<Anna> Some of you have been here for in excess of a month. Others mere days. You're not entirely aware of the flow of time, however, and you're not exactly certain where "here" is, since much of that time has been spent unconscious. Flickers of awareness, punctuated by sharp bursts of pain, splashes of bright crimson, and voices. Always with the voices. Talk talk talk. And then one day it stops. Awareness blooms and you each find yourself to by lying clad only in loose gossamer gowns, lying on slabs of soulsteel in a very large room. There are many others. Dozens. Most appear dead.
* Melua sits up, rubbing her temples, and looks around.
* Mirage_ blinks and glances around, then does his best not to move, playing dead while listening.
* Lionel winces and reaches up to check his head for injury, before looking around nervously
* Morrighan sits up, looks around ... then down, shivers, and covers herself with her hands. (Ok this is not good, and what the fuck am I wearing ...) she looks towards the corpses and her stomach turns (What the fuck were they going to do to me!?)
* ArnoldLarsWillfort lays there, in pain, and listening. Not that it helps. Lol 'sup near deafness.
* Reyna raises herself to a half-sitting position, blinking rapidly and listening for signs of life.
* Erin`Marias grunts slightly as she heaves herself up to sit on the side of the slab, making something that might pass for a muffled growl and rubbing at her forehead slightly.
* AureusSila opens his eyes and blinks a few times, trying to recall where he is and what he's doing there. The last thing he could recall was a dull pain to his forehead, but nothing of his location. "Where... in the world am I?" He asks nobody in particular while slowly sitting up.
* Morrighan inspects her own body for damage or evidence of damage
<Anna> "Not happy." Singer groans as she pushes herself up off a slab, raising a hand to rub her temples, "Gonna bust some heads for this..." There are no marks on any of your bodies, and indeed, any scars that your characters may have had before are no longer present either.
<ArnoldLarsWillfort> There... there were more people here...?
* Erin`Marias manages a half-annoyed, half-amused snort. "...ugh... guess that makes two of us, huh?" She looks up, and over at Singer, then around at the others. "Not even a traffic cone? Musta been a shit party."
* Melua climbs down off of the slab, shivering, but not caring about attire, and quietly walks through the morgue (?) looking for an exit
<Morrighan> Morrighan just remains quiet, casting her eyes for about ... 10 seconds on each person, looking them over, assessing them.
* Lionel sits up on the edge of his slab, before turning to watch the other awake people.
Mirage_ sits up and takes in the scene, then slides to his feet. "It started off okay, though the ending left something to be desired. I don't suppose anyone knows if we're still in Shadowclad Enkidu?"
<Anna> There appears to be only one door leading in or out, a large, ornate stone affair that attempts to open would reveal is locked from the outside.
* Lionel laughs nervously. "I doubt that somewhat" he mutters under his breath
<Morrighan> Morrighan actually in fact, was remaining silent to cover the fact she felt terrified, she was weapon and armorless, and apprently had been possibly experimented on while she was out.
* Melua continues to avoid the people in the middle of the room while looking for alternative ways out
* Reyna swings her legs over the side of the slab, gripping the edge cautiously and standing up. "Great. Just great," she mutters under her breath, glancing around at the assembled crowd.
* AureusSila throws some hurried, slightly panicked glances at the sources of the voices around him, reaching for his neck and finding that he's lacking his Collar of Dawn's Cleansing Light. Oh that wasn't good, he hoped he didn't catch anything vile here.
* Lionel moves to examine the nearest dead person, to see if there is any evidence of how, or why it died
* ArnoldLarsWillfort stares in shock horror.
* Erin`Marias sits on the end of her slab, facing the door, watching the others intently. Memorizing faces.
* Mirage_ makes a circuit of the room, testing the door, then taking a look at the bench of unpleasant-looking instruments. Unpleasant or not, he selects one or two of whatever looks most useful as a weapon, then moving to lean beside the door.
* Morrighan stares back at erin
<Mirage_> So what's your guys' story, anyway?
* ArnoldLarsWillfort examines the door.
* Lionel tuts in confusion. "No visible cause of death" he mutters, before turning to the others and asking "Do you have any idea how long we have been here for? Last I remember I was following a man to help his trapped companion.. seems that was a ruse"
* AureusSila shys his eyes away from Erin's gaze while rubbing his neck at the uncomfortable lack of orichalcum.
* Melua wanders back to the door and waits for the man standing in front of it to finish looking at it
* Reyna wanders slowly and quietly towards a corner, pausing to examine the various, ah, sharp instruments. "...That's not promising."
* Erin`Marias meets Morri's eyes for a sec and smirks, then glances over at Lionel. "I got nothin'. But I'm guessin' someone wanted us alive for -somethin'-, or we'd be like the rest 'ere."
<Anna> Lionel's examination finds nothing. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that the body was obviously pale, immobile and lacking a pulse, he'd probably assume they were just sleeping. Singer sighs and crosses her arms, "This is nonsense." She mumbles, moving towards the door with Melua. Then a black caste mark begins bleeding on her forehead, "If there's anyone out there, so help me open this door
right now."
* ArnoldLarsWillfort punches the door.
* Lionel narrows his eyes before backing away from Singer slightly
<Morrighan> Morrighan took note of the black mark ... much like the one who brought her here, she rememebered him the big bastard. She glared at her.
<Anna> The door hurts Arnold's fist. He's not QUITE strong enough.
* Mirage_ just raises an eyebrow and watches Singer and Arnold. That's new.
* ArnoldLarsWillfort stares at the door.
* Melua leans against to the wall next to the door and just watches Singer and Arnold
<ArnoldLarsWillfort> OH REALLY NOW.
<Anna> Singer's attempts also have little apparent effect, and she swears, snapping her gaze towards Morrighan, "What?"
<ArnoldLarsWillfort> OH REAAAALLY NOW
<AureusSila> While the group seemed to be gathering up at the door, Aureus moved the other way, slightly uncomfortable in his attire and company. He started walking along the variety of slicing, cutting and chopping devices, examining them in morbid fascination. "I don't even know what most of these are
used for..."
* Erin`Marias watches Arnold, amusedly. Solar vs Magical Door. The fight of the century! And she has a front row seat. "Well this'll end well..."
* ArnoldLarsWillfort rips the gossamer fabric thing off him and begins glistening, muscles rippling. (INCREASING STRENGTH EXERCISE X2 YEAH THAT'S RIGHT STRENGTH 7)
<Morrighan> "You're a deathknight, why are you in here with us? It's because of one I'm in here in the first place."
* ArnoldLarsWillfort punches the door. Again.
* Reyna snaps her head around to stare at Arnold, raising an eyebrow in confusion.
* Mirage_ backs away slightly from the door, moving further along the wall to watch. "Oh snap."
* Lionel raises his eyebrow at Arnold, before chuckling and sitting on a slab to watch the theatrics
<Melua> Melua tilts her head, she's never heard the term "deathknight" before. However, she remains silent.
<AureusSila> Alarmed by the commotion at the door, Aurues glances over only to quickly avert his eyes and concentrate very hard on one particular slicy thing made out of bone.
<Anna> The door remains standing. For about two seconds. Then a narrow crack runs down the middle of it, and the door collapses outwards, crashing to the ground with an incredibly loud rumble. Outside the door appears to be a dining room. An impeccably well-dressed gentleman with dark hair and eyes looks up from his meal, smiling faintly, "Oh heavens, awake already?" Singer would shrug in response to Morrighan's question, then look out the door, frowning.
<Morrighan> Morrighan responded to seeing the man by covering herself even more. This was god damned embarassing.
* Reyna edges closer to the door, peeking out around the naked muscleman.
* ArnoldLarsWillfort points a finger.
<ArnoldLarsWillfort> WHO ARE YOU AND WHY ARE WE HERE.
* Lionel stands and moves to listen
* Erin`Marias stands up and wobbles a bit, a little unused to being out of her gear. She keeps a fair distance back from the crazy Solarman, but watches the gentleman closely. "Either that or we're all sleepwalkin', eh?"
* Melua keeps her back to the wall, passing the time by looking at her nails, though she bit her lip when the voice is heard from the doorway.
* Mirage_ applauds lightly! While thinking 'Oh crap, a Solar and a Deathknight, who knows what the fuck all the others are'. He glances at Aureus, then shrugs and peeks warily through the door.
* AureusSila reaches out and picks up a small thin blade out from among the slicy things on the table and licks his lips nervousely before hiding it in his hand and slowly moving over the the rest of the group and the now broken door.
* Siber (~
go@Rizon-67DEE596.sta.embarqhsd.net) Quit (Read error: Connection reset by peer)
<Anna> The gentleman slides his chair back and rises to his feet, gesturing toward the table, which is rather well laid out with a wide selection of foods that none of you are sure you want to eat. Oh, they look delicious. Steaks and chickens and a wide assortment of dishes. All meat. All dead. All still moving a little, "I wasn't expecting my dinner guests so soon, but please, take a seat."
<Morrighan> Morrighan said nothing, just stared flatly at air for now, maintaining her current position
* ArnoldLarsWillfort raises an eyebrow very, very high, which would disappear into his hairline if there were any hair left.
* Lionel looks at the food, feeling somewhat disquieted by its appearance. He stays where he is, waiting to see what happens.
* Melua sighs, and pushes past everyone in the doorway, walking into the room. "Excuse me sir, do you know where the lady's room is?"
<Morrighan> Morrighan started to regain her soldier's gut and decided to stand finnaly and stepped out with Melua, truth be told she was still terrified and the food sure didn't help. She decided to take the chair farthest from the man, putting about a foot's distance between her body and the table. She said nothing.
* Reyna edges a little farther out into the open, glancing back and forth between the edibles and their 'host.' On the one hand, kidnapping and creepy room with dead people. On the other, she is feeling a little peckish...
* Mirage_ turns and gives Aureus a friendly smile, beckoning him onward as he moves into the room and takes a seat. Tucking the blade under his leg where hopefully their host won't notice. "Why thank you. To what do we owe the pleasure of this audience, I wonder?"
* Erin`Marias brushes past Arnold casually, following the other two out, though she leans against the wall by the doorframe rather than taking a seat for now.
* Lionel walks haltingly into the room, before leaning on the back of one of the chairs, watching the "host" intently
<Anna> The gentleman lofts a lofty brow at Melua's question, "You're joking." He says flatly, then looks to Morrighan as she claims a seat for herself. Then he watches the others come out. Finally he turns his attention to Mirage, smiling broadly and showing off rows of gnashing, shark-like teeth, "Why, I have a use for you! Why else would I send my minions traipsing about in Creation stealing Exalts if I did not have a use for them?"
<Morrighan> "Get to the point" morrighan stated flatly.
* ArnoldLarsWillfort stands somewhere.
<Morrighan> She also crosses her arms over her chest.
<Melua> Melua looked around at everyone again, unsure whether the trade in knowledge that everyone else was Exalted was worth the cost of having her own status told.
* Erin`Marias resists the urge to add 'he's got lots of points' after seeing that smile, and just watches the gentleman some more, occasionally glancing at the others.
* Lionel looks around at the others again, resting upon Aureus for a second before looking back at the "host"
* Mirage_ laughs and shrugs. "Well, of course. But if you will forgive me being blunt..." He glances at Morrighan. "...relatively... What use do you have for us? One that involves all of us remaining more or less alive, I hope." Rooms full of bodies? Kinda unsettling. Not his thing at all. Sitting at dinner trying to work information out of someone who might eat you? Just like dealing with his boss.
* AureusSila gives Mirage a quick smile in response before looking away from his face and walking out to take a seat somewhere with at least three empty chairs in a row.
* Reyna advances cautiously to the table, lowering herself into a corner seat far away from everything. Gingerly she takes a piece of chicken, looking it over while avoiding eye contact with anyone.
<Anna> The gentleman takes his seat again, "Well, if everyone would take a seat, I'd be happy to discuss the matter civilly. Once that's dealt with, I can see about redressing any complaints you might have." He seems to smirk a little to himself as he says 'redressing'.
* Lionel watches Reyna out of the corner of his eye, looking for any ill effects from the food
* Lionel reluctantly sits
* ArnoldLarsWillfort blinks, frowns, then sits. His hands are on the table. Fuck modesty.
<Morrighan> Morrighan just narrowed her eyes at the man, she was aggrivated at the very least
<Melua> Shooting the man a small glare, Melua reluctantly sits far from him at his implied threat.
<Anna> Singer's glare is the glare that will pierce the heavens. She appears utterly infuriated with this man. Moreso even than Morrighan. Very slowly she moves to claim a seat at the table, hands balled into fists.
* Erin`Marias meanders over and takes a seat as well, though she scans the room rather than the contents of the table, then the others, then back to The Gentleman, still silent.
* Mirage_ leans back. "Oh dear. Horrible torments of the Underworld? Fine, okay. But if you're going to inflict puns on us, I might have to end it now." He mimes cutting his throat. "But please, continue."
<Reyna> Slowly, cautiously, Reyna takes a small bite out of the bird, rolling it around in her mouth and chewing slowly. Frowning slightly she takes a second, more intense look at her chosen meal. "Well, it looks like chicken..."
<Morrighan> Morrighan noted the deathknight woman's anger ... she was clearly not here by her own will, maybe she was an ally then.
* AureusSila keeps semi-careful track of his surroundings while poking a piece of shivering... beef, maybe?
<Anna> The Gentleman grunts, "Take away one of the few pleasures I have left in my unlife, will you?" He replies to Mirage, propping his elbows up on the table and lacing his fingers beneath his chin, "I'll make this very simple. I'll even talk slowly, just for those of you less quick-witted. Each of you has something special about you. Oh, I don't mean the Exalted bit. That's common enough. No, each one of you has... interesting effects upon the loom of fate." He gestures towards the room they came from, "Everyone in there did, actually. Sadly, it seems the Terrestrials reacted poorly to my probing. But the good news is, all of you work for me now."
<Reyna> "...Probing?" Dear gods, what have I gotten into?
<Morrighan> Morrighan's eyes shot open. "... What did you just say!? What. Did. You. Do. To. Us."
<Melua> Melua spoke up quietly. "How much?"
<AureusSila> Probing..? Aureus felt strangely violated and very nauseous.
<ArnoldLarsWillfort> "Can you please let us know who we are?" He slams his fist on the table, slightly forgetting the fact he is now Strength 7.
<Anna> (Yeah you should feel violated, Chii-kun... mmm, if I had you on a slab... *ahem* Moving on.)
* Mirage_ just nods, lacing his fingers. "And I can't wait to see the look on Winds's face when she hears that. From a safe distance, hopefully."
* Erin`Marias smirks. "Well, I suppose it beats being carved up by a bunch of uppity dragonbloods." She casts a glance at something on the table, raises a brow at it - and Arnold - then returns her focus. "I'm guessing you want us to do more than just run a few errands in return though, hmm?"
* Lionel looks down at himself. "..and what do you want of us" he says.
* Morrighan was first of all concerned with what this man did with their bodies and how it changed them if at all. 2ndly she was concerned with what he wanted them to do. If he asked her to kill another town ... she'd slice her own throat with her nails if she had too.
<Anna> The Gentleman laughs at Morrighan's fierce question, and the righteous indignation that burned on Singer's barely controlled features. He gestures towards Melua, "Here's your pay. I won't violate your souls and rip apart you identity until you're a mindless automaton. Because I'm a nice guy, and because mindless automatons don't make very useful employees for tasks short of simple manual labour. Suffice to say, I am now closer to all you than whichever worthless divine being's power you are imbued with. So! Shall we talk about how you can help me, or shall I make you dance naked while talking about how you can help me?"
<Melua> Staring straight at him, Melua stood up. "I refuse. I am not your property. If you do not wish to employ me, we have nothing to discuss."
<Morrighan> Morrighan backed down, but only a little. "Fine, what do you want us to do?" afterward she muttered under her breath "I still want to know what you did to us..."
* Lionel sighs and rests his head in his hands
<Morrighan> Unlike melua she knew it was better to coast along with this at least for awhile, or at least she didn't want him to make her dance naked.
* Reyna slowly takes another bite of her living tofu, opting for silence.
<Anna> The living tofu tastes surprisingly delicious.
<Anna> Except for not.
* Mirage_ just shrugs slightly. "I'm always willing to talk."
* AureusSila slowly raised his hand above his head and cleared his throat.
* Erin`Marias glances at the others momentarily, then goes back to watching their new 'boss', of sorts, and goes quiet again.
<Anna> The Gentleman (goddamn that's a classy name, thanks to whichever one of you used it first) gestured at Melua, "Sit, Down." He said firmly, and like a puppet without any control over her own body she did just that, "Now, I'm willing to offer material rewards as well, but I thought I should make it clear. This isn't a request. This is me politely informing you of how things are now. Yes?" He asks, looking at Aureus.
<Erin`Marias> ((It was me, dammit. >:|))
<Anna> ((I thought so. Good call Arca. ('-')b )
<Morrighan> Morrighan clenched her fists on the table (Why god damnit ... I ganed the power to become better, I have people to protect, and this BASTARD steals my fucking soul ... I should just cut my throat right here...)
<Morrighan> She looked for a food cutting knife.
<Anna> There's one right next to her. Everyone has several knives, in fact, at least twelve forks, and five different spoons. Because this is a classy fuckin' meal. Honest.
<AureusSila> Aureus looked around nervously before standing up and speaking. "Among my possessions were several jars, bottles, scrolls books, plants, precious gems and various instruments. I want these back" He defiantly smiled right at The Gentleman. "Also, I'm not willing to devote all my precious time to helping you, but if we can come to an agreement that lets our goals intertwine I might consider it" -
<Melua> Melua blinked several times in confusion, then knits her brow, and kicks away her chair and bolts for the nearest exit in a fury.
<AureusSila> As he finished talking he lifted the bone blade against his throat and held it there.
* Lionel looks up in shock at the noise, half standing but stopping, helplessly
* Mirage_ raises an eyebrow at Aureus. "So drastic. I'm sure this Gentleman has a reasonable proposal for us. Let's at least finish hearing him out."
* Erin`Marias glances at Melua. (An offer we really can't refuse...) She muses to herself and eyes the display of cutlery. (...small and concealable weapons go to the far left of the place setting? Mmm.) A little detached? Maybe.
<AureusSila> "Oh this is just in case he tries to make me dance naked" Aurues smiled.
* Reyna blinks at Aureus, swallowing her current mouthful. "A bit drastic, don't you think?"
<Anna> The Gentleman sighed and shook his head slightly, "You will all recieve back whatever items you had on your person once this is resolved. Stop." Melua would collapse to the floor as if all her strings had just been cut, "This is tiresome, I'm willing to be reasonable about this. I'm willing to offer you all more material wealth than you could ever possibly need, if that will encourage you. But I can't let such valuable tools run loose without any restraints. Now. The only thing I need right now is for the nine of you -- Yes, I still know you're there, Singer, you can stop glaring -- to travel to the port city of Juatra. From there, other arrangements will be made. And if all goes well, once this all over with, you'll never see me again."
<Morrighan> "You own our souls, I don't have to see you, your presence is still there." Morrighan glared indignant. "Also your an abyssal, if you know so much about us, you should know what I have a problem with ... and I will kill myself before I let you make me do that."
<Anna> The Gentleman looks to Morrigan and grins, "Did I say I was a Deathknight? Singer knows better. That's why she's just wishing she could kill me instead of trying to kill me."
<Morrighan> "You're undead ... what are you then, a deathlord?"
<ArnoldLarsWillfort> Could you just
please tell us who you
are?
<Anna> He snaps his fingers and points at Morrigan, "Give the girl a prize, she wins!"
<Melua> Melua curled up into the fetal position and began sobbing quietly.
* Mirage_ sighs mournfully and looks around for something to drink that doesn't look too horrible. "Never see you again? My, and we were getting on so well too... Still. I think it's fairly obvious that we don't have a choice about this... at least, not any good choice. So." Wait, Deathlord? Oh crap.
* Lionel moves over to check if Melua is okay
<Morrighan> Morrighan grabbed the nearest cutlery and attempted to slice her own throat, but was inable. "God ... damnit ...."
* AureusSila raised a skeptical eyebrow at The Gentleman. Deathlord, he wasn't familiar with the term.
* Reyna lays the chicken-thing on her plate, craning her neck to get a better look at Melua. Crying... Always an unpleasant sound.
<Morrighan> *infact her hand just froze
* Erin`Marias smirks slightly at Morri. "Deathlords aren't stupid." She turns back to The Gentleman, barely even noticing Melua. Compassion 1~ "After all, I imagine he's gone to quite a bit of effort to get us all in this state. An interesting balance... on the one hand, he saved our lives, after a fashion. On the other hand, he's done who knows what, and is making an offer we can't refuse." She shrugs lightly. "The sooner we can come to a mutually beneficial agreement, the better."
<Anna> The Gentleman nods to Mirage, "Once you've completed the tasks I have set for you, to my satisfaction, I will loose my hold upon your souls. Singer here can make such an agreement rather binding. Would you trust
her?" He asked, looking amused, "Or trust my word to be enough?"
<Morrighan> Morrighan breathed through her nose hard, this angered her incredibly, she escaped one nasty lot for another, but this one had her soul. It was disgusting, and she sure didn't trust either one.
* Mirage_ stands and bows slightly to the Gentleman, ignoring Melua. "Well then, I think that we understand," he says, nodding to Erin. "May we at least know your name, sir?" He glances at Singer, then shrugs. "I don't know the powers or character of either of you, so I can't say. I think I will take your word for it it." A binding agreement works both ways, of course.
<Morrighan> Serveral thoughts ran through her head, she was the only real defense of that village she was taking care of, what was going to happen for them while she was this man's bitch? What about her sister? She was still out there.
<Lionel> Seeing nothing actually wrong with Melua, Lionel leans back against a wall and says "Lets get this over and done with then. Quicker the better"
<AureusSila> Feeling a little silly standing around with a blade over his throat, Aureus dropped the bone slicy thing onto a plate full of undulating pork-like bits and looked around awkwardly.
<Anna> ((The Gentleman waves a hand at Melua and makes her get up and start dancing while singing "I Can't Say No".))
<Morrighan> She however knew she couldn't make a request to this man for either one, she couldn't trust him, he was a deathlord and would probably kill them or use them against her.
* Erin`Marias stands up as well, slightly after Mirage, and nods back to him, having gone quiet again after her little speech.
* Reyna sighs, breaking her gaze away from the forced entertainment. "Is that really necessary, Mr...?"
<Anna> The Gentleman grins broadly, "Just call me the Gentleman. It's easier. Now, if you'll head down that door there, you'll come to a room that contains all your belongings, and a map with directions to Juatra. Once you've left my little abode here, keep heading west for five miles, wait until daybreak, and then continue onwards, unless you want to be stuck wandering about aimlessly in the Underworld."
<Morrighan> "Fine" Morrighan spat. She just walked towards the door angrily.
* Lionel walks out t reclaim his possessions, glad to be out of the Gentlemans presence
* ArnoldLarsWillfort grunts. Fine. If it means getting out of here, making sense of things again, and eventually clearing his name, then it works well enough. There's nothing to do now but go with the flow of things.
* Mirage_ nods. "A pleasure doing business with you, I'm sure," he says, ironically. He turns to the door, helping pick up Melua on the way if necessary.
* Erin`Marias just nods again and goes to get her stuff. Reattuning time! That and time to get into something a bit warmer. The map and instructions are memorized quick enough. Equipment is in order... armour, pack, sword, staff, lance... all set. Now to wait for the others.
* Melua slowly gets to her feet, and stares daggers at The Gentleman. "Why?"
* Reyna scoots away from the table and stands up, casting a last glance at the food before wandering along after the others. Their host was too creepy for her tastes. Besides, maybe they'd find decent chickens soon.
* Mirage_ laughs, leaning down to whisper in Melua's ear. "That's what we're going to find out! Isn't it exciting?"
* ArnoldLarsWillfort proceeds to do the same.
<Anna> Morrighan would be greeted by an unexpected sight once she reached the room where her belongings are. A female Abyssal stood there, one that Mirage would recognise from Shadowclad Enkidu. But Morrighan would recognise her too, although she's no longer wearing Red Jade, and her features seem amused, "Hey again, you."
* Melua spins around angrily. "Kill me, whoever you are. You'd be doing me a favor."
* AureusSila starts heading towards the door on a path converging with that of Mirage and Melua. "Miss, how're you doing?"
<Morrighan> Morrighan's eyes were wide with shock, then slowly narrowed into anger. "You ... why?"
<Morrighan> "...nevermind, don't answer that."
<Anna> The Gentleman sighs and rises to his feet, moving to pat Melua lightly on her shoulder, "For the greater good of all Creation, pet! Why else? You're going to help me reshape the world, because you and your friends reshape the loom with your every footstep."
<Morrighan> She just decided to step past her and look for her gear. "I'll be glad to actually have some real clothes..."
<Anna> The Abyssal woman who had claimed to be a Dragonblood named Yuma when last Morrighan saw her shrugged a little and smirked, "Sorry. I was just going my job. Sorry about the bump on the head my friend gave you. He isn't the sharpest tool in the shed."
* Mirage_ tries to sorta tug Melua towards the door. "I'd rather not, it'd piss him off, and pissing off your new boss isn't a way..." He trails off as the Gentleman moves closer, letting her go and trying to GTFO without looking like it.
<Morrighan> "And you're not sorry about the fact your master's fingers clutch my soul? I sure am." Morrighan shot back. "I guess I should thank you for saving me from the immaculates though. I guess I should be greatfull to be alive but I feel ... FILTHY."
<Melua> Melua began to shake with extreme anger when touched. She probably would have tried to just tear the man to death if she wasn't pulled away.
* Lionel finds his gear, and searches through his pack to check on the state of his herbs.
* ArnoldLarsWillfort dons robes, boots, and fists.
* Reyna does her very best to ignore the various sources of unpleasant noise, checking the straps securing her meager pack and equipment. "Really should figure out what this thing is someday" she mutters while checking her weapon.
* Melua sighs and leaves to find her gear in a state between ice cold anger and bottomless dispair
* Lionel sighs to find them ruined. More work to do later. With that he begins to don his clothing and armour, making sure the sleeves are tied properly as usual
<Anna> "Hey, he needs you. I do what he tells me, and it's worked out fairly well for me so far." She says, shrugging her shoulders, "Anyway, I've got other business to attend to." She says, turning to slip out of the room. The Gentleman waves to Melua as she turns to leave, looking amused. Meanwhile, Singer, after having retrieved her rapier and getting dressed appears tempted to storm back in and trystabbing that damn Deathlord full of holes.
* ArnoldLarsWillfort stares at Singer, but no matter. Keeps to himself.
* Erin`Marias mills around, casually twirling her staff around a bit, getting used to the weight again. (Mundane weapons, so sluggish...) She ponders and sighs slightly. (...fairly subtle, at least.) She glances up to assess the group reformation, waiting patiently.
* Melua retrieves her gear and goes to find some place private to change.
<Lionel> "...I would say it would be a good idea for introductions no? We seem to be stuck with each other for a while. My name is Lionel.. I am a healer."
* Mirage_ gets into his clothes and gear, then scoops up the map and starts looking over it. He glances at Singer. "You know, for all the grand gestures of killing ourselves rather than submit and such, we are probably much harder for him to control alive than dead."
<Morrighan> Morrighan didn't take long to put on her clothes, which there was a lot of, a pastel yellow dress with white stripes here and there, a black cloke that wrapped around her neck almost like a scarf, a bronze breastplate, and steel boots. She also spun her weapon once, a long handled Orichalcum poleaxe.
<Morrighan> It was quite a brutal weapon, a dark red stone glowed in the center of it.
<Morrighan> "I feel ... slightly better now. Except for the whole soul rape thing..."
<Morrighan> *plain pastel yellow dress
* Melua returned subdued, wearing a simple tan tunic with a black tattered cloak and staying quiet.
* Mirage_ fiddles with his schmancy robes until he looks perfect, of course.
* AureusSila locates his stuff. The first thing he goes for is the thin orichalcum collar that helps keep his horrible health at bay and after that he wraps himself in dark robes and slips his arms into his hearthstone bracers.
<Anna> Singer takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, nodding her head slowly at Mirage's words, "You're right, of course. As ghosts he could shape us into anything he wishes. I'd wager this control he has over us is less effective at a distance." She replies, sheathing her rapier at her hip. And then, oddly, she's the one to step towards Melua, a concerned expression on her face, "Are you alright?" She asks awkwardly, apparently unused to the whole... nice thing. But if she's going to travel with Solars and Lunars the diplomatic thing would seem to be to act like one of them and deal with the Resonance as it comes.
<Morrighan> Morrighan finnaly found the wrap she used to conceal her weapon, and did so, before sticking it through the sling on her back.
* ArnoldLarsWillfort ponders for a bit, and looks for extra shirts. As to rip off more layers of shirt in battle.
<Morrighan> Morrighan wasn't really ignoring everyone else, she was just more concerned with sorting herself ... and pondering how to escape this.
* Erin`Marias looks mundane, but in that 'slightly out of place' way that travellers tend to. Browns and foresty greens, perhaps a little mottled for disguise. The staff is passable for a sturdy walking stick at a distance, though up close it's clearly quite capable of doing someone some serious mischief if they got caught on the business end. There's an odd cloth bundle strapped to the side of her pack too, something for a rainy day perhaps. "We ready, people?"
<Morrighan> "feh" morrighan spat.
<Melua> "I'm absolutely terrible, thank you. I will feel better as soon as he's dead and I have a bar to drown myself at. But uh...thanks." Melua gave a half smile without any warmth.
* ArnoldLarsWillfort nods at Erin. "Ready as you are. Time to go...?" he says, as if waiting for a name.
<Morrighan> Morrighan glanced at Melua "In that order? We're likely to find a bar first."
<Anna> Singr offers an awkward smile of her own, "You're welcome. But you know... he died a few thousand years ago. Killing him again might prove difficult." She said, then looked toward the rest of the group, "We're ready to set off? I'll be able to tell when we're in a Shadowlands, which should make crossing back into Creation easier."
* AureusSila hoists his bag of things up on a shoulder, standing silent.
* Erin`Marias nods. "The sooner we get back there, the sooner we'll be in better spirits. This place..." She gestures outside with the staff. "...kinda eats at you around the edges, y'know?"
* Mirage_ shrugs and pockets the map. "I'm good, I suppose. Let's get back in Creation and figure out where we're heading next, I suppose."
* Reyna leans forward for just a second before shifting smoothly into her spirit form, pack and accessories disappearing from sight.
<Morrighan> Morrighan snorted. "There's a lot more things eating at me then just the fact we're in death's den."
* Lionel starts at the sudden transformation.. before moving towards the entrance. "shall we.. well.. get moving?"
* Erin`Marias rolls her eyes a bit. "Right. But one less weight on our shoulders and all."
<Melua> "I try not to drink on the job," Melua muttered.
<Morrighan> "Can we get going?"
<Anna> I think it's safe to say the party set off on their Journey now, and that this is probably a good place for me to end the session.