Expendable

Well, it looks like I've forgotten how to write

Greetings and salutations, SparkleNana. Welcome to the guild. So, what sort of games do you enjoy?

Life in Gloomminster

"Ma-am," Mia called out. "Does this floor not have a... loo?"

They were going to stare back at her, she was sure. Phalorm House had privies in the back garden, which stank in summer and froze in winter. She had hoped the boarding house would have indoor plumbing.

She could feel warmth in her cheeks, which the glamour would turn into a pink blush instead of blue. She wondered who among the other boarders would reveal themselves by saying something about it?

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

J'eon the Blacksmith

J'eon curled his lips and threw back his shoulders, and with great distain strode towards the edge of the hull where he tilted his head to see the line of House Silbermine and its arrogant herald.

"No," he bellowed back. "You may not! This is the temple of the Sky People, and I would not suggest incurring their wrath by trying to claim it away from them!"

A bluff, to be sure. Castigator Nellara and her soldiers were far too few to defend this fortress against House Silbermine by themselves, nor was he sure that the sky people could defend themselves right now. But if Shirik called down another fireball to wipe out House Silbermine, he feared the sky people would refuse to let any of them near.

Shirik's might, if truth be told, took some getting used to. Had he not been in so poor a state after the attack of that giant insect, he would have found the nearest hole to hide himself in.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

J'eon the Blacksmith

The metal things coming down the mountainside were clearly machines, which intrigued J'eon. He wanted to take one apart, see how it worked, but such would have to wait until later. Still, he had some ideas... and concerns.

The sky person they'd surprised was talking to another of its kind, dressed in black. Perhaps that was normal among them?

Once word of this reached the capital, there would be panic, troops dispatched, representatives of the guilds sent. It would be best if he could establish himself here, get the sky people to talk to him. Good thing he knew a bit about opening new markets.

---

Jack Mallory, X.O.

"Captain," Jack Mallory acknowledged, looking up from his phone that was connected to the ship's network. "I've requested a box of those souvenir pens and some commemorative patches what were to be distributed before the interruption."

Unfortunate they lost the keychains, but maybe some got buried with the shuttle?

He had no idea how the tree was doing that, much less not being consumed by the flames it contained. Did that last bit mean it was challenging the ship's crew to a fireball fight?

"Captain, we should encourage our... guests to leave, for now," he said. "Go over our recordings, and try to make sense of what's happened, here? Get our efforts a bit more organized, before the next surprise."

Like not admitting we're armed, or how many we are, or where we're from.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

J'eon the Blacksmith

J'eon sighed, the mightly glen shaking his head slowly. Was this not like what happened in the fifth voyage of the sailor? Perhaps his fellows were right to recommend him to pay a storyteller to hear this tale?

"I, too, would like to avoid needless conflict, Castigator," he says. "So I shall take my leave."

Holding his massive arms in front of him, palms open, he turns with a flick of his tail and heads past the soldiers into the clear air, paying no mind to the bits of animate metal. Hopefully the lesson to be learned would not come at too great a cost.

---

Jack Mallory, X.O.

Things were moving too fast. Why did their scout expose his position? Why did Eva decide to wake up now?

"Captain," Jack says quietly, "Everyone has gotten agitated. I suggest we all go back inside the ship."

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

Jack Mallory, X.O.

"Vidgis?" Jack Mallory asked, keeping that calm timbre in his voice despite the mask. "Did you determine what structural damage this hanger suffered from the missile attack and from the crash, especially with the shuttle ejection? I'd hate for everyone to be standing here should the roof suddenly cave in."

Especially that burning tree-man, he left unsaid.

He glanced at the numbers on the wall, then at the hands of the locals. Base 8 math? He'll have to schedule courses with the crew and the passengers, then. But why did people start with numbers and not the most important concept?

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

J'eon the Blacksmith

"So, ask yourself this then - who did bring down this city of metal?" J'eon asked, waving his upper arms. "And why are you in here instead of out there, keeping an eye on the skies?"

"This is a trade," the Glen continued. "Information for information. You'd do well to remember that, Castigator Nellara."

---

Jack Mallory, X.O.

"Personally," Jack sighs, cycling the inner lock, "I'd say we couldn't risk the captain on this, and that I'm the one who should go in there, alone. But there are multiple races in there, so we need to show we're different, as well."

Handing the carbine back, he patted his handgun. "Best hold onto that if you need to rescue us. This will not be as intimidating."

Stepping inside, he waited for the captain to join him.

Life in Gloomminster

The boy was staring at her. Could he see through her glamor, or...?

Something that worried Mia was she hadn't seen a bathroom, or just a closet with a toilet. Surely there was one somewhere on this floor? It didn't bode well for the other floors, and there wasn't likely to be one in the attic. Or maybe there were, left over from the days the staff slept there.

Shared bathrooms could be a problem. She wondered if they still made chamber pots...?

The Frontier ( An anthro space western roleplay)

"They're put in during construction," Karma said, mind working frantically. "You'd have to cut a hole in the hull just so we can float the whole thing in."

But.. it didn't actually need to be whole, did it?

"Yes, yes, we can do it once we launch!" she beamed, glancing up at Evren. "I'll just open up both diagnostic panels and replace the broken modules in Engineering with the ones inside the new one in the cargo hold!"

Big job suddenly made manageable.

"Uh, if that's okay with you, captain?" she paused, staring back at him. Keep calm, don't crush anything. "It would take a little longer, but we wouldn't have to try and move that whole thing through the passageways."

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

J'eon the Blacksmith

"Who am I?" J'eon snorts with a scowl, turning to face the soldier that spoke, pointing to his guild crest. "I am Master J'eon of Mythadian Blacksmith Guild! Who are you that you would be interfering in guild business?" He hoped his words would carry to their leader. He didn't like ths place much, the air seemed thinner inside this skin, and there were many strange and foul smells.

"We are here to render aid. Why are you here?" he demands, staring down at the soldier, then shifting his gaze pointedly at the soldier's hand, posed by his weapon's hilt. "Was it you, then? Did you attack this city? Force it down?"

There was a device on its hull he'd seen before he entered, which he did not like the looks of. Nor, he wagered, would any of them should the sky people (he just decided to call them that) decide to use it.

---

Jack Mallory, X.O.

"Vigdis?" Jack said, raising his right hand to press the earpiece closer. He had just reached the shuttle bay airlock in response to the captain's command, pausing to take a look through the airlock hatch window.

"Captain!" he called out. "Vigdis is in the shuttle bay - she's got company!"

He was eerily aware his oxygen sensor was not chirping because of the higher oxygen - whatever those creatures were, they were not a hallucination.