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RESPITE GENERATOR - LATE MORNING
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Maybelline makes her way back into the Generator room, having tried to find the elusive sleep in her old bed in the attached living quarters, and mostly failed. Still better then returning to their currently empty home, in her mind. She looks exhausted, unkempt, and miserable, tear trails clear upon her face as she makes her way back to her workbench to continue working on... anything to keep her mind off her missing lover.
Strix was in a much brighter mood, pushing his cart through the streets in front of him. It had been equipped with a little hover dish to make this much easier than it should be, and the entire thing was covered in a tarp. Once he arrives at the generator, he knocks quickly on the door, rocking on his heels as he waits for an answer.
Maybelline is quick to answer the door, half-expecting Nesseth or one of the other guards with news, she seems surprised at first when she sees Strix, but her expression softens, "Strix... I'm glad to see you. Need help with that? I can open up the big door." She motions towards the cart, hand slightly shakey.
Strix: "Huh! May doesn't look good!" Strix remarks "But Strix know that Strix shouldn't focus on bad emotional stuff, Strix bad at that, so instead!" Strix pulls off his tarp, to reveal a number of items, a large dish, and some sort of coiled device, all put over his normal stall, with all the stuff you'd expect to see there. "Strix made lightning collector for top of town, and thrower! To get power to top of town!"
Maybelline sighs, "It's... been a rough couple of days, yeah." Her expression lifts a bit as she looks over the collection of contraptions Strix has prepared. "The Collector... and a... Thrower? As a solution to replace my thought about the cable? I didn't know you'd built a lightning... thrower?"
Strix: "Yes!" Strix nods "Big wires are heavy, and they'll keep falling down!" Strix points to the 'thrower' which is at the top "So this throws the lightning instead! Strix didn't have enough power to test, but..uh.." He passes over some scratchy note paper "This is the uh..speculations?"
Maybelline takes the paper from Strix and starts to read through them. "Well, power I have... I can probably rig up testing for it before I get it installed." She squints at the notes as she thinks aloud.
Strix: It's all pictograms, with short words describing different notes, but the general jist of it seems to be a machine that throws the electricity with..decent efficiency (Not as good as what May can manage, but..decent enough), but with excellent range, and .perhaps accuracy? That would need to be tested. "Yes! Testing is important! Strix also has floaty disk. To catch lightning"
Maybelline ponders. "This seems really impressive... and... dangerous? I feel a little nervous about taking it from you." She glances over at the disk. "It'd be... it'd be kinda scary to imagine what it'd do without the disk to catch the power..."
Strix ponders "Lightning would go to nearest charged surface! Uh..Not sure where that would be here. Don't worry!" Strix pointed to a small switch labeled 'Disk' "Flip that on only when disk is nearby! Perfect Safety" May would, naturally, know that such a charge Strix is talking about would be easy enough to induce in a target. "Strix trust May! Strix want Mayshield to work best as possible!"
Maybelline nods vacantly, suddenly very nervous, but still feeling a little proud at hearing Strix's words. She manages a smile and lowers the notes. "I... I am honored, Strix. I think back to our first meeting sometimes and I'm pretty ashamed of how I acted... but that trust... I won't abuse it, Strix. I promise."
Strix: "Of course not!" Strix scrambles about, attaching 'float disks' to the two devices, so they can be brought off the cart "Strix is out of projects now again. Will need to think up new ones!" He remarks, sitting on the dish as it floats down, guided by a little device on his mechanical arm "Maybe..hmm.." Strix shrugs "Strix not know. Trying potion making, but going slow"
Maybelline tests the floating device carefully, then motions to Strix as she starts to guide it into the generator room. "I never much looked into alchemy. I wouldn't even know where to begin... I've been um... h-helping the Guard make some search and rescue tools... but no luck yet. Getting the weather shield finished will be good to keep me occupied."
Strix: "Strix starting small. Made flavouring potion, healtiness potion, and potion to make your eyes blue...potion also make the eyes glow and sting a bunch. That potion still being made" He sets the stuff down in the room, before passing over the controls "This button goes up, this button goes down. This button makes it flippy around. Don't turn it off when it's super high up. Very messy"
Strix: "May good to work on shinycrafting! Strix get bored if not working"
Maybelline tilts her head. "Make our eyes glow and sting a bunch? Seems... less than useful. Guess that's why it's still being made then." She sighs. "I could use a potion to help me sleep maybe. Besides... you know... booze. I can't let myself go back down that road, no matter how much it hurts right now." She carefully flips the up switch on the disc attached to the lightning thrower, checking to be sure it's working before she starts to maneuever it. "Your work always seems so amazing compared to mine, Strix. I don't know how you come up with these ideas."
Strix: "Well. May is comparing all of Strix's successses, to all of May's tries. Strix tries lots and lots of things! Some things work! May doesn't see the failures"
Maybelline chuckles, "Fair enough. I... need to try more, though. Take more risks. Failing still feels hard to me. The Schools in Sarn don't really encourage it."
Strix: "Well. Find way to..make shield better! Then maybe idea will come from that, or try to make Strix thing, into May thing. Strix know Strix's shinies hard to make many of.." Which is an issue when he wants to try and make just a bit of foodmoney from them!
Maybelline smirks, "Yeah... Strix's shinies are hard to replicate in general. I guess I could try to change the lightning thrower a bit... you don't mind me tinkering with your work?"
Strix: "No problem at all! No shiny ever complete!"
Maybelline gives Strix a tired thumbs up. "I can do some baseline testing, then start tinkering based on the results... I've got a bunch of spare parts that Bracvar brought from Orela... I can probably do... something with those." She laughs at herself, "I'll just be careful to make sure I don't break it all in the attempts."
Strix: "Strix can maybe make new lightning thrower then" He shrugs "Strix want May to have it. Strix fine with what May does with it after. Thrower is May's now" He nod nods "Is there anything else on May's mind?"
Maybelline pauses, her expression dropping. "...A lot. So... so much that I just... I can't deal with right now. But I have to push past it and keep... keep on going for now. There's work to do."
Strix: "Strix not sure if ignoring problems makes problems go away though. Maybe talk to someone! If May can't deal with it, find someone to help deal with it! Hiding doesn't make anyone feel better"
Maybelline nods sadly, crossing her arms. "Doctor Plume has been stopping by to talk as well... they're.... a good shoulder to cry on. But I feel like if I stop it'll just eat me up inside... I can do work here and be useful until... Louma gets back."
Strix: "Ah. Yes. Your Louma. Makes sense. Well..May knows what's best for May? Better than Strix does. If Strix can help though, ask. Strix will give the help"
Maybelline gives another tired smiles at Strix and nods, eyes tearing up a little, "If you can help them find her... but that's a big ask, I know. Just... giving me something important to do is enough. And... being a friend. I appreciate it."
Strix ponders "Strix not good at squishshiny stuff...Strix not sure how to start..but Strix will try? Think of something" He considers his cart, of current stuff "Strix ..well, maybe potions? Strix not think anything he made would be good though. Strix still not sure how good first potions are even"
Maybelline reaches up to wipe her eyes, managing to laugh again, "D-don't... don't worry about it. If you come up with some potion to help, I'll give it a try. You trust me, and I trust you."
Strix: "Strix only has health potion, glowy hurty potion..or..uh..flavoury potion. Maybe Healthy potion could help? Make Healthiness? Maybe help a bit, stop any sickness from stress. Though..Strix not fully sure potion work perfectly..."
Maybelline: "Well, I'm not really sick, and the rest don't sound... hugely helpful. So I won't worry about it for now. Just, something for the future. Like I said, I think I just need to stop thinking about it and sleep... when I can."
Strix: "Yes. Sounds like a plan! Strix agree" He nods "If Strix has something helpful, Strix will bring it to May!"
Maybelline takes a moment to take a deep breath, then nods with a slightly wider smile. She's doing okay. Even if everything is boiling just below the surface and she feels like she's going to explode, she's still managing. "Alright. Lets get this stuff settled in carefully so I can set connect it up and start testing, and then I'll let you head back out. Unless you want to stay to see your lightning thrower powered up?"
Strix: "Strix..might want to see full power thrower..." He admits
Maybelline grins, lacing her fingers together to crack her knuckles. "Me too. Let me start getting the power siphon charged and we can get it running off the generator. Just going to have to be careful where we set the dish up and we can do a full test cycle!" She scampers towards the generator, excited to have a project at hand.
Strix would mostly leave May to her work, just standing around and lending a small hand if asked, with moving stuff. He knows how important it is for May to be doing the 'doing' here!
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PORT CITY OF XALISCO, ORELA - LATE MORNING
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Gareth wanders through the city a bit, just taking in the feel of the place a bit as the rest of the group do whatever they want for the couple of days longer they'll be in port. The ship they booked for passage to Aephix won't be leaving for a bit yet, so that gives folks time to do the whole tourist thing, if they're so inclined. For now, Gareth wanders through one of the larger squares that trade caravans often set up shop in, as something of a de facto marketplace.
Itzcali: "Woah! Don't mind me" "Just squeezing past!" Slithering through the crowd at speed was a serpent, small for his race, only coming up to four feet in 'height', which made about 12ft of snake length from tip to tail, light green scales, and wrapped in simple clothes. Small enough to be able to get through the crowd easily, and in particular manage to dash through Gareth's legs (Squeeze me Sir! Sorry!)..why he was in such a hurry would be quite clear, as moving through the crowd much less gracefully was a trio of much larger snakes, who Gareth could see were a) Very annoyed and b) the sort you didn't even want to have mildly upset at you. Once through, Itzcali takes a sharp left, hidden from view of his pursuers by the crowd, and dives under a stall to hide
Gareth is caught off-guard by the sensation of something moving between his legs, and he lets out a bit of a sound of surprise and jumps up and to the side as he looks down. He catches a brief glimpse of green dashing out of sight behind one of the stalls, but simply shrugs as he takes a few seconds to check that his money and other potential targets of a pickpocket are still on his person.
Itzcali: There's nothing stolen at least..well, not from Gareth. The trio come upon the wolf, and loom over him threateningly "You! Furface! Did you see where that little worm went?" The leader growled to him, drawing himself up above his normal height to look down on him "He's a dirty little thief, and you better not be protecting him"
Gareth raises an eyebrow as he looks over at the approaching serpents upon confirming he's not missing anything. To his credit, the trio, while certainly intimidating, don't seem to faze him even as they try the classic power play of domination by height. "Furface, hm? Guess that's true, sure." He shrugs, nodding down the path, though not towards the stall, "If ye mean that little one, he went down that way, I think."
Itzcali: "Right!" There's a few curt directions, to split up and 'get in front of him', and the trio slither off, pushing their way through the crowd. Once they were gone, a small head sticks out from under the stall "Hey..thanks man!" He pulls himself out of hiding "I appreciate the save there!"
Gareth blinks as he directs his attention towards the snake. "Save? Eh... if ye want to consider it that. Not me fault those Snakes didn't think to check the stall, anyway." He takes a few steps over and leans against the counter, "Seemed like they were pretty intent on catchin' ye."
Itzcali: "Ah, it was just a bit of a misunderstanding around a few coins! They understood that they owned them, but I understood that they'd bought a really cheap lock on the box" He quickly adds on as justification "Besides, they're assholes. They didn't earn that coin any more than I did"
Gareth lets out a short, quiet laugh. "Heh, really now? What, yer sayin' they're some kind o' thugs or somethin' o' the sort?" He looks to the side at the smaller serpent, "Pretty bold, stealin' from thieves, lad."
Itzcali settles down on a box "Well, they're doin' the ol' protection shakedown in the Northside, and that wasn't very fair, and well..I gotta eat, and it's not like I'm gonna steal from people earning their way" He tosses a coin to the stall beside him, and picks out a bit of jerky. "And, not to mention, this way I don't get reported to the guards, or anyone that might take people in for coins themselves"
Gareth chuckles a bit. "Instead, if ye get caught, ye just end up with some pointy sticks stuck in ye... Still, I can see it workin', that way, as long as ye keep ahead o' yer marks."
Itzcali: "Etzli hires people based on their muscles, not their brains. I'll be fine" It's pretty obvious that its bravado, rather than confidence. "Now.." He takes out the bag, and seperates them, "My finders fee..." He places some into a smaller bag "For the community..aaand" He flips a large gold coin to Gareth "As thanks!"
Gareth catches the coin and gives it a quick glance over, clearly having a practiced eye for such. A moment later, he holds the coin up a bit in a little salute and tucks it away in his own pouch. "Many thanks, friend. Happy to help, even if those Snakes were fools from the start."
Itzcali: "So. What brings one so unscaled as yourself to a place like this? It's not a wolf's normal stalking grounds at all"
Gareth smiles at the question. "Aye, ye'd be right about that. Vamas is more me speed, but I travel all over." He looks across the square, off into the distance for a moment, "Ended up comin' here fer a bit to do a bit o' an errand. Pickin' up somethin' fer a friend over in Aephix."
Itzcali: "Well. As I think I've provid. I'm excellent at picking up things. Whatcha need?" He shows fangs a moment, a sort of serpent grin? "I'm sure I can acquire it for you"
Gareth grins in turn and shakes his head. "Nah, don't worry about it, lad. Already got it the other day, so me companions and I are just takin' in the sights around the city until the ship we're passengers on is ready to head back out."
Itzcali: "Well. Good luck with that then. You're leaving soon then? There's not a whole lot to see around here. 'specially if you stay away from the Northside. Lots to see there, but you probably don't want to"
Gareth shrugs as he takes a moment to adjust his posture against the counter for comfort. "Couple o' days from now or thereabouts, I think the captain said. This place is nice, but definitely nothin' out o' the ordinary from what I've seen in me life on the seas, but some o' me companions have never seen this stuff before." He pauses, then nods, "And I'll be sure to warn them about avoidin' the Northside. Ye said those Snakes were from that side, aye?"
Itzcali: "Yeah, there's a gang of them" He sighs "Shaking down businesses, robbing travellers..all the sort of stuff you'd expect people who don't give a newt's ass about other people to try and do"
Gareth 's expression seems to sour a little. "Mmh... sounds like a bunch we'd be better off not havin' to mess with..." He eyes Itzcali for a moment, considering the Snake was literally just messing with them minutes ago, "So what's that make ye then, hm? Some kind o' vigilante instead o' a petty thief?" He asks without even a hint of mockery.
Itzcali: "Oh! No. Petty thief all the way, but Mama always said not to hurt people just tryin' to make an honest living. I pay back some, just so nobody will rat me out to Etzli. There's no grand right of wrongs. Just trying to keep myself going" He rubs the back of his head, a little embarrassed for admitting he had any sort of ethics
Gareth listens, then chuckles after a few seconds of consideration. "Heh... nothin' to be embarrassed about, lad. If we'd met some years back, I'd have probably offered ye a spot on me old crew, with ideas like that and sticky hands like those."
Itzcali: "My hands aren't sticky! You gotta have really clean hands to work most of the locks and stuff" Clearly the idiom went right over his head.
Gareth definitely seems amused that the turn of phrase went over the Snake's head. "O' course, lad. I mean ye just have some good skill in pickin' up belongin's that aren't necessarily yer own, and doin' so without gettin' caught."
Itzcali: "Welllllll, I'm not the best at not getting caught" He points his head at where the gang had run off towards "I'm gonna have to lay low for a bit actually. I think they're not gonna see the funny side of this one"
Gareth shakes his head. "Aye, probably not, no. They seemed pretty bothered by the missin' coin, so ye might want to vanish fer a bit until they get distracted with other business."
Itzcali: "That's the plan. Plenty of hidey holes though. I'm not too worried. They're not exactly the brightest sort. Month or two, and they'll let their guard down. I'm small, I don't need that much to keep me going"
Gareth hums in agreement. "Sensible enough, and from the look o' that coin purse ye pulled out, ye have enough last fer a good bit, as long as ye don't get spotted by any o' them."
Itzcali: "I'm not worried" He kinda is though "Annnyway. Fun talking to you, but I better jet. You too. They'll have worked out you were lying to them soon enough"
Gareth grins again. "Good to meet ye, lad, and good luck with yer efforts around the city." He pushes himself off of the counter and looks around to figure the best way to get back to the inn for a bit of brunch, "Either they've figured out I led them astray, or they're still tryin' to chase ye down thinkin' ye went further along than ye did. Anyway, maybe I'll see ye around one day. Take care o' yerself."
Itzcali: "Seeya!" With that he turns tail, and slips into a side street, quickly vanishing from sight!
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RIVERSIDE TOWN OF HASKIS, ORELA - LATE MORNING
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Piper rises from the water's edge, brushing small bits of seaweed from her arms and shaking some from her tail as she looks about the shoreline. The originally muddy bank is laid instead with logs, many ancient, some relatively fresh, all marred with claw marks and erosion from the many using this entrance to the town. Just up the shore is the first set of croc-type buildings visitors see; solid stone and mortar, not terribly ornate, and most a single floor with high ceilings and wide doorways, but narrow windows. She wanders forward, passing two elders haggling wares that match her in size, despite being a good forty years ahead of her. Much like the snakes, crocs slow in growth, but never really stop, and elders tend to be revered for remaining active enough to keep growing. She gives the pair a respecting bow, as she must, before moving on. Further into the town, vined trees with heavy trunks are replaced by more and more buildings, mostly following a series of arches radiating from the town entrance she'd stepped up from.
Narrator: The croc makes her way through the town, her gaze remaining forward as much as possible, a habit trained into her from childhood. It's rude to look into other folks' homes, after all. It's fairly easy to do so, size is important here, and while elders may be beyond her, Piper's large for her age. Nobody bows to her, they can tell she's 'young', but traffic tends to shift rather than making her change course, letting her quietly
Piper: make her way through the market as a shortcut, approaching a tailor at the edge as noted by the croc mannequin on the porch wearing a rather fetching looking set of breeches and heavy coat. Stepping through the door, she bows again to the elder inside, though she's half a head over him, inadvertently making him grunt in displeasure before stepping past her to leave. She watches him, turning back to the other elder croc in the room who only gives her a dismissive head shake.
Piper goes beyond her previous bows, dipping her head below the chin level of this male, who speaks up with a raspy voice. "Lost another sale because you are too big. Tut." He steps forward, putting his right palm on top of her head for a moment. "Keep growing, Piper."
Piper looks up with a toothy grin at her father, standing straight after he draws his hand back. "You too, pa. How is business?"
Alfred shakes his head, spreading his arms at the now empty shop, though it's clear by the work stations and hangars that he's been busy. "Lots of customers buying nice new outfits for summer, but not important. Straight to the point, Piper. What did you find?"
Piper loses the grin, nodding as she tenses up a bit. "Right. Letter was right. Bounty was from Sarn. Has been claimed by someone else. They were there, in Glaushire. Talked to them. James did die on Aephix."
Alfred grimaces, slouching a little and turning away from Piper. He hums, taking a few steps towards a shelf and shifting a bolt of cloth as he speaks. "Did you find out how? Or by whom?"
Piper watches Alfred, sighing quietly. "No, pa. Will be going there myself. I-"
Alfred raises his voice, not quite to a shout, but the raspiness sounds painfully harsh as he turns his head toward Piper. "Then why are you here?! Wasting time! Go find out!"
Piper lowers her head a little, turning a little away. "Pa-"
Alfred: "Stop! All I want from you is closure right now, Piper."
Piper lowers her head a little more, grunting. "Yes, pa." She turns away from him, moving for the entrance as Alfred turns away, both refusing to look at eachother as Piper leaves the home, her home visit not even lasting long enough for the offended elder to have wandered off. She bows to him again, turning to trace her path back through the marketplace.
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NORTH OF RESPITE FALLS - ABOUT A DAY AFTER LOUMA'S DISAPPEARANCE
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Nesseth scans back and forth over the land near the edge of the forest, watching several scouts scattered here and there in the distance as the entire party searches for any trace of Louma. She'd not shown up the next morning, which the Commandant took to mean something happened to her. Satisfied that no one is going to be signalling him out on the plains immediately, he turns and casts a look towards the forest, similarly watching for any signals from the scouts moving through the foliage.
Narrator: A few minutes into this back and forth scanning, a rapid glint of light shines from off to the side, near the edge of the tree line, and a bit of a ways off the main road.
Nesseth catches sight of signal, sent courtesy of one of the devices May had spent the entire night before putting together for the search crew. He tries to get a bead on where the signal's coming from specifically, but frown and winces as the light shines right into his eye for a moment. He blinks, shielding his face a bit with a raised hand until the scout gets the hint, then he starts to head that way.
Narrator: The person sending the signal, a male gazelle with a rather lithe build, waves rather urgently as Nesseth draws close. "Hey, Nesseth! Over here! Found something ya might wanna look at!"
Nesseth hums as he takes a moment to rub his eye, the blob of blindness floating in his vision thankfully fading. "I know, I got your signal loud and clear right in the eye, Baldwin... What have you got?"
Baldwin stows away the signaling device with a bit of a sheepish smile. "Sorry about that, Nesseth, but, uh... yeah! Look, over there." He points at a nearby tree, a little ways up into the branches, specifically, "Something big crashed through that spot. Lots of broken branches and twigs all over the place around it."
Nesseth directs his attention over at the tree in question and quickly moves to get a better look. Sure enough, the tree looks like a large something plowed clean through a good chunk of the upper branches, loose leaves and broken pieces of wood still swaying in the lightest of breezes while the ground is covered in a spray of shattered wood. He squints as he looks up into the branches, noticing some kind of... "lump" that looks out of place. "Hey, Baldwin, can you get up there and see what that thing is? It doesn't look right..."
Baldwin cranes his head up and follows Nesseth's finger to the point on the tree he's indicating, and he winds up noticing the lump as well. He nods as he drops his pack onto the ground and rather gracefully leaps up and begins to climb. "Sure, give me a sec..."
Nesseth watches Baldwin for a few moments, then starts to look at the debris scattered around on the ground, maybe hoping to find tracks or some other indication of what happened here. As he looks closer, he begins to find signs of some sort of scuffle. A dried splotch of blood here, too small to indicate a mortal injury, a couple of "twigs" that look too uniform to be natural, which means arrows most likely, and a confused and hard-to-see muddle of prints barely trackable against the soft grass that covers most of the ground.
Baldwin, having managed to climb up to examine the "lump" on the tree, calls out as he tosses the object down to Nesseth. "Yeah, this isn't part of the tree! Looks like one of our waterskins... catch, Nesseth!"
Nesseth looks up and around just as he hears the word "catch", and barely manages to catch the waterskin before it thumps him on the head. He fumbles with it for a second before he gets a solid grip on it, then sighs as he quickly confirms the waterskin is a guard-issued one. "Thanks, Baldwin... yeah, this is one of ours. Come down, I think I've found more stuff."
Baldwin jumps down and absorbs the shock of the landing quite well, staying crouched next to the base of the tree for a few seconds before standing back up. He examines the area that Nesseth had been looking at and notices the same stuff indicative of trouble. "Looks kinda fresh, doesn't it? Think this might be what happened?"
Nesseth shrugs as he stows the waterskin on his pack. "Might be... whatever landed here was kind of large, but the blood over there doesn't account for a deadly injury. I saw some tracks that look like a scuffle took place, but... it's hard to tell, thanks to all the grass..."
Baldwin shrugs as he looks around, hoping to find something while the two figure out the details they do know. "Could maybe grab a few more of the scouts and search around? There's gotta be a muddy patch or two with some solid tracks in a forest like this."
Nesseth nods. "Sure, go and grab a few of the others and bring them here. Maybe we can pick up the trail."
Baldwin nods again and sets off, pulling out the signalling gear again as he goes. The majority of his pack stays in the impact site, though, since he'll be gone for just a couple of minutes at most.
Nesseth sighs as Baldwin leaves, and he goes to the patch of ground that's been scuffed by a large, heavy creature. He bends closer and looks at the dirt and grass, and notes bits of white down here and there, almost invisible thanks to the dirt caking the delicate feathers. He sighs and shakes his head a bit as he looks back up and glances at the blood stain. "...Louma... please be safe..."