Ferro in New Donk City

Ferro has finally arrived at his... peculiar destination. A large, almost cartoonish city that's been both reported and rumored to be home to a group of unruly and powerful Midara cooperating with each other. As much as one might deem it fit to live and let live, there has been constant complaints of Midara from this city seducing the daylights out of anyone unfortunate enough to be nearby, or foolish enough to step foot into the gates. The gates that were being held wide open for him, like a menacing castle welcoming him to his Midara-laden doom.

Ferro: 30 Willpower

"Goodness, I wonder what'll happen inside," he sighed to himself in a rare moment of snark as he entered the city to investigate, and hopefully come to some sort of resolution.

Ferro entered the city and found that it had quite the square just beyond the gates, a place to relax, take in the... environment of huge green pipes, floating blocks of various designs, and lots and lots of buildings and doors. In fact, there seemed to be little outdoor space apart from the square he was currently in. At least this place had people, though, strange-looking Midara going about their day... and even a few humans among them. On the surface, it wasn't too bad. But, no sign of anyone in charge.

Ferro was definitely flummoxed by the environment around him and the kinds of Midara in the area. He'd never seen such an odd setting before, but that's part of why he was here. Perhaps he could ask someone about the city... He looked around for someone who might not be busy to ask for details.

Search (46) Success
Encounter (55) Fail

Ferro was readily able to find another young man who had his wits about him, but also seemed undisturbed by the wacky architecture of the city. When Ferro approached him, he gave a smile and a wave. "Hey there... oh, are you new to New Donk City? Heh... new to new... anyway, you definitely look like you're confused, do you need directions?"

"Yeah, I was wondering if you could tell me what the typical recommendations are for tourists," he requested, starting off simple before he asks about rumors or trouble in the area. Best not to rush the matter else he might make a scene.

"Ah, that's a pretty big question! There's a lot to see here. Lemme think about it..." The resident replied as he looked around and stroked his chin in thought. "Well, there's lots of games and parlor tricks to see on the roads, if you keep an eye out. There's the city hall for anyone doing official business; there's a pretty big castle that dominates one of the districts, a bunch of people just live there; there's a club that's really popular, although the atmosphere is a bit... erotic. Oh, and there's a big stadium for sports, an observatory, and a huge steakhouse. Like... seriously, I don't know how a restaurant that big makes money."

"Lot of places to see, that's good. Oh, but before I let you go, I did wanna ask one more thing," he said, before asking a bit quieter, "Have you seen or heard of anything odd or bad happening around these parts? I've heard rumors but I wanted to see for myself, you know?"

The man definitely noticed Ferro's attempt at discretion with his next question. "Well... I'm not sure about odd, but I do know one thing: anyone who causes trouble is usually... tended to by the stronger Midara around here. And, their methods are... as you'd expect. If not worse." He explained in a similarly soft voice.

"I see, well I guess I'll just have to stay out of trouble," Ferro said, creating an easy out to the conversation, though if he were to be honest with himself... He knew it would not be that easy if the rumors were true. "Thank you for the tourist stops, sir. I'll go check them out right away." His thoughts jumped to Rollatia and Kore for a moment when he thought about where to go first. The mayor of the former was fair and well-liked by the community, while the mayor of the latter was an underhanded and scummy crook. Perhaps he should start by paying a visit to this city's mayor first...

"Sweet. Oh, here, take this. A map. Makes things easier, you know?" The local offered Ferro a map just like that, but it seemed to lack concrete details. Mostly the general directions to take to reach each of the hotspots the local mentioned. Well, there was only one place the Mayor could be, city hall! According to the map, Ferro ought to take the big red door at the center-back of the square and go straight if he wanted to reach the Mayor.

Ferro: 30 Willpower

Ferro accepted the map with gratitude, waving to the civilian as he left to go explore. "Okay, so the city hall, huh? I wonder what the mayor will be like..." He moved at a brisk pace, pondering how much validity the utterances of the city truly had.

Trap (52) Success, Leaning Tower of Goombas
Evade (17) Fail

Ferro entered the door, and somehow it was even stranger than the square behind him. It was hard to tell whether he was inside or outside, the sky above looked so different and colorful... and wait, there was a sky inside? And lots of buildings in styles he'd never seen before, a few of them even shaped like mushrooms. Next to one of those buildings was a bunch of somewhat short, brown-haired girls all standing on each other's shoulders as they worked on fixing a streetlight high above. Before Ferro could potentially question any of this, let alone the safety of their work conditions.... the tower of ladies looked like it was starting to wobble....

Ferro: 30 Willpower

Ferro tensed up at the potentially impending disaster and worried over whether he should move out of the way or help stabilize them. Maybe he could tie their waists with vines to the street lamp they were fixing! It was worth a shot...

Draining Ivy

Ivy (74) Success
'Struggle' (100) Crit Success

Ferro had an admittedly clever idea, but unfortunately, it was too much of a task for the Ivy to handle. There was no way to tether all of the ladies to the lamp and have the strength to hold them all at once, especially not on such short notice. The tower of Goomba Girls came crashing down, and Ferro ended up with at least half a dozen Midara laying down on him in a heap. At least their figures weren't the most distracting, some small mercy.

Ferro: 25 Willpower

Ferro blushed from embarrassment, as well as the rush of having five women fall over on top of him. As he picked himself up and shook off the rattles of the incident, he went to help them up. "Ah, sorry, I was trying to help. Are you all okay?"

The Goomba Girls picked themselves back up, revealing that they all had striking resemblances to each other. Especially when it came to their brown hair and eyes, on top of their outfits. "It's okay, we're fine."

"Thanks for trying to help and cushioning our fall."

"Are you hurt? You don't look hurt."

"At least he's being nice to us."

"He's kinda cute blushing like that." It seemed they all had something to say to him, eh?

Ferro: 25 Willpower

"I'm fine, though I'm glad I ended up helping somehow," he answered, responding to what was directly addressing him, brushing past the remark about his blush. "Do you think you'll be okay from here? I'd suggest finding a safer way to fix the lamp, but it's not really my job. Either way, I'm actually heading somewhere right now."

"We'll be okay, thank you."

"Where are you headed?"

"We know the city like the backs of our hands."

"We can give directions!"

"Can I have your number? I get off work at five." All of the Goomba Girls seemed like amicable company, responding to Ferro's goodwill and happily reciprocating it. Although, they didn't all express that in the same way, clearly.

"City Hall, I'd like directions if it's no trouble, and I'm actually just a tourist so I probably won't be here long, sorry," he said, starting to adapt to the rapid-fire questions and statements, though the request for his number did slow him down a bit. "Besides, I don't have a phone, either."

"Oh, city hall is right down the road."

"Right down the road."

"Right down the road."

"Yup! You were on the right track already. Before we uh... fell on you."

"We can meet up later!" Each of the Goomba Girls nodded as they spoke with Ferro, all of them looking up at him. If they weren't so friendly, it'd be a little creepy.

"Alright! Well thanks for the heads up, and try to be careful, okay?" With a wave and a friendly smile, he took off down the road to check out city hall, feeling a little more optimistic about the city.

All of the Goomba Girls gave him a smile and a wave, all except the one who was hitting on him. She pouted a little, even if she knew deep down that she couldn't win them all.

And, sure enough, the Goomba Girls had given Ferro just the right directions. It only took a couple minutes of strolling down the street while taking in the sights of this unusual but strangely cozy city and its diverse inhabitants for him to reach city hall. Standing next to the front was a tall Midara with a mushroom on her head, not the first Midara he's seen like that, but this one definitely had the strongest presence about her.

He approached city hall slowly, taking in the building itself for a moment before spotting the Midara. "Um, excuse me? Would you happen to work here or something to that effect?" He knew he probably couldn't just walk in and say hi to the mayor.

The Toadette nodded to his question, crossing her arms. "I do. I'm a security guard. And, I can tell just by looking at you that you're new in town. Did you have business with the Mayor?" She asked him, not impolitely but definitely promptly.