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Crystal's face flushes slightly at Eva's offer. "...it's not often I meet someone addled enough to take a half-dead woman to bed." She remarks. "It'd torque Pa off something fierce." She finally nods, her smile showing very sharp fangs. "Fair warning, though--I bite."
Crystal leaps from cover and bears down on the uppity leshy, dropping her gun and drawing her dagger!
Crystal reloads and fires at the drake!
Crystal reloads and shoots the pet as well.
Crystal barely manages to avoid the worst of the incoming dirt, and she responds by pulling her pistol and firing at the drake.
She then ducks into cover so she won't get blasted by another burst of dirt.
Still feeling quite shaken from the wasps, Crystal opts to hang back and let Lora handle this.
Crystal gasps for breath as Gattlebee dumps some oil on her and begins to fix her injuries. Her breathing is quite laboured. "...oh goodness me..."
Crystal stumbles to the side and sits down, feeling badly screwed up by the wasp stings.
Crystal runs pell-mell out of the room, swinging wildly at wasps.
Crystal tries to slink into the workroom...
Crystal hands off the frost orb to whoever shows interest and moves to investigate the workroom next.
"Pft! Respectable parties are boring, but if you are ever interested in crashing a gala or two, we can go together and make sweet social people mayhem." "It DOES sound like a tempting offer when you put it that way." The dhampir remarks as she holds the frost orb in her hands. "It'd also make Pa's shrivelled black heart explode, as if I'd pass up another reason to torque him right off." She grins wickedly, matching Lora's.
"With that amazing finger work you must be rather popular at parties." "Not at any respectable parties, I'm afraid. Don't meet many folk who'd welcome a dhampir smuggler to their homes." The dhampir replies. She tilts her head at the light-blue orb in the centre of the room before trying to jimmy it out of its pedestal.
It takes a couple of tries, but she does manage to get the orb loose.
Crystal gets to work on the locks.
The closet pops open easily, but the workroom takes a couple of tries.
Crystal moves to flank the other clockwork and stabs twice!
Crystal responds by drawing her dagger, circling around to flank one on Royken, and swinging!
Crystal takes the opportunity to reload her pistol while the others prepare to move.
Perhaps it's a curious stroke of conscience that compels Crystal, but instead of working with the others to plot a route forward, she moves to assist the fire brigade.
Crystal easily sneaks past the ensuing gun duel.
Crystal strides onto the scene and starts barking orders. "What're you doing?! You're lifting that all wrong--that's supposed to go THERE! And where're all the wheelbarrows?! You think you can carry all of that carriage out on your backs? Not on my watch--the Unions'll be howling outside my door 'til Crystalhue! And will somebody get that lazy git back on his feet?!"
Crystal seamlessly falls into step with the other folks on parade.
Crystal easily manages to keep up with the errant Gattlebee...
...and when it comes to the crowd, the dhampir decides that the subtle approach won't be quite enough. She draws her pistol and fires it into the air.
"EVERYBODY MOVE!" She bellows.
Crystal's pistol is already in her hand by the time the punks move to attack. She aims at one of the bombers and fires!
She then ducks into cover and reloads!
Crystal tries to ignore the massive chill that just racked her bones as she searches for something that looks like a shrinking potion!
"Mr. Gattlebee, I'm afraid we don't really have time for prolonged introductions." Crystal tips her hat to the grey-haired gentleman. "Suffice to say, we're here on behalf of the Grand Duchess herself, and we're here to bring you somewhere safer than this."
"Alrighty... lemme see if I can fix this." Crystal digs out her thieves' tools and starts working on the nozzle.
Unfortunately, while Crystal is somewhat familiar with sharp objects, she's sadly entirely unfamiliar with the inner workings of a common gardening tool. She eventually gets it right, but not before nearly setting the damn thing off. "Blast it all, now I know why Pa never spoke ill of his gardener..."
Crystal follows Royken, keeping as alert for traps as she can.
Crystal starts scouting out a route alongside Royken.
"I might be able to help with the healing, if herbs and stuff would work on you... it is a bit experimental though." "I mean, as long as it doesn't involve 'positive energy', I reckon it'll heal me..." Crystal shrugs. "...can't say I've had time to experiment in that regard myself."
"...well, Pa really." Crystal gives Royken a bit of a thankful look. "And no, I'm not going to eat you." She shakes her head. "Though if my Pa were here to listen to your language, he'd have you flayed to the bone within the hour." She remarks with a dry, sardonic tone before chasing it with another swig of alcohol. "He's a 'prim and proper moroi', he liked to call himself." Crystal's usual Alkenstari drawl abruptly turns into a heavy Gebbite accent when she pronounces 'moroi'. "Doesn't care for cusswords in his household."
Crystal takes a big swig from the bottle and sets it on the table. "That 'liquid', if you can call it that, is what's called an 'oil of unlife'. Black as death and half as cold, if you can believe that. It's what knits undead bones and flesh back together--normal healing spells can only harm them." The dhampir explains. "Something about 'positive energy' being what's responsible for all that. Presumably, oils of unlife are the opposite of that." "I get the impression that clergymen talk about a different sort of 'positive energy' when they say that. If good feelings were all that kept undead away, it's a miracle Alkenstar hasn't been overrun by now."
The albino sighs. "...yeah." "Sometimes, when feeding, a vampire'll have an attack of remorse--as I understand it, my Pa did when he was feeding on my Ma. I guess he tasted something different about her and it just about drove him to tears." She continues, her tone dry. "Couldn't bring himself to kill her." "So he kept her... 'least until she bore me. I probably saved him the trouble of killing her himself." She stops, her eyes hardening and searching for the nearest container of alcohol.
"Well..." Crystal leans back in her chair and pulls her lips back in a smile. Her teeth are all impeccably white--but her canines are wickedly sharp, to needle-like points. "...short story is I'm what most 'respectable' folk call a dhampir." Crystal says, pronouncing it 'dam-phir'. "Not dam-peer, like what you'd say to a particularly rickety wharf."
Also this "replacement picks for thieves’ tools [1]" since Crystal will be opening locks for us a plenty, hopefully. Considering I'm the only rogue here, certainly.
Crystal nods at Lora before she purses her lips. "Speaking of knowledge, I reckon I owe you an explanation for why songs and prayers don't heal me but oil does."
Crystal snorts. "Never figured I'd be doin' the Duchess' work. Might explain the sorry state of the shieldmarshals if folk like us are who she'd rather have in her employ."
Crystal ponders Royken's question.
"Well, it's a real shame she's never bothered looking down. Gods only know why--she looks down on everyone else." The albino snarks.
Crystal makes sure all of her guns are accounted for before waiting for the others to finish their healing. "...lordy me, Royken, but after that hit I was certain you wouldn't get up again."
"This has never happened before. Performance issues, I mean." Crystal winces. "...yeah, there's a good explanation for that. Remind me to tell you when we make it outta here."
Crystal swings her dagger again!
Crystal winces as the impact makes her drop her gun. She draws her dagger and starts swinging in retaliation!
Crystal draws her gun with a sneer. "Well, it's your lucky day. 'Cause after this, it ain't gonna be your territory anymore." She aims at the nearest fungus and fires!
She then reloads her gun.
"Yeah, I've been there, back in the day. What'd they get you for?" Royken asks. "Mugland claimed I was smuggling guns past the border, the delusional, greedy furnace rat." Crystal responds, her eyes darkening. "Threatened to ruin me if I didn't cut him in. I told the uppity little creep I had no idea what he was talking about, and told him to bugger off."
"Fuuuuck," Royken mutters as he sees Crystal heal. "Never seen that before. Usually you're supposed to drink that, I think." "Take a trip south of the border sometime. This sort of thing happens all the time." Crystal shrugs in response.
"...well, that ain't right." Crystal responds before drawing her pistol and firing.
She then scuttles away from the gnolls, reloading her pistol when she gets away from the front line.
Crystal looks down at the vial of black liquid she got from the goblin, uncorks it and pours it all over her face. The oil sinks into her skin immediately.
In fact, most of her smoke-induced injuries heal themselves as a result.
Crystal curses herself for not paying more attention to how things were put together in her old job. "Could make for a proud vessel, like she was before."
Crystal doubles over and starts coughing when smoke gets blown in her face.
"Well, bully for me." The white-haired gunner groans as she retreats and fires at the nearest clockwork beast!
She then starts reloading her pistol!
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