2017-09-20: A Catwoman Nun Walks Into A Bar

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  • Log: A Catwoman Nun Walks Into A Bar
  • Cast: Katyna Reidal, Rosaline Calice
  • Where: November City - Adventurer's Guildhall
  • Date:
  • Summary: Katyna, looking for a job, gets a personal explanation of one of the Church's requests.

==================<* November City - Adventurer's Guildhall *>==================

The Adventurer's Guildhall in November City is a newer construction, built on the bottom floor of one of November's skyscrapers. The lobby has glass windows looking out into the busy city, and sees a lot of foot traffic. The lobby is also not decorated the way adventurers may be used to; it looks more like a 1920's bar, with staff wearing collared shirts, red ties, and black vests throughout. It has a rougher atmosphere, too.

For one, the bar is serving more drinks than usual. An enterprising ex-Drifter has even set up a few poker tables, which the Guild operates for a profit for those so-inclined. Still, one can see things that are familiar, including the ever present board for job postings.

The upstairs holds offices and rooms that can be rented out by an enterprising Drifter, in need of some discrete meeting space. The man at the counter is happy rent them for a few gella.

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ0Idh3dz3g
<Pose Tracker> Katyna Reidal has posed.

Katyna status: Still broke.

Katyna has done decently well at her whole Digging adventures, but she hasn't gotten a whole lot of ... loot, as it were. Contacts, definitely. She's met people who could be allies and, thankfully, relatively few that seem likely to be enemies. But nothing she can sell, and only limited completion of Adventurers' Guild jobs. It's enough to keep her fed, but not much else.

Which is probably why she's here today.

The blue Beastwoman has been off-and-on watching one of the poker games but is currently up near the job postings to take a look at them. She's dressed oddly, but then again many Drifters are; denim pants, a sleeveless top made out of a strange material (that is, to the space-age eye, part of the underlayer of a piloting suit), with a battered and worn duster thrown overtop. She's pretty easy to spot, honestly, being distinctive enough to be memorable but not monstrous enough to be inherently worrying - though she's still gotten the side-eye a couple times, it happens much less often in the Guild.

<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.

And in comes a beastwoman nun, quietly apologizing as she makes her way from the door to the counter, then to the bulletin board. She's carrying a piece of paper in her hand, likely to put up. Eyes turn to follow her as she approaches the board, then stares at it intently, considering what's already there.

Those looking for a job right now must find the wait excruciating as she looks at her paper, then back up to the board, back and forth a few times.

After a moment, her ears droop, and she sighs dejectedly, lowering her paper-holding hand. "They should have told me there was something posted already..." Several Wels-related jobs are already up, in fact! But they don't seem to have attracted that much interest. And for good reason: even by Drifter standards, these are not for the faint of heart.

<Pose Tracker> Katyna Reidal has posed.

Katyna Reidal is polite enough to stay out of Rosaline's way when she actually goes to put up the posting.

Or, then, Rosaline doesn't post anything at all. Katyna doesn't know whether to smile, frown, or laugh at the poor nun (she recognizes the priestly garb as preistly garb even if she honestly doesn't know much about the religion in question). Her expression ends up quirking into an involuntary smile after a few moments.

"You could let me see it..." aw, crap, what's the correct title... "...ma'am." That works on everybody. "I've been looking but I haven't decided where I want to go next." Katyna looks Rosaline over, thoughtfully. She hasn't seen many beastwomen nuns, or indeed beastwomen in positions of authority at all. She racks her brain, trying to remember anything about that religion; she spotted the rams-horn cross but, sadly, it doesn't mean a whole lot to her.

<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.

Ma'am?

Rosaline doesn't mind. She's been called much worse. While she is a beastwoman in a position of authority, not everyone she meets is inclined to recognize it.

"O-Oh, hello," she says, stiffly waving a hand to greet the stranger who addressed her. She blinks and stares at Katyna silently for a second. She HAS seen that face before, hasn't she? There's a moment's tension as the nun tries to place it...

...and she relaxes, coming to the conclusion that this may have been someone she met before and forgot about, merely making this situation the baseline level of awkward. She has a nervous smile.

"You may have seen it already, it's a copy of this one," she says, pointing to the one apparently posted by the Church. It's next to Ida's request for information and Claude's old map (which someone seems to have updated to include more Wel hotspots.) "I saw it lying around and thought I could come here to put it up... I feel a little silly now. I guess everyone know about the increased Reaper activity."

<Pose Tracker> Katyna Reidal has posed.

Katyna is generally recognized more from the description on the poster - hey, it's the blue woman! - than the actual black-and-white sketch of her face. Rosaline isn't the only person who's looked at her face and forgotten where they saw it... though admittedly most of the other people who did it probably weren't very good readers.

She seems mostly unworried herself, because you don't expect a nun to be a secret bounty hunter (Katyna must not know the Etone very well). She returns the smile, though a little less nervous, a little more friendly.

"I did see that one, but I haven't gone there yet," Katyna says. Honestly, she's not sure what to expect if she goes. Literal zombies? Biohazards? Something else entirely? Could be anything. "I actually haven't been here very long. Want to tell me about them? I'll buy you a drink." Pause. "If you drink. With the whole, uh..."

Katyna makes a gesture up near her own head. She could be referring to Rosaline's headgear, but it's a little unclear.

<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.

In her short career as a sort-of-Etone, Rosaline hasn't done very much bounty hunting at all so far... or any, really. She hates confrontation, and that would, by necessity, require some. And so, she doesn't pay as much attention to wanted posters as she probably should.

Slightly confused, Rosaline semi-consciously mirrors Katyna's gesture, until comprehension dawns on her face. "Oh, yes, yes... I mean no! I don't drink. But they do have a few non-alcoholic drinks." It would be welcome, too. It's a hot day outside, and while her habit was designed with a desert climate in mind, it's still not the most comfortable thing to wear in the heat.

She moves back to the counter, which is close enough, and sits on one of the stools. She doesn't express a specific preference for her non-alcoholic drink. "What would you like to know first? Are you familiar with Reapers at all?" Not so long ago, she would have thought it impossible that one wouldn't know about them, but then she's been living in a very small world.

<Pose Tracker> Katyna Reidal has posed.

Katyna pays attention to the wanted posters. They're the best way to find out about other people who might have some of the same goals as you, especially when one of your goals is to get your stuff back from Kislev. If indeed they have it.

Sitting nearby, Katyna makes an order. She spends a moment in discussion and eventually settles on something fruit juice-based for both of them (Kat didn't recognize the fruit, but never mind); she doesn't feel like getting drunk right now anyway, and she's got an excuse, because she's drinking with a nun. It'll show up shortly.

"I'm, uh, not from around here," Katyna says, which is her go-to response. Unfortunately that may not work as well with Rosaline, since the Etones also have a strong showing off Ignas and they deal with Reapers everywhere, but she's not quite clued-in enough to know that. "So why don't you tell me about them? I know what the postings say, and not much more."

+pot

<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.

Rosaline seems to find fruit juice acceptable, taking the cool drink graciously and immediately taking a sip. Not putting posters up is thirsty work.

"You're not alone in this," Rosaline says. "I'm from closer to the Badlands than most of my friends, but there's been a lot of travel lately..." She knows there are people from the Old Moon among them, in fact, but doesn't immediately jump to that assumption.

She offers a meek smile, then, as it seems the Full Explanation will be needed. "Reapers are terrible monsters," Rosaline begins, to sum it up. "They're also generally known as Wels, among other names. To put it succintly, they form a mindless, ravenous horde of cannibalistic creatures that remain in a gruesome state between life and death. Their bodies can undergo spontaneous, horrific transformations, and so they will most often be humanoid, but they don't always stay that way, and there are many varieties."

"I am part of a sect of the Church of Granas called the Ethos, and we are dedicated to hunting them down. Most of the time we try not to turn to regular Drifters for assistance with them, because they're, um... very dangerous, but there's been an increase in activity in this region lately, as I understand it..."

She trails off, but then adds: "I think that covers the basics... I'm starting to think someone could write a pamphlet." And just as she says this, an idea seems to be dawning on her.

<Pose Tracker> Katyna Reidal has posed.

The fruit juice is basically limeade: desert lime and something to sweeten it. Surprisingly refreshing!

"Oh, you're from around here?" Katyna is happy to talk about Rosaline's origins because that means they're not talking about hers. She tends to be a little vague and evasive if asked where she comes from, but thankfully Rosaline doesn't start a quiz that she will almost certainly fail.

Unfortunately, that means they're talking about Wels, and Wels are gross. "I see," Katyna says, a little taken aback. That wasn't what she was expecting to here but she's beginning to understand why people thought maybe taking those jobs was a bad plan. Still, if she could survive, there's just so many jobs about it them she might be able to pull something out of it.

"Maybe a pamphlet would help," Katyna agrees. "Transformation like that doesn't sound pleasant. I mean, I heard they were dead, but I didn't hear about that." Some kind of biohazard, for sure, Katyna thinks - by which she doesn't mean 'oh, the Wels are a virus', but that they're going to spread out like something alive rather than stay in one place like something neat and animated.

Anyway, I'm pretty well equipped, and I wouldn't try to fight all of them. I'm not stupid." No, she'd try luring them out and firing the Gear's cannon at them, if she absolutely had to. "What's got them all fired up? Do they just... do this sometimes?"

<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.

"N-Not from here here," Rosaline says, seeming a bit put off by what should be a straightforward line of inquiry. Katyna would know the feeling. "It was a small town further into Aveh territory proper... It's not much of one anymore." And she leaves it at that.

She's marginally happier to be talking about Cronenberg nightmares. She nods, when Katyna agrees with her pamphlet idea. "I mean, there are a lot of people visiting from out of town, and since there's so many of them... Informing the people would be a safe thing to do."

She likes the idea, but shelves it for now, so she can explain things to Katyna further. "So long as you're very careful," she says, clearly worried. "Even experienced Etones have lost their lives to them in a moment's carelessness."

Then comes a very important question, one that makes the nun pause for a second. Would it be irresponsible to tell her? If word got out, there might be a panic. But then... people deserve to know. She lowers her voice conspirationally.

"I think... a few people I know and I found evidence that someone might be creating them on purpose. There was a... device in an abandoned frontier town I visited. It was destroyed, but it's possible there are more."

<Pose Tracker> Katyna Reidal has posed.

Katyna doesn't press. She can tell that it's a sore spot even though she doesn't know exactly why - but she can guess, though her guess of 'the Aveh-Kislev War' might be entirely off. Still, it's what she knows.

"I can safely say I've never seen a Reaper before," Katyna agrees, "and I'm probably not the only one. Even people who do live here - well, if you know more than them, might as well share it, right? Otherwise they're only going to walk into trouble, if they get all their information from third-hand rumours and stories."

So long as you're very careful... Katyna grins. "Trust me," she says. "I don't intend to get eaten by monsters. I'd run first." Brave she may be, but she's also practical. "Still, monsters like that in a place like this... I guess it never lets up, huh." You'd think that, in the desert, you'd run into other problems. Less body horror, more buried ruins.

But then Rosaline drops the bombshell. Katyna's eyes widen. "You can do that?" she asks, before: "Who would do that?" She's raised her voice a little, but she ratchets it back down to avoid getting too much attention. "I take it if we can get proof of that, the Church would be interested...?"

<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.

Katyna says she would run. Rosaline smiles softly. Some might call it cowardly, but it's not as if these creatures have any notion of honor. "It's best if you keep your distance as much as possible, in any case."

She nods slowly at the sight of Katyna's reaction, looking aside when she raises her voice. Nobody seems to be paying close attention to them, still. Good.

"M-Maybe not creating them, necessarily, but at least capturing and controlling them. There's a lot we don't know." She seems apologetic about that fact. "As for who... Your guess is as good as mine."

Proof? She nods. "Absolutely. My friend Ida is also offering a small reward in exchange for any information. She's doing an investigation of her own." The two groups are one and the same where she's concerned, but casting a wide net seems increasingly necessary, the more they hear about this.

<Pose Tracker> Katyna Reidal has posed.

Katyna is not adverse to getting out of a bad situation. She was trained as a scout; getting back with the information is more important to her than trying to break the enemy lines single-handedly. She's brave too, of course, but you can be brave and pragmatic.

"Still," Katyna says, "that kind of surprises me. If anyone wanted to use them..." Well, they'd be a weapon, wouldn't they? A swarm, something that you could aim in a direction and let loose. Judging from Rosaline's reaction alone, they'd probably be a pretty good terror weapon. She knows groups that would love to get their hands on something like that.

Fortunately, they're not on Filgaia.

She scowls for a moment, remembering - well, it's hard to tell; she's not going to talk about it, but for a moment Katyna looks stormy. "If I find anything, I'll let one of you know." Katyna hesitates for a moment. Well, she didn't seem to remember her from the posters... "My name's Katyna Reidal. I'm not always in the Adventurer's Guild, but I'm pretty easy to find. I guess you'd understand that, huh." Katyna doesn't consider herself a Beastman, but she's not adverse to using that connection when it works.

<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.

Katyna doesn't finish her sentence. Rosaline looks away, thoughtfully. She doesn't seem to be in a great mental place either, until the blue beastwoman(?) breaks the silence.

"O-Oh! Yes, that's good, thank you," she says, dearly hoping she didn't just send someone to her death. She says she'll be cautious, and Rosaline is ready to believe it, but everyone says that, and Rosaline almost always believes them.

Her large expression doesn't change much, but her large white ears twitch and her tail sways. "Yes, I do know how that can be." She smiles, tinily.

Her glass is empty, and so she has few reasons left to stay here. She rises from her stool. "My name is Rosaline Calice. I'm staying at the Church of St. Neil right now, if you're looking for me." She considers mentioning Ida again, since she did leave her Memory Cube coordinates on her own posting, but... no, no, it wouldn't do to have her friend take her messages, and Katyna can make that connection herself if there's an emergency.

"It's been good talking to you, but I should really be getting back to, um..." This is technically a day off for her, so the sentence doesn't have a happy ending. "A-Anyway, goodbye."

And a moment later, she's made her escape! Cats are good at that.