Skyside Prime

[Ironsmith]

[Black Abyss Milk Factory Wreckage]

Under the steel shell that used to be the control room, Rose is... not having a good time.

Starting with the obvious, her everything hurts. She's tempted to focus on the massive headache, but that would be doing a disservice to the horrific burns covering her body, the sharp sting of debris in her wounds, and the bone-deep ache of... she isn't even sure, it might actually just be her bones being broken.

About the only parts of her that don't hurt are the ones that aren't there anymore. Like her left leg; everything below the knee is gone, or at least, soon to be; it's pinned under the shell and apparently suffered extensive nerve damage. Her pinky and ring finger, right hand, also unaccounted for, though thankfully cauterized by the heat of the explosion. She's fairly certain she's only seeing out of one eye right now, but she can't tell which. And if her breathing is indication, she's probably down to less than a full lung, cumulatively.

But, despite all of that, she's alive. If only for a few more minutes.

"...F... Fay..." She whispers into the phone, as though that's going to help him find her.

[Earl of Purple]

Ruins of Trust-Worthy Hotel

I have just realised I said 'fuller' last post when I meant 'tang'. So it's the tang wrapped in rags to hold the knife, not the fuller because that'd be odd. Also, kitchen knives of this type don't usually have fullers anyway.

"You a priest? She could do with last rites or what have you. We can't pay, though. All we got's what you see." A ripped tent, rubbish, and a knife salvaged from a burnt-out kitchen. She'll stand aside, though glances suspiciously at Sandals and especially Lia.

The scavenger in the tent panics as Sandals steps closer. It abandons its potential meal and flies out of the tent. Lia probably can't see it- it hasn't manifested in any way- but to Sandals it looks like the skeleton of a vulture with feathers of smoke or shadow. Its wingspan is large, two metres across, although it doesn't flap its wings to move- it seems to glide, passing through the side of the tent, the intervening space and through the furthest wall. It's not especially fast, though Sandals would have to run to catch up to it... If he wants to. Now it's gone, the immediate threat to the dying person in the tent is gone.

[quillpleasant]

Ruins of Trust-Worthy Hotel

Lia smiles unconvincingly at the woman. In truth, she's a little peeved that the she seems to trust Sandels more than her. Sure, the creepy mummy man is fine, but just because someone is a glowing fungus they're up to no good? But she says nothing, standing by as her companion investigates the tent's occupant.

She certainly can't see the fleeing scavenger, and contents herself with folding her arms and kicking at the dusty floor.

[Hraithre]

[Ruins of Trust-Worthy Hotel]

Think positively, Lia. It might not be trust. It might be fear.

Sandels coughs when the woman asks him if he's a priest. "I... perhaps from a certain point of view. But I am here to perform last rites. Payment is not required. It is simply my duty."

His hesitant reply gives the scavenger the time it needs to bolt. Sandels catches a glimpse of it, but doesn't pursue. He'd have to dash through the tent, likely toppling it over in a very undignified manner. It being gone is enough. It would've been handy to interrogate it, but maybe it's not that smart.

So, he gets into the tent and looks around for the dying person. "Hello? I heard there's someone dying here. I, sadly, cannot help you with your body, but I can grant swift and secure passage for your soul."

[Earl of Purple]

Ruins of Trust-Worthy Hotel

Lia also didn't know there was somebody in the tent, let alone that they were dying. Stating truths he didn't know and then asking helped a lot... though also not looking like something that sees corpses as fertiliser helps as well.

The tent isn't very big, and the dying woman is quite obvious. She's lying on a stained bedsheet, a withered and emaciated form, very pale. She's wearing loose trousers and a filthy t-shirt, stained in blood. A rusted shackle is fastened about her left ankle, a few links of a broken chain hanging from it. She's been injured, rather badly; her wrists are a mess of scarring, and there's more in her neck. The scars come in pairs, each equidistant as though caused by the same tool, two small sharp objects that pierced in usually near a major artery. If Sandals checks, there's more, fresher injuries of the same sort to her right leg and ankle; one set of the paired wounds is weeping blood softly. Her head has been shaved, blonde stubble growing in rough and uneven. Her eyes are sunken and shut, and she seems to be asleep when Sandals walks in. "Can you... stop me from coming back..."

Underneath the ash and dust, Lia finds the original flooring! Black-and-white square tiles, some cracked and damaged, and she'll also kick something small that skitters metallically across the floor. If Lia investigates, she'll find a sterling silver ring set with an orange carnelian.

[quillpleasant]

Ruins of Trust-Worthy Hotel

Lia isn't surprised that Sandels is offering to help. Ushering souls into the next life seems to be a specialty of his. If only he was more understanding of souls that don't want to move on.

She peers curiously after him into the tent, but is only able to see vague glimpses of the occupant. Well, she can tell when she's not wanted. However, her gaze is caught by the ring she's inadvertently kicked up. Dropping to all fours, she grabs it, peering closely at the jewel.

"Ooh. Shiny." She's about to put it on when a thought strikes her. Turning to look at the knife wielder, she raises the ring up. "Sorry, is this yours?" Maybe she dropped it, although judging by the fact that it was buried Lia doubts that.

[Keeper]

Mina's Place

"Shoes are the worst!" Emily complains, laughing, "I had to get some custom designs for my feet the few times I needed footwear, and they all almost inevitably get screwed over by my toe claws."

Mina's Place

"Usually the opposite for me. Like stupid horses, we're not made to be walking around on concrete. Shoes are for keeping the ground from screwing over my feet. But still, at least I got fancy ones."
Mina's shoes are shiny silver. Emily likely noticed that when she was in costume, her horns and hooves were entirely this color. It's not a big change but she needed to have at least some different things when she changes costumes.

Black Abyss Milk Factory Wreck

"We saw her before the place went up. She'd have been in that direction." Mina points, trying to hold in her frustration at the woman with someone who cares about her right there.
"She told us to run for it. I thought for sure she had a plan." It would have taken her ten seconds to bust through that wall, tops! Why didn't Rose say something?

[Hraithre]

[Ruins of Trust-Worthy Hotel]

Sandels narrows his eyes as he observes the woman's injuries. He doesn't really know what he's looking at, at first. What causes marks like this, some kind of an injector? But then, the woman's words give him some additional context. His eyes widen and he nods. He takes his silver pendant, wraps the chain around his hand and squeezes it in his palm.

"You will not come back", he affirms, "and I will make sure nothing comes back in your body either. I will hack off your limbs, sever your head and pierce your heart if necessary." He inches closer and kneels next to the woman, placing his right hand, the one holding the pendant, above where his heart ought to be, while raising his left and pointing two fingers up. "I stand at the precipice / I gaze into the void / I build a bridge across the world / I connect two eternities / I open the gates / I let you over the threshold / I sever the chains / and let you go free. Reverse Path of Binding: Soul Burial."

Lia and the woman outside might feel a sudden chill. A sudden gust of wind rattles the dust and ash inside the ruined lobby. The dying woman inside the tent, if she's already close to her last breath, might see the world change. The mouth of tent widens and grows taller, until it is no longer a mere frame of cloth, but a stone gate, flanked by two blindfolded skeletons, one holding a sword, another holding scales of justice.

"I do not judge", Sandels continues with a lower voice, "I do not weigh hearts and I can offer no absolution. If you have not made your peace here, you will have to make it out there." He points out of the tent with his left hand. Of course, to the dying woman, it might have another meaning. "Are you ready to go?" He moves his right hand, and the pendant towards the woman. If she truly is ready, if no sinister force can hold her back against the Reaper's pull, she only needs to take his hand and go. Otherwise... well, he'll have to help a bit more, and it won't be as graceful.

[Morty]

[Black Abyss Factory Wreckage]

"That's what she said. Under the big shell." Fayyaad doesn't comment on Rose having had a plan or not, even though a part of him agrees with Mina. Why didn't she have an escape route? "Can you help me get through it? I think..." He reaches out with his hand and a jet of flame erupts from his fingers. It's a white hot flame that gouges into the metal dome. "...I can cut through it." Fayyaad seems as surprised as anyone else by it. He might be feign that later if he pushes his pyromancy so far.

"I wish I hadn't used up all that rust extract," Dorota comments.

[Ironsmith]

[Black Abyss Milk Factory]

It won't take Fayyaad long to cut a large enough hole to see through, or that much longer for one big enough to step and/or carry a body through. Which is good, because Rose is laying right there, bloodied and burnt, not more than a few feet from the new entrance.

"H... hey." Rose cracks a delirious grin, as though this simple greeting was the most hilarious thing she'd ever heard but it was going to hurt too much to laugh. She reaches over with her intact hand and clicks off her phone; she's not going to need that anymore.

Of course, if Fayyaad or Mina are thinking of moving her, they're going to run up against another obstacle; her leg is still pinned under the shell, in such a manner that it will be impossible to drag her out such as she is now. One or the other will need to be removed.

[Earl of Purple]

Ruins of the Trust-Worthy Hotel

The knife-woman frowns at Lia and glances at the ring. "No. You keep it." She considered lying and claiming it for herself, but she doesn't want to get too close to the mushroom-girl. Ringworm's unpleasant, and she's got no idea how she'd be able to afford treatment if she picked it up. Of course, chances are Lia isn't shedding the right kind of spores for that, even if she didn't have control over when and how she shed spores.

The woman smiles at that reassurance, and... Sandals doesn't get to finish what he's saying before she goes. That bit of reassurance was all she needed to let go. Her spirit stands, kicking the shackle off its spiritual ankle (not the physical one; that remains around her physical ankle) and rubs her wrists, the scars disappearing as she does. She's looking a bit healthier, like this; despite being dead, her lack of access to a mirror and the rapidity of her illness means she hadn't changed her mental image to match her new appearance. She watches as Sandals opens the gate, and reaches out to pat his head. ~I have been judged enough, I think. I have not made my peace here- poor Samantha, she tried so hard to save me. But I am ready to go. All I had was suffering; it's time for a change.~ She's very willing to take his hand.

[quillpleasant]

Ruins of Trust-Worthy Hotel

If Lia could read minds, she'd be very insulted at the idea that she might be contagious in some way, at least without meaning to be. Luckily she can't, so instead she just nods, grins, and slips the ring onto her finger. It's strange to wear an adornment she didn't grow herself, but it's an interesting experience. Hopefully it isn't haunted.

She continues to wait, oblivious to the rather touching scene inside the tent. Clearly Sandels is doing something important, but its exact nature is beyond her.

[Hraithre]

[Ruins of Trust-Worthy Hotel]

Sandels sighs in relief. In a sense, the woman letting go before his chant was over means some of the words were wasted, but that's much better than if the full chant hadn't been enough.

Sandels grabs the spirit's hand and steps out of the tent with her in tow. Of course, only one of them emerges in the physical realm, the woman's spirit continuing through the gate to whatever fate is ordained to her.

"Do you have rope, or belts, or something else to tie the body's limps with?", he asks of the knife wielding woman. "Don't worry. Your friend's spirit is safe. But I have to make sure her body won't get back under some bad influence. I'll take it with me and burn it once I'm done here. Lia! Look around for a sharp piece of wood! A broken chair or table leg will do!" He barks the command to the mushroon girl without really turning to look where she is.

[Earl of Purple]

Ruins of Trust-Worthy Hotel

Result: 18. When the ring is put on, Lia's eyes will open. Not the two (or however many she has) before, but new eyes, emerging elsewhere in her body. This may be a little distracting. The ring is not, however, haunted.

The knifewoman bites her lip and starts to cry. "I got stuff ready. Got... got a clove of garlic, and a stake I brought with me when Liz and I got here. No rope, though. I got some string." She tucks the knife into a crude sheathe at her waist and bends over the pile of rubbish next to her, pulling out a cracked glass jar containing a piece of garlic, though it's old and a broken branch, as well as a ball of nylon string, thin but strong. If Lia looks, in what was the restaurant there's a length of wood that's mostly charcoal, but it'd probably do the job. There's also some ash-caked cutlery down there, as well as a broken plate and a steel table leg with a piece of wood attached to one end. Does the whole stake need to be wood, when hammered through a vampire, or just the bit that reaches the heart?

[quillpleasant]

Ruins of Trust-Worthy Hotel

Lia blinks, first her normal two eyes and then the five or so new ones that grow spaced around the edge of her mushroom cap. "Weird..." Although the initial increase to her field of view is disorienting, this does allow her to see in all directions at once. Could be very useful if someone tried to sneak up on her.

Keeping the ring on, she wrinkles her nose at Sandels. She'll still help because it seems like the right thing to do, but a please would have been nice. She looks around for a stake, aided by her ocular expansion. Ignoring the tableware, she takes both the charcoal stick and the table leg, just in case, striding over to proffer them to Sandels.

Lia peers at the newly deceased corpse. "You know, if you want to make absolutely sure that she can't come back, I can help with that." She doesn't elaborate, but the hungry gleam in her many eyes might give a hint as to her intentions.

[Hraithre]

[Ruins of the Trust-Worthy Hotel]

Sandels takes both the burned stick and the tableleg from Lia, nodding approvingly. Where he's from, staking a corpse is primarily meant to keep it in place - for that, even a metal rod would do. But to be on the sife side, the stake would have to be alder.

"We can talk about that later", he answer to Lia. He's not opposed to her eating a corpse, but he doesn't want to freak out the living by discussing the details right now. He goes and takes the string and garlic from the woman, then returns to tent. He drags the dead body out of the tent and into far corner of the lobby, holding his equipment in one hand. "I apologize before hand for the mess, but I'm pressed for time." If nothing stops him, he proceeds to stuff the aged garlic in the body's mouth, ties its ankles and wrists together with the string, and the strikes the burned stick through the body's chest and the table leg through its stomach hard enough that it wedges itself into the cracked floor.

[Gullara]

[Raindrop Apartment]

While a city of ill repute, there are perks to staying in Skyside. For one, it's elevation feels like home, given the moonfolk city likewise hangs amid the clouds. There's also access to the sort of resources and connections that Utayo is looking for. There's levels of advancement in this place that are sporadically found in this Nexus. Some would say a young woman, a pregnant one at that, should live somewhere a bit safer, but she's quite confident in her capabilities. Besides, she's canny enough to understand the risks. It's not as though the lofty apartment she's rented is in the more dangerous areas of the Raindrop District.

Her guest for the afternoon, after knocking at the door, will hear beeping and a mechanical shift on the other side of the door before it swings open. Beyond is a rather spartan home. Not much furniture is found in the sitting room beyond the door. Just two simple seats and a low table with cushions on either side. Aside from the simple amenities, she does have a workbench set up against the wall, though any work she's doing on it has been tucked away.

Utayo herself, of course, is there to greet her guest. She gives a slight smile at the sight of Ambrosia, and then a small bow. "Welcome to my home away from home." It's been some weeks since Ambrosia saw her last, and in the meantime her belly has went from a barely noticeable bump to quite prominent. There's certainly no mistaking her state now. "Please, come in."

[Shadowcaller]

[Raindrop Apartment]

Utayo had already partaken in a fight (not just witnessing it), while a couple of months pregnant, that makes her more capable than most Lara characters.

Ambrosia has of course brought Ugi with her and is holding the wrapped up baby in her arms. "Hello." She smiles widely to the moonfolk and musters a short bow, as is tradition, before turning to her child.
Speaking to him in what best can be described as a 'baby-voice'. "Look who it is, Ugi-bun. It's Utayo. She's welcoming us to her new home." She turns the infant so he can see the planeswalker a bit better.

[Halae]

Mina's Place

"Usually the opposite for me. Like stupid horses, we're not made to be walking around on concrete. Shoes are for keeping the ground from screwing over my feet. But still, at least I got fancy ones."
Mina's shoes are shiny silver. Emily likely noticed that when she was in costume, her horns and hooves were entirely this color. It's not a big change but she needed to have at least some different things when she changes costumes.

Mina's Place

"Ah, the horrors of anthrocentrism," Emily jokes, "Still, we've managed to make it work. Nice shoes, by the way; are they enchanted?"

[Earl of Purple]

Ruins of the Trust-Worthy Hotel

"Don't worry about it. I'll be packing up later to go somewhere else. This place gives me the creeps, and the speed dealers outside... I don't trust 'em." She only stayed as long as she did here because her friend wasn't able to move, and they only stopped here when they did because it offers more shelter and privacy than the alleyways and larger homeless camps do.

The body, obviously, doesn't resist Sandels' rough treatment. He can tie the wrists and ankles and stake it, and looking at the state of her teeth the garlic would probably improve her breath- though fortunately(?) she's not breathing any more. Her friend just stays back and watches. She winces at the crack, though Sandals at least knows that that was the tiles underneath her body and not any bones.

[quillpleasant]

Ruins of Trust-Worthy Hotel

Lia's eyes remain fixed on the corpse while Sandels makes sure it stays down. It's with great reluctance that she hangs back, leaning against one of the crumbling walls as she taps her new ring thoughtfully. She isn't usually this hungry, but there's something about the decaying surroundings that brings it out in her.

She does feel sorry for the corpse's friend though- clearly she's going through a lot. Somehow though, Lia feels that trying to comfort her would end up backfiring, so she remains where she is. Watching.

[Hraithre]

[Ruins of Trust-Worthy]

Sandels stands up, clapping his hands twice as if to wipe dirt off them to signal the deed is done. He glances towards the exit to see if the goons are still nearby. So far, goings-on inside the ruined hotel have been beneath their notice. Hopefully, things stay that way.

"I would pack sooner rather than later", Sandels advices the homeless woman as he walks past her, towards the basement stairwell. He returns his attention to the two spiritual signatures he felt earlier, the one that felt like Trust and the other that he could not recognized - provided there still are two!

He stands at the threshold to the stairwell, looking down. He sniffs the air, wrinkles his nose, then draws in air and shouts:

"PHINEAS! TRUST!"

His low voice bounces from the walls, echoing down into the darkness. His tone, akin to ordering an unruly dog back to his side.

"I know you are here! Your run is over! Come out and meet your destiny like a man!"

If Phineas has any of his human intelligence left, he ought to recognize voice of the Reaper who shot his soul into pieces. But does it inspire fear in him, or only hate? Sandels cannot tell. He can only wait and see.

[Gullara]

[Raindrop Apartment]

Utayo had already partaken in a fight (not just witnessing it), while a couple of months pregnant, that makes her more capable than most Lara characters.

Ambrosia has of course brought Ugi with her and is holding the wrapped up baby in her arms. "Hello." She smiles widely to the moonfolk and musters a short bow, as is tradition, before turning to her child.
Speaking to him in what best can be described as a 'baby-voice'. "Look who it is, Ugi-bun. It's Utayo. She's welcoming us to her new home." She turns the infant so he can see the planeswalker a bit better.

[Raindrop Apartment]

Utayo's face lights up at the sight of her second guest. "Well hello. Aren't you just adorable?" Utayo doesn't adopt a baby voice, but she gives the baby a bright smile. She leans in close, having read that infants don't have good eyesight.

"Oh, I shouldn't leave you in the doorway. Please, come in." She drifts back, her feet just skimming above the floor. "I don't have many accommodations for you, but please make yourself comfortable." Her face, while still quite friendly, does shift to a more restrained expression when her focus is drawn away from the baby.

[Shadowcaller]

[Raindrop Apartment]

Ambrosia steps inside and takes a seat with the infant still in her arms.
Then as she's gently bouncing him she turns to Utayo. "So how is Skyside treating you? I've been here many times but never to this part of the city. It seems nice." For skyside at least. "And probably a lot safer than being around me." Their introduction had been rather dramatic.

[Earl of Purple]

Ruins of the Trust-Worthy Hotel

The surviving homeless woman nods and gets to work packing up the tent. She's doing it quickly and efficiently, as that's the most valuable possession she has after the knife tucked into her trousers. She'll wrap it up in itself and sling it over her shoulder, grabbing a small rucksack from the pile of rubbish and leaving out of a window away from where the dealers stood.

There's only one spiritual entity downstairs now, and after a while it heads up the stairs to Sandals. But it isn't alone; it's found a body. Apparently a child, aged eight or nine; a human girl with pale skin and glossy black hair tied into short braids and wearing a red velvet jacket and dark green corduroy trousers. The child runs up the stairs from the dark gloom of the basement, and jumps at Sandals. It's got a powerful leap, and whilst in the air it opens both its mouth and its eyes- revealing a large blue eye between its lips and a pair of small mouths filled with jagged teeth extending on short tentacles from what should be the girl's eyesockets.

[quillpleasant]

Ruins of Trust-Worthy Hotel

Lia doesn't know who Phineas Trust is, but she can tell things are going to get messy from the tone of Sandels' voice. Even so, she's caught off guard by the horrific toothy eyed child who leaps out of the darkness. But she's not stunned for long, and as it goes for her companion she steps away from the wall and begins circling towards the combatants. She studies the attacker, looking for an opening as she draws up some deadly spores to throw.

[Hraithre]

[Ruins of Trust-Worthy Hotel]

Sandels feels the creature coming before he sees it. He's reasonably confident he could overwhelm and out-wrestle a human child, even if possessed by an evil spirit... but this is not a human child. He doesn't know what that is or whether it's safe to touch.

So, he throws himself to the side, out of the stairwell's threshold, letting the creature leap past him and into the ruined lobby. "Lia! Be on guard!", he shouts. He doesn't look around for her, trusting the mushroom girl sees the beast and knows enough to stay away on her own. He keeps his eyes on the creature, pointing his right index finger at it. It's fast, but it's time to see how good reflexes it has. "Path of..."

[Keeper]

Black Abyss Milk Factory Wreck

Mina swallows her words. She's said her piece. And Rose doesn't need to hear how she wouldn't be covered in a pile of metal while covered in a pile of metal.
"Give me half a minute." she says simply and squats down, taking hold of the aforementioned pile of metal.
Surprising probably no one, the eight foot tall minotaur is very good at lifting heavy loads.

Mina's Place

Mina blinks.
"Oh, yeah. They are. They're way more durable than they ought to be and they don't require any nails. Sai insisted the nails wouldn't be a big deal buuuuut I just didn't want to do that, you know?"
She would be grateful to know it's an extremely common hangup among hoofed people.

[Morty]

[Black Abyss Milk Factory Wreck]

"Told you I'd dig you out of here," Fayyaad tells Rose before Mina gets to work. He takes a short piece of wood from his belt, which extends into a staff. He wedges it between the shell and the rubble, using it as a lever to help Mina lift. Thankfully the staff is rather more durable thanks to its enchantments so it won't snap in half in the process.

Up close it's clear that he's sweating and shaking a little. Aside from nerves and physical exertion, that flame drained him considerably. Dorota, meanwhile, stares at Rose for a while.

"I'll pull her out once you've lifted this," she says as she takes Rose's hands. "I can't believe I'm doing this..."

[Ironsmith]

[Black Abyss Milk Factory Wreck]

"H... heh... wasn't how I was planning on spending... my Thursday night, either." Rose quips, giving Dorota a cheeky grin.

Thankfully, the groan of a massive piece of metal being shifted drowns out the sounds that come out of Rose's mouth from there. Even as close as she is, Dorota won't be able to hear it, but from the way Rose's face contorts, her eyes squeezing shut and her mouth pulling itself open, it'll be no secret to anyone that what they just did was excruciating... but, at least they can pull her (bloodied, mangled, definitely broken) leg free of the wreckage.

"That... that wasn't so bad." Rose pants, smiling depite the tear streaks running down her temples.