Trog's Tavern: Roman Numerals Are Dumb

[Zefir]

The boy in his heavy robes has a bit of an overdose of informations right now. So let's get one topic at a time.

"Sugar? Caffeine?" He says with a confused tone in his voice. "The first one is rather expensive and I have no idea what that other one is. Is that the reason this drink is so black?"
He does come from a rather standard fantasy world where sugar is luxery and coffee isn't popular. Which makes coffain rather unknown at this point.

The sound of the bikes doesn't seem to startle him right now, thought he looks at codebraker as he mentions 'bike'. Must be some kind of creature heregoing from the sound. But as he notice the wolf man the boy seems to relax a bit.
"It seems at least here are some simularities from my home." he says out loud.

The bikers just get a look at them. The boy doesn't know what Halloween or Spooktober are, but guessing from what he heares it's a season of some kind.

Then Lenny seems to offer another drink to other people. "You are rather fast spending your money. Got a heritage or something?"

[Hraithre]

The biker follows Codebreaker's gesture and glances at Kyrie. "Right, right. Just checking. Just... checking", they say hesitantly, silently wondering how serious he's being. "I think I need a drink. One Lapland's Gold ple-... gah!" They were just looking for a bartender when Lenny appears. The biker raises an eyebrow and eyes Lenny with suspicion.

"Uh, no offense, but you look like you need all your money to yourself. So, no thank you. I'll pay my own drinks", the biker responds to Lenny. Then, they turn back to Codebreaker. "Yeah, this is my first time here." They obviously mean the tavern, but he can figure it's just as true of Nexus in general. "Not thinking of staying for long. Just... looking for somebody. Thought I'd ask around."

[Keeper]

"Well, that's fair enough. What kinda person are ya looking for? I admit I'm not here in Inside super often but maybe I can point you in the right direction." He seems to consider something before speaking again.
"And for the record, I was being absolutely serious. We went as werewolves. You don't think it's culturally insensitive for wolfen to do a werewolf gag, is it?" I mean it could be. They certainly wouldn't know.

[quillpleasant]

Lenny's eyes narrow at the biker's refusal, but she's quick to laugh it off. Easy come, easy go. "My two cents, go for it, that's funny as hell," she nods to Codebreaker. Not that she's an expert on the culture, but as the closest thing to a real werewolf here, her opinion has to count for something.

Turning back to the robed boy, Lenny gives an expressive shrug. "What, are you complaining? Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, kid." Scarcely older than a teen herself, she's going to take seniority when she can.

"But if you must know, I was planning on paying with this," she says, removing an extremely fancy looking gold watch from inside their jacket, "And I figured I'd get my money's worth since it's at least a few hundred dollars new." The definitely not stolen watch seems to be rimmed with tiny diamonds. Fancy.

[Rebonack]

Paying with stolen time pieces?

That's a pretty classic tactic.

"Sugar isn't that expensive! Not since people figured out how to industrialize the refining process instead of using slaves that got crushed to death in the rollers," Zee points out perhaps too cheerfully.

It was a very important technological development! If by 'very important' you mean 'resulted in people eating way too much sugar'.

The barmaid who is definitely a completely normal and in no way unremarkable human female (you suspect nothing) is currently working on a batch of brownies and will be more than happy to fetch a drink for anyone who actually orders one without immediately getting interrupted by surprise at the Nexus' strangeness.

[Hraithre]

"It's a specific person I'm after. What kind? Wish I knew, I never had a chance to meet them", the biker answers to Codebreaker. The remark about werewolves makes them narrow their eyes. "Okay, now you're pulling my leg. Werewolves aren't a cultural group you can offend." In their mind, firstly, because they're made up, secondly, because the quintessential werewolf is a murderer and a crazy person.

The biker decides it's best to ignore Lenny's antic and the barkeep's weird tangent about sugar. Instead, they finish their order. "One bottle of Lapland's Gold, if you have it. I hope you take Visa and not only gold watches", they say, opening their jacket enough to take a credit card out of their breast pocket and hand it to Zee.

[Keeper]

"Well that's not terribly descriptive." Codebreaker observes.
"And of course they are. There's at whole division of them at Intersection. And at least three of my neighbors.
I don't mean to be rude but...you know where you are, right? Because from what you said before it sounds an awful lot like you think wolf-people and magic werewolves aren't real." Codebreaker makes a show of opening his jaws to show his teeth, pulling on his own cheek to ensure it's not a mask.

[Zefir]

The boy doesn't seem to get Lenny's point.

"I don't complain, I'm just careful." he says. "My parents told me to be carefull. It's allways wise to question this especially when someone offers anyone a drink. I don't know what you get from it. The barmaid might get a new customer."

He then turn to the barmaid.

"Really? I don't know how it is made. It's just a trading good from another country. Maybe I can get information about the way they 'industrialize the refining process' for my people. Do you got something weaker. I imagine that sugar is rather commen if it's not as expensiv. Just don't want to overdo it."

[quillpleasant]

At the boy's lecture about being careful, Lenny holds up his hands, pulling back a little. "Suit yourself, I don't care." Turning away, he grumbles under his breath. "God forbid you try to be nice to people. Jeez."

He chuckles as Codebreaker demonstrates his fangs. "Yeah, werewolves are real alright. And that's pretty cool, but can you do this?" Holding out an arm, Lenny curves his fingers into a claw shape, and... nothing happens. Was there supposed to be some sort of lupine transformation? "Uh..."

With a look of concentration, he tries again, tensing his arm so much his hand shakes. This time, his nose suddenly starts bleeding, dripping down onto his white shirt. "Crap. It's harder than it looks." Holding a sleeve to his face, he hunches on his stool morosely.

[Rebonack]

For the time being Zee isn't paying a great deal attention to the people arguing about whether or not werewolves are a real thing.

Wow, what a silly topic that is.

Her husband is a werewolf, after all.

If a somewhat goofy one, in her opinion. At least, when we wants to be. More like a regular wolf that's friendly to someone. As opposed to when he's trying to do some killing that changes the disposition pretty fast.

"Sure! How about a good ol' fashion llamanaid?" Zee asks, fetching the drink for the youth. The drink smells lemony, though there's a hint of other fruits in there as well.

Also?

Lenny gets an encouraging smile.

"Ah, don't feel so bad. That sort of thing is always harder when you WANT to do it and people are watching."

She also... looks up Lapland's Gold.

"Made with cloudberries? What are cloudberries? Umm... hang on a sec. Let met check if we've got any down in the cellar," Zee says as she takes a deep breath, grabs a cast iron skillet, and opens up the trap door to the basement. "Okay I know we don't like each other but YEEEP!"

She's immediately grabbed by a mass of tentacles and yanked into the cellar, the door slamming shut behind her.

[Hraithre]

"Oh, I have a few pictures if you want a description", the biker notes to Codebreaker before the discussion gets further sidetracked by werewolves. Codebreaker can tell from their face that the word "intersection" doesn't really tell the biker anything. They look somewhat uneasy at him twisting his face, but try to take it all in good humour.

"Calm down, wolfman. Didn't your mom tell you to not make faces?", they quip nervously, "now, as for where I am? The sign outside said Trog's", they gesture towards the door, "but that wasn't particularly informative and I take it that isn't... uh..."

They stop and frown when Lenny interjects. The biker watches for a moment, wondering what exactly Lenny was hoping to achieve in exchange for a nosebleed. The biker glances around, pointing at Lenny. "Well that was a whole lot of nothing. Somebody hand them a napkin, please?"

Then Zee makes her comment about their order. The biker blinks and turns to look at her. "Wait, if you don't have the vodka, you can just give me the beer. Name's the same, just different language. It's Lapinkul-..."

Aaaaand Zee's gone. The biker stares at the trap door for a moment, then draws in a deep breath, sighs, and turns back to Codebreaker. "As I was saying: the sign outside said Trog's, but I take that isn't what you meant. So, where do you think I am?"

[Zefir]

Maybe Lenny is not really looking that trustworthy.
Hanging around in the bar like he has no home and offering drinks.
The boy does look at the drink. It seems like even lemonade isn't commen where he is from. He might know juice but lemonade requires sugar right?

The boy watches the werewolf, but then Zee takes his attantion as he looks shocked as the tentacles take her down. His confusion just rises as the biker ignores it.
"What the... We need to help her." he says looking at the others. Then he jumps over the bar, landing with a way to heavy sound and tries to get the trap door open.

[[brackets lover]]

"I should just move on," Venus says, repeating what he said, as if trying to convince herself.

...

It's not really an option, though. In the first place, they intruded into her space -twice - and she bets if she left again they'd just follow her. And she naturally wants to help people who appear to need it. And, even worse, Venus gets lonely really really easily. Realistically, if the group of cultists didn't manage to find her, she would still end up going right back to them after enough time passed.

Venus exhales, realizing what a Herculean task she's facing.

"Thanks," she says. "Lowering their expectations sounds like it'd be really hard but it does sound like it would work. Not sure if I'll succeed, but... it's definitely worth a try."

"That's the spirit!" Mogzoku exclaims energetically. "Just how badly do they treat you, anyways?"

[Keeper]

Well, now Codebreaker is just kind of confused.
"Okay. City of Inside, Central Nexus. Intersection police? None of that ringing any bells?" Despite being a native all these years Codebreaker has never had to do the Nexus Newbie Welcome Routine.

[quillpleasant]

Lenny waves a hand at the biker, shaking their head as they wipe away the blood, succeeded mostly in smearing it across their upper lip. "Don't worry about me, this is normal. I can take a look at those pictures though, I'm also trying to find someone." They chuckle. "It'd be funny if it was the same-"

They pause, a little distracted by the fact that the bartender has just been dragged into the basement. Well. Although she certainly seemed to know what she was doing, there's no way that it's normal to get tentacle snatched in the middle of your job.

Standing up, Lenny peers over the bar. "You, uh... you okay down there?" God, they really don't want to play the hero, but the scent of conflict is making their hackles go up. Their nails dig into the edge of the bar. After trying so hard to turn a few moments ago, now it's taking some serious concentration not to.

[Rebonack]

The trap door turns out to be extremely heavy. There's a wood covering on the top to make it blend in with the floor, but it appears to be made of solid iron otherwise. We're talking two or three hundred pounds. The fact that the barmaid was able to just casually yank the thing open certainly speaks to... well. It isn't obvious what, exactly, but certainly something.

So!

There are some sounds from the basement.

The swooshing of tentacles, the clang of the skillet. A... chainsaw? Crackling flames and an electric sounding whine followed by a noise like a thunderclap. Then comes a ululating wail that gradually recedes into the distance.

Feet thump against wooden stairs.

The trap door pops open and out comes the barmaid! She's a little scuffed up, a severed tentacle is draped across her shoulder, and a small tongue of fire is burning in her hair. But that's all worth it because-

"Got it!"

She raises a bottle of Lapland Gold to the biker.

Climbing out of the cellar, she kicks the door shut and sets the bottle down on the counter before licking her fingers and snuffing her hair-fire.

"Do you like your vodka with ice?" Zee asks, as if absolutely nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.

[Hraithre]

The biker shakes their head at Codebreaker's question. "Nope, nope and nope. You might as well be saying I took a left turn at Kansas and ended up in Narnia", they quip.

When Lenny asks to see the pictures, they reach inside their jacket again, but stop mid-motion when Lenny and the boy get distracted by Zee's antics. When the barmaid finally emerges, the biker continues and places a bunch of folded papers on the counter. "Ice is fine", they answer her query.

As for the papers, they are photocopies of old pictures and newspaper articles. One of the pictures is of a young man reclining on a couch, wide grin on his face, with a different woman under each arm. The man's wearing army boots, camo pants and other tacticool crap, his face covered by black and white grease paint. The woman to his left, a brunette, appears to be dressed in a slutty cop costume, the kind sometimes seen on Halloween, while the woman to his right, a blonde, is wearing cat ears. They appear to be in a nightclub.

One of the newspaper articles is about some altercation between petty criminals. Apparently one person was beaten near to death and taken to a hospital. Another article is about an escaped patient: "Patient on the run - unidentified man jumped through a third story window".

[Zefir]

To be true the boy isn't a light weight. He can pull a lot, if he removes the gravitation magic around him that makes him currently heavier. Thought this does rise the suspicion that the barmaid is no ordinary woman and her return just prooves it. Returning unharmed and having severd a tentacle of with a iron skillet? Thats like removing a leg with a spoon.

Still since he was at the trap door trying to open it, the sudden opening from the barmaid throws him backwards and he stumbels against the back shelf making the bottels their shake.

"That is defnitly a proove that something isn't right here?" the boy speaks out loud. "The only thing that makes this more weird would be a group of professional thiefs gently robbing this place."

[Keeper]

"Okay. Yes, that is more or less what happens. Only the Nexus has less talking animals and more supernaturally pretty people." From the look on his face and the vibes he's giving off, it may appear to the biker that Codebreaker was considering adding "like me, if you're into that" but decided not to. Or maybe it's because he's psychic and sometimes thinks things a little too hard.

"So uh, possible bad news: it's entirely possible the person you're looking for isn't on this plane of existence and there may not be any way back. Happens sometimes.

Zee, can you get the nexus newbie pamphlets?" he calls to the barmaid.

[quillpleasant]

Lenny relaxes as the bartender reappears, letting go of the counter and leaving deep claw gouges behind. No need to get too worked up. No need to change.

The papers are a welcome distraction. She riffles through them, noting the article headlines. "So face paint guy, huh? Do you have anything that belongs to him? I might be able to help sniff him out." She scratches an ear. "I'd ask if you've seen the girl I'm looking for, but you don't seem like the type to know many children."

Codebreaker's mention of planes of existence earns a blank stare. "And what are you on about? You're not one of those weirdos who believes in multiple dimensions, are you?"

[Hraithre]

"Hey, at least you know what Narnia is", the biker comments Codebreaker's words, smiling, "if a children's book can cross worlds, I'm sure the person I'm looking for could too. Plus, I'm here, aren't I?"

As for Lenny's musings, the biker shakes their head. "Nope. Haven't been able to get my hands on anything that I'd definitely know belonged to him. His trail was years old when I started following it. It took some effort to figure out there even was a trail."

A third newspaper article concerns some incident a gas station: "Unidentified man steals motorcycle - biker gang upset". Fourth one reads: "Halloween a horror - a mummy robs a clothing shop!" There's a grainy photo of someone wrapped in bandages carrying a pile of clothes out of a broken window. Depending on which calendar Lenny follows, they might realize these news are ten years old - or they might not. Hell, they might even seem to be from the future.

"But, what's this about girl? And a child, at that that? Did you lose your sister?", the biker continues. "Ask away. You might be surprised. I was a kid myself not too long ago."

[Keeper]

Codebreaker blinks, taken aback by the sheer ridiculousness of that question.
"Um. My boyfriend is a magical vampire wolf-man from a world where everyone got cursed with vampirism that slowly mutates you into whatever you eat. Which is notably, not the reality I come from. So yes, I believe there are multiple worlds out there." Codebreaker again gestures at Kyrie's direction to prove that he is referring to an actual person and not making things up.
"Getting here is usually the easier part than leaving, from what I understand."

[quillpleasant]

"A lot harder to find someone without a good scent," notes Lenny, but he still takes a good look at the newspaper articles. "Huh, mummy man. Seems like he'd be easy to recognize at least."

He looks a little suspicious at the biker's questions, but pushes that away- he'll take all the help he can get. "Yeah, my little sister Emily. We got separated when our parents died a few years back, and I've been trying to find her ever since. She'd be about thirteen or fourteen now, skinny little blonde kid. It's been awhile, but from what I remember she was big into stage magic." Unfortunately, he doesn't have a photo to show. Personal belongings are hard to hold onto when you turn into a monster on the regular.

At Codebreaker's response, Lenny scoffs. "Yeah, I can see your wolfboy. Like I said, I'm a lycanthrope myself. What I don't believe is that there's multiple universes. You're probably just confusing portals between planets for entirely different dimensions." Occam's razor might be helpful here, but Lenny seems quite confident in his disbelief.

[Earl of Purple]

Somebody new arrives! They look to be an adventurer. They are 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 old camera strapped to the outside of it. He's limping slightly, and his lamellar has been damaged recently and not repaired.

[Rebonack]

Ah, good ol' Welcome to the Nexus! pamphlets! They're nice and glossy and full of pictures of various people engaged in activities! They also contain a rough description of what the deal is with this place, anyway. Most importantly descriptions of services for newly arrived people.

Zee hands several out! One to the biker, one to the youth colliding with shelves, one to Lenny, and of course one to the Keldon fellow who showed up just because she's handing them out already.

The pamphlet, of course, details a very rough description of the nature of the Nexus. That it's a crossing point between all possible (and impossible) universes and that weirdos who believe in multiple dimensions were right all along. Thankfully it doesn't seem to be describing a horrible Marvel Multiverse where there are countless versions of any one person thus destroying any sense of scope or stake in the story.

Once that's done Zee waves to the grey skinned fellow. "Hiya! Welcome to Trog's Tavern. What can I get for you today?"

[Earl of Purple]

"I... could do with some help. My group stumbled upon a dungeon that was more trouble than we expected. I only just made it out... And they didn't." The Keldon stumbles to a seat and sighs. "I... would like a cup of tea and a muffin, though."

[Hraithre]

"Skinny blonde girl called Emily? Oh, I've known a few of those. Had one two in the same class during ninth grade", the biker jests, smiling sadly at Lenny. "I think you'll have to be more specific. For starters, which part of the world are you from?"

When Zee hands them a pamphlet, the biker looks over it quick. "Well isn't this handy", they comment, "but not very good at convincing me this isn't an elaborate live-action roleplay taking inspiration from a two-penny fantasy franchise. Oh well." They put the paper down and sip their cloudberry vodka.

[Keeper]

”Two pennies? Please, I’m worth at least a silver dollar’s worth of fantasy.”

Codebreaker makes a show of pulling over a spoon and stirring his drink without either of his hands moving an inch. His psychic abilities are actually mostly about perception though, so a parlor trick like this is actually the extent of his ability to physically manipulate things with his mind.

[quillpleasant]

Lenny thinks back, audibly cracking her neck as she stares back into her memories. "More specific, huh... well, we lived in the inner Chrome Coast, a suburb called... huh. I think there was something about a raven in the name? Memory's foggy these days." She swirls her finger at her head.

"But yeah, big into performance, kinda nerdy, likes shit like bugs and rats. Oh, and she's got really powerful wild magic. So if there's any like, wizard schools or magic apprentice programs around that'd be a fair bet." She tilts her head at the biker. "What's your quarry like, aside from being a mummy man?"

Then she's distracted by the Nexus pamphlet, which she scans with a raised eyebrow. "Oh yeah, cool cool. Thanks." She makes a show of tucking it into her jacket before letting it fall to the floor.

[Hraithre]

The biker watches the spoon twirl in the glass. "Nice magic trick", they say, smiling, "do you have a magnet under that class or what?"

They finish their drink as Lenny talks. "Chrome Coast... no, don't recall any place called that. Certainly none I've ever visited. No magic schools around either, unless you mean the kind I attended to learn card tricks, but I don't think you are."

They put their glass down and nod to Zee as thanks. Then they refocus on Lenny. "What he's like. Wish I knew. He didn't stick around. Mom said he had aspirations for a military career, but that might've been just talk, as far as I know he never served. If you look at those articles...", they gesture at the photocopies, "... he wasn't what you'd call a lawful citizen. So maybe they kicked him out. Or he dodged the draft. I don't know how it works yet, I can only apply myself next year." They shrug.

"It's clear he thought himself quite the charmer. I mean, just look at him!" The biker points at the image with the two women.