Editing Chuubo 2-5 (section)

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<@Random_Nerd> We begin, here, with a split-screen scene of sorts, in the middle of the night.  One half takes place outside Jasper Irinka's window.  The other half is outside Rinley's window.<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Oddly, both scenes start out with the same thing: the Prince of Cats tapping on the glass.<br>
<@TheSun> O_O?<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Prince of Cats, Jasper-side: "Jasper."<br>
<@Dulcinea> Where am I?<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Prince of Cats, Rinley-side: "Mrrwow?"<br>
<@Random_Nerd> The rest of you are, presumably, asleep, draining the blood of small rodents, or whatever else you do at night.<br>
<@TheSun> *pulls her covers further over her head, and refuses to acknowledge*<br>
<@Random_Nerd> We'll get to you later!<br>
* @Rinley blinks at looks at the window.  Thinks ~"This is going to make a great story...I'm way too young for this!"~<br>
<@Random_Nerd> PoC-R: "Mrrrow!"<br>
* @Rinley goes over to the window and opens it.  "Hello!  What are you doing here?"<br>
<@Random_Nerd> PoC-J: "Jasper!"<br>
<@Rinley> (And can I understand him if he's speaking Cat?  Or is it just the normal cat thing of 'I want on the other side of this!")<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Prince of Cats-Rinley Side: "Smell. You smell.  Like family."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (At first it was that, now it's interpretable as words.)<br>
* @Dulcinea makes noisemakers out of dreams in which the dreamer is chased by unseen hounds...<br>
<@Rinley> ...<br>
<@Random_Nerd> PoC-J: "You need to understand something.  You need to marry.  Ideally, me."<br>
<@Rinley> Thinks *Oh crap oh crap Henge*<br>
<@Random_Nerd> The Rinley-side Prince of Cats hisses.<br>
<@TheSun> *ignoring still*  ... *appearing to, at least*<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Then it breaks down into a pile of cats.  But unlike before, the cats don't scatter.<br>
<@Rinley> "Like..family?  My family is...also Mysteries of the Rats."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> PoC-J: "You are a child.  And the sun cannot be a child."<br>
<@Rinley> "Well, drat.  Faster, Rinley, faster!"  *bonks self on head*<br>
<@Random_Nerd> The pile of cats then begins to reassemble into a humanoid shape.<br>
<@Random_Nerd> But this time, it's not the Prince of Cats.  It's Rinley.<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Other Rinley: "Riiiiiiinley."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (That was actually in human-speak.)<br>
<@Dulcinea> (Where's my PK-meter...)<br>
<@Rinley> *blink*  "If Big Brother put you up to this, I'm putting tabasco in his milk every day for a ''week''."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> The other Rinley taps on the glass. "This is better. Rinley. Rinley rinley RIIIIIINLEEEEEY."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> It tries to scratch its way through the glass with Rinley-like lack of claws.<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (Never mind, the window is open?)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> It starts to crawl inside.<br>
<@Rinley> (Yes, opened it a while ago.)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Other Rinley: "RIIIIIINLEY!  Mine!"<br>
<@Rinley> "Now hold on a moment!  What's this 'mine' stuff?  ''I'm'' the one and for now only Rinley Yatskya!"<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Prince of Cats, to Jasper: "The sun could be a woman, or a man.  But it cannot be a child.  You are, then, not the sun.  That leaves... a gap.  There are things that can slip ''into'' gaps."<br>
<@Rinley> (*cough*)<br>
<@TheSun> (... I thought D. was supposed to be the "wtf?!" emotion, not the GM ...)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> The other Rinley tries to embrace Rinley, as if trying to melt into her. "Miiiiiine.  Riiiiinley."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Other Rinley: "Sooooooon."<br>
* @Rinley scrambles back!  "I don't know where you've been!"<br>
<@Random_Nerd> And with that, Other Rinley collapses into a pile of cats.<br>
<@Rinley> (Do the cats scatter?)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Prince of Cats: "Such as... your mother."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> They do not scatter!  They look confused, as if suddenly awakened.<br>
<@Dulcinea> (Wanna borrow my laser?P<br>
* @Rinley stops my foot at them!  "How dare you!  Barging into the bedroom of a young girl while she is dreaming!  And to do such...such...*wail*  "BIG SISTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  *cries*<br>
<@Rinley> (*casts summon older sibling*)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Cats: *scatter when Rinley stomps!*<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Prince of Cats, to Jasper: "If you're not ready to take over in place of your mother... there are others... who are.  Consider this."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> And with that, he walks away from her window.<br>
* @Dulcinea makes some squirters...<br>
<@Random_Nerd> A few minutes later, Rinley's sister Katherine stops by the door.  Unlike the usual shrine clothing, she's wearing sweat pants and a T-shirt, and from the look on her face may be either hung-over or sleep deprived.<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Katherine: "Mmmgh?"<br>
<@Rinley> Rinley hug-tackles her!  "Catherine!!!!  It was horrible!"  *drags her to the bed and sits her down on it*<br>
<@Random_Nerd> The final cats are clamouring to get out the window.<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (Err, Caroline!)<br>
<@Rinley> (Sorry, Caroline, didn't even know my own sister's name)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Caroline: "...you were having a cat party?  I thought you outgrew those."<br>
<@Rinley> "The Prince of Cats was at my window and then he was a bunch of cats and then he was ''ME'' and he said that I was his and it went for me like all rawrgghrawr and then he changed into a bunch of cats and it's got to be Henge and I don't ''want'' to be the Massacre of All Rats and...I haven't had one of those in ''years''!"<br>
<@Rinley> (All of that before the ...was breathless.  Then it was hurt.)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Caroline: "Huh."<br>
<@Rinley> "Not since the thing with the laser pointer and the paper shredder."<br>
<@Rinley> "Oh and the carton of mushu."<br>
<@Dulcinea> (don't forget the noodles)<br>
<@Rinley> (Could that have coutned as storytime?)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Then she stands up straight.  Shadows shift and twist, and she's the Witch of the Far Roofs, who happens for some sinister and witchy reason to be in sweatpants and a t-shirt.<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (Yes.)<br>
* @Rinley tries to look attentive and respectful.  Even more so.<br>
<@Random_Nerd> The Witch: "The Thousand And One Cats is not in Town, nor on the Island.  You are not him.  None can make you be him, the magic of your peculiar family does not work in that fashion."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> The Witch: "You contact us, to become us.  It does not work otherwise, and cannot be forced."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> The she slumps her shoulders again, and is just Caroline, your sister who you woke up at three in the morning.<br>
<@Rinley> "But there is a ship on the edge of Town, that has many many cats aboard which may force his presence."  ...   "Oh.  Thank you very much for telling me this."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Caroline: "The thing is, though... even though it's us that make the contact, to become them... there are still tendencies that drive is one way or another.  I might not have chosen to be the Witch.  I ''know'' that Elder Brother would not have chosen to be King Death.  And yet."<br>
* @Rinley hugs her sister and wishes she was smaller again.  "Oh big sister.  Thank you for telling me that!  I'm so worried!  I ''like'' the rats!  They're so full of adventure!  And I..don't want to become something against my will."<br>
<@Rinley> "Well, we've seen him when he's grumpy."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Caroline: "You do not have to seek to find a Mystery of your own.  But if you do, be careful, because you might find that you did not fully undestand what kind of person you were."<br>
* @Rinley nods slowly.  "Yes, big sister."  *sigh*  "I just want... I want to be important!  And live a life of adventure and story and wonderful brightness!!  And..that Mystery..it just seems to be death and non-existance..just..*sigh*"<br>
<@Rinley> "I don't think I'm old enough to know what I want to be when I grow up."  *grin*  "Maybe I'll be everything!"<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Caroline: "That's the kind of choice you'll have to make.  But... you don't have to make it tonight.  Go back to sleep, Rinley."<br>
<@Rinley> "Yes, big sister."  *HUG*  "Thank you for coming and comforting me.  It's not like when I was little and thought that there was an octopus under my bed, wanting to drag me off to the deep to open mussels for it."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Caroline: "If you're still worried after you've slept on it, you and I and Father can talk about it later."<br>
* @Rinley noods.<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Caroline: "That... may have been your brother's friend.  But still.  Sleep.  I am almost certain there is no octopus under your bed tonight."<br>
<@Dulcinea> (If there is, it's probably mine)<br>
<@Rinley> *kisses sister on the cheek and gets into bed*  After Caroline leaves, looks down at the floor and says, "You'd better not be down there, octopus-pervert-boy."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Caroline: "If you are, I'll boil you in my cauldron and make you into soap.  Like I did when that rat tried to kill me."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> She grunts and goes back to her room.<br>
<@Rinley> (Idril Nakano)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (So, cut to the morning?)<br>
<@Dulcinea> (Sure.)<br>
<@TheSun> (sure)<br>
<@Rinley> (Yep, I'm good.  Although if Dulci wants to wax villanous speechifying, that's good.)<br>
<@Dulcinea> (Well, I did come up with a hypothesis)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (Would the four of you meet up somewhere to discuss the problem?)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (Oh?)<br>
<@Rinley> (Sure.  You guys pick a place, because otherwise, Rinley's going to suggest someplace with lots of sugar.)<br>
<@Suzy> (I'd probably need to have been roped in somehow in-character, but we can handwave that if it's easier.)<br>
<@TheSun> (That Diner Down The Corner?)<br>
<@Dulcinea> Basically: We know cats go nuts when an earthquake's approaching. That may be due to subsonic waves that precede them.<br>
<@TheSun> (Jasper wants a good breakfast after that)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> That proceeds earthquakes?  Or cats?<br>
<@Dulcinea> Therefore, if we can reproduce those kind of waves we may be able to affect cats en masse.<br>
<@Dulcinea> waves that precede quakes<br>
<@Rinley> (But do they go nuts or do they leave?  Because we want them to leave.)<br>
<@Dulcinea> depends on the cat<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Well, shall we start with the four of you in late morning, with Dulcinea explaining her cat theory?<br>
<@TheSun> (sounds good)<br>
<@Suzy> (Works for me.)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (Kakeru Hut!)<br>
* @Rinley slurps at a triple berry bananananana shake.<br>
<@Dulcinea> "So, I slapped together this.<br>
<@TheSun> *eats a lumberjack breakfast.  With three mouths*<br>
<@Dulcinea> "If I'm right, this will affect animals but not affect people.<br>
<@Rinley> "I was visited by the Prince of Cats last night!!!  He was then a bunch of cats and then he was ''me''!  I think that it was Henge trying to get out some more!  And that's why you shouldn't eat pickles before bedtime!"<br>
<@Random_Nerd> And with that, a head of a rat pokes over from the next booth: "When you say ''people''..."<br>
<@TheSun> "''I'' was visited by the prince of cats!  He was creepy again!"<br>
<@Rinley> (Eduard?)<br>
<@Rinley> "What a two-timing son of a cat!"<br>
<@Rinley> (And the pickles thing count for storying?)<br>
<@TheSun> "He told me I wasn't allowed to be the sun *pouts*"<br>
<@Dulcinea> "Hm... don't know if it'll affect you at all."<br>
* @Suzy looks at the rat, then to Dulcinea, then to Rinley and then at Jasper and then at Dulcinea again.<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (Nope.  The female rat with the russian accent.  I mean, lots of people in Town speak Russian, but, like Natalia, that of a recent immigrant.)<br>
<@TheSun> (... I guess she's talking from a fourth mouth, because she's anime-style wolfing down her breakfast)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (It's ''Rinley''.)|<br>
<@Dulcinea> "Here, let me know if you hear a scream..." <br>
* @Dulcinea hits the activator<br>
<@Rinley> "Dulci!"<br>
<@Suzy> "why?"<br>
<@Random_Nerd> The rat's eyes momentarily cross.  And then she pulls her oversized-for-a-rat handgun and points it at the machine.<br>
<@Random_Nerd> "Oh, you'll hear a scream."<br>
<@Rinley> "Turn it off!"<br>
<@Dulcinea> "Ah, so it does work."<br>
* @Dulcinea turns it off<br>
<@Suzy> >_<  "What were you thinking?"<br>
<@Dulcinea> "But that's really an overreaction."<br>
<@Dulcinea> "I was thinking, does it work or not? And will it drive animals away?"<br>
<@Rinley> "Was it an overreeaction that one time you made an invention that made your bowels invert and you threw it into the lake?"<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Alexandra: "Our ears aren't like yours.  And it wasn't an overreaction."<br>
<@Dulcinea> "Answers seem to be yes and yes... once I crank the volume, anyway."<br>
* @Suzy winces sympathetically to the rat.<br>
<@Rinley> "Uh, Dulci." *wave* "You can't use it."<br>
<@Suzy> "So these substatic waves affect rat people, but not human people.  And Dulci needs to be more careful."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Alexandra: "Actually, there was a reason why I came to meet all of you.  And it's rather about rats and humans being different, actually."<br>
<@Suzy> "What do you mean?"<br>
<@Dulcinea> "Why not? It works!"<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Alexandra: "Well... all of you are unusual.  Rinley is a Yatskya.  Jasper's mother was some kind of important sun priestess. Dulcinea... does things I don't really understand. And I hear that Suzy once beat Chuubo in a legendary soapbox derby."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Alexandra: "So, I wanted to know if any of you know... is there a way for a rat to live as long as a human?"<br>
<@Rinley> *nods*  "I was there!  It was awesome!"<br>
<@Rinley> *to Dulci* "Because it hurts the rats!  Not only is that wrong but you're going to have the Council upset with you again."<br>
<@Suzy> "That's true!  Although I'm not really that special.  It was only a soapbox derby."<br>
<@Rinley> (Uhh...do I have any lore about that?)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Alexandra: "A ''legendary'' one.  I have heard rats on the far roofs discussing it over a campfire."<br>
<@Rinley> *to Suzy*  "Bah!  You were awesome!"  *gives thumbs-up*<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (Hmm.  You probably know about rats and age the same things everyone does.  They grow up much faster than humans, but age a lot faster too.)<br>
<@TheSun> (ah damn, I don't have a Miracle to use :(  Otherwise Rats would!)<br>
<@Dulcinea> "We're going after cats, so I made a cat-scarer."<br>
* @Suzy's eyes are panicking. "That means it's worth reminiscing over, not that it's legendary because legends don't always have actually happened but that derby definitely happened so you don'thavetocallitalegandaryderby!"<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Alexandra: "I ask because... this is awkward.  I was raised human."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (Oh, and mark your XP, Suzy.)<br>
<@Suzy> "What, really?"<br>
<@Suzy> (For the hiding evidence quest, right?)<br>
<@Rinley> "Well, yes, it probably scares cats but it also ''hurts rats''."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (The thumbs up... so, two, one generic and one for the quest!)<br>
<@Suzy> (Oh, whoops, I got a thumbs up.)<br>
<@Suzy> (I probably didn't do enough to get the quest yet.)<br>
<@Rinley> *to Alexandra* "Oh wow!"<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Alexandra: "Well, my mother and my siblings died.  And these people found me in their attic. I think I'd just crawled there because it was warm."<br>
<@Rinley> "How is that different?  Less lore, more table manners?"<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Alexandra: "And... I mean, they were new to the island. Came from Russia. They didn't really ''know'' about the rats.  So they just raised me like a pet, at first, instead of taking me to a rat family."<br>
<@Dulcinea> "Well, if you really want to live longer you should probably avoid sciency types."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Alexandra: "And then I started talking, and things got complicated."<br>
* @Dulcinea pulls out her bio-science kit...<br>
* @Suzy furrows her forehead in sympathy. "I'll bet they did...."<br>
<@Dulcinea> "Offhand, do you know your blood type?"<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Alexandra: "My parents were good people. My father and I made this gun together, in case of cats. But... I mean, I've got maybe seven years left. And they really don't want to outlive me."<br>
<@Rinley> (I thought Dulci was more spiritualist than bio?)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Alexandra: "Uh... rat?"<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Alexandra: "Do we have blood types?  Is that a thing?"<br>
<@Dulcinea> (She's less tech, more bioscience)<br>
<@Rinley> "oh."  *sniffles.  Such a wonderful story!*<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Alexandra: "But, anyway.  If any of you talk to someone who knows about that, send me a letter or something.  Prokofiev And Glenn Investigations, in the harbor district."<br>
<@Rinley> *nodnod*<br>
<@Rinley> (Huh, rats ''do'' have different blood types.  In our reality.)<br>
<@Suzy> "About rats' blood types?"<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Alexandra: "About age extension for rats.  At least long enough that my parents can go first."<br>
<@Suzy> "Oh, of course."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Alexandra: "There... was something else I thought maybe you should know about, too, although don't tell my partner that I told you."<br>
* @Suzy raises her right eyebrow.<br>
<@Dulcinea> "Well, depends on how... flexible you are with regard to quality of life.<br>
<@Random_Nerd> A: "But it would be better to... show you."<br>
<@Dulcinea> "Technically you can live for a long long time... just for a day at a time every, say, month or so."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> A: "Hmm. That could work.  I'll have to think about that."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> She tosses some money on the table, gets up, holsters her gun, and stands ready to go.<br>
<@Rinley> "Oh, show us!" *pays, has shake in a to-go cup* "Come on, Jasper, you can eat more later!"<br>
<@TheSun> *gets up, and goes to leave with the others*<br>
<@Random_Nerd> She points at a large column of smoke in the background. "That's it, or at least the closest one."<br>
<@Rinley> *blink*<br>
<@TheSun> "Huh?"<br>
* @Suzy puts her napkin on the table and stands to crane her neck at the column of smoke.<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Even from this distance, it smells odd, like a mix of barbecue and burning hair.<br>
<@Rinley> (Whew! Not an incense monster that escaped from the Yatskya Shrine. Like..never happens...)<br>
<@Rinley> "Are there a lot of those?"<br>
<@Dulcinea> "Reminds me of when Alvin first... never mind."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> A: "There will be more."<br>
<@TheSun> "What is that?"<br>
<@Random_Nerd> She leads you down a road toward the harbor district, where a lot of rats live.<br>
<@Random_Nerd> It's a part of town where you'll see tiny rat businesses sandwiched in between human-sized ones, and a certain amount of the seediness that you get in an area that caters largely to sailors.<br>
<@Random_Nerd> And it also smells, much more strongly, of overcooked meat and burning hair.<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Which may actually be an improvement.<br>
<@Random_Nerd> She points at a narrow alley.<br>
* @Rinley is praying, ~Please don't let it be roast cat~<br>
<@Random_Nerd> A: "I saw this when I was coming from work to where I thought I could find you. None of the others even ''told'' me about it."<br>
* @Dulcinea is regretting not bringing barbeque sauce<br>
<@Random_Nerd> At the end of the alley is what looks like a very messy bonfire, with painted slogans on the cobblestones in front.<br>
<@Random_Nerd> "Twenty down, five hundred to go."  "Honor the treaty."  "Flee Town now!"<br>
<@Random_Nerd> The bonfire, of course, is made largely of dead cats.<br>
<@TheSun>  "That doesn't sound good"<br>
* @Rinley falls to her knees.  <br>
* @Suzy shrieks when she sees what it is burning.<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Alexandra just nods.<br>
<@Rinley> "How... many."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Alexandra: "I'm pretty sure that there are at least two more this size. All done last night."<br>
* @Rinley hangs her head. "My family is failing.  Failing both our charges and the rats of Town."<br>
<@Dulcinea> "Alex? Plug your ears."<br>
* @Dulcinea hits her noisemaker.<br>
<@Suzy> "Wait, don't!"<br>
<@Random_Nerd> She covers her ears and shouts: "COVERING YOUR EARS DOESN'T ACTUALLY HELP VERY MUCH. ALSO, I STILL HAVE A GUN, JUST SAYIN'."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> There's a lot of clamour in nearby buildings, too.<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Rat heads poke out over the edges of roofs.<br>
<@Rinley> (It would be like telling someone to cover their ears when you're throwing them into a concrete mixer...)<br>
* @Rinley pleads. "Dulci, no..."<br>
<@Dulcinea> "Hm. I could probably tweak this so that those affected are catatonic rather than scared..."<br>
<@Dulcinea> "I know I can put a parabolic reflector on it so it's directional."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Yells are heard, and rocks start to be thrown.  Not big rocks, because these are rats, but a rock the size of a marble still hurts if it hits you in the back.<br>
<@Suzy> "Turn it off. Please turn it off?"<br>
* @Dulcinea turns it off. Fine.<br>
* @Rinley sobs.<br>
<@Suzy> "Whew..."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Alexandra: "I am not quite clear on what the plan is at this point."<br>
* @Suzy is speechless after all that.<br>
<@Random_Nerd> She takes a tiny flask out of her back pocket and chugs for a good five seconds.<br>
<@Random_Nerd> The rats on the roofs are still staring, and some are beginning to climb down.<br>
<@Rinley> (I'm not sure what the point was either.)<br>
<@Dulcinea> "Let's try this."<br>
* @Dulcinea pulls out a pouch.<br>
<@Dulcinea> "This is a mix of silver, corpse dust, ground holy symbol and a touch of ceyenne pepper. <br>
<@Random_Nerd> A rat in traditional "knight of the rooftops" clothing, much less tattered than Eduard's version of the same style, walks up to Dulcinea and puts a hand on his saber hilt.<br>
<@Dulcinea> "Let's see what happens when I do this..."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Rat: "Oh, let's."<br>
* @Dulcinea throws a pinch into the fire.<br>
<@Random_Nerd> He pulls the saber out a few millimeters.<br>
<@Dulcinea> "Oh please, that was not on high. Your organs are still inside."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> And then he pulls it out all the way.<br>
* @Suzy backs away.<br>
* @Rinley obeisances before the bonfire. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Rat: "Do you wish the same to be true of yourself, offensive human?"<br>
<@Random_Nerd> A few of the other rats have finished climbing down too, and some of the armed ones are forming up at his back.<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Alexandra: "Let's all calm down, here..."<br>
<@TheSun> (I'm trying to come up with a neat helpful way of solving this, but instead I find myself falling asleep.  Sigh.  Stupid time.)<br>
<@Dulcinea> Any effect from what I threw into the fire? It's a broad-spectrum magic detector and classifier.<br>
* @Rinley also prostrates herself before the rats. "I'm sorry for my friend, I'm sorry for my cats, I'm sorry for my inability to be strong like my siblings..."<br>
<@Rinley> (I have an idea but involves invoking an NPC.)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (No effect.  Maybe you didn't make it right.)<br>
<@Dulcinea> (aHEM.)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (Or maybe there's not much magic here.)<br>
<@Rinley> (I don't think there's any magic here.  Just angry rats.)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (Again, remember, you do not have a generic gadgeteer power.)<br>
<@Dulcinea> "Hm. The fire isn't magical."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (You are no more able to randomly pull out magic-detecting power than Suzy is.)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (Powder, even.)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Alexandra: "It's a fire. Heat. Wood. Uh, cats, also, in this case."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Saber-Rat: "I think it's time for you to leave, stranger."<br>
<@Dulcinea> (I've been spending most of my life making simulacra as my only 'friends'. I contend it's reasonable.)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (Okay, show me on your character sheet.)<br>
<@Rinley> (How is making friends out of stuff lead to able to pull magic-detection powder out of your..pocket?)<br>
<@Dulcinea> (They're magic friends.)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> A few of the rats edge around Rinley.<br>
<@Rinley> (But you wouldn't have to detect their magic.  You build them!)<br>
<@Rinley> (built even)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Is the noisemaker on the ground, or in your hand?<br>
<@Dulcinea> (Which would require a magically neutral workshop, which would require a way to detect any residual magic. Q.E.B.)<br>
* @Rinley keeps apologizing profusely to the rats, tears running down her cheeks.  She is also apologizing to the burning cats and their spirits.<br>
<@Dulcinea> (hand)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (Show me on your character sheet, man, or no powder. We've been over this before.)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Saber-Rat: "Put the weapon down, slowly."<br>
<@Dulcinea> (I say it's the same as expecting Leo to have, say, a geiger counter)<br>
<@Suzy> "Um. I know you all are upset, but Dulci didn't mean any harm and I'm sure that she'll be more careful in the future..."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (No powder, then. An experiment that didn't work, perhaps.)<br>
<@TheSun> (good night! Sorry again for leaving early!)<br>
<@Dulcinea> (How big is the rat?)<br>
<@Suzy> ((I'm going to try to use the Ordinary skill with one Will to convince the rats to back off, to treat it like an ordinary occurrence and shrug it off.  If that fits well enough?)<br>
<@Rinley> (Night, Laz.)<br>
* @TheSun Quit<br>
<@Suzy> (Night!)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (Foot and a half tall.)<br>
<@Suzy> (I figure passing something off as ordinary probably fits...)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (Big, as rats go.)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (Hmm. You can probably convince them that you live in the area...)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Alexandra: "If we could all just calm down..."<br>
<@Suzy> (I was thinking more like, "These are just kids playing with some gadget, not trespassers with a weapon or anything.")<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (Well, it's more "kids playing with an air raid siren" at this point.)<br>
* @Dulcinea puts the noisemaker away...<br>
<@Random_Nerd> The rat sheathes his saber with a dramatic gesture.<br>
<@Suzy> (Fair enough. Too much of a stretch I guess.)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Alexandra: "Miss D'Avignon was testing a device which she constructed that is intended to drive away cats.  Unfortunately, it appears to have the same effect on us."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> A: "This is just an unfortunate misunderstanding..."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> A few of the rats look at her in a "And whose side are you on, anyway?" way.<br>
<@Dulcinea> "I will concede that it needs tuning."<br>
<@Suzy> . o O ( ) ( Whew, she explained it. )<br>
<@Random_Nerd> A: "It also might be good not to do things that might make large numbers of cats angry, either, at this specific moment."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> A: "That might... trigger things."<br>
<@Suzy> "Good point.. right Dulcinea?"<br>
* @Suzy makes a big, obviously fake grin.<br>
<@Random_Nerd> A rat in the back: "And what are you humans going to do about this?"<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Another: "Honor the treaty, or we'll fix the numbers problem ourselves!"<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Saber Rat: "All these cats, here, were strays.  But the number of strays is less than the number of cats that the Prince has brought."<br>
* @Suzy grimaces.<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Saber Rat: "We may have a few days before the Mystery manifests. But when it happens, the streets will run with blood. Literally. They will literally run with actual blood.  I've seen woodcuts of the last time it happened."<br>
<@Rinley> "We are working on the problem.  We have been asked to the Prince's airship where we will get him to leave, by force if necessary."<br>
<@Rinley> (Bah. Carving Photoshop!)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Saber Rat: "We respect the rights of humans to keep cats, within limits.  But if the Prince is not driven away, better a bunch of animals than hundreds of people."<br>
<@Rinley> *Sadly nods*<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Alexandra: "I'm sure we all agree about that.  Right?"<br>
<@Rinley> *looks stricken* "Big Brother and Big Sister...I have to get home!"<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (Cut here?)<br>
<@Dulcinea> (OK.)<br>
<@Suzy> "I don't want anyone to get hurt...  No cats and no people either."<br>
<@Rinley> (Cut is fine with me.)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (Any lines before we end?)<br>
<@Suzy> (Is there time to briefly wind up the conversation with Alexandra and the other rats?)<br>
<@Dulcinea> "You're too soft-hearted sometimes."<br>
<@Rinley> (At least she ''has'' a heart!  ;P )<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (Sure.  What do you want to say?)<br>
<@Dulcinea> "In fact, I may put a few of these around my place and leave them on...<br>
<@Dulcinea> "Wait, seethe-hounds. Never mind."<br>
<@Suzy> "That's the way normal people act!  No one wants to be hurt or see others in pain..."<br>
<@Suzy> (If there's no reaction to what I said to Alexandra earlier from either her or the other rats, we can skip it I guess.)<br>
<@Dulcinea> "Life ''is'' pain, your fluffiness. Anyone who tells you diferently is selling something.<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Saber Rat: "We don't ''want'' to have to kill any cats! We've had a treaty with you for years. But if it's them or us..."<br>
<@Rinley> (Hmm, not sure, but I think Rinley had a O.O at Dulci keep on using the sonic thing.)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (Which thing that you said to Alexandra?)<br>
<@Suzy> "I can't say you're wrong.  I just don't like any of this."<br>
<@Random_Nerd> The lead rat nods.<br>
<@Random_Nerd> Lead Rat: "If we could only drive the Prince away..."<br>
<@Suzy> (She said we all agree that dead cats are better than dead people and I said I don't like either one.)<br>
<@Random_Nerd> (Yeah, that's what the lead rat was responding to with the "We don't want to kill cats, if we don't have to" bit.)<br>