[Wizard Jail] (mini-battle)

"Oh, is that so?" The dragon-man seethed. "You are very helpful. I, Vocifer Vox, shall make your inevitable death quick and most pain-"

The Intelligence is gone. Oh fucking great, how could he ask for the Jail Druid's whereabouts now. The entire place was a jail. And there were like, fifty-plus Druids and Druid-likes in this desolated hellspace. Vocifer would had been very mad if it weren't for the fact he was already, well, mad.

"YOU ARE NOT VERY HELPFUL," Vocifer screamed to the last place where he saw the Intelligence. He flew to the center of the cafeteria, roughly closest to the gangs, and muster every molecule of air out of his draconic lungs. "MY COLLECTION OF THE FINEST DRACONIC MASTERPIECES TO THE FIRST PERSON WHO CAN TELL ME WHERE THIS JAMES WALKER IS."

--

Vocifer is asking the gangs where Jail Druid, James Walker, is in exchange for his "masterpieces."

"It was the Kraken, actually." Vanth pipes up, with a voice of sweet sunshine peering through the leaves into a stream. "Difficult to miss something that big casting a spell and scuttling out." Vanth gestures towards the door with his sword-horn.

The prisoners who were waiting in line and were not punched out by Vox look at Vanth, then each other. Mutterings and "yeah!"s take place amongst the line. Seems a mob is forming. The ones wearing Vanth's colors glance back at him again.

Vanth is already enjoying his apples again, as if turning a blind eye to the situation.

"Ahem. Remember, when not scheduled, Angels only appear after around seven people have died in one area." Announced the gang member to Vanth's left, a too-young-for-jail boy with a conical hat in Vanth's colors. The rest get back to eating.

It's hard to say what Vanth was thinking. Was he trying to be friendly with Vox? Was he inciting a riot and a witch hunt? Did he want something in particular to happen? Or was he trying to obtain Vox's valuable collection? Hard to say.

The mob is already fairly loud now, so the conical hatted child may have been drowned out. Many of them turn to chant in Vox's direction.

1. The mob is looking for a Kraken.
2. Looks like the hungry mob is gravitating around the person on a table with a big ax for direction.
3. Vanth is chilling, apparently.

“THANK YOU, BLADE-BROWED EQUINE,” the dragon-man boomed. The noise was getting too loud and his Listen check was too abysmal to hear the concerned cone-boy. He was too short to be important anyway, Vocifer decided. “MAY YOUR DEATH BE GLORIOUS AND SWIFT.”

As for the burgeoning crowd…

“VOCIFER VOX SUGGESTS CALAMARI FOR TODAY’S SPECIAL.”

He let out a mighty roar as he charged in, busting the door off the hinges. The crowd – practically a riot at this stage – followed in, seething with hunger and falafel-deprived rage. Vocifer isn’t quite too sure if he should eat a kraken considered it was a sentient magical beast and probably super-poisonous, but everything tastes good fried. So, yeah. CHARGE.

--

1) Vocifer goes through the door suggested by Vanth along with a riot crowd.

2) The crowd is very loud because riot and very slow because hallways.

3) Vocifer has not forgotten his promise to Vanth and will transport his "masterpiece" collection to the unicorn's ownership as soon as he is able.

Nyctitus had made a grave error, if an understandable one. There were empty cells all over this block. James could move almost freely around his quarry, looking for opportunities to attack unseen.

Of course, the kraken would respond sooner or later, and with the powers of chaos at its command, it was not a foe to be taken lightly. Still, James expected to make a few more hits before he had to change tactics.

He raised his hand, and a bolt flew out towards the kraken.

Then, suddenly, it changed directions, flying around the hallway erratically until it struck the iron bars of a cell.

Nyctitus turned towards him, sneering.

"So you're the troublemaker. Figured you might pull that move again, so I put a little chaos in the air. Anything you throw at me could wind up anywhere, maybe even blow up right in your face. Wanna try your luck again, druid?"

James didn't say a word. He was already enhancing his strength and speed, and rushing towards Nyctitus.

He wasn't quite fast enough to dodge a tentacle striking him in the chest, though. The blow was hard enough to send him flying.

But that wasn't all. The same spell that had thrown his bolt off course took hold of him, flinging him wildly through the air. He hit the ground much later than he should have, though it didn't hurt any less.

"That was fun," Nyctitus said, drawing closer. "Wonder how long you'll stay up this time."

1. There's a spell in effect that basically makes any projectile (including thrown opponents) take a completely random path.
2. James is about to get messed up by a kraken, probably.

Nyctitus laughed as he sent the druid spinning randomly through the air with another blow, softening it to prolong the resulting chaos. James bounced off a cell door, the ceiling, and the floor in short order, finally coming to a skidding rest in the corner between two empty cells. Nyctitus would have smiled if he was capable, and instead settled for a threatening hiss as he advanced on the bleeding druid, who spat blood defiantly at the base of his tentacles.

"It's over, human," Nyctitus gloated, "Make peace with your stupid Jail or whatever dumbass thing you believe in." He raised an arm for a final strike, but at that moment a voice behind him screamed "THERE IT IS!"

The kraken wheeled about just as James disappeared back into the empty cell. A small crowd had gathered at the entrance to the largely-deserted block, murderously enraged. The way they were looking at him left Nyctitus with no doubts as to their target.

"KILL IT," an imp howled. "IT RUINED FALAFEL NIGHT!" The inmates pressing around it seemed to agree, baring whatever weapons were available to them. Reflexively Nyctitus coiled his arms protectively around his prosthesis; he might be able to crush these minnows, but not without losing his ability to breathe air.

"Lord Snarl, do not abandon your most loyal servant in his hour of need," Nyctitus prayed, backing away as far as he could. He wasn't fast enough to outrun the crowd, which left him only the option of violence. Not that he minded.

The kraken swelled threateningly, preparing a spell. It would take seven deaths for the Angels to arrive and hopefully give him enough of a distraction to escape. He intended to hasten their arrival.

"FRENZY," he bellowed, pointing at the advancing crowd. The hex's range wouldn't stop more than ten or so people, but that was plenty. Hopefully.

1. The crowd has just found Nyctitus. He isn't prepared to fight a crowd this big and doesn't want his breathing thing to get messed up.
2. He's cast a spell to make 10 people in the crowd attack everyone around them, possibly including him, in the hopes that enough people will die to summon some Angels and take care of this whole thing for him.
3. He's still looking to contact Blang.

“WHAT?” Vocifer Vox bellowed. “WHAT IS THIS MADNESS?”

The hallways were already an inconvenience, what with his large frame and his large impromptu army. The fact that some profane magic, no thanks to that squid, had made his underlings turn on each other evolved this into a major annoyance. Tiamat’s tits, this was quite a…pickle. Pickles he could had eaten with falafel.

Garrgh, he would had been more mad if he wasn’t now.

His patience wearing thin, Vocifer ruthlessly exhaled a cone of flame onto the insurgents. He glided across the infernal discord, raising his axe toward the escaping clerical cephalopod. The dragon-man was so sure of his victory that he didn’t realize some people did die in the blast. Some people whose collars are still iron-bound clasped on their necks – the runes flickering and fading as a distress signal was transmitted to the ears of the ever-omnipresent angels.

--

1) Vocifer breathed a cone of flame on the crowd. The crowd is more chaotic now.

2) More than seven people died in the cone of flame. The angels will more surely come.

James emerged in his own cell. With a crowd arriving, there was no need to stay and risk being involved in the fight.

But it was still worthwhile to know what was going on. James opened the door to his toilet and focused on Nyctitus. Slowly, an image formed in the water.

What he saw was unsettling. The prisoners were turning on each other - perhaps aided by chaotic magic. Vocifer breathed flame upon a group, killing enough to draw the angels' attention.

But more than that, James saw something that surprised him. Somewhere in that crowd, about to face the wrath of the angels, was an innocent soul, wrongly condemned.

There was no choice, then. The angels would show no mercy. James had to go back at once, and so he did.

1. James spotted someone the Jail judged innocent. Anyone else is free to elaborate on who it is.
2. He's heading back, with no goal beyond helping the innocent escape.
3. He can't bring someone with him when cell-shifting, so he's going to need to get the innocent away through some other means.

"Vocifer. I think you've gone a little insane. let me "help" you." The Intelligence says while returning to the cafeteria hoping to see vocifer gone. After that he pulls the electricity from the lights illuminating the hallways into a sword, made out of electricity. The hallways grow dark, and the only things illuminating them is The Intelligence's weapon, and the resting flames upon the corpses of the fallen. "may the angels take me, just know that I shall go out with a bang. Be ready, because this may be your final fight."

"YOU? TRYING TO FIGHT ME? YOU'RE TESTING YOUR LUCK."

"You're the one being left in the dark."

"I WILL LIGHT THIS HALL WITH THE FLAMES OF YOUR CORPSE!"

"We will see."


----
1. Fight Vocifer.
2. If the angels see them fighting, pray that they take either just vocifer or the intelligence and vocifer.

VWOOP VWOOP VWOOP VWOOP

Repetitive, blaring sounds accompany the glowing summoning circles that appear in various locations in the zone.

"It's the Angels! Scatter!" Larry the Golem bellows. The Vanth Gang scatters in a fairly organized way, slower ones being aided by those with support spells. The Vanth Gang practices the Buddy System, it seems.

The summoning circles slowly widen, and a few of them have hands reaching through them. It seems that they'll be fully usable in approximately 30 seconds.

A basketball sized sentient gel-blob is kicked to the side of the hallway in the confusion. James appears in the nearest cell, and picks it up, finding his innocent.

As the faster Vanth Gang members near the end of the hall on one end, a spiderfolk man appears, back to the hallway. He wears a spider-silk leotard with a deep front and back V. The Leotard thins out so much towards his waist that a clear pair of butterfly wings can be seen, flared on his pelvis- a clear indicator of the elusive Butterfly Gang. From areas unknown, he fires and weaves webbing, spreading it across the exit.

The fastest Vanth Gang member attempts to bowl through it, but his impact is resisted elastically and he is caught.

On the other side, another Butterfly Gang member appears, likely to similarly block the exit.

1) Y'all got 30 seconds to do something. It's also very dark, thanks to the Intelligence. The lighting is his sword, the fires, and the summoning circles.
2) the punishment for murder is a moderate stint in the punishment zone. Punishments vary per prisoner.
3) The punishment for a lot of murder is generally death. Good luck, Vox!
4) the Butterfly Gang is looking to get a loooot of people punished.
5) James has a small, innocent blob in his hands. Why is it even in jail?
6) It is now 1 PM. The Daily Auction is at 4 PM.

"Shit!" Nyctitus said. He hadn't escaped the chaos unscathed; he bore a long scrape down his mantle from a wayward shiv-spear. Blue blood ran over one of his eyes, obscuring his vision.

The gut-rattling shriek of the prison's sirens was doing little to facilitate escape, even without the Butterfly traps on either end of the hall. Most of the inmates were scrambling over each other with reckless abandon in their panic, crushing the smallest among them. Nyctitus noted with a predator's unconscious hunger that most of the weakest would be dead before the Angels even arrived, upping the number of punishments.

Could he escape? He expected so. His weight alone should be enough to crush through the spiderwebbing, even if it would let some of the other contestants escape as well. But this was an opportunity he might not have again- while they were all trapped and they were just within reach of his tentacles...

Nyctitus was still on this train of thought when a panicked minotaur came bull-rushing out of the crowd and struck the distracted kraken in the midsection with her viciously-sharpened horns. Nyctitus shrieked in surprise, stumbling backwards in a tangle of his own arms and collapsing along with the bellowing minotaur, all rational thought forgotten. He was in the process of attempting to chew his way out when he felt the electric-cold touch of an Angel on his fin.

1. Nyctitus has been apprehended. Whoops!
2. Everyone is in a state of panic.

Well, Vocifer Vox, the dragon-man thought to himself. You really centered the fireball on yourself, eh.

Vocifer Vox self-styled himself as imperviously brave but even he had limits. He decided to make like a treant and leave, might as well while he had the aerial advantage.

The dragon-man swooped down to the blocked entrance and let out another gout of flame to scorch the webbing (and a few additional causalities). Part of the panicking crowd, not exactly thankful, boiled out of the hallway without even the slightest expression of gratitude. That is just fine with Vocifer Vox, who was sure he was going to get out. Again –

Well, tits, the dragon-man found himself webbed – and improvised as an additional blockade to the entrance. He would had screamed archaic profanities at the sneering drider, but he was too preoccupied with the angel in front of him. The angel was of liquid grace and otherworldly beauty, but Vocifer knew he was damned when he can feel numbness encroaching him as the formidable outsider put him into stasis.

--

1) Hallways are less crowded. Crowds are still chaotic.

2) Vocifer Vox is in a pretty shit position. Maybe there is a chance for him to escape? Unlikely.

"Burble burble?"

The blob was trying to talk, but it spoke a language unlike any beast James had ever known. Nevertheless, there was no doubt - this was the innocent he had to save from the angels' vengeance.

Unfortunately, despite its small size, James could not take it through the cells with him. It was not linked to the jail, as he was.

Most of the crowd was focused on the spider at one end of the hallway. Though its web had just been burned through, the Angels had most of their focus there as well. James decided to flee down the other route - though he did not yet know what the other Butterfly could do.

As he approached, he saw that the Butterfly sentry was not even facing the hallway. She simply stood with her tattoo facing everyone, and a shawl over her head. That was odd, but the Butterflies were an odd bunch to begin with. James proceeded cautiously, trying to get a better look.

It didn't take him long to notice the slithering motions under the shawl. He nearly smirked.

As James drew nearer, the gorgon sentry turned around, taking her shawl off, and her gaze turned the druid to stone.

It didn't stop him. Most druids had great power to shape stone already - but for a druid of the Jail, stone and metal were almost as malleable as air and water. His now-petrified body moved only a little slower than if he were made of flesh.

"Ooh, now that's even hotter than I was hoping for," said the gorgon, as he walked past and shoved her aside. "Think you could see me alone later?"

He didn't answer. He still needed to get the innocent to safety. He could only hope the angels were focused on the crowed.

1. The Butterfly gang member on the other side of the hall is a gorgon, who gets turned on by people turned to stone.
2. James is a statue but it's only slowing him down a little.
3. James still has an innocent blob to save.

"The angels are here. that's not the best, considering I just took out the electricity of the entire building possibly. At least I wont be sentenced to death." The Intelligence rambled to himself. He then runs off to find an exit, Yet before he can break for the exit, he notices Vocifer about to get smited by an angel. "Well that's a sticky situation, Vox. I suppose ill have to find another way." The Intelligence mocks vocifer before following in James' footsteps, not before noticing the gorgon sentry blocking the way, and watching James stride off. "Jesus Christ, everything in the span of a few minutes just went to hell. That gorgon is a problem. Not for me of course." The Intelligence said, as he snuck up to the gorgon and attempted to behead it, yet as the sword crawled through the gorgon's neck, the sword turned to stone, and it immediately crumbled after he had finished. "Damn it. Well, nothing to do but press on."

--

1. Follow James, hoping for him to know where he's going.
2. Stay Hidden.

"How unexpected~" The Gorgon head moans, as it rolls off the partially severed neck. The prisoners hiding behind their paralyzed comrades take notice, and escape. Well, some of them. Several found the grip of Angels on their necks.

James runs off, guided by the jail, Jail-attuned senses telling him that he is followed. He cradles the mysterious sentient gel.

The Intelligence follows after James in the bustle of escaping prisoners, having luckily avoided the Gorgon's gaze and delivered a seemingly fatal blow, apparently weaponless.


Nyctitus and Vox are not so lucky. The Angels blow away their senses, and transmit them backwards through the summoning circles, along with the other unfortunates.

"Ahh. This is inconvenient. But I've never been one to shy away from new experiences~" The Gorgon's head unsteadily raised from the ground, and its body turned to dust. The head began floating, straighter and straighter in the direction James and the Intelligence went.

Around 3:45, the pair awaken in a golden, circular room, next to one another.

They are held to the walls by golden bonds with long chains. The chains appear fragile, but upon testing, reveal themselves to not be.

In the center of the room, saws, ropes, whips, and other frightening devices lay scattered, along with traces of blood, both dried and wet.

Towards the top is a windowed dome, several eager faces looking in. The Spider humanoid is among them.

Looking around, several other prisoners are there, including Larry the golem, who looks lightly webbed and fairly burnt.

Further analysis, there are colored dividers around sections of prisoners. Various ones, colors of the rainbow. The Light Purple section has the most prisoners in between those dividers, the Dark Purple dividers also containing a substantial count.

In the Red dividers are only Vox and Nyctitus.


1) Jame is the head of a pack of escaping prisoners. You've probably made it.
2) The Intelligence is following James.
3) I unsynced the timelines between James/Intellegence and Vox/Nyc. you've about a 2 and a half hour difference between you too, try to correct that some time!
4) Vox and Nyc are in some shit.
5) Remember, Auction's at 4!

Nyctitus stirred groggily. His tentacles were bound by thick rings at their bases to the wall behind him, preventing him from moving very far. He clacked his beak in disapproval, and hissed when he saw Vocifer restrained next to him.

"You," the kraken growled, "This is your fault. You tiny little bitch. At the nearest possible opportunity, I am going to eat you."

"VOCIFER WELCOMES YOU TO TRY, YOU OVERGROWN HORS D'OEUVRE."

Nyctitus snarled and attempted to lunge at the dragon-man, but was cut short by the chains rattling his prosthesis dangerously. He flushed a darker blue as Vocifer laughed at his expense.

In the midst of this- as other prisoners rattled their chains and likewise attempted escape- a narrow door in the cupola's side opened and a jumpsuited succubus strolled through, lewdly stroking a long golden whip. It was quite clear that she was likewise a prisoner, if one deputized to handle the instruments laid out in the torture chamber's center. She cooed as she pivoted on a spined foot very much like a six-inch heel, casting an eager eye over the restrained inmates.

"Why, hello," the succubus said demurely, batting inch-long lashes. Her jumpsuit, though it covered her from neck to ankle, managed to strain obscenely against her curves as she moved. A thin tail with a heart-shaped tip whipped around her legs. "My name is Tittifer, and I'll be your server for tonight. Any requests?"

The Butterflies clustered at the dome's top howled down the names of various instruments and positions. The succubus smiled and stretched out her whip, ready to get to work.

1. Nyctitus and Vocifer are at the mercy of the torture-succubus. Oh no!
2. Nyctitus is looking for any way out possible, and is completely ready to throw someone under the bus.

“Request?” Vocifer inquired. “Strange that requests are dealt instead of punishments. Regardless, I, Vocifer Vox, shall request the delivery of his FINEST MASTERPIECES to the honorable Vanth. Also a falafel. Vocifer Vox loves falafel.”

“Way ahead of you, big boy.” Tittifer cracked her whip. Two kytons, wearing more chains than clothes, pushed in a food cart, filled with a tantalizingly oily aroma. The succubus sashayed to the cart and proceeded to prepare a falafel wrap in the most excruciatingly slow fashion. Then it started to turn for the excruciatingly slow and sexy fashion. Three minutes pass before a nonplussed Vocifer wondered if he was going to receive a falafel at all.

“What? What is this madness?”

At this point and time, the succubus languidly sprawled on the cart, her high-heeled feet waving salaciously in the air. Tomato and lettuce were everywhere and for some reason, she was completely covered in hummus. Not that Vocifer realized, all his attention was on the falafel in her hands – the chickpea balls browned to perfection, nested in mouth-watering condiments and vegetables. Tittifer knew.

She took a bite out of it.

“NO! THIS CANNOT BE!” Vocifer cried out. He would had raised his arms into the air if they were not already chained to the wall, eliciting a peal of mocking laughter/amused squelching from the observers and his squid prisonmate. Vocifer snarled and pulled against his restraints, but they were for nothing as the falafel disappeared into the succubus’s mouth. Like his hopes and dreams.

--

1) Vocifer suffers falafel-centric purgatory.

2) Butterfly Gang are going to take Vocifer’s “masterpieces.” Of course, they’re not going to give to Vanth.

Vanth smiled as he watched his own men get lead away by the angels. Sure, the temporary loss in manpower was a high cost to bear - but it would be worth it. With that many captives to watch, the Butterflies would have their hands full for at least a few hours.

That left the Blang to deal with... and if all had gone as planned, they were taken care of already.

Of course, Vanth couldn't just assume all had gone as planned.

"Johnny," he said to a scrawny-looking human. "What's the status? Did our little 'hostage' get nabbed by the angels? I didn't see it."

Johnny shook his head.

"No, sir. It seems the druid got his hands on it."

"That guy's a pain in the ass," Vanth snorted. "This must be one of his 'protecting the innocent' stunts." He mulled over this for a while. "He should keep Blang busy, but we're gonna need a backup plan in case they take him down too fast."

---

James wasn't fond of crowds, unless he could hide in them. That was hard to do when you were at the head of one.

He slowed down a bit to let a few prisoners overtake him. Just in time, it seemed, as another group soon emerged up ahead. These prisoners, however, were not in a panic. Rather, they wore gaudy jewelry.

This was the Blang gang, and they looked like they meant business.

A dwarf stepped forward, clearing taking the lead. He held a hand up, and the crowd suddenly slowed. It didn't seem entirely voluntary.

"Right," the dwarf said, approaching the crowd. "You've all just had a close shave with the angels, so I imagine you won't be wanting trouble. And if you just move through here one at a time, there won't be any. We're just looking for something, and we want to be sure none of you has it."


1. The Blang gang has intercepted the crowd. They're looking for the innocent blob.
2. James doesn't know what they want, but he's inclined to avoid trouble with the gangs in general.
3. Vanth seems to want to keep the other two gangs occupied.
4. Just a reminder that all this is happening about two and a half hours before the previous posts.

The Intelligence, wanting to see if he could get his hands on some cash before his escape, blurts out a question.

"First of all, will there be a reward for getting it? Second of all, what are you all looking for?"

Of course, if the dwarf said anything about the blob, James would instantly U-turn his way out of there.

The Intelligence doesn't know that of course, but just in case...

The Intelligence scans the crowd, and spots James, holding a blob, though he looked to be ducking and trying to hide.

The Intelligence silently says to himself "Ducking under heads wont hide you from the ones who look."

The Intelligence suddenly sees people starting to get petrified whilst attempting to run away.

"There's going to be so many to choose from! I cant possibly choose just one~"

"Its that gorgon... I knew I should have just looked for a mirror." The Intelligence says as he ducks behind a pair of petrified people. The blang gang would be lucky to have not been all petrified by now.

1. The Intelligence wants some cash before he makes his escape.
2. He is willing to use violence to acquire it.
3. The gorgon is near the crowd. Petrification left and right.
4. The Intelligence is waiting for the gorgon to pass him so he could make a break in the other direction.

The gorgon's floating head was a useful diversion.

James had not yet had time to restore his flesh, so the various statues served as good cover for him to move along while the Blang panicked.

It took a few minutes for one of the Blang's mages to have the good sense to cast a smoke spell. Unable to see or be seen, the gorgon was powerless, at least long enough for a troll to stuff her head in a bag.

That was enough of a diversion for James to pass by, slipping through petrified Blang members. The handful of mobile prisoners rushing through the makeshift checkpoint didn't hurt, either.

"Dammit," the Blang dwarf grumbled, picking himself off the floor where he'd been trampled. "Now we still don't have our treasure, and we're down like twenty members. Including both the healers we brought along, so we're not restoring anyone any time soon."

"It's not all that bad," said a human mage as he cast a sealing spell on the bag. "I'm sure we can get some use out of our new captive. And as for treasure - we may not have any leads to the big prize yet, but I'm sure those prisoners the angels dragged off have some nice keepsakes in their cells."

"Normally I wouldn't mind pinching some pocket change," the dwarf muttered, "but the auction's soon. It's not going to be enough."

"Suit yourself. Me, I'm getting what I can while I have the chance."

1. James has slipped past the Blang gang. He still has the blob.
2. James is mainly going to be focused on getting the blob to safety.
3. Some Blang members are going to loot the cells of the prisoners that the Angels took away. This probably means they'll be taking a look at Vocifer's collection.

Nyctitus had grown bored during the prolonged falafel-themed torture, though it had been amusing to watch Vocifer bellow and writhe in frustrated rage. The succubus was thoroughly enjoying herself, gyrating in a pool of hummus and finely diced tomatoes, occasionally feeding scraps of the falafel to the other prisoners with her taloned fingers.

"But now," she said straightening, her falafel cart reduced to little more than a beige slurry, "It's time for our other VIP."

Nyctitus had by now figured out that he and Vocifer were restrained in the section of the torture chamber reserved for the worst offenders (though there was an as-yet used black section stained with particularly violent-looking bloodstains; perhaps they hadn't quite reached a high enough body count for that). The succubus was clearly focusing on them, to the amusement of the Butterflies watching above.

Tittifer turned on him with a thoroughly obscene smile and Nyctitus shifted uncomfortably. He was not, as a rule, attracted to bipeds, but the succubus was very good at her job. She made a show of humming over the instruments laying on the floor, pointing to successively more vicious tools with an innocent "This one? This one?" as the Butterflies pounded the dome's roof with their fists in excitement.

Finally she settled on a wickedly pointed trident, spinning it in her hands in anticipation. "After that appetizer," she said demurely, flicking a scrap of lettuce from the corner of her mouth in an unfathomably sexy way, "I'm ready for a main course. How does calamari sound?"

The Butterflies howled in perverted glee as she advanced on Nyctitus, the kraken frantically tripping over his own tentacles as he tried in vain to escape from the nearing points. He yelped in pain as the succubus stabbed him playfully in the mantle, cooing in delight. "Oh, so you're a screamer," she giggled, hefting the trident for a deeper blow. "How tantalizing."

At that moment the dome's narrow door thundered open and- something climbed through, an unthinkable tangle of queasy limbs and vomiting colors. A single golden halo over its head(?) marked it as the lowest-ranking of the Angels, and the prisoners as one scrambled to avoid looking directly into its nauseating form.

"Thisssss prisoner," the Angel said, gesturing with a fin-wing-shelf-hand, "Isss needed elsssewhere."

Nyctitus' bonds dissolved in a shower of golden glitter. He bent bonelessly under the stunned succubus' trident and scooted away, bolting for the door. The Angel watched him dispassionately; it seemed to be bored.

"You- you cocktease!" Tittifer shrieked, stomping her foot and cracking the floor. "Come back here right now! RIGHT NOW!"

But the door was already closed, the kraken having squeezed awkwardly through. Outside, the Angel was gazing coldly down at Nyctitus as he did his best to look contrite. "The Lord Ssssnarl," it said with a sickening variety of mouths, "Isss not pleasssed with you."

"No, no, of course not," Nyctitus whined, prodding tenderly at his mantle. "But I-"

"There will be no more excusssses after thisss," the Angel hissed. "Do not fail again. Go now to the auction- you are ssssent for." It ran its infinite tongues over its unending teeth in undisguised hunger.

"I'm going! I'm going! The Lord Snarl is truly generous in all things," Nyctitus said, and fled as fast as his tentacles would carry him to the auction block.

1. Nyctitus got a get out of jail card from an Angel of Snarl, but Snarl's not happy! Wow!
2. He's headed to the auction- two hours ahead of James and the Intelligence.
3. He has to do something there! But what??

The spectacle of the browbeaten Nyctitus was hilarious but it only served to highlight how dire Vocifer Vox’s situation was. After all, what he witnessed proved anything short of divine intervention would break these chains. The dragon-man gritted his teeth. He would rather be dead before he would dare even consider of consorting with the false gods.

Vocifer’s eyes darted around for solutions before focusing on the keys jangling on his warden’s wasp-thin waist. His tail attempted to hook up the fob with the built-in spines. It was a fairly ingenious ploy until the succubus’s own tail blocked the way. Tittifer turned around unamused. Her grip on the trident grew tighter.

In reflex, Vocifer Vox tripped her.

Tittifer shrieked as she sprawled all over the food cart, upsetting the contents into the air. Vocifer managed to catch a spoon in his mouth – just in time to gouge it into a lunging kyton’s eyesocket. Oohs and aahs peppered among the observing Butterflies. Even Tittifer was impressed, her eyes lit up in bemusement.

“Clever,” she cooed. She swivel her hips and made an obscene show of mock-thinking. “Clever for a dragonfucker.”

“Is Tittifer not a fiend of the Abyss?” Vocifer Vox was a bit confused. “There are deeds more abhorrent than a simple spoon-trick.”

“Oh Voxy. I had seen deeds done with spoons, deeds resulting in eye-gougings, but to combine both?” She placed the tip of her finger to her mouth, a facetious expression of shock. “That’s a whole other level of deviancy.”

“Vocifer Vox is very aware that the fiend is trying to recruit him. Vocifer Vox accepts this invitation but in return, demands some ground rules.”

“Oh?” The succubus half-lidded her eyes in interest. “Do go on.”

“No violence. No harassment or coercion of any kind,” Vocifer leaned forward. “And a falafel.”

“Deal?”

“Deal.”

--

1) Vocifer Vox joins the Butterfly Gang.

2) Yes, he gets a butterfly tattoo.

"Dumb gorgons, ruining my chances for money. I always hated them. This is useless, I'm going to see if the exit is unblocked."

The Intelligence starts to make his way back through the settled down chaos, only to slip and have the back of their head connect to a corner.

The Intelligence, in great pain, holds themselves onto a wall.

"This isn't good..."

He starts to tumble around, and crash into a large looking person, he turns around, and cracks his knuckles.

"Well. look what we have here! An absent minded idiot who decided to mess with the wrong guy. Your body is going to be a pancake by the time I'm done with you."

"I don't have the time, you imbecile. I'm not in the state to fight."

"EVEN BETTER!"

The Intelligence manages to only barely get scratched by the man, who on a second look seems to be extremely fit.

The Intelligence, unable to fight, turns around, only to tumble to the ground.

The man closing in on him, he charges up a hit.

1. The Intelligence isn't doing too well.
2. He's in a fight that he cant win in his state. oh boy.
3. EDIT: myw told me to change my thing cuz it made no sense, but I had to plug it out, so sorry to anyone banking on the previous version of this post. I do agree, it didn't make much sense.

“Oh, but there are two issues,” Tittifer hummed. “One, you still had not been properly punished yet. Everyone knows about your little tantrum in the cafeteria and everyone wants your blood. If we do not put on a good show. A very good show –” Her eyes lit up. “People might tell.”

“Oh,” Vocifer did not want to deal with Angels. “Right.”

“Two, the Butterfly gang is – how should I say? Exclusive. You might have the chops. But! Until you prove yourself, you are merely a man with a trashy tattoo. A honorary member, you see.”

“Very well! How would I, Vocifer Vox, prove his worth?”

The observing crowd started to stomp their feet and chant. Gauntlet, gauntlet, gauntlet. The words raised into such an ominous crescendo that Vocifer was starting to have second thoughts about his decision. Tittifer smirked, looking as if she was anticipating this for a very long time. It was not an entirely benevolent look.

“The Gauntlet.”

Tittifer cracked her whip. Immediately, the crowd went wild. There was screaming, howling and for some reason, occasional sobbing. One kyton – the one he gouged the eye of – unlocked his chains. The other kyton brought him a set of what he assumed were Gauntlet-centric clothes, although to call it…clothes was a bit of a stretch.

It was stretchy at least. A little breezy though.

--

1) Vocifer agrees to participate in “the Gauntlet,” an American Warrior-esque competition primed in extreme punishment and sadism, in exchange for secrecy from the Angels and membership to Butterfly.

2) Vocifer is wearing an embarrassing outfit consisting of a thong and strategically-placed belts.

James was, at last, alone, save for the innocent blob in his hands.

He used the opportunity to restore his flesh, then looked down at the blob.

There was no sign that it was even a prisoner. He had seen other amorphous creatures taken here in his time; usually, they were magically marked with a prisoner number, which replicated itself even onto stray pieces if they split apart. There was no such mark on this creature.

And yet, James could feel the Jail within the blob. The Jail flowed through its entire being. Yet, there was an unnatural sensation mixed within it - this creature was not like the rats or insects that scurried through the cells.

It was an artificial being, created within the Jail. Yet, it knew no sins. Whatever purpose it was created for was not intrinsically evil - though knowing the twisted minds that lay within these walls, that was no guarantee its creator cared for it.

But the details of its creation were not of immediate concern. What matters was granting it freedom. James started making his way back towards his cell, trying to avoid inhabited hallways for as long as he could.

He doubted that would be very long.

1. James has restored himself from stone.
2. James has suspicions about the nature of the blob, but he can't really look into them until the Jail is satisfied that it's safe.
3. James is heading back to his cell to make plans for the blob's freedom.

Nyctitus crawled along the prison passageway to the auction block, sulking. His plans to kill the other contestants in the chaos of the Butterflies' trap had failed, he'd been taken by the Angels, sexily poked with a trident, rescued by a different Angel, and was now being sent on some unfathomable godly errand. It was not an ideal situation, and he was uncomfortably aware of that fact.

The sounds of the auction warming up reached him from the cavernous hall where it was held, the booming of the Angels' voices reverberating through the prison's stone. A crowd was forming several hallways back, but no one actually seemed to be entering- the bulkiest members of Vanth's gang were guarding the entrance, keeping the other inmates out. Curiously, there didn't seem to be anyone in attendance from either Blang or Butterfly; those who were gathered were unaffiliated.

Nyctitus growled and drew back into an empty cell, casting an invisibility spell over himself. Shortly the Vanth guards found themselves being jostled by something large, slimy, and apparently not actually there. Most of them immediately decided they weren't being paid enough to deal with whatever the hell it was and went back to pushing away the would-be auctiongoers, ignoring the unplaceable smell of seawater.

The kraken slunk to the back of the hall, trying to keep the sounds of his tentacles on the stone to a minimum. The usual array of assorted Angels were guarding the stage in a dizzying range of forms. One of their number, he was simultaneously relieved and nervous to see, was another of Snarl's, all vibrating colors and mismatched limbs. Its gaze fell on him as he entered, and the kraken paused in hesitation. The only other occupants were Vanth members- including Vanth himself, Nyctitus was surprised to see. The unicorn stood surrounded by his bodyguards, his leonine tail swishing elegantly.

"Our first of the evening," called out the auctioneer, a swan-like Angel with three halos and a flute-like voice. Lesser Angels unveiled a table laden with arcane objects behind it. "A gem from the lower planes, imbued with-"

"One hundred," Vanth said, bored.

The Angel paused, clearly not used to being interrupted, and certainly not by such an absurdly low bid. It craned its head, trying to get a closer look at the unicorn. After a long moment it agreed, "One hundred. Do I hear one fifty?"

The room was silent. Vanth tossed his head smugly, his silky mane glittering in the light. Nyctitus was about to reveal himself and bid (one hundred measly gold? For a gem the size of a melon?) when the chaos Angel slowly, almost imperceptibly, shook its incomprehensible panoply of heads. Do not interfere.

The kraken watched helplessly as the auctioneer tried unsuccessfully to drum up more bids, but everyone in attendance was under Vanth's control. A minor Angel delivered the unicorn's prize with a flourish: the gem was sky blue and too big to hold with one hand, but it seemed otherwise unremarkable. As soon as it touched the palm of one of Vanth's underlings, however, Nyctitus felt a wave of antimagic spiral out from it that stripped away his invisibility like a flimsy disguise, leaving the thirty-foot-tall kraken painfully obvious in the middle of the hall.

Vanth turned to look at him, his liquid eyes glittering.
_
1. Vanth has maneuvered himself to be the only gang leader in attendance, and bought an antimagic gem.
2. Snarl has some intention for Nyctitus in this plan. But what??
3. Something has caused both Blang and Butterfly agents to be absent from this auction.