Inside

[Keeper]

Temperance Teahouse

"Well no, like I said all my dances are sword dances. Is that good enough? I don't think I could learn an entire hour-long routine in a week, no. I'm also not entirely sure I'm comfortable flying up in my full form and painting a target on my back for the rest of my life." Spako has children to worry about, and having an entire cult mad at him is not conducive to that. He needs some amount of anonymity, and a kobold is less obvious than a dragon.

Draco Street Bakery

"Well, most of the other dragons I know work here or around town. There's a jeweler down the road named Renault, he makes magical items. I don't know if he makes armor, but he made my staff." Ambrosia probably noticed Rowan's big cake-peel staff. "And of course you met Jubilex."

A Local Shrine

"Hey, it's my pond water." insists the koi. Bathing the wound in the (holy) water stings but should slowly purge the corruption.
"Right. So instead of making assumptions and following the advice I gave you, you distracted yourself arguing about the stealth capabilities of your weapon in the middle of a fight where stealth was already not an option, then stopped to stare at it instead of your opponent." Ryu sits up, crossing his tiny little arms, looking mighty impressed. "You are most certainly in your own way."

[Reinholdt]

[Temperance Teahouse]

"Oh last phase is simply killing or banishing the King. Either directly at his swamp lair or through some convoluted means of drawing him out into a trap. I simply call it that because aside from the goal, the specific approach is nebulous. I would honestly be surprised if this doesn't end up at his swamp court though. He'll likely turn cautious once the spear is stolen," Ilpholin explains to Ambrosia. It doesn't hold any special meaning really.

"Elaborate doesn't mean an hou- nevermind." Ilpholin sighs and closes her eyes. She takes a long sip of her tea before she opens her eyes and continues, trying to ignore the weirdness of talking to a bird with very large- incredibly large- eyebrows. "A sword dance might work, but I doubt it will draw Jaryło away unless presented as some kind of gift to him. But you've mentioned being afraid that you would be unable to present yourself as accepting of their ways. In fact, you've mentioned being afraid of a lot of things and approaches so far. Regardless of how this happens, once the spear is stolen you will become a target until the cult dissolves and possibly still thereafter. The King's agents can be vindictive. And honestly, you stand out." Ilpholin's met many dragons in her life, but this is the first kobold. To her, he's incredibly distinctive.

"If you cannot handle danger, if you are afraid of the consequences, I would recommend you recuse yourself now and return to VIGIL. Frankly I'm growing more and more uncomfortable with the idea of you backing me up on this mission."

[Shadowcaller]

Temperance Teahouse

To Ambrosia it was Spako's mentality rather than his appearance that was distinctive, at least for a dragon. While not all dragons were prone to think of themselves as untouchable there was a certain trend of overestimating rather than underestimating their own abilities.

So Spako openly admitting to fearing a long-time feud with a fey cult? That was kobolt behavior to her (or rather, non-dragon behavior). But she had also been under the impression that VIGIL members already had a target on their back. Though perhaps Spako had a more administrative than field focused role with his children and all and hadn't been properly informed about the dangers of this particular mission?

She could only guess.

"So you need more people to fight him. Fair enough. I have fought off his minions before."
And then she ate them but saying that as a human would seem a lot weirder than as a dragon.

[Keeper]

Temperance Teahouse

Spako poofs back into his kobold shape, shaking his head and swallowing as much of his dragon pride as he can. He was trying not to just hand out his entire resume at the drop of a hat but clearly he's done the opposite and made him look like some pawn with hardly any skillset.
"Okay fine. I am dropping the politeness. Using me or anyone else as bait is a stupid plan, because it has way too many ways that it could go wrong almost immediately. If the cult isn't distracted for more than a minute but Ilpholin moves anyway, she's stuck in there by herself. If they act with hostility, it fails immediately because I am not capable of fighting a small army by myself and would have to leave with them now alerted. And it still requires the person being bait to be loud and noticeable and memorable which is not what you want anyone to do when your opponents are still around after being robbed unless they are capable of particularly good disguises, which as far as I know none of us are.
I can do my sword dance, or me and Ilpholin could swap roles, but I still feel like it is not practical for either party." He's honestly still a little confused as to why Ambrosia was convinced that this would be the best plan for him specifically. Was he really ostentatious when they last met? He's not upset, he's just not sure what made her think 'would disco in front of a cult.'

A small scepter appears in his hand, topped with a brass cage with a small mote of light bobbing in and out.
"I am Spako Alrenn, last of the Stormguard. Magus, swordsman, rune mage, dragon and dragonslayer, thief and gladiator. I am capable of turning invisible, conjurations, alterations, elemental magic. I can turn into a bird and squeeze into very small places. I have one nondescript form but it's a reindeer so it doesn't work on its own. I can pick locks and I am very quiet. I am useful in just about any plan, just not this specific one." He somehow manages to keep that in a level tone.

"So no, I am not afraid of danger, but as I said when you asked, the nightly approach would be much better for me, because I am bright and distinctive when I'm not invisible and that makes me bad at tasks that involve sneakily dealing with people like joining cults or being a distraction that you can't track down later."

[Reinholdt]

[Temperance Teahouse]

Ilpholin watches Spako re-emerge with a newfound conviction that displays his confidence. And if all his words speak true, his incredible capability as well. Few could boast being a dragonslayer. Well many could boast, but his words did not seem hollow in that moment.

Spako also didn't seem to realize Ilpholin's disguise capabilities. So that hadn't made its way up the chain then. It's true that only Anika, Jaahlyn, and Deathkiss would know about that. All of which were unlikely to bring it up to Cessie or Wenomir except in very specific circumstances. Circumstances Anika hadn't encountered yet it seemed. Ilpholin had been considering going in disguised this time, joining the cult to scout or get close. But perhaps it would be better if she didn't, solely to keep that she even can a secret should she need it in the future when dealing with Vigil.

"It seems I misjudged you. I'm sorry for questioning your commitment or skills. I've been... questioning a lot lately." Ilpholin falls quiet for a moment, looking at the bottom of her tea cup, the tea finished. "Well of the options, that was the one I felt least confident in due to my own lack of experience, so I was avoiding it. Still, I am more than capable of being quiet, moving when I need, stopping when I don't. And I have clothes that can actively blend in to the environment as we move, so that's what we'll be going with. A stealth mission on a dark night. If you'll be fully invisible, we should work out a set of hand signals and shoulder taps we can use for basic communication." The details of which are probably unnecessary to work out.

[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

Temperance Teahouse

Spako poofs back into his kobold shape, shaking his head and swallowing as much of his dragon pride as he can. He was trying not to just hand out his entire resume at the drop of a hat but clearly he's done the opposite and made him look like some pawn with hardly any skillset.
"Okay fine. I am dropping the politeness. Using me or anyone else as bait is a stupid plan, because it has way too many ways that it could go wrong almost immediately. If the cult isn't distracted for more than a minute but Ilpholin moves anyway, she's stuck in there by herself. If they act with hostility, it fails immediately because I am not capable of fighting a small army by myself and would have to leave with them now alerted. And it still requires the person being bait to be loud and noticeable and memorable which is not what you want anyone to do when your opponents are still around after being robbed unless they are capable of particularly good disguises, which as far as I know none of us are.
I can do my sword dance, or me and Ilpholin could swap roles, but I still feel like it is not practical for either party." He's honestly still a little confused as to why Ambrosia was convinced that this would be the best plan for him specifically. Was he really ostentatious when they last met? He's not upset, he's just not sure what made her think 'would disco in front of a cult.'

A small scepter appears in his hand, topped with a brass cage with a small mote of light bobbing in and out.
"I am Spako Alrenn, last of the Stormguard. Magus, swordsman, rune mage, dragon and dragonslayer, thief and gladiator. I am capable of turning invisible, conjurations, alterations, elemental magic. I can turn into a bird and squeeze into very small places. I have one nondescript form but it's a reindeer so it doesn't work on its own. I can pick locks and I am very quiet. I am useful in just about any plan, just not this specific one." He somehow manages to keep that in a level tone.

"So no, I am not afraid of danger, but as I said when you asked, the nightly approach would be much better for me, because I am bright and distinctive when I'm not invisible and that makes me bad at tasks that involve sneakily dealing with people like joining cults or being a distraction that you can't track down later."

[Temperance Teahouse]

Ilpholin watches Spako re-emerge with a newfound conviction that displays his confidence. And if all his words speak true, his incredible capability as well. Few could boast being a dragonslayer. Well many could boast, but his words did not seem hollow in that moment.

Spako also didn't seem to realize Ilpholin's disguise capabilities. So that hadn't made its way up the chain then. It's true that only Anika, Jaahlyn, and Deathkiss would know about that. All of which were unlikely to bring it up to Cessie or Wenomir except in very specific circumstances. Circumstances Anika hadn't encountered yet it seemed. Ilpholin had been considering going in disguised this time, joining the cult to scout or get close. But perhaps it would be better if she didn't, solely to keep that she even can a secret should she need it in the future when dealing with Vigil.

"It seems I misjudged you. I'm sorry for questioning your commitment or skills. I've been... questioning a lot lately." Ilpholin falls quiet for a moment, looking at the bottom of her tea cup, the tea finished. "Well of the options, that was the one I felt least confident in due to my own lack of experience, so I was avoiding it. Still, I am more than capable of being quiet, moving when I need, stopping when I don't. And I have clothes that can actively blend in to the environment as we move, so that's what we'll be going with. A stealth mission on a dark night. If you'll be fully invisible, we should work out a set of hand signals and shoulder taps we can use for basic communication." The details of which are probably unnecessary to work out.

[Church of Venus]

While Ambrosia wasn't recognized she knew that she drew a lot of attention. That little girl commenting on her armor before the sermon for instance. So she didn't trust in her ability to move about undetected, nor was that really part of her methodology. The way she dressed was meant to draw attention, not avoid it.

But that said, she was going to try to talk to the high priest. Approaching him with her tome held at her hip she reaches out a hand. "Excuse me? Do you have time for an interview? I represent HALO." People had already seen her in the company of Rein so there was no reason to lie here.

[Temperance Teahouse]

Stupid plan? Hmph, well it wasn't purely her plan and if they could have worked out the details a bit more...

Ah, no matter. Spako certainly had a lot of skills that didn't meet the eye by the sound of his introduction. Just like she did.
Which reminded her that she really should have interviewed him at some point. But when she first had heard about him the scope of her research had been more narrow,

As in, she hadn't defined him as a 'proper' dragon back then.

But after she had broadened her scope the whole "attacking to kill everyone in vigil" thing had happened and then such an interview would have been awkward.

But regardless, it sounded like he had quite the history behind him.

"Sounds like stealth would be the best approach then." She remarks but has no further comments as stealth was not her strong suit. Spako was a exception to the rule that she was a part of, namely that dragons weren't especially good at subterfuge.

[quillpleasant]

Draco Street Bakery

"Yeah yeah, I'll definitely keep you in the loop," says Simon, entering the number into his phone.

"As for other dragons, yeah I don't know any. Would love to though, I mean that's always been kind of the dream." Simon smiles, an expression that's a lot more pleasant in this tiny form. "And thanks for, you know, taking a look. I mean, I've already learned more about myself today than the rest of the time I've been here." Which isn't saying a lot, but still.

[[brackets lover]]

[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."

[Security Room]

Finally, an officer arrives outside the room Eddie was keeping the moogle in, talking to the bystanders huddled around it. Calmly, they distance themselves, allowing him through. Without knocking, he opens the door and announces himself, "Officer Callisto, Police 2. I take it you're Eddie?" The officer waves his hand gesticularly. "I'd like to ask you a few questions, if that's okay."

He glances nervously in the moogle's direction.

[Spacy Invaders]

Asami holds his hands behind the back of his head, perking up. "Ah, well, they did make two other Sonic shows since then. Sonic Boom is actually really funny!"

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.

[A Real Arcade]

"So you'd take money from poor people?" asks Asami sarcastically, continuously chipping off the bandits until one remains. He waves his dagger around vaguely threateningly. "Heh, had enough yet?" he says.

[TeChameleon]

[Security Room]

Eddie waggled his head non-committally, basically indicating that the officer was free to continue, and kept on holding on to the moogle. Before anything further was said, though, Eddie added "There should be security tapes showing everything that was done to contain this situation, as there seems to be some misconceptions about what's going on."

[Spacy Invaders]

"I will never cease to be amazed at how quickly humans can produce entertainment. They do so almost as fast as my own species produces bad ideas. In my home dimension, they've either activated my 37th clone-self to rein in that particular tendency, or else the universe has folded up like a paper hat and disappeared." the grey thought at Asami. He didn't sound particularly troubled by this thought; clearly, this was now somebody else's problem and he wasn't going to waste a lot of energy pondering it.

"Do you have any awareness of non-human species present in this world? I have found that universally-human societies tend to be a bit close-minded when it comes to aliens wandering around."

[Shadowcaller]

Draco Street Bakery

"Well, most of the other dragons I know work here or around town. There's a jeweler down the road named Renault, he makes magical items. I don't know if he makes armor, but he made my staff." Ambrosia probably noticed Rowan's big cake-peel staff. "And of course you met Jubilex."

Draco Street Bakery

"Yeah yeah, I'll definitely keep you in the loop," says Simon, entering the number into his phone.

"As for other dragons, yeah I don't know any. Would love to though, I mean that's always been kind of the dream." Simon smiles, an expression that's a lot more pleasant in this tiny form. "And thanks for, you know, taking a look. I mean, I've already learned more about myself today than the rest of the time I've been here." Which isn't saying a lot, but still.

Draco Street Bakery

A jeweler and a alchemist but no blacksmiths?
Hrm, she could look into this but she has just the realization that this had to be a person she could trust more than your average shopkeeper even if they probably would be more used to dragon customers than anyone else around.

"I could introduce you to a number of them if you want to later, Simon. While there are a fair number of unpleasant ones, most that actually agree to an interview are at least approachable and sometimes downright friendly and sociable. There's no real 'dragon community' though in my experience. While you sometimes see pairs like you two with children they seem to be formed by people who've become dragons one way or the other. But I still have too little data to make any conclusions based on that."

Spako was after all in a relationship with someone born a dragon.

"But nonetheless, thank you for that information. I'll see what I can do with it."

[[brackets lover]]

[Security Room]

Eddie waggled his head non-committally, basically indicating that the officer was free to continue, and kept on holding on to the moogle. Before anything further was said, though, Eddie added "There should be security tapes showing everything that was done to contain this situation, as there seems to be some misconceptions about what's going on."

[Spacy Invaders]

"I will never cease to be amazed at how quickly humans can produce entertainment. They do so almost as fast as my own species produces bad ideas. In my home dimension, they've either activated my 37th clone-self to rein in that particular tendency, or else the universe has folded up like a paper hat and disappeared." the grey thought at Asami. He didn't sound particularly troubled by this thought; clearly, this was now somebody else's problem and he wasn't going to waste a lot of energy pondering it.

"Do you have any awareness of non-human species present in this world? I have found that universally-human societies tend to be a bit close-minded when it comes to aliens wandering around."

[Security Room]

"Sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to release your detainee into our custody," the officer orders disapprovingly, "Did you say anything to him before taking him into this room?"

[Spacy Invaders]

Asami, not paying attention to the alien's comments, clicks his tongue absent-mindedly. "Hey, what language did you watch Sonic X in?" he asks casually.

[TeChameleon]

[Security Room]

Eddie restrained himself from sarcastically asking what the cop expected him to do with the detainee he had been holding onto for them. "That was the plan, yes." he said evenly.

"And I told... him?.. that they were damaging bank property and they needed to stop a couple of times. I did not say much beyond that that I can recall. Oh, and I told them that I was detaining them until management cleared things up when they claimed they had been told to blind the cameras." Eddie was growing increasingly uneasy. Something about this smelled like a setup for another attempted lynching, or something similar.

He vowed, not for the first time, and probably not for the last, not to get involved in spy nonsense ever again. Somehow, though, he always managed to get sucked back in when it came up.

[Spacy Invaders]

If my thoughts were audible, I would swear this small human was partially deaf. X-1 thought to itself, careful not to broadcast it.

To Asami, it 'said' "You do not appear to be in the habit of acknowledging topics that do not interest you." It was a statement, not a question. "And I watched the programme in German; for whatever reason, the Nordics are the most prolific bootleggers of Earth media, and as they tend to restrict their activities to Scandinavia, localizations from that area or from around that area are the easiest to get ahold of. It was honestly a bit jarring when a couple of episodes were in English."

[bc56]

Cry Havoc
Kothar sees Cea begin to split open and the orbs closing in on him. He raises his shield and zigs left, bashing one orb out of the way with the enchanted bulwark, then immediately zagging right, jumping over the tendrils to strike the other orb directly with his flaming axe.

A Local Shrine
"I'm not in the mood for the snarky commentary," Jade replies, "Instead of harping on everything I did wrong for the third time, how about you actually help?"
Annoyed, she puts her hands on her hips. Her facade of keeping things cool is beginning to crack.
"I already told you I have no idea what's going on! If I'm getting in my own way, it's because I'm just about going out of my freaking mind with how far outside the context of my normal life I've been thrown, and your mouthing off isnot helping!"

[Keeper]

A Local Shrine

"What exactly do you want me to say, then? I tried to help you before." asks the dragon, sounding more defeated than annoyed.
"To his point, he did start to explain all this to you and then you shouted that magic is just too weird and makes no sense. About a minute after you told him his best friend passed. You do have to give him some leeway." Stela tries to be a little more gentle about things. "And for all your insistence that your magic is hostile to your wishes it seemed to come to your defense when you needed it just fine."

Draco Street Bakery

"Well, yeah. This is a dragony neighborhood but there's no real concrete community voice. And that's fine. Thanks, Ambrosia. I'm not sure what you like to eat or if you have any dietary needs but if you give me an idea I can try to make with a special pie for you." Ambrosia's clearly some sort of dragony person with those horns. Which usually means they can eat more kinds of things than a regular human.

Temperance Teahouse

Spako waves a hand. "It's fine. I should have volunteered that information at the start instead of waiting for you to ask. There is one other thing. As you observed, when I become a bird everything on me melds into my form. If I get my hands on the spear I could escape with it and no one would be able to tell I had it even if they saw me. If you wished you could infiltrate the cult compound in whatever means you had in mind when you proposed it and see if you could at least identify for me where they're holding it and see if you could leave something unlocked for when we return ere midnight."

[bc56]

A Local Shrine
"I didn't say hostile, I said..." Jade turns, starting to snap at the koi as well, but she stops... "... Uncontrollable." What just happened was anything but uncontrolled. Jade snaps out of her irritation. She takes a deep breath.
"Alright. I get the point. I can control it, at least sometimes. But I have no idea how to do it, it just happened." A few sparks dance on Jade's fingertips. "Can you teach me how to do that all the time?" That's addressed to the fish.

[Reinholdt]

[Temperance Teahouse]

Ilpholin gives it a little thought before shaking her head. "If I go undercover like that and get close enough, I would simply go for the spear myself and escape with it then and there. We wouldn't need any extra steps at all. No, I think it's better if we just go together one time. The less moving parts to a plan, the less opportunity for something to go wrong."

[quillpleasant]

Cry Havoc

Kothar's attacks send the orbs flying, a loud metallic clang echoing across the street as his flaming axe collides with one of them head on. But whatever these orbs are, they seem virtually indestructible- although the blow sends it flying, the magic axe leaves not a mark on it. They regain momentum in the air, circling around for another strike.

The warrior's leap has brought him dangerously close to Cea as well. Despite Wenomir's slashes leaving deep cuts along her side, she's still focused on the lizard man. She lunges, torso mouth splitting wide as she attempts to bite Kothar. The size, force and deadly sharpness of her teeth make it relatively easy to simply bite most people in half, but she's not expecting him to go down that easily. Which is why her tongues snake back around, trying to entangle and grapple Kothar from behind.

Wenomir's attempt to smash the third orb into the ground is successful, and it's driving down like a tent stake. Only a moment later it shoots back up, sending bits of gravel flying through the air. These things just don't quit! At least he's bought himself a few moments before it resumes the attack with just as much strength as before.

Cea does seem to be completely ignoring Raheeda's presence through all this, although whether out of a twisted sense of mercy or simply because she's focusing on what she perceives to be bigger threats is unclear.

However, observing the battlefield as she is, the yuan ti will see Vyzan, several yards away, touching the dead angelephant. A surge of twisting necromantic energy floods into it, and the fallen behemoth staggers to its feet, bone cleaver banging aggressively against the pavement. The elf turns to listen to the ongoing struggle, a greatly troubled expression on his face as if having a hard time choosing which side to help.

---

Draco Street Bakery

"Oh shit, forreal?" says Simon to Ambrosia's offer of introducing him to more dragons. "I mean, uh, yeah that sounds dope. Always wanted to meet more dragons."

It's not like it's been his dream since he was a little kid or anything.

"But yeah, thanks again. Don't be a stranger!" he says cheerily. It really is nice to have an expert on your side.

[Shadowcaller]

Draco Street Bakery

"Well, yeah. This is a dragony neighborhood but there's no real concrete community voice. And that's fine. Thanks, Ambrosia. I'm not sure what you like to eat or if you have any dietary needs but if you give me an idea I can try to make with a special pie for you." Ambrosia's clearly some sort of dragony person with those horns. Which usually means they can eat more kinds of things than a regular human.

Temperance Teahouse

Spako waves a hand. "It's fine. I should have volunteered that information at the start instead of waiting for you to ask. There is one other thing. As you observed, when I become a bird everything on me melds into my form. If I get my hands on the spear I could escape with it and no one would be able to tell I had it even if they saw me. If you wished you could infiltrate the cult compound in whatever means you had in mind when you proposed it and see if you could at least identify for me where they're holding it and see if you could leave something unlocked for when we return ere midnight."

Draco Street Bakery

Rowan's offer of food makes Ambrosia hesitate. It was tempting but that was in fact a problem since she restricted herself to exactly three meals a day to avoid succumbing to the hunger. Four if she was having a particularly intense workout.

But the real issue was of course the dragons connection to fey and fey's connection to food. She trusted Rowan (to some degree) but she didn't trust his mysterious patron.

"Oh that isn't necessary Rowan. I'm going to interview another dragon in the area soon and I know from experience that bringing food along usually isn't the best plan." She claims with a dismissive gesture though nonetheless smiles.

And she gives Simon the same smile as he reacts positively to the prospect of meeting other dragons. "Don't mention it, Simon. Observing how dragons interact with one another is also a part of my job." Technically not but it was a part of her research.

"But good luck with finding out more about your condition. Something tells me that you're going to need it." Though hopefully not. Perhaps she could ask one of her fathers qareen to keep an eye on them?

She gets up to leave, waving good bye before she goes through those doors.

Temperance Teahouse

"What about if you combine your two plans and infiltrate the cult together? Sir Spako could pose as your pet bird or something like that." Amrosia suggests to the nymph. "That way you could both get close to the spear and work together to overcome whatever defenses that protects it."

Cry Havoc

Raheeda did not like the idea of being passive in a fight but at the same time she knew that the other elf was amendable to peace and Cea had technically spared her life.
Yet then again, it was clear the fight would end with someone's death and it would be her fault if either of brave warriors lives would came to a grisly end at the hands (or mouths) of Cea.
But just as she considers intervening she spots what Vyzan was doing.

"HEY! STOP THAT!" She calls out while quickly making her way over to the elf, ready to tackle him to the ground if he wasn't gonna cease casting that spell.
Cea could wait for just a few more seconds.

[Earl of Purple]

A Real Arcade

"So? The money these guys have came from other people, it's not like they earned it either." Not that it matters too much, the way this one guy left isn't running or begging for mercy is making it pretty clear that the software's quite simplistic. Not expecting the muggers to be threatened, just slaughtered mindlessly. Agate sighs and pulls her bow back, fitting the arrow she'd used in the melee to it and launching it at the last bandit's forehead.

[[brackets lover]]

[A Real Arcade]

"So how does that justify taking their money but not killing them, then?" Asami argues jokingly, staring on as the last bandit dramatically falls to the ground and fades away.

With the threat eliminated, the pair were free to travel again once more. The trail seemed to be some sort of liminal space, enemy appearences becoming sparse with occassional barrels lining the sides of the road.

Asami takes in this sights for a moment before awkwardly chatting, "Hey, do you mind if I ask you something a bit insensitive?"

[Earl of Purple]

A Real Arcade

"I... guess it kinda doesn't." Agate hadn't really thought about that, just trying to justify robbery without murder.

"Sure, but if I answer it, I get to ask an insensitive question back. That way it's fair, right?" Agate's a little cautious about whatever it's going to be. "If I don't answer it, I don't have a question to ask, but if I do answer it, I get a question, OK?" Agate is aware this may spiral a little. "And don't forget we're not actually alone, just because we've got all this clobber on. There could be people nearby you don't want to hear the question you ask."

[Morty]

[Cry Havoc]

Wenomir did really hope hitting the orb would work. But it didn't, which means he has to hurry. He resumes the rhythm of attacks he had tried previously, making wide and seemingly telegraphed attacks against Cea. It might look like he's trying to force her back or keep her off Kothar, and those are true... but that's not all there is to it.

As his weapon traces silvery lines in the air, all its movements build into a finale like the rising tone of an orchestra. When it's over, it makes one last vertical slice through the air. The force of the previous swings feeds into it, concentrated and focused into a singular act of cutting. The arc of the weapon will slice through flesh, bone and rock; it leaves a deep crack in the street behind Cea and cuts an unfortunate tree caught in its path in half.

[Keeper]

Draco Street Bakery

Rowan waves goodbye to Ambrosia before slowly turning back to Simon.
"So uh...you wanna cookie while you're here? And we might need to hire an adventurer if we need to raid a lab..."

Temperance Teahouse

Spako considers the suggestion.
"Well...if I don't have to talk I'm not bad of an actor. I um.
I well. I can also be a reindeer. But that's very...Thanksmas festive. Probably wouldn't fit our looks. Or doorways. So the pet bird would probably work better." If it means not getting the two of them killed Ilpholin should get his whole repertoire. Including the silly holiday mascot animal.

A Local Shrine

"We can point you in the right direction." Stela responds, somehow looking chipper despite being a magic fish, "But a lot of magic comes from you. We can't tell you how you work. He might be rude because he's flustered but Ryu is right about one thing, and that's that you can't get magic to work if you hate it and think of it as some separate entity that's rebelling against you."

[[brackets lover]]

[A Real Arcade]

"We're never alone, Agachan," says Asami, shooting a smile, "Don't forget all those wacky all-powerful tricksters that exist outside our reality." She chuckles a bit. She briefly pauses before scratching her cheek and continuing, "Um. Eenyways, I was just wondering if it'd be ok to still bully you sometimes?" She taps her fingertips together, blowing some air from her mouth.

[Reinholdt]

[Temperance Teahouse]

Ilpholin shrugs a little. "It wouldn't be particularly unusual for a nymph to have an exotic pet." After all, she already keeps a giant dire spider and a swarm of nanobots around. And it is pretty likely the spear will be locked up when not in Jaryło's possession, making a skilled lock bypasser handy to have nearby.

"If it's too large, they'll probably try to stable you honestly. Better something small to keep nearby or on my person. The bird should more than suffice. You'd just have to sit there and look pretty for the most part." Those eyebrows are certainly enough to carry Spako the distance.

[Shadowcaller]

Temperance Teahouse

"Might be good to have a cage on hand too in case they don't want to let you fly free inside their temple. Just use one that's easy for a intelligent bird to open from the inside." Ambrosia suggests.

She wasn't too familiar with bird cages but the simpler models couldn't be too difficult to open up with a clever beak.
"That or you could use a bird leash."

[Earl of Purple]

A Real Arcade

"Right, but besides them." Agate rolls her eyes, or would do if it weren't for the headset. Also, the all-powerful tricksters rarely watch when people go to the toilets.

"I don't mind the pranks. Those I can answer with retaliation, and I've had worse as well. Name calling and physical bullying are not acceptable, ever. Last people to call me names, I threatened to shoot them." Her motive at the time was that they'd emptied several bottles of water over her bed, and she forced them to swap all the bedding from her bed to theirs at gunpoint. Although name-calling may well have been something those girls had done before.

[[brackets lover]]

[A Real Arcade]

"You what!?" Asami exclaims in surprise, completely taken aback by Agate's non-chalantness. "That is, like, way worse than name calling!" she says, her voice dripping with concern.

This certainly serves to reinforce Asami's view of Agate as a scary person. "Eheh~ J-just so you know, I was joking about killing thieves being ok. Its, um, a line we should never cross?" Asami says nervously, having absolutely no clue what to make of Agate now. These past few months have really wore Asami down, dealing with some of the world's most insane people.

[Keeper]

Temperance Teahouse

I think for hawks they usually just put a glove-thing on one of their talons? Pet birds are common enough that I really don't think anyone would bat an eye on one without...all of that." And Spako definitely isn't saying that because it seems really demeaning. There's the dragon impulse.

[Earl of Purple]

A Real Arcade

"I threatened them because I caught them pouring water in my bed. The name calling was a seperate thing. Shorty, lawn ornament, cakesniffer, stumpy... so many names. I didn't like any of it. I told them, at gunpoint, to swap bedclothes and mattress so they had to sleep in wet instead of me." Agate shrugs, and smiles a little. "I'd made my wish not a minute before, so I knew I wasn't staying much longer. I wished to get adopted by people as nice and kind as my friend Arsay, who was taken by bugbears long ago." She was well aware that she wouldn't stay long enough to face any real consequences to her behaviour there- not least because the girls didn't recognise her in her costume- and seeing their behaviour flared into anger.