---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 13:30:59 -0400 (EDT) From: Philip J. Moyer To: John Biles , Amy "General Chaos" Borden , Chris Angelini , Rosemary Walker , Eric A. Burns Subject: [Amber/TAMD] Hiko; Shaft -- Ripples of Ember =========================== =========================== =========================== Juri and Hiko are still in the kitchens of the castle, considering their options. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Right... gaming now. I think I figured out a way to get out of the palace withouttripping the alarms." Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Are there any fireplaces near by?" The kitchen has a good dozen fireplaces, needed for the cooking :) Hiko the Firechilde looks at her mother and makes mental contact. "Do you trust me, Mother?" Juri smiles at Hiko wryly, "How suicidal is this plan?" Hiko the Firechilde says, "Not at all. I just realized that not knowing where this icon is located is a bad thing." Juri nods. "And you have an idea on how to find it?" Touga falls asleep. Hiko the Firechilde says, "Well.... no." Hiko the Firechilde waits for Juri to recover from the facefault and explains. Hiko the Firechilde asks, "I figure, that if we can get out of this castle without detection, gather information, and get back in, it would be easier to find it, right?" Hiko the Firechilde says, "Take my hand and trust me." Juri says, "Hmm, I could try using the Pattern to find the Heart, but it could call down Chaosians on our heads." Juri says, "But yes, it would be best to retire until we have more information." Hiko the Firechilde says, "I surely don't want to do that, Mother... and it might twig the efreet to our location." Juri nods. Juri says, "Lead on." Hiko the Firechilde takes Juri's hand and walks straight into one of the fireplaces. She whispers, "...teleport..." The flames roar up, and then they clear, and you're standing in an alleyway you passed on your way to the castle. A drunken efreet lies near you, sleeping and clutching a bottle, mumbling about elves. A salamander is taking a leak on him. Hiko the Firechilde grins at first her mother, then the drunken efree. "This is very opportunistic." Juri frowns and chases off the salamander with her sword. "Damn elves...think they're so big," the efreet mumbles. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "ER, John... I thought I couldn't understand what they were saying." The universe briefly translates for you to cover up for the GM screwing up. The efreet swats something invisbile, to no apparent effect, then rolls over to lie on his stomach. Hiko the Firechilde touches the drunken efreet and extracts from his mind all the language information she can get from him. You will need to spend several hours if you want to extract a fairly complete vocabulary. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Enough to get by? To impersonate juvenile efreet?" Juri says, "OOC Unfortunately, his brain isn't sorted by age of vocabulary, but you could handle anything except highly esoteric conversations by scanning his vocabulary banks." Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "You know what I mean. Basic stuff... things a teenage-equivelant efreet would know." Juri says, "OOC Hiko hasn't studied linguistics, and neither has this guy. But you think you could pass fairly well as not particularly educated Efreet if you take his vocabulary and grammar set." Juri says, "OOC He looks fully grown, so far as you can tell." Hiko the Firechilde nods, then after absorbing his language set, imparts that knowlege on Juri. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Estimated time of completion?" By the time you finish this, you're fairly exhausted, as it takes three hours to absorb his vocabulary, and another three to give it to Juri, and you got to the city around 7 PM, and spent several hours running around it. Hiko the Firechilde slumps down against the wall. "I think we need to sleep. The horses should be safe." Juri nods. She goes over to the drunken efreet and rolls him over, pulling a dozen coins off the ground you're sure weren't there before. "These should pay for an inn for us to sleep in," she says. Hiko the Firechilde nods, leaning on Juri for support. Juri leads you to an inn, rents a room, and goes inside, then strips and crashes almost immediately on a nice soft bed. Hiko the Firechilde follows suit. The night passes without incident, unless there's something youwant to do. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Fast forward?" You refresh your spells, and in the morning, you wake up and have breakfast. You refresh your spells, eat a heavily spiced breakfast of sausage and noodles and peppers (courtesy breakfast of the inn), and rise around noon to continue your quest. Hiko the Firechilde nods to Juri, speaking in efreet. "Ready t' go, Ma?" Juri nods. "Ready to go, daughter," she replies. Juri heads out of the inn with you. Now what? Hiko the Firechilde heads towards the bazaar, hanging out and looking for potential people she could chat up about the city. There are hundreds of efreeti bustling about in the bazaar, busily selling spices, jewels, cloth, animals, food, and other goods. As you walk along, dozens of efreet harangue you with overly dramatic sales pitches trying to convince you to buy goods. Everyone seems quite friendly and willing to do business. You also notice, to your surprise, two pitchblack people who look to be humans, haggling with a spice merchant at one stall. They get a lot of hostile stares, but don't seem to care. Hiko the Firechilde watches the human-like people closely, trying to figure out what and who they are. They are speaking heavily-accented Thari, the language of Amber. They wear bright yellow and red tunics and huge floppy hats with gems set in them. The taller, fatter one seems to be 'Master Ponchitrain', while the younger one is named Abdul. Ponchitrain says, "This authentic ankh from the tomb of Pharoah Mobius is worth a good dozen of your boxes of Arrakisian Spice!" The big, ugly efreet merchant replies in bad Thari, "Because it's a fake! It's nice silver, but it's only worth two boxes." They continue bickering back and forth. Hiko the Firechilde nods to Juri. "Ya know who dese guys are?" she whispers, sotto voce, in efreet. You page, "[Corrine] ...." to Akemi. Finally, they settle the deal for five boxes in return for the ankh, then start haggling over a sceptre. You page, "[Corrine] These two cause a Diplomatic Incedent, and I'm gonna be SOOOOOO unhappy....." to Akemi. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly afks. Juri says, "Khem is a desert kingdom shadow, I think. Ruled by Pharoahs." Juri asks, "But if they speak Thari, they must be from some Golden Circle Kingdom...but they're just so incredibly dark. Oh wait, they could be Ashanti, maybe?" You page, "[Corrine] At the traders, or at Juri and Hiko, I'm not sure. *wry look*" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "As you guessed, they're Emberite merchants, at the FAR end of the Fire Highway, which starts at the City of Brass :)" to you. You page, "[Corrine] ..... *FACEPALM* Oh Boy." to Akemi. Akemi pages, "They're gonna be confused as hell when they get home and hundreds of years have gone by on them...:)" to you. You page, "[Corrine] ... Oh, these guys are from PRE-Ember-Reset?" to Akemi. You page, "[Corrine] I wonder how many folks -are- stranded out there in shadow, now..." to Akemi. Akemi pages, "They left during the 500 years between you repairing the Pattern and you coming back to rule Ember" to you. You page, "[Corrine] ... Ah. Right. *pause* Which was about a day for me. Eeep. I'm Soooooory!" to Akemi. You page, "[Corrine] Catherine? Take a memo. Minor repartations for folks in that sort of situation, all right?" to Akemi. Hiko the Firechilde waits until the two men leave, then go up to the dealer. "Oi! What'd *those* guys want?" she asks in a derisive voice. They continue to haggle for about an hour on many things. Then you go up to the dealer. He says, "Traders from some place called 'Ember'. I have to say they're about the bravest, dumbest humans I've ever seen, just walking in here. But they had some great stuff, and I made a huge profit, so hey, what do I care?" Juri's eyes widen for a moment. Then she says, "Humans, they's crazy, ya know?" Hiko the Firechilde nods. "Embrans, eh? Wonder what dey be doing here." The merchant laughs. "Looking to trade, what else? I guess the Fire Highway must eventually lead to their home shadow. No one knows who made it or where it goes, but it seems to lead to all sorts of weird places. Too bad most of them are infested with humans." Hiko the Firechilde spits on the ground. "Humans. Fekt. Why they even exist?" "But then again, I hear a bunch of them are killing each other off, off past Yig, so maybe we'll finally be rid of the little buggers. Or at least the ones who don't have anythign to trade." Juri asks, "They finally turned on each other like rats, eh?" Hiko the Firechilde nods... "I even heard that some of them might be coming here... lookin' fer something called the Heart of Flame." The merchant looks at you funny. "Grew up in the boonies, eh, kid?" Hiko the Firechilde says, "Yeah... some ol' backwater place. 'S why we're here in the city." He nods. "It's a great place to come and make a life for yourself. I grew up in Lepus myself, then came here. Still, I'd feel pretty bad for any humans trying to get the Heart of Flame away from old Al-Ghazali." He looks at you. "Don't tell me you don't know who that is." Hiko the Firechilde shrugs. "Ma din't tell us 'bout that... we'd heard sum folks talkin' bout it yesterday." The merchant continues, "The Heart of Flame was used about six centuries ago by a bunch of damn fool humans who tried to invade the City of Brass and trap us all in bottles. The Caliph defeated them and captured it, and now it passes from Grand Vizier to Grand Vizier. And we bring it out to show everyone on the anniversary of the battle. "And old Al-Ghazali is a pretty potent mage. I wouldn't want to mess with him." Hiko the Firechilde widens her eyes. "When's that? Might be fun to watch." Hiko the Firechilde nods. "Even we've heard of Al-Ghazali... best of all of us." Hiko the Firechilde inwardly shivers and wonders if this Al-Ghazali was the one on the throne yesterday. The merchant scratches his head, gets out a flask of glowing liquid, drinks some, then counts on his fingers. "Ten days, I think. The anniversary, that is." The merchant says, "There's a huge parade, and they carry it around the city, and everyone makes floats to show off their talents. It's quite a sight to see." Hiko the Firechilde nods at Juri. "Think we can stay day long?" Hiko the Firechilde nods at Juri. "Think we can stay dat long?" Juri shrugs. "We ain't got no where else ta go. Dunno if our money'll hold out, though." You page, "[Corrine continues trying to get the words "Diplomatic Incedent" from running around her head.]" to Akemi. Hiko the Firechilde shrugs back and nods at the dealer. "Ya lookin' fer some hired hands?" Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Or know where we kin find work?" He looks you up and down. "How strong are ya, kid?" Hiko the Firechilde says, "Depends on what yer lookin' fer." He says, "I could use some delivery people, but if you can't carry the stuff, I can't use you." Juri picks up the merchant and holds him over her head. "This good enough for me?" she asks. Hiko the Firechilde points at Juri. "Always showin' me up..." Juri says, "Okay, I can use you." The MERCHANT says that. Juri puts the Merchant down. He says, "My name's Avicenna." He looks at Hiko thoughtfully. "How fast are ya, kid?" Hiko the Firechilde asks, "I'm Erdn." She smirks. "What'd ya have in mind?" He says, "I could use a messenger girl too, if you can deliver messages fast." Hiko the Firechilde says, "I kin do it. I'm awful smart, too." "Do you know your way around the city yet?" Hiko the Firechilde says, "I kin learn. We jus' got in yesterday." He nods. "Well, I'll hire ya anyway, in memory of the guy who gave me my start." He sighs. "Poor guy's probably still stuck in that bottle. But nothing I can do about that." Juri says, "OOC Okay, basically, he'll put you two to work for the next ten days." Juri asks, "OOC What do you want to do during those ten days?" Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "And in that time, we learn more about the Heart, Al-Ghazali and what the extent of his powers are?" Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Like everywhere we go, we learn more about the City of Brass, its inhabitants, its history and the festival, yadda yadda. We don't need to RP this." Juri nods You page, "[Corrine] ... So much for them getting back home in a decent amount of time... hope there IS a home for them to come home TO...." to Akemi. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "I would like to RP a strategy session with Juri the night before the parade." The festival lasts for three days: Day 1--Parade, Day 2 Contests, Day 3 Everyone gets drunk off their ass. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "One collective ass?" *** Foxtrot goes OOC. *** Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Is the Heart ever left unguarded?" Juri says, "Never." Juri says, "But during the parade, when it rides on a float, seems to be when it would be most vulnerable." Juri says, "No one has any idea where in the Palace it is kept, but they all seem to think the security is VERY powerful." Juri says, "Al-Ghazali is said to be the most powerful living Efreet Wizard." Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Was he the one who escaped from Gendo?" Juri says, "And Greatly feared because of his Ice Magics." Juri says, "Apparently, the King, who he serves, is the efreet who escaped from Gendo." Hiko the Firechilde asks, "And who was the one who came with the Heart to imprison the efreet?" Juri says, "Some fool named 'Bargle'" Juri says, "He was turned to stone by Al-Ghazali, who uses him as a hat rack." Juri says, "Bargle apparently came from some shadow called 'Mystara'" Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Who walks with the float that the Heart is on?" Juri says, "The Heart will be on the float which leads the parade, surrounded by elite guards. Fortunately, Al-Ghazali himself doesn't ride in the parade; he'll be at the King's reviewing platform in front of the castle." Juri says, "The parade basically starts at the gates, winds its way through the city, and ends at the King's reviewing station." The wagons form up outside the city by the south gate. Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Will Avicenna have a float in it?" Juri says, "The merchant's guild will, but he'll be busy selling stuff to the crowds." Juri says, "You also get to learn a fair amount about some of the shadows the Efreet trade with, which I won't go into right now as it would take too long, but might be useful later." Hiko the Firechilde asks, "The better to avoid, ne?" You page, "[Corrine] . o O (Ask about Emberites, ask about Emberites...) *telepathic send to Hiko* *mutter*" to Akemi. Juri says, "Heh." Juri asks, "Anything else you wanted to try to learn?" Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Um.... more experimentation with my spikard?" Further experimentation shows that your spikard can do fire magic even more potently than usual here. On the other hand, efforts to get it to do cold are much weaker here. In fact, experimentation shows that any ice magic you do melts VERY fast. Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Then how is it possible for me to maintain the cooling spell?" Juri says, "Because the cooling spell doesn't require as much energy as Ice." Hiko the Firechilde asks, "How 'bout wind?" Hiko the Firechilde asks, "or water?" Juri says, "The spikard can't do water." Juri says, "Water not equal energy" Hiko the Firechilde says, "You said elemental... oh... okay." Juri says, "You can do conventional water spells, but the water tends to evaporate fast. On the other hand, it treats everything it hits like acid." Juri says, "Wind, Sound, lightning all work fine" Hiko the Firechilde asks, "How much water can I generate?" Juri says, "Depends on how long you spend building the spell, but in general, you're getting about 1/4th the results you should." Hiko the Firechilde asks, "So, if I racked a firehose like Spray, I'd get a garden hose, with a kink in it?" Juri nods Juri says, "Unless you spent four times as long on it, which would mean you wouldn't have time to rack much." Hiko the Firechilde asks, "How long would it take me to rack a firehose like spray and how long would it take me to build one?" Juri says, "Spray is a Difficult Spell, so it would take four hours to weave it and rack it at full strength here." Juri says, "Keep in mind you're working 8 hours a day, and need 8 hours a day sleep." Juri says, "And water magics start unravelling quickly here, then have to be refreshed." Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Right. Actually, Hiko manages on about four to six, as in her old shadow, she used to have to keep watch most of the night for raiders, remember?" Juri asks, "Did Hiko do hard physical labor 8 hours a day in her home shadow?" Juri asks, "While struggling not to overheat, only kept alive by magic?" Hiko the Firechilde says, "Um, no. but how hard is it to send messages? Okay, I get your point." Juri says, "Yes, you could try to get by on four hours, if you want to be exhausted and groggy during your mission." Juri says, "You spend eight hours a day running." Hiko the Firechilde starts the strategy session, about evening, after the day's labors, the day before the parade. *** Foxtrot goes IC. *** Juri goes IC. Hiko the Firechilde slinks into the room, and as has been automatic by now, refreshes the cooling spell and collapses on the bed. Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Ma? Next tim' I drag you onna quest, jus' shoot me, 'kay?" Juri sits down on her bed. She doesn't look very tired, which after a week of it, is starting to drive you nuts. Juri says, "It's strange how refreshing I've found this to be." Juri says, "It gives me time to think." Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Think 'bout what?" Hiko the Firechilde is still speaking in efreet, with the SEP field on, but the efreet disguise off. Juri stretched out on her bed. "Although it does make my back ache." She rolls over. "I had started my next book, on the question of the nature of reality, and I've been puzzling over various issues. Have you ever studied the writings of Ishkush?" Hiko the Firechilde says, "Writings of who? Yer fergettin' that I ain't had time to learn much 'bout Amber, Ma." Hiko the Firechilde grins tiredly. Juri nods. "I forgot about that. Ishkush spent a lot of time trying to understand the nature of Shadow. He argued that everything in Shadow is just a reflection of the mind of Amberites who explore shadow, that we create the universes we visit from our subconscious minds, our hopes and fears." Hiko the Firechilde nods tiredly.... "I don' think I'll even begin t'understand that, jus' yet. I'm worried 'bout how we're gonna pull this off." Juri says, "Well, I can get us out of here once we have it." Hiko the Firechilde says, "Right... w'll need to git as far away as possible and try to avoid [INSERT NAMES OF SHADOWS THE EFREETS TRADE WITH]." Juri says, "Hmm. If there was some way to replace it with a duplicate...but we don't know what it looks like." Juri gets off her bed and starts to do sword forms as she talks. "Can you make some sort of light illusion we could leave behind, just as a distraction?" You page, "Hm. What's the Time Differential in the City Of Brass, relative to Amber proper?" to Akemi. Hiko the Firechilde mulls it over. "Maybe a light flare up... blind 'em fer about a minute or so?" Juri says, "That would work." Juri says, "I'm sure light magic should work well here." Juri says, "I know a few words of power; I can make us a light strobe as well." Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Light Magic was an awful parade at Disneyland. Nice choice of words, John. ^_^" Juri moves into an elaborate dance with her sword, which whirs about her, hand to hand, round and round, slicing the air to ribbons. Hiko the Firechilde nods. "Ma? Kin I ask ya something? Kin ya teach me how t'do that?" Akemi pages, "The City of Brass is currently 1:1 with Amber" to you. Hiko the Firechilde is awed by her mother's swordwork. Juri blurs the sword around, and suddenly it turns into a naginata as she flows into another kata. "Once we are somewhere with more time than here, I would be happy to," she says. You page, "Which means they're now almost at day 31! Wheeee!" to Akemi. Juri says, "I will take you to Avalon, where I can speed up time and give you a few centuries of training in a day." Akemi pages, "Yep. And the Shadow they're in is Trump-Barred, so it's a good thing they don't plan to Trump Out :)" to you. You page, "D'oh!" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Or you would have trumped them by now." to you. Hiko the Firechilde says, "That'd be neat, Ma." Juri says, "Avalon is a beautiful place, the land I always dreamed of as a child." Juri says, "I hope you'll like it." You page, "[Corrine] Ahhh, decisions decisions... almost tempted to make it two decades now in Ember, save, well, I don't think I could keep the armies at THAT level of readiness for long.... *pause* Good point. Which means I must be trying at least once a day at this point, now that Ember/Amber is on resynch. *gruuuumble* . o O (Juri pickupthephone....)" to Akemi. Hiko the Firechilde nods. "There ain't been much beauty in my life." You page, "[Corrine watches Gabrielle try as well, and have as much success as momma does.]" to Akemi. Hiko the Firechilde asks, "So, recap the plan, Ma?" Akemi pages, "with your Trump Artistry improved and Gabrielle helping, you'd know by the second day they were in a Trump Barred shadow." to you. Juri says, "We beg off working that day to see the Parade." Juri says, "Then we should be able to easily move among the hordes of people who will be preparing the floats." You page, "[Corrine] Well, fsck. *pause* and since we're THIS spread out PC-timing wise, trying to jump ahead with me and Gaby coming down would just be Dumb. Best to wait for Shiz to come back, 'spose. And shoot Mikage's player in the foot." to Akemi. Juri says, "Unfortunately, we can't make precise plans until we see the conditions." In a page-pose to you, Akemi nods. Juri says, "But basically, I'm thinking you could open up with wind and lightning to clear the guards off the float, and enable me to start beating them while you defeat any magical safeguards on the Heart." Juri says, "Once we get it, I will lead us out of there by hellriding." Juri looks thoughtful. Hiko the Firechilde nods, recalling what she'd heard about what the Heart looks like. It's a red gem the size of a man's fist with a roaring bonfire inside it. Juri says, "Perhaps we could use the Fire Highway to escape--that leads to human controlled shadows, and it wouldn't require me to make a massive wake of Pattern energy the Chaosians could use to track us." Hiko the Firechilde nods, laying on the bed, taking deep breaths. Juri finishes her kata and comes over to you. "Are you alright?" she asks, laying a hand on your brow. "You look flushed." Hiko the Firechilde nods, and nods, and it is clear that the strain is beginning to show on her... especially since Juri doesn't seem to be affected at all. "I'm just so weak, and I see you being so strong.... Akane was strong, as well, but not strong enough, it seems." Juri sits down by you and strokes your hair gently. "I am centuries old, Hiko. I have had a very long time to build up my strength, while you are still young. But your mind is stronger than mine. I have perfected my body, while you have perfected your mind. Now, I have turned to try to strengthen my mind, while you seek to strengthen your body. Seperate, we are but half of a single woman, but together, we can complement each other's strengths." She starts to work on massaging your tense shoulder muscles. "All of us are incomplete, in and of ourselves, though I long thought I could get by without anyone else." Juri asks, "So what was Akane like?" Hiko the Firechilde sighs and relaxes. Juri seems to be quite expert at massage, and soon your shoulders cease to throb. Lost in thought, Hiko begins to speak. "She was warm on occasion, indifferent to Ranma, save when you looked really closely at the two of them together. Juri listens attentively as her fingers do their work. Hiko the Firechilde says, "She was the one who risked her live to hide me, and I think I know why now." Her hands clench. "They were pawns who were told to keep me safe, train me to be a perfect sorceress for HIM. Hiko the Firechilde starts to cry for poor Ranma III and Akane, the first time she'd ever cried for them in sixty years. Juri kneels down over you, and hugs you gently as best she can from this awkward position, saying nothing, but just giving the comfort of touch. Hiko the Firechilde rolls over and hugs her mother back, pouring her grief out in her sobs. Juri begins to cry as well, infected by your grief, and together, you sob for a very long time, until finally, there's a knock at the door. Hiko the Firechilde throws up the disguise spell. "Whaddya want?" Muffled: "Hey, is something wrong? I can hear you two crying all the way through the wall." Hiko the Firechilde says, "Naw... jus' homesick thas' all...." "Okay." The footsteps recede. Peorth falls asleep. Hiko the Firechilde stifles a giggle. "Mus' be more careful, eh?" Juri nods. "Yeah. It would have been a very silly way for our mission to end." Juri says, "Well, we'd best get some sleep; it's going to be a busy day tomorrow." Hiko the Firechilde elbows Juri. "'Specially if ya keep talkin' like a fekting human..." Hiko the Firechilde giggles, and feeling much more relaxed than she has in the last week and a half, falls alseep. ========================= ========================= ========================= Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Cut here, please, as I think I'd like to be more sober when we RP the Heart Theft." Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Or the Heart Heist, as I'd like to subtitle this." Juri says, "OOc Sounds good ta me." Corrine OOCly yays, and gives both Juri and Hiko sympathetic hugs from across time and space.