"Thank you for showing us around," Unity say to Greer.
"We can't say we particularly enjoy Tarokh, but we should get over it and get to know it better, given how things are going," they comment.
"So, see you tomorrow?"
They head for where they're staying for the night after finishing their conversation.
The Queen of Swords' estate is quite close to the Black Keep. Many of the royals live close to each other on the hill. It has a tall black iron fence with real short swords used as spikes all around. Guards stand in front.
Using his Token Spell to remove all alcohol and smoke smells from his person, to be replaced with mahogany, The Olympian, in his new shiny armor walks up to the posted guards.
"Theo Nephus. To see The Queen of Swords"
Theo is made to wait minutes.
When he's finally escorted into the Queen's inner sanctum he finds her wearing a silver robe and sitting on a marble throne. Beside her stands a young boy, wearing a blue tunic with a cloud pattern.
He looks about two and a bit.
His eyes, his hair, his smile leave no doubt who the father is.
"Good of you to finally return," says the Queen. "I think it is time for you to meet our little cup bearer."
Theo stood speechless for a moment. The godling blinked at The Queen of Swords. "Had..I known..I would have been here sooner. But also time travel..hasn't been precise."
The Olympian walked up and scooped the young boy into his arm, and sat on the armrest next to The Queen of Swords.
"Well, hello, noble sir. I am your father. What is your name?"
Theo stood speechless for a moment. The godling blinked at The Queen of Swords. "Had..I known..I would have been here sooner. But also time travel..hasn't been precise."
The Olympian walked up and scooped the young boy into his arm, and sat on the armrest next to The Queen of Swords.
"Well, hello, noble sir. I am your father. What is your name?"
[Dice=Diplomacy]1d20 + 17
"Caliburn," the boy replies. He thinks for a bit. "I'm 2."
"He will be raised here," says his mother. "He has my royal blood and the blood of your people. He is destined for greatness. You will do nothing on this world or any other to diminish his reputation and jeopardize his destiny. Agreed?"
"Hello, Caliburn" Theo said as he hugged his son.
"Can I live here while I'm Onworld?" The godling asked sheepishly. "You know, saving the Multiverse and all Time and Space?"
"Wait a minute! I thought The Queen of Swords was a job title. Aren't you Tarokh's Chief..war representative or being-at-arms? You're actual nobility?"
The half-mortal son of Zeus sees the ire rising in The Queen's face. "To be fair, we didn't necessarily talk much. What do you want me to call you?"
"Hello, Caliburn" Theo said as he hugged his son.
"Can I live here while I'm Onworld?" The godling asked sheepishly. "You know, saving the Multiverse and all Time and Space?"
"Wait a minute! I thought The Queen of Swords was a job title. Aren't you Tarokh's Chief..war representative or being-at-arms? You're actual nobility?"
The half-mortal son of Zeus sees the ire rising in The Queen's face. "To be fair, we didn't necessarily talk much. What do you want me to call you?"
"We didn't talk," says the Queen, "And I don't much feeling like talking tonight."
She still looks angry but there is something else too.
"Go to bed, Caliburn, your father will be here in the morning," she says.
"Caliburn! Can you show me your room!" Theo smiled down at his new son as he put him down.
Theo manages to escort Caliburn to bed, followed by the child's entourage. The boy seems nervous and not super comfortable. He asks his mother to come back soon and she says she will.
After the boy is in bed, she asks Theo if he remembers where her chambers are and, either way, has him escorted there.
Theo sat down on the edge of The Queen of Sword's bed. The godling patiently waited for the mother of his child to return.
Theo sat down on the edge of The Queen of Sword's bed. The godling patiently waited for the mother of his child to return.
"You're still dressed," says the Queen as she enters. It isn't clear if this is a question or a complaint.
Back in the Black Keep each of the worlds has their own suite of rooms, joined by a balcony. Rooms for Theo, Nissa, Unity, Henri, and Zellgato are on the first floor of a part of the Keep not far from the garden, not far beneath the balcony where they drank Sundrops with Amun earlier.
Theo sat down on the edge of The Queen of Sword's bed. The godling patiently waited for the mother of his child to return."You're still dressed," says the Queen as she enters. It isn't clear if this is a question or a complaint.
Theo smiles to himself as he stands up and begins to remove his armor. The godling moves to The Queen of Swords and kisses her.
"We can talk before or after, but I do want to know what happened in my absence."The Queen of Swords drops her rope, exposing her beautiful athletic naked body underneath.
"After it is."
Nissa is undisturbed in her room for the longest time before a note is slid underneath it.
It's a map leading down the corridors of the Black Keep, around a few corners, and straight into a wall. The map continues on the other side of the wall.
Theo sat down on the edge of The Queen of Sword's bed. The godling patiently waited for the mother of his child to return."You're still dressed," says the Queen as she enters. It isn't clear if this is a question or a complaint.
Theo smiles to himself as he stands up and begins to remove his armor. The godling moves to The Queen of Swords and kisses her.
"We can talk before or after, but I do want to know what happened in my absence."
The Queen of Swords drops her rope, exposing her beautiful athletic naked body underneath.
"After it is."
"In answer to your question earlier, all of the Kings and Queens have royal blood. The aristocracy is wide and deep. Only a small fraction of the aristorcracy are elevated to a role as I have been. There are a dozen princesses for every queen," she explains.
"As for what has happened the last three years, many things. Your Marshall knocked on the doors of over 200 of these royals trying to pressure us to prioritize finding you," the Queen adds. "She worked very hard."
Nissa is undisturbed in her room for the longest time before a note is slid underneath it.
It's a map leading down the corridors of the Black Keep, around a few corners, and straight into a wall. The map continues on the other side of the wall.
Nissa takes the map, intent on memorizing and burning it if she needs to be subatomic to pass through the wall. On the other hand, the wall may be illusory or it may open for her.
The only way to know which is to follow the map—so Nissa does…!
"In answer to your question earlier, all of the Kings and Queens have royal blood. The aristocracy is wide and deep. Only a small fraction of the aristorcracy are elevated to a role as I have been. There are a dozen princesses for every queen," she explains.
"I understand", Theo said, with the Queen of Swords in his hands. "But I don't want to call you Queen of Swords all the time? What is your name? Do you have a name? Or do I need to shorten it to QoS?"
"As for what has happened the last three years, many things. Your Marshall knocked on the doors of over 200 of these royals trying to pressure us to prioritize finding you," the Queen adds. "She worked very hard."
"That's great, but I was talking mainly about you and Colburn. Was the delivery difficult? Without me by your side? I want to be there for Coliburn as much as I can."
"I understand", Theo said, with the Queen of Swords in his hands. "But I don't want to call you Queen of Swords all the time? What is your name? Do you have a name? Or do I need to shorten it to QoS?"
"Call me 'Agate' when we are in private," she says. "And, if we meet in public, call me 'Your majesty'."
"That's great, but I was talking mainly about you and Colburn. Was the delivery difficult? Without me by your side? I want to be there for Coliburn as much as I can."
"Caliburn," says the Queen, "Like the sword."
She pauses for a moment, trying to be thoughtful. "I'm sorry, but, we don't need you. ... I mean, I WANT you, but not as a father to my son. I would like him to know you ... to see your strength, your good looks, your confidence bordering on arrogance, your intel- ... your very good looks. I do not, however, want to make space for you in making decisions about his upbringing. Nor do I want to publicly acknowledge you as his father ... for political reasons."
Nissa is undisturbed in her room for the longest time before a note is slid underneath it.
It's a map leading down the corridors of the Black Keep, around a few corners, and straight into a wall. The map continues on the other side of the wall.
Nissa takes the map, intent on memorizing and burning it if she needs to be subatomic to pass through the wall. On the other hand, the wall may be illusory or it may open for her.
The only way to know which is to follow the map—so Nissa does…!
She does need to be subatomic to pass through the wall. The corridor slopes downwards into the darkness and beneath the gardens of the Keep, but Nissa brings her own light. After 30 feet, a trail of golden flower petals starts on the floor. Another 30 feet further the corridor opens into a small room. On the wall of the room is wreath of what sunflowers would look like if they were made of fire. They aren't hot, but they glow warm and the flame petals flicker.
Theo leans back in the bed with a frown.
Another child I can't be a father to. Damn it! What's wrong, Gods? I'm trying to be there for my kids, in their lives, but it's always something that gets in the way! The godling thought to himself.
"For the record, I have above average intelligence", The Olympian stewed. "But I'll always visit when I'm in Tarokh. And I will heed your requests concerning Coliburn. But the sex is likely to be rougher and more angry from here on out."
She does need to be subatomic to pass through the wall. The corridor slopes downwards into the darkness and beneath the gardens of the Keep, but Nissa brings her own light. After 30 feet, a trail of golden flower petals starts on the floor. Another 30 feet further the corridor opens into a small room. On the wall of the room is wreath of what sunflowers would look like if they were made of fire. They aren't hot, but they glow warm and the flame petals flicker.
“Beautiful…”
She flutters upward until she is aligned with the center of the wreath.
She isn’t sure if L.C. slipped her the note, or Amun, or…
“I’m here.”
She does need to be subatomic to pass through the wall. The corridor slopes downwards into the darkness and beneath the gardens of the Keep, but Nissa brings her own light. After 30 feet, a trail of golden flower petals starts on the floor. Another 30 feet further the corridor opens into a small room. On the wall of the room is wreath of what sunflowers would look like if they were made of fire. They aren't hot, but they glow warm and the flame petals flicker.“Beautiful…”
She flutters upward until she is aligned with the center of the wreath.
She isn’t sure if L.C. slipped her the note, or Amun, or…
“I’m here.”
One thousand gates in this city, and this is only one of them.
A warm light glows from the center of the wreath and a stable gateway opens. The gate doesn't flash open and roar and flash closed the way some do. It hums invitingly.
Zellgato's evening post Tony convrsation, as well as deciding it might warrant tracking how many worlds have functionally illegeal leanings towards this sort of organization for the future.
but for now. He goes and tries to find some nice souviners to bring back later. Aiming mainly for snacks and preserved food type items.
Tarokh in the evening is somewhat dark and not many shops are open. The pubs are inviting. Gateways twinkle open here and there.
Zellgato does see one person in a black cloak step out of a gate, pull their hood down over their face, and meet a similarly cloaked person and skulk away stealthily. The behaviour was very suspicious.
A molten gold tear slowly rolls down Nissa’s cheek. She can barely comprehend the joy she is feeling in this moment. She takes in the beauty for a few more seconds…
—then darts to the wreath’s center, through the golden gate!
Henri's a little out of his element, I think, in this inter-cosmos cosmopolitan city. From the desert southwest in an even drier timeline, he's more comfortable following someone else's lead around crowds. Assuming John and Hector and Jupiter Boy have called it a night, he will likely enjoy some downtime in his apartment (shared or solo, I've forgotten). If there's anything resembling a newspaper or holoscreen, he will consume anything he can find out. Otherwise, he will meditate and try to improve the awareness with his nanites.
After a day of fairly successfully not adding to the metaphorical load of cares on their back, Unity are glad to escape to their room for the night, knowing that the next day is going to bring enough troubles.
They settle down on the floor of their room--with their wings, they find just sprawling in their chimera form most comfortable. Before long they're asleep...
Unity dream that they're hunting.
They are a man.
They are hunting an Error.
It's not just your standard, run-of-the-mill error. No, this is the sort of Error that spins off little errors all around it as it crashes through everything, getting bigger as it goes. They've been on the trail of it for a while now, but every time they think they're closing in on it they find they've just captured one of the problems left in its wake.
It's like... fighting one of those many-headed mythological monsters. Where you try to cut off a head but two others snap at you so you can't. If only there were some way to get ahead of it... or maybe deal with more of it at once? Hmm...
A molten gold tear slowly rolls down Nissa’s cheek. She can barely comprehend the joy she is feeling in this moment. She takes in the beauty for a few more seconds…
—then darts to the wreath’s center, through the golden gate!
And, after these rolls, I'll need to go have a think.
None of the vegetation is green. The landscape, as far as the eye can see, is gold and red and brown. Much of the vegetation gives off a flame-like shimmer as if warm.
"Beautiful isn't it," says L.C. behind Nissa.
Before Nissa can turn, she continues, "I used to come her with her."
Henri's a little out of his element, I think, in this inter-cosmos cosmopolitan city. From the desert southwest in an even drier timeline, he's more comfortable following someone else's lead around crowds. Assuming John and Hector and Jupiter Boy have called it a night, he will likely enjoy some downtime in his apartment (shared or solo, I've forgotten). If there's anything resembling a newspaper or holoscreen, he will consume anything he can find out. Otherwise, he will meditate and try to improve the awareness with his nanites.
Henri, when focussing on his nanites can detect a 'ping'. Somewhere in Tarokh there is a signal the nanites can interact with. What are the chances it is hostile? In a city like this, it is most certainly likely to be alien.
"For the record, I have above average intelligence", The Olympian stewed. "But I'll always visit when I'm in Tarokh. And I will heed your requests concerning Coliburn. But the sex is likely to be rougher and more angry from here on out."
"Of course you should visit CALiburn. I want that for him and for you," says the Queen. "As for the sex being rougher, I'll try not to hurt you."
She slaps Theo and pushes him down onto the bed roughly.
Henri recalls times when he has visited the smoke lodges of his tribe as a young man. Children were not allowed in, but there was a brief time when he was not considered a boy before he left for university. Even then, he was very logical, unsure of how to accept and embrace the mysticism of the shaman, so he would approach the experience more scientifically, more methodically, and pretend he was partaking in visions.
He calls on that practice now, so many years later. Changing into looser clothing that doesn't restrict or - more importantly - distract, he clears an area of the floor, sits, closes his eyes, and focuses. He seeks out any sign of an entity within, maybe just a fraction of one, until he finds a tiny spark, traveling through his bloodstream. Not a visible or heated spark, but a tiny pulse of energy. He follows with his consciousness, unable to make contact as the spark seems to only pulse off and on. Yes and no. Binary. Logical. He follows it, wondering what he can learn from it, and he listens.
Gradually, he becomes more aware. Other sparks similarly pulsing become apparent in other parts of his body. An overlay of sparkling motes matching the shape of his body. As he achieves a perspective that seems to encompass the entirety of the nanite mass within him, he forces himself to relax and says, "Hello."
Gradually, he becomes more aware. Other sparks similarly pulsing become apparent in other parts of his body. An overlay of sparkling motes matching the shape of his body. As he achieves a perspective that seems to encompass the entirety of the nanite mass within him, he forces himself to relax and says, "Hello."
[spoiler=Henri]As Henri finds these motes coursing through his body and maps them, he becomes aware of the shape of his own body, aware of his integration of these nanites and how, while they are not of him, they are a 'nanite-Henri'. They, through their connections, produce a version of him that exists both physically and mentally and is both him and not him.
"Hello," says Henri to himself.
"Hello," says a completely unrelated voice somewhere out there in the world. A door appears in front of the nanite-Henri. "Come in."
** spoiler omitted **
She tears up.
“Is this real?” Her voice is trembling, fading. “Am I dreaming this?” And it takes a while before she finally blows her top, And she quickly softens her tone. Because this is Sarenrae’s domain. And She has been clear about honesty.
Sarenrae, if this is a vision, there is a reason for it. L.C. would never speak with such meanness, but is this the truth? The things she thought but would not say?
I am ready to accept it, but I need to be sure this is from you. Because it can’t be L.C. luring me here to say it like this!
Molten gold tears flow freely. Nissa doesn’t know what to believe.
Tarokh in the evening is somewhat dark and not many shops are open. The pubs are inviting. Gateways twinkle open here and there.Zellgato does see one person in a black cloak step out of a gate, pull their hood down over their face, and meet a similarly cloaked person and skulk away stealthily. The behaviour was very suspicious.
Partially from his own parania, and more than abit from being idle too long, opts to follow the individual close enough to scan them before deciding how paranoid he should let his ad-hoc game go.
** spoiler omitted **
L.C. turns around and heads for the exit. Unless physically stopped, she departs quickly.
Tarokh in the evening is somewhat dark and not many shops are open. The pubs are inviting. Gateways twinkle open here and there.Zellgato does see one person in a black cloak step out of a gate, pull their hood down over their face, and meet a similarly cloaked person and skulk away stealthily. The behaviour was very suspicious.
Partially from his own parania, and more than abit from being idle too long, opts to follow the individual close enough to scan them before deciding how paranoid he should let his ad-hoc game go.
[dice=stealth to be relatively unnoticed to get within 60ft to scan]1d20+12
The people scanned are definitely not human. Zellgato detects features that suggest an otherworldly aspect to the creature. They don't go far before they slip in through a red door in a nondescript building. The door closes behind them
She considers following her, but what for? She sits on the edge of the cliff, but the paradise before her is no longer possible to enjoy. She can’t get that image out if her head—L.C. and Alashine in naked embrace! And what could Nissa do with a woman? Three inches tall or two-foot-three, it’s the difference between ‘toy’ and ‘baby.’
As she cries, she thinks she’s acting like both.
Henri is surprised to find that ‘nanite-Henri’ can move independently of his physical body and that he has at least some control. Without really thinking about it, he moves through the door.
** spoiler omitted **
The door opens up to a small room. In the room is a tiny table at which sits a large rabbit, of humanoid dimensions, dressed black dress pants (no shoes) and a black suit vest (no shirt underneath). A red bowtie and round spectacles top off the ensemble.
On the table is a pot of tea.
"Come in! Come in!" says the rabbit. With a gesture another chair appears and another virtual tea cup appears. "How delightful to have company."
The people scanned are definitely not human. Zellgato detects features that suggest an otherworldly aspect to the creature. They don't go far before they slip in through a red door in a nondescript building. The door closes behind them
Zellgato waits half a min, then walks by the red door, with a side eye looking for anything interesting. Walking around the closest corner and pulling out his comm to try and mark the area and pull up a map for reference.
[dice=Will]d20+7
Nissa looks around the world. It seems a bit duller now that L.C.'s gone. The gold isn't quite as gold. A darkness creeps out on the horizon. Perhaps the sun, wherever it is, is beginning to set.
** spoiler omitted **
He takes a sip from his teacup and gestures towards the cup and pot on the table. "Please, have some tea. It's not real, but no reason not to be civilized. Oh, how rude of me, I am Mr. Rabbit. I am a trader and repairer of devices of diverse origins."