(Pregame - LE) 'Oh no! Not again!'

[Cyprian Kircheis]

A delightful tune played in his mind. A whimsical melody he'd soon commit to writing.

"Bum bum... tsk, duh duh dum... tsk, duh duh dum..." he sang cheerfully.

It had been a long road to reconciliation. A road fraught with distrust, and anger. But he and his lady had made up, and now are better than ever. And after tonight's gig, he had a place to come home to again. 'Life is good,' he thought approaching "The Dancing Bear". Nothing could bring him down.

A door opened, and in he stepped. But the architecture was... different, very different. The clients were all different too. Towering and foreign. 'Is that a centaur?' He thought. And he stood in wonder at the thought. His mouth opened to say something when one turned to look at him. He panicked and turned to exit but the door was different as well, and much larger than he suspected it should be. He took hold of the mechanism to open it when a broom fell on him. Beyond was not Zobeck but instead more cleaning utensils. It was then than a new thought began to creep in, and with it dread.

"Not again! Let me out!"

He opened and shut the door several times in a mad flurry of frustration.

"Why does this keep happening to me?!" Open, shut, open, and shut again. Each time the same. "Dammit!"

[L'Orr-hui]

In the throes of his battle with the unresponsive door a voice manifested within the mind of the newly arrived berk.

''I have heard of the expression 'coming out of the closet' before...but the current context leaves me to think that this situation is not one such a case despite how litteral it is''

The voice was not cold but it was certainly measured. It's sardonic tone was undercut by a sensible and entirely unhidden degree of exasperation.

[Cyprian Kircheis]

An icy terror traces Cyprian's spine hearing these words within himself. He'll look around for the originator. And, assuming the channel is still open as it were, he'll say, "Amusing... It would seem I have indeed adopted an additional connotation of that phrase. Do I have you to thank for that sorcerer?"

________________
(I'm assuming you're not exactly hiding?)

[L'Orr-hui]

One thing about the city of doors is that anything that would be of place in any other context just blends in with the crowd here. The Red Lion in was such a case: centaurs drank with lamias, a yuan-ti abomination coiling suggestively around a very drunk satyr and so on. It did not help that some had turned to observe the repeated door handling that was, to some, a very funny jest.

But even the most oblivious would eventually notice the tall, slender and monstrous robed figure that was approaching the lost bard.

''I do not possess such power in this place, newcomer''

The illithid stopped a comfortable distance away, milky eyes observant.

''Welcome to Sigil, the City of Doors. Do you have knowledge of where you are?''

[Cyprian Kircheis]

"A... mind ruler?" He asks out loud in undercommon.

He glances around the tavern at the various creatures co-existing, co-mingling, and likely soon copulating. Then stands up, pulls himself together, and continues like he hadn't just made a complete spectacle of himself.

"I see! City of doors you say. Well I'm afraid I'm rather unfamiliar."

Cyprian's not the brightest candle in the collection. As a matter of fact he's quite possibly the dimmest. You're guaranteed to have to shave the wax around the wick just to get him lit. But even he could put two and two together at times. Clearly of this menagerie most would be keen on killing a Mind Flayer on sight. Were these ordinary circumstances. That they haven't, nor even seem all that curious of the Mind Flayer, says a great deal as to the nature of this area. With that in mind he left his sword in his sheathe.

"Is it common for people minding their business to find themselves in broom closets here?" He asks conversationally.

[L'Orr-hui]

''Mindflayer is the most common name used for us. We are otherwise known as illithids'' they corrected with a twitch of his tentacles. A frown appeared when their suspicions were revealed to be correct.

''We refer to new arrivals like yourself as the Clueless'' he began ''People from all over the multiverse come to Sigil, willingly or not, and in various ways. Yours unusual but I suspect your are neither the first or the last to end up here.''

The mindflayer, guarded at it was, tried to make things as clear as possible. Turning slightly, they observed the room and chose an empty table to their liking. They gestured the minstrel towards it

''Sit, for your own sake, we have much to talk about''

[Cyprian Kircheis]

He checks to make sure he didn't drop anything before following.

"I see, I hope you'll forgive my ignorance." He continues in undercommon. "My only other interaction with a member of your species was... a far less amicable experience."

Once seated he'll pull out a flask and have a quick drink. Reasoning it probably unwise to accept food or drink from the illithid.

"So!" He huffs, "Something is pulling people from their own plane into this one?" There's a sigh before he leans his head on one hand. "This sadly isn't my first experience. May I ask if it's known which capricious overlord is responsible for this inconvenience? That way I might go stab them and get this over with?" He asks with perfect non-chalance.

[Whisper]

"L'Orr-hui here won't harm you, unless you give him reason." A stranger spoke in undercommon as he approached the table. "That's true of most of us. There isn't anyone to stab, either. Not for being here, at least."

An hound walked silently at the man's side.

[L'Orr-hui]

A respectful nod was given as a greeting to his fellow indep. A smaller one made in aknowledgement of the man's pup.

''Good evening Whisper'' they replied in both the genasi the Cyprian's mind ''It is fortunate you are here for we got ourselves a new arrival. Your practical knowledge might prive invaluable to him, should you choose to share it''

They then judged the Clueless's question should be answered without much delay less something very unfortunate might be attempted

''This city is ruled, in a broad sense, by an entity known only as the Lady of Pain. Some portals might be opened or closed by her whims but some like yours might just be below her notice to manage actively. I suggest you consider your travel here as an unfortunate anomaly in the fabric of the universe for there little you can do and very much to fear if she somehow made an active decision to bring you here.''

[Cyprian Kircheis]

He scratched his head in contemplation at Lorrica Wee... no, L'ore hughey? 'Hmmm,' he thought, 'maybe it's L'Orr-ie?' Now he started wondering if it might be inappropriate to ask the Illithid to spell it out. 'No, no.' He thought, 'I'll figure it out after hearing it a few more times.'

He cleared his throat.

"I see." He nodded. "The Lady of Pain, interesting."

A thought occurred to him.

"Ahh forgive me, it would seem introductions are in order. My name is Cyprian Kircheis, at your service." He bowed to both Whisper and... L- L- L- the tentacled gentleman.