The Mad God's Masque and Bellicose Ball (IC) (M)

[Boog]

Jeremiah hadn't even SEEN the spider show up. The cat had already shot it by the time he'd seen it twitch in his direction. For a split second he'd seen compound eyes focus on him, a single drop of venom congeal on the end of a fang... And then the spider's abdomen exploded and a demon fell out.
The natural reaction was to start cursing. Before he could say anything more intelligible, however, the man was already in an altercation with the cat.
Oh dear, not another one.
"Ap-ap-ap-ap, down, down," The frog interposed himself between the demon charging his spell and the cat, "No call for that now gents, we're all confused here." With a glare at the cat that seemed to say 'I can't take you anywhere, can I?' He turned to the demon, snapped his best grin into place and extended his hand, opposite the one charging the spell so he'd have to dispell the charging arcane mass first.
"Jeremiah Ac'Gregor. A pleasure." He remembered at the last second to put the knife away again. Friendliness is hard to project when you have a knife, save for at certain clubs, and even then friendly wasn't the word. "No idea where I am, but the cat seems to have some sort of... Well, lets call it a plan."

[Lisky]

As the Frog quickly tried to deescalate the situation, Bas gave a subtle nod of approval.  A mere being standing between battle-ready demon and a loaded revolver clearly was either brave or insane.  Given the frog's attention to detail, Bas suspected the former.

He quickly changed spells from his explosive bolts of raw dark energy to a very basic cleaning spell he'd learned.  First touching his fist to his chest while standing up, a dark cloud grew around Bas as the gelatinous innards and fluids of the now very dead spider were removed from his body, along with the horrendous odor and taste.  Working his tongue around his recently cleaned mouth, Bas retracted his claws and shook the beings hand, firmly, but with no intent to actually cause harm, He bowed his head for a moment to acknowledge he'd heard what the being had said, then replied, "I am Baseel Wolkshammer, 3rd son of Duke Leofric.  If you'd prefer, you can refer to me as 'The Basilisk' or just Bas for short... It is a very brave thing you did there to stop the violence... i do believe at least one of us would have been splattered across the cave had you not intervened... i believe the pleasure is mine, Jeremiah."

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel shook her head at Cog's question, "I told you, I was at the ball, then I was here. There wasn't any time to be anywhere else. My best guess, as someone who got more than a little dazed in time magic class at university, would be that the magic blast wrinkled time. Time being linear is really just a formality when you get into really powerful magic. So I am not tired and would be pleased to see your airship." She turned to Tim to ask if she was tired from the magic blast but the small gryphon was looking off in another direction and didn't seem to be following the conversation closely.

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog digested Mel's statement. His eyes clouded, and he turned to look at the hangar doors.
"...strange." he muttered, before adjusting his collar and beckoning to one of the closer aides. He whispered something in his ear, and motioned to the very large gryphon skulking very largely in the corner, and at the smaller one who seemed to have lost track of him for the moment.

"I'll show you around then. And after this is all over, we'll go searching for your clan." he said, nodding warmly at Mel. "We'll wait a moment for the small one. But, I did have a question I wanted to ask. Did you grandmother happen to say anything about who was behind organizing that party, or anything?" Cog's face was cautious, but there seemed to be another unspoken question in his statement as well.

As he spoke, the aide approached Tim cautiously. "Ah, sir, if it's alright, I don't think your larger friend will be able to move about the ship with you - if you want to stay here with him, of course, we can bring out blankets and such for you, but I think your friends are going to be looking around the ship, if you'd like to join them."

* * *

"You're sure he'll try and attack over the mountains?"
"He is a swordsman playing at admiral. He's not considering what magic does to disrupt traditional military tactics. He will attack over the mountains, expecting it to hide his movements and deny that high ground to you, but he will be forced to descend to engage. He will be trapped by them as well."
"And you say he'll bring Gryphons?"

Johann Cross turned to the man in black. The gray wolf smiled, tipping his hat and taking a sip of whiskey. He smiled with eerily white teeth, playing with a coin in his other hand.
"It's what I would do."

* * *

The one-eyed cat shot at the young Wolkshammer's head, and missed. Behind him, something squealed, and a bloated thud hit the ground.
"I knew a man named Leofric in a past life. He killed me, raped my livestock and ate my women. Bastard he was, a pleasure to meet you?"

Tom paused, and shot again. Another squeal. "I say, we should think about moving on." he turned, and padded across the carpet to the next staircase, battering his way through cobwebs both old and fresh.
The chittering of legs and mandibles was audible throughout the room, although what made the noise was yet invisible. Tom disappeared out of sight shortly thereafter, moving up the stairs at a quick pace.

* * *

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Tim blinked at Mel, and then the aide. "Hmm? Oh, sorry. I was just wondering where the big doofus had gone, this time." The wry resignation in her tone suggested that this was nowhere near the first time such a thing had happened. She then addressed herself to the aide, directly. "Is he likely to, er, I mean, is there anything breakable in the local area? I realise that when you're talking about a large gryphon, pretty much everything fits that description, but if you start with the most critical, we'll probably find him leaning on it, or eating it, or something..."



In the background, Rover was padding silently around the sides of the concourse, heading in the general vicinity of the other gryphons, but taking his time and looking curiously around him at all the things he was passing. The raised eyebrow at the giant rolled-up newspaper attached to the wall, under a large, well-made sign with one elegantly inscribed word on it, would have done a certain Vulcan proud, had he been present. Of course, if he had been, it would have been a totally different story, and some handy, well-endowed local girl would have been infatuated with his captain...

This not being that story, there was no Captain, no Vulcan, and no derring-do. Or at least, different derring-do. Since the sign exhorted him to "Behave" - without suggesting if he should behave poorly or well - he did his best to slink silently past it without paying it too much attention. Sidling between the various Creatures and Beings going about their business on the deck, he reached the side of the place where the other gryphons were playing, and stopped.

He glanced over at Tim, who was still looking in a different direction, then back at the players.

He waggled one ear cheerfully at them, and enquired of them, "Chee? Game?"

[Lisky]

After standing up and glaring a bit at the one-eyed cat, Bas held his arms to either side, while folding his wings back.  He grew the trademark claws of his race, and hardened his skin to it's maximum protection.  Fur Bristling, the demon followed slowly behind the feline.  Careful to try and avoid anything that might possibly cause harm.

The eerie quiet broken only by the soft patter of the many-legged creature's movements, or the soft chittering of mandibles.  He felt rather unnerved, and as such, the demon began collecting spells, storing each one at a fingertip of his right hand to be ready for anything.  Looking from the frog to the direction the cat had gone, then back to the frog, Bas shook his head and asked rather flatly, "He seems rather unstable, doesn't he?" 

The demon's wings flared for a moment as he extended his left hand from his body, casting the summoning spell for his shield.  While casting the summoning spell, Baseel took the time to also harden his wings.  Having a head to toe armor like hide, Bas considered himself ready.

If everything went as it should (with the spell) the shield should appear on Baseel's arm in a battle-ready position.

[techmaster-glitch]

   Karazkt's watchful vigil in the comfort of his diggermech was inturrupted shortly after it had begun by the strangest thing. It was an aural stimulus unlike any he'd heard before, so strange in fact he couldn't be sure if he was properly hearing the sound through his antennae or if the sound was in his own head. And yet, the way it had appeared, and the direction it was coming from (under him?) tickled his memory until he suddenly thought of what it reminded him of; that strange, sudden message he had recieved back at the great stone surfacer structure before everything...before the other surfacers attacked.
   The strange sound then quickly faded, but Karazkt wasn't going to not at least look into it. He had just dug the shelter below, in the general direction the sound had come from. At the very least, he had to make sure the shelter was undisturbed and secure before his...surrogate Queen returned. Not taking such a basic precaution was simply unthinkable. Nothing could be allowed to intrude upon the chamber he had prepared.
   Karazkt fired up the diggermech, unsealed the entrance, and decended down the sloped tunnel.

[Aisha deCabre]

Where Rynkura and Gareeku were, meanwhile, the lightning put on a rather bright show.  At least there was still sufficient light for the both of them to see what was in the splintered chest.  Gods forgive my intrusion, the Healer added as an afterthought, her emerald gaze looking down into it and moving aside to let the white wolf examine things as well.

She had figured they wouldn't find much of anything, as evident, but she didn't figure that it would be of much interest.  The chain and coin she decided to pick up and take with her after an examination of both.  Anything could come in handy at that point, on a strange island, it was best to think of any possibility.  Perhaps they could be sold.  She set them aside.

But the bottle...

"Oh!" the tigress muttered in slight surprise at the intense heat coming from the liquid within, pulling her hand back.  Not to mention the design of the bottle, which seemed to ensure that the cork was to never be opened.  Rynkura knew how to shield her hands from intense heat when she cast her lightning spells, but even so, it came to a bit of a surprise to see something that seemed to have retained such a heat for what seemed to be an amazingly long time.  Not to mention it seemed to have a...life to it, of its own.

She took her cloak in her hands and used it to lift the bottle again, holding it up.  "Now what do you suppose this could be?" she wondered aloud.  "Something that might be important, no doubt.  I shall have to examine the enchantment properties when we don't have more pressing matters."  Carefully, she put the bottle in a part of her pack where it wouldn't be easily cracked.  "Something not to drink, certainly.  But then again, there could be more dangerous things to ingest," she joked.

With that, the disguised angel glanced back towards Gareeku.  "I suppose we should be on our way, then.  Hopefully the map is still accurate.  We ought to be ready for whatever we find."

With one last curious glance out toward the reef, Rynkura motioned for the both of them to set out on their way.

[Boog]

Jeremiah gave Bas a tight lipped smile. Unstable? "You have NO idea..." He said sincerely. Feeling a bit underprepared at the sight of Baseel's preparations, he whisked out his knife, called up a small point of illusionary light to keep anything from jumping out of the shadows at him and followed close behind.
After all, if anything jumps out to eat us it's more likely to get them first.
Was that you Bal?
No.
Cab?
No.
It wasn't Plic...
... Holy crap, was that ME?
Today was turning into a peculiar day, and the surroundings didn't help. Usually Jeremiah LIKED bugs, but these didn't count. There were spiderwebs everywhere, he and the others were pretty plainly the intruders. There was a thought, maybe the bug they'd just shot was like a security guard in those old action flicks, innocent casualty just doing its job. How smart were spiders? Smart enough to have suburban families with 2 and a half kids and a practical car?

[Azlan]

Kiet's eyes narrowed as his gaze met with the black feline and did not falter as she turned and entered he cart.  He was especially curious now and the twitching of ears and flick of the tail tip made that quite clear. 

A smile creased his muzzle as he fell into his routine, playing along with Andrace, "Oi, Annie I thin we shou'd see the curiosities 'fore we waltz a'ound.  Ye a bit curious too, aye?"

Gesturing to Mina's cart the ringtail strode over, orbited around it on foot once like an energetic lad, and promptly rapped upon the door, "oi, an'one 'ome in there?  I dun wanna intrude, but I be curious a' curiosities." 

[Cogidubnus]

 The door opened just moments after Kiet had rapped upon the wooden portal. A white-masked stranger stood there - the featureless plaster visage shining in the noonday sunlight. Behind her, Kiet could see the contents of what appeared to be a collection of completely random and exotic trinkets - wheels webbed with thread, jars full of strange, unidentifiable contents, bits of gems and metal, and some strange articles that menaced with a strange, demoniac presence.

The face tilted.
"From a castle, far and wide you come, where a masque that arabesques like a madman's feet from the noose, dances in my vision."
The mask slid to the side, held in her hand. Mina's brilliant green eyes stared at him. "Or am I wrong? But from the moment I saw you, I think I knew..."
The diminuative feline gave him a small smile, and held the mask out. "Does this belong to you?"

* * *

Andrace, completely ignored, was meanwhile given a somewhat heretofore unseen freedom to do whatever it was that she wished.

There were many carts, carrying many things. Many of those things were food. A large man with a beard that nearly enveloped his entire front was selling cheeses, it appeared. Another man, a fat man in wearing rough clothing was selling dried meats. Another man was selling a hard-looking, black bread. It appeared that most of the fare on display - fowl, swine and sides of beef, people had brought themselves. But what -was- being sold in mass quantities was alcohol.

Several people had brought in carts with barrels almost as big as the cart was on the back of them, and those were about filled with ale. They didn't appear to be selling it, either, so much as selling glasses. She saw more than one person collapse beneath the spigot, only to be dragged off sometime later.
In fact, she was pretty sure she saw Cerebus doing just that. Drinking himself silly under one of the taps, and then collapsing beneath it. Boisterous laughter ensued, even when he managed to stumble to his feet.

He winked at her from across the way.

* * *

Illusory light is a strange thing. Being an illusion, it's primary goal is to affect the perception of it's viewers. Namely, to make you able to see things that are in the dark. How this differs from normal light is a question better posed to a scientist, or a philosopher. "The difference", they might say, "Is that illusory light is wholly insubstantial, while regular light is 90% heat".
Which in some ways is saying that the illusion of light is more efficient than actual light. Machiavelli surely paws at his Machiavellian mustache.

In this case, however, it illuminated, in the dark corners of the room, a very illusory spider.

Illusory, in the sense that it is not an actual spider. But other than this, it was very much, substantial.
The spider-like thing - spiderlike, in that it's eight hairy, twitching legs and drooling mouth were a mockery of what a spider actually is, moved it's nightmarish frame at a speed that could only be described as otherwordly towards the frog, without so much as a single clack of exoskeleton or mouthpart. Silent.

And behind the cheiftain's son, the warrior of the north, a giant spider descended impossibly silent on a still silken thread.

[Lisky]

Baseel had started up after the cat as the illusory light cast it's pale glow around the room.  He carried his large shield in one hand, while his long claws on his other had bolts of dark energy crackle between them with the prepared spell he was carrying along.  Something seemed off about the entire place.  It was too dark, too quiet... and most of all, it had a strange smell to it.  Almost as if it were too clean, everything smelled right... Damp, musky, almost like wet paper... but, it was faded, faint.  Almost as if someone had dulled the smells of this place.

His eyes were darting left and right, he'd been a few inches from a dragon's maw, a humbling experience when said dragon's rage is turned towards one's self.  Bas hardened his skin and took a step towards the stairs, having not noticed the spider above him.

[Azlan]

The ringtail was momentarily taken aback by the visage of the mask, almost enough for him to sprout wing blades and strike.  Almost.  Still restrained and unshifted, Kiet managed a single word, "fascinating..."

The feline's words were quite prophetic, but once the mask slid away, all hope of a serious discussion evaporated.

Kiet really loved the color green; he was especially entranced by the color when it pertained to a person's eyes.  So enthralled was he, that most of the conversation was lost on him.  With swiftness on the verge of supernatural, Kiet attempted to embrace Mina in a 'friendly hug', "so cute!  Do ya wanna join our party?  Does your whole family have such emerald orbs?"

The cubi in disguise did manage to grab the mask during his controlled glomp maneuver.  This was a tactically unbalancing action for the receiver, and Kiet would take the few moments of confusion it created to get a good look around the inside of her wagon and check for anything unusual on the person of Mina.

[Boog]

Jeremiah looked about the room appraisingly. Some cobwebs, but nothing some paint and a small fire wouldn't fix. Just have to do something about that spider.
Oh.
Oh good heavens.
The frog swore and staggered backwards, flailing with the knife and falling on his ass. He had no illusions about his ability to kill that thing with a knife. As a matter of fact, he didn't want it to get another five feet closer. Jeremiah wasn't typically subject to what psychologists call the Arachnid Responce, but scale something up enough and you'd be amazed what it could trigger. He knew a fireball spell, that might work. He was only able to pull together enough power to make a projectile about the size of a handball, but it might scare the beast off.
Alright, just like in those online courses. Pull together THIS much of my power, bring it to my fingertips, flick the wrist toward the enemy and HOLY BEJEEZUS-
Jeremiah felt heat on his face, a gust of hot air that blew his hat off, and the spider was engulfed in a blast of flame. That should've used enough power to render him CATATONIC, what was going on?

[SpottedKitty]

Andrace watched Ti'Paollo intently as he crossed the square and entered the mysterious cat's caravan. She'd noticed the mask "Madame Mina" wore, although she was just too far away to see inside over the cat's shoulder or hear what she'd said to the 'Cubi. Interesting: something about the events last night at the castle still had an influence over them.

While the demented ringtail was occupied she decided to have a look around the square anyway: if they were leaving with the caravan after the fair ended, it would be a good idea to at least get on friendly terms with them. Besides, she was hungry: her sense of time seemed to be badly skewed, but her stomach was insistent it had been far too long since those dubious snacks she'd nibbled on back in the castle's ballroom.

The lioness almost laughed out loud when she spotted what Cerebus was up to. A nice idea, but between an Undead of dubious allegiance and honesty, and a 'Cubi with a target — hers — on his back and of dubious sanity, she'd better keep a relatively clear head. So she only bought two sloshing-full mugs of the foamy brew, which turned out to be quite good. Several helpings of fried mystery-meat-on-a-stick took the edge off her hunger as she wandered among the stalls and caravans, chatting idly and picking up a few people's names.

[Cogidubnus]

 The rear hatch of the ship had already closed with that strange, ponderous, and yet somehow inexorably fast movement that very truly large things seem to possess. What must have been tons of metal closed daintily upon airtight seals - the roar of the wind ceased, and the droning sound of the engines dulled somewhat.

The other gryphon's grinned at their newfound companion, and rapidly looked from Rover, to the game that was currently going on inside hangar.
It appeared to be something like "Full-Contact Tag", with a few strange rules. None of the participants appeared to be flying, and there appeared to be a ball involved. The ball seemed to be important. He saw some gryphons attempt to throw it (hard without thumbs) and peg other gryphons, who would then attempt to peg other gryphons with it. Bringing the ball to a certain area was met with joyous sounds, but only if you took it from another gryphon without getting pegged by it (also difficult). A large series of demarcations on the floor seemed to indicate various zones that the gryphons were forbidden or forced to move in.
As he was studying one of these, he felt the rubber ball smack him full in the face. It went bouncing off happily just thereafter, coming to rest a short distance away.

* * *

"As you can see, Har'Kuhn will not be easy to take." Cogidubnus said, sipping something brown from a small glass and pointing to a map. Mel, Rover, and a white-furred, green eyed wolf were in the room also. It was small - wood-paneled and warm looking, with maps and charts occupying most of the walls, and a table in the middle. A war-room, it appeared. Cabinets dotted the walls, probably full of more of what Cog had pulled out of one. Something strongly alcoholic, by the smell.

The tour had been somewhat brief, but they'd seen most parts of the ship. It would take half a day to see the whole thing - it was practically a small city in the sky. Kitchens, bunks, dining rooms, ballrooms, a larder that could feed a thousand men for a year - all odd stuff for a military vessel. It had been converted into it's current role sometime in the past, Cog had explained. Most of the rooms were used for storage, now, their elegance surreal and out-of-place, now. Velvet curtains covered blast windows, and marble floors were obscured by racks of weapons and armor.

He'd taken them, eventually, to the top floor, where the bridge was. A small, semi-circular room, and the largest viewport they'd seen yet. A blood-red sunset reflected off the top of the clouds, all land out of sight, and just the barely visible around the curve of the airship's nose, the sparkled of the ocean beneath them. "Flying does have it's perks. I never knew what I was missing." Cog had said

He'd taken them eventually to the war room, where the grey wolf was now asking for their advice. "It firstly sits on a plateau - not a severe one, but one where it can practically look out over the entire valley at once. The river in the middle of the valley is also a problem. Trying to cross it is asking to be attacked midway through. And, the place has it's back to a mountain. Three walls into a sheer cliff, and no way to climb the mountain and get behind them."

Cog continued, pouring another drink. The white wolf frowned a bit. "We have, in total, around four thousand troops, including gryphon riders. Cross has twenty thousand, divided up between regular troops, mages, siege equipment, and around a thousand of his so-called "Templar". And that's hardly the bulk of his forces. He knows we're coming, and is mustering the rest of his armies. And if those get there, we're sunk." Cog said, shaking his head. "Then it'll be four thousand against forty thousand, and tactics suddenly start dictating a retreat. They will be there in about...a week."

He sighed. "We must take the city, and then kill Cross. If we can do that, we can use Har'Kuhn's walls and defenses against Cross's own army, and with our own superiority in the air, I think we can adequately defend the city. But first, to capture it. My plan is thus - we will fly over and around the city, and then behind it. Under cover of night, we shall climb over the mountains, and then descend right into the heart of the city. That kind of fighting, in those kinds of close quarters, will make numbers less of an issue. Cross only has around five thousand of his troops in the city, and with the airships and gryphons, those are numbers we can beat."

He poured a third drink, coughing. "We take the gates first, close them, and then go through the city piece by piece. Maybe not the best plan, but it's all I can think of." he looked to Tim and Mel.
"Scotch? Ah, I mean, well, what do you think? Any ideas? I'm...well. This is my first city siege. I've read the books, I've been in battles, but never commanded. I'm somewhat desperate for advice. The ship and the troops didn't come with a user manual." he gave a lopsided grin, and finished off his third drink.

* * *

tink!

Baseel felt something prick his diamond-hard skin, and be promptly turned away. Something wet ran down his back. At the same moment, the room flared a bright, bright red.

The spider in front of Jeremiah, by contrast, was suddenly not quite so fearsome. It was frightening, sure, but not longer for the same reasons.
Hissing, popping, and briefly screeching, it was consumed by the red, greasy fire rather quickly. It fell over just a few feet from Jeremiah, legs twitching, the soft hiss of it's pain turning into the soft hiss of hot air escaping from it's bloated body. A few drops of fire fell from it, landing on the carpet and sputtering. A few seemed to be catching, burning an widening circle in the carpet.

Jeremiah's hand smoked. It curled to the ceiling in thick, black ribbons, like the residue from lighting a bucket of lard on fire.

* * *

Karazkt and his mech walked through the dark, not stumbling over a single stone or crack. Insectis could see in the dark perfectly well, so when he saw the body on the ceiling, skin flayed and hanging from a rope by it's ankles, he saw it from a long ways away.
He heard a sob, somewhere in the darkness, far, far ahead of him. He realized that he'd stopped walking. He also realized that the sound of his mech carried unfortunately far in this stone cavern he'd unearthed.

* * *

The map pointed to many things, but there was a curious spot that had been blotted out, as though the mapmaker was trying to prevent travel there. Of course, it didn't help, as you could clearly see how to get to said black mark, even if you didn't know what it was...

It appeared to be a cave. When the occasional crack of thunder lit the area, she could only barely see into the interior, which kept on going for quite some ways, it appeared.

* * *

"Ooph!"
 Kiet's unexpected hug wrapped up the diminutive feline completely, making her stand up on her tippy-toes while the ringtail expressed his glee.  She gave him somewhat of a sour look, and smacked his hand as he checked her person for unusual things. "Erph. My, aren't we friendly?"

The interior of her wagon seemed largely that of a person who made a living showing weird things to country folks - except for a few things that he did recognize. A crystal jar contained what he recognized as sentient color from the Far Realms - stuff of what could only be described as 'vampiric' at best and 'a plague upon all that lives' by anyone reasonable. A very real thaumaturgists focus, something that indicated possible deals with the lower planes. A jeweled dagger concealed by her bed, and the lingering feel of magic emanated from inside...

She coughed. "My mother had green eyes, but my father had golden ones. All my sisters but me have gold ones too." she gave him a curious look. "I'll pass on your party. Although..."
She got a faraway look. "You might be able to help me, you know. You looked like help the moment I saw you."

She stood there for a moment, waiting. "I'd love to invite you in, and talk about it. If you'd, ah, let me go." The feline said, and gave him a small, wry smile.

* * *

The locals were friendly, and Andrace had already made a few friends by the time she saw the three soberly-dressed and out of place looking men, and behind a very sad looking lioness.
The lioness was sitting in the back of a cart, and the three fellows - humans, by the look of them - were sitting down lazily on the bench in front of it, each enjoying a brew. They were already off the beaten path, and there weren't too many people around them.

They looked...like merchants, honestly, and not from around wherever this was. The lioness - well-dressed, in a country way - seemed to be looking at nothing in particular, until she caught sight of Andrace. The look she gave her was pure sadness, almost pleading, before she started looking at the ground again. Andrace saw the glint of a metal collar around her neck.

[Boog]

Jeremiah's first reaction was fear. It was kinda his thing. Fear was comfortable, a useful way of coping with that which he didn't understand. Because he didn't understand this.
He had a curse. A curse that fed off his natural reserves of useable magic. Last time he did something this big on purpose he ended up unconscious, and woke up to the smell of vomit and burnt hair. But here he was, with the charred and sizzling spider turning a lobsterish red in its carapace before him and he felt... okay.
Hell, he felt FANTASTIC. A grin spread across his features. So THIS was what a power trip feels like? No wonder so many high orders of wizards were okay with being celibate!
There was a slow scuff of his boots on the floor as he picked himself up, with a curious smile on his face. Was anyone looking? No? Fantastic. The frog pumped his fist in the air once. It took a lot of his willpower not to do some manner of victory dance, complete with wholely unnecessary pelvic thrusts. He grinned and stepped around the spider... Then ran back and stomped on one of its legs, nearly giggling at the charred popping noise that resulted...
And now it was on his shoes.
This basic, familiar state of annoyance brought him back to reality, and he turned to head up the stairs. "So, Bas, right? Where ya from?"

[Aisha deCabre]

Rynkura alternated between checking the map and sniffing the dense air as she and Gareeku followed the map onward through the island's forested area.  So far they had neither encountered trouble, nor encountered clues as to the what, why, and where of their situation.  The white tiger was hoping that those answers would come fairly soon.  Her patience to many was percieved as nigh infinite.  But her worry was slowly wearing away at that patience like a termite through a tree.

Another bolt of lightning lanced through the sky and lit up their footsteps with a deafening roar.  The map showed that they were close to the mysterious spot, whatever it was, and it was hoped that the reason for its mystery wasn't too much of a deadly consequence.  And soon, they had come upon a cave.

It didn't look too out of place really, a tunnel of earthen properties and darkness that led on into unknown depths.  Rynkura flexed the fingers that held her staff, and it took on a brighter glow to accentuate the insides of it.

"I guess we have arrived," the Healer muttered.  Her nose went to the air again.  "It smells thick of storm here still.  At least we will have shelter from rain.  I hope that our Insectis friend is also so fortunate."

She took a few tentative steps into the gloom, listening for anything beyond their conjured lights.  As long as the two of them kept together, there was no doubt from Rynkura that there was anything to fear yet.

[Lisky]

The first feeling that something was wrong was the sharp *tink*, the feeling of a wet, gooey substance running down his exposed back.  He felt the sharp pin-prick, though it didn't seem to break his hardened hide.  He pivoted around to bring his claws to bear.  Whatever had attempted to attack the demon had probably expected something a little easier to kill... perhaps there weren't many of his kind around here...  He flicked his claws upwards, expecting to find a spider, feeling for flesh, he cast the exploding bolt as well.  Either he'd been snookered, and someone had shot a very poorly made arrow at his back... or he'd be showered with bits of death, blood and exoskeleton. 

Or so the demon thought.

[SpottedKitty]

Andrace sauntered away from a caravan with a cheerful wave and a thoroughly disreputable wink and grin for the bear looking after the stall attached to one side of the caravan. Many of the people she'd met had been friendly, especially after she'd mentioned possibly hiring herself on as a guard after the fair was over. She turned a corner —

— and stopped, the smile frozen on her face and, just for a moment, all her claws out. She'd seen the look the other lioness had directed at her. And she'd seen the collar around her neck. Andrace stood there for nearly a minute while the crowd surged around her, and she very carefully stuffed her emotions into a box in her head. Then she turned and walked up to a nearby stall: she'd swapped jokes with the fennec selling pots and pans earlier. Now she exchanged friendly nods with him and leaned casually against the side of the stall.

"That three over there off t' th' side, wi' th' cart," she said in a quiet, steady voice barely above a whisper. "Know what they're tradin' in? Or is that their... special merchandise up on th' cart?" The lioness might have been speaking so quietly to keep her conversation just between the two of them. Her sisters and brothers would have recognised her mood as being one wrong word away from a cold, berserk fury, and that very soon now, her claws and fangs might be wet. The individual members of the Kithara families held to a wide variety of ideals and beliefs, but some were common to all of them. One was: no-one chains a lioness.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel looked at the map and shook her head. "I hope you do not expect competent military advice from me. The closest I have come to military training is bedtime stories from my grandfather." Mel felt compelled to add, "If we found the General he could give you twenty ways to assault this city AND solve the mystery of what happened at the ball." She really wanted an older and more experienced member of her family to take this mess off her hands and couldn't wait to find one.

[Azlan]

The ringtail sheepishly released the feline and scratched at one of his large fuzzy ears with one hand as he twirled the mask on his index finger of the other, "my apologies my dear lady Mina, but the green is very... green!"  Only the thinnest strand of willpower kept the disguised cubi from squeeing like a rabid fangirl. 

Clearing his throat and returning the wry smile, "I believe this is your wry smile my lady."  Kiet pantomimed a perfect transition between the wry smile and a neutral, straight lipped expression.  He ended it with a casual toss towards Mina.

Entering further into the wagon, Kiet made an extended an obvious perusal of the wares within before turning the face the cat again.

"So tell me, what is it that I can help you with?  Most do not seem to see helpful within my character, though I am a teacher by trade."  Kiet paused, a rather pregnant interruption in movement, one that expected to continue and end in a chair of some sort.

[techmaster-glitch]

Karazkt's cave

   Karazkt decended down into the cave he had just excavated to serve as shelter for his surrogate Queen to invesitgate the strange sounds he had heard. As he came into the chamber, he--
   What in the name of the holy Hive Queen?!?
   There was, as impossible as could be, a body of a surfacer hanging from the ceilling, partially disassembled. On the other end of the chamber, a strange sound certainly not made by Insectis was reaching his antennae. He pulled down the solid-metal cockpit canopy, and pulled his goggles over his eyes, allowing him to see in his infravision.
   He strode the sealed diggermech forward, speaking through it to whatever was hiding at the other end. "Thiz iz a privaTe chamber for a Kween, you muzT leave now or be removed."

[Cogidubnus]

 Dust floated around the war-room, drifting by in shafts of light that poured through the window facing the west, illuminated by the a sun that was slowly sinking beneath the clouds.
Cogidubnus sighed, and nodded to himself.

"I've done the best I can with what I have, Mels. But I understand. It's not fair of my to ask you to fight my battles for me. I don't know where the Icewings are right now - we're currently flying over the Southern Sea. One of the navigators can give you more specific coordinates."

He turned to look at her, a smile on his face. It wasn't forced, but strangely serene. "We will arrive at Ha'Kuhn within the next week. I'll be waiting for rain before I attempt to take the city by surprise. If you can possibly get back before then, I could sincerely use your help, Mel."

* * *

Kiet landed on the one chair in the room - a small wicker bucket chair with a cushion - with a soft whumpf. Mina quirked her lips.
"Make yourself at home, please." she said, sidling past him and opening a side cupboard. She pulled a bottle of golden liquid out, along with two small glasses.

"I suppose giving you that item that you lost there isn't enough for you to do a little favor for me?" she said lightly as she poured. "It's not exactly much of a job, as least not for you, I don't think."
She sipped from the glass, and offered the other to Kiet. "It's warm, I'm afraid, but the apple liquor around here is quite good. But, as for my favor..."

She gave a small grin. "There's a lioness outside here. A minor sorceress, I think, but she's under the impression that she's some sort of minor harvest deity or something. Anyhow, the local religious folk have decided that she's a heretic, and she's being brought to trial as we speak. Normally, of course, I wouldn't bother, but she's such an...interesting girl. Traveling by yourself can get so lonely, out in the wilderness. She might be useful to have around"

Mina's grin grew wider. "Of course, I understand if you might require something of a bit more...substance, before you'd do me any favors. I'm afraid money isn't something I have much of, but if you see anything around here you like, we might be able to work something out..."

* * *

"Hrm?"
The somewhat portly fennec blinked, and scratched his belly once before his eyes lit up in recognition. "Ah, you mean the churchmen over there, with the heretic. Found her in a town not too far from here, claiming to be some sort of pagan goddess, I hear. Magic user, they said. Dangerous folk. She's going before the council of elders in Bellifree, to see if she truly is touched by magic, or just by sun. They stopped to rest here for the day. Got here only a few hours before you did, I think."

* * *

A shower of gore rained down on upon the demon prince, and also splattered around the room. A chitinous eye stuck to Jeremiah's shirt, hanging by a gory thread of flesh.

The demon had apparently guessed right.

The both of them heard gunshots from upstairs, and what sounded like badly sung opera.

* * *

Karazkt heard the sob stop, suddenly and wetly. Another sound, like the sound of metal being drawn through flesh, whispered softly through the darkness.

His strange form of vision saw the creature, likely before the creature saw it. A grotesque mountain of flesh, like a walking cancerous lump, shuffled towards him. It dragged a long knife with it, disturbingly rusted. It's face, if it could be called a face, was twisted in what looked like sadistic glee. His footsteps trailed blood, moving faster now, and towards the sound of Karazkt's diggermech.

* * *

The cave itself had been entirely black, but Rynkura had easily solved such a problem with a simply light spell. With illumination pouring from the top of her staff, the underground blackness was kept at bay. Another problem - the twisting of the passages - was soon solved as well. They left bits and pieces of paper behind them as they went, marking what passages they had taken, so as to not get lost.

They had been traveling for awhile yet, before they heard a strange, dull flapping sound, like flippers slapping against rock. It wasn't long before they saw the source of such a sound. A giant penguin, sightless and nauseating, was walking around in the darkness. Another such creature could be seen not so far off, just beyond an archway that seemed to lead yet deeper into the Island's caves.

[Lisky]

The stench, being showered with the stench and texture of these things was becoming a painfully reoccurring event in Baseel's short time here.  He was busy cleaning himself off when he'd heard additional gunshots.  "Shit!... Are you alright, little being?"  Bas asked absentmindedly while starting to bolt up the stairs, "Stay behind me if you can, and shout if you see any more of those things... your... friend... is looking at trying to get himself killed."

The demon tore up the stairs towards the source of the gunfire, he'd started collecting another bolt of dark energy in his hand.  His shield set to at least partially protect him from anything, should he get pounced from the front.

[SpottedKitty]

Only a barely noticeable quiver in her tail and whiskers betrayed the fact that Andrace wasn't completely calm and relaxed, and slightly drunk. She perked her ears and raised one eyebrow at the fennec's remarks. "A heretic, they say? Hmm... what church d' these folks come from, anyway? They don't dress like th' Pastafarians, an' they ain't dyed their fur blue like th' penitents o' Our Lady o' Perpetual Pleasure an' Pain."

The lioness thought quickly. She had a new side job now: when they left this town, whatever else happened, this other lioness would be coming with them. Without the collar. She might have to be very persuasive with her companions, though: Cerebus and Ti'Paollo might not like it if whatever plan she came up with went all wahoonie-shaped and she left a generous portion of chaos and mayhem in her wake. Along with a number of openings for advancement in the local clergy.

[Cogidubnus]

The fennec thought a moment before speaking. "They're up from Lantern way. Big city up there. Closest church I can think of, but they've got preachers who ride the circuit round these parts, about every other week regular. Haven't seen those particular folks before, but they seem like alright sorts for smoothskins."

He shrugged and took a drink from the mug that sweated at his side. "A'course, the Church has been round these parts for longer my Dad's been alive. Don't know about them others that you mention. I wouldn't mention it around them either."

It wasn't long after that that the lioness could hear Cerebus walking up from behind her. A number of things gave him away - the slight limp in one leg, the sound of nice shoes rather than feet, and then the horrific stench of alcohol.
"Ah, er, Andrace, yes?" the undead began, sidling up next to her and giving her a wide grin. White teeth gleamed. "Good news! There's a caravan heading out West tomorrow, towards the sea. There's a town there where we can surely buy a ticket to more civilized places. They're willing to take us on, no charge...ehrm."

He paused. "Are you, ah, quite alright?" he said, one eyebrow raising in concern.

* * *

Baseel opened the door to find a situation he hadn't quite expected.

Tom was sitting in an overstuffed chair, a roaring fireplace behind him, and holding a glass of brandy in one hand and a gun in the other. A large book lay in his lap.
A giant spider was perched over his shoulder, seemingly reading. Tom was muttering something when they both looked up at the intruding demon, and then at each other.
"Oh, right." Tom said, cocking his revolver. He pressed the gun against the spiders head, shooting it with a deafening gunshot, and then stood. The spider twitched.

"What is taking you so long, anyway? We're almost there, just a bit father, over the bridge and into the brain. Is the host still here, or did he get bit?"

[Boog]

Jeremiah had scoffed at the "little being," remark. He wasn't SULKING, as such. Of course not. Not him. That'd be immature. However, he could see how it could COME OFF as sulking, to the untrained eye. "I'm sure he's fine. From what I've seen, that guy has a god's own luck." He tried not too think too hard about THAT remark, remembering the man's raving at the castle. He was plainly insane. Hopefully.
...
That sort of remark would usually provoke some serious comments from his curse. That was what was getting to him. What were they so busy with?
He was hanging back when they walked in on Tom, and tried not to think too hard about what he'd just seen. He failed.
"Was that spider reading over your shoulder?" He sputtered a couple times, fumbling for questions, eventually settling on "... What book is that anyway?"
It seemed like the most reasonable thing to say, the comment about "hosts" opting not to travel over his head when  the space between his ears was, for the moment, so much clearer. After all, what would a spider like to read? Proust or poetry?

[Azlan]

Kiet dropped any pretense of whimsy and examined Mina carefully, "thinks she's a minor harvest deity?  Her name wouldn't be Holo would it?  Never mind, sorry... not important right now."  His eyes drifted around the room at the various things she had, especially those that caught his attention when he first surveyed it.

"Tell me, are you a dreamer or one of those that lingers at the edge, between now and beyond... life and death?"  Not expecting an answer, he sipped the offered apple liquor and considered his options, "tell me, what types are these that have captured her?  Just townsfolk or an honest to goodness 'empowered' priest?"

Pausing he added, "one other thing... you wish me to save her so she can become your traveling companion?  The you will likely need to leave town and meet us at a discrete location to receive her.  I do not guarantee amiability of the lioness to your desires."

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Rover turned his head to one side, and quizzically rolled one eye around to look at the ball where it was lying, just in reach. He reached out with one paw, and batted it a little, then rolled his other eye at the other gryphons quizzically.

Since they seemed to want him to play, he reached over, and gripped the ball in his beak. He swung his head back, then forwards, flicking the ball forwards, and swivelled one eye to follow the trail of the ball... which wasn't there at all. He blinked, then looked around, lifting one paw to see if it was under there, then tucking his head under his chest to look at the floor under himself.

At about that point, the ball returned from the quick visit it had via the back wall of the hangar, at some speed, and parted the feathers on the top of his head on it's way in a flat arc to rejoin the game...