BlazeStryker
<Confirmed Contradiction>
- Location
- Roanoke, VA
- Pronouns
- Him/He/Dude
It can go well with bread, too, if the bread's not too sweet to start with. (Potato pancakes... I prefer it in place of syrup.)
Scaling Up
- Thread starter Kryslin
- Start date
- Location
- Arizona
*sigh*
I read other threads for a week and i return to find people engaging in the old internet pastime of trelling urban legends. Not merely something as unrealistic as rain, but the weird solid-but-soft water. Worse I find a fellow Arizonan is involved. For shame, Nimodes, for shame! You know as well as I that water comes from pipes and canals, and certainly not something as unrealistic as sky-water. And however common the claims are I doubt the suggestion that rivers ever had water in them like some sort of nature built canal. I've only ever seen water in the Salt River from leaks on the west side of the Tempe Town Lake which you surely know as well as I is a man made park attraction. Pipes and canals, so called sky water is just the result of broken sprinklers, and so called snow or really cold solid-but-soft water doesn't exist (I mean sure, ice does, but that requires water from a pipe that you put in a freezer and it isn't soft).
For shame, people will get hurt or worse if they wander out in the wilds thinking water will just flow to or fall on them.
Thus likely why it was presented as a wildly unlikely occurrence : }
Leaving When Dragon, What Dragon, and Why Dragon. What Dragon is clear from context, When Dragon is right now, and Why Dragon is a sky question. "Always be yourself, unless you can be a fox, then be yourself as a fox," is just a true regarding the opportunity to be a dragon.
The important question is mook mecha pilot or protagonist mecha pilot. One is more likely to have their mecha exploded, but the other has to watch out for love triangles (if lucky, otherwise love multidimensional spiderwebs), sudden mentor evaporation, and most likely multiple conspiracies.
Pff, Lung isn't gone, he just went on a training montage and has returned as a stronger, more heroic dragon. Foolish boy. Then again if he were smart he wouldn't be in this situation committing crimes in a dragon's domain while denying the existence of dragons.
Ketchup, like mayonnaise or chipshop vinegar, belongs on someone else's food
Truer words have rarely been written.
I did. It was delicious.
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Kryslin
[Has Delusions of Authorship]
- Location
- Mythic Iowa
Crystrani (the rarely seen) pokes her head in. "I try not to. For some reason, it give me gas something fierce..."
Sound like lactose intolerance to me.
Harry Leferts
Suave Shadow Cabal Kaiju
She has to like either Swiss Chalet's sauce or St.-Hubert's.
Kryslin
[Has Delusions of Authorship]
- Location
- Mythic Iowa
Colin : "Theresa, you just can't dip your steak in chocolate!"
Theresa : "But it tastes sooooo good!" Thinks for a moment. "On second thought..." slather's some St. Hubert's on it. "Mmmm, pretty tasty."
Colin : "If this was chicken, you'd be using the sauce from the Swiss Chalet restaurant you took me to, wouldn't you?"
Theresa : "Mmm hmmm...."
- Location
- Beyond the Unknowable Veil
Swiss Chalet sauce
2 cups chicken broth
2Tbsp white vinegar
2 tsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp fresh fine ground pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried oregano
Slurry
2 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp cornstarch
Directions
Mix all ingredients except the slurry in a pot and bring to a low boil
Lower heat and simmer for five minutes
Mix the slurry and add to the sauce to thicken
Allow to cool and thicken
Serve warm with chicken. Incomparable with rotisserie chicken.
2 cups chicken broth
2Tbsp white vinegar
2 tsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp fresh fine ground pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried oregano
Slurry
2 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp cornstarch
Directions
Mix all ingredients except the slurry in a pot and bring to a low boil
Lower heat and simmer for five minutes
Mix the slurry and add to the sauce to thicken
Allow to cool and thicken
Serve warm with chicken. Incomparable with rotisserie chicken.
BlazeStryker
<Confirmed Contradiction>
- Location
- Roanoke, VA
- Pronouns
- Him/He/Dude
Of all beings to decide on their tastes as they go along, those like Theresa (or Fallout 4's Curie) have the best premise.
While I'm at it, when it comes to dragons, How Dragon has the most definitive explanation; Tiamat and Bahamut aren't done yet and they learn from their past misadventures. That's how.
While I'm at it, when it comes to dragons, How Dragon has the most definitive explanation; Tiamat and Bahamut aren't done yet and they learn from their past misadventures. That's how.
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Memes and Dragons
Harry Leferts
Suave Shadow Cabal Kaiju
Based on a recent meme...
______________________________________________________________
Chuckling, Ghostface pulled out a knife, "Let's have some fun."
Beside him, the second Ghostface came up and placed a hand on the first's shoulder, "Let me take the knife."
The first one nodded and handed over the knife, "Here."
With a nod, the second took the knife, "Thank you." Rubbing a finger along it, the second Ghostface hummed, "Now, let's gut this son of a-"
Naurlin stared him down in full dragon form with an unamused look, "Hey."
For a few moments, the second Ghostface stared before backing up and handing the knife back, "Take this back for a moment." When he did, he placed a hand on his comrade's shoulder, "Stu... please tell me that is not goddamn Naurlin right there looking pissed."
Smoke issuing from her nostrils, Taylor glared, "It is."
Nodding, Stu hummed a bit, "It is."
Head hanging for a moment, the other Ghostface then raised it, "Why the fuck is she here?!"
One could almost sense Stu blinking, "What are you talking about, Billy? You were the one who told me to."
Sputters came from Billy before he spoke up, "I... when the fuck did I ever say that?!"
Motioning with one hand, the other Ghostface shrugged, "Last week, remember? You said that you wanted to kill a dragon."
Utter silence descended on the two before Billy spoke in a slow tone, "Stu... I said let's kill and drag it on next time. Not kill a goddamn dragon! We're two normal people with a fucking knife, how the fuck are we going to kill a dragon!?"
Very slowly as the issue dawned on him, Stu nodded, "Right... should have been clearer then."
Once more sputtering, the other Ghostface took a deep breath before speaking up, "How did you even get her here?!"
Flat look on her face, Taylor spoke, "He stabbed my dad."
Billy stared at her for several moments, "... Fuck."
The dragon then smiled, "He survived, thankfully... but he told me to come here, so..."
Stu then looked at his friend and then cleared his throat, "... We're cooked, aren't we?"
Chirp escaping from her, Taylor nodded, "Yup! And in more than one way!"
She then opened her mouth as fire gathered there, turning white hot.
Billy just sighed, "I fucking hate you, Stu-"
______________________________________________________________
Chuckling, Ghostface pulled out a knife, "Let's have some fun."
Beside him, the second Ghostface came up and placed a hand on the first's shoulder, "Let me take the knife."
The first one nodded and handed over the knife, "Here."
With a nod, the second took the knife, "Thank you." Rubbing a finger along it, the second Ghostface hummed, "Now, let's gut this son of a-"
Naurlin stared him down in full dragon form with an unamused look, "Hey."
For a few moments, the second Ghostface stared before backing up and handing the knife back, "Take this back for a moment." When he did, he placed a hand on his comrade's shoulder, "Stu... please tell me that is not goddamn Naurlin right there looking pissed."
Smoke issuing from her nostrils, Taylor glared, "It is."
Nodding, Stu hummed a bit, "It is."
Head hanging for a moment, the other Ghostface then raised it, "Why the fuck is she here?!"
One could almost sense Stu blinking, "What are you talking about, Billy? You were the one who told me to."
Sputters came from Billy before he spoke up, "I... when the fuck did I ever say that?!"
Motioning with one hand, the other Ghostface shrugged, "Last week, remember? You said that you wanted to kill a dragon."
Utter silence descended on the two before Billy spoke in a slow tone, "Stu... I said let's kill and drag it on next time. Not kill a goddamn dragon! We're two normal people with a fucking knife, how the fuck are we going to kill a dragon!?"
Very slowly as the issue dawned on him, Stu nodded, "Right... should have been clearer then."
Once more sputtering, the other Ghostface took a deep breath before speaking up, "How did you even get her here?!"
Flat look on her face, Taylor spoke, "He stabbed my dad."
Billy stared at her for several moments, "... Fuck."
The dragon then smiled, "He survived, thankfully... but he told me to come here, so..."
Stu then looked at his friend and then cleared his throat, "... We're cooked, aren't we?"
Chirp escaping from her, Taylor nodded, "Yup! And in more than one way!"
She then opened her mouth as fire gathered there, turning white hot.
Billy just sighed, "I fucking hate you, Stu-"
Stus lucky that Danny lived...
Kryslin
[Has Delusions of Authorship]
- Location
- Mythic Iowa
"About that," Danny says, sitting down at a table in the room. "There are two things that kept that from being painful. The first is this," and he points at an inconspicuous piece of jewelry. "Taylor's told me it's a Starmantle Brooch. It turns metal weapons that come within an inch of me into tiny sparkles of light." He shrugs. "Magic is bullshit, I know. The second is this," and he shows off a gold band on one finger. "She called this one a Star Ring, moreso because it's decorated with stars than it has any effect on the stars. Somehow, it makes me harder to hit, and keeps me warm in winter and cool in summer."
Starmantle Brooch (Wondrous Item, Rare):
While worn, the wearer is under the effect of a continuous Starmantle spell (L6 Wiz/Sorc/Bard/ L7 Priest Spell). Metal weapons that comes in contact with the intent to do the wearer harm turn into a cloud of sparkles of light, which float to the ground. In complete darkness, they appear to have a few stars twinkling around them (This differs from the spell).
Star Ring (Wondrous Item, Uncommon)
Provided a +2 bonus to AC and saving throws. Also, normal temperature extremes do not affect the wearer. The original was made by a wizard for his bardic girlfriend who traveled a lot. The ring proved to be popular, and the wizard made bank on selling copies of the instructions on how to make them.
While worn, the wearer is under the effect of a continuous Starmantle spell (L6 Wiz/Sorc/Bard/ L7 Priest Spell). Metal weapons that comes in contact with the intent to do the wearer harm turn into a cloud of sparkles of light, which float to the ground. In complete darkness, they appear to have a few stars twinkling around them (This differs from the spell).
Star Ring (Wondrous Item, Uncommon)
Provided a +2 bonus to AC and saving throws. Also, normal temperature extremes do not affect the wearer. The original was made by a wizard for his bardic girlfriend who traveled a lot. The ring proved to be popular, and the wizard made bank on selling copies of the instructions on how to make them.
Wizard should have made them by the dozen, told people that's how the spell worked, but took a few weeks to apply the spells properly for each batch, and sold them each for about 6x the material cost. Selling the instructions is a horrible idea.
- Location
- Toledo
Not if his payment was in unknown to him spells or enchantments.
FaerieKnight79
Verified Pixie
- Location
- The Internet
Also, consider... Maybe the wizard didn't want to spend all his time doing nothing but making Star Rings. Maybe he was an adventurer, or maybe he was working on other projects. Or busy advising a king/queen/duke/whatever. Or, again, just didn't feel like spending 18 hours a day, 6 days a week making rings to sell. My guess is that last one was a major reason.
- Pronouns
- They/Any
Stu's mom and dad are gonna be so mad at himmmmmmmmmm...
The whole point of telling people they take weeks to make is to NOT have them bothering you on a daily basis! It's deliberate limiting of the supply so you can keep the prices high. Standard econ theory, low supply=high prices, and the converse of high supply=low prices.
FaerieKnight79
Verified Pixie
- Location
- The Internet
The thing is, making magic items like that does take days to weeks for each item. You have high demand, but your supply is by necessity limited to how much time you actually have to devote to doing the task. On the other hand, if you sell the construction method information to the party's wizard you get paid a premium, and that party's wizard is now the one spending their free time making the rings for his/her friends.
Let's be generous and guess the ring takes 3 days to make, each. But only if you devote every waking moment to either studying the spells needed for the crafting the ring or crafting the actual ring every single day. That means in a given month, the wizard in question could make ten rings. Demand is a hell of a lot higher then that, and if you price them too high you risk either having no buyers, or if you pre-crafted them to sell in a shop you risk getting robbed. Maybe even killed. And if you have to do anything else, time to make each ring goes up a great deal.
Or, you can sell instructions on how to make the Star Rings. Teaching a given person takes maybe 3 days, and you can charge as much as they're willing to pay for the instruction. If you're a good enough teacher, maybe you can even teach 6-10 people at a time. Each of them paying you big bucks for the instruction because they consider the knowledge worth the price. Maybe they just want to outfit their adventuring party. Or maybe they plan to make rings and sell them. But either way, you're getting paid. Even more, the method of how to make the rings is less likely to be lost. And what egotistical wizard wants to be known as the person who invented X, but the secret died with them?
EDIT:
In a Pathfinder 1e campaign I was running, one player decided that once the party had the funds for it, that The Thing To Do was to immediately craft a sizable pile of (admittedly useful) magic items for the party before they headed out to stop the current Big Bad's attacking undead army. Now, the party knew the necromancer's army was currently on the move, and they only had weeks to get into position and stop it in time. If they took more then 3 weeks, the necromancer's forces would have wiped out at least 5 villages due to the majority of local lord's army being committed to an attack his liege lord was commanding elsewhere, and would be firmly the necromancer would be firmly entrenched in an attack on the local ruler's castle. To prevent even one village from being destroyed, they had to get into position within 4 days to cut the army off at a mountain pass. Possible, but it would have meant riding their borrowed horses into the ground while changing mounts multiple times. Something they had official documentation authorizing for the emergency.
With all the magic items the party's wizard decided to craft before they headed out, they didn't leave to face the necromancer's forces for 2 and a half months. They finally left the city they were currently in, and saw an army of undead marching towards the city. They'd already failed to protect the dukedom entirely, and that city was one of the last remaining places to conquer.
Let's be generous and guess the ring takes 3 days to make, each. But only if you devote every waking moment to either studying the spells needed for the crafting the ring or crafting the actual ring every single day. That means in a given month, the wizard in question could make ten rings. Demand is a hell of a lot higher then that, and if you price them too high you risk either having no buyers, or if you pre-crafted them to sell in a shop you risk getting robbed. Maybe even killed. And if you have to do anything else, time to make each ring goes up a great deal.
Or, you can sell instructions on how to make the Star Rings. Teaching a given person takes maybe 3 days, and you can charge as much as they're willing to pay for the instruction. If you're a good enough teacher, maybe you can even teach 6-10 people at a time. Each of them paying you big bucks for the instruction because they consider the knowledge worth the price. Maybe they just want to outfit their adventuring party. Or maybe they plan to make rings and sell them. But either way, you're getting paid. Even more, the method of how to make the rings is less likely to be lost. And what egotistical wizard wants to be known as the person who invented X, but the secret died with them?
EDIT:
In a Pathfinder 1e campaign I was running, one player decided that once the party had the funds for it, that The Thing To Do was to immediately craft a sizable pile of (admittedly useful) magic items for the party before they headed out to stop the current Big Bad's attacking undead army. Now, the party knew the necromancer's army was currently on the move, and they only had weeks to get into position and stop it in time. If they took more then 3 weeks, the necromancer's forces would have wiped out at least 5 villages due to the majority of local lord's army being committed to an attack his liege lord was commanding elsewhere, and would be firmly the necromancer would be firmly entrenched in an attack on the local ruler's castle. To prevent even one village from being destroyed, they had to get into position within 4 days to cut the army off at a mountain pass. Possible, but it would have meant riding their borrowed horses into the ground while changing mounts multiple times. Something they had official documentation authorizing for the emergency.
With all the magic items the party's wizard decided to craft before they headed out, they didn't leave to face the necromancer's forces for 2 and a half months. They finally left the city they were currently in, and saw an army of undead marching towards the city. They'd already failed to protect the dukedom entirely, and that city was one of the last remaining places to conquer.
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Fall 08
Kryslin
[Has Delusions of Authorship]
- Location
- Mythic Iowa
Autumnal Equinox, 2011
The day had dawned dark and dreary. From her bedroom windows, Taylor could see the sun rise through the sliver of sky along the horizon before it disappeared behind the overcast. She pondered the words of Sonngrad, saying how everything would be balanced before things started sliding towards darkness.
As she got up and made her bed, she wondered what other creatures would be making their way out of myth, fable and legend to walk the streets and cause all sorts of trouble. Straightening her comforter, she thought about local stories and hoped that none of Lovecraft's creatures decided to come out and play. Even if they were friendly – which they were definitely not – they would literally make Brockton Bay an open air asylum.
She thought about the local myths she'd heard over the years. There were the typical native legends of the shapeshifters, the fox, crow and raven. The stories about the creatures that could come out of the sea and rivers were more worrisome. The old fairy tales brought or (hopefully) invented by settlers had even more gruesome creatures described, all long since thought to be mere fiction.
She walked downstairs to where breakfast was being served; at the moment, she could smell fresh cinnamon rolls.
"Good morning," her father said. "Rolls just came out, I'll be frosting them here in a minute."
Taylor mumbled something in the affirmative, and poured hot water into her tea pot to make a strong English breakfast tea. She'd probably need it to make any sense of things she thought were coming. The tea had finished steeping and the first sips were taken when Danny served up one of the extremely fluffy and thoroughly iced cinnamon rolls he liked to make.
"Thank you," Taylor said as the caffeine in the tea took hold.
"Long night?" her father asked. "Didn't think you had that much homework."
"I didn't," Taylor admitted. "Yes, I have some short essays coming up, but the outlines for those are done, and the research is fairly simple. It's not like I'm writing a Master's thesis on Parahuman Psychology or something…" With that, she cut a slice out of her roll and began the slow, delicious process of eating it.
Eventually, Taylor swallowed. "It has a lot to do with the weirdness running around loose in town," she said. "The supernatural weirdness, not the normal weirdness."
"Like one of the elves that drank Erwin under the table?" Danny teased his daughter.
"That's relatively tame," Taylor replies. "We've got two man-eating creatures in lockup; one wants to go straight, the other thinks humanity is either food, toys or slaves."
"Ouch," Danny admitted.
"I've been told that things can only get so weird," Taylor continued, "because there's only so much magic in the world although most of it's concentrated here in Brockton Bay."
"That would explain Mr. Magnusson somehow heating metal to work on without firing up a forge," Danny said. "Strangest thing I've seen. He mutters something, concentrates, and in less than thirty seconds the piece is up to working temperature. When he's done with it, it cools off just as unaided. And he and his sons do excellent work."
"The Østergaard's in the Lord's Street Market do excellent work with just hand tools, but one of them told me that they have a machine at home that makes all the common parts they use."
"They also are pretty good at fixing clocks and watches," Danny added. "Your mother's old alarm clock is working perfectly again. Ingrid had some strong words to say about the lack of quality in some mass produced items."
"Anything catch fire, or plants wilt?" Taylor asked. "I've seen what happened when Mrs. Aleshin decided to cut loose with some expletives."
"Nope," Danny shot back. "I think there's quite the difference in power between the two. And really, the one I'd be worried about swearing is Tiamat."
"As if she needs expletives for that."
Off in her lair in the Outlands, the dread Queen of the Chromatic Dragons' red dragon head sneezed.
"Someone talking about us again?" the green head asked.
"Just Taylor's father," the blue head said. "And really nothing all that unusual. Just worried about what would happen if we started swearing and using colorful metaphors."
The white head sighed. "One does not need to use foul language to let others know that you're upset."
The black head nodded. "Speaking clearly, with your language getting more proper and formal, and your demeanor getting colder… That really does make mortals quake in fear and soil themselves."
The blue head sighed, and used mage hand to turn the page of the book it was reading.
Nahia looked up at the knock on her cell door. "Enter," she said, not that her saying "stay out" would keep them out. The healer, Panacea, walked in, accompanied by a PRT trooper. While the trooper stayed near the door, she was pushing a cart in front of her, one that had a covered tub on it.
"Good afternoon, Nahia," Panacea greeted the lamia. "I hope things haven't been too bad."
"Been in worse places," the lamia allowed. "Given what I've been charged with, I'm surprised I haven't been staked out in the open for the vultures."
"We're a little more humane than that," the healer answered. "And your case has caused something of a furor in legal circles. But, despite my mom being a lawyer, that's not what I'm here for." Amy lifted the lid on the container, revealing it to contain slabs of meat. "While I normally stick to using my powers for healing, occasionally I use them for other things; novelty flowers being the most common. However, my mother and legal counsel agree that trying to find a source of food that doesn't require you to hunt down criminals or go to a medical school for a body donated to science is a good use of what I can do."
Nahia looked into the tub. "Is that what I think it is?"
"Power-created artificial human flesh. It should be exactly the same as human muscle tissue taken from the buttocks and thighs, where most of the meat on a human is located. I've also made sure that it has the nutrients that would normally be in the various organs." Panacea took a plate and a knife and fork from the lower shelf of the cart, and placed a chunk of flesh on the plate, handing it and the implements to Nahia.
"You know," Nahia said, "you're taking quite the risk."
"Mmm hmm," Panacea replied with a nod.
"I could take you hostage with the knife," the lamia continued.
"You could, yes," Panacea agreed. "It would be the second to last thing you'd do."
"Out of curiosity, what would be the last thing I'd do?"
"If I didn't render you unconscious, then make sure that you couldn't do anything without assistance," the healer explained, "you'd probably die."
Nahia considered that for a moment. Healers were not people to upset, and she had a strong sense this one was much more dangerous than most. "Good to know," she finally replied, then cut a piece off the chunk of raw flesh in front of her. "Smells right, it's at the right temperature," she murmured, then ate the piece she had on the fork. "Tastes amazing. Oh lord, it tastes so good!"
Even without using her Powers, Amy could see the signs of someone taking a hit from a powerful drug. "It appears I did a good job. I do have a question for you, though."
Nahia almost inhaled the chunk of flesh in front of her before answering. "Yes?"
"Does it have to be raw?"
"No, it doesn't," Nahai answered. "It's not that I can't eat it raw, but I usually cook my food. Besides this one fact, I'd like to think I was somewhat civilized."
"And can it be mixed with other meat?"
"It can. Some others I knew did that to make it last longer, since goats were more common than humans where we lived. It's not that we can't eat other things, it's that they're never enough. A few of our kind have tried to stop and ended up overeating instead."
"Then here's the plan," Panacea explained. "For the moment, this will be served to you and your cousin cooked, as a 'meat substitute', along with some of the vegetables you said you can tolerate. As things progress we'll reduce the amount of this and start adding normal animal meat. Eventually, we'll find the minimum amount of meat substitute needed for you to live on mixed in with normal meat."
"Why go through all this to help me?"
"Been asked that a couple of times already," Amy answered. "Because unlike the other lamia, you want to be a part of society instead of preying on it. That would come to a very messy end here, especially since we have an idea of what powers you have. Masters who can influence people tend to be treated with extreme prejudice.
"It's also the right thing to do, since the tendency to work with the community is something that should be encouraged," Amy finished. "Also, you regretted the necessity of what you did. It wasn't something you took enjoyment in, just something you needed to do to survive, without causing more trouble by going without."
Nahia simply nodded. "Thank you. I think you better check on your guard. He sounded rather ill when he left you in here."
Amy sighed. "I'll go check on him. I'll leave the rest of this with the kitchen staff here, along with instructions."
Pat had just gotten the bar opened when someone entered. The man backlit by the sunlight was tall and muscular. He'd seen him before, he was an occasional customer prior to a certain event.
"Afternoon," Pat called out from the bar. "What can I get you?"
"Do you still have that lager you get from New Jersey?" Kenta asked.
"Still have it on tap," Pat answered, getting a glass ready.
"I'll have a glass." Soon the glass was filled with the beverage from the tap and in his hand, and he handed over a twenty. "Half is yours, put the other half towards Erwin's tab, if he's still around."
"That old bastard's still around," Pat grumbled.
"I heard that!" the aforementioned Erwin shouted from the door, then stopped to take a look at who else was in the establishment. "Haven't seen you around for a while."
Kenta nodded before going to sit in a booth. "I need to talk with you."
"Ah, that's gonna be thirsty work," Erwin said with a smirk. "I'll have one of what he's having. On my tab, of course, Pat."
"If you ever paid that off, I'd be able to retire," Pat stated.
"Nah, you enjoy this place too much," Erwin shot back as he took his glass of beer over to the booth.
"Heard you ran into a spot of trouble," the old fisherman said.
"You might say that," Kenta answered. "turned out for the best."
Erwin raised an eyebrow. "So what do you need from me?"
"Information. Not secrets. What's changed since the incident with Bakuda."
"That girl was bat shit crazy," Erwin stated. "The only thing she accomplished was putting herself into an early grave."
"A mistake I'll not soon repeat."
"Anyway, ol' sandwich bun's flunkies did something no one with common sense should do and poked at a dragon. Specifically, a young dragon, with illegal ammo. In the end, one of the twins and Stabbypuppy are dead, Alabaster remains unconscious, and the rest of 'em are in prison.
"Then Bastard Son tried something," Erwin said with a smirk. "Once certain parties found out he was in the area they set a trap for 'im. Moron took it hook, line and sinker. Almost got himself disemboweled. Later there was a visit by an actual Queen of the Fae. Put on a proper parade and everything; Naurelin hosted her at a party and they left."
"This city has only gotten stranger in my absence," Kenta mused.
"You don't know the half of it," Erwin commented. "We've got people from all sorts of races walking around. A couple of visitors we had recently could out-drink me!"
"Erwin, I could out drink you," Kenta answered.
"Eh, you cheat." Erwin shrugged. "Old acquaintance of mine working down at the DWA can, but he's built like a chunk of iron. This new guy could barely speak English and didn't have much meat on his bones. Matched me drink for drink until I fell unconscious."
"Unbelievable," Kenta murmured. "How has the girl done?"
"Naurelin has done a fairly good job," Erwin explained. "Violent crime is down, or at least out of sight. Li Xiao has kept everyone in line, and between him, her, your wife, and your daughter, things are pretty good. With violent crime out of sight, foot traffic is up and normal businesses are profitable. She knows about the casino, but leaves its operations to Li. She figures what she doesn't know about, she can't be charged with. And the casino's becoming almost respectable."
Kenta nodded. "What other news?"
"Hmm, if you see any of the foxes around here, be polite," Erwin instructed. "The one with five tails will just humiliate you to the point where you wished you were dead. The other one… best not to think about what she'd do to ya."
"Thank you," Kenta said. He slid a hundred dollar bill over to the old fisherman, finished his beer, and walked out of the bar, wondering what the future will bring.
Back inside, Erwin chuckled to himself. "Eh, forgot to tell him about the Endbringers. He'll find out soon enough."
The day had dawned dark and dreary. From her bedroom windows, Taylor could see the sun rise through the sliver of sky along the horizon before it disappeared behind the overcast. She pondered the words of Sonngrad, saying how everything would be balanced before things started sliding towards darkness.
As she got up and made her bed, she wondered what other creatures would be making their way out of myth, fable and legend to walk the streets and cause all sorts of trouble. Straightening her comforter, she thought about local stories and hoped that none of Lovecraft's creatures decided to come out and play. Even if they were friendly – which they were definitely not – they would literally make Brockton Bay an open air asylum.
She thought about the local myths she'd heard over the years. There were the typical native legends of the shapeshifters, the fox, crow and raven. The stories about the creatures that could come out of the sea and rivers were more worrisome. The old fairy tales brought or (hopefully) invented by settlers had even more gruesome creatures described, all long since thought to be mere fiction.
She walked downstairs to where breakfast was being served; at the moment, she could smell fresh cinnamon rolls.
"Good morning," her father said. "Rolls just came out, I'll be frosting them here in a minute."
Taylor mumbled something in the affirmative, and poured hot water into her tea pot to make a strong English breakfast tea. She'd probably need it to make any sense of things she thought were coming. The tea had finished steeping and the first sips were taken when Danny served up one of the extremely fluffy and thoroughly iced cinnamon rolls he liked to make.
"Thank you," Taylor said as the caffeine in the tea took hold.
"Long night?" her father asked. "Didn't think you had that much homework."
"I didn't," Taylor admitted. "Yes, I have some short essays coming up, but the outlines for those are done, and the research is fairly simple. It's not like I'm writing a Master's thesis on Parahuman Psychology or something…" With that, she cut a slice out of her roll and began the slow, delicious process of eating it.
Eventually, Taylor swallowed. "It has a lot to do with the weirdness running around loose in town," she said. "The supernatural weirdness, not the normal weirdness."
"Like one of the elves that drank Erwin under the table?" Danny teased his daughter.
"That's relatively tame," Taylor replies. "We've got two man-eating creatures in lockup; one wants to go straight, the other thinks humanity is either food, toys or slaves."
"Ouch," Danny admitted.
"I've been told that things can only get so weird," Taylor continued, "because there's only so much magic in the world although most of it's concentrated here in Brockton Bay."
"That would explain Mr. Magnusson somehow heating metal to work on without firing up a forge," Danny said. "Strangest thing I've seen. He mutters something, concentrates, and in less than thirty seconds the piece is up to working temperature. When he's done with it, it cools off just as unaided. And he and his sons do excellent work."
"The Østergaard's in the Lord's Street Market do excellent work with just hand tools, but one of them told me that they have a machine at home that makes all the common parts they use."
"They also are pretty good at fixing clocks and watches," Danny added. "Your mother's old alarm clock is working perfectly again. Ingrid had some strong words to say about the lack of quality in some mass produced items."
"Anything catch fire, or plants wilt?" Taylor asked. "I've seen what happened when Mrs. Aleshin decided to cut loose with some expletives."
"Nope," Danny shot back. "I think there's quite the difference in power between the two. And really, the one I'd be worried about swearing is Tiamat."
"As if she needs expletives for that."
= = = = = = = = = =
Off in her lair in the Outlands, the dread Queen of the Chromatic Dragons' red dragon head sneezed.
"Someone talking about us again?" the green head asked.
"Just Taylor's father," the blue head said. "And really nothing all that unusual. Just worried about what would happen if we started swearing and using colorful metaphors."
The white head sighed. "One does not need to use foul language to let others know that you're upset."
The black head nodded. "Speaking clearly, with your language getting more proper and formal, and your demeanor getting colder… That really does make mortals quake in fear and soil themselves."
The blue head sighed, and used mage hand to turn the page of the book it was reading.
= = = = = = = = = =
Nahia looked up at the knock on her cell door. "Enter," she said, not that her saying "stay out" would keep them out. The healer, Panacea, walked in, accompanied by a PRT trooper. While the trooper stayed near the door, she was pushing a cart in front of her, one that had a covered tub on it.
"Good afternoon, Nahia," Panacea greeted the lamia. "I hope things haven't been too bad."
"Been in worse places," the lamia allowed. "Given what I've been charged with, I'm surprised I haven't been staked out in the open for the vultures."
"We're a little more humane than that," the healer answered. "And your case has caused something of a furor in legal circles. But, despite my mom being a lawyer, that's not what I'm here for." Amy lifted the lid on the container, revealing it to contain slabs of meat. "While I normally stick to using my powers for healing, occasionally I use them for other things; novelty flowers being the most common. However, my mother and legal counsel agree that trying to find a source of food that doesn't require you to hunt down criminals or go to a medical school for a body donated to science is a good use of what I can do."
Nahia looked into the tub. "Is that what I think it is?"
"Power-created artificial human flesh. It should be exactly the same as human muscle tissue taken from the buttocks and thighs, where most of the meat on a human is located. I've also made sure that it has the nutrients that would normally be in the various organs." Panacea took a plate and a knife and fork from the lower shelf of the cart, and placed a chunk of flesh on the plate, handing it and the implements to Nahia.
"You know," Nahia said, "you're taking quite the risk."
"Mmm hmm," Panacea replied with a nod.
"I could take you hostage with the knife," the lamia continued.
"You could, yes," Panacea agreed. "It would be the second to last thing you'd do."
"Out of curiosity, what would be the last thing I'd do?"
"If I didn't render you unconscious, then make sure that you couldn't do anything without assistance," the healer explained, "you'd probably die."
Nahia considered that for a moment. Healers were not people to upset, and she had a strong sense this one was much more dangerous than most. "Good to know," she finally replied, then cut a piece off the chunk of raw flesh in front of her. "Smells right, it's at the right temperature," she murmured, then ate the piece she had on the fork. "Tastes amazing. Oh lord, it tastes so good!"
Even without using her Powers, Amy could see the signs of someone taking a hit from a powerful drug. "It appears I did a good job. I do have a question for you, though."
Nahia almost inhaled the chunk of flesh in front of her before answering. "Yes?"
"Does it have to be raw?"
"No, it doesn't," Nahai answered. "It's not that I can't eat it raw, but I usually cook my food. Besides this one fact, I'd like to think I was somewhat civilized."
"And can it be mixed with other meat?"
"It can. Some others I knew did that to make it last longer, since goats were more common than humans where we lived. It's not that we can't eat other things, it's that they're never enough. A few of our kind have tried to stop and ended up overeating instead."
"Then here's the plan," Panacea explained. "For the moment, this will be served to you and your cousin cooked, as a 'meat substitute', along with some of the vegetables you said you can tolerate. As things progress we'll reduce the amount of this and start adding normal animal meat. Eventually, we'll find the minimum amount of meat substitute needed for you to live on mixed in with normal meat."
"Why go through all this to help me?"
"Been asked that a couple of times already," Amy answered. "Because unlike the other lamia, you want to be a part of society instead of preying on it. That would come to a very messy end here, especially since we have an idea of what powers you have. Masters who can influence people tend to be treated with extreme prejudice.
"It's also the right thing to do, since the tendency to work with the community is something that should be encouraged," Amy finished. "Also, you regretted the necessity of what you did. It wasn't something you took enjoyment in, just something you needed to do to survive, without causing more trouble by going without."
Nahia simply nodded. "Thank you. I think you better check on your guard. He sounded rather ill when he left you in here."
Amy sighed. "I'll go check on him. I'll leave the rest of this with the kitchen staff here, along with instructions."
= = = = = = = = = =
Pat had just gotten the bar opened when someone entered. The man backlit by the sunlight was tall and muscular. He'd seen him before, he was an occasional customer prior to a certain event.
"Afternoon," Pat called out from the bar. "What can I get you?"
"Do you still have that lager you get from New Jersey?" Kenta asked.
"Still have it on tap," Pat answered, getting a glass ready.
"I'll have a glass." Soon the glass was filled with the beverage from the tap and in his hand, and he handed over a twenty. "Half is yours, put the other half towards Erwin's tab, if he's still around."
"That old bastard's still around," Pat grumbled.
"I heard that!" the aforementioned Erwin shouted from the door, then stopped to take a look at who else was in the establishment. "Haven't seen you around for a while."
Kenta nodded before going to sit in a booth. "I need to talk with you."
"Ah, that's gonna be thirsty work," Erwin said with a smirk. "I'll have one of what he's having. On my tab, of course, Pat."
"If you ever paid that off, I'd be able to retire," Pat stated.
"Nah, you enjoy this place too much," Erwin shot back as he took his glass of beer over to the booth.
"Heard you ran into a spot of trouble," the old fisherman said.
"You might say that," Kenta answered. "turned out for the best."
Erwin raised an eyebrow. "So what do you need from me?"
"Information. Not secrets. What's changed since the incident with Bakuda."
"That girl was bat shit crazy," Erwin stated. "The only thing she accomplished was putting herself into an early grave."
"A mistake I'll not soon repeat."
"Anyway, ol' sandwich bun's flunkies did something no one with common sense should do and poked at a dragon. Specifically, a young dragon, with illegal ammo. In the end, one of the twins and Stabbypuppy are dead, Alabaster remains unconscious, and the rest of 'em are in prison.
"Then Bastard Son tried something," Erwin said with a smirk. "Once certain parties found out he was in the area they set a trap for 'im. Moron took it hook, line and sinker. Almost got himself disemboweled. Later there was a visit by an actual Queen of the Fae. Put on a proper parade and everything; Naurelin hosted her at a party and they left."
"This city has only gotten stranger in my absence," Kenta mused.
"You don't know the half of it," Erwin commented. "We've got people from all sorts of races walking around. A couple of visitors we had recently could out-drink me!"
"Erwin, I could out drink you," Kenta answered.
"Eh, you cheat." Erwin shrugged. "Old acquaintance of mine working down at the DWA can, but he's built like a chunk of iron. This new guy could barely speak English and didn't have much meat on his bones. Matched me drink for drink until I fell unconscious."
"Unbelievable," Kenta murmured. "How has the girl done?"
"Naurelin has done a fairly good job," Erwin explained. "Violent crime is down, or at least out of sight. Li Xiao has kept everyone in line, and between him, her, your wife, and your daughter, things are pretty good. With violent crime out of sight, foot traffic is up and normal businesses are profitable. She knows about the casino, but leaves its operations to Li. She figures what she doesn't know about, she can't be charged with. And the casino's becoming almost respectable."
Kenta nodded. "What other news?"
"Hmm, if you see any of the foxes around here, be polite," Erwin instructed. "The one with five tails will just humiliate you to the point where you wished you were dead. The other one… best not to think about what she'd do to ya."
"Thank you," Kenta said. He slid a hundred dollar bill over to the old fisherman, finished his beer, and walked out of the bar, wondering what the future will bring.
Back inside, Erwin chuckled to himself. "Eh, forgot to tell him about the Endbringers. He'll find out soon enough."
GreydonCreed
Man of Culture
- Location
- United States
What happened to the Endbringers? I don't right remember at this point.
Got freed from being forced to Bring End and try to live as human(like being)s