Deathtrap Dungeon: Meat and Greet (IC)

[VAE]

The mental arithmetic of Glup in this case was trivial.
On one side , we had Nadhiya, and a few other reasonably friendly creatures going away to investigate the hyena, not to mention that the help might improve his perspectives, and the earlier the situation is sorted out the sooner he will be able to go hunting for brains
On the other hand,  there would be Mnogo AND Zyrais, not to mention other possible opponents, without any supervision - although he was sure he could handle any one of them at single time, he was also pretty confident especially Zyrais would be the first to land a backstab to him during a fight with anyone else....

He stepped forwards, still checking on the two (having over pi radians lookout helped a lot!) spoke to Nadhiya.
"Mishtglesh Nadhiya. I know no medishine ogl sho, buth i can help with the inveshtigathionsh... i 'ave waysh of making otheglsh talk, and alsho.. if shomething needsh to be moved out of the way... i would pglefegl to go with the ggloup, fogl the besht of mine and dungeonsh' integleshts"

[Mechanisto]

Nadhiya gestured to Glup, looking unimpressed. "I appreciate the offer, but i doubt this crowd will respond well to threats and torture. They..."

She paused mid-sentence and turned to look at Glup. "...a chuul. Of course..." She seemed to regard him in a new light.

"On second thought, I think you will be of use to us. I don't know the extent of your... powers... but your the only non-cubi who might have them. Do please join us."

[techmaster-glitch]

   As Xephelon watched, Zyrais also threw in his bid to make the hyena back down through words. Unfortunately, as Xephelon had expected, everything was for naught. The hyena grew further agitated, and suddenly, struck towards Zyrais. Xephelon had also "seen" Zyrais attempting a spell. Apparently, whatever it was failed, although Xephelon wasn't focused on it enough to actually identify it's charachteristics.
  The hyena lept towards Zyrais, and Xephelon was proud to see the kobold guard also leap to intercept, striking with his newly-enchanted nightsti--
  What?!
  Unlike Zyrais' spell, Xephelon was plenty focused on the reaction emitted by the nightstick to see what had just happened. The first part of the reaction was indeed the infusion Xephelon had put into the nightstick, but what happened next was beyond what his magic was intended to do. The hyena had been enveloped in black energy, and just before he vanished, a massive stream connected him to one of the portals. Xephelon instantly thought that this must have been what the rune in the nightstick really did, or... or was the hyena the same person who had come through a portal earlier with an anomalous connection to the portal?
  Further investigation was absolutely needed.
  Nadihya then arrived, ordering a lockdown of the portals. As she also seemed unsurprised at what the guard had done (although possible a facade), that seemed to lend weight to the rune theory. A number of the crowd uncomfortably milled around in the silence. Xephelon whispered to Kittrick, "I swear that was not supposed to happen." After Zyrais thanked the kobold and moved on, Xephelon noted that Glup and the mudman seemed to be going at it again.
  However, Nadihya spoke up once more, telling that the reason for the quarantine was a... magical disease?
  Absolutely wonderful. Day one and already the dungeon had enemies. And it just had to be something that Xephelon likely could not even help with. He could only make devices, he couldn't combat a disease. Hopefully his sealed exoshell would protect him, but that even meant he couldn't eat until this was passed...and he hadn't eaten since before he got here. One thing after another.
  As he had no immediate assistance to offer Nadihya, he strode over to the kobold guard from earlier, who had now organized a line of kobolds around the portals.
  "I am impressed, sir kobold." Xephelon said quietly to him. "You reacted without hesitation and stood your ground against a larger foe. Even if you had some...help...not many would expect such traits from one of your kind. I also will not lie to you, that actually wasn't the strong reaction I had intended; it was stronger. I will need to investigate further, but I do have some theories. Also, while I have no standing here yet, I will talk with Lady Nadihya and try to ensure you are recognized for your efforts. Tell me your name."

[VAE]

Glup began following Nadhiya, Nethalzar and the rest of the forming "silver bullets" intent on investigating the strange happenings.
::At leasht shomeone appgleshiatesh my skillsh... :: he thought as he marched on.

[Liatai]

My, how everything had happened so fast. Kittrick had barely had time to take a few steps in the direction of the quarreling creatures before Zyrais' magical barriers had sprung up. Then, the hyena had begun to speak...

The hyena. He looked familiar. She squinted at him through the barriers as they began to fall, trying to place him... And then it struck her.

"Trade you for poultry...?"

Yes! She remembered now. How could she not?! He had been carrying horse meat, for crying out loud! Had he been this eloquent before, though? He had struck her as something of a brute... Why had that been? The lady. There was a lady with him. A feline woman in a gown. She had said he hadn't gotten out much.

Suddenly, there was a loud crack and a flash of light. The hyena vanished with a scream, leaving nothing behind. Kittrick could do little but stare in shock as the events transpired in front of her. Nadhiya's words rang out loud and clear over the floor, and Kittrick half-listened to the crowd around her. Trapped! They were trapped!

No... quarantined.What if...? Oh, gods above, the horse meat. What if that had been tainted? The gryphon's stomach dropped at the thought. No, no, best not to think about that now. There was work to be done.

"Madam Nadhiya -- umph --" She tried to squeeze herself through the crowd to get closer to the dungeon's overseer. "Excuse me -- Miss Death-Venom, are you still there? -- Lady Nadhiya!"

It was no use. It would take too long to catch up with her, and there was still the possibility that the woman in the gown was still in the crowd somewhere. In desperation, she scanned the assembled people. She couldn't see anyone that looked like the woman she had seen earlier at a glance... but someone else caught her eye. A russet-feathered gryphon! Oh, thank heavens, she at least had some other members of her kind here. She was beginning to think she was the only gryphon who had seen the advertisement. She cawed a greeting over the head of a nearby demon and wound her way around the other people, approaching him.

"You there! Excuse me -- excuse me. Would you mind terribly--?" Her words tumbled over themselves in her worry that another passing member of the crowd would run into her and pull her away.

The russet-colored gryphon raised an eyebrow. "Whoa there! Slow down. What are you asking me?"

Kittrick cleared her throat, pulled herself up, and tried to look more composed. "Hm. Would you mind possibly assisting in the investigation in a small way?"

The other gryphon considered this for a moment. "In... what way are you thinking?"

"I have an idea of who one of the hyena's associates may have been." She briefly told him about her earlier encounter with the woman and the beast, being sure to describe the woman in as much detail as she could remember. "I must go inform Lady Nadhiya of this, and I cannot do that and search for the lady at the same time. If you would be so kind as to simply keep your eyes open and alert an official if you see her...?"

"Of course!" The other gryphon opened his wings a little and flashed a beaky grin. "Just, eh... tell Nadhiya you've got Kiprin on the job, would you? Wouldn't hurt my job chances either if I find her and she turns out to be important."

"Kiprin, I'll remember. And I am Kittrick. Thank you." She nodded regally, started to walk in Nadhiya's direction, and then paused. "Oh... And do try to not raise much of a fuss? She may bolt."

"Got it. Hunt her like a rabbit. No sudden moves, no loud noises." The other gryphon trotted off into the crowd, and Kittrick resumed her attempts to head toward the naga.

Whew! Long post... sorry, guys. Please feel free to tell me if there's anything I need to correct... Was it okay that I gave the other gryphon a name?

[Drayco84]

   Dee suddenly felt her ride jump into action, almost trembling with excitement and fear she she did so. Thankfully for her, a brief skimming of her thoughts revealed something interesting...
   "Hey idiot! So long screwy, and see ya in St. Louie!" She shot at Zyrais, while hanging on to the gryphon.
   "Whoa!" Dee exclaimed, watching Kittrick try and push through the crowds while trying to catch up to Nadhiya. "I'm still here and please calm down! Share with me what you know!"
   Dee hung on and overheard the exchange with the other gryphon, one named Kiprin, including the description of the young feline woman in a black gown that was apparently the hyena's companion. I looked it up, btw.



   "I hate that pseudodragon..." Zyrais mentally complained to himself, receiving the code loud and clear. Dee had found something interesting and it was in his best interest to let her pursue it. A quick glance at the gryphon revealed that she was trying to head for Nadhiya, and seemingly got sidetracked by another gryphon. Regardless, he realized that he should stall her for a bit until Kittirck could arrive and deliver whatever information she had. And besides, he had his own news to break to her...
   Zyrais had little problems sifting through the crowd to reach Nadhiya where he delivered his info.
   "Lady Nadhiya, I'm not fond of the idea myself, but I do have some of my servants in Zinvith. While we can't send anything out, I can reach them with a Sending or Telepathy spell, so it may be possible for a few of them to bring certain supplies in. Obviously though, I would only use this as a next-to-last resort, and I have a limited number of creatures still under my command. I just wanted to reveal the option to you. Also, Dee, my familiar, has found something that may be important, and I wish to join the efforts in finding out what this ailment is, especially if it has mystical properties like you say."

[Chairtastic]

In an instant, gone was the amiable grandfather-figure Barbarus had taken pains to craft, and replaced with the no-nonsense business manner; following close behind Nadhiya, remaining as a human for the time being.  He waited until the Overseer and the chuul, and the Angel had completed their dialogues before putting in his two cents. "As you know, Weres like myself can become immune to any and all magic when we assume our human forms.  Now I know of at least five other Weres in attendance at this function; if this disease is magical in any way, myself and those five should be able to operate a Clean Room of sorts, where the disease could be studied without risk of spreading."

His medicine was kicking in, already it was taking less effort to walk and not limp.  Less, but still requiring some energy.  Unfortunately, the medicine was an alchemy, and his human magic-killing ability had obliterated the mystic part of the pill, leaving only the chemical pain killer.  I will not show weakness.  If one is to be weak, one might as well be dead.  I am not dead, I am not weak, and I will not appear so.

"Unfortunately, the five I mentioned were a bit too fresh from the tribes to be forthcoming with their names; which are immensely important to Were culture.  I can provide your kobolds with descriptions, though; or if you would tell me where to bring them, I can fetch them myself much quicker."

[Mechanisto]

The kobold before Xephelon seemed to quake with fear. After he finished speaking, there was a moment of aukward silence. Then the Kobold jumped to action, waving his stick. "You no enter chamber!"

Someone spoke from behind Xephelon; a slightly better dressed Kobold with an array of tiny tools on his belt. He spoke to the others in their high-pitched yipping language, and they seemed to settle down. He must have had some authority among his kind.

"Apologies, honored guest... I'm afraid you may be overestimating the average Kobold's level of intelligence. He doesn't fully understand what you did for him."

"But I do." He stepped forward, nodding respectfully. "Nadhiya mentioned you had no small skill with enchantments and such. I think I might need to explain what exactly what happened... and ask for your assistance with analyzing the chamber itself."

"If you are willing, of course." He entered the chamber, gesturing for the guards to let Xephelon pass if he wished. From the looks of it, anything they said within the chamber would be kept private.

-----

Nadhiya already had a small group of eager volunteers around her as she made her way through the main hall. She seemed quite confident now that she had people to manage and organize.

"As I've mentioned before, Zyrais, telepathy and sending spells cannot reach the outside world from here... however, if it becomes necessary, I can give you access to the portal. This would enable such powers to work. Whoever did this, however, will probably want to gain access to the portal; either to escape or to report to a superior. Excessive interest in the portal chamber may be cause for suspicion."

She listened to Barbarus intently. "We must see if your resistance truly works against this contagion. If it does, you maybe the only people we can safely send through the portal for resources. We may yet be able to gather some of Zyrais' supplies."

She turned backwards, rotating at the hip; this allowed her to speak to the group face-to-face, while still slithering ahead. "I will be blunt; everyone here is a suspect. But if I don't accept anyone's help, we won't get anywhere. I just want you to know that if I refuse to give you certain freedoms or privileges, it's nothing personal. I hope those of you who aren't traitors or saboteurs will understand."

[VAE]

Glup looked at Nadhiya and spoke:
"I kchan undeglshtand the sushpicsion, and the gleshtglicthionsh that go, but heagl thish:
My bushinesh dependsh on me gething bglainsh fglom outshide... peglhapsh againsht the will of theigl holdeglsh. Alsho, i need cushtomeglsh. But if thegle ish a pgloblem like thish,  cushtomeglsh agle limited, and i cannot get new shupliesh.
You kchan apgleshiate that thish shituathion ish huglting my income by each hou' and sho, that i thgluly could have no integlesht in cgleating it.
"
He stopped for a moment, and his hind legs began pacing in a familiar manner, suggesting excitement or nervousness

"Of couglshe! Lishten, Mishtglesh Nadhiya! We might have a way to communicate with the outshide! Befogle coming to the tougl, i  finished the integlnet seglvegl fo' the dungeon!! It needsh to be teshted, but if it woglksh, we can ushe it to contact anyone outshide! It ish algleady hooked to the thick coakshial seglving ash ougl ekshteglnal netwoglk connekshion!!"

[Tipod]

Oh dear sweet Earth Mother.

Trapped. Surrounded by meatpeople.

In a dungeon.

With some kind of horrible plague wafting through the air and infecting people. A disease that could affect even him, a being normally immune to such things.

The mudman couldn't dream of a worse fate: biological terrorism and being forced to deal with organics.

Mnogo immediately slithered around the agitated guests, following after Xephelon and the kobold. Nadhiya would probably have been a better choice, but she was busy trying to get to the root of the problem. Bothering her would probably mean a black mark on his evaluation. "Wait! You meatpuppets-- ...people, owe me an explanation! Just what is the meaning of all this?!" Even if he couldn't get an answer, he could at least find some way to make himself useful and root out whatever horrible Creature was responsible for this mayhem.

[Lisky]

Following behind Nadhiya, Bas kept mostly quiet, considering the possibility of the disease.  "Well, depending on what we know of this illness, it should be important to note that demons and angels also have a very high resilience to such mundane means.  Our enhanced strength, endurance and stamina are part of what make us notoriously hard to kill.  I myself know several healing magics on the dark end of the spectrum... such as cleansing my own system.  If nothing else, my regenerative abilities would allow consistent identical blood and tissue samples, should the need arise for such."

Giving a non-committal shrug, the large canine stepped forward and added, "Enduring a little discomfort for the sake of a better goal isn't much of a sacrifice, so long as freedom is returned once the crisis is over." 

[Liatai]

Kittrick twisted her head around to look at Dee briefly. "Ah, good. You heard, then?" What was the proper etiquette for asking someone else's familiar to do something, anyway? "If you would not mind, perhaps you could also --"

That's when the mudman happened to cross in front of her, also pursuing the group. With her head twisted around, she couldn't see him in time to react --

SQUAWK! SPLAT! SQUELCH.

Mud and slime flew everywhere as Kittrick collided with Mnogo. The impact sent her reeling back a few feet, earth elementals being several times heavier and denser than a gryphon. Kittrick sat down hard, accidentally treading on her own tail briefly, which brought out another yelping sort of squawk. She blinked several times and shook her head rapidly, trying to rattle the stars out of her field of vision. This motion sent several large drops of mud flying into the crowd, as well.

Once her head stopped spinning, Kittrick stared at herself in abject horror. The mud. Oh gods, the mud! It was seeping between her feathers, dripping onto her talons, ruining the list of rules she had taken from the table at the beginning of the event... Oh gods, it was ruining her harness! The foul slime was seeping into the leather, tarnishing the badge!

She couldn't suppress a horrified shiver. Ugh! She had to shake! She had to get as much of the residue off as possible... and then go sit in one of the fountains for a few months, maybe. "Y... you may wish t-to remove yourself, Miss Death-Venom..." she said to her passenger.

[Chairtastic]

Barbarus chuckled a bit.  "I have been around this block a few times, I expected nothing less."  The elderly feline then produced the orange container with his medicine.  "Of course, I would like to be able to take my arthritis medication without being suspected of foul play, if that is acceptable."  Then, depending on Nadhiya's response, he'd either hand it over to her, or pocket it once again.  After which he would look over his shoulder at the Angel, looking the oddly Draconian fellow up and down, before stepping forward and offering his hand.

"It seems we may need to work together soon.  I am Barbarus of the Hagoo, pleasure to meet you."

Short post is short. *dives into the bunker*

[Drayco84]

   "Yes, such suspicions would be quite natural under these circumstances." Zyrais agreed. "If it please you, and should you decide that such a course of action is needed, then I will do my best to be as transparent and open as possible. Regardless, testing would need to be done to find out more about this pathogen, and I don't think we don't have time for simulations. I need to know where one of the victims that has already contracted the disease is." He explained. Turning to the were, he returned the were's greeting.
  "I'm Zyrais, and it's nice to meet you too. Unfortunately, I will need you and/or a few of your people to test and make sure that you have immunity and aren't able to spread the disease to others. If you wish to come along and make sure they're treated well, then that would be fully understandable." He stated. Turning to look for Kittrick and Dee, he saw them... Oh dear... Dee wasn't going to be approachable for at least an hour... Much less reveal what she had just learned...



  When Kittrick ran into the mudman, Dee could've sworn she saw her life flash before her eyes as the giant glob of muck got alarmingly bigger as a pretty quick rate. Her last thought was that she was gonna install some damn seatbelts on that gryphon if it killed her.
  And by "killed her", she was obviously referring to the gryphon...
  Dee's next thoughts were those of a small creature stuck in a massive blob of muck and while not completely disgusted by it, she felt pretty damn close to it. Luckily for her, she went tumbling into the mudman, so her wings and back went into it first, rather than her head. So, currently, she could still breathe. She could also curse using her telepathy, which she did, loudly, coupled with numerous and rather vocal death threats at whoever and whatever had wronged her.

Nice ninja post, Meany. I almost had mine done.
EDIT: All that effort and two little grammar errors. Ugh...

[Tipod]

"I said 'what is the meaning of--'" Mnogo didn't even finish his demanding before the gryphon ran right into him, causing him to stumble and splatter against the floor in a large, awkward mound. At least Kittrick had managed to recoil from Mnogo's semi-pliable form, albeit with a few pounds of his cloying mass splashing onto her; Dee was halfway stuck in his sludgy body, something he didn't even notice until after he'd already remolded back into his normal stance.

And that small, very annoying creature was assaulting his consciousness with her temper and words.

"...get, out." With a loud squick, Dee was expelled from Mnogo's side and onto the floor, along with a copious amount of tarry mud. Ooh, that gryphon was going to get it... just after he got to the bottom of this plague crisis. "Move, now." He groused at the other guests as he continued to slither towards the kobolds guarding the portal chamber.

[techmaster-glitch]

   Xephelon was no less than shocked when the kobold he had just helped and complimented suddenly acted hostile to him. He was also very worried that nightstick might connect with him. However, another kobold spoke up from behind him, this one talking like a normal person, and made the others cool off.
  "I can't say I'm not...disappointed...although I still think his quick action is commendable." One of Xephelon's "eyes" blinked. "You don't seem to be 'an average kobold', though. And yes, I shall assist in analyzing the chamber. With this apparent disease, there's nothing else I can do. I believe I shall also have to take a closer look at that nightstick..."
  AT that moment, the mud-creature suddenly began rushing towards Xephelon and the kobolds...and just as suddenly, there was a squishy splat as... Kittrick?
  Experiencing the scene before him, Xephelon's only response...was one of his exoshell's four arms coming up and pressing against his...well, torso-face, as the exoshell was headless.
  The mudman, however, continued moving towards them. "I assure you, sir, harassing these guards will not help you at all. Lady Nadihya is the only one in charge, and the only one with knowledge of the situation; you'd do best to go ask her. Neither these guards nor I know anything about the situation, and I have some unrelated magical analysis to do."
  There was a pause. "And I must also add in an explicit caution against harassing these guards. In addition to being a fruitless endeavor, you might find yourself subject to the same fate as that troublemaker..." Xephelon moved behind that same guard who he had helped do so (and had just attempted to ward him off), giving him a small pat on the shoulder. Xephelon turned to the newcomer guard--the more eloquent one--and gestured further into the empty chamber as he turned away into it and began to walk forward. "Now, let us begin our analysis of that anomaly, I do have several theories..."

[Liatai]

Oh, dear. Well, at least she wouldn't need to worry about shaking Dee loose along with the mud on her back.

Kittrick stood and shook fiercely, trying to dislodge as much of the sludge as she could from her feathers. Oh, and of course she had been shouting Nadhiya's name before that undignified collision! She could almost feel the eyes of the crowd on her. She held her beak high, trying to maintain some shred of dignity... but the mud hampered that impression somewhat. Ugh.

It took all of her willpower, but she approached the sticky, tarry puddle of goo which encased the pseudodragon.

"Miss Death-Venom? Are... Are you all..?" Ugh, she could practically taste the mud on her beak when she spoke. The pseudodragon's psychic cursing answered her unfinished question. "Come along... Let us go clean ourselves."

And now I leave for the Land of No Internet for a few days. If anything happens plot-wise, assume Kittrick made it to a fountain and is cleaning off.

[Drayco84]

   Dee was NOT happy...
  In addition to being embedded inside the mudman, it "oh-so-kindly" expelled her, along with a nice-sized glob of thick, sticky, tar-like muck.
  To add further insult to injury, Kittrick, instead of just slinking off to find someplace to wash off the muck, decided to take the convenient and animalistic route of shaking off most of the mud on her body... Into the crowds around her...
  "That'll be sure to impress people..." Dee snidely remarked, managing to roll onto her claws. "And don't you dare move, flinch, or try and shake me off." She threatened, using her claws to climb up onto Kittrick, rubbing a fair amount of mud off of herself and back onto the gryphon as she did so. After a bit, she plonked herself back onto the middle of the gryphon's back. Only this time, she made certain that she was able to grip onto the harness in case something similar happened again.
  "Alright, you can go now..." Dee grumbled. "After you tell Nadhiya what you found out..."
   Not taking any chances in case the gryphon decided to get stubborn, Dee sent a message to Zyrais.
   "Hey, dimwit! The gryphon saw the hyena with a young feline woman in a black gown. However, if she's a cubi, we're screwed."

Ugh... Should've posted sooner...

[Mechanisto]

Nadhiya nodded to Glup as he voiced his concerns. When he mentioend the internet connection he'd begun building, she seemed somewhat startled and a little angry. "I assure you, Glup, contact with the outside world is already possible for me... I was simply lamenting the lack of a more sophisticated computer network for the dungeon itself. If you've actually tampered with the portals themselves, I shall be most displeased."

She turned to Bas then; his comment about enduring discomfort for the greater good seemed to surprise her, and she gave him an unusual look for just a moment. "Resistances aside, I'm afraid I've already detected traces of the disease on both demons and angels. I suspect, however, that you will be much more resistant to the symptoms; it may harm you less, but you could still spread it to others."

She turned to Barbarus as he held up his bottle of medicine. She gestured at the bottle momentarily, and a brief glow surrounded her hand. She seemed satisfied. "The medicine is indeed what you say it is... though perhaps later, I can assist you. I know something of using magical gifts to help with with ongoing ailments."

-----

The Kobold strode up the short stairway that led to the portal chamber and walked towards the center of the circular room. "If your going to analyze anything, you'll need to know what's going on..."

"As you may know, certain ritual magics can be used to summon forth demons and other supernatural creatures; either to fight or to perform tasks. These summoning powers are generally temporary... if the spell wears off, or is dispelled, the summoned creature and all of it's belongings are returned to it's original location. Any magical effects it caused are also undone. This is different than a teleportation spell, which is normally permanent."

"These portals are configured so that full citizens of the dungeon are teleported normally... whereas non-citizens are actually summoned here. Nobody else realizes it, but their presence here is temporary and impermanent."

"The guard's nightsticks are imbued with a special rune of disruption; when they strike a summoned creature, it ejects them from the dungeon and returns them to their original location. We added some visual pyrotechnics to make it look as scary and painful as possible, but it's actually completely harmless."

The Kobold paused, allowing Xephelon to digest what he'd said for a moment. If anyone found out about this little detail, the guards would become much... MUCH... less intimidating.

"Here's the thing about summoned creatures: when you banish them, they can't leave stuff behind and their special powers lose effect... so we have no idea how anyone could have spread a disease without tampering with the portals."

[Kafzeil]

"Of ALL the Bloody Luck!" A Rather loud, somewhat nasally voice bellowed ash it approached the Naga from behind. Any who turned around would see a rather curious sight.

A rather diminutive weasel, dressed in a modern business suit with a tattered labcoat and a district lack of footwear. The most striking feature was the fact his "Fur" was green, as he closed in, however, it became clear it wasn't fur, but moss, and his hair was a tangle of kudzu vines. He was holding a thick folder and a Druidic Tome in the other, and seemed to be in the process of reorganizing the papers from the folder. "Why does does this always happen?" he appeared to be speaking to himself. " 'Finally, an invitation! Nobody BOTHERS to read my work, and it seems somebody is taking me serious! and then it turns to crap because some stupid laughing idiot can't keep his temper in check long enough FOR A SINGLE INTERVIEW!?!"The small plant-thing's rage  seemed totally blind, as he didn't seem to acknowledge anything or anyone else. "Mother was right, I should have been a Druid!"

The weasel took a deep breath and closes his eyes." Okay...calm down...just settle down Win. All is not lost. Just a minor setback." He opened his eyes. "My apologies for losing my temper. The past few weeks have not favoured me in the slightest." He looked at Nadhiya and smiled, offering his hand. "Dr. Winston Richardson, ma'am. Pleasure to meet, though I wish we could have talked in much more pleasant circumstances."He held up his folder."I brought a copy on my work in hydroponics, if you or your masters have not somehow received them."

Edit: Yes, I am quite aware Winston is not making a great entrance or first impression. To say Winston is an egotist with something of a self-importance complex is like saying the universe is kinda big.

[techmaster-glitch]

   Xephelon followed the kobold up the stairs and away from the other guests. He took in all the information the kobold stated with a practiced analytical "ear".
   When all was said, the torso of Xephelon's exoshell only "nodded" slightly. "I suspected this to be the case; that was indeed one of my theories. Although I will say with some personal satisfaction that I added something 'real' to your light show, and the rabblerouser should be home with a headache of colossal proportions right now--possibly even a genuine concussion--for his troubles."
   Xephelon looked at the portals around them. "I see how unwise it would be if the general guests discovered this misdirection, however, something more 'real' indeed will have to be worked out once full citizens are inagurated if you haven't already, and I'm sure I could help with that..."
   The exoshell faced the kobold again. "But about this disease. So anything someone brings with them is banished along with them, you say, and special abilities end? I believe I've observed these kinds of summoning spells cast before. If a continuous effect is ongoing by the summoned, such as sustained dancing lights for example, it ends when the summoned is dismissed because, of course, they are no longer present to maintain the effect. But if the summoned were to say, kill something, it stays dead when the summoned is dismissed. If someone were to release a self-perpetuating agent that creates more of itself after the summoning, only a truly advanced banishing effect could trace all created derivatives and banish them as well along with the original agent, but that would be monstrously powerful and complex magic, and could lead to many unintended side effects... could that be what has happened here? Is the the portal summoning-banishment a more convetional setup that would allow such an exploit, or is it extensive enough to negate that loophole?"

[Chairtastic]

The elderly Were smiled at the Angel, then turned his head, getting a few glimpses some scuffle. It was interesting, from the snippets he spied, but there was much more important things to be done.  "I'm sure the other five would be willing to be tested, but I may need to explain the situation to them.  They aren't a trusting lot." We could always twist their arms into behaving like civilized folk, the semi-autonomous part of himself put forth, then quickly retreating from the magic-killing burn of his human shape.

Hush, he told it, rather smugly.  He barely noticed the approach of the...plantish thing; which he mentally smacked himself for.  Such a slip-up could have gotten him killed in any other situation; but the newcomer seemed harmless, if impertinent.

Electing to ignore the exchange the plant-ferret was having with Nadhiya, at least for the moment, Barbarus cleared his throat, and spoke perhaps a bit louder than previous, to Zyrais.  "Exactly how would you test for this disease?  Would it be possible for me and mine to remain in human form during the examination, or would you need us to shift back?"  He did not doubt that the others had shifted to human form; it would be a natural reaction to hearing about the presence of a magical disease flying about.  But of course, Barbarus started to worry; the stupidity of the young could never be underestimated, after all.

(I really hate brainfarts.  Really I do.)

[Tipod]

Mnogo gave a leer before slithering away from the chamber's entrance. Bah, lousy kobolds. Forget it, he'd leave the little reptiles and Xephelon to chatter about whatever metaphysical nonsense was at play with the portals. He had bigger things to worry about, chief among them was just avoiding whoever looked like they could carry a disease. Which was most everybody in sight.

This whole thing just couldn't be over quickly enough. He'd have to be proactive, find out just what was going on with these horrible people and which of them knew something. Though, Mnogo had only ever gotten to know the mental ins-and-outs of beings; he could only hope that all the Creatures present had the same little reflexes and tics that normal people had, anything to give him a clue as to which ones knew something they weren't telling.

He slid around the main floor, following after Nadhiya as he glanced over at the other guests, looking for any of them that seemed particularly antsy or suspicious. Then again, for all he knew, the saboteur could have easily left by now or was hiding on any of the other floors. If only the mudman knew how to burrow and meld into stone, he could probably slip around and listen in on somebody.

[Lisky]

"something is really bothering me about this talk of the virus now.  Less about 'who put it here' and more, What agenda do they have?  Was there goal to simply hope this virus went unnoticed, let us finish the dungeon, then weaken or kill as many of us as possible, before attempting a hostile take-over?  Is it some childish prank?  How many enemies do you, Nadhiya, that are capable of altering such a complex piece of woven magic, and do so without your noticing?  This is a very skilled mage or wizard, if they managed to alter your portals, and most likely very powerful, lest they killed themself in the process. "

Bas stoked his chin, "If we can find the one capable of arranging such a dastardly act, i'm sure we could garner the information we need to rid ourselves of whatever plague her or she has arranged for us.  Though, that does bring up an interesting question of you, yourself.  Have you yourself been tested?  And, if you've come up negative, how likely is it, that someone is attempting to frame you?"

There was no accusation in his voice, the large demon was sure that if the naga had wanted to kill anyone, she could have done so in any number of ways.  This was an outside attack.     He rolled his wings into a full rest, folded behind his back, while his skin was left unharded.  Bas was still teanse after the confrontation with the hyenia... and it seemed information was currently both scarce, and difficult to garner.  Bas hoped he'd fire some additional synapses that his possible new employer may have overlooked.

[VAE]

The disease did not worry Glup much - although he doubted their extraplanar origin, he was aware that most common illnesses didn't find chuuls suitable. There was no use in worrying too, especially not before he was even infected.
just to be sure that you don't misinterpret - i am not saying glup has imunity, rather that he thinks he has as his aberrant origin would probably be enough to throw off most common infections
Glup grew slightly irritated.
"Mishtglesh Nadhiya, i do noth think theshe accushathionsh agle nesheshagly, eshpecshially in shuch time. You youghlshelf menthioned the lack of wiglelesh connecthion aglound, sho i did my besht to fiksh it. Beshidesh, if i had the shkill to manipulate pogltalsh,  thegle ish a much mogle elegant sholuthion poshible - ushing shmall shcale pogltal magic to decgleashe the powegl consumption and impglove ping, not to menthion that i would connecth it to the shuglfashe netwoglk digleshtly..."
As he continued his explanation, he noticed the coming of a small greenish weasel with a temper to match the usual adages.
When they were giving out temper, this one sneaked into the line twice! ...  and missed the wisdom handout too. I guess he is still alive only because he's amusing
However, this changed  considerably when the plantling weasel mentioned hydroponics, and that he was a scientist - as much as he had magic in contempt, Glup admired the feats of science and engineering - unlike the previous, they were predictable, powerful and required little besides intelligence and patience.
Glup came closer, towering over the weasel, and spoke.
"Ggleethingsh! Name'sh Glup. I shell bglainsh aglound hegle, and beshidesh, i know shome electhglothechnics sho i get to build the non-magical shtuff aglound...  Did you menthion hydglopony? Shoundsh like a fun thing to look ath - i can build the contglol mechanishms....
and... you don'th have any good booksh with you by chance? "

[Mechanisto]

Nadhiya seemed rather irritated at the weasel's boisterous interruption, but she was obviously taking effort to look patient. The instant the weasel spoke the word "hydroponics," her expression changed entirely to one of urgent interest.

She slithered forward and clasped his hand with both of hers. "A botanist! Superb! You have no idea how difficult it's been to attract people in your line of work to attend. Not the traditional environment for druidry, I'm sure."

"I look forward to reading your material, but I'm afraid it will have to wait given the current situation. Would you care to join our... investigation?" Nadhiya gestured to the others, but hesitated for a moment as her eyes met with Glup. She bit her lip slightly. She was a little surprised at the Chuul's reaction... had he mentioned something about druids?

She responded to Barbarus, eager for any change in topic. "As a priestess I possess many spells of healing and restoration. My powers can detect the plague, but not cure it. Yet. Additional diagnosis may help. I can cast a spell of diagnosis on each of your forms, if you would allow it."

She turned to Baseel with a grave look. "I manage this dungeon, but only on behalf of my master... he is the true landowner of this territory, and we may well have inherited some of his enemies. Even if not, this may simply be a power grab instead of a personal vendetta."

"As for my status, I can tell you I am infected as well... but if I was the one causing this, you would have no reason to trust my words. If anyone else can magically sense disease, they are welcome to analyze me themselves."

-----

The Kobold shrugged a bit. "Well... these portals were specifically set up to track and return bacterial or viral colonies carried by guests, even if they multiply after they arrive. We wouldn't dare expose people to diseases they've never encountered before... it wouldn't look good if someone died of the common cold. The mistress did seem to suggest that this was no ordinary virus."

He rummaged around in a reinforced leather attaché case that rested in the center of the room. The leather looked very dark, as if it had been taken from an intensely magical creature... and the case was embroidered with magical runes of breathtaking beauty.

"We never actually made the portals... we had to contract some guys. We don't have their contact info, but they left some documents. Might be useful." He took out a clear-plastic binder filled with papers, all covered in tiny print.

[Chairtastic]

Barbarus fought the urge to sigh.  Doing such would imply exasperation, which when dealing with a potential employer was not a wise thing to do.  It was actually number four on the list of unwise things to do in the workplace, a rather comical pamphlet he'd read some years ago, and now carried around when he needed a quick laugh.  But now was not the time for laughing, now was the time for professionalism, and tact, and an entire slew of other things besides.  While he filed away bits of information, such as Nadhiya's infection and the apparent joy she had at someone specializing in botany, specifically 'hydroponics', which rang some particularly rusty bells in his head; Barbarus by and large let the other Creatures present follow their own lines of inquiry, and suspect at the saboteur's motivation.  He had his own suspicions, and ideas; but right now his place was starting to look like a field operative, rather than intelligence.  Until that changed, he would remain silent upon the issue.

The elderly male waited for the conversations between the naga, and the other Creatures in the vicinity to lull, before speaking up.  "Mistress Nadhiya, therein lies the root of my question."  He turned to look at her, trying not to let the natural mammalian reaction to reptiles, namely 'predator, run!', which had been the main issue behind his originally assuming human form just minutes ago, in the portal chamber, get in the way of his keeping his tone flat.  "As I said before, if you'll pardon my candor, Weres in their human forms cannot be affected by magic, good or bad, in anyway.  Our presence destroys magic, rendering the area around us a mystic vacuum.  I was questioning if you had a method for identifying the disease without the use of magic, namely a bacteria to look for in blood samples, or an increase in white blood cells to indicate the presence of a pathogen."

Barbarus stopped for a moment to shift his weight off his right leg, which the arthritis was starting to favor.  I might need to take her up on that magical healing, he thought to himself.  Then...a sudden flaw in the plan hit him.  "Madame, a thought just occurred to me.  If me and mine are indeed able to leave without spreading this plague, how would we do so?  Our magic destroying property would extend to the portals if we attempted to use them in this form.  And changing shape might cause us to spread the disease beyond the dungeon, rendering our services moot."  The ingenious nature of this disease, and the perfect execution of it were beginning to hit the old man, and his worry started to grow.

[VAE]

Oh... so ... she's a priestess... just when you think...  nice even...
Glup suddenly seemed down in spirit - this was possibly the least pleasant surprise ever since he learned about taxes.
"Yesh, thath will help a loth .... i would be thinking shafegl if thegle wash a micglobiologisht dealing with the infecthion...  "
Think straight... she might be the one in charge now, but the master of the dungeon is probably someone with a serious occupation, just wait this through and don't make anything stupid. At least unless she attacks first
He stopped speaking but anyone with even slight empathy could feel an air disilusionment mixed with contempt around him.

What to say - Glup really doesn't like priests, and considers them pompous windbags capable of little

[Drayco84]

   Let's see if I can wring more out of my brain than half a post this time...

   Zyrais received Dee's message, but groaned inwardly at how she sent it. Oh well, not much he could do about it now...
The introduction from the weasel/plant cross was unexpected, and his use of the term "hydroponics" took him off guard. He knew a little about the subject, but only bits and pieces of information.
   Regardless, Barbarus's question about how he would detect the disease was a good one and quickly got him sidetracked for a brief moment, making him miss Nadhiya's comment about other angels. However, he did hear Nadhiya's comment about her master, along with the somewhat surprising revelation that she was also infected and the offering of examining her...
   Hoo boy... Good thing Aegle isn't here... She would've taken that the wrong way on purpose... He thought to himself, quickly pulling out his spellbook and leafing through it for magical detection spells. Heck, so would've his chief researcher...
   It didn't take him long to find something promising.
   Zyrais then waited until the conversation had died down, thus allowing him to catch the unsurprising revelation that Nadhiya was a priestess.
   Seriously, only a priestess would wear an outfit that revealing...
   "One thing at a time Barbarus..." Zyrais sighed, listening to his concerns. "Again, we need to make sure if it's magical or not first, then we can plan from there. And if it isn't magical, then my talents won't be of much use here in trying to study the disease. Nadhiya, I'm going to cast a rather potent analysis spell on you. It will reveal any and all enchantments currently on you, and I would prefer it if you would relax and let it take it's time. The specific spell is Analyze Dweomer, but it would also help if you had a list of symptoms that I could compare to a database."

It's late... I'm tired... My brain has had it... But if I didn't post tonight, I doubt I would've been able to tomorrow...

[techmaster-glitch]

   Xephelon was quite surprised, to say the least, to learn that the portal-summons-banish spell did return microbial life that originated from a person.
   The kobold then retrieved a case covered in runes, which contained official-looking documents, explaining that the dungeon had some contracters construct the portals for them.
   Xephelon accepted the case and the documents, both reading the documents thoroughly (which he surely could understand), and examining the runes with his magic analysis. Every bit of information he could glean from this would be useful.