The Path To Goug

The Path To Goug
Date of Scene:	19 October 2012
Location:	Goug - Seventh Heaven
Synopsis:	It's a bit arduous to get to Goug. Travellers find this out the hard way, as a group of them stumble into Seventh Heaven, and Whiskey Time happens. Fun for all ages!
Cast of Characters:	Deidra, Mercade Alexander, Tifa Lockhart, Nagetta, Maira, Vespa

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Mercade Alexander has posed:
AND SO IT WAS THAT MERCADE ALEXANDER TRAVELLED TO GOUG.

And this is why he stumbles through the door, his leather coat scorched several large cuts visible on his body. He's also trailing a couple chocobo feathers. "That is the goddamn /best/ name for a bar I have ever seen." Mercade announces as he enters, perching himself at the bar. "Because after all of that, this place is going to live up to its name. Whiskey, neat, please."

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
The bar is animated as always. A few usual customers, drinking the night away. Light music on the overhead sound system, making a quiet mood. And the charming barmaid, behind the counter, serving up the drinks as needed. Oh, also serving up sea salt ice cream when requested, being one of the few that can sell those things, it makes for a low effort profit scheme for her at least.

She blinks and tilts her head as she sees Mercade enter like that. She remembers the man, from Manhattan (She still has his card somewhere too), and from the ice cream page hunting too "Hey, uhm... did you have a rough time getting here?" She wonders, turning around to ready the whiskey ina small glass,t he standard for that kind of drink. She's well versed in those, and well tooled for each kind of drink too.

Vespa has posed:
Vespa enters soon after Mercade. "I think this is the place that sells that sea Salt ice cream everyone been taking about, Al..", she seem to be talking to someone but she didn't come in with anyone.. "Of course I'm old enough to drink!", she paushes for a bit. "Allright I'll just have one beer, okay?", she sits down at the bar, ordering some of that Sea Salt ice cream and a beer to go with it.

Nagetta has posed:
Nagetta's never been inside of a bar before. All she knows is that it's a place where people meet. She looks around at everything curiously taking it all. She waves upon seeing Vespa. It's good to see a familiar face again. She notices the ice cream curious to what is. "What's that stuff that people are eating? It looks like mashed potatoes but people don't generally eat those on their own?"

Maira has posed:
Maira is sitting at a table, surrounded by a dozen popsicle sticks. She'd used the money from helping secure the recipe to buy the product. What a sucker! Sure is delicious though. She's pretty glad she fought so hard for it!

Now, Maira gorging on ice cream is really nothing new, nor something unexpected. However, what is a little frightening is the drink she had to go with it! She had decided maybe today was a good day to try whiskey!

"Oooh shush! It tastes like fire--I like fire. Fire and ice you see! They go so perfectly--hic!" she says to Uist, also known as the empty space beside herself. "Don't look at me like this Uist, I know that look!" she says emphatically, then looks toward the door and flails like a muppet at the people entering. "Helloooooo!"

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"It wasn't too bad." Mercade says. That's at least ten lies. "They might want to think of some kind of highway or something between these places if they're so important, though." He grunts. "It's ridiculous to get here from Junon."

He glances at the others, arching an eye brow. "It's ice cream. It's a sweet frozen treat. Give it a try." He looks back to Tifa. "So /this/ is the place you're running, Glad your guide managed to get you back here, this looks like a nice place."

Maira shows up then. Oh, someone he recognizes. "Hey, Maira! Holy crap, be careful there! Are you okay?"

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart makes sure to cut off Maira from any more drinks at this point. She's a careful barmaid after all. She smiles as she brings the ice cream and drink to Vespa, swaying around the counter a bit. "Here you go~" she moves back to her place, nodding to Mercade "Yup, managed to get here and open it back up, only been up for a couple of weeks now." she smiles, waving to everyone entering "Take a seat, I'll be with you in a moment if you want drinks or ice cream~"

Deidra has posed:
Deidra had been on the tail of Mercade for a bit and had arrived in this strange city. She'd kept a lowest profile. wings abotu her like an cloak and then wearing an actual one. To not gain too much attention however she's made her way into the 7th and relaxes themoment she sees Nagetta here she pulls back her hood and says. "So you serve any species here I take it Miss?" She calls out to Tifa as she answers.

Maira has posed:
"Okay, you stay here!" she says to Uist, then hops out of her seat and walks(staggers) over toward Mercade. "Mercade! Nice to see you--" hiccup "I'm great! Was just having some of that ice cream and some...what was it called...hmm...but it tastes deliciously warm and makes me all..." she trails off, trying to describe the feeling. "Fuzzy," she settles on.

Suddenly, her eyes widen and she grabs onto Mercade's arms tightly. "I think we're having an earthquake! Also, look! Hello snake-lady!"

Hiccup!

Nagetta has posed:
"Hello there." Nagetta nods to Vespa and upon hearing Deidra she gives her wave. "I guess I'll try this "ice cream" then, if everyone's eating it then it must be good." She figures that's the case. "Hi!" She greets Maira as well. It seems like there's a lot of people here that she knows. She relaxes a bit at that. Hopefully, no one would try to cause any trouble while she's here.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade chuckles as he picks up his drink. "Only reopened for 2 weeks and you're already this popular! I'm happy for you. IT's good to see people be so successful... And your deal seems to be attracting a lot of customers as well."

He glances over to Nagetta, and arches an eyebrow. "Hey there, little lady. What's your name?" And suddenly MAIRA'D. Mercade tilts, struggling against the sudden weight, Mercade puts the glass down and pulls Maira into the chair next to him. "Whooooa! Careful there, Maira! You look like you've had a bit too much to drink." He chuckles. "Just sit down and relax, okay? How are you doing?"

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart smiles and nods, moving over to Nagetta with a wrapped ice cream bar "here you go then, I'm sure you'll like it too." She turns back to Mercade, nodding "Well, its a good place for that. Someone asked me why I chose the slums to open up a bar. My answer is that its better to open it where people need something to lift their spirits up." She has other reasons too, but she keeps that for herself for now.

Vespa has posed:
Vespa smiles and nods to Nagetta. She looks over at Mercade, he's very lively. She ohs now now spotting Deidra as well, she smiles and wavees to her as well. This is a pretty popular spot! She tires to Sea Salt ice cream. "This is really good ice cream. No you can't have any Al! It's all mine!", she starts to eat the ice cream quickly. "Gahh! Headake!"

Deidra has posed:
Deidra will take that as a yes. off comes the cloak and her wings flex out a little bit. then pull back as she goes to find a stool to sit down on. She's at war with how humanity makes benches and chairs. She doesn't hate humanity but darn it take into account tails why don't you. She sits down and says "Vespa, Nagetta and hey boss." She'll wait her turn to get an order in from Tifa, she's totally pausing starting at a beer sign near the bar labled Texas and her brain just goes what...

Nagetta has posed:
Nagetta takes the ice cream bar eagerly from Tifa. Her forked tongue extends out of her mouth carefully licking it. "It's cold..." She shivers a bit at that. She can sympthize with Deidra's problem, though she feels less balanced on a stool then a bench or a chair. "I guess it's not a good idea to eat it fast." She notes Vespa's reaction to it and doesn't try to swallow the bar whole.

Maira has posed:
"Too much to drink?" she asks, tilting her head to the side in the way she has a habit of doing. Unfortunately, drunk as she is, her whole body tries to follow and she is soon slowly falling out of the chair she was just placed in by Mercade.

Timbeeeeeer

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart smiles and nods "You're supposed to take your time, licking it off before it melts though, not too fast but not too slow.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade nods to Tifa. "Really. Have you ever thought about opening another bar if you had the chance?" He asks. He looks a little intent for a moment, after the mention of the slums. "It looks like the people need a lot to help them out there. What happened to them?" Mercade considers, suddenly reaching out to pull Maira from falling over, letting her fall against him instead. "You should drink some water, Maira."

"So, nice to meet you both." He pulls out a pair of busniess cards, offering them to Vespa and Nagetta. "Name's Mercade Alexander. Detective with the Twilight Detective Agency. Nice to meet you both. You guys have to have seen a lot of stuff out there." Mercade mentions.

Vespa has posed:
Vespa takes the card. "I'm Vespa. Nice to meet you Mercade.", she nods sighing a bit. "Way too much..", she takes another sip of her beer.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart hmmms as she crosses her arms over her chest, thinking about it "Well opening a second bar would be hard since I can't be in both places at once either." she smiles "Part of it is being able to be there for the people after all. A barmaid doesn't only work in drinks, but also in smiles. As for why they need help... I suppose its because its the slums. Shinra has Mako reactors that are drawing out the life around the place, it makes it a lot more depressing than it should be.

Nagetta has posed:
"It's tasty but really cold..." Nagetta scoots closer to Vespa as she tries to get warm. "I guess it would be nice once in a while, but I couldn't see eating this all the time." She smells the beer Vespa's drinking as she continues to lick the ice cream. "What's that taste like?" She's never had beer before.

Vespa has posed:
Vespa says, "Beer? Hm. It a aquried taste. This one is a bit bitter. There are many varites out there..""

Maira has posed:
Is steadied by the stabilizing hand of Mercade. "Eheh, thanks. Okay, I could have some water," she replies. Now, they were talking about the slums, weren't they? Maira seems to perk up at that. "Oh yeah, the slums out there. Look so much like the slums of Midgar. That's where I grew up you know! Being here is almost like being home," she says, her smile warm.

As Mercade is introducing himself to people, she should too. "I'm Maira," she informs, not remembering if they'd been through this before. The faces are certainly familiar, but its just so hard to keep up these days. Seems like every time she meets new people they get attacked by Heartless!

Maira sways a little, then hiccups again.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade's eyes focus as he hears Shinra, and he looks over to Tifa. "Mako reactors, drawing the life out of the world? How does that work? Is that how they make their electricity?"

He gives Maira a consoling pat on the shoulder as she re-introduces herself. "Midgar? Goug? I thought you were from some kind of Viking place for a while. I admit, it's kind of confusing..."

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart nods "I can't tell you exactly how they work, but we had one installed near our town, in Nibelheim. They draw the life energy from the area, most of it becomes barren and dead, populated by monsters instead. It generates electricity through the process, giving a comfortable life to those around, but at what price.

Maira has posed:
Talk of Shinra leads her to look toward Tifa, sobering slightly. She grew up in Shinra's shadow. They must be from the same world. "Tifa...you're from the same place as I am? Wow...well, I'm glad you got out too. Is Shinra really that bad? I never really realized that about mako," she says, her voice soft.

She blinks to Mercade then. "What's a viking?"

Nagetta has posed:
"Monsters? Draining the life energy from the area?" Nagetta frowns a bit. She feels a bit guilty upon hearing that. As much as she tries to behave, that doesn't change which she is. "Oh yes, I'm Nagetta." She almost forgot to introduce herself to Mercade. "Detective agency?" She takes and examines the card with her free hand. "That means you find people right?"

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart's face changes when it coems to Shinra. She's not quite as smiling or pleasant either. She holds some deep bitterness after all, locked away most of the time "There's alot of things that Shinra do that noone has any ideas about. Mako reactors are one of them. But they also have hired goons like the Turks, and their private army with SOLDIER.

Maira has posed:
Maira frowns deeply. She'd been going off to join Shinra. She would have, if not for the Heartless. They were sort of the only game in town. Was is true? She has no reason to distrust Tifa, but..."I met a woman from Shinra. She seemed nice. She was very helpful actually. Huh. I've seen SOLDIER a couple of times walking through the slums...kind of glowey eyes, right?"

Vespa has posed:
Vespa brrs at the thought of something with glowing eyes. "Not a person I want to meet in a dark alley.."

Deidra has posed:
Deidra is looking to try the local beer but this strange world hs a beer named after a part of her own. That's a bit loopy adding in the things Tifa said about her world's naming of it's main city being very Norse. "Wait you mean like a mechanical tick on a planet...?" She pauses tilting her head "I'll take a special and one of those Texas beers when you have a moment." She looks back to Nagetta and grins "So we meet again humm. I seen a SOLIDER in tranvese town before."

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart nods to Deidra, smiling again as she moves over to get the drinks for her. She shakes one up, and serves up the Texas afterwards, from a bottle properly identified as such from her shelves "Yeah, you could say that. The lfie energy of the planet being turned into electricity. There are some rebelious groups that formed trying to put a stop on that."

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"They do what?" Mercade blinks. "Wow, that's crazy." The Detective frowns, considering. "They know this is happening, right? This isn't just some kind of an oversight? I mean, how can you miss that?"

Maira gets a response from Mercade. "Vikings are an old warrior culture from Earth. They were known for living in cold lands, sailing on boats to distant shores and plundering towns, among other things. They had a very rich mythos and culture."

Nagetta gets a nod from Mercade. "Pleasure to meet you, Nagetta." He tilts his head for a moment. "Yes, we certainly find people. Is someone missing that you need help finding?"

He listens to the other stuff, squinting for a moment but doesn't day anything about that.

Maira has posed:
"Good. That...that's really terrible. I'd rather not have electricity. What is the point if the planet is drained? That's just...I can't even..." she's tearing up. Just thinking about that makes her feel all hallow inside.

Also, she'd totally drunk.

Maira looks up toward Mercade then, her eyes shiny. "Oh. Cool."

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart waves a hand "I couldn't tell you, I'm sure they know, but they are focusing on the end result instead. Or they think its limitless energy or something, I couldn't say."

Nagetta has posed:
"Yes, my foster father, Percival is missing. The last time I saw him was when Eblan was attacked." Nagetta speaks up about that. "It's possible to drain energy from a planet itself? I know it's possible to do so from people..." She seems a bit confused about that. "If there's no planet left though, what's the point in having electricity?" That seems rather self-defeating to her.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"Mysteries upon mysteries..." Mercade says. He shrugs and pulls out a notepad, takking notes as they speak. He nots to Nagetta. "Foster father, Percival. All right. What does he look like?" He lets them ask the question on everyone's mind.

Deidra has posed:
Deidra listens to this and thinks for a moment she'll have to look to Mercade for a moment "We still burn coal for power don't we? We know what it does same for oil we still do it. I think It's kinda like that." She pauses and nods "They have some very interesting legends, very interesting ones which I fear may hold truth to them now all things considered."

"He is? Humm do you need help finding him Nagetta?"

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart leans on the counter on her elbows a bit, watching around. Well at lease the depressing talk about Shinra has passed for now. She picks up one of her sea salt ice cream bars, and starts to eat and lick at it idly too, listening to the description as well.

Maira has posed:
Maira stares off into space for a good long time as others talk around her. Did she ever get water? She should really get some water.

She looks up, then blinks. "Oh, is someone lost? I'll help look too! And I'll tell Avira. We're forming a group of sorts."

Maira has posed:
Maira looks to Vespa, smiling lightly. "Oh...a group of like-minded women who want to travel and...make the worlds better. Try to figure out what the Heartless are and why they are destroying so many worlds," she replies, her gaze growing serious.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"A group of warrior women? Hah. Well, that's going to be interesting." Mercade replies. "A sisterhood of steel! You'll make a splash for sure. You know, you're going to be doing a lot of the stuff the TDA is doind. We should work together on this." He looks over to Nagetta, waiting for more information from the snake-girl.

Maira has posed:
Maira's eyes widen, as does her smile. "Ooooh....yes yes! I will tell Avira you are interested! I bet she'll be excited!" she tells Vespa. Then; "Wait, are you talking to your axe?"

Maira smiles to Mercade, nodding. "Yes, it should be great! Certainly, we should work together. The more the merrier, right?"

Vespa has posed:
Vespa nods to Maria. "Yes I was", she holds out the pendant around her neck. "Al in his small size right now. His normal size is too big to carry indoors."

Maira has posed:
Maira is inordinately excited about this development. "Oooh! How cool!" she says, leaning forward to examine. "Does it speak to you? Is it possessed by a spirit?" she asks, likely one of a million questions.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"You're talking to your axe..." Mercade comments to Vespa, much like Maira. It probably is a common response around her sometimes. "What does it say back?" To Maira, Mercade nods. "Avira and I get along. She should be cool with it." That is to say, Avira kills things and Mercade gives her pizza for it. It's been a good working relationship.

Nagetta has posed:
"Well, he's a former dragoon. He wears bright purple armor a lot and carries a spear." Nagetta does her best to describe him but struggles a bit. "His helmet kind of blocks his face..." That made it a bit difficult for her.

Vespa has posed:
Vespa says, "I really don't know I asked him a few times about it but he's never said a word as to where he came from. All I know he very very old. He many not even remeber and is embrassed about it. No Maria doesn't bite Al. I think."""

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade writes all of this down. "So a former dragoon with a spear and purple armor. You've never seen his face?" He asks. "Does he have any identifying marks? When and where did you last see him?"

Deidra has posed:
Deidra listens to the Lamia as she tilts her head a little bit at Maira for a moment. She nods once before trying her order as she listens to Nagett about it. "Humm a Dragoon humm so if he's out of his armor you never seen your dad's face really?" She seems suprised but this is a man who took in a Lamia and raised her to not be a rampaging monster so he might be a little odd.

Maira has posed:
Maira smiles widely, baring teeth. "No, I don't bite! I mean, not anything but food anyway..." she trails off. No the important part of the conversation! "That's fascinating...you know, I have a friend who um...he's a spirit of some kind you see. His name of Uist. He doesn't remember where he came from either. Not before he found me. We've been together for a good long time now. No one can see him but me, sadly," she confesses, blushing. She is use to people looking at her like she's mad when she tells this little story.

Vespa has posed:
Vespa says, "Well whereever you are Uist it nice to meet you!", Freya has a axe that only talks to her. So a invisble taking spirt? Not that strange at all.""

Nagetta has posed:
"Well, I didn't see his face often. And it was usually dark when I did." Nagetta does her best to explain. "So how come we can't hear him then?" She wonders what's preventing that.

Maira has posed:
Maira is...floored. Almost literally. She's so surprised to see Vespa acting so calm about it! Indeed, she even greets Uist!

Uist, having been observing from the corner, blinks several times. Knowing he will not be heard, he speaks anyway, figuring Maira will pass it along.

"Uist says it is his pleasure. Eeee! This is very exciting! Come to Traverse Town next, will you? You can find Avira and I there."

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"That's it, huh? That doesn't give us much to go on, but we'll keep an eye out for him. If we see him, where should I say you are?" Mercade asks.

Nagetta has posed:
"Flourgris, I'm staying with the Shard Seekers for the time being." Nagetta answers him before finally finishing off her ice cream bar. She leaves a bit of money down as payment for it. "I'll try to remember what he looks like better, sorry it's slipped my mind for the moment."

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"All right." Mercade makes some more notes. "I'm probably going to be dropping by there in the near future anyway. Maybe I'll have some good news for you." Mercade reaches into his pocket, and blinks as he pulls out some Gil. "Well then." He says, and he drops some coins on the bar to pay his tab. "This covers everything, I hope." He smiles, and gestures. "I need to get going." He gets up, seeing Maira is going to stay upright, and waves. "I'll see you all later, all right?"

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart smiles and nods, waving to Mercade "I hope you come back soon then. You know the way here after all now. I'm always open and ready to serve drinks and chat, if there's anything to talk about." She wonders where's Cloud's at too, haven't seen him in a few days.