"Oh, hello Jim," Aananda says, a little surprised as she and James walk into the workshop to find Jim already there.
"James, upload these files into the imager so we can see what we're working with."
"What exactly are you working on, Jim?"
"Oh, the name thing. Yes, congratulations on that too."
Satisfied with the quality of the brushing, Ruji stretches before settling in Ephebe's lap.
"You should go fly in the real sky. Wonderful to be able to soar in it again, all the winds free and unrestrained, all the stars calling out their greetings..."
It's a homunculus. This one can go out to a range of a mile, it's extremely fast, and I have a telepathic link with it, as I do any other homunculi I create. This one can talk, however. This allows a fast, fairly stealthy way to communicate without the possibility of interception. If this little guy is intercepted, he doesn't know anything. If my devices get intercepted, I have no way of knowing whether there's someone listening in. Even telepathy can sometimes be infiltrated.
"Hmmm....the idea has merit, but it's too big. We'll need to miniaturize it substantially, not to mention expand the range....finish what you're doing and then I can work backwards on the design. We don't need couriers a lot but it's a good alternative when even encrypted signals aren't secure enough," she said, looking at his work with a critical eye.
"We're working on prototypes for yet further designs intended to improve planetary security. Soli may have had more bats in his belfry than an abandoned temple, but I learned a lot from working with him. Let's put that knowledge to use...I'll ask for some assistance from you as well, Jim. The more minds we have working on this, the better."
"Oh, the name thing. Yes, congratulations on that too."
Satisfied with the quality of the brushing, Ruji stretches before settling in Ephebe's lap.
"You should go fly in the real sky. Wonderful to be able to soar in it again, all the winds free and unrestrained, all the stars calling out their greetings..."
Ephebe sighed. "That sounds...tempting....if we could find somewhere far away from people....."
Very well, Aananda. I'll have this completed fairly soon.
Oh, and another thing. I'd like to get a fill of potions or something for my Packmate. That's this little guy, as he is speaking, he opens his chest, showing the small trunk-like homunculus.He'd be a good emergency medic, if only he had materials with which to treat others.
"You honor me love." he says with a quick kiss
"Wait...other than the name? What else happened? Oh don't ention flying, you know thats my weakness..."
"Spread your wings, Mr. Blackscale, and take the time to relax." Ruji says instead of imaging, his voice carrying that "I know something you don't know" tone. "You can blend in with the night sky easier than Ephebe. Enjoy the night."
"You think thats how it is? All of you look up. Do you see that broad expanse that feels like your falling up? Do you see that multitude of lights that you have never seen before? That is proof of only one thing.
WE LOST.
That's right we lost. All of that is what we were fighting against. And I'll tell you this for free, there is worse to come. The way the planet was, it kept us all from outside detection. With it gone we are all exposed to who knows what.
You think the school is your problem? Well then, march on up there and disturb a group of mages that are already having a very bad day trying to protect you. I'll take bets on which parts of you land where.
The way I see it, you can do one of two things. You can go up there and get killed trying to tear down what little protection you have. Or you can come back in the morning and try to strengthen it while probably makeing a little coin in the process.
So who wants to place bets?"
Tamrin gets up and heads back through the cottage. He stops and gives Ephebe a quick hug before he heads back into the school.
"Be safe, sweetheart. I'll catch up with you soon."
He then makes his way to the workshop.
"Aananda? I need to talk with you outside for a moment."
As he approaches the school, he takes a second to give it a look.
::Doesn't look very menacing::
'Would you be suprised to learn those peasants were metally disturbed?'
Ghalen chuckled
::No, I suppose not. Many mysteries abound here.::
He walks up to the front gate, and asks a guard...
"Hello, I am interested in enrolling here. Who should I speak with?"
Oh, and another thing. I'd like to get a fill of potions or something for my Packmate. That's this little guy, as he is speaking, he opens his chest, showing the small trunk-like homunculus.He'd be a good emergency medic, if only he had materials with which to treat others.
"I can do better than potions. We can outfit your guy with a unit that's programmed for producing basic healing nanites....it's just a field unit, not capable of taking care of nearly the number of conditions the units we have in the infirmary, but I'm working on that....if we hook it up into your packmate's systems we might be able to allow him to do some basic reprogramming to expand the possibilities. A walking medical kit has a lot of useful applications. I like it."
"Spread your wings, Mr. Blackscale, and take the time to relax." Ruji says instead of imaging, his voice carrying that "I know something you don't know" tone. "You can blend in with the night sky easier than Ephebe. Enjoy the night."
"Maybe just a short flight?" she said hopefully.
"...wait....Ruji, what is it that you're trying to say? You're acting like you know a secret about something...."
Sounds good, Aananda. Do you want to take care of that now, or later? He'll have the Packmate pop out, and follow her if she wants to perform that now, or just standby if not.
He doesn't have nearly the range of the one I'm making now, only a few hundred feet. But with the blood of someone else, I can tie one to them, allowing them to control it,as well as communicate with it. Well, I guess it doesn't have to be blood, but a biological fluid they can produce in decent amounts. I'll need about a pint. IN any case, we can have as many of these as you would like, given time.
A warning, though. Being tied to one of these is dangerous. If either of my homunculi are destroyed, I'll get negative feedback, causing damage. It's not that much forme, as I was built well, but most others could be hard-pressed to take a hit like this lightly.
"I'm a cat." The tressym replies. "I know many secrets. Pick one and see if I tell you. You never know, I just might."
"If you think it will be safe...? Hard to say no to you, let alone about flying..."
Looks to Ruji
"A secret, eh?"
Tamrin gets up and heads back through the cottage. He stops and gives Ephebe a quick hug before he heads back into the school.
"Be safe, sweetheart. I'll catch up with you soon."
He then makes his way to the workshop.
"Aananda? I need to talk with you outside for a moment."
"Of course, love."
"James, Jim, keep working while I'm gone. Jim, I'll get back to you on the homunculus....I have some ideas, and some questions."
She follows Tamrin out into the hall.
"From that expression I'm guessing it's not good news."
"I'm a cat." The tressym replies. "I know many secrets. Pick one and see if I tell you. You never know, I just might."
"How could we possibly pick? If we knew what it was it wouldn't be secret," she said, shaking her head with a small laugh.
Very well.
Jim continues working.
"How could we possibly pick? If we knew what it was it wouldn't be secret," she said, shaking her head with a small laugh.
"Exactly." He purrs.
"If you think it will be safe...? Hard to say no to you, let alone about flying..."
Looks to Ruji
"A secret, eh?"
"If we hurry we can be back before anyone even realizes we were gone."
"Of course, love."
"James, Jim, keep working while I'm gone. Jim, I'll get back to you on the homunculus....I have some ideas, and some questions."
She follows Tamrin out into the hall.
"From that expression I'm guessing it's not good news."
"I just got a message from the Harbinger. A small group just attempted to assassinate Emperor Mezzenbone about an hour ago, and they actually managed to get close enough to injure him."
"They got away, but Mezzenbone's about to mobilize most of the IPSD to track them down..." as his voice trails off.
"I've...got to go find him, honey. Before they do."
Aananda took a deep breath and nodded. She hugged Tam tight.
"No matter how many awful things he's done, he's still our son. You're right. I know you are. We'll keep working on things here. I'll miss you like crazy, but this is too important."
She stepped back. "But you make extra careful super sure that you are safe out there. With the IPSD on the move you're in more danger than ever. You'll be near the top of their suspect list, and I have no intention of losing you."
"Ok!! Don't have to ask me twice..."
Grabs Ephebes hand and leads her to the nearest exit...
"Excellent, now that is settled how about you lead the way to the local tavern and I'll buy the first round."
To Nexiv :And probably the second, and possibly even the third.:
To which he receives a telepathic smirk in reply.
"Ok!! Don't have to ask me twice..."
Grabs Ephebes hand and leads her to the nearest exit...
Ephebe sends Krays a mental picture of a remote area so they could telport there...straight into the air, both of them shifting into dragon form so they could fly in this much bigger sky.
Ephebe did a barrel roll and then pulled up abruptly, working hard to fly higher.
::I need to get higher. There's something....I couldn't see it from the ground, but up here....if I can just get a little closer...::
Ruji jumps off of Ephebe's lap in time to avoid tumbling and messing up his freshly brushed fur. He let them leave as he made his way up to the roof. His friends were waiting, and it had been three-hundred years since they last talked.
Hovers in place, trying to see what she saw
::What? Where?::
He moved to catch up...
:: Don't go too high, it can get cold enough in a real sky to freeze your wings...make it ahrd to breath...::
"Hello, I am interested in enrolling here. Who should I speak with?"
"Well, I currently am the person to talk too. May I ask what reason you have for wanting to enroll here at Avalon Academy?"
Hovers in place, trying to see what she saw
::What? Where?::
::Up! Between us and the stars...Good gods! That would be hard to miss in daylight, but at night you have to get pretty high to see,:: she said, awed as she stared ahead, her lungs hurting a little as she worked so hard to gain altitude in this thinning air.
::There are wards!::
Even as she said it, she started to see black spots in front of her eyes from lack of oxygen. She started to drop down again, too fast.
::Wha? Krays, help! I don't know what happened...I should have had another twenty feet before I hit my limit...::
::Airs too thin for flight that high up...just curl up in a controlled dive for a few seconds then unfurl...I'm coming!::
Phaezeriel is going to consult his map and ask it for directions to a place where magic items can be made. He will then follow its instructions.
"Oh, sorry for interrupting" seeing the other person there.
"Well, for knowledge's sake, I suppose. Rumor at the town is you all had something to do with the sky changing. If it's true, I want to learn from people that can do that. It would seem despite what I've heard from the fearmongers, this place has much to offer the inquisitive mind."
Aananda took a deep breath and nodded. She hugged Tam tight.
"No matter how many awful things he's done, he's still our son. You're right. I know you are. We'll keep working on things here. I'll miss you like crazy, but this is too important."
She stepped back. "But you make extra careful super sure that you are safe out there. With the IPSD on the move you're in more danger than ever. You'll be near the top of their suspect list, and I have no intention of losing you."
He kisses her passionately, then keeps her close as he speaks.
"I'm counting on that. I'm ordering the Harbinger to stay here to guard the system. She'll draw too much attention right now anyway," he quickly adds when he sees the look on his wife's face, "and I need to be able to travel fast and light."
"If anything does happen to me, use this on my strongbox in the vault in our room," he then says as he pulls out a small key on a chain with an amethyst embedded in it and puts it in her hand.
::Airs too thin for flight that high up...just curl up in a controlled dive for a few seconds then unfurl...I'm coming!::
She did her best to follow his instructions, given that she was fading in and out of consciousness.
He kisses her passionately, then keeps her close as he speaks.
"I'm counting on that. I'm ordering the Harbinger to stay here to guard the system. She'll draw too much attention right now anyway," he quickly adds when he sees the look on his wife's face, "and I need to be able to travel fast and light."
"If anything does happen to me, use this on my strongbox in the vault in our room," he then says as he pulls out a small key on a chain with an amethyst embedded in it and puts it in her hand.
She nods, blinking back tears. "You need to say goodbye to the kids before you leave. If anything happens...it's important that you say goodbye properly first. And then do everything in your power to make sure that it's a silly unnecessary precaution. I love you."
"Oh, sorry for interrupting" seeing the other person there.
"Well, for knowledge's sake, I suppose. Rumor at the town is you all had something to do with the sky changing. If it's true, I want to learn from people that can do that. It would seem despite what I've heard from the fearmongers, this place has much to offer the inquisitive mind."
"While we have much to offer the inquisitive mind, we were trying to stop the person behind the sky's changing, and that person has since fled." Keaton replies neutrally.
She nods, blinking back tears. "You need to say goodbye to the kids before you leave. If anything happens...it's important that you say goodbye properly first. And then do everything in your power to make sure that it's a silly unnecessary precaution. I love you."
He kisses her passionately, then keeps her close as he speaks.
"I'm counting on that. I'm ordering the Harbinger to stay here to guard the system. She'll draw too much attention right now anyway," he quickly adds when he sees the look on his wife's face, "and I need to be able to travel fast and light."
"If anything does happen to me, use this on my strongbox in the vault in our room," he then says as he pulls out a small key on a chain with an amethyst embedded in it and puts it in her hand.
He looks like he's going to argue the point, but just nods. "I love you too, honey. Alright - let's get them down here."
He opens the door to the workshop.
"James - could you come outside for a minute?"
And mentally to Ephebe:
::Ephebe - could you come down to the workshop for a minute?::
Tam's mental contact with Ephebe seems a bit disjointed and she seems a great deal farther away than she ought to be.
Tam's mental contact with Ephebe seems a bit disjointed and she seems a great deal farther away than she ought to be.
"Honey, try to reach Ephebe - something's off..."
She did her best to follow his instructions, given that she was fading in and out of consciousness.::Airs too thin for flight that high up...just curl up in a controlled dive for a few seconds then unfurl...I'm coming!::
As Krays catches up tp Ephebe he casts Feather Fall and touches her, and they both slowly fall, Krays cradling Ephebe in his arms until she snaps out of it
::I won't ever let you fall...::
She did her best to follow his instructions, given that she was fading in and out of consciousness.::Airs too thin for flight that high up...just curl up in a controlled dive for a few seconds then unfurl...I'm coming!::
As Krays catches up tp Ephebe he casts Feather Fall and touches her, and they both slowly fall, Krays cradling Ephebe in his arms until she snaps out of it
::I won't ever let you fall...::
::Thank you, love.:: Her emotions are full of both fear and relief as she gasped for air.
::When I was younger I used to sneak away from the demon sometimes and go to the past so I could find worlds that it was okay for me to go flying on....I've never had problems with high altitude like that before.::
Aananda tilted her head as she called out to Ephebe.
"Why does she seem so far away?"
::Uh-oh. My parents are calling me. They're gonna be pissed. But I really need to tell them what I saw.::