World Tree MUSH

The village of Easter, Texas almost didn't fit in with much of the cyberpunk Earth it was located it on. It was clearly left from an earlier time with its wooden fronter cabins painted in pastels. None of the local residents were on the streets at the moment and were hiding indoors.

A giant metal cauldron with barely enough candy to cover the bottom had placed in the middle of town crushing the grass underneath it. There was a woman with a bloody blindfold and wearing tattered robes standing next to it. She was clearly undead from her blue skin and lack of visible feet. In one hand she held a sword and the other a set of scales.

"I told you already that's all the candy we have! We won't have the next batch ready until Mother's Day!" A frightened humanoid rabbit man yelled from a window in one of the wooden cabins. "Why don't you go bother that useless witch who ditched us, she might have some still." He was clearly trying to shift the blame elsewhere.

"I don't smell anyone else here who isn't a rabbit, Mistress Lethe is going to be quite displeased. Maybe a few rabbit's feet to assist with her alchemy will calm her down," The woman floated over to the wooden cabin the rabbit had been shouting out of but he had already ducked back inside and closed the window. Now might be a good time to intervene.

    Serrah has never visited Holly's homeworld before, so she's dropping by out of curiosity as much as anything else. (Another one of her unannounced multi-day trips from the apartment she shares with Hyouka ...) Plus, it's nice to visit another world besides Hartford where she can just fly around; after that incident in Aurelia's world, her homesickness got kicked up a notch.

    Well, the Vine she was trying to go through took her to Easter instead of her intended destination, and she frowns as she regards the abortive confrontation. "Uh ... huh." One hand goes to the sports bag at her hip, but she doesn't take any action yet. She's not even sure whether she should intervene; this feels suspiciously like sticking her neck out. On the other hand, this is in a sense "Holly's home". Serrah is clearly chock full of indecision ...

    Something approaches that very much does not smell like a rabbit. That would be because Paine is not a rabbit. No, she smells of human. And also of leather and metal. Mainly because she's wearing a leather-and-metal warrior's outfit. And the massive sword she's carrying probably doesn't hurt, as far as smelling of metal is concerned.

    "Death threats to a whole town over candy? Wow," she observes. She quirks a brow. "Biggest temper tantrum ever? That time of the month?" She is very definitely going to intervene, given her attitude. That and she's holding her sword now, not just letting it hang out on her back.

     Wandering, something Martin's very used to. Normally he has a more concrete direction to work with, south in specific, but wandering between worlds works just as well. And now, he's stumbled across a world where the residents look a little more familiar than usual. Rabbits, ever the punching bags of vermin, never with the spine to stand up for themselves.

Which is why he does.

"If my understanding of the day is correct, you've already gotten the treats. I suggest you be happy with what they've given you, as it would seem to be all they have." the mouse warrior speaks up from the opposite side of where Paine is approaching from, stepping out from behind one of the buildings. His paw is on the hilt of his sword, but he has yet to draw it, merely staring /very/ intently at the undead creature. "Besides, you look to be outnumbered three to one here. Show some wisdom."

The blindfolded woman is about to follow the rabbit man when she hears the other female voice. She turns around her head trying to locate the source of it. Paine's odor isn't as "This is about more about than candy, they've failed to pay proper tribute towards Mistress Lethe. I wonder if that witch he mentioned is still in the area....three of you, I can only hear two but thank you for tipping me off to the other." It seems like Serrah went unnoticed by her at first, maybe because she's partly undead herself. She takes a defensive stance if they plan to attack her but she doesn't strike yet. "I'm guessing none of you have any kind candy on you correct?"

    Ah, Paine. Serrah knows her. She nods briefly. And there's a warrior-looking mouse dude. Looks like Serrah won't have to intervene after all --

    She blinks at Martin. "W-wait, three to one?" she says, looking around as if expecting to see someone else present. "Well ... I mean ... i-i-it's not like I like ... defending strangers from harm --"

    She stops as she realized she just gave herself away. Whoops!

    She snorts, and lands a little ways away from Paine. Well, might as well own it! "Well, I got a half-eaten Green 'n' Blacks chocolate bar on me," she says flatly, "but like hell I'm giving it up to your shit." She pulls a baseball out of her bag, but she isn't making the first move, either.

    "'Fraid not," Paine replies to the question of having any candy, with a shrug. "Plenty of places you can get it out there in the World Tree if you want it so bad, though. Legally, of course. Don't shoplift."

    Of course, she figures there's more going on here than what looks like. And the only way she's gonna find out is to ask. So she does. "What's all this 'tribute' stuff about, anyway? I'd think there'd be something more important than candy demanded in tribute anyway if it was just about the stuff itself."

     Martin glances at Serrah, realizing that she may not have intended to help out. "Sorry for assuming. Two on one is just as good, though." he apologizes, taking note of the baseball all the same. He may have ruined the element of surprise, he realizes. "In any case, I have no candy. Haven't eaten any in too many seasons to count. It doesn't exactly grow on trees."

Paine, though he knows not her name, is asking good questions though. The warrior maintains his stoic stance, ready yet unwilling to attack until he's sure this creature is more than just a petty bully.

"Mistress Lethe needs sugar to stay awake or ingredients for her alchemy. She'll get displeased if I return empty handed and boil me in her cauldron! How else am I going to get candy, I'm a ghost. All I can really do is scare or threaten people!" Her job opportunities are rather limited after all. 

 Her tattention turns towards Serrah upon hearing she has candy and the ghost points her sword at the half-vampire. Sure it's already been half-eaten but it's better than nothing. It seems like it's going take some further persuasion if they're hoping to avoid combat.

    Serrah actually chortles at Paine's comment about not shoplifting. "Paine's talking sense," she says. "Aren't there better ways to get it than takin' it by force?" She pauses. "Also, if you're a ghost, then how exactly is Mistress Lethe gonna boil you alive?"

    Aaaaand now she has a sword pointed at her. She rolls her eyes. "Like I was saying," she says curtly. "Do you actually, like, not know how to get anything without taking it by force?" She puts her hands on her hips, shaking her head as if the threat wasn't there. "And for the record, you're not even the scariest undead being I've ever been."

>> SUMMARY[Serrah Delany] >> Serrah is only slightly better at nonviolent negotiation.

     "Will she die if she sleeps? It sounds like a bed would do her more good than candy." Martin remarks, then chuckles lightly at the further explanation. "Only scare or threaten? Then that is a toy sword, I take it. Even then, I may have to disarm you if you try to make good on those threats. Killing obviously isn't an option..."

He raises his eyebrow at Serrah's last comment, but shakes his head and changes tack, sword remaining sheathed for the moment. "Simply asking nicely is oftentimes more effective, or you could find an errand runner of your own who is more widely accepted. Perhaps do some odd jobs with candy as payment. Or... money, a concept I'm still getting used to myself."

    Paine just... stares at the ghost girl. "To stay awake? Ever tried caffiene?" She crosses her arms, shifts her weight to one side. "Besides," she continues, "if it's just sugar she needs, you can grow it. You know it comes from a plant, right? More than one plant, actually."

    And she tilts her head at Martin when he speaks. "What the giant mouse said, too," she adds. "Eventually you're gonna come across someone who's tougher than you. Probably more dangerous than whatever your mistress'll do to you. She probably needs you. Someone you threaten doesn't."

"Grow sugar? That takes months though right? I'm made of ghostly slime, I'm not one of those intangible ghosts," The woman isn't like Servis and Lavaux. "Mistress Lethe is a pudding, she falls into a coma if she doesn't get enough sugar. It's difficult to get her up again when that happens." She explains to the group. "No, it's a real sword but I take you don't want me to hurt people with it since you're trying to protect the rabbits." The ghost backs away from Serrah a bit before making a slashing motion. A nearby tree branch is cut free and falls to the ground. "Most people are frightened I just try to speak to them."

    Serrah nods along with the discussion, although she does a brief double-take at Martin when he reveals that he's unfamiliar with the concept of money. Oh well, not like he's expressing an unfamiliarity with magic. But she rallies, and smiles faintly at Paine's comment about caffeine. "I'll drink to that!" she says without missing a beat.

    She shakes her head at the ghost. "Sounds like you need to plan ahead better," she says flatly. "Like, maybe you shouldn't wait until you're in dire straits before trying to get your hands on sugar." Not that Serrah is one to talk about this particular subject. "Uhh --"

    She tenses up when the ghost starts to swing the sword, even though it isn't obviously being swung at her, and then suddenly ...

    ... Serrah is behind the ghost, several dozen feet further away than she was before. She was near Paine one instant, and in her new position the next, as abruptly as a video skipping ahead. She frowns as the tree branch falls. "Jesus," she exclaims. "Warn us next time!?"

     Martin does not miss the double-take. "In my world, we trade goods and services. I've heard some tell of coins used among certain pirate clans, tokens of merit and the like, but no community I've ever been in has used them." His attention then returns to the ghost, giving her a slightly confused look. "A pudding? She is a sweet who herself eats sweets? I've never met anything quite so strange, even in the World Tree..."

The sword swinging does get him to draw his own blade an inch or so, steeling his gaze at her. "No toy, then. The lady is right, it would do you well to warn us before you begin swinging it. I'd rather not solve this with bloodshed if it can be avoided."

Finally, to Paine, he nods and simply says, "Martin. Martin the Warrior." The 'giant mouse' part seems to get another quiet chuckle out of him though.

    Paine hears 'pudding' and thinks of those annoying elemental Flan that populate her world. Though things seem slightly different here. "A sapient Flan?" She doesn't bother explaining. Instead she points out, "Think you can get sugar from corn too, that doesn't take as long. But I'm not a farmer, I don't know how the process works."

    As for people being scared of her? Paine's mouth twists a little. "Y'think that might have something to do with how you greet people?" she asks, with a thick edge of sarcasm. "Dunno about you but I'm not usually charitably inclined towards people who pull weapons and threaten me."

    Serrah's little disappearing act gets a blink. "It's okay, she's not attacking," she reassures Serrah. Paine's too familiar with Haste, Slow, and Stop spells for this to be terribly surprising.

    And at the introduction from Martin, she nods, and offers in return, "Paine. Good too meet you." She doesn't really have a last name, that's not how Spira works.

"My name is Justice, or at least that's what Mistress Lethe calls me. I don't remember anything from before I met her." The ghost now remembers she hasn't introduced herself yet. "That would explain the smell. Well, I tried to float away from where I heard your voice. From corn? I guess, I'll have to ask someone about that. Maybe one of the villagers. If they make candy, I'm sure they would know how to extract it." If she can get them to come out of hiding that is.

    Serrah takes a deep breath. "Right," she mutters. "Just. Heh, at this point it's just too easy not to do it?" She shrugs grandiosely.

    She pauses when Martin and Paine express their respective confusions about a sapient pudding, then shrugs; Serrah had decided to just roll with it, herself, but then decides to just shrug it off. "Seems kinda par for the course around here," she murmurs.

    "Serrah Delany," she introduces herself. "Uh ... does this world have libraries? Or, like, other places where you can just look stuff up?" She's starting to relax from her earlier prickliness, now that there doesn't seem to be any chance that anyone will get stabbed or remote-sliced. Her hand withdraws from her baseball bag.

     Martin's sword, likewise, falls back into its scabbard with a *clack*, the mouse heaving a small sigh. "Paine, Serrah, Justice. Pleasure to make your acquaintances, I... guess. Better circumstances would have been nice." His tail sways idly behind him, curling to and fro as he speaks. "Self sufficiency will prevent the need for threatening innocent villagers in the long run, and all it takes is some time and effort."

And yes, he did notice Serrah suddenly teleporting, seemingly, a minute ago. The ghost with the sword that can cut things it doesn't even touch was just more pressing of a concern.

"That being said, you can also try getting some help from these people. I would suggest, to start with, apologizing to them without threats or drawn weapons, and explain the reason you need candy so badly. Then you can *politely* request some candy, or perhaps advice on how to grow your own crops. I imagine they know a fair amount."

    Paine nods to Justice's introduction. If she finds the name strange, she doesn't comment on it. Then again... pot, kettle, etc. "Well... yeah. They're not gonna be favorably disposed towards you since you were threatening them not too long ago," Paine points out.

    Here again, too, she inclines her head in Martin's direction. "That's about all you can do. And it won't be overnight. Won't solve the problem now, but if this was her idea, that might not be a bad thing." Something else occurs to Paine too. "Bread. There's sugar in bread, too. Maybe not as much. Might keep her going 'till you come up with something more permanent."

"I'm blind, most books are useless to me." The bloody blindfold that Justice wore wasn't just for show after all. "Well, I guess corn syrup and bread will have to do for now. I shouldn't keep Mistress Lethe waiting too long, I've been her a while already. They barely have any candy, that was the problem to begin with." She's quick to point out to Martin.

    Serrah laughs weakly. "I know more about coffee than where sugar comes from," she says, smiling wanly at Paine and Damien. "I mean, and you know even more about that than I do about coffee."

    She peers at Justice. "Hmm ... well, I mean, shit, they have like reference librarians you can ask questions, don't they?" she says. "'Resources for the blind', kind of thing. I know they had it in the world where I'm from." Beat. "Have," she corrects herself. "They have it, present-tense. Uhhhhhh ... shit."

    She sighs theatrically. "God damn, I knew I shouldn't have established this," she says, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a chocolate bar in a foil wrapper. It's the flat rectangular kind divided into different segments, and it's broken off at approximately the halfway mark, rather than chewed. "Here you go."

     "You will find that when treated kindly, people will often remember 'forgotten' stashes to help someone in need. As for the books, I'm sure you can find someone willing to read aloud to you if need be... or what Serrah suggested. The bread is a fine suggestion too, much easier to make than candy, despite having less sugar." A moment later, he smiles. "I could return for periodic checkups if you'd like. I've learned a thing or two in my travels, so I could give some pointers if you have trouble."

    Paine nods. "If she complains about the non-violent alternative, tell her it's 'the path of least resistance'," she suggests. "The less resistance you both encounter, the more likely she'll get what she wants, and faster."

    Though she sort of shrugs to Serrah. "My world had less technology than a lot I've seen," she notes. "The disconnect between people and the source of their stuff wasn't quite so big."

    Martin seems to be volunteering to help Justice, so Paine... keeps quiet this time. Realistically she wouldn't have time to return on a regular basis. Adventurer work keeps one quite busy, after all.

Justice looks a bit embarrassed and floats over to Serrah, she takes the offered candy bar leaving a bit of sticky blue residue in the woman's hand. It's quickly added to the cauldron. "Thank you, I don't think it would be a good idea for me to return here after I leave. The next group of travellers that show up might not be so understanding." She's kind of surprised they didn't splatter her after what had happened.

    Serrah opens and closes her mouth a few times as Martin makes his offer. Then she mutters, "Well, I have a friend who lives here, and stuff," she mutters. It seems likely that she'll just happen to drop by from time to time, too!

    She nods to Paine. "I just used to work at a coffee shop, basically," she says. "I'm a city girl, there's not much contact with 'the source of our stuff.'"

    She manages not to wince at the ectoplasm residue on her fingers. "Well, uh ... I mean," she says uncertainly, wiping her hand off on her skort. "Uh ... good luck, I guess." She looks helplessly to Martin, hoping he has a better idea of how to get in touch with Mistress Lethe and Justice.

     "I'd shake your hand, but I think it's best not to. No offense." Martin says, upon seeing the residue. No idea what that is and no intention to find out. "I'm glad we could settle things amiably though. A reliable method of contacting each other would be helpful in case of emergencies, but I don't have one of those... phone things. We can sort it out as we go, I guess."

    "There's that too," Paine points out, to Justice's words of 'the next group of travelers'. "There's always somebody bigger."

    Serrah gets a nod. "I travel around and beat things up. I have to cook my own food a lot." She... might be kidding? Paine's just so straight-faced that it's hard to tell!

    Despite the whole 'I beat things up' though, she does offer to Justice, "Be careful out there."