Inside

[quillpleasant]

Cry Havoc

The undead elf glances towards Raheeda, but with his helmet there's not any visible emotion. Vyzan, however, does seem to pick up on whatever strange blessing she has, and he's also figured out she's the same one who saved him in the sewer. He smiles in her general direction.

Cea on the other hand looks at her like she's grown a second head. The argument Raheeda's making doesn't seem to make sense to the elf whatsoever. "Are you stupid? Why would I care about someone else's brother? Especially the brother of someone who killed mine."

So the concept of empathy doesn't seem to be one she's overly familiar with.

Meanwhile, Vyzan listens to Wenomir doubtfully. "What does fair look like to you? You've already killed most of us... more than we've killed. I think fair would be letting us go..." He's technically right, if each of the rodentipedes is counted as a separate person. Of course, a lot more innocents would likely have been killed if the heroes didn't show up quite so soon.

Wheeling on Wenomir and Kothar, Cea scoffs, her eyes venomous. "Innocent? None of you are innocent. We're all just murderers looking for our first kill." She takes a step forward, the orbs darting forward menacingly.

"Cea, stop! Let's just talk this out," says the necromancer, holding up a hand. It seems to work- she slows, not taking her eyes away from her adversaries.

"What if we just called it even and we all just left? Aranin was already dead, so we're fine. And they even killed the angel for me, which saved you a lot of work. Please? For me?" he pleads, sounding like nothing so much as a child begging for an extra half hour before bedtime. "That's fair, right?" he appeals to the heroes.

Cea doesn't look happy, but she doesn't immediately say no.

---

To Lore & Game

-well perhaps i can observe some of your monster battles. studying combats is a big part of my monster slaying class, and i find it quite enjoyable- Of course, she'd rather be the one doing the slaying, but it's part of the learning process.

Octavia follows happily along beside Micah, her halo swiveling around to snap a few pictures as they go. What a delightful little park this is! She doesn't usually take a lot of time to admire beautiful places, but that's just as important as combat and saving people if you really think about it.

As he explains grandpa lore, she takes out a small book and makes some quick notes with her oversized sharpie. -thank you for explaining! if what you say is true... then i believe 'El would be my grandpa, since they created Ba'al, who made my choir. how exciting! i've gone all this time without knowing i had a grandpa-

Well, that's probably not entirely accurate. But she seems to have the general idea.

-so do you have any other family aside from your grandpa? any...- she searches for the right word, -choirmates?-

[Shadowcaller]

Cry Havoc

"I'm not stupid." Raheeda insists with a frown and then attempts to cross her hands across the chest only to realize that she was still holding the glaive so she has to take a few seconds of realigning it to even move her hands into that position while muttering angrily to herself. "Dumb... gotta... hmph..."

Then she clears her voice and turns to address the elves again. "Anyway, still don't get why you attacked in the first place. You need human corpses? Food? Revenge?" None of those made any sense but she had ruled out sense a while ago. The way they kept talking it sounded like they thought that the people of the city was mistreating them?

[Morty]

[Cry Havoc]

"People died. We can't just let you walk away after that and probably kill more." Wenomir's stare is fixed on Cea, but he glances over at Raheeda. "She asks a good question. Why did you do all of this?"

[[brackets lover]]

[Security Room]

Eddie had use the defensive 'I'm cute and harmless' act a few times himself, and recognized it when he saw it. Even so, he did not like the staring, much less the whispers, but he kept a firmly professional stance as a shield. "Sir, you have been damaging bank property." he declared loudly. "Please come with me and we can sort this out in a quieter setting." With that he started walking towards the employees-only section and an empty room.

The moogle could either follow along or... follow along. Barring teleportation magic- and even that could potentially be risky depending on how delicately tuned it was, given that Eddie would absorb a bit of it before the target popped out- the moogle was more than a little unlikely to be able to break his grasp without leaving an arm there. And even then, unless moogles had some hitherto unknown ability to drop their arms like a lizard dropping its tail, Eddie would simply move to keep the arm attached to the moogle, then resume his movement towards the conference room he was planning on going to.

As he moved, he spoke quietly into his radio, warning the other security guards that there was trouble happening, and that he did not think the... whatever this thing was... was acting alone.

[Spacy Invaders]

A hairless brow-ridge arched upwards at Asami setting an actual timer, but there was a briefly-broadcast sense of resignation... the telepathic equivalent of a shrug... that cut off with the feeling that it hadn't been supposed to be broadcast at all.

The alien took a step forwards that ended up with it right-side up and within conversational distance of Asami. Now that it could be seen more clearly, it... still looked exactly like the pop-culture image of a grey alien. Hairless, bulbous head, three long fingers on each hand, lacking both clothing and the things that clothing usually concealed, and a very dim aura of light that might or might not be visible in the daytime.

Simultaneous with the alien stepping out of it, the giant mothership retreated to above the roofline in an eye-searing jumble of non-movement, X-1 carefully not looking in that direction until it was finished.

"Thank you for your time, small human." it started. "As it would appear to be impropriety for me to inquire as to your exact nature, I will instead ask after what you know of the reality I now occupy. What manner of universe is this? Does it connect to others? Are you aware of any peculiarities of its physical makeup and rules? Where might I find the lizard-people in charge?"

[Security Room]

Eddie may overhear one person discretely calling the cops. And as he turns to enter into the employee room with the crying moogle in tow, he would suddenly find a milkshake flying at the back of his head, splattering his clothes.

Eddie receives an enthusiastic sigh from the radio. "I'm going on my break," is the only response received.

[Spacy Invaders]

"This universe is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to preexisting universes is purely coincidental," Asami replies flatly.

A Real Arcade

"Is it the real Slim Shady?" Agate smirks, confident she's identified the musician if not the exact song. She'll put her headset back on to see where they've got to in the time since.

[A Real Arcade]

"Omg yes!" replies Asami excitedly, putting on her headset alongside Agate.

Immediately, the pair would be faced with a group of five cloaked shady figures of human-size, bending down so as to appear less intimidating. "I'll cut you up!" one of the seemingly thieves says, swinging a knife above Asami's head and missing her completely. Neither Agate's nor Asami's characters have taken damage in the meantime. "Interesting," says Asami.

[TeChameleon]

[Security Room]

"This bank only has two security guards..?" Eddie muttered to himself. Whatever, he'd done his due diligence.

"You know that's assault, technically, right?" he said mildly as the milkshake dripped off his hood. "Also, with this scene you're making... you're sure you want the cops here even sooner?" Thankfully it was a bank-issued hooded jacket, so he didn't really need to care as much about keeping it clean.

He pulled the moogle into a room with two un-damaged security cameras and gestured for him to sit down.

"So, what's the story? Vandalism? Bank robbery? The beginnings of the destruction of capitalism on a worldwide scale? Protest?"

[Spacy Invaders]

"Would you care to elaborate, small human? If this universe is fictional, am I merely a duplicate of my original self written into it, or have I somehow been transported bodily into it?"

Oddly, the mental voice didn't sound terribly perturbed by the idea. Then again, the small alien didn't seem overly bothered by the fact that it was talking to a star in human form, either, so perhaps it was simply unflappable.

[Keeper]

A Local Shrine

The snake strikes at Jade! Its fangs leave a terrible stinging, a stain upon her skin that burns and corrupts whatever they touch.
"It's literally the smallest phantom there is! Just shut up and hit it!" Ryu groans, absolutely unable to comprehend why Jade is just stopping to have a conversation while something is trying to kill her.

Draco Street Bakery

Rowan continues to squirm, both from the compliments and from the question.
"Well, yeah that how it happened. Simon asked me to. I think I accidentally bound him to me in the process, which is what upset the dragon-spirit. She said 'he's mine' to me."

Temperance Teahouse

"I would say the second. I don't have a good chance of convincing people I buy into this sort of thing. And my last attempt at an infiltration operation only went...alright." Well, he did infiltrate the bird kingdom just fine. He just had to battle an evil bird vizier by the end when he got caught.
"I do have several forms at our disposal. But sadly they are...rather distinctive and unlikely to not draw much attention. I'm afraid my bird shape is small but colorful." Very colorful.

[quillpleasant]

Draco Street Bakery

Simons nods in confirmation. "Yep yep- we were trying to turn my human form into a dragon, because... well, dragons are awesome. And we weren't sure how it would affect the dragon form." Just so happened that the dragon form happened to be this small and unimpressive. But hey, he can fly and Rowan thinks he's cute, so it could be waaaay worse.

"And yeah, I think I'm technically your minion now? WoOOoooO that's kind of a problematic power dynamic," says Simon, sticking his tongue out teasingly at Rowan, "But yeah, jokes aside the dragon spirit wasn't happy at all. Whatever weird jealousy she has about me, it's definitely not mutual."

[Reinholdt]

[Temperance Teahouse]

"I'm aware of the story," Ilpholin states with a slight nod. The purpose wasn't particularly subtle for those in the know. "And I already have plans in motion for Jane Everywoman to make an appearance when facing the King himself. That's something for after the spear is retrieved, however. Utilizing her here would be telling to the King and tip my hand too much. He'll be prepared for it if I use her now and our edge will be lost."

The nymph looks Spako over once more. Yes, he doesn't seem anything less than the honest type. "Colorful. Got it." Doesn't sound like the stealth option is much better, but perhaps they could find certain bird based clothing options to minimize the gaudiness. She can't help but wonder if he has a dragon form as well. If she's recalling, kobolds had a tendency to worship dragons. Would it then be heresy or flattery to turn into one?

[Shadowcaller]

[Temperance Teahouse]

"Ah, since I had wanted to give you this." Ambrosia produces something of a relic.

A black dvd disc case. Presumably with one inside it.

"It's a recording of the play we performed. A presentation of the final battle between Jane and the King, with me as Jane." She places the case on the table, offering it to Ilpholin. "I figured it might be useful if you could emulate parts of it. I believe that would make whatever you're planning to do with the spear resonate better."

She then folds her hands together as she considers Ilpholin's actual question.
"As for actually stealing the spear in the first place, I think the key is finding where the spear is located when it isn't in the hands of his agent. I imagine it's well-protected considering the connection between the spear and the god." She pauses, giving something a moment of consideration before taking out a piece of paper.
Seemingly in response to this a quill floats up and starts to draw up a series of stick figures on it as she scholar continues, gesturing at the simple drawings as they're quickly taking form.

"In ancient times artistic limitations made a lot of gods not recognizable by what they looked like or the clothes they wore but by their iconic tool or weapon. Much like how you could only really recognize a king or queen in older art of the empire I'm from by the fact they're wearing a special kind of headdress."
Indeed, the stick figures the quill is drawing all look the same except for what they're holding. A spear, a trident, a sword and a hammer.

"Therefore the spear isn't just a weapon or a tool, it's a representation of the god itself in a way. So being robbed of that would mean being robbed of the emblem of their divinity. The King is no doubt aware of this and is keeping it safe. I wouldn't be surprised if his agent sleeps with it or at least inside the same room where it's being held in. So I find it likely that the spear would be inside this pretend-gods own room."

Ambrosia raises a finger. "Or since the King isn't a real god it might also be possible he views the spear as more of a trophy. Since he seems to consider himself something of a hunter himself and is trying to imitate a war god whose known for hunting down dangerous beasts there's bound to be a trophy room somewhere and that's where the spear would be." It sounds more like she's debating with herself at this point than talking to them until she suddenly looks up.

"Erm, either way, I believe a more effective means of getting the spear would be if Sir Spako distracted the King and his followers while Ilpholin sneaked or infiltrated the place where the spear its held and stole it. Since that would play into both your strengths more I think." The scholar looks up, trying to gauge how they felt about that plan.

Draco Street Bakery

"I see."

They tried to turn him into a dragon without even understanding his condition first? That could have backfired spectacularly and they could probably consider themselves lucky that it just ended up with Simon ending up in a very questionable relationship dynamic.

Since, by the gods, Ambrosia could write entire essays on how problematic she found kobolt/dragon relationships. Dragons dominating human culture was contentious enough but many kobolts seemed to have an actually genetic disposition to be dragon slaves so that Simon now might be one of them was troubling.

"I don't really want to comment on your relationship but I think it might be a good idea to find out what exactly Simon now being 'bounded' to you means, Rowan. Since while it might seem romantic is also has some implications-"
She gestures to Simon. "-which you already have recognized." Though they didn't really seem to take that too seriously.
"I would also suggest not trying to turn Simon into anything else until you understand his condition better. Just as a precaution in case it interacts poorly with it."

[bc56]

Cry Havoc
"No." Kothar boils with contained anger. "There is difference between murderer and protector. You come to kill others. We protect them from you. Surrender or die." He's not about to back down, but thankfully it doesn't seem like anyone else is either.

A Local Shrine
"I don't know the first thing about yeowch!"
Jade is bitten!
"Get off of me!" acting on instinct, she grabs the creature by the back of its head, aiming to yank it free and throw it across the room, at which point she turns and from nowhere hurls a spear of fire at it, likely immolating or impaling it.

[[brackets lover]]

[Security Room]

"This bank only has two security guards..?" Eddie muttered to himself. Whatever, he'd done his due diligence.

"You know that's assault, technically, right?" he said mildly as the milkshake dripped off his hood. "Also, with this scene you're making... you're sure you want the cops here even sooner?" Thankfully it was a bank-issued hooded jacket, so he didn't really need to care as much about keeping it clean.

He pulled the moogle into a room with two un-damaged security cameras and gestured for him to sit down.

"So, what's the story? Vandalism? Bank robbery? The beginnings of the destruction of capitalism on a worldwide scale? Protest?"

[Spacy Invaders]

"Would you care to elaborate, small human? If this universe is fictional, am I merely a duplicate of my original self written into it, or have I somehow been transported bodily into it?"

Oddly, the mental voice didn't sound terribly perturbed by the idea. Then again, the small alien didn't seem overly bothered by the fact that it was talking to a star in human form, either, so perhaps it was simply unflappable.

[Security Room]

Some of the bystanders would follow after Eddie from a sizable distance, attempting to look in on the conference room as discretely as they could.

As for the moogle, as soon as he's gestured to sit down, he wipes his teary and reddened eyes. He doesn't say a word to Eddie, swiftly pulling out another paint bomb and tossing it at one of the cameras, immediately attempting to fly away towards the door they came in.

[Spacy Invaders]

Asami rolls his eyes, annoyed at the alien. "How the hell am I supposed to know that?"

[Keeper]

Temperance Teahouse

"Dragons dropping into someone's front lawn are certainly distracting. But I am a mage first and a fighter second. I mean I'm not a slouch but you're suggesting I take on an entire cult with their magical leader at once for an extended period of time. That's a lot, Ambrosia." Spako doesn't seem entirely sure that that much is within his capabilities. "What would you be doing?"

Draco Street Bakery

Ratticus pipes up as Ambrosia questions what being bound means.
"Oh that's easy. It means he has a general idea of what Boss-man wants at any given time, a slight push towards making those things happen, and generally providing his boss with power that is his as opposed to Granny's. Same as me and Eesha. And if you think that means we can't act against his interests, I'll be happy to tell you that he's an enormous chonkasaurus who managed to get me fat too despite that not making any sense."
Rowan shrugs sheepishly. "I know it looks bad. But it wasn't supposed to work like that! I explicitly tried to make something temporary. I think Granny interfered with my spell."

A Local Shrine

The snake immediately bursts into a splotch of a spiritual stain on the grass that slowly fades.
Jade's khakkara immediately flicks out of her hands and into the shape of the small, long dragon she saw earlier.
"I see the problem. You overanalyze everything. All you had to do was do exactly what you would have done to a normal hostile animal and bludgeon it to death, but you instead took time to discuss the matter and distract yourself. You didn't freeze up so this couldn't have been your first fight." So she has combat experience, but somehow is making the opposite of the usual rookie mistake.
"Anyway, fetch a ladle and spoon some of the pond water onto that wound. You can't let corruption like that fester."

[quillpleasant]

Cry Havoc

At the question of motive, Vyzan shrugs helplessly. "I wasn't here. The angel attacked because it hates people, the rats attacked because they're hungry, Aranin attacked because Cea told him to. Now they're all dead, so I can make sure they don't hurt anyone else once I make them family." Whatever that means.

"Actually though, I'm confused... from what you're saying we attacked first. Cea, I thought...?" The blind elf turns his head towards Cea, who's absolutely seething with rage.

"Innocent? Protector? Ha! You can play dumb all you want," she spits, hands clenching into fists, "If we hadn't started it, you would have." She shakes her head, as if trying to clear herself of fog or doubt. "You're all out to get me! You're all complicit!"

Vyzan takes a step towards Cea, reaching out to find her. "Cea, please try to calm down. We can work this out, I promise."

But without warning, the wild eyed elf wheels on her brother, her fist lashing out and sending him sprawling on the pavement, dazed. Then she leaps into the air, bladed black orbs spinning wildly around her before rocketing out with deadly force, one heading for each of Wenomir, Kothar and Raheeda.

---

Draco Street Bakery

Simon raises an eyebrow at Ambrosia. I was joking. Trust me, I'm not like... being exploited. We were already dating before the transformation, and I really haven't felt any different since." Plus, he's not actually a kobold. Just a human in a kobold-like form.

"But yeah, good point on not messing with it until we understand the situation more. No further transformations! ...aside from the one I go through constantly anyway." But that goes without saying.

[TeChameleon]

[Security Room]

Eddie moved quickly, moving towards the door and reaching to restrain the moogle from leaving or blinding the last camera.

"I swear, if this is some kind of mass mind-control nonsense, I'm going to scream." Eddie muttered as he noticed the bystanders lurking around.

For the moment, he was going to try to restrain the moogle until the police arrived. If the bystanders tried to interfere, he was going to ignore them, as there was very little they were likely to be able to do to move him or break his grip. Although if they tried to tear the moogle free without regard to the damage they could be doing to it, he'd probably need to change his tactics.

[Spacy Invaders]

"I had assumed the same way you knew this universe to be fictional." the alien thought at Asami drily. "You are my first point of contact in a new world... new universe entirely, for that matter... and I would appreciate it if you would be able to help me, or at least direct me to someone who would be better able to assist."

The grey shrugged thin shoulders. "What do you know of the nature of this world that you are willing to share?"

[Reinholdt]

[Temperance Teahouse]

Ilpholin takes the case, turning it over in her hands. "Certainly, thank you. I'll take a look at it." On a secure, off network system outside her home. Maybe at the vintage blusterblock she's heard about.

"Jaryło will be keeping the spear close, that's all but certain. He needs it to legitimize his claims of inheritor of Jarowit's legacy, so it won't be in some trophy room. The King in Rags has always preferred tools over trophies anyways." Even his favorite trophy, the dragon he tamed, was more of a tool. Albeit one he proudly showed off whenever he could.

The nymph does nod. "I considered such a split. A distraction while I take the subtler approach." Her eyes glance over at Spako. "What happened to your colorful plumage being impossible not to gather attention? Not all distractions need be combative. They are dedicated to a war god, do you know any war dances a dragon might perform? Pretend you're offering your blessing to them. That's certain to draw a crowd." A dragon's war dance probably lasts six to eight hours anyways. They are very elaborate from what Ilpholin has heard.

She turns her attention back to Ambrosia. "Spako's correct, you've made it sound like you don't intend to be there. Are you here in a purely advisory capacity then?"

[Shadowcaller]

Draco Street Bakery

Ratticus pipes up as Ambrosia questions what being bound means.
"Oh that's easy. It means he has a general idea of what Boss-man wants at any given time, a slight push towards making those things happen, and generally providing his boss with power that is his as opposed to Granny's. Same as me and Eesha. And if you think that means we can't act against his interests, I'll be happy to tell you that he's an enormous chonkasaurus who managed to get me fat too despite that not making any sense."
Rowan shrugs sheepishly. "I know it looks bad. But it wasn't supposed to work like that! I explicitly tried to make something temporary. I think Granny interfered with my spell."

Cry Havoc

At the question of motive, Vyzan shrugs helplessly. "I wasn't here. The angel attacked because it hates people, the rats attacked because they're hungry, Aranin attacked because Cea told him to. Now they're all dead, so I can make sure they don't hurt anyone else once I make them family." Whatever that means.

"Actually though, I'm confused... from what you're saying we attacked first. Cea, I thought...?" The blind elf turns his head towards Cea, who's absolutely seething with rage.

"Innocent? Protector? Ha! You can play dumb all you want," she spits, hands clenching into fists, "If we hadn't started it, you would have." She shakes her head, as if trying to clear herself of fog or doubt. "You're all out to get me! You're all complicit!"

Vyzan takes a step towards Cea, reaching out to find her. "Cea, please try to calm down. We can work this out, I promise."

But without warning, the wild eyed elf wheels on her brother, her fist lashing out and sending him sprawling on the pavement, dazed. Then she leaps into the air, bladed black orbs spinning wildly around her before rocketing out with deadly force, one heading for each of Wenomir, Kothar and Raheeda.

---

Draco Street Bakery

Simon raises an eyebrow at Ambrosia. I was joking. Trust me, I'm not like... being exploited. We were already dating before the transformation, and I really haven't felt any different since." Plus, he's not actually a kobold. Just a human in a kobold-like form.

"But yeah, good point on not messing with it until we understand the situation more. No further transformations! ...aside from the one I go through constantly anyway." But that goes without saying.

Draco Street Bakery

The scholar holds up her hands, displaying her palms of her metal gloves. "You understand your situation better than I do so if you say there's no issues I trust your word. It just reminded me of, well..." She clears her voice.

"Let me be clear here, I am not saying that your relationship is anything even remotely like this. It's just that whenever I see a kobolt and a dragon in a relationship I can't help but to be reminded by a dragon I interviewed that had a uniquely unhealthy relationship with many kobolts." And a lot of other species as well. "You on the other hand seem to have things in hand."

Ambrosia gestures to the side. "-your non-relationship issues aside of course. Granny sounds like something I'm not even sure I have the time to get into considering I think your break is almost over at this point." If there's a clock inside the bakery she will glance at it, not really wanting to have the interview eat into Rowan's work.

Cry Havoc

"Okay, make up your mind, Cea. Am I dumb or am I just playing dumb?" Raheeda remarks with a frown even though Cea was clearly addressing Kothar here. "Since I've seen people that look just like you wandering around here, bonus mouths and everything, and I'm pretty sure I'm the only one that was staring." Specifically, she had seen what looked like a small two headed giraffe though in retrospect she wasn't sure they were actually a person.

"No one was being mean-"

Then she's cut off by bladed black orb which makes her drop to the ground instantly as it flies just overhead.
"Mean!" She repeats loudly, shaking her fist as she lays there on the ground.

[Shadowcaller]

Temperance Teahouse

"Dragons dropping into someone's front lawn are certainly distracting. But I am a mage first and a fighter second. I mean I'm not a slouch but you're suggesting I take on an entire cult with their magical leader at once for an extended period of time. That's a lot, Ambrosia." Spako doesn't seem entirely sure that that much is within his capabilities. "What would you be doing?"

[Temperance Teahouse]

Ilpholin takes the case, turning it over in her hands. "Certainly, thank you. I'll take a look at it." On a secure, off network system outside her home. Maybe at the vintage blusterblock she's heard about.

"Jaryło will be keeping the spear close, that's all but certain. He needs it to legitimize his claims of inheritor of Jarowit's legacy, so it won't be in some trophy room. The King in Rags has always preferred tools over trophies anyways." Even his favorite trophy, the dragon he tamed, was more of a tool. Albeit one he proudly showed off whenever he could.

The nymph does nod. "I considered such a split. A distraction while I take the subtler approach." Her eyes glance over at Spako. "What happened to your colorful plumage being impossible not to gather attention? Not all distractions need be combative. They are dedicated to a war god, do you know any war dances a dragon might perform? Pretend you're offering your blessing to them. That's certain to draw a crowd." A dragon's war dance probably lasts six to eight hours anyways. They are very elaborate from what Ilpholin has heard.

She turns her attention back to Ambrosia. "Spako's correct, you've made it sound like you don't intend to be there. Are you here in a purely advisory capacity then?"

Temperance Teahouse

Ambrosia gestures to Ilpholin. "That's exactly what I was thinking too. Since the King seems to have a fascination with dragons. In fact, he has a tamed one and uses them as a symbol of his power. So I think that you might draw his attention."

And that becomes way to naturally extend into their question. "Well, I was asked to help you out as an fey expert so I got the impression it was purely advisory. However, this is the point where I need to tell you that I have actually meet the King. I interviewed him in fact, that's how I know about his dragon. Unfortunately, we parted on, shall we say, antagonistic terms. Thus, my presence might provoke hostility if I show myself anywhere near a location controlled by him."

She gestures to Ilpholin. "However, if you have any other use of me I'm willing to assist. I just don't think it would be a good idea if I show myself there."

[Earl of Purple]

A Real Arcade

Agate smiles when Asami confirms she got the reference. "I was hoping taking these things off would pause, but I guess not. Hey! Why don't you hand us your money and in exchange we let you live, yeah?" Agate feels around to see if the Archer comes with a secondary weapon, probably finding a Legolas-esque long knife to draw and wave back.

[Thursday Violist]

[Church of Venus]

Reinholdt is on to you monkey. Your schemes won't succeed here today.

It's not like the speaker seemed to be going anywhere with their analogy? Metaphor? Reinholdt admits to being lost. Perhaps this was a two-parter and he came in on the second part.

There's some observation of the half-fae woman. Reinholdt can't tell she's fae, only that her cloak is strangely shaped, moving oddly. But he's unable to ascertain exactly why. The cloak does its job well.

So that's the high priest. Gives them the option to go directly to the top, though given the occasional glances in Rein's direction, he may not be forthcoming. They all seem pretty guarded.

[Church of Venus]

Ambrosia listens to the sermon but doesn't find anything especially noteworthy about it.

While this style of sermon was certainly new she got a feeling that the preacher wasn't particularly good at it.

But her interest is caught once the second speaker approaches. If there was something inhuman behind that cloak it might imply that this woman was higher up in the chain of command. Since it was common for organizations to reveal parts of the 'divine truth' the higher you climbed and in this case that might include the transformation which she now choose to conceal for the unworthy.

Then something she says makes her do a double-take. Another 'cult'? Had she really used that word to describe her own faith? Perhaps it had different implications in the nexus then if the word was used so freely.

But other than that, besides the transformations that seemed to be tied to the faith it seemed like a rather standard sect, or cult as they might have it.

[Church of Venus]

With the sermons concluded, the half-fae cloaked woman goes to sit down, only to be told something by the high priest and she returns to the front. She laughs, saying how ditzy she is, having forgotten she was asked to just conclude the meeting.

She seems to give some announcements (events going on throughout the week, additional study things that people can do if they hang around, and...it ends. Some people (especially in the back) get up to leave, but most people hang around and inside this nature-overgrown building, or to go out to enjoy nature in the yard, to do things like sit in the nice weather, admire flowers, pick fruits, or other things.

The most recent speaker sticks around the front, talking to a bunch of people.
The high priest stays put, becoming harder to see as more and more people stand.
The other grumpy (and half-mutated-fae) cloaked person comes directly down the aisle, and locks his eyes on the HALO leader, seeming to head straight towards Reinholdt (he has seen pictures of Reinholdt before, but not of Ambrosia, so if she wants to stay hidden in the crowd she could easily do it).
And the little monkey darts up the wall to get away from the noisy people.

Unless Rein manages to hide and get away before then, the cloaked man steps up to him and, somewhat distrustful of his motives for being here, says, "Hey. What brings you here? Surely not to just check it out."

Should Ambrosia want to take advantage of being overlooked and investigate look into something, there's actually a lot she could do! (Rein, too, should he want to opt out of a conversation with a confrontational guy).
Most notably, there's: the high priest sitting at the front, acting unapproachable; the socialable half-fae lady near the front, she could get closer to see exactly how she's different; it's very hard to notice but there's a mildly spooky presence in the front in a rubble-filled corner (nobody else seems to care about or notice it); she could follow the little monkey up the wall (if she's observant, she will notice there's actually a metal ladder in a cubby area, on a wall, that's covered in roses twisting all the way up...and notably the rose plant has no thorns at all); or, she could head outside, since there's a nice breeze blowing to outside

[Morty]

[Cry Havoc]

Wenomir's weapon snaps up to deflect the orb again, but this time he doesn't send it back at Cea. Instead he sends it off to the side, trying to put enough force into it to embed it in the ground. Hopefully that will make it harder for her to pull it out.

"Buy me some time, Kothar," he hisses before trying to circle around Cea.

[[brackets lover]]

[Security Room]

Eddie moved quickly, moving towards the door and reaching to restrain the moogle from leaving or blinding the last camera.

"I swear, if this is some kind of mass mind-control nonsense, I'm going to scream." Eddie muttered as he noticed the bystanders lurking around.

For the moment, he was going to try to restrain the moogle until the police arrived. If the bystanders tried to interfere, he was going to ignore them, as there was very little they were likely to be able to do to move him or break his grip. Although if they tried to tear the moogle free without regard to the damage they could be doing to it, he'd probably need to change his tactics.

[Spacy Invaders]

"I had assumed the same way you knew this universe to be fictional." the alien thought at Asami drily. "You are my first point of contact in a new world... new universe entirely, for that matter... and I would appreciate it if you would be able to help me, or at least direct me to someone who would be better able to assist."

The grey shrugged thin shoulders. "What do you know of the nature of this world that you are willing to share?"

[Security Room]

The moogle, obviously, begins kicking and screaming upon being held, desperately trying to escape. The police were on their way, momentarily arriving at the front door of the bank. The time for Eddie to interrogate the Moogle seems to be limited.

[Spacy Invaders]

Asami pinches the bridge of his nose, wincing with annoyance. "We have these things called libraries," he answers sarcastically.

[A Real Arcade]

Agate would find that there's no such secondary weapon, but she can always hit stuff with the arrows themselves! Punching is an option, too. While the average damage of this paled in comparison to Asami's sword swings, the higher DEX of the archer made it occassionally come out in clutch with more frequent crits.

Asami, however, expresses playful disapproval at Agate's command. "That's a terrible reason to let someone live, Onyx. The wicked should not be spared, and besides, we can just loot their dead bodies."

Sticking her tongue out, Asami takes a few slashes at the bandits, taking out a few of them at once.

[TeChameleon]

[Security Room]

Eddie stoically ignored the screaming and kicking. The moogle thus far hadn't shown any abilities that would let it escape, so he figured he would simply hold it until the police arrived. There was plenty of video evidence showing it blinding (destroying?) the cameras, so he figured an arrest would be fairly simple.

Once the moogle was in custody, then Spooky McSpookface could pull his government magic or whatever, and Eddie could get on with his life, content in the knowledge that he had accomplished... something. Or nothing. Who knows?

[Spacy Invaders]

"Yes, tell me of these human li-braries." the grey alien's mental voice came, dripping with sarcasm in return. "You know, my species has these things called 'manners'. Do those exist in this world?"

A sigh from the grey, weirdly audible instead of a mental projection. "Does this universe at least have decent entertainment? I had been enjoying Sonic X, but hadn't caught up with the most recent season."

[Reinholdt]

[Church of Venus]

Reinholdt nods slightly towards Ambrosia. It wouldn't be terrible to split up here and check different things out. Especially as it looks like he's going to be very busy very shortly. For he doesn't make an attempt to hide or move when the sermon ends, simply nodding as he gets one of the after-activity pamphlets passed to him. His eyes narrow slightly as the monkey heads off and wishes he could follow. Perhaps if the conversation doesn't escalate horribly.

He gives a polite smile to the cloaked man who confronts him. "You are correct. Mmm... sort of. I never intended to come here, but while Venus was staying with us she expressed such regret that she wasn't at her home. She requested before leaving us that I visit some time and well... frankly apologize. She is very persuasive and I finally worked up the courage after seeing some of your group at the maid cafe event we held. I see now that I horribly misread the situation. You have such a beautiful community here with such a loving goddess. Could you ever forgive my folly? Now that she's returned to you, everything is right once more I hope?" Maybe he'll get some proper confirmation that Venus is in fact here. Maybe cloaked won't buy Rein's story at all. It is only mostly false.

[Keeper]

Temperance Teahouse

"Well, I mean..." Spako poofs into a bird of paradise about the size of a pigeon, with exceptionally colorful plumage and a regal air. And extremely long eyebrow feathers. "I'm very colorful like this, but not particularly threatening or entrancing." he tweets from the top of his chair where he perches. "I mean I could do my King of Saxony bit but that's never really fooled anyone but birds. My sword dances are well, they require my sword but I could pull off something?"

Draco Street Bakery

"Well, don't worry. I don't think anyone has the time to unpack Granny." Rowan sighs. For once Ratticus simply nods and does not comment.
"Well, I suppose you're right that I'm low on time. I don't suppose you have any contact information in case we need your help again?" he asks the scholar.

[bc56]

Cry Havoc
Kothar subtly nods to Wenomir's request.
"You are mad!" He raises his shield, deflecting the orb. "What reason had I to harm you, before you attacked!?" But he's not exactly waiting for an answer, instead he's advancing, rushing directly towards Cea with a thunder of footsteps. He wants to make himself look like a threat. It helps that he really is one.

A Local Shrine
"Pond water?" Jade replies skeptically, but she does as bidden. "Overthinking? I suppose," she shrugs. "I told you already, I don't get magic. It might look like a little snake, but this is all new to me. I can't make any assumptions; those might get me killed."

[quillpleasant]

Cry Havoc

Cea is clearly not thinking in a rational way, but at least she seems to realize that Raheeda isn't an active threat. The yuan-ti's accusation of meanness earn nothing but a snarl, but the elf does call off her orb. She has more important things to do than argue with a softhearted fool.

Things like dealing with the charging lizard warrior. Rather than responding to Kothar's question, she just shrieks, her torso splitting open and the three long whiplike tongues lashing out. They snake low towards him, trying to slice his legs open and trip him, while two of the orbs swoop down from opposite directions, each aiming for his head with deadly force. It's a favorite attack of hers, and it usually results in a shower of brain matter.

Her main focus is off Wenomir for now, but he's not left completely alone. Although the orb sent after him goes spinning away, it uses the momentum from the parry to curve in a wide orbit before shooting at him again, moving in an erratic and unpredictable fashion as it tries to hit his injured leg.

Meanwhile, Vyzan is pulled to his feet by the undead elf. Blood streams from his nose, and there's a look of shock on his face. With a slight wave of his hand, the zombie swiftly drags him over to the corpse of the angelephant.

---

Draco Street Bakery

Simon's snout wrinkles in distaste at the description of the kobolt loving dragon. "Oh girl, no. That is not us. I support non traditional relationships, but that just sounds messy. Besides, we're happily monogamous." And it's actually going quite well!

He nods sympathetically at Rowan as the talk turns to Granny. "Yeah, that's lowkey worse than anything I'm dealing with. Or at least, harder to figure out." They're at least making progress on Simon's issues!

"And oh, good point. You got digits?" he asks Ambrosia, drawing his smartphone with the speed of a cowboy at ten paces.

[Reinholdt]

[Teahouse Temperance]

Ilpholin frowns a little at Ambrosia but nods. "I don't expect that animosity to be perfectly shared with the King's minions. Many have complicated relationships with him. But I couldn't say for certain and it's probably not worth the risk at this time, so I suppose we can hold your presence off until the last phase." Save Ambrosia for the swamp.

The nymph eyes Spako as the kobold as he shows off his very colorful feathers. "I wouldn't expect you to bird dance, I'd expect a dragon dance. Are you capable of an elaborate looking dance as a dragon? And if not, could you learn such a dance within a week?" Ilpholin clarifies to Spako what she meant while looking at those massive eyebrows. They're soooo huge!

[Earl of Purple]

A Real Arcade

"We don't know they're wicked. Might just be poor and desperate." Agate sighs as Asami just straight-up kills a few of them anyway, and pulls a pair of arrows from her quiver. She'll use the one in her right hand as a distraction as she works on stabbing with her left-hand arrow.

[Shadowcaller]

[Church of Venus]

Reinholdt nods slightly towards Ambrosia. It wouldn't be terrible to split up here and check different things out. Especially as it looks like he's going to be very busy very shortly. For he doesn't make an attempt to hide or move when the sermon ends, simply nodding as he gets one of the after-activity pamphlets passed to him. His eyes narrow slightly as the monkey heads off and wishes he could follow. Perhaps if the conversation doesn't escalate horribly.

He gives a polite smile to the cloaked man who confronts him. "You are correct. Mmm... sort of. I never intended to come here, but while Venus was staying with us she expressed such regret that she wasn't at her home. She requested before leaving us that I visit some time and well... frankly apologize. She is very persuasive and I finally worked up the courage after seeing some of your group at the maid cafe event we held. I see now that I horribly misread the situation. You have such a beautiful community here with such a loving goddess. Could you ever forgive my folly? Now that she's returned to you, everything is right once more I hope?" Maybe he'll get some proper confirmation that Venus is in fact here. Maybe cloaked won't buy Rein's story at all. It is only mostly false.

[Church of Venus]

With the sermons concluded, the half-fae cloaked woman goes to sit down, only to be told something by the high priest and she returns to the front. She laughs, saying how ditzy she is, having forgotten she was asked to just conclude the meeting.

She seems to give some announcements (events going on throughout the week, additional study things that people can do if they hang around, and...it ends. Some people (especially in the back) get up to leave, but most people hang around and inside this nature-overgrown building, or to go out to enjoy nature in the yard, to do things like sit in the nice weather, admire flowers, pick fruits, or other things.

The most recent speaker sticks around the front, talking to a bunch of people.
The high priest stays put, becoming harder to see as more and more people stand.
The other grumpy (and half-mutated-fae) cloaked person comes directly down the aisle, and locks his eyes on the HALO leader, seeming to head straight towards Reinholdt (he has seen pictures of Reinholdt before, but not of Ambrosia, so if she wants to stay hidden in the crowd she could easily do it).
And the little monkey darts up the wall to get away from the noisy people.

Unless Rein manages to hide and get away before then, the cloaked man steps up to him and, somewhat distrustful of his motives for being here, says, "Hey. What brings you here? Surely not to just check it out."

Should Ambrosia want to take advantage of being overlooked and investigate look into something, there's actually a lot she could do! (Rein, too, should he want to opt out of a conversation with a confrontational guy).
Most notably, there's: the high priest sitting at the front, acting unapproachable; the socialable half-fae lady near the front, she could get closer to see exactly how she's different; it's very hard to notice but there's a mildly spooky presence in the front in a rubble-filled corner (nobody else seems to care about or notice it); she could follow the little monkey up the wall (if she's observant, she will notice there's actually a metal ladder in a cubby area, on a wall, that's covered in roses twisting all the way up...and notably the rose plant has no thorns at all); or, she could head outside, since there's a nice breeze blowing to outside

[Cry Havoc]

Wenomir's weapon snaps up to deflect the orb again, but this time he doesn't send it back at Cea. Instead he sends it off to the side, trying to put enough force into it to embed it in the ground. Hopefully that will make it harder for her to pull it out.

"Buy me some time, Kothar," he hisses before trying to circle around Cea.

Cry Havoc

Cea is clearly not thinking in a rational way, but at least she seems to realize that Raheeda isn't an active threat. The yuan-ti's accusation of meanness earn nothing but a snarl, but the elf does call off her orb. She has more important things to do than argue with a softhearted fool.

Things like dealing with the charging lizard warrior. Rather than responding to Kothar's question, she just shrieks, her torso splitting open and the three long whiplike tongues lashing out. They snake low towards him, trying to slice his legs open and trip him, while two of the orbs swoop down from opposite directions, each aiming for his head with deadly force. It's a favorite attack of hers, and it usually results in a shower of brain matter.

Her main focus is off Wenomir for now, but he's not left completely alone. Although the orb sent after him goes spinning away, it uses the momentum from the parry to curve in a wide orbit before shooting at him again, moving in an erratic and unpredictable fashion as it tries to hit his injured leg.

Meanwhile, Vyzan is pulled to his feet by the undead elf. Blood streams from his nose, and there's a look of shock on his face. With a slight wave of his hand, the zombie swiftly drags him over to the corpse of the angelephant.

---

Draco Street Bakery

Simon's snout wrinkles in distaste at the description of the kobolt loving dragon. "Oh girl, no. That is not us. I support non traditional relationships, but that just sounds messy. Besides, we're happily monogamous." And it's actually going quite well!

He nods sympathetically at Rowan as the talk turns to Granny. "Yeah, that's lowkey worse than anything I'm dealing with. Or at least, harder to figure out." They're at least making progress on Simon's issues!

"And oh, good point. You got digits?" he asks Ambrosia, drawing his smartphone with the speed of a cowboy at ten paces.

Temperance Teahouse

"Well, I mean..." Spako poofs into a bird of paradise about the size of a pigeon, with exceptionally colorful plumage and a regal air. And extremely long eyebrow feathers. "I'm very colorful like this, but not particularly threatening or entrancing." he tweets from the top of his chair where he perches. "I mean I could do my King of Saxony bit but that's never really fooled anyone but birds. My sword dances are well, they require my sword but I could pull off something?"

Draco Street Bakery

"Well, don't worry. I don't think anyone has the time to unpack Granny." Rowan sighs. For once Ratticus simply nods and does not comment.
"Well, I suppose you're right that I'm low on time. I don't suppose you have any contact information in case we need your help again?" he asks the scholar.

[Teahouse Temperance]

Ilpholin frowns a little at Ambrosia but nods. "I don't expect that animosity to be perfectly shared with the King's minions. Many have complicated relationships with him. But I couldn't say for certain and it's probably not worth the risk at this time, so I suppose we can hold your presence off until the last phase." Save Ambrosia for the swamp.

The nymph eyes Spako as the kobold as he shows off his very colorful feathers. "I wouldn't expect you to bird dance, I'd expect a dragon dance. Are you capable of an elaborate looking dance as a dragon? And if not, could you learn such a dance within a week?" Ilpholin clarifies to Spako what she meant while looking at those massive eyebrows. They're soooo huge!

Cry Havoc
Kothar subtly nods to Wenomir's request.
"You are mad!" He raises his shield, deflecting the orb. "What reason had I to harm you, before you attacked!?" But he's not exactly waiting for an answer, instead he's advancing, rushing directly towards Cea with a thunder of footsteps. He wants to make himself look like a threat. It helps that he really is one.

Cry Havoc

Raheeda gets up.
So all this for nothing, huh?
Well, she hated just standing by and watching so she's at least gonna signal for the other elf to-
Oh right.
Blind.

Uhh...

Well, in that case she's gonna approach Cea from another angle. See what the outcome of all this is gonna be and if she could effect it in any way. The elf lady was crazy but she had spared her so many there might be something good in her? She had kinda tried to kill her again afterwards so she wasn't sure.
Either way, she's gonna try to get in closer but without actually attacking or get in the way for Wenomir or Kothar. Just readying her glaive for... whatever.

Draco Street Bakery

"I don't have a cellphone as such no, but there's still a number you can use to reach me." She didn't want to use the communicator for this, saving that for close friends, so she's just going to write down Thariza's phone number to Simon.

"Once you've learned more of what's happening to Simon do contact me. Since even if it isn't dragon-related I'm still curious. Which reminds me that I do have a final question for you, do either of you know of any other dragons? In my experience dragons are more likely to run into other dragons than the average person is. In fact, I am also looking for blacksmiths for a project if you happen to know any."

Temperance Teahouse

"I figured it would be best if we didn't take that chance, yes. Not that I know the details of what you had in mind here. What is the 'last phase'?" The scholar inquires before turning to look at Spako.

Well now, wasn't that something? She hadn't seen many bird themed dragons but it seemed like Spako could at least turn into both a dragon and a bird, a species that she had seen before but couldn't identify. Looked impressive either way though, certainly something that would catch most people's attention. Including the followers of a fey ruler.

[Morty]

[Cry Havoc]

Before the orb comes, Wenomir makes two strikes against Cea, though they're not really intended to hit her. Part of it is meant to drive her towards Kothar, and another part is building up to something. Kothar might be familiar with such movements. They're usually followed by a massive decisive strike.

However, he's so focused on it that he can't get out of the orb's way in time. He twists his body but it still brushes against his injured leg, almost knocking him down. Swearing under his breath, he tries to bring his poleaxe down on the orb and smash it into the pavement in a strike so fast it eludes sight.