it throws up prismatic walls. Adon is through them in 30 seconds.
"I'm getting a little tired. And hungry."
"I'm mostly certain he can come."
Cariban turns to sun for a moment.
"If you can't, i'll tell you otherwise before. Alright?"
it turns back to it's work.
"Actually, Cariban-san, Sun-san, gomen ne, but we planned the tea party for girls only. We didn't invite Lang-kun, Sorun-kun, Hew-kun or Grim-kun because of that. I'm sorry if you're offended Sun-san." Midori bows deeply to the talking baboon before he departs.
"I hope you understand."
"Oh. Then i won't be coming either."
"Oh. Then i won't be coming either."
"Are you a boy Cariban-san?" she asks, though his voice may be masculine, Midori seems a bit confused by this response.
"I am not a girl. Or a boy, for that matter."
it throws up prismatic walls. Adon is through them in 30 seconds.
"I'm getting a little tired. And hungry."
"Just one last test. Computer, create thirty prismatic walls, along with one sphere of force, center the sphere on me, set a one minute timer and constantly reduce the size of the sphere, if danger threshold is reached, end sim."
"But not outright evil? Just selfish?" Vare had listened to the story with a impassive, thoughtful face, his hand resting on his chin with the elbow resting on the side.
"Basically that was the long version of saying that underneath her good girl act Ursula is nosy and judgmental," she added.
"Yeah, pretty much....not that I ever bothered to detect alignment on her. My impression of her was just that she was someone who cared too much about how things looked and what people might think of her...it's not that unusual a form of insecurity."
adon walks around the prismatic walls, and dispels the sphere.
Kezzin holds the case for a few moments, staring at it with a mixture of awe, love, and horror. Then he looks back to Fieri and holds the violin out to her once more, "If that was 'not doing it justice', then I have no business torturing this beautiful instrument; that was quite possibly the most beautiful music I have ever been lucky enough to hear. Take this, please. I will find one more suited to a novice."
"If you have the instrument Kezzin it may compel you to even greater heights. We must always push ourselves to reach our goals as best we can." Ardiente says fiercely. "You ought to keep it, and worth at it until you are worthy."
"Interesting, now if only I could reach my contact in the Tower of Magi in the Underdark, this is very interesting."
"And you're saying this out loud why?"
"True, but that doesn't excuse being careless about taking risks," she said, not backing down from her scolding. She shook her head and sighed. "I doubt we'll solve the age old debate of risk versus responsibility before lunch anyways," she said continuing to set out food.
"Please, help yourself, Repparyn,san," she said, waving him over to the low table and moving a pile of books out of the way.
Rather than sit down to eat herself she went to put some raw fish in a bowl for Safffire and then gave a bigger portion of the same to Haruka the lynx. She then set out pieces of ricecake along the top of a shelf and several squirrels dressed as ninjas appeared and bowed as they took their ricecake before disappearing again.
"Those are also my friends...Saki, Seiji, Kaori, Kami, and Chiyo."
Repp bows respectfully in turn to each of the squirrels as their being introduced. "Thank you, Tanaka-senpai. You are a gracious host." he says as he sits down in seiza, which seems considerably easy for one of his small stature. He doesn't seem quite tall enough for the low table, but he doesn't quite complain. "Oh, I do agree, unnecessary risk is simply reckless."
"Because he may have something you can't break, maybe, hopefully, Darkness willing, I hope so."
Kezzin holds the case for a few moments, staring at it with a mixture of awe, love, and horror. Then he looks back to Fieri and holds the violin out to her once more, "If that was 'not doing it justice', then I have no business torturing this beautiful instrument; that was quite possibly the most beautiful music I have ever been lucky enough to hear. Take this, please. I will find one more suited to a novice.""If you have the instrument Kezzin it may compel you to even greater heights. We must always push ourselves to reach our goals as best we can." Ardiente says fiercely. "You ought to keep it, and worth at it until you are worthy."
"I agree with Ardiente. It may not be the best instrument to learn on, but if you have it where you can look at it frequently then you'll be more inspired to keep practicing. I would strongly encourage you to sign up for lessons, too. It will help you learn faster."
"Yeah, pretty much....not that I ever bothered to detect alignment on her. My impression of her was just that she was someone who cared too much about how things looked and what people might think of her...it's not that unusual a form of insecurity."
"She's so different from her brother in that regard, who doesn't seem to think overmuch on what people think of him, taking life as it comes. It does make me wonder so, given Bradley's particular talents. Perhaps I ought to trace this Ursula that I might learn more. I suspect there is nothing that can be done to ease Bradley's burden, but I still ought to try." Vare says without seeming to realize that the conversation turning to Bradley had virtually no preamble - he seemed to bring up the subject out of nowhere.
"You know... Deities won't even pay attention to me, you know that? This thing is really a hinderence. I can't even be a cleric."
Ace flashes a grin at Ginni "My lovely girlfriend has the right of it. With me in the band, we can switch up the instruments, and thus the sound, pretty much song by song, if you so desire Mel. Plus, as you are hearing, I can also switch my vocals to female as well as my looks." Ace has still not reverted back to his normal form, clearly making a point as to just what he can bring to the band. "Oh, and I can dance." He stopped himself just short of saying Ginni can as well. She might want to reveal that herself.
"Yeah, pretty much....not that I ever bothered to detect alignment on her. My impression of her was just that she was someone who cared too much about how things looked and what people might think of her...it's not that unusual a form of insecurity.""She's so different from her brother in that regard, who doesn't seem to think overmuch on what people think of him, taking life as it comes. It does make me wonder so, given Bradley's particular talents. Perhaps I ought to trace this Ursula that I might learn more. I suspect there is nothing that can be done to ease Bradley's burden, but I still ought to try." Vare says without seeming to realize that the conversation turning to Bradley had virtually no preamble - he seemed to bring up the subject out of nowhere.
"Oh, you've met Bradley then? Is that why you wanted to know so much about Ursula? Yeah, he has the most unfortunate accidents all the time...and trying to help him actually makes them worse."
"Hmm, it would seem that this may take more pondering than the two of us alone, know anyone who may be able to help?"
"I'm hungry. Really hungry. Can i go eat now?
Ace flashes a grin at Ginni "My lovely girlfriend has the right of it. With me in the band, we can switch up the instruments, and thus the sound, pretty much song by song, if you so desire Mel. Plus, as you are hearing, I can also switch my vocals to female as well as my looks." Ace has still not reverted back to his normal form, clearly making a point as to just what he can bring to the band. "Oh, and I can dance." He stopped himself just short of saying Ginni can as well. She might want to reveal that herself.
"See? We're already getting all enthusiastic about this bad thing," Ginni said smiling. "Lots of creative energy....that's what makes it fun, right?"
"Sure, let's go."
adon eats about half his body weight while continuing talking to you.
"So, to answer your question, no, i don't know anyone who can help."
"Well, that complicates matters, though perhaps we can ask around and see if anyone knows about your condition."
"My mom is a cleric of nethus. My dad an archmage. They couldn't learn anything about me. Nethus stayed silent, dad couldn't figure it out."
"Perhaps we need to look at this from a different angle, or plane, do you know anyone who can cast a simple ethereal jaunt spell?"
"Nope. Not off the top of my head. I don't know many people."
"Well, it'll be helpful to know someone, let's ask around."
"Give me a minute. Eating food."
"Of course."
"If you have the instrument Kezzin it may compel you to even greater heights. We must always push ourselves to reach our goals as best we can." Ardiente says fiercely. "You ought to keep it, and worth at it until you are worthy."
"I agree with Ardiente. It may not be the best instrument to learn on, but if you have it where you can look at it frequently then you'll be more inspired to keep practicing. I would strongly encourage you to sign up for lessons, too. It will help you learn faster."
Kezzin looks from Fieri to Ardiente then back as they speak. After a moment he hesitantly draws the violin back to himself. Almost as if speaking to the violin, Kezzin murmurs, "Very well. I will keep it. But I will not use it again until I am much better. One day, I will move a god to tears with this." He carefully slings the violin behind himself again, and returns to his meal.
He has made his way through about a quarter of the food, as much as a teenage human boy would eat, and shows no sign of being full. After a few bites, he looks to Fieri again, "With whom do I sign up for lessons?"
"You play very well, Dom."
Looking through the illusion, Dave can tell at least one bug has been trying to get through the wall, leaving scorched and melted floor behind as it left.
"I'll have you know that Professor Yrrum always has us work like we've got no wards to protect us."
"You play very well, Dom."
Dom hops off the stage and brushes his hair back. "Thanks, when your next meal depends on your performance you tend to get better. Everyone I traveled with had to contribute to our shows. Ever Mel had to start performing at an early age. It's probably a good thing that we love music as well. I just wish I could control my arcane music more. Some times it causes a lot of mayhem." His facial expression shows he remembers a few times it did.
"I didn't arrive here by choice-- at least, I don't think I did. As for my talents and learning, no... guess I'm here for some other reason, learn how to cook and sew, maybe? Improve my wicked backhand?"
Tryko'Sam stands at the alleyway and peers around while the girls search the area.
Sure enough, there's one thing that Rena notices that stands out-- well, two things.
First, there have been rats and rat droppings here, but, more importantly, she can see tiny blood prints, not of paws or the like, walking off -- insect like, up the alley and away.
Following it to a point, leads to a sewer hole, and out of sight. The sewer hole isn't big enough for anyone not Tiny to fit through at this point.
"Find anything, Rena?" He would inquire upon Rena seeking out the footsteps.
Vai would probably 'see' these little prints as well, but the tracking part, that's where Rena's skills kicked in best. Tryko'Sam appears not able to help one bit, or if he is, it's in some other fashion.
"Oh, you've met Bradley then? Is that why you wanted to know so much about Ursula? Yeah, he has the most unfortunate accidents all the time...and trying to help him actually makes them worse."
"I do not believe they are accidents, if you take my meaning. It is a subconscious ability of his, though the details of which I can only guess at. Anahita, a student, suspects that he is somehow twisting probability." Vare explains, watching the strange dreamscape countryside blur by as the speeder races down the makeshift road to Kuros. "I'm fairly certain it is more complicated than that, but I cannot tell you the reasons why I suspect that."
"I didn't arrive here by choice-- at least, I don't think I did. As for my talents and learning, no... guess I'm here for some other reason, learn how to cook and sew, maybe? Improve my wicked backhand?"
Seeing nothing worth continuuing to view the fullness of the EM spectrum, Vai wills away that particular ability, returning her sight to that of her mortal self. She does watch with interest as Rena sniffs along the ground, following a trail apparently. "Well, if you want to learn to do any of those things then you're definitely in the right place. I'm learning to cook here in the Kitchens."
Rena, meanwhile, is focused on the task of following this trail back to the sewer before stopping and looking back at her compatriots. "There's been several rats here, but I suspect that's more to do with the alleyway than anything else. There is something interesting though, if you look. Almost like an insect crawling along the ground. It must have been soon after you were hurt, because it left prints in the blood. Blood dries fairly quickly after all. The prints lead into the sewer though, and none of us can really fit down there."
Rena looks back at the sewer grate, thinking. "Vare might turn us into something small if he were here." Used to travelling with a Wizard, to suddenly not ahve a magical solution to every problem is a little disconcerting to Rena, but she looks back to Tryko'Sam to see what his thoughts were.
"Well it looks like at least one of them had been here, it's all melty, but I don't see any there now"
Double checking with Rena and Vai, as to these 'odd tracks', Tryko'Sam glances back and forth between where it is obvious he fell down and the initial injury occurred, to where the sewer is.
"Uh.. what kind of sewer systems do you folks have here? Pipes and such, or are they much bigger? Man sized? Something you might know about, Vai?" The look on his face has him almost straining as if trying to figure something out, but it's not working.
>> This is important, I just don't know why -- yet. Damn it.<<
He'd gone a bit paler than his normal pale, as he stood there rubbing his jaw and chin in thought.
"Okay-- what other options do we have to scan this area? A way to see what happened here in the past, is Ephebe the only time manipulator? If it's an ...wait, how many legs? Any torso on the ground being dragged by the creature? Can we get a closer look at the imprints it made? Are there any here at the sewer entrance?"
Fairly fearless, but it's obvious that he's a bit nervous all in all.
Kezzin looks from Fieri to Ardiente then back as they speak. After a moment he hesitantly draws the violin back to himself. Almost as if speaking to the violin, Kezzin murmurs, "Very well. I will keep it. But I will not use it again until I am much better. One day, I will move a god to tears with this." He carefully slings the violin behind himself again, and returns to his meal.
He has made his way through about a quarter of the food, as much as a teenage human boy would eat, and shows no sign of being full. After a few bites, he looks to Fieri again, "With whom do I sign up for lessons?"
Fieri pulled a small device like a miniature data pad out of a pocket....how there is any room for pockets on her outfit is a mystery as it seems to be skin tight....there must be some sort of extradimensional space involved. She started pressing buttons, pulling up menus.
"I can take care of that for you....you said your name was Kezzin? And what period did you have free for music class?"
"I'll have you know that Professor Yrrum always has us work like we've got no wards to protect us."
"You forgot a word. Tries. He always tries to get you guys to work like you've got no wards to protect you...he does not always succeed."
"Would you like an extra cushion or two, Repparyn-san?" she asked as she noticed that the table sat just a bit too high for him.
"Oh, you've met Bradley then? Is that why you wanted to know so much about Ursula? Yeah, he has the most unfortunate accidents all the time...and trying to help him actually makes them worse.""I do not believe they are accidents, if you take my meaning. It is a subconscious ability of his, though the details of which I can only guess at. Anahita, a student, suspects that he is somehow twisting probability." Vare explains, watching the strange dreamscape countryside blur by as the speeder races down the makeshift road to Kuros. "I'm fairly certain it is more complicated than that, but I cannot tell you the reasons why I suspect that."
"I'm surprised you've been able to learn that much. There's....something that stops people from looking into his 'problem'. I mean, jsut about everybody who has ever had a run-in with Bradley has wanted to fix it at some point....but then it seems not so important."
She steered the skimmer through the streets of the town. "We're at Kuros...do you remember where the child in question lives?"
Kezzin watches Fieri pull the device out curiously, and his examination of her clothing is interrupted by her question, "Hmm? Oh, sorry, I have third free at the moment."
Rena takes a moment to further examine the tracks, which seems to lead out of the blood and through the sewer grate there. "No body dragging along... it's definitely an insect of some kind. Six legs... look here though." she whips her tail around to point at the specific spot she wanted to highlight, exiting out past the gore and towards the sewer. "Whatever it is keeps dripping blood. I think this might be what hurt you last night." Rena says, continuing to follow the trail. "There's something weird about these tracks but I can't quite place it. In any event, whatever it was is definitely in the sewer now."
Vai bends down to examine the sewer grate. She grabs a pebble from the alleyway and casts a spell on it to cause it to shed light before dropping the pebble through the grate to be able to actually see properly.
"Uh..." Vai says a little unsure. "There are... chewing marks on this grate. Right here, see? Something was here that can chew through metal. That's a little disconcerting."
"Honestly I didn't even know plumbing existed until... well. Where I grew up we didn't have sewers, and I haven't heard that much about Kuros' sewers either. But... I think we can fit down there. Maybe. Gross though" She makes a face as she's looking back at Tryko'Sam, and notices how pale he seems to be. "Hey, are you alright?" she straightens, looking worried now.
"I remember Melody doing... something that let us see into the past yesterday... but I'm not sure. Ephebe won't be able to help I don't think. She and her Patron aren't on speaking terms if I understand it."
"You forgot a word. Tries. He always tries to get you guys to work like you've got no wards to protect you...he does not always succeed."
"Would you like an extra cushion or two, Repparyn-san?" she asked as she noticed that the table sat just a bit too high for him.
"Oh no, not all at Tanaka-senpai. I am quite comfortable and grateful for your hospitality." he says without batting an eyelash, though how someone could be comfortable sitting up to their chest it could hardly be guessed at. "So the alchemy professor is fairly lax with discipline or is it just that his classes work too quickly that he cannot manage them all? I can hardly imagine someone disobeying Miss Jones' directions in a similar case."
"I'm surprised you've been able to learn that much. There's....something that stops people from looking into his 'problem'. I mean, jsut about everybody who has ever had a run-in with Bradley has wanted to fix it at some point....but then it seems not so important."
She steered the skimmer through the streets of the town. "We're at Kuros...do you remember where the child in question lives?"
"I believe that may be the result of Bradley himself, though he must be completely unaware of it. Either way, as I said, it is likely that nothing can be done to help him, I would like very much to learn more about Ursula though. That will have to wait for another time though." He adds onto the end as he looks around the streets of Kuros. Fortunately, structures and the like rarely changed their basic shape... now...
"It was in the poorer section of town... left...left... right... that must be it, down there at the end, two houses form the corner on the right." Vare points to the house which he had directed them to. Once the vehicle is parked, Vare hikes up with robes to get out easier and stands straight, looking about a bit before returning his focus to the task at hand. "Shall I?"
Ardiente returns to munching away at the food he has before them. He and Fieri still had much work to do today, and it would probably stretch all night long as well - the route was planned so that they ought to arrive in the late afternoon roughly, around the globe at each place. Still alot of firebirds to visit. Hopefully more overjoyed ones and less crazy ones.