Grimm Nights [IC | PG-16 | Started | NA]

[radio414 906]

Elsie didn’t even realize the wolf girl Lucine had followed her until she sat down next to her and ordered “whatever alcohol they had in stock.” Which was a bold choice, really. There were countless ways to ruin a good drink, and too many of them were done without the brewer even knowing they’d made a mistake. The repetition of that mistake turned it into a habit, and poor habits led to bad traditions. She would have said something, but Lauryn was too quick on the draw, and soon enough, the bartender had plonked a mug in front of each of them.

And at that point, it would be ruder not to. Well, Elsie thought, here was to bad habits. Or, as she put more succinctly, raising her cup to Lucine, “To life.”

It was fine. It was fine. It tasted like fermented rice porridge, and Lauryn had called it “sake” so maybe it was supposed to taste like that? It was fine. And she didn’t need to drink any more of it if she didn’t want to. Besides, the conversation had moved on since then, to the actual point of the visit. “The monster attacks?” Lauryn said. “Why you lot want to know?”

Elsie was all geared up to say something heroic like, “We’re here to stop them,” but Corbin interrupted her with a pressing question of his own. “Sorry, I know the rest of the talking is going to be important and whatnot, but I just have to know, what did the crow do?”

Lauryn seemed surprised at Corbin’s ability to talk, but the most that came of it was a chuckle before she waved her hand dismissively. “Ah, the name! Truth be told, it was a joke and nickname from my ex before I had to put the dirty cheater down for lyin' to me.”

“So are you the naughty crow, then, or they were?”

“Back when we were together, I was, but given the situation, well, I reckon you can figure out who was the naughty crow then.”

Now Elsie was interested too. “Really?” she said. “What’s the naughtiest thing you did, if you don’t mind me asking? Besides killing your ex, I mean.”

There was a long pause in the conversation, like Elsie had just uttered some unmentionable word. Lauren frowned. “Well, quite frankly, miss, that’s none of your business. Personal questions like that are liable to get your tail-end beat for obvious reasons.”

“You don’t have to answer,” Elsie said, ignoring the obvious threat by taking another sip of her sake, an action she immediately regretted. Still, she focused on keeping a straight face until she swallowed before continuing. “You seemed pretty open about killing someone, I thought gossip about pranks was on the table, that’s all. Like, when I was young I crawled inside a cauldron and rolled down a hill in it. Silly things like that.”

Corbin chimed in. “You’re going to have to forgive her,” he said. “She’s always like this.”

Elsie stuck her tongue out at Corbin before returning her attention to the conversation at hand. “Anyway, a little birdie told us there are monsters about, that’s why we’re interested in what you’ve heard.” She gave Lucine a playful nudge with her elbow. “Tell her, Lucine.”

[yui 576]

“As fer what’s happenin’...I suppose ye mean the monster attacks? Then I take it this ain’t a pleasure visit to our quaint little town?”

Setsu ale. Or sake. The good stuff. Well, the alright stuff. Certainly not the strongest drink Lucine had downed before. That would be the vodka she could get her hands on in Epoch. They had to be cheating with some weird device in their breweries or something. But this wasn't a pleasure trip, as the barkeep had noted. Rating alcohol by its strength could wait until after she and the rest of A.R.C.H. were done saving the world from impending doom.

“To life.”

"And to the start of something big!" With a hearty clink of mugs, Lucine wasted no time getting into the contents of hers. Just in time to get to listen in on a pretty amusing exchange.

“Sorry, I know the rest of the talking is going to be important and whatnot, but I just have to know, what did the crow do?”

Elsie's pet bird - his name was slipping her mind at the moment - sure was curious. At first, Lucine wasn't sure if the name was supposed to be taken literally at all. But as it turned out, it was! That certainly was an odd nickname. If there was something Lucine wanted to call a person she loved, or be called by them, that would be quite far down the list. Right there with such endearing phrases as "my little sewer rat" and "precious garbage". How about something more like...

"Most settle on 'Mommy' after a while. I'm sure you'll come around too puppy dog."

Like neither of those things. Lovey-dovey nicknames were really hard to come up with. Snow angel? If she was still living in Farway, that could be cute. Lucine was pulled by her thoughts and her mug by a nudge of Elsie's elbow, thankfully, before the nickname rabbit hole grew too deep to escape from.

“Tell her, Lucine.”

"Mmm?" Oh. Had she really downed the entire mug while thinking about nicknames? Setting down the empty glass, Lucine nodded. It was probably business stuff, right? "Basically, our job is to track down and kill these monsters, find out where they're coming from, and wipe 'em out entirely. Or something like that."

"Oh?" Lauryn looked at Lucine, crossing her arms. "Well pardon me iffin' I don't find that being a bit hard to believe...ya both look...a little on the young side. Then again, must be them Jaeger genes or somethin'..."

"Nahhh, it's not a genes thing... for me, anyway. We've got some Jaegers who do incredible stuff working with us to make this happen." Like His Highness! He did that transforming thing. And that was just the one guy! Lucine couldn't wait to see what everyone else was made of! Raising up and flexing the muscles in her free arm, Lucine further explained "Take me for example. I'm super strong and tough as nails! I can go toe-to-toe with whatever it is, no problem!" I've done it before. Though I can't say I'm looking forward to more of it.

Lauryn looked Lucine up and down while she flexed her muscles, before shrugging. "Iffin' you say so. So, what can I do to help y'all? Said y'all needed information?"

"Yup! Where are they coming from, where do they go? Things like that. The more you can tell us about these things, the better." Lucine moved the empty mug up to her lips... only to remember that it was, in fact, empty. "Also... a second mug on the ale, if you don't mind."

[Sethera 290]

Lachlan didn't expect anybody to follow him, really, so he was pleasantly surprised to see two had actually done so. Looked like it was one of the two princes...he forgot what he was called. He'd have to get his name again. The other was Wada, whose name he did remember, by a stroke of luck. "Oh, hi, nice to see you two again," he greeted with a nervous smile. "Though I uhh...think I forgot your name. Sorry. Prince something right?" he addressed the redhead. "Not that I think your name isn't worth remembering or anything," he began to babble. "It is, I just have a fair poor memory with names, is all. Which is my own fault, not yours. Not trying to excuse myself or anything, but you know, in case you were wondering or thinking something like that, I thought it'd be good to, you know, explain, that's all."

Eventually, Lachlan calmed down and inspected the church door. Trembling slightly, he closed his eyes as he imagined what he'd find inside. A priest with eyes like flame, staring down at him as a blasphemer? Ooch, ah hope nae. Well, he just had to open the door and find out. Opening his eyes, he squared his shoulders and entered. If the priest or whatever he was tried to drive him out, Lachlan would just run for it. He'd gotten decent at that, at least.

However, instead of hostility, what he found was an uncanny sense of...smallness. As if there was something here larger than himself. Either that or he was just going rammish.

"Ah, guests. Greetings young ones." The three were greeted by a man with broad shoulders clutching a staff in one hand.

Lachlan gulped. Ah'd say he cuid dae a fair bit o' skaith wi' that.

"Ah, Jaegers as well...peace to you and your kind, as so the lord willth," the other bowed his head slightly, before raising it and smiling. "Welcome to the Church of the Morning, where we lift the saint of Setsu, Tzu, high with our praises and devote followings. I am Risf, the chief priest here. How may I be of service to you and our Setsuian saint?"

Lachlan's brain froze for a second before he recovered. He knew they were here to investigate any Fahlyn appearances, but he also wanted to know some things himself. "G-G-Greetings, uhh...Riss? Riff? Rizef? I'm uhh, Lach, I guess. Not that I guess, I mean, well, yeah. Anyway, ah...um...pardon me for asking this, but, um, I was just wondering, what exactly do you do here, besides uhh, lifting your saint high and such. I've never been in a church before and--" he cut himself off. Ach. He really hoped he didn't just say the wrong thing there. "I mean, not that I don't like churches or anything, I just want to know. I've heard a lot about religion and stuff but I've never, you know, actually, did anything with that myself. Again, nothing against you, but I'm just curious I guess," he trailed off into a mumble.

Then he realized that he had kind of taken over the conversation. Turning to the other two, he started to flail his arms about. "Uhh...weel, ah mean, uhh, well, I don't know if these two have anything to say either? But yeah, that's just what I was wondering. Well, I guess I'm wondering something else, but uhh, I should probably stick with this for now. Don't want to uhh, overwhelm you, or anything. Not that I'm saying you'd be overwhelmed, that is," his eyes widened in panic. "Definitely not! Probably not, at least, um...yeah. Sorry in, uhh, advance?"

[|0P| 24]

    As it turned out sticking with Wada wasn't the worst idea, not only had he decided the church was worth checking out, something Robin had mixed feelings about but was certain would at least be entertaining, they'd also inadvertently teamed up with the boy in glasses by choosing so, someone whom Robin had a bit more interest in. He smirked internally at the pleasant nervous ramblings of Lachlan. So easily flustered by something so trivial, to most other than Robins kind, as forgetting a name. When they entered the place of worship and were greeted by one of it's attendants the rambling continued but Robin was far to focused on not allowing his discomfort at the familiar pressure of a much disliked authority to show to pay much mind to the exact words, at least until the floundering Jeager gestured towards him and snapped his focus back to reality.

    "Well, I guess I'm wondering something else, but uhh, I should probably stick with this for now. Don't want to uhh, overwhelm you, or anything. Not that I'm saying you'd be overwhelmed, that is" the boy certainly had a unique way with words, perhaps, Robin thought, his more eloquent way of speaking could be of service. "Definitely not! Probably not, at least, um...yeah. Sorry in, uhh, advance?"

    "What my dear friend means to say, in so many words, is that we've heard a terrible blight has become this wonderfully sacred place you call home and, being the honorable type, chose to take action and do what we can to be of service." Robin bowed, although in a way associated with the various temples he'd visited in an attempt to gain favor with the man of faith. While this particular church's beliefs evaded him Robin knew the game, humble folk who only wanted to help were often appreciated by the kind that placed themselves in the hands of a higher power, and any sign of reverence for the faith was often met with a peculiar respect. "Tricky Oberon if I may." he left out the prince title, figuring the priest wouldn't be impressed by the presence of royalty, and gave a playful wink to Lachlan in reference to his earlier fumble in the moment his eyes were just barely visible. "I don't mean to mince words so forgive me if I am a bit blunt, Chief Priest Risf, but any information a trustworthy man such as yourself could offer would be greatly appreciated."

[Blake 312]

"My, this is a nice looking establishment," Lopt tapped at the floor with his cane as the duo entered, "Not what I was expecting, but certainly tasteful. Of course, in a town like this, that normally means...

"Ah, customers. Welcome to my shop." Lopt cut himself short as the shopkeep noticed them, giving a slight bow to him "Looking to protect yerself, I reckon? Well, these weapons and armor are handcrafted by my son back there...so there the best of the best. So, what can I do fer you Jaege-...er...gentlemen? I apologize, force of habit."

"Looking to protect ourselves... Ha! No. My friend here probably doesn't need protection, and I'm a bit too... frail for most of these items, you see." The shapeshifter walked forward, extending his hand for a shake. "The name's Lopt Solbjorg, and what we're here for is to fix your little beasty problem. Strange creatures appearing at night? We're professionals in exterminating nuisances like those, so if you have any useful information to share... perhaps we have some coin to spare?"

[reparoni 161]

"Hey!" Wada said, as the two of them caught up to Lachlan. The group entered the church, greeted by a young man in white robes. Wada waved at the man, planting his mallet on the ground as he leaned on it. "Howdy Risf! My name is Wada!" He said, grinning as Lach started speaking. As he, and then after that Robin, asked the man their questions, Wada took a look around at the church they were in. He had never seen a building like this, the only buildings he had experience with being his old home and the organization's building. What caught his eye the most was the tainted glass surrounding them. The way the light beamed through them was marvelous.

"O-oh, my turn!" Wada said, turning his attention back to the conversation at hand. "We're here to learn 'bout the strange monstas lurkin about!" He said, tossing the mallet on his shoulder. "Can ya help us, pal?" He asked, giving the mallet a little twirl.

[Doggo 218]

Catriona was initially less than pleased to see a woman answer her entering the store. How the cat jaeger longed for the touch of a human man. And yet this wouldn't be all bad. Madame Wadjat as she had called herself seemed human enough and there was always something fun they could do. The jaeger took her seat gracefully as it was offered to her as she pondered the fortune tellers words. She had asked for a name. That was easy enough to start. Though she had to think for a moment where it was she was exactly in the world. Jekyll's unnatural moving fortress had made tracking their location a touch difficult and she'd never visited this particular town before. But it didn't take long to settle on something.

"I believe I'm known as Nemain in these parts. But really, it doesn't much matter what you settle on calling me. As long as its cute I'll answer to most anything." Catriona teased as she settled into place and gave Wadjat a good look over. "I've been needing a supernatural eye. It's been so long since my last love and I parted, I can't bear to be alone. Surely the spirits will have good news for me." she explained her current predicament, more concerned with her own amusement than the task at hand. But she figured she ought to do something so she didn't have to outright lie about helping the group out when next they met up. "But I suppose that might not be in the cards with what I hear is roaming the town at night... but you wouldn't know about them would you?" she shifted forward in her seat, her eyes intently studying the fortune teller. Were there any tricks or sleights of hand she wanted to catch them. Anything shy of actual magic would be an insult.

[Chaos Sonic 442]

 The Naughty Crow Tavern

"Yup! Where are they coming from, where do they go? Things like that. The more you can tell us about these things, the better. Also... a second mug on the ale, if you don't mind."

"Comin' right up." Lauryn gave a smile, taking the mug from Lucine and already getting her a refill. Once she put the mug on the table, she retired again to the back before bringing out the food order that was put in place for the two Jaegers. Placing the plates down, she waved her hand with a bit of a smile. "Please do dig in and enjoy. Not one to brag, but I happen to know fer a fact that we've got the best food 'round these parts. So please enjoy."

Once the pleasantries were out of the way, Lauryn put the serving tray down on another table before taking a chair, pulling it up and sitting near Lucine and Elsie. Crossing her legs, she gave a bit of a smile. "Now then, back to business I suppose. Y'all wanted to know about these monster attacks? Well, I can tell ya what I can." she said, waving her hand dismissively. "These attacks started...oh about quite a few weeks back...iffin' I had to guess, it's been close to a month now. Eh regardless...they've only attacked the town here at night. So I'm assuming these are some nocturnal creatures...either way, they've been attackin' us and doin' what they can to annoy us to the high heavens...though there is one thing strange I've yet to figure out...each night it seems like, there's more and more out around and almost like the number of people here are dwindlin'..."

---

The Church of the Morning

"G-G-Greetings, uhh...Riss? Riff? Rizef? I'm uhh, Lach, I guess. Not that I guess, I mean, well, yeah. Anyway, ah...um...pardon me for asking this, but, um, I was just wondering, what exactly do you do here, besides uhh, lifting your saint high and such. I've never been in a church before and--"
"What my dear friend means to say, in so many words, is that we've heard a terrible blight has become this wonderfully sacred place you call home and, being the honorable type, chose to take action and do what we can to be of service."
"We're here to learn 'bout the strange monstas lurkin about! Can ya help us, pal?"

Risf gave a chuckle at the three young Jaegers, smiling before holding his hands up slightly. "Peace, peace...don't overdo it with these questions my children." he said, turning around and proceeding to beckon the three to follow him. "Now, Lach, Tricky and Wada...you wish to know about these attacks on our dear town? Well, this must truly be a blessing from Saint Tzu to our prayers. I will answer however I can...but I suppose it would be best to start from the beginning."

"Our town hasn't had such an attack in quite a long time...in fact, I dare say it wasn't ever attacked consecutively in this manner since before it's foundation." Risf explained. "These attacks have been going on for at least a month at the present time, always striking the people at night...close to the witching hours of the night. A curious development indeed. Nevertheless, I believe this is only the beginning, and I fear this tremendously. Every night they grow more and more...and it worries me along with the others of the church to no end."

---

The Divining Incubus

"I believe I'm known as Nemain in these parts. But really, it doesn't much matter what you settle on calling me. As long as its cute I'll answer to most anything. I've been needing a supernatural eye. It's been so long since my last love and I parted, I can't bear to be alone. Surely the spirits will have good news for me. But I suppose that might not be in the cards with what I hear is roaming the town at night... but you wouldn't know about them would you?"

Wadjet gave another sultry smile, before taking her hands and placing them on top of Catriona's. "Well my dear Nemain..." she said with a slight giggle. "If a fortune of your future is what is desired, then by the gods, you've stumbled upon the right little shop. Madame Wadjet can surely assist you in this vein, however it will be about your future as a whole rather than just simply your wish to know about love. I pray this would still be acceptable? After all, what beautiful woman wouldn't want to know about their future?~"

She sat back some, before tapping her chin slightly in quite the cute manner. "Hmmm, as for what you referred to about this town at night, I unfortunately do know what you refer to. Creatures of shadows, we've been simply referring to them as. Has been going on for at least a month now...and it was such a peaceful town back when I first moved here two months ago. All I can truly tell you is that these creatures are quite conniving and are attacking to instill fear in our lives. For what purpose? I know not...try as I might, an answer to this conundrum has eluded even my crystal ball."

With a small sigh, she turned back towards her crystal ball, waving an hand around it. "In the meantime, do you still wish for your fortune to be told, Nemain my sweet dear?"

---

General Store

"Looking to protect ourselves... Ha! No. My friend here probably doesn't need protection, and I'm a bit too... frail for most of these items, you see. The name's Lopt Solbjorg, and what we're here for is to fix your little beasty problem. Strange creatures appearing at night? We're professionals in exterminating nuisances like those, so if you have any useful information to share... perhaps we have some coin to spare?"

Alexandre looked at Lopt who just took lead on this little talk. The young Jaeger stood there, before bowing slightly after the older gentleman looked his way. "...a-a pleasure to make your acquaintance sir, Alexandre Roi..." he said, which made the gentleman very surprised.

"A Roi? Out here?" the older man asked, before staring at Alexandre for a good long while. "Hmmm, yeah you sure look like a Roi...been a while since I've seen one really. I guess that would make you the missing heir? The one who Dion's been hunting?"

The Jaeger looked away in quite the ashamed manner, not expecting someone to know his name that quickly. Defeated, Alexandre nodded with his head hung low.

"Relax. I'm not going to turn you in like that, 'yer majesty'..." the older gentlemen waved his hand, dismissing this idea. "Just a heads up for next time, wouldn't just use yer own name like that. Cause there's others who used to be from Farway who'll love the chance to send ya packing back to Dion just so he can get the chance to end ya."

Alexandre kept silent, shivering slightly at the sound of what was told to him. Regardless, he shook his head and cleared his throat. "I-I'll keep that in mind sir...but l-like my friend here said..." Was it too early to call these guys friends? "...w-we're in the area d-due to the sounds of these creatures."

"Ahhh, I get ya." the gentlemen nodded. "Well, I can tell you these started a month ago...wasn't too many before...but it's almost like there's a whole army of them now. Meanwhile, it's like the town's being dwindled down...and we never see any corpses after the attack...so we can't be for sure they were killed. Hell, if anything, they might've just escaped from here due to some heavy fear and sorrow for losing their families...least, that's my thought on it."

---

OOC:

Spoiler

Seems like more information has been given, and generally the same thing:

• Attacks started a month ago
• Attacks were at night and only at night, specifically during the witching hours
• What started as a few became much more, the citizens are seeming to dwindle down

If you have more questions to ask, go for it... in a different vein, @Doggo , you have a fortune to have...so you'll need to accept this (maybe ask more questions) and my next post, expect your fortune to be told.

[|0P| 24]

    "That does sound rather troubling." Robin feigned sympathy as he drifted alongside the priest. "I'm not one for superstition myself but I certainly understand the power a church such as this can hold . . ." He turned to look at his teammates as if contemplating whether or not he should say what he was thinking. "As a man of faith yourself and a representative of your saint, just between the two of us, what would you say the religious connotations of these attacks may be? That is to say, are you aware of any scripture or holy artifact that could potentially enlighten us to the source of this misfortune?" He said it quietly but not quite in a whisper, hoping to gain even the slightest bit of leverage against the others.

    Robin doubted there would be a prophecy of the end times or some mystical weapon meant to defeat their enemy but churches were often known to hoard knowledge in his experience and even their own doctrine could potentially have some hidden message. Of course whether or not Risf was willing to share that information, if it was even relevant, could be a complicated matter. Robin recalled a time he'd found himself in the skin of a silent monk at a temple with secrets of all kind. He'd been curious as to what they had to hide but unfortunately his own rank was not high enough to access the portions of the library where the greatest knowledge lay, and after all the effort it had taken to get the name of a man who didn't speak, it was an utter disappointment.

Edited May 19, 2020 by |0P|

[Doggo 218]

The cat jaeger was amused with this fortune teller. She seemed different from other humans. If she'd only been here two months it was likely this profession of hers had her on the move. But for what reason? Her own boredom or perhaps the general frustration of the locals the longer she dwelt among them? In either case, wanderer or outcast, Catriona and her were quite alike. The woman sat confidently and pondered the amount of similar stories they might share with one another. The fact she knew ultimately little about the new monsters plaguing the town meant they could spend more time on other matters. Creatures of shadows, attacking the people to instill fear for a month now, and this psychic could discern nothing about them with her powers; it was all something Catriona would tuck away in her mind for later if she bothered to share with the group. Hopefully they'd all figure that much out on their own.

"Yes, please, Madame Wadjat. These creatures are troubling but I'd much rather see you and your crystal ball at work. Tell me all about my future." Catriona accepted the invitation with a sly smile, wondering what sort of vague statements might be made that could apply to most women.

[radio414 906]

Elsie wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do with her not-even-half-empty mug of “ale”. She considered just pawning it off on Lucine since she seemed to enjoy it for some reason, but Lucine had already ordered a second straight from Lauryn, so that plan was over before it even began. She thought about just casting a spell and turning it into water or something, but she didn’t want to do it with Lauryn watching in case it caused a scene, so when she sat down with them that plan went out the window as well. All that was left was just ignoring the mug and hoping that it just went unnoticed.

The food was good at least. Elsie wasn’t as picky about food, but it was still above average, she thought. She placed a few pieces aside for Corbin, who hopped down to the table and started happily pecking away.

Of course, in all the excitement about food and drink, Elsie hadn’t been paying as much attention to the actual questions being asked. She did pick up on Lauryn confirming that yes, these were nighttime attacks, though, which snapped her back to attention just in time for the most interesting part, that the number of people missing and the number of monsters seemed to be related. “Oh, we’ll definitely have to look into that,” Elsie said. “I guess that means we’re staying the night, then? You have room for, uh --” she did a quick count on her fingers “-- eight, no, maybe nine?”

“And a bird,” Corbin chimed in.

“Eight or nine and a bird.”

[Sethera 290]

Lachlan was a little depressed that none of his questions had gotten answered. But he supposed it was more important that they find out what was causing the attacks. He wasn't off on his own anymore, but on a mission, so he would have to just try to keep to the mission and satisfy his curiosity another day. Aye, an' ah might 'ave overwheelmed the lad a wee bit. Ah tend tae doo tha'.

The talk of witching hours reminded Lachlan of Ellie and Cory. Mayhap either of them would ken exactly what was going on then? In which case it would behoove Lachlan to meet up with her and ask her about that. But first...

Tricky Oberon had glided up next to Risf, asking him some things Lachlan couldn't quite hear. Presumably about their mission, though even if they weren't, Lachlan couldn't really hold it against him. After all, he'd started to do much the same himself. What he did know though...was that this didn't sound good. "A-and do you know where these attacks are uhh...coming from?" Lachlan asked. "That is, I mean, uhh, where do they usually uhh...happen? Sorry if that's er...insensitive or anything. Or if you don't know, that's fine too. I was just wondering. I figured it's good to know, uhh, everything there is to know. So, on that line, if there's umm, anything else you can tell us, please do so. Not that we'll hold it against you if you decide not to. Or at least I won't. I don't mean to speak for these two, just myself. Sorry." He ended his spiel in a mumble.

Hopefully nobody would be offended by his blunders. If anybody did, well, that would just end up being something he would have to deal with. Probably by running away so he didn't get punched or something, which would cause a whole new string of problems.

[Blake 312]

"...a-a pleasure to make your acquaintance sir, Alexandre Roi..."

"Hmmm, yeah you sure look like a Roi...been a while since I've seen one really. I guess that would make you the missing heir? The one who Dion's been hunting?"

Lopt cocked a brow at the response, his suspicions confirmed. Did the lad not realize that he should be keeping his identity quiet? Telling the team was one questionable thing, but a random shopkeep was another entirely. He needed more help than Lopt initially anticipated.

"Relax. I'm not going to turn you in like that, 'yer majesty'... Just a heads up for next time, wouldn't just use yer own name like that. Cause there's others who used to be from Farway who'll love the chance to send ya packing back to Dion just so he can get the chance to end ya."

"I-I'll keep that in mind sir...but l-like my friend here said... w-we're in the area d-due to the sounds of these creatures."

"Ahhh, I get ya. Well, I can tell you these started a month ago...wasn't too many before...but it's almost like there's a whole army of them now. Meanwhile, it's like the town's being dwindled down...and we never see any corpses after the attack...so we can't be for sure they were killed. Hell, if anything, they might've just escaped from here due to some heavy fear and sorrow for losing their families...least, that's my thought on it."

"No corpses, eh... Any signs of a struggle, anything?" Lopt's eyes narrowed, the jovial tone remaining, but with the slightest bit of something darker laced into it, "After all, that would be quite suspect. Doesn't sound like any natural creature I know of... How about you, Alex?"

The shapeshifter shot a look to the younger Jaeger, placing a few coins on the countertop near the owner, made a motion like tipping a hat, and then headed towards the door.

"Unless you know anything else of note, I think we'll be leaving now. I may have an idea on what's ailing your town, and I would like to discuss it in private with dear Alex, among other things. Either way, I'll be stepping outside. Thank you for the help!"

As the shifter stepped outside, he pressed a hand against the doorframe, turning just the tiniest part of his fingertip into an eye. His rabbit ears would pick up on any sounds, and now he could keep an eye on the little princeling, as well. My, what delightful trouble this was going to be...

[yui 576]

"Now then, back to business I suppose. Y'all wanted to know about these monster attacks? Well, I can tell ya what I can. These attacks started...oh about quite a few weeks back...iffin' I had to guess, it's been close to a month now. Eh regardless...they've only attacked the town here at night. So I'm assuming these are some nocturnal creatures...either way, they've been attackin' us and doin' what they can to annoy us to the high heavens...though there is one thing strange I've yet to figure out...each night it seems like, there's more and more out around and almost like the number of people here are dwindlin'..."

“Oh, we’ll definitely have to look into that. I guess that means we’re staying the night, then? You have room for, uh -- eight, no, maybe nine?”

“And a bird.”

“Eight or nine and a bird.”

Staying the night? Fine by Lucine! That tower was getting stuffy after so much time spent there anyway. A nice stroll out in Setsu under the stars, looking for foul monsters that need some sense pounded into them... it didn't get much better than that. Could do without the monsters realistically, but these were wild times, and Lucine was far more suited to fighting things like that than quite a few jaegers, let alone humans. So that was the plan now. Stay the night, scout out for monsters, and then follow them home! Good stuff!

It would probably be a good idea to find the others and tell them what the plan was. Elsie could handle the money talk, right. "I'll go fill everyone in on what we're up to," Lucine said, chugging down the second mug as she got up from her seat. Now, where would they have gone, and where was best to start looking...

 

[reparoni 161]

"A whole month!?" Wada said in disbelief. Things were a lot more urgent than he had originally thought! "Don't you worry, mistah! We'll clear up the problem real quick, n then der wont be any monsters!" He was more determined than ever to stop this, not just for his mission but to help out these poor people.

Wada nodded as Lach spoke. "Right right, that's a good idea. We should find out where these things are coming from so we can smash 'em!" He turned back towards the priest. "Oh, actually... did anything happen a month ago? Like anything that would cause evil monster... things... to appear and attack people?"

Edited June 5, 2020 by REP ?

[Chaos Sonic 442]

The Naughty Crow Tavern

“Oh, we’ll definitely have to look into that. I guess that means we’re staying the night, then? You have room for, uh -- eight, no, maybe nine?”
“And a bird,”
“Eight or nine and a bird.”

“Eight to nine...as well as a bird?” Lauryn asked, putting her hands on her hips slightly, giving Elsie a bit of a look. This seemed like one thing that she wasn’t expecting, but then again, this was also good for business for her. On the flip side, this was just a huge group of newcomers to the town.

Finally with a sigh, Lauryn gave the witch a bit of a smile. “A’ight. I reckon I can accommodate you and yer posse...but y’all better be serious on helpin’ us with our issue.” she commented, already turning around to return back to the bar, even muttering to herself. “...already had some try before and they failed.”

---

The Church of the Morning

"As a man of faith yourself and a representative of your saint, just between the two of us, what would you say the religious connotations of these attacks may be? That is to say, are you aware of any scripture or holy artifact that could potentially enlighten us to the source of this misfortune?"

Risf looked towards Robin, holding a hand out slightly. “Alas, I fear that there isn’t a religious connotation with these attacks.” he sadly admitted. “Saint Tzu didn’t leave anything regarding something of this nature to our order. All that I can say for sure is that this seems, to myself and quite a few in our order, that this could signify a greater threat down the line which might spell the end of all things.”

"A-and do you know where these attacks are uhh...coming from? That is, I mean, uhh, where do they usually uhh...happen? Sorry if that's er...insensitive or anything. Or if you don't know, that's fine too. I was just wondering. I figured it's good to know, uhh, everything there is to know. So, on that line, if there's umm, anything else you can tell us, please do so. Not that we'll hold it against you if you decide not to. Or at least I won't. I don't mean to speak for these two, just myself. Sorry."

“These attacks, we know not where they start...however we do know they happen to attack and torment those within the town.” Risf turned to Lachlan. “All I can say for certain, during the witching hours is the specific times. Aside from this, I can say that there is an ominous dark fog that descends into the town...this signifies that the creatures come.”

"Right right, that's a good idea. We should find out where these things are coming from so we can smash 'em! Oh, actually... did anything happen a month ago? Like anything that would cause evil monster... things... to appear and attack people?"

“Odd question to ask, if I may say so.” the priest stifled out a chuckle, before closing his eyes to think. “...the only thing I know is that only one of these creatures were seen at the beginning. How it multiplied and gained more followers, I know not. But I do know that everything is currently keeping everyone in a state of despair, the Church of the Morning is doing what we can to bring their spirits up.”

---

The Divining Incubus

BGM

"Yes, please, Madame Wadjat. These creatures are troubling but I'd much rather see you and your crystal ball at work. Tell me all about my future."

Wadjet nodded and swiftly clapped her hands three times, to which the candles in the room seemed to dim greatly. “For this to work properly, I have to have the ambience of my shop to reflect a mood in which the spirits can commune and give us a glimpse at what you seek.”

She held her hands out to the sides of her, seeming to wait until the shop was quiet...even though it was only the two of them. She took her craft seriously, this was obvious. Then, she placed her hands near the crystal ball as it began to give off quite the ghostly glow.

“What does my crystal offer you, my dear. I see...oh, how peculiar. I see you, in an enclosed room in the dark. Before you is nothing more than a mirror. You seem in distress. I see you glancing into the mirror and you're horrified with what you see, which was once the beautiful and attractive appearance that is you now stands a feline, who’s looks do it no favor. Oh my. I see that the reflection shows quite a number of things happening to this feline...to you, but it all ends poorly. Alas, this is where my vision ceases.”

Wadjet sighed, removing her hands from the crystal ball as the glow on it began to die down. "I apologize if this wasn't the future you were seeking, but my crystal ball and my skills in the art of divination are never wrong..."

---

General store

"No corpses, eh... Any signs of a struggle, anything? After all, that would be quite suspect. Doesn't sound like any natural creature I know of... How about you, Alex?"

“N-Not that I can think of...” Alexandre cleared his throat. Wasn’t trying to make it sound like he was hiding something, but he did want to make it that he was definitely uncomfortable in the situation here, just to play up the fact that his identity was found out here. Not only this, again he swore he heard a different tone to his colleague's voice.

“Always signs of a struggle, so you’d be right on that. However, no corpses have been shown. I assume these creatures are taking their quarries home...wherever the hell that is...and finishing the job there. Jus’ my thoughts on it.”

"Unless you know anything else of note, I think we'll be leaving now. I may have an idea on what's ailing your town, and I would like to discuss it in private with dear Alex, among other things. Either way, I'll be stepping outside. Thank you for the help!"

“Hmm, well if ya say so.” the older gentleman nodded. “If there’s anything else I remember, I’ll give you and the prince here a ring.”

Alexandre looked a bit dejected when he heard “prince” being spoken like this, but at the same time, he knew that it was to be expected. When Lopt left, the young man wanted to leave to...but he paused for a moment. “Excuse me...sir?”

“Hm? Think of something else, yer majesty?”

“J-Just Alex is fine for now…” Alexandre sighed. “...not a prince anymore to begin with after all that. R-Regardless, I...assume I’ve been put out there as an enemy to Farway?”

The older gentleman paused, being silent before sighing. “You’d be right. Since that day, from what my son told me...that Dion boy, Vincent...” he began, noticing Alexandre wince and cringe at the mention of the name. “...he’s been out fer yer blood and head. Since you fled, he’s been taking on the position of ruler and pretty much put the kingdom in a sort of Martial Law...and he’s been just out of control as of late. Hell, even brought in some advisor who he’s been talking to a lot...probably the reason the kingdom’s gone to shit.”

The young prince felt incredibly worse after hearing this. His home sounded like it was currently just a huge mess now, and it’s because he left and Vincent took over. With a dejected sigh, the Beast simply looked at the owner of the shop and gave him a few coins. “Thank you for at least telling me that, sir.”

“Hey...if I’m honest, I’d much rather have a Jaeger sit on the throne up there rather than some sick human like him.” the older gentleman laughed a bit, which brought Alexandre’s mind at ease some...but not a whole lot.

With that, Alexandre started to make his way out the door, seeing Lopt nearby. “...so...you think it’s them, Lopt?”

---

OOC

Spoiler

Not a whole lot to go on for a few people, such as the Tavern Team, however I'm glad we've gotten things going again! Now, bit of information to go...

Given from last time:

• Attacks started a month ago
• Attacks were at night and only at night, specifically during the witching hours
• What started as a few became much more, the citizens are seeming to dwindle down

Newest information:

• Apparently some people tried to fight them before and failed
• Nothing was told about anything regarding this in Saint Tzu's teachings or writings
• Specifically, known now...only one was around at the beginning of the attacks
• Always a sign of a struggle, but no corpses

Now with that, if you wish to end your scenes there, you may reconvene with the others and work with getting to the Naughty Crow, as Lucine is trying to get everyone to know that this is the manner of where things are going. However, I will say if you wish to visit any other location for any other reasons ASIDE from looking for information about the creature attacks, I'll let you know that this is definitely allowed. Just let me know in advanced!

[Blake 312]

Lopt listened intently as Alexander wrapped up the conversation with the shopkeep, reverting his hand to normal and pulling his arms up to his chest, crossed. He leaned against the side of the building as his companion exited, shaking his head softly.

“...so...you think it’s them, Lopt?”

"It's most likely... nothing to really suggest otherwise, with how weird the incidents are. Unless, of course, someone wants to make it seems suspect, but who knows," Pushing away from the wall, Lopt headed towards the tavern, stuffing his free hand into his pocket, "I think that's about all we can really glean here. The others should have done their jobs by this point, so why don't we spend our free time playing some cards? After all..." the shifter turned back and cast Alex a mischievous glance, "You, my dear lord, need to work on your poker face. I'm not letting you free until you manage to lie to me. And, tell ya what, first round of booze is on me."

[radio414 906]

Lucine had gotten up and left, which left Elsie and Corbin all alone with Lauryn. Well, it also meant that Lucine had probably gone and stiffed Elsie with the bill, but that wasn’t that big a deal. She could just start a tab or bill Jekyll or, failing everything else, flee into the night on her broomstick, high above where anyone could conceivably catch her. Not that she’d done anything like that before, of course, just that she was pretty sure she could.

Still, the brief idea of it distracted her long enough to almost miss Lauryn mumbling to herself. Elsie didn’t even hear the first part of what she said, but the “Already had some try before and they failed…” part was enough to snap Elsie right back to reality; she sat straight up as soon as she heard it. “Okay, that sounds like some pretty juicy gossip. Why weren’t we talking about this before?” she said. “Who were they and what’d they do?”

Lauryn whipped around, shot Elsie a look. “...of course ya heard that,” she said. But she sighed too, and with an “Alright, fine,” she relented. “We'd asked mercenaries from a few guilds to come and sort out this problem. Unfortunately, even the best mercenaries couldn't handle them.”

“Okay, but, like, were they just defending the town? Did they go on an expedition scouting out the surrounding area?” Elsie leaned in. “I dunno, if they had a campsite somewhere that’d be something to look at, I think. Something of interest. If we’re going to do it right this time we’d definitely want to avoid their mistakes at least.”

“The former,” Lauryn said. “We have no idea where they run off to or where they come from. Don't have a lot of signs showing that.”

“Ah, sure, sure,” Elsie said. She tossed another bit of food Corbin’s way. “Well, I guess I have to thank you for putting our trust in us, then. Providing room and board for a bunch of people you think are going to die is pretty charitable, huh? Unless, of course, you need money upfront, in which case, uh --” Elsie gave herself a quick pat-down, miming searching for money she knew wasn’t there “-- maybe we need to talk about collateral?

“I mean, you could march right up that mountain to that tower we arrived in and demand money from one Eric Jekyll, I dunno how that would go, though,” Elsie said. “Or -- actually, this is my favorite option -- if you want a money charm, I could help with that. The first thing you’d need is some blood. Any blood’ll work, really, you just gotta -”

The tavern door opening distracted her, stopping the recipe dead in its tracks. Elsie turned to see Lopt and Alexandre walk in, and she gave both of them a big, full-arm wave. “Hallo!” she said. “We were just talking about staying the night here. Food’s pretty good, you should try it! Also: Monsters, what’s their deal?”

[Doggo 218]

The cat Jaeger sat in quiet curiosity as the fortune teller went to work. That the spirits needed ambiance was cute in a way yet Wadjat seemed committed to the idea. Her craft meant a lot to her clearly. To add to the affair her crystal ball began glowing as she started to speak. She spoke of Catriona herself, alone and distressed in a dark room. She was in her cat form but she sounded as though she'd been roughed up a fair bit. Regardless of what thought it meant, Madam Wadjat seemed convinced it was a bad omen, an ominous future ahead of her guest. Catriona herself had remained rather stoic throughout the telling, a rather rare disposition for her to take. When the fortune was concluded she breathed in deeply and let the mood and Wadjat's words hang in the air for a moment. As if the universe might yet speak some other truth to the woman. But as nothing came of it, the jaeger shifted in her seat and regained some of her usual vigor.

"Hmmmm... seems a bit too easy doesn't it?" Catriona pondered aloud to herself as she contemplated the words Wadjat had spoken. "Well, I suppose you're the real deal after all. Thank you kindly Madam Wadjat. I've always known the general gist of my fate but that you've so clearly grasped it cements it well enough. I do hope you won't hold it against me if I change this fate and invalidate your first fortune." the woman said and ultimately teased as she stood. She placed down a small pile of coin for the service without waiting for the subject to come up. With the fortune still lingering in her mind, Catriona decided it was better to be off to the others and see what all they had dug up. And so with a graceful bow she began leaving the establishment to walk back toward the center of town where the group had first dispersed..

[|0P| 24]

    Robin was a bit disappointed with the clergyman's lack of knowledge and hearing that whatever these creatures were, they multiplied as townsfolk disappeared, didn't quite relieve him of that. He was beginning to reconsider his willingness to help Jekyll's endeavors but, knowing the alternative, dismissed the thought for the time.

    "Well than, it's been lovely getting to know you good sir, do expect us and perhaps our group to further inquire on this matter in the near future." Robin gave a curt bow before turning towards his teammates. "For now I'd highly recommend we meet up with the others. I believe a fair amount headed for the tavern on the way in? Should make for a decent meeting point."

    Rather than wait for a response Robin simply made his way to the exit and drifted off towards The Naughty Crow. Upon arriving he found the witch Elsie with The Royal and the mysterious rabbit eared man, he couldn't remember if he'd had a proper conversation with that one yet, and made his presence known to the pair.

    "Lady Ellie, Alexandre, always a pleasure." He grinned and turned to Lopt. "And I don't believe we've been personally introduced, Prince Tricky Oberon, it's an honor to be working together." As always he bowed and extended his hand on the off chance the rabbit man chose his words just the right way. "Now then, I trust while you've been asking around each of you have gotten friendly with the menu? What would you recommend while we share our discoveries?"

    Robin chose to keep his distance from the conversation for now and just listen to whatever they'd gathered, hoping to save anything exclusive to his talk at the church until the end.

Edited June 9, 2020 by |0P|

[reparoni 161]

"I see..." Wada said, rubbing his chin. "Well, don't worry! We are on the case!" He said confidently, taking a bow as he started turning around towards his allies. He nodded his head as Robin spoke. "Yeah! That sounds like a good idea. Meet up, exchange information, and then go beat up these creatures! Sounds like a plan. Let's go!" Wada turned around, waving at the priest. "Goodbye mister!" He followed Robin out of the door towards The Naughty Crow.

As expected, the rest of them had gathered here. Wada waved at the group, waltzing in. "Yo yo, so what's the plan?" He said, leaning on his mallet as he turned towards the lady on the other side of the counter. "Oh! The name's Wada! It's a pleasure to meet you." He said with a toothy grin, extending his arm towards Lauryn as the others spoke.

[Sethera 290]

Wada nodded his agreement. "Right right, that's a good idea. We should find out where these things are coming from so we can smash 'em!" He turned back towards the priest. "Oh, actually... did anything happen a month ago? Like anything that would cause evil monster... things... to appear and attack people?"

“These attacks, we know not where they start...however we do know they happen to attack and torment those within the town.” Risf turned to Lachlan. “All I can say for certain, during the witching hours is the specific times. Aside from this, I can say that there is an ominous dark fog that descends into the town...this signifies that the creatures come.” The man then answered Wada's query. “Odd question to ask, if I may say so.” the priest stifled out a chuckle, before closing his eyes to think. “...the only thing I know is that only one of these creatures were seen at the beginning. How it multiplied and gained more followers, I know not. But I do know that everything is currently keeping everyone in a state of despair, the Church of the Morning is doing what we can to bring their spirits up.”

"An ominous fog...that sounds really bad. But also good, because at least there's some warning, right?" Lachlan ended his question on an unsure note. But it was the next answer that really puzzled him. "One creature...and then more?" That sounded like something right out of the fairytales he used to listen to. In fact, he had a few ideas for what it could be right off the bat. But he didn't want to say them out loud yet. He tugged on his necklace absentmindedly, opening his mouth to ask about something, when his companions spoke up first.

"Well than, it's been lovely getting to know you good sir, do expect us and perhaps our group to further inquire on this matter in the near future. For now I'd highly recommend we meet up with the others. I believe a fair amount headed for the tavern on the way in? Should make for a decent meeting point."

"Yeah! That sounds like a good idea. Meet up, exchange information, and then go beat up these creatures! Sounds like a plan. Let's go! Goodbye mister!"

"Ah...but...I..." Lachlan's mouth opened and closed. Eventually, his shoulders slumped. "Yeah...we should go. Thanks for answering our questions, Mister Risf. Sorry, to, er, have bothered you." Even though the man hadn't answered his earlier questions, had in fact ignored them, and hadn't answered the questions he still had, he didn't want to take up more of his time than he possibly wanted to give. Also his companions would leave him behind otherwise, and Lachlan wasn't sure if he'd be able to find them again very easily if he got separated from them now.

Ah weel. Ah mightn't be righ' aboot this, he thought as he followed the others out the door. An' t'would be a mite embarrassin' tae be wrong. Not just embarrassing, but deadly if they ended up preparing to face the wrong type of enemy. He clenched his fists. Aye, ah'll just goo wiv the floo, soo they say. It'd be good to see what the others had come up with too.

In the tavern, Lachlan felt...a tad overwhelmed. It was too noisy, too closed-in, too full of people. Shivering slightly, the boy scrunched his shoulders up in an attempt to take up as little space as possible. 

More than once, he had had to veer to the side to avoid somebody brushing up against him. Part of his success in these endeavors was due to his water-nature. A person...or Jaeger, in this case, learned to be sensitive to vibrations in the current, which had carried over to his situation on dry land. If somebody moved, they created a slight air current. It wasn't much, and he had to be on the verge of touching them, but it helped. And he needed all the help he could get.

While the others introduced themselves again, Lachlan moved over to lean against the wall. Not the corner, as it meant he would be boxed in with no exit. But with the wall to his back, he didn't have to worry about trying to turn his head to glance behind him every so often. "Hi..." he said, giving a wan smile. "I'm Lach." He waved his hand back and forth for a few seconds before realizing that he looked...kind of dumb doing that. So he stopped.

[Chaos Sonic 442]

The Church of the Morning

"Well than, it's been lovely getting to know you good sir, do expect us and perhaps our group to further inquire on this matter in the near future. For now I'd highly recommend we meet up with the others. I believe a fair amount headed for the tavern on the way in? Should make for a decent meeting point."

"Yeah! That sounds like a good idea. Meet up, exchange information, and then go beat up these creatures! Sounds like a plan. Let's go! Goodbye mister!"

"Ah...but...I...Yeah...we should go. Thanks for answering our questions, Mister Risf. Sorry, to, er, have bothered you."

"Peace to you three." Risf smiled, giving a small wave. "Do know that you are welcome back anytime to this holy place...and do be careful." With that, Risf waved the trio of Jaegers off, while also praying a silent prayer that these three young ones wouldn't fall victim to whatever plagued this town.

---

The Naughty Crow Tavern

“Ah, sure, sure. Well, I guess I have to thank you for putting our trust in us, then. Providing room and board for a bunch of people you think are going to die is pretty charitable, huh? Unless, of course, you need money upfront, in which case, uh -- maybe we need to talk about collateral? I mean, you could march right up that mountain to that tower we arrived in and demand money from one Eric Jekyll, I dunno how that would go, though. Or -- actually, this is my favorite option -- if you want a money charm, I could help with that. The first thing you’d need is some blood. Any blood’ll work, really, you just gotta -”

"Girl, you are quite the strange one." Lauryn shook her head slightly, before seeing the arrival of more unexpected guests...this being the form of Alexandre and Lopt...and then behind them, Wada, Lachlan and Tricky. "Welcome to the Naughty Crow Tavern...I reckon you're with her." she pointed at Elsie, who was already waving.

"Yo yo, so what's the plan? Oh! The name's Wada! It's a pleasure to meet you."

"...a pleasure..." Lauryn simply said, looking at Wada before returning to do her own thing.

"Hi...I'm Lach."

"Sugah, yer quite the awkward one." the bartender smiled, shaking her head slightly at seeing Lach. "Regardless, help yerselves to what ya want on the menu...just give me a hollar if you need something specific."

-X-

"It's most likely... nothing to really suggest otherwise, with how weird the incidents are. Unless, of course, someone wants to make it seems suspect, but who knows," Pushing away from the wall, Lopt headed towards the tavern, stuffing his free hand into his pocket, "I think that's about all we can really glean here. The others should have done their jobs by this point, so why don't we spend our free time playing some cards? After all..." the shifter turned back and cast Alex a mischievous glance, "You, my dear lord, need to work on your poker face. I'm not letting you free until you manage to lie to me. And, tell ya what, first round of booze is on me."

Alexandre...wasn't too thrilled about this as he and the rabbit man sat down a bit a ways from Elsie. "Um...I...don't really drink. But I guess I'll humor you with a game. My caretaker did show me how to play a bit, so I hope I can give you some entertainment there." he said,

"Lady Ellie, Alexandre, always a pleasure."

Alexandre winced a bit when Tricky spoke his name there, but he quickly looked at the frog prince before clearing his throat. "J-Just Alex is fine...please."

---

The Divining Incubus

"Hmmmm... seems a bit too easy doesn't it? Well, I suppose you're the real deal after all. Thank you kindly Madam Wadjat. I've always known the general gist of my fate but that you've so clearly grasped it cements it well enough. I do hope you won't hold it against me if I change this fate and invalidate your first fortune."

Wadjet only smiled, and stood up, bowing slightly at Catriona. "My dear, you are certainly welcomed to try and defy fate. Not many have ever done this, and it would truly be a story to tell." she said, walking the Jaeger out of her shop. "And if you have friends or family, please don't hesitate to have them stop by. And may the divines bless thee." Madame Wadjet watched the cat Jaeger walk off, waving her off.

Before she walked back inside, she saw another potential customer...she had wolf features...this was perfect.

"Excuse me! You there, young lady!" Wadjet called out to the young girl, waving towards her. "Yes you! Fancy having your fortune told?~"

---

OOC

Spoiler

AS PROMISED...even though it was a few days late...ANYWAY!!!

Now I may not have done a whole lot for some individuals, but that's due to them being in a position where they can go to the rest of the cast and share information they have. In this example, Tricky and Elsie as well as Lachlan and Wada...go for bringing info together! For Lopt, well...he's got a bit of a poker face to force on the Beast...but I'm sure he can definitely multi-task. I'll expect that Catriona will end up at the tavern as well, if anything.

And that leaves Yui and Lucine...yes, I had her pop into Wadjet's view, so I do hope that was alright.

 

[radio414 906]

The fact that Lauryn walked away without getting mad at her was enough for Elsie to think that the matters of money had been waived, at least for the time being. She did wonder if Jekyll was going to have a conniption over the massive tab they were inevitably going to run, but she only wondered in the curious sense, not with any sort of worry. Why should she? It wasn’t her problem anymore. Besides, she had other things to think about now, like the sheer number of her companions who had just walked in, or, worse still, how most, if not all, of them were about to drink poor-quality booze.

Elsie managed to restrain herself on the latter point, though, mostly because she got a particularly mean stare from Corbin that didn’t let up even after she said “What?” all innocent-like. The rest, of course, was her wanting to know just what everyone else had found out. Even though some of them seemed to have ignored her initial approach of a question, that didn’t mean she couldn’t try again. To nobody in particular, she started, “What’s the deal with-”

“Maybe you should talk to them, like, individually,” Corbin said. “They might respond better if you single them out.”

“That’s no fun,” Elsie said.

“Didn’t say it was.”

She would have gone over to Tricky, the one person who had even just returned her greeting, but he seemed more interested in Lopt and Alexandre, and, by extension, whatever card game they were about to play. Not that she wasn’t interested too, but Corbin had said “individually,” and while he certainly had been rude about it, he still was kind of right. She didn’t need vital information passed around in addition to chips and cards. One would just distract from the other.

That left Wada and Lachlan left, each hanging out all by their lonesome, one at the bar and one just flowering on a wall. What was she supposed to do about that besides “Wanna split up? You take hammer boy and I’ll go talk to Lach?”

“Sure,” Corbin said. “Although, if you kiss, you have to tell me all about it.”

Elsie laughed. “Same to you,” she said, and, with that, she left her familiar to his own devices. The last thing she heard him say before tuning out to focus on her own conversation was, after hopping over to Wada’s portion of the bar, “How was your first purview of the place? You learn anything interesting out there?”

Lachlan looked a little sad, Elsie thought. She didn’t have the best solution for that -- happy spells were notoriously fickle, anyway -- but the next best thing, she was sure, was to just get nearer to him and just start talking. “Lach, hey!” she began. “How’s things? I’m pretty excited myself to stay up the whole night looking for monsters, what about you?”

She leaned in and put a hand on the wall to balance herself. “Oh, I guess also I learned why this place is named The Naughty Crow. Would you believe it’s named after the bartender there? She won’t tell me what she did that was so naughty, though. Little disappointed about that, but, you know, it’s whatever.”

It was a two-pronged attack, really. Either she got to learn more about the monsters or she’d get to do more gossip without Corbin’s supervision. What could be better? Maybe this would be fun after all.

Edited June 30, 2020 by radio414

[yui 576]

Task: Find the other Jaegers and update them on the things and stuff. Although she didn't like to admit it, Lucine wasn't really having much luck finding anyone. Either everyone was in really obscure places, or her sense of direction was just all sorts of wack today. As she meandered about town, looking for the others, her ears perked up as a voice suddenly called out.

"Excuse me! You there, young lady!"

Lucine looked toward the source. Some lady, at a place called... The Divining Incubus? Weird name. The girl looked around, for any other young ladies this woman could have been calling out to. Not over here, nor there. Lucine pointed a curious finger up at her face, to ask if the call was indeed meant for her.

"Yes you! Fancy having your fortune told?~"

A fortune-teller? I've always wanted to meet one in person! Now even more so, in these crazy and dangerous times. She'd always been fascinated by people able to read the future and tell others what was in store, and for quite some time, it had been a personal side-mission of hers to meet one and employ their services. Now she could finally cross getting her fortune told off her bucket list! "Absolutely!" A quick detour wouldn't hurt anybody, right? As long as the information got to them at the end of the day, that was what mattered most. And so, Lucine followed the owner into The Divining Incubus.

"So how does this work?" Lucine asked, getting herself seated and eager to go. "Am I supposed to show you my hands or what?"