Chronicles of The Omniverse Archived Lutetia City: The Monastery

As written by Script

"Uh..." Inarin hesitated, looking down awkwardly, "Probably not since my brother last visited."

Aurelion Nuvellon was, in many ways, everything that Inarin was not. Confident, athletic, courageous and wilful. The older of the two siblings by eight years, Aurelion had graduated from the monastic order and taken the silver whilst Inarin was still in his first few years there. Now an extremely well regarded Paladin, months at a time sometimes passed by between his visits to his family due to increasingly lengthy (and mysterious) missions on behalf of the church.

Inarin scurried to catch up as Aaro walked from the classroom, one of his folders clutched to his chest. "I've ... got quite a backlog," he answered. His allowance seldom found itself spent, with the exception of the occasional book purchase - and most of his reading material he got from the monastery's extensive library.

"I... don't mind covering you, if you need it."
 
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As written by Krysis

Celeste gave a harsh little bark of laughter, "Why would I go out? There is nothing I need from the city, and you might run into any sort of foul beast pretending to be human. Some of them are so good at it that they are impossible to spot until provoked." She rubs her forearms briskly, as if she were cold despite the heat of the classroom they were leaving behind.

"You're sure this cafe of your's is a reputable place, right? We're not going to end up drinking poison because some furface is in the back full of spite and hatred towards the church?" It was almost time for her father, a barroom singer called 'Hogan', to visit again. The last time they had spoken he had mentioned some things that had made Celeste's blood turn to ice. The clerics had to separate father and daughter that day as she shouted at the old crippled man. Ever since that fight, she has been more paranoid about shifters.
 
As written by Faithy

Jimmy shook his head at the other three, groaning a little when it became obvious that Aaro was not good at managing his money. Sure, the two of them had gone out into Lemeux quite a bit, but Jimmy always managed to ensure that he still had plenty of money left over. Of course, that was probably due to the fact that he was quite the flirt. Before he had a chance to say anything, Inarin piped up that he had quite a backlog. So, just another thing that Aaro would owe his fellow proselyte. Stretching out his back, he glanced over towards Celeste at her comment, grinning a little. He wouldn’t admit it, but he was quite curious about the beasts that were in Lemeux and was looking forward to learning more about them.

“Hmm… Celeste, you’ll be safe. You’ve got the three of us to make sure nothing bad happens.” Jimmy smiled and leaned over to pat her on the back before continuing forward.

(Continued here )
 
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As written by Krysis

Later...

Celeste had no intention of obeying Aaro's instruction about what she could bring, but she would at least make it less than conspicuous to appease the younger boy. She strapped a small pistol to the side of her thigh, just above where a garter would rest. A fluffy red skirt that swung to her knees kept the outline from being obvious, and a long sleeved black blouse covered a couple of daggers in sheaths on her wrists. She hesitated over a throwing axe that she could strap to her back, then decided against it, preferring to slip an extra clip of silver bullets into the tiny, almost new handbag that she hadn't had occasion to use for years.

Then the uniform went back on over all of that, which would wrinkle her clothes a little, but she doubted anyone would care. A few careful touches of make-up to hide the circles under her eyes and lend some color to her lips, and she was done. Unfortunately, she didn't have any nicer shoes, but the standard black boots that came with the uniform worked well enough anyway. Since there might be a bit of climbing in and out unless someone had a better way than the window she had rigged in order to pass food and money to Pierette, the practical shoes would have been her choice anyway.

She had some things she tucked in her book bag, just in case. Extra money she had saved, ten feet of slender rope (barely more than twine) with a homemade hook on the end, a mre and other such things.

She'd probably still be the last to make it to the study hall suggested, since the boys probably didn't bother with things like concealer.
 
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As written by Script

A few minutes later

Inarin's room at the monastery was, much like the rest, minimalistic. He perched on the edge of his bed, holding his phone up to his ear. It rang a few times before it was answered.

"Hey, In. What's up?"

"Hi Leon," Inarin smiled as his brother's voice answered. He'd worried that his brother might be busy on duty. "I need to ask you a favour. But how are you, first? It's been a while since we talked."

Aurelion laughed. "It's been a bit less than a week, In. I'm fine. Still on R&R, but starting to go stir-crazy. I'm glad I'm in the city, though. I have a bad feeling about everything that's going on here."

"With the packs?"

"That, and some other attacks across the city. Messy ones. Anyway, don't worry about it. They've not been anywhere near the monastery. What's this favour?"

"Okay, you can't tell anyone about this..."

"Uh... little hard to promise that before I know what it is, but if it's reasonable not to, then I won't."

That would have to do. "I'm going to a party tonight. With Aaro, Jimmy and Celeste. Uh, they're other proselytes. But um, we're sneaking out."

"In! You devil!" Aurelion sounded more amused than angry, "Those three must be a bad influence, because this isn't like boring old In at all!"

Inarin blushed, scowling. "I'm not that boring! I just..."

"I'm only teasing, In. But seriously... what brought this on?"

“We met a guy at a cafe after class,” Inarin explained, “Talked to him for a while. He asked us if we wanted to come.”

”Did he seem like a decent guy? How old was he? How insistent was he that you went?”

Inarin thought back to the conversation, frowning faintly as he tried to recall the details of how Arien had spoken to them. “Yeah... he seemed nice. He was around our age, and not very. He encouraged it, obviously, but he didn’t seem like he would have protested if we’d said no.”

”Hm. And where is the party?”

"Merveilleux. At 291 Coterie Avenue."

" Not a bad area... A lot of necromancers, but they're not normally any trouble. So it’s probably just a party. Still... with the city how it is right now, I’m not sure this is a good idea."

Inarin hesitated, grimacing. "I... the others will go even if I don’t. And there’s four of us, including two who aren’t far off of taking the silver."

There was a pause, before Aurelion spoke again. ”Alright, In. I’m not sure I like this, but I won’t tell anyone. What do you need from me?”

“I just wanted to let you know... so someone knows where we are, just in case... well, just in case something does happen.” Inarin sighed.

"There's the In I know. Always thinking three steps ahead. Alright, well consider me in the know. Now, listen. This is your first party, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Okay, so rules of thumb. Make sure you know what's in your drink - if a stranger offers you a drink, make sure you saw it poured or poured it yourself, and if you didn't, find a way to not drink it without being obviously impolite. Don't drink much, you won't have a high tolerance since you haven't drank before, and you need to walk yourself back to the Monastery and get back inside. Uh ... I guess if you get lucky, use protection? Do you have access to tha-"

"Leon!" Inarin's face went bright red.

"Hah! I can feel that blush from here. Sorry, In. But listen, all jokes aside... be careful. I know you will, since you're you, but really keep your head on. Don't get too drunk. You're just a kid. So are the other proselytes, no matter how close to taking the silver they are. If there's trouble, I want you to get out of there. Don't try and be a hero."

"That's... sort of what I was planning anyway. Thank you. For not telling anyone."

Aurelion sighed, "In, I took worse risks when I was in your shoes. But from my perspective now... well, I don't want anything to happen to you. But you have to have some fun. Make sure you do that."

"Huh?"

"Have fun, In." Aurelion laughed. "I'm glad you're getting out more. Are these three friends of yours? You've not mentioned them before.

"Um..." Inarin hesitated, "I ... guess so? I've talked to Aaro before, but the other two I only really talked to today. They seem nice, though. Celeste's a little terse, but Jimmy is ... nice."

"Are you twirling your hair right now, In?"

"What? No, why would I be?" Inarin blinked in confusion.

"No reason. Anyway, I'll let you get on with your party prep. Call me if anything goes wrong. I'll be up late working on reports, so don't worry about waking me up."

"Uh... alright. Thanks again, Leon."

"No problem. Have fun tonight. Bye!"

"Bye!" Inarin smiled as the phone cut out, and he slipped it into his pocket. Party preparations indeed. First things first, he needed to get some things ready for their escape plan...
 
As written by Faithy

Don’t bring a gun? Seriously? Jimmy shook his head at that thought as he jogged up to his room. He wasn’t planning on packing on the weapons like a crazy person, but he sure wasn’t going to not be prepared. As he reached his room, he closed and locked the door before moving to his closet. Digging around in the back of it, he pulled out a medium sized trunk and unlocked it with a hidden key that he dug out of his pocket. Opening it up, he glanced down at the assortment of weapons before deciding on what to grab. Putting that on hold for the moment, he moved back to his closet to pick out an outfit. Opting for a pair of blue pants, not jeans, but not slacks either, Aries laid them out in addition to a red button up t-shirt that looked incredibly stylish. Dropping his uniform off him, he tugged on a fresh pair of boxers before sliding on the pants and the shirt. Musing a little, he just glanced around with a heavy sigh, hating that he didn’t have a clue what to wear.

“Really, Jim? You’re taking as long as a girl… get a move on.” He grumbled and shook his head before moving back towards his chest of weapons. Logic dictated that a sword would be hard to hide, so instead he strapped a fairly long dagger to his right ankle where he could get to it easily beneath his pants. He did the same with his other ankle before looking back in the closet again. Shaking his head, he decided against a jacket even though he’d be able to hide more weapons inside of it. Locking up the trunk, he slid the key into his pocket before opening up the desk drawer. Pulling out his specially created watch, he pulled on the ring that was beneath the watch, bit of the 2 and a half foot garrote extremely sturdy wire showing. He pushed it back down to make it appear like it was nothing more than a watch.

“Alright…” Before walking out of the room, he pulled on his uniform back on over his clothing, hoping the others had the escape equipment because he didn’t really have anything helpful. Taking a moment to grab his last piece of defense, an innocent looking silver band that was actually a device that held lethal poisoned throwing needles in it. The tips were dipped in poison and it was fact acting, though depending on the target it might work and it might not, but at least he was prepared… more or less. Grabbing his bag full of books, he moved out of his room, locking it up before heading for the library.
 
As written by Rōnin

If there was one thing the Monastery readily had available, it was weapons. Blades and swords were easy to come by - knives and dirks were virtually undocumented by the Order, especially with the sheer quantity being constantly produced by proselytes practicing their blacksmithing skills. Training swords were a dime a dozen, as were most of the Order's basic bladed weapons that weren't handcrafted Paladin swords.

Guns were a bit harder to come by. The heavy calibers - the Lawkeepers, Rosaries and Exorcists - were almost impossible to get a hold of, locked up and meticulously guarded in the main armory. The smaller firearms used for daily practice by proselytes would be more readily available, though swiping them would be far more difficult then just removing them from their racks. Older students with a bit more leeway in the Order's administration would have a better chance of getting one out of the firing range, or those proselytes with special connections to the armory.

But perhaps the best weaponry the proselytes had access to were those they built themselves. Going to an academy that made a point of teaching its student blacksmithing, gunsmithing and mechanical engineering had its perks; there was no shortage of curious young proselytes building and experimenting with new kinds of gadgets and weaponry. Usually the shop/lab work involving lethal equipment was conducted under supervision, but every now and then an eager student would manage take his work back to his dorm and continue working with all the vigor of a mad scientist. How those weapons got around the academy was another matter entirely.

---

As it was, Jimmy would enter the lobby of the Miroir. The floor was polished marble indented with glittering mosaics, winding a pathway to a set of massive, oakwood doors guarded by several attendant clerics, swords belted to their hips.

"Good evening, proselyte," one of them touched his finger to his lips, "study time, I presume. Going to be a late night?"

---

Aaro had already gotten in. He walked calmly between the mazes of vaulting bookcases, traversing the enormous labyrinth of the Miroir with practiced ease. Before long he'd found his way into the west hall and had claimed the private study room titled 'chamber nine'. He kept the door slightly ajar, threw his bag over the table and propped his feet up on the wood.

With Jimmy and In taking their sweet time, it would seem (oddly enough) that Celeste would be the second person to arrive. Aaro grinned at her, nodding towards her bag.

"Whadja bring?" He tapped his own duffel with his foot. "Show and tell time."

---

While Inarin was in the midst of preparing himself, the door to his dorm abruptly unlocked (if locked) and swung open. His roommate, Basil, walked inside, barechested and with a towel wrapped around his waist. His shaggy black hair was slightly damp. Dark circles rimmed his eyes.

"Inarin," he groaned, "I need to borrow a razor. I'd go to Mains but I'm too tired to make the trip..."

Hopefully he hadn't walked in on his roommate at an inopportune time.
 
As written by Script

What did you wear to parties? Inarin lamented that he hadn't asked Aurelion when he'd been on the phone, and briefly considered calling him up again, but decided that was a tad too embarrassing. His wardrobe wasn't extensive - he wore his uniform almost all the time, as the clerics encouraged, and most of his remaining clothing was for his occasional visits home. Still, at least the majority of it was very nice. Tailor made, as his mother had insisted. He even had a few pieces from Fil d'Or Idé, his aunt's exclusive and mind-bogglingly expensive boutique. Gifts, of course. He could never imagine spending that much on clothes himself.

Eventually, after much fretting, he had picked out what he hoped would be an acceptable combination. A deep crimson shirt with an incredibly subtle dappling in a slightly darker shade, and black from the waist down - belt, trousers and loafers. The final additions were his watch - silver, and of an intricate design - and a single white-gold ring. The ring was from his aunt, who'd told him it was a good luck charm, and to wear it whenever he wanted to feel just that little bit more safe. He wasn't sure he bought into that, but it certainly looked nice. He was blissfully unaware that the outfit was probably worth more than his allowance had amounted to in nine years of study.

Once dressed, he began to organise what he wanted to bring with him. He slipped the key to the library's windows - acquired an hour earlier from the hook in the groundskeeper's shed - into his pocket. They never locked up while they were working (today they'd been tending the formal gardens and flower beds) and there were so many keys that they would never miss the one. Alongside the key went a small handful of money in case they needed to hire a taxi or pay for drinks, and his phone.

After a moment's pause, he also retrieved a few small vials of salve - ones he'd concocted himself as part of labwork - and slipped them into his pocket. Just in case, he told himself.

Finally, there was but one more thing to find.

"Beetle," he said, "come."

There was a moment's pause, before a strange metallic buzzing sound emerged from beneath Inarin's bed. A small insect-like creature flitted out from beneath it and crossed over to where he stood with his hand outstretched, before landing in his palm. Beetle was a mechanical contraption - slightly larger than a real beetle, but not so much so that someone might not mistake him for one if they weren't looking closely. Tuned to Inarin's voice commands, the little bug-bot was extremely handy in all sorts of situations, and a fair bit stronger than its tiny size would suggest.

"Beetle, sleep," Inarin instructed the device, slipping him into his pocket just as the door to the room swung open.

Inarin started guiltily, turning to face the door. "Oh! Basil! Um, hi! It's awfully late to be showering, isn't it?"

Then again, it was awfully late to be getting dressed up, Inarin realised. He hastily grabbed his uniform blazer from his bed and threw it on, hoping to avoid any questions as to his attire. "A razor... yes, of course, uh..." A few seconds of rooting around in a cupboard and he pulled out his own. It didn't see much use, as of yet.

He proffered it to Basil, trying to prevent red staining his cheeks out of embarrassment at being discovered. At least he blushed often enough that it could have been for any number of reasons. Small blessings indeed.
 
As written by Krysis

Celeste blushed at Aaro's invitation, which was rather visible since she had pulled her hair back and fastened it with a plain clip. Not having her hair to hide behind seemed to have her slightly flustered as it was, and the awareness of the make-up made her more nervous still.

Then she gave a shy smile as she set her bag on the floor near to his. "Are you sure? I have a reputation, you know. If you have something you ought not have in your bag, I might feel compelled to tell a teacher, if it seems morally wrong. Not that I would have room to talk, considering that we are sneaking out and what I am taking."

"Speaking of which, why the hell wouldn't we take guns? It's dangerous out there, and if Jimmy Does met up with a werewolf, a gun is the best way to keep it from eating him when he pisses it off." She'd unzip her bag next, pulling it open so he could see the coil of thin rope, a couple of throwing axes that she had designed and created on her own, a block in thick brown plastic with faded printing, and her nice handbag that was on top. From the sound the bag made when she set it down, there were probably more things in the bottom.

She'd blush again if Aaro picked up one of the small axes, which were strangely elegant as well as deadly looking. With a bit of fluting that would help it fly true when thrown and the handle being barely wrapped with tape instead of the more common sort of grips, they had to be handmade, and probably by Celeste. They also had a straight tube that ran from tip to tip, which was sealed off and gurgled faintly.

"I know we're not supposed to, but how the hell do you know if it works if you can't practice with it?" She mumbled and fidgeted nervously.
 
As written by Faithy

He headed back to his room one final time to grab his money and cell phone figuring he might need those two things. Nodding, he Jimmy moved out of his room, locking it for a second time before jogging back out towards the library. Moving inside of the lobby, he glanced around before releasing a huge sigh, the place draining already. Moving towards the doors, he slid his fingers through his dark locks, he nodded at the cleric.

“Yeah, a very late night.” He whispered softly, shaking his head in embarrassment at how far behind he had become, or at least that was what they needed to believe. Moving beyond them, he immediately made his way through the bookcases, pausing a moment to look at a few books, before continuing to where the study halls were located. Stepping into the west hall, he checked the numbers, pausing for a second time,

“Hm.” He glanced around, stretching out his back, it popping almost immediately before he continued to Chamber Nine. He heard Aaro’s voice as well as Celeste’s and couldn’t help but grin as he entered the room. Closing it behind him, but not all the way knowing In was still on his way, Jimmy placed his bag down beside him before taking a seat, glancing at the spread of items on the table.

“Well, glad someone came prepared.”
 
As written by Rōnin

Aaro smiled at Celeste. "I won't tell if you won't."

He immediately began inspecting her work, picking up one of the throwing axes and weighing it in his hand. He nodded appreciatively. Every proselyte was well-trained in throwing weapons; they knew good craftsmanship.

His eyes moved quizzically to the rope and block. "Sweet Selene. What are you wearing to this party, a parka? How on earth are you going to hide all these things on your person?" He looked up at her. "And hey, that bag sounded heavy. Handgun kind of heavy."

“Well, glad someone came prepared.”

His eyes flashed to Jim as he entered. Aaro shook his head. "Too prepared. Elueu preserve us, she's brought a goddamn amory." He nodded to the bag at his side. "What did you bring?"

---

Basil looked at Inarin with an odd expression. Though it was common for his roommate to be flustered, it usually happened in the classroom or in front of a crowd or if he was asked questions or if he was sparring or... okay, it was really common. But this late at night, his roommate was usually winding down with a book or doing his schoolwork. Seeing him up and about - much less dressed so nicely, was more than a bit unusual.

He accepted the razor, looking Inarin up and down. "What's uh. What's up, man?" He chuckled to himself. "You look like you're going for a night out on the town. Got a date or something?" There was no denying the tinge of jest in Basil's tone. The thought of Inarin going out, much less on romantic terms ... yeah. That didn't happen.
 
As written by Script

"N-no!" Inarin coughed, "Just studying."

So why was he dressed up? He could blag this, he had the brain for it, he just had to think ...

"The rest of my uniform got muddy. In practice. Earlier. And I just picked these out. Do I look like that? Well, it doesn't matter. I never really pay attention to what I wear anyway, statistically I was eventually going to wear something that resembled an 'outfit' by accident." He laughed nervously. His 'normal' fashion sense was, in a word, non-existent. He didn't normally care enough to think about what he put on, usually wearing either his uniform, or just whatever random pieces of clothing were at the front of his wardrobe, depending on whether he had class or not.

So it was at least vaguely believable. Vaguely. Certainly it was more likely than him going out, wasn't it? His reputation for being... well, boring, had to have some benefits, right?

He frowned, then, finally picking up on the way Basil had asked. "Wh-what would be so funny about that, anyway?" he spluttered, "I could ... I mean, it's not ..."

Inarin sighed, shoulders sinking dejectedly. Who was he kidding? It was funny because it was absurd. He remembered reading some sort of comedy theory that drew that parallel. Date? Him? That was practically textbook comedy genius.

"Nevermind. I should get going, anyway..." he mumbled, taking his bag - largely filled with books - from the floor and moving to brush past Basil for the door.

Maybe his roommate was right. He should just tell the others he wasn't going. It had been a stupid idea. He wasn't the type of person that went out... he'd only end up making a fool of himself. He could just stay in the library overnight and help them get back in when they got back... that would probably be better.
 
As written by Krysis

Celeste flashed Jimmy a nervous smile, then gave Aaro a serious look, "Of course I am armed, but you won't find it in that bag. It's my gun and I am old enough to carry, so I will carry. Especially since we were approached while in uniform. Doesn't that strike you as odd? I mean, who hangs out with proselytes if they have any other option?"

She reaches into her bag to stir up the stuff on the bottom, which included a pink box that any male with any sense would avoid. A bit of cord with some pitons on it, a cell phone charger, and a couple of things that looked suspiciously like grenades were what were rattling around in the bottom. The grenades were obviously not functional. One got the impression this was her workshop bag and it accumulated random stuff that she hadn't cleaned out.

"There, satisfied? Now what did you bring? Anything at all aside from your lust for adventure?" Yes, she was getting a little angry. It was bad enough that he would be almost helpless if he was unarmed and things turned ugly, but now Aaro was trying to make her feel bad for being prepared for things to turn ugly.

And Arien had flirted with her. She didn't want to feel bad yet, when she had that little glowing feeling still.
 
As written by Rōnin

Basil only shook his head, still laughing to himself. "Alright then. Don't have too good of a time now." Had it been anyone else, Basil would have been more suspicious. As it was, he had no reason to believe that his mild-mannered roommate was going off to do anything other than exactly what he said he was going to do.

The thought that In would try to sneak out of the Monastery - something that only a handful of daring proselytes even attempted on rare occasion - was unthinkable. That sort of adventure just wasn't in his blood.

Or so he thought.
 
As written by Faithy

“Well, an armory might be needed. Never know what we might run into outside the walls of our fantastically exciting home.” Jimmy couldn’t help but roll his eyes before patting his bag, which was full of books. It dawned on him that maybe he should have brought something more useful, but he always did things on the fly and well, he hadn’t thought that far quite yet. Before he could answer Aaro, Celeste spoke up and mentioned that she had a gun on her. Groaning and squeezing his nose, Jim just kept quiet and let the two work things out among them. He figured she knew how to use it, but he couldn’t help but feel it was overkill. Glancing into Celeste’s bag, he blinked at the stuff and just shook his head, hoping that the grenades weren’t actually functional.

“Wow, you did bring a lot. I just have books in the bag, Aaro. I’ve got two daggers stashed on me in addition to a watch that can be used to decapitate someone, my wristband full of poisoned needles, cash, and my phone. That’s it.” He grinned sheepishly, running his fingers through his hair before adding,

“And of course, my awesome looks and personality.”
 
As written by Script

The wind slightly taken out of his sails, it was with a frown on his face that Inarin made his way towards the library. His unusual attire hidden beneath his blazer, he drew no more suspicion, and reached the front entrance without issue.

"Good evening, Sister Maria," he said to the librarian cleric at the front desk, making his way over to her.

"Ah, good evening Inarin," she replied, smiling. "Another late night studying session?"

"Yes, Sister," Inarin rummaged in his bag for a few moments before retrieving a trio of sizeable books. "These are to return, as well."

Maria nodded, flicking each open in turn and applying a stamp on the records at the front. She raised an eyebrow as she worked. "I thought for sure that this batch would take you a little longer than usual. Saint Augustin has a particularly dry writing style that even I can't read for long periods."

A flicker of a smile crossed Inarin's face, "He does dance around his points a lot, but he has a pattern to it. I found that in all but a few cases, skimming three lines and then reading the fourth reliably cut out a lot of the filler. I think he must have been trying to bulk out the writing and ended up lapsing into a predictable methodology for doing so. A lot of the proselytes do that for their essays, but it was surprising to see it in a published piece."

Maria's eyebrow rose further. "Really? Well, I must say that I've never picked up on that before. You will have to stop impressing me one of these days, dear boy, or I fear my eyebrow shall detach itself from my forehead and wander its way up to the ceiling."

Inarin couldn't help but laugh at the mental image, a little of his low spirits being alleviated. "I'll do my best, Sister."

"Nonsense," Maria waved a hand, "If I must sacrifice an eyebrow for my dear little prodigy to achieve his best, then sacrifice an eyebrow I shall. But I shan't keep you from your reading any further. Off you go now."

Nodding his head respectfully, Inarin turned and moved further into the library, seeking out chamber nine. He knew the layout of the library like the back of his hand, and so it wasn't long before he reached it. He paused, taking a deep breath, before he pulled open the door and slipped inside.

"S-sorry, I'm a little late," he stammered quickly, glad to find that the others hadn't decided to leave without him.
 
As written by Rōnin

Aaro looked incredulously between Jim and Celeste. "Poison needles? Guns? Two blades? We're going to a party, guys, not war." He reached beneath his shirt and flipped out a spring-loaded ceramic dirk. "I brought a knife. A singular knife." He shook his head and looked at Celeste. "At least you're of age so you're technically allowed to have one. I just think its too much. It's a party in a respectable part of town. We're not going to Lupaix or something..."

"Doesn't that strike you as odd? I mean, who hangs out with proselytes if they have any other option?"

Aaro's usually lighthearted grin faltered. "I've... been thinking about that myself, actually. That guy seemed like he had connections. Why on earth would he invite church folk into a neighborhood dominated by necromancers?" He shook his head. "And did either of you notice how none of us picked up on that until after we'd left? We didn't think about it while he was talking to us. It was like... there was some sort of..."

He stopped as Inarin entered the room, his smile returning. "In! Glad you're here." He stood up out of his seat. "Now that we're all gathered, I guess I can show you all what I've brought to the table this evening. I'm not armed to the teeth like some people, but I think these are some practical additions to our inventory."

He opened up his duffel and removed three small items packaged in tissue paper. Removing it, he revealed a trio of potions - one murky and white, one gold, one a pale, milky beige.

"Tristram from my fourth hour is pretty serious about alchemy," Aaro explained, "he owes me a favor, so he loaned me three of his personal projects. You guys probably know about most of these, but I'll run you down them real quick anyway." He held up the first one. "This is 'heavyweight'. It builds up some sort of starch reserve in the stomach that soaks up alcohol and neutralizes it, allowing it to pass harmlessly through your body. It should build up our drinking tolerance for the night - the last thing we want is one of us passing out and having to be carried back to the Monastery." He winced. "Downside is that it reaalllyyy shrinks the size of your bladder while it's in use."

He held up the second, gold potion. "This is 'sunray'. When it comes in contact with a metal, it glows bright and becomes super combustive. Anything non-metal that it touches, burns. It's got special properties that make it really effective against dead tissue, so the undead are especially vulnerable."

He held up the last liquid. "And this ... this is 'bloodbane'. Drink it and it turns your blood into a corrosive acid if it drops below a certain temperature." He chuckled. "I don't actually think we should drink this one - you need to be on a special diet beforehand where you don't eat any meat except fish and no fatty foods or oils. It's actually a pretty rare potion, since you need vampire blood to distill it."

He looked up. "What do you guys think? Should we all take a hit of 'heavyweight' or just take our chances?"
 
As written by Krysis

"Hi, Inarin. Did someone give you trouble?" Celeste asked almost nicely as she gave him a swift and approving look.

Then she gave Aaro a disdainful glance, "Talk about impractical. Are you Really going to drink anything they give us? Alcohol is bad enough, but I bet it is a status symbol or something to roofie a paladin, even one still in training. If I had thought about it, I would have put a flask of water in my purse. Damn."

Celeste fretted a little, toying with the handle of her book bag. "Sunray is notoriously difficult to use. You can loose a limb from a single splash, if not your life. And Bloodbane? Really? We're expecting necromancers and maybe a werewolf or two, if Jimmy has his way. If a vampire decides to snack on us, it will be too late to quaff that mess. I will depend more on my gun than a potion."

She didn't bother to remind Aaro that a knife is last resort. Most of the monsters were faster as well as stronger than human, and a firearm was really the best way to level the field. As a proselyte, he should know that already. Right?
 
As written by Faithy

When Inarin finally made it, Jimmy relaxed although he hadn’t realized he was tense to begin with. Was he worried that the younger male would rat them out or just not show? No, not really, but he was growing worried that something might’ve happened to the teen. Stretching back out yet again, he returned his attention towards Aaro, shrugging at him. While he might have overdone it, Jimmy learned long ago that being unprepared was worse than overly so. He hoped that he didn’t have to use anything, but one never knew. Musing on the fact that they were all pretty much bamboozled by Arien’s offer, he wasn’t about to change his mind.

“Look, whether or not you guys want to go, I’m still heading out.” He glanced towards the three different vials containing potions that Aaro brought. His fingers reached over to poke at them before grinning at the heavyweight one in particular. That would be perfect, because unlike Celeste, he planned on drinking. If they wanted to try and roofie him, he would be sure not to drink that particular glass. He knew how to go to a party and survive and planned on doing just that.

“I’ll take some heavyweight, Aaro. I plan on drinking tonight.” Jimmy grinned, fixing his shirt a little bit beneath the blazer he was wearing.
 
As written by Script

"My roommate walked in on me getting ready," Inarin said, grimacing. "But it was easy enough to persuade him I wasn't doing anything ... since it's so absurd a concept that I might be having fun." There was an edge of glumness to his tone, thinking back on the way Basil had seemed to consider the idea of him going out laughable. It might have been true, but he didn't have to... well, Inarin supposed it was what he'd wanted the other boy to think, so he couldn't complain.

"I was just not going to drink much..." Inarin said, when Aaro began talking about heavyweight, setting his bag down in the corner, out of line of sight of the door. He didn't plan on taking his with him - he'd only really had it with him so he could return those books while he was at the library. As the others went on, he frowned worriedly.

"A-are you guys expecting a fight, or something?" he asked, "I thought... it's just a party, isn't it?"

He slipped his blazer off, revealing the expensive attire he wore beneath, and stowed it away inside his bag. "I have some salve with me... but that was mostly just in case of an accident."
 
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