Scene #858: The Social Web

Owner	Pose
Yunomi Stadler	A LITTLE PLOT OF CIVILIZATION BOARDING GRUUL LANDS The access to this carea was down a "manhole cover" -- and a very, very tall ladder. Deep below, where sunlight filteres through great cracks in the poorer sections of Ravnica above, long since overdue for its cleaning and rebuilding is the edge of the Gruul Clans' lands. A mix of rotting city and reclaiming nature, thorny brambles wrap around support pillars, joining one another overhead as a canopy where small birds flit back and forth between streaks of light. It's hot and moist, steam pouring out from boken pipes above. Accessed down a ladder only two feet wide, but several hundred feet long -- and straight down -- Yunomi waits at a stone 'landing pad' with a pack over her back, her ears pressed forward and her tail curling slightly. She hiked her pack over her back, and checked on the wound hidden below gauze on her hand.
Rhapsody	"I didn't even know anyone MADE ladders this long," would be the first thing the Tanuki would hear far below. Though there's only one voice, the sound of two individuals coming down that ladder is rather obvious. Heck, at one point, Yunomi would have had a rung fall past her, one of them falling out of the ancient ladder far above. At least, as Rhapsody comes into view, the dragon seems to be fine, as does her sister. Seemed Ryxinel was busy with something else. Once she's back on solid ground, the Guildmaster offers Yunomi a smile, allbeit a slightly nervous one. Sidonia, manages a smile, and appears to be armed for once, rather than just bringing herself. "That's a -really- long ladder."
Yunomi Stadler	"Ah, you were fine. I would have caught you if it broke." Yunomi comments, and steps out of the way of the rung as it rattles past her into the grass and broken-up rubble. "Glad you both could make it. The others kind of soured O-Hiko; I'm sure she'll be pleased some of the guildmasters is eager to meet her." she grins, and waggles her fingers at Sidonia. "I'm pleased we could do it so soon."
Rhapsody	Siddy gives a nod, but Rhapsody is the one to answer, "Well, she's been handling a rather large problem for us, so I had to at least thank her if nothing else. She may have an idea what's been going on in the undercity too beyond just the flamespiders.."
Yunomi Stadler	"Using one spider to spy on another?" Yunomi inquires, and she rubs the back of her head. "It's worth it to ask, maybe." She replies, but leads the two dragons into the access pipe. She presses a pad, imbuing it with blue mana, and the door crreeeaaaaaaks open to the pipe, showing a slightly slick interrior -- and a bunch of webs clinging to the ceiling. Yunomi pauses. "Ooh. Looks like she might be branching out into the access tunnels. See -- all the webs are supposed to be connected, so that if something hits one of the strands, the whole family knows about it."
Rhapsody	"Y-yeah." Nervous? A little. MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF SPIDER WEBS are certainly not Rhapsody's thing. Sidonia seems to take it in stride, though, and moves ahead of both of them. At least she didn't draw a weapon. "Ahahaha yea, the whole.. family. That's .. that's nice.."
Yunomi Stadler	Yunomi reaches up, and plucks one of the thick, heavy, sticky strings like it was on an instrument, and then fearlessly walks inside of the access pipe. She may be humming. "You'll like her. She's very nice. A little weird, but nice."
Rhapsody	"I, ah, hope so?" At least she follows right after Sidonia and Yunomi. Seems the Guildmaster is feeding off the confidence of both. While her voice may be wavering her steps are, at least, confident.
Yunomi Stadler	Hey, Yunomi's got Rhapsody's back, through thick and thin. The tunnels are full of webs. There's a few turns, and then Yunomi pauses, and takes a gulp, and steps forward, parting a few of the webs carefully. Dirty, filtered light pours into the tunnels then. The meeting of urban decay and natural reclaimation meet, thick vines curling up supports. Fading sunlight comes from a grand, round hole in a forgotten plaza above like a subterannian sun. There are long stairwells, made of stone and slick with algae and moss. Steam errupts from a long tube overhead, water dripping from the ceiling where moss hangs. A water mane provides a cascade to a rocky pool created from broken tiles and rotting concrete. Twisting metal from fallen pipes provides a rusting basin for smaller cascades, with a fine mist hanging in the air. A pocket of jungle in the midst of a rotting cityscape. And everywhere there are webs. Great webs, carefully constructed connecting pipes. Thick, sticky strands hold captured birds or rats nearly the size of their tanuki host -- in her human form. Thorny wasps and a few flame spiders are stuck, mummified, their steely stingers still shining in the light offered by the opening above. And everywhere there are spiders. The vast majority seem to scatter, skittering back to the shadows and protection offered by others' webs and rocky outcroppings. Most of those spiders are under two feet across. A few larger ones decend from the ceiling, dropping down on threads the size of ropes, forearms out in a threat posture. They are all blacks and bright fiery oranges in tiger-stripe patterns. One spider at least five feet across slitters up from beneath the landing that the group steps out to.
Rhapsody	For the most part Rhapsody keeps up rather well. The webs don't bother her, the skittering spiders don't bother her, but the BIG spiders are a little.. well.. intimidating? She's still a young dragon after all! Before she has any sort of complete freak out though, Sidonia places herself between Rhapsody and the spiders, hand drawing ever closer to a blade, "We mean no harm, here.." Rhapsody just nods at this thought in agreement, hands held out at her sides to indicate she wasn't holding a weapon. . . don't mind she's a dragon. Please.
Yunomi Stadler	"Oh, we know. The little flower told us she would bring guests." comes a really quite pleasent voice from overhead, and sitting in an old statue of what might at one point been a lion or a dragon releif is a pale woman with blood-red eyes, wearing a fiery colored kimono with black-as-pitch obi sashes wrapped around her waist. She slowly decends, walking along the wall as if it were nothing, and it's plain to see that the bows of the obi are tied in a big X at her back -- a representation of her shifted limbs. Her long black hair is combed and held behind her, the delicate ivory-like combs depicting a spider's web plain and in view. But when the nearly six-foot-tall lady smiles, it is a mouth full of jagged, pointed fangs that greet the gathering. Yunomi seems unbothered. "O-Hiko." she addresses the woman, and she bows deeply from her waist. "May I introduce the Guildmaster of the Izzet League, Rhapsody Mizzet, and her sister Sidonia Mizzet, two of my... adoptive family." she gives a smile. "Rhapsody, Sidonia, this is O-Hiko, Mother of Spiders, daughter of O-Honomaru."
Rhapsody	Sidonia actually seems impressed at all of this, giving a small nod of her head. Rhapsody, for her part, manages to keep from spazzing out beyond just the widening of her eyes. Once it seems that O-Hiko isn't going to bite her in the neck she manages a bow, "Hello, there." she says once she straightens back up.
Yunomi Stadler	Yunomi steps a bit to the side, and allows the leaders to meet. O-Hiko, to her credit, is rather pleasent and gives a bow of her own in return, dipping low. "It is good to meet the aquaintence of the family who gave home to the homeless; it is most pleasent to meet you so soon, Rhapsody and Sidonia Mizzet. The little flower has told me much of your fathers' works, and I partially have you to thank for our beautiful new home... for where other people may see danger or ugliness, a spider sees only opportunity."
Rhapsody	Seems the Guildmaster has locked onto the bits that aren't quite so spidery. Her tone isn't even nervous, now. More official. Maybe Jeanette managed to affect some change there after all, eh? "It is somewhat close to not being within the Izzet Sector, but you are welcome to it. You and your family have been dealing with a problem we did not even know we had until somewhat recently. I would hope those flamespiders have not caused you too much trouble."
Yunomi Stadler	"They're /tasty!/" comes a childlike voice from the webs above, followed by the laughter of children. When all that are up there are spiders. O-Hiko motions to a stairway, and tucking her long, slender hands back into the sleeves of her kimono, she begins to walk. "As I said before, we saw opportunity, and gleefully accepted it.I will admit, it is not often surface dwellers come to see me of their own accord. Tell me, Guildmaster and Ladies Mizzet, what brings you to our humble home this day?"
Rhapsody	"There is something I wanted to ask you about, beyond the flamespiders and such," Rhapsody muses as she moves to follow. "There have been some rather... strange events going on in the under city. Zones where there's just no magic. In a place like Ravnica it's -very- bizzare for such zones to exist.. Have you encountered anything like this?"
Yunomi Stadler	"I'm afraid I have not; until quite recently, my family has been content to live in the shadows of caves or in the highest mountains, the oldest, crumbling buildings. A condition set forth by your guardians' forebearers after an... /unfortunate/ misunderstanding." the spider explains. "However, we have not encountered any place where magic simply does not exist. It is unlikely we would notice if we had"
Rhapsody	Rhapsody hrms at that, offering a nod, "Well, ah, if you do run into something like that, could you send word to us?" The thought of waking up to a messenger spider hanging over her is chilling, but well, what other choice was there for this kind of a thing? "And you're welcome to stay here as long as you like. Anyone from Namamura is welcome as far as I'm concerned.." EEEEEEEEEVERYONE you say... tsk tsk.
Yunomi Stadler	"I would be careful to whom y ou extend such hospitality. Even though there was an accord among the yokai of our world... some feel that with the Guardianship ending, such... pacts hold no meaning, else their decendants care not for the agreement of their grandparents. Even my own children, those who do not act as good representatives of our kind are... culled." she grimmaces, and flicks open a blood red fan to hide her face. "An embarrassing situation, but unruly children do not act for the interests of the whole." The fan folds, slowly, squeezed between a thumb and forefinger, and a serious expression crosses her face. "Keep in mind that yokai exagerate their good and their evil; humans tend to hide theirs very well."
Rhapsody	"Oh. Yes, that's true, actually," Rhapsody muses, rubbing a bit at her neck. Yeah, maybe not everyone, then. "I'm sorry to hear that something like that had to happen, though. I know the Boros have been doing regular patrols around the Namamura district, just for now. It didn't seem like we'd need them for long but this whole weird phenomenon going on has a few people on edge."
Yunomi Stadler	"I'm sure that Odanuki Sakiaro, the rogue, could share a few stories of his relations. For instance, did you know there was a tanuki, once, who thought it was great fun to hang people with rope from a bridge as they were walking by?" "Anno... we are not related. Several miles separate Namamura from there." Yunomi speaks up. She has a spider on her head. It seems happily content to be sucking up her body heat. "Tell me, Guildmaster, before you opened your home to us, who did you think would come through the gates?" The spider-woman inquires, and below there is a nice little set up. Three plates. Three cups. A basket of fruit and breads and crackers. ANd four cushions to sit on.
Rhapsody	"It was a spur of the moment decision. I was not going to force the residents of Namamura to wander the multiverse with no place of their own. I still want to see it -restored- to the people it belong's to, honestly, but that's not a decision I'm entitled to make. I can at least make everyone comfortable," she says before having a seat. "No place is full of entirely good or entirely bad people, I'm aware of that. I just.. wanted to help."
Yunomi Stadler	"And in helping..." the Spider assumes the largest, fluffiest cushion. And it presses down far more than a slender, even if tall, woman should make it press down. "... what have you let into your city?" she inquires, but she gives a sweet, serene smile. "O-Asahi, the greatest warrior to rise from the shores of Kaeruhime's river of life was a true friend of mine in life. We fought alongside each other during the Great War against the Magic-Eaters and O-Yami. Just as Kaeru has her crow, so does Asahi have her spider." The cups are filled with a red liquid from above. There is a spider, hanging there, holding a decanter. Yunomi sits across from the spide woman. Who notably has no cup, no plate in front of her, and doesn't seem interested in the food.
Rhapsody	That gets the guildmaster to heave a sigh. "It sounds like you know better than I do," she muses, not entirely hungry all of a sudden. "I'm so damn new to this, and it's starting to feel like I've made about a dozen mistakes already."
Yunomi Stadler	"Wisdom comes from experience. Experience comes from making mistakes." O-Hiko replies softly. "/Eat/, Guildmaster. I am not here to be a thorn in your side. You have enough teachers telling you in which directions to turn your head. I am a friend of Asahi's daughter, and if she considers you family, I am happily obliglated to acknowlege her great love for you."
Rhapsody	A light sigh, a nod, "Yeah, s-sorry.. I don't want to reject your hospitality," she manages before at least taking a bite of the first thing she sets a claw on. "It's just been really heavy in that regard, recently."
Yunomi Stadler	It is a delicious pear. It's ripe, and has a hint of tartness about it. O-Hiko smiles slightly. "It could be worse. Upon meeting me for the first time, some of the others waved swords and spells at me and my children, how peturbing. You are nervous, that I can sense, yes, but you are... mmm... far friendlier."
Rhapsody	A small, though nervous, smile, "Born in Ravnica, but born in the Multiverse as well. There are, ah, LOTS of things out there. It helps when dealing with new things, to be honest," Rhapsody explains. Another nom. Delicious fruit. Not her normal thing, but she's not going to put it back now. "Ravnica is slowly adjusting. There's a constant influx of multiversal things in the outer districts, but because of the Azor the trickle into central Ravnica has been very slow."
Yunomi Stadler	Yunomi, however, has a plate full of fruit and is eating them contentedly. Omnomnom. "I see. Their inertia slows the process the closer you get then? A guild in motion tends to stay in motion, is that not true?" O-Hiko replies, and glances to Yunomi. "Ah... the Izzet are a little off-kilter at the moment. Things have mostly settled within the League, O-Hiko, but as we're the group of inovation... we tend to change more."
Rhapsody	"You could say that! There's no science like Izzet science. I'm sure you can feel the vibrations from Nivix and Thirix all the way down here. In fact, I'd be disappointed if you can't!" Well that put the energy back in Rhapsody's tone. "The Azor just.. feel they are protecting Ravnica. In their own.. boring.. stifling.. droning way. I kinda wish I could have seen them when they had the Sphinxes running it. More 'spirit' of the law rather than 'letter' of the law."
Yunomi Stadler	"You mean you're causing those?" O-Hiko looks dismayed. "I thought they were earthquakes." Yunomi beams at how animated Rhapsody gets. The Spider gives a soft 'hmm'. "Well. Perhaps I should ally myself with these Azor. I /do/ so like a pattern, and I'm well known for my very long, long memory... in spite of the little flower's memories being shortened."
Rhapsody	Energy? Yes. The thought of O-Hiko liking the Azor? Bleh! "Good luck with that. The amount of paperwork a non-citizen would have to do to simply be able to APPLY for the CHANCE of getting an INTERNSHIP to become a apprentence magewright could fill an encyclopedia." She's not exagerating, she may even be low-balling it. "They love their blasted paperwork. I don't want to think about how much I'm going to have in the next week or two.."
Yunomi Stadler	"I enjoy a challenge." And there is that altogether too wide extremely toothy grin, stretching from ear to ear. "And I'm very... handy." Yunomi bites her lower lip to try and not laugh, but her eyes go wide and her ears flick upwards. She gives a look to Sidonia.
Rhapsody	Rhapsody actually laughs at this. She wasn't going to argue if O-Hiko wanted to go for it. It'd be interesting if the Spider could pull it off. It's enough that the guildmaster doesn't notice Yunomi's sudden alertness, something that Sidonia matches a moment later.
Yunomi Stadler	Well, no, she was trying not to laugh at the extremely poor pun, and the pressure made her ears go up. No alarm, nothing to see here. Just a bunch of cool, nonhumans hanging out with each other. O-Hiko keeps that unnaturally large smile for a minute or two before she brings her fan up, opens it, and laughs behind it politely. "Well. It would not hurt to try; I have been alive six hundred years. I think I could master their arts and ways in two."
Rhapsody	Which causes Sidonia to relax, and even crack a smirk once she realizes what happened. Probably the first time that's happened in a while. Mark the calendar. Rhapsody offers a nod, "If you feel like you can, I certainly won't argue. The Izzet and Azor haven't gotten along very well since the ordeal with the Cauldron. A friendly face over there would certainly help."
Yunomi Stadler	Yunomi notices the smile, and she beams back at Sidonia. O-Hiko gives a wry smile. "Ah, there, it is good to see that now everyone is positive. How nice." she smiles, and she leans back a little in her cushion. "I shall consider applying there in the coming months then. It will be nice to have a hobby, as long as they do not mind my many children." And the titter of children's laughter comes from above them. In the webs.
Rhapsody	A light snicker from Rhapsody, "More paperwork, I imagine. It sounds like you have a lot of children... they'd probably want all of them documented, somehow. Disclaimers, provisions, so on and so on. If you're as determined as I think you are, I'm sure you can figure it out."
Yunomi Stadler	O-Hiko just gives a quiet grin. "My dear Guildmaster... I see an opportunity." O-Hiko replies with a measure of glee in her voice, and she raises her hands, steepling her fingers.