Outside: Grass touch place

[Hraithre]

[Welmet]

Hiep doesn't have to tell the villagers twice. They all understand the fire is well beyond anyone's control now. Their little town is as good as done. Everyone who wasn't already evacuating runs off to do so. One of the crowd stops and squints at Hiep. "This is all your fault." Then she goes with the rest.

At the burning clearing, while Harriet is nursing her injured foot, the smoke and the flames swirl and coalesce back into the shape of a rooster. The creature's eyes, now made of fire, look down on her in amusement.

Then, the fiery phantom takes flight, leaving Harriet alone. It makes a circle over Welmet, radiating eye-searing light and heat.

"People of Welmet!", the apparition crows, "your sacrifice has rebelled against the judgement of God! Your vile trickery has cost you your salvation! Now, you will all burn!"

Then it flies away, heading deep into uninhabited regions of Outside. It is seething with anger and rage at having its wonderful plot ruined, but takes solace in the fact that the village is ruined nonetheless. It can always try again with another hapless settlement. Good luck for the two "heroes" to follow and stop it then! Hmmm... maybe it would be a good thing if they did follow? The man in the crimson suit is as much to blame for the rooster's troubles as the humans. Maybe, if the bird plays its cards right, it can make the humans take revenge on him...

[Morty]

[Welmet]

"Yeah, well, fuck you too." Hiep makes a rude gesture at the retreating villager as she watches her go. She then hurries back to Harriet, hoping that she hasn't forgotten her yet. She should have stuck to her Mai disguise... "Hey. You hurt bad?" Unless Harriet protests or struggles, she'll try to pick her up and carry her away, seemingly able to do it without a lot of effort.

[Earl of Purple]

Welmet

"Yeah, I'm fine. Mostly fine." Harriet's jumpsuit is blackened and scorched, and smouldering in places, but she's able to put it out quite easily. There's a bullet hole in her left boot and blood, but I'm pretty sure she's got regeneration enough to fix it quite quickly. "I'm Harriet. Fire and heat and stuff don't really hurt me for much the same reason, I suspect, it didn't hurt the chicken." This close, the chitinous protuberances growing from Harriet's shoulders and framing her head like a halo are pretty clearly not part of her outfit, which might raise questions.

"Need to get new clothes, by the look of things. And I didn't die, which is a plus. I've not done that yet, but Magdalene said I'd sort-of survive it. Where'd you learn fancy moves like that, and can you teach me?" Harriet smiles and turns to look at Hiep, her face coated in soot but apparently unharmed. Her wrist-mounted device continues clicking, but it's calmed down a lot now.

[Shadowcaller]

[Tower of Oujet]

Lazarus looks to Anika with exasperation, as if it were somehow her fault the giant zombie bus showed up, as if Anika had personally and deliberately jinxed them by saying that it would be 'easy' out loud. With a sigh, she adjusts her gear, grips her sword, and shakes her head.

"This stuff is old and barely functional. If we mess with it like that, it could break and stay broken forever," she points out, which would be really bad because then they'd have to run away from here and call someone else in to seal off the portal and clean up all the zombies. Calm Reed could probably fix all of this in just one punch, but Calm Reed can't be everywhere, and can you imagine how embarrassing that would be, calling her in to stop a zombie apocalypse just because a bear and a swordswoman screwed everything up and got all the neighboring towns and villages eaten because she got in way over her head?

"We fight here. If you have any special secret druid powers you can only use once a day, anything that might make this fight a little bit easier, to keep them from swarming us, now's the time," Saint Laz cautions, as she takes one hand off her sword and raises up to her mouth. She pauses for a moment to brace herself for the pain, and then chomps down on her own hand, teeth sinking in between the armor plates. It hurts, but it helps refocus her senses, makes the bestial instincts flinch and cry out in confusion. She sighs, and with that exhale, begins to give herself over to her id, her bloodlust, her need to kill and ravage and ruin and destroy. Lazarus has been made into a cornered animal, and those stupid gross blood bastards are going to learn that a cornered beast is one to be feared most.

[Tower of Oujet]

It's really a pretty terrible sort of deal. One dumb phrase and now everything gets worse. Of course, that isn't actually how it works. It was just coincidence that awful squidbus showed up moments after Anika started gabbing about how this would be smooth sailing. It isn't like the universe itself is just waiting for someone to speak out of turn so it can drop several tons of awful monsters on them.

Right?

Anyway, speaking of several tons of awful monsters, the party bus can't exactly hover so it's going to have to make several passes. As it swoops over the top of the tower it proceeds to vomit about a dozen or so zombies in the general direction of our heroes. Only about half of them actually land on the tower. The rest miss completely or bounce comically off the edge and plummet to their doom. It would be almost funny if not for how terrible this is. The fact that the thing puked a bunch of burning, corrupted blood everywhere doesn't help either.

Our heroes get the initiative here. The six undead are floundering around like landed fish. They're the relatively unremarkable obsidian armored sort with a motley assortment of bludgeoning tools in place of arms.

[Tower of Oujet]

"Drat." It had worked that one time but never again it seemed.
Though she doesn't even seem the way Laz is looking at her, the druid's attention solely on the transporter.
"Umm... I could maybe poke a hole in that thing? Dunno if that'd do anything though." It looked away too big to take down before it had already dropped off several waves off zombies. "Guess I could give you a buff." Since she suddenly remembered those existed.

Buffs were in Anika's opinion the lamest kind of magic if only since they never seemed to do anything.
Oh sure, there was some glowing paw-print appearing out of thin air near the persons forehead but then what? What difference did it make? The fact she couldn't tell if the person actually got more powerful or if it was just the idea of the magic possibly making them fight better made it seem inconsequential.

"It's like this magical mark that's suppose to infuse you with 'feral energy' or whatever. Like, I already have that from my animal forms so it never seems to do anything for me. Maybe you'd get more use out of it though." And with that Anika suddenly reaches out to place her hand near Laz forehead and attempts to infuse her with feral magic. Supposedly making her stronger, tougher and more agile. Anika used this magic so rarely that the exact effects it has on Laz could be anything.

With that done she turns to the undead but instead of turning into a bear she's going to turn into a falcon.
A falcon large enough to grab one of the floundering undead by the arms and then just drop it off the tower.

[Morty]

[Welmet]

Hiep looks... very mundane. She's wearing a plain woolen vest and trousers. There are some tattoos on her arms and shoulders, though, and there's a faint glow about her, which is fading.

"What I can do... can't be taught. And my name is Hiep." Harriet will forget it soon enough. "I don't know where we can get you new clothes. Grabbing them from the village feels wrong."

[Morty]

[Junkyard]

The moment Wenomir moves, Zeeland does too. The glow of the blue orb floating around his back slightly increases its intensity as he uses its power to speed himself up, letting him sidestep Wenomir's charge and move behind him. Returning to normal speed, he thrusts a finger at the ground to create an explosion directly beneath Wenomir.

"If this is hard for you, feel free to fuck off at any point."

Wenomir seems able to match Zeeland's speed with his own. When his enemy begins to move, he switches direction at a moment's notice, reversing momentum and coming at him again. If Zeeland is quick enough, he might still be able to cause the explosion, but it will be dangerously close to him if so.

[Earl of Purple]

Welmet

"A pity- I've not really been at this long, and I think it's only going to get worse. I should have some money, so maybe I can buy some clothes here." Harriet reaches into a pocket and pulls out... a misshapen lump of metal, once a collection of coins that are still recognisable, but they've fused together. "Well, I had some money. Do you think they'd still accept it?" Harriet frowns at the metal pillar, not sure if it's worth tossing aside or keeping.

[Morty]

[Welmet]

"...no, I don't think so." People accept all sorts of weird shit in trade, but not that. "Maybe some of my spare clothes will fit you." She whistles loudly and a large deer emerges from behind a tree. It seems to be carrying some bags.

[Earl of Purple]

Welmet

"Worth a try, I think." Harriet pulls off the intimidating spiked pauldrons and then the wolf-buckled belt so she can start to struggle out of the scorched jumpsuit. She's not apparently shy, though the fire retardant material did serve to protect a grey undershirt and knickers that are intact underneath. The computer on her wrist is still clicking, however. "You don't get sick easily, do you? That clicking is... uh, me giving off an energy that makes people sick if they're exposed to enough of it. A side-effect I haven't been able to completely suppress." Her jumpsuit probably needs to be buried in a lead-lined drum filled with concrete, too. Simply because she's been wearing it so long and how more rapidly she clicks when using her radioactive abilities.

[Ironsmith]

Forsaken Cathedral
Sekhmet shakes her head. "It's perfectly safe, and it will only take a moment." All she has to do is first unleash a little bit of her inner demon back into her outer demon, then touch Miranda on her forehead.
Unfortunately this is the worst possible time for the foreman to check up on the rescuees and find his employer with horns and a spade-tipped tail, touching one of the others with a swirl of hellfire and darkness. His face blanches, and he immediately ducks back out, unseen by the demon queen.

"This, uh, I can't say. Uh, physiologically, you're fine, but, uh, there's something here. Something... Spiteful. Given that, uh, I'm not sure how much of is you and how much is, uh, her influence," as Miranda said herself, Sekhmet doesn't know Miranda's baseline mental state, "I don't feel safe pulling it out. So you should talk to Sophie."

[Forsaken Cathedral]

"...Hijo de-"

Outside, the workers will hear something that probably sounds quite a bit like a demonic incantation. At least, if they're not familiar with Spanish as a language, the cadence at which it's spoken, or Miranda's freshly hoarse voice. In case the rumors started by Sekhmet's sighting weren't going to be colorful enough. It certainly goes on long enough to be some sort of complex ritual, and those who listen closely will hear something called "diablo" referenced repeatedly.

"¡...y el agradecimiento que recibo es que me agachen y me follen el culo! ¡Mierda!" Miranda's tirade comes to an end, her hands in her hair and just a few inches shy of tearing it out. She's breathing quite heavily and visibly shaking, slowly trying to pull herself into a more relaxed posture and get control of her breathing back. It takes her a few moments before she manages it and turns to address Sekhmet again.

"I'm... sorry about that." She winces, giving Sekhmet a smile that seems to be halfway between worry and embarrassment. "That... that was not good news. And it should be in me to be a bit more dignified than that." She takes a calming breath and brushes her fingers through her hair, in an attempt to straighten it out. "I'll... I'll try to keep a lid on it. Please don't take anything else I say personally. I don't mean any offense. Really, I don't."

[Morty]

[Welmet]

If Hiep has heard of modesty, she decided it's for other people. The spare clothes are as simple and utilitarian as the ones she wears, but it's not likely to be a problem.

"If you'd seen me drink, you'd know that I can stomach a lot. Stuff that'd kill an army regiment included. At any rate, I'm going to follow that thing. You coming? Nhay should be able to carry us both." Nhay is presumably the deer.

[bc56]

Forsaken Cathedral
There's the Miranda Sekhmet remembers. She smiles reassuringly. "If, uh, worst comes to worst, I can try altering the flow of demonic energy through you, but that's probably just trading one curse for another." A loud commotion is rising outside. Sekhmet hurriedly hides her horns and tail. "Uh, is something going on out there?"

[Ironsmith]

[Forsaken Cathedral]

"...That sounds suspiciously like a mob." Miranda confirms, hand going to her hotbox as she taps the touchscreen in preparation for an attack. "They probably got a whiff of something they don't like. Or Sapphira's not as secure in her container as we thought she was and this is her last-ditch attempt at breaking away from us. Might be both." She takes a moment to glance outside and check on how things are progressing. "...Shit. Charcoal's still out there, isn't she?" Miranda hisses. "If I could get us near her, do you think you could portal the three of us out?" As awkward as that would be diplomatically, she's pretty sure it's preferable to being burned at the stake if they try to talk their way out of here.

[Murkus]

[Hog Heaven]

"Nah, I've been meaning to set this up for quite a while and our date is just the perfect excuse for it. Been all too long since we did something like this. Way too much work lately." She takes a quick bite of food. "-which is why I'm here. Not even gonna think about my job for a while." Well, that and the pregnancy.

[Hog Heaven]

"Well if you find that such a good distraction... maybe we should go a few rounds out back. You know, get some sparring practice in while we've got the chance." Tsumi leans on the bar, folding one arm over the other, grinning toothily at the gorgon. She points at her more soberly. "Plus. I have to see if you're any good. You know? I can't have you embarrassing me at this thing. If we're gonna go, we're gonna go to win."

[Shadowcaller]

[Hog Heaven]

"Wanting to take advantage on me when I'm tipsy, are you?" Dena inquires with a barely hidden grin.

Then she starts getting up from her seat. "Fine, fine, but only since I'm a big supporter of underhanded maneuvers. So you may have this one... whatever it is we're doing. Fist fighting? Wrestling? Holmgång?"

[Wolfbane]

The Triple B

"Oh. Well I admit I've always been rather proud of my figure, but if it's for science..."
Anri stares at the Oni bartender for a bit before again swelling in size into the shape of a massive red Oni that nearly reaches the ceiling. Though still wearing a robe she now has her hair tied up in the back. And as requested, this form has an incredible amount of bulk, with a degree of both muscle and fat that would be difficult for a mortal to achieve.
"Oof. I think I'm bigger than my guard at this point. Maybe I should have just tried to copy him..." Anri mutters. She looks to see if there's a seat big enough for this shape. Lydia might note that Anri's voice and even body seems notably more masculine. Probably a side effect of her basing it on a man right in front of her.

The Triple B

It might be unsurprising that there are at least a few seats large enough for the new form, and that the ceiling was tall enough as well. There were minotaurs and ogres that frequented the place from time to time, and many of them were on the larger side of existence. Boisterous too, so Lydia is glad that Anri at least seemed to be her relatively calmer self despite the new size. The last thing she wanted was to have to help make repairs before the club opened for the night. If allowed, the dragon reaches out to an arm and will squeeze and poke at Anri a little to check. "How's your density? All there? Not feeling too spread thin?" She asks, even going so far as to press her ear against Anri's abdomen if she's not stopped so she can listen to check and see if all the internals are there as well. "Sometime I need to talk to someone about how magic seems to know about all the biology involved in a person... She mutters.

[Earl of Purple]

Welmet

Harriet's used to shared showers, though changing in front of people isn't a new thing. And she's not discarding her underwear besides.

"Yep, I'll help. I don't think I can hurt it, but it can't hurt me. Not easily, anyway." Physically, yes, its beak and claws and mass would hurt Harriet, potentially quite badly. But its heat and fire and lightning? They aren't capable of harming Harriet.

[Morty]

[Welmet]

"Alright, then hop on. We've got an asshole bird to catch."

If Harriet gets onto the deer, Hiep will direct her mount in the direction the rooster flew to. She seems to have a decent enough idea where to go, despite having no tracks to follow.

[Keeper]

The Triple B

It might be unsurprising that there are at least a few seats large enough for the new form, and that the ceiling was tall enough as well. There were minotaurs and ogres that frequented the place from time to time, and many of them were on the larger side of existence. Boisterous too, so Lydia is glad that Anri at least seemed to be her relatively calmer self despite the new size. The last thing she wanted was to have to help make repairs before the club opened for the night. If allowed, the dragon reaches out to an arm and will squeeze and poke at Anri a little to check. "How's your density? All there? Not feeling too spread thin?" She asks, even going so far as to press her ear against Anri's abdomen if she's not stopped so she can listen to check and see if all the internals are there as well. "Sometime I need to talk to someone about how magic seems to know about all the biology involved in a person... She mutters.

The Triple B

Anri feels grateful that the bartender has not made any comment on this shape of hers. Lydia's prodding will reveal everything normal: Anri's oni shape has all the muscle and fat that appears to be there and she has a heartbeat to boot.
"I feel like it works on intent. And probably that I don't think it would all check a skilled doctor's scrutiny. Who knows how deep you have to go though before you find the smoke and mirrors?" Anri shrugs.
"So what do you think though? Do I look better big or small?" she asks, trying to smile.

[Gold]

[Junkyard]

Zeeland causes the explosion anyway, the ground just in front of him glowing red for half a second before erupting into a burst of fire. As for his own safety, he moves with the recoil of the blast, gliding rapidly backwards to try to put some distance between him and Wenomir. He doesn't seem to be negatively affected by the heat.

The firefighter takes a millisecond to glance at the supposedly not-TARBot on the ground. He feels as though he ought to try to take it home with him anyways. After all, he has ways of checking if it is or is not what it looks to be.

[Murkus]

[Hog Heaven]

Tsumi looks pleased, a little flush climbing her neck. She pushes up off the bar, but a brief look of puzzlement crosses her features. "I'll have another drink or two if it'll make you feel better about losing," Tsumi goads. "But what's Holmgång?"

[Clutching Pearls]

"A hero?" The man raises his eyebrows, merely thin wisps, leaning forward with his staff to support him. His voluminous old cloak makes him seem huge and ancient. "Is that what you are, Lapis?"

The tall man casts his eyes around. "That means you have to put yourself in danger? For them?" He considers this calmly. "Well, now. It doesn't seem so dangerous around here to me."

[Rebonack]

[Clutching Pearls]

"A hero!" Lapis confirms enthusiastically. "Yeah I've been earning lots of Renown by helping people! And if I help the village then maybe they'll have even BIGGER things I can help them with."

Lapis doesn't seem to get the idea of 'payment for services'. Maybe such things just aren't important to her.

"Only a little bit of danger because I don't have to worry much about bad things happening to me here it's dangerous but it's mostly just dangerous because of hungry animals and things they aren't mean or evil just hungry so I've been avoiding them mostly," Lapis says as she turns her attention to shimmying up the trunk of a nearby tree to get at the tree pearl growing a good twelve feet or so off the ground. "But the people in the village aren't as good at seeing and moving as I am so they might get gobbled up and that would be sad."

No one likes getting gobbled up.

"Why are you in the forest, Mister?"

That's a fine question. Surely he isn't just here to interrogate little girls.


[Shadowhaven]

Khannie will wave to Seraphina as she departs but then-!

Someone recruiting for adventure!

...an adventure that sounds like it's WAY over her head. That's like... super crazy magical esoteric stuff. Getting your hopes and dreams sucked out until you're like... a rock or whatever? Khannie's no expert on that sort of thing. She can do illusions and punch stuff. And one of the first lessons you want to learn as a Cape is to pick your battles. It doesn't do you any good if you pick a fight way out of your league and just get totally clobbered.

So Khannie does the next best thing.

She posts the location and a description of what's going on to Paragon, just in case a better equipped hero decides to check it out. Oh! And she sends a tip to VIGIL's tip-line, too! Something sucking all the hopes and dreams out of a place sounds like the sort of thing VIGIL would look into.

Once those important tasks are done she'll just... wait for the train. She really does need to get back home. Sometimes getting home is more important than another adventure. But maybe someone ELSE will show up for said adventure?


[Neon Forest]

Puzzle-based security IS pretty silly.

But for some reason dungeons keep using it.

What's the point, honestly? A key is way more practical. It's almost like these places are meant to be semi-lethal playgrounds for adventurers. It really doesn't make any sense.

Khannie begins fiddling with the orb, poking at it here and there, until at last it hisses open and allows her to retrieve the third and final key from within!

"Okay, got it! Now we can go back to the hub and take the elevator down and beat up whatever boss is keeping this place running!" Khannie concludes. That's how the last several bunkers worked, after all. Why would this one be any different?

[Earl of Purple]

Welmet

Once she's dressed, and has put the pauldrons and belt back on for the supernatural benefits they grant her, she'll hop onto the deer and cling rather tightly to Hiep, mace at her waist and burning spear held awkwardly. Hiep should get the idea that Harriet has never ridden a deer before. Or a horse, or a dog, or a bicycle, or anything else. She's not very graceful at it and lurches occasionally as she loses balance.

[Murkus]

Clutching Pearls

The tall being laughs dustily. He tries to lower himself down to one knee before Lapis, laying one arm across his knee, the fingers in his strange gauntlet curled. "Why, I'm looking for a hero, of course," says the tall man. "My name is Vargain. By the by. I wouldn't want you to keep calling me Mister."

"I'll tell you this, Lapis. I know you don't need my help... but perhaps if I help you find your pearls, you might be able to assist me with something in return. I would greatly appreciate it." He raises his eyebrows. "Do you understand what I mean? Help for help. Like those people should be doing, for you." He frowns soberly. "It's only fair."

[Rebonack]

[Clutching Pearls]

Being approximately the size of an eleven year old girl Lapis isn't that small. Not teeny tiny. But not large by any means, either. So the strange probably doesn't have to stoop that much.

"Oh! You found me, then! I'm a really good hero maybe not the best but a good one!" Lapis declares. "Vargain is a nice name."

She files that away for later use. Or immediate use, as the case happens to be.

"What kind of help do you need, Mister Vargain?" Lapis asks without agreeing to this new quest yet. This seems like an optional chain quest to Lapis and it is always a good idea to learn what the quest requires before choosing it!

But then a question is asked.

Does she understand help for help?

SHOULD the people be helping her in return?

It's only fair.

At this, Lapis frowns as well and states very sadly, "The world isn't fair, Mister Vargain. But I think maybe grace helps balance it just a little. Mother says we can choose to be anything we want, so we should choose to be kind."

[bc56]

Forsaken Cathedral
Sekhmet peeks out of the tent. "Uh... Yes." That's terrifying, even if she is in absolutely no danger from mundane picks and shovels used as weapons. "I don't see her. I think she slipped away." That may or may not be a good thing. "Uh, yes. I can make a portal. We, uh, might want to go now. They're coming this way."

Neon Forest
That all sounds well and good. Kothar is ready to go. Except... "Boss?" He has no familiarity with video games. The idea of a dungeon boss is foreign to him.

[Zefir]

[Junkyard]

The decoy bot continues to move the whole time and heads for a pile of trash that will hide it from Zeeland's Vision. Mia si not sure what to do with it now as she assumes the trick done. Maybe she can port him in once to safe Wenomir or land a blow at the other robot.

[Shadowcaller]

[Hog Heaven]

Tsumi looks pleased, a little flush climbing her neck. She pushes up off the bar, but a brief look of puzzlement crosses her features. "I'll have another drink or two if it'll make you feel better about losing," Tsumi goads. "But what's Holmgång?"

[Hog Heaven]

"A duel to decide the will of the ancestors, usually to the death. Which is hopefully not where this is going." Dena pats Tsumi on the shoulder. "Otherwise you might want to reconsider those drinks. But you know what they say, you're most in tune with the spirits of the ancestors when you got them in your blood. Speaking of-" She finishes her drink off and then goes in the direction of the back-exit, or at least where she think it is.

"-think I need some more of them." She turns to Tsumi as she walks. "So come on."

[Thursday Violist]

[Shadowhaven]

Khannie will wave to Seraphina as she departs but then-!

Someone recruiting for adventure!

...an adventure that sounds like it's WAY over her head. That's like... super crazy magical esoteric stuff. Getting your hopes and dreams sucked out until you're like... a rock or whatever? Khannie's no expert on that sort of thing. She can do illusions and punch stuff. And one of the first lessons you want to learn as a Cape is to pick your battles. It doesn't do you any good if you pick a fight way out of your league and just get totally clobbered.

So Khannie does the next best thing.

She posts the location and a description of what's going on to Paragon, just in case a better equipped hero decides to check it out. Oh! And she sends a tip to VIGIL's tip-line, too! Something sucking all the hopes and dreams out of a place sounds like the sort of thing VIGIL would look into.

Once those important tasks are done she'll just... wait for the train. She really does need to get back home. Sometimes getting home is more important than another adventure. But maybe someone ELSE will show up for said adventure?

[Shadowhaven]

Khannie's train back is pretty nondescript. And boring. And somewhat long.

For some reason, she's sharing a train car with a bunch of ducks, but they don't really do anything except quack. And a mermaid with a pet riding crocodile is there, in the same train car. The ducks are obviously keeping a wide berth from the crocodile. And the train slows down a little as it approaches a tunnel, because it passes a different Riftline train that appears to have been intentionally derailed and is under watch by Riftline authorities who are waiting for...something.

Yeah. So. Pretty boring ride back. And safe.


Seraphina, meanwhile, gets on a bus and obviously ends up in some other mess while in transit.

[Ironsmith]

[Forsaken Cathedral]

"...Yeah, you're right, and she seemed pretty safe compared to us..." Miranda begins, before smacking herself on the forehead. "But we don't actually know that, and I'm not leaving her behind again. We're not going to leave without her. Unless she's already left, in which case it'd be stupid to put ourselves at risk needlessly- dammit, if only we could contact her, I-" She frowns. "...Gyaaaaagh. Soy una idiota!" She hisses, retreating into the tent.

Charcoal, can you hear me? Are you okay? Her Highness and I might need to portal out. Can you get to us, or at least somewhere safe?