EVENTS

stop it stop it stop it stop it-

Malia wakes up with a start as her eyes suddenly reconnect to her optic nerves. Seems like someone did walk into their camp, after all. It takes her a moment for her to recognise the one-legged, crooked shape as Sally's usual smaller self, busy balancing on her hand drills to deliver a series of clumsy kicks at Bigrosa's chest armor.

Sally: "Don't act like ye can't hear me, ye pox-ridden fishing lure! Bloody crossbreed of a frog an' a bilge pump, ye dare to ignore yer cap'n? I'll have ye strapped ta' me galleon's bowsprit! A thousand curses upon yer shameful-"

The torrent of kicking and profanity continues, to no apparent effect.

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Rosa and Eigla stir from their deep, sleepless slumber. For a moment, they lie together, basking in one another's warmth, until they realise it's just a delusion of hopeful minds - in reality, an Undead's body feels stone-cold and clammy, like hugging a slab of stale meat, caked in dirt and dried blood. Or, in Eigla's case, moss and rust, like a long-forgotten barrow in the depths of the forest.

*CLANG* *BONK* *CRACK* -scurvy dogs- *BANG*

...Seems like someone wants in. Should they open the door?


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"Klimt.
Klimt. Hey Klimt. Klimt?
Someone's here."

The voice is vaguely familiar. Peggy? No, Peggy's dead. You saw her die. You killed her, in fact. So it can't be-

"What are you, deaf? KLIMT!"

A flick to his forehead wakes Klimt up. Ow. Looking to one side, he sees Emilia, groggily waking up and rubbing her eyes. To the other, a familiar tumorous mass of flesh and arms wrapped in a bloody coat, though it seems to have grown a proper jaw.

Peggy: "There you are, sleepyhead. There's uh, someone at the door."

Indeed, a figure in work overalls stands in the doorway to the room, raising a hand in a shy greeting. Its head hangs limply to a side, thick bundles of cables plugged into its empty eye sockets, while a metal spine continues up from its back, ending in what seems to be an old security camera.

Doll: "Uhm. Hehe. Hello. At least you didn't wreck *her* room, or the boss woulda been, really mad, heh. Uhm, hi."

EVENTS

Sally stops kicking for a moment, and just rests one of her drills on Bigrosa's breastplate, breathing heavily.

Sally: "The mud kings have gone bloody mad out there. I don't know what the hell ye told em yesterday, but I'm damn sure this is your doing. I had a scout crew out on the seawall, and now they're stranded like a sloop at low tide. Yer fixin' this."


______________________________________

The Doll taps her thumbs against one another and , her constant giggles at odds with her anxious demeanour.

Doll: "Y-yes, I've heard of her, heheh. Quite messy, isn't she? Heh. Hi Klimt! And, Emilia. And Peggy? I guess she's the one that was in the barrel, right? Tee hee, I see she's more solid now!

I'm, uhm, 44. N-not my age, though, haha! That's my name. You can call me forty though. Or four! Anything works!

Anyways! I, uhm, the boss told me to fetch you! And bring you out to the courtyard! After that, I dunno, hahaha! (Though I think it must be about the mud kings moving about. Have you heard about it? Very strange, isn't it? Heh! Like funny, but not in a Funny funny way, more like in a 'what the heck' funny way, and stuff, right?"

EVENTS:

Eigla jumps out of Rosa’s ribcage, and the two of them begin to walk out of the building. Sally climbs atop Bigrosa’s shoulder, perching on top of the zombike before pointing at Malia.

Sally: ”Oy, facepalmy wench. Git over here, this be yer problem as well.

And - Devil if I know, the things seem t’be... Moving, or trying to. I’d count... a hundred or more, clawing at their stalks til’ they uproot, then crawlin’ across the road. Not t’mention an odd dozen mudmen sycophants fer each o’ the ugly barnacles. Tis a bloody army out there!”


_______________________


44’s smile widens, and her mannerisms seem to grow more anxious, until a look of realisation dawns on her face.

44: ”Oh! Ah, yes! I know just what- One moment, haha!”

She runs off, and you hear a series of muffled clatters as if someone had just smashed headfirst into a broom closet. A few moments later, she’s back with a large rubber backpack, slightly grimy but otherwise usable.

44: ”The trawling teams use these to haul live fish catches. Should keep her entrails from leaking out, hehe!~


Peggy’s jaw muscles contort in a mockery of a grimace at the salty-smelling bag, but she doesn’t seem to complain, for now. Emilia seems a bit more awake by now, and regards the situation somewhat confusedly.