Skyside Prime

[Gullara]

[Raindrop Apartment => Lake]

Utayo can't help but recall that the parameters of their research were far more narrow than Ambrosia is suggesting. She decides not to bring that up, however. "Very well, choose your location."

[Shadowcaller]

[Raindrop Apartment => Lake]

Yes, why wouldn't Utayo want to research all of her?
"I've already chosen one actually."
Yes, and that location seems to be the lake itself which seems to be more and more obvious as they descend. It's dark water getting ever closer.

She spreads her wings and makes an aerial landing despite being far heavier than physics would allow something to float on water.
"There! A beautiful landing don't you think? Didn't even wake the little one up."

[Gullara]

[Raindrop Apartment => Lake]

"Yes, quite well executed." Utayo compliments. Admittedly it might have actually been more useful if she'd been able to view it from afar, but Ambrosia is quite off topic at this point.

"He sleeps quite well. Let's hope I get so lucky." She smiles slightly. "Now how do you wish to proceed?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Lake]

"Well-" A beat as Ambrosia's head turns to face Utayo.

"First you would have to get off my back and take my little one with you. Since I'm about to do a few things I wouldn't want to do with him resting on my back."
Ugi stirs just as she mentions this and the dragon's attention is immediately drawn to him.
"Wish I had brought baby food with me now. He might be hungry when he wakes up..." But she left all that with her human body.

[Gullara]

[Lake]

"We shouldn't be long then." Utayo remarks as she lifts off Ambrosia's back. She hovers over to Ugi and scoops him up carefully. "How far should we back up?" She asks even as she starts to drift away some distance. She'll take any instruction from Ambrosia before finding a place to settle, whether in the middle of the air over the water or at the lake's edge.

[Shadowcaller]

[Lake]

Instead of replying the dragon spreads her wings and flies off in the opposite direction.

Then she opens her maw and breathes out a black fiery smoke filled with lighting that consumes everything underneath her. Seemingly taking a great joy in it.
Of course then comes the thunder which follows the lighting.

KRAKOWW!

And then comes Ugi's distressed noises as the child abruptly wakes up.

Ops.

[Gullara]

[Lake]

Utayo blinks in surprise at this particular display. She's not quite sure what she was expecting, but here they are. She has but a moment to anticipate the consequences, but there's nothing she can do to stop them. She caught with a crying baby and a sudden onrush of uncertainty. Oh no, she has to do something about this. At least until Ambrosia realizes what's happened. Recovering a bit, she tries rocking the infant back and forth. "Don't cry, it's just a loud noise." She coos.

[Shadowcaller]

[Lake]

Ugi continues bawling, Utayo's efforts seemingly calming him but not enough for him to actually stop crying.

"Do you know any lullaby's? Sing one while you rock him. Just like that." She suddenly hears the dragon speak to her as Ambrosia have settled down not far from the two. Having reacted quickly to her child's voice despite her thunderous rampage.

It probably isn't a surprise that the dragon sounds more than a little guilty over what she had just caused.

[Gullara]

[Lake]

Utayo gives Ambrosia an uncertain look, like a lot has been put on her all of a sudden. Not entirely untrue either, she thinks. But she looks back down at the baby, and after a moment of thought begins to single a gentle soothing song. It's not in any language Ambrosia would understand, but it seems to have quite a flowing quality to it.

[Shadowcaller]

[Lake]

She was sadly the only one between them that could properly hold and rock him like that. The dragon lacking any sort of opposable thumbs.
But it does seem like it's working. Ugi calming down as she sings for him until the point he closes his eyes again. It doesn't look like he went back to sleep but his breathing is calm and steady and he seems relaxed once more.

Though he's probably hungry now.

Ambrosia looks absolutely crestfallen and lowers her head down to the ground in what seems to be shame. "...you're going to be a good mother, Utayo." She remarks silently and one can almost hear her leaving out the 'unlike me' part.

[Gullara]

[Lake]

"If I'll be a good mother it'll be through experience and care. That's how anyone is good at anything." Utayo replies with a knowing look in Ambrosia's direction.

[Shadowcaller]

[Lake]

Ambrosia appears to consider these words for a moment before slowly nodding. "Yes." She finally agrees as her long neck reaches out to protectively envelope Ugi, which means that Utayo herself will find herself surrounded by the length of the dragons halse. "That's very true."

This up close she can feel heat radiating from the length of Ambrosia's neck. Likely related to that smell of ozone that comes off her breath. Ugi seems to find this heat comforting though judging by his content expression.
He starts moving his arms and looks up at Utayo with a puzzled expression as if not quite sure what to make of her. But then he looks to the side and smiles, making a giddy noise as saliva starts to run out of his mouth.
If Utayo looks to the side she can see that Ambrosia's head has come to rest right besides her. One of the dragons eyes first looking at Ugi and then her as her maw curves into a smile.

"So what was that song you sang? It was beautiful."

Opening her maw the dragon let's out her serpentine tongue towards Ugi who tries to reach it with his little fists. Even as it always moves just out of reach he seems to find the activity of trying to grapple his mothers tongue endlessly entertaining. Though his little fingers probably wouldn't even be able to reach around it even if he did managed to catch it.

The moment might be marred by the fact that Ambrosia's breath is awful, especially when her maw is open like this. Ugi doesn't seem to mind though.

[Gullara]

[Lake]

Utayo is more than polite enough to not remark on any discomforts this situations raises. She smiles down at Ugi. Who can resist a happy baby after all? "I'm not sure I know the name. It's a common lullaby from my people. I can remember my own mother singing it to me when I was young."

[Shadowcaller]

[Lake]

No one has probably ever dared to tell her how awful her breath is. Though it's doubtful that she could do much about it either way considering what can come out of her mouth (and what she eats).

"Ah..." She pauses as if to consider how to feel about that. "That's nice to hear. Adorable even." There's another pause as she seems to be considering something. "At least you have had someone to learn from then, hmm? I've always considered hiring someone to help me out with Ugi. Not only due to my traveling lifestyle but since I've wanted someone to learn from. Since when I imagined my child I imagined well, a dragon. Ugi is very much that of course but I'm not always sure how to approach his current form."

Ugi kicks his legs and throws his little fists around as if testing his own limits. How far could his limbs reach? What sort of interesting things touch he grab onto or feel if he stretched out far enough? Currently, in his mind, Utayo was the only thing between him and the rest of the world so in a way he wanted to test her out too.

[Gullara]

Utayo's grip is gentle, but quite firm. She's not unprepared for a baby squirming. His antics bring a fresh smile to her lips. "It's not a shameful thing to do if you need it. I imagine there's a balance that needs to be struck, but I can see the value in it. Especially given you're already raising him alone."

[Shadowcaller]

[Lake]

"There's Thariza of course but I think she's even more clueless than me when it comes to children despite being a mother herself." She supposed charr children almost were as different from human children as dragons were to, well, human children.
"Have you heard of a place called GloG while being here? Supposedly it's a care-center for both adults but mainly children."

[Gullara]

[Lake]

"I do believe I've heard the name." Utayo replies after a moment of consideration. "It seems worth investigating at the very least. There's no harm in that."

[Shadowcaller]

[Lake]

"I will have to whenever I get the chance then. But... speaking of organizations. I feel like I should give you some ideas for your future research while I'm here." A beat as Ambrosia suddenly recalls why they had been here in the first place. "Considering that I've taken so much of your time already I should at least grant you that."

"Since there are a few locations that you'll want to visit while you're here. The first is HALO which is an organization focusing on how to use science to improve the lives of the people in the nexus. I currently have a room there so if you do visit make sure to let me know.
Then there's vigil which has a science department that might interest you. They're otherwise a peacekeeping organization so make sure to to specifically go to the science building.
Finally, there's a number of companies in Inside. Like Phalanx Labs... I don't know if there's anything like that in Skyside though. Haven't been around here all that much."

[Gullara]

[Lake]

Utayo listens patiently to Ambrosia's explanation, quietly amused at Ambrosia's more mollified behavior. "That's very useful to know. I will on occasion collaborate with locals while doing research. It really depends on the circumstances. This information will help should I need to."

[Zefir]

[Groundtown]

"Dammit! Smoke!" Kuvesh backs away, raising his shield, but it does little against the smoke.

"Stay focused!" Olvisin reloads her guns and starts firing in a wide arc, trying to keep the monsters at bay. The smoke prevents her from aiming precisely. Zaalmin does the same with her shotgun.

Groundtown

Sian can't see through the smoke, and backs away. She puts her hands back into her pockets to replace her pistols, replacing the energy pistols with different guns. Her left hand holds a flintlock duck's foot pistol, four barrels fanned out, and her right hand holds a machine pistol with an air-cooled shroud. She'll fire both into the smoke, though can't see what she's shooting. Four lead balls are fired simultaneously from the duck's foot pistol, the gunpowder adding more smoke to the air, and the machine pistol sprays randomly through the smoke with no real target.

[Groundtown]

The smoke reacts to the bullets as you might imagine. as soon as they reach the smoke it swallows them. Most bullets hid the rocks around which might give the attackers a problem as one or two of those ricochetflies at the goblins. Some bullets can be heared to his the creature, but which one is unclear. A loud painfull scream will appear, which migt be deafening to sensetive hearers.

Still the beast will attemp to defend his hive as a tentacle slides over the ground, pops out of the smoke and tries to grab the shield goblin to drag him into the smoke.

The smoke stays in the hall but it will disapears soon unless the creature focuses to produce more.

[Morty]

[Groundtown]

Kuvesh is grabbed and struggles against it. He's strong, but still a goblin. His siblings come to his aid, however. Luuvat casts another spell, causing electrical sparks to arc off Kuvesh's armor and weapons, hoping to hurt the creature and make it drop him. Meanwhile, Olvisin and Zaalmin direct their fire to where the creature should be, based on the tentacle.

[Shadowcaller]

[Lake]

Utayo listens patiently to Ambrosia's explanation, quietly amused at Ambrosia's more mollified behavior. "That's very useful to know. I will on occasion collaborate with locals while doing research. It really depends on the circumstances. This information will help should I need to."

[Lake]

"Just be cautious. While I'm confident that you'll be able to handle yourself the people, especially the brilliant ones, are often eccentric and their inventions even more so. In VIGIL they've created creatures, intended as pets, capable of duplicate themselves endlessly and at an alarming rate for instance. Something which seems more dangerous than it's worth if you ask me." The dragon rumbles.

"These pets are apparently capable of altering themselves physically to suit the needs of whoever 'bonds' with them. Which is an interesting concept if nothing else." Ambrosia nods her massive head. "Perhaps something to take inspiration from? I'm not sure how your drones are constructed I admit but something which adjusts itself to its owner is probably a concept you could use at least."

[Earl of Purple]

Groundtown

The duck's foot pistol empty after a single blast, Sian tries to put it back into a pocket as she ceases firing with the machine-pistol. There's still a bit of ammunition left in that one, and she's going to bring her other hand up to it as well, ready to direct a more accurate stream of fire at the creature when it makes another move she can see.

[Gullara]

[Lake]

"The challenge inherent on that is that the designer would need to anticipate a vast array of possibilities, or sacrifice the flexibility for a more manageable set." Utayo muses. "That or you delve into the more challenging potential of an artificial mind, but that's a field full of ethical challenges."

[Shadowcaller]

[Lake]

"That is... true." Ambrosia admits as these ideas weren't new to her. "I've delved into the related subject of crafting elementals. Granting consciousness to previously unliving things is fraught with questions." The dragon pauses for a moment. "So do you insfuse spirits directly into your constructs? Since I know that's a popular means of animating on my plane. Despite all the complications that come with it." Spirits did not like being trapped in objects, especially if they couldn't actually animate said objects which wasn't always the case. They could function more like prisons.

[Gullara]

[Lake]

"No absolutely not." Utayo responds immediately. "To do so would be entirely unconscionable. I've heard of the practice occurring in the black market, but those people aren't known for their ethics." She makes a distasteful face before waving that off with a small motion. She's still holding the baby after all. "No, we gather energy that latently emerges from the portals to the spirit realm. It's of course related to the kami, but but there's no direct impact on their beings."

[Shadowcaller]

[Lake]

The dragon looks a bit puzzled at her reply but nonetheless nods her huge head. "Interesting. All your kami are sapient beings then? Since as I've hinted at before, I do require a diet of spirits to sustain myself."

While she could claim that this was unfortunate she had never really felt this way. In fact, she quite enjoyed devouring spirits the same way a human might enjoy a good meal. The notion of feeling pity towards what she ate only came up while she was using human body and then it felt quite hypocritical as the hunger for them didn't feel as strong.

[Gullara]

[Lake]

"To some degree, yes. What kami do among themselves is not a concern. It's that us mortal beings should have respect for the kami and what they represent. Enslaving them for your own personal gain is as far from that as you can get." Utayo explains.

[Zefir]

[Groundtown]

Kuvesh is grabbed and struggles against it. He's strong, but still a goblin. His siblings come to his aid, however. Luuvat casts another spell, causing electrical sparks to arc off Kuvesh's armor and weapons, hoping to hurt the creature and make it drop him. Meanwhile, Olvisin and Zaalmin direct their fire to where the creature should be, based on the tentacle.

Groundtown

The duck's foot pistol empty after a single blast, Sian tries to put it back into a pocket as she ceases firing with the machine-pistol. There's still a bit of ammunition left in that one, and she's going to bring her other hand up to it as well, ready to direct a more accurate stream of fire at the creature when it makes another move she can see.

Groundtown

The electrical charg works fine and the tentacle releases the goblin befor it rushes back into the smoke. The shots fired are hard to confirm as the sound of rebound of other projectiles fill te cave. Still something hitting flesh can be heared and slight screams. For a second nothing happenes and the smoke starts to fade, but then aanoterh tentacle shoots out of the smoke, this time from another direction more to the right, aimed at Luuvat to give him a hard hit against the head and try to knock him out as he prooved to be very dangerouse.

[Shadowcaller]

[Lake]

Did that mean Utayo considered her a kami of sort? It made sense considering how they seemed to be more than just animals. They way she spoke about them suggested something that almost sounded like reverence for them.

"What do they represent then? Since at least the kami I know could represent awful as well as wonderful things. Are all of them worthy of respect?" The question was a bit provocative but she wanted to get an better idea of Utayo's relationship with these kami.