Enter Barovia

Participants:

delilah_icon.gif elaine_icon.gif kendall_icon.gif laina_icon.gif magnes_icon.gif quinn_icon.gif remi_icon.gif sable_icon.gif

Scene Title Enter Barovia
Synopsis Magnes hosts a late birthday party in which they all play D&D. Things explode a bit by the end.
Date February 28 2011

Magnes' Apartment


The living room of Magnes' apartment is showing signs of less paranoia. Flat screen against the wall instead of the computer setup he's had for the last few months, a phone in the living room, and all of his game systems, new and old, in the entertainment system.

The couch is pushed back against the bookcases of graphic novels, and everyone is sitting in fairly comfortable office chairs at a simple wooden roundtable… all of which he's mysteriously acquired, since no one's seen these chairs or table before. There are all sorts of homemade snacks with about five types of dip, plenty of chips and nachos, just sitting at various spots on the table. People have to ask for things to be passed occasionally, but it's a pretty comfortable setup.

Magnes sits in his chair with a Dungeon Master screen shielding his grand works, wearing a Weezer Snuggie almost like a robe. "Alright everyone, welcome to my twenty days late birthday party! As you all found out, we'll be playing Dungeons & Dragons. But, what campaign you ask? Well, I'll let the introduction speak for itself…"

He sits back for a dramatic reading, speaking very seriously and at times in character.

"Not the least glimmer of light escaped the castle's tall black windows. Its broken battlements sketched a jagged line across the darkened sky. Castle Ravenloft brooded over a bleak, mist-shrouded valley. Constructed on the sheer side of a thousand-foot cliff, the terrible fortress was occupied by something ancient and evil.

"A blot of night detached from the shadowed walls of the castle and moved out onto a narrow balcony. Lightning revealed the sneering countenance of Count Strahd von Zarovich."

"His eyes, burning with a never-satisfied hunger, took in the drizzling twilight, the looming peaks, and the few sad lights of the village below. He clutched one hand to his chest and muttered, as if making a promise, or perhaps delivering a curse, a single name: 'Ireena …'"

"Strahd grimaced, and his sharp canine teeth promised mayhem. A bitter wind spun dead leaves about him, billowing his velvet-lined cape."

"Another fit of lightning burst from the storm's underbelly, casting stark light across Strahd's face. The angular muscles of his visage and the taut lines in his hands revealed a man accustomed to exercising complete authority. In that face, no pity lived—but, perhaps, hints of growing madness?"

"His eyes narrowed as he spied the newcomers. A group traveled down Old Svalich Road toward the village. His grimace transformed into a hideous smile. He knew they were coming, knew why they came, and relished what would be their ultimate fate. No plan could be called good unless blood was spilled during its execution."

"All the pawns were finally assembled; all the pieces, prepared for so long, were in place and waiting to play their parts. Even from where he stood on the balcony, Strahd heard the unceasing pulse of the Dayheart; its beat throbbed up through the castle stone into his rigid flesh. Its horrid semblance of life sustained Strahd with a vigor even more potent than the unholy existence he had enjoyed these many centuries. Precious few weapons could permanently harm him anymore."

"Soon enough, Strahd would personally attend the newcomers."

Clearing his throat, Magnes looks around at everyone. "So, any questions before we start?"

Kendall had claimed a comfortable chair, absently tapping his foot to music only he can hear as he listens avidly to the DM. "Well, I do." he beams innocently at the group around him. "Anyone mind if I change the decor?" he lifts his hands above his head and flicks them to either side, and the apartment changes to the scene that Magnes just described, although a much larger scale than the room would even allow. "How'zat?" of course, Strahd isn't visible to the ones seated at the table, but that's as it should be.

Elaine is hungrily eating a few of the nachos, rubbing her eyes a bit occasionally like they're bugging her. She peers around at the newly-changed room, a slight grin appearing on her features. "Oh, that's cool, Kendall. Way to go…" She taps her chin a little big. "Um, are we all just like… together as a group? I mean, do we all know each other or anything. I wanna know how mysterious I should be, so…"

"I do," Quinn remarks as she looks over the sheet in front of her, eyes narrowed a bit. "Is this really what you call a party?" She teasing, of course, a bit of a weak smile on her face as she looks back up at the Dungeon Master. But when Kendall changes the room around them, Quinn quirks an eyebrow amusedly. "I don't really get half of these numbers. Or these feat things. Where's- that book…" She reaches across the table, grabbing a Player's Handbook from in front of Delilah without looking to see if she's actually done with this. 'This is so feckin' weird."

It is probably best that Walter is asleep in his carrier when Kendall does this, or else there might be a bit of confusion. Delilah purposefully wore the poor babe out before coming, fed him, and waited til he zonked out. Delilah, having done this before, lets Quinn take the book and glances up in a faintly puzzled manner when the change happens. "Oh, shit. That's somethin'" She steals a couple of the nachos out from Elaine's nose. "Well if we were all mysterious that would be a little awkward to have a whole team.."

Remi is sitting close to Elaine and Quinn, in the seat next to Magnes'. She looks…horribly, horribly lost, to say the very least. She's wearing her designer sweats, curled up in one of the comfy chairs and daintily nibbling at a serving of nachos with a confused look on her face as everything was set up and explained. She still looks lost. So instead, she just sits there. As the room changes, she jumps a little, squeaking as she looks around, before leaning back. "I 'ave no clue what I am doing." This is said quietly.

Fool her once, shame on Magnes. Fool her twice, and Sable's got no defense left. The seriousness of her expression, the firm set of her brow, the way she scans the sheet before her - none of it suggests either confusion or unfamiliarity. Which means this isn't Ms. Diego's first time playing Dungeons and Dragons. Which further means she hasn't rejected the notion outright. And, ever a creature of extremes, what she doesn't reject she can often go so far as to embrace.

"Ain't no way I c'n be mysterious," Sable states, lifting her chin and tapping her chest, "y'all can't be a famous performer, known th' fuckin' realm over, 'n' hope t' stay mysterious." She- is she? Yes, it would appear she's speaking in character. Sort of. "Plus, me 'n' she go way back, eh?" An elbow jabbed at Delilah, a grin flashed in her direction. "Mebbe y'all c'n be my, like, backup band. Whatall, like, classes y'all packin'? Should we, like, introduce th' openin' lineup?"

Magnes looks around at Kendall's changes, then nods. "Just don't make it cold in here, I'm the only one with a Snuggie." Looking to both Elaine and Quinn now, he proceeds to explain. "This is a great party! And we can establish that you're all here celebrating after having previously gathered to slay a dragon and get a big reward. Some of you can act mysterious, we're just establishing that you've all got recent history with eachother. And Quinn, if you don't understand something, just ask." Reaching over to pat Remi on the shoulder, he reassures, "You'll be fine once we get going."

"Alright! Let's get this going."

Suddenly, we find our cast of characters within the realm of their imagination, all sitting around a medieval table in the dining room they've rented out. This Inn isn't going to turn down the amount of gold acquired from their dragon slaying.

The table is full of all manner of meat, bread, and vegetable, with busty barmaids for Sable, Quinn, and Kendall, and hot Half-Elf men serving the other ladies.

Then there's suddenly an armored man, bloody and battered, bursting through the dining room door. A letter is dropped to the table as he struggles to speak. "My name is Simon Belmont, the village of Barovia needs heroes. I heard of you slaying the Night Fury, so, surely, you can go to the west and save the village…"

Kendall provides the illusions for everyone's benefit. He also decided to come up with illusions for their respective characters. Of course, being a stereotypical adolescent male, Kendall just had to make the female characters with large boobs and scanty clothing… up until the characters' respective owners go and beat the crap out of him. OOCly. Kendall, of course, is a sexy elf, bearing absolutely no resemblance to Legolas. He's a manly sexy elf. His character is around five foot tall, dressed in bright blue with a brown and green cloak, green eyes, and bright blond hair. And of course, pointy ears. he goes by the name Amras Coamenel, a name Kendall found via name generator, acquired from his iPhone.

Tall, with red hair and stunning blue eyes, Elaine has allowed her character to be slightly scantily clad. Well, at least a nice view of her legs. When you're 6'0", you've got to show off a little leg. She wears a pretty simple outfit of a long, billowy-sleeved white shirt and a long skirt with nice slits in the side to show off said legs. The party knows her as Mairi d'Elessar. She clears her throat. "Oh, another quest? Can it wait until tomorrow? I'm enjoying the brew."

Also fiarly tall (because she can be!) and with duller grean eyes,d ressed in a flowing white robe, sits a black hair half else, a bright smile on her face as she looks up at one of the barmaids passing by. Known as Cadera Sharn, she looms enthusiastic at the mention fo a Quest. "I don't know. A quest sounds, um… fun?" Quinn has seen enough fantasy movies to fake it, but she's not really into the whole roleplaying thing. Not yet at least.

"Nona loves her bard time~." Delilah sing-songs, snickering over at Sable and giving Remi a glance. They didn't meet too well the first time, but this time Dee has been pretty gracious with her. When things change over, she settles in to everything as if she does this all the time. Maybe she does.

Danonaon, aka Nona, is a very tall, broad-shouldered redhead, that mane tamed back into a long braid. The only thing to mark her clearly nonhuman is a set of subtly pointed ears, almost luminous tanned skin, and eyes the myriad color of opals. An Aasimar, the product of celestial and human blood. Leather armor over her clothes makes going from the field to town quite easy, even if the druid would rather just stay out there anyway.

"Come now, Mairi, a village needs saving." A scornful look goes to the table at large.

Remi turns, peering quietly over at Magnes with raised brows. Then, she blinks at the illusions. She's kind of along for the ride, or so she feels. This is all so confusing to her poor brain, which has never heard of tabletop roleplaying. So she's just really, really confused at all of this. She'll be okay once they get started? What is she supposed to do?

Her character is lacking the large breasts that Kendall seemed keen on ("Those are unrealistic!"). And then, standard monk garb, 'whatever a monk wears'. So perhaps she is scantily clad, depending on Kendall's view of what monks wear. Probably a low-cut robe or something like that. The party knows her as Raritia Ambroise, a monk. She looks just as confused here as ever. "Um…okay…" This is all she says. She'll be…a quiet monk, or something.

Of the great, extended halfling families living in the distant province of Liverpud, one in particular is renowned both for its remarkably musical skill and uncommon tallness. These goodish people - masters both of the lute and of being totally able to get things off of the top shelf with minimal tippy-toeing - are famed in their own land. But only one amongst them - the most talented and indisputably the very tallest of the clan - has gained famed and fortune beyond the borders of Liverpud.

hat woman is: Jet Lightningaxe, the Mod of Rockingshire

Some bards sing of glory.

Others claim it as their own.

"A gig calls," Jet says, lifting her flagon to her lips and drinking deep until she is done, "ain't no way I'm passin' it up!" SLAM the flagon strikes the bartop. A fistful of gold coins is spilled on the table, a hefty tip for her lovely server. She lifts a hand heavenwards, about to make some grand invocation or other, when…

Suddenly Sable realizes, arm uplifted, one foot on her chair, the other on the table, that she for some reason can't see her character sheet anymore because something is in the way. Scratch that. Some things. Some things that should not be even close to that large.

Narrowed yellow eyes find Kendall, seeking his elfish (but still manly) features. "Don' make me fuckin' kill y' 'n' loot yer corpse f'r real, kid."

"Barovia is in your debt, kind Sirs and Madams." Simon stands, securing his whip as he begins to limp from the dining hall. "Remember, 30 miles to the west, 5 hours by horse! I must return to my training, if I'm ever to defeat the master of the castle…"

One of the barmaids grab on to Jet's shoulders as she seems to fangirl. "Mmm, Jet Lightningaxe, I've heard all your tales."

That's when a simple brown curly-haired house cat jumps on to the table. None of the characters can hear it talk, but whenever Magnes speaks OOCly, the voice comes from the cat itself. "Now, you all can choose to ask Simon more questions, or you can begin your journy to Barovia. Should you choose to go on your journy, you'll arrive at the Gates of Barovia within five hours."

Laina walks down the hall and puts her new house-key into the door. She opens the door, steps in … and blinks. This is not the apartment she left this morning. "Umm … Magnes … ?" She addresses the question to the air around her, not to any particular figure. She doesn't close the door, half afraid it will disappear behind her the moment it's shut. She looks rather stunned.

As it was earlier that day, when she applied to work at the dessert shop, her hair is black, her coat purple, shirt blue, skirt red, tights blue, and boots and purse bright red.

Amras has, for the most part, been silent, although that is certainly no indication that he hasn't been paying attention, especially as someone vaguely important approaches them and starts speaking "I don't think I'll have a problem traveling with all of these lovely ladies at all." he deadpans. "It's a tough job, but someone has to do it." Kendall had decided to have his character be some sort of pervert, and claimed the 'comic relief' slot of the group. Plus, he's a sexy, manly elf. Everyone loves sexy elves. As Sable addresses his OOCly, however, he just kinda shrugs at her. Ehehe.

"A moment, good sir," calls Mairi, peering towards Simon as he attempts to make his retreat. "You seem to have been injured. What sort of dangers did you face?" Of course, Elaine's serious acting is suddenly shut off as… an intruder emerges. And not one of the dramatic D&D sort. An intruder with a key! And… a very bright outfit. Elaine tilts her head, looking towards the newcomer. "Um, I don't mean to be rude, but… who are you?"

"Adventure sounds quite good t' me," Cadera responds with that widening grin, looking over at "Jet" (Smooth, Sable. Quinn sees those references to Joan Jett and guitars.) ith an approvhing nod. "Shall we be off, then?" The robed woman rises from her chair, looking around at her comrades, hands on her hips.

And thens omeone new enters the apartment, startling QUinn a bit. "Bwah?" she sounds with a start, looking over the very bright outfit. This whole roleplaying thing is hard enough, and Quinn's isn't forced, but somewhat stilted. It's all sort of disrupted, though, but Laina's arrival.
Nona is quick to look after the man that came, and even more to watch the cat step its way over the table. (Heehee Magneskitty.) When the illusion is shattered on only a verbal level, she turns around at the table to look. Laina's appearance gets a bark of a laugh, and giant redhead number two is giving her an equally appraising look. Where Mairi is more willowy, Nona seems more firm; the opalescent eyes make more comparisons of the two more moot, however, as it's easy to tell that the slightly bigger one isn't human.

"Haha, fresh meat. That's what." Still sort of in character!! Nona's arm jerks a bit and baps playfully at Mairi's elbow.

"Five hours?" The monk asks this as if it is an inconvenience. A part out of character, part in character question, really. After a moment, Raritia glances around, then clears her throat. If they want acting, or whatever this is, she'll give them acting. In a nearly perfect British accent, Remi speaks once more. "I am hhhappy to travel to Barovia and offer my assistance." She does overpronounce the 'H' sound, though.

Then, there's someone new walking in by way of house key. Remi, or Raritia, blinks a few times, turning to peer at the woman with raised brows. She glances over to Elaine (with an overly fond smile), before looking back to Laina. "I must echo ze sentiment." And she's listening to Laina's thoughts, as well. Suspicious telepath is suspicious, and she's touched the minds of, or at least has met, everyone in this room. Except the new girl.

The look on her face is not unlike the look a cat gives its prey as it cleans its claws in anticipation of a kill.

Sable figures it would be bad form to actually pummel a seventeen year old at Magnes' birthday, and it's actually less anything like a sense of indignity or objectification that has Sable flustered, as much as it is her weirdly adopted masculine mode being attacked. Arms crossing rather shyly over improbable assets, Sable hurried back into her seat, lips tugged down at the corners in bad temper as someone new arrives. Laina is given a look that is suspicious, with a dash of the territorial, but the young woman makes no snarl or snap or even smarmy greeting. Instead she gets ruddy in the cheeks with uncharacteristic embarrassment and sinks a little lower in her chair.

Not a terrifically impressive show for Jet to give to her fangirl, and a hero-rouge-bard in punk-rock medieval studded leather trying to sink glumly out of view is a sorry sight for anyone.

"Oh, this is Laina. Laina, you'll be fine, this is just an illusion, the apartment's alright. Just close the door. We're having a bit of a late birthday party for me, I forgot to tell you. We're playing D&D, have a seat, eat snacks." Magnes turns back to the book as they return to imagination land in their heads, Laina's speaking now manifesting itself in the form of a colorful ghost cat that only the party can see OOCly.

Simon turns to Mairi, coughing a bit weakly. "Undead, the undead are attacking Barovia. The village needs your help as soon as possible. They've already taken siege, people are trapped, warriors and clerics are doing their best. I didn't even make it to Ravenloft… I'm sorry, but I must go!" The man turns, rushing out as quickly as he can with his wounds, leaving the others to their own devices.

"ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE." this, of course, is Kendall, speaking out of character. Laina is glanced at, but Kendall doesn't know her, but Magnes does, so it must be ok. He coughs. "Right then." baaaaack in-character. "The undead, you don't say." Amras rubs his chin, sidling closer to Mairi and leaning his head over to her. Boobpillow. Ehehe. The good thing about roleplaying is that you can get away with doing things you'd never get caught dead doing for real, and Elaine is friendly enough that she wouldn't mind….. right? "What did you observe, when fighting them? Anything that works…." he trails off because the man leaves, and he hmmphs. "Guess he's leaving it up to us to find that out."

"Ahem," Mairi stares at Amras as he decides to make himself comfortable. "I guess that means we go to battle and kick some butt." She pats Amras on the top of the head. "Um, I need those back now, thanks." Elaine shoots a glance over towards Laina, a little confused at the newcomer, but she straightens herself up to try and act in character.

Distractions put aside, for the most part, Delilah is able to sink back into things once Laina is situated to watch the events as they go.

"Undead? If the clerics can't do something, what can we do?" The druid sits up straighter, giving the little Amras another scornful look before her multicolored gaze flicks up to the others. The heel of one boot finds itself thudding down on crusty floorboards, and Nona lies her palms flat around her empty flagon. "There is only so much we can try- if it is that bad we need to try it." The accent of her player bleeds through more often than not.

Somewhere near the fireplace of the tavern, a ginger kitten mewls in his basket before stretching and falling back into sleep.

Undead?! That sounds most unpleasant. Watching after Simon, Raritia frowns. "Um…I will fight these undead with you all!" She says this in her faux-british accent, waving a hand in the air. Seriously, no clue what she's doing here. Meanwhile, Remi nibbles on nachos, peering around with a faint frown. She doesn't really know if she's having fun yet, or not. She's also very suspiciously watching Laina from across the table.

Shame is an emotion that lingers only so long in Sable, and as the reality of the fiction sets back in, she rises into a full sit and…

Jet Lightingaxe gets to her feet and kicks over the barstool for no reason other than to cause a ruckus. Picking up where she left off, she lifts a hand skyward and, after taking a deep breath, calls out: "To me, Red Axe of Lehs'Pahl!" There is a burst of flame from the fireplace, and a strange lute of unfamiliar shape - but with a beautiful red pearl finish - flies out of it and into her hands. She takes the instrument in hand and performs a lick that is searing, but not actually killer, as only the the innocent are present. "Watch out Barovia! Th' Truth and Justice Tour has picked you as its next stop!"

"Clerics hate undead, right?" Quinn asks, looking at her character sheet. The only real clue she has to this is "Turn Undead" listed on her sheet, which causes Quinn to perk up, even as she casts an eye over towards Laine.

"Undead?!" Cadera replies with an overdramatic gasp. "Well… we can't just sit here and-" and then, she just bursts out laughing at Jet, which Quinn also does OOCly,r aising a ahnd and creating really lights when Sable casts… what was it, Dancing Lights?

"To clarify, she's my roommate for a while. New to the city, needed a place cheaper than a motel until she gets a job and such." Magnes elaborates a bit, realizing that Elaine is fully capable of clawing eyes out.

The cat sits, its speech still forever OOC as it watches Sable, having seen the strange things she can do in a campaign previously. "Yes, Clerics hate undead. Now, if everyone's ready for the journey to Barovia, to the horses!" The cat jumps from the table and heads through the doors where their mighty steeds await. Simon is long gone, but the journey is just beginning for our heroes!

Mairi looks determined, now. "These undead will not continue to cause a menace. Such things should be in their proper location… in the ground." She gets to her feet, managing to keep a straight face in light of Jet's outcry of righteous fury.

Elaine, however, blinks in surprise and stares in Magnes' direction for a long moment. She doesn't say anything to him, she just stares. She then glances back to Laina. Less staring, more studying. Magnes is good to keep his distance.

A chunk of bread flies across the table and beans Jet in the forehead. Nona stretches to her feet, and at about the same time that they gather the packs and items they brought inside, there is a buffing at the nearest window. Outside is a dapple gray Percheron, the druid stallion Leonidas. Her constant companion. He is hitting his nose on the panes from outside, having used his wily ways to untie himself from the hitching post.

"The horse is way ahead of me." Nona makes sure everything is still fastened and buckled to her before she lifts up her traveling cloak from the hind of her chair and curls it up and around broad shoulders, taking off after the cat, outside. "Time's'a wastin', ladies." Apparently, male elves are ladies.

After receiving a her daily portion of bread to the head, Jet takes what's left of her dignity and hauls it out the door with her, onto the road outside. Her faithful pony horse awaits her and, after slinging her red axe behind her back, she mounts and settles into the saddle, leaning back and giving the reigns a lazy flick. Once moving, once headed towards their destination… that's when the guitar comes out.

It's going to be a musical five hours, elves and gentleman.

Stowing some of teh bread for future use, Cadera is more than happy to make her way outside and start on the road to the castle. There is Undead to be smote! Smited? Is that even the right word? Ack, whatever. Cadera's ready to go, though her lack of funds means having to share a horse with one of teh other travellers - no big deal, really! With a smile flashed to one fo teh barmaids on the way out (not even trying to mask it, she slings a pack ove rher ag and starts out.

Their musical five hours takes them over Old Svalich Road, a place with black pools of water that stand like dark mirrors about the muddy roadway. A pall of thick, cold mist spreads over the ground. And giant tree trunks stand guard on both sides of the road, their branches clawing at the mists. In every direction the fog grows thicker and the forest seems more oppressive.

Continuing on, they finally approach the Gates of Barovia. Gray in the fog, high stone pillars loom up from the impenetrable woods on both sides of the road. Huge iron gates hang from the stonework, dew clinging to their rusting bars. Standing before the pillars are two stone statues of armed guardians with wicked polearms. Their carved heads lie among the weeds at their feet, neatly broken from the stone shoulders.

Our heroes stop about a hundred feet from the closed gates, and the gate utters its OOC explanation. "You can choose to go forward, you don't notice anything out of the ordinary."

Five. Hours. Of. Music. Mairi likes music, but five hours of it has her covering her ears. Well, as much as you possibly can on a horse. As they approach, Mairi peers at the statues, shivering. "Those things are creepy. You'd think that this town would have better taste in their fine art!"

Elaine peers towards Magnes, then at the others. "Isn't that suppose to be some kind of thing where the person tells you there's nothing ordinary and then something not-so-ordinary pops out? Uh, and he's letting us choose. Is this like… the Doctor Who statues?"

The oppressive surroundings leave a bile-like feeling with the druid. Perhaps she can tell that there is something off here, maybe her horse can too- judging by how he keeps as far away from the sides of the road as possible, ears half pinned when he tilts brown eyes to peer along the woods. The hair not pulled back into the red braid plasters wet around Nona's forehead, the cloak damp with fog as it is. The horses shift, flanks quivering.

"This doesn't look dangerous at all." Nona's exclamation is both in and out of character. Fair enough. She is hesitant to be first to approach the gates, however, casting a look around at what surrounds it first, knees tightening on the stallion. "Who has the most effective detection? 'M getting the heebie jeebies, and that's probably not good."

"Damn…" Jet says, pulling back on her mount's reins with maybe a little more force than is necessary, causing it to give a bad tempered shake of its head. Jet squints at the statues, then down at their heads at their feet. "That's fuckin' metal." She rubs her chin. "Know what else 's fuckin' metal?" she says, giving Nona a knowing look, "suits 'f armor walkin' 'round on their own. I'ma gonna scope this out. Y'all stay frosty."

The bundle of anachronism hops off of her saddle and carefully paces over to the gate, her expert senses further aided by her impressive height.

'I swear to God, Magnes, if there are Weepin' Angels here, I will have your balls," Quinn replies with a weary smile and a point in his direction. Leaning abck in her chari, she lets out a sigh, taking a moment to stretch before she continues. "I'm headin' forward a bit. Here's hopin' nothin' explodes…"

"Hoping down from the horse she shares at about the same time as Jet, Cadera looks ahead with a grimace. "We shouldn't waste too much time," she says, beginning forward a bit. "I'm sure whatever danger awaits us is a bit further inside…"

"Your bravery and cautiousness is noted, but you detect nothing! However…" The cat points one of its paws forward, and the gates suddenly creak open. The cat vanishes into the mist as it walks forward, the gate wide open for the travelers to enter. "You may safely pass through the gates…" he says quite ominously.

"I've got Quinn's back!" Elaine exclaims for a moment before she focuses on what she's doing.

Mairi gives a nod towards Cadera, then moves forward. "We should all stick close. Safety in numbers. Getting separated is a bad idea. I know from experience." Was that out of character? "Keep an eye out for anything wanting to chew on your leg. Or your brains."

"Leo is more a fan of grains, personally." Nona remarks, dryly, letting her horse pace quicker so that the group is able to draw more near to one another as they begin to pass through the main gates. The gray horse bobs his nose and peels back his lips, seemingly a smart remark because his rider lets out a slight laugh, despite the chill and the atmosphere. A beacon of noise in the relative dark.

"We can't do anything from this side of the gate. Hurry up now, before it closes again."

It's almost a disappointment, really. Jet gives the headless guardians a mildly betrayed look as she clops past them, remounted and rejoining the group. "Still don' trust this creepy gate shit…" she mumbles, in misgiving. Nona's laughter provokes a curious glance. "Whuddee say?" she says, pretty much predictably. Just making sure the joke's not at her expense.

Cadera wastes no time in venturing further on, a look back to Mairi and a look over to Jet. "I agree with D-Nona. We should hurry before this gate closes and we e get stuck back out here." Ominous as it may be, at least there's no weeping angels. With a confident smile, Cadera stries her way on ahead.

The gate creaks shut once they've all entered and walked for a bit, on their way to the village…

Mist blankets the village, smothering the streets and marooning the buildings, forming an archipelago of crumbling masonry in a gray, hopeless sea.

At the village's lonely edge, most structures were abandoned, burnt-out husks. Charcoal is thick in the air, but that choking odor couldn't overpower the underlying, sickly sweet smell of carrion and spoilage. Claw marks rake some of the vacant homes, ominous not merely because of their presence, but because of the five-fingered, handlike shape they suggest.

Farther inward, most buildings survived. Doors were barricaded with tables, broken carts, and smashed furnishings. Windows were shuttered and planked. But had anyone been saved? SIlence was thick in the fog-bound streets, as though from cotton stuffed into the ears. Nothing living stirs, nothing breathing walks the streets.

But where the living are absent, the newly dead shambles. And hunger, too, raw and unstoppable, stalks the village, multiplying with each new corpse that kicks and shudders its way back toward animation.

A hunger that could never be slaked.
An infection that could never be stemmed.

Entering Barovia is like moving through a war zone. Any travel at all is risky—zombies might lurk anywhere, and probably do.

The cat is standing on the edge of town with them, and proceeds to spread its OOC knowledge. "If you want to find out what's going on, you can either try to get to the village square by keeping forward west, or try to get to the Burgomaster's home which is southwest."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Mairi says, guiding her horse into the gates to make sure they don't all get separated. As the gates shut behind them, she peers towards them eerily. After all, who was opening those gates? Creepy! As their kitty companion fills them in, she looks between the west and the southwest, then glances to the others.

"I don't know what a Burgomaster is, but it sounds safer than being out in the open in a village square, if you ask me. Anyone have suggestions?" Elaine offers.
"It's a german-based word for a mayor. Basically 'master of the town'." Delilah chimes in, drawing a hand over her chin and leaning back. "I dunno about either one, but if the town master is there, or his records are, it might give us information."

Nona shakes her head. Secret druid things. Between a horse and his girl. She grows dim as they wander in the front edge of the town, however, and it is hard to tell if she sees or hears something. The horse seems to as well, maybe smelling something more telling. Darkvision can only work so well against fog and smoke, though. At best, right now, it makes her even more uneasy.

The scent of death may well precede the sight of walking corpses, and Jet's nose is already wrinkled in unpleasant expectation. She pats her pon- er- horse's neck, though the gesture may be as much for Jet's confidence as her steed's. "Sounds like th' Burgermaster's th' guy t' see. Plus he's got nice digs, I bet, mebbe we c'n use 's a base 'f operations, if, y' know, he's been e't." She grins, shrugging. "Waste not, y' know?"

The scent of death is extra offense if Cadera, upturning her nose in what would normalyl be a snooty manner. As if this actually helps keep the scene fromt entering her nostrils.. "Fine, then, to teh BUrgermaster. Let's just get out of this… open air. It's horrid." She puts a hand up, waving people along with a sigh. "I'm sure he'll be able t' tell us what's up, if nothin' else. Or if he's not… well, that'll e pretty tellin' anyway?" Quinn's mixing in some OOC knowledge, but it's so hard for her not to.

As our heroes start heading for the intersection to make their turn, the cat suddenly stops at the alleyway. "Jet spots a robed figure down the alley just as she's about to pass it. Furthermore, she can make out its rotting, skeletal visage. This doesn't seem to be any ordinary zombie, as it seems to be hunched over, doing… something far too shadowy to make out with its hands. It doesn't seem to have spotted you all, but it appears to be highly alert. What will you do?"

Also, in the distance, about 40 feet away, there's a large overturned cart in the middle of the intersection, though farther west than any other direction.

It's hard not to giggle at the mention of the 'Burgermaster', but Elaine is in character right now! Mairi peers down at her horse, and pats it gently before looking back to the others. "Alright, lets head down in that direction towards the—" She cuts herself off, squinting at Jet. "You see something?" Her gaze drifts back to the cart. Maybe there's something under it.

Nona seems more intent on examining the path ahead rather than the side roads and alleyways. The staff on her back jostles heavily against her as she turns to look at Mairi when the other woman speaks. She follows the short look. "Jet?"

As our heroes start heading for the intersection to make their turn, the cat suddenly stops at the alleyway. "Jet spots a robed figure down the alley just as she's about to pass it. Furthermore, she can make out its rotting, skeletal visage. This doesn't seem to be any ordinary zombie, as it seems to be hunched over, doing… something far too shadowy to make out with its hands. It doesn't seem to have spotted you all, but it appears to be highly alert. What will you do?"

Also, in the distance, about 40 feet away, there's a large overturned cart in the middle of the intersection, though farther west than any other direction.

It's hard not to giggle at the mention of the 'Burgermaster', but Elaine is in character right now! Mairi peers down at her horse, and pats it gently before looking back to the others. "Alright, lets head down in that direction towards the—" She cuts herself off, squinting at Jet. "You see something?" Her gaze drifts back to the cart. Maybe there's something under it.

Nona seems more intent on examining the path ahead rather than the side roads and alleyways. The staff on her back jostles heavily against her as she turns to look at Mairi when the other woman speaks. She follows the short look. "Jet?"

"Aw, hell…" Jet says, and anyone who has travelled with her knows she's spotted a threat. She's doing what she always does - unslinging her lute and tuning it to B for *BATTLE*. "Looks like we got ourselves a biter. Y'all stay away from it's choppers, it'll turn y' faster than a fifteen year stint in th' pen'. Er- dungeon, whatever." Jet lifts her first into the air and does the count-down "ONE! TWO! THREE!" And then she begins to rock out with 'Crossbow Rider' by Bilbo-Turner Overture, a tune sure to inspire confidence, drawing upon the Boogie roots of lower Liverpud.

Cadera has a- mace? Something you hit people with. That's good enough for her. "A biter?" The half elf replies with a frown and narrowed eyes as she draw the weapon from her side. "What is it," she asks as she braces herself, running through her mind for- spells! Yes, spells! Those'll be handy, certainly. For now, she waits until she has a better idea what they face, eager to smash something's face in. Or maybe that's Quinn. Eitehr way it's good stress relief.

"A biter?" Raritia looks horribly confused at Jet's words performance, but…it inspires confidence, so she guesses she feels more confident about not knowing what she's doing. What's more important, is that there's a zombie, and it looks evil. Remi blinks owlishly over to Magnes, brows raising as she stage whispers over to him, "What do I do?" Raritia, in turn frowns at the zombie, raising her fists.

Her Ki Fists.

The Deathlock begins to shamble out of the alley when it realizes people are gathering, but thanks to Sable's Incredible Musical Genius it's not nearly as intimidating as it could be. Unfortunately, she's the one it starts going for, being the closest to the alley right now. "BRAAIIIINS!" is not typically what D&D zombies say, if anything, but this is Magnes' game.

DM Cat, however, has advice for Rarita. "You could always try to flank it so you don't have to risk getting bitten." he suggests for the newbie, just as the Deathlock raises a finger. "Braaaiiigic Missaaaiiiinsile!"

"It bites people. This is just sick. The only people allowed to bite me are, well…" Mairi trails off with that. She angrily glares at the zombie. Elaine fumbles with her character sheet. She'll just stand there with the horses as she tries to figure out what to do! After all, horses need to not be spooked.

Raritia blinks, and tries to…get away from the Zombie. Get behind it. "Flank it?" She asks this to DM Cat, frowning. "Behind?" Then, Raritia is attacking or something, with her Ki Fists of…sparkly Ki-ness, or something. She still looks confused. She doesn't know how the Ki Fists work. So Remi promptly jumps up, raises a fist into the air, and shouts: "KIIIIIIIIII FIST!"

Then, she's blushing.

The plait-headed druid sits on her horse, suddenly all too aware of Jet's attempts to inspire. Though it does inspire, one wonders why. "Let's keep mo- whoa-" A bit late for that advice, as the creature shambles forward and so boldly attacks. At first, Nona's horse stamps back a few steps, giving her a moment to draw up her staff, producing it at her side as if it were an oar. She is more than ready to start cracking things on the head, if it comes to it.

Remi- Rarita- has another idea, and Delilah flinches away a bit, before she starts chortling, trying to quell it almost immediately.

The Deathlock gets a nice powerful ki fist to the head, and the creature starts to shamble around to face her. "ARRGHH, BRAIIINS!" It reaches forward to grab her, then opens its mouth wide to try and bite her in the shoulder. That's where the brains are located, right?

Magnes Cat's eyes widen when Remi is jumping up and raising a fist. "I didn't know the French got so excited."

"Fuckin' fisticuffs 'gainst th' livin' dead?" Jet says, shooting Nona a questioning look, "mebbe my song went 'n' inspired a little too much fuckin' courage…" She grips and shakes the reins of her compact horse, slapping her heels against its flanks to drive it into a canter as she lifts her instrument above her head and brings it down in a vicious arc, aiming to stave in the creature's head.

"Oooh," Quinn asys, looking up at Magnes, then the other people around her. "How's this turn undead thing work? I'm going to do that!"

Cadera steps forward, her mace held out and glowing with radiant light. "This needs to be cool, what should I… oh!" She clears her throat, eyes narrowing. "I BANISH THEEEE!" she announces, waving her mace as divine enrgy channels out from around her.

Mairi stares at the zombie-skeleton thing and then takes a deep breath. She promptly exhales in the general direction of the creature. "Take that with my awesome Breath of Cleansing! No, make that righteous. Righteous breath!" She sheepishly looks around at the others. Well they were getting weird.

Remi sits back down, still blushing. "Zat was a slip-up." She mumbles this out, running a hand through her hair with flushed cheeks. As she's nearly bitten, Raritia squeaks, and flails her KI FISTS around at the zombie. Unfortunately, Remi is much quieter when she announces her attack this time, cheeks still red. Did she totally just do that?

Everyone is going to go beat the shit out of it now, maybe? With several of the party ahead of her letting the damned thing have it, Nona hangs back; there's not terribly a lot to try, what with them going headlong. Leonidas stamps his feet and shifts around to better view the altercation, ears perked and tail swishing. Not too convinced that some of what happens will work, but she is within distance to move in if need be. There is time to be cautious! Likely.

When the fist hits the zombie this time, it just seems to be particularly pissed. But before it can try to bite her again, Mairi is blowing breath at her "BRAIIIINS!" it exclaims in a roar that seems to blow the Righteously Cleansing Breath away. Mairi seems to be its new target until…

What was that about banishing thee?

The zombie starts to back up, but bumps into Rarita, then when it tries to run forward the others are blocking the alley. So it instead bends down and covers its head, cowering from the Cleric.

Dun hurt zombie, he jus' can has brains, plz? Might be what he'd be saying if he could talk.

Jet sometimes mistakes herself for a different class - a barbarian, maybe, or some other reckless warrior - and forgets that making a mounted attack with your instrument isn't actually the basic role of the bard or the thief. Caught in the drama of her own private ambition, Jet swings way too wide and misses the zombie entirely, managing to overextend herself and - consequently - toppling out of her saddle and onto the ground with an unceremonious whump combined with the splintering twang twang of her prized lute shattering beneath her.

Only a moment is spent in mourning the noble ax, before Jet is on her feet, cracking her knuckles. "Didn't wanna have t' do this…" she says, before holding a fist out before her, her other hand extended to the slate grey, cloudy sky, fingers forming 'the horns'.

"To me!" Jet bellows once more, "Black Axe of Rickenbach!" In a flash of light, a wicked looking black lute appears in her fist, and she draws the jet black instrument to her and delivers a series of brutal power chords.

"~BURY YOUR DEEEAD!~" Jet growls in quasi-tonal song. No mercy for the restless shufflers, it seems, even in cowering retreat.

"Oh hey. That worked." Cadrea blinks, beaming brightly. "Alright!" Raising her mace high, it glows for a moment, before the air around Jet shimmers with a reflective quality, shielding her from incoming attacks. Just in case.

QUinn thrusts her sheet at Magnes, pointing. "I'm casting this one," she says, pointing to "Shield Other". She actually seems to be getting into this one a bit, even though she'd probably never outright admit it.

Elaine mutters to herself, "I feel like a dork." She peers at her character sheet for a long moment. "Um. This one. Temporal Spiral. The one that casts haste." She clears her throat before she looks intently at Cadrea. Oh, right. She's in character. Mairi looks at Cadrea. She's supposed to be good with these unholy things, right? Putting forth her hand and uttering some word that's indistinguishable, a wind picks up around Cadrea in the form of a spiral! For, uh, speediness!

Slipping her staff back into her pack, the consideration of this creature's ability for dodging spells is duly noted. And Nona is quite content in taking an action against that; she slips down from the saddle and readies herself to enact her Wild Shape. One of them, anyway, and the one she's most familiar with. A spark of light bursts from her feet, tangling around her as she starts forward.

Danonaon's shadow changes, lengthening and widening, and when the lights scatter from her, the creature she's become is not hesitant to take up a charge- best get out of the way- because a Dire Boar isn't terribly apt to stop once it gets moving. This one is suitably huge, with a reddish coat of fur, a rusty orange bristle, and those weird opal eyes- elevenish feet long, tall enough to mask poor Jet, and as heavy as two horses. She takes 'let's kick the crap out of it' very literally.

Meanwhile, Delilah is having a moment of self-indulgence, sticking straws in her bottom lip like tusks. Snortsnortsnort~.

While the boar does hit the zombie, it proves to be a bit tougher than it looks, running to press against the wall as the boar rushing by and grazes against it. It still seems rather afraid of going in Cadrea's direction, but it certainly runs after that boar. "BRAAIIIINS!" and opens its mouth to try and bite her on the ass from behind.

The biter misses, though not considerably by a lot- but he has something bigger to worry about when the dire boar tilts its great tusked head up and promptly backs up, in order to sit on him.

With the zombie pinned and currently trying to get a little of Nona's rump roast, Jet finds herself in the unique position of having a clear and dirty shot at the zombie. As the only savage beast currently is a druid that Jet needn't sooth, she ceases her playing in favor of lifting her lute above her head, turning it around to direct a remarkably pointy head made of what looks like obsidian or some other suitably dramatic and exotic material, and jabs it hard into the back of the Deathlock's neck.

"If I miss 'n' prick yer bottom, darlin'," Sable confides to Delilah, back in reality, "I apologize ahead 'f time."

With the other two going in for the kill, Cadera hangs back with Mairi, her mace held out and ready to heal if she needs to. But, realy… for the moment, she does little else.

QUinn looks over at Elaine wearily, smirking a bit. "I do too. But it's kinda fun." With taht she turns to Magnes. "Um um um…. I'm going to cast this one…"

The cross hanging around Cadera's neck starts to glow, before a ray of searing light flies forth from it, zooming towards the pinned undead. Friendly Fire's not something they'd put in a game like this, right?

The zombie is putting up a hell of a fight until Sable stabs into its neck. Then searing light causes its skin to bubble and smoke just in time for the boar to just sit on it.

Crunch.

The zombie bursts into non-descript gold coins and a glowing dark purple saddle that floats in the air next to the boar, sparkling.

The cat clears his throat, speaking up. "There are enough gold coins for each of you to get fifteen, and what you have there is the Mithril Saddle of Infinite Comfort. Ride times are cut in half for the horse it's attached to, and your horse is always in a calm state. But it seems like it's getting late, I forgot to take curfew into account, so I think we have to cut our game short tonight. There's still time for us to talk and stuff, but I think this is a good wrapping point until next time."

Elaine stretches her arms a bit. "Well, I don't see how a skeleton was carrying a saddle around, but… I will not question these things!" She offers, a slight giggle escaping. "But we've got gold. Too bad we're in the middle of Zombieville and can't buy things. Ooh.. but we could loot." She looks to Magnes. "That's a good stopping point though, yeah."

Delilah, at this point, does not drop her 'tusks' until Elaine giggles. "I knew my ass would come in handy. Who wants the saddle? I don't need it." There's a bit of a noise from where they have put Walter up to nap, and she is already hoisting up to go see to him. "How's my widdle oinker? Mommy was slaying zombies." Walter lifts his hands up to fuss with his blanket, punching tent-shapes in it before she picks him up, snickering.

"Infinite Comfort? Shit, sign me th' fuck up," Sable says, already reaching for a pencil to laboriously add the item to her sheet, crooked, undisciplined handwriting to be scratched out with tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth, grade-schoolish in her composition. Her pencil tip pauses before she makes the first mark, however. Yellow eyes scan the room. "If thass arright…" she says. Remembering not to just ninja the loot. She tries to follow the etiquette. Honor among dweebs, right?

"Well, then you can ride Boar Delilah without her minding," Quinn remarks without really thinking first. SHe does then cough, then, when she catches it, and continues as if it never happened. "I don't mind. Don't think I need it? I have no real idea…" Quinn scratches the back of her head, looking between the others. "This was a bit more fun than I expected I have t' admit. Reminded me a lot of high school drama classes."

Magnes stands up and Kendall's illusion ends, the youngster ushered out with Remi as both decide that it's probably time to go for the night. "I recall Delilah's ass being pretty versatile and damage resistant." he notes as he heads back over to the table to start collecting sheets and getting all of the D&D materials collected into a box. Things collected, he carries the box over to sit it next to one of the book cases. "You're all welcome to hang around, just mind the time so you don't get stuck."

"That's not the only part of Dee that's versatile…" Elaine points out, smirking before she glances to Sable. "Go ahead and snag it. I'm sure no one minds if you wanna steal it." She smiles weakly to Quinn. "Yeah, and think Quinn and I'll only stick around for a little bit. We've had… a long, long day."

"Heeeeey." Delilah tries not to laugh, holding Walter up against her as he comes out of his sleepy phase. She goes back to sit down though, eyeballing the table of girls, then Magnes. "What do you mean, damage resistant?" Pffffff. She can understand versatile, sure, but what? As if recalling something, she grows suddenly thoughtful.

Laina sticks her head out of her room. "You guys done with the game?" The illusion covering the apartment is gone, so Laina thinks this is a fairly good assumption. She walks out of the room and grabs another handful of snacks from the table. "Who won?"

Sable's brow lifts as the comments come one after another. She gives a low whistle and clicks her tongue. "Jesus, but y'all make me feel like th' one with class 'n' tact," she loops an arm around Delilah's waist and scoots over right next to her, "damage resistant, darlin', 'cause yers is a beauty imperishable," she plants a peck on Dee's cheek, "no blow or buffet c'n dent 'r deform, 's if 'twere th' divine protectin' it's own sublime image," she grins wide, wicked, "sound 'bout right?"

Laina gets a pointed finger pistol. Bang. "I did, honey. I won it all, th' whole thing."

Quinn looks between Elaine and Magnes, quirking an eyebrow. "Now, that's all stuff I wouldn't know a thing about," she replies with a half smirk, collecting the assorted things she had sitting out with her over the course of the evenin. Her iPad is pulled out of her bag, Quinn bringing something up on it and looking over it. "Don't listen t' her. Sable's always a winner in her head" Quinn replies almost absent-mindedly. "Not… really that kinda game. Right?" She looks up at Magnes with a crooked eyebrow, sounding unsure.

"Correct, not that kind of game. And by damage resistant I mean… uh, well we can discuss that when we're not in polite company." Magnes heads back to the table and takes a seat, starting to grab nachos to dip them into a bowl of some sort of spicy ground beef. "So, like I was saying earlier, this is Laina. She's my roommate. New in town. I saw her when I escorted Yana to a comedy club, she wanted to make a charity donation. Laina turned the stage gold colored so I came back to give her a talk about public ability use. One thing led to another and I decided to help her get on her feet in the city. Sable's bed was going to waste anyway."

"Since when have we been polite company?" Elaine asks, though Laina gets a careful look, then she looks back to Magnes. "You said she's new in town. So how long have you two known each other then?" She questions, reaching for a nacho.

"Yeah, sure, that sounds alright." Poetic, even. Delilah nods her head a little, smiling. The baby in her arms mumbles something in his language to Sable, like he might be wanting a conversation. In this case though, it's mostly just a bit of noise so she might pay attention to him.

"Laina, huh?" Dee chimes in after Magnes introduces her properly this time. "Interesting. Can't say it's much different than some of us, though… I'm Delilah-" The redhead lifts up the baby for a moment like a little Simba; to new people like this, Walter's creeping up on about four months or so, with a puff of orange hair and bright blue eyes. "-this is Walter."

Laina smiles at everyone. "We met yesterday morning," she says, in response to Elaine's question. "He saved me from the horrors of the motel. Cheap motel is a contradiction in terms." But she is soundly distracted by the infant. "He's adorable!" she coos.

"Yeah, but she seems nice enough. You know I like to help people." Magnes says as if anticipating protests, hunched over his bowls of nachos and dip. "Delilah, you should probably get going before it's too late, unless you want to stay the night so it's safer to get home with Walter in the morning."

"That'd be my cue t' get rollin', too," Sable says, interrupting her response to Walter's offer of 'conversation' - a series of grotesque faces. She grins at Delilah, "don' wanna risk th' lady operatin' th' radio while drivin'. Ain't hardly safe, eh?" She gets to her feet and dips in a small bow to Laina. "Glad some lady's lookin' after this sorry sucker," she says, giving Magnes a smirk that's as indulgent as it is taunting, "poor boy needs a feminine type influence. Me, I jus' make 'im more a bachelor, type. Awful bad influence."

Quinn quirks an eyebrow first at Laina, then Magnes. "Robyn Quinn," she introduces herself as, nodding at Laina. And resisting the urge to ask what would be both very inappropriate and very rude questions when she learns they met the night before. But it does seem to make her a little uneasy, leaning back in her seat and casting a look over to Elaine. "I think we'll be heading back t' our apartment before too long, yeah…"

Elaine's got a tiny bit of a frown on her features. She shoots Magnes a careful look. "Pardon my abrupt and rather blunt question, but, given that I didn't even know he had a roommate and you're moving in with him right after you met him…" She clears her throat. "Did you sleep with him?"

"He likes meeting people still, I expect you best get your licks in while he's still unable to escape." Dee is talking about Walter! Not Magnes. "I can stand to stay for a bit, myself. If I lose track of time, I have stuff in the closet to stay over." Which, in fact, does a rather good leadup to what Elaine asks, and what Delilah(and Quinn) didn't want to bother asking. She tries to not laugh, at least. Hardly working.

"Not that it's actually our business-" Lilah amends Elaine on her own. "-seeing as most of us have." If she hadn't before, she definitely may not, now. It isn't totally true, but seeing as it's a 2-2 split…

Laina chuckles and looks to Magnes with raised eyebrows. "Magnes, do you routinely sleep with girls you just met?" Still looking amused, she says to Elaine, "No, I didn't sleep with him." Not seeming the least bit offended by the question, Laina continues, "Sorry, I didn't catch your name." Magnes' introductions had been very one sided.

"W-what? No! I didn't sleep with her. I decided that I'm not the type to sleep with strange women. And by strange I mean women I don't really know…" Magnes then clears his throat, proceeding to explain, since they all seem inclined on embarrassing him. "That's Quinn, I saw her breasts. That's Elaine, my last girlfriend. I slept with her within the first hour of meeting her and then we steadily slept together for about two months before making it official. That's Delilah, I lost my virginity to her and proceeded to become an addicted rabbit. It's still not really out of my system."

He nods, crossing his arms with a swift nod. "I can embarrass you all too. Well, except Sable, but I saw her breasts too."

Delilah laughs quite loudly, spooking Walter a bit in the process. "It isn't? Well, I suppose I should have expected that…" The whole V-word and all. A moment's pause comes from her next, as she is abruptly distracted by Walter clinging onto her chest as if he might be able to telekinesis the breastmilk out. "Oh- I- should probably get this. Ah- ugh. Did you just shit yourself too? Gads, you're just a little poo-factory today."

She exchanges looks between the girls and Magnes, looking a bit bewildered, as she knows that she's gonna dodge a bullet. Just a bit. She knows that the others are not as receptive to his …shenanigans. "Duty calls. I'll be back eventually." And she's traipsing off towards the bathroom now with her son, nose wrinkled. She will be back, but not before dozing off a little while sitting on the lidded toilet, all after changing the baby. Walter will still be attached, no doubt. There is a certain gracelessness to the beauty of motherhood.

"Naw, dipshit, I showed 'em to y'. World 'f difference. Not that they're any sorta fuckin' national landmark, anyhow," Sable says, with a small snort, "big tits 'r' liability f'r someone with my angle, anyhow. Plus, shit," she smirks, "who th' hell wants t' wear a bra if they don't gotta, eh?" Magnes gets a skeptical look, not scornful but definitely doubtful. "Son, I dunno what sorta fuckin' thoughts go through yer head, make y' wanna spill yer fuckin' history. But God bless y' if y' don' need no air 'f fuckin' mystery," she points her finger at him, jabs, "jus' don' go airin' nobody else's dirty-type laundry. That ain't how a gentleman acts, dig?"

"…what the fuck?" Quinn says in a very stunned manner when Magnes names them along with every sundry thing he's done with them (even if that's not much with her or Sable), her cheeks turning a bright reed as she stares at him. Thankfully, Sable seems to have her covered, a bit of a relief since Quinn would have worded her reply much more harshly. Instead, she glares at him, nodding along as Sable speaks. Arms cross over her chest, as if suddenly self conscious. "What did I do t' warrent that?" She pauses, looking over at Laina. "As you can see, he used to. It was a question of curiosity, is all." She shoots a look back up to him, sliding her iPad back into her bag. She's actually kind of really offended, they might be leaving sooner than she intended.

Little does Magnes know the hell of a day Elaine and Quinn had. So when Quinn goes off, Elaine is not surprised. However, her gaze is hellfire and she turns it on Magnes. "Look, I appreciate the fact that you like to help people and gave Laina here a place to stay, but…" She reaches a hand up, rubbing her temple. "You're a fucking idiot. Do you remember all that stuff I told you the other day? Y'know, when we were actually getting along? You can forget that shit. Because we aren't getting along and I'm tired of trying to be a normal person in your eyes." She jerks a thumb in Magnes' direction and turns to Laina. "I know you met him last night, but let me introduce you to Magnes. Magnes is sex-crazed. He has problems being alone in a room with any girl without wanting to have sex with her. He probably wants to have sex with you. He's inappropriate and doesn't understand tact or when to shut up, and he pressured at least one person in this room to show him her breasts just to get him to stop asking."

Elaine's getting up to her feet. "On top of that, he has commitment issues, he guilt trips people to get what he wants, and acts like a child, moping around when he doesn't. He might have a good heart, deep down somewhere in there, and I've fucking believed in that as long as I've known him, but… good luck finding that without him asking for a blowjob. He's got a one-track mind." She offers Laina a weak smile. "Thought you might want to at least understand what you're getting into." She looks back to Magnes. "Happy Birthday, Magnes, I hope you enjoyed it. I had fun, but now I'm going home before you decide to prance around in the streets and make me sound like a whore to everyone I've never met.

"Come on, Elaine, Quinn… maybe I went too far, but I don't think I earned all of that…" Magnes frowns when Elaine finally finishes, then stands up, walks to the window, opens it, and stares out for a few moments. When Delilah's in the bathroom, he just shakes his head. "If that's how you all feel then fine, who needs you or the band." That said, he begins climbing out of the window, fully intending on escape without using the door. Windows are much more effective means of getting the hell away from everyone.

"Magnes, don't be a coward," Laina says sharply. "Flying out the window won't help anything." Turning to the others, she adds, "Elaine, Quinn, Sable, it's very nice to meet you."

"Th' foolishness 'f men is exceeded only by th' cruelty 'f women," Sable intones, gravely, shaking her head. She gets to her feet, making to go after Magnes, likely with thought to climb, maybe make a grab for Magnes' ankle if needs be.

"Nice t' meet you too, Laina," Quinn remarks to the new roommate as she rises from her seat, moving after Elaine. "Jesus… Elaine, I'll be there in just a moment…" With that, she turns watching as Magnes makes his way for the window. "Magnes! If you go out the window, this is going t' get a lot worst. Get yourself back in here. No one said anything about the band- just get yourself back in here"

"Real mature, Magnes. Just when someone yells at you, you run off and try to cut ties with everything." Elaine shakes her head, offering Laina a feeble smile. "Sorry. It was nice to meet you anyways." She looks to Quinn, then glances to Magnes. Sable's comment catches her and a bit of an odd look crosses her features before she shuffles for the door.

"Forget it!" Magnes exclaims, jerking his leg away from Sable to leap from the window completely. It's not long until he's gone, Elaine's last comment being the last straw.

Laina simply watches in bemusement for a few moments as Magnes leaps out the window. Then, turning back to Magnes' friends and trying to lighten the mood, she says, "Well, I guess I'm hosting now. Would anyone like some more snacks?"

"MAGNES!" Quinn yells as he flies his way out the window, her hands curling into balls as she reaches the window sill, eyes narrowed. "Goddamnit!" she shouts after him, before turning back with a look at Laina, then one at Sable. She would Delilah too, but she's in the bathroom. Likely being startled back awake. "Goddamnit, does no one fuckin' think before they speak?!" she exclaims, eyes narrowed as she actually hits the window sill." Jesus fuckin' christ, that would solve so many problems. Or maybe not fucking running away when things get bad! Oh, you know, maybe I could explain how today was a terrible fuckin' day! Wanna know how bad the day was? How Elaine and I watched a woman have a //nervous fucking breakdown after throwing her down to the floor and me breaking up with her? No! Let's not! Let's just do whatever the fuck comes to mind! That seems t' work just fuckin' fine!"

Obviously, any sense of calmness she had is gone now. "Fuckin' christ. If he wants t' be like that, I'm over it." There's a pause, Quinn looking over to Sable too. "Think a little next time," is all she says her direction, before making her way towards the door and to Elaine, ready to elave. "I'm sorry," she says quietly as she reaches her, head hung a bit.

"Sorry, Laina," Elaine offers. "Good luck to you." She looks at Quinn as the other woman heads over, and she offers her a nod, placing a hand on her arm. "We should head home anyways. Come on."

"Sorry about how the party ended, and I hope you both feel better," Laina says sincerely to the pair. I'll watch a movie or something and wait for Delilah to finish with the baby, so she won't think everyone deserted her. Try to get some sleep."

"Sorry," Quinn offers to Laina, actually somewhat sympathetic, before she opens the door a bit for Elaine, ushering her out and into the hall, and on back home.


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