. I got a dumb phone, which can send and receive text messages and be used to talk to people a long way away using the telephone network. It doesn't have a camera or a touch screen or games or wifi or bluetooth. It doesn't access the inte...

Ecbatana "Are you sure you aren't cursed? Positive, guaranteed? It would be horrible if you woke up tomorrow and found your teeth and fingers had swapped places. And yes, yes, I am fine. No, no, not bleeding me, no blood to bleed. I'll get over it. Ah! Yes, allow myself to be introduced! My mo...

Under the Sea "T' mark a sun temple, or t' provide light fer a lighthouse 'r navigational beacon. Mayhaps sommat odder; unnerground farms, mebbe, where there be no natural sun." Sun temples rarely need an excuse to show off, and a lighthouse marking an oceanic hazard- cliffs, small islets...

Somewhere in the Desert A lone gunshot sounds out as one of the swordsman's temporary companions tries to shoot the desert angler, to no visible effect; though the beast groans. It groans because it is dead, bisected by its would-be morsel. Depending on if he reached the stomach, the swordsman may ...

Encyclopede Expedition "We have dealt with mind-viruses, hostile mnemonics, and brain hijackers before, as well as hostile telepaths and other things that wished to take our knowledge without trading for it. We have defences, and if they fail we are all expendable. We are old, and have learnt ...

Ecbatana Aikobaz succeeds in walking straight into a short, squat figure with large blue eyes set in a brown-orange face, a snub nose and a single small tusk sticking from their lower jaw. They wear an outfit of light blue wool, and a pair of grass sandals and a felt cap. A copper dagger at their w...

A Real Arcade "You'd have to ask Khannie or Mary how many there are. There's an app they've got, organising all the Em Gees in the city. Or most of them, anyway. I've not got it, my phone's too old for that kind of app." She's not even got a flip phone, but an old-fashioned brick type mob...

Under the Sea "Wait till we be a mile yonder. That be glowin'; we be poor guests if'n we unwrap it here an' attract a beast from th' depths, we'll be leavin' it upon yon fish-men's doorstep." Frigate will try to stop Eddie from opening the parcel immediately, though he won't actually do a...

Alice's Camp Harmony nods and grimaces, though she still screams as Alice pulls out the cocoon from her gut. Somewhere in the Desert The lure-tongue is easily cleaved by the swordsman's blow, the hallucination disguising it falling away to reveal its revolting truth, as stinking green ichor spurt f...

Encyclopede Expedition One of the Encyclopedes' legs undulate along the vertical length of its body, carrying a device up which is then presented to its antennae, which flicks down to take it and press it against the Encyclopede's head, enabling it to speak verbally instead of purely telepathically...

Avian Arrivals Jack struggles a little with the paperwork. She's literate, but her handwriting's scruffy and she's not especially comfortable reading. She also doesn't hold a pen very well. She'll sign 'Jacqueline Door', though, and doesn't list an address or residence. She'll claim she doesn't hav...

"I rushed here, after. I thought there'd be safety and help here, and didn't want to trust anywhere closer. I don't know how long I travelled; I was too focused on my destination and getting away to pay much attention." The keldon tries to think back, but eventually shrugs. "Two days...

[Ecbatana] "Bye! See you guys later!" Aiko waves at the guards as they pass through. They must lead pretty uneventful lives, right up until they don't. They could probably use the extra pep! Aiko looks down at herself at the mention of being dressed like a aervant and considers this for a...

Avian Arrivals "It was really freaky, but quite fun. I've been living off it since, mostly anyway. Better than that fae party where I accidentally insulted one of the hosts so they bit my finger off." Earl forgot about the finger for a while, so he's not sure it's in Jack's initial descri...

"After I ran out? Not too much. I just tried to get away, really. Ran to where we'd left the vehicle and I drove it down here. Is... Is Edmund OK? A veteran from the Army of Callow, he's a strong sword-arm and I've never seen a shield so big used so well." Edmund Foundling being the adven...

Under the Sea The kuo-toa shrink away from the stone as more light emerges from its partial unwrapping, clearly uncomfortable with the bright light. It's not emitting heat, just light, and as a people who seem to be fully amphibious yet prefer dwelling in caves and at the bottom of the ocean, that ...

A Real Arcade "I don't like bullies, Asami. And even if I wanted to, I couldn't give you my gun. I need it because you're wrong. I can't let you handle everything dangerous. I need to hunt witches and their familiars, to keep my soul gem clear. Because I'm not a civilian, haven't been since be...

Ecbatana "We can do that, yes. Not even the first time I've escorted the princess amongst the people. Your predecessor usually dressed as a servant when she did, though... I'm not sure that's as needed in your case. Very few people know who you are yet." They'll use a lift to get to the g...

"Oh? That's good. How'd you find it? You all came back, so... was it a successful expedition?" The Keldon looks away from Sylas, no longer paying attention to the teenager as he's accosted by the cyborgs. He smiles, and seems entirely at ease. It's hard to say if this is what he expected ...

A Real Arcade "It's also wrong to shoot people for no reason. And getting angry isn't a good enough reason to shoot someone. Nor is it a good reason to threaten to shoot someone. Don't ever threaten anything you aren't willing to do, and those girls? They'd made my life hell . For years, and t...

Ecbatana "...Mostly by getting distracted when he's talking." The servant blushes as she makes the admission. "Generally, though? There's little shrines throughout the city where you can pray and leave donations or sacrifices. Most people don't need to interact with the priesthood to...

Under the Sea Internal water is unaffected; otherwise the kuo-toa wouldn't be able to get in and out at all. Still might mean Eddie has to cough some up to talk, though. "I don't know this word, 'sarcophagus'. I shall ensure the stone is arranged, you can have any of it you wish. Stone is some...

The Keldon is still here, a grey-skinned human with red eyes and white hair, a Keldon, wearing bronze lamellar armour and a matching helmet. He's armed with two weapons, an Orsimer sword and a Dwemer axe both hanging from his waist. He's also wearing a modern rucksack over the armour, with a bulky o...

Avian Arrivals "Some years ago, I rolled a dice and flooded Trog's a little. All these little ships appeared, and they had scraps of a map for sails. I gathered the map from the sails- and stopped the ships sinking each other, best as I could- and pieced it together when the effect wore off an...

Under the Sea Fortunately, that's in the Nexus, and potentially even nearby- its passage five years ago devastated this part of the sea, so it may be around. Frigate tugs once back, to let Eddie know he's still there. Eddie passes through the bubble and it doesn't react; although now he's in the dr...

Ecbatana "Of course, I have several ideas immediately. Either Ankothriz or Matrio." The first is quite clearly an orcish name; probably another refugee or ancestor thereof that settled in Ecbatana after the defeat and destruction of the Bloodplunder horde. Matrio is a harder name to place...