Mysteries Infinite: The Palace of Fortune [IC]

[trollthumper]

"Don't know much about fairies," Nick said. "As for spiritual construct... that's the most likely option. From what I understand, someone sought aid from somewhere, but I don't know where that 'somewhere' is. Could be Faerie, could be Hell, could be something else entirely. What I do know, however, is there are practitioners in here keeping the working going. We find where they are, we get some answers."

[Carces]

It doesn't take long before you reach an opening with a larger-than-life oceanic display, complete with 3-Dimensional lettering labeling the location as Poseidon's Parlor. The extravagant decor does not distract you from the slimy little man at the front of the restaurant. Presumably the maître d’ of the establishment, only the ill-fitting tuxedo that wraps around the man's thin frame would be any indication that he normally works here. His clammy skin, bulging eyes, and greasy hair combed over to poorly hide his bald spot gives the kind of impression most classy restaurants want to avoid.

"Two?" The maître d’s squeaky voice is difficult to make out, due to his constant wheezing. He sucks in a lungful of air with his mouth as he indicates a table for two, in the center of the restaurant.

The inside of the Parlor is just as gaudy and extravagant as the display outside, working the Atlantis theme to an extreme. The walls surrounding you is actually a large aquarium, which appears to be filled to capacity with a huge variety of different fish. Most of them appear to be swimming quite energetically. The other tables in the Parlor are empty, with a few having dishes that have yet to be cleared away.

The sound of the in-house waterfall would be relaxing under normal circumstances. The perpetually running water and the air conditioning does its part to help the area smell clean, avoiding a literal fishy smell to compliment your natural suspicions.

[Lone Star]

KC nods to the maître d’. His common sense told him it would be better not to talk to any more spirits, if they...decided to possess him or anything like that. He was not very knowledgeable in the world of ghosts and necromancy, that was Nick's thing. He was overblown by the elaborate decorations of the restaurant, though. "This is a pretty fancy joint. Why aren't there any more spirits around here?"

[Carces]

Almost as if on cue, two men in fine, red suits hobble out of the kitchen. They set upon your table a number of utensils, napkins, and glasses of water in a frantic rush. After everything is set on the table, they set upon you! With only an ounce of gentleness to go with their hurried disposition, they quickly a cloth bib under each of your chins. The bibs are adorned with the log of Poseidon's Parlor. There is little care made for anatomy, and Kid Cthulhu's tentacles are caught behind the bib, for the most part.

It's quite clear they intend to serve you. However, you have neither seen a standing menu while walking into the restaurant, nor have you received a hand-held menu since you've arrived.

[trollthumper]

"Most of the folks I saw were on the main floor," Nick murmured. "They may be being kept there to avoid getting pulled into the business elsewhere." Once the waiters were clear of the table, Nick reached down to the plush carpet of the restaurant and opened his senses to the beyond. He tried to keep his voice down, restraining the voice so that only he could hear it, but if the waiters heard it... well, he'd gone in expecting a fight. Might as well get it out of the way.

[Carces]

The spirits of death are stirred. Once invoked, it takes a surprising amount of focus and energy to quiet their screams, even though the spirits are still fewer in number here than what is usually summoned in Freedom City. The dead want to tell you something, but their desperation works against them, melding the voices into a symphony of agony - a cry that few necromancers with a soul ever get truly used to.

However, death has many sides to it. In the cacaphony of the cadaverous choir, one spirit lets loose a haunting laugh, piercing through the wails of the departed.

"You don't see it, do you? The joke?" The spirit chuckles to itself. "All the men, women, and children... they all broke the first rule of the pool! They're not supposed to sw..."

Before the spirit finishes letting you in on the joke, the doors to the kitchen burst open and a waiter with a cart filled with silver platters roll over the fine carpeting towards your table. They do not appear to have noticed the voices of the departed.

Plates are dropped on the table and unveiled before you. A magnificent looking seafood feast is placed on the table - one that appears to be freshly cooked. Each dish is of the highest quality, from what you can tell, and each dish is displayed with care, to make the food look particularly tantalizing. Considering you've only just arrived, having these sorts of high-class seafood dishes fresh so soon is a remarkable feat... or a magical one.

[trollthumper]

Nick took a close look at the dishes. Even when breaded or fried, he couldn't exactly identify the stuff. He poked at it with his fork -- it had the color of baked trout, but seemed to slide apart like salmon. He was trying to figure out what it was when he spied the cut of fish at the other end of the table. The cut didn't seem to be piscine -- in fact, it almost looked like the musculature of a large mammal. Some of the flesh was left on it, pale, green and shimmering. Nick had never run into one of them before, but having seen the cross section in one of Eldrich's anatomy books, he had a pretty good idea what it was.

"...kelpie foal," he muttered. "Kid, don't eat the food. It's definitely fae."

[Lone Star]

"Good plan, Nick. I ate before I came up here, anyway. So what exactly should we do? Just play along? Or should we make the situation?" KC said, adjusting his bib. KC picked up his salad fork, and examined it carefully. He then shrugged and tossed it over his shoulder. "I say we start something here. This is freaking me out way too much. Waiter!"

[Carces]

Two waiters immediately rush over to your table - one bends his ear to listen to you without a word, while another one tarries to pick up the salad fork, replacing the utensil with a clean one immediately.

The situation is perfect for starting a commotion. Kid Cthulhu looks right at the waiter and...

...hesitates for a moment. From what he's seen, Kid Cthulhu begins to piece things together. Each member of the staff looks rather out of place here. Only the maitre d', a horrid looking man, has spoken to you since you've gotten here. It seems obvious that whoever these people are, they aren't human - especially with the large amount of enchanted food they've brought out.

What actually stops you from acting, however, is what you see behind the waiter. The aquarium has been full of frantic life since you've arrived, with the fish swaying and moving boisterously and erratically. The over-full aquarium is agitated by something.

The ghost's enigma turns in your head as well. "The first rule of the pool?" Take a shower before you enter? No... No horseplay? That doesn't make any sense either.

You take another moment to watch the fish, focusing yourself on one of the faster fish. It keeps darting into view quickly as it swims up close to the tank. No - not just close, it hits the tank every time. It's not the only one either. The fish are trying to get your attention.

The answer to what the ghost was trying to tell you suddenly hits KC as he realizes what this situation means. The joke - the "First rule of the Pool" that all the guests here broke:

Never go swimming right after eating.

The entire place is filled with guests. The aquarium is filled to the brim with fishy hostages. It's not too hard to piece together what it is the food is meant to do.

Unfortunately, with the waiters around, it will be difficult to convey the message to Nick without the staff overhearing.

[Lone Star]

KC's eyes widened as he understood the message. Crap. Crap. He had to tell Nick. But how? He already knew not to eat the food, which was a good start. Just conveying to him that they weren't alone in the room would be quite another trick.

KC stretched in his chair, yawning. As he stretched, he looked back at the fish. "Hey, Nick, check out the fish. Looks like they're really excited today- really full of life. Claremont has an aquarium, you know. The fish there hardly seem to do anything other than eat and poop. That's how most fish are, I guess. Their brains aren't very large. I would hardly call that a living."

[trollthumper]

Nick followed Kid Cthulhu's gaze across the restaurant, to the aquarium. The fish did seem generally more intelligent, but given this was fae food, it could be they were fae fish with something of a strange intellect.

Let's see, food and magic... okay, the fae usually take any offering of food or drink as an offering of hospitality that needs to be repaid, and if not-- Then it clicked. Wrong allegory. It's not Hades and Persephone; it's Circe and Odysseus's men.

"You're right, KC," Nick said, drawing on the presence of death in the casino -- weak as it may be, there would likely be enough for his next trick. "Why, they're so smart... they're almost human."

Before the waiters could react, rough, grasping hands of ectoplasm erupted from the carpet and clawed at their legs. Nick leapt from his chair. "I know how you guys work," he said. "Letter of the law, nothing of the spirit. But even given the invocation and a bit of leeway, you're breaking the Pact in about ten different places right now."

[Lone Star]

KC leapt from his chair as well. He assumed a heroic stance, his cape flowing behind him. "What he said. Now take us to your master before we beat ten shades of blue out of ya." To show he meant business, he drew two spheres of eldritch fire from his hands, and aimed them at the waiters. He had no qualms against roasting sick jerks who would keep souls in a fish tank.

[Carces]

The waiters jump in horror, trying to retreat to the safety of the kitchen. One after another, a hand grabs a waiter's leg and they fall to the floor, squirming and rolling as they are entirely engulfed in the unforgiving grasp of the ectoplasmic limbs. Even the maitre d', who still waits at the entrance of the restaurant, is not spared the wrath of the Poltergeist's Rage, and is soon buried in the dark.

"Who dares disturb the peace of my domain?"

Your senses are massaged by a cool spray of fog, not unlike a gentle ocean mist. Appearing in the corner of the establishment, right upon the vacant facsimile of Poseidon's throne, a lady of green skin and blue hair appears, adorned in multiple pearls a thin, red dress that shimmers and glows, as a lake does in moonlight. She slouches in the over-sized throne as she taps her fingers impatiently on the beautifully-sculpted arm rest, made to depict a regal-looking seahorse. A flashy crown completes the watery lady's ensemble, completing the image of a rather angry sovereign.

The workers immediately stop their pathetic squirming in the lady's presence.

"You have entered the Luxury realm of water, and your behavior does not suit a gracious guest. Explain yourselves immediately!"

[Lone Star]

KC stomped his foot on the floor. "Lady, you try acting 'gracious' when people are trapped in here! You've got the souls of innocent people trapped as fish in your aquarium! Did you not notice? Or have you known all along? I'm mad as hell, and I'm not gonna take it anymore!" KC shouted as he drew twin spheres of mystic fire from his hands, ready to go. He spread his wings, their leathery texture extending from his back. "C'mon, Nick, let's go. I want to get out of here."

[Carces]

The lady of the Parlor rises from her throne as she seethes with visible anger. She points at the waiters and maitre d' as she bellows.

"You IDIOTS! You revealed the secret - to HEROES no less - before they had a chance to eat?!"

The hired help whimpers and cowers helplessly among the grasp of the dead. The lady turns to address Nick and Kid Cthulhu, attempting to subdue her blatant rage with very little success.

"You think you can disturb the tranquility of MY domain and simply leave? If you will not accept my hospitality and you insist on disturbing the peace of my realm, then you must die for your arrogant acts of hubris!"

With a gesture, two fish caught in the left aquarium float right through glass in a globe of water suspended in the air. Unlike the disturbed fish that you have concluded are human, these fish seem to be acting naturally, and are rather hostile towards each other. It's easy to recognize this common variety of fish - Siamese Fighting Fish.

"Arise and protect your mistress!" With a smooth wave of her hand, the globe of water explodes, showering you both with high-speed water droplets. When the water settles, two men dressed in what appears to be highly-colorful ninja outfits are poised in martial art stances, ready to fight. One of them has a largely red color scheme while the other has a blue one. Both, however, appear to be quite dangerous.

[Lone Star]

KC wiped the water off of his squiddily brow. Now, he was just annoyed. Ninjas? No problem. He raised his hands, and summoned a huge ball of mystic fire. His eyes glowed an eldritch green as he utilized the magical energies around him. He shouted a battle cry as he hurled the fire at the ninjas, the huge sphere of fire racing towards them. A few tables were knocked over and caught fire as it sped across the restaurant. "I hate ninjas."

[trollthumper]

"Ninjas, huh?" said Nick. "Didn't think the Fair Folk went for ninjas much. Guess some cliches just break down all sorts of barriers." He drew up the ectoplasm still in the area, and felt it harden on his hands into the familiar shapes. He lunged for the ninja with his new claws... only for it to leap out of his way.

"Then again, there's something to be said for efficiency..."

[Lone Star]

Kid Cthulhu was surprised at the mystic force that exploded from his palms. Both of the ninja were immediately knocked over in the explosive burst, immolated for a moment with glowing green fire. "Damn, that was freaking awesome!" he said, and looked at his palms. They were smoking with an otherworly smoke, kind of a blue-ish tinge. "Nick! Look at how awesome I am!"

KC crossed his arms at The Lady of the Parlor. "Bring it, sea-hag."

[Carces]

The Lady of the Parlor frowns in disappointment at her fallen minions, who remain knocked out on the floor.

"It seems I have underestimated your power. No matter! I am the undisputed queen of these waters and you will feel the very wrath of my Realm!"

Once again, the Mistress of the Fishery reaches to the other side of the aquarium, and a much larger orb of water floats effortlessly through the glass, carrying with it three rather large Alligator Snapping Turtles.

"We'll see just how well you fare when your weapons break against the impenetrable shells of the seas! Minions!"

With another gesture, a spray of water, and a flash of light the turtles grow and twist, as their bodies turn into large, animated metal and spikes grow from the shells. Soon, what appears to be 3 large, solid suits of over-sized armor glowers down at you as the slits were eyes should be glow a violent red.

[trollthumper]

"...so, ninjas first, then turtles," Nick said, staring at the snarling, armored terrapins. "God, you guys really are unoriginal, aren't ya?"

Nick charged forward towards the nearest soldier, reaching out with the Talons and trying to find some purchase in the thing's armor.

[Carces]

The Talons pierce through the metallic minion's armor, much to the shock of the Lady. "Impossible!" she exclaims. "Nothing can break through the Aegis of the Deep!"

Despite her claim, the metal begins to carve away when Nick applies enough force, dragging his talons down and rending the beast's breast plate with little trouble. The reddened eyes of the behemoth bruiser flicker and fade as it falls straight down.

Furiously enraged, the Mistress points at her other two remaining minions as she shrieks out her commands.

"Don't just stand there! DESTROY him!"

[Lone Star]

KC's arms pulsed with a mystic glow as he shot out two more rays of eldritch fire. "These guys are pretty flimsy, Ursula. I mean, honestly. Can't you find better help? I don't think you're even trying!" KC grinned as the fire exploded from his palms. This was pretty easy. Hopefully Nick and him could leave the dome soon, and maybe grab something to eat. The Fey-tainted food was making him hungry.

[Carces]

"Arrogant Fool! Did you think I would fall for the same trick twice?!" The sea witch motions to her metal minions who have all been knocked to the ground by the ferocious force of Kid Cthulhu's mystical blast. To your amazement, two of the armored goons rise back to their feet, even after suffering shots of mystical fire that would have demolished most tanks!

"You see? I've made my lovelies impervious to your pathetic attacks! Not even the greatest whale could hope to create a dent in these magnificent bodies of metal!"

The watery wench cackles as the goons prepare a counter attack. You notice that the one Nick attacked is still down for the count, as his magical talons have somehow managed to rend through the walking tin can's armor.

"Don't just stand there! REND them limb from limb!" The lady shouts her commands as she sweeps her finger towards both of you.

In immediate response, the creatures lunge forward with a surprising amount of speed. Nick Cimitiere is fortunate enough to have his defeated victim between himself and the metal men, and draws away from the attack easily. Kid Cthulhu, however is not so fortunate and is caught in the sweeping strike of the monster's huge, metallic arm, striking him squarely in the ribs.

[Lone Star]

The counter attack slams KC right in his rigcage, and a sickening crunch is heard as a few of his ribs are broken. KC lets out a scream of agony as he is thrown across the room, his costume ripped open. "Nick, you gotta take 'em down!" he shouts, panting as he tries to get up. He eventually realizes he can't, and lays down for a moment, his breath rising and falling. This sucks. I can't take another hit like that again!

[trollthumper]

"God, you guys can never just say, 'Die!' or something like that?" Nick said, plunging his claws into the knight in front of him. "It's always gotta be something that sounds like it came from Ming the Merciless's diary. I know you like to think of yourselves of nobility, but can't you be casual for once?"