Scene #6255: Persona:WTWM

Owner	Pose
August Kohler	EARLY EVENING THE BLACK FOREST, GERMANY The request was put out over radio. Basically, August Kohler was going to explain the problems with his world to people, explain some of the metaphysics, and request help. But of course, the invite wasn't to the Persona team's Shack - it'd be risky to invite unvetted people there. So instead, the invite was to a secluded clearing in the Black Forest. The warpgate is through a cave, hidden from the masses, and this area of the Forest isn't very full of campers or hikers in this weather. It's cold. But moving through the trees and hiking trails, one eventually reaches the campsite, with a lantern lit up, a very small fire up for warmth, and... A standing mirror to the side, double-sided. That's kind of weird. August Kohler is also here, waiting for people. He's dressed in a thick gray winter coat, hood down, sitting near the fire with his back away from the direction of the warpgate. Looks like he's being careful about getting snuck up on. He's armed, though it's not clear - there's a knife and a special revolver in his jacket, and he has a mirrored bracelet on his wrist, which is his greatest weapon. When people gather, August glances over to them, and nods. "Thanks for coming. I've got bear jerky, if anyone wants some." He holds up a large bag of homemade jerky, which isn't bad, if clearly someone's first attempt." The redhead is lean and athletic, but clearly young...is he really one of the people in charge of saving this world? Hell, he's one of the publically known leaders of the Watch, too. Looks are probably deceiving.
Solty Revant	After being told to dress warm, Solty Revant shows up in a thick quilted jacket, a winter cap with wings that come down over her ears, thick pants, and cute winter boots with little powderpuffs of cotton hanging from strings. She makes her way quickly to the camp site and smiles when she sees August. "Hello Mister August! How are you today? Did you and Mister Will find anything out about the Aurora Shell?" she asks before actually sitting down to listen and to chew on some bear jerky. "This is made out of bear?" she asks.
Nova Terra	The first sign of Nova being here is of course the wash of blue light of her cloak deactivating, revealing her to already be sitting on a log near the fire. She is of course wearing her hostile environment suit because... It's pretty much one of the few outfits she owns. It's just so useful! She has decided to at least not armed with her usual rifle and blade. Not that it makes her any less dangerous. At the offer of bear jerky, a piece flies out of the bag and zips through the air into Nova's hand. She looks at for a moment, saying, "Never had bear before." Chew.
Tina Natsumi	Tina's here, too! She's not here quite as early as August is, but she does show up close enough to being on time. The normally shouty blonde is also dressed fairly conservatively for once in a brown bomber jacket and earmuffs. Unlike August, she doesn't seem nearly as worried about being snuck up on as she just strolls right up to the gathering site, tossing him a quick wave before taking a seat at the fire. "Don't mind if I do! Make this yourself?" She snags a piece of jerky and munches on it, peering over at Solty and Nova as they arrive. "Sounds like you've been busy out there, Mister Watchman. Fill me in sometime about all that, too, okay?"
Lemeza Kosugi	FINALLY. It felt like ages since August had promised to show Lemeza the Mirror Forest, a presumably hazardous place involving Jungian psychology made manifest. And if the invite's phrasing was anything to go by, whatever danger this forest posed would be at full strength. Perfect for seeing just what all the hubbub really is. Of course, August and Lemeza weren't exactly on good terms with each other. As a leader of the Watch, August had made it his mission to damage an artifact of Concord interest, a hulking construct with ancient writing on it that Lemeza wasn't able to fully translate before watching it get blasted into illegibility. He hasn't let go of the resulting grudge, and it sort of shows on his face. Upon being offered bear jerky, Lemeza doesn't accept. He instead gets to preparing himself some instant curry while waiting for others to arrive.
Orta	A cold, vacated, out of the way, remote, shitty mountain hiking trail is a pretty ghetto place for a meeting about saving the world. Orta's opinion about it is instead a murmured, wide-eyed "So many trees . . ." unable to stop looking around as if she were going through a Christmas wonderland ride. The bizarre alien dragon (deep sea/some kind of aircraft) beast she's riding on the shoulders of takes a slow and leisurely pace through the snow, leaving footprints that will no doubt be spooking hikers and creating a media sensation eventually. Showing up at the clearing, Orta has somewhat hastily donned a thick pocho of some weird kind of animal fur with a scaley underside, which doesn't quite reach her ankles, her especially memorable oddly patterned black and red scarf pulled up to her nose. She has to lower it again at the offer of free food, which is pretty unceremoniously snatched up in rudely large quantities without a word. Some of it gets stuffed into a hard carry bag largely made of some kind of shell, some goes in her mouth, and the rest is lackadaisically fed to the dragon one toss at a time, snapping it up with rows and rows of teeth that don't look like they're good for anything but causing horrific shredding injuries. The contented noise it makes is something like bass, digital clicking, rather than a terribly organic noise. She then points at the mirror. "Can I have that?" she asks out of nowhere, using the bizarre ethnic creole blend of ancient Latin, Greek, German, and English.
Reyes	The warpgate sizzles to life, disgorging a figure garbed in fully covering body armor, including a sealed helmet. There's no telling who this is, in other words! Such is the problem of wandering around in Northern Gun 'Explorer' Environmental Body Armor. With what looks like some kind of jet pack attached, with unfoldable wireframe wings neatly tucked to its sides. A small light on the helmet helps this armored individual easily navigate the cave to the campsite, where he finds a convenient tree to lean against while looking over the site. "Hey." A young man. He sounds to be maybe in his early twenties at most. And his voice contains the telltale tone of someone who's not so great at social hangouts... With a hiss of unsealing atmosphere, the young man reaches up to his helmet and tugs it off... revealing the short, curly black hair and blue-eyed face of Reyes. "The name's Reyes, from the Tomorrow Legion. Techno-Wizard. I heard you tell of monsters?"
August Kohler	People come and get bear jerky. August nods when asked if he made it himself, and also if it's bear. "Yep and yep. And yeah, we found out some stuff about the Aurora Shell, I'll fill you in later." August doesn't seem to actually dislike Lemeza, though he can feel the tension, and doesn't push about the jerky. Reyes' gets a blink at his armor, though when he reveals himself, August nods. "Yeah, monsters. I have a bunch to explain, actually, mostly for Natsumi's sake." A gesture to Tina. And then the rest of the jerky is pretty much snatched up by Orta, which August is okay with because she has a massive dragon, though when she asks about the mirror, he makes a handwobble. "Hm. Fine, but after the explanation. I need to use it first." He's not going to argue with someone with a massive dragon over a mirror, and he doesn't need it, he has backups. Now that people are gathered, August can begin with the information. He takes a piece of bear jerky, bites into it, and then speaks up. "So. How many of you are familiar with Jungian psychology?" He says it with the utmost seriousness, before adding on. "Personas, Shadows, archetypes. The Collective Unconsciousness, shared between humans. Any one? Natsumi, you probably learned it in school if you paid attention." August is hoping. "Well, it's all real. The Collective Unconsciousness connects the minds of every human being in this world. Inside a place called the Mirror Forest, humanity dreams and thinks and fears. Their dark thoughts and wishes and desires and aspects form Shadows. There's two, I guess three if we're splitting hairs, types of Shadow I've noticed. There's the kind that's part of humans. Every human has a Shadow, their dark side, the part of them they refuse to acknowledge. When things go bad in the Mirror Forest, or under severe psychological stress mixed with supernatural bullshit, a Shadow might try to replace the original." "The original dies if that happens." August adds, without a beat. "Then there's pure Shadows. They don't have a specific human they're associated with. They're based on aspects, situations, or are just plain minor monsters who cause problems. They range from being small-fry to being incredibly powerful, and are usually, but not always, malevolent." "And then, sort of pure Shadows, are what I call the Archetype Shadows. They're the biggest guns in the forest. I can confirm two. There's the Woodsman, who is the embodiment of Courage and is a tough goddamn bastard, who'll I'll get into more later, and the Wolf, who is Fear, and our worst nightmare, literally. It and the Woodsman are bitter foes." August stands up, stretching. "Shadows are dangerous. But there's hope against them. Personas. A human who learns to accept their Shadow can summon a Persona, which is part of their ego, and fight against Shadows and enter the Mirror Forest. If you've seen my Tin Soldier, that's a Persona. I'll get more into those later as well." August moves over to the mirror. "I bet you're all wanting to see this Forest. I can't promise a full excursion, but I can open the portal, and if anyone wants to take a step inside, we can." August places his hand on the mirror. It /ripples/, as a portal starts to shift. An incredibly dark forest lies behind, with glass trees, gray underfoot 'grass', and strange yellow lights in the distance, dim, hidden among the trees. If anyone comes up to poke the mirror, they'll find their hand moves straight through it into the Mirror Forest. "Do you want to do this talk in there, or out here?" If people decide to do it in there, well, August will let them in!
Reyes	"Familiar." Reyes says, using a minimal amount of words. He's frowning at this though. Frowning heavily. The man half-raises a hand to speak. "Alright. A realm formed out of unconscious thought linked to humans... all humans... freaky, but I got it. What's actually happening though? Are these Shadows attacking people? Is it this... replace the original thing? What's up with that?"
Nova Terra	Jungian Psychology? Is that anything like Jungle Warfare? Yeah, Nova is not a very theoretical type. She is generally able to follow along with the concepts August is talking about, as long as she doesn't try to think too hard about it. She has seen the Tin Soldier in action a few times, so at least accepts the existance of Personas. However, the suggestion of going into this Mirror Forest actually makes Nova look extremely uncomfortable, "Uhhh... I don't think I want to go into a place that connects every human mind together..."
Orta	'Jungian'. 'Personas'. 'Collective Unconsciousness'. 'Archetypes'. '''Psychology'''. Those get absolutely blank stares from Orta until he mentions Shadows, at which point she hesitantly raises her hand, and then slowly puts it back down when she realizes he doesn't mean literal shadows. "Why is courage a dark thought?" she asks instead. "And what's a wolf." she studiously adds. Sliding down from the Dragon's neck, she trudges over to the mirror and tries sticking her hand into it, finding that it works exactly as August said. After her friend tries poking his horn through however, she feels the need to state the obvious. "He won't fit." says Orta.
Solty Revant	Solty offers a small wave to each person that arrives until Orta appears with her big jet dragon in tow. The green-haired girl's eyes widen when she sees it and a child-like 'Woooooooww!' follows before she approaches timidly. "Um...does he like to be petted?" she asks, obviously caught between being scared of the terrifying creature and thinking it is cool. Solty smiles happily and nods enthusiastically as August promises to fill her in later. But, when the subject of psychology comes up it is all blank looks from her and a headshake at each example given of what Jungian psychology is. Hearing about the different kinds of Shadows is a bit scary. There's nothing even remotely like that in Solty's world. When the portal opens and the offer to see the forest first-hand is made, Solty is pretty unsure if she wants to go in there. "Will it make more sense to see them?" she asks August. She hears Orta and blinks. "Maybe Courage is one of the nice Shadows?"
Tina Natsumi	Someone in armor, someone in archaeology garb, and someone with a dragon. Neat! Tina nods slowly at August as she peers at the odd dragon munching on bear jerky, slipping her phone out of her pocket slowly to take a picture of it before putting it away again. Might as well try and make sense of it later. For now, though, she's putting most of her effort into listening to August. "Yeah, I remember hearin' about all that stuff. Whaddaya take me for, anyway?" She fakes a frown as she crosses her arms in front of her chest, squinting at him hard for a few moments before brekaing into a grin again. More listening! The mention of the wolf actually has her shifting around somewhat uncomfortably, stroking her chin after a few moments. "It might not hurt to let the rest of 'em see the Forest. It'll be easier if we know what it is we're even lookin' at, right? /And/ without random people wanderin' by that might not be ready to see..." Tina gestures vaguely. "All of it. But this Woodsman you spoke of. Have he and the Wolf ever actually beaten the other? Y'think that happening might screw things up if it's linked to everyone's courage and fear?"
Lemeza Kosugi	"Now this is a pleasant surprise." Lemeza says it out loud as August opens up the portal to the Mirror Forest. "I didn't expect we'd actually be able to /go in/. Although I trust we're not undertaking anything strenuous today?" His instant curry finishes, and he collects it as he stands up and stretches his legs. There isn't a shred of fear to be found on the bold archaeologist as he casually steps through the portal and into the dark, foreboding-to-everyone-but-him forest. "Ya know, I expected this would be a physical location in your Germany, but another plane of existence? I must say, Kohler, you managed to catch my interest!" As a bonus, he seems a lot less uptight about having to work with the red-headed bastard.
August Kohler	Reyes asks a question. August nods. "That's part of the problem. Basically, there was something called the Persona game, which was kinda like Bloody Mary, and if you played it in front of a mirror alone at midnight, you were said to see something about yourself. But those who played it got abducted by the Woodsman and forced to face a trial - the Wolf, who would hunt them, and their Shadow. If they succeeded, they got their Persona." "If they didn't, they died, and what was left became a dangerous Shadow." August shivers a bit, before turning back to Reyes. "There's another powerful shadow, known only as the Black Queen. Her and her minions had the expressed goal to cause suffering to humanity and replace them with changelings, which are what happens if a Shadow replaces the original. We killed them and thought we slew her, but the Woodsman, who has been trying to stop her, which is why he started the Persona game, told us that she had been possessing a human's Shadow and has escaped. We're trying to hunt her down, as well as a dangerous gang full of Persona users" Nova gets a glance. "I don't think the Mirror Forest will be a problem for you, Terra, but...if that's a problem, we can wait out here, then." To Orta, August looks a little sheepish. "I forgot about size issues. I'm getting a mirror prepared for when we go to kill monsters, but for now, it might be best to wait, I think." And a glance to Solty. "Because, honestly, it won't make more sense." "The Woodsman...I wouldn't call him nice. He's raw courage, without much of anything else. He has no fear. I'm not even sure he has real empathy. But he's ostensibly on our side, because we have the same goal. As Lemeza steps in, the yellow lights...blink. They're eyes, as they move away into the shadows. And then more poke out elsewhere. And more. August sighs. "We can't get everyone inside, it seems, so don't go far. Stay in this clearing - there's usually not much to see. You might want to come back, though-" And then, before he forgets. "A wolf is like a dog except it rips your face off more frequently. This one is giant and made of fear and shapeshifts to whatever you're most afraid of. On Halloween, it can trap you in your fears, instead of just appearing to look like them." August moves to say more, when one of the pairs of eyes suddenly dives forward at Lemeza. It's a small goblin-like creature, with yellow eyes, and a mask on the side of its head. It's hideous. As it comes forth, more eyes light up behind it. Dozens. And they seem to be...whirling together fire, suddenly? Yeah, fire. They don't look friendly, and August shouts to Lemeza. "I change my mind, get back here! We'll go in when we have the bigger mirror prepared." Hopefully, Lemeza comes back and they can shut the mirror, with August sighing. "Anyways. We at least have an ally. She's our fairy godmother, basically, and her name is Agatha, and she holds a book of prophecies or something and gives us clues. She works with this old guy with a long nose named Igor. Just letting you all know in case they ever show up. There's also a pig that helps us find stuff because...it...has a Persona. It's a Shadow pig." Beat. "Don't ask, I don't understand either." August shrugs. He glances back at the mirror. Hopefully those Shadows don't cause too much trouble.
Reyes	Reyes is listening. He clamps his helmet back on the INSTANT anyone goes for the mirror. And a compartment opens on his armor's legs, out flies what looks like a silvery six-shooter, flying straight into his hand! In he goes himself, after Lemeza. Doesn't look like he needs to shoot though, as Lemeza's still keeping his cool. "Oh. Geeze." Then there's MORE eyes out in the darkness. He takes aim with that revolver-- There's no noise. No bang. But a HUGE plume of dirt's ripped up from the ground with a thunderous WHUMPF as if some invisible meteorite struck it. A warning shot of puire telekinetic energies! "Keep back... shadows?!"
Nova Terra	"I'll wait here!" Nova seems very intent on NOT testing whether or not she's going to be subjected to the thoughts, unconscious or not, of every human by stepping into that world. Sometimes being hyper psychic is a curse... No, wait, many times it is a curse. Pause. "Animals can have Personas too?" Well, that's actually not too surprising to Nova. She's read the minds of animals before so knows what kind of thought they're capable of. So Nova tries to sum up what she's heard so far, "World of the unconscious, accessed via mirrors. Shadows are bad. There's a really big Shadow called the Black Queen, who you're trying to kill. You get help from a pig and someone named Agatha, judging from your description someone you don't actually know much about." Seems fairly straight forward. "Did I miss anything?"
Lemeza Kosugi	Huh. The first thing Lemeza encounters on the other side is a bunch of very weak-looking goblins. They're wielding fire. It's... not a lot of fire. August shouts at him to flee, but these Shadows aren't that tough - one or two leap at Lemeza only to get slashed to bits with his claws, then a handful more repeat the same mistake. "What, you're seriously scared of these wimps, August?" The handful becomes a horde. "--actually, this could get tedious. Guess we're coming back another day, like you said." The fearless challenger hops back out of the Forest, fire singing the back of his shirt on his way out, and contents himself with mere exposition... for now. He looks over to the helmeted Reyes with a raised eyebrow. "Those seem to be Shadows, all right, but... why do you look so panicked? I can handle myself here." He shakes his head and sits back down to enjoy his curry, still hot and fresh.
Solty Revant	Solty nods to August when he says it probably wouldn't help the conversation to see the Mirror Forest and she takes a step back. Even she can tell that bad things live in there. But, when Lemeza gets charged by that small goblin thing she leaps through the mirror without hesitation. When she reaches him a moment later though, it seems Lemeza can handle himself well enough. Solty blinks a bit. "Oh. Sorry." she says to Lemeza before having to knock back one of the Shadows that comes toward her. She quickly hops back through the mirror. She skids to a stop, then holds her hands behind herself politely while looking a bit sheepish. "Um...so, we need to stop this Black Queen so people won't have to get abducted and she won't brings suffering to people?" she asks, trying to pretend like she didn't also freak out a bit and leap into the mirror to protect Lemeza.
Orta	"Oh." Orta says to the helpful description of a wolf. "What's a dog?" Beat. "What's a pig?" Look these are important things to know if one is is a helpful mascot and the other is fear incarnate. When she looks to Solty, her hand is already on the side of the Dragon's head, habitually stroking down the side of its head plating. She considers the question for a second. "Yes." Then she considers it for a second longer. "But don't touch." she sullenly insists. The Dragon looks back towards its rider's sudden defensiveness, blinking with some kind of nictitating membrane that further confuses the matter of its biology, before humping her with its horn. "The Woodsman is our ally. The Agatha is our ally. The Pig is our ally. The Wolf is our enemy. The Black Queen is our enemy. The changelings are our enemies. The Shadows are our enemies. Kill all enemies." the girl then begins recounting, her voice sliding into a smooth and serious near-monotone. "I understand. I know how to hunt monsters. We're good at it. Please get a bigger mirror." She looks to Lemeza. "Also, please don't run ahead. We might hit you, and then you would definitely die."
Tina Natsumi	"... There's a piggy in there, too? Aw, Kohler! Why didn'tcha tell me? I woulda brought some treats for the shadow.. Pig." Tina's excitement turns to confusion in almost an instant, and it only gets worse when Orta expresses her own confusion at what not only a pig is, but a dog. Lemeza's issues with the goblins goes unattended by the streamer, meanwhile, largely because of him sounding mostly fine with just stepping right back into the normal side of the mirror. "So a dog's like a... Fuzzy human that doesn't know how to talk, but can understand basic commands and stuff. Loyal as heck to boot! And a pig..." She taps on her chin lightly, then snaps her fingers and starts messing with her phone rapidly. Twenty seconds later, she turns her phone to Orta with an image of a pig. "Tasty. We like butcherin' 'em and cookin' em up first, but... Uh. You ever have to worry about gettin' sick off raw meat?" That should sort that out while she looks back over at August. "So... Hold up. That business with the Queen bein' around still.. Is that why that crew was runnin' all around the other night on the roof? And what's with the Changelings? If folks are gettin' replaced, where do they end up?"
Reyes	Reyes is RIGHT behind Lemeza returning from a brief jaunt into the Mirror Forest. GOBLIN Forest, that is. A few more potshots were made to hold off the horde, and a few fireballs graze his Explorer armor, leaving some singes, but he jumps out back through the mirror and dives to the side, weapon aimed at the mirror!
August Kohler	The Shadows bleed and get injured, a few dying or getting swatted back, the ground rippling from the telekinetic warning shot and forcing them back a bit, but there's too many of them to fight right this second, especially when several members of the group can't or won't go inside. So once Lemeza and the others get back from the other side of the portal, August c loses it, trapping the Shadows over there. August just glances down to his mirrored bracelet, thankful he doesn't have to use it. "It's not cowardice to not want to poke a hornets' nest, Kosugi. Especially not when these two can't get in all the way." A gesture to Orta and Nova. August does nod to the latter. "That's about accurate, yes. And that's the only animal I've seen to have a Persona. It's a special pig. I'm not even sure it was ever actually a pig." And a nod to Reyes as he points his gun at the mirror. "They can't leave the Forest, normally. Don't worry." August considers, and then continues. There's a nod to Orta,. "I'd consider the Woodsman more neutral, but that's correct. Yeah, I'll make sure there's a bigger mirror. So, we do have one more enemy. The Wildekinder gang. They're led by a woman named Sascha Lietner, a skilled Persona user who threw a kid into the Forest on Halloween one year knowing full well it was dangerous, and wants revenge against our academy for getting expelled a few years back. She was the one who attacked Drachenblatt a few weeks ago. Her gang of miscreants work out of the abandoned factory district, and also have Personas, somehow. We suspect they're working with the Black Queen." "Luckily, you remember that girl we saved from the Changelings last time?" A gesture to Orta, hopefully answering Tina's question. "She gave us information on where to find Lietner. We're gonna go in a few weeks, investigate her house, and stop her, hopefully once and for all. Once we do that, our problem will be solved. Maybe the Forest will become peaceful." And a reply to Tina, as well. "Regarding the Changelings, the original dies inside the Forest, while the Changeling takes over their life. You've heard of those cases of kids coming home one night kind of weird and it being blamed on 'oh they're just moody teenagers'? In this town, it's usually a Changeling. Especially if they were cliqued up around a girl named Adelle Kaufmann." August taps his finger. "Basically the last thing I can say is that Adelle Kaufmann was the girl whose Shadow was possessed by the Black Queen, and she's helping us now. The Changelings grouped around her, and they wanted to capture her for...I actually don't know, maybe it's part of what they are as Shadows? But yeah. I think I got everything." August takes a breath, opens his bag, grabs a water bottle, and drinks from it. "So, what do you think? You all willing to help out? I know that's a lot to put you on, but I was trying to get notes on every ltitle thing I thought might still be important."
Solty Revant	Solty's ears twitch when Orta says not to touch. She looks a bit disappointed, but the green-haired girl doesn't try to touch the dragon. And as far as August's explanation Solty still looks a bit confused. She still gives a confident smile and a double fist pump when asked if she will help. "Of course I'll help! It sounds like there's a whole lot of people in danger here!" She blinks and her smile fades, then she sighs softly. "...Roy won't like it, though. If he says I can't help then I won't be able to." She holds her hands in front of her now, looking down at the ground. "Maybe Miss Miranda can convince him." she adds after a moment, looking hopeful. The whole discussion about just what dogs and pigs are draws Solty's attention. "You have things like dragons, but no dogs or pigs?" she asks Orta. Tina describes dogs and Solty blinks. "Er...well dogs don't really look much like humans. They have snouts kind of like this..." She holds her arms out, forming a 'mouth' with her hands which she opens and closes a few times. "They run around on four pretty skinny legs, have fur all over, and bark like Arf Arf!" Solty tries to approximate a dog barking, though of course with her voice it sounds like a pomeranian. "Most are very enthusiastic and energetic, they like to play fetch, and it's nice to pet them." She leans forward slightly and pets an imaginary dog with a giggle and a smile.
Reyes	"...dang..." This situation is freaky. Reyes lowers his weapon, stashing it away again. It doesn't seem to be hot, nor are there any spent casings... if anyone looks, there isn't even BULLETS in the cylinders. The cylinder's some weird gadget that still rotates, but isn't the original cylinder... "Think... I get the gist of what's going on. How do you intend to stop these Wildekinders? Who's in charge of problems and security around here? Any local militia or jail to hold 'em...? Something?"
Orta	Orta stares at the image of the pig as if it's about the fakest thing she's ever seen. When Tina tries to turn her phone back, Orta reaches out to grab her hands and force her to keep showing her the pig for another five or ten seconds. Even the Dragon looks over her shoulder, letting loose a puff of breath fog from between its teeth that smells like ozone and burnt magnesium. Orta finally releases the phone with a look of grave seriousness. "Got it. Follow strange fleshy pink things. Kill furry humans." There is a critical window to avert sustained genocide of anthromoporphic people, which Solty thankfully takes advantage of, prompting more especially intense, studious staring, clearly straining Orta's imagination. She looks back to make sure the giant bioweapon glancing over her head has gotten the idea. Some subtle cue in the connection of their mutual stare, for just a second, gives off the uncanny impression that it understands perfectly well, and Orta can tell just with a glance. When Lemeza and Reyes come flying out of the mirror again, the latter even with his gun, Orta draws her own. Completely different from the technomagical firearm Reyes has loaded into his armour, or the revolvers Lemeza and August pack, hers barely looks like a gun at all; it appears to be utterly ancient, like an archeological relic more than a firearm, made of swirls of white shell over dark 'flesh' not entirely unlike the Dragon itself, and plainly oversized for her. It doesn't appear to have a trigger of any sort (or sights, or magazine, or ejector, or barrel), but it's vaguely handgun shaped, and when she points it at the mirror on reflex, expecting an outpouring of pursuing monsters, it lets off a rapid series of pulsing incendiary hiss-thumps, and at least a dozen bowling ball-sized blasts of radiant green energy completely annihilate the mirror and the ten feet surrounding it, flash vapourizing even the soil beneath the snow, lighting the tips of nearby tree branches on fire. A hot wind briefly rushes over the clearing, carrying embers of molten glass and rock as Orta stops holding the 'trigger' down, critically examining the pit of slag she made on a kneejerk, before nodding approvingly and holstering the gun in a sling again. "I will help. This is simple." says Orta, as tempting as it would be to instead add 'said nobody ever'. "We shoot them." she says, very simply, to Reyes. "They're evil and have weapons, so you should destroy them."
Tina Natsumi	"So they're all dead already..." Tina murmurs to herself, taking on a more somber tone and expression for a moment before perking right back up when August asks for help. "You know I'm in already. Wouldn't be right o' me to turn ya down after hearin' about all this now, yeah?" It would probably be more impressive sounding if Orta wasn't holding her phone hostage and contemplating some sort of genocide, even if only for a moment. "That's a piggy right there. Pigs are for eatin'! Dogs... Don't eat dogs. Not enough meat on 'em, and they're friendly like she said." She gestures at Solty, and after putting her phone away... The mirror gets obliterated. Tina stares at what's left of it, then at Orta, then at Lemeza, then at the mirror, then back at Orta with an impressed whistle. "Dang, girl! Where'd you get your hands on one of those?"
Lemeza Kosugi	Now that exploring the Mirror Forest is out of the question, Lemeza turns to mulling over all the information presented while eating his curry. He's got a lot of questions, and isn't really expecting full and complete answers just yet. However, there's two particular things his mind has latched on to: the fact that there are Shadows replacing humans on the "reality" side of the Mirror Forest, and a revelation that the group's main target for this mission apparently is not the Black Queen, but rather a human named Sascha Lietner. First, the changelings. After a bit of back-and-forth with August, Lemeza concludes that said changelings are not an /immediate/ threat. So going after Lietner is a good idea. But one other thing August said struck the professor as odd: that stopping Lietner would render the whole Forest peaceful. "What makes you think stopping a rogue Persona-user will calm down the very reflection of human psyche? You said the Black Queen on the other side caused all the issues, so what would stopping someone on this side do?" A brief pause, then he adds: "For the record, I'm helping--" The interruption is Orta straight-up turning the mirror-portal-thing to slag. Lemeza sighs. "....I think we needed that...."
August Kohler	August almost says something when Orta decides dogs should die, but the other shandle that. Instead he just sighs at Solty. "Look, you'd be doing a good thing if you helped." It has the undertones of 'ignore what your old man says, you look capable'. And then there's a glance to Reyes. August considers thoughtfully. "If they surrender, they might be able to turn their lives around. Something important I forgot to say is that people don't know about even the Multiverse, let alone all this about the Mirror Forest. I don't know what would happen if they found out, but..." "Regarding the Wildekinder, if they don't surrender and continue to fight, they have loaded guns on them at all times. We..." August swallows, but Orta says it first, after exploding the mirror and causing August's eyes to widen. Hopefully no one saw the lights...park rangers might be out later, and so August hopes they're done by then. But in the end, August agrees with Orta. "We'll have to kill them. At the very least, there's a non-zero chance we'll have to kill Sascha Lietner." A few years ago, August would have never considered it. But he's changing. August sort of handwobbles to Lemeza. "I think I skipped a step there. We find Sascha Lietner, /then/ we kick the Black Queen's ass with the help of the Woodsman probably, and then the Forest is peaceful. I'm pretty sure Lietner is our greatest lead." And about the mirror, August just sheepishly laughs. "It's fine, I'm getting a bigger one. The mirror's normal, it's being a Persona user that lets me open it. Only in Alberichstadt, though. This whole phenomenon is connected to this city, somehow." August moves to sit back down, looking at the fire. "Any more questions? I'm willing to help as best as I can. Or if any of you have any ideas or expertise, I'd be willing to learn what you can do. I burn things, obviously."
Lemeza Kosugi	"That's that, then. Plan is set." Lemeza seems satisfied enough with the answers he's received. "So, guess we go around the room and introduce ourselves properly, then? I'm Lemeza Kosugi, expert archaeologist. I'm also rather handy in a fight, so don't you worry about me running ahead." It's rather evident that he's keeping a lid on his full range of abilities. "Who do I have the pleasure of working with, and what do you all bring to the table?"
Solty Revant	Solty jumps a foot when Orta pulls out that blaster thing and destroys not only the mirror but a good radius around it. She really won't touch Orta's dragon now! When it seems nothing else will be destroyed, she lets out a sigh of relief. "So..um..why can't we tell them? I mean..." Solty thinks for a moment. "...they...might panic at first, but...isn't it better to let people know if they are in danger? At least tell them to definitely not play the Persona Game." she says, taking a seat as well. "I hope we don't have to kill anyone, but...if they are bad people doing bad things, then..." She at least doesn't seem squeamish about it, just sad that it might come to that. "Is there any way to keep Shadows from taking people? Is it possible to recover them from the Mirror Forest?"
Tina Natsumi	"You gotta do what you gotta to save the world, right? Heh.. Just don't get cold feet when it comes to it, ya hear?" Tina grins reassuringly at August when he mentions the possibility of having to kill someone. It's easier said than done, of course, and Tina hasn't exactly done such a thing herself. She's seen it on TV plenty of times, though! How hard could it be? "Still, if we can use her as a lead to this Queen without havin' to kill her, then that'll probably be better. Cleaner, less explainin' to do." With the question of capabilities finally issued, Tina backs up, spins once, then snaps one hand to her hips and the other to her forehead in an informal salute. "Howdy! Name's Tina Natsumi, Persona user and professional streamer. You need someone that can take a beating and give it right on back, I'm your gal. Or shoot 'em up, 'cause... Well, you'll see next time we're in the Forest and not worryin' about locals around."
Reyes	"Nhhh." Reyes murmurs unhappily about the situation. But he isn't saying any more about it. Instead he adjusts his helmet, as if this somehow accomplishes anything beyond showing some nervousness at the situation. "Not sure what to make of this 'people dont know' thing... but you gotta do what you gotta do in the field, I know. Can't hold back too much if your enemy's hurling lethal stuff around..."
August Kohler	"Because who knows what it'll do to the Forest. It might screw the place up with all the fear and panic from the Multiverse, possibly in very dangerous ways. I don't want to be the one to cause that...even if it's getting likelier and likelier all the time the secret will be blown." August replies to Solty, taking another drink of water. The look on his face is rough, as if he's considered this quite a bit. "I'm not sure there's a way to stop Shadows from taking people besides them not being in Alberichstadt, but we've saved people before it was too late. You have to journey into the Forest and rescue them before their Shadow kills them. It's usually incredibly dangerous...but hopefully due to the death of her minions, the Black Queen's far less capable of kidnapping them. We'll see."
Orta	"The Seekers get them from the ancient ruins." Orta clarifies for Tina. "Some things like these. Weapons are rare. Normal people can't use most of them." she then un-clarifies. "I don't really get it, but I'll try." she says to August on the subject of the masquerade. Her previous efforts hadn't been terribly stealthy, and nothing about her, from her manner of dress and speech to her huge, weird friend, suggest subtlety. "Orta." she says as the group suddenly starts re-introducing itself. ". . . it means something like . . . daybreak." she continues in lieu of a fancy 'last name'. "We fly from place to place. Finding things. Sometimes we fix them, because no one else knows how, but sometimes we sell them, or study them. We hunt, also. Sometimes Pure-types. Sometimes we fight soldiers and their ships."
Solty Revant	Solty realizes as the others start introductions that she never introduced herself! "Oh! I'm so sorry! I'm Solty Revant! Pleased to meet all of you!" she says, bowing politely at the waist in the process. "Roy named me after one of his late wife's favorite singers, so it's a very special name." she adds with a smile. "Oh, uh...Roy adopted me! He's kind of grumpy, but he has a big heart underneath all that grumpiness."
August Kohler	"Thank you." August says to Orta. Honestly, he knows she's not subtle, but luckily most of the fight should be in the Mirror Forest, after they stop Sascha. "Good. I'll call everyone when the time comes. Come armed, come prepared to fight, and come prepared for anything." August actually smiles lightly, though it's not the happiest. "Hopefully, this'll all be over soon." If others leave the camp, eventually, August will be the last one there. He doesn't leave until everyone else is gone, presumably to clean up and make sure none of their remnants are found, after the energy weapon blast.