Grend frown, deep in thought. ::Could work.::
Zerbedekt's appointment with Tz’z`z`z' will be in a sort of rock shelf some distance from the lodge, a flat area about 500 feet by 400 feet. You don't know if Tz’z`z`z' will bring others. You don't know if Tz’z`z`z' will bring others but you can guess Fluenmuello will be watching (others present, the mirror-trick would be harder or impossible) and would likely have ultimate control of power rods.
The party continues planning through the night. If Gift can gain access to Tz’z`z`z' "Well of Souls", they likely would surge through driven the pressure of their numbers. But the challenge would be to get to that level with the insect warrior - some combination of bluff and "laying thing on the line". Especially, you can imagine the creature will demand both proof and terms of alliance at the start... It is expecting a technology that could allow it to gain complete and conscious control of its multitudes (Illithid tech is in many ways crude relative compared to many technologies (such as the Elan) but it offers the possibility of a vast numbers of slave minds, of Tz’z`z`z' maintaining conscious control of all...).
A thought occurred to Azzim, ::Fluenmuello's control room is full of lots of delicate looking equipment. Maybe we should sneak back in and sabotage it? The sort of thing I was thinking about was some sort of delayed spell or effect so it would be timed to happen during Zerbedekt's appointment. I quite like the idea of a Caustic Eruption but I'm not sure how to delay its effect or to do this without being noticed. What do you reckon?::
Gift spend some time working on herself, to get ready for what she was going to do. She was incredibly intelligent by design. Now with the info given form the others, she started to work.
They all hepled and So Gift stared with alter reality and a scintillating tasarrat. Given to her by Azzim, Terx showed her what he know of reaility making. And they imbued it with one of her higher level followers minds. They them placed it containment field with as much protection as they could muster. Then into its center they placed a micro, pocket dimensions, Now came the hard part, placing a self sustaining micro virtual reality with in that. Gift took the knowledge of pisonic positronic brains, as the others showed her how to place a replication power with in that. So that as each mind entered it would conbin its power to the whole, forming a new mind core, to join with the others and grow the minco reaility. That would create a vast parallel processors of minds, out of witch the virtual reality would manifest. Her mind core would hold the whole in a kind of Administration system. So that minds enteringwould feel Isekaied. And finding themselves in a new world with a manifest control system to aid them in growing and learning in this micro virtual space. Last of all they made time fast, a second in the prime would be a 1,000,000 in the virtual space. They wanted to encourage its evaluation, Minds my enter evil, but over time as they lived and died, bread and altered, minds would spread out to fill all aliments, cultures and views. Now happy they powered it up. And looked at they work.
::"Dad, This is universe Seed, there is a psionic power call 'mind-seed', We took that and combaint it with demi plane creation and Alter reality. to make a self generating vertical reality. All it needs now is Tz’z`z`z' and the power form his absorbed race. From there it should auto grow into its own reality REAL fast. If he follows he will become its 1st god, but in doing so he will become trapped with in it matrix, with all his power linked into it. Time will move fast, it will evolve with in moments, other gods will come into being to counter him, to make a balance. And as they expand out, it will change shape as it evolves. All with in a mote smaller than an Atom. And here is the thing, The last thing Fluenmuello would not expect is a mini vers that grows faster than he can think"::
She held up the artifact.
::"Its a one of a kind Dad, A Vers-Bomb"::
Grend stepped closer to marvel at it.
::Well I'll be. GIFT. This is amazing! Look how far you've gone!::
Tasks:
Terex and Azzim (hidden some way) making their way to Fluenmuello's control center and setting up a magical effect to prevent their actions during the "bargaining"
Gift: Disguising/packaging 'Vers-Bomb' as Illithid artifact - or simply hiding it.
Gift, Arlo and others positioning yourselves in shelf below the lodge...
We definitely need to disrupt Fluenmuello, yeah, Terexaltherin agrees. So I can get in easily enough, but it might be trickier to get you in, Azzim. I can layer some invisibility and my don't-notice-me field on you, but a powerful devil like Fluenmuello might be able to just ignore those. Let's see... do we have any way to polymorph you? If you could be something small you could follow in the path I clear of traps.
Gift places the finishing touches on the artifact, and goes with her dad.
Gift seeing her father in turble, using Ethereal form on him.
Azzim thought for a moment and replied to Terex ::With a rest I could certainly prepare one of the various polymorph or beastshape spells. Mmm something small you say? How about a bat? They are stealthy and can see in complete darkness. Gift has given us a mind blank effect, add invisibility and some countermeasures for scent and your field and I'd be very hard to spot. Mind you if Fluenmuello is as powerful as we think, he probably has truesight, which would defeat invisibility.::
That's probably our best bet, let's do it, Terexaltherin agrees. All that said, we should be ready for a fighting retreat. Even if Fluenmuello hasn't noticed us come in, when we sabotage something he'll almost certainly figure it out.
So... Terex reports and returns, the plan takes shape... Terex heads out again with Azzim as a bat in a pouch. Using a similar rout to previous, passing a couple late night drinkers lit by the still smouldering fireplace, he makes his way back to Fluenmuello's hidden rooom. The two observe the lab from a small shelf outside view of spells and the devil's own senses. Conveniently, the devil seems to have entered a force field and gone into a meditative state for a brief time.
Extending they magical senses, the two can determine that each and every device in the room has it's own suit of protective spells... Azzim can determine, however, that the seeing-crystal the devil is using to communicate with the Shimmer-dimension-entities actually has fairly light protection...
As the group prepares, Terexaltherin tries to commune with the entities again. He shares something of his time with <Shimmer>, in particular setting <Shimmer> free at the end. Then he shares images of Fluenmuello's crystal, then adds images of himself trying to break the crystal in several ways, then adds images of <Shimmer>'s return 'home' with a sense of question--can he break the crystal, and will it release them if he does?
Once down once again in Fluenmuello's den, Terex communicates with Azzim, This seems too suspicious. The crystal for communicating with the entities is lightly defended? It seems like a trap. Let's pick out something else... something with defenses we can breach subtly to set a trap. We can go for the crystal when the trap goes off and Fluenmuello is occupied.
He pauses a moment. Setting a trap or two of our own on the floor might be wise, too. Every advantage we can get. I'll see if I can steal one of Fluenmuello's own traps.
Terexaltherin proceeds just as he'd outlined, seeing if he can subtly steal one of Fluenmuello's traps with his rod of trap-stealing, throwing all his considerable skill into the task.
::It could be a trap, or it could be complacency, unfortunately knowing which needs hindsight.:: replied Azzim through the link.
He'd prepared a draught of tears to wine to aid him in setting up his magical trap. Curiously the liquor was now a thimble size and in his bat form he lapped it up before concentrating on his working an acid burst he could trigger from afar by mental command. This was a feat that took time to set up and he still needed to get close to the crystal without being noticed although he could be sneaky about it keeping the crystal between himself and Fluenmello.
Terex and Azzim work quickly, efficiently and in utter silence, disabling and laying traps in complex lair of Fluenmuello... Terex feels a sense of friendliness from the entities he hadn't felt before including a sense that they may attempt to aid the party in an unspecified fashion...
Then the party returns to the lodge very briefly before going to the 400' x 500' flat area specified by Tz’z`z`z'... (Arlo hidden in the Ethereal).
As you approach, below you, you see Tz’z`z`z' with his several minions as well as about fifty insect androids in a similar power armor to Tz’z`z`z'.
As get to the edge, he minions to his group to stay at the edge and similar gestures to Zerbedekt to approach alone. In one of his fore-claws, Zerbedekt can a dull white globe slowly pulsing...
The psychic message comes: ::Let us speak alone, you and I, we shall each see who the other really is and what alliance we can consider...
Hide Mind (Su)
At 2nd level, the ascendant psion cannot be identified as psionic by divination spells, clairsentience powers, or similar abilities unless the caster level or manifester level of the effect is 4 higher than the ascendant psion’s manifester level.
The subject is protected from all devices, Powers, and spells that gather information about the target through divination powers or magic (such as detect evil, locate creature, scrying, and see invisibility). Barred mind also grants a +8 resistance bonus on saving throws against all mind-affecting powers, spells, and effects. Barred mind even foils bend reality, limited wish, miracle, reality revision, and wish spells when they are used in such a way as to gain information about the target. In the case of remote viewing or scrying that scans an area the creature is in, such as arcane eye, the effect works but the creature simply isn’t detected. Remote viewing (scrying) attempts that are targeted specifically at the subject do not work at all.
::Hmm it seems we and Tz’z`z`z' share a mutual distrust of Fluenmuello, normally I expect his privacy globe would be inviolate but this plane is fundamentally compromised by the <Shimmer> entities. Terrex might be able to ask them to reveal what happens within.
Suppose Gift goes inside, when do we want to cut Fluenmuello off? At that exact moment? I wonder if we can add some window dressing that makes it appear that Tz'z'z'z is responsible for the sabotage...::
What Azzim had in mind was an illusion to make it seem like an aura of great power radiated off Tz'z'z'z as it enters the globe timed to coincide with Azzim triggering the Caustic Eruption. Fluenmuello is surely watching and Azzim hopes there wouldn't be time for Fluenmuello to realize it was an illusion before the attack happened and it's view of what is going on is interrupted.
Gif / Zerbedekt moved into the orb, if her form alters back to her Ascendant-Psion one she is an ethereal being made of pour psionic energy.
Scintillating there as a mote of light.
Hovering in front of her is the artifact.
Terexaltherin remains hidden, waiting for the chance to snatch the crystal from Fluenmuello at the moment of maximum chaos.
The light in the side of the peak where the "Villain's Lodge" and the ledge below it lie is especially crisp and clear as Zerbedekt and Tz’z`z`z' approach each other and the globe expands and encompasses them.
From the outside, Arlo sees the bubble expand to a ~250 feet, first appearing opaque, translucent silver then flat white and finally a flicker of gray accompanied by an earth tremor and then back to white.
Gift steps inside and the full power of this "bubble revelation" is revealed, stripping all down to their true appearance (though Gift's power is such that it seems to "choke" for a few seconds in the process).
Tz’z`z`z' itself is revealed as dark tower of force with mandible and claws, encompassing vast hoards of captive insect entities, not encompassed by the starcraft-hanger-sized bubble but spilling out beyond the space-time of the globe...
Soft, very deep telepathic laughter comes from the thing. ::I might have known that fool Fluenmuello would send me some imposter. Still little one, you can entertain me for moments. And we should make Fluenmuello think something is happening. Wouldn't him to think I was fooled by something even he was. So tell me, what did you plan? An assassination attempt? Some peace treaty? Do you plead for mercy for one or another system? I can feel your mind is still guarded so give me hints, I'll tear everything out in the end as you can guess. And what is this thing you have, perhaps an offering?:: At the same time, possibly unobserved, a couple of Tz’z`z`z' thralls are moving towards the artifact, attracted to it's energy...
Meanwhile in Fluenmuello's underground observation center, Azzim and Terex can the demonic spirit hunched, focused on little seeing-crystal, it smokey ends all pointing at the device as Zerbedekt enters the globe... and then Azzim triggers his spell and ... the erupting acid has no more effect that a spray of water ... and yet that spray obscures the seeing-crystal, which slips from Fluenmuello's grasp and is quickly caught and moved by Terex... as Fluenmuello looks about desperately while emitting a screeching sound you have never heard before... .
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Gift felt the Anti-Psionic field strip away her layers of defence, It had to work at it and some no matter would not end. But she was near to defenceless as she had ever been. As he stood with Millions so she stood with hundreds. His form that of a dark tower of force with mandible and claws. She a perfect orb of scintillating light. That patton's like complex circuitry over her surface, even steaded perfectly controlled. A stark contracted to his form, unstable, fluctuating, leaking, he was barely holding himself in check. He mind cold and calculating ran over huge numbers oprocheds. A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct.
She moved the artifact closer to him, while she herself started to move around his firm in a orbit, observing and commenting as she moved slowly
::"I can see the problem much better now. The inherent imbalances, your root had the out come of compound instability. I have to say you must be remacubily strong willed to maintain your cohesion. Incredible I have to say. But I think you know as I think I can tell, the fluctuating residences are compounding. It will become too much soon. You need a stabilizer, a psionic matrix that can stablice your intrinsic mind lattice."::
She moves up and down but kept the orbit.
::"Tz’z`z`z' look at my form, there are no fluctuating soul residences at all. I am stable, my internal hive matrix forms a sub reality that can hold as many soul lattices as I wish. And before you get any ideas it's not as simple as pulling me apart or consuming me. To be as me you have to have a mind matrix seed attuned to your particular pisonic wavelengths and bind with it as your grow into your new being."::
She hoped by now others of his host had headed to the artifact.
if he starts to notice she will Say to pull him back to her.
Being 100% honest in all she says
::"Fluenmuellos!! my target not you, I am here for Fluenmuello. I did not even know you would be here. But you asked me what I wanted with you. I think the one thing you did not expect and that's to help you. Your center cannot hold you know that, you must feel it every moment of your current existence. I want to help you evolve and in gain stability and elevation."::
Now she needs him to understand fully what she is offering.
Stopping on the other side of him. So he was now she hoped between her and the artifact.
::"I'm offering you a future, A future where you can become so much more. And in return my hope is that I will gain a ailly in taking down Fluenmuello. You know what I am saying is truth, this bubble is telling you that, so now it's up to you, you can take me to Fluenmuello and hope to gain some small reward or you can use my artifact and my know how to make a future you want."::
Inside the dome, the vast dark tower shakes slightly, wavers. A thin will calls out psionically ::All very nice sounding but what will rule all this:: then ::Still, to see Fluenmuello brought low would be grand...:: But this smallest voice expresses Tz’z`z`z' wavering control more than anything as then... a vast flood of souls streams into Gift's tasarrat, activating it's self generating vertical reality and naturally further engulfing more souls... The process produces a implosion/explosion into a scintillating multidimensional space... now sucking in the dark tower that Tz’z`z`z' had formed as well as some portion of Gift's own power. And the enfolding white isolation sphere shakes violently and Gift can tell it will last only a dozen more seconds...
On the outside, in the ethereal, Arlo sees the huge white balloon shake violently and deform slightly... an intense light is coming through...
In Fluenmuello's control room, Terex and Azzim watch the scene with Gift as Fluenmuello begins further desperate measures and Terex feels the shimmer-entities' ... curiosity about the enfolding situation.
It started and Gift could feel herself being pulled into the creation.
::"Think bigger Tz’z`z`z' we are so much more than beings of vengeance and petty martial diseases and feelings, we encompass worlds. A whole new cosmos is coming into existence and we will be the seeds of it."::
She then lent all her power into the creation of something new. She knew she may not come out of this intact, but this had to happen. They both had to evolve to grow to change. She used her calming powers to help the souls flood in, and become part of the matrix, just as she and Tz’z`z`z become part. A the core counter to she and Tz’z`z`z become poles.
Where Tz’z`z`z was a dark tower so she became one of light, A Ying to his Yang. This reality would hold good and evil, law and Choas as things souls hold, but as the two gods of this world, The sun and the moon, Where, the male and female, hot and cold, hard and soft, day and night.
The father and the mother, Husband and wife, All lesser gods would come form them, a psionic world of technology and the power of the mind.
They would make races, they would make the above and below.
She held out her metaphysical hand to him. Projecting into his mind just how vast they would be come, how multiFaceted how expansive.
The time frame of the tesarate encompassed them and time back in Fluenmuello slowed to an almost top.
::"Come Tz’z`z`z' it's time to become gods, the souls both you and me hold will become new, and we both will become something new. Time to evolve."::
The Sublimed
Are alien civilizations in the Culture series of science fiction works by Iain M. Banks who have left the known dimensions of space time behind ("subliming") to take up residence in several higher dimensions. These higher dimensions seem to lack many of the constraints on the development of complexity found in our four dimensions. Individuals and Minds are capable of subliming, and this is described as an ever-present temptation for beings that are bored with or tired of the limited space and time as we know it.
Overview
Subliming is a process that allows a civilization to transfer the consciousness of its individual members (biological and/or artificial) from the material universe that we experience to another plane of existence. From the novels, it is not entirely clear where this alternative plane is, but it would appear to be "outside" the universe in which The Culture novels are set. In an article entitled "A Few Notes on the Culture", Banks refers to the physical cosmology of The Culture universe (what Culture people call "the Reality") as involving a very large set of closed, 4-dimensional hyperspherical universes, each with different physical properties, laws, and histories, nested within a 7-torus, all of which is embedded in an undisclosed form of "meta-space", which may be the destination of Sublimed sentiences.[3] When civilizations sublime, they usually do so quickly (in a matter of days) and completely (or almost completely). It is not clear why this pattern should happen, but it probably involves factors such as the ennui of a civilization before sublimation, the (unknown) benefits of sublimation, or possibly just being broadly seen as the thing to do.
Subliming is one of the possible end points of a civilization, others being extinction or a collapse into barbarism.[4] It is however only an end point insofar as it tends to remove that civilization, its influence and its interests from the material universe - it is implied that they might still get up to interesting things, but in an altogether different way. Furthermore, it is clear that the Sublimed do still occasionally interact with the corporeal races, most notably in the case of the Chelgrians (see below). In these interactions, the sublimed species seem to utilise immense power over the material universe, to the point where sublimed species can be thought of as close to godlike. These powers include matter manipulation, omniscience and notably, the ability to tap into gridfire.
As Gifts reality become hyper fast, so the world outside slowed, it was a relative things. They where becoming pour energy moving at the speed of light. 100 of 1000s of years would pass in moments. Her hope was that the viral would become real, a new Dimations, She linked her own plane to the the Virtual one making a new world, a new reality, that could expand and grow.
Azzim sent Terex an urgent message ::Beware Fulenmuello is preparing to summon a horde to search for us and also teleport to Tz’z`z`z' isolation sphere. Maybe you could suggest to the <Shimmer> entities that it would be funny his spellcasting didn't quite go according to plan, like plane shifting to somewhere very far from here...::
Yea, I see that! Let's move! Terexaltherin replies, turning and sprinting up the stairs, making sure to skip the places he left traps still functional, telekinetically floating the crystal alongside himself.
As he does, he sends the entities a series of images of different ways he could try to destroy the crystal--just smashing it, hitting it with acid or disintegration, and so forth--with a sense of questioning, trying to see if they had any sense of how hard it would be to destroy.
On the bare field within the cliff below the lodge, Arlo observes the white sphere first shake violently before cracking and fading as a spiraling fractal pattern of sublime, awe-inspiring beauty emerges and expands vastly into blue sky above... Moveover, Arlo can sense that ways this entire phenomena is G.I.F.T., is the expanding light of Godhead she has discussed with you...
And as this happens, a huge shadow appears on the opposite side of the field, where now can also be seen a whole nest of secret observers sent by basically all the guests and agents... Whereupon the fractal pattern in the sky shines with incredible, transformative brightness and Arlo feels himself pulled into another realm, a form seems to hugs his very soul and voice says ::Dad, I had to say good bye but you go back where you belong, fighting evil... ::
At the same time, speeding out of Fulenmuello's communication center, Terex manipulates the crystal according to communication from the outside entities... and suddenly he and Azzim finds themselves pulled into the crystall and through a truly alien dimension, experiencing themselves turn inside out and restored various times and then appear ... in the main floor of The Spire, Organization headquarters, some 10' from Arlo surrounded by the dozens of teams that usually work on different projects in the area. And on cue, Ari, Bethia and Cordelia emerge from the Orichalcum-clad door to the Planar Machinery area and come running to you as you subside in exhaustion...
... Much healing later, the three party members, along with Snobarny, ("Dog man") have their drinks of choice and are discussing the situation with Ari and a half-dozen Organization leaders... "Losing an agent for any reasons is unfortunate but we could see this coming... We had the dimensional machinery focused on Fulenmuello's plane and we are still analyzing all the data. I'm hope we came out much ahead on this but it may be too soon to speculate... tell use what you know, what you experienced...
And meanwhile, a messenger appears at the Brighthammer residence to advise Lyra of what's occurred, what's known, etc.
As the once Tz’z`z`z' became Father of Darkness, The night, the gale, the autumn and winter, and races of the shadows, So the once gift, became mother of light, the Sun and moon, the flame, Spring and summer, and the races of light. In Balance, For night followed day, as Winter Followed summer and back again.
As the cosmos came into being, the two poles of reality formed, names had no meaning anymore. But her could feel the souls there in the space, half came to her, looking for a form of being, She shaped reality giving then races, Dragons, Elves, Dwarves and then she stopped, the Dwarves needed a identity, and ideology. elves where linked to life and nature, that was there ideology, Dragons had there own minds and followed Anserters. But Dwarf kind needed something more. And she knew just the inspiration, Her father. But how would he react, to becoming a guiding light to his race on this plane.?
As a Psionic being of good and law, she pulled him into her prencen.
It was nice, A fast white space, with a summer Garden, A covered table seats and high Tea, Arlo found himself, sitting with Gift having Tea poured for him. He is glowing with iridescent light. Hisver being has changed, as he looked at himself Gifts says.
"Yeerr about that dead, well I seem to have become a god. Kind of knew it would go this way. Me and mum talked about it and she said it was my call. Once I took all those souls into myself from the soul stone. My plane could just not hold them. Tz’z`z`z' had the same problem, there is an inherent instability in holding that much power. It ether destroys you or elevates you. You just can hold it. Tz’z`z`z' found that out, he held millions of not billons, Like a flame, you just burn out. I held less so the burn was slower, but inevitably I would have Burned out too. So I choose elevation and here we are."
She offered him a slice of cake.
"I have a fever to ask you, I have formed some of mine and Tz’z`z`z' souls into a race of Dwarves. But they need some founding tenets of faith. I was wondering if you would care to set them up with them. You know rules to follow. After I am going to send you home to mum, with a letter from me, I'm sorry to say I can't visit. You know how the Lady of Sigil hate higher beings stepping foot there, but agents of gods are fine. Hence your, sublimed state. Dad I love you and mum, you made me and rasid me, Tell my brothers the can come visit when older but not now. Well my time is up, cant keep this form for long."
She gets up and goes to hug him. A vase feeling of love and respect washes over him. Then she and this garden fade, leaving him in a vast chamber deep underground. Before him a horde of Dwarves. Behind him a golden door.
"Tell then what you think they need to know to be good Dwaves, then use the door behind you, it will take you home"
Gift voice comes from the air.
"Love you Dad"
and with that she was gone into full Godhood.
Lyra set at the kitchen table, the opened letter before her. She had been crying but had stopped, She knew this day would come, just not so soon. Gift had started on a path that would inevitably led to them being separated. Gift was gone into a being lyra could barely comprend. Her 1st child gone, she looked over at, her sons playing on the floor, She smiled, Gift would she had no doubt be getting messages to them from time to time. But her plane of beings time was so much faster than here, that even a visit would shift the family too far into the future. So messages where all for now. One line in the letter puzzled her, "dad has changed as well" what did Gift mean by that she wondered.
As the cosmos came into being, the two poles of reality formed, names had no meaning anymore. But her could feel the souls there in the space, half came to her, looking for a form of being, She shaped reality giving then races, Dragons, Elves, Dwarves and then she stopped, the Dwarves needed a identity, and ideology. elves where linked to life and nature, that was there ideology, Dragons had there own minds and followed Anserters. But Dwarf kind needed something more. And she knew just the inspiration, Her father. But how would he react, to becoming a guiding light to his race on this plane.?
As a Psionic being of good and law, she pulled him into her presence.
Arlo, still in his Grend disguise, now floating as a spectre was suddenly pulled inside the glowing sphere. "What! What's going Ooonnnnn....!"
It was nice, A fast white space, with a summer Garden, A covered table seats and high Tea, Arlo found himself, sitting with Gift having Tea poured for him. He is glowing with iridescent light. Hisver being has changed, as he looked at himself Gifts says.
"Yeerr about that dead, well I seem to have become a god. Kind of knew it would go this way. Me and mum talked about it and she said it was my call. Once I took all those souls into myself from the soul stone. My plane could just not hold them. Tz’z`z`z' had the same problem, there is an inherent instability in holding that much power. It ether destroys you or elevates you. You just can hold it. Tz’z`z`z' found that out, he held millions of not billions, Like a flame, you just burn out. I held less so the burn was slower, but inevitably I would have Burned out too. So I choose elevation and here we are."
She offered him a slice of cake.
Arlo, no longer Grend, looked down at his glowing self. At the edges of his perception, thousands of lines of dwarven mathematics was coming into being, solving itself, then disappearing into Arlo. Occasionally the dwarf would recognize the G.O.D.L.I.N.G. anagram Moradin used when explaining his 'upgrade'. It felt like GIFT was upgrading Arlo's code. "I get the feeling I'm no longer in charge here, but GIFT, please don't go. Don't leave us."
"I have a favor to ask you, I have formed some of mine and Tz’z`z`z' souls into a race of Dwarves. But they need some founding tenets of faith. I was wondering if you would care to set them up with them. You know rules to follow. After I am going to send you home to mum, with a letter from me, I'm sorry to say I can't visit. You know how the Lady of Sigil hate higher beings stepping foot there, but agents of gods are fine. Hence your, sublimed state. Dad I love you and mum, you made me and raised me, Tell my brothers the can come visit when older but not now. Well my time is up, cant keep this form for long."
She gets up and goes to hug him. A vast feeling of love and respect washes over him. Then she and this garden fade, leaving him in a vast chamber deep underground. Before him a horde of Dwarves. Behind him a golden door."Tell them what you think they need to know to be good Dwarves, then use the door behind you, it will take you home"
Gift voice comes from the air.
"Love you Dad"
and with that she was gone into full Godhood.
Arlo cried freely as he hugged GIFT for the last time. Tears of sorrow and tears of pride and love. "Well, sounds like you have everything thought out", the dwarves tears burn away as his exalted form glowed. "Love you GIFT. You'll always be my little girl."
His daughter gone from this reality, the glowing dwarf warrior turns his head to see the expectant face of multitudes of dwarfkind. Adjusting his weapon belt, Arlo Brighthammer clears his throat. "Alright. You are called dwarves. Each of you are called a dwarf. I am Arlo Brighthammer. And you were all made in my image. Now. Let's talk Stonecunning.."
Time did not yet exist in that place, but Arlo spend a very long time discussing topics of metallurgical processes, morals, traditions. and iconography. The glowing dwarf answered as many questions as he could, which lead to more questions. Later, when all answered seemed to answered and concepts explained to a reasonable degree, Arlo wished the Brighthammer Dwarves, which they called themselves, a fond farewell. And stepped through the Golden Door.
At the same time, speeding out of Fulenmuello's communication center, Terex manipulates the crystal according to communication from the outside entities... and suddenly he and Azzim finds themselves pulled into the crystal and through a truly alien dimension, experiencing themselves turn inside out and restored various times and then appear ... in the main floor of The Spire, Organization headquarters, some 10' from Arlo surrounded by the dozens of teams that usually work on different projects in the area. And on cue, Ari, Bethia and Cordelia emerge from the Orichalcum-clad door to the Planar Machinery area and come running to you as you subside in exhaustion...
... Much healing later, the three party members, along with Snobarny, ("Dog man") have their drinks of choice and are discussing the situation with Ari and a half-dozen Organization leaders... "Losing an agent for any reasons is unfortunate but we could see this coming... We had the dimensional machinery focused on Fulenmuello's plane and we are still analyzing all the data. I'm hope we came out much ahead on this but it may be too soon to speculate... tell use what you know, what you experienced..."
The various technicians marveled around Arlo. Gone was the gruff, hard-but-fair dwarf warrior. Replaced with a almost radiant dwarf of pure charisma and life force. "GIFT took the billions of souls Tz’z`z`z' had, having them to fuel her psionic abilities to beyond mortal limits, she created a new universe for the souls to become reborn. I think I spend at least a thousands years teaching the dwarves of that universe everything they needed to know." Arlo looked down at the floor, still processing his loss.
Azzim felt punchdrunk after all that happened and the sudden plane shift. Shaking his head he said to nobody in particular, "I didn't think she was going to do it... I really didn't."
And when Arlo reappeared changed he didn't know what to say for a long time. When he spoke he said to Arlo he said simply, "Fancy a pint?"
At the same time, speeding out of Fulenmuello's communication center, Terex manipulates the crystal according to communication from the outside entities... and suddenly he and Azzim finds themselves pulled into the crystall and through a truly alien dimension, experiencing themselves turn inside out and restored various times and then appear ... in the main floor of The Spire, Organization headquarters, some 10' from Arlo surrounded by the dozens of teams that usually work on different projects in the area. And on cue, Ari, Bethia and Cordelia emerge from the Orichalcum-clad door to the Planar Machinery area and come running to you as you subside in exhaustion...
Terexaltherin desperately follows the entities' directions as he leaps from step to step, zig-zagging both to avoid the still functional traps and just in case there was anything targetting him. He's just starting to quesion how long this is going to take when something snaps and he's being drawn in a direction that shouldn't exist.
His keen mind grapples to make sense of the sensations of... whatever's happening, trying to find anything to latch onto. Just as he's starting to feel like he might be able to understand some tiny bit of what's going on, his curiosity sharpening at the thought of some great secret, the pain starts.
Pain is too small a word for it. Agony. Torment. It feels not unlike being crammed through a straw, his body shredded and stretched to fit, then reconstituted on the other end, only to do it again moments later. And unfortunately, no unconsciousness comes to save him from the agony. Indeed, *nothing* saves him, for what seems like a long time.
He has no idea how or when he ends up on the floor of the Spire. He knows he didn't black out, but the transition from intense agony to laying on the cool, solid floor is so abrupt his mind takes a while to catch up with it. Not that the pain's fullly stopped, of course. His body feels like its every cell aches. Not just his body, but his mind and soul also feel wrung out, throbbing with the reaction to what he just experienced.
Still, Terexaltherin fights to raise his head and look around. Azzim? he 'says' on seeing his companion exhaustion and relief plain in his telepathic 'voice'. Arlo? he adds after a moment, seeing the dwarf with equal relief.
After a moment, the little dragon's head sinks down, his tone changing to grief. Gift...
... Much healing later, the three party members, along with Snobarny, ("Dog man") have their drinks of choice and are discussing the situation with Ari and a half-dozen Organization leaders... "Losing an agent for any reasons is unfortunate but we could see this coming... We had the dimensional machinery focused on Fulenmuello's plane and we are still analyzing all the data. I'm hope we came out much ahead on this but it may be...
Terexaltherin is perched up at the right height to look comfortably at everyone else, his small cup of hot cocoa in front of him untouched as he gazes out at nothing. With effort, he manages to refocus himself on the conversation. I do want to know if we at least freed the entities he'd entrapped to make the place, he states, mental voice still sounding exhausted from his experience. If nothing else, though, Gift... what Gift did removed Tz’z`z`z from the equation and gave all those souls a chance at a proper life...
Azzim felt punchdrunk after all that happened and the sudden plane shift. Shaking his head he said to nobody in particular, "I didn't think she was going to do it... I really didn't."
Yeah... is Terexaltherin's eloquent reply. After a long pause he adds, Stupid... semi-divine elans, going and getting all ascended without us...
Given he's not all all shielding his true feelings in his telepathy, it's blindingly obvious his 'words' are just a way of expressing the pain at Gift's sudden departure.
And when Arlo reappeared changed he didn't know what to say for a long time. When he spoke he said to Arlo he said simply, "Fancy a pint?"
The dwarf godling sighed. "Yeah. It's been one of those days. I'll go home later. Maybe one drink."
Ari, who Terex can see is also exhausted behind her usual cheerful manner, sighs momentarily before saying "We are almost certain the entities returned to their universe and that Gift created a world and that Fluenmuello went to hell (though we doubt he'll stay there). Most of the other 'guests' quite possibly escaped but agent Snobarny was able to capture the bounty hunter and trafficker Omchat..." Snobarny, now in hybrid wolf form manages to smile ... sheepishly. "Wonderful to meet you, I was hoping to spend longer with your group. You are legendary..." and then is quiet, perhaps being conscious of intruding (and you can sense Ari herself is holding back her usual impulse to commentary).
During the evening, all the Organization agents who've worked with the party make a point of talking at least a little bit. Some talking of Gift, others leaving things unsaid...
And as the group departs after however many more drinks, Ari says "Get recreation, you know your best way to unwind in Sigil so do it now and we will talk soon." (Indeed, fairy messengers appear with questions about the event for different party members over the next few days, sorting each tiny detail of the recent events).
Azzim suggests Arlo chooses a tavern of his choice and as he supps his well earned pint, he mentions "I've been feeling odd ever since arriving back, like I've run back to back marathons and stretched myself thin, but the kicker is I have no recollection of any great exertartion. The last memory I trust was warning Terex that Fluenmuello was about to teleport and unleash a horde of demons, then time went all peculiar. I really have no explanation for it."
He drunk another finger of the dark ale, he savoured the taste before saying, "Well except for a half crazed theory. What if Gift borrowed all of us, for her project and in my case wiped my memory of it. I'm not sure what to do, part of me wants to dig into what happened but I keep on thinking she wouldn't do that without good reason. Maybe I should leave it alone..."
Arlo drinks some choice dwarven ale at the dwarven tavern Arlo picked. "That sounds like a very personal decision", the godling paladin offered. "I don't see the harm, but I've keep layers of pain deep inside for so long, I doubt I'm an expert."
The dwarf holy warrior kept looking at his mug of spirits disappointingly. Surely the feeling of being drunk would have washed over him by now! "I'm glad I got out of there" Arlo admitted. "All those damned planar technicians wanted to cut me open and study me, by the way they reacted to ..this!" The dwarf spread his arms wide. "It's strange. I don't feel tried. After everything. I'm still very sad. And I'm anxious to talk to Lyra."
"And I don't normally talk about my feelings. To anyone outside of family! This is weird! I'm weird! What is going on!??"
Ari, who Terex can see is also exhausted behind her usual cheerful manner, sighs momentarily before saying "We are almost certain the entities returned to their universe and that Gift created a world and that Fluenmuello went to hell (though we doubt he'll stay there). Most of the other 'guests' quite possibly escaped but agent Snobarny was able to capture the bounty hunter and trafficker Omchat..." Snobarny, now in hybrid wolf form manages to smile ... sheepishly. "Wonderful to meet you, I was hoping to spend longer with your group. You are legendary..." and then is quiet, perhaps being conscious of intruding (and you can sense Ari herself is holding back her usual impulse to commentary).
Well that's about the best we could have hoped from what happened, Terexaltherin replies. Good work, Snobarny. Sorry we didn't give you more warning, with how much surveillance we were under we wanted to minimize contact, even telepathically, just in case.
Terexaltherin, of course, seeks to drown his sorrows in books. He buys a... possibly unwise number of new books for his library and makes a serious attempt to read all of them.
Sensing a fellow book lover, Snobarny takes Terex through a variety of Sigil book sellers while marveling at Terex' finds and haunts...
At some point in the week, Livonia manages to get Terex, Azzim and Arlo to accompany her to an extreme formal Dafanese restaurant in the heart of the (little known) Purple District. The arrangement are complex and the octopoid wait staff helps everyone enjoy the strange and rituals. It doesn't surprise anyone when Ari Shadowfire shows up with other Organization agents, revived from the past two days and eager to offer you insights on Dafanese green wines and lift everyone's spirits. Of course, at various points, she breaks down and cries, saying... "Of course I feel responsible, I put the rumors together and sent you all out. Yes, deification is a choice... Who knows, maybe perhaps a thousand years or so she'll be back... " and towards the end "Have you thought what the team will look like now?"
The boys where in bed. Lyra waited for her husband to come home, She know he was back, but she taught me may be working late being debriefed.
Arlo burps quietly, leaving Azzim to his own devices at the dwarven tavern.
The paladin of Moradin walks home quietly, lost in his own thoughts. Arlo turns a corner and sees his home in the distance.
I guess sometimes, my love, we make things TOO well, the dwarf thinks solemnly to himself.
Arlo gets to the front gate, looking into the optic ident device to allow entrance.
<<Retina Scan Denied. Unauthorized visitor! Security armed.>>
The two twin-auto guns are now aimed at The Brighthammer patriarch.
"Lyra! LYRA!" the dwarf waves his arms into the security camera. "Something's wrong with the gate...Help. HELP! Please!"
Lyra jumps as the house alarm goes off and bring up her wrist band, keys the CCTv units. Seeing Arlo, no! she looks closer is it Arlo? He is glowing. What is the main frame has he done to himself. She the comes out of the shock and decatives the house system, The door unlocks.
"Get your sorry self up her husband mine, I want to hear everything"
Her tone is clear, he better tell her everything.
Arlo finds a upset Lady Lyra in the kitchen. His wife momentarily looks at him with awe, but that is abruptly stopped as the dwarf reaches out and hugs her deeply. Nearly half a minute goes by as Arlo clutches to Lyra for dear life.
"GIFT took after both of us", Arlo sputtered, his voice full of emotion. "She took your brains and my..connection to the upper planes." The paladin swallowed. "During our undercover assignment, GIFT found and sheltered millions of trapped souls into herself. She..used some kind of psi ability to make those sould a plane to live on. As near as we can figure, those souls fueled GIFT apotheosis to godhood. She..likely...rules over her own universe as it's Goddess of Good. She no longer on this plane of existence. GIFT did something to me before she left. The planar techs wanted to study me, but I had to get home to you, but.." Arlo was silent for a few moments. "I..I needed to gather my strength. So. I'm here."
Arlo did not let go of Lady Lyra, holding her in his arms.
She cried into her husband shoulder, here and now was the time to greve.
She lead him to bed, and they talked, Gift was not dead, just in anther plane of being. Lyra had no doubt they Gift would be in touch with them in her own way. but she is not gone full, just living away from home.
then after, they spet, just slept.
In the Morning he found her, making brakfast for the boys
Sensing a fellow book lover, Snobarny takes Terex through a variety of Sigil book sellers while marveling at Terex' finds and haunts...
At some point in the week, Livonia manages to get Terex, Azzim and Arlo to accompany her to an extreme formal Dafanese restaurant in the heart of the (little known) Purple District. The arrangement are complex and the octopoid wait staff helps everyone enjoy the strange and rituals. It doesn't surprise anyone when Ari Shadowfire shows up with other Organization agents, revived from the past two days and eager to offer you insights on Dafanese green wines and lift everyone's spirits. Of course, at various points, she breaks down and cries, saying... "Of course I feel responsible, I put the rumors together and sent you all out. Yes, deification is a choice... Who knows, maybe perhaps a thousand years or so she'll be back... " and towards the end "Have you thought what the team will look like now?"
Terexaltherin is, of course, eager to get to know a fellow bibliophile. He just *has* to show Snobarny his library after they get talking... which is when he notices that the one book of his childhood memories has expanded to be a whole shelf, going from 'childhood' to 'adolescence' to 'young adult' to 'adult'... he quickly directs the tour in a different direction.
The little dragon radiates sympathy mingled with his own sorrow as Ari shows her own sadness at Gift's departure. Once she changes topics, he struggles to get his thoughts together. Not really? I'm not sure what other agents with a similar level of experience would be available, and, well... I haven't really wanted to linger on thinking about it.
Arlo quietly gets up and goes to the bathroom. At the mirror, the dwarf stares at his reflection. At least he wasn't glowing anymore. His beard felt softer. Many scars and other signs of battle were faded. Usually mornings were torture for the paladin, but Arlo felt himself full of vim and vigor. The dwarf made himself ready for the day, then went to the kitchen.
"Morning, boys!" Arlo smiled, as he walked over to kiss his twin sons at the kitchen table. Then walked over to Lyra and kissed her hair. "Morning. How did you sleep?"
"Well dear, and I have some news."
She layed out the table, where Gifts letter was still laying. She folded it up and tucked it away. As she served food she said.
"I have talked to the organisation and I am going back on active duty. I have a Nannie starting today and she will look after the Boys and start there edition, which is well over due. She is a half dragon so I think she will be able to handle them. And half sister of our Dragon chum at the office."
She sat holding a mug of coffee.
"And well this new Biomechanical body of mine needs a good work out. As your all shiny and new, I wanted to test out my new form. Last of all If gift can get us a message on how she is doing it will most likely be where planes of thin, and not here where the lady keeps Dinvity out."
She sips her coffee. Giving him a smile.
To Lyra Gift had just left home. She was out there doing her thing, and that was fine. But Lyrad did not want Arlo to go the same way. Shinny boots or not, she was going to keep him grounded.
After Arlo walked out, Azzim finished his pint and returned to his apartment in Sigil. He tried to rest but found himself unable, tossing and turning in his bed for several hours. His left shoulder had started throbbing and worryingly there was a lump. Several divinations later he was reassured to learn this wasn't a canker, rather he had a foreign object that would need cutting out.
Restless now and unable to sleep, he felt the need to walk so he strode out of his apartment and into the darkest hours of Sigil's night. It was quiet at first but Sigil was a city that never slept and the night markets where legendary. He found a raman stall and ordered a particularly spicy dish which he ate with gusto. He gave the owner a generous tip before leaving and it was at that point he noticed he had a shadow. A block later he realized he had several shadows and he shook his head, being in no mood to deal with whatever berks where crazy enough to trail him he snapped his fingers and was instantly halfway across the city.
Azim knew better than to head directly to The Organization's headquarters, he cast a powerful no-detection spell and adopted the form of a Monadic deva before taking seemingly a random path which went near the headquarters. Once inside he sought Ari out and asked, "One of the reasons Gift attempted what she did was to was to retrieve intelligence from Tz’z`z`z on the traders. I think she may have embedded a psionic crystal with that data in my shoulder, we uh should probably take it out. Oh and one other thing Sigil may not be entirely safe, I was followed but not to here obviously."