Ryleh rejoined Havel in the waiting area at the front. "The doctor is going to run some tests. He will have suggestions for a treatment plan after those tests are through. It will take a day or two for the tests to run. If there is anything else of the school that you wish to see, then I am happy to show you. Or you can return to the rest of your group and tell them what you saw here. We will be most happy to welcome any or all of you as students."
|
The Champion of Balance sat on a wall outside the school and stared at all that was in his view. There was so much work to do, especially elsewhere. He could feel the imbalance slowly creeping towards him and touched the tattoo of scales on his arm. When his Patron was ready to act he'd have to be ready. Until then he didn't have to worry about anything too much.
With that in mind Anwar hopped off the wall and went to see what new kind of food was around in the millennia. He was, figuratively, starving!
"... Oh. I never had an aura. It was all inward."
"Oh? Well, then I envy you. The stigma of my abilities caused me to be exiled from my village."
"... Oh. I never had an aura. It was all inward.""Oh? Well, then I envy you. The stigma of my abilities caused me to be exiled from my village."
vriskra fidgets.
"I was..."vriskra falls silent, fidgeting some more.
"... Nevermind."
Grim pats viskra on her side to try to console her
He raises a thumb to his chin. "Oh...you were as well...my apologies. I did not intend to make light of your difficulties."
"I was..."
viskra takes a sharp breath.
"I was born alone in the deep reaches of space. I know not my parents, only a few songs they left behind in my mind. I flew around, alone, for a time. I don't know how long. There was no way of measuring. I've only been able to measure six years of my life, so I suppose that makes me six? All the rest of the time has no frame of reference."
He stares somewhat blankly at Viskra. He may not have any concept of "space" other than the night sky.
vriskra points to the sky with a wing.
"I came from up there. Way, way up there."
Looks up, and stares into the sky.
"How far up? If I go to high, it gets too cold and difficult to breathe. Well, it does since the sky changed, anyway. Are you from the new sky beyond?"
Looks up, and stares into the sky.
"How far up? If I go to high, it gets too cold and difficult to breathe. Well, it does since the sky changed, anyway. Are you from the new sky beyond?"
"Far,far above. I fo not breathe, nor get cold."
He looks kind of amazed.
"Really? Do you need to eat?"
He looks kind of amazed.
"Really? Do you need to eat?"
"Not really, but I find it deeply satisfying."
vriskra shakes her body a bit, ruffling her feathers and letting them settle, as she scrapes at the ground a bit nervously.
"Interesting...well, it was good to meet you, and I wish you both well, but I need to head back to the school. If you need help with anything, you can find me there or out here."
He bows slightly and touches his thumb to his forehead.
He sighs.
"Alright. Well, I'm sure if you've come to this decision, whatever the cause, you've explored all other options. If you truly need this, I will assist."
Nala nodded. "It is....medically necessary. I have discussed the matter with Phaezeriel and this is the only real solution to my er....unique problem. Which may be time sensitive. The treatment however will have to wait until Phaezeriel is available to supervise." She sighed. "Look, I'm not trying to be mysterious. I'll probably end up telling Ephebe the whole story later. But I'm feeling awkward discussing it at all, let alone somewhere that I feel like could be easily overheard. The point is, yes, we've explored all the other options, and I have to do this."
She nodded. "Yeah, you gotta time it just right so that the fashions have come back around to what you were wearing before or it's just awkward," she joked.
"And yeah, of course I can show you how to dance. This kind of party is pretty informal so any dancing will be pretty simple anyways." She held out a hand. "Shall we?" she asked, grinning.
He chuckles and stands, brushing himself down a bit.
"Yeah, I wish I had that sense of timing."
He takes her hand, but doesn't assume any sort of position more than that.
"Are you going to lead, or should I? Or is that still a thing?"
"It's normal for the guy to lead...but this is a casual party so I doubt it's an issue either way. Slow dances are easier. I'll show you the steps for the most common tempos, but honestly don't worry if you forget. Some people just sort of shuffle sway their way through those kind of songs. And the faster songs are all about improvisation, but I can show you some basic steps that were popular a year ago anyhow. Can't have changed too much in a year, right?"
Nala nodded. "It is....medically necessary. I have discussed the matter with Phaezeriel and this is the only real solution to my er....unique problem. Which may be time sensitive. The treatment however will have to wait until Phaezeriel is available to supervise." She sighed. "Look, I'm not trying to be mysterious. I'll probably end up telling Ephebe the whole story later. But I'm feeling awkward discussing it at all, let alone somewhere that I feel like could be easily overheard. The point is, yes, we've explored all the other options, and I have to do this."He sighs.
"Alright. Well, I'm sure if you've come to this decision, whatever the cause, you've explored all other options. If you truly need this, I will assist."
He nods.
"I understand. When is this to take place?"
Kevin smiles a bit and nods. "Thanks. Well, I can't really think of anything better than the Mackerel, so I'll try that. Could I get two, actually? And a sweet tea with a lot of lemon, please."
He hands the menu over as well.
"You got it," Alaura said, taking the menus and swimming off.
Jeran looked uncomfortable for a moment before blurting out, "I think I've run out of conversation topics. I'm sorry I'm really bad at socializing. I usually fall back on being silent and stoic at this point," he said with a slight bit of panic.
Nala nodded. "It is....medically necessary. I have discussed the matter with Phaezeriel and this is the only real solution to my er....unique problem. Which may be time sensitive. The treatment however will have to wait until Phaezeriel is available to supervise." She sighed. "Look, I'm not trying to be mysterious. I'll probably end up telling Ephebe the whole story later. But I'm feeling awkward discussing it at all, let alone somewhere that I feel like could be easily overheard. The point is, yes, we've explored all the other options, and I have to do this."He sighs.
"Alright. Well, I'm sure if you've come to this decision, whatever the cause, you've explored all other options. If you truly need this, I will assist."He nods.
"I understand. When is this to take place?"
She shrugged. "I wish I knew. When my treating physician isn't in a cocoon, however long that takes. Although I don't think I can afford to wait too long. But I think I have a month or so. If he's still in a cocoon in a month, there are other problems to consider, most notably how we can keep the infirmary running without him for that long."
He raises an eye-ridge.
"Is Phaezeriel required for this plan to work? Not to be morbid, but there is the possibility that when he emerges from his cocoon his disposition will be different."
His face betrays the slightest concern, but Nala can tell he has already considered this as well.
"It's normal for the guy to lead...but this is a casual party so I doubt it's an issue either way. Slow dances are easier. I'll show you the steps for the most common tempos, but honestly don't worry if you forget. Some people just sort of shuffle sway their way through those kind of songs. And the faster songs are all about improvisation, but I can show you some basic steps that were popular a year ago anyhow. Can't have changed too much in a year, right?"
Jasper nods and takes the usual slow dancing position, albeit with two arms around her side and his lower arm on the side holding her hand behind his back.
"Do lead on, then." He smiles and awaits instructions.
"Yeah, I'm not really the best at it either. We've talked a lot more than most of my science projects tend to. I guess it was the long walk."
He shuffles some stuff on the table.
"You wanna see something cool?"
He raises an eye-ridge.
"Is Phaezeriel required for this plan to work? Not to be morbid, but there is the possibility that when he emerges from his cocoon his disposition will be different."
She nodded. "It's a fair concern and one that I have considered. Phaezeriel is my first choice to perform the procedure. But if he has changed In personality as well as form due to his current transformation...Miss Jones could also do it. She has been on edge lately, and it is a delicate operation, so I would rather not ask it of her if I don't have to. But that remains my contingency plan if it becomes necessary."
He nods.
"So, some kind of psychic surgery, then death, or vice versa?"
He nods.
"So, some kind of psychic surgery, then death, or vice versa?"
"Yes. Preliminaries to psychic surgery, then death, then the actual psychic surgery after I am revived. It is necessary for me to do this so that I can properly function, both personally and professionally," she said, shuffling her feet awkwardly, partly to try and hide the growing frost pattern around her toes.
"Yeah, I'm not really the best at it either. We've talked a lot more than most of my science projects tend to. I guess it was the long walk."
He shuffles some stuff on the table.
"You wanna see something cool?"
Jeran grinned. "Yeah, sure, why not?" he said, both relieved that he wasn't the only awkward one and intrigued at what Kevin was planning to do.
"Yes. Preliminaries to psychic surgery, then death, then the actual psychic surgery after I am revived. It is necessary for me to do this so that I can properly function, both personally and professionally," she said, shuffling her feet awkwardly, partly to try and hide the growing frost pattern around her toes.He nods.
"So, some kind of psychic surgery, then death, or vice versa?"
"I see, I do not wish to cause you added discomfort by continuing to talk about this, so I'll leave it at that. When you need me, I will be there, any future disasters not withstanding, of course." he says with a smile.
"Nala, Ryuzo, be well."He throws his towel over his shoulder, and walks back towards the school.
When Krays is out of earshot, Ryuzo says..
"Nice guy, but he can be a bit...creepy. I often wonder how he and Ephebe ended up together..."
Kevin smiles and clears some space on the table.
"Ok, stop me if you've had this biology lesson before, but if not: All the cells in a living creature have a purpose. Skin cells are different from brain cells and other organ cells and so on. But when a creature is young, it has something called Stem Cells, which are cells that don't have a purpose yet, they turn into other cells as needed. Now, I haven't done a whole lot of research on what exactly I am now, but I have figured out that I'm mostly made of stem cells and magic now, so I can shift things into new limbs and organs if I concentrate on it, but I've worked out how to do this too."
He holds his hands together and forms a little blob of blue jelly between them before setting it on the table. It grows a little on its own and turns a bit longer, developing limbs and some definition of form over the course of a few seconds until a little, blue jelly ferret is sitting on the table between them.
"I can kinda program a group of cells to take a certain shape. It lasts for a while and then evaporates kinda like hand sanitizer. They act more or less like summoned creatures."
He leads the ferret around in a circle with his finger to demonstrate that it takes commands.
"It's normal for the guy to lead...but this is a casual party so I doubt it's an issue either way. Slow dances are easier. I'll show you the steps for the most common tempos, but honestly don't worry if you forget. Some people just sort of shuffle sway their way through those kind of songs. And the faster songs are all about improvisation, but I can show you some basic steps that were popular a year ago anyhow. Can't have changed too much in a year, right?"Jasper nods and takes the usual slow dancing position, albeit with two arms around her side and his lower arm on the side holding her hand behind his back.
"Do lead on, then." He smiles and awaits instructions.
An talks him through the very basic steps fairly quickly, humming as she went rather than trying to find the right songs to play. Going over and changing the song repeatedly was too much trouble. She doesn't exactly have the best singing voice, which is apparent even from something as basic as humming.
When Krays is out of earshot, Ryuzo says..
"Nice guy, but he can be a bit...creepy. I often wonder how he and Ephebe ended up together..."
"Hmm. Well, she was raised by demons after all. She doesn't have the same definition of creepy that someone else might," she said with a slight smile.
"Really? I did not know that. It all makes sense now..." he smiles back.
"How are you feeling now that we've talked with him?"
Jaiye stops, the demon temporarily in an arm lock, not that the succubus was fighting much right now. She looked at the demon in distaste. "We need to to call a truce. Temporarily. And no, killing me or causing me to get killed won't help you. Check the spells on the manacles. If I die before the manacles are released, you get a one way ticket to Heaven."
The succubus made a face. "B&%+~," she growled.
"Yep," Jaiye agreed. "And we can resume our argument later. But right now you don't have a lot of choices except cooperation."
"Really? I did not know that. It all makes sense now..." he smiles back.
"How are you feeling now that we've talked with him?"
"The things that come up during girl talk," she joked. "We commiserate sometimes on our terrible childhoods. And I am feeling marginally better. At least one thing is set up. But I would have to be crazy not to be extremely nervous about this whole plan."
Kevin smiles and clears some space on the table.
"Ok, stop me if you've had this biology lesson before, but if not: All the cells in a living creature have a purpose. Skin cells are different from brain cells and other organ cells and so on. But when a creature is young, it has something called Stem Cells, which are cells that don't have a purpose yet, they turn into other cells as needed. Now, I haven't done a whole lot of research on what exactly I am now, but I have figured out that I'm mostly made of stem cells and magic now, so I can shift things into new limbs and organs if I concentrate on it, but I've worked out how to do this too."
He holds his hands together and forms a little blob of blue jelly between them before setting it on the table. It grows a little on its own and turns a bit longer, developing limbs and some definition of form over the course of a few seconds until a little, blue jelly ferret is sitting on the table between them.
"I can kinda program a group of cells to take a certain shape. It lasts for a while and then evaporates kinda like hand sanitizer. They act more or less like summoned creatures."
He leads the ferret around in a circle with his finger to demonstrate that it takes commands.
"Wow! That is cool! So by a while do you mean like minutes or hours? It's one of those vague terms that can mean anything at all really," he said, smiling as he watched the blue ferret prance around the table.
"The things that come up during girl talk," she joked. "We commiserate sometimes on our terrible childhoods. And I am feeling marginally better. At least one thing is set up. But I would have to be crazy not to be extremely nervous about this whole plan.""Really? I did not know that. It all makes sense now..." he smiles back.
"How are you feeling now that we've talked with him?"
"Anything I can do to help?"
"Ghalen, I'm trusting you to keep Tyrrin safe. Tyrrin, I need you to go as well. No arguments. There is a traitor in our midst and you need to find them."
"On my life, Your Grace." He looks at Tyrrin
"Might I suggest we detain one of the pinned guards?"
1d100
The guards with the leaf pins literally run away from their posts, leaving the perimeter woefully undefended. The remaining guards fight valiantly, especially given Fei's bolstering, but they can't hold the perimeter. Ace is able to slow one squad with his shout, but two squads near the edges are able to get past the defenders and are heading into the crowds.
As the outlying units of drow skirt the defensive line and start attacking the crowds, Fei orders the nanites that have all but 'consumed' the drills to split into two groups.
One group is joined by the small group of their kind that went into the tunnels to identify the attackers - they share all of the scanned data of these drow across the entire nanite network, building an attack profile that will only target the dark elf attackers. This group then races into the crowd in the wake of one of the drow squads, hunting them down specifically.They tear into the invaders like a flensing wind, fusing the joints in their armor and hardening the fabrics of their clothing to imprison them in their own garments and remove their ability to harm the civlians.
The other group changes mission parameter, and uses the remaining materials from the drow drills to begin replicating at speed.
An talks him through the very basic steps fairly quickly, humming as she went rather than trying to find the right songs to play. Going over and changing the song repeatedly was too much trouble. She doesn't exactly have the best singing voice, which is apparent even from something as basic as humming.
Jasper picks up the dances fairly well. It takes him a few tries to not step up into the air every third count, but he gets used to it eventually. Once she's hum a song for a few bars, he picks it up, being a natural mimic, literally. At least, half of him is. His voice isn't too bad, but he's right between a baritone and a tenor, which doesn't leave much room for a good range.
"I think I'm starting to get the hang of this."
"Wow! That is cool! So by a while do you mean like minutes or hours? It's one of those vague terms that can mean anything at all really," he said, smiling as he watched the blue ferret prance around the table.
"They remain for either 16 minutes or until I decide to dismiss them. Though it seems like the mix of cells and magical energy I use to make these guys is the same that I use for developing modifications on myself, so I can't do both at once."
The little ferret perches in front of Jeran and makes tiny barking noises at him before rolling over.
** spoiler omitted **
"This place seems wonderfully complex. A pity it's gone, isn't it?"
Ace grimaces as a few squads are able to slip past them. "Fei, can you handle helping back at the ceremony grounds? Think maybe I should track down one of those 'guards' who abandoned their post. However, you're the senior student here, so I'll do as you direct me." If the Champion of Courage had heard any of the stories about Ace being more or less a goofball, it would seem the young man's personality is as mercurial as his appearance.
Ace grimaces as a few squads are able to slip past them. "Fei, can you handle helping back at the ceremony grounds? Think maybe I should track down one of those 'guards' who abandoned their post. However, you're the senior student here, so I'll do as you direct me." If the Champion of Courage had heard any of the stories about Ace being more or less a goofball, it would seem the young man's personality is as mercurial as his appearance.
"If you can apprehend one and get them to talk, that would be a boon to us," Fei replies over the rising din of battle.
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"Before I go, I can link us telepathically, to allow communication over any distance. It's the same type of mind link Phaezeriel uses."
Should Fei agree, Ace will link them via Collective Telepathy. Either way, the young man says a few words of arcane power, and casts a spell to quicken his steps. He then takes the form of a massive wolf , and circles the immediate area around where the guards who fled were, trying to pick up their scent. Once gained, he takes off after them.
"Before I go, I can link us telepathically, to allow communication over any distance. It's the same type of mind link Phaezeriel uses."
Fei shakes his head.
"You will only be able to reach me via technological means while we are here. Use this frequency on your datapad," as information comes up on said device, "or speak to Ghalen - we currently have an open commlink established. Good hunting, and be careful."