Vaude

"Agreed. Let's get out of here," commented Adamina simply, now over the collapsed flayer and dropping her weaponised chair. She, like the others, caught on to the hubbub of activity that seethed around them, and it was high time to leave. If it were any other time than one worthy of panic, she would have rubbed her brow in annoyance with the situation. Perhaps the stool was a bit much, or maybe the staff if anybody saw it. That lesson was learned already, and she did not need to sit in a jail for five months to await shoddily given justice. Adamina instead grabbed her telescoping staff, shrank it, and fled in the direction of the secondary exit. If anyone was going to be sought after between herself, Tibarn, and Daniel, it was likely to be her, and she might as well put as much distance between herself and the others before things got hairy for the rogue and the psychic pusher.

- Odin, at Isopolis with the rest of the gang - Odin followed silently behind, admiring the elegant craftsmanship of the building as he went along with the rest of the group. Three doors, all tastefully decorated by lovely labels regarding the three gurus and the riddle posed towards everyone. A smirk rose into being as he read it thoroughly. "A logic puzzle in the guise of a mathematics question -- an interesting challenge," he gave voice to those who wanted to hear, internalising it all before coming up with an answer. "If looking at the riddle as three sets of three possibilities of trues and falses, it is simple. - Rufus, at Isopolis with the rest of the gang - Rufus pooh-poohed the ornate scroll that everybody seemed entranced by, and merely hovered around close to the doors and searched around them as he zipped about. Nothing really stood out. No footsteps could be seen, and no trace of life passing through the halls could be observed. Still, it was a challenge, and he was bound and determined to solve it while the others were caught up with the ballyhoo of an aged scroll.

Someday I think I'll try the game out. It was the comparison of Old Jho and New Jho that sold it for me, I think. =P Focus on getting better first and let life, especially web life, come second. We do not need you feeling worse because you tried to expedite a post.

That's Raiden for sure! He's probably off hunting big game right now with Magnetz4Lyfe (Teshub). Those two're like brothers, only closer.

Hey, Heart, is the flayer's mind fixable? He might be a good way to gather information, if he's understanding of that small kindness, and if he isn't, well, Adamina knows how to put him in a medically induced coma.

Adamina exhaled sharply as she readied a charge towards the creature, but was quickly cut off by the sharp whistles of sailing knives and, afterwards, an uncomfortably close Tibarn. He gave her a quick smirk, to which she was prompt to respond. "You oaf! You're in my way!" she chided, stepping to the side of the roguish individual and raising her weaponised sitting device high in order to immediately bring it down on the flayer's squid-like cranium. She was aiming for a swift knockout this time with her stool, but who knows what would happen if she succeeded? Would they get arrested by security, or just thrown out of the bar itself? Even if this were self-defense on Daniel's behalf, this seemed more along the lines of aggravated assault for the rest of them. She had to restrain herself, maybe even bring the flayer back to the ship to dress those wounds before he or she, or maybe just "it", bled out from the nasty back wound or the blunt force trauma. It's a pity, she thought midswing morosely, if I have to remedy him after causing all this havoc to him in the first place.

No one's ever been able to summon him!!!

Aqua can stay back and enjoy watching how to fight from a distance. She will need all the experience she can get if she wants to fight her own battles in and out of Isopolis without losing her life. There are some tough contenders coming up, both physically and spiritually. In the meantime, this highly versatile army is perfect for besieging. Hula dancers, strongmen, shapeshifting sappers, pigs on fire (Rufus) for distraction and demoralisation -- we got it all. For Odin/Raiden, this is a xiang-qi (Chinese chess) game complete with himself as a flying general.

Daniel's actions were certainly quite effective, combining well with Adamina's actions of jabbing towards the flayer's back. Unfortunately for the bird woman, she was holding her staff in a difficult and clumsy manner to conceal her actions, and the mindflayer's roiling backward knocked the staff out of her grip and upwards. The charge had done well, but the concealment factor of her actions was over now. At least very few people would have seen the real danger of her weapon thanks to Daniel's quick thinking. Upon pondering over her next actions, her thoughts were muddled by the psychic wail, a prolonged screech that her hunch over and grimace as the top and bottom jaw ground together. Still, it was weak, an effort that, she concluded, was just as weak as the creature that issued it. With her staff clattered on the floor, she swung out of her stool, grabbed it by the top, and raised it in front of her so that the legs of the stool rose dangerously toward the creature's mid-section. If the creature was as weak as she thought, those four points of pressure from the ends of the stool's legs would be enough to bowl the flayer over if she put all of her might into rushing into the creature. ((Nice thinking, Scrap.))

Welcome back, Greek-lettered class topic!

- Odin, with the Mystran raiding party at Isopolis - Odin raised an eyebrow at the interesting scenes being presented at Isopolis' great gates, as some of the stronger members of the group attempted to batter the guards down and, later, the gate itself. A reckless action, but it was seemingly a working one. "Soren, you could have talked down the guards and avoided all of . . . this, right?" he asked, sweeping a hand over to the crazy situation ahead of him. He wondered what it was that triggered the early aggression when they had a possibility of entering and then attacking if needed. Those inside would be alerted early, and the situation can be much worse than what was predicted. Regardless of the answer if one came, he later craned his head to eye the remainder of the party. "Rufus," he called out, his remaining eye glancing over to the addled djinni. "Yuppers!" resounded Rufus above the din of the gate's groaning from Helios' efforts as a basilisk. He hovered into view with a goofy grin beneath that mat of hair. "You seem incorporeal. Can you slip through the defenses? Maybe divert their attention with a distraction from within?" "Oh-h-h," droned Rufus, smiling and tapping his nose. "Doubtless can I do that! One screaming session coming right up. Rufus, AWAY!" And with that he took off, legs tottering speedily with arms flailing above his head. He phased right through the gate and, afterwards, quickly started to shriek his head off and run around aimlessly. He hoped that nobody would have had wind or sonic magic within the gates, but more than anything else he hoped that all attention would be thrust upon him. He had the mindset of a thespian of the highest calibre, and any kind of attention was enough for him, even if it were negative.

Thanks for the friend addy, bud!

And now the cats have mercury-laced hats that they sell and wear! Mad Catters!

I walked under ladders fifteen times today and fought with every black cat I could find, and I still find Friday the 13th not too spooky. Wait. Oh gosh. Mutant black cat ladders are out and about and want my blood! AAH!

Might I suggest habanero cheese? That stuff has a nice kick to it and tastes good, even if it smells odd.

The Loft narrowed her eyes at the horrific display of a flayer looking at Daniel like a fish fillet sandwich, just behind the man. It made sense, given the crewmate's knack for pushing and his psychic prowess overall, but it made no move at him and--nope, it made a move on him, wrapping a disgusting appendage around him in order to make a nice snack out of Danny. Adamina did not take kindly to this motion. "Oh no you don't," she muttered, pulling out her quarterstaff from her pouch and elongating the shaft. Charged and raring to go, the antimatter side of the staff was pointed toward the flayer, and if it made contact with the creature it would obtain a nasty wound by having a chunk of its back's left side annihilated. Why the back? The action was made just in case the others tried to fight the flayer as well, and there was not much space in the bar in general.

Adamina, after hitting the off switch on her side of the comms, sighed loudly before she slipped through the bustling crowds. What a wild goose chase that was, made even more not fun because of going through the crowd selling offal amulets and potions made of rare or impossible creatures for exorbitant prices. One seller tried pawning off to her a ring made from a sandworm's tooth, as well as crysknives of great value if they were real, but were obvious forgeries. The stagnant white gave the articles away where the real deal would have held a milky glow. How did she know that? She smuggled crysknives and other worm-tooth articles in her third stint in mercenary work. Too bad three of her fellow smugglers were caught during a blockade and they lost eighty percent of their merchandise, elsewise they all would have been handsomely rich. Moving on through the street's many markets, she finally reached it, the Serpent's Envy. Upon entering and getting past the bouncer, she quickly recalled why she did not care for her last bar encounter: she really, really hated snakes. The Yian-ti was serpentine to a fault to her, and she wished they kept closer relations to humans than they did to their ophidian natures, but, when great effort was invested in a namesake and genetic pedigree, this was a common result. Oozing between many of the patrons of mottled drunkenness, she found her way to Tibarn and Daniel's left at the bar table, scooching her way onto a stool and waiting patiently to be served. One mind's eye was on them and the cocktail waitress. The other was discerning what to drink from a brief check-in on the drink list.

Rachel Weisz is Saphira's original voice actress, which I agree would be perfect for Valdra. Say, Elrandir, if I die for whatever reason, do you think Valdra would encrust my tomb with diamonds like...

Actually, you guys are onto something, and I never really thought about Genie playing the Rufus the genie! He would be a perfect fit, that is for certain. Also, I've got something for Raiden: Sean Bean, the man with a plan to die in every role he plays. Also, I meant to say this before, but excellent choices all around for VAs for the characters. I could picture the two, both real and imaginary, chinking together very nicely.

I unfortunately don't know that many actors and actresses, so I'll just put down Morgan Freeman for all of my characters. Raiden, Rufus, heck, even Raleigh and Jari -- all voiced by Nova's greatest documentary speaker.

- Rufus Contralto, in Raiden's villa with Athena and Alderon - Before Rufus could react, he saw Athena flying towards him with outstretched arms to hug him. Unfortunately, she went through him, but that did not stop Rufus from feeling warm and fuzzy. With a sheepish expression on his face, he batted his eyes and said the best thing that was able to come to mind (or rather the only thing): "Doho!" A mental love-heart or two escaped him as he blushed, hugged himself, and, after quickly realising that he was still within mixed company, fled off the side of the roof to hide from the bunch and chuckle to himself. It may not have been real, but it was the thought that counted, right? "I was hugged! Doho!" he said to himself, another little love-heart escaping him visible to his eyes only. The others seemed to be heading off soon afterwards, so he tailed them, trying to seem distracted whenever they looked over to him, whether it be by people within the same room as himself, or the strange head of a five-eyed plant still with rancid breath mounted on a rack in one of the rooms, or an imaginary piece of lint that seemed to hang about him for minutes at a time. When everybody was in Alderon's room and attention was directed toward him, he waved only a little towards everyone sheepishly before drifting off in thought, this time truly distracted. What a disgusting plant creature that was he saw, something that seemed to come out of an JRPG or something . . . whatever that was. - Odin/Raiden, in Raiden's villa in Mystras - Odin glanced among the whispering individuals with his exposed eye, then towards Alastor. This is a group not easy to fool, especially not Alastor, who seemed to discern that he was more crippled than with mild pains, but he was determined to win their trust. "This might heal, if given time. I am aided by electricity, so restoration of the body is easy, but this"--he shook his head with a deep furrow on his brow--"who knows? I might go half-blind forever, but I have no time for healing, however, nor a moment for seeking out the one that did this to me, my Infiltrator who led me away. He knows the city well, and was a close ally and friend parallel to Alastor and Mariel here, only not quite as much of one." He smiled genuinely towards the two. Mariel was an old friend, and Alastor a new one with much kinship. However, could he truly be friends with them now that he had become whole in all ways? The thought dissipated his smile. They were allies and "friends of family," of sorts, though given time he could regrow that relationship that Raiden had with both of them. "However," he soon continued, eyeing Rabiyu, "it is good tidings that the good king has been reunited with his dear daughter. I know precious little of family, but I know some." His gaze flickered toward Jynn a mite before migrating elsewhere. He could read it on Jynn's expression and in his actions, especially his defensive draw of his hand towards his allies in an effort to "protect" them, that Jynn too was suspicious of him. The prince may have been his son, and the slight provocation was easily forgiven, but it will be remembered. "There has been enough time, I suppose, for preparation. Let us leave for Isopolis soon and not tarry. The longer we stay, the sooner others encroach upon the Source of All Life. We must get to it in time in order to restore the World Below to its full power." ((Fixed a word for better understanding.))

I think you are misunderstanding the spoilers thing, SB. For one, these anime can be viewed easily and for free via a legit site called Crunchyroll and others like it, and for another these deaths give only mild spoiler information and hold mild intrigue. If I said Rosebud was his sled or Kaiba... ...that might be another situation entirely for audiences because the entire plot revolves around that centric idea. Besides, spoiler tabs are easy to click on without thinking about it much.

The comlink went silent as Solomond offered his advice on the situation. Adamina took one last glance at the building, torn as to what to do, before emitting a huff. From the sounds of it, there would be no backup, and it was unwise to break and enter without the aid of a team should things go south. She was a mercenary first and foremost, and a medic second, and both mindsets of hers screamed that she needed to bide her time in this situation. Turning away from the building, at least for the moment, she paced her way towards the closest location she knew of so far: the tavern known as Serpent's Envy. With the luck of this crew, either Tibarn or Daniel or even both would end up in a drunken bar fight and need medical attention. An on-site medic may be needed before they bleed out too much, or get sent to a crooked hospital where they would almost certainly die. "Stupid men and their stupid bar fights," she muttered under her breath, already concluding that this was bound to happen. "I'll need to take stock on my medkits before they take every roll of gauze and bandage in them and leave me only with the tourniquets."

- Odin, Mystras, returning to everyone's company - Odin glanced about with his good eye, finding distrust that all was well with him within the company of men and women around him. This was to be expected. Raiden's key attribute was not analysis and tactics, but leadership, and he invoked many bonds with those allied to him. This attribute was potent in reading individuals, but such strength worked both ways, in that others could read him better as well. This flawed viewpoint of leadership had to be stricken from his person, whether it be slowly through withdrawal from company or fast through active killing of his allies. He could not show such weakness as dependence on others. It would have detracted from him to a fatal point, but for now he had to play the part. "Yes, Arthur. We should be ready now once Hisie comes back. My apologies for keeping you all waiting," he voiced to the gathering through difficult breaths, offering a slight bow to the group as he did so. He paused before continuing. "While I left, an attempt had been made on my life, though I managed to fend him off almost unscathed with just a little eyestrain. The attack was a friend of many centuries. He showed his true colours and tried to corner me, so . . . I am a little shaken, to say the least." Odin felt a faint buzzing from within, but not one of a physical nature. Instead, it felt like the two parts of him, both Raiden and Teshub, were still listening in, and roiling or enjoying matters as a result. With crushing willpower, he stoppered the palpable emotions coming from the both of them and quelled the distraction.

Adamina paused, hearing the buzzing of Solomond's com-chatter in her ear. The merchant man must have no longer been away, it seems, and while she was still annoyed with the lack of direction from earlier, and for walking all the way to the suite to talk her out of going into the suite, she listened to what he had to say. The place was fortified with cameras aplenty, it seemed, and hacking proved difficult for Solomond in this situation. Greyhawk was a cautious man, or at the very least his fellow businessmen. "So what do you propose I do?" she responded curtly, eyeing the situation at hand with sharp eyes. She was ill-fitted for breaking into a place fitted with cameras, though the building itself seemed scalable, especially if the scaling individual was able to fly. "I can scout the outside, but that's the most I can do on my own. If you can hack or loop some cameras, that would help out enough for me to enter the building. I brought my staff, so I can pop open an air vent midflight and crawl in like that on an unfrequented floor."