"It's an almost perfectly circular bowl of dust, ash, and glass, about two miles from Avalon proper. Around it is the lush forest near here. The bowl is... um.. I think about 100 meters deep at it's deepest, and has a radius of about 300 meters." Vai says hurriedly obviously eager to get going. "Is that enough?"a look of worry appears on his face
"If you give me a detailed description, I can port us."
He nods as he starts casting...and takes all that wish to go with him. Upon arrival, he sees Keem, being held by Fei. He rushes over and looks over his grandson...
"Oh, my dear boy...no..." He looks up at Fei, and the others around.
"What is the cause of this affliction?"
"Yes, please. This is a datapad, yes?" Vare says, fishing it out of his pocket and handing it to the human/dragon being. "I am glad you are feeling better. Perhaps my time would be better suited tending to you, if you are restoring our defenses. Is there anything else I could fetch for you that would make your task easier or quicker?""Oh, thank you so much! I'll have to tell Razule thanks too. This stuff is an absolute godsend. I actually get to keep down what I eat for a change," she said, happily, eagerly taking the serum from him and taking a dose of it before she starts drinking the milk. Which she does in what would appear to be much too short a time if you didn't know she was a dragon.
"That feels so much better. Now, you have a datapad for me to alter," she said, sounding much less tired and defeated.
"Yes, this is a datapad...I'll have it working for you in just a minute," she said, opening the case and fiddling with things in ways he didn't understand. In the dream state it looked a bit like she was ordering around an army of clockwork gears. "Once I've done with this, if you can deliver a vial of nanites to my lab for me...I'll program it so all you have to do is take it there and open it up inside the doors. It's just a scrubbing program, to clean out all the debris and destroy all the infected machines so that I can take that room off of quarantine and integrate it back into the school. Having a big blind spot like that makes me nervous. Aside from that I don't think there's much more we can do tonight. The school itself is self-repairing and fast about it now that the wards are back up. We lost a lot of resources and materials, but the rooms and buildings that were damaged are already back to a livable state. My lab is just a bit different. The room itself will repair, but my equipment is another story. Anyhow once that security breach is taken care of I can bring the system fully back online with improvements. And really, thank you so much."
"Ah, here you are," she said, handing him the once more fully intact datapad. "It's all set now. Any books in its database it can read aloud to you. If a book isn't in its database, open the page and hold it above for a few seconds and then it can read it aloud to you."
Ardiente gives a perfunctory bow to the man, before saying. "We have many other abjured still to visit, and we must try to get to them before the Sun is destroyed, so that no one is taken by surprise. I look forward to speaking to you again Villem." Ardiente says, concealing the lie of wanting to see the man again in his bow. "Shall we be going, Raelle?" he asks, still not entirely comfortable with the man - unsettled no doubt still by the odd villagers below, and not wanting to leave first and leave Raelle vulnerable, still taking his position of bodyguard seriously.
"Yes, we should. Until the next time we meet, sir," she said, inclining her head slightly, more of a nod than a bow. She might not have been raised among the nobility, but she was still her father's daughter and had picked up a few of his habits.
She tried to look at least a tiny bit dignified as they left even if a big part of her wanted to run away. He hadn't given them any real reason to be afraid, but something in the back of her mind told her something was not right with Villem and his mysterious friend.
Leaving the top floor of the tower was simple-- just head out the way they came. Getting back downstairs, however, required shifting into bird form, or perhaps, using another means to simply depart.
Regardless, Villem would watch as they do, depending on how that happened.
He said little else, still watching them, but Raelle, mostly.
Carl once done moving a few pallets gos to his ship emptys the hold into the hangger lockup, then plots and files a flight plan for the sun,stating jiminys name on the request as clearance for the ongoing evacuation , once done he takes off, once at hight, hits auto pilot, before flopping into he's crash bunk to sleep until he gets there.
It was going to be a long night if he was lucky he could make 2 good runs before the full day started planet side, Best get all the sleep he could.
"It's an almost perfectly circular bowl of dust, ash, and glass, about two miles from Avalon proper. Around it is the lush forest near here. The bowl is... um.. I think about 100 meters deep at it's deepest, and has a radius of about 300 meters." Vai says hurriedly obviously eager to get going. "Is that enough?"a look of worry appears on his face
"If you give me a detailed description, I can port us."He nods as he starts casting...and takes all that wish to go with him. Upon arrival, he sees Keem, being held by Fei. He rushes over and looks over his grandson...
"Oh, my dear boy...no..." He looks up at Fei, and the others around.
"What is the cause of this affliction?"
"It is...his Patron, Professor," Fei replies, bowing as best he can to Genosuke. "It...appears that a new plot for power has been hatched, this time by Hope. 'She' is trying to enlist the aid of the Patron of Light as well. Whatever this plan is, Keme was against it. Hope is trying to break his very spirit to get him to obey 'her'. He had a brief moment of clarity several minutes ago - he said he was losing this battle of wills, and the only way to free him was to...end his life, and hopefully revive him after Hope chooses another Champion."
"I had hoped...you might have another solution that we have overlooked. But we do not have much time left, and I cannot let everything that is Keme be lost..." he adds, his head lowering.
Genosuke can tell that Fei is making an heroic effort to maintain his usual sense of calm, but the events of this horrible day have taken their toll on everyone, and the young monk is showing the signs of emotional compromise.
"He...tried to warn me, earlier. I did not understand then. I cannot...fail him now, sir. Not if there is any chance of saving his soul from this end..."
The level of Light in the crater raises slightly when the Champion of such arrives next to Genosuke, allowing those who are impaired by the darkness to see more easily.
As Vai watches the scene unfold, specifically Fei's internal emotional struggle, she wants to do something to comfort her meldanya. But for some reason, she simply cannot reach out to take his hand or offer him comfort of any kind. It's like her body was too stiff to do so, and thus instead Vai simply stands there, watching.
Fortunately, her presence does not seem to affect or be affected by the falling electric blue 'snow'.
Zilla holds back a small laugh.
Zilla smiles to Midori. "Oh honey I don't know how to answer that. I guess it would work, but is that what you want? If so then go for it. If you don't know then you should wait." Zilla steps close to Midori and hugs her trying to comfort her, making sure to hug the cat as well. "I'll help you however you want." She continues placing a hand on her shoulder opposite the cat.
"Will you tell Hew-kun that I am sorry for running away? I'm sure I hurt his feelings, I just didn't know what else to do, Zilla-chan." Midori says, not immediately releasing the hug, especially since the kitty seemed to be enjoying it so.
Leaving the top floor of the tower was simple-- just head out the way they came. Getting back downstairs, however, required shifting into bird form, or perhaps, using another means to simply depart.
Regardless, Villem would watch as they do, depending on how that happened.
He said little else, still watching them, but Raelle, mostly.
Ardiente would indeed shift to bird form, his taloned feet standing next to Raelle on the lip of the platform, and he put a wing on her back.
Ardiente will wait for Raelle to go first before diving down after her, heading back to the point which they originated, just outside the creepy village.
"Yes, this is a datapad...I'll have it working for you in just a minute," she said, opening the case and fiddling with things in ways he didn't understand. In the dream state it looked a bit like she was ordering around an army of clockwork gears. "Once I've done with this, if you can deliver a vial of nanites to my lab for me...I'll program it so all you have to do is take it there and open it up inside the doors. It's just a scrubbing program, to clean out all the debris and destroy all the infected machines so that I can take that room off of quarantine and integrate it back into the school. Having a big blind spot like that makes me nervous. Aside from that I don't think there's much more we can do tonight. The school itself is self-repairing and fast about it now that the wards are back up. We lost a lot of resources and materials, but the rooms and buildings that were damaged are already back to a livable state. My lab is just a bit different. The room itself will repair, but my equipment is another story. Anyhow once that security breach is taken care of I can bring the system...
"And thank you very much, Ms. Aananda." Vare returns evenly, graciously taking the datapad back from the head of security, though not quite sure what to do with the pad - he didn't think it would fit into any of his pouches. Either way, he awaits for the... whatever it was that she had said she wanted done to her lab. Nanites and programs... Vare only barely knew of any of this, and even that was during his time here....
Lang sits with Sun seeing Chara is there.
hello Chara, I guess your dad is stopping by to pick you up? I have a message here for him. so I can wait here until he stops by.
looking at what they are doing. can I color too? while we wait.
Melody sets up a couple of mugs of hot cocoa and pulls out her diary.
Mel gives a snack to Nim before settling in for a calm night
Dear Diary, what a day today. so many things happened. I need to do some real soul searching about my future. things happened today to question my choices....
Hermes fades into the background near the edge of the bottom of the bowl.
Arthur can vaguely remember seeing or hearing something about theoretical 'space' in the Many Worlds hypothesis (which suggests independant timelines), and what the results of travelling between said timelines might be. However, since it was just a hypothesis and not practical knowledge, it seems to have missed Arthur's attention.
His engineering knowledge though, will tell him that since it /does/ radiate magic and shed light, it must be at least partly interacting with this timeline. If he had specialized equipment, and perhaps a little more help on the theory side, he might be able to analyze these 'snowflakes'. However, he's not sure how long this phenomenon will stay in effect.
Now that even more bodies were present at the Crater of Fei, the fire bear seated on its hind quarters rose to a ready position and studied the two newer looking humanoid figures and the group assembling in the dusty crater from her lightly renewed flora 'seat'.
Eventually, the gaze seemed to stay on Hermes, once the form of Genosuke and Arthur were considered. Given the typical, for anyone familiar with bears and their expressions, look, it would be hard to tell what this creature was thinking.
Looking away after a moment from Hermes, a girl's accented voice slips out from the maw of the fire bear, "Vai, greetings to you again. My apologies for the abrupt departure earlier when you sought to illuminate me. Have you any insight into this plot, that you are able to divulge?"
It should be noted, her attention is primarily on Arthur and Hermes, leaving Ace, Genosuke, Fei, Keme, Ryuko and Vai left to their devices, mostly, while she studied the pair of technological beings curiously. She did not, however, resort to sniffing the pair. It would be somewhat obvious the addition of yet more beings, stirs her curiosity higher, yet quietly and with sight only.
Anahita remained some twenty feet from Fei and Keme, though, and she was huge. Fairly hard to not spot in her blazing bear shaped form.
When the armored form of Arthur speaks, Anahita considers what he says a moment thoughtfully.
"Yes sir."
He gives a synopsis of any helpful information on this he has.
"Must his life be ended? What do you know of this pact. Quickly, boy!"
"Must his life be ended? What do you know of this pact. Quickly, boy!"
"It appears that to be chosen as a Champion is to be chosen for life, Professor. If it could be willingly severed by either Patron or Champion, Hope would not be fighting to take over Keme right now. Every one of us here now who is a Champion is because all of our predecessors were killed...not because of abdication."
"If he...died, Hope would have to find a new Champion. Which means we will have a new foe to deal with. But Keme's soul would be spared."
"Even if we could convince our own Patrons to call Hope to task for whatever it is 'she' is plotting, I believe Keme would still be vulnerable to 'her'. He said this has been escalating for months now. He cannot fight her will anymore..."
"So we must make him unattractive to her as a choice...how could we get her to relinquish him willingly? What breaks the pact? Think!"
"Will you tell Hew-kun that I am sorry for running away? I'm sure I hurt his feelings, I just didn't know what else to do, Zilla-chan." Midori says, not immediately releasing the hug, especially since the kitty seemed to be enjoying it so.Zilla holds back a small laugh.
Zilla smiles to Midori. "Oh honey I don't know how to answer that. I guess it would work, but is that what you want? If so then go for it. If you don't know then you should wait." Zilla steps close to Midori and hugs her trying to comfort her, making sure to hug the cat as well. "I'll help you however you want." She continues placing a hand on her shoulder opposite the cat.
"Would it not be better If you told him? It would certianly mean more coming from you. So you should tell him." Zilla tells her trying to be comforting and not fully interfer.
Leaving the top floor of the tower was simple-- just head out the way they came. Getting back downstairs, however, required shifting into bird form, or perhaps, using another means to simply depart.
Regardless, Villem would watch as they do, depending on how that happened.
He said little else, still watching them, but Raelle, mostly.
Ardiente would indeed shift to bird form, his taloned feet standing next to Raelle on the lip of the platform, and he put a wing on her back.
Ardiente will wait for Raelle to go first before diving down after her, heading back to the point which they originated, just outside the creepy village.
Raelle also shifts to her bird form and takes off from the platform, assuming that Ardiente would follow.
Sorchan was bone weary. And overwhelmed. He had assumed that Avalon was safe. And now there was doubt there. On top of all of the screaming and threats and marginally successful attempts to make peace among the people in the refugee camp and the need to try and keep the evacuations organized....he was simply out of energy.
Pyra had asked him to bring Chara with him when he came back to their apartment within the school. She had managed to verify that all their children were alright after the attack, but she still didn't want to leave Ignace alone in case she woke up. Her sleep was apparently quite fitful so far. So he followed the arrows to where Chara was and stood in the doorway for a moment just watching her color with the other children.
..."Not willing to do Hope's will does not seem to be enough. If this has been going on as long as Keme said, 'she' has had enough time to find another candidate - 'she' has no reason not to withdraw his status as her Champion...unless 'she' is either not able to...or she wishes to make him suffer for defying 'her'...."
He pauses for a moment, lost in thought.
"...Wait. There is magic that can pull the soul from a being and...contain it, in a gem I believe. The physical body is also contained in the gem by the magic of the spell. If we did that for long enough, perhaps Hope would relinquish 'her' grasp on Keme and move on. One that happened, the gem could be shattered and Keme restored in both body and soul...."
Hermes will be able to pull more data on the Many Worlds hypothesis. He knows the following:
The many-worlds interpretation is an interpretation of quantum mechanics that asserts the objective reality of the universal wavefunction and denies the actuality of wavefunction collapse. Many-worlds implies that all possible alternative histories and futures are real, each representing an actual "world" (or "universe").
In layman's terms, this means that any time a quantum probability might result in two (or more) seperate event, all possibilities occur, though in seperate universes.
It has been hypothesized that one could travel between these seperate realities, given enough magical energy. There are many different hypotheses about what might occur is one attempted such, and this 'blue snow' pattern is one among many. It may suggest that recently, someone may have attempted something similar here.
Hermes relays the information he recalls verbatim to Arthur. (Minus the layman's terms part. Don't want to belittle Sir, now do we?)
"An excellent suggestion- but, why is Hope so focused on this person, Keme? If death is really the only release from the Agreement, death is powerless in the school with the wards and powers of mere students. What was Keme doing in defiance before he fell? This may not be specifically about him, no?"
Anahita offers from the back of Fei.
She turns her gaze back onto Hermes after he speaks. "So a traveller may have passed through here..." At stating such, Anahita studies the snow a moment further.
Sorchan was bone weary. And overwhelmed. He had assumed that Avalon was safe. And now there was doubt there. On top of all of the screaming and threats and marginally successful attempts to make peace among the people in the refugee camp and the need to try and keep the evacuations organized....he was simply out of energy.
Pyra had asked him to bring Chara with him when he came back to their apartment within the school. She had managed to verify that all their children were alright after the attack, but she still didn't want to leave Ignace alone in case she woke up. Her sleep was apparently quite fitful so far. So he followed the arrows to where Chara was and stood in the doorway for a moment just watching her color with the other children.
Sensing he is being watched, Lang turns to see Sorchan. Lang gets up to address him.
Lang bows to him holding out a scroll inscibed with the symbols of all the temples of all four elements.
Master Sorchan, on behalf of the air benders of the Eastern Sky Temples, I present you this invitationn. Please take time to read it and provide an answer tomorrow..
Lang continuses to bow out of respect until he takes the scrolll
"An excellent suggestion- but, why is Hope so focused on this person, Keme? If death is really the only release from the Agreement, death is powerless in the school with the wards and powers of mere students. What was Keme doing in defiance before he fell? This may not be specifically about him, no?"
Anahita offers from the back of Fei.
She turns her gaze back onto Hermes after he speaks. "So a traveller may have passed through here..." At stating such, Anahita studies the snow a moment further.
"I do not know what Esperanza's ultimate goal is, no. It is only about Keme in the fact that he does not wish to comply with whatever she is doing. We cannot stop 'her'...we may be able to save him. Whatever victory we can possibly pull from this will be Pyrrhic at best."
If anyone is focused on Vai during the entirety of this conversation, they may notice that she keeps looking as if she's about to speak her mind, and then withdrawing slightly. It is most likely due to the fact that she's generally a shy person, unless her temper is brought out. Either way, the youngest Sunwake isn't adding too much to the conversation.
tarka eventually returns to the lunchroom and curls up with Lewis.
|
Arthur in turn relays what Hermes told to him to the rest of the group and then says "so what we're seeing here is either this is the residual energy from a previous dimensional shift or the buildup for a new one, more likely the first one, given what we know of the events of the day"
when his detect magic runs out he manifests detect psionics
he looks closely for any nuances he may have missed
..."Not willing to do Hope's will does not seem to be enough. If this has been going on as long as Keme said, 'she' has had enough time to find another candidate - 'she' has no reason not to withdraw his status as her Champion...unless 'she' is either not able to...or she wishes to make him suffer for defying 'her'...."
He pauses for a moment, lost in thought.
1d20+35
"...Wait. There is magic that can pull the soul from a being and...contain it, in a gem I believe. The physical body is also contained in the gem by the magic of the spell. If we did that for long enough, perhaps Hope would relinquish 'her' grasp on Keme and move on. One that happened, the gem could be shattered and Keme restored in both body and soul...."
"If we removed his soul, his will, wouldn't this...Hope...have uncontested use of his body? Is that not what he's fighting to prevent?"
He sighs..."If death is truly the only release, then I shall do it as his elder. Give him to me, please." He said please, but you're pretty sure he's not asking, he's telling.
Arthur in turn relays what Hermes told to him to the rest of the group and then says "so what we're seeing here is either this is the residual energy from a previous dimensional shift or the buildup for a new one, more likely the first one, given what we know of the events of the day"
when his detect magic runs out he manifests detect psionics
he looks closely for any nuances he may have missed
Sensing he is being watched, Lang turns to see Sorchan. Lang gets up to address him.
Lang bows to him holding out a scroll inscibed with the symbols of all the temples of all four elements.
Master Sorchan, on behalf of the air benders of the Eastern Sky Temples, I present you this invitationn. Please take time to read it and provide an answer tomorrow..
Lang continues to bow out of respect until he takes the scroll
"Thank you, Lang," Sorchan says with a weary smile as he takes he scroll. "I found the other things you were looking for too," he adds handing a bag full of old scrolls to Lang. "My parents hadn't even bothered to pack them. They would have been destroyed if you hadn't told me to look for them."
"Daddy!" Chara exclaimed. "Look what I drew! It was kinda scary tonight, but I was really good and Mr Settro kept us safe and I didn't even get broken once all night," she said proudly.
Sorchan smiled. "That's a lovely picture, Chara. And you did a great job, honey. Come on, it's time for you to go to bed," he said picking her up. "Say goodnight to you friends, Chara. You can see them again in the morning."
"Well, let's check the wing exits. Good luck, and stay safe, okay? I'm not getting expelled because someone up and kicked the proverbial bucket."
"Oh, oh that."
she points to a belt she's wearing.
"This lets me do it. I'm new to being what i am, and yet, i kinda keep forgetting what I'm doing."
"What's that mean, you're new to what you are?"
"Oh, I was human last night. A guy, at that."
she yawns and stretches.
"But not now? I know a spells that does that!"
"Yeah, I suppose. But the odd thing is, i seem to be under no magical effect, and an odd symbol appeared on my back."
"I'm really good at reading things, so I could look at it and find out what it means if ya want me too."
"Sure, if you want."
she floats down, and pulls the back of her shirt up,carefully holding the front down.
He looks at it closely, studying it as his eyes dart back and forth like he's reading words that only he can see.
the writing is a large rune with complicated patterns. it's unlike any lanugage you've seen before. you can read it, nonetheless.
"Thank you, Lang," Sorchan says with a weary smile as he takes he scroll. "I found the other things you were looking for too," he adds handing a bag full of old scrolls to Lang. "My parents hadn't even bothered to pack them. They would have been destroyed if you hadn't told me to look for them.""Daddy!" Chara exclaimed. "Look what I drew! It was kinda scary tonight, but I was really good and Mr Settro kept us safe and I didn't even get broken once all night," she said proudly.
Sorchan smiled. "That's a lovely picture, Chara. And you did a great job, honey. Come on, it's time for you to go to bed," he said picking her up. "Say goodnight to you friends, Chara. You can see them again in the morning."
Lang takes the bag of scrolls and bows again Thank you Master Sorchan. and I will stop by tomorrow to see how Ignace is doing, if that is alright
Once everyone has left Lang will go with Sun to tend to Simba as he was directed.
One of the ash piles Krays Ressurects expands and billows into the form of a male Elf. Kind of.
The person that now sits on the cot has its features split down the middle its left half has a black shoe, black pant leg, black shirt with red pattern, demonic wing, red eye, jet black hair, and its hand terminates in black claws.
Its right half is another story. It has a white shoe, white pant leg, blue shirt with star patterns, blue eye, white hair, and retractable cat like claws on its hand.
His skin is the same pale elven all around and his face bears normal elven features, save for the eyes.
He rubs his hand over his face.
"Oh gods it was boring there."
His head jerks to the right and a deeper voice issues.
"Don't bring them into this!"
His head jerks to the left and a higher, well spoken voice chimes in.
"Let him show some faith if he wants!"
Back to the right.
"I swear if we weren't the same person. . . ."
His head turns back to the center.
"Shut up! This is why we were in the infirmary in the first place!"
"He started it."
"Such maturity. . ."
"I'll show you maturity."
"what does that even mean?"
He shakes his head quickly and the original voice returns.
"Ugh. Thanks. I'm just gonna go back to my room now. ..."
One of the ash piles Krays Ressurects expands and billows into the form of a male Elf. Kind of.
The person that now sits on the cot has its features split down the middle its left half has a black shoe, black pant leg, black shirt with red pattern, demonic wing, red eye, jet black hair, and its hand terminates in black claws.
Its right half is another story. It has a white shoe, white pant leg, blue shirt with star patterns, blue eye, white hair, and retractable cat like claws on its hand.
His skin is the same pale elven all around and his face bears normal elven features, save for the eyes.
He rubs his hand over his face.
"Oh gods it was boring there."
His head jerks to the right and a deeper voice issues.
"Don't bring them into this!"
His head jerks to the left and a higher, well spoken voice chimes in.
"Let him show some faith if he wants!"
Back to the right.
"I swear if we weren't the same person. . . ."
His head turns back to the center.
"Shut up! This is why we were in the infirmary in the first place!"
"He started it."
"Such maturity. . ."
"I'll show you maturity."
"what does that even mean?"
He shakes his head quickly and the original voice returns.
"Ugh. Thanks. I'm just gonna go back to my room now. ..."