Trog's Tavern: Roman Numerals Are Dumb

[Hraithre]

Both the armored man and Hoshiki stare into the distance for a moment.

Hoshiki finds himself thinking of pagoda reflected on the water of a lake, with a range of mountains visible in the horizon. He thinks of boats on the river, and along the coast of the ocean, and of the narrow alleyways through old town. He remembers stealing bread and sometimes lemons from the marketplace when he was kid. He remembers great walls separating the worlds of nobles and commoners like him, and he recalls stepping through crimson gates into that another world, to begin his path as a warrior. A thousand men in black and white, carrying swords, spears and other weapons, flash in his mind, his brothers in arms once, but their faces have long since faded from memory or blurred together. A thousand battles, against men and monsters both.

The armored man recalls snowfall. He remembers building snowmen with his dad once, when he was just four years old. He recalls getting on the saddle of his bike, hitting the road, leaving his childhood home behind. He recalls a life of cheap booze and strong women, or maybe it was the other way around, all culminating in a pointless fight over the wrong thing. He sees himself in a hospital, standing next to his own dying body, with a black figure whispering into his ears how he will surely go to Hell for the life he lead. He sees the snow again, piling on crashed cars, on mangled bodies crushed between twisted steel. He sees burning buildings, children lost in the woods, wives beaten to death by their husbands, husband who shot themselves.

"... it was different", Hoshiki says.

"... it was different", the armored man says.

"Less angels."

"Less Christmas elves, or whatever they're supposed to be."

"I doubt either of us would recognize it if we got back. It was always changing."

"Oh, indeed. It has changed, while we've been gone."

Hoshiki raises an eyebrow. "And how do you know?"

The armored man shrugs. "Someone came looking for me. Got a word from them."

[Keeper]

"Well, if you say so. It's unfortunate that you're stuck with kind of a mess like that," Verity shrugs. Not much she can do here.

Henry shrugs, unsure.
"Well, I mean really I did pretty okay. The House's curse made me a big shark. My sister's a biohazard when she gets upset, Eli's a giant spider and my stepdad is a talking painting. Honestly I don't know why they don't burn the place to the ground but I guess I'm already cursed so I have time to talk to them about it."

[Halae]

"That's the strangest set of heteromorphs I've ever heard of," Verity comments, frowning, "This curse sounds absolutely fascinating, but I also don't want to get anywhere near it."

[Keeper]

"That's the strangest set of heteromorphs I've ever heard of," Verity comments, frowning, "This curse sounds absolutely fascinating, but I also don't want to get anywhere near it."

Henry shakes his head.
"The House is entirely safe. For anyone not related to us by blood or marriage. Not that I suggest visiting anyway. You'd have to spend time with my family and they're...a lot. I don't know how they deal with outsiders, really. For obvious reasons I've never introduced Owena even though we've been on a few dates..."
He thinks her already being a vampire should be enough to protect her buuuuut....

[Halae]

"Safe? It turned you into a shark! How is that safe?" Verity boggles at Henry. Was he serious? "Just because it's selective doesn't mean it's safe."

[Keeper]

"I said safe to everyone not related to us. You aren't. Unfortunately, I am. I mean I certainly wouldn't have taken my chances if I had known. But I wasn't really given a choice about that one."
Henry is still rather angry about that. If Eli had told him what would likely happen he'd still be just over a hundred pounds and with a full head of hair and a face that isn't mostly nose and teeth. Of course he also would still be working his horrible retail job so there have been some upsides.

[Halae]

The blind woman lets out a sigh, "Well, I hope you manage to get that worked out. I've met plenty of people with odd bodies before, and they almost always hate it on some level."

[Ironsmith]

Jerick sits at a table, gnome-sized of course, near the edge of the tavern, tinkering with some kind of mechanical object. Since arriving here a few months ago, he has made himself at home, setting up his workshop in one of the rooms. The rent is reasonable, and he can get some profit by selling his inventions and potions to the general public of the Nexus, in turn buying supplies to make more inventions and potions. Although, a proper home and shop couldn't hurt... Alas, that may have to wait.

skrrrrrn!

One of the stools groans as it's pulled out from under the table, and promptly put into use. "Hey there. I hear you make potions. You willing to do any commission work?"

Jerrick's new companion is a short-ish woman with frizzled blonde hair, standing at somewhere just over five feet tall and clad head-to-toe in leather; the boots, the jacket, the pants, even the little choker around her neck with the heart-shaped pendant dangling from it, all black leather with little silver studs strategically inserted at various points. She gives the gnome a small, friendly smile that doesn't seem to quite reach her eyes as she sits in front of him, picking her nails nervously.

"...I am talking to the right guy, right? Jerrick Copper... something. Head? Hand? Foot? It's something like that..." She scratches her cheek under her eye anxiously and grimaces. "I... probably should have opened with that. If I've got the wrong guy this is super embarrassing... stupid, stupid, that's not how you open a business meeting, Marianne..."

[Earl of Purple]

"Interesting, mostly. Beyond that, not fussy. Human, elvish, minotaur, male, female, other, doesn't really matter so much as 'are they interesting' and 'are they interested', y'know?" Mina's in the first category, not the second. "Probably not a centaur or something, that seems more trouble than it's worth." Somebody not built like a centaur might have trouble reaching all the interesting places. A talking bird is also likely on the table, even if Jack herself might not be. Some of her relatives in the Clattering have been known to nest with normal jackdaws, though typically it's looked down on.

[ForTheGnomes]

skrrrrrn!

One of the stools groans as it's pulled out from under the table, and promptly put into use. "Hey there. I hear you make potions. You willing to do any commission work?"

Jerrick's new companion is a short-ish woman with frizzled blonde hair, standing at somewhere just over five feet tall and clad head-to-toe in leather; the boots, the jacket, the pants, even the little choker around her neck with the heart-shaped pendant dangling from it, all black leather with little silver studs strategically inserted at various points. She gives the gnome a small, friendly smile that doesn't seem to quite reach her eyes as she sits in front of him, picking her nails nervously.

"...I am talking to the right guy, right? Jerrick Copper... something. Head? Hand? Foot? It's something like that..." She scratches her cheek under her eye anxiously and grimaces. "I... probably should have opened with that. If I've got the wrong guy this is super embarrassing... stupid, stupid, that's not how you open a business meeting, Marianne..."

Jerick looks up from his work at the person that was now talking to him. He curiously examines the person, head to toe. "Yup, that's me, and I do indeed do commission work. Even if you didn't have the right guy, I would probably be able to find them." Jerick put down the screwdriver and tweezers that he was using and took the glove off from his non-copper hand. "So, what do ya need? Healing elixirs? Body modification salves? Explosives? Whatever you need I probably got it. If I don't have it, I can probably make it."

[Ironsmith]

"Healing elixir, yeah." The angel replies with a nod, scratching at her arm. "Or something very much like it. You see, I... have a bit of a problem." She waves to a passing server and places a quick order for a bottle of wine, before returning her attention to Jerrick. "Lately, my life's gotten kind of... rough. I'll spare you the details, but the short version is that I've been under a lot of stress. To the point where it's getting in the way of being able to do much of anything about it. I can't eat, I can't sleep, I can't even sit still for very long without getting antsy." She grimaces, running her hands over her arms worriedly. "...And to top it all off, I've found myself with a medical condition the prevents a lot of the usual treatments from working. So I have to turn to a... a different source, if you get my meaning."

Being technically dead is a medical condition, right?

[ForTheGnomes]

"Healing elixir, yeah." The angel replies with a nod, scratching at her arm. "Or something very much like it. You see, I... have a bit of a problem." She waves to a passing server and places a quick order for a bottle of wine, before returning her attention to Jerrick. "Lately, my life's gotten kind of... rough. I'll spare you the details, but the short version is that I've been under a lot of stress. To the point where it's getting in the way of being able to do much of anything about it. I can't eat, I can't sleep, I can't even sit still for very long without getting antsy." She grimaces, running her hands over her arms worriedly. "...And to top it all off, I've found myself with a medical condition the prevents a lot of the usual treatments from working. So I have to turn to a... a different source, if you get my meaning."

Being technically dead is a medical condition, right?

"Oh, I see." Jerick stood in silent thought for a moment. Jerick face turned slightly more serious than his normal jovial self. "I need you to come with me." Jerick picked up the mechanical object he was working on and stuffed it into one of his numerous pouches. Jerick walked towards the stairs and went to the next level of the tavern, where all the rooms were located.

[Keeper]

"Interesting, mostly. Beyond that, not fussy. Human, elvish, minotaur, male, female, other, doesn't really matter so much as 'are they interesting' and 'are they interested', y'know?" Mina's in the first category, not the second. "Probably not a centaur or something, that seems more trouble than it's worth." Somebody not built like a centaur might have trouble reaching all the interesting places. A talking bird is also likely on the table, even if Jack herself might not be. Some of her relatives in the Clattering have been known to nest with normal jackdaws, though typically it's looked down on.

"Well, fair enough. I can't say I'd want to be dating a centaur either. Poor folk probably have it even harder than me finding a date. "
Truly it's fortunate that Mist Anders was already dating a tauric person when he became a local centaur god.
"Sounds like you have a big definition of Interesting."

The blind woman lets out a sigh, "Well, I hope you manage to get that worked out. I've met plenty of people with odd bodies before, and they almost always hate it on some level."

"Some level?" Henry sighs. "Well I can't say I'm particularly fond of being a fish. Even if Owena kind of likes it. Or the fact that the House decided I have to be built like a wrestler on a bulking diet. I have been told that I look huggable but I think that opinion is generally in the minority. And the ghost-eyes scare people off."
Henry does his best to be comedic as he gestures at his face and middle.
"Good news though, I'm probably immortal?" he doesn't seem particularly happy about that, either.

[Halae]

"I'm sure that'll be worth plenty in two hundred years. Right now, it means relatively little," Verity confirms, "Seriously, do you want me to look at the curse on you? Even if I can't do much, it might be important to have details."

[Reinholdt]

[Sacrilege]

And rings... until Reinholdt picks up! The sound of feminine giggling can be heard and a quick shushing sound. "This had better be real important."

Reinholdt glances at Kyne and Soteira, trying to gauge how important is real important. "Ah, well it i-"

He's cut off by the sounds of more giggling over the receiver and Rein distantly, but audibly saying "Mmmm... no! Bad Arielle! Sit! Stayyyy... good girl." A little more clearly as his mouth returns to the phone, he adds "Sorry, yes?"

Trog's Rein clears his throat. "It's Kyne and Soteira. They're saying they want to meet up with you for a follow up session regarding whatever happened the last time you saw them."

This piques Reinholdt's interest. "Do they? ... Alas, I'm going to be busy for awhile. You should really handle them yourself this time. Or send them over to Riverside Rein. I heard To- uup. Gottagobye." Reinholdt sounds like he just fell over or something pushed him and the phone goes dead even as Trog's Rein starts to protest.

Rein bites his lip a little and lowers the phone. "Ah... well... Rein said you should talk to the Riverside one first," Reinholdt says, more interested in diffusing the goddess' wrath via distance and time than he is performing any follow up anything right now.

[Ironsmith]

"Oh, I see." Jerick stood in silent thought for a moment. Jerick face turned slightly more serious than his normal jovial self. "I need you to come with me." Jerick picked up the mechanical object he was working on and stuffed it into one of his numerous pouches. Jerick walked towards the stairs and went to the next level of the tavern, where all the rooms were located.

Marianne grimaces at that. The gnome's sudden change in demeanor doesn't bode well. It sounds a lot like he's either about to turn her down, tell her that she should be seeing someone instead of trying to find relief at the bottom of a bottle, or both. The apparent need to move to a more private area to have this conversation certainly doesn't imply that this is going to go smoothly.

But, on the other hand, that might be him deciding he doesn't want to share the details of this arrangement with the rest of Trogs' patrons. It might still be worth pursuing.

So the angel stands up, claims the bottle of wine that was just delivered, and follows him up the stairs.

[ForTheGnomes]

Marianne grimaces at that. The gnome's sudden change in demeanor doesn't bode well. It sounds a lot like he's either about to turn her down, tell her that she should be seeing someone instead of trying to find relief at the bottom of a bottle, or both. The apparent need to move to a more private area to have this conversation certainly doesn't imply that this is going to go smoothly.

But, on the other hand, that might be him deciding he doesn't want to share the details of this arrangement with the rest of Trogs' patrons. It might still be worth pursuing.

So the angel stands up, claims the bottle of wine that was just delivered, and follows him up the stairs.

Once the two were upstairs, Jerick ushered the woman into his room. Inside, it was much larger than its exterior, and packed to the brim with anything magical, mechanical, or anything in between. To the side of the room, was a gnome-sized workstation with a wooden chair to match. In the corner farthest from the door was a small bed. The walls were covered with shelves with potions, books, boxes of stuff, and jars filled with much stranger stuff.

Jerick took the chair from the workstation and placed in in the center of the room. He took out a long steel rod and pointed it at the chair. The chair grew in size to fit a human. Jerick gestured to the woman. "Sit." Jerick moved stuff around the workstation, clearing a space in the middle.

[Ironsmith]

If she's weirded out by the spacetime shenanigans that enable the existence of a room that's bigger on the inside, or by any of the myriad of inventions lining the walls, floors, tables, shelves, and any other surface, Marianne doesn't show it. Instead, she simply does as is requested of her; sitting in the incredible reverse-shrinking chair and waiting to hear what Jerick has to say.

[Earl of Purple]

"Well... honestly dating's not really something I'm looking for. I like interesting people, and I don't want to be chained to one. Because no matter how interesting, one person won't stay that way, y'know? Uh, maybe not. Maybe I'll settle down, I'll want to before I have chicks, but maybe I won't have chicks. I'll try to be better than my mother at least." Jack smiles a bit at the admission, though since Mina wasn't interested anyway it's not like it particularly matters. The comments about chicks might be a surprise, though; I'm pretty sure- minus the wings, which she's stated weren't original- Jack hasn't yet given any clues to her avian nature.

[ForTheGnomes]

If she's weirded out by the spacetime shenanigans that enable the existence of a room that's bigger on the inside, or by any of the myriad of inventions lining the walls, floors, tables, shelves, and any other surface, Marianne doesn't show it. Instead, she simply does as is requested of her; sitting in the incredible reverse-shrinking chair and waiting to hear what Jerick has to say.

"Okay, so I need you to tell me exactly what is wrong, when it went wrong, and how long it has been wrong." As he says this, Jerick walks around the room, grabbing different boxes off different shelves and setting them on the workstation. He also retrieves a large mechanical device, almost as big as his head, and places it in the empty space he created on the workstation. He grabs a flask out of one of the boxes and places it in a slot where it seems like the potion will end up.

[Keeper]

"I'm sure that'll be worth plenty in two hundred years. Right now, it means relatively little," Verity confirms, "Seriously, do you want me to look at the curse on you? Even if I can't do much, it might be important to have details."

Henry seems unsure, glancing about the room.
"Um. Well, if you think it's a good idea. If tinkering with it would be dangerous to anyone it would probably be you." he warns. Well, unless tinkering with it severs the magic binding him to his body and he dies. But that's improbable.

"Well... honestly dating's not really something I'm looking for. I like interesting people, and I don't want to be chained to one. Because no matter how interesting, one person won't stay that way, y'know? Uh, maybe not. Maybe I'll settle down, I'll want to before I have chicks, but maybe I won't have chicks. I'll try to be better than my mother at least." Jack smiles a bit at the admission, though since Mina wasn't interested anyway it's not like it particularly matters. The comments about chicks might be a surprise, though; I'm pretty sure- minus the wings, which she's stated weren't original- Jack hasn't yet given any clues to her avian nature.

"Yeah, I dunno. I guess as long as everyone's ok with that sort of arrangement it's all good. Not sure what I want to do for that sort of thing. Or when. Luckily I have time to think about it." Mina's estate is certainly big enough for a family. But she thinks she ought to work out her own identity before she starts making a family.

[Ironsmith]

"...Uh-huh." Marianne frowns. "...How... exact do you need me to be? The details are a bit private." She pauses, steepling her hands together and briefly dipping them forward to point at Jerick. "...Very private. As in, I'd probably need you to sign an NDA before I go into it. And... probably a few other legal waivers. But... I can tell you that my problems started in earnest a few months ago. Beyond my ability to manage, that is. And they sort of escalated from there into what I have today."

[ForTheGnomes]

"...Uh-huh." Marianne frowns. "...How... exact do you need me to be? The details are a bit private." She pauses, steepling her hands together and briefly dipping them forward to point at Jerick. "...Very private. As in, I'd probably need you to sign an NDA before I go into it. And... probably a few other legal waivers. But... I can tell you that my problems started in earnest a few months ago. Beyond my ability to manage, that is. And they sort of escalated from there into what I have today."

"I need it to be very exact. I can wipe my memory after this is all over so that there would be no harm done, if need be." As Jerick talked about memory wiping, he pulled out a pen from one of his pouches. The pen was very well crafted and had a jewel on the writing end of it. "Now, please continue."

[Ironsmith]

"...One moment." Marianne takes the pen (or another one, if there's any lying around) and writes out a brief contract, stating in no uncertain terms that Jerick would erase his memory when they're done here; clearly, she wasn't kidding about that Non-Disclosure Agreement. Despite the haste with which the contract is penned, her handwriting is impeccable; she's done this before and the entire agreement seems to flow out of the pen naturally, producing a document with an almost calligraphic quality that she then hands to Jerick to sign. If he does, she'll then give it a moment to dry before folding it up and tucking it away in her jacket and letting out a shaky sigh.

"...First, there's some context you should know." She begins, wrapping her arms around herself. "I'm not quite what I appear to be, which... will make what I have to say confusing, at best. So... let me just..."

The room is bathed in a golden glow as the angel slowly unfurls her wings, and in doing so, dispels the illusion around her of a mortal guise. The being looking at Jerick now is still humanoid, and in fact has most of the same features she did before, but is backlit by some unseen light, which appears to be but cannot possibly be right behind her head. She no longer seems to properly fit into her surroundings; the unseen light conspires to give her the rough appearance of someone who was spliced into a photo, drawn overtop of reality.

"...So... yeah. I'm an angel." She says with an awkward little shrug. "...Kind of a new one, I guess. I'm still trying to figure out how to bring it up in casual conversation without... you know. Weirdness."

[ForTheGnomes]

Jerick signs the contract in a messy but legible handwriting that is reminiscent of a twelve-year-old's. After he was done signing, he put the pen back in his pocket. When the woman revealed her angelic nature, curiosity sparked in Jerick's eyes. This may be the one and only chance he could have to study a celestial. However, he held back the desire to do tests in favor of the current situation. "Okay, so you are a celestial being. How does this produce your problem?"

[Ironsmith]

"Well, that's where things get a little dicey." Marianne begins, drawing her wings back around herself and returning to her more natural-appearing state. "See, where I come from, angels and demons both are... well, we're dead people. Sort of. It's all a bit..." She makes a vague balancing gesture with her hands. "We angels get to live on in a paradise called Elysium, but demons... well, they're stuck in hell. Or rather, the Lethean Abyss. And that's a bit of a problem, because as it happens, some of my best friends are demons." She winces. "I didn't want them to be stuck down there, which would eventually end with them being... well, dead-dead, as opposed to living-as-a-demon dead. So I tried to find a way to bring them to Elysium with me, but the specifics... sort of required me to, um..." She rubs at her arm and looks away. "...do the kind of thing that I wouldn't want to confess in front of the police."

[ForTheGnomes]

"Well, in that case, I see two options. Either directly turn you into a demon or directly turn your friends into angels. Or kill all of your celestial and infernal forms, then resurrect you all as immortals, which believe me is possible, so make that three options. Or maybe you have an idea of your own? Or maybe the problem is something else entirely that I'm not seeing?" At this point, Jerick's workstation has been fully set up and he is now walking back and forth.

[Ironsmith]

Marianne grimaces at that. "That's... sort of what I ended up doing, yes." She says. "There's no direct way to turn an angel into a demon or vice versa. But... well, until recently, I was a demon, just like them. Then I was killed by a demon hunter, but thanks to a psychopomp who happened to be nearby- long story- I got a retrial and ended up being an angel this time around. And wouldn't you know it, paradise is a lot better than hell. So I tried to recreate the effect for my friends, so we could all go to paradise together."

Perfectly logical, right?

"...But it went all wrong. My g... my best friend among them, she didn't take too well to me... well, putting out a hit. On them." Marianne pops the cork off the wine bottle and grimaces. "And she learned about it after one of them had already been... after the plan already unfolded for one of them. And the demon hunter wasn't exactly gentle with her. She died a needlessly cruel death, she might not even get to Elysium, and the rest of the band doesn't even want anything to do with me anymore." She takes a swig from the bottle and shakes her head. "...And I'm the reason for all of that. It's my fault. But... I don't even know what I did wrong. If I were put through the same thing again, I... I think I'd still do it the same way. I'd still have to. But it still sucks." She shakes her head and upends the bottle into her mouth, chugging it about halfway empty before she'll say anything else to Jerick.

[ForTheGnomes]

"Well, I did know a demon hunter for a while. He taught me a lot about monster's weaknesses, but nothing about celestials and demons." Jerick picked up a roughly bound book from one of the shelves, skimmed through it, and put it back as if confirming something. "I think if I kill your friends in their demonic forms, I can resurrect them directly as angels instead of having them live a full life before dying again which might lead to them ending right back in hell. But for that to happen, I would need to run a few tests of which you might not like."

[Halae]

Henry seems unsure, glancing about the room.
"Um. Well, if you think it's a good idea. If tinkering with it would be dangerous to anyone it would probably be you." he warns. Well, unless tinkering with it severs the magic binding him to his body and he dies. But that's improbable.

"I just want to check it over for now; 'tinkering' needs to wait until I properly understand the spell matrix and the dangers associated with it. It's like when dealing with electronics - you want to peer inside to understand what everything does so you can know whether it's safe to start messing with it, and you certainly want it to be unplugged before you try."

Verity reaches out to take that fancy crystal and gold staff from the wall, and moves to wave the prism that floats above it over Henry. It should help Verity with understanding the spell matrix as she casts an examination spell upon it, attempting to get a good look at the curse without disrupting it.