Northern Winds [NC-17] (IC)

[Mel Dragonkitty]

As Mel squinted through the driving rain in the direction of the train station one of the many flipped and crushed cars looked familiar. With the precise distance vision granted to high flying creatures she could pick out the white shape rolling the familiar vehicle back onto it's wheels as Ignatz despite being a city block away from them. "Damn. I hope no one is seriously injured," she wished as she set out at a run for the crash.

[Sunblink]

...Keaton:

Outside the car, Keaton overheard Stygian's voice, something she didn't quite register at first because of the vestigial delirium which came with being tossed and rattled about in their cartwheeling vehicle. Appearing rather dizzy, she craned her head around in every accessible angle in search for where the chiropteran was, only to resign and clutch onto something--an unfastened seatbelt--for support. She wasn't entirely sure what Stygian was planning, but it was best to take some precautions in case something went horribly wrong. Unpredictability was this bat's forte.

In actuality he leveled the car with surprising gentleness off of its askew angle, actually lifting it. Keaton herself didn't see this--all she realized was that the car was being lowered, gently, to the ground, back on its wheels, by some unseen force. Throughout this process Keaton continued to wring and twist at the seatbelt she was using as her unofficial stress relief, expending as much pent-up tension and anxiety as possible through her hands and knuckles alone. The ultimate drop was a little bit jarring, sort of unexpected, but when she was certain the car's tires were on solid ground again she shakily relinquished the seatbelt. Adjusting to the new angle she was at, as she stumbled and groped her way to the agape windshield, not wanting to waste any time. They would be expected to move quickly, she surmised.

On her way, Keaton bypassed the driver's seat, where her attention was captured by a quiet moan. Blinking, she turned her head over toward the occupant of the seat, clinically examining the Gryphon. While anchored in place by her seatbelt, she was clearly battered, probably teetering on the edge of unconsciousness. In addition to the blood streaming from her nostril she now had another bruise on the side of her head, probably from smacking the side of the wall.

Keaton wanted to leave her there. But she had already punched Deirdre out, forced her into driving their getaway vehicle, and now knocked her unconscious and was planning on deserting her for all her trouble. At the very least, she reasoned, she could drag her out of the car. Give her some dignity... and if she woke up she could be useful. Turning against them to fight alone would be unthinkable in their surroundings, so she would have no choice but to ally herself with them. Reaching over, Keaton retrieved Deirdre's sword, still sheathed in its scabbard, from somewhere on the floor of the opposite seat, then threw it onto the hood of the car. Unbuckling Deirdre's seatbelt, Keaton hooked her hands under Deirdre's arms and bodily lifted her out of her seat, dragging her the best she could through the gap left in the windshield.

At the very least, for all this effort, the bitch had better be grateful, she thought angrily.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[SpottedKitty]

Kerya was relieved to hear Sebastian's voice outside. She vaguely remembered catching a brief sight of his two-wheeled contraption flying through the air when the wave of rock and debris hit them. Then the wrecked carriage was gently pushed upright, and the bat wrenched one of the back doors off. She crawled along the seat towards the opening, picking up her staff — undamaged, but it would take more than a little rough handling to shatter it — along the way.

Clinging to the edge of the doorway, the little stoat gingerly got her feet under her and stood up, leaning unsteadily against the side of the carriage. She hurt from whiskers to tailtip, but nothing seemed to be broken. "I am all right, I think, Sebastian," she said, "A few — ow! — small cuts, but mostly I am only bruised... all over." She winced as she discovered one of her ear-clips had been ripped off leaving the edge of her ear a little ragged, and some minor cuts on her right arm and leg left smudges of blood on her torn and ragged dress.

No matter, that could all be dealt with later. Kerya half-closed her eyes for a moment, tiny sparks crackling from her staff and up her arm as she drew on some of its stored power to renew her strength. She took a deep breath and stood up straighter, her eyes now bright and clear. There would be time later to fall over from exhaustion... she hoped. "Is everyone else all right?" she asked as she looked around at the others crawling out of the wreckage.

[Boog]

Richard clambered out of the wreckage of the car, surprisingly intact. He was facing away from the vehicle, still double checking his damages and muttering things about never, ever letting the gryphon drive ever ever again, when Stygian rolled the car back over. He tensed up with a creak of overworked dead sinew. The sound of a car moving on a part of it other than its wheels should not be something that has to catch me by surprise. Slowly relaxing with a couple more creaks, he sighed and turned back toward the car.
"I'm fine," He glanced over at the rest of the group, face taking on what was probably a quizzical look when he saw Keaton helping Deirdre out of the car, "Now then, what the HELL just knocked us over? Lightning typically doesn't pull that sort of crap with taller targets around, and it isn't big on shockwaves either."

[Stygian]

Frowning over his shoulder and looking at Mel, Gareeku and Aisha, Stygian rubbed his oily hands idly and growled before answering Richard's query. 'An old acquaintance of mine. Who is not out of the game yet, by the way, so we had better get a move on.'
   Seeing as all the others seemed alright, the bat turned on his heel and jogged over the street to the opposite sidewalk, to meet up with the others. He waited in the trio, speaking up as soon as they got within talking range.
   'We have to get out of here as soon as possible. I have cash for tickets, but if anyone of you have anything else you need with you, you're going to have to leave it behind,' he said, setting a brisk pace. 'Haszal's about to become a disaster zone.'

[Sunblink]

...Keaton:

Struggling to drag Deirdre's body safely out of the bruised, dented, and battered wreckage of her car, Keaton nudged the sword she had thrown onto the hood of the car off of its edge with her foot, then laid the Gryphon against the hood so she could take a momentary breather. Resting her hands on her knees, Keaton sighed deeply, catching her breath, and then stretched upright, arching her back. Her shoulder-blades began to ripple and writhe violently, as though something were squirming under her skin, then once more her wings emerged from her back, stretching their membranous widths to the most their span could offer. This would make matters much easier.

Morphing both wings so that way they all sported a triad of tentacles, Keaton gently scooped their claws under Deirdre's body and leveled her to the ground from the car's hood with elastic ease. All during this process she muttered and grumbled curses and expletives under her breath, mostly consisting of how "the bitch had better be grateful for this" and threats regarding Deirdre's health if her generous assistance went without appreciation. Once the Gryphon was safely on the ground, Keaton leaped off of the hood and landed on the ground, dusting herself off with a few flaps of her wings.

Stygian mentioned something about tickets and leaving Hazsal. Keaton couldn't help but feel relieved about this, considering how the city seemed beyond salvageable and overrun by monsters. "Wonderful..." she sighed. "Let's just get the hell out of here."

For a moment, Keaton appraised Deirdre's body, contemplating what to do with the Gryphon. She had assumed she would be of some use, but now there wouldn't be much of a point to carting her around if she was so thoroughly knocked out cold. Besides, it would spend too much energy and labor her to an unnecessary extent. History aside, she had no qualms about leaving her there, but she was uncertain about everyone else's opinion.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Stygian]

A hurried, irritated shout from Stygian seemingly settled Keaton's dilemma. 'Hey! Stop dawdling about and move your asses!' he snarled, running up around a car. He passed them again, heading along the enormous tear in the road, and gave the jackal Cubi a hard look, which then shifted between her and the gryphon.
   'If you don't want to carry him, just say so,' he said gruffly. 'But if I were you I would be a little hesitant to leave someone who just lost his car to help you in the middle of the road.' He shot Keaton a final look as a pointer, and then turned, marching off in the direction of the station.

[Sunblink]

...Keaton:

Keaton's head snapped in Stygian's direction as he shouted towards her, her expression momentarily suspending in one of quizzical shock before her features sunk, ears falling flat, eyes narrowing, and her mouth twisting in a thin line of discontent, reflecting her reluctance the most she could, but not arguing aside from her immaturely belligerent expression. Sure, she had been weighing her options regarding what to do with Deirdre, but she didn't like being ordered around. Reverting her scowl to a more neutral gaze, Keaton turned her attention back to Deirdre, then struggled to lift her, using her wing-tentacles for most of the muscle work. On her own Keaton was in excellent shape and was rather strong, but she couldn't lift someone who was five inches taller than her, no matter how lanky they were.

Once she had balanced Deirdre in the grasp of her wing-tentacles, Keaton used a final wing-tentacle to snatch up Deirdre's sword. For a moment she skeptically eyed the adorable, pink cat hanging from a thin chain off of the pommel of the sword's pappenheimer, then she sighed with resignation and continued following the group.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[SpottedKitty]

A metallic clatter drew Kerya's attention to the front of the carriage, where the jackal was dragging the birdlike creature out of the wreckage. The jackal's sudden transformation took her completely by surprise: even in the rain that was plastering her rapidly soaking fur and dress against her skin, she managed to fluff up. None of the others seemed to be taking any particular notice, however. Another thing to ask about later, she told herself, the people here have Transformation magics the Empress herself might have envied. Shrugging her fur as smooth as she could considering its soaked state, she followed Sebastian along the side of the street. She kept a fascinated eye on the jackal's broad black-bordered yellow wings as they grew tentacles and hoisted the bird-thing smoothly off the ground.

She was saving up a lot of questions for later, she realised. Hopefully there would be time soon to ask some of them, and maybe get answers.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel continued to dash down the street towards the train station, not shivering despite the fact that the cold rain had plastered her blue silk shirt to her body. She ignored the Bat's comments about abandoning anything they hadn't carried with them. One advantage of being a magic user was that she could always carry everything with her. "Everyone mobile?" she asked Ignatz as she eyed the wreck on the other side of the street. Mobile was all that was required at the moment.

[Aisha deCabre]

Shielding her head from the rain with one arm and keeping the jacket closed over her upper body with the other, Aisha looked out over the destruction of the street while she and Gareeku awaited Mel and the others.  It was a complete disaster zone, so incredibly different from the town that they had wandered into just a day ago, along with running into the others.  Speaking of whom, it took a moment for Aisha to notice that the overturned car on the other side looked quite familiar...the reason that she could see Stygian and Mel looking through it.

"...Oh shit..." she muttered, craning her head to try and see what was going on.  But her impulse to try helping was taken, the minute it was seen that everyone who had been in the crash was more or less together in one piece.  The bat and Mel led them across to where the panthress and wolf were standing.  Looking over everyone, especially the shaken newcomers (one unconscious and being carried by a not-very-happy Keaton), it was going to be a hell of a time trying to survive this particular adventure.

Aisha hummed when she heard Stygian say that he had money for tickets, and his suggestion to everyone on leaving things that probably should be left behind.  "I have nothing that I can afford to part with, and I am able to carry all that I have," she reassured.  Between her weapons and her pack, carrying her adventuring clothes and the vest that she would swap for the clinging dress when she had the chance, the adventurer was as always quite prepared.  "My condolences to the unfortunate," she sighed, and though it sounded sarcastic it was actually a rather solemn prayer.  With that, she gratefully picked up pace with the others and on the way to the station.

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog spat out blood again, brushing a stray bit of glass off his shoulder, and reaching into his jacket only momentarily, started following the bat. He paused when Stygian turned to speak to Keaton, admonishing her to bring the rather helpful gryphon along with them. Cog wiped a hand across his nose, the blood almost completely dried up now, and looked sourly back at the city. The sky overhead swirled darkly, eldritch and unnatural.

"Destroyed, eh?" he said, thinking about that stranger from the coffeeshop. Pausing only a moment to wonder if she would make it out, he shrugged, and turned, the mud clinging to his boots as he started towards the train station.

[Stygian]

'Mostly, it seems' the bat called back. 'No time to worry about that. Get running and grab those who aren't!' he growled.
   There was only a short bit left to go, and the station's tall glass roof was already visible from a distance. Gleaming a dark mixture of watery green and red reflected off the sky, it vaulted over the large structure, beyond the large white dome that was the cupola over the entrance and underground engine stalls. Tall, decorate glass doors were all over the large, white-painted many-storied front of the station, admitting a steady stream of people in, and a somewhat lesser amount out. There was one thing out of place with the scene though, apart from the obvious worry and agitation on people's faces; able-bodied staff that looked quite much like security officers in their flat-topped combination caps and green uniforms. Not to mention their batons and sidearms.
   Coming to a stop at the corner of the nearest building, Stygian motioned with his hand for the others behind him to stop, and then looked back. When he caught sight of Keaton, sprouting tentacles, his eyes widened. He almost went over to grab her.
   'For Hell's sake, get those in!' the bat hissed, half looking around at the people still in the streets. They were giving Keaton some rather intimidated stares. 'This place isn't friendly to creatures!'

[Sunblink]

...Keaton:

Keaton trudged without complaint behind her companions, being too engrossed with the whirlwind panic of the situation than her personal concerns. Deirdre remained cradled in her arms, completely unconscious and disarmingly vulnerable in her weakened state, appearing too masculine and gangly to be delicate. Despite the discontentment in her expression Keaton remained strong in her steps, mostly with the intention of preventing herself from trailing behind the group and exposing herself to further assault by any malevolent entities.

Fortunately their trek went uninterrupted. Exhaling in relief, Keaton gripped Deirdre a little tighter with her wing-tentacles, closing her eyes. Before she could relax for even the slightest moment she heard Stygian snap at her again, forcing her eyes open and an irritable glare back into her rigid and pallid features. When she was about to retort with a nasty comment she noticed the stares of those who were standing, petrified, in the streets or bypassing her, then cursed loudly.

There wasn't much of a point in hiding her wings since they had already been seen, but it was best to undo the damage the most she could. Resting Deirdre's sword against Deirdre's belly and switching the aforementioned Gryphon's body into her arms, she fused her wings back into her spine, their membranous forms vanishing without a trace. Looking rather stiff, yet nervous, Keaton looked back at Stygian, then glared back and forth. Hopefully the problem had been rectified, at least somewhat.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Stygian]

Unfortunately, the damage seemed already done. Two of the guards had spotted them, courtesy of the gaps in between people and the steps leading up to the station entry. One of them had unholstered her weapon, while the other was looking between her and them.
   Stygian growled over the commotion. 'Great. Just stick together and let's do this smoothly,' he said, walking over to Keaton and taking Deirdre from her. Lifting the gryphon up into his arms he walked over toward the stairs and the entrance, dodging bustling people as well as he could.

[Sunblink]

...Keaton:

Keaton nearly screamed aloud every vibrant and virulent obscenity in her vocabulary when she noticed the nearby guards, her chocolaty irises locking instantaneously on the weapon clutched in one of the guards's hands. Fantastic. Just fantastic. The shit had hit the fan, and it was all her fault. This gave her a lot to feel "proud" about, that it did...

In-between these sanguinary musings, Stygian relieved Keaton of Deirdre's unconscious body, leaving her to grip the sword, which she momentarily pondered discarding. It would only get in the way and be cumbersome, but, as self-conscious as she was about creating anymore problems, Keaton didn't throw it away. Gripping the scabbard slightly, Keaton dashed after Stygian, hoping that she would lose the attention of the guards amidst the throng of bustling people.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Boog]

Richard followed close to the rest of the group, zipping up his coat to hide his tommahawks. 'Threatening' wasn't what one aimed for when dealing with as of yet nonviolent guards. He'd been living here a while, he knew how guards acted and how to not piss them off. Just seem friendly and a little scared and you were fine. It helped that most people had trouble reading his facial expressions. Better that Stygian had taken the gryphon off of Keaton's wings; cops were often more worried when you were doing something that they, as a species, couldn't. Walking up with the tentacles out would have taken care of the last of their already frayed nerves.
"Good thing you did back there, helping with the gryphon," He muttered to the cubi, eyes still straight ahead. It was probably the closest thing to an apology for snapping at her in the car she was about to get.

[SpottedKitty]

Walking along on the edge of the group, Kerya didn't quite catch what the others were saying, she'd been paying more attention to the street around them and noticing the nervousness of the people passing by. Which in return did her own nerves no good at all. Up ahead she could see the tall, white glass-roofed building Sebastian was heading for, the bird-thing now held in his arms. There were guards at the entrance, and at least one of them began paying close attention to the approaching group.

"I do not like the look of this," Kerya muttered quietly to the others. "Those guards, are we likely to have trouble from them?" Working quickly and without making it obvious, she prepared certain defensive spells for immediate use. She didn't want to hurt any of the guards, but she really wanted to get away from this place before anything worse happened.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

As Mel slowed to a quick stroll her disguise morphed very subtly. Her features read younger, sweeter, more innocent than they had a blink before. And she obviously wasn't hiding weapons anywhere in the outfit clinging soaked to her frame. Just a college girl fleeing the city. No one the guards would look twice at unless they thought a victim needed to be rushed out of harm's way.

[Stygian]

Running up the steps, Stygian was immediately interrupted, fortunately by the officer without a firearm in his hand. The large dog simply stepped into his way, and the bat stopped. He didn't want anything to bother them. Not there.
   'What's all this about?' the canine asked, not really scowling but frowning and shifting his glare between the bat and the gryphon in his arms. The rat over by the other door kept close watch on them both.
   'He's hurt. A car drove into us,' Stygian said, feigning a very convincing mixture of concern and stressed irritation. 'We're a traveling party. We just need to pass through.'
   'If he's hurt, you're better off taking her to a hospital. The city guard don' appreciate unsolved things,' the dog said, looking over his shoulder at the rest of the party.
   'He's going to be fine. We have a healer with us,' Stygian said. 'But we want to leave.' The canine opened his mouth, but the rat interjected.
   'Didn't you get what we were saying? Stay put and wait!' she snarled.
   'Henderson!' the dog barked, shooting the rat a glare. He held it for a few seconds before looking back to Stygian. 'Can I see your passport?' he asked. Stygian looked down at his shredded clothes, and then back at the dog, who made a face.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel stepped forward, mentally noting that she had made the wrong choice when altering her disguise, old and respectable would have been better. She handed the guard an appropriate identification card, naming her as Melinda White, college student. She faked a shiver as she looked bedraggled and scared, "Please sir. I am a healer and if we can get him somewhere warm and dry I can heal him." She didn't try to take over his mind, she had learned from their earlier experience that taking out just one partner didn't work well. But she did radiate honesty and trustworthiness at the canine. "Will you please let us inside?" she asked as a particularly large raindrop dripped off her nose.

[Stygian]

The dog kept frowning, and the rat's eyes twitched between the four standing on the top of the steps, and then went to Keaton, and back.
   'I don' think we ca-' the dog began, when Stygian, who had been fumbling with his back pocket, interrupted.
   'Here!' he said, handing the passport over. It was missing one corner, but seemed otherwise fine. 'Sorry, just... What she said. We want to get out of here. Things are looking pretty bad.'
   The canine eyed the passport scrutinizingly. 'I wish they weren't. This looks fine, but I'm not saying I like it.'
   'We just want to get by. There's no reason stopping us.'
   'I'll be the judge of that,' the dog said, and then looked in Keaton's direction. 'The Cubi?'
   'She's with us,' Stygian said, and now his look wasn't so harmless any more. 'We're just passing through. Stop us if you want to, but it's not going to do you any good.'
   The dog turned his face toward the bat a bit, grumbled, and then backed up to let them through.

[Cogidubnus]

 Standing still through the whole ordeal, Cog kept his eyes on the two guards silently, his shades glittering the red sky of Haszal back at the two. Taking just a single step to the side of Keaton, and letting a hand rest on the hilt of his sword, he absently scratched at his nose as the others spoke.

At the dog's comment about passports, Cog scowled, baring a single white fang. He looked over the guardsman's shoulders to the red sky behind him, and then at the train station to the side. Cog muttered something inaudible.
To his surprise, the bat actually had a passport on him, and to his yet greater surprise the officer stood aside to let them through. Raising his eyebrows, the wolf gave a blank look, his expression slowly changing to one of bemusement.

As he passed the officers to walk into the station, he gave them a two-finger salute, his boots thumping softly on the somewhat-wet floor. Another hand went to secure his hat from the wind.
"Thanks, officers." he said, just-almost sincere enough to sound respectful.

[Aisha deCabre]

As the impressive glass dome of the station came into light, Aisha released a sigh of relief and caught up with the others.  She was beginning to tire of the rain, and moreover of the storm raging all around them.  The panther muttered a quiet string of curses in her own tongue, shaking her head free of water and looking around at the others.  A ragged party, it looked like, and one could only imagine what people all around were thinking of them.

That became more apparent, in fact, when Stygian suddenly rounded back on Keaton and hissed at her to hide her tentacles, with which she was helping carry the unconscious Gryphon.  Aisha's eyes widened slightly.  Suspicious of Creatures...great.  That's what most of us are.  And looking ahead, before she could even hope that nobody would notice after the jackal recovered, there two guards stood blocking their path; a canine and a rat, both with quite suspicious looks on their faces as they stopped Stygian.

Aisha grimaced, staying behind with the group as the bat and the felid Mel tried to negotiate with the police.  Ears craned forward, she could hear little of what they were saying.  If the story was bought, hopefully, things wouldn't end up like the last police officers that they encountered.  No more innocent blood to be shed.

But, after Stygian found his passport, they moved out of the way and let the adventurers ahead...a rather pleasant change.  Aisha sighed and moved on ahead, sparing a brief nod of thanks to the officers.  She hopefully looked just about as suspicious as the others had...another feline who was having a bad day, to say the least.

[Gareeku]

As the group made their way to the train station, Gareeku kept quiet, choosing instead to listen to the others talk amongst themselves as he observed the looks on the bystanders' faces as they passed them.
Fucking great... the wolf thought to himself. I can't go anywhere anymore without having disaster and carnage follow me whereever I go.

As they approached the station, Gareeku cursed to himself quietly as a couple of guards confronted them. After a little while, it seemed that they were allowed to go through, the wolf giving the guards a nod of appreciation as he passed them. Hey, he may have been a grumpy asshole, but he wasn't stupid. He knew when certain things were required.

[Stygian]

If the company had thought that the station looked large on the outside, it was nothing compared to the inner view. While the several floors arranged over the reception hall cut off the view at first and took up a great part of the space, the sight as they entered the domed hall with shops and a bank and post office beyond was very impressive, a sort of testimony to modernization and industry. Classical-styled pictures of historical events throughout Haszal's history, most of which were tied in to some sort of new development, were all over the roof of the dome, and sculptures of scholars and great businessmen and inventors stood in the alcoves set into the dome walls. Beyond the huge archway at the far end of the domed hall they could see the platforms and trains, all strange and dreamy-looking in the swimming lighting of the vaulted glass ceiling and the lamps on walls and walkways.
   When they had walked in a bit, Stygian looked around and then spoke back toward the others without facing them. 'I'm going to get us those tickets. The question is; where do we leave for?' He fixed his black gaze on a large brass-decorated announcement board, displaying train types, arrival and departure times and destinations. From the immediate look of it, they had only three choices if they were to leave within the nearest half-hour; Dachon, a demon city many miles east; Eisporz, far to the north on a great peninsula; or Jann's Cliff, much farther to the south, close to the sound of Mediemunda. Either way they would be traveling a fairly long way.
   'I know someone we could talk to, but we would have to reach her fast. In either way Eisporz seems too far. Unless we want to take a ship across the ocean or go seal hunting, that is...' Stygian said bitterly, adjusting his grip on Deirdre.

[Gareeku]

Following Sebastian and the others into the train station, Gareeku looked around at the interior of the buildings. The architecture was certainly very impressive, his eyes glancing from the statues in the alcoves to the decorated ceiling as they made their way through the interior of the station.

When Sebastian began to talk to them, Gareeku's eyes lowered to look at him, the wolf listening to what he said. As Sebastian finished speaking, Gareeku noticed his gaze fix on the noticeboard. Turning to look at the train times as well, the wolf frowned somewhat as he looked at the names. There were a few that he didn't recognise, but there was one that he did...

"...Jann's Cliff...I know that place..." the wolf said as he continued to look at the announcement board. "...It's a trading town. I went there once, but it was quite a few years ago. From what I can remember they get all sorts of customers through there, so we should be able to move around the town without much of a fuss. They're about as tolerant as you can get, which is useful considering the vast majority of us are creatures."

[SpottedKitty]

Kerya almost gasped aloud in relief when the guards stepped back to allow them inside. For one thing, at least now they were out of the rain, which was beginning to make her feel rather chilled. And she dripped, and her sandals squelched, when she walked. The little stoat looked down at herself, her ears and whiskers drooping slightly. She could do something about her dress once they were safely under way, but right now it was a soaked, stained and torn mess. And since her hotel room, with her spare clothes, was at the other end of a city they were fleeing before it was destroyed...

Then her ears perked up as she noticed one particular shop among the row at the far end of the hall. She poked her fingers down the back of the sash around her waist, nodded in satisfaction, then walked quickly up to the bat's side and tapped his arm to catch his attention. "Sebastian, I will return in just a moment, but I must get some things before we leave here." Before he could even turn to look she dashed off across the hall and vanished into a souvenir shop. In a minute or so she reappeared, a bulging bag (printed with the message "VISIT SUNNY HASZAL!" in garish colours) gripped firmly in her hands. She still dripped and squelched with every step as she rejoined the group, but she looked a little less grim.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

When the guards decided to wave them on Mel smiled at the canine then hurried inside before they found a new reason to retain them. Inside was large and a demonstration of the technological advantages of the city. Hearing Ignatz question as to a destination she looked at the board. "Well, my personal preference would be Eisporz, but closest to my home is not a good reason to make a choice, despite greater access to allies and information." She shrugged noncommittally at Gareeku's comment, "Jann's Cliff should have anything we need reasonably available."

The little mage excused herself and ran into a tourist shop, of all things. Mel gave her a confused look, wondering why she would need a souvenir to remember this vacation.

[Cogidubnus]

 The train station was a lot nicer than what Cog was expecting. A grimy, concrete and purely functional structure, he had expected from a place like this - Haszal had seemed rather utilitarian in nature. The architecture should have tipped him off, he supposed - the interior here was no less grand than the architecture of the buildings outside.

He wrapped his coat about him a bit tighter, and tried to place the names and faces of the statues that dotted the station. He found that he really didn't know any of them - he guessed they were more local heroes, or some such. Even so. At the bat's comments about available locations, the wolf looked up at the board proclaiming times and destinations and shrugged. He'd been through Mediemundus to get here, but he'd never been to nor heard of any of the locations listed. One was as good as another, he supposed.

Cog found a bench to sit on and waited, adjusting his slightly-wet hat, and wiping the moisture from his glasses. He watched the little ferrety-mage person run off towards the tourist shop quickly, and Cog absently wondered what she might possibly need there. Snowglobes were nice and all, but they probably had more pressing business...

She returned rather quickly, her bag full with the soft bulge of clothing, and Cog nodded. That made a bit more sense to him, although he'd probably have saved his money. They were liable to be clothing stores wherever they ended up going.