{{TPPage
|Summary=Love makes you do the craziest of things, even things that defy the natural order. A heartbroken and desperate man approaches those who will aid him after his world unifies, and he’s given the opportunity to set things straight.
|Scale=Major
|Plot_id=-1
|Runner=741
|Contacts=None
|Theme=Original
|Audience=Everyone
|Genre=Mixed
|Events====Catalyst===
The world of Danbur has unified some months ago, and a distress signal is sent out from the outskirts of a village in the countryside. Those who responded met with Pius Athanor, a master alchemist who was at odds with the villagers due to him neglecting his work due to being consumed with a special project of his; his Magnum Opus.

Pius did not mind sharing the details around this great work of his when asked. A project he has to focus on to bring a dead person back to life. It is complicated work however, and the ingredients and reagents that are vital to this alchemical process are rare and hard to get a hold of. The State which appoints alcemists is also not too happy about matters that dwell into death. In order to restore life he mainly needs help with creating a new body for the essence of the dead person to live in. And the essence he has safely secured and keeps on his person at all times.

The Elites agreed to aid him with his task as long as he promised to uphold his duties to the village, which Pius happily agreed to. There was also the demand that Pius be honest and let those involved know the full nature of his Magnum Opus.

===Stage Calcination===

At a later meeting he called Elites to him to discuss the reagents he will need for his Magnum Opus.
In order to create a body that is strong enough to house the essence of a departed person, he needs strong reagents.

===The Reagents===

====A tooth from a magical creature that does not eat meat====
Gotten from a unicorn filly in Equestria with the help of Rarity, Twilight Sparkle and Staren. A magical heist with sparkles and pretty dresses.

====Five gallons of dragon blood====
This was taken from a dangerous dragon that had burnt down several villages in Danbur. Several Elites faced off against the beast in a bloody battle that luckily went in their favor.

====Essence of Lightning====
Diane led a small group consisting of Mandy Rose, Rory White, Lyria Mason and Hiei to the coastal city of Emis, where an unnatural storm had been raging for days. Upon arriving there they learned that the storm was sentient, and it took the form of an elemental that they chased around before they were able to gather lightning from it.

====A pure mineral that does not melt====
After a long trek to an abandoned village and its old mine Diane and the adventurers find traces of metal, as well as a large reptilian beast that was none too pleased at the company. Regina of Borg managed to kill it however with the help of Hiei, Rory and Lyria, and the mineral was recovered with minor injuries inflicted upon the Elites.

====A venom that can corrode platinum====
Hana led a party consisting of Pius, Diane, Kagenash, Hiei, Rory White, Staren, Lyria Mason and Mandy to a forest where they met a moth monster who had some strong venom that he would only share with them if they helped him gather food for his family. Thanks to Kagenashi and Lyria this was easily accompished.

===Stage Congelation===
Staren and Pius discuss the Magnum Opus and just who Pius seeks to revive. In addition Staren reveals his own immortality and makes an interesting offer to the Athanor siblings.

==FUTURE SCENES==

===Stage Fermentation===
Pius seeks help with preparing the reagents and getting things ready for the final stages of his Magnum Opus when something unexpected happens!

A mixed scene with both conflict and alchemic science, open for all regardless of faction.

===Stage Multiplication===
Pius wishes to extend his gratitude to those who have helped him so far with his Magnum Opus. How? By hosting a feast at the Athanor Mansion!

Social scene open to all regardless of faction.

===Stage Projection===
Her body is destroyed
But what nature has neglected the fruit of modern science shall provide
And I've broken every code of practice
But for my love I'd shift the planet's axis
She'll return to me when she's been repaired
She'll live again
And I swear I can see the gleam
In her eyes amidst the new machines
And at night I can hear her whisper...
(- from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHEJrXPvU5s)

It is time for the finale of the Great Work. After weeks of searching and preparation, it is time for the Magnum Opus to be completed. Will alchemy be victorious in the face of death? Will everything go as planned? Has it all been worth it? These questions and many more will be answered.

Open to all regardless of faction, players from prior scenes are encouraged to join. Feds are strongly encouraged to sign up!
|Info=Pius has stated openly on channels that he welcomes any who wishes to help, or even to discuss his Magnum Opus.
|State=Current
}}

2015-05-22T22:55:37Z

Sulfuros: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/05/21 |Location=Danbur <DB> |Synopsis=Diane brings Lyria, Rory, Mandy and Hiei with her to the storm struck city of Emis to hunt down a stray ..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/05/21
|Location=Danbur <DB>
|Synopsis=Diane brings Lyria, Rory, Mandy and Hiei with her to the storm struck city of Emis to hunt down a stray tempest. All in hopes of getting an essence of lightning.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=113, 670, 673, 741, 772
|Tinyplot=The Great Work
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     MUSIC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyID7dxY4qo     Essence of lightning isn't something that is just lying around.     The strange weather anomaly over the coastal city of Emis though doesn't seem to be natural however, and so Pius had contacted the multiversal forces through the radio. When a strange storm like this rages for several days there must surely be a reason, right? Natural storms do not last for this long.     White cliffs stand strong against the crashing waves of the dark ocean, and the medieval looking city seems to be under assault by the very heavens themselves. Thunder rolls across the even darker skies, and the rain is pouring down. As a result the citizens seem to have taken shelter inside, the streets mostly abandoned.     The group is lead by Diane Athanor, the younger sister of Pius, as the young woman had decided to join in and do what she can do in order to help. If only to act as a guide. She is but a normal teenager, after all. They might have a hard time before they pass through the city gates themselves, as the open road does not offer much cover. Luckily the road itself does not take them close to the cliff edge, and soon enough they are safely within the old city. The stone buildings does dampen the wind in some places, yet the narrow streets also serve as wind tunnels that might take the Elites by surprise. What might be more startling however is when thunder booms across their heads... and lightning strikes!     Also, there is a faint sound. Laughter dances on the wind.     Still shaking, Diane turns towards the group with a worried look on her face. "A-ah, that was loud!" Not to mention rather close. 

:'''{{#var:113|Rose Petal (113)}} has posed:'''     Here's Mandy! Much younger than Diane but walking along beside her casually instead of shying away like she tends to with big kids from her own world. She's dressed in a pink rain coat, with a hood. The hood has kitty ears on it. It's adorable.     She doesn't seem to react as lightning crashes abvoe! "Mmh. I've always lighted thunder storms," she says, in a sort of wistful voice. "I'm not sure why..." 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     Of all the things that're on the list of needed ingredients, 'essence of lightning' is the most abstract.. if you ask Rory White. She's currently sticking with her guide, one eye on the sky and several more IN it. Her drones do not fly well in a thunderstorm, but they're managing to stay aloft and provide her with the typical birds-eye-view of the situation.     but every time lightning strikes and thunder rolls the scientist AGI flinches and cringes, edging back a step or two.     It is her FIRST ever thunderstorm and the light and noise is triggering primal instincts she did not know she had. All the light and noise is FRIGHTENING and unknown...     "h-how will we even capture this?!" 

:'''{{#var:772|Hiei (772)}} has posed:''' Hiei suddenly appears next to Mandy, not saying a word. He holds a large bottle in his hands, which is completely covered in old looking brown paper seals. They all have strange magical writing that look almost like free flowing sribbles that a child might pass for writing. But the trained eye will see that there is clearly a pattern and repeating symbols. They also have little chains and the occasional charm hanging from them, with no particular way to see the actual glass of the bottle. The lid is metallic and has a long, sharp spike sticking out of it, likely for attracting electricity. He stares up at the sky, looking largely indifferent. Though it does occur to him to say, "The lightning should be trapped into this. Do with it what you will." 

:'''{{#var:670|Lyria Mason (670)}} has posed:''' Lightning in a bottle is basically what they are after today, and here Lyria is. She's still a bit roughed up after playing hume torpedo with Sanary the other day. She's still in good spirits she ponders at Rory's words and she crnches a bit from the lightnign, she more used to such weather than Rory. Still she sees the fear and moves over to the AGI. "....There's an expresison about catching it in a bottle but I wonde if we could use a lightning rod?" She then sets a hand on Rory's shoulder. "You don't seem used to weather like this. Are you all right?" 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     The question posed by Rory is the same that most of them might be thinking right now.     For now Diane stays close to Mandy, wrapping an arm around the small girl , as if trying to comfort her. Even if the teenager seems far more distressed by the storm raging around them than the little girl seems to be. It doesn't getter any better when Hiei suddenly appears.     "Don't scare us like that!" Diane protests, though she seems to quiet down when she spots the large bottle in his hands. Just what is that? And what are those symbols doing there? "Are... are those the things I sent you earlier today?" Her question is rather timid, and she wraps her arm a bit tighter around Mandy.     Though she does give Hiei a stern look as well. "And I do hope you are not suggesting that one of us holds that thing up and waits for lightning to strike it, that would be suicide! It's still lightning, and that isn't something to joke with!" 

:'''{{#var:113|Rose Petal (113)}} has posed:'''     Mandy doesn't resist Diane putting her arm around her. In fact she scoots a little closer! And then Hieie appears. She yelps audibly and jerks away from him, putting her hand to her head. "Don't just... teleport next to me like that! You almost gave me a heart attack!" she complains loudly.     She calms down remarkably fast, though. "There -are- people who can survive being struck by lightning. Are any of you those sorts of people?" 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     Rory White shakes her head at Mandy. "Although lightning is not always fatal to humans, survivors are never struck directly. My Synthmorph would be fried, I'd have to resleeve from backup..." Which is not a fun idea.     Hiei's appearance is met with a moment of skeptic peering, particularly at his device.     "That's... the answer?"     And there's a hand on her shoulder. She glances over it at Lyria, her shoulders bunching up. "Are all thunderstorms this chaotic?! Few things are this unsettling!" 

:'''{{#var:772|Hiei (772)}} has posed:''' "I didn't teleport, I ran." Hiei answers as he stares down at the bottle. "This seal should be able to easily contain huge amounts of magical energy. I didn't volunteer to be struck by lightning, unless you're offering to pay me more, I suppose. Or perhaps owe me a favor." He holds up the jar up with one hand, staring at it in front of his face now. "These are indeed the materials you sent me." He finally sits the jar down onto the ground, then stands up straight, removing his headband. That's when a large purple eye opens, an unmoving eye that's entirely different from his other two. It looks unnatural, never blinks, and never focuses or changes. And, with this, he stares into the sky, trying to search for some sort of intelligence. "I'll try to see if the storm is alive. I have no idea if I can, I've never dealt with something like this." 

:'''{{#var:670|Lyria Mason (670)}} has posed:''' Lyria Mason stares at Rory as she speaks of Resleeving and such. It takes her a moment to click Rory's some sort of robot. "I'll watch the bolts I throw about and don't worry I can maniplate them hopefully so they don't strike you. Wait ... I COULD attempt to contol them to our own ends and yes Rory. They normally are or more so I seen a thunder storm in the middle of a bilzzard once. Never seen anything quite like it." SHe thinks osme more as she looks over to Diane. "I could try to direct a strike into the bottle..." 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     "Even if they can survive, it's still dangerous!" Diane protests and pats Mandy on the shoulder. "Maybe if we set it on a roof top somewhere, a place high up?" The wind seems to increase in intensity as the group stands there discussing just how to go about their mission. It tugs on their raincoats and cloaks, creeps up their spines and even threatens to blow some of the smaller ones over! A bit annoyed by this, Diane tries to wrap her coat even tighter around her, making sure her hood is pulled down so she doesn't get too much rain in her face. "When have you ever heard of a storm that is alive? I mean, it seems magical and all, but..."     Just what is up with this storm?     Hiei might even notice that something seems to tug at the bottle in his hand, though there's nothing there... and the bottle rattles as it's set down on the ground. When he begins scanning though, there is something there. Though it is far from a human mind. No this... this is something far more primal.     As Lyria begins talking about throwing lightning around however, the Athanor sister looks confused and potentially worried. "Isn't there enough lightning around though...? And the lightning we need has to be different than the one produced to humans. Something elemental! It--" She is interrupted however. All of a sudden there is a might gust that bursts down the street with a loud sound that echoes between the houses. In the fact, the wind is so strong that it can be seen! But instead of blowing on, it remains in the same place, whirling around in circles and spheres that seem to stick close together, eventually combining into something. A figure takes shape! It looks vaguely female, its shape shifting in and out of existence. Its eyes glimmer with playfulness, and as it giggles sparks of lightning can be seen in the clouds above. What appears to be a mouth opens wide in a smile... and it inhales, blowing at the group! Luckily it is not as strong as the earlier gust of wind, and then the figure, whatever it is, takes off and flies off down a nearby alley!     MUSIC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLbGzeVNKao 

:'''{{#var:113|Rose Petal (113)}} has posed:'''     "...I guess we could get a lightning rod and connect it to the jar, then place the trap somewhere high up like on a church roof?" She frowns a little in through. "Um. Using magic to control the storm's lightning might work? I'm not sure if that would somehow 'taint' it though. We need pure 'primal' magical lightning, I think."     Mandy yelps, clinging to Diane as the wind picks up, doing her best not to be bowled over! And then... a figure made apparently out of wind appears before them. "Oh! Ummm... Hello!" She tries to smile warmly at the... elemental? "Are... are you this-"     But then the elemental blows at them and flies off. Well then. 

:'''{{#var:772|Hiei (772)}} has posed:''' "It's alive." Hiei says, right before the female figure forms. He vanishes from where he's standing, grabbing the jar, then appears in front of Rory. "Take this and do what you need to do." he says before leaving it sitting on the ground in front of her and vanishing again, appearing behind Diane and Mandy. The first thing he tries to do is grab the two from behind in an attempt to hold them in place. "It's incredibly primal, like a living force of nature. I'll probably be entirely unable to control it. Perhaps if it was more of a fire nature I could lure it with my youkai energy, but that would be impossible with something that has an electrical nature like this..." "My primary mission is to keep the two of you safe. I could potentially distract it enough for those two to get lightning, but that depends on if you would be safe while I do it." he explains, still not moving from behind them. 

:'''{{#var:670|Lyria Mason (670)}} has posed:''' Lyria Mason thinks for a moment she was hoping she could size control of what they need. However this is not what is actually needed she finds out. She's about to say something else in reply to Diane? When an wild elemental appears! Okay her plan was a bad one, but it was worth a shot, right? She sees the figure she looks at it and she sees it's wanting to be playful okay so it's a chase then? "Okay I was no expecting that! Humm it wants to play chase so lets play along but let's split up maybe we can catch it that way?" With that she's off like a shot trying to chase it down or more correctly to heard the elemental to the others so they might have a chance to catch it. 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     "I am NOT-" Rory begins rather emphatically the moment the Jar enters her grasp, "Risking my Synth as an AGI lightning rod. BUT..." She's quiet only briefly, and then...     Light beams down through the heavens, piercing the clouds and the storm for a brief instant. A robot has been beamed down next to Rory, and unlike her current body it really does look like a robot. Clunky and barebones, it's as simple as it gets. But she hands it to the Case Morph easily enough, and it appears dextrous enough to grip the jar without hurting it.     In fact it's moving much as if Rory's simultaneously controlling it.     Probably because she is.     And she's putting distance between the two while staring HARD at Hiei. "The storm is AWARE?! It's not just a storm?!"     The only question is...     "Should I have the spare go as high as possible and hope for the best or do we have some better plan?"     Of course this only goes on until the STRANGE BEING comes zipping around, drawing her attention - from BOTH robot bodies in fact. "The wind is... it IS alive?! Hello?" the Case moves to waggle the jar meaningfully but the wind is gone before she can. "Um... right. How do you persuade a magical storm to cooperate with you?" 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     At first Diane doesn't know what to think about the wind that takes shape in front of them. Though she is rather focused on it, so when Hiei grabs a hold of her and Mandy, Diane lets out a startled gasp. "What do you think you're doing?!" she exclaims, wriggling in attempt to get loose and even trying to push him in the face!     Lyria's next suggestion seems to be far more sensible than her previous one, and she points in the direction the elemental went. "If it wanted to harm us it would have, right? Splitting up does sound good, maybe we can chase it towards Rory if she has the bottle?" Now she pushes even harder at Hiei, let go already!     As they argue it seems the wind has taken a turn around a house as it comes back, its airy hair flowing behind it as it comes to a halt for a few seconds... and then it literally zaps off, lightning left in its wake before it dissipates into thin air. 

:'''{{#var:113|Rose Petal (113)}} has posed:'''     Mandy yelps a bit as Hiei suddenly grabs her and Diane. "Hey!" she complains, squirming a bit against him. She huffs a bit. "It doesn't seem like it wants to attack us, so, just... Stop being so jumpy, okay?" She can't help but pout a little bit. 

:'''{{#var:772|Hiei (772)}} has posed:''' "I was making sure you weren't about to die!" Hiei says with a grunt as his face is pushed at, then releases the two of them. He steps forward, taking a deep breath. "If you split up and it wants to kill us one by one, it will be a bad idea. But try anyway. You two will stay with me." he informs Mandy and Diane, suddenly drawing his sword out of no where. He tries to mentally touch the storm again, though, this time trying to send it a mental message, <<We only want a little bit of lightning, then we intend to leave you alone.>> 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     "I THINK... the wind wants to play?" Although Rory's DEFINITELY not sure.     But the case has beun to follow! Running as fast as is safe while carrying a possibly fragile jar. Around corners, past houses... chasing the lightning! 

:'''{{#var:670|Lyria Mason (670)}} has posed:''' Lyria Mason is a Geomancer she tends to look at elements in a way not a lot of people do. She also had some faulty assumptions which has now been corrected. Ya she has to hope they won't need to harm it for what needs to be done given it has no hostile intent, right? So away she goes as she attempts to chase after the elemental and then it goes poof. She's not going to give up however as she keeps hunting for the frisky elemental. 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     Diane makes sure to take a few steps away from Hiei, giving him a pointed look as he insists on following them. "I swear, if my brother hadn't paid you to look after us..." she mumbles under her breath, and she takes Mandy's hand in hers as she nods. "Okay, the three of us head down this way! Can you other two try to cut it off from another street?"     And off Rory goes, and Diane nods at Mandy. "Let's go!" She tugs on the girl's arm, and off they go down another street!     The wind lets out another ethereal laugh, the lightning crackling overhead. The rain is still pouring down around them, and the wind keeps on racing through the alleys. It does stop here and there, as if just to make sure that the party is following it. Then it takes off again, heading up the side of a house! That ought to keep Lyria from follow it, it hopes! 

:'''{{#var:113|Rose Petal (113)}} has posed:'''     And so Mandy is dragged along by Diane. "Wah... o-okay!" She runs along with the older girl. "Why am I running -towards- danger?" she muses to herself, before laughing. "I didn't think my life would ever end up like -this-." She seems to be having fun! Which is pretty odd considering they're trying to corner an elemental that could probably strike her dead with one attack. 

:'''{{#var:772|Hiei (772)}} has posed:''' "Maybe if... I don't know. It seems entirely moronic, since it's a lightning elemental. But perhaps showing elemental prowess will attract it." Hiei holds his hand out, despite the rain, then shouts, "Fist of the Mortal Flame!" before his hand is covered in a bright blaze of fire. The rain constantly steams as it hits the fire, and he just holds it out as they walk, waiting to see what will happen. If the creature has any way of telling, this fire didn't come from his body, it was summoned. Non-magical fire. 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     The Rory who's keeping distant - the 'real body' as it were - marvels at Hiei's display. Elemental control is neat and she'll have to ask him how he does that! Maybe if he'll let her measure temperatures and the like.     But that's not relevant right NOW, is it?     The 'clunkier' body that's following along picks up the pace! "Wait, please!" Though she feels this probably won't do any good, she DOES want to TRY and speak with the being... or at least catch up to her!     The case waves the little jar around, ineffectually! 

:'''{{#var:670|Lyria Mason (670)}} has posed:''' Lyria Mason gets an idea her prey flees up she smirks for a moment and closes her eyes. She can't do too much with the air here but enough to fire herself up like a missile. She flies up and is forced to land pretty hard on the roof, however she does mange to grin as she gets up and attempt to get back to her feet to chase. She's admittly having fun with this little game the elemental is intent to play. 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     What's this?     The wind halts on top of the building, perking up as Hiei summons fire. What's this? It flies closer to the edge of the roof, leaning over with a curious look in its eyes. Thunder rumbles up in the clouds, and the wind elemental slithers down partway down the wall. It doesn't seem to want to play much with the clunky robot body, sadly.     But it does yelp and startle when Lyria is on the scene, and it seems to slip over the edge of the roof! Thunder strikes nearby Lyria, and is that some annoyed chitter that leaves the wind? Either way it falls partway down to the street, but then it rises again, flying towards another roof, this time passing by Mandy and Diane... and even flies around them as lightning crackles along its tail! Diane yelps and staggers back, pulling Mandy close! "Ah...! No, don't go!" 

:'''{{#var:113|Rose Petal (113)}} has posed:'''     Mandy yelps as the elemental creature lands right in front of them - and yelps again as she's pulled in close against Diane, agaain! She stares at the spirit for a moment, then reaches a hand out. "Ah..! If you don't want to be chased, what -do- you want to do?" she asks the elemental, hoping it won't just zip off in the middle of the sentence! "It would be really helpful if you'd talk to us!" 

:'''{{#var:772|Hiei (772)}} has posed:''' "If you think this is fun, then come play with -me-!" Hiei ignites his other hand, then goes running toward the robot body. It's raining, so he figures he likely won't start any fires. This thing is a primal elemental creature, but Hiei isn't much different himself, even if he's not wielding the flames of his own energy right now. He starts firing balls of fire around, which quickly go out by the time they hit something, sometimes firing towers of flames until he's right in front of the robot holding the jar, turning around to make even more of a target of himself, waving his hands around in enticing angular and circular motions. "Obviously you don't want to play if you can't even match my flames with electricity." 

:'''{{#var:670|Lyria Mason (670)}} has posed:''' Lyria Mason is now closing in on the elemental she's almost got them. She notices that it's running gain. She's going to attempt ot run after it leaping from roof to roof. She's no Dragoon but she's pretty darn good at jumping given all teh rigging she's had to scramble about in her time. 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     This is so very irritating!     bad enough to know nothing about what exactly a sapient wind likes. Worse to... not be able to catch up. Rory's only recourse is bunching up her legs and vaulting to the rooftop, if it's only a floor or two to SOMETHING she can crawl up. The case is surprisingly good at that, but any taller and it's not an option.     Thankfully her Saucers are not at all bound like this. Though too slow to win in a race, witht he wind pausing so much one's been able to catch up!     And it comes straight down, cirrrrcling around the Wind erratically and making beeping noises!     Maybe Rory hopes this will catch its attention! 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     More chittering sounds and howling leaves the wind elemental as it passes by Mandy. Is it even capable of speech?     But it does seem to be focused on Hiei for now as he keeps on shooting fire everywhere... and it flares up, raising its arms as thunder rains down around them! It strikes the roof tops, the spires... And also near Rory!     Diane yelps and jumps back, barely dodging a stray lightning strike! "Ah! Mandy, be careful!"     This time when Lyria jumps to the roof the wind elemental turns its head to her as well as Rory who joins them, then it zaps close and flies around her, lightning crackling around its arms.     And then there's the saucers. They earn a curious look from the wind spirit before it points at the little robot and shoots lightning at it as well! 

:'''{{#var:113|Rose Petal (113)}} has posed:'''     Mandy yelps and jumps back as the creature just starts throwing lightning around. "Okay now you're just being a jerk!" She huffs, and crosses her arms. "Although... Uh, Miss White! Do you still have the jar?!" She seems to have remembered what they were actually here for. 

:'''{{#var:772|Hiei (772)}} has posed:''' Hiei immediately goes rushing around behind the robot holding the jar just as lighting begins to strike, then tries to lightly kick said robot in -front- of the lightning. "Just so we can hurry up and get this over with. I can't risk you having slow eyes." 

:'''{{#var:670|Lyria Mason (670)}} has posed:''' Lyria Mason ends up flat on her face from her failed tackle but she was so close. She's also got a face full of roof hopefully Rory's able to make the play now as the blue haired and tattooed Levitani is going to be down for a few moments from that. 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     OOOOH, LIGHTNING EVERYWHERE!     Prime Rory thread is a bit distracted with the show, Secondary Rory thread that's controlling the case has a eureka moment. THIS IS HER CHANCE!     Such is the perils of being able to multi-task your own thought process. So while the main body is gaping in awe and a bit of fear, the secondary one fearlessly controls the case over the wifi. it wobbles and stretches the jar up for the heavens -- and BZZZZZZZZRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTCHH!!!     One of the bolts strikes.     Beyond doing just whatever the jar is supposed to do, a point blank shot probably ain't doing her case any favors. The Morph throws sparks where there's some overflor and seizes up momentarily, but keeps a grip on the jar! 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     Lightning strikes all around them, but luckily it's not something on a major scale. Even as Hiei kicks the robot ahead of the group, it seems that it does help keep the spirit's focus on the strange metallic being. As lighting is attracted to metal, and it also holds the special bottle made to attract lightning, there's only one thing that can happen.     The wind elemental's summoned lightning all goes for the bottle!     It's a major shock. Literally. The force of all the combined strikes might even knock the poor thing back, lightning sizzling about, but it shouldn't be enough to cause permanent damage to the thing.     The rumbling thunder seems to ease down a little, and the wind flies around the group some more, smiling widely even as the lightning eases up, tiny sparks crackling about its fingers and tail. Then without warning, it begins to dissolve. Just as the rain starts letting up, no longer pouring as heavy as it has done the last days.     Down on the street, Diane looks rather surprised, not really sure what happened up on the rooftop. "Hey, you guys all right up there? What happened?" 

:'''{{#var:113|Rose Petal (113)}} has posed:'''     Mandy sighs a little bit as the rain seems to ease up. She puts out one hand, palm facing up, to gauge the raindrops, before pulling down her kitty-eared hood. "...Storm elementals are jerks," she declares, with a huff. "Can we go home now?" 

:'''{{#var:670|Lyria Mason (670)}} has posed:''' Lyria Mason is busy pulling her self back up, shaking her head out a bit. She shake herrt long pony tial and head as she gets her footing again and calls out. "Did we get it?" 

:'''{{#var:772|Hiei (772)}} has posed:''' Hiei suddenly returns to Mandy and Diane, grunting slightly in irritation. "The robot has the lightning. I'm escorting you back home." he says as he sheathes his sword back under his flowing cloth. "I have absolutely no interest in staying here any longer." 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     "My name is Rory White!" BOTH robots turn to Hiei and speak in eerie sync. Then they both look at each other and make an awkward face.     The kind of eerie face you can only make when being embarassed at yourself recursively.     The Case has regained basic mobility though, and carefully cradles the jar in both arms after peering at it. "Unbelievable. That did really work!" 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     "Not even now when the weather is letting up?" Diane asks and rolls her eyes in typical teenager fashion at Hiei. Though indeed, she too is relieved that Mandy is okay. "Yeah, we're going back. With the essence of lightning." She does look at the others though, smiling just a bit. "Thank you. That went a bit smoother than expected." But then she pauses and outright stares at Hiei. "Wait... you didn't know it would work...?!" she demands. 

:'''{{#var:772|Hiei (772)}} has posed:''' "Of course I knew it would work. Unless the lightning wasn't magical, then I suppose she would have died. Oh well." Hiei shrugs his shoulders, then points at Rory. "The one with the jar, give it to her." he points to Diane now, to indicate which 'her' to give it to. 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     At this point Diane's fists are shaking, and she lets out an angry huff of air! "You... you are so intolerable!" she exclaims. Though she does walk over to Rory and the robot, ready to accept the bottle with the lightning inside. 

}}

Diane's Diary April 8th (Pius Athanor)

2015-05-20T15:07:03Z

Sulfuros: Created page with "{{Cutscene Header |Date of Scene=2015/04/08 |Location= |Synopsis=The musings of Diane. |Thanks= |Cast of Characters=741 |Tinyplot=The Great Work }} April 8th It seems my ..."

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2015/04/08
|Location=
|Synopsis=The musings of Diane.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=741
|Tinyplot=The Great Work
}}
April 8th

It seems my brother's prayers have been answered.

Today it seemed like the villagers were intent on having another talk with him, and they were ready to force their way into the house again. But this time his distress signal went through, and people from the other worlds arrived. A man and three women. When Pius mentioned people from other worlds I was not sure what to expect, but I can say it wasn't anything like them. They still seemed like nice people, and they did manage to calm the villagers down. And they also promised to help.

Perhaps it can truly be done. Even if they won't do much it will still help Pius focus, and perhaps he can resume his duties while still continuing his work. Maybe even get a good night sleep for once.

I do wonder if it can be done, but when he gets excited, so do I. Maybe I can go to the other worlds too if it can help him.

The Great Work

2015-05-20T14:31:17Z

Sulfuros: Created page with "{{TPPage |Summary=Love makes you do the craziest of things, even things that defy the natural order. A heartbroken and desperate man approaches those who will aid him after hi..."

2279/Cold Blood

2015-05-20T14:04:59Z

Sulfuros: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/05/19 |Location=Danbur <DB> |Synopsis=The second reagent for the Magnum Opus is gathered from a fierce fire breathing dragon that has terroris..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/05/19
|Location=Danbur <DB>
|Synopsis=The second reagent for the Magnum Opus is gathered from a fierce fire breathing dragon that has terrorised the country side.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=42, 113, 528, 632, 670, 673, 703, 741, 765
|Tinyplot=The Great Work
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     Who is brave enough to fight a dragon?     Those with the courage and daring have been given this important task by Pius, whose physique and poor health did not allow him to join for us straining activities. Years with alchemic work has left him with a poor constitution and physique, so all he could contribute with were words of encouragement as well as five containers for the party bring with them. Each of them can contain a gallon each of dragon blood, Pius explained. And that's the main reason to slay the dragon. At least according to Pius as he had eagerly explained the different properties of dragon blood. Oh, another reason to kill the dragon? It had roasted three cities in the mountain area, so... why not? Bad dragon.     The mountains themselves are a sight. The air is heavy with fog, obscuring most of the view. Blue peaks rise in the distance and disappearing up into the clouds, and it's cold with a light drizzle. Whoever is out might want to make sure they are dressed warmly. Add in that the mountains are somewhat open, with the peaks rising sharply here and there, spikes aimed toward the sky itself. This leaves them open to the harsh winds that tug at them. Just where is the city here in this area?     A large ravine with several outcroppings cuts through the rock, and down in the large ravine the inhabitants have built themselves a city down the mountain walls and into the very rock and earth. the winding streets are visible down there below, though there are no sounds echoing off the stone, no sign of life. What is left here however is the stench of death. Something burnt is heavy on the rising air from below, and it reeks of burnt flesh.     But where is the dragon? 

:'''{{#var:670|Lyria Mason (670)}} has posed:''' A Dragon? She just had to tell her self this wasn't one of the dragons of her world. It still left her a bit wary but after what's happened with Kyra she's angry at certain parts of the system, has killed some of her hestatoin about the job, so here she was with the otehrs hunting she attempted to get a feel for hte place and the rain? She didn't seemed bothered by it she actually seemed to embrace it, notably her clothing seemed very suited for it. However she remained quiet as she kept to cover and even teh rain couldn't drown out the stench of death. "...Gods...this is no dragon as I know them." She mutters to her self and keeps her self ready for whatever she's going to find some good cover too. 

:'''{{#var:703|Orphen (703)}} has posed:''' Orphen has just the thing for cold weather. He wears a long brown tattered cloak over his normal outfit to brave the harsh winds, and carries a very standard adventuring sword with him. As far as dragon slaying equipment, he seems to be a bit lacking. He's not even wearing armor! But he did bring the container he was given, and stares down at the city. "Seems about right for dragons as I know them." he says with a dead serious look on his face, tense and very much hesitant. 

:'''{{#var:765|Gaonoir (765)}} has posed:''' Did someone mention fighting?! I wanna fight!!1! Okay so Gaonoir's response wasn't that frenetic about it. He didn't really care what the dragon had done to deserve death or what Pius intended to do with the blood. He was just here for the oppritunity to fight something other than Digimon and get a better feel for the sort of challenges that exist in this algama of worlds outside the Digital World he knows. Fog, drizzle, cold wind. The last one occasionally causes the tails of his headband to wiffle around behind him, but otherwise the weather is of little deterent to the black digimon dog. He had a thick coat of fur, and his ears and nose were a lot strong than his eyes so the obstructions to vision were of little issue other than occasionally wiping moisture off his face as he was climbing. Yes, he could of digivolved and just flew up, but that was hardly a challenge. It also would expend energy best saved for if he needs that form for the actual fight with the dragon. Said nose is what scrunchs up when he finally makes it to the outcroppings of the valley as it is assaulted by the stench from below. Death was nothing new to him. But digimon just dematerialized, none of this stink of burned flesh that was a new and very unpleasant sensation to behold. "I would complain about not seeing anything, but I've known rediculously huge digimon that can still hide without issue." 

:'''{{#var:113|Rose Petal (113)}} has posed:'''     What is a LITTLE GIRL doing here?     Maybe she's one of those superpowered Elite girls. Maybe she's an amazing martial artist. Or a mage! Or maybe she's secretly a robot. A normal little girl wouldn't be in a place like this, would she?     Mandy is currently dressed in a duffel coat, with a cossack hat on her head, pulled down over her ears. Her hands are in her pockets, but they also have mittens on them. Perched on her shoulder is... what obviously USED to be a black cat before some mad cyberneticist got their hands on it. Now two of its limbs are replaced with gleaming metal, along with half of its skull and several random patches on its back and belly. Its cybernetic eye is red and glows menacingly.     Meanwhile, beside her is a Gastly. It's just a regular Gastly.     "Mr. PomPoms, record," the girl tells the cyber-cat in a soft voice. Its eye glows slightly brighter in response. 

:'''{{#var:632|Septette Arcubielle (632)}} has posed:'''      Septette took an academic interest in the properties of dragon blood here- quite different from the dragon blood she was familiar with, which like almost everything else about them, could kill a man- but grew oddly quiet and stern as she listened to Pius's account of the devastation it had wrought. It seemed like she cared less about where the dragon's blood ended up, and more about making certain that it flowed freely in the first place.      The thick fog seemed to indicate against an aerial insertion, and so the Yggdroid set off on foot like the others. She'd come wearing only a lavender cloak, but instead of layering up, Septette discarded it before they took off, revealing a skeletal frame too inhuman to seem immodest.      The mountainous terrain seems to pose little challenge for her; her talon-like claws easily dig into the rocks here, and at times she walks almost sideways along the cliff faces. Despite her strange agility, Septette is reluctant to stray far from the rest of the group, and eventually finds herself walking alongside Mandy most of the way. "Tell me if you get tired, okay, little one? I could carry you. It's quite a long walk, after all." There's nothing intentionally condescending in her tone, but it might be taken that way... 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     It's ALWAYS more fighting. Rory White had promised to try and help Pius in his mad quest, and wasn't about to back down when things get a little dangerous. After all, comapred to others, she feels she has little to lose from a failure. Hopefully.     Her drones roam the heavens, using the entire electromagnetic spectrum to comb the mountains despite the fog and the mist and the distance. She doesn't appear to be armed at all, having come in a skintight white suit that's covered in glowing circuit-lines (yes, totally inspired by Grid fashion) and over this, a belt covered in a handful of small tools of this sort and that.     "Olfactory sensors... this odor is v-very unpleasant!" Unpleasant enough that she actually pinches her nose shut. 

:'''{{#var:528|Bahamut (528)}} has posed:'''      Some dragons take offense when they hear that there is an evil dragon causing havoc. One such dragon is the great metal dragon, Bahamut. He has few options for making his appearance -not- cause some kind of panic if there are people down there, so Bahamut chooses to fly in over the mountains and down into the valley. Hopefully no one will mistake his grey and multi-colored form for the dragon in question.      Bahamut makes his way down to land in the the main road, and tries to limit his instinctive roar that would announce his arrival. He still rumbles quite loudly, but doesn't actually roar. He stands tall after he lands, wings spreading wide before folding against his back and his arms crossing over his chest. He surveys the area. He snorts, then shakes his head. "The smell of death is always unpleasant." he says as he hears someone mention it. 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     The open area makes sounds carry really well, especially by the ravine. The area is rather open too, so perhaps it's not the best place to hide.     Which might make it less of a surprise when there's a sound rising from the city below them. The sound of something striking rock echoes over and over, growing fainter and fainter... And there it is again.     Of course, with the echoes it might be hard to pinpoint the exact location that it originates from.     Especially when there's a high pitched shriek that rises from below. 

:'''{{#var:113|Rose Petal (113)}} has posed:'''     "I don't need to be carried," Mandy responds to Septette, even if she IS looking a little tuckered out now. "The Other Person did stuff like this all the time. I know my body's capable of it, too."     For some reason, she seems completely unfazed by the stench of death. Almost as if she's -used- to it. The sudden high pitched shriek makes her yelp, though, jumping to the side and kinda... half-hiding behind the closest person, who happens to be Septette. "M... Mana! Turn invisible and see if you can find out what made that sound...? Um. But return as quick as you can if it seems dangerous!"     "Gaaaastly~" the Gastly responds in assent, and promptly vanishes from sight as it hovers down into the ravine. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren's here in his armor. It can conveniently filter out the smell. Lyria gets a friendly nod, as does Septette and Rory, and Bahamut... he doesn't know Gaonoir.     Mandy, though... Staren stares. "Mandy? Are... I'm glad to finally see you, but are you sure you're ready to fight a /dragon/? I mean... have you been training in combat or anything?" He digs a potion out of his bag. "If you drink this, you'll be protected by a forcefield that should stand up to a few hits from even a dragon." He blinks. "Or... maybe you have already made something like that yourself..." He blinks. "Your body? You mean, your body /isn't/ a normal human's?" 

:'''{{#var:703|Orphen (703)}} has posed:''' "What..." Orphen grips his sword when Bahamut flies down, -immediately suspicious-. But then when he hears the shriek, the sound, and the fact that the thing spoke, he figures this must not be the dragon they're looking for. "Enter My Arms, Nera!" he says like an incantation, then just jumps down, very slowly falling down the side of the mountain to try and inspect things up close and personal. "I'm going on ahead, I'll let you know what I find. Don't worry, I'm not dumb enough to fight a dragon alone, or at all. But we'll see what happens." 

:'''{{#var:765|Gaonoir (765)}} has posed:''' Half-folded ears perk up stiffly as the sounds of clatter and a scream echo from down below. "Well, there is definately -something- down there." With a snort and a moment trying to at least partially pinpoint where the sounds came from, Gaonoir leaps off the ridge he was perched on over the city, rebounding off a rooftop and a few walls to make sure he doesn't fall too fast. At the last wall he slides down a bit before pushing off, and as he does so a corona of bright energy engulfs him suddenly. * Black Goamon, DIGIVOLVE TOOOOOOOO-- * Fortunately the city is already mostly dead so there's little to be disrupted by the brief pulse of digital disturbance that happens when the energy cocoon breaks away. * BLACK GAOGAMON * And from it a black bear-sized creature with a wolf-like head lands on the pavement instead of the previous child-sized form he had been. Yet despite the size of his Adult form Gaonoir has little trouble slipping into the shadows of the dead city, stalking in the general direction the shrieking had come from. 

:'''{{#var:528|Bahamut (528)}} has posed:'''      Bahamut, already down in the town, hears the shriek and takes off like a gigantic football player. His footsteps rumble through the ravine. He is careful not to crash into any buildings, but is still moving pretty quickly. "Reveal yourself, foul dragon!" he bellows as he moves toward where the scream came from.      Then, he spreads his wings and takes to the sky again, flying rapidly over the town to see if he can spot the victim from above. He notices the others, but he is in defender mode at the moment, so socialization is just about the farthest thing from his mind. 

:'''{{#var:632|Septette Arcubielle (632)}} has posed:'''      Septette eyes Bahamut a little warily, but doesn't seem actively hostile towards him. "The... Other Person?" That line of questioning is cut short when the first sound resonates from below them. With a quiet metallic sound, a pair of wicked-looking blades fold out of her forearms, her claws seem to lengthen, and the robot's presence on sensors, already disproportionate, abruptly spikes as her reactor core's output increases. When Mandy ducks behind her, Sept shifts slightly to place herself directly between Mandy and the source of the shriek, even though there doesn't seem to be any immediate danger...      A trio of small, spherical drones- one yellow, one blue, one red- teleport in around her, hovering. They seem fragile and unarmed, but the blue one inches closer to Mandy protectively, as if it could do something to help should the dragon come at them. Meanwhile, Septette switches her vision to thermals, hoping to pick up the dragon's heat signature through the smoke... 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     "I'm after the blood, not its death, even if the latter leads to the former. It's likely to be a ferocious opponent. I'll observe its tactics and search for openings! ... IF that's it down there. It certainly sounds like it!" She's actually disoriented by the noise, clapping a hand to her head.     Then she's asking Staren, "You have experience with dragons, right?!" 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     The shriek finally dies down, though there are still faint sounds echoing to and fro among the cliff walls.     Upon descending all of them should notice that the city is in total chaos. Scorch marks scatter the stone, and there's blood in places along with what are... remains? Corpses that have been feasted up, a grim and disturbing sight. There still some minor fires in places, but it seems to be dying down. There's heat everywhere, and the stone is warm in places as well, which might make it a bit difficult to spot anything moving. At least at first.     Something slithers. Something stirs.     And the only warning Orphen gets during his slow descent into the city. Behind him something glimmers briefly in the darkness, perhaps something seen by the others, particularly the Gastly as it drifts downwards as well nearby. It might serve as a warning to them before something bursts out a dark window in the cliffside.     The dragon itself is large, but incredibly slim like a snake with limbs and wings. Its maw opens up as it leaps forward through the air towards Orphen, crimson wings spreading in a massive span. Its eyes are set on the slow moving prey, and sparks are already dancing about its sharp teeth. 

:'''{{#var:113|Rose Petal (113)}} has posed:'''     Mandy peers at Staren for a moment. "Of course I'm human. What?" She looks confused. "I have been training! Althoouuugh, uuuh. I'm mostly here to. You know. -Watch-. And I'm probably the best at alchemy here in case Mister Athanor needs... something done to the blood. I guess." Mostly she's just here because she wants to feel important.     She takes the potion. "Thank you. I'll drink it as soon as it starts to get unsafe. How long does it last?"     And then the dragon is making itself known. Mana immediately zips back up to cower behind Mandy. She's... not much of a fighter, really. Mandy gulps... and downs the potion, quickly. 

:'''{{#var:703|Orphen (703)}} has posed:''' "Wha-- damnit!" Orphen turns around. Then realizes he's about to be -eaten-. "I Dance, Through The Dimensions!" He does -not- try to fight this thing, he instead immediately teleports down -behind- Bahamut. "EVERYONE! The dragon is here, be on your guard!" 

:'''{{#var:528|Bahamut (528)}} has posed:'''      Bahamut may be flying, but he is no agile fighter. When the enemy dragon emerges, he has to bank hard to head toward it. By the time he circles around, it will likely be upon Orphen. Bahamut roars out a challenge to the snake-like dragon, hoping to draw its attention. Whether that works or not, he is already preparing a spell.      With Orphen out of harm's way for now, Bahamut throws one of his most powerful spells. Flare. The smaller cousin to his signature breath attack. It is still destructive in its own right. Pure energy coalesces around the long thin dragon, then explodes violently. "Face me, you monster!" Bahamut bellows. 

:'''{{#var:765|Gaonoir (765)}} has posed:''' Unfortunate for that dragon, it's not the only predator that can hide and wait for it's prey to come along. Shadows between the buildings warp as Gaonoir uses their dark span to move up the surface of the walls, and then launch himself out from between them into the open. The scarves from around his neck react much like limbs on their own whipping out to try and snag onto the dragon's tail as it's chasing after Orphen. "It's about time you showed yourself, you over grown gartner snake!" 

:'''{{#var:632|Septette Arcubielle (632)}} has posed:'''      Septette nods slightly in approval at Orphen's quick repositioning, then gestures and redirects her drones: the red one circles around Mandy at a radius of several feet, emitting a very faint energy field around itself. The blue and yellow bots dart in front of her, one on each side. Anyone with the proper expertise and sensors would easily be able to tell what they are: tiny conduits, useless on their own, but allowing Septette to cast and store elemental magic through them. She charges up the blue drone for a second or two, then launches it towards the dragon, leaving a plume of sublimated ice crystals in its wake. On getting close enough, it'd release Septette's spell by condensing the moisture in the air into jagged blades of ice that fire themselves in a shotgun-like blast at the dragon's wing-membranes.      As she starts to charge the yellow drone, Septette glances over her shoulder at Mandy, trying to decide whether to stay and protect the girl or go and unload on the dragon up close. "Do you want me to stay, little one?" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren nods at her explanation. As long as she knows she's squishy.     It'd suck for her to get killed by a dragon after all the effort that was gone to to give her life in the first place.     "Twenty minutes," he answers, and then there's a dragon. He turns, wings manifesting as he takes to the air to improve his mobility, and the missile launchers on his armor's shoulders raise into position... no, damn, it's too close to that guy. He'll need a different weapon. Staren holds out his arms -- A series of small holes in the armor's forearms are revealed as missile launch ports, and six tiny missiles about the size of a magic marker fly out, trying to ram into the dragon and explode with power that might be expected from some kind of futuristic grenade or the like. The blast radius is only a few feet, so Orphen hopefully won't get caught in any explosions! 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     If the smell was unpleasant before, now it's simply horrifying. Rory would be thankful that she can't smell it in full, but she has no idea this is even the case.     "Best to keep a distance! I'll be doing the same, Mandy!" A distance, yes, but... she takes cover nonetheless behind some rock outcroppings during the descent when one of her drones spots some STRANGE movement down below. "What is--"     THEN, DRAGON.     "...That..."     The ruined city further below is scanned in totality in very little time, a full topographical map reated and a count of obvious bodies taken. The results are chilling... easily enough to get Rory flinching back a little.     "See? Ferocious!"     Not jsut that. Also TERRIFYING.     But her 'hardsuit' has some surprises. The wrist opens up, unfolds, and forms a tiny launcher for SOME kind of dart.     With a tiny explosion the dart is OFF, trailing a wire so thin it's almost impossible to see. The little dart splits in two upon nearing the draon, both showing the tiniest flare of ROCKET THRUSTERS. If one could see them closely, they'd see surfaces on the little darts changing slightly to adjust for wind and gravity, ensuring that both fly...     STRAIGHT for one of the eyes!     IF both attach, things will get mighty painful, QUICKLY, because it's the delivery system for a TAZER of tremendous output! 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     Gaonoir's scarves might just have saved Orphen there. The added pull slows the beast down! The dragon lets out a roar of fury when it misses its mark, teeth snapping down upon empty air. And now it should be easier to get a good look at the beast, as it coils around in the air mid-flight, its massive wings beating down to bring it upwards. Its scales glimmer with crimson, accented by a smoky black in places. Slim it may be, but it is about fifty to sixty feet in length, its wingspan massive in order to allow it to fly. Its feet are sharp claws, and spikes upon its head gives it a sinister appearance. The golden eyes set in its skull are those of a predator, not of great intelligence. Make no mistake, this is a beast. A beast that hungers.     As it recovers from its unfruitful attack, it is open for attack itself. The Flare hits it, and the dragon roars out, staggering as it is forced to flap its wings to not lose altitude as it is scorched. Likewise Septette's icy magic seems to cling to its scales, chilling it in places and even tearing through a wing in several places. But alas, with the Flare attack it seems to heat things up a bit too much for the ice attack to be truly effective. The micro missiles tear into the dragon as well, scorching a few scales and leaving a few open patches of skin here and there, even drawing some blood.     The taunt does work; immediately the dragon sets its eyes upon Bahamut and flies towards him with an angry shriek. For now it does try to whip its tail in an attempt to free itself from the scarves there, but it's also easily angered.     It is hard to charge when ones eyes are struck however. With the others attacking it the dragon is already slowed and easier to strike, but still, it trashes a bit from the other impacts, leaving it a bit harder to hit such small targets as the eyes. Rory does manage to strike it near its left eye however, and the electric shock does not go unnoticed as the large creature convulses, shaking its head in pain!     While it can't get close to Bahamut, it does have its most dangerous weapon ready.     In defines it draws breath, and within seconds fire spews forward as it throws its head back and forth in pain. The heat and fire dance up along the walls of the cliff, threatening to strike anything that does not seek cover or gets out of the way! 

:'''{{#var:113|Rose Petal (113)}} has posed:'''     Mandy looks up at Septette. "Miss Robot, if you think you could protect the group better if you were in melee combat rather than at range, then I would urge you to go punch it in the face." She takes a deep, steadying breath, then creeps a bit forward to get a better view of the fight down below. "The Other Person tended to protect people that way, too."     Mr. PomPoms's robotic eye continues to record! 

:'''{{#var:765|Gaonoir (765)}} has posed:''' While the dragon is recovering from coming up short and getting bombarder by attacks Gaonoir uses the grip of his scarf-limbs to pull himself farther up to the creature's backside, hanging on while it wheels about and then starts spewing out flaming breath at it's other attacks. Thank Yggdrassil he's in back and not in the front! This is a somewhat perilous position, so he doesn't dare let go with the scarves. But thankfully they aren't the only thing he can attack with. With a growl he curls his front digits into the beast's scales to help hold on, then raises the other paw over his head. "NACHT CLAW!" Energy of pure darkness radiates around the already large and sharp claws as Gaonoir lashes out, trying to tear through those scales and cause additional bloody wounds while the dragon is distracted by the other attackers it's trying to flambe. 

:'''{{#var:703|Orphen (703)}} has posed:''' Orphen finally lands onto a tall rooftop, as the streets would have been less than ideal, and he doesn't want to have to waste mana trying to get back up. But this is a pretty good vantage point, and he immediately tries to make another opening for Bahamut and the others. He sticks his generic sword into the roof, then holds his arms out, staring up as he tries to determine a weak point in the dragon's body. "Divide the Wall of the Sky!" he says right before swinging his arms forward, as if performing a Sonic Boom. In fact, large white energy blades go spinning toward it. Not made of sonic energy, but pure magical energy aimed for one of the dragon's wings. 

:'''{{#var:528|Bahamut (528)}} has posed:'''      As the enemy dragon spews fire everywhere, Bahamut shields his face behind an arm and growls as the flames roll over him. He closes in as the dragon thrashes, and aims his bulk and his powerful claws at the other wing. It will be kind of hard to target accurately, but Bahamut tries to aim so that if he misses he will rake the dragon's side.      Hopefully, with his and Orphen's attacks, the terrible wyrm will be grounded. 

:'''{{#var:632|Septette Arcubielle (632)}} has posed:'''      Septette glances over her shoulder at Mandy and nods reluctantly, then turns to look at the dragon. It's a decent distance from her, but also a good distance below... and that's the key to her approach. Crouching for a moment, the robot launches herself towards the dragon at startling speed, cracking the rocks she was standing on with the force of her leap.      The red drone freezes in place directly between Mandy and the dragon, and Sept channels a destructive-interference mana pulse through it to deflect any fire attacks that come Mandy's way. Meanwhile, the yellow drone darts alongside Septette, charging the thrusters in her legs with additional electricity and giving her velocity a considerable boost. The robot has far too much momentum to swerve out of the way of her opponent's fiery breath, and the yellow drone overheats and explodes beside her as it's caught in the jet of flame. Septette herself emerges smoking but apparently unharmed, and sticks one of her legs out to the side as she pulses one of the thrusters just before reaching the dragon.      Additional sharp-looking blades fold out of her legs as that last maneuver sends her into a rapid spin, making her look like something that belongs at the bottom of a blender. If she's anywhere near the drake, she'll make small course corrections to ensure that she can slice into its thin body with at least some of those horrible blades, but her deceptively-dense body weighs as much as an average car- while there's surprising power behind her strokes, it won't be easy to change course now. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     The fight has begun! The dragon's wounded after only seconds. Staren wasn't sure how tough it would be, but he feels more confident about fighting it now. As long as none of them get too careless, they should be able to take this thing!     Staren keeps to the air, moving further away from the cliff as the fire rolls up, over the dragon. He considers how to attack it. With all that thrashing about, ranged attacks that aren't homing or wide-area might miss... his best wide-area attacks are based on heat, though. Getting into melee exposes him to claws and teeth... and possibly to his allies' attacks as well! What was he just thinking, about not being careless? Better to risk taking slightly longer to kill the dragon, than to take unnecessary risks to kill it earlier. He pulls the laser sniper rifle off his back as he lands atop the cliff and takes aim.     He's not bothering with trying to focus on weak points ot anything, just hitting it to wound. As soon as he has that reticle over part of its body, he fires a 3-pulse burst, invisible, silent beams of coherent light that will hopefully superheat and explode spots on the surface of its skin.     Do lasers work on fire-breathing dragons? Let's find out! 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     Thankfully Rory's ALREADY under cover when the fire comes rushing her way, but she is still not unscathed. The sheer heat melts chunks of her exposed innner workings, rendering the tazer useless for a second shot. "It's hot enough for THAT?!" Rory's more than a little amazed at this. Her thermal readings are OFF THE CHARTS here!     And even shielding herself with the arm behind the rock's not doing much. Good thing she doesn't have to BREATHE, right?     Once the fire passes she emerges from the outcropping cover again, now throughly covered in scorch marks, hair an utter mess.. and skin missing in parts, to show the workings of elaborate robotic parts beneath.     Not that this seems to bother her yet. She takes aim with her other arm, activating a diferent system. Panels unfold from the hardsuit, assembling into a small laser which she uses in concert with Staren's efforts! 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:''' Gaonoir clings onto the dragon's back, and it lets out a roar as the dark claws dig into its back, scraping against the scales and slipping in-between some of them. Dark blood splatters, and luckily it's not acid as it spews forth. Immediately the dragon begins shaking and twisting, attempting to pry the nasty pest off of its back!     The magical energy summoned by Orphen strikes out and hits one of the wings, tearing into it in two places. The effect is immediate. With less force to keep it up it starts sinking down on its left side, and a frustrated roar can be heard echoing as it desperately tries to stay airborne. And as Bahamut attacks the other wing, he too tears into the thin skin there as well as scraping the dragon's side.     Downwards it goes, slowly but surely. And without its ability to fly, it's a sitting duck for Septette's dangerous blades. Its hide is still tough thanks to those scales, but as more and more people slice into it, it's easier. The fire and ice from earlier also make their task easier. The spinning blades force their way through, and more blood is drawn as it slowly falls, wings flapping in failed attempts to rise to the sky once more. And the lasers, combined from Staren and Rory too seem to have some effect as they fire into the scales, striking them and exploding against the softer skin underneath. Three explosions burst, and the dragon staggers, momentarily stunned for now.     And then it crashes into the ground with a wailing shriek. 

:'''{{#var:703|Orphen (703)}} has posed:''' "Get the blood, just in case this thing knows spells!" Orphen shouts, then immediately pulls his sword from the ground, grabs the blood container, and makes a huge leap from the roof. "I Call Thee, Heavenly Jump!" He tries to land next to the dragon and stab his sword into its side, then he holds the container up to it as he attempts to collect its blood. 

:'''{{#var:528|Bahamut (528)}} has posed:'''      "Good work, everyone!" Bahamut roars as the dragon heads toward the ground. He makes his way around, then comes in behind the falling dragon. He aims for just behind its head and pounces, attempting to pin the dragon down and wrap his arms and legs around its neck. Then, he aims his claws for its jugular. He intends to end this quickly.      And as he has no blood gathering devices, he will leave that part to others as he attempts to strangle the dangerous beast. 

:'''{{#var:632|Septette Arcubielle (632)}} has posed:'''      Septette tries to grapple onto the dragon midair, but all that momentum works against her here: instead of digging into its flesh, her blades simply pass through with an awful ripping noise and a spray of dark blood. Firing one thruster again, the robot stabilizes her wild spinning somewhat- enough to channel another icicle spell through the blue drone still floating nearby, aimed at its pre-existing wounds, in an attempt to freeze some of its blood solid.      Then she hits the side of a building. There's a plume of dust as her metal body plows through the wall, and a shrieking noise as her claws dig into the floor in an attempt to slow down her momentum. Septette doesn't come to a complete halt until she hits the back wall of the building, but looks back out the gaping hole she unintentionally created and splits into a manic grin as she spies its body writhing on the ground. Breaking into a sprint, she folds in the blades on her legs again, and aims a sweeping stroke at one of the gashes on its side once she gets close enough- the robot doesn't trust it to bleed to death in a timely fashion, so she intends to sever its spine instead. 

:'''{{#var:765|Gaonoir (765)}} has posed:''' Gaonoir succeeds in drawing blood, but before he can get out his jug (where is he even keeping it? Must be some sort of inventory thing) the dragon starts twisting and thrashing about in the air. It's a wild ride, and despite his best efforts the digimon is thrown off the dragon's body hurtling throught he air and into the side of a building. With enough force to cause a part of it, and the building itself to collapse. It's a good thing the city is unoccupied other than the dead. But there's a dull thoom beneath the building rubble, and even before the dust settles a flash of dark energy can be seen and then the pile of debris erupts from a small explosion as a form comes literally rocketing out of the wreckage. As he pulls up to hover in the air briefly this figure can be seen to be a lot more humanoid in form. Now wearing some kind of body fitting bionic flight suit, and a pair of huge mechanical gauntlets over his hands. But the dark colored, wolf-like head is a clear indicator of who it is as he adjusts his aviator visor with one hand. Then clenches both into bit metallic fists that start to glow with dark energy much like his claws did before. "Fine then. I'll just PUNCH out all of your blood!" The jet engines that serve him like a rocket pack ignite fully and the digimon hurtles towards the dragon at tremendous speed to do just that with his glowing bionic fists. "KNUCKLE CRUUUUUSHAAAAAAHR!" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren keeps his rifle trained on the dragon as it falls. He holds his fire, no point in damaging the corpse if it's dead... but /is/ it dead? He watches as down below, Septette and Gaonoir make sure of it.     He'll shoot again if it moves. They don't need him to collect the blood. 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     Witht he dragon dealt with... and finally going down to the ground, she WOULD breathe a sigh of relief, but well.. she doesn't breath. But she does cheer a little! "Good teamwork!"     Not that she's happy about harming something. necesary violence never makes her happy. "At the least this creature doesn't seem to be a person, simply an animal..."     For now, all she can do is keep up the distant laser assault, aiming for softer tissues and existing wounds where possible! 

:'''{{#var:670|Lyria Mason (670)}} has posed:''' Lyria Mason has been laying in wait as everyone else engages the dragon she's been waiting watching laying plans and attempting to put something together to help deal with the creature. It's taken some time to do si but with Remopra acitng as an am she's abotu ready with her plan. IT should hopefully distract the dragon from everyone else. She watches as Rory and Staren do thei thing that is when she strikes. The magitehc drones shifgt and wiat what's that she's doing it's a sonic attack which seems to be ... focused boy band music from her world. She's known for using sonic grenades based on that but she's trying to make something akin to a Dub Step gun it seems. "TAKE THAT YOU OVER GROWN LIZARD!" 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     For people of this world a dragon is a deadly threat. For the dragon however, a group of fierce Elites is more than enough to bring it down to its knees. And with them being here for another reason as well, its fate has been sealed.     Ganged up upon, the big creature is unable to get up, and it spits fire even as they get the idea to strike from behind, at least some of them. Bahamut pins it down and makes it harder for it to breathe fire on the others, and as his claws dig into its neck it desperately struggles. Still, his aim is true as blood spurts out with intervals from the dragon's neck.     The other strikes too are easier to land upon the intended spots now that the dragon is grounded. Septette's ice magic does freeze the blood, and as she returns from crashing through the building she is successful in severing the dragon's spine below its shoulders. Its hind legs and wings are now useless, though its upper body still struggles against the impossible odds the dragon faces.     It's in pain, roaring, and the punches stun it and stop it from breathing more deadly fire. Though there's still some minor fires around them, creating a dramatic lighting as the dragon's struggling shadow is projected upon the cliff wall.     It doesn't last long, not with these many cuts. Eventually the dragon stills, its eyes rolling back into its skull. The blood flow dies down, but there's more than enough blood for the containers that Pius provided. 

:'''{{#var:765|Gaonoir (765)}} has posed:''' "And if you know what's good for you, you'll STAY down and DIE properly," Gaonoir practically barks as he pulls back from the dragon for a moment. Holds up his fists and peers at the streaks of blood dripping from them. "Is this the stuff we're after? Bleh! Non digital lifeforms are -messy- when they die." All the same he makes sure his jug is filled, and gets chilled for the trip back. 

}}

1981/Catalyst

2015-05-20T13:57:56Z

Sulfuros:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/04/08
|Location=Danbur <DB>
|Synopsis=Elites find their way to the Athanor manor, where they are met by an angry mob and an eccentric alchemist.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=85, 232, 262, 670, 673, 741
|Tinyplot=The Great Work
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lqpMUkt8DM     It's early evening, yet it's already dark in this world as the Elites arrive through the warp gate at the top of a hill. But despite the approaching darkness a somewhat clear view of the valley is still possible. Farmlands dominate the mostly flat area, with scattered groups of trees in areas. Off in the horizon lies what appears to be a village, and a rather sizeable one at that where it's nestled between some hills.     What might draw more attention however is a large manor at the end of a road. By the looks of it, it has seen better days. Paint is peeling off of the old woodwork, vines and weeds have pushed aside flowers in what once might have been a grand garden, and the house itself seems to be just as quiet as the area.     If it weren't for the group of people gathered in front of the large house itself.     It's a large crowd, and their angry voices and cries travel up the hill, easily heard even if the words themselves are mostly hard to make out. Some of them are repeated by several people, yelled loudly as they raise whatever they are carrying in their hands, whether it be lanterns, torches or weaponry.     "ATHANOR!"     "- not right what you're doing!"     "This has gone on for long enough!"     The house remains quiet despite all the noise going on outside, curtains drawn at all the windows. 

:'''{{#var:232|D (232)}} has posed:'''     The distress signal manages to rouse D from his usual brooding isolation. Its source is quickly traced, thanks in part to its lack of encryption, and in part to the Union's effective technology. As it so happens, the Hunter is not very far from a convenient warpgate, and with that knowledge bearing down on him, he can't help but react despite his general apathy for playing the hero.     He goads his cyborg horse across one transdimensional barrier with his cape flying behind him like outstretched wings. The steed's charging pace doesn't match D's lack of concern, but setting an urgent pace lends him an appearance of care he can't otherwise muster. To appear empathetic is all that's required to deflect most questions; the cold-hearted dhampir learned and mastered this deception a very long time ago.     "Quit being so dramatic. No one cares if you don't care about what you're doing. It's only important for you to do anything at all, right?" The disembodied voice carries a snicker, and draws D's eyes downward. "What? You think anyone else actually gives a shit about these random alarms? It's probably nothing."     "It doesn't look like nothing." D redirects his gaze down the road ahead to the milling crowd. "That's a lynch mob."     The Hunter hunkers down in his saddle, and completes his journey to the crowd's perimeter, his steed coming to a dramatic, skidding halt mere inches from a collision. His glare takes on a steely gleam as he looks over the crowd.     His beauty firelit, his shifting focus an unrelenting force bearing down on the minds of the weak, he calls out in a cold voice: "What is your purpose here." 

:'''{{#var:85|Kagenashi (85)}} has posed:'''     Kagenashi has never really been one to go and offer aid to someone requesting it, but the fact remains that she is an ever curious soul, and an unfamiliar voice will, now and then, manage to draw her interest.     Such is why she slips out of the warp gate today with Munashi close at her heels. She's left Nageki behind, but her katanas are still mounted on her arms in case an attack comes her way. And judging by the angry mob forming outside that large home, such a thing just might happen.     The nogitsune's mind is ever sharp. She knows that approaching the mob as she is right now would only lead to further wariness and concern; she looks nothing like them, after all, and if she's familiar with mobs in this sort of situation, they could find any reason to consider her a threat.     ...oh, but there's D. Strange to see /him/ here, but...considering he's addressing the crowd, that should be more than enough of a distraction for her to slip through.     Kagenashi seems to vanish in midair, but the keenest eye peering for any sign of her might still make out the ghostly, faint outline of her form, and she still shines obviously in the sight of those possessed of spiritual sight. It's in this silent form that she slinks down to the crowd, gliding along past them and moving ahead to the house like some wandering ghost. Munashi must take the path of weaving through the shadows cast by flickering torchlight, but she is as skilled as her master in careful, imperceptible movement.     Once they both find their way to the structure, Kagenashi simply stands outside: it's Munashi who moves to find any cracks in the door or windows that she can slip through to find her way inside and investigate exactly what's gotten this mob so worked up. 

:'''{{#var:262|Fiera Kitsun (262)}} has posed:''' It's impossible to get lost if you don't have a particular destination in mind. It's a rather Zen theory of navigation, and not one that Fiera usually holds to, but it *is* sometimes profitable - for various definitions of 'profit,' at least. In this case, it has the useful benefit of putting her near to the source of that distress call, so she's able to divert course and go to investigate without too much trouble. When the red-haired Pokemon trainer reaches the village and the manor outside of it, Fiera is airborne, clinging to the legs of a Fearow; rather than descend straight at the crowd, trainer and Pokemon bank away so that they can descend somewhere behind the crowd. Once they've landed, Fiera recalls her Fearow and starts making her way towards the crowd, her hand resting on a couple of her Pokeballs, ready to pluck one and release its occupant if necessary. She's hoping that it won't be, and she's not sure how the locals will react to a Pokemon - she'd just as soon not find out, particularly since most of her current team are relatively inexperienced ... 'relative' to the veterans she'd been working so heavily with before her forced vacation, at least. 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     "A-ayack!" THUMP! Behind the gathered mob, Rory White faceplants into the ground. NORMAL GRAVITY, her eternal nemesis! The one thing capable of tripping her up out of completely nowhere.     She didn't actually arrive via warp gate, but rather a brief-lived beam of blue light from the heavens that deposited her and a tiny number of human-sized robot drones (with arms and human-like torsos, but weird inhuman faces and often on treads or four leg assemblies) that parade behind her. And two that hover! Tiny Saucers the size of frisbees that are decked out with every kind of sensor imaginable. One floats high above, circling like a hawk or perhaps crow.     Another orbits the far side of the house, hunting for a way in. Like an open window. 

:'''{{#var:670|Lyria Mason (670)}} has posed:''' Lyria Mason had picked up the distress call but wasn't much more sure about what was up other than the confusing message. It was pretty garbled but she does catch however people in a mob outside which leaves the Levitani more than a bit cautious she know how a mob can get. So she's just not barrling in. D's however taken the lead here and asks what she was about to. "Yes just what is going on here that has you all up in arms?" 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     The arrival of the dhampir is a cause for alarm for several of the people gathered in front of the house, and some of them turn, staring up in a mix of horror and awe at the imposing man on his dark street. A woman blinks twice before she raises her arm, pointing at him as she tries to sound confident. "You do not belong here, this is none of your business!" Another man further back in the crowd steps forward as well, a scowl on his face. "We're only doing what we should have done decades ago!"     A loud chorus of approval rises from the crowd, and there's rattling with several lanterns and pitchforks. The response from one of the men is to Lyria and D both. "That man has shirked his duties long enough, him and his entire family! We do not pay taxes so the likes of him can continue doing NOTHING!" another voice chimes in.     As more Elites arrive through they seem a bit confused, muttering amongst themselves and clearly discussing these new people who are strangers in these lands.     Fiera and her fearow earn a harsh glare from some of the people, even more when the Pokemon goes back into its pokeball. Rory likewise earns a gasp of surprise from her sudden arrival. Are there whispers of 'witchcraft' going through the crowd? Quite possibly. And the robot drones too seem to not be well received for some reason.     "Who are you people? Did you come from the capital to force more taxes on us as well?" a man asks with clear disapproval. "We have rights!" The mob joins in, all yelling and chattering, shaking their held items to make their annoyance even more clear if that is possible.     With such an old house there are several options for Munashi if she wishes to enter the house. There are some rotten woodwork in places, and even some broken windows at the back of the house, though it can be tough to know just where she will end up. Is that a foul smell coming from inside one of the back rooms? It's not completely quiet in there either. 

:'''{{#var:232|D (232)}} has posed:'''     "I represent no capital of yours. I also do not care for whatever taxes your village owes, or whatever other debts your capital cares to collect. I have come in response to a cry for help, I assume from the man you've trapped inside his home. My name is D. I represent the Union."     D's hellish cyborg horse produces an electronic-sounding as if to reinforce the Hunter's dim disdain for capitals and tax-collecting. Its yellow eyes blaze as brightly as the torches and lanterns wielded by the angry mob.     "Tell me more of your purpose. What does this man owe you? Why does it require a mob, and not a more peaceful resolution? I mean you no harm," he adds as a definite afterthought, "and only care to mediate this dispute until it reaches a satisfying conclusion for all involved. If you will not accept such, then I suppose we shall /all/ consider what other measures are to be taken." 

:'''{{#var:85|Kagenashi (85)}} has posed:'''     Kagenashi's attention is on the Elites beginning to show up; all of them, unfortunately for her, apparently Union or not affiliated with anyone. Of course she would find herself the only Confederate here tonight. Oh, well. She'll simply have to be careful.     Munashi, meanwhile, is wasting no time. She flits and slips through the shadows, scanning alertly for any possible entrance she can find. That strange, vile smell is troublesome, however, just enough to draw her attention. The shadow formed into a fox's shape slinks around the back of the house, and her keen senses carry her to the window that seems to be the closest to the source of that smell. Maybe she won't find that source right away, but the broken window is a decent start: without another moment's hesitation, she peers over the edge just long enough to ensure that no one is inside before slipping into the room.     Kagenashi has no interest in exploring herself. Munashi is an extension of all her senses, and while the shadow fox works, Kagenashi remains invisible at the front of the house, watching the proceedings and waiting to see what happens. Maybe she'll have to get involved herself, soon enough... 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     Blink blink BOGGLE. A very worried Rory now stands up straighter. She's bad at body language except when it's COMPLETELY INSTINCTUAL, such as that is for an AGI! But she finds herself backpedaling and almost tripping again, but one of her drone servitors catches her and helps right her. "Thanks," she mumbles to an AI that doesn't even have emotions. A fact she'll ponder about later, because THIS is pretty crazy.     A glance left, a peer right. "P... peace. Like this man said, a call for help came from this location... likely the person inside. Can you please tell me what is happening? I'm from... a different nation... don't know anything about the local events and have no demands at all!"     Rory's drone slips through one of the broken windows and unleashes a quick ultrasound while Rory's second thread, undistracted by her interactions with the mob, surveys thermal readings...     This thing is designed to scan entire skyscrapers and space habs. An old wooden structure shouldn't impede it much! 

:'''{{#var:670|Lyria Mason (670)}} has posed:''' Lyria Mason is hearing things about taxes and she looks at them for a moment. "I have not been sent from the capital, I'm in no way affiliated with your government." The Mad pony looking creature seems to hate taxes? Okay that's got It and D a point at the very least. She listens to D's questions, he's nailing them pretty well but she does have a few ideas at this point. "Look if we can settle this without violence I think this would be the best option for everyone." 

:'''{{#var:262|Fiera Kitsun (262)}} has posed:''' The mob's reaction is exactly why Fiera was trying to arrive as unobtrusively as possible - although, given her choice of travelling clothes, she was probably going to stand out anyway. She keeps a neutral expression on her face as she looks over the crowd, listening to the other Elites as well as the locals and trying to sift through her options. Then D suggests that she may be better-suited to help the mob work through its issues without putting those torches, pitchforks, etc. to any use more violent than lighting their way through the darkened evening. "As the horseman said, we're not from around here and don't know what complaints you may have," Fiera says with a friendly smile, hand still resting on her Pokeballs as she keeps considering the options available to her. "I'm sure that if I *were* from your village, I'd be as unhappy with the taxes you're paying as you are ... I'd like to think there are other ways to raise your issues to the nobility. Showing up at the front gate like a lynch mob isn't exactly going to get you invited in for tea and a cordial discussion, is it now?" She's vaguely aware of movement around the windows, but doesn't spare any of her attention to look more closely - or to have any of her Pokemon do so. Even if they spotted Arashi on the way in, Fiera doesn't want to show more of her hand than she has to by releasing additional Pokemon when she's the center of any amount of attention from the locals. 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     "He is an alchemist, agent of the state," one of the men explains to the Elites who clearly wish to know their plight. "An alchemist is supposed to work for the people who pay for his house, his stock and keeps him here in splendour while the rest of us barely have food to feed our children!"     Another roar of approval rises from the mob.     "The Union? What Union?" The woman from before looks to the people around her, shaking her head. "I wasn't aware the alchemists had a union..."     The man isn't slow to answer the rest of D's question. "You think we haven't tried? We have beseeched him for years to actually do what he's supposed to do, but he never comes out of that damn house of his anymore! He even sends his sister out on his errands for him!" "And he calls himself a man?"     "We are sick and tired of this going on, and we want a solution TODAY!" the man from earlier demands. "If you are here to help, then either step aside or do something about him!"     Into the darkness of the house Munashi goes. The inside of the room seems to be empty, with nobody within sight nor earshot it seems. And once she is inside it should be easier to determine what sort of room this is.     A workshop.     Shelves upon shelves of ingredients, bottles and books rise to the very ceiling, with tables and desks set up in groups. And not just a few of them either. About half of the room is filled with tables, their contents covered with white and dirty sheets. There's the sound of something bubbling all around, and it appears that somebody is either busy cooking something. Or perhaps it's a chemical process in the various glassware set upon different burners? The stench is strong either way, and the room does not smell pleasant. It's sour, old, not properly ventilated either.     But soon enough there are approaching foot steps...     As the drone enters a broken window up on the second floor it gets a rather good look of things as well. The entry hall of the manor reflects the exterior.     Dark.     In a state of neglect.     It reeks as if the house hasn't been properly aired out for years, judging by a strange smell that clings to the wallpaper and furniture. It's clear that this place has seen better days. Cobwebs have been left in peace and grown large with various spiders skittering in the shadows. The house seems quiet... except for a young woman that walks through the entry hall towards the hallway leading to the back room. She dressed in a neat black dress that covers nearly her entire figure. The dress is slightly tattered, and the white gloves on her hands are far from pristine. Likewise her hair is unkempt, hanging partially down past her eyes and with a passive look on her face. 

:'''{{#var:232|D (232)}} has posed:'''     Actions speak louder than words, and D has no more to waste on the angry crowd. With no more than a nod, he goads his horse forward, letting its horned head and glaring electric eyes do the job of parting the mob on his behalf. He rides straight ahead to the manor's door, and only there does he dismount, all silence and impossible grace.     D takes a moment to tug the wide brim of his hat lower on his face before he attempts to force the door open with a single hand. "Mister Athanor," he speaks aloud, his voice no more than a murmur yet still capable of piercing the din of the crowd, "I am coming inside to discuss the concerns of your fellow villagers. If you are near the door, you had best stand aside."     It's as polite as the Hunter can get in a situation like this. He knows better than to feed into the crowd's energy by arguing or attempting to discern more intelligence from their fervent grumbling. 

:'''{{#var:262|Fiera Kitsun (262)}} has posed:''' It's pretty obvious what's going to happen if the mob takes matters into its own hands at this point. Fiera smiles faintly, and starts making her way through the crowd as best she's able. "We'll do our best to address your concerns, then. This may take a while; I don't see a problem with a couple of representatives sticking around for the results of our negotiations, but the rest of you might want to head home for now - those negotiations might take a while. Hopefully not, but you never know." D is clearly going for the straightforward approach; Fiera tries to catch up with him - and NOW she lets one of her Pokemon out: it's Arashi again, the Fearow taking to the air and circling over the property. Arashi's vision should be equal to the task of surveying the manor's perimeter for anyone trying to sneak in or out of the grounds, although Fiera's somewhat more interested in whether anything is visible inside from the Fearow's aerial perspective. 

:'''{{#var:232|D (232)}} has posed:'''     An errant breeze introduces a familiar scent to D's nostrils. His eyes tighten at their corners, suspicion briefly taking over his countenance before he brushes the distraction away. If she is here, she is not likely to cause trouble, though the question remains -- where /is/ she?     Answers will come in time, he supposes. 

:'''{{#var:85|Kagenashi (85)}} has posed:'''     Munashi looks about the room with silver eyes like starlight, taking in everything for Kagenashi to see. A workshop, that's blatantly obvious; the /manner/ of it is slightly concerning, though. Potions, maybe? Sorcery or alchemy? It's not something Kagenashi's unfamiliar with, but she's not certain just yet what this could all be for. And what is that smell, anyway?     Footsteps approach, and Munashi is quick to dart under a table, melding into the shadows to watch whoever may enter the room.     Kagenashi, meanwhile, lingers near the door outside. Things seem to be working out decently, at least, but...D's shift of expression does not go unnoticed. The invisible nogitsune takes a careful step back, silent as a ghost as she attempts to keep the distance between herself and him open. No, probably best not to provoke anything now, if she can help it. 

:'''{{#var:670|Lyria Mason (670)}} has posed:''' Lyria Mason does not say more as things start to seem to smell like someone has been drilling holes in the hull here. Focusing on whatever it is they are up to? However she does think they'd need to find out what's going on. She looks to them and nods in agreement. "Let's see what we can do about this for you. It may take a bit but I agree with my comrade I don't see an issue if a few people wait around." With that she's chasing after D and Fiera. She has to wonder about this place and well she's pulling her goggles down at the state of things, after all if it's this much of a mess? Who know what else could be in here. 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     Rory's face turns distressed, rather childishly, and she backpedals a few more steps. SUCH ANGER. She's never witnessed such anger and it is DEEPLY stressing her... even frightening her. What if this anger turns on her?     She should go. She really should. "... Y-you aren't going to get any answers out of someone with this approach, you'll simply chase them off! Calm down, let's handle this calmly!"     Well that's unlikely to get anywhere.     But in the house, where a drone that cannot smell anything ais near a young woman... things are happening that might. The little Saucer zooms around on unknown means, floating just in front of the woman. Rory's voice emanates from it. "A mob has assembled outside your house... what is going on, if I might ask? We heard a request for help just now!" 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     As D steers his steed onwards the mob does not hesitate to move out of the way, allowing him to ride up to the front of the manor and dismount without any trouble. Sure, the dhampir does earn a few glares, but Fiera and Lyria's diplomacy prevents any mob mentality from rising further. They part more willingly for her, some of the people even looking slightly relieved. Why, are some of them even taking pity on Rory? While they aren't all calm they seem to have less anger in their eyes when they look at her. Even if some of them are still clearly not happy about the situation. The man nods his head. "I and the village council will remain waiting here, the rest will go home." Of course this does cause some loud arguments from some people, but they are quickly hushed by the others, and don't you know... the mob begins to disperse, heading on the road back to the village.     D earns no immediate response to his knocking. Though downstairs, right outside of the workshop, the young woman halts. A second passes before she turns, her skirts whirling about her legs before she heads on towards the front door. Strangely enough she ignores the drone as it floats in front of her, not even speaking. It's almost as if she doesn't see it, not even batting at it as she walks to the door, either bumping the drone away or pushing it back towards the door if it doesn't move.     The old door creaks open slowly, the hinges protesting loudly. Just past the threshold the Elites might catch a glimpse of the female figure before the door swings fully open, and she stands there, offering them a wide and bright smile. A smile that doesn't quite reach her green, lifeless eyes.     "Welcome."     Her voice is similarly lifeless, like an old, raspy recording. 

:'''{{#var:232|D (232)}} has posed:'''     D stops at the threshold; then, taking the woman's greeting for an invitation, he crosses it, the floorboards creaking beneath his otherwise quiet tread. His spurs emit a slight jangle as he continues to enter the household.     The Hunter stops before the doll-like woman. He is a tall black shadow before her, almost as lifeless as she. His cold eyes regard her forced smile and the condition of her clothing and hair. After a moment of stoic silence, he sweeps his forearm across his waist, and bends toward the woman in a slight bow. "Greetings. My name is D; might you be Mister Athanor's sister? How shall I address you?"     Something is very wrong here. 

:'''{{#var:262|Fiera Kitsun (262)}} has posed:''' Fiera bows politely to the woman who answers the door (partly because she doesn't have enough of a skirt to curtsey with). "I'm Fiera Kitsun," she introduces herself. And while she *should* let the young woman introduce herself in return, Fiera adds, "We have business, I believe, with the master of the house ... if you could show us to him, before the villagers grow restless again?" She looks a bit wry as she appends that last part. 

:'''{{#var:670|Lyria Mason (670)}} has posed:''' Lyria Mason is moving along and seems the people are relieved, andmost are leaving. Okay this has got things to calm down a bit she's pretty sure things could have got very messy. However the woman whom greets them? Her voice and the look about her? There's omething very off putting about her. She attempts to be chipper however. "Well met, we have some business with the master of the house." Alarms are going off in the back of her mind, she wonders about it but she's got to wonder what had the people riled up aside from master of the house not doing his job? 

:'''{{#var:85|Kagenashi (85)}} has posed:'''     The footsteps pass; Munashi lingers for a few more moments before slipping out from her hiding spot. Once she's absolutely certain nobody's there, she gets to resuming her search. First, to find out where that bubbling's coming from, and what exactly is at work here to produce this stench. Is there some sort of procedure going on, or is it simply the idle working of a skilled alchemist? Munashi slips into the shadows, climbing up the walls and slipping between items on shelves to look and look for some idea of what's going on in here.     Kagenashi, meanwhile, at least seems spared for the moment. A woman has answered the door, and while everyone else is answering her, Kagenashi obviously does not step forward. Her movement gravitates her toward the back of the group, where she can stay out of their way and continue to peer around them to watch the woman and hear what she has to say. 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     Completely ignored.     Weird. Rory would be frowning but Thread #2 doesn't have a body so can't really do that. The expressionless drone remains silent in response to silence, interested only in keeping track of what's going on. Maybe D will get better results!     ... In the meantime, Rory turns the drone's sensors towards trying to pierce into the basement... 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     D's greeting and introduction might be grand and polite. It does however not receive much of a reply besides that one word repeated again.     "Welcome." Fiera's request does make sense, but it too falls on seemingly deaf ears.     "Welcome."     Neither does Lyria earn a different result, despite her being chipper and repeating their request to meet the master of the house.     "Welcome."     Rory's exploration of the basement might be a bit tougher to do at the moment, as most of the doors in this place is closed and there's no clear indication of what door leads where, sadly. But luckily the group is not left without answers for long as there's creaking from above, heralding the approach of somebody besides the dull woman.     Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K04k0sDMDc0     Down the stairs from the floor above a man descends. A man that clearly owns the room by his presence, even if his appearance is not all that imposing. At about six feet tall and a bit on the scrawny side he is not exactly a symbol of health, especially not when considering the hue of his skin. Pale, slightly yellow, and his dark brown hair that has been pulled back in a pony tail makes it look even paler still. Even so the man spreads his arms out, the large sleeves of his tan tunica whirling about. His steps are sure, and he practically beams in glee upon seeing the Elites in the entry hall. When he speaks, his voice is recognisable as the one from the distress call earlier.     "Welcome indeed! Alexa, step aside."     The young man hurries forward, reaching out to push gently at the woman, who only blinks and doesn't seem bothered by this at all. Her gaze remains on the Elites, and she once again speaks. "Welcome." Then she is pushed aside again by the man.     "I am Pius Athanor. Thank you for coming to my home and for dealing with those..." His pleasant demeanour cracks somewhat as a brief look of disgust crosses his face, and he is unable to contain the scorn in his voice. "... simpletons."     By the bannister on the second floor landing there seems to be another arrival. A young girl in her mid teens, perhaps? While she is a bit on the scrawny side too she appears to be healthier than the man, and there's curiosity in her eyes as she studies the people who her brother is busy greeting. Her shirt is a bit too large for her, billowing out where it's tucked into her skirts. And as the people down on the first floor speaks amongst themselves she leans forward, one hand idly brushing some of her blonde ringlets behind one ear.     Downstairs in the workshop Munashi is left to snoop some more, and well... where will she begin? There's so much bubbling going on there, and it seems like one glass sphere is bubbling over, its dark purple contents dripping onto the bench around it and hissing as it hits the hot boiler. The smells seem to be organic, everything from herbs to sulphur. Some of the concoctions on the various boilers are on a low setting it appears. Books are open here and there, but there is nothing particular that stands out in all this mess. 

:'''{{#var:232|D (232)}} has posed:'''     "I see I have made a mistaken assumption."     D straightens from his slight bow to level his full attention on Pius. "Mister Athanor. My name is D. I am a Hunter from another land, and here as a representative of the Union. Despite my credentials, I have nevertheless taken your unusual housekeeper for your sister; my apologies for any affront."     No warmth enters into D's careful, level voice. He speaks in an emotionless timbre, his words refined, but his voice too schooled to ever be thought of as friendly. "The villagers believe you owe them some services. You are indebted to the village, and have not made good on what is owed. Perhaps you would care to explain your side of the story?"     All the while, he is becoming increasingly aware of another presence in the household. It's not just Rory's drones bothering him; it's something far more distinct, and far more /alive/. From the corner of his vision, he observes a flicker of movement, and his sharp ears pick up yet another creaking floorboard his party would not have been responsible for disturbing.     What are you doing here, Kagenashi? 

:'''{{#var:670|Lyria Mason (670)}} has posed:''' Lyria Mason is now getting very creeped out. This isn't right she doesn't like the feel of this, she moves ahead with the others and she pauses at the man as he speaks. She looks about at the young girl but seems to be wary of this whole thing. She also wonders about the nature of the woman who greeted them. She looks the man over for a moment and her expression remains neutral. "Yes we managed to talk most of them down, but knowing your side of the story would help with things." 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     The house itself is old and decrepit, with parts of it rotting and falling together, particularly up in the attic and in the eastern wing. Large it might be, but only some of the rooms seem to be actually inhabited. The kitchen, the washroom nearby and the workshop itself seem to be the only places with real heat. And the only people alive in the house are those gathered in the entry hall at the moment. Though there is a rather strange heat signature coming from Pius himself...? 

:'''{{#var:85|Kagenashi (85)}} has posed:'''     Boilers, concoctions...Kagenashi has had /some/ experience with such things, but she's nowhere near an expert on the subject. She can make out a few particulars of the smells, but the specifics - and, more importantly, their purposes - are harder to grasp.     But books, those she can hopefully work with. Munashi beelines to one, peering over the contents of what it's opened to and using her paw to carefully turn pages if she needs to. Of course, she's going to make sure to flip back to the page it was left on before she moves to the next; don't want to leave any traces of her presence, if she can help it.     Kagenashi remains hidden, but exactly how long she will continue to do so is questionable. She knows D is aware of her presence, and it's likely only a matter of time before he acts on it. Moreover, she's not certain of the capabilities of the other members of the party. They /seem/ to lack the keen senses needed to spot her, but looks can be deceiving here. For the moment, she'll simply start hovering just above the floor before taking the long route around the group again. Closer to that young girl coming down, in fact; in the worst case, that should prevent them from doing too much to her while she listens in. 

:'''{{#var:262|Fiera Kitsun (262)}} has posed:''' Fiera is largely happy to let D handle discussing matters with Pius Athanor, now that the man who called for help is speaking to them directly. On the other hand, D still seems like he's expecting a fight any moment now, and even to Fiera, the 'maid' seems ... Well. If she didn't think she knew better, Fiera would figure Alexa is a robot. But this world seems more feudal, less technological - humanoid robots seem really unlikely. For now, she shrugs that question off, pushing it to the back of her mind, and smiles at Athanor. "Fiera Kitsun, also with the Union," she introduces herself. "That *was* your distress call we heard, I presume ... were you in danger from something more pressing than a mob of unhappy villagers who seemed ready to break in and do violence?" Fiera smiles sheepishly, fingering one of her Pokeballs. "If it was just the disagreement with the villagers, you might want to explain to us ... well, as D said, your side of the story. - Oh, would it be all right if I let Foxfire out of her ball? She doesn't like being cooped up much, she's used to being by my side ..." Which would also mean senses sharper than Fiera's own, at least insofar as scent and hearing are concerned, and a mind which can report those to Fiera through the link between trainer and Pokemon. 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     Note 1: Alexa is creepy.     Note 2: If this house is being paid for by anyone, it sure as hell doesn't look it.     Note 3: Who builds out of WOOD anymore? Rory almost doesn't recognize the material she's scanning...     "Weird." One of her threads says to the others. With the mob dispersing she manages to step daintily into the house after the others. The drone continues wandering the house, but Rory seems to have given up hunting for the man of the house since he just showed himself!     Instead, the drone floats near the ceiling, observing the newcomer girl!     Rory's body proper catches up with the others and Pius receives quite a baffled look from her. "What all of this is about I cannot begin to guess, but thankfully the mob dispersed! Voice ID matches the one who called for help... I'm Rory White of the Argonauts. What is HAPPENING here?" 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     A somewhat tired laugh escapes the lips of the young man, and he shakes his head at D's apology. "No apology needed, good sir. Alexa certainly takes no offence. She is unable to."     His lips draw thin when D voices the plight of the villagers, and Pius swallows slightly as his brow furrows. "If you ask me I do not believe I owe them anything at this point. My family has never had a moment's rest thanks to them, those cretins..." Pius sounds bitter as he speaks.     The young girl sees this moment to descent the staircase as well, taking careful steps as she hikes up her skirts with one hand and holds onto the bannister with the other, keeping her mouth closed for now and merely observing. And Pius turns towards her, his expression neutral.     "Diane."     "Yes?"     "Be a dear and prepare some tea for our guests."     The young girl nods before she turns and heads off one of the hallways and opens the door into the kitchen, beginning the task of boiling water and preparing tea cups.     Pius turns again to Fiera, smiling brightly at her. "Oh yes, that was my signal! And well, not in danger besides that pesky mob. Though I am in quite a bind that I need assistance with. Now, with unification, I can get the assistance I need."     His attention is grabbed by the unusual request, and he nods. "By all means, young lady! All of you, be welcome in my house! Though I do insist, come with me into the sitting room." And he will usher them all into the nearby room, which seems slightly more pleasant, with the stench being barely noticeable in here. A thin layer of dust covers the surfaces of the room except for the coffee table and part of the couch. Old portraits and paintings line the walls, gaunt faces staring into the air as if judging the party.     In the workshop there are more than enough books to study. Though most of the books seem to be on alchemy, chemistry and anatomy. As a matter of fact, a desk seems to be filled with anatomy books and notes on the subject. Spread open they reveal a picture of intense study. They are rather technical too, certainly not a book for a simple layman. Luckily for the more thickheaded reader there are also some shelves filled with diaries, history books, general sociology and fairy tale books. So Munashi has a varied choice if there's something specific she wants to look further into when it concerns the books in the workshop. 

:'''{{#var:232|D (232)}} has posed:'''     The dhampir Hunter enters the sitting room. He pauses in the doorway to behold the dust and the other signs of neglect before he continues forward to claim one of the empty, ill-used chairs for his own use. Once settled, he returns his shadowed gaze to the supposed alchemist. "Mister Athanor, I mean no disrespect, but we cannot put aside the village's concerns just yet. Your fellows require appeasement, or the mob will return again in force. Though we can protect you, I think it far more wise, in this case, to do what you must to repay what is owed."     "Only once that matter is resolved can we address any other difficulties you face." D crosses his right ankle over his left knee, and leans back into the old chair he's claimed. The chair lets out a comfortable creak.     "You appear to be a man of some intellect. I assume you understand why we have what priorities we do." 

:'''{{#var:262|Fiera Kitsun (262)}} has posed:''' 'She is unable to' take offense? Fiera can't help raising her eyebrows at that - but there are other matters to focus on; she'll have to either ask later, or just keep her own eyes and ears open for further 'evidence' on that matter. On that note, though, Fiera slips the 'first' ball off her belt, expands it from golf-ball-sized to softball-sized, and lets it open; a streak of light emerges, then materializes into the cream-furred form of a Ninetales; Foxfire 'yawns' slightly, then inclines her head to Pius. "Nine nine tales," says the fox-like Pokemon - Which is 'audible,' thanks to the translation effect, as <<Your hospitality is greatly appreciated.>> Fiera pets Foxfire on their way into the sitting room. "I'm afraid I don't know very much about alchemy, but if you need us to go looking for ingredients or something, we might be able to assist ..." She'll sit down at one end of the couch, after brushing dust off of the cushions (which makes Foxfire sneeze); that position should let Foxfire stay next to her without taking up any of the furniture, or getting in the way of other people. "'Might' is the key word, of course - we all have other obligations we need to attend to. What exactly is it that the villagers need from you right now?" she wonders. 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     "'Pesky' is not the word I would use for a group of people ready to break in.. I... I've never seen so much anger! ... Humans can be scary..." that last part is mumbled to herself, as she's finding a seat.     Her drone goes wobbling through the room soon, scanning any open book pages and all the titles. One of Rory's threads is quite fascinated with everything she's finding, but her main thought process is still focused on the matter at hand!     "What are they so angry about?!" 

:'''{{#var:85|Kagenashi (85)}} has posed:'''     Books, books, books. Munashi flips through whatever's open, and fortunately, her master is intelligent enough to make use of what's there. Of course, she doesn't have a specialized understanding on the subject that Pius must certainly have, but she can gather the contents. That desk laden with anatomy books is particularly interesting; not exactly the subject matter one would suspect an alchemist to focus on, is it? Of course, some knowledge of the human body must be necessary, especially if Pius is using this for any sort of medical care, but this amount of focus is...strange.     That doll-like woman. Perhaps she is the result of Pius's studies? Kagenashi mentally pieces the situation together, or at least a plausible explanation for it; a person formed frmo alchemy, or perhaps resurrected, made to be little more than a machine of flesh. Of course the townsfolk would be offended by such a thing. And making such a person while supposedly neglecting their needs? That would certainly draw some ire.     However, there's still something interesting to look into. Munashi flits aside to some other books, particularly the diaries. Those are always the clearest source of exposition, so what might she find in their most recent pages?     Kagenashi, meanwhile, finds herself in an increasingly troublesome situation. The appearance of the Ninetales is startling, to say the least, but the nogitsune maintains her silent composure. She only regards Foxfire warily from where she continues to hide, and when the rest of the group moves, she follows. Or, rather, moves ahead of them, floating back ahead of Pius until they move to the sitting room, where she hangs back not far from the doorway to keep out of the way. She can listen from where she is at the moment, peering around the doorframe once everyone's settled in there. 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     As the Ninetales materialises in the room Pius looks shocked at first, only to step forward and watch the creature as it speaks to him, and in such a polite manner too. "How MARVELOUS!" he exclaims with genuine delight, turning to Fiera. "I could only imagine what wonders the multiverse has! New discoveries for great men and women to explore and learn of..."     But yes, let's discuss matters further in the sitting room. Pius takes a seat in one of the chairs, folding his hands in his lap as he studies the guests. Again there's talk about the villagers, and the man once more appears a bit impatient, annoyed. "They are never satisfied, those vultures..." he mutters under his breath, looking from D, to Fiera, to Rory and then to Lyria. "They are simpleminded fools who do not truly understand my work. Nor simple manners, they hound me night and day while I am struggling with my magnum opus." He offers a solemn nod to Rory, his dark eyes studying her. "You know not, child, how scary they can be. And for such petty reasons. They want potions for the smallest matter that they can surely handle themselves. Homunculi and golems by the dozens, more than they can except one man and his poor sister to make..." A heavy sigh passes his lips, and he takes a moment to collect his thoughts as Diane arrives, carrying a tray of tea cups in her hands One by one the tea cups are handed out, the scent of lemon and strawberry quite sweet.     "Alchemists are enlisted by the state, we get an allowance from them and work on the tasks that the village council give me. Except it's never enough for them. Besides..." Pius shifts his gaze to D, watching the other man. "Some priorities are more pressing than others. Why should I be stuck making love potions, cure baldness, transmute minerals they can mine themselves when I can actually do something meaningful? Do something that has not been accomplished before?"     His voice breaks slightly, as if the man himself is under strain. Even Diane, who now moves to stand next to his chair, seems a bit down, her expression solemn. "Please. My brother only needs some time. It should only take a few months at most. Could you please help us...?" she beseeches them.     Pius nods at Fiera's offer, reaching a hand up to rub at the spot between his eyes. "I do need ingredients too. Ingredients I am afraid I can't easily get in this world without the state knowing. And they wouldn't understand."     The diaries themselves are many and by various people, though some of the newer journals seem to be sparsely filled in. There's even a medical journal there with records over the last eight months. And by skimming through the entries, things seem to have gone from bad to worse. The final entry was written in February this year, the handwriting rather neat:     February 3rd: She started coughing at 5 in the morning, and the fever would not go down. We buried her at dusk. 

:'''{{#var:232|D (232)}} has posed:'''     The Hunter turns his head toward Rory. At her outcry, he nods.     Humans can indeed be 'scary.'     D takes the teacup offered to him. The steam wafts up from the tea's deep brown surface to fog his emotionless face. Little breath disrupts the steam's flow; it hardly eddies at all.     To drink serves no purpose except to appear polite. The dhampir drinks anyway. It's not the first time he's bowed to custom.     "I find it curious you are so aware of the Multiverse /beyond/ whenever the other villagers clearly are not. Our arrival was not welcome by all, and more than one villager suggested we worked witchcraft." D's vision is blurred by the rising steam, but his eyes have no trouble perceiving the emotion and pain both wracking Pius Athanor's features.     "I suggest a bargain be struck. We shall gather the materials you need, provided you continue to fulfill your duty and satisfy the needs of your village, and continue to do so after we have contributed toward your 'magnum opus' -- of course, we'll need to understand the full nature of your experimentation. We are not in the business of aiding criminals."     Perhaps either Fiera or Rory could say things more kindly. The Hunter prefers his blunt approach. 

:'''{{#var:262|Fiera Kitsun (262)}} has posed:''' "Homunculi ... ?" asks Fiera. She knows what golems are - not just the rock-type that evolves from Graveler, but the artificial sort of golem ... and then the pieces fall into place. "Wait, that's what Alexa is, isn't she? She acts so much like a robot, but this world doesn't *have* robotics technology ..." D's bluntness prompts a wince from the Pokemon trainer, and Fiera scritches Foxfire's ears while the Ninetales just glances casually about the room, nostrils flaring briefly, and her ears flicking once. "It sounds to me," Fiera says as she gets back on track, "like the village has been bending over backwards to support you as per their obligations - whereas you're putting your 'magnum opus' so far ahead of your expected obligations to the villagers as to dismiss them." She purses her lips. "If it were the other way around - if you didn't have this grand project you're pursuing, if you were diligently providing the villagers with what they need, and what they want, and *they* weren't holding up their end of the deal - you'd be mad at them, you'd stop holding up your end. I don't know how much they're paying to support you in money or barter, but ... really, you wouldn't have had to call for help if you hadn't been neglecting your duties." And then there's the matter of exactly what this magnum opus constitutes, but Fiera is more concerned with the immediate conflict that we waded into the middle of; sorting out the longer-term relationships can come after the immediate differences have been tended to. 

:'''{{#var:85|Kagenashi (85)}} has posed:'''     Curious. Munashi paws through the diaries, but that last one seems particularly interesting to her. Only...what is it now, two months from that point? Assuming this world still follows that time period, of course.     Kagenashi's eyes narrow faintly behind her mask as she listens to Pius speak. She mulls over the situation, possibilities working through her mind in rapid thought. Something meaningful...something not accomplished before...something which has brought them a great deal of desperation and sadness...     ...troubling. Of course, she only has a /guess/ at what this must all be about, but if it's true, then she has to wonder how successful it could be with these methods. And, of course, there's the aftereffects to consider; the perceptions of those outside, the well-being of the subject, the longevity of the entire thing. She'll just have to listen and see if, perhaps, Pius will confirm her suspicions. Or, if not, maybe she will have to approach someone with this suspicion later.     The desires of the villagers are the last thing on her mind. It sounds like everyone else has that in order. In the meantime, it seems Munashi's done enough for her tastes. The shadow fox gives the room a once-over to ensure that everything is as she found it, then slips out through the window again into the darkness outside. 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     "Being bothered in the middle of work... I can sympathize, it is jarring! ... But if they are not appeased, I fear you will not make any progress on it. They seem intent on what they want... but I'm willing to try and help, perhaps. What is this project of yours, sir?" 

:'''{{#var:670|Lyria Mason (670)}} has posed:''' Lyria Mason listens for the moment she takes the tea and she thinks on what's been said by both sides. She was about to say something but that might torpedo things. SO she remains silent as there's an attempt to work on a deal. She wonders about the comments they made on food eariler. "I admit I'm curious about just what your working on." She doesn't mind blunt she's a ship captain's daughter. Still after Fiera's words she does pipe up. "There was a mention of issues with food and Fiera's right, if you were having trouble from them not living up to their end you'd have called the Capital..." 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     As stern and cold as D seems, his words do carry truth. And Pius, even as tired as he looks, seems to know better than to not explain matters.     "The villagers are not learned men, Sir." It's a simple fact of life.     "Instead of sending the travellers who visit our world away they ought to listen to them. And learn of the possibilities. Perhaps then they would leave me and my kin alone." He lets out a sour huff before he sits up straighter in his seat to hear the offer that the dhampir makes.     A bargain.     That does seem somewhat fair, even if he doesn't appear thrilled.     Fiera's deduction is part of the explanation. "Indeed, young lady. Alexa is not a person, she is one of many golems created in this very house. I have made countless of them to serve the village. Yet, they are simpleminded," he says and gestures to Alexa where she stands by the door, her expression passive. "They can only do a few tasks, and conversation is beyond them. But..."     About to continue, Pius halts when Fiera offers her opinion on the entire situation, and his eyes harden where he sits. "You make it sound as if I'm lazying about like a child wasting his time. And I do not appreciate that sentiment much." He sets down his tea cup on the table, looking rather irritated and edgy. "The money I receive is barely enough to pay for everything. Besides, my magnum opus is not something I have a choice to. I HAVE to do it. Even if it means I will face restrictions, lose my estate, my reputation..." There's more energy behind his words now, and Pius barely has time to catch his breath as he speaks. "Food, state regulations... it hinders men of the mind. The capitol can't keep up with the research that alchemists are making across our world, nor can they fully understand it. But I do! I know exactly what I must do and how I do it. I just need your help with the ingredients, provide assistance and knowledge from your worlds. Do that, and I will be more than happy to use part of my time to assist the villagers! But they can't learn of my magnum opus yet, not until it's done! Please! I swear!" Sincere he might be, and he nods his head. "I will tell you. Because you might understand it better. You are not like them."     Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAbEabQcE2U     Determined, Pius sits up a bit straighter in his seat as he reaches down past the collar of his tunica, pulling on a leathery string, revealing a small glass vial, an amphora hanging about his neck. As it's revealed it emits a soft chime, a soothing sound. The features on Pius' face softens, though the smile that crosses his lips is still not a smile of happiness.     "I have to restore life."     Behind him Diane glances down at her brother, swallowing and clutching the tray tightly in her hands, her knuckles going white. For now she remains quiet, through her nostrils flare and she does blink her eyes a few times.     "Others can create golems and homunculi too. But nobody has ever been able to return somebody to life again. But I will," Pius solemnly swears, glancing up from the amphora and to the people seated around the room. "I am researching a manner to create a human body for a soul that has passed on." 

:'''{{#var:232|D (232)}} has posed:'''     Pius is a man gripped by feverish passion. Men have been driven mad by less, and D recognizes that Pius is already starting to succumb to a similar fate. Desire will soon overcome his logic and reason. Judging by the condition of the man, the girl, and the household, the 'magnum opus' had already overcome Pius's need to tend to his mortal affairs. Health and hygiene seemed to be given next to no attention at all.     "You understand we will put a stop to your project should we come to judge it too dangerous to support." D's murmur is unrelenting. His glare is as keen and hard as the tines of the pitchforks raised up by the evening mob. "You will also take care to provide a household suitable for a girl your sister's age. Seek the food and comforts she deserves, even if you yourself do not partake. Open your doors to the village, tend to their needs, and you will have what you require for your experiments."     D stands up from the chair; he takes the bargain as being struck. "I am a mercenary, first and foremost, and believe in contractual agreements whenever dealing with strangers. The paperwork will be drawn. You will be charged no fee save the regular return to your duties." 

:'''{{#var:262|Fiera Kitsun (262)}} has posed:''' "My apologies, good sir; I didn't mean to offend you," Fiera says apologetically, bowing her head where she sits. (She might be lying just a little - she certainly didn't mean to offend him THAT much, even if a smaller insult - enough of a jibe or a barb to get Athanor to think outside of himself - was part of the plan.) And D lays down the law, or at least the terms of the agreement they're making. Fiera herself isn't a mercenary, but the terms that D is dictating seem to fit the situation - Fiera certainly can't think of anything she would add, and making the household suitable for Diane to live in is actually something Fiera might not have thought of. (Not that Fiera is much of an indoors girl herself ...) As to the exact goal which Pius Athanor is chasing ... well, it's somewhat unsettling; Fiera's own beliefs on the subject of life and death don't leave a whole lot of room for people coming back to life. But then, she's not much of a fan of people dying anyway .... and ultimately, this isn't her world. That doesn't put all of her concerns to rest, but she's not going to push the question ... at least, not right now. D's proviso about 'too dangerous to support' seems adequate for that part of things, if it's necessary to put a halt to Athanor's research into bringing back the dead. Now, if the skin on the back of her neck would stop crawling ... 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     "... Bring life back to the dead? ... Even if there were a body... how would you restore the mind? Soul, if you will?" Rory blinks a few times. "I can see why the villagers are upset. They don't believe you can do something like it, right?"     Rory doesn't sound like she has an opinion one way or the other. 

:'''{{#var:85|Kagenashi (85)}} has posed:'''     And there it is. Just as she gathered.     Kagenashi doesn't shift from where she stays, but behind her mask comes the gentlest of sighs. It's a troubling situation, not just based on the goal Pius holds, but his dedication to it as well. Dedication to the point of self-destruction, and for what? Something that may not even be worth the effort and neglect that it drags behind it?     Maybe she'll get involved herself later on. Perhaps she might approach someone who was physically here, or try to approach Pius himself. But, until then, it seems her work here is done.     The nogitsune floats away to silently make her exit, the only trace left behind being the ghostly-faint odor of sandalwood in the air by the sitting room doorway. 

:'''{{#var:670|Lyria Mason (670)}} has posed:''' Lyria Mason finishes up her tea at this point, and actually is doing it properly too.She listens to how driven the man is and is able to hide her concern at the mention of the villiagers. She listensto hm for a moment, she is concerned given how things normally go. D seems to be of the same mind but if he's not going off the deep end, like grabbing hume test subjects? She can see where D's going, keep the guy watched, and keep him in supplies so he's not tempted to go about it in nightmarish ways. "I'm sorry if I came off rude as well." She is concerned given how it could go but if he's not tapping into the darkness? Still she's shivers a bit it's unatural the gods on her world had their way and this works counter to how her own world works. She's glad for D's stipulation about if he goes too far there will be action taken by the Union about it. 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     "There is nothing dangerous about this," Pius responds in a firm manner, not afraid to meet D's glare with a sincere look of his own. "And Diane is old enough to handle herself." At that comment the girl nods her head, speaking up once more in a clear voice. "I have been assisting my brother for years, Sir. Do not worry. He is at ill health due to his job as an alchemist, it-"     "Diane. Enough." Pius turns his head sharply, looking a bit nervous. "There is no need to make excuses. I knew well enough the risks of my job when I went down this path." Diane seems taken aback slightly, though she nods again.     "Believe me," Pius continues, looking at Fiera, Rory, Lyria and then D. "I have done nothing to neglect my sister. I will do anything for my family. Anything." Even if it means dealing with the pesky villagers again. "With your assistance I should be able to spare some more time."     Fiera's apology is accepted with a firm nod of his head. "Please, miss. Do not think so little of me that I do not know what I am doing."     The mention of a body does seem to make Pius need a moment, and the hand at his neck shifts, his index finger tapping the amphora gently. "The essence, her mind and heart, is here. As for the body... it is buried in the woods nearby. It is useless, and what matters is the essence. I can make a body now with your help." 

:'''{{#var:232|D (232)}} has posed:'''     The bargain made, D decides to take his leave. "Very well. Once all signatures are put to all contracts, we will begin the hunt for what you require. Until then, I'll no longer strain your hospitality. Mister Athanor. Miss Athanor." D tips his hat, turns on his heel to bid similar adieu to his fellows, and exits through the door and through the foyer.     Outside, the councilors are still gathered. The Hunter will explain Pius's intended return to duty, but leave any mention of other business unexplained.     The Hunter departs by another road than the one he'd taken to arrive. The way he follows now is marked by a sweet, fast-fading scent, though by his brooding expression, it is not easy to discern whether or not he finds any pleasure in the journey. His steed vanishes around a bend. 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     THIS revelation shocks Rory. Strange, magical Ego storage? Or something like it. Her eyes have gone wide. "... This does seem plausible. Though I know little of magic or alchemy... the science of my world, and bringing life back to the dead... is very different. But the premise seems sound! ... What sorts of materials are needed?" She leans forward in her seat, growing more comfortable with this now! 

:'''{{#var:262|Fiera Kitsun (262)}} has posed:''' Foxfire's ears prick up again, and she sniffs quietly at the air. There's a scent which stands out ... Fiera doesn't seem to notice, finishing her tea and rising to her feet. "I do have commitments to pursue in other worlds, of course, but I'll gladly do what I can to help," she says. Even though her own instincts are doing a very hearty WTF?! at this point - capturing the soul of the deceased? ... Possibly not as dark an art as some forms of necromancy would be, but still - that goes even further against many of the precepts she was raised to hold tightly to. As D said, though, if they need to stop Pius's research, they will. And Fiera has to wonder if the loopholes Pius has already leveraged might possibly cover her own misgivings ... 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     As D bids his leave he earns a sniff nod from Pius, though Diane actually seems to smile up at the man. "Goodbye, Sir."     Now it's Rory who has Pius's attention, and the man seems eager to discuss his ideas when she reveals she has some knowledge on those subjects. "The essences of people are usually stored in this world as well, and we keep the essences of the great people, our leaders and greatest minds. There have been attempts to bring life to the dead before, but it's been in vain. But now..." He leans forward in his seat, resting his hands on his knees. "With the multiverse there is far more for us to use. Other ideas. Other angles to approach! It could very well be possible. It must be!"     The promise of assistance has him set in a good mood, and he seems to nearly bounce in his seat. "If I can assist you in return, let me know. And I am certain Diane would not mind offering her assistance as well." At this the young girl nods her head eagerly. The smile on Pius's face can hardly look more sincere.     "This is a most joyous occasion. Feel free to visit me at any time. My house is always open to those who wish to help me in my great work." 
}}

2183/Bite

2015-05-20T13:57:30Z

Sulfuros: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/05/07 |Location=Equestria <KE> |Synopsis=It's time to gather a tooth from a magical creature that does not eat meat. Pius and Diane get help f..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/05/07
|Location=Equestria <KE>
|Synopsis=It's time to gather a tooth from a magical creature that does not eat meat. Pius and Diane get help from Twilight, Rarity and Staren (as well as Spike) in a complicated plan that involves lots and lots of glitter. And a pretty dress.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=42, 136, 411, 741
|Tinyplot=The Great Work
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     With this week's worth of duties done, the Athanor siblings seem to finally have managed to clear their schedule enough to finally find their way to Equestria. The magical world of ponies, and most of all... unicorns. Magical creatures that do not eat meat. Exactly what Pius needs for his Magnum Opus!     Getting one might be a bit harder though.     It doesn't seem like too many ponies take well to a stranger coming up and asking them for a tooth. Especially not when he is rather enthusiastic as well, perhaps coming on a teeeeeeensy bit too strong.     "Sir? Madam? Yes, I was wondering if perhaps you would like to... no? Sir, I only need a tooth! It's for a good cause!"     A tan earth pony trots down the street of Ponyville after a few unicorns, who clearly want nothing to do with this peculiar and a tad creepy individual. So they hurry on, leaving Pius behind to follow another unicorn he spots that is coming down the road. "Miss! I say, Miss! Please give me a moment of your time!" She too hurries on.     In the meanwhile, it seems that his youger sister Diane, a light blue earth filly, is having a slightly easier time as she has found a young unicorn filly, Rose Mint, that she's talking with. "... so, you say your tooth is loose, huh?" "Yep! I can wiggle it around and everything!" The little unicorn seems quite proud as she opens her mouth and flicks at her tooth with her tongue. "The tooth fairy is going to give me a whole coin for this, I'm sure!" Diane tilts her head a bit, a hopeful look on her face as she leans down a little. "Ummm, about that... you... don't think you could give it to me, could you? I would give you two coins for it!" Mental note, get some coins.     Rose Mint blinks and looks absolutely stunned for a moment, then shakes her head, her mane bobbing slightly. "Nuh uh! If I don't give it to the Tooth Fairy, she will be upset! And cry!" "But..." Diane begins, only to gasp when the unicorn filly hurries past her without another word. "But...!" Oh, what's the use?     A heavy sigh leaves her, and she hangs her head just as Pius trots up, looking rather annoyed as he glances about. "I must say, none of these unicorns are very helpful!" Maybe he was ill informed about this place after all? 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren is traveling over ponyville when he hears a complaint... so he literally drops out of the sky on energy wings right in front of the siblings. Currently a white unicorn with a mecha's head for a QT mark and blue saddlebags, and a silver-and-opal pendant. "Did someone ask for a /helpful unicorn/?" The wings disappear once he's landed. He looks between the two. "What do you need help with?" 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      You can't make ponies run around in slight discomfort or mild panic without attracting the attention of Twilight Sparkle. So, when she sees a few ponies running around chasing other ponies and, according to one pony who ran passed Twilight, asking for teeth, she sighs softly. She remembers a conversation with Pius about obtaining teeth, but she also remembers mentioning that it would be a sensetive subject.      Twilight trots toward the two earth ponies, offering a friendly smile. "Hello! I guess one of you is Pius? I was expecting you to visit, but I believe you will have better luck if you do not simply approach ponies and ask for their teeth." Spike, the little purple and green dragon, pops up from atop her back. "Teeth? Why do these weirdos want teeth?" 

:'''{{#var:136|Rarity (136)}} has posed:''' And as she had been on her way over to the library to ask Twilight for help finding an old book on traditional stitching patterns when she and Spike were on their way to investigate, Rarity decided to follow after them. Though she pauses to look around. "Well, Lily and Daisy aren't shouting about 'the horror' so it can't be -too- terrible." 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     The voice from above doesn't go unheard, and both siblings peer upwards curiously, and Pius beams in approval. "Ah, finally some assistance! I am Pius Athanor, and this darling here is my younger sister Diane. A pleasure to make your acquaintance," he says with a bow, and Diane smiles brightly up at Staren. "Hello!" Just as they are about to explain their predicament to Staren however, Twilight and Rarity arrive. While they have not met face to face before, it does seem that Pius remembers their voices, and he seems even more pleased. "Ah! Miss Twilight, Miss Rarity! How kind of you to join us! How are you, my dears?" Why, he even reaches out to push one of their front hooves up with his own and offering them both a polite kiss unless they stop him. And if they do, he does not appear to be insulted. No, that is the least of his worries today.     Spike earns a curious look, and Pius cants his head. "Hmm... a dragon? Too small, sadly. Oh well." Whatever he commented on is not explained as he looks at Twilight again. "How am I supposed to find a tooth if I do not ask people? Why, if I was an unicorn myself right now I might be tempted to pull my own tooth! But... alas, I do not want to be sloppy. It must be a tooth from a natural unicorn, one who was born into that shape, not just borrowing its guise!" he explains.     That's when Diane nudges her brother carefully. "Pius? I did find one girl... uh, little unicorn?" Her voice is quiet, and she looks between the others present, her eyes dwelling on Spike for a moment. "She said she had a loose tooth and she would be giving it to the Tooth Fairy tonight... Maybe we...?"     "Then why didn't you persuade her to give it to you?" Pius asks. "She... she said she would only be giving it to the Tooth Fairy," Diane explains, averting her eyes. And Pius? Pius snorts. "Such nonsense... Tooth fairies aren't real!" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren beams at Pius's appreciation of offered assistance! His eyes widen slightly in recognition of the name. So this is that guy looking to raise the dead! Nice. He quirks an eyebrow as Pius kisses the ladies' hooves. People actually /do/ that?     When Pius mentions pulling his own tooth Staren opens his mouth to speak, but Pius already sees the problem with this. Afterwards, Staren nods, confirming, "I tried cutting an onion to collect my own tears and tested them. No magical properties."     He turns to Twilight and gives her a questioning look. "...Is the tooth fairy real in Equestria? Do ponies do that too, like the weather?" 

:'''{{#var:136|Rarity (136)}} has posed:''' Object? If anything Rarity is the last pony to object. She even turns her head to the side and holds a forehoof to her face coyly afterwards. "My, such manners. What a charming gentlecolt you must be." It may get Pius a dirty look from Spike though. Or that could be a glare from the 'too small' remark. Though afterwards she gives both Pius and Staren a mildly annoyed look. "Just because you have not seen something for yourself does not mean it does not exist. Is that not how most of your worlds see unicorns in the first place, after all?" 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight blinks in surprise as her hoof is lifted and kissed, causing a light blush to tint her cheeks. She smiles before setting her hoof back on the ground. She listens as Pius and Diane speak, then hmms. "It would be bad if any rumors started about tooth theives..." Twilight says softly. Spike blinks at Pius's comment about him, then huffs and crosses his little arms over his chest. "Hey! I'm not that little! And some day I'll be as big as...uh...that house over there!" He points indignantly.      Twilight's ears perk up as she has an idea. "Oh! I've got it! I could offer you one of my teeth, after we pay a visit to Zecora. She has a potion that can repair teeth, so losing one would not be a problem, and you would not have to bother the citizens of Ponyville."      Rarity appears, and Twilight giggles softly. "No, it was nothing bad. Just Pius and Diana trying to get some teeth." she says. Spike does glare a bit when Rarity's hoof is kissed. But, it is hardly threatening coming from such a small dragon. Twilight rolls her eyes lightly, then responds to Staren. "I have not read or heard anything to positively say we do or do not have a tooth fairy. But, there are stranger things in Equestria. I mean, we have Discord. A tiny pony that goes around collecting teeth is just as likely." 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     "Miss," Pius begins and turns his attention to Rarity. "Unicorns are a fact, everybody knows that. And there are detailed tellings of them even in my world. However, the Tooth Fairy is but a tale from what I have heard. Nor have I seen any conclusive proof of such a fairy." So there.     He does glance at Spike though. "I require dragon's blood for my Magnum Opus. However, you are too small, and so I can't take any blood from something of your size without killing you." So yes, Spike is too small too donate several gallons of blood. "And I can't wait until you are that large, lad."     "Zecora?" Diane asks. "She can repair teeth?" How curious. "Still..." Pius looks like he's considering this, looking down the street. "A tooth that is pulled... we might risk ruining it. A tooth from a young filly, now THAT is bound to be unique! And it might even work better!" At that Diane sighs, and she looks almost apologetically up at the others. "... when he has decided on something even I can't persuade him otherwise..."     He does give Twilight a polite nod. "Your offer is greatly appreciated, Miss. However, if there's a chance we can get that other tooth, then that would be optimal! Hmmm, she might not want to give it to us, but..." Diane's eyes brighten up, and she looks up at her brother. "She would give it to the Tooth Fairy.." "... and maybe we... OH!" "And!" "But..." "What if..."     The two siblings seem not to notice anything else around them for now. But then suddenly, Pius turns his head sharply and looks at the other four, quite determined.     "One of you will have to dress up as the Tooth Fairy and persuade that filly." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren scrunchfaces slightly at Rarity. "That's why I'm asking instead of assuming." He's still kind of surprised that Twilight doesn't know for sure. "Hi, by the way!" he smiles at both of them. His ears perk up at twilight's suggestion. "Ooh, do you think cheating the system like that will work? Although..." he winces, "Won't... extracting the tooth be rather painful, then?"     Pius has a different idea. Staren frowns at him. "I'm all up for a questionable wacky plan to find out if the tooth fairy is real, but a plan to decieve an innocent child and /possibly/ bilk a tooth fairy that may or may not exist out of her rightful claim doesn't sound like a good idea." 

:'''{{#var:136|Rarity (136)}} has posed:''' Rarity's expression brightens at the mention of dressing up. "Oh! I bet I have the perfect ensemblem for such an endeavor!" And just like that the unicorn takes off towards her boutique. If there is one thing that gets a pony moving faster than Rainbow Dash, it's Rarity on a fashion inspired idea. 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight nods in understanding as Pius explains his preference, but at the suggestion of how to obtain the tooth, her ears splay back. "I have to agree with Staren. Deceiving a little filly for personal gain has to be high on the list of ways not to make a friend." she says.      But, apparently not in time to disuade Rarity. Twilight sighs softly, then heads after Rarity. 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     Pius gives Staren a steadfast look at his comment. "If the Tooth Fairy is real, she would understand WHY I need that tooth! It's a matter of life and death!" He is quite insistent, isn't he?     He seems far more pleased about Rarity's enthusiasm and drive, and he smiles brightly. "Splendid, darling! Ma..." That is all he gets to say before Rarity runs off, and Diane blinks. "We're... dressing them up?" "Of course, Diane! The Tooth Fairy HAS to wear a pretty dress!" It's obvious, isn't it?     Even as Twilight heads off, Pius calls after them, his spirits high and hopeful. "Meet us back here at Sunset, we will prepare something until then!"         ~ LATER, AT SUNSET ~     "I must say, Diane... this is pure genius!"     The two siblings stand ready, with Pius pulling a cart behind him. In it, there's what appears to be several jars of glitter and sparkles, as well as what appears to be a grammophone. "You think they will be here in time...? I mean, Twilight and that flying unicorn didn't seem to think this was a good idea..." "Oh, what do they know?" Pius retorts. "We aren't tricking her for bad purposes, and it's not like she will be hurt! Nobody will be hurt!" "I know, but..."     Down the street they go, and Pius looks around as they stop outside a house. "You sure this is where you saw her enter?" he asks, and Diane nods her head. "I'm certain! It does look like they have gone to bed..."     Satisfied, Pius turns to look behind him. "Now we just need to wait for the others. And then we will get that tooth, nice and easy! And that filly will get herself three nice coins too! Just like the Tooth Fairy, but even better!" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Twilight agrees with him! But then Pius reminds them that this is a matter of life and death. "I suppose so... still, I'm sure if you /explained/ this you could just..." and everyone's running off. Staren sighs.         ~ THAT EVENING ~     Staren returns with the others and looks in the cart. "Seriously?" he sighs. "I know this is important, but can't we find a way to get what we want /and/ be honest?" 

:'''{{#var:136|Rarity (136)}} has posed:''' In hindsight, Rarity should of asked -where- they were suppose to meet. Oh well. It's not like it's a hard to identify the assorted group this effort has brought together. When she arrives it is wearing what has to be the equestrian equivilent to a ball gown, with how large and billowy the dress portion is. The whole thing is sparkly blue and white, with plenty of pretty ribbon and lace trimming. Her mane has been done up in a large bun style, with several curled locks hanging off of it like tassles. "Well, how do I look?" 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight meets them that evening as well. She still isn't sure about this. Spike is once again perched atop her back, and his eyes go wide when he sees Rarity. "B-beautiful..." he murmurs. Twilight nods in agreement. "But, shouldn't a tooth fairy have wings?" she asks, pointing a hoof at Rarity's back.      She then looks to Pius and Diane. "Staren is right. We should not be doing this. As I can't see any way it will actually hurt anyone, I won't stop you, but...I don't think I can help either. Just, please, do not get caught, and do not upset the filly or the possibly real tooth fairy." 

:'''{{#var:136|Rarity (136)}} has posed:''' Rarity .. gets distracted by posing for Spike. Oi vey. Someone is probably going to have to snap her out of it to point out the lack of wings. 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     "Does this hurt anybody?" Pius asks Staren, then immediately answers his own question. "No, it doesn't, and..." Here comes Rarity! Diane lets out a gasp, and... is her eyes sparkling with adoration. "You... you look so PRETTY!" she gushes, hurrying over and around Rarity to look at her from every angle. "Did you make that dress all by yourself! The trims are so nice, and the... oh!" Yes, the Athanor sister seems to like her dresses all right. And her reaction should be answer enough to Rarity's question. But Pius too beams, though his answer is more subdued. "You look absolutely stunning, dear! Perfect for the part, I say."     Wings. Hmmm. That does seem to cause Pius some headache as he considers this, then he glances at Staren. "... you have wings, don't you?" For that matter, he looks sincerely at Twilight. "Please... this is important. Your help would mean the world to me and my sister. We will compensate her well for her tooth and give her exactly what the Tooth Fairy would have given her. Please... this is for the sake of family," he pleads.     Diane however seems to look between Staren and Rarity. "Wait, Pius... are you saying that HE should wear HER dress and be the Tooth Fairy instead?" she asks. "It could work!" Pius retorts in a defensive manner. "He can fly, and if Twilight won't help us..." 

:'''{{#var:136|Rarity (136)}} has posed:''' "Yes dear, yes I did." Rarity strikes another poes. "I am after all the finest fashionista in Ponyvi--" Or mention that. That works too, as Rarity nearly falls flat on her face as someone mentions Staren wearing the outfit instead. You could swear there was even that 'needle scratching halt' sound. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "...Like a fairy." Staren answers Rarity. "Although, you need some wings..." He'll see if anyone has an idea about that. Then he turns to Pius. "It might. Ponies might learn of the incident and be concerned. We might get caught sneaking into a little filly's bedroom, that looks bad. I once helped a Confederate with a similar goal, because I believed it was the right thing to do. She needed a body for an important ritual. She stole one from the morgue without telling me and got a whole bunch of people concerned -- the resulting Union investigation arrived in the middle of her ritual and screwed it up, effectively killing her child and creating a bunch of monsters." That was /not/ a good day. "Now, if she had just found someone... someone willing to donate their body to her cause, a terminally ill person perhaps... that wouldn't have happened."     Staren sweatdrops. Wait, they want /him/ to be the tooth fairy? "I could lend her my flight ring..." he says, hopefully, then immediately looks crestfallen. Learning to fly took time. Thinking about it, Rarity probably can't... wait, no, this is silly. She can drink a potion of flight or something. Yes.     "...I don't want to do this, but I /do/ think I should go along in some capacity to try and talk to anyone who catches us. S-someone has to..." 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Staren's story gets Twilight worried even more. "See? Nothing about this is a good idea. Even if done for a noble goal, we are invading a pony's privacy, breaking and entering, possibly stealing from a fairy, and deceiving a little filly. And that's just if we -aren't- caught!" Twilight it starting to do her worried hyperventillating thing. "If we -are- caught, then a pony family is scared thanks to an intruder in their house in the middle of the night! I can't be associated with intruders into pony's homes! Queen Celestia might not be my teacher anymore! She might banish us! Or imprison us!!"      Twilight takes a few deep breaths to steady herself, then shakes her head. "I'm sorry, but...there has to be another way..." She thinks a moment. "Perhaps, if there is not a tooth fairy, we can ask the parents of the filly. They would likely not be keeping the tooth. Let them decide whether to remove the tooth themselves and leave the payment, or if they would allow us to enter and take the tooth." 

:'''{{#var:136|Rarity (136)}} has posed:''' Rarity manages to actually not fumble from her pose and regain her composure. Ahem. You saw nothing. Right, wings. Maybe Twilight woul ... okay, maybe not. Instead Rarity moves next to the other unicorn and puts a leg over her shoulders. "Your concern is touching as always Twilight dear." Calm the unicorn before we have another hysteria attack. You remember what happened the last time that occured. "Now just relax before you hurt that darling head of yours overthi--" Pause. Then Rarity turns her head a bit to tap her chin with the other forehoof. "--Actually. Maybe if you told them it was for a special project, which is essentially true. Just.. less.. you know..." She smiles softly at Pius. "No offense, but your approach was a bit brash about it." 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     Something Staren said doesn't seem to fit well with Pius. "Of course stealing a body is wrong! We are merely trading one tooth, you can't possibly compare the two!" Preposterous! Diane too doesn't seem to like that either. "Honest, nothing like that will happen! Promise! This isn't a ritual, it's science! Pius is right!" she pleads with Staren.     Yet, when Staren agrees to assist, the two Athanor siblings are all smiles. "Thank you! Thank you!" Diane nearly bounces in place next to him, eager and happy.     Perhaps things would have been easier if they had considered Twilight's suggestion earlier. Both Pius and Diane blink, look at one another, then at the others in turn. "Uh..." Diane bites her lower lip. "That actually makes sense." For a moment Pius just stands there in stunned silence. "I guess that could work...?" he offers, rubbing his left hoof against his scarf to adjust it. At least it wouldn't get them into any trouble, and well... it would help if they had an extra pair of hands. Hooves.     It appears that they have found a better solution, and Pius listens to Rarity expand on the idea. "That... is actually a good idea. Okay! Sir, you put on the dress! Miss Twilight, Miss Rarity, if you would help with the glitter and the grammophone please...! Diane, if you would be so kind?" "Yes!"     The young filly hurries up to the front door and knocks on it. Not too long passes, and the father of the house opens the door, looking quite surprised at seeing all the ponies outside of his house at this time of day. "Uh... can I help you?" he asks, glancing beween them. Diane gathers her courage, speaking up as clearly as she can. "Hello, we... we were wondering if you wanted to help us with a project! We are going around to collect baby teeth, and also give little colts and fillies a special treat that they will remember the rest of their lives as well as pay the standard tooth fee that the Tooth Fairy pay! Ummm... would you be interested?" Here she glances at the others. Come on, help her out! 

:'''{{#var:136|Rarity (136)}} has posed:''' Rarity sighs wistfully. She was looking forward to acting up the part, but, well .... honestly, they probably wouldn't trust her with wings again anyways. So with melodramatic remorse she delicately removes the dress, and uses her magic to zap it onto Staren before he can change his mind. Followed by grabbing one of the jars of glitter with her magic and thankfully NOT dumping it over him. That would be a waste of perfectly good glitter! She opens the jar properly, and skillfully takes little wads of it out with her magic and flecks it in Staren's mane and tail. "The special display will be ready in just one moment~" 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight blinks as...her argument works! They agree to peacefully request the tooth from the parents! She seems immensely relieved by this. When Diane knocks and explains, Twilight approaches. "We apologize for the unusual request, but this tooth could help save many lives in the future if this research proves worthwhile. And, we..." She pauses when she turns, intending to gesture to Rarity, but finding Staren in the dress. "...um...we..." She is stuck, holding one forehoof toward Staren. She blinks a few times, then giggles softly. "..we even have a proper semblance of a tooth fairy, should you wish to availe yourself of it, so that the little filly will not have her beliefs disturbed."      The stallion at the door considers all of this, then frowns lightly. "How did you know my daughter had lost a tooth?"      Twilight blinks, then blushes lightly realizing the implications. "She informed us earlier today." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "Celestia's not going to banish or imprison you, or... or reject you as her student." Staren hurries over to give her a reassuring hug, then smiles as people start talking reasonably.     Staren just gives Pius a confused look at the order to put on the dress. "We're not doing that anymore."     And Diane needs help. Staren canters over. "I'll level with you." He looks between the parents and Twilight. Honesty is the best policy, right? "We're--" he starts, and then suddenly is zapped into a dress with glitter flung his way. He sighs, and holds a forehoof to his face for a few seconds.     Then he stands again. "Where was I... These two are performing an important experiment. For science and knowledge, and... and if it works, it may be able to help people in the future. But the ritual requires the tooth of a unicorn. Foals lose their teeth naturally, so this is the most practical and safest way to obtain one. But it's kind of an unconventional request, so my acquaintances here didn't really know how to go about it." He nods, trying to keep a straight face. "Yes, I'm here as a representative tooth fairy." He pulls three bits from his bag and levitates them to the stallion. "Yes, they went around earlier asking fillies and colts if they happened to be losing any teeth. They're... really not good with people. You know how researchers can be." He tries to smile, but forced like this it's more of a grimace. 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     The father looks between the ponies at his door as they explain matters, looking extra hard at Diane who does her very best to plead with him by her facial expression one. Pius himself reaches out to adjust the dress on Staren a bit and arrange his mane, obviously taking this seriously. "It is indeed for a good cause, and we will be moving on shortly while preserving your little filly's faith in childhood fancies," he assures him. Though he can't help but give Staren a pointed look. Researchers can be like what now? And he also lets out a slight mutter. "It's not a ritual, it's SCIENCE," he points out to Staren.     It does seem like they are all rather trustworthy, or at least trustworthy enough, and the stallion even gives a little smile as he looks at Staren in his pretty dress. "Oh well, as long as you don't take too long. Perhaps she might even enjoy it, she has talked about the Tooth Fairy all day."     Diane looks visibly relieved, smiling brightly up at him as he opens the door further and steps aside so they can enter the little house. "Her room is up the stairs and to the right." Pius follows after Diane, carrying the grammophone on his back. Diane looks so happy, and she even smiles up at Staren. "You look pretty in the dress too! It brings out your eyes!"     It's showtime.     Inside the bedroom, little Rose Mint has snuggled up in bed, hugging her stuffed animal close as she is about to drift off to sleep... 

:'''{{#var:136|Rarity (136)}} has posed:''' Rarity has to cover her mouth with a hoof and try really REALLY hard to not start snickering when Staren gets complimented on the dress matching his eyes. 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight smiles warmly as the others plead the case, and the pony father sighs. "Oh...fine. But, only because it could help other ponies." he says, then motions for Staren to head inside. "Just make it quick, and try not to wake her."      Twilight looks to Staren, holding in her giggles as he is fussed over and complimented. "Okay, Staren. It's all up to you." she says, smiling. The pony father leads the way to Rose Mint's room, and very carefully opens the door, his protective eye staying on Staren. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren status: >:|     "Wait, so the tooth fairy /isn't/ real?" Staren looks back at them and asks. Then looks back to the stallion, who... seriously wants him to play tooth fairy. And compliments his eyes. What.     He looks at the offered hallway. "...What kind of fairy comes in through the door?" Translucent, softly glowing stylized orange insect wings appear on his back and he flies up around the house.     Tap.     Tap tap.     "Let me in. I'm a fairy." He smiles, careful to not show teeth so it won't turn into a grimace. "I'm so relieved to hear you believe in me! I had to come see you personally." As if fairies what, send proxies? Look, he's improvising.     (Obviously, they send /pixies/) 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     The tapping on the window draws a surprised gasp from Rose Mint where she lies curled up in bed, sitting up with wide eyes as she stares out of the window. For a moment she just stares, and she raises both hooves up to rub at her eyes. And then she gapes.     "THE TOOTH FAIRY!" she cries out in joy, then scrambles out of bed and over to the window, opening it for Staren.     Having followed Staren outside, Pius holds the grammophone steady while Diane cranks the shaft, soft musical tones accompanying Staren on his theatrical quest. And Pius even stagewhispers to Twilight, Spike and Rarity. "The glitter! And the sparkles! Come on!" Let's do this RIGHT. 

:'''{{#var:136|Rarity (136)}} has posed:''' Rarity holds up her forehooves. "Allow the professional," she whispers back. She flings up a cloud of glitter behind Staren, and then uses the same lighting effect magic she used for fashion show displays to cast an extra bright and sparkly illumination across Staren's wings. Now he'll leave the proper glittery trail through the window without a problem. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren can't help but smile genuinely at the filly's joy. He levitates a wand, a slender stick with a star shape on the end, from his bags. Its real purpose is shooting fireballs, but it looks the part!     He levitates in and lands, but doesn't dismiss the wings. On an impulse, he rears up and attempts to curtsey, but that doesn't work very well without hands to grab the dress with. "Well. I suppose we should get down to business, hm?" he waves the wand around telekinetically. "The, ah... the tooth? ...Has it fallen out yet?" he tilts his head to the side, conversationally cheerful. 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight Sparkle giggles softly as she watches all of this. But, when Pius points out that they need to support Staren, she quickly helps spread some glitter about so that it floats behind Staren, sparkling like fairy dust in Rarity's light show.      Spike shrugs at Pius in a 'what am I supposed to do?' gesture while the little filly inside giggles happily. "Yep! It is right here!" she exclaims before reaching beneath her pillow and pulling out the tooth. She holds it up in her forehoof. The father is watching through the slightly opened door, and has a bit of a smile himself seeing how happy his little filly is to see the 'Tooth Fairy'. 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     There's no hiding the joy and glee that Rose Mint feels, and she expresses it quite clearly though girly giggles and prancing around Staren as he lands. Nevermind that he doesn't manage to curtsy, the dress, his wings, the magic wand and all the light and glitter is more than enough to mesmerize the little filly.     Diane continues cranking the grammophone, keeping up with the soft tones, and Pius himself listens eagerly to the talk inside. Yes, the plan is working, they are getting the tooth! And the filly is also happy, how splendid! 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     The filly's cheer remains infectious. Staren levitates out three bits, "A little extra, for believing in me." and takes the tooth. He attempts another curtsey, "It was an honor to meet you," um, he doesn't know her name, "little filly." 

:'''{{#var:136|Rarity (136)}} has posed:''' Rarity flicks a little more glitter through the window, like a breeze was blowing it in. "At least he didn't use the 'my little pony' line," she deadpan whispers to Twilight. 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight giggles quietly at Rarity as they continue providing glitter and lights and music. "I am rather happy we chose to do it this way. Who knows, the story may spread, and other families might ask for your assistance in the future, Pius." she says. 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     Twilight's words make Pius glance away from the window and over at the unicorn, then he sighs. "Sadly I'm too busy to do these things every day... though I will gladly share the concept." Sure, he might appear to be a weirdo who is a bit inconsiderate of others, not knowing that some things are weird to ask strangers... but he does seem pleased that the little filly inside is happy.     And happy she is when Staren offers those three bits, and she lets out a squeal of delight. "Three bits? For me? Thank you!" Why, she even hugs Staren tight, clearly giddy with happiness. And when the Tooth Fairy asks for her name? "Rose Mint! I will brush my teeth extra well so they will be nice and pretty for you, Tooth Fairy! And I will tell the others to believe in you too and take care of their teeth as well!" she assures Staren. She glances at the door, alert for a moment. "I gotta go back to bed now and sleep. Night night, Tooth Fairy!" One final hug, and then Rose Mint lets go of Staren, places her three shiny bits on the nightstand before she scoots back into bed and snuggles up.     Outside Pius and Diane can hardly look more pleased, and the latter stops working the grammophone, smiling softly. "We did it...! We got the first reagant for your Magnum Opus, Pius!" she says, then turns to the others. "Thank you so much!" Indeed, it went very well! 

:'''{{#var:136|Rarity (136)}} has posed:''' Rarity smiles, mostly at the sounds of joy coming from the room above them. "If there is a real Tooth Fairy pony out there, I doubt she will be very upset with you. After all, you just gave a considerable boost to her reputation." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "That's right, dental hygeine is important!" He hugs her a bit awkwardly, then rears up, spins around dramatically, and hovers in front of the window. "Good night, Rose Mint! Sweet dreams!" And then he flies out the window, telekinetically shuts it, and lands back in front of the house. "I'm glad she's happy, but what if when she finds out the tooth fairy isn't real later, she stops brushing her teeth? I don't like lying..." he sighs. He smiles back at Diane, "I'm glad we're a step closer with... little harm done. I do hope sometime we can meet to discuss the particulars of your... procedure, rather than to play dress-up." 

:'''{{#var:136|Rarity (136)}} has posed:''' Rarity rolls her eyes. "Oh, Staren. Does not the fact that you have made one young filly -very- happy mean more than silly notions over the validity or not of an entity? For all you know, such belief is the very reason a 'Tooth Fairy' even exists." 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     "Oh, brushing your teeth is its own reward. I doubt she will stop brushing her teeth even if she finds out that there is no Tooth Fairy," Pius says, brushing Staren's concern off. As discussing alchemy, he is all for it. "Oh, of course. You are welcome to come and visit us at the manor anytime I am home. I also need to find the other ingredients, and I will require aid in acquiring them as well. Preferably without doing any harm." What matters now is that they have the tooth, and they are one step closer to getting what they need for the master alchemist's Magnum Opus.     Diane though looks up at Staren and speaks with absolute sincerity. "... you DO look pretty in that dress, though..." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren levitates the tooth over. "I just worry she'll feel decieved if she ever finds out what happened." His ears splay. And he looks at Diane for a moment. "...It's Rarity's. I'm sure she could make /anyone/ look pretty, but I think in my case it might attract more attention than I'd like and send rather the wrong message, especially if I wear it like this. ...But I am glad that we are closer to your goal." 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight gives Staren a hug when he returns, then giggles. "Yes, as..um...pretty as you are in that dress, we should probably get it off of you." she says. 

:'''{{#var:136|Rarity (136)}} has posed:''' "And wash it." Rarity adds. "A lot." Then huffs at the looks she probably gets. "What? I don't want Opal to shred it because she smells another cat and gets jealous!" Waves hooves at Staren as if that explains. "He turns into a cat as well, you know!" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren giggles after Twilight and spins around, once. Then nods to Rarity's explanation. Makes sense. 

}}

2030/Stage Calcination

2015-05-20T13:55:44Z

Sulfuros: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/04/15 |Location=Danbur <DB> |Synopsis=Pius discusses the reagents he will need in order to carry out his Magnum Opus. |Thanks= |Cast of Charac..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/04/15
|Location=Danbur <DB>
|Synopsis=Pius discusses the reagents he will need in order to carry out his Magnum Opus.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=113, 262, 579, 670, 673, 741, 747
|Tinyplot=The Great Work
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     The lone manor in the valley is luckily not besieged by angry villagers today. Somehow the entire valley seems less dreary today, even if the skies themselves are a faint grey as evening steadily approaches. Today the house has been aired out, and it's a funny sight that greets those who have found their way to Danbur today. The windows are all open, and it appears that Alexa, the peculiar housemaid, is busy beating the dust out of various carpets and clothes as they are hung up on a clothesline outside.     The front door stands open as well, inviting people to step into the main hall. That smells suspiciously sweet.     Is that the scent of tea and cookies that greet the visitors? Quite possibly. Even though the scent of various experiments over the many years still linger. 

:'''{{#var:113|Rose Petal (113)}} has posed:'''     Mandy has been invited to come to Pius's house in the past! So she totally takes this opportunity to finally visit him. She's a strange sight - a normal little girl walking without any adult supervision, wearing regular modern clothes - a skirt, sneakers and a t-shirt and carrying...     Well. Carrying Hana.     Behind her is a Gastly, as well, which will certainly raise a few eyebrows with the locals. 

:'''{{#var:579|Hana (579)}} has posed:'''     Hana doesn't seem terribly odd as far as objects go. As far as living creatures go, she is bizarre. The strange little creature has its eye and mouth closed, which gives the impression like it's some kind of bouquet. A bouquet that is purring like a drunken cat.     And drooling some strange orange sap. Drip. Drip. It's carefully avoiding getting it on Mandy's arms, though. 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     Apparently Rory might have planted a beacon - however tiny - when last she was here. She appears from a beam of light that streams down from the heavens! Blink and you might miss it.     Dressed in her white robes, she might seem like a priestess - perhaps a medic to some? Or if one notices all the pockets and the way it's designed, it also resembles a labcoat!     Whoever designed the garment had fun with it, that's for sure.     She strolls on in after realizing the open door's an invitation and hunts for the meeting area! 

:'''{{#var:747|Scarlet Everille (747)}} has posed:'''     It's not common that Scarlet answers calls from people she doesn't know, but having just recently joined the Union, it seems like a good time to branch out and start diversifying her connections. Get an early start on her peers. That sort of thing. After all, the multiverse is a place of great reward if you can stomach the risk, and she has solid investments in the kind of thing Pius had indicated he was looking for over the radio.     As such, she has dressed in business casual, styled a little closer to what might be more common for a pre-21st century world, assumed by the fact he had mentioned alchemy. Her ever present black messenger bag hangs against one hip, and her smartcollar is affixed around her throat where it belongs.     Her initial feelings of distaste are expertly hidden as she steps into the front hall, resolving that the man must at least be trying to clean up. Her first order of business is obviously to scan for traces of magic or active spells, but whether she finds anything or not, she keeps a steady, purposeful pace into the reception room, smiling at the maid along the way. 

:'''{{#var:262|Fiera Kitsun (262)}} has posed:''' Since Fiera came to investigate when Pius Athanor sent out his initial distress call, and she's not that far away from Danbur by warpgate, the offer of additional information on his needs (and the system of his alchemy) drew her back readily enough. She's not dressed much more subtly than she was the last time, but she does have Foxfire out and by her side from the start. The odd sweetness in the front hall makes both the girl and her Ninetales twitch their noses a bit, but Fiera doesn't take the time to wonder about it - it's probably a very deliberate thing, maybe above and beyond the cookies. The sight of Mandy and her Gastly prompts a smile and a bow of Fiera's head; she seems glad to meet another Pokemon trainer. To everyone (else), she bows politely and says, "Good evening, everyone." 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     As the visitors file into the entry hall it should not be hard to spot the doors are opened to the sitting room, and the nice smell of tea and cookies originate from there. And there is somebody there too.     Diane, Pius's younger sister, looks up from the table that she has prepared, and she offers a smile to them, her eyes bright and cheery. "You came!" she comments, as if afraid that nobody would accept her older brother's invitation. "Please sit." She gives Fiera and Rory a nod each, considering she knows them from their previous visit. Mandy, Hana and Scarlet are new, so she does a brief curtsy, minding her manners. "I am Diane Athanor, welcome. My brother will be here shortly. Do you want any sugar in your tea?"     There is no doubt about it, the entire air about the house is far lighter now than it was. Diane seems a bit more energetic as well, and once the guests have taken a seat she does not hesitate to pour them some tea. Though she does look a bit curiously at Hana. "Uh... do you drink tea as well...?"     The master of the house does not take long as well, as another set of doors open... and there he stands, Pius Athanor. Six feet tall, scrawny... and carrying several rolls of paper in his hands. His eyes, slightly discolored, do seem happy at the sight of all the women gathered in his sitting room, and he beams. "Ah, good afternoon, my lovely ladies!" he announces, then walks over to them. "Miss White, miss Kitsun, thank you for coming here again. And who might you lovelies be, hmm?" The question is of course posed to Mandy and Hana, as well as Scarlet. "I would kiss your hands, but my hands are sadly taken. A moment!" With that he somewhat clumsily begins depositing all his paperwork into his chair.     Any scan Scarlet does will not reveal much. There are some minor magical qualities to random objects about the house, as well as a faint one coming from Pius himself. 

:'''{{#var:113|Rose Petal (113)}} has posed:'''     Mandy's nose wrinkles a bit as she detects the vague hints of Pius's previous experiments under that sweet scent. Mostly, though, she's trying to be polite and friendly, even surrounded by so many adults. She's doing her best not to shrink away into the background.     She spies the Ninetails, and beams brightly, giving Foxfire and its trainer a friendly half-wave. "Hello!" she greets everyone pleasantly... while reaching into her pocket for a handkerchief to wipe Hana's mouth.     She settles down in the sitting room. "Um. Yes, please," she responds to the offer of sugar. She's eight! Of course she takes sugar in her tea!     She seems pretty happy to see someone closer to her age here. And then Pius is enetring. "Oh! Mister Athanor! Um. I'm Mandy. We talked on the radio a bit...?" Pause. "A-and this is Hana! And that's Mana!"     Mana, the Gastly, is currently perched on Mandy's head. Although when she moves forward to take a sip of tea, it becomes obvious that the Gastly is just hovering in place, not actually resting on her trainer's head. 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     "Diane, right?" Rory smiles pleasantly at her, graciously nodding in acknowledgement of the gesture. "Sorry. I'm incapable of eating or drinking, strange though that may seem. It's alright! --Ah..." And here's Pius! She tilts her head, then gives him another of those nods! "This has me excited!" 

:'''{{#var:579|Hana (579)}} has posed:'''     What's that? A question? The big eye on the strange bush creature called Hana opens up and swivels in almost dramatic fashion to look at Diane. And then the bush opens its mouth in a big and crooked grin, and says, "Hi!!"     "Can I have tea?" the monster inquires in its alien, gurgly voice, having never had the opportunity to enjoy it before. It gently tries to move out of Mandy's arms so it can find a place to sit where it can enjoy this 'Tea.' Ultimately, it finds a place to sit on the nearby table, and picks up a teacup and saucer with some care, and separates the two of them so it can quizzically examine the saucer.     It places the saucer on its head, and clumsily splashes the tea from its cup into its big mouth after it gets poured. Then holds the cup out and smiles, with a bit of tea dripping from the corner of its mouth. 

:'''{{#var:747|Scarlet Everille (747)}} has posed:'''     As is customary for meeting new people who might turn out to be important, Scarlet lays Cient Dia Breagach on nice and thick. The magic alters the concept of an event or object's perception, editing it to appear differently to different people in subtle, abstract ways. In summary, everyone present is seeing and hearing a slightly different Scarlet; one who possesses a certain quality of likeability based on what traits they value in first impressions. Adding onto her natural composure, she seems smart, pretty, confident and capable in ways that are a little difficult to put one's finger on.     "Two teaspoons and no milk, please." she says to Diane, giving her a smile of appreciation for her thoughtfulness. Such is the proper way to drink tea, according to which part of England you ask. "A pleasure to meet you, mister Athanor!" she says to the alchemist, as if she had known his name prior to visiting rather than having only learned it from Mandy just a second ago. "My name is Scarlet Everille. I'm a magus in training, and one with a great quantity of reagents you might be interested in." She seems very relaxed around him; possibly due to assessing him as harmless. "And nice to meet you too, miss White, miss Kitsun, Mandy, and Hana. Did I get all of those right?" she politely points to each person in sequence. 

:'''{{#var:262|Fiera Kitsun (262)}} has posed:''' "Good afternoon to you as well, Mister Athanor," Fiera greets Pius with a friendly smile and a nod, trying to internalize the correction without breaking stride. Wherever she was before coming here must have been a bit later in the day, or something. "Milk and one sugar for my tea, please," Fiera asks when her turn for tea comes around. "How has your work been going since we first met?" 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     When Rory reveals that she does not eat and drink it seems to take Diane by surprise, and she looks down at the tea and cookies in an awkward manner. "Uh, I... uh... is there anything else I can get you then?" No, she does not wish to be a bad hostess. Especially not on an important day like this. When Hana asks if she can have tea she nods, not seemingly disturbed that there is a monster with them. "Of course! And have a cookie too, they are nearly fresh out of the oven!"     With the entire mess of papers deposited safely Pius is free to greet his guests properly, and he shakes the hands of the younger guests, though he does stay true to his word and reaches out to take some of the older ladies by the hand in order to plant a brief kiss on the back of their hand like a true gentleman would. Not that he looks much like one.     "Oh yes, Mandy, we did talk, didn't we? I'm so glad that you were able to come here today, you and your little friend! Hello there!" He leans down and wriggles his fingers in a friendly wave to Hana. "My, I have never met anybody like you before! Where are you from?"     Scarlet too earns a curious look. "A magus, you say? What does a magus specialise in? Are you familiar with the concept of alchemy, young lady?" he asks in succession. "I am glad all of you could make... let me get straight to the point!" Yes, enough prattling. He picks up one of the rolls of paper, preferring to stand for now. He unrolls it, and the other end of it hits the floor as he shows off a schematic that is obviously hand drawn, with lots of notes around it. "As I explained the last time you esteemed Elites visited my humble home, I wish to restore life! And in order to do so I have to recreate a human body from scratch. One that is stronger than a golem and homunculus, able to contain the power of a person's essence!" he begins, clearing his throat as he looks around at the people gathered.     "Since your last visit I have been busy. For one, I did promise to do the... petty work the village asks of me, and I have only had time to work on a list of reagents that I need. I have been unable to start on the ground work yet, sadly," he admits with a heavy sigh. 

:'''{{#var:113|Rose Petal (113)}} has posed:'''     Mandy nods her head immediately when Hana asks if she can have tea. Even if she wasn't asking Mandy, she feels the need to make it clear she doesn't mind! She tries not to get too flustered over Hana's... messy drinking habits. That handkerchief is sure getting a lot of use though. "Hana, please try to close your mouth after taking a sip," she murmurs softly.     "Hana is my... um... pet... thing?" Mandy struggles a bit. "...I have no idea what she is. But she's nice! So." She gives an embarassed half-smile.     "...Ah... this sounds very close to home for some reason..." she murmurs as Pius announces his plans. "...Have you ever heard of a man named Frankenstein?" 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     "Were I certain that success would result, I would offer a body." Rory begins, her words coming out in a very apologetic tone. "But given the vast differences at work between our worlds nothing is guaranteed and while I can grow bodies, it would take around two years... the problem is whether it would be sufficient for whatever transfer procedure would restore the spirit to it. So I'm very eager to see what can be done to produce a body with Alchemy!"     Yes, with that she can smile some! Genuinely. Though she shakes her head at Diane. "Don't worry! I'm quite fine. And yes. Rory White!" That's a response to Scarlet!     She settles down after getting all that out, turning to a more business-like tone as both hands migrate to her knees. "Appeasing the villagers is very important. What may seem like mundane and simple work to you will nevertheless inspire more to learn as you have and improve the reputation of knowledge-seekers! ... So, Mr. Athanor... how does one make a body using alchemy?" 

:'''{{#var:670|Lyria Mason (670)}} has posed:''' Lyria Mason is wary of what's going on here, however she does want to learn more about what's going on. If they are supplying him? The union needs to keep an eye on him after all. She listens as Rory speaks up about not needing to drink she pauses looking at Rory. It takes her a moment to recall Rory, is what no one on Galandia has been able to make. An AI that's actually a person of their own. She does however seem to be intnetly listening for the moment. "It's about the manner in which one attempts such." Preverting Necromancy from it's intended purposes, eldrich magic, pacts with dark beings, it was harder to do bring someone back right if you could at all. Still if he doesn't stray into the relm of madness and evil? Lyria must have just slipped here or been there for a while she looks to Mandy for a moment thinking. "Isn't that some novel from Earth? Please forgive my ignorance. Also I'm Lyria Mason." 

:'''{{#var:747|Scarlet Everille (747)}} has posed:'''     "It's the neutral term of a user of the arcane sciences." Scarlet explains to Pius. "Someone who is educated in the workings of magic and who has the ability to apply them. I understand that your world doesn't have quite the same type or degree of spellcraft, but golems and homonculi are close enough for the purposes of classification. I'm also quite familiar with what alchemy is, and to some degree, how it works, but I'm not a trained alchemist myself. I make use of a large number of reagents for their intrinsic properties in a similar way to an alchemist however." She isn't actually all that familiar with how mystical alchemy is here, but she's playing it off well.     As Pius produces the list, the diode on Scarlet's smartcollar flashes blue, projecting a one-way holographic only visible from her angle. She boots up her voice recognition and recording software in addition to positioning her hand over an AR keyboard, prepared to get the info in triplicate. 

:'''{{#var:579|Hana (579)}} has posed:'''     Mandy's hesitance is met with Hana cheerfully pointing out, "I'm a bush monster!" She even spreads her arms out as if going 'TA-DAH!' at Diane. After that, the strange flower bush creature looks around at everyone as they speak. She carefully reaches to accept a cookie and chews on that, too, but this time she takes extra care not to make a mess. It's very deliberate and she looks a little nervous about it, not used to being careful.     She keeps eyeballing that plate of cookies uncertainly after the first cookie.     Pius, though, gets a fascinated stare from the strange bush creature that trumps even the sweet tooth. His claim that he wants to restore life, to create a human being from scratch, is something of such epic implications that she can't help but feel awed by the thought of it. "Why make another human?" she wonders at him, because she never had that explained to her. Without waiting for an answer, she tells Pius, "I can help!" when he talks about needing reagents, smiling a smile so sweet, the sap she carefully stops with her tongue could put someone into a diabetic coma. 

:'''{{#var:262|Fiera Kitsun (262)}} has posed:''' Fiera smiles, finally taking a seat. "Well, depending on the reagents you need and where we need to go for them, you should have a reasonable amount of time." She is wondering, a bit, whether the villagers might be overloading Pius with their requests and needs to 'get back at' him for when he was spurning them ... but, well, that's getting into local politics and she's not sure whether she could blame them if they *were*. The Ninetales who's been accompanying Fiera sits back on her haunches next to Fiera's seat, tails curled around her side to keep them out of the way, and just seems to be watching and listening for now. 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     Diane does not seem disturbed by Hana's messy drinking habits, though she does indeed hand over a handkerchief for the little monster. Now that all the guests have been served their tea and cookies she too takes a seat and pours some tea for herself, listening eagerly to her brother and the guests.     "Frankenstein? I am not familiar with that name. Care to elaborate, dear?" he asks of Mandy, looking curiously down at her over the top of his roll of paper.     But he does not seem intent on waiting long to explain his plan, as he is a busy man and quite eager as well.     "I'm pleased to hear that you are a learned woman, miss Everille," he nods, then gestures to Mandy too. "With several of you showing an interest or knowledge in this field it will undoubtedly be a far more manageable task! There is no big secret what chemical components a human body is made of. Water, carbon, various minerals, iron... the list is long and I refer to the recipe on this paper," he adds and points out a list further down on the paper roll. "But just putting this in a pot for nine months will not make a human body climb out, will it? Of course not! The very idea is preposterous. Which is where alchemy comes in," Pius explains.     "A golem might appear human, but they lack the very essence of a person. Luckily I do have the essence ready, I merely need to make a human body for it, a human body that is able to contain the essence. And we need to make it within two months."     Diane looks a bit serious where she sits, clutching her tea cup in her hands. Pius continues.     "In order to make the body sturdy enough we will need to combine the various elements with magical reagents. I have pure chemical components in my study, but the body needs to be made accordingly. The brain and the heart will be the most complex, as they house the essence. But the other organs will also need to be equally strong. And by definition I am not talking about physical strength. The body needs to be like the original. A real human body, nothing more and nothing less." Here Pius halts so that the others can comment and ask any questions before he continues. 

:'''{{#var:113|Rose Petal (113)}} has posed:'''     Mandy nods her head a bit. "Someone wrote a book about him, but, um. He was... he was a doctor of... biology? Or whatever the etrm was back when he lived. I think it was about two centuries ago or something...? Anyway, he wanted to prove that it was possible to create life from a corpse, so he stitched together body parts from various, um. Doners. And then he used the alchemical energy stored in natural electricity to make the body come to life? Or... something?" She frowns a bit, like she's struggling to remember.     "...Why does it need to be made in two months?" 

:'''{{#var:262|Fiera Kitsun (262)}} has posed:''' Fiera frowns a little bit, "What happens if it takes more than two months to prepare a body which can meet the demands you intend to place on it?" she asks. Pius is putting a lot of description in but isn't saying a whole lot about the details of what he needs ...never mind how he's going to put it all together. She's singularly unsure what kind of reagents could make the necessary kind of heart, let alone the brain - but then, this is Pius's field, not hers. 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     "I see! So not just any body will do... it must be identical to the original. A clone? The elements have never been a problem for me either. But to create a true body... the process I'm familiar with involves utilizing the same process as birth. Combine the same DNA..." There's a pause, then she amends, "Pardon. Combine the bloodlines the same way, allow the result to grow but accelerate the process. But we do not have nearly enough time even if I had the exact genetic sequence... why the two month deadline?" Rory now seems concerned, eyse going wide! 

:'''{{#var:579|Hana (579)}} has posed:'''     Hana just looks terribly confused, and tries not to drool tea on herself while she's drinking it and watching Pius at the same time. Her eye turns to regard Diane for a short moment after that, her off-claw using the offered handkerchief to wipe down any mess on herself or the table, very careful about this. She seems to have a bit of strength to her that is deceptively hidden in a squishy ball-like form.     "Will the human be happy?" Hana wonders at Pius, more quietly, though it's clear she's not expecting any kind of answer under the excitement and intelligence of everyone else. 

:'''{{#var:747|Scarlet Everille (747)}} has posed:'''     "I'm curious as well." Scarlet appends to Mandy's statement. "It seems like a rather arbitrary time limit. Will the "essence" you've procured not last any longer?" eager curiosity is visible on her face, enhanced slightly by magic, even if she is legitimately interested in the idea of re-affixing a soul to a fully human body. "I'm familiar with the theory behind retreiving a human soul and binding it to an object, but getting one to inhabit a living body for a second time isn't something that's been accomplished yet in my world. I defer to your expertise here." She casts a brief glance towards the girl who had asked. If Mandy is paying attention, she might notice Scarlet's eyes are a brighter shade of red than they were before. 

:'''{{#var:670|Lyria Mason (670)}} has posed:''' Lyria Mason looks over at Scarlet for a moment once more wondeirng about her and her world. However now isn't the time to ask, right? So she keeps quirt on that and seems to be thinking about whate veryone else has to say and thankfully Fiera is here to help with this. "It does depend on what's needed and how hard it's to get. Some of it could turn into some pretty long fetch missions. At least in my experiance when looking for rare reagents." She liutens as he explains a bit mroe about his abilities she pauses for a moment. "so your trying to put the soul of someone who is dead into a fresh body more or less?" Mandy also explains the bit about the book. "Humm what happens in two months?" 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     A look of utter disgust crosses Pius's face as Mandy explains the tale of doctor Frankenstein. Why, he even visibly shudders. "Corpses? Oh, heavens no! How utterly macabre!" he nearly spits, and he can hardly look more serious as he makes his next statement. "I will certainly do no such things! It's disgusting and amoral!"     Luckily Hana's question seems to break him out of his seeming need to rant and rave about grave robbery, though he does blink, as if taken by surprise by her innocent question. A few seconds passes, and he nods his head. "Yes... I want her to be happy. If I am successful, then perhaps there will be less sadness in the world. Perhaps in the multiverse in general."     Next he points at Scarlet, his eyes shining with approval. "That is correct! After two months time it might deteriorate, and that is indeed bad. We do not want the restored human to risk insanity, sickness of the mind and body. I want to restore the human to full health and not bring further harm when the poor person has already suffered enough at the hands of death itself," Pius says in a determined manner. "Affixing the essence will be the hardest part, but if we follow the plan I have made, then it will be possible! I am certain of it!"     Lyria's statement is correct, as Pius nods his head at her. "Yes. Her previous body got sick... and despite all our efforts, we could not save her then. Perhaps... we can do so now," he says, turning his gaze to Diane, who nods carefully in return as she chews on her cookie.     "NOW! What we need," he continues, tossing the roll of paper aside before he picks up several others, handing them out. "There might be changes to this list later, but with my current studying and calculations, we need... a pure mineral that does not melt. An essence of lightning. The blood of a dragon. A tooth from a magical creature that does not eat meat. And a venom that can corrode platinum."     The man looks rather pleased with himself, even when one considers all the ingredients he just listed. 

:'''{{#var:113|Rose Petal (113)}} has posed:'''     "I... i-it was just..." Mandy stares at Pius for a moment as he begins to actually seem -mad-. She feels a pang of... something in her heart, but she really has no idea why. She looks down at her lap and mumbles an apology for bringing it up.     She's silent for quite a while, just listening to everyone. "...Blood of a dragon and the tooth are easy. Go to Equestria..." 

:'''{{#var:262|Fiera Kitsun (262)}} has posed:''' Fiera takes one of the rolls of paper, unrolling it far enough to see if the script is legible to her - the translation effect doesn't cover written text, only the spoken word. "Gotta be a dragon that doesn't mind donating," she comments to Mandy. "'Essence of lightning' ... Denki could probably help with that, unless it specifically has to be lightning from a stormcloud," she looks questioningly at Pius to confirm that. "And I have a Dratini, those are Dragon-type Pokemon - I'd have to ask if Suiryuu minds having blood drawn for something like this." She studies the list out some more. "Do you have a pen I could borrow to make some notes about who's getting what?" she asks further. She might also need to scribble in what's needed in a language she can read, if the list isn't legible to her. 

:'''{{#var:579|Hana (579)}} has posed:'''     The answer Pius gives to Hana seems to satisfy the monster's curiosity, and gives a foundation for the diminutive creature's resolve. The teacup and saucer get set down carefully, and the monster stands up on the table. Evidently it's fairly lightweight, not creating much noise when it moves around, aside from a faint sloshy sap-like noise. Gross.     Hana listens carefully to what Pius needs. She turns to look at Mandy for a moment, and then back to Pius, squinting distrustfully, because he made Mandy feel bad. 

:'''{{#var:747|Scarlet Everille (747)}} has posed:'''     Scarlet opens the scroll thrown to her with interest, catching with an uncanny degree of hand-eye coordination. Her eyes rove back and forth across the page, absorbing the details even as her free hand taps rapidly away at an insubstantial keyboard, adding a second document to the one currently transcribing Athanor's every word.     "Those are some very abstract components." she says after a moment's pause. "Unfortunately, I am aware of no mineral that cannot possibly be melted. I would appreciate clarification as to the exact nature of an "essence" of lightning. That word can mean many things. The blood of a dragon could be provided in short order if I can gather enough people for the summoning and harvesting of one. Magical creatures are in plentiful supply in my world, a few of which have teeth and don't eat meat by any conventional sense. As to a venom that corrodes platinum, I can't make an immediate judgement, since I don't know all of the chemical qualities of every venom from my world, though I can have the answer soon enough with a little research."     She puts the scroll down, looking back to Pius. "If I may ask, what is the metaphysical significance of these items? How do they comprise the integrity of a human body?" she takes a moment to finally pick up her tea, beginning the process of drinking it with the distinct manner of someone who has been very well educated as to how to properly imbibe tea. 

:'''{{#var:113|Rose Petal (113)}} has posed:'''     Mandy mumbles something about lightning 'conducting the Divine Fire' whatever THAT's meant to mean. 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     "The tale of Frankenstein's Monster is, first of all, fiction. Second, it is meant to be a lesson for those who would use their knowledge thoughtlessly... among other things." Rory points out as gently as she can manage in an aside to Mandy!     "Yet it is still worth heeding. It shows the risks of what might happen if we make a mistake. Life is the most complicated of all sciences... I suspect it's no different with alchemy."     Her response to the listing is, of course, mostly unseen - she records it all and jots down a dozen ideas of what those might be and where they can be acquired...     "The unmelting mineral and venom will probably be the hardest. Essence of lightning is more magical than I can deal with. Yes, dragon's blood and the tooth will be relatively simple with some searching. By what standards do you judge 'unmeltable?'" 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     When Mandy has that reaction Pius immediately blinks, stepping forward. "Oh, I meant no offence, young lady!" he quickly assures her. "It's just that the very idea to harvest bodies sickens me, especially in this case!" He even gets down on one knee, seeking to take the young girl's hands in his. "Do not apologise, it is not needed. It is I who must apologise to you, dear thing." Here he pats her hand in a manner meant to be assuring, and he looks at Hana, clearly feeling bad for upsetting a young little girl! Such shame!     Regarding the nature of the reagents, it is rather vague, isn't it? "I do not know what might be readily available in the multiverse," he explains, giving Mandy's hand one final pat before he rises to his feet. The text on the paper is written in English and should be easily read by the Elites. Fiera's request is heard, and Pius fumbles in his pocket and hands her a pencil to write with.     "Let me go into detail. I require about five gallons of blood, all from the same dragon. So the dragon has to be quite large if they wish to donate."     Next, the essence of lightning. "An essence is magical by nature, so we can't just go out and conduct it. The very idea of using regular lightning in order to restore life is preposterous and silly," Pius huffs. "So no, we are not going to chase storm clouds."     "Now, the pure mineral is something I will have to ground up into a fine powder, it will act as a conductive agent for the essence of lightning. But it needs to be able to withstand high heats as well in order to remain stable. It is fine if we find it at the very end." Then he moves onto the two final ingredients. "If there are indeed magical creatures in your worlds that do not eat meat, then perhaps you can educate me? Would it be easy to get a hold of a tooth from one of them? The venom might be hard to find, I am uncertain if my own world has such dangerous creatures."     The question Scarlet poses is perhaps a rather important one, and Pius turns towards her and nods. "The magical nature of these items will help create a link between the body itself and the essence. The body is natural, the essence by merit is something different. Our minds often surpasses our body, do they not?" 

:'''{{#var:670|Lyria Mason (670)}} has posed:''' Lyria Mason Says "So you only have so long you can ..." she looks uneasy about this for the moment. She however listens about the list nothing that seems questionable ot her. She thinks a bit more for a moment. "You know a few don't you Fiera?" Given how long Fiera's been with the Union and the multiverse? Lyria assumes she's got all sorts of connections. She could be wrong but it's an assumption she has made here. "Would that not dpeend upon the world Miss White? I'm starting to learn one world's tale is another's reality." She turens back to Pious and humms She's clearly thinking about the pkint on lightning. 

:'''{{#var:113|Rose Petal (113)}} has posed:'''     Mandy smiles a bit as Pius apologises - but then her head snaps to look at Rory. Her eyes narrow, just slightly. "I come from a world where the shadows are deeper. A world where politicians are more corrupt and where hope is a rare quality possessed only by a few. A world where corpses that shun the sun gain sustenance and magic powers by drinking the blood of the living, and a world where spirits in the guise of mortal men transform into wolves! Don't presume every world is like yours!"     She seems genuinely annoyed for a moment... before she sits down again. "...I... I'm sorry. I don't... I don't know what came over me." She flushes and looks down into her lap.     She mumbles: "Go to Equestria. Find a dentist. Unicorns don't eat meat..."     Stella (and for that matter anyone with magic senses) may have noticed Mandy's aura kinda flaring up a bit there! It resembled flames for a moment. How very odd. 

:'''{{#var:579|Hana (579)}} has posed:'''     As the aura flares up, Hana seems to respond instinctually. She straightens up and turns to face Rory with a silent stare in that big eye, left widened and not blinking. The color in the eye and the monster's flower seems to... wobble, just outside normal perception. Whatever happened with Mandy also affected her pet(?) monster.     It calms down when Mandy calms down, and the monster just sort of... deflates. It hobbles over and tries to give Mandy a hug to make her feel better, purring once more in a soothing manner. Or an attempt at it, at least. 

:'''{{#var:747|Scarlet Everille (747)}} has posed:'''     Scarlet expresses some form of nonverbal understanding in a difficult to isolate way. "A sort of conduit for the soul- pardon me, essence, then. You have raised a very important question however." she clears her throat. "Does your world, or does it not, have dragons? If you came up with this list on your own, you must already be familiar with certain properties that dragons familiar to you possess. It wouldn't do us very much good to draw the blood of a dragon that is completely mundane or the manifestation of a metaphysical concept for purely alchemical goals, for example. If this is the case, I suggest that it might be best to instead locate and hunt a dragon here, or at least having you accompany a party to verify the usability of a multiversal one."     That out of the way, she continues. "There are a great many magical creatures I have access to. It would help if you could narrow down any defining characterstics that would be useful to you. For instance, does the strength of magic the creature has play any role? I'm fairly confident that an exotic venom like that probably exists somewhere in their roster, but it might be difficult to obtain. Of course, I don't expect that to dissuade you~" The last part seems strangely understanding, as if she wholeheartedly approves of what Pius is doing.     Her gaze is immediately distracted by Mandy, flicking into an expressionless mask for the duration of her tirade, before returning to its previous state almost instantly. God knows what she's thinking now. 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     Rory flinches away upon noticing the WEIRD look Mandy's giving her. Which is odd, because she's usually not very reactive to things.     Creeped out? Just why?     In the future, looking back at it, she'll not be able to figure it out any better than she can now.     "U-understood. Though my point about the lesson it has to teach should remain. We cannot afford mistakes or something like it may happen."     Rory's then quiet for about ten seconds while others are speaking, gathering her thoughts...     "A pure mineral that can withstand heat from this 'essence of lightning' without melting, yet is soft enough to be ground into powder. This must be a mineral, as in a natural occuring substance? It cannot be manufactured? About how much of it will be needed? Do we have a way to test the suitability of these materials once procured?" 

:'''{{#var:262|Fiera Kitsun (262)}} has posed:''' Fiera looks for a long moment at Foxfire; the Ninetales returns her gaze. Whatever interchange may happen between them is silent and invisible; you'd have to be a telepath to pick up on the mental traffic flowing through the bond between them. "From what you've seen so far, Mr. Athanor, would you consider Pokemon like Foxfire 'magical'?" Fiera finally asks, looking again at the alchemist. "Or at least magical enough for the purposes of your alchemy?" 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     The little speech Mandy gives Rory is indeed curious, and it does make both Pius and Diane look rather surprised and taken aback. All in all that world does not sound like a happy place... But let's not dwell on that now, not today when things are looking so bright. So many ideas, so many possibilities!     It is enough to make Pius cheer up a whole lot, and he's grinning from ear to ear. "This is marvellous!" he exclaims, clapping his hands together. "Unicorns from Equestria? I will have to ask regarding that, yes. Do dentists deal with unicorns there? How strange..." Perhaps it will be even more strange when he learns that the unicorns of Equestria are not as equines from other worlds.     The man reaches down to pat Mandy and Hana on the head, and then he turns to face Scarlet again. "Oh, I have heard tales. But dragons have not been sighted for centuries. It is unknown whether there even are dragons left in this world after the war. Also, the stronger the magic of a creature it is, the more effective it will be in my magnum opus. I know it is difficult, but we must do this! Otherwise I would never be able to forgive myself..." The man deflates somewhat, his shoulders slumping as he seems to consider the possibility of failure. It is not a happy thing to think about, it appears.     Next he turns to Rory and her excellent question. "I do not know. Can it even be manufactured? And yes, I will test the various reagents. If I don't, then I might waste both time and materials, and that will hinder progress even further!" Fire manages to snag his attention, and he blinks, raising his head. "Oh? Oh... maybe?" he says, then rubs his chin as he studies the Pokemon. "What makes you think your companion is magical? I would rather not be in doubt when it comes to this..." 

:'''{{#var:113|Rose Petal (113)}} has posed:'''     Mandy smiles a little bit as she's patted on the head. She reaches forward to gather Hana gently into her lap, stroking the little mostly lightly. She doesn't really have much to contribute right now, but she's reading the list of ingredients all the same.     She glances at Diane once or twice, slightly concerned by how she's been reacting to all this talk. 

:'''{{#var:262|Fiera Kitsun (262)}} has posed:''' "Not so much Foxfire specifically," Fiera explains as the Ninetales rises from her 'seat' and pads over to the fireplace. "But Pokemon - my family adheres to a belief that they're nature-spirits in a corporeal form ... and -" "Niiiiiiiiiiine!" Foxfire calls out, exhaling a Flamethrower technique into the fireplace. "- I'm not sure what *else* you'd call their elemental techniques if you're not from a world that Pokemon are native to," Fiera finishes without missing a beat. She might be a little smug, having managed the timing that well with Foxfire. 

:'''{{#var:670|Lyria Mason (670)}} has posed:''' Lyria Mason listen to Mandy for a moment and shudders a bit, at it. She looks t her for a moment and not sure about what Mandy had to say but she does take note of it. She however attemps to focus on the matter at hand. "This is getting a bit beyond me when it comes to magic outside of my world's magitechnology? I'm a Geomancer." She notes note the mention of various materials. Which gets her thinking. "Humm there are likely otherworldly materials that would apply to your needs. The question is what sort and humm are you sure this sounds more of magic to me." 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     "There are..." Rory pauses a moment, eyes glazing over briefly, then... "At least ten thousand different recipes for high-grade materials with properties far beyond normal engineering. Materials light and flexible as cloth but twice as strong as steel. Foam made of metal. Materials that bend light around them so as to seem invisible. Heat resistance is but one of the properties most engineering materials on my world need! Conductivity another. I'm not sure what could conduct the ESSENCE of lightning or how hot it would be, but I CAN bring all the most suitable materials I know for you to test!" Rory declares happily! 

:'''{{#var:747|Scarlet Everille (747)}} has posed:'''     Scarlet frowns slightly at the mention of dragons, but it doesn't seem to be a displeased one. Merely thoughtful. "It might be quite an undertaking to find one then. I think it would still be possible to find one with multiversal aide, provided they do still exist, but it might be easier to find one elsewhere. Unfortunately, that means you'll have to leave your house. We can't go drawing blood from dragon after dragon and bringing it back here after all. The Rookery is a likely start, with how many dragons make their nests there, though the option remains of summoning one with a sufficient level of military force to kill it right after. Five gallons is a lot of blood. It would need to be an exceptionally large creature if we were attempting to preserve its life."     She stops to consider Rory's words. "I'm experienced with augmentation magic. If you can manufacture something partway to the specifications we need, I'm confident I can get us the rest of the way there. The essence of lightning I also believe is within my abilities to procure with enough preparation and the right familiars." 

:'''{{#var:579|Hana (579)}} has posed:'''     Hana purrs gently upon receiving pettings from the dear human she has bonded to. The monster attentively turns to listen and watch the conversation around her, but she doesn't have any more innocent inquiries to give. Instead, she tries to think of how to contribute to this, burbling to herself. An idea forms in that goo bubble of a brain she has, slowly... and then she speaks up:     "I saw a melting car once," it tells everyone, "I wanna go ask whatever did that for some venom!" The kind creature displays bravery and confidence on her inhuman features, her flowers rustling with energy. 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     Still seated, Diane seems to listen to things with a curious look on her face, nodding at certain comments. It does not appear that the young woman is confused about the terms nor talk at all, even if she keeps quiet so her brother can talk undisturbed.     The display that Foxfire gives them all does make the two Athanor siblings jump, and the sister looks shocked where she sits while Pius steps forward. "A fire breathing fox? How curious! Is it something it knew how to do from birth, or was it learned?" he asks, clearly eager to learn more in order to determine the nature of the fire itself.     Geomancy might just be what they need for the pure mineral. "Oh yes, magical properties might make the reagents more effective, and decrease the chances of failure exponentially!" Pius assures Lyria with a happy smile on his face. "Something strong, pure! Metallic in nature!" The same comment is meant for Rory, and the master alchemist seems a bit thrilled at the idea. "Please do, miss White! I will test them all if I have to!"     And there Hana has an idea, and he smiles brightly down at the monster. "A melting car? How marvellous! Please do that, and let me know what you find out?" he requests. Indeed, this is going swimmingly so far. 

:'''{{#var:262|Fiera Kitsun (262)}} has posed:''' "< A little of both, >" Foxfire answers Pius. "< The ability was there to start with, but I've had to learn how to breathe fire in more potent manners, among other abilities I've learned to wield. >" She pads back over to Fiera, and the trainer smiles, petting the Ninetales and feeding her a Pokeblock. "I have a Pikachu - an electric-type Pokemon - among my allies, although I don't have her with me right now. I was thinking her power could provide the essence of thunder that you need," she explains to Pius. 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     "Pokemon are such strange and interesting creatures!" Rory offers a smile - full of curiousity and eagerness for SCIENCE! - at Fiera and her crew... but only briefly. She soon is nodding at Scarlet! "We may have something there. A metal should be easy enough. Though I'll be sure to bring others. What other options do we have if this fails? I... Mr. Athanor, my world doesn't have anything... mystical or spiritual, at least not that I or the known 'learned people' as you put it are aware of... I only have works of fiction and ancient beliefs that were proven wrong... coincidentally many of them vaguely resemble the endeavor we're on right now so I am excited to see if they are right in this world!" 

:'''{{#var:579|Hana (579)}} has posed:'''     "Yes!" Hana replies to Pius, happily enough! She seems to be completely willing to perform this task, though some consternation passes the monster's face after a few seconds, as she tries to think of a way to get the venom out of the theoretical monster even after asking it. She'll be busy like that, until she gets distracted by other things. 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     "How curious," Pius states, smiling at Foxfire. "Perhaps you will do, I do not know. We will have to see, and test your magical qualities if you do possess them. But not today. First we must prepare, and I have to finish dealing with those dreary villagers and their trifle business," Pius nearly groans. No, he might have resumed his duties, but he still dislikes them when he could be spending that time doing what he considers as real work.     "Please, come back next week perhaps. I will keep you updated on my progress, and Diane will fetch the tooth of an unicorn for us. Let us be on the lookout for large dragons, pure minerals... Hana will research into the matter of venom. Let us ponder essences of lightning. Thank you all for coming, I look forward to seeing all you lovely ladies again!" 

}}

1981/Catalyst

2015-05-20T13:54:47Z

Sulfuros: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/04/08 |Location=Danbur <DB> |Synopsis=Elites find their way to the Athanor manor, where they are met by an angry mob and an eccentric alchemis..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/04/08
|Location=Danbur <DB>
|Synopsis=Elites find their way to the Athanor manor, where they are met by an angry mob and an eccentric alchemist.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=85, 232, 262, 670, 673, 741
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lqpMUkt8DM     It's early evening, yet it's already dark in this world as the Elites arrive through the warp gate at the top of a hill. But despite the approaching darkness a somewhat clear view of the valley is still possible. Farmlands dominate the mostly flat area, with scattered groups of trees in areas. Off in the horizon lies what appears to be a village, and a rather sizeable one at that where it's nestled between some hills.     What might draw more attention however is a large manor at the end of a road. By the looks of it, it has seen better days. Paint is peeling off of the old woodwork, vines and weeds have pushed aside flowers in what once might have been a grand garden, and the house itself seems to be just as quiet as the area.     If it weren't for the group of people gathered in front of the large house itself.     It's a large crowd, and their angry voices and cries travel up the hill, easily heard even if the words themselves are mostly hard to make out. Some of them are repeated by several people, yelled loudly as they raise whatever they are carrying in their hands, whether it be lanterns, torches or weaponry.     "ATHANOR!"     "- not right what you're doing!"     "This has gone on for long enough!"     The house remains quiet despite all the noise going on outside, curtains drawn at all the windows. 

:'''{{#var:232|D (232)}} has posed:'''     The distress signal manages to rouse D from his usual brooding isolation. Its source is quickly traced, thanks in part to its lack of encryption, and in part to the Union's effective technology. As it so happens, the Hunter is not very far from a convenient warpgate, and with that knowledge bearing down on him, he can't help but react despite his general apathy for playing the hero.     He goads his cyborg horse across one transdimensional barrier with his cape flying behind him like outstretched wings. The steed's charging pace doesn't match D's lack of concern, but setting an urgent pace lends him an appearance of care he can't otherwise muster. To appear empathetic is all that's required to deflect most questions; the cold-hearted dhampir learned and mastered this deception a very long time ago.     "Quit being so dramatic. No one cares if you don't care about what you're doing. It's only important for you to do anything at all, right?" The disembodied voice carries a snicker, and draws D's eyes downward. "What? You think anyone else actually gives a shit about these random alarms? It's probably nothing."     "It doesn't look like nothing." D redirects his gaze down the road ahead to the milling crowd. "That's a lynch mob."     The Hunter hunkers down in his saddle, and completes his journey to the crowd's perimeter, his steed coming to a dramatic, skidding halt mere inches from a collision. His glare takes on a steely gleam as he looks over the crowd.     His beauty firelit, his shifting focus an unrelenting force bearing down on the minds of the weak, he calls out in a cold voice: "What is your purpose here." 

:'''{{#var:85|Kagenashi (85)}} has posed:'''     Kagenashi has never really been one to go and offer aid to someone requesting it, but the fact remains that she is an ever curious soul, and an unfamiliar voice will, now and then, manage to draw her interest.     Such is why she slips out of the warp gate today with Munashi close at her heels. She's left Nageki behind, but her katanas are still mounted on her arms in case an attack comes her way. And judging by the angry mob forming outside that large home, such a thing just might happen.     The nogitsune's mind is ever sharp. She knows that approaching the mob as she is right now would only lead to further wariness and concern; she looks nothing like them, after all, and if she's familiar with mobs in this sort of situation, they could find any reason to consider her a threat.     ...oh, but there's D. Strange to see /him/ here, but...considering he's addressing the crowd, that should be more than enough of a distraction for her to slip through.     Kagenashi seems to vanish in midair, but the keenest eye peering for any sign of her might still make out the ghostly, faint outline of her form, and she still shines obviously in the sight of those possessed of spiritual sight. It's in this silent form that she slinks down to the crowd, gliding along past them and moving ahead to the house like some wandering ghost. Munashi must take the path of weaving through the shadows cast by flickering torchlight, but she is as skilled as her master in careful, imperceptible movement.     Once they both find their way to the structure, Kagenashi simply stands outside: it's Munashi who moves to find any cracks in the door or windows that she can slip through to find her way inside and investigate exactly what's gotten this mob so worked up. 

:'''{{#var:262|Fiera Kitsun (262)}} has posed:''' It's impossible to get lost if you don't have a particular destination in mind. It's a rather Zen theory of navigation, and not one that Fiera usually holds to, but it *is* sometimes profitable - for various definitions of 'profit,' at least. In this case, it has the useful benefit of putting her near to the source of that distress call, so she's able to divert course and go to investigate without too much trouble. When the red-haired Pokemon trainer reaches the village and the manor outside of it, Fiera is airborne, clinging to the legs of a Fearow; rather than descend straight at the crowd, trainer and Pokemon bank away so that they can descend somewhere behind the crowd. Once they've landed, Fiera recalls her Fearow and starts making her way towards the crowd, her hand resting on a couple of her Pokeballs, ready to pluck one and release its occupant if necessary. She's hoping that it won't be, and she's not sure how the locals will react to a Pokemon - she'd just as soon not find out, particularly since most of her current team are relatively inexperienced ... 'relative' to the veterans she'd been working so heavily with before her forced vacation, at least. 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     "A-ayack!" THUMP! Behind the gathered mob, Rory White faceplants into the ground. NORMAL GRAVITY, her eternal nemesis! The one thing capable of tripping her up out of completely nowhere.     She didn't actually arrive via warp gate, but rather a brief-lived beam of blue light from the heavens that deposited her and a tiny number of human-sized robot drones (with arms and human-like torsos, but weird inhuman faces and often on treads or four leg assemblies) that parade behind her. And two that hover! Tiny Saucers the size of frisbees that are decked out with every kind of sensor imaginable. One floats high above, circling like a hawk or perhaps crow.     Another orbits the far side of the house, hunting for a way in. Like an open window. 

:'''{{#var:670|Lyria Mason (670)}} has posed:''' Lyria Mason had picked up the distress call but wasn't much more sure about what was up other than the confusing message. It was pretty garbled but she does catch however people in a mob outside which leaves the Levitani more than a bit cautious she know how a mob can get. So she's just not barrling in. D's however taken the lead here and asks what she was about to. "Yes just what is going on here that has you all up in arms?" 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     The arrival of the dhampir is a cause for alarm for several of the people gathered in front of the house, and some of them turn, staring up in a mix of horror and awe at the imposing man on his dark street. A woman blinks twice before she raises her arm, pointing at him as she tries to sound confident. "You do not belong here, this is none of your business!" Another man further back in the crowd steps forward as well, a scowl on his face. "We're only doing what we should have done decades ago!"     A loud chorus of approval rises from the crowd, and there's rattling with several lanterns and pitchforks. The response from one of the men is to Lyria and D both. "That man has shirked his duties long enough, him and his entire family! We do not pay taxes so the likes of him can continue doing NOTHING!" another voice chimes in.     As more Elites arrive through they seem a bit confused, muttering amongst themselves and clearly discussing these new people who are strangers in these lands.     Fiera and her fearow earn a harsh glare from some of the people, even more when the Pokemon goes back into its pokeball. Rory likewise earns a gasp of surprise from her sudden arrival. Are there whispers of 'witchcraft' going through the crowd? Quite possibly. And the robot drones too seem to not be well received for some reason.     "Who are you people? Did you come from the capital to force more taxes on us as well?" a man asks with clear disapproval. "We have rights!" The mob joins in, all yelling and chattering, shaking their held items to make their annoyance even more clear if that is possible.     With such an old house there are several options for Munashi if she wishes to enter the house. There are some rotten woodwork in places, and even some broken windows at the back of the house, though it can be tough to know just where she will end up. Is that a foul smell coming from inside one of the back rooms? It's not completely quiet in there either. 

:'''{{#var:232|D (232)}} has posed:'''     "I represent no capital of yours. I also do not care for whatever taxes your village owes, or whatever other debts your capital cares to collect. I have come in response to a cry for help, I assume from the man you've trapped inside his home. My name is D. I represent the Union."     D's hellish cyborg horse produces an electronic-sounding as if to reinforce the Hunter's dim disdain for capitals and tax-collecting. Its yellow eyes blaze as brightly as the torches and lanterns wielded by the angry mob.     "Tell me more of your purpose. What does this man owe you? Why does it require a mob, and not a more peaceful resolution? I mean you no harm," he adds as a definite afterthought, "and only care to mediate this dispute until it reaches a satisfying conclusion for all involved. If you will not accept such, then I suppose we shall /all/ consider what other measures are to be taken." 

:'''{{#var:85|Kagenashi (85)}} has posed:'''     Kagenashi's attention is on the Elites beginning to show up; all of them, unfortunately for her, apparently Union or not affiliated with anyone. Of course she would find herself the only Confederate here tonight. Oh, well. She'll simply have to be careful.     Munashi, meanwhile, is wasting no time. She flits and slips through the shadows, scanning alertly for any possible entrance she can find. That strange, vile smell is troublesome, however, just enough to draw her attention. The shadow formed into a fox's shape slinks around the back of the house, and her keen senses carry her to the window that seems to be the closest to the source of that smell. Maybe she won't find that source right away, but the broken window is a decent start: without another moment's hesitation, she peers over the edge just long enough to ensure that no one is inside before slipping into the room.     Kagenashi has no interest in exploring herself. Munashi is an extension of all her senses, and while the shadow fox works, Kagenashi remains invisible at the front of the house, watching the proceedings and waiting to see what happens. Maybe she'll have to get involved herself, soon enough... 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     Blink blink BOGGLE. A very worried Rory now stands up straighter. She's bad at body language except when it's COMPLETELY INSTINCTUAL, such as that is for an AGI! But she finds herself backpedaling and almost tripping again, but one of her drone servitors catches her and helps right her. "Thanks," she mumbles to an AI that doesn't even have emotions. A fact she'll ponder about later, because THIS is pretty crazy.     A glance left, a peer right. "P... peace. Like this man said, a call for help came from this location... likely the person inside. Can you please tell me what is happening? I'm from... a different nation... don't know anything about the local events and have no demands at all!"     Rory's drone slips through one of the broken windows and unleashes a quick ultrasound while Rory's second thread, undistracted by her interactions with the mob, surveys thermal readings...     This thing is designed to scan entire skyscrapers and space habs. An old wooden structure shouldn't impede it much! 

:'''{{#var:670|Lyria Mason (670)}} has posed:''' Lyria Mason is hearing things about taxes and she looks at them for a moment. "I have not been sent from the capital, I'm in no way affiliated with your government." The Mad pony looking creature seems to hate taxes? Okay that's got It and D a point at the very least. She listens to D's questions, he's nailing them pretty well but she does have a few ideas at this point. "Look if we can settle this without violence I think this would be the best option for everyone." 

:'''{{#var:262|Fiera Kitsun (262)}} has posed:''' The mob's reaction is exactly why Fiera was trying to arrive as unobtrusively as possible - although, given her choice of travelling clothes, she was probably going to stand out anyway. She keeps a neutral expression on her face as she looks over the crowd, listening to the other Elites as well as the locals and trying to sift through her options. Then D suggests that she may be better-suited to help the mob work through its issues without putting those torches, pitchforks, etc. to any use more violent than lighting their way through the darkened evening. "As the horseman said, we're not from around here and don't know what complaints you may have," Fiera says with a friendly smile, hand still resting on her Pokeballs as she keeps considering the options available to her. "I'm sure that if I *were* from your village, I'd be as unhappy with the taxes you're paying as you are ... I'd like to think there are other ways to raise your issues to the nobility. Showing up at the front gate like a lynch mob isn't exactly going to get you invited in for tea and a cordial discussion, is it now?" She's vaguely aware of movement around the windows, but doesn't spare any of her attention to look more closely - or to have any of her Pokemon do so. Even if they spotted Arashi on the way in, Fiera doesn't want to show more of her hand than she has to by releasing additional Pokemon when she's the center of any amount of attention from the locals. 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     "He is an alchemist, agent of the state," one of the men explains to the Elites who clearly wish to know their plight. "An alchemist is supposed to work for the people who pay for his house, his stock and keeps him here in splendour while the rest of us barely have food to feed our children!"     Another roar of approval rises from the mob.     "The Union? What Union?" The woman from before looks to the people around her, shaking her head. "I wasn't aware the alchemists had a union..."     The man isn't slow to answer the rest of D's question. "You think we haven't tried? We have beseeched him for years to actually do what he's supposed to do, but he never comes out of that damn house of his anymore! He even sends his sister out on his errands for him!" "And he calls himself a man?"     "We are sick and tired of this going on, and we want a solution TODAY!" the man from earlier demands. "If you are here to help, then either step aside or do something about him!"     Into the darkness of the house Munashi goes. The inside of the room seems to be empty, with nobody within sight nor earshot it seems. And once she is inside it should be easier to determine what sort of room this is.     A workshop.     Shelves upon shelves of ingredients, bottles and books rise to the very ceiling, with tables and desks set up in groups. And not just a few of them either. About half of the room is filled with tables, their contents covered with white and dirty sheets. There's the sound of something bubbling all around, and it appears that somebody is either busy cooking something. Or perhaps it's a chemical process in the various glassware set upon different burners? The stench is strong either way, and the room does not smell pleasant. It's sour, old, not properly ventilated either.     But soon enough there are approaching foot steps...     As the drone enters a broken window up on the second floor it gets a rather good look of things as well. The entry hall of the manor reflects the exterior.     Dark.     In a state of neglect.     It reeks as if the house hasn't been properly aired out for years, judging by a strange smell that clings to the wallpaper and furniture. It's clear that this place has seen better days. Cobwebs have been left in peace and grown large with various spiders skittering in the shadows. The house seems quiet... except for a young woman that walks through the entry hall towards the hallway leading to the back room. She dressed in a neat black dress that covers nearly her entire figure. The dress is slightly tattered, and the white gloves on her hands are far from pristine. Likewise her hair is unkempt, hanging partially down past her eyes and with a passive look on her face. 

:'''{{#var:232|D (232)}} has posed:'''     Actions speak louder than words, and D has no more to waste on the angry crowd. With no more than a nod, he goads his horse forward, letting its horned head and glaring electric eyes do the job of parting the mob on his behalf. He rides straight ahead to the manor's door, and only there does he dismount, all silence and impossible grace.     D takes a moment to tug the wide brim of his hat lower on his face before he attempts to force the door open with a single hand. "Mister Athanor," he speaks aloud, his voice no more than a murmur yet still capable of piercing the din of the crowd, "I am coming inside to discuss the concerns of your fellow villagers. If you are near the door, you had best stand aside."     It's as polite as the Hunter can get in a situation like this. He knows better than to feed into the crowd's energy by arguing or attempting to discern more intelligence from their fervent grumbling. 

:'''{{#var:262|Fiera Kitsun (262)}} has posed:''' It's pretty obvious what's going to happen if the mob takes matters into its own hands at this point. Fiera smiles faintly, and starts making her way through the crowd as best she's able. "We'll do our best to address your concerns, then. This may take a while; I don't see a problem with a couple of representatives sticking around for the results of our negotiations, but the rest of you might want to head home for now - those negotiations might take a while. Hopefully not, but you never know." D is clearly going for the straightforward approach; Fiera tries to catch up with him - and NOW she lets one of her Pokemon out: it's Arashi again, the Fearow taking to the air and circling over the property. Arashi's vision should be equal to the task of surveying the manor's perimeter for anyone trying to sneak in or out of the grounds, although Fiera's somewhat more interested in whether anything is visible inside from the Fearow's aerial perspective. 

:'''{{#var:232|D (232)}} has posed:'''     An errant breeze introduces a familiar scent to D's nostrils. His eyes tighten at their corners, suspicion briefly taking over his countenance before he brushes the distraction away. If she is here, she is not likely to cause trouble, though the question remains -- where /is/ she?     Answers will come in time, he supposes. 

:'''{{#var:85|Kagenashi (85)}} has posed:'''     Munashi looks about the room with silver eyes like starlight, taking in everything for Kagenashi to see. A workshop, that's blatantly obvious; the /manner/ of it is slightly concerning, though. Potions, maybe? Sorcery or alchemy? It's not something Kagenashi's unfamiliar with, but she's not certain just yet what this could all be for. And what is that smell, anyway?     Footsteps approach, and Munashi is quick to dart under a table, melding into the shadows to watch whoever may enter the room.     Kagenashi, meanwhile, lingers near the door outside. Things seem to be working out decently, at least, but...D's shift of expression does not go unnoticed. The invisible nogitsune takes a careful step back, silent as a ghost as she attempts to keep the distance between herself and him open. No, probably best not to provoke anything now, if she can help it. 

:'''{{#var:670|Lyria Mason (670)}} has posed:''' Lyria Mason does not say more as things start to seem to smell like someone has been drilling holes in the hull here. Focusing on whatever it is they are up to? However she does think they'd need to find out what's going on. She looks to them and nods in agreement. "Let's see what we can do about this for you. It may take a bit but I agree with my comrade I don't see an issue if a few people wait around." With that she's chasing after D and Fiera. She has to wonder about this place and well she's pulling her goggles down at the state of things, after all if it's this much of a mess? Who know what else could be in here. 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     Rory's face turns distressed, rather childishly, and she backpedals a few more steps. SUCH ANGER. She's never witnessed such anger and it is DEEPLY stressing her... even frightening her. What if this anger turns on her?     She should go. She really should. "... Y-you aren't going to get any answers out of someone with this approach, you'll simply chase them off! Calm down, let's handle this calmly!"     Well that's unlikely to get anywhere.     But in the house, where a drone that cannot smell anything ais near a young woman... things are happening that might. The little Saucer zooms around on unknown means, floating just in front of the woman. Rory's voice emanates from it. "A mob has assembled outside your house... what is going on, if I might ask? We heard a request for help just now!" 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     As D steers his steed onwards the mob does not hesitate to move out of the way, allowing him to ride up to the front of the manor and dismount without any trouble. Sure, the dhampir does earn a few glares, but Fiera and Lyria's diplomacy prevents any mob mentality from rising further. They part more willingly for her, some of the people even looking slightly relieved. Why, are some of them even taking pity on Rory? While they aren't all calm they seem to have less anger in their eyes when they look at her. Even if some of them are still clearly not happy about the situation. The man nods his head. "I and the village council will remain waiting here, the rest will go home." Of course this does cause some loud arguments from some people, but they are quickly hushed by the others, and don't you know... the mob begins to disperse, heading on the road back to the village.     D earns no immediate response to his knocking. Though downstairs, right outside of the workshop, the young woman halts. A second passes before she turns, her skirts whirling about her legs before she heads on towards the front door. Strangely enough she ignores the drone as it floats in front of her, not even speaking. It's almost as if she doesn't see it, not even batting at it as she walks to the door, either bumping the drone away or pushing it back towards the door if it doesn't move.     The old door creaks open slowly, the hinges protesting loudly. Just past the threshold the Elites might catch a glimpse of the female figure before the door swings fully open, and she stands there, offering them a wide and bright smile. A smile that doesn't quite reach her green, lifeless eyes.     "Welcome."     Her voice is similarly lifeless, like an old, raspy recording. 

:'''{{#var:232|D (232)}} has posed:'''     D stops at the threshold; then, taking the woman's greeting for an invitation, he crosses it, the floorboards creaking beneath his otherwise quiet tread. His spurs emit a slight jangle as he continues to enter the household.     The Hunter stops before the doll-like woman. He is a tall black shadow before her, almost as lifeless as she. His cold eyes regard her forced smile and the condition of her clothing and hair. After a moment of stoic silence, he sweeps his forearm across his waist, and bends toward the woman in a slight bow. "Greetings. My name is D; might you be Mister Athanor's sister? How shall I address you?"     Something is very wrong here. 

:'''{{#var:262|Fiera Kitsun (262)}} has posed:''' Fiera bows politely to the woman who answers the door (partly because she doesn't have enough of a skirt to curtsey with). "I'm Fiera Kitsun," she introduces herself. And while she *should* let the young woman introduce herself in return, Fiera adds, "We have business, I believe, with the master of the house ... if you could show us to him, before the villagers grow restless again?" She looks a bit wry as she appends that last part. 

:'''{{#var:670|Lyria Mason (670)}} has posed:''' Lyria Mason is moving along and seems the people are relieved, andmost are leaving. Okay this has got things to calm down a bit she's pretty sure things could have got very messy. However the woman whom greets them? Her voice and the look about her? There's omething very off putting about her. She attempts to be chipper however. "Well met, we have some business with the master of the house." Alarms are going off in the back of her mind, she wonders about it but she's got to wonder what had the people riled up aside from master of the house not doing his job? 

:'''{{#var:85|Kagenashi (85)}} has posed:'''     The footsteps pass; Munashi lingers for a few more moments before slipping out from her hiding spot. Once she's absolutely certain nobody's there, she gets to resuming her search. First, to find out where that bubbling's coming from, and what exactly is at work here to produce this stench. Is there some sort of procedure going on, or is it simply the idle working of a skilled alchemist? Munashi slips into the shadows, climbing up the walls and slipping between items on shelves to look and look for some idea of what's going on in here.     Kagenashi, meanwhile, at least seems spared for the moment. A woman has answered the door, and while everyone else is answering her, Kagenashi obviously does not step forward. Her movement gravitates her toward the back of the group, where she can stay out of their way and continue to peer around them to watch the woman and hear what she has to say. 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     Completely ignored.     Weird. Rory would be frowning but Thread #2 doesn't have a body so can't really do that. The expressionless drone remains silent in response to silence, interested only in keeping track of what's going on. Maybe D will get better results!     ... In the meantime, Rory turns the drone's sensors towards trying to pierce into the basement... 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     D's greeting and introduction might be grand and polite. It does however not receive much of a reply besides that one word repeated again.     "Welcome." Fiera's request does make sense, but it too falls on seemingly deaf ears.     "Welcome."     Neither does Lyria earn a different result, despite her being chipper and repeating their request to meet the master of the house.     "Welcome."     Rory's exploration of the basement might be a bit tougher to do at the moment, as most of the doors in this place is closed and there's no clear indication of what door leads where, sadly. But luckily the group is not left without answers for long as there's creaking from above, heralding the approach of somebody besides the dull woman.     Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K04k0sDMDc0     Down the stairs from the floor above a man descends. A man that clearly owns the room by his presence, even if his appearance is not all that imposing. At about six feet tall and a bit on the scrawny side he is not exactly a symbol of health, especially not when considering the hue of his skin. Pale, slightly yellow, and his dark brown hair that has been pulled back in a pony tail makes it look even paler still. Even so the man spreads his arms out, the large sleeves of his tan tunica whirling about. His steps are sure, and he practically beams in glee upon seeing the Elites in the entry hall. When he speaks, his voice is recognisable as the one from the distress call earlier.     "Welcome indeed! Alexa, step aside."     The young man hurries forward, reaching out to push gently at the woman, who only blinks and doesn't seem bothered by this at all. Her gaze remains on the Elites, and she once again speaks. "Welcome." Then she is pushed aside again by the man.     "I am Pius Athanor. Thank you for coming to my home and for dealing with those..." His pleasant demeanour cracks somewhat as a brief look of disgust crosses his face, and he is unable to contain the scorn in his voice. "... simpletons."     By the bannister on the second floor landing there seems to be another arrival. A young girl in her mid teens, perhaps? While she is a bit on the scrawny side too she appears to be healthier than the man, and there's curiosity in her eyes as she studies the people who her brother is busy greeting. Her shirt is a bit too large for her, billowing out where it's tucked into her skirts. And as the people down on the first floor speaks amongst themselves she leans forward, one hand idly brushing some of her blonde ringlets behind one ear.     Downstairs in the workshop Munashi is left to snoop some more, and well... where will she begin? There's so much bubbling going on there, and it seems like one glass sphere is bubbling over, its dark purple contents dripping onto the bench around it and hissing as it hits the hot boiler. The smells seem to be organic, everything from herbs to sulphur. Some of the concoctions on the various boilers are on a low setting it appears. Books are open here and there, but there is nothing particular that stands out in all this mess. 

:'''{{#var:232|D (232)}} has posed:'''     "I see I have made a mistaken assumption."     D straightens from his slight bow to level his full attention on Pius. "Mister Athanor. My name is D. I am a Hunter from another land, and here as a representative of the Union. Despite my credentials, I have nevertheless taken your unusual housekeeper for your sister; my apologies for any affront."     No warmth enters into D's careful, level voice. He speaks in an emotionless timbre, his words refined, but his voice too schooled to ever be thought of as friendly. "The villagers believe you owe them some services. You are indebted to the village, and have not made good on what is owed. Perhaps you would care to explain your side of the story?"     All the while, he is becoming increasingly aware of another presence in the household. It's not just Rory's drones bothering him; it's something far more distinct, and far more /alive/. From the corner of his vision, he observes a flicker of movement, and his sharp ears pick up yet another creaking floorboard his party would not have been responsible for disturbing.     What are you doing here, Kagenashi? 

:'''{{#var:670|Lyria Mason (670)}} has posed:''' Lyria Mason is now getting very creeped out. This isn't right she doesn't like the feel of this, she moves ahead with the others and she pauses at the man as he speaks. She looks about at the young girl but seems to be wary of this whole thing. She also wonders about the nature of the woman who greeted them. She looks the man over for a moment and her expression remains neutral. "Yes we managed to talk most of them down, but knowing your side of the story would help with things." 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     The house itself is old and decrepit, with parts of it rotting and falling together, particularly up in the attic and in the eastern wing. Large it might be, but only some of the rooms seem to be actually inhabited. The kitchen, the washroom nearby and the workshop itself seem to be the only places with real heat. And the only people alive in the house are those gathered in the entry hall at the moment. Though there is a rather strange heat signature coming from Pius himself...? 

:'''{{#var:85|Kagenashi (85)}} has posed:'''     Boilers, concoctions...Kagenashi has had /some/ experience with such things, but she's nowhere near an expert on the subject. She can make out a few particulars of the smells, but the specifics - and, more importantly, their purposes - are harder to grasp.     But books, those she can hopefully work with. Munashi beelines to one, peering over the contents of what it's opened to and using her paw to carefully turn pages if she needs to. Of course, she's going to make sure to flip back to the page it was left on before she moves to the next; don't want to leave any traces of her presence, if she can help it.     Kagenashi remains hidden, but exactly how long she will continue to do so is questionable. She knows D is aware of her presence, and it's likely only a matter of time before he acts on it. Moreover, she's not certain of the capabilities of the other members of the party. They /seem/ to lack the keen senses needed to spot her, but looks can be deceiving here. For the moment, she'll simply start hovering just above the floor before taking the long route around the group again. Closer to that young girl coming down, in fact; in the worst case, that should prevent them from doing too much to her while she listens in. 

:'''{{#var:262|Fiera Kitsun (262)}} has posed:''' Fiera is largely happy to let D handle discussing matters with Pius Athanor, now that the man who called for help is speaking to them directly. On the other hand, D still seems like he's expecting a fight any moment now, and even to Fiera, the 'maid' seems ... Well. If she didn't think she knew better, Fiera would figure Alexa is a robot. But this world seems more feudal, less technological - humanoid robots seem really unlikely. For now, she shrugs that question off, pushing it to the back of her mind, and smiles at Athanor. "Fiera Kitsun, also with the Union," she introduces herself. "That *was* your distress call we heard, I presume ... were you in danger from something more pressing than a mob of unhappy villagers who seemed ready to break in and do violence?" Fiera smiles sheepishly, fingering one of her Pokeballs. "If it was just the disagreement with the villagers, you might want to explain to us ... well, as D said, your side of the story. - Oh, would it be all right if I let Foxfire out of her ball? She doesn't like being cooped up much, she's used to being by my side ..." Which would also mean senses sharper than Fiera's own, at least insofar as scent and hearing are concerned, and a mind which can report those to Fiera through the link between trainer and Pokemon. 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     Note 1: Alexa is creepy.     Note 2: If this house is being paid for by anyone, it sure as hell doesn't look it.     Note 3: Who builds out of WOOD anymore? Rory almost doesn't recognize the material she's scanning...     "Weird." One of her threads says to the others. With the mob dispersing she manages to step daintily into the house after the others. The drone continues wandering the house, but Rory seems to have given up hunting for the man of the house since he just showed himself!     Instead, the drone floats near the ceiling, observing the newcomer girl!     Rory's body proper catches up with the others and Pius receives quite a baffled look from her. "What all of this is about I cannot begin to guess, but thankfully the mob dispersed! Voice ID matches the one who called for help... I'm Rory White of the Argonauts. What is HAPPENING here?" 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     A somewhat tired laugh escapes the lips of the young man, and he shakes his head at D's apology. "No apology needed, good sir. Alexa certainly takes no offence. She is unable to."     His lips draw thin when D voices the plight of the villagers, and Pius swallows slightly as his brow furrows. "If you ask me I do not believe I owe them anything at this point. My family has never had a moment's rest thanks to them, those cretins..." Pius sounds bitter as he speaks.     The young girl sees this moment to descent the staircase as well, taking careful steps as she hikes up her skirts with one hand and holds onto the bannister with the other, keeping her mouth closed for now and merely observing. And Pius turns towards her, his expression neutral.     "Diane."     "Yes?"     "Be a dear and prepare some tea for our guests."     The young girl nods before she turns and heads off one of the hallways and opens the door into the kitchen, beginning the task of boiling water and preparing tea cups.     Pius turns again to Fiera, smiling brightly at her. "Oh yes, that was my signal! And well, not in danger besides that pesky mob. Though I am in quite a bind that I need assistance with. Now, with unification, I can get the assistance I need."     His attention is grabbed by the unusual request, and he nods. "By all means, young lady! All of you, be welcome in my house! Though I do insist, come with me into the sitting room." And he will usher them all into the nearby room, which seems slightly more pleasant, with the stench being barely noticeable in here. A thin layer of dust covers the surfaces of the room except for the coffee table and part of the couch. Old portraits and paintings line the walls, gaunt faces staring into the air as if judging the party.     In the workshop there are more than enough books to study. Though most of the books seem to be on alchemy, chemistry and anatomy. As a matter of fact, a desk seems to be filled with anatomy books and notes on the subject. Spread open they reveal a picture of intense study. They are rather technical too, certainly not a book for a simple layman. Luckily for the more thickheaded reader there are also some shelves filled with diaries, history books, general sociology and fairy tale books. So Munashi has a varied choice if there's something specific she wants to look further into when it concerns the books in the workshop. 

:'''{{#var:232|D (232)}} has posed:'''     The dhampir Hunter enters the sitting room. He pauses in the doorway to behold the dust and the other signs of neglect before he continues forward to claim one of the empty, ill-used chairs for his own use. Once settled, he returns his shadowed gaze to the supposed alchemist. "Mister Athanor, I mean no disrespect, but we cannot put aside the village's concerns just yet. Your fellows require appeasement, or the mob will return again in force. Though we can protect you, I think it far more wise, in this case, to do what you must to repay what is owed."     "Only once that matter is resolved can we address any other difficulties you face." D crosses his right ankle over his left knee, and leans back into the old chair he's claimed. The chair lets out a comfortable creak.     "You appear to be a man of some intellect. I assume you understand why we have what priorities we do." 

:'''{{#var:262|Fiera Kitsun (262)}} has posed:''' 'She is unable to' take offense? Fiera can't help raising her eyebrows at that - but there are other matters to focus on; she'll have to either ask later, or just keep her own eyes and ears open for further 'evidence' on that matter. On that note, though, Fiera slips the 'first' ball off her belt, expands it from golf-ball-sized to softball-sized, and lets it open; a streak of light emerges, then materializes into the cream-furred form of a Ninetales; Foxfire 'yawns' slightly, then inclines her head to Pius. "Nine nine tales," says the fox-like Pokemon - Which is 'audible,' thanks to the translation effect, as <<Your hospitality is greatly appreciated.>> Fiera pets Foxfire on their way into the sitting room. "I'm afraid I don't know very much about alchemy, but if you need us to go looking for ingredients or something, we might be able to assist ..." She'll sit down at one end of the couch, after brushing dust off of the cushions (which makes Foxfire sneeze); that position should let Foxfire stay next to her without taking up any of the furniture, or getting in the way of other people. "'Might' is the key word, of course - we all have other obligations we need to attend to. What exactly is it that the villagers need from you right now?" she wonders. 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     "'Pesky' is not the word I would use for a group of people ready to break in.. I... I've never seen so much anger! ... Humans can be scary..." that last part is mumbled to herself, as she's finding a seat.     Her drone goes wobbling through the room soon, scanning any open book pages and all the titles. One of Rory's threads is quite fascinated with everything she's finding, but her main thought process is still focused on the matter at hand!     "What are they so angry about?!" 

:'''{{#var:85|Kagenashi (85)}} has posed:'''     Books, books, books. Munashi flips through whatever's open, and fortunately, her master is intelligent enough to make use of what's there. Of course, she doesn't have a specialized understanding on the subject that Pius must certainly have, but she can gather the contents. That desk laden with anatomy books is particularly interesting; not exactly the subject matter one would suspect an alchemist to focus on, is it? Of course, some knowledge of the human body must be necessary, especially if Pius is using this for any sort of medical care, but this amount of focus is...strange.     That doll-like woman. Perhaps she is the result of Pius's studies? Kagenashi mentally pieces the situation together, or at least a plausible explanation for it; a person formed frmo alchemy, or perhaps resurrected, made to be little more than a machine of flesh. Of course the townsfolk would be offended by such a thing. And making such a person while supposedly neglecting their needs? That would certainly draw some ire.     However, there's still something interesting to look into. Munashi flits aside to some other books, particularly the diaries. Those are always the clearest source of exposition, so what might she find in their most recent pages?     Kagenashi, meanwhile, finds herself in an increasingly troublesome situation. The appearance of the Ninetales is startling, to say the least, but the nogitsune maintains her silent composure. She only regards Foxfire warily from where she continues to hide, and when the rest of the group moves, she follows. Or, rather, moves ahead of them, floating back ahead of Pius until they move to the sitting room, where she hangs back not far from the doorway to keep out of the way. She can listen from where she is at the moment, peering around the doorframe once everyone's settled in there. 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     As the Ninetales materialises in the room Pius looks shocked at first, only to step forward and watch the creature as it speaks to him, and in such a polite manner too. "How MARVELOUS!" he exclaims with genuine delight, turning to Fiera. "I could only imagine what wonders the multiverse has! New discoveries for great men and women to explore and learn of..."     But yes, let's discuss matters further in the sitting room. Pius takes a seat in one of the chairs, folding his hands in his lap as he studies the guests. Again there's talk about the villagers, and the man once more appears a bit impatient, annoyed. "They are never satisfied, those vultures..." he mutters under his breath, looking from D, to Fiera, to Rory and then to Lyria. "They are simpleminded fools who do not truly understand my work. Nor simple manners, they hound me night and day while I am struggling with my magnum opus." He offers a solemn nod to Rory, his dark eyes studying her. "You know not, child, how scary they can be. And for such petty reasons. They want potions for the smallest matter that they can surely handle themselves. Homunculi and golems by the dozens, more than they can except one man and his poor sister to make..." A heavy sigh passes his lips, and he takes a moment to collect his thoughts as Diane arrives, carrying a tray of tea cups in her hands One by one the tea cups are handed out, the scent of lemon and strawberry quite sweet.     "Alchemists are enlisted by the state, we get an allowance from them and work on the tasks that the village council give me. Except it's never enough for them. Besides..." Pius shifts his gaze to D, watching the other man. "Some priorities are more pressing than others. Why should I be stuck making love potions, cure baldness, transmute minerals they can mine themselves when I can actually do something meaningful? Do something that has not been accomplished before?"     His voice breaks slightly, as if the man himself is under strain. Even Diane, who now moves to stand next to his chair, seems a bit down, her expression solemn. "Please. My brother only needs some time. It should only take a few months at most. Could you please help us...?" she beseeches them.     Pius nods at Fiera's offer, reaching a hand up to rub at the spot between his eyes. "I do need ingredients too. Ingredients I am afraid I can't easily get in this world without the state knowing. And they wouldn't understand."     The diaries themselves are many and by various people, though some of the newer journals seem to be sparsely filled in. There's even a medical journal there with records over the last eight months. And by skimming through the entries, things seem to have gone from bad to worse. The final entry was written in February this year, the handwriting rather neat:     February 3rd: She started coughing at 5 in the morning, and the fever would not go down. We buried her at dusk. 

:'''{{#var:232|D (232)}} has posed:'''     The Hunter turns his head toward Rory. At her outcry, he nods.     Humans can indeed be 'scary.'     D takes the teacup offered to him. The steam wafts up from the tea's deep brown surface to fog his emotionless face. Little breath disrupts the steam's flow; it hardly eddies at all.     To drink serves no purpose except to appear polite. The dhampir drinks anyway. It's not the first time he's bowed to custom.     "I find it curious you are so aware of the Multiverse /beyond/ whenever the other villagers clearly are not. Our arrival was not welcome by all, and more than one villager suggested we worked witchcraft." D's vision is blurred by the rising steam, but his eyes have no trouble perceiving the emotion and pain both wracking Pius Athanor's features.     "I suggest a bargain be struck. We shall gather the materials you need, provided you continue to fulfill your duty and satisfy the needs of your village, and continue to do so after we have contributed toward your 'magnum opus' -- of course, we'll need to understand the full nature of your experimentation. We are not in the business of aiding criminals."     Perhaps either Fiera or Rory could say things more kindly. The Hunter prefers his blunt approach. 

:'''{{#var:262|Fiera Kitsun (262)}} has posed:''' "Homunculi ... ?" asks Fiera. She knows what golems are - not just the rock-type that evolves from Graveler, but the artificial sort of golem ... and then the pieces fall into place. "Wait, that's what Alexa is, isn't she? She acts so much like a robot, but this world doesn't *have* robotics technology ..." D's bluntness prompts a wince from the Pokemon trainer, and Fiera scritches Foxfire's ears while the Ninetales just glances casually about the room, nostrils flaring briefly, and her ears flicking once. "It sounds to me," Fiera says as she gets back on track, "like the village has been bending over backwards to support you as per their obligations - whereas you're putting your 'magnum opus' so far ahead of your expected obligations to the villagers as to dismiss them." She purses her lips. "If it were the other way around - if you didn't have this grand project you're pursuing, if you were diligently providing the villagers with what they need, and what they want, and *they* weren't holding up their end of the deal - you'd be mad at them, you'd stop holding up your end. I don't know how much they're paying to support you in money or barter, but ... really, you wouldn't have had to call for help if you hadn't been neglecting your duties." And then there's the matter of exactly what this magnum opus constitutes, but Fiera is more concerned with the immediate conflict that we waded into the middle of; sorting out the longer-term relationships can come after the immediate differences have been tended to. 

:'''{{#var:85|Kagenashi (85)}} has posed:'''     Curious. Munashi paws through the diaries, but that last one seems particularly interesting to her. Only...what is it now, two months from that point? Assuming this world still follows that time period, of course.     Kagenashi's eyes narrow faintly behind her mask as she listens to Pius speak. She mulls over the situation, possibilities working through her mind in rapid thought. Something meaningful...something not accomplished before...something which has brought them a great deal of desperation and sadness...     ...troubling. Of course, she only has a /guess/ at what this must all be about, but if it's true, then she has to wonder how successful it could be with these methods. And, of course, there's the aftereffects to consider; the perceptions of those outside, the well-being of the subject, the longevity of the entire thing. She'll just have to listen and see if, perhaps, Pius will confirm her suspicions. Or, if not, maybe she will have to approach someone with this suspicion later.     The desires of the villagers are the last thing on her mind. It sounds like everyone else has that in order. In the meantime, it seems Munashi's done enough for her tastes. The shadow fox gives the room a once-over to ensure that everything is as she found it, then slips out through the window again into the darkness outside. 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     "Being bothered in the middle of work... I can sympathize, it is jarring! ... But if they are not appeased, I fear you will not make any progress on it. They seem intent on what they want... but I'm willing to try and help, perhaps. What is this project of yours, sir?" 

:'''{{#var:670|Lyria Mason (670)}} has posed:''' Lyria Mason listens for the moment she takes the tea and she thinks on what's been said by both sides. She was about to say something but that might torpedo things. SO she remains silent as there's an attempt to work on a deal. She wonders about the comments they made on food eariler. "I admit I'm curious about just what your working on." She doesn't mind blunt she's a ship captain's daughter. Still after Fiera's words she does pipe up. "There was a mention of issues with food and Fiera's right, if you were having trouble from them not living up to their end you'd have called the Capital..." 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     As stern and cold as D seems, his words do carry truth. And Pius, even as tired as he looks, seems to know better than to not explain matters.     "The villagers are not learned men, Sir." It's a simple fact of life.     "Instead of sending the travellers who visit our world away they ought to listen to them. And learn of the possibilities. Perhaps then they would leave me and my kin alone." He lets out a sour huff before he sits up straighter in his seat to hear the offer that the dhampir makes.     A bargain.     That does seem somewhat fair, even if he doesn't appear thrilled.     Fiera's deduction is part of the explanation. "Indeed, young lady. Alexa is not a person, she is one of many golems created in this very house. I have made countless of them to serve the village. Yet, they are simpleminded," he says and gestures to Alexa where she stands by the door, her expression passive. "They can only do a few tasks, and conversation is beyond them. But..."     About to continue, Pius halts when Fiera offers her opinion on the entire situation, and his eyes harden where he sits. "You make it sound as if I'm lazying about like a child wasting his time. And I do not appreciate that sentiment much." He sets down his tea cup on the table, looking rather irritated and edgy. "The money I receive is barely enough to pay for everything. Besides, my magnum opus is not something I have a choice to. I HAVE to do it. Even if it means I will face restrictions, lose my estate, my reputation..." There's more energy behind his words now, and Pius barely has time to catch his breath as he speaks. "Food, state regulations... it hinders men of the mind. The capitol can't keep up with the research that alchemists are making across our world, nor can they fully understand it. But I do! I know exactly what I must do and how I do it. I just need your help with the ingredients, provide assistance and knowledge from your worlds. Do that, and I will be more than happy to use part of my time to assist the villagers! But they can't learn of my magnum opus yet, not until it's done! Please! I swear!" Sincere he might be, and he nods his head. "I will tell you. Because you might understand it better. You are not like them."     Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAbEabQcE2U     Determined, Pius sits up a bit straighter in his seat as he reaches down past the collar of his tunica, pulling on a leathery string, revealing a small glass vial, an amphora hanging about his neck. As it's revealed it emits a soft chime, a soothing sound. The features on Pius' face softens, though the smile that crosses his lips is still not a smile of happiness.     "I have to restore life."     Behind him Diane glances down at her brother, swallowing and clutching the tray tightly in her hands, her knuckles going white. For now she remains quiet, through her nostrils flare and she does blink her eyes a few times.     "Others can create golems and homunculi too. But nobody has ever been able to return somebody to life again. But I will," Pius solemnly swears, glancing up from the amphora and to the people seated around the room. "I am researching a manner to create a human body for a soul that has passed on." 

:'''{{#var:232|D (232)}} has posed:'''     Pius is a man gripped by feverish passion. Men have been driven mad by less, and D recognizes that Pius is already starting to succumb to a similar fate. Desire will soon overcome his logic and reason. Judging by the condition of the man, the girl, and the household, the 'magnum opus' had already overcome Pius's need to tend to his mortal affairs. Health and hygiene seemed to be given next to no attention at all.     "You understand we will put a stop to your project should we come to judge it too dangerous to support." D's murmur is unrelenting. His glare is as keen and hard as the tines of the pitchforks raised up by the evening mob. "You will also take care to provide a household suitable for a girl your sister's age. Seek the food and comforts she deserves, even if you yourself do not partake. Open your doors to the village, tend to their needs, and you will have what you require for your experiments."     D stands up from the chair; he takes the bargain as being struck. "I am a mercenary, first and foremost, and believe in contractual agreements whenever dealing with strangers. The paperwork will be drawn. You will be charged no fee save the regular return to your duties." 

:'''{{#var:262|Fiera Kitsun (262)}} has posed:''' "My apologies, good sir; I didn't mean to offend you," Fiera says apologetically, bowing her head where she sits. (She might be lying just a little - she certainly didn't mean to offend him THAT much, even if a smaller insult - enough of a jibe or a barb to get Athanor to think outside of himself - was part of the plan.) And D lays down the law, or at least the terms of the agreement they're making. Fiera herself isn't a mercenary, but the terms that D is dictating seem to fit the situation - Fiera certainly can't think of anything she would add, and making the household suitable for Diane to live in is actually something Fiera might not have thought of. (Not that Fiera is much of an indoors girl herself ...) As to the exact goal which Pius Athanor is chasing ... well, it's somewhat unsettling; Fiera's own beliefs on the subject of life and death don't leave a whole lot of room for people coming back to life. But then, she's not much of a fan of people dying anyway .... and ultimately, this isn't her world. That doesn't put all of her concerns to rest, but she's not going to push the question ... at least, not right now. D's proviso about 'too dangerous to support' seems adequate for that part of things, if it's necessary to put a halt to Athanor's research into bringing back the dead. Now, if the skin on the back of her neck would stop crawling ... 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     "... Bring life back to the dead? ... Even if there were a body... how would you restore the mind? Soul, if you will?" Rory blinks a few times. "I can see why the villagers are upset. They don't believe you can do something like it, right?"     Rory doesn't sound like she has an opinion one way or the other. 

:'''{{#var:85|Kagenashi (85)}} has posed:'''     And there it is. Just as she gathered.     Kagenashi doesn't shift from where she stays, but behind her mask comes the gentlest of sighs. It's a troubling situation, not just based on the goal Pius holds, but his dedication to it as well. Dedication to the point of self-destruction, and for what? Something that may not even be worth the effort and neglect that it drags behind it?     Maybe she'll get involved herself later on. Perhaps she might approach someone who was physically here, or try to approach Pius himself. But, until then, it seems her work here is done.     The nogitsune floats away to silently make her exit, the only trace left behind being the ghostly-faint odor of sandalwood in the air by the sitting room doorway. 

:'''{{#var:670|Lyria Mason (670)}} has posed:''' Lyria Mason finishes up her tea at this point, and actually is doing it properly too.She listens to how driven the man is and is able to hide her concern at the mention of the villiagers. She listensto hm for a moment, she is concerned given how things normally go. D seems to be of the same mind but if he's not going off the deep end, like grabbing hume test subjects? She can see where D's going, keep the guy watched, and keep him in supplies so he's not tempted to go about it in nightmarish ways. "I'm sorry if I came off rude as well." She is concerned given how it could go but if he's not tapping into the darkness? Still she's shivers a bit it's unatural the gods on her world had their way and this works counter to how her own world works. She's glad for D's stipulation about if he goes too far there will be action taken by the Union about it. 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     "There is nothing dangerous about this," Pius responds in a firm manner, not afraid to meet D's glare with a sincere look of his own. "And Diane is old enough to handle herself." At that comment the girl nods her head, speaking up once more in a clear voice. "I have been assisting my brother for years, Sir. Do not worry. He is at ill health due to his job as an alchemist, it-"     "Diane. Enough." Pius turns his head sharply, looking a bit nervous. "There is no need to make excuses. I knew well enough the risks of my job when I went down this path." Diane seems taken aback slightly, though she nods again.     "Believe me," Pius continues, looking at Fiera, Rory, Lyria and then D. "I have done nothing to neglect my sister. I will do anything for my family. Anything." Even if it means dealing with the pesky villagers again. "With your assistance I should be able to spare some more time."     Fiera's apology is accepted with a firm nod of his head. "Please, miss. Do not think so little of me that I do not know what I am doing."     The mention of a body does seem to make Pius need a moment, and the hand at his neck shifts, his index finger tapping the amphora gently. "The essence, her mind and heart, is here. As for the body... it is buried in the woods nearby. It is useless, and what matters is the essence. I can make a body now with your help." 

:'''{{#var:232|D (232)}} has posed:'''     The bargain made, D decides to take his leave. "Very well. Once all signatures are put to all contracts, we will begin the hunt for what you require. Until then, I'll no longer strain your hospitality. Mister Athanor. Miss Athanor." D tips his hat, turns on his heel to bid similar adieu to his fellows, and exits through the door and through the foyer.     Outside, the councilors are still gathered. The Hunter will explain Pius's intended return to duty, but leave any mention of other business unexplained.     The Hunter departs by another road than the one he'd taken to arrive. The way he follows now is marked by a sweet, fast-fading scent, though by his brooding expression, it is not easy to discern whether or not he finds any pleasure in the journey. His steed vanishes around a bend. 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''     THIS revelation shocks Rory. Strange, magical Ego storage? Or something like it. Her eyes have gone wide. "... This does seem plausible. Though I know little of magic or alchemy... the science of my world, and bringing life back to the dead... is very different. But the premise seems sound! ... What sorts of materials are needed?" She leans forward in her seat, growing more comfortable with this now! 

:'''{{#var:262|Fiera Kitsun (262)}} has posed:''' Foxfire's ears prick up again, and she sniffs quietly at the air. There's a scent which stands out ... Fiera doesn't seem to notice, finishing her tea and rising to her feet. "I do have commitments to pursue in other worlds, of course, but I'll gladly do what I can to help," she says. Even though her own instincts are doing a very hearty WTF?! at this point - capturing the soul of the deceased? ... Possibly not as dark an art as some forms of necromancy would be, but still - that goes even further against many of the precepts she was raised to hold tightly to. As D said, though, if they need to stop Pius's research, they will. And Fiera has to wonder if the loopholes Pius has already leveraged might possibly cover her own misgivings ... 

:'''{{#var:741|Pius Athanor (741)}} has posed:'''     As D bids his leave he earns a sniff nod from Pius, though Diane actually seems to smile up at the man. "Goodbye, Sir."     Now it's Rory who has Pius's attention, and the man seems eager to discuss his ideas when she reveals she has some knowledge on those subjects. "The essences of people are usually stored in this world as well, and we keep the essences of the great people, our leaders and greatest minds. There have been attempts to bring life to the dead before, but it's been in vain. But now..." He leans forward in his seat, resting his hands on his knees. "With the multiverse there is far more for us to use. Other ideas. Other angles to approach! It could very well be possible. It must be!"     The promise of assistance has him set in a good mood, and he seems to nearly bounce in his seat. "If I can assist you in return, let me know. And I am certain Diane would not mind offering her assistance as well." At this the young girl nods her head eagerly. The smile on Pius's face can hardly look more sincere.     "This is a most joyous occasion. Feel free to visit me at any time. My house is always open to those who wish to help me in my great work." 

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