Patrollogs
(Korina's nightmare battle with Donovan)
[Thu Aug 1 2024]
In the busy foyer of Great News Community Center
The community center's foyer has a gritty, lived-in feel. Harried volunteers weave through a mix of individuals, some bearing the weight of hard-lived stories on their way to addiction counseling. The aroma from the soup kitchen mingles with a sense of desperation and hope, while a small chapel to the north offers a quiet corner of solace, its doors open to all. Nearby, the religious bookstore stands as a beacon of faith amidst the tangible air of struggle.
Mounted prominently on the wall opposite the entrance is a large cross, along with a slogan: Jesus didn't just give good news, he gave GREAT NEWS!
Aside from it, on the wall next to the entrance to the chapel, a large painting of Saint George engaged in a heavenly battle with a ferocious, massive red dragon dominates the wall, a poignant symbol of the ever-present battle against addiction.
Signs give directions to parts of the community center:
(North) Chapel
(East) Soup Kitchen & Multi-Purpose Room
(South) Bookstore & Gifts
It is afternoon, about 98F(36C) degrees,
Donovan ponders for a moment. "I don't recall if I installed any Daoist literature... I will certainly look into that. I tried to add things for every major religion, but it would seem I missed a few."
Donovan blinks.
Fayad says "Well, if you have a recommendation I suppose I can add it to the literature, miss...?"
Donovan stiffens and glances around warily, withdrawing into himself slightly.
Saoirse says "Saoirse, uh, Saoirse Li. And I do, uh, yeah. You, uh, definitely wanna get a copy of the Dao De Jing, uh... Here, you can look up the code from my copy, if you'd like?"
"Well," Solomon says. "What have we here?"
Donovan wheels around and stares at Solomon with wide eyes. "... Fr- frankly, I don't know. Who are you?"
Fayad nods, quietly making note on a spare piece of paper.
Saoirse says "And probably the Zhuangzi as well, and also the Liezi.... Oh, let me know if you need that spelled out."
"A slop-dolly of epic proportions," says Nikolai, affecting an extraordinarily poor Southern accent shot through with streaks of something Eastern European. "And I do delcayuh that you ain't gawn enjoy it." They cough, and then, more quietly, they ask Korina, "How did that sound?" Yeah - it's Russian.
Solomon introduces himself. "Solomon Inigo," he tells Donovan. "And you are?"
Fayad says "I, uh, we don't make much money here. It's a non-profit. I'm only gonna take one suggestion right now."
Korina stares at Nikolai with a blink, trying to figure out what on earth he's saying. She's got no idea. That means, presumably, that it was terrible.
"Oh." Saoirse looked slightly disappointed, but that quickly recovered. "Okay, right, yeah, that one should do, then."
Saoirse says "What's your name?"
Fayad says "Fayad al-Munaqadh."
"Blyat," Nikolai sighs. "You know, I have lived in America more than thirty years, and I still cannot sound like local."
Solomon says "Shall we start this distraction?"
Donovan swallows and replies to Solomon, "Donovan- Donovan Rowland, sir. I'll just come out and say I- I have not a clue what is happening right now."
Saoirse says "Nice, nice, uh... Thanks for ordering that, I guess."
Donovan says "Nikolai? Is that you I'm hearing? H- hell..."
Solomon tells someone, "You are I are allies, as far as Venice is concerned. We're going to fight whoever is talking over there."
Solomon tells Donovan, "You are I are allies, as far as Venice is concerned. We're going to fight whoever is talking over there." He pauses. "Some of the Hand, perhaps? Hard to say."
Fayad says "THe chapel's closed right now unless services are scheduled by appointment because of the multiple hate crime events. It's getting too expensive to replace the furniture every time."
Fayad says "So if you need it, schedule an appointment with me."
Donovan balks at the exchange he's seeing, staring wide-eyed between it and Solomon. "Wh- seriously?! God help me. Christ. Okay. I can't believe it. I- I was just telling my friends that they were going to break my leg again right after it's healed, and now here I am."
Solomon glances off into the nightmare. "Here you are," he agrees to Donovan.
Donovan says "What- wait, my crutch is still here? I threw this away..."
"An interesting set of opponents," Nikolai remarks aside to Korina. "Solomon Inigo, Donovan Rowland and... a third?"
Donovan murmurs to Solomon, "Are we- supposed to *hear* them?"
Saoirse had a look of shock on her face. "Really? Hate crimes? I didn't know people got up to that kind of thing, that's... Awful." She frowned, a look of sympathy clearly on her face.
"Fayad's voice," Korina tells Nikolai, gripping her claws tightly in hand while she glances around the endless void, and then, a little louder, "We hear you too."
Donovan pales. "Ah- sorry!" he calls out into the void.
Solomon says "I would have thought Mr. Fayad would be with us. Or do you have some other allegiance besides your silly dragon, Mr. Fayad?"
Nikolai says "I think Fayad is beneath the nightmare, in the real. I presume... you choose Donovan for attack."
Saoirse says "Well, I mean, they obviously get up to that sort of thing, just didn't expect it, uh.... Here?"
Fayad shrugs. "It's probably just because they're angry someone of Muslim ethnicity is running the formerly largely Christian soup kitchen," he sighs, before taking out a worn blue handkerchief and dabbing at perspiration forming on his forehead.
Saoirse seemed to be getting a bit worn down by the heat herself, fanning her face with the book she held in one hand. "That's stupid. They're stupid. You keep on, uh, keeping on, I guess."
Fayad smiles faintly. "I also replaced the crappy salad they offered here with my mother's curry recipe. But small changes like that make small minds extremely angry, yes."
Donovan panics instantly when more appear - gripping his bow white-knuckled, bringing it up, and nocking an arrow before drawing the string back heavily. He tremulously looses his shot, aiming at who he can only assume is his enemy - his hurried shot goes wide and the arrow sails away harmlessly. He swallows and braces himself.
Saoirse says "Anyways, uh, I also do like, Reiki healing, that's my job, so if you wanna book a session, just uh, hit me up on MyHaven, yeah? I'm Quanzhen on there."
Fayad brings up his phone and taps away at it.
Fayad says "Mine is SIGNAL but with the nouns replaced with letters."
Fayad says "So, ess one gee en four el."
Fayad says "...nouns. Vowels."
Saoirse says "Oh yeah, oh yeah, I think I browsed past you once, uhhh..."
Saoirse says "Oh yeah, oh yeah, I think I browsed past you once, uhhh..."
Saoirse says "Ha! There we go."
Saoirse says "So uh, I'll be about, I'm new in town. Maybe I'll try some of that soup sometime. Take it easy."
Fayad says "Of course. Have a nice day."
Fayad gets up and drags someone' unconscious body onto the bench.
Fayad gets up and drags the unconscious body onto the bench.
"I did not choose, it is his own fault for having his mind there," Korina grumbles aside to Nikolai as though this was a complete and utter coincidence, and the wicked edges of her claws gleam in the light that bursts forth from her form - a homing beacon. She stays near the big Russian man otherwise, reflexes at the ready, though she doesn't even attempt to protect him from the arrow that's shot forth by Donovan - just watches it sail past with mild amusement.
Solomon steps back, gesturing casually with his left hand to slash some low rift in space. As he does, he smiles, calling his familiar into being.
Fayad says "What a pain in the ass..."
Looks like the three more experienced have the same game plan, calling up their allies - Nikolai taps his neck twice and settles into place in front of Korina for a moment, eyeing Donovan as that arrow whizzes past his head. "Alright," he says, back to plain old Russian. "I have been curious to see how we handle you, Inigo. I will admit; our team may pack slightly bigger punch."
"I am but a man,"@me tells Nikolai, red-eyed as he chants to summon some line of fire in Nikolai's direction. "And I find these nightmare fights a distraction. Venice sets up stickball matches as it avoids the real issues that plague the world."
Fire begets fire in kind, but first Nikolai launches a small silver ball at Solomon - which explodes into electrical whining and fuzzy pulses against the skin on impact. /Then/ he brings up his massive, two handed maul and spits a stream of fire at Solomon with it, leaving his flank open for Donovan to try and target.
It seems they've both got the same idea, then - Donovan goes ignored, and Korina closes the distance to a comfortable spot where she can notch an arrow onto her bow and set it loose at the Demonborn; as it whizzes through the air at him, there's a spark of light in the corner of his vision, infuriatingly bright.
Donovan immediately realizes that shooting is not going to suffice at his current skill level. He then looks around himself, looks down at himself, and realizes that doing just about anything is not going to suffice. So he tosses his bow and draws his spear instead, spotting the opening Nikolai left and trying to drive into it with animal desperation in his eyes. He growls, charges and thrusts forward with slightly surprising strength and acuity for his size, but he is still too slow and the thrust clashes with Nikolai's massive hammer instead.
"Finally," Nikolai declares, stepping aside to slam the haft of his hammer against the haft of Donovan's spear, fending off the attack. "The improvements I asked for. A shame you would not show them until you became my enemy." He pushes Donovan away with the flat of his hand, steps back, and drops the head of his hammer into the earth, splashing out liquid fire that travels in a wave towards Solomon. Where the elder demonborn's fire is laced with baleful power, the demigod's is replete with the essence of transformation and creation - strong opposites.
Solomon casts out some lower strand of fire, probaing for Nikolai's defenses.
And that's going to be about as much fun as Donovan gets - Korina lets loose another sharp arrow headed directly Solomon's way and darts in to plant herself safely and securely between Nikolai and Donovan, letting out a soft, half-hearted hiss at the latter, just out of principle.
Donovan is nearly bowled over by Nikolai's parry itself, but as Korina darts in the way, he sees an opportunity and thrusts the other end of his spear deftly - grazing her left leg with the pointed tip.
Nikolai grunts, eyeing Donovan with a mixture of approval and disapproval as he makes clever use of that toxin... then uses it on his lover. "I'd hit you for that," he mutters, "But -" He flicks a small pellet of flame towards Solomon, which is just rather poorly aimed in general, and flies well overhead.
Korinas Nightmare Battle With Donovan 240802
(Korina's nightmare battle with Donovan)
[Thu Aug 1 2024]
In the busy foyer of Great News Community Center
The community center's foyer has a gritty, lived-in feel. Harried volunteers weave through a mix of individuals, some bearing the weight of hard-lived stories on their way to addiction counseling. The aroma from the soup kitchen mingles with a sense of desperation and hope, while a small chapel to the north offers a quiet corner of solace, its doors open to all. Nearby, the religious bookstore stands as a beacon of faith amidst the tangible air of struggle.
Mounted prominently on the wall opposite the entrance is a large cross, along with a slogan: Jesus didn't just give good news, he gave GREAT NEWS!
Aside from it, on the wall next to the entrance to the chapel, a large painting of Saint George engaged in a heavenly battle with a ferocious, massive red dragon dominates the wall, a poignant symbol of the ever-present battle against addiction.
Signs give directions to parts of the community center:
(North) Chapel
(East) Soup Kitchen & Multi-Purpose Room
(South) Bookstore & Gifts
It is afternoon, about 98F(36C) degrees,
Donovan ponders for a moment. "I don't recall if I installed any Daoist literature... I will certainly look into that. I tried to add things for every major religion, but it would seem I missed a few."
Donovan blinks.
Fayad says "Well, if you have a recommendation I suppose I can add it to the literature, miss...?"
Donovan stiffens and glances around warily, withdrawing into himself slightly.
Saoirse says "Saoirse, uh, Saoirse Li. And I do, uh, yeah. You, uh, definitely wanna get a copy of the Dao De Jing, uh... Here, you can look up the code from my copy, if you'd like?"
"Well," Solomon says. "What have we here?"
Donovan wheels around and stares at Solomon with wide eyes. "... Fr- frankly, I don't know. Who are you?"
Fayad nods, quietly making note on a spare piece of paper.
Saoirse says "And probably the Zhuangzi as well, and also the Liezi.... Oh, let me know if you need that spelled out."
"A slop-dolly of epic proportions," says Nikolai, affecting an extraordinarily poor Southern accent shot through with streaks of something Eastern European. "And I do delcayuh that you ain't gawn enjoy it." They cough, and then, more quietly, they ask Korina, "How did that sound?" Yeah - it's Russian.
Solomon introduces himself. "Solomon Inigo," he tells Donovan. "And you are?"
Fayad says "I, uh, we don't make much money here. It's a non-profit. I'm only gonna take one suggestion right now."
Korina stares at Nikolai with a blink, trying to figure out what on earth he's saying. She's got no idea. That means, presumably, that it was terrible.
"Oh." Saoirse looked slightly disappointed, but that quickly recovered. "Okay, right, yeah, that one should do, then."
Saoirse says "What's your name?"
Fayad says "Fayad al-Munaqadh."
"Blyat," Nikolai sighs. "You know, I have lived in America more than thirty years, and I still cannot sound like local."
Solomon says "Shall we start this distraction?"
Donovan swallows and replies to Solomon, "Donovan- Donovan Rowland, sir. I'll just come out and say I- I have not a clue what is happening right now."
Saoirse says "Nice, nice, uh... Thanks for ordering that, I guess."
Donovan says "Nikolai? Is that you I'm hearing? H- hell..."
Solomon tells someone, "You are I are allies, as far as Venice is concerned. We're going to fight whoever is talking over there."
Solomon tells Donovan, "You are I are allies, as far as Venice is concerned. We're going to fight whoever is talking over there." He pauses. "Some of the Hand, perhaps? Hard to say."
Fayad says "THe chapel's closed right now unless services are scheduled by appointment because of the multiple hate crime events. It's getting too expensive to replace the furniture every time."
Fayad says "So if you need it, schedule an appointment with me."
Donovan balks at the exchange he's seeing, staring wide-eyed between it and Solomon. "Wh- seriously?! God help me. Christ. Okay. I can't believe it. I- I was just telling my friends that they were going to break my leg again right after it's healed, and now here I am."
Solomon glances off into the nightmare. "Here you are," he agrees to Donovan.
Donovan says "What- wait, my crutch is still here? I threw this away..."
"An interesting set of opponents," Nikolai remarks aside to Korina. "Solomon Inigo, Donovan Rowland and... a third?"
Donovan murmurs to Solomon, "Are we- supposed to *hear* them?"
Saoirse had a look of shock on her face. "Really? Hate crimes? I didn't know people got up to that kind of thing, that's... Awful." She frowned, a look of sympathy clearly on her face.
"Fayad's voice," Korina tells Nikolai, gripping her claws tightly in hand while she glances around the endless void, and then, a little louder, "We hear you too."
Donovan pales. "Ah- sorry!" he calls out into the void.
Solomon says "I would have thought Mr. Fayad would be with us. Or do you have some other allegiance besides your silly dragon, Mr. Fayad?"
Nikolai says "I think Fayad is beneath the nightmare, in the real. I presume... you choose Donovan for attack."
Saoirse says "Well, I mean, they obviously get up to that sort of thing, just didn't expect it, uh.... Here?"
Fayad shrugs. "It's probably just because they're angry someone of Muslim ethnicity is running the formerly largely Christian soup kitchen," he sighs, before taking out a worn blue handkerchief and dabbing at perspiration forming on his forehead.
Saoirse seemed to be getting a bit worn down by the heat herself, fanning her face with the book she held in one hand. "That's stupid. They're stupid. You keep on, uh, keeping on, I guess."
Fayad smiles faintly. "I also replaced the crappy salad they offered here with my mother's curry recipe. But small changes like that make small minds extremely angry, yes."
Donovan panics instantly when more appear - gripping his bow white-knuckled, bringing it up, and nocking an arrow before drawing the string back heavily. He tremulously looses his shot, aiming at who he can only assume is his enemy - his hurried shot goes wide and the arrow sails away harmlessly. He swallows and braces himself.
Saoirse says "Anyways, uh, I also do like, Reiki healing, that's my job, so if you wanna book a session, just uh, hit me up on MyHaven, yeah? I'm Quanzhen on there."
Fayad brings up his phone and taps away at it.
Fayad says "Mine is SIGNAL but with the nouns replaced with letters."
Fayad says "So, ess one gee en four el."
Fayad says "...nouns. Vowels."
Saoirse says "Oh yeah, oh yeah, I think I browsed past you once, uhhh..."
Saoirse says "Oh yeah, oh yeah, I think I browsed past you once, uhhh..."
Saoirse says "Ha! There we go."
Saoirse says "So uh, I'll be about, I'm new in town. Maybe I'll try some of that soup sometime. Take it easy."
Fayad says "Of course. Have a nice day."
Fayad gets up and drags someone' unconscious body onto the bench.
Fayad gets up and drags the unconscious body onto the bench.
"I did not choose, it is his own fault for having his mind there," Korina grumbles aside to Nikolai as though this was a complete and utter coincidence, and the wicked edges of her claws gleam in the light that bursts forth from her form - a homing beacon. She stays near the big Russian man otherwise, reflexes at the ready, though she doesn't even attempt to protect him from the arrow that's shot forth by Donovan - just watches it sail past with mild amusement.
Solomon steps back, gesturing casually with his left hand to slash some low rift in space. As he does, he smiles, calling his familiar into being.
Fayad says "What a pain in the ass..."
Looks like the three more experienced have the same game plan, calling up their allies - Nikolai taps his neck twice and settles into place in front of Korina for a moment, eyeing Donovan as that arrow whizzes past his head. "Alright," he says, back to plain old Russian. "I have been curious to see how we handle you, Inigo. I will admit; our team may pack slightly bigger punch."
"I am but a man,"@me tells Nikolai, red-eyed as he chants to summon some line of fire in Nikolai's direction. "And I find these nightmare fights a distraction. Venice sets up stickball matches as it avoids the real issues that plague the world."
Fire begets fire in kind, but first Nikolai launches a small silver ball at Solomon - which explodes into electrical whining and fuzzy pulses against the skin on impact. /Then/ he brings up his massive, two handed maul and spits a stream of fire at Solomon with it, leaving his flank open for Donovan to try and target.
It seems they've both got the same idea, then - Donovan goes ignored, and Korina closes the distance to a comfortable spot where she can notch an arrow onto her bow and set it loose at the Demonborn; as it whizzes through the air at him, there's a spark of light in the corner of his vision, infuriatingly bright.
Donovan immediately realizes that shooting is not going to suffice at his current skill level. He then looks around himself, looks down at himself, and realizes that doing just about anything is not going to suffice. So he tosses his bow and draws his spear instead, spotting the opening Nikolai left and trying to drive into it with animal desperation in his eyes. He growls, charges and thrusts forward with slightly surprising strength and acuity for his size, but he is still too slow and the thrust clashes with Nikolai's massive hammer instead.
"Finally," Nikolai declares, stepping aside to slam the haft of his hammer against the haft of Donovan's spear, fending off the attack. "The improvements I asked for. A shame you would not show them until you became my enemy." He pushes Donovan away with the flat of his hand, steps back, and drops the head of his hammer into the earth, splashing out liquid fire that travels in a wave towards Solomon. Where the elder demonborn's fire is laced with baleful power, the demigod's is replete with the essence of transformation and creation - strong opposites.
Solomon casts out some lower strand of fire, probaing for Nikolai's defenses.
And that's going to be about as much fun as Donovan gets - Korina lets loose another sharp arrow headed directly Solomon's way and darts in to plant herself safely and securely between Nikolai and Donovan, letting out a soft, half-hearted hiss at the latter, just out of principle.
Donovan is nearly bowled over by Nikolai's parry itself, but as Korina darts in the way, he sees an opportunity and thrusts the other end of his spear deftly - grazing her left leg with the pointed tip.
Nikolai grunts, eyeing Donovan with a mixture of approval and disapproval as he makes clever use of that toxin... then uses it on his lover. "I'd hit you for that," he mutters, "But -" He flicks a small pellet of flame towards Solomon, which is just rather poorly aimed in general, and flies well overhead.