ic Down in the Underground (Open)

[alderwitch]

While it was known that the mantle of Master Mage had changed hands, the woman herself had been difficult to find for even the most skilled practitioners. In Phantom's defense, she had been very, very busy adjusting to her new role and making certain that her previous duties were still taken care of. That said, just because Taylor had the title and power, it didn't make her any more eager to leave her library for social engagements. Still, she knew that it was important to engage in the community. Not only would people have need of her skills, but she would doubtless need theirs. Apocalypse events were all too common for Earth Prime and when things hit the fan, it was critical for magic users to work together. A few social engagements went a long way towards easing tensions.

 

The mystically inclined, inside and outside of Freedom City, found themselves informed that a gathering would be held on the summer solstice at the Elder Sign in North Bay. There were no instructions on how to navigate the wards included in the brief invitation. The Elder Sign had enough protections on it to keep random individuals from wandering into it. 

 

On the night of the event itself, from the exterior, the sign looked much as it always had but once across the ward lines, the actual event flickered into existence. Musicians played acoustic instruments on a stage at one end of the sign and the entire area was lit by witch light. The waitstaff were ghosts brought from the Farretti estates and who seemed quite pleased with a bit of fresh air and a change of scenery. Refreshment tables held food of all kinds with small handwritten labels in front to help nudge the unwary away from the more esoteric of offerings.  

[Zeitgeist Blue]

Nicole

 

It was during class that her phone had received a text message informing her of the gathering at the Elder Sign on the eve of Summer Solstice. She had heard of the recent origins of the Elder Sign and had blanched visibly as her thoughts moved towards the Terminus Invasion. Still, the text had no origin phone number and the particular mystery intrigued her. It was about an hour's work before she had found the Master Mage's sigil embedded.

 

A series of calls to her other magically inclined schoolmates allowed her to confirm what she had suspected, and also allowed her to tease Huang about Mommy calling his friends for his birthday party.

 

A magical gathering, hosted by no less than the Master Mage herself, Taylor Faretti.

 

She liked these gatherings and had attended a number of them, from potlucks in some rented community hall to this dinner event that would undoubtedly be the talk of the town for a few weeks. No where else could one gather as diverse a magical knowledge as in these gatherings. No where else could Nicole be allowed to pick someone's mind on their opinion on triplicated faerie-anger used as a power source for huftenberries.

 

The answer is, of course, to quadruple it and add a pinch of lithium from seven day old batteries.

 

She had informed her schoolmates that she would be arriving early and would wait for them there, which is how she had found herself all alone by the Elder Sign's border. She wore a sleeveless dress that reached to her knees, a sash tied around her waist, and purse tucked comfortably beside her lap.

 

She had just finished tracing a series of runes that would allow her to navigate the wards. And so, glasses glowing a faint purple, she waved her phone across the runes. As far as catalysts go, a Bluetooth signal was as unobtrusive as they come.

Edited July 5, 2019 by Zeitgeist Blue

[angrydurf]

As auspicious as his brith may have been it hadn't fallen on the solstice.  None the less the schoolyard jabes had not gone unnoticed leaving Huang perhaps more on edge as to his relation to the Master Mage and position in the community.  Ouroboros leaned sullenly against one wall of the establishment and ineffectively batted at the well meaning hands of the ghost that had been a 'his' nanny not many years ago by her reckoning at least as she tried to smooth the Dhampirs stubborn cowlick with just a bit of ectoplasm.

 

Escaping his former caretakers clutches he made his way to the bar about to try to order something he certainly was not of an age by any count to consume.  Staring down at the nonplussed face of yet another ghost who knew him well enough that any farce was hopeless the time lost sorcerer sighed heavily and ordered, "Just a soda then."  taking the drink he sipped at it as he made his way around the tables trying to look older than his somewhere between 5 and 19 years depending how one counted.  With a deep breath he did his best to throw off the mantle of sullen teen at his parents office christmas party and placed his sunglasses over his eyes hoping that might make him look aged beyond his youthful mein before anyone else arrived.

[Ari]

Dio had found a way to be inconspicuous by crushing his massive bulk into a corner, spread underneath several tables and chairs, his head resting comfortably on the floor. Simply teleporting hadn't been possible, but blessedly the space was plenty even for a giant extradimensional reptile. 

 

After a horrific attempt at shapeshifting into a human form, the dragon priest of the Earth-Binder had resigned himself to his fate of seeing everything from roughly waist-level.

 

On sighting/smelling Nicole, Dio craned his neck to get an eye above the table plateau, forked tongue flicking at the air. "Evening, master smith! Never seen so many ghosts in one place on this Earth. Hopefully this isn't against my religion somehow. What's the word on Prime's Master Mage, anyway? Back home we never really hear anything about that office, I didn't even know there was a new one until I got here."

 

With a green claw, the dragon nudged a chair close to his head. Glancing sidelong at Huang, Dio added in what was probably intended as a sotto voce "Do you have vampires? That one smells a little vampire-y. Or ghoul-y...not-right."

Edited July 8, 2019 by Ari

[alderwitch]

Phantom ghosted through the refreshment table to catch up with her too tall son. Huang had gotten his father's height which meant when Phantom's booted foot touched the ground, the top of her cowl barely came up to his shoulder. Underneath the shadow of her hood, Phantom's mouth curved in a fond smile for her long suffering son. It was hard to make a name for oneself in the shadow of famous - or infamous - parents. 

 

"Don't slouch, Huang," Phantom said as she turned solid, her feet landing softly on the ground. Gently she reached out to snag his drink and replace it with a goblet with wine that was very dark, very red and maybe just a little too thick. 

 

"Just one glass, though," she told Huang before turning her white eyed gaze towards the gathering crowd with an expression gone thoughtful. The Eye of Heshem glittered darkly at the hollow of her throat. "Have you seen Abbey yet?" 

[Zeitgeist Blue]

Nicole

 

Nicole held a glass of champagne in her hand as she was greeted by Dio and gave the dragon a smile before sipping from her glass. Her eyes followed Dio's gaze to Huang and his mother.

 

"Not much," she finally replied, absently swirling her drink in one hand. "The Master Mage's been keeping house, learning the ropes since the position was passed down two years ago. Can't say I'm envious. I hate other dimensions."

 

Her whole body stiffened and she glanced at Dio from the corner of her eye. "I mean, except for yours . It sounds wonderful, at least from how Leroy describes it. And I wouldn't be surprised either if the duties of your world's Master Mage was coopted by his mom with how much he talks about her."

 

Her brows furrowed in annoyance as her thoughts went to Leroy. "I swear, everything your ward says is 'My home's amazing!' and 'This world sucks!'."

 

She waved her hand at Huang as if to ward off her foul mood. "Don't tell me you want to eat our schoolmate, or even hadn't yet smelled him around Claremont. Dhampir's the technical word and he's the good looking guy over there. He almost sparkles if you bring sunlight or fire near him so don't eat him too badly."

 

She leaned closer to the dragon and patted Dio on the snout. "His mom's Prime's Master Mage and I'll give you three guesses as to who's the similar looking girl wearing Heshem's symbol is. The one pulling his leash right now."

 

Her voice lowered as if telling a particularly dangerous secret, but she managed to keep her tone light enough that it was hard to be sure if she was entirely serious. "Be careful, Priest of Ghorummaz. I don't think native Master Mages take too kindly to multi-dimensional conquerers and their followers, even if Prime's never been on the menu."

Edited July 9, 2019 by Zeitgeist Blue

[April]

Abigail Eldritch, known as Abigail Storm to her classmates and simply Abby to her friends, stepped out from a portal that yawned open outside of the Elder Sign followed by Veronica Danger and Elizabeth Grey.  Abby looked back back over her shoulder to make sure they arrived in one piece, and allowed herself a small, satisfied, smile.

 

"Just a moment," she said, and then a hushed word and a small gesture lit up the wards to her sight.  "OK, follow."

 

Liz or Veronica could have navigated the wards of the Elder Sign themselves of course, but Abigail being the ever practical minded thought that would have been a waste of power and time and so like a magical icebreaker she guided her companions through.  Her eyes adjusted to the witch light, light which gleamed of the medallion around her neck, and she smiled a much broader smile when her gaze settled upon the woman that took her father's place as Master Mage.

[angrydurf]

Huang straightened reflexively before frowning down at his mother for correcting his posture though wiped the expression form his face before she could notice he hoped.  Taking the offered goblet he gestured toward the familiar spellcraft slicing through the Elder Signs wards as they spoke.  "Looks like she's arriving now."  the younger Faretti replied and took a long sip of the offered drink before she changed her mind on the indulgence.  "I expect she brought the other practitioners from the school, at least those she's fond of."  he shrugged and looked with a slight wince toward where Dio lay, "Dragon's another classmates pet but I didn't think Leroy was a practitioner."  he shrugged not having looked too in depth into the fellow student, he'd heard things about the awkward possibly extradimensional student but hadn't followed up on the rumors.

 

Perhaps faster then she had intended Huang finished off the goblet and was already standing taller looking less wan and palorous with the sanguine pick me up.  "Looks like most of the Clairemont practitioners have made it though."  he looked to his mother quirking a brow not certain whom else she yet expected.

[Tiffany Korta]

 

Doctor Rosa Thorne

It had to happen eventually, they’d push the Russians gangster until he’d decided to deal with the agency one at a time, not that they’d be able to though it wasn’t something they could explain to the hired gunmen that they were currently avoiding. Hiding up in a room of an isolated  warehouse there own way to escape in one piece was to use Rosa’ magical knowledge.

 

I know it’ll take as long as it takes, but some speed might be in order.

 

As if on cue the secured door to the room began to rattle

 

I’m not sure but something wrong with the circle, the sigils are coming out all different...

 

Looking down at the circle she finally saw what the letters spelled out, she wondered if it was her or the magic that made her use such symbols.

 

We might be going a little further than we wanted, but we’ll be as safe as you can expect.

 

As the circle activated things began to spin and she felt the power that bound her to Bedlam was overcome but a much more powerful magic.

 

Quickly recovering from the trip Rosa looked around to get a feel for where they’d arrived, noticing at least one person she’d met before.

 

“Well this isn’t going to be awkward!”

[Dr Archeville]

"... and I sez, 'lady, that ain't no spider, that's mah hand!'"

 

Ghostly laughter erupted around the Revoltin' Revenant, who was crouched behind one of the refreshment tables.  Dead Head had been trying to reconnect with the Midnighters since he'd returned to Freedom two months ago, with no success.  It was that connection to the Midnighters that sort of 'grandfathered' him in to this event, despite not primarily being a mystic.  He was delighted when he got an invitation from a familiar face -- Bub, an ex-marine and one of the ghosts of the Farretti estate -- and had been chatting with them throughout the night.  (Just because they were incorporeal and undead didn't mean they couldn't take breaks, especially after seeing someone who'd been so nice to them & had been absent for years.)  He'd been sharing some amusing anecdotes (and generally checking up on them), when a familiar cowl caught his eye.

 

"Well, looks like I've taken up enough'a yer time -- not that ya got a shortage of it!  I'll catch y'all later."  He stood up, with many a creak and grown from his joints, and turned towards their hostess.  He'd tried to clean up for the event, so instead of wearing old biker gear, he was wearing an old discarded tuxedo.  Well, more like pieces from three different tuxedos.  "Hey, Taylor, wait up!"

Edited July 14, 2019 by Dr Archeville

[alderwitch]

Taylor had nodded towards Huang, opening her mouth to comment when a familiar voice cut through the general din. She hadn't heard that voice in a long time. Taylor started and then whipped around, pushing her hood back to see better. For once, Taylor's features weren't in the shadow of her deep cowl and a bright smile lit her features, wide enough to show the dimples in both cheeks. It made the familial resemblance between mother and son more striking.

 

"Oh my stars, Burt!" Taylor exclaimed and she took a few steps away to hug the walking corpse, her cloak billowing out behind you as she beamed up at her former teammate, "It's been an age. Jack's around but... well, you know Jack. We'll see him when he wants to be seen. Come over. Huang, you remember your uncle Burt? JJ is at the manor with his nanny but you have to stop by. He's just finished third grade, if you can believe it. Oh, and I have to introduce you to Abby..."

 

Taylor cast about for 'her' children, as she'd absolutely claimed Eldritch's daughter as part of her flock. She had to crane her neck - the Master Mage was not a tall woman - as she was corporeal and actually standing on the ground for once. She turned a pointed expression to her too-tall son. "Wave Abby over, would you,  honey? I don't want her to feel lost."

[Thevshi]

Veronica Danger

 

Veronica stepped through the portal that had been formed by her friend and classmate, a smile on her face at Abby ability to pave the way through the wards for her and Liz to easily follow. "Great work Abby." She said to the other teen as she moved up beside her.

 

As usual, the teenage Danger was wearing what she typically did around campus (and out traveling the world), a pair of cargo shorts (black this time), a light grey T-shirt and a pair well-worn hiking boots. Veronica had actually heard about this little gathering from her Uncle Ace and had confirmed that Abby and Liz were going as well so the three had planned to make their way over together.

 

Looking about, the teen had her magical third-eye fully active, as she looked over the scene around them a grin coming to her face. This was going to be an interesting gathering to be sure.

[Amelia]

Hex

 

"...Wow."

 

The large young blond man wore a sleeveless, gem-studded indigo robe, draped over a lavender tunic which was emblazoned with a hexagonal Flower of Life. He held a black wooden staff in his left hand. He allowed himself a few moments to hover in the air above the gathering so he could continue admiring the gigantic Elder Sign. He was held aloft by the pair of massive translucent glowing golden wings, made from pure solidified kinetic energy, pure magical force, which had sprouted with a thought directed to the runes embroidered along the back of his robe and carried him over the waters of the Great Bay. He whispered to himself.

 

"A Lemurian rune the size of a city block. That is not something you see every day."

 

Having indulged himself for long enough, Hex gently descended into the midst of the gathering. As soon as his feet touched solid ground, another mental command dismissed the wings, which shattered into hundreds of tiny glowing golden hexagons. They spun through the air for a couple seconds and then faded away. He waved at the small Asian-American woman whose taste in professional clothing seemed to match his own as he stepped toward her.

 

"Excuse me, Miz...Madam...'Phantom'? Sorry. I recognized the Eye of Heshem."

 

Hex smiled, a wide open smile that seemed to reach every corner of his bearded face. He lifted his goggles up over his eyes. A hand disappeared under his robe and pulled out a piece of folded and embossed cardstock. When he spoke, he kept an even tone of voice, but he took his time, seeming to choose his words carefully.

 

"This invitation was addressed to Briana Whitethorne, Witch of the North-West. My name...my practicing name...is 'Hex'. Madam Whitethorne was my tutor. She has...taken a sabbatical, I think. She did not see fit to provide me with the details of her itinerary. But she did bequeath to me her holdings, right down to having her mail forwarded to me. All of her mail. And I have no idea where Madam Whitethorne went, or when she will return, so until she returns, if she does return, I seem to be her...representative. I am the first to admit that I am but half the mage that she is, but of course I will do whatever I can to aid the Master Mage in defending this realm."

 

He reached back into his robe pocket, pulled out a small ceramic coin etched with an ancient Atlantean rune, and offered it to Phantom.

 

"This is just a token, but it was not conjured. I added a few drops of my own sweat and blood to the clay, and fired it myself. If you ever see fit to call for my aid, then this should provide sufficient sympathy for whatever magic you prefer to use."

 

Then his hand hovered above the satchel slung over his shoulder. He whispered an invocation to "the vault of Ahgrazul" as his fingers tracing a rune in the air that didn't quite touch the satchel. Golden sparks followed his fingers, lingering in the air for a second, and his eyes turned from green to glowing gold for an instant. Phantom easily recognized the spell as the most elementary of dimensional magic. Then he plunged his hand into the satchel and sifted through its contents for a few moments, before pulling out a large ceramic bowl which should have filled the satchel by itself, with no room to spare. The bowl was almost overflowing with what had to be at least two gallons of green olives.

 

"I did not know whether or not I was supposed to bring something. These are also not conjured. I picked them fresh this morning from Demeter's own vineyard in the Elysian Fields. With her permission, of course. I hope you all like them. I really do hope you all like them, since I now owe the Harvest Queen a substantial boon..."

 

Edited July 17, 2019 by Grumblefloof

[angrydurf]

Huang started slightly at the voice he'd not heard for a very long time and gazed over the heads of most of the attendees at the dead man walking.  "Ah yea, it's been a, long time."  he admitted quietly.  "Hey Burt."  he offered a small wave uncomfortably aware of how unfamiliar his time displaced self would be to zombie.

 

He leaned in to correct, "I think you mean Arcana." he murmured to his mother and stood to his full height to signal the young heroin in question with a raised hand and silent spell to carry the request for her presence on the etheric winds.

 

The arrival of the flamboyant sorcerer from the skies above earned a narrowly suspicious squint for a moment, "That's an interesting place for you to be."  he replied and smiled up at the taller man, "But most appreciated." he popped an olive in his mouth before his mother could reply or endebt herself to what might be an agent of the olympians trying to earn access to prime once more, "Delicious, you are too kind sir."  he swallowed almost without chewing smiling wide with just a hint of elongated canine showing at the corners of his lips.

[Fox]

"You know, I didn't think that there would be so many," Masque whispered, leaning over to the other two of their Claremont trio. She was fully costumed-up, for what little it might matter in such magical company - and what company it was! Her fully-masked face peered around the room, conspicuously clear of any but its default, placid markings. 

 

"I mean, you always hear about someone magic doing something magic somewhere, but you never see them all in one place! They're all...very bright, gathered up like this." Her grin was audible, if nervous, and she let her white cloak fall closed to hide any errant fidgeting. "I don't know if this is going to be good practice in seeing magic, or good practice trying to stop seeing magic."

[Dr Archeville]

Taylor was perhaps a bit relieved to find Dead Head's body was still solid, like a well-preserved mummy (or beef jerky), not squishy (like gumbo).  He eagerly returned the embrace, his rictus grin widening, "heh, yeah, didn't think I'd be seein' Jack at this thing.  Might see 'im when I headvup t'the manor, though.  But I'm so glad I finally got to see you!  How've y'all been?  An' th'other Midnighters?  Y'all been keepin' in touch?"

 

At Taylor's indication, he turned to Huang, and did a double take between mother and time-displaced son, seeing the familiarities in his physical features and mystical aura.  "Wait, that's... he... what?!"  He placed his fists on his hips in feigned indignation, "I weren't gone that long!  Aw, no matter, c'mere an' give yer Uncle Burt a hug!"  He slowly approached the teen, arms outstretched, leaving Phantom to attend to other guests.

[Avenger Assembled]

I sing of Hydra, glad and big. 

 

Aquaria had not been sure how she was going to introduce herself to the mystics among the Surfacers, especially since Jessie had opted to stay home that night. Singularity did not much enjoy the magic that lay between dimensions. 

 

So it was that she had fallen back on old habits; did one impress one's peers with one's might? So it was that she entered the party carrying the trident of Hydra's champion, speared upon it a great fish, and strode boldly through the dead shades of Surfacemen (who might well cling to life, knowing what awaited them in the world beyond!). "Behold!" she declared in a booming basso voice that rang out too loudly amidst the party.  "The Sea Devil is here!"  She did not really think of the trident's power as magical, simply an expression of how the world worked, but whatever got her to a noisy party like this was fine with her. 

 

She was sure the mighty Master Mage knew she was here - but who would come to a place like this and not make sure all knew she was there? She was confident in her leather harness, having neatly stowed her suit out of sight behind a table, her muscular green and white form adorned with blue tattoos that matched the general style of the elder sign at everyone's feet. There was a song in the air at the elder sign that spoke of the stars being right and all being well, and she liked it. 

[Zeitgeist Blue]

Nicole

 

Nicole's magical sensors on her glasses had been turned up to maximum reception while she had been talking to Leroy. Sure, it overtaxed the micro-runes and delicate fibers entangled underneath the surface in such a way as to allow her to perceive the various phenomena in the magical spectrum, but in a gathering as big as this she just needed to gather as much information as she needed. She felt it in her bones and kept an eye out for particularly interesting individuals.

 

The Master Mage was one, of course, like eldritch thunder and light rolled into one. One whose outgoing dataflow Nicole could only describe as gritty and gave two data sources. And some zombie of the not good-looking kind that definitely screamed of the grave (plus some brighter neon lights). And while her fellow students in Claremont were interesting magically, she had already amassed a significant amount of data about their skills, enough to form working theories about the more esoteric and academic aspects about them. Though there was this one girl who arrived with Veronica and Liz that she did not recognize.

 

She turned to look but before she could begin to analyze the signature static lines appeared across her vision, ones would find in a television with no signal. One or two at first but they grew in volume until most of her glasses was covered in static.

 

"The hell?" She took off her glasses and tapped at the sides experimentally. She hadn't fiddled with it recently except for regular maintenance, and that she could do in her sleep with both hands tied behind her back. Either she'd become stupid the past few days or something was messing with her stuff. A quick look around showed she wasn't the only one peering at their phones or electronic watches in alarm.

 

"Alright," she said loudly to no one in particular (though Dio was still beside her), her eyes twitching in annoyance. "Who's the idiot who couldn't keep their magic in their pants? Cause something here is messing with my glasses and I'm going to kill her if I have to overhaul the system."

 

Then Sea Devil or Aquaria Innsmouth to Freedom City's records announced her presence to everyone there. Nicole returned her glasses minus the analysis program and did a double take as she recognized the speaker's race.

 

A Deep One. Odd, even other in a gathering of humans and beings tied to humans. It piqued Nicole's curiosity, enough that she almost let go of her annoyance at her tech short-circuiting.

 

"Let's go, Dio. We need to meet... uh, her?"

 

***

 

"Hey, uh, Miss Sea Devil." Nicole waved as she got closer and she couldn't help but gag at the overpowering smell of fish. When she finally stopped enough to breathe properly, she continued."Are you the maker of the Elder Sign? Because something's messing with my tech. My glasses don't work and my phone's dead too, and would you know anything about that?"

 

As Nicole spoke she looked the Deep One up and down, noting the engravings on the trident and noticing the finer details on the Elder Sign-like tattoos all over Aquaria's slimy flesh. She could have asked more about those, clearly dark magic the Deep Ones were reputed to practice, but Nicole put little stock on what people labeled things. Yet, the fish smell was really bothering her.

 

She clapped a hand over her nose, not able to bear it any longer.

 

"And why are you carrying a fish?"

Edited July 16, 2019 by Zeitgeist Blue

[Avenger Assembled]

Aquaria eyed the immature Surfacer - she was...twelve? Sixteen? It was hard to remember their ages when she was primarily around fully-developed females. "The fish is for eating," she croaked, gold-blacck eyes staring fixedly at Nicole. "It has no poison - and is cooked!" she added, a distinct tone of defensiveness entering what was otherwise an inhuman throbbing from a throat as thick around as Nicole's shoulder. She proved her words by biting the head off the trout-sized fish as easily as Nicole would bite the head off a Swedish fish, giving the technomancer a distinct glimpse of the rows of serrated teeth inside that otherwise frog-looking mouth that took up the lower part of Aquaria's broad face. 

 

She chewed and swallowed with the distinct sound of breaking bones, then said, "I made the sign, yes. When the forces of Destruction came to this place, I called my gods and they answered." If she'd been defensive before, now she was distinctly prideful. "It is a mark of their favor. It should not hurt your machines. Dragonfly came with her science and they all worked I can hear they are broken! Is that bad?." She struck her trident against the ground. "Would you like some fish? I can give you a part that has no bones! There is plenty for your ghost dog!" she added with a call Dead Head's way.  

[Ari]

"Ugh, meat." Slithering out from under the tables and chairs he had snuck under, the green dragon had followed close on Nicole's heels, enormous head swiveling on his long neck and forked tongue darting in and out nervously. Leaning snakelike from behind Nicole, he eyed Aquaria dubiously and her fish with open distaste. "Can't wait until my teeth come in and I can just eat rocks whenever I want."

 

"Prime's full of things I never expected to see up and kicking. On all the worlds where the Black Sun watches, the sea-kin died millenia ago. Our leader intends to challenge your Hydra for the supremacy," he added with a nod to the Deep One, "but I'm sure that won't happen if she learns there's still worshippers."

 

"These 'forces of Destruction', that'd be the Terminus? Never met them myself, but my elders hate 'em. Glad your benefactors came through, not a lot of answered prayers out there." The dragon sighed wearily "I follow the Earth-Binder, you get used to silence pretty quick when your god is a dragon buried miles underground. When you get so much as a whisper, you hang onto every word." Dio had the good grace to look suitably awkward admitting to that, tail flicking at his flanks.

 

His head tilted to stare down at the wheelchair-bound girl "Though I object to that 'follower' bit, Nicole. And the 'conqueror' one. But you'd never guess it from my ward, so that's plenty forgiveable. Unlike him, I haven't spent my whole existence in a city in the sky getting everything handed to me until anything else is some unimaginable horror." Twisting a couple hundred degrees, Dio's long neck switched him back to Aquaria "What's up with the rest of your kind? Are there some more living around here? I haven't really gone into the sea, it's...really gross in there, and everything stinks." 

 

"Too much to hope the Master Mage is gonna do something about that?"

Edited July 17, 2019 by Ari

[alderwitch]

"Huang," Phantom chided at the show of too sharp teeth. Smiling might be a friendly gesture for humans but all of Taylor's offspring seemed to take after their sire in that regard. Unfortunately, the distaste for Olympians, Taylor knew she was entirely to blame for.

 

"My son, Ouroboros, as well as my apprentice." Taylor explained, nudging the teenager towards Burt in a less than subtle manner. "I appreciate the olives. Please, do enjoy the festivities. I apologize that the invitation was addressed to your former teacher while she's on a, ah, sabbatical. I wanted to make certain that all of Eldritch's contacts were invited but I fear that some of his records and notes were not the easiest to parse."

 

Her gaze swung to Aquaria at her arrival as well as the teens heading over to speak with the Deep One. Phantom bit back a faint sigh, signaling one of the ghosts to keep a close eye lest anyone encourage Aquaria to start summoning her particular gods in the middle of a party.

 

This is why I don't leave the Sanctum.

 

"Dead Head, no, it hasn't been that long. I fear it's a long story. Don't listen to Huang's version, he'll give you some nonsense about time travel." Taylor shook her head. She didn't have the time to explain how her one offspring became two in a short enough manner for the party. She turned her smile over at Abby and her school friends, "Hex, have you happened to meet Arcana? She's a very promising young practitioner. Hello, Masque, Veronica. Veronica, how's your Uncle Ace?"

[Amelia]

Hex

 

Hex smiled and nodded at the young man. "Pleased to meet you. If you are the Master Mage's apprentice, then I imagine my command of the mystic arts is closer to yours than to hers, though yours still no doubt exceeds mine."

 

Quote

 

"Alright, who's the idiot who couldn't keep their magic in their pants? Cause something here is messing with my glasses and I'm going to kill her if I have to overhaul the system."

 

"Hey, uh, Miss Sea Devil. Are you the maker of the Elder Sign? Because something's messing with my tech. My glasses don't work and my phone's dead too, and would you know anything about that?"

 

"I made the sign, yes. When the forces of Destruction came to this place, I called my gods and they answered. It is a mark of their favor. It should not hurt your machines. Dragonfly came with her science and they all worked I can hear they are broken! Is that bad?"

 

"The fish is for eating. It has no poison - and is cooked!"

 

 

Hex flinched. "It appears that I have started a fire, and now I need to put it out." He handed the bowl off to Huang, giving the boy an excuse to break the zombie's embrace. "Excuse me."

 

Standing as he did at least a head taller than just about everyone else in attendance, it wasn't difficult to see Hex coming as he slid through the crowd toward the dragon, the Deep One, and the girl in the wheelchair. "<The Sign is impressive>," he interjected in Lemurian. "<And the fish smells delicious.>" He turned back to Salvo and switched back to English, placing his palm upon his chest. "I am afraid that your technical difficulties are my fault, and mine alone. My apologies for the disruption. I will be leaving shortly, and for safety reasons, yours and mine alike, I would recommend against attempting to activate any of your devices until then. But to help pass the time until my imminent departure, I would recommend sampling the hors d'oeuvres the Master Mage's apprentice procured from Elysium." He gestured back toward Huang and his mother, then turned back and nodded to Sea Devil. "<And to you, my apologies for the confusion.>"

 

Edited July 17, 2019 by Grumblefloof

[angrydurf]

Huang returned the Zombies hug with a firm clap on the back, "You're looking... Dry?"  he shrugged he wasn't going to lie and tell the undead monstrosity he'd gone and gotten pretty after all.  "I'll tell you all about it."  he promised rolling his eyes at his mother's insistence that he hadn't traveled from a dark and troubled future with tidings of woe.  He awkwardly accepted the bowl of olives and snickered a bit at Slavos magic breaking on exposure to a little chaos.  The tall teen slung an arm over burts shoulder and left his mother to deal with further introductions.  "There was, well will be, might be, timey wimey wibbly wobbly,"  he prevaricated tilting his head consideringly, "I came back to warn, well everyone."  he nodded sagely quite pleased with himself at the complex spellwork required for such a feat, "There were temporal, fluctuations."  he sighed gesturing at his youthful but teen physique, "But I made it and have not unmade myself yet so I have that going for me."  he shrugged and held up the bowl, "Olive?"

[Dr Archeville]

"Am not a ghost," A Mutt barked, materializing beside Aquaria, "am spirit.  But that easy mistake to make."  He sat up on his haunches, tongue and tail wagging, "can still have fish?"

 

Dead Head nodded to Hex before going off with Huang.  "Oh, yeah, dark futures," he replied, slinging an arm over Huang's, "been there, done that," he nodded, remembering his own brief jaunt to the future.  "But ya made it back here all by yerself?  Worked all that out on yer own?"  He let out a low whistle, "I knew ya had potential, kid, but dang!  An' who's this Abby, er, Arcana?  You got a sister now, too?"

 

He looked down at the bowl of olives, and held up his free hand in a 'stop' motion, "eh, best not.  Never liked th' taste'a them when I was alive, and if they're from the Elysian Fields, well, I don't think they'd, uh, agree with me."

[Zeitgeist Blue]

Nicole

 

"Ohhh, so it isn't the fish that smells like fish," Nicole says as she examines Aquaria's fish. Cooked well enough to actually look edible. Still, Nicole's hand remained clasped over her nose and she eyed Aquaria suspiciously. "Guess that only leaves you as the one who smells like fish."

 

She shook her head at Aquaria's offer for fish. Sure, it looked edible but who knew what Deep One diet differed from that of normal humans? At the very least she was looking at an upset stomach for eating food she wasn't used to. "No thanks, Sea Devil. I'm actually surprised Deep Ones cook their food instead of eating it raw. Like, where do you find fire under the sea? Do you invoke Dagon's name for Eternal Flames of Cooking?"

 

"At least you've got the self-awareness to understand how messed up Leroy's mom is. And here I thought the both of you were brainwashed! Which really beggars the question why you're allowing yourself to be bossed by a toady like that." Nicole said. Then she soon turned away as the two priests began talking about their gods. While they interested in the purely academic sense, worship was a whole other thing and she let them be.

 

Besides, some heavyset newcomer was coming their way. His whole getup screamed hippy, new-age dudebro to Nicole though she never really knew hipsters to dress like Gandalf with flowers and rainbows. So she chalked it up to intuition, which never failed her in these matters. Then he began to explain just what he had done and Nicole's expression of curiosity quickly turned into one of being hella pissed off.

 

"No. No you aren't," she finally said and she whipped her glasses out and shook it at the big guy. She couldn't see his expression since everything was now blurry but she didn't really care. "Do you know how state-of-the-art, cutting-- no! Bleeding edge these are. What happens if you run off and they still don't work, huh? Your staying here in case I need to reverse something and need a sample of your whatever to do it properly."

 

She took a deep breathe then added slowly, in a manner of a teacher patiently explaining for the sixth time to a particularly slow student a lesson that was taught six months ago. "Besides, why don't you," and she brought her glasses back on. "Just stop using magic right now?"