The Clockwork Mansion

Across the ocean to the west there's a city that almost nobody lives in on purpose.
You're better off calling it The City, because if you ask it's name you'll get many different answers. Angels call it Smogholme, and say one of their kind was its founding ruler. Dragons claim that the city was once theirs, until they lost it in a bet to the fae, who then gave it to a young peasant lad as a gift, and say the original name was Burmarken. The insectis call it some sound akin to a cricket in a combustion engine that, as near as most can translate, means "don't eat here." The fae, when pressed, say "What city? I don't see anything." And promptly change the subject.
Lets start with what we do know then. The City is 20 miles long, 25 miles wide and is home to all manner of curses, squatters, vagrants of all species and the odd unfortunate who the City hasn't permitted to leave. Those who have braved it streets come back talking about streets that look like they couldn't be from any later than 40 years ago, abandoned vehicles parked in front of buildings of comparatively recent styles of architecture, even houses with the power still on and functioning. Others who venture into the it's depths talk about "dancers" and "worms" and other impossible sights deep within the city's heart, usually in between frantic gibbering...

Once there were floods of people who would delve into the city for its secrets. How can a city like any other you could live in today have such signs of age? What happened that unleashed its curses, and worse things that stalk its streets at night? Unfortunately public opinion is fickle, and people lose interest in a mystery left unsolved too long. The rush of tourism eventually died, and with it many of the villages surrounding the City. The only remaining one of note, really, is Oldhill. Occassionally one can see remains of the tourism boom that first sustained the city, old gift shops or names of pubs like "the adventurer's refuge" or "the dancer's nest". Nowadays it's sustained only by the stubbornness of its residents.
Which leaves The City to be as picky as it so pleases about who it calls. It doesn't take much. After all, adventurers rarely need much incentive to do something dangerous and stupid...

Moze turned the sign hanging off the door of the "Last Chance" inn from Closed to Open and plodded inside. The former adventurer was getting old, he could feel it. Hell, he could see it too. Stream of younger folks full of fire, all passing through his inn on the way to that damn city. Less these days, but still just enough to remind him he was an old fart. He sighed and got to work taking down chairs in the barroom. On the off chance there might be customers.

The door creaked open and a young traveler stepped inside. She was clad in traveling leathers and a cloak, but she shed the cloak as soon as she was inside, hanging it near the door.

"Hello? are you open?" The Tasmanian Devil asked as she stood near the door.

Approaching the edge of the small town Edaric took a moment to 'correct' his appearance, hiding both sets of wings was so second nature that he was surprised he'd let them slip out during his travels.  Focusing for a second, he formed a mind shield then walked into town.  Clad in a lightweight black cotton outfit, the Leopard wore a form fitting T-shirt and loose cargo pants, over the outfit, he wore a long hooded cloak, although the hood was currently pulled back, exposing his head.

He walked into town, spotted the Inn, and proceeded inside at a rather causal swagger, mimicking the overconfidence of your average fresh out of the academy adventurer rather well.  He noticed the young looking girl, little on the shorter side for my taste, but perhaps she could provide some amusement while I wait.  Introducing himself, "hello fellow traveler.  Edaric Ahnasazi, and what name, might i ask, has been bestowed upon such a lovely face"  He flashed the girl a genuinely friendly smile, and proceeded to catch glimpses of her surface thoughts.

Weary from what seemed like months of straight travel, Mao slowly trudged along a the road of what seemed to be a near abandoned village.  He hadn't seen any names for the place posted and frankly, he hadn't looked.  He hadn't seen civilization in probably weeks, his supplies were running low and all he could think of was a place to rest a bit and wash the dust off of his fur.  A few signs hung from buildings along the road he trudged along, none of them really seeming to be what he was looking for.  Eventually, he came across a sign that made him smirk a bit, "Last Chance".  Wondering if this was either a sign or warning, he decided to look in and see if it could provide the services he was seeking, or at the very least something to wet his dry throat.

"Some tea would be nice." He thought.

With a quick smile at the thought, he strode toward and slowly opened the door.  There were only three people there that he could see, two of which appeared to be patrons.  The other he identified as likely being the barkeep, noting that he was busy taking chairs down from the tables.  Not wanting to disturb any of them he carefully removed his satchel and placed it by a nearby chair and sat down.

Glancing over her shoulder the Tassie Devil looked over the newcomer, and the second who breezed through and sat down.

Turning to face the Leopard, she smiled, "My name would be Ephrael, Ephrael Falco, Adventurer come Huntress. I'm gonna assume you're in a similar line of work, only people around here are locals or people like us..."

The Hobo blinked. The sign. The sign caught his eye.
Sign. Is it a good sign? Bad sign? Hmm.
He squinted at the sign. "Open" it said. He squinted harder.
Can't tell. Just a sign? No. It's never just a sign. Why can't I tell if its good or bad?
He moved forward a few feet, and squinted again.
Still can't tell. Blasted sign. A sign should identify itself, none of this nonsense.
He began walking towards the sign, glaring at it as if it somehow offended him. He eventually reached the sign on the door. He took the sign in one dirty hand, held it up to his face, and glared at it. He sniffed it. He considered licking it, but decided against it. He may be homeless, but even he had standards. Besides, that hardly ever helped to determine whether something was good or bad. For the first time in recent memory, the sign appeared totally normal. He opened the door. He saw a bar. There were bottles behind it.
Eh? Whats this? Why is my friend behind the bar? My friend belongs in my stomach.
He walked in, seemingly without even noticing the other patrons, and hunched over at the bar.

Kyirri felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, a tug, almost. He glanced around, squinted, his vision was blurry. Fatigue, hunger, thirst, plagued him. He kept himself silent as he paced along, his legs seemingly moving without himself to control them. He glanced around, but tried not to take too many notes of where he was going or what he was doing... continually striking himself with the thought This is a bad idea... this is a bad idea...

Kyirri stopped inside the "Last Chance" inn, he kept his hands at his sides, and pulled back on his gloves, making sure they were tightly on. After stepping inside, he glanced around, taking note of any oddities. Another pain coursed through his head, vision blurred, yet some objects remained clear. Kyirri shook his head and tried to not think about what he was doing here. He found himself a place he could sit alone, and hopefully more accommodated to his height.
He swiftly counted through his things, crunched some numbers in his head. Great,.. he thought, just great, I think I only have enough money on hand for a light meal, a cheap room, and... that's about it. He let out a soft sigh.

The ground scrunched noisily beneath Payden's boots as he approached the inn; four days of travel and two attempted stickups by would-be robbers had brought him to the only safe haven outside The City, which still seemed like a dive compared to most other places he'd seen. Regardless, any inn was a source of actual food, which was a welcome diversion from the hardtack and salt pork he'd been sustaining himself on since he left. Walk in like you always do. But this time, you're not the sheriff in these parts. He straightened his olive drab jacket, iron breastplate, fatigues and forage cap before finally stepping inside with steady, deliberate clomps.

Even though Payden knew his jurisdiction meant nothing in this county, he still fell into the standard "profile everybody" mentality upon seeing the other patrons. Fucking kids. Slight resentment welled up in his gut at the sight of the four adventurers and bum, but all it took to make the bitterness die down was remembering that, hey, these whippersnappers were the entire reason he was here. If it weren't for young hotheads charging into danger, there wouldn't be any corpses for him to loot. "Innkeep," he grumbled as he dropped his field pack aside and took a seat, "what's on the menu? A man needs nourishment before plunging into the heart of darkness."

There had better be a damn bar around here...

For days he had been walking now. All without any sign of civilisation. the trail ahead of cloaked stanger had gone from a dusty path through various types of landscape to one made of stone, winding its way through the plains ahead. In the far distance, there could be seen a faint outline of something. A settlement perhaps? Or maybe, as the hooded stanger standing there was hoping, The City.

Sighing, the stranger pressed on. Nothing could be of his actual features, as the brown hooded cloak that was wrapped around him, hid of view anything distinguishing. Even his face was mostly unseen in the shadows that the hood create, save for a white furred canine muzzle and black sandal-like footwear worn on white furred feet. For years he had heard stories of the city he was looking for; tales of curses, monsters and the like. Something which he found most curious, and so had set out upon deciding to see it for himself, not to mention the fact that if it had claimed victims that could be rescued, he would do his best to claim them back, even if he may not admit that. If what he heard was true, then it would be a challenging time. Of course, had he known the journey it would take to reach it, he might not have bothered. But still, hopefully he was near his intended destination.

Lifting his head slightly, the canine figure looked to see that there was a tavern a short distance off. A slightly strange sight, considering the stories about the city, but welcoming nonetheless. Looking at the sign above it, he could see it had been christened "Last Chance". Scoffing slightly, he looked back at the building itself.

About damn time. I could use a drink.

A few minutes later, the front door of the tavern swung open, and in the doorway stood the stranger. Taking no notice to look at the others in the bar, he made a beeline for the bar, sitting upon one of the barstools as he looked towards the bartender.

"An ale, please." a gruff voice requested from the canine's mouth after the bartender had served the others. Looking slightly to the side, he could see a couple of others were at the bar; one talking to the bartender himself, another hunched over, his species not clear. Looking away again, the canine waited.

Fishing through the thoughts bouncing around the bar, Edaric managed to suppress a smirk at all the seeming negativity. This is supposed to be a place of adventure and wealth, where a man can enter a peasant and leave a king... he thought to himself. 
Looking slightly down at the small tasmanian devil girl, Ed gave her a bit of a grin and said "You are quite the observant one i must say, Ephrael.  I too am an adventurer" slayer  "as well as a treasure hunter.  Any chance i can buy you a drink?"

He couldn't quite help adding the little thought in, it helped him maintain his act as a being... looking around the bar again, he couldn't help but notice that it seemed far more full than a few minutes ago.  He almost let go of his disguise as an almost predatory grin crept into his expression for a second as he imagined how easy it would be to steal from these poor adventurous saps.  The wicked grin was gone as quickly as it had appeared, he hoped no body had noticed but if they had, he appeared far friendlier now.

As his mind began trying to rationalize a reason for the momentary lapse, the acrid stench of the hobo wafted over and brought a slight cringe to Ed's face.  Figuring it couldn't hurt, he lifted his left arm, pointed his hand towards the hobo. The hand glowed a dull bluish-green and with a flick of the wrist gesture, he cast a quick spell, removing the stench from the hobo.  The distance cleaning removed the oder, but the dirt and grime was still upon the man... Saying to Eph, "sorry, I didn't think i could last any longer with whatever that smell was that he had on him..."

Hmm...seems a bit quiet; normally there's always someone running by now, Raek thought as he made his way slowly through the community-frankly he'd never understood why the other races out there insisted on living together in such numbers. Trolls like himself tended to be solitary by nature-more food that way. Then again, the wolfish troll thought with a slight smile, I like it. No crowds, no staring...and why do I suddenly feel hungry already? His muzzle creased in irritation, looking as grotesque as the rest of his body.

That's right. Trolls were naturally hideous, weren't they? Rare it was for one to actually look nice...and the one here wasn't one of those. Also known for being highly crude and more than a little stupid, they were some of the most annoying creatures an adventurer could face...but that's where Raek was different. He had learned things; and even learned to control that monstrous appetite trolls were known for...well, almost control...and he still did feel that feral pleasure associated with crushing the occasional enemy into paste, at times...

"Got to be somewhere for eating," He grunted in a nearly unintelligible tone as his stomach grumbled thickly. Pale brown eyes searched the area thoughtfully as he scented the air. He didn't carry a lot of cash, normally-he'd never seen the use in having it personally since it tended to cause a lot of trouble.

How about there? The brute of a fellow thought as he noted the sign a few moments later, Inn's have food...normally. The troll-wolf shrugged, before making his way over to examine the sign better. Might as well read, I took the time to learn how, he thought.

"Last chance, huh?" Raek snorted almost contemptuously a few seconds later before going inside. He did, however, decide to make sure the somewhat worn axe he had at his belt was more visible- he was going into a place where adventurers and the like tended to meet, and the chap might as well show them he had an obvious means of defending himself. "Oei," He grunted softly as he looked around the room thoughtfully.

Never, ever were there really any chairs that looked like they could support him in these places, he noted as his muzzle wrinkled slightly-one could, perhaps, mistake him for baring those teeth of his, but still. And such an assortment of guests too...his stomach grumbled more fitfully at that. Oh, be still, he thought irritably as he walked up to the counter- a glance told him it probably wasn't wise to try the seats here, either, so he was standing rather close to the others already there.

Probably end up sitting against the wall again... Raek's eyes narrowed as he looked over the counter. "Oei, you working here?" He rumbled at the innkeeper in what to him was a friendly manner- that thick tone making it a bit hard to understand him despite the fact he was speaking clearly.

The view of the famed City had a dark tint to it, unlike any she had ever seen.  The next adventurer to be stepping across the threshold was ever the more intrigued.

Her blood-red cloak was rustled by a slight breeze as she walked through paths of stone and mortar, wrinkling her nose at the smells assaulting it.  The place wasn't lifeless, for she could hear voices upon the wind the closer she got.  But it felt like it should be lifeless; strange as the notion seemed, that's the feeling she received.  Barely welcoming, only tolerant.  Seldom turning away, but at the trespasser's own risk.  The kind of thing that attracted her kind.  Explorers, adventurers, the brave and the powerful...and it attracted troublemakers, as well.  She was surprised that her tail ring, barely visible on a snaking black tail swishing out from under the cape, hadn't given a glow.

The dark figure, Aisha the Risen, wasn't worried.  Trouble was her life.  She lived on it, looked for it, and if possible, cut it at the root.  The sword buckled at her back and hanging over the cape was sure evidence, and who knew what other surprises the bounty hunter had hidden.

It was then that upon the path she spotted a respite.  An inn with the clearly-named sign emblazoned with the letters "Last Chance."  Aisha chuckled to herself, for there seemed to be a hidden meaning behind the sign.  Ominous for a seedy-looking place.  But, it was as good a place as any; her food pouch was out and the feline was famished.

Looking around for anyone else, with caution, the panthress didn't so much walk as stroll from the shadows nearby with a confident gait and observe the "open" sign.  Wrinkling her nose again at the dusted-in scent in the air, she reached out and swung it open into an area that was slightly empty, but still full enough with strangers of the same persuasion as herself.

Still keeping the crimson hood over her black face, her equal-colored eyes scanned the area.  She strolled past the tables and bar...and strangely, the scent she had gotten from outside was significantly lessened and dulled.  But still the people at the bar and at various tables seemed like a surly bunch, some appearing friendly enough.

"Charming..." she murmured in a smooth voice, deep and accented, and tainted with the hardships of every mission.  "Really adds to the atmosphere."

A movement of her cape revealed a navy blue jacket, and a red-and-gray outfit, something silver and sharp shimmering from the side of the belt.  Casually, Aisha took a seat at the bar, nearby another figure in a brown cloak, who didn't immediately strike her as familiar yet, and waited to be served.  "Inkeep, a pint of ale, por favor..." she said in a tone of neutrality, "And if you'd tell me what you have in the way of food around here..."

While she waited, the panthress took a quick scan about the bar, and paid attention especially to the ones close by, in case they had the ability to give her trouble.  The humans in particular looked strange--very strange--considering she had only read descriptions of such creatures and found it hard to actually visualize them.  Not to mention the rather disheveled and large canid troll.

Finally, she glanced toward the brown-cloaked figure, and only then did she notice something familiar.  Thinking she'd make sure, Aisha rested her face on her palm and her elbow on the bar with a smirk, facing forward.  "Is it just me, or is it a small world?"

He was waiting. Surely his friend would notice him eventually. Then, in a momentary burst of sanity, he remembered that since his friend was a bottle, it couldnt signal even if it did recognize him. As he opened his mouth to mumble something in order to attract the innkeepers attention, something odd happened.
EH??!?! Whassat? Wheresit?
Something was different. It took him a minute to realize what it was. The barrier. His barrier was gone. The mysterious force that kept people away from him had vanished. He looked up. He looked around the area, and sniffed the air. He couldn't find it. He decided to ask the room in general.
"Merh, Hwardit go? An'one seen mah shield? The, the, the thing. Made people g'way. Wheresit?"

The first customer to walk in was a pretty girl, immediately followed by a young man who started hitting on her. Moze smirked to himself. The universe was taking care to let him know that he was old today.
"That we are young lady, and welcome." He slipped into the conversation smoothly, "Sit yourself down, I'll be happy to see to you- oh!" He smiled politely as more customers showed up, "We usually don't get this much business this early, I'll be right with-"
"Relax dad, I got 'em." Another orangutan, a young woman with more than passing resemblance to the proprietor, strolled in from the back room and promptly started setting out the ales ordered and collecting the money for them, winking at the canine in the hood as she passed. "Welcome to the neighborhood, stranger." She dropped a copy of the menu in front of Payden with barely a glance. Teenagers, eh?
The troll, meanwhile, had just made himself known to Moze, briefly raising the man's bushy eyebrows. Well, so long as his money's green... "Yes I do sir, simply sit yourself down and I'll be with you in a moment." He kept one eye on the bum that had wandered in; too much noise like that and he'd probably have to throw him out.

Sister Alexandria Montegu took a moment to brush the dust of the road off her robes before entering the only establishment that seemed open here in the outskirts of the city. Luckily the dark blues and grays didn't stain easily. Alex took a last long look at the city as she put her hand to the door of the bar. Cities had libraries and abandoned cities had abandoned libraries where she might find rare volumes to take back to the abbey. As she stepped through the door into the bar she knew that she was being assessed even as she looked over those who had arrived before. She knew that they would see, a female of rather great height for a squirrel although not for many species, a bit older than the average person drawn to adventure, with brilliant red hair that marked her as having a bit of creature in her background. Her robes instantly identified her as a Gutenberg Sister to anyone who had ever visited a free school or library in any of the more impoverished parts of the realm. But unless they had studied the details of her order they wouldn't know her for anything more than a librarian or teacher. Tucking her staff into the crook of her elbow she made her way to the bar. Alex began to ask for water then thought better of it. "Wine please."

   A lone, armored van with a dome on top rolled down the road, roughly in the direction of the so-called City. It looked like it had seen better days, but also that it had been patched up and "upgraded" a few times. There were no windows on the van at all, and there was only a square metal plate that didn't seem part of the armor on the front of the van.
  Inside, Traxen Ridgrey was hunched over a strapped-down metal-and-electronics spiderlike little beastie on a small worktable in a fairly small space. Though almost done, it was still incomplete, but looked partially eviscerated. Traxen applied little adjustments to the innards with a tool, humming a tune as he did. The van continued down the road, though there was no one else in it.
  Traxen's last job working with an adventuring party had earned him enough supplies to last him a week or two, a little money and materials, and information. It was rumored there was an abandoned City out this way, one that used to attract a high number of adventurers, and from the grapevine, was probably fairly modern. Traxen set his course for there, hoping that he might be able to get some decent salvage for once. Hunting through rare and sparse junkyards for scrap was barely cutting it, and there weren't enough places to buy real materials.
  There was a beep, and a synthesized voice in the van spoke. "Struc-tures-de-tect-ted." Traxen hung his tool and swiveled on the spot on a small chair to face a wall with many monitors and a few keyboards.
  "Thank you, Pamcawv." Traxen said, although it didn't make any real difference whether he responded or not. Most of the monitors were showing the display of many small, protected cameras mounted all over the outside of the van. A few of the displays showed a small town getting closer. The van passed a sign that said Welcome to Oldhill. Traxen noticed, off in the horizon, the City loomed, looking almost slightly darker and more... forboding than its surroundings. Traxen shook off the feeling.
  Most of the buildings Traxen passed were either abandoned or just had their lights turned off. Eventually, a little bar, the "Last Chance" came into view, right on the edge of the town and looking to be the last building until the City itself. The bar had lights on, and a few moving shadows suggested people were inside.
  Typing a few things on the keyboards instead of going all the way to the driver's seat, Traxen directed the van to park on the opposite side of the road. he wanted to take a look, see if there were any Creatures currently occupying the bar. "Pamcawv, activate M.C.D. #4, shunt to deployment launcher, standby to deploy."
  "A-fir-ma-tive".  Inside part of the van, there was a small clicking and whirring as a robotic drone booted up. Traxen then began quickly and effortlessly typing on one of the keyboards, shuffling around the monitor displays until there was a blank screen in front of him. "Deploy."
  "De-ploy-ing."
  A small circular hatch opened up on top of the van, and something shot up out of it. It was the shape and size of a frisbee, but with a jetfan in the center and a few lenses around the edges. The blank monitor now showed a view of the main camera on the drone. Traxen moved slightly to the side, to a strange setup of multiple joysticks, all with buttons and other doodads on them. In one monitor up in the corner of the wall, a map of the area was being rendered in realtime using the van's cameras and various sensors, and by default the drone that was now flying. Until the map was more complete, direct analogue remote was the best way to control the drone, unless he deployed a whole swarm and set them to an automatic sweep.
  Traxen began manipulating the joysick, and the small drone started coasting towards the bar, with a barely-audible whirring. It went around several windows, and Traxen got a good look at most of the patrons.
  Multiple Beings, a tasmanian devil, a leopard, a Nictarl, a kangaroo rat, a black jaguar, and two orangutans who looked to be the owners of the bar; Two humans, one seemingly poverty-stricken and one semi-official looking; an unknown cloaked figure, and one odd-looking Mythos. It was almost like a bad bar joke. The Mythos Traxen made a note of. The flying camera completed a circle around the bar as another patron got ready to enter, a grey squirrel Being with some bright hair, denoting the possibility of Creature ancestry. As she opened the door to enter, Traxen moved the joystick and quickly guided the drone towards the door. It barely made it in with a whizz before the door closed behind the squirrel.

Giles waited for the lady in robes to enter, fumbling with rolling a cigarette while he waited for her to enter. He breathed on one end, the tip flaring red, and then took a breath. The cinder brightened, then smoked, and Giles breathed out a wispy cloud, catching the door behind the librarian and walking inside, ducking so the haft of the spear on his back wouldn't catch the doorframe.

He chose the seat closet to the door, sitting at one end of the bar. The cigarette somehow was half ash already. The barkeep seemed to be taking orders, and he spoke with a mouth full of smoke.
"Demon water, golden." he said, ashing on the floor. He didn't see any ashtrays nearby, and there seemed to be worse than cinders on the floor in some places.

Sam was understandably quite glad to see "The Last Chance" when he walked up the street. I had been a long journey so far, and the amount of food left in his pack was not something to be proud of. He cursed his fast metabolism under his breath as he walked into the bar and took a seat, looking around at the hodgepodge collection of people. "Excuse me!" He exclaimed "Something cold, wet, and will keep me sober, thank you." Sam dropped his pack and took out a sketch pad and music player then started to doodle while tapping his foot to the music.

   After the camera drone made it into the bar, Traxen decided he might want sound. He typed a few lines into a keyboard with one hand while the other fetched a headset. With both completed, he turned on the sound, just in time to hear a creaking that can only be attributed to the door the camera had just come through. Traxen turned the drone around, and then yelped and yanked they joystick back as a massive armored human filled the screen, making the camera fly back. He then quickly stabilized it to prevent it from careening into the ceiling.
   Shortly after, a fox also made his way into the bar. Traxen made a note of both (and also how so many people coincidentally seemed to be arriving at very near times), and settled into wafting the camera around the bar. The hovering frisbee floated and whirred over a few people's tables, seemingly to get a closer look at everyone and everything.

The troll glanced at the barkeeper, head panning slightly to look at the seats again-despite other things attempting to call his attention away- two of which he could note offhandedly as the human that seemed to be speaking nonsensically to himself and the relatively...interesting black feline. She seemed to be the type he'd have to keep an eye on. "I don't think so," He huffed finally, "Looks weak." Those pale eyes focused briefly on the barkeep again. "I'll take meat; uncooked if you have it." He paused, as if considering something. "Doesn't have to be fresh either." Just a small snack should suffice for now...what's that?

Raek's ears perked as he heard the faint whirring of something making a hasty entry. A bug? He wondered as he turned from the bar itself to look at the patrons more closely...if in a general sense. The different race-names didn't matter much to him, really: With that steadfast, mildly moronic logic of his species other beings tended to be the same; just different appearances and scents...of course they just wouldn't like the typical reference trolls had for other creatures in general as meat. At least he had enough sense not to use that terminology around them, thankfully.

Sad to say, however, he missed the small drone entirely at first. Probably a good thing too right then; he might have squashed it on the assumption it was the largest insect he'd ever seen...especially if he'd linked the sound with it.

Besides, it stood to reason a scent gave one a general idea about someone else...to him, anyway. For example, the feline with the spotted coat gave him the impression of perhaps being unreliable...or perhaps it was that hint of something else that raised distrust. While the panthress hinted at a cold certainty intermingled with something that spoke of strength. Leadership material, perhaps. Interesting things, to be truthful.

Then there was that human in armor. A knight? His eyes narrowed on the man,  his order forgotten. Forget the felines and everything else in the room, this one looked more likely to try and run him through if he did anything wrong...and he couldn't shake that feeling that he'd not be able to recover easily from such an affair either. Got to at least try and be smart...I think. Or was it careful?

Alas, being innately unafraid of death tended to confuse the two concepts when it came to Raek....At least until he finally saw that flying disc.

An invisible eyebrow raised at the sight of the thing as it flitted from one table to the other, that faint whirring he'd noticed earlier coming and going with it's motions. That is the biggest, weirdest bug I've ever seen...is it edible? Great, now he's thinking of potential snacks...

   The camera drone whirred around a few people, and then the Mythos fell into view again. The Mythos was watching the drone. Traxen's eyes narrowed as he stared back at the Mythos through the screen.
   "Right. Let's see what you think of technology, Creature...be you friend or foe?" Traxen muttered to himself, as he guided the drone to deliberately float near the Mythos to gauge its reaction.

Payden only gave scrutinizing glances to the newer patrons, along with a quick thought to each. Panthress (Another kid, probably as thickskulled as the others), troll (Keep an eye on him), squirrel (Holy order, probably wants to clean up the city), pesky drones (Accidents waiting to happen), man wearing armor that had to weigh half-again what he did (At least this one isn't a bum), and some shiftless fox (No comment). "What the hell is this, a misfit convention?" Payden groused as he looked over the menu. Something substantial would hit the spot... even meatloaf would be a step up from what he'd been eating on the way there.

"Waitress, could I get a copy of the evening post, if you have it?" Assuming a region this dreadful even received newspapers, let alone any kind of media.

Sitting calmly at the table, Mao was surprised to see all of the sudden hustle and bustle for what he had thought would be a quiet respite.  The barkeep and his recently appeared assistant, a daughter apparently, seemed to hustle about quickly seeing to the needs of the other patrons.  He wasn't sure he was even noticed by the young lady.

"Ah well," he thought, "I'm sure she'll finish up with them eventually and I'll be attended to."

He smiled at the thought of a nice pot of tea, Jasmine maybe, if they had it.  Something to eat too perhaps, as he was awfully hungry.  Though it seemed he wasn't the only one, as several others had already ordered food.  He took note of the others calmly without even looking in their direction.   Each of them looked different to his minds eye.  Some had familiar appearances to their glows, others not as much.  Mao decided not to think much of it.  Regardless who or what they were, as long as they weren't trying to harm him or disturb him it wasn't of any importance.  Maybe he'd even find a friend amongst them.  Who knew?

As Alex waited for her wine she heard a faint rustling coming from one of her pockets. "As if you'd let me forget," she muttered as she reached into the pocket and withdrew a book which she set on the bar. Smallish, but well made with tooled leather and brass trim it gleamed with the appearance of something well cared for. While the cleric looked for something else in a different pocket the book decided to display a  level of activity not characteristic of your average pile of bound paper. Flipping itself up on edge it "walked" over to the bowl of pretzels and helped itself to a snack.

Andrace Kithara had been bored. The lioness was in between contracts: the "feared band of cutthroats and outlaws" using the Fryup Caverns as their base had folded like wet cardboard only a day after she'd tracked them down. And all she'd done was split their leader down the middle and toss another one off a cliff: the battered survivors had fallen over their tails in their rush to surrender. Wimps, she thought. As for her next job, the Sennen Cove Businessman's Protective Association (yes, there was only one — it was a very exclusive group) wasn't expecting her to arrive until the end of the month. The lack of excitement, or any activity at all, was beginning to get on her nerves. When she heard of this mysterious city, it sounded like just the thing she needed to fill in the time.

The front door of the Last Chance opened once more, and a tall, muscular lioness strode in. She pushed her fiery red hair back over her shoulders, blew a few stray strands out of her face, and walked across the room, her bare pawpads making almost no noise on the floor. She wore a leather jerkin over a silk shirt, and silk trousers that came to a little below her knees, all in various shades of red and black. She grunted quietly as she shrugged the straps of a backpack off her shoulders. A leather baldric across her chest held the scabbard of a long sword across her back, the hilt poking up behind her shoulder, and a large pistol was holstered at her right hip.

Andrace walked up to the bar and sat on a stool with a sigh of relief for her tired paws. She shifted her weight a little and curled her tail comfortably around one leg of the stool. "I'll have a beer, please," she said to the monkey behind the bar, her voice a deep but distinctly feminine bass rumble. She fished some coins out of a pocket concealed behind her belt and pushed them across the bar, then looked curiously at all the others sitting around waiting. Many of them looked like adventurers. Some of them might be friendly. Some of them might be competition.

Some of them might be unfriendly.

Moze grimaced, crowded in by the rush of adventurers. "Hey, Jezebel, new folks!" He pointed out Sister Alex, Sam, and Giles to the girl who was already rushing to set out Payden's paper, "And some meat for the big fellow!" The orangutan stopped to think for a moment, "He looks like he'd appreciate something still mooing." The girl, who had been about to make her way over to Mao, grinned apologetically at the rabbit and made her way to set out the drinks and food, stopping at Alex for a minute to give her the wine list. Finally, after stopping to coo over the adorable little book construct for a minute, she made her way over to Mao.
"Sorry about that hon, what can I do for you?"
The innkeeper sighed. Things were mostly being seen to, the initial rush was ebbing a little. He made a mental note of the new woman, an adventurer who rather reminded him of himself in his younger years... And that's when he noticed the drone.
Now, Moze wasn't technology-illiterate. He'd been traveling, he'd been to some highly technologically advanced cities. Unfortunately, he'd hated them. Everything was automatic and went off at the slightest notice, and the place smelled like a dentist's office. Moze didn't like dentists either. Something seemed OFF about people who'd study for years and years to stick their hands into people's mouths. Jerking back to the present, he turned back to the matters at hand. It was probably just some kid's toy.

Okay, the 'bug' seemed to be as curious about him as he was of it. Granted, more than likely not for the same reasons, but still. Raek's pale, vaguely intelligent-looking eyes focused on it calmly as it came his way. Maybe I'll figure out what kind it is, he thought idly as it hovered near him. To be honest, the lupine troll didn't know much about machines at all.

Wait... His muzzle crinkled into a sort of confused frown as his eyes narrowed at a sudden...if rather delayed, thought. It looks more like one of those things...a plate? Yes, that's it. Then why's it flying? The fellow debated on grabbing it to get an even closer look, that lightly fuzzed tail of his wagging slowly.

Er, well, that had been his intention just before that squirrel set her book on the table. "Huh," He grunted as it started moving...which, near as he knew, was not supposed to be possible. Nor, by even his own slow logic, should it be eating. Oh, joy, time to make a decision. Ask about the book, or grab the plate?...Or was it a bug? Poor guy; too many interesting things suddenly happening at once that he missed the barkeep's quip about a more 'lively' meal for him...not to mention having forgotten his initial line of thought. Well, I could just squash that thing and then ask about the book... he mused, ears quirking slightly.

In fact, that idea appealed enormously for him- a living book was certainly more interesting than having a flat disc/bug hovering in his field of vision. Just how, was the question...Hunger briefly forgotten - a rarity in itself even for him - the troll wolf decided on a course of action.

Eh, how about him deciding to try a rather direct approach? At least that seemed to be what Raek decided to do as he decided to close whatever distance was between it and him while things were being put into some kind of order at the bar. And despite the fact it was rather hard for a troll not to look casual, what happened when he got within a few feet of it depended entirely on a mixture of good fortune and thinking.

Or in the case of said 'bug' how fast it could fly away. Personally, Raek felt that it had a very good possibility of out-maneuvering him.

For anyone that's had experience in fighting a troll, they know that said beast is a lot more agile than it looks. Couple that with a deceptive reach due to their slouched frame things tend to get rather...interesting in melee situations. Other factors apply as well, but not in this case.

So when the mythos felt he was in a suitable range, he immediately attempted to snatch the flying object without even changing expression. Granted, if he caught it there were two distinct possibilities of what would happen next...at least to his way of thinking. One, he'd probably crush it without meaning to and make a mess...or the second option...where it probably was going to get an excellent view of what the interior view of a troll's mouth actually looked like...

   Traxen's drones, particularly the flying cameras, were not really designed for agility or speed, they were designed for stability and function. If Traxen issues a command, by typing or joystick, to any of his robots in the field, there is sometimes a fraction of a second delay for the command to register. Hardly significant or noticable most of the time, but the cameras take a command and have to kick of the speed of their main jetfan and the directional stabilizers. Then that extra rotary speed has to be trasferred to the air, finally pushing the camera in a new direction. All of which tooks less than two seconds. However, even if it was instant, the cameras usually just couldn't put out much speed or power. All of this meant that there was no way for the camera to move fast enough to avoid the claw, which was able to snatch the camera near-effortlessly.
   Not that they were meant for direct confrontation anyway.

***

   Traxen watched as the Mythos drew slowly closer to the drone through the camera's display on his monitor. Definitly curious, but so far, no outward agression. However, the sudden lash out of the arm to grab the camera instantly triggered Traxen's reflex, jerking the joystick once more. However, this move was little more than perfunctory, and ultimately futile. Traxen almost immediately wrote off the Crature as completely hostile, but then noticed that the camera was still broadcasting both a stable picture and sound. Of the Creature's face. Traxen realized instantly that the Creature hadn't attacked it, he had only grabbed it. He seemed to just be curious. Traxen also noticed just as quickly that the familiar whirring of the drone's jetfan was absent. One of the creature's nails must have snagged it. Traxen quickly punched out a command on a keyboard, cutting the jetfan motor's power so it doesn't burn itself out.
   Traxen then took his hands off the joystick (no use if the jetfan wasn't active), and waited to see what this curious Mythos would do. However, Traxen aslo typed up one more command in preparation, but didn't actually enter it in quite yet.

The Hobos eyes were huge as he watched the book skitter around. This normally didn't happen until had had been drinking quite a bit. And only from certain bottles. Something had to be said. First things first though.
"Merh, Barman, con Oi git summat ter drank?"
With that out of the way, he aimed his attention at the squirrel whom had produced the book.
"Erh, Sarster, wassat thing doin movin round? Tha almust ne'er happens. Excep' that one time after Ah drank fer three days. An tha time, tha time, when Ah hit mesself onna head after drinkin eh pint er bearhuggers. An that time with the scumble. 'Appens alot, now I thenk onnit. Ter point es, ter point, es, er well, normally only Oi can see it. Yew can see et, though. You ben drinkin alot as well? Excep', no, tha wouldna make sense, cos Oi aint had a drop in hours."

Although they'd entered the city a while ago, the two teenaged felines didn't enter the Last Chance inn right away. They stood and looked at it, one because he was understandably nervous about this whole damn city, the other because she thought the whole process of getting here had been eerie. She'd never seen the place in person before, but even so, it was uncomfortably familiar to her...

"I still wish Dyixaz had come with us," Mykst muttered, snapping the young lioness out of her trance and back to herself. She gave the housecat a surprisingly warm smile.

"Don't tell me you're already scared, sweetie," Black Magic purred at the boy, her gray eyes sparkling with amusement. Mykst frowned a little, gripping his pearl-topped staff a little tighter and knowing that he wasn't actually angry at her.

"No, Kali, I'm just sore because our middle-aged teacher hasn't joined us in a town that has some sort of treasure that's never been found, but that hundreds of adventurers seem to have already tried for. Oh, and let's not forget how most of these people never made it back alive." He stopped, and his eyes widened as he brought a hand to his mouth nervously, surprised at how much he hadn't meant to say. However, Black Magic seemed pleased by it, and gave him a wide grin.

"See, Mykst? This city's good for you! It's forcing your spine to grow!" she laughed, giving him a quick, tight hug. As she pulled away, he rolled his eyes and smirked just a bit.

"Let's just go in," he sighed, pushing open the door and holding it for Black Magic, who strode in and glanced around once at everyone in the bar before loosening her cloak and gesturing for Mykst to help her find an empty table.

Kyirri kept his senses alert, feeling an odd tug in the back of his head every time someone stepped in. He glanced around at the others in the Last Chance, making mental notes about their behavior and appearance. However, he kept to himself, he didn't have any business with any of them.

Kyirri counted his money again, and performed some number crunching in his head. I think I'll only have enough for two days, maybe less... The thought didn't amuse him, on the other hand, it looked as though he hadn't been noticed by the proprietor. He sighed softly to himself, Probably my freaky, pale fur, shriveled eyes, or just my height. Either way, he didn't have anything to lose by trying to grab what looked to be the waitress's attention. He waved softly to Jezebel, and softly asked "Could I have a menu please?"

Quote from: Basilisk2150 on May 14, 2009, 03:59:59 PM
Fishing through the thoughts bouncing around the bar, Edaric managed to suppress a smirk at all the seeming negativity. This is supposed to be a place of adventure and wealth, where a man can enter a peasant and leave a king... he thought to himself. 
Looking slightly down at the small tasmanian devil girl, Ed gave her a bit of a grin and said "You are quite the observant one i must say, Ephrael.  I too am an adventurer" slayer  "as well as a treasure hunter.  Any chance i can buy you a drink?"

He couldn't quite help adding the little thought in, it helped him maintain his act as a being... looking around the bar again, he couldn't help but notice that it seemed far more full than a few minutes ago.  He almost let go of his disguise as an almost predatory grin crept into his expression for a second as he imagined how easy it would be to steal from these poor adventurous saps.  The wicked grin was gone as quickly as it had appeared, he hoped no body had noticed but if they had, he appeared far friendlier now.

As his mind began trying to rationalize a reason for the momentary lapse, the acrid stench of the hobo wafted over and brought a slight cringe to Ed's face.  Figuring it couldn't hurt, he lifted his left arm, pointed his hand towards the hobo. The hand glowed a dull bluish-green and with a flick of the wrist gesture, he cast a quick spell, removing the stench from the hobo.  The distance cleaning removed the oder, but the dirt and grime was still upon the man... Saying to Eph, "sorry, I didn't think i could last any longer with whatever that smell was that he had on him..."

"Heh, yea he did stick a little. I'll get a table if you grab me a vodka and lime." Eph said as she slid into a nearby chair.

Ed gave Eph a devious smile then said, "alright, deal... i'll be right back."

He walked off to the bar, waved down the bartender and said "i'll take a pint of lager and a vodka and lime for the lady."  While waiting at the bar, he was struck by the sudden observation that there appeared to be a book, that was apparently eating pretzels.  He observed the thing with a cocked head, and a confused look for a few moments.

Andrace's ears perked up a little when she noticed the two cloaked felines walk in. The girl in particular: her hair wasn't quite the same, and she was a little shorter and scrawnier, but the young lioness looked a little bit like her baby sister.

There was a muffled, slightly squelchy pop as one of Raek's fingers was neatly disjointed when he grabbed it-indeed, a claw had snagged something, at least, and the sharp tug that accompanied it didn't help matters. Certainly that was a rather painful thing to have happen though; but it didn't faze the Mythos in the slightest. Perhaps such small injuries meant little to him...or maybe he was just rather good at ignoring something like that.

Huh, easier to catch than I thought, the troll thought to himself as he firmly gripped the thing that'd caught his attention earlier. And maybe it's scared too; that sound's gone. The lupinelike creature brought it more closely to his face, those somewhat beady eyes looking rather intent as he turned the drone this way and that in an effort to figure out what exactly it really was.

Now, Raek wasn't a complete imbecile, thankfully: There's just only so much he could process at one time and his understanding was rather limited outside of what he'd learned...and that hadn't been beyond a rather basic, general education. No college seemed to want a troll on their premises-for very good reasons, usually. Still, the wolfish troll tried to ignore what was going on around him as he tried to take notes on what he saw.

Hard, somewhat smooth...and rather flat, he thought, still making me think of a bug...but not, at the same time. Need to see under it, though... The brute paused in his thoughts briefly to grip the device with his other hand and, with a sharp tug, pulling his finger free of where it'd been snagged. Well, at least it wasn't bleeding, but still...that just looked painful. Raek glanced at the injury with mild curiosity, then at the drone-which was being held at a somewhat sideways angle at the moment, affording a rather good view of the damaged 'pointer' finger as it started twitching and jerking in a slightly spasmodic fashion in a bid to realign itself while the Mythos continued his examination.

Since the injury really wasn't severe, it was over within perhaps half a minute-The canid even flexed his hand a little in a rather absentminded fashion; as if to check and see if everything was in working order. "Strangest bug I've ever seen," He muttered in that nearly unintelligible tone of his, "If you are a bug..." Well. Wait. There was one last thing he could find out first. Besides, his stomach was starting to complain rather loudly again.

Granted this was probably going to be a rather odd sight for anyone that happened to be keeping an eye on the fellow -or just stepping inside, should any be doing so- as he brought the drone level with his muzzle, opened his jaws wide and clamped down in what seemed to be virtually the same instant. Other than the flash of yellowed teeth there was a sound not unlike someone attempting to crush a can as he bit it-that odd thrunching sound one expected...just before he made a rather odd face and immediately opened his mouth. Raek's ears flicked back as pulled the errant drone free of his maw and eyed it with distaste.  "Blegh..." Well, that certainly was worth remembering as 'non-edible'...not to mention it seemed to have taken one of his fangs with it when he let go. Eh, it'll grow back, he thought.

Aside from the evidence of a decent bite radius indention-and said tooth- it seemed to be in decent shape. Okay, so it's not a bug, but made of metal. Is this some joke? He looked around, thinking, before turning back to the bar with the drone still in his hand.  Maybe not...hmm...wait. Raek seemed to recall something about a shield being missing...wasn't it that fellow there? That one that seemed to have as much difficulty talking clearly as he did?

The Mythos looked at the hobo thoughtfully. Maybe this was his shield...I'm sure he won't mind the damage. Maybe a touch slick too, but that could be fixed with a quick rubbing against his vest. Might even get a reward for it... The troll smiled broadly at the thought, the expression looking like more of a snarl as he reached out and tapped the bum's right shoulder with his free hand. "Oei, you. Is this yours?" Raek pro-offered the damaged drone to the man, his voice a throaty grunt as he saw that the others were being served- he'd get his own food momentarily, probably. Then he'd pay for that, at least.

And maybe see if someone would like hire me on for some work, the troll thought as he waited for the hobo to reply. He may not be a real adventurer himself, but he did like to think of himself as 'hireable help'...though admittedly there were rather few takers. Not to mention he still had to see about that living stack of paper...One thing at a time....

   Traxen watched the view from the drone's main camera as the Mythos turned it this way and that. Traxen found it interesting that the Mythos seemed so curious about it (and seemingly disregarding the fact that it was someone else's property), when the Mythos' thick voice came through Traxen's headset;
   "Strangest bug I've ever seen. If you are a bug..."
   That's when Traxen realized, the Mythos had no idea what it was. In fact, the Mythos must have been completely unfamiliar with technology altogether to guess so far off the mark.
   Traxen was then treated to quite the surprise of getting a nice view of the inside of the Mythos' mouth, just before the jaws clamped down and blacked out the screen. Traxen was momentarily stunned, before blurting out, "Aw, damn! I wasn't expecting that kind of foe!"
   There was a crunching sound as well when the jaws clamped down. That can't be good. Traxen thought grimly. However, the drone was apparently spit out, as the display came back as it was removed from the orifice, although a "Blegh" sound accompanied it. Traxen just leaned on one of his hands, shaking his head. However, shortly after, Traxen heard something else being said through the headset, "Oei, you. Is this yours?"
   Traxen instantly perked up. That wasn't right. He reached over and punched the 'enter' key on the keyboard, inputting the command he typed earlier. He then switched on the microphone on his headset. Meanwhile, on the van's external cameras, two more Beings walked by and entered the bar.

***

   As Raek was holding the drone up to the hobo, an onboard speaker activated.
   "No, this drone doesn't belong to whoever you're offering it to, thanks. Now that you're done...examining it, could you do me a favor and put it down? Thank you."

 People were pouring in. Giles grimaced, and took the low glass filled with golden liquid from the young-looking orangutan girl. He murmured in thanks, and took a long drink, downing the whole glass in one long swallow. It clinked back onto the counter, and he breathed out heavily, smoke curling from out his nose. It wasn't entirely clear when he'd managed to take a drag off the cigarette in his hand, although it was certainly burning close to the stub now - although the proximity of the burning tobacco to his fingers didn't seem to bother him at all.

The one sitting to his right had worried him for a little bit, but she looked like she was a Gutenberg, not part of the Church. There weren't a lot of people who carried around sentient tomes except them, and it wasn't surprising to run into one in a place like this. One man's useless, outdated law codex was a Gutenberg's priceless treasure, after all.
There was a frisbee flying around too. Giles would have blamed it on the rum, except he hadn't been drinking at all before now.

He had to stifle a grin while the local drunk spoke - at least, he thought he was speaking - to the nun. He leaned forward, tapping his glass on the counter.
"It's not bad. How much for the bottle?"

It took a moment for Alex to realize that the drunk was speaking to her and another moment to translate that her grimoire was upsetting him. "It's real. The book was exposed to a lot of magic and kind of developed a mind of it's own. It's harmless." Unlike the majority of the books she was sent to retrieve. Some magical tomes had a seriously bad attitude and a willingness to curse anyone who came near. "I'll put it away if it's upsetting people." When she reached out to pick up Snappy it rustled it's pages at her and circled around to the far side of the bowl of snacks. "Behave. You don't want to stay on the bar anyway. You'll get damp stains."

When they found an empty table, the kids sat and surveyed the area more closely. Black Magic briefly caught the eye of the other lioness - older than her, but much younger than Dyixaz - and gave her a quick smile before her eyes moved over the other patrons. Mykst seemed focused on the book that had been eating snacks, and its squirrel owner. When Black Magic noticed it, she giggled. Her boyfriend gave her a rather strange look.

"What? I think it's cute," she told him, smirking. Now Mykst looked slightly more confused.

"Oh-kayyy...I'm gonna get drinks," he said, giving her paw a squeeze before glancing around for the waitress.

Mao smiled at the young lady as she approached to serve him.  Several more had already called to her in the time it had taken for the young orangutan to come over so Mao decided to be quick about it, lest she whisk off yet again.

"Some tea please.  Jasmine would be nice, but if not I'll take whatever you recommend.  I'd also love to have something to eat.  Whatever meat is on will do quite well, if it's not too much trouble."

He quickly fished out ten silver coins from his coin purse around tucked in his robe and held them up to her.  "Will this be enough?"

It took a few moments for the brutish lupine to register what had happened when he offered the drone. It...talked. His ears perked forward somewhat; now he was truly confused...thankfully fear wasn't part of a troll's makeup or he'd probably have thrown the thing-not to mention someone probably would have gotten hurt.

This was certainly unexpected though for a host of reasons...the primary of which was usually something didn't normally didn't talk back after he'd bitten it; much less do anything else. Okay, maybe armor can allow it to do something else afterwards, but still.

Maybe it's enchanted to say that, he thought as he kept it held out, you know, to keep someone from stealing it...or nearly eating it. Raek had apparently encountered objects that had been magicked to speak when handled or approached within a certain range. So, with steadfast stubbornness, the Mythos held the drone towards the man...but not before grunting a reply to the voice he'd heard. "I will...when I see if you're actually his or not. Might even get myself some work in the process."

The vagabond hobo did say he thought he lost a shield, and this little item, by whatever logic Raek followed, seemed to fit the bill perfectly. Besides, it was a habit of his not to obey orders until he'd been paid. Or fed. Both meant the same thing to him afterall. Just have to hope the guy didn't mind the dents, one obvious puncture mark and a nasty-looking tooth poking forlornly from the drone's plating if it was his.

Speaking of which, since the less-than sober human was a bit busy himself, Raek could ask about that book. And maybe...eh, his food wasn't there yet, so no matter.

So, he angled his head to where he could keep one ear flicked in the hobo's direction while focusing more of his attention on miss Montegu -not that he knew her name-...just in time to see her reach for the book, and it's reactions. A smile graced his muzzle briefly. "Magic?" He huffed in what seemed to be a rather gruff fashion. It wasn't, really, but still. Then a thought occurred. Spellcasters did seem to like having protection at times...if the human didn't show any want of his presence, maybe he could see if the squirrel would like a bit of service. And it wouldn't hurt to at least try for a slightly friendly impression in the process. If not her, maybe the black feline...if she doesn't try and take my head off. His head panned slightly to glance at Aisha. Certainly seemed the type to do that.

Sam was minding his own business when something shiny caught his eye. He looked over just in time to see a rather large Lupine bight into what appeared to be a small disk. The whirring sound combined with the cameras told him it was what could possibly be a drone of some kind. The Mythos then proceeded to bite the device, whatever it was. Sam took out his ear buds, and was about to ask to see it when it requested to be put down, and affirmed that it was not the rather drunk looking fellows property. Sam decided to walk over. "Excuse me, I'd like a look at that if it's not too much trouble. Whoever that belongs to isn't here, it's meant to watch and listen for them if I know what it is. I'd like to see how much damage there is, and perhaps fix it if I can." Sam stuck his hand out to receive the drone. from what he could see, getting bitten by this man was not something to be desired, and given he didn't see any missing teeth, when one was rather apparent on the devices shell, told him that anything short of a blunt object through the cranium, or a broad sword through the neck was liable to just piss it off. If he learned anything that time back in the mountains, it was to suspect healing factor on less evidence rather than more. (He was still having nightmares every few weeks about that.)

   Traxen waited a few moments for the Mythos to comply with his request, but was once again surprised at the Mythos' reaction of again offering the drone to the hobo, after insisting that it still might belong to that person. Unfamiliar with technology I can understand, but is this Mythos just plain stupid?!? Traxen thought to himself.
  However, somone else seemed to come to the rescue, as a second voice came through Traxen's headset, this one seemeing to actually know what he was talking about, although he also said he might repair it. Traxen spoke into his headset again.

***

   The drone emitted Traxen's voice again. "Thank you, whoever you are, but I'm pretty sure I can take care of it myself. I just want this drone put down so I can test if it still flies, so I can have it bring itself back. If not, well, I've still repaired a -hell- of alot worse than a simple bite, although I must admit I've never actually repaired damage specifically from a bite before..."

Hardly enough to line a birdcage with, Payden thought glumly as he looked over the paper's headline. The actual contents were hardly more impressive. New pickets to be built around town hall? Re-paving Trickle Street? No police blotter? He flipped over to the obituaries. ...one death, aged 84. You'd think there'd be more chaos considering they're next to the proverbial mouth of Hell. He put it aside, feeling mildly disappointed. "Waitress, I'm ready to order." Until she got to him, he'd have to entertain himself by assessing the others.

Being lawman was usually a one or two-man job, but adventuring in such a dangerous locale would require more numbers. The housecat and his companion were possible allies: young, but they (well, the boy, anyway) looked sensible enough to join up and listen to a veteran like Payden. The troll was tough, and if he could say anything good about the Mythos, it would be that they were nice enough to not blindly embrace the same dastardly tropes as other Creatures. Aisha... probably, if she wasn't one of those proud loners. Andrace and Giles looked like they had similar attitudes. The bum was obviously out of the question.

He gave Mykst a look, making sure the cat was glancing in his direction before giving a "you, come over here" jerk of his head.

The Hobo was about to reply to the squirrel, but then noticed that the mountainous wolf-troll seemed to be pushing an odd metal disc at him.
"Eh? Wassat? Issat moin yeh ask? Harr... It could be, could be, don' 'member et, but eres alot Oi don seem ter be memberin lately..."
He began sifting through the jumbled mess of his mind, attempting to remember if he had at any point owned a talking metal disc. During the search, several items surfaced. One, he was thirsty. Two, he was in a place that had a bar. Three, he didn't have any actual means of paying for anything. Four, this was a bit much for him to process all at once. In his current state, anyway. Something in his brain clicked. His consciousness drifted into a calm bay of sanity.
Whats going on? Ah. I appear to be in a drinking establishment of some kind. Huh.
He remembered what had been going on earlier. Turning his gaze to the troll, he answered in a completely different voice.
"Oh. I don't believe that's mine. I can't recall owning anything of that sort. Heh, I've never really owned much, and something like that seems... a bit out of my league."

Hearing the voice, the figure smirked somewhat.
"Heh, we really should stop meeting like this...people might talk..." the stranger said, before pulling back his hood, revealing his spiked-out-back hair and his face. He was a white furred wolf with deep blue eyes looking to be in his late 20s and, more noticeable, an x-shaped scar on his forehead.

Looking from side to side, he turned back to his companion with a somewhat disapproving look.
"Seems to be a lot of people here...in all shapes and sizes, no less..." the lupine commented with mild disapproval in his voice. He was of course referring to the variety of species present in the bar...from adventurers to trolls, and also at least one human (he could never get used to seeing these strange creatures). "And here was me hoping for a nice quiet drink."

As Aisha was served her ale, an ear twitched under the cloth of her crimson hood as the figure beside her spoke.  She was indeed correct, and as always glad to have a most trusted companion along for the ride.  With a smirk of her own, she pulled back her own hood to reveal her own face further; that of a black jaguar with piercing red eyes and hair almost as jet-black as his own, the rest of it pulled back into a braid.  "Let them talk," she replied with a smile.  "Always good to run into you."

Listening to Gareeku's assessment of the bar's patrons, she had to give a short nod of agreement.  Her voice was low, hopefully unheard by anyone but him.  "Sí...trouble has to start somewhere.  With a place like that city in the distance, probably unavoidable that we'd run into such ilk.  We'll have to keep on our toes, especially around the Creatures.  With any luck, a quiet drink and a little food will still be a possible blessing."

Her tail poking out of her cloak every so often, Aisha didn't so much watch the goings-on in the bar as listen to the commotion.  Ever since she came in, a variety of people had entered afterward...more looking to be human, more looking more or less like trouble, and more things of fascination.  Including, curiously, a squirrel who looked like she was of the cloth...with a book enchanted as if it were alive.

Were the Mistress here, she'd be fascinated by that, Aisha thought, turning her head briefly to watch the book before it was replaced.

Not to mention the bestial troll-wolf chewing on a mechanical disk.  The panthress tilted her head and watched the exchange between him and the dirt-ridden human, narrowing her eyes.  "...And that machine thing, wherever that came from," she pointed out silently.  "Looks suspicious to me."

Of course, "watching" was a subjective word.  She had already caught one curious glimpse from the wolf-troll, and one that was simply observant from the overly-serious-looking human.  Acting nonchalant, Aisha looked through the menu she was given shortly, before ordering a turkey sandwich from the food choices.  One hand was out of sight, staying near the handle of her bladed boomerang, as was her habit in case of trouble.

Sam sighed. "I don't see why I should let a drone that's spying on the patrons of a bar simply fly off without some guarantee that I'm going to meet the owner." Sam took the nearest seat. "But you are quite welcome to convince me otherwise." Sam remembered his request for a beverage, and looked at his table, there wasn't something there. He decided he had been to vague, and that with the number of patrons now flooding the establishment it was understandable that they hadn't gotten to asking him to be specific. "I don't mean to rush you," Sam said to the bar keep, "but if I could perhaps make that drink some cola if you have it, that would be appreciated. Take your time I see you have your hands full."

Mykst, never one to call attention to himself, waited patiently for the waitress to notice them. Black Magic, not nearly so patient but curious of other things, focused her attention on the people around them. Most of them seemed about average, but there were one or two species she'd either only heard of or only seen once. She looked over the monstrous wolf-creature and the Nictarl for quite a while, half sizing them up and half committing them to memory. As she continued to look around, her eyes lingered for a few moments on each human - while they weren't unheard of in their hometown, they were quite uncommon.

Then she noticed the human with the dark eyes and crew cut looking at Mykst. She tapped his paw, and he glanced over a second before the man gestured for him to go over there. Mykst gave Black Magic a nervous look, but the lion girl only nodded her agreement - Go over and talk to him. If they were going to get anywhere in this place, they'd need help.

So, doing his best to swallow his shyness, Mykst stood and moved to the human's table. He didn't sit himself down right away, but he consciously never broke eye contact with the man, even though his voice was a little quiet.

"Hi, um...you were addressing me, right?"  

Suddenly, Raek found himself the center of attention...if only in part.

At least it wasn't the bad kind...but it still tended to make the chap a bit uncomfortable. But then again, even if he had been trying to keep a vaguely low profile he'd already failed miserably. Let's see in what ways: Huge, brutish fellow that -for someone that didn't know what he was- looked to be suffering from a severe case of fur loss. Then the thick, gruff voice that seemed to hover on the verge of being threatening...as well as being a mite hard to understand here and there no matter how clearly he tried to speak.

Add in the order he'd made, and the previous display when he attempted to discover if that little machine was some new, edible kind of insect...someone other than whom he spoke to was bound to notice. Still, just as the smaller Being made his way over and began asking him to give up the 'shield' as he'd decided to stick with calling it for the moment, the human responded. At least, he noted idly, the male vulpine was being polite. It still didn't help the fact he was starting to get edgy, though.

"It isn't?" He turned his head to focus on the man fully for a second. "Sorry then." So much for that, maybe I can get him something for the trouble. Still... His ears twitched back as he then turned his attention towards the fox that'd just questioned him-just as the device finished talking to the fellow. Scrawny fellow, the troll thought; if Raek were anyone else he'd probably have the gall to say he would be hardly worth eating. But smaller folk tended to find that horribly offensive even if it was meant to be a compliment.

Besides, he was getting uncomfortable...and his hunger wasn't helping. True, his order had been filled just a few seconds ago and was waiting for his attention-and he would pay, not to worry...but the 'Creature' had learned to deal with other matters first...though at the moment he was getting a bit snappish.

"What?" Raek rumbled in a low, hungry tone that -without him realizing it- might sound decidedly alarming to Sam. And probably anyone else in the immediate vicinity. "You want this?" He held the damaged drone up as he turned away from the hobo, pale eyes narrowed. "I don't think it's yours." The lupine troll grunted as he seemed to appraise the being he was looking at briefly. "Don't even seem to have magic, so how can you fix it?" Well, at least his speech hasn't degraded yet; it does that when he's actually angry. And so much for trying to be friendly...Oh dear.

Thank the heavens above he hadn't heard that pantheress label him as 'ilk', however. He might have actually lost what little control he had at the moment and things might have gotten rather ugly and certainly not in his favor as the Mythos towered over Sam. Being in a place full of adventurers was never to anyone Creature's advantage, regardless of their innate abilities.

Sam was not the kind to crack under pressure easily, all the same having something this big, and getting slowly more pissed off was not a pretty picture. Seeing as he looked like he could kill someone by sitting on them. "No, the drone doesn't belong to me, all the same, giving it to me means you don't have something yelling at you to put it down while you have a meal to eat getting cold on your table." Sam said calmly, hoping reason, combined with the prospect of food would allow him to persuade him to let it go. Though admittedly he did want to meet the person that had the funds for such a thing. "I personally enjoy a little peace and quite while I'm eating" Sam added earnestly. "If it's any trouble, though, I'd be happy to leave you be with it." Sam hoped that whoever was controlling the thing would pick up the cue and start whining again.

   For the third time in as many minutes, Traxen was almost at a loss for words. He was used to dealing with Creatures outright attacking his robotic friends, not hostage situations with the damn things. He started getting worried when the Mythos' voice beame agitated through his headset.

***

   The drone's speaker sounded out again, and this time it sounded like Traxen was slightly exasperated. "Spying is supposed to be covert, isn't it? How is something the size and shape of a discus supposed to be covert? These guys are my eyes and ears in the outside world. But, ah, whatever. If meeting me is all you're worried about..move to the south-east window. And you, Mythos, please remain calm. I'd rather not have my drone any more damaged than it already is."

***

   Traxen tapped out a few things on his keyboard, and then got up out of the "command" chair. He squeezed around to the front end of the van, into the driver's seat. Flicking some switches and typing on one keyboard that was up there, monitors all round the little driver's "cell" lit up, giving a 360-degree view of the outside, plus the rendering map of the area and a few other displays. Grabbing ahold of the steering wheel and putting his feet on the pedals, Traxen started moving the van. he drove it across the street over to the bar, coming up in front of the window that he specified window. Flicking another switch, the out-of-place metal plate on the front driver's side of the van slid up, revealing a windshield.

***

   Out the window Traxen mentioned, a strange armored van pulled up. It seemed to have no windshields; the front was armored as the rest of the van, though there was one square plate that looked like it wasn't quite integrated into the armor. It then slid up, revealing a square windshield with somewhat scrawny Being waving cheerfully behind it. After a moment, his hand then went up to the side of his head. The drone broadcasted his voice again. "There, see? Not spying, ya paranoid nut. My robots just go in lieu of me. Now can you two quit bickering and just put the godsdamned drone down so I can test if it still flies? Yeesh."

Moze groaned over the commotion that was already going on over that toy that had swooped in. He should've swept the damn thing outside with a broom as soon as it flew in, high-technology was almost ALWAYS trouble. He noticed it's owner driving around the front and sighed. Figured. He'd never complain about having to serve dragons again, now he owned a drive through. The troll had seemed like the sort to stop bothering with all this as soon as food made itself available, but Jezebel had already set out a plate of rare steak and the creature had just wandered away from it.
"Twenty gold for the bottle, Sugar." Jezebel replied distractedly to Giles as she passed out Ed's requested drinks and a menu to Kyirri. "Hard to get anything of that quality out here, y'know?" The girl grinned cheerfully at the blackguard, "So, you and the other couple humans are awful far from home, aren'cha? What brings you?"
Moze snickered to himself. His daughter was curious about something, which meant he wasn't going to get much work out of her for the next ten to twenty minutes. He made his way through what was at this point a bit of a crowd to where Black Magic was sitting. "So, what can I get for you young lady?"

With drinks in hand, the incubus in disguise walked over and handed Eph her drink, setting his large pint sized glass down and giving the tasmanian devil girl another devious grin.  He eased back in his own chair, and observed the other patrons.  The appearance of humans always struck Ed as a little odd, like someone had taken a deformed being and shaved them with a surgical grade razer.

He sipped his drink as he looked around the bar again, he began sizing up most of the people there, no one seemed to particularly worry him, though the white wolf and black feline could be problematic if they were to work together.  They seemed familiar with each other, friendly too judging by their facial expressions and body language.  He found it odd of all the thoughts bouncing around room, none seemed to be radiating from the pair.  Either they were shielded, or much more subdued than the confusion and worry practically screaming from the area around the lupine troll.

Ed watched in mild amusement as the troll seemed to get more confused and irritated.  Figuring he'd take a chance now, he said to Eph, "looks like things are getting a little crowded in here, want to try finding somewhere a little more private? perhaps go for a walk?"  His devious grin had a bit more of a predatory edge to it, but his eyes were bright and friendly.

"I know it's getting cold, not that it matters..." Come on, we're talking about a guy that'd gladly eat that strange mold growing under the kitchen sink in lieu of a better option; cold food's not that bad a thing for him. 

Still, at least Raek did relax the tone of his voice a little, almost enough to sound apologetic when he spoke again. "Sorry...I'm just not used to being this many..." He floundered for a moment with an expression of mild perplexity on his face from having to think of the proper word, "Folk around. Hard not to want to bite someone's arm off." One failed to note that would probably draw even more attention...or he just didn't consider that.

As to the drone itself, the canid grunted sourly when he held it up to eye level. "You want to try and fly, huh?" His muzzle twitched; one could almost swear they could see exactly what he was thinking. Well, he could just throw the metallic frisbee...but since it could talk -and he hadn't paid attention to the window and thusly hadn't seen the van- he decided to humor it. Or it's owner, truth to tell. "Tell you what. You even fly as far as my claw," He held up his other hand to give an example, "You can keep that tooth. Otherwise this one gets it. Maybe even make up a story how you got it." He nodded at Sam as he set the drone down finally, right in front of the fox.

All in all, he felt he'd handled that pretty well.

That better have been a good idea, the wolfish troll thought as he walked back over to the counter. "Sorry 'bout that, barkeep," He grunted as he reached for the meat. "I got some manners, and food could wait." Riiight...and floor wax tastes like candy.

And apparently the barkeep had wandered off just before he got there anyway. Raek almost sighed. Well, I guess I'll just eat, then pay. I can bother about that moving book later. Huh, she probably feels offended I dealt with that other problem anyway. Speaking of said squirrel, he glanced at her again while reaching for his food. Something didn't seem quite like other beings about her. And not just because of the living paper.

But before he went to that corner like a nice aberration of the natural order he did decide to say something to Aisha and her white-furred companion.  "If you adventurers think you want something in the way of a few meat-stickers like yours, I'll be over there. " He grunted thickly as he nodded at the left corner of the building-he'd be up against the wall where the door was placed, to be honest. "Coin works, but you getting me a meal later is better."

With that, he quietly walked to the designated area, ears quirked at an angle that allowed him to hear the general babble around him. If they were curious, they'd come. The Mythos plopped down in a somewhat comfortable fashion-after setting that axe of his in his lap where he could get it. Now, if only he could actually chew...

Sam looked out the window to the fellow being outside. "So, agoraphobia or are you not exactly the fighting type?" He teased. "Any chance of you coming in, or will I have to come out there to talk? I want to meet the person behind this rather amusing debacle." Sam considered offering to bring out food, but someone who sent drones out instead of going out in person was obviously prepared for quite a prolonged period of time in there.

"Thanks much" Eph said as Ed handed the drink to her. As Ed was looking around the room she reached out and picked a few peanuts from the bowl in the center of the table, sniffing them she decided that they weren't stale so ate those she had and got another handful.

"So you can kill me somewhere less crowded? Hah no thanks." She said in a quieter voice. Strangely her thought didn't betray any of this or even if she was thinking along those lines at all..It was if they were almost a recording or very carefully chosen...But then they stopped for a second. "I know what you are mister incubus...But don't worry I'm not going to blab to anyone." Came through crystal clear, before resuming the previous patten.

Ed kept his grin, though quirked an eyebrow at Eph's response.  He replied quietly, "why miss Falco, you hurt me.  If i really wanted to kill you, do you think i would have gone through the trouble of trying to be genuine, if i truly wished for a soul to devour, there are far easier and less troublesome targets than yourself... Oh no, i was looking for something a bit different, and a bit more fun... For both parties involved."

Cocking his head to the side a bit, he continued, "Now, since you've got the upper hand at the moment, what are you looking for? and why keep my heritage a secrete?"

   Traxen changed one of the monitors up in the driver's seat to show the camera feed as the Mythos asked the question about..."flying". Traxen glared at the screen as it showed the troll's loaded expression. Don't you dare, you freaking stupid Creature... Traxen thought, but let out a sigh of relief as the Mythos stated his "terms" and set the drone down.
   At the other person's questions and comments, Traxen replied (into his headset, which was then broadcast through the drone, of course) with a snort, "Actually, a little bit of both, I guess. And, go inside, with that many people and at least one Creature? Heeeeells no. And you don't really have to come out either, do you? Just talk to me through my robots. But, if you'll excuse me for just one moment, I've got to try and get my drone off the ground remotely before Food-For-Brains tries to give it away, ha-ha..." Traxen then flicked a switch again, and the metal plate slid back down over the small windshield.

***

   The drone continued speaking. "Alright, motor's back online...let's just hope nothing's jammed." There was a small humming as the jetfan jerked once, held still, and then finally started spinning with a snap as the tooth popped out and clattered on the table. The drone, now whirring instead of humming, unsteadily began to rise off the table, erratically gaining altitude and swaying back and forth. "Ehhh...some of the blades in the propulsion fan must be dented. That's an easy fix, I can replace those in three minutes. Five, tops. And now..." The drone suddenly dove in one direction, before jerking back in another. "Ah crud. At least one stabilizer must be shot. Just my luck. Probably punctured, given the circumstances... a little trickier, but still a fairly easy fix."
   The drone then began to make its shaky way towards one of the windows. "Heh. Considering the misunderstandings we've already had, if I were to just ask for someone to open the window it probably wouldn't end well." The drone touched down on a table near the window.
   A minute later, something appeared outside that particular window. Several spindly legs reach up, and began sliding the window open. When it was open sufficiently, the legs retreated, and a moment later, the disc-drone started up again, zigzagging up to the right height. It held for a moment, and then moved forward.
   And clunked right into the wall beside the window, and lost several feet in altitude. "Crud. C'mon, get up, you..." the voice emitted from the drone coaxed as it slowly regained altitude. It tried fro the window again, at a different angle, but with a similar result. "Nrrg...come on! Get out there!" Once more, the drone rose up, shaking this way and that, and dove forward once more...and went right out the window, though it clipped the side on the way out.
   Another moment later, and the thing that opened the window revealed itself. It was another metal robot, this one was insectoid in form, with six legs and a body. A few container-looking things were mounted on it's back.
   The second drone scrambled over the windowsill into the bar, down to the ground, and scuttled across the floor to back to the table where the fox being was sitting. Climbing up the table, the drone finally settled down a little. It looked up to Sam with a camera lens mounted on the front )like the flying disc had).
   "This one obviously can't fly, so I'm trusting no one else is going to be overly-curious again." The same voice from the first drone was now being spoken through this one. "So, what was it you wanted to talk about?"

As Alex tried to pick up the book and put it back in her pocket Snappy ruffled it's pages in an almost hissing sound and moved further down the bar. Travelling always put the book in a bad mood as it hated being confined to a pocket. It's normal day was spent in one of the Abbey's many libraries, having the attention of all the brothers and sisters working therein. The book skittered further away, almost running into the barkeep.

The commotion had gotten quite high in the room, though Mao hardly paid it much mind.  While waiting for his food and tea, Mao stretched out with his senses and used his inner sight to take in the room as much as he could.  There were things of all walks of life here.  Their life forces all shone differently for the most part.  Some were familiar looking, others, less so.  In particular interest was the color of the things that had been identified of technological.  Mao had never seen anything of the like, though he had heard of it.  It's color was utterly different from the others.  Cold and lifeless, but there was energy there.  There was also the somewhat unfamiliar glow of humans.  Warm, but violent and unrefined to his sight, but the light was bright to be sure.  There were a mix of beings and creatures here and even a mythos, each mingling carefully and despite the calamity that was surrounding them, in a somewhat harmonious nature.  It brought a smile to his lips to see it.

"If nothing else, this place has become more interesting in the scant minutes since I sat down."

Mao decided to continue to watch the room with his inner sight, being of course careful to keep the sight limited to what would be considered normal range for eyes, lest he tax himself.

Sam looked at the mechanized insectoid in front of him. Slight hibbly jibblies were felt, but passed quickly. damnable endophobia he thought. "A bit of a different approach to the dangers of communicating with others, but I like it." Sam said. "Okay, I'm Sam, sorry I couldn't help a little sooner, it looked like you had a little trouble getting it through the window." Sam smirked. "nice souvenir though. . ." Sam trailed off, twisting around the tooth he had picked off the table.

   The new drone continued "speaking" in Traxen's voice. "Different approach? This is only one of a few drones that are actually equipped with speakers, aside from a few...specialized robots. Anyway. I'm Traxen Ridgrey, technological expert and inventor extraordinaire, with a special affinity for autonomous machines. Nice to meet you."
   The drone angled itself slightly to look at the tooth in Sam's palm. "I dunno, I'd consider the tooth of the Creature that tried to eat one of my robots kind of an insult if I kept it..."

Sam tucked the tooth into his pocket. "Not so much that it bit your robot, more that it looks cool. Like he said, maybe I can come up with a story for it." Sam thought a moment. "Not that the true story isn't uninteresting in itself." Sam landed back at the introductions with an almost audible (to him) thud. "Anyway, nice to meet you too, though circumstances seem to have been a bit negative on your part." Sam decided to tell a little about himself. "I can get behind the inventor thing, I suppose if I had the patience I may have decided to go into it. As it stands, I went into Graphics Design odd jobs because it gave me the opportunity to create, and businesses hardly ever turn down a good logo or T-shirt design." Sam chuckled, "Though I suppose my technical knowledge doesn't expand much farther than A+ certification, I might fix a computer or two for someone when the need arise, but I can't program for or build something like your drones."

Black Magic turned away from watching Mykst for a moment to face the orangutan, quirking her mouth in a brief smile before looking like her normal self again. "Just water is fine, thanks. Also, could I have a menu?" She tried to keep in her mind that ordering a really rare steak and tearing it apart was usually frowned on in public places, but looking around, most of the people here were also predators. There was a chance it wouldn't matter.

 Giles grinned disconcertingly. Perhaps it was the oddly white teeth set in a face that looked like it should belong to a fireman or a coal miner, or perhaps it was something else - what was more likely was that it was a function of the expression itself, completely. There was something malevolent, as though the person he was smiling at and himself were sharing some cruel joke, like watching a person about to piss on an electric fence, or, somehow, a person about to mail his sweetheart his tax return and the IRS some rather suggestive underwear.

"I'll take as many as you have." he said, reaching down to his feet and setting a large candlestick in the shape of a cross on the table. It shone silver. "And if anybody comes asking about me, show'em that."
He paused, remembering her other question. "I don't know what brings them here, but I'm swimming in so much shit I can taste it. But no matter how much shit I'm in..." his grin faded. "I think they'd have to be insane to follow me into that city. It's a pretty deep place to hide, and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon."

"Yes, I was addressing you." Payden kept his eyes locked into Mykst in a strong, mildly disapproving stare. "You and your little ladyfriend are going to the City, right? How long has it been since you graduated from the academy, or are you two just a couple of uncertified adventurers?" His apprehension was fairly evident, but he wasn't about to tell them not to go off into the City based on their age alone. "You sprats are already going into one of the deadliest locales on the whole continent. Tell me, what's the motivation here?"

That stern, disapproving glare still remained on his face. "If it's money, then I think you could have chosen a less suicidal way to get it."

Mykst swallowed quietly and tensed just a bit. Having to deal with an adult was stressful enough for him, but this hardened cop only put more pressure on the matter. He hadn't directly threatened either Mykst or Kali yet, but there was clear strictness and disfavor in his expression and tone. Mykst was a meek person by nature, and sternness from authority figures tended to make that quality worse. But if he cracked, the cat would ony look suspicious or cowardly. So he breathed evenly, gripped the edge of his cloak and tried to calm down enough to answer. But even though his mismatched eyes were honest, his voice was still quiet, and there was some hesitation in his speech.

"O-our motive isn't money, sir, and, um, we never actually studied at an academy. We had a ... private teacher. He said we'd made enough progress to go on our own quest. It was...well, it was Kali's idea to go here. Our teacher kept saying it was too dangerous and we shouldn't go, but she insisted." Realizing this sounded not just dangerous but potentially lethal, he continued: "But we have plenty of ways to contact him if we get in trouble."

While she waited for her drink, leaning back on her elbows against the bar, Andrace amused herself seeing what she could figure out about the others in the room. The great hulking wolflike creature had to be some kind of troll, although a rather unusual one (he hadn't eaten anybody yet). The squirrel was easy, even if the symbol hanging at her neck hadn't been visible: who else but a member of the Gutenberg Order would be likely to own a book that wandered around eating pretzels?

As for the leopard and the... what was that woman... maybe a Tasmanian Devil? Both apparently adventurers, and there seemed to be some tension at their table, judging from subtle hints in their body language. It was a bit early in the day for an amusing bar fight, but so far the dark-furred woman was keeping her temper under control, she looked more amused than angry.

The white wolf with the scarred face, and the black-furred feline were also clearly adventurers, and just as obvious were the young lioness who looked so much like her sister Eugenia, and the cat she'd come in with. Definitely mages, this time, although there was something about the girl that made Andrace want to be cautious in dealing with her.

The mechanical gadgets were intriguing, she'd seen something similar in a shop window once, with a hideously exorbitant price tag attached. She wondered if there was some connection with the armoured bus she'd seen draw up outside a few minutes ago, they were the only really high-technology things she'd encountered since she arrived. She hadn't yet noticed anything particularly out of the ordinary about any of the others, except perhaps for the incredibly scruffy human. Andrace was sure when she walked in that he was the source of the smell that briefly curled her whiskers and made her eyes water, but the air was clear now, and his scent was no weirder than any other human's.

   "Mmm... these little guys are actually easy. Even without my full lab setup, I can kick one of these guys out in a few days to a week, depending on how specialized they are."
   The "drone" was slient for a moment. "So...what you heading into this so-called City for? I just heard it may be a good place for salvage, though I've also heard it's overrun with all kinds of bad mumbo-jumbo."

Moze handed Black Magic the menu and went to get her water. This crowd was starting to worry him. The bum didn't seem to be getting any saner, the troll seemed to be offending people, and the man in the armor was grinning in a thoroughly concerning manner at his daughter. Frustrated lines congealed across the man's forehead as he made his way over...
"Fancy," The girl cooed over the candlestick, picking it up and looking it over once before her eyes narrowed at the blackguard, "And sleazy on its own right even without THAT bit of knowledge. What exactly are you running from that makes that place seem like a better idea? Things happen in there, Sugar. Things I bet you ain' seen befo- Hey!" The girl jumped as the animated book scrabbled across her hand and down the bar, where it was whisked up and snapped closed by her father. Moze strolled forward, the book squirming and rustling in his hand. Shooting what would best be described as a Look at Giles as he passed, he offered it to sister Alex with a smile.
"Was this yours, madam?" The smile brightened a notch at the symbol of the Gutenberg order hanging around her neck, "Oh hey, you a Gutenberg sister? Did some of my early adventuring work on behalf of your order."
Meanwhile, clomping noises began issuing from the top of the stairs leading to the inns rooms. A demonic girl, ram by species, was coming down supported by a crutch under one arm. A sullen glare around the room belayed any immediate comment as she laboriously made her way down, her scowl making it quite clear that it would be terminally stupid to offer to help her.

Sam looked at the woman coming down the stairs and put a hand up to hold his conversation. "I'll tell you later," he said. He then pointed toward the stairs, he wasn't sure if there was surround sound on the thing, but better safe than sorry. He wouldn't want Traxen to miss out.

Kyirri let out a soft "Thank you" as he took the menu. He looked through it carefully, trying to spot anything that would be both low cost and filling. He didn't really care to over spend. He didn't bother asking for recommendations, as he felt that the proprietors would try and get him to buy something expensive. Profit motive after all.

His examination of the menu however, was slightly distracted by some of the others, particularly Raek. Kyirri didn't know who, or what he was, he had never seen such a creature before, and it seemed to have attracted an uncomfortable amount of attention. Uncomfortable in Kyirri's eyes anyways. Regardless, there wasn't anything Kyirri felt he could do to change anything, the possibility of getting himself involved served no tangible benefit and could only cause problems. He tried not to listen in on the conversations around him, but he felt oddly compelled to observe, if not act.

He tried to keep his attention focused on the menu he had been given. Kyirri immediately stopped looking when he heard something coming from above, he wasn't sure what, but he gave a cursory glance at the ceiling. He stopped to glance around to see a demon coming down. He only casually observed, but again, decided to keep to himself. It was safer that way.

Maybe I should have thought about seeing if he had more than this, the lupine troll thought as he finished his meal in under a minute. Okay, there should be limits imposed when it comes to someone's jaw-shape not letting them chew.  Though for anyone watching him,  the ability to practically swallow a modest piece of meat-after having casually pulled the small bone free of it- in one go might be rather impressive. Or horrifically disturbing. But then I don't know how much more would cost. He frowned, suddenly having considered that he probably would have been better off foraging outside.

Oh well, I'm sure it won't be that much...it was good, afterall.

The Mythos leaned back into the corner, legs stretched in front of him-there was no way in existence he could have crossed those thickly muscled limbs anyway!- as he licked his fingers clean. He was more comfortable in this out-of-the-way spot, and he knew he thought better when he was comfortable. And the fact his stomach had quit with it's complaining, however briefly that might be, helped enormously as well.

At least I can now see what all's here. His ears twitched forward in that 'perked' fashion as he finally took stock of whom was in the place. Pale eyes focused on everyone -even those he'd talked to directly- with interest. Plenty of felines, a couple of rodentlike ones -the Nictari and the 'roo-rat among them-, that wolf, the fox he'd spoken to, and a goodly number of humans in the mix. Not to mention that odd squirrel with the book- still need to ask about that, he remembered- and what definitely looked like an oversized insect this time.

Great, another fake bug. At least he was going to assume it was fake as he noted the legs it had. Losing teeth wasn't a painful experience for him, but it was annoying. Also of note was the marsupial; That tas-devil talking to the odd-scented feline...

I feel like I'm at one of those buffet places, but I'm not allowed to eat anything, he thought jokingly to himself as his attention turned back to Aisha and her companion. Maybe he should have been clearer when he spoke to them, come to think of it. But if they wanted to talk to him in a bid to see what he meant, they would. Otherwise he'd see if he could find work from someone else here...hmm?

Raek's eyes roved towards the limping demon as she made her appearance in what looked like a rather sullen fashion. Now, he knew what those were. Being a Creature that depended on it's strength to survive, it was understandable he'd know of things that rivaled or even exceeded his own impressive strength and stamina...at least since he'd been educated.

Still, it wasn't quite the fact she was a demon that had his sudden interest- it was that instinctive, predatory urge that tried to insist she was a meal for the taking while in said state...if he followed that urge. He also knew that the average, moderately talented adventurer would go out of their way to kill one, so it was equally tempting to see if someone would try that -and thusly be willing to accept his help.

Of course, one thing could bleed into another in such an event, one way or the other...

It was hard to believe for a while that anything could get even more interesting, while sitting among so many types of people within the inn's bar.  As Aisha waited for the sandwich she ordered, she kept a casual eye on everything.  Because her face was no longer obscured with the hood, people could see that her expression was neutral, if not thoughtful.  She took a few sips of her ale and noticed the goings-on.

The over-serious human, acting like the officer she supposed he was, had started questioning--to her, it seemed like interrogating--one of the two younger patrons on his motives for being there and reminding how dangerous things seemed.  Heh, I started adventuring when I was younger, the panther thought, keeping her reactions to herself.  They have to start somewhere, but I hope they know what they're doing at least.

Among other things, that enchanted book belonging to the squirrel had started skittering around again like a disobedient pet...and another strange mechanical device had entered nearby, enticing one of the others to the window to speak to its owner, it seemed.

Before Aisha could think of anything more, her ear quirked and her head turned...the wolf-like mythos had addressed herself and Gareeku before going to stand away from the group.  Now what was that about? she wondered with the quirk of an eyebrow.  It was understandable that he was probably looking for someone to hire him, but the tone of his voice seemed a little...apprehensive, towards the two adventurers in particular.  Did the two of them really look that intimidating?  Compared to everyone else?

And do we look like we really need a hired sword?  That's what WE happen to be, too.

After a dismissive but thoughtful shrug, the bounty hunter turned her bar stool back around to the bar and spared a smirk to the wolf next to her.  "You hear that?  Seems people are jumping to conclusions," she chuckled.  "Probably better for our own necks if we don't look weak anyway."

Of course, Aisha would have to eat the words about jumping to conclusions in a few moments, if she wasn't careful.  For not too long after, her sensitive ears caught the slow clomping noises above their heads and headed for the nearby stairwell.  A patron of the inn, she started to assume.  She took another sip of her ale, glancing back towards the stairway as the new person made themselves seen.

That's when two things happened.  One, her eyes suddenly widened...and two, while her tail ring was steady, only glowing slightly every little bit from whatever dark magic someone possessed in the room, the light peaked more as soon as the person with a crutch had touched the floor and entered the bar.

"Demon..." Aisha murmured with venom in her voice, clenching her teeth and replacing the hood over her face.  She wasn't about to cause a stir...not without a bit more observing...but the presence of that hated Creature type would probably always unnerve her.  Her hand was still close to her weapons belt, as a result.

 Giles grinned at the girl again, but the malice was gone from it. His eyes were distant, looking past the bar-counter and the orangutan girl in front of him, to the distant, endless fields of grass, and the burning city of Sennacherib. "I've seen things you wouldn't believe." he said, although he didn't seem to be paying attention to her. His grin faded, and the seemingly shameless man looked down. "I've seen holy fire rain down on a moonless night like blue tears from the eyes of heaven. I've seen children burned to death in that fire. Mothers, fathers. I've seen cities, nations, empires burn in that fire..."

"I saw the face of God, once. It wasn't what I expected." he soured. " So I figured they owe me a few godamn candlesticks. And if they want to shut me up, they'll have to go through hell first. Rum, please. More."

Listening to Aisha speak, Gareeku nodded his, before taking a large swig of his ale.
"Indeed. Though more than likely they'll be keeping an eye on us as well. Such is the way of the world." the wolf replied casually, looking around at the different customers. "As long as I get to drink in peace, I'll be happy. And don't worry about that thing. Looks like the big guy's keeping it occupied."

Upon hearing the lupine troll speak to him and Aisha, Gareeku turned look at the large creature. Seems like he was offering to be hired help. The wolf said nothing, instead nodding his head politely before turning back to take another big swig of his drink. The big guy would certainly be handy in a fight, but then again, Gareeku hadn't come to this place looking for a fight. Besides he was an extremely competent fighter. Nevertheless, the wolf took it also a sign of goodwill. Setting his now-empty glass down on the bartop, the lupine warrior waited for the bartender to take his order.

"Another ale...make it two." Gareeku said, ordering a drink for Aisha as well as himself, before turning back again. "...and another of whatever the big guy in the corner had for him."

No sooner had he placed his order had the wolf notice Aisha's ears prick up. Listening, he too caught the sound of footsteps coming from the floor above, before hearing them come down the stairs.
"Hey now...I can be friendly when I want to be. It's just not very often I choose to do so." he replied to Aisha with a smirk. No sooner had he finished speaking had his eyes moved to look at the staircase, where a demon had now emerged.

Knowing what Aisha's reaction would be, Gareeku heard the venom in her voice and grabbed her arm, which in turn was gripping her weapons belt underneath her cloak.
"Try and practise what you preach." the wolf said quietly but firmly, looking sternly into Aisha's eyes for a moment before gently releasing his grip on her arm. He understood why she had reacted like that, but in a place with such a diverse mix of races as this, now was not the time to get worked up.

"You kids should have listened to your teacher. This is no place for a couple of neophytes." Payden gave the housecat a short once-over. Young, possibly foolhardy if he actually went along with Kali, but at least he knew how to address an elder. "...thankfully, you're among much older and wiser individuals." He held open the right side of his jacket, revealing a polished, silver star with the word "Sheriff" shining proudly in the light. "Sheriff Payden Velasquez. I may not be an adventurer, but I've seen and fought more than either of you kids combined."

Payden gave a quick glance around. "Looks like you could use the help more than anyone else, and I need some young blood backing me up. You never know--"

That was when he saw the demonic ram descending the stairs. Immediately, his gaze locked upon the girl's face as one hand slowly reached into his jacket, straight for his shoulder-holstered .45 revolver. The unpredictable bane of his existence second only to 'cubi, right in the tavern. "...you never know when you'll see something despicable. Lawbreakers, the scourge of everything good and wholesome, degenerates, and complete deviants. I've handled them before." His eyes locked onto hers for only a couple of seconds, but they imparted a harsh, accusatory feeling. Don't you go breaking any laws, you hear? It'd be a shame if I was forced to blow your head off.

The door to the bar creaked opened, as black cat, in his late twenties and looking quite tired walked in, grumbling to himself.

He's setting you up Jinx... come on,it's Kafzeil Harkonnen! You know he hates you...this is a set up, this is a goddamn set up, and you're walking right into it!Jinx thought to himself.

Jinx dragged a large case of luggage behind him, the wheels worn down. He was tired, thirsty, and crankier then usual, not helped by the circumstances in being here.

Jinx glanced at the other patrons as he quietly took his seat, luggage at his side.  Some massive creature he'd never seen before caught his eye, though Jinx avoided staring. He was too tired to start a fight with something he had no clue on how to kill. A few Adventurers, by the looks of things a burly as hell human, a bum, a demon using crutches and some blind rabbit...thing were the ones who stuck out to Jinx the most.

He took a mental note of all the other patrons, and the strange, robotic insect as he took out a gunmetal grey cigarette case and matching lighter, opening the case and pulling out a white roll and lighting up. Jinx hoped with such...colourful patrons, attention would be away from him. However, even in a dirty outfit, Jinx was dressed sharply, his blue tie loose against his neck, a sign he was ready to unwind for the night, though still like he was going drag someone off in the middle of the night and dump them in the river.

The black feline reached into his inner coat pocket, pulling out a white envelope and opening it, taking out the letter linseed. It was written in a loopy, distinctive style.

Jinx took a long puff of his cigarette as he read the paper, hoping the barkeep would get to him soon, as all the assassin wanted right now was a few pints of stout and a bed to fall asleep in.

Impressively for a human, Giles's ear twitched. His glass was still-upside-down and without rum, and this was generally enough to get him pissed off by itself. The human's comments, and the demonic ram's descending down the stairs, however, did not pass him by either. He turned, eyes locked on Payden. His eyes looked dangerous.
"Hey, Mister Law."  his face turned away just slightly to spit, but he kept his eyes straight on the lawman. The spit smoked for a moment on the wood. "I've seen more shit from your kind - bigmouth pricks with a badge, worried about their dick size - than from any demon I ever seen. So shut your fucking racist mouth before I shove that badge of yours through your teeth."

The hand in his jacket didn't escape his notice either. Giles laughed. "You bore the shit out of me lecturing them on stupidity," his eyes glanced at Mykst at back, "And then reach for your weapon when a crippled demon walks in? You goddam hypocrites sicken me. That or you're too-fucking-stupid to realize what's a threat and what isn't." he breathed in hard, a trickle of smoke emerging from his nose. "When I was his age I was gutting Solumnite infantry in Renazia. Do us all a favor. Keep your brilliant commentary between your teeth."

Alex smiled thankfully at the orangutan barkeep as he returned her errant book. The smile increased as he revealed that he had worked with the order in the past. So few members of the order chose her line of work that adventurers were often hired when there was dangerous work to be done. They were an order of teachers and librarians after all. She held her hand out in greeting, "I'm Sister Alexandria Montegu, of the Pergamum Abbey. Which abbey did you work with?" Before the barkeep could answer all the attention in the bar was drawn to the demon's slow entrance. She could see the most of the patrons tense up. Alex just hoped things wouldn't erupt.

The demonic girl- she didn't look a day over 19, seemed amused by the rush of conversation and tension she'd caused. She winked at Aisha, made a significantly less subtle gesture at Payden involving two fingers and her tongue, smirked at Giles, and eased herself onto a seat at the bar.
"Hey, Jezebel? Something to wake me up, was out late again."
"In a sec, Hon," the barkeep refilled Giles' glass with a wry smile at the exchange between him and the other man, "Well, try not to go in there too jaded. Folks come out of the city don't talk about god too much either." She then strolled away, setting out Aisha's sandwich as she went to see to Jinx. "Welcome to the Last Chance, how can I help you?"

"Moze DuChamp," Moze replied cheerfully, shaking Alex's hand. "They had me working Eastbishop Abbey, thesaurus gone rogue needed to be put down. Still got the scars." His eyes flickered over the patrons briefly, slightly concerned by the general direction of the conversations around him.

"And when I was his age, I was busy helping my father, mother, and three brothers retake an entire village from scumbags and keep the bastards out. But supposing I were a brute like you with nothing greater to fight for, I would have been a slaughterer too." Payden was used to those types of insults: being called a bigoted pig, a crooked asshole cop, et cetera. People always hated authority figures, especially gruff ones.

"I didn't become a sheriff to push people around, as much as you'd all love to think so." His attention had switched almost entirely to Giles. "I became a sheriff because we live in a romantic world. You know what romanticism has led to? Kids being adventurers, assuming they can get all the money and glory they want, only to end up over heads and dying in some monstrosity's den of evil. Demons thinking there's nothing more epic or beautiful than a field of dessicated corpses, and slaughtering whole cities' worth of people to get that precious image. 'Cubi who see nothing sexier or more elegant than a mansion, slaves, and souls to feed on, and everyone else not as well endowed? Well, they're just insects to be crushed in the dust. Angels struggling for power as lords and ladies, and God damn anyone who happens to be in their way. The only thing that's pure, the only thing that's unfettered, is the Law. That's why I enforce it."

Payden took a slight breath, and removed his hand from his jacket. "If that sounds at all unreasonable to you, well... to quote the younger generation: 'Up, yours.'" He smiled, folded his hands together, and placed them flat on the table.

Mykst was feeling rather cornered. He got Payden's good intentions well enough, but really, did he have to be this threatening? Then the demon-girl walked in, and while Mykst did tense just a bit, he calmed down just as quickly. Had she come through the doors, he might have been more worried, but if she'd stayed here before and knew the owners, she wasn't a threat. Besides, she had a crutch, and attacking someone who hadn't directly attacked anyone and had a disadvantage was something only kids still in school or easily amused scum did.

What concerned the cat much more was the arguing between the heavily armored human at the bar and Payden.  The cop's retaliation to the armored man's challenge was almost innocent enough to slip by, but if he was the sort Mykst suspected he was, he'd light Payden's shoes on fire anyway just for the hell of it. But before Mykst could cast an Earth Shield spell out of panic, Black Magic stood up, not smirking.

"If you gentlemen are quite done ascertaining whose dick is bigger..." she said perfunctorily, joining Mykst - who visibly relaxed, but kept a wary eye on his girlfriend. She looked over at Giles. "I'll just say this: if you were a male lion, your personality would be much more understandable." She offered him a sharp-toothed grin, and decided to let him figure out if that was a compliment or not. Then she turned to Payden.

"As for you, Sheriff, you're all right, but just so you understand, I'll tell you why our teacher let us come here. Because it sure as hell wasn't only based on the déjà vu of his ex-ex-dark magic student," she began, pointing to herself on the last words. "You see, when WE were our age, or six months younger than now, our teacher, a few adventurers, Mykst and I had to save our town from a greedy bastard who wanted to use some old legend to take control. Sounds cliche, I know, but trying to stop him was hard for even skilled adventurers. Try to attack him and he'd turn into a dragon and rip you to shreds. Try to catch him while he was huge and lumbering and he'd turn into a cockroach and scuttle into some closet. Follow him in and suddenly he'd be a black mamba sinking his fangs into your jugular. And this guy was a pureblood Being. I don't doubt that what you've seen is scarier than all that, but we're not as wet behind the ears as you seem to think." At this point, Mykst put a hand on Kali's shoulder, and she took a step back. She'd said all she wanted to say anyway.

Mykst, having gained a little more confidence now that she was around, tried to mollify any disfavor Kali had caused as politely as he could. "What Black Magic means is, we're a little above being neophytes. But that being said, we know this town is way worse than what we've faced. So any help you could offer would be appreciated."

   Sam abruptly got up, apparently to meet someone. Traxen manipulated the drone to turn about until the stairway came into view, and the figure that was climbing down them.
   Creature! Traxen hissed in surprise, which was fortunately barely caught by his headset microphone. A Demon, no less. Traxen would have initiated his standard "test" with her like he did with the Mythos, but from looking at the demon-girl he got the vibe she'd punt anyone that even looked at her funny. Which a lot of people seemed to be doing anyway.
   After she sat down for a drink, Traxen started turning the spiderlike drone around again, re-scanning the bar. He wished he had an actual flying camera-drone in there, but after the first incident, he figured he'd make do with what he had now. So far, not much had changed. The cloaked figure had since been revealed to be a white wolf. Another patron entered the bar, another feline, looking like an ordinary Being. and the massive armored human seemed to have a bit of a nasty streak.
   Traxen then remembered the Being who seemed to have an animated tome. Traxen directed the drone towards the table of the owner of the book. The drone pulled itself halfway up the edge of the table, where it hung there, it's "eye" lens observing silently, as the woman was already engaged in conversation with the bar owner.

Jinx noticed the Demon girl come in, however, unlike most, he didn't really give a damn. Besides, she was crippled, and about as likely to cause terror and get some rich Family angered enough to put a Commission on her as pigs were likely to sprout wings and fly off into the sunset. If Jinx didn't get payed to hurt her, she might as well not exist in his world. Money was really the only thing that spoke to Jinx.

JInx looked up from behind a veil of blueish smoke at the young barkeep, putting down the letter. One could have never told it was an Angel Family's official parchment, due to the distinct Art Deco style surrounding the handwriting, as well as the Harkonnen Family crest in the same art style.

"Yeah...room and a pint of stout. Guinness if you got it, if not, something dry."He told her, pulling the money pouch out from his coat pocket.

The fight between the lawman and the other human caught his eye. He hated lawmen...bunch of stuck up bastards. A stupid piece of metal somehow gave them all the power in the world it seemed, at least until some Demon shoves his claw into your chest.It seemed a fight was escalating between him an an armored human, as well as the young lion girl taking a middle ground, as well as asserting the cop she and her companion could handle themselves.  "Oh...and a plate of Nachos with extra hot salsa." He muttered, feeling a bit hungry, as well as wondering how many otehrs would break up the possible fight versus the number who'd take bets on the outcome.

Kyirri looked over at Payden and Giles with concern, he was entirely distracted from reading his menu for what he had to eat. He tried to look at it again, to blot out what he was hearing, but he felt oddly compelled to try and break it up. It's not my business, I'll just get myself in trouble to get involved, I'm not sure what I could do... Yet, he felt he needed to, he certainly didn't want anything to get out of hand, even though it wasn't his place to do so. His legs paced over there, quietly, calmly, almost out of his own bodily control. He brought his menu with him, closed, held in his right hand. He looked over at them, worried, and also at Mykst and Kali, who seemed to have a greater grasp on their self control than the other two did, at least in his eyes. He silently wondered if his presence would just make things worse, he didn't even know their names.

"Excuse me,..." he said, trying to grab their attention. "but if you can't stand one another, I don't see any reason why you should stay in close proximity with one another. I presume that we're here to relax from the troubles of the day, and I'd rather not have that mood turn sour. If you would please, I'd certainly prefer it if you could calm yourselves." Kyirri kept a confidant look on his face, yet, doubt coursed through his head. I shouldn't be getting involved with them like this, they look dangerous. I don't even know them, and all I can realistically do is direct their spite towards me.., I can only hope that's not the case...

To Payden's surprise, a grin appeared on Giles's face. But the mirth of his mouth didn't match the sudden, homicidal gleam in his eye. He grabbed his drink of rum. "Thanks, sugar." he said, and raised the glass to his lips. He didn't put it down until he'd drank every last drop. He set the glass back down, somehow daintily.

"I'm sorry. Did you just say that I was a slaughterer?" He wasn't even trying to hide it now - when he breathed out, blue fire tinged the edge of his breath. "I assure you - it was not for lack of higher cause, Mr. Law. Have you ever heard of the Church of the Innocent?" his eyes bored into the other man's. "I was in the Fourth and Fifth crusades. Inducted into the Order of the Salamander at twenty. I saw Sennacherib burn. I was at Grannicus. Forty seven thousand of us fought a hundred and twenty thousand and left nothing but ashes. And you call me slaughterer? It was men like you that did these things."

His hands shook. "Men like you grab a fifteen year old out of his home and throw him into a meat grinder like Cheareon, because the Law is the Law the the Church needs you. I've seen a lot of men who claim to speak for 'God' or 'The Law', mister Lawman. Did you know - demon children and human children sound very much alike when they're screaming?" He kept Payden's gaze. "It was men like you that taught me that. I tell you what, Sheriff. If you didn't become a Lawman to push people around, then fucking don't. And you'd do a lot better without them flowery speeches and philosophy. If you believe in 'Law' so much, let somebody speak two goddam words before you reach for your gun inste-"

The black cat interrupted his rant, and the blackguard turned his head sharply towards her. He blinked - seemed to remember where he was - and his hand stopped shaking. He took a deep breath.

He turned around and fell silent, waiting for his drinks. Until he heard somebody else break in - Giles assumed, anyway, that the voice was talking to him.
"Mind y'erown goddam business." he said. "I won't start anything unless he does. And as long as he keeps his mouth shut."

Oh, joy. As if what had almost happened earlier hadn't been bad enough...even with the slight perk that it wouldn't be his doing if all chaos ensued shortly thereafter.  Raek's ears twitched slightly as he turned his attention away from the demon -and away from idly entertaining the instinctive urge to drive another predatory creature like himself from the area. Or eat it. The Mythos allowed one hand to stray to the axe in his lap, just in case.

No, he wasn't so stupid as to start a fight. Usually, anyway. The lupine troll just wanted to be prepared.

Maybe I should just go outside, now, he thought grimly to himself as the humans argued-and one of the feline patrons moved to try and tone things down a little. Personally, Raek didn't see the value in arguing; it wasted time and energy that could be devoted to other matters...such as cracking the head of some idiot that thought he was the horrific beast terrorizing the locale.

Speaking on that, it was further irritating when the supposed 'hero' decided to state his/her goodly intentions of ridding the world of his ilk and even having the gall of telling him how they intended to do it.

Trolls by nature weren't inclined in the least towards such things, so when it looked more like the aforementioned adventurer was going to spend the next ten minutes blabbing he simply smacked them in the head with the flat of his axe and ended the matter then and there. Or with his fist. Not only did they get to live another day, he saved himself some trouble. Whether they thanked their lucky stars he didn't eat them was their concern, not his.

At least that wasn't what was going on here, thank heavens.

In fact, I think I should, Raek decided as another patron decided to join the argument-and from the tone, sounded more like they wanted it to stop. Good for them; just don't drag him into it. After I pay for my meal. Speaking of that... The Mythos huffed as he stood up, his weapon dangling negligently in one hand and the plate he'd used in the other. At least the weapon was somewhat dull, so it was less likely to cut someone on accident. Not that he needed it sharp, really, to get the same results.

As the argument took on a slightly heated moment-not that the troll wolf cared for it outside of the blue fire- he wove his way through to the bar. Ironically his course put him rather close to the demon as he set the plate down and grunted again. "Barkeep," He huffed gruffly as he reached into a pocket in this shorts he wore-closer examination would hint they were made out of some kind of cured hide...what though, was probably best left to the imagination outside of the fact they looked in rather good repair.

The money he brought out, however, wasn't.

Copper, green with verdigris-Or was it mold? Hard to tell-, a few rather tarnished bits of silver and what appeared to be a gold coin that was so heavily scuffed you might as well throw it back in the melting pot were set on the counter. "This'll cover what I ate, I think," He sounded a bit agitated, but not enough to cause worry. Though, now that he was closer to the demonic ram...a thought occurred.

To have an injury like that was rather impressive, to say the least. Or at least it meant something impressive was the result of her injury. "And how'd that happen to you," He said in what, to him, was a nonchalant fashion...though it probably sounded more like steam escaping from a fissure to anyone else, "Figure it's got to be something hard to hurt one like you." Okay, he might get a punch in the jaw for bothering her, but still.

Mao was surprised to sense the injured demon coming down the stairs.  He didn't need to look around to know that others were as well.

"On a crutch no less.  An unlikely and rarely seen thing considering the prowess of her race." he thought.

The group present at the bar begun to get more heated.  So far it had sounded like the usual posturing that occurs when adventurers gather and alcohol is served, but the catch to that is that very little alcohol had yet been served and that the tones were already quite aggressive.  A few of them had attempted to quell the mass already,  though Mao couldn't be sure if their comments quite had the reactions they had hoped for.  Either way, things hadn't gotten out of hand yet.

"Hmm, just in case.." Mao thought as he decided to reach down and put his satchel over his shoulder and his staff standing up between his legs."May need to relocate a bit if this gets violent."

It wasn't too hard to break Aisha's concentration as she kept her eye on the demon in the room...but it was a little harder to break her tension.  Thus, when she felt Gareeku's grip on the arm that kept close to her boomerang, her head swiveled and she looked back at him through her cloak's shadows with her ears pinned back to her skull and her crimson eyes narrowed.

But the wolf hadn't wavered.  And after a moment with her eyes locked to his, she released a deep breath and relaxed, the anger gone from her face.  He could feel the muscles in her arm slacken slightly before he gently let her go.  "You're right.  I'm sorry, mi compañero...old scars have a habit of opening easily, you know," she murmured back with a short, if uneasy, smirk.

So as promised, the huntress regained and kept her composure, only glancing once more back to the Creature on a crutch, and swishing her tail and glowing ring back under her cloak.  At the wink she received, Aisha just grimaced back with the point of a fang shown and returned to her food and drink...the turkey sandwich at least was good and filling.  She gave a smile of thanks to Gareeku for ordering her another ale as well.

Aisha also heard him offer to buy another meal for the gargantuan Mythos, so she curiously glanced back to him.  The guy had sounded apprehensive, but at least there was still time for some good will to be served yet.  She removed the hood of her cloak again, a small way to show that good will also came from her side.

Of course, things weren't peaceful for long.  The human with the badge was spouting his judgment on the situation and about Creatures--were the Mistress there right now, she'd definitely have a few choice words for him, if Aisha wasn't tempted to say them herself--and thus inciting an argument from the larger human further down the bar and certainly causing a little unease between any new patrons walking in.

It went without saying that Aisha followed the law as well she could, whatever variations of them were different in each town she visited.  But suffice it to say, she also knew that one could get arrested if they refused to do something that went against their moral code.

When finally the young lioness stepped in to help break things up alongside her friend, the panther smirked in approval and went back to her drink.  "Quite personally I think everyone should just shut up..."

Andrace nodded to herself approvingly as the young lioness confronted the sherriff. With four sisters and three brothers, she had wide and intimate experience of emotional leonine rants. At the end, she caught the girl's eye, grinned toothily, winked and silently applauded. "Good on y', kid," she called across the room, "Nil illegitimi carborundum, I always say." The lioness turned her gaze tolerantly — barely — towards the two humans. "An' if th' two o' y' got done wavin' 'em around, maybe a girl c'd have some peace t' enjoy her drink?" She made a gesture with one hand that suggested she was waving a flag the size of a toothpick with a postage stamp wrapped around it.

One ear twitched and turned towards the stairs at the sound of heavy footsteps from the floor above. Andrace tensed for a moment at the sight of the Demon girl hobbling down the steps, then she visibly relaxed. Her hands still looked ready to grab a weapon, though, despite being well clear of the enormous handgun holstered at her side. She didn't see many obviously injured Demons: their natural toughness generally protected them from what they would consider just a flesh wound (i.e. anything short of impaling or major dismemberment), and many of them knew healing magic anyway.

Andrace couldn't hide an ears-dipped wince at the wolf-troll's question. One thing she'd learned about Demons in this state was that it tended to make them even more irritable and short-tempered than usual. If the girl considered the question tactless or snoopy and took offence, there might be fireworks. She set her paws a little more firmly on the crossbars of the stool just in case diving behind the bar (or possibly out of the window) suddenly became a very good idea.

The other lionesses' gesture didn't escape Giles's notice. He snorted. "Well shit, I know you got me beat, sweetheart, thats f'sure."  he said, and scowled in her direction. He sighed a moment later, and turned his attention back in front of him.

"I'm too sober for this shit..."

The Hobo looked around nervously.
Theres... too many people...
He could feel the madness beginning to creep back towards his consciousness. He needed to get away from all these people. It wasn't that he didn't like people, he generally had no problem with people. However, this many people in such close proximity... made him uncomfortable. He looked in the general direction of the innkeeper with unfocused eyes.
"Er, please cancel any order I might have made... I'm not, not quite myself lately. My apologies for any inconvenience..."
The last part was said as he jumped off of his seat and staggered towards the door.
Have to get outside. Need space. Need air.
He stumbled out the door, into the relatively fresh air. After a few breaths the madness receeded a bit.
Get a hold of yourself, man. Okay. Think. I haven't drunk anything at all for about a day, and haven't eaten for just as long. That place sells food and drink. I have no money. I'm near a city, though, from the looks of things. Where there are cities, there are people, and where there are people, I can get money. Right. Scrape up some cash, come back here and get some food and drink, maybe rest for the night. Getting enough cash for that shouldn't take long. Couple hours tops. I can live till then.
He set off towards the City. As he walked, he grew less and less optimistic. He decided to head into the city anyway, and try his luck. Before he got more than 15 feet, a shadow detached itself from a wall. It resolved itself into a what looked like a fox being with a built in chimney. The hobo blinked, and after focusing his eyes a bit, found himself staring at a gray fox carrying a massive rifle on its back.
"Thats quite the artillery piece you've got there."

Ben was not liking the look of this place.  It was starting to get noisy.  And full of people.  Lots of people.  Too many.  Ben thought he would find somewhere else.  He really wanted to find a close place to sleep.  A close and quite place.  He was walking off when he noticed someone close by.

"That's quite the artillery piece you've got there."

"Thanks, it is something of a relic, but I rather like it.  Has a good punch to it and keeps well."

This fellow seemed... unkempt was the word Ben was going with.    But didn't seem to bad.  At least he seemed to have an appreciation for large guns.

"You wouldn't happen to know of another place to stay?  Maybe further in town?"

The Tasmanian Devil looked Ed in the eyes for a few moments before answering.

"Mainly cause everyone is entitled to their secrets...Unless I'm paid to uncover em" she said sipping her drink.

"I gotta admit though, this place is far far more crowded than I heard it would be. Maybe I will go for that walk."

   As Traxen watched the feed from the spiderdrone in the bar, motion in his peripheral vision caught his eye. The human in seeming poverty was exiting the bar on the van's exteral cameras. Traxen was about to ignore the man and go back to watchin the bar, but he noticed the hobo turn a certain direction and start walking.
  He was headed for the City.
  Now that's interesting... Traxen thought, frowning slightly. After a moment, he decided to activate another flying camera drone and deployed it, sending it off to follow the hobo (at a reasonable distance). Traxen let Pamcawv mostly handle that while he continued watching the bar. After a few moments, something else caught his eye again. On the feed for the new camera drone, someone, or something else had entered it's field of vision, as the 'person' had something vey large and long attached to his back.
  Traxen soft-muted the feed from the drone in the bar, brought up the audio from the flying camera, and guided it closer...
  "...punch to it and keeps well. You wouldn't happen to know of another place to stay? Maybe further in town?"
  Shrugging, but still keeping one eye on that screen, Traxen returned the majority of his attention to the bar.

Payden looked as though he wanted to continue, but it became obvious that all that would do was cause an even bigger scene. Already, at least three other people had told them to mellow out. "...fine, you're all right. Let's just drop the whole thing." Though as Giles went back to staring at the bar, Payden spoke quietly to Myskt and Kali. "It goes without saying that that miserable reprobate isn't joining us. I'd rather not have a party member that would stab me in the back." Though if the man really was conscripted in his teens, his antisocial behavior was no surprise. If I were shoved into service like that, I'd probably end up a wreck as well.

He gave a slight sigh, holding a hand to his brow for a moment. "That crazed fiend you kids helped bring down, at least he got what he had coming to him. How many people in here have tried to bring a Creature to justice within Council guidelines? You try getting a demon to answer for quadruple homicide, then talk to me about how they aren't such a bad species as a whole."

Ed smiled back at Eph, after listening in to the human's rant he was worried for a moment that he'd be forced into killing several people, in the name of self defence.  All because some biggot didn't like creatures.  He nodded politely, got up and offered the girl an arm.  He was partially joking when he wispered, "whenever your ready, i too could go for a walk.   and just so you know, my original offer still stands."  he gave Eph a smirk and awaited her responce.

The glass in Giles hand broke. He turned, his hands leaving streaks of char on the counter.

His face was frightening.

No more words left his mouth, but two bottles of rum went sailing through the air at the sheriff. Before they impacted, however, they exploded, two gigantic fireballs spreading out and then homing in on Payden like snakes of flame. A barstool was shortly behind them, and then Giles himself, now screaming at the top of his lungs as he lunged for the man, spear in hand, and even as Payden saw the flames above him die, he could feel something in his chest get extremely, burn-inducingly hot...

   Something seemed to explode off to the side of the spider drone. Traxen yanked the joystick to turn it around to see fire and the armored human, all crazed up. "Holy shit!" Traxen shouted in surprise, forgetting that his headset was still picking up his voice and broadcasting it through the spider drone. At any rate, he had no idea what was going on, but this was not something he wanted to be near.
  "Pamcawv, prepare motors for burst getaway, recall deployed spider drone at max speed!"
  "A-fir-ma-tive."
  Traxen then looked up to the roof of his van, and bit his lip as he considered something briefly.
  Ehh, better safe than sorry.
  "Pamcawv, prepare turret and standby."
  "A-fir-ma-tive."
  Traxen then scrambled back up to the front of the van again, getting into the driver's seat.

***

  When Traxen issured the order to Pamcawv to recall the drone, it beeped and clicked once as Pamcawv took over its functions. After a breif hesitation, the spider drone turned and immediately began skittering for the open window it had come through...

Andrace was almost looking in the wrong direction for trouble when it came. After her barbed comment to the two humans, her attention had been mostly on the Demon girl. Her ears flicked back at the sound of breaking glass, and she started to turn. The sight of the hurtling flames, and the soot-blackened human screaming as he leaped at the sherriff, kicked the lioness into almost unthinking reaction. In a blur of motion, she leaped forward over the bar, landing out of sight behind it with a clunk and a rattle as the bulky length of her sword banged against something. A moment later, she popped up again, gun first. Andrace bared her fangs in a silent snarl as she steadied her arms on the bar top, not quite pointing her weapon directly at anyone... yet. It would only take a twitch of her wrists to change that.

"Piss off," The demon replied to Raek, not looking up from her drink.
Moze was missing out on more bits of the conversation with Alex, the argument off to the side catching more of his interest. It was his inn, and he was the closest thing to a bouncer. He smiled and relaxed a little as the other patrons began weighing in on the discussion to shut the two humans up.
Then he overheard Payden's parting aside to the two young people.
Moze's face fell, then hardened into an exasperated mask that didn't so much as twitch as he felt the heat of the berzerker behind him deciding to raise hell.
"One moment, Sister." The orangutan said flatly, standing up and turning around. He walked toward the scene of the impending havoc at his own pace, as if he had all the time in the world. Jezebel winced. Things like this tended to get under daddy's skin, and the man had never been good at any job that didn't let him hit people at some point or another.

One eye had been trained on Giles up until then; Payden had gotten an extremely bad vibe from the former paladin, even moreso than most others with a clear distaste for law enforcement. As the bottles flew through the air, he raised an arm and scooted back his chair--

And when they erupted into flames, his chair tipped and finally fell flat on its back as the barstool pegged him square in the head. His right hand reflexively drew the revolver, mind racing a mile a minute in the figurative and literal heat of the moment. --my jacket's on fire I might have a headwound shit why does my chest hurt he's screaming-- He had no idea if the paladin had managed to stab him in the chest with some barely perceptible attack, but it was obvious that the crazed man was still bearing down. Payden kicked out in anticipation of a bodyslam from Giles as he dropped his weapon; almost an entire second had passed before he realized that incredible burning sensation was his firearm being heated to God-only-knew how many degrees. "Fucking punk bastard--"

Sister Alex's reaction to the sudden fight was to pull out paper and pen and begin scribbling. The pen was of highly polished wood carved with tiny symbols that glittered with magic. Her hands were lightening quick, the pen moving swiftly and it was only the work of a moment for two stick figures to appear. One had a star over it and the other a glyph for fire. Another glyph, one for sleep, was placed above them both then Alex tapped the paper with the end of the pen where an engraved stone was embedded. The sleep spell released towards it's targets.

Jinx sighed in exasperation. "I'm too tired for this shit..."He muttered, pulling out his from his revolver  shoulder holster to make sure it was loaded and ready. Just in case he needed to use those six shots.

He opened open his bag and whipped out his rapier next. Twinfang had always said to be prepared, though truth be told Jinx thought Twinfang took this to the extreme.

Jinx stabbed the Rapier into the floor next to him as he propped his feet on the table, allowing to to grab it at a moment's notice should the need arrive.

Jinx tried to keep focused on Kafzeil's letter...though right now, something was bugging him...that boy...that damn boy....so quiet and meek...more then willing to let another with an actual spine rule steer him in any direction they wanted-

"He he....boy...that kid sure reminds me of you, Felix!"]A voice chuckled beside Jinx, the Assassin detecting movement out of the side of his field of vision, a chill running up Jinx's spine as he turned to look at the figure, a young border collie in his teens, wearing blue jeans a black tanktop stained red, his hair blond and black sockets were his eyes were supposed to be, a large, fresh wound in the side of his neck, the canine bleeding profusely.

Kyirri looked over at Payden in shock, he wanted to prevent a fight, and had utterly failed to do so. He would have minded, though what Payden said about demons quelled much of his desire to stick up for him. He let out a soft, mumbled, "Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy..." He shook his head as he took a few steps back, trying to distance himself from the conflict. Nothing else I can do here... he thought. He looked at Payden with cold eyes, observing him. Kyirri then gave a quick glance towards Mykst and Kali. He still didn't know their names, yet, he didn't want more to be involved in this mess. He started pacing towards Kali, then stopped himself, reminded again that he couldn't really do anything. The best thing he could do was to step back, and observe. He reached inside his jacket, softly touching his small vial of healing salve, there wasn't much left, and it was expensive. Kyirri didn't want to use it here, and silently hoped that he wouldn't be forced to.

Well, that was expected...she's as bad as one of our females. Raek's ears twitched slightly; and that certainly meant he wasn't going to be deterred so easily. If something could put someone like her out of action, he wanted to know before he ran into it himself. Afterall, demonic constitution was supposed to be much better than a troll's in most cases.

It also figured that, as soon as he decided he'd try again-granted, this probably saved him a much more awkward scene-, what could only be described as undisputed mayhem erupted behind his back.

Not that the lupine Mythos would have cared, usually -if a fight didn't involve him or whomever he happened to be working for, Raek was more than content to let the ones concerned settle it for themselves. However...

Heat, fire! The creature's muzzle twisted into a feral snarl, his pupils narrowing into slits at the raw detonation of heat that he could feel even from where the bottles burst behind him. Unfortunately he hadn't fully gotten a hold of himself from earlier, and now it was showing in full at what instinct spoke of as an unwarranted attack. The throaty rumble that came with it was that deep, wicked tone that reminded one of a cross between a bull alligator and a fully aggravated wolf as others already took it upon themselves to act...be it through magic, finding a reasonable defense, or other, more appealing means.

One needs to keep in mind, however, that while trolls abhor fire -it effectively cancels out their ability to regenerate if there's enough, and then it's a matter of time until their body has nothing left to continue the stalemate that causes- they do not fear it, nor death. One could say that infamous ability to repair themselves even when hacked into pieces eliminated that ability long ago. They could also link that almost abject stupidity of his race as a whole to that same fact. If one didn't need to think about protecting themselves, why think more than they really have to?

Raek wasn't quite that capable; he could die a bit more easily than others of his kind. He may still be lacking in the fear department, but his ability to heal, while impressive, paled in comparison to the rest of his more monstrous kin. Right now, he was defending himself in what he felt was a manner best suited to the situation...with what little thought managed to penetrate his rage, anyway.

Deformed musculature bulged as the Mythos turned, axe in hand.

Pale, completely incensed eyes took in almost everything in front of him. The two humans fighting each other, and the flame left in their wake as the innkeeper made his way over in an effort to directly stop the fight. No doubt the fellow was more than capable of it-he may have some hidden talent to use that could end it better than any spell. But not before the oversized brute decided to try something. Worst case...well, it wouldn't matter much, would it?

"STOP." The tone was thick, guttural; almost unintelligible even as it possibly carried through the room while his weapon swung in a loose, expectant fashion that showed more than a casual familiarity with it. "Now." If they paid attention or not was anyone's guess, really...it was just he'd had enough for the night, to be honest, what with the crowded inn, the slight embarrassment and the effort of keeping himself under control. And now this.

Quote from: Basilisk2150 on May 23, 2009, 06:51:14 PM
Ed smiled back at Eph, after listening in to the human's rant he was worried for a moment that he'd be forced into killing several people, in the name of self defence.  All because some biggot didn't like creatures.  He nodded politely, got up and offered the girl an arm.  He was partially joking when he wispered, "whenever your ready, i too could go for a walk.   and just so you know, my original offer still stands."  he gave Eph a smirk and awaited her responce.

Ephrael returned his smirk before sculling the rest of her drink, and then belching in a most unladylike way. "Sorry, fizzy drinks affect me that way" she said, with a slight giggle before standing up and placing her hand on Ed's arm.

"Oh and what offer was that?" She asked in a plainly false quizzical voice, obviously enjoying teasing the disguised Incubus.

Mykst hadn't anticipated a reaction from the armored man. He hadn't been sure how to respond to Payden's accusations about demons - and he could tell that Black Magic wanted to inform him that one of their contacts back to Dyixaz was in fact a half-demon they trusted - but before any of that could get out of their mouths, two rum bottles exploded and snaked towardxs payden before dying. They didn't hit, but clearly something else was wrong with the sheriff. The armored man was lunging at him, and Mykst reacted quickly. He seized his pearl staff and pointed it at the ground between the two, both eyes glowing. "Sanctus Ter-"

A tawny paw clapped around his forearm and the housecat winced in pain, the glow in his eyes dying as he looked at Black Magic. "Don't," she growled softly. The barkeep, the monstrous wolf-thing, and the schoolteacherish woman were among the few trying to stop the fight already. Besides, she didn't want them to get kicked out of the bar because a solid wall of earth tore up the floor.

Elenor's paws scraped silently across the beaten and weathered path that led into the last holdout between her and the City. Ruts from wagon wheels, gryphon feet, and the many boots of what was surely a plethora of Adventurers that had passed through lined the dirt road, a testament to the town's (and City's) former glory as an explorer's hotspot. The skyline of the City juttted out above the roofs of the town before her, cloaked in an eerie mist as accursed locations were often found. An unusual darkness seemed to suffuse its buildings and atmosphere, although this was certainly not a problem for Elenor Jyraneth. She and Darkness were on more than friendly terms, and she would readily embrace it given the opportunity to do so. That hundreds of Adventurers had met their ends there left her relatively unfazed. Her goal was more than worth her own death, a death which she had expected to occur centuries ago.

With a glance behind her to ensure that her companion was still with her, Elenor strolled into the town, her succubus features hidden well from sight. Much to her delight, Katherine had been very talkative and exuberant, reminding Elenor of the faded memories she had of teaching the younger generation so long ago. In a sense, she knew that it was painful for both of them, but their mutual happiness had so far outshined their ancient loss. It seemed to be something that was shameful for them to speak of, as if saying the words would immediately reconjure the events in their minds clear as day. There were things they both refused to speak of. Whether it was for their dignity or their sanity, neither could or would say.

The tall wolf's dress swished slightly as she came to a stop along what she guessed was the main strip of the town, eyeing the decrepit wooden signs that once marked stores, shops, and taverns of all kinds. In a sad sense, it was why all Adventuring towns were eventually doomed to fail. Once it became too dangerous, or there was nothing left to kill and plunder, there were no travelers and tourists left to make use of the town. Eventually, albeit slowly, the village and surrounding area would dwindle away until the remaining residents finally left for something better. The town itself, however, was not her primary concern. She needed information about the City, and Elenor knew precisely who to ask. The most sacred, wizened, and learned of any society, who often heard and knew secrets and information that they should not.

"Excuse me, child," she asked politely to a younger resident passing by, kneeling on the ground so that her eyes were level with his. "What can you tell me about the City beyond this town? For a silver piece perhaps?" From between her gloved fingers she produced a coin of the Kingdom, twirling it slightly in her hand. It was a cheap parlour trick, of course, meant only to amuse and entertain, but it would serve her purposes well enough, and hopefully bring the child some happiness in its bleak existence.

"I understand how you feel, Aisha. I have experienced the same as well." The wolf replied, his normally gruff voice taking on a more understanding tone. "But letting our emotions get the better of us in a place such as this would be asking for trouble. Don't worry about it."

Glancing up briefly, the wolf saw the demon wink at Aisha. His facial expression not changing from a neutral look, Gareeku turned back to Aisha.
"Probably did that just to get reactions. Don't rise to it." The wolf said, before going to take a swig of ale, only to remember that he had finished it, cursing softly under his breath. He knew he was probably pointing out the obvious, but sometimes people needed to hear it, and he wasn't an exception to that.

No sooner had he set his glass down on the bartop had the atmosphere in the tavern suddenly go from midly tense to downright knife-edge. The wolf had done his best to ignore the escalating arguement occuring just along the bar, but now it was starting to piss him off.
"For the love of the gods..." Gareeku growled. "Will you two just shut the fu-"

His comment stopped right at the time the stool went flying, signaling the start of the fight. "...great."

All he wanted was a quiet drink...just one time in who knows how long, that's all he wanted...just one goddamn drink.
"You know what, screw this. I'm going." Gareeku growled, leaving the money for the next couple of ales and the troll's meal before downing the ale in one when it had been placed on the bartop. "If I see you in the city the fair enough, but if not, take care of yourself."

And with that, with his hood back up the lupine disappeared through the door.

The boy looked up at the succubus, in awe of the simple trick.
"Tell you about it? Well it's the City, marm." He coughed awkwardly, "The old ruins that got everyone so confused, what with all the buildings being really new and really old at the same time." He mentally replayed what he'd just said and shuffled it around, "That's to say all the buildings look like new ones, with plumbing and wires and all, but they been abandoned so not all the plumbing and wires and stuff works and nobody knows who built 'em. My folks say not to go in there cos it's cursed and only like twelve adventurers ever come back outta the place and none too together neither, but I don't think it can be that bad because my friend sez he once found the pipe where its sewers come out and he didn't see no monsters or nuthin'." The boy canted his head, "'Cept that one time we were down there he looked in and got this funny look and now he gets all twitchy 'round drains." The boy's eyes again alighted on the silver piece and his face brightened, "An' that's what I know! The way in's down the road, past Moze's Inn. Moze is a nice guy, he lets me look at his old adventurin' stuff sometimes. And he sometimes gives pretty ladies a discount so you'd probably like it there too."

Moze reached behind the bar and pulled out a shortsword, continuing on his way to the two fighters. He flinched as the shots rang off, snarling to himself as he heard one of the bottles behind him smash. He brought the sword up, stepping up behind Giles, ready to bring the pommel down on the back of the berzerkers head...
The demon snickered into her drink, mirthlessly.

It was almost like clockwork, the events that happened.

Aisha listened further to the goings-on in the tavern, her mind a little more at ease with Gareeku's words of advice.  The huntress was indeed competent about knowing when and when not to cause trouble; but truth be told, there were times she was the one to start it when a demon made their appearance.  This was going to be an exception, if she could indeed help it.

But trouble came from a different direction.  Aisha barely heard the officer's next words about the larger human warrior, but as soon as she did, she flinched and glanced back to the bar at his instant reaction.  No sooner had the argument reached its peak...then, with a rise of heat and a couple of blasts of fire, he struck.

"Oh for shit's sake!" The panthress growled as the barstool flew.  She started to leap from her seat and pull out her boomerang, intent on either fighting the stray bit of magic or debris, or on stopping it altogether.  But when a few of the other patrons had started to intervene much more quickly, she thought better of it and ducked under the edge of the bar, a rather annoyed grimace on her face.  Her mind was racing, wondering what to do.  It had been a short while since she's seen any random violence, and a part of her wasn't prepared for it.

That was when she heard Gareeku make his lament upon the situation, and leave for the City.

A good idea, that, Aisha thought as she watched him after downing his last ale, sparing a brief nod.  She looked around as Moze was already coming up with the intention to stop things--albeit slowly--and glanced around, thinking.  The thing is, the panthress was looking for a small respite as well before entering the City itself.  She was about to catch up with an old friend at least, and perhaps a night of sleep at most.

But the fighting, and the uneasy presence of some of these people--the demon included--told her that she wasn't going to get such a respite anytime soon.  Aisha didn't care, for she could give up that respite easily, so long as she didn't have to keep constant watch for herself or any trouble at night.

Very well, looks like I'm starting things a little early, the panthress thought with a sigh, ending in a quick chuckle.  She took as much a drink from her ordered ale when it arrived as she could gulp, and finished her sandwich via a quick grab from the plate, setting her money for the food next to it.

***

A moment into his walk, Gareeku heard quiet, trotting pads on the path behind.  "Hope you don't mind some competent company, amigo," A hooded Aisha said, coming up.  "I had doubts that I could get any sleep there, anyway."

 Giles descended upon the lawman with his teeth bared - and likely, had not the Gutenberg magus cast a sleep spell, he would have sank the burning spear into the man's gut. As it was, however, his eyes closed mid-spring and he fell on the floor already asleep. The burning spear thudded into the wood inches away from Payden's face. He could feel the heat on his cheek.

Then all the ammo in his gun overheated and the weapon exploded, sending shrapnel in all directions. A few stray pieces pinged off Giles's armor, and barely missed the side of his head to thunk into the bar.

"--gonna get... now... son' bitch..." Payden was ready to do... well, something, if his body hadn't been hit by a sudden fatigue and fell limp soon afterwards. Thankfully, the dropped revolver had at least been flung slightly forward after burning Payden's hand, causing the ruptured ammo and pieces of broken steel to narrowly avoid his face and plink into his breastplate, several smaller shards embedding themselves into his calf. It would hurt after he woke up, but not the worst injury sustained in the line of duty by a long shot.

Nearly killed by a random inn patron. And to think the real danger supposedly lied in the City itself.

Raek almost missed it as the armored man passed out in midflight-he was still quite open to venting his agitation despite the fact his momentary fervor had began to subside. So much for his attempt to intervene; personally it was probably overkill anyway depending on one's perspective. And one could certainly say it was for the best anyway.

One has to give him a little credit, though. Granted, berserk fury was a natural quality for someone like him, but past events had taught him the value of marginal self-control in such situations. So, with considerable effort, the oversized canid forced himself to relax -the small explosion that signified the destruction of one man's weapon didn't help, really-...and somewhat take stock of the situation. As it were, the humans were incapacitated right now amidst ruined tables and chairs.

Also of note was the fact that the multi-legged machine was gone-he'd decided it looked more like a bug than the other thing he'd encountered- along with that feline and her wolven companion. Seems like they'd left, like I'd thought of doing. At least he had been before deciding to talk to that demon...and the brief chaos that ensued shortly afterwards. Now I might as well help clean up before heading out.

So, the lupine troll waited a moment or two for things to quiet down before making his way over to Moze-whom may or may not have put away their weapon by then. "Innkeep," He grunted in what one could almost swear was an ungracious tone, "Do you want help moving those two?" He panned his head at Giles and Payden's prone forms. Granted, the big one in armor might even be moderately hard to lift even for him, but still. And maybe...

"Also, tell me about that one with wings." He nodded at the feminine demon behind him. "What's got her hurt, if you know." He tried a slight smile in a bid to appear friendly. "Figure I may as well know, see if it's worth looking to be hired." That last bit perhaps hinted at his own interest at being in the area; where there was danger, it stood to reason that someone might feel happier with a bit of muscle on their side.

At least that stood to reason for Raek.

   The spider drone scuttled itself out the window, and made for the van as Traxen was in the driver's seat, with the van set in reverse and a foot hovering over the pedal. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon..." Traxen muttered as the drone scrambled up the front of the van and onto the roof. Finally, he heard a small thunk that indicated the top hatch had opened and then closed.
  Traxen pressed the pedal down, but didn't slam it; there were still buildings around. Nevertheless, the van immediately sped up in reverse, and was a good distance away from the inn in moments. He did notice two patrons, the white wolf and black jaguar, leaving the inn as he backed away, but didn't prioritize that very highly.
  After he was a safe distance away, Traxen waited. And waited. After a few minutes and the inn not being blown to smithereens, he figured it might have calmed down by now. Things like that didn't usually last very long, no matter how they went.
  He deployed another flying camera drone, a smaller model this time, half the size of the earlier one. He sent it back over to the bar, where it flew by a window to see what the inside was like at the moment.

Kyirri was watching Giles and Payden, however, while he wasn't within arms reach of either, he wasnt too far away. Instinct failed him when he saw the gun's ammunition explode. He should have got behind cover, at least ducked downwards, he simply froze, to his undoing. Three pieces of superheated shrapnel hit him, one struck his right shoulder, one hit his left hip, and a larger piece penetrated his belly.

Kyirri didn't scream, he tried, but he was unable to make a sound, he felt a force tighten around his throat as he fell to the ground. His vision blurred as he stared at the ceiling, he tried to get back up, to no avail. Kyirri also tried to raise his right hand, but it was no use, and only served to make the wound on his shoulder sting, as blood oozed from all three of his wounds. He made a soft groaning sound, as he placed his left hand on the wound in his belly to try and staunch the bleeding.

As quickly as it had turned to violence, it seemed that the fighting had finally ended.  Mao wasn't sure what caused it all, nor the exact manner in which it had stopped but he merely sat and observed the whole time.  He noted two of the other patrons slip out as things had just gotten ugly and considered following them, but decided against it.  There was still more to be seen and heard here and possibly even friends and a good job.

"For now, I'll wait.  There are still plenty here and many more things to learn."

Mao wondered if those who had wandered off had merely done so to avoid the fighting, or blow off steam, and if they would seen be back.  His feelings told him to not expect as much.  From what he had been hearing, this place had a tendency to draw folks in, and prey on them and he feared that those who had already left, would yet fall victim to the place.  He prayed that he was wrong in this.

For now, he would watch and see what friends he could find.  "The one who seemed to have cast the sleep spell, Sister Alex was it?"  he tapped his chin as he thought this and tried to recall if that was her name or not.  He couldn't remember for sure, but it wouldn't matter.  He would watch and listen quietly as always and look for opportunities as they came.

Jinx stared at this familiar figure for what seemed like an eternity. The figure, however, kept his amused grin plastered on his face.

"He He...What's the matter Felix? You look like you've seen a ghost!" The collie laughed.

The Assassin tried shaking his sense of panic and disbelief off. All he managed to do was hide it under a mask of calm.

"I killed you Max..."Jinx tried sounding cool...threatening, badass. However, he really just seemed like a very frightened man trying to hide his fear.

" You did, Felix. 8 years ago, you stab your first, best, and only friend in the jugular...The collie known as Max laughed some more. " Ha ha...the irony...the Leagues wanted to see if we could kill the other...I couldn't do it...told I wouldn't. Then, you plunged my own dagger into my neck."

Jinx grunted, shallowing as he glared at the bloody canine."You're not real..."The black cat stammered, in yet another vain attempt to summon his courage.

Am I really, Felix? Come on, man...after all we did together, I thought you'd be happy to see me again-

"Shut up and leave me alone!"The feline assassin yelled, getting to his feet and glaring at his long dead companion.

Max chuckled, leaning back on his chair and propping his feet on the table."Now, Felix...I thought you hated making a scene?"The canine gave his old friend a mysterious grin.

"The Hell you talking about?"

"They can't see me, Felix...to them, you're yelling at an empty chair."

The tension in Andrace's body relaxed after the two humans suddenly collapsed and fell asleep. A flick of her wrists pointed her gun away, then she put it back in its holster and began to stand up. "Well, that's that," she said with some relief. "Nice bit o' spellcastin', whoever did it. Now, if that's all th' excitement over —"

The lioness would never make a good Oracle, or at least one safe to be near. As if waiting for someone to say those words, the sherriff's overheated gun exploded, sending ragged fragments of almost red-hot metal flying in all directions. Andrace swore and flattened her muzzle against the bar top. Something whirred viciously past her ear, and she thought she felt a tug on her hair, then it really was all over.

She raised her head and looked around. "Everyone okay?" she called, then her ears dipped as she noticed the extra limp body on the floor. She could smell blood, too. "Dammit, someone's stopped a bit o' that. Who knows a good healin' spell?" She vaulted back over the bar, knelt to pull a small first aid kit from a side pocket of her backpack, and trotted across the room to see what she could do for the short pale-furred rodent sprawled on the floor with several bloodstains spreading over his clothes.

She paused for a moment to look at the tall, cadaverously thin black cat either having a panic attack or heading towards a screaming argument with an empty chair. Everyone's crazy here 'cept thee an' me, Andrace thought wryly, an' I'm not too sure 'bout thee...

Ed was having fun with Eph, he was enjoying the little games and he knew that she couldn't be bad.  He himself downed the rest of his drink, moved his head closer to Eph's and said in a low voice, "why, my original offer was to go somewhere private, perhaps a romp through the woods... or sheets if you'd prefer..."  he gave the tasmanian devil girl an extremely amused grin while awaiting her response.

The fight was quick, and the two combatants were put to sleep by the teacher-ish looking woman with the living books - but not before a gun exploded. Almost in synchrony, Mykst and Black Magic swept their cloaks up to cover their faces and dove out of the way, stray pieces of shrapnel flying around them. One of them nicked Kali in her arm, and Mykst felt one graze his side, but it ended as quickly as it had begun. but now, of course, there were Payden's injuries to worry about. The housecat quickly moved to the cop, but his girlfrined stopped him.

"I'll take care of him, you make sure that other guy's okay," she said. This wasn't her being controlling; Mykst knew enough healing spells to help, but since healing magic wasn't his natural affinity, he wouldn't be able to do much for Payden. As he moved to go help the rodent, Black Magic answered the question everyone seemed to have and added one of her own.

"We know some healing spells, but just in case, are there any more advanced healers in here?" As she spoke, she couldn't help glancing over at the wiry-thin black cat who appeared to be having a bout of schizophrenia. The shouting itself didn't bother her, and she did her best not to stare, but what got to her was that the cat looked the tiniest bit like Mykst.

Moze winced as the gun exploded and glared down at the two unconscious people furiously. From the sounds of things, they'd injured someone in HIS Inn... But all the other patrons had already swooped in to fix things. The orangutan grumbled and put the shortsword back on the counter. Hearing the troll's offer of assistance he thought for a second, and then jerked his head at Giles. "Fine, you get the heavy one. Just give the rest of 'em a minute to finish seeing to the other one before I throw his ass out and I'll tell you outside. You know how their hearing can be." This last bit was in a low, low whisper, jerking his head at the demon girl behind him.
Jezebel, meanwhile, had raised an eyebrow at Jinx. Usually you didn't get ones like this until their second time into the City proper.

Gareeku and Aisha had been walking awhile before they finally began to see the fence surrounding the City in the distance. Topped with barbed wire and with warning signs in every language on the way, the relaxed, overweight, half-asleep rat in the guard booth seemed like an almost comical contrast to the severity of the place's reputation.

"Right," The wolfish Mythos said in a somewhat laconic tone before turning to the former crusader -he'd been eying the injured 'roo-rat with mild interest until the innkeeper spoke. Small, injured, and appetizing; why did all the interesting things have to happen just as he made his mind up to do something?

Remember your manners, Raek reminded himself as he reached for Giles, wait and see if he survives or not first. Very economical way of thinking there...for a troll. Besides, he reasoned, if he lives he seems likely to hire me. Or maybe the two felines....That other with the longish ears, not sure about him... A pale eye rolled to focus on the Nictari thoughtfully.

Still, in respect to the armored man he was told to move. . This would be easier if he wasn't laying on his belly, then I could just carry him over my shoulder, he huffed as he grabbed the man's arms and began pulling him up.

"Hai-yup," the canid grunted -it'd been a long time since he'd gotten to carry something this heavy! Though it wasn't beyond his limit, thankfully. Besides, he welcomed the chance to work his muscle a bit.

Finally-with a bit of grip shifting and at least a little clatter of metal- he managed to get Giles off the ground with a hand under each armpit. "Where do you want him?" Raek asked Moze. There was that, wasn't there? The simian hadn't told him where to take the human. "Outside?"

If so, that'd work out nicely-he'd be able to just drop the chap on the ground and get on to learning about that female ram-demon.

"I don't actually know, but judging by the sign on that last place... likely not. I'm just lookin for a place for me to ah, practice my trade, and earn me some money to live on for a bit. I'm wagerin there'll be people in there," he gestured towards the City. "an' where there are people, theres money."
His eyes kept wandering back to the rifle. The more he looked at it, the more he remembered. The more he remembered, the more the madness threatened to surge back. He blinked as hard as he could, and forced himself to look away from the gun.
"So, er, you headin in that direction? I wouldn't mind the company, if you are. And if you don't object."
Why, why did I say that?? The closer I am to that cannon, the more...
He felt in his pockets. There it was. He closed his hand around a small pocket knife. It wasn't anything near big enough to be useful in a fight, but he gripped it as though his life depended on it. After a few moments he released the knife back into his pocket.
I'll be fine. It'll take a lot more than that to set me off this time.
He stared at the fox, waiting for his reply.

Andrace knelt beside the injured kangaroo rat, and immediately began checking his wounds. "Easy now," she said reassuringly, "I'm here t' help y' — just lie still, an' I'll be done in no time." Frig it, what a snafu, she though, hip's messy, but it don't look too bad — whatever hit 'im kept on goin', I think. Shoulder's nasty, looks like somethin' got chopped up in there. Stomach's th' worst, though, needs fixin' up right now.

She looked up at the grey-furred cat who'd come up beside her. "Thanks f'r th' help, kid," she said with a tight-lipped smile, "sit y'self down an' start wi' th' hip, it just needs healin', I think. Th' other two got stuff inside needs t' be dug out first, though." She hoped the youngster had done this sort of thing before, and wasn't about to suddenly discover he was allergic to blood (in its splattered-all-over form) in the middle of casting a healing spell.

Andrace took a soft cloth pad and a large pair of tweezers out of the first aid kit, pulled the rat's shirt up for a better look at the wound, then leaned down to speak quietly into his ear. "Hope y' can hear me, I got t' poke about a bit, an' it's goin' t' hurt. Get ready, I'll do it on th' count o' four, one, two, I lied." As she spoke, the lioness clamped her left hand firmly on the rat's chest and picked up the tweezers; now she poked them into the oozing stomach wound. She fished around for a couple of seconds, drew her hand back, and pressed the cloth pad hard against the wound. A sharp-edged chunk of metal, dripping blood, clattered on the floor at her side.

When the gun exploded Sister Alex felt some of the smaller bits tugging at her voluminous robes as they passed through the fabric, but was thankfully far enough away that her clothing was the only casualty. Others were not so lucky. The damaged bystander quickly gathered two attendants so she went to check the loud sheriff. He was badly burned but the byproducts of the exploding gun seemed to have largely bypassed him. Not being from one of the nursing orders healing spells weren't one of her strong skills, but the Gutenbergs traded expertise with such orders regularly. Her staff was one such item. She carefully laid the tip on Payden's chest and let it work it's magic.

Quote from: Basilisk2150 on May 27, 2009, 11:58:07 AM
Ed was having fun with Eph, he was enjoying the little games and he knew that she couldn't be bad.  He himself downed the rest of his drink, moved his head closer to Eph's and said in a low voice, "why, my original offer was to go somewhere private, perhaps a romp through the woods... or sheets if you'd prefer..."  he gave the tasmanian devil girl an extremely amused grin while awaiting her response.

Looking around at the results of the barbrawl which she had been ignoring, despite the short burst of violence it was pretty much the norm. When Ed made his offer Ephy smiled. It seemed no matter where she went someone wanted into her pants, not that she minded though. "Mmmm that sounds like fun..." She whispered back, "But for the moment I think just a walk, I came here hearing about the City and some of the loot you can find in there."

Ed nodded, his smile changed slightly, but he was still amused... the offer had been half harted, but she looked like she would have been fun.

Although still getting feelings from around the bar, Ed had been more or less ignoring everybody else.  He grinned, then nodded to Eph, "perhaps you'd care to team up and get a head start?  I doubt a stroll through the outskirts of The City could hurt... besides, it'd give us a chance to find something valuable before anyone of these other dungeon crawlers get going... what do you think?"

Kyirri's sight was blurry, and his hearing was somewhat fuzzy as well. He let out a soft groan, he almost immediately tried to get defensive when he saw someone coming over to him, skeptical that he would be receiving genuine help. Dire straits, and difficulty moving his limbs forced him to stay still, if not entirely relaxed. He tried to mentally brace himself for three unpleasant bursts of pain, albeit not very successfully.

Kyirri yelped out in pain as the largest piece, still very hot, was removed from himself. He tried not to move his arms around too much, but put his left hand on his chest wound after the piece was removed. He made some soft sounds that were barely comprehensible. His senses weren't very coherent either, the remaining pieces of superheated metal still stung, and burned. He closed his eyes, thinking that it would help him endure if he didn't have to see what was being done to him, not that his vision was particularly sharp at the moment anyways.

His breathing was slow. Blood continued to ooze from his wounds.

As he heard Aisha coming up from behind, and hear her speak, Gareeku quirked an ear under his hood and smirked back.  "I don't mind competent company, no.  I can't blame anyone for wanting to get out of there either.  If the others want to stay and pick fights, it's their loss."

The panthress chuckled in agreement and turned her gaze back to the road in front of them.  "Glad to be welcomed, mi amigo.  This place will be easier and less dangerous to navigate with more than one person anyway, I think."

As the wolf and the jaguar continued down the darkened road, they did indeed notice the warning signs, becoming more fervent in ordering travelers to turn back with every step.  So many languages--only two of which Aisha could read--said the same things.  It certainly had an effect; the more dangerous it felt, the more interesting it seemed, and the more curious the adventurers were.

Both had their hands carefully at the ready on their weapons by the time they reached the barbed-wire gate that marked the border of the place.  Strangely, there also appeared to be someone guarding it, a rat sitting almost too relaxed in a booth.

Aisha narrowed her eyes, wondering about the situation.  "Think we should just go through?  I wonder if it's closed."

"Only one way to find out..." the wolf murmured back, glancing at the barbed wire.  "We shouldn't have to cut ourselves first.  Somebody really wants to keep people out."

They went up to the booth, in full sight of the rat so that their intentions were known...it could be seen they were warriors, from the way they carried themselves and the weapons hidden partially under their cloaks.  It probably wouldn't hurt to make themselves known anyway...and if they wouldn't be let in, well, there were other ways to enter.

"S'cuse me, señor," Aisha said with a polite inclination, rapping her knuckles slightly on the side of the window.  "Not a toll to get through this place, is there?"

Mykst was a little tense around Andrace, but nowhere near as much as he had been around PaydenShe was being friendly, and she reminded him the slightest bit of Kali's mother - much younger, of course, but similar in looks and personality. He nodded at her advice, studying the kangaroo-rat's wounds. The hip-wound, at least, wasn't that deep and had nothing stuck in it. It should be easy to heal. He spoke in a quiet, low voice to the rodent. "This is going to feel a little strange, but it won't hurt. I need you to stay still, okay?" That being said, he focused his hands around the wound; he wouldn't need his staff for this. "Lux sancta, sana hoc vulnus," he said, a white light emanating from his hands. The wound would feel a bit warm, and might itch as it healed, but true to the cat's word, it didn't hurt.

Black Magic, meanwhile, stood near Payden as the squirrel examined him. She intended for herself and Mykst to stick around until he was fuly healed. He was a bit of a jerk, true, but he had offered to help them, and they would end up needing it if Dyixaz's stern warnings were anything to go by. The liones could only hope that when he came to and hopefuly still wanted to aid them, he wouldn't freak out about one of their contacts for home being a half-demon.

She watched the woman's staff heal the cop, and turned to look at her. "Holy magic, or something different?" she asked.

((OOC: Feel free to fix my Latin. I always wanted to take it for real, but never had the chance.))

Sam was till trying to figure things out. Okay, he thought. A gun, two unconscious humans, people fixing it. Right, time to stop messing around. I know where the city is, and it isn't going anywhere. I have supplies, not much, but enough. Sam walked out of the inn and headed off in the direction of the city.

   Traxen saw that the "fight" was indeed already over, and some of the patrons were apparently dealing with the aftermath. Traxen couldn't see any way he could help, but he did want to talk to the bartender.
  As Traxen started moving the van back towards the bar, he remembered that the motors and turret were still at "combat" capacity. He quickly rectified that, "Pamcawv, stand down all systems to normal operation."
  "A-fir-ma-tive."
  Traxen pulled the van back up to the bar and began recalling the flying drone when he noticed Sam exiting the bar and heading in the direction of the City. The bar is bleeding adventures... Traxen noted. The more people left on their own, the smaller any team would be. Traxen wanted to take advantage of all the people and stick with the largest and most competent group, but that seemed like less and less of a good prospect. Still, Sam was an interesting and seemingly competent enough guy. Worth keeping an eye on. In fact...
  Traxen finished recalling the small camera drone, and turned from the wall of monitors to open up a large blocky storage unit inside the van. He fished out a medium camera drone and set it down as he rummaged around for a few other things. He picked out a small communication headset; basically a universal adjustable earpiece with a small antenna and microphone attached. Traxen had four such headsets, he had made them on one of the last times he was with a group of adventurers to keep them in communication. As long as the headset was in range of the van, it would work. Traxen got some wire and jury-rigged the headset to hang off of the disc-shaped drone. He then turned it on, went to the back of the van, opened the door a little, and unceremoniously tossed the drone out. He returned to the wall of monitors, and set the drone to start following a distance behind Sam as he headed off. Traxen then looked at the almost-forgotten screen showing the view of the drone that had followed the homeless human. He would have pulled the drone away then, but the man with the large gun seemed interesting enough to continue watching. Still, if only he hadn't lost that white wolf and black jaguar... they looked like they meant business.
  To finally talk to the bartender, Traxen redeployed the spider-drone from earlier. It scuttled around the bar, back in the open window, skirted around the minor devastation area, and began to seek out the bartender.

Quote from: Basilisk2150 on May 28, 2009, 10:05:36 PM
Ed nodded, his smile changed slightly, but he was still amused... the offer had been half hearted, but she looked like she would have been fun.

Although still getting feelings from around the bar, Ed had been more or less ignoring everybody else.  He grinned, then nodded to Eph, "perhaps you'd care to team up and get a head start?  I doubt a stroll through the outskirts of The City could hurt... besides, it'd give us a chance to find something valuable before anyone of these other dungeon crawlers get going... what do you think?"

"Sounds like an idea" the Tassie Devil said with a evil grin (with oh so many sharp teeth). As they headed out the door Ephrael grabbed her traveling cloak and bag of tricks.

As he walked with the girl, Ed started taking in the view of their surroundings, and as they headed towards the city, he began noticing the warning signs, and as such, he figured there was no real point in hiding what he was any longer...  Edaric grew both sets of wings, and flexed his back wings to their full length he then folded them around his body, and let the cloak partially cover them.  Looking slightly down at Eph, he said, "you know, most beings are downright terrified of the cubi race, and i'm pleasantly surprised that you're giving me a chance.  The fact that you knew what i was, and was still willing to go along means your probably familiar with my race... any chance you'd be willing to let me know the story there... or at least perhaps what gave me away as a cubi?... no one seemed to notice besides you, so i'm very curious as to what gave me away..."

It was at this point that the incubus flashed mischievous smile of his own, complete with needle sharp fang, and razor sharp teeth of his own.

Alex looked at the young lioness when she spoke. "Holy magic. A trade with our sister order since we aren't the best at healing. But the staff seems to have done it's work." The burns on the sheriff appeared healed. She couldn't break the sleep spell to be sure while the armored human was being dragged from the building. Shifting the staff slightly she held out her hand to the lioness. I'm Sister Alexandria." As an afterthought, since no one seemed to recognize her robes, "Order of St. Gutenberg."

Nobody seemed particularly worried about the former Paladin's state as they checked over Payden and the unfortunate bystander who'd been injured. Giles, however, didn't seem to care - unconsciousness bringing that oft-absent peaceful temperament the blackguard was missing so much.

No-one, however, had bothered to pull the red-hot spear from the floorboards. Blue wood-smoke curled up as the floorboards caught fire and spread quickly along the spilled booze and other detritus.

"Felix, you're making an ass out of yourself, just sit down, take a deep breath, and act casual. The Last thing anybody needs to the reassurance they're sleeping in the room next to crazed assassin."

The feline bit his lip and closed his emerald eyes. You know you were having one of those days when what could either be a ghost of a hallucination was the voice of reason. He pulled the chair back and sat down in it.

"Good on you Felix...now...what is Kafzeil wants from this wretched Hive, Felix?"

Jinx quickly glanced at the letter."...Big surprise. Science. Doesn't want the treasure...he says he just wants to know if the local legends how some weight..."Jinx grumbled. The Angel was planning something...Hell, the assassin had known about it since he was hired on by Harkonnen...he had even asked him about it, but all Jinx got for an answer was a mysterious grin.

"Tread carefully Felix. Kafzeil doesn't like you. For all you know he could be spending you off to a death trap.

"I I know...I know..."jinx mumbled, looking around the bar. He hated working with people...they were unreliable, and often just became an extra load for Jinx to carry.

Got to stop thinking like that Felix. This ain't no Commission, an extra set of eyes will do you good.Max chuckled, scanning the bar as well as he grinned, revealing a set of pearly white fangs.

Jinx weighed his options: He somehow felt...some kind of connection to the young feline boy...on the other hand, him and Payden seemed like they'd be at each others throats...and Jinx wasn't sure of his opinion of Weres was all that positive, and if Jinx was somehow ousted ...

Though, the former Paladin...battle experience, a hardened warrior...and able to use magic in out of the box ways. However he seemed...psychotic when his buttons were pushed-

Jinx realized they had a bit more in common, after looking back at Max again.

"Where am I heading?  To the city eventually.  Though I was hoping to find a place to sleep first."

Ben shruged.  This man seemed a bit uneasy, and was fiddling with something in his pocket.  No matter, all should be fine in the end.

The lone wanderer wandered up to the town, stumping his way along the streets to find someplace actually open, out of the weather, and supplying a beer. It'd been a couple of weeks he'd been jonesing for a drink, now, and it was never pleasant staggering along in the middle of nowhere - although it wasn't too bad, at least you didn't have idiots bothering you.

He noted the various groups of folks wandering around; the armoured vehicle was unusual, but apparently not bothering him. He glanced at the sign over the door - Last Chance - and stumped up to it, just as it opened and an ape-like being threw out one of the denizens. Witt nodded up at the bouncer, if that was what he was - probably either the owner or his brother, so it didn't pay to be too miserable to him until after he'd started paying for drinks - and shoved through the door. He took three steps inside, unzipped, and put out the fire around the spear with a hiss and a sigh.

"Aaaaah, been waitin' for that."

He zipped up, pulled the spear out of the now damp - and smouldering - wood, and stumped over to the bar. Reversing the spear, he balanced it against the bar, parked himself on a stool, and slapped a coin down onto the wood.

He raised one eyebrow at the girl behind the bar. "I'll have a drink, if yer're not busy."

Against the bar, the liquid dripped down the spearhead onto the handle, and made it's way to the floor.

"Just follow me, I'll show you where to leave 'em." Moze waited until the others were done seeing to Payden before finally hoisting the human over one shoulder and bringing him over to the entrance, beckoning the troll along behind him. He heaved the man next to the dumpster, dusted his hands off, took a swig from a flask he pulled from his pocket and offered it to Raek. "You're a good kid, helpin' me out like this." To Moze, most people who couldn't remember when a soda was half a dollar was a kid. Even if they could've been around before soda was invented. No exceptions. "So, demon girl. Answers to Alice. She showed up with her leg like that, from what I hear she's looking for someone. Gets to rambling about her old art teacher when she's drunk, and never sounds too happy about the man."

Jezebel hadn't noticed the flames until Witt put them out and winced. Dad wasn't going to be thrilled about that, but he HAD just put out the flames and since the fire extinguisher was empty from the incident last week she had to be a little grateful. She set out the beer, trying her damnest to keep a straight face as the little robot skittered up to her. "Well hello there... Hon," inwardly she nodded to herself. Sir or Ma'am was right out, but it was hard to go wrong with Hon. "How 'kin I help you?"

"Whut? A toll?" The rat looked up from the magazine he had with him, with a cover that forebode further scrutiny by polite company. He laughed wheezingly, "Nah, just safety regulations. After all, it'd be irresponsible to let folks into a thrice-cursed hellhole. Lose our town charter. 'Course, it'd also be irresponsible to let you know they keep forgettin' t' get a new lock for the gate. After all, no adventurers able to get in and we lose some good business." The rat gave a guffaw and settled back in his chair, pulling his hat down over his eyes. "'Sides, I never seen nobody sneakin' in. All a good city official has to go by is his own two eyes, this day and age."

   On the van's external cameras, Traxen noticed another couple leaving the bar. These two, however, didn't look like much, so Traxen didn't set anything to tail them.
   Inside the bar, as the spider-drone scuttled around, Traxen suddenly noticed a small fire starting to spread as the little robot's camera caught the event. Groaning, he was just about to recall the drone again, when someone entered the bar and put the fire out with a rather... unorthodox method. Traxen's head titled as he tried to process that one. Eventually, he just shook his head and continued guiding the drone around.
   It climbed up the bar counter, and made its way down until it reached one of the orangutans. The girl, unusually enough, acknowledged the drone. Traxen spoke into his headset, the drone broadcasting his voice. "Yeah...uh, you work here, right? Have you worked here long enough to know much about that City over there? Specifically, what sort of dangers a visiting scavenger could expect? I've heard some stories about the place, and while there may be stuff in there of interest to me, it also sounds like it's infested with something, and I want to know if there's anything in particular I need to keep an eye out for."

With the largest piece of shrapnel out, and his hip wound closed, Kyirri was a lot more calm. His breathing became more steady, his vision was better, his hearing was alright as well, his wounds were still bleeding, but were a lot less painful. He looked up at Andrace and Mykst. He let out a soft groan, his mind still focused on trying to mitigate the pain he was in. He opened his eyes, his face was eerily relaxed. He tilted his head towards one of them.

"Th... th.... thanks... for what it's worth..." He said to them. He let out a deep breath, with a small sigh of relief.
"I... didn't deserve your kindness." He closed his eyes once again, but decided to stay on the ground, waiting for them to help with his other injuries. He was worried however, he had little he could do to repay them.

Pity Raek hadn't been able to stay around and witness what happened- when you're holding up a fella that, in your opinion, weighs about as much as a partly grown Clydesdale horse you tend to be more interested in depositing that weighty responsibility as soon as possible.

Still, at least it was good exercise, one could say, as he followed the simian being outside with his somewhat clanky cargo.

Huh, the canid Creature thought as he noted the armored van finally-in passing, of course-, What were those things called again? Fei, not important right now. His tail twitched a little as he obediently followed Moze. Once the chap had put the other human down, the lupine troll grunted as he debated rather briefly on simply dropping the paladin like a piece of luggage or setting him down gently.

The first, he had to admit personally, was rather appealing at the moment...considering the fact that Raek felt this was the one that'd set him off with the fire. But alas, he had dedicated himself to at least trying to make a vaguely good impression. So it was that he set Giles down against the dumpster itself.

"Thanks," He said carefully at the compliment once the simian started talking-though he shook his head at the offer for a drink. There were a few good reasons he didn't drink, to be honest...and not because he didn't like being drunk. It was how his body tended to metabolize the stuff that was the problem. Note to the wise...don't stand downwind. "You're not bad yourself, innkeeper." Or was it barkeeper? He wondered.

No matter; either title would work in this situation. Still, the Mythos chuckled in a somewhat guttural tone that sounded more like an ominous rumble. "Didn't try and get those adventurers to prod me with a meat-sticker or two." One could swear, perhaps, that he did have a slight bit of contempt for adventurers with the stress he put on the word-but then, who wouldn't when they tended to stab or cast first without considering the fact that he might not be the villain they were looking for?

Still, the troll-wolf couldn't deny that working with them was fun at times, should he get lucky enough to be hired on by a few.

"So, Alice, huh?" His head panned slightly as he leaned against the same wall the dumpster was set by while he processed the information. And honestly, he didn't mind being called a kid; Raek didn't even know now...or more precisely, really care about his age. If Moze thought he was young, it was his opinion. "Looks tough, anywhat..." The fellow paused for a moment, as if remembering something. "Name's Raek, by the way. I hire myself as a fighter to those that'll take me." Few that those were...

As they listened to the rat's answer, Aisha and Gareeku exchanged a quick glance.  This guy seemed rather strangely upbeat for someone guarding the front door of a rumored "hellhole".  By the way he acted, one could easily mistake it as playing up a carnival-of-horrors tourist trap.  One of those haunted places that indeed makes money off of its reputation, whatever hid behind its history...with no regard for the history itself, but with regard on how to take advantage of it.

Then he mentioned losing business from adventurers.  An amused smirk played on the panther's face, what could be seen of it beneath the hood...and the slight hints that the gate was unlocked.  Well, he knows his target demographic at least.  Must have seen many adventurers pass through before us.

When he finished, Aisha chuckled with a bit of mischievousness to her tone, taking quick look at the gate itself.  "No lock, huh?  Well, isn't that a shame.  And far be it for us to play into irresponsibility, sí?  I guess we should be on our way then, Gareeku."

"Yes, a real shame," the white wolf roughly agreed, a smirk on his own features.  "Whatever is in there though, I'm sure a couple of skilled adventurers could handle it."  His voice turned a little more serious.  "But just out of curiosity...what would you say someone sneaking in would expect to find in this place?"

Aisha meanwhile had tentatively put a hand on the gate, peering through and slowly pushing it open.  Amid the quiet, she thought that she could hear more people in the distance behind them.  Some of the others in the tavern having decided to check it out early too, she guessed.  In front, the silence just seemed to stretch in the ghost city.

Andrace grabbed the injured rat's flailing hand and placed it over the cloth pad on his stomach wound. "It's OK," she told him reassuringly, "got that one done, now just hold on t' that while I see t' y'r shoulder. Th' kid here'll fix it up proper soon 's he's done healin' y'r hip." She nodded approvingly to the grey cat as she watched him cast a healing spell. One of the holy light-based ones, it looked like, and definitely a lot more powerful than her own best effort. She pulled another pad from the first-aid kit and held it in her teeth while she shifted her stance to crouch over the shoulder wound.

Her ears perked up as the rat seemed to recover a little awareness. He still didn't look all that healthy, though: a closer look at his pale skin and fur, and odd eyes, made her think she'd seen better-looking Undead. She snorted quietly, though, when he spoke up. "That's nothin' y' need t' worry 'bout, not yet at any rate. Just sit still, we'll be done soon."

The lioness flicked an ear as she pulled the jacket and shirt back from the injured shoulder. This one looked nasty, the sort of nasty where she didn't want her patient wriggling around too much while she poked and prodded at his insides. Maybe her own healing spell would help here; it wasn't very strong, but one thing it did do well was make things hurt a lot less. She murmured a few quiet words and made a grabbing gesture with her free hand. A soft green light appeared, flowing like thick syrup between her fingers. She let it drip into the ragged gash, and watched with satisfaction as it sank into the flesh.

"Hold still now," Andrace said in a businesslike tone, "this's the last bit that'll hurt real bad," She put one knee gently but heavily just above his elbow to immobilise the arm, and laid her hand flat on his chest again. Her probing with the tweezers took a lot longer this time, but finally she came up with a thin, sharp sliver of metal that had done a good job of slicing up the delicate internal parts of the rat's shoulder. "That's th' lot, I think," she said to the grey cat as she clamped the second pad over the shoulder wound. "Watch it when y' fixin' this one, though, it got chopped up real... good..."

Her voice trailed away as she realised she could smell something burning. A quick glance around the room revealed the floor around the red-hot spear beginning to catch fire... and also revealed a new arrival putting the flames out in an... unusual way. The lioness grinned toothily and suppressed most of a thoroughly disreputable-sounding snicker.

Quote from: Basilisk2150 on May 30, 2009, 04:24:11 PM
As he walked with the girl, Ed started taking in the view of their surroundings, and as they headed towards the city, he began noticing the warning signs, and as such, he figured there was no real point in hiding what he was any longer...  Edaric grew both sets of wings, and flexed his back wings to their full length he then folded them around his body, and let the cloak partially cover them.  Looking slightly down at Eph, he said, "you know, most beings are downright terrified of the cubi race, and i'm pleasantly surprised that you're giving me a chance.  The fact that you knew what i was, and was still willing to go along means your probably familiar with my race... any chance you'd be willing to let me know the story there... or at least perhaps what gave me away as a cubi?... no one seemed to notice besides you, so i'm very curious as to what gave me away..."

It was at this point that the incubus flashed mischievous smile of his own, complete with needle sharp fang, and razor sharp teeth of his own.

Ephrael in answer to his question reached down the front of her top, and pulled out a glowing gem on a necklace. Smiling she took the chain off and handed it to Ed "It glows near shapeshifers like cubi and Were's, but it becomes cold near Were's and warm with cubi." She tilted her head to the side and flicked a bang of her fiery red hair from her face. "And as for the lack of concern? Well I spent some time in the company of a member of Clan Shep'Pard, he taught me all sorts of ways to deal with cubi...and most other creatures." She added with a twinkle in her eyes.

"Largely seems to depend who's doin' the sneakin'," the rat replied to Gareeku with a chuckle. "Other things sneakin', usually. And try to be out by nightfall, it REALLY goes to shit then."
Aisha and Gareeku soon found themselves in the suburbs that surrounded the city proper. In the hot morning sun the place had a bleached look, almost overexposed. Something moved in the windows of one of the houses and not a block away a trash can fell over with a crash as something darted by. A few hours walk away they could see the bridge leading to the main part of the city.

"Erm..." Jezebel pondered over the drones words. "What dangers to expect? Well, if every survivor's story is to be believed, all of 'em. Things hauntin' the buildings, things livin' in the buildings, the buildings themselves..." she shrugged, "Dad's gone into it pretty deep before, but he don't bring me along. Says the place gets in your head, he doesn't go any deeper than the suburbs these days and even then only in the truck. If you're scavengin' you should do fine; it looks like a modern city in there, hear there's even the remains of old cars and computers, although most of 'em don't still work. Just be careful what you bring out with you, you never know what's gonna turn out hazardous. Dad says he once saw a man get eaten by what he thought was a saxophone in there. Oh! And keep an eye out for other scavengers. I hear that there's people what live in there, and they can get a tad funny after a while." She finally looked up at where the rat was being seen to, "Hey! I gonna need to call an ambulance or a coroner?"

"Call me Moze," The being stuck out his hand to shake, taking another swig from his flask with another hand, "And if you have any trouble with gettin' a proper job I could use a part time bouncer. Bloody adventurers can't keep from hitting something, looks like. Might as well be someone who'll give 'em cause to think first."

Ed nodded, "so you spent some time with those warriors, usually a pretty good lot from my experience... though a bit of a hodgepodge and less centralized compared to many clans.  I must admit it's quite refreshing to not have to constantly hide in plain view.  Back at that bar, it sounded like that law man might have started shit just on the grounds of what i am, and not who i am..." His grin broadened, "not that i'm opposed to laying a smack down when someone's ego needs to be put into check."

His thoughts drifted for a second, "so i don't suppose you took the time to learn much about several clans... Ahnasazi is the clan of confusion, and from what i've heard of this place, it'll be like a 24/7 buffet.  And that's on top of it being a place where one can enter a beggar, and leave very rich indeed."

He smiled at that thought, and decided the cloak was going to get in the way.  Taking a moment to prepare a spell, Ed's hand's gave off a black mist.  He untied the heavy cloth, held it's edge in one hand, and it suddenly disappear.  The sudden lack of cloak revealing the full length of his orangish spotted wings, which he folded around his back in a much more comfortable position.

Andrace's nearside ear flicked round in the barmaid's direction when she shouted. The lioness turned and gave her an only-slightly-forced reassuring smile. "Nah, he'll be fine," she called back. "I dug out a couple bits o' th' gun that blew up on 'im, an' th' kid here —" she waved her tail towards the grey cat "—he's doin' a good job o' healin' th' poor guy up. He'll be okay in a little while."

Then she leaned closer to the cat, put her muzzle close to his ear, and whispered very, very quietly. "He will be okay, won't he, kid? An' what's y' name, anyway? Can't go on callin' y' th' kid here all th' time. I'm Andrace Kithara, o' th' Kithara Pride."

   The insectoid robot was motionless as "it" listened to Jezebel. When she finished, traxen's voice responded, "So basically, double-check everything before approach, and mind the denizens. Got it. Though, I doubt I'll have to worry much about stuff getting in my head. It'd have to get in my van first, and I make sure to keep it far away from anything nasty. So far, that's worked out pretty well for me, heh."
  The drone got up on its legs. "Well, thank you for the answers. If your dad's been in deeper, I think I'll go talk to him, too. Thank you again." The robot turned and began to trek back to the window.

***


  After setting the drone to be recalled, Traxen began moving the van with the keyboards from the "command terminal". He back it up slightly, then turned it to slowly rumble over to where Moze and Raek were speaking, but since it was rude to interrupt, he didn't get very close.

Mykst calmly worked, sighing in relief in his mind as the wounds closed, and briefly smirking as he remembered when healing spells used to blow up in his face. As he moved to the rat's stomach wound, he heard his comment about not deserving kindness and responded. "Don't say things like that. There's a hole in your stomach; I can't fix a wound that's moving." This one looked deeper than the hip wound, to say the least, but the shrapnel had been hot enough to cauterize the wound and keep it from bleeding as much as such a wound typically did. So healing it wasn't too much more troublesome than the hip.

He muttered the same spell again, then looked up when Andrace introduced herself and gave a small, nervous smile. "Nice to meet you, Ms. Kithara. I'm Mykst Necrado, and hopefully, he'll be just fine. Believe it or not, I've seen wounds worse than this healed with no trouble." As the stomach wound slowly knit itself together, he looked at the shoulder wound and winced. "Sorry, but this one's going to take a more advanced spell. Kali!" he called to the younger lion, doing his best to ignore the hedgehog who had extinguished the fire.

********

Black Magic offered a closed-mouth smile and clasped the squirrel's hand. "Good to meet you, Sister. You can call me Black Magic, but don't be shocked if you hear me referred to as Kali Fiyernos." She, like the others, noticed the brief pause in the air over Witt's actions, but did no more than twitch a tulip-shaped ear. Once again, she was briefly reminded of the males of her species, though Witt was probably as far removed from her father as possible. She finally looked the other way when Mykst called her name, giving a small grin to the boy and turning back to Alex. "Scuse me a moment, my boyfriend needs help." She loosened her cloak so it wasn't completely closed anymore, just so it would be a bit easier to walk, and made her way over to Mykst and Andrace.

"Depends; can I eat anyone that causes trouble?" Raek said as his own hand engulfed the smaller simian's briefly-perhaps having spoke a bit too quickly to catch himself. Well, one couldn't say he wasn't interested...It also suggested that, perhaps, he'd served in that line of work before.

Still, it was slightly funny to see how his muzzle twisted as he realized what he'd said a few seconds later. "Er...I didn't mean that..." Or did I? Eh, he'd think on it later, no doubt. The lupine troll's tail flicked lazily as he leaned back against the wall, those somewhat tatty-looking ears perked. "I meant I might do that work...just have to see what that lot says." He smiled toothily. Okay, that's just plain creepy. "Been listenin' to what you lot have been talking about here, and I figure they might want something to help." He sighed. "Shame the good ones already left; I figured they'd offer a good meal or enough to get such."

'Something' as in him, of course. And he still had the others to ask, despite the selection being limited now...

Hmm? One of his ears twitched in the direction of the van as it moved their way...and of course, one hand lowered itself to grip his axe-he'd put it back on that belt of his at some point earlier, and certainly before he'd moved Giles. Wouldn't hurt to be ready just in case, right? Granted it probably wouldn't do more than put a moderate dent on that thing's armor if he threw his weapon, depending on the material.

"But," He decided to add, "If I do decide I want to work for you...I doubt you'd afford to keep me fed for long." True, that. Already, despite it having not really been that long, his stomach was starting to silently announce it's wants to him again.

Kyirri yelped out in pain when the shrapnel in his shoulder was removed. He took a few moments of panting to calm himself down, but eventually managed to relax himself, and prevent himself from placing his hands on any more of his wounds. He closed his eyes, and let out a soft smile, he wasn't used to being shown such selflessness, but he certainly appreciated it. They could have just let him bleed to death, and they didn't appear to get anything tangible from helping him either.

Kyirri became tense when he heard the prospect of an ambulance being called, his eyes opened wide in surprise, and partly irrational fear. No.. no.. no.. no.. kept going through his head, and he wasn't exactly in a position to refuse, however, he calmed down again when it was called off. I wouldn't want to be hauled off to a hospital only to have my bleeding body thrown on the streets after they found out I wouldn't be able to pay their fees... The thought quickly passed from him, for now, he was more than happy that he was getting his injuries tended to for free, so it seemed.

Kyirri remained silent, awaiting having his last wound healed. He thought of what to do after that, but came to very few conclusions. Thanks I can give, but only giving words would be a rather hollow thing, I barely have enough wealth to feed myself, let alone give to them. I could tell them my name, as would be polite, but, I'm not sure how they would react, I've only seen such behavior, so long ago... so long ago... He stopped himself, and then remembered that his clothes were torn in three areas. He exhaled deeply. I wouldn't be able to have them repaired, I can't afford new clothing, I can clean off my blood, but I'm not sure what to do about the tears... His face relaxed to a rather blank expression. He didn't move, he didn't want to make his healing any more difficult.

Mao took a moment to consider all that he had seen transpire.  Between the brawl, the reactions of the other patrons and the clean up now happening Mao began to realize that he would likely find nothing of use here.  It was unfortunate, but such was the way of things.  Maybe he would find new friends elsewhere.  He had noticed that others had decided to check out the ominous looking city that was not far from here.

"If what folks have been saying about that place is true, there's plenty of reason to go and just as much to not."

Mao paused for a moment.  He had hoped to find companions here and maybe some stable work.  There was naught for it though.  Most of them were tied up in their own companionships or were far too volatile to be safe companions, let alone friends.   Now that the confusion had died down and there was little left to see Mao decided to head out quietly and without notice.

"Would have liked to have had the food, and maybe even that tea, but I haven't the inclination after some of the things I've just seen."

The image of the fellow using his own personal form of fire control briefly flickered into his mind, thankfully only his minds eye version.  He wasn't sure he could have suppressed his gag reflex if he had seen it with his physical eyes.  He shook the idea from his head and reached into his pouch to fish out some coins to pay.  Once he had what he felt was probably a bit more than was needed he placed them on the table.  Thinking about it a moment, he smiled to himself.

"Hopefully that helps with the damages a bit.  Those fellows could have ruined the place."

Mao took one look again at the remaining folks tending to the wounded and the wounded themselves with his minds eye.  They all seemed pre-occupied but for the most part they were safe and/or on the mend.

He quietly snatched up his belongings and made his way to the door.

Luckily for her hemlines Sister Alex had stepped towards the other casualty before the "firefighter" had arrived. She politely didn't roll her eyes as she reminded herself that adventurers tended to act in offensive ways just for the hope of a fight or at least a reaction.

A glance out the window showed that Moze and the troll were still standing near the sleeping fighters. She'd let them continue to doze until everyone was out of range. Addressing the three caretakers of the downed rat she asked, "Do you need any assistance?"

Not exactly specific, Gareeku thought after the guard-rat answered his question.  Aisha, standing nearby and hearing all that was going on, had to agree.  She guessed that it was his job after all to keep things vague for the adventurers.

As for leaving around nightfall...well, she figured there might have been a good chance of that if they were tired enough.  But right now, the adventurers were looking for excitement, and more than surely so they could find it there.  Even if it was presented like a sideshow.

So, satisfied and with curiosity and caution at its peak, the two adventurers said their farewells and casually pushed the gate open into the territory at hand.

The suburbs were even more quiet than was thought.  Looking around, their heads protected from the warm sun by their cloaks, the jaguar and the wolf soon seemed to find themselves in what was largely a ghost town.  The scuffling noises that they heard were enough to make them jump and tighten the hold on their swords, and if the place was even inhabited, there weren't any people willing to wave hello to passerby.  The two adventurers decided not to bother anyone lest it would just lead to more trouble, continuing down the path.

"This place reminds me of one of my first adventures," Aisha murmured.  "A village was cursed into acting the very same way, people locking themselves in or disappearing altogether."

"Mm," Gareeku acknowledged, his eyes on the buildings rising upon the horizon before them.  Aisha's adventuring stories were always as heart-pounding as his own, and if this was anything like what either he or she faced before, it was going to be interesting.  "Was it solved easily?"

The huntress nodded.  "With fairly enough bruises.  But that place was only cursed for a few weeks.  Who knows how long this city was underfoot of something."

As if on cue, the bridge to the main city appeared like a mark upon the map.  Across, they could barely see beyond much, but it was guessed that it must have been a sight to behold once.

Aisha's right hand came up to head level, resting itself on the pommel of the Dragonblade strapped to her back.  "Well then, my friend, let's see what we can dig up here."

"After you," Gareeku answered with a smirk, his own hand resting upon his katana as they tentatively crossed the bridge.

Jinx sighed, getting up out of his seat, getting out his money pouch and paying for the drinks and snack, though he might return for a room. He payed a bit more then was really necessary, but given one of his coins was minted by the League of Assassins, carrying their mark, a canine skull skull and crossbones wearing a crown, with The words Intentio neco Sulum Vos Opportunus on the button of the silver coin. It was The League's usual way of saying "I wasn't here, if I was, you didn't see me."

"He he...going to find the Paladin, Felix?"

Felix glared at Max silently as he yanked his rapier out of the floor.

"I'll take that as a yes, Felix.Max grinned, laughing a bit.[b"]Well meet again Later Felix...Catch you on the Flipside." [/b]The deceased canine chuckled, raising his right hand and waving goodbye. With Jinx next blink, Max was gone.

Jinx visibly jumped, though given everyone in the room was either apathetic or tending to the wounded Adventurer, he figured nobody noticed. Jinx had noticed an...odd looking Being wander in. A hedgehog it appeared whom could be be described as a walking ball of spikes.

Jinx began hauling his luggage behind him as he picked up the letter, trying to read it in peace as he walked towards the door-

And right into Mao, literally bumping into the Nictarl on his attempted exit, the nearly skeletal feline  knocked off balance, his grip on his belongings the only thing keeping him on his feet.

Mist obscured the main part of the city on the other side of the bridge, and eventually Aisha and Gareeku were enveloped in the white cloud so it looked like all there was around them was white puffiness and the road under their feet. Above them was the footpath, on the same level as the crossbeams helping hold the bridge up, and they could see the remains of subway tracks to their left. Occasionally the mists parted to reveal the towers of the city in the distance, some skyscrapers looking ruined and others surprisingly intact. They passed the occasional abandoned cars, old models but not quite so old as the city was rumored to be. Finally, up ahead, at the end of the bridge, they could see it open up onto the streets of the city itself. It had apparently once been a fairly upscale section of town, great buildings with enlongated windows or walls that looked entirely made of glass reaching for the clouds. Steps led up to a pavilion outside another building where some immense work of modern sculpture was letting rust add to whatever confusing message it had been meant to symbolize. And sitting on the steps was a man with long, unwashed blonde hair and equally rank looking clothing; ripped jeans and a basketball jersey over a thick hoodie, like the clothes you see homeless people wearing in summer. As if to complete the image he had a ragged blanket wrapped around him and a tablecloth covered in what looked like brick-a-bracs and trash for sale. The scenery had a certain... Grunginess where he was. Like the overexposure that bleached the rest of the architecture in the midday light didn't quite reach him in the sharp shadow cast by the building behind him.
He took a brief puff at his cigarette, the orange light illuminating a human face for a second before the hair was shadowing it again, slightly red in the manner of one who was a little drunk or spent a lot of time in the sun, and watched the adventurers.

"Right then," Jezebel replied to Andrace, fetching a mop and bucket to deal with Witt's 'assistance.' She raised an eyebrow at the coinage Jinx paid with, but didn't have the chance to stop him. She had pressing matters to see to before Moze got back inside.

Moze looked shocked at Raek's initial question for a second, before bursting out laughing. "Sense of humor, eh? Yeah, suppose you can tell 'em that. And you got a point about your appetite, I saw you wolf down what we put out for you inside- hm?" He looked up at the approaching van "H'lo?"

   Traxen was just getting a few things straightened out when he noticed the orangutan looking at the van on the external monitor. He quickly realized he had forgotten to tune into the van's external microphones, but he didn't bother with that now. Instead, he just toggled the van's speakers and gave a brief reply. After that, he then decided to occupy a few minutes of time, and continued working on the unfinished spider drone still the workshop table.

***

   Traxen's voice was emitted from an unseen speaker on the van. "Oh, don't mind me, I just have a few questions. I can wait." As this was said, the little spider drone that was inside the bar scaled up the side of the van, and disappeared into a hatch on the top.

Raek seemed honestly confused at the fellow's amusement-how does one go about explaining that he'd actually meant what he said about eating troublemakers? The canid Mythos wisely decided not to correct Moze; besides, if you were going to eat someone you didn't warn them anyway. That was essentially saying you wanted a fight! At least he had no intention of harming the Innkeeper though, thank heavens.

"I guess that works," He grunted in agreement- if a bit lamely, perhaps. Right now he was also trying to keep an eye on Traxen's transport-if rather unobtrusively, he hoped. "But yeah, I eat a lot." For previously explained reasons, of course.

And of course, the mechanical marvel had to talk right then, didn't it? How is any self-respecting Creature not pay mind to that? Well, at least in Raek's case. And the voice reminded him somewhat of the flying bug/shield thing he'd encountered earlier on top of that. My, it got big... was his first thought, and anyone observing him could have sworn he'd have raised his eyebrows...if he'd had any. And the second thought? I'm not even going to ask how.

Someday, somewhere, someone was going to have to explain advanced machines like that in careful, simple to understand details to the lupine troll. If that was even possible.

Well, I better make my offer while there's still someone here, Raek thought as he glanced down at the two unconscious men -if they tried to kill each other after they came to, all he had to say was that they kept him out of it. And I'll keep his offer in mind. "Well, I'll see what they say now," He said finally while scratching the exposed, furless hide of his stomach, "'Less you want to tell me what's in that city they're all headin' to." One could note that, apparently when he was more or less relaxed he tended to talk slightly choppy at this point.

Couldn't hurt to know about what's there, he reasoned even as the Nictari and said feline bumped into each other-not that he was in a position to see that, at any rate.

Mao stumbled a bit as he was bumped into unexpectedly, but managed to maintain his balance.  He looked back at the feline who had bumped into him to ensure that they were alright.  They seemed fine, no worse for wear than they were originally.  Mao tossed him a quick smile and nodded and then skirted out and on his way as quickly and as quietly as he could.

As he had moved closer towards the door he had grown more and more sure of his decision to view this city that he had been hearing about and the riches that lay within.  While this was not normally something that would draw him in, he had to admit that stable work had been hard to find of late and a nice take from a little fringe exploration could be entirely beneficial.  His thoughts paused a bit as the image of the injured Demon passed through his mind a bit.

"I hope that whatever got her isn't something that I run into..."

A second look out the window showed Sister Alex that the innkeeper and the troll had wandered far enough away from the dumpster that they would probably not be the first targets if either of the humans woke up still in a fighting mood. She tore the piece of paper the spell was written on in half, neatly bisecting the sleep glyph, breaking the spell. She carefully put the paper, somehow whole and blank, back into her pouch and went back to watching the trio of felines, ready to help if needed.

Quote from: Basilisk2150 on June 01, 2009, 12:13:35 PM
Ed nodded, "so you spent some time with those warriors, usually a pretty good lot from my experience... though a bit of a hodgepodge and less centralized compared to many clans.  I must admit it's quite refreshing to not have to constantly hide in plain view.  Back at that bar, it sounded like that law man might have started shit just on the grounds of what i am, and not who i am..." His grin broadened, "not that i'm opposed to laying a smack down when someone's ego needs to be put into check."

His thoughts drifted for a second, "so i don't suppose you took the time to learn much about several clans... Ahnasazi is the clan of confusion, and from what i've heard of this place, it'll be like a 24/7 buffet.  And that's on top of it being a place where one can enter a beggar, and leave very rich indeed."

He smiled at that thought, and decided the cloak was going to get in the way.  Taking a moment to prepare a spell, Ed's hand's gave off a black mist.  He untied the heavy cloth, held it's edge in one hand, and it suddenly disappear.  The sudden lack of cloak revealing the full length of his orangish spotted wings, which he folded around his back in a much more comfortable position.

"I gotta say you seem rather comfortable around me too...Considering I'm an Adventurer." Eph said after Ed had shed his cloak.

"I mean for all you know I could be here to take care of a few creatures." But She giggled as she said it, evidently joking.   

As they approached the city, she pulled her longbow out of its sheath and made sure the string was taunt, then slipped it around her shoulder and checked that her two swords were resting easily in their scabbards.

Ed smiled and replied, "it's not like all adventurers are a bunch of blood thirsty murders.  Besides that, you really think i'd pass up a chance to meet a cute girl... Succubi can become whatever they please, and as such, every cubi girl is at least pretty, if not gorgeous.  It's a something subtle, yet i find natural beauty far more appealing."  He smirked and continued, "besides, being a creature doesn't automatically make one guilty of a crime... and unlike yourself, where you display the weapons at your disposal, many of mine have yet to be revealed."  Ed smiled slightly wickedly, then quickly added, "but you don't have anything to worry about, i always abhor harming a pretty face... so as long as you don't try anything to me, your quite safe in my company."

He continued walking, but flexed his wings to their full span several times, working stiff muscles out from being hidden under the cloak in an awkward position.

Andrace nodded in acknowledgement to Mykst, and watched the young lioness out of the corner of her eye as she approached. A pretty girl, but I still say she's a bit short an' skinny for her age, she thought. Most of her attention was focused on the rat's wounds, now that the chunk of metal was out she had to keep up the pressure on his shoulder until Mykst or his friend healed it up enough to stop the bleeding.

There was something else about the girl that Andrace noticed, now that she was closer: subtle signs that another of her sisters, the family's mage, had showed her how to recognise. It might not be anything to worry about, but the signs pointed to the younger lioness using a lot of dark-oriented magic. Ah well, it probably didn't mean anything serious, unless the girl developed a preference for wearing overdecorated underwear — and nothing else — or incinerating random passers-by while soliloquising.

As Black Magic made her way over to Mykst and the older lioness, she gave both a quick smirk and nod before moving to examine the rat's wound. It was indeed bad, though someone with basic training and a natural affinity for healing magic might have been able to do it. Of course, she had slightly more advanced training than Mykst, even if healing magic wasn't even close to being her natural affinity. She looked over the wound, then saw Sister Alex approaching and turned her head to answer her.

"I think I can do it. Hang on just one second..." She looked back at the rat. "This may hurt a bit, but it won't hurt as much as it did before. Hold still and don't touch it till I'm done." She let her hands hover over the wound, a warm light surrounding them. "Vis veres iuvandum, purga et renova hoc malum." As the light permeated the injury, the rat would feel a slight stinging feeling and a deeper itch than before, but again, it was much less painful than receiving the wound in the first place. Black Magic stood up and faced the other lioness. "Sorry I didn't do this before. I'm Kali Fiyernos, but call me Black Magic."

Jinx felt something awkward about Mao's smile...it had nothing to do with Mao himself: It had brought something up in he hadn't felt in a long time.

The smile...it was how Max used to smile at him. Well, back when max was alive and well and not causing Jinx to doubt his own sanity. Mao's smile had brought back a wave or memories...and regret in Jinx over spilling Max's blood.

Get over with it Cross. you're...just not used to having people pretend t like you...Jinx tried to convince himself, hoping to untie his knotted stomach.

Jinx walked out the front door and begin circling the bar, finding the Paladin alright. And the barkeep, and that huge ass troll.

It would be...most unwise to to disturb the paladin now so the assassin did what he often did during long stakeouts.

He whipped out another cigarette and lit up, leaning against the wall,keeping an eye on all parties involved, hoping that, somehow, the smoke would clear his thoughts.

However, all the smoke had really seemed to do was cause the feline to debate with himself over going to bed, waiting,  and just going to the city as is, and sigh deeply in exhaustion.

Kyirri remained calm as his shoulder wound was tended to, it didn't pay to panic. His treatment didn't exactly feel pleasant, then again, neither did getting blasted with pieces of a gun. He remained still as the healing spell was applied, but did groan softly, doing his best to try and mitigate the amount of noise he made. His last injury tended to, he was finally able to relax. His breathing became more steady. He spent a few moments still lying on the ground, taking a spare moment to rest before rising. A short while later, he put his hands against the ground to support himself, and then rose to his feet. It took a short while for his vision's blurriness to fade. He took a moment to brush some dust off of his clothes, and then to take a look at his gloves. His left one was covered with his own blood, which had soaked through. At least it's my own... he thought, but it gave him little consolation.

He picked his head up, and took a good look at his three saviors, he had heard their names too, Andrace, Mykst, Kali. He saw a fourth, whom he did not know the name of, standing nearby him as well. They didn't know his name, though Kyirri had the feeling that they wouldn't want to know. Still, it was his place to be thankful, even if he didn't know how to express it adequately.

Kyirri looked up at them, it was difficult to make eye contact, being roughly half of their height, but he remained polite. "I..." Kyirri had trouble starting, partly from hesitation, partly from physical constraints. "I... I...", he exhaled softly before continuing. "I thank you all for your timely assistance, I...". Kyirri stopped himself again. He felt that he was being discourteous, even if he wasn't. Somehow, only thanking them with words... seemed hollow, yet, he was at a loss for what else he could do.

 Giles awoke. His eyes, however, remained shut.

He heard the bartender and someone else - he didn't recognize the voice - talking about work, it sounded like. They were very close. He tested his arm, moving it just slightly, very slowly.
He didn't feel any resistance. If he was tied up, it wasn't tightly. He opened one eye slightly.

They weren't aware of him yet, just standing next to him and talking, it seemed. He opened both eyes and stood, the sound of armor on loose dirt and rocks breaking his silence.

He wasn't sure how he'd gotten there. One minute he'd been about to plant a spear in the guy's gut, and the next thing he knew he was waking up outside with nary a scratch.
He coughed. Spat. It sizzled on the ground a moment, and looked at Moze.

"Sorry, bartender." he said. There was surprisingly a bit of contrition in his voice. "Your bar ain't the place for that sort of thing." He looked behind him at the whole and seemingly unburning bar. He nodded. "Sum'bitches like him ain't reason to throw bottles around." He paused, looking to the side a moment, and felt his back. "Ah...I do need that spear. I understand you prolly don't want me back in there."

Andrace rose to her feet and gave the younger lioness and the Gutenberg squirrel a friendly smile. "Likewise," she said, "I'm Andrace Kithara, o' th' Kithara Pride, if y' heard o' us. That's a nice neat job o' healin' y' did, an' y' friend Mykst here did well, too. Heh, an' I heard what y' said t' th' nitwit hairless monkey over there." The lioness scuffed her paw on the floor in the sherriff's direction as he was picked up and hauled away, raising a small puff of dust. "Don't matter how long he's had that badge, he don't know us Adventurers too well, does he?"

Inwardly, she was trying hard not to giggle. She calls herself "Black Magic"...? she thought. Hoo boy, th' girl's part way t' pickin' out a set o' leather knickers wi' sequins an' spikes. Hope Mykst can keep 'er from goin' off th' deep end, or someone'll have t' deal with 'er. Hope that someone won't end up bein' me...

Andrace broke off from her musings taking a grimmer turn when the kangaroo rat recovered enough to climb to his feet. He spoke hesitantly, apparently still in shock from his wounds. The lioness crouched to bring herself down closer to his height, and reached out to hold his shoulders in case he lost his footing. "Hey, take it easy, fella," she said reassuringly, "y' took a pretty bad hit there, better not jump about too much for a while."

Jezebel, still sputtering over what for all the world looked like a fake coin, noticed that Jinx wasn't actually leaving. Thus, on his second loop around the bar, he saw in his path the orangutan girl looking particularly peeved and holding out the coin, one eyebrow raised.

"Well, buncha things. Remember a buddy of mine once found what looked like a sax and, well- hrm?" Moze looked down at the awakening blackguard and frowned. "Well, no it isn't, no he isn't and no I don't, in that order." The man looked pensive a moment, as if weighing what he'd heard in his head, "But I can't say I hadn't done similar, back in the day. I'll bring your spear out for you, and then you'll get the hell off my property. Come back in two days, I might be less pissed off then." The steely glare from the orangutan softened a little. "There's a hostel in town, not the best of lodgings but they'll take you in for a few nights."
With that he turned back to Raek, "Yeah, given your appetite you may do better findin' a group to go with, supplement your income a touch. Of course, there's always treasure in the City itself. Assuming there ain't a safer option, like stealing a dragon's gold teeth. Lets see, some good advice..." The man scratched the back of his head, thinking, "Don't touch public transportation, 'specially not the subway. It still functions, buuut... Well, if something looks like it still works that might be just what it wants you to think. ATMs, subways... The traffic's goddamn carnivorous, let me tell you. The most dangerous stuff, though, is the stuff that looks like people. Or used to be people. Generally, though, a lot of things that LOOK like normal stuff isn't. Paintings in the museum, entire buildings... They act like livin' things, and they want people to find 'em. If you feel yourself wantin' anything you see there more than anythin' else you ever wanted, question th'feelin' first."

Ahead of Ed and Eph, a fence and a gate came into view. In the booth next to the gate was a thoroughly overweight rat, sleeping soundly with a dirty magazine open across his chest.

Giles grunted, and leaned back against the wooden walls. He fumbled at a pouch at his hip, unclasping the oilcloth and bringing out a pinch of tobacco. Some paper soon followed, and he busied himself rolling the cigarette while he waited for the bartender to get done talking and leave him alone with Payden's unconscious body.

"...about that first thing, you were right. I'm not a reason to throw bottles around." Payden spoke curtly and rubbed the side of his sore head. ...my gun isn't here. Remembering how it had scalded his hand and looking at the burnt tears in his pant leg, it was pretty obvious what happened to it. "...try not to assault people just for resembling your former CO. It's inconsiderate." His tone wasn't even condescending. If anything, it was bitter. There was no point in being snide if it led to another fight.

He slowly got to both feet, making sure all his limbs were intact. "Innkeep, two questions: where's my pack, and does the city have a police station?" Such a huge and forboding place had to have an HQ at some point, and if they did, they probably had some wicked gear in their armory. Anything suited for a metropolitan cop would be a step up from the piecemeal kit he'd been using most of his life. "I'll need to pick up another service revolver since someone here destroyed mine."

Goddamit Giles flicked his thumb and lit his cigarette. Bastards chat all day and I lose my chance. If he tried to go for him now, undoubtedly the other two would dogpile him, and he wasn't sure he could conjure enough fire to handle all three of them that quickly...

The sheriff's tone still rankled, though. He took a drag of his cigarette. "What, you're not going to take me in? Pretty sure assault on an officer is a really big offense. Attempted murder some might say." he smiled coldly at Payden. Something glared in the sunlight above the sheriff. "Not when it's -your- life on the line, yeah?"

He seemed quiet for a second, before piping up again. "It's odd that an officer of the law wouldn't know where the police station is. 'Sepcially a sheriff. You don't mean to say that you're not actually part of this jurisdiction here, sheriff? I'd hate to think you were trying to impersonate an officer or somethin'. Far as I understand, you can't just call yourself a sheriff and start shooting suspicious folks in bars. You gots to have jurisdiction or some shit."

Ed watched the sleeping rat in mild amusement as he approached the open gate.  Besides being a bad idea to leave something like that wide open to the public, it made Ed's job of getting in a lot easier.  He whispered to Eph "just let 'em sleep, looks like he's having a rough day."  Smiling wickedly as he noted the type of magazine the guard had displayed across his chest.

He gently guided Eph onward with an arm around her back.  Barely touching her as they made their way through the gate and into The City's outskirts.  He gave a cursory look around at the strange place then said, "so, here we are, you have anywhere in particular you want to try and go, or just explore for now and see what we find?"

Depending on what Eph was looking at, she may or may not notice the small and unobtrusive bump coming from something underneath the backside of Ed's shirt.

The oversized canid panned his head slightly to listen-granted, he didn't understand some of what Moze said, but he did get the general idea. And if he remembered right, carnivorous meant the same as meat-eater. Though as the simian being talked he did keep Giles just within his line of sight, once the man had gotten up. Someone who can make things catch fire was worth watching, in his opinion. This meant, however, that he'd taken what little attention he had on Traxen's van away entirely.

Raek was silent for a moment or two as he sorted out the varied information-and at least tried to make sense of it. It helped that, as a Mythos, the lupine troll did know about others that fell into his category. Only natural to know what one could fall in with and not have too much prejudice, right? Still...

Living buildings... His muzzle twitched slightly, sounds like those whadoyacallems-mimics. Not supposed to be that big, though. So no touching stuff, 'less I think I can get in a good bite or two in advance. His scraggly-furred tail arched slightly as he puzzled over the next thing-something that looked like a being, but wasn't. Doppelgangers? No, they're not that bad...but they only look out for themselves. A few other things came to mind, but they were quickly-for him, at any rate- dismissed.

"Thank you," He said a touch gruffly, "I'll see if I can remember that." He paused, before smiling a bit toothily-or was that a regular smile for him? Who knew. "By the way, if they don't want one like me around, I can start on that job by eatin' that one." He panned his head at Giles, trying to look as solemn and serious as possible despite the vestiges of a smile still on his muzzle as he turned towards the bar. "You'd have to pay me extra for the other one," He grunted over his shoulder in a tone that sounded suspiciously like a chuckle as Payden came to...and Giles had decided, it seemed to fan a few embers that were lying about.

Now, maybe I can see about that work...or I'll just see about walking in for a bit, see what it's like in that place, Raek thought to himself, might even see if that demon-Alice- might be interested in a bit of help. Perhaps he'd forgotten about her earlier rebuke or something...otherwise he'd have considered the probability that he might end up with more than just a broken jaw, should things immediately turn south. But first, make his pitch to the beings still inside, see what they thought...

"Well, let's just hope your little sociopathic tendencies didn't get anyone killed in there." Payden stared long and hard at Giles' face. "Because as freelance police, we don't arrest the criminally insane. We shoot them." It was becoming very difficult for Payden to muster sympathy for what was obviously a very troubled human being.

"But look at you: I've got at least half a decade on you, and you're already losing your mind. Why should I put you down when you're even more joyless and miserable than I am, still thinking about dying kids, men and women burned alive, and all the joys of being a child soldier? Living sounds like a nice enough punishment after what you've gone through." He still kept that bitter, disappointed tone. "Now, are you going to try something, or can we part ways and hope to never meet again?"

Sister Alex looked at the small rat wobbling on his feet and gestured to the closest table, "Sit down. You need fluids and food after losing that much blood." She glanced over at Jezebel, "Before you move on to the rest of the stains, do you have some soup to help revive the patient? In fact bring enough for the healers as well. Magic tends to leave a person hungry."

Gutenberg sisters and brothers tended to have a soft spot for transients such as the rat appeared to be. Often their free libraries were one of the few warm dry places for the homeless to spend the day and as long as they were polite and quiet and at least pretended to read they were welcome.

Giles laughed darkly, blowing smoke above his head. He grinned at Payden. "I wouldn't say my life is a complete misery. There's still a few things I enjoy." his smile gained a manic edge. "But...no. I won't start anything. But I got to admit, I hope I do run into you again." he continued to smile, and raised his cigarette to his lips. "Somewhere where I wouldn't have to worry about killing innocent folks."

"Behold the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales. Behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust. Even Lebanon is not enough to burn, nor it's beasts enough for a burnt offering..."
Giles seemed to be mostly talking to himself at this point, his gaze having drifted away from Payden and towards the ruins of the city before him. There was something disturbing in his tone, and his face, like the smile of a butcher looking at a cow.

Kyirri relaxed as Andrace held Kyirri's shoulders. He wasn't in a position to object, so he didn't struggle. He made a soft nod in acknowledgment, and let out a soft "Thanks". He turned his attention towards Sister Alex, who had wanted him to relax as well. Kyirri thought he could stand on his feet with a few more moments of rest, but he didn't want to push his endurance too far.

He was however, somewhat alarmed when he heard Sister Alex asking for soup for him. He kept his calm demeanor, still in Andrace's hold. Soup tends to be inexpensive... hopefully at least a bit filling, I just hope it's not too expensive here, I really can't afford to be incurring too many costs. She probably doesn't know that,... I don't know her either. Calling out to her, he said "J... just nothing too expensive for me please," He took a deep breath after speaking, he didn't want to openly admit to not having barely anything to his name. I might get thrown out if I did. Then again, they did heal me for free, maybe they would cover those costs as well? This thought didn't please him however, it didn't seem fair to them to be helping him so. However, he raised no other objections.

   As Traxen worked on the unfinished spider drone, he occasionally glanced over his shoulder to look at the external camera displays on the wall of monitors. Eventually, he saw the Mythos turn and head for the bar, indicating he was done talking to Moze. Traxen put his tools away, and headed up to the front of the van. As he got into the driver seat, he noticed that the two humans had both regained conciousness and were coversing with each other, but Traxen didn't really care about that.

***

  After Raek started to head away, the van inched up again towards Moze. When it was few yards away, it stopped, and the square plate on the front slid up, revealing the face of a mostly black-furred Being, inexplicably wearing goggles on his forehead, in the small window. He toggled something in the van and spoke into the headset he was wearing, and his voice sounded through unseen speakers on the van.
  "So, you're the bar owner, right? I just have a few questions. Your daughter said you've been inside this so-called City, right? Really inside it? Any particular dangers a scavenger like myself needs to keep an eye out for?"

As Aisha and Gareeku crossed the bridge, and as the mist settled in around them, the panther felt the need to be more alert increasing.  Her eyes and ears tried to discern both shapes and sounds respectively in the dire environment.  Still her curiosity was as sharp as anything, laying eyes on every track and machine that had once run like clockwork in their times.  It was unlike any ghost town or ruin she had ever seen.  There was so much left.  But the life was just...gone.

Not all the way gone, apparently, as they reached a clearing in the quiet division.  Upon the steps of an elaborate building sat the human (Another one?  Is this where the creatures came from?--that's what she happened to think at the time), homeless and looking like an absolute wreck.  Her sensitive nose wrinkled in slightly visible disgust at the smell of his cigarette.

"It makes me wonder how anyone could survive in this place...I bet all the food has even been pillaged, whatever was fresh," Aisha muttered as she glanced around, setting her eyes briefly on the knick-knacks that the disheveled man had in front of him.  "Where to go from here..."

Out of the corner of her eye, Andrace noticed an extra movement outside, that wasn't coming from the bartender or the wolf-troll. The sherriff and the soot-blackened knight were waking up. Her ears flicked and turned back and forth and her tail-tip curled around her hocks as she split her attention: most to the people she was talking to, but at least a little towards the possible and probable threats: the Demon girl displaying award-winning grouchiness over by the bar, and the two humans, looking almost as irritated, getting to their feet in the street outside. Ah well, the lioness thought, if it hits th' fan, at least I got m' weapons on me, an' not packed away like last time. Another glance through the window showed the two ex-sleeping beauties apparently a whisker's breadth from starting their argument again.

Jinx stopped walking, looking at Jezebel with the same kind of look she was giving him, blue smoke surrounding the feline. er expression made it seem like Jinx was attemting to swindle them.

Crap...she doesn't get it...The assassin reasoned. Obviously, she had never seen the coin in her life, and it was very likely Jinx was the first member of the League she had ever encountered, knowing or unknowingly, in her life.

However, The Hitman was in a bit of a spot...with a lawman nearby, admitting he killed people for cash might not be so wise. However, Jinx wasn't great at coming up with alaiblies on the run, so...well, might as well give her a half truth, or at least convince her to leave him alone.

"Look, Toots," His slight accent and choice of words made him seem like he walked out of a 1920s gangster flick. "Forget about it. I wasn't here...I'm a nobody, I don't exist, just....take the money, and if anyone asks, you never saw me."

It was only after he said it did Jinx really notice he might have sounded like he was threatening her, and became aware of his fax paus...

Quote from: Basilisk2150 on June 08, 2009, 12:44:31 AM
Ed watched the sleeping rat in mild amusement as he approached the open gate.  Besides being a bad idea to leave something like that wide open to the public, it made Ed's job of getting in a lot easier.  He whispered to Eph "just let 'em sleep, looks like he's having a rough day."  Smiling wickedly as he noted the type of magazine the guard had displayed across his chest.

He gently guided Eph onward with an arm around her back.  Barely touching her as they made their way through the gate and into The City's outskirts.  He gave a cursory look around at the strange place then said, "so, here we are, you have anywhere in particular you want to try and go, or just explore for now and see what we find?"

Depending on what Eph was looking at, she may or may not notice the small and unobtrusive bump coming from something underneath the backside of Ed's shirt.

Ephrael snuggled in tighter as she and Ed walked past the guard and into the City.  "Where to go...can you sense anything magical? That would be our best bet." She smiled up at him "were you planing on sharing that Mag?"

Ed was taken slightly off-guard as Ephy snuggled up to him, not that he minded the gesture.  In return, he moved his arm from around back, to rest on the other side of her shoulder.  Ed then gave her a warm smile and sifted through his thoughts, coming to the conclusion that even if this city was as terrible as the stories went, he wasn't going to complain about the situation he found himself in.

As she asked about sense magic, Ed felt around with all his senses, and found it odd that there was a background tinge coming from seemingly everywhere... he tried to focus looking for more powerful sources, but really wasn't too sure at that moment.  He then focused his senses still harder, doing his best to try and locate powerful magic sources.

As Ephy had snuggled in closer, Ed felt something press between his shirt and fur... as he felt it press into him, he knew exactly what it was based on the texture alone... He was nervous at first what his new friend might say, lest she find the magazine amongst his belongings... As she asked if he was going to share, he was left mentally dumbfounded for a fraction of a second.  This left an almost noticable pause between her question and his response.  Ed gave Eph a crooked smile bag as he lifted his shirt and removed the guard's magazine, making it a bit of a show for Ephy in an attempt to stave off his own embarrassment... he said with an extremely obvious smirk, "Heh, i didn't think he'd really need it... and since you asked so nicely... it's all yours."   Ed then handed Ep the magazine and wrapped his arm around her, as if nothing had happened.

The canid paused as he reached the door, taking note of what happened in his absence. It was a pity he'd missed that Nictarl; perhaps they'd have gotten along somewhat. Then again, probably not...Raek might not have a problem with trying such, but most beings certainly had a problem with getting a long with him. So, four felines, a ram-demon, and a 'roo-rat and some fellow with enough spines on his back to make a bed of organic nails, if he wanted. Also that squirrel with the interesting book...that he still hadn't had a chance to ask about. My, had the numbers thinned out! And that wasn't including everyone outside at the moment.

Maybe I should learn to think faster, he mused as an ear quirked at the musty odor that hinted someone had a distinct lack of bladder control-to him, anyway. Not to mention, if things did suddenly escalate outside, he certainly hoped it wasn't due to his attempt at a joke. To be honest, Raek didn't think of humans as 'edible' anyway; they just didn't smell like it...no offense meant to them, of course.

Keeping an ear twitched back to listen for anything outside the door-perhaps that kind fellow Moze might decide he'd need help, afterall- the wolflike troll stepped inside.

First, he took note of the small, rodentine fellow who had looked quite like he'd been on his last leg. Seemed he'd gotten a lot better...and was currently looking to be confused, so Raek thought. Makes it easier to offer, I guess, since they're near each other, he thought as he made his way over.

"Oei," he grunted gruffly as he stopped a foot or so away from the group, "Any of you lot be interested in hiring some muscle?" He smiled again, trying not to look in the least predatory or anything. Lost more potential employers that way. "I work for pay, or at least a good meal..." His smile took on a more brutish cast. "And that doesn't include you. I've worked with spellcasters, melee, and ranged in general. I've helped find things and folk, and can follow a plan as long as you tell me in advance." That last bit he'd only recently added, to be truthful. Too many times had he been in a fight and found out that he'd done nothing according to plan. Still, wait a moment, give them a chance to answer...

And perhaps that she-demon had heard him too. If she was interested, that was her affair.

Witt lifted the glass, downed the beer in one long chug, and parked the glass back on the bar, another coin spinning neatly next to it before tumbling to a halt in a pool of spilt beer, signifying a request for another round.

He then turned to watch the various goings on - the crowd gathered around the downed rat in the doorway, and the big furry troll-thing that wandered in the door, apparently looking for work, and towering well over the group he was importuning. Not to mention the buzz of various conversations and the requests for soup, and the buzz of voices from outside - he couldn't make out what they were talking about, but since it was outside, it wasn't a problem. And, of course, the barmaid going to clean up the mess from the fire.

He snorted, quietly, at that, and pondered the offer by the big guy. Feeding him would be a losing proposition, most likely, unless you had a large list of enemies...

As Mao made his way towards the gates, he noted several other pass him by.  He certainly wasn't in any rush, though he took that as a sign that maybe he should pick up the pace a bit.  Mao took a deep breath and lengthened his stride to hurry things along.  As he was moving towards the gate, Mao started trying to look into the city with his minds eye as much as he could.  He could see the faint familiar flickers of the others who had been in the tavern with him, but the rest was still a bit hard to make out.

His stomach rumbled at the thought of the tavern.  Maybe he should have waited for his food and tea.  While he certainly had rations that would last him a week or two, he hated to use them if he didn't need to.

"Too late now, I would imagine.  I'd likely have to pay for a new plate of food."

He winced at the thought.  While he had enough money to do so and not be suffering, the though of the waste grated on his nerves a bit.  He gave a surrendering shrug and just continued on towards the gate.

Quote from: Basilisk2150 on June 09, 2009, 02:32:44 AM
Ed was taken slightly off-guard as Ephy snuggled up to him, not that he minded the gesture.  In return, he moved his arm from around back, to rest on the other side of her shoulder.  Ed then gave her a warm smile and sifted through his thoughts, coming to the conclusion that even if this city was as terrible as the stories went, he wasn't going to complain about the situation he found himself in.

As she asked about sense magic, Ed felt around with all his senses, and found it odd that there was a background tinge coming from seemingly everywhere... he tried to focus looking for more powerful sources, but really wasn't too sure at that moment.  He then focused his senses still harder, doing his best to try and locate powerful magic sources.

As Ephy had snuggled in closer, Ed felt something press between his shirt and fur... as he felt it press into him, he knew exactly what it was based on the texture alone... He was nervous at first what his new friend might say, lest she find the magazine amongst his belongings... As she asked if he was going to share, he was left mentally dumbfounded for a fraction of a second.  This left an almost noticeable pause between her question and his response.  Ed gave Eph a crooked smile back as he lifted his shirt and removed the guard's magazine, making it a bit of a show for Ephy in an attempt to stave off his own embarrassment... he said with an extremely obvious smirk, "Heh, i didn't think he'd really need it... and since you asked so nicely... it's all yours."   Ed then handed Eph the magazine and wrapped his arm around her, as if nothing had happened.

The Tazzie Devil returned his smile as she opened the girly mag and started to leaf through it. "Some of these girls look like they are high on something" she said giggling "Though I do like this pose, I've done it a few times feels really good" Ephrael continued, pointing to one of the pictures and smirking up at Ed, to gauge his reaction.

As Ed and Eph made their way through the outer suburbs of the city that magic the incubus had detected in the background began to grow stronger. There was the occassional noticeable spike passing particular houses, but in general the place just seemed to throb with old power. What was particularly noticeable, however, were scrabbling noises from the backyard of the last house on the block, and the occassional animalistic whine.


"Toots? Toots!? Why you sleazy little-!" The orangutan bit back her words and, when she started speaking again, did so much more slowly than before. "'Course I never saw you, you're an adventurer. We don't go answerin' too many questions without a warrant." Jezebel was baring her teeth in what could only be called a very Simian manner. "It's an Inn outside of an adventurer hotspot, stupid, we can be discrete. Just don't try to tip us in goddamn monopoly money." She flicked the coin back to Jinx and stomped back inside, grumbling to herself about the nerve of some people when there'd been a fight, a fire and other crap all before noon...


When Mao reached the gate, he could see a couple of figures a few blocks down into the suburbs, one of whom looked to have wings. The rat at the gate still had his hat over his eyes, but was feeling around the booth as though he'd misplaced something. The man finally sighed sadly and slumped back in his chair with a wobble that most overweight people cared about enough to try to conceal, briefly looking up at the newcomer forlornly. "Hm?"


Moze grumbled to himself and took another swig from his flask as both men started arguing again, grumbling to himself about calling the cops if they started up again, and looked up at Traxen. "Oh hey, was wonderin' where those gizmos were comin' from. Yeah, I've been in it. Varies a lot from block to block, all sorts of different curses and hauntings and who the hell knows what else, but the most dangerous stuff to keep an eye out for is things that look perfectly normal. F'rinstance, this right here?" The man pulled back his sleeve to reveal a rather nasty looking scar, "This was from what I thought was a pigeon. There's a subway still runnin' down there, but if the lights are off don't get on it, and if it walks like a person and talks like a person that means nil. Wish I could help more, but I stopped going too deep in rather soon after my first time. Watched some bad things happen to good adventurers, nowadays I just give tours of the suburbs. My advice to you, if you're just scavengin', is to check anything you find pretty damn thoroughly before trying to take it apart."
With that he turned to head inside and fetch Giles' spear for him. He wanted him and the "officer" off his damn property.


The disheveled man laughed dryly, around his cigarette. It was almost a croaking noise, like the groans made by alligators. He took another greedy drag off his cigarette and canted his head to the side. He followed her eyes to the objects he had laid out and leered in a manner that seemed in some way obscene coupled with his wide grin.
"See anythin' yer after?" The man's voice was some combination of various southern regions, plus an undertone of good old universal Drunk. If it weren't for the layers of sleaze and inebriation beneath it, he'd almost sound cultured. "After all, nobody comes here without wantin' somethin'. Doubly so for adventurers, freelance heroics gotta be the least philanthropic line o' work I ever seen..." The man then laughed abruptly, sweeping one hand out to indicate the blanket covered in objects. "Nah, you ain't here for things like this at all, are ya? Not great strong heroes like yourselves." He snickered and let his filthy hair fall back over his face. "Nah, you'd probably want what's been knockin' around the old museum, or stalkin' through the sewers. Not trinkets." He smirked. "I right?"

Ed grinned wickedly as Ephy began pointing out pictures in the magazine, he shrugged and replied, "If you think that's fun, you should have seen some of the trouble i managed to get myself into back at the academy..."

The incubus paused as he started feeling a spike of magic from some of the houses... it felt... odd.  He couldn't quite put his finger on what it was but there was something old, and off, about the power that was flowing from the various buildings.  He thoughts were again interrupted as he started hearing strange noises from a house at the end of the block.  The noises had earned enough interest that Ed felt it worth checking out.  Pointing out the house in question he said to Eph, "that house has some strange noises coming from the back yard and we should check it out. You wanna try peaking over the fence, or getting on the roof?"

Ed guided his tazzy devil friend towards the house in question while awaiting her response.

Ephrael thought for a moment, "Might be best if we took it from two directions. You'll get up there quicker then I will, so I'll take the low road if you take the high?" She said to the tone of the old tune ginning.

Ed nodded, then replied, "alright, if you need any help, i'll be right above you"

The pair headed for the house, and Ed listened intently to the strange sounds.  Trying to get a better guess what was causing them, he tried focusing his other senses on them as well, even going so far as to take a deep whiff of the air.

Once near enough to the house, he crouched down low, spread his wings and launched himself to the roof with a massive wing assisted jump.  He found a perch, and first looking back at Ephy with a grin, then went to take a look at whatever it was that causing the noises from the back.

Watching her new incubus friend (damn she seemed to find alot of them..She thought) make his way to the roof Ephrael readied herself, if the rumors of this place were even slightly exaggerated she wanted to be ready.

Breathing out, she slid her wide bladed daggers from their sheathes and crept slowly towards the side fence of the building, almost disappearing into the shadows so completely that you would have to have seen her go in to know she was there.

Jinx rolled his eyes as he walked away from the Last Chance. It made sense she had never encountered a member of the League before or even likely heard of them: The League liked to keep as much of itself behind closed doors as it could. That, and he honestly doubted anyone in these small towns was likely to shell out the money for a Commission. Small, close knit towns, wouldn't have need for the League, and the League would have little interest in them.

The Assassin dropped his cigarette butt on the ground and stepped on it, snuffing it out. He might as well head for the city: He pissed off the barmaid, so an abandoned building or a street curve was looking like a better option then the room Jezebel was likely to give him. he had heard of a hostel in town, but Jinx preferred his privacy. And, lately, Jinx had been involuntarily shapeshifting in his sleep...

His rapier by bis and his revolver full loaded, Jinx headed into this city, ready to find out whatever it was that damn Angel waned to know.

Still, a feeling in his gut seemed to tell Jinx terrible things awaited him. Against his better judgement, Jinx pressed on.

Sister Alex was a bit surprised when the young orangutan ran off while she was giving her soup order. But this seemed like an establishment that was well run on a more normal day so she must have had a good reason. When the upset looking girl returned Alex repeated the order for five bowls of soup. She then returned her attention to her new companions, giving them a motherish why aren't you already sitting? look. While squirrels weren't particularly imposing Alex found that the religious habit gave such looks enough weight that people didn't outright giggle at them.

But before anyone could either sit or giggle the troll returned and made his offer. Today looked to be a day of interupted thoughts. But she did keep his offer in mind if no one else needed his assistance. The abbey had given her a budget to hire help as needed and he looked as if he could not only carry a lot of books but smallish library buildings.

Gareeku looked visibly disgusted, a fang being visible as he grimaced somewhat at the human nearby. Listen to him speak, the wolf rolled his eyes.
"Whatever. Just tell us if you've seen anything suspicious or not." Gareeku growled, clearly not impressed with this...thing and the sarcasm he was making quite apparent.

He had to admit, though. As much of a prick as this human was, he was right in the sense that, yes, he wasn't after little trinkets or anything of the sort. Hell, Gareeku himself wasn't even sure what had brought him to this gods-forsaken place. He had tried to convince himself that he had come here to help in any way, but in truth, he was a fighter.

And a fighter's blood runs with the thought of battle.

Jezebel mumbled a quick appology to Sister Alex as she came back inside, embarassed to have let her anger at Jinx have gotten in the way of serving the other patrons. Soon five steaming hot bowls of soup were set out and waiting for the adventurers. Moze, meanwhile, fetched Giles' spear and, crinkling his nose at the odd smell, brought it back to the man outside.
"Now then, you may want to leave. Both of you." He shot Payden a Look to let him know he was included in this. "If you need someplace to stay there's a hostel in town, but you sure as hell wont be back here anytime soon."

Jinx reached the gates to the city, the rat in the gatehouse still seemingly too preoccupied to pay him and Mao, who was waiting there, much heed other than to give the man's clothing a quick glance and snickering. The gate to the suburbs were hanging open, and down a few blocks... Was someone on top of one of the houses?

The contents of the backyard were... Unexpected, to say the least. Neither of them completely recognized the creature below them, chained up as if it were a dog. It resembled a dog... if somebody had tried to breed a feral doberman with a being. One hind leg was that of a being while the other was of a distinctly more bestial cast, and it seemed to alternate between trying to walk on these two limbs or on all four. It had the upper pectoral muscles of a being and the smoother abdominal muscles of a dog. Two crooked, backward bent dogs forelegs terminated in strong, dexterious-looking hands. Most worrisome, it had to be said, was its face. The left half had all the features common to a being's face; the strong jawline, the intelligent clear blue eyes, even the remains of hair done in a ponytail. However, its teeth were misshapen for this half of its mouth, pointed predatory things. The other half of its face was more akin to a feral creature, save for its teeth being the mixed flat, pointed and grinding teeth of an omnivore.
This overall strange mix of primal and evolved features of a being were not helped by the fact that it appeared to be going absolutely apeshit. Snarling, growling, yowling and on occassion letting loose a more beinglike scream it ravaged at some indistinct cloth object. It tossed the object aside, it smacked against the edge of the roof of the house
Apruptly it stopped. Where had the object gone? It's head whipped around, before focusing on the cubi on the roof.
A low growl rose in the beasts throat as it began to strain against the rope tied to its collar...

"Have I seen anythin' suspicious?" The man asked incredulously, turning to Gareeku. "Have I-? Oh wow." His face curled into a smirk, "You must be new. Tell you what, want somethin' suspicious? Wanna be a big bad adventurer, save the people and impress the pretty lady?" He gestured to Aisha with a flourish of his fingers, the same as he'd gestured to the monkeys paws and crystal balls and car parts that he'd had out for sale. Did he just lick his lips?
"Check the ol' museum. Down on flint street. Plenty for your sort there."

Ed looked at the feral-being thing with a look of disgust.  If there were cubi near by, his thoughts would have been easily read as 'what the hell is this thing? and why isn't it dead yet?' Taking a few more moments to assess the situation, he suddenly felt something wet and squishy by his foot... it looked like something a pet would use for a chew toy...  He formulated a plan, and put it into action.  First, his left hand gave off a black mist clearly showing he had some type of dark based spell ready.  He then threw the toy with his other hand, forming his right hand into claws, similar to a demon's, and his wings formed a plethora of wicked looking tentacles, complete with draconian heads.

The heads faded on many of the tentacles as they formed into bladed and pointed tips.  Ed then jumped off the roof, and slammed his left hand into the ground, unleashing a visually concealing fog around the fenced area, the black fog looked like it should have been a choking smoke, and let such little light through that day in the cloud appeared as if it were suddenly a moonless night.  To Ed, the cloud was little more than a minor inconvience, as his other senses told him exactly where the thing was.  His left hand started charging an exploding bolt spell while his winged tentacles homed in on where the creature was.  He intended to give it a quick and painless, if not a slightly overkill, and gory death, as the blades whipped around, and the points tried to skewer the beast.

Mykst and Black Magic were indeed hungry from using their magic so much, so the bowls of soup were a welcome sight. They each sat down, but Mykst faced the room at large instead of immediately turning to his soup. The troll-creature from before had spoken of joining with someone, and Mykst wasn't the kind to judge by species who could or could not be trusted. There was also the matter of Payden - hey, speaking of, was he coming back in? The cat doubted it, remebering the commotion he'd caused with the armored human. But as he looked around the bar, he noticed a pack of some sort sitting where Payden had been.

He tapped Black Magic's shoulder, muttering that he'd be right back and sliding off his seat to get to Payden's table. He grabbed the pack and went towards the door, taking a deep breath and trying to relax himself before actually heading outside.

"Sheriff? You forgot this," he said, focusing on Payden so he wouldn't act nervous around the innkeeper and the armored man.

*****

Black Magic didn't look up from hers oup until she was done, only nodding at Mykst when he left. Once she was finished, she licked her chops and smiled with incredibly sharp teeth. "Thanks for that," she said to the simian lady, offering up a few coins in payment. Then she turned to face the troll.

"Can't say for sure whether we could use your help or not without Mykst here, but I would like to apologize on behalf of those other hotheads for the commotion earlier," she said, the smile now less threatening. "Personally, I think dangerous people shouldn't be judged by species, but by whether or not they stab you before saying hi."

"Thanks, bartender." the armored man said, taking the spear and placing it in its holster on his back without a second look. It began to steam silently after a few moments, and the blackguard sniffed, his nose crinkling. He smiled wide.
"Looks like someone is having a bit of fun with me. But I appreciate your courtesy." he dropped the all-but-gone cigarette from his hands and stepped on it, grinding it into the dirt.

He stood for a moment and breathed. He looked at Payden. "Maybe I was a bit hotheaded earlier. Sorry for trying to gut you."

With that, he stretched, and moved his way around Mykst, heading down the rocky, slightly bare path towards the city, and the hostel that the barkeep had pointed him too. He might as well check it out. Just because he'd be hiding deeper in the city later didn't mean he shouldn't get used to the place in small doses.

Listening to the old human speak, one thing was for certain; she definitely didn't like the tone of his voice.  Aisha was used to a bit of discrimination, being both an adventurer and a woman; but it didn't mean she had to like it.

Before the panthress could reply, Gareeku had said exactly what was on her mind.  They didn't need to be toyed with by a sarcastic regular in a city that was probably doomed to fall prey to nature.  And indeed, the trinkets weren't at all what they were looking for.  If there was a greater treasure to be found, it was in the background of the place itself, and the knowledge that there was something to do--to fight, or to help--on the horizon.

Already though, she was getting tired of the hominid's voice.  "'Pretty lady'?  Excuse me?" Aisha growled slightly and grabbed the hilt of the Dragonblade, visible on her back.  Her eyes, under her cloak, flashed red in the light...she certainly knew better than to take his phrase as a compliment.  "I'm more than capable of doing some saving and defending for myself, bato.  If this is how you treat all adventurers, I'm surprised we didn't find your body with your head lying a few feet away from it."

Still, the fact that there was a museum piqued her curiosity just a bit.  The huntress memorized the name of the street and turned with a glance to Gareeku, turning away from the human with a dismissive swish of her tail.  "Sounds like a good place to start at least...maybe we'll learn something.  Or find something to kill.  I certainly don't mind either one," she grinned.

Despite rather interesting events occurring elsewhere, a certain lupine Mythos was more interested in the fact he'd elicited a response from someone-more precisely a feminine feline that showed at least some interest in his offer.

Granted, he didn't realize that at least a couple of the other beings in the room were currently considering his offer-be it only in passing amusement, perhaps, or waiting to see if someone else accepted first. But those considerations -however fleeting- were worthy of note.

Yes, it could be a losing proposition in keeping him fed -and while he wasn't adverse to eating intelligent beings, he had learned it was rather bad form in most situations; and while strong enough that, given a mixture of incentive, freedom, and time the brutish creature could cause a swath of chaos and mayhem in many the small community he probably couldn't carry a small library. Close, perhaps. And...it didn't mean he wouldn't try, to say the least.

Besides, being a troll did mean that, more often than not, he was just as likely to be on the bad side as the good...and this was further compounded that he was willing to accept work from either end of the spectrum. Anyway, back to reality.

Sounds like a maybe to me, Raek thought as Magic spoke to him, but before there's the others here too. And that young cat-Mykst, I think- seems like he'd be one to hide from me in fear. Still, he might say yes, if she means he's the one making the choices. The canid felt satisfied with that rationalization as he answered in what he figured was a smooth, polite fashion...despite the thick gutturals in his speech.

"Around others of my kind you'd probably be trying to keep your head out of their jaws instead of being stabbed..." True, that. Or trying to keep from being pounded into a gory paste. He smiled slightly, muzzle twisting. "They aren't ones for talking much."

"But that sounds like a maybe. Talk it over with your friend. If you decide you're both interested, I'll give you the terms I work with. They're simple enough." He grunted; one probably expected him to take a seat, despite the chairs probably not being able to hold his weight. "Also not often I find someone who thinks before stabbing anyway."

His pale eyes glanced at the lioness with the guns, then at the rodent who'd been injured earlier. "I will add that if you can't pay before I work for you, then I could accept payment after it's over." Not to mention if you drop dead for some reason or other before I can do anything, your remains tend to make a good enough payment for my troubles. Again, a very ecumenical way of thinking, for a troll; it also carried the benefit of not needing a funeral afterwards.

Kyirri wiggled his way out of Andrace's grasp, and paced over to a stool to sit down. He literally had to climb onto the thing, it wasn't suited for someone of his height. He let out a brief, "Thank you." as he was passed his bowl of soup. He stared intently into it before taking a sip. He was partly afraid of it, as if having it would break him. He briefly checked his wallet before having any, not a lot, he thought. He put his spoon into the bowl and tasted some, almost as if it would come out and bite him.

After his first bite, he ate relatively quickly, having even decent food was a luxury Kyirri had not had for a while, having been forced to live most of his life on scraps, and whatever was the least expensive. After he finished, he breathed a sigh of mixed relief, joy of receiving decent care coupled with a fear that he couldn't pay for it.

He glanced over at Black Magic and Raek, but didn't say anything yet. Kyirri silently awaited for his bill.

Andrace glanced up from tidying away the first aid kit she'd used to help heal the kangaroo rat, and caught the squirrel's speculative look at the wolf-troll's offer. "Best make sure y' know what y' gettin' wi' that 'un, Sister," she murmured quietly with a flick of her ears. This was the first time she'd met a member of the Gutenberg Order, but she'd heard of them, mainly from her older brother Mitri, who'd had dealings with them a few times.

I wonder, the lioness thought, would it be worth m' time t' tag along wi' her? Any old magic books or trinkets we come across that she don't want, maybe I can snag 'em for Despina. Not much chance o' even a fake Necrotelecomnicon — with or without th' boobytraps — in a dump like this, but a copy o' a copy o' somethin' like th' Liber Paginarum Fulvarum ought t' get Despina's knickers in a twist, an' fill a hole in her collection...

Andrace picked up the repacked first aid kit, strapped it back into its place on her pack, then licked absently at the last of the bloodstains on her hands. It would be nice for her younger sister Despina, the only real mage in the Pride right now, to owe her a favour or three for a change.

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.

   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?"

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

   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?"

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.

"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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

   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 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.

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.

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?"

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?

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.

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.

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...

"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."

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....

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.

   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."

As the human displayed his reaction to Gareeku's question and replied, the wolf snarled, his fangs on display and hand gripping the hilt of his katana tightly as he glared at the hairless ape. He really didn't like this guy. Watching the human gather his things and begin to walk away, the wolf listened to his advice, relieved that they were to be rid of him. "Thank you."

Turning away from the human, Gareeku glanced at the pantheress.
"I swear to the gods...if every inhabitant of this city was like him, then no wonder this place went to shit." the lupine growled softly.

Waiting for the two young felines to consult on the offer of making up a party Sister Alex worked on finishing her bowl of soup. She hadn't gotten very far through it when the clockwork bug climbed on the table and questioned her regarding Snappy. As a member of a teaching order she was happy to explain.

"The book is my grimoire and I created every bit of it from making the paper and binding it into a book through the spellcasting. Originally it was merely enchanted to come to me when called. My work is to locate and acquire magical books. After many years of exposure to a magic-dense environment, the book has soaked in enough to gain semi-sentience." 

Alex gave the pocket Snappy was currently in a soft pat and felt him wiggle a bit. She was quite proud of him. Every Gutenberg made a book from start to finish, it was part of the vows, but only the mages made grimoires. Well made and sturdily enchanted his growing sentience had been a surprise, but one that had been a blessing. More than once Snappy's presence had quieted a dangerous book and allowed it to be taken without damage.

 A cloud of blue smoke followed the blackguard down the way, a product of the strange, bitter-smelling tobacco he was smoking. It wreathed and curled in the air, playing in the noonday light and only fading long after the blackguard had left, rising into the air and staying perhaps a bit longer than it should. The blackguard seemed more relaxed away from the people he'd just left - his face, rather than a mask of anger or indifference, actually looked thoughtful. He threw the cigarette to the ground, and gathered a bit more tobacco from his pouch.

"Hostel, huh..." he said, running a finger along the rotting wood and flaking paint. "I've seen worse, but not much. This whole place looks like it was gutted a long time ago." He licked the paper and rolled the tabacco into a tube, pinching the end to light it. He seemed to contemplate walking by, but after a few moments smoking, he opened the door anyway, expecting to sink through rotted floorboards and old carpeting. He looked around for an unfortunate person to question. He had a perfect one in mind.
"What's the best way to get lost around here?"

Quote from: Boogeyman on June 22, 2009, 10:44:29 PM
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.

"Now that's odd...." Ephrael said coming to a stop and pointing at the disappearing tail. She started walking again but not directly at the corner but at a wide angle so she could see round it and not get surprised by something jumping out at her.

Ed followed Ephy in her wide arch, staying close.  His wings were twitching in anticipation as he too was curious about what it was.  The edges of his wings could be seen folding in on themselves, starting to form the tendrils with which he preferred to fight. the very top of his wings gleamed as it hardened and sharpened itself into a steel-like edge the grew back to it's feathery state as Ed willed away his nervousness.

The incubus stretched all his senses to try and get a better idea of what the thing was.  at the same time, he was already preparing a general defense spell for ephy designed to divert most basic harmful magic away from the wearer of the shield spell, it wouldn't be the greatest defense, but it was the best he could do with such limited information. 

A few steps later his wings had formed a swarm draconian headed tendrils, which seemed to playfully travel about the maximum length of the tentacles they were attached to, as if a pet, testing the limits of it's owner's leash.

   Traxen heard the voice of the book-girl in his headset, and his switched channels again, responding to her through the drone. "Interesting...I've heard of ambient magic producing unusual effects through long-term exposure, but haven't seen any examples until now. Anyway, you...procure magic tomes? That's an interesting job...what sort of skills or abilities do you have that aid you in this line of work?"

Aisha snorted in agreement with Gareeku, watching the human leave.  To whose comments the weird creature ended up addressing, she knew not...for hers seemed to be unheeded...but it didn't matter in the end.

"Quite so," she murmured back, giving the wolf a quick grin.  "Probably a bunch of cowards, scurrying off in the dark like roaches at night.  Not an ounce of respect for those who want to help, I just bet you anything."

The panther hummed dismissively and looked about the dilapidated scenery, wrinkling her nose at some of the smells permeating and regarding the sights with a small amount of pity.  "Well, while we're scoping out a path...we might as well head to one or two of the places that he suggested before.  Museum or sewers...heh, such a hard choice," Aisha laughed.

Meanwhile, a thought in the back of her mind wondered if anyone else had come through the City somewhere along behind them.  Just briefly.  For now though, she was content looking out for herself and for her companion.

Black Magic turned and faced the others when the multiple offers and questions about said offers came up. She looked at Mykst, who was still looking doubtful about all this. He felt a sort of obligation to see Payden, though he knew the cop hadn't demanded that he join him at all and likely wouldn't mind too much if they didn't show up.

"Well," Magic said, startling Mykst out of his thoughts, "to be honest, I'd be much more comfortable with these guys than just heading to the cop. And besides, we just might run into him later anyway."

Mykst looked away for a moment and bit his lip. But then, he turned back and nodded with a small smile. "Okay, you're probably right," he admitted. He turned to the roo-rat who they'd healed before. He could relate to financial troubles, but he wanted the man to know something before they took his offer.

"We'll gladly take your help, but you don't need to worry so much about repaying us for earlier. Your thanks and help are enough," Mykst said, a little quietly but much more calmly than he'd seemed with Payden. "We're healers. If we'd just left you to rot for the sake of a few coins, we'd be murderers." He smiled just a little. "I never did get your name, though."

As this went on, Kali listened for Andrace's response to the troll. If they agreed to help each other, it would be interesting to see how things would turn out once they all left the inn...

As Aisha and Gareeku continued onward, something being-shape darted away from the edge of a nearby rooftop, hoping not to be seen. They'd been talking to Silas. Who knew what they might do?
Eventually they reached the museum, a building constructed with fine architecture in the style of such great buildings, a wide and squat thing all flat planes, columned entryways, carved roof edges and windows shaped like mailbox doors. The occassional flickering light, like a campfire, could be seen through some of the windows, delicately carved faces reminicient of the greek style staring down from them and the tops of the entries, but most eye-catching was the crucified demon on one of the columns.
It had obviously been there a long time, the corpse having long since grown mummylike and dried. The eyes had fallen in their sockets, the still vaguely canine muzzle still open in some final scream. The horns were long since blunted, one even cracked, and limbs that were noticebly once strung with muscle that could crumple armor had been dried and shriveled to dust, rag and leather. Six long implements, seemingly some manner of immense ivory quill, had been driven through each wrist, ankle and wing to nail it to its place, a long rust-colored stain trailing down the column below it.
Nearby, someone had spraypainted the words "Eat the ____." A blank space left like some highly unnerving word puzzle.

The thing Eph and Ed came upon was depressing, to say the least. It was another creature comprised of Being and animal features, although far less functional. The body, legs and tail were that of an ordinary housecat, while the hands, feet and head were the features of a rather delicately built being girl. The head, being full being size, was too large for the body and had built up thick callouses along one side from being constantly pushed and dragged along. Two perfectly furrae green eyes focused on Eph, widened to their fullest... And the cat screamed. It sounded terrified, and furious, but more importantly it sounded like an alarm.
And indeed, answering calls came back. Roars, screams, barks, shrieks... All manner of noise.
All approaching.

"Lost and never found, or lost and having to take a cab home?" A wolverine woman stepped into the lobby where Giles was, absentmindedly brushing some dust off her flannel jacket. She was middle aged, with auburn hair slowly but steadily escaping from the tight bun it was tied back in. Sharp eyes peered over small round spectacles at the blackguard, sizing him up with something between a schoolteacher's glare at a student who looked like trouble and a merchant's appraising eye.
"First one's real damn easy around here. Second one's a bit harder."

Jinx opened the door to the living room of a decently furnished suburban home. A black sofa covered in plastic sat against the front wall under the windows, against the opposite wall was a television, the wall between them contained bookshelves...
And silluhuetted against the door leading to the kitchen was something profoundly unnerving. The head was decidedly reptilian, and the arms and legs and tail brought to mind a leopard gecko grown to enormous size. The body, however, was that of a supermodel. The juxtaposition of feral and beautiful traits was, was....
A scream split the air, and suddenly the thing was gone. The back door of the house slammed.

Jezebel kept an ear open for the current bonds being formed. She liked adventurer politics. It made for interesting thinking material. The demon girl, however, when she was done bristling at the troll's remarks, had taken on a slightly contemplative expression. Moze peered back downstairs, wondering what was taking Raek so long.

"Yeah, cities and weapons more advanced than sharpened steel aren't too common. You know how much rigamaroll I went through just to get my .44, let alone the bullets for it?" He gave an exasperated sigh and shook his head. "It's funny: the places with the most gun control had the most problems, under the thumb of some monster. It's real easy to push beings around when you take away the great equalizers." It still pained him that his revolver was gone. What were the odds of a gunsmith being in town? "...I don't know. What do you wanna bet this city's just a giant ward? 'Don't get too advanced, or we'll come in and destroy everything. Signed, the Creature Council.'"

Kyirri was incredibly surprised when he heard his meal had already been pain. His eyes bulged. No way, he thought, good fortune doesn't happen to me, it's got to be a trick... a trap, I just... He shook his head. It felt dirty to him to repay kindness with suspicion, yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that it was somehow a trap. He took a look at Sister Alex. Why would she? He wondered. He couldn't come up with any conclusions. It was another debt he needed to repay, in his mind, yet, he felt a rush of guilt, feeling that he wouldn't be able to.

He turned his attention back to Mykst. He made a slight nod. "Kyirri Teekay... at your service." Kyirri found Mykst's attitude about him odd, it seemed too altruistic to him, and considering where he was going, he certainly didn't expect it. He found himself unable to produce even a weak smile.

Ephrael reacted quickly, pulling the bow off her shoulder and stringing an arrow in one smooth motion. She let fly at the cat thing's head, hoping for a quick kill knowing that putting this one down now could be the one chance off escaping what came next.

"Well shit I guess I owe you an apology Ed..."

As the wolf and the panther walked along the street, the surroundings of the once-great city ever changing and yet ever the same, Aisha kept her ears trained on anything that sounded out-of-place.  She knew that something was darting around watching them, even if the footfalls were ever so slight...but the huntress figured whatever it was, they could deal with it later if it became a threat.

Still, she thought with her eyes narrowed on the road ahead, it was never a good thing to be watched.

But soon the museum had come into sight.  For being in a ruined place, it looked rather impressive.  She wondered about what could await them beyond the doors and windows, beyond which there was a little bit of light like that of a flickering candle, to her surprise.

"Weeelll..." Aisha whispered, looking around in curiosity.  "Seems like an interes--"

Her voice froze, and so did her footfalls upon seeing the dead Creature upon the column.  The huntress's hand instantly went to the pommel of the sword on her back, her eyes wide.  It looked like it had been dead for a long time...a face twisted in a macabre reminder of the pain it must have gone through in those last moments, and the shadow of dried blood having run in streams below it...still sent a cold chill through the quiet air.

The letters written upon the wall ending in a blank slate didn't help matters either.

Aisha grimaced in pity.  "I hate demons at the best of times..." she said, glancing toward Gareeku with her hand still on the sword.  "But I try not to believe anything deserves a death so painful and slow as...as that.  It makes me wonder what the circumstances were."

Looking at the front entrance to the enticing museum, she also couldn't help but wonder what could have easily killed and done that to a demon...and whether or not they'd run into it.

Andrace's ears flicked from side to side as she listened to the replies. One eyebrow went up at the wolf-thing's final comment, but she seemed more amused than anything else. "Well," she said, "if somethin' bigger an' nastier 'n me does m' in, I'm hardly goin' t' complain, whatev'r y' do. If y' happy wi' twenty dollars a day plus a share o' whatever we pick up along th' way, y're in."

"As f'r th' rest o' y'," she said, turning to face the two young mages and the kangaroo rat, Kyirri, who'd just introduced himself, "I'll not speak f'r th' Sister here, but f' m'self, I'll be happy t' have y' along. Say, ah... Mykst, y're not just healers, are y'? I thought I saw y' start t' toss a spell t' try an' break up th' fight. Got anything else useful in y' bag o' tricks?"

Privately, the lioness made a mental note to keep track of the wolf-troll, especially when he was behind her. It wasn't that she mistrusted the huge Creature's honesty and reliability: she mistrusted his medical diagnostic skills.

Mao took a minute to take in as much of his surroundings as he could.  There certainly wasn't a lack of life here, but the glances of it were fleeting at best.  His gut felt that something definitely wasn't right, but he couldn't pinpoint what was giving him that feeling.  Concerned about this, Mao decided to stay within sight of the fence and do some scouting to see if he could get a better understanding of this feeling he was getting.

He used his ability to increase his speed to fling him in quick leaps about, being sure to stick to areas that were not otherwise occupied and that were likely to keep him out of sight as much as was possible.  Roofs, Shady areas that appeared devoid of life to his sight, and spots that had no windows facing them and plenty of clear space for him to be sure he wasn't being observed.  He watch every footfall as closely as he could to ensure as much silence as was possible.  The feeling he was getting was certainly one that warned him to caution.  Mao had felt unnatural things before, and faced them, but he knew better than to take any risks concerning them.  The back of his mind played through the image of the injured demon and the few snippets he had heard about the place, each as vivid as though it was just happening.  He forced himself to focus on what he was doing as they passed through his mind.

"This would not be a good place to lose focus.  I know too little at this point of what has happened here, and what is still going on."

He resolved himself to the idea that should he encounter life here, he would observe it from as far away as was possible and do his best to stay unnoticed.

Ed nodded to Eph, he noted the sounds of beastly howling, to very being like screaming, coming from all around the area.  Taking a quick look, he noted that there was 2 story house nearby.  The feline said, "we'll be safer on higher ground, at the very least we'll get a better look at what's headed this way."

He led the way to the edge of the house then asked, "you wanna try and hold out on the roof, or perhaps slip inside and hide out for a little bit?"

Pity he hadn't gotten a reply back from the demon yet, as it were. Still, no loss. The monstrous canid was more than happy about the lack of retribution. So it was a simple matter for him to, for lack of a better term, shunt any thought of the conversation with Alice elsewhere in his mind -made it far easier to sort things out mentally. The current situation with Andrace took up most of his attention anyway-everything else in the bar was decidedly peripheral at the moment.

And no, he hadn't forgotten about Moze...he just felt this needed to be settled first, or at least be close to settling before following the simian fellow.

The lupine troll sighed as he considered her offer-the noise sounding rather odd, to be honest...and frankly quite impossible to describe. Not that he was one to complain, but his kind put little value in trinkets and whatnot -preferring something they could actually use. Like his axe, for example. Still, better than nothing. And a dollar? An ear twitched briefly before he remembered. Oh...wait, that paper they use in some places.

"Sounds reasonable overall," He grunted finally in a slightly sour-seeming tone, "I accept the terms of pay especially." That last bit he'd learned from being around other ilk like himself- as in other mercenaries. Always paid off to be at least a little polite when accepting an offer.

As a side note...yes, it was probably a good idea not to trust his opinion when it came to injuries- especially if one recalled his initial thoughts on when that little rodentine chap Kyirri got hurt earlier. Not really what you wanted someone to consider if all you needed were a few stitches or a good healing spell.

"Now, I'm going to be getting some supplies," He said in a somewhat more normal tone of voice to Andrace's back- if one chose to ignore the thick rumble that came with said voice- "Since you're not offering a meal, I supply my own." There seemed to be a touch of amusement to what he said next, as it were. "If you're brave enough to stomach whatever I cook, you're welcome to it." His lightly fuzzed tail flicked back and forth in a lazy wag as he turned and padded towards where he'd seen Moze head off to.

"All right," He huffed once he'd reached the top of the stairs, "Show me what you got. I've got a bit of coin I'll spend, fair and even." One of his clawed hands dug into a pocket to reveal a large handful of varying coins. Mostly copper and maybe bronze, for the most part, but a little silver and maybe a genuine gold coin or two along with a few moldering dollar bills. Considering that the coinage itself looked a bit worse for wear -and one couldn't be sure if that verdigris on some of the coins was actually mold or not- a chap might get the impression they'd want to use a liberal amount of sanitizing materials on said currency.

Jinx merely stood rooted in place, mouth agape, the colour drained from his face as one single thought looped in his brainover and over and over again:

What the Fuck was that thing?

Okay...it looked like a Being...sort of....but then...it was also-

The feline felt sick to his stomach...it wasn't a Being...but it might have been one.

You don't know that...dammit just get it together...follow that thing...you lost it, chalk it up to your own imagination trying to spite you.

Looking around to make sure no one was the Were shifted into his feral form, leaving his weaponry hidden nearby in his luggage, he slinked around to the back yard.

This form had other uses then just killer magic...

   "Huh?" The cop was talking again. Traxen switched channels. "The Creature Council? I seriously doubt the Creature Council had any involvement here. If they were involved, I would think they'd just annihilate the whole place and be done with it, keep anyone from actually salvaging stuff, like me. People have gone in and come out alive, the barkeeper himself is living proof of that. And if you can go in and out, then you can bring something with you. No, I really don't think this place's troubles were part of a deliberate organized effort...though if it was, the implementation of retribution was horrendously sloppy."

Moze blinked at the money Raek had set out once or twice, then shrugged and Opened the door to the shop. Standard adventuring gear, tents and bedrolls and backpacks and useful lengths of rope. Flashlights and rations and the occassional map of places that previous adventurers had made of bits of the city, mostly hastily scrawled things of debatable usefulness. There were a few books that past adventurers had written as well, also of debatable usefulness. Weapons of not particularly poor nor high quality lined the walls. All this, packed into a room rather like a hotel gift shop. Moze knew how dangerous the city was, but that was no reason not to be professional.
"Anything you need but don't see here, ask about it. We might have it in the back, and there's a few shops in town I could probably direct you toward too."

The backyard of the suburban house was empty, with a long brown reptilian tail vanishing over the left wall. Something briefly rustled in the bushes toward the back of the yard, but whatever was there slipped through a hole in the fence after the lizard. The initial noise had quieted down now, the only sign that it had ever happened at all being the occassional soft rustle of displaced foliage as the various living things of the City suburbs moved quietly...

Eph's bolt struck home neatly, silencing the cat's shriek with a final sounding thunk. The howls and screams in the distance faded rather quickly, leaving Ed and Eph alone with the dead cat-girl and the general sussrus of what was probably the breeze through the occassional patch of overgrown yard.

Flitting from rooftop to rooftop, it was hard for Mao to get a definite read on the actions of the local wildlife. He could sense them moving, all around him, via cracks in floorboards or underground tunnels or just ducking from cover to cover, but when he tried to pick one out he'd lose it too quickly. They knew the area. He didn't.

The first room of the museum was thoroughly impressive. As soon as you passed through the reasonably sized lobby and ticket booth it was vaulted ceilings reaching up through both floors of the building, looking none the larger for the mummified dragon that took up the center of the room, with plaques and benches around it. Glass walls contained wax statues of past cultures both being and creature. In one Demons wearing feathers and animal skins snarled at a group of angels in more medival garments, disembarking a boat. In another several beings in a temple of stone, wearing ornate masks, clustered around a succubus in some manner of worship. In another a heavily armored being was sitting at a table with a human, both pointing to different parts of a map and discussing something.
The room looked lived in. People had stolen bits of the dragon's wrapping, and there was another glass case which had been smashed. According to the plaques, they once contained ancient javalins. In a corner, a fire in a trash can was burning from recent intruders spending the night.

 Giles tensed in the woman's presence - she reminded him of black-cloaked women he'd prefer to forget - but his tongue, and himself, didn't lash out. He simply inclined his head in her direction, respectfully. "Ma'am." he said, his tone suggesting that if he had a hat, it'd be in his hands by now.
She was pretty - getting on, but Giles was no spring chicken himself. She wasn't the lithe sort of beauty that came with youth, or the sultry beauty that came with maturity - rather, motherly, of a sort. Frumpy, but not in a bad way, greying hair and spectacles simply adding dignity to her visage. Giles smiled.

"The sort of lost that makes you hard to find. I guess that means lost and never found." he said

The lupine troll's furred ear twitched back at the brief look the simian fellow gave the currency he was holding. Just be glad he wasn't so dense as to ask what said look was for. Maybe I should find something else to put my earnings in, he considered as Moze opened the door. Or maybe make some new clothes. Probably both would be a good idea. Or maybe teaching him the value of more than rinsing his clothing out.

Still, at the moment such matters weren't nearly as interesting as what was behind said door.

Personally, the aberration of a wolf was inclined to say most of said items were junk at first glance. Still, couldn't hurt to look, right? The hand holding the money curled into a fist-if only not to lose what it was holding at the moment- as he stepped inside, pale eyes assessing; taking in everything with the casual familiarity of one who had been in similar places so often when on the job they knew exactly what they were after.

It was also, after a moment of standing a few feet inside and looking around, that he realized that digging through this himself might take a considerably longer time than he'd planned.

"Moze...I know what I need. But I don't think I'll be able to find it in all this," He said thickly as he looked over at the innkeeper. "I need a sack; not too large. Maybe big enough to hold sixty pounds." Raek grunted. "Then I need at least one cooking pot, a pan, and a stirring spoon." He paused, thinking. That 'roo-rat, three felines, the squirrel...And maybe that fellow with the spines, should he suddenly want to come along... "And five shallow plates-you know, the kind that can be used as bowls too." Eh, he'd just eat straight out of the pot or pan himself, as it were. "As for food..." The lupine troll scratched his muscled stomach reflectively, "Grain, dried meat, bread, vegetables...the typical things that should keep for some time and whatever else you think would work. And a jug of water should do it." He shrugged. "If you even have part of that, I'll be right thankful."

It was then he happened to catch sight of one of said maps. Hmm...might be useful... "And...how much for one of those maps?" Maybe one of the others could use it-he was never good with them since they gave him a headache.

The feline assassin gulped. Perhaps following...whatever that thing was, was a bad idea.

Slinking back down from the top of the fence he checked his surroundings before shifting back to his furre form, his adjsuted his tie as he grabbed his luggage. He didn't know what bothered him more...the silence made it seem like he was alone, but his gut told him he was very, very far from being alone right now.

For the first time in years Jinx truly felt the need to be around someone...anyone who was at least slightly normal, and would make sure some Sin-Against-The-Gods didn't get the drop on him and leave his managed corpse impaled on a fence post.

As Jinx begun to walk back down the street, he hummed to himself, attempting to fight back against the silence by softly singing to himself.

"I like my town with a little drop of poison
Nobody knows they're lining up to go insane
I'm all alone, I smoke my friends down to the filter
But I feel much cleaner after it rains..."

Grinning as her arrow struck true (As well it should have considering the cost of the enchantments...) She turned to the incubus and placed her finger to her lips.  

"I think it would be better if we left the area instead." She said through her custom mindshield.

Ed smiled politely then nodded. he'd have preferred to stay in place for a bit, but if she was ready to cross the bridge and get into the real city, the incubus wasn't going to complain.

He fluffed his wings back up, put an arm on Ephy's shoulder and said, "well, let's get going then... i'd hate to run into more of those things..."

When the spider-thing asked her about her training it took Alex back for a moment to her adventurer training with Sister Daisy, the most misnamed person she had ever met. Scarred and battered from years of acquisitions she was most unlike a delicate wildflower. Sister Daisy was a llama and never quite got over the urge to spit at people doing something particularly stupid. This was one of her most memorable traits to her often spit-stained trainees. That and her ability to carry an entire set of encyclopedias by herself.

Sister Alex shook her head at the the metal bug. People saw the habit and made assumptions. "If you're worried that a nun from an order specializing in librarians and teachers is a liability in a dangerous situation I can tell you that I was a fully trained mage before I took my vows and I've been retrieving magical tomes for 20 years while retaining all my limbs and organs. I'm a nun, but not a cloistered one. Shall we all give our qualifications?"

   Traxen's voice chuckled through the spider-drone's speaker. "Heh, I didn't mean it like that! What I meant was, I've got an offer, specifically for you. We're both heading into the City, and we both have heard tales of it's dangers. I'm sure I can handle myself, but I've tagged along with a few adventuring parties, and I've learned that extra hands never hurt. Here, I need in particular people of skill and competance, which, as you put quite unmistakably, you possess. So, how about it? We can give each other protection and support in that forsaken place." The voice paused for a moment. "Any of the other people here can accompany you, it doesn't make much of a difference to me, and there's even strength in numbers."

Mykst looked over at Andrace when she asked her question, and smirked sheepishly. "Well, yeah. While we both know healing spells, our affinities for magic are different. Kali's affinity is dark magic - "

"But it's just my affinity, not a preference," Black Magic suddenly spoke up. "I'm not the type to sit in a pentagram all day begging spirits for black nail polish made from the tears of the damned or anything like that. Just so you know," she nodded to the older lioness. She didn't want her, or anyone else, to assume that she was like every other emo-child who could only wish for her magic. Or worse, that she would end up as one of those elderly psychos who used skulls as codpieces (and/or bras) and used legions of undead to try world domination. People thinking of necromancers that way tended to hinder their viewpoint of other users like her, who could be quite normal.

Mykst sighed a bit and continued. "And my affinity is elemental magic. But I only just discovered that it was a few months ago, so don't expect any big shows." At this, Kali snorted and grinned.

"Sweetie, I heard your spell. You almost summoned up a wall of solid rock to keep the two hotheads apart. Don't even say you're not good yet."

After a while of scouting, Mao was beginning to feel that a new approach was necessary.  Between his own fast movements and the fast movements of the life around him, Mao wasn't able to get a good sense for the life here.  Sure, the place was teeming with it, but something still wasn't right.  Everything was hiding and moving too quickly. 

"Perhaps a new tactic is in order."

Mao scanned about looking for an unoccupied tower or tree or something from which he could hide in a relatively defensible position (as much as one could in a town like this) and maybe get a good glimpse of the local life.  given his scouting, he had a good feel for this part of the outskirts of town but he still hadn't had much time to take in all of it.  With that in mind he continued about as he was while trying to find a suitable place to observe from.

Kyirri remained silent, observing his companions to be. He suddenly felt a feeling of inadequacy, What do I have to offer them? I can't wield magic, the others seem to be able to do so effortlessly. He glanced back and forth at Kali, Mykst, Andrace, and sister Alex. All of them seem quite capable, they seem a bit too trusting, I just hope in the City that it isn't their downfall. He looked over at the Raek, and then at the spider drone. I can't bring myself to trust them..., then again, they trust *me*, which I suppose is quite a stretch. He took a close look at his pale left hand, and sighed. Then again, it's not my place to decide whom they can trust.

Kyirri stopped himself. Then again,.. they don't know... it's better if they don't know about me. I'm sure they would hate me if they knew...  He ignored Moze as he opened his shop, Kyirri didn't need any additional supplies, and wouldn't be able to afford them anyways. He simply awaited for the others to get themselves ready and head out.

As they walked through the eerily lonesome streets, Gareeku smirked at Aisha's comment as to whether go to the museum or the sewers. Like the pantheress, his mind also cast itself back to the others who were at the bar earlier, and whether they too had entered the city, but then they would looking after themself for the time being. Right now Gareeku was only primarily concerned about his and Aisha's welfare. The dark being-shaped shadow that had been on the rooftop for a split-second had not gone unnoticed, either. His eyes looking to the spot where the shadow was for a second before looking back straight, his eyes narrowed slightly. They were being watched, it seemed.

It wasn't long before the two of them had reached the museum. At first, Gareeku observed the splendor the architecture of the building before them, but it wasn't long for his eyes to fall on the remains of the crucified demon. It's death had obviously been a slow and painful one, from the rust-coloured stain running from the demon down the pillar, to the silent scream that it's face had become frozen in.
"Welcome to the neighbourhood." the wolf commented. One would probably have mistook the comment as part of his dark humour, were it not for the grim expression on the lupine's face.

Heading inside while his eyes stayed fixed to the crucified demon as he passed by it, Gareeku then brought his attention to the interior of the museum, which was just as grandiose as the exterior. Looking up at the mummified dragon before them before bringing his attention to the sculptures and paintings that decorated the museum, the wolf could only imagine what it would have been like in its glory days.

Gareeku would have most likely walked around the museum for quite a while to take in everything it had to offer, were it not for the fact that he noticed the smashed display case, with its contents nowhere to found. Looking closer, the wolf read that the display case once contained ancient javelins. This would probably not have concerned the lupine warrior as much as it did if he hadn't also taken note of the fact that the museum looked lived in. Some of the dragon's wrappings had been stolen, and in one corner the wolf had taken note of the burning dustbin; the fact that the fire in it was still very much alive without any magic proved someone that been here recently...or may still be there.

With a darker expression on his face, Gareeku tightened the grip on the hilt of his sword.
"Looks like we might have also stumbled upon someone's home sweet home..."

The tip of Andrace's tail flicked thoughtfully from side to side as she paid careful attention to everyone's comments. "Yeah, more's usually better," she said with a nod to the mechanical spider. "Like I always prefer t' go out on jobs wi' all m' sisters an' brothers. Don't happen often on payin' jobs, though — we got a real good rep, an' we ain't cheap: hirin' all o' us at once costs a small fortune. Say, that's you been drivin' around outside, ain't it? That's a big bus, y' ought t' have room f'r a swimmin' pool or a bowlin' alley in there."

She raised an eyebrow at Sister Alex's statement. "Y' been at this twenty years?" she said in a respectful tone. "Th' only one o' us been in th' business longer 'n that — recently, anyway — I think it'd be m' great-aunt Veryan. Got herself killed by an Undead gone rogue way back in '04 after a couple years o' goin' solo, an' she didn't retire 'til 'bout ten years ago. A bit weird havin' an Undead in th' family, but she's still one o' th' best combat teachers we got. I've been in th' business 'bout eight years m'self, an' that's pretty good goin' f'r one o' us." The lioness seemed to be no older than her early twenties, so a quick subtraction showed she must have been even younger than Kali when she'd begun her adventuring career.

Andrace's ears perked forward for a moment as she listened to Kali and Mykst. "Glad t' hear it," she replied to the younger lioness with an amused spread of her whiskers. "An' o' course, I s'pose black dresses are right out. Yeah, I know 'bout affinities, m' sister Despina's a mage, she made sure we knew an affinity don't have t' be ev'rything. An' it's good t' hear th' pair o' y' got a bit o' oomph b'hind y' if w' need t' get noisy. Just keep close t' us two terrible ol' ladies —" she grinned mischievously and flicked her tail to indicate herself and Sister Alex "— an' we'll see y' get out o' here again still in one piece. Prob'ly."

Despite the bloody greeting for visitors at the door, Aisha had to admit that much of the museum's interior had kept up a grandiose appearance over the years of decay and abandonment that it had been left to.  The dry air and musty smells were their guides...the silence was their shelter...the exhibits their only clues to the races left behind and the people who kept up the care here.

Much like Gareeku, Aisha could have lost herself for a day walking around the place and just taking in everything.  The positions of Creatures and still-life events portrayed by the statues of wax reminded her of things she read about, though one or two weren't all too familiar, and more than likely not important to warrant much thinking.

And the mummified dragon of course was most eye-catching.  From the few dragons she'd met, Aisha figured that they would have been all too vain to let one of their dead become immortalized as a mere tourist attraction.  Still, one could never tell with dragons.  It made her wonder what kind of ancient race had that kind of ritual to its name.

But then, the mystique of it all was broken by the little clues left around the rooms.  The broken case that had once held javelins, the scraps of cloth stolen from the sacred dragon mummy, and the freshly-burning fire in the garbage bin in the corner.  The smells mingled with the dry dust and numerous cobwebs in the building itself.

The hunter's mind flashed back to the crucified demon on the column outside...and tried not to cringe when her mind started to wander to the possibility that it's the sentence for trespassers.  And like her companion, her hand was in close proximity to the silvery weapon on her belt.

"Sí, looks like it," she whispered in reply, keeping watch as she kept walking along through the museum with him...ears listening for every out-of-place sound, nose to every out-of-place smell.  "And I got the feeling they won't take us barging in very well..."

There were corridors leading out of this room of the museum. The information booth, tragically, had been ransacked and few if any of the scattered paper maps looked like they were in readable condition. Fortunately, they were labeled with signs. The photography wing was to the left and ahead boasted an exhibit on civilizations of the east, and to the right was the ancient sculptures. And coming, echoing, down this last hallway, was the soft scratching of pen on paper.

Moze fetched the items for Raek quickly enough, amused by his selections. "Bit of a chef, are we? Wouldn'ta pegged ya for the type..." He blinked at the request for maps and chuckled. "Not too much, most of 'em ain't too much use. Sort of a mixed bag, what you'll get. Some folks managed to cover a lot of ground, block out large swathes and neighborhoods. Others actually looked AROUND the places, have some idea of what to expect in 'em. How much you lookin' to spend? There'sis one written by a mythos named Borogrove, I hear that's a nice guide to the more well-known horrors of the place, but it's more of a book than a map. BIG book."

"Well then there's the old derelict," the hostel owner scoffed, "Most damn fool thing I've ever seen. Build a town next to ruins for the tourism, find out that it's lethal, and just keep on funneling the tourists there. Just make sure to get all their money before they go in. World's goin' to shit, so they decide to get into the manure business while there's still a surplus to sell." She grumbled to herself and made her way behind the front desk, before finally getting out the guestbook and leafing through its pages like they'd somehow offended her. Seeing the looks that crossed her face as she glimpsed the occassional old name, it was possible some had. "But we can at least give 'em a good night's sleep before sendin' 'em into the goddamn hellmouth. So, you'll be wanting a bed for the night?"

Most of the houses around Mao were of the same uniform size and general shape. At some point in time some ancient neighborhood association had ruled with an iron fist. It possibly still did; what little overgrowth of the yards that was visible didn't grow outside the boundries of the house's yard. One tree, huge and starting to lean, roots torn from the ground and sticking off to the side, even had a branch end as if cut off on the edge of another yard...
There were a few good vantage points though. A church, maybe thirty blocks to his right. It was the highest nearby visible point. Somewhat smaller were a few slightly larger houses, one of which had a third floor.

Leaving the body of the girl-cat far behind, Eph and Ed eventually reached the bridge. At the very base of it were the old toll booths, lined up across the road like a beaurocratic stonehenge guarding the way to the city proper.
And standing, right there, in the shade of one of the booths, was what we'll for the sake of description call an iguana. The upper half of its head was that of the feral creature, with an upper lip and tiny, fingernail-sized teeth extending far beyond the beinglike lower jaw. The arms were beinglike, with feral clawed hands, and its stunted hind legs let its tail drag along behind it. A hiss rose in the thing's throat...

Jinx continued down the street, still hearing the occassional rustle of nearby foliage that one desperately hoped was the breeze. Ahead of him was the fellow he'd been behind when he'd first entered the city, the Nictarl from earlier. While he wasn't actually turning his head to look around, he gave the impression of being very intently studying his surroundings...

As the pair reached the bridge, Ed was about to start his flirting back up when the iguana thing slithered out of seemingly nowhere.  As it walked out of the shadows and hissed, Ed cocked his head a bit.  The Cubi's wings formed a plethora of bladed tentacles, and his fingers had suddenly grown into massive, demon-like claws.  Ed looked wicked, yet hid face was impassive as he watched the iguana.

The leopard crouched low, as if in a position to pounce.  At the same time, the clawed hands started giving off a dark mist as Edaric prepared a pair of exploding bolts of dark energy.  He would let the iguana make the first move, and then quite literally tear it apart, either through magic or raw brute force.  His primary focus was on the iguana, but Ed let a small part of his mind wander, searching for other threats in the area.

Jinx caught sight of someone. The Black and white thing, it seemed.  The one who reminded him uncomfortable of Max-

He had to brush that off. As much as the antisocial feline hated to admit it, Wandering Hell's Gate alone was a bad idea to end all bad ideas. The assassin bit his lip before stepping forward, breaking the eery silence.

"Hey, you!" Jinx called out as he picked up his pace, coming up to the Being. He seemed to be examining his surroundings. Somehow. Jinx was sure exactly how, but it seemed that was what the guy was doing.

Jinx was normally fond of avoiding social confrontations, so saying his social skills were slightly weak was like saying a snake was a little lacking in the limbs department.  "You look...uh, I've seen you before. In town, leaving the bar. Yeah." Hecalled out to th Being, unsure if he'd even get a response.

"I just know what I need, is all," Raek responded in that rather mild tone as the simian chap got everything together, "And I'd rather not eat the ones I'm working for if I can help it." Good point. Especially since it was against what few ethics he actually had. "Besides, I'm not ashamed to admit that I know the rest of my kind live pretty much to eat anything that moves." Pity he didn't seem to get the fact Moze had been trying to add a little humor to the moment either...or at least not yet, anyway.

Though, at least, he did smile. "Stands to reason I'd know how to cook, in that light. And they'll need food, I think." Well, depends on what one terms 'cooking' as. A troll's concept of the ideal was certainly much broader in scope than most...made for very interesting recipes.

Hmm? He paused as the innkeeper asked what he was willing to spend...and went into detail about how reliable the maps were: As if he was willing to read them himself anyway-unless he had to. The mention of a book written by a fellow Mythos was of interest though...shame he didn't know the name. "Don't know that one, but I might want it if it's good. However..."

"I won't be the one reading them; they will." The lupine troll glanced back in the direction of the others; hopefully they didn't bolt off without him! Though, if they did he certainly could catch up, couldn't he? Back-bent legs like his actually made him a rather good sprinter, especially with the type of muscle he had. "Maps give me a headache."

Got to give the Mythos credit; at least he tended to be rather honest.

"As to a price...For the supplies..." His brutish muzzle wrinkled a little in thought as he eyed the fistful of...well, somewhat viable currency. "Would what I showed you pay for it?" The fellow suddenly seemed slightly abashed. "I know, it's not the best of condition...but still. Would it do?" Then he looked at the large book thoughtfully. "As to that book, or maybe something more workable..." His other hand dug into its respective pocket before pulling out an assortment of small trinkets-a few tarnished rings, a chain necklace with an oddly archaic emblem, and a piece of metal that looked suspiciously like the thumb of a steel gauntlet. A closer look might give one consideration that the reddish-black tarnish might actually be something else, as it were...

The monstrous canine smiled a little, so it seemed. "How about these? I got them on my last job, so I know they're not so bad." Right, tell that to whoever he got them from. Or more precisely, whomever might have lost that piece of gauntlet.

Once he had figured on where it would be best to try and get a vantage point of the area, notably the church,  Mao started towards it.  No sooner than he had though, he head a voice calling out.  He had felt the presence of others near by but hadn't figured they had noticed him.

"You're getting rusty.  Not a good sign at this young age." he thought, jokingly, to himself.

He turned his head to the calling voice and made sure to center his face on the source of the voice, while turning his inner sight to the source.  It was the feline that had bumped into him from before.  There was something strange about the fellow, but Mao couldn't tell what it was.  He brushed it off quickly as just being on edge and affected by the context of the situation.

The feline called out again, this time seeming to say more than something to get Mao's attention.  Mao smiled a quick smile and nodded in response to the statement.  Mao made a slow and deliberate motion of looking back and forth and then centered his sights back on the shouting fellow.  He brought his index finger up to his lips hoping that the message would be clear.  He paused there for a second hoping to drive home the idea, while giving fellow a slightly raised eyebrow.  After a moment or so had passed he motioned his head towards the church and pointed upwards, again holding it for a moment to drive the message home, whether it was needed or not.

Realizing that he still had no idea what had happened here, or was maybe even still happening, Mao quickly started moving again, hoping that the noise from the fellow calling out hadn't drawn any undue attention.  If it had, Mao didn't want to be around when whatever might be listening came around.  Not yet at least.  He resumed his careful method of travel and began scanning the church to see if he could reach the top safely from the outside, not quite ready to plumb the depths of any dwelling in this supposedly cursed city, but resigned to the fact that he eventually would.

Sister Alex nodded in acknowledgement of Andrace's comment. "I took my vows young, but twenty years isn't as long in acquisitions as it is in adventuring. A lot of the time my job isn't anything more than going to some deceased mage's home to take care of his library before it eats the grandkids. We don't get to do these exploratory acquisitions as often as we'd like, or perhaps as often as optimal to the environment."

Finishing the last of her soup the Gutenberg nun pushed away from the table and stood up. "I think everyone who wants to enter the city with our group should prepare to leave. I understand we want to be in and out before dark."

Alex looked around for either of the proprietors. In the spirit of positive thinking she wanted to engage a room for when she returned for the night.

"Well you certainly seem eager to dispose of everything we come across Eddy" Ephrael said with a smirk and crossed her arms in front of her. "He's....well it's all yours"

 "No, I'm not interested in sleep." the blackguard said, adjusting his posture. He scratched his neck. "Not here, anyway. I wouldn't want to bring you bad luck."

He grinned and reached for something in one of the small, oiled-leather bags at his hip. "I'll take booze if you've got it, though. The worst pig-swill you have is fine. It's not for drinking. A point in the right direction and I'll be on my way if not."

Witt sat there, spinning the coin every so often, and watching it spin down. Sooner or later, the girl behind the bar, or the owner, would provide him with another beer. After all, it wasn't like he was going anywhere.

Besides, once she did, he could give her a piece of his mind - what was left of it - about the delay. Or just have another drink.

He passed the time listening to the conversation going on behind him, and watching the book on the bar. It appeared to be one of those semi-sentient grimoires; he'd run across one a while back, while looking into his past with a Gutenberg, and, if he remembered correctly, it'd challenged him to a drinking contest. Some time later, it'd conceded - after washing a couple of pages blank - but didn't do too badly; better than some, even if it was just a stack of paper. Not that sentient books were just anything, that is. Other than more entertaining than the conversation.

He snapped his fingers at it, to gain it's attention, and flicked a pretzel from the bowl in front of him over it. It bounced up, snapped shut on the pretzel, and dropped back to the bar, munching happily. Introductions over, he started checking his pockets, wonder where he'd left it from last time. He started fishing things out - a couple of foot-long blades, half a dozen bottles with liquids of varying lethality in them, some small cardboard boxes that rattled, a strange sort of bent metal thing with a hole in the end, a shiv, a small, sealed pottle of some mysterious waxy substance, a couple of rubber gloves... He'd got about halfway through his pockets when he found what he was looking for, placed it between his teeth, and rapidly put everything away again. Once the bar was clear, he took the small box he had out, opened it, and fished out an elderly, slightly worn bookmark. Closing the box, and putting it away, he bent the bookmark gently in one hand, and placed it on the bar, balanced on it's side, by the still munching leather-bound volume.

"Have a bite."

Ed's tentacles stayed between him and the beast, while a pair of the blades went around and also covered Ephrael keeping a razor thing barrier between her and the beast.
His impassive face suddenly grew into a look of what some might consider glee.  He said in a voice filled with his suddenly playful mood, "well Gee Eph, how thoughtful... and here i thought my showboating wasn't getting anywhere..."

The incubus smirked while edging forward towards the iguana thing.

The iguana tilted its head at Ed, dumb animal simplicity evident on its mangled face. It considered the blades, but didn't seem overly concerned. It took two steps back, further into the shade of the booths. A pink, transluscent tongue reached up to lick one eye...
Eph briefly heard the scrape of a manhole cover behind her opening, very slightly...

--

Jezebel replaced Witt's beer in passing, palming the coin with a polite smile. The demon girl had started looking in his direction, her expression gradually shifting from low-grade scorn to amusement to something a touch more contemplative.

--

Moze looked over the rings and necklace curiously, setting aside the gauntlet thumb with a wince. "Well lets see now..." He finally set aside two rings and a necklace. "That should cover the main supplies. Call it two extra rings for the Borogrove guide, they're getting hard to find these days, and ten bucks for one of the pamphlets. Sound fair to you?"

--

"Dear, this place mainly caters to adventurers and college kids. Of course we have alcohol." The hostel owner's look said that this was probably the strangest question she'd been asked all day. "Gimme a sec, I'll get you somethin'. Just leave a buck on the counter, it probably ain't even worth that much." And with that she was off into the back room again, leaving the blackguard to his own devices.

--

As Mao continued onward with Jinx in tow, eventually reaching the large open square in front of the church. It was... Well, a suburban church. They'd sprung for a bit more than the standard red-brick-with-a-cross-on-top of most neighborhoods, instead opting for a fancier looking imitation gothic design. While this offered many handholds for getting up to the tower if one desired to, it was worth noting that said tower was very, VERY high, and the stained glass windows on it would make climbing toward the top get somewhat more difficult for the narrower handholds.

--

Back in Oldhill, a troupe of comedians and performers were groaning as they finally stood up after their long bus ride. They were there to give a show for a local high school that had churned out the winning entry in an essay contest, and nobody was looking forward to it. The bus driver, an old and rather ill-kept platypus, finished unloading the last of the luggage and sighed, stomping back inside to usher out the last of them.
"Oi, clown girl! 'ere's your stop. I know you love that back seat so much, but'cha can't stay here!" He stepped back to give her space to leave and tapped his foot impatiently. She gave him the creeps. Sooner the girl was gone the better.

"They're probably just keeping salvageable material in there on purpose as bait. That way, anyone who goes in gets mutated or eaten by God-knows what." Payden snorted, rubbing his nose carefully. "We'd lure criminals the same way back in Brossburgh, dangle some carrot in front of 'em. You don't think it's the same deal here, especially when the risks are worse than just death?" If the city was "smart" enough to draw people in and make them lose their minds, then it obviously had very, very nasty things to inflict upon would-be explorers.

"Don't worry, the thumb's not in it anymore," Raek said quickly as the simian fellow made a face at the aforementioned memento-perhaps a bit too quickly, as it were. Eh, probably shouldn't ask what happened to it, at any rate. Still, Moze seemed more interested in the jewelry than in the...well...one might as well say the embittered remains of more common currency, at any rate.

Still, the lupine troll decided to stuff the money back into its respective pocket as the innkeeper started considering what he wanted of the assorted trinkets. Or was going to, as the chap made a selection before suggesting what else he'd prefer. "Hmm...." The brutish canine's tail twitched- even as he went ahead and crammed the fistful of money back where it'd come from.

Eh, why not. No doubt they're waiting on me, he thought after a long moment of consideration. Granted, he may be wrong in his assumption, but...

"Suits me," He huffed (While, of course, surreptitiously stuffing the gauntlet piece into its pocket again and rummaging inside for other questionable valuables), "Should be a couple more rings in here..." He grunted, an ear quirking slightly as he continued with his checking. Ah, here it is...I think. He smiled in a toothy, if friendly, fashion as he pulled out a couple more rings. One was a rather plain; nothing more than a band of silver and just as stained as the rest. The other, however, was certainly more eye-catching and probably made one wonder precisely where the brute had gotten it.

Not overly ornate, but certainly something that would have belonged to someone mildly wealthy, the band itself was ridged so as to look like either a series of concentric waves or serrated blades on either side. Curious runes of a different substance -possibly bronze, since the ring itself appeared to be gold- encircled its center. Didn't seem to be dangerous, however.

"Got that one off some mage or other," He said by way of explanation, "They didn't need it anymore. Doesn't do anything either that I know of. Anyway...a bit of money too, huh?" Raek sighed as he reached back into the other pocket-and quickly pulled the motley collection of currency from earlier. Well, there might be ten bucks somewhere in that mess. "I'm not good with paper money, so how about a few of the silver coins?" He seemed a bit unsure, as it were, as to if that'd be fair or not.

Ed's movements were fast and brutal, yet also graceful as he  began his attack on the Iguana thing.  A pair of tentacle heads clamped down on the structures of either side of the monster as Ed bolted forward, at the same time he launched anther 6 at the beast from above, hoping they would at least distract it, if not kill it outright.  With the tentacles launched, Ed flicked his right arm in line with beast as a narrow black bolt flew straight towards the beast's chest at a rather high speed.

The bolt trailed a deep black mist with silver specks in it, as it flew.  The specks were shimmering, and meant to be distracting, drawing attention away from the deadly spell, and flurry of death homing in on the beast.

As if that wasn't enough, Ed's left hand began tracking the movements of the thing, readying a second bolt, just to make sure.  His hand gave off a mist similar to that the bolt was shedding, only the magic ebbing from his hand faded as soon as it cleared a few inches from the leopard cubi's surface.

   Traxen checked his monitors again, and uttered a groan of disappointment as he realized that Sam was missing from his drone's displays. On top of that, the hobo and the gun-toter, and even the Nictarl weren't with the jittery Being anymore. Traxen didn't even bother checking the logs as he glumly recalled both of them. This cut down his potential forces considerably.
  Returning his attention to the spider-drone in the bar, he noticed everyone seemed to be getting up to leave. Traxen sent a recall signal to that drone, too.
  Finally, the cop spoke up again. Traxen switched over to the van's external speakers. "Well, as I said, the barkeep is living proof that you can go in and out alive, and he seems sane enough by my standards. Just as long as we're out before nightfall, we don't intereact with anything that looks like it's supposed to be alive, and double-check everything before touching. Besides, what happened to your theory that it's some Fae's bad joke? I'd buy that over some Creature conspiracy."

Jinx had closely followed the Nictarl, weapons drawn not out ill will towards the ADventurer, but to cover the rear, a green eye alert to even the slightest movements.

The Assassin maintained silence, hopefully so as not to attract attention. Well, by maintain silence he merely stopped sining and started humming to himself as low as he could.  It did little to calm the black cat; a collapsing fence board, finally giving up in it's fight against the elements, nearly cause Jinx to unload six bullets into the piece of wood.

The Church was what you'd expect. It's gothic nature seemed to clash with the modern looking suburb. Jinx stared at the wall, then the top.

Jinx spoke for the first time since he started following The Adventurer, and indeed, it was the first thing he thought open noticing the spire's gothic nature made it somewhat easier to climb. "We're not actually climbing that thing...are we?" While Jinx was speaking, his vision didn't waver from the apex. " Shit man...I hope the stairs still work.'

SOmehow, Jinx knew this would be the only way up. Just more evidence to Jinx's belief the gods hated him.

As they continued through the museum, looking for more clues as to the presence of somebody there before them, Aisha still felt it slightly shameful that the place and its treasures had been left as they were.  They were uncared for, left to rot without evidence that such things had ever existed.

Not long after her statement to Gareeku in reply to stumbling in on someone, her sharp ears caught the soft and scratchy movements of paper and pen.  The other hallways also carried some interesting choices on where to go...decisions, decisions.

"Think we should make ourselves known?" Aisha said, glancing to the white wolf.  "Considering what we've seen I don't know if splitting up is a good option either."

Kyirri kept himself quiet, content to observe those around him. He wasn't much for social interaction. While studying those that saved him, he found it odd how open Andrace was with herself. I just hope she doesn't get too interested in my past exploits, if they can be called that. If she starts pressing me, I might want to come up with a reliable way of encouraging disinterest. He said nothing else however.

He pulled near where she was sitting. He was ready to go, but kept his silence.

Mykst grinned a little uneasily at Andrace's comment. I can't tell whether I want her to be kidding or not... But Kali grinned much more calmly.

"Yes, black dresses are out of the question. But as long as I'm not back at my old job, my folks are happy."

"Happy?" Mykst repeated incredulously. "Every time I go over there, your dad gives me a look like he wants to kill me and go find another lion for you."

"Yeah, but as long as Mama's not looking at you like that, you're fine," she coolly replied, swishing her tail and moving to stand. "Enouh chatter, though. We're not gonna get anywhere by moving our mouths." She grabbed her staff and looked at the others, ready to leave whenever they gave the word.

Clown. The resentment that twinged through the girl's head was enough to draw her attention from the window view she had not been taking in while thinking of more interesting things, and for her to turn her eyes toward the platypus. She tilted her head a little as she looked at him, as though curious how he had come to be there or, more likely, as to how this scraggly old thing thought he should be adressing her like that, and let her gaze linger just past the point where it induced serious discomfort. It wasn't as though she were wearing any makeup at the moment. Most people these days seemed without either culture or tact, or even the fearful insecurity and conscientiousness that fostered them. Nor did they seem concerned with anything beyond immediate bothers; she would have bet that he would not have mistaken her if she'd been a mime. Still, the pointy hat and the little bells on her clothes ought to have given him some clue.
  Either way, as with many things, it was a minor point of irritation. The black-dressed, jingling young woman dismissed the old fool without a word, and reached down and under the seat in front of her. She had entrusted the driver with most of her luggage, but not all of it. There were some things that she didn't let other people carry. Or which, indeed, most of them even could. The slightly worn large string bag she lifted out, decorated with embroidery and pressed leather pattens, didn't clink despite its contents, but rather it rasped metallically, as the objects within it shifted. She slung it over her shoulder, absentmindedly adjusting her three-tipped hat as she did, and stood up. Immediately, her hand went to one of the pockets of the equally embroidered but far more well-kept and luxurious jacket she wore, colored with a few patterns of black on a green so dark it was hard to tell the two apart without the right light for it. She pinched the bridge of two round, silver-rimmed sunglasses, so black they almost passed for blind shades, and settled them gently on her long muzzle, adjusted the weight on her shoulder, and walked calmly down the length of the bus to the accompanyment of slight metallic creaks from below.
  The platypus inched back some more as the rat girl stopped just in front of him, a couple of steps from the door, and looked at him again. There was some more light jingling, as she bent slightly forward, peered at him over the top of his glasses to catch his eye, and bored an acid-green stare into his skull.
  'Thank you,' she said, the words clipped, then turned and stepped out into the daylight, the hand not holding her bag sliding into a pocket as she took up a nonchalant stance. She squinted slightly, narrowing her eyes to keep out the light that passed over the edges of her glasses, then pushed them back. Turning, she surveyed the small square where the bus had stopped, her gaze slowly tracing a half circle around it, until it stopped at the two large black suitcases still standing in the open luggage compartment. Of course, the coot hadn't been able to get them off. Sighing, she strolled over and lifted them down onto the pavement. The bus tilted visibly, and she slammed the hatch shut, turning around as the driver ground the gear in and took off in an obvious hurry. She scanned the heads of the surrounding assortment of people, searching for a familiar pair of horns and finding nothing.
  Despite appearances, the slender rat woman standing on the worn gray pavement outside the hotel that the surrounding crowd of circus artists were currently checking into was not, in fact, part of the troupe. Oh, she had been traveling with them alright, even done a few rounds with them. But there was no more feeling of 'togetherness' than between businessmen making orders from each other. She was different from them; one could tell just by looking. Whatever some might think, performers are just people, and look like little else but people when off the stage. She, however, did not. Among the shirts, jeans, boots and tops around, the black and green tights she wore under the loose jacket and hotpants, the bells and her three-tipped jester's hat stood out like a neon sign. And there was something about the way she moved as well; a calm, graceful purposefulness that not even the acrobats came close to, flustered and stiff from the ride as they were. It was the kind of self-assured motion and presence that results only from either long, old experience, intense training or hard-pressed focus, and mostly as a result of a degree of all of them. They were off the job, but the act was not a mere job to her. They were performers, but she was a performance all of her own.
  Again, the rat's hand went to her pocket, and she looked down, her hat shifting over her almost maroon hair. The couple of crumpled notes she had palmed from the platypus she could easily have done without, but it was the sport of the thing that counted. He could buy her a drink to pay for his rudeness. And the real fun would be when he noticed the chiming little present she'd left him in return. She smiled at the thought, and adjusted the jingling headdress a bit, her day a little merrier already. Stuffing the cash into her hotpants once more, she gave the parking lot one last survey, then came to a decision. If there were anything more about the troupe she had to bother with before she left for good, she could always come back to the hotel. She was there on different business than them.
  Thus it was, about a quarter of an hour later, that the brown rat stepped into the Last Chance Inn, walked into the bar, and set the suitcases down in front of the counter. Untying the bag around her shoulder, she gave the place a cursory glance, and then fixed her eyes dead on Jezebel.
  'I take it this is the place you come to if you're going into the City,' she said. It was a statement, not a question. 'Do you have rooms available?'

 Giles counted out the woman's money, pulling out numerous currencies and denominations and sorted through the lot until he got what he figured was an appropriate amount. Two smallish coins, a larger iron one about as large as a seashell, and a greasy looking bill in rainbow colors.

While he waited, he turned heavily and clumped in his iron boots towards the slat covered windows, looking out into the streets. Practically deserted. Trash everywhere.
Giles felt  his stomach settle a little lower. For all his bravado and very real anger, there was something odd about this place. He'd seen deserted cities before, but deserted cities were ones too broken burned to be habitable any longer. You didn't just find an empty city. The people he had seen...other than the bar up the way, he'd barely seen a soul since he got here. How did you run a hostel in an empty city, anyway?

Andrace's ears twitched as she listened to the two young mages. Some lion families, she knew, were almost as clannish as Demons, only marrying other lions. Kithara had almost gone down that road once, a long time ago: even now, lions still made up more than half of the sprawling extended family, relatives of married-in relatives, and distantly related business associates living on and around the Mytilene estate. Pride members, too, were still usually lions, or if not, almost always some type of feline.

A movement caught her eye, and she glanced towards the door in time to see the garishly clothed rat enter. Andrace's tailtip flicked once, and her ears dipped, then perked forward for a few moments. She'd never seen the woman before, but she knew the type. Someone like herself: dangerous, and, although she didn't look it, probably heavily armed. The smile and jester's hat were carefully crafted distractions, but the jingling bells couldn't hide the soft clinking of a certain kind of metal in her luggage. The rat was hiding a lot of secrets, and she was definitely someone to keep an eye on.

The lioness abruptly surged to her feet, hitched her backpack over one shoulder, clapped her hands loudly, then rubbed them together energetically. "Right then, people, time we were movin' out!" she said with a sudden burst of enthusiasm, nodding at Kali and Sister Alex. "Th' pair o' y' are right, we better get our tails in gear b'fore it's too late t' do much explorin'. Th' place has a bad enough rep in th' daytime, I don't fancy spendin' a night in there 'less I know a lot more 'bout it. We just got t' wait f'r th' big guy t' finish his shoppin', then we're off — who's comin' in wi' us?" Andrace looked around the room, catching each person's eye, asking the question (including an unspoken "do you dare?") with a raised eyebrow and a curl of her tail.

Snappy appeared to tilt it's head and look curiously at the bookmark, which was a remarkable and possibly alarming effect from something that had no head, neck, or eyes. It was used to people offering it the snacks available at the bar when it remembered to be "cute," but no one had ever offered it a delicacy before. Snappy slid a little closer and took a cautious nibble at the bookmark's end.

"I'll be with you in just a moment, Ms. Kithara." Seeing that the younger orangutan was back behind the bar waiting on the hedgehog Sister Alex approached to pay for a room for when she returned.  As she stepped up to the bar she noticed a familiar shape on the bar. Snappy had recently learned how to teleport itself short distances and she'd been finding it everywhere. "I'm sorry sir, is my book bothering you?"

Kyirri felt a small tug in the back of his head, a sharp pain went through. The feeling passed momentarily. After taking a moment to shake it off, he looked up at Andrace. I suppose it's just an excuse to go with them...

He nodded as he softly said, in his usual monotone, "As long as you deem my debt unfulfilled, I shall accompany you." He turned a nod towards Kali and Mykst as well. After saying that, he resumed scanning the room with a blank stare, ready to silently come with them when they deemed to.

It might be for the best after all,.. I could certainly use their power and prowess.., I just hope this doesn't end like it always does...

Witt glanced over at the demon girl, one eyebrow raised, then returned his eyes to the nun. A momentary flash of the eyelids down to where the book was nibbling at the mark, and then back up. He held out one paw, the fingers outstretched, before reaching for his drink. He knocked back a healthy, or, if you prefer, unhealthy slug, then put it down again, not looking at her.

"I've still got all my damned fingers. I'd say that makes it 'not yet'."

Slurp.

"Early days, though."

Another slurp.

"One can fucking hope."

Andrace wasn't looking at the kangaroo rat, and didn't see his slight flinch. She'd just settled both straps of her backpack over her shoulders, wriggling to make sure she could still reach and draw her sword easily, when she heard Kyirri's quiet comment. Her nearside ear flicked towards him, and a concerned expression on her face was quickly hidden. She turned towards him, crouched to bring her face down to his level, and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, Kyirri," she said, "Y' don't owe none o' us anythin' — I want y' out there wi' us b'cause y' want t' be, an' b'cause we'll do better an' be safer keepin' t'gether as a group. B'sides —" she grinned wryly "— chances are we'll all be busy 'nough soon, keepin' each others' tails out o' th' blender. Okay? Now, get ready, we'll be movin' out in a minute." She gave the roo-rat a reassuring if toothy grin and a pat on the shoulder, not quite hard enough to knock him off balance, and stood back up, looking around to see if the others were nearly ready to go.

The lioness was worried, though, and did her best to keep it from showing on her face and tail. What th' frig's made th' little guy act so spooked? she thought. Y'd think he wasn't worryin' 'bout comin' out o' here in one piece... or at all. Better keep an eye on 'im. She hoped that wasn't the case: it was bad enough to have to force someone away because of a bad or dangerous attitude. It was much more upsetting to everyone if one of the party skipped gaily down a Dragon's throat, body smeared with hot sauce and pockets full of secret herbs and spices.

Mao turned slightly towards the feline following him, to show that he was listening.  He wasn't sure why really, but he  did it none the less.  The fellow had been making noise the whole time, but there was little to be done about it.  It was his choice to make the noise after all.  Mao simply hoped that the things here, whatever those things skittering about just out of sight of his senses, weren't triggered by or attracted to sound.

Dismissing the thought, he smiled a quick little smile at the fellow as he asked him about their method of approach to the church.

"I intend to scale it." he said in as low of a voice as he could manage.

Best to keep what communication he had to have short and to the point.  With that, Mao began to look about for safe spots he could either jump to or scale to begin his ascent up the church.  To some, he knew, this might seem a bit risky, but compared to being trapped inside a building whiled face with who knows what, he preferred to have some running space available.  Terrain that was favorable, as it were.

Just as Mykst stood to join Kali and leave, a newcomer walked in, a rat dressed like a harlequin jester. She was carrying what looked to be heavy suitcases, but wasn't showing much trouble with them. Even so, his politeness begged him to offer some form of help. Kali noticed, and tried to command Mykst with her eyes: For the love of God, don't do it, I wanna leeeeeeeave! But Mykst gave her an apologetic face, and spoke up anyway.

"Do you need help with those, ma'am?" he said to the rat-woman. Kali sighed and looked at the others with an "if I could change this about him, I would" face and a head-shake.

The rat blinked, stopped with her mouth slightly open, then composed herself and turned her head around once more. Fingers rolling and flexing slowly in an idle, tentative fashion, she removed her glasses and hooked them in the neck of her tight top. She fixed her chartreuse stare on Mykst for a moment, then noticed Kali by the movement of her head. She took a fraction of a second to consider the events, and then snapped her face into a warm, amused smile directed at the cat before her. Not saying a word, she gestured toward the suitcases encouragingly, still smiling as beatifically.

"It could be any Goddamn thing. Fairy nonsense, Council conspiracy, some leeching horror planted by a madman, I don't know." Payden shot a particularly harsh glare at Traxen's van. "Nothing's too uneblievable. You realize that the first time you see something with wings that turn into prop-shredders." Though the thought of malformed beasts reminded him: he needed a readied weapon before marching off into the great unknown. Shrugging off his pack to one shoulder, he opened up the top flap and retrieved a metal case and straw matting. "...you got a workbench or something in there? I need some flat space to put my .44 together."

   Traxen didn't respond to Payden's comments about what the problem with the "City" could be, but when Payden started talking about his handgun, he could tell, even from outside of the van, that Traxen's interest perked up considerably. Especially since the van inched forward again.
   "...As a matter of fact, I do have a workbench in here, and while there isn't really much room for anyone but me, I can do you one better; I can put it together for you, and improve it while I do so. I'm sure I can cobble together a few enhancements on the way to the City. Trust me, I'm very good with this kind of thing, you name it, I'll make it. And heck, if you need anything bigger, I'm sure I can easily modify one of my machine guns to be usable by a person... at the very least, I can put it together for you, and start on manufacturing some custom ammo, whatever you want. Just come around to the back of 'Cawv here and gimme your stuff."

Jinx rolled his eyes at Mao.

"You're an iidot...you do ow that? You fall and you're freak of Nature's Lunch."

Still, he was scanning the Church. Given the nature of this city, the Church's age was unknowable, but it's condition was likely poor. For all he knew a butterfly could land on this thing and topple it like a house of cards.

Still, the building's size could house any number of monstrosity. Hell, it could be a damned nest of sorts.


"Know what? I'm an idiot too. Tell me when you find the path of least resistance."Jinx muttered. Climbing this suckered would be easier in his cat form...then again, could he really trust this guy?

Snappy somehow managed to look guilty at getting caught wandering. It teleported itself back to Sister Alex's pocket, but not before taking one more big bite of the bookmark.

Sister Alex felt the familiar weight of the animate book returning to her pocket as she tried once again to get the eye of one of the innkeepers. As she waited she watched the hedgehog down his drink. She wondered if he was an adventurer psyching himself up to enter the city alone. At the rate he was drinking she wasn't sure whether to be worried for him or the first city occupant he came across. There was a simple way to find out if he was an adventurer. "If you're looking for a group to go into the city with, our group is about to leave. You're can join us if you're looking for a group."

Mao waited until he could find a safe and stable perch and turned to look directly at the fellow behind him, a smile still on his face.

"You need not follow, it's your choice. Pray be careful though, as we do not yet know what has or still is happening here."

Mao, concluding that this was all that need be said, turned back to the task at hand, being careful to land and grasp at spots that would be load bearing for the building.  If he was going to have a part fall out beneath him, he figured he might as well take the whole building with him, or at least a large part.  He smirked a bit at the thought, but quickly let the feeling of amusement pass.  Without turning his head, Mao quickly swept his inner sight behind him and noted the presence of the feline, which still seemed present.  The appearance of the fellows aura was different, but Mao couldn't put his finger on it.  He had seen differences like this before, but he'd never really focused on what they meant.  Given how many strange auras he had seen since arriving in this town, maybe he should start paying attention to them.  One of the most unexpected threats to any adventuring party was often the party itself or others of the same ilk.

Kyirri turned his attention back towards Andrace. I certainly hope her morality doesn't land us into trouble... it probably means she can be trusted though. He paused, before responding.

"Do I not owe you? You had no obligation or reason to aid me, and you did anyways. I could have been left to the mercy of my injury, or to a hospital which would have most likely thrown me on the streets after finding out I had no means of payment. It would only be fair if I were to repay you in some manner." Fair! Nothing that happens to me is *fair*, not to anyone.
"Besides, even if your conscience will not allow you to collect, I still feel I can trust you." Even if I don't exactly trust all in your company... After a pause, he concluded. "I'm ready." He returned to scanning about the room.

Andrace had just noticed what was going on between Mykst and the rat, and turned her head in time to spot the expression on Kali's face. Trying hard not to giggle or put a swish in her tail-tip, the look she directed back at the younger lioness said, I know, but what can y' do? Can't take 'em back t' th' shop used, can't sell 'em f'r scrap, can't maul 'em... too much.

Something she'd noticed that Mykst might not have, was exactly how the rat put her cases down on the floor. They were heavy. Very heavy. Not too surprising, considering what she suspected might be in the suitcases. Were they too heavy for the grey cat to lift without doing himself a mischief? The rat had to be a lot stronger than she looked. This might be amusing, although she or Kali might have to step in before the kid gave himself a hernia or something.

The lioness nodded in acknowledgement to Kyirri and flirted her tail in a "please yourself" gesture. She met all sorts in the adventuring business, whether as employers or the subjects of contracts, allies or rivals or enemies, and she'd realised long ago that not all of them thought about things in the same way she did. If the kangaroo rat had what she considered an unusually strong sense of obligation to her for her help in healing him, she wasn't about to kick his tail for it.

As she turned away to check on the others, a hint of a smile quirked at the side of her muzzle and twitched her whiskers. Wouldn't it be funny if Kyirri — and maybe Raek as well — were having as much trouble figuring her out (and getting it right) as she was having with them...?

Across town, a platypus winced and dug something out of his pocket. A bell. He'd been finding little bits like this between the cushions of his bus all day, and now one of them had actually CUT him. Through the pocket of his jeans! The old man grumbled and chucked it aside. He hated the goddamn circus.

--

The carvings on the church provided numerous footholds for an individual of Mao's abilities. Jinx would probably have some trouble with it, but he was an assassin. He could probably pull it off. Sure. Yeah.
The door hung slightly ajar, thus far ignored by both adventurers. A scratching noise came from somewhere nearby, to Mao seemingly toward one of the back rooms of the church. He was already making a good deal of time on his way up, coming up on the small unadorned window of the tower above.
Somewhere in his own head Jinx felt Max's breath, hot on the back of his neck. Three soft puffs. A laugh.

--

The demon girl looked back to her drink, thoughtfully, and started fiddling with one of the napkins with her other hand. Folding it, unfolding it, twisting it into little shapes...
Jezebel nodded to both Sister Alex and the rat woman, raising an eyebrow at the latter's clothes as she got out the Inn's registry book. "You know there wont be much of an audience in there for an entertainer, right darlin'?" Only concern tinged her voice; she'd seen a few 'themed' adventurers go into the city, superhero types focused on their reputation, and they usually ended up as some brightly colored scraps of cloth floating out of the sewers.

--

Moze blinked, and then laughed, "Sure, some of the silver coins. A troll with a bag of treasure and silver coins, hehaha! Sorry, sorry, old nursery rhyme my Nana used to tell me. Let me get a look at those coins." Moze liked Raek. The mythos reminded him of a dragon he'd known, way back when. He'd waltzed into the brute's lair in the dead of night, bold as brass, axe in one hand and a jug of rum in the other... The dragon asked for a swig before the fight, a swig turned into a few swallows, eventually they were getting into the dragon's wine cellar... Damn classy woman. What happened to her anyway? "Anyway, will there be anything else?"

--

One tentacle tore a gash along the reptile's arm. It dodged with a quick jump backwards, avoiding the lethal points of the tentacles reaching down from above. The creature moved FAST, dodging Ed's bolt and most of his tendrils. A last swipe with another tentacle managed to scrape the iguanabeast's calf though, causing it to stagger as it fell back. Still didn't look too worried though...
Something in the toll booths moved. There was a brief impression of something large before things resembling a Great Dane and a boar crashed through the tiny toll booth doors on either side, with the crashing sounds of other doors slamming open.
Ephrael cursed under her breath and drew her bow immediately, eyes flicking from one target to the other. In addition to the two that had popped out right next to Ed, more of them were coming out of hiding. It had been a trap. Only hearing the grinding sound of the manhole cover behind her at the last second, the tasmanian devil dodged just in time to avoid the tail of the alligator-ish thing that had dragged itself out of the sewers, a deep croak echoing from the back of its cavernous maw...

--

The hostel owner came back with a bottle of something pale brown. "Here we go, swill the local brewery churns out. Vile stuff, but it'll get you where you're going..." She looked over the assembled currency with a raised eyebrow and started looking it over. "Huh, that bill's from... Volken. And I don't recognize this coin. Been doing some traveling?"

Pity the lupine Mythos was more interested in sealing the bargain with Moze, as it were; he might know he needed to do this somewhat quickly, but he didn't know they were already starting to leave without him. Just as well, actually. Raek still had to sort out what all happened earlier, and certainly didn't need more distractions- be they a newcomer, a decidedly interesting discussion, or that demon sheep doing something more than being a grouch.

Besides, now he was somewhat confused again. A bag of treasure...? His furless ear flicked back as a decidedly befuddled look came to his eyes. Wait...he means the other stuff, I think. That actually made a lot of sense when he considered it for a few seconds, so the wolfish troll decided to go with it.

As to the offered coinage...it didn't really seem to have changed from before, honestly.

Indeed, the same scuffed coins-along with those ones that seemed to have either severe tarnish or verdigris (Or was it mold? Raek really, and truly, needed to clean his pockets more often in any case!) made up the norm of his earnings. Still, a few coins seemed more or less in good condition, and of those some were strangely marked-suggesting the aberration of a canid had traveled much, seen places... not that one needed to go into that at the moment. Stories like that could be coaxed out of him later.

Either way, he certainly didn't know what the simian chap was getting at, to be truthful...well, wait. A nursery rhyme? He'd certainly not heard anything about that, but still. "A joke?" His muzzled crinkled a little as the puzzled look returned briefly...only to be replaced by the more benign, somewhat friendly look he tried to use around others while deftly picking out five or six of the more recognizable coins to go with the rest of the jewelry. "I...don't think I get the joke, but no...." He frowned slightly as he stuffed the remaining money back into its respective pocket and offered the payment with the other, "I don't think I need more." He smiled a little, those wicked-looking teeth showing that could probably shear right through light chainmail like it was cloth...or a drone, as it were. "And I'm pretty sure I can find something to eat after we head out."

Don't get one wrong, but that sounded a touch foreboding to anything he might encounter...provided he could defeat it first.

"I'm also sure they'd like me to hurry up anyway," He grunted, panning his head slightly to look in the general direction of everyone else-not that he could see them from the stairs. Besides, he still needed to figure out that one feline that'd hired him. Interesting girl, her. She hadn't seemed scared of him; but then experienced adventurers tended to be good at hiding their feelings from what he'd noticed. Hopefully plenty of time to puzzle her out later.

"Anyway, I think this should do it," the canine mythos said a touch gruffly as he reached for the sack with one hand, the remaining payment in the other.

Climbing his way up steadily, Mao noted the unadorned window and did his best to stay out of it's lines of sight.  Without being close to it, there was no way to tell what was on the other side, and he still wasn't interested in finding out just what was going on here in an up close and personal fashion.  Instead he did his best to look for decent places to observe from, even if it meant just hanging there.  As these thoughts passed through his mind he was distracted by a scratching sound he had not heard before he started his ascent.  The source of the sound itself eluded his sight, but he easily got a feel for where it was coming from.

Mao settled on the nearest load bearing joint he could find, a corner specifically so he could sit and focus on the sound and maybe even try and catch a glimpse of whomever...or whatever was making the sound.

The feline's neck fur standing on end, Jinx grabbed his gun and spun around, pointing the barrel of his gun at...

...Nothing. His lips forming a silent but frustrated 'motherfucker', Jinx grabbed onto the wall and holstered his weapon, leaving his luggage on the gourd. he doubted anything in this city was smart enough to loot it, but if it did, well Jinx would be still be keeping a close eye on it,and a bullet between the eyes would fix that.

Rapier and revolver at his side Jinx begun to climb. At a slower pace then Mao, but hey was also being cautious. Paranoia had saved his life before.

While climbing though, another rogue mania managed to make itself known. For a brief second,  while looking to his side for a better foothold, Jinx caught a glimpse of something that made nearly reel back in horror. Dangle from something was the body of his mother, a thick, brown roped wrapped around her neck in a thick noose, her long, combed, shiny black hair and smooth fur, he blue blouse and shorts...

Her eyes...those once shimmering emerald eyes now pale, staring right Jinx, a swollen purple tongue dangling out of her mouth.

Then,to put the final nail in the coffin, she smiled at her own son. he blinked, and she vanished.

Jinxturned away, coughing, doing his best to hold onto the wall while keeping himself from vomiting in pure shock and horror.

While attempting to focus on the source of the scratching sound, Mao couldn't help but notice the erratic behavior of the fellow who had tagged along with him.  Hallucinations maybe?  Perhaps he was falling victim to this place.  Maybe the source of the troubles here came in the form of illusions and other such things.  He had seen and experienced the horror of hallucinations before and knew how potent it could be to fool the mind in such a way.  He would have to keep an eye on this, and try to make note of anything else that seemed unreal or out of place to even him self.  For all he knew, if it was hallucinations that struck, he could already be under their sway.

The trick to surviving hallucinations, Mao knew, was to trust his instincts and keep his cool.  His sight granted him a useful tool against hallucinations, but nothing is infallible.  For now, he would proceed on as he was but he must be sure to take care to watch for signs that he was not right, or that his new found follower wouldn't be the source of his own downfall.

He shifted his sight to the feline and focused on it, studying him closely in hopes of better understanding him.

As the realization donned on him that the entire thing was a trap, Ed sent a section of 5 tentacles across the paths of boar and great dane beasts.  The tentacles were setup to prevent any dodging in their wide arc, making a side by side sliced with the lowest at ankle level, and the highest at about eye level on the beasts with the others evenly spaced in between.

The low, throaty croak took some of Ed's focus away from these other beasts as he turned his hand, still giving off the sparkling black mist, towards the Gator-beast.  He fired the other bolt of magic straight at the gator's belly. while shaping his fingers into long and vicious looking claws, he adjusted his senses to a shorter range and prepared for the other beasts.  He started backing up.  He shouted towards Eph, " Shit, they were waiting for us... this doesn't look good... Think we can stand our ground, or you wanna fall back to the burbs now?"

He sent out a few extra tentacles towards the Gator, just to be sure, and sent the rest towards the onrushing horde, doing his best to try and cripple or kill them with the fast, whip like slashes.

Mykst, sadly, did not know just how heavy the suitcases were, only that they were heavy and offering to help carry them was polite. He reached down with one hand and gave an experimental tug at the suitcase handle. Finding it was too heavy for him to pick up with one hand, he tried both. Even with two hands, the housecat could only get it an inch off the ground. Any more than that and he knew he'd snap a tendon. He did his best not to show it, but Kali could see him gritting his teeth with effort and saw his thin muscles jumping beneath his fur.

Somehow, he managed to keep from dropping it, and took a deep breath. He turned to the rat-woman. "I have to ask (breath)...what exactly do you expect (breath) to be facing out there (breath)?" Kali walked over to the two.

"Okay, I'm gonna have to help before you break a blood vessel," she said with a grin.

Mykst nearly turned red, but shook it off. "I can do this myself."

"Sure you can, sweetheart, I just want to make sure you don't die trying," she smiled. Then she turned to the woman dressed like a jester. "Hi. I'm Kali and this is Mykst."

The rat's amused smile only broadened as she watched Mykst strain and grunt, tendons standing out on his slim neck like tightened ropes under heavy canvas. As he dropped the case once more with a both audible and palpable thud, she patted his shoulder for some reason, a half-giggling sound quenched a moment too late somewhere in her throat. She quirked her head once more, as seemed to be her tendency, when she heard Jezebel speak up behind her. Looking over her shoulder, she gave the worried lady a saccharine smile.
   'No worries,' she said, briskly and so soberly as to be on the border of manic. 'It's not for anyone else's entertainment. It's for my own.'
   Then Kali stepped up. The rat's eyes snapped to sharp attention of the lioness instantly, a flicker of apprehension blowing over in a microsecond. She waggled one hand's fingers, appearing to consider something for a moment, and then made a strange little half-bow, jingling merrily as she smoothly palmed her hat over her heart in the same motion to reveal a scalp full of spiky short hair that was so maroon that it might have been colored with blood.
   'Charmed. I'm Jess,' she said, once again in the same clipped, laconic manner, which just seemed to be her way of speaking. The words sounded both angular and curved sharp, much like the incisors that gleamed in the very middle of her smile. 'It's alright about your pet. I didn't have the heart to stop him,' she continued, and gave Mykst both that smile from before and a gaze that made his clothes seem awfully tight and warm.

Sister Alex handed her coins across the counter to Jezebel and signed the proffered register. Her room for the night secured she turned back to her newly made group to find the young feline playing some sort of weight lifting game with a clown that entered the building while the nun was tracking down her errant book. She hoped the boy wouldn't exhaust himself before they even began. She crossed the room and stood by the door hintingly.

Rolling backwards away from the gator-thing, Ephrael put enough distance between her and it to draw one of her special arrows. Putting it to the string she drew the bow and fired. The cherry red glow lit up the Gator's mouth as it went towards it's gullet.

"Is the poor widdle cubi afraid of a few monsters?" She said in a mocking tone as she nocked another arrow.

Ed managed a look over his shoulder, and replied with a smirk, "It's not me i'm worried about.  But a fragile little girl like yourself may get hurt... or worse... If that were to happen, this little foray would all be for naught... Can't have that, now can i?"  He had a bit of a twinkle in his eye and his grin grew a bit toothier... He then focused on the advancing monsters again as he started preparing another spell.

"You must have done some traveling to have heard of Volken." he smiled, picking up the bottle of swill and tying it to his belt. "I've never seen women prettier than they were there, or the sun brighter. God if it's not far though." he looked up, as though counting something above the both of them. "What, across the sea and hundreds of miles across the most dismal mucklands you've ever seen, until you get to the black pine forests and the smell of alcohol hits you."
He grinned with some foreign recollection. "I think I mentioned the women. But that...was a long time ago." he paused, tilting his head at the proprietress. "I'm surprised you heard of it. I shall, then, apologize." he pulled out a silver coin and plopped it on top of the rainbow colored bill. "The currency there inflated to worthlessness a long time ago. The only value that would have is sentimentality. But silver is always silver."

Witt snorted. "Looking for group? Nah. Other than someone to follow, point, and laugh at."

He emptied his glass, and, with his other paw, palmed the half a bookmark off the bar, and slipped it into a pocket as the Sister turned to leave.

To be specific, the pocket that Snappy had appeared in, rather than one of his own. He accompanied it with a muttered comment of "Keep yer grimmy happy, and you'll be better off.", but declined to make any other remarks just yet.

And with that, he turned, and leaned on the bar, watching Alex move across the room; to all appearances merely to prop himself on it, but actually so he could saunter out after the group, once it started moving. He fished in a pocket, and pulled out a knife, and amused himself idly rolling it back and forth across his knuckles, one-handed.

Andrace flicked her tail-tuft under one paw and held it carefully down, hiding at least the outward signs of the annoyance she felt as she watched the rat, and her reaction to Mykst's futile efforts to lift the deceptively heavy suitcase. The lioness didn't mind the odd practical joke (and she and her sisters and brothers had come up with some extremely odd ones), but something about the rat's smile rubbed her fur the wrong way. The smouldering look she directed at the grey cat didn't help one little bit.

"Nice try at ringin' th' kid's bells," she said with a smile that the unobservant could easily mistake for friendly. "I think 'is girlfriend likes 'is arms th' length they are, though. C'mon, you lot, we're movin' out." Before anything else happens, she thought darkly. She turned her gaze on Kali, Mykst and Kyirri in turn, and jerked her head towards where Sister Alex stood by the door.

Finally Andrace stepped to the foot of the staircase and called up. "Oi! Raek! Shift y' tail, we're leavin' now!" She glanced around the room at the others; the barmaid, the injured Demon, the hedgehog propping up the bar; then she turned and strode across the room to wait beside Sister Alex.

Black Magic smiled evenly at Jess as she introduced herself. She got a strange vibe off the woman, but she couldn't help being curious about her. Any suitcase that heavy had to contain guns - lots and lots of them. Of course, Mykst seemed like he might still want to meet up with Payden, which could lead to difficulties if he distrusted this woman; and she didn't like the way Jess eyed Mykst either. But somehow, she felt the rat could be useful. It was just a hunch, but her hunch was what had led them here. What was the harm in following another?

"Well, he can't help being a gentleman. But I have the feeling if you can lift those things yourselves, you'd be pretty damn useful. Wanna join up with us?" Mykst gave her a surprised look, a nervous air still around him from the way Jess had looked at him. He glanced at the others in a "We'll be right there, as soon as she lets on why she's doing this" look. He didn't mind the joke, he was just a little anxious to leave and didn't want to quibble over who was going to be with them any longer.

"I'd like it assembled and nothing else, if you don't mind. I don't have the time to relearn handling it." Payden approached the vehicle's rear, looking for whichever porthole would accept his piecemeal weapon. "No bullets, though. Unless you think I need something sharper than teflon-coated rifle rounds to kill whatever's in there." Which, admittedly, he couldn't begin to guess about. For all he knew, he could come across a living suit of armor walking the streets.

   "Oh, well, if you ever need more ammo, I can do that too..." Traxen's voice sounded slightly disappointed over the speakers. Inside the van, Traxen shifted around, and got two objects on his way to the back of the van.
  Outside the back of the van, Payden waited for a moment before a ratcheting and metallic thunking sound was heard, presumably some sort of custom locking mechanism. One door on the back opened up a little like any other back-of-van doors, and a black-and-white furred Being poked his head out. He seemed rather thin, from what little could be seen of him, and the only particularly notable feature was that he was wearing goggles on his forehead. He reached out and took Payden's things, but instead of pulling back in right away, he handed two things to Payden. "Give the second one to the girl with the animated book when she come out, please." Traxen said, and then he actually pulled in and shut the door.
  The objects Traxen had given to Payden were some kind of modified headsets. They were of a universal model, designed to fit nearly any Being or Creatures head with a little adjustment. However, on one side, they had a microphone attached, and on the other, there was a thick rubber-covered antenna that looked to be from a walkie-talkie or some other radio device.

Kyirri was right next to Andrace when she called over to the others to hurry up, and kept close to her as she went around the room, soundless footsteps following her like a ghost. He didn't particularly mind waiting. His blank expression remained, though he was perplexed by Mykst's attempts to recruit another, as to how he could trust someone he had presumably never seen before. They're way too trusting... He looked up at Andrace again, and tried to say, "Can't we just leave him behind?"

However, he couldn't, as soon as he tried, he felt an invisible force grip his neck, a squeezing sensation that prevented him from talking, and momentarily breathing. Realizing he was in a large, open area, he gently brushed his neck with his right hand, trying to hide the occurrence. After the force let go, he pulled his hand down, and adjusted his gloves.

Damn it, he thought. I guess he doesn't want me saying that, I guess it's bad enough I'm being sent to this place horribly unprepared and with company that's either too trusting or completely untrustworthy... I suppose nothing is ever easy for me, and it always ends badly... After a moment's contemplation, he continued his observations about the place. He kept his eyes focused on Jess and Witt, whom he considered likely to cause problems with those he felt indebted towards.

The rat's expression almost equaled Mykst's in terms of puzzlement, but was over far swifter. She smiled, twitching her whiskers slightly, fingers toying a bit with one of the jingling ends of her hat. She couldn't help but wonder, with a profound sense of incredulous curiosity, whether if the girl in front of her were joking, irregularly bold or just a little bit stupid. She'd already made up her mind though; either of those were fine with her.
   'I have to drop these off first,' she said, and with a turn and a smooth bow forward, gripped the handles of the suitcases and hoisted them both off the ground without much visible effort, holding them up for the lioness and the cat to view. 'No use lugging them around unless you're expecting to have to change into evening dress while we're at things, is there?'
   Letting the cases down and her shoulders slump back, the rat looked around for a moment to see whether if a room key had produced itself. When she saw nothing, she looked back up at Jezebel.
   'Oh, would you mind helping me to my room, please? It'll be easier getting my things in if someone holds the door.'

Gareeku had also heard the sounds of a pen softly scratching on paper coming from one of the hallways. As much as he would have liked to look at one of the other hallways, the wolf though that maybe, whoever this person (at least he assumed it was a person) was, maybe they knew what had happened to the museum. Signalling to Aisha to follow him and staying quiet himself, the lupine warrior hid behind the entrance to one of the other hallways, keeping a watch on the entrance of the hallway which the sounds were coming from.

With his hand gripping his sheathed sword, Gareeku had no idea who, or what, he might face. Sure it sounded merely like someone writing on paper as they walked, but if his experiences had taught him anything, it was that one should be prepared to encounter anything...

Out of the corner of her eye, Andrace had noticed Kyirri walking silently along, right behind her. Hmm, th' little guy's real quiet on 'is feet, she thought. Wonder what else 'e can do? I don't think 'e ever said. Then she realised what their relative heights meant, worked out the geometry, and a broad toothy grin spread across her muzzle for a moment. If 'e's ghostin' along at m' tail just so 'e can stare at m' butt... let's give 'im a taste o' what 'e's lettin' 'imself in for.

As she strode towards the door, the lioness began to roll her hips a little more, sinuous curves running down her spine and putting some more swish in her tail at every step. She turned slightly more than she needed to when she stood beside Sister Alex, so she could glance over her shoulder at the kangaroo rat. If that hadn't got a reaction out of him, she'd try something a bit more direct. Swishing her tail-tuft across his snout — accidentally, of course — two or three times — ought to do it...

Moze grinned and collected the assembled coinage and trinkets. "Thanks much, friend, that'll cover it just fine. Pleasure doin' business wi-"
"Oi! Raek! Shift y' tail, we're leavin' now!"
The orangutan blinked and laughed, "I think your buddies are getting a touch impatient, you better get down there. Hope to see you around again, kid." Without giving the implications of the statement time to settle Moze made his way back around the counter of the adventuring shop (briefly frowning in dismay; he was certain he didn't have to suck in his gut this much to fit through the opening yesterday) and went down the stairs.

--

Jezebel giggled behind her hand a little at Jess and Mykst, disguising it as a cough as she found herself the subject of the rat's attention. "Ah, yes, of course, one second." She finished jotting down a few notes about the Montegu party ("Warning: Large group of adventurers. See if I can get dad to clean the room. Includes one troll. Room service required.") and snapped the book shut neatly, handing a key to Sister Alex. "Now you get back safe, alright?" She smiled in exactly the way sharks don't, a warm gesture of concern and goodwill. Which was surprising given her day, but then, it was an adventurers bar. Fights and people trying to set things on fire was probably not so bad.
"Now then, will that be a room for just one, Ms...?" The girl grabbed a different ring of keys off a hook under the bar and began searching through it, "We've got lodgings for larger parties as well, at discounted rates..."

Meanwhile, the demon quirked an eyebrow as Witt leaned on the bar. She looked... Interested, would be the word, when he got out the blade. Like someone waiting to see a magic trick. However, when he started flipping it across his fingers she just snorted derisively and returned to her drink.

--

"I'd have been happy with it anyway," the wolverine chuckled, scooping the currency off the table. "I used to travel a bit myself, nowadays I just keep this place open and hear stories that people who pass through have to tell. Never got around to getting a memento of Volken, other than a few things to remember. And you're right, the women were pretty..." She smiled fondly, briefly lost in old memories. She reached out to absentmindedly fiddle with one of the coins, the feel of the metal slowly bringing her focus back to the present. "Didn't know that the economy'd tanked though, there's a shame. Things are rough all over." She sighed and held up the coin she hadn't recognized before, the one the size of a seashell, "So where's this one from then? Insignia looks familiar, but damn if I've ever seen a place use something this big. Parking meters must be hell."

--

Eph's arrow struck home before Ed's bolt did, vanishing down the gator-thing's maw. It's oddly furrae eyes had enough time to look deeply concerned before the creature was reduced to bits. More creatures approached from the other boothes, a catlike thing and a giraffe stumping along awkwardly on all fours turning their attention toward the girl. The boar was slow to react to the tentacles surrounding it, grunting and stepping back, not realizing until too late that the amorphous tendrils were sharp. The dog was faster, of both foot and mind. It couldn't move to the side, and going back would leave it too open, the only option was to move FORWARD. The creature lunged, claws bared and aiming for the shoulder from which the tentacles began. Ed's other attacks... Held back the horde slightly, made them cautious in their approach, but they were too spread out and the tentacles too weak at that extension to do more than act as a mild deterrent. The mutant horde approached, yowling and single minded in their purpose...

--

The scratching sound from inside the church came again, louder. Mao could tell it was somewhere at the base of the tower, but to Jinx it felt like something in the very stone under his own paws... There were a few more windows near him, beautiful stained glass showing biblical scenes. Judas' betrayal, Christ carrying the cross, the saints...
Mao was directly beneath the window he had been approaching now. Inside something was snoring. Didn't sound large though...

--

Aisha and Gareeku's footsteps were quiet, but in the relative silence of the museum they echoed. The atmosphere was more like a church than a place of learning, silent and respectful.
Unfortunately, the disturbance was noticed. They heard a gasp from further down the hall and a quick rustling sound. Then the sound of a zipper. Then scrabbling, thumping and cursing. Like someone trying and failing to climb something.
When they reached the room the sound was coming from they finally saw the cause, having finally scrambled up to a nearby broken window; a being, frog by species, with orange and black blotchy skin and a tweed coat. A bag was slung over one shoulder with a few papers sticking out, and his eyes were wide and fearful. The man whimpered once at the sight of their weapons and slung himself out the window, climbing down and legging it down the street.
The room was full of old sculptures, idealized bodytypes in various poses and states of repair. Hercules wearing the skin of the Nemian lion. A sarcophagi covered in a brilliant high relief. Atheletes and politicians of ancient ages...
And a forgotten pencil and piece of paper, with a half-finished sketch of a bust of an old man.

--

Meanwhile, back in Oldhill, a bus crashed.

"I know you'd love to tinker with a shur-fine weapon, but--" Payden paused as Traxen handed over the headsets; devices he'd never seen before, though they were obvious pieces of headgear. "...but I just want it put together, okay? Don't lose any of the bolts, either." He fastened the gizmo and adjusted his cap, fighting the urge to bark some military jargon. At least when I'm in the bowels of a haunted tenement, I won't have died all alone.

At the distant sound of crashing metal and steel, the sheriff stiffened. ...the city? Shit, it sounds like it just happened the next street over. "And hurry up, would you? I'm don't even feel safe outside the city gates."

   "Yeah yeah, I hear ya..." Traxen muttered to himself as Payden's voice still came through the van's external microphones. Replying over the external speakers, he said, "Don't worry, I can assemble the gun as we make for our mutual destination. You'll have it back before we enter the gates." He moved the nearly-complete spiderdrone on the worktable aside, and started to lay out some of the pieces to the gun, when Pamcawv spoke up. "Drones-re-turn-ing." Traxen put down all the gun parts and turned to the wall of monitors, and guided the cameradrones in through the automatic access hatch on the top. At about the same time, he head a weird and distant sound on the external micophones again, and started getting a few faint and strange data readings as Pamcawv attempted to interpret the faint sound and synchonize it with readings on the radar/sonar/seismic sensors and some small snippets of other data from the cameradrones. Traxen was midly interested in whatever this anomaly was, but he didn't want to take time to investigate it himself, what with nearly being ready to enter the "City".
  The drones that just returned needed to be recharged, so he dispatched a new small cameradrone, slaving it to Pamcawv and setting the objective. The drone left through the top of the van, gained some altitude, and then began wafting it's way in the general direction of the source of the anomaly. Its camera and other sensors provided new data to Pamcawv, which continually altered the drone's flight path to bring it closer and closer.
  Traxen then began punching some lines into a keyboard, which activated Payden's headset, causing him to hear a small popping sound. Traxen then started speaking, but instead of his voice being broadcast on the external speakers, it came through the headphones on Payden's headset. "Testing, testing, one two three, do you read me-" Traxen stopped as he realized something, he didn't know the cop's name yet!. Laughing to himself, Traxen continued speaking. "Hey, I forgot introductions! The name's Traxen Ridgrey, what's yours?"

Ed first felt satisfied as meaty chunks rained for a few seconds.  His feeling of satisfaction was further enhanced as the Boar suddenly became tangled and impaled on the blades.  He pressed his advantage there, sinking the pointed blades deeper into the beast while pulling them outward.  He hoped to rip the beast in half.  The natural waver of the tentacles acted as an almost sawing motion, and helped weaken the flesh with which Ed was pulling against.

The dog on the other hand was quicker.  It came a beastly gate and suddenly dived.  The move Ed tried required expert timing otherwise the hound would end up behind him.  He rolled his entire upper body,  using his left shoulder as bait, while rolling it high and back, in the same motion, his right arm, upon which was perched Ed's clawed and misting hand, raised towards the beast's chest.  He tried to explode the thing at the same moment he hoped the claws would make contact.  He shifted the tentacles that were meant for the dog to cover his blind side, and try and deter any additional assault while he dealt with this current opponent.

What?

The aforementioned troll-wolf blinked as his employer called for him "I'll be right there," He grunted in what, one could swear, was a slightly sour tone. Still, now he had to wonder what she meant by shifting his tail. Wagging it, maybe? Eh, whatever. He had enough to figure out in what little free time he might get anyway.

Still, at least said simian was quite pleased with the deal, and that was good enough for him. "Right, I'll see if I can, eh?" He chuckled, the tone somewhat gruff as he hoisted the bag over a shoulder and turned towards the stairs. "Maybe I can find a few more gifts from those not needing them before I get back."

Anywho...it was a mere moment or two before he was down, ears perked alertly as his free hand moved towards his axe-if only to show he was ready...and because, as it were, there was a new being in the room. Yet another rodentine one, but larger, and certainly more capable. "And this one?" His head panned slightly, pale eyes narrowed. "And you, small mouse," he said as he glanced at the 'roo-rat in question. "You say you don't have anything to contribute? Can you read maps?"

Aisha's ears were pricked against the soft, scratching noises in that one mysterious hallway...so much like the other hallways, bathed in quiet and darkness.  She kept behind Gareeku as they ducked into the adjacent hall, carefully as their padded feet could keep them while they watched and waited for whomever was there.

But somehow nothing could be kept quiet in the museum.  The echoes of their sneaking feet could be heard traveling over the ceiling and melding with the pen scratches, which had suddenly stopped.  In its place came the telltale sounds of scrambling, dropping, and the zipping of a bag.

"Ah crap," muttered the panther as she came out from their hiding place and started forward into the chamber with quick steps, hoping to catch whomever was there before they left.  She hadn't drawn her weapon yet; she'd only hoped to cut them off.

But soon it would be seen that they were too late to stop them.  The amphibian, it turned out, was ready to leap from the window, regarding the adventurers with scared eyes.

"Hey, wait a minute...halt!" Aisha growled as he jumped...but the frog had already gone from sight, a bag slung over his shoulder like he was no more than a common thief.  He was too fast, so all she could do was stare out of the window.  She wouldn't use her weapon on a Being simply to stop him.

With a sigh, she shook her head and turned back into the room.  It had a real ancient Greek motif, full of sculptures and carvings of old heroes.  It seemed to also double as a small office or whatever it was being used for, considering the pen and paper that was left behind...plus the sketchy drawing.

She picked up and glanced at it curiously, turning the paper around and looking at both sides, before locking eyes with Gareeku again.  "Looks pretty much like we just stumbled on the home of a scavenger," she said and frustratedly replaced the drawing with a light slap of her palm on a flat sarcophagus.  "Though I'm not sure what to make of this...it's curious."

Kyirri kept alert, keeping a careful eye on those around him, mostly those he considered likely to cause trouble. His face kept a static, calm, yet alert look to it, eyes gazing around with an icy glance.  Constant vigilance... the moment I stop is the moment I'll get hurt... again. Sound of Andrace's tail flowing through the air briefly drew his attention to her, whom he had neglected to keep a close eye upon. His face kept his same expression, as if only his eyes weren't frozen solid. A brief strand of confusion went through his head as he attempted to comprehend what she was trying to do. He then resumed staring around his surroundings, alert for the possibility of other problems. I hope she keeps the erratic behavior to a minimum...

His senses again helped him pick up Raek, he turned his stare to him as soon as he could be heard. He stopped moving around when he was addressed, he didn't even raise an eyebrow to express surprise as Kyirri looked up at Raek. He spoke in his usual monotone

"I can." He first responded, silently hoping that Raek didn't buy something without knowing it was. After a moment's pause, Kyirri inquired "Can you?" He continued to stare at Raek, eyes never breaking contact, yet he still kept alert of his surroundings.

The rat shook her head noncommittally and shrugged a bit, shooting Jezebel another glance over her shoulder.
   'A single room will be fine. Nothing big or fancy; just get me something small and cozy where I can set these down,' she snipped, biting her lower lip for a moment and looking down at the cases in her hands. She sighed. 'I'll pay up front,' she said in a low voice as she set the things down again, a bit bothered with her own unconcerned hastiness, reached into her short-sleeved jacket, and extricated a worn and by the looks of it highly compressed black leather pouch. She poured a couple of gleaming golden coins into her palm and placed them on the counter with simultaneous lacquery clacks.
   'If there's anyone or anything that needs a ride to the hospital, I expect you to help out,' she said plainly, then picked up the cases again and turned her gaze once more to Mykst and Kali. Instantly, she was all smiles once more.
   'Wait just a little bit, kitties. Or, if you would really like to,' she said, with a puzzlingly both egging and patronizing smirk, focusing her eyes on Mykst, 'you could hold the door.'

Judging the Cat-thing to be more of a danger the Tassie Devil Noched and fired two arrows one after the other. Not waiting to see if the arrows hit Ephrael shouldered her bow and drew her Dagger's, and instead of striking out at the two monsters attacking her pirouetted around them and started her deadly dance on the rear of those attacking Ed.

As they waited on Jess's answer, the kids each contemplated what they'd done with others so far. Mykst pondered how exactly he'd meet up with Payden, or whether he even would. He didn't like letting anyone down, but the others seemed set and he didn't want to argue with any of them either. Of course, with him, it always seemed more like an argument on the other person's side. He didn't mean for it to happen that way, it just always did.

As for Kali, she was pondering why she'd just asked Jess what she had. She could feel eyes on her, impatient and confused ones more than anything. She herself didn't really understand why she'd done it, she just knew that someone with that many guns would be useful. And besides, Mykst had looked kind of cute when he'd tried to help her, even if Jess had eyed him strangely earlier.

When the rat made her next offer, Mykst blushed a bit, and paused before answering. But before he could reply, Kali spoke up. "I'll do it. I think he's strained his arms enough for one day." Mykst blinked owlishly at her, but didn't protest.

"Um...I'll go wait with the others, then," he said hesitantly, moving to stand with the group by the door.

The steps creaked ominously as the girls ascended the stairs to the rooms, and it was hard for Kali not to get the feeling that any second they were going to collapse in front of her, where the rat graciously climbed upward with a sway in her steps and apparent ease, not bothered by the way the wood trembled under her.
   'So did you find him as a stray and nurse him back to health?' the rat asked suddenly, as they stepped over the threshold of the stairs and into the short corridor laying on top of the bar. She smiled cheekily back at the lioness. 'Or do you like the ones who just want to be held?' She stopped outside the door to the room, backing up and giving Kali space to open it.

The monstrous canid kept his gaze on Kyirri thoughtfully. Well, it seemed thoughtful anyway; for all one knew he might not even be thinking of anything at the moment.

"Good," he grunted finally, an ear twitching back slightly as he kept his attention on the small chap. "I've just gotten a map-book of the city you can use." Pity he couldn't recall the name of the Mythos that had written it just then, but still. "Might be heavy, but the Innkeep says it's the best there is for that city."

Hmm? Raek blinked at the sudden inquiry into his partial education, doing that perfect impression of 'What?' that just went so well with his brutish face. Of course I can read! Well...okay, maybe not so well, and certainly not the big words. Deciding to be careful with what he said-just in case Kyirri was trying to poke fun at him- he answered a touch hesitantly.

"I can read, but maps give me a headache." The hand over the axe twitched slightly, more like an action one doesn't even think about, really, as he continued in that gruff voice of his. "I'd rather use my nose, eyes, or ears to find something than look at a piece of paper, or work at keeping my employer alive...and any of their companions that I'm able."

Raek shrugged, the knotted muscle in his shoulders bulging in strange, if slight, ways from the action. "I figure you and the one with that living book can work together on it, if you want." The lupine troll snorted, suddenly seeming amused. " 'Sides, not my job to think a lot."

Andrace gave a very slight approving nod as she listened to Raek and Kyirri. She'd hired the wolf-troll almost on a whim, she didn't usually pick up any minions for a straightforward adventure like this. And he seemed to have some brains in that thick furry skull: she hadn't thought of maps. The city had been picked over by treasure hunters for a long time, they couldn't all have come out again (when they did) insane, or in body bags.

She raised an eyebrow and flicked her tailtip when she saw Kali helping the rat with her luggage. She'd thought the younger lioness was impatient to get started. Andrace gave a quiet sigh and leaned back against the doorframe, arms crossed over her chest, waiting at least somewhat patiently. A faint tick-tick-tick noise turned out to be her right-paw claws, drumming lightly on the floor.

Andrace glanced at Mykst as he approached, and enjoyed the view for a moment before sternly telling herself the grey cat was already claimed. By the time she was Kali's age, she'd already lost a couple of prospective boyfriends to The Older Woman: now that she was The Older Woman... hmm. She already knew Kali's family followed many of the old leonine traditions. All of them? It might be just wishful thinking, but — no, even if she picked the right moment to ask, and asked in the right way, the girl wouldn't agree to share...

..would she?

The big hog roared passionately down the empty highway, its engine pulsing and throbbing like an angry heart beneath its red metal cover. Its wheels were a blur as they kicked up dust behind the heavy bike, driven to mad heights of fury by the octane-fueled violence that boiled within the chrome-covered machine that drove them. Gloved hands calmly grasped the handlebars, neither afraid or bothered by the fact that the beast could fly out of control catastrophically at any moment. The hot haze and glistening sands beside the burning pavement reflected in flashes and glimpses in the side-mirrors, the occasional shrub, cactus, or animal life caught in its flickering gaze. The white wings on the front panel proudly proclaimed the animalistic vehicle's maker, not unlike the eagle it derived itself from. The matte-leather seat cushion and saddlebags were all that gave any indication of civilization and containment to the brute, and even that seemed very little when the wind and terrain were whipping by it at high speed.

The large female wolf eased back into the cushion, enjoying the extended ride quite thoroughly. A criss-crossing of scars dotted her grey-furred face behind the goggles that sat atop her muzzle, their opaque darkness reflecting the harsh desert sun away from her eyes so that she could see. She wore no helmet of any kind, preferring the feeling of the hot summer breezes blowing at her face and through her fur to the ideas of comfort and safety. Compared to the dangers she put herself through every day, the possibility of dying in a motorcycle crash was not high on her mind. Thick arms pushed out from the holes in her leather vest, their surface carved with iron slabs of muscle. Thick elbow-pads covered their respected areas, the cloth attached to them running up her forearm and to her gloves, leaving only half of her arms xposed to the open air. Leather shorts ended halfway down her thighs, and thick combat boots hid her feet and shins all of the way up a matching pair of kneepads.

This was not, of course, her professional attire. Although she certainly enjoyed wearing them, and they definitely fit her current situation, the battle dress uniform that was folded neatly in one of the saddlebags would much better serve her purposes, at least functionally. She pondered on the manila envelope she had picked up at one of the local bars that mercenaries and hired guns like herself tended to gather at. It was an easy enough job on the surface. Find a stolen jewel. Her only problem was who had it.

The wheels turned slightly as she angled off of the road towards her appropriate destination, the desolate City looming up on the horizon.

The scratching sound from inside the church came again, louder. Mao could tell it was somewhere at the base of the tower, but to Jinx it felt like something in the very stone under his own paws... There were a few more windows near him, beautiful stained glass showing biblical scenes. Judas' betrayal, Christ carrying the cross, the saints...
Mao was directly beneath the window he had been approaching now. Inside something was snoring. Didn't sound large though...


Mao considered both sounds for a moment.  He hadn't hoped to be so close to anything capable of movement within the city thus far, but it seemed that it wouldn't be the case.  The scratching sound seemed to be moving, and it was moving somewhat nearer and somewhat rapidly as far as he could tell.  Then there was the more innocuous sound of the snoring.  A trap maybe?  Or maybe someone in danger from that ever approaching scratching?

Mao didn't like either possibility, but the latter was something he couldn't allow if he had the power to prevent it.  He maneuvered himself as best he could and focused his sight on the window so as to get a view of the room.

Giles looked at the woman first, one eye narrowed, and then at the coin, and scratched his head. "Ah. That one. Not so many good memories. From the temple of the holy city of Antioch, straight from the hand of Presbyter Solovan."
He seemed to be leaving something unsaid. Regardless, he gave her a small nod, and made for the door.

"That one I might not spend for awhile." he said, holding the door open. "People who would recognize it will be in town soon. It might make them ask questions."
He stared at the wolverine. "You seem pretty smart. I'm sure I don't have to tell you, you didn't see me."

With that, he closed the door, and began making his way down the street. Directions, it seemed, were superfluous. Just walk and you'd get lost. So, he began to walk towards the towering buildings, and look for signs of encroaching evil.
It seemed a good place to start.

Kyirri maintained his icy stare upon Raek, still observing his every action. He was somewhat uneasy about Raek's bulging shoulder muscles, and his twitching axe-hand. Probably means an itchy-trigger finger, low tolerance of irritation, also appears to have an unusual sense of humor, if that snorting sound is anything to go by. I'll have to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't make any sudden moves. I'd rather not make assumptions, but I don't want to take unnecessary risks either. Kyirri kept his distrust to himself, after a moment, he replied.

"I hope that you checked to see that whatever you purchased is accurate and usable before you received it." With that, he turned away, and put himself against a wall near the entrance. He continued to observe the place as he waited for his companions to assemble.

Perhaps the small fellow was a distinguished survivor...or perhaps was just the wary type, one could think, as the lupine Mythos allowed the observations. Still, it wasn't so bad; Raek was used to being stared at. Besides, one could reason, being wary of a brute that, even now, was starting to feel hungry again was a good thing. While being trustworthy (Now that he was being paid) it wouldn't hurt to be careful...and certainly avoid any mortal injuries.

They could also be thankful of the values he'd learned about not following his base nature-for the most part, anyway. Oh well, back to reality.

The troll-wolf met the 'roo-rat's gaze stolidly as the little chap spoke...and then walked away. Probably trying to hide fear, or something, Raek thought to himself as he decided on a course of action. While he didn't know what Kyirri meant by 'accurate and usable', he could have the rodentine being check. And if the one with that mobile book wanted to take a look, he figured she would too.

"I wouldn't know about that, but if the Innkeep can put stock on it, I would," he grunted as Kyirri settled in near the door, "But how about you check it?" Reasonable enough question, really, one could say. And even if it was a bit out of date, it wouldn't hurt to have around.

So, it was a simple matter of the brutish canid stepped over-and, as it were, seemed to loom imposingly over the 'roo-rat in question. Not intentionally, of course, it was just hard not to when you looked like him!

"Here." He said gruffly as he reached into the bag he'd purchased and removed the large book in question. In his hand, it looked more like a normal hardcover, to be honest. But that was just in comparison. Then one might realize that not only, should he put it down, that the item in question was considerably bigger than the initial impression gave, but probably a bit heavier as well (Maybe within the six or eight-pound range). Whomever had created the book certainly put a lot of effort into it, no matter how old it might be. "If you can carry it, it's yours to use." His lightly fuzzed tail flicked back and forth lazily as he held it towards-and a touch downward- Kyirri.

It was rare that any location, created or otherwise, would feel with Kaela such a strange sensation of ominous foreboding and potential disaster as this place did. It was not the kind of locale that would have normally set her on edge as it might have with other places. Through every soot and dirt stained window of the City Kaela felt there was a pair of eyes staring out at her, lips licking hungrily in anticipation of a meal, and the thoughts, however fabricated or real, had been enough to set her heart racing the moment she had crossed the black wrought-iron gates that proclaimed the unnamed City's borders. It had been as if she had been willingly passing through the jaws of a predator. Perhaps even now there was no turning back, and she was trapped. The numberless rumors that abounded regarding The City's vast reputation for figuratively (or more frighteningly, literally) devouring its inhabitants and visitors had not skipped her mind. It was also why she had requested far above her normal fee when she had accepted the job. Hazard pay was one thing. Potential suicide was another.

Once inside she had slammed through the gears of her bike until she had reached an almost breakneck pace, racing through the City streets at a tempo that would've certainly earned her a few points on her record in any populated city. As she gazed around the City, dodging the occassional abandoned car, her stomach lurched, suddenly wishing to be in a significantly friendlier place. Had the great mountainous buildings here been inhabitated, it would have been a wretched and depressing place to live, their every aspect neglected and poor. A thick residue of filth and pollution seemed to coat every surface, stopping for the many pock marks and cracks that thrust their way through the structures. Even the stone itself seemed to be rotting and diseased in a way that was impossible over a few decades of abandonment, and the air was stagnant, almost yellow with the taint of evil that the sun overhead could not dissipate. An overwhelmingly wet humidity washed over the old wolf's fur, filling her nostrils with what smelled like a wet animal or a fresh corpse. Most eerie was the fact that the only sound that reached Kaela's ears was the growling of her bike and nothing more. None of it seemed possible over a few short decades without the aid of a great catastrophe or magical assistance. Perhaps it had been both.

She had been almost ready to give up any hope of retrieving the jewel and head home to return the money, her bike now approaching the outskirts of the City,  when a faint inhuman chorus reached her ears from across the many post-war era homes. Kaela immediately killed the old hog's engine, the engine's dying note fading behind her as she pulled to a stop alongside the neighborhood road to confirm what might have been a result of paranoia. Her boots crunched on some debris that had floated along in the wind as she stepped off of her bike, her aural senses picking up the same sounds that had caused her to stop in the first place. With an impending sensation of alarm Kaela deftly unlaced her boots, removing them quickly, and set to dressing herself. Perhaps it wasn't necessary, but it would protect her a great deal more than her current clothing. After a short time the wolf managed to redress herself, putting her clothes on over her leather outfit, and she threw on a black flak jacket over the dull gray and black camouflage that now covered her body, elbow pads and knee pads in their appropriate places.

Kaela grabbed the short-barrelled "trench gun" that had been thrust into a side-holster on her back, checking to ensure that it was loaded, and set across the street quickly, her boots thudding loudly against the concrete in the unrelenting silence. The screaming grew louder as she passed from house to house, glancing both ways down each street as she passed from block to block before finally stopping at one of the houses near where she guessed was the epicenter of the incessant and piercing noise. The stick grenades looped against her vest bounced absently, her head slowly peeking around the corner to get a better look. The old soldier did not like what she saw. The changed mutant horde that assailed the two figures near the large bridge across from her stunned her briefly with their deformities and slavering animosity. Was this one of the effects of living in the City? Kaela cut off further thought and sprung into action, hoping to assist the two with whatever she could. Her claws worked quickly and flawlessly as she tugged one of the so called potato mashers from her chest, unscrewing the cap and tugging the cord, counting absently in her mind.

5....4....3.... Her arm levered back and hurled the explosive into the seething mass of monsters from Kaela's hiding place.

Black Magic followed Jess up the stairs not without a degree of apprehension that she couldn't explain. She'd felt nervous around rats before, but she got the feeling this was more than a simple case of the heebie-jeebies. The worry that the stairs would break was also a new feeling, amd her powerful leonine muscles tensed at it.

When Jess brought up her query, the girl steeled herself again. Making her feel awkward was one thing, but she wasn't going to let anyone assume that Mykst was the only thing he looked to be. "The answer might surprise you," she said, smirking at the rodent. "He fell for me back when I was working for this really awful guy. Not a class act like you either, this guy was a real jerk. Anyway, during this big fight that guy was having with some blue-haired chick, he accidentally knocked a chunk of wall at me. Mykst ran up, cast a spell to block it, and saved my life."

Kali walked up to the door and opened it. "Don't assume too much about him." Her smirk remained a smirk, but it was looking a little pointy.

To so many others, Kali's comment would have been enough of a slap in the face to silence them until such time as they could walk back down and forget the conversation ever happened. Not Jessica though. The rat actually chuckled, as she walked by and set the cases down on the floor inside, tipped them over with the shallower lids up, and then turned to the lioness with a grin.
   'So you've worked around the stage before, have you?' she mused in return, not missing a beat. Her tail twitched, and she eyed Kali up and down. 'Then I hope you don't mind if I give you directions every now and then. Hm. I don't have a suitable costume for you, of course, but I suppose we could work with about half of that...' Exuding a little snerking sound that made her nose twitch, the rat turned, then got down on a knee, snapped open the locks on the cases, and opened them.
   There were no guns, contrary to Kali's earlier assumption. Instead, there was the most tightly packed, wicked assortment of what could only be called a jester's tools that one could readily imagine. Multicolored yet somehow somber balls, bells, long slim metal rods, green and black pins, compartments with stacks of jars and vials, lacquered black boxes, rings and chains, and knives. Lots and lots of polished black knives of all shapes and sizes, from slim little things that were barely more than needles to blades that were like stylized machetes. It was hard to take it all in; though the knives took up most of the space, there were so many fine little details, so many glinting trinkets and gleaming edges and colors. And all of it looked old, somehow. Carefully maintained, but used and worked with until the objects had gained a multitude of personalities all of their own. Kali felt as if she could see little faces staring up at her. She could see little faces staring up at her. How did that make sense?
   'You like these?' Jess asked, and carefully picked up a lovingly sown cloth shape, putting it on her hand. She held it out, and a finely painted clown white clown face turned toward the lioness. She imagined its little glass eyes followed her. 'I made them for the children when I worked as a governess. Unfortunately, Mr. Bonkers here had to stay in the box most of the time...' she muttered with a bitter half-smile on her face.

When the rat not only wasn't floored by Black Magic's remark but retorted very effectively, the lioness paused. She certainly wasn't a typical prey animal, but that didn't matter when one wasn't a typical predator. No, something more than just the snappy response was bothering her. It was the gleam in the rat's eye, the way she looked at her, the knowing look usually only reserved by cats for humans. Then the rat opened her case, and Kali saw the reason why.

It looked like the toy-chest of a child raised by sadomasochists. Knives and bells and chains and boxes, all well cared for (well loved, her mind whispered, and she brushed it off) and old, presented themselves to the girl seemingly without needing help from Jess. They spoke clearly, firmly, and with a smile on their faces: We are deadly. Do not screw with us. Do not screw with our master.

Then she realized, there really -were- smiling faces. But not on the weapons. Jess picked up the owner of one face in particular, and Kali was quite unnerved. The clown doll was obviously that, but it seemed as alive as the weapons. Black Magic's staff had spoken to her, of course, which was why she'd picked it. But it appeared that Jess's weapons not only spoke to her, but that she spoke back. Conversed with them. It was a symbiosis of sorts that made her afraid...but curious, and admiring, at the same time.

Even in her perturbed state, Kali was never one to be rendered speechless, or totally afraid. "He seems like he gets along more easily with you than he would with children, yeah," she nodded, almost smiling. "Why do you keep the rest with you, though?" She suspected it was something much more than sentimental value...

The wolverine quirked an eyebrow and nodded as the Blackguard took his leave. Wasn't her place to question, after all... She examined the coin one more time. "Antioch, huh?" She wiped a smudge off part of the edge and placed it in her pocket.

It was a bit of a walk from town to the City, but eventually Giles reached the city gates. The guard was back in his booth, the overweight rat with his hat over his eyes again, snoring. He started to drowsily come to as the human approached.
"Fzz? Whussat... Smell...?" He shook his head, "Like burnin'... Ah! Hrm." Noticing Giles, the booth guard attempted to sit up straighter in his booth (a natural reflex in any minor official faced with someone who looks like they outrank him at SOMETHING). Sadly, his bulk made his posture a little difficult to outwardly recognize. "Welcome to the City, sir."

--

Ephrael's arrows struck home in the cat's arm and torso, dropping it to the ground and surprising the giraffe-creature. It seemed to be having trouble ascertaining where the arrows had come from, not smart enough to work out the trajectory of the attacks. She was immediately on the move again, putting the boar out of its misery as Ed faced down the dog.
Ed's plan half worked; the dog saw what was coming, and angled its attack around the incubus' outstretched hand rather than at it to attempt to rake at his head, chest and the wing protecting his blind side. Ed grabbed its shoulder, there was a rush as his spell coalesced and fired...
The dog was blasted away, which was good, but there seemed to be a surplus of explosions. A second blast, non-magical in nature, clearing an opening in the horde ahead of Ephrael and Ed.

Kaela's grenade had cleared out a good chunk of the creatures, but the remaining ones were already moving in to fill the space she'd cleared. She had to act fast...

--

Near as Mao could tell, some large individual was sleeping in the room above. The scratching was moving again, but it was hard to pinpoint what exactly that was. Quite possibly just a feral raccoon, looking over the building for scraps. It was very quiet. Seemed to be moving around a touch quickly though...

--

As Aisha placed the paper on the sarcophagus she noticed another nearby work that resembled the sketch. It was the face of some lupine man with an expression best described as "stony." Angular features, a scar along his muzzle turning what was already a somewhat disapproving look into something more akin to a scowl...
And something thumped inside the sarcophagus, once, softly.

Jinx coughed and swallowed, sattempting to regain his composure as he felt something statach at the wall he was hanging on.

His mind playing tricks on him? or something very, very real...?

Stay with it, Jinx...just keep climbing and don't Die.

The feline hit man continued climbing, though faintly he could hear Max's voice, thought he could quite make out what exactly was being said.

He noticed the stained glass windows, chuckling to himself. Hilarious that even in such a Hellhole, beauty and art could be found...

His amusement, however, turned to dread as he begun to think about whoever built this Church and what happened to the poor shmuck. Or, for that matter, just what the Hell happened here?

Kaela leaned out from around the cornerof the house, her eyes fixated on the horde of gnarling growls and hisses, a smirk of grim satisfaction quirking on her face as her thrown payload detonated, its metal sleeve exploding outward and shredding flesh, muscle, and bones alike with equal ferocity. The smile that had so readily appreciated her own handiwork quickly faded as more of the grotesque creatures began to fill in the many gaps created by their fallen brethren, not hesitating for a moment to step on their corpses, strewn body parts, and other unrecognizable pieces of blood-stained body tissue. They seemed packed in so tightly that even a blind man could have scored a direct hit on one of them ten times out of ten. Where the hell are these things coming from? Masked behind that thought was the more insidious and frightening consideration regarding the strangely mutated creatures' creation.

"Fuck it," the wolf muttered, crouching on her haunches and pulling her remaining grenades off of her vest until she had a neat pile of four on the ground. There was a quiet snap as she tore off a small strip of leather from part of her vest, her hands deftly manipulating the small makeshift thong until she had a small bundle of the explosive devices. The caps popped off one by one with a little encouragement from Kaela's claws, the small ball-and-cord from each dangling readily beneath it. "Let's see if this works a little better," she growled, her voice muffled as she tore the the cords out with her teeth and hurled the ticking bombs, their metal shells clinking and clanking as they bounced amidst her enemies.

The rat leaned her head to the side, and looked at Kali in a quite unnerving manner. It wasn't that her face changed much; her smile remained as calmly mischievous as ever, but suddenly her eyes and her smile didn't quite match up. There was a tiny slip of harmony to her expression, a sort of discordance, that was so subtle in itself as to be frightening. Kali surmised some puzzlement in the rat's acrid green eyes.
  'She does horrible things with them!' a voice burst out, nearer to Kali. It was a sort of sullen, anguished whoop, the sort one gets when a man with a naturally deep and rich voice is made to talk in a more high-pitched, screeching voice, and what is worse develops a habit for it. And there was a note of desperation to it as well, making it even more unnerving. Kali, caught off guard, didn't immediately notice the clown doll's little arms waving frantically, its carefully crafted mouth opening and shutting. And the voice really sounded as though it came from it. The lioness imagined she could see Jess' throat moving subtly, but it was one of those motions in the corner of one's vision...
  'Please, miss, get away while you can! She's terrible!' the little cloth clown whined on, nervously twiddling its hands. 'Take me with you! Please! She locked me in the pin box after I tried to warn Mr. Vintz and the Berghoff children, and then she ki-!'
  An audible swipe to the back of the puppet's head silenced Mr. Bonkers with a little gasping outcry, and then the little clown reached back and rubbed its bald, eggshell-white head, turning to glare at the rat holding it.
  'No, we didn't get along, actually,' Jess said in a bitterly amused voice. 'And you're not going to get her with a simple trick like that, Bonkers. Now, behave, or shall I get some matches?'
  'Stuff it, you Jezebel!' the little clown yowled.
  'I know I could stuff you,' the rat replied with insane patience.

Sister Alex's eyes instantly went to the large book when Raek showed it to Kyirri. As always, she practically itched to investigate the volume. It was her reason for being here, after all. But she kept her hands in her pockets even as she frowned slightly at the roo-rat's rather aggressive comment about literacy skills. Either he was an incredibly powerful creature in disguise or trying for mythos-assisted suicide. But Raek didn't take the bait. Alex decided she might come to like the hulking mythos. Rising above expectations was something to encourage in anyone. Dawdling, however, wasn't. What were those two girls doing up there? The nun opened the door and looked out at the position of the sun. If they were going to get any investigating done and be out by sunset they had to get moving.

Ed was greeted with a claw attempt at his face, if his arms weren't longer, and he weren't a cubi, he'd have had some nasty scars to greet people with for some considerable time.  Instead he caught the beast barely outside it's down range and turned the raging monster into a rain of blood, meaty chunks, and pieces of bone.  The air around him was filled with a red mist that collected on his fur and left a rusty smell in his nose.  He absentmindedly brushed a piece of flesh from his shoulder as the bits of bone clattered to the ground around him.

He was suddenly rocked by a second explosive *THUMP* as kaela's grenade sent shrapnel, blood and bone geysering several feet and temporarily creating a hole in the monster's lines.  As he followed the gyser down, and noted his current 'partner in crime' so to speak.  Her marveled at her graceful movement, and couldn't help but imagine what else she was capable of.

He flashed Ephy a wicked grin as he tried a new strategy.  He hung his tentacles low, pointed up and ready to strike, keeping them in the path of the onrushing hoard.  As the distance closed, the number of weapons at his disposal grew.

Ed planned to ram the steel-hard tips clean through any beast that got into range as he set each tentacle in a position to lunge with massive force, and coincidentally, provide Eph with additional cover as well.  He waved to her while his hands started building up additional magic, giving off the sparkling black mist that gave away the shadow-base that most of his spells were focused around.  Giving her a smile, he shouted, "Ephy, time to get that tail of yours over here, i'll cover you, but i need you behind the tentacles, can't have you stabbed as well!"

As soon as Ephrael sliced deep into the Boar-Thing, she again span away but before she could flick her wrists and dispatch the Dog Ed had made short work of it. Just as she went to recover her bow a conventional explosive went off close enough that she needed to ride out the shock wave and duck to avoid the shrapnel.

As she Rolled over her bow she felt something spear into her backside, looking back it appeared to be a length of someone's bone. "OWWWWW" She squealed as she saw Ed set himself for a new attack.

Limping over she stood behind the Incubus and nocked another arrow.

It would have taken a very sensitive ear held no more than a whisker's length from Andrace's muzzle to distinguish her quiet sigh from her normal breathing. She might be trained to tolerate "hurry up and wait", but she didn't have to like it. She pulled a small sharpening steel out of a hidden pocket in the collar of her jerkin, extended her claws one at a time, and carefully touched up the already razor-sharp points. I thought she was itchin' t' get goin', the lioness grumbled to herself. What in th' names o' all th' Gods an' Fae is that girl doin' up there — foolin' around wi' th' rat, or somethin'? It never entered her head, of course, to worry about Kali's physical safety, she might be a skinny little thing, but she was still a nearly full-grown feline: even without using any magic she should have no problems handling one rat if Jess became troublesome.

Andrace gave another quiet little sigh and glanced towards the stairs. If she'd been in the habit of wearing a watch, she would have been giving it long, meaningful looks. Sister Alex seemed to be getting fidgety, and the lioness couldn't blame her. Kyirri and Raek seemed to be the only ones not bothered by the delay, they were busily discussing the map book. She tried not to loom over the kangaroo rat as she walked up behind him. "While we're waitin', guys," she said, "how 'bout a quick look through th' maps? Maybe we c'ld save a bit o' time an' decide where t' go first." She looked over her shoulder at the squirrel and cocked one ear enquiringly. "What d' y' think, Sister Alex?"

Mao considered the sounds for a moment.  Whatever it was, it didn't sound large.  This was not to say it wasn't a potential threat, but Mao decided that  he should focus on the task at hand.  He moved himself to a stable position as best as he could and started trying to take in the lay of the land and to see if he could gather more information about what was going on.

He took a moment in his search to see if the fellow following him was still behaving oddly.  Mao intentionally turned his face towards the feline as he did so this time, to ensure the fellow was sure he was being watched.  He wasn't sure how the fellow would react, but this too would be important in determining just what was up with him.

"At ease, brother." Giles said, pausing to light another cigarette. He concealed his hands such that it wasn't immediately obvious he was lighting it with his thumb. "You need to put me on a list or something? I don't have any business worth writing down, so I'll just as soon be on my way."

Kyirri took the item from Raek. It was heavy to him, but manageable. He continued observing things around the room, though he stopped his observations around the room when he heard Andrace call him. He turned his blank looking gaze towards her.

"As you wish." He replied, his voice still completely flat. He took a few steps towards a table, then glanced back at her. "It might be a good idea to check up on miss Fyernos." I just hope she isn't in any danger up there, though, all things considered, she probably is. With that, he went to a table, put the book down, and began looking through it, absorbing every detail, though still keeping his hearing alert. I can't be too sure that no one's going to jump me while I'm reading through this...

"Thanks. When you're done looking, I guess I can hold onto it." He smiled in that toothy fashion of his. "Unless you don't think you can carry it on your own." Raek chuckled in that thick, gruff tone of his as he turned away.

Well, at least that's something, the brutish canine thought as he stepped over to one side. Let them work it out. Besides, his poor stomach was starting to think he'd forgotten it...at least that was easy enough to remedy, thankfully.

The lupine troll leaned into the corner nearest the door...before, of all things, casually dropping the sack he'd bought on the floor-not without a muffled bit of clatter, one might add- and casually began rummaging in it. A little jerky should do it... His lightly fuzzed tail wagged back and forth lazily as he quickly found what he was looking for. Well, this should tide him over for a bit, thankfully.

And, hopefully, the city would provide much better opportunities to sate his hunger...at least so his companions could have something to eat, should they need anything.

"Payden Velasquez. Officer Velasquez to you." Payden tapped the headphones, readjusting them slightly. Check one, check two, breaker breaker and all that. "Cop since I was old enough to hold a gun straight." He continued to fidget, looking from building to building before finally moving along. "I'm going to find that woman. The, the one with the book." A few minutes more of just standing outside the City limits and he'd chicken out completely. "Stay here."

Payden stormed back towards the inn, keeping both eyes out to make sure Moze wasn't in sight. "Ma'am, you," he half-commanded as he approached the inn's front door. "Sister, isn't it? Are those two kids saying their prayers or what? I told them I'd help, but nobody's going anywhere if we can't get in before nightfall." Bah, young adventurers, either dilly-dallying or rushing headfirst into certain doom.

Black Magic blinked. And blinked again. She was pretty sure the woman was controlling the puppet, but if she was, then why actually get frustrated with it? Unless she was either totally psychotic, a brilliant actress, or both. But, she wasn't about to back down on her invitation to Jess. That would make her look scared, and besides, she'd rather have the rat as an ally than an enemy.

"Oh...kay..." the lioness muttered, a half-amused, half-freaked smirk on her face. She wasn't usually much for showing fear, but she was more unnerved than scared right now. "Well, I think we might have made the others wait long enough, but you've gotta let me hide Mr. B in Mykst's cloak at one point. If he doesn't object to that," Kali added, glancing at the door.

---

Mykst had been idly watching the stairs, wondering when the heck Kali was going to come back down, when he heard a familiar voice. He turned his head to look at Payden. "I'm right here," he said calmly. "Kali's upstairs helping another person with her luggage. She should be down once she realizes we've been waiting this long."

The rat just sat there, quite still, observing and measuring Kali's reaction. From the doll though, there was a rasping cackle that scraped down the auditive nerve.
  'Wonderful!' Mr. Bonkers exclaimed. 'I'm taking his ey- Mmmmph!'
  Hand clasped over the squirming doll's face, Jess removed the puppet and placed it back in a lacquered box, then shut the lid. Flexing her fingers a bit, she nodded at the lioness distractedly, while her gaze scanned the assortment of objects and devices in the cases before her.
  'Just a moment...' she said, as her hands smoothly glided and flew over the contents. There were a few flickering motions and some small clinking or smooth whispering sounds, but no signs too obvious of the rat equipping herself. The largest object Kali saw her place on her person was a hooked blade of some sort on a chain, but even that disappeared up the inside of the Jess' jacket apparently without a trace. After maybe a minute, she finally slipped a couple of colored vials up her sleeve, and then nodded, apparently satisfied. She stood up, and turned to the lioness with the smirk that appeared to be her most usual expression.
  'There. All set,' she hummed at Kali in an almost sing-song voice, before her expression took on a slight tone of concern. 'Did you see if they had any sort of snacks available downstairs, by the way?' She shot the lioness a curious and disconcertingly sweet look as she passed around her, heading out the door with silky smooth steps, her casual footfalls impeccably silent in spite of the added weight.

Jinx could feel Mao's gaze. Looking up, he did his bets to manage a smile.

However, perhaps due to most of Jinx;'s smiles being scarstic grins ans sneers, his genuine smile looked like a mix between "Awkward teenage Boy aworund his crush" and "Postal Worker with a Rifle on the Top of a Bell Tower."

resuming his climb he did his best to focus on Mao, ignore whatever was slumbering in the Chruch, his manias.

Grabbing onto another outcrop, be beging to shimmey up the edge of the stained glass window.

Black Magic didn't say it out loud, but as she watched Jess quickly, almost imperceptibly, arm herself to the teeth, her gray eyes widened with admiration and fear. This woman was going to be a huge help. Maybe she'd be a rather creepy source of help (that sugary look had done the opposite of its job, but then, who could tell with Jess?), but as long as she was on their side, they were safe. She only hoped the rat wouldn't hog all the fun for herself; there were a few new spells she'd learned before leaving, and she was really hoping to give them a try. Besides,  Mykst wasn't going to be any help if the only people to scare him into being useful were herself, Andrace, Jess, and quite possibly the wolf-troll...Raek, that was his name.

"There were pretzels on the bar, but I think the book ate most of them," the young lion replied, not really knowing if the jester knew anything of Sister Alex's book and not really thinking about it. "If not, we can always come back after all of us have worked up an appetite. I hope they don't object to serving antelope here," she mused, her smile unable to keep itself from revealing her fangs.

The rat kept her head half-turned back to Kali and an ear cocked as she walked not quite in front and a bit to the side of the lioness back down to the bar and dining room. When she heard the feline's statement, she seemed almost to curl a bit around the midsection for a moment, a hand gesturing closer to her stomach, and she made a frowning expression, poking her tongue out for a moment. It was the most casual, honest expression she'd made up to that point.
   'No good,' the rat commented, and made a little discontented sound. 'Couldn't get anything decent in me that whole bus trip. I hope you don't mind, but I've got to eat something at least...' She walked past Mykst and that eerie fur-less thing that could only be called human, and suggested herself into the attention of Jezebel once more, smirking oddly as she leaned forward over the counter on her elbows.
   'Hay. You got anything to eat on the go? Rolls? Chicken legs, perhaps?' she inquired. 'Maybe just a good drink?'

Andrace's whiskers perked forward and she looked up from sharpening her clawtips when she noticed the sheriff poke his nose in the door. She wondered idly where the armoured human who'd been tossing around fire spells had gone. Could he be in the city already? It would probably be a good idea to listen out for explosions, and watch for rising smoke: that one didn't seem at all subtle about showing his displeasure at anyone — or anything — that annoyed him.

After a few moments the lioness went back to dividing her attention between her claws and looking over Kyirri's shoulder at the map book. Her tail flicked at her hocks as in idea occurred to her, and she turned to Sister Alex. "Say, th' Gutenbergs ought t' have at least a few records o' their own tellin' o' what's in there, don't they?" she asked the grey-robed squirrel, with a nod along the street where the others had gone. "D' y' see anythin' in th' book that matches... or don't match?"

She looked just a little bit relieved to see Kali and Jess finally come back down the stairs, although there was a tinge of "oh no, not again" in her expression when Jess asked the barmaid about food.

"Nah, not at all. Here, let me get the gate for ya." The rat hopped out of his booth and pulled the gate open with a loud scrape. "Every so often we get officials or scientists tryin' to go through the place, THEM I gotta keep track of, but if y'were here on business you'd probably have showed me the paperwork first." He stood at attention again next to the open gateway, grinning at Giles, "Anythin' in particular you headin' in for? If it's just kicks, I suggest avoidin' the red light district on the waterfront. Nuthin' but trouble."

--

"We got some sandwiches and drinks," Jezebel replied to Jess cheerfully, opening up a cooler against the wall behind the counter. "Anything in particular in mind?"
Moze was leaning on the banister near the stairs, and raised an eyebrow when Payden came back. He wasn't IN the inn yet, technically, but he kept his eyes on the cop.

--

Traxen's drone buzzed over the town, eventually zooming in on the bus, its front end crushed around the corner of the post office. Police officers and paramedics were on the scene, as well as a reasonably sized crowd of people gawking. Nearby was a covered body on a gurney being wheeled onto an ambulance. It was hard to place their species under the sheet, but it looked like something with a flat head and a long snout.

--

Far away Mao could "see" the main island of the City, mist hanging over the river around it like steam from hot soup. Here and there smokestacks could still be seen belching pollutants into the sky, but overall the place looked... Quiet.
The suburbs, it could be seen from up here, weren't that large. They didn't even completely encircle the city, simply forming a crescent-moon shape toward the edge before being cut off by the river that surrounded the city proper like a moat. The nearest way into the main portion of the city was a bridge-
...
The end of which was, apparently, exploding. The occassional blast erupted at the toll booths on this side of the bridge, and there were visibly several individuals clustered there doing... something.
The occassional movement apart from the wind was noticeable in the rest of the suburbs, but the source was hard to get a good look at. And that occassional scratching noise from inside the church seemed to be coming up the inside of the tower now...

--

Kaela's bomb got exactly the reception of a leper at a sadomasochism convention, its rattling bouncing presence sending creatures scrambling OVER each other to get away from it. The blast destroyed one of the toll booths and sent another one tilting, clearing out five of the creatures and injuring most of the remaining ones. The iguana took this opportunity to make a break for it, running to the edge of the bridge and climbing along a nearby girder to try and get out of reach, while the other creatures attempted to retreat. One of them, a bobcat with a mouth that curled outward at the edges on one side, pointed at its eyes and then pointed at Ephrael once before turning to flee.

Watching the fleeing beasts, Ed indiscriminately sent an additional pair of shimmering, misting, bolts into their midst in hopes of dropping another beast or 2 before they cleared his range.

Once they were gone, he started feeling the pain radiating from Eph, and, upon closer observation, noted the location to be her rear.  While Eph was a primary concern for Ed, the newcomer who'd helped the pair deserved at least the most basic of courtesies.  Standing by the wounded tazzie devil lass, Ed said, "think you'll be alright to pry a little deeper? or, do you want to head back to the Inn once we meet this new..." Pausing to look over, he couldn't be sure by appearance alone, due to the rather genderless nature "modern" body-armor tends leave an observe.  Going by the face and frame, particularly hips, Ed guessed at female, the long snout was definably canine however. "Girl...".

Ed wandered ahead, straight towards Kaela.  He folded the vicious tentacles in upon themselves, reforming his rather large wings.  Feeling like a change, he switched to feathered, and added the speckles, patterns and other features of his normal wings... just, fluffier.   Continuing his approach, details became ever more clear, reaffirming his initial belief as he took note of the more subtle cues he could pick out from behind the armor... She was in fact female, wolf, judging by the tail, ears and fur, and she seemed to be well armed.  The shotgun she was toting gave Ed pause, but, managing a nervous smile and a wave he said in his pleasantly rolling tenor, "Good day milady, i... ah... i believe i owe you a thank you for helping out back there."  His nervous grin turning less timid and more friendly as he closed the distance, slowly, and as non-threatening as possible.  Stopping roughly a wing's length away, Ed's smile had turned into a grin, and said with much more confidence, "Edaric, clan Ahnasazi, i feel i owe you something in return for helping me and my friend out of a rather tight spot miss?..."

He carried out the last "ss" tone while keeping his focus on her face.  While talking, he continued to observe her, and try and get a gauge on her thoughts.

The lupine troll paused-having been in the middle of licking those long fingers clean. He'd had sense enough to only eat a mouthful of the supplies he'd just purchased, and for the moment was quite satisfied. Again, more things were happening. Somehow, Raek was morbidly convinced, I get that feeling I'll not ever get to sort things out from today.

Well, that was more than likely true, really.

His pale brown eyes noted that his employer was currently looking at that book with interest with the small, rodentine fellow known as Kyirri, while that newcomer-that female rat- had come back down the stairs asking for something to eat.  No doubt that other feline, Black something or other, would be coming down shortly as well.

I think that one's trouble. His tail wagged lazily despite being pinned in the corner behind him. Looks to be unreliable, and I'd rather make sure my boss doesn't end up with any of that one's weapons sticking out of her back. Or anywhere else. Indeed the aforementioned rat was well-armed, in his opinion...and with a wide assortment of odd implements that looked more likely to induce intense physical suffering with little effort.

Definitely someone to keep an eye on. It was his job to look out for his employer, no matter how capable they were.

Speaking of that one...he glanced at Andrace, just in time to catch that look. He knew what that one was; he'd had it done to him often enough. Without even moving, the canine grunted in a somewhat sour tone. "Make sure it's something they can take with'em, if you want to hurry. You're wasting money if I don't get to do my job, and the sooner we're in there, the sooner I can earn my pay."

Payden's heart chilled slightly as Jess passed him, turning to give her another look once her back was turned. "...please tell me you didn't invite her to come with us." He spoke very quietly to Mykst, remembering what had happened the last time he spoke too loudly.

Noticing he'd caught the attention of Moze, he gave a little "just one minute here" gesture. "Because there are some people you don't want coming with you into a warzone. Namely people who dress and carry themselves like lunatics."

Picking one of her other special arrows out of her secondary quiver she kissed it before nocking it and letting fly at the Bobcat thing, she knew a threat when she saw one and decided to head it off at the pass. The arrow was crafted and magicked to seek the target the firer chose even through a building....


"Um Ed I dun...feel..soooo...goood...." She slurred before falling flat on her face.

Rocking on her heels a bit, the rat hummed audibly and tapped a cheekbone with a couple of fingers as she thought for a moment, eyes drifting over the selection of chilled foodstuffs and her nostrils twitching slightly. Along with her ears. She bit her lip, and then pointed toward the cooler.
   'Give me the grilled tuna one, please. And a beer,' she said nonchalantly, passing just a slight glance over her shoulder back toward the man, who was standing just a little too close to Mykst, saying something with his back just a little bit too turned. 'And that orange too. And the apple.' She slipped a couple of bills onto the counter, and then grabbed the items, spinning on a heel and gliding into a smooth step up behind Payden. Holding the chilled can and the sandwich under her arm, and the fruits in her hand, she casually put on her dark glasses again, and then settled her three-pointed hat back on her head, adjusting it for a moment. Then, just as Payden finished speaking, with perfect calm, she slipped a few small lengths of metal out of her sleeve. They gleamed with sharpness, as she raised her hand, and...
   'What're you talking about, boys?' the rat interjected with a manic grin, shooting her head in between the human and the cat, as fruits, knives and a small can of beer spun around her head, her hands juggling them around with expert speed.

Whilst studying the book, Kyirri's sharp hearing detected someone entering the place. He quickly glanced at the entrance, making a mental note of who came in. To his dismay, it was someone he recognized. That person who claimed to be a cop... and was partly responsible for nearly getting me killed, though I suppose the other takes the majority of that blame. Still, I don't like him being in close proximity to those I've sworn to protect... Kyirri continued staring at the map/book, but kept alert as to what interactions were going on between Payden and Kyirri's companions.

After a short pause, he memorized what page he was studying before, and closed the book. He picked it up and took it with him, holding it in both hands. It's certainly bulky... I won't be able to hide carrying this, unlike the rest of my possessions. With a quiet stride, he walked over to Payden and the others. He quickly shot a glance at Jess. Stay focused he thought, and went beside Mykst.

He looked at Payden with a seemingly blank expression. Kyirri spent a moment examining him, but revealing nothing of note. "No one ever said that you were coming with us." Kyirri stated in a completely flat tone.

Ed's face suddenly switched from mild playfulness to one of worry as Ephy slipped and fell.  He felt it more than observed it, but, when he looked over to see her laying, face-first on the ground he gave Kaela a quick glance and a, "hold that thought..."  while bolting over to Ephrael's side.

Moving with up-most haste, he arrived above her mere seconds after she fell.  The look of concern growing into worry as he tried to get an idea of what happened.  Kneeling at the girl's side, he smiled gently, and said, "looks like we're getting out of here... I've got you, so just rest up."

First using his wings to keep her slightly off the ground, Ed rolled Ephy over, and lifted her up.  One arm under her knees, and the other around her shoulders.  Carrying her over at a quickened pace, but one that was smooth and steady, he approached Kaela again.  He asked, "uhh... do you know anything about medicine... i'm not 100% sure what's wrong... Looks like she took a piece of bone in the rear... but, i don't think it'd cause someone to act soo... negatively."

When Mykst decided to talk to the sheriff it freed Alex to respond to Andrace's questions about the map book. "The Abbey has quite a few books on this city, but considers none of them particularly reliable. Most of the accounts are rather jumbled and contradictory." With her height advantage she managed to discretely peer over Kyirri's shoulder to see the book before he closed it. It was hard to tell from the quick glance but she thought that the open page looked similar to the map from the memoirs of "Moon Doggie" Moraigne. "The problem isn't a lack of information. The problem is that I won't know which piece of information is correct or incorrect until I see for myself."

   Traxen gave a general affirmative as Payden said he was going in to look for the book-girl. Payden talked to a few people, and the headset of course picked what he said up, but Traxen paid little attention. Traxen started looking over the parts of Payden's gun, picking up the pieces and examining them individually. He also glanced over his shoulder at the wall of monitors to look at the screen displaying the active drone's view. After one particular glance, he saw something other than the tops of buildings. Traxen turned around competely, and looked on in slight horror.
  It turned out a bus had gone and crashed. As bad as it looked, officials and rescue workers already appeared to have the entire situation under control. Traxen somewhat wished he could help, but of course, there really wasn't anything he could do if the authorities had everything covered.
  It still made Traxen rather sad, though.
  Somewhat glum, he set the drone to recall, and turned his attention back to Payden. "Did you give the other headset to the book-mage yet?" Traxen asked.

"Damn it..." The white wolf muttered to himself as he realised that he hadn't been quiet enough, and heard that whoever had been made the noises had heard them as return. Hearing the gasp, the lupine took off into a run with his feline companion. As he ran, Gareeku heard that whoever it was, they were obviously trying to escape somewhere, but their plan hadn't exactly gone the way they wanted to, judging from the crashing and cursing.

Finally catching up to the cause of the sounds, the lupine warrior saw that it was in a fact a being. Frog by species, Gareeku noted the stranger's orange and black skin, together with his tweed coat and the bag full of papers slung over his shoulders. The look in the whimpering frog's eyes was wide and fearful; it seemed that in the frog's previous experience, strangers meant bad news. This was further supported when the strange started to escape through the street.

"Hey...hey wait!" Gareeku practically commanded as the frog escaped, stepping forward after the stranger only to watch him climb down to the street below, run, and then disappear.

"...Shit..."

Running one of his hands through his hair, the wolf sighed to himself as he looked around the room, only now noticing that it was like an office, except that it was filled with carvings and sculptures of ancient heroes and figures...athletes...politicians...all important people of forgotten ages that were long past. As he looked around the room with curiosity and interest visibly evident on his face, his eyes fell upon the pencil and paper that were left behind. Looking closer as Aisha did, he found the paper to have a sketching of a bust of an old man. As he looked at it, he listened to Aisha comment on what they had stumbled across.

"Agreed...not sure what to make of it myself, either...whoever he is, he certainly likes to surround himself in history and culture." Gareeku replied. As Aisha put her hand that held the sketch on the flat sarcophagus, he too noticed the other sketch of the stern-looked lupine. Noticing the scar that the sketched lupine possessed, Gareeku couldn't help but smirk for a moment. This smirk would soon disappear quickly, however, when the white wolf heard the soft knock. Thinking at first that it was merely Aisha tapping on it, he quickly realised that the knock had come from inside the thing. Glancing to the sarcophagus, Gareeku then looked at Aisha.

Just what the hell was going on?

Mykst was, at first, just slightly nervous about the question Payden asked. After all, he was controlling himself rather well now, and the cat didn't want another fight to break out. He was just about to explain, as politely as he could, that it hadn't been his idea to let Jess into the group, when she popped up right between them out of nowhere and juggling and grin and knives.

"MREOW!" Mykst almost fell backward, and his fur fluffed for just a moment before he took a breath and it settled. Damn, that rat was quiet! He wasn't scared, he was just amazed. Ordinarily, it wasn't hard for him to hear footsteps, but clearly, Jess was well-trained. "Na...nothing. This is Sheriff Velasquez, and he asked me and the others to join him earlier. Sheriff, this is Jess, and -"

"I invited her to come with us," Kali called from the stairwell, where she'd seen and heard everything with a smirk. She started to walk towards the group. "Sheriff, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Like Gareeku, Aisha as well took the time to better notice her surroundings.  The painting in particular caught her attention, causing her to quirk an eyebrow.  I wonder who that is anyway, to warrant this painting and this similar sketch.

She didn't have to think for long.  When a soft thump came up from the surface of the sarcophagus and was felt in waves by her hand, she jerked back suddenly, leaving the drawing upon the ancient coffin.

Frozen in slight shock and watching the thing closely, she glanced to the white wolf, and back again.  "What in the world was that...?" she murmured, aloud if only to break the awkward silence.

Her hand then went back to her sword, resting on the pommel as she kept a close eye on the coffin.  There was definitely something strange going on.  On the one hand, it would be wise to walk away.  But on the other hand, there would be no way to know if their strange runaway had someone trapped inside, on their last breath.

It could also be an undead monster.  Who knew with this place...this strange City?  But there was only one way to know.  And one way or another they would probably be doing some good.

Aisha made her decision.  She drew the sword and stepped up to it.  "Be ready, Gareeku," she said.  "I'm gonna try something."

The panther wouldn't open the coffin yet...her caution was overriding curiosity, and thus she had to make sure what she heard was right.  With her fist, she reached out and knocked on it herself, twice, and just loud enough.

Mao noted the smile, but thought no further on it.  There was something strange about this fellow for sure, but he didn't have time to figure it out.   He quickly considered the situation and the two options presented to him.

"Do I take the risk and investigate the explosions, where there is likely to be trouble and in large quantities, or brave the inside of an unknown building to potentially save someone while walking into what is likely a trap."  he said, quietly to himself.

"Right.. guess the choice is obvious."

Mao began to make his way down the church as quickly as he could, jumping where and where he could safely.  He nodded towards the feline as he did so.  Pausing for a moment as he explained what he was doing.

"I'm going to see what's happening inside.  There are explosions happening nearby so perhaps being out of sight inside a building is the safest approach of the two." he said quickly and quietly.

With that said, he continued his trek down with the full intent of making his way towards the snoring sound, and hoping to safely discover the source of the scratching sound.  Unhappily, he rasped his staff in his right hand, fearing that he may soon have to use it.

"Hopefully this will be the most that it comes to.."

He felt the cold and unpleasant presence of his katars against the side of his thighs and sincerely hoped that they would be able to stay there.

A strangled choke rasped from Payden's throat as he staggered back; that damned rat almost gave him a heart attack on the spot. "...I'll get back to you," he grumbled to Jess as the hammerings in his chest slowed, giving a glare to both her and Kyirri. And I'll be getting to you sooner or later, you punk. Didn't give the best years of my life to beings just to have some little snot talk like that to me.

As Traxen's voice buzzed in his ear, Payden felt his blood pressure rise once more. "Give me a Goddamned minute here, I just had to deal with some... some clown." He lumbered over to the stairwell to meet Kali with a light scowl. "You invited a clearly unbalanced woman to join us? How do we know she's not going to kill us when our backs are turned?"

Andrace sighed and nodded to Sister Alex. "No more 'n I was expectin'," she said, "But it woulda been nice t' be a bit more sure o' what we're stickin' our tails into." At least, most of what she'd read looking over Kyirri's shoulder had been fairly coherent. Accuracy... they'd have to wait and see. It was no fun at all following maps and directions written by lunatics — although it did get exciting at times.

The lioness flicked an ear towards Mykst when he yowled. She'd seen Jess walking up behind him and the sheriff, but in hindsight, she hadn't heard the rat. She'd been taught how to move quietly on her pawpads, but this was almost total silence. Her sister Despina could duplicate the effect with a sound-deadening spell, but Jess hadn't cast any spells at all: at least, not obviously.

Something else to keep in mind, Andrace thought as she finished working on her claws and put the sharpening steel back into its hidden pocket, was the rat's sense of humour. Sneaking up on people like that wasn't too bad, but the juggling was downright weird. Would they all have to wander through the city with one ear turned back, listening for a footfall that wasn't there?

   Traxen got a bit of a rough responce to his question, which surprised him. Payden was worked up about something, and Traxen immediately found out what; Payden's next words were also broadcast back to Traxen.
  "You invited a clearly unbalanced woman to join us? How do we know she's not going to kill us when our backs are turned?"
  "Umm... Officer Vlasquez?" Traxen said hesitantly, "At the risk of agitating you further... I'll be watching everyone's backs for you, it's part of what I'm offering. And if you genuinely are worried about a specific individual, I think I have a few options you might want to hear about first..."

Jinx nodded at Mao, carefully sliding down and carefully attempting to stay close to Mao, eventually landing in next him on the ground.

Quite frankly he agreed with this Adventurer. He usually saw Adventurers as idiotic, rushing head long into danger for glory. even if they don't know what exactly what it was. Observation from the shadows was his preferred MO. Still, for some reason he...liked this guy. He wasn't sure why but then again, being around this Nictarl felt...nostalgic...

He looked at mao as he landed next to him. "I'm comin' with. But let's find a backdoor. I don't know what's in there, but let's avoid figthing...Whatever the Hell it is."

Jinx made sure his luggage was untouched before dragging it along, looking at his rapier and reading his revolver, pulling back the hammer. "If things get ugly, we run."He muttered at Mao.

He had no idea what was in the Church. A Demon, a Dragon? Something Else? Maybe it just a pissed off giraffe or his mind playing tricks on him.

The feline begun heading to the rear of the Church, hoping to find a discreet way in.

Oh, joy. A snack and entertainment. Still going to keep an eye on that one, Raek thought as he watched the larger rodent juggle the items with considerable finesse. The troll-wolf didn't doubt for an instant she could use the other materials on her person with equal talent. Not to mention her silent style of movement...it reminded him of something. Of course, he wasn't sure as to what, but still. Something to keep in mind.

Still, even a little entertainment was a plus, no matter how dubious the source seemed.

It was also vaguely amusing about the reactions the human had to her-though fully warranted. Raek didn't like unpleasant surprises either. Of course, when your back was as thickly muscled as his the typical knife tended to not get very far....

Oh well. The lupine mythos grunted, shifting position a little as he watched the exchange. If his employer, miss Andrace, decided to intervene he'd be right by her side. Or he could wait outside. Both had equal appeal at the moment. Raek rolled a pale eye at the mentioned feline, ears perked as she had her discussion with the little fellow and that one with the talking book.

Well, if they weren't done discussing things...he could wait. Not like he could walk off from a contract anyway-verbal or not. Just had to hope they'd get moving, and soon...

The rat merely laughed at Mykst's reaction, and went on smiling as she turned to Payden next, as the objects spun seamlessly between her hands. And then the man said something very thoughtless, and her smile evaporated like water beads on a hot plate, leaving an impassive expression of nothing. Slowly, with dull routine, she caught the knives one by one, wedging them between one hand's fingers, and then stopped the orange and the beer can in the other. She slipped the little metal slivers somewhere in her jacket, the things vanishing with barely a clink.
  'Jester,' she said, rather quietly, but with a sharpness of tone that suggested Payden had just committed some not illegal yet still terminal offense. 'I'm a Jester,' she repeated, with sharper intonation. 'We entertain, annoy, pose and riddle. We have a level of sophistication to what we do. Clowns are just buffoons in red noses and oversized shoes.'
  The rat's hard look lasted for only a couple of moments. Then, she waggled her eyebrows, and turned around with a jingle, taking a couple of steps past Andrace and Sister Alex as she busily stuffed the orange into a pocket and began groping for her sandwich, cracking open the top of the beer can with a thumb. Then, suddenly, she stopped, and snapped her finger, exaggeratedly making a show of just having remembered something.
  'Oh, damn. Almost forgot,' she said, and turned back with a devious smile. 'Mr. Velasquez... Would you check your right jacket pocket for me, please?'

You sure got the "annoy" part down pat. ...though, she had just dropped something in his pocket without him noticing. He could feel it, spherical and about the size of a fist. Holy shit what did she just stick in my-- His mind raced, hand fishing around to produce--

An apple. A totally harmless piece of fruit. ...oh for the love of-- The sheriff sneered at Jess, as if he was about to pitch the thing straight at her head. "Are you quite done screwing around? We're not at the frigging county fair, for God's sake."

Grinning, the rat nodded at Payden's comment, raising the can to her lips. So he wasn't that thoughtful. Anyone else would have at least been a little cautious about someone who could manage to slip a whole apple into their pocket while juggling at the same time.
  'Alright then,' she said, making a lazy gesture. And then, suddenly, her hand was a blur. Something shot out of her palm at eye-evading speed, trailing silver. Payden's hand shuddered, as a short blade wedged itself straight into the apple in his hand, very nearly punching through it and into his palm but not quite. With a whiplash tug on the thin chain connecting the barbed blade with her sleeve, she snatched the apple from him, loosening the blade from the fruit itself, which spun up into the air and against her in a shallow arc. By the time she caught it, the chain whip had already vanished back up along her arm with a flourish. She took another calm sip.
  'Point taken,' Jess offered. 'I'll try something a little more complex next time then?'

Kyirri kept his eyes on Payden, watching for any sudden hostile moves. He watched the exchange between Jess and Payden. He examined Jess more closely, trying to gauge her intent, and whether she could be trusted. I don't think she can be... but I suppose I should at least give her the benefit of the doubt. She looks to be poking fun at Payden, not that I really mind. Still, I hope she's can behave responsibly if faced with live danger. Kyirri turned back to Payden, observing closely.

Kyirri noted his irritation at Jess, and that he seemed to be ignoring him. Interrupting their exchange, he spoke up again, staring straight at Payden. "On a more pressing matter, how do we know that you're not going to shoot us in the back, if you come with us." Kyirri kept his facial expression in his ever blank stare. He helped in nearly getting me killed. I'd not like the chance that it will happen again.

Andrace watched impassively as Jess did her little trick with the apple, with Payden's not-so-glamorous assistance. She changed her opinion of the rat, nudging her "dangerous" score up a few points, and shifting her "weird" score to also straddle the "bat-guano-nuts" column. If she did anything like that in the city, the lioness decided, she'd be out of the group like a shot. Possibly after being shot, if she hurt anyone or tried a stunt like that on Andrace herself. I coulda done that knife throw, maybe, she thought. Mum coulda done it, b'fore her arm got messed up. That rat's good.

Her ears dipped for a moment as she listened to Kyirri. What was he trying to do, break up the group before they even got into the city? As a distraction, she thumped her tail loudly against the wall to catch everyone's attention. "Okay, are we all ready t' go?" she said, rubbing her hands together briskly and cracking her knuckles. "No-one else needin' a quick snack, or a visit t' th' little critter's room?" Through heroic effort, there was only a slight sarcastic tone in her voice, and no hint of an unspoken "at &%@# last!" at the end of her statement.

[OOC: very very tiny auto here (taking spotted's post as a cue)--I don't want the whole group to be auto'd directly to the City by boog or anyone else before I get a chance to do this. I hope no one minds, but if you do, just say so in the OOC thread]

  Traxen didn't get an answer back to his offer to Payden, instead getting some sarcastic comment about a county fair towards whoever was bothering him in the bar, almost certainly that "unbalanced woman" he referenced.
  And at last, the doors of the in opened up, and people finally began filing outside, with the large lioness (swordswoman?) coming first. Traxen moved his van a bit closer to the entrance, then toggled over the the van's external speakers.
  "To the people preparing to enter the City, may I have your attention please? I'm sure many of you are eager to get on with it, but this should only take a moment..."
  Momentarily toggling back over to Payden's headset, Traxen said "I'll get back to you on those options in a minute."

Kaela opened her mouth to respond, but quickly closed it and pushed past the incubus when she saw the female archer past them fall to the ground unconscious with a loud thud. Her heavy boots pounded against the concrete rapidly, almost racing her new comrade Edward to the fallen Tasmanian Devil. "Put her down on her stomach," the wolf stated stiffly with no amount of hesitation in her voice. Her stature and bearing seemed to command obedience, as if she was used to having others listen to what she had to say in important or dangerous situations.

The old wolf barely waited for the incubus to set her on the ground before she began to inspect her, her hands pressing against her back. They quickly ran with lines and runnels of red that streamed from the girl's embarassing wound. Her claws clacked around the piece of bone and pulled gently. A grimace crossed her face. "It's stuck in there and bleeding pretty badly. I think it got into the bone." She set her gun down on the ground and removed her knife from the muzzle, brandishing it gently. "I'm going to have to cut it out, but it might not be a good idea if the bleeding gets worse. Do you know any healing magic?"

Ed listened to Kaela's instructions, lowering Ephy down, yet laying her on a layer of thick, fluffy wing, rather than the hard ground.  Her tugging at the bone made the incubus slightly nervous, and her thought of cutting the wound a bit bigger didn't sit all that well with him.  Not that he'd argue, at least she was helping.

He said in his usual tenor, "Not really, sorry... my healing skills revolve around my own ability to shapeshift and adjust my body, more or less at whim... However i could cauterize the wound with a weak fire spell and the use of a tentacle point.  If we can get her stabilized, i think it best to take her back to the Inn, let her rest up."  Feeling slightly sheepish working on the butt of one girl, while chatting with another, he said in a rather polite tone, "i'm sorry, Ms... I didn't catch you name earlier."  A slight grin caressed his lips and shone through the worry the incubus was feeling.

Alex watched the interplay between the two strays that Mykst and Black Magic had picked up, a prejudiced human and a showboating rat. Interesting friends the young felines made. But slow. Alex considered getting the book by the weather wizard out of her pack to see if a few lightning cracks would put some bounce in everyone's step. The squirrel looked over to the lioness and gave her a sympathetic smile. "Perhaps if you and I moved outside they'd follow." Alex stepped out the doorway and onto the sidewalk to test her hypothesis. And if her hypothesis was wrong a few people might be left behind.

It seemed that the rat had expected more of a response, because she appeared momentarily off-put by Andrace's exclamation, and the general air of impatience that ensued in the wake of it and Alex's departure. She glanced over the assembled group of people, then gave Kali a bit of a look that was rather hard to read, and shrugged, before returning her shaded stare to the older lioness.
  'Fine. We're all set,' she sighed, straightening her jacket a bit unnecessarily. Walking with a lazy step, she trailed along as people began to depart, peacefully swigging her beer and proceeding swiftly by working away at her sandwich. She adjusted her hat and glasses as they emerged into the sunny street, surreptitiously slipping into Andrace's shadow without any apparent intent.

Black Magic sadly never got the chance to say what she wanted to say to Payden, as he said something that offended Jess inadvertently almost immediately and the rat reacted. The trick she pulled was quite funny, but the lion-girl couldn't help wondering if maybe Payden was right - to a degree. Obviously, Jess was useful and skilled, but she seemed to rub the other members of the group the wrong way. Then again, Payden did the same thing, and Mykst had, by his own submission, invited him. But no matter. It seemed everyone else was really itching to go by now, so Kali shrugged, gave a bit of a confused look to Jess's unreadable one, and grabbed Mykst's hand as she walked out.

---

Mykst watched the back-and-forth between Payden and Jess and had a few similar thoughts to Kali's, though by now, even he was getting impatient to leave. The vibes of the others were a bit contagious, and he could sense a conflict that he wanted everyone to ignore for now. He touched the pearl around his neck, and got a bit of a serious face. There were better times to fight. For now, he had to prove himself a capable student and figure out just what his girlfriend wanted to find here.

Speaking of, her paw slipped into his a few moments later. He looked over at her and smiled, half to assure himself and half because he was glad to see her being calm about all this. Then they both exited, shortly behind Jess and Alex.

Alas, the wolfish troll didn't care if one showed no ill intentions.

Raek's pale brown eyes went flat as the feminine rat practically snuck up behind his current boss. True, he couldn't agree more with Andrace's willingness to get moving-he didn't want to eat all the supplies while waiting on everyone.

Besides, it was his job to be her hulking shadow, not some acrobatic rodent who either had serious issues with her cognitive balance...or, perhaps, was merely acting in a bid to lighten the mood in some strange, undefinable way.

Then, of course, that was that rather familiar voice. The monstrous canine tilted his head slightly to focus some of his attention on the armored van. Personally, he still thought it resembled some giant, metal insect (To him, anyway!)-but then he'd never had anyone bother to explain to him about how machines should look.

To him, a machine was something with cogs and wheels, pulleys and levers.  Oh, and those little springs that had the horribly annoying habit of either shooting up his nose or poking him in the eye when he accidentally broke the aforementioned device...not something one lost a tooth biting into.

No matter, it couldn't be helped.

The lupine troll's tail twitched once as he decided to come outside-but not without a brief glance at Kyirri. "If the book's a bit heavy, I'll tell you what. Since it's your responsibility now I want you to hold onto it. But if you want to be able to keep up, I'll let you take a seat on one of my shoulders."  Should work out, he thought. Not only will he conserve whatever strength he has, he'll have a better view of anything we run into. Not to mention it'll be easier to keep track of him. It was a pleasing line of logic for the wolven Mythos, to be honest.

Now to address the metallic monstrosity speaking to everyone in general. "Oh?" He grunted sourly as he turned his attention back to it-and his feline employer. True, he'd probably have a talk with Jess later about practically usurping his position later, but that could wait a moment. "What do you have in mind, bug?" Granted, if the owner of the armored vehicle wanted to clear this up with him, now would be a wonderful time to at least give him a rough idea about the modern ideal for 'machine'.

   As everyone was migrating outside, Traxen heard someone respond to his earlier announcement. "Well, I've enlisted...wait, bug?!?" Traxen then realized who said that. "Oh...you..." Considering that Mythos' earlier treatment of his cameradrone, Traxen concluded the guy wasn't kidding about the "bug" part. Speaking of which, Traxen was still rather annoyed by that incident. Of course, such ignorance wasn't exactly unusual, what with the vast majority of areas still hadn't had any experience with the most recent, advanced Being technologies. While manufacturers like Jycorp were spreading their influence, there was the fact that they were still new. However, this Mythos seemed particularly primitive, and was apparently oblivious to the concept of a vehicle. That and no technology-illiterate Creature had every actually tried to eat his creations before. Sighing, Traxen decided that he didn't want to risk any further incidents, even though he already resolved to keep all his equipment as far away from this Creature as possible. Time to 'educate" the Mythos.
  Traxen got up from the wall of monitors/workbench chair, and squeezed his way up to the front of the van, into the driver's seat.

***

  The little square metal plate on the front of the van slid up again, revealing the small window with Traxen in it. "Alright, Mythos...listen up." said Traxen's voice over the external speakers, speaking slowly and deliberately, and making exaggerated hand gestures through the window. "This...is not a bug. This is a van. A vehicle. Like a gryphon-cart? Except no gryphon. Or magic. Are you with me so far? I built this myself. Y'know, hands? And hammer, and wrench, and chisel, something like that. Think of me as a really good blacksmith. Or a tinker. Oh, and those little flying and crawling things? I built those, too. And I control them. They are not bugs, though they do look like bugs. Not food, got it? Not bugs, not food. Okay."
  Traxen's head sunk a little from view as he sat back in the driver's chair. "...gotta scrub the stupid out... Alright, now that I've taken care of that, back to the rest of you. Getting to what I was going to say, we are all heading into the City for our own reasons. We also have all heard about it being a rather dangerous place. Anyway, I'm going in for salvage. As some of you have seen, I do have some robotic drones, with which I conduct reconnaissance beyond the limits of my van. I also do have the capability to exert...force...beyond my van as well. However, I have, on several occasions, worked with adventurer groups (though I am not one myself), and if those experiences have taught me one thing, it's that some intelligent and self-sufficent eyes and firepower are always useful in protecting myself. However, I only have the capability of working with only a small number of people at a time, and I'm not much of a large-group person myself anyway. To these ends, I have enlisted the personal aid of two people among you; Officer Payden Velasquez, and...ah...the book-mage who's name I have unfortunately not learned yet...yeah (and uh, Officer, I would appreciate it if you actually gave her that second headset I gave you...). Anyway. The point I've been trying to get to is; for the best surveillance efficiency, I'll be having them covering separate areas. Yeah, split up. It's not that bad though, if I am not mistaken, a few of you seem to be having trouble getting along. So, you all can sort yourselves into two groups, if you like. Doesn't matter to me who goes with who, I'm really only interested in the two people I'm working with. But, through them, I can coordinate everyone for mutual protection, and provide early-warnings with my own equipment. Right. That's...all I wanted to say. I'm ready to go when the rest of you are."

Mao shook his head at the feline.

"No time, whatever is in there is moving fast."he said, barely pausing once he landed. "You can search around if you wish.  It might even be wise."

With that Mao turned, and made his way into the church, hoping to find his way quickly to the source of the sound and find out that he was over-reacting.  Though in the back of his mind he was worried that things would likely not be that simple.

Kyirri kept his blank stare, awaiting the time to move out. He briefly turned to Raek in response to his inquiry. "I won't have trouble holding this, but I will have trouble hiding it." He briefly glanced outside. "Not now though... there are more pressing matters to attend to." Book in his hands, he strode outside following Andrace, like a silent shadow.

His blank stare went to the van outside when the person inside addressed them. He listened intently to Traxen's speech. He briefly glanced at his companions, trying to gauge their reactions to this situation. Soon after, he kept his attention affixed on the van. After hearing it all, he registered all the information inside his head. Please tell me that I'm not the only one who sees all the inconsistencies with this setup. Besides, if he's working with Payden, likely his employer, then he's certainly not someone who can be trusted. He made a few steps towards Traxen's van, and spoke up.

"Stop." Kyirri said, tone still entirely flat. "If you're Payden's employer, that's certainly an indication that you can't be trusted, several other observations aside. For instance, if you already have an armored vehicle and several drones, which implies that you have at least some, if not a great amount of pre-existing wealth. That would mean that if you don't have any prior influence, contacts, or political power within the city, you have much to lose and little to gain. That you would be going in personally also strikes me as peculiar. Secondly, you claim not to know the name of your second so called employee, that means that you either have so many that you can't keep track of them all, or that she isn't really your employee. Thirdly, you claim to have worked with adventurer groups. Yet I find that odd, that considering you seem to have enough wealth and influence to have at least one, if not more dedicated employees, that you would have adventurers work for you. They tend to be less reliable and in general more expensive. You also seem to assume that we've agreed to this arrangement as well." Also it's sometimes hard to find adventurers to perform dirty deals... employees are far better for performing things like hold-ups and contract killings... Kyirri paused, but didn't express that thought.

"In short, I do not believe you can be trusted, you or Payden. I believe that I and my companions would not appreciate having tracking devices keeping tabs on us." Especially since you could easily just have us all killed when you're done using us. After all, your employee nearly had me killed once... Kyirri held his blank stare, awaiting a response.

Witt snagged his beer from the bar, flipped the coin - that the knife had morphed into - into the air, caught it, and sauntered for the door, arriving outside to the porch railing in time to hear the pronouncement from the armoured vehicle just outside.

He snorted. "Yeah, like that'll fucking work. 'Split up, it'll be safer!'" He chuckled. "My bloody arse it'll help. You'll just get eaten alive in nibbles, rather than bites." He took a drink, then went on. "Scrubbing the stupid out won't work, either. It seems ingrained." He chuckled once more. "You're better off working as a damned team, only you bastards don't appear to have a fucking clue how to trust anyone."

He shook his head, in a melancholy fashion, to himself, muttered something about "suicidal, I swear" and leaned on the railing, bending it somewhat, and continued to sample his drink.

   After a moment of quite honestly stunned silence, a hollow laugh emitted from the van's speakers. "Wealth? Wealth?!? Oh, good gods! Little dude, it's because I don't have wealth anymore that's I'm salvaging in the first place! Yeah, I had wealth, and dedicated employees, and even a little influence once, but that was before my business was quite literally burned to the ground and sent me on the run. I've been scraping around just to buy food, but more importantly, I've been hunting through scrapyards for parts and raw materials to feed through my onboard processing unit so that I can keep building stuff. Call it an obsession of mine. But scrapyard materials just aren't high-quality enough for some of my work, obviously, which is why I came here when I heard about this place. An entire city of fully-modernized and advanced Being technology, and empty to boot, all for the taking? It'll be better than home, various rumored beasties notwithstanding...should be safe enough so long as proper precautions are taken.
  "Unfortunately, I haven't been able to do what I really want to do, and that's re-set-up a shop, because, wouldn't you believe it? Jycorp's already snapped up the market or some city council run by Creatures says "we don't want your technology here'. I even have reason to believe that the band of Creatures who smoked me out in the first place have actually been following me, though I'm fairly certain I've lost them, but even if not, I plan to either be long gone or have a nasty surprise waiting for them...
  "But anyway, there's another thing you seem to have all wrong. I'm not actually employing anyone here, because employing would involve payment. No, I only offered mutual cooperation. The two people I've chosen gain my unique form of protection through intelligence of their surroundings, and thus warning of potential threats. In return, they are an extra eye, ear, and fist for me. We've all heard that this city is a rather rough place, so it's win-win for everyone involved with this setup. Now, the offer was only for them. But, should anyone be standing right next to them, then they would benefit from the same protection by virtue of proximity. That's what I was trying to say. As I said, it doesn't make much of a difference to me what you decide to do. Heck, I was actually prepared to go in alone, but by some truly amazing coincidence, I find all you adventurers here. I'm just taking advantage of the opportunity, but it's no loss to me if you have some obvious trust and conclusion-jumping issues..."
  At that point, a hedgehog fellow went on a little rant about splitting up. Traxen just sighed a little at this. "No, I didn't actually say it would be safer. In fact, one large group would indeed be the most secure setup. It just wouldn't be the most efficient for my purposes. Reason why I was suggesting it in the first place is because several people who were here already went in alone, which they wouldn't have if they were confident in their abilities, and the fact that the barkeeper has been in and out more times than we probably will ever know. I just figured that two groups would be 'safe enough', as you'd still be a bigger group than those who already jumped the guns and went in. But hey...if no one really wants to split up, then there aint really a damn thing I can do about that, is there? Can't say I'd blame anyone for that, either. And once again, little loss for me. Oh well, just thought I'd try, I'll live with it. It's just how I was hoping to work things out."

As it were, a certain Troll-wolf was busy trying to assimilate the considerable amount of information he'd just gotten.

One could almost say his reaction to Traxen's  educational speech was quite comical; the lupine brute blinked, his one lightly fuzzed ear flicking back as one could swear he was raising a rather invisible eyebrow. Granted, he understood some of what was said right away-such as the machines not being some sort freakish insect-but the rest was rather confusing.

Unfortunately that naturally blank look his kind could be so good at probably gave the impression every word had gone over his head, despite how he was trying to sort that out. Why, he even missed the 'roo-rat's response to his offer!

Just as well, really.

The monstrous canine's tail twitched slightly. No magic, huh. And a gryphon-cart? You know, I have yet to see one of those...though I admit those little gryphons don't taste bad themselves.... At least Traxen couldn't hear his thoughts; the fellow might have had something very interesting to say to that. Still, the lupine wasn't quite finished with his rationalization of the given data.  And he built that all on his own? He can't be a being... Raek's muzzle twitched into a frown that further accented that impression he was giving. Well, it could be possible, but that'd take awhile, I'd think. I guess a blacksmith could work....

Admittedly, he was still tempted to stick with his initial philosophy; but while thick-headed at times he wasn't quite that foolish. And it was better than thinking of the fellow as a tinker-as noted before he had some uncomfortable experiences with breaking their little creations.

Nothing like having to find a rather creative means of digging that all-important spring out of one nostril while the creator either laughed their head off or went into a hysterical fit. And woe betide if it was something else, or got him in the eye!

Yeah, it was in his best interest to think of Traxen otherwise.  And pity he missed the rather fascinating discussion-for the most part-while he mulled this over. Especially the comment that seemed to refer to his lack of understanding. Eh, not like it would have helped if he'd tried to pay attention to that and sort this stuff out. And no doubt he was expected to answer the fellow in that remarkable contraption as well.

"Right," He grunted, "I'll keep that in mind." The lupine troll suddenly seemed rather disinterested as he glanced over at his current employer. He did have to make sure nothing had happened while he'd been distracted, afterall.

"Silverstone. Kaela Silverstone." The older wolf finished Ed's sentence for him bluntly, not stopping in her assistance to glance at him as she did so. Blood flowed over her fingers as she pressed down on the wound, fidgeting with the knife in her other hand as she prepared to do what she had hoped wouldn't come to pass. Her training and years of experience meant that she had medical skills that were adequate for the current situation, but cutting somebody open with an unclean knife ran the risk of leaving an infection. "....fuck it," she said under her breath, the blood welling up from the wound as she stuck her blade into it and began to lever the piece of bone upward.

"Be ready with that cauterization," she cautioned, hoping that Ephrael couldn't feel the abuse that Kaela was giving to the girl's body. A few more back-and-forth motions, and the offending shrapnel popped out with a small spurt of blood, cracking against the concrete below as it flipped end over end. "Okay, do it. I'll try to keep the bleeding down." The wolf used both hands to press down roughly against the wound, doing her best to staunch the bleeding until Ed assisted her.

Ed's tentacle was heated quickly, and the air around it quivered.  He gently nudged Kaela's hands out of the way as he pressed the tentacle around the inside of the wound, making sure to seal it until a proper healing spell could be applied at the bar.

"Thanks for the help, Kaela." Ed said sincerely, "Once we're done here, i'm heading back for the Inn with my companion.  You're welcome to join us if you'd like... Or you can go on your way.  I feel i owe you more than a simple thank you, and, if you do stay, know that i'll be back to fulfill my debt as soon as my friend is taken care of."  Once the wound was patched, Ed lifted Ephy off the ground, wrapping a feathery wing around her to keep her warm and fight off shock. He held her close as he started towards the entrance of The City, and eventually the Inn.  

Sister Alex looked around the dusty street at the bickering crowd. This was not the sort of adventuring group she envisioned traveling into a dangerous zone with. A bit of showing off and jockeying for position she understood, but paranoia and racial hatred were already dividing the group and they hadn't even stepped off the steps to the inn. It was just passing noon, they had managed to waste hours inside.

She glanced over at Andrace, the one seasoned adventurer in the group, and gave her a look that let the lion know her patience was at an end. Then the squirrel stepped off the steps and into the road. Whomever was serious about being in a group would follow. The rest could go back to drinking.

   As Traxen was sitting back in the driver's chair after the little speach he made, he noticed that the book-mage herself was already starting to walking off. This was both reassuring and worrying. It was reassuring in that she was clearly a no-nonsense woman who didn't waste time, which is exactly one of the traits Traxen was looking for. It was worrying in that she hadn't actually had anything to say about Traxen's plans herself, which suggested she might not actually be willing to work with him. Admittedly, she never actually said "yes" to his original offer... Traxen wondered if Payden was going to be the only person he was working with. That would be quite disappointing.
  "Well, I guess that's time to go!" Traxen said as he got up and squeezed out of the driver's seat and back to the middle of the van, switching his external speakers off and closing the metal plate on the front.
  On the wall of monitors, Pamcawv automatically tracked all "targets". Traxen tapped the box that was around the book-mage on the touch-screen, and spoke a command. "Pamcawv, follow selected target."
  "A-fir-ma-tive."
  The van then pulled out of the parked position it was in by itself, and went inching after Sister Alex, following about five yards behind her walking pace.
  Traxen then switched over to Payden's headset. "Come along, Officer. I will have your weapon assembled before we enter the gates, as promised." With that, Traxen sat back down at the workbench with the pieces of Payden's gun on it. Traxen pulled out a few cleaners and removed any grit or lint from the parts as he began fitting them together.

Red Light District, huh...

"C'mon now. Do I look like the kind of guy to get in trouble?" he said.

Giles grinned. It was unsettling, and somewhat undermined his point.

"I'll keep that in mind, though." he said, leaning back forward and taking a drag of his cigarette, moving past the gate and waving lamely at the guard as he continued on. "Avoid waterfront, top priority, definitely. Won't go there, no sir."

He did intend to go there as soon as he was out of sight, of course. He didn't know the way, though. But the Waterfront helped. Unless it was one of those damn poetic things, like the Parks district being a foundry, or somewhere called Queens that had nothing to do with any fucking Queen.
He headed towards what he thought was most likely the "Waterfront", however, keeping his burning spear resting on his shoulder rather than in it's holster. It looked rather like a long torch, dripping a trail of blood behind him.

Ephrael's slumped form didn't even flinch as the field surgery was done to her punctured behind. Her temperature seemed to be lower than it should and she was in a cold sweat, yet her heart rate seemed strong and steady. And despite her unconscious state the unusual mind shield was still functioning.

She moaned slightly in her sleep.

Andrace waited until most of the others had gone out onto the street before following, at least partly (she told herself sourly) to stop anyone having a change of mind and scuttling back inside. She noticed Kyirri following on her tail, and Jess taking care to keep in her shadow: curious. She watched with one ear perked up curiously as the big armoured bus approached. The other ear went up as she followed the others' conversations with the reclusive driver. Kyirri was, again, suspicious and not shy about letting everyone know. Raek looked confused, which she pretty much expected. The hedgehog was a bit, pardon the expression, prickly, but he had a good point about not splitting up. She'd certainly hoped to keep everyone together if possible once they were in the city.

She wasn't sure she shared Kyirri's distrust of the driver. He might not have made (in her opinion) a good choice of assistants in Payden, but there was nothing she actually disliked about him. Except perhaps his tendency to babble... Ah, well. Without coming any closer to the front window of the bus, she took a good look at the driver. He had to come out of there every now and then, and she wanted to be able to recognise him without the surrounding ironmongery. When the bus trundled off along the road, the lioness turned and followed Sister Alex. "Well, let's get this show on th' road," she called over her shoulder to the others. "C'mon, Raek, next stop th' city."

The bus rolled up on heavy, armor-hubbed wheels and stopped with the typical creak and hiss of heavy trucks everywhere. Grateful for the company but a little disappointed they wouldn't be taking a walk in the fresh air so that she might get to play a few tricks and get to know these people a bit better, Jessica casually tossed the last piece of sandwich into her mouth, chewed hastily, and then downed it in one gulp, swigging deeply from her beer. She didn't much listen to the announcement, but tried simply to look on the bright side. Or rather, the gloomy side, in that at least they'd get some shade if they went on the bus.
   'What did you expect from people who have come here, of all places?' she asked the air casually, while turning and leaning back against the porch railing only slightly, just barely indicating that it was Witt she was speaking to. 'And, no offense, but you don't exactly seem the type to stay out of this just 'cause of someone's stupidity. You seem more like the sort to tag along just so as you can say you told 'em so.' She grinned. 'So don't try and tell me you're not coming. Personally, I like a man who I can't trust and who'll tell me off like that. It's the nice and earnest ones you ain't sure about that you ought to watch out for. Let's get a move on, shall we, love?'
   The rat's last remark became rather dubious, as while she began walking casually along the street, observing the spectacle the group were making of themselves in their hesitance, she both flashed Witt a sharp-toothed smile and managed to deliver a surreptitious, nigh-invisible but firm pinch to Andrace's backside.

"Right, boss," The oversized canine grunted-right now his pale eyes were focused more on Jill as the rodent conversed with that one chap that had the spines on his back. Still don't know what breed he is, do I? Raek thought as he glanced down at Kyirri again-no doubt the little chap would let him know if he'd like the lift...if he wanted it.

Oh well, he had a paycheck to think about, so when Andrace said come, he had to come. Everything else was moot point in that respect.

So, with a flick of his scraggly-fuzzed tail, the monstrous canid padded after his feline employer-one clawed hand resting lightly on the haft of his axe and the other casually keeping that sack he'd bought dangling over one shoulder. It wouldn't be hard for him to keep up with her, really, as he settled into a pace that put him within ten feet of her and the feminine rat named Jill. Not that he knew the rodent's name, to be honest.

It was also a pity he wasn't in a position to see the small stunt the rodent pulled on the feline in question...Oh well. It was probably better he hadn't, for both his sake and Jill's. Given his observations from before, even if they didn't manage to kill each other both would probably be in considerable pain...with Raek having taken more in the punishment department, most likely.

As it were, the lupine troll was content to watch for danger for the moment-and glance back at everyone else that was supposedly coming along.  Even if they weren't in Andrace's employ, he had assumed she was pretty much the leader of their band. Hmm...Not his place to point it out, anyway.

"I do hope you don't," The gatehouse rat said, slight grin in the blackguard's direction going unnoticed as he marched off "I certainly hope you don't..."
Giles strolled off into the suburbs, eventually reaching the edge of the brackish river seperating the main city from the rows upon rows of happy little houses. Across the river... Well, it most certainly LOOKED like a red light district on that side of the water. Docks and slums and even a literal reddish hue to the street lamps, constantly lit in the shade of the larger buildings further on. Now how to get over there...?
Well, to his left in the distance he could see a bridge, with smoke coming up from it for reasons unknown. Further down, to his right, he could see the squat low shape of a ferry terminal.

--

Meanwhile, back at the Last Chance, Jezebel stepped out and looked over the crowd briefly before her eyes settled on Witt. She stepped forward and handed him a note.
"That demon girl left this for you before going back to her room. Figured I should get it to yah before yah leave."
The note simply said, "Looking for work? Meet me in room six, upstairs."

--

It was midafternoon by the time the whole large group from the inn finally made it to the gate of the City, the guard rat raising an eyebrow at the size of the group at the door.
"... Is that an armored short bus?" The man sat up a bit more, curious. "Damn, you lot ain't messing about are you?"

--

As Jinx slipped around the back of the church he found himself in the back rooms, offices for (aha) clerical work and restrooms and whatnot. Eventually the hallway lead its way back to the main area where Mao was, where a few things immediately became apparent.
For one thing, the church had a fairly typical design aesthetic save for the pink, sticky looking, person shaped stains on every stained glass window skewing the light ebbing through it. Through another hallway behind the altar they could see stairs, leading up to where the snoring was coming from.
The scratching was somewhere distant underground now...

--

In the museum, there was silence after Aisha thumped the sarcophagus lid... Immediately followed by panicked thumping and muffled yelling.

--

Ed made good time heading back toward the gate, passing house after house with minimum incident. Soon he was only a few blocks away from the gate, where a new group had... Jesus, was that an armored short bus?

(OOC: Tipod, I'm just going ahead and assuming you were following behind the van)
(EDIT: Tipod never actually specified he gave me a rifle, not a pistol...)

  Traxen had Payden's rifle assembled in fairly short order. While Traxen did not have much experience with manufactured weapons that were not his own, the peices fit together fairly intuitively. With the van still in motion, Traxen cracked opened the back door and handed the gun to Payden.
  "Remember, if you need any ammo, just tell me in advance. I can make some in a few hours."
  Traxen retreated back into his van, and continued working on the almost-finished drone until the gate came into view. Traxen adjusted himself to face the monitor the gatekeeper was showing up in, turned on the external speakers and microphones, and commanded Pamcawv to come to a stop.
  Traxen the addressed the guard, his disembodiesd voice broadcasting from outside the van. "Ah, hello there, good sir. I can see you are a guard of this place, but what for I'm not so sure of...you aren't going to collect a toll, are you?"

Witt smirked at the rat, and raised his beer. "Let's not, and say we did." He took a swig, and went on. "Besides, I don't see anything to drink out there."

At about that point, Jezebel handed him the note. He nodded thanks, and commented, waving his beer at her, "I wasn't leaving with this." He then turned the note over, and started to read. Then he turned it the other way up, and started again.

He raised one eyebrow, then the beer, emptying it, and handed the empty tankard back to Jezebel. "Cheers. I think that's my call."

And with that, he sauntered back inside, heading for the stairs, and room six. After all, worst case the girl merely wanted a private liaison, and he could laugh at her...

Aisha didn't really know what she expected to happen after she knocked on the ancient coffin lid.  There was still a part of her that wondered if she was just hearing things.  But Gareeku, watching curiously and keeping his blade at the ready by the panther's request, had definitely heard it too.

But when the coffin had started to quiver with the sounds of muffled yelling and thumping coming from within, it made the both of them reel back again, hearts in their throats.  A rushed "Shit!" was heard exiting Aisha's tongue...the first thing that came to mind was that it had to be someone trapped inside, and the first instinct was to help.

A part of Aisha was still suspicious...after all it could be anything.  The wolf felt the same...but at least they were prepared.  The first thing to do was to try at least.

A goddamn heartless thing to do, suffocating someone, thought Gareeku as the two of them jumped to help.

Aisha's thoughts were similar, but vocalized.  "Who'd do this?" the huntress growled as she looked for a way to open the lid.  She took her sword, sheath and all, and tried to use it as a pry-bar.  Her voice was raised, so that whomever was inside knew they were working on the situation.  "I swear if I see that frog again...relax!"  She yelled to whatever was inside.  "You'll use up the air panicking like that!"

"I don't think there's any time for thinking about revenge!" Gareeku interrupted, helping Aisha in trying to get the lid open while also glancing around the room.  "Or jumping to conclusions.  But we could probably get answers from this guy...maybe there's a key here somewhere..."

Dammit, we have to hurry...

Having both rodents press on his nerves was reason enough for Payden to grind his teeth. These lousy vermin, one you couldn't trust for obvious reasons and another you wouldn't want to be with by unpleasantry alone. After grabbing his gun from the back of Traxen's van, he gave the rats each a dour glare, idly worked the lever-action on his weapon and... did nothing else but walk a little further up and stand by Sister Alex. "...you're the good kind of religious, right? The kind that doesn't wipe out a village and only leave the kids behind?" As Payden spoke, he casually reached around to a side pouch, pulling out a small handful of bullets. "Because I need to ask something--"

The sheriff stopped his jawing and reloading upon sight of Ed and Eph. Even from here, his eyes could make out the wings. Son of a bitch. His body tensed naturally and finished shoving the last few slugs into his weapon, but relaxed soon after. Hey, no reason to feel scared; not only did he have a weapon at the ready, he had a whole posse at his side. What was one Creature against the whole lot of 'em? ...I have to stop thinking like this. We're not itching for fights just yet.

Kyirri kept a suspicious eye upon Traxen and his van while they went. People don't go from riches to rags like that... He thought. Generally, when a story like that doesn't make sense... it's because they have something to hide, something that they know I wouldn't like. I would know... I have more than my fair share of secrets to keep. He followed along in stoic silence. Either or... he's not someone to blindly trust...

He followed alongside Andrace and the others, still completely silent. He held the book-map in both of his hands, though he didn't complain about the item's bulk. As he walked along, he felt a sharp pain through his left arm, though he didn't express it. He momentarily carried the book in his arms as he felt his left arm with his right hand. He felt a slight irritation as he brushed against his left forearm. Not now! Not while those others are so close by... He stopped feeling his forearm and put both of his hands back on the book, despite that it slightly pained his left arm. I'll have to keep that hidden until I can get it taken care of. I really don't want the others finding out... It's just like before... He glanced around, keeping a close eye on Payden and Traxen, still suspicious. It can wait.

Kyirri kept his stoic silence as he gazed at the gate of the city. He examined the gates themselves, and the rat guarding them with careful scrutiny. That's odd... I kind of expected there wouldn't be any authority in control of this place, I wonder what he's doing here. He quickly stopped when he heard Payden addressing Sister Alex. He stared at him with his ever blank expression.

Ed made his way through the suburbs, stealthily, quite and careful.  He made decent time, but it still took him longer than when the pair had been barreling carelessly down the streets.  Ephy's moans bespoke of her obvious discomfort, and despite the warm wing and that he was holding her close to his chest.  He spotted the large party and the strange vehicle.  He was a bit reluctant at first, if they were adventurers who were completely racist, he'd be in a tough spot.

As Ed approached, Ephy still in his arms, he felt the animosity and thoughts from the sheriff, he also noted that most of the people had mind shields... it was interesting.  Standing near the other side of the gate, Ed took up some of the slack by hardening the outside of the wing, which freed up his hand.  Waving he said in rather flat and non-committing tone, "do any of you know some good healing magic? if so, i think i could use your help."

Sister Alex was momentarily confused at Payden's question. "Kill? The Sisters of Gutenberg are a teaching order, officer. We run libraries and schools. One can not teach the dead." She made a mental note to suggest that the order needed a stronger presence in this area. No one seemed to recognize her habit.

The sheriff stiffened and paused in mid-thought, causing Alex to look away from the guard post. A winged figure was walking towards them, carrying someone. As they got closer she recognized the pair as having been in the inn earlier. It would be instructional to find out what they had encountered. When the cubi, at least she assumed he was a cubi by the unnatural flexibility of his wings, asked for a healer Alex answered, "Bring her here and tell me what happened."

Ed nodded as a robed squirrel offered aid.  "we were attacked at the bridge, vicious bestial things... looked almost feral, but not quite..."  He paused, thinking about everything, "she ended up with the better half of a femur in her behind, and within a few minutes ended up getting sick or something."

Pausing to look down at Ephy, Ed's face was full of concern and worry.  Continuing, "I've been keeping her warm, and she's got a strong pulse, but i'm really not sure what i'm dealing with."

Andrace jumped slightly a moment after Jess's final words, and her eyes widened briefly. Had someone just pinched her butt? She'd certainly felt claws meet in her very own personal backside, but no-one was close enough... except perhaps the rat herself. If so, it was a neat, surreptitious move, she hadn't seen it coming at all. She glanced out of the corner of her eye at Jess. Was she just playing a trick, or was it a weird way of apologising, or was she suggesting...? Andrace grinned toothily. The flamboyantly dressed rat might be stronger than she looked, but was she just as tough?

The lioness breathed a sigh of relief when she realised they'd finally reached the City gates, and no-one had wandered off to chase butterflies. She resisted the temptation to roll her eyes at the guard-rat's "joke", but her ears and whiskers perked up when she spotted the people approaching the gates from inside. She was standing behind him, but she also noticed from the set of his shoulders Payden's change in attitude as the 'Cubi approached. She looked to make sure his finger was clear of the trigger, then padded silently up behind the sheriff and cleared her throat about six inches behind his head. Just close enough to let him feel warm breath on the back of his neck.

"Dunno how y're used t' workin'," she said in a low, really-not-very-menacing rumble just above a whisper, "but I don't perf'rate random Creatures wi'out a warrant in m' pocket. B'have." The lioness turned and walked off to examine the injured girl, leaving an unspoken "or else" floating in the air behind her. The tone Payden had taken with Sister Alex annoyed her as well, but she'd decided to save that one up for later.

Alex looked at the unconscious girl for a moment. She seemed pretty sick for the wound described and the nun wondered if the attacking creatures were venomous. "My staff has healing powers, but is not much use against poisons." She laid the end of the staff against the girl and she began to glow, very faintly. "If there aren't any toxins or they haven't gotten too far this should cure her."

Raek paused as he eyed the city in front of them, both ears perking forward. Even from here, he could smell many of the things associated with death. Ironically it made him hungry; especially when his sharp nose caught the odor of blood. This wasn't helped when that one gal and the strange feline that had gone with her came their way, the incubus carrying her in his arms.

At least it hadn't taken as long as he'd expected, to be honest.

But right now he didn't really care to argue with a fellow creature over the merits of bringing lunch with them-and it wasn't like he could help said Tasmanian devil anyway. His ideal on helping someone with serious tended towards when something needed to be amputated, and no one else wanting to do the job. Yes, this meant you didn't want him giving you treatment-unless you could positively convince him that a bandage would suffice and not a means to put one out of their misery.

Aside from that-and that squirrel coming over to offer what help she could to the newcomers-the lupine troll was more interested in keeping an eye on his employer...whom seemed to be having a short, serious talk to that one human for a moment. Wonder what that's about, he thought-though admittedly it wasn't his nature to pry into something his current boss was doing; unless it threatened his/her health.

And what she was doing certainly didn't seem to be leaning in that direction just yet, as she finished up and moved over to the newcomers. But, wait...he'd forgotten something, hadn't he?

The oversized mythos grunted softly as he glanced at Kyiiri-he'd almost forgotten about the small chap and the burden the canid had given him. He wanted to be able to do something, and he's got it, but still...have to see if I can lighten it a little.

Hmm...his tail wagged lazily as he moved over to the 'roo-rat. "You sure you don't want a ride? It's no trouble, and you'll have a better view." The tone, though slightly ungracious-sounding in nature and definitely on the gruff side, seemed sincere enough. "And that way I'll know if something tries to grab you."

Just...um, don't get hurt too badly again, one might have sworn he would add, it was hard enough to resist eating smaller beings like Kyiiri anyway-and much harder to avoid them when they're hurt.

Trundling along had become a bit too dull for Jess after the first twenty minutes. While she was no stranger to exercise - an understatement on the same scale as calling the ocean a bit damp - the many and curious forms of it she had come to practice over the years and later even devise ways of not needing had always been stimulating and not just tedious. Thus, whenever she walked these days she required something else to occupy her hands and her active mind. At least half of the promenade she'd spent either juggling, shuffling cards nervously between her agile fingers, or performing idle little repetitive movements that suggested in an unnerving fashion that what she was doing was working with something unseen, and something that required careful handling at that. At one point she even spun on a heel and did a few lazy flips over backwards, right there on the street, stretching muscles that felt far too rubbery and taut from the bus trip. She was almost playing a little tune jingling the bells on her dress when they arrived at the border to the inner city, and seemed to positively brighten up when they were immediately met with a scene of misery.
   'Oooh~...' the rat exclaimed, sidling around Payden and over beside sister Alex, looking over the squirrel's shoulder. 'So good to see it isn't all talk.' She flashed a smile, then looked up at Ed. 'Were they big? With red eyes? And vicious, nasty teeth?' she asked, while her own buck-toothed grin gave him an urge to put his hand over his nose. 'I've a little experience with poisons, if any would come in handy,' she then added, merely as an afterthought. With perfect airheadedness she appeared not to pay attention to anything but Ephy's predicament, though her cheerfulness was rather sudden.

Kyirri observed Sister Alex and Edaric with careful scrutiny, initially trying to determine if it was some kind of trick. He quickly passed the scene off as genuine, but didn't act, preferring to keep an eye on things from a distance. He was careful to lay most of the book-map's weight on his right arm, keeping a minimum on his left.

He didn't turn to Raek when Kyirri was addressed addressed by him. He let out a soft "No", and resumed observing the surroundings. He was trying to split his attention towards Payden and Edaric, softly hoping that no trouble would come from the former at this time, and pondering how to aid the latter's companion. Maybe that salve I have? No... I don't know what I'm dealing with, and I don't have very much of it. If I use it all now... I won't be able to heal my arm,... or any future problems... He felt another sharp tinge of pain as he rested some of the book's weight on his left forearm.

Kyirri turned to Raek, and moved the book towards him. "Hold this." He said in his ever flat tone. "I won't be able to use it while we're on the move." He paused, still trying to keep tabs on Edaric and Payden.

Kaela nodded firmly as she let the incubus take the girl's limp form from her care, giving him the pleasure of at least half of a smile. "I'll see you back at the inn then. No way in hell I'm leaving my bike here." She glanced about furtively, feeling the ever increasing pressure on her back of eyes watching her. Watching and waiting. "God knows what those things would do to it if I left it." Among the many other terrible and strange fates that could befall her precious motorcycle. With that she took her leave, shotgun aimed at the ground but ready to use nonetheless. After seeing the grotesque monsters this City had to offer, she was taking no chances. Pity that she had to use all of her grenades in one go.

The wheels of her bike kicked up a pile of papers in a roaring scream as she flew down the empty streets at a breakneck pace. She wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of that accursed City, but with her livelihood and survival on the line she'd certainly have to return for what she was looking for. The idea didn't thrill her. The exorbitant compensation just didn't seem like enough payment to go to the City for anything: jewels, people, or otherwise. Certainly it must have been completely plundered of its secrets by now, judging by how the border towns were dying off. It seemed to happen with any adventuring hotspot. Once there was nothing left to adventure, there was no reason to live there either. It was a little sad, really.

A single eyebrow raised up behind Kaela's sunglasses as she got a good look around the gate. Somebody must've brought their whole bloody crew with them, she thought wistfully, wishing that she had possessed the foresight to do as much. A whole mess of shotguns would make this job a lot easier. However, she wasn't sure she would have brought  a bus, and couldn't help but grin at the idea. Her boots scraped softly against the concrete as she pulled to a stop next to the old gate, backing her bike in just in case she needed to scram out of there in a hurry. Raising her glasses, she rubbed the bridge of her nose, killing the engine of her bike, and walked briskly towards the fallen archer-girl, eyeing the healer that seemed to be helping her. "Will she be alright?"

Ed looked rather nervous as Ephy groaned, seemed to gain semi-consciousness, then fall back asleep.  He looked at those around him who were all asking question, and started feeling rather defensive.  First turning to Sister Alex, "I do thank you for your help, but it seems we're heading back for the Inn... it would be lovely to catch you later, but for now, i think it best to tend to my friend, Ephrael first."

Next, turning his attention to the rat, he somewhat glared, "No, to all of the above, No, they were not monsters of a child's dreams, but part beast and part being.  No we do not need your help, we will be find without whatever help you may or may not be able to provide, and no, we will not be acting as some macabre form of entertainment for your own viewing pleasure."

Irritation still flowing through his body as he spotted Kaela... he focused, not letting his emotions get in the way when she asked about Eph.  He replied, "She seems to be stable, just sleeping off the effects of whatever it is that she's got.  I'm taking her back to the Inn now... I can't speak for those around me, but I would be glad to have your company if you'd wish to head back to town with Ephrael and myself."

Ed calmed himself further as he reduced his focus to just those around him that he actually genuinely liked...  He mentally thanked the lioness for her help with the lawman.  A few moments later, he decided it was time to leave.  Picking up Ephrael, again, in a rather affectionate embrace, he headed off towards the Inn again.

Aisha and Gareeku managed to get the lid of the sarcophagus off between the two of them, revealing... a girl with curly red hair and coke bottle glasses. Shrew by species, being by race and probably a shut-in by attire the girl sat up with a loud gasp, scrambling out of the sarcophagus. She was clutching a notebook and some chalk. A pencil was sticking out of her pocket. Mathematical equations were scrawled in chalk all throughout the inside of the sarcophagus. She looked up, hyperventilating.
"Oh, good... You're here..."

--

Unless she had truly extraordinary tastes, the girl did not want a private liaison.
The demon had a revolver in a holster at her belt, was sitting on the bed next to a truly nefarious looking saber, and was apparantly refreshing some sort of magic tattoo on her arm with a stylus when Witt walked in.
"Tell me, what are you looking for in that city?"

--

The rat hissed at Ed's and Kaela's descriptions of the creatures in the City. "Yeah, I've heard of them. You find 'em everywhere in there, but they're supposed to be nocturnal in the suburbs. I hear they can be domesticated, but I sure as hell wouldn't wanna find out how..."

Ed paused at the rat's expression, he wasn't 100% sure why, but suddenly, something clicked.  He raised a hand in the air, and it glowed for a second.  Moments later, a tear seemed to open up next to the gate.  A rat-ish creature appeared.  Ed touched the creature's head, seeming to massage the perfectly smooth, gray and red Warp-Aci.  The feline said, "Raeleg, do you think you can transport us to the Inn... if anything can penetrate that thick skull of yours, i hope the directions i just sent you, did."

The Aci looked slightly irritated, in a soft soprano, the glow-rat replied, "You don't have to be so abusive, Edaric, yes i got the directions, and yes, i can take you there..."

The long, narrow tail, began glowing as Realeg hopped in the air, floating for a few seconds he spun about, head over heels, slashing another gash with his tail.  Ed paused, looking at Keala, "If you want a quick trip back to the Inn, follow me... this portal won't be open for long, though."  With that, Ed stepped through, and headed towards the entrance, waiting just long enough for the portal to close, in case Kaela choose to follow.

As he stepped into the main area, a very slight sense of relief flushed over Jinx. Not enough to cause him to let his guard down.

Until he noticed the odd stains on the windows. Mouthing a "What in the Seven Hells....?"to himself, he spent a good minute examining them, trying to figure just what they were-

The starching noise. It was under him now. It clicked it Jinx's brain fairly quickly. The cellar, or some kind of tunnel system.

Jinx motioned to Mao to come closer. Perhaps he was right, Maybe he was too slow finding another entrance. Perhaps this Adventurer had seen something...

To be safe though, he placed his finger in his lips, just in case Mao had somehow forgotten his own advice. He normally didn't trust adventurers, then again, this might be because of a differing moral code in his profession then that of Mao's own...

   As they were getting to the gate, Traxen also got some of Payden's words that were apparently meant for the book-mage, asking her something about her being the "good" kind of religious. However, something else caught his attention. On the other side of the gate, someone was approaching, apparently carrying someone. But a certain detail caught Traxen's attention most of all on the external monitor. The person carrying had wings.
  A Creature.
  Traxen sucked in a slight breath, as this was somewhat unexpected. What was even more unexpected, however, was that when they got into identifiable range, the trackers Pamcawv had on them already had some information on them. Traxen quickly went over some of the video logs from the Inn, and sure enough, they were both there. Even without this, Traxen still wasn't the kind to shoot Creatures first and ask questions never, even after they had ruined him. However, that didn't mean he trusted them either.
  Traxen flagged the tracking tag Pamcawv was identifying the Creature with as "yellow". That mean that Pamcawv the automatic systems explicitly wouldn't consider this target as hostile unless the target initated a hostile act towards the van, drones, bots, or any "green" targets. Speaking of which...
  Traxen took a few moment to flag the trackers on the other people in the group, changing them from "uncolored" neutral to green (with the exception of the rather unstable-seeming jester-rat. However, Traxen made a few specific alteration to that profile, as Pamcawv could easily mistake her antics towards the others as "hostile action". However, Traxen did not make this extend to his own equipment). Green meant that, in a dangerous or combat situation, the autonomous systems would not only take steps to avoid causing accidental collateral damage on them, but would actively work to protect and cover them.
  In the meantime, it seemed as if the person the Creature was carrying was injured, and said injured person was getting some help from the book-mage. Shortly after that, someone on a motorcycle also appeared on the other side of the gate, and apparently was familiar with the Creature and the injured person. The mobility a motorcycle-mounted agent would offer appealed to Traxen, but the type of bike and person riding it suggested, if not some biker hooligan, than at least a "rough" person. Probably not someone Traxen would be able to get along with easily.
  Shortly afterward, they seemed to have finished tending to the injured girl, and the Creature started carrying her back to the Inn. However, he didn't get far before stopping, apparently for casting some magic. As Traxen watched on the monitos, a small, floating black creature with a very long whip-like tail materialized. After a breif interaction with the Creature, the small thing then seemed to open up a "hole" in space, which the Creature stepped through. Traxen then realized what it must be. A Warp-aci. That thing was a Warp-Aci.
  Traxen had read and heard a little about them, but never actually seen one. All he knew is that they were summoned my a shadow-magic ritual and had the capability of instantaneous transportation. Now, Traxen still thought that all magic was quaint. But even so, he knew a possibility when he saw one, and his mind instantly went into overdrive, thinking of some potential applications even with his limited knowledge. Traxen resolved to ask the Creature about the Warp-Aci if he ever saw him again.
  After a little bit, Traxen realized he had been completely distracted. He looked at the monitor the gate-guard was in, and started speaking over the external speakers.
  "So, if you are a gatekeeper for this place, the I would imagine you have at least some knowledge of the dangers within... I have already been warned to avoid anything that looks like it's supposed to alive entirely, double-check anything inanimate before touching, and to stay out of the subway system. Are there any other particular dangers or hazardous areas I should be aware of?"
  The rat responded, which was picked up on the external microphones and broadcast into Traxen's headset. "Mm, a few things to watch out for. Roads, buildings, trees, people, particularly aggressive sounds, the light in particular settings..." On the screen, the rat waved his hand languidly, "You're better off just generally watching out."
  Traxen frowned slightly, as he had been hoping for something a little more specific than that. Oh well. After a minute, Traxen abruptly perked up. He had just thought of something that could drasticaly reduce the time he spent searching for salvage in the first place.
  "Hey, uh... assuming it's still standing, and that you know where it is, can you tell me the location of the city hall? It should have records and blueprints of the industial, commerical, and technological centers of the city, and having access to that information will help me focus my salvage efforts."
  "City hall? Think that's uptown. WAY uptown, in central square. Keep going up far enough you can't miss it. Bit of a ways though."
  Even though Traxen could not yet decide whether or not this information was worth acting on, it was still very useful to know. There was one last question he had.
  "Oh, and one last thing. This is probably crazy, considering how long this place has been abandoned, leaving no one to actually keep this running, but...is any of the city's infrastructure still operational? Namely, the electrical power utility?"
  "Electricity... Not everywhere. Something's keeping it going in some places, but I hear the power plants aren't a good place to check out. Then there's the things that just look like they're still workin' to catch prey..."
  Again, while unspecific, this was more useful information.
  "Okay, thank you very much, sir, you've been quite helpful." Traxen said. Turning his attention to the group he continued speaking. "Alright everyone, if we are all going in and we plan to remain in each other's company, we should probably get our path figured out ahead of time to prevent any navigational conflict. As you just heard, I'd like to visit this place's city hall. Getting there, getting what I need, and getting out will almost certainly take most of the day, and I absolutely want to be out by nightfall, that's one thing the barkeeper warned me about. However, my agenda almost certainly doesn't coincide with anyone else's, although my planned path might. So, if you are willing, speak up about where you'd like to vist in the City and what for. However, if no one actually wants to go in as far on the first escapade as I'd like, well...I guess that's tough luck for me."

(OOC: I worked out the dialogue with Boogeyman ahead of time, so  no one's waiting on that. Incidentally, my post has also turned out much longer than anticipated...)

"Huh?" The abominable canid tilted his head quizzically as the 'roo-rat seemed to be foisting his task off to someone else-namely the lupine troll in question. Eh, whatever. I usually end up carrying a lot anyway, he thought as he accepted the tome being thrust back at him...and casually tucked it under one armpit without a second's thought. "Fine, but it's still your responsibility, not mine."

Well, he certainly wasn't going to take the time to stuff it into the sack over his shoulder. Besides, as hideous as he might appear, he was reasonably clean (His clothes were another story, of course!). Still, it was just the thought, you know?

Annnyway, disturbing thoughts aside, things were taking a rather interesting turn in Raek's opinion.

Well, at least when one took into account the odd thing that had just shown up. Look, dinner, was his first thought as that 'cubi started talking to the strange shadow-critter. Certainly the little chap was infinitely more interesting than the discussions going on all around the troll-wolf.

Pity his next thought registered that it seemed to be a pet to the aforementioned incubus. Drat. Now I'll just have to wonder what it tastes like. His one furred ear twitched back though as he caught mention of returning back to the inn. "So we're not going into the city?" The tone was gruff; casual even...but one could tell he was mildly disappointed at the thought of not getting to do his job.

Afterall, what's the point of being paid if you're not going to get to do what that payment is for? The canine mythos sighed, both ears flicking back. Another job gone, if he'd guessed correctly.

Witt sauntered up to the room in question, and knocked on the door. At the call to enter, he opened the door, stuck his head in, and glanced around.

Hrm. The revolver means she probably wasn't after a liaison. He glanced at the saber, and reconsidered. Maybe. And then the stylus and tattoo. Hrm. Haven't had one like this since, oh, it'd be that pretty insectis with the piercings, way, back oh, must be a couple centuries at least. Now, she was a wild one. And before her, it'd been half a millennium to that mythos with the...

He dragged himself mentally back into the present, and raised one eyebrow at the girl on the bed. With a gimpy leg like that, dragging a sword around would be pointless, since anyone with anything more than a paring knife would be able to run rings around her, unless she was very very good with it. He considered her question carefully, looking at it, metaphorically speaking, from all sides, before answering. He stumped over to the chair, picked it up, turned it round, and sat on it, resting his arms on the back, and gazing at her for a moment before responding.

"Stuff. And possibly some things. And maybe, if I'm lucky, some other stuff, too." He paused for a beat, then went on. "Why? What's it to you?"

Jessica didn't flinch when the Aci popped out of thin air, stretching out from a spot into a thin black band and then expanding, like the picture shrinking on an old television set as you turned it off but recorded and played backwards. 'Nifty,' was the only comment she offered, when the portal stretched into existence. Her eyes darted sideways suddenly, and she observed the strangely sharp look the wolf Mythos was giving the little warp imp, and the brief exchange that included him. With a certain acumen, she picked up some amusing undercurrents, and flashed her quite noticeable grin at Raek.
  'Of course we're still going into the city, silly,' she said, and her voice took on a sing-song quality. 'Standing still on the steps satisfies us not. If we did nae enter, believe so I will, it would sit sorely ill with this dilly lot.' Her gaze went a little distant, and she chuckled. Some reed instrument players would have marveled at the tones one could get out of the rat's front teeth when she pronounced 'satisfies'. With the silky precision of a crab she sidled over a little closer to Raek.
  'Don't try eating one of those, by the way. It'll make a hole in your stomach,' she said, still grinning. 'Well, a worse one than there already is, at least.' She balled her fist, and punched his gut, playfully and without much force.

Once the kids stepped out of the bar, they felt an odd sense of relief. At last, they were finally going to the city and going to figure out what the hell Black Magic had wanted out of this place. But as it turned out, there were still more interruptions and people on their way out of the bar and into the street. There was a robot, who apparently knew Payden and who Kyirri obviously mistrusted, and the decidedly surly hedgehog from earlier. The latter was openly and optimistically pessimistic about their journey into hell itself, to which Kali nearly stuck out her tongue before Mykst gave her arm a squeeze of warning. He'd seen enough anger for one day, he wasn't about to let Kali or himself incur any more. What with all the time bombs just waiting to go off here, it won't take long, though... The man who communicated through the robots left with the bus, and the kids, wishing they had a huge armored car, followed along with the group.

The journey to the gate was uneventful, save for Payden being racist (at which Kali gave Mykst a look) and Jess being violent and psychotic (at which Mykst gave Kali a look). Andrace stopped Payden soon enough, which got a respectful smile and nod from Black Magic, but the people Jess was grinning at were a matter of curiosity. It was a Incubus carrying an apparently injured succubus, and initially, the kids did their best not to stare. They'd seen only one demon before, and he was only half-blood, but this was their first time ever seeing one of the Cubi. They lived in a town comprised mostly of Beings, so it was a learning experience for them. At the mention of needing healers, though, they gave each other a worried look. Flesh wounds were one thing, but they only knew how to cure a poison if someone told them what it was, and even Kali only knew how to cure basic poisoning so far. Fortunately, though, the decision was made without them, and they were treated to another rare sight: a Warp-Aci. Mykst reacted with a face of surprise and a strange sense of eagerness, and Kali with an 'awwwww' expression. Once the appeal of that wore off, though, they started to look around at the others in the group and drift over to them, Kali to Jess, Mykst to Traxen. Perhaps because it had been so long since he'd spoken, perhaps because the presence of the group gave him a strong feeling, he didn't stutter or look away from the ... um ...

"Well, we don't really have a specific destination in mind. We're here because Black Magic, well, had a hunch about this place. Hopefully, looking through the city will explain why before something kills us, but until then, wherever the others want to go is fine." As long as it's nowhere with big sharp claws and teeth, the cat left unspoken. Surely no-one in the group except Jess and Payden would willingly seek out trouble...right?

Kali, meantime, observed Jess and Raek with a passive sense of amusement and horror. The woman was going to be really, really interesting, whether in the Chinese-curse sense or the kill-a-threat-by-turning-it-into-fleshy-ribbons sense. Right now, though, no matter how talented she was, she seemed to be really asking for it. Don't mind me, just never seen someone dig her own grave with a steam shovel before.

Andrace stood well back, but she watched closely as Sister Alex worked on the injured girl. She was beginning to wonder about poison as well: the wound was more than superficial, but on its own, it shouldn't have been enough to put someone down and out like this. It wasn't a good place for an injury like that, either. Fortunately, the girl was short-tailed anyway, otherwise she might have become one. Nice fur tattoo, though. Andrace remembered the last time she'd been shot in the butt: even after her sister Despina had healed it, she still wasn't happy about sitting down for the next day or so.

The lioness perked an ear up at Traxen's comments and looked thoughtful. "Hmm... well, I wasn't plannin' on goin' anywhere in p'tic'lar," she said after a moment, then glanced around at the others. "So f'r me, th' city hall's as good a place as any t' try t' reach first. All o' y' happy wi' that? Anyone got other ideas?" Her eyes and ears flicked back and forth, but most of her attention seemed to be on Sister Alex and Kali. The squirrel for her good sense, and the young lioness for the possible value of her hunch. Whatever it was.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the spotted 'Cubi take the injured girl by Warp-aci teleport back to the inn, with the wolf following on her bike. She hoped the girl would be all right. Perhaps they'd bump into each other later, inside the city.

Sister Alex watched the cubi leave with the injured girl. She wished she could do more, but healing wasn't one of her strong magics. That was why she had been gifted with the staff. Hopefully the innkeeper knew of a better healer in the town.

The van-man announced he was searching for City Hall and none of the others seemed to have a definite destination. Alex's first thought was to strike out and look for a library, but on second thought the city's records might settle the question of whether or not the order had ever had a branch here. Without knowing the true name of the city it was hard to match it up with any of their long-lost brethren. If the records hadn't been looted she might find some clues. If there was an old chapter house in these ruins it would be the best starting point for her book hunt. She nodded to the others, "City Hall seems like a good starting point."

It took a feat of strength between herself and Gareeku to get the heavy, ancient sarcophagus lid open...but when they did, Aisha was rather relieved for a couple of reasons.  One being that they had apparently saved the shrew that had suddenly crawled out from certain suffocation, and the other being that it wasn't anything to fight, it seemed (to the hunter's slight disappointment, nonetheless).

The panther replaced her sword onto her back as she studied the strange, bookish-looking Being with a tilted head, sparing a glance towards Gareeku and back to her again.

"You alright, chica?" she asked, her face showing a little concern as she was still hyperventilating while speaking.  "How long were you in there?  And what were you doing anyway?"

Among the many questions that we ought to be asking, Aisha thought silently.  But best give her a chance to compose herself, first...

Payden, in all his sensibility, kept to himself and stood away from the others while Sister Alex did her work on the injured demon. No point in causing trouble while the others still seemed unsure of him... especially that lioness. Offending them and being restrained by the buff feline could have put his old bones in some serious hurt.

So he stood nearest the van, palming his neck and waiting for the little procedure to finish before he got too antsy. Before he knew it, everyone was ready to move out again. But that brought up the whole new dilemma of just where to go in such a sprawling hell-hole.

"Well, I'll tell you where we're not going: the morgue, an orphanage, the zoo, any kind of burial grounds, and no prisons. Nothing with any kind of residual evil left, and we're sure as hell not going below ground. No basements, no subways." He rubbed his nose nervously. "I have no objections to visiting the city hall."

Mao, not wasting a second, started to look for a way to make his way upstairs.  Though the scratching sound had moved further away and, Mao still believed that if the source of the snoring was someone alive, he might be able to get some information about what had happened.  The sight of the place, to his sight, was very odd.  The walls were covered in what looked like a living substance.. or the substance of a formerly living thing, he wasn't sure and didn't pause to figure it out.  Regardless of if there was still danger in the area, Mao still wanted to know what was going on and a survivor could be an excellent source.

Being as cautious as his haste would allow, Mao began to look for a way to get to the source of the snoring, not even noticing the feline who was motioning to him.

Kyirri kept his blank look on Raek as the tome was taken from him. "I'll take it back when we stop. For now, I need to stay alert." He glanced about. Especially with those two around. That my teammates are way too trusting won't help anything. He was listening to the conversation, but said nothing.

City hall... I'm amazed this place has one, considering how lawless I've heard it is. Still, I'd better be alert in case we're being led right into a trap.

   Taking stock of the group's reactions to his question, Traxen noted that none seemed to have a problem with his destination. In fact, it seemed as if none of the others actually had destinations of their own. Considering that this place was supposed to be the abandoned, looted shell of what was once a popular adventuring locale, Traxen found this quite surprising.
  Traxen then began thinking about a few things, mostly having to do with getting to the proposed city hall. Then he realized a few problems. Then, just as quickly, he thought of solutions.

***

  Traxen's voice continued speaking from the van. "Okay, so city hall it is. However, as this is a large city, with the hall being located in central square, I'm counting on the time it takes to get there to be measured by the hour. However, I doubt any of you would want to walk that distance if there was any other option, and if I actually slowed down to keep with you on foot, it may take the rest of the day just to get there. Now, uh...I unfortunately can't take on any passengers, because I've got a lot more stuff in here than you'd think, and even the smallest of you would get in my way if I tried to move around. So, short of everyone just sitting on the roof, the next best thing I can think of is that we commandeer the first vehicle we see that all of you can fit in..." there was a momentary pause, "...that also isn't cursed or housing some eldritch abomination or is otherwise inconducive to safe transport, and if it isn't in operable condition, which is possible, I'll just tow you guys around. If there are no objections or better ideas, shall we be off?"
  The van started moving forward at a slow pace, and while it was moving, Traxen's voice continued speaking again. "Oh! Geeze! I just realized I haven't properly introduced myself to the rest of you yet. The name's Traxen Ridgrey. As is rather obvious, I am an inventor, builder, engineer, and a few other things besides. Though my preference is making self-propelled autonomous machines, I can fix up, whip up, or upgrade just about any mechanical, digital, or electronic device you care for."
  There was another pause as the van continued forward. "Ah, I suppose I should also introduce my...uh...well, I'll just let him introduce himself. Pamcawv, introduce yourself."
  A very different voice abruptly began speaking, one that was obviously synthesized (to any familiar with such things), and very monosylabic. "De-sig-na-tion-par-ti-al-ly-au-to-no-mous-mo-bile-co-mand-and-work-shop- ve-hi-cle-P-A-M-C-A-W-V-func-tions-in-clude-pro-vid-ing-a-mo-bile-plat-form-for-field-con-struc-tion- co-or-din-ate-ing-de-ployed-a-gents-and-self-di-rec-ting-sub-si-di-ar-y-func-tions-when-ne-ce-sar-ry."

Kaela breathed a sigh of relief, the hands on her motorcycle loosening noticably as some of the stress plagued her left. She had felt somewhat guilty as she was at least partially responsible for the injury despite the fact that it came about in a wholly unexpected way. Normally it was the grenade itself that caused injury, not a chip of bone. At least they were lucky enough that Ephrael hadn't suffered some form of sepsis or infection from the injury. They could thank the priestess for that bit of grace, and Kaela did just that before returning her attention to their companion. Hopefully the lack of poison held true.

She raised an eyebrow at the incubus' summoned creature as it scolded him for his rudeness, suppressing a slight snicker at its frustration. Although Kaela was loathe to trust magical travel, besides the fact that it had a reoccuring tendency to make her sick, her fear of what The City could provide overrode her mistrust. Kicking up the bike's stand, Kaela pushed it through with her into the portal, closing her eyes as she passed through the brilliant light into their new surroundings.

As expected, her stomach complained loudly upon exiting the magical doorway. The wolf grimaced at it before making her way over next to the inn and parking her bike there. "I'm going to go get something to eat. Let me know if you need any more help with her or if you need me to watch her," Kaela said as she nodded at the incubus and headed inside the inn, sitting at the bar and rubbing her stomach. She waited for the barman expectantly, not sure if she was sick or hungry.

The monstrous lupine's ears twitched back in rather mild confusion-though not to worry, he would hold onto the book! At least until something managed to take it away, as easy or difficult that might be, of course. But right now, his attention was somewhat focused on the feminine rodent who was addressing him. Okay, what was going on here?

Truth to tell, hardly anyone ever had the nerve to address him directly...though he'd been getting a lot of that today, hadn't he?

Still, he kept quiet as she said they were still heading into the city proper. While that was indeed a lot better than heading back...he still had to quirk an invisible eyebrow as Jess came over to him. Admittedly, he was a touch impressed at the odd, whistle-like tone she managed to make with those front teeth of hers when she said that one word...but right now, pale brown eyes observed the rat curiously as she mentioned not eating something. Either she's talking about that little black thing, or her weapons, I'm honestly not sure. One ear-the furless one-quirked slightly. Personally, he was inclined to think she was talking about her unique and painful-looking assortment of toys that even a distinct lover of torture would marvel at with a mixture of fear and awe.

At least, he had been, until she balled her fist and punched him lightly in that stone-hard gut of his with that creepy, yet apparently playful grin still on her face.

Okay, whatever was going on in her head certainly didn't make sense to him. The troll-wolf actually had no interest in starting a fight unless he really had to anyway-it was his job to end them, afterall, not cause them! This time, anyway. Raek's ears perked as he looked down at Jess, his barely fuzzed tail twitching in a lazy wag. While he wasn't sure to make of her still, he decided he'd take this friendly gesture at face-value. Granted, he could have taken it wrongly....

And besides, someone was watching, and he didn't want to give the wrong impression by playfully acting like he would bite Jess's head off. She probably wouldn't have taken well to the experience anyway, come to think of it.

So the lupine mythos smiled toothily down at the rodent in what one would assume was a rather innocent, disarming fashion...for a troll, anyway. "Maybe," he rumbled quite casually, letting the hand he'd had ready to grab his weapon curl into a fist of its own. "But I think I'd avoid eating those little toys of yours anyway."

Now, while he couldn't safely imitate her action, he could do something rather close. So, without the slightest change of expression, his free hand whipped forward to stop an inch from her nose, still curled into a fist...well, if she didn't back off, of course! "I almost like you," He said a touch conversationally as he let his fist drop, "Pity you're not a troll, or I'd maybe, just maybe consider it a date."

For the very first time since anyone in the group had seen her, the rat seemed surprised. Her eyes flicked wide open as the huge, gnarly fist stopped right in front of her face, and the bells on her hat jingled cheerfully. She blinked. The response had been completely unexpected, and his reply was so off that it took a moment for her mind to retrace her steps and try to comprehend it.
  'Hmm? Well, that...' she said, distraction in her voice. She seemed to take a mental note. Then, she raised her eyes over his knuckles, and as she took in the look on his features, she erased it and made a new, slightly modified one. She raised a hand, and then a single index finger.
  'For general sensibility, forget discussing stuff,' she said. Then she took a couple of steps, pointedly backing away from the fist, giving Raek a little smile and a tilt of her head, and strolled over to beside the booth, looking forward down the street and into the city.

Raek's ears quirked as his brutish head tilted quizzically. What? I thought she was trying to court me...Eh, well, she wasn't my type anyway...not nearly enough muscle. The lupine Mythos checked a sigh as the rodent walked away. Then again, it was doubtful he'd be able to get a date among his own species-he was a runt, by their standards...if you counted being only a foot or so shorter at the shoulder as such.

Even so, it tended to be a bit depressing that he'd been turned down.

Though, maybe she didn't know that was one of the means of courtship for his kind? You impressed each other with your strength-though admittedly the girls were much stronger than the boys, despite their svelte, muscled frames. After that, it was just a matter of staying alive after the nuptials. And why there weren't ever that many trolls, to be honest, by extension.

Hmm, oh well. His tail drooped slightly as she walked away-pretty much following Traxen's bug-er, machine. He still needed to adjust to thinking of it as an oversized tinker's toy, and not some freakish, metallic insect. Pity he hadn't heard that decidedly detailed bit of information about the chap! Though...he did have the sheer gall to ask one question of Jess as her back was turned.

"What stuff?" His muzzle wrinkled in mild confusion as those pale eyes watched her retreating figure...and rested on it as she stopped to look into the city.

Moze was behind the bar when Kaela walked up, face brightening and nodding approvingly at her visible equipment. "Good to see someone show up able to handle things, I'm sick of seeing kids walk off with a sword and a grin..." The man noticed Ed and the injured girl and grimaced, "You can see to your injuries upstairs. If she's really bad I can drive you to the hospital in town."  When he turned back to Kaela, the brief rejuvination at seeing another practical adventurer had been replaced by a somewhat more exhausted look. He didn't like seeing young people hurt. A slight smile broke through the lines on his face. "What can I get ya?"

---

The demon girl raised an eyebrow at Witt, finished whatever she was doing with the tattoo and threw on her coat again, letting it drape over her wings, making them almost look like part of her shoulders. She looked more... Solid, with the coat on. Concealed, the wings looked more like a carapace. Or armor. She grabbed her cane and got back up with a grimace.
"A man by the name of Jeremiah Ac'Gregor. I want him dead, I think he's here, and you seemed like the right sort to help me for that. From what I've seen of the city I'll need..." She scowled, as if the following word tasted bad, "... Backup."

--

"Probably about... 26 hours. Give or take. Marvin locked me in there. I'll explain while we walk, come on. We need to leave." The shrew shook her head once and reached back into the sarcophagus, pulling out a notebook. "Knew you two would be showing up though. Two adventurers, it's all right in here." She tapped the side of the notebook once, "I've worked it all out. There's a few discrepencies, but I may have messed up a calculation somewhere." The girl was babbling, already leading the way out of the office and down the hall. "There's a war going on. Well, sort of a war. Could you call it a war with this many sides? I mean, you could also call it a clusterfuck, but that would be crude..."

---

In the church the snoring appeared to be coming from above Mao and Jinx, from the stairwell leading up to the steeple...
The scratching got closer. To Jinx, someone about six inches to the left of his ear said "Wonder what that is..."

---

The rat hissed as he heard more of Traxen's plan. "It could take DAYS to get there on foot, pal. If you're gonna go up there you're gonna need to find some sort of transportation. Most of the traffic's hungry, so you may not wanna hail a cab." He opened the gate, "Good luck."

Sister Alex listened to Traxen's suggestion and the guard's advice. Traxen's idea of searching out and acquiring a vehicle within the city didn't seem practical even before the rat warned them, if she understood correctly, that such items were sentient and carnivorous.  The Order of St. Gutenberg was a strong proponent of thoughtful integration of technology and magic, owning multiple patents advancing the printing trade, but she was relatively certain she couldn't activate or control a motorized vehicle without training and practice. And it would be a surprise if any of her companions had adequate practice in the subject.

"As the day is already getting short I would suggest that we use what remains to investigate as far as we can while still able to return to the Inn at sunset. We can assess how slow travel is and if there is any useable transportation available. Then tonight we can decide if City Hall is a practical or even possible destination." Sister Alex turned to the kangaroo rat. "Does the map book show City Hall?" she asked as she began rummaging in her bag for her own notes on the city. To her memory most of the extant map's markings tended towards notes more along the lines of "Danger," "Monsters," and "Do not disturb" than street or building names.

   Traxen said a simple 'thank you" to the gate guard's advice as he opened the gate for them. The book-mage then spoke up about being more cautious about getting to City Hall, if at all. Interesting change from "city hall seems like a good starting point", but Traxen wasn't going to complain. If they were set back a day, then they were set back a day. Made no difference to Traxen, he could stay here as long as he wanted. However, he then heard her mention something about a "map-book"...
   "Map-book? What map-book? What are you talking about?" Traxen inquired.

Ed nodded to the inn-keeper, "she'll be alright, just sleeping off the after affects of something that some type of beast gave her... Hopefully she'll wake up soon, but for now, i hope this will cover the price of a room."

Ed reached into the small bag partially hidden by his wings and produced a large silver coin.  He smiled politely as he deposited the coin on the bar and headed towards the rooms upstairs.  Choosing a vacant one, Ed laid Eph down on a bed when he noted the emotions coming from the room next door, 2 occupants, one feeling... regret, and more than a little self loathing... the other, felt like mild amusement... Using his winged tentacles to tuck the Tazzy devil girl in, and gently lay her on her side, while still tucking her in, Ed headed down stairs towards the bar where Moze and Kaela seemed to be.

The Incubus's tentacles made their way out of the room, one peeked around the corner, and beyond the partially closed door, the mohawked draconian head cocked a bit to the side, as if considering things, while peering into the room... it could clearly see the back of a rather stout and spiky fellow, and a Demoness.  After a few moments of observation, it then followed the others downstairs as the small swarm retracted into Ed's wings.  

He smiled politely at Moze and and asked, "Do you think i could get a pint of something... preferably only lightly alcoholic... if you've got some, a pint of weissbier would be perfect."

Ed smiled politely as he turned to Kaela, "if you want anything, just let me know... it's on me."

(OOC note, Pal has informed me he hasn't been feeling to well, and might be on sporadically for a little while... although he gave me permission to auto Ephy, via PM, i think leaving her at the Inn is the safest bet)

Andrace watched Jess and Raek with an amused twitch of her whiskers. Aw, how cute, she thought, they're flirtin' — well, long as th' big guy don't fool around on my dollar, it's nothin' t' stick m' tail into. She'd certainly seen weirder couples: Aunt Penelope's husband was a mouse, and her fourth cousin Hesiod was dating a Mythos with two heads and an odd, four-legged body.

The lioness perked her ears towards the discussion of their route to the City Hall. It looked like there might still be problems after all. She snorted quietly, keeping her annoyance from showing on her face, and nodded to Sister Alex. "I'm not too keen on that," she said, "but y're right, we're runnin' out o' daylight."

As the guard-rat opened the gate, she strode forward, planted herself right at his side, and looked sternly down at him. "So, what're y' sayin' — that we can't get there in one day on foot, an' we can't trust any abandoned-lookin' vehicles we find in there? Y' got any good advice, f'r a change? Or d' we just skip gaily off wi' one last wave, an' hope f'r th' best?"

Andrace hoped she hadn't overdone it in confronting the guard so directly. She knew this not-quite-threatening-but-maybe-intimidating pose — paws set wide apart, hands on hips, shoulders thrown back and chest pushed forward — had a pretty good success rate. She'd practiced in front of a mirror since she was six years old, and chosen as a likely prospect to survive her family's full Adventurer training regimen. Sometimes she didn't even need to lay her ears back or growl.

They did need some useful answers before they went any further, though, and the guard was the only one who could help them. The lioness was itching for action — although hopefully not the kind that had sent that dark-furred girl back to the Last Chance with a poisoned wound in her butt...

   Upon hearing Andrace, Traxen changed track (but didn't forget about the alledged "map-book"), and interjected with his own response. "I seriously doubt every single abandonded vehicle we're going to pass by is going to be unsafe, but if the city and everything in it really is that infested with bad mojo, then frankly, I'm wasting my time here. Reason why I doubt this is because people like the barkeeper have gone in and out multiple times and for all intents and purposes seem intact enough physically and mentally, and I don't think that'd be likely if everything and the bolts that make it up are bad, through and through. We just have to check everything before using it, which is just basic caution in the first place for a place like this. But even if every single automobile in every driveway, parking lot, and on the side of the road really is all funked up, heck, I can just hash together a makeshift trailer that everyone can sit on, and hook it up 'Cawv here. You guys won't go without funtional long-range transport if I have anything to build about it. I am Mr. Make-it. Don't forget that."

Jess shrugged, not seeming to speak directly to Raek while her gaze slowly panned over the street that lay ahead.
   'Just... stuff. You don't seem a conversationalist, so let's get something to actually flesh out the talking, if there has to be any.' She smirked for a moment and idly flexed her fingers, her knuckles cracking. Then, cocking her head to the side, bells jingling, she turned her gaze and seemed to listen intently to Alex's and Andrace's remarks, her face oddly composed for a moment. Swaying on her heels slightly, she nodded, eyes not entirely focused, and flicked her thick tail around a bit.
   'If we haven't got a map nor a transport that'll let us explore, perhaps we should just make a short foray and camp in some building if we can't make it back until nightfall?' she asked, putting an almost senseless indication of confidence and ease into her tone, suggesting that as far as she was concerned, there wasn't much that could put a dent in that plan. She wasn't all that impressed with Andrace's attempt at intimidation; for some reason she expected the lioness to laugh and fly off into the sky at any moment. And the way she held her chest out was more likely to spoil the effect she desired by way of distraction.
   'Personally,' the rat continued, clasping her hands behind her back, 'I'd like to be back before then, at least this night. I'm sure Mangy over there agrees with me when I say that we'll get tired and hungry before that, and no one seems to have brought that much in the way of supplies. Later on, I'm sure we can fix up something better, but for now we should just explore a little while. I'm getting tired of standing around here.' She turned her head this way and that, as though looking for cars at a crossing, and took a few strolling steps down the street. Then she stopped to spin on one foot, look back, and raise her eyebrows, giving the others an admonishing, almost exhorting stare.

Kyirri briefly turned to Sister Alex. "It didn't when I last checked it, but I could inspect it again. However, if it's beyond reach for today's march, we might want to check another place." Preferably after ditching Traxen and Payden. He paused for a moment to consider his options. He briefly addressed Raek. "I need it back, for now."

   Raek blinked, his one furless ear twitching back at the feminine rat's reply.

   It was true that he wasn't overly inclined to conversation-at least when working. It just made it easier for him to concentrate on whatever he was being paid to do...enough though right now that was technically being the big, scary bodyguard that could bite the average being's head off in a single go. Or almost, anyway. Er, nevermind. Don't even imagine that.

   And pity he didn't notice Andrace's amusement at what had happened; he might have actually been embarrassed. Ah, the things that never happen are always of the most interesting sort, no?

   But still...the lupine Mythos let his muzzle crinkle into a slightly confused frown. "Er...Okay. Maybe we can...talk some other time." Well, Raek hoped she was referring to idle banter; he'd already decided Jess was a mix between a potential threat, and someone that could at times be mildly interesting.

   He shrugged, huffing a little as he was then immediately torn between what Traxen was saying about being the one to fix things-as well as a certain small 'roo-rat asking for that book. Eh, if he wants to, the troll-wolf thought, I'm sure I can find replacements if my axe breaks though. Or resort to much more...ah, natural weapons that he had at his disposal.

"Hmm?" He glanced down at the little fellow, ears quirking slightly as his barely furred tail flicked into a slightly predominate arch one might expect from wolves in general. "The book?" He shrugged, before lifting his arm slightly and allowing it to drop into his waiting free hand with a respectfully heavy thump. Ergh...personally one might still want gloves after where that poor treasure of a book had been...but, oh well. "Here," He grunted in a slightly sour fashion as he held it towards the 'roo-rat in question.

Kyirri felt a sharp pain as the book's weight pressed against his left hand. He let out a soft grunt, but made no other indications of discomfort, until smelling the book. He gave Raek a blank look, but said nothing. Urgh... can't trust him with simple tasks... He brushed at the book's sides with his gloves, trying to clean the book while keeping the stink from getting on his gloves. In a flat tone, staring at the book, he spoke. "Next time you hold something, try to keep unpleasant odors off of it." After a brief cleaning, he opened it up, trying not to put too much stress on his left arm. Damn it, why now?

He looked through it silently, trying to find mention of the City Hall.

In one swift movement, Jinx's head turned, arm extending and pointing his revolver at...

...Nothing. The assassin's brain lurch. Was the city messing with him already? Or was he already just insane? He gulpped, feeling nausious at the implications of it all...

His arm feel listlessly to it's side, a lose grip on his firearm.His mouth agap as the feline felt a chill go down his spine, his brain felt like it could just crawl out of his skull at any given moment.

The spotted feline reached into his pouch and produced several additional coins with which he left for Kaela.  After a few moments of "careful" consideration, Ed decided that, with his attention span, within an hour of drinking, HE'D be under the table.  His tentacles, on the other hand, they'd go wherever they felt like.  Probably not a good situation with possible friends around.

With his mind made up, Ed headed for the door and whispered to Raeleg, "let's get back to the gate" Waving as he headed out the door again, he smiled slightly deviously at Kaela, "I'll be back around sun-set, if you're feeling adventurous you can join me... After I'm gone, i'll have Raeleg come back here..."  With a friendly wave, Ed headed out as the Warp Aci spun head-over-heels, and sliced a small portal in the air.

Just inside the City gate, a slice appeared on the inner wall, facing the city.  Through it, the same incubus the others had seen before, appeared...  Ed's wings were leathery, rather than feathered.  Fe found the lioness and holy-woman who'd helped him a few minutes ago, and bowed deeply before them, spreading his wings, nearly flat with his back.  After the polite gesture, he said in a soft, and slightly humbled tone, "I came to thank you two more properly for your help earlier.  If you don't mind working with an Incubus, I would wish to provide my services in exchange for the help you've already generously supplied to my friend."  

"who is sleeping back at the in." He added quickly.

The wolf said nothing while Aisha asking the shrew if she was ok. As the girl began to walk out of the room, babbling to herself, Gareeku glanced at the pantheress, before looking back at the stranger who was already on her way out of the door.

"Whoa. Hey." the wolf said as he caught up to her, standing in front of her and blocking her path. His voice was calm, but also somewhat authoritative. "First off, do you even have a name? Second, what do you mean there's a war going on?" Gareeku asked, his arms folded. He could understand the girl's wishes to leave that place as soon as possible, having been trapped in that sarcophagus, but there were questions that needed answering. "And who is this Marvin? We chased after a frog being which led us to you. Is that him?"

What a chatterbox, Aisha deduced after a moment of hearing the shrew speak, one ear perking up out of curiosity.  Either she was still energetic from adrenaline and fear, or something was a little bit off about her.

The panther followed Gareeku's lead as she watched him stop the rodent in her tracks, asking the same questions that were also swishing through her mind.

"Not to mention, amiga," Aisha piped in, using the title rather loosely as she stood right behind the girl with her arms crossed.  "You knew that two adventurers would be coming?  How?  Did you know it would be us, specifically?"

One thing was for sure, if Aisha was about to play along with someone's plan, she wasn't going to go without knowing as much as possible.  Doubtless, Gareeku had the same idea.  The look in her crimson eyes turned rather stern.  "Because, see, I'd rather not have someone assume that I would go along with any kind of war."

"We should talk while we walk, there's places we need to be," The shrew replied to Gareeku, trying to duck around Gareeku. As more questions were asked, however, she blinked a few times and slowed down. "Fine, but we need to get a move on." She took a deep breath and began ticking off answers.
"When I say war I mean... Well, depends who you ask. Some figure it's over rebuilding this place to how it used to be, some are trying to finally level the place, some want to find treasure, some are still here from when the place fell... Gang violence would be more accurate, but most gangs don't get this powerful. Marvin owns the museum these days; he moved in, he lives here, and he doesn't take well to intruders. I was here to check on something, and I did, but he found me before I could get out. Tall sort of man, a rat. Blind, but that doesn't really seem to hold him back much- Oh, the frog was here?" She blinked. "Huh, that's... Pretty different, actually. Then again, he's new in town. There could be factors I hadn't considered. He seems pretty harmless, but then I heard he shot Lasting Eddie with a crossbow so I could be wrong." She looked around nervously, "We really should get moving, there's places we have to be really soon."
There was a level of urgency in the girl's voice, her fingers curling and uncurling like the nervous habits of an obsessive compulsive in an oil slick.

--

Kyirri did manage to find mention of city hall. The book even had photographs of it; a huge white marble building that looked like it was have statehouse and half fortress. It was indeed smack in the middle of the main part of the city, probably at least two days walk. MAYBE less if they walked through the old subway systems; some around the area were marked off as safe. There were remarkably less of them then the ones marked off as dangerous.

The rat backed down from Andrace's advance, grinning nervously. "I'm tryin' to be of help, darlin', really I am. It's just that the place is unpredictable, and what works once might not work again. You really want something to go on?" He sighed, "Then here's what I DO know. There's these things that look like goblins with huge heads that float? You'll wanna kill 'em from far off, they're full o' spores. And if you see someone that has grafitti or metal grates or cinderblocks ON 'em, try to give 'em a wide berth unless that's really an' truly not an option."

Giles stood at the edge of the river and smoked awhile, taking alternating looks at one method of transportation across, and then the other. He made a sour face, flicking the remains of the cigarette into the river.
"What am I, stupid?"

He took a breath, and gestured, pulling with his right hand. Fire sprang into existence, at first simply the normal red of all flames - but as the moments passed, it turned fiery blue, and then white, as the ambient temperature around the blackguard seemed to, instead, drop.
In front of him, the top of the river froze lightly, and then continued to freeze, a thick sheet of ice forming across the body of water. He kept going for a few seconds, the ice continuing to thicken, and the white hot flame growing until it was the size of a watermelon - and then the blackguard stopped, and threw the ball of fire straight up. It took off like a rocket, flying into the sky before lightly detonating and scattering itself.

His iron boot crunched on the foot-thick ice - it wouldn't remain here for long, but more than long enough to cross a river. He walked, smiling, and lit another cigarette.

Not wasting a moment, Mao made his way towards the stairwell, taking a brief moment as he strode by to look at the surroundings as much as he could.  There was some odd discoloration to the wall that his sight revealed to him but he couldn't be quite sure what it was.  Given the smearing pattern, he felt he had an idea.  Being careful to be mindful of his surroundings he began to ascend the stairwell, hoping that his caution wouldn't cause him to be too late to possibly save whoever might be up stair, though the sound of the scratching seemed to now be below him, the speed at which it traveled there was incredible.  It could be upon him in moments if he wasn't mindful.  Regardless, he continued on, noting once again the odd behavior of the fellow who had been following him, "Pointing a weapon at empty air?", he thought "Similar behavior to before.  It seems I'm going to have to keep a close eye on him.  There's definitely something not right there."

He felt the cold weight of the katars wrapped up and folded in his robe press against his stomach, almost as though they wished to be let out.  The thought was dismissed, but Mao couldn't deny that given the armaments the fellow was carrying and the general disposition of the fellow he may need to answer the call to violence.  "Hopefully it won't be necessary."  He reached back and grasped the familiar feeling of smooth wood that was his staff.  "No, it shouldn't come to that."  Mao continued up the stairwell cautiously, being careful to not make a creak by only stepping on parts of the boards that were near support points, and thus joined tighter, preventing the squeaking of the boards rubbing together.  "No need to announce to this place that I'm here and moving about."  He smirked at the thought, and continued on his way.

Sister Alex's attention was divided every which way. There were so many people in the group now and she hadn't been introduced to half of them, and everyone seemed to have different goals. The bell-girl was through the gate and gesturing for people to follow, Andrace was trying to get more information from the guard, the kangaroo rat was searching the book, and Traxen was going on about his ability to tame the feral vehicles. She gave the van a hard look, wondering if he was some sort of bait for the man-eating cars. Before she could follow that thought any further a magical gate opened up and the cubi from a few minutes before returned. He bowed and offered assistance in repayment for the help offered to the injured girl. Alex offered a nod in return, "I hope she is feeling better. For myself I expect no repayment from either her or you. My order is charitable and helps where it may. If you wish to join our group I have no objections." The squirrel glanced in Sheriff Payden's direction, expecting the first and loudest objection to come from that direction.

   As Traxen watched the going-ons around him as people continued to prepare for the expedition ahead, he took particular note of two things; one, the small rat was looking through was was probably the previously mentioned "map-book" for any mention of city hall. Traxen was very interested in this. But then, that Creature who had come earlier carrying the injured girl reappeared, requesting to join the group. Traxen frowned at this development, but figured he'd just have to live with it.

***

  Possibly to Sister Alex's surprise, the van broadcasted Traxen's voice first. "I can't say I'm exactly thrilled to have a Creature along, but I suppose I'll manage. Although, I would like to ask you about that remarkable warping creature sometime..."
  After saying this, the van inched towards Kyirri. "Hey...is that really a map of the city? Oh, man, if it is...I'd very much like to see it when you're done, please. I promise I'll give it back, I'll only need it for ten minutes or so."

Kyirri scanned the book, taking into account distances, probabilities, how fast they could move. He peered at the pictures of the structure, analyzing the details. When Traxen asked for the book, Kyirri let out a sharp "No.", then resumed looking through the map. Two days, this place is large... no wonder it's such a mess, administrating a place like this must take an impressive magnitude of competence and effort. Then there's the pictures, that structure looks like it's made for defense. That must mean this place is either an old fortress, which I doubt, or that it's horribly insecure, probably the latter. After scanning through it, he turned towards Sister Alex, facial expression as blank as ever. Damned arm... I really need to take care of that when the others aren't looking...

"Yes, it does, it is approximately in the center of this place, assuming this source is correct. By my estimations, it would take us at least two days to reach that location by foot. I should also add that the structure looks like it is a fortification." And it's probably because the place is in constant political upheaval, if we go there, we're not likely to receive anything but hostility. I think I'll keep my thoughts to myself though unless asked... on this matter.

He then turned to Edaric, scanning him up and down. His reason for aiding us makes sense, though I wonder what he was doing in here before we met him. He looks capable, as well. After a thorough scanning, Kyirri spoke. "I have no objections. I'd say he's more trustworthy than some in our present company, after all." He stood silent for a moment, then turned to Sister Alex, then spoke again.

"Speaking of which, if he has some method of teleportation... as previously demonstrated, we may not have to walk all the way to the city hall, if we still wish to go there." It would also be a perfect opportunity to ditch Payden and Traxen...

Andrace nodded in acknowledgement to the guard-rat and gave him one last look suggesting that, if he'd given them any bad information and someone got hurt, she'd come back and express her displeasure... with the aid of an Ouija board, if necessary. Keeping an eye on the others as they discussed the map book, and whether it showed the City Hall accurately, distracted her for a moment. When the spotted 'Cubi reappeared in a Warp-aci teleport, she heard him out then glanced at Sister Alex and nodded.

"Yeah, sure, we'd be glad t' have y' along," she said, "Y' look like y' know what y' doin', an' y' just been in there, y' could mebbe give us a bit o' warnin' if somethin' nasty shows up." The lioness had worked with 'Cubi before, as well as hunting them, so she was familiar with their sometimes capricious nature. Besides, he was cute-looking. Hopefully he wouldn't get distracted by something shiny, or just plain forget what he was doing, just as a monster turned up to chew on someone else's butt.

Andrace perked her ears up as another thought occurred to her. "Kyirri's got a good point 'bout tel'portin'," she said, flicking her tail-tuft to indicate the roo-rat. "M' sister had a Warp-aci f'r a while, though — how many places in th' city does y'r one know how t' go to? Oh, an' does it have any... weird or annoyin' habits?"

Great, more to watch.

The musclebound lupine blinked as the incubus made his appearance again. And while it'd been noted by others that his beloved pet wasn't on the menu, the Mythos had to wonder about it. Not to distraction, thank heavens, but still. Maybe his odd thoughts were arising from the fact he was deliberately attempting to ignore his stomach and start scarfing down the supplies he'd traded for. They were for everyone; not just his seemingly bottomless chasm of a gullet.

Besides, by his reasoning he'd be finding plenty to eat once they went inside...provided it didn't eat him first. Eh, that was life. If it was tougher than him, so be it-Raek wasn't interested in the least about considering himself more powerful than a regular being, or trying to be on par with some of the more potentially dangerous creatures and whatnot that roamed the world. Granted, he wouldn't go down without putting up a fight to the best of his ability first, though.

Then again, if anyone went by the base reputation for the Troll races in general, many things wouldn't be willing to try and eat him...they'd assume he was probably one of the most unsanitary things in existence, and thusly just try pound him into mush, if they could. Or get him with fire. Had to respect that.

For all their purported regenerative ability, Trolls in general were actually quite easy to kill if you were careful. Really, just whoosh, and make sure they can't get to water and it's over pretty quick. That, and play the game of 'keep away' so you don't go down with'em. Annnyway....

Not to mention he was still puzzling over Jess's rather cryptic words-well, cryptic to him, anyway.

So it was that he listened to everyone talk with half an ear...or well, a furless one, anyway. Kind of sad when technically he only did have half an ear, if you considered the lack of fluff. But no matter. His employer had recruited the 'cubi and his interesting snac-er, pet, as well mention of teleporting. Egh, he had a few less-than-fond memories of such things...but the brute couldn't deny it was a useful thing to have at one's disposal. Just the last time he'd ever done it, the one performing the spell had learned the hard way about precisely what 'upset stomach' means when a Mythos that's willing to eat the mold growing in the pipe of that kitchen sink means when he says it. Cue the full-body shudder at what that might have brought to mind. Ewwwww~

Yeah, fond memories. At least they were better than his experiences involving tiny tinker's creations.

At any rate, he was ready to go...and it was for the better he was resisting satisfying his appetite, to be honest. Didn't need to potentially treat his employer to that kind of experience anyway....

At sister Alex's response, Ed's already positive image of the woman was cemented.  He replied, "You're far too kind.  I'm glad that you hold no grudge, and i do hope that i provide some help... The city is quite dangerous, and i'll do my best to help you avoid or confront what danger may beset you."

At Kyirri's comment Ed shook his head, "we can only go where Raeleg or I have already been... we could get an hour and a half or so head start if you'd like to go straight to the bridge.  Or we can walk, either way, we've got a few hours to get around this place, and, besides that fellow in the van... and some of the... err... less friendly... people in the party, we can stay until dusk, and warp back to the inn for the evening.  That's how i think things should be done, but it would be splitting the party.  I hope that's alright?"

He tried to sound innocent with the last part... and it seemed Kyirri was just as concerned about the law man and self-proclaimed inventor as he was... it seemed to be a good sign.

A few seconds later, Andrace approached and issued a welcome to the party, Ed smiled warmly as she went through the pros of having him around, and he'd rather subconsciously started scanning her thoughts.  something about working with and tracking cubi... then somethi...  and... hmm... interesting apparently she thinks I'm cute...   Glancing over the tall, and well equipped lioness it seems the pair had a mutual feeling of approval of the others appearance. She was taller than him... not by too much, and certainly quite solidly built.  However, he approved, and given her rather pleasantly boisterous nature, he very much approved of the adventurer.

He smiled as she asked her questions, and replied with, "I believe the pleasure is all mine, miss.  I'd be delighted to work beside you, and, if it's someone to watch your back you need, i can do that."  He added a devious grin as his tail swished lazily back and forth.  Ears straight and alert.

"the downside is that we can only go where we've already traveled, the plus side, although travel itself will be slow, we can continue where we leave off tonight, first thing in the morning... and, if you'd like to get a bit of a head start, we can cut about an hour to an hour and a half out, and get straight to the bridge to the city proper...   Either way, the choice is yours, i'll follow either way."

Sister Alex took a step closer to the kangaroo rat and very softly admonished, "A basic tenet of my order is that books are to be shared." Then in a louder voice she asked the incubus,  who hadn't yet given his name, "You say that we would be teleported approximately an hour and a half's walk away?" Then she addressed the blank wall of the van, "The warp aci is unlikely to be strong enough to create a portal big enough for you. If one of your flying things followed us through would it be able to send you enough information to enable you to catch up later? This would solve the problem, at least in the short run, of our differing travel speeds." After a moment she added to all, "And can we have a round of introductions. Our party has grown so rapidly I'm afraid I missed some names. I'm Sister Alexandria Montegu. I'm a mage from the Order of St. Gutenberg."

   So that was her name! Finally, Traxen could stop referring to her as the "book-mage".
   "And while we're on the subject, though I've already introduced myself and my 'co-pilot' to everyone else, for the benefit you you, uhh...Creature, since you only said the name of your Warp-Aci...my name's Traxen Ridgrey." The 'van' replied. "As for you suggestion, Sister Montegu...errr...unfortunately, no. The range of my transmission array is one to two miles, depending on various circumstances. I can't send or receive signals to or from any of my drones beyond that range, and they shut down if the stop getting incoming signals, since they don't have anything in the way of autonomous self-control. Although, that might not do much good anyway...the guard said it could take days on get to city hall on foot, and even if that's not an exaggeration, I could still probably get there in a few hours myself if I push it, and even get back out of the city before nightfall, which was my whole initial plan. Either way, I'd far overtake you on foot, warp or no warp. However, and I'll say this again, if you guys just give me just twenty minutes, I can build a trailer or something that I can tow you all around on. And that's if we don't check a couple of driveways or parking lots for a truck or something that's not hazardous to anyone's health."

Ed turned back to the van as it spoke, the only one he truly objected to was Payden... He considered what the being was saying, the looked back at the rest of the group, "Apologies for not introducing myself sooner... Edaric, of clan Ahnasazi"  The feline took a bow, and unbuttoned his shirt, showing off the clan mark on his very fit, and well formed chest.

Ed paused and considered his options, he asked, "have you ever been inside a large city, Traxen, while sure enough, in the suburbs, travel is easy, once we're inside the major city i have no doubt that travel will be slow regardless of one's mode of transportation... And remember, this place is among the more dangerous locales... we'll need to travel slow and keep alert.  If your van can even protect itself, i doubt it's adequate protection for what we'll be up against... Quite honestly, i think scouting the suburbs more thoroughly today would be our best option.  Get a feel for the outskirts, and use tonight to plan and prepare for an incursion into the city proper starting first thing tomorrow morning... But, that's just me."

He smiled politely as he let the others mull over what he said... He walked over by Andrace, and leaned against a wall.  'completely forgetting' to button his shirt back up, and, in turn, giving the large lioness a bit of show.

   "You make a few good points," The 'van' replied, "Although I think one or two might be baseless. Yes, I have been inside a few large cities before, but the reason travel through them is slow is because of the traffic itself. This is a mostly-abandonded city, is it not? It wouldn't have ever been a good adventuring spot otherwise. Even for what few denizens remain, I seriously doubt there's enough of them to cause gridlock. And yes, it probably would be prudent to feel the way into the city slowly, heading in city hall's general direction. But, I only need to go there once. Once, and no more. Get in, grab data, get out. Securing the path from here to there is not strictly neccessary, as I don't have any return trips planned. Once I have collected the data I need, I'll have plenty of new objectives and destinations, and those I can afford to take slowly, as securing safe passage will be a priority then.
  "However, that's all just me. If everyone else wants to take it slow, and do some exploring, then there's not really much I can do about that, and I'll be heading to city hall regardless. In fact, that might actually work well; since I seem to be the only one with any actual reason to go to city hall, as every else seems to completely lack any concrete objectives or destinations, I can just go to city hall myself while you lot do whatever around here, and we all link back up at the inn tonight.
  "Also, I do indeed have ways of protecting myself and Pamcawv here, though having extra hands helps, which is why I made a mutual agreement with Officer Velasquez here in the first place, and through him, everyone else here. However, as I just said myself, I'm only going in and out, so I probably won't be needing everyone here to come along with me. I still would prefer everyone to come along, but that's everyone else's decision, not mine.
  "However, two other things that need to be take care of...Officer Velasquez, will you please give that second headset to Sister Montegu already? And uh, you with the book..." There was momentary silence from the van as Traxen stopped speaking. The van then positioned itself in such a way that the back end of the van was next to Kyirri. There were a few clicks and clanks, and one of the back double-doors opened up, admitting the torso of Traxen.
  "Please just let me borrow that book for ten minutes. That's all I need. I promise the whole book will be returned to you completely intact, all I need it for is to take a picture of every page so I have the whole thing on demand for myself, specifically so I don't have to ask for it again. And heck, if you want, I won't even close this door until I've given the book back to you. You can keep your foot in, so to speak. So, how about it? Can you part with that book for ten minutes?"

Andrace nodded to Sister Alex. "Yeah," she said with a mischievous little grin, "shoutin' hey, you gets confusin' after a few times. I'm Andrace Kithara, o' th' Kithara Pride." Her eyes lingered on Edaric for a moment as she turned to face the others, then she blinked and whapped her tail-tip against her hock. No, no, she thought, Down, girl. Nice scenery, but it's time f'r business now. He'll still be here later, 'less somethin' bigger an' nastier 'n a 'Cubi jumps up an' chomps 'im.

The lioness turned to face the side of the van, one ear perked up and the other cocked sideways. "Well, Traxen," she said thoughtfully, "y' got t' make up y' mind now. Edaric's offer o' a short cut sounds good t' me as well, but if y' van won't fit in th' warp, an' y' mechanical bugs can't follow us... y' got any other way y' could track us? Maybe those little ear gadgets, can they go over a longer distance? M' cousin Nicky tinkers wi' things like that, once she talked 'bout a dee-eff-wotsit — or maybe she meant somethin' else, m' baby brother'd just dropped a hammer on 'er paw. Would that let y' find us?"

Andrace hoped Traxen could think of something. Maybe he could come along with them on foot, but that would defeat the purpose of having the van, and the defences he'd just mentioned to the 'Cubi. They were too potentially useful to leave behind, and she didn't like the idea of splitting up so soon.

Payden kept himself quiet through most of the conversation, but just had to speak up for introductions and objections. "Officer Payden Velasquez, if any of you weren't around to hear me the first time. I--" Had to choose his words very carefully here. Payden held very, very negative feelings towards 'Cubi in general, and the last thing he wanted was to rely on one for anything. Warp travel also made him uneasy: just the thought of not knowing what exactly's on the other side, or if he would even come out the other end with all his organs in the right place. "I have to ask, what guarantee do we have that your little warp companion will get us to the bridge without a hitch? And what if you get killed by something afterwards?" They'd possibly be stranded and summarily devoured by whatever monsters lurked nearby.

"...oh, yeah." Payden dug out the spare headset from his jacket, passing it off to Sister Alex. "Your, uh, headset. Almost forgot about it."

   Traxen craned his head around the back door of the van towards Andrace. "The headsets? Unfortunately, no again, they use the same kind of transcievers as my drones. While I can track them while in range just like the drones, it doesn't work if they go out of range. But actually, there isn't a decision here for me to make. I'm going to the city hall, but you're talking about using the warping creature? He said that would get to to the bridge, right? About an hour and a half walk from here? The average walking speed of a person is around three to five miles per hour. The bridge can't be more than ten miles away. I won't be able to immediately track you guys, but if you warp, I will have caught up with you, and overtaken you, within minutes. The distance to the bridge is practically nothing to me. The only decision to be made here is if you guys still want to go to city hall with me. If you do, then it's best that I just grab a truck or make a trailer here and now and tow you from here to there right off the bat rather than catch up with you and figure this out at the bridge. If you guys want to do your own exploring, then by all means, take the warp creature. I'll wave to you when I pass you guys up in a few minutes on my way to the city hall, and then meet back up with you at the inn tonight. As said, I'd prefer it if you guys came along, but I can live if you don't, it's just one day and one trip. So what will it be, folks? Do you really want to go to city hall, or would you rather probe the outskirts of the city?"
  Traxen then glanced back to Kyirri, with a plain expression of the book, please on his face, indicating he hadn't forgotten.

The guard grinned as Andrace returned to sorting out the group's organization. "Ouiji boards, trouble, gotcha." He looked up. The group was burning daylight which, inside, was a valuable resource indeed. Except in those parts where it was dangerous, but even then...
The rat shrugged and lit up a cigarette. May as well make the best of it. Most entertainment he'd had all day.

--

"Yer buddy's already moved on..." Something again, just a little bit away from Jinx's ear, said. And indeed Mao had, already on his way up the tower... And about two thirds of the way up he found the source of the snoring.
It was a thoroughly... ODD creature. Like a being with exaggerated feral features. The body was MASSIVE, even beyond the size of an average being, a wedge of muscle and bone with a light dusting of white fur. The legs were small, stunted and had knees pointing the wrong way, so that if it were standing the beast's knuckles would probably drag along behind it. The head was that of a feral rat, the size of a golf ball and made to look even smaller on the creature's massive shoulders, and it's long ropelike tail was probably a little longer than it was tall.
The, for lack of a better word, churchmouse lay across the stairs, snoring gently...
The scratching noise, meanwhile, had gotten closer to Jinx. The sound seemed to move lazily through the walls... And then dart under his feet, once. Something brushed the sole of his foot...
Did his shoe have that cut in it a minute ago?

--

Giles crunched his way across the ice. It was cold in the middle of the river, the wind over the open water whistling in the cracks of his armor. There wasn't really much to break the monotony, apart from the occassional fish trapped in his ice bridge.
The sound of splashing changed, subtly. Rather than the slapping sound against the ice to his left there was something breaking the waves before that... Apparantly, he'd acquirred a companion on his walk.
It rippled through the waves like a sea slug, but in truth more closely resembled a leech. Black and slick with two large, jellylike black eyes on the ends of stalks over a mouth filled with flat, tombstone-like teeth. Two arms, each ending in large three-fingered hands moved along with it in some parody of a backstroke.
"HeLlO."

Kyirri gave a blank stare to Sister Alex after being reprimanded. However, he said nothing. She shouldn't be so blindly trusting.... She did however, have a point about them not introducing himself. Thinking it proper, Kyirri simply stated, in his usual monotone "I'm Kyirri Teekay." He resumed scanning his surroundings.

When addressed by Traxen for the book, he turned. He shuffled about uneasily, trying to keep a discrete distance from the van. He peered into what he could see in his van, and what he could of Traxen himself. After a brief scan, he spoke. "I said no. I don't trust you, or that hired thug of yours that nearly killed me." After that, he went away from the van's back, trying to stay on it's side. I'll be damned if I allow them to stab us in the back at some point... I really don't like how they're going to let him spy on us either...

He then paced over to Andrace's side, he glanced about some more. He looked up at her, and at Sister Alex, he would have sighed if he could. They're all so trusting... I don't like the idea of having us being spied upon wherever we go. He paced over to Sister Alex when he saw Payden handing over a headset. I seriously hope she doesn't take that, we already know it's a tracking device... it could only be worse if it was a bomb at this point...

Ed picked up on Andrace's thoughts, and grinned mischievously... clearly he'd have to pick the flirting back up come dusk, but for now, it was time to get somewhat serious...

The officer was sending very negative thoughts his way, and Ed couldn't help but sneer a bit at the officer's remark.  "Given the current time of day, we're gonna have 3 maybe 4 hours to actually explore, after that, we've gotta head back out.  I have no intention of staying around at night.... In that time, i highly doubt i would be killed, and if i am, it's only getting about a 2 hour head start anyways, one would only have to make their way back here through the suburbs.  Besides, traveling with a large group, i can act as an early warning system, sensing thoughts and magic..."

He watched impassively as Kyirri approached the lioness who'd become his object of affection (for the time being), and sensed his brooding mood, "Little one, there is no need for such negativity, it may be difficult for you to trust, but mr. Traxxen holds no ill will here..." 
Turning to Andrace, "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, and i assure you, the feelings are quite mutual." He smirked as he leaned next to her.

      Yeeg, so much going on! Raek's ears had quirked as he watched the feline incubus tease his employer...or was it play with her? He didn't know. Even if she'd essentially hired this newcomer, that didn't mean the lupine troll had to like what Ed was doing. Any entertainment that winged feline could be seeking-however temporary-could wait until he had fulfilled his job at protecting miss Andrace...or failed, for that matter. But then, as long as she lived, even if he died, his job was considered a success. After that was her problem, not his.

      Besides, he was well aware that the 'cubi race tended to play with their food at times...so, it was common sense that he had to make it quite known that he wasn't going to allow such...ah, things while he was around.

      Admittedly this might end up with him getting his head blown off; considering the fellow's race in general with its many subspecies and clans tended to be rather fickle in nature. And while the brute of a mythos didn't have the ability to shield his mind...he was, at least, bright enough to mask his thoughts with something else.

      But, only when he was aware of whom he was facing, of course. What Ed had been able to do earlier with sensing his emotions at the bar was still quite possible...however, if he were to try and probe the lupine's thoughts without breaking his somewhat sluggish concentration, the 'cubi would be greeted with a scrap of doggerel that he remembered from many years ago, from when he'd first and truly began to learn there was more to the world than satisfying that almost insatiable belly of his. It would hide what he intended to do, and maybe, just maybe catch Ed by surprise.

      It was a sad, dissonant melody, and while Raek couldn't remember it all, he did remember a little that the young girl had sung to him, and it went as thus :

'Danger hidden in his eyes,
We should have seen it from far away;
Wearing such a thin disguise in the light of day...
He held the answer to our prayers,
Yet it was too good to be...
Proof before our very eyes, yet we could not see...'

      "No," the lupine troll said in that thick, rumbling growl as he stepped over and held his axe 'tween the leaning 'cubi and the lioness. "You're not going to hurt her, while I work for her." Those pale brown eyes were somewhat hard, and he obviously meant every word as he kept that scrap of song firmly going in the depths of his thick skull. "Even if I doubt I can handle you in a fight, I will protect her, as I'm being paid to do."

      Then, of all things, he quietly stuffed his axe back into that crude belt and decided to walk over to Payden...whom, at the moment, was giving that interesting gal with the living book some odd device. "What's that?" he asked with obvious curiosity whilst gesturing at the headset-seeming to have already forgotten what he had just done...and might even regret having did, as it were. "Haven't seen something like those, before."

Sister Alex stared at Traxen as he reiterated his plan for them yet again. He seemed unable to comprehend other's viewpoints. She had a goal, finding libraries; just because it wasn't identical to his didn't make it a lesser goal. "Mr. Ridgrey, because of your reliance on technology I don't think you understand what you're asking of this group. No fighter I have ever met is going to agree to be herded into a trailer and dragged around. It rather resembles a cow on the way to the slaughterhouse. They can't use their skills if needed. While it is wiser to stick together I'm afraid you won't get many takers for your current offer." She glanced at the other members of the party for confirmation or denial of her statement.

Before anyone could respond Raek asked her a question. She thought a moment for the simplest level of answer. "It allows Mr. Ridgrey to speak to people who are too far away to normally speak to."

Andrace smiled back at Edaric and seemed to be about to reply to the 'Cubi when Raek stuck his tail in. She made a stifled coughing noise that suggested either she was about to hack up a hairball, or she was trying to swallow a laugh. She didn't want to hurt the wolf-troll's feelings by smacking him down for doing his job a little too well. She grinned slyly and winked at the 'Cubi, holding a very clear image in her mind: a clock, its hands spinning round then stopping at a time indicating late evening.

Her ears twitched, and the last foot of her tail flicked back and forth a couple of times at Sister Alex's remarks. Traxen's help would be valuable, but if his devices could only work such a short distance from his van... she glanced at the tops of buildings she could see far off on the skyline. This place was huge, if everyone kept saying it would be more than one day's journey to reach City Hall on foot. That mile or two range might not be nearly enough. She needed to make a decision, and right now: few things disorganised a group of adventurers more quickly than dithering and hesitant leadership. And like it or not, it looked as if she and Sister Alex might have become the closest thing this fractious bunch had to leaders.

After a few more seconds of thought, the lioness sighed and perked her ears forward resolutely. "Th' more I think 'bout it, Traxen, th' more I think Sister Alex got a good point. When somethin' really nasty happens in there — yeah, I said when, not if — m' fav'rite place t' be ain't gonna be zippin' along at umpty-'leven furlongs per fortnight headlong int' th' middle o' a pile o' rhubarb fert'liser. If y' can't think o' somethin' t' give y' gadgets a good bit more range, it might be best if we get t' City Hall sep'rately, each at our own pace. We c'ld meet up back at th' inn t'night, an' compare notes. Unless anyone's in a hurry, an' wants t' go wi' y' right now?" She glanced around at the others, one eyebrow raised and her tail curled in a questioning manner.

"Oh, an' Kyirri? I know y' don't trust 'im much, but anythin' Traxen finds out might help us later. Let 'im have a look at th' map." The lioness sounded persuasive, rather than commanding: she didn't want to push the roo-rat too hard, at least until she'd seen how well he stood up under stress.

Giles frowned. He took a drag of his cigarette.

He wasn't too keen on standing on the ice bridge any longer than he had to, so he simply kept pace with the leech...-thing-, as it backstroked across the river. He gave it a pretty good staring at before admitting to himself that it had probably spoken with him. He ashed the cigarette and coughed.

"Ah...hi there." he said.

As the troll interjected into the felines' flirting, Ed gave a bit of an indignant snort as he felt the hostility of the troll.  He was sorely tempted to use his wings to put on a little puppet show, explaining what happens when 'a cubi wuves an Adventurer'.  However, the speckled feline never got his chance, the troll mythos wandered off, and left Ed with a bit of awkward position.  However the mood was broken quite quickly as Andrace sent him what seemed to indicate some type of late night invite...  He grinned toothily back, and said back in a low voice, "call it a date?"

As Sister Alex and Andrace displayed their displeasure, Ed moved closer to them. Raeleg perched himself on Ed's shoulder.  The feline nodded towards the two women, and said, "I agree with them... i know i wouldn't be able to do much good from a cart, it lacks the mobility i'm used to, and in the event of some type of trap... -WHICH THIS PLACE IS KNOWN FOR- it'd be a mad scramble to leave... no, i think i'll stay on foot... however, discussing a plan for tomorrow after we arrive at the inn seems to be the best option if we're splitting up..."

He walked further a little further beyond the gate, leaning against a sign-post leading into the suburbs.  He was waiting for the others to decide what they were going to do.

Mao looked at the creature as carefully as he could with his sight trying to see anything, beyond the obvious physical differences from what was expected, that was out of place.  It was odd enough to find the creature laying here on the stairs, particularly when Mao was sure that the sound he had heard was coming from a room previously.  Maybe he had seen and heard it wrong?  Maybe the creature had moved?  Or maybe his senses deceived him.  The thought was worrisome at best, but rather than focus on it Mao kept to the situation at hand.  He looked about to see if there was anything else in the area, any sort of indications of what was going on.

As he looked, Mao's thoughts drifted to the feline with the odd behavior who had been following him.  Hopefully the fellow hadn't found any trouble, or worse, created some.  Mao considered the odd behavior for a moment, giving pause as he did.  Had he perhaps seen the first signs of what had happened to the people here?  Was there some sort of maddness affecting them?  Too many questions, too little information available yet.  It would seem that he would have to take a chance and wake the sleeping creature up, and hopefully get some answers from it.  "If nothing else, I may be able to find out how this fellow is still here and seemingly unharmed, and perhaps even get him to safety... or find some myself." he thought.  "Though, I get the feeling that safety has long since left this place."

Kyirri first made a glance towards Edaric. With a completely blank facial expression and flat tone, he let out a soft "I don't answer to you." He let his attention wander, until Andrace called for him. Kyirri turned his attention towards her, he simply stared at her for a few moments. Help him stab us in the back for sure... but I agreed to serve her, even if she ends up paying for the consequences of this action. It's times like this I wish I could feel unease. Kyirri's facial expression however, remained constant. In his ever flat voice, he finally let out "As you wish.", openly expressing no distaste after that. He paced over to Traxen's vehicle, watching closely for any sign of treachery.

Holding the book out with his still good arm, Kyirri went to where Traxen had opened the vehicle, and held the book out to him. Kyirri simply stared silently, awaiting Traxen's next move.

   It seemed that the majority of the group had finally made up their mind; they'd rather not put up with the discomfort and possible risk of traveling attached to the van for long distances. A shame, but not a problem.
  "Alright, I guess that's settled then." Traxen said to the group. "I'll head out to city hall now while the rest of you check out the City's outskirts. We'll meet back up tonight at the inn, and swap information"
  And then--about time, too--Kyirri finally held out the book for Traxen. Traxen gently lifted the book out of his hands with a terse "Thank you." before pulling back into the van, while also cocking his head and pushing the door out a few more inches, indicating he was keeping what he said earlier about letting Kyirri be able to "keep his foot in". If Kyirri did actually take a look inside, all he would see is a wall of monitors on one side, and all manner of gadgetry and junk everywhere else. It was all so inscrutable it wasn't possible to tell what was actually a gadget or simply part of the van.
  And with that, Traxen set to work. He rummaged around a particular cranny until he pulled out a small, naked device, the actual mechanism of a digital camera. Traxen then produced a cable, one end he attached to part of the camera mechanism and the other end went plugged in near the wall of monitors. He then took a bit to rapidly type lines of code onto a keyboard with a constant clackity-clack. After a bit, he seemed satisfied, then picked up both the book and the camera. He wrinkled his nose for a moment and sniffed the book, getting a "blech" grimace on his face for a bit. Getting through that, he set to the real work.
  He began flipping through the pages, pointing the camera at every one and pushing some part of the mechanism. With that, he photographed every page, each picture being stored as data in Pamcawv. While he took a picture of every page anyway, he seemed more interested in the pages that had photos and footnotes of various locations than street overlays themselves...after some minutes, Traxen finally photographed the last page. He put down the camera and then returned to the door of the van.
  He tossed the book back to Kyirri, maybe just a tad harder than was necessary. "There's your precious book back, and I didn't even crease a page..." Traxen then retreated once more into the van, closing the door behind himself this time, with another series of clicks and clanks following the closed door.
  Traxen's voice was once again emitted from the van itself; "Alright, one last question before I head off. Once I get to city hall, I'll be trying to download everything on their primary data servers, and maybe any secondary stuff I can get my hands on. My priorities, however, are lists of industrial and commercial places, inventories of said places, blueprints...things like that. Mainly, I'm just focusing on the industrial manufacturing and development places. Now, is there anything else that anyone wants me to look for in particular, particularly anything that might not be held on their servers? Any data, information, or even items of interest that might be kept in the central administration building for this place? I'm asking because, for me, this is planned to be a one-time-only trip, and I might as well save anyone else the need to go there."

"So we're finally going to do stuff, then?" spoke up Kali. She and Mykst had been quietly observing the group for quite some time now, waiting and waiting to get into the city. Mykst had been watching the incubus, Edaric, put the moves on Andrace as she responded, and felt a bit of relief. The housecat had gotten a rather strange vibe from the way she'd looked at him before, and he was relieved now that the pressure was gone. Of course, now there's the issue of there being a much more powerful and attractive cat here, and my girlfriend being a lioness... But Kali didn't seem to be paying any more attention to Edaric than Mykst, so maybe it wasn't a concern.

What Kali was really thinking was, Heh. Showoff. But a good-looking showoff, at least. She looked over at Mykst and noticed his worried expression, and offered him a quick punch on the shoulder. "Did we tell the guy our names yet, sweetie? I don't remember."

Mykst snapped out of his worry almost immediately and offered a smile to Black Magic. "Right, forgot. I'm Mykst Necrado, that's Black Magic. We're both students of the healing mage Dyixaz. And I don't think we have anything specific to look for, really, unless Magic remembers something from what she saw about this place." He couldn't help being a little nervous as well as eager about finally going in. Payden was right earlier; there were things in there a kitten and a cub couldn't handle alone. They were each almost past childhood, of course, but he knew that was how everyone else saw them.

Back at the Inn Ephrael stirred in the darkness of the room Ed had put her in. Groggly she sat up in the bed and winced at the headache she had "Oww, I really need to learn to dodge faster...." She said as she slowly stood and rubbed at the now healed site of her wound.

"Crap I rather liked this skirt too..." Eph grumped as she looked at the damage, looking round she spotted her pack. "Well at least Eddy brought my gear as well, at least I hope it was him."

Walking over she rummaged around inside until she found another of the short skirts she preferred, and a bit deeper as well, pulling out a pair of pistols in thigh holsters. "This place is a wee bit worse than I heard...And a girl like me needs all the friends she can get." She said as she made sure they were loaded, and after she changed into the new skirt strapped the M1911A2s on.

Pulling her pack back on she headed downstairs again and looked for the Innkeeper.

Sunuva...and these are nice shoes too!

Quickly leaping onto a nearby bench, the wood creaking under his weight, or rather, lack of weight, the feline's eyes narrowed right at the spot where...whatever it was that pieced his sole. Twirling his revolver, he brought it so the iron sights where placed firmly on this thing.

The floor was aged wood. It wouldn't stop a bullet.

A small "Click" as Jinx puled back the hammer echoed throwout the Church, as Jinx growled at whatever was in the flow."Your Move." he tried intimidation, if these things could be threatened. Hopefully, mind games would work. He really hated that Mr. Murphy and his damn Law...

The thought that this was all just part of his mind still loomed over Jinx. That Adventurer... Jinx would regret killing him if he had to. He looked Way too much like Max. Jinx doubted he could stomach reliving that memory. Still, that Adventurer might expolit that at worse, and likely did not feel the same about Jinx. And it seemed like his mind was collapsing faster then ever now. Would this person be forced to kill Jinx if it reached the breaking point?Hell, maybe he was still in the Inn, haluincating it all, that cop charging him as he leapt up on the table and aimed a gun at the Innkeeper...

The musclebound-but not quite an idiot-of a lupine eyed the devices, then glanced at the squirrel-like being after her brief explanation. Oh, those, he thought with a flick of his lightly fuzzed tail, those pale eyes glancing at them again, I've seen them in use before. Never could get any that fit on my head, even after I'd taken the trouble to learn how they worked. Now, if only the fact that they'd been unable to find a set big enough that time hadn't cost him that particular job...eh, oh well.

He had good enough hearing, and if they wanted his attention, they'd get it easily enough. In most circumstances, anyway.

"A headset, right? Been some time since I've seen one." He grunted, his one fuzzed ear twitching back slightly in a slightly unsure fashion. And a pity he didn't get to see Traxen take a whiff of that book. That chap just had to smell it, didn't he? Hey, his fault, not Raek's. Besides, at least it'd not been a hot day or after him doing some heavy fighting...no matter how clean that book was technically, it'd be doubtful anyone would want to come near it. Anyway, moving on, despite it being good he didn't get treated to a show by a somewhat now-agitated feline incubus...

The Mythos shrugged, tail wagging lazily. "Should be useful for you smaller ones...hmm?" His head panned slightly to watch just as the book he'd entrusted a certain 'roo-rat to hold onto was crudely chucked out of of that giant...er...machine. Don't worry, it'd be only a day or two before he was able to think about that with no hesitation whatsoever! Until then...eh...just don't get mad if he slips up. Well, too mad, anyway.

Hopefully that little fellow wouldn't be hurt! If so, the brute of a lupine would at least carry him-provided he could keep one arm free.

Huh, and the pretty much asking of 'Anyone need to know/get anything' seconds later...well, he didn't have anything he needed. Now, if this was a regular town, he'd probably want to know the best places for a monstrous fellow like himself to get a temp job at were, or where folk actually catered to a Mythos like himself. But, as it was, he merely grunted and glanced at his employer with that expectant, almost eager air that suggested he'd really like to get to doing his job. Ergo, defending her and those she asked him to as well as he could.

While Raek was quite willing to follow that lioness for as long as she was willing to pay him-and by extension, quite ready to go into the city as it is!-he couldn't quite get that niggling doubt out of his mind that he hadn't fixed matters between that incubus and her. Ah well, if a warning didn't work, guess that just meant he might not be paid later if things went poorly.

Afterall, he was only supposed to do some of the thinking! If she insisted on pursuing someone that might consider her more of a side dish in the long run-and he could be wrong-far be it from him to do anything. Well, unless the fellow tried to harm her in his presence....

Raeleg whispered in Ed's ear, something about a quick spell being tripped and him having to go.  Ed hadn't bothered to ask, just knew that the warp aci had to go do something.  He watched impassively as the little guy did his spin, then left.

Back at the Bar, Ephy would be greeted by the gray warp-aci with the ahnasazi symbol on it's forehead.  It approached the tazzy-devil, floating at face level, "Edaric told me to inform you that, whenever you're awake and ready, i can take you back to him.  He's currently at the gates with a larger party..."  The aci gave her a quick look-over then added in a slightly amused tone, "You're shorter than most of the girls he usually tries to... err...impress..."

Trying but not quite succeeding in getting a hang of that brain-mouth filter thing... it was somewhat new to the Raeleg, as he almost never catered to anyone's wishes but those of his master.

Ephrael's face split in a huge grin, "Oh my god a Warp-Aci! I love you guys!" And promptly pounced at Raeleg with a squeal of glee.

The aci's eyes grew glossier than normal, and Raeleg barely managed to squeak as he was jumped.  Despite all his efforts to dodge, he found himself pinned to floor by Ephy, little claws pulling and flailing as he tried his best to escape.  He squeak, "This isn't part of the deal... stop squeezing me." 

If Raeleg had recognizable facial features, he'd be looking rather indignant at this moment in time.

A gauntleted hand reached down and grasped Ephrael by the scruff of her neck, hauling her to her feet as gently as possible. "Give the poor thing a break kid, you've squeezed it half to death." Kaela loomed over the two of them. The older wolf was still in the same outfit as before minus her bandolier, having replaced it with the sling her shotgun hung from. With nothing to do but wait until the injured young woman (who was the victom of Kaela and not the monsters), Kaela had opted for a stiff drink and a nap. Nevertheless, her eyes were still somewhat foggy and bloodshot from a combination of high stress and lack of rest. She raised a mug of steaming coffee to her lips with her free hand, tipping it back to enjoy some of the rich and thick drink.

"Sorry, I would have been at your bed, but I didn't expect you to be up and about so soon." There was a rasping of fur as Kaela scratched the back of her head. "There some unintended consequences when I tried to help you, and I tried to help pull your bacon out of the fryer. I'm Kaela by the way. " She extended a hand towards the shorter woman in greetings, her eyes tracing over Ephrael as she did so. She couldn't read surface thoughts like a succubus, but there was still a lot you could tell about a person just by looking at them. For starters, the girl was packing some heavy pistols, which meant she wasn't here on a vacation. "What's somebody young like you doing in a place like this?"

Sister Alex nodded in Traxen's direction. "I was intending to locate libraries or research a possible Gutenberg monastery that may have been within the city. Any help in that direction would be much appreciated, Mr. Ridgrey." With that she passed through the gate, joining the incubus on the other side of the fence.

"Hey!" Ephrael yelped as she was hauled to her feet, flailing at Raeleg to grab the warp-aci again. Once she had his tail she quickly hauled him in and held him to her chest. Turning to the taller woman the Tazzie Devil glowered and pouted, then smiled as she shook the offered hand.

"Ephrael, and just treasure hunting I guess."

"YoU aRe NeW." The leach thing smiled up at Giles, its entire face bonelessly reshaping around a smile maybe two feet across. "i LiKe NeW. AnD sTrOnG, i LiKe StRoNg ToO. TeLl Me, NeW-aNd-StRoNg, WhY aRe YoU oN mY rIvEr? ArE yOu HeRe AlOnE? I lIkE aLoNe ToO." The grin stretched even further, the eyestalks of the creature curving inward toward themselves. "AlOnE iS mY fAvOrItE. AlOnE hAs So MaNy UsEs."
With a soft plunk it disappeared under water, before reappearing on the other side of the bridge.
"My NaMe Is PoLyGlUt. WhAt Is YoUrS?"

--

At the gates the rat glanced up from filing his nails at Traxen's mention of servers.
"By my understanding computers ain't too reliable, you may have to shuffle through some papers." He mumbled absentmindedly, "But it sounds like you all have matters worked out."

--

The creature before Mao shifted in its sleep, listing to the side toward Mao slightly, slowly leaning until, almost adorably, it tumbled down a couple steps with a surprised and entirely mouselike squeak, stopping short of Mao's own feet. Blearily it opened its eyes, blinked twice, looked up at the adventurer's face...
It's eyes looked entirely too furrae, but not enough so. The pupil was too large, somewhere between mouselike and furraelike. Somewhere toward the center of the pupil was a ring, the color of the iris dwarfed by the pupil itself. The creature regarded Mao for a moment, looking him over, it's expression shifting from confusion to frustration, like a thought just out of one's grasp, before it finally emitted a furious shrill shriek and swung one arm at the man's legs awkwardly. It began trying to sit up from it's awkward position on the stairs, face up with its shoulders further down than its head, a profanity occassionally distinguishable in its shrieks.

Meanwhile, downstairs, the scratching noise seemed to be heading for the stairwell. Maybe Jinx had scared it off. Or maybe it was deaf. Some sort of noises were echoing down the tower, maybe it was attracted to sound.

--

Moze smiled in amusement at the conversation at the bar. It reminded him of an incident when he was younger, when he and another adventurer had gone for the same mythos and nearly killed each other in the confusion. They all went out for drinks after, save for the mythos... Then again, most things reminded him of things when he was younger these days.
"Glad to see you're up." He added into the conversation with a grin. "Our policy around here is that the first injury you come back with is worth a free drink. You want it now or should I save it for you?"

Andrace twitched an ear towards the guard at the rat's muttered comment. She wasn't all that familiar with advanced modern technology herself, although a couple of her cousins could make these "con-pewter" things roll over and play tricks. Paulos and Akantha called themselves "choppers" or something, which Andrace had never really understood — they weren't in the Pride, so they'd never gone beyond basic combat training, after all.

The lioness shrugged to herself, Traxen would have to deal with whatever he found at City Hall. She squared her shoulders, took a deep breath and stepped forward through the gates. "C'mon, folks, we're burnin' daylight!" she called over her shoulder. She paused beside Sister Alex and Edaric, and glanced back to make sure everyone was actually tagging along.

   In regards to Traxen's query, only Sister Alex seemed to have an answer. "Libraries and/or monasteries, got it." Traxen replied.
  To the gate guard, Traxen said "Oh, I can handle unreliable, I'll only need them to work once, and I haven't yet been unable to get hardware to do what I want while it's relatively intact. But yeah, there's always the possibility of having to shuffle through a cabinet or two of paper files...wouldn't be pretty, but you gotta do what you gotta do..."
  As everyone else seemed to be moving along (was that Creature going to call his Warp-Aci, like they were going over?), Traxen finally did the same. On one monitor, he brought up a scan of the surrounding area made by the van's sensor stack, creating a small "map" of just a few street blocks. He put Pamcawv into autopilot, tapped part of a street on the very edge of the scan in the direction of towards the city (the monitor in question was a touch screen; several, but not all of the monitors were touch screens), and with a low hum, the electric motors of the van powered it off away from the group.
  As the van made its way, Traxen started shuffling through the picture files from the book he had just photographed. Most of the pictures were of hand-drawn maps of sections of the city, some were pages of footnotes and photos describing particularly nasty areas. Traxen went through until he found the several pages of maps that were on the area Traxen was in; the entrance of the city outskirts to the nearest bridge. Using several screens at once, Traxen manipulated the individual rectangles like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, fitting them together to create a single contiguous map. It wasn't a perfect fit, being hand-drawn, but it was close enough. Traxen continued flipping through photographs, and assembled a few more in a line attached to the cluster he had just made. He continued working and arranging only select map fragments in a linear fasion, occasionally tapping the touch screen with the area scan on it to reset the "destination" and keep the van moving. Eventually, Traxen had just enough of the map assembled to plot the most direct course towards the city hall.
  Between Traxen not completely trusting this map, the possibility to encounter unforseen obstacles, and the fact that Traxen wanted to get there quickly, he decided to take the wheel from here. Traxen moved up to the driver's seat of the van, turned on the panoramic screens, brought up the map he had just created in one small section. He increased his speed, tried to keep to straight roads, all the while heading towards the bridge that the group was supposedly going to warp to...

It took all of Aisha's will to not slap a palm to her face, when she heard the shrew try to get by Gareeku and not give too straight an answer.  What also annoyed her a little was the fact that her own questions were ignored completely, about how they knew that two adventurers specifically would be there to help.  The panther wasn't one to believe that fate was trying to guide her and the wolf to some pre-made destination, like they were pawns in a game.  Her eyes rolled upward at the notion.

"Alright, alright..." she said, coming up from behind the shrew so that the diminutive girl was standing between herself and Gareeku.  "I can see you're in too much of a hurry to really tell us anything, so if we go with you, will you cooperate with us, too?  Give and take, chica.  As I said, nobody'd be too happy to just be pushed into something without a good, and I mean a good, reason."

She lifted her head to glance at Gareeku, whom she figured was probably also getting exasperated.  Her voice was set in an aside whisper.  "Let's play along, probably the best way to see what's going on.  If we don't like it, you and I more than likely can get out of it easy."

When the book was hurled at him, Kyirri quickly stepped to the side, evading it. He expected no less, indeed, he actually expected something more lethal. I wouldn't be able to dodge a bullet like that, I fully expect him to do that later though... Saying nothing, he moved over to pick the item off the floor, trying not to put too much pressure on his left arm. He let out a soft grunt as he hoisted the item up, discipline preventing him from yelping in pain. I'll need to take care of that when possible, hopefully it won't be too long. I'd need to make sure that no one is looking, particularly Traxen or his lackey Payden, they already have too much over us for my liking. And I doubt those I'm following around would react well to it either. He glanced about, listening, observing. Then again, I might not get the time...

He then silently strode towards Andrace, again completely silent on his feet. 

Ed was glad to have the group getting moving, it was clear they shouldn't have grown that big to begin with, if for no other reason than the group dynamic was a complete and utter catastrophe... or, at least, that's how it seemed from the little time the feline had observed the others.

He noticed the roo rats thoughts... strange as they were, they were none of his business... He felt himself grow a little hungry, and given the current state of things, he'd have to create the appropriate emotions to sate his appetite.  As his gaze came across the youngest members of the party, a devious grin parted the leopard's lips.  He whispered to Andrace, "Don't mind me... just getting a late lunch."

He sauntered over to the kittens, Grinning from ear to ear as he got closer.  "Hello young sir and lady, lovely day for a stroll, but i do hope you've taken the proper precautions, the city is a rather dangerous place... never know what might come at you, or from where."
He leaned in towards Kali, still opened shirted and flaunting his figure.  Reaching into a coat pocket, he produced a small seed and held it up so both could see.  He closed his right hand around the seed, in a loose fist. He then placed his other hand, also in a loose fist, next to the other hand, so all his knuckles were facing up.  He removed his left hand first, displaying a perfect orchid, as if it'd been cut fresh from an expert florist.  He grinned as he held the flower towards Kali, "Pretty flower for the pretty girl?"



Meanwhile, at the bar, Raeleg continued squirming and struggling while being pressed against Ephy's chest.  "Can you please let me go?" He growled, trying as best he could to dig tiny claws into Ephy's arm, completely without success.  "if you let me go, and you're ready to go, i can take you back to Ed and The City..."

Ah, finally!

Raek smiled, showing that forest of teeth in his anticipation as everyone started to get moving...if a bit sluggishly in his opinion. Personally, he also shared the 'cubi's feelings-not that he knew what the feline was thinking, but more of an ironic sharing of empathy by pure chance-about the group being so large, but...as before, he wasn't the type to argue-especially when it seemed his employer was technically the leader of the group.

Ah well, meant more chaos for him to immerse himself in, no? His race was rather chaotic in nature, some said, afterall...

The fact that small 'roo-rat didn't get hurt was also a slight relief...though that slight grunt suggested discomfort, perhaps. Mayhaps a lingering injury that resists magical healing? the lupine troll wondered as he took on a relaxed, if alert, stance-his free hand keeping within easy reach of his axe, while the other kept the main bulk of their supplies slung over his back.

Granted, he wasn't sure if that tinker, Traxen, had supplies with him...but then, given he was in that giant contraption that undoubtedly had a lot of room inside...maybe he did. Speaking on the concept of room...even as the brutish fellow made to stand a few feet behind Andrace, the thought began to occur that maybe the tinker with his strange creations-strange to Raek, anyway-could hold onto their supplies.

Admittedly he'd not paid attention to the fact the driver of that van was planning on trying to drive straight to the center of the city, and probably leaving them in the dust for a little while. Hmm...but still, he was leery anyway of handing off what he'd purchased himself...what if the fellow didn't want to share?

The lupine Troll had taken the effort to make sure their supplies were exceptionally fresh, afterall, and he didn't want someone deciding they'd want it all for themselves.

You know, he thought for a moment as he glanced at Traxen's van, then at Kyirri, I'll just wait and see on the little fellow, and ask later if I find I truly need both hands in the case of the tinker holding onto things.

Then the wolflike Mythos set his attention to that of a more broad, disfocused manner that was something he'd learned when he'd started this type of work. It was a tactic that served him quite well; to be honest. It allowed him to pay attention to specifics-such as movement other than that of his company-without letting himself get tense or jumping at shadows.

The only problem is it made others assume you literally had no brain; given the blank, fuzzy-eyed look it gave one.

No matter. He was finally going to get to do what she was paying him for. Or, well, going to be paying for. Raek's tail wagged lazily as he kept his pace, staying close enough to Andrace that he could perform his duties, yet just far enough back he could somewhat pay attention to anyone that wasn't directly behind him.

You know, this could be fun....

After she released Kaela's hand she fairly bounced over to one of the stools at the bar. "I don't sapoose you have any sparkling wine do ya?" Ephrael said still clutching her captive warp-aci....And completely ignoring it at the same time.

The kids moved with the rest of the group, relieved that they were finally going somewhere rather than just standing at the gate talking safety. Kali actually needed to shake her legs a bit before they got going, and Mykst stretched his thin body with a few popping sounds. They HAD been standing for a while, after all, and neither one liked to stay put for too long.

As they walked towards Andrace, Mykst noticed that Kyirri had an odd expression. The kangaroo-rat hadn't seemed to be the most readily trusting guy, and a few other members of the group certainly set him off, but being compassionate and patient, Mykst hadn't found a reason to hate anyone yet.

Then Edaric addressed them personally for the first time, in a rather intentionally showy way. And he offered a flower made from magic growth to Kali. Mykst blinked widely, and the expression on his face a second later indicated several emotions...but not fear or hate. Confusion, anger, jealousy, worry...but still not hate. Mykst was a rational person; he was very slow to anger or hate with anyone. But some little piece of his masculinity was irked with the undeniably attractive leopard flaunting himself in front of a girl Mykst would do anything to protect, and expecting her to react to it. Or was he?

As for Kali, she raised a reddish-brown eyebrow and quite a few emotions made themselves present as well, more mentally than physically so. Curiosity, annoyance and confusion were the dominant ones for her. She felt Mykst's grip on her hand tighten slightly, and couldn't help smirking.

"Thanks for the compliment, Mr. Incubus, and the neat trick," she said, taking the orchid gently from him. "But pink isn't really my color." The orchid slowly wilted in her hands, but Mykst's grip didn't loosen. He said nothing, just glared. He wasn't about to say something stupid, but he wasn't going to fake happiness either.

With the mixture of emotions coming from the pair, Ed just grinned deviously as he watched Kali and Mykst, "My apologies, Black Magic... Or at least, i believe that is what your friend called you.  I meant no harm with the gesture, merely taking a few moments to get acquainted with the party..."

Turning his attention towards Mykst, his agitation clearly showing, Ed clasped his hands together behind his back and said "You seem rather jealous with a hint of, perhaps annoyance... Ah, I know what this calls for..."

Pausing the spotted feline moved with a flourish, sweeping his right hand, palm down towards Mykst in an overly dramatic fashion.  He spun his wrist, as if to reach for something up his sleeve, and produced an equally delicate orchid as the one he'd handed Kali.  "Clearly you wanted one too."

Before giving Mykst a chance to respond, Ed slipped the flower's stem around, placing it behind the house-cat's ear.  He made a mock salute, an almost wavelike gesture, holding his middle and index finger to his brow, then flourishing them outward.  Saying politely over his shoulder, "keep yourself on your toes, i'll keep an eye out as best i can... but do try not to run off..."

With his friendly introduction complete, Ed headed back towards Andrace with a rather large smirk on his face.  He posted himself up by her side, doing all he could to not look back and giggle at the expressions the kittens must have had on their faces.



At the bar, Raeleg continued to squirm and wriggle, trying to break free from the Tazzy devil's grip.  When he failed to break free, he tried squirming so his belly would be against hers, and his hind-claws could perhaps help with the attempted escape.  He looked exceedingly indignant as he continued trying pushing and prodding at Ephy's 'death grip' and was feeling rather powerless at that moment.

Mykst's anger was matched not with a threat or with mockery, but with...another flower, this one behind his ear. By the time he was able to process why this had happened, Ed was already away from him and Kali both and back at Andrace's side. After a second or two of confusion and slight agitation herself, Black Magic finally understood and smiled. It took Mykst a bit longer.

"B....wait..." Mykst's wide two-colored eyes flickered back and forth fron Ed's back to Kali's grinning, knowing face and back again. "Was he just trying to-"

"No, sweetie, he just wanted to mess with us," Kali answered, shaking her auburn head. "He was introducing himself to us, yeah, but he wanted to confuse both of us. Must've needed a snack." Now Mykst's eyes cleared up, and he smiled in relief.

"Oh, thank goodness. I thought he was coming on to me instead of you there." Kali's ears perked up mischievously, and she smiled toothily.

"Aw, was Mixy jewous of da big, buff 'cubi?" she cooed, tugging Mykst's non-flower-adorned ear as he pouted and blushed a bit. His mumbled "maybe" earned a laugh from Kali.

"Relax, hon;  I'm pretty sure he just meant it to be friendly anyway. He's right about us needing to stay close to the group, and he's the only one here who called me Black Magic so far, so he must want us to trust him. Besides, he's hot and everything, but you saved my life, and your hair is much prettier than his as well," she added teasingly, ruffling a paw through Mykst's black thatch before plucking the flower away from his ear and tucking it into the ties of his cloak. He smiled, plucked a few of the petals off of it, and sprinkled them in her hair before they both moved to catch up with the group.

Andrace raised an eyebrow and perked her ears towards Edaric as the 'Cubi sauntered away from the two confused youngsters. "Snackin' again...?" she murmured with a wry smile on her muzzle. The lioness turned, waved her arm in a "let's go" gesture and strode off along the road away from the gates, her tail-tuft flicking back and forth at her hocks.

She looked much more businesslike now: she constantly glanced from side to side to make sure nothing could jump at them from round a corner. Her ears twitched back and forth, listening out for the sound of extra footsteps, and every now and then she looked over her shoulder to keep track of the others.

Adding together what the innkeeper and the guard had said, plus Edaric's experiences, they were in hostile territory the moment they entered the gates. And where there was hostile territory, there were usually hostile inhabitants. Andrace wanted to see, hear or scent them first.

Kaela buffed her claws against her breastplate as she sat down next to the almost obnoxiously excitable young girl, raising a single eyebrow at the mention of her rather vague occuption. "This isn't much of a place to be searching for treasures it seems. Just fanged horrors and danger." More importantly than that, Kaela herself was looking for a treasure, although not the kind you would find long abandoned in some decrepit building. Whatever Ephrael's goals and motivations really were in the City, she came across as too enegetic and dimwitted to be a clever and conniving jewel thief. The wolf marked the girl off of her list of suspects for the moment. No sense in making an enemy of such a friendly, if annoying, sort.

"For the love of...you're going to give it a heart attack at the rate it's going." Kaela's voice was thick with reproach as she used her powerful hands to pry Ephrael's hands open so the little dimensional being could get at least a few moments of reprieve before the Tasmanian Devil tried to grab it again. "I know it's a cute thing, but at least give it some freedom instead of smothering it to death." She felt a bit of sympathy for the small creature, who seemed to want nothing more than to get away from the very grabby and huggy young girl.

Surprisingly enough, Payden kept his mouth shut as they began to file on out into the City proper, opting to stick by the youngin's just in case. Even as Ed teased Mykst with the harmless trick, he managed to stay silent, only fidgeting with the lever on his rifle and thinking a single, quiet thought: Little son of a bitch. 'Cubi just loved pulling those stupid stunts.

"Keep your eyes and ears open, you two. Holler if you see something suspicious." Which basically described everything in the entire City. As much as he loved relying on his own senses, these fuzzy kids had him one-up on sight, hearing, and smell. Even if he was their age or vice-versa, they'd still have him beat.

Mao did his best to hop back down a few stairs, attempting his best to keep his balance in the face of the sudden but awkward attack.  He hoped the floor of the place wouldn't protest too much.  Once landed, he began to try and calm the creature down, placing his hands out slightly wide and bowing down a bit in to a position that showed that he was not armed at the moment and that, to the normal eye, was not in a fighting ready stance.  Hopefully he wouldn't need to strike the creature, as the trained eye would notice that this was a purely evasive stance.

"Shh...It's alright," he said in a soft, soothing and as calming voice as he could manage, "I'm not going to hurt you.  I bear you no ill will.  There is no need to fight, I just want to know what has and still is happening here."

The creature had seemed off to him when he looked, but not so off that he was ready to strike the creature without first ascertaining it's true intent.  An awkward and ungainly attack upon being startled into wakefulness did not count as aggression to Mao, but defense.  This was a dangerous place, after all, and such things were a matter of survival.  The alien nature of the the startled mouse however was quite obvious, but even the most hideous of deformations could still house a sane or at least 'humane' mind.  For now, this would have to do.

"Awww," Ephy pouted as Raeleg was extracted from her grasp. "I doubt I could kill him with love." She continued with a sharp grin.

"So what brings you here?"

The thing in front of Mao finally pulled itself upright with a grunt, still ready and poised to attack or run at a moment's notice. The man's attempts at being soothing just seemed to confuse and thus frustrate the creature; it slapped at the bare stone walls once or twice, producing loud jarring noises in what seemed to be an attempt at scaring him off. The creature shrieked again and lumbered forward...
And a scratching noise in the walls passed by, quickly. The mousecreature kept slapping the wall, shrieking louder and getting closer to Mao... And the scratching noise came back.
Skch.
A different noise. Before the scratching sounded like it was against stone. Now it was the noise your fingernail makes against the skin of your arm, the sound transferring from something hard to something soft. The mousecreature froze, its pupils dialating to the point where it became apparent that its irises, under the oversized pupil, were green.
It squeaked once, softly.
Skch. Skch skch.
A slab of skin, like a piece of deli meat, fell of the mouse's shoulder. Two fingers fell off its left hand soon after, the base of each an almost surgically smooth cut. The mouse rushed forward frantically, tripping over itself in a bid to escape whatever was happening to it. The concept of it considering Mao an obstacle to its escape, given their relative sizes, was completely laughable. It threw itself down the stairs, with no concern for tripping or other personal injury, directly at Mao.
Skch Skch Skch Skch Skch Skch Skch...

--

Traxen's van soon outstripped the rest of the group, being a motorized vehicle and all, and soon the tollbooths for the bridge to the city were in sight, albeit a good six blocks away. There were recent signs of a struggle. Bloodstains, a couple twisted and wrecked looking booths, the body of what appeared to be a deformed crocodile... From the incubus' earlier descriptions, however, there should have been more bodies. If they'd already been dragged away then the scavengers here worked VERY fast. There were a few cars parked nearby, all of which of somewhat older models. A few minivans, the occassional PT cruiser, a t-bird parked across a lawn with grass tangling itself in its hubcaps. Each outside a pristine suburban home. There was the occassional bark or yowl in the distance, probably strays... Even the wind barely moved. No matter how long it had been there, the ordered pristine lifestyle of its former residence still permeated the environment like the smell of apple pie and ties.
The bridge, up ahead, apparently continued onward into the mist. The city didn't even attempt to hide how ominous it was.

--

The other group in the city, lead by Andrace, was finally on its way. Somewhere in the world, fanfare was playing.
In the severe quiet of the suburbs every small noise sounded louder. The rustle of grass, the rare clunk of some object in one of the houses being disturbed, the chirp of sparrows... No visible people though, not yet. Just rows after rows of mostly quiet houses only apparently having just started to fall into disrepair. Really, all things considered the place looked like it was in good shape. The occasional door hanging open, cracked window, unkept lawns or awkwardly parked cars were the only obvious signs that the place had been abandoned at all. Finally, twelve blocks in, they got their first sign that someone else may be there. The scrape of a manhole cover closing as they approached it.

--

Moze chuckled as he poured out the sparkling wine for the girl, even getting out a nice glass. "So, what got ya? Did you get a good look at it?"

Even if none of the others had heard what Andrace did, they shouldn't have missed the lioness pausing for a moment in her steady pace. Her ears and whiskers perked forward alertly, and she made a small "slow down" gesture with one hand and a flick of her tail-tip.

"Up ahead," she murmured quietly, "sounded like a manhole cover scrapin' shut. Could be someone tryin' t' hide from us, or mebbe settin' up t' ambush us. Raek, no maulin' 'less I say so. Th' rest o' y' check y' weapons an' keep alert. Anyone wi' magic, can y' sense anythin' odd hidin' nearby?" The lioness glanced at Sister Alex, the young mages, and Edaric before returning her attention to spotting likely ambush sites.

She walked on, but a little slower and more deliberately. A quick pat, a wriggle, and a shrug re-checked that her sword and gun were ready to draw instantly if needed. Until they were, she preferred to keep her hands free.

Ed had mostly kept quiet as the group ventured towards the City... he'd stayed close to Andrace, though given her mood, he hadn't ventured towards flirting or risque comment.  Instead he'd kept his sense peaked, scanning for anything that wasn't in the party... It wasn't as easy as he'd have liked given that he'd kept a small part of his sense trained on that sheriff... his distinct hatred of cubi, combine with firearms might lead him to be tempted to have a little incident in (not so) "friendly-fire".

The feral garble of thoughts that came just before the manhole cover slid shut put Ed on edge.  His wings half-flared, and his eyes narrowed.  Andrace spoke during his moment of tensing, and the spotted feline replied, "There is something there... not enough emotion or thought to pinpoint, but... there's something, or things in that general direction"

Pointing towards the general location of the manhole cover...  "Can't tell you much more than that... whatever it is, it's pretty feral... very little thought that i can tell... I'll let you know when i know more."

Ed's wings twitched, short tentacles formed, all donned with draconian heads.  They seemed rather vicious at first, hissing and showing off tension... Though that quickly passed as Ed calmed himself down.  A few moments later, one slunk towards the kittens, sliding up between Mykst and Kali's heads, then meeped at the kittens.  It smiled politely then proceeded back towards Ed... If one didn't know any better, they'd be rather certain that either Ed was teasing the kittens, or that the tentacles truly did have a mind of their own.

   Traxen slowed the van down to an easy pace as he neared the bridge and passed through the scene of a fight. He made a small "eww" face as the bloodstains, wrecked scenery, and the mangled corpse of some sort of mutated...thing...all over the street passed by his panoramic screens. Although, given how much blood there was scattered around and only a single body to be found, and what he had overheard of that Creature's own account of the battle, there should have been more bodies...which means that there definitely are things that are alive here, and they are hungry.
  Traxen also took note of several of the parked vehicles he passed. He'd definitely have to snag one or two on his way out, probably one of the minivans.
 However, as he got closer to the start of the bridge and passed the houses, he realized that something was missing. He tapped out a few things on the keyboard to his right, clearing one of the screens of the otside view and replacing it with a readout. Yep...that group wasn't here. He wasn't even picking up the two headsets, which meant they weren't even within the 1-2 mile range. Weren't they going to use that one Creature's little warping critter to get here first? Or...well, it had only taken Traxen a few minutes to get here, perhaps they hadn't warped yet?
  Slightly worried about this, Traxen finally rolled up to the first tollbooth to the bridge and brought the van to a stop. The City loomed ahead on the digital screens. Even in broad daylight, a forboding fog hung low over the city. The dark towers of skyscrapers penetrated the fog; sentinels that watched over any intruder.
  Traxen tapped out a short command on the keyboard and leaned forward as one of the screens directly in front of him slid up, a metal plate on the front of the van doing the same, revealing the single window between the inside of the van and out. Traxen stared out at the mist-cloaked City.
  The City stared back.
  Traxen sighed, leaned back, and made the plate and screen move back into place. This place was dangerous, no doubt about that. Deploying his drones around the van unfortunately wasn't an option at the moment, they'd never be able to keep up with the van at the speeds he'd need to go to get in and out of the city before nightfall. Traxen turned he head around and looked back to the center of the van's roof. Well, if he needed it, he needed it.
  Traxen then started speaking aloud. "Pamcawv, deploy roof turret and standby. Track all moving targets, fire on command word 'strike'. "
  "A-fir-ma-tive."
  There was some whirring noise as the dome on top of the van opened up, and the heavy machine gun turret on top lifted out. Pamcawv would automatically lock onto anything that moved, but it wouldn't start firing unless Traxen said "strike". Juuuust in case there was any beastie was somehow capable of keeping up with a speeding van, as Traxen had no plan on stopping until he reached his destination.
  Traxen tapped out a few more miscellaneous commands relating to the van's speed optimization and handling, and took a deep breath. He would have revved the engine, but the van didn't have one to rev, running off a microfusion generator and electric motors. Traxen did, however, press his foot on the "gas" pedal.
  The van went past the tollboth and rumbled onto the bridge, picking much more speed on the wide, straight, empty bridge than when it was going through the suburbs. Traxen would be going at the maximum possible speed while going through the streets of the city until he got to the hall, only slowing down if he saw a roadblock or neared an expected turn.

Kyirri cooly glanced looked about, keeping ever alert. He looked across for possible cover in case anything got nasty. He made a few sniffs in the air, trying to determine anything suspicious. He took note of the condition of the houses, and the roads as well. Damned arm. He thought, as his left arm bothered him again. He also felt a tingle go through his head as he looked about. Great,.. it's probably making sure I don't say anything.., not that I want the others to know about that anyways. Not now.

He listened intently to Edaric, though didn't look directly at him. He had wanted to get his weapon ready, but he couldn't while holding the map book. Still, he was ready to drop it and get himself armed in a moment's notice.

Those houses... they still look like they're in reasonable condition, yet empty. That probably means they've been abandoned recently. Still, I'm surprised they don't look like they've been thoroughly looted, considering the premises of this place. That most likely means that something is either looking over them or there hasn't been the time to pick them apart. He briefly glanced at Andrace, then returned to examining his surroundings. No... it's not my place to interject... only if I find something more definitive...

As the group traveled Sister Alex pulled a piece of paper out of her pouch and began playing with it. What looked like a nervous tic was actually her way of preparing for whatever the suburbs would throw at them. Paper was a prime ingredient in her magic. The staff in her other hand was not and she was already getting irritated and wishing her superior had given her a wand of healing rather than the staff so she could have both hands free. And that wasn't even taking into account the thing's attitude.

Alex's large fluffy tail began to twitch, a real nervous tic, as they moved through the too quiet suburbs. They were too pristine to be this empty. People did not simply abandon valuable real estate without a pretty extreme reason. The opposite in fact, she had seen people struggle and fight to remain in squalid shacks. She slipped a second piece of paper from her pouch.

Hmm?

You know, there were a few downsides to keeping one's attention so unfocused; it nearly made him miss when his employer gestured for them to slow down! As it was, the massive lupine blinked, ears perking as she spoke. Alas, he'd also missed the sound that'd caught everyone's attention. But then, he wasn't in the front of the group, so it was understandable...right?

Still, those pale eyes focused on Andrace intently as she motioned for them to move more carefully, and spoke of hearing something. Or, as the male 'cubi said a bit after her, some things. While the lupine troll already cared little about Edaric (Not that he knew the fellow's name yet!), he wouldn't doubt the feline's ability to sense thoughts overly much.

It collaborated with what his employer said as well...which meant he had to be prepared anyway. A pity he wasn't allowed to maul without her consent though! Personally Raek thought that was a tad redundant; since he was just as happy using his natural weapons as he was that axe he carried. Sometimes it was infinitely easier to do so, really.

Ah well; he'd live with it.

The lupine Mythos nodded in acceptance at her order, his hand still poised to grab his axe if needed.

Heh, and now that he had a reason to be much more alert, his eyes were roving over the general area, looking for anything he could find useful to supplement what he had. For example, a small lamppost might prove useful, if he could tear it from the pavement, or a piece of a fence-metal or wood would matter little in his opinion. The wolfish troll wasn't one to shirk at using anything he could-should it be usable for him.

Heck, if one of the company died and he had nothing else available, he'd be more than happy to swing them like some sort of squishy club if it came down to it. Just had to hope it didn't come down to something like that...just for the implications of what might happen. Ew.

Still, he was as ready as he could be. Hopefully, anyway.

Taking the wine glass in a delicate grip (Like that of a noble born woman) Ephrael sipped the free drink, thinking how best to answer.

"Oh it was a blue on blue, I got hit by a bit of flying bone from a grenade burst, thrown by Miss Amazon here."  She said lightly, with a wink at Kaela.

The big wolf frowned visibly at the bartender as she took a drink of her ale, tipping back the glass to get at the last dregs of the thick treacly drink. A sigh escaped her lips. "Admittedly not the best throw of my career, but that grenade did a lot more harm to those monsters than it did to your butt." Kaela smiled as she made an elaborate gesture that demonstrated an explosion and the resulting burst of gore and viscera. "You were quite the marksman however. Those were some pretty impressive shots you were landing for just an adventurer passing through."

Kaela motioned for the bartender to refill the mug in front of her, tapping a gauntleted finger against the glossy wood. "Would you care to head back out into the City with me? I could use an eye like that. I'm searching for a lost jewel of sorts." Although the incubus had appeared to leave, it didn't bother Kaela much. She found his kind to be fickle and capricious, their emotional nature making them harder to rely on. Although Ephrael seemed a little jumpy and manic, she seemed like she could be a useful asset and companion. "What do you say? Yes? No?"

Knocking back the remains of her wine Ephrael grinned at the older woman. "Sounds like a plan! And we even have a free lift!" She said smiling wickedly in Raeleg's direction.

Giles considered the creature's first question. He exhaled a cloud of smoke, giving the...thing, a measured look. "What am I doing here? Walking." he said, and then continued to do just that.

"My name is Giles. My favorite kind of person is alone too. You could help me out with that, you know." he said, and flicked his cigarette into the water, where it sizzled once before extinguishing. He promptly began rolling a new one. "I notice you're all alone too. You got any friends, Polly?"

Myksat and Kali each heard the manhole cover slide as everyone else did, and both immediately went to instinctive stances; Mykst's fur bristled and he clenched his staff in one hand, his tail straight up and his eyes ahead at where the noise was. Kali's fur didn't bristle, but her teeth bared and kept her mama's words in her head: Just because you shouldn't believe everything you hear, doesn't mean you should discount it.

Of course, this meant that their reaction when Edaric's tentacle-head meeped at them was a bit exaggerated. Mykst hissed and almost swung at it, and Kali bit back a roar, but not a quick swipe at the air where the tentacle had been. Once they realized what had in fact happened, the housecat took a deep breath in and smiled, and Kali shot an angry but amused look of warning to Ed. Then they both turned their attention back to the area ahead of them. Sheriff Velasquez had warned them, their families and teacher had warned them, and of course, everyone in the group had warned them about this place. With so many reputable sources, everything had to be considered a potential threat here.

If there's one thing Jinx learned to hate, it was his own gut instinct. Because 9 times out of 10, it was right, and Jinx could never remember it telling him about something good.

Taking a deep breath and wandering towards the stairwell, slowly, silently, and cautiously, the feline's senses alert to even the slightest change in his environment.

then, something heavy up above was move...and quickly at that.

Gun and rapier at the side, Jinx pressed his back against the wall next to the stairwell entrance, tightening his grip on his weapons.

No, yet another thing Jinx hated was waiting for moments like these, because with the adrenaline coursing through his veins, at speeds rivaling a cockroach caught in the light, a minute could seem like hours, and that itch on the trigger finger could get deadly to the impatient assassin.

Then it hit Jinx; He hoped this thing wasn't big or heavy enough to take out the wall surrounding the door.Then again, it most likely was. He didn't earn his nickname for nothing, after all.

Witt shrugged at the demon girl, from his seated position. "Mmhmm. So, that says what you get from the arrangement. What's in it for me?"

He did not, however, show any signs of preparing to leave.

The demon girl finished what she was doing and set the stylus aside.
"Besides someone who knows a bit more of the City than you being able to help you get whatever YOU'RE here for?" She gave Witt an appraising look, "I mean, what else is there to do in this town? Come see the world oldest Dairy Queen? Please. Tourists don't show up in this town for the fucking culture, no matter how hard the mayor tries to play up the goddamn museum. You're here for excitement, or treasure or a deep seated hatred for your own survival instinct or whatever the hell else makes people want to go to the City. And it tends to go better if you have someone on hand who can tell at least a little more about what's gonna try to eat you."

--

"Sure thing. This way, come on." The girl led Aisha and Gareeku further down the hall with the sarcophagus, heading toward a hallway that seemed to be full of paintings. Delicate brushstrokes rendering a castle on the moors, a portrait of a cubi woman in an elaborate headdress...
"Basically, it's all right here." She waved the notebook. "It's an old trick, sort of a really simple divination. You know enough factors and you can predict anything."
A page fell out of the book, but she didn't seem to notice. On it was mathematical formulae and odd notes. If Xi is greed and Xh is fear, and if Xh changes based on the aggression of the Muertes and Xi changes over time, how long will it take the Brothers before they open the Vault? 2Xi to the power of...
"Anyway, it's all supposed to really pick up with the arrival of a PARTICULAR group of adventurers. Admittedly, th-this isn't really a place that takes well to destinies, b-but you can't ignore facts. This p-particular batch of adventurers were supposed to start with a pair, in black and white. And something about the hunter seeing eye to eye with the devil, I don't completely understand that bit. And you two fit the bill."
She sighed, walking further among the paintings. A raccoon dressed in renaissance attire posed with a bowl of fruit in one, another depicted the birth of Athena... "And I'm n-not the only one who knows th-this, and I can almost g-g-guarantee that you w-were seen on the way in, s-so you're definitely involved NOW." She looked up somberly, passing by a plaque about painters in the past hundred years. "And I'm sorry that you are. I truly am. I'm sorry about the things you'll see and what w-will happen in about three minutes and the danger you'll be in and the people that are going to, um, explode. I'm sure you don't deserve it. But it's going to happen and it's all right here." She leafed through the notebook and murmured "twenty seconds, damn... Here, take the notebook. I think you'll need it." She grinned sadly as she handed it over, "By the by, name's Jeanette. Jeanette DuBois."
The shrew walked ahead a little bit, turning a nearby corner ahead of them. Why was she shutting her eyes so tight...?
Exactly three minutes after she'd passed the plaque, or twenty seconds after Jeanette had flipped through the notebook for the last time, someone further down the hall yelled "Oi! 'Oo let yew out!" There was a whistle, and the squelch of a piercing weapon striking home...

--

"Grenades, eh? Niiiice," The orangutan gave an appraising whistle. "Glad to see someone puts some thought into it." He blinked at Kaela's question and looked around, "Hmmm... I give tours of the outer suburbs by day, it's less dangerous. Going deeper in... Whoo," Moze exhaled, looking back and forth from Kaela to the door to the countertop... He was plainly nervous. Not saying no though. "Been awhile since I've been deeper in... Where's this thing likely to be?"

--

"YoU sHoUlDn'T lItTeR." Polyglut remarked, lazily swimming around where Giles had thrown the cigarette. "I bElIeVe ThErE's A fInE, tHeSe DaYs..." He vanished under the water and reappeared on the other side of the ice bridge, his mouth staying below water while his eyestalks poked above. "No. I dO nOt HaVe FrIeNdS. I hAvE nEvEr ThOuGhT aBoUt It. Do YoU hAvE a MaP?" There was a sound rather like a giggle. "I sUpPoSe We BoTh LaCk ThInGs We NeEd. MaYbE yOu WiLl Be My FrIeNd WhEn YoU cOmE bAcK tO tHe RiVer."

--

Whatever was under the manhole cover, it was already leaving. Ed could sense its thoughts, getting a bit more coherent as time went on, as it moved away. Basically a line of thinking boiling down to "Is it them? It might be them. I should tell him it's them. Or might be then."

--

The Pamcaw made it's way through the city, eventually reaching a wide open main street. In allyways things could be seen moving, and between buildings high above things like balloons, but far too lumpy to be such, drifted. Packs of individuals were passed and ignored, although various blockages in the roads necessitated some manuvering around them. Eventually the vehicle was making its way down a wide, seven lane street, looking like further on it would merge into some tunnel or highway. A truck was tipped over across five of the lanes, snack cakes probably long since gone bad spilled over the road. There were other abandoned cars nearby. Some waiting in parking spaces as if hoping their owners would get home, some poking out of large garages...
And a t-bird, with grass sticking out of its hubcaps.

Quote from: Boogeyman on January 14, 2010, 09:58:53 PM
The thing in front of Mao finally pulled itself upright with a grunt, still ready and poised to attack or run at a moment's notice. The man's attempts at being soothing just seemed to confuse and thus frustrate the creature; it slapped at the bare stone walls once or twice, producing loud jarring noises in what seemed to be an attempt at scaring him off. The creature shrieked again and lumbered forward...
And a scratching noise in the walls passed by, quickly. The mousecreature kept slapping the wall, shrieking louder and getting closer to Mao... And the scratching noise came back.
Skch.
A different noise. Before the scratching sounded like it was against stone. Now it was the noise your fingernail makes against the skin of your arm, the sound transferring from something hard to something soft. The mousecreature froze, its pupils dialating to the point where it became apparent that its irises, under the oversized pupil, were green.
It squeaked once, softly.
Skch. Skch skch.
A slab of skin, like a piece of deli meat, fell of the mouse's shoulder. Two fingers fell off its left hand soon after, the base of each an almost surgically smooth cut. The mouse rushed forward frantically, tripping over itself in a bid to escape whatever was happening to it. The concept of it considering Mao an obstacle to its escape, given their relative sizes, was completely laughable. It threw itself down the stairs, with no concern for tripping or other personal injury, directly at Mao.
Skch Skch Skch Skch Skch Skch Skch...

Reacting as quickly as he could to the charging church mouse, Mao attempted to leap up and over the scared creature, as he did so, he did something he was not so sure would work:  During the jump Mao flicked both arms out, briefly and with his hands hardened for but a brief second of impact, and struck the walls on either side of him.

"Either I'm doing the bravest thing I've ever done... or one of the most foolish..."  he thought.

"Well, nothing else for it."

He did his best to aim for a landing that would allow him to be able to turn and run immediately, formulating a plan in his mind as quickly as he could.  If his brief observation of the situation was correct, whatever was in the walls was reacting to the sounds, hopefully, it wouldn't be smart enough to predict and learn from what he was about to do.

Witt snorted. "You mean we're not going to get to see the worlds most excellent collection of reinforced toupees? I was so looking forward to the edification thereof." The irony flooding out from his tone. "Besides, even Dairy Queen has culture. Just look in the yoghurt pots."

Ed hissed as the thing ran away, "We're being watched... and there's a Him type that's a leader... These feral beasts are capable of semi-complex thought... or, at the very least, they can be trained to perform somewhat complex tasks... Be on your toes, everyone."

The speckled feline kept himself near the front, and near Andrace... while having multiple motives to be where he was, he didn't kid himself which was the most urgent in his mind.  As an afterthought he waved towards Kali and Mykst for them to move in a bit, "Things could very easily get dangerous now, little ones, you may be no stranger to danger... but this place is vicious and unforgiving... please, stay a little closer until we're past that gate at the entrance again."


Back at the bar, Raeleg had perched himself on Kaela's shoulder, keeping the wolf between himself and Eph.  "I mentioned it earlier, but felt i should say it again.  Ed has instructed me that should you two want to get back to the City, I can either take you to him, or, anywhere he or I have been thus far... Just let me know what either of you need."

   As Traxen was speeding down the roads, there were a number of things he didn't notice at first, even with the fully unobstructed panoramic view given to him by the special setup in the driver's area. But, even as focused as he was, it didn't take him long to start taking in the details around him, rather than simply trying not to plow into anything that happened to litter the roads.
  It started with him finally catching motion out of the corner of his eye, towards an alleyway as it passed. Traxen immediately slowed down and brought up a replay of the camera pointed at that angle on a spare screen. It wasn't possible to make out any real detail, but something definitely moved in there.
  Traxen continued on, only going slightly slower than he was before, and being more aware of his surroundings as they passed by. and what he was aware of definitely threw him off.
  For one thing, it seemed most dark alleyways had a something-or-other flitting about the shadows, which in and of itself was quite troubling. When he managed to look upward, he was quite shocked to see large, bulbous... things floating around. Traxen had absolutely no idea what they could be, and he wasn't sure he wanted to find out.
  But even that didn't shock him as much as what he began to see, the further in he went. And that was the blatant presence of people.
  There weren't many, but they were there. Some Beings,a Creature every now and then, an occasional human...as Traxen passed the block by, he'd see one or two more. Just wandering about in the open. Sometimes in small groups of two or three. All as if they were oblivious to the fact that this was supposed to be an abandoned city, or at least only occupied by mindless scavengers hiding in the shadows. The van sped past all of them, as heedless of them as they were of it.
  Traxen did his personal best to avoid them, with his van and with his thoughts. He was under the now obviously mistaken impression that The City didn't have any docile (even pretend) life left, if any real "life" was left at all. He thought the only things that were in here would be the random scavenging monster, or pack of monsters, and maybe a few mad bandits or survivalists. He didn't think he'd find some wandering schmuck every couple of blocks, not even having the decency to be a shambling, aggressive horror (though he was fervently thankful for that last part).
  Traxen had not forgotten any of the warnings that the people at the inn had given him, especially not the piece of advice that was repeated most often; "If it looks alive, stay the hell away from it." There were far, far more things that "looked alive" than Traxen conceived there could have existed in this City, and he had to treat each and every one as a potential hostile. And that scared him shitless. Every time he passed some lost citizen, it added one more potential hostile to one large hornet's nest that Traxen had to be very careful not to disturb. If things went south, he knew he could very well find him self attempting to run a veritable gauntlet, and if enough of them got together in one place, a mob. He wasn't sure he had enough ammunition for that. And even if something that bad doesn't happen, he knew if he were to get into any sort of trouble at all before reaching his destination, he'd have no choice but to turn around and leave his objective. He didn't have the time to deal with a problem, get to the city hall, and then get out of the city before nightfall, even if a problem didn't escalate into calling down the wrath of the city's remnants on his sorry van.
  As Traxen was speeding his way down a wide road, he noticed a particularly large obstacle up ahead, more than just any of the random parked or crashed cars he'd been passing, and slowed down. When he got closer, he saw that it was an overturned trailer truck, covering more than half the road, it's long-rotted cargo spilled across the road. Traxen noted it to be rather odd that (even as bad as "food" was by now) no scavengers, large, small, or microscopic had picked the area clean. He shrugged this off and avoided as much of the spilled cargo as he could, slipped by the truck, and passed a few more cars and people. For no apparent reason, he noticed one car in particular, one that had definitely been left out for too long, as it had grass growing through the wheels. Traxen glanced at it oddly for a moment, and thought What an ugly antique...
  Traxen then glanced at his map, then at the sky, and cursed. He still had a ways to go before getting to the hall, and the afternoon sun was already making it's lazy way down the sky. As soon as he had clear road again, Traxen generously pressed the accelerator.

The kids lowered their staves and relaxed a hair when whatever was under the manhole cover was gone. But they heeded Edaric's advice to walk closer nonetheless. They'd just had their first real taste of danger outside of Chae-Raki, and it both excited and scared them to no end. The description Ed gave perked Mykst's interest.

"If they're capable of thought, that means that they were looking for something specific, right?" he asked.

"Should I summon a few guards?" Kali added, still looking back and tightening her staff. "Or ask for advice on what it could be? The dead don't see much, but they hear everything."

Two blocks from city hall

According to Traxen's map, he was getting pretty close. Couple blocks, and then he'd be-
"PTANG!"
SOMETHING thumped against the side of the van, from the left. While he was moving at his speeds? A quick look at the cameras showed the source of the attack to be a heaving, snarling mass of absolutely nothing at all. The slam came again, this time strong enough to send the vehicle off course by a couple degrees- Wait. There was something on the camera. A snack cake packet, moving up and down like it was stuck to something's foot, leaving a trail of small specks of white cream filling.

--

The Last Chance Inn

"That ain't the only thing there fulla fungus, I've heard things about the girl that works there too," the demon girl's lips quirked into what could be called a smile, if the smiler was somewhat out of practice. "If you still need convincing, would a majority share of any treasure found in there do? I don't have any use for it myself apart from continuing to cover my room, I'm just after one man."

--

The Church in the Suburbs

Mao's plan worked like a charm, the scratching noise moving away from the churchmouse and up through the walls toward him. As he fell back down SOMETHING brushed his arm. It wasn't a sensation that could be described as cold or hot, smooth or rough, soft or hard. Just... Sharp. He could see bits of his fur from the near miss fluttering down next to him.
Meanwhile, downstairs, some sort of headless giant threw itself out of the door in front of Jinx, flailing and squeaking. It looked almost like a cartoon of a muscle guy, all oversized upper body and tiny legs- ah, there was the head. Some tiny little mouse head at the end of a neck like an upside down mixing bowl. Something had been chewing on it, apparantly. There were almost surgically rectangular stips of skin hanging off the poor creature like Satan's own body hair waxing strips. Its finger was missing, as was one of its ears. It staggered, squeaking in panic before crashing into the alter and knocking it over.
As it got back up its tiny eyes focused on Jinx. It gave another shriek of mad pain and lumbered in his direction...

--

The Suburbs

A breeze sprang up, drifting leaves through the suburbs. The houses remained still and quiet.

Witt raised an eyebrow.

"You're after one man, only? Dare I wonder what he's done to deserve your attention? As for the treasure, I won't say no; I don't need it, but no matter. Iffn you want company, company you've got."

He paused, unusually delicately for him, then went on. "When d'ya want to leave?"

With her arms crossed and an incredulous look on her face, Aisha followed along with Gareeku behind the young shrew.  As they went, they passed some of the most interesting paintings that she'd yet seen in her life, and she glanced at them every so often.  It seemed a shame to leave such museum treasures in obscurity.

But of course, she couldn't waver from more important information.  Her eyebrows quirked at the mention of things like formulas one could use to predict things.  Smart as she was, Aisha wasn't a mathematician, so it all sounded like Greek to her.  In fact, moreover it sounded very suspiciously impossible.

Still, who knew?  When the predictions pertaining to herself and her lupine companion were brought up, she was a bit surprised at how close it was.  She traded a few disbelieving looks with Gareeku.  A pair in black and white?  Seeing eye-to-eye with the devil?

And what was going to happen in a few minutes...?  People dying?  And she was apologizing?  Why was she shaking so much?

"Slow down!"  Aisha tried to interrupt.  "What's the rush about...?"

But the answers were nothing more than a sad smile and her name given as the rodent handed her notebook over and walked onward, turning the corner before she could be stopped.

"Jeanette...?"

It happened quickly.  The two heard voices yelling, followed by a sound Aisha knew too well...a projectile piercing flesh.

"Shit!" she exclaimed.  Eyes widening, the panther drew her sword and rushed forward and around the corner to help, expecting the worst and more than ready to fend off a killer, if there was one.

   Traxen had been on edge from when he started seeing all the strange things and wandering people. He became increasingly tense every time he passed yet another "something that looked alive". However, as he checked the digial version of the map and the line that was steadily being traced on it, he started to relax his nerves as he neared the city hall.
  PTANG!
  "WHAT THE HELL?!"
  Traxen would've jumped clean out of his seat as the entire van jerked, had his seatbelt not slammed him back down. He almost lost control of the van for a moment as he struggled to maintain speed His head began whipping around, looking all around "himself" through the panoramic screens. Where was it, what was it, where-
  PTANG!
  This time he felt the direction it came from, and as he focused on that direction in the panorama, he still didn't see anythi--wait. There was something moving, a small white thing that flew up and down rythmically... a snack packet? Wait a sec, the way it was moving, it was almost as if it was stuck to...
  "Pamcawv, initiate full scan, all cameras, all sensors on the rear-left quadrant!" Traxen shouted aloud. Pamcwav immediately complied, focusing every sensor it had; cycling through various specturms above and below visible light (ultraviolet and infrared), laser rangefinders, sonar and rader, and a host of other sensors besides as Traxen again tried focusing on driving, going as fast as possible without being suicidal. If there was anything to detect, Pamcawv would detect it.
  Hopefully.

Andrace kept one ear twitching and turning to catch any suspicious noise from the surrounding houses while she listened to each of the group's reactions to whatever had been playing with manhole covers. "Y' sure it's gone, Edaric?" she asked. "Not sure I like th' idea of these things bein' set on us, like someone's pet monster. Even if it's just t' keep track o' us."

When it seemed fairly certain the mysterous lurker had definitely gone away, the lioness relaxed slightly. Not completely, though, she kept her eyes scanning likely ambush spots, and her ears and whiskers were in constant motion. "Looks like th' place let us off wi' a warnin'," she said quietly. "All right, let's pick up th' pace a bit, but keep alert, folks. Whoever "him" is might not be that far off, or there could be somethin' else round th' next corner." She lengthened her stride a little, but not too much faster that she couldn't place each paw-pad carefully so as to make the least noise.

The Last Chance Inn

"As soon as possible," The demon began checking over various arcane or otherwise adventuring trinkets, all apparently in the pockets of the coat. A compass appeared, moved to another pocket, a charm necklace whisked out of a sleeve and was dangling about her neck as her free hand reached for something else. "All you need to know about the man is that he's about five foot ten, a frog, has black and orange skin in a blotched pattern, answers to Jeremiah Ac'Gregor and is keen on illusions. And that I want him alive." The girl grimaced, her grip on her cane tightening until her knuckles turned white. "Initially, anyway." She blinked once, remembering something that hadn't occurred to her. "Ah, by the way, my name's Alice. What should I call you?"

--

One block from city hall

Pamcawv did not detect it.
Various filters crossed Traxen's screen, each one still showing that damn snack cake. Which was swooping in closer again-
There was a thump from the side of the van, but this time the car didn't veer off course. Just further thumps. One of the roof mounted cameras saw the snack packet smear itself across the top of the car, around the gun turret. Something was CLIMBING up there, towards the front of the van.
A face swung into view, in the windshield. Some sort of canine, barely recognizeable as furrae anymore. Once yellow fur had been stained black by some sort of grease and soot, that smeared against the glass when it banged its forehead against it, trying to get in. Some sort of glow burned behind equally blackened teeth, and across its eyes and forehead some incredibly brave soul had spraypainted a large, orange "X".
It wore a frayed coat stuffed with shredded newspaper, presumably to keep out the cold.
This thing, invisible to Traxen's cameras, ROARED and bashed its head against the window again, trying to get in.

--

The suburbs

The group moved on, faster than they had been earlier. There was the occasional close moment; the sound of skittering in a nearby house, the whole group freezing as someone stepped on a twig... But overall it stayed uneventful until the bridge was reached.
The booths were still smashed, and the body of one of the Gator-creatures Ed had encountered earlier was still there, but otherwise it was quiet. The bridge extended across the river to the mist-shrouded city on the other side, littered with the occasional car. The breeze was light, nearby houses were quiet...
This would have been more peaceful for Edaric if he didn't sense at least ten drowsy SOMETHING's, somewhere underneath the bridge.

--

The Museum

The first thing Aisha saw, turning the corner, was Jeanette pinned to the wall by one of the white, ivory javelins she'd seen the demon crucified by outside. It looked like it had pierced her directly through the forehead. She'd died instantly.
"Aw hell, th'daft girl, meant to hit 'er arm. Now whot'm I gonna-?" Further down the hall stood a rat, tall and thin wearing slacks and a jacket that looked like denim. His tail was missing, and his left hand was wrapped in what looked like a leather belt, covered in glowing runes. His eyes locked on Aisha and Gareeku and he swallowed.
"A pair in black an'... Ffffff-!" He pounded his left hand against the wall. There was a flash, and suddenly he was holding another one of those white javelins, the material perfectly gouged out of the wall as if by an ice cream scoop.

  Mao nodded.  "As expected.  Best to not make any assumptions about it's intelligence just yet.." he thought to himself continuing in this manner, and occasionally letting the cuts come very close or even allowing them to nick small sections while also sending some very wide from his postion, or at least as wide as he could reach.  He made his way to the foot of the stairs and began to look about for something to hop along to make his way out of the building and on to slightly better fighting grounds, hoping the creature would follow.  The disfigured mouse he had seen before  was moving towards the strange fellow he had seen following earlier.  With a burst of speed from his abilities, Mao began hitting as many erratic spots as he could, moving as much as possible.

  "Do as I do!" he yelled, hoping that the poor fellow would be able to catch on.
  With that, he started to make his way to the nearest exit.

Sister Alex stopped herself from fiddling with the paper in her hand. She hadn't had a case of nerves for at least fifteen years. She tried to quell the nerves. Nerves made her twitchy and a twitchy mage couldn't react smoothly to sudden events. But she did have to admit that this was one of the strangest places she had ever searched for books. Considering the company that rogue magical tomes usually kept it took quite a lot of crazy to impress her.

One block from city hall

  Nothing.
  As the cameras, and various non-camera sensores focused on where the invisible thing was, they showed nothing. Traxen's mouth was agape for a moment, before he glared and started cursing under his breath.
  Then, with thumping sounds and the snack packet moving up and on top of the van, Traxen knew whatever it was was climbing on the van. Seconds later, the ugliest face Traxen had ever seen was glaring back at him in front of the window, and trying to bash it's way in. Something that was invisible to every one of the vans sensors, but not to his eye?
  "...Magic." Traxen cursed.
  Traxen quickly pressed the button that slid the armor plate back over the window. While the small window was reinforced glass (he wasn't supid enough to leave such an obvious "weak spot" unprotected), he wanted to be doubly-sure that this crazy thing wouldn't have such an easy point of access. He then went for the the keyboard next to him, and quickly set Pamcawv to autopilot itself the rest of the way to the destination on the map. The van immediately slowed down from the speed Traxen was going himself, as Pamcawv was not capable of safely naviagting itself at such a high speed.
  Traxen then jumped out of the driver's seat, slid through the tall, thin door that separated the driver's area from the rest of the van, shouted "Pamcawv, prepare turret!", reached up to the roof to grab hold of some bars, and lifted himself up into a small dome, curling up into a fetal position as shaped and cusioned slides of metal moved into place under his suspended body. He was now inside the roof turret, in just a few seconds thanks to practiced motions.
  The large dome on top of the van split open, showing a slighly smaller dome with a heavy machine gun mounted on it. The turret swiveled towards the front of the van. Inside, Traxen had a similar camera to the ones that were outside of the van, which admittedly wasn't much help, but at least he could manually fire.
   "Get off my van."
   He aimed the gun in the area at the front of the van, where the thing should be hanging off of, and started letting off short bursts of machine gun fire in the general vicinity, carefully spreading in the most likely spots to hit, particularly where the snack cake was and the half of the van the driver's area was on. Even under this kind of attack, Traxen kept his cool. He only hoped that something would happen to signify a hit, like a spurt of blood...

Pale eyes observed the manhole cover briefly-heh, thank heavens they didn't try and go in the sewer! He'd have been unable to join them. And personally, Raek was inclined to believe that the creature may not be as gone as they thought.

True, he could somewhat trust the 'cubi's ability to sense minds, but that didn't mean much. What if the creature had retreated to only shield it's thoughts? If it was said to be intelligent, it wasn't too far-fetched. Nor was the alarming-yet possibly entertaining-concept that it might also decide to bring back friends. Or him, Raek noted.

The Mythos smiled slightly-even if he'd rather not get into a fight without reason, his very nature sent a trill of pleasure through his veins at the idea.

Still, he listened at the moment-more to Andrace than to anyone else-before nodding and picking up his own pace somewhat. A warning? he was thinking as they walked quickly through the seemingly dead area, That makes sense. I'd best be ready then, since it seems we're disregarding it. His nearly furless swayed slightly as he walked-a type of counterbalance effect, really, that helped his ungainly form keep on it's feet. And a pity, really, that he couldn't be as silent as his feline employer...at least not on pavement.

And as ready as he could have been, the brutish canid found the silence to be somewhat annoying.

How was he to be ready when there seemed to be nothing to be ready for?! True, there were a few sounds here and there that gave cause for pause, as well as the occasional scent...but nothing came of it. All in all, rather frustrating.

So it was Raek was decidedly grouchy when they reached the bridge a bit later...though it quickly vanished as he saw the area in question.

Ah, now here was something interesting!

His ears perked alertly as he took in the damage-whomever had been here put up a remarkable fight! Smashed booths, the light reek of death and blood (Not to mention, oddly enough, the scent of their incubus companion)...but only one body. The reptile was strange...and even to the somewhat deformed Troll-wolf seemed a bit unnatural. That could have been a challenge, he decided, at least for me. Other thoughts on the matter were more along his nature-such as, perhaps, how it would taste if he got an opportunity to eat it...or even if a monstrous gator-thing would even be edible.

But he kept himself under control, and forced himself to be content with keeping an eye on the area. Again with the silence! Ah well, it was probably for the best.

Raek glanced at his employer for a moment, before stepping closer. "So, where now?" He asked in a quiet rumble-but not without a look at the corpse. Was that...longing in his eyes? Eh, maybe one was imagining that....

The general seriousness of his pose loosed a bit as Ed noted the thoughts and emotions drifting further away.  It wasn't a 100% full proof method of detection, sure enough, but it was rather useful, and it had served him well in his past.  He followed along, shifting his tentacles back into wings, and wandering the suburbs.  He kept himself tense, picking his way through the streets and making his way towards the bridge.

The scene was eerily familiar, save for several missing bodies, everything was exactly where it should have been.  His first move was towards the gator creatures, heading a few steps ahead of the rest of the party.  Suddenly he froze.  His tail twitched from side to side as he felt several living things... semi-intelligent it seemed.  "We're not alone here..."  He said over his shoulder.  The large, leathery wings twitches, and a few tentacles slid out, their mohawked draconian heads seemed to look every which way, as the feline slowly backed towards Andrace and the rest of the party.  "I think there's eight... maybe ten."  He tried keeping his focus, but the preparations for combat were clouding his longer-range senses.

"Don't need to tell me!" Jinx yelled back at the Adventurer, keeping his gun trained one the beast.

As he chased after Mao, he turned back to the mouse and, with his hand outstretched, index and middle finger pointed at the the beast, still clutching his rapier, he blasted a tongue of flame in it's direction.

The flames would likely not reach the the beast, Jinx had cut the spell slightly shorter then usual. His intent was to scare the beast, prevent it from following them, or even get it to run off.

Then again, since when had anything in his life gone according to plan?

As she came into sight of the smashed toll booths, Andrace paused for a moment to survey the scene before stalking cautiously onward. The wreckage matched Edaric's description, but she'd expected to find more bodies. Scavengers, maybe? She noticed Sister Alex and Raek's reactions out of the corner of her eye, and perked one ear towards Edaric when the 'Cubi spoke up.

"We're goin' across th' bridge there, Raek," she replied to the wolf-troll with a wave of her tail towards the far bank of the river. "It's th' only way t' th' oth'r side, we just got a few speedbumps t' clear away first. Th' critters 're under th' bridge, Edaric? Mmm, mebbe they don't like light. Anyone got a nice bright flash-bang spell they c'ld toss under that arch? Th' rest o' y' get y' weapons ready, just in case, this could get real nasty real fast. If we get an openin', we're gonna run f'r th' bridge." The lioness reached over her shoulder and drew her sword, her eyes fixed on the end of the bridge and her ears turning and twitching around to cover everywhere else. She seemed calm, her expression an impassive hunter's stare, only her slightly twitching tail-tip betraying her rising excitement as she prepared for action.

The kids hadn't shut their ears since the manhole cover. Mykst could barely keep himself from springing onto anything that made a sound, and Kali had unconsciously crouched lower and begun to move her arms and shoulders more as she walked, almost as if she was stalking something she couldn't see.

When they got to the bridge, an opportunity finally arose. At the mention of a "flash-bang" spell, Mykst ripped his eyes away from the ruined phone-booths, cleared his throat, and spoke up. "I think a fireball spell would work about the same way. It's the only fire-spell I can cast so far, and I can control it pretty well. Would that help?"

Kali was still looking around. "No bodies...feels like there should be. But I can't cast a 'speak-with-dead' spell till we really need help from immobile and blind folk." Affirming this to herself, she turned back to the group and tightened her grip on her staff unconsciously.

The Church in the Suburbs

There are few things in this world so effective at their purpose as fire.
The churchmouse shrieked again, pulling back from Jinx's gout of flame in time to get away with merely singed eyebrows. Bleeding, mangled and now slightly burned, the creature turned to run for it, slamming through the church doors and off into the suburbs to presumably tell everyone it knew about the weirdest goddamn thing that had ever happened to it.

Whatever it was that Mao was dealing with followed the places he hit, but it was getting cannier at predicting his movements. There was another brush of SHARP from the last surface he hit, a slash that felt like it may have drawn blood. Its senses appeared limited though. His shouting had MOMENTARILY attracted its interest, but not as much as the clap of something actually colliding with a surface.

--

Half a Block From City Hall

A few shots seemed to hit the snack cake, producing a splash of blood- was it blood? Blood couldn't be BLACK. Didn't smoke either. Regardless, it was a hit. Whatever was outside the van howled and the snack cake swung over the side. No telltale shudder of the van running someone over, so it was probably still clinging to the front... Banging began coming from the right side of the van. Even with a foot full of lead slugs, whatever it was still wanted in. A crackle came over Traxen's radio.
"This is a message on all bands. Armored vehicles are not permitted on government property. Repeat, your van is approaching city property with a large weapon." The message paused for a second. "Also, there's a Vagrant on it. Halt. Neither Vagrants nor armored vehicles are permitted on government property. Violators will be persecuted. Repeat..."

--

The Suburbs

For a brief second, Ed could feel whatever was under the bridge having a dream about chocolates. Except they were chocolates with spider legs. This didn't seem to detract from the overall pleasant air of the dream. Another one was starting to come up from its drowse. Amid the static fuzz of its mind he could almost make out the words I smell... Something...
The smell of the dead gator-creature, to Raek, wasn't quite the usual for food. Oh he could detect the usual piquant aroma of reptile meat, marrow from a crack in one leg. But there was also a chemical undercurrent. Not in a manufactured sense so much as just what happens when someone eats so much of something they always smell like it. Artificial preservatives and cough syrup and processed tobacco...

Half a Block from City Hall

  Some of the shots from the turret must have hit, because some black smokning fluid sprayed about. From the sounds, fortune would have it that whatever the thing was flipped over the right side of the van and was still hanging on. The turret was built in such a way that the gun could go over the sides of the van, making them the only non-dead-zones for the turret. At around the same moment, a voice crackled over the radio. Traxen vaugely took note of it, but didn't bother too much to listen to it at the moment. Pamcawv recorded all input it recieved, anyway.
  Traxen swung the gun on the turret over the right side of the van, aiming squarely at nothing. Or rather, the big area that whatever the thing was could only be. And just after pulling the trigger, he braced himself and shouted, "Pamcawv, hard stop, then speed forward!"
  The turret machine gun ripped in burst-fire at point-blank range to the area the thing should be in, when the van suddenly applied its brakes at maximum capacity. The van luched and screech to a hard stop, and on top of getting shot at hopefully throwing the creature off before the van suddenly accelerated again. Maybe the van would even run over the creature, if things were lucky...

Realizing that he wouldn't be able to keep this ruse up for long, despite giving the attacks some openings in which he expected to be grazed, Mao started to look for alternatives.  "Maybe something to throw, or that I can bat away.  The delay from the inital impact sound followed by the landing sound might buy me the time I need.."  he began to look about for anything he could use as a projectile.  Anything loose and with a bit of heft would do.  He, in retrospect, began to wonder if there was a bell on this church.. "How amusing that would be.." he quietly chuckled, "If the creature were to strike at the bell it would just ring louder, which would draw it's attention even further I think."  He grinned at the thought and continued to look for objects he could launch about, while looking for the standard opening that most churches have for a bell...

He simply hoped he could make it to the exit, or find some better distraction for his unseen assailant before it wised up to his tricks completely.  "The worst part is, even if I escape, this thing will still be around to ensnare others.."  He frowned at the thought.  "I may have to do something so that others do not fall prey to it."

Ed strolled a few paces in front of everyone else.  He could tell roughly where the things were this time... he was actually being cautious this time around.  Actually paying attention.  His wings shifted into long blades, some capped with mohawked, draconian heads, others with claws, though most were merely vicious looking barbed points.

He didn't bother with the distractions this time, though he muted his fur color, folding some of his wings over his clothing, and brought his entire appearance to match more with the faded grays and browns.  He strolled a bit forward, some of his tentacles hugged the street, matching is dark gray tone perfectly.

He waved the party ahead a bit more, saying, "They know we're here... get ready."  Ed himself started preparing an explosive bolt of dark energy.  He mentally picked out one of the center booths, and if nothing happened in the next few seconds, he'd see about putting the spell through the wall.

"That'll do nicely, kid," Andrace replied absently to Mykst as she kept her attention on possible routes along the riverbank for the bridge monsters to jump up and attack them. "Just r'member, we still got t' cross that bridge ourselves, so if y' could make y'r spell more flash an' less bang, none o' us'll want t' toss y' in th' water f'r blowin' up th' bridge." Her light tone of voice said she was only joking, but the fangs in her smile implied she'd be first in the queue of tossers.

The lioness glanced at Edaric out of the corner of her eye, noting his own preparations with a brief approving nod. "All right, folks," she said just loud enough for her voice to carry to everyone in the group, "let's make a move. Mykst, toss that spell just under th' near edge o' th' first arch. Black Magic, Sister Alex, Edaric, get y' spells ready. Th' rest o' y' — weapons ready, an' no hangin' about f'r dramatic gest'res, run 'cross th' bridge th' moment y' see a chance." She took a deep breath, adjusted her grip on her sword, and murmured one quiet word.

"Go."

Sister Alex had a piece of paper in each hand. She prepped an offensive spell for her quicker hand, then a defensive spell for the slower one. After a moment's thought she moved the hand with the defensive spell a little upwards and closer to her face. she wouldn't be any good if the flash spell blinded her just as it flushed out the bridge creatures.

"Maps are for people who are lost." Giles said, planting his feet firmly on dry land and turning to look at Polyglot. "And I'm right where I want to be." he said, smiling. "See you around, little leech guy."

He kept moving, a slow, deliberate pace, and as he did so he realized that he was running out of paper to roll cigarettes with. He sighed, and kept his eyes out for a tobacconists. Or a library.

True, such subtle chemical odors were hard to ignore for Raek's attuned sense of smell. Maybe it would have turned his stomach if he'd been a being...but instead, it merely made him more interested in the body.

A wild beast didn't typically dine on such things so much that it attained their odor, afterall!

The lupine troll frowned, the expression twisting his muzzle in a rather eerie fashion. Should he mention it? It could be pure chance, afterall...that didn't look like any being or creature he'd seen before...except...no. Not quite. This was too...well, feral in nature to match....

Hmm? He blinked, an ear twitching back to his employer. Yes, he was doing that quite a bit lately! It was understandable though, given when she gave orders he happened to be focused on something else, however briefly.

So, weapons out, but no attacking unless necessary...and be ready to run for it? Well, that seemed to be the gist of it, at any rate.

And he already had his axe at the ready...even if he didn't actually need it, given what he was. Just happened to be that the additional reach was a rather pleasant bonus.

"I understand," the lupine Mythos said gruffly, before eying the opposite end of the bridge with a pale brown orb. "Though if you can't keep up, I will try and carry you. And..." He hesitated. "Something doesn't seem right about that lizard-smells like one of you beings that live in these cities-like medicine and those little things you smoke." The word 'chemical' wasn't in his vocabulary, unfortunately...but still, it meant the same thing. "And the 'cubi says they think like us, if I've been hearing right." His nearly furless tail flicked once, before settling in that typical wolven arch.  "But I'm ready."

Gripping his axe casually, the fellow started off at a fast walk that bordered on a trot, taking the lead. Even if he couldn't heal as fast as most trolls, it was probably best he did-a surprise attack might not nearly be as lethal for him as it would be for others. Still would hurt like heck though, and maybe even incapacitate him....

Smiling nervously at Andrace, hoping that the half-implied threat would stay half-implied, Mykst gripped Kali's hand with one hand and his staff with the other. She gave his paw a squeeze and then slipped to a different angle, watching the things beneath the bridge and waiting, her staff hovering over the ground and her teeth bared.

The young mage pointed the staff at an angle under the first arch of the bridge, aiming at the rocks below it rather than the bridge itself. "Flamma sancta," he muttered, calling the power up within himself and focusing it through the pearl-topped stick, "dona nos lucis et salva pontus." The power focused into a spark, glowing like an ember at first. But when Mykst flicked his staff, the spark flew off and under the bridge, and there was a flash that glowed more with heat than with the strength of a pure flame. Whatever power Mykst controlled, his respect had been enough to please it.

Up to and through their planning phase, Payden kept himself completely silent. That is, completely silent save for the pounding in his chest. At the first sign of something loud, something mean and hidden beneath a bridge, an unpleasant tightness clutched at his heartstrings. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that this was as far as he'd ever wandered into enemy territory before. People had died here in the wrong ways, and if he fell, there was no telling if death would be as simple as a mutated sewer gator taking his head off or something much, much more lingering. And by "lingering," he figured "Eldritch horror tormenting the damned for all eternity."

At Andrace's "go," he jogged with an awkward gait, rifle still clutched tightly in both hands as he followed after the troll.

Aisha didn't know whether she was expecting the worst or not, when she turned the corner.  But when she did, a horrified grimace struck her features just the same.  No doubt that Gareeku would have one too, the instant that the scene was spotted.

The shrew was dead, pierced straight through the skull by the same kind of weapon that she only barely recognized from the crucified demons outside.  The panthress had to keep from gagging at the sight of the diminutive girl who had only been speaking to them seconds ago.  And the rat that did the deed, after having muttered a curse at the sight of them, had another one poised and ready simply from quickly crafting it from the wall and threatening the same to them.

If Aisha wasn't filled with rage, she would have thought about how strong that either he or the weapons must have been to speed through bone without what seemed an inch of trouble.  All she saw before her was a murderer.

She held her sword upward in a horizontal position with one arm and quickly drew her boomerang with the other.  Her teeth were clenched, fangs glittering, and eyes of red narrowing with a predator's edge, keeping a close eye on his actions.  The growl in a jaguar's throat could only have been matched by that of a hellhound.  "Alright, you have five seconds to explain why you've just attacked and killed a small unarmed girl.  You try anything otherwise and you'll find Nex here in your spine before you blink."

Around the corner from city hall.

Gunshots seemed to be something the PAMCAW's assailant was used to. Not to say it ENJOYED them, but they didn't seem to be acting as a SIGNIFICANT deterrent. Slamming on the breaks, however, worked like a magic trick. The creature flew off, the cameras showing the scuff in the road and the kicked up dust as it hit the ground. There was another howl... Interrupted by the thump of the van's wheels passing over something man-sized. The voice crackled over the radio again.
"STOP REPEAT STOP YOU ARE BRINGING AN ARMED VEHICLE ONTO GOVERNMENT PROPERTY! STOP AND REPLY OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE!"

--

The church in the suburbs

As Mao threw the occassional object, landing with a thump before getting cut in half, his attention eventually found its way to the stairwell where he'd encountered the churchmouse in the first place. If there was a bell, it was up there.

--

The Waterfront

Giles found himself standing on the docks, near several warehouses that had apparantly been abandoned, renovated, turned into theaters and studios before eventually sinking back into a more bohemian sort of decay. A cracked mural of a woman playing something that looked like the missing link between harps and bicycles faced the sea behind him, the paint from her shoulders up long gone. In front of the warehouses was two levels of road; an overpass with laundry hanging over the side and an underpass with the visible remains of campfires. Beyond that was... more bohemia, less patchwork but no less obvious. As if simply to piss off its neighbors there was a single skyscraper, half constructed and surrounded by half-demolished scaffolding, gleaming glass sides cracked in most places and lending to the impression of a massive funnel-spider's web.

--

The Museum

"Oi, I consider it as much a tragedy as you do." The rat replied, twirling the javalin in his hand once, feeling out the balance. "I meant to hit 'er arm."
His hand moved like a blur, sending the javalin whistling through the air. He was already tumbling to the side, slapping the hand with the belt on it against a crumbling sculpture of a feral horse to rearm himself. "Never wanted to kill 'er, hell, she was the goose that lays the golden eggs, but you gotta present some deterrent against these escape attempts."

--

The Bridge

What sounded life ten voices under the bridge GROANED as the flashbang went off, and something shook. Everyone was already running, ducking in and out of cars. An armed, panicked rush across the threshold.
To Ed's psychic senses, whatever was under the bridge started to overlap. Five minds at a time crisscrossing and unfolding and blooming into something incomprehendable. A large clump of the minds fell back into the water but one group of five rising, behind them...
Cables supporting the arches of the bridge TWANGED as the creature climbed them, noticeably creaking under its weight. It had two arms, each with three large powerful fingers, and supported between the arms was a squat, toadlike body with no other noticeable limbs. It had faces scattered over it like acne, all moaning at once in different voices. Some of them seemed to be crying.
Whatever it was, it was agile. It clambered amongst the cables of the bridge with ease, swooping down toward the stragglers at the back of the group...

Andrace kept her eyes scanning back and forth along the riverbank until she heard Mykst begin his invocation. Then, at the last second, she screwed her eyes tightly shut, twisted her ears back and braced her paws a little farther apart on the ground. Her tail-tip flicked back and forth in stiff little jerks as she prepared to duck either a titanic splash or chunks of hurtling masonry. Just in case the kid blew it with a bridge-shattering kaboom...

The bright flash she saw through her closed eyelids was exactly what she'd wanted, though. She opened her eyes and lunged forward, swerving around debris and abandoned cars in an easy, ground-eating lope and urging the others forward. When the weird-looking critter hauled itself up the side of the bridge, she laid her ears back but forced herself to keep to the same pace. She not only didn't want to leave anyone behind, she didn't want anyone to think she might be leaving them behind. She glanced around at the others. They were mostly keeping up a good pace, except...

"Payden!" she yelled as she doubled back and raced towards the sherriff. "Get y' hairless butt movin'! C'mon, y' ol' relic, quit dawdlin', y' want that critter t' find out too late y're too tough an' stringy? Move-move-move!" Her paws skidded to a halt as the lioness put herself between the weird critter and Payden. Then she started running backwards, keeping pace with him, sword ready, her eyes fixed on the approaching monster, and her ears turned back over her shoulder to catch any sound of a stumble or change of direction.

"Raek, get over here," she called to the wolf-troll. "If our friend — or friends — here gets a bit frisky, it'll be time f'r y' t' earn y' pay."

As the magical blast went off, Ed blinked his eyes back into focus, and took off at a sprint.  The spotted feline made sure to keep moderately close to the kittens, trying to keep his tentacles between them and anywhere he felt thoughts that he didn't recognize as those of the group.

Then the hideous, frog-beast crawled out from under the bridge, using the tension-cables as some sort of deformed and unstable bridge.  It's considerable weight causing the cables to creak under the strain.  Edaric was no master of engineering, nor physics... but that creaking couldn't be a healthy sign.  He stepped with his right, planting his foot, as his left foot started to come down, he pivoted on the balls of his feet, heels in the air, turning to face the great beast as it started coming closer.  "Keep going kids... FUCK! What the hell is that... thing?!... "

The feline paused, took a deep breath, then shouted at the party, "EVERYONE, GET YOUR ASS IN GEAR... WE -ARE- LEAVING!"

Raising a hand, Ed loosed a bolt of dark magic at the center mass of the beast.  As soon as the spell left his hand, the 'cubi pivoted again, tearing down the bridge in a full run.  A sprint would be faster, but far more draining, he was putting some additional distance  between him and that thing... working out how best to deal with it... he also considered that really... he didn't have to be faster than -it-... just faster than the slower members of the party.  A smirk crossed his face as the image of that racist, and so called lawman being devoured, filled his imagination

Good thing he'd stopped when all the commotion had started-Raek truly didn't need to miss out on any of it!

Then again, it was his job to be in the center of that commotion a good deal of the time-and usually being the source of it.

As it was, the blinding flash the others had to deal with thankfully didn't get to do more than leave a rather annoying afterimage in the lupine troll's eyes. Otherwise he'd have been quite useless for a few moments as his ears picked up a loud splash from below, followed by shouting and the sound of running as-most horribly-there was the creaking groan of tortured cables as some thing made it's way onto the bridge.

And was was proper, he'd turned to face the source of the sound.

"Ah."

No, he wasn't frightened-that wasn't quite in his nature. However, the brutish Mythos could respect something that, most likely, was more than he could handle. Besides, he was actually trying to place what it was-even as his employer was telling him to get his nearly fluffless tail to the forefront and be ready to hold it off.

A facestealer? he wondered as the somewhat toadlike creature swung among the cables with remarkable agility, Perhaps. But they only use one face at a time, not many. It must be something else...but what? The troll-wolf's muzzle twisted into a grotesque frown.

Bah, I'll puzzle it over later, if I'm still alive. He grunted softly as he immediately made his way in their direction, axe ready.

The real challenge would be how to attack it. What if the beast-if it was indeed a beast-stayed out of reach? While yes, he could throw different objects at it, there was a limit to those and their effectiveness...and heavier ones, like cars or rubble, would tire Raek out sooner than he'd care for. And given its movements, he was pretty sure anything that took a moment to lift up would either miss, or be a bad idea overall.

Well, he always did like a challenge....

"Right," he grunted as she kept moving-before turning to keep pace with her, "Just give the word, and I'll keep it busy." His muzzle curled into a toothy smile. "I don't think I can win against it, especially if it stays out of reach...fair warning."

Mao shook his head, and continued trying to get out of the building and hopefully into a situation where he could face it as it was.  "If I stay in here, and put myself in an enclosed space, I'll be a sitting duck.  For now, I'll focus on getting out and forming a strategy from there."He thought to himself.  "No.  For now I'll have to think of how to get myself clear of danger before I try to worry about anyone else."

Jinx lowered his weapons. the only thought going through his head a surprised Holy shit that actually worked!

Keeping his guard up, he looked around for that long eared fellow, keeping his guard in case some nastier popped up. If that thing was just a mouse, then he hoped the foodchain here was seriously messed up.

He seemed...preoccupied. Maybe it was that thing in the floor. He kept his weapon trained in the Adventurer's direction, in case whatever was harassing him tried something, while trying to make hand signals towards him.

Around the corner from city hall

  The quick braking and speeding maneuver seemed to work, there was a wrenching sound and Traxen saw some scuffs appear on the ground ahead, just as PAMCAWV rolled forward...and a satisfying thumping sound as the whole van rocked about.
  The voice over he radio began screaming. Rather annoyed at the distraction, Traxen toggled his voice input to the radio. "Excuse me, but I am a little occupied at the moment, whoever you are. Standby." He toggled back over to PAMCAWV with the command "Pamcawv, full stop! Full reverse on command word 'Pull'."
  The van came to a stop again, and the turret turned to look behind itself. Traxen watched the field behind the van intently, zooming in and looking for the slightest trace of motion; a puff of dust, a peddle shifting, or even a little twitch of that snack cake again (if it was even still stuck to this invisible creature). Traxen didn't want to take any chances, he had to make sure it was dead, or at least not bothering him anymore. If he saw anything move, he'd immediately open fire again, then shout the command word he just set--hopefully causing PAMCAWV to ram the creature. The nice thing about the electric motor drive on PAMCAWV was that it could move the same speed forward or backward.

Giles didn't seem to pay his surroundings much mind. He walked forward slowly and stolidly, generally unconcerned, with his ubiquitous cigarette smoking slowly at his lip.

Perhaps, however, he was more aware of his surroundings than he appeared. Giles sensed the slight change in atmosphere - he was definitely in the city now, not the outskirts, and there were things here less friendly than the leech friend he'd just left behind.

He exhaled, a blue curl of smoke twisting in the air, and then dissolving in a slight breeze. A fine layer of dust around him rose, spinning around the blackguard just subtly. A faint shimmer of heat distortion formed around him. Dead plants swayed in the sudden, invisible breeze.

He took another breath, and kept walking, the faint shimmer following him. He'd rather not find out who or what might be living beneath and around the highway, although laundry implied things that fell somewhat short of 'eldritch horror'. The skyscraper, though, seemed nearly as bad.
It might offer a pretty good view from the top, though. Although he was trying to get lost, a view might not be bad.

With heavy steps, he started walking towards the seemingly abandoned tower.

Both kids shielded their eyes from the flash, waiting with muscles tensed for whatever should come their way. Once it died down, they saw the others running forward, across the bridge. Not stopping to wonder why they hadn't waited to see what was under the bridge and whether they could take it on, Mykst and Kali followed suit, dodging debris and keeping their eyes on those ahead. They were keeping an even pace with the rest of the group, but neither one could help trying to see what strange beast had come up from below the bridge. Though they looked back at different times once they were about halfway across the bridge, they saw the creature at the same time, and reacted differently.

Mykst let out a short yowl and his fur bristled. HOLYGODWHATISTHATTHINGGOTTAGETKALIANDMEAWAYFROMITNOW! He grabbed his love's arm, but she wasn't following. "Kali, COME ON! We can't even THINK of attacking this thing till we're at the minimum safe distance AWAY from it!"

When Kali had looked back, she'd let out a roar - not because she was scared, but because instinct told her to either call for help or scare this...thing...away while running. But once she'd got a look at the thing's face - er, faces - she hadn't been able to look away. Mykst's voice jarred her out of her shock, and soon they were both catching up with the group again. Kali made a mental note to ask a few questions when they got away from the creature - to the only people that she knew always answered truthfully.

Bridge

Ed's blast struck against the creature, the explosion of magic splashing off and rolling over its hide as if it was a water balloon.
Whatever the beast was, it seemed to exhibit standard predator behavior and went for the most obvious, easiest target. In this case it was the yelling thing that had to be dragged along by the rest of the pack.
The faces creature swooped over Black Magic and Mykst, reaching out for them. The first missed, falling short of Black Magic by a matter of feet. It was close enough for her to see the tendons standing out in the crook of the elbow, the additional tiny open-mouthed faces along its fingers. It swung back along the bridge wires and came around again, the cables screaming like they're about to snap.
It was worth noting that it was still quite a ways across the bridge.
--

The Church in the Suburbs

It wasn't hard for Mao to make his way across the room, staying out of the floorthing's reach. For anyone who'd had the appropriate sort of childhood it was essentially a very high-stakes game of "the floor is lava," well within the scope of his abilities. Until eventually, he was by the door.
And Jinx was still in the middle of the room.
The scratching noise changed directions abruptly, speeding towards the assassin. At the back of the man's head something snickered and said "Uh oh..."
--

The Waterfront Office Building

The first floor was, frankly, boring. Discarded papers, the remains of another campfire. Large and grand with lots of smooth black stone, obviously intended to give off that professional sort of intimidation large businesses were so fond of. The elevators weren't working, so the only way to get to any real vantage point was via the stairs.
This building had apparantly been used for office space despite its incompletion. It was full of the remains of former employees who'd died there, possibly all at once. A skeleton hunched over the front desk was still wearing the decayed remains of a low cut blouse and short skirt. A stockily built badger slumped by the door of his office, preserved in the sterile glass room.
More worrisome were the less recognizeable skeletons, such as the occassional knee-high humanoids, with stunted arms, enlongated heads and piscine teeth. None of these had remained unskeletalized. In one of the break rooms there was another odd skeleton, strangely oversized. The pelvis was like that of a gorilla, but the ribcage itself was a good five feet long.
Amidst the more macabre wreckage was the more recognizeable kinds. Desk brickabrack, little figurines of saints on this cubicle wall. Another one with tacked up pictures of the owner's drakes. A corkboard wall with little notes delicately pushpinned into place.
Out a nearby window, this being only the second floor, Giles couldn't see much farther than he could at ground level, but something being sized and shaped was passing by a few blocks away. He only saw it a moment, all that really stood out was the banded fur pattern and shock of green hair.
--

City Hall Gates

Traxen's car was RIGHT outside a rather grandiouse city hall building, that had apparantly been built up over the years into more of a fortress. The windows had been boarded up into slits, barbed wire adorned the tops of the fences, and the place had so many enchantments and curses on it that it smelled like ozone. Whether the van's assailant was injured or not, it had vanished without a trace, and Traxen didn't even have the chance to exhale in relief before the radio crackled again.
"If you would look to your left you'll notice one of the windows of my residence glowing red." It crackled, in the same cultured, restrained voice as it had earlier, the enraged yelling of a few seconds ago seemingly forgotten. "That would be one of my employees readying a rather nasty spell. Identifications, please."

Andrace lashed her tail and snarled when she realised Payden wasn't the one in the most danger from the weirdly deformed creature. "Pick up th' pace, both o' y'!" she called to Black Magic and Mykst. "There'll be time t' saunter along an' fool around wi' each other later — move!" Her last word came out in a roar, at a volume a non-leonine drill sergeant could only envy.

When she saw Edaric's magical attack splash apparently harmlessly off the creature, Andrace decided it was time for her to act. The lioness came to a sudden halt, planted her paws firmly on the road — through her paw-pads she could feel the bridge quiver — and drew her gun. As she half-turned and raised the weapon, a quick flick of her thumb-claw took off the safety catch. She lined up the sights on her wildly swinging target and curled her finger gently around the trigger. The range was a bit too long to try any sort of fancy shot, she decided it would be best to just aim for the body. She held her breath a moment, used her sword held in her other hand as a counterweight to steady herself, and pulled the trigger —

Back in the Last Chance, Payden's gun had made quite a racket when it exploded. Andrace's hand cannon was even louder as she fired two quick but carefully aimed shots.

>BOOMBOOM<

"Hrmph." Giles said, eyeing a small bobblehead of a blond-haired boy, dressed in blue. He appeared to be carrying a small machine gun. Sprawled out dead before it was the skeletal body of a standard cubicle slave, complete with nonconformist bugs bunny tie. He narrowed an eye.
A few small pictures of various drakes, in various states of frothing rage. A corkboard sign denoted that friday was casual, in return for the hours of unpaid overtime the team had put in over the last month. A little saint was missing a head.
"Even in death, this shit is irritating." Giles said, ignoring a rusted no smoking sign and approaching the window. "I hate offices."

He stared out the window for awhile, wondering what exactly had caught his eye. Too quick to tell. Alive, whatever it was, or at least alive-looking. Mobile.
"Who the hell has green hair anymore, anyway." he said, standing in front of a closed window and yet smoking in the wind. Time had not been kind to this place.

He considered his options carefully, and started heading back down again. "Could be a warning, could be a trap. Something is up with this place anyhow. Makes me...nervous."
He paused, by the little bobblehead figurine, and after fidgeting for a moment put it in his bag.
"Irritating as hell..."

He headed for the direction he saw the green-haired person flee.

You know, the lupine troll thought as the creature moved past them and went straight for the two younger felines, I should have stayed further ahead.

Then Raek's ears flicked back at the blast of noise from his employer's weapon-as a troll, he had rather good hearing, which was a natural advantage when sometimes your prey masked their scent, hoping a normally somewhat stupid Mythos wouldn't find them. That racket hurt! Not enough to stop him, however, as he decided on what to do in that well-known 'snap decision' fashion.

Up came the axe as his posture shifted into a style more suited for sprinting. He didn't need any urging, despite his loyalty being mostly towards the lioness wielding the firearm. The beastly fellow knew this would be entirely chance, and that his throw would reach...though it might cost him his weapon.

As it was, he lunged forward, picking up speed as he brought his weapon to bear and hurled it at the monster's back in a manner that reminded one of throwing a ball overhand faster than most beings could have thought capable.

Just where-and if-it would hit, he didn't know. Raek wouldn't have been surprised if the weapon sailed past and cut one of those cables, such was the force of his throw. And if it did hit the intended target, he had that impression he probably wouldn't do more than bruise it, given what he'd witnessed so far.

Of course, the Mythos didn't relish the thought of his axe bouncing harmlessly off the thing's back or where-ever it happened to strike....

But, until then, there wasn't much he could do except cast about, looking for something else that could serve as a weapon while keeping an eye on the creature to see if his attempt did anything....

Once the flash-bang faded and the bridge remained standing Sister Alex picked up the skirts of her habit and began running, the traditional bright blue stockings of her order showing just a bit with the rapid movement. The bridge started creaking and shaking a little but the nun wouldn't allow herself to look back. Experience told her looking back was a bad plan. That is until she heard the others shouting and calling out orders to each other. When she turned to check the commotion Alex understood why Black Magic had frozen. Even in her years of adventuring Alex hadn't come across anything approaching the monstrosity rapidly following them. The faces were particularly hard to gaze upon. Regaining her composure quickly she tried to decide on a spell against something she had never encountered before. Her glance was caught by the small eddies of sand and other debris that always accumulated against the edges of the roadway. Letting go of her staff she began folding the paper in her hand. The staff began to fall then righted itself, hopping in place and giving the impression of being rather impatient with it's owner.

The paper was folded into a fan, even more quickly than angel reflexes could account for. Once the magic was begun it had a sometimes annoying tendency to help itself along. The fan even managed against logic to create itself a jaunty little tassel on it's handle. With a pen produced from somewhere inside her sleeve Sister Alex added the symbol for amplification to her creation. Pointing the fan at the road dust Alex flicked her wrist in the monster's direction, then repeated the action a few more times. The sand couldn't really harm anything, particularly not in these amounts, but one grain of sand in the eye or on the tongue was incredibly distracting, and the monster had multiples of each. A few seconds distraction would give everyone a head start to getting off the bridge.

A wind began to rise. The eddies of sand altered a bit. Then a crushed cup labeled "Burger Emperor" began to tumble. By the third flick of the fan the wind was strong enough to pick up the sand and carry it in the direction of the monster. Thankfully all of Alex's companions were inside her radius, where the winds were too weak to affect them. Then the troll began to run towards the creature. Four magic-users in the group and he stepped into spell range. Alex allowed herself a mental eye roll, then added a mental penance for her unkind thoughts.

City Hall Gates

  To Traxen's great relief, whatever was attacking him didn't seem to bother anymore. He pressed a few buttons and held himself close to the crossbars as the "seat" below him folded away, and he dropped down from the turret into the rest of the van. The voice came over the radio again, actually directing his view towards...
  Traxen glanced at several of the screens on his wall that showed the external cams, then to the screen that held the map. Well, how about that! He had indeed come right up to the front of the gate in all the "excitement". But of more interest to him was the fact that the city hall was more like a barricaded bunker, and had telltale glows in several places. The van wasn't currently sealed, so the smell of the outside seeped in a little, too. And, sure enough, one of the few non-boarded up windows had a very clear and strong red glow.
  Traxen put his face in one of his hands as he sat down at the wall of screens, took a deep breath, an let out a long and colorful stream of expletives in that one breath, ending it with "...magic!"
  He then looked over the screens again, and considered the situation carefully. The warnings of the bartender and his daughter were still fresh in his mind. Not to mention that any sane person wouldn't be trying to stay in this horrible City at all, the thing had actually called the Hall its "residence"...and had even said the words "government property" earlier. As there was clearly no extant government here, the voice couldn't possibly be an entirely rational person. Therefore, whatever this voice was, no matter how reasonable it sounded, it was most likely a trap, an abomination, or an insane survivalist. Either way, that coupled with how the Hall was converted...meant that the information Traxen seeked was almost certainly beyond his reach now. Wonderful.
  Still, there was the vaugest improbable possibility that this voice was not inherently malicious... and Traxen really didn't want this to be a wasted trip. Still, absolute caution was called for. Even if not malicious...the voice could not be trusted.
  At all.
  Traxen toggled his radio back on. "Hold your fire. I'm nothing more than a salvager from outside this City. Who are you, though, and what in Furrae are you doing here? Why are you in this City?"

Ed watched as the small, dark, silvery bolt slammed into the thing, exploded in a violent cloud of darkness, and the dissipated completely.  There should have been a hole, a dent... some sign that the thing had even been remotely injured.  He wasn't the most skilled of mages, sure enough, he was a rogue... But still... it should have done something... or so he kept telling himself.

The bridge creaked and groaned under the beasts movements.  "We need to take that thing down before it drops us in the river!"  He shouted, while pivoting around and to watch for the creature again.

He waited for the next support collumn.  Something large enough for him to disappear against, as he melded his color-pattern into the structure.  His tentacles swarmed around sharp edged waiting to entangle the beast.  Eyes are almost always the most sensitive part on any living thing.  The eye itself is laden with pain-triggering nerves, and very little in the ways of defense, especially when directly assaulted.

If the thing got close enough, Ed was going to try and hook the great toad-beast with as many tentacles as possible, then grow clawed hands and gouge at as many of the faces as he could.  Crude, but efficient.  At the very least, it should probably serve as a good distraction.  or so the feline's thought process went.

City Hall Gates

"What am I doing here... Well, frankly, sometimes I wonder. That is... A long story." The voice over the radio replied, obviously choosing their words carefully. "As for who I am... I'm the mayor of this fair city." Now, this did not seem like the voice of a man prone to sarcasm. Indeed, sarcasm lacked dignity for one of this voice. However, there was at minimum a SARDONIC edge to the way he'd said the word fair.
But not sarcastic. Oh no.
Voices were becoming noticeable in the background of the transmission, hisses and mutterings. The man wasn't alone, whoever he was.

--

The Bridge

The sand kicked up by Sister Alex's spell whirled around the creature, and it fell back from Black Magic and Mykst with a multi-voiced whine to shield its faces. Andrace's firearm most certainly didn't make this an easier process. Indeed, the bullet visibly went straight through the creature, puncturing next to one of the larger faces and erupting out the back of the body in a golf ball sized mess of stringy green gore. If one had particularly good eyes or presence of mind they'd see the massive bruise forming around both entry and exit wounds...
Raek's axe struck the creature squarely at the center of its back, to alarming results. The monster split open like a mellon, the axe seeming to sink further in than would be appropriate on any creature. Was it mostly soft tissue? Regardless, it seemed it had one further defense. While it hadn't been noticeable from the bullet wound, whatever materials filled the creature reeked horribly when exposed to air. The beast's very BLOOD was a thing of stomach-churning vileness, almost debilitatingly noxious. A couple flying drops landed on the hood of a car next to Payden, where smoke began to rise like the delicate tendril's from a lady's cigarette holder.
Ed then proceeded to sink his wings into the monster in several places.
On the plus side, his initial attack was HIGHLY effective. Hooked tentacles tore at the creature's too-soft hide, pulling out chunks and dragging himself closer to the monstrosity. It had received far more punishment than it had expected, and began climbing up toward the tops of the bridge's columns. However, the longer his assault continued, the more the smell of the monster got to Ed. His stomach did gymnastics, his limbs felt weak, he began to break out in a cold sweat...
And the creature was climbing higher.
Now Edaric was at least a good 60 feet in the air, teathered by fishhooks to something that wanted to do him great harm. The monster raised one titan fist, ready to come down on the incubus in a hammer blow...

--

The Waterfront

On street level again, the place was just as deserted as it had been a short while ago. Giles made his way around the corner where he'd seen the green-haired... Thing, and as he did fancied he heard someone humming. The tune was familiar, and for some reason reminded him of the trapper-keeper doodles of seventeen year olds.
"Hm hm hmmm, hm hm hmmm, hm hmhm hm hm."
There was the green haired thing. With this better look he could tell it was a woman. A banded mongoose, with obviously artificial lime coloring green hair. She tugged at the massive locks on a warehouse door, briefly, before picking up a nearby length of pipe and wailing at it. It took her three blows to break the padlock off, and she ducked inside.
"Hm hm drink, go to shrinks, hm people as pets."

City Hall Gates

   Traxen listened carefully to the voice's words. He seemed a bit reluctant to talk about why he was still here, but... he was the mayor of the City?
   Oh, wonderful. Either it was a long story, or this guy was just a loon who didn't want to abandon "his" city. Either way, Traxen didn't have time for the story.
   "Listen, uh... mayor... I don't have much time." Traxen glanced at the falling sun. "I have to be out of here before nightfall, can't do any night runs. I'm here because I need data. As this city is quite modernized, it stands to reason that the administration matches. I'm looking to get a complete map of the city, as well as any other information on various sectors of the city by copying and downloading the information from the administration's data server computers. Will you allow me to get the data I seek?"

It had ignored him as it chased the little ones.  So far so good.  Just a little closer, just a little closer... NOW!  Springing his trap into motion, Ed's tentacles dug deep trenches in the flesh of the creature, far more damage than he'd expected.  Wrapping his tentacles further around the thing, he thought he'd done enough damage to it that perhaps it'd weaken the monster... he was greeted with both an unexpected, and unwanted surprise as the noxious fumes had the feline gagging, loosing his concentration as he was suddenly launched skyward, dragged by the great best thing.

Ed's stomach was mostly empty, besides a single drink from earlier, he'd been living off the emotions of others.  The fist suddenly came into view as he dangled helplessly.  He did the only thing he could thing of.  Dropping the barbs and reeling in the tentacles, Ed Kicked off a nearby pillar, he quickly formed a spell, tentacles still reeling in, the feline tried to blind the beast with a blackened cloud.

As long as it didn't catch one of his quickly forming wings, Ed figured he'd be able to glide ahead of the party, land in a shoulder roll, and reform the tentacles to help cover any stragglers.  His tossing stomach making every movement keenly aware of just how bad the monster smelled.

Oh, joy. Within seconds of that weapon sailing from his hand, a gust of wind blasted sand into his eyes!

Granted, it wasn't on purpose, and the damage-while severe-wasn't permanent...it still hurt, far more than that blast of noise from Andrace's weapon. Not to mention it was more crippling at the moment, since he needed his eyes to follow and see how and where his weapon struck, if at all. Still, the lupine Troll had at least one thing that was still in relatively good working order-his sense of smell.

So Raek stayed perfectly still, his slightly deafened ears perked as he shut his eyes and-putting his free hand up to shield his nose from the sand, started sniffing the air to get a general idea of where everyone was.

Some say the senses of a troll are incredible, despite not being on par with those of a Demon or Angel. While they couldn't see in the dark, nor track the warmth of living things, it was said of some that they could hear a heartbeat within twenty paces, or smell the faintest of odors and thus unerringly locate their prey within five times of that distance. And while barely intelligent, they were horribly and uncannily cunning, able to learn and change tactics in seconds if the usual method didn't work.

Still, it turned out to be a mistake, unwitting as it was.

The second he started scenting the air, his axe struck home and the most hideous of stenches filled the surrounding area. Instantly both ears flicked back, flattening against his partially bald skull as he nearly let the sack of supplies drop and his eyes snapped open. If one had watched, those pale, currently sand-scourged eyes very nearly rolled back into his head as that massive hand clapped firmly over his muzzle.

What is that?! he thought, turning away and definitely a touch queasy. Despite it being interesting to see a brute like himself that could eat almost anything, no matter how rotten, look sick...well, he had a point. The thought that it was due to his weapon striking that abominable beast hadn't occurred to the Mythos yet-he was more concerned with keeping his currently empty stomach under control, as well as hopefully regaining his sight before something happened.

Now he only had his recovering hearing to depend on, despite being quite distracted and far from paying attention to it at the moment....curse his sharp sense of smell!

Kali was almost beginning to get back into the proper mindset of running like crazy. But then The THING behind them lunged at her and Mykst and the faces on its fingertips and the veins on its arm were in front of her and oh my God what was this thing... She would have frozen again if not for Andrace's roar, but she still wasn't running at full speed. It was Mykst who yanked her forcibly along, snapping her out of it yet again and nearly pulling her arm out of its socket.

The kids felt their instincts kicking in at last, Kali's powerful leonine muscles going into overdrive as they drew closer to the group. Each one noticed the spells being thrown at the creature, but they were focusing more on the fact that they could still hear and feel the creature so close to them, and so far away at the same time. It was hard on the instincts for Kali - she didn't know how fast she should be running if she didn't know how close the creature was, but she knew she had to get away from it. Sister Alex's attack knocked it back a good deal, and also nearly blinded the kids and everyone around them. They could hear the wolf-troll snarling, and Edaric's wings changing form as he attacked, but they could only run straight ahead.

Mykst needed to attack. He had to save these people, but he knew he couldn't look back without becoming as vulnerable as Kali had. He didn't even know if he'd be ABLE to see the beast, if the sand was still raging. He hadn't let go of Kali's hand or his staff, and he hadn't wiped his eyes yet. Without really thinking about what he was doing, he let go of Kali's hand and tightly linked her arm with his, using his now-free hand to grip the pearl hanging around his neck. Mother, he thought, thank the Gods you don't know what I'm facing right now.

Pausing for just a moment so he wouldn't lose the only shot he had, he swung his staff-holding arm around and aimed to his side. He then yelled out, "Anyone behind us or above us, get out of the way! Terra sacra, frange advorsarius meus!"

At those words, the ground on one side of the bridge shook for a bit, and then a large rock rose out of the water. Still clutching pearl and staff, Mykst then flung the boulder up at where he guessed the monster could be, now that Edaric was (hopefully) out of the way. And though he wouldn't notice it until later, the pearl he always wore felt remarkably warm in his hand as he cast the spell...

City Hall Gates

"Hrn, my maps aren't entirely up to date. Things have gotten slightly out of my control, it's a problem I'm working on... Although you do appear to be well equipped. Hrm..." The voice crackled over Traxen's  radio. "Tell you what. I can give you what little I have that I know for certain and can... Afford to hand out for free. After all, one cannot simply grant access to government intelligence to whoever. But in exchange for your investigating what I'm not up to date about, I'm sure some manner of trade can be arranged. In your vehicle, you should be able to be safe while doing at least cursory investigations, although it would be better if you could enter buildings..." The voice trailed off, leading to some hushed conversation in the background. "Come inside, we've much to discuss."

--

The Bridge

The creature had been barely keeping itself together after Myr's axe blow, and wasn't entirely able to keep a grip on Ed. It bellowed, preparing to throw itself back down to the surface of the bridge and smash whatever got in its way. On the way down, the incubus was almost able to pick up thoughts behind him, something to the effect of Wait, guys, hang on a sec. Is that a rock-?
The loudest and stickiest splash Ed had ever heard, like a rotten pumpkin hit with a fastball, sounded off behind the incubus, and bits of the creature began to splatter to the ground. Mykst's spell had gotten truly dramatic results. Those who weren't too horrified by the smell would notice that, amidst the stringy green pulp, there were no full sized bones. Just several complete humanoid skeletons, of varying sizes and species, slapping and shattering on the asphalt and car hoods. Plus one large, trollish axe, thunking neatly into the ground next to Payden.
And then it was quiet.

Andrace bared her fangs with a satisfied growl as the smoke from her gunfire drifted away, letting her see the effects of her shots. That quickly turned into a snarl of annoyance, though, as she realised the critter didn't seem to be badly hurt, or even slowed down all that much. Damnit, she had to have blown holes she could poke a finger into through at least a couple of vital organs... if it had organs, vital or otherwise. And to top it all off, Raek and Edaric were too close now to risk another shot. The lioness holstered her gun and resumed her backwards running, keeping pace with the critter as it advanced. She glanced over her shoulder a couple of times to check on the others, and to make sure she wasn't about to trip over something or fall off the edge of the bridge. In this situation, either would be as horribly embarrassing as it was horribly dangerous.

Andrace looked back up at the critter just in time to see Edaric being tossed away: she hoped his wings were more than just decorative. Her whiskers twitched from the stink as a splatter of gore landed on the roadway a few yards upwind. She heard Mykst begin a spell, and just managed to see it's effects out of the corner of her eye. She sucked in a deep breath to shout a warning to Raek —

>SPLAT<

Just a few drops of the critter's gore had been enough to turn her stomach. None of this deluge splashed on the lioness, but there was enough of it to clamp her throat shut from the stink, and sand-blast a path from her nostrils to her lungs. The thick-as-molasses stench brought tears to her eyes. Andrace staggered, barely able to cough, and scrubbed the back of her free hand across her eyes and muzzle. It didn't help. She could almost feel her whiskers curling. Things clattered and smashed on the road, among the sickening noises of critter chunks landing nearby. It sounded like bags of bones. This was even worse than the time her sister Eugenia had tossed a blasting spell into a group of half-rotted Undead and they'd all had to wash the disgusting mess out of their fur.

Finally the stink faded enough to let her speak, although her watering eyes were still near-useless. Or maybe her nose and tongue had gone numb. "Ugh, can't see," she croaked, "Ev'ryone okay? Shout out if y're not. Nothin' else comin', I think, can't hear anythin' apart from us."

The explosion was something like what Mykst had been hoping for. The smell was not. He and Kali had hit the ground soon after they heard the splatter of the creature's body. The stink permeating the air combined with the sight of the mess around them was too much for Mykst to take. He fell to the ground and retched, his eyes welling up and squeezing shut.

Once he was certain the soup from moments ago was gone, he noticed that his stomach and chest were still being squeezed – by Kali, who was holding on to her sweetie as tightly as possible, gore, stink and all. She was wearing all of her cloak except the hood, so she didn't care about the mess anyway, and a few tears had sneaked their way onto her face, which quickly dried in her fur.

"You are the bravest, smartest housecat who ever lived, and never let anyone tell you otherwise," she said, though it was sort of muffled in her arm.

Mykst blushed a little, and wiped off his mouth. "Er, thanks," he answered. "I'd hug you back, but I'm kind of still covered in goo."

Kali blinked her eyes open, and seemed to remember what had just happened. "Right," she said quickly, standing up and releasing Mykst's ribs as she removed her cloak and shook it off, holding it well away from her good shirt. Mykst did the same with his, then started cleaning the front of his poet's shirt of some stray drops of muck.

The lioness looked over her shoulder and saw the remains of the creature. Her gray eyes boggled when she saw what it had truly been made of. That thing used BEINGS to keep itself alive?! ...Wait a second. This could be useful.

"I'm gonna try something. It may not work if they don't have brains anymore, but it's worth a shot," she said to the group, moving a little closer to the skeletons with her staff in her hand. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she spread out her arms and spoke. "Mortuis nobilēs, respondēte si quibitis." Then, she was quiet. But she was thinking, to the now (hopefully) telepathically receptive dead: What did this to you? How did you become that creature?

City Hall gates

  Traxen frowned slightly at the first thing the "mayor" said. "Not up to date? It's not like some of the city just decided to rearrange itself, is it--" Traxen suddenly cut off, and pressed a hand to his face. "Don't answer that."
  He also listened curiously as the "mayor" proposed a trade of service for knowledge. To this, Traxen replied "I promise nothing, but I'll hear you out..."
  Traxen the took his van across the gate threshold, and parked it up near the Hall's front door. "And I apologize, but I can't leave my van. Do no be alarmed, I am sending in some proxies..." He wasn't going to enter the Hall in person, there wasn't a chance of that. Instead, he began activating drones.

***

  Outside the van, a hatch opened up and disgorged multiple drones. At least ten of the disk-like flying camera-drones--about half of his cameradrone stock--and a couple of spiderdrones. The cameradrones floated up to the Hall, looking for open windows or doors. Where none were found, a spiderdrone would crawl up and open anything they could to admit the cameradrones first, which slid in and began mapping out any room they entered. The van's sensor stack constructed a rough 3-d wireframe of the Hall, and the cameradrones sent back more detailed information that corrected any misalignments and began overlaying images over the wireframe, giving traxen a manipulable photo-realistic model view of the inside as if he were there, in addition the active video feeds.
  The cameradrones and spiderdrones worked in a leapfrog method; the spiderdrones opened up a few windows or doors, and the cameradrones went in. They mapped out everything they could, and when they could map out no more for dead ends and further closed doors, the spiderdrones moved up and opened more doors, giving the cameradrones access to more area. They continued this careful examination, but didn't interact with anything but doors, and they stopped whenever they found something that was moving or talking...

Once he was to safety, Mao looked back into the room to see the feline fellow still standing in the room.  He balked.  "What is he doing!?" he thought to himself in a panicked state.  He began gesturing wildly for the fellow to follow him, staying well out of reach of the doorway.  A part of him steeled itself for what he felt was, however, inevitable.  He wasn't sure of the fellow's mental stability to begin with and he feared that this was the unfortunate confirmation of his beliefs.  He tried to think if he could, even at his fastest, save the fellow but he could not possibly carry another out and still move at the same speed he had used to get away initially.

Well, at least a certain brute had managed to keep himself in check-outside of reeling as the odor increased in strength, becoming like some sort of foul wind heralded by gobs of clotted rain. On the bright side, his eyes were feeling better-much better, in fact. The lupine troll blinked repeatedly to remove the last of the sand, even as he realized his sense of smell was effectively dulled after getting a whiff of something that could be likened to the odor of someone blowing up a watermelon stuffed with freckles.

It was like some sort of freakish exchange-he gets his sight back, and his hearing was fine now too...and he couldn't so much as smell himself at the moment. Nor did he pay attention to the fact his back was covered in gobs of that nasty paste raining from above.

Could be worse, he decided as he eyed the spattering, rancid-looking gore that still lanced through the air in smoldering trails. And acid? That was something to worry about! He couldn't heal easily from acid burns, unless the offending liquid was washed away...and then it would be slow and uncomfortable. He looked around uneasily, more concerned for those without his ability for recovery in light of this discovery than in himself.

He wasn't in pain, afterall, and it seemed that the creature was dead-whatever it had been. Either that or it had fled-he'd find out soon enough as his newly-healed eyes looked everyone over-namely his employer.

She seemed fine, if rather queasy like himself. And there was his axe, as if to contradict what he'd just seen! Well, that was a nice bonus, though he was uncertain if he wanted to touch it right away-just in case. Then his ears perked at her words-he was reasonably fine, so he didn't need to call out!-before he turned his attention to the others. One of the young felines looked to have been noisily sick, and was being comforted by his companion...as to the others...well, he'd see that soon enough, one could suppose....

Using his wings to glide, Ed took a somewhat steep dive at first, putting as much distance as possible, before somewhat levelling out.  His glide took him past the group, by a little ways.  Banking towards some of the support structure near by, the spotted feline grabbed some cable with a winged tentacle, and swung down.   The smell on the ground assualted his nose, and if it weren't for his ability to shape-shift, he probably would have fallen to the ground, he caught himself on a tentacle, and shifted the inner-passages of his nose to that of a species with a known lack of smelling capablilities...

Even with the dulled smell, it took a concentrated effort not to go into a fit of dry heaves.  Perhaps even loose the drink he'd gotten at the bar.  The others were worse off, though.  They lived on food and drink... they had to fighting down their last meals before going on this little escapade.

"Fine over here" Shouted Ed, as he steadied himself.  The area was quiet, the creature slain, and Ed in desperate need of some fresh air, "Are we about ready to call today a wrap?  Perhaps go and reach the end of the bridge, warp somewhere safe, and pick things up from here, tomorrow?"

Giles stopped to consider before following this green-haired person. He'd heard of those who keep people as pets, and he'd frankly found the idea strange, if not disturbing. It seemed a bit low-key for this place, though. He detested psychologists. Drinking, however, was one of his great loves, and he would forgive much for it.

"Seems reasonable enough." he said, and followed the mongoose, fully expecting to get mauled in the face the first second that he stepped into the warehouse. His footsteps left little puddles of melted tar on the asphalt, and the smell of burning dust.