Moriya wakes up.

Somewhere on the muck, Shizumaru has connected.

Kanna OOCly says, "So.  When last we left our heroes, we had managed to
gain 790's assistance in going off to navigate the maze of Derith's Secret
Stash."

==========================
==========================

Following the Robot Head's instructions, you descend down into the nine
sided room at the bottom of the shaft, then start navigating through the
intricate maze that it forms an entrance too, passing many corpses of a
middle aged balding man, who wears a red uniform and cap.

Lucien asks, "What are these, 790?"

Kanna mentally takes notes, as one hand and arm is holding 790 to light
the way, and the other is ready at her hip.  She arches an eyebrow at the
middle-aged red-clad men.

=======
=======

You page, "(oh RP scene I want to float by you for consideration --
Kanna taking Moonshade to go see Fingolfin and Arden, if they manage to
hook up after this, which I think they could.)" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Cool." to you.

=======
=======

790 says, "Dead Stanleys, used in the maze testing.  Remarkably well
preserved.  Probably all that junk food with preservatives he ate."

Kanna mmms, and nods.

Kanna says, "Well, there's also effectively no predators down here to
-eat- them..." She looks down at 790.  "...are there?"

Lucien asks, "These are shadows of one person?"

790 says, "Pathetic flesh bodies normally rot when left lying about, you
know."

790 says, "Yes, these are shadows of Stanley Tweedle, the Primal Loser."

790 continues, "All of the most pathetic beings in shadow are but mere
shadows of Stanley Tweedle."

Kanna aahhhs, thus enlightened.

790 says, "Except for Saionji, who lives in his own little unique island
of being a pathetic loser."

790 says, "We told them all there was a harem, and if the first one to
reach the center got to have it."

Kanna's eyebrows quirk upwards, and a slight amused smile plays about her
lips for a moment.  "Well, they certainly were persistant in trying to get
to the center..."

790 says, "While Stanley was a wretched little loser, I have to say that
he could be very persistent trying to get something he wanted."

Lucien says, "I wonder what was behind them..."

790 asks, "Behind them?"

Kanna asks, "Hm?"

Lucien says, "They look like they were running from something"

Kanna considers this.

=====
=====

You page, "Okay, DO the stanley corpses look like they were trying to Run
Away from something in the Maze?" to Akemi.

You page, "And what can I think of that would keep the corpses from
rotting?" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Magic, maybe.  Or maybe they're a lot fresher than they
ought to be." to you.

=====
=====

790 says, "Running TO something.  They were trying to outrace each other
to the harem we claimed was in the vaults."  He pauses.  "But they should
have rotted by now."

Kanna's brow furrows.  "790... how long ago was this maze -built-?  And
can somebody check the corpses for magic?"

790 says, "But let's not dwell on the infinite...oh, we built this place
what...200 years ago?  More or less.  Replaced the old maze with it once
it was fully tested."

=====
=====

You page, "Patternsight could be used to check to see if the Maze was
currently in fast or slow time?" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Yep.  Going to do it?" to you.

=====
=====

Kanna asks, "You're right.  They -should- have LONG ago rotted away. Any
funky magical/pattern preservatives Prince Derith put on the place to
shift its timeframe, relative to Rebma?"

790 says, "Nope.  We wanted the Stanleys to rot away."

Kanna frowns.  "Then either somebody's done something to this place in the
interim... magic or some Pattern or Logrus adjustment to change the
timeframe... or -sombody's- making an attempt on the maze with the same
methods Derith used to test it."

Lucien asks, "Maybe the Outsider energies from when the Water Pattern was
destroyed?"

Lucien asks, "Or there is a change in the time flow?"

Kanna says, "I can patternsight to try and confirm that if you wish,
Lucien."

======
======

You page, "Oh, wait, Kanna's got her watch from Bey.  What does it
report on local environs?" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Time flow is one to one, world laws same as out in Nedra."
to you.

======
======

Lucien says, "It's not important, really, unless they all get up and
attack us." He nudges one with his toe. "That's not very likely, is it?"

790 says, "They're just corpses.  We should go on to the treasure room, so
that you can properly garb yourself in shiny, glittery things my love."

790 says, "Even alive, Stanley Tweedle is less than no threat."

790 says, "You could give him Greyswandir and fight him with a noodle and
you'd win."

Kanna glances at her watch that she's wearing, and frowns, puzzled. 
"Well, the time rate and world laws are still the same as that out in
Nedra."

Kanna looks down at 790, and nods.  "We'd best be moving, yes.  And not
just for that reason, 790.   And be on guard.  I don't like this at
-all-."

Kanna mutters something about getting flashbacks to the damn Third Key
Labyrinth.

Going to press on?

=======
=======

Kanna OOCly says, "Well, given how long we've been AT this, well... *wl*
unless we do more examination of this group of Stanleys for anything odd
via our magic folks or handy 'Demoness', it's up to 790 to lead the way,
hoping that we're not going to be ambushed and keeping an eye out for odd
things."

Kanna OOCly says, "(how long -have- we been walking in the maze, so far?
 And what appears to be the cause of death of the Stanleys?)"

Loewen says, "OOC They've all died at the hands of various traps. 
You've been in the maze an hour or so."

Kanna OOCly says, "Ahhh.  Kanna would definitely advise pressing on,
then, as she's getting the same vibe she did while in Anno's labyrinth --
that there's somebody else IN the maze trying to get there first, and
using Stanleys to brute-force their way through it to catch all the
traps."

======
======

You page, "[Kanna] Gads, I'm getting flashbacks to that trip with
Kuonji, sis.  Make sure mapping's on?" to Akemi and Mercutio.

Mercutio pages, "[Gabrielle] It's all good, yo." to you and Akemi.

You page, "[Kanna] coolness." to Akemi and Mercutio.

======
======

You press on through the maze.

After another twenty minutes, you round a corner and see a different
corpse.  It's a dead Derith.

He's got a spike through his head.

Kanna pauses.

Kanna says, "Okay.  Now that's just -sick-."  She frowns, and studies the
area around them for traps, cautious.

790 says, "Oh, there's much worse traps than that.  I think the one with
the wax bridge and the molten cheese and the hamsters is my favorite. It
took eight Stanleys to perfect that one."

Lucien looks at his father's corpse sadly. "I only saw him once in a
dream."

Lucien says, "And I think that was a dream of his death at Taylor's
hands."

Kitiara asks, "So, do all the shadows of a person die when the primal
person dies?" She sounds a little worried.

Lucien says, "I don't think so. I believe there are still shadows of
Gendo running around"

Kanna says, "Wasn't quite what I was referring to, 790," she says,
quietly.  She then ohs.  "I wouldn't think so.  My suspicion is that
whoever's doing this went and dredged up shadow versions of Uncle Derith
as well to see if they could figure out the maze if the Stanleys
couldn't."

Kanna nods.  "And there's flawed Ambers where some family members still
live, but others were never born."

Kitiara seems relieved.  "Good."

Moving on, you begin to find more dead Deriths and less dead Stanleys.

Kanna shakes her head, sadly, quiet, though during this she's asked at
least once if Lucien wants proper rites to be laid out for the Deriths at
some time, because even if not his father, they're still related, in some
sense.  But time constraints will likely put the kibosh on that.

790 rambles on about the glories of the many traps as you troop along.
Then you come round a corner to a shimmering field.  He blinks.  "Okay,
THIS was not part of the design."

Kanna frowns.  "I somewhat gathered."

Kanna makes sure the group stays back a bit from the field.

=====
=====

You page, "What does the field look like?  Magical, Trumpish, Logrussy,
Outsiderish?" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Just looking at it with normal sight, it looks rather like a
shiny forcefield." to you.

=====
=====

Kanna asks, "How close should we be, approximtely, to the vaults, 790? In
travel time?"

790 says, "We're about maybe five minutes away.  Just two more traps to
evade."

Kanna nods.  "I'm gonna patternsight this thing, then.  -Somebody's-
ahead of us, I'm certain of it."

Kanna uses that funky patternsight to study the shimmering field.

Lucien studies the field

A shimmering field appears in front of Kanna.  Then the entire hallway
explodes in black-laced lightning.

=====
=====

You page, "Argh. -.-;" to Akemi.

You page, "I'm getting Effing Tired of being zapped.  Though, don't we
still have the lightning protection spells Pirotase laid on us?" to Akemi.

You page, "And is this Logrus or Outsider power, or something else?" to
Akemi.

=====
=====

Lucien tries to slice the lightning with Greyswandir

Kanna draws Beryllina and tries to do the same (to get through the field
and deal with the Lightning), while holding onto 790.

The lightning slices through Pirotase's protection spells like a knife
through kleenex.  Pirotase shrieks and collapses.  Kitiara jolts around
screaming.  Lucien is able to ward himself with Greyswandir, and Beryllina
protects Kanna.  Ruka bounces about yelping.  Morrigan winces a lot and
turns an odd green-grey and gets someswhat scaly.

then...ooh, doh.

The Logrus energy striking Greyswandir touches off explosion #2

=====
=====

Kanna OOCly says, "D'oh!"

=====
=====

This does seem to clear away the lightning.

Kanna tries to have sis call up magical sheilding for folks to take care
of normal explosion reactions, wherever and however these explosion
reactions occur.

When the smoke clears, Kitiara and Pirotase are lying on the ground
unconscious, Ruka is leaning against a wall whimpering, Lucien is mostly
naked except for his underwear and sword, but while battered is still
standing, and Kanna is wearing charred clothing and is in a lot of pain,
but is still standing.  And Morrigan is on her knees on the floor, charred
and breathing hard.

Then, out of the darkness, gibbering, fanged Stanley Tweedles charge
forward, growing claws.

"... well... fuck," Kanna mutters through gritted teeth.

=====
=====

Rod pages, "and once again, kanna gets partially naked." to you.

You page, "And things went boom, too.  Which means we've taken care of the
Quota." to Rod.

Rod pages, "yep, it's all uphill from here ;)" to you.

You page, "Yaaay. *wl*" to Rod.

=====
=====

Kanna shifts beryllina to Crossbow form, and shoots at the stanley
tweedles.

=====
=====

You page, "[Kanna] You can berate me later, sis, but slap healing spells
on Ruka, Morrigan, Kitiara and Priotase, stat!@" to Akemi and Mercutio.

=====
=====

Kanna OOCly says, "position of Our Heroes, our Unconcious Heroes, and the
Tweedles, relative to each other?"

Loewen says, "OOC The unconscious people are scattered all around you. You
can easily move up to keep the Tweedles from them."

Kanna OOCly says, "Do that, then, and have Gaby cast Healing Spells on the
unconcious and nearly unconcious folks, lay down suppressing fire on the
tweedles."

=====
=====

Lucien tries to help his girls. Then, seeing the Stanley's and tries to
defend them with Greyswandir.

The two of you begin slaughtering the Tweedles.  Ruka staggers to his feet
and joins you, wielding the Knife.  Morrigan launches herself into the
middle of the pack, biting and clawing.

Meanwhile, Gabrielle begins healing people.

Kanna hisses through her teeth, "whoever set up that damn thing and let
loose -these- assoles is going to pay.  -dearly-."  She continues
slaughtering Tweedles, an edge to her voice that wasn't there before.

Ruka says, "No doubt some treasure hunter."  He skewers a Stanley
expertly, then bashes two more down.

Lucien swings around and faces some unseen foe.

Lucien now sees four logrus tendrils creeping around corners towards the
unconscious people.

Kanna says, "One who's using Logrus to set up a trap set to go off once
one tried to use Pattern to study it.  -Damn- me for being an idiot about
that..." She tilts her head at the fact that Lucien's fighting somebody
unseen, and sucks in a breath at the fact that there's logrus tendrils
incoming.

=====
=====

Kanna OOCly says, "How many Tweedles to go?"

Loewen says, "OOC They seem to keep refreshing themselves with
reinforcements the more you kill."

Kanna OOCly says, "Oh Great. -.-;"

=====
=====

Lucien slices at the tendrils with Greyswandir

Pop, pop, pop, pop.  You slice off the tendrils.  They burst into black
flame and burn away.  More do not come.

=====
=====

Kanna OOCly says, "Which direction are the tweedles coming from?  The way
we came, or the way we're headed?"

Loewen says, "OOC The way you're headed.  The tendrils came from behind
you."

Kanna OOCly says, "... interesting."

Kanna OOCly says, "I'm amazed we're not piling up the corpses of the
Tweedles so that no more -can- come."

Loewen says, "OOC You don't really have time to drag them into a proper
barrier."

======
======

Lucien shifts Greyswandir brace-like weapon which fires from his wrist,
picking off each tendril, even if it has to cut off a Stanley's head to
get at it

======
======

Kanna OOCly says, "Well, given they're coming in the direction we're
planning to head, we've got to clear them out -somehow-..."

Loewen asks, "OOC Do you want to go investigate where the tendrils came
from, Lucien?"

Kanna OOCly says, "(so we've got unconcious Pirotase and Kitiara,
Kanna/Ruka/Morrigan holding off the tide of Stanleys, and Lucien having
just sliced the Logrus tendrils.)"

Lucien OOC Yeah

Loewen says, "OOC THat about sums it up, Kanna."

=====
=====

Kanna grumbles, "I'm Reaaaaallllllyyyyy getting tired of all these damn
Stanley Tweedles... wonder who the fucking hell's making more of them..."

Kanna uses Beryllina crossbow fire, staff-work, and sabre-wielding as the
situation calls for it.

You make your way down the tunnel, then round a corner, Lucien.
Greyswandir pulses just in time to warn you when the floor, ceiling, and
thewalls all turn out to be shapeshifters, who then leap at you.  Going to
withdraw, stand and fight, or do something far more clever than the GM can
think of? :)

======
======

Kanna OOCly says, "(d'oh!)"

Kanna OOCly says, "(does it look like Ruka and Morrigan could still keep
holding off the tweedles, or would that be overwhelming for them?)"

Loewen says, "OOC They may begin to leak Stanleys if you withdraw,
Kanna."

Kanna OOCly says, "Okay, I stay there then, as hopefully Logrus Users and
Patternblade will not mix."

======
======

Lucien uses his shield defensively while Greyswandir suddenly become
like a giant metal hedgehog, Pattern spikes shooting off in all
directions.

Lucien finds himself in the middle of four screaming frenzied
shapeshifters.  With his Mad Skillz and using Greyswandir like that,
they all end up hideously impaled and begin burning up.  But some of
them shove themselves up the spikes and begin biting and clawing up
Lucien before they die.  Their death howls echo down the hallway.

Lucien retreats back to his friends, trying to finish them off before they
can do too much damage....

Lucien is a battered, bleeding mess, but he leaves four dead Chaosians
behind him, burning to death from Pattern flames.

Meanwhile, the horde of Stanley Tweedles is beginning to slow down.  The
supply must be finally running out.

Kanna jerks her head back the way Lucien went, breifly.  "Shit! 
Lucien!" She then turns back, trying to deal with the damn tweedles. "Fuck
this shit!  Sis, got anything magical that could be used in the water to
winnow these damn Stanleys?"

Kanna says, "... Belay that, shift to support and healing."

Gabrielle pings. "Well, I could... no, that's fire-based. There's... no,
that's fire-based to. Shit."

Kanna says, "I think the stanleys are running out.  Heal folks as
needed, depending on severity."

Once Lucien rejoins you, you manage to mow down the remaining Stanleys.
Now, you only get a homocidal Stanley every minute or so.

Kanna shifts to ranged shots with Beryllina while sis does her hoodoo and
hopefully Ruka and Morrigan go and help out Lucien, Pirotase, and Kitiara
more.

Lucien insists on keeping guard, even wounded.

Your friends are now healed up, but will need some rest if they are to be
up and running again.

790 says, "Damn, that was even worse than normal Stanleys. I didn't
think that possible."

Kanna says, "I HOPE that was somebody being spoilsportish about being
unable to get through whatever Derith's left in the final areas."

Kanna says, "I -doubt- it, given the opposition we faced... and what
happened back there, Lucien?"  She looks concerned.

Ruka speculates, "Probably someone heard us coming and laid a trap."

Kanna sighs, rubbing her brow and looking frustrated and fatigued. 
"How's everybody who's still vertical holding up?"

=====
=====

You page, "How's kanna doing, internally/etc?" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "You could use some healing and rest, but you're tough and
can go a while more." to you.

You page, "*nod* Mmmm.  I'll need to think about it, as somebody'll need
to guard." to Akemi.

=====
=====

Ruka says, "If we're almost there, I want to press on."
Morrigan pauses and eats one of the dead Stanleys, then says, "Much
better."

Kanna says, "Given what 790 said, our opponents are likely already at the
end.  I can go on... I'm not in top shape, but I can go a little bit
longer."

=====
=====

You page, "[Kanna] Healing me shouldn't be that bad either, right sis?
*wl* Could use all the little pick me ups I can, even if I can't bed rest
like I -should-. *wl*" to Akemi and Mercutio.

Mercutio pages, "[Gabrielle] I guess I could, but it wouldn't really do
much. Healing is good for thigs like life-threatning wounds, but there's
no real subtitute for good rest." to you and Akemi.

You page, "[Kanna] Nevermind, then.  Save it for those who -need- it." to
Akemi and Mercutio.

=====
=====

Kanna does not at all look disapproving of Morrigan eating a Stanley.

790 says, "YEs, let's send them forward, my beloved, to die in the
traps, while we share a moment of sweet bliss here among the pathetic
dead.  An ode...Hmm, how does an ode go anyway..."

======
======

Kanna OOCly holds as Jeff's been idle 7 minutes. *wl*

Lucien OOC Am I healed?

Loewen says, "OOC I believe Gabby should have had the chance to heal you
at this point.  You're pretty close to collapse from exhaustion."

=====
=====

Kanna's hand tigtens a bit on 790's metal dome.  Just slightly.  But she
doesn't say anything.  "If I go, you come too, 790.  And I'm -not- gonna
lose anybody on this mission."

=====
=====

Kanna OOCly says, "(okay, so she DID say something.  I changed my
mind.)"

Loewen asks, "OOC So what's the plan?"

=====
=====

Lucien says, "I'm exhausted... let's see if we can rest a bit"

Ruka sags down and makes space for himself among the corpses. Morrigan
returns to a fairly human form and leans against the wall near Lucien.
Every so often she kills another Stanley when they dribble in.

Kanna uses Beryllina in Staff form to move the Stanelys into something
close to, but not quite like, defensive emplacements.

Kanna mutters to herself as she does this, but is otherwise grim-faced and
not her usual cheerful demeanor.

=====
=====

Loewen asks, "OOC Oh, how much longer are you two gonna want to go?"

Kanna OOCly says, "It's Friday night, I'm good for a good while. *wl*"

Lucien OOC I'm cool for now

=====
=====

Kanna then finishes, and moves back to the group, changing Beryllina
back to crossbow form, sagging down next to Ruka, and squeezing his
shoulder gently.  "Dammit... I'm sorry."  She says this, looking at the
group there.

Ruka says, "No way you could have known.  You wouldn't expect Logrus in a
place Derith built."

Morrigan says, "Hey, Robot Head, did you see anyone else go down past you
soon before we went?"

790 ignores Morrigan.

Kanna mmms, quietly, looking up at the ceiling, and then back down the
halls they'd travelled.

Kanna asks, "790?"

790 says, "Yes, oh crimson-haired aura of the morning?"

Kanna is so fatigued that she doesn't even blush at the compliment, or
otherwise react.  "790, -did- you see anybody come down the shaft before
we came by?"

Kanna asks, "Or otherwise sense beings moving past you?"

790 says, "I've been pretty much asleep waiting for Derith to come back.
 My sensors falsely indicated he had, so I woke up.  But I guess they must
have simply realized the most beautiful woman in the universe had come and
that I would want to meet her so I could be her love slave!"

Kanna considers that, and nods.  "You sensed Derith's Legacy within
Lucien."

Kanna says, "Which makes sense."

790 says, "Possibly it was his body odor."

Kanna gently (for her) raps a knuckle against 790's metal skull.  "Be
nice."

790 says, "Hey, I didn't say an...well, it wasn't VERY bad."

Lucien rests and tries to regain his energy...

Morrigan decides to ignore the robot head and cuddles up to Lucien.

Hours of resting pass, with only a homocidal Stanley to slay every
minute or so to keep you from just taking a nap.

Kanna sighs, still on guard, but looking like she'd want to lean against
Ruka right now.  Or to have Ruka lean against her.  But when one's deep in
'enemy' territory, one can't affort to sleep or fully rest.

Kanna asks, "Oh, hey, Morrigan?  How'd you and Lucien hook up together,
anyway?"

Morrigan smiles.  "Merlin contracted with me to watch over him, when he
was a baby, so I became a child and we grew up together, in a sense."

Kanna smiles softly.  "Ooo.  That's sweet."

Lucien kisses Morrigan gently on the forehead

Morrigan launches into a story of once having found Lucien running
around at about age 3 with a pot on his head, holding a ladle and
annoucning he would be the greatest of all knights.

Kanna grins at that, and chuckles softly.  "Well, he's certainly come up
in the world..."

Lucien blushes.

Morrigan asks, "And how did you two meet?"

Kanna blinks, and blushes, and smiles.  "Me and Ruka?  Joint mission
between Ember and Amber on the high seas, and mom'd tapped me to help
coordinate with the Captain of the Shalomar Naval Base, and well..." She
quirks a grin.

Kanna relates of how she and Ruka would take the time to chat and talk
when they could, given their respective duties as Agent of the Queen and
Commander of the Shalomar Naval Base.

Kanna finishes, and then leans over and gives Ruka a quick kiss on the
cheek.  "He's my Safe Harbor.  Wherever I roam, I know he'll be there."

=============================
=============================

You page, "(I figure Kanna/Ruka didn't become a serious 'item' in terms of
interest until after Yig, but they knew of each other before then, since
she recogged Avalon-Ruka in her vision.  Nothing started hyper-developing
until after the Tree, and even then slowly, thanks to Kanna running around
a lot, and Ruka being on base, until Kozue mentioned he wanted to ask her
out for Marches. :)" to Akemi.

In a page-pose to you, Akemi nods.  That makese sense.

=====
=====

Loewen says, "OOC Aaargh. I can feel my energy levels diving, and I
think I'd better cut here."

Loewen asks, "OOC You're still not sure if you can do Sunday, Jeff?"

Kanna OOCly says, "No probs, nothing like a nice bonding moment in a
room full of dead stanleys underwater to close out a session."

Loewen LAUGHS.

Kanna OOCly says, "I'm good tomorrow night, may be in around 8-9 sunday,
depends on wether I decide to go to TAS or not, as I'm still undecided.
week is as normal for me."

Lucien OOC Still not sure

Loewen says, "OOC OKay, if Sunday doesn't work, then we'll do Monday."

Lucien OOC Monday I'm 99% certain I can do

Kanna OOCly says, "Monday be good for me too."

Loewen says, "OOC Alright.  We'll see what develops, then."

Kanna OOCly nods.  "Night then, John?"

Loewen says, "I will be on line a little longer.  "

Loewen says, "Just not enough energy to GM"

Kanna OOCly says, "*nod* Well, back up to the main room I go, then."

Kanna OOCly says, "(and good session.)"