EVENT: HERE THERE BE MONSTERS

[initiatesnpc]

Date & Time: October 24 - October 31
Location: Throughout Exsilium
Characters: ALL; tag yourselves in
Summary: The Transports return from their mission to find the island crawling with monsters.
Warnings: Violence, possibly injuries (notify a mod if there's cause to add a particular warning!)

The Transports return from their mission to Medieval Russia, but the Initiative Hold is eerily deserted. Normally, their would be a number of Initiative personnel prepared to meet the Transports at the end of their mission for debriefing.

Instead, there is only silence.

That is, until a distant thumping sound can be heard. It is growing closer, and suddenly the beast is bursting into the room. It lets out a roar and charges. Within minutes, it is easily defeated, but damage has already been done -- it collided with the Transporter machine, which is now making a low fizzling sound and lets off a couple sparks. The commotion is enough to draw the attention of the few remaining Initiative personnel who still inhabit the Hold, who arrive immediately afterwards. They are able to tell the Transports two things: that the machine is broken and currently unable to sent anyone back in time, and that the island has been overrun with aggressive, mutated beasts sent by the United Earth. They have been under siege for months, with the island's population reduced to a mere fraction of what it had once been.

Comments

[implying]

Well, then back home has terrible taste! Some of the most beautiful women I've ever seen happened to be lovely shades of azure. I used to believe that the most attractive of all of them was a half-harpy from the east, until I met one particular lady with scales instead of feathers, and the most striking gold eyes I'd ever seen! Well, needless to say, she supplanted my harpy very quickly.

[studieswaitressing]

[It actually takes her a couple of seconds to figure out that he's probably talking about her, and then she actually smiles and ducks her head.]

You really are charming, aren't you.

[Men like him probably only want one thing, though that's not necessarily a bad thing.]

[implying]

Well, it's what I am for. [ He cocks his head over, grinning. ] Is it working?

[studieswaitressing]

Trust me, you'd know if it wasn't.

[She'd be using her waitress-fu to somehow get you uninterested in her.]

So, you said that you've met a lot of blue women -- your world has a lot of non-humans, then?

oops that was supposed to be aim* for not am for

[implying]

Glad to hear it!

[ Not that he ever doubted it, of course. He's still smiling when he looks ahead again. ]

Oh, certainly! The exact numbers of populations are always shifting, but traditionally, humans only ever make up fifteen percent of any international council.

[studieswaitressing]

...huh. I mean, I guess it makes sense that humans aren't the majority in some places, but ... still, it's strange.

[She's just glad he still isn't flipping out at her over the whole impersonation thing.]

And you're -- not human, right?

[implying]

[ That gets a quick glance over, and though the mask hides it, the quirk of eyebrows below it makes the smile a touch humoring. ]

I may not be as blue as you, my dear, but I do hope the teeth and long ears are good for something. [ Namely, marking him as Totally Not Human. ] We call ourselves kitrites, though humans seem to prefer "imps".

[studieswaitressing]

Well, what do you prefer? I mean, I think I'd be kind of insulted if someone started calling me an imp without my permission.

[Even Jack's nickname for her had gotten a few half-hearted glares the first time she'd used it. 'Blueberry' wasn't exactly ... flattering.]

And hey, for all I knew it could've been some sort of isolated mutation -- like me.

[implying]

[ Insulting is the right word for it, but it's nothing Vanadi has ever minded too much. So he shrugs. ]

Kitrite will do, but I won't be terribly offended if you forget the word and revert back to the other. I know we're a bit unheard of, outside my world. [ But enough of that, she's given him something more interesting: ] That's quite the mutation you have, my dear. I must say, I'm a fan.

[studieswaitressing]

[She is fine enough with moving on to the subject of her mutation. The more she talks about it, she has argued with herself, the easier it'll be for her to accept it.

That might actually be true, provided the people who she talks to about it react to it well.]

It's one of the more explicitly useful ones, I guess.

[implying]

Oh, I should say so! [ And he actually can say so, having had a lesson on this subject once already. The nose of his mask tips as he glances over thoughtfully. ] Tell me, can you take any person's shape that you like?

[studieswaitressing]

[She nods.]

I haven't found much limitation as far as that goes, yet. And it isn't just their shape -- it's their voice, too. Mannerisms come more naturally, but it's still easy to screw them up if I'm not paying attention.

[implying]

Well, you must be very popular at parties!

[ he totally means 'at orgies'. in his heart. ]

[studieswaitressing]

[You would be wrong in both situations, Vanadi.]

Less popular than you'd think. My sort of ... people aren't really common or well-liked.