ic The Hades Gala, departure

[Tiffany Korta]

As arranged when your ready to leave a taxi arrives to take you to the departure point, not only is it remarkable well time whatever company you choose you get a classic old style taxi. The driver, who speak in the broadest Jersey accent, explains that everything been paid for and he (or she) knows a few shortcuts to get you to the spot quickly. And indeed despite the traffic you seem to get there in almost no time at all!

 

Your destination is the docklands all light up with a rather impressive layout for the whole thing. You can see what appear to be giants, probably Cyclopes, keeping back a fairly large crowd. Leading this security is a woman dressed all in black with a large skirt and veiled hat, you can tell it’s probably one of the Gorgons as her snake hair has been (carefully) teased into a ponytail.

 

Your taxi stops a distance away from all this, in a relatively darkened area, and your met by what seems to be you guide to all this, a nymph or satyr, suitable dressed for this kind of night. (those of you that choose to skip the taxi are met by suitable creatures, including Tux wearing harpies for those that fly, who explain similar things). They explain that theatre has been laid out a whole media circus arranged, with photo ops and interviews as you wished, but they then point out a back route darkened and out of shot for those that wish to avoid all that. This leads down to the dock and your transport to the gala.

 

Those of you that still wish to run the gamut of the press are guided to a small gaggle of PR people, who seem to have been picked from the smaller newer superhero PR companies. Your assigned PR agent for the night explains that the red carpet has been split into three groups. The first group are student reports and small independent creators, lots of social media types a few you might recognize for there fairly balanced reporting, no influence types just out for themselves. You then have the local new people, from all the television, radio and newspaper, and finally the national and international reporters. There are even spot where you can instead go and meets the fans who came out to watch this media circus, either in the crowd or places set aside for more intimate meetings.

 

After spending however much you wished dealing with the press and public you go down to the river to see your transport to the gala itself. Down a set of steps, with Tritons and Nereids keeping people safe, is a wooden boat looking like a miniature Ancient Greek Trireme with it sweeping eye festooned prow. At the stern is a tall cowled figure ready to row you to your destination. It was be a good guess that this is Charon, helped by your assistant giving you a obol for the journey, though they insisted it was just a souvenir for the night.

 

Once about a dozen or so of you were seated in the boat a silent Charon pushes the boat off the dock and begin to punt the boat, that after only a few meters disappears for those in Freedom City to appear halfway around the world.

This is the first of an open social threat a chance for player characters to meet and greet each other and some NPC's. Only one of you characters can be active in a thread at a time, but you can move them through the threads as to have one in each at a time. If you want to spend more time focused on something you are welcome to spin off into another thread, or a vignette or even ten questions!

 

You are free to create and use minor NPC as needed, the more important character like the Gorgon will need a Ref's permission, Charon however will not speak at all he's just here to do a job!

 

Player characters with suitable job are welcome to work in there civilian roles before going off (or not) to the gala itself.

[Avenger Assembled]

Aquaria crouched alone on the prow of the small craft, having refused the attentions of the nereids with a hiss and warning rattle in the depths of her massive throat. She was acutely conscious of where she was and who she moved among here - the monsters created by the gods of Atlantis that some Surface-Men had been fool enough to worship. And how it served them! Pfah! She had read with satisfaction of how the cults of Poseidon and Zeus had been forgotten by Surface-Men for centuries, Poseidon becoming simply dead stone in their museums rather than an object of fell veneration. As above, so below. Some day. She closed her eyes and thought of what had been and what would be, one day. 

 

And what then? came the voice in her mind, the one that sometimes sounded like Jessie, who she could tell everything, and sometimes like Tarva, who wanted to hear everything. When the stars are right and Hydra's arms close around the throats of the gods of Atlantis, where will you stand? Atlanteans were not so different from the Surfacers she had lived among for so many years now. They loved their mates and their friends, and their helpless little babes too. Did they all deserve death? She couldn't tell herself that and believe it. Not anymore. 

 

But their gods. The ones that gave them that power to take what we have...she opened her great eyes, a gigantic frog smelling powerfully of lanolin and bacon grease, and spoke to the one next to her in a croaking voice with a booming buzz that said "There is weather!" 

[Gizmo]

Ghost Girl

 

“Ooh, I should have checked what the weather was going to be like in Greece,” Kimber Storm exclaimed with a snap of her translucent blue fingers. The poltergeist floated a few handspans above the boat’s railing, affecting a seated position with her legs crossed. Her sleeveless dress wrapped tight around her chest and torso, glittering royal blue sequins on one side and inky black shot through with a subtly shifting star pattern on the other. Great ruffled balls in layered blue and black topped each shoulder with a third, smaller ruffle at her left hip, below which the dress’ layered skirts billowed outward. By the time the skirt reached her knees it had transformed into dark clouds; at her ankles it had faded away to wisps of mist that trailed about her kitten heels.

 

The retro, youthful aesthetic of the dress was shifted by the slight transparency of the black sections, the form beneath outlined faintly in starlight. She’d put her hair up in an elaborate style with a miniature top hat fascinator that matched her dress. The lenses of the little pince-nez balanced at the tip of her nose looked like a pair of obols over her eyes. He scythe shaped necklace hung on a longer chain than normal, dropping into the valley of her cleavage.

 

A scorpion-like tail lashed back and forth excitedly from the top of her handbag as Avro’s little, simian face peeked over the edge, intrigued by all the goings-on but not sure about all the water involved. He’d been well behaved so far, albeit a little nosey about curious sniffing their satyr liaison before getting on board.

 

Neither Jessie nor Tarva had been overly eager to attend such a busy event even before the considering the hosts and likely ulterior motives but if an underworld god was throwing a party Kimber felt a responsibility to show undead face. Besides she hadn’t been about to let Aquaria go on her own. “You look— well, you smell great. You let me know if any mermaids are trying to start anything, eh?”

[Avenger Assembled]

"Ohhh, they give me such eyes," Aquaria grunted, peering into the water suspiciously with gigantic gold eyes, the nereids and other creatures of Greek myth in the sea around them distinctly watching her with an expression like a group of cats peering at a strange one, eyes glittering in the wine-dark sea. "You fool no one!" she said, calling down at the water with great volume. It was hard to tell if she was warning off one individual among their escorts or all of them at once, who admittedly had been nothing but polite in their dealings with the other heroes.  "With your bosoms and your hair, as if you were a mammal! You want to lure the Surface-Men, and the Surface Lesbians, in and eat them!" With the size and shape of Aquaria's teeth, she certainly seemed to know something about eating things. 

 

"You have many colors!" she offered to Kimber, well-used to the idea that the ghost (a sad reflection of the failures of the Surface afterlife if you asked her, not that it would have been polite to do so) had no scent. "You will show them all." 

[Heritage]

Grimalkin

 

Normally Lynn was a bit of an attention hog, at least when she was in costume, but tonight she opted skip the paparazzi and reach the dock discretely. This whole scenario made her nervous, and if things turned out to be sinister, she'd rather the public didn't know she was involved. 

 

Wouldn't it be nice if your paranoia was totally unfounded?

 

She floated onto the deck and gracefully alighted, her iridescent outfit spun from glamour catching the harbor lights in greens, blues and blacks as her wide collar of smoke trailed behind her. Her glamourweave left little to the imagination as it hugged lithe form perfectly; it left even less to the imagination on the front, as the deep plunge reached all the way to her navel. A mask inspired by cat's eye glasses, with points swept up to either side that echoed her elfin ears, and an cascade of curls down to her shoulders completed her look. Not bad for a Jewish grandmother!

 

"Good evening! Nice to see some new faces; well, new to me at least. It's Sea Devil, isn't it? And...Ghost Girl?"

 

The changeling grinned as she curtsied.

 

"Grimalkin, Mistress of Mystery! Nice to meet you both." There was more than a little South Jersey in her accent.

Edited June 11, 2022 by Heritage

[secondling]

Legatus

 

Felix was deeply suspicious of Hades - or Pluto, as the "good" Doctor Syagrius would have named him. While he'd never actually encountered the god of the underworld, he had heard enough, and studied enough, to know that the deity was not to be trusted in the slightest. I'm not sure I'm at the level of punching up to a god... though I did hit that Nazi who'd stolen divinity pretty hard, I'm fairly certain Hades is on another level. Hopefully it won't be a personal attack.

 

There was no doubt in his mind that it would be a trap, though it would perhaps be more of an intelligence-gathering exercise than a physical trap. However, with many of his fellow heroes going, Legatus felt obligated to join them. Thus, he flew through the air towards the docks and found himself intercepted by a harpy in a suit. Well, that's strangely dissonant. With a mental shrug, he soared towards the back way that had been indicated to him.

 

Glad I got changed before flying out here. Given recent events, Legatus had dismissed the idea of dressing up in ancient Roman fashion out of hand - besides, it would've been expected of him, if anyone had bothered to learn. Instead, he'd donned a garment woven in the fashion of an ancient pastoralist, taken up a rod to aid in the herding of his flocks (though he was reasonably sure it would shatter if he clutched it too hard) and a belt that could double as a sling.

 

Lightly touching down near the docks, he surveyed the crowd, before walking slowly towards the trireme. Rome... from what I recall essentially stole the Greeks to sail their ships for them. He snorts softly. "I wonder," he says aloud as the boat begins its journey, "if we should be concerned that this isn't just Hades represented here."

[Gizmo]

Avro's feline front paws appeared on the edge of Kimber's handbag as he leveraged himself upward to get a better look at Grimalkin as she introduced herself, making a brassy trumpet sound of curiosity and leaning forward to sniff the air. Fortunately the poltergeist had a very casual relationship with gravity and momentum so the manticore kitten's shifting weight did nothing to upset her gently floating repose. "Hi! That's me but you can just call me Kimber; I'm experimenting with like a 'just going by my regular name' phase." She gave Lynn a little wave with translucent blue fingers. The North Ontario in her own chipper tone was no less subtle than the changeling's own accent. "Nice to meet you! I love your dress, your boobs look amazing."

 

Kimber paused for a moment with a small frown, glanced to Aquaria then seemed to realize she wasn't going to get the second opinion she wanted from that direction. "Jams, is that weird to say? I may be spending too much time in the castle."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Yes!" Aquaria croaked with enthusiasm at Grimalkin. "I am Sea Devil. You are very clever to recognize me without my armor," added the almost-entirely nude giant frog-fish person. "You look very female indeed," she added with enthusiasm for Grim's benefit. "I am sure you will find someone to mate with here. Orrr even just be their friend, who knows?" she throbbed reassuringly, her throat sac bulging. It was very unlikely Aquaria herself would be so fortunate, but who could say? 

 

For Legatus's benefit, she added, "Yes! Hades is very suspicious, as are all the gods of Atlantis. But there are Atlanteans who are good," she added for the ears of the listening heroes. 

[Heritage]

 

Grimalkin 

 

"Oh, thank you!" The changeling laughed as she glanced down at her décolletage. "It's been a while since I showed the girls off, so I will happily take the compliment. And feel free to call me 'Grim'. You look fantastic, too!"

 

With a casual wave of her hand, Grim conjured up a wicker deck chair, which she artfully draped herself across. 

 

"Well to be honest, I'm not looking right now, but you never know," she offered in response to Aquaria's query.

 

"I do think you're both right to be suspicious, though; I was tempted not to show, but then I thought if it was a trap, I'd feel bad if I wasn't there to help out."

Edited June 12, 2022 by Heritage

[secondling]

Legatus

 

Legatus frowned, troubled, before blinking and shaking his head. "Sorry, I forgot my manners. I'm Legatus." He grinned. "Though I don't normally look like this, as I'm sure is the case for all of you." He extended his hand to each in turn, his brow furrowing briefly as he looked at Sea Devil.

 

He shifted uncomfortably at the discussion of breasts, both bemused and mildly embarrassed to be listening. When Sea Devil and Grim voiced their agreement, he nodded swiftly, hoping to move past the subject as soon as possible. 

 

"Oh, it's a trap." The young man agreed, growing serious once more. "But is it a trap by other gods as well as Hades? Or..." A more troubling idea occurred to him. "Is it a trap for those other gods? I'm not sure why he'd invite the heroes of the world, if that were the case, but..." 

[Gizmo]

"Thank you!" Kimber returned the compliment with a broad wink and an extended index finger pressed into her cheek. "I'm not too worried about Hades, honestly. Rules of hospitality are a whole thing for Olympians, they're sort of like fae that way. Don't outstay your welcome, don't take what isn't offered and you're probably fine. Like, eighty-twenty. Well, seventy-thirty at least." She shrugged expressively and tapped her scythe pendant. "That's the fun thing about being mortal or mortal-ish! Way easier for us to break rules when we feel like it!"

 

The poltergeist waved a hand to Legatus. "You're a teenager, eh? Think of it like a house party, you don't just invite your friends when your parents are out of town, you invite everybody and then you're the kid who throws the radical parties for the rest of the school year!" Kimber pointed her thumbs horizontally outward and shimmied in the air with a light laugh. "Hades has had a pretty embarrassing, like, century or two. If I had to guess I'd bet this whole thing was his wife's idea, just to give everybody something else to talk about, y'know? Olympians and fae, also a lot like high schoolers, come to think of it!"

[secondling]

Legatus

 

Legatus grinned. "Xenia, I remember." Hopefully he does, as well... and hopefully it's not in the Underworld. I wouldn't really want to be trapped there. The smile faded. "Will you be alright? I can't imagine that getting out of Hades' reach will be in any way easy for someone who's, uh, not alive any more."

 

He snorted at her suggestion of the Olympians being like teens. "True enough."

[Heritage]

Grimalkin

 

At the mention of the fae, Grim made a face of mild disgust. 

 

"Yeah, this whole thing is probably going to have a pretty strong 'faerie tale' vibe, so be careful of acccepting gifts or giving your word, and I say this as a fae myself: faeries suck."

 

She laughed before continuing.

 

"I'm hoping the food's going to be safe, but who knows; at the very least, I'm not eating any f###in' pomegranate!"

[Avenger Assembled]

"I will eat meat - if I take it myself. Or find it, if something palatable is offered. have heard that the waters of Greece have hideous sirens who lure Surface-Men to a watery doom, then feast on their flesh." Aquaria seemed to stare off into space as she talked to the others, though as always it was hard to tell with her big goggle eyes. "Can you imagine such a thing?" She fell silent as the waters rushed around them, lost in some inner study. 

[Gizmo]

Kimber laughed cheerfully at Legatus' question, rotating backward from her floating position. Avro added several brassy meows of his own, not necessarily following the conversation but wanting to be included. "Oh, bud, you're so sweet to be worried! Truly truly, that's so thoughtful." The phantom righted herself fully while the star field portions of her dress seemed to twinkle a little brighter. For a moment the curving silhouette of her torso behind those semiopaque layers looked like the outline of a skeleton instead but maybe that was just a trick of the diffused light. "Like I said, I know when to cheat. Anybody who wants to tell me where I can or can't go is going to have a tough night, but thank you."

[secondling]

Legatus

 

"I was thinking that myself, yeah." Legatus nodded at Grim. "But at the same time, xenia requires that we eat, if we want to be considered guests."

 

The young man grinned at Kimber. "Glad to hear it. Cheating Hades seems like a good idea. I suppose we all do it fairly often, actually." He scratched his chin with his shepherd's crook, fighting down the alarm at Sea Devil's comment. I... does she eat sapient people? He didn't know enough about her to say whether she was being serious or not, and her facial expressions weren't enlightening him any further.

[Heritage]

Grimalkin

 

"You know, I used to put more faith into the rules of hospitality, but ever since the 'Red Wedding', I don't trust anyone anymore," Grim said with a shake of her head. 

 

"Hey, how about we agree to signal each other if we see something fi-" She caught Aquaria out of the corner of her eye. "Uh, suspicious? Like if the Yanni cover band are all packin' heat, or a doorway to the Underworld opens in the ladies' room? Does that sound reasonable?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"I will give a bellow," said Aquaria reassuringly, seeming to snap out of her imagination. "I am so loud that people can hear me all over the city." She hmmed, scratching under her mouth with her rear right leg. "I can hear their song," she added, turning and pivoting her entire body towards where the boat appeared to be heading. "It is...pleasant, for what it is. But it is not correct. Do any of you like music?" she asked.