He takes his normal human form
"...And you speak mole. Very nice. Well on your way to becomming a druid, I'd say." He turns to Micheal
"Where was you two's plant at?"
"At the bottom of a koi pond guarded by razor sharp lily pads. Yours?"
"It was guarded by sleeping snap dragons on a field of dry leaves and twigs."
"Okay, here's the deal. This is really not the best splice job. I don't think I can return you to the way you were before. Not without a sample of your unaltered DNA. But I can fix the hatchet job he did on you. There are quite a few options, none of which we'll go forward with without your permission. It won't hurt. All we have to do is inject some nanites and they'll take care of it on a cellular level. You can take your time and think it over. No hurry."
Vai remembers the joy of flying and smiles whistfully. "I... I don't think I want to go back, even if I could. But... I don't really understand the other stuff. My mechanics professor said something about nanites, but I didn't really understand..."
"Oh, they're extremely small machines....so small you can't even see them..."
The machine beeped at her. Aananda glanced again at the readout and then glanced again.
"What in the world??? That can't be right....let me just adjust this....no, that is definitely happening....Vai....I didn't do anything, I swear. But....your genetic code....it appears to be adjusting itself. I'm not really sure how....."
Vai's heartrate skyrockets when she sees Aananda panicking, but tries to keep her voice calm. "Should I be worried? What's happenning?"
'No, no, don't panic, sweetie. It's okay. I don't understand exactly what's happening, but it appears to be beneficial. I think this might be why Aegythrax didn't turn you into a mindless puppet like the others. It certainly wasn't due to any skill on his part," she added dryly.
"So... there's something special about me?"
I will let Kraysn and Ephebe know we are back.
To Krays and Ephebe, ::We have returned with Vai, the bad guy is living in a dream, and we are in the workshop. Ephebe, Vai would like to see you if you have time to come in here.::
Ephebe quickly gulps down the rest of the pan of lasagna she was devouring.
::Be right there.::
....(-_-)....
"So... there's something special about me?"
"Definitely," she said with an affectionate smile.
Smiles watching Ephebe eat her favorite food.
Ephebe set down the empty pan next to the other empty pans.
"Okay, that should tide me over until lunch," she said with an impish grin.
"Time to head over to the workshop and see how the rest fared. I hope Vai is okay."
"Aegy... his experiments wouldn't have worked on anyone else? But... what does that mean?"
"They're back?" He gets up to follow "No casualties, I hope?"
"Aegy... his experiments wouldn't have worked on anyone else? But... what does that mean?"
"Aegy... his experiments wouldn't have worked on anyone else? But... what does that mean?"
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Jim is occasionally hit by the odd ball of vines, but it doesn't seem to phase him. He continues looking, giving up his diving motion, instead flying around, trying to find the plant.
1d20+21
"They're back?" He gets up to follow "No casualties, I hope?"
"I think they would have mentioned casualties."
They teleported to the lab.
"Aegy... his experiments wouldn't have worked on anyone else? But... what does that mean?"
"Well, I'm not exactly sure. It's just that your system seems to be stabilizing itself.."
She stopped talking as Ephebe and Krays showed up in the lab and hugged Ephebe tightly.
A few more balls of vines hit Jim as he flies around, spotting a fake every now and then. It isn't long before he realizes that last batch of vines have started wrapping around him.
Jim chuckles to himself, connecting a few wires on his arm. As he flips the switch connected to them, he slips free of the vines, greasy, but not drippingly so.
Vai also wants to go and hug Ephebe, but she's unsure if she's allowed to leave the scanner yet, so she waves instead.
"Mom....need....air...." she croaked, laughing a little as Aananda loosened her grip and looked at her worried.
"Mom, relax. It's okay. I'm fine. I'm fine and the babies are fine too," she added cutting off the question before it could be asked. "They got there in time. And Chan won't be a problem anymore. Ever again," she added glancing over at Krays's staff as she said it.
Ryleh looked both pained and relieved at the mention of Chan.
"I am glad that you are safe, Ephebe."
"When you have a moment, Krays, there is something I wish to speak with you about. Concerning the soon to be late Aegythrax."
Krays gives his staff a shake, and the runes light up, brighter than before...
"Sure, great one. When?"
"Sure, great one. When?"
"Now will do nicely." She pointed towards the drooling blank-eyed form of Aegythrax. "Phaezeriel and James worked together to make him travel sized. I have trapped him inside his own mind. He is entirely unaware of true reality. Left to himself he will slowly die of thirst and sarvation. It seems appropriate, however, given his crimes I would rather not risk any contingencies he might have in place. Not to put too fine a point on it, I think that he will make a fine addition to your staff."
"Of course...if he is unaware of his reality, he shouldn't know what's happening. Moving his soul to another device should not wake him from his dream at all, if I do it...nicely."
Krays takes a moment and brandishes the staff before him
::Lord Death, take this soul peacefully into mine staff. Let him dream on, until his soul is consumed utterly!!::
The runes on his staff flare brightly blue as the color slowly drains from Aegythrax's corpse, leaving it a dull gray husk, and his eyes empty white orbs. His body coughs out it's last breath, and the runes on Krays' staff die down...but do not completely go out.
"It is done."
Ryleh nodded, satisfied that justice had been done.
"Oh, for goodness sake, Aananda, let the poor girl off the scanner. You can run another test in a few minutes, but anyone can see she is absolutely dying to speak with her friends," Ryleh said with a small smile.
"Oh!" Aananda says, surprised, abruptly letting go of Ephebe. "Yes. Vai, I'm so sorry. Leaving you there like that. Of course you can come off the scanner plate now."
"Are you okay?" she asks Vai, not sure how the girl will deal with the abrupt death of Aegythrax.
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...not sure how the girl will deal with the abrupt death of Aegythrax.[/i]
Krays steps back out of the way of the well wishers and looks at his staff, curiously. The runes were supposed to wink out, and return to looking like a normal staff. This time, the runes still glow faintly, like ghosts skimming accross the surface. Ephebe senses confusion through the bond.
Ephebe turns around and looks at him questioningly.
::Is everything alright, love?::
::Yeah, I'm ok...its the staff...its acting strangely...I don't think its necessarily bad, but it wont resume it's 'mundane' appearance. I get the feeling that it's normal for it to do this, but that's the only impression I get. Maybe it's full? I didn't really get an owner's manual...::
::Well, you did put in a powerful dragon, a Champion who was also a powerful dragon, and an ex-Champion whatever corruption actually was. That's an awful lot of energy for anything.::
Vai stares at the shriveled and dessicated husk that used to be Aegythrax. She thought that she would feel something. Joy, satisfaction, vindication. Anything. She turned away from it and stepped off the scanner finally, and moved over to hug Ephebe. "I'm sorry." she whispered.
Vai stares at the shriveled and dessicated husk that used to be Aegythrax. She thought that she would feel something. Joy, satisfaction, vindication. Anything. She turned away from it and stepped off the scanner finally, and moved over to hug Ephebe. "I'm sorry." she whispered.
"You have nothing to be sorry for," Ephebe said, hugging her back. "You didn't do anything wrong. And didn't I tell you? I said, even if that bastard did take you we'd find you and bring you home. I'm sorry I couldn't help with the rescue, but even if I hadn't been in the middle of being rescued myself, they would never have let me go along. Too much risk. But you're safe at home now, and I'm so glad for that."
Krays and Ephebe notice Phaezeriel looking back and forth between them as they are talking. The look on his face shows that he does not know what you are saying, but knows that you are talking.
Vakkler starts. "A derro...derro, also known as 'white dwarves', are insane people of the Underdark. Derro are not born insane, but drive their offspring to madness at a young age through an unknown ritual. Derro are extremely sadistic, and take delight in capturing unwary travelers and torturing them to death. This particular conflict, as you have just read, started when the derro tribe kidnapped several sons of the mite shaman for such a purpose."
"Derro...didn't you say that you fought alongside them? Was it against the mites? Are there still derro left?" She starts rapid-firing questions in a torrent, trying to make up for the years of non-sentience. Jen takes a deep breath and continues. "If you did fight with the derro, how did you manage to escape? Isn't this what is known as observational bias? Are there any non-insane Derro?"
Vakkler pauses, trying to work out what question to answer first. "Slow down, Ms. Feline. Yes, I fought with the derro, in a different war. That's the Drow Invasion, which comes later. A large derro tribe allied with what remained of the Kobold Empire, along with several mite colonies, and staved off a powerful drow assault. I had 'friends' among the derro, so I was able to assure a safe exit for my brethren after the war ended. But that's neither here nor there. Yes, there are still derro left. The derro involved in the Mite-Derro Skirmish Series were of a single very powerful clan." The kobold stops. "What else...ah, yes. There may be some sane derro, but I've never met one. They're very precise about that sort of thing."
The other students are mostly finished with the quiz, so Vakkler turns away from Jen and starts going over today's lesson.
"You know," Michael says as he leans against the tree, "once it's not trying to hurt you, the garden looks really nice. The snapdragons are pretty cool."
::Well, you did put in a powerful dragon, a Champion who was also a powerful dragon, and an ex-Champion whatever corruption actually was. That's an awful lot of energy for anything.::
::Yeah, thing is I dunno. As far as the souls in there are concerned, they're slowly wasting away, well except for Aegythrax who probably remains blissfully unaware. I could talk to them if I wished, I could wake Aegythrax. I could use their lifeforce to boost my spells and abilities. I'm not upset about it, their own actions led to their prison. But I can't help but think it's not a slip towards what I was capable of before. I can't help but think what I would become if anyone managed to really hurt you or the kids, or...::
"Yeah...the snapdragons look alot better from over here...well I'll leave you two alone. Good job, btw!" he'll head back over to Fei, and meditate too
"You know," Michael says as he leans against the tree, "once it's not trying to hurt you, the garden looks really nice. The snapdragons are pretty cool."
"Yeah."
"I wouldn't want to be an intruder trying to get through the garden though. I don't think it would be very comfortable."
....(-_-)....