"Thank you, Nasima," she said, still leaning against Tam for support. She was trying, not very successfully to hide how scared she was. "Any chance at all is worth exploring right now."
"I will confer with my patron. I'll be right back..."
::Death! I need a moment of your time, please::
"How powerful? Deific? Greater?""I don't know," Ryleh said, putting a hand over her face as she tried to keep tears at bay. She'd lost so many, many children. To lose her granddaughter now, like this, it was too much.
For Taron, that settles it. Some things were more important. He looks at Jiminy and almost grins.
"It's not quite saving the world, but it's better than that."
He reaches out and touches Ephebe's crystal before anyone can stop and starts pouring power into it, far more power than he should have, with but a single thought in mind: Find Ephebe.
::Who has her, then?::
Far from the conference, Vakkler has Slarrow on his shoulder again. He is explaining in Boggard why he blew the whistle.
"White fire...?" Taron asks no one in particular. "Ephebe started using white fire... she's still in Agartha, I can find her!"
::Do you know where it is? Can you enter the bidding process to buy us some time?::
"White fire...?" Taron asks no one in particular. "Ephebe started using white fire... she's still in Agartha, I can find her!"
"Oh, thank the gods. Is she close?"
::Thank you::
Krays straightens and takes a step forward.
"Ephebe is being held by a person or being that calls itself 'the corruptor'. It is attempting to auction her off to other powers that be. I have the information to reach the agent for the bidding, should you wish to get involved to buy us some time, Ryleh. She is the Champion of Time, and the aspect of Madness so far is the highest bidder. I fear we will not get her back if Madness prevails." His voice cracks slightly as he says the last bit...
"I will do whatever it takes to get her back. We all will. Give me the information. I will meet whatever outrageous price this villain is demanding."
"No... but I know I can get us there." Taron says after Krays explains things and he takes his hand off the of the crystal, shaking slightly. "Big guns it is."
Ryleh nodded and following Krays directions, tuned her mirror to contact the agent about bidding. The creature that appeared in her view looked like a strange cross between a troll and a goblin.
"Something very dear to me has been taken and I wish to get her back. I am willing to pay whatever is required to get her back safely. I am correct in assuming you are the agent for the one who has taken her?"
The creature nodded. Ryleh named a ridiculously large sum of money. The creature smiled.
"A generous bid," it hissed. "The lead so far. But bidding will be open for a few more hours. I will get back to you if you should lose the lead, give you the opportunity to raise your offer. Pleasure doing business with you," he added with an unpleasant grin before cutting the connection.
Give Ryleh the information.
"We need to get going. Are you confident you can track the white flame, Taron?"
"Looks like nothing's going to stop this concert. Wanna go back?" Michael asks, turning to Kitty.
"Ephebe is being held by a person or being that calls itself 'the corruptor'. It is attempting to auction her off to other powers that be. I have the information to reach the agent for the bidding, should you wish to get involved to buy us some time, Ryleh. She is the Champion of Time, and the aspect of Madness so far is the highest bidder. I fear we will not get her back if Madness prevails." His voice cracks slightly as he says the last bit...
"I will do whatever it takes to get her back. We all will. Give me the information. I will meet whatever outrageous price this villain is demanding."
Ryleh nodded and following Krays directions, tuned her mirror to contact the agent about bidding. The creature that appeared in her view looked like a strange cross between a troll and a goblin.
"Something very dear to me has been taken and I wish to get her back. I am willing to pay whatever is required to get her back safely. I am correct in assuming you are the agent for the one who has taken her?"
The creature nodded. Ryleh named a ridiculously large sum of money. The creature smiled.
"A generous bid," it hissed. "The lead so far. But bidding will be open for a few more hours. I will get back to you if you should lose the lead, give you the opportunity to raise your offer. Pleasure doing business with you," he added with an unpleasant grin before cutting the connection.
"Alright. Ryleh, Aananda and I will keep the agent busy (and as honest as possible) and keep the bidding war going as long as we can. The rest of you are going with my sons to get Ephebe back."
"Who else among you can cover the healing and restorative angle when this extraction turns violent?" he asks the students, looking at all of them. "And I mean cover as well as a cleric."
Nasima, who had faded back to the corner with her eyes shut, concentrating on the telepathic link her parents have on her, now steps forward. "My dad says 'Phebe's capture is getting a lot of attention in all the wrong places. He says most of the, um, forces getting excited about this are petty, but he says a few "big players" are watching with great interest, and have...'people' in place to prevent interference." She gulps. "My mom says a lot of natural predators are waiting to take advantage of all the interplanar travel; chances for robbery and free meals."
"Who else among you can cover the healing and restorative angle when this extraction turns violent?"
Nasima's brow darkens and her eyes flash blue-white.
Vai didn't understand any of the talk of patrons and champions and aspects, but everyone else seemed to be fully informed. Feeling useless, Vai's shoulders slump slightly. She wasn't gonna be of any use. Too many great people here.
The amount of money Ryleh mentions so cooly causes Vai's eyes to go wide, her mouth hanging open for a moment before she realizes how unsightly it is.
"V I O L E N C E ! ...yyyyyeessssss..."
...says a booming and rough voice somewhere above and behind Nasima's head, though it is her mouth that moves. A peal of thunder caroms around in the distance. Nasima's eyes return to normal and she gives Tamrin and Aananda a nervous look. "How many others might try to stop us? Should we go get a dedicated healer? I can ask Percy." Again, she seems to have no knowledge at all of what just happened.
Give Ryleh the information.
"We need to get going. Are you confident you can track the white flame, Taron?"
"As sure as I am about a lot of things."
Vai didn't understand any of the talk of patrons and champions and aspects, but everyone else seemed to be fully informed. Feeling useless, Vai's shoulders slump slightly. She wasn't gonna be of any use. Too many great people here.
The amount of money Ryleh mentions so cooly causes Vai's eyes to go wide, her mouth hanging open for a moment before she realizes how unsightly it is.
[i]Vai feels a gentle hand on her shoulder. "It's okay if you have no idea what they're talking about. At least half of this is over my head too. The important part is we call care about Phebe and about getting her back. And that's gonna take all of us from the sounds of it. You can do this," she added with a small encouraging smile.
Matthis peeks around the corner and looks at both Jiminy and Taron. He mutters something quickly and ducks behind the corner, hoping he wasn't caught.
Jiminy looks confused as he tries to figure out what just happened.
::Hang on, sis.:: Taron thinks at the fire he can feel, hoping she can hear him even if she can't reply.
"I'll assume we aren't going to give a damn about the storm outside?" Taron asks as he notices Jiminy is just as confused about that feeling.
"Since when are we bothered by a little thing like weather? Especially right now. Although if you've got a general direction, I can probably teleport us out of the range of the storm anyways."
Two more peeks, one from Gwenne and Tal, everyone in the room feels like something has happened, but can't quite figure out what. The twins duck away as fast as their brother did.
His work completed, Jim walks to wherever he rests, whistling. ♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫
"That'll work, but we'll need a way to get their without overshooting it. I can't use the key since we're on the same plane, so that's out the window."
"That'll work, but we'll need a way to get their without overshooting it. I can't use the key since we're on the same plane, so that's out the window."
"So we'll take it in short jumps. Unless you can use one of Grandma's crystals to divine the location so that I can see where we're trying to jump to."
"Or we can use the key to go to another plane and then use the key again to get where we want to go."
"That could work, actually... I'll still need to know where it is though."
"Yes, of course you can use the crystals, Taron. They're in my room in the basement where they always are."
"Then all I need to do is find the one I can sense the fire in." Taron says as he heads for the basement and begins his search.
Looking through the mirrors takes a bit longer than Taron expected, but he eventually points out a small, squared mirror made of polished silver.
"She's there, but I've never been there before."
Looking through the mirrors takes a bit longer than Taron expected, but he eventually points out a small, squared mirror made of polished silver.
"She's there, but I've never been there before."
Jiminy leaned in close to study the picture carefully. "Me either. Hopefully just seeing it like this will be enough to let us get a good fix on the location though."
"Looks like nothing's going to stop this concert. Wanna go back?" Michael asks, turning to Kitty.
Kitty smiled. "Sure, why not? Dancing sounds like a great idea about now. Saffire agrees," she said, pointing out that Saffire has once again started headbanging to the music coming through the PA.
"It can't hurt." Taron says as he rubs his eyes. "Is everyone ready? I've got a course in mind that should be easy enough."
"We're still missing a dedicated healer. Cause anyone who thinks Krays is gonna keep his cool if this turns violent is just not paying attention. He and Ephebe are pretty close."
Trying to cover for the absences of key members of both bands, Fly Free and FAIN have temporarily joined forces to keep the concert going.
"I think we could all use a little more time to act like fools, so I agree too." Michael laughs. "I wonder if anyone managed to see me save Saffire?"
"We're still missing a dedicated healer. Cause anyone who thinks Krays is gonna keep his cool if this turns violent is just not paying attention. He and Ephebe are pretty close."
The corners of Kray's mouth curl up in an evil grin.
"I certainly won't be taking prisoners. Mess with the dragon, you get the claws."
"He might not be dedicated to it... but Lysander can heal if the need arises. I hate not going myself, but for Ephebe to be kidnapped after that dragon and that mob... it just seems like a plan is in the works."
"There certainly are too many things happening in too short a time for it not to be engineered by someone. Even Avalon doesn't usually have this many crises."
"I hate just staying here and waiting...I know, I know. It's necessary. There's no telling what will happen to her if the bad guys get wind of a rescue attempt in the works. Just because it's the right thing to do doesn't mean I have to like it."
"I'll bring her back, Mom, no matter what tries to stop us. With a group like this, how can we not?"