Vigil

[Wolfbane]

Courtyard

"...you're right. It's not too much." Jezebel says with a very amused smile as Magtok makes his arrival. She leans over to give Cessie's cheek a little kiss, not minding the looks. "Though if I ever arrive by a helicopter like that I would hope you would drag me off and keep me from embarrassing myself any further. Though I must admit, it was tasteless in the best of ways and I imagine if anyone here is to make sure he doesn't get devoured, dueled, or talk himself into getting arrested, it best be done quick." With a chuckle and a shake of her head, she heads towards the bar. "I'll make sure he doesn't cause too much trouble, I promise, and I'll be back in a few moments." She swears.

The daemonic woman will deftly move through the crowd, careful not to knock into anyone, step on any feet, or startle any furballs as she goes to get a couple glasses of bourbon, intending to take one to the cyborg. She saw that landing. His knees had to be smarting, and if anyone present could be considered among his friends enough to show concern, it was definitely Jezebel. Provided she isn't stopped, Magtok should find a lavender hand offering a glass of chilled bourbon soon enough.

[Shadowcaller]

Courtyard

Cessie's cheeks flushes faintly red as Jezebel kisses one of them.
Then the sorceress clears her voice as she tries to muster up a reply. "...you would make it look good." She assures Jezz, quite confidently.
"But yes, I suppose you're right." She relents to that notion and nods in agreement to her reasoning of approaching Magtok.
However, then before the daemon leaves she raises a finger. "Do try to figure out which Magtok this is while you're at it, would you? Since I've heard that there's more than one of them around." She remarks before watching her fiancee go.

[Hraithre]

Courtyard - Sekhmet

"It was my mother," Sekhmet explains. "A sister? Uh, sort of. Why do you ask?" She can't imagine he would recognize her from Sele, but she's thinking of Sele's current appearance, and not the one she had a while back.

[Courtyard - Sekhmet]

"Hmmm. Does your sister work at a tavern? Trog's, specifically?", Hoshiki asks, "I got embroiled in some family drama there a while back. Maybe I'm reaching. Any similarity could be a coincidence, people there keep changing how they look every time I go there." By which he means, Zee, Sele and Eao are all weird angelic beings that keep changing forms in way his mind does its best to forget all about.

[bc56]

Courtyard - Sekhmet
"Uh, yes, she does," Okay, so this stranger knows Sele. Since they parted ways some time ago, Sekhmet hopes Sele had good things to say about her. "Family drama?" Sekhmet has no idea what that could mean.

[Arkhosia]

[Courtyard - Magtok]

When Jezebel arrives, she probably won't be the first humanoid person to reach Magtok's side. There's a gentle chuckle as a woman in a long violet dress drifts over to his right. "I get why you wanted me to come separately." The catgirl rests a hand on his shoulder with a grin. "You really put on a show." She glances down at the dog and quirks a playful eyebrow. "Already making friends?"

Jezebel shouldn't have too much trouble recognizing the woman as she approaches - she's a couple decades older than they last saw each other, but between the blonde hair, purple eyes and the resemblance to her daughter, she might just know her as Caelynn Turath - or Caelynn Godlark now, according to the rumor mills. Something she might not expect is the slight bump to her stomach, obvious enough through her dress.

[Hraithre]

► SHOW SPOILER

[Lizard, Worm, Bird's-eye View]

That... is an excellent question. Khafir would presume that Kothar uses the gear he finds to be most familiar, not necessarily the most effective, but she can't exactly stop the story to ask him. And, for that matter, the entity doesn't seem to be able to follow the story as it is now; which means Khafir is, for the moment, wasting her time.

She can't have that.

Turning her vision so that her third eye is focused back on herself, Khafir signs for the entity's benefit, "Do you want me to summarize what's happening in the story?"

Of course, without the added context, Kothar and the rest of his audience will be greeted with the sight of sudden-onset jazz hands on Khafir's part, for no apparent reason, and likely enough for them, no readily-apparent meaning. If they didn't already know her by her reputation as a "total creep", they might get the impression now that she's just a little bit less than sane.

► SHOW SPOILER

[Lizard, Worm, Bird's Eye View]

The entity is strictly limited to Khafir's senses, so more mystical qualities of Kothar's weapons are lost to it. It can understand the fine details are symbolic of things, but cannot tell they have any function beyond decoration. "Oh, it is telling a story? Yes, a summary would be helpful", it signals. She might, indeed, look a bit crazy, signing to apparently no-one... but there are enough exotic beings around, maybe if she just told she's sharing the story with an invisible friend, other party-goers would be more than understanding. Maybe Kothar would even be flattered by said invisible friend being so interested in him!

► SHOW SPOILER

Lizard, Worm, Birdseye View
Kothar continues his tale, oblivious to Khafir's unusual behavior. He doesn't really understand human tics.
He begins describing the descent out of the frog's lair into a series of windswept underground chasms where even the slightest misstep would mean certain doom as you plunge down into the depths of the earth.

[Lizard, Worm, Bird's Eye View]

"A fascinating story", the entity signs to Khafir, "Do you think it's all true?" Not that it would be impossible, given what the entity knows of the world. But it wouldn't be out of place for someone to tell a tall tale to impress people in a party. "Do you think it all happened in this world? Go ahead. Ask it, please."
---

Courtyard - Sekhmet
"Uh, yes, she does," Okay, so this stranger knows Sele. Since they parted ways some time ago, Sekhmet hopes Sele had good things to say about her. "Family drama?" Sekhmet has no idea what that could mean.

[Courtyard - Sekhmet]

"Oh, her little sister carries some kind of grudge towards her", Hoshiki explains, "adoptive little sister, I mean. I don't think you two are related. Tried to kill me too. Hopefully won't try again. I think she feels her mother is favoring your sister too much. Her mother, who is also an adoptive mother to your sister. Is... is that related to your own maternal troubles somehow?" He feels a sudden need to draw a diagram to keep all this straight.

[bc56]

Courtyard - Sekhmet
"It's, uh, not related," Sekhmet confirms. She has no idea what Hoshiki is talking about with Sele's adopted sister. She knows Zee has other kids, but she can't imagine any of them being murderers. Zee's just too nice. She's never met Batsael or thought about one of the kids being rebellious.

[Zefir]

Courtyard- Felicity & Arkant

"I am mostly immune to fire, yeah. I don't want to say completely immune, because fire removes oxygen and I still need that to breathe." But coincidentally her throat and lungs are hardened against smoke, though Felicity's not fully aware of that. She's not put her body through destructive testing, since she still needs it to live and also she can't afford unnecessary surgery because her blood ignites on contact with air. "Well, that's the interesting thing. I've not been able to replicate it yet, and Professor Payne's own method is... wildly unethical. The power gained by an application varies from person to person, based on a variety of factors, some of which I know he's identified and others I suspect he hasn't. Including genetics, that's quite an important one. If you get that wrong your body can reject the power in a very fatal manner. I've heard about people exploding, for example." Which wouldn't be so bad if they'd stopped screaming. "Professor Payne didn't care about that so long as they paid him. So he didn't try to make it safe. So I'm trying at the moment to backwards engineer it and make it safe, and... I've still got quite a way to go yet." She's got some cloned mice she's testing it on, and it's not yet going well.

Courtyard- Felicity & Arkant

"I can imagine what you mean." Arkant comments. The whole blood ignites thing is troublesome. He had some simular projekts in the past like a person who's blood vaporates when in contact to light.
"I have managed to gather equipment to extract samples like for example your blood. It's just very expensiv to create a room fitting the criterias. The path of our research isn't easy. I can imagine what ways this Professor Payne uses, but why is he a Professor? Is there a University in this world that gives out those titels?"

[Earl of Purple]

Courtyard- Felicity & Arkant

"I can collect blood samples fine, so long as they don't get in contact with oxygen. Standard syringes work, so long as there's no air in them and the samples are prevented from coming into contact with oxygen." Which is fine for storage purposes, less so for actually studying it most of the time. "He was a professor of anomalous anatomy in Inside's North Parkside College, but he lost tenure and ran off to Skyside and started funding his continued research with alleged superserums. So he's not really a professor any more, but keeps the title because it's Skyside and no one can stop and he thinks 'Professor Payne' sounds better than 'Doctor Payne'." Alliterations are always better.

[Magtok]

Courtyard- Magtok

This is so terribly…is there a word for the opposite of nostalgic? A reminder of an ugly, miserable, distressing time that only brings cringing and self-recrimination to mind? Because that’s what Magtok feels, caught between a pregnant Caelynn and a friendly Jezebel. Obviously there’s some substantial differences between now and then, as the latter isn’t safeguarding the former, and the former isn’t host to an unborn Alexis Blanche that he feared would prove to be the end of all things, but even so, the unbidden memory still twists him up inside, haunting him with past mistakes and blind fury brought on by a wounded ego.

"Actually I had an even bigger entrance planned, but Needs couldn’t guarantee the fire resistance spell would hold if I stood directly in the center of the dragon’s flame, so I went with something a little smaller this time," Magtok boasts, graciously accepting the bourbon with a smile and a nod, taking care to not speak of why he’s being offered this chilled beverage. Weakness and vulnerability and acknowledgement of human imperfections are beneath us and utterly unconscionable when we’re in the public eye. Every Magtok must be perfect, this one especially.

"Promise I'll have it sorted out for the next big party, though," he says with a sip, taking a step or two to be sure his legs still know what they’re doing. Everything seems fine, but a little more anti-grav to slow our descent might be best the next time we drop out of the sky like that.

As for the dog who I definitely didn't forget about before editing this post, Magtok almost reluctantly accepts the extended paw and gives it a brief handshake. He's still not entirely sure he can trust this mutt, but it seems friendly enough, right? Then again, so do some very mischievous and wicked wizards, before their sorcerous shenanigans ensue. It's very possible this dog is just trying to lull him into a false sense of security before it bites his entire arm off and runs off with it. What, paranoid? C'mon, it's a dog and a wizard. What could be a more ambiguous combination than that? You never know exactly where you stand with dogs or wizards, and this beast is both!

"I uh, I have a brother who does magic and speaks dog; I should ask if he's heard of you," Mag remarks, not really sure what else to say to this canid conjurer. He shoots a glance towards Caelynn, desperate for someone to rescue him from this canine crisis.

[Zefir]

Courtyard- Felicity & Arkant

"I can collect blood samples fine, so long as they don't get in contact with oxygen. Standard syringes work, so long as there's no air in them and the samples are prevented from coming into contact with oxygen." Which is fine for storage purposes, less so for actually studying it most of the time. "He was a professor of anomalous anatomy in Inside's North Parkside College, but he lost tenure and ran off to Skyside and started funding his continued research with alleged superserums. So he's not really a professor any more, but keeps the title because it's Skyside and no one can stop and he thinks 'Professor Payne' sounds better than 'Doctor Payne'." Alliterations are always better.

Courtyard- Felicity & Arkant

Shouldn't it still be a problem after extracting the blood? I mean she will bleed a bit afterwards and oxygen can enter through the needle.

"Ah, I guessed so." Arkant comments. "Some people need to claim a titel to place themself above others, but I guess thats just their main weakness. Especially with his methods. I'm just a bit confused. Why haven't I heared of him? As mentioned I am also placed at skyside and I freed slaves there and got them work, but none ever mentioned someone like him or a place which sells Serums."

[Earl of Purple]

Courtyard- Felicity & Arkant

Not if it's done properly? Earl's got a vague idea that bubbles are bad in the blood stream, and introducing one into an IV is a good way to kill someone. And that's what oxygen entering the bloodstream via needle would be, an air bubble.

"He doesn't put a lot of advertisement out. He doesn't want the Guild getting their hands on any of his serum, so mostly it's spread by word-of-mouth amongst the superheroes and villains that prowl Skyside's alleyways. And adverts on obscure websites and apps and things." Felicity found him on the internet, whilst looking for a summer job. Some of the supers that bought powers from him found him the same way.

[[brackets lover]]

[Courtyard - Magtok]

Jon wags his tail as Magtok shakes his paw, the only indicator of his emotion as his face remained stern. While his appearence may be intimidating to most, his demeanor was quite passive and friendly. Upon Magtok's mention of his brother, Jon nodded enthusiastically, expressing his own interest in being understood.

To Caelynn, Jon turned over to her and approached, very gently placing his paws on her knees and sniffing her stomach.

In regards to Jezebel, though, she'd only earn a few wary glances from Jon. Not so much as to seem like he'd attack or lash out at her in any way, but evidently he'd be more alert to her actions than with anyone else.

[Morty]

[Courtyard]

It wasn't Ambrosia's first time in Vigil but it would be her first time here dressed like this.
She wasn't much for dresses and her armor was usually fine to show up to at events like this. But considering the company she would be having she figured the occasion called for something a bit more unusual.

Which is what she descends the stairs to the courtyard in. Holding an usual looking boa which she would insist only was an illusion if anyone asked. She had questioned if it would be too much of a tell of her true nature but had figured it would be fine in the nexus. Surely the other guests would wear things just as fantastical considering how easily such things seemed to access around here.

Ambrosia is approached by a rare person shorter than she is. But rather more somberly dressed. Someone she might have heard of, but never met.

"Ambrosia Ithil, I presume. Dipsnig Razortooth. Pleased to finally meet you in person."

[Shadowcaller]

[Courtyard]

The scholar was currently preoccupied with staring all too intently at the snack table when Dipsnig interrupts her battle of wills.
Instinctively she puts a piece of cheese in her mouth as if afraid that the goblin was going to steal it from her just before she returns to reality.

This really wasn't the way she should be behaving right now.

So she swallows it nearly completely whole as to avoid an awkward silence.

"...mister Razortooth." Ambrosia remarks as she clears her voice as she feels the cheese go down her throat. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, yes. Despite all the awkwardness of the job you were hired for."

[Morty]

[Courtyard]

Dipsnig's left ear quirks. That is... not something he expected to see. Is the that hungry? Is this a dragon thing (if she's indeed a dragon like Tina seemed to suggest)? Best to pretend he didn't see it.

"It was one of the stranger jobs we've taken on, but both sides of the contract have been satisfied, and that's what matters to me." Besides, the awkwardness was on Dena's shoulders. All he had to do was suffer through a few thankfully brief conversations about it. "I trust the child is doing well."

[Hraithre]

Courtyard - Sekhmet
"It's, uh, not related," Sekhmet confirms. She has no idea what Hoshiki is talking about with Sele's adopted sister. She knows Zee has other kids, but she can't imagine any of them being murderers. Zee's just too nice. She's never met Batsael or thought about one of the kids being rebellious.

[Courtyard - Sekhmet]

"All right", Hoshiki notes with a nod. Momentary silence ensues. "... you're a woman of few words, aren't you?", he starts again, "I spooked you, didn't I? My apologies. I'll go pester someone else if you want."

[Shadowcaller]

[Courtyard]

"He is." Her reply is curt yet there's a sense of pride there. "But I trust that you didn't come over to discuss my son?" She smiles. "Since I'm told you have a history with fey of sort."

[Wolfbane]

Courtyard - Magtok & Co.

"It is a pleasure to see you again, Caelynn. You're still looking lovely. You as well, Tinman." Jezebel says with a warm smile. This close to the canid, it'll likely sense she comes with no ill will, and despite the daemonic appearance she has no smell of sulfur to her at the very least. Only a light and natural perfume. "Though in your case, Magtok, replace lovely with....lets say, Distinguished." Her smile broadens, showing she's entirely at least with the jests and means nothing by them. She listens to the future plans of another entrance, and she scratches at her chin a little in thought. "If not dragon fire, it might be better to do a thunderstorm and ride down a lightningbolt." She suggests. "I would have no idea how, but if anyone could figure it out it would be you. I had ruminated over my own grand entrance, but I hadn't been able to figure out a proper song for it to sing, and if I couldn't sing, where's the fun in that?"

If Jezebel was put off by the canid being guarded around her, she shows no signs. She wasn't much of a dog person oddly enough, but she wasn't going to judge a book by its cover. "Should I find the two of you a set of chairs?" She asks, raising a brow. She wasn't going to tell Caelynn congratulations verbally just yet, just in case she was saving it for a reveal later. It was simply courteous after all. "For separate reasons, of course. And a...well.." She glances down at the canid and lifts her glass to it in greeting. "I'm not sure if you'd sit in a chair or prefer something more natural, but I'm sure there's something we could find."

[Morty]

[Courtyard - Dragons and Goblins]

Dipsnig's ears dip and he tenses up. He didn't expect this question. And any mention of the King in Rags sends an involuntary shiver of fear down his spine. It's vexing but he can't control it anymore than he can control his heartbeat.

"Not a personal one. I approach fey as impartially as I do anyone. I'm afraid it's something intrinsic to my species. Asking about someone's newborn is only polite."

[Shadowcaller]

[Courtyard - Dragons and Goblins]

"Truly? And yes. I hope you don't take my question as me taking offense. Quite the opposite, really. I just have this habit of keeping things close to my chest. Sometimes to my own detriment."

Ambrosia smiles and gives him a more formal nod. "But as I said, my son is well and I have you to thank for it." A pause as she brings the topic back around.
"But may I ask why it's so intrinsical to your people? Since in my study of dragons fey come up a lot. As I understand there's a link between them which I like to understand better. So if you're linked to fey, well, means you have something in common with dragons."

[Morty]

[Courtyard - Dragons and Goblins]

Alright, not a question Dipsnig expected to be fielding today. Ambrosia turned things around him, intentionally or otherwise.

"I have reasons to believe one of the rulers of the fey made us. Or more than one. We're mortal, but a connection has always been there, reflected in our cultures' myths. That could be why. Though maybe it's not a connection, as such. It's a place a connection used to be, before it was cut. Now it's like a scar."

Where did that come from? It's not the kind of thought he usually has but it came unbidden and seems true on some level.

[bc56]

Courtyard - Sekhmet
"I, uh, it's all right." Sekhmet definitely was spooked. "I, uh, just didn't expect... Uh, you know." A armed stranger staring at her is an uncomfortable experience and she expected the worst.

[Shadowcaller]

[Courtyard - Dragons and Goblins]

Ambrosia crosses her arms over her chest as she gives Dipsnig a thoughtful look. "So you broke free yet you still fear them? Must be this 'scar' you mentioned. Does the myths go into how you broke free from the fey?"

[Morty]

[Courtyard - Dragons and Goblins]

"They vary, obviously." Regaining his composure, Dipsnig's ears point upwards again. "When I was a whelpling, my grandfather would tell us about how we hid underground so the dread king couldn't find us, until he forgot about us. But other colonies talk about how we tricked him, stole something from him... there's a hobgoblin myth I tracked down that claims a hero won a contest of riddles against him." He's talking about "him" and not "them" now. "I haven't been able to find any reliable sources about orc myths on the subject. But our estranged bigger cousins do share the same origin."

[Shadowcaller]

[Courtyard - Dragons and Goblins]

"'Dread King'? So it's a specific fey then." Ambrosia concludes. "Your creator rather than creators. You wouldn't know 'him' under any other names? Since fey tend to have quite a few. As diverse as your stories about him I imagine."

[Arkhosia]

Courtyard - Magtok & Co.

Caelynn raises an eyebrow as Magtok simmers in social awkwardness in front of her, clearly choosing not to intervene just yet. Her husband can squirm a little bit, as a treat - it is kind of cute, honestly. She looks back to Jezebel when the woman arrives, her gaze a little puzzled before a light seems to dawn within it. "Oh! Yes, its - er, good to see you." A pleasant smile surfaces upon her lips, though there's a trace of something thrown off-guard. Sorry, it's... well, been much longer on my end than yours, I'm afraid." Not to mention the side-effect of being reminded of a younger, much more foolish era in her life. Not one of her finest years, certainly.

For all the initial awkward energy though, Caelynn's mood shifts pretty quickly once the conversation starts to get going. "Oh, please don't give him ideas! The last thing I need right now is for this goofball to give me some sort of heart attack, and he's worried enough about me as-is!" At this she gently wraps an arm around Magtok's own and bumps playfully into his side. The look that accompanies carries the warmth and sweetness of cider.

"It erm, would be nice to sit down though. Maybe we can catch up a bit?" The catgirl looks Jezebel up and down right back, recognizing just how much the other woman may have changed in the years since they last crossed paths. She does jump a little when Jon attempts to investigate, turning to politely redirect him from sniffing and offering an awkward smile. "Um - sorry, that's - It's nice to meet you, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable with greetings like that just yet."

[Morty]

[Courtyard - Dragons and Goblins]

"It's possible there are different entities remembered under the same or similar names. The one my grandfather used was the King in Rags." Dipsnig's ears dip as he looks Ambrosia in the eye, gauging her reaction. "Which became rather unsettlingly relevant lately."

[Shadowcaller]

[Courtyard - Dragons and Goblins]

Her reaction can best be described as controlled. Like she's struggling to maintain eye contact with Dipsnig as her thoughts seem to drift just for a second. Followed by a longer pause as she locks gaze with the goblin again. "A 'King' of rags?" She just nearly repeats the name, simply giving herself a moment to collect her thoughts. "I've spoken to someone claiming a title like that. Though it seems pretty far fetched that such a by-gone myth could have emerged here. In both a different time and place."

[Morty]

[Courtyard - Dragons and Goblins]

Dipsnig feels a small tinge of satisfaction to have her on the back foot. But he doesn't let it show.

"If it sounds far-fetched to you, imagine what I thought when a creature I'd remembered from my grandfather's stories, may the abyss be quiet for him, became a problem. I used to assume he just spun those tales as a means of controlling a nursery full of small goblins. I would rather avoid talking to him myself."