Chapter 0: The Start of the Journey

[Raineh Daze]

The thing gurgling in the water rolled over in apprehension at the sound of someone coming over, only to blink a few times before levitating herself out of the water and into a thoughtful seated position. Swapping to match Chalcea's use of Sylvan, she says "I didn't know there were going to be pretty girls here. Even small ones..."

"You're not wrong, but this is definitely an unusual look."

The two appeared to do more looking than talking for a long second, before Chalcea abruptly swapped to Common. "I'm Chalcea, and this is Julianne Blue. Mage, linguist, philosopher; I'm mostly her editor. She's really not as bad as her reputation makes out." Though quite how so many places had gotten the idea that she'd outright start feeding people to demons or the like was mystifying.

"... dice would be better." Julianne added, drips steadily falling back into the fountain to repeat the point.

[Nanshork]

Ornixen is walking around aimlessly, exploring the house.

[Skyrock]

Lucille smiles into the awkward moment of silent staring.

"Me has no idea what Julienne's reputation is, but me will find out. Me is best known for being captain of a pirate ninsha sloop robbing many a mérshant, but me is also a mambo - a voodoo priestess, dedicated to Mait' Carrefour, master of crossroads at night and patron of devils, demons and other fiends."

She sits down on the edge of the fountain, one foot dangling on each side, and places a dice tray into her lap.

"Game's Crown and Anchor. Me's bank. Bet a stake on a number from 1 to 6, then me roll three dice. None show your number, lose stake to bank. One of your numbers show up, retrieve stake and receive 1 stake on top. Two numbers right, win 2 stakes. All three dice your number, win 3 stakes.

For small stake game, stake is 1 silver piece each. But can also play with gold piece, or copper piece, or platinum piece, or whatever." With a laugh and a wink, she adds: "When I play bank for my men, we sometimes forsake stakes and use 1-3 kisses from me as reward, but that's probably not as interesting to you."

[bhu]

small cat person stealthily readies a hand grenade just in case shit gets weird

does best to smile and look non-threatening

[ketaro]

A soft hiccup gives away Bombom's presence at the edge of the gathering, the woman leaning against a doorway with a mostly empty bottle of wine resting loosely in hand.

"Its sure gotten rowdy in here quick. Didn't think there would be so many selfless saviors heeding the horse's call." she comments to no one in particular but loudly none the less. Another hiccup escapes her though, breaking her show of smug confidence.

"Ahem, right, anywa- hiccup "Bomredo. Or sometimes Bombom. The full name is always too much to remember. One of those annoying habits of dragons. Lots of consonants, very little vowels. Rough on the throat. She sways forward into a bow, holding the wall tight on the way back to up prevent a near stumble.

[the bluez]

Paw Paw's eyes lock on the small catfolk that just entered the room. He lunges forward, eyes gleaming with thrill, tongue dangling out of its mouth.

"CAT!!!" he screams while running on all four across the room, passing through the trio at the fountain with his cumbersome body mass, spraying water everywhere and proceeding beyond to close the distance with his target.

He ignores everything else that is going on around.

[Raineh Daze]

Julianne weighed up the odds in her head. Not that she was sure of any unusual rules that this pirate might be using, but she was fairly sure that this was a game where a fixed banker was guaranteed to make money in the long term. On the other hand, since they would be playing for only pennies...

"No, that sounds far more interesting." Chalcea said, a coquettish smile on her face. She also took being drenched by the dog's passing entirely in stride, though, like Julianne, it wasn't as if she wanted to avoid getting wet in the first place.

"Oh, at least Draconic has vowels and is intended to be spoken by mortal throats without too much difficulty. I have a theory that it might trace a lot of its vocabulary back to Ignan, but it's terribly difficult to track down sufficiently old and involved elementals to ask them, and the plane of fire is the one I least enjoy the idea of spending much time on," Julianne said, drifting towards Bomredo and at least temporarily lured away from the prospect of cards by an opportunity to talk about her primary hobby.

[ketaro]

"Hah, who would find being on fire constantly an enjoyable idea anyways." Bomredo chuckled back, taking a small sip of her bottle. "Its probably just me, though. I speak it, but Draconic just doesn't flow right for me. hiccup I'm probably just too simple for all the grandiose of it."

[Nanshork]

Hearing the key word "fire", Ornixen pokes his head out from a nearby doorway.  "I like being on fire," he declares.  After a slight pause he adds, "I also speak Draconic."

[Skyrock]

Lucille simply slips out of her wet outer garments and reveals her swimsuit. Falling into water or getting splashed by a high wave isn't news to a pirate.

"You find kisses as prizes more interesting?" The mambo looks slightly surprised, still unaware of the effect she has on the two other ladies. "Of course, for me it is mostly about the thrill, so I don't mind as long as there is some stake."

She looks over to her distracted other playmate. "I can't tell, I don't know either of these languages. I've only learned how to speak to fiends of any of the lower planes, to make better use of Carrefour's dominion over them." She points over her shoulder to the two babaus keeping overwatch over her from the background.

(click to show/hide)

...and an incorporeal androgynous figure floating in an empty spot behind the babaus, its skin and hair shimmering in vivacious blood tones.

[Raineh Daze]

Revealing a swimsuit only makes the staring more obvious, even if Julianne's gaze was far more prone to embarrassed wandering and looking over at the strange, floaty figure. But, well, it was invisible, so maybe it didn't want to be noticed? She could understand that feeling quite well; no need to embarrass them and ask about it.

"I speak... uh, everything? I'm sure there's a whole bunch of dialectal differences I don't know, or various pidgin languages, but when it comes to major world languages and the various languages of the planes, I've made an effort to learn it. Or anything else that seemed useful. Except secret languages, druids are just mean, but I guess that's where magic comes in, but that's just cheating and no good for understanding."

"I am a nymph," Chalcea pointed out, as if that should explain everything. Well, it probably did. Half of it. "Julianne simply lacks self-control."

[bhu]

i wink out of existence

[Skyrock]

Lucille laughs at Chalcea's second remark, still misunderstanding the interest in her. "There is no need to be embarassed. We are among gérls and me is used to live and shaynsh in cramped quarters with boys, so me is not self-conscious. Shust look and compare all you want if it makes you feel better, Julienne." With that she turns to provide the mage with the best possible look at her, then proceeds to audibly rattle the dice tray.

"So, which number you want to pick? Any number between one and siss, for every of the three dice showing it a kiss from me."

[dman]

<CRACK> <CRUNCH> <CRUNCH> <CRUNCH> <CRUNCH>  Gervus' cheeks bulge and bob as he grinds the end of the mammoth bone from his recently finished roast between his teeth. 

He swallows and licks his fingers.

<GULP>

<SMACK> <SLURP> <SLARP> <SLURP> <SMACK>

"Ahhh."  The giant leans back and pats his belly as he heaves a satiated sigh and smiles.  "I haven't feasted like that since . . . well . . . ever.  Heh.  Whatever you might say about this strange pony god, he certainly shows good hospitality.  Well.  We'd better see what's going on around here."  With some deliberation he pushes back from the kitchen table and stands up with a groan.

"I think I hear a group gathering this way.  Let's go meet them!" Tiana's tiny voice tinkles with excitement. 

The two make their way to the fountain. 

[YuweaCurtis]

The two where so into their own meal somehow they missed the large "man" in the kitchen. They do notice him as he makes his way through the dining room however. "Hey there big fellow," he waves, speaking with his mouth partially full. He swallows, "I'm assuming you're one of my companions for the mission ahead? I'm Gerald, and this is my associate Dr. Florine. I'm a specialist in mid to long range combat."

[the bluez]

Seeing that the catfolk has apparently disappeared from reality, Paw Paw slides on the floor, stopping his movement and studying carefully the surroundings. The catfolk's scent is still present in the air, pointing out that the target hasn't hopped through planes. Having stopped less than 30 feet from the point the catfolk was standing, Paw Paw catches the scent's direction and begins moving towards that position. If the catfolk hasn't moved, it will pinpoint its location when passing adjacent to it. He can definitely smell the various alchemical products the cat has with himself, and tries to be wary, especially of the one in his hands.

[dman]

Gervus slaps his fists into his palms and bows his head in formal greeting hoping to cover up his surprise and embarrassment at his poor perception.  "Forgive me.  It is an honor to meet you, Gerald.  Dr. Florentine.  I am Gervus Gorefist, representative of the Sümela Monastery of the Frozen Wastes on Terra Nihil."  The giant's eyes widen with suspicion as he looks up and observes Gerald's high tech weaponry.  He relaxes a bit and lowers his arms as he sees Gerald's sitting in front of a half-eaten plate.  "The food is quite good here isn't it?  What's your favorite so far?"  The giant inadvertently licks his lips.

A minuscule voice chimes in from Gervus' left shoulder. "We're very pleased to be working with you. I assure you.  My name's Tiana, ambassador of the Gelati Forest Council on Terra Magica.  Neither Gervus nor I are very familiar with people outside our rather secluded circles.  We'd love to learn more about your culture and skills." 

[YuweaCurtis]

"The roast pork had a good flavor to it." he says, taking a bite of one of his sides. "No need to be so formal, even if we aren't going to be buddies we'll be working together. That means we are equal. And it's better for your health."

He hears Tiana speak up. "Nice to meet you. We are from this continent so we can help. My culture? Or local culture? And you'll see my skills soon enough." his eyebrow would raise at his first question. Blake would stack silent, continuing to eat and watching them out the corner of her eye.