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Imposter Brit
Posts: 1673
(7/29/05 13:38)
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Re: Account thievery for fun and profit

Stephan sat in silence for a bit, listening to the exchanges between the group. Whatever Lym and James just said must have been enough though, because he suddenly stood up from the table.

"I need some air..." he says simply, before getting up and heading out of the bar.

Kai

The Mysterious Priest
Posts: 455
(7/29/05 14:32)
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Re: Account thievery for fun and profit

Myrnal sighed. "I'll keep an eye on him."

She followed Stephan out the door. She didn't quite catch up to him, choosing to let him 'get some air' if that was what he wanted. "You know," she called from behind him. "I hate to be the one who follows everyone around, but we did decide that no one should wander around alone. Nothing personal."

~~~~~

Eve looked from James to Lym and back again. "I don't know what we can do. I don't think I can do it for... obvious reasons. I just don't know any other way. I have nearly as much at stake as anyone else here, but I've been running and hiding from her for so damn long that..." she searched for the right words. "I don't know how to face her anymore."

Edited by: Kai at: 7/29/05 14:33

Imposter Brit
Posts: 1674
(7/29/05 14:47)
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Re: Account thievery for fun and profit

He didn't know why, exactly, but he didn't mind talking to Myrnal. Maybe, it was from both doing the same kinda work. Walking that fine line between morality and immorality. Whatever the case, he chuckled oddly and started speaking.

"It's funny... if this had been ten years ago, I wouldn't have a problem at all. But now..."

He sighs, kicking a nearby rock.

"...I know what's at stake here. But... I can't do it. I can't kill a bunch of kids."

Kai

The Mysterious Priest
Posts: 456
(7/29/05 15:01)
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Re: Account thievery for fun and profit

"I know." Myrnal twitched ever so slightly, repressing one or two things she didn't feel like dealing with. "...I know. It doesn't make sense and it shouldn't be a problem. Enemies are enemies."

She pulled her hair back out of her face with both hands, tossing it back over her shoulders. "I killed someone who was enslaved by some mindflayer asshole. His name was Elmion, and yeah, I felt bad about it. But his friends told me he'd have understood. I didn't really know what they meant until a little later."

She drew a knife from her belt, a katar. Her hand tensed and the blade snapped open and shut like a lobster's claw. "I don't know what she's got them doing, and I don't know how much control she's got over them. Lyminali doesn't seem to make a distinction, but I do." She grimaced, the only appropriate expression of her opinions about the seer.

"On the one hand, I know better than anyone that sometimes it's better to put someone out of their misery in that situation. On the other... my friends chose not to kill me and they could have. Easily. But they didn't. I don't know whether I owe these kids the same chance."

Edited by: Kai at: 7/29/05 15:02

Imposter Brit
Posts: 1675
(7/29/05 15:53)
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Re: Account thievery for fun and profit

"...sounds like we're both having the same problem." Stephan comments. He kicks another stray pebble, and sighs again.

"It's not just that either... it's... my bloody fault one of them's with her to begin with. We just left him with her, even though we knew shit was suspicious and..."

He breaks off, sighing again and finding another unfortunate pebble to collide with his boot.

"...maybe this really is hitting too close to home." he mutters to himself.

Kai

The Mysterious Priest
Posts: 457
(7/29/05 16:09)
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Re: Account thievery for fun and profit

"I think it is for a lot of people." Myrnal glanced down at the knife in her hand. "I've only ever used this once. I promised myself the next person on the other end of this little darling would deserve it." She laughed bitterly and slid the katar back into her belt.

"I don't know what happened when you guys were around her before everything went to shit. I don't know the kids, and I don't know Dawn very well either. But if it's a choice between my own peace of mind and everyone else's safety, it wouldn't be the first time I've chosen not to fuck over everyone around me." She looked away from him and down at the ground for a moment. "Or tried not to at least. Doesn't always work. But it's always worth a shot."

Imposter Brit
Posts: 1676
(7/29/05 16:20)
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Re: Account thievery for fun and profit

"Yeah..." he mentions half-heartedly, "...problem being, we don't seem to have many options here. I mean... this is like trying to duel someone who knows every move you're about to make... how do you prepare for shit like that?"

Kai

The Mysterious Priest
Posts: 458
(7/29/05 16:43)
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Re: Account thievery for fun and profit

She shrugged. "Dawn can't prepare for everything. Take the whole Man From the Future thing. Who the hell plans for that? I mean, damn. I don't care how smart you are or how long you've had for manipulating and evil plotting. There's always a variable."

NebulaQueen
VACANT
Posts: 2904
(7/30/05 0:31)
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Re: Account thievery for fun and profit

While Lym and James discussed the situation, Kei began to shake slightly. The discussion made her feel sick to her stomach, as a strong feeling of disgust grew for the psionist.

"If it's right to kill them under psionics..."? What in the name of the gods is he talking about! she thought to herself. Nobody, except for him, said anything about that!

"I think," said Kei, with an edge of coolness to her voice, "that you should only speak for yourself, Lym."

Magnus de Silentio
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Posts: 119
(7/30/05 1:46)
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heh

Lym shrugged, laughed coolly, and waved his open palms in front of his face.

"I'm going to end this day the way I started it! Great. Hilarious. Look, you guys figure out what you want to do, since any practical approach is off limits, and let me know how that goes. I'll be keeping an eye on Eve and protecting her from Dawn's ridiculously evil plan for world domination and mass genocide. For the moment, that means staying here, because that's where she is. When she feels like leaving, I will too. Maybe you'll have a fucking plan of action after three days of running around screaming 'OH MY GOD HELL ON EARTH IS AFTER ME BUT I THINK I CAN FIX EVERYTHING MAGICALLY BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW SO MAYBE I SHOULD SIT HERE AND OCCASIONALLY HAVE DIPLOMATIC CONVERSATIONS WITH A PSYCHOPATH', maybe you won't. At this point, it's out of my hands, and beyond my ability to give a damn. I'm beginning to think I could be more effective on my own than trying to work in this absurdly sluggish framework.

"Seriously, this is pathetic. I'm not saying we have to kill them, I'm saying we have to fucking consider it, or that you have to give me a viable alternative. Believe it or not, I am not into killing! But somehow, I think my turn-ons are irrelevant to literally saving the goddamn world! So come up with a solution you can feel like a deity with, tell me how it's possible, and I'll be fucking thrilled.

"I'm all ears for anything OTHER than pathetic handwringing!"

He slammed a fist on the table and looked off into the distance.

In fact, he wasn't looking at anyone in the room -- he was using his sense eye to examine the outdoors. They were pretty. They would soothe him.

Edited by: Magnus de Silentio at: 7/30/05 1:59

NebulaQueen
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Posts: 2908
(7/30/05 4:33)
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Re: heh

Kei flattened her ears, and glared at Lym. "I was hardly having tea with her," she practically spat out. "At the time, we needed not only information, but also time. I was hoping that perhaps a somewhat sane plan could be formed in the meantime! But I suppose that if I am such a big supporter of magical solutions, I should run off to Gun..."

Kei then stopped speaking, and her jaw dropped just a tad bit lower. All signs of anger and irritation left her face, and was replaced with the expression found on those who have just made a sudden epiphany. It soon became quite apparent that something was brewing inside the swordswoman's head.

"Gunnir...Gunnir! Ohh, we should have thought of this earlier!" she muttered to herself. "I may be jumping to conclusions," she said to the others in an excited whisper, "but I get the impression that when this happened, we were by ourselves, just this small group. However, we have forgotten about others who can help us! I am no expert, but I have heard things about Gunnir. Now, if the brilliant minds at that school are good enough for that horrible creature to use, then they should be good enough to help stop him!"

Imposter Brit
Posts: 1677
(7/30/05 7:32)
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GO KITTEH =D

"That's true..." Stephan comments to Myrnal, "But it's only going to be so long before she realizes he's here, so... we still need to think of something pretty soon."

He starts to think about the newcomer again, and that nagging feeling comes back once more.

"I still get this feeling I should know who this bloke is." Stephan thinks aloud, "I mean, it probably just means I've met him or someone he's related to before, but it's been bugging me for a bit now."

Kai

The Mysterious Priest
Posts: 460
(7/30/05 11:18)
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GO KITTEH indeed.

"That is kind of odd," she mused. "I swear he reminds me of someone too, but... I mean, how many arrogant guys with weird colored hair do we know that have access to powerful magic? And however would he have ended up with demon blood?"

She shrugged theatrically, then grinned at Stephan. "He's Hakaril's son. Though we can't say anything about it to anyone else in this time. Wouldn't want to prevent him being born or anything, but... yeah. Hakaril sent him back so he could help us... you know. Not die."

Imposter Brit
Posts: 1678
(7/30/05 12:36)
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Re: GO KITTEH indeed.

Stephan suddenly stops walking, staring off a moment and blinking a couple times. Then he takes his hand and smaks it directly into the middle of his face.

"...Gods I'm such a fucking moron." he sighs aloud.

Kai

The Mysterious Priest
Posts: 461
(7/30/05 13:19)
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Re: GO KITTEH indeed.

She laughed. "I wouldn't have known except that he mentioned that his father was involved in the whole Elaith thing before. That didn't leave many possibilities."

Imposter Brit
Posts: 1679
(7/30/05 13:26)
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Re: GO KITTEH indeed.

"...and his wife's a bloody succubus, how the fuck did that not click..." Stephan mutters to himself, sighing then continuing the conversation, "...well anyway, this bloke may know what's coming, but I don't think we can completely count on his judgement. I mean, he's got nothing to lose, of course he's going to do whatever the hell it takes. But we're the ones who'll have to live through the results."

Kai

The Mysterious Priest
Posts: 462
(7/30/05 13:49)
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Re: GO KITTEH indeed.

Myrnal considered his point. "Yeah. Decisions like that I don't tend to leave to random people I just met. But, when you think about it, do we have any more to lose than he does? From the sounds of it we're already on borrowed time. If we don't do what we need to do, a huge chunk of the world won't live through the results."

She rubbed the back of her neck, chewing her bottom lip. "Much as I think that Lyminali guy is a condescending self-righteous prick..." She shrugged and sighed. "I think that he's right. To some degree. We've all got our reasons not to want the blood of young children on our hands, but if they give us no choice then they give us no choice. Like I said. There's more at stake here than our personal feelings."

She turned to him curiously. "You said you guys knew one of them? What do you think? Are they going to push us to a fight? ...or could we worm our way out of it somehow?"

Imposter Brit
Posts: 1680
(7/30/05 14:12)
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Re: GO KITTEH indeed.

"...I honestly don't know." Stephan says with a shrug, "Joss... maybe I could reason with, Dawn influence aside. But the other kids, I just don't know. Two of 'em trusted Eve, enough to let me get some food for the four of us. But if I tried to on my own? Either I'd be a pile of ashes or they'd..."

His voice seemed to trail off, then he coughed and continued.

"...so yeah, it's not looking very good right now. They were right about one thing back at the Inn, though. I don't think it's direct mental control on those kids either. Two of them were willing to 'bend' some orders to avoid us, for Eve there, when I offered to buy some food. But I just don't know if that'll be helpful."

Kai

The Mysterious Priest
Posts: 463
(7/30/05 15:17)
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Re: GO KITTEH indeed.

"You fed them?" She laughed at old memories. "You know, that's how I met my family. Free food."

"They might be helpful if we play our cards right. Hm." Myrnal pulled a throwing dagger from her belt and absentmindedly tapped her lower lip with it as she thought. "...The only problem with going ahead and talking to the one kid, Joss was it? ...Is that if he doesn't go for it, at the very least Dawn will know that we're trying to recruit her followers. Don't imagine she'd like that."

"But..." she gestured at Stephan with the knife. "If he did, it might be worth the risk. I'm sure he knows things we could use. At the least, he knows the other kids. Better than we possibly could. But I won't tell you it's a good idea or a bad idea. It would be your ass on the line unless you wanted someone to go along with you. Not my call."

Magnus de Silentio
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Posts: 120
(7/30/05 17:46)
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okieday

Lym shrugged. Not his job, not his problem, he seemed to say. He was still mostly looking at some nice flowers outside.

"I'm not sure there's a viable solution to this problem that doesn't lead to a confrontation with those kids. If you're going to try anything you can't be sure of, well, honestly, fucking don't. If you risk the world to save a handful of children just so you can feel real good about yourself -- and that is what any plan unlikely to succeed is going to do, don't you dare pretend otherwise -- that's a level of selfishness I cannot condone or even allow.

"That said, I don't by any means know everything, and the collective knowledge stored by flesh and parchment in Gunnir is legendary. If we're going to go, though, we need to go right now. No more fucking around on this. We're going to work quickly and efficiently."

He stood up from the table, not to signify an eagerness to leave, but a readiness.

"So?"

Imposter Brit
Posts: 1682
(7/30/05 19:43)
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Re: okieday

A lot was at stake here. That much was glaringly obvious, as Stephan thought things over. Not only was his own ass on the line here, but literally everyone in the world as well. For all he knew, trying to find Joss could be the trigger, starting the chain of events leading to James' future.

...then again, for all he knew, ignoring Joss could have something to do with it too. There was just too much unknown shit , even with future-boy's information, so Stephan figured the hell with worrying about that.

One thing was clear in his mind. It was his fault Joss was in this mess to begin with. And he had to do something about it. If he did nothing, it would be another soul on his conscience. And he had far, far too many to allow another, especially a child so much like himself at that age.

"...I think Lym's going to be pissed with me again." Stephan comments, unable to help a brief smirk before his face turns serious again, "But even if I do want to try and find him, I have no idea where the hell to start looking."

Hyper-scientific Bishounen
Pharmacist Brian
Season III!
Posts: 3885
(7/30/05 22:26)
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Re: okieday

"Gunnir is a good place to start, generally speaking, no matter what you're looking for. That's something my father always believed. If you want to go ask them to help us fight Dawn, we might just be able to get ourselves an army of our own. We hypothetically have access to Doman military, as well, but you can't be obvious about where you're getting your information, especially if you go through my father," James noted.

James shrugged, looking like he didn't care one way or the other as long as something got done. "I can't say exactly what kind of assistance Gunnir would provide, though. Gunnir where I'm from is probably a little different from what Gunnir's like around here, especially given the way my father likes to tell stories about the place. Stories which," he added, "often conclude with 'if only I'd been able to send you there to get a proper arcane education.'"

Shaking his head, James laughed a little. "It's been quite a while since I've seen an Igala that isn't an utter wreck in one way or another. This is all rather new to me, being able to sit in a pub and drink whiskey without worrying about whether or not there are going to be zombies and turncoat Gunnir students kicking down the door."

Kai

The Mysterious Priest
Posts: 464
(7/30/05 22:46)
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Re: okieday

Myrnal's upper lip curled in disdain. "Let him be pissed. Lyminali is an ass. And not in the good way either."

She sat down cross-legged on the ground. "I don't know how we could find them. If you're set on doing it, ask what's-his-name. He's pretty good at finding shit. At any rate you probably should let the others know what's up." She reached over and tapped the bottom of her shoe as she stopped a moment to think. She ceased the nervous motion and put her hands in her lap definitively. "Well. You want someone to go with you?"

~~~~~

Eve stood as well, putting one hand in Lym's. "We should go get those other two." She glanced out the window at the dark outside. "It's not like any of us were going to get any sleep tonight anyway. Screw it. Let's go."

Imposter Brit
Posts: 1683
(7/30/05 22:54)
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Re: okieday

Stephan shrugs back to her in response.

"Up to you, if you think other shit's more important, I wouldn't blame ya. I just know I have to do this for myself, at least."

He lets out a sigh, before sitting down to join her a moment.

"So... feel like taking bets before heading back? I figure I'll end up with a busted jawbone this time trying to 'talk' with him."

Kai

The Mysterious Priest
Posts: 465
(7/30/05 23:15)
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Re: okieday

"Eh. Worst case scenario something fucks up and we all die." She shrugged and glanced over at the Ivory Horn. "I really hate to leave Kei to deal with the others alone. But, she'll probably be fine. If they haven't killed each other by now, it probably isn't going to happen. I'll go with you. At least to meet Joss. I like to meet people before I decide whether I'm going to kill them."

Imposter Brit
Posts: 1684
(7/30/05 23:22)
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Re: okieday

Stephan doesn't seem very phased by Myrnal's 'odd' comment, though he does raise an eyebrow. Hopefully he wouldn't look back, and wish he'd said no to her.

"Well... might as well get it over with then." he tells her, standing up and getting ready to head back.

NebulaQueen
VACANT
Posts: 2912
(7/31/05 3:12)
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Re: okieday

"I am ready," Kei said, with just a hint of dull coldness to her voice. She stood up, but instead of appearing ready she had the air of someone who's thoughts were in a distant place.

"Selfish?" Hmph. Self righteous, arrogant little...if he can't see the difference between not being ruthless and stroking one's ego, that's his problem. Besides, it's not as if he's as unbiased as he thinks he is... For a brief moment, an image of Eve flashes through her mind. She tries to shake this off along with her other thoughts, though; this wasn't exactly the best time to hold grudges against a person one would be working with.

They did have a world to save, after all.

Magnus de Silentio
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Posts: 121
(7/31/05 12:23)
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Now let's do the mirror thing

Lym shrugged. He knew he wasn't making a lot of friends, but that wasn't his job right now. His job was making sure the hero-types didn't lose their priorities. He wondered at their naivete.

If they become incapacitated by their own overwhelming goodness where children are concerned, you've really got to wonder how this place has lasted as long as it has...

He led Eve (and presumably the rest, but he wasn't holding "the rest"'s hand) toward the door of the Ivory Horn. He opened to see Stephan coming toward them from the other side.

Lym was kind of sick of yelling at everybody and trying to coordinate this group, so he decided to be in a good mood again, and fuck the whole control thing. He knew he had to protect Eve, and that was all that mattered to him. He could find more protectors in Doma if he needed them. This group was a nice bunch, and he liked them, but strategically speaking, they were expendable. He could surely talk Silvar into a real guard detail, if he needed to.

So he smiled real big and said, "Hey, Stephan, we were just on our way out. Eve here is gonna take us to Gunnir. You want in?"

Imposter Brit
Posts: 1685
(7/31/05 17:36)
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Re: Now let's do the mirror thing

"No... actually I have something to ask you." Stephan says to the psionist, "If I described one of the kids, could you find them?"

Magnus de Silentio
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(7/31/05 18:12)
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yup

Lym shrugged. "Should be able to. First and foremost is the name. So, go for it."

Imposter Brit
Posts: 1686
(7/31/05 18:24)
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Edited to include helpful info from ze GM!

"Alright... name's Joss." he tells Lym, then starts describing the self-proclaimed future adventurer. A kid of about 12 years old, starting to get big but still not quite out of childhood yet. Most notibly, he mentions the kid's burn scars on his right arm, likely from days before he learned to control his fire abilities.

Edited by: FF Fanatic 80 at: 7/31/05 18:51

Magnus de Silentio
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(7/31/05 18:26)
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meta

Lym quirked an eyebrow at the name and description, having of course heard them tossing it around before, but made no comment.

He stepped outside and hypercognated. Where is the boy that's just been described to me?

Edited by: Magnus de Silentio at: 7/31/05 18:37

Kai

The Mysterious Priest
Posts: 471
(7/31/05 20:14)
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Re: meta

At the time of Lym's hypercognition, Joss was in Riva, close to the edge of the Val'ri Bay. He was running up and down the shore chasing coastal birds, trying to catch one if he could... but having little success. Perhaps success wasn't the point. Whatever his intentions, whether he was there on assignment or not Lym had no idea, but Joss probably didn't have orders to chase animals like an idiot.

Lym knew the precise location, and could point it out on a map if he had one. Otherwise, he'd have to describe it in as much detail as possible and hope it's enough.

Edited by: Kai at: 7/31/05 20:15

Magnus de Silentio
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(7/31/05 22:50)
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ding!

Lym relayed the information to the group. In particular, he described it to Eve. "We'll need to drop them off, then head to Gunnir. Can you handle that, Eve?"

Kai

The Mysterious Priest
Posts: 473
(7/31/05 23:01)
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Re: ding!

Eve scoffed as if insulted. "Lym. What is the purpose of my life again? What is the only thing I enjoy doing besides smoke and drink? I travel. Of course I'm fine with that."

She stopped and counted the people present. "Let's see, there's Stephan, Myrnal, Lym, James, Kei, and... me. No problem. I assume everyone wants to do this the efficient way since we don't have time for the fun way. If we had more time I'd take you through the plane of dreams. You've almost got to have a couple of drinks in you for that one, otherwise it's just too damn weird. Anyway, same rules of teleportation apply. Everyone make sure you're holding hands with someone who's holding hands with me. Otherwise, you get left behind and I have to come get you before something bizarre frigging kills you."

Eve already had Lym, so she held her other hand out to Myrnal, who took it and offered Stephan her other hand.

Magnus de Silentio
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(7/31/05 23:10)
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look at 'er go

Lym grinned. He liked to watch Eve at work.

He offered Kei his hand, smiling charmingly.

"You're right, we need to be efficient now...but as soon as all this is over, dear, you have got to show me this crazy plane of dreams..."

NebulaQueen
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(7/31/05 23:19)
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Re: look at 'er go

Kei held onto Lym's hand with her own, and held out her free one so another member of the group could grab it.

Imposter Brit
Posts: 1687
(7/31/05 23:48)
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Re: look at 'er go

Stephan takes Myrnal's free hand, and takes note of the hand holding chain that's forming. A past incident involving a similar chain of hands occurs to him, causing the swordmage to speak his mind.

"...the first person to start singing any of that 'togetherness' bullshit... I'll leave the consequences to your imagination."

Kai

The Mysterious Priest
Posts: 475
(8/1/05 1:04)
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Re: look at 'er go

Myrnal shuddered. "I second that. Nothing good can come of it."

Hyper-scientific Bishounen
Pharmacist Brian
Season III!
Posts: 3887
(8/1/05 1:55)
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Re: look at 'er go

James stood up, grasping Kei's hand in his own. "Damn," he noted. "You nekojin have really soft, feminine hands."

"You know, that was probably a completely unnecessary comment," added the half-incubus. "Forget I mentioned it."

NebulaQueen
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(8/1/05 21:38)
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Re: look at 'er go

"D-do not worry about it," Kei said, stuttering a bit. It seemed that James' comment was just a tad embarrassing.

Edited by: NebulaQueen at: 8/1/05 21:44

Kai

The Mysterious Priest
Posts: 478
(8/1/05 21:55)
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Re: look at 'er go

"Okay. Everyone together? Good. Again. No letting go until I tell you. Also... I don't know how precise I'll be able to get since I've never been where we're going. But, if we aren't where we want to be, I just make a little extra effort to find out where we are and put us back on course. No worries."

With that, Eve took a deep breath and those connected to her found themselves standing in high grass near some body of water. They couldn't see the water, but they could smell it in the air. "Hm." She closed her eyes a moment, and the party then found themselves standing in different but very similar grass in very similar-smelling air.

"There we are. He should be north of here about half a mile. I thought I'd give you some distance in case you wanted to ...not emerge out of nowhere in front of him."

Magnus de Silentio
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(8/1/05 23:11)
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thats mah gal

"Good job, Eve," said Lym, smiling. Seeing people he cared about at work always cheered him up. "This looks right, from my understanding. I imagine Dawn has warned her kids against trusting any of us, unless she's actually naive enough to assume we're naive enough not to be capable of hurting them," he said, almost pointedly but not quite, "so be careful, Stephan. And Myrnal...you probably shouldn't let him challenge anybody to a duel, or anything like that. My understanding is that it's a hobby or something for this one," he joked.

"At any rate, I'll check in with you guys in an hour or so. Don't get killed, and don't trust the damn kid. I think the rest of us should be on our way."

Imposter Brit
Posts: 1688
(8/1/05 23:16)
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Damn posting before I'm ready *Edit!*

Stephan gives Lym a decently long glare, then motions to Myrnal as he starts away from the group.

"Common, lets get the hell over there."

He didn't have time to argue with Lym, much as he wanted to bring something blunt or sharp in contact with his smug, arrogant face. There was something far more important at stake here.

...he just hoped it wouldn't end with two piles of ash at Joss' feet.

Edited by: FF Fanatic 80 at: 8/1/05 23:19

Kai

The Mysterious Priest
Posts: 480
(8/1/05 23:28)
Reply | Edit

Re: Damn posting before I'm ready *Edit!*

Myrnal followed with a wave to the others. Eve waved back and turned to those who were left. "You about ready to head out?"

As Myrnal and Stephan approached Joss's location, they could hear the sound of the water against the shore. It was rhythmic and more than a little soothing. When they got within eyesight of Joss, he apparently was making use of this fact. For perhaps the first time Stephan had seen, Joss was sitting still. Perfectly still, apparently meditating on the edge of the water. The birds, no longer being chased by a rambunctious kid, had settled on the shoreline a short distance away. Joss was sitting cross-legged on the sand, murmuring quietly to himself. Stephan and Myrnal aren't close enough to hear quite what he's saying. They would have to approach him to hear, but luckily he didn't seem to be on the alert for company.

"That him?" Myrnal asked.

Edited by: Kai at: 8/1/05 23:40

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Re: Damn posting before I'm ready *Edit!*

"Ready? Yeah. If there's any place I'm ready to go, it's Gunnir." James grinned, flicking his wings arrogantly. "I'm curious to see the place in its prime, especially since my father's always talking about it. Naturally, none of you is allowed to tell anyone who I am. Paradoxes and all, you understand."

James turned his attention to Eve, running his fingers through his hair. "You know, you're pretty talented. The last time I teleported it was moderately nauseating. With you, I'm not noticing any disorientation, and your accuracy, as far as I can tell, is impressive. How long did it take you to develop your teleportation skills? It's not my area of expertise, so I find it interesting that someone would pick transportation as a focus for their discipline."

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Re: Damn posting before I'm ready *Edit!*

It was definitely Joss... but it was very strange to see him like that. Calm, focused, not running around beaming with optimism and excitement. Apparently, Dawn's teaching was having some positive effect on the kid.

...of course, that didn't excuse her motives in the slightest. He was all too familiar with the tactic of helping a kid in exchange for 'favors' in return... something Stephan was trying very hard not to think about at the moment.

"It's him... but let's approach from an angle he can see us from. I don't want him thinking we're trying to sneak up on him."

Edited by: FF Fanatic 80 at: 8/2/05 10:46

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Re: Damn posting before I'm ready *Edit!*

Eve smiled proudly "Glad you're enjoying the ride. As for my specialization... Well, it just kind of fit. I mean, I was one of those kids who thought it was a good idea to run away from home all the time. So... I started doing it psionically. First by learning where I was and where I was going, then by using my powers to get there. I didn't realize it was anything unusual until... until my sister found out. She was excited, in her way. We were the only ones around with these powers, but she had ways of researching that I didn't." Her brows furrowed, as if at an odd memory. "Anyway, I can do more than transportation, even though that's my main focus. I can breathe acid too, which is cool. I've also got a power I can use to temporarily kill myself. Don't use that one too often, but hey. It's a good one to use when you don't want to be found, as was often the case." She checked to make sure everyone was still connected, and the party left the waterfront behind.

They found themselves outside one of the school's courtyards. There was an apparent entrance, but it seemed like a formality, as the surrounding walls weren't exactly stockade barriers. The entrance was open, possibly as some sort of symbolic representation of Gunnir's open-minded approach to magical education and research. "Sorry I couldn't take us in. I can never remember whether they have magical barriers. I know the castle does, but since I didn't feel like slamming into walls against teleportation I just got us to the door."

~~~~~
Myrnal nodded and gestured that Stephan should go first. "You're the one he knows."

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Re: Damn posting before I'm ready *Edit!*

"It is not a problem," Kei said, waving her hand dismissively. "Anyways, shall we enter?"

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well darn-howdy!

Lym let out a low whistle.

"Eve...don't let me out of your sight in here. Something tells me that, end of the world or no, I could get absolutely lost in a place like this..."

He was very nearly panting. All that information! All those bizarre little spells to read up on! The people he could meet! The artifacts he could read psionic imprints on! The rooms whose pasts he could discover!

"Seriously. Don't let me get away."

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Re: well darn-howdy!

Stephan nods to Myrnal, taking a quick survey of their surroundings before heading over to see the kid.

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Re: well darn-howdy!

The grass nearby was about thigh high, and it remained parted after Stephan and Myrnal passed through, leaving a path of darker colored landscape behind them in the moonlight.

Joss didn't notice them approaching even though he was more or less facing in their direction. He remained seated with his eyes closed. As Stephan and Myrnal moved within earshot, they could hear the words he was repeating to himself.

"--of my master, lord of death renewed in fire... from the ashes all will rise to his service..... master of my master... master of my master.... ...master of--" He opened his eyes and finally took note of the fact that he wasn't alone. His face was blank with surprise for a moment before he grinned at Stephan.

"Hi! What are you doing here?" His next question made Myrnal choke on her laughter. "Who's your girlfriend?"

~~~~~~~

Eve smiled and winked by way of answer to Lym's request. "I guess I'll just have to keep an eye on you. Anyway, Kei's right. Let's go in." She pulled her backpack over to one side so that she could dig in one of the pockets. She slid out a silver cigarette case, selected one, put the case back and lit it all without looking away from the building across the front courtyard. "See what we can find to help us out."

As they entered the courtyard, there were several groups of people ranging from their early twenties to mid-teens. Most were sitting around with books, and a surprising number of them seemed to be carrying around mugs or cups of some sort. To the right of the entrance was a group of students sitting in a circle, apparently studying. Each one had a pen in one hand and at least one other duplicating their notes under its own power. All of them were more than a little haggard-looking, probably from lack of sleep.

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so, um...

Lym stood in the center of all this activity and gaped.

"This is really cool, and all...but who the hell do we talk to? What kind of help are we looking for, anyway?"

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Re: well darn-howdy!

Joss' little 'tune' puts Stephan on edge as the pair approached. Several thoughts quickly go through his head.

...she needs them to resurrect her master... but how? What is she going to have them do? And what's going to happen to them if they succeed?

Unfortunately, this train of thought is interrupted by the comment from Joss, Stephan blushing as Myrnal chuckles. He is severely tempted, out of habit, to violently let it be known he's spoken for. But the last thing he wanted to deal with at the moment, was explaining 'who' to him.

"She's a 'friend', another merc like I am." Stephan tells Joss, settling for saying they're not a couple, "I tried going back to the estate there to visit you, but it was wrecked. Been trying to find ya ever since, thought maybe some friends of those Giants came for you all."

He wasn't sure how convincing his excuse was, but he hoped it was laced with enough truth to convince Joss. He was genuinely concerned about the kid. Whether or not he'd believe that remained to be seen.

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Re: well darn-howdy!

Kei quickly follows after them, and says, "We will need to find some teachers, or some of the people in charge. James, do you know of anyone who's trustworthy from your father's stories?"

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Re: well darn-howdy!

"Gunnir is not the type of place to turn away anyone looking for magical knowledge," noted James, "and perhaps more importantly, anyone trying to save the world. But then, I can't predict exactly what people here are going to be like. I only have my father's stories to go on."

James flicked his wings again. It was a strange gesture that seemed to convey either indifference or insolence, depending on the situation. "It might be prudent to go straight to Archmagus Wray, if you're dying to get help from Gunnir. I don't really know what it is you guys are expecting here. Information about psionics? An army of your own?" He paused, apparently thinking about something. "Is Wray still alive in this time?"

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Re: well darn-howdy!

"I am not sure, but we will find out soon enough," said Kei. "As for what we need...hmn. Somebody here may have come into contact with Dawn or her master, assuming he made a 'return visit'. Perhaps we can ask them what they know about the two?"

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student roullete

Lym shrugged. "Wasn't my idea to come here, but we can certainly find out..."

He picked the oldest, least stupid-looking student (how he decided this, it was difficult to say, but he felt he had a system) and approached him or her in a friendly fashion. "Excuse me, we're on rather urgent business from Doma. Do you know who we should speak to if we want to confer with the Archmagus?"

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Re: student roullete

The student, an unusually tall elf (which is probably how Lym's system worked--pick the first elf in sight), turned to Lym and blinked. "Oh, are you seeking Archmagus Wray? Urgent business from Doma?" He raised an eyebrow, glancing back and forth between the adventurers. "What might that entail? Unless you're someone important, I sincerely doubt he has time to meet with you. Archmagus Wray is very busy, I believe."

James scowled. "Whatever he's doing, it can't be more important than what we're here to do. Just tell us where his office is so we can bang on his door a little and get his attention. Whatever it takes."

The elf blinked. "I'm just a student. I can't say anything for certain. But he has not been very receptive to people bothering him lately. Apparently, he's preoccupied with something very important." He turned around, pointing at one of the larger buildings at the back of campus. "Go into that building, down that corridor and up the stairs, then turn right and go down the hall. From there, you should be able to find Archmagus' Wray's office."

"That's more like it," snapped James. "We come all the way here and we get disrespect from students. Students that are trying to tell us that the Archmagus is too busy to talk to us. Hah!" James rolled his eyes, waving a hand at the elf dismissively. "If you had any idea who we were and how important we are, you'd probably drop to your knees and apologize."

The elf stared blankly at James, clearly convinced that the half-incubus was out of his mind, or perhaps completely trapped within it.

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Re: student roullete

"Thank you," said Kei. "This was, ah, very helpful."

And with that, she began to follow the elf's directions to his office, walking as briskly as possible without running towards the place.

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Re: student roullete

Eve followed close after Kei, dragging Lym by one hand. True to her word, she wasn't letting him out of her sight. Eve was one of those women who will take such a request seriously from a man she's interested in. Lym wasn't going anywhere without her. For now, this meant they were headed to see Archmagus Wray.

On the way, she commented, "You know... Dawn was here for nearly a year. If we have time... we can see if someone here knows what we can do about her... whole... you know. The whole thing."

~~~~~

"Oh," Joss replied. "I sort of have a girlfriend. Well... she thinks so. She told me that when I'm famous we can get married and she'll be my lady or something." He looked mildly smug. "But I told her that a man of my young age can't afford to be tied down just yet. I've got my own life to live! I don't have time for a woman unless I'm... you know. Rescuing her or something."

"And, uhm... no giants. Not since I last saw you, certainly. You were there the last time I was in Doma I think. What're you doing all the way out here? Do you have some really dangerous mercenary work? Are you on a mission?" His eyes glowed hopefully. "Because I'm going to be legendary someday. You'll be able to tell people that you used to fight with Joss the Brave. Hm. Joss the Magnificent. The Proud. Uh..." He stopped to think a moment. "Joss the Fearsome! I kind of like that one. Which one do you like?"

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Re: student roullete

"Now that makes things more interesting," Kei said. "Do you know what she studied here?"

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Re: student roullete

"Well, she was planning to major in psionics, of course. Unfortunately, I don't think they offer programs for specific psionic disciplines, but they do have a program. She didn't stay long enough to get her degree. She... left to track down that Elaith guy. I guess she'd heard all sorts of things about him that must have sounded appealing." Eve looked like she was about to say more, but kept her mouth shut. "Someone ought to know something."

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moo

Lym shrugged. "I'm all for soaking up all the information we can, but I'm still not clear on what we're looking for here."

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Re: student roullete

"Whatever works for ya... I always sucked at coming up with nicknames..." Stephan tells the kid. He briefly thinks back to his childhood, shuddering at the name he chose for their company of heroic Knights of Baron.

'The Knights of Awesome'

Needless to say, it was a constant reminder to keep other's opinions in mind. That thought aside, he continues to speak with the kid.

"Nothing too special really, just a 'fact finding mission'." he tells Joss, with unamused emphasis on the mission part. He calls on his past (unhappy) experience with similiar missions to make it sound believable, as he continues, "Why they want someone with a blade and exploding magic to do it is beyond me. Guess they figure the bloke I'm after may want to run me through."

He studies Joss' reaction for a moment, before continuing.

"So what brings you up north?"

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No shame in my game

Eve said, "Well, if we can find any available help, that's good. If we can find access to some of the more obscure psionic research, that also might help. So... I say we go talk to Archmagus Wray. He might be able to offer some ideas that we haven't thought of." She followed Kei into the building, still pulling Lym behind her. Eve was fully aware that Lym wasn't kidding. He'd get sidetracked here.

As they hit the end of the hallway and took the appropriate turn, they could see the office that apparently belonged to Archmagus Wray. The door was closed.

~~~~~

"Well, I'm pretty much from here," Joss explained. "I got permission to come out for a visit after my dad was so weird last time I was home. But you know... I got here and I don't think there's any point in hammering things out with him." He whispered confidentially, "He's not very smart."

Joss stood and dusted the sand off of his pants. "But you said you're here on a mission? I mean, if you needed backup it must--" He slapped his forehead with the palm of his scarred hand. "Sorry!" He reached over and grabbed Myrnal's hand, shaking it briefly before releasing her. She seemed to allow it more out of surprise than general sociability. "I'm Joss. It's nice to meet a lady fighter. Most of the girls I know aren't interested in proving themselves in battle."
Myrnal nodded, repressing a smile. "Uh... yeah. Nice... to meet you, too. I'm Myrnal."
"Great! Anyway, what was I saying? Your mission! So you said you're looking for information on someone really dangerous. How long you going to be around?"

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well, uh, hmm...in this situation...I...

Lym stepped forward and knocked firmly on the door several times.

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Re: No shame in my game

The door, responding to Lym's violent knocking, vibrated furiously. Without warning, a loud voice that could only be coming from one place screamed at the seer. "Quit hitting me so HARD! What do I look like, a TARGET for BASHING PRACTICE? HUH!?" As if to further display its rage, the door's handle began to rattle violently before vanishing into the woodwork with a slurping sound as if the door were made of quicksand. "Yeah, that's what you get for beating on me! How'd you like it if I punched you in the nose because I wanted to pry you open and see what was inside, HUH? Rude sons of bitches!"

As if in response, somewhere down the hallway, something exploded, and there was the faint scent of tuna fish.

A heavy sigh came from inside the office, followed by the sound of an aging male voice. "Damned students," groaned the voice tiredly. "They enchanted my door again. Always causing trouble..." With a few squeaks of protest, the door swung open, revealing a man in elaborately decorated midnight blue robes. He was of average height, with dark hair accented by possibly intentional greyish streaks, the lines in his face telling the story of a man who constantly struggled against any number of complicated stresses. Around his neck, he wore a large number of necklaces, the most prominent a silver amulet adorned with an embossed version of the Gunnir Academy crest--a crossed sword and wand over an open book.

James blinked. "You're Archmagus Wray? It's a pleasure to meet you, sir! I've heard quite a lot about you...for a human, you're supposed to be an exceedingly accomplished mage. I am honored." He extended a hand, hoping Wray would take the cue. Staring at James quizzically, the archmage reached out and shook the young man's hand, obviously somewhat taken aback at the unusual greeting.

The half-incubus raised an eyebrow, frowning disapprovingly. "I'm not impressed. You have a very weak handshake." Archmagus Wray shook his head quickly and surveyed the audience before him, releasing James' hand.

"I am going to choose to ignore you for a moment," Wray stated, glaring pointedly at James. "Who are you people, and what brings you to Gunnir?"

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Re: No shame in my game

"We are on business from the capital," said Kei. "I am Se-Kei
Seigi.

"We would like to ask you a few questions, if you do not mind. May we come in?"

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good ol' Brian

Lym shot James a Look.

It occurred to him to sweep his hair back out of his face -- some of it stuck behind his ears, plenty more escaped back into his peripheral vision, and a few individual hairs stuck out at odd angles -- and he extended his hand as well.

"Ignore that one," he said, pointing to James with the thumb of the hand Eve was taking care of.

"We're on a mission from Doma, concerning a former student of the school here. Some of this is going to have to go unexplained...but the important details are that there is a very dangerous woman named Dawn Valerian, a psionicist who specializes in mind control, and we need to stop her from doing some very bad things.

"Essentially, we're not entirely sure what we're looking for, but we thought Gunnir would be a good place to go for information. Not only because she was here for a while, but because, you know, it's Gunnir. I can't imagine how incredible your libraries must be..."

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Re: good ol' Brian

Archmagus Wray's face hardened. "Dawn Valerian...yes. I know of her. I must admit that my knowledge of her as a student is fairly limited, because I never taught any of her classes. It seems her preferred discipline was a little outside my specializations. Nevertheless, I am familiar with her." He raised an eyebrow, sighing heavily. "Come in, if you wish."

He stepped back into the office, giving the group a clearer view of the room. Vast quantities of books filled shelves that lined the entire back wall of the spacious room, and an enormous mahogany desk covered in arcane trinkets and tomes stood out as the primary furnishing. The left wall was almost entirely comprised of extraordinarily ornate stained glass windows, a prismatic array of glass panes that depicted the founder of Gunnir, Julius Hawthorne III, standing alongside a lance-wielding knight mounted on a silver dragon. Unlike General Silvar's office, Archmagus Wray kept things relatively neat and organized, but he likely owned just as many strange and unusual magical devices, and probably owned several times as many books. At a glance, it was obvious that there was definitely a trend as far as the contents of wizard's offices.

"Go on. Sit down." Wray grinned slightly as he waved a hand, and a few glowing masses materialized on the floor space in front of the wizard's desk, quickly forming themselves into comfortable looking overstuffed couches. "That is, if you have time. Can I offer you all a drink? From the looks of it, you might need one." James raised an eyebrow, smirking in response, and opened his mouth as if to make some sort of statement, but Wray raised a finger, nodded his head, and James's words, whatever they would have been, were stillborn at his lips, never escaping into the air. "Shut up. You remind me of Archmagus Silvar, back when he was a child. He grew out of it, but in his youth, he never could discern when no one wanted to hear his opinions."

"As I said," continued Wray as James twitched visibly, gritting his teeth. "I know a little about her. What, exactly, are you interested in finding out?"

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muaha

Lym quirked an eyebrow.

"Well, I'd be interested in advice on killing her, but my friends here are, strangely enough, apparently more gentle than I in circumstances such as these.

"One problem we have is that she's got a bunch of kids working for her. Dangerous kids. Kids that do bad, violent things at her bidding. She's got 'em brainwashed, and it's not all psionics. We're in the market to nonviolent solutions to that particular problem."

He scowled. "Also, we have information that she may try to pull a Mind Seed on Eve here..." he motioned to the psionicist sitting next to him, still clutching his hand true to her word. "I don't know if you're familiar with the technique, but essentially a psion can use it to make a copy of their personality in somebody else. It's, um, pretty fuckin' nasty. We need protection from that. Really good protection."

"Everybody else is free to voice their concerns..." he motioned to Kei and Eve, studiously ignoring the muted half-succubus.

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Re: good ol' Brian

Kei flicked her ear in annoyance at Lym's comment. Hmph. Just because I don't want to harm the children doesn't mean I care about what happens to Dawn...

However, she quickly set aside those feelings. There were more important matters to discuss.

"We also need any information you have on why she joined Elaith. I assume you have heard of him?"

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Re: No shame in my game

"Probably not too long." Stephan says, realizing if this story got any bigger, there'd be problems soon, "It looks like he's not here, so we may have to head further north."

This, at least, was somewhat true. If it seemed like helping Joss directly would only be a dead-end, or worse trouble from a certain psionicist, they'd probably just go North to meet up with the group at Gunnir. That aside, he tries to keep the conversation going.

"So, I take it you may not be hanging around here much longer either?"

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Re: No shame in my game

Joss shrugged. "I don't know. I mean... I don't have to be back anytime soon, but there's not a lot here I need to take care of."

He looked out over the water. "You know, I used to play here when I was little. Since I left to go get that headband back... it's just not the same. Sure it's fun and all. But I've just got this feeling like I have somewhere else to be. I've got more to do than play on a beach." He scratched the top of his head and sighed. "I think I should go back."

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Re: No shame in my game

Stephan raises an eyebrow at the final comment.

"Head back where, back to Doma?"

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Re: No shame in my game

"No, not for now. Back to the others." Joss opened his mouth to say more, but snapped it shut suddenly. "Nowhere in particular."

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Re: No shame in my game

"...I see." Stephan comments. From the response, Joss was probably told the same thing the other kids were. Talking to Stephan was a 'Bad Thing'.

It was risky, but he'd probably need to drop some of his pretense for being in Riva soon. Otherwise, he'd know just as much leaving as he did coming here. So, Stephan says something that could either bring forth informative discussion... or blow up in his face.

"...I get the impression, from you and your friend Rendon back in Doma, that Dawn doesn't like me very much." he tells Joss.

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Re: No shame in my game

"She..." Joss was apparently trying very hard to be fair to both sides here. "I don't think so. She doesn't trust you because you're with the... you know."

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Re: No shame in my game

Once again an eyebrow raised at Joss' comment, Stephan slightly confused at what the kid was implying.

"...with what, exactly?" he asks.

Kai

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Re: No shame in my game

He sighed heavily. "She says if you and your friends know anything about us, you'll betray us again. She says you came last time because you wanted to take everyone back home." He scowled at the idea. "That you'll try and get information by being nice, and if that doesn't work... you know. Stuff."

His brow furrowed in thought. "I don't know how much of that is just Dawn worrying about us. But there's no denying that right after you left the estate, it was totally trashed. By someone. Someone who didn't know about it before." He glared at Stephan accusingly. "Why did you guys do that?"

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Re: No shame in my game

Now Stephan was confused, paticularly about the blame for their home being destroyed. He also saw how much Joss was losing some trust for the swordmage. That much was obvious from his last comments. Figuring he'd pushed his luck this far trying to excuse his presense here, Stephan decides to lay his cards on the table. At least, somewhat for now.

"...in a way, she was right." Stephan starts to explain, sitting himself down next to the kid on the sand, "We were hired to find all of you. The reason we were given, was that you were all stolen away from your homes. When we got there, and saw that none of you were actually harmed or being kept there, we thought you were Ok. That's why we left."

He gives Joss a moment to process this information, then continues.

"As far as your home being burned down, I honestly don't know how it happened. We didn't even know about it, until were asked to head back out to investigate it. So, unless our employer is holding back a fuckton of information from us, I'm as much in the dark on that as you are."

He waits again for Joss to think for a moment, as he thinks to himself as well.

He figured the 'stuff' Joss alluded to meant torture, beatings, or other methods to make him 'talk'. Which Stephan had done himself in the past to get information. He was tempted to flat out tell Joss he wouldn't do such a thing.

...But how true was that? He wanted to give the kid a shot at a future... but if he wouldn't take it, would he resort to that? To save them from a future of walking corpses blanketing Igalia? He thought this over, as he waited for Joss to respond.

Kai

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Re: No shame in my game

Joss narrowed his eyes and carefully examined Stephan's expression. "You didn't do it? She says you did." He sighed and sat back down on the sand. "She says you did. But maybe it was someone else." He ran his hand through his hair, then drew his arm away. He stared at the burned skin of his hand. "I wasn't as mad about the estate. Even if it was you. I was just mad because you guys seemed really nice. Then all of a sudden we had to go because you were going off to tell the Domans about us. As soon as we're gone the estate gets gutted and burned. It just doesn't fit."

Joss pulled his arm back and tightened his fingers into rigid claws. Baring his teeth in frustration, he raked his hand across the sand. He threw the sand he was holding off to his left, not bothering to watch it hit the ground. He ran his dirty hand through his hair again, leaving sand to fall off his head onto his shoulders. He looked up at Stephan again.

"Fine. I believe you. Maybe you didn't do it. What do you want?"

Imposter Brit
Posts: 1698
(8/4/05 21:37)
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Re: No shame in my game

Stephan just sits there for a moment, then turns to face the ocean, watching the waves come in.

"Have you ever heard of a woman named Dia Rai?" Stephan says to Joss, still looking out to the ocean, "She was a merc, like I am. Still is from time to time. One of the few people I'd rather not cross, or you probably wouldn't wanna cross, let me tell you. She's always been brutally honest with me, even if I didn't like what she had to say. It's rare to find people who are that straight forward with you. Because of that, she's one of the few people in this world I respect a lot."

He picks up some sand, idly tossing it up into the air and watches as the wind carries it along for a bit.

"She also takes care of this kid, named Robert. Reminds me a lot of you, actually. Always talking about fighting monsters and being a big hero someday. And bringing his little pet dog around wherever he goes. Kinda reminds me of myself back in the day..."

He takes another handful of sand into the air for a ride, silent for minute or so this time. Then he continues.

"When we came back from our mission, to see what happened to your estate, we were told a building in Doma was on fire. After we went to check on it, I found out it was the place Dia works and lives in, with Robert. The Jade Dragon Inn."

He picks up more sand, tossing it up and to the side this time.

"I can't count how many times I've stopped in there for a pint to drink. Or the number of people I consider close friends who spend their evening there to talk and relax. I was bloody horrified. I honestly thought they were all dead in there. Especially my brother, Daniel, and my partner, Midoku. I wanted to find whoever the fuck did it, and find out why. And then two things happened. We saw a burnmark in the shape of a giant bird across the street..."

He turns to face Joss, his face oddly enough not full of anger, but sorrow and betrayal.

"...and then we saw you, looking on with glee in your eyes from the crowd."

He simply looks on, waiting for what Joss has to say.

Kai

The Mysterious Priest
Posts: 495
(8/4/05 22:02)
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when people run in circles it's a mad mad world

Joss tipped his head to the side slightly as Stephan spoke. Maybe none of this had actually occurred to the boy. He frowned and thought for nearly a full minute.

Myrnal stood at a distance, making it as obvious as possible that she had no intention of interfering with Stephan. She just watched.

Joss finally spoke. "Well, yeah. That was me. I know that it doesn't make any sense, and I don't expect you to understand. But I had to. It was important. Everything we've done is important. I wouldn't have burned it otherwise."

With one finger, Joss traced patterns like swirling smoke in the sand as he continued. "I wish I could tell you why. All I can say is that I wouldn't have done it if I hadn't known that there was some larger purpose. I wish I could tell you more, but I'm not allowed."

He smiled grimly. "I like fire as much as the next kid, but there's more than one reason to burn stuff. I don't do it anymore just because. Dawn says it's a waste of my powers. Maybe she's right. She's right a lot, I think."

He looked over to Stephan, "I guess my point is... I'm not trying to hurt people. But sometimes... when you have to do something, you do it."

Imposter Brit
Posts: 1699
(8/4/05 22:27)
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Re: when people run in circles it's a mad mad world

Stephan just sits there for a moment, then lets out a soft sigh.

"...now common Joss. I know you're smarter than this. Think for a moment. If I was sitting here, saying what you just said, only I told you I burned down the estate, what the hell do you think your reaction would be? What do you think my reaction is right now?"

Kai

The Mysterious Priest
Posts: 496
(8/4/05 23:19)
Reply | Edit

Re: when people run in circles it's a mad mad world

"I--" He let out the breath he was going to use to speak. "I would be confused. And I'd be sore about it. And I know you are, too."

He stared intently out onto the water. In the distance, bubbles rose to the surface of the water as it began to boil. Joss shook his head and put his face in his hands in frustration. "Agh! You're going to get me in trouble." The water roiled viciously for another few seconds and then suddenly stopped. "Fine. It doesn't matter now anyway, I guess."

He looked up and shrugged. "Fine. I burned down the inn, and that bird is a Phoenix. It stands for us, for all of us Dawn found. We had to burn it because she was dead once. The Domans killed her and--" He took a deep breath. "She was dead and the one who brought her back wanted it done. She needed our help. She chose me because I'm the best. At least, out of the kids. I don't know about Danwn or Glinss't."

"She needed our help. My help. And she's done so much for all of us. You said you talked to Rendon? I bet you thought he was a kinda high-strung, didn't you? You should have seen him before. He's mellowed out a lot because even though other people don't understand it, things are okay now. And they'll get better. It's because of her, 'cause she helped us out."

Edited by: Kai at: 8/4/05 23:26

Hyper-scientific Bishounen
Pharmacist Brian
Season III!
Posts: 3894
(8/5/05 1:18)
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Re: muaha

"Hmmm." Archmagus Wray scratched at his beard, considering the statements made by both Lym and Kei. "My knowledge of psionics is, unfortunately, fairly limited. I can send you to someone who does have vast knowledge about the subject, if you like. One of the teachers here, a specialist in the field. Psionics is not one of the most popular choices here for study, you see, but it is taught, and there are experts residing in these halls. Archmagus Malachi Lee is his name, and I can direct you to him."

The older gentleman sighed heavily, as though dredging up rough memories. "Elaith Thenswick. The almost-archmage. He was a student here, years ago, back when I was just becoming the head of the Gunnir council. His father was a member of the council and a powerful wizard in his own right, though he had a questionable reputation. I had the dubious honor of knowing him personally." Wray paused, shaking his head. "Archmagus Revan Thenswick was a very accomplished necromancer. That, in itself, is no sin. But he pursued necromancy to ends that even mages that were relatively neutral on the subject considered...questionable."

"Necromancy," he continued, "has always been a grey area among reputable wizards. Many consider it interesting, from a scholarly perspective, but most sane, well-adjusted wizards are opposed to the overt manipulation of the dead. It is not an inherently evil form of magic, because it is ultimately the responsibility of the caster to use his magic for good as opposed to evil. But some question its practical value. What 'good' can necromancy be put towards? What positive, proactive use is there for an art that is most commonly employed to raise armies of walking corpses?" Wray raised an eyebrow, scratching at his beard again and appearing somewhat lost in thought. "Nevertheless, I am lecturing you. You are not my students, and you are not here to listen to me rant about the ethics of magic."

"Archmagus Thenswick--I refer to the father, of course, not the son--was eventually removed from his position on the council. This was a few years before Archmagus Silvar first began to attend the Gunnir Academy, in case you wish to place the event on some sort of sequential timeline. This was partly due to various suspicions about his being a subversive, but it came to a head when his son was to be expelled. You see, Elaith was a very strange youth. He was very charming, to say the least, but there was always a strange air about him. Speaking with the boy always left me feeling a strange chill, and it was reported that small animals he touched spontaneously died. When he would walk across a field, he left footprints of withered grass, and flowers would wilt at his touch. There was no doubt that the boy carried an aura of death, and, like his father, he had a remarkable talent for necromancy."

Archmagus Wray cracked his knuckles noisily, twitched a little, and began to conjure up an image. It was the form of a man, dark-haired and dark-eyed, dressed from head to toe in black and silver. His hair was short and swept back from the front of his head neatly, and his piercing gaze was both intelligent and vaguely sinister. Most notable about the figure was the paleness of his skin, which was not simply white, but almost grey, resembling the color of ashes. "As you can see, he was arguably a handsome youth, although his pallor and the intensity of his stare set him apart as unusual. He was always very polite--perhaps too polite--but never failed to leave those who encountered him feeling uncomfortable. He was somewhat arrogant, but that is no sin among mages. Nor," he added with a slight chuckle, "is it terribly uncommon."

"As to why he was expelled, the reason is not terribly surprising. It partly had to do with complaints from another student, a female that claimed he had threatened to kill her. But more importantly," noted Wray, "it was due to his father. Archmagus Thenswick was attempting to organize some of his students in an effort to overthrow the council and turn Gunnir into a school for necromancy. It is not the first time similar things have happened, and it will likely not be the last. When he was removed from the council, Archmagus Thenswick chose to walk away in disgust, feigning innocence, rather than to fight. It is most likely a course of action that young Elaith disagreed with, to say the least. He hated the Gunnir council for exposing and removing his father, but he hated his father more for taking an action he viewed as a display of cowardice."

"Elaith remained at Gunnir for a short term after the removal of his father, but he was viewed with great suspicion. Eventually, he confided in the woman he had been...stalking, I suppose, is the only appropriate word...that he planned to kill the entire Gunnir council and remodel Gunnir to suit his own needs, mostly because he felt that the school was discouraging his...creativity. Civilized wizards were repulsed at the kinds of necromantic experimentation Elaith was willing to perform, and needless to say, the woman in question was more terrified than impressed." Wray chuckled a little at the thought of a young necromancer trying to seduce a woman by offering her zombie attendants. "To be completely honest, it baffles me how he survived. When he came to the council demanding that he be awarded the rank of Archmage for the creation of some truly horrific undead hybrids, his request was flatly denied. In a cold rage, he commanded his creations to attack the council, and during the battle, Elaith managed to flee. He was not seen again for some time."

"It would not surprise me," Wray mused, "to learn that Elaith still believed he deserved the recognition that the title of Archmage represents. He felt his creations were the work of a visionary, and that he was some sort of misunderstood, unappreciated genius. The rest of the world, the school in particular, viewed him as a monster--and still does. Whatever the explanation may be, Elaith always craved attention, recognition, and fame, and the world of civilized magic viewed his 'talents' as morally questionable, resulting in his being denied the recognition for brilliance he desired. I cannot imagine he found that acceptable."

Magnus de Silentio
You Tazered bear!
Bear takes 1 damage.
Bear eats you!
Posts: 134
(8/5/05 1:30)
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nice post. pretty big.

Lym nodded. "He sounds like a scary bastard. And Dawn's trying to bring him back from the grave. That's what she means to do by way of Eve, here. So it's in everybody's best interest, obviously, to make sure she doesn't get that chance."

Hyper-scientific Bishounen
Pharmacist Brian
Season III!
Posts: 3895
(8/5/05 1:39)
Reply

Re: nice post. pretty big.

Archmagus Wray nodded. "I am inclined to agree. For the sake of the world, it is most certainly beneficial that he stay dead. He was a most unsavory character, and he was able to pervert a few to follow him, but I cannot for an instant pretend that I understood his motivations. Archmagus Silvar tells me the entire purpose of his mad quest to conquer the world was to impress and win the affections of the very woman who he threatened years prior. This, however, is not something I have a great deal of knowledge about."

Imposter Brit
Posts: 1700
(8/5/05 8:20)
Reply

<-- Weee

Stephan lets out another sigh, before responding to Joss.

"You don't seem to be grasping the big problem here. I'm not questioning that Dawn's done some good for you. I can see that from how you guys control your powers now. But the problem here, Joss, is we have two desires that can't co-exist.

You want to help Dawn, which according to you means hurting a lot of people in Doma. Most likely, EVERYONE living in Doma.

And I can't allow that to happen. Almost everyone I give a rat's ass about lives or works there. People I consider friends, my partner, my brother and his wife, my little niece and nephew."

His look shifts slightly, from dissapointment to plain serious.

"If you were younger, I'd probably just haul your ass off right now. Because I'd figure, you're not old enough to realize what kinda crap she's having you do, or the results of those actions.

...But that's not the case. You are, as you said back when we defeated those giants, a man now. So I know you realize, that whatever decision you make, there may be terrible consequences. Consequences you'll have to live with for the rest of your life. At least, I hope so."

Stephan turns and starts toward Myrnal, briefly looking over his shoulder at Joss.

"I can't make your decisions for you, and I'm not going to try. But I will say this. Think very hard about what Dawn wants you all to do, and what'll happen to you all if she succeeds. Because right now, for me, what she wants means the deaths of my family and friends. So unless you know something that can allow her to attain her goal, and not get the ones I love killed... then we have nothing more to talk about."

He starts back toward Myrnal, watching her face closely for any reaction to Joss.

Kai

The Mysterious Priest
Posts: 497
(8/5/05 8:22)
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a post before the computer goes away

Eve carefully inspected the image of Elaith Thenswick before shaking her head sadly and looking away. "I can see why she left. She'd find him very..." She hesitated and swallowed once. "...interesting. I know her. She wouldn't be bothered by any of this. She'd be intrigued." She checked the image again as if to confirm her statement. Eve didn't say anything more, but looked away from Elaith to Lym and back to Elaith again, finally settling her gaze on the floor.

~~~~~~

Myrnal watched the boy with a look of mild puzzlement. She didn't make any move toward Joss, but was watching him at least as closely as Stephan was watching her.

Joss started to protest as Stephan walked away, but turned away toward the water. He growled in distress and grabbed the top of his head in both hands as there was a small explosion on the surface of the water he'd been boiling earlier.

"Damn it, Stephan! You're just trying to confuse me! I don't know what you want me to do!"

Edited by: Kai at: 8/5/05 8:50

Imposter Brit
Posts: 1701
(8/5/05 10:03)
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Re: a post before the computer goes away

"I'm not trying to confuse you. I'm just telling you how it is... and giving you a choice. That's a hell of a lot more than I'd give most people. Don't waste it."

With that, he finishes walking over to Myrnal, letting out another sigh.

"We might as well get going, if I can't get through to him then... well, I don't hold out much hope for anyone else either." he tells her, glancing back a Joss briefly, then back to her, "Question is... what to do now..."

Kai

The Mysterious Priest
Posts: 498
(8/5/05 15:09)
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the computer is staying!

Myrnal was silent a moment. "I don't know, Stephan. Look at him." She gestured toward the boy sitting by the water with his head in his hands. "I don't think you wasted your time. I think you were right before." She lowered her voice and spoke confidentially to Stephan. "Why do you think he's so confused? If you weren't making some impact, I think he'd have gone after you."

Joss stood abruptly and began to walk in the other direction, away from Myrnal and Stephan.

Myrnal watched him go. Joss didn't hesitate and he didn't look back. "If you want to go, I guess we just wait for the others to check back with us and they can send Eve to bring us to Gunnir."

Imposter Brit
Posts: 1704
(8/5/05 15:41)
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Re: the computer is staying!

Stephan watched him walking off down the beach, then nodded in response to Myrnal's question.

"Well then... I dunno about you, but I'm starving." he comments to her. He looks over to the town, trying to get an idea of where he could grab something to eat.

Kai

The Mysterious Priest
Posts: 499
(8/5/05 16:11)
Reply | Edit

Re: the computer is staying!

"Sure," Myrnal replied. She turned away from the water and toward the town. "Let's just head over and see what they've got for food." She headed toward the town just visible from the beach. She was frowning slightly, one hand idly tracing over the handles of her knives.

"What're you in the mood for?" She asked with about as little enthusiasm in her voice as humanly possible. "I know you had a couple this morning, but I've gone a long time without a drink. Think it's about time for one. Hope you don't mind."

Imposter Brit
Posts: 1706
(8/5/05 16:51)
Reply

Re: the computer is staying!

"Knock yourself out... well... not literally." Stephan tells her with a slight smirk, following her into town, "I'll just find whatever's serving something passable for food."

With that, he takes another look around for a place to grab a quick meal.

Kai

The Mysterious Priest
Posts: 501
(8/5/05 17:44)
Reply | Edit

Re: the computer is staying!

"Nah. I don't need to fuck myself up completely tonight. Last time I did that, the whole night was blacked out by a bottle of Valthka. No idea what went on. I don't think that would be practical right now."

As they turned onto the main road of the town, it was clear that this was no bursting metropolis. The town was small, barely above the designation of village. There were two or three places to eat on the main street. One was a family restaurant, which Myrnal bypassed because she was after a slightly more alcohol-themed eatery. She stopped in front of a public house called The Breakwater that had a large picture window in front. Inside, several men were sitting at a table playing a card game of some variety. One of the men had shoved to the side the remnants of his dinner, a plate covered in what were probably chicken bones.

"Well, where there're cards, there's booze." She pushed the door open and held it for Stephan to follow her in.

Imposter Brit
Posts: 1707
(8/5/05 18:21)
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Re: the computer is staying!

Stephan steps into the building, taking a quick scan of the place before he goes further inside.

Kai

The Mysterious Priest
Posts: 502
(8/5/05 20:26)
Reply | Edit

Re: the computer is staying!

As Stephan walked in the door, he was able to discern that while The Breakwater wasn't the most pristine place in the world, it wasn't a dive either. The guys playing poker at the table near the bar were in their late twenties and had obviously been drinking, but there were booths on both walls for people who were just there to eat. In the center of the room were a few scattered tables built for smaller parties of two or four, and there was a longer table against a far wall in case several people came in together. The bartender was a red-haired woman in her mid-thirties who kept a careful eye on the bar patrons.

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