Expanding borders

[Jenn]

March 5th

It felt almost strange to be back, the dark, drear of the Underworld had been something Jenn hadn't realized she missed until they had returned. She and Hades had proposed weeks prior about expanding Rouge territory to Hades' domain, and after talking, planning, and deciding who would stay and who would migrate to the new base, they were here.

Jenn stared out at the group of Rouges that had gathered, shuffling her wings as she tried to think of how to address them, since Hades had pretty much dropped the job of addressing the shadowkeepers and apprentices in her lap while he went around to make sure Pain and Panic hadn't completely ruined the Underworld while they were gone.

"Okay so, welcome to the Underworld. We're still gonna need to get things all set up, but once we do this will be another base of operations for the Rouges. I suggest being very careful around the river Styx, unless you wanna join those souls before your time. So... yeah, questions?"

[Shanty]

Shanty hums softly, glowing gaze slowly rolling over the dreary scenery. Something here felt... familiar. Of course, Shanty was aware of why. She'd died once before. But she didn't remember anything about it. Even if it had taken a while to put her in a new body, she'd been stored in some sort of limbo... Admittedly, Shanty didn't know all of the sematics.

"Huh. Homey."

Even in the realm of death, it seems the Captain is sassy as sin. Though she doesn't seem to mean any harm, playful gaze casting on the Angel.

"What do you need done to get set up, Dear? I'll lend a hand anywhere I can."

[Varian]

When Shanty had informed him that they would be moving to a new base of operations, he'd asked where, when she'd informed him that it was the actual Underworld, he'd spent about twenty minutes laughing until he couldn't breath at just how absolutely ridiculous that sounded. Of course, he wasn't laughing now, because they were here in the actual underworld, which was a real tangible place and not some fairy tale meant to keep kids from being bad...It was ironic that he end up here really, given the whole slew of bad he'd done that these people knew nothing about. And yet, he was alive, and he had to wonder how that worked, there was a lot of scientific studies to be done here at the very least...One didn't often just get the chance to see the Underworld without, y'know, dying.

Varian and Ruddiger had both decidedly kept close to Shanty's side throughout the move, and even if he was just a little bit terrified and put off by all the death and less than savory decor...He was also shuffling a little bit in his eagerness to explore and learn and see everything, but most of all, he wanted to talk to Hades, or Jenn, or someone who could tell him who was actually down here because they were dead. He had someone he needed to find...Or not find...He hoped he didn't find him. Not here.

He jerked his head up, broken from his thoughts when Jenn spoke and addressed the assembly, only sort of pulling a less than eager face as she cautioned them about Styx, he had half a mind to perhaps conduct experiments on that as well, but perhaps later, the last thing he wanted to do was piss off Hades.

He glanced over to Shanty when she spoke and cocked a half grin at her humor, it was appreciated at this partciular moment. He agreed though and nodded along with her when she offered her help, "I am also ready and willing to lend my aid wherever I am needed!" He figured he would be working fairly close to Jenn anyway, given that she was his mentor.

[Jenn]

Jenn let out a long sigh, hands running through her hair and settling on her shoulders. Suddenly the stress of being in such a high position of power within the Rouges seemed to weigh heavy on her head. When in Paris, she didn't have to do much aside from mingle with the other army members, and pass on their thoughts or concerns to Clopin and Hades.
But now, while nothing had changed in terms of rank or hierarchy, having the army split between two bases meant she had to take on a more leader-like role.

She started trying to make a running list of things that needed to be done, things that needed to be set up, there was so much to do.
When Shanty and Varian offered their help, she almost wanted to hug them in relief.
"Thank you, both of you. There's a lot to do. We're going to need a way to get to and from Paris quickly. We also need to get rooms set up, there should be enough to house everyone comfortably, but I can guarantee they aren't exactly in a inhabitable state at the moment, the Underworld doesn't usually get a lot of 'live' visitors. We'll also need to get the kitchen set up, get some food that regular people can eat without wanting to puke. I'll have to show you all where everything is so you don't get lose... maybe I should just make signs..."

She stopped in her listing, and took a breath. Gods there was so much to do.
"I don't know how much extra security we'll need, since we already have the Styx, and Cerberus, not to mention all the stairs you have to climb to get down here, but maybe just having a little something for backup would be a good idea too. What else... what am I missing..."

[Deleted]

The moment the news had come out that everyone was heading to the Underworld, Dobson had been in the front line to volunteer for the mission. Call it personal gain, but the dog was excited to get back to anything that even remotely reminded him of home but of course, as soon as they got there, he was sidetracked like an eager puppy by all the sights and smells. It was Heaven to him, though while Jenn and Co got down to business he got down to mischief.

His attention span was that of squirrel's when souls were around, too freaking eager to set his teeth into one then focus on the task at paw. During some part of the conversation, he had descended back down the stairway and plucked a soul out from the river. Now said soul was wrangling with him in the middle of this gathering and he was literally playing with his food. He could have easily eaten it by now but Dobson wasn't one for rule obeying.

"Hey, hey come on now I'm just gonna devour your entire existence now doll!" He quipped at the soul, unaware of the attention he was drawing.

[Jelly]

He wasn’t called the death man for no reason.

Jelly the undertaker wasn’t much for hard labor and was usually relegated to wondering the catacombs, keeping a watchful eye over the remains. So it might have been a surprise that he appeared, without even being summoned mind, at the back of the party at some point before their decent. Word must have gotten to him somehow.

He followed the others around, though he remained the caboose the entire time. Face remained fairly unfazed, though not even he could hide that he was at the very least fascinated with his surroundings. Could a man so familiar with death have actually been here before? That wasn’t certain yet.

It was all silence from the mortician up until actual physical work was mentioned. He rose his eyelids before “nonchalantly” sidestepping away.

“Sorry I gotta… water my turtle.”

[Megara]

Meg couldn't help but shiver as they had descended into the underworld. This place was terrifying to her on an almost primal level. She struggled to keep her expression impassive and aloof, but anyone who payed close attention could see the stiffness in her shoulders, and the slight thinning of her lips.

She had been a good little minion, quietly following along with no complaints and disturbances. Megara simply kept to herself. When Hades had left he had stuck her with Jenn. She found the angel's company more preferable to the god's for obvious reasons. 

"Okay so, welcome to the Underworld. We're still gonna need to get things all set up, but once we do this will be another base of operations for the Rouges. I suggest being very careful around the river Styx, unless you wanna join those souls before your time. So... yeah, questions?"

"Great orientation, boss," Meg raised her hand in the 'O-kay' symbol.

She just couldn't help herself, okay? She couldn't be a good little minion all the time. Luckily Shanty and Varian's helpful nature distracted Jenn on to the task at hand. 

“Sorry I gotta… water my turtle.”

Megara had also been drifting in the back of the group along with the selkie. This put her in the perfect place to reach out and catch the big guy by the back of his seal pelt.

"Ohhhh no, Jelly Bean," Meg smiled sweetly, "You're helping."

[Esmeralda]

Esmeralda had join the excursion to the Underworld to help keep Clopin informed while Hades and Jenn got things set up. Clopin couldn't leave Paris, and the two divine beings needed to focus on setting up the satellite base. So Esmeralda voted to be messenger and keep the line of communications open. She also had the advantage of the teleportation device Shanty and Varian had given her. It wouldn't be a problem to connect the Underworld to her map of accessible locations.

That said, she didn't particularly relish the job at hand. As a mortal, coming to the Underworld just felt... wrong. True, this hadn't been her people's description of the afterlife. But this was the afterlife and the fact that it was so dark, dank, and dismal made it very depressing. Is this what they all had to look forward to at  the end of their respective journeys?

The gypsy shook herself firmly to toss out the chill that had crept up her spine. When she brought herself back she noticed a familiar four legged demon skittering away from the group.

Dobson. Oh, Dobson.

In the time he had spent with the Rogues Esmeralda had made it a point to keep an eye on him. She liked to think they had struck up a tentative friendship... as much as one could befriend a literal demon. He hadn't killed her yet, so she considered that a good sign. The gypsy 'witch' friends with a demon. She wondered what Frollo would have to say about that.

Esmeralda briefly considered to let Jenn know that Dobson had slipped off, but then thought better of it. She didn't think he'd appreciate being 'tattled' on. She wanted to stay in the guy's good graces, so she slipped away after him quietly.

However, she couldn't ignore him when he started playing with a person's very soul. His gleeful tone and blase attitude towards the concept of wiping out a person's very existence made her feel sick. More than ever it struck home the true nature of this beast.

She steeled herself, squared her shoulders, and then approached Dobson with a suitably light step, feigning a relaxed posture. Esmeralda perfectly hid her trepidation behind a small smirk and an arched brow.

"Dobs, leave that poor thing alone," she playfully cocked her head adding, "Pleeeease?"

[Shanty]

The machine can’t help but be drawn to the... fiasco that Dobson had kicked up. Ugh, what a creep. She hated that kind of talk. It reminded her of...

^{Wha̭͎͔̙t̳̮̮̫͔̘͕’̬̤̗̞̖͈͈͜ś͍͎̖̱͎͚ ̖̲͇̹͎͠w̩͔͈͖r̫̤o}ng? Y^{o͈͈̠͕̼u̖̞̘̬̻’}re no͈̠͓̟̰̖t͉͠ ̱̦̺͖ͅa̹̤̞̮f̡̖͙̱̣̻̤r̭͚a҉i̴̫͓̞̤̰ͅd͈̗̥̫ ̢͙̩̰o̻͓͖͚͡_{f dying, a}re̹͕͕̺͖͘ y̡o̝̩͎̯̖͓u̟,̟̟ G͉͖̞i̧͇r̤̙̣̘͎l͏̯̹͖͔͇?̷̥̥͍ ̟̦̳͟A̡͇̞̺̟l^{l of y}_{our͖͘ ̰̘͝f̻̦̥̪r̦̮̪̳̬̙͘i̹͕͈̝͖͘e}nds ar͞e̪͍̠͉͜ ̲̮͍̪͈͎̻͞w̸̺͓a̰̖̰͠i̷͍̻͚t̠̙̙͓i͉̗̝͓͠n̻͎̖g̫̦̼̥̪!̛̙̫̣”̩͔̰̰͍

There’s a rattle as Shanty shakes herself loose from the memory, drawn back to reality by Jenn’s listing. She nods shorty at their leader’s audible list, a soft smile forcing itself across her lips. As far as she could see, the local flame-headed god had delegated things to the angel without much warning. It was easy to tell she was stressed.

“Just point us in the right direction and let us loose, Miss Jenn. May I suggest either the quarters or the teleportation system? I don’t need to sleep, but I don’t need the lad here falling asleep in the river when I’m not looking.”

[Varian]

Varian gave an enthusiastic nod as Jenn detailed the work that needed doing, he was just as ready and eager as he ever was to prove himself and lend a hand where he could. He perked a bit when she mentioned security, hesitating for only a moment before speaking up, "if I may? I might have some ideas that will add extra security? I used to set up booby traps around my lab, I am almost certain I could scale them up and make them more...Effective..." He shrugged a little, "If you...Y'know want..." He cleared his throat, just a little sheepish.

He'd done pretty good to keep to his own when it came to mingling with other members of the Rogues, in fact, he really only knew a small handful of them by name and face, it wasn't terribly good practice, he realized, but he was also never entirely good at getting along with other people, he'd gotten good at keeping everyone at arm's length. However, he was familiar with Dobson, enough so to know that the dog gave him the screaming creeps, and clearly it was a well founded feeling given the way he was currently tormenting some poor sod's soul...And yet, he was also fascinated by the sight, in that kind of 'can't look away from a train wreck' kind of way, it really only made him want to study the properties of the river more.

The rattle from Shanty drew his attention away from the scene and back up to her, something like worry dawning on his face, until his expression became very indignant at her words, "I-I will not fall asleep in the river! I have never in my life..." He trailed off, looking thoughtful with a hand on his chin for a moment, before clearing his throat and running a gloved hand through his hair, "y'know what? Getting the quarters sorted sounds like an excellent first step!" His voice cracked just a little at the tail end, and he sudennly became very interested in the scenery.