A Bone to Pick (M) (IC)

[AmberCross]

"Hmm..." Chris murmured thoughtfully to himself. The snow issues he was pretty sure he could handle, they fell strictly in the line of 'regular hazards' that he already knew how to prepare for. As long as the mountains weren't inherently magical and this crone kept any other competition away, this seemed perfectly feasible, even if he wouldn't be able to rely on his ice magic. While he was thinking he figured he may as well be helpful and so used some of that magic he wouldn't have practical use for later to help clear out the ice without damaging what lay beneath it.

As he worked, he considered a few more mundane aspects of this trip. It would not be the first time he'd been mountain hiking before, but it would certainly be the most challenging. Still, he was pretty sure he knew how fast he would be able to travel in a day and comparing it to the distances and heights of the map he'd used to pick this place for crossing, he estimated how long it would take him to get safely to the other side. He tacked on a bit of extra time just to be sure and then asked the Ram what the best way to get enough salt for that amount of travel time would be. He would also have to consider other supplies such as perhaps food, but he should already have most of what he needed for that anyway.

[VAE]

Gorod Kur

The otter responded with a stare of hate, but proceeded to stow his pistol back behind his belt, slowly walked off to the guardpost.
He stood still, thrust a hand into his pocket...
"Ilja, you arse, the goddamned keys!."
His less astute friend , already a good few dozen feet away, rushed back, the keys proudly rattling against the side of his armour.

Watching the spectacle for a moment, the white feline approached Oygun.
"That'd be the all-seeing eye of our justice you met right there, the Militia. Sometimes it feels like it needs glasses, and pretty thick ones."  The cat giggled.
"Anyways, I heard you need to get an audience with Mayor Zirinovsky. Mind if I come along? I need to handle a few things there anyways, might as well have someone to chat to while we'll be standing in line. Damn tax forms."

[Tipod]

Friends were a precious commodity in this line of work; refusing her, especially after she got him in, would be a stupid move. He gave her a look, then a quick, casual nod.

"I suppose there's no harm in it," he said, slithering effortlessly across the damp earth. "I can only hope they handle things with some priority. I'm not some idiot farmer applying for more land, I'm actually here on very important business." Oh that was a laugh. The grand bureaucracy didn't much care for its own people, much less the people who dripped and mussed their clean floors. "I am Oyugun, by the way. And you, madame?"

[Ghostwish]

The sudden transport was a bit disorienting, and Zanfib took a moment to get his senses, and then he briefly looked about for a moment. "My, but the decorum here is just smashing." He comments wryly, before looking over to Aliera. "My my, a visit with mother dearest? You haven't been naughty have you, dear?" He asks, smirking a bit, and then turns to ask the ferret. "Sir, if I might bother you, I don't suppose she would mind me attending as well? We've had a bit of a fiasco at the theater, I'm afraid." He asks politely. A rare thing from the ringtail, but he always did like this clan...

[Techcubi]

Zarus took a few seconds to get adjusted by his surroundings, then- "Ahhhhhhh, so, there's noone in the actual buildings. Maybe just a couple of servants out and about? Should probably just observe the grounds for now, see what's going." He then began looking out from the roof to where he had felt the emotions coming from, to see whom they were coming from.

[VAE]

Vlcia Polhora
Having cleared most of the bar and the area behind it, the ram straightened up for a moment, and cracked his joints. With a thoughtful expression, he looked at the feline incubus once again.
"Hmm, you wanna get rock salt... yer best bet is a quarry... what, twenty miles off here? Lemme show ya, a paper would be handy now...." The ram shuffled inside one of the drawers, took out a yellowing scrap, and suddenly, there was a pencil in one of his hooves. "Here.. you take the road south, then go right at the junction,  then straight at the next one, pass through the Stary Bor settlement, then go southeast, by their church.. at that point anyone will knew where the salt mine is... and say, if ya get a sack or two for me, I might well spare you a few pounds for no charge at all.  Deal?"
The ram pushed the bit of paper towards the leopard, and stretched out one of his hooved arms towards him.

Kallisburg

The emotion readings coming from below were fairly diverse, alternating quickly and seemed to come from stationary sources. In other words, pretty much everyone seemed to be fast asleep, at least the ones close enough to feel. Zarus felt a number of weak signatures scuffling along in the walls, their excited minds radiating simple thoughts and emotions.. feelings of hunger, curiosity, fear, or mating urges. No wonder - it was spring, and after the scarcity of winter, noticeable even in the manor's stockpiles,  the rats were eager to get their fill of life.
The night was rather warm and clear, the moons staring curiously at the sleeping land below, and by their light, Zarus could see no less than four possible entry points - the chimney chute, a balcony, and the attic windows.
Suddenly, the greenish-glowing warp-aci disappeared from sight, reappearing with a flicker.
Ch'yah! Master sends ya a message! Tells ya to watch out for gargs and oils or something. The warp-aci seemed preoccupied by some sort of a bug flying nearby, watching it carefully for a few seconds before flying forth like a bullet, swallowing the insect.
It was the luckiest in today's expedition, having found itself teleported into a tropical region of Furrae thousands of miles away, where it feasted on nectar and spawned a sizable hybrid progeny, causing a violent debate among Furraean entomologists in the years to come.
Zarus was not quite so lucky, for as soon as he thought about the implications of the message, he felt the weak presence of something vaguely resembling a mind from one of the mansion's towers.
Two blue, burning eyes staring at him seemingly from the stonework itself.




Lady Aliera didn't respond to Zanfib's comment, but he could see a smile spreading through her face. In the meantime, the ferret bureaucrat seemed consternated by such a bold assertion. He pushed up his glasses, and began in a nervous voice: "Weell.. she didn't specify, but if I were to hazard a guess it'd be slightly.. inappropriate for a Sir who isn't a family member and happens to be a being to-"
"I think she'll have to endure this time,  Ivar... If nothing else, I need him to prop me up." The panthress demonstratively rested herself against Zanfib's shoulder, and he could hear a faint mental whisper.
He's just fucking with you, his preferred food is righteous indignation.    


Gorod Kur

The cat apparently shared Oygun's sense of humour, giggling again at the assertion of importance.
"Silly. The only surefire way of getting them to notice would be if you dripped gold instead of mud... but then they'd get into a fight over it and there'd be no one to deal with you again." She artfully dodged a commoner carrying a bulky crate, and pointed the pair across a street and and over to the northwest.
"Oygun.. a curious name. Any idea so as to what it means? Oh, and I'm Luna... a boring name, huh? Well, I suppose given that my mother was rather keen on stars, should be glad I didn't end up Betelgeuse."
As they walked through the city, Oygun could well notice the building arrangement becoming denser, streets getting somewhat cleaner, and uniforms popped up more often among the general populace.

[Techcubi]

Oh, geez, that could not possibly be good. Blue eyes staring at him, and realizing he was there was not a good thing. It could belong to any number of people. A guard, a snoopy Fae, one of his hits come back to life-Ok, not really, he hadn't heard about of his getting reanimation in a while-OR, it could be a spy from another group whose interests conflicted with his master's. He turned to the Warp Aci. "Gigi, get us into that tower, Stat."

[AmberCross]

Chris found himself mildly confused by the Ram's words. Likely you had to pay to get salt and if Chris was the one to fetch the bags, wouldn't he own them anyway? Likely the idea was that Chris would buy the salt himself and then 'sell' it back here which seemed like a fairly good idea except.... how much did salt cost? Chris had some money, but it was hardly a LOT. It would probably be more than enough, especially if he was being recompensed for it. Plus this was the sort of thing you did while adventuring. Probably. Maybe. If he was being honest, Chris would admit that he really did not know much about adventuring. Mostly however, Chris wasn't honest about that and he was absolutely certain that random good deeds and saving people from trouble was what adventuring was totally about.

So while there was a bit of stuff to deal with still, Chris grinned and took the ram's hand in his. "Sounds like a deal!" he exclaimed. "Just to check though, is there anything I need to do to get some or do I just flat out buy it and at what price?" As he waited for an answer, he picked up the makeship map to study a bit while trying to remember if he needed anything else before leaving.

[Ghostwish]

[spoiler]Lady Aliera didn't respond to Zanfib's comment, but he could see a smile spreading through her face. In the meantime, the ferret bureaucrat seemed consternated by such a bold assertion. He pushed up his glasses, and began in a nervous voice: "Weell.. she didn't specify, but if I were to hazard a guess it'd be slightly.. inappropriate for a Sir who isn't a family member and happens to be a being to-"
"I think she'll have to endure this time,  Ivar... If nothing else, I need him to prop me up." The panthress demonstratively rested herself against Zanfib's shoulder, and he could hear a faint mental whisper.
He's just fucking with you, his preferred food is righteous indignation.   [/spoiler]

Zanfib quirked an eyebrow for a moment, but then a slow smirk crept across his face. Really? He sent telepathically, a power that had garnered both amusement and awe from cubi-allies, Honestly I would have taken no offense if I'd been turned away. But what a curious fellow this one is. En guard, I say.

Zanfib reached into his coat pocket, and drew out a lavish card. "Nonsense. Here, a business card, proof of my fame." He said, presenting it before he walked on with Aliera.

It wasn't a business card at all, merely a well made and polished photo of a couple involved in, erm, scandalous accords. It was a prank Zanfib typically reserved for the overly stuffy nobles looking down their nose at him. Usually garnered hilarious results, but sometimes disturbing ones, such as when the aforementioned nobles pocketed the card for later uses.

[Tipod]

"It means wisdom," he replied, "an element that's sorely lacking in these settlements." Though it certainly wasn't lacking in timber and solid construction. It looked like the hub had a good foundation, all things considered.

That vexed him.

"...Luna, if you don't mind my asking, why exactly are you following and, presumably, helping me for? Aren't you at all disgusted or threatened by my kind?" Oyugun stopped short of bumping into another pedestrian, giving them a droll look before continuing along. "Your people have an ugly tendency to gossip. What would they say if they saw you by my side?"

[VAE]

Kallisburg
"The warp-aci complied, and began orbiting the incubus at a breakneck speed, swishing its tail back and forth. Soon the world disappeared and re-formed in a manner that'd prompt many a furre to yodel groceries. Not so much Zarus though, after all between the considerable amount of things his superiors could hold against him, having a weak stomach wasn't on the list.
He appeared inside the tower, specifically, a wooden staircase covered in a red carpet. Even up here, his feline sight was able to recognise a number of portraits of sparsely dressed ladies of various ages ,shapes, races and species hanging on the walls - a sure sign he was at the right place. The air was slightly stale, with just a faint hint of perfume, probably a lady of some sort passing through a few hours earlier, or one of the  female servants. A window roughly two flights of stairs above seemed firmly shut-
*CRASH*
Suddenly it rained glass shards and splinters, as a winged black shape forced itself through the window and a good part of the frame. The same blue eyes he has seen before were burning through him, their light obscuring detail of the creature.



For a split second, the ferret's brow seemed to rise up to the level of his ears. Moments later, he burst into rather nasal laughter.
"Very good. Both the prank, and  the lady in question. Mind if I keep this?"
Somewhere behind Zanfib, Lady Aliera groaned.
* * *
If the house itself seemed like a spicy parody of a church, then the room they have reached through a door cleverly merged into one of the walls themselves did a good job of resembling the nave. A massive chandelier shedding soft light onto wall reliefs and paintings depicting prominent Nact'larn clan members and a variety of sexual positions alike, soft, three inch thick fluffy crimson carpeting, a number of incense burners giving out a heavy, sweet scent, and at the back of the room, a large statue of Nact'Larn herself, her hands crossed on her chest, holding an ankh, a book, a feather and a riding crop in her four wing-tentacles.
At the foot of it stood a curvy lion succubus, her waist-long black hair probably doing more of a service to decency than the semi-transparent gown she wore. Despite probably being over two millenia old, she didn't look a year over forty, even thirty wouldn't be a bad guess. As the pair approached closer, she spread her hands and spoke in a deep alto.
"I have been expecting you. Speak your desires, stranger, and the High Priestess of Pleasure shall consider them her co-"
"Grah! We don't have time for this, mother. The biograph burned down, and it wasn't an accident."


Gorod Kur

The cat kept smiling. "Because I'm bored... and when we'll arrive, you'll soon find out why that's the case. You have *no* idea about the lines that the place has. And as for your second question... my father did a fair amount of work on the inorganic life living around the marshes here, and it did brush off a bit... let's just say that while other kids had dogs, cats, mows ,arachspearians or warp-aci, I had a terrarium with a mud anemone. That said... a lot of the same could be said about your kind, no? What made you come have a chat with the 'meatsacks', rather than scaring peasants for shits and giggles?"

Vlcia Polhora

"Don't go above five gryvna for a sack, and make sure it isn't wet. Oh, before you leave..."
The ram walked off through a door near the pult Chris has barely noticed before.
The map was rather messily drawn, and definitely not to scale, but the intersections were marked reasonably well, and the ram even included helpful notes like "about a hour's walk", "they sell good sausage" or "watch out for", though what to watch out for wasn't really intelligible.
In the meantime, two of yesterday's patrons, the lynx and one of the dogs have come downstairs, and took their seats, giving little notice to the incubus. For a while, they sat silently, then, the dog took out a mouth organ and began to play a melody.
Chris has definitely heard it before - a folk ballad about a young man leaving his wife to fight in the army, returning only to find a succubus in her place, and paying rather dearly for his shoot first, think later policy, as it turned out to be her.
Finally, the barman returned, with a tied cloth. "Here, got you some bread, sheep cheese, dry sausage, and a bottle of liquid courage for the way. May the Three watch over you."

[Tipod]

...work on inorganic life, huh? His chest tightened. Or, more accurately, the center mass he'd stored the crushed jewels and ceramic pieces in tightened. But he couldn't show her those things; how did he know he could trust her?

"I leave the peasant-scaring to the children," he said with a gurgling chuckle, "This is something important. My people have grown very... irritated with yours lately. The farming, the uprooting, the terraforming of lands that belong to us. I'm here to reach some kind of agreement before a war breaks out."

Oyugun gave a look around as he continued along. "I'm not sure just how eager these men are to kill people, but suffice to say, it would be a bitter and disgusting conflict for all involved."

[Meany]

Derevensk

"No no no. If a Wendigo wants you dead, you're dead.  They can travel through time and space to be where their victims are.  Not their near-misses."  The bear began to pace.  "It should have triggered something once it began to attack...and taking them apart would take a day, putting them back another.  We can only afford that while traveling."

Fergus' injuries now only hurt when he actively moved them, and his sparkles were starting to fall out of his fur.

"To answer your question, though, Em is perfectly fine," called a new and much peppier voice than Kazimir's, as a calico cheetaur appeared in view from around a tent.

[littlekreen]

Fergus raised his hands in the air, "Em! I was worried you might be in trouble!"

He gets down from the chair but hobbles stiffly aiming to sit at the wendigo skull. Fergus lifts it high and grins, "I defeated a wendigo in *twitch* name! Do you know any victory songs?"

The 'your' he'd meant to say was robbed from his train of thought  Fergus didn't notice but continued his bright smile looking at Emory. The hair on his head raised but for five fat divots.

[AmberCross]

Chris smiled happily as he accepted the map and the food with a cheerful 'thank you' as he set off on his way. He waved at the two patrons as he passed, starting to hum along to the ballad which his mother had used to sing to him as a child. Of course with them the tone was a bit different, less a warning of shoot first ask later and more a warning about how dangerous it can be to let people know what you are. Thoughts of his childhood led to thoughts of his mother, wonderful person that she was. Chris almost felt bad about having run away to go adventuring, but was sure she would understand. After all, she'd had her own wild days in her youth if the clan gossip was anywhere near true. Plus she had been smothering him too much. A fellow needs to live his life after all.

These ponderings made him wonder how the search party she had no doubt hired was doing. With luck, once they read his farewell note they would still think he was somewhere in the country or perhaps be searching the ports hoping to intercept him before he made it out. Still, when they didn't find him trying to leave at the ports they would eventually figure out he'd gone an unconventional way so he only had so much time. Losing the trail once he got into Kebre shouldn't be too hard seeing as how there were so many places to go. Still he had to get there first and 20 miles wasn't terribly far especially when you can fly although the journey back with salt bags would be slower. So once he reached the edge of the town, he took off and flew in the direction of the salt mines, flying low enough not to attract attention, but high enough to easily clear hills and such. He made sure to pay attention to where points of interest were, and he'd be keeping an eye out in the area of the mystery thing, but getting to the mines should be easy breezing from here. It was early morning as yet and at the speed he was flying he was pretty sure he'd make it there in time for lunch. Which should leave plenty of time to get back to the inn before dark, even weighed down by salt.

[rammenstein]

As Jaes flew through the air, he had plenty of time to think. He saw the explosion he managed to set off inside the creature, and mentally patted himself on the back for his success. That would certainly help in taking the damn beast down. His celebration was cut off, however, when he remembered that he was currently flying through the air at a relatively high velocity. He glanced back, in the direction he was soaring, and took note of the rapidly approaching foliage, and one tree in particular that he seemed to be heading straight towards.

...This is gonna hurt.

He blacked out for a moment after that, coming to a few seconds after the actual impact. His head and back throbbed, the world spun, and he was vaguely aware of a faint burning smell. He blinked a few times, and everything came into focus. The fox looked down, taking stock of himself, and idly noticed that the burning smell was, in fact, coming from him.

And now I'm on fucking fire. =3=

Ignoring the pain from the movement, Jaes pat out the flames and, with a groan, pushed himself to his shaky feet, using the tree for support. He looked towards the Gestalt and his men, to see what progress they had made, and started making his way back towards them. Injured or not, there was still a battle to win.

[Ghostwish]

[spoiler]For a split second, the ferret's brow seemed to rise up to the level of his ears. Moments later, he burst into rather nasal laughter.
"Very good. Both the prank, and  the lady in question. Mind if I keep this?"
Somewhere behind Zanfib, Lady Aliera groaned.
* * *
If the house itself seemed like a spicy parody of a church, then the room they have reached through a door cleverly merged into one of the walls themselves did a good job of resembling the nave. A massive chandelier shedding soft light onto wall reliefs and paintings depicting prominent Nact'larn clan members and a variety of sexual positions alike, soft, three inch thick fluffy crimson carpeting, a number of incense burners giving out a heavy, sweet scent, and at the back of the room, a large statue of Nact'Larn herself, her hands crossed on her chest, holding an ankh, a book, a feather and a riding crop in her four wing-tentacles.
At the foot of it stood a curvy lion succubus, her waist-long black hair probably doing more of a service to decency than the semi-transparent gown she wore. Despite probably being over two millenia old, she didn't look a year over forty, even thirty wouldn't be a bad guess. As the pair approached closer, she spread her hands and spoke in a deep alto.
"I have been expecting you. Speak your desires, stranger, and the High Priestess of Pleasure shall consider them her co-"
"Grah! We don't have time for this, mother. The biograph burned down, and it wasn't an accident."
[/spoiler]

Zanfib always did like the interior design of Nact'Larn. And not just for the, ahem, appreciable art either. While he idly tested the shag carpet with a toe, he spoke to Aliera. "Come now! Let her have her show, tis half the fun after all." He said, and then smiled to the lioness. "Do pardon her. Seems the mother's patience is yet to pass to the daughter, but the situation is rather dire. Both of us were attacked by one woman," He says, and then briefly lists off the details of the strange woman, ".. and then she vanished. Quite a mess, really."

[Techcubi]

"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Seems a being or creature of the feminine side of things was in here. But, how can I learn more about-" Then, the crash. "OH, GEEZ!" He attempts to move backwards to avoid the glass, and then, shields his eyes with one of his hands to block out the burning blue eyes, and pulls out a knife with the other. "Alright, who are you and what are you doing here? I might not be on the guest list myself, but, I'm sure breaking someone's window is more rude and invasive. Even if I might have done so myself a time or two in the past."

[VAE]

Kallisburg

The response to Zarus's question was a snarl, and the creature leapt off the frame, lunging towards him in almost freefall, wings pulled back to decrease its air resistance. As it approached, Zarus could just about make out its complexion resembling granite, and what was rather more worrying, the long, sharp claws it bore on its forelegs.


The older of the two succubi frowned. "Quite a mess indeed. Could be competition... or some Church-addled guardian of public decency, though those tend to be beings. Either way, it's odd-"
"-that she went through the trouble of waiting for us in the mess, almost killed us with little exertion, then didn't bother to make sure we stay dead... I can't get my head around it either."  her daughter added, looking thoughtful. "Either she screwed up hard, had other business there and we disturbed her, or wasn't even one of those that set fire to the building. Or a combination of those."
High Priestess Symmachia spoke again, one of her paws cusping her chin.
"Regardless, this is an insult to our clan, and we won't stand to it. The biograph shall be rebuilt as soon as the rubble is cleared. Call Eriani ,there were a few aspects of the architecture that could be done better the second time. And we'll get a night guard - I know an Owona incubus with an appropriate sense of humour.  As for the woman..."
She waved a tentacle towards  Zanfib in an inviting gesture.
"Come closer, and allow me a sight of her visage."


Somewhere southeast of Vlcia Polhora

The air was cold and crisp, and the sky clear... well, as clear as it went in this part of Furrae at this part of the year, which meant that the sky was only partially covered in snow-laden clouds. Despite the poor quality of the map, Chris could just about make out the features described therein - the road leaving the town was pretty obvious, the indicated crossroads fit in number and in position too, if you took into account the peculiar scaling, and already,  Chris could see a bit of what probably amounted to Stary Bor - the  rough outlines of a few ugly squat houses and a church tower.
"CHIIIIIII"
A loud, grating screech coming from somewhere to his left, where, at the border of his peripheral sight, he could actually see a dark shape, still rather far into the cloudy sky to be properly and meticulously identified, if anyone cared for it, but rapidly closing up the distance.

[AmberCross]

Ah, Stary Bor... Chris was making excellent time if he was halfway to the mines already. At this rate he figured he'd make it there early enough to have lunch and still have about six hours to get back before dark. Tough, especially while carrying a large sac (Chris wasn't sure he could manage two), but hopefully it wouldn't be too bad. All in all, one of the easiest quests he had encountered yet. Unfortunately, even though he hadn't said it out loud fate still seemed to have heard him as just then a 'CHIIIIIIII' cried out from nearby.

With a startle, Chris turned his head in that direction and his eyes abruptly widened as he saw the shadow. The innkeeper had said there were no monsters nearby on account of the snow hag, but that could only be a Gryphon C. "Oh crap!" Chris exclaimed and, aiming for a nearby snow bank, hit the ground like a landlubber getting off a month long sea voyage. Like his cousin Ruth after his fourth tequila. Like the popularity of the Oakley Band after that recent Strutherword Scandel. Like a cheap hooker that had been... well... you get the idea. Rule number five of adventuring: Never mess with anything more than five times your size if you can avoid it. So hiding in a bank of snow, Chris waited to see what would happen before making his next move.

[Meany]

Gorod Kur

The battle was going mixed, it seemed.  The Lieutenant was still falling, albeit slowly, swinging his heavy mace with great speed, and utterly destroying the gestalt tentacles which rose up to swat at him with powerful explosions; this was tempered by the gestalt seeming to shrink, a second later revealing to be expanding into the water, and attacking the howitzer crews directly, leaving them unable to stop and fire.  As if the situation was not bad enough, the main body of the gestalt began to distort under the flames, before launching a tentacle of flaming clay from the body, through the air, right at Jaes.

The cat seemed to grin.  "They are itching for a fight.  One of the neighboring countries to theirs has been building up power or provoking them in some way; I care little for the specifics.  But they've been training their soldiers as if in wartime, and promoting officers with eagerness to fight.  Fortunately, only small amounts of their forces are adapted to this climate, so they can't use you and your people as scapegoats to whet their appetite."

[Techcubi]

Zarus sighed. "Really?" As the creature freefell toward him, he would unsheathe the tentacles from his left wing, and attempted to use them to lash at the creature, and hit it toward the other side of the tower. Then, if successful, he would turn himself to face the creature, unsheathe his right wing tentacles, and get into a battle stance, one that would rely mainly on combat using his wing tentacles. "I suppose if you won't or can't talk, I'll have to rip apart your statue-like body." He smirked. "Or, subdue you, at the very least. My master might be able to get something out of you yet."

[Tipod]

Not yet, anyway.

Maybe he gave these cretins too much credit. They'd been here fifty years and still hadn't fully adapted to the terrain. At this point, they were more a danger to themselves than anyone else. Countless gawking earthkin confirmed it over the decades as they stared from the outside in. But none of them had really gotten close or intimate with the local soldiery. None of the tribe was yet foolish enough to provoke them directly.

"Yes, well," he rumbled, "for their sake and the sake of everyone here, let's hope your silkshirts can listen to reason. How much further is the governor's dwelling?" Even though the terrain wasn't altogether different within the walls, Oyugun felt disconcerted. These man-made facades upset his proverbial stomach.

[Ghostwish]

Zanfib listened to the conversation between the two, nodding slightly. They were right. Far, far too much was out of place here.

But then the gesture came, and Zanfib smiled as he approached, and lay a hand on her shoulder. Direct links were made more powerful by a physical connection, and Zanfib placed crystal-clear copies of his memories of the woman in question into the succubus' mind...

.. and then a few memories of encounters with the Nact'Larn clan and the emotions associated with them, just because he could. A surprise treat for the succubus, perhaps, but maybe not such a surprise with the ringtail's reputation.

[Meany]

Kallisburg

Upon initial contact, Zarus found that the creature weighed a considerable amount greater than he had presumed.  Enough that Zarus only changed the descent course slightly, to land about a foot away from crushing him.  However, both had overlooked one thing.  The walls and ceiling of the room were solid, strong stone.  The floor, on the other hand, was wood structured to hold up ornaments placed on the next floor below, not to endure heavy shocks from above.  Thus, when the gargoyle did impact the floor, a massive crunching noise split the air, followed by the screech of splitting timbers.

Down they fell, until they hit the next floor, which happened to also be wood, and crunch, and the process would repeat, growing in greater noise, and refuse falling through the air, thus adding more and more weight to add to the next floor.  And so this continued, all through the tower, with Gi-Gi sobbing as they fell: "The Boss is going to kill ussssssss~"

The older 'cubi's face twisted in confusion.  "There is something here, fogging up the memory.  Every time I view it, it is a different woman.  There is witchery afoot here, perhaps some enchantment to prevent you forming proper memories about how she looked.   ...Are you sure it was a she?"  Then Aliera became the focus of the older succubus' stare.  "In more than one place, it seems.  What is the matter with you?"

"Of course I'm fine" Aliera grinned. "Thought that the health benefits of being crushed by masonry are common knowledge. I heard it's great for the fur, too."

"Don't be smart with me missy, I'll have you put into an ICU until we have this fixed.  At any rate; see that you visit the clan healers."  The elder succubus kept physical contact with Zanfib, not reacting to the extra feedback while talking with the younger, before putting her card into Zanfib's jacket.  "Yes, yes, good doing business with you too.  Call me, we'll make 'music' together."  And at that moment a tower of smoke appeared in the distance through one of the windows.  The two women just stared at it, for a second, then Aliera spoke.

"Isn't that your house, Zanfib?"

[Ghostwish]

Zanfib had just began to smirk at the thoughts of such sweet, sweet music, but he was momentarily distracted by the rather rude appearance of a column of smoke in the distance. He immediately knew where it was coming from, but his ego, his arrogance denied such a preposterous theory from the keen calculations of his logical half. But when Aliera's simple utterance confirmed it, denial became simmering anger, and Zanfib's vain tail began to bristle.

"Pardon me, ladies, but might I bother you to loan me a warp-aci?" Zanfib said through partially clenched teeth.

[Techcubi]

If it wasn't bad enough already that a heavy Gargoyle crashing, and causing them to fall, the stupid Warp-aci had to make things work with it's talking. "Knock it off!" He quickly went to unsheathe one of his daggers with his right hand, and, attempted to force it into the wall once unsheathed to stop his descent. Of course, depending on how fast they were falling, his right arm might have been decently damaged. "Gi-Gi, teleport us out, preferably somewhere away from the mansion area, but, where we can still see what's happening outside of the tower!"

[Meany]

Derevensk
"A wendigo in name huh?  Was it not a wendigo in deed?"  The cheetaur chuckled a bit.  "Kaz, you need to go talk to the higher ups, the madame wants to know what happened."  The bear didn't hesitate, and left.  The cheetaur moved to sit next to the gryphon, and started poking a patch of sparkles on his side.  "Got hurt, did you?  Our little hero, it seems.  Tell me more about how you beat that 'Wendigo in Name' would you?"

The Hag's Pass

Chris is treated to the sight of a massive Gryphon C battling what looks like several gusts of snow-laden wind.  However, dark fire seems to roll off the catbird's claws as it swipes, and Chris sees why when it rolls to expose it's underside to his view.  The entire chest cavity of the monster is exposed, with no detrimental effect.  From this distance, it wasn't possible to see the gryphons eyes to confirm undead nature, but strongly possible.

Gorod Kur

The massive house, its beauty lessened by the structure sunk into the ground ten degrees on one side, loomed before the pair.  "We are here."
The gates to the courtyard, opened, the guards obviously intimidated by the tremors stemming from Luna's every step.  The governor's manner opened as they passed, the house's interior very...sparse, with portions cordoned off with white drapes, and crews of men in construction gear passed through the halls.  "Evidently the governor is refurbishing his home.  Ooh, he'll be so very agitated."  The crews were alarmed by the tremors, but didn't confront either of them as they moved toward the main stairs, where an entourage of guards assembled.
From behind them, a shrill voice called.  "Why are you in my home?"

Kallisburg
The knife in the wall did slow Zarus down, in time to promptly be buffeted by debris for several seconds.  Then the crashes of the gargoyle hitting the ground floor, and the debris joining it ended.
And were promptly replaced by the groaning and tearing as the walls of the tower began to come apart.  The section of wall Zarus had just carved open gave way into the courtyard, giving Gi-Gi plenty of room to circle him and teleport straight up into the air, where Zarus could see the tower totally ruined, and the two joining buildings damaged severely before gravity took hold again.

Aliera spoke up, "Sure we can, but I won't until you calm down for a second.  In the state you're in, you'll snap at the press if they're present already, and damage our PR."  The older succubus scoffed, and handed the ringtail a bottle labled: 'Zen Energy Drink; when you need tranquility, and need it now!'
"Drink it on the way, and let us go."  The entire world seems to twist as the trio appear in the street... to see an entire fourth of the house on fire, with the center of it in shambles, one tower half in the courtyard, the other in the street, and people running around panicking.  All in all, a typical Wednesday.

[rammenstein]

No breaks, huh? Fine, two can play this game.

Knowing that he would be hard-pressed to dodge in his current state, Jaes took a knee, crossed his palms and pointed them at the incoming tentacle. A knot of energy began to form just an inch above his palm, steadily growing in size. The outer shell was a semi-transparent purple color, containing a roiling mass of turbulent energy, a mish-mash of various shades of red. He kept the mass pointed at the oncoming tentacle and waited, knowing the limits of his range.

As the tentacle crossed that threshold, Jaes released the orb, and it shot forward at the oncoming appendage. It passed through the surface of the tentacle and traveled for another split second before the containing shell broke, and the energy contained within detonated, releasing a powerful explosion within it.

[Ghostwish]

Zanfib glowered indignantly as he unstopped the potion and downed it. You set ONE reporter on fire and..

But it did the trick, seeing how when they arrived and Zanfib saw the state of his home without immediately lashing out at the nearest unfriendly mind was more than enough evidence to vouch for its effectiveness. And when his gaze shot skyward at the slightest warning from his senses, he didn't go blindly ripping off every energy blast he could out of wounded pride, no, he actually stopped and analyzed the situation for a moment. And that's what gave him time to notice the warp-aci. A creature with a simplistic, weak-willed mind..

"Heads up." He said flatly as he focused. "I'm going to bring them to us."

He reached out, tapping the little critter's mind, and immediately sought to tear control of the creature from its master, if just for a moment. Bring him down to the ground. He telepathically commanded to the warp-aci.