From rhea@ikkoku.maison-otaku.net Wed Sep 20 12:45:52 2000 Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2000 06:05:47 -0700 (PDT) From: Rhea Seraph To: John Walter Anthony "Ranma" Biles Subject: [Amber/TAMD] Hiko -- Breakfasts, Quests, and Shadowriding (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: Wed, 20 Sep 2000 08:35:49 -0400 (EDT) From: Philip J. Moyer To: John Biles , Amy "General Chaos" Borden , Chris Angelini , Rosemary Walker Subject: [Amber/TAMD] Hiko -- Breakfasts, Quests, and Shadowriding Corrine asks, "okay to watch?" Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Ya wanna just start again from when I wake up?" Hiko the Firechilde nods. "Sure..." Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Sweep Shizu and Rod, though..." Akemi pages, "Sounds reasonable to me that ya called her." to you. Akemi sweeps Shizumaru off to his home. Shizumaru is sent home. Shizumaru has left. Akemi sweeps Shaft off to his home. Rod is sent home. Rod has left. You page, "Coolness. The basic gist of the message is 1) We found Touga. 2) We brought Touga back. 3) Touga's house was boobytrapped by Chaosians, including a photo-album of places of "Touga" in Amber/GC, so we think A Shadow-Touga's involved, perhaps Embran. 4) Touga reports the "Evil Amberites" are using Lipun as a base, don't know how he KNOWS this, but anyway.. oh, and 5) Saionji and Touga were commenting on your sexual preferences again. I will not hurt them, but I am pondering digging out the Nerf from my room. *pause* 6) And we've figuured out who Shizumaru's real parents are, but that's for him to tell. I'm having lunch with him today, hopefully." to Akemi. In a page-pose to you, Akemi nods ==================================== ==================================== You wake up in the forest with the Green Knight the next morning. Hiko the Firechilde yawns, burrowing for a bit, then reluctantly gets up. "Do you know what time it is?" Hiko the Firechilde reaches around for her clothing The Green Knight, already dressed, says, "A little after dawn." Hiko the Firechilde nods.... "You're an early riser." She puts on her clothing, piece by piece, and straps on her sword, fastening her cloak around her shoulders. Hiko the Firechilde says, "I hate to leave so soon, but duty and prophecies wait for no one." Hiko the Firechilde leans forward to kiss the Green Knight on the cheek. "Thank you for a wonderful evening." Hiko the Firechilde is also standing on tiptoe, btw. The Green Knight smiles at you. "And thank you for coming to see me. Yes, I usually rise with the dawn, when I sleep at all." The Green Knight hands you a basket of fruit. "I gathered these so you wouldn't have to go hungry for a while." Hiko the Firechilde smiles, taking the fruit gratefully. "I thank you, kind sir... and madam." Hiko the Firechilde starts to put the fruit into the various pockets in her cloak. The Green Knight laughs, then falls to his knees and kisses your hand. "And I thank you for gracing me with your presence, m'lady." Hiko the Firechilde looks down, and caresses his cheek softly. Hiko the Firechilde asks, "On to business. Do you know the easiest way to reach the City of Brass?" The Green Knight says, "No." The Green Knight says, "Such places are beyond my ken." The Green Knight shudders. "I would quickly perish in such a land of fire." Hiko the Firechilde nods. "I bid thee farewell, then." She leans down to kiss him one last time, then starts walking out of the forest. On the way, she pulls out her trump of Juri and activates it. Juri, dressed in hunting gear, answers the trump call from her breakfast table. "Good morning, daughter." She smiles broadly at you and offers you a hand. "Have you had breakfast yet?" Hiko the Firechilde says, "Actually, I've got some apples and fruit. I should be fine." She looks around. "Shouldn't we get going soon? I think time is rather of the essence if we want to reach our destination before other people do." Juri says, "A soldier marches on his stomach, Hiko." Juri says, "Rushing off hungry has led many an army to destruction." Hiko the Firechilde says, "I've gone without eating for more than three days, Mother, and I'm still alive." Hiko the Firechilde says, "Not recently, but... in the past." Juri asks, "And were you at full effectiveness?" Hiko the Firechilde says, "Effective for what? Survival? Yes." Juri says, "When one is at war, one takes whatever chances to eat one can find, because one cannot guarantee one's next meal." Her expression turns stoic. "You believe we are at war? Juri says, "Every struggle is a war. Annadil would destroy us. If that is not war, nothing is." Hiko the Firechilde nods slowly, then holds out her hand. Juri says, "I have gone without food for two months in a row. It is not an experience I wish to repeat." Juri takes your hand and pulls you through, then sets to eating. Hiko the Firechilde smiles. "I have not your endurance, Mother." She pulls an apple out of her pocket, and looks around for a suitable knife. There are plenty of knives. Hiko the Firechilde picks out a small paring knife and gets to work, also looking for meats and breads. There is sausage and bacon, fruit, and pancakes. Juri eats fairly quickly, then rises. Hiko the Firechilde picks out some sausages and rolls of bread, essentially making pita pockets hurriedly. Juri says, "Let's go down and get horses, and then we must be off." Hiko the Firechilde nods, finishing making her food, then nods. "Ready." Juri heads down to the stable with you and gets horses, then rides down the mountain, through the city, and out into Arden with you. Hiko the Firechilde pats her horse on the neck. "And what's your name," she murmurs. As you ride along, Juri says, "To shadow walk, we must ride to the edge of Arden, for inside Amber's borders, one cannot easily shift Shadow." The horse whinneys. Hiko the Firechilde smiles at Juri. "I was just in Arden." Hiko the Firechilde pays careful attention to her words. Hiko the Firechilde nods to the horse. "Be careful with me. I've not ridden in a while." Juri says, "To shift shadow, you basically begin to fix images in your mind as to changes you want to make as you go." Shadowfax nods. Hiko the Firechilde nods. Juri says, "Once we reach the edge of Arden, I'll do a demonstration." Hiko the Firechilde nods again. Juri says, "And then I'll let you try." Several days pass as you ride through Arden, talking to Juri about Pattern theory, your pasts, and various adventures Juri has had. Finally, the forest thins, and you ride out into farmlands. The Barimen river runs along the road to your right, and beyond that is the Kolvir Range of mountains, riding high into the sky. Freshly planted fields spread out in front of you and to your left. Juri says, "Okay, now we can start shifting shadow." Hiko the Firechilde also relates of the first encounter with the Green Knight, and what the Unicorn told her when they met [including how to get to the City of Brass]. Hiko the Firechilde nods, starting to feel a little nervous. Juri rides down into a small valley with you. "Now, over the next hill, there's going to be a farmhouse with a white picket fence and a slightly leaning chimney." Juri gets a look of intense concentration on her face. As you ride up over the next crest, you see a farmhouse with a white picket fence and a slightly leaning chimney. Juri says, "You fix the image in your mind, and by slowly building up changes, you eventually move to the shadow you're seeking. Now, you try it, Hiko." Hiko the Firechilde looks around nervously. "Okay, um... there's going to be a silo next, then two bales of hay stacked neatly against the fence..." Hiko the Firechilde concentrates, hard. A silo winks into existence as you continue to ride forward, with a fence running along. Two bales of hay are stacked by it, and a pair of youths are rolling a third bale to the fence. They wave to you. Hiko the Firechilde waves back, dumbfounded. Magic seems to still work here. Hiko the Firechilde looks around. "That didn't seem so bad." Juri says, "It's easy to make changes slowly. And safer." Juri says, "You can also do hellriding, where you keep one thing the same and change everything else, but it's very hard to control." Hiko the Firechilde nods. She knows that she's not up to that... Juri tosses a gold coin to the youths as you ride past them. Juri says, "The key thing is that you have to keep moving in order to do it. The Pattern demands movement." Juri says, "If you're wrapped in chains and tied to a wall, you're impotent. And you need to be able to see." You keep riding and right around lunchtime, Juri shifts an inn into existence, enabling you to eat well. As you finish lunch, Juri asks, "Hmm. I think you're ready to try an extended exercise." Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Okay, what do I do?" Juri says, "We're going to have to go to Yig on our way to the City of Brass." Juri says, "Because I think it sounds like it lies beyond Yig." Hiko the Firechilde nudges her horse along. "This is what the Unicorn told me. 'You must travel to where the shadows burst into flames, all about you is fire, and the efreet dwell in a city of brass in a sea of molten rock. That is the place.'" Juri nods. "Weird places like that lie towards Chaos, usually. So, your challenge is to shift shadow to bring us to Yig. From there, I will take over guiding us to the City of Brass, as that will be challenging." Hiko the Firechilde asks, "What does the place of Yig look like?" Juri says, "Yig is a tree which rises up to heaven above, the tallest tree in all of creation" Juri says, "Four rivers rise from springs beneath it and flow to the four corners." Hiko the Firechilde asks, "What's around it?" Juri says, "It's surrounded by a grassy plain with some flowers and small bushes. Flatlands in all directions." Hiko the Firechilde asks, "What kind of flowers?" Juri says, "All sorts; it seems to change a lot. The last time I went, I saw daiseys, blue bonnets, and posies." Juri feeds her horse a sugar cube and pats its neck. Hiko the Firechilde nods and gives her horse an apple. "Brace yourself, Shadowfax." Then she starts to imagine the buildings disappearing, the road turning to a path, then short grass. Hiko the Firechilde says, "Aiming for flatlands first, Mother." There is a sudden jolt, as many things suddenly vanish. You're now riding through a tall-grass prarie. The river has vanished, and there's two dozen war-painted tanned warriors with mohawks, carrying spears and bows, riding on horses, charging towards you. Hiko the Firechilde exclaims, "Shite!" Juri winces. "I think you envisioned too many changes at once." Hiko the Firechilde asks, "What do we do?" Arrows begin to fly as the warriors shout out. Juri leans low and draws her sword, charging them. "See if you can use your magic!" Hiko the Firechilde pulls her horse along side Juri's, then calls up her fireshield. Nothing happens. Arrows fly all around you. Several plunk into your horse, who begins to stumble. So does Juri's horse. Hiko the Firechilde cries out, "Shadowfax!" and unfurls her sword. Juri leaps onto one of the riders, knocking him out of his saddle, then brings her sword around to lop off the head of a second rider. Hiko the Firechilde panicks and rides along, hacking and slashing as best as she can... for someone who hasn't had much fighting experience. The warriors draw their spears as Hiko draws her sword. Three of them charge her, while the remaining eight close in on Juri. Hiko the Firechilde points her horse towards a clear spot and digs in. "I'm sorry, Shadowfax!" Hiko the Firechilde races for the clearing. Juri asks, "OOC Are you still on your horse, or are you trying to send Shadowfax to safety?" Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Still on the horse, as long as it holds out. The minute it falls, I'm stumbling free." The warriors chase after Hiko, slowly gaining on her. Meanwhile, Juri begins sending more heads flying, and after three more die, the others back up and start trying to use their faster horses to riddle her with arrows. Hiko the Firechilde exclaims, "Mother!" Hiko takes an arrow in her left arm. Juri curses and fumbles with a brooch. Nothing happens. She then dives off her horse and vanishes into the tall grass. Hiko the Firechilde screams in pain, then uses her mind to IMAGINE the riders away. The three riders suddenly vanish. So do the other riders. Hiko the Firechilde whimpers, blood running down her arm. "Mother?" Hiko now sits on her injured horse on an empty prarie. Far off on the horizon, you can see smoke rising, possibly a village. Hiko the Firechilde slides off the horse, falling onto the dirt. Hiko the Firechilde exclaims, "Mother?" She looks around. "Mother!!" Hiko the Firechilde stumbles towards where she last saw Juri. All is silent. Then the grass rustles at your feet. A rabbit runs towards you. There is no sign of Juri. Or of the riders you know she killed, or the ones you erased. Hiko the Firechilde sinks to her knees, then pulls out her Trump of Juri, activating it. For long seconds, there is no answer. And then you see Juri answer, covered with blood, although she looks mostly unhurt. She's sitting on a dead horse (not hers), and holding her trump deck. She holds out a hand to you. "I think you stepped over into the next shadow away from me," she says. "Are you okay, Hi...ooh, your arm." Juri looks at your arm in concern; the arrow is stuck into your upper arm. Hiko the Firechilde gets up, and walks over to check on Shadowfax. "I'm fine..." She looks at the arrow, too, and breaks off the end closest to the arrowhead, and cries sharply. Juri goes to work on you, removing the arrowhead and bandaging your arm. Shadowfax has a half-dozen arrows in her. Nothing fatal or crippling, thankfully. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Hey.. I didn't take your hand... and I didn't pull you through... so why is Juri bandaging me?" Juri says, "OOC Doh. Cause I goofed up :)" Juri says, "OOC You'll need to drop the trump contact if you want to look at Shadowfax, though." Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Can we pull the horse through at the same time?" Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Never mind, I've got an idea." Juri says, "OOC Go to horse, renew contact, pull horse through" Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Got it." Hiko the Firechilde breaks the contact briefly, and gets up on her horse, patting it on the neck. "I'm so sorry, Shadowfax..." She renews the Trump Contact. You page, "One thing I'm certain that's happened at least once by accident... somebody trumping Corrine, she getting pulled through... and bringing Sparky along. :)" to Akemi. Juri pulls you through. Akemi pages, "MAN, that would make a mess." to you. Hiko the Firechilde slides off the horse again, examining its wounds. "Where does it hurt the most?" You can see this shadow lacks the village on the horizon you saw in the other one. Shadowfax whinneys, "By my left leg." You page, "But a fun comedic moment! ;) It'd be cool from a tactical standpoint if she got trumped by the enemy..." to Akemi. In a page-pose to you, Akemi laughs. Hiko the Firechilde looks down at the wound, and feels for magic again. There still isn't any magic. Juri starts bandaging Hiko while she treats the horse. Hiko the Firechilde tends to the horse as best as she can. "We need to find a place that has magic, so I can heal all of us." Juri nods. Juri says, "You can travel through shadow to find insubstantial things. We'll have to walk our horses and ourselves, so we can do it. We should be able to shift to a shadow with magic soon, I hope." Juri gets up, once she finishes working on her own horse, then takes her horse's reins, after feeding Shiori another sugar cube. Hiko the Firechilde nods. "Can you move, Shadowfax?" Shadowfax lurches to her feet. Shadowfax nods at Hiko. Hiko the Firechilde pats the horse's neck. "Lead on, Mother." Hiko the Firechilde afks for food. Juri concentrates, focusing on magic. The land changes in various subtle ways as you walk, the grasses take on a purple tinge, the trees start to turn blue, and oddly colored mushrooms appear everywhere. Soon, you hit a stream and start to follow it. And then, after Hiko's fiftieth test in a row, right as the sun is setting, magic blooms into existence. Juri waits for Trish. Hiko the Firechilde sits down heavily, and starts building a healing spell for everyone. "Now, Mother, tell me one more time, slowly: how do you shift shadow successfullly?" Juri says, "You have to focus on _one_ change at a time." Juri says, "If you get too many images in your head at once, you start hellriding, like we just did." Juri says, "Start with small changes, and go gradually. That's the safest way." Hiko the Firechilde nods solemnly. Juri says, "So you might have wanted to imagine the mountains a little further away, and then further, and then hills filling the space of the mountains." Juri says, "Then the hills would fade to flatland, and the farms would start to vanish." Hiko the Firechilde nods again. Juri says, "And so on. Once we rest and heal, you can try again." Hiko the Firechilde nods, the excitement and adrenaline fading to make the pain flare up. Hiko the Firechilde urges the spell to build faster. Jeff-kun OOC heads off to bed. Not feeling all that well Jeff-kun OOC waves out Corrine OOCly hopes Jeff gets better. Juri exclaims, "G'nite, Jeff!" Juri exclaims, "Get well soon!" Autolyca has disconnected. After much work, during which Juri catches a deer to have for dinner, you finish the spell. It heals the horses instantly, and greatly speeds the rate of healing for you and Juri. After which, you get a good night's sleep. In the morning, thanks to the spell, your wounds have healed. Hiko the Firechilde wakes up, chagrined and much chastened. Hiko the Firechilde asks, "What should I try for first?" Hiko the Firechilde's bandage disappears, but now there's a neat scar where the bandage was. Juri gets up and stretches. Juri gives Shiori another sugarcube...did she just pull it from under a rock? Hiko the Firechilde gives Shadowfax an apple, and pats it on the neck, apologetically. Juri warms up some deer for breakfast and throws in some fruit she gathered while on watch duty. Shadowfax eats it eagerly and whinneys happily. Hiko the Firechilde is very quiet as they prepare for the day's journey. Corrine OOCly goes "...." Corrine OOCly looks at John, and the name of Juri's horse. Corrine OOCly says, "You're evil, John. Thank you." Shadowfax ate the apple, not the Deer. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "you didn't notice?" Corrine OOCly :) Juri says, "OOC Oh, you didn't notice earlier? :)" Corrine OOCly says, "I don't think I had. Thought that was the first mention." Corrine OOCly says, "anyway, don't mind me, carry on, carry on." Juri asks, "Ready to try again, Hiko?" Hiko the Firechilde nods, adding. "I burned my hands very severely in learning magic. Ryouga-sempai said that which doesn't kill you, makes you stronger and you learn from it. I've not felt like a rank student in so many years." Juri says, "On my first trip into shadow, I rode into the middle of trench warfare." Hiko the Firechilde smiles, starting not to feel so badly. Juri says, "Had my horse blown out from under me, took a shellblast, and spent three years as an amnesiac in France." Juri says, "Lead on, my daughter." Hiko the Firechilde screws up her courage, and looks around. The current terrain has high grass, which is purple, oddly colored trees, lemon colored dirt, and lots of odd mushrooms. It's also quite flat, except for the shallow stream you camped by. Hiko the Firechilde rides forward slowly, changing the purple grass to green. The grass turns green. The trees also fade to more normal colors, and the mushrooms vanish by the time the grass is a normal color. The stream becomes a little deeper. Juri nods approvingly. "Very good." By this time, it's around lunchtime. Hiko the Firechilde calls for a lunch stop, this time going herself to rustle up some deer. You and Juri easily hunt down a deer. You notice Juri can change her sword into a bow. Once you eat, what do you do next? Hiko the Firechilde gets back up, motions for Juri to move forward, and starts removing the trees, one by one, SLOWLY. The trees vanish, one by one. By the end of the day, the prairie stretches seemingly forever, without any trees. It's hot and dry. Hiko the Firechilde says, "What happened to the stream? Oh, without trees, there's no need for the stream." Hiko the Firechilde adds patches of flowers. The stream is still there, unless you edit it out. Patches of flowers begin to appear, although it's a struggle; you think they need more moisture to flourish. Hiko the Firechilde also calls for a break again, watering and feeding the horses and themselves. You can feel magic works here. Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Is this close, Mother?" Juri says, "This is a good start" Hiko the Firechilde says, "I think I need you to show me what Yig looks like." Juri says, "Probably a good next step would be turning this stream into a river." Juri scratches her head. "I could try drawing it, but I'm afraid Corrine exceeds me in art" Hiko the Firechilde says, "I meant mentally. May I?" She extends her hand to Juri. Juri nods and takes your hand, opening her mind to show you the image. Hiko the Firechilde nods, fixing the image in her mind, then squirreling it away for later. Hiko the Firechilde breaks the contact, then nods. "How deep does the river need to be?" Juri says, "A mile wide." Hiko the Firechilde nods. Juri says, "The flowers grow thickest near the rivers." Hiko the Firechilde gets up and after they're done eating and drinking, they go forth again, and this time, she works on making the stream into a river, widening and deepening it a foot at a time. Yig looks like a giant ash tree in the image in Juri's mind, an ash tree eight miles across and taller than you can see, its branches covering the sky for miles around it. A week passes, as the river slowly widens until finally, it is a great raging torrent, a mile wide. You keep having to edit out human settelments which appear, which slows you down. You estimate you've been gone from Amber for about ten days at this point. Hiko the Firechilde asks, "How're we doing, Mother?" You have the river, what' snext? Juri says, "We're making good time." Juri says, "Normally, it takes three weeks to ride to Yig." Hiko the Firechilde asks, "The tree next, mother?" Juri says, "Your hellride jump seems tohave greatly reduced our time." Juri nods to Hiko, and pats her hand. "Yes, now you must bring up Yig. I suggest starting with a small tree and making it gradually get larger." Hiko the Firechilde pictures a seedling ash tree far off in the distance, and as they ride closer, it gets taller... A dot appears on the horizon. As you ride towards it, it slowly grows larger, and takes nearly three days to reach it. When you finally do, you can see it, rising to the heavens. A one-eyed man hangs from some of its branches; he is a giant, perhaps a hundred feet tall, hanging from a spear driven through his chest which hangs from a vine. Four great rivers flow out from beneath its roots. Hiko the Firechilde says, "You know... as long as we're here, we might as well get the Seed of Hope for Shizumaru-san..." The man's face is wracked with agony, and his moans are like thunder. Hiko the Firechilde looks up at the tree and gulps. You page, ".... you know, this looks like it'll be comedy of errors... everybody goes looking for talismans, and Hiko's collected 'em all... o_O" to Akemi. You can see tunnels leading into the ground under Yig, and for a moment, you think a giant serpent just poked out its head. Juri asks, "Do you have some way to find it?" Hiko the Firechilde says, "The Green Knight said to seek it where the Hanged Man searches for Wisdom." She points. "Here's a man, and he's hanging." Juri nods The hanged man hangs about a hundred and fifty feet off the ground. The rope holding him is another hundred feet, so the branch he hangs from is some three hundred and fifty feet up. Hiko the Firechilde looks at Juri. "So... do you see any seeds hanging about?" Juri says, "I suspect that probably either the Serpent or the Falcon has taken it" Hiko the Firechilde looks UP... "And don't tell me we're supposed to climb that to speak to him...." Juri tries shouting, "Hello up there!" The hanged man moans. Hiko the Firechilde shouts as well. "Excuse me, sir! Can you hear us?" THE PAIN....THE PAIN...THE KEY AND THE GATE....COMES SWIFTLY....THE AUDIENT VOID...DO NOT GAZE...FOOL...FOOL...NOT THE KEEP... The hanged man's voice is like thunder, it nearly deafens you. Hiko the Firechilde claps her hands to her hears. The horses panic, Juri barely manages to calm Shiori, who is bucking wildly. Hiko the Firechilde soothes Shadowfax, verbally and mentally. Shadowfax calms down. THE THUNDER ROLLS....AND THE LIGHTNING STRIKES...THE PAIN...THE PAIN...NO.... Juri . o O (Now how do we get him to shut up?) =========================== =========================== Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Have to call sister... bbl." Juri exclaims, "OOc Okay!" Foxtrot has disconnected. >> Byeeee! It was really fun! Foxtrot has connected. >> We have arrived, you may kiss my foot, now. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Back!" Hiko the Firechilde OOCly :grins. Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Damn... dad needs the 'puter." Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Can't game any more tonight, John." Juri says, "OOC Okay, we pause here." Juri says, "OOC This gives you time to figure out how to deal with the Hanged Man anyway" Hiko the Firechilde OOCly says, "Sorry, John, but at least-- yeah, that, and Shizumaru can get his turn in before he turns into a pumpkin. ^_^" Juri says, "OOC Hehe." Foxtrot has left. 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 ------------