Date sent: Sun, 28 Jan 2001 15:44:59 -0500 (EST) From: "Philip J. Moyer" To: John Biles , "Amy \"General Chaos\" Borden" , Chris Angelini Subject: [Amber/TAMD] Hiko, Corrine, Juri of Avalon -- Shizquest -- Pigeon : Impossible Corrine OOCly says, "I -am- Awake!" Foxtrot stops prodding inn--- guilty authors and says, "I'm already here.. ^_^" (to you, Akemi and Kima) Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says, "I'm here, too." Mange has arrived. Rabies goes home. Rabies has left. Shizumaru OOCly settles back to watch. Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says, "Should Drew go out?" Shizumaru OOCly says, "Or maybe not. :P" Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says, "I was polite enough to do so..." Hiko the Firechilde OOCly shrugs. John says, "OOC Depends on if you care. " Corrine OOCly says, "No problems here...." John says, "OOC There's nothing very secret going on right now, but I leave it to you to decide." Hiko the Firechilde OOCly shrugs again... it just makes more sense ICly for him not to know what's exactly going on. Shizumaru OOCly is good about seperating IC from OOC knowledge. Shizumaru OOCly says, "Oh hell." Shizumaru has left. Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says, "Okay... when we last left our heroes, they had just seen a puppet show, and were debating what to do." John says, "OOC Righto." Corrine OOCly nods. *** Foxtrot goes IC. *** John says, "OOC It looks like things are winding down, and the giants look like they're about to put you all to bed. :)" John says, "OOC Small kids can't stay up too late, you know." ========================== ========================== Juri of Avalon sighs. "As long as we'll be getting a room to ourselves," she mutters. Corrine says, "Saionji shot the Zeppelin with Werewindle, and it went boom. Derith and Co confronted the false Touga, and brainfried him." Hiko the Firechilde ponders all of the information she's been given, and looks around to see where they're going to be placed. Corrine mmms, pursing her lips, looking outside as they're herded... well, if any windows are visible. You get sent to a room probably intended for one giant-sized adult. It's about the same size as the main room of the Temple of the Unicorn. Corrine says, "Yeesh." The bed is big enough for all four of you at once, plus probably half your relatives. They pile up books to make a staircase so you all can actually get into the bed. Hiko the Firechilde looks up, and up... and then she sees the size of the bed. "You've got to be joking." Juri of Avalon says, "OOC: Everyone's relatives, including Juri and Roderick's? :)" Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says, "Everyone in one bed... calm down, Alan. ^_^" Corrine OOCly says, "That's -big-." Juri of Avalon says, "OOC: Hey, Juri shared a bed with Corrine before, and nothing happened. :)" Juri of Avalon looks up at the bed and smirks faintly. "It will be both intimate and spacious. How nice." Corrine chuckles a bit, smiling slightly. "Pillow fights would be a bitch, though." Hiko the Firechilde looks up at the AdultGiant, trying to make eye contact The giant pats Hiko on the head and lifts her up onto the bed. Corrine considers, and tethers their horses on the bed leg, makes sure Juri's got her WonderHorse, and rolls her eyes at the adult. She starts clambering up the books. Juri of Avalon follows Corrine up the books. Hiko the Firechilde puts a shaking hand to her head as she looks at the Giant. The giant pats Hiko on the head. Hiko the Firechilde winces, and projects again. Roderick quickly scrambles up and tests the bounciness of the bed. VERY bouncy. Juri of Avalon looks at Roderick's bouncing, smiles vaguely and rolls her eyes. Corrine yeeshes, quietly, but chuckles a bit. She looks down to see how Hiko and Misaki are doing. One of the giants brings four sets of red pajamas, scaled to your size and leaves them on the bed for you. Misaki seems to have wandered under the bed. Hiko the Firechilde's nose starts to bleed again, and it trickles down her face. Corrine merfs, and sighs. "Back in a moment." Juri of Avalon offers Hiko an orange handkerchief. You page, "Can corrine make the jump, given her strength?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Easily." to you. Corrine hops off the bed, easily, and tries to hunt down Misaki under the bed. Juri of Avalon looks at the pyjamas and then glances around at the others. "So," she asks lightly. "Four pyjamas, five of us. Volunteer to sleep in the nude?" Hiko the Firechilde pushes it away absentmindedly. Roderick has the look of a man desperately struggling to not say something. Juri of Avalon shrugs and moves away from Hiko to wander around the immense surface of the bed. You page, "And is Misaki found?" to Akemi. Misaki is busy prodding the bed with her staff and examining the construction. "Just making sure it's sturdy," she says to Corrine. Hiko the Firechilde grits her teeth and continues staring at the giant, licking the blood free from her lips. Corrine says, "Oh, okay." She chuckles. "Come back up when you're done." Corrine makes her way back up to the topside of the bed. Corrine says, "Oh, and I'm not volunteering, Juri." Roderick attracts the attention of one of the adults and starts trying to communicate the need for another set of pajamas. Corrine grins, and goes and arranges some pillows if she can make a psuedo-fortification. Not too hard. One of the adults stares at Roderick, then nods and goes and brings another set of Pajamas. Juri of Avalon looks over Corrine's fortress, then begins to make pedantic and critical commentary about its inadequacy to survive a sustained siege due to flaws in the construction. Roderick listens and grins. Juri of Avalon says, "These fluffy pillows won't absorb ballista or catapult shot for long." Misaki comes up and joins you. Hiko the Firechilde sags visibly... and wearily climbs up the books onto the bed, wiping the blood off on her uniform top. Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says, "Er, the sleeve." Corrine considers, and picks up the smallest pillow in the batch. She then baps Juri on the head with it. "Yes, but at least they'll absorb it for a few moments... perhaps strip 'em for parachutes...." Hiko the Firechilde starts stripping off her top, and unbuckling her pants, shedding clothes as she makes her way across theh bed. Juri of Avalon grabs Roderick's ear to make him stop looking. "Hiko, errrr..." Corrine politely averts her eyes. You page, "I take it this is Hiko's usual 'get ready for bed' procedure? *wl*" to Foxtrot. Foxtrot stops prodding inn--- guilty authors and says, "Yep..." (to you) You page, "Right. Corrine's used to it, then. :)" to Foxtrot. Hiko the Firechilde strips down to a tank top and panties and finds a place to curl up for the night. "What I wouldn't give for some magic right now..." Roderick winces. Corrine nods, and sighs. "Or pattern or trump..." She then hrms. "That's something, though... Juri? What Power Words do you know?" Juri of Avalon shrugs and lets go of Roderick's ear. "Very... self-possessed," she murmurs. Juri of Avalon says, "A fair number, Corrine, mostly offensive or defensive in nature." Roderick says, "Reminds me of Rose, except that she would have used one of us as a pillow, then we would wake up in the shadow of vegetarian sharks or something." Hiko the Firechilde shakes her head, like she's trying to stop the ringing in her ears. "I only know a few, and again, offensive or defensive." Juri of Avalon says, "If you want to see if they're usable here, I could give someone a mild seizure by disrupting their neurons, but that would probably be rude." Corrine nods. "Might want to try them tomorrow. For -everything- to be either denied or blocked as it appears to have been... seems to be something of a stretch." Juri of Avalon shrugs. "A Pattern master can do such things." Hiko the Firechilde says, "Mine are less advanced than that..." Juri of Avalon says, "I highly suspect that if the greater powers do not work, minor ones such as power words will not either." Hiko the Firechilde says, "There is a King Tylor here, that much I did find out. And the wolves will go away in a day or two, to wait and hide to find more naughty children to eat." Corrine mmms, and moves over to Hiko's side, finding a light blanket corner to pull over Hiko. "Mmmm. Which again, leaves Grandfather or Derith as those who would have power and -time- to do this. Tylor's still out of commision, and sis and Drake are out in Shadow." She then looks down at Hiko again. "Right. So closer to our own reality." Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Last I saw Derith, he was chasing bandits in Rebma, remember?" Roderick says, "Well, Power words are powered by the life force of the user, which makes them harder to bar." Juri of Avalon glances at Roderick. "But your shapeshifting doesn't work here either, and doesn't the same principle apply?" Roderick raises a finger, then sinks in on himself. "Point." Shizumaru pages, "You would be available to game on Tuesday, yes?" to you. You page, "No problems, I beleive." to Shizumaru. Shizumaru pages, "Cool. I think that's the next time everyone else would be available, as it's repeats for Buffy and Angel." to you. Shizumaru pages, "Well, according to Sean, anyway. I hope he's right. :>" to you. Corrine nods. "Right." She sighs, and sits down, rubbing her brow. "This is just... so -frustrating-..." She looks down at her manifestations again. Juri of Avalon pats Roderick companionably on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Rod. One day, I'm sure, you'll be as witty and insightful as I am." Hiko the Firechilde says, "The way I see it, we've got some options... wait here, and see if we can use Pattern to ride out. Go to see the King and try and convince him that we need his help to send us on our way." You page, "Manigestations offline, I assume?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Offline." to you. You page, "Yaaay." to Akemi. Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Unless we know who's blocked us and why, we can't do anything to fix it from this end, can we?" Juri of Avalon says, "No. I used to think I might want to develop a greater mastery of the Pattern, so I studied some of the principles behind it." Misaki says, "Maybe if we ask the wolves nicely...never mind." She goes back to staring off into space. Juri of Avalon says, "Now that we're here, it's very hard for us to get out unless the master of this shadow wants to let us." Corrine sighs, and nods. "Yeah. My two going theories are either Annadil or Derith managed to attune themselves to the Jewel of Judgement and trapped us here, but that still begs the question of departure. MMmm." Juri of Avalon says, "Early in the crisis of our second civil war, I and some of my brothers walked into such a trap, set by the Ashen Prince, and were only rescued by outside intercession." Hiko the Firechilde asks, "How did you get out?" Hiko the Firechilde grins crazily. "I COULD try talking to the wolves..." Corrine listens, and squeezes Misaki's shoulder, reassuringly. Juri of Avalon says, "My brother Finn created a distraction and rescued us." Corrine says, "mmmmm." Juri of Avalon begins to say, "And Venir..." Then she trails away, looking very distant suddenly. Roderick says, "Otho trapped Albert in the Brady Bunch shadow once. " Corrine shudders. "Oh, that's -cruel-, Roderick." Roderick says, "He had to live through every single episode. As Marcia." Hiko the Firechilde says, "I think I'm going to try and talk to the wolves tomorrow, see if I can get them to back down." Corrine nods. "Right. If we can get away from the well-meaning giant adults who don't want naughty children to be eaten." "And if not, I can shoot them in the eyes with my crossbow until they go away," Juri says cheerfully. Hiko the Firechilde says, "The giants' minds are too huge for me to control." She shudders. "I think I'm going to need my rest before I attempt talking to the wolves." Corrine says, "Rest, then. This has just been a weird-ass day for us all, and I advise it for the rest, though in shifts in case anything odd comes up or if the adults wonder if we have to go potty. *eyeroll*" Hiko the Firechilde says, "Wake me up for the last shift," then rolls onto her back and closes her eyes. "I'll take the first shift," Juri says softly. "The rest of you get some sleep." Roderick says, "I'll go second, then." Corrine nods. She goes over, and squeezes Juri's shoulder, lightly. "Thanks, Juri. I'll take third." She smiles a bit. Misaki say, "I will stay up with you, my Queen." Corrine nods. "Very well." She goes, and finds a place to sleep near Hiko. Amber-Roderick then finds himself a huge pillow and falls asleep on it. Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says, Hopefully fast forward? Corrine OOCly says, "don't see why not." Juri of Avalon sits down cross-legged to begin the first shift. The adults take various people to go potty, but nothing else happens that night. In the morning, breakfast is huge slices of fruit and oatmeal. Juri of Avalon eats frugally. You page, "Corrine's comments on the Prophesies from the Book of Fire incoming." to Akemi and Foxtrot. Hiko the Firechilde gets dressed, and eats the fruit as well, taking only small bites of oatmeal. She looks at the Giant serving them or watching them and tries to catch its attention. Corrine eats moderately, given the scale of things and her mild wariness. Amber-Roderick eats a lot. But Misaki eats even more than that, as if she'd never eaten in the last month or so. Autolyca has connected. Autolyca exclaims, "Howdy!" Dancing Ed OOCly says, "Heyo, Jeff." The huge, fat giant woman looks at Hiko and smiles, then says something incomprehensible. Hiko the Firechilde smiles back, looking in her eyes. Corrine quirks an eyebrow at Misaki. "Trying to out-eat Nurse Sakura, Misaki?" Juri of Avalon says, "OOC: Okay, I just parsed that as 'trying to eat out Nurse Sakura.' ^^;;" Corrine OOCly says, "..." Eudial OOC "Nice work if you can get it." Juri of Avalon says, "OOC: If you can get it, tell me how." Misaki laughs. "Just hungry." Corrine smiles. "Oh, all right." The giant woman shakes her head at Hiko. Hiko the Firechilde shakes her head at the Giant Woman. The woman pats Hiko on the head and smiles at her indulgently. You page, "Oh, right. Question. Where WAS misaki during all the FoF stuff? Corrine would have asked after pulling her through via Trump, since supposedly she would have had a Trump Deck of her own of Ember Trumps, why didn't she try those? Unless the place she was in was slow-timed courtesy the Questing Beast, or if the trumps got poofed during the rainstorms in Arden.... (and she would've had folks check her mind, etc, to be safe...)" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "She got stranded off in a no-trump zone for a long time." to you. You page, "Ew. Corrine's sympathies. How'd she get out so she could be trumped back?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "The Questing Beast eventually came and led her somewhere else." to you. You page, "Ah, okay." to Akemi. Hiko the Firechilde stands up on her chair, looking at the Giant. The giant says something with a rather regal tone of voice, then laughs. She goes and gets a little toy crown and puts it on Hiko's head. Corrine says, "..." Corrine . o O (I will not laugh, I will not laugh, I will not laugh.) All the kids start dancing around Hiko and bowing as if she was a queen. Autolyca pages, "Having fun?" to you. You page, "For being stranded in a Brobdignag version of Amber at the moment, yeah... *wry look* :)" to Autolyca. Autolyca pages, "Guess who gave John the idea :)" to you. You page, "... I ... somewhat... figured. :)" to Autolyca. You page-pose, "Aerianne restrains the amberite in his head from doing Darakoish things to his friend. ^_-;" to Autolyca. Autolyca pages, "Actually, you can blame Derith for this" to you. You page, "*nods* That's the going theory in Corrine's mind, yes. She doesn't know he's JoJ attuned, but he -is- the Big Psyched Pattern Master who's gone missing recently..." to Autolyca. Autolyca pages, "Hiko offended him recently, so this is his punishment." to you. You page, "Sheesh. Big offence, I take?" to Autolyca. Autolyca pages, "She acted like a spoiled brat, so he figured he'd treat her as one" to you. You page, "Hooboy." to Autolyca. The adults just smile indulgently. Juri of Avalon sighs gently. Roderick says, "God save the queen." He grins. Soon, breakfast is over, and they start to clean up. It looks like y'all will be free to play, although they seem to have assigned a woman to keep an eye on you. The woman rubs her forehead a bit as she talks at Hiko. The woman turns away from Hiko and heads off, possibly to get something for her head. Corrine watches the entire sequence, quietly, and then looks to Hiko. "Any luck?" Hiko the Firechilde sags again, slumping in her chair, stemming the blood flow from her nose. "Are you sure you should keep doing that?" Juri asks worriedly. Hiko the Firechilde says, "No. We are just fanciful children to her... and my mental spikes only give her a headache." She turns to Juri. "It's the only way we can get any sort of useful information. The wolves are at the barricades, more angrier, and they're sending us out to play. We can't go look." Hiko the Firechilde sighs and sags back against the chair. Some of the children come over to all of you and try to communicate; they seem to want you to come play some sort of game involving a ball with them; looks like soccer, you think. Juri of Avalon, having nothing better to do for the moment, plays along. Misaki offers Hiko a handkerchief. Hiko the Firechilde takes it, and wanders outside, casing the joint. Corrine does much the same, after checking on the horses. The ball game is outside, though far from the barracades. As you play, you can see two men from the village carrying a cage full of doves. They release three of the doves with messages around their legs. One flies off north, onegoes west, and one goes east. Corrine considers the size of those doves. And wether they'd be able to carry 5 people, and perhaps 4 horses.... or 1-2 people plus horse, split up.... The village is probably home to some five hundred or so people. You page, "That matches up with what Corrine kows of the opriginal?" to Akemi. Hiko the Firechilde wanders vaguely in the direction of the barricades, to see how far she can get. The doves are scaled to the giants, which means a person could ride on each dove. You'd have to forget about the horses, though. You can get close enough to get a glimpse of the barricades before an adult herds you back. Hiko the Firechilde wanders away, trying to sneak around. Your efforts to escape are repeatedly foiled by eagle-eyed adults, perhaps because you're not very good at sneaking with no magic to help you. Corrine , in her own wanderings, considers how climbable the outside of the buildings would be. And tries to figure out where those doves are being kept. Hiko the Firechilde wanders around, trying to see how big the village is. The buildings are very climbable, and so is the barricade. The doves are kept in a clocktower. Juri of Avalon sees what Hiko is doing, and carefully departs from the soccer game to attempt the same sneaky sorts of things using her centuries of experience in guerilla warfare and otherwise. It's huge, but only because of the much larger scale. Only about five hundred people live here, but they take enough space for a decent sized city. The town has a blacksmith, a wheelwright, a cooper, several tailors, a mill, and all the other usual stuff of a peasant village. Corrine hrms, and pops open her trump sketchbook, and makes a map of the place, from what she's observed, and what she remembers, highlighting where they were bedded, the clocktower, the barracades as key locations. Hiko the Firechilde nods to Juri as they wander. "What do you think we should do?" Juri of Avalon says, "If we want to get out of here, the doves are a good route. We could all get into the clocktower at night fairly easily. Steal leather from one of the shops to make tack for them." Juri of Avalon says, "They seem to be homing pigeons. So we'll need to make sure we all get the same ones--perhaps, if we can, the ones that will take us to the palace." Hiko the Firechilde asks, "I wonder what those messages where... a message for help? Or something else?" Juri of Avalon shrugs. "With everyone else's agreement, we'll be getting out of here tonight, so we shouldn't be sticking around long enough to find out." Corrine says, "Well, we're south of this place's Arden, so one to the north would head towards Sethfort or the castle proper, and west and east would try and circle around the forest." Corrine offhandedly comments as she walks along and sketches a map. Juri of Avalon says, "Take the ones heading north, then." Juri of Avalon says, "I'll sneak into the leatherworks and get material for making the tack we'll need." Juri of Avalon exclaims, "OOC: Go mad Warfare skeelz!" Juri of Avalon says, "OOC: Oh, John, you should probably add Gideon and Avalon-Juri to the TAMD cast page." Juri of Avalon says, "OOC: Roderick, too." Corrine OOCly says, "And Gabrielle." Juri of Avalon exclaims, "OOC: And WOTAN!" Amber-Roderick says, "OOC Heh." Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Can you shift Pattern in the air...? Can we try?" You page, "Unless that's via the Ember Public Page, which as commented last night, I cleaned up and nicified." to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Yeah, I got it and I think I uploaded it to my site." to you. You page, "Nope, hasn't been uploaded yet." to Akemi. You page, "I beleive Corrine's shadowwalked while flying on sparky?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Yes, you have." to you. Corrine says, "Forward motion of some kind is all you need." She smiles a bit. "I've Shadow-flown on Sparky before... it's quite a sight." Amber-Roderick says, "I've done it while hang-gliding." Hiko the Firechilde says, "I'll try to find a kid around here who's older who I can try and convince we're not kids." Juri of Avalon heads sneakily for the leatherworks to do sneaky stealing leather type things. No sweat, with your skills, you easily make off with some discarded scraps that are just perfectly sized for you. Hiko the Firechilde looks for a well meaning kid who looks like he or she might take her seriously. Corrine runs interference for Juri, and then will help her in making tack for flying critters, as she's made stuff for dragons and the like before. Shizumaru pages, "Well, I'm sleeping early tonight, Phil. Good luck to Corrine. :)" to you. You page, "No probs, it looks like it's going to take a while. *wl*" to Shizumaru. In a page-pose to you, Shizumaru whines. Just get out of there by the end of this session, okay? I wanna RP by Tuesday. :) You page, "Right, we'll see. *wl*" to Shizumaru. There are lots of kids of various ages; they all seem friendly, but how are you going to tell if they'll take you seriously? Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says, "Good point." Juri of Avalon says, "OOC: Look for the nerdy one wearing glasses." Hiko the Firechilde goes up to one of the more well-behaved kids, maybe about thirteen? You wander around, and eventually find a girl that age who is busy helping her mother do laundry. She turns and smiles at you and says something incomprehensible. Hiko the Firechilde touches her on the shoulder and initiates contact. "Excuse me... but how does someone go about getting to the castle?" The child blinks at you in confusion and says something incomprehensible. Hiko the Firechilde asks, "The one the king and queen lives in? The guy whose face is on the coins?" Hiko the Firechilde asks, "How far is that from here?" Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Where are we, in comparison to Arden?" You page, "And http://www.eyrie.org/~aerianne/ember/Ember.beta.jpg is the updated Ember map." to Akemi. Hiko the Firechilde asks, "I see... and when was the last time the wolves came to the village? Does this happen often?" Akemi pages, "The preparations for departure all go pretty well." to you and Kima. You page, "*nod8 Pity the horsel'll have tio be left behind." to Akemi and Kima. Kima pages, "Not my horse. It's portable." to you and Akemi. You page, "Well, I meant the nomre normal horses." to Akemi and Kima. Hiko the Firechilde asks, "What kinds of things do kids get eaten for?" You page-pose, "Aerianne SPARFS at the description of Ruka." to Akemi and Kima. Kima pages, "Mutant forelock!" to you and Akemi. You page, ""Despite rumors, his forelock is neither a Chaos Monster nor a point item."" to Akemi and Kima. Hiko the Firechilde nods... "Thanks." Hiko the Firechilde breaks the connection and wanders back to where Corrine and Juri are. Okay, you get there. You page, "Oh, a thought for later... you might want to update the other partial-power pages for Trump, Pattern, Magic for the same color coding you did for the Shapeshifting one. Found it really useful in determining the breakdown." to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Good idea." to you. Hiko the Firechilde says, "Well, we're south of Arden, and Amber's on the other side, 'days and days' away." Corrine looks up, and waves to Hiko as she arrives. "About what I figured. My big concern is how fast and far the doves can fly." Juri of Avalon says, "If they're used to carry messages, they must have a fairly lengthy flight range." Corrine says, "Since it's about six days through Arden proper back home... this is true." Hiko the Firechilde says, "Were you watching them? I wasn't." Juri of Avalon whistles the theme to "Stop the Pigeon" under her breath. Corrine nods. "Messages tied to the legs." She glances at Juri, and whistles "Doin' the Pigeon" in return back at her. Akemi pages, "Oh, I picked up the entire Revelations Cycle for In Nomine for half price today :)" to you. You page, "Half the info in that's outdated, but still, you -rule-. :)" to Akemi. You page, "(several of the superiors in that got -very- expanded writeups in the Superiors books, and the human soldier stuff got expanded in the Corporeal Player's guide. Etc. But yes, there's -lots- of fun character fodder in the Rev Cycle.)" to Akemi. Juri of Avalon says, "Well, I guess the only thing to do is wait until nightfall." Amber-Roderick nods. "Well, at least we'll be well fed." Corrine says, "This is true." She quirks a smile. Hiko the Firechilde says, "yes... don't refuse food... it gets kids eaten." Juri of Avalon says, "'Pigeon Impossible'." Misaki says, "Well, I'm safe, then." Amber-Roderick says, "OOC And now we'll skip to the escape attempt unless you have anythign else to do." Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says, "Pause for potty break?" Amber-Roderick says, "OOC Of course." Corrine OOCly says, "None here, realistically, save for Corrine constantly checking trump/patternsight/demijewel/etc connections, and being frustrated... :)" Corrine OOCly says, "cool by me." Corrine OOCly pauses. Corrine OOCly says, "YES! I CAN NOW USE THE M:I TRACKS! *THANK YOU*, ALAN! :)" Juri of Avalon says, "OOC: Juri would just go back to kicking the kid's butts in soccer. :)" Juri of Avalon says, "OOC: 'Escaping the Giants : Pigeon Impossible'." Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says, "Back. Game on." Autolyca OOC waves out. G'night! Corrine OOCly says, "night, Jeff!" Amber-Roderick exclaims, "OOC G'nite, Jeff!" Hiko the Firechilde says, "Night Jeff." That night, you all creep out of bed and down the staircase of books, then face obstacle #1. How do you get the bedroom door open? The knob is about 30 feet up. Juri of Avalon says, "OOC: Just cut a hole in the door with my Patternblade. :)" Juri of Avalon says, "OOC: It'll make less noise. :)" Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says, "This is true... go Patternblade!" Corrine OOCly says, "What the hell, give it a try...." Autolyca has disconnected. Juri of Avalon says, "OOC: Or we could do something complicated involving ropes and pulleys. :)" Hiko the Firechilde OOCly grumblegrumblenatterkillJeffkill Corrine makes sure folks have got what equipment they can from the horse saddlebags, since it's likely they'll have to be left behind in the bedroom. Juri of Avalon asks, "OOC: Are there windows in this room? Why aren't we trying to go out of those, instead, on ropes?" Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says, "To high to get to?" Corrine OOCly says, "Wait until Katsu, Trisha." Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says, "Oh, he will get what's coming to him." Juri of Avalon says, "OOC: We could grapple from the bed. They can't be that high." Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says, "GM? How high are the windows?" Corrine OOCly says, "He's got a point." Amber-Roderick says, "OOC There are windows. From the bed you can get to them easily." Corrine OOCly says, "And Corrine's confident about being able to scale the outside, since she examined them earlier..." Juri of Avalon says, "OOC: Go out the window, then." Hiko the Firechilde gestures to Juri and the ropes. "After you, M'lady..." Juri of Avalon heads up for the window. Hiko the Firechilde goes after Juri. Corrine follows, after making sure Juri and Hiko are doing all right, so as not to overload the rope. Amber-Roderick scrambles on up, as does Misaki. You then scale down the outside and slip off across the town. Corrine mentally hums the Mission Impossible theme in her brain. Probably only Hiko is capable of picking it up. Carrying your tack, you clamber up the clocktower, and finally reach the pigeon cages. Dove cages. Whatever...:) Anyway, they're all sleeping and locked up. Corrine OOCly says, "Flying Rats!" Hiko the Firechilde mentally goes, "Huh?" when presented with theme music to sneak to. Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Anyone know how to pick locks?" Corrine considers the locks, and wether they have designations on to where they're trained to go outside the cages. "Yes," says Juri, quietly cutting off the locks with her Patternblade. Corrine prepares to use her Mad Animal Training Skilzz to help keep the doves quiet when they start waking, and to keep them under control. She also checks to see if there's any decent exits from this level of the clocktower. You quickly cut the locks. There are four categories of doves, by color of paint on legs--blue, green, brown, white. Juri of Avalon asks, "OOC: We observed which ones designate the direction they head, yes?" Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says, "Er, yes, we did..." Hiko the Firechilde OOCly ahems. Amber-Roderick says, "OOC Unfortunately, no, you saw them released, but from too far away to tell the color." Corrine OOCly says, "Hmm... is Corrine aware of a similar system used in her own amber?" Amber-Roderick says, "OOC There is no standard amber dove leg color code." Corrine OOCly says, "Alternatively, we could release one of each type, see which way they fly, then pick the one color that heads in the correct direction." Juri of Avalon says, "OOC: All right. Just release one of each colour, then, and see where they head. They take doves of whichever colour head in the direction we want." Corrine OOCly says, ".... Alan? this synchronicity thing is getting scary." Juri of Avalon says, "OOC: Stop that, Phil. :)" Juri of Avalon says, "OOC: You have seen nothing until you've seen the log of when Mike and I said the same thing five times in a row. :)" Gabrielle says, "OOC: Joi us in the mental link, Phil. Joooiiinnn usssss......" Corrine OOCly says, "Good lord. :)" Juri of Avalon says, "'Stop that.' 'Stop that.' 'Gah!' 'Gah!'" Rimu-chan OOCly BWAH HAHAHAHAS! I remember THAT! Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says, "I saw that log once... it was spooky." There's a large ledge that would make a good launchsite. Hiko the Firechilde says, "Oh hell... " Hiko the Firechilde walks up to each color dove and asks where they travel. Hiko the Firechilde says, "Okay... Green is north, blue is east, brown is south, and white is west. Pick one." Hiko the Firechilde smiles at the doves and thanks them. Juri of Avalon asks, "We want to head for the palace, yes?" Corrine says, "Green, then." Hiko the Firechilde cooes and pats the green legged doves. "You don't mind carrying us to the palace, do you?" Corrine says, "If we fall short, we can hopefully make it to the forest stronghold." Corrine smiles at Hiko and her way with animals. Foxtrot stops prodding inn--- guilty authors and says, "Talking to animals is COOL." (to you and Kima) You page, "Yay!" to Foxtrot and Kima. Juri of Avalon exclaims, "OOC: Watch as your mad Psyche skeelz make you a FRIEND TO ANIMALS EVERYWHERE!" Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says, "Do I have more Mad Animal Skillz than Corrine?" Corrine OOCly says, "Well, Corrine picked 'em up the hard way via long forest exposure. I'd have to say John would be the judge of things, tho." Amber-Roderick says, "OOC Heh." Hiko the Firechilde thanks them. "You're free to go wherever you want to once we get to the palace. And take as many rests as you need to." You quickly gather your pigeons and get the tack on them, then mount up. And then you fly in a flock out of the clock tower, and out into the night. Corrine mounts her dove, easily, with the long experience of somebody having ridden flying critters, and makes sure she's handling point again. Misaki clings nervously to her bird. Roderick rides along, looking confident even when he wobbles. Hiko the Firechilde follows Corrine carefully, constantly talking to hers. Hiko the Firechilde calls ahead. "Can you sense your Pattern skills kicking in, Corrine?" Juri of Avalon rides her dove with assurance, if not much experience. Corrine considers, and focusses, once more checking with Pattern Sight and her DemiJewel attunement, senses open... Hiko the Firechilde tentatively pats her mount. "Thanks again, Frosty... as you can probably tell, we're not from around here." There is an audible pop and a card flutters down into Corrine's lap. Corrine *blinks*, and catches the card, before it can flutter away. "Eh?" Corrine studies it. It looks rather like a trump card. One side shows a stylized blue wave. The other shows a child being spanked. You page, "What doth the card say? Is it trump-active? Is the sigil familiar? And does the child look familiar, too?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "That's Derith's sigil." to you. Akemi pages, "And the Child looks rather like Hiko." to you. Corrine -stares- at the card. Her lips purse, as a slight growl rises from her throat. ".....deeeeerrrrriiiiIIIIIITTTTHHHHHHHH......" Hiko the Firechilde shouts to Juri, Roderick, Misaki and Corrine. "It's about three days' flight to the castl-- huh?" Corrine calls back. "Hiko? Has derith been ticked off at you, recently? Or vicea-versa?" Hiko the Firechilde says, "He was slightly peeved at me the last time we spoke, but ... " Foxtrot stops prodding inn--- guilty authors and says, "Jeff DIES." (to you and Kima) You page, "Hit him on the head with the sketchbook time, yes." to Foxtrot and Kima. Corrine tries to see how close she can get her dove to Hiko's, or if they'll have to land on a branch to talk.... Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says, "Close formation dove flying... oh boy." Juri of Avalon glances back at Corrine. "This Derith," she calls, "what sort of imbecile is he, to play these childish games in the middle of this crisis?" Corrine holds up the card she's had suddenly appear. "Well, I think we have our culprit! And generally, I would think he -wouldn't-... I would think he'd be more -intelligent- than that, -yes-." Corrine says, "Derith's an aristocratic sort!" Hiko the Firechilde says, "I was asking him some more information about the Keep, as he'd been there before, and why he seemed to be so angry with King Tylor... he said it was none of my business, and cut off the Trump contact." You page, "Again, does the card feel like it could be used like a trump?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Yes, you think it could." to you. Amber-Roderick sighs. "Unfortunately, I can see far too many of my relatives doing something like this." Corrine purses her lips again. "That may be so, but at the same time, this is, well... -petty-! By the Pyricorn and Unicorn...." She pauses. "Guys? Find us a branch to land on, I think this is our ticket out of here." Misaki says, "Well, for all we know, we've only been trapped here a second or something." Hiko the Firechilde nudges to Frosty. "Can we land?" Corrine says, "-Hopefully-, Misaki." She sighs. Juri of Avalon shakes her head. "The possibility does, of course, exist that this is a trap or an attempt to frame Derith." Corrine sighs, and nods. "True as well. But we won't get answers until we get out of here." The doves spiral down to a set of branches. You page, "Again, the rest of Corrine/Gabrielle's trumps haven't worked since they've been here, etc?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Yep, they haven't worked." to you. Amber-Roderick nods. "It would be quite easy to make a card with his sign on it, after all." Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Do you want to try Trumping Derith again?" Juri of Avalon says, "How do Derith and your brother Drake get along? This could be Drake acting against us for the squid eating his shadow, and trying to pin it on Derith." Corrine waits until they've landed and parked the pigeons before dismounting and processing all the information and questions. You page, "How -do- Drake and Derith get along?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "They have a bit of a rivalry over who is better with Pattern (Derith) and who deserves his Patternblade (Drake). Of course, last time you saw him, he was blaming Derith for the fake JoJ and shouting about vengeance for his shadow being destroyed." to you. Corrine rubs her brow as she thinks. "They've got a bit of a rivalry over who's better with Pattern, who'd be Derith, and who deserves his Patternblade more, which is Drake, I suppose." She then sighs. "But, of course, the last time Hiko and I saw Drake, he was blaming Derith for the fake Jewel of Judgement and shouting about vengeance for his fortress-shadow shadow being destroyed." Rod has left. Corrine says, "But, on the flip side, none of -my- trumps, or gabrielle's, have worked since we've -gotten- in here, and Hiko's carrying a deck painted by my hand." Corrine says, "My head hurts." Hiko the Firechilde says, "Two of my cards aren't painted by your hand... more if you count the Gumi." Corrine says, "Hm. That's a point. Juri? Try contacting Gideon with your trumps? Should've tried that earlier..." Amber-Roderick says, "I have a deck as well, though I doubt they'll work across universes." Juri of Avalon pulls her trumps and tries Gideon. Corrine says, "Well, if Rose and Ishmael and company are still in our universe, of which this would be just a part of it, it might work..." Hiko the Firechilde tries one of the Gumi trumps. Amber-Roderick asks, "OOC Which one, Hiko?" Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says, "Oh, Ishmael." Juri of Avalon shakes her head. "Someone's tied my trumps into performances of Penderecki, obviously." Corrine says, ".... cute." Dara . o O ( OOC: Penderecki? ) Juri of Avalon says, "OOC: Avant-garde composer. John said I was hearing loud discordant symphonic music when I tried to make the contact. :)" Corrine OOCly says, "Ah, okay. :)" Dara snickers OOCly. Hiko the Firechilde says, "I just get music... " Hiko the Firechilde pulls out the "bubbles" trump. Juri of Avalon says, "OOC: Advance warning - nearly 3 am for me, so I'm gonna want out soon." Amber-Roderick says, "OOC Check." Corrine mmms, quietly. She looks down at her recently appeared card. She pulls out her own trump of Derith, and tries that first. You page-pose, "Aerianne looks at the current status quo of GC shadows. Good LORD< is Corrine going to need to ship forces from Ember soon...." to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Loud music begins to play, but you make no contact." to you. Corrine says, "Feh. Music, but no contact from the trump of Derith I made." Corrine sighs. "So. We either continue flying... or we try the card that dropped into my lap. Opinions?" Hiko the Firechilde says, "Well, I do have one last card after this one to try, but I don't think you want me to try it." She flashes her Trump of Annadil to the group. Corrine says, "iiiiiiiiii i don't think so, no." Juri of Avalon says, "Pass. Let's try the card." Hiko the Firechilde says, "Wait... there's also this one." Corrine nods, and then hrms. "Hm?" Hiko the Firechilde shows the group the card with the galaxies of bubbles. Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says, "You can describe it better than I can." Hiko the Firechilde says, "I got it from King Tylor who picked it up in Shadow a long time ago." Juri of Avalon exclaims, "OOC: Yog-Sothoth!" Dara says, "OOC: Yogie? Uh-oh ..." Gabrielle OOCly watches EVERYBODY get the reference. Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says, "Everyone but me... " Corrine OOCly doesn't get it. ^_^; At first glance, it shows a bunch of bubbles. But if you look closely, every bubble has galaxies inside them. Corrine peers at the card, studying it with her trump skills. Akemi pages, "You're not sure if this is a place or a person trump." to you. Akemi pages, "But it is a trump." to you. Hiko the Firechilde says, "When I showed it to Miki, he said that it wasn't activatable... but now I get the feeling I could." Juri of Avalon says, "It rather reminds me of some cards of Tess's I saw long ago. So very alien..." Corrine frowns. "I can't tell if it's a place or a person trump, Hiko. It -is- a trump, but I'm not sure if you'd want to risk it.. then again, everything else trumpwise here -hasn't- worked or been blocked..." Akemi pages, "You feel like this trump wold work...it feels more active." to you. You page, "Hrm. Does it feel 'rigged' or trapped to quick-activate?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Nope. Feels like normal trump" to you. Hiko the Firechilde asks, "What do you think, Juri, Roderick?" Amber-Roderick says, "It can't hurt to try it." Juri of Avalon shrugs. "Try the card with Derith's sigil on it." Hiko the Firechilde says, "Yes... let's try Derith's card first..." Hiko the Firechilde says, "I'd feel safer if it WERE him than this thing." Corrine hrms again. "Though... now that I think about it, it -does- feel more normal than the rest of ours... but on the -other- hand, I feel leery about unknown trumps found in shadow. This one *holds up the derith card* is at least a partial known." Hiko the Firechilde nods. "Go ahead, Corrine..." Corrine considers the "Spanking" card. "Right. Trying this, now..." She holds out one hand for folks to grab, while focussing on the card itself. Amber-Roderick takes Juri's hand, expecting Juri will take Corrine's hand. Juri of Avalon takes Corrine's hand. Misaki puts a hand on corrine's shoulder. Hiko the Firechilde puts a hand on Corrine's other shoulder. The Card suddenly bursts into flame and burns away. As it does so, the world seems to split apart and wrench around you. Corrine concentrates fully on the card now... and yergh!s as the world does funky twisting stuff. And then you're standing on the benches in an ampitheatre dug into a hill, accompanied by five giant doves. Hiko the Firechilde looks around. Corrine OOCly says, "Does the ampithetre look familiar?" Akemi pages, "the Shadow theatre" to you. Corrine OOCly says, "Yup, familiar." Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says, "ShadowPlay theater!" Down below you, the sun casts strange shadows onto the stage, human-like shadows. Corrine says, "..." Hiko the Firechilde blinks as well, and looks up at the doves. "Frosty?" Corrine says, "Well, we're out of -that- place.... we're in the Shadow Theatre." Juri of Avalon stares at the shadows, suddenly seeming impossibly distant and looking very sad. The doves look REALLY CONFUSED. Corrine purses her lips, and moves over to Juri. *q* "What's wrong?" Amber-Roderick says, "Weird." Misaki tries to calm her dove. Juri of Avalon says, "Memories." Corrine mmms, and hugs Juri. Down below, you see the shadow people playing out a little playlet about a little boy being harrassed by bullies. Juri of Avalon accepts the embrace rather stiffly. "I'm all right." Gabrielle OOcly watches Roderick drool. Amber-Roderick says, "OOC He'd only drool if he was inside that hug :)" Juri of Avalon asks, "OOC: Roderick... will you wear this mutant forelock to bed?" Amber-Roderick says, "OOC With shapechanging, he can easily make his own mutant forelock :)" Juri of Avalon says, "OOC: Yes, but that would just be like a shadow-Amber. Juri would know it wasn't real. :)" Corrine mms again, and lets go, reluctantly. You page, "Okay, testing trump/pattern/DemiJewel senses, again..." to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Everything kicks in like it should." to you. Corrine lets out a long sigh, her body untensing. The child runs away from the bullies and hides, crying. Corrine then watches the playlet for a bit. Juri of Avalon turns her eyes away from the sight of the shadows and stares almost directly at the sun. Hiko the Firechilde watches as well, a bit confused, calming the doves, she goes to Juri. "Moth-- er, Juri, are you okay?" Then we see the child standing by a seashore. He walks down a set of steps out of sight. Corrine sucks in a quiet breath. *q* "Oh hell." Corrine closes her eyes, pinches the bridge of her nose, and then opens them again, watching the rest of the little scene. Juri of Avalon glances to Hiko. "Yes. I'm all right," she says quietly, after a moment. And then a whirlpool erupts where the stairs once stood, and the shadow-girls all get sucked in while fishing. They vanish down the drain. Corrine says, "..." And then the sun sets. Amber-Roderick puts a hand on Juri's shoulder, though he says nothing. Corrine sighs, and rubs her brow again. She then turns to see how Juri's doing. Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Okay... show's over... what happens next?" Misaki says, "I suppose we go find Prince Shizumaru?" Juri of Avalon looks back at Roderick, smiles faintly, and puts her hand over his. "Sometimes I hate being so old," she says quietly. Corrine says, "Well... it'd appear that our abilities and trumps are active again, Hiko... and as it turns out, we've got flying steeds.." She smiles slightly. Juri of Avalon asks, "Corrine, what was the meaning of all this?" Hiko the Firechilde is curious to know that answer as well. Gabrielle says, "OOC: And somewhere, out there, HOratio goes a bit more insane and evil." Amber-Roderick nods to Juri. "I know." He shakes his head sadly. "I know. I just hope none of my generation ends up trying to kill each other like my father's did." Corrine says, "Which is fortunate, since this theatre's on an island... and hm?" She glances back towards the stage, quieting. *Q* "I think... the boy there on the stage... was Derith." To your surprise, the sun rises again, and now you see an image of the shadow girls running for their lives from an apparently homicidal train. Corrine says, "Which would help explain why he tends to be 'cool' towards Amber in general, if his childhood was -that- bad." Corrine stares at the train. Corrine says, "-that-, though, I have no clue." Hiko the Firechilde BLINKS. "...can i wake up now...?" Juri of Avalon goes briefly tight-lipped at what Roderick said, then nods and looks at the train. "How odd." Corrine nods. "Let's get the hell out of here." Juri of Avalon says, "Agreed. I don't like this place." Hiko the Firechilde nods vehemently, shocked into speechlessness. Corrine heads back to the Giant Pigeons, and mounts up. Juri of Avalon says, "And I don't like those... things." Juri of Avalon mounts her own Giant Jigglypuffeon. Dara . o O ( OOC: Run, it's Evil Horatio! ;) ) Horatio cackles madly. "Go, my steam-powered battlebots, and bring me the skin of Rocerick!" Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says, "Is that IC?" Gabrielle says, "OOCly: No, but ic ouldn't resist. ^_^" Amber-Roderick says, "OOC No, that was Merc being silly :)" Hiko the Firechilde mounts Frosty and wheels him towards the sky. Amber-Roderick . o O (Don't think about Mother's puppet shows. Don't think about Mother's puppet shows...) Amber-Roderick mounts up and you begin to hellride towards Shizumaru. Corrine takes off after Hiko, making sure the group stays together. Corrine OOCly says, "And that it? Next time, we get to rendevous with shiz?" Hiko the Firechilde asks, "You lead, Corrinee? Or me?" Corrine says, "-Your- turn, Hiko, I think." She smiles, slightly. =============================== =============================== Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says, "I'd say this was a good stopping point. And I'm going to kill Jeff the next time I see him." Juri of Avalon says, "OOC: And I'm gonna sleep." Corrine OOCly nods. Dara asks, "Why you want to kill him?" Corrine OOCly says, "Sleep, Alan." *** Foxtrot goes OOC. *** Amber-Roderick says, "OOC Good stopping place." Hiko the Firechilde exclaims, "Cause he's the one who thought up this trap!" Dara sniggles. Gabrielle says, "No, Derith thought up the trap." Dancing Ed says, "Seeya, Alan." Gabrielle says, "Apparently." Hiko the Firechilde says, "Jeff is Derith's player." Hiko the Firechilde says, "When he can game, that is." Amber-Roderick says, "OOC Jeff suggested this :)" Hiko the Firechilde says, "Derith is Jeff's character." Amber-Roderick says, "OOC For Derith to do." Hiko the Firechilde says, "I know this, because he BRAGGED of it to me before he logged off." Gabrielle says, "This is the second homicidal train. Now I'm worried." Juri of Avalon exclaims, "THE THUNDER OF THE LORCA TRAIN!" Hiko the Firechilde says, "He is going to get SUCH a spanking when I see him." Corrine OOCly says, "I got told earlier while we were playing, but obviously couldn't say 'cause it would've been OOC knowledge. *wl*" Corrine OOCly says, "But anyway, to bed I think." Hiko the Firechilde says, "Night, Phil." Gabrielle asks, "So, Rodericks mom traumatized him with Shadow Puppets when he was a child?" Dancing Ed says, "Seeya, Phil." Corrine waves. Night, folks. 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 ------------