Session 84

Chancel_Amyra
Chapter 10

Random_Nerd: Hmm. Any of you have any ideas how I can make things like the JBJ answers and Barakiel's plan more clear to avoid misunderstandings like last time?
BethE: I get the feeling that Knock was feeling that with the new revelations that we don't have a leg to stand on/can't do anything to change B's mind.
Random_Nerd: And I didn't really get why he thought that. Did any of you?
Etheric: I think you were completely clear. Honestly, I'm not sure where he was coming up with any of what he thought at first.
Etheric: Now, after he realized he'd misunderstood, I can understand why he might have gotten discouraged, and though, "Well, my entire plan goes poof."
Random_Nerd: Still, I'm pretty sure you guys still have decent options now.
Etheric: That what you mean?

• • • Knockwood has joined #nobilis.
      

Knockwood: Hiyto
BethE: Hi Knock!
Random_Nerd: Hey, Knock.
Etheric: Oh, I'm sure we do too.
Etheric: Hi.
Knockwood: and Hi Tpyo! We missed ya!

• • • Mode change "+o Knockwood" for channel #nobilis by lazarus.
      

Random_Nerd: Anything before we begin, Knock?
Knockwood: well, what's my clone number?
Etheric: It's either six or zero, depending on the GM's mood. Next question?
BethE: 6
BethE: Darn, too slow.  :)
Knockwood: I see last session's on the Wiki... just wish I didn't look likle such a doofus at the end...
BethE: I didn't think you looked like a dufus, Knock. And I've had varied sessions that I realized that I hadn't understood everyone.
Random_Nerd: Do you feel like you have a better grip on what Barakiel And Friends are planning and assuming now?
lazarus: (whee! RPGNet's kablooey!)
Knockwood: nope.
Knockwood: But hey, neither does anyone else. :)
Etheric: We don't?
BethE: We could go over it, as long as we keep it below demonboxing?
Random_Nerd: Shall our first scene be Dante returning to the others, and the party being back together?
Etheric: I think that having us start together would work best, personally.
lazarus: *shrug*

• • • You are now known as Theresa.
      

Theresa: I'm ready to go, then.  :)

• • • Etheric is now known as Eve.
      
    • Knockwood is now known as DanteE.
      
    • lazarus is now known as Brian.
      

Random_Nerd: ____________START_____________
Random_Nerd: Various and sundry aides and minions sit up when Dante comes back to the suite.
Theresa: (This is our suite? And Brian and Theresa have returned?)
Random_Nerd: (Yeah, the party's now back together.)
DanteE: "We -- and by we I mean everyone in creation -- are up shit creek.
Brian: "Why do you say that? I think we've actually got compelling arguments now"

• Eve peers at Dante impassively.
  

Random_Nerd: William puts away his book and looks at Dante.
Brian: "Some actual facts"
DanteE: "and I don't know how long we can swim like this...
DanteE: "But if I understood you, the facts support Barakiel;s plan.
Brian: "Not particularly."
DanteE: "And I have considerable trouble believing we can save creation by killing one of its leaders.
DanteE: "... not _thatr_ one, anyway."
Brian: "His plan fails to take into account one serious thing - that lack of a Fourth Age does not imply lack of any subsequent Age."
Random_Nerd: (*cough*entropocide*cough*)|
Theresa: (The crime that everyone thinks about but no one does anything about it...)
DanteE: "Hm.
Brian: (Everyone HATES Entropy. Can Imperators be Anchored? ;))
Random_Nerd: (You want Entropy attached to your soul?)
Eve: (Somehow, I doubt it. But nice idea!)
Theresa: "I thought it was more that we have proved that not ending the Age will not end the War."
Brian: (... well, not really)
Brian: "That, too."
Eve: (No, no, you anchor Entropy, then de-Anchor Entropy. Instant dead Entropy!)
Brian: "And that the Cataclysm to come is actually a part of /this/ Age's Domain."
DanteE: (or instant _nuts_ Entropy... which would be considerably worse)
Eve: (Truuuue...)
Brian: "There's some interesting implications of what the Estate of an Age encompasses."
Random_Nerd: (True. You have at least one action that seems to be an example of a Miracle of an Age.)
DanteE: "William... have the Aides heard anything about an Imperator of the Fifth Age?"
Theresa: "Makes me wonder what the estates or code of the Wildlady of the current Age are."
Brian: (... we do? Can you remind me?)
Random_Nerd: W: "We have not. Don't even have to look that one up, because I'd know."
Random_Nerd: W: "But there's little reason to think that we would have."
DanteE: "hm...
Brian: "As I understand it, unless the Imperator came out him or herself, we wouldn't really know"
Random_Nerd: W: "Imperators of Ages so far have not had Nobles, and we're only rarely employed directly by Imperators, particularly those without Nobles."
DanteE: "I wonder if maybe Eprot was Imperator of the Third Age, and Attaris Imperator of the _Fourth_ Age..."
Random_Nerd: S: "Yeah. Until it's that Imperator's time, you can't see much about him. Which, I guess, gives you a way to check if any given Imperator is an Imperator of an Age To Come..."
Eve: "Can't see much about Barakiel or his Nobles, either..."
Eve: (Or am I misremembering? Wasn't he Unfathomable?)
DanteE: " ...? If this is a power play..."
Random_Nerd: (He is.)
DanteE: "Could you tell if Barakiel was Imperator of the Fifth Age?"
Random_Nerd: (Which by mere chance happens to have a very similar effect.)
Random_Nerd: W: "...huh."
DanteE: "huh?"
Random_Nerd: W: "I can't think of a good way offhand. I don't /think/ he is. He doesn't act like any others. But I can't think of a way to disprove it."
Brian: "Technically, we only have four examples - not a very statistically sound set"
Random_Nerd: W: "Permission to send that to our research wing as an open question to look into?"
Brian: "Granted."
Random_Nerd: William touches his ear-sphere.
DanteE: "Maybe expand it... _is_ there am Imperator of the Fifth Age."
Random_Nerd: W: "That's already on the list. We don't have an answer yet."
Brian: "We also don't really know how the Age Estates really come about - it is possible that if there is no current Imperator of the Fifth Age, that when the Fourth Age comes to be - or fails to, if Ananda dies - that an Imperator will adopt the Domain."
Random_Nerd: S: "Okay, here are the reasons I can think of as counters to the theory. He has Nobles, which the others hadn't. None of his Nobles is of the Fifth Age, but it's not unheard of for one Estate to not be ennobled. Hell, Kudzu did that."
DanteE: "... any chance an Excrucian could do that? Jump into the power vacuum?
Random_Nerd: S: "And he's conspicuous. Most of the other ones have tended to bide their time."
Random_Nerd: W: "I don't know."
DanteE: (afk a minute...)
Random_Nerd: S: "But there are a couple reasons to think he is. First, he's rather ineffable, which matches the profile. And if he /is/ the Imperator of the Fifth Age, and what Jan said is true, he has a big motive for his plan."
Theresa: "And if he was the Imperator of the 5th Age, he'd know how Ages worked and how he would need to have Ananda die and that would be too obvious."
Theresa: (Remove my statement.  :) )
Brian: (... I wonder if we've stumbled upon RN's Hidden Motives :-P ...)
Random_Nerd: W: "Some think that Ymera Attaris was an Excrucian who replaced Ymera Ebrot Appeka."
Random_Nerd: (Hmm. Interesting.)
Eve: (What hidden RN motives?)
Brian: (you didn't need to say that, you know :-P You're behaving as if you're seriously interested in this. Which means one of two things. Either you are seriously interested in this, or this is your Great Plan - which is a subset of the first option)
DanteE: (bak)
Random_Nerd: (I always say that when theories about my true motives are raised. Ask Beth.)
Theresa: (No, he can be truly intrested in something even if he has no stake in it. He listens to me complain about work. ^^ )
Theresa: (And yes, he does say that under these situations. In fact, when it came up on the screen, i heard it in my head in the proper tone and inflection.  :P )
DanteE: "So... do we have enough to convince Barakiel to stop his plan?"
Theresa: (I don't play poker against him.)
Theresa: "Have many people met Attaris?"
Random_Nerd: L: "So, if I have this straight, you think he's secretly going to be King of the World the age after the next one. But wants to be ruler of everything now. So, makes a plan to remove Ananda, pretends to have different reasons, then gets to be the big Angel soon?"
Eve: "Not quite. The Imperator of an Age isn't the ruler of that Age, necessarily... Though they're rather extremely powerful."
Random_Nerd: W: "Few knew her before when the became Attaris Ebrot Appeka. After that, she's less secretive, but still keeps to herself."
Random_Nerd: L: "What does Imperator of the Age get? In personal power and in influence?"

• Eve glances at William.
  

Random_Nerd: S: "We don't know, at least for the personal boost, but it has to be big. And it's a whole lot of influence."
Theresa: "As the embodiment of an Age, you create the main aspects of that Age. Like Jan Ben Jan and his code."
Random_Nerd: W: "Yes. Ymera Attaris Ebrot Appeka is very important now, and could be even more so if she wanted to. Ymera Ananda is important even though his Age hasn't come yet."
Eve: "Well, Jan ben Jan said the Imperator's Estate encompassed all time and space during that Age. That sounds rather powerful right there."
Eve: "Not that I'm endorsing this theory... It sounds intriguing, but unlikely."
Brian: "It strikes me as the kind of plot a petulant child would come up with."
Random_Nerd: W: "Yes, that's what I think. It's probably not true."
Random_Nerd: S: "But if it is true, it changes everything."
Random_Nerd: L: "Have you not met Angels before?"
Random_Nerd: (That was to Brian.)
Brian: "No, I haven't."
Brian: (Yep)
Theresa: "Hmm..what would the Locust Court think of an Imperator trying for a power grab by having Ananda killed? That might be smite worthy."
Eve: "Barakiel has enough other reasons to want to prevent the Fourth Age. And, if this were the reason, I doubt Kudzu would have sent us to him, personally. I trust our Lord's intuition more than that."
Random_Nerd: S: "I think it would depend if they caught it before it actually worked."
Random_Nerd: S: "If he pulled it off... I don't think even Entropy would do anything about it."
Theresa: "Because he would be impressed?"
Random_Nerd: S: "He gets nervous when Ananda even reminds him that his Age is coming soon."
Eve: "Well... Isn't there something in the Chestnut law about intent mattering not?"
Random_Nerd: W: "Entropy's Laws wouldn't apply here."
Random_Nerd: W: "Ymera Barakiel is an Imperator."
Eve: "Oh, true. They apply to Nobles, not Imperators."
Theresa: "Is it in the rules of the Council that Ananda gets to be in charge once the time shifts?"
Random_Nerd: W: "I suppose that Consequences would get it rather hard, though, as he's clearly involved in this plan."
Random_Nerd: W: "It's not in the formal rules, no. But, I think Ananda would be able to be in charge if he wanted to."

• Theresa goes back to pondering Dante's question.
  

DanteE: (Theresa, you think RN's steering us toward meeting Attaris? :) )
Brian: "I suggest we proceed as if Barakiel is not the Imperator of the Fifth Age"
Theresa: (I have no clue whatsoever. *looks at Theresa* I'm running out of viable limbs...)
Brian: (I'm not Beth, but I get the feeling RN has cooked up a personality for Attaris :-P)
Theresa: (We can try talking to her if we think it might work. I like meeting NPCs. RN does good work on them.)
DanteE: "We could run what we have by Consequences... if it convinces him, it might convince Barakiel."
Brian: (I can only see it adding to confusion :-P)
Theresa: "Okay, so Barakiel is convinced that the Cataclysm at the end of the Age will be worse than the Excrucians starting the War. Even though they came in a good time before the end of the Age." *mutters* "Maybe we should be looking at big stuff that's happened recently for signs of the next Age..."
Brian: "Why talk to the middle man? It's not Consequences we have to convince"
Random_Nerd: S: "But Consequences is reasonable."
Random_Nerd: S: "Barakiel scares me."
Theresa: "And less likely to be able to grind us into paste and say 'Oops.'"
Brian: "Barakiel is an Imperator. He's so much more powerful than us, and we're so much more powerful than you, S. Of course you're scared. But if we spend all day talking to his minions when that ends up just wasting time in the grand scheme of things, then we'll never get anywhere."
Random_Nerd: W: "I would advise not mentioning your theories about Barakiel and the Fifth Age. If it's not correct, it makes you look worse, and if it is correct, it would not be good to let him know that you know."
DanteE: "Consequences has dealt with Barakiel numerous times over ... 170 years, if I recall correctly.
DanteE: "We've dealt with him once."
Theresa: "I agree with Dante. I think it's better to go through a channel closer to our own height than go the advanced route, especially without rock hard solid as diamond factoids."
Brian: "Our job is to convince Barakiel. And, honestly, we are kind of running out of time. We have how long until the Age change? Months? Barakiel will proceed whether or not Kudzu's actually on board I bet, some time before that."
Eve: "Still... Shouldn't we try to get more evidence first?"
DanteE: "William, when is that meeting he's talking about?"
Eve: "As is, I don't know what we have that we didn't the first time."
Random_Nerd: W: "Two months."
Brian: "We have actual knowledge of what an Estate of an Age encompasses. And what will happen if Ananda dies."
Eve: "I'll be blunt. It doesn't seem like enough to convince the Angel of Consequence he was wrong."
Brian: "If it's insufficient, then nothing - including direct observation - will convince him."
Eve: "Not so. We simply need to find the right evidence. What we have now is extremely sketchy."
Theresa: "Then where to go for better evidence?"
Eve: "I say we pay the Wildlady Attaris a visit."
Brian: "What more do you believe we need?"
DanteE: "William... what do the Aides know about Attaris?"
Eve: "Well, we do know that the Fifth Age might replace the Third Age, but we have no evidence to convince Barakiel that the war would end either way."
Eve: "Attaris might be able to give us insight on the war, insight that no one else could."
Brian: "I don't believe Barakiel is truly concerned about the War - but only of the coming Cataclysm. Which /will happen/."
Random_Nerd: W: "We know very little. She's the Imperator of the Third Age. She doesn't have Nobles. Sometimes, other Imperators consult with her, if she permits it. People mostly leave her alone."
Random_Nerd: S: "Oh, and some guys think she's an Excrucian."
Random_Nerd: W: "And... yes. That."
Eve: "Who?"
DanteE: "... any chance Barakiel talked with her?"
Eve: "I'd suspect it's likely that he contacted her in some way. He's trying to influence the Wildlords, remember."
Random_Nerd: W: "I strongly suspect he did."
Random_Nerd: S: "He'd have been crazy to start this kind of plan without it, at least."
Theresa: "What if the Imperator shapes the Cataclysm? I mean, the War has brought lots of knowledge...but lots had to be sacrificed for said knowledge.
Random_Nerd: Lesson shrugs.
Eve: "If that's the case, Attaris might offer us insight on the end of this age.. And how catastrophe might be averted."
Random_Nerd: S: "And with that Code of Jan's..."
Theresa: "I agree that talking with Attaris would be a good thing. It took only a day or so with the Jan Ben Jan check-in."
Eve: <RH> "Milord, we are considering contacting the Ymera Attaris to glean information which might convince Barakiel against his chosen course. I did not wish to do so without informing you, however."

• Eve doesn't expect Kudzu to respond, but now she can blame him when it goes kablooie!
  

Random_Nerd: Kudzu: "Her? You want to talk to her?"
Eve: "To gain insight on the War, which Barakiel fears."
Eve: "And any further cataclysm which might begin in the Third Age."
Random_Nerd: K: "I don't have any pull with her. She goes out of her way to not move in normal Wild circle."
Random_Nerd: K: "And I don't trust her. Maybe she isn't an Excrucian, but even so, with her history and the way she acts, I don't trust her."
Theresa: (What about her history?)
Random_Nerd: K: "If you have to talk with her, I empower the group of you to negotiate on my behalf. But don't screw it up, and remember that I can't protect you from her."
Brian: (probably the dusting of another Noble?)
Eve: (Hmm. I'm almost positive we would have enough DP to buy Advising if we opted to.)
Theresa: (NEgotiate? Screw it up? Can't protect?!?)
Eve: "Acknowledged, Milord."
DanteE: (If we're talking spending DPs, we could try removing the Corrupt Cult)
Brian: "Once again, I will state - this time for The Record - that I believe this is an unnecessary risk."
Eve: (RH or hotel room, Brian?)
Brian: (to the room.)
Brian: (And, of course, the Noble of The Record probably hears it.)
Random_Nerd: (She has a gift that automatically does lesser divinations when anyone says that!)
Theresa: "On one hand, we want to talk to a Wildlord and ask a few questions. On the other hand, we talk to an Angel, point out he's wrong without solid proof and hope he changes his mind-of-decades."
Eve: "As you probably noticed, Lord Kudzu may agree with you. I am intrigued at his reaction, but perhaps it would be wise to determine a third course?"
DanteE: "Talk to Ananda?"
Eve: "That's too direct for my taste. Not to mention that if Barakiel gets found out he'll be, well, angry enough to move Heaven and Hell."
Random_Nerd: S: "I'll pass. I'm afraid my goggles wouldn't do anything."
Brian: "And say what? 'Hi, Ananda, we're here to figure out if killing you is a good idea or not.'?"
Random_Nerd: (If I gave Drama Points in Nobilis, Brian would get one for that.)
Brian: (hee ^_^)
DanteE: "Well, there's 3 Age-Lords we know of. We've talked to one, and you're talking yourselves out of talking to another. That leaves #3."
Eve: <RH> "We are debating the merits of contacting Attaris. It may be a risk we do not wish to take."
Theresa: "We know of another one, but he's dead and none of us can talk to the dead...right?"
Eve: "Not dead Imperators, certainly."
Random_Nerd: (Dante can bring back the dead, but not Imperators.)
DanteE: (BTW, sorry about starting that whole nuke-a-Noble thing on that thread. :) )
Eve: (I don't want to know.)
Theresa: "Just wanted to check...in case."
Theresa: "We don't even know if we can get in touch with her."
Random_Nerd: No response yet from Kudzu.
Brian: "We're in the middle of a plot in which I bet she'd be interested."
Theresa: "If she likes being in charge."
DanteE: "That's right... how touchy is she over abdicating?"
Brian: "Or even if she doesn't like being in charge."
DanteE: "Heh... there's always the slight chance she's looking forward to retiring to Fiji..."
Theresa: "I mean, her Age has lasted longer than the others. What if she's tired of it all? What if the War hurts _her_ personally, physically?"
Brian: "Then she'll want to know that they're thinking of continuing it, probably."

• Theresa asks Sam and Will. "Is it possible to get an audience with Ymera Attaris?"
  

Random_Nerd: S: "Not through us."
Brian: "Is her Flower knkown?"
Random_Nerd: (The begonia.)
Random_Nerd: W: "Hers is the begonia."
DanteE: "All right... this one is for me, Hope and William."
Theresa: "Tag-team handoff?" *smile*
Theresa: "Beware gifts."
DanteE: "Eve, who calls, you or me?"

• Theresa creates a begonia flower.
  

Theresa: "The flower of..what was it...warning and deformity?"
Random_Nerd: William nods.

• Theresa looks at her hands... "Hmm...maybe I should go?" *small smile*
  

DanteE: "what, do you not like fingers?"

• DanteE takes the begonia...
  

DanteE: (Eve?)
Theresa: "I like them, I just can't have all of them for a little bit."
DanteE: (did we lose Etheric?)
Random_Nerd: (I don't know.)
Random_Nerd: (I'll AIM him in a moment if he doesn't respond.)
Brian: (Just sent him a Google IM message... no response yet)
Brian: (and response)

• Eve , after a moment of perplexity, asks Dante, "What is it you propose to do? Pray to her?"
  

DanteE: "Say hello."
Eve: "How?"
Eve: "And what's the flower for?"
DanteE: "... to call her?"
DanteE: "Last chance to come up with a Plan B."
Eve: "So you're going to pray to her through the flower and hope she's listening?"

• Eve shrugs.
  

Eve: "I don't really care if you want to, but why do you tihnk it'll work?"
DanteE: "It's worked so far...
Theresa: "The flower is her in the way that our flowers are us."
DanteE: "Were you asleep when they talked to jan Ben Jan?"

• Eve considers. "Is that how the three of you originally got in touch with Jan ben Jan?"
  

Eve: "I wasn't here, remember?"
Theresa: (I thought Eve...oh, wait, it was Carrie, right?)
Eve: (I wasn't present that session.  :P )
Brian: (:-P)
Eve: (Not talking about last session. I mean the one where you set up the meeting.)
Theresa: "We used JBJ's flower to make a quick contact and then he established a firmer one through one of the local guards. Then we were instructed to burn the flower to summon him. Using her flower to at least make contact couldn't hurt."
Random_Nerd: (Basically, if you pray to someone and know their insignia or are connected to their estate, they can hear you. Works the same way for Imperators.)
Eve: (That's what I thought, but everyone kept saying it wasn't praying.)

• DanteE sets the flower down on the table...
  

Brian: (I thought you /could/ pray without a flower, but the chances of being payed attention to are higher, as is the chance of it actually reaching the intended destination)
Random_Nerd: (Flower, or connection to the estate.)
Brian: (*nod*)
DanteE: (OK, do we do this or not?)
Random_Nerd: (Either works, but it's easier to just get their insignia.)
Brian: (it's so much easier for us to get their flower :p)
Eve: (I'm pretty ambivalent at this stage.)
DanteE: "William, what's protocol?"
Eve: (Also, my computer is on the fritz, so if I vanish that's why.)
Theresa: (I'm up for going for it, but I would be offscreen.)
Brian: (I'm fine with going for it, but would be offscreen)
Random_Nerd: W: "Protocal for talking to Ymera Attaris Ebrot Appeka? I believe that it demands that I be somewhere far away, preferably in another Chancel and behind a lead shield."
Eve: "She's that bad?"
Random_Nerd: W: "Unpredicable, powerful, and with nobody who can reliably tell her what to do."
Brian: "... so just like any other Imperator then?"
Theresa: "Huh."
DanteE: "And the difference between her and Kudzu is...?"
Theresa: (Why the lead shield? Are Imperators notorious for being radioactive?)
Random_Nerd: S: "As Wildlords go, Kudzu is pretty much like a dionyl."
Theresa: "Kudzu is _our_ boss."
Theresa: "And not covered in eyeballs?"
Random_Nerd: W: "Don't get me wrong. I don't think that Ymera Ebrot Appeka is /evil/. Just dangerous, especially to mere mortals."
DanteE: "And pretty much the only thing that would put you above Samuel in the eyes of your fellow Aides, I believe."
Random_Nerd: W: "Beg pardon?"
DanteE: "Oh come on, if you two competed any more you'd be brothers.
DanteE: "So, do we do this, or give this begonia to KU's flower arranging class?"
Eve: (Sorry I'm having so much trouble getting into things, it's just late and I have a headache and my computer's acting up.)
Brian: "If you want to, Dante, go right ahead."
Theresa: (I can go instead of Eve if you want, Etheric.)
DanteE: "I shouldn't admit this, but there are times when I rely on you to counter my bullhead tendencies.... or should.
Brian: "But what fun would that be for those of us watching from another chancel, behind a lead wall?"
DanteE: "... OK. Ladies? Do we do this?"
Theresa: "I'm ready. For all we know, when we ask, all we'll get is a go away."

• Eve looks quite ambivalent. "Do as you please. I'll back you up if you do."
  

Theresa: (Oh, wait, were you calling William a lady?  :) )
Random_Nerd: (Just because flower arranging is one of his specialties?)
DanteE: (No. Though I could go all Dr. Cox if you want... :) )
Random_Nerd: (Well, are you doing this, or not?)

• DanteE touches the begonia.
  

Theresa: (I had just thought that only Eve, Dante and William were going. I'm ready to go.)
Brian: (Brian wants to stay way the frak away :-P)
Theresa: (Go as in, talking.)
Eve: (My honest inclination is to break now and pick up next week. But I'll try to play a part if people want to go ahead now.)
DanteE: (Hm... is there any way I can let the others know what she says if she responds?)
Random_Nerd: (Well, you could... say it out loud?)
Random_Nerd: (Semaphore, perhaps?)
Brian: "You could blink morse code?"
Brian: (err, parens)
Theresa: (Sign Language, spelled out really fast?)
Brian: (write shorthand on the wall?)
Theresa: (Or ghost miracle.)
Random_Nerd: (Charades!)
Brian: (... technically, we know all languages. Does that include codes?)
Random_Nerd: (Two words, rhymes with "snow duck..."
Random_Nerd: )
Random_Nerd: (It would include shorthand and morse code, but not codes designed for the purposes of obfuscation.)
DanteE: "Attaris(you want me to snow duck myself? Hey!)
DanteE: "Attaris Ebrot Appeka...
DanteE: (Breaker 6-6-6, this is Bullhead calling Big 3 Babe, you squakin'?  :D )
Random_Nerd: The flower starts to warm in your hand.
Random_Nerd: And then the area of space surrounding it distorts strangely, and both the distortion and the flower start to grow.
Random_Nerd: What do you do?
DanteE: "I am Dante, Dominus Audentia, and I wish to speak with you."
Brian: (run to another Chancel and hide behind a lead sheet?)
DanteE: (trying for very respectful tone.)
Random_Nerd: Five seconds or so after the flower started to warm, an air raid siren sounds.
DanteE: "...oops..."
Brian: "..."
Theresa: "Forgot, outside of our chancel.."
Random_Nerd: Shadows's Voice, coming out of every shadow nearby, very loudy: "Oh hell! This is not a drill! A big one is loose! Cover your eyes and your ears, everyone, and if you still hear or see anything that you shouldn't, blind or deafen yourself and you will be healed once the emergency has been dealt with!"
Brian: (whatever that sounds like, Brian says it :-P. He's apparently a non-Bishi FF character :-P)

• Theresa does a facepalm.
  

Brian: "T, pray to Shadows quickly and inform him what happened."
Brian: (need flower)
Random_Nerd: Shadows: "This will be dealt with soon, but right now it is very important that you not see or hear anything."
Random_Nerd: You hear a loud noise coming towards you, very fast, from the northeast.
Random_Nerd: Like something is smashing through walls and coming straight for you.
DanteE: "Hm... their Shadow spotters trigger on Wildlords."
Theresa: (...did we leave Monty at home?)
Random_Nerd: (Still holding the flower, Dante?)
Eve: (I'd use a Hope miracle, but I have no clue how many DMP I have left.)
DanteE: (uh, yeah)
Random_Nerd: It's not directly affecting your flesh, but bits of your clothing are happening to occupy the same space as other bits of your clothing.

• DanteE tries to remember if he's wearing clean underwear...
  
• Theresa steps into a nearby shadow in the room. "Shadows, Noble of this Chancel and seeker of knowledge. This is Theresa, aka Plants. Just to let you know that we were in the middle of an attempt at conversing with a Wildlord when your air raid siren went off. We don't think this was anything but a coincidence."
  
• Brian panics and attempts to increase the size of the room...
  

Random_Nerd: Shadows smashes through the north wall, going about mach 1, and comes to a stop in a way that puts a six-foot deep skidmark in the floor.
Brian: (How long has this scene been planned? I'm guessing at least a year :-P)

• Eve stands and peers at Shadows. "Are you all right?"
  

Random_Nerd: He stabs the flower/distortion with the sword he was wearing at the party, which opens up in a rather complicated-looking way.
Random_Nerd: (Less than a year.)
DanteE: "Shadows, don't!"
Brian: (I've gotta admit, this is one of the most fun scenes so far :))
Random_Nerd: The sword bends and splits into several pieces.

• Brian ducks
  

Theresa: "Protect the Aides and Lesson!"
Random_Nerd: Bits of sword go flying and embed themselves in the walls and in Lesson's right leg.

• Theresa will use Aspect 2 to tackle William and Sam if he's near so that they're behind cover.
  

Random_Nerd: (You can grab them both with Aspect 2 and pull them to behind the kitchen counter.)

• Eve does a Lesser Pres of Hope, simple miracle, to preserve Shadow's sword's purpose. This probably does nothing as it's probably within his Auctoritas, but she might as well make the attempt to help whatever he's doing.
  

Random_Nerd: Some of the bits of sword stick within the churning space and swirl around, rather than flying out like the rest.
Eve: "Dante, it's his Chancel. Please don't order him around."
Random_Nerd: Shadows fiddles with the ring on his right hand.
Eve: "Lady Attaris, have we offended in any way?"

• Theresa so pulls.  :Lesson, over here!"
  

Random_Nerd: The thing moves toward the ground near Eve, and parts of it outside her Auctoritas randomly change places with each other.
Random_Nerd: Lesson crawls to where Theresa is.

• Brian will head toward T as well
  

DanteE: "Sorry, Shadows. We figured we'd just hear her voice..."
Random_Nerd: S: "Dante, can you stab it at a right angle to the way I do? I don't have much strength left to help with it, so you'll have to be the one to get the angle right."
Brian: (*fears this is going to be Very Bad*)
DanteE: "It may be a Wildlord, not a Shadow."
Theresa: (*pondering if this is All According to Barakiel's Plan*)
Eve: (Not -Barakiel's- plan, I think.)
Random_Nerd: S: "It's not that big."
Random_Nerd: S: "Hold on, I think I might be able to calm it down. Can any of you help with that?"
DanteE: "... Shadows, what exactly triggers your alarms?"
Random_Nerd: S: "Outsiders. Big ones."
DanteE: "That include Wildlords?
Theresa: "How big?"
Random_Nerd: S: "Bigger than the ones I showed you, smaller than an Imperator."
Eve: "Lady Attaris, if you can hear me, I propose a meeting in the Diplomacy Grove of Amyra in 24 hours. I regret that our present hosts were not expecting your appearance. In Amyra, we hope to offer better hospitality."
Random_Nerd: He twists his ring, and the churning spatial distortion seems to slow down a bit.
DanteE: "Crap... Theresa, get everyone else out of here. Shadows, secure this room once they leave...
Random_Nerd: After Eve and Dante's words, the distortion twists and curves itself down to a mirrored spheroid about four inches in diameter.
Random_Nerd: S: "I didn't do that."

• DanteE draws his sword-cane. "This _may_ be a messenger for Attaris..."
  

Random_Nerd: Sphere: "This is the emissary."

• Theresa will shoulder-up Lesson if he needs the help. LesserCreates sap over Lesson's wound because we don't need contaminating blood through the Chancel. "We;re going to need a decontam unit for the blood...but then this Chancel would know how to handle demon blood."
  

Theresa: (Does it look like Sam and William's balls?)
Brian: (*blink*)
Random_Nerd: Sphere: "This is a small portion of the Imperator Attaris Ebrot Appeka."
Random_Nerd: (Not exactly.)
DanteE: (When exactly were you looking at ... naah, way too easy. :) )
Eve: "Thank you."
Theresa: ( ^^ It's late and I thought we might need the smile.)
Random_Nerd: (Those are made of metal. This seems more like a twist in space that "reflects" by bending light the wrong way.)
Random_Nerd: Shadows: "What the hell is going on here?"
Random_Nerd: (Mind if we stop here?)
Eve: (not at all)
Brian: (sure)
DanteE: (Imperators really need cellphones.)
Theresa: (I'm okay with it. This is interesting.)
Random_Nerd: _______________________STOP_______________________
Theresa: (Willords could not handle cell phone contracts.)

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

Knockwood: OK, we were demonboxing again. :)
Eve: (Can you hear me now, Lady Attaris?)
BethE: But not as badly this time? ANd it did represent how we were feeling with the proof/noproof

• • • Eve is now known as Etheric.
      

Random_Nerd: Yeah, this wasn't demonboxing so much.
Random_Nerd: Demonboxing is endless debate over something trivial.
Random_Nerd: This was indecision over something /significant/.
lazarus: and, it apparently turned out you had the scene in mind :)
Knockwood: fair enough
Random_Nerd: I did? What shows that, Laz?
lazarus: there was no hesitation between "ok, we're finally doing this" and "the world sort of half explodes around you" :p
Random_Nerd: This wasn't a pre-planned set piece, just something I came up with about two hours ago based on Attaris' personality and capabilities.
lazarus: (though I admit we DID give you enough time to think that up prior to it happening ...)
Random_Nerd: Yeah.
Knockwood: OK, now we just have to figure out what to ask her. :)
Random_Nerd: What did you guys like and dislike about this session?
lazarus: not my problem :p
Knockwood: "So, eat any good worlds lately?"
BethE: Shadows should get a nice fruit basket in return for all of the stress we've given him.
Knockwood: remind me to remake his sword
BethE: I liked the sudden wtf-ery that exploded around us. Disliked...since when is Brian expected to be 'voice of reason'? *grin*
lazarus: I really liked the whole end scene. I also kind of liked the discussion.
lazarus: BethE: EVERY plan in the past, Brian's been the voice of reason.
Knockwood: well, it can't be me every time. :)
lazarus: Shall I remind you about the whole Bunny venture?
lazarus: (of course, it tends to happen when he stops thinking logically)
BethE: *quiet voice* nevermind
BethE: ;)
lazarus: :-P
BethE: And we have learned valuable lessons...summon Imperator chat-windows while in your own Chancel.
lazarus: Brian believes we have all the Necessary and Sufficient information. We don't need anymore
Random_Nerd: What do you guys think of the method Attaris chose to respond?
BethE: We have info but we don't have proof.
lazarus: unexpected
lazarus: BethE: we have sufficient information to construct a proof
Knockwood: yeah, definitely unexpected.
lazarus: (and apparently Brian believes you'll all let him Do The Talking :eek: )
BethE: Indeed. Sanity, crush,
Knockwood: laz: but, is it enough to convince Barakiel, Angel of Consequences, to abandon his well-thought-out plan?
Knockwood: that raises the bar considerably.
lazarus: I still believe that it's either sufficient, or nothing will be.
lazarus: (more importantly, Brian believes that)
Knockwood: Angels don't necessary run on logic
BethE: More logic than Wildlords, though. Wildlords are the lower octane Logic, with ethanol replacing Sanity...
Knockwood: in fact... Barakiel's running on emotion: despair, faint hope, anger at us...
Random_Nerd: *nod*
lazarus: hence, the belief that nothing will be sufficient.
lazarus: he'll be looking at it going "why didn't it work?!"
Knockwood: if anything would work, it's the word of miss silver ball here.
lazarus: I doubt that.
lazarus: Jan Ben Jan's word should be sufficient.
BethE: B would probably say something along the lines of 'that young whippersnapper'.
Knockwood: OK, did we screw ourselves, or do the right thing?
Random_Nerd: Hmm.
Random_Nerd: That remains to be seen.
Random_Nerd: Could go either way.
Etheric: Laz, we have nothing that even slightly resembles a proof.
Etheric: If we have a proof, what is it?
lazarus: ...
lazarus: Q for RN: based on everything I've said so far, have I interpreted JBJ's comments correctly?
Knockwood: Attaris would be the one to tell us about the nature of the cataclysm Barakiel is so scared of.
lazarus: (where correctly = as intended)
Knockwood: not to mention the big question of whether the Age and the War are linked
Random_Nerd: Hmm.
Random_Nerd: Could you tell me, again, what your interpretations are?
Knockwood: if the latter's true, Barakiel is dead wrong.
Random_Nerd: It can be hard to remember who said what.
lazarus: A) that the fact that there is no Imperator of the Fourth Age does not guarantee the Age not changing (essentially, does not guarantee no subsequent Age)
Knockwood: and the former could give us an alternate course of action... which could satisfy Barakiel
Random_Nerd: That's correct.
lazarus: B) that, ignoring the start and end points, 'cause that wasn't clear, everything that happens is in the purview of the Estate. This leads to this: given that all Cataclysms have so far happened /prior/ to the Age change, they are in the purview of the Estate of /that/ Age, and not the following.
Random_Nerd: It's necessary for that, but not sufficent.
lazarus: [RN: to whom?]
Random_Nerd: (To you, on your first thing.)
Random_Nerd: Hmm. Parts of that are accurate, parts aren't.
Random_Nerd: For instance, a great deal of the stuff at the very end of the Second Age wasn't a part of any estate.
Random_Nerd: Since the Excrucians aren't.
Etheric: @who
Random_Nerd: But it's more a part of the Second Age than the Third.
Etheric: Er, wrong window. <.<
lazarus: C) (suspicion) that the /transition/ between Ages is shared between both Estates, but ultimately owned by neither.
Etheric: I should be going though.
lazarus: see you Etheric.

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

Random_Nerd: That's ambiguous. Jan didn't give many details on how that works. But it's a theory consistant with the evidence.
Knockwood: (AFK a minute..._
lazarus: Based on A, B, and C, the conclusion is, then, that the Cataclysm will happen anyway. Probably On Schedule, not caring what comes after.
Random_Nerd: That is a likely deduction from those facts.
lazarus: (though I admit that the scheduling is the least solid of all those points)
Random_Nerd: But yeah, I wouldn't say you're significantly off base on any of those. Your conclusions are either what Jan said, or plausible conclusions based on what he said.
lazarus: and the conclusion counters Barakiel's goal with this plan.
lazarus: Therefore, the plan won't work (probably).
lazarus: (brb)
Knockwood: (BAK)
Knockwood: well, the only glitch is "probably on schedule"
Knockwood: Remember, he wants to _delay_ the cataclysm.
Knockwood: and, going by what JBJ said again, killing Ananda might delay the cataclysm for 1000 years... right RN?
Random_Nerd: Mmm?
Random_Nerd: When did I say that?
Knockwood: when JBJ said that, without Ananda, Attaris could opt to stick around until the next millennium
Random_Nerd: I don't recall giving a specific number of years, though.
Knockwood: which, assuming the cataclysm would end the age, means it wouldn't come around until 6000.
BethE: Makes sense...this current age is longer than a thousand years.
Knockwood: That's what I picked up on which caused all the confusion
lazarus: (b)
Knockwood: then again, being a Wildlord, what does she care about 3 zeroes?
Random_Nerd: Anyway, it's pretty late here. Mind if I head out?
BethE: I should probably be getting to bed too.
Knockwood: like hell, you're staying until we figure this out, damn it!

Chancel_Amyra
Chapter 10