There was something different about the tavern. Typically, the mood in it was cheerful, almost homey; for the past few days, however, it had been... solemn.

It could have been blamed on a number of things. Because of the recent strike against GLaDOS, people were remembering those that had been repodded, and Hisk, the previous helper, was among that group. Kawalsky, Cassie, and two of the people in the pods had been killed. And lastly, though it was public knowledge by that point that Hiccup and Rose had been hurt, it wasn't yet known exactly what had happened or how bad it was.

Kang knew, though.

All of that combined equaled a somewhat mopey draconian behind the bar.

It is that time again, meatship.

Once again, the King of Nightmares has deigned to spread his touch to all of your dreams.

This time, however, he has decided to give them a much more personal touch, sending his very own children to visit each and every one of you, slowly sowing the seeds of madness within all of you.

Such a kind and loving king he is, isn't he?

[ooc: Alright folks, Nightmare King is ramping things up a bit. These nightmares are a good bit more dangerous now, and he's sending in his minions to make things a little more real. The nightmares will be of a much more serious nature this time, designed to start driving the crew slowly insane. Characters are more likely to run into nightmare minions in the guise of someone or something that will tug at the edges of their sanity. Also, this time, the characters can have joint dreams, as these nightmares are of a more mystical nature this time. Once again, tagging in isn't mandatory, but if you want to, go crazy (literally)!]

[Additional Note: Any injuries won't be carrying over to real life at this point in the plot but don't worry, we'll get there eventually!]

When he first saw it weeks ago, shortly after the crew had finally caught up him, he thought for certain that he was hallucinating. But there it was, nestled among several other castles. The Luthor Mansion, in all it's glory.

Lex was never a superstitious man, but even he believed that there was more to heaven and earth than what could be proven on paper. The appearance of his home, a reward no other crew member had received (to his knowledge), certainly made him think. He wondered if this was some sort of sign that his decisions so far had indeed been right, or that he was on the right path. Perhaps it was put there as a distraction of sorts, as well, as there were many unpleasant memories that haunted those walls. For the time being, he decided to take it as a reward, however relocating there initially proved to be problematic.

The Mansion wasn't in disarray, but it was clear that no one had walked its halls in quite some time. Not only that, but the last people who had clearly had little regard for the property. There was a layer of dirt and dust everywhere, expensive and priceless paintings had been torn off the walls and trashed, priceless artifacts were just broken pieces of clay or stone, pieces of antique furniture had been smashed, and every vault was empty. Not a single green meteor rock to be found. He counted himself lucky that his pool table, piano, and a handful of family photos managed to survive.

Rather than be dejected, Lex looked at it as project to occupy his time. Since he only worked in Neuropathy whenever he felt like it, and manned the bar in the lounge at his discretion, he did have plenty of time to devote to this project. Which was good, because cleaning up and fixing up a 40 room mansion-- replete with its own library (with real books), well supplied medieval armory and modern armory, pool, wine cellar, gym, and grand ballroom-- took a lot of work.

Work which still hadn't been completed, but he had progressed far enough to not only make it livable, but also presentable. The master bedroom, Lex's office, and most of the common areas had been cleaned up. All the rest was blocked off for the moment, but were in locations that were fairly out of the way.

So, he put out a message on the omnicomms, and invited a few people to check the place out. The ones who weren't already spying on him, at any rate. He laid out a few drinks, and a sampling of some of the fresh fruit and food he picked up while during their last mission to earth. He didn't expect many guests, after all, he had never been the most well liked person, even back when he was a relatively kindhearted kid. Most parties he hosted as an adult, he was usually surrounded by obsequious employees desperate to move up the food chain, business partners who wanted a more favorable deal, business rivals who were trying to find out something about the competition, charity representatives who wanted money, and sycophants who wanted the notoriety of being in the same room as Lex Luthor and access to the connections that alone can bring. Friends were simply a foreign concept, if he ever truly had any to begin with, and he certainly hadn't gone out of his way to make any on the ship. He was curious as to what category his guests, if he had any, would fit in.

((ooc: This is something of a party style post, so feel free to talk to Lex, Lois, or talk to each other while your character looks around.))

She'd been met by silence. Silence so loud that it hurt.

That's all there seemed to be.

It was eerie walking around Serenity and not running into Zöe or Wash, strange not seeing Simon in the infirmary, and it felt wrong not seeing Shepard Book studying his bible at the table. It was even strange not running into a leering Jayne.

Inara was finding that she missed them all. Missed the cheeriness that at most times could not only be found, but felt aboard Serenity.

That's part of the reason she found herself standing beside the ship, her hand resting lightly on the hull and staring up at it - her eyes wide and dark. Her fingers brush slowly against the cool metal and she shook her head. It wasn't right not having the whole crew there.

Nova had heard everything she'd needed to hear. As it was, she didn't have much of an opinion of it. If it was all true, then she'd do what she needed to and kill these Ohm or whatever the hell they were. If it was a lie, well, it wasn't as if her current situation was much worse than the on she'd been in before she got here. Hunted by the Terran Dominion for the information she possessed, not to mention her desertion from the ranks. But if it was all lie, she'd play along until it looked like she would get hurt, then the first person who tried would see that she wasn't a helpless little girl.

She stood at one of the large windows of the obs deck, staring out at the Bleed, or whatever it was that Stacy traveled through, as it flashed past. Dressed in a flowy sundress, she stood straight, hands clasped behind her back as she watched the myriad of colors flash by. The Ghost realized that her choice of outfit wasn't the most practical, but she'd spent the last few months confined to her Hostile Environment suit, hiding and running from agents sent to recover her. It was high time she rewarded herself with some real clothes. True, the dress was something recovered from an alien planet, a hand-me-down if you would, but she didn't care. It felt good against her skin, light and airy. It was a good feeling after months trapped in her clinging bodysuit.

Turning from the window, she leaned against a nearby wall, arms crossed under her chest as she watched the various people filing in and out of the room. So many different people. Different species. Shutting her eyes a moment, she released the tight rein of control she usually held her psionics in check by, letting her mind wander over the thoughts of the nearby crew. Dancing lightly over the surface. The thoughts, the emotions she caught through her short moment of freedom, made her smile slightly before she exerted her control again. Opening her eyes, she focused on the people around the room, trying to determine which thoughts belonged to who.

There.  That must have been the man who hated this ship with a passion. And there, that girl was the one who wondered if the boy she liked would ever see her the same way. There, the boy who liked the woman but didn't know yet himself. And there, that man seemed to be one of the ones in charge. She let her eyes wander, assigning the individual thoughts to their possible owners. It had been a long time since she'd had time to simply relax and think. 

It felt good. Catching a stray thought - someone watching her? - she tilted her head in their direction, fixing them with an almost teasing gaze from her piercing green eyes. The look seemed to say 'I don't bite.'

[NOTE: This takes place DURING the holiday plot. If your character is involved in that, then they're still on the surface and not on the ship at this time.]

The rest of the crew assembled on the Observation Deck to meet the latest editions to their numbers. After the revelation that their worlds are gone, many of them are even more eager to see people they knew from home.

Several people are set up near the doors to provide the new people with omnicoms and comm rings.

There's a lot to tell the new people. It's going to be a lot to take in.

[ooc: Only new characters and Command Staff can start new threads for introductions, to limit the number of threads. Everyone else, just tag in and have your guys greet the newbies. The mission is still going on, so if your character is offship, they won't be around for this.]