Moriya OOCly says, "Yeehaw." Beowulf puts on CB: Live in Baghdad. Mitsune says, "Kanna, head into Arden land." ========== ========== Chris pages, "Going for the Gaunt? :)" to you. You page, "No sense in dragging out the inevitable.. *fwl*" to Chris. In a page-pose to you, Chris hehs. ========================================= ========================================= Davros asks, "OOC Okay, what's your next step, Phil?" Kanna OOCly says, "Okay. First off, report to King Tylor what we learned from Bewoulf, and the investigation of the Shadow Theatre. Tell him EVERYTHING of what happened, and what recommendations/assistance he can give. This includes the discovery of drake, the nature of the Ebescrux construct, descrution of the three lion spikards, the almost-breakthrough of Yog-Sothoth, the current Shizumaru trial thing, etc. Kanna herself is split between riding directly for the Tenjou Trio, riding for wherever Jacqui summoned and then sent away the JoJ, or riding for Dinosaur World, as all three approaches -should- lead the same, but the situation could have changed. This is asking both Touga and Tylor, as they have mondo shadowwalking experience." Kanna OOCly says, "Also, if King tylor says to wait so he can get Mikage and Falme in on this, given the risks of mental assault, Kanna will wait." Davros says, "OOC Tylor tells you that Drake has returned and he'll order Drake to assist you. Tylor advises you first go see the spot where the JoJ was summoned to, then head for Jacqui/Utena/Wakaba." Davros says, "OOC Touga advises riding to Dinosaur World and investigating from there." Davros says, "OOC Tylor also greatly thanks you for passing on the information." Kanna OOCly says, "Kanna has a suspicion that the two places will likely be the same, so she'll head on that route to Dinosaur World, and then start shifting to the JoJ summon point when they all head off, see if it ends up being the same. Will Gaby's use of the MEtal Jewel and her inherent Fire Jewel capability be able to neutralize some of the nastier aspects of Dinosaur World, like the dissapearance of Pattern and magic and stuff?" Davros says, "OOC IF Gabby brings the Metal Jewel, she can likely mold the shadow to make it a giant breadfruit if she so desires." Kanna OOCly says, "Part of the reason for the JoJ summon point is to see whatever ended up happening there via temporal scry, if it's not a 'Hot Zone'. *nod*" Gabrielle expresses a great desire for you to tell her to mold 'those fire-hating lizard freaks' into breadfruit. Beowulf OOCly says, "Find out what they know first. :) And watch out for other constructs, ne?" Davros asks, "OOC Are you going to head to Dino world from Amber or from the Shadow Theatre?" Kanna OOCly says, "After that, Call mom, give her the scame schpeel that I did to King Tylor about current events. Ask her if possible to check through the information network for the location of this 'Pharoah Mobius', and if there's routes through the Lava Circle and beyond to him, or if it looks as if he's more directly on the amber/metal alignment." Kanna OOCly wasn't done yet. ^_- Davros says, "OOC Your mom can tell you that Mobius doesn't seem to be in your ambit, but she'll have the info network look for him." Kanna OOCly says, "Thanks to mom, then. And definitely let her know Shizu's back and okay, and that Cousin Hiko's healing from all this. And at the moment, we're in Amber, so we'll probably ... hm... *checks shadow pages for transit times.*" ======== ======== The_Prof pages, "Oh, did you see the 'wrong' picture? :)" to you. You page, "Yes, I did. Very silly. :)" to The_Prof. The_Prof pages, "Indeed. :)" to you. ======== ======== Kanna OOCly says, "Oh, and word on when MIkage'll be avaialble? If need be, we can trump him in on the way. With that setled...Hell with it. Have sis trumpgate us and horses to the Shadow Theatre, make introductions between everybody, then start riding out for 'Dinosaur World' about half-a-day via Hellride, and then shift to 'The Place Where Jacqueline Tenjou of Amber Briefly Summoned The Jewel Of Judgement Before Sending It Back'. See if it's the same place or not. Oh, and the current Rosted for Kanna's Krew is therefore -- Kanna, Shinobu Minor, Moonshade, Sumire, Kozue, Touga, Mia, Vash, Misaki, and Drake, then." Kanna OOCly says, "and now, bathroom break. Gomen." Davros says, "OOC Mikage will be ready tomorrow. Beowulf will also be available tomorrow." Gabrielle asks, "OOC: so are we going or what?" Kanna OOCly says, "Righto. Kanna can work with that. Snag any little personal items that might help for tracking the Tenjou Trio via magic once they get closer if they have to stop short before the target for searching in-shadow. And once that's done... I think that's about it, unless various members of the posse has any suggestions before we get trumped to the Theatre and start riding? If we're starting after lunch, the point of swapping over should come about the time to break for the night before heading on." Davros says, "Phil went to the bathroom...oh, there he is." Kanna OOCly takes time to type, y'see. Davros says, "OOC OKay, sounds like a plan." Beowulf OOCly nods, and will probably be trumping Kanna to find out status whenever their timelines synch up. ============ ============ Your posse heads out to the Theatre, travels for half a day, then does a check. It looks like Dino world and the place of the Jewel are either the same or in a straight line. The next morning, Beowulf trumps you. Beowulf asks, "Heyo, Kanna... things seem to be settled down here." He sighs slightly. "Probably for the best. How are things going on your end?" Kanna checks via Trump Caller ID to make sure it IS Beowulf, and then accepts the call, as presumabily they haven't started out yet. "Hey, Beowulf." She smiles a bit. "Good thing on the settling down... we've already started riding, got Uncle Drake along with us, and it -appears- that Dinosaur World and the place where Jacqui Called the Jewel are the same. Or along the same route." Kanna says, "I updated both Uncle Tylor and Mom, so they know what went down. We should be able to get Mikage sometime today." Beowulf nods. "Right. Did Drake let you know how the trial went?" ====== ====== Kanna OOCly says, "did he?" Beowulf asks, "OOC Have Mitsune and Moriya finished their little chat? :) And is she interested in coming along for this?" Moriya OOCly says, "Oh, she'll be there. This chat is happening the evening before." Davros says, "OOC The chat is actually the evening before for Beo. Your days aren't quite synched here." Beowulf says, "OOC Ahso. :)" Kanna OOCly says, "(anyway, back to my original question -- did Drake let us know how it went?)" Davros says, "OOC Drake left before the Trial." Davros says, "OOC At this point, the Trial is over for Beo, but Beo is in a morning; while it's an evening where you are." Beowulf says, "OOC Right." Kanna OOCly says, "Actually, it's morning for us, too. *points to 'The next morning, Beowulf trumps you.'*" Davros says, "OOC Oh, right. Cool, makes life simpler. Anyway, talk, talk, don't mind foolish GM." ====== ====== Beowulf says, "Let's see... there was a hung jury, leaving the King to make the final decision." Kanna nods to Beowulf. "Split down the middle, eh? Joy." She nods. "How'd he swing?" Beowulf says, "The King convicted him of manslaughter but not murder, and sentenced him to 50 years in the Black Tower, given the extenuating circumstances with the demoness." Kanna mmms, and nods to that. "Right. Well, it's better than death or a few centuries stuck down there, I suppose." She sighs. Beowulf sighs. "Not a complete acquittal... but his life isn't in danger, and we may be able to come up with a way to reduce the sentence." Kanna asks, "Oh? How so?" Beowulf says, "Motoko, after the events of Ebenscrux, has some kind of religious status in Chaos now, as the Bride of the Dragon, whatever that means, and she may be able to use that." Kanna says, ".... ooooooookay. Motoko as a holy figure. That's a new one." Beowulf says, "The silver lining is that the fact that he's being punished should help settle the hotheads in Hendrake. Which is a good thing." Beowulf nods, looking a little boggled. "Well, it's odd, but she deserved it; she was the one who saved everyone by first taking out the construct, then serving as the focus for whatever that fusion was that drove off the Outsider god." Kanna chuckles a bit, softly. "Okay, so maybe -she- should get a Bonsai, too." Beowulf smiles wryly and agrees. Kanna grins, and lets out a breath. "So things are stable in Chaos for the moment?" She blinks. "I can't believe I just said that." Beowulf says, "Anyway, things are probably as settled here as they're going to be for a while. Is there an opening on Mother's rescue squad for an excellent sorcress, a very versatile shapeshifter, and a somewhat washed-up archeologist?" He grins slightly, lifting an eyebrow. Kanna chuckles, and offers her hand. "More than enough room, Beowulf. And you're not washed-up, you're very clean, actually." Beowulf shakes his head ruefully, smiling slightly. "Well, the cuts have pretty much healed, I think." ===== ===== Beowulf asks, "OOC Is Mitsune ready to go?" Davros exclaims, "OOC Yep, she's ready!" ===== ===== Beowulf links his friends together and takes Kanna's hand. Beowulf bows to Kanna. "At your service, cousin." He grins. You're camped in a forest right now. ====== ====== Akemi pages, "Oh, are you moving at normal shadow walking or hellride speeds?" to you. You page, "Kanna has been doing the 'Hellride as much as we can while keeping the group together' thing, yes." to Akemi. ====== ====== Kanna chuckles, and bows back. "I'd hate to think of your face marked like that. Unless it made your rougishly handsome face even moreso, in which case, Lily is the one who gets the most benefit." She winks. Beowulf looks around and relaxes a bit. "Ah, some *normal* scenery around, for a change." Beowulf grins. "Well, Lily's the only one who would *reap* the benefit from it, so..." Beowulf hugs Lily as he says this. ===== ===== Kanna OOCly says, "Mitsune and who else came through... Lily?" Davros says, "OOC Lily." Beowulf says, "OOC Poor Lily... she just hasn't gotten much screen time lately, has she? I keep meaning to make up for it." Davros says, "OOC Yeah, Lily's mostly gotten herself mangled :)" ===== ===== Kanna nods, and then goes and gives both Lily and Mitsune quick hugs, congratulating Lily for bagging Bey, and thanks and admiration to Mitsune for helping take out Ramon while not, you know, killing him or anything. Kanna then updates Lily and Mitsune on the situation with the Tenjou Trio, and asks them for advice as well, for their takes on things to do and not do when getting folks out of outsider constructs. Lily says, "Hmm. Well, Dinosaur World is pretty dangerous because magic won't work there." Beowulf says, "OOC While Mitsune's written the book on Dino World, so to speak. ^_^" Mitsune says, "Hmm. Well, the Dinos usually aren't very friendly, unless you're willing to strip down and run around naked. Which wouldn't be a big stretch for my sister, but..." Lily noogies her. "Heh. Anyway, all our mages are going to be crying." Mitsune says, "On the other hand, we'll eat pretty well if you like fruit and raw meat." Mitsune says, "Shapeshifting does work, though that doesn't help most of us." Kanna checks to see if Gaby's got the Metal Jewel with her. "Well, we may happen to have some ways to conteract that... I was there once, breifly, while running around for other reasons." She mmms, and nods. "Trump's still good there, I know. Well, hopefully we won't have to stick around too long." Gabrielle ashes a tree. "I'm pretty sure we can do better than RAW meat." Mitsune says, "The dino men all have crazy plant control powers. And they act like they're on crack 24 hours a day." Beowulf nods. "Ayup." He looks at Gaby. "Gabrielle, Hiko passed along some info to Lily about a spell that would let her contact the Tenjou Trio without getting bushwhacked the way Moriya did; could you mold shadow with that thing enough to let her use it?" Kanna looks to the heavens with bemusement. "We'll burn that bridge when we come to it, sis." She then nods to Mitsune. "That helps explain what happened to the Shadow Theatre, then." Mitsune says, "I suggest you put everything non essential in Beowulf's bag and then have someone eat the bag, as otherwise, you're going to end up losing everything you have." Gabrielle chuckles. "My Pattern Skillz are Mad indeed, but I'm mostly good at brute-forcing things." She jerks a thumb at Touga. "Talk to the redhead." Touga smiles. Beowulf blinks. "Um, right." He thinks for a moment. "I'm usually pretty good at finding the bag even if it gets lost... might make an interesting case of irresistable force and immovable object, but there may also be a better way." Kanna says, "Hey. Brute Force -and- Subtlety. We've got our bases covered." She looks at Beowulf. "Hm?" ======= ======= Beowulf says, "OOC Since the bag's a point item, I can track it down... but I'm not sure how that'd work in Dino World's lose-everything-you've-got environment." Kanna OOCly says, "Ahhh." You page, "Of course, after Jacqui got done with the shadow, returning Magic to it... this should be itneresting, if the place hasn't reset." to The_Prof. The_Prof pages, "Indeed; she trashed the shadow and returned magic? Nice. I didn't like the way it used to be. :)" to you. You page, "She hadn't realized it, though, and that's why the Gaunt Man bushwacked her. He zapped her with a spell." to The_Prof. The_Prof pages, "Ahso. :)" to you. The_Prof pages, "Indeed. :) Well, I'm asking John about the Closet atm... if Gaby visits the interior, she can trump things in and out, right?" to you. You page, "I would have NO idea. As long as it isn't either Pattern or Trump barred, she can access a place or reach her manifestations, really. She's got True Trump Memory, so IF she visisted, she'd have the location 'recorded' to allow her to send herself or more likely a manifestation there to allow for monitoring. It depends on how you have the bag set up, etc." to The_Prof. The_Prof pages, "Hm. It's guarded, but don't *think* I blocked it against Trump, as no one has really seen it enough to make a Trump of it." to you. You page, "Right. That's between you and the GM, then. Gaby doesn't -have- to make trumps to get to places... like Corrine, she's got TTM, so as long as she has a solid psyche impression, she can go someplace or trump someone." to The_Prof. You page, "Kanna'd prolly have to go in with her the first time, tho, since she's the one with the Manifestation, and she wears that habitually." to The_Prof. The_Prof pages, "Right. Well, there may be something coming soon that will help the situation... though I'd like to make it a pleasant surprise. :)" to you. You page, "Right. *wl*" to The_Prof. Kanna OOCly bathroomidles while travis and GM hash. Davros says, "OOC Sorry, I surprise idled while we tried to get something printed." Beowulf says, "OOC Ahso." ========= ========= Gabrielle briefly confers with Touga, then does something with the Eye of Metal. Beowulf asks, "Actually, Kanna, Gabrielle, could you join me inside the bag for a moment?" A weird ripple effect travels out from it, disappearing into the trees. Beowulf blinks. "My... what was that? o.o" Gabrielle says, "I think I've managed to create a small bubble of utterly normal probablity around us." Mitsune blinks. Beowulf says, "Um... interesting." Gabrielle says, "Which means that weird probablity effects of Dinosaur World won't apply inside it." She frowns. "Just nobody play with reality any more than possible in here, or it might collapse." Beowulf nods. "Right." Kanna ahs, and nods. "Should shadowtravel still be all right while you bring it with us?" Drake studies the effect with interest. Kanna pattensights the effect to see if she can see its boundaries, etc. Gabrielle says, "Oh, that's fine. just nothing fancy like using the Royal Way, or making sure your sleeping bag is always on the choiciest patch of ground, or whatnot." Beowulf nods. ====== ====== Akemi pages, "It's about a hundred yard radius around y'all." to you. ====== ====== Kanna chuckles softly at that. "Wasn't intending to... and I can see the boundaries. About a hundred yards radius from the jewel." Kanna asks, "Anyway, you were saying, Bey?" Beowulf says, "Well, I'm not sure if what Gabrielle just did would be affected by entering the bag... but I was hoping you could step inside for a moment so that Gabrielle could get a reading on it, so she could trump things in and out." Beowulf says, "Since I believe you're the only one here carrying one of her manifestations." Gabrielle holds out a hand. "Give the bag here." Kanna raises her eyebrows, and then looks at her sister. "Well, we haven't continued moving to Dinosaur World, so hell, might as well give it a try..." Beowulf says, "Actually, if you could step inside? Trust me." He smiles. Kanna looks at Bey again, and then hehs. "Right." She offers her hand to Beowulf. "So, I just step in?" Gabrielle blinks. "Okay." she gives the Eye to Touga. "Hold this, Red." Touga stares at it in surprise. ======= ======= Kanna OOCly says, "Is Bey going in with Kanna, or just Kanna?" Beowulf asks, "OOC Or would it be better to hold it out there?" Kanna OOCly says, "Prolly better to keep it out there, imo." Beowulf OOCly nods. ======= ======= You page, "I'll have you know I'm working on the piece where Corrine finally reunites with the Real Touga, and Gaby's gonna be making an appearance." to Mercutio. You page, ":)" to Mercutio. Mercutio pages, "whee!" to you. ======= ======= Beowulf says, "Just step in, right." He looks at Gaby. "Actually, I think you can keep it with you..." Gabrielle says, "I'd rather play it safe." she jumps up into the air, shrinks to super-deformed size, and drops into the bag. Beowulf gestures Kanna into the bag, then follows her. Kanna laughs at her sister, shrugs, goes "Whathtehell," and hops in. Welcome to Bagworld :) Gabrielle looks around inside the bag. "Beowulf, is this a Construct?" Kanna blinks. Beowulf takes a quick check around the entrance room to make sure everything's OK, then smiles. "Welcome to Fibber McGee's Closet." Kanna looks around, curious. "Oh... boy?" ======= ======= Kanna OOCly says, "How big the entrance room?" Beowulf says, "OOC Think aircraft hanger. For jumbo jets. :)" ======= ======= Beowulf says, "Nope... it's a Shadow I found, linked to the bag as the access point." Kanna blinks at that. Kanna looks at bey. Kanna says, "Bey? You really -do- have a Portable Shadow, don't you." She grins. "Or the next best thing." Beowulf grins back. "Yup." Gabrielle asks, "Oh, okay." she leans against the wall. "So what did you want to say to us that you didn't want the others to hear?" Beowulf says, "Not that, so much..." He quickly sets the shadow to fast time, one second per Amber year. "Wanted you to get a look at the place inside for trumping stuff, and also hoped you could check out something I've found in here." Kanna blinks, and raises an wry eyebrow at her sis. "I don't think it was that, actually. I think Bey just wanted to see if your Mighty Trump Skillz would work here... eh?" Kanna says, "as in reaching in and out." She nods. "I'm game." ======= ======= Beowulf says, "OOC Once you leave the entranceway, which is guarded by Stooges (Think Larry, Moe, and Curly), the rest of the place reminds you of Golden Age Shadow Earth radio shows." Kanna OOCly says, "(you mean one Shadow year per Amber second, yes? :)" Kanna OOCly says, "Ooooo. Spiffy!" Beowulf says, "OOC Right... One year per Amber second." Beowulf says, "OOC You can see Rick's Place from Casablanca, attend a performance by George and Gracie... the works. :)" ======= ======= Kanna hums a little soft-shoe routine, and does a little shuffle-step as she walks to whatever it is Bey wants to show them. Gabrielle says, "Well, I could have done that just be reaching my arm in." She looks around. "Cooool. This is like that place the Floral Assualt Group trains, except less steam and more pulp." Kanna chuckles at that. Beowulf says, "Anyway, would appreciate it if you could check out this Trump fount I found." Kanna blinks. Kanna looks at Bey. Kanna says, "Trump... fount." Gabrielle freezes in mid-step. Beowulf says, "Right. It likes to pull in classic radio shows from across Shadow... which is where I suspect this place gets its... unique... character." He smiles. Gabrielle says, "Okay. You'd better show us this.... fount." Beowulf leads them to the trump fount. Kanna follows. "Bey, question. How the hell would you have gotten a Trump Fount in here? Unless it popped up by itself?" She looks at him curious, but her entire mein is serious now. The Trump Font is a giant radio. ========= ========= Beowulf says, "OOC as I bought the Shadow as Infused with Reality, and John and I picked a Trump Fount as the source of the reality instead of a broken Pattern or some such." Kanna OOCly says, "aahhhh." ========= ========= Gabrielle whistles. "Okay, Beowulf, you did the right thing by calling me." Kanna stares. Kanna says, "Is this the point where I break out singing 'Video Killed The Radio Star'?" Kanna patternsights the Radio Trump Font. Gabrielle whips out her Trump Guitar. "Both of you step back, please. I need to run some tests." Beowulf looks pained. "Please, don't. It plays... classic... music." He smiles. "I suspect it might actually like Radio GaGa, though." From which music constantly pours. Kanna steps back as well. Beowulf steps back as well. Kanna says, "Careful, sis." She hehs a bit. "Don't mind me, Bey, just... man." She shakes her head. ======= ======= Beowulf says, "OOC And now you know What's In the Bag. :) Well, not the auction item, but still a neat place." Kanna OOCly says, "Wheee! *bow* Thankyee." ======= ======= Kanna says, "I could do a little bit of 'Sing Sing Sing', but that's an instrumental." Beowulf says, "Well, it'd be appropriate." He smiles. Gabrielle keeps playing. The Radio resonates somewhat, but shows no signs of blowing apart at the seams or unleashing Outsidery goodness at folks. Kanna allows herself to relax a bit. ======= ======= Beowulf says, "OOC I'd certainly *hope* John wouldn't give me an Outsider fount as a point item. o.o" Davros says, "OOC Hehe :)" ======= ======= Gabrielle gradually stops playing. "Okay, cool. Congratulations, Wolfy. You own your very own natural source of Trump energy." Kanna says, "I love listening to Benny Goodman's stuff at mom's beach house... and some of the dance films... mmmmmm!" She grins, and blushes a bit, and then -whistles-. Gabrielle says, "Be happy; the only other one on record is the Fount of Power." Kanna asks, "Fucking A. No risk of Outsider Stuff coming through it?" Gabrielle says, "Not a bit." She taps the Radio. "This is the pure stuff, baby." Kanna says, "I still wouldn't advise taking a -swim- in it, but..." She whistles. Beowulf says, "Um, right." He blinks. "Niiice." Beowulf says, "But what I *really* like is the music." He grins. Kanna grins, and claps Bey on the shoulder. "You tell mom this, she's gonna be impressed." Kanna says, "But it's your call who we tell." She hums along with the trump music. "And I agree. Damn good music." Kanna says, "You don't need MORE yahoos trying to grab your magic bag, man.." Kanna grins. Beowulf says, "I'll probably tell your mom... it's the sort of thing I think she'd enjoy." He smiles. "And that's about it... since I can think of some plans for this thing. And yup, you're right... though I've set up a couple of traps on the bag that should keep anyone but me from using it." Gabrielle says, "You might want to build a Construct around this someday. You can do all kinds of things with it, like boost a Trump signal from here to the Abyss and back, or build a Transuniversal Trump Gate, or a normal Trump Gate the size of a continent." Beowulf smiles. "Funny you should mention that, Gaby. Would you mind having a new friend?" Gabrielle blinks. "Dwah?" Kanna ehs, looking at Bey, curious. Beowulf says, "Well, I was thinking of building a Construct around this, yes, with Lily and Mutsumi to help." Kanna blinks, and then whistles. "Well. Why the hell not?" She grins. "Trump and Magic in one potent package. Sis can have a protege." Gabrielle nods. "Mutsumi is almost as good Miki." She raps the Radio. "You may also want to actually move this Shadow inside the bag, but i can't predict what that would do." Beowulf says, "Ayup. And someone who could hopefully keep Morgenstern from blowing his top... at least that's what I thought when I first came up with the idea, before he blew his top anyway." He sighs. ======= ======= You page, "Mutsumi's walked the pattern, yes?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Yes, she has." to you. ======= ======= Gabrielle snorts. "That was only a matter of time. I won the pool, though." Beowulf says, "Actually, I'm not sure moving the Shadow inside the bag would help things any. I've got access through the bag, but if the bag's stolen, I could still get to the Shadow by normal shadowwalking." Kanna rolls her eyes. "What's the eta on the repair of him and Kafuin, anyway?" Gabrielle says, "Yes, you could. So could many other people. Oh, Morgy is just as funkified as ever. I have him on standby right now." Gabrielle says, "I couldn't speak to Kafuin." Gabrielle says, "Kafuin's state, I mean." Beowulf says, "Well, I do have the shadow boundaries set to my genetic pattern... presumably there's a way to get around that, but it'd be a bit harder." Kanna says, "Anyway, I'd say consult with mom and sis and Nagisa for ideas for implementation." She claps her hands. "Excellent on hearing about Morgy, then... if we need quick funky distraction, we're good. Or him getting his family out." Gabrielle says, "Yeah. I don't think we'll be that desperate." Kanna looks at Beowulf. "Blood samples. Tissue samples. Cloned you. Shadow of you. Shapeshifter of You." Kanna says, "You may want to up the security before yo go further on this." She grins a bit. Gabrielle says, "Anyway, this is REALLY cool, Beowulf. I'd like to co-author the paper you're no doubt preparing to do on this thing for eventual publication and peer review at Panopticon." Beowulf says, "True, Kanna. Want to be careful." Beowulf nods to Gabrielle. "And I'd be more than happy to work with you on the paper. When it's time for public release." He smiles. ======= ======= The_Prof pages, "So, like my little toy? :)" to you. You page, "This is just SO COOL. :)" to The_Prof. The_Prof pages, "Once I get a construct built around it, it'll be quite nice. :) I did have a quick session with Corrinne talking about it... my original idea was to base her personality on Kyoko from Maison Ikkoku, but Corrine said that might not mix well with the nature of the fount." to you. You page, "Whaaaa! Want Log!" to The_Prof. The_Prof pages, "Will pull together log; it was done by page with John, since he was running people in both main and Arden." to you. The_Prof pages, "Sending log now... Drat, was hoping to surprise you and Merc with the completed construct, but this was too good an opportunity to pass up, since I needed to check out the fount before building around it." to you. The_Prof pages, "I'm interested in seeing what you think. :)" to you. ======= ======= Gabrielle nods. "Normally, I'd spend a decade or so working with this thing-- Mom pokes me every once in awhile about Transuniversal phone calls- but I think we should get back to the task at hand." Kanna nods. "Yeah." She smiles, and quickly hugs bey and gives him a peck on the cheek. "This is gonna make mom's day." Beowulf says, "Well, the advantages of controlling time flow on the shadow..." He grins. "But you're right, we should get to the task at hand. I figured with fasttime, now was as good a chance to check out the fount as any, since I thought you'd need to visit here to trump-familiarize with it anyway." Kanna nods. "We can probably just dump stuff in the 'entrance room' to make it easiest and least risky for compromising things in here." Beowulf nods. "Yes, that would probably be best. The Stooges are guarding (OOC: 4 pt. Guarded), but best to minimize risks." ====== ====== Beowulf asks, "OOC Actually, since Hiko came here to fasttime heal... is she done yet? If not, could we pay her a quick visit?" Gabrielle says, "OOC: I'd rather not unless you have a specific reason. We really should be getting on." Davros says, "I'm thinking she's probably healed and gone home by now." Kanna OOCly nods. Beowulf OOCly nods. "Wan't expecting to RP it, just give 'em a chance to stop by and commiserate offscreen. :)" Kanna OOCly says, "Right. *wl* I'm good either way." Gabrielle asks, "OOC: right. So, back to the group?" Beowulf OOCly nods. Kanna OOCly nods. ======= ======= You rejoin your companions, just as they finish filming the Porno...oh, wait, wrong universe. You return. Gabrielle reclaims the Eye from Touga. "So, are we off?" ====== ====== Beowulf says, "OOC And you'd better believe this was the wrong universe! :)" Beowulf says, "OOC Er, *that* was the wrong universe. :)" Davros says, "OOC The film crew from the All-Joan Porno Channel go back to their own universe... :)" ====== ====== Touga says, "I believe we are." Beowulf nods, and gives Lily a quick hug before they set off. "We may have something interesting to do later," he murmurs to her, smiling. Anyway, y'all set out again. Lily smiles. "Does it involve dancing?" Kanna nods, and starts riding for the place where Jacqui summoned the JoJ, leading the hellride and stuff, and having folks put nonessential stuff in the bag... like most of the gear and food supplies, etc. Keeping weapons and trumps on them, etc. Beowulf smiles at Lily. "Among other things." Gabrielle occupies her time messing with Kozue's mind. Kozue blows up EVERYTHING, then... :) Kanna occupies her time when not doing the hellriding thing smoothing over various and sundry tensions and chatting with Uncle Drake, as she's never had a chance to talk with him before, as he was in a cross during her formative years. Kanna also baps her sis. Drake seems quite willing to talk, as he still needs to catch up on everything he's missed. Beowulf uses his experience keeping Mitsune under control to try and keep Gaby from seting off thermonuclear personality fireworks. :) Kanna fills him in on the past 40 years, and the vanishing of Rebma and the RETURN of Rebma and the various weird quests and worries going around, and is also just quite legitimately curious about his life. Drake, sadly, spent almost the entire 40 years nailed to a giant metal cross. Gabrielle acts abashed, even though she's really not, and gives Drake a big manuscript on the Melnibonean War, which she's sure he's upset he missed. He is quite grateful, and yes, he is upset he missed it. Kanna meant his life -before- the nailed-to-cross thing. She also mentions Tylor gave his old job to Shaft. Oh, well, he could brag about THAT all day. Kanna mentions that in his Absence, Nabiki's been running the Assistant High Chamberlain bit pretty well. Oh, and Shaft's dead now, so he might be able to get the Marshal job back. Kanna listens, getting his take on things and matching them up on what the family's told her about Uncle Drake. Drake seems rather subdued compared to what you've heard of him. ======= ======= Kanna OOCly says, "Well, we're still doing the hellride thing, I think, so it's prolly when we breaked for dinner, etc." Beowulf OOCly nods. "Hmm." Davros says, "OOC Righto." ======= ======= "Oh, by the by, Drake..." Gabrielle says casually one afternoon, "John Valois took the Pattern. And lived." Drake starts at that. Drake seems glad to know Nabiki is doing well. Kanna nods. "Therin kinda went down the hole after that, when he led people out into Shadow." Drake asks, "What exactly happened, Kanna?" Kanna says, "Then again, Therin got squashed like a grape during the Crisis, courtesy of cousin Shinobu, and..." she scratches her cheek, recalling her history lessons pounded in by Godai-sensei. Kanna says, "Therin tried making war on Amber when the Golden Circle was going apeshit due to the revolts and stuff. Since we were getting low on seriously-skilled war folks, Shinobu got pegged for dealing with them." Beowulf wipes his brow. "Thank goodness she was restored." Kanna says, "She devestated the military, forced the nobility to free the slaves, then then former slaves went to slaughter the nobility. John Valois walked the pattern, lived, and left the country, taking the surviving nobles with him." Drake listens, nodding thoughtfully. Kanna says, "The current king is his nephew, Henri of Burbon. He took the throne and pledged fealty to Amber. The power's shuffled around, and part of the country is hosed anyway due to Rebma not being around and how that's screwed with the environment, but it's technically at peace, at least." Drake says, "Hmm. Interesting." Gabrielle says, "Their military has gone straight to hell. They still have the siege train, but in another ten years everyone who knows how to use it will be dead or retired." Kanna says, "A lot of the Golden Circle politic got shifted due to the climate changes. HOPEFULLY now that Rebma's back... if we can flush the effing Rebmaqouis out of the city and get the Water Pattern restored from whatever happened to it, we'll have 5 elementals again." Kanna says, "We've got zeppelins now, though." She smiles. "Well, okay, Ember had those even during the crisis, but the technology's been spread." Drake says, "So what did Derith DO to it?" "Tried to create his own Rebmacentric universe," Gabrielle says shortly. Kanna says, "... ah." Kanna facepalms. Gabrielle says, "It might've worked to, if he hadn't been such an idiot about it." Kanna mutters something about how the elements are a circle which should not be broken, and about uncles who should be thwapped if they were still alive. Beowulf covers his eyes with his hand, and agrees with Kanna. Drake says, "Well, given he tried to blow up Amber, he got what he deserved." Beowulf blinks. "Tried to blow up Amber?" Gabrielle shudders. Kanna mms. "Well, it might not have been him. I dunno. The endgame of the crisis ended up with everybody finding out 'Gil-Galad' was actually -Annadil-." Kanna says, "Well, those who were there at the time." Kanna says, "-I- certainly wasn't, I was a Zygote at the time." She grins a bit. Kanna reaches over, and squeezes her sister's hand. Gabrielle says, "i remember that Logrus Gem." She shudders again. "It almost blew me through a wall." Beowulf sighs. "That wasn't very nice." Kanna says, "At least mom didn't walk the Fire Pattern with it." She takes her turn to shudder. Drake says, "It was the closest I've ever come to death." Gabrielle asks, "What about the time the eight hundred ninjas jumped you?" Kanna quirks a smile at that. "What is it with ninjas? Sumire keeps getting jumped by them from time to time, too." She glances over at Sumire, wryly. Drake laughs. "I could kill ninjas all day in my sleep while chained to the bottom of a cement plug." Sumire says, "Yes, but there's absolutely no danger of..." And then the hordes of ninjas swarm out of the trees. "So, you have discovered us! But you will all perish!" Beowulf blinks. "Indeed?" Sumire just STARES. Gabrielle sighs, whips out a giant spraycan labeled 'Ninja-Be-Gone', and starts going to town. ======== ======== Beowulf asks, "OOC Warfare estimate on these folks?" Moriya OOCly says, "I get the feeling this is just John being bored and deciding to have some fun. :)" Since both PCs present have enough warfare skillz to tell, you'd guess these guys are about on a par with an average Amberite peasant. Beowulf says, "OOC Indeed. :)" Davros says, "OOC ie, they'd slaughter most shadow dwellers, but well...y'all aren't most shadow dwellers." Moriya OOCly says, "Anyway, g'night. Send me a log, someone. :)" Kanna OOCly night, Droo. Beowulf OOCly waves byebye to Drew. ======== ======== Kanna siiiighs, and lays down the smack on the ninjas. Beowulf sighs. "You know, this really won't be very productive; perhaps you'd care for some tea instead?" You all swarm over the ninjas. Rarely have so many ninjas died so horribly so pointlessly. Gabrielle laughs. "I kill you all so hard, your ancestors will die!" *spraysparaysparay* 'Ah! It burns, it burns!' Beowulf tries to save a few of 'em for questioning. :) Two minutes later, a hundred ninjas lie dead. Kanna saves some for questioning as well. And probably another hundred are unconscious or fled. ======= ======= Beowulf says, "OOC Preferably the leader, if he/she can be identified." Kanna OOCly says, "To see if this was just a random drive-by Ninjaing or nor. :)" ====== ====== Beowulf hmms. "Actually, didn't Moriya, Mokoto and Thoric run into some ninjas in Lipun recently?" Kanna says, "Well, that was months ago. I think." Kanna says, "I haven't been keeping track on that end of things." The ninjas, when interrogated, can tell you they serve Ninja Master Gatotsu, who sent them to kill Sumire. They've been waiting forever for her to go out into shadow where she would, in theory, be more vulnerable. Beowulf grins wryly and shakes his head. "Probably. Your timescale can really get twisted with all this shadow hopping... I think it was during their festival, while we were having fun on the zeppelin." Beowulf tsks. "Really. Not a very nice thing to do to a lady. Was there any particular reason why?" Kanna sighs. "You guys are yahoos, y'know?" "We do not question orders! We slay as we are told!" ====== ====== You page, "That name of 'Ninja Master Gatotsu' ring any bells?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "You think a Gatotsu is a kind of sword manuever from Lipun." to you. ====== ====== Beowulf sighs. "Right." He thinks for a moment. Kanna huhs a bit at something, looking thoughtful. Gabrielle trumps them all into cells back in Amber, where they can be put to work scrubbing floors and training deadly fighting mongooses. Kozue comes over and lays her hands on the man's forehead. "Now, now, you know more than that, I'm sure. And you want to tell us everything." Her eyes flash. Kanna hrms, and looks over at Sumire. "Sumire, you tick off anybody from Lipun, recently?" Kanna asks, "or not-so-recently?" Gabrielle says, "OOC: Well, I wouldn't trump one Kozue was messing with." Sumire says, "No, I'm not on bad terms with any Lipuners, I think." Kozue says, "Interesting. They're from a high tech shadow." Kanna says, "Well, 'Gatotsu' is an sword manuver from Lipun...." She blinks at Kozue. "-Eh-? Then how'd they get here?" Beowulf hmmms and raises an eyebrow. "I see. Anything particularly interesting about it?" ======= ======= You page, "Here come the cyyyyberninjas...." to The_Prof. The_Prof pages, "Ayup. Right on schedule. So to speak." to you. ======= ======= She continues, "Apparently, they use special cellular phones to travel around shadow. And to call home for orders." Beowulf looks struck for a moment, then his face sets. "Look for construct manifestations, everyone." Kozue says, "It's pretty much a boring sort of corporate dominated place, like Drake's old hideyhole." Drake frowns. "Another broken Pattern?" Kanna nods, and starts checking the remaining bodies. "Gotcha bey." Kozue shakes her head. "Not publically, anyway, as this guy doesn't know what a broken Pattern is." Kanna says, "That worries me. You don't WANT to know how much this worries me." Sumire looks baffled. "But I haven't had any dealings with such folk, either." ====== ====== Beowulf OOCly is starting to get rather annoyed with the number of yahoos carrying around construct manifestations. ====== ====== Kanna asks, "Perhaps they've confused you with a shadow of the same?" Beowulf asks, "That's a good question... why would you be targeted?" ====== ====== The remaining bodies all got dumped in cells in Amber by Gabrielle :) Kanna OOCly says, "Ah. :) Well then -sis- can frisk the bodies." ====== ====== Kanna says, "Well, Sumire's also the heir to Kanzaki Enterprises." Kanna says, "Perhaps that'd be a vector." She turns up several cellular phones. Beowulf looks over at Kanna. "Did you have a chance to tell them about the Outsider construct mentioned in the Master's notes?" Kanna pattertnsights the Cellular Phones. Beowulf says, "Looks like we've got another data point." Sumire nods. "Yes, that would make sense, if they hope to somehow buy us out." Gabrielle picks one up. ======= ======= Akemi pages, "Nifty Trump/Magic combo." to you. ======= ======= Kanna says, "I've mentioned the Black Crown to Uncle Tylor and those who were there at the time, and the suspicions that the egyptian guys we met are using one." Kanna raises an eyebrow. "Trump and Magic." Beowulf sighs. "Joy. Any Outsider taint?" Gabrielle hrrms. "There's a redial button, you know." Beowulf says, "I wouldn't, yet." Kanna says, "Save it for later, sis." ====== ====== Akemi pages, "No outsider energy on it." to you. ====== ====== Kanna says, "No outsider energy, either. Might not be connected, then." Kanna says, "Confiscate all their phones to keep them from leaving the cells, and keep 'em under guard. We'll get back to 'em later." Beowulf nods to Kanna. "Right. Well, for the rest of the folks... when we took down an old enemy of mine, we found some things in his notes about an Outsider-run construct known as the Black Crown, used for training leaders to be evil power-mad empire builders... and gave them power to travel Shadow." Gabrielle nods. "I've left notes for Nanami and whoever." Beowulf says, "The Master was something of a meglomaniac himself, and he had ideas about taking it over and using it to serve himself." Kanna nods. "Thanks, sis." Beowulf finishes updating the rest of the folks on the possible connections with Ebenscrux, and so forth. Drake says, "Well, I suspect this place is probably somewhere in the vicinity of where Marketplace was, before that damnable squid destroyed it." He frowns intensely. "But for now, best we press on." Kanna then adds in her own two cents about the concerns of Jacqui, Wakaba, and Utena being tied into a similar thing... and same with this Pharoh Moebius they encountered. Kanna nods, and mutters similar things about certain squids. Beowulf nods to Drake. "Right. Just thought it would be good for folks to keep an eye out as we go." Gabrielle nods. "C'mon, gang," she says, guesturing in the direction they're going. "Let's go get our throats cut." Beowulf grins at Gabrielle, and fingers his throat. "Well, I hadn't quite thought of it *that* way... but onwards." Kanna then nods in agreement with Drake. And then baps her sis. "Now, sis. Don't be so negative." She gets folks going and back into the Hellride groove for the place where Jacqui had summoned the Jewel and had it depart, etc, etc. Drake says, "Anything that can take this many Amberites probably deserves to kill us." The forest soon turns rainy, then foggy, and it becomes hard to keep your group together. Beowulf calls a halt. "Before we get separated, let's figure out some way for keeping together." Touga suggests, "Use ropes." ======== ======== Beowulf OOCly grins. "Simpler than what I'd had in mind -- conjuring some devices that would have compass-like attraction to each other. :)" Gabrielle says, "OOC: Magic is a bad idea." Davros says, "OOC Given you're head into a no-magic, lose things zone, he thought simple was best :)" Beowulf says, "OOC True. :)" Kanna OOCly says, "Simple plans have less parts to break." ======= ======= Kanna nods, and has sis get ropes trumped to them so they can tie the horses. Also time to slow down the hellride so things don't get strained. ======== ======== You page, "And does this route seem familiar, given the past trip Kanna had with Inji/Ukyou?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Yes, it does." to you. ======= ======= Time flies by, and then, suddenly, you find yourself plunged into pitch darkness. Kanna sighs. Gabrielle holds up a hand and creates a large flame. Kanna says, "Right, everybody stay together. I've got a flint and steel and a couple torches --- orr, sis can do her thing." Beowulf murmurs to Mitsune, "How long would it take for you to shapeshift your eyes to see in the dark, if this doesn't work?" Mitsune whispers, "Lily and I can adjust ourselves pretty quick...IF there's any form of energy we can use for seeing." An endless ocean of black sand spreads out, well, endlessly. Beowulf nods. Hmmm... perhaps Gaby could send out IR with trump energy, if visible light doesn't work? ======== ======== Kanna OOCly pauses to dig out old notes and logs. (did Gaby's flame thing work?) Kanna OOCly says, "We can see things now, thanks to Gaby?" Davros says, "OOC Yes, Gabby's flame works." Kanna OOCly says, "Hold please while I look up something." Beowulf OOCly nods. ========= ========= Kanna frowns. "Well, -gee-, this looks familiar." She patternsights the environment to confirm a suspicion. ======== ======== You page, "And Pattern/Logrus okay, Magic/Trump/Tech is off in this area?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Yep." to you. Akemi pages, "Only Primal Powers work." to you. ======== ======== Beowulf hmmms. "Looks like what happens when a Construct drains too much power from a shadow." Kanna groans. "Well, we're on the right path, I suppose. For whatever that's worth. Sis, keep the flame up while I start us moving again." Gabrielle ties off the flame and leaves it hovering over them. "Gotcha." Kanna blinks at that, and then hrms thoughtfully. Beowulf says, "That would certainly explain why there was no light." Touga says, "I've stumbled on an increased number of shadows like this the last forty years." Beowulf says, "Though the thought of a construct that drained the shadow's *sun*..." He looks slightly boggled. Kanna says, "Bey? This is the same route 'Ukyou' and I took when running about for that key. The rain and fog and then this... we used a torch lit by his flint and steel to get out." Beowulf nods thoughtfully. "Was Dinosaur World on the other side of this?" Kanna says, "You don't suppose Dinosaur World perhaps has the same setup? 'cause that's where we ended up, yes." Gabrielle says, "Oh, I could put out Ember if I wanted to. The resultant release of energies would destroy me and mess up about a quarter of the universe, but it could be done." Gabrielle says, "And this is just a Shadow." Kanna says, "That's just... good pyricorn, that's nasty. But it'd help explain why everything save Trump didn't work there, if it was the center for a construct." Beowulf asks, "If it was caused by a Construct draining the shadow dry.. would make sense that they would shift it over just to the next Shadow, wouldn't it?" Beowulf shudders at the thought. "Vampiric constructs... dear Ghu, that's *SICK*." Kanna starts them moving again, still tied together, back to the rain forest, and then back on the route to the target of Jacqui/JoJ/YouKnowTheDeal. Kanna says, "If it's Outsider-Built.... I would not be surprised. Wouldn't put anything past 'em." She frowns. Beowulf looks thoughtful. "When this is over, might be interesting to go back to the shadow where Ebenscrux was, and see what it's like now." Gabrielle says, "Oh, it makes a certain amount of sense, Beowulf. Think about it. How many members even of OUR family care what happens to things that are 'just Shadow?'" Beowulf sighs. "You're right about people's attitudes... but it's still sick. Even if you just look at it from a purely personal viewpoint, isn't that like polluting the water you have to swim in?" Kanna hehs a bit, and sighs. "Funky moral stuff. Whee." Drake says, "Well, I doubt they drain their own home shadows." A few more hours, and you find yourself confronted by a rather strange thing. Imagine a banyan tree with black bark, several miles across in branch reach. Kanna calls the group to halt. Kanna stares. Beowulf blinks. Then imagine it dead and rotting as the forest around it dies slowly as well. Rotting corpses are strewn all about of dead dinosaur men. ====== ====== Kanna OOCly says, "This was still us moving towards the location of Jacqui/JoJ dissapearance?" ====== ====== Beowulf hmms, and takes out his watch to see just what is working in the area. Kanna says, "Good... effing... -pyricorn-." You seem to have reached your destination. Kanna patternsights the tree and the environs. Beowulf says, "Ah.... right." He blinks. No powers seem to be barred here. Kanna blinks. Kanna says, "All powers seem to be good." Kanna says, "But this is where Jacqui summoned the Jewel of Judgement before it came back to Amber." Beowulf nods, and takes out one of his magical analysis devices to scan the tree. Mitsune looks around, frowning. "The bodies should have vanished by now; Dinosaur world disposes of dead things." ====== ====== Beowulf says, "OOC I think we know what happened to the Dino World construct now. o.o" ====== ====== Kanna stares up at the tree. "What the -fuck- happened here?" She pauses. "Well, aside from mass slaughter." Gabrielle blinks. "Fire is the traditional consumer of wood," she says slowly, "and this is as it should be, as the old must burn to make way for the new." Lily begins casting a temporal scrying, then rolls it back and frowns. "I was afraid of this. It can't go back in time before magic was turned back on." Gabrielle says, "But this is just senseless waste." Gabrielle says, "And that offends me on a deeply personal level." Kanna hrms. "If this place was the epicenter of a construct, then it was probably what was doing the recycling." Beowulf asks, "Mitsune... what other odd behavior in Dinosaur World could be things that were powered by this construct?" The temporal scrying does show you the corpses were already everywhere when magic came on. Some checking reveals a man dressed like a Puritan, stalking about among the bodies, holding a staff with a golden dragon's head on top. Kanna sighs at Lily's report. "DAmn. Can you at least get to the point where it -did- turn on?" Kanna asks, "Check the area, see if Jacqui or co are visible?" No sign of Jacqui or Utena or Wakaba in the time you can scan. Gabrielle pokes around the tree,checking it for whatever. Kanna blinks at the Puritan-looking guy, pulls out her diary/sketchbook, and sketches him. "Follow the Puritan-guy, then." Beowulf quickly holds up a hand. Kanna looks at Bey. Beowulf asks, "Be careful when following him; remember Anno looking back at us, Lily?" Kanna says, "I meant in the scry." *slight smile* "... oh." ======= ======= Beowulf asks, "OOC Any other description of the man?" Beowulf says, "OOC Of course, that was *Anno*, but still..." Davros says, "OOC He's got short, dark hair, and is fairly skinny and looks to be in maybe late fifties, early sixties." ======= ======= The_Prof pages, "Gaunt Man, most likely. o.O" to you. You page, "Wheee." to The_Prof. The_Prof pages, "Ayup. Though I'm surprised that we haven't seen anything of Jacqui... probably he followed her traces, somehow." to you. You page, "Or that this was -after- she was bushwacked and he shipped 'em off." to The_Prof. The_Prof pages, "True." to you. ======= ======= The Puritan searches the bodies, then casts a spell and teleports out. After he leaves, everything begins to wilt and die. ======= ======= Kanna OOCly says, "Did he manage to grab anything from the bodies?" Davros says, "OOC The dinomen basically had nothing worth taking, but he clearly hoped to find something on one of them. Despite their rejection of dead things'" Beowulf says, "OOC Hmmm. So they didn't have the spikard that was likely powering the construct, or whatever else they used as a power source." Davros says, "OOC It was probably built into the tree. And looted before magic came on, you would guess." Beowulf asks, "OOC Which is a hopeful thought, actually. Looted... oh, dear, d'you suppose *Jacqui* put on a Lion Spikard?" Kanna OOCly facepalms. Kanna OOCly says, "Hm.... check for any bodies that -aren't- dinomen." Gabrielle says, "OOC: Nah. We're all still alive." Kanna OOCly says, "WEll, I mean, aside from us. :)" ======= ======= The rest of your group pours through the area. Searching the area reveals that about 85% of the Dinomen were killed by sword slashes, despite none of them having a sword. Kanna studies the handiwork. Any of you who have seen Utena fight can tell she did this. You page, "Having trained under Utena, could I recog her --- yup." to Akemi. Kanna whistles. Kanna says, "Aunt Utena, the human chainsaw." the rest seem to have been killed by blunt weapons. There are no non-Dinomen bodies. Beowulf says, "Aunt Utena... well, we *knew* she could fight like this." He blinks as a thought strikes him. "Magic turned off... dear Ghu, I hope Mother was OK." Kanna sighs. "That, I don't know. If Jacqui called the Jewel to her, she could have easily shifted it back -on- if she thought of it." Beowulf nods. "Right." Drake wanders about, drawing Xs in the dirt. Kanna says, "Given we've got magic and stuff here now, and the construct is dead..." She jerks a thumb towards the tree. "What happened -after- is questionable." He points to four locations. Kanna hms? Beowulf asks, "Ah. Sites of major fights?" Drake says, "the Jewel was used at these four locations." Gabrielle cocks her head. "He's right, there's residue." Beowulf nods. "I see. Busy, wasn't she?" Kanna says, "Ah-hah. That answers that." She checks and patternsights, though it's doubtful she'll be able to see much, given Drake and Gaby have More Pattern Than She. Akemi pages, "If you stare a long time, you can make out faint residues of Pattern energy." to you. Kanna says, "The Jewel was summoned by Jacqui... but then she sent it -back-, which makes it odd, though given the fight..." Kanna stares, and rubs her eyes. "I can barely see it, but yeah." Beowulf says, "Or Aunt Utena or Mother made her send it back." Drake says, "I'm guessing she botched a Jewel teleport and sent the Jewel away from herself." Beowulf says, "That makes sense." Kanna nods to both of them. "Both good points. Well, better it back in our hands than in those of the enemy." Drake pauses. "Now that I think about it...how did she get attuned to the Jewel in the first place?" Kanna says, "Well..." She glances at Gabrielle. "It apparently somehow got stuck in her eye." Gabrielle says, "It embedded itself in her eyesocket." Gabrielle says, "To get away from Derith, evidently." Kanna says, "Damned if I know how THAT happened, 'cause the big rumor of its location before was that it'd taken up residence in Derith." Beowulf says, "Or whoever killed Derith." Drake says, "How strange." Kanna nods. "It was a bizzare night, apparently. I only found out WAY after the fact, after Rebma returned." Kanna says, "It got launched out of the vortex.... must've taken Jacqui with it." Kanna says, "The Rebma Vortex, that is. Which isn't there anymore. But hey." Kanna says, "Now how the fuck Jacqui got there to -begin- with..." she rolls her eyes. "Anyway." Kozue says, "She probably sank a fleet and went down with the ships." Kanna hehs a bit at that, and doesn't disagree, particularly. Drake then goes off to the edge of the tree, and begins moving from corpse to corpse, miming a fight. Beowulf nods. "Anything else you think we can learn here? I can use this little widget I made to scan the entire shadow for magical sources or items of reality, but it'd take a day or so." Touga watches him amusedly. Sumire just watches him intently. Beowulf blinks and checks the watch to see if he can adjust the timeflow in this shadow, now that the construct's been taken out. Kanna ticks off on her fingers. "So, they were here. The JoJ was probably used in desperation by Jacqui to try and save folks or get out of here. But the Jewel came back without them, and this thin guy with the staff showed up." Kanna says, "And the construct was taken out in the process." She patternsights the tree to check for any Outsider residue. Drake finishes the march. "Hmm, interesting. Something began slowing her down towards the end of her fight." Gabrielle asks, "Was she getting tired?" Kanna notes Sumire watching Drake, curiously. Kanna frowns a bit. "Mom mentioned Aunt Utena being at risk of mental control..." Drake says, "And if we examine the xs, we can see this point of the last body is in a straight line with two of the Jewel uses..." Kanna thinks. Beowulf says, "Hm. Can you tell anything about the temporal order of the Jewel uses? It would make sense if those two uses were the last ones... one to kill the last corpse, one for the failed jewel teleport." Beowulf begins checking out the clubbed bodies in much the same way as Drake checked out the slashed bodies. Drake says, "I'm afraid the energy has faded too much for me to be able to tell." Kanna says, "You thinking, perhaps, Aunt Utena got controlled at that point, and perhaps tried charging Jacqui? And hence the teleports?" She looks at bey, and shrugs. Beowulf says, "Possibly. Or perhaps she got controlled at that point, Jacqui killed the last opponent with the Jewel, and then tried to port and failed." Kanna hrms, and tries sizing up the area herself, using her phsyical training with Cousin Ramon to figure out motion and movement, if possible. Especially the locations of teleportation. Gabrielle says, "She may not have been thinking clearly. I hear Sapeshifters have this Frenzy they go into when pushed to the wall." Beowulf hmms as he examines the clubbed bodies. "I'd guess Mother must have done these with a tree branch; it looks like she got separated from Aunt Utena." Kanna says, "Well, we've got four locations of jewel use. In, perhaps two local teleports, and then out." Akemi pages, "Your studies seem to confirm this. One thing you note...no evidence of Jacqui killing anything unless maybe some of the club blows are hers." to you. Beowulf says, "It looks like Mother was overwhelmed right here." He stops at one of the Jewel-use sites. Kanna shakes her head. "No signs of Jacqui killing -anything- here, unless she clubbed a few dino-men on the head." Kanna says, "And I agree with bey's assesment on the clubbing and separation." Mitsune slaps her forehead. Kanna looks at Mitsune. "Eh?" She walks over to one of the dead Dinomen, and cuts him open, extracting some blood, which she begins working like clay. Beowulf asks, "Do you suppose Jacqui herself might have been under control at that point?" ====== ====== Beowulf asks, "OOC While I'm thinking of it, anything special about that *last* corpse, the one in line with the two jewel uses? Does it look fancier, bigger, etc. in any way from the rest?" Davros says, "OOC Nope, it's just a corpse." Beowulf says, "OOC Drat. I was thinking that might have been the head baddy, but if there's no visible way to tell..." ======= ======= Mitsune finishes making a little dinosaur man, who she asks, "Do you remember what killed you?" "I died?" it replies. Mitsune sighs. Kanna hrms, and scratches her cheek. "DAmned if I know, Bey. If she was under mental control, I suppose she could have attacked more viciously, but then that'd be more noticeable as such. And if under -control- control, the Jewel of Judgement is too big a prize to send back." Kanna blinks at Mistune's lil' dinoguy. Kanna asks, "Do you remember who attacked?" Lily blinks, then slaps her own forehead. She turns into a cat and begins sniffing around. Dinoguy says, "Are you my parents?" ====== ====== Kanna OOCly says, "Okay, we've just gotten a mascot." Beowulf says, "OOC I was about to ask her for the circumstances her mental communications spell would need, but oh well. :)" Kanna OOCly says, "Hm. How many days has it been since the report of the JoJ going walkabout now?" Davros says, "OOC Just a couple of days; don't have timeline handly." Beowulf asks, "OOC what's the current timeflow, according to the watch?" Kanna OOCly nods. Okay, 'bout what I expected. ======= ======= You page, "Oh, didn't bey make a watch for Kanna? :) Don't think she ever got it. ^_^ But don't worry 'bout it now, 'cause she's got that nice ring." to The_Prof. The_Prof pages, "I thought Bey'd already given it to you... it was right before CAFAM, IIRC." to you. You page, "Never got a log of it, otherwise Kanna would've used it on the trip with Inji." to The_Prof. The_Prof pages, "The barrier ring, you mean?" to you. You page, "You gave me the ring when you reported about Ebenscrux." to The_Prof. The_Prof pages, "Did I ever give Kanna her watch? I thought I had, but Phil doesn't have a log of it." to you and Akemi. The_Prof pages, "Right; I couldn't remember if I'd specified that yours was a ring, though mine was." to you. Akemi pages, "Don't remember." to you and The_Prof. The_Prof pages, "Right. Well, if he hasn't yet, he does now. :)" to you and Akemi. You page, "Kanna gets it handed to her along the trip, then. :)" to Akemi and The_Prof. ======= ======= Mitsune sighs. "He's been dead too long." Beowulf patpats. "Oh, well. Good thought, anyway." Lily-cat sniffs and says, "Hmm, interesting." Beowulf squats down and scratches neko-Lily between the ears. "Eh?" Kanna hehs a bit, and leans down and pats the Dinoguy on the head. "You're cute." Lily says, "Four human scents. One of them entered from the jungle over there." She points. "The other three are Wakaba, Jacqui, and Utena." Kanna raises her eyebrows, and glances at the Jungle from the point of approach. "Where the the human scent walk from after it left the Jungle?" Lily-Cat says, "I think Jacqui shapeshifted. I can follow her scent over to the tree, and over to this Jewel-use." She points to one of the locations. Kanna nods, and makes notes of everything they've been learning so far. Beowulf checks the watch. "We're on fairly fast time here, so it's probably been at least a week or two since the Jewel left and returned." Kanna makes a thoughtful sound, does a few scribbles. Lily-cat says, "He apparently went and hung out with the Dinomen for a while, then went over to where our friends were, then he ran around a bit, and then there's a Jewel use by where he was at one point. Then he walked off around here, running all over the place. And then his trail ends without him leaving; teleport, I guess." Kanna hmmmmmms thoughtfully. Kanna says, "I betcha mystery man is the one we saw in Aunt Kozue's scry." You check, and in fact, the end of the man's scent trail matches up with Kozue's temporal scry. Kanna checks the route Lily points out, and the route seen in Kozue's scry for the thhin man --- ah! Darn lag. :) Beowulf asks, "I... see. Fairly chummy with them, was he?" Kanna says, "Or he came in after whoever was orinally running the place. A magic user, I think, wouldn't want to keep his shadow non-magicked." Beowulf asks, "And took one or more of the folks under control, perhaps?" Gabrielle frowns. "Are we done here yet? We need to raze this Shadow to the ground." Drake says, "We need to glean every clue we can find." Beowulf nods in agreement with Drake. Lily does more sniffing. "I think Jacqui summoned the Jewel to here here, then started teleporting around and using it. Repeatedly." Gabrielle says, "This thing used to be an Outsider construct, and..." she blinks. "Wait a second." Kanna hrms. "What, sis?" Beowulf hmms. "How long was it in Amber between when it disappeared and reappeared? If the shadow was fast-timed when that happened, that could have been quite a bit of time to be used." Kanna says, "All the clues we can get, as much as possible... and then yes, clean the taint, let the place start new and clean." She thinks. "Only a couple days by my time-sense." Various small rocks in the area begin to roll across the ground towards each other. Mitsune blinks. Beowulf says, "A couple of days... but if it was fast-timed here, that could have been a couple of weeks." He blinks. "Which I'd almost think means someone was messing around with the time here back then." Beowulf watchs the rocks carefully. Kanna blinks at the rolling rocks. She looks at her sister, and then peers at the rocks with Patternsight. Gabrielle says, "Relax, this is me." She runs a thumb across the Eye of Metal. The rocks clump together. Kanna says, "Well, Dinosaur World was fasttimed before, as far as I remember." Gabrielle moves over to the tablet they've formed, and rubs the Eye of Metal over it, buffing it to the smoothness of marble. Kanna says, "Something like a year here to a day in Amber." Mitsune says, "If there was a construct here, its death has probably messed up the timestream." Kanna nods to Mitsune. Beowulf nods as well. Gabrielle says, "See, the thing about rock and stone is, it tends to remember things for a long, long time." She rubs the Eye again. "I don't know if this'll work...." Kanna arches an eyebrow. Beowulf says, "I was going to say, it almost looks like it was slow-timed here during the fight; it doesn't look like this could have taken that day or two to happen." Kanna hrms at this. "Perhaps. But the Jewel Dissapearance/Reappaerance was on the same day." Beowulf says, "Oh, right. That's what I was asking -- the interval between when it vanished and reappeared." ======= ======= The_Prof pages, "BTW, any thoughts on the convo with Corrine?" to you. You page, "Very Corrine-ish. ^_^" to The_Prof. The_Prof pages, "Any comments on her suggestions? :)" to you. ======= ======= You page, "Hm, did I ever get from Tylor the time interval from Jewel Dissapearance to Jewel Reappearance?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "It was a pretty short period of time." to you. The rocks explain the world is dying because the Eye of the Serpent smote the sacred tree which ruled the world. It was brought here by a strange outsider woman. And the tree and the Edeinos tried to stop them, but they fell. But the Eye turned on those who bore it, knocking them out for the other outsider to take away. Kanna says, "It was pretty short, Bey, on our end. So yeah, perhaps it was slow-timed- here for a bit. As Mitsune said, construct go boom, time goes wacky." ====== ====== Beowulf says, "OOC I hope 'outsider' just means 'foreigner' here... O.O" Kanna OOCly says, "prolly means 'outside our worldview'." Beowulf says, "OOC Yep, I was hoping that was the case. But given our speculations about the Lion Spikard... it could well have been Outsider. o.o" Kanna OOCly says, "Right. Well, we'll see more stuff later. :)" Kanna OOCly says, "are the stones speaking this to Gaby directly, or audible to all?" Davros says, "OOC Audible to all." Beowulf asks, "OOC Actually, could someone attuned to the JoJ just ask it to show what happened?" Kanna OOCly says, "Well, we don't have the true jewel here." Kanna OOCly says, "Gaby just has the Metal Jewel with her." Kanna OOCly says, "(which was nowhere near the scene at the time.)" Beowulf says, "OOC Right, I know... but we could always trump someone back home and have them ask. Or we should have asked before we left. o.o" Kanna OOCly says, "I think Tylor would've told Kanna more if they knew." Beowulf OOCly nods. Kanna OOCly looks to the GM to confirm this. Davros says, "OOC The Jewel is not very communicative :)" ======== ======== The outsider man also dug around and stole some stuff out of the tree to take with him. Beowulf asks, "Hmmm... Gabrielle, could you get more detail on how the Eye 'turned on them' and knocked them out?" Gabrielle says, "Well, I was hoping for visuals, but let me see." she concentrates. Kanna hrms. "Doesn't the Jewel of Judgement extremely drain those who use it overmuch?" The rocks don't know what the Eye did, just that they all fell down in a pile together. Beowulf blinks. "Oh, dear, I think that's true." Beowulf says, "Lily... can you think of any way for someone with sorcery to borrow or drain power from someone else... especially with the Jewel? I can't imagine how the Jewel could drain them *all*, unless Jacqui was doing something like that." Kanna says, "So... probably. Given all this. Jacqui and the Dinomen came here. The fight started, Jacqui summoned the Jewel, started playing with the local reality, draining her. Probably about the same time Aunt Utena got compromized. She probably teleported to try and recover her aunts, and then the thin guy appeared, and that's when the Jewel went back to Amber." Kanna says, "Then thin guy took them, rooted around here, and then left himself." Lily says, "I'm guessing that they were actually all probably zoned out but Jacqui already, and the rocks, being rocks, didn't understand well." Beowulf says, "Makes sense." Beowulf sighs. "Both Mother and Aunt Utena have been mentally compromised before... Dear Ghu, I'd hoped they'd learned from last time." ====== ====== Beowulf says, "OOC And now I'm thinking I should have made psyche barriers for both of them, too. o.O" Kanna OOCly says, "and wether you have a barrier or not you tend to keep mum -anyway-, so as to catch opponents off-guard." ====== ====== Lily says, "If they had magical mental defenses, said defenses probably failed in a no-magic shadow." Kanna looks thoughtfully at the dragon-headed staff she sketched. She sighs. "It's the kind of thing you don't think of until it's too late, and then after you think 'oh, it's not gonna happen again'." She pats Bey on the shoulder. Kanna says, "You make anything of this?" She shows the sketch of the puritan and his staff to bey. "As this is probably our culprit." Beowulf studies the sketch, trying to see if it reminds him of anything. Particularly the dragon-head cane, given great-grandfather's taste for Dragon motifs. Careful examination reveals the dragon-head looks rather like the ones on the Dragon Spikards. The man himself, you don't know. Kanna hrrms at that. She shows the sketch around to the rest of the folks for opinions. Beowulf hmms. "Well, the cane's looks rather like the one on a Dragon spikard... which means it's probably an artifact of some kind." He sighs. "Just what we need." None of your people know them. ========== ========== You page, "So the dragon-head looked like the ones she encountered during the Key Hunt...specifically the fountain room's one?"" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Yep! It looks like one of those seven." to you. You page, "... which one." to Akemi. Beowulf says, "OOC Though if it's safely usable by other folks, might make a nice bit of booty. :)" Akemi pages, "Hard to id without the entire body, unfortunately." to you. You page, "DArn. But right." to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Oh wait, you did sketches of that thing, right? Oh wait, they got blown up." to you. You page, "Kanna re-made the sketches from memory when she got to mom's beach house." to Akemi. You page, "Admittedly, they -were- from memory, but even if not, she remembers the general gists of the dragons." to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Ahh, consulting those, you think it resembled the dragon who had a claw outstretched to swipe someone." to you. ========== ========== Kanna blinks. Kanna looks at that sketch again. Beowulf says, "There are several possibilities... it could be a remote link to a Spikard, or an indication that it has dragon-like powers..." He trails off in thought. "In any case, if we do end up fighting him, a top priority should be getting it away from him." He pats his whip. Kanna blinks, and then laughs. Kanna says, "Well, damn. Looks like my little jaunt with Ukyou or Inji or whatever his name is was more worthwhile than I thought. First the route here, now -this-..." She taps the sketch. "I've encountered something like this before." Beowulf says, "If it comes to that... well, if he's got a magical staff, he's probably going to be slinging some stuff around." Beowulf blinks. "Indeed? What was it?" Kanna says, "I'm not hundred percent sure, since the original got toasted when we fled the labyrinth, but the room where we got the key from had a fountain with several dragons on it." Kanna says, "One of them, which was guarding a hoard of coins, was our clue for figuring out which key to take, as the hoard was electrum." Beowulf says, "...right. Probably made by Anno." Kanna says, "-This- one, the one on the staff, looks pretty close to another one of the dragons... one who was reaching out a claw to strike someone." Beowulf asks, "Lightning, perhaps?" Kozue says, "Or perhaps for smashing things." Kanna says, "The others were these..." Kanna OOCly says, "hold for reference." Gabrielle says, "Wasn't one of those Spikards 'The Claw of the Dragon?'" Kanna says, "A dragon rolled up in a ball like a hedgehog, one with its mouth wide open to bite, one looking throughful, one staring into the eyes of a hobbit, and one looked like it was about to take flight." Kanna says, "I don't know the names of the Dragon Spikards, but given all the dragon themes that were in that place..." She looks at Beowulf, speculatively. Beowulf rolls his eyes. "Undoubtedly. One for flight, one for mind... not sure about the others, but it makes sense." Beowulf blinks, and asks Uncle Drake what the design on Magnus the Unseen was. ======= ======= Beowulf asks, "OOC Wouldn't happen to be a dragon looking thoughtful, or staring into the eyes of a hobbit, would it?" ======= ======= Drake says, "It was a dragon staring intently at something unseen." Kanna says, "So this thin guy's probably packing at least something on a spikard level. Plus grabbing the Lion Spikard of Dreams from the dinoguy's, if it was brought here by them and then Jacqui followed. And THEN, if he's running around doing the same sort of Outsider Construct thing this place had, and Ebenscrux did... he'll probably have plugged Jacqui, Utena, and Wakaba into it." Beowulf nods. "Right. Well, that's one other data point." Beowulf sighs. "I'm tracking with you. Pretty much what I was afraid of." Kanna quirks a rueful smile. "Well, that's why we've got this posse together." Drake says, "Well, this could likely get very ugly, then." Kanna nods. "That's what I was figuring."