Feb 29 04:06:59 110 PA - Dragon Thoughts at Yakov's

From Chronicles

Feb 29 04:06:59 110 PA.

YAKOV'S DELI

Valeriya shrugs lightly, reaching in her pocket for another ring. "For armor I already have extras prepared for the non mages coming." She explains before sliding across the second ring. "This will give full environmental protection comparable to the best medium armor. It also offers partial imunity to all energy attacks, and slowly regerates itself."

Ivan is sitting discussing something with Valeriya. The table is full of food. There are several bottles of vodka and several large, half eaten meat pies. Ivan is just now placing what looks like a frostblade onto the table. "What problems will my armor cause with these things? Should I wear my armor, or just this ring?" He seems dubious at this idea, though he is warming to the idea. "Most people would say setting up to fight a dragon anywhere is suicide; let alone hand to hand. I am unconvinced that you are not intending to feed me to it as an initial course." His tone gives off the humor he means

"You can wear whatever you like, so long as the rings are on the outside. That way the magic doesn’t have to go through your armor to form." Valeriya answers in perfect Russian. "As for the dragon, you can be the appetizer if you feel up to it. I was keeping that position for myself though as I have a literal hand full of these rings to keep it busy with while everyone else brings down its own special protection measures."

Leonard enters from the quickly freezing rain outside and shivers as he closes his umbrella. He, for one, will be grateful when warmer weather returns. For now, the warm hospitality of the deli and a very-soon-to-be-obtained cup of steaming coffee will have to suffice. Leonard moves promptly for the counter in order to expedite the reheating.

Just on Leonard's heels comes the shorter and older Gabriel. No umbrella and not nearly the same sense of fashion. No, his uniform is obvious but it's beneath a mostly-closed imitation of a Wehrmacht long-coat from the Ardennes Offensive. Looks warm, actually. Even hides the various odd bits of weaponry, at least until it's opened and shaken just inside to remove snow and rain. His own steps to the counter end with a quiet request of, "Kvas and yazyk please. One of these days I'll remember my Russian," he chuckles to the serving girl.

Ivan hrms, and makes a nod of his head. "So am I to hold onto these, then, or are you just showing me your fine crafts . . womanship? Assuming that you made these." He looks at the frostblade, and then looks at Valeriya. Then he picks the item up and places the tip of the sword inside his glass of vodka to cool it. "If you want to be an appetizer, so will I. We can be party snacks." Ivan looks up as others enter, one he vaugely remembers meeting, one he does not. There is room at the table for Leonard and Gabriel, just someone will have to move some of Ivan's food.

"Just showing this time." Valeriya answers with a demure smile. "I figured members of our group may feel that way. So I'm making another set to hep out. Also you should know that should you find yourself needing my wares for another job, I'll happily rent them to you. I've put out some advertising to that end." She points out before allowing her gaze to stray across the Deli. She spots Leonard and Gabe, giving both a wave.

It isn't until he has his cup in hand, and a sip from the same, that Leonard seems to notice others. The first noted is Valeriya; her wave returned with a nod a grin. "Attempting to make our lives more profitable and/or lengthy, I presume?" is offered to her as he approaches. Ivan is next to be acknowledged, due to his proximity, with Gabriel receiving a salute of cup.

Gabriel's reception of beef tongue and an essentially non-alcoholic fermented bread is met with a smile for the girl, before he turns toward the table himself, acknowledging the two whom he knows with light nods and singular expression of their names. Ivan is looked at for a while, with the short fellow's eyes clearly indicating something mulling over in his head. Eventually, after he picks up whatever he was doing... in his best lack-of-Kentucky-drawl, "Dobroye utro. I'm sorry, I have a tough time remembering the rest."

"Figured." Ivan says, removing the rings and handing them back to Valeriya. "So, we have frosty sword . . " He takes the time to remove it from his glass and then sips the now quite cold drink. "And magic armor, it is a good combination. Maybe then I will find something too to make me as strong as that dragon and then I will show it how things are done." Obviously he doesn't expect it to be that easy, given the look on his face. He does have quite an expressive one of those, for someone who is kind of crazy. "Greetings, Comrade." Ivan says to Gabriel. "Your Russian is excellent, barely any trait of capitalist pig. Not an oink to be heard." His expression is deadly serious, except for his eyes. He's struggling very hard to look serious and is failing at it. Probably fortunate. Ivan also raises his nicely chilled glass to Leonard, the only stylish one here.

"I can make a ring to do that, but don’t have one here.." Valeria notes to Ivan as the others arrive. She then makes a gesture and uttered phrase to Ivan. "That should make them understand you."

"Good morning," Leonard formally greets Ivan now that he's confident there will be full comprehension. "Do you find Valeriya's wares interesting?" He assumes so, as Valeriya is still speaking to the man. Leonard joins them both, taking a seat adjacent to Valeriya.

Through some unknown manner, Gabriel seems to have understood everything that Ivan had to say. Perhaps he speaks Russian after all. Of course, for the moment only Ivan and Valeriya would know that. He settles in a a close but separate table with his food and drink, smiling. In English, "I didn't realize that we Capitalist pigs and Imperialist dogs were still a problematic threat these days. A bit of a blow to my ego really, if there's more than just me! You mentioned dragons?" He thinks hard again.. Then asks only, "Drakony?"

Ivan laughs boisterously. "Old legends and stories die hard, Comrade. In some places in Russia they still talk about when red and blue jousted for the world and that the greed and scratchings of immoral, Godless men were what brought the great Motherland down. When everything else has been forgotten, the old storytellers still talk about that. When we are boys, we hear the stories of the traitor Gorbachev and his selling out to the Amerikans with his miscreant glasnost." The corners of his mouth rise. "I am sure they are just stories though, tales from one old man to another with each man giving a new extreme and spin to it." He nods though. "Dragons." And then to Leonard: "Her work is very interesting." And finally to Valeriya. "One of those, if you wish to provide it for the trip, might be of use too?"

Valeriya nods to Ivan as reaches over to to place her hand on his in assurance. She says another uttered phrase before clearly saying "Definitely." and leaving the Russian with imbued strength for a few minutes. She then finally gets to turn to Gabriel and Leo again. "Gentlemen, this is Ivan, he's going to be helping us do our job."

Leonard sips more coffee as Ivan speaks. The tales spark a chuckle, but Valeriya's affirmation earns Ivan a caffeine salute. "Excellent. The more, the merrier." He glances over to Gabriel and back. "As we have a convenient gathering, is there any preliminary planning we can discuss?"

Gabriel's brow furrows as he listens to Ivan, and he ends up shaking his head. "I've never heard of anyone named 'Gorbachev.' But I've heard a lot of really good things about Americans," he adds with a light smile. "I'm Gabriel, good to meet you, Ivan," he continues in English. "Preliminary planning, huh? Perhaps at this point we should wait until everyone is gathered. Seven, right? Unless there's been a major change of mission, it would just be getting into repeating ourselves."

Ivan has no idea what Valeriya has done to him. His exposure to magic has always been very limited. He usually tries to shoot magic in the face before it can do anything to him. And so his hand is pat patted. "I don't know, I'm not the one in charge. I'm just here to come along and help." And that his his only contribution. "It is, I imagine, still up in the air." Speaking of up in the air, he reaches with relish for a full bottle of vodka. What he isn't aware is that he has been magically enhanced with strength. Normally, magic lets one automatically compensate for things but when you don't know it is coming . . The result is a flying bottle that goes all the way across the bar before impacting into the wall and shattering. Suddenly, all heads are turning towards Ivan. "Zaebis." He mutters under his breath. "Izvinte! Izvinite!" He waves his hand, and holds out a credit stick for the waitress to pay a little extra. He peers at Valeriya. "I can see this will take getting used to."

Valeriya laughs freely at the spectacle livening up the deli a bit. It takes her a moment to regain her composure. "Ahem" She states to shift back to being serious. "No we wont plan today. We will plan here one week from today. I will send word and by then everyone who is coming should be there. If not they will simply have to follow our lead and try not to get eaten."

"Very well," Leonard accepts the logic and Valeriya's scheduling. It makes for an easy cover of the amusement from the flying bottle. "Perhaps we could discuss Ivan, then?" His attention shifts to the man. "While I trust Valeriya's judgment quite implicitly, I prefer to know the talents and hindrances of those participating. That could prove vital during our task, yes?"

Old eyes watch gently as the bottle goes flying, Gabriel not flinching from his food, just watching to make sure no trouble erupts. He quietly agrees that knowing everyone is a good idea, though perhaps he doesn't express it so blatantly for now. He does though take a moment for a separate pause. "Have you had a chance to speak with your sponsor, Val?"

Ivan shrugs his shoulders. "What is it you want to know, Comrade?" He asks. "I had just finished going over this, I suppose. I will be bringing a rail gun, but it seems I am to be a close range morsel. I suppose I can hold my own, with the aid of these trinkets. My hindrances?" He asks. "Women find me irresistible." Obviously, he's kidding. "I am a general combatant, there is no sugar coating for it. At range I have a weapon, close to my enemy, I will be fine."

Valeriya can perhaps illustrate it better, so she does. "What Ivan means to say is he will be fighting alongside me and possibly Sithik in close combat with the dragon. Between us we should be able to force its attention and prevent it from going after the rest of the group who will be throwing everything they have at it from afar. Leonard will be assisting with this by enhancing us in whatever way he can from afar." She explains before looking to Gabriel. "I have asked, I await their answer. You will have it at or before the meeting next week. What about you? Will your project be ready by then?"

Gabriel nods his assent at the wait, and continues. "If the merchants sell the right parts fast enough. I don't think that what you gave me is really best for the job, it would really be a cobbled-together jury-rig. It'd work. But awkward and honestly when it comes to disassembling pieces like that for what we need, dangerous for everyone involved. So, either cash them out, or wait for me to bill you. That little chunk of secret ingredient doesn't look like much to me, but I'll have to take your word on it. More's better." He gives a shrug, then pauses in his explanation so as not to monopolize things for too long, or without moments for questions.

Leonard nods to Ivan, with a side-tilt to Valeriya. "That is good enough. More is better?" Gabriel's words immediately draw him to the other discussion with an arched brow. After a pause, he relents with, "News for later, I suppose."

Valeriya shakes her head with a slight sigh. "It doesn’t have to be fancy Gabriel, it just has to blow up in his face." A statement that probably betrays just how little she knows about effective munitions and their design. "If you can do that then give me back the stuff so I can have it shaped into a knife to gouge its eyes out the old fashioned way."

Ivan has no idea what all three are talking about at this point and so he more or less does what he does best. He drinks. Except he is holding the bottle between his thumb and smallest finger with a sort of concentration to avoid breaking it. Stupid magic.

With a small chuckle, Gabriel shakes his head. "I'll keep them, and unless something strange happens, I'll deliver a device. It's *really* easy to make something explode. It's hard to make it explode and do what you want it to do," he offers as minor philosophy. "I'm going to need money for some conventional, unpackaged explosives. Proper detonators. A housing. Two, actually - right now with what you've given me the special ingredient would just be vaporized rather than turning into projectiles. I think... Leo, you mentioned that you had access to some funds?" He looks on to Ivan to explain, "Bomba."

"I do, though not as much is available as I'd hoped." Now it is his turn to sigh, more than slightly. "Our preparations didn't go anything near as well as planned, so I now have a significant amount of purchases to make. How much will you need?"

"Give him what he needs Leo, my sales should get you some new armor, and myself as well." Valeriya urges before she decides to rise. "Now I must get back to work. As Leonard mentioned our own preparations are behind. I must get back to them." And so she takes her leave.

Ivan has been drinking for a bit when he nods at Gabriel; seemingly unaffected by the alcohol. Delicately placing his bottle down he ponders. "I had meant to ask. What about lesser minions? I don't think anyone has mentioned that at all. It's a dragon, yes? We have no dragons in Russia, but powerful evil summons lesser evil . ." He trails off as Valeriya gets up to leave and shrugs; figuring that he'll ask this again later.

Gabriel gives Ivan a nod, obviously he's had this thought. But his response is to the mages. "Give me thirty or forty and I'll make you something nice. Plus the materials already given, of course. I don't know how much it'll blast a dragon, but it should be enough to hurt its face. With the uranium, you get your non-regeneration."

Leonard doesn't even pause to consider before agreeing, though his eyes are on Valeriya as she departs. "Done. I'd be interested in learning how well it works, if just from an academic standpoint. Hopefully, it will do well." After turning back, he notes to Ivan, "There's the possibility of servants, but we won't be able to confirm anything until we arrive."

Ivan nods, seeming to understand and square this away without needing to think about it too much. He's good at accepting things the way they are. Abruptly, he rises. "Comrades." He says. "I need to go for a walk. Be well, we will speak again within the week." And then off he goes. Ivan pays his tab first, of course.

Gabriel looks at Leonard... finds Valeriya gone, watches Ivan go, then chuckles quietly into his kvas. "Perhaps we have hygiene problems of which we're unaware?" Another smile precedes, "I could explain the base concept to you if you like, Leonard."

"I hope not," Leonard chuckles and resumes caffeine consumption, "And I'm very familiar with the concept of explosives, Gabriel."

The older fellow gives Leonard an odd look. "Oh. I thought you were asking about it, I must have misunderstood. Perhaps the question wasn't directed at me." Gabriel shrugs again, then finishes off his kvas. "I suppose we should be splitting as well, work hours are coming up soon. But I do have a question for you about your magic doors in space. How many people can you shove through them at a time? Or is it just as many as can run through it before it closes?"

Leonard shrugs his shoulders. "That depends on the manner in which the door was opened. I can do so on a more limited scale for a small group, or take dozens and dozens with a larger portal. Why do you ask?"

"Just considering options. Always wise to think out as many possibilities about a mission going well, or poorly, as you can think of," Gabriel replies, pushing his chair out slowly. "When we jump back here, is it going to be a single trip, or do you need to make the shorter hops the same as getting there?"

"I'm familiar with the area, here, so a single trip is possible," Leonard notes. "Distance isn't a factor. It's the unknown that limits our initial travel to Creel."

Gabriel gives a nod. "I see. Makes sense, you don't want to go parachuting into unknown lands. Now? Dozens and dozens. You have a map of the area? Because I have one, and it shows one of your magic lines about forty miles away. Can you use that to boost the size of the opening? Or the length of time it's open?"

Leonard shakes his head. "The line could help ease the drain, but it wouldn't increase the effect." A pause as he sips coffee and a brow lifts. "Why do you ask? Is there an army you want transported somewhere?"

Chuckling, Gabriel only says, "I just wanted to know that if I could find an army to transport, it could be done. Something to think about, right?" The older fellow starts to stand, donning his winter coat. "I know that Valeriya is very strong - it's something that she never hesitates to remind me. But I've only heard her think of solving the problem with a bomb in a dragon's face with some others hacking and others shooting, hoping that a couple of us from one meager city are enough for an adult. Hopefully, my own perceptions may provide broader options when all of us meet next week." At this point, he's up, dress and about to leave.

That causes Leonard to chuckle, though he keep his comment brief considering the impending departure. "If you're concerned of her abilities, you needn't be. She's already encountered a very annoyed adult dragon and survived."

Yes, Gabriel's now heading for the door, but he smiles once more. "I didn't say that I doubted her abilities, only that she reminds me of it constantly. As far as another dragon, the way I grew up was until you could do something right three times in a row, you couldn't do it right. So - wait until she's survived three adult dragons before passing judgment on even her abilities." He waves a dismissive hand. "Still, that's not why I brought it up. I only think that there are different approaches that should be considered, approaches that I haven't heard her even mull over. You take care, Leonard, I'll be seeing you." He tosses off a non-salute, opens the door and wanders out into the rain.