Session 55

Chancel_Amyra
Chapter 7

Etheric: Carrie was in the process of bringing the guests over to meet Brian in the Grove when we ended off last time.
Knockwood: too bad, he could call an ecumenical Orkin man. :)
BethE: You're the one with Realmness, yes? You find it, Theresa tells the nearest plant to hold it.
Knockwood: no, that's Brian. I've got Realm 1.
Etheric: I have Realm 2.
Random_Nerd: Realm 2's enough for free divs.
Knockwood: of course, how exactly you communicate its position to Theresa...
BethE: Ah, then we need to borrow Carrie.  :) How does Noble society take announcements of Excrucians 'in ur base'?
Random_Nerd: "Omg! Stab!"
Knockwood: first step is to determine what exactly that bug is
Etheric: Where are William and Samuel at this time? With Carrie?
BethE: Even if the Ex is dead?
Knockwood: (afk a minute...)
Random_Nerd: They were with the group, and so, went with Carrie.
Random_Nerd: Hmm. Well, you'd look a bit worse, for having a Scruchie in your chancel, but you'd look better for having killed it.
BethE: *nodnod*
BethE: How much would it cost to give a message to Sam or Will via Realm?
Random_Nerd: 1, if it's one-way.
Random_Nerd: 2, if you wanted to be able to hear them, too.
Random_Nerd: Anyway, are we ready to start?
BethE: Hmm. *pondering* It might just be better to keep everyone else in the dark until we know more about the fly.
Etheric: Honestly? I have some things I need to finish up... I wouldn't mind waiting for laz, but I'll go ahead if you guys want to.
Random_Nerd: Well, I wanted to stop after two, two and a half hours at the most tonight. I'd rather not have it drag on until midnight tonight.
BethE: I'm ready to go once Knock gets back.
BethE: Would having the plants of the Chancel look for the fly be feasible?
BethE: Laz is on his way...
Random_Nerd: How?
Random_Nerd: It's probably feasible, depending on how you do it.
BethE: He's hurrying....oh, wait, you mean my question.

• • • lazarus has joined #Nobilis.
      

BethE: Hi Laz! *HUG*
lazarus: hey.
lazarus: sorry, I missed my bus home.
Knockwood: bak
BethE: Ask any plants (LDiv?) if a red fly has flown by them and follow the trail?
Knockwood: or use our amazing Aspect to spot it
BethE: Hmm, that could work...
Knockwood: Hiya Laz
Random_Nerd: So, interview them by mythic perception, or use Greater Divinations, or what?
Knockwood: how far away is the bug?
Random_Nerd: You don't know.
Random_Nerd: Shall we start?

• • • You are now known as Theresa.
      
    • Knockwood is now known as DanteE.
      
    • lazarus is now known as Brian.
      

DanteE: Eth?
Theresa: I think he's finishing something up. We can probably go ahead.
Etheric: Sorry.

• • • Etheric is now known as Carrie.
      

Random_Nerd: Okay.....
Random_Nerd: _____________________START________________

• Theresa will look around outside with Aspectness to see if she can see the fly...
  

Random_Nerd: Most of the PCs have just vacated the Room Of Relics, Carrie is with the other Nobles, Brian is at the Grove. Go.

• DanteE looks around as well.
  

Carrie: (Point of Order. Carrie's not with the others, she had left the building.)
Carrie: (With the guests.)

• DanteE also blows a RMP on an LDiv of what-is-that-bug-exactly
  

Brian: (the bugthing just left, and that's where we're rejoining the scene?)
Random_Nerd: (Hmm. What exactly are you doing the divination on?)
Random_Nerd: (I meant the /other/ Nobles, the guests.)
DanteE: (do we spot the bug?)
Carrie: (Ohh, okay. Sorry.)
Carrie: (not 100% tonight...)
Random_Nerd: (The bug isn't visible in the room._
Random_Nerd: )
DanteE: (is the door open?)
Theresa: (I had went outside.)
Random_Nerd: (Which door?)
DanteE: (the door leading out)
Theresa: (Did the fly go through the walls?)
Random_Nerd: (It flew through the door of the relic room, earlier.)
DanteE: (which means it should be in this room...)
Random_Nerd: (Well, I mean /through/ the door. Which was closed.)
Theresa: (No, I think he means that we should be seeing a little hole, about fly-siz...yeah.)
Random_Nerd: (So, it was probably in that room at one point, but is not there now.)
Theresa: "This is reminding me of the bees at Jim's college. I didn't like them..."
Brian: (I forget ... did anyone report to me what happened?)
Random_Nerd: (You got a message that there was an Ex in the room, but not what happened since.)
DanteE: (so, did it phase through the wall, or punch a little hole?)
DanteE: (er, door)
Brian: (thought so; in which case, I'd still be on the way there(Link: http : // evanescencereference.info/music/)http : // evanescencereference.info/music/)
Random_Nerd: (There's no hole.)
Brian: (bah, sorry for the badlinking)

• DanteE bolts outside and looks for the bug...
  

DanteE: (BTW, was the bug specifically from the excrucian blood, or the lance?)
Random_Nerd: (Dante's Aspect 2 vision reveals various bugs, but none look unusual.)
Random_Nerd: (It's tough to tell. The blood, dripping from the lance, turned into a bug.)
Random_Nerd: (So it could be either or both.)

• Theresa will do a LDiv of the Plants of the Chancel to see if any red flies have flown past them recently?
  

DanteE: (is the door to the relic room still open?)
Random_Nerd: (Lesser Div only tells you about plants themselves.)
Random_Nerd: (Closed, it swings shut on its own.)

• Theresa asks all of the plants in the area to speak up if a red fly just flew over them?
  

DanteE: (...is John in there?)
Random_Nerd: (John;s
Random_Nerd: in his changing room at the moment.)
DanteE: (did we determine that I could use the BB?)
Brian: (Do you have Realm 2?)
Theresa: (Takes Realm 2 to talk to it for free, I thought.)
Carrie: (Well, Dante used it to tell us about the Excrucian attack. I'm still not sure how that happened.)
Random_Nerd: (Anyone can hear from it, but to talk to it, it takes Realm 2 or being there physically in the Heart.)
Random_Nerd: (Well, it's possible to use miracles to use it, I guess.)
DanteE: (oh, wait... I could use a Ghost of speech to talk directly to the Heart)
Random_Nerd: (That would work, I guess.)
DanteE: (Can we locate the bug with a LDiv?)
Brian: (If it's immune to direct miracles... couldn't the Noble Locator Gift be used to find it?)
Random_Nerd: (You can try. The results will depend on what exactly you're divining for.)
Random_Nerd: (That could indeed be used to locate it, if it has anchor-like immunity to direct miracles.)
DanteE: (blow an RMP on "where's that red bug that just flew through the castle walls")
Random_Nerd: (Hmm. One moment while I look up something about the Ldiv rules, please.)
Theresa: (And if Dante can't find it with that, then I use my gift.)
DanteE: (Actually it occurs to me that we never used The Sight while we were in there...)\
Theresa: (Mythic world viewing might have been hazardous.)
Random_Nerd: (When you do the divination, there is nothing currently in the Chancel that meets that description, Dante.)
Random_Nerd: (But that tells you something.)
DanteE: OK, logic... it made a beeline out of the vault, and right through the wall... there's a good chance it went in a straight line from there. So, I look that way.

• Theresa uses her Gift to see if she can play Spot the Fly.
  

Random_Nerd: In a straight line, there's John's library, and then continuing in that line, a hallway, and then a wall where the hall ends.
DanteE: any bugs in there?
Random_Nerd: (Okay, Noble count. There's you guys, there's Carrie and the guests. There's someone Noble leaving the Grove towards you, there's Brian, and James is Guarding The Horses.)
Random_Nerd: (Nothing of the proper size and coloring. There's a fruitfly.)
DanteE: (where's a fruitfly?)
Random_Nerd: (In the hall.)
Random_Nerd: (Where Dante just looked.)

• DanteE examines the fruitfly with The Sight
  

Random_Nerd: (It's a fruitfly. Not Noble, not miraculous. Nor is it red, or as big as the insect you saw, which was the size of a large housefly.)
Theresa: (Someone Noble leaving toward me...that I can't identify? Brian, did Night come with you?)

• DanteE heads outside...
  

Brian: (I asked him/her to, yes - I can't remember which one Night is, other than Night was around me >_>)
Random_Nerd: (Okay, that one was Night, and was with Brian, but has left the Grove towards Central Kaerkoven.)
Random_Nerd: (Shadows, the one I always confuse him with, is with the others. Heck, let's call them Laurence and Tom from here on, so I can keep my brain working.)
Theresa: "Dante, I can't find the fly...which means that it's not protected like a Noble is."
DanteE: "So it's not miraculous... but it still may be 'holy' or 'unholy'."
Random_Nerd: Dante, outside, along that path, is a man in a metallic-looking red suit. He smiles at you.
DanteE: (uhoh.)

• DanteE checks him out with the sight...
  

Random_Nerd: "You're the one, aren't you?"

• • • Mode change "+o Brian" for channel #Nobilis by Carrie.
      

DanteE: "Ah... what one?"
Random_Nerd: (He doesn't look like a Noble. But he /does/ look like a Greater Miracle of some kind.)
Random_Nerd: "Yes, I think you are."

• Theresa follows Dante and sees the shiny man.
  

Random_Nerd: He stretches a bit.
DanteE: "You may be confusing me with Keanu Reeves."
Brian: RH, to the Familia: "What's going on, guy and gals?"
DanteE: "And... you are?"
Random_Nerd: "Do you get that a lot? But no."
Random_Nerd: "I'm a message, and a test. It's not time for either, yet."

• Theresa blinks at the man. "Are you related to a maple tree, by the way?"
  

Random_Nerd: "But I do have a gift for you, Dante."
Random_Nerd: He looks oddly at Theresa.
DanteE: "A ...; gift?
DanteE: "From whom, exactly?"

• Theresa is used to getting odd looks.
  

Random_Nerd: He shrugs, and reaches out his closed right hand to Dante.

• DanteE holds out his hand...
  
• Theresa would answer Brian, but is of too low of Realm to connect with the BB.
  

Random_Nerd: He drops what seems to be a hard red teardrop into it.
Brian: (T: prayers!)
Theresa: (To go with his Kudzu one? Is he a member of the Time Life Teardrop Club?)

• DanteE examines it... with the Sight for starters...
  

Theresa: (Ooo, good point.)
Random_Nerd: (It feels glassy, but a bit warm. It, too, seems to have been recently touched with a Greater Miracle in the recent past.)
Random_Nerd: "Look after it well."
DanteE: "what is it?"
Random_Nerd: He starts to turn away.
Random_Nerd: "A gift."
Theresa: "Dear O Effacious Brian and Carrie, from your sister of the greenleaves, greeting. We had Excru. It went slurp into a puddle. Something happened with a spear. Dante and I are speaking with a man who is visiting that we don't know. Love and kisses, Theresa."
DanteE: "Wait...
Theresa: (If she can send that silently, cool. If not, oh well.)
DanteE: "Who are you?
Random_Nerd: (She can.)
Carrie: (RH, responding to Brian) "I'm taking the guests with me back to the Grove. We're on foot."
Random_Nerd: "I told you. I'm a test, and a message."
Brian: (Beth: are you sure you want to end like that ;))
Theresa: (It's how Theresa ends letters. She's worried about this guy. We don't accept gifts!!!)
Theresa: "Who is the message from?"
Random_Nerd: "I wouldn't know about that. You'd have to ask him, whoever he is."
Theresa: (And maybe she's giving Carrie the kisses, who knows....)
Random_Nerd: "I'm just the message."
Random_Nerd: "And the test, of course."

• DanteE Realm LDiv of What is this thing
  

DanteE: (er, the teardrop)
Theresa: "What can we give you in return, messenger?":
Random_Nerd: (It's made of blood, seemingly human blood. It's hardened, but not transmuted, probably by some kind of miracle.)
Random_Nerd: "I'm sure there are many things you could give me."
DanteE: (would we be able to tell if it was Ex blood?)
Random_Nerd: (You'd need Excrucian blood for a comparison, most likely.)
Theresa: "What would you like? Would be worthy of that which you have given us?"
Random_Nerd: (And quite possibly not.)
Random_Nerd: (All of you would leak normal human blood, for example.)
Random_Nerd: "I'm not a being of normal wants and desires. The only volition I have is tied to my functions."
Random_Nerd: "I want to accomplish them. That's all I want."
DanteE: "did you cone here from the Holy Lance?"
Carrie: (If I may make an entirely OOC suggestion?)
DanteE: *come
Theresa: (Please!)
Random_Nerd: "I came here from a room, near here."
Carrie: (Give him Dante's flowers. That way he'll be able to get his message to Dante from anywhere. Assuming he can pray.)
Theresa: (Ooo, good one!)
DanteE: (Good idea...)

• Theresa creates a bouquet of Dante's and her flowers together. Holds it out to the messenger. "Please take this. It can help you to deliver your message when you need to do so."
  

Random_Nerd: He rubs the side of his face, which for a moment glimmers the same metallic red as his suit.
DanteE: "Or whoever sent you can talk to me directly."
Random_Nerd: "My message is /myself/. I believe I explained that."
Random_Nerd: "I am not a messenger. I am a /message/."
DanteE: is he having any effect on the area/
Random_Nerd: "And I have no idea who or what sent me."
Random_Nerd: (Not that you can tell, either through mundane vision or the Sight.)
Carrie: (He is also the Seventh Ward of Kevin's Lore.)
DanteE: (hm?)
Theresa: (*facepalm* And me without my white gold ring...)
Random_Nerd: (Heh. Yes, I've borrowed a bit of his characterization from Amok.)
Carrie: (Donaldson reference.)
Theresa: "Do you need some place to stay?"
Random_Nerd: "Why would I? There are many places here that I can be for the time being."
DanteE: (someone fill me in?)
Random_Nerd: (A character from a book by Stephen Donaldson.)
DanteE: "you can _be_ places?"
Random_Nerd: "That's an excellent question. I'm not quite sure, to be honest. If I can, it's not time for that yet, because I'm clearly not one now."
Brian: (he sounds like a Diskworld creature)
Random_Nerd: (Oh? How so?)
Carrie: (That too.)
Brian: (just kinda quirky like that)
DanteE: (I was thinking Fiddler's Green from Sandman)
Random_Nerd: (Also, in an obsure way, he's based a little bit on the Unclean Legacy stories in Hitherby Dragons.)
Brian: (haven't actually read Sandman)
DanteE: "Is there anything we can do for you now?"
Theresa: (He's a smurf?)
Random_Nerd: "I don't think so, unless you have a gift to give me."
Random_Nerd: "Something tells me that you may want to do so. I'm not sure why. Does this request make sense to you?"
Theresa: "Yes."

• DanteE looks at Theresa
  

Random_Nerd: "Ah, good."
DanteE: "Ah, fill me in?"
Theresa: "Just as it is in your nature to be your message, we have our own rules. One is to return a gift in kind."
Random_Nerd: "Rules are important."
Theresa: "Immensely so. It hurts more than one's self when one breaks a rule."
Random_Nerd: :"
Random_Nerd: "No, not because of that."
Random_Nerd: "Not because of /anything/. As a basic truth. Rules are important."
Random_Nerd: (Carrie, Brian, what're you doing?)
Brian: (um. I'll return to set-up duty, now that I've been told that things are now under control)
DanteE: (and think of a miracle for the contest. :)
Theresa: "What else is important?"

• Carrie is leading the group through the city streets, in the general direction of the Grove.
  

DanteE: (quick question: could I determine if this is 'Ex-aligned' by comparing it to a Shard?)
Random_Nerd: (Hmm. Comparing it in what way?)
Random_Nerd: "I don't know."
DanteE: (my kingdom for a tricorder...
DanteE: (I was thinking of comparing it to Ick.)
DanteE: (Then again, the blood of two people that we know of was on the Lance. One new, one ... old.)
DanteE: "Do you come to Amyra often?"
Random_Nerd: "I'm not sure. How would I know?"
Random_Nerd: "Do you know what a Dolorous Stroke is?"
DanteE: "I was thinking, something that could help you if you did would be a nice, detailed map of Amyra...
Random_Nerd: "I don't need a map. If I need to go somewhere, I'll know where to go and how."
Brian: (... a Dolorous Stroke doesn't sound good ... but I can't remember what it is)
Random_Nerd: (It's a reference to something in the Le Morte d'Arthur)
DanteE: "... the stab in the side of Christ on the Cross."
DanteE: (going by Wikipedia. :)
Random_Nerd: (Which is in turn a reference to... yeah, that.)
Theresa: "Can you tell us who sent you?"
Random_Nerd: "No. I can't. I don't know that, so I assume it isn't something I need to know yet."

• Theresa nods.
  

DanteE: (let's see, Nobilis legend says that Jehovah==Cneph, who is absent, right?)

• Theresa feels like she's dealing with a slightly more talkative Maple.
  

Random_Nerd: (Some Nobles think that. It's a subject of some dispute.)
DanteE: (did he take the flowers?)
Random_Nerd: (Really, the similarity might tell you something about the Maple.)
Theresa: "Is your message only for Dante?"
Random_Nerd: (He didn't. He hasn't moved other than talking.)
Theresa: (Nope, he didn't. He doesn't want them.)
Random_Nerd: "I believe so. He's the one I'm to deliver it to, at least."
Theresa: "Do you know why he is the only one you are to test and deliver to?"
Random_Nerd: "No."
DanteE: "Did he ask for anything in return?"
Random_Nerd: "Who?"
DanteE: "Whoever gave you the message."
Random_Nerd: "Nobody gave me a message."
DanteE: "Er, I mean whoever sent you.
DanteE: "Momentarily forgot you _are_ the message."
Random_Nerd: "I don't know who sent me right now."
Random_Nerd: "Either that's not something I need to know, or I'll know it later when the time is right."
DanteE: "When were you sent?"
Random_Nerd: "Just now. A few minutes ago."
DanteE: to Theresa: "I wonder if maybe the _Lance_ sent him:
Brian: (I wonder if maybe he wants to see the Maple?)
Random_Nerd: (Oh, there is one thing you're forgetting, I just remembered.)
Theresa: (What?)
DanteE: (uhoh)
Random_Nerd: (The Witchhunt Rite. It'd provide at least a little information here, based on what Dante saw with the Sight.)
DanteE: (D'OH!)
DanteE: (Theresa, what's your spirit?)
Theresa: (2)
DanteE: (Mine too...)
Brian: (what's Witchhunt?)
Theresa: (No, wait, just 1. I always get that wrong...)
DanteE: "Hold on for one second, if you would..."
Theresa: "I wouldn't doubt it." *to the Guy* "A few minutes ago, an artifact was treated differently than it should have been. A drop fell off of that artifact and the drop turned into a red fly, which flew _through_ the door to the outside. Then we found you."
Random_Nerd: (Page 123, GWB.)

• DanteE does the WitchHunt Rite on Message here."
  

Random_Nerd: (You've got a Spirit of 2?)
DanteE: (yep)
Theresa: (Obviously the Chancel needs a spiritual Spam Filter.)
Random_Nerd: (Okay, he's a Greater Miracle, and recent enough that the traces still linger. They've been masked through a symbol, though.)
Theresa: (Or would it be Virus Protection...)
DanteE: (and the symbol is...? (drumroll))
Random_Nerd: (In particular, that of Sir Balin taking the Lance and stabbing King Pellam.)
Random_Nerd: (Who was, incidentially, an ancestor of the Amyran line of kings.)
Random_Nerd: (Pellam, I mean, not Balin.)
DanteE: "Arthurian legend...
DanteE: "But we can't go on a Grail quest, the Grail's in there."
DanteE: "Hardly a quest if we just knock..."
Theresa: (So this means the person behind the message is like Sir Balin or he's represented by stabbing Pellam and causing famine/drought/pestilence throughout the land.)
Theresa: "Do you have a name, message?"
Random_Nerd: (ANON all the knights arose from the table for to set on Balin, and King Pellam himself arose up fiercely, and said, Knight, hast thou slain my brother? thou shalt die therefore or thou depart. Well, said Balin, do it yourself. Yes, said King Pellam, there shall no man have ado with thee but myself, for the love of my brother. Then King Pellam caught in his hand a grim weapon and smote eagerly at Balin; but Balin put the sword betwixt hi
Random_Nerd: find, and always King Pellam after him. And at the last he entered into a chamber that was marvellously well dight and richly, and a bed arrayed with cloth of gold, the richest that
Random_Nerd: might be thought, and one lying therein, and thereby stood a table of clean gold with four pillars of silver that bare up the table, and upon the table stood a marvellous spear strangely wrought. And when Balin saw that spear, he gat it in his hand and turned him to King Pellam, and smote him passingly sore with that spear, that King Pellam fell down in a swoon, and therewith the castle roof and walls brake and fell to the earth, and Balin
Random_Nerd: the most part of the castle, that was fallen down through that dolorous stroke, lay upon Pellam and Balin three days.)
Random_Nerd: (Where did that cut off?)
Brian: (am, and smote him passingly sore with that spear, that King Pellam fell down in a swoon, and therewith the castle roof and walls brake and fell to the earth, and Balin)
Random_Nerd: (Or, heck... (Link: http : // www.sacred-texts.com/neu/mart/mart041.htm)http : // www.sacred-texts.com/neu/mart/mart041.htm)
Brian: (wow, missed a few messages there)
DanteE: (OK, killing an Excrucian _can't_ be a Dolorous Stroke.)
DanteE: (not to mention that _I_ didn't actually do that...)
Random_Nerd: (The relevance is im some ways obscure!)
Random_Nerd: (In. In some ways.)
Theresa: (Hmm, in this both Pellam and Balin got zapped.)
Brian: (probably too much cleavage about)
Carrie: (Heh. We know you want to be speaking German! >.> )
Theresa: (He haz vays of making us talk...)
Random_Nerd: "I don't believe I have a name."
DanteE: "... would you like one?"
Random_Nerd: "I don't believe I need one. If I do, I'll find it out at the right time."
DanteE: "When is this 'right time'? Any idea?
Random_Nerd: "I don't know. But if I need to know things, or to be able to do things, I will get that capability or knowledge when I need it."
Theresa: "Are you to stay in this particular place or can you move around?"
Random_Nerd: "There are many things that I don't know. But that's okay, I don't need to know them."
Random_Nerd: He thinks for a moment, and then walks a few feet forward.
Random_Nerd: "It seems that I can move around."
DanteE: ("Have you met a guy named Donald Rumsfeld?" :)
Theresa: "Would you like to come with us? Do you need sustenence?"
Theresa: (Duty would like this guy, I think.)
DanteE: (... we have Duty ... and _Consequences_ here)
Random_Nerd: "I don't think I need to eat. And I have no desire to go with you."
Random_Nerd: (That's an interesting idea, whether he has anything to do with which Nobles happen to be here.)
DanteE: (and Conseq was looking a little bored. :)
Random_Nerd: (Really, there's not any magic question you guys are neglecting to ask. He just doesn't know very much.)
DanteE: (would a Div of Conseqences be a minor favor?)
Theresa: (Consequences of what, though.)
Theresa: "Even if we say please?"
DanteE: (Good question... buy this guy is the embodiment of the Consequences of something.)
Random_Nerd: "Hmm." A pause. "No, it seems like I don't care what you want."
Brian: (... joss to RN.)
Random_Nerd: He starts to walk off.
Random_Nerd: (Heh.)
DanteE: (>ding!< Wait a second...
DanteE: (what if this blood I'm holding is Pellam's blood?
Random_Nerd: (That would be interesting.)
DanteE: (and the message is 'Be very careful how you use the Spear, you Doof!')
Theresa: "Can we ask you not to harm anyone in this Chancel>:
Random_Nerd: "I see no reason why not. Are you too bound by unknown restrictions?"
Theresa: "Yes. *recites the code of the Wild and her version of the Serpent code* Those are my restrictions."
DanteE: "Those are _known_ restrictions."
Random_Nerd: "Interesting. Does Dante still follow these restrictons?"
Random_Nerd: "But by those, I see no reason you should not be able to ask me that."
Brian: (damn literalists)
Theresa: "Dante follows some of those restrictions. But we are also bound to protect this Chancel and its enhabitants. This is a charge given to us by our Lord."
DanteE: "Can I ask you to take a message back to ... whoever sent you?"
Random_Nerd: "Probably."
Random_Nerd: "Is there a reason you cannot, or that you would be unsure of whether you can?"
DanteE: "Well, would you take it back if I did?"
Random_Nerd: "I don't know. I don't currently have that capability, but perhaps conditions would change if you asked me that."
DanteE: (OK, throwing this to the group:
Theresa: (Any variation of "Come and face me yourself, you coward" is gonna get a 'No' vote...)\
DanteE: (I'm thinking of asking him to take back my sincere apology for grabbing the spear. Whadjathink?)
Random_Nerd: (Is there any way we can get Carrie or Brian together with the others?)
Theresa: (RN - Prayer. We can trail Shiny here until they head over to us. Will and Sam can keep an eye on the visitors?)
Random_Nerd: (That would probably work.)
Brian: (asking Brian to go there would get Brian there. Not asking will cause him to have no clue what's going on.)
DanteE: (do William and Samuel know 'Kumbaya'? :)
Random_Nerd: (William would.)
Carrie: (Ditto. And Carrie's currently leading the guests back to the Grove, as I said earlier. She has no reason to lead them back toward the Treasures.)
DanteE: (could use the BB)

• Theresa prays silently to the others. "Hey guys. There's been a side effect from the Spear, we think. Can you ditch the guests and get over here to the Palace? Our complication gave Dante a gift and we haven't been able to give him anything yet... Love, Theresa"
  

Brian: (... what's the "act" command? /me is saying "no such command")
DanteE: (OOC question to our benevolent (yeah right) HG: are we right in treating this like a potental cataclysm, or are we demonboxing again?)
Random_Nerd: ( /me whatevers.)
Carrie: (Try /action. If that doesn't work, your client hates yuo.)
DanteE: (Brian: /me, right at the beginning of the line--no spaces)
Random_Nerd: (There is good reason to see this as significant.)
Random_Nerd: (At least, to Dante.)
Brian: Brian turns to what'shisface (other Noble), asks "You'll be alright here? I have to go meet the others now" and will then leave.
Random_Nerd: Laurence: "Is there still an Excrucian? Are we in danger?"
Theresa: (Told Brian earlier that the Ex is dead, I think.)
DanteE: (BTW, we should check out the timing of the Ex's appearance... extremely suspicious)
Random_Nerd: (It is, indeed!)
Theresa: (We don't really have Chancel Border protection, though.)
Brian: "I don't think we're in danger anymore"
Brian: "But the others requested my presence"
Random_Nerd: (But as I mentioned before, it's possible that the Excrucian has been here before, but this was the time you /heard/ her.)
Random_Nerd: Laurence: "Ah>"
Random_Nerd: He goes back to where the Maple is.
DanteE: (if that's true, why wasn't she run through before?)
Random_Nerd: (Well, the Lance didn't act until you guys did, and in some ways it mirrored your actions.)
Random_Nerd: (It did the Warding thing along with Therea, and impaled the Excrucian where Dante had hit her.)
Carrie: (Bulletin Board) "William, amuel...
Carrie: (Ack, ignore. Wasn't done yet.)
DanteE: (We're missing something. Probably something blatantly obvious. RN, you shoulda run this past the Woodlouse Test before throwing it to us. :D )
Random_Nerd: (Woodlouse Text?)
Random_Nerd: (Err, Test?)
DanteE: (Test for RPG plots. Collect 5 woodlice, up to 3 of whom may be dead. Explain your plot to them. If the woodlice get it, the players _might_.)
Random_Nerd: (Heh.)
Random_Nerd: (You haven't gotten the whole plot yet.)
DanteE: (was I close?)
Theresa: "We will walk with you, Message. While Dante thinks."
Random_Nerd: (With which analysis?)
DanteE: (the last one, where this blood comes from Pellam)
Random_Nerd: (Oh, that you were missing something obvious?)
DanteE: (That too)
Random_Nerd: (The blood does not come from Pellam. The blood is the same Excrucian blood that was dripping down the lance.)
Random_Nerd: (It's also a trap, of a sort, by the one who sent your new friend.)
DanteE: (Message is an Excrucian trap?!?)
Carrie: (BB, to Theresa) "Would sending an Anchor suffice? I'm not sure if our guests would stick together if a Noble isn't there to escort them."
Random_Nerd: (I didn't say that.)
Random_Nerd: (But on the other hand, it is a plausible interpretation of the situation.)
Theresa: (It's a trap because of the Gift. If we can't return in kind, we break the Wild Code.)
Carrie: (Maybe that's one reason.)
Random_Nerd: (But on the other hand, the nature of the gift is ambiguous.)
Theresa: (Carrie - do you mean an Anchor to me and Dante or an Anchor to the guests?)
DanteE: (But if Message won't accept anything, we can't reciprocate at all... that way/.)
Random_Nerd: (It's the equivilent of setting up a power of the Dark in a situation where they have to kill a human.)
Carrie: (I would send one of my Anchors to you and Dante.)
Theresa: (Ahh.)
Random_Nerd: (He probably would accept something. He even asked if you had anything to give him.)
Carrie: (So far Dante hasn't tried to give him anything. Only Theresa has.)
Theresa: Prayer: "Oh beautious hope that shines like the dawn: Sure. We're thinking this might be a devious backdoor trap of the Ex in case they snuffed it. Love, Theresa"
Random_Nerd: (But the important message you should take from the blood right now is "Somebody who knows Dante follows the Code of the Wild is deliberately trying to screw with him.")
Brian: (T, I love those prayers.)
Random_Nerd: (It's not an impossible trap, but it is a trap.)
DanteE: (RN: How much of that passage from lMdA did you take this from?)
Random_Nerd: (I'm not quite sure what you're asking.)
DanteE: (Hah! Now YOU'RE confused! Sppppht! :)
Carrie: (Does anyone recall if I sent either of my Anchors away already? I remember intending to do something with Carrie's mom, but I'm not suree whether I did.)
Random_Nerd: (Not everything in that bit of it is relevant.)
Random_Nerd: (I don't recall where they are at the moment, so wherever you want them to be could be plausible.)
Theresa: (I thought they were possibly at the lunch. Hadn't seen them since.)
Brian: (I remember at least one at the lunch)
Carrie: (They're in the tour group, then.)
Theresa: (Oh, yeah, now I remember. Would we know by instinct that the Ex was a Strategist?)
DanteE: (Throw this to the group: that story starts with someone trying to ward off a blow with a sword, and getting it broken. Ergo, would it be worthwhile to give him a sword?)
Random_Nerd: (Yes, unless you'd rather not for some characterization reason.)
Random_Nerd: (Oh, and I would like to say that Strategists /are/ very fond of complicated traps.)
Random_Nerd: (Basically, in terms of a gift matching the gift you received, my approach is "Well, give me a good argument why it passes, and I'll accept it.")
Random_Nerd: (There's not a specific answer I'm looking for.)

• DanteE creates a crusader-style sword--with a cross-shaped grip, usable in an impromptu object of worship, and a fancy scabbard
  
• Carrie enters the mind of her father. "Would you be able to return to the palace? Something that may need checking up on is happening there."
  

Theresa: *to others, Dante included, silently* "Oh and btw, o siblings of unestimated virtues, I think our Ex was a Strategist, which explains the pop-up ad after she got punctured by the Spear. Love, Theresa."
Carrie: (You're using a Deep Miracle on this -- best make it spectacular.)
Random_Nerd: (One other thing to say, this guy's not a meaningless plot device. I know who made him, and why, and how, and the last of these is possible with PC-scale powers.)
Theresa: (Well, yeah, we've talked before how I could grow my own secretaries.)
DanteE: "Message?"
Random_Nerd: (Don't see this as "The GM is screwing with me." A particular in-setting individual is screwing with you.)
Random_Nerd: "Was that said to me?"
DanteE: (RN: someone we've already met?)
Random_Nerd: (That would be telling. Someone you've already met, or who you otherwise have enough information to know something about, either directly or indirectly.)
DanteE: (I am not a number, I am a FREE NOBLE!  :)
Random_Nerd: (Not an utterly faceless Mr. X who's never interacted causally in the game before.)

• DanteE throws a preservation on the sword-and-scabbard as well.
  

Brian: (evil thought: The reason John didn't accept enNoblement is because he's already an Excrucian Anchor O_O)
Random_Nerd: (If he was, you'd be able to tell.)
Brian: (yeah, but still...)

• Carrie will continue leading the group toward the Grove, trying to make sure they all stay together, and filling in her father telepathically on the situation in between dialogue to the guests.
  

DanteE: (OK, should I wait for the others and get their ideas, or barge ahead?)
Carrie: (You're Courage. You tell me.)
Random_Nerd: (Hmm. Shall we cut to Carrie meeting Brian at the Grove, on the Carrie/Brian side of things, without stopping the stuff with the others?)
Brian: (go ahead, if you want.
Brian: (actually, it's midnight)
Carrie: (Didn't Brian head to the palace?)
Brian: (and yes, yes I did)
DanteE: (There's the problem that, if I screw up, you'll be helping with the fallout.)
Theresa: (Maybe Brian/Carrie's Dad stuff?)
Theresa: (Dante - this is different from usual how?  :) )
Carrie: (You don't get awards for Not Screwing Up. You get awards for Movbing Things Forward.  :P )
DanteE: (Point.)
Random_Nerd: (Well, if you screw up with the Gift part, the only result will be you breaking the Wild Code.)
Random_Nerd: (Dante's the only one whose neck's on the line for that part.)
DanteE: "Yes, well, it's what we have for a name for you.
DanteE: "Could we get you to take this (the sword) back to ... whoever sent you?
DanteE: "And whoever gave me this (the blood)?
DanteE: "Along with a message from me...
Random_Nerd: "I was the one that gave you the blood, and I can accept the sword."
DanteE: "Tell ... whoever ... I apologize for any mistreatment of the Holy Lance that I may have done.
Random_Nerd: He thinks for a moment.
Random_Nerd: "Okay, it doesn't seem like I can bring that message to whoever sent me."
Random_Nerd: "But I will accept the sword."
DanteE: "Hm...
Random_Nerd: He takes it, and attaches it to his belt.
DanteE: "How about... we ... mainly I ... promise to respect the integrity and the sanctity of the Johannite treasures...
DanteE: "and only to disturb them in the most dire circumstances?"
Random_Nerd: "What about that?"
DanteE: "What do you mean?"
Random_Nerd: "You said how about you do that. Well, that's nothing to me, so I'm not sure how to react."
DanteE: (maybe we should _clean_ the spear...)
DanteE: "Oh, of course...
Theresa: "I...don't think he's from the Spear, Dante. I think he's from the Excrucian. A..time-delay effect or a 'if you are reading this, I must be dead' thing."
Random_Nerd: (Either theory of his origin is plausible.)
Random_Nerd: (You guys mind if we stop soon?)
DanteE: "Just out of curiosity, how far would you have to go to give him the sword?
Random_Nerd: "To give who the sword?"
Theresa: (I'm okay with it.)
Random_Nerd: "You said the sword was to be given to the one who gave you the blood."
Brian: (sure)
Random_Nerd: "That's me. So I wouldn't have to go anywhere. I'm here."
DanteE: (OK, if he's from the Ex, the only appropriate message would be along the lines of "choke on my fuck")
Random_Nerd: (Taken to who, the shard, or the full Excrucian?)
Theresa: (Well, the shard is dead and the Excrucian could be on the other side of the Wall for all we know.)
Random_Nerd: (But the thing is, he could /also/ be from the spear. In which case such a message would probably not be a good idea.)
Random_Nerd: (I don't know quite what'd happen if you told that to the Spear, but I know it would be dramatic.)
DanteE: (Ah... got it.)
Random_Nerd: (Not that telling it to a full Excrucian wouldn't, of course.)
DanteE: "Then tell him... that the Nobles of Amyra will do everything in their power to _protect_ the Johannite Treasures."
Random_Nerd: "Hmm. Okay, I don't seem to be able to convey that message to whoever made me at the current time."
Random_Nerd: "I was wondering about that."
DanteE: (whattaya want, the ending to Lost? :)
Random_Nerd: "Interesting."
Theresa: (Nah, RN is more of a House fan...)
Theresa: (Maybe call the session here and let our brains ooze out for the rest of the week?)
DanteE: (I'm stumped. Ideas?)
Carrie: (For what?)
Brian: (seems like a good place to stop. My suspicion is that the events for Message to know what we want him to know haven't happened yet)
Random_Nerd: (Stopping here works.)
Random_Nerd: ___________________________STOP_________________________
DanteE: (OK, stop)
Random_Nerd: Okay, thoughts?

• • • Carrie is now known as Etheric.
      
    • Brian is now known as lazarus.
      
    • DanteE is now known as Knockwood.
      

lazarus: only problem was the Message not knowing anything.

• • • You are now known as BethE.
      

Etheric: Nice Macguffin to get the plot moving again.
lazarus: I found out in my Serenity game that when characters don't know anything, the players will spend hours questioning them >_>
Knockwood: and here I thought the lady in the vault was an Ex.
Etheric: Things were starting to drag before he showed up. Then things started to drag toward the end because of Dante stalling for some unknown reason. But aside from that my only complaint is that Carrie doesn't have any action where she is. I'd expect at least some of th eguests to ask questions.
BethE: It's the Excrucian equivalent of the Maple. Both with secrets and both like playing charades and 20 questions in Basque (?) .
Etheric: Like "Where are we going?" etc.
Random_Nerd: Sorry about that, this NPC took a fair amount of mental processing power, and I didn't have enough to spare to multitask.
Knockwood: I'm talking to a metaphysical neutron bomb. I'm treading carefully, dammit.
BethE: Ya know, in this game, might not even have to be metaphysical.  :)
Random_Nerd: Oh, and for the record, the gift of the sword worked to satisfy the Code of the Wild, but I'm pretty sure that the reason it worked isn't the reason you thought of it.
Random_Nerd: What was your reason?
Knockwood: It's from either a holy artifact that's known to devastate entire countrysides or a being that wants to eat reality.
BethE: Both of which are known to squeal and go "ooo, shiny!"?
Knockwood: RN: the legend of the second Dolorous Stroke. Balin tried to ward off the first blow with a sword...
Knockwood: if he had a better sword he wouldn't have had to grab the Lance.
Random_Nerd: No, that wasn't the reason it worked.
Random_Nerd: Rather, the drop was given to you in an attempt to harm you, through getting you to break your Code. That makes it a weapon, of a sort, and a sword is a weapon, too.
Knockwood: That's what I was asking earlier... I was wondering if that specific part of the story was part of why you put this particular puzzle here. :)
Random_Nerd: Well, okay, his intent wasn't to hurt you. But he was following orders, so to speak.
Knockwood: which means the guy who sent the Message... is Kudzu!
Etheric: Of course. *facepalms*
Random_Nerd: This /is/ the sort of thing Kudzu would do.
Etheric: </sarcasm>
Random_Nerd: Kudzu /loves/ this kind of thing.
Etheric: Oh?
Knockwood: who else would give a rat's ass if I break my code?
Random_Nerd: Like, remember the whole thing with the cops?
lazarus: I could believe it to be Kudzu. I could believe it to be an Excrucian (their reasons are their own). I could believe it to be a Test of Worthiness by the Spear.
Random_Nerd: At present, any of those makes sense.
lazarus: yep
BethE: Sicilian reasoning...
Knockwood: If it's an Ex, it's a test to see how smart we are (HAH) and/or how far we'll go to win
Random_Nerd: If it's the Lance, it's one of those bizarre tests of virtues you see in lots of Arthurian legends.
Random_Nerd: And if it's Kudzu, well, he's a dick.
Knockwood: Beth: still having trouble u/ling Session 49?
BethE: Yeppers. *sigh*
BethE: So very very close...but hey, we made it now past Session 50.  :)
Knockwood: of course, I could have just said "Thanks", taken the hit, and gotten on with the game...
Random_Nerd: Did you guys have fun tonight?
lazarus: to be honest, I'm still a little out of it.
lazarus: had a bad few weeks.
BethE: I think so. Not ubertremendous fun but still fun. Felt frustrated but not useless.
Knockwood: I'm OK, though I hate it when my brane duzunt werk....
BethE: Next week shall be Carrie and her babysitting.  :)
Etheric: I'm rather tired... I had fun for a bit -- that message-character was intriguing -- but my mind wasn't fully on the game, I'll admit.
Knockwood: and possibly the Miracle Contest
Knockwood: with me in the _background_ next time. :)
Knockwood: ...oh, wait, he's still waiting on a message back
Random_Nerd: No, not really.
Random_Nerd: He said that he wasn't able to convey a message.
Knockwood: so he's now part of our Rogues Gallery?
Random_Nerd: Hmm. Arguably.
Knockwood: "Lesson, Red, Ick, this here's Message. Say hi!" "Grr." "Hello!"
Knockwood: "grunt"
Random_Nerd: He's either in that, or in the same category as the Maple and the pigeon turned to copper.
lazarus: oh, right, we have a pigeon turned to copper still.
Random_Nerd: Although you at least used to have a theory on that.
Knockwood: well, _blood_ turned to copper. So it's a pigeon-shaped circulatory system.
BethE: Noble of Electricity, I think.
Knockwood: Electricity & Copper
Knockwood: and Consequences knows him but won't admit it.
BethE: We do seem to collect people.
Random_Nerd: Correct.
lazarus: I wonder what our Relationship Chart would look like, if someone decided to draw it
BethE: Because I'm masochistic...what would happen if you combine the blood of the Ex and the tear of Kudzu?
Knockwood: the work of a schizophrenic spider on uppers.
Random_Nerd: Hmm! That would be interesting, Laz.
Knockwood: a bitchin' heavy metal band.
lazarus: Relationship Charts are normally the jobs of GMs and Courtiers.
lazarus: we have no Courtiers.
lazarus: sorry, RN, it's up to you to figure it out :-P
Random_Nerd: Well, /I/ know how you and everyone else connect together.
Random_Nerd: I don't have it in relationship chart mode, but I do keep track.
BethE: Hmm...on one hand, I don't think it would be that hard...and on the other hand, I shouldn't say such stuff out loud. <G>
lazarus: Beth, you take a look at RN's notes, and.... ok, sorry :p
Random_Nerd: Like I keep them somewhere she might find them?
Knockwood: of course, John's still mad at me...
Random_Nerd: No, no, she'd have to seduce the knowledge out of me. *cough cough*
lazarus: RN: oh noes, poor you!
BethE: Love, I know enough now to know you don't keep _physical_ notes.
BethE: And I would have to say that you have yet to seduce me to get info for the Buffy game. *sniff*
lazarus: I can see where this is going, and the Quantum Pr0n Theory is weeping.
BethE: Besides, seducing RN might just get "The Maple is...actually Kane's sled."  :P
Knockwood: is there an actual connection between Message and the Maple?
lazarus: possible. You think we'll get more out of RN than that?
Knockwood: I think Theresa and I were both thinking of getting him over to the Grove and seeing if they talk...
Random_Nerd: The connection is one of kind, and not of source.
Knockwood: .... the Maple is Aaron's Rod?
Random_Nerd: I'd call that a radical interpretation of the text.
lazarus: kw: don't ever say Aaron's Rod again. >_>
Knockwood: (Beth, did his eyes pop out of his head when he read my last line? :)
BethE: (No, but he's laughing.  :) )
Knockwood: Laz, I swing phallic symbols around for a living. :)
BethE: In more than one way, Dante _is_ a phallic symbol...
Knockwood: (and it is a possibility... one of the powers of Aaron's Rod is that it grew when planted. So, hey, leave it somewhere for a few thousand years...)
Random_Nerd: Am I too obscure about this game?
Random_Nerd: Do you want me to just reveal some of these secrets?
Knockwood: We're used to "OK, Orc #3 bites the big one. Who's next?"
Random_Nerd: Ah, that's what the game needs! Orcs!
lazarus: RN: I like the game. The gradual reveal of secrets.
Random_Nerd: But I know that I'd end up making orcs into obscure literary allusions or something, without even trying.
Random_Nerd: I can't help it!
BethE: I like earning my answers for the most part.
lazarus: it's what Nobilis does.
Etheric: Don't reveal the secrets. We like speculating.
Random_Nerd: Fine. I'll keep it up with the secrets, and hope when they get revealed they're not anticlimaxes.
lazarus: Nobilis: where Orcs are really analogues for the Book of Job.
Knockwood: Rule Zero basically doesn't apply, right?
Random_Nerd: Hmm. Well, I think the application is limited because I can think up perfectly servicable evil without help.
Knockwood: well, promise not to switch gears if we come up with something "worse"?
Knockwood: that's the main reason for Rule 0 in the first place
lazarus: R0 is actually a good one for the GM to keep in mind, as slightly altering plans to incorporate what players throw out can improve a game :p
Random_Nerd: On the established secrets and stuff?
Knockwood: sure
Random_Nerd: I mean, with stuff like the Maple and so on, I doubt I'd want to switch gears on the fly. I've already put a decent amount of planning and foreshadowing work in.
lazarus: (that's completely how I run my Sunday games: "Here's a situation! Now, let's find out how the characters deal with it, and the OOC comments to figure out what caused it!")
Random_Nerd: I prefer to keep my setting truths solid, and have the plot and events be what's developed on the fly.
lazarus: it depends by what you mean by "setting truths". There's some things that I keep, and filter comments through.
Knockwood: whoops, wait, that there as well.
Random_Nerd: So, I know what the NPCs are like, and what they know, and what's happened in the past. And I'm not going to go back and change that. But I don't really know where the plot's going to go from here. I never do.
lazarus: the Bandit Pei Li, for instance, has found out that the characters are the remnants of an old village that the guy whose army he wants to join destroyed years ago. Other motivations and additions to that happen. Apparently Pei Li had a connection to one of the characters, which I didn't know, until they suggested it.
Knockwood: If we're in the 'world', in a situation without, say, our Corrupt Cult, and one of us remarks that we hope they don't show up ... would they show up?
Random_Nerd: Hmm.
Random_Nerd: That's possible.
Random_Nerd: If it makes sense.
Random_Nerd: And it'd make things interesting.
lazarus: if I were running, I would keep it in mind when figuring out what the event's all about (if I don't know already)
Random_Nerd: So, in that way, yes, Rule 0 does apply.
Knockwood: _There's_ the rationale for Rule Zero.


Chancel_Amyra
Chapter 7