Session 108

Chancel_Amyra
Chapter 12

DanteE: I'm guessing that that's Suebi, who was trying to take Sak's place, but got his mind swiss-cheesed by the traverse through the Wall
Herbert: And it's in our advantage to make sure that he doesn't get wise to that fact.
DanteE: Which might mean my touch hurt him.
DanteE: Problem: IC we don't know squat about what happens when you go through the wall
Theresa: Except when you come back, you can have killer eyes.
Herbert: Had you touched him last time?
DanteE: Good question. I got his armor, but got pitched away when I tried to go further
Herbert: Mmmmh, maybe it's not such a good idea to touch him.
Herbert: Better to leave him all confused. I he realizes he's an Ex, I don't think we can take him...
DanteE: but there's still the Dionyl under his thrall and the damage he's doing to this Chancel
Theresa: Even a Dominion could take us down, though. It'd be like trying to take down an Angel.
Random_Nerd: Not quite.
Herbert: We can ask him to 'suspend operations' until we know who he truly is. He seems to appreciate the Truth a great deal.
Random_Nerd: At least in my Nobilis, it goes more or less Angels>Warmains>Everyone Else.
Herbert: Would ninjas be included in "Everyone Else"?
Random_Nerd: Yes. Unless they are also angels or warmains.
DanteE: What did the Aides have on Sakharoth?
Theresa: I think they had...not much. That he's a Dominion and that's pretty much it.
DanteE: ... no Chancel?
Random_Nerd: Yeah. The Aides are a mainly Earth-based group.
Random_Nerd: No chancel. It's not as common on Dionyl, which isn't a front in the War the way Earth is.
DanteE: If that's true, where are we?
Theresa: So we have no idea what his Powers could be except maybe freeze related?
Theresa: Unless I'm misremembering.
Herbert: When did he freeze something?
Theresa: I think I'm misremembering. We had a freeze guy for our first Shard. I apologize.  :)
Random_Nerd: Oh, yeah, him.
Random_Nerd: This isn't that guy.
DanteE: We know he has decent Aspect by the way h sent me flying
Herbert: No problem. Competition and arenas seemed to be involved, but that could just be "side-effects" from the Domination thing.
DanteE: Specifically a medieval-Earth setting...
Herbert: And he's looking for the Highest Truth and then hoping to disseminate it around.
Theresa: That sounds Dominion-like, though. The one view overpowering lesser ones.
Theresa: Domination, even
DanteE: so where's the jousting contest coming from?
Random_Nerd: When he did that to you, he did it with a Gift, Knock.
Herbert: It's a representation of truths fighting it out.
Random_Nerd: That could be a Warmain thing, potentially. It fits their aesthetic.
DanteE: yeah, but why an Earth contest if he's Dionyl?
Theresa: Maybe it's how our minds are interpreting it. Like the rocks earlier?
Herbert: That's what I thought.
Random_Nerd: Well, do you guys want to start, and handle this in-character?
Herbert: Good idea.
DanteE: OK
Theresa: IC works.
Random_Nerd: _________START________
Random_Nerd: The Empty Knight stretches, and his armor makes clanking noises as he does so.
DanteE: are the guys he dominated visible?
Herbert: To EK: "Before you go looking for the Truth outside, shouldn't you find the Truth inside, that is the truth about who you are?"
Random_Nerd: EK: "What do you think I'm doing now?"
Random_Nerd: EK: "I test what truth I have within me against what you have. That way, I find out which is the stronger."
Herbert: "But you don't know if this search of yours is based on a lie about your very nature, about the very premises of your testing."
Theresa: (Have we heard all of the truths within him?)
DanteE: describe the setting again?
Random_Nerd: At present, the city-vision that Herb was describing is somewhat overlaying the jousting arena.
Random_Nerd: So, say, it looks like a staked-off oval area in the middle of a vacant lot, with a vaguely translucent city spread out around it.
DanteE: "Herb? ... keep that up
Random_Nerd: And from the windows of nearby buildings, Dionyl are yelling encouragement at EK.

• Herbert keeps focusing part of himself on the cityscape which keeps slowly changing and expanding, fed by fragments of all cities in the Creation's present and past.
  

Theresa: "What would you give for your truths?"
Random_Nerd: EK: "I would take every opportunity to test them. If they stand up to it, they prove themselves worthy of being continued. If not, I will find a stronger truth, and serve it instead."
Herbert: "And what is the truth about your identity? Are you Warmain or Imperator? If you can't answer this question, the very idea of your quest is futile."
Random_Nerd: EK: "Why's that? An Excrucian and an Imperator can both seek the truth. I hardly see how it makes a difference."
Random_Nerd: EK: "So, I would like to know which I am, but there are more important issues at stake."
Herbert: "Which are?"
Random_Nerd: EK: "You and your worldview of rampant metaphysical pluralism. The idea strikes me as pernicious, and is at odds with what I believe. So, I must confront it until you or I am victorious."
Theresa: "If you are a Warmain, you threaten these people with annihilation. If you are an Imperator, you still attack those who are on your side as well, which is not the act of a person of truth."
Herbert: "What about the possibility that the Truth is plural? You cannot discount it without risking you whole enterprise."
Random_Nerd: EK: "I'm not discounting it. It just seems... weakly founded. I won't adopt it without proof of it. And any proof would contradict that idea."

• Theresa rubs her forehead. She is more used to the kindergarden philosophical natures of why is the sky blue, what happens to the water in the toliet when you flush and the negotiations of the Nap Time Pillow Peace Talks.
  

Random_Nerd: EK: "You can't say that it's true that there isn't any absolute truth. It's a contradiction. A weakness. A flaw in reality."
DanteE: (proof that there is more than one truth?)
Random_Nerd: EK: "If I'm right, then you're wrong. If you're right, then I'm right, and so you're still wrong. I just see no way around it."
Herbert: "On the contrary. It has strong foundation. The absence of one enduring Truth in the history of Creation and its creatures - the nature of the City itself - suggest that this is the case."
Random_Nerd: EK: "One might as well quote the existence of acorns as proof against the possibility of oak trees. I'll grant that the Truth hasn't been found yet and recognized by all. That's why I'm looking for it."
DanteE: quietly: "William, if you and teh Aides can find anything on this guy it would really help..."
Random_Nerd: EK: "But don't you see what a contradiction is? How whenever one is actually present, reality bleeds out into the Outside?"
DanteE: (grrr... teh Aides. Cuz they r0XX0r, you know. :/ )
Herbert: "I see what a contradiction is, I just think that if you're looking for the one truth - if there is such a thing - you have to go beyond what I would call two-dimensional thinking."
Random_Nerd: William: "Okay, here's what I'll do We don't have anything major on him within our own libraries that I could find. But I can put it out to see if the Powers we serve know anything. But it won't be fast, and they'll likely want something in return."
Herbert: "There is truth, information in paradox, in contradiction."
Random_Nerd: EK: "If a paradox is true, then everything is true, and nothing is true."
Herbert: "The existence of the Dionyl way of life is proof of that. Proof that you are trying to suppress instead of carefully study."
DanteE: to William: "Hold on... is there a power of Logic?"
Random_Nerd: EK: "You don't understand what the Dionyl way of life is. This /is/ it."
Herbert: (Dante: GOOD QUESTION! ;) )
Theresa: "What if we send a message back to the Triad and such?"
Random_Nerd: William: "There has to be. Or at least an Imperator. Let me look."

• Theresa mutters, "It's probably a Wild Lord. That would make my day..."
  

Random_Nerd: He puts his finger to his shiny ear sphere, and his face blanks out.
Random_Nerd: EK: "Most Dionyl follow the way of Domination. And this is how it works."
Theresa: "Then why is there Splintering?"
DanteE: (Theresa beat me to it. :) )
Herbert: "But if one worldview triumphs, isn't it the end of this way of life?"
Random_Nerd: EK: "It is the goal of this way of life."
Theresa: (I get one useful comment per game. That was mine. Carry on.  :) )
Random_Nerd: EK: "As for Splintering, I honestly don't understand it. But as long as the people who follow it live outside of civilization and don't try to make us follow their way, I will leave them alone until I have challenged the truths near me."
DanteE: "Hm... each individual's experience of Domination would be different, therefore a slightly different worldview, and a slightly different take on the base philosophy of Domination."
Random_Nerd: EK: "They trouble me, but there are more pressing concerns."
Random_Nerd: William: "There isn't a Power of Logic, but there is an Imperator. Lahatiel, the Angel of Logic, the North, and Hell."
Herbert: "On the contrary, they should be your first concern. They're your clearest opponents in your quest for the truth. You should go to them first instead of wasting your time here. If you can't understand them, how can you expect to find the Truth?"
Herbert: (Lahatiel sounds like an interesting guy.)
Random_Nerd: EK: "Challenging them doesn't /work/. They have a different way, and will not consent to challenge realities in the way of Domination."
Theresa: (You have to wonder about whether the Hell part is a new Power for him or not.)
DanteE: "If that's true, then Domination isn't working"
Random_Nerd: EK: "It's not an accomplished thing. It's a /process/. What Code do you serve, human?"
Theresa: "Personal or public?"
Random_Nerd: EK: "What do you believe in?"
DanteE: (Who's he talking to?)
Herbert: (You I believe.)

• Theresa whispers to William. "Can you communicate with Sam? Could he ask the Triad and others that he is with about this Imperator?"
  

Random_Nerd: (Yes, you.)
Herbert: (He's giving me a break ;) )
DanteE: "Light. Freedom. Truth and Justice. All those lunatic things."
Random_Nerd: William: "Already told him what's up now. If he can figure something out to help, he'll contact you. But if I'm to try to bargain some scrap of information about Sakaroth, I'll need to be able to concentrate. Sifting information out of our Oracle is hard, there's too much in there and it's not in any particular order."
DanteE: quietly, to William: "There's a good chance Sakaroth's gone."
Random_Nerd: EK: "Is everyone free? Is justice always served? Is the survivial of humanity guaranteed?"
Random_Nerd: William: "Look! Tell me what to do, and I'll do it. But make your minds up! There's only one of me, and I only have one brain, and I can't do two things at once!"
DanteE: to William: "Anything on Suebi?"
Theresa: "Dante, answer the cranky Imperator. William, continue on what you were doing. Herb, nice city. Need any trees?"
Herbert: "Trees would be nice. A good city needs a little vegetation."
Random_Nerd: William: "Him, we know a bit about. He's a Warmain. Believed to be still alive. Considered very dangerous in personal confrontation. We think he's killed at least one Angel in a fair fight."
Random_Nerd: Theresa, you have the itching sense that someone is praying to you.
DanteE: "No, it's an ongoing process. Which you're opposing."
Random_Nerd: William: "If this /is/ Suebi, and you want to get him mad, please, tell me so that I can go very far away."
Random_Nerd: EK: "When you said Light, do you mean that you serve that Code, that you seek the survival of humanity forever?"
DanteE: "Yes."
Herbert: EK: "Have you considered that there's no absolute truth to be found, but that, on the contrary, an idea can be taken, made Truth and remain so for a time. In another words, that there's no permanent, definitive truth, but that there are truths that exist at a certain moment?"
DanteE: "Yes, I have. Have you?"
Random_Nerd: EK: "And, when you serve that, do you seek to protect humanity from the big threats, Excrucians and the Dark and Hell and so on, or do you go around swatting bees, on the off chance that one of them will sting somebody who's allergic?"
Random_Nerd: EK, to Herb: "When you say 'truth' here, what do you mean?"

• Theresa pays attention to the prayer. *mentally* ~"You have reached Plants. Need something weeded?"~
  

DanteE: "Both, whichever I can do.
Random_Nerd: EK: "How many bees have you killed this year?"
Random_Nerd: To Theresa: "This is Samuel. I think I've found something on Sakaroth."
Theresa: *to Sam, mentally. ~"Go ahead."~
DanteE: "Several, actually. Nasty, mutated ones.

• Theresa adds trees to The City. Leaves blowing in breezes, providing shade and comfort and joy in the changing of the seasons.
  

Theresa: (Dante might still have some in his trunk...)
Theresa: (No, wait, they're in Ick.)
Random_Nerd: Samuel: "Will told me about what he'd said, and I prayed to a few gods who might remember me, and one was able to tell me something. He was a Domination. He's been gone for a hundred years, maybe two. He went out, and tried to take the fight to the Excrucians. Believed dead."
Random_Nerd: EK, to Dante: "...ah. I had not expected that."
Herbert: EK: "I'll let you discuss with my brother. I'm curious to see where this is going..."
Random_Nerd: EK: "But you see the point I'm trying to make? I wish to find the truth, and arguing with Splinters isn't a productive way to do it when I have other things I can do."
Random_Nerd: EK: "Besides, we have a truce that would ban the use of outright force even if we wished it."
DanteE: to William: "What truce is he talking about?"
DanteE: quietly, to others: "Keep building that city..."
Random_Nerd: William: "Something they came up with when the War started. Similar to the sort of thing that the Light and Dark have, where they don't fight each other directly while the Excrucians are still out there."
Theresa: *to Sam* "Ah, crud. Darn it, I was hoping that this would be just a case of Imperator territory-taking. *sigh* Would any of these gods be willing to provide proof of knowing Sakaroth and/or his disappearance or death?"~
Random_Nerd: (Oh, and part of why he has trouble understanding the city idea is that it's counterfactual on Dionyl. Cities here live the Domination way of life, and all have one worldview, and those that don't accept that live alone or in small groups."
Random_Nerd: )
Theresa: *mutter* "But why attack another Domination Chancel?"
Random_Nerd: Samuel: "How could they prove it? But the Smoking Mirror says that he knew him, and a god's word is normally trusted."
DanteE: "If a Domination worldview was supported by Objective Truth, why would there be Splintering?
Random_Nerd: EK: "The Truth is out there, but that doesn't mean that everyone is /right/. The world on Dionyl got shattered, and we've been trying for Ages to try to get it all together. I can't help but think that if that hadn't happened, we'd all already see the same truth, and would have other things to worry about."
Random_Nerd: EK: "But something went wrong, and we're trying to pick up the pieces and put them back together, and they're trying to keep them scattered."|
DanteE: "If all Dionyl followed the same path, you would stagnate and probably die."
Herbert: "What if there is one truth, but it's absolutely impossible to perfectly grasp it?"
Random_Nerd: EK: "If they did, we'd be done, and I rather suspect that the Splinters and Domination would turn into something else. Or maybe all the Dionyl would."
DanteE: "Life on Earth is the way it is because there were different paths.
Theresa: ~"Don't know how they could prove it. Apparently this guy is on a huge One Truth kick and is determined to push his way or the highway."~
Theresa: "What was there before Domination and Splintering, here?"
Random_Nerd: EK: "You know how it's said that humans were almost a type of living Imperator, like the Serpents, but something went wrong, and they got the power too early, and it broke into the Light and the Dark?"
DanteE: "Part of that."
Random_Nerd: EK: "I don't know what was here before! That's the problem with the way it happened. You guys have your Garden myth, and it makes sense. But we have a thousand, a hundred thousand, and they're all at odds."
Random_Nerd: EK: "When the world of Dionyl shattered, we think that the thing that caused the shattering was at the heart of it, and it was more broken than anything else."
Theresa: (Awww...)
DanteE: (Good lord, the world was created by 4th ed rules? :D )
Random_Nerd: Samuel, by prayer: "Oh, and Domination-allied folks confront each other all the time. It's a big part of what they do."
Random_Nerd: EK: "But that's how it is. I do believe that if we get it right, then things will be fixed, and all of our people will be as powerful and significant as we are."
Random_Nerd: EK: "Okay, I think I've figured it out. I have to be Sakaroth. Suebi wouldn't be talking like this, I don't think."
DanteE: "If Domination is The Way, why do you fight among yourselves?
Random_Nerd: EK: "That's how Domination works. They think some thing is true, we think another thing is, so we confront each other, and the two citystates focus their worldsight, and the stronger one wins."
Theresa: ~"Any advice for dealing with him? He's gone all philisophical on us and he doesn't really remember anything about who he is."
Theresa: ~
DanteE: "Then where do the other viewpoints come from?
DanteE: "You're talking about a splintering of Domination."
Random_Nerd: Samuel: "Okay, so he's a very powerful being with a tendency to go off on philosophical tangents, and if he goes amiss things could go terribly wrong? I know this one!"
Random_Nerd: Samuel, by prayer: "Pick what would work best for both you and him. Get him to believe that he's that person, the one that would be the best for everyone if he was, and help him believe that."
DanteE: (That prayer's to Theresa, right?)

• Herbert quietly to the others: "Could we be interfering in a 'normal' or 'internal' political crisis of the Dionyl? I mean, if he's Sakaroth, who are we to interfere in this matter?"
  

Random_Nerd: EK: "When the world broke, every single dionyl had his own world. It was chaos. We've brought things much closer together than they were then. I think that if the Great War hadn't happened, we'd already be done. But we're making progress."
Random_Nerd: EK:
Theresa: ~"Sam, our choices are a Domination determined on turning this Chancel into his own personal worldview or else a full Excrucian Warmain. _Is_ there a good choice in this?"~
Random_Nerd: EK: "Do any of you have a mirror?"
Theresa: (Yep, the prayer's to me.)
DanteE: (OOC: He'd pretty much have to be Suebi, right?)
Theresa: (The ninja might have a mirror.)
Random_Nerd: The Empty Knight looks at the sword at his side, draws it, and seems to be trying to look at his reflection in it.
DanteE: (Theresa, you have a compact in your purse?)
Random_Nerd: His sword starts to spread out, with the blade turning from an arming sword to more of a falchion, and his armor takes on a more classical look to match.

• Theresa looks like she would prefer to convince the guy that he is a chicken ready for roasting, but that might be too far.
  

Theresa: (Theresa doesn't carry a purse. She's...weird that way. Sorry.)
Random_Nerd: The glowing starry eyes that are the only part of his "body" you can see other than the armor seem to squint.
DanteE: (Figures I have no reason to have a mirror...)

• Theresa will give the info to the others in quick quiet whispers. William included.
  

Theresa: (Make a really big blade.)
Random_Nerd: William: "Oh well. I hoped I'd work it out before he did, but at least one of us came through. And I am sorry that I snapped at you, Dante."
DanteE: (He's got one)
Random_Nerd: EK glances at his sword, and then at Dante, and says to him: "If you ever decide that you're bored with being a human and want to be a weapon instead, please, talk to me about it. You'd make a good one."
DanteE: quietly: "So, we want him to be Sakharoth, then..."
Herbert: Quietly: "Yes."

• DanteE approaches the EK
  

DanteE: "Do you remember your Domains?"
Random_Nerd: EK: "I don't have those any more. I think something happened to them."
Theresa: "But they're part of you. They are you."
Herbert: (Ooops...)
DanteE: (Hm?)
Random_Nerd: EK: "I don't think they are any more."
Random_Nerd: EK: "I feel like I should be more worried about that than I am."
Herbert: "You are Sakaroth. You know this don't you?"
DanteE: "Any idea what they were?"
Random_Nerd: EK: "Some kind of writing that did things on its own. Like computer code, but without the computer. And... and I don't even remember the other ones."
DanteE: (Can I pray to the local Nobles, or are their concepts too alien?)
DanteE: "... an AI?
DanteE: "Artificial Inmtelligence?"
DanteE: (Tpyo's back!)
DanteE: "... or some kind of clockwork automaton?"
Theresa: (We probably wouldn't know what they're like since they were Excruciated.)
DanteE: (Depends. There might be an 'echo' of it...)
Random_Nerd: EK: "No, not that. Just... it doesn't make sense now. The words interpreted themselves, they didn't need a machine. They just made sense to the world."
Herbert: "Or it could be Dionyl Estates which are alien to us, no?"
DanteE: (Sounds like the linking books of Myst et al.)
Random_Nerd: EK: "Couldn't be. If I was Sakaroth, I was a Domination, not a God. You would have had it too."
Random_Nerd: EK: "But if I was Suebi, I'd have to remember the Estates. After all, that's how they attack them."
Theresa: "If it was Excruciated, say in the past couple hundred years, we would not have known of it."
Random_Nerd: EK: "I don't think this makes sense no matter /which/ one I am."
DanteE: "You remember being 'killed' by Suebi...
DanteE: "He must have taken your Estates."
DanteE: "You're here because he didn't kill /you/...
Random_Nerd: EK: "But if he did, and I'm him, they I would have them. And if he just took them away from me, why do I have his memories?"
DanteE: "Suebi must have taken your Estates from you and eaten them...
DanteE: "but kept you... for intel."
DanteE: "He's a Warmain, that makes perfect sense."
Random_Nerd: EK: "That doesn't seem like him. Me. Whoever. That's a Strategist trick."
DanteE: (Y'know what? We might have to call Ol' BloodyHands :/ )
Herbert: "Do you still believe in the value of the fight for Creation? Since you've invested energy in that search, it must be the case?"
Theresa: "Do Warmains treat their opponents fairly and cleanly?"
Random_Nerd: EK: "Okay, I don't think I'll be able to figure this out. There're too many facts, only none of them fit together."
DanteE: "You need to go to your home and recover...
DanteE: "Do you have a Chancel?"
Random_Nerd: EK: "The nature of a Warmain is respect for their enemies. That's why the Forging. It's not for power, and it's not something that only they can do. It's something that only they /would/ do."
Random_Nerd: EK: "You could remake yourself in the nature of a defeated enemy, if you wanted to. But you wouldn't want to. They do."
Random_Nerd: EK: "I don't have a chancel. I never did, even if I was Sakaroth. I think I may build one here, though. It's a good place, and I already have some people."
DanteE: "If you build a Chancel here you might weaken this Chancel..."
DanteE: (Wait, are we in a Chancel?)
Random_Nerd: EK: "This isn't a chancel. It's just near that one."
Random_Nerd: (You are not. You're outside of one. They were confronting him out here, to try to keep him out of the Chancel proper."
Random_Nerd: )
Theresa: "Do you have an explanation for your eyes, sir?"
Herbert: (Can a Excrucian even create a Chancel?)
DanteE: pray to Blue Shock: "Do you have a uninhabited area where we can keep this guy out of the way?"
Random_Nerd: Blue Shock, praying back: "There are some, but we'd have to drive some Splinter sects out."
Theresa: (They might want to head for the hills anyway. Otherwise they may be enChancel-fodder...)
Random_Nerd: (Well, there are Splinter Chancels too, they just don't have cities in them.)
DanteE: pray: "Any chance there's a nearby uninhabited Dionyl world?"
Random_Nerd: Blue Shock: "I don't know what you mean by uninhabited Dionyl world."
DanteE: pray: "Never mind. Clear out an area, I think we can keep him there."
Herbert: Quietly: "What happens if he's an Excrucian? I mean, when he attempts to create a Chancel?"
Theresa: "He'll have killed one hundred people, for one thing."
Theresa: "At least for one version."
Random_Nerd: William: "I have no idea. Mimics can make Chancels. I don't know if the other kinds can. I don't think they've even tried."
Theresa: "Oh Brave New Age with such Chancels in it..."
DanteE: "Maybe if he had a city that might hold him"
Herbert: "Indeed. Those deaths would be tragic, but could be necessary to help Sakaroth - if it's him - find his balance."
Herbert: "I'll create him one if he allows me to do so."
Theresa: *to EK* "Would you like a new name?"
Random_Nerd: EK: "I've been thinking about that. It might help in some ways, but I'd be avoiding the question of my identity."
DanteE: "I think you should rest first, before extending yourself by creating a Chancel.
DanteE: "We can make you a City, somewhere out of the way, where you can recover."
Random_Nerd: EK: "If I do, can you get the nearby Chancel to hold off? I'll delay a confrontation with them for the time being if they'll extend me and my subjects the same courtesy."
Herbert: "Well, your identity isn't just defined by who you were, but also by what you've become...and will become."
Herbert: "Sounds reasonable."

• DanteE prays the terms to Blue Shock
  

Random_Nerd: BS: "...acceptable. He took some of our people, but if we confronted him now, he'd take more. Whatever he is, I think he's stronger than we are unless we bring it into a direct confrontation between Imperators, and that might be dangerous to our Chancelfolk anyway."
Random_Nerd: BS: "You'll vouch for this not being some kind of weird Excrucian trick to establish a beachhead?"
DanteE: (Ah.....)
Theresa: (Do Warmains lie?)
Herbert: (They certainly do as far as I know.)
Random_Nerd: (Lying isn't part of their schitck, but they aren't compulsively honest, just habitually honest.)
DanteE: pray: "He seems sincere, or at least sincerely confused.
Theresa: (What if we got him to swear by his Truth?)
Random_Nerd: BS: "Under the circumstances, I'll accept that as good enough for the time being, but watch the border. And I think I may appeal to the Council of Four for advice here, since even if they don't have authority here, they do have experience with the War. Do you have any pull with any of them?"
DanteE: pray: "Best thing to do is probably get him out of range of anything important and watch him like a hawk"
DanteE: pray: "Just what I was thinking."
Theresa: (We have no pull with the Council. The Creator bless and keep the Council...far away from us.)
DanteE: (We have some pull with Barakiel, who is in good with the Council, I think)
Theresa: (He wants to kill off one of the Council members. That's...iffy in my book. <g>)
Herbert: (We have pull with Barakiel? That's good to know...)
DanteE: (Good enough to suggest offing important Ymera, anyway)
Random_Nerd: (Barakiel would at least listen to you, I'd say.)
Random_Nerd: (And he has pull with Old Bloodyhands.)
Theresa: (You've got the 'phone', Dante, up to you.)
Random_Nerd: (So, what do you do?)
DanteE: (Plus, we just saved another Chancel, and the Cams owe us a medium-sized favort)
DanteE: pray: "We have an 'in' with Barakiel. We may be able to get to the Four that way."
DanteE: (Or we can bite the bullet and talk to Ol'BH.)
Herbert: (We should neutralize Sakaroth and then consider our diplomatic options, but Ol'BH is definitely on the table.)
Random_Nerd: Blue Shock: "I would appreciate it if you could arrange that, since the idea of cold calling... well, any of them... makes me nervous."
DanteE: pray: "Will do. You owe us one. :) "
Random_Nerd: Blue Shock: "Okay, if you can swing it, we owe you one political favor."
DanteE: pray: "Where can we put him?"
Theresa: (If we are wrong, we are so politically screwed...but oh well. Shall we help the new guy move in while Dante calls the Red Phone?)
DanteE: (Not that phone. First step is talking to Barakiel.)
Random_Nerd: BS: "If he can go a day's walk for a healthy person away from the Chancel in the area he's in, that could work for now. I'll get a friendly Splinter to spread the word to the anchorites."
Random_Nerd: BS: "Well, not a full Splinter, but I know a Power allied that way."

• DanteE tells the others where...
  

Herbert: (How is EK reacting?)
Random_Nerd: (He's sitting there thinking.)
Random_Nerd: (Besides, you haven't taken that long in real time, it just takes longer to type it.)
DanteE: (OK, quick check: who thinks this is Suebi, and who thinks it's Sakharoth?)
Theresa: (I think it's the Excrucian but a very damaged Scrunchie.)
DanteE: (I'm with you on that one. Herb?)
Herbert: (I'm beginning to think that it's a heavily damaged Sakaroth.)
Herbert: (Or, at least, an Excrucian that may have crossed the line over to us. In other words, a dangerous friendly.)
DanteE: (RN: did you tell us that someone who goes back through the Wall to where they started from regains their memories?)
Random_Nerd: (Yeah, unless something weird is going on.)
Random_Nerd: (And excluding memories of what happened Outside.)
DanteE: (Then it's a gimme... he's Suebi, but we don't know that IC.)
Random_Nerd: (Unless they have some sort of personality backup.)
Random_Nerd: (But bear in mind. That's just memories. That's not what sort of person you are.)
DanteE: (Oh...
Random_Nerd: (So, say, if Dante went outside, he wouldn't remember much of anything, but he'd still think and act like Dante.)
DanteE: (But... he doesn't remember his time here. That means his brain's scrambled on this side, which means he';s from the other side.)
Random_Nerd: (He does remember stuff on this side of the Wall. Too much, really, since he has two sets of memories.)
Theresa: (I think Warmains might be worse off, because their Tempering would mess with all of the memories.)
Herbert: (He's been away for a very long time. It's not surprising that his memories are a bit garbled.)
Random_Nerd: (And, consider James. In some ways, he's an analogue for this guy.)
Random_Nerd: (He came back, he had some Excrucian traits and some memory gaps. But he still had Lesson anchored, and was still Urbanization.)
DanteE: (So, it could be either way, based on what we know)
Random_Nerd: (At least, until Kudzu freaked out and stripped him of his Domain.)
Random_Nerd: (And, bear in mind, that from what Samuel found out, Sakaroth did go Outside.)
Herbert: (If he's Sakaroth, he needs all the help he can get, and may be a good source of intel on the enemy. That's also true if he's a confused Warmain.)
Theresa: (I don't think he'll be up to intel for a while. He's Outside-shocked.)
Theresa: "Would you like to come with us, sir? We can take you to a place to rest and think."
Random_Nerd: (You know, it really seems that in many ways, Tempering is analagous to some of the effects of building a rating in High Summonings.)
DanteE: "Herb, feel up to making another city? Above the water this time."
Random_Nerd: EK: "That's acceptable, at least for the time being. I will return to challenge these people in the proper time, but they seem to follow the same Way as I do, and so they'll understand that even if you do not."
Random_Nerd: EK: "But my principles permit a delay."
Theresa: (So, in a way, Tempering is building a rating in our universe?)
Random_Nerd: (Yeah. It's not a perfect one-to-one correspondence, but there are definite similarities.)

• Theresa bows. "Thank you. How fast can you run comfortably? And will your followers need transport as well?"
  

Herbert: "I'm not sure I'll be able to build something similar. We're not in the Chancel and I spent a lot of my Estate related powers in our fight against the Excrucian..."
Herbert: (How much cityscape can I create with a lesser creation?)
Random_Nerd: (A small one-story house.)
Theresa: "I could make some plant based structures. At the moment, we're just worrying about shelter, probably. Some place to rest."
Random_Nerd: EK: "I don't need you to build a place for me. I am sufficient to that, and have many followers."
Theresa: "Then will you allow us to escort you?"
DanteE: (Question is how do we keep him there)
Herbert: "And perhaps I could take you, in the future, in a visit of some of Earth's cities, where we could continue our conversation - and your quest."
Random_Nerd: EK: "It would be interesting to see a city on a world other than this. And Earth only has two worlds, correct?"
Random_Nerd: (I think we should stop soon. It's coming to a close narratively, and we all seem to be getting slow.)
Herbert: "Correct. I'm sure it will enrich your perspective on things. Facilitate your quest."
Herbert: (Agreed.)
DanteE: (OK... so, we get him to wherever?)
Herbert: (He'll be outside the Chancel?)
DanteE: (Then I think we should apprise Blue Shock and the others of the situation...)
Random_Nerd: (He's already outside it, and he'd be several miles further away.)
Herbert: (So he'll be sort of between places, not in a Chancel but in a sort of pocket-sized 'place'?)
DanteE: (That's why I was thinking of making him a city)
Random_Nerd: (Yeah. He'll be pretty close to the chancel, but not incredibly so, especially since Dionyl don't tend to use motorized transportation.)
Random_Nerd: (They have the technology in theory, but they haven't developed it, because it isn't practical when if you drive twenty miles you come to a place where the ground is made out of singing cicadas and the sun is a fish.)
Herbert: (I hate it when the sun is a fish.)
Herbert: ;)
DanteE: (Yeah, smells after a while)
Random_Nerd: (So, shall we stop here and finalize the details next week? We seem to have run out of steam.)
DanteE: (OK)
Herbert: (Yep. We have a round of diplomatic negotiations in front of us...)
Theresa: (Sounds good to me.)
Random_Nerd: ________________STOP_____________
Theresa: I see even more reasons Story would want to talk to us, now.
DanteE: Well, let's see... next steps: tell Blue Shock and the others what's going on. Head back home/. Chewck if our guests have pull with the Council.

• • • You are now known as BethE.
      

DanteE: Talk to Barakiel via Consequences, and tell him what happened so that maybe he can tell the Council.
Herbert: And setup a meeting with the Dark Lord of Earth...
DanteE: Deal with the several metric tonnes of fallout.

• • • DanteE is now known as Knockwood.
      

Knockwood: Am I missing anything
Random_Nerd: And, bear in mind, people who aren't from Earth think of Entropy differently.

• • • Herbert is now known as Harold.
      

BethE: I thought it was Imperial f*tons...
Random_Nerd: They're farther away from his control-freak side, and just see the fact that he's pretty decent at leading the War on its major front.
Knockwood: actually, it's metric assloads vs. Imperial arseloads
Harold: Well, Herbert has no reasons to think differently ;)
BethE: Ahhh.
Random_Nerd: So, what did you guys think of the session?
Knockwood: good to be back. :)
BethE: Interesting! And is this a sign of the Age?
Random_Nerd: Kinda!
Knockwood: It's part of the general All Hell's Breaking Loose
Harold: Good to be back indeed. You do a great job of maintaining doubt around EK's real nature.
Random_Nerd: If it helps, I do have it worked out what exactly he is, this isn't just X-Filesian mystifying vagueness.
Harold: I was starting to feel very sympathetic for him, even though I was first convinced that he was an enemy. Now, I'm pretty unsure...
Random_Nerd: Oh? What made you change your mind?
Knockwood: Me too, actually
Knockwood: I thought I had it...
BethE: He just seems hurt and confused.
Harold: At first, I thought his search for the truth was just - how should a say - a twisted version of the Excrucian's plan. Now that I grasp the opposition between DOmination and Splintering a little better, and the context of Dionyl worldview, I understand his zeal a little more.
Knockwood: well, it helps that we talked him out of taking over the world...
Random_Nerd: No, you talked him out of taking over the world /right now/.
Random_Nerd: There's a difference.
Knockwood: It'd be better if we could relocate him to another world on the tree
Random_Nerd: Wouldn't work. His whole driving ambition would be meaningless anywhere else.
Knockwood: which was what I was asking about... an uninhabited Dionyl-friendly world
Random_Nerd: It'd be like a marine biologist moving to the moon.
Knockwood: we're actually on Dionyl?
Knockwood: I kept thinking it was their Chancel
Harold: Aren't there other powerful Domination-oriented Imperators to counter him?
BethE: Bth!
BethE: Both even
Random_Nerd: Yes, you're on Dionyl. No, you are not now in their chancel, nor have you ever actually been in it.
Random_Nerd: And, yes, there are other Dominations, and many of the Gods of Dionyl get in on that act too.
Random_Nerd: He's unusually strong for one, though, and he'll shake up the patterns in the area for quite a while if he stays.
Harold: We should probably contact them too...
Knockwood: I suspect they know
BethE: In the way that the rest of Japan knows about Godzilla and Tokyo...
Harold: And he's been "touched" by what's outside of the wall. Perhaps we should ask James for pointers in the matter ;)
Random_Nerd: It's like if... say, in the middle of the Cold War, a country the size of Australia suddenly appeared in the Atlantic Ocean with no political ties to anyone.
Random_Nerd: It wouldn't be the biggest factor in the world, but everyone around would be trying to sway them, and they'd have a deciding effect for whoever they went with.
Harold: Good thing we got there first. Good analogy by the way.
Knockwood: Well, we may have been the only ones they know who wouldn't be Dominated
Random_Nerd: Yeah, your status as outsiders helped.
Random_Nerd: If Domination-allied powers came in to see him, they'd either sway him to their worldsight or be swayed by him, but they wouldn't have him questioning the whole exercise.
Harold: I understand our place in the whole scheme a little better :)
Knockwood: we're going to turn into Troubleshooters before too long
Random_Nerd: It's a good time for it.
Random_Nerd: Even independantly of the end of the Age, just people's /expectations/ of it will make it be a tense time for Noble society.
Knockwood: (We really need Hope...)
Harold: And we're happily at the centre of it all...
Knockwood: Did Stories give you an ETA?
Random_Nerd: I was rather expecting him this week, but moving across the planet can shake a lot of stuff up.
Knockwood: let's see, it's currently... 4:20 AM in England, I think
BethE: Huh. That might end up being a problem.
Knockwood: oops, 5:20, my mistake
Knockwood: technically this game starts at 2:30 am
Random_Nerd: Huh.
Harold: Ouch.
Random_Nerd: So, I'm not going to be building the plot in a way that depends on Stories.
BethE: The Curse of James is _strong_. It takes out players before they even have their first appearance in game.

Chancel_Amyra
Chapter 12