Trog's Tavern: Roman Numerals Are Dumb

[Morty]

"Yeah, never seen them before. Don't worry, though it happens. Sometimes a prophecy just mis-" Hiep trails off when the very loud phone call happens. "That was someone I met, though. Anika. We kicked some ass together. So I guess your thing worked after all."

[Rebonack]

"Huh."

That would be Zee's reply to everything that just went down.

"Okay, well, that wasn't exactly what I was expecting would happen," Zee muses. "But sometimes a little surprise keeps life interesting! Anika's a pretty interesting person, that's for sure! I've bumped into her a few times when I've been out and about and I know my daughter Lapis really looks up to her."

There's a good chance that the VIGIL commanders aren't big fans of Lapis looking up to Anika.

"I could probably try getting ahold of her for you, if you like?" a beat. "I mean, call her. Like on a phone. I could arrange a meeting, maybe? Help her recall the aforementioned ass-kicking?"

Oh no Zee is shipping.

How could the world have come to this?

[Ironsmith]

"No! No, thank you. Having my fingers bitten off hurt. and... I can't hold things as easily with that hand any more." The little finger and the ring finger don't seem like they do much most of the time, but they do make it far easier to hold things. "He was, when my brother died. But... I don't know how long I was in the box. I can maybe take us where we lived, though? He should still be there, if it wasn't too long." Samantha takes quite a large bite from her panini before her eyes widen and she takes another.

"Didn't think so. And I probably wouldn't have cut them off even if you asked. Seems like a waste of perfectly good digits." Jubilee mutters, watching as Samantha tears into the panini. The comparison to a bear mauling a carcass springs to mind readily. Samantha clearly hadn't eaten in a while, but it occurs to Jubilee now that she might not have eaten this well even when she had a steady supply of food; bad food is cheap, and she could easily see Samantha's father deciding not to "waste" quality comestibles on her.

"...So tell me a bit more about where you're from." Jubilee continues.

[Morty]

Hiep raises an eyebrow.

"I wouldn't mind meeting her again, for sure. I don't know if she's forgotten me yet. Sometimes it takes a while."

[Earl of Purple]

"We lived on the edge of a village in Outside, a farming place. It used to be a watch tower, but someone had turned it into a farm house and then Dad turned it into a wizard tower. We had a few animals, a pair of goats, a zebu for milk, and a flock of chickens. Mostly Dad bartered magical knowledge for anything Mum couldn't provide." Given it was a farming village, chances are food was always available; though that doesn't mean Samantha had access to it. She's so far shown no signs of malnutrition or starvation, except her ravenous hunger. "Arthur took me and a book to an old barn, where he summoned the raksha he bartered me off to. I... I didn't like him even before he tried that, but... I still wish I hadn't watched him die." Samantha shivers, briefly pausing her meal... though not long, and she's soon finished.

[quillpleasant]

"I'd believe it," Talah says. Stories and real life being pretty much the same? Makes sense: "Where I came from - before the Nexus - wavy-hand magic and superheroes were just in stories but turns out they're both all over here. Wouldn't be surprised if a superhero walked into the tavern while we were having a conversation." However, it probably should be mentioned that some things Talah considers to not be magic would be called magic by lots of people.

Talah lifts one of her legs up to rest between her other leg and the stool she's on. She also flicks through something on her phone, checking out a couple different pictures. "You might say you can't imagine any pictures of me be cringe," she says, "but I've actually seen my own pictures so I'm confident that I'm right," she says.

She then turns her phone and shows a handful of them to Alice: all pictures of her knee at different angles and while wearing various lengths of jeans and skirts. "See? I hope this is enough to prove my point, so I don't actually have to pull out the selfies."

She glances down at Kraujo. "Does he ever do that thing where he puts bunny ears up behind your head during a picture?" she asks. "If I were an arm, that's what I would do all the time."

"Yeah, same here. My world had magic, but it was a lot less flashy reality warping and a lot more subtle rituals. And there certainly weren't any superheroes." Alice glances towards the tavern door as if expecting one to show up. "I actually used to not believe in magic at all- thought it was either advanced technology or trickery. Then this guy showed up and proved me wrong," she says, jerking her head at Kraujo.

Turning her attention back to look at Talah's knee photos, she lets out a confused giggle. "Okay yeah, that's kind of odd. I'm assuming it's a modeling thing, right? Is knee modeling a thing?" She's aware of hand and foot modeling, but knees are even more niche.

"And oh yeah, he's done the bunny ear thing. But when you can change your shape and size to be whatever you want, you can be a lot more disruptive than some ears." Happy to prove the point, Kraujo stretches into a large arrow sign pointing at Alice with embossed letters reading S tUpiD heD.

[Ironsmith]

"We lived on the edge of a village in Outside, a farming place. It used to be a watch tower, but someone had turned it into a farm house and then Dad turned it into a wizard tower. We had a few animals, a pair of goats, a zebu for milk, and a flock of chickens. Mostly Dad bartered magical knowledge for anything Mum couldn't provide." Given it was a farming village, chances are food was always available; though that doesn't mean Samantha had access to it. She's so far shown no signs of malnutrition or starvation, except her ravenous hunger. "Arthur took me and a book to an old barn, where he summoned the raksha he bartered me off to. I... I didn't like him even before he tried that, but... I still wish I hadn't watched him die." Samantha shivers, briefly pausing her meal... though not long, and she's soon finished.

Jubilee nods solemnly at that last part. It was a strange thing for her and her apprentice to have in common... but she's not interested in elaborating on that just now. Samantha would probably hate her guts if Jubilee ever shared that particular story.

"...Not an easy thing to witness." The priestess finally says, nudging her plate toward Samantha on the chance she was still hungry. "...But, as you said, couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. What sort of boy sells his sister to a demon? For candy, no less?"

Granted, it'd be surprising if someone that age did ask for something more practical, but the added insult of it being something almost useless disgusted Jubilee all the same.

"...That said." She continues, steepling her fingers. "It occurs to me that we have a much more urgent reason to visit the farm when we get the chance. Your brother is dead. You've disappeared, and unless the demon went out of their way to inform your parents what happened to you, you're unaccounted for. That leaves your mother alone with a man who regards her as his property." There's a smouldering in her eyes that makes the unsaid quite obvious; that is a completely unacceptable situation. "...And gods forbid he repeats his son's mistake and sells her for far less than a life is worth."

[Thursday Violist]

"A shapeshifting arm is a pretty convincing argument in favor of magic," Talah admits. She glances at the door, too, after seeing Alice do it. "Considering secret identities are a thing, a superhero could show up and we wouldn't even realize." Like, for example, that mild-mannered elf that just walked in. Could be a superhero in disguise.

Oh: Yeah, a mild-mannered elf walks into the tavern. Dark red skin. Sits down and orders some chili.

Talah silts her leg upwards. "I just think my knees look so fabulous that they deserve pictures taken of them," she says in a prideful tone, before adding in a more serious tone, "I don't think knee modeling's a thing. At least, nobody's asked me to do it before. I was just trying out different lightings and...other things, to see how it looked." She looks down. "Also, I thought it'd be funny to send knee pictures to people who were creepy or insistent. Never actually around to it, though."

She looks up at the arrow sign.
And she bites her lip. She's determined not to laugh at this, because she's telling herself it's not actually that funny; however, in spite of that, she fails and laughs anyway.

[quillpleasant]

"Yeah, especially one that comes from a hell portal. Hard to do that without magic," nods Alice. She gives Talah a look of mock suspicion. "You know, that sounds like something a superhero in disguise would say... much to think about." Seems as likely as the red elf. Or as unlikely as the case may be.

"You do have very nice knees! Not that I've ever really thought too much about knees before." They may not be glamorous, but they're certainly useful. Alice kicks her legs thoughtfully. "Sending knee pics does sound like a pretty funny way to deter creeps. Myself, I usually just let Kraujo eat em. Not without a warning first, mind you," she adds hastily, "I'm a firm believer in second chances."

Finally noticing the sign, she swats at it with her good hand, passing through like water and sending ripples down the arm. Kraujo reforms his usual shape with a low chuckle.

[Earl of Purple]

"Raksha, not a demon. Demons feed on pain and fear, raksha feed on making deals. They just... don't make the deals you think you're making, if you aren't careful. Arthur wasn't careful. Dad should figure out what happened; the raksha left Arthur in the barrel next to the summoning diagram and the stolen books. I didn't... see Arthur die, exactly. But I heard when he stopped struggling against the lid. A lifetime's supply of chocolate... that can be a single barrel, if you're put in it head-first." Which might not answer every question it raises, but should be reasonably self-explanatory.

"You're right, though. Dad might sell Mum, or try to replace her. Home's far enough away your carriage might not be able to get there today." The Riftline is of course quicker... But that didn't exist when last Samantha was free of the time-box.

[Rebonack]

"Okay then, let's see if I can get a hold of her?" Zee replies as she pulls out a phone and dials Anika's number!

Honestly there's a good chance she had it already.

After all, Lapis is typically around Anika so that seems like a good idea, right?

Anyway! Phone ringing!

[Shadowcaller]

After a brief phone call the two won't have to wait for long as when one of the guests opens the door to enter a giant falcon flies in right before he was about to close the door after himself.
The falcon then dramatically lands on an occupied table near Zee where it in a emerald cloud of magic turns into a rather familiar druid. "Hey, so what's up, Zee? Lapis didn't do anything bad, did she?"

[Morty]

Hiep says nothing for now, observing Anika instead. Does she still remember her? It can vary a lot between people.

[Rebonack]

"Woah, this broad's got legs for days," comments an vaguely human-like millipede sitting at the table Anika just landed on. He's dressed exactly like you would expect someone who just made such a comment to be dressed.

Zee pays him no heed.

"Lapis was/is/will be busy dealing with some people who very rudely broke time at the moment," Zee says to Anika. "She'll be fine."

Oh, well, that's good.

"I wanted to introduce you to my pal here Hiep! She's got some pretty neat stories she was telling me about where she's from and the kinds of trouble she's gotten into since she started poking around the Nexus," Zee points out. "ALSO! She has green hair!"

Which, given the way Zee said this, is an incredibly important aspect of who Hiep is.

Because how many people have green hair?

[Shadowcaller]

Anika was sure this table was unoccupied.

"Eh?" Anika glances at the man and realizes her mistake. "Whoops, sorry dude. Think you got me beaten in the leg department too." She uncrosses her legs and stands down on the floor.
"Broke time? I did that once I think. Hope Lapis isn't coming after me next." The druid chuckles before turning to look at Hiep.

Was green hair supposed to be unusual? Her own hair was teal after all.
Anika tilts her head and raises her eyebrows. Then she scratches her head. "Hiep... sounds familiar. We've already met, right? I always have a hard time keeping track of new faces and names." She looks to Zee. "Do you have a mysterious Zee-reason for this?" Or a zeeason for short.

[Ironsmith]

"Raksha, not a demon. Demons feed on pain and fear, raksha feed on making deals. They just... don't make the deals you think you're making, if you aren't careful. Arthur wasn't careful. Dad should figure out what happened; the raksha left Arthur in the barrel next to the summoning diagram and the stolen books. I didn't... see Arthur die, exactly. But I heard when he stopped struggling against the lid. A lifetime's supply of chocolate... that can be a single barrel, if you're put in it head-first." Which might not answer every question it raises, but should be reasonably self-explanatory.

"You're right, though. Dad might sell Mum, or try to replace her. Home's far enough away your carriage might not be able to get there today." The Riftline is of course quicker... But that didn't exist when last Samantha was free of the time-box.

"Tomayto, tomahto." Jubilee shrugs, waving the nuance away. "Big supernatural asshole, is the point. It's not like he was under the impression he was doing you a favor or anything."

"So!" Jubilee claps her hands together. "We'll make that our first thing in the morning, then. Tonight we get you all patched up, fed, rested, and cleaned. Not necessarily in that order."

[Thursday Violist]

Talah 'hmmmm's.
"Oh, yeah! You're right. A gig job like modeling would be the perfect kind of job for a superhero, able to pick when to work." Talah taps her lips. "But wait, if I were a superhero's secret identity, would I even know it? That would be the perfect secret identity, one that doesn't even know she's a secret identity." Sure, it sounds ridiculous, but Talah thinks it's a very attractive idea.

For a little longer, she contemplates her being a secret identity so secret that even she doesn't know it.

Instead of dwelling on people getting eaten, she changes the subject back to superheroes. "Hey, if you were a superhero, what kind of hero would you be?" she asks. "Going by comic book naming conventions, I'd probably be one of those animal-themed heroes, I guess, but if I could choose I'd probably go with some kind of mermaid theming, or...magic parkour powers or something like that."

[Morty]

"Yeah, we've met. At the moonwell, remember? We kicked the asses of some creeps who tried to mess with it."

Is it the Arcane Fate or is Anika just absent-minded? Given what happened after the fight, Hiep would be a bit hurt if she forgot her without Arcane Fate.

[Earl of Purple]

"It's an important distinction for those that deal with them. Which... is what my dad did. And briefly my brother. I guess it might not be important to you, though I think you got lucky." Given that Jubilee has, in fact, dealt with a raksha previously. She gave it several important things, and got rather useful things back. It's a question on how important Jubilee thinks the things she gave it were.

"That sounds like a good plan, thank you." Samantha smiles at Jubilee, taking the other panini and a bite.

[Rebonack]

"No, Lapis was mostly there because a skinwalker was involved. The time breaking is incidental," Zee replies dismissively.

She then listens to the interaction curiously.

Would Anika remember?

Or no?

At Anika's question about whether or not Zee has some kind of mystery reason for calling Anika here Zee says, "Yes," and then proceeds to offer zero elaboration.

[quillpleasant]

"No no, you're right... like a werewolf thing. Except instead of turning into a wolf in the full moon, you turn into a superhero when people need saving, and then forget about it afterwards." Alice taps her head knowingly. "You'd literally never know." Which could be said about anyone, technically.

Alice takes a sip of her drink as she listens to Talah's superhero ideas. "Parkour, huh? Maybe combine that with the mermaid thing, you could control water and use it to scale buildings or something." She giggles at the idea. "As for me, I'd be the mad scientist type, always coming up with new ridiculous inventions. And Kraujo would be my dumb but powerful hired goon." She pauses, wrinkling her nose. "Actually, that makes me sound more like a super villain. I wouldn't want to fight you, unless it was like some low stakes rivals to lovers kind of thing." She grins cheekily at the idea.

[Thursday Violist]

"No no, you're right... like a werewolf thing. Except instead of turning into a wolf in the full moon, you turn into a superhero when people need saving, and then forget about it afterwards." Alice taps her head knowingly. "You'd literally never know." Which could be said about anyone, technically.

Alice takes a sip of her drink as she listens to Talah's superhero ideas. "Parkour, huh? Maybe combine that with the mermaid thing, you could control water and use it to scale buildings or something." She giggles at the idea. "As for me, I'd be the mad scientist type, always coming up with new ridiculous inventions. And Kraujo would be my dumb but powerful hired goon." She pauses, wrinkling her nose. "Actually, that makes me sound more like a super villain. I wouldn't want to fight you, unless it was like some low stakes rivals to lovers kind of thing." She grins cheekily at the idea.

"Ooh, yeah! Using water control to climb buildings and things," Talah says. That sounds really cool. "I wonder how much it'd cost to put together an outfit for that. Could maybe cosplay as my own superhero." And, of course, upload pictures of herself wearing that and start some kind of passive income.
Well, first she'd have to figure out what the outfit looks like, and then go window shopping for magic water-control items (to find out if it's a better deal to buy the magic items or set up some kind of water prop with a microcontroller).

Talah snaps her thought process back to the topic on hand.
"Hey, whenever there's hot female super villains, they almost always get redeemed in the end. We could make it work."

[quillpleasant]

"Ha, sounds like you actually want to be a superhero instead of just dressing as one. Which, to be fair, is perfectly doable. Plenty of superheros are just people who decided to become one." All it takes is bravery and enough money to get the right gear.

Alice puts her hand over her heart with a cheeky grin. "I'm not the only one who's a smooth talker. You realize you basically just called me hot, right?"

"Don't need ego boost. Head too big already," chides Kraujo.

"Good thing I have a big hat," she replies without missing a beat.

[Thursday Violist]

Talah shrugs. "Sure, being a superhero would be pretty cool. Using fancy powers to save people is everyone's dream, y'know? But...I dunno. I don't have any superpowers. I'm not a rich billionaire with a beard trimmer and anger issues. I'm not a supergenius inventor, and I don't even have magic. A random person showing up with no plan is just a recipe for giving the first responders more work."
But that's quitter talk.
They're in the Nexus. There's magic, tech, and magitech most everywhere. Lots of places to randomly gain magic or other powers, too.

"Sweettalk is actually one of the things I'm good at," Talah says. Actually, no, it didn't really click in her mind that she was being a smooth talker right then, since she was just saying what she thought was facts. She doesn't admit that, though, since instead she says, "Just trying to get on your good side. After all, you're already a supergenius inventor," and then glances at Kraujo, "who already has a pretty cool shapeshifting arm." Gotta complement them both.

[quillpleasant]

"Well... I think that if you want to be a hero, being someone who cares is more important any particular powers. You can always get mutated or find some magical upgrade or something somewhere, but if you're not a heroic person on the inside, then none of that other stuff matters. Or," says Alice with a shrug, "You can just be yourself. Don't need to be a superhero to live an exciting, meaningful life." She's aware this is a little cheesy, but that's not going to stop her.

Alice tries not to grin too much at the compliment, waving her hand dismissively. "Aw stop, you're already on my good side! Besides, you're a glamorous fashion model. That's equally impressive."

On the other hand (ha), Kraujo extends his claws as he preens himself. "Smart lady. Has good taste," he rasps out. Alice raises an eyebrow.

"Hey, we agree on something! That's rare."

[Thursday Violist]

"Well... I think that if you want to be a hero, being someone who cares is more important any particular powers. You can always get mutated or find some magical upgrade or something somewhere, but if you're not a heroic person on the inside, then none of that other stuff matters. Or," says Alice with a shrug, "You can just be yourself. Don't need to be a superhero to live an exciting, meaningful life." She's aware this is a little cheesy, but that's not going to stop her.

Alice tries not to grin too much at the compliment, waving her hand dismissively. "Aw stop, you're already on my good side! Besides, you're a glamorous fashion model. That's equally impressive."

On the other hand (ha), Kraujo extends his claws as he preens himself. "Smart lady. Has good taste," he rasps out. Alice raises an eyebrow.

"Hey, we agree on something! That's rare."

Talah leans against the bar, and smiles: yeah, complimenting people is pretty fun. She definitely likes doing it.

She breathes in.
She breathes out.
"Yeah, of course you're right," she says. Then, she pouts. "But, like, magic powers are so cool. Don't tell me you've never wanted to spin a Cutie Rod and fire a magical moon blast while saying -" Talah holds her hands out in a pose "- I am the Pretty Guardian who fights for Love and for Beauty!"

She holds it for a few moments, then adds, "...right?"

[quillpleasant]

Alice can't help but giggle at Talah's dramatic pose. "You know, I've never had that specific fantasy, but now that you mention it that does sound pretty great. I don't know what a Cutie Rod is, but I so want to now."

She taps her lip thoughtfully, eyes narrowing, and Talah can almost see the wheels turning in her mind as she explores an idea. "You know... I may not have magic per se, but sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. If you wanted, I could build you a suit that would give you enough power to be a superhero. Or to just mess around and have fun with."

Alice draws on the bar with a finger, sketching out a blueprint in her mind. "If I used narrativium charged electrum as a base and combined it with energized cornerverse silk, I could..." she trails off, suddenly looking sheepish. "Sorry, I tend to get carried away with ideas like that. You probably weren't being serious."

[Shadowcaller]

"Yeah, we've met. At the moonwell, remember? We kicked the asses of some creeps who tried to mess with it."

Is it the Arcane Fate or is Anika just absent-minded? Given what happened after the fight, Hiep would be a bit hurt if she forgot her without Arcane Fate.

"No, Lapis was mostly there because a skinwalker was involved. The time breaking is incidental," Zee replies dismissively.

She then listens to the interaction curiously.

Would Anika remember?

Or no?

At Anika's question about whether or not Zee has some kind of mystery reason for calling Anika here Zee says, "Yes," and then proceeds to offer zero elaboration.

Anika raises her long eyebrows and strokes her chin. "Kicked the ass of some weirdos at a moon well? You might have to, uh, be more specific than that." She looks over to Zee. "So how is Lapis doing? Has she learned to turn into a dragon yet?"

[Morty]

"They were these cultist-like types. Had one mouthy, self-important leader." Hiep's voice lacks much conviction. Seems like Anika already forgot. "We took a swim in the moonwell and returned to Vigil later." Hopefully she won't have to spell out what else they did in the moonwell and Vigil.

[Rebonack]

"Lapis is doing fine. She getting better at presenting just one aspect at a time. Last time she was over at the Frescots' she and the kids were doing dragon rides. Chase the dragon. Be chased by the dragon. Protect the tree from the dragon. It turns out kids can come up with a bunch of dragon related games when a dragon is available," Zee recounts.

This isn't too surprising. Children will use just about anything as a play prop.

Also! It sounds like Anika has succumbed to being star-struck. A terrible fate. Funny thing about memories, though. Just because they are forgotten doesn't mean they are gone.