Session 78

Chancel_Amyra
Chapter 10

Random_Nerd: When we last left Our Intrepid Heroes, they'd been talking with the Power of Shadows, who seems to be much more at ease here in his own chancel, about the High Summonings he practices.
Random_Nerd: We ready to start?
Knockwood: sure

• • • Etheric is now known as Carrie.
      

laz-afk: still afk, but I can sorta participate
Random_Nerd: Oh, and he'd just pulled one of them "closer" to visibility, and it looked like a lot of shiny intersections of translucent planes in the air, rather like an angular version of the air distortion you get with heat.

• • • laz-afk is now known as Brian-afk.
      
    • You are now known as Theresa.
      
    • Knockwood is now known as DanteE.
      

Theresa: (Ready!)
Random_Nerd: ________________START_________________
Random_Nerd: Shadow's little summoned critter turns in the air, its planes moving against each other.
Theresa: "Is he dangerous?"
Random_Nerd: Shadows: "Not to Nobles, at least not ones who aren't badly injured or incredibly distracted."
Random_Nerd: Geometrical creature: "You... see wrong."

• Carrie peers at the creature, intrigued.
  

Random_Nerd: Shadows: "No! Not to address conversation without being instructed. Not to change people except as directed."
Theresa: (Us? Incredibly distract...oo, shiny!)
Random_Nerd: Shadows: "If you talk with them, it lets them find your mind and try to change it."
Random_Nerd: He brandishes his wand at the thing, squints, and turns the wand slightly clockwise.
Theresa: (Bad Being from Another Plane! No biscuit!)
Carrie: "I assume you're warded against such inconveniences? Or simply skilled at avoiding it?"
Random_Nerd: S: "They know me."
Random_Nerd: S: "Dog won't try to bite his owner, but he might if some stranger shows up at the door, if he's not fully trained."

• DanteE mulls over "You see wrong"...
  

Random_Nerd: S: "He... being the dog, rather than the stranger."
DanteE: (BTW, there's a GWB on eBay going for $13... 2 days left, tho)
Brian-afk: (thunderstorm starting again)
Random_Nerd: S: "So, why are you here, anyway?"
Carrie: "Here specifically, or here in your Chancel?"
Theresa: "Our Imperator sent us on a mission to visit and bring our giant bunny along. Said bunny's outside your gates, if you want to see him."
DanteE: "Our Imperator wanted us to talk to your Imperator about the millennium."
Theresa: "That too."
Random_Nerd: S: "You brought that giant rabbit here? Is he properly tamed?"
DanteE: "Nope."
Brian-afk: "As tame as a giant thing-eating rabbit /can/ be..."
Theresa: "He can't get through the gate at the moment."
Theresa: (I forget, are we comforting or not? <g>)
DanteE: (you might be, I'm Honest)
Brian-afk: (depends who you ask, at that time :p)
Carrie: (I don't understand the question? XD )
Theresa: (*grin*)
Theresa: "But yeah, our Boss asked us to come, talk to your boss, show off the rabbit and the demon and then we get to come home. Hopefully nothing will have been destroyed while we're gone."
Random_Nerd: S: "Anything I can help you with?"
DanteE: "Know anything about how your boss intends to vote?"
Brian-afk: "Can you help us figure out how to tell your boss he's wrong?"
Random_Nerd: Critter: "See /wrong/. Angles wrong. Shapes not right."
Theresa: "Well, Consequences had mentioned that you were in Chancel too. And everything just seems so different...like the world-views and everything."
Random_Nerd: S: "Yes, that's... one of the interesting things about living here."
Theresa: "How do you deal with it? Is it just part of 'home'?"
Theresa: (Is he ignoring the 'tell your boss he's wrong' stuff?)
Carrie: "What my esteemed Brothers mean to say, of course, is that we have been entrusted with a diplomatic mission of great delicacy, and that any light you might shed on the proper way to approach your Ymera, to the extent that you can divulge this with propriety, would be appreciated."
Random_Nerd: (He's not talked about it at least.)
Random_Nerd: Shadows thinks.
Brian-afk: "Delicacy? Us?"
Brian-afk: (/aside)
Random_Nerd: "He's always hard to approach. I haven't known him all that long, really. He mostly leaves me alone as long as I'm getting things done."

• Carrie glares a bit at Brian, trying not to be TOO obvious about it.
  

Random_Nerd: "I know he tends to do things drastically. And he's got a tendency to offend people."
DanteE: (did we ever get an idea of what the options are IC?)
DanteE: "Hey, so does ours."
Theresa: "Offend people? Like other Imperators or even the lower ranking folks?"
Carrie: (Quite a bit of the speculation that we've done, though not all of it, was done IC, if I recall.)
Random_Nerd: (A few were brought up. Assume everything will be fine, spend a lot of resources digging in for a nasty struggle, shiv Time.)
Random_Nerd: (Those were the big ones.)
Random_Nerd: S: "Well... you don't get kicked out of Heaven all that easily."
Random_Nerd: S: "They really don't do it a lot now, after what happened with the Fall. But my Ymera still has a way of... making some of his superiors think his talents would be better used somewhere very far away."

• Carrie smiles wryly. "I suppose not. Though perhaps after so long down here your Lord has come to admire the view?"
  

Random_Nerd: Shadows shrugs.
Theresa: (I like how Shadow put that. Very RN-y.)
Theresa: (Not the shrug, the before.)
Random_Nerd: S: "I haven't asked about the second world. I'm pretty sure I don't really want to know."
Theresa: "Second world? Which one do you choose to see?"
Random_Nerd: "Usually the palace world. It's less distracting. But I have to switch a fair amount for my work with these guys."
Random_Nerd: Critter: "See?"
Random_Nerd: S: "Yeah, you."
Random_Nerd: (And as for why you can understand it, it's the Noble Gift of Tongues.)
Theresa: "So they're more in tune with the hell-world?"
Random_Nerd: S: "No... but they work by perceptual shifts. And I have to show them how a dual-worldview works."
Random_Nerd: Critter: "Wrong."
Random_Nerd: S: "Also, if they try to attach themselves to you, just switch your sight a few times, very rapidly. It confuses them, and usually gets them off you."
Theresa: "Have you worked with any Dionyl with how they, ahem, view perception?"

• Theresa , thinking in a side note, ~"Not a whole lot of help if his Boss usually leaves him alone. Still, he must be pretty trusted to work with all of these critters."~
  

Random_Nerd: S: "We don't get many Dionyl here. And I think one would just confuse them."
Random_Nerd: S: "At least the two-world system is simple."
Brian-afk: "It would be an interesting experiment, no?"

• Carrie peers at the creature again, then addresses Shadow, careful not to give overly much attention to the thing from Outside. "I'd wondered about the Dionyl thing too... Particularly because Perception is supposed to be an Earthly Estate, but Dionyl and now these things seem very focused on perceptual differences. Is that just how it seems to an Earthborn?"
  

Theresa: "True. From what I understand, some places on Dionyl could have dozens or more viewpoints at once.
Random_Nerd: S: "Well, it's a matter of what /kind/ of Perception. There're at least two different Imperators of Destruction, for instance."
DanteE: (anyone else just picture Beavis & Butthead, or just me?)
Brian-afk: (?)
Theresa: (Just you. And now me. Urk.)
Carrie: (Um, why?)
Random_Nerd: S: "Sennacharib is Imperator of the kind of perception you get on earth."
Brian-afk: "Is Synesthesia a global domain, then?"
DanteE: ("Let's, like, totally trash that building, dude!" "Yeah! Yeah! With FIRE!")
Random_Nerd: S: "I don't know if there is a domain of it. Closest I've met was... well, at your thing. Those Dionyl."
DanteE: "Y'know, we brought one."
Carrie: "He's... watching the rabbit."
Random_Nerd: S: "Oh? The one with the scarves?"

• Carrie nods.
  

Theresa: "Sam wasn't handling the world-views very well, maybe after being on Earth for such a while. Yep, one of our Aides."
Theresa: (We're not going to sic a being from outside of the Universe on Sam's brain to see what it does, right? ...Right?)
DanteE: (Good point.)
Brian-afk: (Catan's done, clean up phase, then I'm here now)
Theresa: "It'd be a good opportunity to check in on Sam and Monty and Snow. Although if they were causing trouble, we would have heard it. Umm, about it."
DanteE: "We were talking about getting them inside the wall somehow...
DanteE: "Though, I wonder if maybe we shouldn't just stable Monty outside..."
Theresa: "If Shadow's Boss wanted to see Monty, he could either poof Monty to the audience hall or poof himself to the gate."
Random_Nerd: S: "Sorry I can't do more to help. I only have power over the Chancel in those areas I need to keep the summonings working smoothly."
DanteE: "how much could he really influence this Chancel, though?"
Random_Nerd: (In other words, he has a Gift of Realm with less than full flexibility.)
Random_Nerd: S: "The rabbit?"
Theresa: "I think physics still works here. Things go squish, just like at home.":
DanteE: "Oh... for a sec I thought you were talking about Kudzu."
Theresa: "Nope, Shadow's boss. I have a horrible time pronouncing names and I wouldn't want to cause offense." *smile*

• • • Brian-afk is now known as Brian.
      

Random_Nerd: S: "Causality pretty much works the same way as on earth, if you're looking at the palace-world. It's a little different in the other world, but not too much."
Random_Nerd: S: "Now, there's magic here, and things we've changed, but that's only in a few places.?"
Random_Nerd: (Err, -?)
Brian: "So, giant bunnies still make things go squish?"
Random_Nerd: S: "Pretty much."
Theresa: "Some things are universal."
Carrie: (For everything else, there's MasterCard.)

• DanteE mulls over what the storm inside him would do...
  

Theresa: (*snort*)
Brian: (Laugh Point to Carrie)
Random_Nerd: S: "Now... I like hanging out with you guys and all... but I do have work to do here. I don't want to offend you, but I just need to get this done."
Random_Nerd: S: "Is that okay?"
Brian: "Of course."
DanteE: "OK. We'll go bug Consequences."
Brian: "Anything else interesting to see while we're around?"
Random_Nerd: S: "I don't know. What do you consider interesting?"
Random_Nerd: S: "I don't mean to be snide, it's just that I've met people with wildly varying standards."
Theresa: "Good point. What would you say are the best things about your Chancel?"
Brian: "Um. Different from Earth?"
Theresa: (We, for one, have some of the best cheeseburgers in the Universe.)
DanteE: (Yeah, but only for Brian)
Theresa: (That's why we tell them that they're for Brian and then tell Brian we ordered pizza.)
Random_Nerd: S: "Hmm. Most of the thing significantly different from Earth, other than the worlds thing, are the sort of things that it would not be good to be around if you don't know what you're doing."
Brian: (ha!)
Random_Nerd: S: "Best things? I don't know."
Random_Nerd: Shadows ponders.
Theresa: "For the casual Noble sightseer? What are your favorite places besides here?"
Random_Nerd: S: "Most of the things I like here are just, you know, things /I/ like. Parts of my job, my books and movies, stuff like that."
Random_Nerd: S: "I guess I just don't think of it in terms of that. This is just where I live."
Random_Nerd: S: "Sorry."

• Theresa smiles kindly. "It's okay. If we didn't have the city and the various treasures of the kingdom, we'd have trouble pointing out places that weren't just personally special."
  

Brian: "Now, we'll go elsewhere for a time."
DanteE: "Know where we can find your brother?"
Random_Nerd: S: "Consequences? Not offhand, but I can check if you want."
Random_Nerd: He twiddles with the ring on his right hand.
Random_Nerd: S: "Okay, he's in consultation with the Boss."
Random_Nerd: S: "About you, I think."
Brian: "I guess we shouldn't interrupt, then..."

• Theresa mumrurs, "It would be better if we await an invitation to come in, rather than barge in on a private conversation."
  

DanteE: (uhoh...)
Random_Nerd: (Hmm. Now, would you guys want to cut ahead a few hours to when he sends for you, or do something else?)
Brian: (cut)
Theresa: (Cut is fine with me.)
DanteE: (well, we want to consult with Conseq about how to approach Barakiel)
Carrie: (I'd rather play out those hours seeing more of the chancel, or with strategy discussion. I can do either though.)
Theresa: (esp. since Dante had wanted to talk to Conseq. about the War but Cons is busy.)
Random_Nerd: (Hmm. Cut to talking with Consequences before you talk with Barakiel?)
Brian: (that works)
Carrie: (No objection here.)
Theresa: (Sure!)
DanteE: (OK)
Random_Nerd: (Okay. He's called you to meet him in his office, a huge room with featureless white walls.)
Random_Nerd: Consequences runs his hand through his vague unperceivable hair.
Theresa: (Does it feel like the guest room or like a particular viewpoint room?)
Random_Nerd: "So, what was it you wanted to talk about, exaclty?"
Random_Nerd: (Feel in what sense?)
DanteE: "Well... offhand, do you know how your boss intends to vote on what to do about the millennium?"
Theresa: (Like how we could tell after being in the guest room for a little bit that it was finding an equilibrium tween the two views.)
Random_Nerd: (It's not quite the same in both worlds. Featureless and white in both, but in the palace world, the light reflecting from the walls feels like a clean house. In hell-world, the walls are fainly glowing and the light feels harsh to the eyes.)
Random_Nerd: (So...)
Random_Nerd: (Ah, one moment.)
Random_Nerd: "As I understand it, he's considering two plans which... strike me as rather on the daring side of things."
Brian: "Oh? Can you elaborate?"
Carrie: (Question. Can Dante get MPs back for Honesty if he hasn't spent any?)
Random_Nerd: "One was the time thing we talked about earlier. But the other, he wants to explain to you himself.)
Random_Nerd: (Can't. You can't have more MPs than your max.)
Random_Nerd: (Although you can spend character points to raise what the max is.)
Carrie: (Because if not, my suggestion to Dante is get with the spending, you're going to get us in major trouble in a moment anyway.)
DanteE: (Let's see... he met us when we came in, right? And we talked about that whole Barakiel's-wrong thing?)
Random_Nerd: (Err, " for ) there.)
Carrie: (I meant when we see Barakiel.)
Brian: "How does your boss take to ... discussions about plans?"
Brian: "Particularly in the he's-wrong sense?"
Random_Nerd: (You met him at the gate. But did you mention the "wrong" thing?)
Brian: (I'm sure I did)
DanteE: (I think we did...)
Carrie: (I seem to recall it being mentioned.)
Random_Nerd: "...well, he's an Angel who's gotten kicked out of Heaven, a /lot/, for not getting along with others."
Random_Nerd: (Hmm. I'd have to check, but if you think so, you're probably right.)
DanteE: "I hope he's thnking of something we can talk him out of, frankly, or our Imperator might have a problem..."
Theresa: "I believe Kudzu would declare it to be _our_ problem."
Random_Nerd: C: "Actually... I believe he's hoping that you folks, or rather your Imperator, will help him with his plan."
Random_Nerd: "He thinks once you and he hear it, you'll be interested."

• Theresa blinks in confusion for a moment.
  

DanteE: "... he wants to make peace with Kudzu?"
Theresa: "That might be a bit of a jump in translation, Dante."
Random_Nerd: "He wants Kudzu to help him influence someone."
DanteE: "You didn't tell him _why_ we want to talk with him, right?"
Random_Nerd: "No, I decided that I would much rather have you do that."
Theresa: "Wise man."
Random_Nerd: "I just said that you wanted to talk with him about his position on the turning of the age, on behalf of your Imperator."
DanteE: "You know anything about their relationship?"
Brian: "When can we see him? How long do we have?"
Random_Nerd: "He'll be ready to see you in about an hour, as soon as he's done thinking."

• DanteE resists the urge to make a "Oh, I thought I smelled smoke" joke... :)
  

Random_Nerd: "And no, I don't know much about him and Kudzu. I know he's friendly with the Wild in general, but I've only heard your Imperators name with any frequency since you folks ran into me looking for a feather and a heart."
Theresa: "Happy happenstance." *smile*
DanteE: "Doesn't seem to be mutual. Unless this is all a joke... it's not near April Fools day on the cosmic calendar, is it?"
Random_Nerd: "I try not to study what the jokes of Imperators are like, for fear that I might discover that I am one."

• Theresa ponders that. "That is...incredibly true and deep."
  

Random_Nerd: "Or paranoid."
Theresa: (Noblity!) (in the tone of "Acting!'
Theresa: )
Theresa: "That too."
Brian: "It's not a bad thing to be paranoid, I've found ..."
Random_Nerd: "I mean... I like you guys. I want to help you out. But my first loyalty is to my Imperator. Even other than the fact that he's my Imperator, I've known him a long time, and I respect him."
DanteE: "How many Shards have you fought over your ... 170 years? As a Noble."
Theresa: "Of course. We wouldn't do something to harm your relationship with your family."
Random_Nerd: C: "I don't even know. I stopped keeping track."
Random_Nerd: "I don't particularly like killing people, even Shards."
DanteE: "Do they qualify as People, really?"
Carrie: "That's an interesting thing for the Dominus of Consequences to say."
Random_Nerd: "Sure, they're people. Not humans, sure, but that's not the same thing."
Brian: "There's consequences for everything"
DanteE: "Then again, do we?"
Random_Nerd: "And... well, if consequences were always lethal, the world would look very different, wouldn't it?"
Random_Nerd: "Sadly, Shards don't go much in for the whole 'unpleasant experience that teaches you valuable life lessons' routine."
Carrie: "Very true..."
DanteE: "We've dropped 3, forced 1 into retreat."
Random_Nerd: "Not bad, given how recently you've been ennobled."
DanteE: "And every time, I've wondered if I should ... change ... find a way to make the fighting easier."
Random_Nerd: "Hmm. By making yourself better at fighting, or by removing the need to fight?"
Brian: "I don't even know what the Shards are after."
DanteE: "Is the latter even possible, with Excrucians?"
Random_Nerd: "Sometimes. Rarely."
Brian: "I've been told they're trying to undermine reality, but ... I'm not even sure"
Theresa: "Wouldn't removing the need to fight be giving up? Giving up your Estate?"
Random_Nerd: "And we can know what they want in individual ways, but we still don't knwo what they're after, ultimately."
Random_Nerd: "And Shards can be deterred. Unmask a Deceiver and order him to go away, for instance."
Brian: "I've been told the end of reality ... but ... what does that mean?"
Random_Nerd: "I don't know. I don't even know if they're destroying reality or just stealing it. I've only talked to a few about it, and what they said didn't really match up, so I assume they were lying."
Carrie: "They're from Beyond... Perhaps they're consistent, we just can't comprehend the illogic."
Brian: "I suspect they're lying. Well, we're told they're the enemy, so why would they not lie?"
Carrie: "It's intriguing, but not something that I'll lose sleep over... If I'm going to be worrying about the Dark Horsemen I'd rather worry about how to stop them."
Random_Nerd: "And if we can figure it out and come to terms, I'll be glad. That's one of the reasons we work with things from Beyond here."
Random_Nerd: "But of course, I'm sure you know plenty about dealing with them."
DanteE: "Of course, changing to fight them better would ... widen the gulf that's developing between me and humanity.
Theresa: (Also because it's Cool.)
Brian: "Have you ever gone Beyond?"
Random_Nerd: "No. If I did, I would die, or else not come back."
Random_Nerd: "Even Imperators usually can't come back alive."

• Theresa blinks. "How would we know about dealing with things from Beyond except for our Imperator? I mean, Wild Lord can be as chaotic as they come."
  

Brian: "How do you know? ... oh, right, Consequences x_x"
Random_Nerd: "Well, you have a bit of Beyond in your souls."
Brian: "Could you see what would happen if I went Beyond?"
Random_Nerd: "No. My Estate doesn't exist out there."
Random_Nerd: "If it did, I would be dead."
Brian: "Could you see the Consequences here?"
Random_Nerd: "Not the ones after you came back. They'd depend too much on things I can't see."
DanteE: "Hard to believe there are no Consequences beyond the Wall."
Random_Nerd: "I don't know. Maybe there are, but Not As We Know Them. All I know is the kind of Consequences that I am, stop at the Wall."
Theresa: "Well, we found Hope here before Kudzu."
Brian: "How would the world change? Or is it complex or convoluted?"
Theresa: (Convex.)
Brian: (hee ^_^ Joss to Beth)
Random_Nerd: "That... that I could partly do. Not the parts that depend on Nobles or Imperators, because you can't divine what they're going to do. But I could see what'd happen to any non-miraculous people you know if you left."
Random_Nerd: "With some degree of accuracy, at least."
Theresa: "
Theresa: We wouldn't let the chancel folk know Brian was gone. Might start a lemming-movement."
Brian: "I'm interested to know"
Random_Nerd: "Let's see... if you left right now?"
Brian: "Well, let's say after we talk with your lord"
Random_Nerd: He thinks for a moment. "Your chancelfolk would be sad. There'd probably be a statue. That particle accelerator thing you're apparantly planning to do wouldn't happen. The restaurants you'd eaten at would become even more popular for a while, and then less so."
Random_Nerd: "That sort of thing. Most of your life these days is tied up in Nobles or Anchors, isn't it?"
Brian: "Seems so, at the moment"
Random_Nerd: "Can't tell stuff about what they'd do or Excrucians would do. If I could, I'd be Divining all day, every day."
DanteE: (Hm... should I ask what my family would do?)
Random_Nerd: (No, because I don't know enough about your family except for the bit in your bonds?)
Theresa: (Your human family? Because no Noble divining.)
Theresa: (Oh, forgot the human family.  :) )
DanteE: (OK. :) )
Random_Nerd: (You guys getting tired too, or is it just me?)
Carrie: (I could live with breaking now, and doing Barakiel next time.)
Brian: "I suppose you couldn't tell if I would ever make it back, eh?"
DanteE: (Hm...)
Brian: (same. And, if you hadn't noticed, going Beyond kind of intrigues me as a future plot. Be warned :p
Random_Nerd: "Nope. That'd pretty much depend entirely on things I can't see at all."
Brian: )
Theresa: (Break might be good for the Bethbrain. Any more questions for the magic-8-Noble?)
Brian: "I suppose it's not as fun if you know what's going to happen, eh?"
Random_Nerd: "But I'd really bet against it. Don't think a Noble's made it back yet, at least not without being altered."
Theresa: "Altered into an Excrucian or otherwise?"
Random_Nerd: (Well, if you're interested in that, the best folks to deal with for it would be the Light, as they sometimes try to explore outside to find a home for humanity outside the universe in case Creation gets ganked, the Wild, as they have some interest in their former home, although they can't go back, and High Summoning chancels like this one.)
Random_Nerd: "Something like that. Rather like what they do to dead Imperators if they have enough time with the body."
Brian: (Well, Shadows does have the funny critters...)
Random_Nerd: "...and I didn't mean that to sound dirty."
Theresa: (Suuuure he didn't.)
Random_Nerd: (Mind if we stop here?)
Brian: (sure)
DanteE: (OK.)
Brian: "Thanks for your help."
Theresa: ('s okay.)
Carrie: (Sure thing.)
Random_Nerd: _____________________STOP______________________
Random_Nerd: Thoughts?
Brian: RN: for the record, I was warning you so you could actually figure out what Beyond is actually like, if you haven't already.

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

Random_Nerd: Well, I have some ideas. I'll work on putting more detail into them.
Theresa: Nice one tonight. Didn't feel demonboxy at all.

• • • You are now known as BethE.
      
    • DanteE is now known as Knockwood.
      

Etheric: Thoughts would require a working brain. I'm very glad things are going smoothly again, but I unfortunately have to collapse now.
Random_Nerd: I agree. Things didn't really seem to bog down much.
Random_Nerd: Fair enough.
lazarus: I like these NPCs.
Etheric: Later, everyone.

• • • Etheric has signed off IRC (Disintegrated: Destiny is choice.).
      

Knockwood: g'night EWth
BethE: Night Etheric! *HUG*
Knockwood: Eth\
BethE: I like Shadows. Don't know why, he just grows on me.

• Knockwood kant tipe agen
  

Random_Nerd: What about them do you like?
BethE: You kinda get the feeling that he both is worried by how much time he spends in his workshop and yet he likes what he is doing.
lazarus: they're ... likable.
Random_Nerd: Hmm. So they don't come across as too distant?
lazarus: haven't encountered likable NPCs in an RPG ina long time. Including mine. x_x
BethE: Conseq. seemed distant for a while but the whole 'Wow, my boss wants to talk to you. In person. Yipe.' seems to be defrosting.

Chancel_Amyra
Chapter 10