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Nakibe
Mmmmm... Chaos Sandwich. ^_^
Posts: 974
(10/2/05 1:00)
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Everyone can love a Katar!
"Haven't seen Katar wielded in quite a while. Always thought they were a pretty nice weapon myself, but..." Damian gave a noncomittal shrug. "I turned out better with something a bit more simplistic, I guess. At least, if you can call one's fists that. Even so, I've always had a bit of a soft spot for a good Katar. I'm sure others might too."
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FF Fanatic 80 
Imposter Brit
Posts: 1794
(10/2/05 12:48)
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Re: Everyone can love a Katar!
"...I agree, they're nice weapons." Stephan adds in, joining the group with his breakfast and taking an available seat, "But only if you're pretty quick on your feet. Otherwise, you'd probably be better off with something else."
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Magnus de Silentio
You Tazered bear!
Bear takes 1 damage.
Bear eats you!
Posts: 171
(10/2/05 15:24)
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Everyone can love YOUR MOM.
Lym didn't have much to contribute to the conversation. He didn't know shit about magic -- much to his shame -- and he didn't know much about knives, either.
But really, it was a relief to him to have the group together and not be talking for once. To not be arguing with anybody. So he stayed quiet, and he enjoyed it.
Soon enough he would have to try to get some kind of plan out of these people, but why stress about it now?
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FF Fanatic 80
Imposter Brit
Posts: 1796
(10/5/05 18:34)
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Re: Everyone can love YOUR MOM.
"...now if you want something quick AND deadly..." Stephan continues, "Try facing a Nekonian good with clawed gloves. Good luck getting away from one without a serious wound, or you life sometimes."
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NebulaQueen
VACANT
Posts: 3047
(10/5/05 21:32)
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Re: Everyone can love YOUR MOM.
Kei nodded in response to Stephan. "I have not faced someone using those myself," she said, "but I have heard that they were quite dangerous to go against."
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Nakibe
Mmmmm... Chaos Sandwich. ^_^
Posts: 976
(10/5/05 22:28)
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Re: Everyone can love YOUR MOM.
"They can be, but personally I didn't find them quite as good as a pair of gauntlets. More protection for the arms too if you want to block a sword or something else similar." Somehow this shop talk, though inherently violent, was always a bit calming to Damian. If only for the moment.
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NebulaQueen
VACANT
Posts: 3051
(10/6/05 19:52)
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Re: Everyone can love YOUR MOM.
"True," Kei said, thoughtfully. "However, I think that it would be preferable to go without them. It is much easier to handle weapons that way. And as for those who just use gauntlets..." The nekojin shrugged, and continued. "Sometimes, a bit of distance between you and the opponent is a good thing."
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Nakibe
Mmmmm... Chaos Sandwich. ^_^
Posts: 983
(10/6/05 23:04)
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Re: Everyone can love YOUR MOM.
A wild grin crossed Damian's face at that comment. "Well, for that if you REALLY like close-range weapons you start learning tricks. Always good to have some of those no matter what you use."
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Magnus de Silentio
You Tazered bear!
Bear takes 1 damage.
Bear eats you!
Posts: 172
(10/7/05 0:47)
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Re: Everyone can love YOUR MOM.
Lym shrugged and looked around impatiently. He used his sense eye to amuse himself for a little while as he spoke -- checking out the weather, James' hair, and Eve's ass.
He pretended to be paying attention to the conversation, and even made his own contribution -- stepping on the end of Damian's paean to "tricks".
"I've got a crossbow," he said. "It's, uh...not great. Honestly I've killed two people with this so far. I try to stay out of this kind of situation, usually..."
He shrugged again. "This kind of work isn't really my style. After we're done with this mess, I think I'm going to camp out in the libraries here for a while and let myself just soak up the scene."
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Kai 
Robo-Kai
Posts: 683
(10/9/05 13:24)
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BROOM
"Yeah," Eve started, dropping her hand to the table with a dull thump. "Speaking of being done with this. This whole weapon talk thing is great and I like that we all seem to be getting along. But honestly. We have two options."
"Dawn knows that we're a problem now. So there's a good chance that she's going to come after us. More specifically, we know..." Eve's sentence lost some of its determined energy toward the end. "We know she'll be coming for me. So, we either wait for her to come to us, in which case we just sit around and do whatever the hell we want in the meantime, or we go after her. Breakfast has been awesome, but I think I have the right to be a little antsy here."
Myrnal nodded. "I guess we do have something she wants."
"Exactly," Eve replied. "However, we need to freaking pick one. We don't need some insane elaborate plan, because making insane elaborate plans is what keeps us from doing anything. I'm just tired of sitting, and I hope it's not just because it's my mind she's replacing. It would be nice if someone else thought that doing something about this would be a good idea."
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Archmage144 
Hyper-scientific Bishounen
Pharmacist Brian
Season III!
Posts: 4100
(10/9/05 13:32)
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Re: BROOM
"That," noted James, putting away his shiny knives, which were obviously a great distraction for most of the party, "is a brilliant idea, and I was just about to suggest it myself." He raised an eyebrow, glancing at his companions. "Look, this might sound crazy, but we do have to save the world, here, and it is certainly not going to save itself if we stand around deliberating how we'regoing to do it all day. I believe most of the major hurdles have been covered. Now is the time for action."
"There is one minor issue, however," he added, flicking his wings a bit. "I unfortunately have no idea where Dawn's base of operations is located. Does anyone else know, or know how we can find out? If we can get a location, Eve can take us close by via the most direct teleportation route possible and we can find a way in. In my time she and the others are using Gunnir as a base, but that obviously isn't the case now, so I don't know where to look. If you're looking for a plan, than I have something relatively simple but efficient in mind. The optimum situation here is to slip in relatively unnoticed while we create some sort of a diversion. She probably has a way to scan her base for intruders, and there are obviously guards, but if we can create a distraction that will at least preoccupy some portion of her resources, we should be set."
"This means, of course," continued James, "that we have to do something worthy of her attention outside her stronghold somewhere. To be quite honest, I am not the one to ask what will do that. But if anyone is skilled in illusion magic or has any other brilliant ideas, speak now. Perhaps you know how to lure her sights elsewhere, Eve?"
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NebulaQueen
VACANT
Posts: 3066
(10/9/05 18:00)
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Re: BROOM
"I think that her current stronghold might have some connection to her old master," said Kei. "Does anyone know about any places that would be important to the both of them?"
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Kai
Robo-Kai
Posts: 687
(10/9/05 18:07)
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Re: BROOM
"Last place they both were alive was on Ka'thalar. I don't know how attached she was to that place, but that's all I've got," Myrnal answered.
Eve shrugged. "I don't even care anymore. We either need to do something or decide we're not going to move until she moves first. At least either way we'll know what we're doing. As for what I could do to attract Dawn's attention...I don't know. She's the one who does most of the spying and mind-reading. Probably not much I could do to catch her eye unless she's already watching."
Edited by: Kai at: 10/9/05 18:11
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Magnus de Silentio
You Tazered bear!
Bear takes 1 damage.
Bear eats you!
Posts: 173
(10/9/05 19:31)
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Infodump.
[Lots of copying and pasting from a previous post to follow for everyone's convenience.]
Lym smiled. "I'm way ahead of you. Or at least, slightly ahead of you in certain ways."
He proceeded to describe the location of her house: She sleeps in her private chambers in a compound on the mountain range between Inustan and the Forbidden Plains. He also gave precise coordinates.
He then described her routine: She wakes. Bathes. Dresses. Eats breakfast with the children and her lieutenants. Leads the children in morning devotions. Meets with her lieutenants to discuss any problems or concerns they may have, or to potentially give them orders for the day.
Lunch with the children and her lieutenants. Afternoon devotions. Individual meetings with the children to discuss any problems they may have or to potentially give them orders. The afternoons don't follow a specific routine.
After that is dinner, free time for the children, and bedtime at a reasonable hour depending on the age/maturity of the child in question. Dawn usually goes to bed last. She's a light sleeper, and would rather stay up late than manage to get to sleep and be disturbed.
He described her security measures: She has a personal bodyguard, as well as the children and their guard as well. Her guard is a Yuan-ti named Glinss't. The children are guarded by a pixie named Danwn. Her house is also protected with various mechanical safeguards, more for tradition's sake than anything else. Who knows. Maybe it's a habit she picked up from her master, but in any case, it's not a safe location for people who are there without her consent.
"Also," he said, a little out of breath from the tremendous infodump and exhausted by the mental effort of recalling all these details, "in case anybody was wondering, the meaning of life iiiis: Figuring out the meaning of life. Which, since I figured it out, can apparently be taken as my having pretty much done everything important there is to do. And, hey, now that I've told you...well, you haven't figured it out, strictly speaking, but you're a lot closer. So we can all focus on other, less important, much more enjoyable things!"
He smirked playfully, but spoke with just enough seriousness to show that he meant it. He paused here, looking at something in the distance -- a little melancholy, perhaps. This was the first time he'd had a moment to really sit and think about that since the night before. It was, in a way, rather profoundly sad.
"Anyway, there's some info to get you all started. I've tried to come up with a good plan, but so far I haven't got anything I feel too good about. Is there anything anybody else wants to know? For a small fee I can track down lost loved ones, solve ancient mysteries, and find your lost housekeys."
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NebulaQueen
VACANT
Posts: 3069
(10/9/05 23:05)
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Re: Infodump.
"I think we should head there as soon as we can," said Kei. "She can not watch us all the time; we might be able to come up with a distraction."
"However..." she said, after a bit of a pause. "Help would be useful. If we could get some of the trained psionists here to come with us, we might be able to have a sharper edge, so to speak. If it can not be done, though, then we might as well leave now."
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Nakibe
Mmmmm... Chaos Sandwich. ^_^
Posts: 988
(10/10/05 0:18)
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Re: Infodump.
"Either way, anyone got a nice plan in mind already," asked Damian. "Looks like we'll need that. If not, then I'll go upstairs and retrieve the rest of my things."
You know, I have this feeling this is gonna be a long... HEY, STOP BOTHERING HIM. Awww... and I haven't even gotten to the FUN part yet. Damian shot a dirty look towards his familiar as it continued for a moment to make moose ears on Stephan's shadow. But after a moment, it crept slowly back towards its master. Maybe it HAD gone a bit too far.... or maybe he just wasn't subtle enough.
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FF Fanatic 80
Imposter Brit
Posts: 1799
(10/10/05 18:37)
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Re: Infodump.
"Well... one problem I'm seeing here, is that if we need to hit Dawn by surprise, we need to wait until she's busy." Stephan thinks out loud. For some reason, he shoots a glare toward something on the floor for a few seconds, then blinks and composes himself to continue.
"Unfortunately for us, it seems to only happen when she's instructing the little pryomaniacs-to-be. So, do we hit her then and deal with the kids defending her, or try another time when she may be keeping tabs on us?"
Stephan rubs at his temple in fustration for a moment.
"Hell, she could be right now for all we know."
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Kai
Robo-Kai
Posts: 694
(10/11/05 22:52)
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Re: Infodump.
Eve sighed. "Look. It's nice that everyone has the sense to be worried now. But if we spend the next gods-only-know-how-long dithering around we won't get anything done and we won't be any use to anyone. So... Damian, you should probably just go ahead. I'm sure when you get back we won't have decided anything worth missing."
"If I had to suggest anything, and apparently I do, I would just throw out the idea that maybe we ought to deal with the other adults in this whole cult thing before we worry about the kids. Take out the leadership. That does two things. First, it leaves the kids with fewer people to push them into fighting us. Second, it leaves Dawn with fewer people left to eventually defend her."
Eve continued. "Now, while Lym is certainly the guy who knows things, there are other things that we know as well. One, she had that little spot of property over by wherever, even if it's been trashed. Two. Given number one, there might be information at the estate that could be useful. It's also less likely to be guarded than her super villain evil base of darkness." Myrnal smirked at this description, but didn't comment. "So. Given one and two, how about another. I realize I'm probably in the minority in that I haven't actually been to this place, but if no one has any objection, it might be a good idea to start there."
Meanwhile, Archmagus Bailey conjured himself what might have been some kind of mousse, accompanied by a tasteful flower arrangement that was highly improbably from a botanical standpoint. It was possible those weren't even real flowers.
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NebulaQueen
VACANT
Posts: 3085
(10/11/05 23:17)
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Re: Infodump.
"When we were there last, there was nothing we could find," Kei said. "However, we might be able to discover something we overlooked earlier...like information on those demons she uses as gaurds.
"As for a time where she would be busy," she continued, with an unconcious tail flick, "we might be able to interrupt her in between individual meetings with the children."
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Nakibe
Mmmmm... Chaos Sandwich. ^_^
Posts: 991
(10/12/05 12:41)
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Long Post of Laziness. >:{
"Well, then. Let me get going already." And with that, Damian got up from the table and started towards the room.
Hey, if you don't mind, I'm just gonna stay here. You know, hold down the fort and You're coming with ME. Awwww.... Sometimes his shadow could be a real pain in the ass. In the meantime, the walk gave him time to get into the proper mindset. There were butterflies, but nothing more than he got every time he went out on a clearly dangerous mission.
Of course, it helped to NOT think about the kids. Kids who were probably sitting around with their only thoughts towards protecting their benifactor. Trying to figure out ways to use their abilities to please that man...
Damian shook his head. Reminiscing about the past definitely wasn't going to help him change the present. However, getting his "work" chain shirt as well as his "weapons belt", which held only two things : His gauntlets.
Looking at the pair of gauntlets... one silvered and set with a single blue gem, and the other painted dark and seeming to suck in the light... Damian had to wonder how much use they would see in the near future.
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Magnus de Silentio
You Tazered bear!
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Bear eats you!
Posts: 174
(10/12/05 22:06)
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Hm.
Lym shrugged. "Sure, let's go. Let's stop worrying so much and just get this fucking done. Incidentally, as I said before, she does come down there sometimes. If we could catch her at a time like that, it would be extremely fortuitous. Regardless: I like Eve's idea!"
He stood up in a rare show of deciveness.
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Kai
Robo-Kai
Posts: 698
(10/13/05 12:32)
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Re: Hm.
"Well," Eve said. "Let's wait long enough for Damian to get back with his familiar or whatever, someone can give me a specific location, and I'll take us out." She stopped, pulled a strand of hair out of her face, and laughed. "You know, with this many people, I'd probably be better off taking you through the plane of dreams. I know I always warn you guys before we teleport, but the plane of dreams is a little weird. I'll wait until Damian gets back to go over all that."
Myrnal replied, "Oh, fuck. This'll be interesting."
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FF Fanatic 80
Imposter Brit
Posts: 1801
(10/13/05 15:43)
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Re: Hm.
Stephan raises an eyebrow at this, looking somewhat concerned at Eve's suggested travel route.
"...you want to take us through WHAT, now?" he asks her.
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Archmage144
Hyper-scientific Bishounen
Pharmacist Brian
Season III!
Posts: 4111
(10/13/05 15:51)
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Re: Hm.
James blinked. He had studied a little bit of magic in his time, obviously, and though a lot of what he could do was a blessing granted to him by his demonic racial background, there was always the possibility that someone in an arcane or psionic field would mention something that he had never heard of. This was definitely one of those times.
"You want to take us where? I believe I heard the words 'plane of dreams,' and I am of the impression that unless that plane serves as some sort of connection or world nexus that we are probably make an enormous detour. Why do we have to go to a completely different, irrelevant plane, exactly? And how long are we going to be there?" The half-incubus' wings buzzed impatiently as he spoke, as if he were edgy and ready to take some sort of action.
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Kai
Robo-Kai
Posts: 702
(10/13/05 16:13)
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Re: Hm.
Eve sighed. "Normally it would be a detour. Normally it would be an outlandish way to get around the comparatively minor effort of teleportation. However, I can only drag so many people across so many planes to transport everyone around. The plane of dreams is just kind of an amorphous reality created by the stuff in people's heads. It also, for reasons that admittedly make no fucking sense, can function as a way to shorten travel distances. For every minute you spend there, you can displace yourself in this world by about five miles. So, it would take us a little over an hour to get from Gunnir to an area just past Doma capital."
She paused and checked the door, waiting for Damian. "I'll just tell him again when he gets back. Standard dream-travelling-warning. Remember when I told you that if you somehow let go of me when we're teleporting you could potentially get separated from the group? This is where shit like that actually counts. We'll be there longer, so it's easier to just forget you need to stay together. I've seen people wander off from their group, wander into someone's private dreams by accident, and then wander themselves right into oblivion when the dreamer wakes up."
"Also," She continued, with a pointed glance at Lym. "Don't touch anything, or talk to anything, or acknowledge it at all for the most part. Sometimes the plane of dreams is boring and if that's the case this time I'm not worried. Sometimes there's weird crap that might tempt you to check it out. Don't. This means you, Lym. I'm going to be really pissed if you wander off and get eaten by something just because you saw a giant stick of butter molded to look like the elemental lord of fire surrounded by flying lights as it recites obscure Elven philosophy at you and possibly does some variety of folk dance. Curiosity's no excuse, okay?"
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NebulaQueen
VACANT
Posts: 3096
(10/13/05 16:34)
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Re: Hm.
"I do not like the sound of this place," Kei said, shaking her head. "I will go with you no matter what is decided, but I think it would be best to stick with teleportation. Perhaps you could transport part of the group, and come back for the rest?"
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Nakibe
Mmmmm... Chaos Sandwich. ^_^
Posts: 993
(10/13/05 17:49)
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Re: Hm.
Fully ready now, Damian made his way through the halls as quickly and as silently as possible, his mind training itself slowly to the task at hand. Soon enough he arrived back in the cafeteria, mildly glad that apparently the others hadn't thought him TOO disturbing to take along.
"Well, I'm ready now," said he, adjusting the pack on his back and the makeshift "holsters" for his gauntlets so that they hung JUST right on his waist, underneath his coat. Hopefully the only things that most people would notice about them was a slight ominous gleam, if it came to that.
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Magnus de Silentio
(10/13/05 23:04)
Reply
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Re: Hm.
Lym rolled his eyes at the cat-genderindeterminatepronoun.
"Come on," he said, "if you can't take a little trip through a slightly, vaguely dangerous place for the sake of seeing some crazy shit, I don't know what you're doing in this line of work. Eve's the travel expert, let's just trust her and get a move on.
Unless you'd all like to have a summit on whether or not breathing and having a pulse is wise at this juncture."
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FF Fanatic 80
Imposter Brit
Posts: 1802
(10/14/05 14:53)
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Re: Hm.
Stephan didn't like the sound of this 'Dream Plane' one bit, though he could somewhat understand Eve's logic for this.
Any kind of long-distance travel via magic required a great deal of effort on the caster's part. Something Midoku was all too willing to remind him, when they needed to travel a long distance in a short time. Considering she was their only other line of defense against this psionics stuff, in that light he could see it being a viable alternative.
...Still, this seemed to involve a LOT of unnecessary chance. Was it worth Eve saving some of her power, to put ALL of them at risk in a unknown, chaotic plane?
He imagines the group walking into someone's dream, just as the dreamer's child starts crying loudly.
Thus the person dreaming wakes up, sending the whole group into oblivion. All because a little tyke cried for their mommy.
...No, he didn't like this idea one bit, and spoke up to say as much.
"So, let me get this straight. You want to send us all to an unstable, chaotic plane, where bloody hell knows what could pop into existance. Which ALSO has the fun possibility, of randomly wiping us out of existance if someone wakes up."
He just stares at Eve, his face a mixture of confusion and irritation as he continues.
"...And the only benefit you've brought up so far, is that you won't wear yourself out as much. Unless you can name a few other damn good reasons, there's no way in hell I'm doing this."
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Kai
Robo-Kai
Posts: 706
(10/14/05 15:07)
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Re: Hm.
Before Eve answered Stephan and Kei's concerns, she repeated her disclaimer to Damian. When she was done she turned to the others.
"I understand your concern, guys. It's really not so bad if you know what you're doing. Which I do. You guys haven't been there, so I'm giving you the standard warning. Because I've been there several times, I know that there are certain pathways that are pretty damn consistent within the plane. Yes, if you're not careful or don't know where the path is... sure. You could end up in a private dream and be quite probably fucked. That's what I'm here for. I wouldn't ask you guys to do this by yourselves."
She took a deep breath, managing to contain her irritation rather well, but not entirely. "Teleporting back and forth and back and forth is usually something I'm willing to do. I actually kind of enjoy it. The thing that I'm worried about is that we'll somehow end up charging into my sister's stronghold after I'm wiped out from getting you there and back and there and back and there again. Don't get me wrong, Damian. I'm glad you're here and I don't mind carrying an extra person or two. But! I'd rather not be more or less defenseless because someone else is scared of extraplanar travel. I'm sure you'd all rather I be worth something for the rest of the day as well."
Myrnal replied to her with a shrug. "Well Eve, if you're going to take responsibility, you go ahead. It's your ass you're risking too. I take some comfort in knowing that if anything happens to the rest of us, we'll likely be taking you with us when we die."
"...Yeah... Whatever makes you... feel better. Anyway. Are you guys all right to go? Or would you rather walk?"
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Archmage144
Hyper-scientific Bishounen
Pharmacist Brian
Season III!
Posts: 4119
(10/14/05 15:12)
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Re: Hm.
"Walk? No thanks. I think I can handle myself in a big, crazy, extraplanar dream realm. Trust me, I have a lot of faith in my ability to survive in weird situations. If I have to hold your hand to keep myself from wandering off into someone's flan-filled nightmares..."
Which will probably be my own, someday, James mused, silently...
"...I can handle that. We should do this in the most efficient manner possible."
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Nakibe
Mmmmm... Chaos Sandwich. ^_^
Posts: 998
(10/14/05 15:20)
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Re: Hm.
"Haven't made plans to die just yet myself," Damian said with a chuckle. "And I suppose that, if this is the price of being safe after we get there..." His shrug said pretty much all that he could express at the moment. This dream plane business was all because of him, in a sense, so he felt a little guilty by making things more complicated inadverdently. But a few bad dreams couldn't stop him from at least trying to accomplish his mission.
"Besides, it's not really much more dangerous than everything else we intend to do, is it?"
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FF Fanatic 80
Imposter Brit
Posts: 1804
(10/14/05 15:49)
Reply
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Re: Hm.
Stephan glances around the group, then lets out an exasperated sigh. Apparently, they were going, whether he liked it or not.
"...fine, whatever. Anything else you'd care to warn us about then? I'd like to avoid having '...oh I should have mentioned earlier' moments, if you don't mind." Stephan says to Eve.
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NebulaQueen
VACANT
Posts: 3102
(10/15/05 0:47)
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Re: Hm.
Damien did have a point; this whole thing was a risky venture, to say the least. And if this was the best way for their guide to conserve her energy, so be it. However, that didn't mean that Kei had to like it. She couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something about this Dream plane that made her fur stand up straight.
She sighed. Now wasn't the time for small fears and worries to get in their way. They had a job to do, and Kei would be damned before she gave up before it was done.
"Tell us what we have to do, then" she said, after Stephan had asked his question. Now all there was to do was wait for more information, and leave.
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Kai
Robo-Kai
Posts: 712
(10/15/05 18:40)
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We can't stop here. This is bat country.
"No. Same deal as before. Stay with me. It's just more important now than it was before. This isn't difficult. Not for you, at least. So, everyone grab on. You know how this works by now."
Once everyone had found their way into an organization that connected them all to her or to each other, Eve pulled them through reality into what could not be mistaken for anything but the plane of dreams.
They touched down on a rope bridge which faded into a floating sandy pathway in the middle of its path over a rather ordinary-looking river. Eve led them the last couple of feet over the bridge to the land on the other side. Ahead of them and running along the river was a rather ordinary-looking stand of trees. In the woods were a few humanoids that looked to be made entirely of constantly-twisting lengths of wire. Walking along the river line, the party passed a jar full of mermaids. The aquatic ladies smiled and waved at them.
"Don't worry about them. They're not real, I guarantee it," Eve assured them.
The mermaids pouted and ignored the nomad, waving coquettishly at the gentlemen in the party. Myrnal winked back with a grin. They giggled.
Hiding in the trees past the mermaids was a huge bird with human faces instead of feathers. It stared with large eyes at the party as they passed by. It looked at each person as if it knew them. It's possible that if anyone took long enough to stare at the feathers they might see an unsettling collection of people. Strangers, loved ones, even themselves depending on their individual dispositions. It spread its wings and shook some feathers to the ground. These stretched and formed into humanoid shapes before wandering off into the woods. It continued to watch the party quietly until they were out of view.
Eve jerked her head in the direction of the wandering feather people. "Those people you see are figments. They're in everyone's dreams. Depending on how the dreamer sees them, they might be almost real. They don't tend to think very well, and don't like to be told they aren't real. You should probably ignore them as well."
She got them to a shallow part of the river bank and stopped at the edge. "All right. The borders are the weirdest part since they are closer to the semi-conscious areas. This makes them more unstable. We're going to leave so that things will make more sense. Is everyone okay so far?" As Eve finished her question, a colorful school of fish floated by in midair behind her head. It's unlikely she noticed, but there were a lot of fish. Some of them were very shiny and glittered a bit in the inconsistent light of the plane's borderlands.
Edited by: Kai at: 10/15/05 18:51
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Archmage144
Hyper-scientific Bishounen
Pharmacist Brian
Season III!
Posts: 4128
(10/15/05 19:12)
Reply
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Re: We can't stop here. This is bat country.
"That," noted James, as he had nothing more intellectual to say about the whole affair, "is a lot of fish. Can we please get out of bizarro dream land now?"
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Nakibe
Mmmmm... Chaos Sandwich. ^_^
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(10/15/05 21:24)
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Re: We can't stop here. This is bat country.
The large bird disturbed Damian more than anything else so far. Something about the faces in the feathers was vaguely familiar, and somewhat frightening because of it. Certainly no one that he knew from HERE. But thinking that only made Damian more uneasy, as most people that he knew from back home would want him dead about now. Yes, definitely this made it a good idea to hold Myrnal's hand a bit tighter in this situation, and keep oneself facing forwards.
... okay, I have to admit, I don't like this pla... What the HELL are you doing? Weeee're OFF to see the WIZARD!!!
Annoying as it may have been at the moment, his familiar's singing DID help somewhat.
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FF Fanatic 80
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(10/16/05 0:14)
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Re: We can't stop here. This is bat country.
Eve only had to see the look on Stephan's face, to realize his answer.
No, he was not Ok with this, at all, and the look he shot back made that perfectly clear, as far as he was concerned.
"Let's just get the hell through here and out." he mutters.
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Nakibe
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(10/16/05 2:21)
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Re: We can't stop here. This is bat country.
"I'm starting to agree with Stephan. This place is bringing back memories. And not the fun kind, either. The sooner we get through here the better" Damian said, his usually cool composure visibly shaken a bit. It didn't help that his mind had finally supplied a source for those familiar faces in the "feathers" of that bird : People he'd killed in the past.
Nothing like a trip down memory lane to make you wish you'd never left home.
This DEFINITELY made keeping a tight grip on the others a good idea.
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Magnus de Silentio
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(10/16/05 14:39)
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Psh.
Lym chuckled at his co-workers. Or whatever.
"I can't believe you guys...Eve here takes you to see some grade A crazy shit -- she lets you explore the world of dreams while you're at least ostensibly conscious, and you let it get to you? You let it freak you out? It's a good thing none of you are psions...twisted shit like this is our bread and butter."
He had been looking at everything very curiously for the whole walk so far. The bird had been mildly unsettling -- he saw the few people he'd killed in it, as well as family members he'd fallen out with, etc. -- but that was more of a curiosity than anything. He found it interesting that there were such things in dream-stuff as required your interaction, your participation. When they went away, he wondered, what would it look like? Was it terrorizing some poor dreamer?
He wondered if the fish floating behind Eve would make music if he touched them. If they would feel cold or warm against his fingers. But he resisted the urge.
"Hell," he said, "I fight covered in a transluscent goo for my own protection. You want freaky, try wearing one of those."
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NebulaQueen
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(10/16/05 18:14)
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Re: We can't stop here. This is bat country.
Kei shuddered when she saw the bird; it was one thing to have memories of the people one knew, but it was something completely different to see these people fall off and begin wondering around. However, despite this, the dream world was almost...pleasant, odd as it was.
It's like something from one of the stories I heard when I was a child.... she thought to herself. Which, she supposed, made the bird and its bizarre offspring the bogeymen parents would tell children about to make them behave.
She began to watch the fish floating behind Eve; there was something oddly comforting about them. They were ultimately unimportant, though, and Kei took her attention away from them and directed it towards their guide. "I am fine so far," she said, "but out of curiousity...where will we be when we leave this place? Near the old house, I assume?"
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Kai
Robo-Kai
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(10/16/05 22:02)
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Re: We can't stop here. This is bat country.
Myrnal replied, "Oh, I'm fine." She glanced back at the jar of scantily clad mermaids and back again to Eve. "No problems here."
"Well, no one seems to have sustained any lasting psychological damage. This is always nice," Eve decided. "However, in the interests of getting things done I'll take us a little further in. The path we'll be on for the majority of the journey will be much more stable than this. One of the natives showed it to me a long time ago, so it's no problem. You guys mentioned the old place when we first, um..." She faltered a bit. "When you found us and told us about my sister. So... that's the destination. You guys look like you're ready to head out anyway."
She led them down to the river's edge. Her feet didn't make ripples in the water and neither did anyone else's. Nor did anyone's feet get wet. In fact, there probably wasn't any actual water there in the first place. She led them down the center of the river and seemed to disappear rapidly under the water as if the bottom were sloping down beneath her. She walked on confidently, and as the others reached her location they found that under the surface of the water was not a river bed or even more water.
Beneath the water was a landscape of stalagmites and high ceilings that seemed to be built entirely of salt grains with some larger crystals for structural or aesthetic purposes. The only real way to tell it was salt was that the cave network smelled a little like the ocean. The odor of their surroundings wasn't overpowering (possibly because the air was so dry), and was accompanied by the sound of the river above them rushing onward along its imaginary path.
The caves seemed to be deserted, and their footsteps didn't seem to disturb the shallow drifts of salt on the floor. All in all, this particular pathway was serene, peaceful, and made of sodium chloride.
Eve spoke quietly, her voice echoing slightly off the walls. "We'll be in here the rest of the trip. You should still stay together and all that, but if nothing harassed us on the border we're probably fine to relax until we're out."
Edited by: Kai at: 10/16/05 22:03
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Nakibe
Mmmmm... Chaos Sandwich. ^_^
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(10/16/05 22:22)
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Re: We can't stop here. This is bat country.
"... somehow I'm not comforted by that." was Damian's dry response. But the caves were nice enough so far. A bit odd, but nice enough. "While I'm thinking about it, does this cave lead to a seaside dream? Somehow I can see that as fitting."
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Kai
Robo-Kai
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(10/16/05 22:26)
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Re: We can't stop here. This is bat country.
Eve thought a moment before she responded. "Sometimes it does, I think. Sometimes it leads other places. I don't really know where it's intended to lead now, since I never felt the need to wander off after it. I generally don't try to go anywhere without a very specific location in mind. Good way to get lost."
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Nakibe
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(10/16/05 22:28)
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Re: We can't stop here. This is bat country.
"I imagine, though, that sometime getting lost in someone else's dream might be incredibly entertaining. You know, assuming you can be sure of getting back home afterwards."
Now that the scenery wasn't as disturbing to Damian, he found himself once again somewhat interested in this place. Even so, he still had to wonder if this wasn't a bad idea.
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FF Fanatic 80
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Posts: 1808
(10/17/05 0:20)
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Brain = stalling x.x
Stephan, for the most part, was keeping quiet. He had little to add to the conversation, as he could care less about the 'mysteries' and 'awe' of the place.
That, and the site of the many-faced bird earlier wasn't helping, the mercenary trying to ignore the memories said faces conjured in his mind.
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NebulaQueen
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(10/17/05 23:09)
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Re: We can't stop here. This is bat country.
"If travelling through here requires dreams," said Kei, "then I wonder who's dream this is." Despite Eve's explanation, she was still a bit lost when it came to the workings of this strange place.
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Archmage144
Hyper-scientific Bishounen
Pharmacist Brian
Season III!
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(10/18/05 23:01)
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Re: We can't stop here. This is bat country.
"I get the impression that we're in some sort of relatively stable area of the dream plane that exists more-or-less permanently as opposed to being someone's transient dream that will vanish when they wake up." James shrugged as he added his bit to the conversation, attempting to theorize about the nature of the dream plane.
"Then again, that brings out another interesting idea. What if there are more stable portions of the dream plane that only exist because of some creatures that are locked in perpetual slumber? They sleep forever, or at least forever by our standards, or perhaps just for exceedingly long stretches of time, creating the islands in the shifting currents of the dreaming..."
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Kai
Robo-Kai
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(10/18/05 23:20)
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Re: We can't stop here. This is bat country.
Eve turned to address James over her shoulder. "That's actually a really good question. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be the one to ask about that. You'd have to talk to a pattern watcher about it, and I doubt if they'd even have much to offer as an answer."
She turned back forward to keep an eye on their progress but continued talking. "Pattern watchers are the people who would know the most about this plane. They're part of a native race called the Goccio, and it's their job... well, to notice things. The Goccio know nothing of any plane but this one, but they believe very strongly that there is some sort of pattern, some stable predictable basis for the weird shit that happens here. The interesting thing about pattern watchers is that they can always tell a dreamer from the figments walking around everywhere, so it's their job to get their people the hell out of that area. They're really interesting people, but I've only met them once."
As Eve finished her explanation, she began to look around her at the crystal formations as if hurriedly trying to locate a particular one. "Ah," she said with a relieved tone. "Good." She led them down a passage hidden by an enormous stalagmite. The smell of salt lessened. As they walked, the walls became less and less opaque, and it began to seem as if they were viewing the area outside Dawn's estate through a few meters of water. The party could feel when they were once again in the waking world. There was an interesting sensation as if reality were stretching out to cover them. It wasn't an unpleasant sensation. Just unusual.
The party stood outside the gates to the estate. They were blackened from smoke and a bit splintered, but otherwise intact. The stand of trees that had once existed around the property wall was mostly gone, having been cut, broken, burned, uprooted, and otherwise disturbed.
"There," Eve said, releasing Lym's hands and waving to the others that they could do the same. "I told you we'd be fine." She gazed at the gates for a moment, craning her neck to see the tops of the heavy wooden doors. She whispered to herself, "Dawn, what the hell are you up to?"
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Magnus de Silentio
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Posts: 176
(10/18/05 23:50)
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Re: We can't stop here. This is bat country.
After Eve responded to James's question, Lym responded. "I can find out for you later, when I can be sure I won't need the power for something else too soon. I was wondering about that too, actually... my guess would be that, as some people have suggested, there is a certain amount of collaboration in the dream world -- a shared subconscious. If this was the case, it would explain the relative stability of certain dream-spaces -- these are concepts that people share."
Lym shrugged. "Well, it's an idea anyway. There's a hell of a lot of potential explanations."
After they had arrived at the manor, Lym stepped forward and ran his hands over the wood. "Be careful, everyone. We don't know if she might be here, if she could show up..."
He sighed and began to pull one of the heavy gates open. Then he stopped and scratched his chin.
"Actually, you people are too careful. If anything, try to relax a little. Enjoy yourself. Have a drink, light a smoke, kick back, relax."
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Magnus de Silentio
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(10/18/05 23:53)
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p.s.
"Also," he said. "This door is locked."
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Kai
Robo-Kai
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(10/19/05 0:04)
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Re: p.s.
Myrnal dislodged herself from the others and wiped her hands on her clothes briefly.
"If it's locked, I can give it a shot. This was always my job before."
Myrnal reached back over her shoulder into her backpack. Thanks to the ever-awesome handy haversack she was using, her hand came back with a rolled-up strip of leather in it. She flipped it open and pulled out a couple of slim lengths of metal. Inserting them into the lock, she twisted her wrists once or twice very briefly before there was a faint click.
Myrnal pulled back from the door and slipped her tools back in their leather compartments. She shoved the tools back into her bag and readjusted it on her shoulders.
Eve nodded approvingly at Myrnal's handiwork. "That's much easier than my way. And probably less weird."
"Oh, I don't doubt it. Anyway, someone has to go first. Any takers?"
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Magnus de Silentio
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(10/19/05 0:06)
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Re: p.s.
Lym shrugged. "I said I wanted you guys to relax a little. Guess I might as well be a good example."
He rolled his sleeves up to his elbows, winked at his audience, and began to open the door.
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NebulaQueen
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(10/19/05 0:23)
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Re: p.s.
Kei shook her head and waited for Lym to make his way through before walking through the door. There's no need to crowd the entryway, after all.
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Kai
Robo-Kai
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(10/19/05 0:24)
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Lym=tank?
Lym opened the gates with little difficulty. Despite their external appearance, they were apparently in pretty good condition. Their stubborn refusal to utter even the faintest dramatic screech was evidence of the probability that they might have been recently oiled.
To Lym, the scenery before him wouldn't exactly be familiar. It was obvious to him that this used to be a carefully-ordered and well-manicured courtyard. However, most of the small buildings scattered about were blackened and broken apart in several areas. Tall elegantly-shaped trees were scorched and cracked, and some of them had had limbs torn right off them. Windows were broken and flowerbeds were covered in debris. Beneath a tree on the other end of the courtyard hung a length of rope with a broken plank of wood dragging on the ground beneath. At one point it was probably a swing, but whatever had happened to the rest of this place had been no easier on it than on the other once-beautiful features of the courtyard.
From what Lym could see there were a few buildings that didn't seem as damaged as the others, but since he'd never been here before it was hard to tell what their original purpose had been.
Stephan and Kei would recognize one as the conference hall where they'd first met Dawn. The other intact building had probably been a school or dormitory, judging from the number of children that had been entering and exiting while the two were last on the grounds.
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Nakibe
Mmmmm... Chaos Sandwich. ^_^
Posts: 1009
(10/19/05 0:32)
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Re: p.s.
"Not sure I CAN relax after that bird." Damian shuddered involuntarily at the memory of the faces looking at him. With any luck, there won't be any MORE of that sort of thing for a while yet. Although odds weren't good that there wouldn't be OTHER things involved...
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Archmage144
Hyper-scientific Bishounen
Pharmacist Brian
Season III!
Posts: 4142
(10/19/05 0:34)
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Re: Lym=tank?
"This place is a mess," commented James, surveying the numerous burned-out remains. "Either Dawn's children have been using their own base for target practice, or someone got here and did the job before we could. I find the second highly unlikely, unless my presence here has extremely screwed up history without my having actually done anything. I somehow doubt that, but then again, no aspect of time travel has really managed to surprise me so far."
Glancing around, the half-incubus considered various possibilities, but nothing really seemed to make sense. "We know that Dawn is alive, or at least, all evidence seems to suggest such. No one is quite sure what will happen to me if I kill her, but I know that Lym seems to think she still lives, and I figure that if a seer is providing me with such vastly inaccurate information that he or she is going to become incredibly depressed when they find out the truth."
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FF Fanatic 80
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Posts: 1810
(10/19/05 7:10)
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Re: Lym=tank?
As Stephan surveys the grounds for anything unusual, his talk with Joss from the other day comes to mind.
Thinking about it still bothered him, as did the possible confrontation that may result. But that didn't matter right now. There could be something he was overlooking, something the others might pick up on. So he turns to the others, and asks them to hold on a moment.
"...Guess it would help to mention this. I dunno if it really means anything important." he starts to tell the group, "But when Myrnal and I talked to Joss the other day, apparently the kids were told we did this."
He shrugs, glancing at Myrnal a moment before continuing.
"Whether it means Dawn actually did it, or she's just using us as a scapegoat for someone else, I really don't know."
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Nakibe
Mmmmm... Chaos Sandwich. ^_^
Posts: 1010
(10/19/05 13:13)
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Re: Lym=tank?
Damian looked at the destruction surrounding this place and let out a resigned sigh. "You realize this complicates matters. After all, if someone had trashed MY home when I was still in training, then I'd be a bit more bitchy about uninvited guests."
Yes, this definitely complicates matters. Shadow... MUST you call me that? I mean, I thought we were friends. Its either that or panic people again. Anyway, you should probably help us out here. Try looking for unusual stuff yourself. Yeah yeah, sure sure.
The little shadow moved quietly forwards, out of his master's shadow, and a bit in front of the group. At the very least he could surprise people who tried to surprise them.
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Magnus de Silentio
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Posts: 179
(10/19/05 15:22)
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Re: Lym=tank?
Lym approached one of the charred buildings and ran his hand across its surface. He opened his mind to the past of this area. [That's Sensitivity to Psychic impressions, GM o' mine.]
"You say it wasn't like this when you first came here? I must not be the only one in the mind of Joss and his temper tantrum -- though I do have to wonder how he would get here so fast."
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Kai
Robo-Kai
Posts: 731
(10/19/05 23:21)
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Re: Lym=tank?
Lym sensed a residual sense of relief and happiness with a weaker but more recent streak of undiluted hatred. It was as if a current of cold wind had swept over an otherwise pleasant emotional landscape.
He also received brief flashes of imagery. Most were rather mundane impressions of children going through their daily interactions with one another. Playing, fighting, doing homework, training.
Then there was some information that appeared a bit more significant. He saw flickers and short bits of emotionally-recorded events involving creatures he recognized immediately as Yuan-ti. One in particular appeared to be conversing with a girl who could only be Dawn. He was easily a several feet taller than she and Lym knew from his brief stay with the Yuan-ti that Abominations such as this one tended to have positions of authority over the others. What he couldn't discern was whether Dawn answered to him or he to her.
Eve approached Lym from behind and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Find out anything interesting?"
Myrnal, for her part, pulled a wand out of her backpack and tucked it into her belt. She also drew a knife in each red-gloved hand and held them casually, waiting for something important to happen.
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Archmage144
Hyper-scientific Bishounen
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(10/19/05 23:55)
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Re: Lym=tank?
James glanced over at Myrnal. Casual or not, she had weapons drawn. James preferred to keep the fact that he was armed a secret until the last possible minute, and considering the fact that there were no immediate threats visible, he figured it was best not to walk around displaying his own steel.
"Well, Lym? Do you know who burned the compound? And more importantly, can you figure out if anyone is still here? I would hate to wander around this place with a false sense of security."
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Magnus de Silentio
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Posts: 180
(10/20/05 0:07)
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Re: Lym=tank?
"I don't know anything concrete yet," said Lym. "The ability I just used is, more than anything, a good way to narrow down the field of potential questions for more specific -- and more costly -- search methods. Apparently the place has been pretty pleasant up until recently, when SOMEBODY -- can't tell you who -- got real fuckin' pissed. And that was recent. I also saw Dawn talking with a Yuan Ti abomination that may have been bossing her and may have been getting bossed, but the significance of that one is totally lost on me."
"As for whether or not anyone threatening is here, that's a damn complicated question to hypercognate, and there's every chance I wouldn't be able to work it out right. It's best for you guys to fan out. If you suspect any invisible creeps might be about, let me know and tell me where."
He shrugged and began exploring the area, searching the ground for dropped objects of interest.
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Archmage144
Hyper-scientific Bishounen
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(10/20/05 0:12)
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Re: Lym=tank?
"Um." James blinked at Lym. "I am willing to suggest that 'fanning out' might be an incredibly stupid idea. If anything, the one thing we should avoid doing in a compound controlled by an evil psionicist bitch with an army that we can't currently see or know the location of is splitting up. Getting ambushed as individuals and separated from each other is just asking to get fucked over."
"The saying is 'divide and conquer,'" James continued. "Usually, that's something you have to try to do. A smart enemy doesn't divide so you can conquer him."
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Magnus de Silentio
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(10/20/05 0:54)
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Re: Lym=tank?
After some sense-eye aided searching, Lym found a classroom and another room with a few interesting objects. Without really saying anything -- he saw the tough people here as being in charge of checking the area, now, and he wasn't going to distract them by talking about his job, which was information gathering -- he worked his way into the classroom and picked up what seemed to be some schoolwork by the children.
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Nakibe
Mmmmm... Chaos Sandwich. ^_^
Posts: 1011
(10/20/05 1:01)
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Re: Lym=tank?
"There is a distinction between the types of division in this case," Damian said as if he had experience. "Division can be good if you're sure that any individual unit is able to take on what comes next, and PARTICULARLY good if you need more information." With a shrug, Damian seemed to relax... though anyone who had noted them before would notice that his "relaxed" hands were awfully close to where his gauntlets would be.
"But I'm sure we can all agree that we don't need to know what's going on THAT badly. Not at the moment, anyway."
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NebulaQueen
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(10/20/05 18:08)
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Re: Lym=tank?
"Perhaps sending one or two people ahead to scout would be wise, though," Kei said. She did not say anything else, though, and instead began to search the classroom for signs of who, or what, could have made their way through last.
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FF Fanatic 80
Imposter Brit
Posts: 1812
(10/20/05 21:13)
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Re: Lym=tank?
"It basically comes down to two choices." Stephan says, sensing an endless debate emerging and trying his best to put a stop to it, "Speed or safety. Splitting up would be faster, but make us more likely to get picked off. Safety would minimize the risks, but from what we know so far, taking our time isn't a bright idea either."
He glances at the people left behind, noting that Lym and Kei had already paired off to check the classrooms, then continues.
"So let's try a middle-ground here. Pair up and try to see what we can find. There's 5 of us left here... me, James, Myrnal, Eve, and Damien."
He gives Eve a quick glance, then continues.
"Considering how important someone is to all this... I'd say two us in one group, and another two stay along with Eve. So speak up about what you want to do, unless any of you have a better idea."
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Kai
Robo-Kai
Posts: 735
(10/20/05 22:44)
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Re: Lym=tank?
Eve looked down at the ground with a faintly guilty expression. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea. I think that Lym and I should... probably be in separate groups. He can do the telepathy bit, and I can just a little. If we're each in separate groups and the third group can find a way to communicate with the others we can stay in touch."
Myrnal scratched the back of her head briefly. She reached back into her bag and pulled out a silver statue of a bird. "Not the most efficient way to talk back and forth, but it does transport written messages. I could volunteer this for whatever group doesn't have another way."
Eve shrugged. "Whatever. Before we figure out the specifics of splitting up, we should probably figure out where we're going. Lym and Kei seem to be playing in a classroom." Eve pointed to the other building that seemed structurally sound. "Someone should check over in that one. So, I'll go there and anyone that wants to come with me can do so with no complaints from me."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, the classroom promised some finds that were interesting if not immediately useful. The papers that Lym found turned out to be a philosophy assignment of some kind. There were three names on it.
Apparently children named Robin Aronson, Rendon Sanford, and Leah Thomas had worked together on a project that required them to find the "World's Most Important Thing." There were several categories in the 'first round,' and from each category only one would pass to the next round. There was a list of social needs (such as friends, teachers, famous people, etc.), artistic media (music, art, books, and plays), physical needs (shelter, health, food, clothes), and a few moral choices to round out the list (justice, peace, end to poverty, freedom). from a cursory glance Lym could see that the first part was an exploration of the definition of 'valuable' and possible universalized definitions. After that were lengthy explanations of their answers that Lym could take the time to read if he really wanted to.
Kei could see that the classroom was mostly unharmed. Someone had rifled through many of the desks, but the interior of the room was mostly undamaged. There was some broken glass blown in from when the windows broke, but the main signs of occupation pointed to the students that used to meet here for class.
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Archmage144
Hyper-scientific Bishounen
Pharmacist Brian
Season III!
Posts: 4148
(10/20/05 23:08)
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Re: Lym=tank?
"I sincerely doubt that if we get in trouble that we'll have time to sit down, break out parchment and ink, write a lengthy message, hand it to a silver bird, and wait for a response," James quipped, looking at Myrnal as though she had made the stupidest suggestion in the entire world. "I still think that splitting up, regardless, is patently stupid. We'll inevitably get ambushed and killed, and that is not what I came here to do." The half-incubus shook his head, looking very irritated.
"Of course, I can do very little about it. If everyone else splits up, what am I going to be able to do? Run off by myself and whine about how stupid you're all being? That would be incredibly counterproductive. If you really insist on splitting up, we should make two groups at the absolute most."
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FF Fanatic 80
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Posts: 1813
(10/20/05 23:14)
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Re: Lym=tank?
"...Alright then." Stephan says with a midly annoyed glance toward James, "Two groups. Obviously, Lym is in one and Eve in another, for the reason she mentioned. Going over everyone that leaves...
Me, good with a sword and some offensive magic.
Damien, somewhat in the same boat as I am, if I remember.
Kei, with her blade and cat-lady speed.
Myrnal, good with a fuckton of blades and pretty quick as well.
And finally James, our resident jack of all trades."
He gives everyone a quick look over in silence, then continues.
"I'd say Damien and I should be in different groups, as well as Kei and Myrnal. Considering what we've been warned about, James should probably stick with Eve."
He looks over the group again before finishing.
"Any disagreement there?"
Edited by: FF Fanatic 80 at: 10/20/05 23:32
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Kai
Robo-Kai
Posts: 736
(10/20/05 23:35)
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Re: Lym=tank?
Myrnal rolled her eyes and slowly draaggged her gaze over to James. "I'll be the first to tell you the bird thing is stupid. However, you don't know how often plans involving the stupid bird have worked. I lost the last one because I lent some friends of mine who used it to find someone they couldn't see. Unfortunately the next thing they did was throw a fireball. Torched the bird. But you and Stephan are right. Splitting up has really never worked in the past."
Eve nodded. "Good deal. I'd say Damian can just go chill with Kei and Lym until they decide to go somewhere or follow along after the rest of us. So... Lym, Kei, and Damian can probably go... wherever. I'm heading to the other building, and apparently taking... Stephan, Myrnal, and James."
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Archmage144
Hyper-scientific Bishounen
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(10/20/05 23:39)
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Re: Lym=tank?
"Sure, fine." James shrugged and looked at Eve. "Let's move. I'm not wanting to rush into anything, but I also would prefer not to stand here and deliberate all day in the heart of enemy territory. For all you know, she knows we're here and is watching our every move, waiting around for us to make a move and laughing all the while."
He glanced at Eve, giving her a look like he fully believed that this whole endeavor had rapidly become a suicide mission. "I swear, if we die, you're going to have let down the entire population of the world in about five year's time."
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Kai
Robo-Kai
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(10/20/05 23:45)
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Re: Lym=tank?
Eve crossed her arms and glared at James. "You look at me when you say that like all this shit is my fault. Sorry I died. You should feel free to be pissed at me for things that haven't happened yet. I mean, it still makes you a fucking prick, but you can do it. For the record, I'm not exactly supportive of her plan, either. So don't look at me like I exist to get you killed."
She sighed and started toward the other building. "Fuck it. Let's go. The other guys can catch up when they're done with whatever they're doing."
Edited by: Kai at: 10/20/05 23:47
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Archmage144
Hyper-scientific Bishounen
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(10/20/05 23:52)
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Re: Lym=tank?
James raised an eyebrow. "Well damn. You don't have to get so defensive. After all, you haven't been sacrificed to resurrect Elaith yet, so I think holding it against you would be somewhat silly. I came here to stop that from happening, and I have no plans to lose. A lot of people are counting on me where I come from, a lot that don't even know my name, so there's no room for error."
"Anyway, I can taste my revenge already. I have the rare chance to get vengeance for the dead of entire continents. That's not something you can do every day," James added with a smirk, waving his hand dismissively.
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Nakibe
Mmmmm... Chaos Sandwich. ^_^
Posts: 1013
(10/21/05 0:01)
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Re: Lym=tank?
Damain looked at Eve curiously and then waved. "You lot be careful over there," he said, before he started towards the classroom that Lym and Kei went to, with shadow trailing behind. He wasn't really sure if splitting up was a good idea, but eh. The only thing that he COULD really do was keep moving forwards at the moment. Towards the classroom and whatever hidden dangers that this place held.
Upon arriving, Damian just found a comfortable dark place on the wall where he could look around and announced. "Hey, the others have gone on ahead, it seems like. Anything important turn up yet?"
Edited by: Nakibe at: 10/21/05 0:53
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FF Fanatic 80
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(10/21/05 0:09)
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Re: Lym=tank?
Stephan couldn't help the slightest smirk after Eve's short tirade. He was glad to finally see her being more than a frightened, defeated person. Which would probably make this little group hunt very interesting indeed.
"...Sure you wanna put up with all that?" he says with another slight smirk to Myrnal, "Not too late to trade places."
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Magnus de Silentio
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(10/21/05 0:13)
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Re: Lym=tank?
Lym browsed the philosophical paper with some interest and tucked it away in his sack. It might be interesting later.
Upon Damian's entrance, he responded, "Nah, nothing has turned up yet. To be honest, I'm not sure what I'm looking for. Just... trying to figure out what happened here without using up too much of my reserves. But it's beginning to look like that may not be an option."
After one more glance at the environs, he moved on to the other room he'd been examining previously.
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NebulaQueen
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(10/21/05 1:33)
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Re: Lym=tank?
"Somebody was searching through here besides us," Kei said. "Take a look at the desks. However, it's also possible that the children took what they could and ran."
While walking to the other room after Lym, she asked Damian, "What is everybody else planning on?"
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Nakibe
Mmmmm... Chaos Sandwich. ^_^
Posts: 1016
(10/21/05 19:44)
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Re: Lym=tank?
Damian picked himself up off the wall as he answered Kei's question.
"I believe they were intending to split into a 'Forward' And 'Rear' set of teams, essentially. Both sides are covered while we search. Or at least thats what I believe they were thinking." Meanwhile, Damian was also doing his best to look the place over as best he could manage. Hopefully he'd notice something the others hadn't.
HEY YOU, Help me look. Sure Sure. Are we looking for kitties or puppies or.. Now isn't really the time for that, you know.
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Kai
Robo-Kai
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(10/22/05 15:58)
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I eat grits and type. But most favorite thing is grits.
Myrnal nodded at Stephan's comment. "Task one, we're not allowed to kill each other. I think as long as we keep this in mind we'll be fine."
Eve stopped at the door to wait for the others to catch up. She opened her bag as the others made their way over and pulled out a spear, presumably her weapon of choice. Eve leaned on it and drummed her fingers on it impatiently.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Lym left the classroom, he found himself exiting the school just as the others were reaching the door of the conference building. Damian didn't see much of interest in the classroom that the others had not. There were two or three broken crayons on the floor and a rather nice set of colored pencils left behind. Other than that, the most interesting thing around was probably that other building.
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Nakibe
Mmmmm... Chaos Sandwich. ^_^
Posts: 1018
(10/23/05 13:43)
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Re: I eat grits and type. But most favorite thing is grits.
Ah, well, nothing more to see here. Lets go. thought Damian, following Lym into the next room. Nothing had jumped out at them so far, at least. That's part of the problem, isn't it? Yeah. Kinda is. Too quiet. Where'd all the kids get shipped off to? Either way Damian didn't feel much better till he'd scanned the room himself to make sure. And not MUCH better after that.
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Archmage144
Hyper-scientific Bishounen
Pharmacist Brian
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Posts: 4159
(10/23/05 15:26)
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Re: I eat grits and type. But most favorite thing is grits.
James stood just behind Eve, looking at her expectantly. "So, are you going to open it, or do you want me to go first?" He raised an eyebrow and stared at the door for a second. "If you think something is in there...we should go in prepared. So, are you ready? If you really want someone else to go first, I have a couple good ways of doing it, some of which involve keeping the door closed."
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FF Fanatic 80
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Posts: 1816
(10/24/05 11:49)
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Re: I eat grits and type. But most favorite thing is grits.
Stephan waits for Eve to answer, since he's also a bit curious what her 'plan' is for the moment.
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Kai
Robo-Kai
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(10/24/05 14:46)
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Re: I eat grits and type. But most favorite thing is grits.
Eve nodded. "I'm fine to go, if you want to run in. Makes no nevermind to me if you do, but I know for a fact that Lym's wearing a third eye that'll let him see past any door we come to as long as psionics will work on the other side."
She stepped aside from the door and waved to Lym and the others as they were coming up behind James, Stephan, and Myrnal. "At least we're all together now. He doesn't necessarily need to take point, but I was going to ask Lym to keep his extra eye open ahead of us so that we won't run into anything. Other than that, I'm really okay to just barrel on to wherever we're headed. Seems like a good idea. An obvious one, but a good one. I know if we didn't we'd kick ourselves, so... Lym, will you do the honors from here on out?"
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Archmage144
Hyper-scientific Bishounen
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(10/24/05 16:35)
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Re: I eat grits and type. But most favorite thing is grits.
"That sounds positively brilliant compared to some of the other ideas that have come up," noted James, turning to Lym. "Hey, Lym, do us all a favor and get over here so we can find out what's behind door number two!"
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Magnus de Silentio
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(10/24/05 23:45)
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Initiative.
Lym shrugged. "I've already checked the place out. There's nothing too interesting from what I could see, but I wanted to get closer...maybe touch a few things."
He attempted to open the door. Assuming he succeeded, he walked inside and began looking around.
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Kai
Robo-Kai
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(10/25/05 15:48)
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Not yet, my child.
The door opened easily, and also refused to emit even the most modest squeal of protest. Apparently beyond the initial gate, none of the doors in this place were locked, and a couple were in decent condition.
Lym saw the same conditions as he did when he previously viewed the room. For anyone following him, there was a long table in the center of the room, still surrounded by chairs. On the far wall was a door and an empty bookshelf. Next to the shelf was a broken vase that had presumably fallen off the top of it, and on a shelf was an overturned picture frame that had been left behind. The back had been ripped off, so presumably the picture was gone. On the right-side wall was another door.
There was no artificial light in the room, but a couple of broken windows let in enough sunlight for those in the doorway to see that the interior of this room was almost perfectly intact. Empty except for glass from the windows and those few items, but largely intact.
As Lym entered, Myrnal slipped in behind him and went to stand, in typical Myrnal fashion, in the far corner. Its apparent attraction was that it happened to be farthest from the places where sunlight slipped in to illuminate the room. She leaned over to listen at the far door, but didn't say anything. For the moment she seemed content to keep an eye on that exit.
Eve entered as well, but stayed close to the door. She looked a little uneasy, but considering where they were it was probably obvious why that might be the case.
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Nakibe
Mmmmm... Chaos Sandwich. ^_^
Posts: 1019
(10/25/05 19:01)
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Re: Not yet, my child.
Damian made his way into the room... then chuckled as he realized that his instincts were leading him about where Myrnal was standing. He looked over at her for a second, then resolved to find a different shadow than the one that she seemed apparently willing to hide in.
Still chuckling, Damian said "You know, I have this sudden urge to hiss at the sunlight. Or something similar." You think this is FUNNY, don't you? thought his familiar at him, doing its best to stay away from the bright sunlight. Yeah, something like that. I hate you. Isn't that MY line?
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NebulaQueen
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(10/25/05 20:14)
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What about cookies? Can we have those now?
It seemed that Kei and Myrnal were riding along the same train of thought, as the nekojin slinked through the shadows. She sidled up as close to the door as she could, and tried to listen for any noises coming from the other side.
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Archmage144
Hyper-scientific Bishounen
Pharmacist Brian
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(10/25/05 21:18)
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Re: What about cookies? Can we have those now?
"Well," noted James, "this is lame. I'm getting edgy. The fact that we have yet to see one sign of life since entering the compound worries me a little. It means that any minute now, something is going to jump out and try to surprise us."
He glanced around the room, observing the destruction. "This is a very elaborate ruse, if Dawn trashed the place herself and claimed it was us. A waste of good pottery, I should say, observing the vase."
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Magnus de Silentio
You Tazered bear!
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Posts: 184
(10/26/05 0:06)
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Re: What about cookies? Can we have those now?
Lym picked up a piece of the broken vase and placed it in his pocket for later. He walked toward the far door and stood opposite myrnal, peering past it with his sense eye.
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Kai
Robo-Kai
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(10/26/05 16:54)
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Re: What about cookies? Can we have those now?
Myrnal nodded to Kei and Damian as a silent note of approval for their choice of positions.
Lym's immediate impression of the path ahead was not a profoundly interesting one. Past the door was a stairwell with a long hallway at the bottom. The hallway was lit by a series of torches. There were probably about five doors on each side of the hallway, all of them at least partway open. One of the doors on the right could only be a kitchen, as the edge of a countertop was visible through the doorway. There was also a large double door at the end of the hallway, but it was closed.
Other than the unusually well-lit deserted hallway, there didn't seem to be any activity at the bottom of the stairs. If Lym wanted to know what was in the rows of rooms or what the contents of the kitchen might be, he'd have to look specifically or possibly go down the stairs himself.
Eve made her way to the bookshelf and ran her fingers along the edge. She picked up the picture frame, glanced at it briefly and put it back. She leaned on the wall, doing a rather mediocre job of hiding her nervousness. But hey. She was trying.
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Magnus de Silentio
You Tazered bear!
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Posts: 185
(10/26/05 17:01)
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Re: What about cookies? Can we have those now?
"I don't see anyone yet, but I have a lot of rooms to check."
Prefering nearly anything to the thought of being lax in his duties as a scout, he proceeded to systematically check the rooms from one side of the hall to the other.
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Kai
Robo-Kai
Posts: 755
(10/26/05 17:11)
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Re: What about cookies? Can we have those now?
The rooms were all more or less similar in nature. They appeared to be bedrooms for one or two children to use at once. They were empty except for a few which still had sheets. They didn't look like they'd been stripped and abandoned. The rooms were actually very sparsely furnished. Maybe people didn't usually stay there, or at least not for very long.
The kitchen... looked like a kitchen. There was a space on the granite counter with a rectangular outline on it in white paint. Within the outlined area was a tray covered in a towel. Underneath it are about a dozen relatively mundane cinnamon rolls. They're not moldy. They're not rotted. They might be magically preserved or they might be fresh. No way to tell from where Lym is.
The door at the very end of the hallway didn't seem to lend itself to scrying. Whatever room was behind it might simply have been warded against such things. At any rate, it was the only place on the entire property that seemed to be blank on Lym's clairvoyant radar. He did get a rather nice look at the outside of the doors, though. They were the big sturdy wooden type covered in decorative carvings. Each door had a handle that would presumably allow the door to be pulled open into the hallway, but if there was a lock it was inside the door and not hanging on the outside.
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FF Fanatic 80
Imposter Brit
Posts: 1818
(10/27/05 15:27)
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Re: What about cookies? Can we have those now?
Seeing nothing else to do for the moment, Stephan takes a quick peek out the door, glancing about the courtyard. If nothing seems too out of the ordinary, assuming he's not already aware of it, he plans to circle the room a few times, keeping an eye out for anything unusual.
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Magnus de Silentio
You Tazered bear!
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Posts: 186
(10/29/05 15:48)
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Damn kids and your damn cookies.
Lym described everything he'd just seen to the rest of the group.
"So, uh, the magic door is kind of weird, but there's no reason to assume whatever's behind it will instantly kill us. I'm not hypercognating to find out if Dawn is behind it because that would be idiotic -- she can teleport for free, which means that she can go in and leave a thousand times if she wants to while we're walking down the hall. Paranoia will get nothing done here."
On that note, he opened the door.
"For my part, I could use a cinnamon bun."
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Nakibe
Mmmmm... Chaos Sandwich. ^_^
Posts: 1024
(10/29/05 16:02)
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So, what? You prefer Cobbler?
"Okay, so we know the door doesn't like being looked at magically", said Damian. "And you're sure you saw nothing else around, because it looks like that's our only very small lead." A memory of a past mission occured to Damian, causing him to chuckle just a bit, then frown. "You know, it'd be just our luck if that door turned out to be the maid's closet." And with that, Damian strode out into the hall, taking his familiar friend with him.
You sure you don't want a cinnamon bun? I bet they're pretty tasty. I bet they're almost a week old too. Doesn't make em any less tasty, you know. Hm. Maybe later.
Edited by: Nakibe at: 10/29/05 16:12
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Archmage144
Hyper-scientific Bishounen
Pharmacist Brian
Season III!
Posts: 4207
(10/29/05 16:12)
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Re: Damn kids and your damn cookies.
Shrugging, James proceeded after Lym to see what the hell was going on. Standing around in trashed classrooms and living quarters was going to accomplish nothing, and, as Lym had put it, "paranoia" was not going to help, either. Dawn was somewhere nearby, and it was the job of the entire group to locate and destroy her without mercy.
"I'll just creep along behind you, Damian, as long as you don't mind," noted James. "My talents tend to work best...unnoticed."
Edited by: Archmage144 at: 10/29/05 16:14
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Kai
Robo-Kai
Posts: 769
(10/31/05 22:59)
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Re: Damn kids and your damn cookies.
As Damian headed through the door and down the stairs, he found that the hall was more or less as Lym had described it. James' impression was much the same. If James were concerned about such things he might have noticed Myrnal falling in step behind him.
Eve waited with Lym, obviously aware that psionicists did not usually make the most fantastic meatshields.
Damian reached the kitchen before any of the others. He therefore was the first to encounter some cinnamon rolls. The choice to steal them all or distribute them to the others is now upon him.
Failing that, there's also a heavy wooden door at the end of the hallway that might bear some examination should anyone feel the urge.
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