The City (IC) [M]

[Boog]

The main town was... Well, depressing to say the least. The infrequent small whirlwind of dust sprang up across the cracked streets, stinging Giles' eyes. Old houses lined the streets, that looked like they'd been there since the town was founded. The streets were barren, the "Welcome to Oldhill" sign was cracked, with blank pegs for numbers next to the word "Population:". Further down the street near a gas station three children were playing some game involving grabbing a ball from each other and running like hell while the others tried to tackle the one with the ball. Over the tops of the nearby houses it was possible to see a church and some local government building a few streets away. Down past the gas station a ways further was the hostel Moze had mentioned, a reasonably wide two-floored building that looked like it, like the rest of the town, had seen better days. One window was completely boarded up, the paint was peeling... The place was a firetrap waiting to happen.

Jezebel palmed the pay set out by Kyirri and Black Magic with a smile as Moze reentered the common room of the Inn. He looked around at the scene before him, smiled to see that the kangaroo rat was still in good condition. Fights breaking out in his inn were an embarassment he tried to downplay as much as he could. It wasn't TOO uncommon; it was an establishment that catered mainly to adventurers, after all, but you didn't let the news get around. He made a mental note to give the boy a discount on his room, later.

The man strolled away from the adventurers, snickering to himself. "Knowing adventurers, so'm I. Really, y'ain't doin' much to prove me wrong here." He started gathering the corners of his blanket together and slung it, and the wares he'd been selling, over his back. "Well, if you're that curious, flint street ain't that bad a walk from here. Ten blocks down third avenue, and yer already on second." The man strolled toward the building he'd been waiting outside of and waved over his shoulder once. "And do let 'em know Silas says hi."

The creature gave some combination of a scream and a howl as Ed leapt down, already charging for him. The rope keeping it tied up snapped as it attempted to cannonball into the cubi, dodging bladed tentacles as it came. Two sank into its left shoulder, one into its right, another neatly removed the doglike leg, and two went through its back as it charged on all fours low to the ground, but the thing was too rabid or too stupid to even notice it was dying. Carried by mad rage and momentum it barreled into Ed, knocking him from his feet as it died.
After the fury of its attack, the quiet afterwords was almost unnerving.

[techmaster-glitch]

   Traxen took stock of everything the barkeeper told him. It mostly matched up with what the other orangutan already told him; double-check everything, be wary of "people". The subway was a new tip, and Traxen made sure to remember it. Traxen checked his two drone displays again. One was still following "Sam" from the inn, and the other was still watching the homeless human and the other person he'd come across, the one who, now that the drone had moved to a different angle, Traxen could see had a very large rifle strapped to his back. Impressive.
   But not enough for what Traxen had in mind. He wanted at least a few more people to work with. He returned to the center of the van and the command console and redeployed the spiderdrone with the speaker and sent it to the bar. Looking around, he noticed that the calm, quite Nictarl was missing. Traxen checked his camera logs and, sure enough, there he was, leaving the bar while Traxen was talking to the barkeeper. Drat.
   Looking around again, the only two people who interested Traxen at all were the cop and possibly the girl with the animated book. Everyone else seemed unsuitable for what Traxen had in mind. Of course, by the look of the cop's charred uniform, he was at least involved with the explosion, but virtue of being a trained officer gave him the competance Traxen was looking for (he hoped). Anything else mattered little; he could just leave anyone who didn't work out.
   The spider-drone scrambled around until it was on a table near the book-girl again while Traxen moved the van around a little.

***

   Traxen's van pulled up closer to Payden, and his voice sounded through the speakers. "Hello there, officer? I have a question for you. Are you planning on entering the so-called City in the very near future?"

[Lisky]

Ed had felt several tentacles land blows as the tried to move in the concealing fog... but it seemed to have no effect at all on the beast... he felt several more hits land as the thing crouched low and came charging on all fours.  Ed pushed the hits in deeper while retracting the missed tentacles for a second attempt.

The tentacles seemed to be having an effect as he felt the thing suddenly loose strength, unfortunately that was just after a last surge as it lunged towards the cubi.  Ed was knocked to the ground, and he quickly shifted tentacles and his arms, catching himself in a backhand spring.  He quickly brought himself back to his feet in a low crouch, facing the obviously dead beast...  The mist around his hand shifted to a shade of red as the things blood flowed to the mist surrounding Ed's hand before being dissipated into nothing.

Ed brushed off a little bit of dust, and reformed his wings as went in search of Ephy, well aware of the bruises that the impact would leave, and him powerless to do much about them.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Ephrael watched Ed slaughter the dog/being thing from a gap in the fence. Sure she didn't lose any sleep over the animals and creatures and a (few beings she added guiltily) and maybe got a bit of a kick out of it but she damn well made sure what she was killing deserved it!!

"Are you totally fucking insane?!!? What if that was someones dog? I mean this place warps things!" It was pretty evident she was pissed even though she was still whispering.

[Kafzeil]

Jinx examined his surroundings. He could just wander into the City....however, with zero info on what could go on in it, that would a fatal mistake.

The rat in the booth was likely a good source of info, even if he did look and act like a moron. Oh well...Jinx could wait. He fumbled with his cigarette case before stopping himself. He really needed to quit. This stuff just ate a hole in his pocket, not to mention the ash and smoke could be damning on a hit. A Creature or being with a sensitive nose and decent skill in deduction might spy a smoking Assasin well ebfore he could be taken out.

Jinx noticed the Nictarl from the bar was here as well, though Jinx was unsure if he realized he was here as well. He winced, feeling that same unease well up in his stomach from before. He tried looking away and closing his eye, only to see Max, laying on the ground, blood pouring out of his neck and motionless in his mind's eye.

[Tipod]

Payden was about to protest: 'Why me? What did I do? What about my kit?' If it wasn't for Mykst's impeccable timing, he would have likely given Moze a tonguelashing. "...thanks, son." His furrowed demeanor softened, and he even found it in himself to accept Giles' apology with an affirming grunt (no point in rejecting it and causing another scene). It had been a while since a young man ever really did something polite for him; most kids and teens were pretty content with just glaring and avoiding him, or spitting to the side.

"Look," he said as he slung his pack over a shoulder, "I'm obviously not wanted at this ape's establishment. Meet me down the street at the City's threshold. The more people you can talk into joining up, the better." Payden straightened out the field pack's straps. "This is the real deal, son, so make sure you pick out some tough hombres. See you at the gates." He left the young housecat, sauntering down the street towards the cursed metropolis.

Then that bizarre vehicle cruised up next to him, the same one that those kooky robots came out of. "Yeah," he stopped to give the van a good look. "In the very immediate future. Are you asking me for an escort or something?" What the hell is this thing, anyway? A war wagon?

[Lisky]

Ed cocked an eyebrow as Ephy was talking, evidently pissed by his action, Ed decided to take a different route than returning her rage.  He replied in a sagely tone, "that thing wasn't just warped in body, if you would have seen the face, particularly the eyes, you would have known that whatever that thing was, it wasn't a pet.  Either this place turned the owner and pet into one, or that thing killed the owner, and was tied down while it was asleep.  I picked up no thoughts from the thing, only an unquestionable rage.  If that rope would have broken while i was on the roof, it would have been you who would have had to deal with it."

He looked almost sad, as if he pitied the thing he'd killed.  Instead of dwelling though, he instead looked to the apparently vacant house and began reaching around with his senses, trying to figure out if anyone or anything else was around.

[techmaster-glitch]

   Traxen's voice continued to emit from an unseen source on the van. "In a manner of speaking...I do have a proposition for you. I am entering this "City" to conduct some salvaging, and, as I'm sure you've heard, it is rumored to be filled with all manner of nasty things. Now, I believe we can come to a mutually beneficial arrangement. While I do have the capability to exert myself militarily beyond the confines of this van, it's... well, let's just say, the more extra hands, preferably ones holding guns, the better for me. Now, that is not to say I don't have anything of my own to fall back on, quite the opposite in fact. I can see things no other single person could, and I do have my own force to use, if necessary. If you were to come under my protection, your odds of survival increase dramatically. I can give you early warnings of anything headed your way, directions to the right places, and in emergencies, I can bail you out with my own weapons. I ask for nothing except, well, your presence. You protect me, I protect you. What do you think?"

[Teh_Hobo]

The Hobo grinned.
"A place to sleep, eh? Well that aint too hard if you're not picky. Generally a large box, under a bridge, a doorway, all work fine for me. I get the impression that ain't what you were thinkin of, though. Well, never know if theres somewhere else open unless we look. Off we go then?"
He started to amble off, glancing back and watching to see if the Fox was going to follow.

[Paladin Sheppard]

"It didn't even know I was here! And it only saw you after its toy got flung t the roof!" Ephrael hissed, looking around to see if the struggle had attracted attention.

God cubi could be so full of themselves she fumed, safe in the knowledge that her custom mindsheld would project anything but those thoughts.

She slunk away from the fence and deeper into the shadows.

[Mao]

Mao nodded to the man and motioned to the gate with his hand.

"Forgive me, sir, but I'd like to see some of this infamous city that so many of these parts talk about."

Mao, kept his expression as clear and calm as he could, while maintaining the same on the inside.  There was a twinge of curiosity in him at the moment that he hopped would not cause him too much trouble in what was ahead.  He let his minds eye stray to his two weapons and found them, comfortingly, where they were supposed to be.  He wasn't sure what to expect from this place, and given the bits he'd seen and heard, it would do him well to exercise a bit more caution than usual.  Not many things can mess up a demon, and he was fairly certain that whatever it was, it came from this place.  Mao glanced down the road at the two, his physically closed eyes never leaving the guard in front of him.  People always seemed disturbed when he talked to them without 'looking' in their direction, though some found his closed eyes just as disturbing.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Sister Alex paid for the remaining food before seating herself near the others. She took a sip of the soup before speaking, "I'm sure we're all here for the same reason, to visit the cursed city. As groups usually fare better are any of you interested in joining forces?" Alex didn't have 20 years of successful adventuring behind her by being reckless. There never were enough Acquisition Specialists in the order to go without the help of adventurers so she had worked with them often.

[Boog]

The rat didn't seem overly unsettled by Mao and his apparent blindness. Indeed, he even gave the boy a friendly smile, shooting a short nod at the other fellow as he arrived. Some slightly jumpy looking fellow. Looked like a ponce. And there were two more on their way, a human and some guy with a BIG gun. The rat seemed to dismiss them and focus on the nictarl. "Well, m'boy, plenty of people want to. It's thoroughly illegal for me to let you in though. Be damn irresponcible, letting people into a cursed city. Gate ain't locked though, and it's about time for my lunch break." He opened up the little door in the gate booth, his obese bulk almost oozing out of a work station that he more molded into than actually fit in. One could see that he just sort of squished himself in, like a gummi bear between a child's fingers. He offered a salute and plodded off down along the fence to the right of the gate, languidly trailing his finger along the chain link fence. Out of the booth, it was worth noticing that something had chopped off the man's tail about half a foot from the base.
There was some sort of scuffle, down at that house a few blocks in. Loud noises. Then silence.

The suburbs were quiet. As a matter of fact, it seemed quieter than it had been before they'd killed the creature, even discounting it's noises. There weren't any crickets chirping, the wind wasn't whistling through any cracked windows. Just the rustle of the breeze in the grass and in the creature's fur settling into place, the occassional wet noise as it's wounds leaked or air excaped the corpse. One eye, a beautiful shade of blue stared straight ahead, like before it fell with its muzzle to the floor it was incredibly surprised by the blades of grass right in front of its face, tickling its nose.

[ShadesFox]

Ben looked around awkwardly, "Indeed, not quite what I was thinking of."

He wondered about the wisdom of following this fellow, but Ben figured he had nothing better to do, so he follows the ambling hobo, looking for a place to sleep, or a way into the city work out.

[Lisky]

Ed was taken slightly aback by the hostility the tazzy devil was suddenly showing.  It took him almost no time at all to recover as he gave Ephy a solemn look and walked slowly over towards the edge of the fence.  The feline decided that perhaps a true face to face conversation would be the easiest way to ease tensions between the two of them. 

Ed gripped the edge of the fence, and swung himself over in a wide arch, kick his legs forward to launch himself further. The move displayed Ed's incredible flexibility (by being standards) as well as launched him well clear of Ephy's hiding spot.  As he moved towards the girl, he bent down, bringing his face in line with hers.  Once they were eye to eye, he began his apology, "i'm sorry, i over-reacted to something that startled me.  I acted in fear, rather than trying to deescalate the situation and i'm sorry that i let my own arrogance cloud my judgment."

The Leopard kept his face solemn and apologetic as he delivered his bit in a low voice.  He too, was making sure nothing was attempting to sneak up on the pair.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Calming down now that nothing had come to the warped dog/being's defense Ephrael calmed herself. "Well I'm sorry too...That thing startled me a little, I mean I've seen some magic gone wrong but not like that."

Taking a long, deep breath, the Tasmanian Devil gave herself a mental shake.

"Well I doubt there is anything to loot off that thing lets keep moving. I don't plan on being here at night, not when there is an inn nearby, I do like my comfort ya know." She said grinning at the last, her bright white teeth visible in the darkness.

[Lisky]

Ed grinned back with a slightly devious look in his eye, it wasn't what she'd said, or even the way she said it... it was as if it was more like an extra sense that he couldn't put a finger on, but that last sentence seemed to have far more meaning than a causal observer might have picked up.

He then offered an arm and pointed towards the inner city, "if your ready to go, there's some heavier magic coming from that way, and probably something worth checking out."  His grin broadened, only making the cubi seem more playful.

[Tipod]

Having armored support would certainly help: equipment storage, cover, transport, little flying saucers for scouting duty, and a full arsenal behind it... though vehicles were far from invincible in urban environments. Ambushes could very well lie around every corner, and there's only so much a weaponized van can do when surrounded by all sides. And yet, and yet, and yet-- "...as nice as your car looks, I get the feeling you need me less than the two kids I'm joining. If they don't want to be tethered to you, then I can't help."

[techmaster-glitch]

   The little flying disc continued floating after the hobo and the fox with portable artillery.

***

   The voice from the van paused for a moment. "I see... Well, talk it over with them, then. I'll probably be here for a little bit longer anyway."
   The voice fell silent.

***

   The little spider-robot went into motion again, getting off the empty table it was on, scuttling across the floor, then climbing the table that the book-owning squirrel was on. In the van, Traxen had backed up the feed a bit, and caught her inquiry about joining forces.
   The little spider "spoke". "Interesting, I may have a similar proposition, but I'll get to that later. First, though, I wanted to ask you about that book of yours, the animated one. Magic of that kind is fairly rare, and as quaint as magic is, that particular branch has always intrigued me. Did you enchant it yourself, or did you get it from somwehere else? And, how does it work, exactly?"

[Mao]

Mao smiled and bowed towards the guard as he saluted and made on his way.  The tail of the poor rat looked to have been chopped of almost entirely, but Mao said nothing.  Considering that the rat was well on his way out of earshot and that Mao wasn't the sort to pry about such things without knowing folks better it was best this way he felt.  Mao gave a sigh of a deep breath.  He had no desire to break any laws, but he got the feeling that this was a law that wasn't much respected.  Though why it wasn't he couldn't really be sure.  He decided he would have to see for himself.  Given the tales of the others though, it was likely that those who violated it were punished worse than the law could ever do to them.

Just as he completed that thought and turned to face the gate he was greeted with what sounded like a rather abrupt fight, punctuated with indecipherable loud noises and then ultimately silence.  To Mao, this only reinforced the idea that the place punished those who were in there.

"That's precisely why I can't leave it though, at least not without trying to do something about it or seeing what little I may be able to do."

As he was thinking this, he began his trek into the city proper.

[Angel]

Black Magic nodded at the wolf-troll's comment. "Let's just say it's proved to be a valuable asset in my life not to judge immediately."

Just as the robot-messenger began speaking to Sister Alex, Mykst re-entered the bar and sat next to Kali, setting his staff next to him and untying his cloak before draping it over the back of his chair. Black Magic smiled at him and pushed his soup bowl to him. "Well?"

Mykst shrugged. "He was grateful. Said where he'd be staying and offered for us to join him later." He raised his eyebrows a bit at Kali, indicating as usual that he didn't want to make any choices without her. She propped her hand up under her mouth and thought out loud.

"Well, if we join up with the cop, that probably rules out a couple other people here," she uttered, meaning not just the troll but anyone who'd gotten a bad impression of Payden. "If it rules out everyone here, then the wquestion is whether we'd be better off with more than one person with us." She glanced at Mykst and added, "And of course, if we don't decide before nightfall, we're screwed."

Mykst sighed and planted his face in his hands. "I hate doing this," he said in a muffled voice.

"Then you should have taken a quiet job like all the other domestic cats," Magic said, pushing his shoulder good-naturedly and glancing around at the other patrons again. They could afford to wait only a while longer to decide.

[Myr]

The lupine Mythos rolled a pale eye towards the half-angel as she spoke...not that he knew what she was, of course. To be honest, he could care less if he visited the city -any opportunity that gave him a moderately decent chance to fight suited him fine. If whomever decided to hire him-if anyone- decided to go there, he would follow. And help to the best of his ability, of course. And from the sounds of things it seemed like he'd be constantly doing his job. "Depends. I work for adventurers, not as one."

An ear twitched slightly as the canid's stomach grumbled in a low undertone abruptly. Don't worry; I haven't forgotten about you... Raek's muzzle twitched slightly. Speaking of which, the wolfish troll would need supplies either way. He glanced thoughtfully at Moze-it seemed reasonable the fellow sold supplies, or perhaps traded them. Could be wrong, of course. And there was that female demon, if she was still there. Looking for someone, the simian had said. Wouldn't be surprising if she might be willing to go into the city with a bit of help-that limp would make her easy prey otherwise, the troll felt.

Let's save that for after I find out what they decide, he thought as his attention focused on the young feline that had returned, and I still have that offer for work here. Granted, that's likely to get me dead at some point....

A slight flaw in the logic there, perhaps, as the canid didn't seem to include that working the mercenary angle would probably kill him sooner than working at the local inn as a peacekeeper. And maybe with some free pest control on the side; one couldn't be sure if it was something to be proud of, but for some reason, when the lupine Mythos worked somewhere, the place quickly and rather mysteriously became roach and rodent-free. And he usually lost the job when they finally figured out why that was.

Hmm? An ear quirked slightly as Magic-as she stylized herself, apparently- started thinking aloud. Cop? What cop? He blinked. Well, if they'd found someone else to work with them, it was fine. Still, in all honesty he didn't know Payden was a cop. Where he'd come from a 'Cop' was someone that rather closely matched that firebreather Giles-except in the firebreathing, of course. Some used magic, obviously, and there had been an even use between more old-fashioned weapons and the somewhat more modern ones he saw so much of lately. Most didn't have nearly as much muscle, either.

Oh well. A brief survey showed the squirrel talking with yet another of those odd things. A machine, if he recalled from a little while ago. At least that doesn't look quite like an insect...Might as well get my supplies now. The troll-wolf grunted sourly as he rolled his knotted shoulders and made his way over to the innkeeper.

Don't know what he is, the canine thought as he passed by the hedgehog that'd made his rather unusual entrance earlier-and whom, by now, Raek had linked that somewhat musty odor that still pervaded the inn too. Probably give me indigestion with those spines, though. Didn't even seem the type to want to work with someone...Still, if he said something to show interest...

"Moze, was it?" The fellow rumbled slightly, "Think you have some supplies I can buy? Seems this lot isn't overly interested in my kind of service, and I might as well be ready to look elsewhere just in case." He panned his head slightly-both to keep his attention on the innkeeper and the other patrons, if possible. And to talk to that ram-demon. "And I overheard you might be looking for someone," He said in, what was to him, a rather casual undertone. "That how you hurt yourself?"

[SpottedKitty]

Andrace's ears and whiskers perked forward, and her tail swished in thoughtful, slow s-curves around her hocks as she stood up after securing her backpack. She dusted her hands off on the backside of her trousers and looked down at the squirrel. "Yeah, why not?" she said in a cheerful bass rumble. "Safety in numbers, an' all that. If y' didn't catch m' name b'fore, Sister, I'm Andrace Kithara. M' brother Mitri's had dealin's wi' y'r lot a time or two, an' he's never had anythin' but a good word f'r y'."

As she reached out to seal the deal with a handshake, the lioness glanced at Kali, Mykst, who'd just returned from outside, and the kangaroo rat. It sounded like the two young mages weren't sure what to do next. "How 'bout it, people," she asked, "want t' pile on? Th' more th' merrier, I say, an' th' more o' us, th' more o' them we can handle, whatever them happens t' be. Y' two kids might learn a few new tricks, an' wi' a bit o' luck, we'll none o' us get killed. Int'rest'd?"

Her glance shifted to the hulking, shaggy bulk of the wolf-troll. "That goes f'r you too, big-tough-an'-hairy. Join us, an' things'll go easier f'r all o' us. An' don't try t' eat any o' us, or I'll see t' it y' get a real bad dose o' indigestion." Andrace jiggled her right shoulder, and the huge sword strapped to her back clunked meaningfully. Apparently her idea of "indigestion" involved adding a lot of iron to the diet.

Ten seconds later, the lioness carefully hid her agitation as she desperately tried to remember certain details of one of her training sessions in Creature lore. Which type of hulking, vicious monster was it that considered a deadly threat at first meeting — like she'd just done — to be honest and polite, and which considered it to be heavy flirting?

[Kafzeil]

Get a hold of yourself, Jinx...You're a Goddamn Assassin.

Jinx swallowed, managing to overcome his sense of dread. He hadn't even entered the City and he was already falling apart mentally.

Watching the rat walk off, however, brought both hilarity and horror to Jinx. On one hand, the rat's laid back back attitude and obesity was so mismatched to this city Jinx found it amusing. On the other, a sizable portion of his tail was missing. Chop off, gone...

Jinx had a gut feeling that whatever it was, as well as whatever injured that Demon Ram was in that city, lurking about, and likely hungry.

Jinx took a deep breath as he followed Mao into the city, kicking the gate open with his loafer-clad  foot. He made a mental note to do his best not to think like that. He had to remain in control of his own mind, though he somehow felt that would be a losing battle.

Jinx made sure his rapier was sharp, and began using it like a can of sorts. His revolver was in his right hand, rapier in his left, his baggage being dragged by his tail.  He pulled back the hammer of his gun, the click calming Jinx down greatly. Six Shots, enough to bring down anything that attacked him in this city.

The feline hoped, at least.

[Noone]

Kyirri reviewed his bill, and paid what was due, with a bit of reluctance. It took almost all of what money he had on him. He sighed deeply, this little venture had cost him a lot. After a moment he spent moping to himself, he felt a tug in the back of his head, his eyes wandered towards Andrace, Mykst, and Kali, those he felt indebted to for saving his life. He slowly paced over to them, listening in on their conversation with Sister Alex and Raek, looking for an opportune place to introduce himself to them.

"Indeed, I was planning to head to the city myself." Kyirri stopped for a moment. I really don't know why I'm going there, I just hope I have a believable enough cover story... "The City... I suppose it's not a great place for the desperate, yet, I find myself with few options." He faced Andrace. "I do owe you, and the others as well for what you have done for me. I cannot repay you with material goods, but I hope I could with service, if you would have me." His facial expression was oddly blank, his words had a flat tone to them. He looked up at the others, awaiting a response.

[Boog]

Jezebel stopped, counted out the money in her hand, and returned it to Kali and Kyirri with an embarassed smile. "I'm sorry, your meals were already covered by the woman in the robe over there." She pointed at Sister Alex and bustled off again to do something Bartenderly in the back room.
"Yeah, we got some supplies. Sell 'em over near the rooms upstairs, c'mon." Moze nodded to Raek and gestured that he follow him as he made his way up the stairwell, refusing to acknowledge the twinge in his hip as he ascended the stairs. I'm not this old. I REFUSE to be this old. Nah nah can't make me, nuh-uh, no.
The demon girl, however, stiffened at the troll's last comment, and slowly turned around in her chair. The look she gave him, by all rights, should have burned a hole right through his skull and out the other side. She was staring him dead in the eyes and, if the troll tried to take this as a staredown, there weren't particularly poor odds that he'd use. She was remembering SOMETHING, and it was making her ANGRY.
"No." She said simply, solidly. It was a word like a cinderblock, you half expected it to stop hanging in the air and fall down to crash through the floorboards. "The searching came after."

The suburbs were quiet as Ed and Eph moved on. Quieter than before. It was almost sad, in a way. At least before there were sounds of life around them. Nothing eventful happened until they were halfway to the bridge, a trash can knocked over near one of the nearby houses and a cat's tail disappearing around the edge of said house in a strange, jerky manner. Like it was dragging some heavy weight.

Ben and the Hobo reached the gates of the City just as Jinx and Mao were entering it. The suburbs were quiet and peaceful, almost serene. There was barely a gust of wind to so much as disturb the grass. Something pawed at the window of a nearby house from the inside and ducked away as they began their encroachment into unknown territory, the towers of the City itself looming in the distance...

[Tipod]

"If you don't mind my asking," Payden spoke, still staring at the van and paying particular attention to its front, "what's an inventive man like you expect to salvage from a place like that? Looting, that's one thing, but you make it sound like there's stuff in there that you could actually make another truck with." General impressions in mind, it seemed like anything in the City that wasn't plain gold or a watch off a corpse was just toxic material tainted by whatever things used to, and possibly still lived in there. "You heard the stories and know it's a fucking deathcamp, probably made by the Fae as another sick joke."

[Myr]

Oh goodie, multiple conversations directed at him. Eh, it wasn't any different then when a mob decided to try and lynch you and were merely voicing their complaints on what you'd purportedly done. Okay, maybe that was a serious over-exaggeration, but still. Give the oversized aberration of nature's order a moment to sort out whom to respond to! And to make it more challenging, base it on level of importance to him. And yes, it was partly his fault, at least, that he'd gotten into this situation.

Initially he hadn't been expecting a response from the demonic female, for example. But now, she did have most of his attention-if mostly due to the tone of her voice. "Just a moment, Innkeep," He grunted lightly as he turned his head to focus on her more fully. To be truthful, he didn't really consider it a contest...more of an unwanted challenge. And even if he could win, he really didn't want to cause havoc in a place where the owner hadn't decided to oust him.

Maybe I'm imagining, but it sounds like he hurt her, and she's after him, Raek thought as he returned her glare with the typical trollish indifference of his kind. Perhaps a low level of common sense mixed with lack of fear was a bad thing in this situation, perhaps not.  "I don't want or care to know the details, but if you think the one you're after is in there..." He smiled, showing that disturbing forest of teeth ensconced in his jaws, "Maybe I can help you find them...and if needed, give you a chance to deal with them." There was the briefest of pauses, before he added, "If that involves tearing them in half, I get the body." That might have been his stomach talking, there.

Now, he felt, I can deal with everything else.

Maybe not. There was every possibility that, as he turned to face the lioness addressing him, that he was about to get severely pounded on in a variety of ways. He was ready to accept that. If not, that worked out too, didn't it? Either way... in his case a threat like that could be taken in good humor, at least...despite him recognizing it as a warning.

One could effectively say that, in this situation, her being polite and honest was a good idea. He wasn't offended-being rather used to being threatened quite often- not was he attracted by it. Perhaps another species would consider it flirting, to be honest. Most of his kind were really too dim-witted to be able to even understand the nuances of such an activity.

"Will you be paying me, be it before or after?" The tone was a calm rumble; much like the one he'd spoken to Alice in. "If so, I'll join you. Besides..." He smiled again. "I'll only eat you if you die-I'm not going to waste time burning or burying you. Otherwise I work to help you stay alive as long as possible." And do whatever I can to defeat whatever is trying to make you dead in the process, he thought as his attention focused on the 'roo-rat briefly. Maybe I won't ask payment from him...he seems bad off in more ways than one, with that way of talking....

[Kafzeil]

Jinx spied something out of the corner of his Emerald eye. Something moved inside that house.

Looks like this place wasn't a pile of bullshit. That was not exactly the most comforting bit of knowledge.

Or, Jinx was crazy. Again, not very comforting.

Well, Kafzeil wanted a write-up on this city. If there was a native actually inside this crazy Hellhole, the better. Easier to pry info from.

Jinx walked up the house, his shoes clopping on the cracked pavement as he stood in front of the door, paint peeling off of it. Rapier still in hand, he knocked on the door, calling out a questioning, and somewhat frightened sounding "Hello, anyone there?"  Silently oping he was still quick to the draw if some horrific, puss spewing eldtrich horror lived here.

[techmaster-glitch]

   As Traxen watched the feed of the camera-drone following the hobo and the large rifle-toting fox, he saw the Nictarl come into the field of vision. Excellent! If they stayed together, Traxen could eventually rendezvous with all of them. But then, that jittery, fritzing-out Being from the bar was also with the Nictarl. Oh well. He then heard the voice of the cop outside in his headset again.
  "What? Oh..." Traxen fortunately hadn't turned off the external microphones, though as the external speakers were off, he turned them back on, toggled his voicefeed to that channel only, and spoke into his headset. "Actually, I probably could build another van with what I'll find in there. That's a modern city, with modern Being technology. You should know that places like this are incredibly rare, they usually only show up wherever Jycorp-" Traxen said that word in an odd tone, "-or some other manufacturer has a particularly strong presence. Most everyone else still uses established magic systems. Even in most places where manufacturers exist, they still do. Point is, I can build just about anything, out of just about anything, with just about anything, just given the time, tools, and materials. Of course, the quality of the second two affects the quality of the final product, and, to be honest, scrapyards barely cut it, what with everything in them being rotted, rusted, and already stripped-down shells...As much of a "deathcamp" as this place is, it's still an incomparable improvement over what I've been having to make-do with for some time now."