Session 36

Chancel_Amyra
Chapter 6

New chapter!
And welcome to Rylenor as our new James!

Teaser:
[Theresa] (Well, it's just that we _could_ give him that big of a burger, if we wanted. It might even fall under Urban.)
[Carrie] (Soyburger?)
[Theresa] (Do you want to give a giant werewolf a veggieburger and hope he can't tell the difference?)
[JamesUrban] (In no interpretation of my estate would creating giant hamburgers fall under it. Mayor McCheese maybe.)
[Random Nerd] (Fast food definitely falls under Urbanization, I think.)
[Random Nerd] (Just like the Power of Horses could probably make a saddle with no trouble.)
[Random Nerd] (Or, for that matter, Brian could probably make a calculator, or Carrie make an inspirational book.)
[Brian] (Brian IS a calculator. *raspberry*)
[JamesUrban] (I can see that. I can see making a fast food place, but not just a giant burger.)
[DanteE] (James probably creates Starbucks by accident when he sneezes.

[BethL] Visiting the king is cool. [g] How are the borders set up, by the way? (I'm not sure how to phrase what I want to say...)
[Random Nerd] Hmm. What do you mean, about the borders?
[BethL] Just thinking about the missing soldiers. If the borders automatically open for us to wherever we want to go, then how can we go to where the soldiers are for trying to leave?
[Knockwood] Having trouble parsing that...
[Etheric] I thought we had used Realm Divinations to find the part of the border that opened to where we wanted to go?
[BethL] Hmm, true.
[Random Nerd] Well, first you need to find where the soldiers are, before you can work out how to go to them.
[BethL] I'm just not sure how easily the borders would let us get to the missing soldiers.
[Knockwood] Did they actually get out, or just get lost?
[Random Nerd] They appear to be out of the Chancel. I don't believe any of you have checked yet, though.
[Knockwood] I'm risking a R0V, but... a way out could be a way in.
[Etheric] I did a Realm Divination of Destinations last time.
[Etheric] That told me that they'd left, and where they were headed when they did. Though it can't watch them once they're outside.
[Random Nerd] Ah, okay. And yeah, they are outside of the Chancel.
[Etheric] Perhaps, Knock, but that doesn't mean it'd be obvious to the soldiers. I mean, some of these exits are dead-end alleys in cities. Others are in forests. Others are in mazelike buildings.
[Random Nerd] Yep.
[Random Nerd] It's been established that the chancel links up to every large city or forest in the world.
[BethL] Gotta catch 'm all...
[Knockwood] (Eth: not necessarily _soldiers_ coming in...)
[Etheric] Oh -- we're nixing Demanding, aren't we? Or did we do that last time?
[Knockwood] I think we wanted everybody here to vote on it...
[Random Nerd] Let's vote on it now.
[BethL] Nix.
[lazarus] nix
[Etheric] Nix it.
[Knockwood] and I'll make it unanimous.
[Random Nerd] Nixed it is. That leaves you with, I believe, eight Dynasty Points. Correct?
[Random Nerd] And in general, it'll take more time and effort on a Harvest than that, but it made good dramatic sense so it works.
[Etheric] According to my math, that counts the Harvest I just did, but not the ones Dante and Theresa had done previously.
[Knockwood] Does the one I did in the police station count?
[Random Nerd] How much time did Dante spend in the police station on the harvest?
[Knockwood] Not too long, we were a little busy...
[Random Nerd] I mean, it was a minute or two, right?
[Etheric] I had actually been thinking of the one in Moscow.
[Knockwood] Then again, there was probably a lot of free-floating courage.
[Etheric] And Theresa's Harvest of Crabgrass.
[Random Nerd] It's supposed to take "a substantial amount of time."
[Random Nerd] How long did he spend in Moscow?
[BethL] (*ponders Harvesting ragweed from the world. Power of Allergies and also of Pharmaceuticals would both probably be ticked.)
[Etheric] Hmm, probably needs more than a few minutes.
[Etheric] I knew I was in Philly, but somehow I'd forgotten that Dante was the one who went with me.
[Knockwood] (Thanks a lot!
[Random Nerd] Okay, now, most of these probably shouldn't count. 4 DPs is a big thing, and it generally takes more than just a token effort.
[Etheric] What about the crabgrass one? That did happen off camera, but she did spend quite a bit of IC time on it.
[Knockwood] (Beth, try the puppy eyes)
[BethL] (No can do. It doesn't work over computer lines and it barely, if ever, works in person. I'm much more susceptible to his sad looks.)
[Random Nerd] That counts, because it both appeared on-screen and represented a significant amount of offscreen effort.
[Etheric] So, lessee... Twelve? Or are we no longer counting Carrie's Hope one?
[Random Nerd] Hmm. Shall we say 10 points on hand at the moment, and not drop the "significant effort" clause in the future?
[Knockwood] Hm... what would you think of opportunistically harvesting courage from people I stumble upon who are scared?
[Random Nerd] Dante still needs to devote at least several hours to working on it.
[Etheric] Deputize Lesson and go around scaring gang members!
[Knockwood] He does that on his own...
[Etheric] Yes, but then we don't get DPs for it!
[Random Nerd] The way I see it, even with the significant effort requirement, a Great Harvest is one of the most useful Imperator qualities in the long run.
[Random Nerd] (Doesn't have to be all on-stage time, but it has to be several hours offscreen and at least some time on that establishes the rest of it.)
[Knockwood] Yeah, but it still sounds like I might wind up choosing between Harvesting and participating
[Etheric] Who's to say the Harvest can’t be done *while* you're participating?
[Random Nerd] I mean, if I do enforce the "significant time" requirement, do you all think that the Harvest isn't worth having?
[Etheric] Maybe take an Anchor? You have Aspect 2 -- you can multitask. Possess your Anchor to do the dirty work, and participate distractedly with your own body?
[Etheric] Could James use Lesson to harvest Courage? Or can James only harvest Urbanization?
[Random Nerd] The Noble has to do the harvesting.
[Random Nerd] But you can have your Noble PC do it, and then play an anchor who's with the group.
[Etheric] On the topic of our question, RN, I think it's still worth keeping the Harvest, even with the "significant time" requirement.
[Knockwood] Maybe it's a 2-stage thing, collect the stuff then 'refine' it.
[BethL] Yeah, I think Harvest would still be worth it, just..maybe make sure that you make it greatly descriptive?
[Knockwood] Supposedly we can do one harvest per session, right?
[Random Nerd] Max, yes.
[Random Nerd] Also, I notice that all of you seem to be almost totally unwilling to spend DPs as MPs, even when it's getting to the end of the story arc and everyone's pool is dry. Is there a reason for this?
[Knockwood] We're saving them for the inevitable dangerous surprise you're plotting.
[Rylenor] Fear of Excrucian ambush?
[BethL] Myself, I feel like the DPs are communal and thus I feel weird about using them.
[Random Nerd] That's what they're for.
[Etheric] I keep forgetting they're there, to be honest.
[lazarus] Part of it is the saving, part of it is the forgetting, part of it is the using only the rare miracle in the first place
[Random Nerd] Should I remind you of the option to use them when you're talking about being out of MPs?
[Etheric] That'd be helpful, I think.
[Knockwood] And we're long-term planning to turn Kudzu into a fuzzy bunny anyway.
[BethL] But Knock, we already have a bunny.
[Knockwood] (Which we still need to deal with, growth-wise...)
[Etheric] Monty is male, correct? If not, turning Kudzu into a bunny might not be the best idea...
[BethL] I'm sure Kudzu would like the idea of a bunch of little Kudzus running all over the place...if we could find a bunny to impregnate him. Her. Whatever.
[lazarus] Even if we do remember we have DPs, often what we want to do is a Realm thing, anyway. So it pays to choose the one with the most MPs anyway.
[BethL] (Dynasty Points can't be used as Realm points?)
[lazarus] (Beth: as long as we all can use them, we should try to use the least possible. *raspberry*)
[Random Nerd] Dynasty points can be used as miracle points, 1 for 1.
[Random Nerd] They can be used as any sort, Aspect, Domain, Realm, and theoretically even Spirit.
[Etheric] I think laz is saying that it should be the two of us with Realm 2 who use DPs for Realm miracles.
[lazarus] And preferably the person with the highest Realm who has the most MPs left at the time.
[Knockwood] Plus, we essentially waste a point if we do a attribute+3 miracle...which would be a Creation of anything in my case.
[Etheric] Well, it's counter-theme to be stingy with MPs...

When we last saw Our Intrepid Heroes, they'd just established a working relationship with the government of Amyra, and announced their presence and a somewhat slanted version of their nature and purpose to the people.
Moments before, the titular Monarch of Amyra has just sent a servant to request a meeting with them at some point in the near future.
[DanteE] (Who else is here right now?)
[Theresa] (Are we fastforwarding through our tour for Carrie and just arriving at the Palace?)
[Brian] (I say up to the palace.)
[Random Nerd] (I believe you're still standing outside the Capitol building with the king's messenger standing by.)
[DanteE] "So... shall we talk to the king?
[Brian] "Let's go"
[Theresa] 'I didn't have anything else planned for today, I think."
[Carrie] "I say we'd accept, but I'd like to put something a bit nicer on. It's one thing to address Parliament. It's another thing to meet the king."

• Carrie grins.
  

[DanteE] "Heh... it's automatic for me."
[Theresa] "Silk out of nowhere is a bit out of my range..." *passes a hand over her crisp linen suit-dress*

• Carrie is currently wearing immaculate white robes, which are nonetheless not quite as formal as one would expect to meet royalty in.
  

[Brian] (RH to Carrie) "Hon, you know you can just make a Creation of Clothing..."
[Carrie] (RH) "You're taking all the fun out of this..."
[Random Nerd] (Guising's less controllable, though. And Carrie would have to spend two Aspect MPs on it, I believe.)
[Carrie] (That's correct.)
[Brian] (RH) "Am not. Think about how fun it is to change mid route ... *GRIN*"
[Carrie] (RH) "It's sort of disorienting to have to stabilize anyone looking on, though. Takes a lot of attention."
[Theresa] "Well, the page said that they would need at least an hour to be prepared. Break for everyone to primp and meet at the Tower to travel together?"
[Brian] "Hey, T, think you got a nice suit in you that'll fit me?"
[Theresa] "What color? Pinstriped? I can't do wool either..."
[Brian] "Whatever you think would look good"

• Theresa looks at Brian and shrugs. A smart looking suit appears on Brian, pinstriped, in an appropriate dark color.
  

[Carrie] (Oh... Do we all have the limitless credit cards?)
[Brian] (Of course, my dear Carrie *grin*)
[DanteE] (Until Lesson tries to buy Canada.)
[Carrie] (It's been a while -- I couldn't remember if you'd given me one or not.)
[Brian] (If I haven't, you can ask for one right now and bam. It's within my power, when I'm full on MPs, but I don't remember what level it was)
[Carrie] (What was it? Major Preservation of Numbers? Or Lesser?)
[Random Nerd] (That just takes a Lesser Preservation on a bank balance, although that doesn't let you spend more at one whack than you have in the bank.)
[DanteE] (Or you could do a LC and crank your balance as far as you need it... *smile*)
[Carrie] (Well, Brian can do Lesser Creations for free.)
[Brian] ("What? Do you think money grows on trees?")
[Theresa] ("Uhh...")
[Random Nerd] (You know, it's perfectly acceptable to just say "I have some nice clothes at home" and go change.)
[DanteE] (It can, if you want. *smile* )
[Carrie] (That's what I'm trying to do, but I don't have a car, you see. How did we get here anyway?)
[Brian] (Yes, yes it is. I like my miraculous clothing, thank you.)
[Brian] (I thought we mostly drove.)
[Theresa] (Took Dante's car?)
[Random Nerd] (You can say "Our car is over there," too.)
[Rylenor] (The Ex's have found our Achilles heels and will be putting us through fashion shows with no time to change now.)
[Carrie] (*laughs*)
[Brian] (What can I say? We're PRETTY Nobilis :-D)
[Rylenor] (Finding sentient giant trees, no problem. Finding something to wear....well that's just hard.)
[Random Nerd] (Just get the Major Creation of Prettiness, Self Only, Automatic Gift.)
[Carrie] (I have that! Sort of.)
[DanteE] (That's Guising. *smile*)
[Carrie] (No, Guising doesn't do prettiness. It makes you fit in. Big difference.)

• Theresa nods. "Okay, Dante, can you take Carrie home and get ready. Brian and I will walk back to the tower. Then we'll all go to the palace."
  

[DanteE] (Actually... did the authorities do the paranoid thing and have the military show up in force for our talk?)
[Carrie] (I wouldn't be surprised..)
[Random Nerd] (Not really, although there were police standing by. Sending in the military worked so well /last/ time, after all.)
[DanteE] (How about do a Lesser Creation of a copy of that humvee over there, but different color?)
[Theresa] (Plus, I think the Lesson and Friends escort would have made them twitchy.)
[Brian] (Lesser Creation of Pretty Car?)
[Theresa] (You could make it a Humvee Limo even...)
[Carrie] (Speaking of which, where's Lesson now?)
[DanteE] (Plus, I was thinking Lesson and the BoM should have their own vehicle to they don't have to commandeer buses.
[Random Nerd] (Lesson's standing next to you, making angry-faces at any reporters who try to get too close to you guys.)
[Carrie] (I could throw in a chauffeur, if I wanted, but Carrie's mind's not up to that yet.)
[Carrie] ( No Hopemobile just yet. )
[DanteE] "Hm... what _would_ they think of me when they see my car... "
[DanteE] "Come on, we'll head back to the Tower."
[DanteE] (What say we just FF to the meeting itself?)
[Theresa] (Sounds good to me. Although, Theresa would ask Brian to do a Realm preservation/improvement of Lesson's outfit.)
[Brian] (Sure, will do.)
[Carrie] (Ah. Assume all the prettying up happened offscreen then.)
[DanteE] (We have the weirdest tendency to go off on tangents...)
[Theresa] (We were moving the demon box again.)
[Random Nerd] (Indeed. It never fails to surprise me that a group of people with roughly the power level of the JLA will spend forty minutes arguing about the best way to get fancier pants.)

[Theresa] Once at the palace, murmurs to the others, "What was that rule about showing respect to humans again?"
[DanteE] "Don't.”
[DanteE] "One of the major rules is Thou Shalt Not Take Shit."
[Brian] "It's not don't show respect, but don't take orders. There's a difference."
Lesson: "Sounds just like home."
[Random Nerd] (It's not just not taking orders. It's a more restrictive rule than that. After all, Rule 2 of Nobilis is "Entropy is a dick.")
[Random Nerd] (Rule 1 being "Do Not Taunt Happy Fun Imperator.")
[Brian] (... this is how Brian understands it. I fully realize that at some point he'll likely be ... talked to ... about his liberal interpretations of the rules.)

• Brian will enter.
  
• Theresa looks at Lesson. "Umm, Lesson...some of the...artifacts inside probably wouldn't react well to your...demonness. You should stay outside."
  
• Carrie is wearing an elaborate white gown that goes down to her ankles.
  

[DanteE] "Guess you'll be our rear guard, Lesson."
L: "Fine with me, ma'am. I still don't get human religion."
[Carrie] (Speaking of which, after having thought about it, I think Carrie's Episcopalian.)
L: "Anything you want me to do as I wait?"
[Random Nerd] (And did you bring the whole BoM, or just Lesson?)
[DanteE] (Probably the whole group, they're our 'honor guard')

• Theresa gives Carrie a white flower for her hair.
  
• Carrie smiles at Theresa.
  

[Theresa] "I think it'll go well with the gown."
L: "Okay, we wait out here for the Bosses to finish their chat, and try to look as impressive as possible. And (to Ick) /do/ stop scratching. Your flesh is starting to peel."
[Theresa] "This shouldn't take long."
The Palace is a very old and fancy building made of white marble, build along lines you'd expect from the bizarre hybrid of a Roman architect and an Arabic one. Certain aspects of its appearance seem to be based in complicated ways on either the Tabernacle or the Solomanic Temple.
[DanteE] "Well, you never know. He was sort of in charge...”
[Theresa] "If something starts emitting light...other than Carrie...shut your eyes."
[DanteE] "Kudzu did a great cosmic tinkle in his Cheerios."
[DanteE] "He's probably not happy."
[DanteE] (Anything interesting to the Sight?)
[Random Nerd] (There's something miraculous in there, from the faint glow, but you can't see it through all the mundane matter in the way.)
[Carrie] "You never know, Dante. He might feel honored that his realm was chosen for this."
[DanteE] "Heh. true--depends on how well Theresa sold it. "

• Theresa looks around for people and plants. "I dunno..His Majesty is responsible for a lot of important artifacts. I mess with his mind or soul and we could be at Ark-con 1 in no time."
  

[Carrie] (Incidentally, when Rylenor joins, what would you all think of taking that Chancel point we're holding in escrow, making the King a 2-point Erus, and buying an Allia with those points, which would be an unspecified artifact within the palace?)
[Brian] "So ... are we just going to chat about meeting him, or actually going to meet him?"

• Theresa will head in, then.
  
• DanteE goes up and pops open the doors.
  
• Brian enters.
  

The doors are wooden, and seem to have come from a tree about the same size as Red. They're very heavy, and gilded in places, with the occasional topaz.

• Carrie follows the others, regarding the guards as she thinks a ruler ought.
  

Inside, there's a guard on either side of the door, each with a sword that's probably older than some countries. They don't respond to your presence in any way. Standing inside, in the hallway, is the same messenger in blue that had previously spoken to you.

• Theresa keeps heading farther and deeper in...although she did caress the doors as she moved through them.
  
• Carrie gently nods to the messenger.
  

Messenger: "Ah, yes. Shall I accompany you to the sitting room?"

• Brian will move purposefully toward the inside
  

[Carrie] "Certainly."
"His Majesty will be with you in a moment, so please follow me. Would any of you like anything to eat or drink?"
[Theresa] "No, thank you. I'm quite fine." *follows*
[DanteE] "We're all right."
He leads you into a room with a vague circle of chairs in the middle, and bookshelves lining the walls.

• DanteE keeps watch with the Sight.
  

[DanteE] (...for whatever RN's planning to spring on us...

• Theresa will examine the books!
  

Between the leather on the chairs and that on the binding of the books, and the wood on the floor, bookshelves, and so on, this room seems to have required the use of a small forest and a herd of cattle.
"Please, have a seat, he'll be with you shortly."

• DanteE grabs a chair.
  
• Theresa thinks that maybe the ancestors of Red's cows are present in the room...
  

[DanteE] (And possibly the ancestors of Red, as well...)

• Carrie sits down and folds her hands.
  
• Brian stands and waits.
  

"Can I get you anything as you wait?"

• Theresa will pace, looking at bookspines. But not touching.
  

[Random Nerd] (Now, given that you gave advance notice, they're almost certainly deliberately keeping you waiting.)
[DanteE] ("Yes, do you have the Beatles' White Album?" [- name that movie)
[Theresa] (*pokes Carrie* Perfect Timing? [g])
[Random Nerd] (Perfect Timing doesn't prevent people from deliberately keeping you waiting, in general.)
[Random Nerd] (Due to the fact that the wait is not a factor of the time of your arrival, but of the intent of the people. The fact that you're still waiting does, though, demonstrate that it's deliberate.)
The books are almost all leather-bound, and none of them were written within the last fifty years. Given how well they look on the shelves, and the somewhat haphazard arrangement of subjects and authors they were almost certainly arranged and probably bought mainly on the basis of them looking good in a decorative way.

• Carrie will let them keep us waiting for a bit. She inhabits her mother's mind for a moment, asking how things are going with the liaison-ship.
  

[DanteE] "Check the religion section, maybe it can shed new light on the Da Vinci Code."
[Brian] "You know that's fiction, right?"
Helen: "They've got a lot of questions, which I'm trying to answer as best I can, dear. Anything I should tell them?"
[DanteE] "You never know, Leonardo was a genius..."
[Theresa] "Well, there _is_ a book here by Leonardo Da Vinci...something about how to pick proper models, I think."
[DanteE] "Ah... does it mention Mona Lisa?"
Lot of books of theology or history of either Amyra or the Holy Land, but they're not all gathered in one place.
[Theresa] "My Italian is a bit rusty and it doubt it has an index."

• Theresa will resist rearranging the books. Really.
  

[Random Nerd] (Nobles understand all languages. Perk of the job.)
[Theresa] (Oh, I had forgotten that from Moscow.)
[Carrie] (Anchor) "We've covered most of the important things, I think. Are there any questions you had trouble answering, or that you'd like an official position on?"
H: "Most of the questions seem to deal with how often you're likely to change things, what your goals are, and that sort of thing. I'm trying to be noncommittal."
[DanteE] ("We promise not to eat anyone's brain or firstborn for at LEAST a week, and certainly not without alfredo sauce..."

• Theresa will pull the Da Vinci book and do a quick skim past the naked people pictures.
  

[Random Nerd] (Skipping right to the Hot Ornithopter On Ornithopter Action section?)
[Theresa] (Ooo, baby. And notices the stripping Mona Lisa flipbook in the margins?)
[Carrie] (via Anchor) "That's the right tack to take. But reassure them that we don't want to change things substantially, and where we do want to change things, it's needed to protect the people and Creation itself."
[Theresa] (Or if we have a whim. That whole 'Don't Take Sass from Humans" thing.)
[Carrie] (Anchor) "If they need reassurance, you can tell them a little about the Code of the Wild... But try to avoid the 'sanity is a crutch' part. I've got to go now -- take care!"
Two guys in absurdly formal clothes, in the same shade of blue as the messenger although not the same cut, come in the door. One says in a proclaim-type voice "His majesty, John the Thirty-Seventh!"

• Theresa turns toward the door, sliding the book back into the shelf.
  

A moment later, a somewhat tired looking man in his late thirties walks in the door. He's in what looks like a more or less normal three-piece suit, except for the fact that it's all spotless white. He's slightly balding and growing a short beard, and a little tired looking. Looks like the sort of person who might be cast as an accountant with very few lines.

• Theresa inclines her head slightly. "Your Majesty."
  
• Carrie zones back in and nods to the King, acknowledging his presence, but rather more formally than she did the servants.
  

[DanteE] "Good evening."
[Brian] "Good evening, your Majesty"
He looks at the two herald-type guys, and waves a hand at them. They leave the room in perfect unison.

• Brian will offer to shake the king's hand.
  

"Thank you for coming at such short notice. I apologize for the delay."

• DanteE stays in his chair.
  

He pauses for just a moment, and then shakes Brian's hand.

• Carrie does a quick divination to see if they're being watched by anyone other than the King.
  

[Random Nerd] (Nobody's watching you, but a number of people are sitting around wondering nervously what'll happen, including two of the Arm Guys in the Bureau.)
[Theresa] "We just happened to not have anything world-threatening happening."

• Theresa will take a seat. *squeak squeak*
  

"First of all, I wanted to congratulate you on becoming the rulers of this fine country..."
[Carrie] "King John, I am Carrie Winters, Sovereign of Hope. I am pleased to make your acquaintance."
"And no, no titles, please. As far as I can tell, you're at least my peers, correct?"
Dante: (Sight check?)
[Random Nerd] (He's a regular human, shows up dark on the Sight. You're somewhat closer to the Shiny Thing, but not enough to make out details through the walls.)
[Theresa] "A bit more than that. We are under orders from a being higher than ourselves that we cannot show respect or..." *handwave while searching for word* "Bow to humans."
[Carrie] "Of necessity, we are superior to the mortal authorities. You are still the King of Amyra."
"That connects, actually, to one of the questions I had for you. My understanding of the arrangement is that if I support you and don't interfere with you or your Ymera, I will remain theoretical head of state, and will be permitted to continue my duties as before, and to pass them on in the normal way to my son, afterwards. Is that correct?"
[Brian] "That is correct"
[DanteE] "Yes."

• Theresa looks at the others. "Sounds right. I don't know if any of us would be capable of continuing your sacred duties."
  

"I do not believe it would be advisable to try, at least. I don't know how much of the ritual and tradition is needed to keep the Holy Things pacified and how much has just accumulated over the years, but I do not wish to experiment. It is entirely possible that my role is a necessary one."
[Theresa] "Indeed."
[DanteE] "...I'm inclined to agree."
"Also, I wished to ask if there was any way that I could make the transition of authority easier for you by means of my support?"

• Carrie considers.
  

[Carrie] "If you do so, the ideal would be for you to do so on your own initiative. We would not wish to make suggestions which might seem binding as commands."
[Theresa] "And we wouldn't want you to lie either, if you don't like us."
[DanteE] "By the way, any ... unusual visitors to the Holy Things since ...”
[DanteE] (How did Theresa explain the enChanceling?)
[Theresa] (Vaguely! )
[Random Nerd] (Vaguely. And incidentally, I don't believe that any of you've mentioned the word "Ymera" to the world at large.)
[Theresa] ( RN - o.O )
"Well, what /are/ your intentions for this country?"

• Carrie pauses.
  

[Theresa] "Excuse me, John, a moment...where did you hear the term Ymera?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. Is there a nuance to the term I'm unaware of? Would Imperator have been more correct?"
[DanteE] (The Sight would spot an Anchor, or miracles in force, right?)
[Random Nerd] (Greater miracles yes, lesser ones no.)
[Random Nerd] (I don't believe an anchor would show up, but there are other ways to spot them.)
[Random Nerd] (Oh, no, Anchors show up. And he isn't one.)
[DanteE] (Do Cams show up?)
[Random Nerd] (Nope.)
[Carrie] (Ahh. Sneaky, if that's it.)
[Carrie] "Either is correct, but to our knowledge neither is common knowledge. So we are wondering if perhaps there is a tradition passed down in the royal family that tells of such things."
"Not as such, no, miss. Rather, I was approached a number of months ago by a rather puzzling creature who made a strange offer."
[DanteE] "...creature?"
[Theresa] "Months?"
"I didn't take him up on it, but I remembered it, and after watching the things you said today, I put two and two together and assumed that you had taken on that role."
"Yes. About four months."
[Theresa] "What did this creature look like?"
"Well, it kept changing."

• Carrie does a Realm Divination to identify the creature. She doesn't *expect* it to turn anything up, but that will be an answer of sorts.
  

[Random Nerd] (What criteria are you using in the divination?)
[Carrie] (How many weeks has it been since the EnChancelment?)
[Random Nerd] (About two weeks or a little less.)
[Carrie] (Criteria, hmm. Who approached King John at the time her refers to, offering him Nobility?)
[Random Nerd] (Nothing that is in the chancel at this time and not immune to direct miracles offered John Nobility.)
[DanteE] (OK, tentative add to the story: would it be 'safe' to say that's about when I got in the fight where I lost the eye?)
[Carrie] (Okay, how about this. Is King John truthfully recounting his memory?)
[Random Nerd] (If you want to say that that's when you lost the eye, it won't interfere with anything. I don't believe the timing on the lost eye has been established so far.)
[Carrie] (That's a second Div btw.)
[Random Nerd] (He is, barring minor memory distortions due to the fact that it was months ago and so on. He's not deliberately trying to trick you.)
[DanteE] (Well, if Kudzu was there, and possibly the old Scion of Courage...)
[Theresa] " ... Did it have plants and bricks and traffic lights as a general body theme?"
"Not traffic lights, but that was the general theme, yes."
[Theresa] "What was the offer?"
"I would take on responsibility for a certain abstract concept, and in return, would be granted the powers I needed to preserve that thing."

• Theresa smiles. "Wow...you got _asked_."
  

[DanteE] "Heh... I'll be damned. You met our Imperator before we did."
[DanteE] "What specifically did he offer you?"
[Theresa] to Dante: "John probably got his choice of any of them."
"Responsibility, and the power to carry it out, more or less. I believe it was implied that immortality was available."
[DanteE] "I meant what abstract concept?"
"At any rate, I politely refused. I didn't understand the offer well enough to know if it was a good idea, and I already have enough responsibility for this nation and the things in it "

• Carrie nods thoughtfully.
  

"I don't believe it was specified."
"Oh, and was the other one really an angel?"
[DanteE] "Other one?
[Carrie] "Another one? It could have been... But even we have not met two."
"The one I can't remember clearly. For some reason, I thought it was an angel, although I don't think it said anything."
[DanteE] "... any chance it had 6 steel wings?"
"But I've always wanted to meet one of them."
"I'm afraid I can't tell you. I don't remember a single detail of its appearance."
[Carrie] "Angels are indeed of the Ymera. But, tell me. Did the Angel make a similar offer?"
"It just watched, as far as I can recall."

• Carrie looks somewhat perplexed.
  

[Carrie] "It appeared to you at the same time, or afterwards?"
"At the same time, more or less. I'd had a feeling, before, that I was being followed. And I think it may have been that 'angel.' But I didn't see it clearly... well, I /never/ saw it clearly. But it wasn't openly visible before when the other one showed up."
[DanteE] " ... did it leave blood on the carpet?"
"This was outdoors. I was going for a walk in the forest when they came."
"I do that, sometimes, when I want to take a break from being King, and just be a guy going for a walk."
"And I don't recall any blood."
[Carrie] "Please understand... Those like us, and most certainly those above us, are immune to all miraculous sight. So we cannot verify any of this. We have no reason, though, to doubt your word."
"Thank you, miss."
[Carrie] "Please address me as Domina, or Sovereign. There are formalities to keep up, even though I'm sure you get tired of them. To be honest, this is new enough to me that they're not quite as tiresome, but there are also important reasons for the formalities... Like there are reasons for the rituals you perform."
[Theresa] "Our intentions, John...are the same as yours. We want Amyra to live and flourish. And we also have to protect those aspects of reality that each of us are in charge of."
[DanteE] "The difference is, the caliber of the threats has changed."
"Very well, Domina. I'm sorry, it's just that you're not that much older than my niece, so it's hard to remember who you are and why you're here."
to Dante: "Oh? Err, Domin..us?"
[DanteE] "Yes. You know your Latin...”
"It's a requirement of the job, sir."

• Carrie smiles. "It's quite all right. Sometimes I have trouble remembering as well, even with this power like a sun in my heart."
  

[Theresa] "Instead of other countries trying to invade Amyra, we deal with those from Outside of Reality who wish to make us...never have been."
"At any rate, I just wanted to say that I know you have a hard job, and I'm willing to help out if I can. And I wanted to be able to say this to you person-to-person, rather than tell somebody to tell somebody to tell somebody to tell you."
[Carrie] "Of course."

• Theresa smiles very warmly. "Thank you. It's nice to hear it in person."
  

[DanteE] "Thank you."

• Brian nods.
  

[DanteE] "Did you get one of those 'special' bouquets, by the way?"
"I beg your pardon?"
[Carrie] "Good thinking, Dante."

• Theresa thinks. "No, those were just passed out at Parliament.." *reaches behind her chair and Creates a really nice one* "Here, John, an easier way to get a hold of us."
  
• Carrie turns to the King. "We gave each of the Members of Parliament a bouquet of our Flowers, so that, by looking at our flower and thinking of one of us, they will be able to contact us wherever we are. I admit we should have thought of you first, but it was somewhat hurriedly put together. We are breaking new ground, in many ways."
  

"Could you please explain?... Domina?"
"What do you mean by 'thinking of one of you'?"

• Theresa looks uncomfortable. "Some would call it praying?"
  

[Carrie] "Keeping our name and flower in mind, and sending your hopes. That is how I would call it."
[Brian] (on ‘ending’ instead of ‘sending’) (That's an easy way to Harvest... )
[DanteE] (/me grabs the typo fairy swatter.)
[Carrie] (Hush, you.)
"I'm sorry... I don't think that I can do that. I'm not allowed to pray to any other gods. Part of the Rules. I'm not sure what would happen if I did that, but it might not be good."
[DanteE] "Well, 'pray' is not _quite_ the right word...
[Theresa] *nods* "We are also available at *Tower's Conference Center's unlisted phone number*."
[Carrie] "If it's a risk you need not take, then you need not take it. If you wish, find someone in your staff who can serve as a liaison."
"I'd rather not chance it, even still. As long as I keep the Rules, Amyra stays happy and prosperous, it seems, and whenever they get broken, people start dying."

• Carrie nods slowly.
  

[Theresa] (Entropy iza Di...oops, wrong 'rules broke, people dying' moment.)
[DanteE] "People start dying?"
"Now, maybe it'd be okay. But when you've got that sort of thing hanging over your head, you're careful."
"Well... ever see Raiders of the Lost Ark? According to some of the stories they toned it down a bit."
"And just look at what happened to Camelot."

• Carrie thinks.
  

[DanteE] "Ah yes...those."
[Theresa] (*nudges Dante* Did you not pay attention in Amyran History class? [g])
[DanteE] (He's talking Germany and England!
[Theresa] (Bah, any schoolchild knows what happens if the King fails in his sacred duties! Chaos! Panic! Dogs and cats living together!)

• Carrie does a Lesser Realm Divination to try and determine if the King praying to one of us would put Amyra in harm's way.
  

[Random Nerd] (The Relics, and the entire room they're in, are immune to divinations, in the same way as if they were part of the body of a Noble.)
[Carrie] (Figures.)
[Random Nerd] (I mean, you /could/ just go walk over and see them. It's doubful that the locks and guards can stop you, after all, and the king's just a skinny guy with a title.)
[Random Nerd] (Might not be a good idea, though.)
[Carrie] (You're telling this to Courage?)
[Random Nerd] (Well, he's not the Power of Sticking Your Hand In The Blender. That guy got Excruciated.)
[Random Nerd] (Good riddance, too.)
[DanteE] "Speaking of which, I'd rather like to see it."
"For that matter, there's a lot of this in the Bible. People who act disrespectfully to the Ark, even if they mean well, just die."
[DanteE] "By the way... the nature of your visitors will probably change.”

• Theresa sits up straighter in her chair. "You know, the Mythic spirits of such artifacts might have great wisdom, in and of themselves."
  

[DanteE] "Fewer couples from Duluth and more ... well, angels."
[DanteE] "These guys might run around with the wings and nimbi.”
"According to the family legends, we've gotten some of those in the past. I'd never seen one myself except for that one a few months ago, and even then I could have been mistaken."
[Theresa] "Are people other than yourself and family allowed to be in the presence of the Objects?"
"Well, I'm required to bring my son to them at certain times. But otherwise, not really."
"Even I can only go to them when performing certain rituals."
[Theresa] (Is an attack from the Ark considered tact. nuke level?)
[Random Nerd] (None of you has the Rite of Holy Fire up that I'm aware of...)
[DanteE] (Wasn't it assumed that we got those?)
[Brian] (We got the basic Rites.)
[Random Nerd] (Well, you know it. But it takes a long time and a big ritual to put it up.)
[Carrie] (True.)
[Random Nerd] (Yeah, a full night of ritual under starlight, with candles and chanting and stuff.)
[DanteE] (Please--we live at a college. A few kegs and a band and they'd never know anything's unusual. )

• Theresa hmms. "Now, I'm quite curious." (Anything plant-related in the Ark?)
  

[Random Nerd] (Hmm. The ark had Aaron's staff in it, which had sprouted.)
[DanteE] "Have you seen what's inside it?"
" 'It'? Which one?"
[DanteE] "The Ark of the Covenant."

• Theresa will take a Div looking for the Staff.
  

[Random Nerd] (It's in this building, in a particular room.)
"Yes, I have. We have a replica, I believe at the museum, and it's very accurate."

• Theresa will talk to the Staff, politely, via ghost miracles?
  

[Random Nerd] (The staff won't listen to you.)
[Theresa] (*mental inaudible raspberries!*)
[DanteE] "... I'd still like to see it. We all would.”
[Brian] (meekly) "I wouldn't"
[DanteE] "Possibly as a courtesy to a fellow sovereign."
"I can't prevent you from seeing them, I don't think. But I really would advise against it. Bad things sometimes happen when people go to see them."
[DanteE] "Well... none of us are Nazis."
[Theresa] "I'm not sure I'm up to Wrath of God today. Is there anything that you were needing us for, John?"
[DanteE] "Carrie, do you want to see it?"
"If you must see them, please, at least give me a few days to read through the books and find any rituals I can to help propitiate them."
[Rylenor] (Do Not Taunt Happy Fun Ark)
[Carrie] "I might wish to some day, but there is no reason to rush things, I would think."
[DanteE] "Hmph. Outvoted by my own Familia Caelestis. All right, I'll wait."
[Theresa] "Difference tween Courageous and 'Poke till It Blows Up', I think, Dante..."
[DanteE] "I wasn't going to _poke_ it. Maybe talk to it."
"The Grail would be less of a problem than the Ark, I believe. It's not quite as touchy."
"The Lance, of course, is right out."
[Theresa] (Yep. Cleavage present.)
[DanteE] (OK, as Amyrans, we'd know what all he's supposed to have... what's he got?)
[Random Nerd] (The Ark, the Grail, the Lance, and an assortment of lesser relics that everyone has to memorize in school and then promptly forgets.)
[DanteE] (Including enough 'pieces of the True Cross' to start a small forest?
[DanteE] (Oh... can we check their authenticity with Realm Divs?)
[Theresa] (I think John would know if they are authentic or not. Like glowing if they're ticked or just sit there like toothpicks.)
[Theresa] "The Staff of Aaron doesn't want to talk to me, Dante. And I'm _Plants_."


Chancel_Amyra
Chapter 6