From rhea@ikkoku.maison-otaku.net Sun Oct 1 14:58:43 2000 Date: Sun, 1 Oct 2000 13:09:54 -0700 (PDT) From: Rhea Seraph To: John Walter Anthony "Ranma" Biles Subject: [Amber/TAMD] Hiko -- Hearts of Fire, On the Run (fwd) John Biles Emperor of all He Surveys http://www.tass.org/~rhea/falcon.html "I can't die now! I have to give my daughter a stuffed fish." --Shinesman Sepia, _Shinesman_ ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sun, 1 Oct 2000 02:50:23 -0400 (EDT) From: Philip J. Moyer To: John Biles , Amy "General Chaos" Borden , Chris Angelini , Rosemary Walker Subject: [Amber/TAMD] Hiko -- Hearts of Fire, On the Run iko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Back!" Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Let's do this!" Hiko the Firechilde OOCly One more thing, before we start: Fuyutsuki asks, "OOC Hai?" Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Is it possible for us to have visited the start of the Fire Highway in our various errands?" Fuyutsuki says, "OOC Since you don't work all day long, you could easily have gone to check it out, yes." Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Oh, and sometime during the night, I also moved the horses from the stables in the castle courtyard to the start of the Fire Highway." Fuyutsuki says, "OOC It looks like an interstate made out of basalt, with a median in the middle and multiple lanes each direction." Fuyutsuki says, "OOC Okay, you can smuggle them out." Fuyutsuki says, "BBIAS" Windir wakes up. Fuyutsuki returns Juri asks, "OOC REady?" Hiko the Firechilde OOCly ponders the rest of her plan.... I think that' sit. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Ready." *** Foxtrot goes IC. *** ====================================== ====================================== ====================================== Hiko the Firechilde wakes up. Juri is up and dressed. "Ready, daughter?" she asks. Hiko the Firechilde nods, the worry and stress lines on her face not exactly erased, but definitely lessened. Hiko the Firechilde slips into her black pants and black tank top, fastens her sword and dagger at her hip and activates the efreet disguises. "Avicenna did give us the day off, right?" Juri nods. "Yes. He wanted us to have a chance to see the parade." Juri's lips curl into a faint smile. "Which we will, if not quite the way he expects." Hiko the Firechilde smiles as well. "Ya ready t' go? An' drop th'fancy talk, eh? Y'keep fergetting." Juri says, "'tain't easy fer me ta talk like dis." Juri asks, "We's ready ta go pinch da heart?" Akemi pages, "REady to continue last night's scene on IRC land?" to you and Mercutio. You page, "Right!" to Akemi. You page, "irc.ev1.net, channel #not-tech , right?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Yes." to you. Juri asks, "OOC Hello, Trish?" You page, "I'm there. ^_^" to Akemi. You page, "... at least, I think I am... :/" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Bad lag?" to you. You page, "... doesn't appear to be a not-tech channel... what's the port num?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "irc.ev1.net 6667" to you. Akemi pages, "Are you using MIRC?" to you. You page, "I'm using ircII." to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Is that Unixbased or Windows or Mac?" to you. You page, "Unixbox. and it says I'm port 6667.... what's your nick there?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Fuyutsuki" to you. Akemi pages, "And you've tried /join #not-tech ?" to you. You page, "Ah, there we go. Huh." to Akemi. Akemi pages, "The channel doesn't show up on lists." to you. I don't recognize the players named "could", "done", "have", "it." and "That" You sent your summons to Akemi. Foxtrot has connected. >> We have arrived, you may kiss my foot, now. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Sorry... phone calls kept coming in." Corrine OOCly says, "neg probs." Juri says, "IT happens." Juri asks, "OOC Ready to Rumble some more?" Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Ready." Juri has breakfast with you, and heads out towards the gates, unless there's anything else ya want to do first. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Just rerackthe spells, but that's about it. And pray." You head through the bustling streets of the city and slip out the south gate, into the swarming horde of Efreeti busily preparing the wagons for the parade. You'd guess roughly a hundred floats will be in the parade. Hiko the Firechilde heads for the front of the parade, where Avicenna said the Heart is usually placed, muttering approval at the other floats. The lead wagon is ringed by a dozen armored, well armed Efreeti. Four huge hounds the size of Clydesdales are hitched to it, and up on an obsidian dias on the float are two female Efreeti in saffron robes and veils. At the center of the dias is a glass case, currently empty. Horns blow nearby. Hiko the Firechilde looks around to see where the sound is coming from. Hiko the Firechilde begins to rack the light spell, nodding to Juri to do the same with the strobe. She places a hand on Juri's elbow, mentally linking them. "When do you want to do this?" The sound is coming from the gates. A carriage plows through the crowd and people scatter. Juri says, "Well, it looks like they haven't actually put the Heart on the float yet, so we have to wait." Hiko the Firechilde ducks out of the way of the carriage, cursing in efreeti. The carriage pulls up to the lead wagon, and a wizened efreeti gets out, flanked by a tall female efreet in armor and a dark haired, heavily robed male. The wizened efreet, dressed in white robes, carries a two foot cube box, made of ironwood and shod in gold. Hiko the Firechilde nudges Juri. "Dat 'im?" Juri nods. "Dat's likely a be him." Hiko the Firechilde nods... Hiko the Firechilde says, through the mental link. "When do you want to do this? How long after the Vizier leaves?" Juri says, "Once he goes back into the city, I think." Juri frowns. "Assuming he doesn't stay." The old efreet and his two assistants climb up on the wagon and place the box. When it opens, a glass box rises up from inside it, containing a brightly shining ruby the size of a human fist, inside which you can see crackling flames. Hiko the Firechilde whispers. "De Heart o' Flame..." Everyone begins whispering around you and looking impressed. The two efreeti who came with the Vizier have a short conversation with him, but you can't quite hear what they're saying. You get the feeling that most of the crowd holds the Heart in awe and that they both respect and fear Al-Ghazali. Hiko the Firechilde fidgets with her hands. "Jeya... when de parade gwanna start?" One of the nearby efreet says, "Oh, I expect it'll be a good hour or two before we're ready to start. Couldn't wait for it to enter the city, eh, kid?" Hiko the Firechilde gives the efreet next to her a grin. "Be my firs' parade. Excitin' an' all." Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Wha' 'appen after de parade?" The efreet, who is tall and skinny and dressed in simple rough wool, dyed brown, says, "We all go home and have a big feast. Then tomorrow, the King carries out the Twelve Contests of Skill." Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Wha' dat be?" He blinks. "Never heard of them? Well, basically, various people will compete for Onyx, Obsidian, or Basalt medals in various kinds of tests of skill and prowness, such as chariot racing, archery, sorcery, and gorgon riding." Hiko the Firechilde shrugs. "Lik' I said, I be new here. Ma didn' want us to come, but we ran 'way from home." The man laughs. "Sooner or later, everyone has to get away from their mother." Juri keeps an eye on the Vizier during this. The Vizier goes back to his carriage with his two assistants, gets in, and drives back into the city. Hiko the Firechilde nudges Juri. "Wan' get somethin' t' drink while we wait?" A wagon rolls by with eight humans locked in it, dressed only in loincloths, who look hungry and exhausted. It heads off towards the rear of the line. Juri says, "Yeah, I could go fer some fizzy plasma." Hiko the Firechilde nods, and with Juri, disappears into the crowd. Your spell goes up without a hitch. Hiko the Firechilde murmurs to Juri through the link. "When do you want to do this?" Juri says, "Give them ten minutes. I want to make sure the Vizier can't come back fast enough to interfere." Ten minutes pass, unless you have anything else ya want to do? Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "I think we're ready to go." Hiko the Firechilde glides as close to the float as she can without getting detected by the guards. She watches them very carefully. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "How far away can I get?" Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Or actually, how close?" Juri says, "OOC Depends on your definition of how close. If you don't mind teh guards seeing you, you could walk up to five feet away from them." Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "I've got the SEP field on. Could we actually climb on it?" Autolyca has arrived. Jeff-kun OOC Howdy Shizumaru has connected. Corrine OOCly says, "'lo Jeff, 'lo Shiz." Shizumaru waves. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Just in time, Drew. You get to watch me fail at getting my Icon. ^_^" Juri says, "OOC It's pretty damn risky trying to climb past the guards." Juri says, "OOC Because they're very dedicated, and you'd be risking your spell not working well enough." Juri says, "OOC IF you have enough of a psyche advantage, it will work, but you don't know how strong heir minds are." Hiko the Firechilde slowly advances until she's standing five feet in front of the float, looking at the decorations and trying to figure out the best way to get up there. Juri follows you. Juri takes your hand. "Ready, daughter?" she asks through the mental link. Hiko the Firechilde nods, lips pulled back in a tight grimace. "Ready." Hiko the Firechilde whispers, "...light flare..." There is a bright flare of light, erupting over the guards and over the wagon. The guards all raise their hands to their eyes in surprise, leaving the way open for you to jump onto the wagon. The two women in robes are rubbing their eyes as well. Hiko the Firechilde takes out her sword and follows Juri's lead up to the float quickly. Hiko the Firechilde grabs the Heart, and jumps off the wagon again, running like mad. Still holding Juri's hand, she whispers, "...rings of fire... You grab the Heart, and then several bad things happen. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Oh shite." First of all, your disguise spell, your SEP spell, and most importantly, your COOLING spell all wink out as if they had never been. In a single second, you and Juri both begin to sweat like pigs. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "I can deal with that... somewhat. What's next?" Secondly, the Heart attempts to burn you to death. Fortunately, your spikard sucks up the fire before you can turn to dust. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Important... does the float go up in flames?" Unfortunately, it looks like your spikard will be busy defending you from burning to death, too busy for you to use it for anythign else. The flame is entirely directed at you, specifically the hand and arm you're holding it with. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Anything else?" And thirdly you feel something trying to force a trump contact with your brain. Fortunately, you think you can hold it off easily. You page, "Inter-shadow trump, I take?" to Akemi. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "That it?" Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Okay, it's enough, but I'm trying to figure out how to deal with these things." Juri says, "OOC Yep." Akemi pages, "Yep. The Vizier :)" to you. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Questions:" Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "1) Any open fires near by? Like from a booth or something?" Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "2) How hot is it? How long can we stay unprotected?" Juri says, "OOC The only open fire is on your arm. They are no fires near the floats." Juri says, "OOC Imagine if you turned the oven to 350 degrees and climbed in." You page, "D'oh!" to Akemi. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "3) Could the spikard create an bubble of protection around the heart as a defense?" Juri says, "OOC Fortunately, you and Juri have High Endurance compared to normal Humans." Juri says, "OOC If the spikard stops sucking up the fire, your hand will burn off." Juri says, "OOC If it stops for even a second." Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "DAmn, I am in a pickle, aren't i?" Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Shoulda created a shield for it first.... stupid Stupid!" You have about five minutes before you get exhausted. You have about ten before the heat knocks you out. And about fifteen before you die. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "How could Juri fend off magica attacks?" And about fifty before you'd be ready for eating. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Not how could... could she? If the guards were to swarm us, I mean." Juri says, "OOC Juri can try using her Magic Negation power word." Juri says, "OOC Most of the guards look like hack/hack guards, instead of magic using ones, though." Juri says, "OOC Who Juri can fight pretty easily." Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Right... ready." Hiko the Firechilde drops the Heart like a ... hot rock. <^_^> Hiko the Firechilde snaps up her cooling defenses and throws them on Juri, too. To your horror, the spell doesn't work. Hiko the Firechilde exclaims, "Mother! Cover me!" The guards are beginning to recover their sight. Juri nods to you and moves into position to cover you from them. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Pause." Hiko the Firechilde puts out the flame on her arm. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Pause again." You page, "And somebody's power-negating Hiko, I take it as well?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Magic Sink." to you. You page, "OWCH." to Akemi. Akemi pages, "She needs to get further away from the Wagon. Her mindtouch of the crowd alerted him to mages being present. Alerted teh Viz8ier that is." to you. Juri OOC Waits. You page-pose, "Aerianne nods." to Akemi. You page, "... Football!" to Akemi. You page, "(or in this case, soccer.)" to Akemi. ===================== ===================== *** Foxtrot goes OOC. *** Hiko the Firechilde thinks this out. Hiko the Firechilde says, "Okay, for now, they have no idea that I'm here. But they'll know something's up when they get their sight back." Juri says, "OOC Right." Hiko the Firechilde says, "I have the strangest feeling like the Vizier has a link to the heart, and he'll be on his way to see what's going on." Juri says, "OOC The crowd all around here is still stumbling around blinded and confused too, but keep in mind they won't take kindly to you when they recover their sight." Hiko the Firechilde says, "And to top it all off... I think that none of my non-fire based spells are going to work..." Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Am I right on this?" Juri says, "I can't tell you the exact conditions of what magic works if any." Juri says, "Although the Heart appeared able to produce flame and the Spikard was able to suck up the flame still." Hiko the Firechilde nods, trusting her instincts. "Okay... this is what I'm gonna do." Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Stepping on the Heart, grabbing Juri's hand, I'm gonna throw a Sniper's Flame at our feet, and teleport to where the horses are waiting. Step off the Heart, put out the flames on my foot again, and construct a flame box to hold it. Can I do that?" Juri laughs. Now that's some nifty thinking. Assuming all your spells work as they should, yes you can do that. Hiko the Firechilde says, "Most of it is fire based, including the teleport. And I can handle my own flames for a limited time." Juri asks, "That what ya gonna do?" Hiko the Firechilde says, "PLan B is to run like fools, but I'd rather try to get this done right than back down. If this fails... well... I'm screwed as far as getting it." Juri asks, "Okay. We gonna run with Plan A, then?" Hiko the Firechilde says, "Yeah... Plan A. If it doesn't work, Plan B. Cause I'm out of plans." Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Could you suggest something?" Juri says, "Your experience as a mage suggests it's possible there may have been a contingency linked magic sink spell on the Heart." Juri says, "Which is sucking up all non-fire based magic. " Juri says, "Normally, magic sinks suck up every kind of magic, but he might have left a loophole so the Heart could fry you." Hiko the Firechilde says, "Right... gonna have to examine that once we get to a safe shadow." Juri nods. Juri asks, "OOC Ready?" Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "yeah." ============================= ============================= *** Foxtrot goes IC. *** Hiko the Firechilde steps on the Heart and grabs Juri's hand. Pointing with the other, she aims for the float and shouts. "Sniper's Flame!" The flames erupt towards the float, but it fails to catch fire. However, there's now a blazing inferno under your feet, which the Spikard fights off as best it can. The guards draw their swords as their vision begins to clear, while the crowd mutters. Hiko the Firechilde screams, the pain of the heat starting to get to her. "Teleport!" And her flamign foot.. can't forget that. You feel your head throb with agony, and there is a pulse of fire all around you. And then you're at your horses by the Fire Highway. Yes, with Juri. :) The Heart continues trying to bake you and the Spikard continues fighting the fires. Hiko the Firechilde leaps off of the Heart and stamps about, putting her flaming foot out. Hiko the Firechilde tries her cooling spell again. Hiko the Firechilde AHEMS and tries her cooling spell again. Juri says, "OOC Just nearly spilled Diet Coke all over both computers." Juri says, "OOC Was busy averting disaster." Shizumaru OOCly o.O Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Whoops...." Windir OOCly says, "How'd *that* happen? O.o" Shadra OOCly giggles Corrine OOCly yerps. Juri says, "OOC John has glass near computer. John hits with elbow. John SCREAMS" Corrine OOCly says, "OW." Shadra OOCly notes that the S in 'SCREAMS was cut off the edge of the screen before the next line began... Windir OOCly eeps. Windir OOCly makes a mental note not to let John near his computers tomorrow. Shizumaru OOCly snerks. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Right... everyting cleaned up?" Juri says, "OOC Hopefully." Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Good.... ready?" *** Foxtrot goes IC. *** Hiko the Firechilde tries her cooling spell again, after putting out the fire on her foot. You quickly weave a cooling spell with the Spikard as Juri sags exhaustedly against her horse. Hiko the Firechilde throws one on Juri and the horses. Your feet feel pretty hurt, but your shoes didn't burn off, fortunately. You hear the sound of horses approaching. Hiko the Firechilde expands her hands to form a space about two feet wide and kneeling down next to the Heart, forms a cage around the Heart. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Quick question... the Heart wasn't in the box, or was the box still on the float?" Juri says, "OOC Glass box popped up with Heart in it, from the Wood box." Juri says, "OOC I assume you smashed the glass with your sword and grabbed the Heart out." Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "So I coulda just put the damn thing back in... " You form a cage of fire around the Heart. The hoofbeats draw closer. Juri mounts Shiori and brings Shadowfax around to you. Shadra OOCly cackles. Hefting the cage with one hand, she leaps to her horse and wheels about. "Let's hellride! Juri says, "OOC You'll need to TK the cage, as fire isn't solid, ya know :)" Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Right.... " Hefting the cage telekinetically, she leaps to the horse and wheels about. "Let's hellride! Juri nods and starts down the Fire Highway at high speed. Hiko the Firechilde follows, keeping close behind. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Say... efreet can't shadow walk, can they?" The terrain begins to quickly change, flickering as you ride along it at high speed, from seas of lava to roiling plasma to endless fields of flaming wheat. Juri says, "OOC You have no idea." The hoofbeats gradually fade away behind you as you ride full tilt as best you can. Juri looks around as you ride, then says, "I think this road is some sort of Unicorn Track." Juri says, ""It will probably carry us fairly swiftly and safely through Shadow, but I also think the Efreeti can chase us on it."" Hiko the Firechilde nods. "Can we get off the track? Far enough away to get our bearings and hide for a bit?" Juri nods. "Yes." She turns and rides off the track along a road of basalt that crosses it. The road persists, while the terrain aruond you suddenly turns into high mountains instead of flaming prairie. Juri then rides up a trail with you, around a peak and onto a small plateau shrouded by ash fog on all sides. There, she stops. Juri says, "That should hopefully throw off our pursuers." Juri gets off Shiori and feeds her a sugar cube. Hiko the Firechilde slides off of her horse... still holding the Heart. She kneels down, placing it on the ground and causes the cage to dissipate. Hiko the Firechilde examines the Heart's magic functions. ========================= ========================= Tybalt says, "OOC Heh. Amber, 3: enemies, 2." Corrine OOCly says, "GOOOOO, Amber!" Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Two? Oh, the Spikard and the Shadow Werewindle?" Tybalt says, "OOC: No, they still have 2 Icons." Hiko the Firechilde says, "Well... now that Mikage's online, John can run him." *** Foxtrot goes OOC. *** Hiko the Firechilde says, "In fact, I'm willing to cut here so he can run Mikage." Juri says, "Thanks." Shizumaru OOCly says, "Yes. Get TR caught up, please. o.O" Corrine OOCly nods. Yay, Hiko! Juri says, "Cause running three games at once is stretching me thin" Hiko the Firechilde says, "Well, I'm done." Hiko the Firechilde says, "For now." Juri says, "So far, Shiz has the Seed, Hiko has the Heart, and Nagisa has the Cup of Life." Juri says, "Things are looking up." Hiko the Firechilde says, "Definitely." Tybalt says, "Yeppers. Now if shaft and Mikage would just get it in gear....." Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Hey, can I help it if not everyone is as together as me?" Juri is running Mikage on IRC on the FFIRC server right now. Touga falls asleep. Hiko the Firechilde says, "Going to the Keep now." Foxtrot has left. Shadra has disconnected. You page, "Could corrine trump them to the royal suites (with said couch and beer) with or without a physical trump now?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Yes, since you have True Trump Memory." to you. You page, "This is corrine, trying not to freak out Shaft. :)" to Akemi. You page, "And again, cool stuff. I think corrine's getting the hang of this Queen thingie." to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Heh." to you. Philip Moyer----------------Qapla'-------------pmoyer@jurai.net "To boldly go where no one has gone before!"-Capt. J. L. Picard "Roads? Where we're going we don't NEED roads!"-Dr. E. L. Brown "If it can be dreamed, It can be done."- ReRob Mandeville "Someday we'll find it, the Rainbow Connection, The Lovers, ---------- The Dreamers, and Me."- Kermit The Frog ------------