Inside

[quillpleasant]

Day of the Duel

Despite her delicate emotional state, Lia can't help but watch the duel with great interest. From a purely detached viewpoint, it's quite a spectacle. Although she is a little surprised at how one sided it seems. She really was expecting Sandels to have some ace in the hole. Of course, it's not over yet.

She listens to the warrior's exchange, glancing over at Bunny with narrowed eyes. Clearly there's some significance to the imp that she missed before, especially due to Sandels' dismissive attitude towards his old assistant. Always riddles, of course.

But Lia can't help but feel a twinge of... something, at the revelation that Sandels had asked Bunny for help, but not her. Likely she wouldn't be able to do whatever special reaper thing he's talking about, but she could have done something. But of course, none of that matters now.

So she continues to sit and watch, skin slowly fading to a sickly white as she eyes Bunny and Michalson conversing. After all this is over, Lia has some questions for the imp, if she can track her down.

[Morty]

[Day of the Duel]

Michalson doesn't budge an inch, staring ahead at the two duelists.

"I don't think so, Bunny. There's been enough runnin', hidin' and lyin' in this story. Time to make things clear. And I'm not going to let him take you or do anything else to you. That's a promise."

[Hraithre]

[Day of the Duel]

Hoshiki walks closer as Bunny and Michalson exchange words. Sandels is left standing some distance behind the swordsman, though the tip of Hoshiki's sword remains leveled at him.

"I respect the sentiment", the swordsman says, having heard Michalson's words, "but I hope you understand that I do not - cannot - support it." He towers before the detective and the little clay gargoyle, looking down at the latter. Bunny only keeps one eye on him, hiding the rest of her body behind Michalson as well as she can.

It matters not. As the swordsman focuses and draws in air, the veils of the mundane world are swept aside and the truth underneath revealed. In his eyes, the clay gargoyle crumbles to dust, revealing a bright blue flame, a shining from a small pearl within it. His eyes widen in recognition. "You are an artifice", he says, "a synthetic soul."

That's enough for Bunny. She lets go of Michalson and does her best to scurry away and take flight. Michalson might realize that if he doesn't stop her, the swordsman will, and it won't be pretty.

[Morty]

[Day of the Duel]

"Bunny, no. If you run, he'll catch you. But if you stay, he has to go through me." He steps back and tries to grab Bunny. With his right hand, which isn't easy for him and he winces with pain. But he has to do it, because his left hand goes to his gun. He doesn't draw it... yet. But the situation is deteriorating. "She's a synthetic soul you sods created for your purposes. But she doesn't belong to you anymore."

[quillpleasant]

Day of the Duel

Lia leans forward, eyes narrowing as the swordsman approaches Bunny and Michalson. This is not at all turning out the way she expected. What is Hoshiki planning? She gets to her feet, circling closer as she strains to listen in.

As Bunny turns to flee, Lia realizes that whatever the situation is, it's likely to go badly for the little imp, and regardless of how their last encounter went she bears no ill will towards her. In fact, she mainly feels bad for Bunny, who seems just as clueless and strung along as she's starting to feel herself. All the confusion and frustration and longing and loneliness Lia's been feeling since arriving in this strange world suddenly swirls together, crystallizing into self righteous anger.

The one thing that's been stopping her from interfering in the duel is her loyalty to Sandels. But look where loyalty has gotten Bunny. And now that Hoshiki is interfering with people outside the duel, that barrier is gone.

"Screw it," Lia mutters, then steps forward, raising her hands.

In response, the ground between Hoshiki and the two people he's menacing erupts, dirt flying into the air as a wall of thrashing fungal tentacles emerges. Thick as great serpents and resembling deep purple vines, they form a barrier in front of the swordsman, reaching out to snap and grasp, ready to entangle and constrict him should he advance on Michalson and Bunny.

"Don't you dare go after her," Lia snaps, "or you'll be going through me too."

[Halae]

[Barkley Library]

The Barkley Library is what some would call 'cozy'. Others might call it run down and badly illuminated, but those have never bothered the proprietor much; the books are good and well maintained, and they have a broad range of subjects, so they're hardly a problem as long as you can get a booth with a light. She's wearing a nice white blouse and a pair of jeans, both of which do little to conceal her prodigious curves.

Not that that's something Verity is doing. Being blind has relatively few perks, but being able to operate in the dark just as easily as in the light is one of them. She's currently sitting in her little booth with a braille book in front of her, sensitive hands going over the words in the text to read. She at the very least seems to be enjoying herself.

[Morty]

[Barkley Library]

A green-haired woman in a poncho enters the library morosely, carrying a book. Go talk to the necromancer, they said. See if she's not getting up to anything disruptive, they said. Yes, we know you're already handling Mary, PREP and the moonwells, but we don't have anyone else. Mercury damn it. Hopefully this necromancer is just a boring nerd who-

Whoa. Hiep stops when she actually sees the woman matching the description. They didn't tell her this necromancer was stacked. Maybe this job will be less dreary than she expected. She approaches her, more meekly than she normally would.

"Um. Excuse me. Are you Verity the necromancer?"

[Ironsmith]

[Spellman Sisters' Bookshoppe]

Oh.

Well.

That was a bit less "old lady doesn't know how to use her own phone" than Eun was expecting.

Which is... good, right? And they have an address if they need it, so there's that little bit of redundancy.

...She really needs to stop freaking out about this kind of thing. It always works out better than she anticipates.

[Halae]

[Barkley Library]

Verity takes her hand off the braille book in front of her, politely turning her head towards Hiep even though her eyes are still closed, "Yes? Are you looking for me?" she keeps her tone relatively quiet, to not disrupt others here in the library.

The necromancer chooses to take on a presentation of polite interest. She clearly doesn't like being interrupted in the middle of reading, but if someone knows her by name, it tends to mean they have a good reason for interrupting her.

[Shadowcaller]

A Dump in the City

Harley splutters in protestation at the red Raheeda's comment. "A what? Like, a lover? Because if you're talking about Artie, that was not almost anything, we could barely hold a conversa- oh, it doesn't matter. You're very nice, thank you. Lots of no-sex friends for sure." The bunny man shakes his head in bewilderment.

The tire is a good distraction. "Yeah, what she said!" Harley gestures menacingly in the vague direction of the witch. "Don't mess with people or we'll bring that...thing back, and make you regret it." Intimidating words. Eager to be gone, Harley quickly walks after the Raheedas, glancing back every now and then to make sure the witches aren't following.

[A Dump in the City -> Last Known Address]

The witch doesn't actually reply; at this stage, she likely thinks provoking them into further conversation will make them stay longer, the exact opposite of what she wants. She'll offer no further interaction with them before they leave... though with Harley looking back, he may catch a glimpse of a raccoon wearing a floppy black hat scurrying away from the garbage pile.

The address the witch gave them is a long, but walkable, distance away from their current location. There's plenty of time to continue the conversation on the way there.

[Last Known Address]

Raheeda raises an eyebrow in response to his sputtering. "Oh." She scratches her chin before her hand returns to her spear which she has pressed against the back of her neck while they walk.

"So you didn't want her to be your 'lover'?" She adds after a little while of thought as they leave the dump behind them. "Honestly, I just wanted her to feel a bit better about herself since she had all these human parts and I think she was insecure about that."

Before he can get a response in there's suddenly an abrupt splashing sound as Blooedheeda turns into a puddle of blood once more. Raheeda stops and turns around. Casually stabbing the bloodied ground with her spear which causes the blood to start to climb up along it like the weapon was sucking it up.
"So do you like human parts or is it more bunny parts you're into?" She inquires as this is going on.

[Morty]

[Barkley Library]

Wait... was she reading with her eyes closed? She's touching the book. Is it some kind of sightless reading? This might make what's about to happen really awkward. For now, Hiep manages to pull her eyes away from Verity's chest and lift the book she's holding.

"I am. I was told you're a renowned necromancer so I hoped you can tell me more about a book I've found. It concerns undead and I don't know how dangerous it is."

[Halae]

[Barkley Library]

"Hmm. Well, I should be able to help in that regard. Let me take a look at it," Verity says, and her eyes finally open. Hiep will no doubt recognize that her eyes are entirely blind, being milky white orbs through and through with barely a hint of where her iris and pupil should be. And despite that, she regards the book as if she can see it.

In actual fact, she's activated a pair of spells she's adapted to her unique circumstances; one that allows her to see magic itself in the environment, and one that allows her to see souls. With Hiep cloaked in a Resplendent Destiny she's likely safe from the surface-level scrutiny that the soul sight provides. Besides, she's primarily regarding the book; if the book's words themselves are dangerous, chances are they'll be enchanted, something she'll be able to see. Especially if there's a spirit or something bound to it.

[quillpleasant]

Last Known Address

Harley looks at the sky, then at the ground, then straight ahead as he processes Raheeda's questions. After a lifetime of trickery, this kind of bluntness is a little hard to get used to. Luckily, Bloodheeda's sudden collapse gives him a moment to think- although he still winces at the sight.

"Ah, how do I put this? I'd only want a lover who I knew well, who was also my friend and who I enjoyed spending time with. Artie was lovely, she certainly has nothing to be insecure about, but we didn't get along. We could never have gotten close enough for anything more." He shrugs. "I guess I've changed a lot since I was a rabbit, since they're usually, uh... well they're not so picky."

He thrusts his hands into his jacket pockets, regaining his interest in the ground. "And on that topic, I like humanish parts. Since I'm in a humanish form. Although I do find people who have human and non-human aspects more interesting." Harley suddenly turns towards Raheeda, playfully wagging a finger. "Hey, fair's fair- what kind of people are you into?" She's not the only one who can ask personal questions, after all.

[Shadowcaller]

Last Known Address

Raheeda answers without any hesitation. "I dunno." She shrugs as she rests the handle of the spear against her neck again and slowly starts to wander forward. "Never really considered it. Don't get a good read on most human-ish people and, uh, I didn't bothered with my own. Everyone's just a bit too complicated for me, y'know? I prefer when things are simple and straight forward." She lulls her head in a nodding motion as she walks.

[Keeper]

Spellman Sisters' Bookshoppe
"It's, uh, [phone number]." Sekhmet recites falteringly, unsure of whether she's correct. "Or, uh, the people at GLoG can contact me in other ways. Or, uh, if you have the time to travel, you can find me at [address]." The address in question is out in the middle of nowhere on a tropical island. It's several hours by Riftline to take a ferry for a few more hours to the village on the island, then another hour or so of driving or longer on foot to reach the manor; a location chosen partly because of its remoteness.

Spellman Sisters' Bookshoppe

"Well, thank you. We'll be in touch." She glances around.
"Now uh, what exactly am I supposed to be doing here, Eun? Like, do you just want me to take over shopping, or...?"

[bc56]

Spellman Sisters' Bookshoppe
"I will, uh, hopefully see you later," Sekhmet replies, and moves to head back towards the counter. She never did find out if the book she needed was in.

[quillpleasant]

Last Known Address

Harley nods understandingly. "Straight forward is good, I like that. If there's anything most humans love, it's being complicated."

He kicks at the ground as they walk. "You know, in most ways its nice to have sapience and be able to see the world as more than just what's right in front of me, but sometimes I miss just being a rabbit. Rabbits don't care about any of the stupid stuff people think is important, they just want to stay alive and have fun. Maybe they're smarter than us in that way."

"Of course, rabbits also get eaten a lot. So, some ups some downs." Looking around at the buildings, Harley tries to see what street they're on. "You know what's complicated? This adventure. I hope this bring a lot of happiness to that dude for it to be worth what we've had to do."

[Shadowcaller]

Last Known Address

"'Love'?" Raheeda inquires as she tilts her head. "That's the same thing as sex-stuff, right? Since I've heard that word a lot but I'm not quite sure what it means." And she had assumed it was just a different word for sex for a long time.
"And I'm pretty sure bunnies are like-" For once she seems to hesitate before she speaks.

"-less smart than us. Otherwise they wouldn't get eaten so much. Besides, a bunny wouldn't have been able to do all this. We just defeated a coven of really mean witches and are on our way to help a nice witch. So that's like a good deed in a good deed, yeah? A bonus which I'm sure will stack up a lot once we find her."

[Morty]

[Barkley Library]

Oh boy. Looks like she really is blind. That bit of information was suspiciously missing from her intel. And the book she was reading earlier had some bumps on the pages... to be read with your fingers, presumably. So she might not be able to glean anything from the book Hiep brought.

The words of the book aren't magical, but it's steeped in latent necromantic essence. It must have been used for such purposes many times. It concerns Nephwracks, which are extremely dangerous undead beings. Insane ghost-priests of unliving terrors even this book hesitates to name. The book contains instructions on how to summon them, if someone was reckless enough to do such a thing.

[Halae]

[Barkley Library]

"It's a good thing you came to check before reading that, miss," Verity says, "I wouldn't trust anybody but an expert with that kind of tome; the magic inside is dangerous, and while I wouldn't ask that you hand it over to me, I do ask that you have it contained if you don't intend to dispose of it. Find a wizard you trust and have them vault it if possible. I don't know what it's about - I sadly cannot read it - but I can feel the spirit aspects on it. Whatever it's designed to summon is going to be unfriendly, to put it mildly."

Trick is being earnest here; that book is a danger, and it should be handled by a professional. If that ends up not being her, that's fine, but she is fit to deal with it.

[quillpleasant]

Last Known Address

"Love is..." Harley begins, then whistles. "That's a big question. It's different from sex- that's just an act, sometimes with meaning, sometimes not. Love can mean that you just really like something, like 'I love food' or 'I love the rain.'"

He looks up at the sky. It feels strange to be the kind of person who cares enough to explain this. "When you love another person though, that means that you care about each other, you enjoy their presence, and you know them. Like, uh, you know who they are, their good and bad, and it makes them beautiful to you." He shrugs. "And there's usually sex too, I guess, but there doesn't have to be."

Harley chuckles at the bunny comment. "Yeah, bunnies are really dumb. That's why their lives are simple. But you're right, we're doing a lot more good in the world than any bunny could do, so all things considered, I'm glad things worked out the way they did."

[Shadowcaller]

Last Known Address

"Ohh! It's like-" Raheeda emits what's either a singular longer hissing noise or a short series of them. "-,'sexfriend'. A friend you have sex with. Or want to have sex with, maybe? I guess it isn't a perfect translation." It sure sounded like a complicated term.

"But if you feel bad about bunnies being dumb, remember that they're also cute. Very cute. Not like those hares-" A pause. "So what's your opinions on hares anyway? Since they're like... different, right?"

[Hraithre]

[Day of the Duel]

Michalson manages to grab Bunny's leg and holds her in place even as she frantically flaps her wings, trying to get away. "No, you fool! All it means is he will go through you!"

Hoshiki opens his mouth to comment, but before he can, the mass of fungi erupts from the ground, forming a wall between the swordsman and his quarry. He takes a step back and gives Lia a look. "Very well." That's all warning she gets before the swordsman springs into action. He turns his sword to cut through the mass of tentacles while his other hand, with the same motion, throws Sandels's polaxe at her with tremendous force.

Meanwhile, Sandels himself whistles once, and the metal horse is suddenly by his side. He grabs the saddle and hoists himself on the beast's back as it suddenly sprints and leaps over Lia's barrier, landing far behind Michalson. The Reaper turns his steed around and points one finger in the Detective's direction...

[Morty]

[Day of the Duel]

"He can bloody well try! Now settle down, I need both hands for this. Even if one of 'em is useless."

With Hoshiki temporarily occupied by Lia, Michalson can focus on Sandels. Who is, apparently, also trying something instead of being smart about it. Piking leather-head sodding addle-cove berks. When Sandels reaches out, Michalson frowns (even more, that is) and concentrates. Any magic or supernatural force Sandels is trying to use will find itself blocked, smothered and stymied. It's a disturbing feeling.

[Barkley Library]

...shit. Is this book really so bad? Hiep had no idea. How long has she been holding on to it?

"I can't use it myself anyway. I'm not really a magician. But I didn't know it was that dangerous. I found it in an abandoned laboratory in the middle of nowhere."

[Halae]

[Barkley Library]

"Worrisome. That laboratory should be checked over for magical phenomena, I think. Do you have time to lead me to it right now?"

Verity closes the book on the table and stands up, which may be slightly disruptive to Hiep's thought processes as it shows off the full might of Verity's fertility goddess-like physique.

[Morty]

[Barkley Library]

There is indeed a weighty pause as Hiep's train of thought crashes into some lush, verdant hills.

"Whaaa- I mean. Yeah! Sure. I'm not doing anything important. And I wander around a lot anyway."

[Halae]

[Barkley Library]

There's a small, knowing smile on Verity's face. You don't have to see to know what that pause was about, "Then we'd best get a move on. Please, lead the way. I assume you have some kind of transport we can ride?"

[Rebonack]

Auction
"Yeah that's a tricky thing. Wonder what we'd see using it on us?" The heart's desire? There are lots of things that could be. Especially because people don't know what they really want. "But I don't think it's as good as it sounds. Greatest desire isn't always overpowering. And people resist being tricked."
Jason's had maybe a little more wine than he should. His vocabulary is somewhat plainer than usual.

Morning Glory has had plenty of wine herself, but she's probably going to be fine for a while yet. She's an earth pony, after all. And earth ponies are at least on par with dwarves when it comes to holding their liquor. Their hard cider is enough to absolutely knock someone's socks clean off. Honestly it's more of an apple brandy.

Regardless!

The bidding goes back and forth a few times, though eventually the object gets a winner. A rather devious looking little man with an impish grin and a withered hand and a bloodshot eye flanked by a pair of gargoyles waiting on him. The two gargoyles are both wearing maid outfits. MG doesn't recognize the guy, but then again given the number of do-badders in the Nexus that isn't shocking.

"The next item is the ferrous core, once the heart of the first iron golem and now endowed with tremendous ferro-kinetic potential. Bidding will begin at-"

Again.

Lots of money.

A man with a wiry mustache immediately raises his hand.

MG squints at him and then whispers, "I'm pretty sure that's Master Magnigauntlet without his stupid helmet."

[bc56]

Auction
"Who else would be so eager to have the world's biggest magnet?" Jason asks. "I might have to come to more of these. Knowing what everyone else has got could be useful." Obviously his hand stays down. Even if it would be useful to foil these villains' plans before they even start, Jason only has lots of money, not unlimited money. He'd better only bid on the one thing.
But that doesn't mean he can't take advantage of the situation somehow. His watch contains a hidden camera. He can surreptitiously take photos of both winners and look them up in his databases later. Especially totally-not-Magnigauntlet, since he's got a secret identity and all that.

[quillpleasant]

Last Known Address

Harley nods, a little defeatedly. "Hm, yeah, sexfriend. Yeah, that's close enough. I guess I'm not exactly an expert- I've been in love with someone, but the feeling wasn't mutual." In fact, she nearly drowned him.

"And bunnies are pretty cute, we agree on that," he says with a chuckle, "Although not the best conversationalists. As for hares..." He unconsciously thumps his foot against the ground. "They're, uh... they're different. Like how apes and humans are the same but different. I never knew about them when I was a rabbit, and when I did discover them I kind of didn't believe in them for a while. Thought someone was playing a joke on me."

He glances at Raheeda. "So on this topic, what are your feelings on snakes? I know you're not one, but you have some connections, right?"

-

Day of the Duel

The fungus wall proves quite resistant to slicing- it's dense and woody, and it reaches out to grab at the sword even as it's being cut. Hoshiki's sword does break an opening through it, but he might find it difficult to pull the sword back out, as the tentacles begin to wrap themselves around the blade and his arm.

Lia has little time for triumph, though. She's not the fastest, and truly wasn't expecting the situation to escalate even further. The poleaxe pierces through her soft flesh like a hot knife through butter, impaling her and sticking into the ground behind her.

"Oh. But I didn't get to..." Lavender blood spills out of the corner of her mouth and she coughs, beginning to slump. The poleaxe, still fixed through her chest, is all that stops her from collapsing to the ground.

However, this doesn't seem to slow the fungal tentacles at all. If anything, they attack with even more frenzy than before.