During the night the club is a lively joint, if obscure.
Daytime shows a more faded decor, with a sleepy atmosphere. A couple of older musos sit in a corner eating fried onions and talking forgotten gigs and groupies. A bored waitress,tiny deer horns visible trough her curls, dumps a jug of something limed and iced in front of them, scoops up change, and sashays back to the bar to sit and dream again.

As the group enter, she perks up a bit.
"Hi'ya folks...after a quiet bite ta eat, n some chill tunes? We got Eli coming in to play inna bout half n hour."
She shows the group to a table, with an assortment of mismatched chairs and hand them all menues printed on fake old vinyl sleeves.

Solstice gave a halfhearted glance at the menu, feeling decidedly uncomfortable in the midst of people he barely knew. He found very little that was appetizing but kept quiet about it. He did like the music and so he listened quietly with his nose hidden in the menu so he wouldn't have to socialize.

As they all take a seat, George orders a jug of local beer and glasses for all including Lysette.
"You might not drink ..beer.., but its only polite to offer a glass." as he pours for everyone, drinks half of his off, and refills it.With a glance at the menu, he then orders a bunch of fried wings. "Somethi8ng to gnaw on while we choose actual food."

"So...want to hunt robot magic creatures? Or maybe work out what Old Mate dead guy was so afraid of he put up extra wards and stuff?"

Wings arrive, and he grabs one to crunch down, bones and all, while thinking.

Solstice looked up at the meaty sick crunch that could only be a broken bone "Di-... Did you just eat a bone?" He asked, quiet disbelief in his voice.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:38, Wed 12 May 2021.

George looked up from the menu.
"What? Oh...yeah...um...lost of calcium." Picking up another, he looks at it. Crisp, tasty , and perhaps a little bony sure..
"How in hell do you Not eat the bones..their so crunchy. Like a packet of chips, only with meat."

About to devour the second the same as the first, he pauses.
"Uh...is it too ...what was that word..brutish?"

Solstice looked equal parts grossed out and frightened. "I'm pretty sure if I attempted to eat a bone I would choke and probably die..." He said softly.

"Heh...wolf. I like bones."
Crunching the second down, he then sits up from his slouch, and assumes a serious and polite tone.
 "Tell you what. i'll try and eat all dainty, if you try and enjoy yourself for once."
Taking a third, he attempts to nibble the meat off with sharp teeth."This is trickier than it looks..."
This message was lightly edited by the player at 02:19, Wed 12 May 2021.

"What are we doing here, mis amigos?" asks Lysette, lighting up a small cigar. "Grossing one another out? Easy to do.

"The police have asked us to help investigate crimes of an unearthly nature -- in an unofficial capacity. I'm happy to help out. Happy to meet with you and share insights from time to time. But you guys are not really my type and I'm not planning on becoming anyone's best friend.

"So maybe we come up with a plan for investigating el muerto from the basement. And don't forget the mechanical bird thing that was watching us. Someone is paying attention to this investigation, someone who had eyes on the event itself.

"I'd like to find out who that is. Any ideas?"

She exhales smoke as she sits back and almost unconsciously her body begins to move with the rhythm of the music in slow, sensuous stirrings of her arms and long legs.

George pouts slightly."I'm trying not to be gross." As he gently puts the bones on a side plate and wipes hands on a napkin. "See."

Resisting the plate for a bit, he leans back and stares at her cooly. "Your 'friends' don't always do so well, do they, Ms Vargus? So..acquaintance is just fine." Then he laughs, unable to match Lysettes amazing poise, arrogant though it is.
"An acquaintance who will wash that car...clothed...for lifts to wherever we investigate."

Pulling a pen and worn notebook from his bag, he flicks past a shopping list, to an empty page and starts writing. His penmanship is far nicer than the notebook deserves.
"So...what do we know?"
"Magic robots."
"Non magic runes, and a fae trap."
"Something stolen.and ..L merto probably questioned before dying."
"Willing to use magic explosions to cover things up...but didn't do it that well.."

He taps the pen against his teeth thinking.
"So...how do you build and power magic windup toys? Could be some autoshop is needed? And what do you all know about magic traps, artificing, or rune scribbles?"

The waitress goes to remove the leftover bones, and Geroge puts his hand over it. "Nooope. Saving them for a doggy bag."
She laughs, little horns bobbing in mirth. "Yeah puppy, I figured. Gunna pop 'em in a foil wrap for yer."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:28, Wed 12 May 2021.

Solstice sighed deeply. "I appreciate the effort." He said, though already seemed a bit weary.

"As for the runes... It is possible that something too powerful for them tried, and succeeded, in breaking through. Sometimes when a protection spell breaks, it causes a small pop of energy. Add in enough raw power from either the protector or the attacker, and this pop ends up being more like an explosion." He said. "So that could be where our explosion came from... As for the robot. it could simply be an enchanted drone made to look like a bird for aesthetic reasons..." He offered.

"Also, I wouldn't really call the door handles a trap... Iron works the same way to a fae no matter the form... I just didn't expect a door handle to be pure iron... Usually they're copper or brass. So really, that was my fault..." The fae man's wings dipped a bit in shame, though this was possibly the most words he'd said to any of them in one sitting.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:26, Wed 12 May 2021.

"Mmmmm..good point." George ate the last wing carefully, while staring at a wall thinking.
"But it wasn't a killing door knob. And, as you say, it's unusual. Perhaps a warning to a certain Fae person? In fact, If you hadn't opened the door, none of the rest of us would have noticed it. So..yeah..your fault we found a clue."
He drinks Lysettes beer, as she hasn't touched it. An offering refused by a goddess can be consumed by the devotees after all.

"I wonder who his friends..or maybe annoying acquaintances..were? Some one had to know him."

"Any being powerful enough to create a blast that big from just a shattering protection spell it far too strong to be disswayed by a door handle. If anything that would just make them more angry... Possibly why the man in the basement is dead..."

"It might not have been for them. As you say, its just a door knob."
He scratches his jaw, thinking.
"And , it seems more a warning than a trap. You burnt your hand, but, it wouldn't have stopped you, if you need in. So...I'm thinking, it was more a "no hawkers" sign, not a real trap. Indicating he expected possible rude fae visitors, but not deadly ones?"
George cocks his head, regarding Solstice with a curious look as a thought occured to him.
"Do Fae give off different magic flavours? Like a scent. Did the residue have that taste, you think?"

"It's not a flavor. It can be most simply described as an Aura... A wavelength of magic that is different to each fae but similar types of magic all hit key points. Mine for example, fire mixed with healing would have a sort of, warm tea with honey and cinnamon feel to it... That's... Not an exact one to one match but... Hot and nice... But with magic aura..." He explained.

"So...you're saying...." George gives the Fae man a smoldering intense look. "You taste, but don't 'taste'...hot and nice..."

Solstice backed up as much as his seat would allow him without pushing further back. His face was bright red with a blush. "I... Feel vaguely threatened..." He mumbled, returning the intense look with wide owlish eyes.

For a moment it seemed as if George was going to lean over the table, then he stops and drops his head to the table, screwing his eyes shut.
"Please...stop that. You're setting off all sorts of 'red riding hood' instincts damnit....cant help being wolfish this time of the month."

"Stop what, being scared of someone looking at me like a piece of meat-?" He snapped, starting to get irritated.

"Thats better....be angry." He sighs, still laying on the table.
"Im sorry..I...dont want to scare you. But...the wolf bit is really rubbish at.."
He blushes then as well. "it gets confused when um...I get stupid."

Solstice rolled his eyes and went back into his little menu fort, glaring at it more than reading it. He was done with this entire arrangement and wondered why he even stuck around with it.

"......you do smell nice though."

Solstice glared. "Keep it up and this menu is getting shoved up your nose." He threatened.

"it would be a change from being swatted with a rolled up newspaper."

Solstice elected to just ignore the wolf man, as he had before and glared at his menu. Nothing was all that much to his liking. Most human style food wasn't, probably why he was so thin for a fae.

A tall woman walks in via the kitchen, pulling a large case. She starts setting up some equipment on a small corner stage. Shes tall, reed thin, with slick black hair down to her knees, tied back from her face with green coloured ribbons. With a wave at Jessamine as she gets ready, she soon has herself set up behind an electronic deck, with a number of horned instruments beside her.

Soon she starts playing a simple flute tune, with a light jazz mix coming from the speakers. She doesn't introduce her self, except with a flourish top the audience, on the flute, before she starts a second more lively afro jazz instrumental with a small horn.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:21, Sat 15 May 2021.