The Spooky Spiketacular Extravaganza!

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Scadrial, Renata thought. Some other world, the one where people ate metal. Odd people, but then, everyone here was odd.

"Did you just see that man hit someone with a stick?" Renata asked Arun.

@Blessing of Potency

[Lunar Blessing she/her]

“You saw that too? I thought I was going insane.” Arun responds, sounding relieved.

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

7 minutes ago, Blessing of Potency said:

“You saw that too? I thought I was going insane.” Arun responds, sounding relieved.

"I wouldn't rule that out either," Renata cautioned, frowning, "but if that's the case then we're both going mad in exactly the same way."

[kenod]

16 hours ago, Sorana said:

"I can't read."

Lizanne confessed.

"I was too young when they caught me, and you don't teach that to a slave."

She smiled at Lisa.

"I'd love to have you teach me, what you ever you feel like. It would be great to learn something."

 

Lisa smiled. "Alright then," she said, trying to stay away from the more uncomfortable topics, "that's a deal."

Right as she wanted to continue the conversation she saw one of the new arrivals hit someone on the head with a mallet.

"Um," she said, sounding a bit worried, "Is that someone hitting someone else with a drum mallet?"

[Lunar Blessing she/her]

6 minutes ago, ZincAboutIt said:

"I wouldn't rule that out either," Renata cautioned, frowning, "but if that's the case then we're both going mad in exactly the same way."

“Maybe, you never know.”

[+Sorana she/her]

1 minute ago, kenod said:

Lisa smiled. "Alright then," she said, trying to stay away from the more uncomfortable topics, "that's a deal."

Right as she wanted to continue the conversation she saw one of the new arrivals hit someone on the head with a mallet.

"Um," she said, sounding a bit worried, "Is that someone hitting someone else with a drum mallet?"

Lizanne whirled around. Lisa was right.

"Should we intervene?"

She whispered, afraid that the stranger would turn his wrath towards her. He was dangerous. Maybe he was looking for her. But why a drum mallet? That made no sense.

[Voidus]

At the far end of the room another set of double doors were pushed open by an elderly man wearing a fine suit, his well-groomed beard preceded the rest of him into the room as he looked over his assembled guests.

"Good evening to all." The man said, putting one leg out and sweeping a small bow to the room. "Thank you for coming, I hope you're enjoying yourselves so far."

He paused briefly, following a number of gazes that were directed towards a man who appeared to be trying to hit someone else with a wooden drumstick. The elderly man paused for a moment, wavering in how exactly to address this situation for a moment, before eventually he gave a small cough and turned away.

"I am doctor Nitinyas, I'm something of a specialist so I'll understand if my work isn't familiar to all of you." Nitinyas let out a small joking smile. "But however familiar it is, you're all here so I assume you have some interest in the work that is at hand."

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Renata's head snapped around as the doors at the far end of the room opened, revealing an older man - presumably the expedition leader. She tapped Arun on the shoulder, nodding her chin in the doctor's direction.

"Looks like we're finally going to get some answers," she whispered.

@Blessing of Potency

[I think I am here. he/him]

Wilhelm saw the old man enter, and he slowly waved to him. “Hello,” he said, maybe too quietly.

[Gancho Libre he/him]

Fah'loofah started laughing like a lunatic fool when the drumstick shattered over her head.

"That's kinda funny!" She said, feeling intense pain and rubbing her head to see if there was any damage. 

She paused. "Hey, do you know what people are doing in that building over there? I'll tell you my social security number if you help me,"

She cocked her head. "Well, I'll probably tell you anyway, but this way it feels even. Can you help me?"

@beantheboy12

Edited March 27, 2019 by Aon GanchoLibre

[+Sorana she/her]

"So, what is your field of work?"

Lizanne asked, although she suspected she had no chance to understand the answer. But Lisa would, Lisa was smart.

@Voidus

[Lunar Blessing she/her]

43 minutes ago, ZincAboutIt said:

Renata's head snapped around as the doors at the far end of the room opened, revealing an older man - presumably the expedition leader. She tapped Arun on the shoulder, nodding her chin in the doctor's direction.

"Looks like we're finally going to get some answers," she whispered.

@Blessing of Potency

Arun spins as Renata taps her shoulder. “Yes, answer.” She says, then after a moment, “why do we need answers?”

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

2 minutes ago, Blessing of Potency said:

Arun spins as Renata taps her shoulder. “Yes, answer.” She says, then after a moment, “why do we need answers?”

"Answers about what exactly we'll be doing on this expedition," Renata said, stepping forward a little so she could better hear what the doctor would say next. "Aren't you curious?"

[Voidus]

"Realmatic spatio-psychology." Nitinyas replied, his lips still curved into a smile but not it was simply a polite, business-like expression. "Or more simply, the spatial implication of our shared collective conscious and unconscious minds impact upon the cognitive realm."

He looked around the room once more, his eyes paused briefly on each individual present, evaluating them before moving on to the next.

"But the work I have right now is of a more practical nature than I am capable of any longer. Over the course of my studies into the cognitive realm, I discovered an... anomaly of sorts. Investigation led me to believe that this anomaly was similar in nature to the borders between worlds, an area devoid of cognitive recognition. However this appeared in the middle of what is an otherwise dense area of activity and so must be at least somewhat different in nature."

He took a glass of rich red wine from one of the servers, pausing for a moment to savour the taste before continuing.

"What is apparent is that this anomaly appears to be spatially linked to somewhere, passing through it has led to the surface of a previously unknown world. We need a number of volunteers to travel to this world and determine if the origin of this anomaly can be determined from that side. I need data to work with, any unusual sources of investiture, strange behaviours of cognizance in the local populace, possibly even some foreign material. I require an expedition team to find anything out of place and report their findings."

Nitinyas cast his gaze over the group once more, expectantly.

"You will, of course be well-compensated for your efforts. And anyone who finds any information that leads to the source of this anomaly will be awarded a bonus reflective of their contribution."

[+Sorana she/her]

Lizanne touched Lisa's arm.

"What did he just explain? I got the part about the other world, but the rest? Is it important?"

@kenod

[Lunar Blessing she/her]

13 minutes ago, ZincAboutIt said:

"Answers about what exactly we'll be doing on this expedition," Renata said, stepping forward a little so she could better hear what the doctor would say next. "Aren't you curious?"

"I mean, I guess." she says, "Do you think he'd count a detailed map of the stars of this new world as important?" she asks, a little louder.

@Voidus @ZincAboutIt

[kenod]

14 minutes ago, Sorana said:

Lizanne touched Lisa's arm.

"What did he just explain? I got the part about the other world, but the rest? Is it important?"

@kenod

"Um, probably," Lisa said. "I'm not sure I understand all of it though, it seems to relate a lot to how magic works."

She tapped her chin. "Lets see,"  she said, "From what I remember, basically, the way people think about the world, objects, and other things like that manifests in a separate dimension. The shape of this dimension, basically the layout of the land, so where rivers are and where land is reflects our world, though there was something about them being inverted, so land becomes water and water becomes land? Anyway, there is also the fact the if an area doesn't have anyone thinking about it, or any thinking beings in it, that area basically doesn't exist. This is apparently how a lot of people travel between worlds, since the massive distances between worlds don't exist there. Apparently this man found a location that was similar to the places without any life, but traveling trough this location brings you somewhere else. Somewhat like an Einstein-Rosen bridge I guess. However, this location shouldn't exist, since there are a lot of intelligent beings living in this area, so there is something weird going on, and we're supposed to find out what this is."

She looked up at the Doctor. "Um, does that explanation work?" She asked.

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

18 minutes ago, Blessing of Potency said:

"I mean, I guess." she says, "Do you think he'd count a detailed map of the stars of this new world as important?" she asks, a little louder.

@Voidus @ZincAboutIt

Renata shrugged at Arun's question. "Possibly."

She watched Nitinyas carefully over the rim of her glass. He seemed far too smart to send a bunch of untrained, random people on what sounded like a very specialized mission. Didn't he have ardents for this sort of thing? Or, whatever passed for ardents out here. He mentioned the "cognitive realm," which Renata was pretty sure meant Shadesmar. She'd traveled through that place to get here, and she wasn't too keen to return. It was an odd place, with its too-small sun and land where water ought to be.

"By 'foreign material,' do you mean gems? Plants? Metal?" she asked, louder. People? That part she kept to herself, and suppressed a small shiver at the thought. She was no slaver. 

[Voidus]

Nitinyas' smile faltered for a moment as he looked towards Lisa, but he regained it a moment later, nodding towards her in approval.

"Quite accurate, yes." He said as he regarded her for a moment.

He seemed to observe her curiously before slowly turning towards Renata and addressing her.

"Anything unusual." He said, waving a hand dismissively. "I imagine we'll need quite a number of samples in order to differentiate what is simply local oddities compared with something that is unnatural entirely."

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Renata slipped a small notebook out of her coat pocket and flipped it open, jotting down what the doctor said in a quick shorthand. She underlined "unusual" twice, thinking. Wouldn't everything seem unusual in a new world? How "unusual" did Nitinyas expect things to become? There was a growing uneasiness in the pit of her stomach as she glanced around the room. The woman about her own age, the one who seemed to know about Shadesmar, seemed a wise person to watch.

She's likely the most qualified person here, she thought. The realization brought her little comfort. She quickly scribbled down what she could remember of the doctor's first words, not bothering to wonder at the majority of their meaning. A scribe wrote first, asked later.

"Has anyone mapped the land yet?" she said, feeling a bit self-conscious that more people weren't asking questions.

[Silva]

Before she had a chance to respond to the man's comment, someone who seemed to have an objective had entered. Aderet gave the man she'd bumped into a quick smile, more focused on how she presented herself to everyone in the room than on the doctor, Nitinyas. From what she'd caught they were heading to another world to collect samples? And it was unmapped? 

"Are there...native inhabitants?" she found herself asking. She regretted talking the moment she opened her mouth. This was the first impression she was giving most of them? A simple question?

Don't worry yourself, Aderet. she told herself. There is no reason for you to stress about getting respect from any of these people. Remember, you're in it to get a profit for the company and then get out of here. That was all you agreed to. Nothing more.

[Voidus]

"Well, to answer both of you-" Nitinyas began.

But a peal of cracking thunder sounded overhead, interrupting his reply. He looked up towards the ceiling, his thin eyebrows knit together in annoyance before he turned back to the two of them.

"Apologies. Testing difficulties." He said without further explanation. "To answer you both, the natives have mapped the land I'm sure but we haven't received any back yet. It appears there is some small degree of time slippage in the return journey which makes frequent communications a little difficult."

He finished the last of his wine, setting it down on a nearby table. As he placed the glass he caught eyes with one of the servers and gave a nod towards the ceiling. The server nodded back before quickly hurrying out of the room and beginning to ascend a nearby staircase. The creaking of the wood beneath their feet quickly faded as they reached a higher level and Nitinyas turned back without comment.

"However I'm sure that acquiring something of that nature would not be too difficult once you've arrived." He continued.

[+Sorana she/her]

1 hour ago, kenod said:

"Um, probably," Lisa said. "I'm not sure I understand all of it though, it seems to relate a lot to how magic works."

She tapped her chin. "Lets see,"  she said, "From what I remember, basically, the way people think about the world, objects, and other things like that manifests in a separate dimension. The shape of this dimension, basically the layout of the land, so where rivers are and where land is reflects our world, though there was something about them being inverted, so land becomes water and water becomes land? Anyway, there is also the fact the if an area doesn't have anyone thinking about it, or any thinking beings in it, that area basically doesn't exist. This is apparently how a lot of people travel between worlds, since the massive distances between worlds don't exist there. Apparently this man found a location that was similar to the places without any life, but traveling trough this location brings you somewhere else. Somewhat like an Einstein-Rosen bridge I guess. However, this location shouldn't exist, since there are a lot of intelligent beings living in this area, so there is something weird going on, and we're supposed to find out what this is."

She looked up at the Doctor. "Um, does that explanation work?" She asked.

Lizanne nodded. That she could understand. Listening to the other questions and their answers she thought about what she could possibly do to help. She felt out of place and the man seemed to be suspicious, with his experiments and the servers and all that. Why was she here? She needed the money and free food was good food, but apart from that? What could she do to help?

"Thanks."

She whispered to Lisa and then looked back to the man.

"How much is in it for us?"

She asked.

[Kidpen he/him]

Tish frowned. More people were there than she expected. "Will it be dangerous? Also, uh, what kind of 'time slippage'?" 

[Snipexe he/him]

Jack grinned. It seemed this wasn’t just any ordinary party, there was money involved, and by the sounds of what the old codger had said, lots of it. He would a need a good role for this, something intelligent, something smart, but also useful.