The Nexus

Posted: **Oct 22, 2022 8:39 am**

The gargoyle is, ugly, winged, made of clay from the appearance of it, and about the size of a halfling child. Or, well that's how the detective would describe it - the gargoyle itself has never me a halfling and doesn't know if Rhaka has either. If the sorcerer can see spiritual auras herself, she might see a light blue glow in the gargoyle's eyes. "Don't know what you mean by conjured. Mister detective here didn't make me, exactly. He found the parts and put them together. I agree this body is very unfashionable, but I can't blame him for it."

At the other table:

"Well I'm not Santa Claus", the armored man retorts, "and If I was Santa Claus, you'd only get a bundle of sticks for a gift."

The man lowers and armored hand on the table and drums it with his fingers. "I don't carry around much in terms of material possessions. If you want, I can give you a favor. Name one, and if it's in my capacity to do, I will do it."

Posted: **Oct 22, 2022 2:00 pm**

"Here you two go!" Zee says to the cartoon and the not-cartoon as she swings by the table, dropping off the beer and the rum. "If there's anything else you need just let me know, okay?"

As for Fenric, he gets a friendly nod.

"Sure thing, Fen! I'll get right on it. How are things going over at the temple? Have you folks got another full moon party in the works? It's been a while since I've been to one of the poetry slams."

They don't really do battling poetry, Zee.

Posted: **Oct 22, 2022 2:27 pm**

Fenric smiles

Things are going well as ever. It seems to be in good hands with Caroline and Steven, so any requests for my help have been extremely minor.

The he chuckles

The poetry contest continues to be very sparsely attended, with most poems being rather unskilled odes to cantaloupes or other such things from the Fenethi. The young ones seem to mostly stand around with their phones and watch videos on Clockwrk.

Posted: **Oct 22, 2022 3:42 pm**

"Please. Everyone knows Santa Claus isn't real." Gaul says smugly. Clearly, he hasn't had his Christmas episode yet.

"A favour? Now you have my attention. Give me a moment to think of something that needs doing..." Gaul takes is trying to think of something that would have cost him more, or at least the same amount, than the ride fare. He doesn't want to feel like he got short-changed, after all.

"Hey, thanks," he says as he recieves his rum from the bartender. He takes a few sips as he tries further to think of a suitable favor to ask of the armoured fellow.

Then, he snaps his fingers. He's come up with something resembling a good idea. "So, those souls you mentioned earlier... did any of them belong to particularly powerful people?"

Posted: **Oct 22, 2022 4:45 pm**

Into the tavern walks a monster; one of those classic mixed up creatures. Body of a lion, wings of a bat, stinger of a scorpion, face of a girl. And on the back of the monster is riding a little black fox (with three tails, that's 200% more tail per fox!).

They head up to the bar, where the fox orders "Feline fancy, hemo colada, 'n a double bamhacon."

"There's another fox here! You should say hello." suggests the manticore. All this does is get the fox to give Fenric a curious (bordering on suspicious) look.

Posted: **Oct 22, 2022 4:56 pm**

"You know what kind of a place this is, right? Saying something like that is just asking for one to waltz in through the door", the armored man comments on Gaul's opinion of Santa.

When Gaul gets to his second real question, the man shifts his weight, suddenly feeling uncomfortable inside his armor. "You know what they say. Powe corrupts. There is no shortage of damned soula who were powerful in life. But..."

"Aha! Finally, we meet again - thief!"

A tall man barges into the tavern, a black haori hanging on his shoulders, otherwise clad in white. As he gets out of the doorway, marching towards the armored man, Gaul can briefly see outside: the hellish horse he rode to meet with the armored man stands outside. Then the door closes, and the beast is out of sight once more.

The armored man stares at the newcomer, stunned, before regaining his wits. "Why, speak of the Devil! My new friend was just requesting help of a powerful soul! You couldn't have shown up at a better moment!"

The tall man slows down, giving Gaul a hesitant look. Gaul might notice the newcomer is carrying two swords on his waist, one hand resting on the hilt of a katana. With his wild black hair, piercing black eyes and scarred face, he certainly doesn't look particularly friendly.

Posted: **Oct 22, 2022 5:44 pm**

Gaul shakes his head. "I don't even get coal for Xmas. So either Santa knows I would just sell it off to power plants and supermarkets, or he doesn't exist. I even put out the beer and Doritos for him like my dad told me to when I was a kid - nothing."

The toon whips his head round to look at the new entry calling the armored man a thief. He briefly takes a glance at the horse outside, a look of surprised recognition flashing across his face.

When the armoured man speaks again, Gaul looks between the both of them with an uneasy expression. He's not too intimidated by the tall fellow's appearance, indeed he's not much intimidated by anything (though he does startle easily sometimes), but if the tall man is going to be treated as the powerful soul then Gaul doing exactly what he was planning to do will become quite awkward.

"Wait. Are you Santa?" he says, since the guy did just waltz in through the door.

Posted: **Oct 22, 2022 5:56 pm**

"What? No. I am Star of Hope... Hoshiki. Senshi Hoshiki", the swordsman replies, looking back and forth between the living cartoon and the armored man. "What, exactly, were the two of you conspiring? And who are you?"

The question is aimed as much at the armored man as it is to Gaul. Gaul might notice the swordsman is focused on the armored man now. The black tabard... the shape of the armour... the skull-like helmet... he's seen them before. His eyes drift to the silvery polaxe still resting against the armored man. His grip on his sword tightens.

The armored man shows no such signs of alarm, though it might be a bluff. Easy to hide one's emotions when covered from head to toe. "Go ahead, cartoon man. Tell him what you had in mind", he encourages Gaul.

Posted: **Oct 22, 2022 6:33 pm**

Gaul drinks some more of his rum, and his expression becomes more comfortable. Worrying about stuff will get him nowhere, but being cordial can go a long way, so...

"Oh. Well, in that case... pleasure to meet you! I''m Gaul DeGalles," Gaul says, extending a hand for Star of Hope to shake.

When encouraged by the armoured person, he says "Okay, well, I want a powerful soul so that I can forge it into a gun. I'm guessing the reason this fella is so happy to see you is because you can help me with that?"

Posted: **Oct 22, 2022 6:43 pm**

The armored man sucks in air through his teeth, then quickly takes a sip from his beer. The swordsman furrows his brow and turns to look at Gaul. "You want a soul so you can forge it into a gun", he repeats, puzzled. For some reason, the request feels less strange to him than it probably should. "A soul. Into a gun. Placing souls into a weapon is hardly new to me..." His mind goes to a certain cursed dagger he dealt with some time ago, and to the cursed sword he pawned off to pay for his mansion. "... but it is generally considered a dark art. Well, unless a willing spirit can be found. I'm afraid I do not know any such entity off the top of my head."

Posted: **Oct 22, 2022 6:48 pm**

► SHOW SPOILER

Murkus wrote: ↑Oct 17, 2022 12:34 am [Pink and Red and Blue]

"Well... yeah. Gee, I guess I know almost everybody who comes into my place on the regular. The customer base is pretty fixed, as it is," Tsumi ponders. Here she was just goofing around and Talah and Ci are actually making her think. "I don't know how much more I could get the reggies to come in, if I'm honest. Ads, pinups, or otherwise. Maybe a new kind of customer would be good."

"But nobody annoying," Tsumi makes a horizontal cutting gesture with her hand. "No hipsters, no douchebags, no clubbers, no preppies..." She rubs her chin, starting to count off on her fingers. "No cultists, addicts, dealers... I gotta make a whole list."

Thursday Violist wrote: ↑Oct 18, 2022 2:48 am [Pink and Red and Blue]

"So basically you want to keep the same friendly, welcoming atmosphere but need to bring more people in," Talah says. She starts stroking her chin. "Because bringing in too many people at once or the wrong type would ruin it."

Talah snaps her fingers.
Or, rather, tries to snap. It doesn't really make any sound, other than a soft 'fwish'.
"Okay, first thought: run some kind of event that makes it really easy for your current customers to bring their friends to, and to socialize with each other. And maybe give discounts to people who bring people? Or something like that. You'd probably need posters, to make announcements, and maybe little in-house handouts, but getting friends-of-friends to start coming in would probably do that. Maybe some of them would stick around to see the new acquaintances they meet again."

Sadly, posters, announcements, and handouts wouldn't really involve paying Talah anything, since there wouldn't be anything for her to do.

Talah sighs. It's okay, though. She brushes her hair back and tucks it behind her ear again. Earning money through convincing someone they need something they actually don't will just hurt her credibility in the long run. Probably. Right?

"Definitely something you'll need to think about more and plan more. Probably later, since I imagine you didn't come here to this bar to talk business." Talah bites her lip, and takes a deep breath. "But," she adds, "I mean, even if you need to think about it a lot more to plan...well, for now, if you just want to take pictures of cute girls in fancy poses, you can just think more seriously about it later and just do that now. Could even call it 'practice' or 'inspiration' if you really need an excuse."

[Pink and Red and Blue]

Ciara rolls her eyes. "Jeez, Tsumi, for such a chill gal you really need to lighten up. We're gonna run outta potential people at this rate! But yeah, that sounds like a pretty good idea. D'you think we could like, maybe hire you to help design flyers or something like that?" She looks genuinely curious, not realizing it might not fall under Talah's skillset.

Posted: **Oct 22, 2022 7:22 pm**

Recaiden wrote: ↑Oct 22, 2022 4:45 pm Into the tavern walks a monster; one of those classic mixed up creatures. Body of a lion, wings of a bat, stinger of a scorpion, face of a girl. And on the back of the monster is riding a little black fox (with three tails, that's 200% more tail per fox!).

They head up to the bar, where the fox orders "Feline fancy, hemo colada, 'n a double bamhacon."

"There's another fox here! You should say hello." suggests the manticore. All this does is get the fox to give Fenric a curious (bordering on suspicious) look.

Fenric smiles and waves, his ears folded in non-threatening greeting.

Hello!

Posted: **Oct 22, 2022 7:31 pm**

Gaul puts his hand down disappointedly, since Hoshiki left him hanging.

"Okay, I know that sounds silly, but silly's normal for me. Uh, what I mean is, guns forged with powerful souls are ludicrously strong. I had one before, but it disintegrated. Long story short, I need a new one, for when something that conventional munitions just won't put down, is trying to put ME down." he explains.

Gaul's face falls slightly. "Oh. Well, that's too bad." He drinks a little more rum and turns back to the armoured man, saying "So how about you? Have any particularly powerful souls on you?"

Posted: **Oct 22, 2022 7:44 pm**

"On me? No. But crafting weapons of the sort you talk about is something I can do", the armored man says, putting his beer down. Some of the drink drips through the teeth of his helmet. Apparently, the helmet's jaw opens to allow its wearer to drink. Almost like it's part of its owner.

Gaul might notice the armored man is looking at Hoshiki's swords. Hoshiki is looking at the polaxe.

"... have you ever considered making a weapon out of your own soul?"

Posted: **Oct 22, 2022 8:04 pm**

Gaul looks back and forth between the swords and the polaxe. Must be some kind of history there.

In response to the question, he says "Well, for one, I become a real cranky douchebag whenever my soul is removed from my body. Anyways, cartoonish abilities are better suited for defensive stuff than offense. If you wanted to put any toon's soul in a weapon, it would preferably be an anime one."

Posted: **Oct 22, 2022 9:51 pm**

Fenric wrote: ↑Oct 22, 2022 7:22 pm Fenric smiles and waves, his ears folded in non-threatening greeting.

Hello!

Hmm, that definitely means something. Longer, flatter, trying to show that he's not dangerous?
"Hello." The fox answers, before glancing away. "You here often?"

"You got it. Easy, right?"

Posted: **Oct 22, 2022 11:47 pm**

Fenric chuckles and nods, his ears returning to a neutral position

I come here fairly often, yes. It's the only place that has managed to stay open the whole time and I'm old enough to not care so much for change anymore.

Posted: **Oct 23, 2022 9:58 am**

Gaul's words cause the armored man to break into laughter... well, a dry, pained cackle of some sort.

Hoshiki narrows his eyes and glares at the other man. "What is supposed to be so funny?"

The armored man slams points at him. "Hah! You figure it out, Sailor Starfighter!"

Hoshiki quirks an eyebrow. "But I am not a sailor", he remarks, the joke having flown a mile over his head.

The armored man focuses on Gaul. "Offense and defense, are a matter of attitude. There is no reason why you couldn't learn to use your own spirit for both. But, if you don't want to invest your own soul to it... crux of it is that you lack a weapon capable of fending of otherworldly threat, yes? Well, I can make one."

Hoshiki narrows his eyes again. "Whose souls you plan to place in it, then?"

The armored man waves dismissively with his hand and takes another sip of his beer. "Please. We both know it does need to be a human one."

Posted: **Oct 23, 2022 1:50 pm**

Gaul raises an eyebrow at Hoshiki when the armoured man begins to laugh. "Was it something I said? I hope so."

He realises the matter when the swordsman is referred to as Sailor Starfighter. "Oh... I guess you're something of an anime character yourself, huh?" Gaul doesn't actually like anime toons all that much.

Gaul perks up when the armoured man says he can make a weapon. "Can you, now?" he asks, taking a sip of his rum.

"It doesn't have to be a human soul," Gaul clarifies. "Just a powerful one."

Posted: **Oct 23, 2022 6:54 pm**

"Aye, it was the best one I had on hand at the time." Michalson nods. "Bunny's current corporeal arrangement is temporary. Until such a time as we can find or make her a proper body."

Posted: **Oct 24, 2022 6:59 am**

[Pink and Red and Blue]

"What? I'm light! Light as a feather, babe!" Tsumi holds up her hands. "I just wanna keep my place cool, is all!"

She'll look to Talah to hear the answer to Ci's question. She holds up a finger. "I like that last part. Cute girls now, planning later on." Talah really does give her some food for thought though, and it shows a bit behind Tsumi's eyes. She could probably put up signs and give some announcements about... maybe a special night or a weekly thing. Bring a friend, get a free drink, or something. Costly, but one drink for a new customer isn't bad...

"You're right, we didn't come for that. I don't think we've heard what you're here for yet, Talah," Tsumi leans forward and props her head on her fist. "Now I'm curious. Are you just hanging around to give out free advice? Trolling for chicks, maybe?" Her eyes twinkle teasingly. Tsumi's voice is a pebbly growl, smooth stones rather than gravel, rolling and sifting up smoothly from somewhere deep in her chest.

Posted: **Oct 24, 2022 6:56 pm**

"Well he'd be right at home in jidaigeki at least", the armored man says with a chuckle when Gaul compares Hoshiki to an anime character.

"I have no clue what you two are on about", the swordsman notes entirely humourlessly.

The armored man looks at Gaul. "When and where you want your weapon delivered? I can maybe squeeze it in a day or two, but more time gets you better results." He reaches towards his chest, only then remembering his jacket and the notebook in its pocket was burned to cinders when the replaced his normal attire with steel. "Rats. Errr... ask the tavernkeep for pen and some paper. Put it all down. And, uh, pay for my beer while you're at it."

Posted: **Oct 25, 2022 4:32 am**

Fenric wrote: ↑Oct 22, 2022 11:47 pm Fenric chuckles and nods, his ears returning to a neutral position

I come here fairly often, yes. It's the only place that has managed to stay open the whole time and I'm old enough to not care so much for change anymore.

The fox, Honeysuckle, hops off of the manticore's back and onto a bar stool, betraying substantial clumsiness in the process.
"Which whole time? you somebody famous ' oughta recognize?"

Posted: **Oct 25, 2022 6:42 pm**

"Uh, you lost me there too, buddy." Gold doesn't speak Japanese - he refused to learn out of spite.

Gaul sharply raises an eyebrow when the armoured man asks him to pay for his beer. He produces a notebook and pen from his own jacket and writes down where (the address of his mansion) and when (within 14 days) he wants it. Then, he finishes his rum and places payment, in golden coinage, for both their drinks on the table, with a "You're lucky I consider us friends."

He clarifies: "I've given you two weeks, but that's a deadline, not an ETA. A good boss sets reasonable time constraints for their workers, after all."

Posted: **Oct 25, 2022 6:52 pm**

[Pink and Red and Blue]

Talah considers Ciara's suggestion.
Breathes out.
"I mean, you could. Wouldn't be the first time. But it's probably going to look amateurish if I do it, and at that point y'all might as well just do it yourself, just so that you have more control over it." She tilts her head back and runs a hand through her hair. Gosh, sometimes Talah wishes she were more morally corrupt and could just claim to be good at something she's only decent at. Would get a lot more jobs that way, and most people wouldn't know the difference anyway. Sure, she gets the impression that Tsumi or Ciara wouldn't really care, but...well, Talah finds it kind-of unethical to claim expertise in something she's only ever done a couple times. "If you really want it professional-looking, you ought to go for a graphic designer."

Speaking of answering questions, Talah looks down again, and sits up straight and stretches her shoulders.
"Don't laugh, okay?" The reason why she's here alone is for a very embarrassing reason. "But....I came here because I heard going to the tavern with friends is really exciting. But it wasn't really until I got here that I realized I had forgotten a key part of that equation." Namely, the 'with friends' part.

Posted: **Oct 25, 2022 8:23 pm**

Recaiden wrote: ↑Oct 25, 2022 4:32 am The fox, Honeysuckle, hops off of the manticore's back and onto a bar stool, betraying substantial clumsiness in the process.
"Which whole time? you somebody famous ' oughta recognize?"

Fenric chuckles

I don't know that I count as famous, or that you ought to recognize me: I'm just old. I first came here on the third day after Trog built it... ooh... a bit over sixteen years ago now. Name's Fenric, by the way: nice to meet you.

Posted: **Oct 26, 2022 11:44 am**

The armored man glances at Gaul's note, leaving it on the table for now. "Two weeks? That's plenty. Thank you." He sounds sincere - well, as sincere as a man like him can.

Hoshiki furrows his brow and looks at Gaul. "Friends?"

Posted: **Oct 27, 2022 5:55 am**

Gaul waves a hand dismissively and jokingly says "Yeah, yeah, don't go spreading it around. Or do spread it around, it'll be good for PR."

Glancing at Hoshiki, he says "Sure, friends. Is there a reason I shouldn't be friends with this guy?"

Posted: **Oct 27, 2022 8:09 am**

"Is there a reason you should be?", Hoshiki asks back.

"Don't mind him", the armored man says to Gaul, leaning back in his chair, "where he comes from, people don't call each other friends lightly. Though for what it's worth... you did help me in a fight against a dangerous adversary."

"That only tells me why you owe him", Hoshiki says coolly, "it might explain why you'd offer friendship to him, but not the other way around."

"True", the armored man admits, "I suppose there is a nice little conversation to be had there, of what it takes for someone to count as a friend."

Gaul might infer there are at least as many opinions on that as there are people around the table.

Posted: **Oct 27, 2022 1:51 pm**

"Well, the way I see it, if you meet someone, and they're not an enemy, they're a friend." Gaul answers.

"And I have a propensity for making enemies, and I'm guessing you two do too," Gaul adds, gesturing to Hoshiki and the armoured man, "so I like to have all the companionship I can get just to even the score a little. Y'know?"

The Nexus

Trog's Tavern: Roman Numerals Are Dumb

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Re: Trog's Tavern: Roman Numerals Are Dumb

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Re: Trog's Tavern: Roman Numerals Are Dumb

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Re: Trog's Tavern: Roman Numerals Are Dumb

Re: Trog's Tavern: Roman Numerals Are Dumb

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Re: Trog's Tavern: Roman Numerals Are Dumb

Re: Trog's Tavern: Roman Numerals Are Dumb

Re: Trog's Tavern: Roman Numerals Are Dumb

Re: Trog's Tavern: Roman Numerals Are Dumb

Re: Trog's Tavern: Roman Numerals Are Dumb

Re: Trog's Tavern: Roman Numerals Are Dumb

Re: Trog's Tavern: Roman Numerals Are Dumb