Earl of Purple wrote: ↑Mar 05, 2024 2:00 pm
Somebody is flying in, landing near the lake. They are a winged human-ish figure with short black hair, grey eyes and a pair of stubby auk wings with eyes in the central joint. They are wearing a red chequered shirt and a pair of jeans, with hiking boots on their feet and a canvas satchel with a stylised corvid embroidered onto the flap.
The newcomer is approached by a very small person. Brinika, to be specific. The young goblin is wearing her official GLoG volunteer hat and straightens up smartly in front of the bird-person.
It was very hard for Kestrel to supress a giggle again. The way children think was always a little silly, yet very cute. "Mhm, that's right." She nods. "Surface farms and goblin farms are quite different, I'm sure."
The scarecrow isn't hidden, to her surprise, but the kids seem to know what's up. "Yeah, he can! Psst, hey, Silver, c'mere boy, dig!" Kestrel kneels down, pointing to the base of the scarecrow, and the little pup bounds over. "Now stand back, he can get a bit enthusiastic." Kestrel says with a smile, as Silver indeed began to enthusiastically start digging, sending sand flying everywhere.
"Oh, hey! Uh, mostly I'd like to make a donation. I dug up a pirate's treasure a while ago, and there's a bunch of this stuff which is really bulky and hard to carry, and it's valuable- it's made of gold, and pretty rocks and things- but... I don't really know how to get the best value out of it, and I also don't want to be seen as an easy mark, y'know? So who can I talk to about giving it to you guys so it gets put to best use?" As the winged individual speaks, they reach into their satchel and pulls out a handful of jewellery. There's a pearl necklace there, as well as a gold crown decorated with garnets, a ruby pendant, and a silver locket with an agate cameo carved inside.
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Brinika probably has, if not quite so portably. A high-end car or house is more valuable than the pearl necklace, at least. "Thank you. I'm Jack, by the way." The winged individual puts the jeweller back into the satchel, since it then leaves her hands free for doors and gates.
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"I'm Brinika. A junior volunteer here." Brinika strikes a proud pose as she walks. It lacks a certain amount of grace but it doesn't want for enthusiasm. She leads Jack to the main cabin, where Reelshka can be found in her office doing paperwork.
"Aunt Reelshkaaa! This lady here wants to make a donation. With treasure!"
"Treasure?" Reelshka looks up from the papers. "That's unusual. What do you have for us?"
"Hi, Aunt Reelshka! I'm Jack. I found a chest of pirate treasure a while ago, and the coins I can figure out, value wise. But some of it's... less clear." As she speaks, the birdgirl reaches into her satchel and pulls out a gold crown decorated with emeralds and a pearl necklace. "I could pawn it off, but I thought I'd rather it do some good and give it to you. If I pawned it off and donated the money I got, I'd be worried I didn't get the best price. I don't really get why someone would want this, for example. It's heavy, uncomfortable, and gaudy." Jack picks up the crown as she mentions it, before pulling out some more jewellery and looking at it.
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Reelshka blinks, her reaction amusing similar to Brinika's when she saw the jewelry.
"This is all... very valuable. And you're right there are many unscrupulous people who'd try to get their hands on it. If you did give it to us, it would help us a lot. But maybe we can get it appraised before you decide. We have some friends living nearby who are good at it."
"No, thank you. I don't... really need the money, because I've got the coins from a pirate's treasure, and my lifestyle's rather... expense-low, y'know?" Because Jack squats in forgotten attics when she wants to go to sleep, most of the time, and is also able and willing to take advantage of bird feeders.
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"Some years ago, I rolled a dice and flooded Trog's a little. All these little ships appeared, and they had scraps of a map for sails. I gathered the map from the sails- and stopped the ships sinking each other, best as I could- and pieced it together when the effect wore off and the ships and water disappeared. The map led to a sea-stack near a waterfall. Atop the sea stack was a chest of treasure, and behind the waterfall was a cave full of weird mutants and other stuff. That's where I got these wings, and a magic shovel that can't be moved if it's activated." Nearly five years ago. "I was nearly eaten by a worm-lady whilst in the cave, and I sealed a bunch of stuff off. Fish and birds were fighting over the place, and it wasn't healthy for anyone or anything- even the fish and the birds. These wings came off an auk with so many wings it couldn't swim straight, and it swam into a wall of boiling water." Although the wings somehow survived, detached themselves from the corpse, and parasitically bonded with Jack's back, which possibly explains the eyes they've got in the middle joint.
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Brinika and Reelshka look at each other in some confusion. That was a very Nexus series of events.
"That definitely sounds like an adventure. But it means you didn't steal these valuables, so we can accept them. And you'll always be welcome here, as thanks for your generosity."
The woblins squeak and back away when the sand starts flying, but then they start giggling and clapping.
"Look at him! He's such a good digger!"
"He'll get to the treasure in no time!"
Indeed, it won't be long before Silver uncovers a small cardboard box hidden in the sand - not very deeply.
[Birds and Babs- Treasure Hunt]
Kestrel giggles in turn with the woblins as Silver digs. The cub gently nudges the box with his nose when he unearths it, sniffing at it curiously, before letting out the closest thing he has to a victorious howl. It's more of a very quiet whine, really. Kestrel wastes no time in picking him up, scratching behind one of his ears and digging about in her pockets for a treat. "Good boy! You did well, didn't you? There you go, for helping the kids."
She then looks at the woblins and down to the box. "Now, what's inside!?"
Perhaps surprisingly, the woblins match Silver's howl with their own. They're definitely on the squeakier side as well, but the kids put their hearts into them.
When Kes asks her question, Balthuk grabs the box and opens it. Inside are two bracelets, made of string, beads and feathers. Simple, but impressive enough for the kids.
"Bracelets! That's good treasure."
"But there's only two! That means Kes and Silver won't get any for their help!"
"It was really freaky, but quite fun. I've been living off it since, mostly anyway. Better than that fae party where I accidentally insulted one of the hosts so they bit my finger off." Earl forgot about the finger for a while, so he's not sure it's in Jack's initial description here. That was also about the same time (Earl thinks the scenes were run concurrently, which was a little aukward as both left physical alterations).
"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind if I need to." Jack will take out the rest of the treasure, a collection of miscellaneous jewelery primarily, though there's also a soapstone statue that gives bad dreams if you sleep next to it. Earl rediscovered that when rereading the scene; Jack's unaware of this because she's kept it in an extradimensional space.
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The woblins joining in the howling does indeed take Kestrel by surprise. It's very cute though. All three of them tried so hard!
"Ooh, those are pretty!" Kestrel says, leaning in to look at the bracelets. She smiles at the twins consideration for her, but waved her free hand in dismissal. "No, no, it's fine! It was your treasure hunt, I just tagged along for a bit. And I've got treats for Silver!"
What follows is quite a lot of paperwork, as the jewelry is evaluated and catalogued; Reelshka will insist on giving Jack a copy of the paperwork. Jack might not think much of it but Reelshka has to keep a detailed account of all donations.
[Birds and Babs- Treasure Hunt]
The woblins accept that and put on the bracelets.
"Yeah! Silver deserves some treats! He's such a good tracker."
"And digger!"
"Thanks for helping us find the treasure, Kes. You're really cool."
It's just an average day at the Medlab in GLoG. A visitor, here for a test, doing his very best to avoid METIS and Tobias and Sophie all at once, jumping every time footsteps are heard or doors open. Hiding behind tables and desks and equipment as he slinks from one safe spot to the next. All just to get a little blood delivered for a simple paternity test. It's made a little more awkward by the fact that he's accompanied by fashion model and mayoral candidate, Atya Xilo. And they're supposed to be meeting up with Braon.
Maybe Reinholdt can pass off the unusual behavior as being just an eccentric adventurer with a storied past. Everyone has their little quirks right? Don't mind it if the handsome man is rolling from cover to cover.
"...all night, the poor thing. Even after I fed her."
Rein, and presumably Atya, will promptly be joined in the infirmary by Braon and a red-haired woman they've yet to meet; presumably one of the staff here at GLoG. They're still deep in conversation when they enter the Medlab, which is presumably the point, as Braon still looks to be about as tense as an overworked spring when they step in.
"She's been like that from the jump." Braon grimaces. "Niamh's never not cried when she has to be away from her mum. And she usually still cries even when I'm with her. She isn't sick or anything, from what the doctors say, apart from needing eyedrops and a lot of water."
"Aw, poor baby." The newcomer shakes her head. "At least Ciara doesn't have that problem. I guess she got all the 'little ray of sunshine' genes, huh?"
"Must have. Lovers know I don't have many of those to spare." Braon stops, seeming to just now realize what room she's in and who she shares it with. "...Well, you were right about time flying."
Who're you? ...Don't matter.
Want some rye? Course ya do!
Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
Said mayoral candidate had left her Chateau early that morning, with the express purpose of finding an untraceable way to get to Braon, due to the rather high number of bitter enemies she's acquired. Better safe than sorry, and Atya takes safety very seriously. Were someone to have tracked her movements, they would have found the following route.
After leaving the Chateau, she headed to a certain bakery and had an impromptu reunion, as well as purchasing a gift. Then she took a rather circuitous route around Inside, culminating in a visit to the Underview hotel, where she was to visit a friend. She checked in, went up to room 232, and remained there for thirty five minutes, upon which she was seen leaving the hotel and heading directly back to Chateau Xilo via taxi, where she is now.
Forty minutes after her departure, her "friend" departed the hotel as well. Said friend, a schoolteacher named Phaedra Flint, took a similarly circuitous route through Inside on her motorbike before heading to the GLOG encampment, where she is now.
Using a body double, was, in Atya's opinion, a stroke of genius.
Now in the lab, she's doing her best to keep her cool. Dressed in brown corduroy pants and a leather jacket, huge round glasses that make her eyes look even larger than usual, a hiking backpack and very reasonable tennis shoes, she certainly wouldn't be clocked as a fashion model by anyone. The long brown wig helps too.
She's also a little lost, but upon finding Reinholdt she makes a beeline for him. "Hey, you. Sorry I didn't get here earlier, but I did this whole secret agent type thing- wait, why are you sneaking around?" The test is certainly not a fun thing, but he looks like he's worried about being attacked or something.
Then Braon and the doctor enter, distracting her for a moment. The elf waves at her, a little nervously.
"Hi! It's, uh, me. From last night. I got you a pie." She reaches into her backpack and produces a well wrapped apple pie, fresh baked that morning. "Figured your little ones might enjoy it."
"Who are you?" Reinholdt asks suspiciously. What's this bed and breakfast looking intern doing in the medlab? Rein's probably kidding, but his deadpan face is so very hard to read. He'd probably make a killing at poker. "Me? Sneaking? I'm not sneaking. Who's sneaking? I'm just... making sure that no one-ahh!"
Reinholdt jumps as the door opens and finds himself conveniently just around the next corner, one hand on a door handle to the broom closet, just in case. When he hears that it's just Braon and someone else he's not met he breathes a quick sigh of relief. Then rounds the corner again, hand brushing through his hair as he smiles rakishly, doing his best to look he didn't just come from the closet. "Well, well. You've probably wondering why I gathered you all here today."
"N-no? No one? O-Ok. Ahem." Rein clears his throat and looks at the red-headed woman for a long moment. "I take it you're here to perform the test? How's Quinn doing?" Reinholdt stares at her intently, waiting for that unexpected flinch, that flicker of recognition, that flash of regret. The proof that this women is just Toby in another one of his disguises. Red-headed indeed, Rein knows exactly what that means! Next this woman will come up with some excuse to get Rein alone in a room and take off more clothes than necessary before sticking him with a 'needle'. Rein's on to you.
"You both look great in those!" Kestrel says, before placing Silver back down and continuing to give him treats. "I keep getting told I spoil him too much, but it's hard not to. And no need for thanks! I had fun." She smiles gently at the Woblins, feeling a little more proud than she should over being called cool by a child.
"Do you wanna head back to your mum soon or do you wanna play some more with me and Silver?"
Jack struggles a little with the paperwork. She's literate, but her handwriting's scruffy and she's not especially comfortable reading. She also doesn't hold a pen very well. She'll sign 'Jacqueline Door', though, and doesn't list an address or residence. She'll claim she doesn't have one, that she's nomadic and moves around a lot.
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"No idea. I don't know any Quinns." The woman shrugs, but offers him a handshake anyway. "Miranda Cortez. I take it you're the Rein I've been hearing about all morning?"
Braon grimaces and looks away. "...I only mentioned him once..." She mutters, vaguely annoyed.
"And this must be Miss Xilo." Miranda gives the elf a smile, offering her a handshake as well, as soon as Rein either accepts or it's clear he's not going to. "Nice to meet you, too, miss."
"Who I didn't mention at all." Braon mutters.
"Braon asked me to administer the test this morning, yes." Miranda continues. "Not normally my job, but most of the medical team is busy today, and I'm still very much qualified for it."
This isn't entirely true. It'd probably be pretty easy for any of the three to get ahold of Medlab staff if they really wanted to. But Miranda has the advantage of being someone Braon actually trusts, which puts her on a short list of qualified staff, particularly after the fiendling's prior experiences with them. Which admittedly weren't that bad on her part, but she's not quite at the point yet where she'd be comfortable taking a needle from someone she'd previously kicked in the face while screaming profanities.
"Anyway, we're already mostly done." Miranda smiles, setting a small, plastic white case on a nearby table. "I've got samples from the kids and mom right here. If you'd be so kind, Rein?"
She holds up a small device somewhat resembling a flathead screwdriver; there's no visible needle on the end, just a flat, dull plane of metal. She also hasn't taken off any of her clothes yet, or asked him to remove any himself, incidentally.
Braon, meanwhile, falls in next to Atya.
"...So... pie, huh?" She asks, not sure exactly how else she should start this conversation. "I haven't actually given them any pie yet. This'll be a treat, yeah."
And probably also a huge mess waiting to happen, but Braon's trying to focus on the positives here.
Who're you? ...Don't matter.
Want some rye? Course ya do!
Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
Also known as Toby's Closet. His not-so-long suffering apprentice is once again dealing with Tobias' eccentricities. In today's case, "oh I need this copper rod for today's ritual demonstration." Zullie wouldn't be annoyed if he didn't staunchly pretend he did not in fact forget about it and that fetching it for him is a grand and important task.
Whatever. It gives her a chance to look through all the cool magical junk he probably has lying around in there.
Atya laughs off Reinholdt's question. "Ha, good one. Guess the disguise is okay then." He's joking, right? As anxious as this whole thing is making her, it must be a lot worse for him, so he's probably just trying to lighten the mood.
But boy, is he jumpy. There's clearly something going on that she doesn't know about- like whoever Quinn is. Well, he knows he can share all the skeletons in his closet with her when he's ready. Best not to push with everything else happening at the moment.
As Miranda introduces herself, Atya shakes her hand warmly. "Nice to meet you, Ms Cortez," she says automatically. How did the doctor know her name if Braon didn't mention it? Shit, maybe the disguise is terrible and Reinholdt was just making fun of her? Oh god, that means she might have been followed. Atya glances nervously at the door.
Look at her, being all paranoid. This is why she's clicked so well with Reinholdt. Maybe they should build a bunker and hide in there forever.
As Miranda moves in on Rein, Atya glances over to Braon and smiles. "Yeah, I... you know. This day is gonna be pretty hard, so I thought a little sweetness could help." She shuffles her feet on the floor and winces at the squeaking sound. Tennis shoes are so not her thing.
Reinholdt shakes 'Miranda' 'Corez' hand. She might be out to get him, but that doesn't mean he's going to be impolite about it. "I see." Well Braon and Toby probably don't get along inherently from what little Rein knows of Braon. So maybe this Miranda was trustworthy.
Until she pulls out a strange device. "What's that? If you're suggesting I have some screws loose, uhh... noted?" A screwdriver seems like a terrible way to get blood. Or a fantastic way to get blood. It depends on how messy you want to be with it. And he's not exactly sure what she wants him to do with it. Hold out his arm? Give her his hand? Look at it? Can you give blood through your eyes without knowing it using sufficiently advanced technology? That'd be horrifyingly easy to abuse in a dystopian manner. Or maybe it's one of those cotton tests. Does he have to breathe on it?
When Zullie opens the closet in the Director's office, the first thing to catch her eye is a metal canteen hanging from a canvas strap on the back of the door like a cat snare. It's labeled 'Liquid Agony DO NOT DRINK' and makes an ominous sloshing as the door swings. Probably best to avoid that. The second thing she can see in Toby's closet is a skeleton. Of course. It's wired together on a pole with a wheeled base and is clearly meant to be a teaching aid, but the bone proportions don't seem human to her. The left wall of the closet has shelves from floor to ceiling, most of them full of neatly labeled bottles, display cases, and other small knickknacks. The right side has a bookcase and a rack of weapons. Straight ahead is an armoire made out of black marble that apparently used to be bound with a silk rope and prayer seals until someone chopped them off and pried it open.
Which things does she poke her nose into first?
[Lake]
There's some hobo standing on a rowboat in the middle of the lake, wearing a dirty coat with a black fox tail poking out underneath and a fedora on top of his red hair. He's got crazy blue eyes and a wild beard. At the moment he's waving his hands around like the guy at the front of an orchestra while dark clouds slowly build over the water. Probably nothing to worry about.
Why would anyone want to drink something with Agony in its name? Sounds dumb to her.
Zullie goes to examine the shelves for cool magical knickknacks first. Mostly because they’re labeled so in theory she won’t have to guess what they’re actually for. Oh right and she also does need to find a rod. It does not seem to be on the weapon rack so it’s probably in the armoire…
Miranda stares awkwardly at Rein for a moment, before giving out a little laugh. "Oh, right. I keep forgetting you guys aren't used to this stuff yet." She turns the device over in her hands. "It's called an osmotic syringe. We use them to collect trace amounts of blood from the capillaries without damaging the skin. Not entirely sure who decided we needed that, but I'm glad they did. Needles, ugh. Never could have gotten the kids to sit still for that." She smiles and makes a gesture toward Rein. "Your hand, please."
If he complies, she'll press the head of the device to his palm, where it will feel slightly warm for a moment. "And done." She'll then say. "Piece of cake."
Braon, meanwhile, will quietly accept the pie and nod. "Yeah. Definitely going to be a tough day." She agrees, mirroring Atya's glance toward the door. She'd been dreading this, too, after all. If Rein is the father, she's going to have to make room for these two in her life, and more importantly, in her kids' lives. If he isn't... well, not much changes if he isn't, apart from apparently getting Atya's hopes up.
Neither of those sound like especially good outcomes.
"...Cute glasses, by the way." Braon offers, hoping to get her mind off the subject for just a few seconds.
Who're you? ...Don't matter.
Want some rye? Course ya do!
Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
