Re: MEANWHILE - [IC Thread B]

[Lapis-Lazily]

"That's the Azorius for you, all the laws in the world and not a single efficient system to enforce them or even find out whether someone actually broke them. Take my case for instance. They've hanged, I think 3 people now for "crimes" I committed. I've killed a corrupt bureaucrat, or two, or maybe 5, but I can assure you they all deserved it and their lifeforce is serving a much better purpose now, like keeping Sigmund alive or any of the other deserving people I've saved."

[Kindulas]

And that is why you're here. And I applaud you putting the remnants of your victims to good use, very efficient. I do the same in another way. Unlike Vash here, he just kills things.

"Hey now, I'll drink their blood too! They sustain me."

"Yes well," Jessica says, "Did you know, on that topic, that while I can't bind elementals to my machines like most Izzet mages, many of my machines are operated by ghosts. Well, the 'Souls of the Wicked' as Sebastian puts it. Creepy when you think about it, but very efficient."

[Lapis-Lazily]

"Well, isn't that what we all are here in a way? I'm sure the vast majority of us have done things we regret, have been just as cruel as those we seek to punish now. We're like the recycled trash that the guilds threw out as soon as we got wise to their evils. Only now, it's our turn to recycle, and they, my friends, are the trash."

[Jentaru]

"I always felt uneasy about those things you made Jess. But as long as they work for us, I have no qualms." Olnar began piling pork chops onto his plate.
"I personally was not gifted in the ways of the arcane. I use my fist and my club. Its what I know best. The wicked have no purpose for me in their afterlife, Jess usually takes my spoils."

[Kindulas]

Well said Volker. Though to be fair, I joined the Orzhov with the specific intent of making off with a great deal of their soul gems.

"I'm sure creepy but efficient!" Vash said. "Well, okay, maybe not 'efficient,' but effective for sure."

[Lapis-Lazily]

"Well, I think Vash probably wins the "award" for most cruelty with least efficiency, as could be expected from a former Rakdos. I, on the other hand, have been incredibly cruel with high efficiency in the past."

[Nehiel Mori]

Yawning, Erin begins to wake up and stretches off her chair, like a cat after a good mid-afternoon nap. Of course, a chair being a chair and not really made for sleeping on she quickly loses balance and falls to the floor with a *thud*

Little dazed and groggy from her nap, she looks at the assembled party and asks "Who turned the world upside down? I liked it as is..."

[Lapis-Lazily]

Volker holds out his hand to the dazed Erin.

"Nobody did, child. You simply fell asleep and have woken up in a most uncomfortable manner. Grab my hand, I'll help you right yourself."

[Nehiel Mori]

"Oh... Thank you mister Volker!" Erin grabs his hand and attempts to pull herself up with a rather surprising amount of strength.
((+7 to Brawn, or 10 to Athletics to pull Volker down. And she's not doing this on purpose.))

[Kindulas]

[[NM rolls 29 athletics. -4 penalty (so 25) because she's attempting to pull herself up.
Volker makes opposing.]]

[Lapis-Lazily]

[[Volker has five athletics, a natural 20 would be required to succeed at this check, therefore, due to not wanting to wait for another roll to respond and this being of little import, I will take the 1 in 20 chance of success as failure]]

Volker utters a slight startled gasp as he falls forward out the chair and onto Erin. He rushes to his feet and sits back down, a completely blank expression on his face.

[Nehiel Mori]

Erin lets out an audible 'oof' when Volker falls on top of her. After he gets off; she rises to her feet as well and sits down acting like nothing of note had occurred.

"SO what are we doing now guys?! I'm full of energy and need something to do!"

[Kindulas]

How did you get refreshed from a one-minute nap?

[Nehiel Mori]

"I have cat genes!" Erin says happily. "Bit of food, a quick nap, and I'm ready to go!"

[Lapis-Lazily]

"Yes, well. I have had my fill of food, and would very much appreciate that tour of the facilities. Of particular note is the question of where I will be staying, assuming I am to stay here. If I am not to stay here, I shall have to return to my home after the tour."

Volker stands up and politely pushes in his chair.

[Kindulas]

I suppose it is ironic that I should question your nap then. Anyway, we should have a place for you to stay. Jessica, would you like to show them around?
"Yes sir!" Jess says enthusiastically. "You've already seen the hall, the kitchen, and this dining room. There isn't a whole lot to this place since we don't use the upper halls, but we do have a couple spare rooms we can move beds into."
The room the party is in now is a central meeting room just below the chapel hall and adjacent to the kitchen. Moving away from that was the tight hallway. Jessica lists off the rooms, each belonging to
different memebers of the group with a few she said were empty or storage. The room at the end and beginning of the hall were larger rooms with a smaller room adjacent - one of these, at the start of the hall was her workshop with her room adjacent. Near that was Vash's, conspicuously far away from Sebastian's room and workshop at the far end of the hall. Olnar and Jeeves rooms were both near the end of the hall.
"I can't show you into Sebastian's 'workshop,' but I can show you mine," Jess says.

[Lapis-Lazily]

Volker looks around the workshop, taking in what he sees (perception still 5) and trying to get a basic layout in his head.

"Quite the... interesting place you have here. Care to go over a few of your projects?"

[Nehiel Mori]

Erin grins happily. "MORE SHINIES! Jess has the best things. Jesssssssss... Could you make me something shiny... pllllleeeeaaaassseee...." Erin actually gets on her knees, begging at Jessica's feet.

[Kindulas]

Jess sighs. "Yes Erin, I'm always building something shiny." Jess leads Erin and Volker into her workshop. Just as before, it was filled with shiny bits and bobs. "I mostly work on this stuff because it's what I'm good at, but much of my work comes in handy fixing this place up, or making weapons, like this knife:" Jess picks up a small knife, hits a button on its hilt and either side of the blade shift directly appart, and tendrils of lightning begin to cross between them. "This is a particularly simple design, but you get the idea. And most of the small stuff and the things I'm working on in here aren't run on Sebastian's ghosts, that's just some of the infrastructure pieces. If you don't have a weapon you're especially attached to, I could probably whip something up for you. Still, most of what you see around here doesn't have a whole lot in the way of practical application, but Vash and Sebastian let me practice building things while I hide out here." Jess continues to show you a few things, but mostly the things in the room are only partially assembled or not in working order. "My most useful trick, however, it this!" Jessica walks over to a chair near the wall and pulls a tube out of the wall. Then, she takes out the front piece of her cyborg eye. "I can plug this into my eye and see through various other eyes I've set up around the district. It's really nothing a little scrying magic can't do, but it gives off a much subtler signature since there's no mana spike in the area for people to sense, just hidden lenses." She doesn't actually demonstrate since she can't actually show you what she sees, and instead puts her eye back in. "I guess if you'd like to pick rooms I can help you guys set up, I suggest Erin you stay in the room next to mine, that one is still unused. Or, well, I guess I'm storing some things in there, but I can move them. Other than that, there isn't a lot to this place. I guess I could share with you the secrets of how they got me to work but I don't want to bore you and... I guess maybe I'm not sure how much I should tell you but... well anyway if you want to set up rooms I can help or I can search for any disturbances in the area for you to deal with. Also Erin you should maybe get loose robes or something so you can shape-shift without destroying them, because you really shouldn't be naked around other people."

[Nehiel Mori]

"I... have a room?" Erin says, shocked at the thought. "OH THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU JESS! I've always wanted a room! Or, at least I have for the last five minuets." Erin lets out a rather large giggle and bounces off to explore her new room, completely ignoring everything else Jessica said after that.

[Kindulas]

"Wait, wait, waitwaitwaitwaitwait I have to clear it out first!"

[Nehiel Mori]

Erin opens the door to her new room.

[Lapis-Lazily]

Volker walks out into the hall as Erin reaches the door. He stands by the entryway to Jess's lab and watches events unfold with a slightly amused smile.

[Kindulas]

Various peices of scrap metal pour out upon Erin.
"Oh wow," Jess said, "I have that much metal? Uhh, maybe you should just use the next room over..."

[Nehiel Mori]

Buried underneath the pile of scrap, only Erin's arm pokes out from the top.

"Errr... Jessica... I don't want this room anymore..." She whimpers. Then, her arm starts to change and twists before shrinking down and disappearing below the scraps.

((Activating talent A thousand faces to turn into a cat.))

As a cat, Erin attempts to wiggle out of the pile of rubble.
((7, unless its an athletics check which is 10))

[Kindulas]

13: Erin manages to wiggle part way out of the rubble, but Jess helps her break all the way free. "There's more empty rooms around, one door over could work if you want." Jess picks Erin up. "Aww, you look so cute that way!" Jess cradles Erin and scratches her ears.

[Lapis-Lazily]

"Cute indeed. I might have chosen a stronger form, but finesse is always nice. Still, I believe she'll be needing her clothes."

Volker attempts to magically remove the pile of metal that lies atop Erin's clothes. Arcana 18, expert skill

[Nehiel Mori]

Erin just snuggles into Jess's chest thinking Wow, shes quite warm!

[Kindulas]

"Awww! You know, if you want to sleep in my room as a cat I'd be okay with that!"

[Jentaru]

Olnar come around the corner to see the mess in the hallway. "Jess, I thought you were going to take care of that...."

[Nehiel Mori]

Erin just looks up and licks Jessica, before purring contently.

[Kindulas]

"Aww, kitty is best form!" Jess says

[Nehiel Mori]

Erin licks Jess one more time before hopping out of her arms and transforming back to normal. She collects her clothing from Volker and gets dressed before turning back to Jess.

"I find this agreement to be enjoyable! You are quite warm and would make a good bed! I DECLARE THAT THIS CANNOT GO WRONG!"

[Lapis-Lazily]

[[AND THEN EVERYTHING WENT WRONG!]]

"Yes, well, I was wondering where I might lodge for the night."

[Nehiel Mori]

"Stay away from Jessica! I have dibs!" Erin says to Volker, hissing somewhat with a bit of the left over cat genes.

[Sponsored content]