Session 40

Chancel_Amyra
Chapter 6

[Knockwood] We need to do something about Monty first before RN springs the trap.
[lazarus] Yeah, but we were on our way to Mexico.
[BethL] As yes, Mexico. The soldiers are there. And confused. And quite probably causing trouble.
[Knockwood] Ah, we need to head back to Kaerkoven to find the magic alley to Mexico City anyway.
[JamesUrban] Tequila will solve all our problems.
[Random Nerd] Bah. Why go to somebody else's Mexico when you can just make your own?
[Random Nerd] Greater Creation of Mexico.
[Random Nerd] Bam.
[lazarus] It's another Tequila Sunrise...
[JamesUrban] And big ole rabbits got me down...

[DanteE] "So... the way to Mexico City is back thataway (toward town).
[Brian] "Let's go."

• DanteE hops aboard the NobleMobile.
  

[Random Nerd] (By the way, Monty isn't a /trap/, exactly. Think of him as... a plot seed that I'm storing away for a rainy day? So if I need something dramatic to happen, I've got a few options that're tied in to something that's been a setting element for ages.)
[Theresa] "This way and that. Hope the soldiers are holding together okay. Then again, the PM didn't say how long they were sent out ago..." *gets in*

• JamesUrban guises and hops in the car.
  
• Brian hops in.
  

[DanteE] "I would like to take care of Monty before he has his own grav-well..."
[Random Nerd] (Oh, it'll take weeks until he's the size of the moon. Maybe even months.)
[DanteE] "Lesson... don't go nuts with the office supplies."

• Theresa mutters, "That's no rabbit..."
  

Lesson: "Anything I should take care of while you're gone?"
[JamesUrban] "Continue with your duties, and see to furnishing your new HQ appropriately"
L: "I will do so, Dominus."
[DanteE] "And don't wrap your new vehicle around a tree, you'll piss everybody off."
[Theresa] "Especially the tree."

• DanteE drives back to the Clock Tower.
  

[JamesUrban] "Did you have a specific solution to the Monty problem in mind, Dante?"
[DanteE] "Well... if one of us could attack the growth itself, that might help...”
[DanteE] "Then again, it would depend on what exactly Kudzu wants with him.”
[DanteE] "At some point it did occur to me that Kuzdu may have wanted a contained storm...which would mean, at some point he might ... let's say 'open him up' and have the storm waste whatever it's pointed at.”
[Theresa] "Like the rest of the Chancel?"
[DanteE] "Like the rest of Creation."
[JamesUrban] "I do believe Monty is meant to be a weapon of some sort, whatever the target, so I agree with that assessment."
[DanteE] "Remember his speech in the clearing?"
[Theresa] "Not off the top of my head...which clearing? We've been in a few..."
[Carrie] "You mean when he said he would destroy the world if he chose?"
[DanteE] "That's it."
[Random Nerd] (What? Kudzu say ominous things involving a lack of concern for things like human lives or the laws of nature? Perish the thought!)
[Theresa] "I don't think Monty's a weapon except by coincidence."
[JamesUrban] "Well if he gets moon sized, we can just drop him in orbit around Neptune, nobody would probably notice another moon there.”
[Theresa] "It'd give the telescope guys a bit of a freak out, though."
[DanteE] "How would you get him there?"

• DanteE pulls up to the clock tower.
  

[Theresa] "Preserve him and throw? Hope that nothing's in the way?"
[JamesUrban] "Lesser Creation of a gate to Neptune maybe? I'm not sure what the limits to making outbound gates are here yet."
[DanteE] "Let's look at what we're dealing with..."
[Theresa] "I think it might be population of people or trees, James. Although I haven't seen anything yet that really gives a definite rule to it."

• DanteE hops out.
  

[DanteE] "Cities or forests, basically.”
[DanteE] "So unless Lovecraft had it right, we'll need to figure another way. And if he did, we _definitely_ want to figure another way..."

• Theresa gets out as well, stretching.
  
• JamesUrban strolls over to the Monty room and peeks in.
  
• Brian will follow.
  
• DanteE heads on up.
  
• Theresa heads over as well and will peer in. How are the plants holding up?
  

[Random Nerd] (Still holding up, as the miracles sustaining them have held.)

• Carrie stands up and lingers outside a bit with Theresa.
  

[Carrie] "What do you think they have in mind?"

• Carrie follows.
  

[DanteE] "Hm... has he been eating the plants at all?"
[Theresa] "Dunno. For all we know, Dante will have us hold open Monty's mouth and then jump in."

• Theresa will check the plants to see if any of them complain about having been chewed on.
  

[DanteE] (For the record, that was Theresa's idea. Apparently she wants to be Courage...
[Random Nerd] (As before, the plants have been chewed on and eaten some.)
[Random Nerd] (However, Monty continues to not excrete.)
[Theresa] (Actually, it came up in conversation with RN earlier last week or earlier. [G] Silly conversation.)
[Theresa] (Enough plant stuff to keep him alive?)
[DanteE] (Any chance that storm is actually a black hole?)
[Random Nerd] (If there was a black hole in there, you'd be able to tell.)
[Carrie] (Do black holes actually exist in the Nobili-verse?)
[Random Nerd] (Also, he would be /very very small/.)
[Random Nerd] (Yes, they do. They just don't matter much.)
[Theresa] (Has he eaten enough plant stuff to keep a rabbit of his size going?)
[DanteE] (How big is Monty now?)
[Random Nerd] (Two-thirds Godzilla-size.)
[Random Nerd] (He's eaten about a fourth enough to sustain a rabbit his size, even not taking into account the food needed to sustain his growth.)
[Theresa] "Hmm...he's nibbled some, but not _nearly_ enough to keep him alive, especially at that size. Like it's a force of habit or something."
[Random Nerd] (The habit thing would be consistent with his other actions. He acts /somewhat/ rabbity, but to a limited degree.)
[DanteE] "... he's self-sustaining."
[Theresa] (Hey RN...you said earlier that Nobles have the ability to speak all languages...does that include beast languages?)
[Random Nerd] (Animals in the prosaic earth don't have languages.)
[DanteE] "More storm than rabbit."
[JamesUrban] "We should just give him celery, I hear that actually burns calories."
[DanteE] (What does Monty look like in Mythic view?)
[Random Nerd] (He looks mostly the same, but he's more still, and the turmoil in his eyes is more visible.)
[Theresa] "Hmm...I could change that, James." *smile*
[DanteE] (OK, you guys want me to get et by a rabbit so bloody much...
[Theresa] (I just don't know what getting eaten by a rabbit would do except be fun to watch.)
[DanteE] (Give us an up close view of the storm.)
[JamesUrban] "What do you think would happen if we poked a little hole in him. Maybe like a putting in a pressure valve or something? Kinda like a pressure cooker."
[Brian] "Kill the little rabbit?"
[DanteE] "Let the storm out?"
[DanteE] (Quick: are there mythological accounts of 'transport rings' (jump in one, come out the other), or are they strictly RPGs?)
[Random Nerd] (Closest I can think of is fairy rings, but that's not transportation.)
[JamesUrban] "Let a little bit out presumably. Of course, if he pops like a ballon, we'd be in trouble."
[DanteE] (And if he flies around the universe like a popped balloon, we'd be in huge trouble. *smile*
[Theresa] "We're probably going to be in trouble eventually for something, might as well be something unusual."
[DanteE] "Know what... time I made my years of D&D playing pay off.”
[DanteE] "How's this sound... we either find or make two rings I can jump through... Then make a 'tunnel' between them. Then I take one ... in.”
[Theresa] "Make a tunnel? The words are ones I know but together they don't make sense..."
[DanteE] "How about Wormhole?"
[Theresa] "Ahh. That I get. My husband used to read more science fiction than myself and he liked the idea of them."
[JamesUrban] "Permanently on or able to be activated? Like a gate?"
[DanteE] "Gate, but small enough to take somewhere."
[Brian] "... but why?"
[Theresa] "Sanity is a crutch?"
[DanteE] "Good answer."
[Theresa] "It comes in handy more and more often."
[JamesUrban] "It would probably only work in chancel."
[Theresa] (Would such a gate creation be a Gift or a thing of Realm?)
[Random Nerd] (You could do it with Realm miracles.)
[Theresa] "Hmm..I could make a framework that could be collapsible into a pocketsize, but someone else would have to make the tunnel part.”
[DanteE] "Come to think of it... that might help with the soldiers, too, if it'd work in Mexico.”
[DanteE] "Either that or stuff 25 people into the Humvee."
[DanteE] "Theresa... do it. Make it of sturdy stuff, though.”
[Theresa] (Hmm..how's this sound, a frame about the size of two people wide and one person+a foot tall. Made of strong hard wood, but jointed so that it can be folded and collapsed into a pocket for lewd jokes?)
[Random Nerd] (Plausible enough, especially given the use of preservations to make unusually strong wood.)

• Theresa makes the framework as was described from her thinking above, including a preservation because if it's being used by Nobles, it's going to get banged up.
  

[DanteE] (Don't forget the other end.)
[DanteE] (Probably shouldn't be collapsible.)
[Theresa] (The other end shouldn't or neither should be?)
[Random Nerd] (Now, remember, setting up such a gate, or changing where it goes, will take a Lesser Change of Realm.)
[DanteE] (Other end shouldn't... or if it is, it should open automatically if something comes through.)
[Random Nerd] (That's right. Set it up with both frameworks in one place, do the miracle, and the other end passes through and opens up.)
[Theresa] (Can we make that a property of the tunnel itself? That it automatically opens up the other end, no matter what, if someone is coming through?)
[DanteE] (Now the fun part... can we pull the gate itself through?)
[Theresa] (Turning it inside out?)
[Brian] (That just hurts my brain.)
[Random Nerd] (One end has to be in the Realm, or it falls apart. And keeping the other end active elsewhere would take regular Realm MPs to sustain.)
[Brian] (Just like all good Nobilisy things should do. )
[DanteE] (I mean taking the gate back with me when I bail out of Monty's stomach. *smile*
[JamesUrban] (We could make it a property that when it is activated, the two pieces come together at the exit point, so the gate is always just a one shot thing that has to travel with you.)
[Random Nerd] (Really, why make two pieces? Make one, and give it the property of existing at both ends while the gate is active.)
[Theresa] (Some type of activation button or phrase to turn it on?)
[DanteE] (In that case, you make one ring, and the Realm miracle splits it in two.
[Theresa] (We have the Ring. Now we just have to watch it.)
[DanteE] (If it's always on, you can talk through it too.)
[Random Nerd] (Buttons would just be for show. How this works is all about miracles.)
[JamesUrban] (So like one piece and a remote control that opens a gate. Like in Slider's or Al's door in Quantum Leap)
[Random Nerd] (It's not that you can toss a miracle, and give the framework the ability to make gates. It's that you do a lesser change, and that makes a gate.)
[Random Nerd] (If you want to make the framework able to make gates, without you doing any miracles, that'll take a Gift in a Focus.)
[Theresa] (Ah, so I provided the computer, the Realm miracle provides the Net connection?)
[DanteE] (How about: you make a ring that's really two rings one on top of another, then put in a miracle that says they don't have to actually be together for something going in one end to come out the other. *smile* )
[Random Nerd] (Hmm. Think of the ring as a chalk diagram you're using to mark the place that you want to knock a hole in spacetime.)
[DanteE] (They'd have to either both be open or both be collapsed at the same time, but that's minor.)
[DanteE] (Ooh... you could do it with a Destruction of Distance. *smile* )
[Random Nerd] (Okay, is this settled? You have a ring. When you do a Lesser Change of Realm on it, it will be in two places at once, and things on either side can pass through freely. When you turn the miracle off. it's just a ring.)
[Random Nerd] (Realm Creations and Destructions have to be of concrete things. Distance is abstract.)
[DanteE] (So Destruction of Separation wouldn't work either? *smile* )
[Random Nerd] (Realm Destructions can destroy mundane objects, or properties of mundane objects. That's it.)
[Random Nerd] (This will take a Change.)
[DanteE] (Whoops... OK, quick digression: will the NobleMobile continue to exist if we drive it to Mexico?)
[Random Nerd] (It was created with a Creation of Realm? Then, only if you sustain it. That costs RMPs.)
[DanteE] (Crap.)
[Theresa] (We still have your previous car, Dante.)
[DanteE] (Yeah, but that also means the Pres of Operation I threw on it is probably gone...)
[Random Nerd] (I have mentioned this need for sustaining in the past. For example, when you healed Lesson's chest with Realm miracles, I mentioned that if he went outside the Chancel for the first week or so he'd need RMPs spend to sustain his healing.)
[DanteE] (Anyhoo, we're about to do something really goofy. Shall we?

• Theresa sets up the wooden ring and bows to Dante. "Your transporter awaits?"
  

[DanteE] "OK, we'll make it a group thing..."

• DanteE raises his sword-cane to split the ring in two when someone throws the miracle.
  

[Random Nerd] (Just to say it again, when you cast this Lesser Change, the person doing it will open a gateway between the ring and another specified place. This gateway will either exist only while the person doing the Change sustains it, or else will take a second Change to stop it.)
[Random Nerd] (When the Change is in effect, things will be able to pass freely either way through the gate, but when it ends, the two places will be separated again.)
[Random Nerd] (Is this acceptable?)
[DanteE] (How long are we talking about? Then again, could just be 'long enough'.)
[Random Nerd] (As long as it's sustained, if you do it that way, or else until someone casts another Lesser Change to stop it if you do it /that/ way.)

• Theresa looks at the others who have more of a connection to the Chancel than she does to do the honors of punting Dante into Monty's nether regions.
  

[JamesUrban] "I can create the gate and sustain it if you wish to venture into the beast. But I warn you, I doubt I can recreate it once I drop the connection anytime soon"
[DanteE] (I was thinking of taking one ring with me into his mouth... you got something against me?
[Theresa] (Oh heavens no. [G])
[DanteE] "Let's do it..."

• Theresa is reminded of her chemistry classes long ago...dropping a piece of sodium into a bucket of water...
  
• JamesUrban sits upon the ground and concentrates. Slowly area inside the ring shivers like heat waves until it becomes a window from one to the next.
  

[JamesUrban] (Lesser Change of Realm - Gate making. Rite of the Last Trump Spirit 3 -] 1 RMP + 3 RMP for deep miracle.)

• DanteE whacks the ring into two rings at the appropriate time.
  

[Brian] "I do hope this doesn't explode..."
[Random Nerd] (And the other end of the ring is inside Monty, correct?)
[DanteE] (That's where I'm going to take it.)
[Brian] (how much to create an impenetrable shield between us and the rabbit?)
[Random Nerd] (Wait, what's the current arrangement? Which places does the link connect?)
[Random Nerd] (Define "impenetrable".)
[Theresa] (I'd like to be able to hear through it and air is good...)
[Brian] (If the rabbit explodes in some kind of Miraculous overdose, that we won't be harmed. )
[DanteE] (I was thinking: split one ring into 2 rings with a lateral cut, anything going in one ring comes out the other)
[Random Nerd] (And Laz, short of a Major Change, there's no miracle that can't be trumped by a bigger one.)
[Random Nerd] (Even Major Changes can get trumped by bigger MCs or gigantic Aspect miracles.)
[Brian] (I don't have enough power for that right now, do I?... I guess I just duck if need be.)

• DanteE tests it by sticking his arm through one ring.
  

[Random Nerd] (Your arm seems to function fine while bridging the gap between the two rings.)
[DanteE] "Excellent."

• DanteE collapses the ring(s).
  

[DanteE] "Carrie, Theresa, hold on to this end...
[DanteE] "James... I need a ride."

• JamesUrban continues concentrating on sustaining the miracle and watches Dante through Theresa's end of the link. "Kinda busy."
  

[Carrie] (What do you mean by collapsing exactly?)
[DanteE] (Theresa made it a folding ring.)
[Theresa] (Kind of like a tinkertoy. It can go from a large ring to a tiny bunch of connected pieces, folded up.)
[Carrie] (Ah, so it folds into a semicircle?)
[Random Nerd] (Sort of like a 2d hoberman sphere.)
[Carrie] (What sort of sphere?)
[Carrie] (Well, nevermind...)
[Random Nerd] (Uh... *googles*)
[Random Nerd] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoberman_sphere)
[DanteE] (Ah, James, you're the only one of us who can fly.)
[Carrie] (Oh, one of those.)
[JamesUrban] "Just walk on into his mouth."
[DanteE] "Its mouth is 20 stories up!"
[JamesUrban] "Get a beanstalk ride up."
Monty glares at all of you with eyes the size of hot tubs.

• Theresa tucks a spring of parsley behind Dante's ear before he rises. *grin*
  
• DanteE hops on a gigantic leaf.
  

[Random Nerd] (By the way, where are all of you standing, relative to Monty and the "outside" ring?)
[Carrie] (I think Theresa and I are holding it?)
[JamesUrban] (I had assumed we'd be doing the other ring part outside of Monty's room lest something bad happen)
[Brian] (Behind the big glass window that I thought was there, and away from the ring.)
[Random Nerd] (Okay.)
[Random Nerd] (Right now, the other end of the ring is in Monty's room.)
[Random Nerd] (And how could /anything/ bad happen?)

• DanteE looks Monty in the eye.
  

[JamesUrban] (Oh my god he's full of stars!)
[Random Nerd] (Standing still, looking right at you.)
[Random Nerd] (And, as before, his pupil is all black-on-black swirly.)

• DanteE fakes a blatant yawn.
  

[Theresa] (We're about to feed a storm-based megarabbit a Sacrosanct Noble treat. Without steak sauce.)
[DanteE] (With a ghost realm miracle of extra contagiousness.
[DanteE] (And remember, Theresa, this was YOUR IDEA.)
[Theresa] (I stand by it. If you die, I'll apologize to your replacement.)
Monty's mouth is open just a crack. A crack you could fit a car through.
[Brian] (I REALLY want to just run away right now ...)

• DanteE yells "GerONIMO!" and Aspect-jumps in.
  

Monty's fur /twitches/, all over.
He scratches an ear with one of his hind feet. The ground rumbles.
[Random Nerd] (Both rings are closed, right?)

• JamesUrban watches through his end of the outside ring like an interesting nature documentary.
  

The sensation Dante experiences is somewhat like being in a dark submerged cave filled with crazed flying knives.
[Random Nerd] (If he was out of Deadly Wounds, he would take a Serious Wound.)
[Random Nerd] (As it is, it hurts like hell, but doesn't impair him.)

• DanteE talks into the collapsed ring. "Kirk to Enterprise."
  

[Carrie] "Yes, Dante?"
[Theresa] "Fascinating, Dante."
Along with Dante's words, a stream of blood, swirling sharp pieces of metal, and dark amorphous shapes starts to drip through the other end.

• DanteE puts the ring in a pocket.
  

[Carrie] "Dante? Are you all right?"

• Theresa Creates a bloodtight container under the drip.
  

It slows and stops.
[DanteE] "Yeah, luckily I'm nigh-invulnerable.”
[Random Nerd] (Now, without Aspect shouting, they wouldn't even be able to hear you. By the way, when you open your mouth, the Montystuff flows into your throat and lungs.)

• Theresa, remembering the heart operation, looks for any contamination around where the blood spilled.
  

[DanteE] (What do I see?)
It's dark in there.
[JamesUrban] (Spoon!)
[Random Nerd] (You are in danger of being eaten by a grue.)
[DanteE] (More like I'm shouting into my shirt pocket...)
[Brian] (It's likely to be a grue-some death.)
[DanteE] (And while I'm at it, I'll put the shirt over my nose & mouth.)
[Random Nerd] (Your shirt is in tatters.)
[Random Nerd] (Imagine what it'd look like if you put it in a washing machine full of blood and double-edged razors.)
[DanteE] (Aren't my clothes protected by my Auctoritas?)
[Random Nerd] (This isn't a miracle.)
[Random Nerd] (And you don't have Holy Fire up.)
[DanteE] (Why the heck not?!?)
[Random Nerd] (Also, even if it won't cripple you, having razor-sharp pieces of metal and corrosive demon blood in your throat /hurts/)
[Random Nerd] (Because you never put it up...)
[Carrie] (Holy Fire... I knew we were likely forgetting something.)
[Theresa] (I feel very bad right now...)
[Random Nerd] (It takes a whole long ritual. You've never done it.)
[DanteE] (What's the storm look like?)
[Random Nerd] (It's dark in there. No source of light.)
[DanteE] (OK, Mythic view.)
[Random Nerd] (It looks like having your eye slashed with a knife in utter darkness.)
[Random Nerd] (Even in the mythic world, sight is sight.)
[Random Nerd] (Now, you could do a Realm Creation of something that glows.)
[Carrie] (Making light would be possible with a Ghost miracle, right? Miracles of convenience?)
[Random Nerd] (Sure, that would work. Yeah, you can make cheap generic-brand-knockoff light with a ghost miracle.)

• DanteE ghosts a will-o-wisp over his head.
  

It looks like blood, and sharp wrought iron, and swirling, and darkness.
[DanteE] (Can I see into the center of the storm?)
As far as you can tell, it's fairly homogenous. Doesn't get stronger or thicker in some particular place.
[DanteE] (It's gotta swirl around something...)
[Random Nerd] (Rather, imagine that there are various internal forces pushing it around in various directions.)
[Random Nerd] (Where two push up against each other, there is swirling at the edges.)
[Random Nerd] (Like if you put two paddles in the water, and move them parallel to each other in opposite directions.)
[Random Nerd] (Except that the motive force is provided by the internal conflicts of the materials.)

• DanteE retreats toward Monty's jaw.
  

[Random Nerd] (Monty has closed his mouth.)
Also, for anyone watching outside, his eyes are /gleaming/ a bit.
He seems to be enjoying this.
[DanteE] (Even better, I'm not leaving, just regrouping.)
[Random Nerd] (Okay. Up in the mouth area, you're mostly out of the storm.)
[DanteE] "Girls, you there?"
[Carrie] "We hear you, Dante."
[Carrie] (Not sure if he can hear us, though... I'm not yelling or anything.)
[Random Nerd] (Aspect 2's more than good enough to hear them.)
[DanteE] "I'm not going to get anywhere without protection, even with what I've got.”
[Carrie] "You want to come back through?"
[Random Nerd] (By the way, you feel like hell.)
[DanteE] (Is there any indication that there's somewhere in the storm other than the generalized maelstrom?)
[DanteE] (Some kind of source or eye?)
[Random Nerd] (As far as you can tell, there's not a single center or eye. It's just the material interacting. Like a bar of sodium tossed into a tank of water, if the sodium never got used up.)

• Theresa swears some under her breath. She didn’t think it'd be _that_ bad in there.
  

[DanteE] "Coming out."

• DanteE heads for the mouth.
  

[Carrie] "Out the ring?"
[DanteE] "Gonna try the mouth first."
[Carrie] "All right."
[Random Nerd] (Okay, now, Monty has jaws the size of a house, which are currently closed tightly.)

• DanteE pushes the jaws open.
  

[Random Nerd] (What level aspect miracle?)
[DanteE] (What does 2 do?)
[Random Nerd] (In this context, nothing discernable.)
[Random Nerd] (As for the closing, that is somewhat surprising. It really seems deliberate on his part.)
[Random Nerd] (That's a surprising amount of agency for him to demonstrate.)
[DanteE] (I knew it.)
[DanteE] (Aspect 4.)
[Random Nerd] (Aspect 4 still won't do it. You'll need at least Aspect 6, because this is "not even vaguely feasible for humans" territory.)
[Theresa] (*raises an eyebrow in thought..*)
[Random Nerd] (No existing animal on earth could open those jaws.)
[Random Nerd] (Now, I mean, Dante /can/ do Aspect 6 miracles. And you have the gate. You aren't stuck.)
[DanteE] "Monty?
[DanteE] "I know you can hear me, your ear's right there.”
[DanteE] "And if we opened Pandora's Box the way I think we did, I bet you can understand me."
Monty does nothing, but a slight red glow passes across his eyes for a moment.

• Carrie listens in, a bit curious.
  

Monty's internal turmoil kicks up a notch, and starts swirling up into even the mouth area.

• Carrie is going to try a Lesser Realm Div, to answer the question, "What are Monty's current intentions?" If it fails, it fails, but might as well make the attempt.
  

"To digest Dante"
[Random Nerd] (Okay, let me be a little more clear. "To digest this thing I ate." Monty doesn't really understand who or what it is.)

• Carrie reports calmly, "Dante, I believe he's decided he wants to eat you..."
  
• JamesUrban yells into the ring on our side, "His eyes are showing a bit more intelligence, so something is going on."
  

[DanteE] "Fuck."

• DanteE pops open the ring.
  

Now, Carrie and Theresa are at the other end...

• Carrie covers the surroundings in a Lesser Realm Preservation of Safety and opens her side.
  

[Carrie] (Surroundings include me, but it's your call, if I did the miracle in time.)
[Random Nerd] (Okay, Theresa is Durant, and Carrie is ordinary, right?)

• DanteE Aspect-2 hops through the ring...
  

Blood and sharp metal spray out, overpowering the Preservation.
Dante is disgorged in a massive flood of high-velocity danger.

• Theresa yells at Carrie to let go of the ring and tries to swing the ring away so Carrie doesn't get hurt.
  

[Random Nerd] (Either of you going to do an aspect miracle to dodge?)
[Carrie] (Hmm. If I get another action, going to try a Major Realm Preservation. If not, I couldn't use Aspect anyway.)
[Theresa] (Nah, going to hold onto the ring and try to direct away from Carrie. Will take the hurting.)
[Random Nerd] (You need to react /fast/. Finely-split-second fast. Aspect's the only real way to do that.)
[Carrie] (Okay, in that case, Aspect 4 dodge.)

• Carrie lets go of the ring as her mundane action.
  

Theresa, as you turn the ring, the flesh on your dominant arm is flayed away.
Also, your face and torso get cut deeply as you turn it.

• Carrie blinks, and in a split second moves across the room and away from the path of the ring in the blink of an eye... But perhaps not fast enough.
  

Carrie dodges just in time.

• Theresa grits her teeth, but still keeps going.
  

[Brian] (If Brian's in the area of effect, than he'd take the damage)
[Random Nerd] (You have a better chance to escape, given that you'd backed up some and were observing with caution.)
[Random Nerd] (They were right by the ring, and so had to act really fast.)
The near wall of Monty's enclosure is smashed and shattered by the flow of blood.
Sunlight comes in.
Monty looks at it for a moment, and then prepares for a jump.
[Theresa] *roars* "NO YOU _DON'T_, MONTY!"
[DanteE] (Can I react before he does?)
[Random Nerd] (You can, Dante.)
[Brian] "I TOLD you this was a bad idea!"

• Theresa mutters "I will apologize once we're done freaking out, okay?"
  
• JamesUrban drops the gate miracle as soon as Dante is through.
  

[DanteE] (Damocles Block on the opening.)
[Random Nerd] (What level miracle is that?)
[DanteE] (Creation of a huge blade...)
[Random Nerd] (Well, huge as in six, eight feet tall?)
[DanteE] (Haven't done squat with Domain all adventure.)
[Random Nerd] (You'd need a Greater Creation to make a blade that doesn't seem like a toothpick compared to Monty.)
[DanteE] (Crap, don't have the Domain.)
[DanteE] (Need 3, have 2.)
[Theresa] (How about an ironwood chunk in front of the hole to cover it? What would that be for me?)
[Random Nerd] (Again, Monty is gigantic. Lesser Creations won't stop him. And you'd have to hold on to the ring with merely-human strength to do so, Theresa.)
[Carrie] (I could do something with Domain if I wanted to majorly violate the Wild Code...)
[Random Nerd] (Okay, he's about to jump. If you're going to violate your Code, now's the time.)
[Carrie] (Well, Kudzu's Code and not mine, but I think I'm going to try something else...)
[Random Nerd] (Going once, going twice...)
[Random Nerd] (Last call for miracles.)
[Brian] (Cage broken? Good enough for Brian!)
[DanteE] (I am through, right?)
[Random Nerd] (You came through with the blood and sharpness.)
[Random Nerd] (Okay, final pause. Now or never.)
[Theresa] (And we haven't defined Numbers, so we can't make the hole smaller that way either.)
[Random Nerd] (The hole isn't nearly Monty-sized. It's important in that it made him /want/ to go out.)
[Random Nerd] (Well, that and the experience of eating live food again.)
Monty tenses his legs to jump towards the sunlight...
Monty leaps at the wall, smashing it into a thousand pieces.
[Theresa] (Can I create thorns to make his feet hurt when he heads toward the hole?)
[Brian] (At least it's not Rabbit Gojira yet!)
[Random Nerd] (You now have a 2/3rd Godzilla scale rabbit in Central Kaerkoven.)
[DanteE] (LD of Monty's Courage.)
The LD works! You now have a /terrified/ giant rabbit in Kaerkoven!
[Brian] "... nice one, Dante"
[DanteE] (I was hoping to do it before he jumped, so he'd realize he's too big.)
Monty knocks over a bank as he runs in a zig-zagging panic.
Seven cars are crushed in the process.
[Brian] "At least Sanity won't be a prison for the populace of Kaerkoven anymore!"
[Brian] (... I'm not even sure if Brian's apparent glee at that is serious or not ...)

• Theresa collapses on the ground, staring out the hole. Creation of vines along Monty's route to turn away people. As much as possible.
  

[Carrie] "Calm, Brian. Think. What can we do to help heal this?"
Monty gallops through the city at 90 MPH.
[Brian] "Do we have a red flashy thing?"
[Carrie] (Kaerkoven's a coastal city, right?)
[Random Nerd] (Yes, it is.)

• DanteE grabs the gate...
  

In order to save time, it might perhaps be simpler to list various things he /doesn't/ destroy.
[Brian] "Wait, would one of those red flashy things cause DA?"
[DanteE] "Can you make this Monty-sized?
[Theresa] (Who does Dante ask about the gate?)
[DanteE] (Everyone.)
[Brian] "Also, why would it help to be Monty sized?"
[Theresa] (Can I make the gate bigger? Or is that along the lines of making a block Monty's size?)
[Random Nerd] (Making a Monty-sized gate would take a Greater Creation.)
[DanteE] "Because the other end's still in his mouth.”
[Brian] "Still..."
[Brian] "Wouldn't that just cause an exploded rabbit?"
[DanteE] "Do it right, it pops out, and he winds up back here."
[JamesUrban] "I've dropped the gate, Dante. Unless you can recreate it, the other side is irrelevant."
In a few moments, Monty is standing in a city park, quivering with fear.
Somewhere between fifty and a hundred humans have been killed in his progress, and twice that many were injured.

• Carrie does a Major Creation of Hope in Monty -- a hope that the ocean will be safe.
  

Monty looks up, for a moment. Then he starts charging towards the ocean.
Monty's going towards the ocean, but he's still trampling people and buildings.

• Brian winces.
  

About 150 to 300 dead, now. About a dozen million dollars of property damage, also.
[Theresa] "And there's still a hole in the wall here. I can't make it, Dante. I couldn’t even...stop..."
The death toll continues.
He has about four or five miles of city to go to the coast.
[JamesUrban] "Well, that didn't go as planned."
[Brian] "Ya think?"
[DanteE] "To hell with it...”

• DanteE dips into the DPs to do a Lesser Destruction of Monty's Size.
  

Monty becomes about a hundred pounds lighter.
[Theresa] (How much did he weigh before?)
[Carrie] (Using Kudzu's power to undo something Kudzu did. Very smart.)
[Random Nerd] (Between thousands and millions of pounds? I've no clue what a rabbit that size would weigh.)

[Knockwood] Can I say again this was all YOUR idea?
[Etheric] By the way, I'll probably lose MPs over this, on the grounds that the moving Monty to ocean is not going cleanly at all...
[lazarus] Brian's next action is to go disappear and meditate somewhere.
[lazarus] (Akin to a Solar having reached Limit Break, for those of you who do that kind of thing :-P)
[Theresa] It's going to be interesting to see Theresa after this. Broken, is the word I'm thinking of. She may keep the hand/arm that way.
[Etheric] Want to regrow it as a plant?
[BethL] Nope, just keep the skeleton of it, maybe cover it in bark so it doesn't freak out people too much. As a reminder to keep her big mouth shut.
[Etheric] Mm, well, your call.
[lazarus] Well, there's going to be lots of Angsty Drama coming up soon.

[Random Nerd] You guys had mentioned before that you wanted to do more thinking big?
[Random Nerd] Well, consider the scale to have just raised a notch.
[Etheric] Favorite, the immediate reaction to the stuff coming through the gate. Least favorite, the lull near the beginning when I just couldn't think of anything to say or do.
[lazarus] I don't like the death toll ]_[
[Random Nerd] Now, Dante can still resurrect these people, one at a time.
[Knockwood] The death toll I can fix. It's the DA we'll have trouble with.
[BethL] Favorite, not sure. Least favorite, how guilty _I'm_ feeling.
[lazarus] Sanity is a prison!
[lazarus] All these people have been freed!
[JamesUrban] Favorite, going along with an insane plan. Unfavorite - results of going along with an insane plan.
[lazarus] (I've NO idea how much Brian truly believes in that.)
[Etheric] Isn't your own code Heaven's by the way?
[Etheric] I thought Wild was just the Kudzu-imposed one.
[lazarus] Yes. My own code is Heaven. But there's a strange meld of that and the Wild - with a bit of a stronger emphasis on the Wild
[Random Nerd] Imposed codes still have the same emotional effect on their Powers.
[Etheric] Normally, yes, RN, but this is from the Cold property -- I'm pretty sure we don't get any of the joy of "success" this way.
[lazarus] Numbers are inherently Heavenly is the view.
[Random Nerd] True, there is that. But that just makes it a stick without a carrot, emotionally speaking.
[Random Nerd] That's just as affecting, although in a different way.

• Etheric nods.
  

[Etheric] Fair enough.

[Etheric] What would a Major Destruction of Damage do? It'd take a Word of Command, but...
[Random Nerd] A Major Destruction of Damage would fix the property damage or the people. Better to go with the former, since Dante can heal people for free.
[Random Nerd] Either way, repairing this with miracles will mean at least some DA.
[Etheric] By the way, just to gauge, did I have to go with a Major Creation of Hope there, or was I thinking too big?
[BethL] I'm really sorry, all.
[Knockwood] Would that include the big hole in Monty's room?
[Random Nerd] A Major Creation of Hope to do what? The ocean thing?
[Etheric] The one to instill in Monty the desire to go into the ocean.
[Random Nerd] Oh, that Creation was already effective.
[Etheric] I figured a Lesser wouldn't really touch his emotions because he has Imperial parts.
[Random Nerd] A Major Creation would have just made him charge towards the ocean even /faster/.
[Etheric] Um, it was a major creation...
[JamesUrban] Hey action is better than inaction, even if it's wrong in my book.
[Random Nerd] A lesser probably would have done it, for that. Monty's mind is much smaller than his body.
[Etheric] Okay. So I should be stingier with my MPs. Sorry, I panicked.
[lazarus] Brian was expecting the rabbit to explode, actually. He did want to try to find a way to protect the Chancelfolk /before/ we did anything, though...
[Random Nerd] Well, the panic makes perfect sense in character. Basically, your /PCs/ panicked. They're Nobles, but this is the first time dealing with a problem of excessive scale.
[lazarus] And I admit that I goofed by not bringing up the "think of the Chancel!" point before the Plan.
[JamesUrban] The problem is, I could try to kill him with Aspect, but then he might explode causing even MORE damage. So stunned into inaction.
[Random Nerd] Now, the damage here is fixable.
[Knockwood] Figures I didn't think of the LD Courage until _after_ Monty went through the hole...
[JamesUrban] Lesser change of location to somewhere unpopulated would buy us some time, but I'm out of RMP's to do that.
[Knockwood] ...or didn't type fast enough...
[Random Nerd] It's been demonstrated, here, that if Monty is supposed to be a weapon, he's a pretty effective one.
[lazarus] Remind me why we didn't wait until we got back?
[Random Nerd] Because if you didn't do something about Monty soon, something bad might happen.
[JamesUrban] *chuckle* Ironic in retrospect.
[lazarus] So we decided to adjust the time frame on that? We're brilliant!
[lazarus] ^_^;
[BethL] Because we have about 3 different things on the burner at the moment and someone just turned on the smoke alarm.
[Knockwood] Because we knew you were preparing to screw us...
[BethL] I can Last Trump and do a Major Creation or Major Destruction, plantwise.
[Random Nerd] I wasn't, actually. I just wanted to have the option open if screwing you seemed like the thing to do.
[Random Nerd] Now, did everyone have fun?
[Etheric] I did, toward the end. Near the beginning, as I said, I was sort of blocked.
[JamesUrban] Definately. Nowhere else could I open a wormhole and send somebody into a bloodstorm of razors.
[lazarus] This is big set up for my big fun - Angsting In Character!
[lazarus] There's a big conflict in Brian, and next session will probably see some of it brought out more than it has been previously.
[lazarus] I'll warn of probable yelling at Familia, though ... unless people would rather that not happen.
[Knockwood] Potentially bigger Dante-v-Kudzu conflict...
[BethL] Feel free to chew out Theresa. Nothing you can do can be worse that what she's doing to herself.
[lazarus] Actually, Brian's probably going to yell at Dante for actually /doing/ it.
[Knockwood] Who else would?
[BethL] Knock - good point. I nominated Dante _because_ he has Sacrosanct and if something was going to hurt him, it would have killed the rest of us or at least easily maimed.
[Etheric] Oh, RN, do I pick where I lose MPs when I lose them from my Code, or do you?
[Random Nerd] I do, in theory, but I'd appreciate if you mention when you think you should. Just like how I appreciate if you mention when you think you should get them back.
[Etheric] Because like I said before, what Carrie did with Monty going to the ocean is definitely not coming along cleanly.
[Random Nerd] Because, with 5 PCs, and two codes each, I have trouble keeping all of that in mind continuously.

• Etheric nods.
  

[Etheric] That's why I mentioned it at the time and am mentioning it again.
[Random Nerd] Anyone other than Dante would have been seriously injured in there.
[Knockwood] Right, I just wound up bloody and naked...
[Random Nerd] And... hmm. I don't think you broke the Code of the Light. The "Do Cleanly" one isn't about unexpected results or making the wrong choice in a pinch. It's about taking cheap and easy shortcuts with bad long-term effects.
[Etheric] Thanks for clarifying.
[Random Nerd] Oh, and for Theresa's self-recrimination, bear in mind that she /did/ help save Carrie.
[Random Nerd] If Carrie'd gotten killed or seriously hurt, Dante couldn't just miracle her back up.
[Random Nerd] Immunity to direct miracles, see.
[BethL] Theresa wouldn't have realized that. Maybe in about a year, if someone doesn't hit her over the head with it? *smile*
[Random Nerd] So, on the one hand she froze up in a crisis, and people got hurt. But on the other, she saved a friend at no small cost to her own health.
[Random Nerd] By the way, a question. Why, exactly, was a gate through which things can freely be transported decided on as the preferred transportation option, given that Monty has been long established as being filled with swirly corrosive sharp death?
[Random Nerd] I'm not complaining! All GMs should be so lucky.
[lazarus] I have no idea.
[Etheric] Because Dante can't think straight?
[JamesUrban] It seemed cool to me.
[BethL] *parrot squawk* "Sanity is a crutch?"
[lazarus] I mention that Brian did question it and Brian will mention that, in a raised voice, later.
[JamesUrban] And because cutting him open to get Dante out might have had even worse consequences.
[Random Nerd] Brian has hereby been demonstrated to be the Sensible One.
[Random Nerd] How scary is /that/?
[lazarus] That will DOOOM our group. x_x
[Knockwood] Because it was collapsible, and therefore closeable
[Etheric] We're Nobles. Common sense is for commoners!
[Knockwood] And because the alternative was, potentially, getting stuck in Monty's belly.
[JamesUrban] This is the first time the consensus plan has gone horribly wrong though.
[Random Nerd] Hmm. An idea for how to respond to this for your characters? While sitting around in separate Angst Corners is one approach, it might be interesting to go "Okay, we screwed up, and lots of people got hurt. Now we need to go do something good for the world to make up for it."
[Random Nerd] But they're your characters, of course. The call is naturally yours.
[Knockwood] Spend way too much time and effort fixing things... then yell at Kudzu. This mysterious crap is getting very old.
[lazarus] Don't worry, RN: Angst first, fix things in a day or two.
[BethL] Theresa's the opposite. Fix stuff now, grieve on her own time later when the world isn't being trampled under contagious bunny mambo feet.
[Knockwood] Ah... we have to come up with a brilliant plan for catching Monty first.
[Random Nerd] In a few minutes he'll be in the ocean...
[Etheric] Well, we have Carrie's potentially rather stupid spur-of-the-moment plan, which is keep him in the ocean till he grows out of it.
[Etheric] I doubt Monty's susceptible to drowning any more.
[lazarus] Stupid bunny will drown before Brian's decided he's well enough to fix things ]_[
[BethL] Well, it turns out that I can do a Major Creation of something plant related, with a Major Preservation, with Last Trump. Problem is that if we wrap something around Monty, how do we move him afterwards?
[Random Nerd] He'll probably stop when he reaches water.
[Knockwood] Miracle of Aspect.
[Etheric] Probably should have been more specific with the Hope Creation.
[Random Nerd] With Aspect Seven, you could do a judo-throw on him that tosses him right back in home.
[Random Nerd] Six could probably drag him back.
[Knockwood] I can only manage 6
[Random Nerd] Really, it might be easier to just build a new home for him right where he is.
[Random Nerd] Or give him his own island or something.
[BethL] At the rate he's growing, wouldn't he outgrow the island?
[Knockwood] I'd leave you to deal with the DA caused by a naked bloody noble hauling a ironwood-wrapped Godzilla-sized rabbit back to the hole in this dimension he escaped from
[Knockwood] Good luck!
[Random Nerd] DA is not your biggest concern here.
[Etheric] The Cams are going to know all about this, obviously. As well as the rest of the Chancel.
[Random Nerd] It'd be rather hard for them to miss it.

[Random Nerd] Shaking up a game is fun, and it's not something I'm in a position to do very often.
[Knockwood] Well, there's always two guys bursting through the door with guns.
[Random Nerd] True.
[Random Nerd] Indeed, I sometimes mention to Beth that I have a tiny Raymond Chandler on my shoulder telling me to do that.
[lazarus] In our case, one REALLY BIG GINORMOUS RABBIT! bursting through the door. He is a gun.
[BethL] Gun, nothin'. Friggen tact nuke.
[Knockwood] Small missile.
[Knockwood] Oh, and people's minds popping like soap bubbles.
[Random Nerd] Really, I don't think the DA thing is as big a concern for your characters as you might think.
[Random Nerd] Entropy isn't going to be paying attention to every mind of every human in every chancel.
[Random Nerd] That's more an excuse he can pull up to yell at you if he has a reason to do so.
[Knockwood] Don't a couple of us have bonds to Amyra and/or her people?
[BethL] And we could always argue about how as a Wild Chancel, it's par for the vague-green-shaped thing.
[BethL] Hmm, I have at least a 1 point Bond to the Chancel.
[BethL] I think he meant that he has a Bond to the people and Chancel. Quite a lot, I think.
[Etheric] I've got one also.
[Knockwood] Which means getting 300 of them stomped would be a BAD THING.
[lazarus] Over half my points invested in a Bond of "Chancelfolk".
[Random Nerd] Now, given that Monty running off and going nuts wasn't really anyone else's work, you aren't going to get Nettled over this.
[Random Nerd] But, yeah. Bad Thing.
[lazarus] Which is why the need to figure things out in Brian's head: on the one hand, Chancelfolk. On the other, Prison/Cage.
[Knockwood] Y'know, I was thinking we dither too much.
[Knockwood] ... teach me to think that ...
[BethL] We tend to move when being eaten by bloodacid.
[Random Nerd] And if I misstated the situation, please, correct me.
[lazarus] Personally, I far prefer the sessions where we philosophize than the ones where stuff happens ... partly because RN & I haven't yet figured out Numbers, but partly because the philosophy is one of the things I'm looking for in the game. I'm not opposed to action or stuff like that happening, but I don't want to lose the chatting and attempting to reconcile many different approaches of the world into an action.

[BethL] Ah, so I'm Seriously Injured/Wounded. Glad to have that down. I wasn't quite sure how close to death I was.
[Random Nerd] Your Deadly Wounds are both gone, but you still have all your Serious Wonds.
[Knockwood] I'm unhurt, right?
[Random Nerd] Correct.
[Knockwood] Because of that reverse-death-spiral rule?
[Random Nerd] Yep. You took Serious-Wound level damage.
[Random Nerd] This means that you feel like absolute crap, but you're still functional and will be right as rain tomorrow.
[BethL] Assuming Kudzu doesn't eat us and start over tomorrow.
[Knockwood] Inasmuch as any of us are really functional... ::rimshot::
[Random Nerd] And although your /characters/ failed at what they tried to do here, none of you did a bad job as /players/.
[Random Nerd] All of you did good jobs, and it was fun gaming with you.


And if this session doesn't get any responses, I will be disappointed. *grin*

Beth


Chancel_Amyra
Chapter 6