Path of the Vampire forum

<Lancaster> The inside of the attic was starting to look old; in order to keep the punters from asking questions that Lancaster was obliged to answer honestly - regardless of whether he wanted to or not - he’d holed himself up in the attic of the pub and hadn’t left for days. How many was it now? Four? Five? The missing leg was almost entirely grown back, though it was still tender. It would only be another night or two, and he’d be able to get back to work. But he was going insane. How many more TV shows could he watch? The books that he had read were piled up beside the couch. No, he had to get out. He needed some fresh air. Via the use of a tome and the portals at home, he soon found himself down the road at one of the soup kitchens in the slums. He leaned against the bench as he ladled soup into bowls - offering warm smiles to those who went hungry in the Winter months. He’d prefer to be here, than holed up doing nothing.

<Ikora> The slums were as she should have expected, filled with mess and gang members, the occasional cop but never stayed long. She drifted from building to building with her shoulder pack and notebook, listening to the random conversations and making notes on the bits she wanted to know. Moving down to the soup kitchen with her book in hand, pen rolled up in the pages as she brushed the blackened hair from her chocolate colored face and looked round before settling down again to eavesdrop again.

<Lancaster> It always got busier in Winter - people came to the soup kitchen not only for the soup, or the casserole, or whatever it was on offer, but because it was warm. While the building was open, the homeless and the poor flocked; though of course the crowds weren't as big as they could be, if the city weren't filled with vampires who liked to feed on the homeless population. It's what Lancaster used to do, before he found other ways to sustain himself. There was a group of men huddled at one of the tables; one being comforted by the others. Lancaster overheard a snippet of their conversation - another of their friends, missing. The found a body in a dumpster, drained of blood, neck snapped. Lancaster frowned - and just continued to ladle the soup.

<Ikora> She overheard the talk of a body and made another note before she moved over to the group, notes in hand. She'd left her bag on the table in a lack of judgement of the area they were in. Peeking over the men's shoulders before she piped up in a small, slightly nervous tone "Were they found in this.." she stopped to check her notes before carrying on. "Quarantine zone? The zombies I keep hearing about, did they do that?"

<Lancaster> Lancaster's gaze snapped up from the bowl in his hand as he heard the girl ask her question; it wasn't a good question to be asking. Not out loud. He handed the bowl of soup over before he called over one of the other volunteers and relinquished his spot. The cane was immediately in his hand as he half walked, half hopped over to the table where she'd left her bag; he picked it up. Appearing at the girl's side, leaning down from his 6'6'' height, he mumbled: "It's not really safe for you to ask those kinds of questions..."

<Ikora> Ikora jumped, the girl of all 5ft nothing was tiny in comparison, clutching her bag from his grip before a light frown took her features. "Why not? It seems like a good thing to ask since he lost his friend, and it's sort of all over this place, stuff about boats being set on fire, something about the Quarantine and no survivors found yet. Are the stories about the zombies true?"

<Lancaster> Lancaster mask the sadness from his eyes; the way his brow furrowed at the girl and her curiostiy. It would get her killed. He shook his head. "I'll answer your questions, but not here," he said, glancing at the men who'd lost their friend. They, too, had probably heard the rumours. Some had probably been witness to horrors, but they didn't look as if they wanted to talk about it to a stranger. "If it's true, why would you have to ask these kinds of questions? Someone's keeping it a secret. You'll get yourself killed if you're not careful..." he said, easily giving up the girl's back and gesturing to the door. They should find somewhere more private to have this conversation, even if that place turned out to be the streets.

<Ikora> She blinked at the words, at first it was a happy idea, an answer to her questions. Then came the talk of getting herself killed and she immediately hesitated, a tiny audible gulp left her throat as she clutched her bag tighter to her chest. "people know I'm here." she lied, blatantly.

<Lancaster> Lancaster's arm dropped to his side, his head bowed forward. He might have been tall - but that was about the only intimidating thing about him. His shoulders were perpetually slumped as he tried to make himself shorter for others, his dark hair often and annoyingly clouding his eyesight. Even now, he had to push it out of the way. His voice was deep and melodic from all his years on the stage, his face etched with all the emotions he'd ever felt. "That won't matter. You heard them," he nodded to the men. "They won't find out who did it. Trust me. I'm not the one who'll hurt you..."

<Ikora> "There's cops round here too, I've seen.. three? Maybe more last week." she didn't think anyone in this section of town wasn't capable of murder, everyone carried guns or knives and had that generic 'Prison' look to them "You said you'd answer my questions.. So who will hurt me?"

<Lancaster> They were still standing in the middle of the soup kitchen; it wasn't just their group of men that were now listening, but other people had turned to look in their direction, too. Lancaster shrugged his shoulders. "Not here," he said. "If you want answers, you're just going to have to follow me," he said. To answer the questions in the middle of a crowded space, with witnesses, was a safety hazzard not only to the girl, but to Lancaster himself. With his cane in hand and a discernible limp, he headed for the exit.

<Ikora> She watched the man limp away and frowned softly, had he asked the same questions? Was that the price he'd paid? She chewed the inside of her cheek a little then glanced at the room, most eyes on her, or the man she'd just spoken to. Feeling on the spot and more than a little pressured she shouldered her bag and followed him to the door; brushing past him to hold it open with a faint, warm smile

<Lancaster> Lancaster limped though the open door with a nod; the air outside was crisp. Fresh snow lined the streets, but at least there was no snow falling now. They could walk without being hindered by the flurry of white. "We'll keep the lighted main streets, if it makes you feel safer," he said. Although there were still people around, they could talk out here without a risk of being overheard.

<Ikora> Ikora let the door swing shut behind her as she checked her bag to make sure nothing was missing, walking momentarily slower before she closed up and ran to catch up again. She couldn't walk and write so she had a small tape recorder in her jacket pocket, hidden away to make sure she missed nothing. "Main roads usually are safer, thank you. What happened to your leg? If you don't mind me asking."

<Lancaster> Lancaster frowned. This was not the question that he was expecting, and with his inability to lie, he had to tell the truth - or some version of it. "I was attacked by a complete stranger with a sword," he said. He skimmed on the details. "Why are you so curious about the Quarantine Zone? What are you hoping to find, and why?" he asked. It was a ploy to distract her, to keep her from asking any more personal questions.

<Ikora> Her face froze at the idea of a mad man on the loose with a sword. Lovely, just what she needed, no sleep tonight! Then came his questions, causing her to blink slowly, she was the one asking, at least, she thought she was. "I'd heard about the zombies, about how it's not some Halloween prank gone on a bit too long, how it's legit. And I had to come see for myself. I study the Occult, or did.. Down in Denver, and we were studying Voodoo at the time, and how witch doctors did their thing. I was researching for a paper and some back alley web forum mentioned Zombies and this place, so I came to check"

<Lancaster> Lancaster nodded. He knew someone else who this girl might like to meet; Shadis, his newest childe. A teacher - of occult studies. Were they all flocking to Harper Rock, now? What was that doing for vampire-kind? Were there more people who knew, now? Lancaster didn't think it was such a bad thing. He cleared his throat. "Yeah, there are zombies in the Quarantine Zone. There's more than that, which is why you shouldn't ask your questions in public. People are very big on secrecy in this city - keeping certain things hidden and killing anyone who might find out, who shouldn't know. You can't just go wandering in, either - without knowing how to defend yourself, at least. It's dangerous," he said, his Australian accent thick, still frowning.

<Ikora> She knew nothing of vampires, just the zombies that had taken over part of the town, she seemed solely sectioned on those. "So.. they're real? They're not just sick people but actual.. dead, not dead zombies? And your town wants to keep that secret?! Think what they could do if they got out.. nevermind that, think how they could help medical science! Oh man.. People gotta know, they gotta be told. Is it infectious? What caused it? Is it curable?"

<Lancaster> Lancaster laughed and shook his head. "Now that kind of radical thinking WILL get you killed," he said. As soon as she started to speak out about it, she'd be ridiculed and then shushed by whatever government pulled the strings around this place. They wouldn't have army set up around the entrances and exits of the Mausoleum if they weren't trying to keep something under wraps. "I don't have those answers. I know that's the part of the city where the rift between this world and the next is strongest - my opinion? The zombies are the result of the dead trying to come back to life, and failing completely."

<Ikora> She snorted derisively and shook her head "That's insane, The dead can't come back, that's the whole point of being dead. To be gone." she had no idea of the army, she'd never seen them around, she hadn't ventured that far around town yet.

<Lancaster> Lancaster laughed again, shaking his head. "There's a whole lot that you don't know," he said, glancing sideways. Should he just tell her everything, or only answer her immediate questions? It would unsafe to let he run around thinking she knew everything. The best weapon was knowledge; in this case it would be the best armour, so long as she kept it to herself, or was careful with who she shared it with. "Death doesn't always have to be final..."

<Ikora> "You sound like these witch doctors I was doing my dissertation on. They thought the dead could come back as well. So tell me about this 'rift' you mentioned?"

<Lancaster> "It's a tear between this world and another one. We call it the Shadow Realm. If a human dies... well, they die. I don't know where they go. There are spirits in the Shadow Realm. There are ... wraiths. There are immortals, who've come back for good. No one knows who opened it or why, but Harper Rock is a hub for supernatual activity because of it. As far as I know, it's the only tear that exists," he said with a shrug, eyes on the road ahead. Inadvertantly, he had started to wend his way back to the bar; back to familiar stomping grounds.

<Ikora> Ikora blinked at this news and bit her lip to contain her laugh, the man was clearly deluded. Would she let him continue to think this, or would she correct him? She had to try. "I think maybe you need some help? This town is just another town, there's clearly some kind of sickness, if your town opened up and let people, like the CDC in? they could help."

<Lancaster> Lancaster laughed under his breath. Of course this would be the right response. He nodded. "Okay. Don't believe me. When you see something you shouldn't, though - when you find yourself waking up in places and not knowing how you got there, with a splitting headache - you think of me, okay? And the things I could have told you that you didn't want to believe. That's if you don't find yourself in a dumpster with your body drained of blood and your neck snapped," he said, casually, as if they were having just an every day conversation.

<Ikora> She stopped, the dark skinned female just blanched and stared at the back of the man's head with a deep frown. "Do you know what happened to that man's friend? You should have told him if you do.. Or at least tell the police, it's the right thing to do!"

<Lancaster> "I know nothing about what happened to that man's friend. I have a vague idea - but I don't know names. I'm not in the business of fear-mongering. If the truth is going to come out, it has to happen in the right way," he said. He'd stopped too, and had turned to face the girl, leaning on cane for support in lieu of his still-missing foot. "The police wouldn't be able to do anything about it."

<Ikora> "So what is the truth? Why would I end up like their friend?" she sounded partially nervous, partially stubborn in her quest for knowledge without getting killed, or beaten up and maimed.

<Lancaster> Lancaster sighed, and rubbed at his temple. He'd come out for fresh air, and he'd landed himself with a curious student. He could feel the nerves radiating from her - he wasn't sure whether it was within his abilities to quell them. "I'm not sure I should tell you. You'll try calling a doctor to lock me up in the loony bin," he said with an arched brow.

<Ikora> The girl laughed a little, a dry, nervous sound masked by that ever friendly smile "Probably yeah, you sound like a loon when you talk about the dead not being dead.. or staying dead. You realize it sounds crazy though right?"

<Lancaster> Lancaster nodded. "Yeah, I realise it sounds crazy. And I thought the person who told me was crazy, too. Unlike you, I didn't have the luxury of walking away, or hearing it from some kind stranger on the street first. No one taught me how to avoid my fate. Maybe I'm paying it forward," he said.

<Ikora> "Let me guess? The mad sword man?" she gestured to his leg with a raised brow

<Lancaster> Lancaster laughed again. "No. She's actually my partner, now," he said, lifting the hand with the wedding band snug around the finger. "The mad sword man was... I don't know who he was. Someone who was hellbent on trying to destroy me, I suppose."

<Ikora> She eyed the man's ring, then his leg and cane "So I suppose you asked too many questions too? Or is there just a loon on the loose? I'm in a hotel nearby, it'll be safe right? No mad axe murderer gonna jump me in the lobby?"

<Lancaster> Lancaster smiled. "No. I didn't ask too many questions, but maybe I answer too many. You're human. There's no reason for a mad axe murderer to come and try to kill you. It's not him you have to worry about," he said.

<Ikora> "Right so mad axe murderers only go for the zombies" she nods slowly, with a soft tone of one who didn't believe the answer given. "And who is it I have to be concerned about?"

<Lancaster> "No," he said, shaking his head. He rubbed at the corner of his jaw, thinking, before he pushed his hand into his pocket. "It's the vampires you have to worry about," he said, flatly. He knew that she wasn't going to believe him. He'd obviously dithered about telling her. But it was for her own good.

<Ikora> Those large brown eyes blinked slowly a few times as she debated laughing, or expressing genuine concern for his health. Vampires were something in story books, not reality. "Uh huh.. Okay then.."

<Lancaster> "Okay," Lancaster said, chin tucked to his chest as he thought about it. How to convince her? Aside from scaring the wits out of her by turning into a monstrous version of himself, or into a Dingo... he focused. He focused on the spot beside him, the air shimmering, pulling threads of atoms together until there was a replica of himself, standing right there on the path. Looking nonchalant, expression blank. These were the things he should be wary of, but he couldn't see anyone else about. Now if anyone passed, they could just be twins. Lancaster gestured to his second self with an arched brow. Now, would she believe him?

<Ikora> Ikora almost dropped her bag, catching it just before it hit the floor as she stared at the clone, then the floor, then Lancaster in some kind of shocked state, she had no response, no reply to what she was seeing as her free hand pointed shakily at the clone "Uh.. The hell is that? How did you.. Did you slip something in my soup?"

<Lancaster> "That... is what we like to refer to as a decoy. He does nothing but stand there looking pretty. If someone tries to attack him, he'll disappear - but give them a nasty shock," he said. The presence of his mirror-self was a little unnerving. He started to walk again, to leave the thing behind. "It's just one of the things I'm capable of. Others... have different capabilities. We're here. We're around. You should stick to crowds and don't take shortcuts," he advised.

<Ikora> She frowned, not following him as she circled the copy, reaching out to touch it but never made contact, she kept her finger a few inches from actual touch as she pulled her hand back again "That's.. insane.. How did you do that?"

<Lancaster> He shrugged his shoulders. "Focus. I don't know how I did it. I just did," he said. He'd never really thought about how his powers worked. He discovered most of them in fits of panic or high emotional stress. He couldn't recall how he had learned he could create decoys - he hadn't found any use for it, yet, except to play pranks.

<Ikora> She turned to face him, thumbing at the copy with an excited smile "This.. This right here is a thing you have to teach me! Or at least let me ask questions about it and make notes, I could use this for my paper!"

<Lancaster> Lancaster frowned heavily. "I'm telling you these things for your safety. Writing a paper about them is not safe. If anything, you'll just get laughed out of academia. You didn't believe me - what makes you think anyone will believe you? It's not something that can be taught. I'm sorry, but no."

<Ikora> "Oh please." she drawled, leaning on one leg so her entire body slanted a little to the side "I'm writing a paper on witch doctors and the occult. The entire reason I took the trip up here was to see these zombies. Then you tell me they're actually real and pull some Houdini stunt and then not share details? Hardly cool man.."

<Lancaster> "Zombies. I can take you to the zombies. You can study them all you like. The rest of it? Keep it out of your paper," he said. He figured the zombies were the lesser of two evils. Someone was going to want to study them eventually - shoving a big quarantine around a section of the city was hardly screaming for secrecy. "But you'll need weapons first," he said. They could change directions - head toward sanctuary, where he and Pi kept a stash of weaponry in the training room - where there was a portal, straight into the busiest part of the QZ.

<Ikora> She shouldered her bag again and started walking before she stopped again, the mention of weapons. Sure she'd seen zombie movies before but this man didn't look the type to lug a baseball bat around. Truth be told neither did she. "You mean, they set up a fence area and no one's decided to check if it's safe first? Surely I'm not the first to want to see these things up close?"

<Lancaster> "Most people don't want to go inside a Quarantine Zone, no. And most people don't know the ways in and out," he said. "It's not safe. It's why there's a big fence around it," he said, watching the girl closely as she finally decided to keep following him. "There were probably others - but as I said. Secrets. You can try to write your paper but there's every possibility it'll never see the light of day," he said with a shrug. There had to be a reason why the scientists hadn't started to flock from every corner of the globe.

<Ikora> She was truly curious about why the area had been kept such a secret, the medical and scientific answers alone could prove life saving if not evolutionary, nevermind the world of horror lore that could end so many zombie 'do they don't they' debates. "But you know a way in? If not many people want to go there, why do you? Do you need special clearance or something? I won't end up in federal prison if we get caught in there?"

<Lancaster> "I don't go in there," he said. He used to, once. When he had first been turned, years ago - zombies were good practice, and they didn't exacerbate Lancaster's guilt. "I used to, but I don't have a need for it anymore. People go in to practice their skirmish skills - and there are things you can get from zombies that can be used in rituals," he said. Rituals, a whole other kettle of fish. "Don't ask me about those, because I don't have the answers. It's not something I've ever dabbled in," he said. "As for clearance - no. The way is secret. Well, not really secret but I'm not sure the authorities know. If they do, they don't care. I see government agents in there sometimes but they don't really cause a fuss..." he said. It was, now that he thought about it, a curiosity.

<Ikora> "Ah, so you're taking me to a place you don't even go" She retorted, it wasn't even a question, more a point of obvious statement. She didn't even seem all that bothered by the Ritual mention, she was an occult student afterall; she just sort of glazed over a little at the idea of it, as if it could be a real thing. A loud of mumbo jumbo made to scare locals into behaving perhaps. "So these zombies, if people are fighting them, where do they keep coming from?" It was a question of both concern and curiosity, the killing of the undead would lead One to believe her study of them might be unsurprisingly short, provided she wasn't eaten first. "And do you know anyone who does know about the ritual things? I'd love to talk to them for my dissertation."

<Lancaster> Lancaster snorted and laughed, shaking his head. This girl didn't seem to know how to converse except in questions - it was like entertaining a toddler. "This dissertation just is not a great idea. At all. No, I do not know anyone you can talk to and I do not recommend finding anyone to talk to. You're walking on thin ice. One wrong move, it'll break beneath you and you'll be drowned. Rather violently, probably," he said. Hell, he was on the same ice - he was regretting opening up to this girl. He shouldn't have told her anything, what with her insistence on this damned dissertation. "My guess is that they come from the rift. It's concentrated in that area."

<Ikora> She had to ask, it was her paper, if she didn't hand -something- in, she'd be guaranteed a fail. "Eating a mouldy sandwich isn't a great idea either but that's how Penicillin was discovered." Her reply was speedy, almost quick witted but polite at the same time. The phone in her pocket quietly recording the entire conversation for a review once she'd seen the undead and returned to her hotel room. "What is the rift? Is it a doorway, or some kind of giant hole things crawl out of? Or.. No that's all I have in the visage of a 'rift' per say."

<Lancaster> Lancaster rolled his shoulders. There really was nothing wrong with telling her all this - it's stuff she should know. All his progeny learned this stuff. This girl wasn't someone he'd turned but it was better that she got her answers from someone who wouldn't kill her. "Whoever ate the mouldy sandwich didn't have a target on their back for eating a mouldy sandwhich," he said, matter-of-fact. "The rift is a tear between this world and what they call the Shadow Realm. The Realm of the dead. Or... a kind of limbo. The dead can kind of come back to life, I suppose, but it doesn't work so well if you're human."


<Ikora> "I guess not, you're going to have to point it out to me so I don't accidentally walk into it.. I sense that would be err.. yeah, not healthy." she offered the man a kind of smile, more a grimace actually, she wanted to study it, to throw things in it, see if anything gets thrown back. But at the same time she didn't feel like getting caught in the grinder and spat out as a zombie. "I suppose as humans we should observe it from afar."

<Lancaster> Lancaster laughed again and shook his head. "It's not something you can fall into. It's something that sort of encompasses the whole city, in a way. But it's just strongest at the Quarantine Zone. Like that's the epicentre. It's invisible, ephemeral. Not something you can see or touch. It's just... there," he said. He could see Sanctuary up ahead - they were close to their destination. "But yes. You should observe from afar, regardless."

<Ikora> The dark toned woman stopped in the street and chewed the inside of her cheek before blurting out "Two problems with the things you've just told me, one. How do we observe something invisible? Second.. and most importantly; how do we observe something invisible, that covers the whole city, from afar." she offered a series of nods, like it was one of those 'you got served' moments with a smug look. She let the words sink in, or at least that's what she thought they were doing as she began walking again to regain lost ground.

<Lancaster> Lancaster rolled his eyes, his shoes scuffing on the pavement as he paused along with her. "I mean with the things it causes, or produces. Vampires are in this city and are based in this city because of that rift. If they die too far away from the rift, they never come back. If they die in this city? They can come back. There are zombies. There are fadebeasts. There are numerous secrets that people powerful and not so powerful strive hard to keep. What I meant - don't go gallavanting around in the Quarantine Zone. Because that is not observing from afar. I'm only taking you now because if I don't you'll go do something stupid and get yourself killed."

<Ikora> "Right, I allowed you to continue with this zombie stuff because, well quite frankly I really didn't know a polite way to tell you to go get checked out mentally and you did some weird *** trick with.. I don't even know what, but vampires and fade.. beasts? No, I don't even know what the hell the last one is but vampires are very much not real sweetie.. someone's played you for a fool." She shook her head and almost threw her hands into the air with an exacerbated sigh of near defeat. The guy was loco and was probably full of deceit to get her into some dark street and mug her, or worse. She didn't feel like being rolled into the morgue with a bullet in her head. "It sounds like someone found out you believe in this rift thing, and the zombies, and took you for a ride. I mean, come on! Vampires are make believe and zombies are.. blue collar horror monsters at best. And if they did exist why the hell doesn't half the world know about them already? Sure the zombies are 'stuck' but I doubt these 'vampires' are." She just gawked at the man now.

<Lancaster> Lancaster just sighed. "Will you just come on? I really have no idea what the hell I'm supposed to do - other than what I already just did - to make you believe. Why the hell are you asking so many damned questions if you don't believe me? Why write a bloody paper on it?" he said. They were outside Santuary, now. Without waiting for Ikora, he went inside; he strode straight through the lobby and into the training room. From locked storage within the training room, he retreived a couple of weapons - a sword, and a gun, which he promptly brought back to Ikora and thrust into her hands. They each had a holster, and he waited for her to get situated before he revealed to her the alternate mode of travel.


<Ikora> Ikora was following him anyway so his protests were on semi-deaf ears. "I write a paper on it because it's a mechanic that helped the development of an entire nation of people and it's own religion. Which is a strange concept, asking favours from an imaginary being. But it makes millions of people across the planet happy, so why not make a study of it?" she shrugged then stared at him, slack jawed at the offering of weapons and her hands rose, backing away "I don't.. Yeah no, that's a sure fire way of getting arrested, carrying a firearm without a license and a sword?! A freaking sword."

<Lancaster> Lancaster had no idea what she was talking about, really, but any comment he might have made upon the subject of her study was lost as she refused the weapons that he offered to her. He continued to hold them out to her. "You either believe or you don't believe. I'm answering your questions and doing you a favour. If you want me to show you the zombies, you go in on my terms. If you don't, then I won't show you anything, and you won't know how to get there. Which I'm starting to think might actually be the safer option..." he said. He had no qualms, if she did not believe him. It did not harm his confidence, or his ego. He didn't have to prove anything to anyone if they weren't willing to learn. He shrugged his shoulders and turned, as if to put the weapons and leave.

<Ikora> Ikora so desperately wanted to see if the zombies were real or a myth but the thought of committing a felony was a bit out there, trespassing was a tiny one, a simple wrist slap and a fine, though with it being a quarantine area, it'd probably be a wrist slap of increased severity. "Can't we just.. look through the fence? And you know, perhaps not get shot by police officers for wielding your walking court case waiting to happen"

<Lancaster> Lancaster shook his head. "If there was a fence we could see them through, they wouldn't be a secret," he said. "The way we're going, no one is going to see us. Once we're inside, no one is going to see us. There aren't cops patrolling the perimeter. Hell, people live in there," he said. Corvidae Flats - he had an apartment in there himself, though he didn't use it. "But I'd probably prefer it if you didn't believe me. If you wrote your paper and and moved on. It'd be safer for you," he said as he took the unwanted weapons back to the cupboard, preparing to put them away.

<Ikora> She reached out and put her hand on his arm gently. "Wait, you can bring them if you really have to, you said people live in there? Even though it's apparently so dangerous? I'd love to meet one, to get their story, why they haven't left, if they're being held against their will or something.." she let her hand fall back to the side of her shoulder bag and raised a brow as he continued speaking before she mumbled a reply. "Help me do my paper and I'll do it. If it's so unsafe here surely you'd want to help me get it done faster?" Yep, that's right Ikora. Use the emotional guilt of a woman in a dangerous situation.

<Lancaster> Lancaster shook his head. He had his doubts, and he kept saying the wrong things. "Stop that. No. You can't just go in and question the people who live there. You're just asking to get yourself killed," he said. Or become someone's meal, anyway. "If I take you in there you aren't going to ask anyone any questions, okay? None. Nothing. Don't even think about it."

<Ikora> "Does that anyone include you?" She smiled at him, again with the smug expression, if she was being forbidden to ask the residents, she'd simply keep pulling at his brain until something interesting fell out. he knew of everything, yet knew what nothing was. It was suspicious, she figured he was hiding something, a nugget of information that would prove invaluable to her paper. "Fine, I won't ask any of the people who live there any questions." Her words were precise, carefully chosen so they couldn't bite her in the *** later.

<Lancaster> "Eventually I'll probably get sick of the questions and tell you to go away," he said with a lopsided grin. The grin was to sugar-coat the truth. Lancaster could be a patient man but eventually he was going to snap. "No one you see in there, you understand? Don't give yourself away," he said. He was already headed toward the front corner of the room. He stood by the wall which, if one looked really closerly, shimmered as if not quite there. He still had the weapons in his hands - he would take them, and give them to her inside. Once she knew what she was dealing with. "Follow, if you dare," he said before he winked and took a step backward. He disappeared. Right through the wall. And would reappear in the corner of Corvidae Flats, right behind the piano.

<Ikora> "Yeah yeah, you've answered this many already. And you did say you'd answer my questions in that soup kitchen." She shrugged, using logic, and his own words against him before she froze, not entirely sure how to react to the current Harry Potter scene infront of her, he just vanished.. through a wall.. That was messed up, he was doing tricks again surely but she wasn't about to lose her only source of knowledge, so ran at the wall, if it was fake, she'd knock it through, if it was real and he did just vanish into thin air, she'd either bounce off the wall or vanish too right? Well the latter occured and she landed behind him, stumbling at the speed of her charge and landed on the piano with a thunk and loud clanking of the musical keys.