Personification Life: EPIC (IC Thread XI) [CLOSED]

[TotallyNotEvilLand]

Crysal
Heads flying off, limbs shredded in a wild gnash of fangs, bones crunching... Ah, this was the life. Reliving the golden days of primitive combat inside her head, Crysal was just about to suplex a fancily armored tribal when... beep. beep. beep. Rolling over in her bed, snapped out of her delightful fantasy, she smashed her fist against the alarm clock in response, which quickly shut it up. Rubbing her face and sighing, she sat herself up. Why did she have a damned alarm clock in this room anyways? HOW did she? The place looked like a neolithic campground! Letting out a sigh she climbed out of her wood and fur tent and threw on her armor. Didn't want to be caught unprepared today like she had been yesterday, after all.

It'd be a good day, she thought. Maybe now there would be enough peace and quiet for her and Adri to continue repairing their fractured relationship, at long last being able to set things right. Clanking along like a walking kitchen, she made her way downstairs to the lobby, nearly bumping into... A tiny horse. One that looked vaguely familiar, if she recalled. "Have we met before, horse?" She asked, referring to Sterling.

Adri
Adri had managed to beat her alarm to the punch this morning, waking up about an hour before it went off. She dedicated this morning to introspective, sitting on her bed and thinking at herself for a while. How she'd continue her mission here. This place wasn't Bielefeld, and they didn't really have the time or resources to build a religious mission, especially one for her. She could host it out of her apartment, but that brought on a slew of other issues. Namely, letting people into her home for several hours at a time and taking emergency calls. Adri didn't like that.

As her alarm went off, Adri slowly leaned over to it and shut it off, letting out an extended sigh. Much as she would've preferred sitting around and thinking all morning, she knew Crysal would kick down her door trying to "rescue her" if she was any more than five minutes late. Taking a water flask with her, she took a sip and made her way down the stairs at a slow pace, just in time to see her elder sister bump into the miniature horse known as Sterling.

[New Aksarben]

Sterling

The little horse blinked in surprise as the humanoid almost bumped into him He may be short but a pony tended to be hard to miss, being generally brightly colored and all. He took a few steps backwards, almost like jumps due to anatomical necessity, and looked up at her, tilting her head and trying to place the person. She did seem familiar, but not excessively so. Sterling wondered why that was, and shrugged with a sigh, his front shoulders doing a bit of a roll and his head dipping, an Equestrian version of a shrug.

"No idea, though it is nice to meet you again, either way! I'm Sterling Venture. Ponyville's Librarian and scholar, especially now that... Well actually, I suppose I'm neither anymore, seeing I'm stuck here again, wherever this is. Shame I neglected to research a way back home again for when I found Willow... Who I do still have to find...."

He huffed, disappointed in himself briefly before picking right back up and smiling, trotting over to the desk and looking at the paper Volker had placed out, finding a pen to sign his name on it with a smile.

"Say, do you know another pony like me, grey colored, artist, generally cynical...." He asked of the humanoid whatever she was, smiling brightly up at her. The pony did have yet to notice the carnival, though, seeing as his back was to it now.

[Primordial Luxa]

Primordial - Serendipity

Most of Primordials mind was occupied with his books and trying to find comfort in his horse's saddle but upon hearing the name Old Sam, from an unfamiliar he turned sharply around. His hood dropped to reveal his ashes grey but currently young face as he looked about and noticed Old Sam riding beside them.

He wasn't immediately surprised by the man's appearance for Aegis had briefly described him in passing as one of the more folkish wizards. Primordial however had expected more of a Saruman than a Radagast.

He didn't introduce himself immediately but was prepared to hoping that he could mention Aegis and get on good terms with the man and see if he could be a useful ally. Aegis seemed to think he would prove beneficial but Primordial wanted to confirm these things himself.

[New Aksarben]

Maghrl

This human was strange. If he indeed was human. He felt like a grey jedi, more or less, though more... ancient, if that made sense. It was a strange feeling, to say the least. He felt almost like he was a piece of nature itself, unlike most beings. Or at least that's what Maghrl was feeling sensing out the being through the force. The conflicting feeling of laughter and tears was strange, though Maghrl simply hoped it was crying from laughter and he bore no ill will to them.

The small Squib glanced over the man as he approached, and wondered just how he was staying on the huge beast under him. Maghrl had no idea what it even was, though it reminded him of the holovid's he'd seen of Reek, minus a horn and less brilliantly colored. Whatever it was it looked strong, and like a beast of burden. Would be useful for their agricultural efforts, perhaps? Maghrl would have to seek out more of its kind later and see if he could haggle for one.

The Squib kept himself quiet for now, but continued to pay attention to the human's presence, for any sign of ill intent or attack, and kept his hood drawn up, though his purple snout stuck out of it, and ears made it a bit oddly shaped. Either way, He acted like he paid no mind to the person inquiring on their purpose traveling. Someone else could explain it much better and more understandably than Maghrl anyway.

[The BranRiech]

Yuna

"Okay, so we might not have enough time, Aegis." Yuna said, letting her fellow resident carry the sticks for the signal they planned on making. "We're going to want to find an open field, and create the symbol there, and maybe leave a note as well? We could put an arrow in the middle that leads to a tree, and post our note there?" She asked, trying to rattle off ideas in her head. Their plan was really the only thing that they were able to do at least. While Rache was able to detect Yuna being in at least the same world, Yuna and Aegis were trapped in forms that didn't really lend themselves well to using magic, in fact, they simply couldn't.

They also couldn't fly either.

Well, not like Aegis was ever able to, for what Yuna knew, but still, being without her wings was still really hard to deal with. The lack of the appendages made her feel incomplete.

--

Drova

Drova was definitely beginning to feel strange vibes coming from the man. He obviously knew their intentions, and that the motley group of adventurers weren't from around the area. But maybe it could still be explained innocently? Maybe the man knew that the path lead to the Dwarves, and that the way they were dressed simply implied that they were new. His hand rested comfortably on the hilt of his sword, though the appearance of the man caused his grip to tighten around the handle.

Then, the Prince caught wind of Marcus' nod, and took more of a guarded posture. His rifle was loaded, but in an instance such as this, fumbling to get it off of his back-sling would have been a clumsy move, and if he needed to, the Old Man would have no trouble striking first.

No one had said anything yet, even as the Man seemed to already know their goals. "What does it matter to you?" Drova asked. Usually, the wording would lend itself to more of an impolite tone of questioning, but for all intents and purposes, Drova at least sounded innocent enough, just an inquisitive soul wondering why the man seemed so interested in them.

[Chedastan]

As he heard the rider come closer, Romulus had turned his head around once more. This time seeing in more clarity that the rider was indeed very old, perhaps a bit too frail for any such person to be out here, assuming he was really meek, which he didn't believe he could be. As he wouldn't imagine any true gentle soul to be out here alone anymore, no, something had to be way off with this man. And him giving away such a generic sounding name like "Old Sam" didn't remove any suspicions the General had. When Vroo then mentioned to him that Old Sam was magical, his gut wrenched slightly as the worst possibilities came to him. A aged geriatric wizard was very dangerous, or worse, a lone crazed necromancer that may be an agent to someone.

Whatever the true case it was though, and despite knowing the high risks associated to whatever it may be, the General stopped Vroo, and made him and himself turn around to face Old Sam. He doubted the alternative to just riding off with Vroo could have ended well for them, and he knew it might prove better to actually just get some confirmation through simply chatting with the old man and hear him out hopefully. He would preferred to avoid any conflict till they got to Varg if they could help it, they needed to be in top shape if they are to fight him, and fighting anything along the way would wear them down on that.

After Drova went, Romulus then just more formally asked right afterwards. "Can you please state your business here and with us, Old Sam." He spoke in a neutral sounding authoritative manner to the old man.

[TotallyNotEvilLand]

Sterling

The little horse blinked in surprise as the humanoid almost bumped into him He may be short but a pony tended to be hard to miss, being generally brightly colored and all. He took a few steps backwards, almost like jumps due to anatomical necessity, and looked up at her, tilting her head and trying to place the person. She did seem familiar, but not excessively so. Sterling wondered why that was, and shrugged with a sigh, his front shoulders doing a bit of a roll and his head dipping, an Equestrian version of a shrug.

"No idea, though it is nice to meet you again, either way! I'm Sterling Venture. Ponyville's Librarian and scholar, especially now that... Well actually, I suppose I'm neither anymore, seeing I'm stuck here again, wherever this is. Shame I neglected to research a way back home again for when I found Willow... Who I do still have to find...."

He huffed, disappointed in himself briefly before picking right back up and smiling, trotting over to the desk and looking at the paper Volker had placed out, finding a pen to sign his name on it with a smile.

"Say, do you know another pony like me, grey colored, artist, generally cynical...." He asked of the humanoid whatever she was, smiling brightly up at her. The pony did have yet to notice the carnival, though, seeing as his back was to it now.

Crysal and Adri
Crysal would've snorted at the term "humanoid". Bah, more like the humans were just trying to rip off her style and fail. ... Hairless ugly monkey things. Regardless, she shrugged as well. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't, maybe it was just that all talking horses looked the same to her.

"Can't say the name leaps out at me, but... I've never heard of Ponyville. I take it that's where you're from, then." She kept an eye on him as he went over to the desk, huffing slightly. "I'm afraid I haven't seen a cynical horse anywhere, though I'll let you know if mine takes to wearing a fedora and complaining about my religion." Her orange eyes briefly darted away. It was about the time of year for that carnival event, as she recalled her sister talking about it...

Speaking of her sister, Adri slowly approached the two, smiling cheerily. Odds are what appeared to be a child with a burnt-out eye might frighten Sterling, just a little bit. "I think I might have seen a pony matching the description at a resident's meeting back when we were still in Bielefeld, but I did not speak to him and I have not seen him since." She looked outside, cocking a grin. "Maybe he'll show up at the carnival, though? I imagine a lot of us will be heading that way."

[New Aksarben]

Sterling

The little horse blinked in surprise as the humanoid almost bumped into him He may be short but a pony tended to be hard to miss, being generally brightly colored and all. He took a few steps backwards, almost like jumps due to anatomical necessity, and looked up at her, tilting her head and trying to place the person. She did seem familiar, but not excessively so. Sterling wondered why that was, and shrugged with a sigh, his front shoulders doing a bit of a roll and his head dipping, an Equestrian version of a shrug.

"No idea, though it is nice to meet you again, either way! I'm Sterling Venture. Ponyville's Librarian and scholar, especially now that... Well actually, I suppose I'm neither anymore, seeing I'm stuck here again, wherever this is. Shame I neglected to research a way back home again for when I found Willow... Who I do still have to find...."

He huffed, disappointed in himself briefly before picking right back up and smiling, trotting over to the desk and looking at the paper Volker had placed out, finding a pen to sign his name on it with a smile.

"Say, do you know another pony like me, grey colored, artist, generally cynical...." He asked of the humanoid whatever she was, smiling brightly up at her. The pony did have yet to notice the carnival, though, seeing as his back was to it now.

Crysal and Adri
Crysal would've snorted at the term "humanoid". Bah, more like the humans were just trying to rip off her style and fail. ... Hairless ugly monkey things. Regardless, she shrugged as well. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't, maybe it was just that all talking horses looked the same to her.

"Can't say the name leaps out at me, but... I've never heard of Ponyville. I take it that's where you're from, then." She kept an eye on him as he went over to the desk, huffing slightly. "I'm afraid I haven't seen a cynical horse anywhere, though I'll let you know if mine takes to wearing a fedora and complaining about my religion." Her orange eyes briefly darted away. It was about the time of year for that carnival event, as she recalled her sister talking about it...

Speaking of her sister, Adri slowly approached the two, smiling cheerily. Odds are what appeared to be a child with a burnt-out eye might frighten Sterling, just a little bit. "I think I might have seen a pony matching the description at a resident's meeting back when we were still in Bielefeld, but I did not speak to him and I have not seen him since." She looked outside, cocking a grin. "Maybe he'll show up at the carnival, though? I imagine a lot of us will be heading that way."

Sterling scratched his chin with a hoof, and nodded. "Yeah, I'm from Ponyville. Well, Canterlot, but I'm living in Ponyville. At least I was until I ended up in the building, again. I do hope Willow didn't get sent back to our world while I came here. That'd just be cruel of fate, wouldn't it?" The pony chuckled, bringing his hoof back down to the lobby floor, lightly pawing at it in both frustration and apprehension, as his ears flicked back. He sighed sadly, and frowned, his tail flicking once more as he thought over the fact he'd yet to be able to talk to Giovenith about this, or find his friend Willow.

Then someone new came, who seemed of the same species as the one he was currently talking to, more or less. Though he did step back some at the sight of her eye, blinking and his ears lying flat against his head. Though he soon got over it, glancing instead at her nose to distract himself from the damage to her face. "Oh uh, Maybe. Wait. Is it one of those carnivals where me and Willow got drunk on cider or something like that? Those things are almost as insane as Discord. Only slightly. And that's speaking from personal experience, the guy's been hanging around Ponyville as of late, for whatever Celestia-damned reason." He sighed, tapping his chin again as he thought. "Willow might be there yes. Though it might be dangerous, how do we know its not a trick, we aren't in Bielefeld anymore after all."

[Northwest Slobovia]

Serendipity

"I am Old Sam," he amicably said, "and you Gate Jumpers are a long way from home. Hoping to meet with the dwarves?"

As Sandy caught the first changes in Old Sam's magic-music, he straightened in his saddle, his interest piqued. He'd never Heard anything like it before. Maybe a local and powerful enough to go without escort? He gradually slowed his pony, then seeing the general bring his odd mount about, awkwardly turned his as well. One short lesson didn't a smooth rider make.

Sandy responded to Old Sam's greeting with just a smile, a mixture of curiosity, friendliness, and amusement. Yeah, a couple of robots and a cyborg probably didn't blend in too well in the Freywold.

The Building, Lobby

Kale walked up to the front desk, Volker at his post as he always seemed to be. "Morning Volker. I'm just here to check my name in for the Agriculture Project. Minerva told me to come do that here," she said to the Front Deskman.

Amanda looked back in the lobby after absent-mindedly staring at the Carnival. Last year's Carnival was great fun, but Amanda was looking for something more familiar now.

Her gaze settled on the green-haired girl at the desk. Right, Kale was on her list of people to talk to today. But next to Kale was an unfamiliar person, a miniature pony like Willow, who was talking to... what was her name? Drat. Sandy had spent a day with her and Katya, but Amanda was too foggy-headed to recall her name.

She pulled herself to her feet and trudged towards Kale, stopping a couple of yards behind her. When the girl finished at the desk, Amanda would take her aside.

[Primordial Luxa]

Aegis
Aegis nodded. “Smart”

It didn’t take long for Yuna and Aegis to find a farm close by the town which seemed equally desolate and vacant. Aegis had been paying attention to some of Smart Cookies cues and after finding an area of snow covered farm steads they observed one which lacked any internal warmth or light. A quick knock on the door confirmed this and when no one looking Aegis tried to enter the house.

He was sure that they might need a place to rest out of the way when it got too cold and figured anyone not home wouldn’t mind. He didn’t risk damaging the place too much in case the owner came back but he wasn’t going to let politeness get him frozen to death.

After they had determined the plot was good Aegis began laying down pieces of wood to form the first number in the old 42nd Subabsurdus Street Address that the building used to have. Before it was teleported to the middle of a magical forest. He placed most of the stick three beside each other to make the lines thick and hopefully noticeable from the air against the white snow.

He asked Yuna to find a nearby hill to look on from to make sure that the shapes would look good from a higher altitude.

It was tiresome work and when he ran out of sticks he ran for cover to reheat before venturing out to get more and then continue the crop signs.

[The BranRiech]

Yuna

Was it bad that Yuna even didn't know the address to the old building? She thought that maybe using a simple number wasn't going to be enough, which was why she suggested using the Chaos logo from earlier, that had been seen on one of the Ponies that was off in the skies. It had to be someone affiliated with Chaos, right, and the only people who were would have been at the building? Using the symbol would have been a no-brainer.

But the number also worked, and also took less time and effort, which also made sense in the bitter-cold, as Yuna experienced, sitting up on elevated ground, watching Aegis' progress. "It looks good! Where are you putting the arrow?!" She called down.

And that brought up another question. What were the two going to write down on the note they were to leave? "Hey, it's us from the apartment, come save us!" Yuna muttered, trying to come up with the message to leave behind, because they certainly weren't going to wait to be found. No, they'd have to direct their friends to come find them in the town, where they were staying.

But wasn't the town . . . Crap.

The town was seemingly hostile to every other race out there, and if their friends were indeed in the world with them, as other races, they couldn't exactly be brought to the town.

"Aegis! One more thing, where are we leaving the note, and what do we say!?"

[Germanic Templars]

SERENDIPITY

The commotion caused by the party perked Lucius's curiosity. He could tell that they were being followed behind, but thought nothing of it for the most part. However as the traveler drew close Lucius drew his wings behind him, growing insouciant to the cold that he shielded himself from moments ago.

He studied the man named Old Sam, he features and his personality, even his essence. Lucius felt this unsettling vibe from the man, however, he decided to play along and listen while the party spoke for the most part, only to interject when he felt was needed.

LOBBY

Standing by the stairs stood a four foot two anthropomorphic fennec wearing a sandy brown eye patch, which contrasted off of the creature's black trench coat and blue jeans. It seemingly stood there and observed the front desk, seeing how people crowded around it with people he did not know, maybe he did, but possibly forgot.

Maybe it was not such a good idea to go as a small fennec, instead the Minotaur or snake would have been a better option, at least he would have been more noticeable. Never the less he observed enough of the situation and began his approach to the desk.

[Giovenith]

Serendipity

While the man certainly didn't seem like a threat, the godling had always been taught to be careful around strangers even if they seemed like nice people. Still, she didn't want to be rude either (you never knew what sort of people you were dealing with...). While letting the others do the talking (not wanting to complicate the communication), she held her head high and sported a smile, hoping to indicate good nature and harmlessness.


Rache and Willow

Willow had to steadily raise an eye as Rache described his graphic lifestyle, but otherwise didn't feel too terribly disturbed at it. Sure, had he seen these sorts of things in person it would be terrifying, but like most people, simply sitting back and hearing about these things wasn't all that chilling. Even for an artist, Willow's imagination had a hard time processing the sort of extravagant displays of violence that Rache was trying to paint simply because he had no real frame of reference. He was sheltered (relatively), a farther than far branch off from the ponies here he was descended from, and in good luck, would never have to feel the full weight of such descriptions.

"You mean take Pansy with us to check out the Earth pony tribe?" Willow asked, scratching his ear as he considered the thought. "Maybe. We definitely don't want to let her out of our sight, but at the same time, what if she accidentally met the Earth pony subordinate? Wouldn't that possibly have an unknown effect on the timeline?"

He considered something else.

"And what is your plan for when you go looking for Commander Hurricane, exactly? Valoria told us how to get to him, but... what about when you actually get there? He's probably going to want to know why you're there, how you knew he was out there... it might seem suspicious if you don't think ahead."

[Swith Witherward]

LOBBY

Volker hardly spared a glance at Kale as he took the clipboard back from Sterling and thrust it under the plant girl's nose. "Sign up," he advised, though his eyes had returned to the gaily lit carnival outside the Building's doors. And then, for Sterling's benefit, he added, "Mr. Streaks has gone on holiday. Won't be back for a while."

He blinked as a too-familiar sound reached his ears. "Mr. Thriller, you might want to step to the left," he said without preamble once the anthropomorphic fennec reached the desk. His advice was sound for, not more than a heartbeat later, the light bulb in the chandelier above the reception area unscrewed itself.

Yes, yes, we all know the drill. Light bulb goes back into fixture, body drops out. It's always the same, and the body that dropped this time was none other than Katya. The cultists had found her bouncing around the tunnels in her enchanted sleep... obviously Tora had used the bathtub to return, thus there wasn't one available. Oh, continuity! You thought Miss Swith had forgotten about that damn tub! AH HAHAHA- *cough* Where was I? Oh, yes...

Katya dropped to the floor, unharmed, narrowly missing Thriller as she landed. Volker snatched the clipboard from Kale and banged it on the reception desk to wake the girl from her slumber. She would have no memory of having left her home, of course, nor of the trip back to the Building. I digress... Volker returned the clipboard to Kale, and it was business as usual.

"Welcome back, Miss Katya," he greeted her. "There's a carnival. Some people have gone on holiday. Other people have gone to fight a dragon-litch. And still more people are signing up to assist with making the Building self-sufficient or to serve in the defensive force. I have no idea where your sister is, but she missed the Resident's meeting. I suggest you both get with Minerva for a recap, or else ask other Residents to fill you in."


SERENDIPITY

"My business here is my own, and the road is free," Old Sam's eyes twinkled as he addressed Romulus.

The rest of the party seemed a touch more relaxed now, with several smiles poking through. "My business with you comes at no cost. I thought you might like a bit of a guide and, considering how grumpy dwarves are, you might just come to thank me. As for your business? Well, the ogres told me the nature of your quest. I commend you for undertaking it."

The ox's tail swished as the wily necromancer urged the beast forward with a gentle finger poke to its back. "Well? If we hurry, we might make it before the gates close tonight. Perhaps you might even fill me in on what you know about dragons and litches, and dragon-litches. And perhaps I'll impart a bit of guidance regarding the latter."

Marcus' eyes flickered between Romulus and Giovenith before meeting Drova's. He wasn't privy to cultist information, nor had he talked to Rmw or Aegis, thus Old Sam was, to him, just some oddity to be taken with a grain of salt. "What will we do if the gates are closed?" he murmured.

"Camp, silly goose," Old Sam growled. He had excellent hearing. "As it is, we'll need to make the colony before nightfall. The temperature will plummet once the sun goes down. It's another four hour's ride from this point."

The lad was more than happy to stop for the night, if only to spare his sore ass from spending more time on the pony. He shrugged at Drova and Giovenith, then turned his attention to Romulus.


DINING ROOM

Minerva excused herself from Klaus and the others gathered for breakfast, and made her way down to the Lobby. If a group were going to the carnival, she would go with them.

[Torsiedelle]

"Huh?"

A familiar sight indeed, one to immediately bring a delightful smile to the woman's face. With no delay, Miss Katya Dimitrov rose up, still as graceful as ever, with her adult posture and youthful beauty. Indeed, she was her same old self, for the most part, anyways. Besides being absolutely giddy with excitement and happiness, and also overflowing with a haughty confidence that could only be built up from her time spent among the elite of Stavropol, Katya barely heard the man at the desk.

"Why, this most certainly can't be a dream, can it?", She asked herself. "Oh, Darling.," she adressed Volker, "What was that again? Why, not even a minute back and I have business! What a welcome home for the one and only Miss Dimitrov, no? Ha! Oh, forgive me, I am quite, oh...what's the word? Overwhelmed."

She huffed. "And here I was, so long caught up in business deals and socializing with Europe's elite, but it's so good to be home! Oh, Tora! How is she? And her new friend, the shady American woman? I really shoukd be briefed, but forgive me, Love, I'm rambling."

[Germanic Templars]

SERENDIPITY

Lucius squinted in suspicious at Sam's first remark about his business only to further question this shady man who was all too eager to help them at no cost, while knowing of their quest when earlier asking if they were meeting the dwarves.. He felt as if something did add up; he felt something was off about him.

Lucius felt it was time to interject, so he raised his hand slightly, pointer finger standing tallest. Upon getting the man's attention, he balled his hand up and placed it back into his robe,"Excuse me, Sam the Man," He stated with an honest smile about him, "Yes, hi, I am Lupus, white mage and traveling scholar pleased to meet you. Let me just start by saying that I love your chullo, absolutely comfy looking. I know your business is your own; respect, but if I have to ask one thing is this." Lucius paused for a moment to think of his question. He glanced at the man's appeal, trying to think of a topic best suited for a situation - his robes. " Are you a mage? If so, are you a forest mage in particular? Just just wondering really."

Lucius knew that everything he just said was a blatant lie - well except for his last name, but he felt guilt inside but kept it covered with a clever guise of a smile and honest blue eyes.

LOBBY

"SHIT!" Thriller squealed as he jumped out of the way, the fennec emperor slid a few inches from the momentum of his dive. Thriller looked back at what nearly crushed him as he pushed himself up, his ears laid back and low as he looked in disgust at... Wait, was that Torsi? Oh, well it is not all too bad then.

"Christ there, Torsi, you seemed to have landed rather hard." He commented as he brushed himself off.

He stared off at the distant lights of the carnival. "I'll be damned, there is a carnival... Guess Max was right about ominous lights off in the distance after all this morning."

[Torsiedelle]

"My apologies."

Katya slide aside, out of Thriller's way. Why, Thriller and Kale! The girl was so nice, and the Emperor was a welcome face. "Forgive my sudden intrusion."

She winked at Thriller and slid her fingers together. "Wow, this is all just so awkward, no? I'm honestly at a loss for words! Why, where should I start here?"

[Swith Witherward]

SERENDIPITY

Old Sam raised a brow at Lucius as the being rambled at him. Some things were better learned early rather than when it's too late, and the old hermit resolved to dispense a bit of a lesson.

"Not all that wander are lost, and not all that wear robes are mages. You'll do well to remember that," he replied with a touch of ire in his voice. "I am Old. I am Sam. I am called Old Sam. It is rude to mislabel someone, or to use pet names for them if you are not kith or kin, especially when you might encounter them again down the line. As it is, I'm from Pressly Woods, and those are a stone's throw off your front garden. Nuisance angel - oh yes, I recognize your species; there are over seven hundred of you in this pocket universe."

He turned his face away from Lucius, though he kept an eye on him, and chose to answer the question for the group's benefit. "I'm a Necromancer by trade, a Summoner by chance, and a Druid by necessity." He let that sink in, taking the moment to scratch his cheek while the others decided whether or not to it was wise to trifle with him.

[Germanic Templars]

SERENDIPITY

Oh great, a necrophiliac necromancer, this is going to be a great evening. Well guess the charade game is up. He thought as he tucked his wings close to him. His plan to prod answers out went much better than expected, unfortunately the answers he received were rather bitter in taste. This wasn't the first time he encountered a necromancer, as during his travels across medieval Europe, from the highlands of Scotland, to the boot of Italy, even as far as Russia to China, his encounter with one or even groups of the immoral magic users was always worse than the last - and frustrating to kill off too with their undead servants.

From Lucius's stand point, Old Sam was someone not to be trusted due to his trade as a Necromancer. However, this is a new plain they are on so maybe he isn't as bad as his title is. His voice, still calm and honest (despite his urge to slander the man) replied back, "Surely, Old Sam, I meant no offence in nature. I am simply curious that is all. And yes I am an angel, however.." He stopped himself as to reconsider his words as to to draw out his ire anymore and jeopardize his party. "Never mind, I have done enough damage." His eyes darted at Romulus, in hopes he could have some say.

LOBBY

Thriller glanced at Torsi with his eyes; the black sclera with thin brown iris seemed innocent despite Thriller just being mellow. "Oh you are fine and dandy, Torsi, can't really say much against you since you did fall out from the ceiling. Anyway, best place to start is by seeing what help you can provide, I guess." Thriller suggested as brought his right ear down to scratch it.

"This fuckin ridiculous ears, jeez, how do these creatures live with these things?" Thriller struggled to scratch a certain part in the middle of the ear. He would use his feet but he felt as if he was much too "human" to do that feature. He grunted as he kept pulling the ear more down as means to scratch it.

[New Aksarben]

Lobby

Sterling blinked as a new person fell out of the chandelier, one who he had definitely remembered seeing around last time he was here, but couldn't recall if he had ever spoken to her. Any way, he gave her a polite wave and a smile before turning back to the people he was talking to. He looked over the two he was talking to again, wondering just exactly they were but holding his tongue on the subject for now. It seemed a tiny bit impolite right now. It was then that he heard what Volker said, and the pony frowned.

"Oh that's unfortunate, I hope he's having fun on this trip. Not getting in too much trouble and all that. Though I can't imagine what kind of trouble he'd get in at all...." The pony sighed anyway and shrugged. "So Guess I might as well go to this carnival. Might get my mind off things."

Serendipity

Maghrl huffed, having heard necromancer and immediately associated it with Sith. Another person messing with the flow of life and making a mockery of it. That and Sorcerer always reminded him of the Sith, and were words he pretty much entirely associated only with the dark side. What was a Druid though? and a Summoner? Neither of those were titles that meant anything to Maghrl. Summoner brought to his mind something like the illusions the force could create in the minds of others, but that didn't sound right for what he seemed to be.

Since Old Sam had called himself those titles, Maghrl was distrustful of his motives. But since his presence in the force right now was a strange neutral alignment, and felt natural, maybe this kind of necromancy was different? Or it was just whatever this Druid job was for.

"Good meet Old Sam. What be Druid-title? Maghrl unknowwise to jobber-title like Druid." He asked, pulling back his hood to look over at the magic man directly, one ear cocked at a 90 degree angle to the other, showing his confusion and interest. The Squib kept his focus on the druid just in case something changed about his imprint on the force, or something happened. Though, he very well could be a distraction for a larger group that might close in on them when they reached the clearing he mentioned.

[Swith Witherward]

SERENDIPITY

Old Sam nodded in acceptance of Lucius' words before addressing the Squib.

"Druids Are. In Gallimaufry, some are bards or poets. Others are shaman. Some are law-speakers and serve as arbitrators. Most are priests. All strive to study the world, to seek harmony. This involves mastery over words, rhythm, tone, color and sensual abilities. We appreciate the poetic structure of existence as well as hear the music of Nature." He paused to reflect upon how others typically viewed him, and then added, "We are one part philosopher, one part naturalist, and one part nuisance."

[Giovenith]

Serendipity

"Well, that really does sound fascinating," Giovenith chimed in, giving her pony a few pets on it's mane. Glancing at Lucius she had to withhold a tsk, sensing his disapproval and slight antagonism toward Old Sam and feeling it would get them nowhere. While she understood the need to be on guard against strangers, that was still no reason to be too terribly rude. There was certainly no need for lies. If it came to defending themselves, she was sure they would manage just fine.

"Perhaps you would like to explain these things while walking along with us, Mister Sam?" she suggested. "There's still quite a bit of journey, it wouldn't hurt for us to make progress while also hearing of your expertise and credentials."

The man already knew where they were going, so she saw no harm in it.

"I have to ask, how much else do you know about us?"

[TotallyNotEvilLand]

Sterling scratched his chin with a hoof, and nodded. "Yeah, I'm from Ponyville. Well, Canterlot, but I'm living in Ponyville. At least I was until I ended up in the building, again. I do hope Willow didn't get sent back to our world while I came here. That'd just be cruel of fate, wouldn't it?" The pony chuckled, bringing his hoof back down to the lobby floor, lightly pawing at it in both frustration and apprehension, as his ears flicked back. He sighed sadly, and frowned, his tail flicking once more as he thought over the fact he'd yet to be able to talk to Giovenith about this, or find his friend Willow.

Then someone new came, who seemed of the same species as the one he was currently talking to, more or less. Though he did step back some at the sight of her eye, blinking and his ears lying flat against his head. Though he soon got over it, glancing instead at her nose to distract himself from the damage to her face. "Oh uh, Maybe. Wait. Is it one of those carnivals where me and Willow got drunk on cider or something like that? Those things are almost as insane as Discord. Only slightly. And that's speaking from personal experience, the guy's been hanging around Ponyville as of late, for whatever Celestia-damned reason." He sighed, tapping his chin again as he thought. "Willow might be there yes. Though it might be dangerous, how do we know its not a trick, we aren't in Bielefeld anymore after all."

"Fate has a warped sense of humor. I should know, I've spoken to him." Crysal said in a rather blunt manner... well, everything she said was in a blunt manner. It was increasingly difficult to tell if she was joking or not. "I think I've seen your kind before, come to think of it. Have there been a rash of disappearances in the past twenty years, in this... Ponyville, Canterlot area? Because we have talking horses dropping into the wilderness of Iracusia all the time. Maybe I could send one your w-" Well, fuck, they weren't on Earth anymore. Crysal sighed. "I forget we aren't even on Earth now. Now we're both akin to seals thrown into the Sahara desert."

Despite her missing eye, the childish figure didn't seem to notice or mind. Either she didn't feel the pain of having it uncovered or it just didn't bother her. Adri did take notice of Sterling's discomfort, and turned the more photogenic side of her face towards him instead, trying to pretend that she hadn't noticed. "I think so. I rather liked them! I got to be an adult for a day and I was able to experience alcohol for the first time... sorely overrated, I may add."

Crysal's mortified expression towards her sibling said it all. Someone would be getting chewed out later on. She cleared her throat. "Hem. Well..." Crysal motioned to her armor. And her axe. And bared her fangs. "Would anyone want to mess with someone escorted by a seven foot tall headbutting juggernaut of destruction? You can just cower behind me if anything unpleasant comes our way, wouldn't be the first time someone's done it."

[The BranRiech]

Avord

The others seemed to be voicing their concerns quite actively, which led Drova to relax even more. If he needed to, however, his sword was just a quick jerk of the hand away, giving him ample opportunity to draw the old blade should the need arise. Old Sam did say something about being a Necromancer, however. Weren't they trying to kill a Necromancer-Dragon? Were the two related? Was Old Sam the one who brought Varg to life?

None of those questions would be very flattering to ask, but they seemed to be valid concerns. As Lucius and Giovenith both stopped talking as well. He managed to wiggle one of his own questions into the now-growing mix.

"Well, if you know about our journey, we're trying to kill . . . Varg, right? The undead-dragon? I don't want to sound accusatory, but being a necromancer, would you have anything to do with that?" He cocked his head to the side, hands now comfortably in the warm pockets of his thick, armored jacket. "Or, is there anything special we should learn about Necromancy in general?"

Necromancers weren't too much of a hard thing to fathom for the Pyersai. It was one of the shared ideas that their culture also found relevant. Strangely gifted Pyersai with the ability to influence and control death, and the undead. They'd been featured in stories, and mythology once in a while, usually as villains.

--

Narb

With everyone else practically gone, off to kill the dragon thing, Bran figured that they'd have a tough few weeks ahead of them, or however long it was going to take for everyone to come back. They'd have less people to guard the building with, less people to sustain the building with food, and less people for . . . Well, anything that required people in general. But on the bright side, they'd at least get to spend the first day of it at the carnival!

How did they even manage to get the damn carnival here?

"They can bring carnival, but can't get us back home." He chuckled softly to himself, watching Minerva's retreating form, heading downstairs to the lobby.

The conscript got up to follow.

When he arrived, however, the amount of people there had already told him that the carnival was going to be quite exciting. Thriller and Katya were chatting it up, with Thriller being a bit more fuzzy than he last remembered. But there were some new people as well.

"Morning, everyone." Bran waved, as he stopped by the desk, leaning slightly on it. "We all go to carnival, yes?"

[Primordial Luxa]

Aegis
With a slightly shaking hoof Aegis pointed towards a tree nearby the field which was standing mostly alone. It looked like perhaps an old apple tree, “I was going to have the arrow point towards that tree,” he said between chattering teeth. At this point he only had one more number to go and after that the arrow, but he would need to run inside soon to avoid freezing too bad.

“That tree looks like it might have a hole in the side, but why dont you check. Why dont you also try to write the note while I finish the fourth number? I think I saw some supplies in the house nearby?”

Primordial

Primordial finally turn slightly around in his saddle and moved his horse slightly closer to Old Sam so that he could more easy join his conversation. He lowered his fur lined hood as he did so, that way Sam could see him more directly. His smile was a friendly one, which was something he only rarely shewed.

“Old Sam. It it a pleasure to meet you. My name is Primordial. I believe you briefly met my friend Aegis? He spoke very kindly of you. I would be happy to talk of Draconic creatures and the undead with you while we ride or camp.” He said. Although he looked around at the other to confirm they trusted the Necromancer. Aegis had described him as "hopeless native" and Primordial could at once see why although he wasn't sure if Aegis meant that with derivision or not.