Session 270

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Chancel_Amyra
Chapter 37

An huge thank you Beth to for the log!

<lazarus> we're still missing Angelo and Eth?
<BethE> Hi V!
<BethE> Yeppers.
<BethE> And V - Chuubo still lives.  :)
<Knockwood> Turns out we were reading the d20s all wrong and we actually have decent to-hit scores.
<lazarus> in the D&D game I'm playing, my Sorceress is a much better Sorceress when she remembers how spells work
<Verithe> Yay!
<lazarus> (I'm watching the ST:TOS episode "The Ultimate Computer" - I believe this is one of the Kirk Logic Bomb episodes)
<BethE> I'm dealing with vampires in my Demon game.
<Knockwood> You guys see my thread asking about Supers games?
<Random_Nerd> I'm not really into supers gaming.
<lazarus> not sure, kwd. which thread is that?
<Random_Nerd> Just tell me it isn't "What's the best supers game?"
<Knockwood> Well, kind of...
<Knockwood> http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?731449-Best-Supers-system-for-(whatever)
<Knockwood> The consensus was "Supers! RED"
<Random_Nerd> ...there is some sort of cosmic principle making people post that thread, I think.
<Random_Nerd> That was a joke back in 99.
<lazarus> depends what you want a supers game for :p
<lazarus> gritty level, I would say Wild Talents is great. But it's Watchmen-esque
<lazarus> (in tone, not in power level)
<Knockwood> Well, Watchmen has everybody at a low level with one huge exception
<lazarus> I meant in terms of the whole "you really feel a punch" thing, as opposed to a Batman or Superman type "bam piff pow!" type game
<lazarus> You have powers, definitely, but you're still /human/, and /vulnerable/. (Heroes, perhaps?)
<Random_Nerd> Hmm.
<Random_Nerd> So.
<Random_Nerd> Two things we can do.
<Random_Nerd> We can have the big meeting with the Wildlords this session.
<Random_Nerd> Or we can have this be your last-minute prep for that.
<Random_Nerd> Preferences?
<lazarus> I vote big meeting
<Verithe> I vote for the meeting.
<Knockwood> Well, if there's anything we're good at it's waffling.
<Random_Nerd> Mmm. Waffles.

  • Verithe stabs the waffles

<lazarus> waffles! My one weakness!
<BethE> Meeting.
<Knockwood> we should do a little prep, though.
<BethE> Although Theresa will leave instructions for her minions to provide flowers for William's wedding if the Wilds tear us to shreds.
<Knockwood> Then again, as long as we don't start in medias res we can do that.
<lazarus> can we retroactively prep in flashback?
<Knockwood> I thought her minions were the flowers...
<Verithe> Theresa can have the flowers also be the choir!
<lazarus> (yep, Kirk Logic Bomb)
<BethE> Theresa has a few minions at her Conservatory that gather info for her about farms around Amyra and correlate info from out on Earth.

  • BethE is now known as Theresa
  • Verithe is now known as Kite
  • Knockwood is now known as DanteE
  • lazarus is now known as Brian

<Theresa> So, a little prepwork and then Meeting?
<Random_Nerd> Okay. Pre-meeting it is.
<Random_Nerd> But a short one.
<Random_Nerd> __________START______________
<Brian> "Last minute. Anyone want burgers?"
<Random_Nerd> William: "So, we've booked the stadium for the meeting. Do you know how many wildlords will be coming or in what form?"
<Brian> "I want burgers."
<Brian> *calls the burger joint and orders a stadium of burgers to be delivered to the stadium*
<Kite> "That's a silly number and/or form, Brian."

  • Theresa rubs her forehead. "I hope I do better explaining than I did to HQB."

<DanteE> "William, the Wildlords probably don't know whether they're coming and in what form."
<Theresa> "Probably at least 2/3 of the known Wildlords."
<Random_Nerd> William: "The area /around/ it has already been evacuated."
<DanteE> "Why are we doing this _downtown_?
<Brian> "Because Kaiju movies?"
<Random_Nerd> William: "Because I don't want to be the one to tell dozens of gods they're meeting in a muddy field."
<Theresa> "Because it's the nicest area."
<Theresa> "Oh, reminds me. Has John been notified?"
<Brian> "No?"
<Kite> "Muddy fields are nice! Lots of tadpoles!"
<Random_Nerd> William: "He has been notified."
<Theresa> "If the area has been evacuated, I would hope that someone told John, especially as to why."
<Theresa> "Thank you, William."
<Brian> "Will he be present?"
<Theresa> *to William and/or Sam* "Has this kind of meeting been held before?"
<Random_Nerd> Sam: "The police will /try/ to cordon off civilians from the area."
<Brian> (protect the squishies?)
<Kite> "Can we assume that civilians who trespass bring whatever befalls them on themselves?"
<Random_Nerd> Sam: "Well, we want them to not bring any dooms down on anyone."
<Random_Nerd> Sam: "Such as by distracting an antsy Magister."
<Brian> "Especially because they're _our_ people."
<Brian> (can I do an Amyra-wide broadcast?)
<Random_Nerd> (You can.)
<Kite> "Could a human-grade entertainment thing work? Like....a giant fishing thing or a barn raising? What sorts of things attract lots of humans?"
<Random_Nerd> William: "Ever? Occasionally, as near as I can tell. At the Fall, or after the Lost Centuries. When the War began."
<Random_Nerd> William: "Less than once per hundred years."
<Kite> "Just....to distract the citizenry."
<Theresa> *to William* "Ah. So hopefully no one will be expecting refreshments."
<DanteE> "What are you going to tell them? 'Don't come down town, beings from beyond comprehension are gathering to learn a potentially nasty truth about themselves'."
<Random_Nerd> William: "In theory, Kudzu is hosting this. But he's... delegating."
<Theresa> "We should probably have Lesson and his group patrol the edges to keep people back. No matter what we organize to keep the populace distracted, someone's going to come stare."
<Random_Nerd> Sam: "It's being described as something like a cross between a peace summit and a natural disaster."
<Theresa> " How about 'Don't come downtown. You know Kudzu? These are his relatives. Lots of them."
<Random_Nerd> William: "And, Brian, we used your name and likeness rather a lot."
<Brian> (in that case, broadcast:) "Amyra! Can I have your attention! This is Brian!"
<Theresa> "What time is the meeting?"
<Brian> "Downtown Kaerkoven will be experiencing some breaks with reality. For your own safety, I request that you stay away." (Kaerkoven is our main city, yesyes?)
<Random_Nerd> William: "In theory, in four hours. But Magisters could start showing up at any point, I suspect."
<Theresa> (Brian - yep.)
<Random_Nerd> (Yes.)
<Brian> (continuing broadcast) "we will let you know when it's safe. And host a public party after."
<DanteE> "Any specific RSVPs besides Kudzu?"
<Theresa> "Huh. We may have to keep Wildlords _entertained_ for four hours or less.... I need more caffeine."
<Theresa> "I can't sneeze that often."
<Random_Nerd> William: "Three hundred cows will be standing by in case they are needed."
<Theresa> "Oh, Red could do a presentation."
<Brian> "Shall we be on our way?"
<DanteE> "We probably should."
<Theresa> (*to the stadium!*)
<Random_Nerd> William: "Let's see... some hand-picked Monstrosities will be acting as serving staff, as they seemed the most likely to not go crazy."
<Random_Nerd> (Ready to cut to the stadium?)
<Kite> (yes)
<DanteE> (Sure)
<Brian> (let's go1)
<Random_Nerd> ____________STADIUM_________

  • Kite_ (~chatzilla@MagicStar-87C3188A.lightspeed.livnmi.sbcglobal.net) has joined #nobilis

<Kite_> (Blarg)
<DanteE> (oops)
<Random_Nerd> Kudzu is in a larger body than usual. He's at least ten meters tall, and fairly bulky, too. Must have used most of an abandoned building to find materials for this one.
<Theresa> (Kite's cloned!)
<Theresa> (No shiny thing is safe!)
<Kite_> (Bwahahaha!)
<DanteE> (We'd decided that Theresa should lead, right?)
<Theresa> (Yep.)
<Random_Nerd> The assembled wildlords are... varied. A tiny bright hovering light is next to a goat skull with tentacles and a leathery giant with two heads.
<Theresa> (I didn't cause HQB to blow up, so might as well see if the luck holds.)
<DanteE> (Any of them have nametags or did they eat them? :P )
<Theresa> (Huh. Is Third Age here?)
<Random_Nerd> Berakha, next to Kudzu, is a large humanoid figure wrapped in layers of bright white cloth.
<Random_Nerd> (Attaris Ebrot Appeka is /not/ here.)
<Theresa> (Huh.)
<DanteE> (She doesn't need to be, technically.)
<Brian> (that surprises me)
<Theresa> (Then again...she _would_ know what was going on, wouldn't see. Since it's part of her Age.)
<Theresa> "Quick question: Do we mention the prophecies?"
<Brian> "Yes"
<DanteE> "Wait... this group may do what they say just to be contrary."
<DanteE> "Since we don't want them to...
<Theresa> "Sanity, crutch, yadda."
<DanteE> "I've been hanging around Kudzu too long."
<Brian> (I'm surprised, coming from Dante. Isn't he still cripplingly honest?)
<Random_Nerd> There are, also, a few Imperators who are /not/ Wildlords. Ophaniel, and for some reason Ja Phon with his servant/minder.
<Theresa> "How about not bringing them up unless someone asks?"
<Theresa> "Holy crap, is that Ja Phon?"
<DanteE> (Don't forget we decided Dante can do strategic omissions.)
<Brian> (sure)
<Brian> (what about the Council?)
<Random_Nerd> (Only Council representative here is HQB.)
<Brian> (and Jan ben Jan?)
<Random_Nerd> (Jan ben Jan couldn't /fit/ here. He's the size of the Moon at least.)
<Brian> (*nod*)
<DanteE> to Sam & William: "Who's who here?"
<Random_Nerd> (But he's probably paying attention to it in some way. He's good at knowing things.)
<Brian> (What about Patterns? Any sign of him?)
<Random_Nerd> William: "Not every single wildlord on Earth. But more than half, and in most cases, the /right/ ones. The social leaders, tastemakers, and so on."
<Theresa> (Plus, if he's attuned any to the people who have donated to him, we're a loudspeaker.)
<Theresa> "..tastemakers?"
<Kite_> ("Look! It's Wildlady Fashionista!")
<Theresa> (Lady Gaga is here?)
<Random_Nerd> (You don't know what he looks like. However, if you look around, you do occasionally notice that some of the shadows seem a little darker and more occupied than you might expect.)
<Brian> "I have an interesting thought relating to flavour."
<DanteE> (It's Wildlord Gaga!)
<Theresa> "Any comments from you all about how we did with HQB? Anything we did with him to avoid?"
<Brian> "I'm not sure. I'm willing to trust luck."
<DanteE> "Do we have a more solid idea of what we saw?"
<Theresa> "Not really. Probably a problem that we're not Imperators, so we can't describe/translate the Deep Mythic and Spirit World like they can."
<Random_Nerd> (Gaga's just a Noble.)
<DanteE> (It occurs to me that Wildlords who aren't here in person would send a Noble...)
<Random_Nerd> (Kudzu asked them not to bring their Nobles.)
<Brian> (hangon, did you say Ophaniel is here? We saw the vision with Ophaniel, right?)
<Theresa> *to William and Sam* "Have there been any incidents?"
<Random_Nerd> Sam: "By the standards of a stadium packed full of divinities? No."
<Random_Nerd> Sam: "No one has died, transfigured, or given birth to a six-headed snake."
<DanteE> "Let's check on the mortal side..."

  • DanteE calls Lesson.

<Random_Nerd> The mortals present, unless that /is/ Patterns' anchor you saw, are all your folks.
<Random_Nerd> Lesson is clearly uneasy.
<Theresa> "..what about 5 headed?"
<Brian> "Ophaniel might have some memory of the vision?"
<Random_Nerd> Sam, to Theresa: "I need to... go do... a thing. Because of the Wildlords."

  • Kite_ is now known as Kite

<Theresa> "Yes, Sam. If that was the Aide equivalent of a Noble sneeze, that question doesn't need to be answered."
<Random_Nerd> Lesson: "So far, none of them have made any serious attempt to eat each other."
<DanteE> to Brian: "We could ask before things get started..."
<Brian> "And can probably translate better from Deep Mythic into Imperator"
<Theresa> *to Brian* "Maybe. I mean, she's still _there_, talking to us, right now. Maybe she's here to cooperate."
<Random_Nerd> Lesson: "Cows are ready. Screens and related systems set up to project images, sound."
<DanteE> to Lesson: "Any problems keeping the general population away?"
<Brian> "Dante, can you make your way over there?"
<DanteE> (to Ophaniel?)
<Random_Nerd> Lesson: "Not my department. Have been assured by human police that efforts are being made."
<Brian> (yep)

  • DanteE lifts off and floats over...
  • Theresa is in something important looking and yet easy to run in.

<DanteE> "Ophaniel?"
<Random_Nerd> Lesson shows Theresa the remote. "This one turns on the cameras pointed at the podium. This one is sound. This one turns both off. This one plays pictures of baby animals and soothing music. This one is bright flashing lights and random crashing sounds."
<Theresa> "And the cows are ready? Is Red here?"
<Kite> "Oooooh! Flashing lights!"
<Random_Nerd> Lesson: "Could not get Red into stadium without doing lasting damage to it."
<Theresa> "Ah, thank you for reminding me of that point, Lesson."
<Theresa> "How long until the meeting will start?"
<Random_Nerd> Lesson: "Nearly ready. When everyone has settled in, Kudzu will speak, then Berakha, then you."
<Brian> ("Friends and relations, wildlords all, lend me your ears" *ears gather up* "... eugh." ... with apologies to Mel Brooks)
<Theresa> "Oh...tough acts to follow."
<DanteE> (What's Ophaniel doing?)
<Random_Nerd> (Hovering near Kudzu and Berakha.)
<Random_Nerd> Ophaniel turns to Dante.
<Random_Nerd> Well... she turns.
<Random_Nerd> It's tough to tell which part of her is the face, if that even makes sense.
<Random_Nerd> But she does rotate, sure enough.
<Random_Nerd> O: "Courage?"
<DanteE> "Yes. Hello."
<Random_Nerd> O: "Is this important?"
<Theresa> (That is a trick question!)
<DanteE> "A little. Did they tell you how we got the information we'll be presenting?"
<Theresa> (Three Imperators talking = Much much more Important than you talking unless you are saying that an Excrucian Marching Band is breaking through in the cheap seats.)
<Random_Nerd> O: "Not in any detail. That is to be part of the presentation, correct?"
<DanteE> "Yes. We went into the Deep Mythic and talked to, well, you, the day of the Breach.
<Random_Nerd> O: "Yes, of course. It was only a day ago or so that you talked to me back then, was it not?"
<Random_Nerd> (And, yes, that is temporally unusual.)
<Brian> (that is /awesome/ tensing, RN)
<DanteE> (And I'm remembering that grammar book that they mentioned in Hitchhiker's Guide...)
<Random_Nerd> (The "future perfect" tense was discarded when it was discovered not to be true?)
<DanteE> "ah.. yes. Was going to ask if you remembered that, actually...
<DanteE> (Because of time travel the book was so dense that later editions just stopped printing it half-way through. :) )
<Random_Nerd> O: "It wasn't the most interesting thing to happen to me at the time, I will admit, but I recall."
<DanteE> "Er... yesterday or back then? Time travel makes things really confusing."
<Random_Nerd> "Either?"
<Random_Nerd> Ophaniel: "What do you mean time travel? That isn't what happened at all."
<Random_Nerd> Ophaniel: "You talked with me, in the present, in the context in which I am the me that I was in the past."
<Random_Nerd> Ophaniel: "You didn't leave the present time in the sense that I think you mean. But I am not inside time in the same sense that you are."
<Random_Nerd> Ophaniel: "It is like poor Barakiel and that creature he ingested"
<Theresa> (Should I push the flashing lights button, Dante?)
<DanteE> "You know about that?"
<Random_Nerd> Ophaniel: "Everyone knows about that."
<Theresa> (Duuuuh.  ;) )
<Kite> (I think, at this point, Barakiel's been on the front page of every Imperator tabloid and newspaper.)
<Random_Nerd> Ophaniel: "I have seen Warmains, relatively fresh from the Outside, show signs that they know about it."
<DanteE> "Suddenly I am so happy Theresa will be taking the lead..."
<Random_Nerd> Ophaiel: "They don't seem to like him very much."
<Theresa> (Greeeeat. Outside has Twitter.)
<Random_Nerd> Ophaniel: "And recognized me as related to a thing they really don't like."
<Theresa> (Ouch.)
<Random_Nerd> Ophaniel: "Which I rather took as an insult, but that's beside the point."
<Theresa> ("He's adopted.")
<DanteE> (Hey, _we_ didn't do it! We were just... there. After.)
<Theresa> (Did we give Shadows some ideas?)
<DanteE> (Something would have eaten Jupiter by now if we did.)
<Random_Nerd> Ophaniel: "But what does your conversation with me have to do with all this?"
<DanteE> "Well, when we went and talked to past-you we also saw the Breach itself."
<Random_Nerd> Ophaniel: "It sparked some realization or inspiration?"
<DanteE> "Yes. We pieced together what was happening and how it related to what happened in the past."
<Random_Nerd> Ophaniel: "Good for you. I hope it will be what these Magisters want to hear."
<Random_Nerd> Lesson, who had been speaking with HQB, heads back to Theresa.
<Random_Nerd> L: "Asked whether you are ready."
<DanteE> "I don't think 'want to hear' is what we'll get..."
<DanteE> "And I believe they're about to start. By your leave."

  • Theresa nods to Lesson. "Yep. I have left instructions at my Conservatory in case this goes..badly..for me. It's been good knowing you, Lesson."

<Random_Nerd> Ophaniel revolves several rings at you, Dante.

  • Theresa walks up to the side of the stage or wherever Kudzu and HQB are standing. Don't notice the Noble.

<DanteE> (Is that a wave?)
<Random_Nerd> (Maybe!)

  • DanteE flies to position...

<Random_Nerd> Voice in the shadows, by the podium: "There is nothing that can be done here, including sending them all home, that will not cause some harm and chaos."
<Random_Nerd> "Also, the Power of Patterns sends his regards."
<Theresa> (Who was that to?)
<Random_Nerd> "Don't blow up the world, okay?"
<Random_Nerd> (All of you could hear it.)
<Kite> (He says uncomfortable truths, right?)
<DanteE> "We're trying to prevent that."
<Theresa> "Trying not to, Patterns. And thank you for the regards. Enjoy the fireworks!"
<Random_Nerd> (Yes. Patterns' anchor has the power to say facts that will discomfort or frighten the listener.)
<Random_Nerd> (So far, they've been true, but not always the whole truth. And the Voice doesn't know what it's going to say before it says it.)
<Theresa> (Dude, we're in a stadium full of Wild. Discomfort is probably sitting in the front row with popcorn.)
<Random_Nerd> (Discomfort is of the Light)
<Theresa> (Of course.)
<Theresa> (How about Enjoying a Good Show?)
<Random_Nerd> (That's all of them.)
<Theresa> (So glad to entertain.)
<Random_Nerd> (Except Statleriel and Waldorfiel up there at the top.)
<Random_Nerd> (They enjoy hating a good show.)
<Theresa> (Oh Creation, please don't let there be hecklers.)
<Brian> (where's fozzy?)
<Kite> (We're Fozzy.)
<DanteE> (It's a stadium full of Wildlords. There WILL be heckling.)
<Brian> (oh crap :p)
<Random_Nerd> Kudzu moves to the center, and stands up straight.
<Kite> (Or there won't! Don't put Wildlords in a box!)
<Random_Nerd> In this case, it involves reconfiguring his body so he grows about 30% taller and skinnier.
<Random_Nerd> Kudzu: "As you know, Ha Qadosh Berakha have called you here because of a discovery my Nobles and some associates of theirs have made."
<Random_Nerd> K: "A few of you know that Berakha had, with of course my permission" *sprouts a small head to glare at HQB for a moment* "tasked some of them with investigating certain aspects of the Wall."
<Theresa> (I forgot to ask the protocol if an Imperator heckles you.)
<Random_Nerd> K: "This led to the theory they will now present to you."
<Random_Nerd> Kudzu slumps back down to his stockier form.
<Kite> (Sneeze twice?)
<Kite> (Push the flashing lights and loud noises button?)
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "I wish to say only that while I do not yet have proof that this theory is true, my own investigations have confirmed at least several key facts, and have not yet found any proof of its falsehood."
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "For that reason, I strongly believe that it contains at least significant elements of truth."
<DanteE> (No pressure, T. :p )
<DanteE> How's the crowd reacting?
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "Ymera Kudzu and I will be available, afterwards, to discuss reactions to the theory. I will now leave the presentation to Kudzu's and my agent."
<Random_Nerd> They quieted down a little when Kudzu spoke up.
<Random_Nerd> And /considerably/ when HQB did.
<Theresa> (Do we have a PowerPoint presentation?)
<Random_Nerd> One of the smaller Wildlords is watching intently from the suddenly-still jaws of the other Wildlord that was chewing on it.
<Random_Nerd> (Do you?)
<Brian> (of course we do!)
<Brian> (full of flashy lights, swipes, and hypnotoads)
<DanteE> (We would if Angelo was here...)
<Theresa> (No. I would be thrown to the Outside if I inflicted PowerPoint on Imperators. And they would be right to do so.)
<Random_Nerd> (Hypnotoad is the /purple/ button on the remote.)
<Theresa> (Ah, thank you.)
<Random_Nerd> Lesson nods at you, Theresa.

  • Theresa gets up on the stage, stands at the podium.

<DanteE> "Break a leg."

  • Kite whispers, "What? No! Don't do that!"

<Theresa> "I am Plant's Regal, one of Kudzu's Nobles. My Familia discovered what I am about to present with the aid of Imperator Vulcan's Nobles of Assembly and Data/Machinery."
<Theresa> I will start with information about High Summoning. As a practitioner grows in the art of summoning, they create a fetch. Once you have become a Master of that Summoning, perfecting it and creating your crown that acknowledges your Mastery, that Fetch is considered complete."
<Random_Nerd> ("The Power of Data is not here because... he... had to do a thing. And not because anyone locked him in a room with a bunch of disco balls and slinkies.")
<DanteE> (Damn, we totally should have done that, too...)
<Kite> (And photos of Ophaniel)
<Brian> (that's what he thought when we said "slinkies")
<Random_Nerd> (What do you think he's making out of the slinkies and the disco balls?)
<Theresa> "The Outsiders who practiced High Summoning produced Fetches in Creation. They saw how much Creation had to offer, especially Estates and power. These Summoners from Outside killed themselves and reincarnated in their Fetches in Creation. Please note: It doesn't work the opposite way."
<Random_Nerd> Little light-blue Wildlord in the mouth of big brown Wildlord: *crawls out*
<Theresa> "The Warmains in the Outside practiced High Summoning and died and reincarnated over here all at once because of how there is Time on this side of the Wall and not on the other. The day that we Nobles of Kudzu are calling Breach Day was a moment of pressure, a moment when Outside could try and take the Wildlords back."
<DanteE> (Don't give them ideas!)
<Theresa> (Crap. Take out the 'Please note: It doesn't work the opposite way. ' as well.)
<Random_Nerd> (Okay.)
<DanteE> (No, leave that in... that was the point of the prophecy.)
<Random_Nerd> They continue to watch, listen, sniff...
<Theresa> (I know, Dante, but we don't know for _sure_ it won't work. Oph said that Imperators don't do High Summoning or reincarnate, but that's not an 'it's impossible to do so'. It could be a 'who would be gauche enough to do _that_?)
<Random_Nerd> (And you don't want to tell a bunch of Wildlords to /not/ do a thing?)
<DanteE> (I mean leave in 'It doesn't work the opposite way'... and you might mention why there's a taboo)
<Random_Nerd> (Because half of them will do it because you're not the boss of them?)
<DanteE> (oops, good point)
<DanteE> (But you might consider talking about their SUmmoning taboo and the reason for it.)
<Kite> (Or just the prophecy?)
<Theresa> "We determined these points by traveling via the Deep Mythic into the Spirit World to talk Orphaniel, the Angel of the Moon, who was one of those attacked on that day. We have had conversations with her before in the Prosaic World."
<Theresa> "We believe that the deaths and exodus of the High Summoning Outsiders to Creation to become the Wildlords and ladies is why there is currently a taboo among the Warmains toward Summoning. We have observed this attitude of anathema in some of the Warmain shards that have crossed over into Creation."
<Theresa> (Anything else?)
<Random_Nerd> (Are you going to mention any of the Jan ben Jan stuff?)
<Brian> (At least mention we have talked to Jan ben Jan about this stuff?)
<Theresa> (Urgh. I don't want to start a panic. I don't want to be known as the Woman who Sent a Bunch of Wildlords to their Doooom....)
<Theresa> "Part of the reason that we started this investigation was due to buying a series of prophecies from Jan Ben Jan."
<Random_Nerd> (Voice in the Shadows: "Doooooooooom!")
<DanteE> (We can keep it in reserve min case it looks like they're going to actually do that...)
<Brian> (I will sing the doom song now!)
<Random_Nerd> And then the ground in front of you splits open and a creature made of tentacles and thorns and mirrors and eyes seethes out. Its voice, however, is familar.
<Random_Nerd> Attaris Ebrot Appeka: "And what did Jan ben Jan say?"
<Brian> (... fuck?)
<Theresa> "Hello, ma'am. Let me get the exact words:"
<DanteE> (And please replace your divot.)
<Kite> (Just so I know I'm remembering this correctly, Attaris Ebrot Appeka was specifically not here earlier?)
<Theresa> (Don't tell her that. She'll replace it with pudding and fish.)
<Theresa> (Indeed.)
<Theresa> The first prophecy: "The Angel Barakiel will induce the Power of Shadows to summon a Lawbreaker, and will take council with it. From this point on, all his subsequent actions will be outside of morality, truth, and my own sight, and will be dominated by the madness that is a Lawbreaker's price."
<Brian> (I'm sure Kite would enjoy a fish pudding pond)
<DanteE> (But up until now she didn't _need_ to be.)
<Random_Nerd> (She was specifically not there. Except apparently she was underground?)
<Random_Nerd> (Always the last place you look.)
<Theresa> The second prophecy: "Magister Ha Qadosh Berakha will discover something, which I cannot see, that will cause him to call into doubt his own loyalty to Creation. This will cause him to disavow all association with yourself and your associates, to renounce his position on the Council of Four, and to seclude himself. I cannot see who will take his place, which is itself disturbing."
<Random_Nerd> AEA turns 17% of her eyes to look at HQB.
<Brian> (it's disturbing that she has enough eyes to be measured in percents. However, it is comforting that it is whole numbers of percents)
<Theresa> The third prophecy: "The Magisters of the Wild will come to believe that if they kill themselves, they will be able to reincarnate outside of reality. One in three will do so, causing the outright destruction of many Estates. They will not succeed in their ambition, for their theory will prove to be entirely backwards."
<Kite> (Unless she still has just two eyes....)
<Theresa> The fourth prophecy: "Ymera Entropy, Lord of the Earth, will leave Creation and enter the Outside. If he returns, I do not see it. Unlike Berakha, his seat will remain unfilled."
<Random_Nerd> Attaris eyes Theresa from many angles.
<Theresa> The fifth and final prophecy: "The True God Jan ben Jan, lord of the Second Age, will in despair of achieving his goals decide to take the necessary body parts by force, retroactively stealing them from the Nobles and Gods of his age. This will break the rules that he operates by, and remove his abilities of prophecy. Following this, he will attempt to make the divination anyway. The result will be the death of Jan ben Jan, and no usable information."
<DanteE> (We didn't tell anyone about that prophecy, did we?)
<Random_Nerd> (Which one?)
<DanteE> (4 or 5)
<Theresa> "As far as we know, only the first has come to pass."
<Random_Nerd> Attaris: "And that part left something out, did it not?"
<Theresa> (When an Imperator of an Age asks you a question, you answer completely and truthfully and hope to get the fuck out of there alive.)
<Brian> (that's generally true for any Imperators)
<Theresa> "I do not know, Ymera."
<Random_Nerd> Attaris: " Barakiel was consumed by madness after that point, true. But no less than he was consumed by it before, was he?"
<Brian> (retroactivity!)
<DanteE> (She's got a point... if the Lawbreaker's influence extends through time how did JbJ see him at all?)
<Theresa> "It is our theory that consuming/integrating with the Lawbreaker caused his madness and actions outside of reason or usual law to be through all of Time."
<Random_Nerd> (It was as much about Barakiel being partly outside time as the Lawbreaker being so.)
<Random_Nerd> (And what Jan ben Jan saw happening was true... but it didn't tell the whole story.)
<Brian> (a Wizard Did It?)
<Random_Nerd> (Because prophecies don't tell you much about what /already/ happened.)
<DanteE> (Being an Oracle does that. :) )
<Theresa> (True. If a prophecy is about what already happened, it's not a prophecy, it's a newspaper.)
<Random_Nerd> Attaris: "But if you spoke with him about that prophecy, might he not have taken the conclusion that he should avoid merging with the Lawbreaker, for fear of receiving harm?"
<DanteE> (But, we were there the day they did the Lawbreaker summoning.)
<Random_Nerd> Attaris: "Yet, in fact, did he not receive no harm that he had not already experienced, and come to a new understanding of his own nature and capacities?"
<Theresa> (Uh.._did_ we talk to him about that prophecy?)
<Brian> (that's not the /point/! The /point/ is that we know why Wildlords!)
<Brian> (and I think we did?)
<Theresa> (We might have talked to Shadows. Maybe Consequences.)
<Brian> (and he kinda went "yeah, that's what Lawbreakers are")
<DanteE> (Aha... JbJ didn't say Barakiel would be _harmed_, just that he didn't know what happens next.)
<Brian> (and we couldn't really argue with that)
<Kite> (I think the point might be that Attaris seems to be encouraging the Wildlords to off themselves.)
<DanteE> (Which makes sense if she's a Mimic.)
<Kite> (Aaaaaaaah!)
<Theresa> "The prophecy does not state that Lord Barakiel would come to harm, Ymera. And I do not know what to think about Imperators coming to new conclusions."
<DanteE> (Has JbJ said anything in particular about the end of the age?)
<Theresa> (We..didn't really ask him about that.)
<Random_Nerd> Attaris: "Your belief that Wildlords are the merged fetches of Excrucians who practiced high summoning. What proof do you have?"
<Theresa> (...I'm a Noble, fuck you that's my proof!)
<Brian> (:D)
<Theresa> (I've been watching too much Hellsing Ultimate Abridged.)
<DanteE> (We're PCs, that's our proof.)
<Brian> (My Dresden Files PC is prone to declaring why something is happening, and then behaving as if it's the objective truth. Because of course it is.)
<Theresa> (Anyone have an answer for me to give on this one? I'm not sure how well a Wildlord would take 'logic' as an answer.)
<Brian> ("I saw it"? Or possibly "Ophaniel! HALP!")
<Kite> (Wasn't Dante the one who experienced the Crown stuff most?)
<Theresa> (But don't say it outloud/IC because I get the feeling that if more than one of us start talking, the entire stadium will want to be heard.)
<Random_Nerd> Attaris: "For that matter, even if I believe it, how do you know that /all/ of us have had our other selves die and merge with us?"
<DanteE> (It parallels what we know about Summoning from this side and follows from the taboo...)
<Kite> (Dante's Crown stuff is the only proof I can remember)
<Kite> (or proof-ish substance)
<Theresa> (...I probably shouldn't point out that it would explain her actions at the beginning of the Third Age, should I?)
<Random_Nerd> Attaris: "What would happen if some of us were still being... operated... from Outside?"
<Theresa> "Would that be what is termed as a Mimic, ma'am?"
<Brian> (also: MIMIC!)
<Random_Nerd> That was probably just a blink with that eye there. I mean, she's covered in them, they're blinking constantly. No real reason for the word "wink" to come to mind.
<DanteE> (C'mon, T, _I'm_ the foolishly brave one.)
<Theresa> (Darn it! I don't know how to react to an Imperator, a Wild at that!, winking at me!!!!!!!)
<Random_Nerd> Attaris: "For that matter, say it's true. The original Summoner is dead outside, but it's also alive, isn't it?"
<Theresa> (It's a game of 'Mimic or Imperator Fucking With Me?')
<DanteE> (Channel Ftisk and flirt with her. :D )
<Brian> (go aflutter and faint?)
<Random_Nerd> Everyone is watching you and Attaris.
<Theresa> (I am not going to flirt with the Third Age. That would be..unseemly.)
<Random_Nerd> Including Kudzu, HQB, and Ophaniel.
<Random_Nerd> All three look displeased, but not enough to do anything.
<Brian> (T is too proper for that.)
<Theresa> (Plus, I'm giving a presentation. Totally bad protocol.)
<Random_Nerd> I mean, Attaris is basically the closest known thing to God in the setting, at least for a few more months.
<Random_Nerd> (She is, for lack of a better term, King Shit of Fuck Mountain.)
<Kite> (So, if Attaris were a Mimic, would her being the Imperator of the current Age be an attempt to keep more Warmains from becoming Wildlords?)
<DanteE> (We're not hanging you out to dry, we're trying desperately to think up a good counter...)
<Theresa> "If what we understand about the Outside is correct, Ymera, yes. But the times that interact with the Wall and Creation would be closest to the Wall. An Imperator soul, I guess you could say, would have to hit a time when the Outside Summoner were alive, when it's probable that the times closest to the Wall are when that Summoner is dead."
<DanteE> (Did we determine that Exs experience subjective time?)
<Random_Nerd> (You believe it, based on your conversations with the Shard Trio.)
<Random_Nerd> Attaris: "So you're saying that it is probably entirely possible to merge in the opposite direction, just difficult?"
<Theresa> "In conversations with various Warmains, we believe that Excrucians can experience subjective time during...an example would be of a 'scene' of something happening. But these scenes would not have to be in linear order."
<Random_Nerd> Attaris: "So it's only a matter, then, of working out the way to align the right bit of Creation with the right bit of the Outside? If your theory is right at all, I mean."
<Theresa> "I am not sure, Ymera. I, personally, think that it would be highly improbable that the process could be reversed, Creation to Outside, but I am not entirely sure of the full abilities of Imperators, especially one such as yourself."
<Theresa> (That would be before her last speaking, if possible.)
<DanteE> (She’s trying to encourage the prophecy to come true _right now_, you realize that.)
<Theresa> "I do not know how it could be done, Ymera. I, personally, would not want to lose the Wildlords who have graced our Creation with so many wonders."
<Random_Nerd> Attaris: "Perhaps you don't understand my perspective. Many of us have been looking for a way home for a very long time. How old are you, Noble? A hundred?"
<Theresa> "Actually, ma'am, I'm only about 60 human years. I haven't been a Noble long."
<Random_Nerd> Attaris: "Some of us have been trying to find a way for thousands of years."
<DanteE> (Has she ever intervened in a fight with Exs?)
<Theresa> "Ah,"
<Random_Nerd> (You don't know.)
<DanteE> (I'm going to bet she hasn't...)
<Random_Nerd> Attaris: "If you say that it's merely very difficult, but we have a working theory that we can experiment with... that is still a great accomplishment."
<Kite> (So she's never tried to defend creation?)
<Random_Nerd> Attaris: "Good work, Noble. You have my thanks."
<Theresa> "I do not wish for any of the Wildlords to die, ma'am."
<Theresa> (Woudl _you_ want the Age to be on the front lines?)
<Random_Nerd> (If she dies, it is entire possible that the world ceases to exist.)
<Random_Nerd> (Like, Heaven, Hell, Tree, the whole thing.)
<Kite> (True)
<Random_Nerd> (It would be bad.)
<DanteE> (Unless we do something _now_ they're going to try it!)
<Random_Nerd> An arm of glittering thorned vines and eyes like peacock feathers rests on Theresa's forehead. "And you have my blessing."
<Theresa> (..If I say...well, crap.)
<Theresa> O.O
<Random_Nerd> The vast shape of Attaris withdraws within the earth faster than seems possible.
<DanteE> "NO, it won't be difficult. It will be _impossible_."

  • Theresa looks at Kudzu, wild-eyed?

<Random_Nerd> Kudzu looks at Ophaniel.
<Random_Nerd> Ophaniel looks at HQB.
<Brian> O_O O_O O_O
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "DO NOT DO ANYTHING RASH."

  • DanteE steps up to the mike.

<Random_Nerd> HQB: "WE NEED TO INVESTIGATE THIS. WE HAVE BEEN TRYING TO LEARN ABOUT THIS FOR MANY CENTURIES."
<DanteE> "Let me mention... what Plants' Regal told you were the exact words Jan ben Jan told us.
<Theresa> (Let the Imperator talk, Dante! He speaks in Caps! He speaks for the trees!)
<Brian> (he doesn't speak in SMALL CAPS ... HE SPEAKS IN ALL CAPS!)
<DanteE> "Note what he said... dying would cause the _destruction_ of several estates, because the theory is exactly opposite."
<DanteE> "If it were possible... the Estates would survive on the other side of the Wall."
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "We're far from certain what Jan ben Jan meant, or even how much this is true and how much is conjecture."
<DanteE> "The theory he mentioned? The one where the opposite is true? It's the efforts to 'align' both sides and cross over."
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "But for the first time in a long while, we have hope."
<Theresa> (No, actually _we_ have Hope.)
<Theresa> (She's watching over Ftisk.)
<Theresa> (Yes, instead of Guarding the Horses, we now have Guarding Ftisk.)
<Brian> (ack, after midnight. I should pumpkin! But my god, this session!)
<Random_Nerd> HQB, angling toward Theresa and Dante: "I hope that our Noble hosts will not mind if we wish to speak among ourselves for a time?"
<DanteE> "The theory of crossing over to the outside is _wrong_. It _will not work_."
<Theresa> "We defer to our Lord Kudzu in this matter."

  • Kite takes the hint and flies off to....probably Locus Vulcan.

<Theresa> (And I'm not cutting the mic, because they're Imperators. They can probably hear our cells divide.)
<Brian> *brian will take his leave*
<Random_Nerd> HQB, quietly: "The world that Jan described... we are already stepping outside it. All here have heard his words, and will take actions based on them."
<DanteE> (uhoh)
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "It may be that, because we know that a tempting and intuitive plan is backwards, that we can find another one, that /will/ work/."
<Theresa> "Again, sir, I do not wish the Wildlords to die."
<DanteE> "We need every Wildlord, every friend of Creation, _here_ for the Age's end."
<Theresa> "But it is not for me to think about ordering the lords and ladies of the Wild around."
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "Do the Wildlords wish the same, Theresa? Enough not even to risk it, for a chance for our people to discover a way home?"
<Theresa> "I do not know, sir. I do not know how _I_ would even choose, between death or the possibility of going home. I just know that my heart aches."
<DanteE> "There _is_ _no_ possibility of going home."
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "That is, if I myself don't turn out to be an Excrucian infiltrator, the fetch of a living summoner. I do not know if that prophecy should make me doubt myself even more, or less."
<Random_Nerd> HQB, to Dante: "How can you know that?"
<Theresa> (Don't tell a Wildlord that they can't do something. Sanity, crutch, and you're a mortal.)
<DanteE> "Because convincing you otherwise is what a Mimic would want.
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "Mimics can want as they like. Their wishes do not shape the world any more than mine do."
<DanteE> "Think: Eprot Appeka disappears, and a not-quite-Eprot appears in his place.
<Brian> (Ah, and here we see HQB starting to doubt his loyalty to creation)
<DanteE> "And... has the Lord of the Age ever intervened in a fight with Excrucians?"
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "I myself persuaded her not to. The costs should she be lost would be catastrophic."
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "I can tell you that I am sure that she is not a Mimic, though."
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "No known mimics were created before the War."
<DanteE> "How can you know that?"
<DanteE> (note the ironic echo)
<DanteE> "Besides, if Time is here, then over there there is no 'before the war'."
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "But she has been, as you put it, 'over here'."
<DanteE> "OK... where was she before?"
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "And to become a mimic, she would have had to die. Her estates would shatter. There would /be/ no Estate of the Third Age, and you and I would not be having this conversation."
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "She was Outside. Just as I was, as your own lord was."
<DanteE> "How would you know if the Third Age survived before it even started?"
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "Because it /did/ start."
<Theresa> (Ow. My brain.)
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "How do you know you didn't die as you slept last night?"
<DanteE> "_An_ Age started.
<DanteE> "Do you know it was _that_ age?
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "It's not the Fourth Age. Ananda would have mentioned it, of that I am sure."
<Theresa> (You don't take another Lord's Age, man. s' not cool.)
<DanteE> "If Attaris is a Mimic... she'd inherit the Estate of something-like-the-Third-Age.
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "Yes. But not the real thing, because that Estate would be outside the world."
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "But a new age did begin. I was there. I saw it."
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "The Phoenixes were reborn. A new Lord took the throne of the world."
<DanteE> "Yes... the Age of Pain."
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "Didn't say I /liked/ it. But the world continues to exist."
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "If the Estate was gone, I think that would have been it."
<DanteE> "I am wondering if it is possible that that was an incomplete echo of the Age That Should Have Been..."
<DanteE> "Maybe even an age free of War, an Age on Not-Pain."
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "Or a world of far greater Pain of which this is only a shadow. Or of an endless Lobster Quadrille."
<DanteE> "If Ananda were to suddenly _melt_, and someone you've never heard of was there saying 'I'm the Fourth Age now', how would you react?"
<Random_Nerd> He mutters to himself a bit of the Mock Turtle's Song.
<Random_Nerd> "What matters it how far we go?" his scaly friend replied.
<Random_Nerd> "There is another shore, you know, upon the other side.
<Random_Nerd> The further off from England the nearer is to France --
<Random_Nerd> Then turn not pale, beloved snail, but come and join the dance."
<Kite> (Is an endless Lobster Quadrille such a bad thing, really?)

  • Theresa looks around for Ftisk.

<Random_Nerd> HQB: "I have one other reason to believe she is no mimic."
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "We have not lost the war."
<DanteE> (Attaris, HQB, and RN have manipulated things so that the prophecies will come true.)
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "The power of the Lord of the Age is immense. Were it turned against us, I do not think we would be doing this well."
<DanteE> "Wouldn't that _destroy_ the Estates they're fighting over?
<DanteE> "Creation has been losing Estates, one-by-one, yes?"
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "But not all at once."
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "All she would need do is let them kill her, and all would be lost. She has not."
<DanteE> "Because of a subtle hand--or tentacle-- manipulating things so."
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "She would not need to be subtle, I fear."
<DanteE> "That would not be true if it wasn't the original Age."
<DanteE> "If it's a fake Age... she _needs_ to be subtle, and fight a long war to get everything they're after."
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "I see that I cannot convince you. I will say, then, that I do not believe it of her."
<DanteE> "I... will admit I have no proof. But there is circumstantial evidence.
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "A fake Age, a mimic before the War even began... you can always conjecture something unprovable."
<DanteE> "And... if the prophecies are true having them come to pass would play right into Their hands."
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "Whose hands? Jan's?"
<DanteE> "Excrucians.
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "He does have rather a lot of hands, I suppose. And he is very nearly plural, at least."
<DanteE> "Think of this as Pascal's Wager for the modern day."
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "But what in the prophecies says anything about Exrucian plans?"
<DanteE> "You _cannot_ let them come to pass."
<DanteE> "For all those other reasons, and... we need you here.
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "I think you mean 'should not'."
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "And I will keep my own counsel in that regard."
<DanteE> "And we need every being here to stay on this side of the wall."
<Random_Nerd> HQB: "I respect you, Courage, but I will not delegate my decisionmaking to you."
<DanteE> "I wouldn't want it. :) "
<Theresa> (Don't show your teeth to an Imperator! They might take them!)
<DanteE> How are the other Wildlords responding?
<Random_Nerd> Ophaniel, to all of you: "I think it's time for us to go."
<Random_Nerd> They're talking among themselves since the speeches ended.
<Random_Nerd> Ophaniel: "They'll want to talk this over between themselves."
<Brian> "Let us go, yesyes"
<Theresa> "We will be available through Lord Kudzu if needed."

  • Theresa bows to the assembly and will book it.

<Theresa> (Hey Brian, shall we drag Dante away with us?  :) )

  • DanteE exeunt.

<Theresa> (Ah, Dante has his own bears. Cool.)
<Theresa> (Theresa would like to go and drink heavily but knows she cannot in case she is called upon. Plus, probably not enough alcohol available.)
<DanteE> "William. DO the Aides have an emergency Attaris-may-be-a-Mimic file?"
<Random_Nerd> William: "Just one?"
<DanteE> "Of course. I want to see them."
<DanteE> "Also, everything you have on Cneph."
<Random_Nerd> William: "I'll have to talk to Luc, but I think he'll be amenable."
<Random_Nerd> William: "On that, we have next to nothing."
<Random_Nerd> William: "Some old Imperators say he exists, some say he doesn't, maybe he made the first Angels, nobody's seen him since before Time was invented."
<DanteE> "And contingency plans in case a third of our guests are dead in the morning."
<Random_Nerd> William: "Our knowledge in detail goes back at best a couple hundred years."
<Theresa> "Is a copy of this meeting available to the Aides?"
<Random_Nerd> William: "We have recorded it up to this point. I have chosen to have the recording devices shut down now that the Magisters are discussing in private. They might take it amiss."
<Random_Nerd> William: "Shall we gather the materials and meet with Luc tomorrow?"
<DanteE> "as soon as possible."
<Theresa> (Good idea not to film the Imperators talking privately...)
<Theresa> "How much are the Oracle betting pools enjoying this?"
<Theresa> "And has anyone else ever been blessed by the Lady of the Third Age?"
<DanteE> "Probably not nearly as much as the ones who created the Aides' Existential Threat Protocol."
<Random_Nerd> William: "I don't know."
<Random_Nerd> __________STOP_______________
<DanteE> Well, no guts no glory. :)

  • Kite is now known as Verithe
  • Brian is now known as lazarus
  • DanteE is now known as Knockwood

<Random_Nerd> What'd you guys think of the session?
<lazarus> Loved it
<Knockwood> We're all dead, aren't we? :p

  • Theresa is now known as BethE

<Random_Nerd> Oh, and HQB isn't necessarily right. That's just what he thinks, he wasn't being a GM mouthpiece there.
<BethE> Holy crap. I feel like I'm kind of...responsible if the Wildlords die off.
<Knockwood> I'm challenging a belief he's held on to for the entire Age.
<lazarus> And now I has to sleep
<BethE> But then again, I'm a beth.
<lazarus> G'night
<BethE> Night, Laz!
<Knockwood> Beth: Oh, that's because you are.

  • lazarus (~mmacmarti@MagicStar-4C03AE0B.dsl.bell.ca) Quit (Disintegrated: lazarus )

<BethE> I know! Lots of people tell me that I'm a beth! Weird, isn't it?
<Knockwood> no, I mean responsible
<Knockwood> Then again, we were manipulated to this point by... well, everybody. Including RN./
<BethE> I have been told 'Good job breaking it, Noble.'  :P
<Knockwood> Why do you think I was asking about Cneph?
<Random_Nerd> So, who thinks that went well, and who thinks it went poorly?
<Knockwood> Plus, it's on the Nobilis Campaign Checklist and we haven't touched it.
<BethE> I think that as a session, I think it went well! As for Theresa, she wants to go get drunk.
<Verithe> I have to run (or, rather, sleep....hopefully) take care, all!
<Random_Nerd> I mean as a Thing The PCs Did.
<Knockwood> Yeah... good session. Creation's screwed, but good session. :p

  • Verithe (~chatzilla@MagicStar-87C3188A.lightspeed.livnmi.sbcglobal.net) Quit (Disintegrated: ChatZilla 0.9.90.1 [Firefox 31.0/20140716183446] )

<Knockwood> BTW....
<BethE> Well, it's something Big for the End of the Age. Attaris can't say we haven't been helping on that end.
<Knockwood> waaaay back when we talked to Attaris, she said the events that would start the ball rolling were coming soon. Has that happened yet?
<Random_Nerd> What do you think just happened?
<Knockwood> or is that due to Elastic Time?
<Knockwood> ...
<BethE> I think that this. And our Meeting.
<Knockwood> Anyhoo. See you next week.
<BethE> Night, Knock! Good job tonight!


Chancel_Amyra
Chapter 37