Hell Bend

Locales found within the main city centers; primarily Inside, Riverside, and Skyside.
Ironsmith
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Re: Hell Bend

Post by Ironsmith »

[Outside]

With the other items left untaken, Frigate will find himself with precious little else to do, unless he decides to join one of his companions or look around for some other heretofore unseen lead.


[Upstairs]

While there's a lightswitch to be had, flicking it doesn't seem to do anything; there's a brief, angry buzz of a lightbulb trying and failing miserably to turn on, and of course, no light. At least not until Tina pulls out her spear... and finds that, despite the weapon's glow, the room is somehow still dark, just a little bit less so in her immediate vicinity.

And that, of course, it when the door closes behind her, the lock clicking into place on its own.

"I didn't think I recognized you." A cold, warbling voice croons as the walls around the interior of the room skitter around her. "It's not often new meat simply wanders into my casino. Particularly not your kind. Have you come to exorcise me, little cherub? Banish me from Hell Bend, for the sake of its citizens and all of Riverside? Or... hn... are you here on business?"
Who're you? ...Don't matter.

Want some rye? Course ya do!

Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.

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Thursday Violist
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Re: Hell Bend

Post by Thursday Violist »

Ironsmith wrote: Feb 16, 2023 4:44 pm [Intact House]

Tellingly, the moment Zophiel's hand comes away from his eye, the room goes dark. Incredibly dark. As in, he's more or less effectively blind in that one eye.

Though after he's had some time to adjust, Zophiel may realize that the pervasive darkness in the room has a source; the corners are marginally better lit than the rest of the room, and looking around will lead him to the conclusion that something on the floor is radiating out this oppressive darkness, functioning almost exactly like the inversion of a typical light source.

Apart from that, Zophiel will have his gaze drawn to the little pinpricks of light on the vanity that indicate some of the items there are enchanted. There's a ring there that seems to have a soul in it, though it's probably not one Zophiel wants to touch. There are a couple of children's toys that appear to be animate in some way, but they won't respond if Zophiel tries to get their attention. But most importantly, there are a pair of flower-shaped ear studs that appear to be bound to a soul far away from here, the remnants of some form of divination magic... and something Zophiel will recognize from the picture of his quarry.

Searching through the wardrobe won't turn up any receipts, but he will find another item of hers; her shirt and jeans, the same ones the woman is wearing in the photo, still saturated with the smells of detergent and fabric softener. He'll also find her shoes under the bed, alongside a collection of sneakers, boots, and sandals, all surprisingly clean; Mallory must take good care of them.

Still, no direct leads on where the woman could have gone. At least, none that are as obvious as a convenient scrap of paper with a forwarding address.

[Intact House]

The Paladin Zophiel is, of course, a little worried when he suddenly can't see out of that eye - he's worried that he somehow lost the ability to make himself see magic and accidentally just blinded himself!

But luckily it didn't happen, and there's just some thing that's causing this magical-darkness. He notices the things on the vanity. It's rather fortunate, then, that they weren't on the floor near the source of the darkness, otherwise they likely would've been hard to notice.

He reaches out to grab the first he sees - the ring - to get a better look at it, but then suddenly gets the feeling his time would be better spent on not that. After all - the Paladin checks the picture and description again - it's probably just a ring of Mallory's.
The ear-studs, however! Since he just checked, once he notices them he immediately steps up to them. He picks up the ear studs and pulls them closer, to study them more. Divination magic, good to see.
...
...
...
Well, he didn't really find what he was hoping for by doing that magic trick to see magic, but. Well, he did find something.

He places the earrings in a small back, to not lose them and to remind himself to look at them more closely later. Maybe to see if he can trace back this 'far away soul bind' thing it has. Not right now, probably after he asks about them and leaves, first.
Zophiel keeps on looking, and finds the clothes.
This does bring up more questions.
He doesn't head straight back down to ask about them, though. He'll keep on looking, at least until Mallory finishes cooking. Even if there's nothing left to find, he keeps on looking just to be thorough.
Ironsmith
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Re: Hell Bend

Post by Ironsmith »

[Intact House]

The vanity and wardrobe, Zophiel can check and double-check, but there won't be anything new to find. The situation under the bed will remain constant, as well, though in the interest of being thorough, the paladin will probably end up throwing the blankets back up onto the bed...

And that's when he'll find it. A large, circular shape, carved into the floorboards, the source of the darkness filling the room. It appears to be some sort of hexagram, almost, meticulously cut with a small, sharp instrument of some sort, like a straight razor or a box cutter. It's been here for quite a while, as the lines are packed in with dust and lint, and the edges are worn down from constant foot traffic.

Perhaps not the least foreboding thing one could find in a demon's house.

Speaking of which, a few minutes later, Mallory is standing at the door, holding a saucer with a prominent bowl of hot tomato soup, surrounded by saltine crackers. "Hey there, beefcake." She greets, giving him a licentious grin. "See anything you like? I know I do..."
Who're you? ...Don't matter.

Want some rye? Course ya do!

Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
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Gold
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Re: Hell Bend

Post by Gold »

[Blackjack]

"Well, like I said. I'm outgoing, but I'm not the type of girl who would do that for anyone who asked," Solenoid calmly explains. "And besides, our little game is still underway. If you win, I'm all yours anyways," she continues, placing her hands between her thighs and winking at the succubus.

Solenoid watches as the dealer rakes in her bet."Shows what I get for playing on a hunch," she mutters, shrugging lightly and preparing about half of her remaining chips to bid for the next round.
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FracturedSimulacrum
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Re: Hell Bend

Post by FracturedSimulacrum »

[Frigate and Asera - Standing on the Corner Watching All the Girls Go By]

Presumably, the "good" denizens of Hell Bend are content to leave Frigate to his own devices. As ever, eye candy flounces about - gaudy, tawdry, and comparatively insipid. This lot of demons seems wont to leave little to the imagination: so little, in fact, that Asera could hardly be faulted for fixating on the enigmatic bronze behemoth standing motionless on the corner rather than the lustful, greedy, envious, and/or luckless reprobates vying in vain to attract her gilded gaze and earn her patronage.

Perhaps Frigate is a genuine red-blooded romantic pining for his ladylove. Maybe he's a street performer with enough gumption to muscle in on territory controlled by demonic mimes (he could easily pass for a living statue, Asera opines). Could he be a Forrest Gump type primed to regale passersby with his life story as he waits for his ward to return from school? He could be any of these things, and he would still be far more interesting to Asera than the trollops traipsing across this moonlit street.

Like a ravening wolf, Asera streaks toward her quarry. Heavy footfalls upon cracked pavement and the indignant yelps of the humanoids and fiends she shunts aside herald the magenta maniac's approach. As she descends upon upon the woe-begotten warforged, the silver studs and chains adorning her clothing scintillate bewitchingly. Sparing not a moment or even a thought for social etiquette, Asera attempts to mercilessly jam her index fingers into Frigate's side.

You're driving me crazy, standing here all mysterious-like! I've been observing you for at least a minute, maybe, and I'm not sure I've even seen you blink!

Relentlessly, Asera continues, circling Frigate in a shark-like fashion. As she parades in front of him (likely obstructing his view of the casino), Frigate might take note of her striking manner of dress and Junoesque features.

Unlike several of the demons Frigate has encountered within this unhallowed district, Asera wears more than an apron and a salesman’s smile, and while her style is a touch risqué, he might be well-acquainted with it given his work history. From her provocative ankle-high, lace-up boots to the LED mask that covers her mouth and nose, Asera is a vision plucked from the centerfold of a street punk magazine infused with a sprig of Set It Off and a jot of Jawbreaker. While her torn, sleeveless hoodie diverges from her theme (unless Astaroth is the frontman of some diabolical band), she more than atones for her characteristic unfaithfulness with a studded black denim kutte ornamented with band patches of every shape and size, studded leather gauntlets, distressed black socks with decals of pentacles over her knees, and black, skintight denim daisy dukes ornamented with even more band patches and further secured by a bullet belt. A set of silver pauldrons resembling human skulls add a unique flair to her style, complementing her unsullied magenta skin and scarlet hair while simultaneously contrasting her black nails and black, ram-like horns. As Asera leans in to study Frigate's face, her solid gold eyes glow faintly in the shadows. The golden light reflects off of a polished metal surface, framing her altogether winsome features. Her tail flicks to and fro behind her in movements more suggestive of a domesticated feline than a fiend.

Unless Frigate vocally or physically protests this invasion of his personal space, Asera attempts to remain in unnervingly close proximity to him. When she resumes her speech, bright, polychromatic light dances across her mask, replicating the waveform of her Infernal lilt.

What errand have you undertaken, pray tell, that requires you to monitor this fine establishment? There are far more intriguing venues in this town, and you -

Asera pauses, holding up a solitary finger as she gives Frigate a once over.

- may actually be able to enjoy those venues because I somehow doubt they would sling stones at you...

Asera winces at the memory.

Though they must have had a lot of practice to develop such expertise in slinging stones, so I would recommend that you take great care regardless.
Last edited by FracturedSimulacrum on Mar 06, 2023 7:12 am, edited 3 times in total.
Ironsmith
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Re: Hell Bend

Post by Ironsmith »

Gold wrote: Mar 03, 2023 11:29 pm [Blackjack]

"Well, like I said. I'm outgoing, but I'm not the type of girl who would do that for anyone who asked," Solenoid calmly explains. "And besides, our little game is still underway. If you win, I'm all yours anyways," she continues, placing her hands between her thighs and winking at the succubus.

Solenoid watches as the dealer rakes in her bet."Shows what I get for playing on a hunch," she mutters, shrugging lightly and preparing about half of her remaining chips to bid for the next round.
[Blackjack]

"True, there is that." The succubus nods with a coy smirk, matching Solenoid's wager. "But one could hardly blame me for getting impatient, given the company."

"...Okay, you know what?" The succubus dealer pushes both piles of chips back toward their respective owners. "You two need to get a room. Seriously. I work down here to get away from this crap."

"...I thought it was against casino policy to-"

"Yeah, well, if Crimp expects me to put up with horny idiots all night for peanuts, he can kiss my ass." The succubus sneers, pulling off her gloves while continuing to maintain eye contact with them. "Now you two can either keep salivating over the taste of each other's privates, or you can play blackjack. What's it gonna be?"

The fancy succubus inclines her head toward Solenoid, wanting to see how she responds before answering for herself.
Who're you? ...Don't matter.

Want some rye? Course ya do!

Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
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Earl of Purple
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Re: Hell Bend

Post by Earl of Purple »

Frigate and Asera - Standing on the Corner Watching All the Girls Go By

Asera may regret jabbing Frigate's side; the bronze plate of his flank has less give in it than a standard human finger. His build is entirely that- a build, made of bronze and granite, with an amethyst glow within the cylindrical greathelm making up his head. He hasn't blinked, assuming the glow is his eyes; at no point has it faltered or dipped to suggest a closure within.

He turns to face her, head swivelling directly on his shoulders with no neck allowing it to bend, apparently unconcerned of her proximity to his personal space. "I be awaitin' me friends. They have business within." So, technically, does Frigate, but he discovered the floor wasn't sturdy enough for his weight and the only way out of the basement was to leave the building and the bouncer was not inclined to let him in without paying the entrance fee again. "I be unafraid o' stones. Got hit by a cannon once; that hurt. Stones don't." He's been hit by a cannon several times, but only once by a cannonball. He's not always aware of being hit by grapeshot, and when he is aware can't always tell it wasn't a musketball bouncing off his magical hide.
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Thursday Violist
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Re: Hell Bend

Post by Thursday Violist »

Ironsmith wrote: Mar 03, 2023 4:29 pm [Intact House]

The vanity and wardrobe, Zophiel can check and double-check, but there won't be anything new to find. The situation under the bed will remain constant, as well, though in the interest of being thorough, the paladin will probably end up throwing the blankets back up onto the bed...

And that's when he'll find it. A large, circular shape, carved into the floorboards, the source of the darkness filling the room. It appears to be some sort of hexagram, almost, meticulously cut with a small, sharp instrument of some sort, like a straight razor or a box cutter. It's been here for quite a while, as the lines are packed in with dust and lint, and the edges are worn down from constant foot traffic.

Perhaps not the least foreboding thing one could find in a demon's house.

Speaking of which, a few minutes later, Mallory is standing at the door, holding a saucer with a prominent bowl of hot tomato soup, surrounded by saltine crackers. "Hey there, beefcake." She greets, giving him a licentious grin. "See anything you like? I know I do..."
[Intact House]

While Zophiel is a little disappointed that he was unable to find anything else major, he's pretty sure he could maybe track using the earrings back to whatever it's linked to (...well, not in here. The symbol carved into the ground is way too overpowering at the moment). Or that some questionings could give a direction to go. Or...
...

"Hey there, Mallory," the paladin replies.

He spends a few moments, thinking. What would be the appropriate level of risk here? The hexagram probably isn't relevant, but he needs to ask to find out. The state of the clothes probably isn't relevant, but it could be a decent place to start a question. The earring is definitely something he has to ask about, but what would be the best way to make her amenable to answering? Obviously, Mallory is giving a flirtatious air, so mirroring her and responding with that would be the best way to get an answer. However, she's also a succubus, which just gives that a certain level of risk. And, although he's aware of several different types of succubae, he's not aware what type she is, nor is sure what specific risks come with her type.

So, an uncertain amount of risk, versus the chance on missing out on a key piece of information.

Zophiel turns towards her, deciding to go with 'mirroring' and matching her energy. (...having absorbed some ambient energy to turn his eye black and make it see magic probably influenced his decision in some way). "Yes, I do," he says. He looks down at her saucer. "The soup smells good, too," he says.

The paladin decides to get one of the questions out of the way immediately: he glances down at the floor, and gestures at, and traces out, some of the shape carved into the floor. He gestures at it using his foot. "This magic circle on the floor is making it a little hard to look around, though. Do you know what it's for? Is it yours?" he asks.
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Re: Hell Bend

Post by Ironsmith »

[Intact House]

"Hee~! Thank you!" Mallory beams, holding out the soup to Zophiel...

...who might notice something wrong with the succubus's face. It's marked in a way that wasn't obvious before; there appears to be elaborate tattooing on her left eye and around her lips, both imitating the style of the markings in the circle; in fact, both appear to be partial transcriptions of the hexagram, copying the patterns near the bottom and upper-left nodes. And, in the context of Zophiel's magic-detecting eye, at least, her movements appear... off. Like she's not her own person, but rather, a doll being propped up by invisible hands; he can almost see them dragging her limbs around, tilting her face so her dead-eyed gaze meets his, and stretching that cold, lifeless smile across her lips.

Of course, this doesn't seem to be much of a shock to her, and she goes right on talking. "Oh, this thing?" She stops and sets the soup aside (which, Zophiel will note through his eye, contains no magical additives or ingredients, unlike Mallory herself) before kneeling to touch her fingertips to the outer edges of the circle. "Yes, it's mine. I had it carved when I first arrived here in Hell Bend. I have friends back in the Abyss, so... every now and then, I use the circle to give them a call, of sorts." She shrugs and puts a hand to her chest, smiling up at him. "There aren't a lot of cell towers down there, you know."

Her smile fades slightly as she looks up at him, crossing her arms over her chest. "...Is... everything all right?" She asks, a little hesitantly. "I'm not making you uncomfortable, am I?"
Who're you? ...Don't matter.

Want some rye? Course ya do!

Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
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Gold
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Re: Hell Bend

Post by Gold »

[Blackjack]

Solenoid removes her hands from between her thighs and chuckles breezily, looking sideways at the dealer. "Yeah, you're right. That was a bit much, huh?"

Solenoid glances back at the fancy succubus, then turns to face the dealer properly. "Well, my engineer didn't build no quitter, so I'll keep playing," she says, calmly.
Last edited by Gold on Mar 13, 2023 8:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Hell Bend

Post by Thursday Violist »

[Intact House]

!

Her face.
Zophiel, of course, notices it.
He averts his eyes.
Since it appears this new development has some sort of tie to this magic hexagram...the paladin is uncertain whether this is something that was happening from earlier, or if it's solely a consequence of being here, so close to the magic hexagram.
Well, regardless of it, he's one hundred percent certain that with her cooperation he could fix whatever magic-problem this is...
...Or. Well, rather, if it was two years ago, he would be completely certain. Nowadays, maybe...ninety percent certain? Of course, if she resists then that would make it ridiculously difficult to do...ugh, ever since he seemed to have lost much of his power, it feels like it'd even take a ridiculous amount of time trying to figure out what, exactly, the hexagram and tattoo do, exactly. He can definitely see magic, but he's also completely lost that intuitive understanding of how it works.

Zophiel sits on the bed, near the kneeling woman.

He shakes his head. "No, I've recently had a lot of experience with things similar to this." Zophiel gestures at the ground in the direction of the magic circle.

He thinks where to go next. Maybe soup. He gets up and reaches for it, then goes back to sit again. Ah, but first, he grabs the tiny bag where he placed the earrings. "Actually, though, I found the clothes that she came here wearing, so I was wondering if you could remember if any clothes of yours are missing, so I'll know what she's wearing." He pauses, thinks, remembers something, and adds: "Sadly, it was recently cleaned, otherwise I would call my forest shark to come here and then I could track where she went next by scent. Unless you have something else of hers that I could use...?"
Now, for the most helpful and important clue. The paladin holds up the bag with the earrings in them.
He places the bag on the knee, and grabs the spoon to eat the soup.
Rather than plainly state he intends on first seeing if he can follow the studs' binding-divination trail, he says, "My daughters are amazing at both magic and tracking. Far better at it than me. In fact, not that long ago, one of them even made a portal into some abyssal place and we found someone lost and trapped there. I found the earrings the missing woman had, and there's definitely some kind of magic on it that ties it directly back to its source." He uses the spoon to eat some of the soup. "So, at most, I'll definitely be able to find the person who did the magic on the earrings, in just a few days."
See?
That's great news!
Sadly, finding the source of the magic and the distant person it's soul-bound to isn't quite the same as finding the missing woman.
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Re: Hell Bend

Post by Ironsmith »

Gold wrote: Mar 08, 2023 8:47 pm [Blackjack]

Solenoid removes her hands from between her hands and chuckles breezily, looking sideways at the dealer. "Yeah, you're right. That was a bit much, huh?"

Solenoid glances back at the fancy succubus, then turns to face the dealer properly. "Well, my engineer didn't build no quitter, so I'll keep playing," she says, calmly.
[Blackjack]

"All right, then." The dealer grumbles, pulling her gloves back on. "And that's the last I want to hear any dirty talk from either of you. I'm not dealing with your bullshit any more tonight."

The following rounds go by surprisingly quickly. The dealer seems to be insistent on moving through them as quickly as she can, and the fancy succubus doesn't seem quite so talkative now that their cipher is gone. But, after a few rounds of pretense, she giggles and throws up her hands. Solenoid got her in the first round, but she earned her money back on the next hand, and Solenoid won the one after that.

"Goodness, is beating you going to take all night?" The fancy succubus hides her laughter behind a gloved hand. "I give up. Consider me yours for the night, Miss Solenoid."

"Yeah, yeah, the Havnaught's just up the street, get out of here." The dealer grumbles as she collects cards.
Thursday Violist wrote: Mar 09, 2023 8:07 pm [Intact House]

!

Her face.
Zophiel, of course, notices it.
He averts his eyes.
Since it appears this new development has some sort of tie to this magic hexagram...the paladin is uncertain whether this is something that was happening from earlier, or if it's solely a consequence of being here, so close to the magic hexagram.
Well, regardless of it, he's one hundred percent certain that with her cooperation he could fix whatever magic-problem this is...
...Or. Well, rather, if it was two years ago, he would be completely certain. Nowadays, maybe...ninety percent certain? Of course, if she resists then that would make it ridiculously difficult to do...ugh, ever since he seemed to have lost much of his power, it feels like it'd even take a ridiculous amount of time trying to figure out what, exactly, the hexagram and tattoo do, exactly. He can definitely see magic, but he's also completely lost that intuitive understanding of how it works.

Zophiel sits on the bed, near the kneeling woman.

He shakes his head. "No, I've recently had a lot of experience with things similar to this." Zophiel gestures at the ground in the direction of the magic circle.

He thinks where to go next. Maybe soup. He gets up and reaches for it, then goes back to sit again. Ah, but first, he grabs the tiny bag where he placed the earrings. "Actually, though, I found the clothes that she came here wearing, so I was wondering if you could remember if any clothes of yours are missing, so I'll know what she's wearing." He pauses, thinks, remembers something, and adds: "Sadly, it was recently cleaned, otherwise I would call my forest shark to come here and then I could track where she went next by scent. Unless you have something else of hers that I could use...?"
Now, for the most helpful and important clue. The paladin holds up the bag with the earrings in them.
He places the bag on the knee, and grabs the spoon to eat the soup.
Rather than plainly state he intends on first seeing if he can follow the studs' binding-divination trail, he says, "My daughters are amazing at both magic and tracking. Far better at it than me. In fact, not that long ago, one of them even made a portal into some abyssal place and we found someone lost and trapped there. I found the earrings the missing woman had, and there's definitely some kind of magic on it that ties it directly back to its source." He uses the spoon to eat some of the soup. "So, at most, I'll definitely be able to find the person who did the magic on the earrings, in just a few days."
See?
That's great news!
Sadly, finding the source of the magic and the distant person it's soul-bound to isn't quite the same as finding the missing woman.
[Intact House]

"That's wonderful!" Mallory grins, the smile not quite reaching her eyes if Zophiel keeps watching her through his magic eye. "You have daughters? Such gifted daughters, at that? I'll bet they retained their dad's good looks, too." She says in a transparently flirty tone, her fingers lightly flitting across his shoulders. "I'll fix you up something to take back with you for them. I'll be right back; don't go anywhere!"

As the succubus turns to leave the room, Zophiel might notice she seems to be dragging her feet, looking over her shoulder back at him, her spade-tipped tail flicking back and forth impatiently. She looks more like she wants him to think of her as leaving the room than like she's in any hurry to get back to the kitchen.

As for the soup... Zophiel will find that it is, for the most part, a really good soup; savory, lightly acidic, with small chunks of tender little vegetables in it. But he'll also notice, after the first few spoonfuls, a bitter aftertaste, like he'd upended a bottle of medicine into his mouth and chased it down with the soup.
Who're you? ...Don't matter.

Want some rye? Course ya do!

Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
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Re: Hell Bend

Post by FracturedSimulacrum »

[Frigate and Asera - Brother, You Don't Know A Nicer Occupation]

Reacting somewhat erratically to Frigate's clinical declarations, Asera abruptly claps a gauntleted hand over her mask and snickers. Gouts of sanguine radiance erupt from the gaps between her splayed fingers as her mask slips, revealing an impish grin beset by wicked fangs. Her tone is wry and dulcet as she pries into Frigate's relationship with his so-called friends.

So you're merely a hound tethered to a pole outside of a candy shop. Well, are you a loyal hound or do you seek a new master?

The Sinner lingers before Frigate, her face mere inches from his own. Her hungry eyes scour his amethyst glow for any scrap of emotion - shock, anger, melancholy - any crack in his stony facade.

Truly, I cannot discern whether you are a person, a pet, or a tool.

With that decidedly unflattering observation, The Sinner withdraws, taking one big step away from Frigate while concurrently adjusting the fit of her mask with her right hand. "Idly" or, to an insightful onlooker, with feigned purposelessness, she slides the palm of her left hand over one of her studded gauntlets. If Frigate is particularly perceptive, he might spy the gossamer threads trailing the fingers of her left hand as she lowers it to her side. While Asera does not, apparently, contrive to intimidate Frigate through this action, she has subtly wound metallic razor floss around the fingers of her left hand.

Whatever you are, you seem pain-averse.

Asera folds her arms, clicks the heels of her boots together, and very deliberately turns her back to the casino. More specifically, she ensures that her torso obscures her forearms from the bouncer's view. Now, the silvery razor wire wound around her left hand visibly develops. Whatever uncanny smile might persist beneath her mask no longer reaches her eyes. As for the LED mask itself, it pulses with amber light that bubbles like champagne.

That, my cold-worked acquaintance, is a very limiting point of view. Pain can be exquisite, I assure you. My grievance with scruffy knaves who dare to lob stones at me is that it takes time to dispose of them properly - time enough that I tend to easily miss my appointments at more exclusive venues.

Asera's general demeanor is casual, open, and unabashed as she talks about "disposing" of these "scruffy knaves," whatever that might entail. Though she is distressed by the outcome of this incident, she speaks of whatever unpleasantness she foisted on those who disrespected her with cold dispassion. To her, it was a chore, not something she reveled in, for the sods were incapable of challenging her in a meaningful way.

I trust that you handled those who shot cannonballs at you in a similar fashion, and I can't help but wonder what you would do if someone threatened to take your friends away.

Asera steps to the side, offering Frigate an unobstructed view of the casino.

What has become of your friends, I wonder, in that house of vice? Are they marooned in a sea of dinner suits and décolletés? Will they ever return to you, and if they return, will they be the same friends that you knew?

Asera gives Frigate an instant to drink it all in. Then, she jabs her right thumb over her right pauldron at the front entrance of the casino.

Don't let them decide for you; they'll screw you over every time. Make your own luck.
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Re: Hell Bend

Post by Earl of Purple »

Frigate and Asera

"I be not ye're hound, nor their hound. I be a marine, not a dog. Or a lubber." Frigate turns back to the casino, trying his hardest to ignore Asera though she makes it hard.

"Nay. Th' cannonball knocked me o'erboard, an' I didn't catch th' name o' th' other ship." So Frigate doesn't know who fired the cannon, or how to find them afterwards to make them pay. He wasn't even able to find the ship he started on, after getting knocked off it. "Not down t' me t' punish 'em if they do go astray. I be not ye're hound, an' not their hound. I be here on be'arf o' MERC. An' we be picked f'r this mission very carefully. Please leave I alone."
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Re: Hell Bend

Post by Gold »

[Blackjack]

"Hell yeah," Solenoid says, smiling triumphantly as she collects her winnings. She may be here strictly on business, but that was pretty fun.

Speaking of business, she gets up from her seat and moves closer to the fancy succubus, saying "Well then... I believe we were discussing the secret to meeting up with the big kahunas around here?"
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Re: Hell Bend

Post by FracturedSimulacrum »

[Frigate and Asera - Matter Of Fact, Neither Do I]

No sooner does Frigate announce that he is affiliated with MERC than Asera excitedly snaps her fingers and bounces up and down on the balls of her feet (which no doubt attracts some eager ogling, given the locale). She kindly refrains from cutting Frigate off on the spot, but it is very, very evident that she does not intend to acquiesce to Frigate's request. In fact, Frigate inadvertently sabotaged any hope he had of immediately divesting himself of Asera's company when he divulged his status as a MERCenary on an official mission.

Now, Asera's speech flows with breathless rapidity as her volume builds in crescendo, and underneath her mask, she wears a predatory grin.

You could have led with the whole "I am one of Ol' Dippy's hounds or people or something" bit, y'know. Word on the street is that you and yours are attempting to forcibly displace me and mine.

Like a virulent disease, Asera's fell grin spreads to her extremities. Brazenly, she pivots on her heels and motions to the nameless casino.

Moreover, you are willing to prop up the very tyrants whose manifold failings - coupled with their wanton abuse of their own people - have created the situation you seek to combat. Can't you see that MERC - or NO or whatever you care to call yourselves today - is proudly displaying its moral bankruptcy through this grossly unethical act? To watch you ruin your already checkered reputation would be quite a treat -

But -


Asera's left fist shoots skyward as she emphatically gestures for somebody, something, nobody, and nothing to halt.

My selfishness demands that I offer you an alternative to consigning these people to lives of ceaseless deprivations and depravities. If you were to empower them - to grant them the means to become productive members of society and defend themselves from future exploitation - we would all benefit.

As a proper devil, I can offer you my aid in this effort. What's more, my fee is something that is a natural consequence of earnestly pursuing such work: clout.

Thus, I extend to you, and by extension MERC, a limited-time offer -


Asera points a finger at the casino.

Will you let them continue to screw you -

Or -


Asera points a thumb at herself.

Will you risk cooperating with me?
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Re: Hell Bend

Post by Earl of Purple »

Frigate & Asera- Young And Sweet

"We got a place f'r ye t' go, one where ye ain't in th' midst of a town what don't like ye or want ye 'ere. A place ye can go an' belong an' settle an' be yerselves wi'out worryin' about yer neighbours. An' we be tryin' t' convince ye t' go willing-like, we won't use force." The unspoken 'yet' is hanging in the air, however. Frigate knows if they demons can't be convinced to leave, they'll be forced out. He also thinks he's already offering the demons a chance to become productive members of society, by giving them a place they can call their own and create their own society however that may look. Frigate has experienced people trying to force new social and cultural rules on others against their traditional society and cultural practices; it has not gone well.
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Re: Hell Bend

Post by Murkus »

Ironsmith wrote: Mar 01, 2023 9:50 am [Upstairs]

While there's a lightswitch to be had, flicking it doesn't seem to do anything; there's a brief, angry buzz of a lightbulb trying and failing miserably to turn on, and of course, no light. At least not until Tina pulls out her spear... and finds that, despite the weapon's glow, the room is somehow still dark, just a little bit less so in her immediate vicinity.

And that, of course, it when the door closes behind her, the lock clicking into place on its own.

"I didn't think I recognized you." A cold, warbling voice croons as the walls around the interior of the room skitter around her. "It's not often new meat simply wanders into my casino. Particularly not your kind. Have you come to exorcise me, little cherub? Banish me from Hell Bend, for the sake of its citizens and all of Riverside? Or... hn... are you here on business?"
[Upstairs]

"Column A, column B," Fettina quips, eyes trying and failing to follow the voice around the room. Okay, that's creepy. She's not immune to creepy. Admittedly she's fairly confident in her ability to survive assaults both supernatural and physical, but this could be something new. "I understand you have some sway in how things are run around here, is that right?" She pauses. "Oh. I'm Tina, by the way. What's up?"
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Re: Hell Bend

Post by Ironsmith »

Gold wrote: Mar 13, 2023 9:43 pm [Blackjack]

"Hell yeah," Solenoid says, smiling triumphantly as she collects her winnings. She may be here strictly on business, but that was pretty fun.

Speaking of business, she gets up from her seat and moves closer to the fancy succubus, saying "Well then... I believe we were discussing the secret to meeting up with the big kahunas around here?"
[Blackjack]

"In good time." The fancy succubus whispers. "...I'll be having a little trip to the ladies' to... freshen up. Of course, you're welcome to join me."

The dealer lets out a disgusted grunt and rolls her eyes. "Beat it, you two. If I hear one more innuendo, I swear to god..."

Can they do that? They are demons, it seems like the sort of thing they really shouldn't be able to do.

The fancy succubus pushes back her chair and turns to go toward the lavatory (such as it is), flicking her tail over Solenoid's nose teasingly as she walks away.
► If Solenoid takes the hint...
Murkus wrote: Mar 19, 2023 12:12 am
[Upstairs]

"Column A, column B," Fettina quips, eyes trying and failing to follow the voice around the room. Okay, that's creepy. She's not immune to creepy. Admittedly she's fairly confident in her ability to survive assaults both supernatural and physical, but this could be something new. "I understand you have some sway in how things are run around here, is that right?" She pauses. "Oh. I'm Tina, by the way. What's up?"
[Upstairs]

"Charmed." The omnipresent voice chortles, clearly amused by the calmness of Tina's speech. "And... yes, one could say that. All of the high-ranking demons... or, perhaps it would be fairer to say, all of the ambitious demons... find their way into my casino, at one point or another. From there it's quite trivial to get what I want from them."

The skittering sounds continue as a massive, vaguely serpentine shape moves through the shadows, just out of sight. To Tina's left, a pair of bright blue lights come on, shining from a set of glassy bulbs with streaks of white running through their center. They almost seem to resemble eyes... but they're not in the right place to be, nor are they unique, as shortly thereafter, more of them will appear along the ceiling and other walls, somehow still leaving the room drowned in darkness despite all the extra illumination that logically must be there.

"...Perhaps I was mistaken. There does seem to be something familiar about you after all. Tina..." Chitters a set of what could be mouthparts underneath the first set of eye-lights. "Oh, yes, the fun my sisters would have with you. I sense such desire in you, little cherub. Such overwhelming hunger. You want for much in this life, do you not?"

"No..." The voice continues, from another direction. "Not much. Many. Every time you turn, you see something else to add to your collection. Or is it... someone?" The voice clacks as the lights shuffle along the walls. "Do you fear to be alone, little cherub?"
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Re: Hell Bend

Post by FracturedSimulacrum »

[Frigate and Asera - An Overclocked Overlord]

At Frigate's dubious claim that he and his ilk "be tryin' t' convince ye t' go willing-like," Asera convulses with laughter. Cartoonishly, she clutches her abdomen, crumples to the pavement, and kicks at the empty air with her polished, ankle-high boots. Her outburst is so comical, in fact, that Frigate might (conceivably) fail to note how the earth beneath his feet has begun to tremble. The epicenter of an earthquake that clocks in at a magnitude of 2.2 on the Richter scale rolls on the ground in front of him, matching the threat Frigate implied blow-for-blow.

After a minute or so, Asera's cachinnations subside. Her chest ceases to rise and fall and the land follows suit. In repose, she gazes up at the sky while doing her darnedest to compose herself.

It's funny, isn't it, that a devil motivated purely by self-interest would treat these so-called demons better than a city populated by mortals. Seriously, how can you fault these people for taking up residence in your city when you've already invited such evil into your hearts? The majority of them aren't even that bad; in my book, they're sorry excuses for demons or devils or whatever.

Asera sits up and crosses her legs. Currently, her mask displays a bar graph titled, "Marketing Acumen." There are two bars: one labeled "M" and one labeled "A." "M" is at -5% while "A" is at 66.67%.

But I get it. You don't want to cooperate with me. You are searching for the sort of solution you'd find on a MagDonald's menu: cheap, quick, greasy, and overflowing with all of the little details you think you're better off actively ignoring.

And when those details adversely affect your health and wellbeing, you'll complain and pity yourself and blame everyone else.


Asera rises to her feet and dusts herself off.

Go ahead. I won't stop you. You're more likely to make an enemy of me, but you are free to make that choice.

Asera's expression is unreadable as she takes several paces down the street. Then, she pauses, and without even turning to look at Frigate over her shoulder, she offers one more exchange.

It occurs to me that, in my excitement, I neglected to introduce myself. You can call me Asera. It isn't the name Clarissa gave me, of course, but it will suffice for the time being.

With those parting words, Asera struts off down the street (unless Frigate intervenes).
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Re: Hell Bend

Post by Earl of Purple »

Frigate and Asera: To the Sound of the Monstrous Clock

Frigate's used to feeling the ground move beneath him. He's adapted himself to compensate for it to stay upright. This isn't something he's had much cause for, on dry land, yet it does mean he notices the earthquake even if nothing falls down (except, perhaps, a few more blocks in the door Frigate made in the side of the casino). "I don't be havin' a heart. Nor do I be livin' 'ere. I got a cabin in Merc, it be good 'nuff fer I."

The Magdonald's simile flies over Frigate's head, as he has no need to eat, though fortunately it's then explained for him. "We be tryin' our best wi' th' information we been given. It not be perfect, but it be what it be."

Not that it overly matters; Asera's now left, and Frigate (unlike Earl) recognises neither name he's been given.
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Re: Hell Bend

Post by Murkus »

[Upstairs]

"Sure, I guess. Who doesn't?" Fettina asks. She shivers. The theatrics worry her less than do the spot-on assessments of her inner spirit.

"Listen, buddy," Fettina says, sounding more confident than she really feels, "Maybe you've got some idea what I'm doing here already. What's it gonna take to get the Hell-patrol out of this area? We've got a whole empty town where y'all can go to. It's not like I was seeing a lot of regular Riverside types on the street outside anyway, so tourism's not really gonna change."
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Re: Hell Bend

Post by Ironsmith »

[Upstairs]

Cold laughter echoes around the room the moment Tina finishes speaking, the various eye-lights squinting as what have to be mouths nearby gurgle and chortle in amusement. "Oh, my sweet little cherub... forgive me, but I do not often find amusement in such trivia. The demons have served their purpose. Even now, my brothers and sisters swarm into Hell Bend and extend their reach further into this world. It hardly matters where they are beyond that; they're here."

"Your superiors will not want them to be moved elsewhere." The voice continues as the walls shift around Tina. "Oh, certainly, it's what they'll say they want. They might even believe it. But relocating the denizens of Hell Bend from their homes here to home in that little village only serves to spread the problem. This neighborhood would be repopulated within a month, and instead of one nest of demons, you would be left with two. Maybe more, if some splinter off between the village and here."

"But that's hardly your problem, now, is it?" The presence on the walls slithers around, fixing several of those eye lights on Tina's face. "You could care less about Hell Bend. This is simply a job for you, is it not? A task between your leaving your home in the morning and your returning to your loves at night. Oh, don't mistake me, there's not one ounce of shame in it; you know what it is you want, and you would make sacrifices of time and energy to get it. It's human nature, really, isn't it? Or angel nature, as it were." Chittering limbs flash back and forth in the dark as the creature regards Tina critically. "And if you fail today, you lose none of that. Your superiors do not expect you to succeed; they sent you here, three people who are, forgive me, hardly diplomats, to try to persuade a number of unreasonable people to accept an unreasonable demand. You are not here to negotiate; you are here to excuse. So that MERC and Riverside can both say that they tried to be fair before they put their collective boots down."

"So let us not waste words negotiating for the vacancy of Hell Bend. There is simply no sense in it." The massive demon concludes. "...But so long as you are here, perhaps there is still something I can do to help you. Your heart seems to be in the right place, after all, and it would be a shame if all that came of your trip here was a crushing failure."
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Re: Hell Bend

Post by Gold »

[Blackjack]

Solenoid considers saying something to annoy the dealer, but decides she's had it rough enough up to now. Instead, she just gives her a friendly smile before turning to follow the succubus into the bathroom.

IN THE BATHROOM:

Solenoid frowns, putting a hand on her hip. "Sounds like a sore loss to me," she says, pointing at the succubus with her other hand. "We had a bet - whoever's earned less when they tap out owes the other a favour. I won, you lost, and now I'm cashing in the prize. So?" she says, raising an eyebrow and motioning for the succubus to start talking.
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Re: Hell Bend

Post by FracturedSimulacrum »

[Marketeering 102 with Asera and Frigate!]

Time passes. Five minutes. TEN minutes. Heavens forbid, FIFTEEN whole minutes are lost to the unremitting flow of time! What horror! What despair. Let the record show that Frigate is deprived of Asera's splendid company for no less than TWENTY agonizingly consecutive minutes!

That's when it commences - that flurry of frenzied activity (perhaps) in the peripherals of Frigate's vision. Winged imps plaster posters still warm from the printer to ruined brick walls. Brawny devils with barbed tails projecting from their smart black coveralls hastily erect scores of foldable plastic tables before draping them with exquisite burgundy tablecloths emblazoned with golden boldfaced letters that read "Goetia Heavy Industries." Two hulking pit fiends with rubber mallets the size of dwarves pound reflective stainless steel poles through the cracked pavement of Hell Bend. Rugged, rustic wagons drawn by slavering, three-headed beasts emerge from a veritable maelstrom of sulfur-scented portals conveying bloodfruits, fresh cuts of bloody meat, and wholesome, organic vegetables from small farms scattered throughout Outside. A squad of devils armed with boxes of biodegradable utensils, napkins, and plates, kitchen gloves, hairnets, aprons, brochures, and rubber gloves falls in to the left of Frigate as Asera assumes command of her legions.

Clad in a white pencil skirt, a double-breasted white blazer with black trim, a silken magenta bow, black stockings, and white ankle boots, Asera steps out of the gathering crowd. Six humanoid creatures hang on her heels, proferring black tablets and styluses as they vie for her attention. Seemingly at random, she snatches a tablet, endorses it with an index finger, and thrusts it into the chest of a rejoicing humanoid. The other five despondently stop in their tracks and meld into the background. Tapping the face of her mithril watch, Asera rolls up on Frigate and shoots him a fanged smile. In a cheery voice, and with her slender tail lashing energetically behind her, the crafty little devil greets the stoic warforged for the second time!

I've decided that yooou -

Asera attempts to boop Frigate where his nose would be if he had human facial features.

- need to learn to seize Lady Luck by the throat and throttle her with your bare hands until she gives you what you want, and who better to teach you that venerable art than your good friend and business partner Asera!

As she says her name, Asera plucks her phone from her black and white purse, attempts to loop her free arm around Frigate's waist, raise her phone skyward, and take a selfie. With feverish swiping and rap-tap-tapping on the screen of her mobile device, she posts the pic to social media with the caption, "In Hell Bend hosting a charity and recruitment event with MERC! Stop by for a free Goetia t-shirt, a meal, and a photo with yours truly! 💜"

Now, I know you're not the most extroverted guy, but -

A dozen food trucks manned by diverse teams of devils round the corner as Asera retrieves an apron from one of her employees and attempts to slip it onto Frigate.

- you just need to be polite to the people who show up here and tell them about this place MERC has prepared for them. If you give me the coordinates, I can have trifold pamphlets ready within the hour.

As Asera steps back and admires her work, the scent of savory food fills the brisk night air. Temporary light fixtures such as mage lights and magical bonfires illuminate the space in bright white light.

Alright, people, it's showtime!

Asera spins around and walks over to a lavender devil in a grey sharkskin suit carrying a megaphone. She taps him on the shoulder and nods. The lavender devil returns the gesture, clears his throat, and brings the megaphone to the space in front of his dark purple lips.

Good people of Hell Bend, may we have a moment of your time!

As the noise level drops, the lavender devil hands the megaphone to Asera. With grace, poise, and passion, she sidles up to the plate and swings.

I am Asera, The Abeyance of the Divine, Second to Abaddon, Commander of Fifteen Legions and CEO of Goetia Heavy Industries. I have seen your plight, and I know this is no way for a fiend to live! I know that every day you spend here is a struggle just to survive! More to the point, I understand that you are street smart and that I need to prove that I deserve your trust and loyalty before we can elevate you from this sordid state! This will take time. This will take persistence.

I know that this city loathes you. I know that you have been subject to great injustice at the hands of the people of Riverside and our own people. I know the fire that rages within your bosom threatening to consume all. Take solace in the fact that you are not alone and that all this is will pass.

You owe me nothing. You don't know me or my intent. We aren't friends or even acquaintances. Tonight, we change that.

Tonight, all are welcome to break bread at my table, and tomorrow, we break ground on facilities for the impoverished people of Hell Bend and Riverside. Goetia Heavy Industries will establish training facilities and manufacturing plants on land generously donated by MERC, creating hundreds of jobs that we fiends are uniquely suited to. Together, we will rise above the inequity and hate our kind is subjected to every day.

But that lofty goal is tomorrow's work. Tonight, we feast!
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Re: Hell Bend

Post by Ironsmith »

[Blackjack]

"...Wait. Wait. You were serious about that?" The succubus throws up her hands defensively. "I was flirting, you daft dimbo! Or didn't you notice that, in such an arrangement, regardless of who actually wins we have an excuse to meet in private without raising any eyebrows? You know, kind of part and parcel to the whole 'I want to bang you' cover?" She winces. "Or did you not realize that was a ploy, too? Please tell me you did."

[Marketeering 102]

At "good people of Hell Bend", Asera will find herself on the receiving end of more than a few pointed glares. Opening with a joke, while a public speaking classic for good reason, does not seem to play very well in this neighborhood. In fact, the longer the deviless goes on, the more overtly hostile the crowd becomes; where her opening line is met with a few dozen of Hell Bend's denizens giving her the evil eye, her introduction, along with her credentials, seems to stir the crowd in... some sort of way. For the brief duration of her speech, she seems to have the entire neighborhood's undivided attention.

Among those assembled, there is much murmuring and deliberation, most of it rather... unflattering. Everyone here knows there's no such thing as a free lunch, particularly not one so literal. There has to be a catch. And sure enough, when the proud deviless gets to talking about training facilities and manufacturing plants, powered by their labor, the lure becomes obvious. And it's not as though Asera's presentation does much to engender trust among them in the first place; over a relatively short period of time, she's here showing off the legions at her command in a subtle but unmistakable display of force. If they don't comply, she has an army of fiends at her command who could make them.

This isn't charity, some among them mutter. This is a buyout and a takeover. An affront to their dignity, an insult to their intelligence, and a threat to what little well-being they have. Does she think they don't spot the trap? That any among them are desperate enough to take the bait? That they're willing to suffer still more at the hands of a deviless who thinks she can buy their souls from them?

That any of them can be fooled again?

"Hey! Fuck you, lady!" Someone yells.

And that's about the moment that, fittingly enough, all hell breaks loose.

The crowd descends on the tables in a mad clamor, pushing over the tables with the carefully-prepared foodstuffs and moving straight toward Asera's position. Bricks and bottles come flying out of the mob, most of them poorly aimed and missing her entirely, but with their intentions clear nonetheless.

Though, if Asera's looking for some small victory among the chaos, she'll see that some of the demons in the back of the crowd are squirreling away some of the now-significantly-less-appetizing food, tucking it away under their coats before retreating back out into the neighborhood. So... at least a few of them are walking away fed.
Last edited by Ironsmith on Apr 02, 2023 7:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Hell Bend

Post by Earl of Purple »

Marketeering 102

Frigate stays put, watching the hotel. He turns his head to follow Asera's movements and efforts, but... he kinda knew they weren't going to end well. These aren't the demons she's used to; these are desperate dead people trying to escape Hell because it uses them as fuel, not evil souls trying to bring others into damnation. Well, some of them probably are; the way to avoid being converted into fuel, from what Frigate's been able to establish, is to damn others to use in your place.

He's poorly positioned to stop the riot, and more interested in keeping an eye out for his friends anyway, so whilst he'll move to defend himself he isn't really going to put himself in harm's way for Asera.
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Re: Hell Bend

Post by FracturedSimulacrum »

[Marketeering 102: Novel Applications of M/M/1 Queuing Models]

A tantrum? Asera deigns to entertain these wastrels for an evening, and they opt to repay her kindness by pitching a tantrum? How puerile! Like children, the mob teeters toward Asera imagining they can slay an Aspirant of the Order of the Fly with the detritus they've pilfered from the madcaps and nobodies of Riverside. From Asera's perspective, these rioters aren't far removed from kindergarteners playing on the blacktop of a school yard. Why, if a god-thing pressed the business end of an orbital cannon to Asera's temples and entreated her to describe this situation in one word, she would almost certainly opine that the demons' supposed defiance is "almost cute," for every hostile action her aggressors take is surely guided by fear and rage masquerading as bravery and selflessness. That is to say that their hearts beat true despite their apparent identity crisis.

To wreck these dregs like ships upon jagged rocks - to carelessly strew their broken, lifeless, and quite possibly half-eaten corpses across the landscape like so many unwanted toys and bric-a-brac adorning a rubbish pile - would be quite a treat! Were Asera operating as a private citizen, she would be tempted to indulge: to paint the interior and exterior of Crimp's Casino red and congest the streets with offal. As is, such a stunt would stain her clothes and her reputation. All the more reason to ditch these rags before she divests her aggressors of the fears, hatred, and illnesses that have preyed upon them throughout their sordid lives.

Patently ignoring Frigate and his continued inaction, Asera joins the fray, overturning a conveniently located foldable table and ducking behind it before curtly addressing her subordinates.

Ready the dance floor!

At her command, the bright, magical sources of illumination scattered throughout the arena flare and strobe, quite possibly temporarily blinding her adversaries. Those who are unaffected will see the magical bonfires rise above the metal poles ornamenting the arena. As bricks and bottles smash into Asera's flimsy fortifications, punching out chunks of plastic and permanently denting the once smooth surface, Asera's scant forces fall back and rally behind one of the food service trucks. While they seem perfectly capable of assisting in quashing this riot, they know their role. Asera is the belle of this ball; they're the chaperones. They won't interfere unless things get too out of hand.

Without resistance, the mob surges toward Asera's position, but just as they are about to overrun her fortifications, music blasts through the cold night air.
► SHOW SPOILER
Arrayed in a white camisole and black spandex shorts - articles of clothing previously concealed underneath her blazer and skirt - Asera falls upon the mob like a slavering beast. Armed with the remains of her table and a predatory grin, she plows into the first line of assailants. With tremendous force and uncanny celerity, she slams the table into the first line, shearing it in half with the force of the impact alone. Blades, cudgels, fists, and broken bottles might scream toward the space Asera once occupied, but instead of finding purchase, they meet only hollow space distorted by Asera's will. Within the mass of demons, Asera apparates, inky black portal residue streaming down her knuckles. Again, she attacks, propelling her fist toward Someone's kidney with force that might ripple through his/her whole body should her punch connect.

Bare your heart to me! Explain why I deserve your ire!
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Re: Hell Bend

Post by Thursday Violist »

Ironsmith wrote: Mar 11, 2023 11:22 am [Intact House]

"That's wonderful!" Mallory grins, the smile not quite reaching her eyes if Zophiel keeps watching her through his magic eye. "You have daughters? Such gifted daughters, at that? I'll bet they retained their dad's good looks, too." She says in a transparently flirty tone, her fingers lightly flitting across his shoulders. "I'll fix you up something to take back with you for them. I'll be right back; don't go anywhere!"

As the succubus turns to leave the room, Zophiel might notice she seems to be dragging her feet, looking over her shoulder back at him, her spade-tipped tail flicking back and forth impatiently. She looks more like she wants him to think of her as leaving the room than like she's in any hurry to get back to the kitchen.

As for the soup... Zophiel will find that it is, for the most part, a really good soup; savory, lightly acidic, with small chunks of tender little vegetables in it. But he'll also notice, after the first few spoonfuls, a bitter aftertaste, like he'd upended a bottle of medicine into his mouth and chased it down with the soup.

[]Intact House]

Mallory cleverly evades the trap Zophiel was laying out and responds with one of her own!
It was very clever. Zophiel himself will probably admit as such later.

The paladin nods, and watches her leave.

Okay, so, honestly, with the awful smell in the air it was a little hard to tell that the aftertaste was from something specific rather than just the cooking method. So, unfortunately, Zophiel ate way too much before realizing that he's been drugged. Of course, normally, drugs would hardly do anything to him due to his high body mass, but it appears Mallory even planned around that! And, worst of all, since the paladin doesn't even know what he was drugged with and it was a nonmagical drug, he can't even pretend to have fallen for it since he doesn't know what symptoms to mimic! His only choice is to actually be drugged.

It's when his mind starts feeling foggy that he actually puts together the dots.
Clever girl.
The paladin sets down the soup to the floor, grabs the necklace again, and takes a deep breath: he's going to power through this mind-fog and think what he can do right now.

...
...
...
Should he have his swords keep watch? Cut out his blood and use paladin magic to purify it? Something else? Ugh, the best thing to do all depends on what she gave him and how much, neither of which he knows. At the current amount of medication that his blood has absorbed, he already feels sluggish. But, at the very least, he could stop his body from absorbing more of what he's already eaten.

After taking a deep breath to clear his mind a little, he reaches into a pocket and grabs a vial with some dried ink inside it. He scoops some of the drugged tomato soup into it and, with a thumb over the top, shakes it until it turns oily and black and disgusting-looking. With the hand holding the vial, he lifts up his shirt and his other hand dips three fingers into the soupy inky liquid. Three fingers, of course, is necessary because he's going to draw a magic circle and that can be done with three fingers faster than just one.
Somewhere near where his spleen is located, he draws a fairly simple magic circle.

It's done pretty quickly.

Even though he still feels sluggish and light-headed, Zophiel sighs in relief since, at least, now this means his body won't absorb any more of this medication.
Ironsmith
Poster from Beyond the Veil
Posts: 2997
Joined: Aug 01, 2022 12:46 pm

Re: Hell Bend

Post by Ironsmith »

[Marketeering 102]

Well, she did just brutalize a few of them. That alone might retroactively justify their aggression toward her.

After all, it quickly becomes apparent that while Asera might be a supernaturally powerful fighter, these demons are... not. At least not as much so. The trio she slams the table into with enough force to break it in half react precisely the way she might expect ordinary human beings to; toppled over, in shock and with visibly bloody wounds, unable to get up for the sheer sudden pain of their injuries.

The succubus she just kidney-punched doesn't seem to be doing any better. She collapses immediately, holding her side, promptly trampled by the riotous mob moving to surround Asera.

They don't seem to be in much of a mood to talk. Though armed with pitiful improvised weapons, there are a great many of them, and Asera will soon find herself surrounded on all sides by demons' bodies, to a truly suffocating degree. Even if they can't hurt her immediately and directly, they still grasp and grope at her, attempting to collectively restrain her for some as-of-yet unknown purpose... though in all likelihood, probably not anything especially comfortable for her.


[Intact House]

What it might absorb, however, is thirty-four inches of hickory wood, swung at the back of his head.

While he was busy worrying about the drugs in his system, Mallory's snuck back into the room, baseball bat hoisted over her shoulder as she takes her position behind him, moving as quickly and quietly as she can while he's still distracted. The poison didn't seem to be working fast enough for her, so now she's taking an alternative, slightly more straightforward approach.

It's clear from her stance and the nonplussed expression on her face that she's done this before. Not just once; she's probably lured in dozens of victims with the promise of good food, poisoned them, and then moved to knock them out when the poison didn't work quite as intended.

Whether that works depends on the paladin's reflexes and resilience. But, if he goes down now, she isn't going to just wail on him until he stops moving. She has other plans for that body of his.
Who're you? ...Don't matter.

Want some rye? Course ya do!

Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
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