The Welsh Countryside, An Inn, Turn of the Century, Night Time
It was after the sun had set and dusk had fallen that League itself had gathered back at the inn.
Mina and Quatermain's search proved fruitless, and it seemed Rodney's had as well. In fact, when Angua and Algren were arriving back themselves, his words rang out from the gathered group.
Invisible Bastard
"I swear, I doubled back twice and couldn't find them. I suppose it was a stupid idea to try and scout ahead when I didn't know where the bloody animal was going. I'll cop to that," he said.
Nathan
"Mr. Skinner," Algren said, his mouth pulled into a tight scowl as he walked back inside, "kindly put some clothing on so that I'll know where you're sitting so that I can throttle you."
He was being pleasant. Honestly, now.
Mina
"Nathan?" Mina said, pleased to hear his voice. "Good. I was beginning to worry we'd need to search after you."
She thought he was quite right to threaten Rodney like that. "But I must ask, did you find anything?"
Nathan
"The wolf found it, really. The stench of death," he reported, "leading to a barn. I didn't investigate more thoroughly, as the sun was setting and I don't have a light, but considering the smell it can't possibly be good news."
See how thrilled he was to be here dealing with a situation that involved mysterious disappearances and the possibility of large numbers of human bodies?
Allan
"Well, clever girl," Quatermain remarked.
Mina
"I must agree," Mina said. "But is that all? A barn is a start, but this gives us no idea what we are up against."
Nathan
"The barn and the smell. That's what you're getting from me until the sun comes up again," Nathan replied. "If it wasn't simply myself and Elsie," and here was where he gave another pointed look in the direction he presumed Rodney was located, "I might have felt more willing to investigate further. But as it stands, it was myself, a rifle that would do me no good in close-range combat, and a canine I know precious little about."
Angua
And yet more than he knew.
It was clear that the wolf was anxious about the whole ordeal; Angua figured that they probably figured her delicate canine sensibilities had been shaken by the experience, but Angua knew better. She knew precisely what it was that made her pace worriedly while the others talked about their ignorance. She knew what she saw...and mostly what she smelled, but she did not have any possible way of communicating that right now. No possible way, unless she transformed back, and she knew how sometimes, even in a dire situation of people disappearing because they were being mauled by plant creatures, things like you appearing someplace you previously weren't thought to have been because you're something you previously weren't known to be could still be distracting.
But people were being mauled by plants and that barn...she couldn't consciously let anyone, not even Mina, approach that barn without a full good idea of what they were in for.
So Angua took a moment to look around, trying to spot out somewhere she could go where she could do this in private, and hoped that they were all to preoccupied with the task at hand to not notice the dog slipping back behind a convenient decorative screen. She hoped they were all too preoccupied to even notice that awfully organic sound of bones and skin and hair and all the other anatomical bits changing from one thing to the other.
They would all probably hear the slightly haggard female voice now drifting from behind the screen.
"Plants," said Angua. "They're plants, and I don't mean your garden variety vegetable, either. I saw one drag a man into that barn, and in that barn, there was a whole lot more. I'd go into details, but I'm sure you'll all get a chance to see for yourself when we all go barging in there like idiots to investigate."
Mina
"Sergeant?" Mina said, utterly baffled for a moment. "How did you--oh." The reality of the situation dawned on her.
Allan
Quatermain looked quite confused. "Would someone like to tell me where this woman came from?"
Rodney
Skinner chuckled. "No wonder he didn't mind bein' alone with the wolf," he said.
Nathan
"Keep speaking, Rodney. It will make it easier for me to figure out where the back of your head is."
So that he could smack it, yes. Algren had his priorities completely straight, here. And anyhow, Angua being her own pet wolf was not the biggest surprise that his time spent as a resident of Fandom Island had afforded him. It took him all of five seconds to get his head back into the game.
"So we're dealing with mobile, likely carnivorous plants. Wonderful. I don't imagine anybody has a large amount of herbicide handy, do they?"
Angua
"I also don't imagine," said Angua from behind that ever so handy screen, "anybody has any extra clothing handy, as well, do they?"
How typical that the portal would find it prudent to bring along Mina's bloody chair, yet somehow Angua's pouch of spare covering didn't appear to make the trip.
Mina
Mina carefully stepped quite sharply in one direction, leading to a yelp from Rodney Skinner.
Invisible Bastard
"That was my foot!" he said.
Mina
"Oh, I'm sorry," Mina said. "I was just fetching your coat for the lady." She was practically dripping with sarcasm.
Rodney
"I could've--"
Allan
"Save your breath, Mr. Skinner," Quatermain said. "I apologize for his behavior, ma'am. I don't suppose we could get your name?"
Mina
Mina had fetched Rodney's coat and was holding it out for Angua.
Angua
Do you see, Angua? she was telling herself. Do you see what happens when you go stalking around like a wolf?
Hand went out, snatched the coat.
"Sergeant Angua," she offered stiffly. "Fandom Police. I'm a tenant of Miss Murray's."
There seemed to be a certain emphasis on the word tenant, the kind of suggest that this wasn't exactly a position she'd chosen to be in. Coat secure and covering all bits, she went ahead and stepped out from behind the screen and affixed a look on Mina. "We get rid of the weeds, we can get a portal back, yes?"
Mina
"We could ring one up right now," Mina said. "Though I'd be very grateful for your assistance in this matter. If I may be so bold as to ask."
Rodney
"Can we recruit her right--" Rodney started, but a book flung across the room and hit him in the invisible face. "How did--?"
Book Ninja Allan
"You're invisible, not a ventriloquist," Quatermaine said. "Sergeant, I too wouldn't mind an extra able-bodied soldier in this fight."
Angua
Angua did rather have a bit of the need to do good in her, and, though she didn't want to admit it, there was definitely an appropriate level of misfit charmlessness in this group that seemed to match Psuedopolis Yard...
But her eyes and her arched brow seemed to fall to Algren as if to extract the final verdict from what he thought. And maybe to get a better scope as to how this by the way, I'm a werewolf thing was settling on him.
Nathan
Algren, for the most part, seemed relatively... nonplussed about the entire thing. He was rather smitten with a vampire, here. And with the widow of a samurai that he'd killed back in Japan. His best friends had a tendency to don armor so that they could gallivant around fighting monsters or men who were composed entirely of bees, and Fandom...
Well, Fandom had done a good number on the way his brain tended to work, it would seem.
And so he offered Angua the barest hint of a smile, one that suggested that his train of thought was more along the lines of 'so that's why the dog knows how to use an elevator' than anything particularly negative, and he nodded, just slightly.
"If you aren't opposed to a challenge," he stated, "we could probably use all of the help we can get."
Angua
Angua's hands went up in gesture of general futility. "Not like I was doing anything else important," she said, because, really, she wasn't.
Mina
"Excellent," Mina said. "We shall need to prepare. I will scour the house for anything we can use to create pesticide. If you could help the good sergeant find suitable clothing and weaponry, Nathan, that would be most useful."
Nathan
"Of course," Nathan replied, turning to head deeper into the building. "Clothing first, of course. And then, dare I ask if you have any preference at all as to what weapon you use?"
There were... guns. He was aware of that much. Beyond that, he supposed that this 'clothe and arm Angua' business was going to be mostly a matter of foraging.
Angua
There was a pause.
"I...sort of come equipped with my own," Angua pointed out. "I guess I could go for a dagger. Or maybe a weed whacker? A scythe? Gardening shears?"
[ooc: Preplayed with colourfulscents and shiroi_tiger, who are both very awesome. NFB, NFI, OOC welcome, and so concludes day one of this plot.]
Mina and Quatermain's search proved fruitless, and it seemed Rodney's had as well. In fact, when Angua and Algren were arriving back themselves, his words rang out from the gathered group.
Invisible Bastard
"I swear, I doubled back twice and couldn't find them. I suppose it was a stupid idea to try and scout ahead when I didn't know where the bloody animal was going. I'll cop to that," he said.
Nathan
"Mr. Skinner," Algren said, his mouth pulled into a tight scowl as he walked back inside, "kindly put some clothing on so that I'll know where you're sitting so that I can throttle you."
He was being pleasant. Honestly, now.
Mina
"Nathan?" Mina said, pleased to hear his voice. "Good. I was beginning to worry we'd need to search after you."
She thought he was quite right to threaten Rodney like that. "But I must ask, did you find anything?"
Nathan
"The wolf found it, really. The stench of death," he reported, "leading to a barn. I didn't investigate more thoroughly, as the sun was setting and I don't have a light, but considering the smell it can't possibly be good news."
See how thrilled he was to be here dealing with a situation that involved mysterious disappearances and the possibility of large numbers of human bodies?
Allan
"Well, clever girl," Quatermain remarked.
Mina
"I must agree," Mina said. "But is that all? A barn is a start, but this gives us no idea what we are up against."
Nathan
"The barn and the smell. That's what you're getting from me until the sun comes up again," Nathan replied. "If it wasn't simply myself and Elsie," and here was where he gave another pointed look in the direction he presumed Rodney was located, "I might have felt more willing to investigate further. But as it stands, it was myself, a rifle that would do me no good in close-range combat, and a canine I know precious little about."
Angua
And yet more than he knew.
It was clear that the wolf was anxious about the whole ordeal; Angua figured that they probably figured her delicate canine sensibilities had been shaken by the experience, but Angua knew better. She knew precisely what it was that made her pace worriedly while the others talked about their ignorance. She knew what she saw...and mostly what she smelled, but she did not have any possible way of communicating that right now. No possible way, unless she transformed back, and she knew how sometimes, even in a dire situation of people disappearing because they were being mauled by plant creatures, things like you appearing someplace you previously weren't thought to have been because you're something you previously weren't known to be could still be distracting.
But people were being mauled by plants and that barn...she couldn't consciously let anyone, not even Mina, approach that barn without a full good idea of what they were in for.
So Angua took a moment to look around, trying to spot out somewhere she could go where she could do this in private, and hoped that they were all to preoccupied with the task at hand to not notice the dog slipping back behind a convenient decorative screen. She hoped they were all too preoccupied to even notice that awfully organic sound of bones and skin and hair and all the other anatomical bits changing from one thing to the other.
They would all probably hear the slightly haggard female voice now drifting from behind the screen.
"Plants," said Angua. "They're plants, and I don't mean your garden variety vegetable, either. I saw one drag a man into that barn, and in that barn, there was a whole lot more. I'd go into details, but I'm sure you'll all get a chance to see for yourself when we all go barging in there like idiots to investigate."
Mina
"Sergeant?" Mina said, utterly baffled for a moment. "How did you--oh." The reality of the situation dawned on her.
Allan
Quatermain looked quite confused. "Would someone like to tell me where this woman came from?"
Rodney
Skinner chuckled. "No wonder he didn't mind bein' alone with the wolf," he said.
Nathan
"Keep speaking, Rodney. It will make it easier for me to figure out where the back of your head is."
So that he could smack it, yes. Algren had his priorities completely straight, here. And anyhow, Angua being her own pet wolf was not the biggest surprise that his time spent as a resident of Fandom Island had afforded him. It took him all of five seconds to get his head back into the game.
"So we're dealing with mobile, likely carnivorous plants. Wonderful. I don't imagine anybody has a large amount of herbicide handy, do they?"
Angua
"I also don't imagine," said Angua from behind that ever so handy screen, "anybody has any extra clothing handy, as well, do they?"
How typical that the portal would find it prudent to bring along Mina's bloody chair, yet somehow Angua's pouch of spare covering didn't appear to make the trip.
Mina
Mina carefully stepped quite sharply in one direction, leading to a yelp from Rodney Skinner.
Invisible Bastard
"That was my foot!" he said.
Mina
"Oh, I'm sorry," Mina said. "I was just fetching your coat for the lady." She was practically dripping with sarcasm.
Rodney
"I could've--"
Allan
"Save your breath, Mr. Skinner," Quatermain said. "I apologize for his behavior, ma'am. I don't suppose we could get your name?"
Mina
Mina had fetched Rodney's coat and was holding it out for Angua.
Angua
Do you see, Angua? she was telling herself. Do you see what happens when you go stalking around like a wolf?
Hand went out, snatched the coat.
"Sergeant Angua," she offered stiffly. "Fandom Police. I'm a tenant of Miss Murray's."
There seemed to be a certain emphasis on the word tenant, the kind of suggest that this wasn't exactly a position she'd chosen to be in. Coat secure and covering all bits, she went ahead and stepped out from behind the screen and affixed a look on Mina. "We get rid of the weeds, we can get a portal back, yes?"
Mina
"We could ring one up right now," Mina said. "Though I'd be very grateful for your assistance in this matter. If I may be so bold as to ask."
Rodney
"Can we recruit her right--" Rodney started, but a book flung across the room and hit him in the invisible face. "How did--?"
Book Ninja Allan
"You're invisible, not a ventriloquist," Quatermaine said. "Sergeant, I too wouldn't mind an extra able-bodied soldier in this fight."
Angua
Angua did rather have a bit of the need to do good in her, and, though she didn't want to admit it, there was definitely an appropriate level of misfit charmlessness in this group that seemed to match Psuedopolis Yard...
But her eyes and her arched brow seemed to fall to Algren as if to extract the final verdict from what he thought. And maybe to get a better scope as to how this by the way, I'm a werewolf thing was settling on him.
Nathan
Algren, for the most part, seemed relatively... nonplussed about the entire thing. He was rather smitten with a vampire, here. And with the widow of a samurai that he'd killed back in Japan. His best friends had a tendency to don armor so that they could gallivant around fighting monsters or men who were composed entirely of bees, and Fandom...
Well, Fandom had done a good number on the way his brain tended to work, it would seem.
And so he offered Angua the barest hint of a smile, one that suggested that his train of thought was more along the lines of 'so that's why the dog knows how to use an elevator' than anything particularly negative, and he nodded, just slightly.
"If you aren't opposed to a challenge," he stated, "we could probably use all of the help we can get."
Angua
Angua's hands went up in gesture of general futility. "Not like I was doing anything else important," she said, because, really, she wasn't.
Mina
"Excellent," Mina said. "We shall need to prepare. I will scour the house for anything we can use to create pesticide. If you could help the good sergeant find suitable clothing and weaponry, Nathan, that would be most useful."
Nathan
"Of course," Nathan replied, turning to head deeper into the building. "Clothing first, of course. And then, dare I ask if you have any preference at all as to what weapon you use?"
There were... guns. He was aware of that much. Beyond that, he supposed that this 'clothe and arm Angua' business was going to be mostly a matter of foraging.
Angua
There was a pause.
"I...sort of come equipped with my own," Angua pointed out. "I guess I could go for a dagger. Or maybe a weed whacker? A scythe? Gardening shears?"
[ooc: Preplayed with colourfulscents and shiroi_tiger, who are both very awesome. NFB, NFI, OOC welcome, and so concludes day one of this plot.]