Elliott: There is a darkness, and a lightless flame that moves through it. The flame is languid; it struts; it is confident in both its power and its purpose. No bulbs blare to life, though; this is a far and sunless land, but not a stage. This is a moment, and it might have been true:
:spotninuan:
Sadabus Argand, tell us: What were you, in those glory days, when you still fought the good fight? What worlds did you burn, and what heroes did you overcome?
Sadabus: I'm still fighting the good fight!
This is just… a temporary vacation brought on by unwise gambling.
Elliott: But what about before the wager?
What is writ of you, in the books of Ninuan?
Sadabus: I was the scourge of a thousand worlds, and the feared enemy of a thousand Powers, each of whom still dreams of the terror that awaits them once I escape this vacation and return to my swathe of antagonism.
It is because of my dark work that the Power of Fire is, to this day, in the shape of a small duck.
Elliott: A fearsome resume.
But this is not a story of who you were, sadly. We will have to turn away now from those glories, and turn to Sadabus as he is today: Walking into a room literally covered with bills and notices, summons, and subpoenas. For this is a story of Sadabus Argand and the Tri-County Chapter of the Rider's Abstinence Society.
You're all there! You just walked in to Sadabus' station.
What have you been broadcasting lately, anyway?
:spotcreation:
Sadabus: As previously mentioned, I've begun a slate of teen dramas designed to increase awareness of, and the popularity of, the Excrucian people.
I think the phrase was "Riverdale, but the shirts they aren't wearing have cravats." :fuguechip:
Semegastes: Semegastes' most recent show was "what if we took subliminal messaging, but we made it the entire thing," as conceived of by the Technical Kids, and as very unpleasant to photosensitive viewers.
Sales of spoilt meat are going up slightly. :fuguechip:
Radegesis: I think that, having forgotten to slime Slimetopia, Rad is furiously trying to use up the back order of slime. That we… ordered?
Elliott: (Poppy's got you covered on invoices.)
Radegesis: Thank God someone here has Ability.
The current plan of action iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis… slime balloon fights?
Gailizia: Gailizia has been doing craft-oriented kids programming as an excuse to make props with Scalbrand. It doesn't appear on the show, but the two of them do get to make clown stuff in different stages of completeness. They did puppets, and now they're doing a woodcarving segment to make juggling pins. :fuguechip:
Elliott: That's outrageously wholesome.
Gailizia: One of her secret clown tricks!
Elliott: Anyway!
So, Sadabus. Things have been going okay. Ever since y'all calmed down Uugaruu, it seems easier for you to broadcast your station and not have it overlap with TCPATV in weird and inconvenient ways. You still get a bit of interference every now and then, with like… a single frame of enormous lips.
But you're not sure if that's them fucking with you or just reminding you all that they still want Powers.
But for like… the last two days, it seems like it's just one thing after another.
Electricity is going out! Fuses burst! You're getting bills from places all over the Tri-County Area!
Sadabus: Time to use candles instead, I guess.
Radegesis: "C'mon, Sad. You know better than that. Once is an accident, twice is coincidence. Thrice is enemy action." She accentuates it by pounding a fist into her palm.
"Fourth time I think wraps back around to accident, though, so watch out." :fuguechip:
Elliott: Your whole staff of magicians and arcanists seem kind of beleaguered.
And worst of all, that ward you put on the station's attic just tripped!
Gailizia: Gailizia shoves a glacial drift of traffic tickets off of a desk and puts down a mug of tea before picking up a few stray documents and looking more closely at them.
"Who's even sending these to you, anyways? Did someone do computer stuff to get you on everyone's mail list?"
:spotreckoning:
Radegesis: "Betcha its the Black Arts Bitches again."
Sadabus: Sadabus yawns. He's been very busy directing.
"How bothersome."
"Angels in the attic again. Or something."
"Still, mere sleep deprivation will not prevent them from Ruing The Day they crossed Sadabus Argand, master of the holy dark." :fuguechip:
Elliott: Looks like they're from business across the area. Oh, and a number of notices and infractions from the Dara County Sheriff's Office. And also the Eintz County Tax Assessor. And the Secret Neighborhood Covenant.
(Their letter is written on pink paper.)
Gailizia: Are they actually meant for Sadabus, or have they just been redirected here?
Elliott: They are all named for Sadabus, yes. Sometimes in his capacity as station head, but a lot of them are just straight up tickets and infractions and bar tabs for Sadabus Argand.
Radegesis: "Dang, Sad. If I'da known you could drink like this, we woulda gone bar crawling a long time ago."
Gailizia: Gailizia takes a big sip of her tea.
"Looks like these all really are for you, Sads."
Sadabus: "Is this for… beer? Fraudulent and objectionable!"
Radegesis: "Aw, guess not."
Sadabus: "I could easily drink you under the table, with the many boxes of delicious wine I've removed from the grocery store and placed in the wine cellar. But not with mere pub-house hops!"
Semegastes:
@kanyewest @elonmusk @lordentropy Secret Neighborhood Covenant? wtf???
Greater Investigation, 3 Fugue, +1 XP
Sadabus: Like… exactly how many of these things are things I've plausibly actually done? :spotcreation:
Gailizia: Gailizia is gonna peruse the Secret Neighborhood Covenant letter some more too, that sounds juicy and like wizard drama.
Radegesis: Yeah, is it a secret covenant in the neighborhood, or a covenant for secret neighbors?
Radegesis camped out in a guy's backyard for like a week once; does that count? :fuguechip:
Elliott: Semegastes: Despite the name, the Secret Neighborhood Covenant is a mostly-inept society. You think they might be a distant offshoot of the Cleave of Botanists? Like, their eighth cousins twice removed, with none of the knowledge and power. Excrucian guidebook reads: Mostly harmless.
Semegastes: Oh, so, they're Nobiliser HOA, got it.
hotquackbatarang: oh those nerds
themotleyfoole: we've kept them away by talking about anarchist theory when they get too close
Elliott: Sadabus: There's probably a fair few of these that seem legit, like operating a TV station without a license or that time you set an apple cart on fire. The majority, though, seem distinctly out-of-character and are not things you remember doing.
Sadabus: Oh, I guess I'll ignore them, then.
[Sadabus sweeps them all up into a big pile and nails them to the wall with a single giant spear conjured by his sorcery.]
Radegesis: "Aw, fuck yeah."
Semegastes: "So, Sadabus, Everett does the same thing when he gets those letters."
"And it really, really does not work."
Gailizia: What's this one say?
Radegesis: "Sounds like that's because Everett does not have a single guy to go harass in person. But we got a whole Covenant to screw with."
Sadabus: "That's because you never follow through on your threats to kill the sender." :fuguechip:
"And now you're probably going to tell me I can't, either."
"You generally do."
Semegastes: "No murder!"
Sadabus: "It's self-defense," argues Sadabus, somewhat half-heartedly.
Radegesis: "I mean I'm not gonna say no murder no murder, but like, 1% murder?"
"Skim murder?"
Sadabus: "Fine, fine; we'll just curse the justice system into inoperability."
Gailizia: "I think that's considered contempt of court."
Radegesis: "…almond murder?" :fuguechip:
Semegastes: "Does it not seem… very coincidental… that you are getting all of these, all at once?"
Sadabus: "I am the enemy of all creation," points out Sadabus.
Semegastes: "Maybe narrow down the root cause of all of this, then curse at that."
Sadabus: "Really, it's surprising they haven't…"
Gailizia: Gailizia is flipping through some more letters while eyeing the Secret Covenant letter.
"Huh, I didn't know you could get sued for being a bad tipper."
[And then Ruth Bader Ginsberg died, which frankly kind of took a World-Breaker's Hand to the mood.]
[Some time later:]
Elliott: LAST TIME ON GLITCHTV:
Things are in disarray at Sadabus' station — everything is shorting out, the mages seem hectored and exhausted, someone tripped the alarm ward on the attic, and there's a whole slew of paperwork intended to implicate you in court cases, misdemeanors, tax audits…
Sadabus: I'm sure the warrants for the crimes I actually committed are much more interesting.
Elliott: Yeah, you definitely don't remember doing anything like the majority of these.
Sadabus: Meanwhile, I will check on my magical minions, henchmen, and lieutenants. I wish to become known as an evil wizard… but a good boss. :spotcreation:
Radegesis: Inspirational!
Sadabus: True evil schemes responsibly!
Elliott: They're not in great shape, Sadabus. Most of them look like they've got the weight of this wrong, wrong world on their shoulders; if pressed, they'll probably unwind a mountain of their own troubles which are oddly similar in shape to your own: Police and taxes and credit collectors screaming for debts they never had before.
And the more magical members — comparatively speaking — are getting some of the same harassment from the supernatural world, putting liens against their spell slots and power points.
Radegesis: Dastardly!
Sadabus: It seems me "just walk away" strategy is being put to the test.
It's time to find the lien that looks most interesting and examine it good and hard!
Radegesis: Rad chants secret covenant secret covenant under her breath.
Sadabus: Then we track it back to its source.
Gailizia: Gailizia continues to inspect the Secret Covenant letter.
Sadabus: I sense we have come to a consensus about which lien is most interesting.
Elliott: Oh! So, the letter is basically a magical restraining order. Thou shalt not come within one hundred and fifty cubits of Secret Covenant property or events and whatnot. You feel an extremely mild tickle of magic behind that order — it might have been trouble for a mortal, but for Sadabus, it is not even worth calling it a petty magic.
Sadabus: Does it say why?
Elliott: It's like… a Geas so weak it rounds down to 0.
Semegastes: "I think we should find a Secret Covenant event, and then get within one hundred and fifty cubits of it." :fuguechip:
Radegesis: "Oh sounds like it is time to trespass."
Sadabus: "We have, essentially, been invited."
"Let's see if there's a baptism on."
Radegesis: Radegesis puts her hands out to theorize about the length of a cubit. Like if you imagine a… cube?
Elliott: It says that this is in response to thy prior act of wanton anarchy, enacted against us on or about the night of the Seven-and-a-Quarter Moon.
Sadabus: "A christening, an adoption ceremony… oh!"
"A gender reveal party." :fuguechip:
Gailizia: "Ewww."
Sadabus: "The most destructive parties of all."
Radegesis: "Oh, dude it's pretty much a win for Creation if we crash one of those."
"Seven and a quarter moon… what's that in dog years?"
Sadabus: "Hold on while I check the Register of My Evil Deeds."
Elliott: A quick whip-round the mortal mages suggests that was like, maybe four days ago?
Sadabus: "I think I was blighting the fields of our rival football team that night."
Radegesis: "We have a football team?"
Sadabus: "The rivals of the local high school."
Sadabus waves his evil index fingers in the air. "Go, team!"
Gailizia: "You follow local football?"
Sadabus: "We wish to become beloved in the Tri-County Area, after all. It's only proper to support their champions and crush their foes."
Radegesis: "Oh, yeah, if that's Cole's school, then rah-rah-rah."
Sadabus: "I've ordered a new cloak in Tri-County colors." (whatever those are)
Elliott: (Moss green and purple.)
Radegesis: "So. When's the next Secret Gender Reveal?"
Gailizia: "Well, if they're white homeowners in a secret society, probably the full moon?"
Semegastes: :spotreckoning: on the reason why the Secret Covenant does baby showers and gender reveals, because I forgot that.
Gailizia: I don't think we've established that yet.
It's just an excellent bit we're running with and now making lore for.
[Elliott thinks.]
Sadabus: No, no, we use the spotlight to insist that they do gender reveal parties.
Elliott: This is Creation, and so I don't think I'm obligated to fully reify that just because you're doing attention at it. But I will.
Gailizia: Tonight on GLITCHTV: we crash an occult quiverfull baby shower. :fuguechip:
Radegesis: Oh, we have to blow that shit up.
Sadabus: Now, I'm going to need each of you to bring a curse for the baby.
Or a blessing. You do you.
Radegesis: Rad tosses a buzzing fig up and down thoughtfully.
Elliott: The Secret Covenant is definitely putting out the vibes of "Order of the Golden Dawn meets country club"; it's no wonder they'd take family events seriously, given their focus on bloodline.
Semegastes: I shall give them the blessing of being able to eat honey.
Do they have the absolutely horrid Aleister Crowley hats?
Elliott: Probably.
Gailizia: I bet they've got a lodge.
Elliott: There's no comfortable way to say this, but: they do, and it's a plantation.
Radegesis: They will when I lodge Gabrelt up their ass.
Sadabus: Oh, I could free their line from the curse of heterosexuality for seven generations hence.
Radegesis: I feel like there's something to be done with with "egg" as pretransition trans, and as something Rad can hatch.
But I don't have Persona enchantments to land the joke.
Sadabus: I guess I could also just steal their baby and raise it as my own.
Gailizia: There's no way around the fact that they're probably a bunch of HOA-esque white petite bourgeoisie.
Sadabus: Or… steal the gender before they can reveal it!
Then, when the child challenges me to reclaim their lost gender, they find that it has become monstrous after fifteen years in my clutches.
Elliott: So!
Gailizia: So.
Where's the local country club?
Elliott: I'm hearing a lot of plans to go be the worst fairy godfolk.
Sadabus: The best.
Radegesis: In the absence of curses or blessings, Rad might just bring booze.
So I think that lands her pretty square in the middle of the spectrum.
Semegastes: Semegastes doesn't do blessings, but they do do #blessings.
Radegesis: However, if we wish to crash through the wall, I do have an ox corpse full of bees. :fuguechip:
Elliott: So you're able to figure this out pretty easily; they've got events all the fuckdamntime, and there's one that night that you're able to suss out without too much trouble.
Sadabus: "Should we bring anything?" asks Sadabus. "I mean, like, food, as opposed to curses."
"Maybe I should make some eclairs."
Gailizia: Gailizia ponders. "I think cakes are traditional? Maybe some dip?"
Semegastes: "I shall bring… ten pounds of raw beef."
Sadabus: "I am the scion of the holy black, Gailizia. I do not make 'dip.'"
[Sadabus attempts to think of a fancy thing he can make that is, basically, dip.]
Semegastes: Semegastes, in Everett, makes the facial expression that is "Slab is telepathically telling me she will absolutely not give me ten pounds of beef for racists, fuck that." :fuguechip:
Gailizia: Finger sandwiches with au jus sauce.
Sadabus: "Oh, let's just do a seven-story cake."
Radegesis: "And then I bust out like the Trojan Horse!"
Gailizia: Gailizia stops halfway through a thought.
"Damn, both of us would be good coming out of a cake, wouldn't we?"
Sadabus: "Two! Two seven-story cakes!"
Semegastes: "No, that'd be too suspicious. Radegesis and Gailizia will just have to share a cake."
Gailizia: Gailizia nods.
Radegesis: "Hhhhhhh— I mean, yeah, that's perfectly fine and okay."
cool/flustered
[Sadabus performs the complex calculations necessary to store two women inside one cake.]
Gailizia: "Please, Sads, I'm a pro at stuffing the most people into the least space."
She slides you some math.
Clown math. :fuguechip:
Sadabus: "Yes, but what about the filling?"
"The cake has to be edible or the jest is ruined."
"One layer chocolate, one layer vanilla, one layer strawberry, one layer Gailizia, one layer Radegesis, one layer coconut, and one layer licorice." :fuguechip:
Gailizia: "We're the core, kinda like a volcano, but instead it's femmes bursting out to curse or bless a racist's child."
Sadabus: "Very well, but you'll be quite close together and you'll have to hold onto each other tightly for several hours."
Gailizia: "Also, licorice?"
Sadabus: "It's important to remember that I hate these people."
"Then, let it be so! Don your vestments of godparentry, and meet me in the kitchen!"
Elliott: Okay, new chapter.
The Secret Covenant's dastardly gender reveal party is taking place in their clubhouse, a converted plantation. There's a long driveway to the front; oaks dripping in Spanish moss line it on either side.
Semegastes: I feel like we hit… 1 XP there?
Elliott: Yep.
They're gathered out in a gazebo nearby; the moon is still low in the sky, but large and strangely yellow.
There are many, many sweaters.
Radegesis: The dread gazebo!
Sadabus: Sadabus and the cake proceed down the driveway.
Semegastes, what is your semblance tonight?
Semegastes: Semegastes is going in their formal Costumery, with Everett as their plus one.
Gailizia: Gailizia is actually able to see a concerning amount of all this from inside the cake, thanks to their Ninuanni senses. She's in one of her more colorful and androgynous getups tonight.
Semegastes: And of course, a super-famous e-celebrity like them can secure an invite with a… Stunt?
Elliott: You're met by a security-wizard, who looks apoplectic at your approach.
Gailizia: Seven layers of cake means seven colors to coordinate! :fuguechip:
Sadabus: "My invitation," announces Sadabus, proffering the restraining order.
Elliott: Semegastes gets waived in; they've got an invitation after all! But the wizard glowers at Sadabus and the restraining order.
Sadabus: I guess Everett is pulling the cake wagon.
Elliott: "What do you think you're doing here, world-foe?"
He spits the word at Sadabus.
Sadabus: "I come at your request, to bestow the blessings of Ninuan upon the gender that is to be."
"Surely, you would not have forbidden me to attend unless you wished to be absolutely certain that I would come."
Elliott: "That's not how this works! And how are you even here, upon our hallowed ground, with the full force of our writ against you?"
Sadabus: "Perhaps the writ would be more effective if you learned a bit of magic?"
Radegesis: There's a very very faint ooooh from inside the cake.
Gailizia: Gailizia would give Rad a high five, but instead settles for patting the back of her head from the position they're metaphorically tied up in.
Sadabus: "You seek to bar my passage? Yet I am not of this world, and your laws are not mine. By your actions you not merely invite my presence, you justify what I shall now do."
"Which is to say…"
"Blessings be upon this house."
Elliott: The wizard turns, and yells:
"The monster has returned! Let loose the defenses!"
Semegastes: "Wait, were you here before?"
Sadabus: "I clearly have not been, or I would have said.'
Semegastes: "Okay, so mister guard, the monster has't returned, because he hasn't been before. Go tell your friends that."
Intensity to make him do this stupid thing.
Sadabus: "Clearly there's some kind of plot going on in which we are troubled by Sadabus impersonators," remarks that wizard. "Do we actually care enough to convince these recreants of my (technical) innocence?"
Elliott: The wizard stares down the glamour that is Semegastes, robed in all their majesty. He stops. He falters, bites at his lip. He runs!
But the defenses are upon you!
Radegesis: "Do we jump outta the cake yet?"
Elliott: In this case, the defenses are a quartet of shadowy creatures, like living capes.
Gailizia: "Hold on, Sadabus won't get bested by like, four shadow monsters."
Radegesis: "Okay, but I'm kinda hungry and the coconut smells real good."
Semegastes: Semegastes looses a level 6 Ignition of Everett, so that he can vibe with these shadow people.
Weaponized vibing!
Gailizia: "Okay, but just take a nibble and try not to get my ear." :fuguechip:
[Sadabus ceases his magical annihilation of these wraiths for the time being.]
Elliott: What does weaponized vibing mean, in terms of intent?
Semegastes: You know how capybaras are just impossible to not be mellow and chill around, even if you're like a crocodile?
Everett is the metaphorical capybara here.
Sadabus: A heat sink for all things exciting and manly.
Radegesis: no thoughts head empty
Elliott: Mmmm. It seems to have no effect on these creatures — perhaps they are not cryptids?
They close in, though.
They encroach.
Sadabus: I renew my previous plan.
Sadabus: Sadabus raises his staff and annihilates the shadow monsters with prismatic spray. Or at least, he tries!
Semegastes: "No one encroaches on my hus — I mean, boyfriend, no one encroaches on my boyfriend, motherfuckers."
Elliott: I take it you're throwing around Destructions, Sadabus?
Sadabus: I was thinking it was a stunt of sorcery, but that works, too.
Semegastes: Semegastes will join in with Destructions to destroy the shadows' happiness.
Elliott: Destruction gets rid of these; they are relatively weak. But there's a strange feeling to it, like going to punch someone only to find out they're an elaborate simulacrum made of cake and fondant.
I mean, not exactly like that.
There are other cake-based schemes already in play!
But definitely… insubstantial.
Sadabus: Like a thing with no dharma?
Elliott: Mmmm. Definitely like…
You realize as you're walking over to the gazebo, triumphant in your holy void-flames.
Those were Arcana.
Really, really weak Arcana.
They were your Arcana.
Sadabus: Oh, then Destruction wouldn't hurt them, anyway.
Elliott: At least, the Arcana you could have had, if you bothered.
Sadabus: I guess I should, like, bind them or something.
Gailizia: Well, it would be phantasmagorical, which isn't quite the same as not hurting them.
Radegesis: Shadow flickers in firelight.
Semegastes: The Arcana Your Arcana Could Look Like.
Radegesis: Also, what the dang heck? :spotreckoning:
If this is that alternate timelines bastard again…
Elliott: What are you spotlighting on this one?
Radegesis: Not that Rad can see that much through the cake.
How someone got a hold of Sadabus' alternate-arcana! I can barely get a hold of him on a regular day.
Unless we're being evil; then I can't get rid of him.
Sadabus: I shall look vaguely about, wondering if some waylet or other oddity is nearby, from which such minions could be called forth.
:spotcreation:
I'll even use Vision since that is an ability I definitely have.
Elliott: There's not anything immediately apparent, but if you take a moment — don't worry, the wizards are cowering, mostly; except the Karenmancers, who are getting all up in Semegastes' business — but you follow where the creatures came from. There's a grate, and if you throw it open, you can see down into a cellar full of weak things of the Not. Truly, exceptionally weak, but still; they smell of Ninuan, of home, of silver water and brief respite and wind full of flower and promise.
Sadabus: This is…
…arcanum slavery?
Elliott: Clarification: Like a root cellar. And no chains.
We're not getting that far into the metaphor.
Sadabus: This is…
…arcanum canning?
Sadabus: "…I see," says Sadabus. "So, you're in a jam." :fuguechip: :turnback:
Radegesis: I wish I could chip harder than one chip.
Elliott: One of the wizards has plucked up all her courage and broken free of the pacK. She's pregnant, so probably this is her party?
"What do you want from us, monster?"
Sadabus: "I have come because I was invited, to bless the child that swells within your womb, and so forth. Also because you have turned my Sphere into a wildlive preserves."
"Futhermore, I made you this cake."
Elliott: She is absolutely unsure how to respond to that one.
{Sadabus gestures at the cake.]
Radegesis: "Is that our cue, or…"
[Sadabus uses Intensity to guilt her into taking a slice.]
Gailizia: "I'm not sure, were we waiting for the reveal or something else?"
Sadabus: Just wait for someone to cut it.
Radegesis: Gabrelt quivers in Rad's hand. The slice of coconut impaled on its tip quivers along.
Gailizia: "Ooo, toasted coconut, clever thinking."
Elliott: She goes, uncertain but trying to put on a brave face, to cut the cake.
Sadabus: I leave what comes next safely in the hands of the professional clown.
Elliott: :spotcreation:
Gailizia: As the knife cuts in, Gailizia takes the cue with characteristic perfect timing. The cake positively explodes as she sweeps out with one arm, and embraces Radegesis into a showy dip with the other. Significantly more confetti and streamers burst out than were there to start with.
"Evening all, beast and god and gendered humans alike! Tonight, by special invitation, is myself, THE MARVELOUS GAILIN! And helping me tonight is—"
She pauses for the briefest moment as she ad libs a cute stage name for Radegesis.
"—THE MAGNIFICENT RADIKAS! We're here to bless your child's genders, as you invited our friend in the traditional manner of fey and sorcerers!"
"Now, ma'am, would your child be the lucky babe?"
Greater Stunt and Lesser Intensity
THE MASQUE FANTASTIC!
She's got a cape of diamonds on, and very billowy pants.
:fuguechip:
Semegastes: Oh this is absolutely a #selfie moment.
Radegesis: Radegesis winks at the wizard. She's helping!
Rad is in a suit, disheveled but like sexily so, with an untied bowtie. The bowtie is drooping a little on account of being dipped, but you can imagine it usually works.
cool/flustered
Also, she might have a sliver of coconut in her teeth like a rose.
:fuguechip:
Elliott: The woman — and the other magicians, for that matter — go silent. Gailizia's diamond-cape billows like a song.
"Yes," she says, weakly. "The child is mine."
Then, purring, dreamlike, caught in the grandeur of the Fantastic: "Why are you with this monster?" It's almost a plea.
Gailizia: Gailin winks a starry eye.
"The bonds of public access television, miss."
Elliott: The wizards demur. They cower at Sadabus; they blush at Gailizia; they take polite interest at Semegastes and Radegesis
Most importantly, they answer questions, if asked.
Semegastes: "Hey, wizards."
"What's your beef with Sady?"
Radegesis: :spotattention:
Elliott: "Whatever quarrel we have with him is his own doing," the mother says. "He destroyed one of our homes, four nights ago! He came and spread his robes o'er the moon, and loosed a wind of blasphemy-fire upon it. We have done nothing to begrudge you monsters — " she falters in that word, looking again at Gailizia; it's like she's trying to suck the venom back out of it even as she looses the sting. "We've left you be. But you brought your war to us."
Semegastes: "Was this like the… seven and a half moon? Like, a couple nights ago?"
"Because he couldn't have been burning your house down that night, he was doing football antics."
Elliott: They all swear to this story! That Sadabus came in the night, and burnt down one of their homes, and laughed as he did so!
Sadabus: "I did no such thing! Although I easily might have done. Yet if I had, I would surely have stolen away your most handsome sons while I was about it."
Semegastes: "I think you've got doppelgangerfluenza."
Elliott: Everyone agrees that Erica's son, James, is clearly the most handsome. There is some rumbling as to whether or not this exonerates Sadabus.
Radegesis: "No, it's definitely true. He's really, really, into that kind of thing."
Sadabus: Tell me of this James! :spotcreation:
Elliott: James is home from grad school for the summer, where he is getting a dual Master's Degree in Business Administration and Handsomeness. His hair is thick, black, and shiny; his smile is easy; his polo is annoyingly preppy, but flatters him in ways.
Radegesis: Now there's a fellow who could use some ogrefication. But also please don't ogre him.
Semegastes: He'd never get ogre it. :fuguechip:
Gailizia: Ogre just means a powerful jawline to go with the physique.
Radegesis: No one who wears a polo has layers. Not in a business degree.
Gailizia: Sometimes you want your boy uncomplicated.
Sadabus: I own lots of polo!
Radegesis: And a business degree?
Sadabus: I have a law degree.
Radegesis: Oh, that's fine, then.
Gailizia: Gailin skillfully twirls Radikas into her other arm, gesturing with her now freed hand.
"As a gesture of good faith, why don't you give the child a gender's day gift?"
Elliott: Any gifts you wish to impart? Or anything else to know?
Radegesis: Is that to Rad? Because her gifts are mainly figs and booze.
Gailizia: Mostly at Sadabus, but at any of us, really.
We did come here to bless/curse the child.
Sadabus: "Very well."
Sadabus tries to remember what terrible thing he was going to do.
"Instead of a gender, this child will have the strength of three genders."
[Sadabus nods sagely, as though this were impressive and not just confusing.]
Radegesis: Radikas flexes to underscore the point.
Sadabus: "Meanwhile, you in the polo, I have an internship opportunity just in case you're interested in becoming better at magic than your parents without having to work terribly hard."
Radegesis: "And, in case that goes wrong…"
Rad steps forwards with her hands cupped. She offers it to the mom.
"A pregnant pause, to hatch into a revelation. Matchy matchy. Someday, that kid might find that things have gone wrong, that all this horse shit doesn't feel right. And then they can listen to this, and discover what they're missing."
Semegastes: Semegastes-Miku places her finger on the mother-to-be's belly, and traces the sacred sigil #. "I bestow upon your child… a verified Twitter account." :fuguechip:
Gailizia: Gailizia spins en pointe, looking up in profile as she lifts her arms into a loop.
"I shall give the child the sweetness and bitterness of the cutting edge, the knowledge of the reinvention of self and the knife's-edge of expressing it."
Greater Contagion, +1 XP, 7 Burn
Sadabus: <whisper> "Is that good?"
Radegesis: "Eve seemed to think so."
Elliott: Thus is this child quadropoly blest; thrice-gendered, blue checkmark'd, full of promise and also entirely edgy.
There is a stillness between Excrucian and wizard, a detente. But who is this Sadabimulacrum they saw?
Radegesis: Investigation! Plus… I regret to say this will probably be :spotwicked:.
I loose my xenomorph to hunt down the scent of whatever's doing this.
Gailizia: :spotattention: Go on…
Sadabus: We could lay a cunning trap.
With some kind of Sadabus-bait.
Fortunately, I have a new intern for this purpose!
Semegastes: Quick, prop a box up over him!
Sadabus: Then you can't tell that he isn't wearing a shirt!
Sadabus: This is a job for the classic pit trap.
Elliott: Hmmm.
Is that a Greater Investigation with that wickedness?
(I'mma assume it is.)
So: Radegesis sequesters for a minute or two, and hatches an awful creature from beyond the world. It does so cleanly; smoothly — there's a brief moment where it seems like something is squirming under her own skin, but perhaps that was just an itch? It rears up on its twisted legs, still slick with birthing-viscera, and speeds off into the forest. When it returns, it kneels before Rad and allows her to touch its head, plucking from behind its eyes the memory of what it has seen: Sadabus Argand, cloaked by night! But… not. His skin has the whorls of wood; his hair flows in little viney tendrils; his eyebrows are plucked petals, fine and precious.
Semegastes: "Flowers," Semegastes snarls, like one of the evil exes in Scott Pilgrim. :fuguechip:
Gailizia: "Wily, she is."
Gailin crosses her arms in front of her, one held aloft and the other travelling down.
Sadabus: "As we probably all suspected," notes Sadabus.
Radegesis: "Yes! Totally expected that very attra — uhhhh, very dastardly bastard."
Semegastes: "I think it's time for a tea party. Excrucian-style."
Sadabus: "I refuse to make another cake."
Gailizia: Gailin tilts her head, a small frown.
"Remind me, is that the one where we make tea or the one where you suggest breaking Flowers as a hobby?"
Semegastes: "It's the one where we show up and force her to make tea."
Radegesis: Rad cracks her knuckles to indicate her vote.
Semegastes: "And we're just so terribly rude."
Gailizia: "Ah, the hospitality trick."
"…are we going to need to get her partner to invite us for mundane reasons and surprise her for this?"
Radegesis: "I could… raffle off tickets for a Shitkickers game? I can't imagine she'd love that."
Gailizia: "That sounds more like the Excrucian meet-cute."
Radegesis: In that case, Rad takes notes surreptitiously.
Gailizia: "Maybe we could get Yvanas to set up a parent-teacher conference for the classic parent-Rider conference. You know, like Lexi does."
Semegastes: :spotattention: Wait, I forgot which one was her kid.
Gailizia: We just know she has two kids? Unclear what the circumstances are, but they're an obvious lever.
Sadabus: We can't just keep kidnapping children every time we have a problem.
We're already barely distinguishable from the local fae court.
Semegastes: With that clarified, Semegastes fishes for a lead with Greater Investigation.
@sandsvendor100 hey who are @flowersvendors 100's kids
Gailizia: Oh, we wouldn't kidnap them.
Elliott: You know that she has two kids from her trading card.
Gailizia: We'd just trick her into meeting us in a polite context where we have tea and chat very tensely.
Elliott:
micczech1212: no doxxing kids here k?
Radegesis: The kids barely even have to be there.
Semegastes:
@micczech1212 are you aware that I am an E-CELEBRITY?
anyway they aren't minors
possibly
Gailizia:
@locustcourt hey who's flowers fuckin
Elliott: …
Does the Locust Court have a Twitter account?
Semegastes: I tweeted Lord Entropy last session.
So, probably.
Radegesis: Can you prove they don't?
Gailizia: > Google 'how to find hot cammora info brokers in my area'.
Elliott: So, you can find out but these are all really public venues.
Gailizia: Oh, I'm just doing a bit at this point.
Radegesis: Slide into their lambDMs.
Gailizia: No comment on what Semegastes is doing in public, though.
Elliott: Semegastes does find a lead, though.
Semegastes: Damn the nature of my investigation method!
Elliott: They can only find the name for one of her kids: Yejide Brave, apparently a student at St. Prescott. There's a local paper article about this time she saved a classmate from a bear.
Gailizia: Did the bear survive?
Elliott: Bearly. :fuguechip:
Gailizia: Thank goodness.
Radegesis: "Sounds Brave, alright."
"Also sounds like we're headed back to St. Prescott's."
Elliott: I mean, it's night. So probably not immediately?
Gailizia: Oh, are we actually planning on pulling a Lexi?
Radegesis: I'll text Cole, though.
hey is yejide brave in your class. any cool gossip
also hows the whole thing goin
Gailizia: We should hit up Yvanas, if so.
Since she is technically still a teacher there.
Semegastes: Calling upon our milven allies!
Elliott: You get a GIF back from Cole:
https://tenor.com/view/elmo-fire-burn-flame-gif-5042503
Yejide is a senior. Is this a thing? Is she like you? She's definitely scary enough.
Radegesis: Oh, good.
naw it's no thing. don't sweat it. love the little fire guy. uhhhh brush your teeth
"Guess we better talk to Yvanas, after all."
Elliott: [Chapter break.]
You're all rolling up to St. Prescott's the next morning, but Radegesis' suggestions weighs upon you all: Did you brush your teeth? Are you showered? I mean, it's been a day so you know…
Sadabus: That's what the intern is for.
Elliott: …For… showering… you?
Sadabus: …fine, I'll just do it myself.
Elliott: ABILITY 1 check
Radegesis: Sigh. Being a role model fucking sucks. [1 Wear]
Sadabus: 1 Wear down the literal shower drain.
Semegastes: Semegastes is gonna go [Well-Met] to meet Yvanas, because milves. :fuguechip:
Gailizia: Gailizia is definitely gonna put in the effort! She has enough self-respect to not want to weird out the Deceiver milf with low Chancery opinions.
Annalee also wouldn't let her leave without at least brushing her teeth after all that cake.
Elliott: It's the morning, then, and school isn't yet in session when you find Yvanas in her classroom, sprawled out on her desk, covered in a gauzy white shawl, arms across her chest, hands clutching a bouquet of roses.
Radegesis: "Is… this what teachers do outside class?"
Gailizia: "Oh, very cute look, classic."
Elliott: She peaks one eye open and goes "psssssh."
"Couldn't do one little oh no! or woe is me?"
Semegastes: "Oh, I thought you were just sexy splayed out on your desk holding flowers, not pretending to be dead splayed out on your desk holding flowers."
"My bad, Yv."
Gailizia: Gailizia is dressed as a sad clown, face all white. She exaggeratedly dabs at her eye with a big handkerchief.
Radegesis: "Yeah, it was pretty s — uhhh, sad. So sad."
Elliott: "Thank you for trying. It does count. There's always room for partial credit in my classroom."
Sadabus: "I was merely considering how best to reanimate you."
Elliott: She swoops out from under the shawl and crosses to Sadabus with alarming grace. "Oh, you sweet-talker. But I prefer myself un-undead, sadly."
Semegastes: "How do you like teaching?"
Radegesis: Rad counts double negatives on her fingers.
Elliott: "I find it strangely satisfying," she admits. "Especially now that I can bewitch the PTA to get off my ass about the curriculum."
Gailizia: "Exciting!"
Elliott: "So, to what do I owe this pleasure?"
Semegastes: "We were hoping to meet with the parent of a student here."
"Do you remember a kid fighting a bear?"
"That one."
Elliott: "Memory's a little fuzzy from the time under the Skin," she says, flipping through her gradebook. "Do you have a name for them?"
Gailizia: "Yejide Brave. Their mom is Flowers," she says, clearly enunciating the capital "F".
Elliott: "Oh!" she says, and then "what?"
"Yejide is in my senior Language Arts, but — are you sure Flowers is her mom? I've met Flowers and they look nothing alike."
Semegastes: "A very reliable tapir told me so." :fuguechip:
Radegesis: "Is her poetry… very flowery?"
Elliott: "Decidedly not."
Radegesis: "Huh. Well, currently she's got some kind of flower-wood-thing wearing Sad's face and soiling our name with mediocre crimes. We commit high quality larceny in this chapter!"
"So, like, maybe she does that kind of thing all the time."
"Or maybe she's an Anchor?"
Elliott: "Huh," she says, and sits back, balancing a pencil on her upper lip. "That… sounds nothing like Feoa."
Gailizia: "Her trading card says she has two kids and I don't know why it would lie to me."
"Feoa?"
Elliott: "Feoa au Dauromos." Completely flat, as in: What, you didn't know that?
Sadabus: "Perhaps… you are thinking of a Power from… a long time ago?"
Semegastes: "Maybe there's Flowers, and then there's… Flowers."
Radegesis: "What if she just has two moms?"
Semegastes: "Like how one Doges is about Venice and the other Doges is about those funny meme dogs."
Elliott: "Mmm, that's true. I've been out of it. But last I knew it, Flowers was… exhaustingly immortal. And dangerously powerful. So… be on guard, okay, friends?"
There's a weird bit of desperation in that friends.
Semegastes: :spotreckoning: the weird bit of desperation.
Elliott: Semegastes, there's a note there like… it's heartbreak, but shifted down an octave: Loneliness, and the lifeline of a new, thin connection.
It's genuine concern!
And also her trying very hard to get you to confirm that you will please, please be her friends.
Sadabus: I suppose we should consider throwing her a party, after we get rid of all these warrants and things.
Elliott: She has no voidfriends anymore!
Semegastes: "Don't worry, Yv. We're not letting jerkface get us."
Radegesis: Rad extends a fist for a bump.
Gailizia: Gailizia smiles and reaches to put her hand on her own.
"Don't worry. It's not like she could kill us for long, and we still need to get coffee sometime."
Elliott: She's glad at that — at all of that, and lets out a held breath.
Yvanas attempts to wangle a meeting with Osamunda, calling her a couple times to no effect.
"I can leave her a message…?"
Gailizia: You know what?
I have a flore for this.
Radegesis: oh my god
Gailizia:
hotquackbatarang: you want us to summon who
themarvelousgailinofficial: flowers. capital f.
hotquackbatarang: uhhhhhh can we do that???? mods???
themarvelousgailinofficial: ;p
themotleyfoole: the process should be pretty simple, flowers is very symbolically rich for our, how do you say it-
hotquackbatarang: ambiguous sympathetic bullshit?
themotleyfoole: indeed.
bigfootunderthebigtop: OH FUCK YEAH IT'S TIME FOR SOME MAJOR LEAGUE POSTING I'M FUCKING READY
clownfucker69: i can steal some flowers from the park, i bet i can do something with that
hotquackbatarang: well fuck i guess i'll go snoop her online presence for some good ritual shit.
bofadeeznobles: oh i've got some killer sigils i'm gonna draw on some maps
hotquackbatarang: aw hell yeah love it when you get all applied #psychogeo up in here
Flore 4: Glorification to Glorify the Marvelous Gailin Fan Club to summon Flowers to school via various online and ambiguous sympathetic actions
:fuguechip:
Elliott: The Fan Club begins their miscellaneous work, and…
One of them goes offline. And then another.
The members are freaking out.
One of them tries to text one of the folks who suddenly went dark, but doesn't get a reply.
Radegesis: I'm freaking out! Not that I'm in the Club or anything.
Elliott: A message appears on the chat:
Next time, I'm collecting skulls. See you in fifteen. Kisses, -O
Gailizia:
That wasn't very Chestnut Law of you.
Elliott: Where are y'all gonna meet her at the school?
Sadabus: Cafeteria.
Make her sit on those uncomfortable circular seats!
Gailizia: Office probably makes more sense, if we wanna keep this private/talk more plainly.
Elliott: Final answer?
Radegesis: I vote office.
Gailizia: I'm good with office.
Elliott: You borrow Yv's office, making yourselves comfortable-ish. It's not that large, so some of you probably end up perched on shelves or some other vaguely undignified position.
Sadabus: To be honest, the little stools don't fit my cloak anyway.
Gailizia: Gailizia has changed into her therapist look at some point, on the presumption that Osamunda won't appreciate a literal clown getup quite so much.
Radegesis: Rad's gonna sort of bouncer-pose by the door.
Elliott: Osamunda Brave turns the handle and walks in, and it's like spring. She's everything her card suggested and more; beautiful and long-necked, elegantly-coutured in brocade slacks and a shimmering pink blouse. A flower crown rests on her intricately braided hair, and she wears the ineffable divinity of her office with practice and poise. Behind her comes a lanky man; nervous, almost, as if apologizing for his height and his very presence.
"Let's start with this: If you ever think it's a good idea to at me by going through my daughter, even if it's just through her teacher, I will put each of you in the ground for good, and nothing in this world or any other will undo the damage I inflict."
"Are we clear, fuckers?"
Gailizia: "Got it."
Sadabus: "You are not exactly shy about attacking other people via their various connections," notes Sadabus.
Elliott: She sours at that. "You must mean Jackson."
Radegesis: "Potato, meet potahto."
Elliott: "No one says potahto, dear."
Sadabus: "Well, I also meant my various minions and so forth, but sure. I admit it isn't quite the same thing."
[Sadabus struggles not to say "Let's call the whole thing off," which is absolutely correct in this case, but isn't actually his position.]
Radegesis: "i could say potahto how do you know i dont say potahto"
Elliott: She leans in real close to Rad. She knows exactly what she's doing. "Don't say it like that," she whispers, her voice smoky and warm. "It's wrong."
Radegesis: [cool/flustered]
Gailizia: "Please, let's move on from the potatoes."
Elliott: "But!"
She leans back out.
"I assume you remember Jackson Machinard? Tall, oracular, good at escapes?"
Sadabus: "Yes, the one you sent on a suicide mission to attack us."
Elliott: "I nudged," she says, in a way that means: I absolutely sent him to attack you.
"I was curious."
Gailizia: "Yes, with the child. Very curious."
Sadabus: "You were curious to see if two wizards, a magic dog, and a revenant child could destroy four fully-fledged Strategists through sheer dumb luck?"
"Traditionally, the plucky band of underdog heroes is supposed to at least know they're outmatched before they face certain death."
Radegesis: "He's not revenant! Just cursed. Hey, by the way, if that was you, I'm gonna get gnarly on your ass like you threatened for us."
Elliott: "The results were interesting," she says, and smiles, and it's the worst smile possible at that, so easy and certain.
"I wanted to see if you were honest to your little Chancery's charter, such as it is."
Gailizia: "And?"
Elliott: "We're in a school. You should know that a 75% pass is still a D at best."
Radegesis: "…isn't the cutoff 59%? I've gotten way closer to that than a 75."
Semegastes: "We're allowed self-defense."
Sadabus: "Also, the missing 25% was entirely my doing," says Sadabus, gleefully.
Radegesis: "Which brings us to the topic of the day."
Sadabus: "So it would be more accurate to say that seventy-five percent of us had a perfect score, while I am the class… cut-up."
Elliott: She locks eyes with Sadabus, and smiles that long, cruel smile.
Sadabus: Lady, I have seen more cruel smiles than even you have made bonsai arrangements. :fuguechip:
Elliott: "You, Sadabus Argand, are a vile stain upon this world. And one day, I will scrub you from it so that nothing of you remains."
Sadabus: "If that were actually possible I would have fewer grounds for quarrel with the world."
"Your crimes against my soul are more powerful than death."
Elliott: "Darling, when I commit a crime, you'll know it."
Sadabus: "Yes. I have known it since the day I was born."
"And for this crime, you shall die. But, not until I get around to it."
"Meantime, if you wish to initiate hostilities with the Chancery, it's good manners to make an appointment."
Radegesis: "All right, all right, the banter is very sexy but some of us haven't done the reading. What beef do you have with Sad in the first place?" :spotcreation:
Elliott: "My beef is with all of you," she says, and takes a drag. "I'm not going to go out of my way to snuff you out if you're playing the redeemer. I can't, as much as it galls me. But step out of line, and I will grind you down to the electron." She pauses then for a long time, and adds, softly: "Do you know what it's like to know that the monsters live next door, and there's nothing you can do about it?"
Sadabus: Sadabus stares, blankly.
"Yes."
Elliott: "Good."
Sadabus: "That's what being a Strategist of the Host means."
Semegastes: "I… don't think you're right. Morally."
"When someone attacks you with magic, killing them in self-defense is… frowned upon. We definitely had a very important talk about not doing unnecessary murder."
"But that's human frowned upon, not cosmic god-war frowned upon."
justifying what I'm doing for Sadabus' quest
Gailizia: "I'm not sure she knows all the neighbors if she thinks we're the only monsters here, to be honest."
Sadabus: "There is nowhere I can go to escape from you. There is no place far enough that your stain is not upon me. You are a creature bound inexorably to wickedness, and you think to judge me?"
Radegesis: "I mean, at the very least Barbastus is around here somewhere. That guy's a certified bitch."
Sadabus: (Sadabus is secretly delighted, because he loves being loathed.)
Hm, I should have claimed "uncharacteristic altruism" for handing out blessings.
Elliott: "Sadabus Argand. I think I'm going to kill you one day. And then a few more days too, after that. Until whatever comes back here from out there is just a husk."
Sadabus: "Hunt's luck!" says Sadabus, cheerfully.
Elliott: "But."
"Today's not that day, and in a rare moment, our interests align. The oracle, Jackson. He stole from me. Flowers, books, blessings. Seemed to think it was recompense for Helena. I suspect whatever he's doing, he's doing to hurt you. And much as that tickles me pink, I'd rather not have him out there in the world using my power."
Sadabus: "Ah, I see. Well, it's not surprising you seek out my assistance."
Gailizia: "God, you really are just like us, back when we were fighting the war. The righteousness, the surety in it all, the clarity of the wrongness of things. You see wrongness and you have power, and so you reach out and crush it. I was saved by my art, but what do you have?"
She shakes her head.
"That sounds like your problem. We've got enough going on to play cleanup for your own crimes, dear."
argue with someone who reminds you of yourself
[The lights dim.]
Elliott: That word infuriates her so much she smokes the cigarette in a single drag, like she's sucking the air out of a balloon.
Sadabus: "Still, if you truly wish it, there's no reason why you can't ride forth with the Riders and seek out your wayward wizard."
Elliott: "I can't take back something I've given, and I can't hurt a thing of this world. Like I said: In this rare moment, our interests align. You want to clear your name? Dandy. I want that asshole dead."
Semegastes: "Ohhh, so murder's okay when you do it for revenge."
If decisive actions were in-genre, Semegastes would commit to letting Jackson live here and now.
Gailizia: Do it!
Will anyone stop you?
Elliott: Probably not!
Gailizia: That seems to be the mood right now.
Semegastes: :decisivespot:, fucker!
Sadabus: Sadabus considers.
"…is trapping him permanently in a monstrous form and adding him to my stable of minions for eternity also acceptable?"
Elliott: "If you take whatever he's stolen from me first? Sure. Knock yourself out."
Sadabus: "Very well. The Chancery will grant the boon you seek."
Gailizia: "Did you give it to him or did he steal it; you're being very indecisive about what it is he did and what's holding you back."
Sadabus: "Oh, yes. Radegesis, please fetch a copy of Lost Property Boon Form B-12."
There is no such form. Sadabus is expecting Radegesis to come up with a ridiculous bullshit form.
Radegesis: "Yes, boss, right on it." Rad flips him off, and then swerves the bird to Osamunda.
Sadabus: Wait, no, I can use my own Strategy to make Osamunda fill out a ridiculous bullshit form I previously prepared!
Elliott: She conveniently ignores Gailizia.
Gailizia: "If he stole it, you should be home free to take it back."
"Or is that not what happened?"
Elliott: She is prepared to fill out any form… by making the tall man do it for her, at blinding, Aspect-powered speed.
Sadabus: Ah, so he's fast… but is he clever?
The form contains three "initial here to forfeit soul" boxes that you might accidentally sign off on if you aren't canny in such matters.
They don't actually do anything; it's just counting coup.
Elliott: The man comes alive when filling out the forms, all that awkwardness melting off like morning fog.
Radegesis: Dang Nobles with their dang Aspect; use Ability like the rest of us!
Elliott: He finds the clauses and excises them, and Cneph help him, he winks at you in a knowing way, like a rival who's impressed by a move.
Gailizia: "Sadabus, as your court jester and renegade therapist, I'm professionally required to inform you that you're being played for the fool."
Sadabus: "The wizard outfit and the fool outfit are remarkably similar," admits Sadabus.
"But when you are committed to the game from birth, there is nothing to be gained from choosing not to play."
"I think this more or less concludes our business, Domini."
"You will not have to wait long for your head, or for its equivalent in mystic torment."
"I might even send you a cake!"
Man, Sadabus is really cheerful today.
Elliott: "Excellent. I look forward to not eating either of those things."
And she's gone.
Sadabus: Sadabus looks at the guy.
Like, "I bet you're brave enough to eat my cake."
Gailizia: "Who are you, anyways?"
Elliott: "Wendell," he says, offering his hand to Gailizia and then to Sadabus.
"Don't mind my sister. She's not… that bad?"
Gailizia: I assume he looks like a Power under the effects of Vision.
Elliott: He seems dangerously sincere and radiates contentment.
And yeah, he is 100% a Power.
And he only just realizes that Osa left.
Sadabus: "Charmed."
Gailizia: "If she tries to make good on her threats she'll discover the extent to which she underestimates us and the suffering we could inflict upon her."
She hands him a lollipop from her jacket pocket and gives a sweet smile.
"You've been good, or at least mostly an accessory to crimes, so you get a prize. Bye!" :fuguechip:
Sadabus: "Oh, and I don't mind her at all. I look forward to getting to know her better. Also, you."
Elliott: "Oh, cool!" he says as he takes the lollipop. "And it's been great! I've never met nicer apocalypses."
He concentrates but then —
"Oh! You might want to cover your ears for this. If you have ears? Or maybe they're just decoration?"
He concentrates and disappears in a sonorous blast of thunder and lightning.
Sadabus: I cast protection from sonic. :fuguechip:
Hell, mass protection from sonic.
Radegesis: "Okay that one was fucking sick."
Gailizia: "Ouch!"
Radegesis: "It's thunder now, Sad!"
Sadabus: "I have no truck with that edition."
Gailizia:
To: Yvana:
god i hate her, let's get coffee after school
Sadabus: I feel like we have some flores who need checking on, speaking of electronic communication.
Gailizia: Just give me an Immersion cost and we're golden.
Elliott: Hmm?
Gailizia: Oh, if the chat needs any recovery from whatever she did.
Sadabus: Gailizia wants to soak the cost of all those ??? fanclub members.
Elliott: Oh! Oh yeah… that's probably just 1 or 2? She was just doing some threats.
Gailizia: They are still my guys and she doesn't want them hurt, so 2 it is.
Elliott: 👍
