Isolation Lab

Vare's spell is cast, and within the moment of casting, he seems to instantly lock into and onto the target.

Assuming the standard Scry spell is used here, advise if not, please.

From the 10' outwards from Tryko'Sam, Vare can see and hear that Tryko'Sam's in some mountainous region, squatting atop some rocks, while gazing down and around, from up high. Tryko'Sam's fairly clean, devoid of any obvious wounds or blood. Dirty, yes, but unclothed and simply hanging out atop the cliff while hanging on tightly peering about. The landscape nearby is roughly pine trees and granite type rocks, from what can be seen. Tryko'Sam doesn't appear to be shivering, or discomforted. Just looking off, as if studying something in the distance.

It was Greater Scrying for the shorter cast time (Scry has a 1 hour long casting time typically, but otherwise yes.

Vare lets out a breath and relaxes slightly. The lack of Rena with Tryko'Sam was some cause for concern but at least he was safe for the moment.

Keeping the mirror at hand (and occasionally glancing at it to ensure that nothing drastic happened), Vare stands and walks out of the Isolation Lab, towards his research lab.

The question remained of how they could contain Tryko'Sam's terrifying power without injuring or traumatizing the boy. The encounter with the Daemon and Empyreal Lords earlier had rattled Vare, and he was having trouble concentrating, and ended up getting lost in the ever-changing corridors of the school.

Basically, gonna leave this one up to Rena/Asha so that Vare isn't just trying to magic everything right all the time ;P

Vare hurries towards where they had left Rena and Tryko’Sam - the isolation labs, someone had called them. He stops short, finding the room empty. An uncharacteristic curse escapes his lips as he begins to dig in his spell component pouch, drawing out his silvered Mirror and squatting right there on the floor to begin casting a spell. ”I feel like I am going to need to study this spell more.” [i]he could be heard muttering to himself.
Will save for Tryko’Sam DC29 (no modifiers)

Okay, just so I'm completely clear cause I got a little lost, Kevin and Vare are heading to the Isolab where Tryko'Sam is supposed to be, right?

Vare grimaces as he steps into the hallway with Jeran's assistance. "Pardon me for my behavior... but it is not every day one meets an Empyreal Lord, and I fear I may have been.. ah... star-struck."

He didn't mention how much it worried him that a being such as that was getting personally involved in events at the school.

"Agreed, we ought to hurry and check on Tryko'Sam as quickly as possible. Shall we?"

Mech Bay, Destroyed

The illuminating from Jeran's tattoo seems to outshine the Positive Elemental's glow, and mingle or blend into the Holy Aura that still fills the area.

As if casually walking a short stroll, and filling the room further with the majesty of Goodness and obvious Law. For Jeran, the recognition is instant, for Vare, depending on his study of Heavenly Host and their scripture or similar, walks into the destroyed Mech Bay and stands close to the pair and their summoned army.

** spoiler omitted **

Perhaps taking a moment for dramatic effect, or perhaps for surveying the room's state, Muraleniel looks slightly down and off to the side, with the faintest pained expression on it's features.

Looking up from the glance off, it peers at Jeran's face and says, "Jeran Darkclaw. Hero. I greet you. It pleases me to see that you yet continue to exist as you are after battle with destruction. My apologies for allowing that to slip my confines. The one that assisted it in being released will be punished. I seek to contain it as quickly as possible. I can only presume that you have no sense of where it tread?" Muraleniel looks about the room briefly again, then back towards the pair.

It turns to regard Vare for a moment and gives a light bow of respect, "Well met, Wizard. Your study of the Arcane is acknowledged and welcomed."

Air and such is starting to fill the area, seemingly being generated merely by the existence of this being within the room. The walls seem to also be restoring, much like acid or burnt flesh would be...

Vare sits gaping for a very long moment at the being in front of him. When the angel speaks directly to him, Vare simply looks stunned. It takes him a good fifteen seconds before he scrambles back to his feet and bows to the figure. "Many thanks, High Forger."

The reverence in his voice is clear and palpable at this most holy of creatures before him, though the mage is clearly a little overwhelmed.

Yea, its kinda a bummer Kevin went through all that awesome trouble for nothing.

Seems like all its takes to scare off a archadaemon is summon a few positive energy elementals, cast Holy Aura, and break a pair of its personal runes.

Apollyon, Charon, Szuriel and Trelmarixian must be so incredibly disappointed in him. I bet they take turns punishing him for the next several centuries.

I'm more worried about WHY it ran away.

"I think we're going to have to tunnel our way out. I'm not sure the school is in any shape to help us after what just happened."

Vare takes a deep breath through the re-breather, almost collapsing with relief as the daemon. While it seemed very unlikely that their enemy fled because he feared defeat, Vare doesn't want to consider other options right at this moment. He just wanted to be thankful that they had somehow all survived the encounter. For now, anyway.

And then David casually leaves the highly-warded area and that's just a little too much for Vare's nerves right at that moment, and the wizard abandons all pretense of decorum and sits down hard on the ground. The remainder of the summoned creatures simply watch, given no direction from their summoner.

After a moment's breakdown, Vare looks up at Jeran. "Are you alright? "

Vare took the helmet and shoved it on rapidly, grimacing at Jeran's words. Yes, beings of Creation, but not beings of good. There was a reason the Realms Above and the Realms Below had fought since time immemorial with no clear victor: they were anathema to one another. A double-edged blade. Just as that which is holy cleanses the profane, so too did evil corrupt that which is pure. Vare needed a third option. Luckily, he had one.

With a single word of power, all else in the room froze.

Vare casts Time Stop for 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3 rounds of extra time.

Round 1:
Quickened Bear's Endurance
Summon Monster IX to summon a Dreamlike Astral Deva

Round 2:
Quickened Fire Shield
Summon Monster IX to summon 1d3 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3 Dreamlike Elder Positive Energy Elementals.

Round 3:
Quickened Shield
Summon Monster VIII to summon 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6 Dreamlike Huge Positive Energy Elementals.[/i]

As reality returns to it's normal pace, it seems that the army Jeran requested appears, as light floods into the room. Though it is initially difficult to tell due to the radiance of the creatures summoned, it seems like the creatures are... off, somehow. Like a child dreamed them up. They are rife with exaggerated proportions and there's an almost cartoony look to them

"Nothing can match the creative power of dreams." Vare says simply, as his army goes to work.

The Astral Deva casts Holy Aura. The elementals will all channel for healing, healing Vare and Jeran of any damage sustained.

And I'm out of time!!

Jeran considers trying to stop him for a moment and then decides that talking to the professor was likely to be a more productive use of his time. He bounded over to Vare. "Professor, what is this thing? And more importantly, how do we stop it?"

Jeran notes immediately that Vare is considerably more pale than he was a few moments previously. He's wide-eyed and clearly quite shaken.

"This foe is beyond any of us." Vare says, his voice quiet but quivering ever so slightly. There's a sudden flurry of movement as Vare steps forward and raises his hands to cup his mouth.

"DAVID! TO US! NOW!" Vare called across the expanse of the room, hoping that his voice didn't get lost in the din of crumbling stonework and David's own powerful voice (among other things, no doubt).

With David hopefully chastised enough to regroup, Vare immediately sets about casting a spell, and immediately upon finishing a circle emanates outwards from the wizard to a radius of 10 feet.

"We face an Archdaemon of Abbadon, Jeran." Vare says gravely, going through his component pouch, still visibly shaken. "Of all the times I had to send Rena away, gods dammit." Vare curses quietly as he rifles, clearly looking for something.

The spell cast was a Magic Circle Against Evil.

Immediately upon appearing in the room, Vare will realize that he's practically teleported into the middle of a war zone-- and an environment that suits that.

The air is hot, thick with gasses and various dusts/plastic clouds, not conducive to anyone who breaths natural oxygen.

** spoiler omitted **

Vare's appearance does not go unnoticed, and Jeran's near squash with a massive fist seemed more of a surprise to the Mech possessed opponent who to this point hadn't gotten close to hitting him.

"Bah, adding...

Fort Save vs enviromental: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (4) + 14 = 18

Vare has Mage Armour and Freedom of Movement active, beyond that no magical effects yet. (And his magical/supernatural/extraordinary sight).

Vare immediately begins to cough and splutter at the nastiness of the dust and debris present in the air of the room, trying to focus on a spell which will allow him to properly work his magic.

Attempting to cast Gust of Wind to clear the area around Vare of environmental effects. Concentration check? 1d20 + 31 ⇒ (15) + 31 = 46

The Wall of Force shudders under the direct impact of the powerful weaponry, the barely visible forcefield sparking flickering for a moment. It won't stand against many more like that.

Not sure of the dimensions of the room, but if possibly Vare would make it floor to-ceiling and difficult to get around. It covers a total of 190 square feet, has a Hardness of 30 and 380 HP.

"Silly shifter, though your strength of resolve is commendable, all things break apart in the maw of destruction-- change is more ancient than you suspect, or know. But, you don't care. Ignore me. That's fine. I'm having a great time here-- all this destruction gets me hot and bothered. It seems to be self-healing too! just like your friend was. He got boring though. Something not right about that one. Doesn't matter now though-- he's been broken as best I can." The mechanical chuckle that issues from the Mech is haunting and inhuman. All radio attempts to communicate having stopped a few rounds ago.

There's another few more rounds and barrages of the auto-cannon, large holes in the walls and more columns breaking-- Jeran's goal of helping bringing down the roof seems to be in progress.

With a few more well placed attacks, or dodges, he could cause the roof to fall. The Sigils are getting rather ...damaged, though. Much of the smooth surfaces have been destroyed at this point in one form or another.

Time to make this more complicated, awww yeah.

Vare blinks as his initial teleport is rebuffed, and he furrows his brow, concentrating. Again, he calls upon his magical energies to twist the dimensions and step through

Vare immediately grimaces upon his arrival, looking at the mechanical monster. He had seen what one of these golems could do once before and it was frankly terrifying.

Shoving the terror to the back of his mind, Vare triggers his contingency spell, and then moves his left hand to his right to touch the gold ring there, and pulls from it the power to cast a spell.

Suddenly a Wall of Force springs into existence between him and the mechanical monstrosity, offering shelter from the inevitable barrage of fire.

Quickend Wall of Force was cast and a free action to trigger Contingency: Freedom of Movement.

Vare, the school put anti-teleport wards on the room when it was sealed off.

Pfft, surely the school understands Vare's point of view and will let him in. ;)

C'mon, Wizard vs. Mech. We all wanna see that!

"Put me down Rena, now!" Vare shouts as he watches the blast doors slam shut, leaving Jeran trapped in the room with a possessed construct. Vare had seen what those constructs were capable of, and he would be damned if he let one of his students engage it alone.

Rena complies hesitantly, biting her lip in worry. "I'm not letting you go back in alone."

Suddenly, the trashing and movement of the pod catches Vare's attention, and he glances back. His face twists into a grimace but he immediately begins fishing in a pouch and draws forth a scroll, which he passes to David.

"Let him out and cast that on him. It should purge any lesser demon from him. Rena, I need you to stay in contact with him constantly. He might try to leave with his teleporation. Hold onto him at all times. He may still be possessed, and a simple spell like that won't purge a powerful demon." He turns to look at his lifelong friend, an arm on her (newly humanoid) shoulder. "I'll be fine, but he will need you."

The scroll he handed to David is a Protection from Evil scroll.

With that, Vare focuses his energy and casts a powerful teleport to return him to the recently sealed hangar.

Upon Vare's arrival, he will use his Bonded Item to cast a Quickend Wall of Force to seperate himself from the mech, and activate his Contingency Freedom of Movement

Okay, let's get this scene moving again. I know that Kevin was with Vare. Am remembering correctly that Silinrul was staying with the girl and the angel? And Dave was with Vare too, right? Let me know if I have locations wrong.

As Vare was getting ready to leave the school grounds to find a suitable location, a voice came from the air near his head. "Excuse me, Professor Vare, I have a message for you from...well, it appears to be from the school, sir. It says that you should follow the arrows to Isolab 2. That you will find the secure space you need there. Also we just got a message from one of those big flying suits asking where to deliver a 'package' for you. I sent him to the underground dockng bay.That we didn't have before. Then again we didn't have Isolabs before either. So there's that. Anyhow, we have them now."

Vare blinks at the formless voice, listening intently before turning to Rena and Kevin. "Er... you heard that as well, yes?"

Rena simply replies, "yes." Her expression one of concern as she walks to take Vare's arm.

"Let us hurry then, come along." Vare says decisively, taking a few steps towards the door with Rena falling into step beside him. With a wave of his hand and a few arcane words, the components Vare had been working with to setup the room float up and follow along behind him.

Rena will access the arrows and lift Vare into her arms (a maneuver which earns a somewhat indignant squawk from the Conjuration professor), and flying as swiftly as she's able towards the Isolabs, having seen both Kevin and Dave fly on their own power.

Kevin shudders. It looks weird to see him shudder. Kind of like when you flick jello, the ripple travels from top to bottom.

"I most definitely don't want that either. Where outside of campus is good to have him meet us? Town wouldn't be good. Too many people to get in the way. Maybe we can go and you could open a portal to that plane somewhere so he'd still be out of our plane at least if anything happens? Where would be a good place outside school to set that, if that's what you want to do. I'm afraid I don't get out of the lab much. Outside is... outside..."

He absent-mindedly straightens the things on Vare's desk as he speaks, organizing pens by color and straightening papers.

Vare's concerns furrow his brow and his mouth twists into a tight-lipped grimace. He's quiet for a long few moments, staring at the sigils and glyphs that he had been preparing on the floor.

"There's no ideal place on this plane which I know of, and a Gate to the Plane of Dreams is not something we want to be open for any amount of time. It is... a chaotic place, and who knows what may spill out during that time."

Vare idly rubbed his chin, and the frown remained. "Alright, do we have a way of relaying our position to the one doing the retrieving? We are going to teleport to a remote area of Agartha and attempt to contain him there and remove the possession."

"I'm really not sure how long it will take. It's mostly the time to and from the hanger. They have tech powered teleports that will get him there pretty quick. Then he just had to grab him and drive the mech back here. I think I still have the info for the shop here on my data pad from when I had my ooze tank fabricated there. I can ask Mr. Jiminy to tell Jeran where to meet us. Where should that be?"

He draws out his data pad from his coat and taps some things, ready to send a message.

Vare grimaces slightly. "I was going to summon him into the Plane of Dreams. I'm not sure how wise it is to bring a possessed student back into the school, especially with given level of power the beings you have been dealing with. I'm sure the Headmaster does not want another invasion of the school by demonic entities."

Kevin is explaining things Jeran told him to Vare when Dave and Rena arrive.

Once FCD gets back we can roll that one.

Vare pauses as Kevin explains what Jeran's plan is. He sighs and rubs a temple in irritation.

"He's going to retrieve him? I was going to summon him to us. Well, not to the school, just in case. Ah, Rena. I'm glad David found you. I did have need of an anchor."

Rena just nods and smiles, moving next to Vare. Meanwhile, Vare turns back to Kevin. "Did he say how long the retrieval will take? Time may be of the essence here."

Hey.. Vare figured out a work-around.

Invisible Servant for the win.

"I assume so."

He pokes at his new wings, through which one can see to the other side with a blurry blue tint.
You remember how when you stretched out that gooey stuff Nickelodeon sold you could kinda see through? A lot like that.
"Never actually tried that part. Kinda funny, really. I was so distracted with other things. Could probably have more wings of I tried..."
He muses out loud.

Vare doesn't even glance up from what he's doing as Kevin plays with his wings. He has produced a piece of chalk and is drawing some kind of diagram or intricate circle on the open floor of the room.

"You should test them before we go." he says seriously, between mutters under his breath.

Kevin finally arrives in the conjuration room, setting the keg down with a thud.

"Finally...," He sighs.
"I brought holy water. A lot. And I can make it the strong kind. I figured it'd be a safe way to purge the whatever it is and not hurt Sam."
He collapses to the floor, tired of walking and standing. Despite the new form he had and its immense strength, his mind still told him that this was far too much exercise for one day.

Vare nods absently, still muttering under his breath.

A few moments pass and he glances up, examining Kevin thoroughly. "Are you able to fly under your own power?" he asks without preamble. Clearly, social skills are not Vare's forte.

Kevin flattens into a pool as Dave flies through where he would've been.

He springs back up into a goo dragon after he's through.
"So, where-"
Vare takes a thousand league step and is gone before Kevin can make himself known.
The azure mass of draconic jelly gives something akin to a sigh; a gurgling sound more of, as breath isn't strictly required.
He picks the large metal keg back up and extends a hand to the wall, tracing Vare again.

The arrows flare back up but annoyingly they keep swapping directions, as Vare presumably is teleporting around the school. Eventually, Kevin will be lead to the Conjuration classroom, where Vare is there, seemingly sorting through a pack of supplies with one hand, with his mis-matched spellbook open in the other, muttering arcane words.

"We need your help to find and rescue a student posessed by some skeletal demon of unknown strength, and was then subsequently banished to an unknown plane, presumeably a demiplane connected to hell." He then pauses "huh... That sounds weird when I actually say it out loud"

Vare just stares at David for a moment as that processes. He suddenly jumps into action, stepping quickly. "David, go and find Rena, and bring your group to the conjuration classroom. You have five minutes. I need to go requisition spell components."

With that done, Vare steps again and vanishes.

Dave laughs at this and calls back as he leaves hearing range, "I'd like to see them try, I'm basically indestructible!"

David knocks several times on the staff room door and ends up waiting a few minutes before a somewhat confused looking Vare opens the door and pokes his head out. He scratches at his chin somewhat nervously but puts on a smile. "Ah, Mr. De'Foul was it? My apologies, I may have forgotten what knocking was. How can I help you?"

Kevin and Dave are tasked with finding the Conjuration Professor while Silinrul and Jeran stay with Carosusan and see to her treatment for the time being.

Jello turned back from handsome guy to ball of jelly shortly after arriving with the food.
Similarly, Kevin's disguise has worn off too and he is back in blue.
"You go ahead, I need to stop by my room real quick."
He says to Dave.
He turns back to Jeran.
"I'll contact you when we have a plan. All of us need to be there when we do this."
Unless anything else comes up, he heads to his room.

The search for the wayward Conjuration professor will direct students to one of the staff lunch rooms.

Looking a bit put out at the request without involving her in it, Anahita states firmly, "I am fine. There is no need for further attention on this-- nor further interrupting the Professor. My apologies. I can assure those interested that this will not happen again. I am physically well, a healer is not required."

She seems a touch flustered at the assertion, and request, trying to stave it off with her assurances. If there /were/ any ulterior motives behind Illithia's request, she didn't get it.

She smiled warmly afterwards adding, "It will not happen again. In class. Today."

Vare spares a worried glance for Anahita. Knowing her stubbornness though, he simply nods. "Very well" and continues with his lecture.

"Magic is amazing, isn't it?" Illy replies to that in a low and sultry voice (or, at least, as low as a Halfling teenager can manage), and looks like she's about to continue on when Vare finally turns around clears his throat. Whatever the tattoo'd halfling was about to say is cut off, as she glances to the front. She gives Lim-Mor a wink before turning to face the front.

"Today I want to talk to you about Planar Bindings." Vare says, without pre-amble, moving to his podium which was covered in notes, revealing the drawing more fully to everyone in the class. "As I'm sure some of you are aware by now, we've had a really rough weekend at Avalon. Part of that began on Saturday, when a group of reckless young students attempted to summon a demon outside of the school's walls."

"What I plan to do, is give you all a safe place to practice these types of magics, without having to resort to such insanity to satisfy your curiosity. Planar Bindings are extremely dangerous, even if you are binding Holy agents. One of the first things you must...." and the lecture continues on from this point, Vare going into great detail about the various dangers revolving around Planar Bindings, including the complex political landscapes which mages often don't consider...

In Vare's perspective, all three of them move in unison. They look to their left as non dream Lim-Môr looks to his left, he and they flick their wings slightly in confusion.

"We're kinda stuck together. On one schedule. Um. What are you looking at, proffesor?"
He looks to his left, eyes straying to the talking students as he does so.

Vare blinks, and looks back at Lim'Mor and then to the other side, where Gian is in the dream, before looking back to Nero, though his eyes never do seem to make eye contact, as is typical. "I was looking at Nero. Is something the matter? If you are bound together, then I understand. If that's all, take your seats, the lesson will begin shortly."

In fact the three visages also appear to speak in their own voices, save that when the side ones speak it sounds like it's coming from the middle one still.

"Giancarlo." says the angelic one.
"Lim-Môr." The one in the middle speaks, still looking rather unhappy, but speaking in a normal tone.
"Nero. I'm the one actually in this class."

Vare blinks slightly, looking from side to side. To Lim-Mor, it looks like he's looking at something that might be behind him. "I'm sorry, but if only Nero is in this class, why are all of you here?" he asks, looking where Nero is displayed in the dream, and not looking at Lim-Mor at all, his eyes searching up and down.

"I didn't think it was the best idea, either. But, it's already here, so it's a bit late to stop them. It might be worse to get rid if it now. I just need some non injuring tricks to stop it when it gets out of hand with the pranks."

"If you three see the imp again, please try to learn who the master is. I would like to speak to that person directly if at all possible. What are your names, if I might ask?" Vare says seriously, a hand going to his chin in thought. It's as if he was speaking with more than one person when addressing Lim-Mor. He had certainly heard three distinct voices, and the projection was three distinct people as well.

Lim-Môr /was/ in Royston's class, but this has interactions, so...

Lim-Môr enters into his first class of the day, Vare's.
"Hi, proffesor. I was in the cafeteria earlier and I was wondering, there was some person's Imp familiar flying around and terrorizing people. Is there a way to stop an imp without possibly hurting it or interrupting the bond to the other student."
"I'd rather just banish it."
"But it belongs to someone, as dumb as a familiar that is or not."
"But it... ya, for once I can't argue. Imps are stupid..."
Vare sees him as a rather unhappy elf handcuffed one hand each to a stereotypical angel version of himself on his right and infernal version on his left.

Interestingly, what does Lim'Mor look like in the Dream? Feel free to PM me

At a student of his approaching and speaking, Vare turns his attention away from what he's drawing on the board... which appears to be a diagram of a Binding circle, if Lim'Mor has experience with such.

"I would be more concerned about a student binding an Imp as a familiar than the actions of the Imp itself. Such a binding is reckless beyond belief." Vare replies, looking over Lim'Mor as he speaks, though those present in the room might not that the Wizard spares a glance and a smile in the direction of a lovely young woman seated next to a tattoo'd halfling.

"Your expression speaks volumes, Professor." She slowly pulls her arm away from Vare, the bell had just rung after all. Nothing overt to the gesture.

** spoiler omitted **...

Vare shakes his head sadly as Anahita explains more about the events revolving around the N'gathau, though frowns nearer to the end of the explaination. "While the rest seems to unfortunately fit with what I know of them, but the necromancy. That is... concerning. Typically the n'gathau work only with the living, or living flesh." He continues to frown thoughtfully, pausing for a long moment, his eyes ceasing their constant movement as he thinks deeply.

"Er... sit wherever you like." He says, as a pair of eager beaver students arrive into the class, startling the Professor out of his momentary reverie.

"Come in, come in." he says, turning away from Anahita to return to the front of the classroom, taking up some chalk to write on the board.

Watching as his hand comes up and runs through her hair, she brightens and perks up in how she is seated, tilting her head slightly to accept the caress.

** spoiler omitted **...

The look of shock on Vare's face is quite plain as Anahita describes the Outsiders from whom the villagers were rescued, and he blinks in disbelief.

"Those.... those are N'gathau... you fought them?" he asks cautiously, a touch of tension in his voice. It's unsurprising that Vare would recognize such, given his Planar lore specialization, though the news of them obviously isn't good news to the wizard.

His thoughts are interrupted when Anahita pulls him close, mentioning lunch or dinner, and he blushes somewhat fiercely at the description of tackling from behind and the licking of faces. "Er..." he says, taken aback at her forwardness. "Am I to be your prey then, to be hunted?" An attempt at playfulness, perhaps misguided. "I'm sure we could find some privacy this evening... teleportation spells could find us a quiet place together."

In the midst of preparing, Vare, depending on his perceptiveness, may notice the immediate appearance of a familiar figure.

Standing where she appears, Anahita walks from the doorway to one of the seats, while saying, "Good morning, Professor. I trust you slept well? Any wild stories in between my departure and only just returning? I thought to surprise you, however, this is your office, if I'm not mistaken." She has a glint of playfulness in her eyes, but that's brief.

** spoiler omitted **

It takes a moment for Vare to notice the new presence in his office - Anahita actually has to move before the Wizard looks up from his work. Not exactly the most perceptive of beings. Or perhaps just overly focused.

When he sees who has come to greet him, he smiles widely, putting down his pen and leaning back in the chair, as if about to push the chair back so that he might stand. He pauses though, his expression thoughtful as he watches Anahita sit.

"I slept... well enough, I would say. I am still getting used to Rena having her own room to spend the night, but she insisted on trying to be like the other students. No wild stories, though given this past weekend I may consider that a blessing. What about yourself? That scarf is new." he says rather bluntly, if it was an attempt at flirting then it was rather poor, though he does recover himself somewhat with a: "It looks very nice."

In the universe there are many forces of nature... none so powerful as Murphy's Law though, as it is right then - just as Vare is getting up to walk over to his romantic interest - which the school bell chooses to ring, indicating that students and teachers alike should begin filing towards their first class. "Ah... curses." he says with a frown, though he does finish getting up and walking over to stand in front of the seated Anahita. Given her seat on a table, she's actually still able to look into his eyes. He smiles happily, and briefly runs a hand through her hair, awaiting a response if she had one.

Having left the boy and his angel 'friend' at the Headmaster's office, Vare hurried as much as he could, heading towards his classroom to finish preparations for the morning classes.

"Thanks, Vare! I would really appreciate it!"

Iolth whistles as Kaetar manifests beside Iolth. Teasingly, she says "Hope you haven't destroyed anything yet!" Giving Iolth a quick peck on the cheek, the empyreal deck turns to Vare. "Nice to meet you, Vare. My charge-who is also my boyfriend-as he already told you, is like a Delayed Fireball-it's only a matter of time before he explodes, and when he explodes, Iolth has a tendency to explode very impressively."

** spoiler omitted **

"Anyways," Kaetar continues, "Do you have any teaching spots open? I could teach Advanced Planar Theory and Advanced Outsiders, if you have those spots open. I'm older than I appear." Kaetar chuckles.

Heh... Vare can't make that Sense Motive ;P

Vare's gaze shifts to the now-manifested Angel. Again, his eyes do not seem to see her truly, and they look seemingly over and through her in a way that might be considered lecherous, though only if one was overly sensitive to such things. "He does have a rather chaotic energy. Perhaps, with time, he'll come to control it. In the meantime, as long as he's within the school walls the Wards will protect those within from any overly dangerous mishaps." Vare replies calmly, as if Decks of cards turning into Angels was a completely normal occurrence that didn't even warrant a blink..

"Both of those subjects will be touched upon during the course of my Conjuration classes, though if you wish to speak with the Headmaster about a more specialized course, I'm sure he would not object. Though, I might warn you that there is some... friction, to overcome if one side of a relationship is a teacher and the other a student."

With a quick, Arcane word and casting motion, Vare completes a spell, and once again the arrows seem to conjure forth. He speaks to the air, an invisible creature perhaps. "Guide us to the Headmaster's office."

The spell was Unseen Servant, since the Spellcraft to recognize it should be extremely easy.

"The main office. I'm enrolling here to get some more control of my abilities-much to the relief of the megaverse at large, I'm sure. Name's Iolth, Apocalyptic Catastrophe Waiting to Happen. What's yours?"

As Vare's eyes wander over the two decks at Iolth's side, he can feel raw power rolling off them. They seem to be merely an extension of Iolth, though one appears to have sentience.
** spoiler omitted **

Once again, Iolth gets the impression that Vare isn't actually seeing him. He can't be blind though, with the surety of the way he walks and the way his eyes seem searching. Still, there is a distinct impression that Vare is looking either right though Iolth or at something entirely different from the tiefling standing there.

As for the man himself though, he smiles at Iolth's introduction. "Well, I believe you've come to the right place then, Iolth, though I believe you'll have to get your catastrophe in line - we're up to our quota for this particular..." The odd man seems to drift off mid-sentence, distracted by something in the hallway behind Iolth. If the tiefling turns to look, he sees nothing at all that might have pulled away the man's interest.

After a moment, lucidity seems to return to this madman, and he shakes his head. "My name is Vare, I teach Conjuration magic here at the school. I can help you to find the Headmaster's office if you like. He typically handles registration."

Using a minor prestigidiation to clean himself up, Iolth wanders the school, slightly ruffled-and bumps into a young aasimar-probably peri-blooded.. "Oh, hello! Didn't see you there. Do you know the way to the office? One of the guide arrows blew up in my face..."

Anyone who was monitoring the hallway that Iolth was in notes that the arrow exploded due to contact with large amounts of exotic arcane energy, very similar to what Keaton uses.

"Trouble with the arrows?" comes a knowing voice from behind Iolth. As he turns, he will see a tallish human male with shaggy, unkempt blonde hair. At this man's side, belted to his waist, are several pouches which looks like they likely contain spell components. He's wearing robes which are a mis-mash of different colours all worked together - seeming almost patchwork in their arrangement, but obviously done by a master tailor, it somehow seems to work.

"Where are you trying to go again?" asks the young man... and oddly, his eyes never seem to actually fix on Iolth... or anything for that matter. They seem to dart here and there, as if unsure where to look, or as if they were tracking movement that wasn't really there. It could be very unsettling if someone was sensitive enough.

Maya Rhys wrote:

Glancing between Aananda and Vare, Maya looks a touch concerned and says, "Oh dear, I certainly hope this wasn't due to my interfacing with your software earlier-- I do apologize, I have been know to affect sensors and such, but ... I just hope it wasn't me."

"I'm honestly not sure. I'll have to run some fairly time-consuming diagnostics before I know what the current state of the nanite cloud is for sure, let alone what caused it."

Vare blinks, finally breaking his distracted state and looking back at the pair of women - though of course, he still never seems to get where to /look/ right, glancing here and there in their general vicinity. "I'm afraid much of this is over my head." he says somewhat sheepishly. "It may be worth noting, however, that even Golems and other similar constructs project themselves onto the Dreamscape as well, despite their apparent non-sentience. I'm not entirely sure if it is a side-effect of the elemental spirits which are generally bound to such creatures... or perhaps we don't understand Golems as well as is thought." he says, his right hand (the one with the golden ring) going to his chin in what might be considered a thoughtful manner if his eyes ever settled down.

"No, there isn't anything phyically there. What is it you see?"

"It is numerous small... metallic /things/, all of which seem to be acting with one mind. I've seen Projections like this before, though it would be a strange dreamer to conjure what I am seeing now. Possible though. If there's no creature there, and this room is secure then it /must/ be a fragment." Vare says, shaking his head slightly and returning his gaze to the two women in the room. "Sorry... what were we talking about?"

Lyn: it /might/ be the sentience of Aananda's security system, /or/ it could just be a regular old fragment that Vare is seeing. Sentience = Dreamscape projection after all.

"Shadow Illusions." Vare interjects into the middle of the discussion regarding Maya's abilities. "What you described definitely sounds like illusions. There are some illusions which pull substance directly from the Plane of Shadow to partially actualize themselves." He intones, though his intellectual response seems distant, almost automatic, as his gaze continues to be distracted to that point in the air.

"I'm not sure if it's a Projection or a Fragment. There isn't a being there on the Material plane is there?" He says, motioning to the blank space.

While Maya continues to glance at Vare, trying to assure that he hasn't fallen completely out of the conversation, she may notice that he appears extremely distracted by something - where all she can see is blank space and, behind it - a wall with a few instruments. He doesn't have an unfocused gaze - he isn't merely staring off into space. He's focusing on something unseen, watching. His eyes dart here and there, as if following something in the air.

Vare is quiet as they walk through the school, having greeted Aananda upon their approach. He chuckles at Aananda's assertion that he couldn't really be a security risk. "Perhaps if we applied the Sim Room's power here, I might be a risk after all." he says jokingly, still in a good humour.

Beyond that, he doesn't interfere with the pair of ladies at they do what they do, listening in thoughtfully, hand on his chin during those pensive moments.

Chuckling and giving Vare a playful swat as they walk along, Maya say, "Oh stop, Vare. Yes, she was the daughter of the prior reign, as it goes, but initially, they are all self appointed with support, no? Good to know about the sleepers and such. I suppose I have a leg up than, if we did need to play court. Plus I'm rather adaptive."

Walking along she muses quietly on this or that.

"Just to be clear, this this teaching institute is not a den of scum and villainy in some twisted pretense of philanthropy, correct? You can personally vouch for such?"

While it might sound silly, she does appear serious in asking.

"Indeed. I was merely teasing." he replies, in a good humour obviousl, though he had been awfully quiet when he had first come in. To Maya it might seem that her own influence had perked the younger man up.

"As far as I've been able to discern, no. There are a few troubled students, and perhaps some policies I have disagreed with - but differing opinions on the best way to teach doesn't exactly condemn a place." He offers, with just a touch of hesitation in his voice. "Plus, if the school were setup for some ulterior motive... it's a damned expensive one. The magical resources alone here must be worth a small kingdom."

With a smirk, Maya retorts, "Hardly hereditary when it was a duty and reward bestowed by the accepted monarch, sir. More an appointment, as it were and taught to me."

Nodding and wrapping her arms together mid-chest, she asks, "Well, if you don't feel the need to assist the dreamer, so be it. As for carrying on, I'm not quite sure that is not what you are already doing, Vare..." She chuckles at that then says, "So, tell me, is room and fare provided if someone were to be a professor here? I'd rather prefer to stay near Tryko'Sam, though, all the potential here thus far is quite attractive."

"Ah.. a monarch, I see." Vare nods sagely to the retort, unable to completely keep a grin from his face. "An hereditary monarch?" he asks simply, still grinning.

"Dreamers are very rarely in actual danger from anything in the Dreamscape - the sleeping mind skirts the edges of the dream, except in very rare cases. Seers whose powers are connected to dreaming may be more wholly in the Dream than others, but typically such Seers have more lucidity as well, and are able to dismiss any threats. I do not believe we should be concerned."

"Yes, indeed. Room and fare, as a decent wage in gold as well - nothing exorbitant, but more than manual labour, by a fair chunk." he adds the bit with something of a wink.

Yes, aristocratic United Kingdom accent, English-- if that's what you mean by 'posh'. For some reason, I had this nasty sense you were talking about one of the Spice Girls and shuddered.

With a laugh and looking back, she exclaims with some indignity, "Buy a title? Truly? That makes it less valid, don't you think? Aren't titles a badge of representation and association to something prestigious? I mean... I'm certain you wouldn't want just anyone called Wizard, or Warlord, King or Queen if one could just /buy/ the title, right? Still ... if that is the path for nobility here, interesting. So, gold is the means to the end here, is it? Is it measured by mass, or weight? Our currencies back home were supported by that as well, the metal. Just how common is it?"

When he does the ducking, she is quickly alert and prepared, though it isn't immediately against whatever he witnessed, asking, "Does this mean you will help them? or ... just ignore it?" Her stance suggests she has some manner of combat training, perhaps defensive at the least.

Hehe, no not anything like that. ;P I've been spending a lot of time with Brits on TeamSpeak as of late, and I've come to realize just how central accents are to british life.

Vare shrugs, though Maya's good natured laugh seems to keep him also light-hearted regarding the discussion of nobility. He makes a guess, and decides to follow up on it, hoping he was right. "Well, purchased nobility seems to be at least as arbitrary as hereditary nobility." and if she was looking at him, she might realize due to his grin, that he was teasing her slightly. "Gold is valued by weight, yes. Plenty of countries mint their own currency, and the coins are generally exchangeable by weight. Generally, a full gold piece is about 10 days of worth for a typical labourer. Of course, it varies place to place."

"If I knew who exactly spawned that fragment, I might go and wake them, but I have no way to distinguish which dreamer spawns which fragment." he adds with a shrug, returning to his feet after the ducking incident. "Shall we carry on?" he adds good-naturedly.

They both walk along, any premise of sight seeing or tour fallen to the wayside, and Maya nods while listening.

"Sounds a bit chaotic. Still, there's a place of peace and quiet, so to speak, here."

She did give a bit of a laugh at the farm talk, "No no, sir. I may have been raised with horses and the like, but I assure you, there will be no physical labour on my part, hence forth." Her smug smile says it all.

"My family was considered nobility in one of our lands. If I happen upon some riches, perhaps I could continue the name here, in this ... well, place."

She apparently has dreams, however far fetched.

Question: is Maya's accent a bit more of the 'posh' british accent? Not that Vare would make the distinct, but will help my imagination.

Vare also chuckles at her outright dismissal of manual labour, smiling as they walk casually down the halls.

"I'm sure you could find a place where you could buy a title such at that if you had the funds. Gold has always been a problem for me though, but that may be because I tend to spend it rather quickly on scrolls and tomes when--" Vare suddenly stops in his talking, ducking a fair amount and stopping in his walking.

He glances at Maya, realizing that if she didn't react... "Well... somebody nearby must be having one hell of a Nightmare for 'that' kind of fragment to appear." he says, watching behind them as if watching something go the other way down the hall.

Stifling a chuckle after the mention of 'act of passion', Maya's expression is one of bemusement, but, she doesn't press.

In response to the topic of plagues and the like, Maya says, "Oh, we cured people via chemical or biological solutions, medicine, which anyone with the proper training -- which wasn't very many, would be capable of producing, in the appropriate laboratories. I suspect, practically anything you might accomplish with magic, we did with science and understanding of the world we lived in. Trust me, though, sometimes there were quite a few scares about new epidemics cropping up. Thankfully as well, we had some extremely intelligent people dedicated to helping humanity. Worked out nicely-- save the historical periods of mass deaths, before science became more prevalent. It's an interesting history, not my favorite subject, though. I much prefer architecture and graphic art work. Along with ...well, the usual things someone did back home. Do people need a profession here to acquire money, or is this a socialized society where contributions are rewarded by a stipend or something? I'm curious how this society works. Form of government, etcetera, positively exciting, truth be told."

She glances around following his gaze occasionally, but doesn't seem to react poorly, or otherwise, to his strange ways. She does, however, appear thoughtful while walking along.

"I see, I see." Vare replies to the explanation of Maya's in regards to his questions. He's walking along somewhat absently, not really 'giving a tour' as may have been promised, but they certainly are walking through the school. A few students pass here and there, but given the general subdued atmosphere in the school following yesterday's attack and the fact that it is Sunday evening, the hallways are fairly empty.

"Well... I believe the High Seer - the Headmaster's influence, the school itself likely falls outside any particular governmental jurisdiction... though to be frank, my grasp of non-planar politics is... tenuous at best. There are many governments on Agartha, I can tell you that much. There are magocracies, and Seerdoms, among many others." He says with a wave of his hand, as if to encompass all of Agartha in the gesture. "Within the school, it seems that all who mean no harm are welcome - fed and sheltered. Teaching earns a wage,, though the true treasure of the school is the seemingly limitless library, and abundance of magical goods needed for research and spellcasting. At least, from my perspective."

"Of course, I'm not sure how your world functioned, but beyond these walls, you'll need coin. If all else fails, you could work as a farm laborer or something similar to earn a living wage." he offered, realizng he was failing to answer her questions somewhat, but not really sure how to elaborate properly.

"Not as such, no. I... I admit that the Headmaster interrupted us in what was to be an act of passion, which would've been a breach." Vare is coloured slightly by that remark, a bit embarrassed obviously, though not entirely sure if it's the fact that he was rebuked by the Headmaster, or just the subject in general.

When he helped Maya up, he did appear - for all his stuffy robes - to be a fit, athletic young man. "But I'm sure you'd like to discuss something other than me and my affections. I'm actually quite interested in this planet you hail from. Tell me, how do you handle plagues and the like without the intervention of clerics and their ilk? It seems that without their intervention, plagues would spread much more widely." Alright, maybe he is uncomfortable with the subject matter, with such an abrupt subject change like that.

Once they've exited the Sim room, Vare seems to be more on edge, and Maya does note that he seems to flinch occasionally, or move in strange ways seemingly without reason. With the influence of the fragments, as he spoke of earlier, she might begin to see why he has been considered a madman before.

Another thing she might note - depending on her senses and the like - is that he seems to be regarding her somewhat strangely, when his attention span allows it. Not lecherous or anything like that, just giving her a bit of a odd look here and there.

"Well, your demons and devils sound a bit more categorized than the ones we ran into, but ...similar, again, not an expert. I fear the experts of such things in our world were mostly sidelined, or dealt with such things away from general population. Interesting. None the less, coercion, you say? One of our biggest concerns were telepaths, and tampering with the mind. Needless to say, a bit of paranoia at the potential loss of self is always a fear of any being aware of such things. Worse, if such a being is capable of destructive abilities. Have you spoken with her on this? Perhaps there's some confusion? I've always found frank discussion resolves these issues-- and brings people together. It's always a pity when someone's too impatient to discuss properly, though." She smiles at that.

"So, how do you go about detecting demons? Holy water to the face? Or devil's? Is this school consecrated or blessed? Not quite sure what the stance is on those beings here. I can only presume there's some tricky rule in place."

She glances over towards the 'door' out and smiles. "She does appear to be a rather busy individual, perhaps I should stretch my legs and ...well, walk around for a tour. Would you mind escorting me? Unless you're quite happy sitting here, lack of fragments and all that."

Vare waved his hands slightly at what Maya had said regarding coercion. "No no, it's not her that's concerned. It's others at the school, the Headmaster included, who generally discourage student-teacher relationships, citing an imbalance of authority that exists between the two. That is the concern, if I've understood all correctly." He corrects as swiftly as he may, not wanting the issue to become even more muddied.

"As far as those types of outsiders are concerned... that could be one solution... but... my earlier categorizations were very general - there are both demons and devils who seek to repent and redeem themselves, just as there are angels and azata who Fall and become corrupt. Given that, I'm not sure the school would have a blanket policy against them. Nor should we go around the school dousing everyone in holy water." He says with a shrug and a sly smile, and as she motions to the door he nods, standing and offering a hand to help her up as well.

"I would be quite happy to walk with you about the school, though given I've been here a short time... and the way the school tends to shift often leaves me lost. The school walls conjure forth arrows which will guide you to your destination quickly, but unfortunately, the Dream twists those apparitions in such a way to be unusuable by me without outside aid. It has resulted, more than once, in my becoming lost in the halls of the school." he adds on at the end, a little sheepish smile crossing his face.

"Hmmm. Well, Tryko's often been angry but rarely showed it, perhaps this friend is similar in her lust for life? As a planar traveller, what are demons to you? My awareness is spotty at best, between a demon or devil, to be fair. As for the latter, if this student is a woman, what is the concern? School policy? How long have you known her?"

Smiling broadly at the thought, Maya asks, "You sound smitten, regardless," ending the statement with a grin.

There's a sheepish grin on Vare's face at that, and a nod as he leans back slightly in the sim-room provided chair. "Perhaps I am at that. It has... been about a week since I met her. The primary concern, if I've understood correctly, is a case of perceived authority. Anahita was a student in my class, and there was a concern about coercion." Vare frowns slightly at that, though more thoughtful than anything, recalling exact details. "To be frank, I'm not convinced that Anahita could be coerced to do anything. She's extremely strong - both in head and body." Again, there's a sheepish grin there. Smitten indeed.

"Anyway," the Wizard sits up slightly, having reclined perhaps more than intended while thinking of the other woman. "Demons. Demons are... a category of fiend whom generally hail from the Abyss. The more simple Demons are beings of hunger and wonton destruction. More intelligent or powerful demons seek instead to corrupt mortals, twist them towards generally self-destructive ends. The main thing that distinguishes them from Devils are their views on order. A devil would have you sign a damning contract, whereas a demon... a subtle demon, will attempt to exploit the choices of mortals, to amplify already existing emotions and feelings in a destructive manner..." Vare seems to trail off near the end of the last sentence, his hand returning to his chin in that same thoughtful gesture.

"Emotions can run high in a place like this, and it's a perfect place for such a demon to work." he adds on to the explanation, wondering if he himself has been affected by the demon in the past.