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[quillpleasant]

Chateau Interview

Atya smiles warmly as Nasrin accepts the offer. "Excellent! You'll do fine, don't worry. We can always adjust things if it's outside your skillset or if you figure out something you'd rather be doing." She makes a couple notes on the book in front of her. "Would you like to start, say, next week? I can have Daisy give you some information to look over and get acquainted with beforehand too."

Then something else seems to occur to her, and she hesitates. No, there's no reason not to bring it up. "Oh, another option, should you ever tire of my company, is that I could set you up with the Good League of Good. They're an organization that specializes in all kinds of healing, taking care of people, that sort of thing. A lot of former slaves and refugees find solace there." And it would likely by safer than sticking by Atya, on the off chance that the Guild tries to recapture any of the escapees while going after her.

[Earl of Purple]

Chateau Interview

"The.... Good League of Good? It's real? I've... heard rumours, but... I wasn't sure it was real." Some of the other slaves would have suggested the same thing; some might even have been slightly scared of its mention, convinced a place with a name like that somehow didn't live up to it. "I... think I'd prefer to stay with you." Nasrin smiles at Atya, a little It might be safer, but Nasrin seems to prefer the security of hanging with people who have already demonstrated the ability to fight the Guild and win.

[Meowmai]

[Flats and Cats]

Elizabeth makes a face as Blanche describes both soldier and mercenary life. Part of it was her issues with Blanche being either of those things in the first place, but mostly it was just pure horror at the idea of living like that. How did anybody manage it? "Eugh. Yeah, miss me with that. Think I'd rather die than find myself sleeping in the woods without wifi." She doesn't miss her half-sister's last comment either. "Oh no, don't tell me you're a morning person."

[quillpleasant]

Chateau Interview

"It's real enough," says Atya, nodding in understanding, "Believe me, I was skeptical too. Hard to believe that a place like that can exist not too far from a place like Skyside."

She smiles, making another mark in her ledger. "Then with me you'll stay. Now, before I let you go, was there anything that you wanted to talk about? Anything you need? I know this whole situation has been hard, so I just want you to know I'm there for you as a friend, not just an employer."

[Gullara]

[Aftermaths and Futures]

"Oh please," Dulcinea rolls her eyes. "of course not. For your information, it was the third thing I did, and I didn't buy them - Skyla did." Even after such a long inpatient period, Dulcinea wasn't allowed full reign on her first day or so back home. The pain of doting parents with medical degrees.

"Besides -ehem- it's not like the cancer risks matter anymore. You put those spirits in me, and they've seemed plenty capable of handling it. For all intents and purposes, you've made me oncologically immortal." With that, Dulcinea makes another break for her original plan, slipping the cigarette into the corner of her mouth and reaching into a pocket for a lighter.

[Aftermaths and Futures]

"Skyla will basically do anything you ask. I wouldn't say her judgement is a point for you." Reilana points out. It's not as though she hasn't noticed how Dulcinea can push and pull people around. Especially that core group she spends time with.

"Maybe you should read the back of that box you have for the list of over health effects of cigarettes, though. Cancer is just one of them." She points out, dodging that entire line of argument. She crosses her arms, looking no less unimpressed. Dragon, she sounds like her dad, but Dulcinea and health have been a sore point for her.

[Halae]

[Skye's Apartment]

Asami grits his teeth as the battle unfolds. After a few seconds of deliberation, he points to his catapults and declares, "I have the guys who were loading these all scream and throw rocks and stuff to scare the horses. Annnd have all my archers fire at Skye's infantry."

Having maintained terrain advantage, Asami's strategy is surprisingly versatile. Even more surprising was her knowledge of war strategy beyond that of most generals. Cavalry were effective because they took advantage of chaos on the battlefield, where there was none to be found in Asami's formation.

Skye's Apartment
The lack of chaos is hardly a hindrance to the cavalry when there's an abundance of siege engines grouped together with minimal escort, especially with the archers distracted with Skye's forces. "I don't think there's a rule for that," Mary comments, pressing her attack further, "But I'll have my archers join yours in shooting at Skye."

[Skye's Apartment - Asami and Mary]

Skye lets out a long laugh, "Alright, I've got enough advantages to give you two problems. Let us see what happens."

And the result is that the dice turn against Skye. She had control, but with both Asami and Mary turning on her together, she ends up being the first one out of the game - though not until after ravaging both of their armies in turn. The result is that the final confrontation between Mary and Asami is going to be on the more pitiful end of Gateway games, but it should at least move quickly due to having fewer units to control.

[Skye's Apartment - Ava]

Skye, still immensely ophidian at the moment, is going to suddenly appear in the middle of her apartment, her cobra tail snaking out into coils beneath her in place of her legs. The whole situation is terrifically awkward, but hey! She's here! And that means she has the privacy to start working on changing herself back, and maybe experiment a little.

But she's not quite alone, is she?

[Shadowcaller]

[Skye's Apartment - Ava]

Ava was simply here to make an impromptu food delivery. Skye was usually home at this time and she hadn't been answering her phone so she had just invited herself in to place the food on the table.

She was just writing a note when Skye, or at least a snake-woman with a resemblance to her, suddenly appeared in a mist.
The detective quickly stands up and backs away, trying to get an idea of what was happening before she made any rash actions.

[Halae]

[Skye's Apartment - Ava]

Skye lets out a breath when she sees that she's managed to return home, and turns to look around for a safe place to stop. Which is when she spots a certain dark-skinned elf!

"Oh, Ava! Ah, it's good to see you. Things have... happened, and I could use a friend at the moment."

[Shadowcaller]

[Skye's Apartment - Ava]

It takes Ava a moment to realize she didn't just look a bit like Skye it was her.
The drow blinks. "Skye? Oh Brend, what has happened to you?" She cautiously approach and offers her hand. Not sure what else to do in a situation like this.

[Halae]

[Skye's Apartment - Ava]

"An entity called Libra happened to me," Skye will take the offered hand. Her scales are supple and smooth, very fine to the touch, "Though all of this was a mistake on her part. She handed me a power to let me change myself for the next twenty-four hours. I was about to start turning myself back to normal and seeing what I can do with... this. On better end of things, she now owes me a favor as well."

[Shadowcaller]

[Skye's Apartment - Ava]

Ava gets pale as she hears this. The situation really dawning on her as she felt Skye's new scales.
A ME, fuck.
She had never thought she'd witness one and even less that it would be to someone she knew.

"A mistake? Jeez." She will take the teenagers other hand and squeeze them both. "How did you get involved with this shit?" She was trying to refrain from telling her to stay away from entities like that until she knew what happened.

Since ME's often happened to people wherever they liked it or not and she would not be one to put any blame on a victim.

[Halae]

[Skye's Apartment - Ava]

Skye lets out a sigh, "I was asked to, by Libra, before I knew she was a disaster of an entity. She just wanted me to chat with someone, that's all."

She'll squeeze Ava's hands back, before letting one go to retrieve the pocket watch, to hand to Ava so she can see, "Apparently, until the timer runs out, this can transform me. So, it should help me get back to normal, or close to it. The changes will be permanent once the timer runs out."

[Earl of Purple]

Chateau Interview

"Is it truly not far from Skyside? That... is hard to believe. How does the Guild tolerate it?" Mostly because it's not an active threat to their operations and it isn't worth the bad publicity.

"I'd like somewhere that's... just mine. Before, I shared a bed and room with the night shift assistant. I couldn't have anything just mine, even a magazine. He'd find and read it in his rest period, when I was working. I... found and read his magazines, when he had them, in my rest period." It doesn't seem much to ask, really.

[Shadowcaller]

[Skye's Apartment - Ava]

Well, this all sounded outlandish and bizarre but at least it seemed to be solvable.
She slowly nods in understanding to what Skye was saying. "Alright." Ava says in as calm a voice as she can muster in this situation.

"I'll step out so you can turn yourself back in peace then." Since she couldn't imagine Skye wanting her to be in the room.
Ava starts letting go of her hands.

[Halae]

[Skye's Apartment - Ava]

Skye, for her part, will immediately head into her bedroom and retrieve a new pair of pants to pull on - what happened to the previous pair when he legs shifted into a tail is a mystery she has no desire to start untangling. Then... well, she goes about reconstructing herself from memory. She doesn't have an easy reference from pictures - she rarely ever took pictures of anything, much less herself - and so the result is... not the best.

"Ava, I'm back to... something. You can come in now."

Assuming Ava does, she'll see that Skye has gotten a number of things wrong. Broader shoulders, she's taller now, and her face doesn't look right, with things being somewhat out of place here and there - the unfortunate effect of not looking in the mirror much. Seems she's going to need some help getting back to normal.

[Shadowcaller]

[Skye's Apartment - Ava]

Ava had imagined it being like a polymorph effect that Skye was just going to dispel.
But as she enters the room she realizes that the poor had to do this manually which seemed pretty cruel in itself.
"Skye, you're going have to put yourself together? You poor girl."

She will move in give her a hug only to realize that their heights are even more drastically different than before. "...looks like you're a bit taller than I remember."

[Halae]

[Skye's Apartment - Ava]

"I don't think I got it quite right," Skye says worriedly. Her face is wrong in small ways, though her eyes still carry that brilliant pink coloration and her hair is, impossibly, better than before. She holds up the pocket watch, frowning deeply.

"You're saw me regularly, Ava. Could you help put me back together?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Skye's Apartment - Ava]

"I can certainly try." She glances at the watch. "You shouldn't feel stressed though, we got this alright? Twenty four hours might as well be all the time in the world for this."
Though admittedly, the idea of her changing the teenager didn't sit right with her. Having that sort of power over someone, especially so young, felt wrong.

Which is why she accepts the watch so hesitantly. "But okay... you were only a bit taller than me." And so Skye will shrink down to the height Ava recalls her being before her very eyes.
That felt strange though not something she hadn't seen before.
"Though frankly, you've changed so much from the scrawny girl I met just a year ago and we don't see each other every day anymore." Puberty tended to do that and Skye had also been malnourished so that made her change pretty spectacular.
It was just hard to determine if she had changed more since she last saw her. But her face... it looked different now didn't it?

[Halae]

[Skye's Apartment - Ava]

Skye looks down at her body. All those meals Ava brought to Skye went right into fat storage, "Yes. The curves for one. I do like them, of course, but I imagine they tended to distract from memorizing the other parts. Were my shoulders this broad before? Was my waist this thin? Did I even achieve the correct facial features? It's difficult."

[Shadowcaller]

[Skye's Apartment - Ava]

Ava nods, if it had been anyone else she would have felt confident in her ability to spot the smallest detail out of place but it being Skye makes her second-guess her own instincts. But now that Skye mentioned it, her shoulders were a bit too broad weren't they?
"It is difficult, but let me do some more adjustments." She remarks after having studied Skye for more than just a moment.
Skye's face will change subtly so she at least looks closer to the way she was before. Then her shoulders will narrow down a bit.

After that, Ava will hand back the watch. "I did my best, but you might want to ask your closest friends for a second opinion."
However as the object exchanges hands the drow looks her straight in the eye. "I hate to say this now but I suppose this is as good as time as any. I just like to say that I'm really proud of you, Skye." Ava remarks, putting her hand gently on the teenagers shoulder.

"You're an amazing intelligent young woman and just looking at you now while recalling the rough shape you were in when you got here makes me so happy for you. You're destined to accomplish great things, Skye. Whatever you choose to set your mind to I know you will do well."

[Halae]

[Skye's Apartment - Ava]

Skye is taken aback at that moment. She hadn't been expecting an expression of pride, or the regard of an adult in this way. She's not exactly in a good position at the moment; why in the world is Ava saying this now? But despite this, her emotions well up, and suddenly Skye is limned in a glowing green energy as a little sliver of her spirit attempts to enter Ava's soul...

And is rebuffed, for Ava is quite the strong-willed individual. Probably for the best.

Skye doesn't seem to realize it happened, however, "... Thank you. I try very hard."

[Shadowcaller]

[Skye's Apartment - Ava]

Ava doesn't realize her mistake until it is too late.
Skye had warned her many times of getting too close but in that moment she had just wanted to cheer her up. The young woman had already been through so much that it felt unfair that she had more pain inflicted on her by the whims of a capricious entity.

She needed to know that she deserved better than that.

But it was also the fact that she had resisted these effects before and she supposed a part of her didn't feel as concerned despite the real and present danger should she ever fail to. One simply shouldn't take the risk when it could have been avoided.
Yet seeing Skye's expression almost made it seem worth it and she pushes back the self-admonishment for a moment and smiles. Feeling that Skye didn't need to be told what had happened. Not right now at least.

"I know you do Skye and that's what makes me proud. You've been through so much and with this on top of it I just felt you deserved to know that."

[quillpleasant]

Chateau Interview

"Is it truly not far from Skyside? That... is hard to believe. How does the Guild tolerate it?" Mostly because it's not an active threat to their operations and it isn't worth the bad publicity.

"I'd like somewhere that's... just mine. Before, I shared a bed and room with the night shift assistant. I couldn't have anything just mine, even a magazine. He'd find and read it in his rest period, when I was working. I... found and read his magazines, when he had them, in my rest period." It doesn't seem much to ask, really.

Chateau Interview

Nasrin's doubts are understandable- up until recently Atya had been doubtful about the League as well. How could such a good place exist in such a cruel world? "The Guild isn't nearly as powerful as they pretend to be. If they ever went after GLOG, it wouldn't go well for them. Places of true goodness tend to have some very powerful defenders," she says reassuringly.

And it's true- the League exists because a lot of very powerful people also happen to be equally benevolent. It's a good thing to remember, to keep in perspective the atrocities that some other organizations commit.

Atya pauses, thinking. Wanting her own space is a completely reasonable request, and one the elf well understands. Having control over your immediate surroundings can do wonders as far as feeling like you have control over your life.

"How about the west tower room? It's removed from the rest of the house by a spiral staircase, it's pretty spacious, and you'd be able to lock it from the inside for privacy. Hell, redecorate if you want, I never use it." Opening her desk drawer, she riffles around before drawing out a small iron key and offering it up.

[Earl of Purple]

Chateau Interview

"The Guild always seemed so... omnipresent, to me. Hard to believe it was bluffing." But Nasrin claims to have been a slave at a skyport. If it was Guild run, they would have been everywhere.

"A tower? That sounds perfect, thankyou." The half elf smiles, and takes the key.

[quillpleasant]

Chateau Interview

"They have a lot of power in Skyside, sure, but not so much down here." Atya shakes her head. "You know, if I had a nickel for every morally bankrupt and powerful organization in Skyside with a personal vendetta against me, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice."

Smiling back at Nasrin, Atya leans back in her chair. "Let me know if you need anything else to make the place more your own. It might need a little dusting, be warned."

[Earl of Purple]

Chateau Interview

"A... nickel? An ingot of metal? Why would you want two of them?" That particular phrase apparently goes over Nasrin's head, as she's unfamiliar with the coins. But she is at least aware nickel is a metal, and given her history as working in a port it's possible that she's encountered it before being brought into the city.

"Thank you, I'll have a look." She probably won't need much; even her own space is luxury enough, she won't complain if the 'bed' is a futon on the floor or a hammock and sleeping bag.