Chris pages, "Mind if I come too? :P" to you and The_Prof.

GM says, "OOC Okay, we can assume Beo trumps you as he was planning
to."

You page, "Come.  Now." to Chris.

Mikaze has arrived.

The_Prof pages, "No problems on this end, and you did say you had
stuff to talk to Bey about that's prophecy-related." to you and Chris.

Kanna OOCly says, "What point in time be this?  Somewhere later in the
day from where Kanna was before?"

Kanna OOCly says, "(leaving it vague and backtrackable as need be.)"

GM says, "OOC I'd say this is a bit later in your day, yeah."

Kanna OOCly says, "Okay, so, Kanna's off on her own for a bit I guess
then, with Gaby showing Shinobu some of the fun stuff iN Ember or
something, glossing/shifting the Fuy visit, then."

Beowulf OOCly says, "And I'll probably ask for a few minutes alone
from Lily and Mitsune, had a few things to go over with Kanna about
Lord Khan."

Kanna OOCly . o O (And it turns into a few hours...)

Beowulf says, "OOC Hopefully it won't be *that* bad. o.o"

GM says, "OOC We can assume your first effort to contact Fuyutsuki
failed and you got a 'call aqgain later' trump signal, so you went to
show Shinobu Minor the sights."

Kanna OOCly says, "Okidoke."

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

Beowulf trumps Kanna. "Hello, Kanna; have a moment? Had a couple of
things related to the urns and other... um, future-related events,
that you might be interested in."

Beowulf looks a bit sheepish. "I do apologize for not getting back to
you earlier like I'd said; things got a bit busy."

Kanna blinks, and then smiles.  "Hey, bey..." She quirks a cockeyed
smile.  "... Yeah, I've got a few... how've things been with you?  Was
just showing Shinobu Minor some of the sights in Ember with Sis, but
if you want to take things private, I can bail out and I can pull you
to my room or something."  Her mein becomes a bit more serious, but
she barks a laugh.  "-Tell- me about it.  I need to catch you and Lian
up on some stuff, and I'd like your input, and I'd be interested in
hearing your stuff as well."

Kanna says, "Or I could pull you through here, and then we could head
for my suite.  Whatever works."

Beowulf says, "Doesn't matter much to me; if we're going to pull
through, I need to warn Lily and Mitsune so they don't get
worried. Things have been a bit active on this end."

Kanna nods.  "No probs.  I'll be waiting for you to re-call."

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

Beowulf asks, "OOC We're still probably at Panopticon, right? I'd
imagine Lily and Mitsune can g/e/t/ i/n/t/o/ t/r/o/u/b/l/e/ amuse
themselves for a little bit here, right?"

Kanna OOCly says, "Lily and Mitsune steal a TARDIS and go joyriding
across time and space."

Beowulf says, "OOC Oh, dear. <rueful g>"

Lian . o O ( OOC: With Mitsune, who knows ... )

GM says, "OOC They can amuse themselves for a while, yes."

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

Beowulf tells them that Kanna has some info for him in Ember, and that
he may be a few hours... then trumps Kanna with Lian.

Kanna pulls Beowulf and Lian through.  She then apologies to Gabrielle
and Shinobu Minor, explaining she needs to talk about some stuff
relating to the entire Vases/Le Fox/Lord Kahn/etc thing, but should be
free in the afternoon to give grandpa F. another try.  In the interim,
perhaps Shinobu'd like lunch at this nice Lipunese Steakhouse she and
Gaby knows?  She'll float the bill, even though she can't be
there. *sheepish look*

Beowulf smiles at Shinobu Minor and Gabrielle, then blinks a bit as he
sees Shinobu's... aging... in person. "Good to see you in such fine
shape, Shinobu-san."

Gabrielle beams. "You've met my daughter, right, Wolfy?"

Kanna says, "Oh, she's defenitely in fine shape, Bey.  She gave me a
run for my money at staff earlier today."

Beowulf asks, "...daughter?"

Lian arches an eyebrow at the new and improved Shinobu, then blinks at
Gaby.

Kanna just grins, watching reactions.

Kanna says, "It's true."

Kanna says, "Sis told me, dad, and mom this morning."

Kanna says, "Made for an... interesting breakfast, lemme tell you."

Kanna looks sheepish again.

Beowulf says, "I... see. I can't say I'm *surprised*, per se, since I
knew you and Nagisa got along so well... but I admit this was a bit
unexpected."

Gabrielle puts an arm around Shinobu and beams some more.

Lian says, "... your daughter." She shakes her head, then grins. "And
you kept it a secret for all that time."

Shinobu Minor looks slightly embarrassed.

Kanna says, "But makes sense, in hindsight." She looks wry, but
chuckles.  "Given everything."

Gabrielle says, "Well, thirteen years isn't that long, in the grand
sheme of things...."

Kanna says, "Surprised mom and dad, but they took it well."

Kanna says, "True."

Kanna says, "I just need to buy 13 years worth of mother's day cards,
now."

Beowulf shrugs. "Although for Shinobu, it's been a bit more than
that... still," he looks at Shinobu, "you did seem to enjoy it when we
talked briefly with Jacqui."

Gabrielle twitches. "Jaqueline."

Kanna nods, quietly, and sighs at her sis's reaction.

Beowulf asks, "Um, yes. Has she managed to settle down any?"

Kanna . o O (Bets on how long until sis'll lobby for Jacqui to be
banned from Ember?)

Kanna says, "I have no idea... I've been effectively outta contact in
the grand scheme of things in the past month." She looks embarrased,
and scratches her cheek.  "Which I'd like to fill you in on, but not
here?"  Kanna smiles a bit.

Beowulf nods. "Indeed. You're suggesting we adjourn somewhere?"

Kanna says, "My rooms.  If you haven't eaten yet, I can have the
kitchens send up food."

Lian says, "Mmm ... food. Food is never wrong."

Gabrielle leads Shinobu off. "C'mon, dear. I'll take you to Madman
Omar's House of Steak. It's pretty good." She waves bye-bye to the
group. "Call me if you need any help with weird interpretaions of
freakish, dark propheices. I'm good at that, and can be in two places
at once anyway."

Shinobu Minor takes off, DM settles down to watch y'all talk. :)

Kanna grins, adn waves to her sister, and trumps herself, Bey, and
Lian to her rooms.

Kanna goes and quickly trumps to kitchens for a decent lunch for the
three, and then goes and gets drinks for them from her magical fridge,
selecting a guiness for herself.

Kanna says, "So."

Beowulf smiles slightly. "Just a bit's gone on since we last talked
here... I'm not quite sure where to start."

Lian asks, "How about a quick summary of our respective activities
first?"

Beowulf asks, "Let's see... since it's the thing that surprised Lian
the most when she joined back with us... you've heard about cousin
Shaft, right?"

Kanna plops down on her couch, and pops open her Guiness.  "Feel free
to help yourself to drinks..." She then looks down at her beer, and
fails to supress a shudder. "... yes."

Kanna says, "A shattered pattern.  by the four heraldric beasts."

Kanna knocks back her guinesss.

Beowulf nods sadly. "Indeed."

Beowulf says, "We may have a bit of leverage to apply on that now,
though only a bit; more on that later."

Kanna says, "That's the major news I heard.  Other than that, I've
been out of touch until getting home just ysterday... the last I knew
what you two were up to, you were heading CAFAM-ward, and Lian was
heading for the Library."

Beowulf thinks back to the day after the boat sinking. "Let's see. We
went to CAFAM, I picked up a training Spikard for Jacqui and a Lion
Spikard for Nanami to safeguard, and we were attacked by Quantrill's
Raiders at the checkout counter."

Kanna blinks at Bey.

Kanna says, "You.... bought.... a Lion Spikard... at CAFAM."

Beowulf says, "It surprised us a bit, yes. Big sign at the entranceway
-- 'Prices slashed! on Tirthos, Ring of Storms.'"

Kanna says, "..."

Kanna blinks.  And blinks again.

Kanna says, "Oh... oh good pyricorn."

Kanna starts chuckling.

Kanna says, "'... Storms can be found under the blue light.'"

Lian grins. "Must have been a bit of a surprise, yes."

Kanna says, "Blue Light -SPECIAL-."

Beowulf says, "Though we did have to beat a Chaos team sent by Balor,
and a fruitcake team apparently sent by Halthor? Nah, couldn't
be... to get it. Oh, and we managed to distract what I *think* was a
Rebmaquois mermaid team before we got to the magical ring section."

Kanna nods at that.  "Hathor, not Halthor."

Kanna continues chuckling, her expression thoughtful as she mulls
something over.

Beowulf says, "Right, Hathor. A priestess of Hathor, a couple of
nutball dwarves, and a hulking fighter-type." He grins slightly. "All
afraid of the Dread Pirate Beowulf." His smile twists slightly.

Lian says, "So you're a dread pirate now? How cute."

Kanna says, "... Aunt Nanami was saying that there was nine Lion
Spikards, 3 of each element type... fire, air, water... Hrmmm..." she
then blinks at Bey's mention of the small group.

Kanna scratches her cheek again.  "Hrm."

Beowulf says, "Riight." He smiles. "Though it was a bit amusing when
Mutsumi drew them a picture of Kentaro in a pirate's outfit."

Beowulf sobers. "Any news yet from Nanami about clearing our names?"

Kanna reaches over to her endtable, and grabs a sketchpad, and flips
it open.  She looks at it thoughtful, and starts sketch-doodling in
it.  "Haven't called her yet about it, I'm afraid.  Was planning to
call Sumire sometime today to get the skinny, though mom's of the
opinion folks aren't gonna try to claim the bounty on me.  Anyway, go
ahead..."

Beowulf blinks as Kanna reminds him. "Oh, yes, nine Lion Spikards." He
pulls out the diagram.

Kanna asks, "So all those folks were looking for the spikard in CAFAM,
then?"

Kanna hrms, and peeers at the diagram.

Kanna can't make heads or tails out of Sidar, but she can look at the
pretty pictures!

Beowulf says, "You might find this interesting. We found it in the
half-ruined library at the dig site... but we'll get to that in a
moment, too." He smiles.

Kanna nods.  "Right." She quirks a smile, keeps sketching.

Beowulf says, "Yes, all looking for the Spikard. Fortunately, we beat
them to it, and it is now hopefully safe with Aunt Nanami."

Beowulf says, "Sold for only one Sun, too." He grins.

Lian says, "A good buy, then."

Kanna whistles.  "DAmn straight." She blinks, and giggles.  "Great,
our net worth in bounties right now is 150 times that.  Anyway."

Kanna resumes sketching.

Beowulf says, "Anyway, after dropping off Tirthos, we went to the
ruins where I found the urns. Fought off a bunch of nutcases that said
they served a blood-god named Khorne, didn't find anything digging
around the area where the vases were, did find these documents in the
library."

Kanna nods.  "Were you able to get them translated?"

Beowulf says, "Protected by a spell that would turn the sun nova if it
wasn't unravelled." He blinks.

Kanna says, "Ewwwww.  That's unspleasant."

Lian says, "As his continued existence proves, they managed to unravel
the spell though."

Kanna says, "Which is a very good thing.  Certain folks would
complain."

Beowulf says, "Yes, Anthy translated them for us. After telling us her
father... well, in proper order: We decided to try a mirror of
temporal scrying to find out what might have happened to the clues
that were supposed to be in the vases."

Kanna nods.

Beowulf says, "And found out that they had been planted there three
days before I got there the first time, by the Keeper of the
Logrus. Grandmother Anthy's father."

Kanna's eyes widen slightly.

Beowulf nods. "Uh-huh. Like I said, things have been a bit busy."

Kanna says, "What the..." She looks down at her chest a bit.  "What
the hell is Anno -playing- at?"

Kanna then looks thoughtful.  "... was Grand-Aunt Anthy able to figure
out what particular spikard the map was for?  Since that was sidar
too?"

Beowulf says, "Good question. Oh, and after we talked to Anthy and got
the translations, she suggested I call mother. A package had been sent
to me... which turned out to have this in it." He pulls out the vase
that had been stolen on the zeppelin.

Kanna blinks.

Kanna says, "Well.  That's courteous service for you."

Kanna says, "... -who- returned it, though?"

Beowulf says, "Yes. Sent to me by a firm called Carter
Imports... which, according to Kozue, is a shady company known for
fencing, smuggling, covering up criminal activities, and the like."

Beowulf asks, "Have you heard of them at all?"

=====
=====

You page, "Has Kanna heard of 'em?" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Vaguely.  They don't have much dealings with Ember as
they're based out of Cape Westburyport" to you.

Akemi pages, "And Cape Westb. lacks vehicles that can survive trekking
to Ember." to you.

=====
=====

Kanna scratches her cheek again, setting her pencil aside for the
moment.

Kanna says, "Very... -very- vaguely.  I've heard they're based out of
Cape Westb'ryport, but not more than that... after all, the Cape lacks
vehicles that can survive making the trip to Ember." She quirks a
smile.

Beowulf smiles dryly. "Most shadows do. We now have one that
might... but I'm getting ahead of myself again."

Kanna says, "Oh yeah, those four thugs we caught, bey?  Had to release
'em, but I got some info outta them before I did, on how they'd heard
of LeFox planning to sell those rebman daggers."

Beowulf says, "Go on..."

Kanna says, "And Arimi was of the opinion that LeFox had likely tried
stealing them from the -Rebmaquois-, which was why the hit the
zeppelin... not because of us, we were just gravy."

Beowulf says, "Ah, so."

Beowulf says, "That might explain a few things."

Kanna says, "But that and the info you just gave me gives me a few
leads to pursue once... well, you continue, and you'll find out soon
enough why I -wasn't- Pursuing LeFox around the place like I'd planned
this past month."

Beowulf nods. "Oh, you were wondering about the spikard the map was
for? Anthy was able to do a complete translation of the runes:"

Kanna nods.

Beowulf says, "'"Greetings, oh lucky traveller.  You have found a key
to the Hoard of the Dragon, a Spikard.  Within this temple, you will
find many things once hidden beyond the Wall of Sleep.  Inside each
urn is a clue to one of the three keys which will unlock the chest.""

Kanna's eyes widen, and then narrow.

Kanna says, "Thought so."

Beowulf blinks. "Oh?"

Kanna taps her pencil against the sketchpad a bit, and then just
smiles up at Bey.  "Go on, I still want to hear the story."

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

GM says, "OOC I'm going to take a bath; just keep talking and I'll
catch up on the backscroll when I return."

Beowulf OOCly nods.

Kanna OOCly says, "neg probs."

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

Beowulf shows Kanna the hidden lining. "And *this* is what they meant
by inside, after I spent days trying to find what had happened to the
contents... well, that led me to see Anno, so perhaps it wasn't a
waste."

Kanna looks at the hidden lining.  "Man.  We oughta add commuter
service to Chaos at this rate."

=====
=====

Kanna OOCly says, "was the lining in sidar?  Or thari?"

Beowulf says, "OOC Sidar. Next up on the list is a couple of fast-time
years learning Sidar, assuming Grandmother is willing to teach. :)"

Kanna OOCly says, "Well, anyway.  Continue. :)"

=====
=====

Kanna mutters something about Sidar Night Courses at this rate.

Beowulf grins. "Indeed. We paid them a visit as well... After seeing
that, and finding out he was my great-grandfather, I decided we should
at least pay Anno a courtesy visit."

Lian says, "Well, it -is- a useful language to learn, Kanna."

Beowulf says, "Lian met up with us on the way down there, and said
she'd found some interesting things from her library visit... along
with a Sidar dictionary she picked up from somewhere."

Kanna chuckles.  "Given everything... may just have to fast-time to do
so, tho."  She looks rueful at Bey.  "You didn't know?  damn, wish I'd
pointed you towards my geneology charts earlier.  Ahwell, se la vis."

Beowulf says, "Oui, mademoiselle." He grins.

Kanna nods.  "I knew Lian'd headed to the inf-library after I trumped
her... so how'd -that- go?"

Beowulf says, "Not sure; mind if we finish this stuff, before I
forget? Although I'm sure Lian can remind me of the bits I forget,
since she was there for the rest." He grins.

Lian nods, "Go on, Bey."

Kanna says, "No problem."

Beowulf says, "Anyway, I was trump-attacked by Lord Alars on the way
down there."

Kanna blinks at that.

Kanna asks, "The hell?  What for?"

Beowulf says, "Thanks to the ladies' help, I was able to fight it
off. I was hoping to snag Justice with the whip as soon as their help
brought the psychic battle to a standstill, and unfortunately he
closed the connection before I could."

Beowulf says, "Good question why he picked me; best guess is that he
was flipping through the trump deck he must have taken from Jaqui, and
picked me at random."

Kanna holds up her hands, and waves 'em about.  "Wait.
Waitwaitwait... how the hell did Alars of Chaos get his hands on
-Justice-?"

Kanna then stares at Bey.

Kanna asks, "Good Pyricorn what the fuck has Jacqui been -doing- this
past month?"

Beowulf says, "Didn't you get that side of the story from Shinobu?
Morganstern went nuts and started flinging people to Chaos, including
Shinobu and Jacqui."

Beowulf says, "I'm not sure exactly how Jacqui lost Justice and Fred
to Lord Alars, but..."

Kanna blinks, and shakes her head.  "I'd heard Shinobu and Anthy had
been flipped, yes, from Shinobu, but... Damn, how'd that happen to
Morgy?" Her brow furrows a bit.  "She said Morgy had been driven mad
after Jacqui accidentally did so... oh good pyricorn..."

Kanna facepalms.

Kanna says, "Make note.  Keep Jacqui away from ANYTHING nominally more
high-tech than a toaster oven."

Lian nods, grimacing slightly.

Kanna says, "Anyway, go on."

Beowulf sighs. "I was hoping the training spikard would help with
that, but now Lord Alars' daughter has it... anyway."

Kanna mmms.

Kanna says, "People are just going Spikard-Crazy this month, it
seems."

Beowulf says, "Oh, you'd better believe it." He sighs.

Kanna hrms, considers her empty guiness can, crushes it, and tosses it
in the trash can.  She goes and gets another.

Kanna says, "Damn straight I do, bey."

Kanna sits back down.

Beowulf says, "Finished the trip down to the Courts of Chaos, met
great-grandfather. Had a conversation filled with oblique hints and
obscure references, didn't learn very much."

Kanna says, "Better than nothing, and hey, you met family." She
smiles.

Kanna says, "Mom liked him the brief time they met, according to her,
back during the Crisis."

Lian wanders over to Kanna's fridge, getting a bottle of juice.

Kanna's fridge is well-stocked with various things that like being
cooled.  Juices, beers, wine coolers, bottled teas, sandwich fixings,
Jello, etc.

Kanna looks thoughtful again.

Kanna then hrms, and resumes doing a bit of sketching.

Beowulf smiles. "Yup, and got to watch a bit of Season 3 of Gekiganger
3. :)"

Kanna chuckles.

Lian facepalms. "We forgot the copy he promised us."

Beowulf says, "Oh, and he did give me a bit of advice about going
after the Master Spikard; I'll need to get something called the Gloom
Device, which Anno tossed into the Abyss a while back because it was
fuzzing his tapes."

Beowulf says, "Ack... right. Well, we've got a reason for the next
trip to Chaos..." He winks.

Lian says, "Not for a while. And your obsession with getting the
Master Spikard back will be the death of you one day, Bey."

Kanna's eyes widen at that.  She murmurs, as she rubs her throat,
"'Gloom can destroy the Logrus'"

Lian nods to Kanna.

Kanna then shudders, pops open her beer, and chugs it.

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

Beowulf OOCly blinks and tries to remember where that came from. And
OOC, you know what happened with *that* at Lion's Pride. ^_^

Kanna OOCly says, "The stuff quoted by Morgy, which Kanna doesn't know
WAS quoted by Morgy.  but anyway."

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

Kanna says, "I do NOT like where some of these things are going.
Anyway, continue."

Kanna says, "I'd rather not have the Logrus destroyed... call it
heretical, perhaps, but I LIKE this universe the way it is."

Beowulf says, "So we left, after he gave me a somewhat more direct
hint than most about boxing with shadows, and started hellriding for
someplace where I could verify that the clue in the urn wasn't
forged. Which turned out to be a verify-by-doing. :)"

Beowulf nods.

Kanna says, "Pattern, Logrus, and all the fiddly bits in between."

Kanna asks, "Hm?  What was the hint?"

Beowulf says, "And Anno is a nice gentleman... I'd hate to see him
lose what he's got."

Beowulf says, "The clue in the hidden lining read: '/In the land of
the Golden Chair/Rivers run fast and deep/Follow the Way of the
Skyfather//Into deepest jungle/To distant mountain/To find the
Stair//Climb the Stair/Ride the Whirlwind/Pass the Fires//Cross the
Bridge of Swords/Dance with Death/Sing For Joy//Then answer the oldest
question/and take the key/'"

Beowulf says, "Which turned out to be a pretty accurate description of
how to find our way to the key. Wasn't all that hard, either, until we
got to the last bit."

Lian nods. "The Sphinx didn't quite like Bey's answer and tried to
snack on him. Which we considered a bad thing."

Kanna nods.  "Where'd you end up going?"

Beowulf says, "We first ended up fighting a sphinx after I botched his
question, then fighting the Master and a couple of henchmen after a
fake Master/bomb blew up the sphinx and nearly blew up Mitsune. The
Master shot Mitsune, Lily went crazy, Lian nearly had her arm torn
off, but we all survived."

Beowulf says, "Ashante was where the temple was located."

Lian rubs her left shoulder, grimacing at the memory. "Nasty lil
critter, the Sphinx." She looks to Bey, curious. "Oh, Bey ... do you
know if sphinxes have a gender?"

Beowulf says, "Good question; I'm not sure."

Kanna blinks at that, and frowns slowly.  Then mutters a bit, and
shakes her head.  "So, you ran around Ashante, solved various puzzles,
then got a Key, yes?"

Lian says, "Well, we ran around a dungeon in Ashante, but the rest's
basically correct."

Kanna says, "Same diff."

Beowulf says, "Yes. And captured the Master -- and *this* time, got
him back to justice at Panopticon. They were grateful enough to let us
have his Tardis, we ransacked his library, and found out a number of
interesting things."

Kanna sips her beer now, and taps the side of the can with a
fingernail, making a slight dent.

Kanna asks, "What day were you in Ashante?"

Beowulf blinks. "Hmm... I think that was just yesterday, wasn't it,
Lian?"

Lian nods. "Yup."

Kanna mmmms at that, quietly.

Beowulf says, "I'm sure you'll explain the significance of that in a
moment." He smiles.

Kanna asks, "So, what'd you get on library raid 2.0?"

Kanna quirks a slight smile.  "Oh believe me, I will."

Beowulf says, "Let's see. For one thing, the Master was researching
two constructs.."

Kanna asks, "It'll be something of an involved story, same as yours,
but.... oh?"

Beowulf says, "One, The Black Crown, appears to have been set up by
the Outsiders to create tyrants and helping them build cross-shadow
empires. Of course, the Master was thinking of taking it over and
using it for his own purposes."

Kanna says, "....."

Kanna says, "an... outsider... powered.... construct."

Kanna noticeably pales, and shudders.

Lian nods, "They're possible. Nasty business, too."

Beowulf says, "Not sure if it was outsider-*powererd*, just
outsider-set up."

Kanna says, "even so."

Beowulf says, "Fortunately, we have the library to double-check, if
the Master himself knew."

Kanna says, "Good.  Do that.  Find location. Nuke to bedrock and
beyond."

Beowulf asks, "I think that should be a definite target, yes?"

Kanna says, "-When- it could be targeted is the going question,
but...."

Beowulf asks, "We should probably spread what info we have on it
around, in case we get zorched in one of our little jaunts, ne?"

Kanna says, "Wipe the damn thing from Reality.  Yes."

Kanna says, "warnings need to be spread."

Beowulf NODS. "Your mother, Aunt Nanami, the King... who else?"

Kanna thinks.  "Shizumaru, perhaps, as he's the other major person
with a Construct."

Beowulf nods.

Kanna says, "Wether we can immediately -commit- to this is another
question, given everything going on, but..." she shrugs.

Beowulf says, "He didn't know its actual location, but he did know one
of its manifestations was in the hands of a warrior-sorceress named
'Pella', and was hoping to track it through that."

Kanna says, "Thing is, if it's been there for a long time, they'd have
defenses out the wazoo..." She shakes her head.  "No Kanna, bad.  Save
tactical planning for later.  Info gathering now."

Kanna nods. "Can't say the name rings a bell."

Beowulf says, "Ayup. So many projects, so little time..."

Kanna asks, "And the other construct?"

Beowulf says, "It's called the Heart of Ice. From what I can tell so
far, the construct itself seems to be more-or-less neutral; it's
connected to dozens of ice-and-snow shadows, and is apparently a lot
like Kafuin, only limited to one element."

Beowulf asks, "The interesting thing about it is that it's currently
controlled by Jadis the White, an evil witch. Wasn't she one of our
candidates for the Ice Queen?"

Kanna asks, "Ah." She blinks.  "'Flame Frozen In Stone'?"

Kanna says, "Hoooooooboy."

Kanna says, "Heart of Flame, Heart of Ice, Wheeee."

Lian says, "Makes sense ... also makes me wonder if there are more
Hearts around."

Beowulf says, "A counterpart to the Icons?" He blinks.

Kanna says, "Could be, damned if I know, should ask Cousin Hiko one of
these days."

Lian says, "Not that important. Deal with trouble first, satisfy
curiosity later."

Kanna says, "-Our- Icons were set up to help close the Gate of
Revolution, but a good number of them were doing double-duty.  The
Seed of Hope for growing another Yig, Justice being one of the
Patternblades... and yeah."

Beowulf nods. "Until it bubbles a little higher to the top of the
priority list, anyway."

Kanna asks, "So, that brings us for the two of you up to today?"

Kanna quirks a smile.

Beowulf asks, "Which will be when we start working on the prophecies,
eh?"

Lian nods to Kanna, "More or less, yes. I've done a bit of research at
the library, but we'll come to that later."

Kanna chuckles a bit.  "Yup.  And I've got a few more to throw at
you."

Beowulf says, "Pretty much, though one other bit:"

Kanna gets up from her seat, leaving her sketchbook by the couch.
"Hm?"

Beowulf says, "The Master had stolen several bits from various Chaos
houses; returning them might buy us a few brownie points when we deal
with people like Lowen and Alars."

Kanna says, "Good."

Kanna says, "Be right back in a second..."

Beowulf says, "In particular, one minor house allied to Alars, one
minor house allied to Tremere, and a third allied to House Nurgal."

Kanna ducks into her bedroom, as there's a knock at the suite's doors.
"Hey, Lian, could you get that?  Probably lunch... and oh -joy-...."

Lian nods and gets up, opening the doors.

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

Beowulf says, "OOC And a horde of screaming Outsiders pours in to
attack. ^_^"

Kanna OOCly hits Bey.

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

Standing behind the doors is Iron Chef Lipunese, who rolls in a cart
that has a covered hot plate surrounded by various pre-cut yummies for
the eater's cooking pleasure.

Kanna comes back out, holding a few books under her arm, and smiles at
the Iron Chef.  "Thank you... you may go now."

Iron Chef Lipunese bows to the three, and backs out of the room.

Kanna goes, and uncovers the hot-plate section, and starts grilling up
beef and chicken and shrimp for herself.  "Help yourself, it's self
serve, just watch the hot plate."

Beowulf undergoes a fit of paranoia and checks inside the cart. ^_^

Lian follows Kanna's example.

The cart has... Utensils!  And extra plates, and a small preservation
container for extra food stocks and sauces.

And... MSG! (Dramatic Music)

Beowulf shudders at the MSG, and stirs himself up a bit of chicken lo
mein.

Kanna prepares her meal, pronounces it good for herself, spoons out a
helping of rice, and then sits.  "Anyway.  You guys have been
certainly been busy.  Well, so have I." She quirks a smile.  "And,
like you, I've got a bit of visual presentation as well."

Beowulf OOCly grins. "Yup, o/~ paranoia runs deep... into your life it
will creep... o/~"

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

The_Prof pages, "You've seen what's on the spikard documents, right?"
to you.

You page, "Not the -actual- docs, no." to The_Prof.

You page, "I've got the logs of them being discussed tho, yes." to
The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "All right. :)" to you.

The_Prof pages, "Basically, don't have any more detail than what's
quoted in the logs -- names/desc. of the nine Lion spikards, detailed
analysis of the shadow power sources of Gaerthos, Ring of Tides,
formerly Moria's spikard and now in the hands of the Rebmaquois." to
you.

You page, "The descs, yeah, Kanna will comment a bit when we get to
descs." to The_Prof.

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

Kanna moves her coffee table over a bit, so that all can look at it,
and pulls out one of the books, which she flips open.

Lian piles her food on a plate and moves around the table for a better
look at the book.

The book appears to be... Kanna's Diary.  Well, one of them, anyway,
flipped open to a page dated March 25th.

Kanna OOCly says, "The sections to be quoted have been mailed, fyi, to
Travis, Chris, Merc, and John."

Kanna says, "Well, to start things off, after I talked with you,
Lian... I had a bit of time before being able to see Sumire, so I
decided to get lunch at King's, and see what I could about Madame
ZaZa."

Kanna says, "I paid for having my fortune read... and this is what I
got.  I figure she was using claryvoyance magic, and, some of it DID
jibe well with what I was planning."

Kanna says, "It was her speaking AND a visual component in her crystal
ball, so afterwards I went back to the embassy to sketch everyuthing I
could before I could forget."

Beowulf reads and blinks. "Uh-huh. Right. And some of them were a bit
off-base. o.o"

Kanna grins a bit at Bey.  "What, you don't like Pizza?"

Beowulf says, "I don't even think I've had pizza in a month or more."
He goggles a bit.

Beowulf says, "Like it, yes. Eaten it recently, no."

Kanna says, "Well, it was likely being very metaphorical, really."

Lian asks, "What could pizza be a metaphor for?"

Kanna says, "Or just random brain firings.  But given some of these
folks -I- didn't recognize, but mom -did-..."

Kanna shrugs.  "Overacheiving?  I was more focussed on the verbal,
anyway."

Beowulf says, "Hm, true. I suppose."

Kanna says, "I didn't have much time to analyze things, since I -did-
have my appointment with Sumire right after..." she looks ruefully at
the pic of her and sumire running through a field, and blushes a bit,
"... and then -after- that..."

Kanna sits back, and eats some of her meal.

Beowulf blinks in puzzlement at Kanna's blush.

Kanna says, "I met a man by the name of Kuonji Ukyou.  Who hailed,
presumably, from the backwoods of Lipun, knew Okonomiyaki Martial Arts
and Sidar and ways of dealing with -Outsiders-... and had come seeking
my help."

Kanna says, "See, according to him, his family had been apparently
tasked with protecting a Gate in Lipun.  A 'time-delayed' Gate of
Referendum that was set to open about 40 years after the Gate of
Revolution, at which point he and his family supposed to use... 'The
Second Key' to close it."

Kanna says, "Unfortuantely, a group of chaosians had apparently come
by, killed his family, and stolen the Key (which he had never seen,
apparently), and made off with it.  Hence his coming to me for help."

Kanna ignores Bey's puzzlement.

Beowulf blinks. "I see."

Lian listens intently. "And did you recover this Second Key?"

Kanna says, "Yes, it sounded fishy.  ESPECIALLY with his asking to
keep the entire thing secret.  But at the same time... could I take
the chance of being wrong in second guessing?  Hell NO."

Kanna says, "To make a long story short... yes." *pause* "I think."
She reaches inside her blouse, and pulls out the Second Key, hanging
by a string around her neck.

Beowulf says, "Well, I'm assuming that you at least got to have a
little fun." He smiles.

Beowulf blinks and feels for his own key. How similar does it look?

Kanna says, "But to backtrack, that's the prophesy he quoted to me..."
She indicates the transcription.  "And with the fortune I'd just
gotten from ZaZa, well, it made me inclined to go along, Just In
Case."

Beowulf asks, "The Place Where Only The Keeper May Go... Anno?"

Kanna says, "I did a trump fortune -after- meeting Ukyou, since I was
still unsure... and THAT was nicely ambiguous, too." She eyerolls.
"You can see my notes on that on the following pages."  She then
pauses.  "Oh, either of you recognize any of the people in the group
squaredance scene?  I didn't get about twelve of 'em, but mom got
some."

Beowulf says, "Ah, never mind, was probably Ukyo."

Kanna shakes her head.  "Apparently 'The Keeper Of The Gate Of
Referendum'... Ukyou."

Kanna nods.

Beowulf says, "Well, one of those figures looks vaguely familiar, like
I've seen them around Castle Amber... a guard, perhaps? That's the
only one I recognize."

Kanna says, "Needless to say, I was damn dubious.  Maybe I'm trying to
re-convince myself after the fact, given everything we went through to
-get- this little trinket," She taps the Second Key against her chest,
"I'd like to think I -wasn't- being led by the nose."

Kanna purses her lips at that, and eats some rice.

Beowulf asks, "Well, did you lock something away before he gave it to
you?"

Kanna says, "I'm getting to that.  I beleive so, but I didn't
accompany to -watch-, due to that 'Place Only The Keeper Can Go' bit.
Mom's suggested investgating the Gate."

Lian says, "That'll be a bit difficult if you really can't go there
..."

Beowulf asks, "*Our* gate," pointing vaguely skyward, as if to
Tir-na-nog, "or *his* gate?"

Kanna nods. "Yeah.  ANyway, as you can see from my notes on the trump
fortune, things were STILL too damn ambiguous to make certain wether
to stop or fully go along."

Kanna says, "His.  Sis was with me for the latter parts... actually,
she was there all the time, but I didn't ask for help until later."
She quirks a smile, and pats her manifestation badge.

Beowulf smiles. "Indeed."

Kanna says, "As you can see from the cards, we got -Both- Gil-Galad,
Anno, and a reversed Annadil Card... which worried the hell outta me,
given what it could imply."

Kanna says, "As in 'what if Ukyou was pulling a gil-galad, having been
replaced by somebody with massive shapeshift skillz'..."

Beowulf says, "Anno? Hmmm. Wonder what the timing would be on that..."

Kanna says, "...'cause here's the deal with Ukyou... according to what
he told me along the trip, his family line had been started by an
injured foreign prince who had come to lipun after fighting an
invisible dragon, was treated by a priestess and had kids before
dying...."

Kanna says, "This was the same day I talked with Lian via trump.
Given everythign that happened with you and me, he's definitely the
Heart of the Matter..."

Kanna says, "And Ukyou had -Air Pattern Imprint-."

Kanna says, "After having 'walked a great glowing shape in a castle in
the sky that appeared in a dream.'"

Beowulf asks, "Hm. So whose heritage does he embody?"

Kanna says, "He apparently must've walked the Air Pattern in his
dreams... it's the rite of initation for the Keeper, it doesn't always
carry in the family, but he was the latest one.. and he knew some
skill in shifting shadow in dreams and defense, given he wasn't
particularly freaked when we started travelling."

Kanna says, "The nearest we've figured... is that he's the last
descendant of Van."

Beowulf whistles. "That would make sense."

Kanna says, "But on the flip side, he didn't know what hellriding was,
and was reluctant to walk the Pattern or get further training when sis
and I brought it up."

Kanna says, "He's familiar with the skills in -dreams-... so either
he's scamming us something major, or really doesn't think it could
apply."

Beowulf asks, "Perhaps Anthy would be the person to talk to him?"

Kanna smiles, wryly.  "Ukyou's somewhat.. monofocused.  And ... hm.
I'd have him do that, but, guess what!  I wanted to have him meet mom
and dad this morning, but he's already left... to go track down a
rumor of this guy named 'Taylor', who was apparently the reason Shaft
died... in -Ashante-."

Kanna says, "But I'm jumping ahead again."

Kanna spears some of her teriyaki steak strips, and noshes them.

Kanna says, "Anyway, even with the various fortunes and stuff, the
next day we decided to head out.  I'd -planned- to trump to Yig and
hellride from there, but I got a bad feeling before activating it, and
decided to go to CAFAM instead."

Beowulf chews absentmindedly on some chicken.

Kanna says, "I have a feeling the Forestals might be pissed at me
telling you and Lian about the prophesy and stuff." She sighs.  "Have
to make it up, somehow, but damned if I know how."

Beowulf smiles a bit ruefully. "Were they still cleaning up the mess
at the checkout counter when you were there?"

Kanna says, "So, we hellrode... after a few days and tangents, we
ended up in Dinosaur World, so we had Cousin Shizumaru trump us out."

Kanna blinks, and shakes her head.  "Didn't notice anything weird,
sorry."

Beowulf nods sadly. "I suppose that's always possible. Would there be
anything we" -- nods at Lian -- "could do to help atone?"

Kanna says, "Then again, we didn't stay there for long."

Kanna sighs.  "I don't know.  Serving in the defense of Balance, I
suppose, or delivering a warning... I've got some bad premonitions..."

Beowulf says, "Dinosaur World, Dinosaur World... where have I heard
that recently?" He blinks. "The Master thought there might be a
spikard there."

Kanna asks, "Dammit, as it was, I was going to be bringing people into
this one way or another ANYWAY, what am I supposed to do when getting
them to come along, -Lie-?"

Kanna says, "There's only so much stretching the truth about your
sources can take you."

Kanna blinks.  "Huh.  Could... explain a few things, perhaps."

Beowulf patpats. "I know, I know... have managed to avoid saying
anything to Lily and Mitsune so far by just keeping things in terms of
Percy's prophecy."

Kanna nods.  "Thanks... and I have a feeling some parts may be blown
open by other sources, anyway."

Beowulf says, "The Master's notes referred to several places where he
thought spikards could be found -- shadow theatre, Kafuin, the Great
Holy Tree of the Akashan League, Yig, Graceland, Bedrock, and Dinosaur
World."

Lian nods.

Kanna says, "So, we trumped to DOOM from Lipun, once again heading for
Chaos."

Kanna blinks at Bey.

Kanna says, ".... dreams are but shadows on the wall of the cave of
life."

Kanna says, "Fuckin' A."

Kanna says, "That section... I will bet you good money that it says
where to find the Lion Spikards."

Beowulf says, "Kafuin? I'd have thought Shizumaru would have noticed
that by now, if one were there." He looks a bit puzzled.

Kanna says, "That's weird, too."

Kanna says, "Unless something to do with the Golden Tree..." she
shrugs.

Lian says, "Might be."

Kanna says, "Mom was involved in Kafuin's construction, you could ask
her for the design notes."

Kanna says, "I remember one point she mentioned that Uncle Gideon had
mentioned (and then re-mentioned) that the connections they designed
for the elemntal stuff was like a spikard on a big scale."

Beowulf says, "It certainly makes sense, that it refers to the Lion
spikards. Flame and Lightning could be two Lion spikards Nanami
already had."

Kanna says, "I worry about folks moving around Yig, tho."

Beowulf says, "I think asking your mother would be a very good idea."

Lian hms. "I should ask mom if she still has dad's notes. They might
come in handy for our own spikard project."

Kanna nods.  "Three of each elemental type.  Fire --
Flame/Lightning/Passion.  Air -- Winds/Sight/Dreams.  Water --
Changes/Tides/Storms."

Kanna says, "She probably does."

Kanna says, "Mom's -obbsessive- about keeping her notes."

Kanna says, "Then again, I suppose a near-death experience does that."

Kanna says, "anyway.  We tried hellriding for the Second Key of the
Gate of Referendum... which took us away from Chaos, where Ukyou
thought it would be... he beleived that it'd been stolen by what I'd
identified as house tremere."

Beowulf says, "The Spikards of Geometry, Lian? :)"

Lian smiles at Bey. "Maybe. So many possibilities ... "

Kanna says, "So, we tried changing tacks to search for 'The Key Kuonji
Ukyou Seeks', which got us -back- to heading to chaos."

Kanna says, "We rode on, the going got more rough as the Pattern
started giving out... encountered Psychic Assault Ice Dice... and when
we pulled back to regroup, and resumed searching, it took us AWAY from
Chaos again."

Kanna says, "But we kept riding, and eventually found our way to a
labyrinth."

Beowulf murmurs, "Travelling with someone?"

Kanna nods.  "That was my thought.  If tremere had it, they were
searching for more..."

Kanna says, "For the labyrinth we ended up in was one for a 'Third
Key'."

Kanna says, "Oh, and the Labyrinth itself was loaded with lots of
funky traps, -blocked- to Pattern AND Logrus, by somebody with enough
-Logrus- skill to shut down lesser users."

Beowulf says, "Third key?" He boggles a bit.

Beowulf asks, "Anno? I wonder, how serious were the traps?"

Kanna says, "And it was -recent-... I'm no archeologist, but the place
itself couldn't have been there more than a few years."

Lian asks, "Are you thinking what I am thinking, Bey?"

Kanna says, "Look at the notes for April 4ths... sketches of stuff we
encountered.  Sis and I were mapping, too."

Kanna says, "I beleive Anno -made- that labyrinth."

Kanna says, "And yes, the traps were serious."

Kanna says, "I would've prolly bought it if I didn't start drawing on
sis to back me up surreptitously."

Kanna says, "And if the traps weren't serious, the -other- folks in
there were."

Beowulf hms. "He didn't strike me as that kind of man... then again,
he may have put them there to keep out others."

Kanna says, "Well, we wandered around a lot.  Magic and trump still
worked, which helped save our bacon, via sis." She grins a bit.

Beowulf smiles. "I can imagine."

Kanna says, "I also saved Ukyou's butt a few times." She blushes, but
grins.  "It's quite a cute one."

Kanna says, "Ukyou himself, tho... he REALLY needs to work on his solo
operative tendencies, though he -can- work in a group.  He's stronger
minded than me, and a better warrior, but I could take him in the
strength area and toughing it out."

Kanna says, "So, we wandered around the labyrinth, dodging or defusing
or defeating various traps, encountering others who hadn't made
it... then reached that mural room."

Beowulf says, "Cute, eh?" He winks at Lian.

Kanna says, "The mural of the casket was a trump trap, that put us
into a BIG black space plummeting."

Lian just smiles.

Kanna says, "I had sis kick in a flight spell, saved Ukyou, and then
saved another guy who'd been following.  Still couldn't SEE him, but
he said his name was 'Spellvis'... turned out he was a BRoken Pattern
sorceror and conjeror who was in the labyrinth... looking for one o
the Keys to a Spikard... the Hoard of the Dragon."

Beowulf looks struck by that.

Beowulf says, "I knew him at Panopticon."

Kanna nods slowly at Beowulf.  "Bigger than you thought, eh?" She
blinks.  "You did?  Good Pyricorn."

Lian says, "It's a small universe after all ..."

Beowulf says, "He was from Graceland, which should tell you
something." He grins. "Though he was a fairly nice guy, in spite of
it."

Kanna says, "He seemed to know Ukyou, or at least somebody like him or
related, too.  And Ukyou seemed to know you when I described you to
him... you ever been to Lipun doing research?"

Beowulf asks, "He did magic with music, right?"

Kanna nods.  "Oh yes." She grins a bit.  "Pretty cool."

Kanna says, "Yes, he did.  Sheilding with musical notes, and stuff.
Sis and I saw him in action in the field."

Beowulf says, "I've visited there a time or two, but never really done
field work there."

Kanna says, "But anyway, with me playing human elevator and sis
providing fire support, we retrieved the next part of the puzzle... a
coin with anno's face on it, on the back, sidar directions." She
points out the sketch of the coin, with 'This SHould Be Amusing'.

Kanna says, "It was hidden in the middle of a giant fireball, which
should tell you the lengths we had to go to get it."

Kanna says, "As in, flying up there and following our noses in pitch
darkness."

Kanna mmms a bit.  "his reaction to your name seemed to mimply more
than a bit of passing familiarity."

Kanna says, "Ukyou's, that is."

Beowulf nods. "Hm. I dimly remember someone named Kuonji at
Panopticon... not someone I dealt with much, though." He blinks. "What
was his reaction?"

Kanna considers, and scrunches up her face and closes her eyes as she
recalls.

Kanna says, "I mentioned you by our nickname for you, he asked who it
was, I mentioned you were Beowulf Kohl, friend of the family, well,
more a part of the family... he mentioned that he -had- heard of you,
and then you'd stopped by Lipun for an expedition, was quite popular
with those who met you... and said, and I quote:"

Kanna says, "'He seemed quite fond of poking about obscure corners and
beaming vapidly at people in a presumably lovable fashion.'"

Kanna says, "Given if you two have met at -Panopticon-...."

Kanna says, "And -you- had met Spellvis there, and Ukyou didn't seem
-too- unfamiliar with Spellvis either..."

Beowulf hmms. "Interesting."

Kanna nods.  "DAmn straight.  Well, we recovered that coin."

Kanna says, "We also rescued a member of the Shinsengummibears before
he could plummet to his death, but that's almost tangental."

Beowulf says, "Well, the Shinsengummi are fairly sweet folk, on the
whole."

Kanna says, "TRumped back to the mural room, found out they were
tracking a theif by the name of Goldi Locks ... who looks like Aunt
Nanami if you'd add a foot of height... who'd stolen all the honey
from Fort Pooh." She smiles a bit at that.  "She was also apparently
being accompanied by a group of assassins, but we never met that
group."

Beowulf says, "I suppose that was lucky." He smiles. "For them."

Kanna says, "We parted ways, went where the coin told us, got through
a door with it, and then found an underground lake with tunnels and
acid-spitting dragon."

Kanna says, "It was only AFTER we got spat at by the dragon and then
sis torched the dragon that we found out there was an -underground-
tunnel."

Kanna says, "So, we swam for that and around... and encountered
-that-."

Kanna points to the sketch of the Key Chamber.

Kanna says, "Several thousand heavily enscorcled keys."

Beowulf nods slowly.

Lian says, "Seems somewhat familiar ..."

Kanna says, "By examining the dragon with the hoard, we figured that
the likely key was an electrum one, as its hord was half gold half
silver... snagged the key without going boom... though the conjoured
frogmen and explosive rubies made by House Aleax, allies of Nurgal,
made us bail quickly."

Kanna says, "Well, not -too- quickly.  We conjured a replacement, and
then trumped back to the mural room again."

Kanna says, "Got out of the room before they managed to break through
the part of the fountain I'd torn off and dumped down the entrance to
block it."

Kanna says, "So, at that point, we had the -Third- Key... but not
Ukyou's key, the Second Key.  Or whatever."

Beowulf blinks as he remembers something. "I *did* know a Kuonji at
Panopticon... but Kuonji *Inji*, not *Ukyo*. Did Ukyo-san have
anything to say about an Inji?"

Kanna says, "Spellvis made a tracking spell, and once again we
ventured into the maze... got ambushed, attacked by wind elementals
and seeking magical lightning, big rottweilers and flying fists.. and
by the point where we tried to confront the mages causing that, we got
attacked by the concrete monster."

Kanna purses her lips.

Kanna snaps her fingers.  "-Spellvis- mentioned that Ukyou sounded
like 'Inji', but Ukyou said he was a cousin."

Beowulf says, "Ahhh."

Kanna says, "Though, at the same time, right before we departed on
this, he buried his family's ashes, including his sister's, so..." she
shakes her head.  Anyway.

Beowulf asks, "Oh, you mentioned House Aleax?"

Kanna says, "In running away from the concrete monster, we ran across
-this- group.  Who was tracking something as well, probably the second
key."  She pulls over the sketchbook from earlier --- which includes a
dwarf mage, a dwarf theif type with crossbow, a large warrior type in
armor, and a woman in furs and bow and arrow.

Kanna says, "We ran across 'em later, so pay attention."

Beowulf says, "They're the Nurgal ally that the Master stole lore
from."

Kanna says, "Oh-hoh."

Kanna says, "I don't know if they really recognized us... I had an
artifact from mia that allowed me to shift shape a bit, but I was
still my natural stacked self when we were in the key chamber."

Kanna shows the sketchbook with the four to Bey.  "These guys look
familiar?"

Beowulf smiles a bit. "This... could be interesting. Yes, they're the
ones we... overheard... at the restaurant in CAFAM."

Kanna ahhhs, and nods.  "Right." She smiles, grimly.

Beowulf says, "Supposedly Hathor sent them after Tirthos, and warned
them to watch out for the Dread Pirate Beowulf."

Kanna says, "Well, mage-dwarf got us with an explosive spell, and I
had sis trump us to mom's beach house to recover."

Kanna hrms at that.  "That could explain the dead cow we encountered
in the labyrinth in the process."

Kanna says, "If they were doing some sort of cow-based magic.  Which
means they'd have been working for the Effreet in some fasion."

Beowulf says, "They were right idiots, though... basically missed the
little sign-switch I made on the aisles in the magical ring section,
were looting the whole aisle instead of trying to simply buy it..." he
sighs.

Kanna sighs a bit at that, quiet.

Kanna says, "So, we healed up.  Sis filled me in about shaft.  Told me
about this Tylor guy, and how HE seems to have gotten a hold of part
or all of my yig prophesy, plus extra stuff to it that nicely freaked
me out."

Beowulf says, "I can imagine so."

Lian asks, "Extra stuff?"

Kanna says, "We also found out that Ukyou.. well, he was actually a
she."  She smiles sheepishly a bit, and blushes again, but continues.
"Not that you can really TELL from meeting him... I was travling for a
MONTH with him and he read as 'male' to me."

Beowulf shakes his head a bit, smiling. "Pity, that."

Kanna nods.  "In the third section, after the last 'The Gods Made War'
bit."

Lian asks, "What would that extra stuff be?"

Kanna hrms.  "Good point, I never DID ask... sis?  Where -did- you
hear he'd said this stuff?"

Kanna flips open her Yig Prophesy Book, which has the sheets provided
by her sister.

Kanna OOCly says, "And has just been mailed."

Gabrielle bamfs into the room. "Morgenstern said it, actually, after
Yob-Y'bootymac reprogrammed him."

Kanna asks, "Ohhh." She blinks.  "Yog-Y'bootymac?  What the hell would
a noted Chaosian Whackmobile be doing up in Morgenstern?"

Kanna asks, "How much -was- said, for that matter?"

Gabrielle spins a chair and straddles it. "All the new stuff." She
taps the pages. "I collated it an integrated it with your stuff. "

Kanna phews.

Kanna says, "Thank the pyricorn."

Gabrielle blinks. "Well, it was mixed in with some of your old stuff,
too."

Kanna says, "I had visions of the entire forestals coming after my
head if ALL of it had been repeated."

Gabrielle says, "That's how I knew to mash them together."

Kanna nods.  "Yeah, I can see that now."

Lian arches an eyebrow as she reads the prophecy, and removes her
crystalcomp from its sheath. "I think you should see this, then ... "

Kanna asks, "Hm?"

Kanna says, "Well, I'm almost done with my story, lemme get that
done?" She quirks a smile.

Kanna also nibbles a bit of her teriaki chicken.

Lian nods, fiddling with the crystal. "Go on."

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

Akemi pages, "Did you send to me too?" to you.

You page, "Well, you'sd already had a copy from earlier, but... :)
Sure, have another copy." to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "That would assume I know where I put it. :)" to you.

You page, "Right. :)" to Akemi.

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

Kanna says, "So, we healed up, rode off into shadow for Ukyou's Key
again, and finally encountered those four after almost ending up in
Dinosaur World again... though this time, I suspect it was just in our
way." She takes a deep breath, and closes her eyes.  "And we took 'em
down."

Kanna says, "Took a bit of doing, too... got a nasty gash from the
one's sword."

Kanna says, "And we took the Second Key from them, and Ukyou confirmed
it was the one he was looking for." She taps the key again.

Kanna says, "And yes, by this point, we both knew that both keys were
pieces of the Logrus."

Beowulf says, "They're gone? Ow." He sighs. "The dwarves were pretty
much idiots, but the priestess seemed fairly nice."

Kanna mmms.  "Well, she tried to hamstring my horse by shapeshifting
to a wolf."

Beowulf BLINKS. "Pieces of the Logrus?"

Gabrielle says, "They'll be back."

Kanna says, "All four had Chaos blood, but no Logrus."

Kanna looks at Gaby.

Kanna asks, "Eh?"

Gabrielle shrugs. "I'm only guessing. Sword-boy already lived through
being shoved onto the Pattern during the Crisis."

Lian nods to Bey, "Yup." She blinks. "Oh, did I forget to tell you
that detail?"

Kanna blinks at that.

Kanna says, "eee."

Beowulf says, "Um, yes, you did, Lian."

Lian says, "Oops. Well, ours is like that too."

Beowulf asks, "So who ended up with the third Key?"

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

Akemi pages, "Umm...you forwarded me a blank email." to you.

You page, "... weird." to Akemi.

You page, "Check the attachments." to Akemi.

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

Kanna says, "So, we parted ways.  Spellvis left with the Third Key, as
we'd agreed, and Ukyou and I (and sis) went back to Lipun, chatted
with Cousin Shizu for a little bit, and then rode up to the Omotaze
mountains."

Kanna says, "Mind you, sis has -met- Spellvis, so if need be, she can
make a trump of him.  I've got a trump of Ukyou too, now."

Beowulf says, "Spellvis has the Third Key? Drat. This could be a
problem."

Beowulf says, "Anyway, go on."

Kanna says, "Well, the way -I- figured it, he's running around with a
large target on him, same as the rest of us." She looks wry.  "Either
he'll be able to hold onto it, or not."

Kanna says, "and it -was- what we agreed on to get his help in the
last bit."

Beowulf asks, "Still, it isn't quite cricket to go steal from someone
who helped out the family, eh?"

Kanna says, "Well, yeah..." she shrugs, and drinks some of her beer.
"But -If- I'm right, we've got two to go against his one..."

Beowulf says, "True, true."

Kanna says, "He was pretty reasonable, anyway."

Kanna says, "Anyway, so we got up into the mountains."

Kanna says, "The fact we started encountering animal skulls with
slightly-empowered elder signs started to make me think that gee,
Perhaps Ukyou WAS on the up and up."

Beowulf hmmms.  Indeed.

Kanna says, "The frescoes of spatula-wielding warriors forcing a gate
closed helped with that impression."

Kanna indicates the sketch in question.

Beowulf says, "Yes."

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

Kanna OOCly tries resending the gaby-compiled prophesy stuff, whee!

Beowulf OOCly got it. o.o

=====
=====

Kanna says, "We stopped at the inner barrier, Ukyou went on alone with
the key.  Sis and I kept watch..."

Kanna says, "And then the middle of the next day, the top of the
mountain nearly got blown off with Outsider Power."

Beowulf eeps.

Lian says, "Owwie."

Kanna says, "It didn't last long, though, and Ukyou limped his way
back with a dead tenticled horror that had jumped him as he'd closed
the gate, and sis went and torched -that-."

Beowulf says, "Sounds like you were not before time. o.o"

Kanna says, "Thank the Pyricorn the Yellow Sign didn't
appear... Ukyou'd warned me that if THAT happened, bail and tell Anno
to execute the Zero Option for Lipun."

Kanna says, "I don't WANT to think what that could have been."

Kanna says, "No, we were just, JUST in time."

Beowulf covers his eyes. "I don't what to think about what that would
have been either."

Lian says, "I can imagine. Not nice, but the only way to deal with
that, really."

Kanna says, "And that effectively brings us up to to this morning
after we came home, I explained to mom and dad and nagisa and shinobu
where I'd been, and dad being very dissapointed in me."

Kanna sighs.

Beowulf asks, "Howso?"

Kanna says, "As he said 'There are no Gates in Lipun'."

Gabrielle snorts. "Dad doens't know what he's talking about."

Kanna says, "The damn thing is, even WITH going through this, I can
STILL argue EITHER way if Ukyou was scamming me to the Abyss and Back,
or truly on the up and up."

Beowulf nods. "Yes."

Kanna says, "Sis and I were thinking of heading down to Amber to chat
with Grandpa Fuy about the key and the gate and stuff."

Kanna says, "There's clearly SOMETHING out there."

Kanna says, "Wether it truly -was- time-delayed, or if Ukyou opened
and -then- slammed it shut, I don't know."

Kanna says, "Or if this was an entire ruse to get something else, but
then why leave me with this?" She taps the key.

Kanna runs her hands through her hair.

Kanna says, "Or maybe dad was just getting overprotective at the
thought of his daughter running around Shadow with strange guys."

Beowulf says, "I'd almost think he was in league with... hm, Anno, or
*someone*, given some of the things that were practically handed to me
on a platter. Like the vase with the clue to the first Key."

Kanna nods.

Kanna says, "He seemed familiar with Anno, but not with Logrus."

Beowulf says, "At least if you wonder why he'd go through a charade
but then leave you with the key."

Kanna says, "He might've met him in his dream-walking stuff.  I don't
know.  The 'book' he used and referred to was sidar-filled."

Beowulf says, "In any case, it sounds like we're 'meant' to recover
Hoard together, given the way keys 1 and 2 have been... put into our
hands."

Kanna sighs, and leans back on the couch.  "So, my past month leaves
me with more questions than answers.  Mom suggested investigating the
gate... I'm inclined to do that,and perhaps Ukyou's family as
well... two birds, one stone, check if there were any reports of an
Okonmoiyaki selling family getting killed."

Kanna mmms at that, and nods.

Kanna says, "Keeper and Heir together may recover the Key / Seek it in
Chaos, then must the Keeper / Use it to lock that which is Outside
Outside / Then deliver it up unto the Heir of the Sun / For, it's
purpose done, a new one waits."

Beowulf nods. "I was planning on going after the other two keys next;
given this..."

Kanna says, "Really, it's a race for the site."

Gabrielle blinks, then does the 'counting in my head' hand guestures.

Lian says, "Looks like we can fast forward to find the site of the
spikard."

Beowulf says, "I'm almost certain I know where it is."

Kanna says, "IF this key is truly the second."

Kanna says, "It -might- not, but -I- sure as hell don't know many who
make keys out of pieces of Logrus that sis can TOUCH."

Gabrielle says, "Thirty-nine nine.... thirty-nine ten... thirty-nine
ELEVEN."

Gabrielle says, "Dammit."

Kanna blinks at Gabrielle.

Kanna asks, "... what?"

Lian blinks at Gaby?

Beowulf asks, "Eh, Gabrielle?"

Gabrielle says, "He didn't close it when he was supposed to."

Kanna pauses at that.

Gabrielle says, "thirty-nine years, eleven months. "

Gabrielle says, "NOT forty."

Kanna says, "... if it was -supposed- to be 40 years.." She frowns.

Beowulf says, "...oh."

Gabrielle says, "In fact..... it's NOT forty years yet."

Kanna says, "I .... really... REALLY fucking hope..." Her fist
tightens by her side. "... dammit, I don't know WHAT to think
anymore."

Lian says, "... strange. Taking a look at that gate seems to be a good
idea now ..."

Kanna nods.

Kanna says, "With Temporal Scrying if anybody's got that."

Gabrielle says, "Now, maybe thigns were just a bit flexible. But
still."

Kanna nods.  "I think I was, at one point, wondering about his
estimates, but with the wandering shadow and running around...."

Kanna mutters, "if he -has- scammed me, the fact that his butt is cute
and i think I was starting to like him ain't gonna stop me from
-slamming- his butt into the concrete at the next opportunity."

Gabrielle scratches her head. "There's a fine line between scamming us
and just being secretive."

Kanna nods.  "yeah."

Gabrielle says, "I didn't -feel- like he was lying to me, and I'm
better with stuff like that since my upgrade."

Kanna says, "The problem is FINDING it with all the blurring."

Kanna siiighs.

Kanna goes, and gets herself another beer.

Beowulf asks, "Looks like we both have a few questions to answer about
how these dropped into our hands. I had been planning on going after
the other two keys next; now that I know where they likely are, I'd
probably want to go after the other question I had -- how'd the vase
get returned to me, and why?"

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

Nagisa says, "OOC Hmm, I just noticed it is 2 am where Phil is.  While
I can happily game into the night..."

Kanna OOCly says, "is seeing this through."

Nagisa says, "OOC I don't want to annihilate Phil."

Kanna OOCly says, "Let's get Lian's prophesy stuff going and through,a
nd I can suggest plans for the groups on splitting up."

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

Kanna says, "That was the general feeling I got over the entire thing.
He was earnest about his goals, but the stuff in the interim..."

Kanna pops open her next Guinesss, and drinks it.

Kanna says, "If our paths cross again... ours and Ukyou's, that
is... we can put the question to him."

Lian nods.

Kanna asks, "So, what's -your- contribution to all this, Lian?"

Kanna smiles, cockeyed, and sits back down again.

Lian sighs. "Probably more worries." She puts the crystalcomp on the
table, a page already called up in its display. "At the library I not
only got the Sidar dictionary, I also did some research into spikards
and Outsiders. Spikards, I didn't find that much, though we have a
complete list now. Outsiders, I found quite a bit more ... including
another cute prophecy."

Kanna groans.

Kanna says, "Prophesies and Spikards."

Kanna says, "There must be some factory out in Shadow cranking them
out just to annoy us."

Lian grins, "I'm not going to tell you that I'll be trying to build my
own spikard, then." The grin vanishes, "Here's the prophecy. Read, and
tell me what you think."

Kanna hrms, and goes and reads.  "Hey, ones you build -yourself-, you
can trust..."

Gabrielle peers at the crystalcomp.

====
====

Lian . o O ( OOC: Prophecy sent. Someone please forward to Merc. )

Kanna OOCly forwards.

====
====

Kanna murmurs.  "Well.  well well well."

Lian says, "It caused me a few sleepless nights."

Kanna says, "I can see why."

Kanna says, "It extends that part I was thinking for the Lion
Spiakrds, though..."

Gabrielle says, "Hey, you've got the line I missed."

Kanna asks, "hm?"

Kanna reads, and then hrms.

Kanna says, "'Keeper of the Keys/Spreads his faith with lies', you
mean?"

The images seem to be direct scans of the original pages, even showing
annotations here and there ... (The Prophecy, in fact, has the
annotation of 'this must be some future event; the Blades are not yet
in those places'. Sadly, no date of annotation indicated.  The
annotations refer to a dozen or so books of Lore)

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

The_Prof pages, "I'm gonna kill Mike. :p" to you and Chris.

Chris pages, "Why? :)" to you and The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "The White Man sank her continent; kill Whitey. :p" to
you and Chris.

In a page-pose to you and The_Prof, Chris snickers.

In a page-pose to you and The_Prof, Chris went ... at that the first
time he read it too.

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

Lian says, "Not that specifically, the whole thing."

Kanna mmms, and nods.

Gabrielle says, "Yeah, I missed that the first time." She blinks
again. "Hey, you're in here. spiff."

Kanna asks, "Huh?"

Kanna reads onwards.

Lian nods.

Kanna says, "Well, I see this ref to the patternblades..."

Kanna says, "And the logrusfoils..."

Gabrielle smiles thinly, then runs a finger around the faint crease
that's still on Kanna's neck, even years after.

Gabrielle says, "The hanged woman."

Kanna shivers a bit at the touch. ".... good pyricorn."

Kanna says, "dreamer flies on dragon's wings... Naussica"

Kanna says, "Son of the Seas... Lucien."

Kanna pauses, and moves up back a phrase or two.

Kanna says, ".... shit.  they're going to target the Keep."

Kanna says, "And perhaps even Yig.,"

Kanna says, "Shit shit shit."

Gabrielle blinks. "Draw forth it's eye to... Lian, are you SURE about
that translation of 'eye?'"

Kanna looks up.  "What happened to the Logrusfoil shaft had?"

Gabrielle says, "Might it not be 'Eye?'" You can hear the capital.

Lian nods. "I've already warned Shizumaru."

Kanna says, "Thank Pyricorn."

Kanna looks at those sections.

Kanna says, "Shit."

Kanna says, "If ... if I'm not off base here...."

Beowulf reads the part about boxing at shadows. "...shit."

Kanna says, "Yig's got a Logrusfoil AND perhaps even the Demi-Jewel of
-Wood-."

Gabrielle says, "The EYE of Wood, Kanna."

Beowulf says, "Anno's parting hint to me: 'Those who box overlong with
shadows may find that what cast those shadows has moved on without
them.'"

Kanna says, "-Exactly-, Sis."

Kanna says, "Demi-Jewels, Elemental Eyes."

Kanna looks at Bey.

Lian asks, "Where do you get the Eye part from?"

Kanna says, "That could be interepreted multiple ways, Bey.  One way
would be... if you worry too much on prophesy, stuff's gonna pass you
buy."

Kanna says, "From mom's stories about Juri of Avalon."

Lian says, "No, that Yig hides the demi-jewel."

Gabrielle turns to Lian. "The -proper- term for the Demi-jewels of
Judgement, Lian."

Beowulf says, "Yah, kinda what I thought, Kanna. Still, 'box at
shadows' gave me a bit of a turn."

Kanna says, "Draw forth its eye, and the tree will fall/ Smite the
tree, and anarchy will flow / Boundaries break, and freedom reign"

Gabrielle says, "Although.... it could also refer to the Golden Tree."

Kanna says, "And Yig marks the boundary."

Kanna says, "between Order and Chaos."

Gabrielle says, "That holds the Outsiders out of the Keep, and has a
Flawed Eye in it."

Kanna says, "That, and reffing back up in the Gloom/Blood/Steal"

Lian nods to Gaby. "The stanza mentions the Keep of Yog-Sothoth, after
all."

Kanna says, "Bit, that is."

Kanna says, "Point."

Kanna says, "I was connecting up to the prior part, and the Golden
Tree is recent."

Kanna says, "-Yig- has been there since forever."

Lian says, "The boundary is possibly the one between our universe and
the Outsiders' place, then."

Kanna mmms at that again, and nods.

Gabrielle says, "Well, Yig might have -THE- Eye of Wood."

Kanna says, "Heh. -I- could be boxing at shadows, too."

Kanna nods.

Kanna says, "-I- don't know, honestly.  It was just a logical jump."

Kanna drinks more of her beer.

Gabrielle says, "They're damnably rare for some reason. Flawed and
Broken Fire Eyes are very, very common; people out in Shadow are
always building them into machines. Water is the next most common."

Beowulf says, "I'd tend to think it's referring to Yig."

Gabrielle says, "Then Air and Metal, then Wood, which are damn near
impossible to get."

Kanna nods.  "Prolly 'cause people keep wanting to power their
toaster-ovens across shadow.  Fire jewels control -energy- in raw
form."

Gabrielle says, "Yes, we're good at that."

Kanna looks at the stuff, and does more fun transcription.  "I have to
wonder if Yig gave me what I did to give me the building blocks to get
a foothold on what was to come."

Kanna says, "Not ALL of it, but Just Enough."

Kanna says, "Turning a prophesy that would be supporting the
Outsiders, into something to support the Good Guys."

Beowulf says, "Could be. Though I wonder at its demands for secrecy,
given how much of it we've found floating around."

Kanna says, "Well, probably the stuff about Aunt Juri, moreso." She
quirks a smile.

Gabrielle says, "Well, Kanna has kind of a 'Rosettas Stone' propehcy."

Kanna says, "And the stuff we need to fight it."

Beowulf nods.

Kanna says, "If a prophesy gets blown too early, others can
counteract."

Gabrielle says, "In and of itself, very general, but we can mix and
match it with all the others."

Kanna goes, and looks back at the parts that had originally been
relating to the lion spikards.  "... empire in flames...  hm."

Gabrielle frowns. "Okay. Now I'm worried about Drake. Okay, sure I
never actually MET the man..."

Kanna glances at Gabrielle. "You too?"

Kanna says, "Hell, Drake showed up in my trump fortune, too."

Gabrielle says, "Nono." She taps a prophecy. "Werewindle was the Day
Sword."

Kanna nods.  "Yup."

Kanna blinks.

Kanna says, "Shit."

Gabrielle says, "And Drake, from what they say, was about as inhumanly
good at the arts of war as you can get." She taps 'transfixed God of
War.'

Kanna asks, "You think he's been crucified?"

Lian winces.

Kanna says, "So somebody else is running around with WErewindle?
Wuuunderful."

Gabrielle says, "Well, maybe." She scratches her head. "These things
always make me think funny."

Kanna quirks a smile.  "It's okay, sis."

"Maybe I need some new stallers."

Kanna asks, "The Night Blade is Greyswandir... and hm.  Perhaps it
ended up in Rebma again when the Jewel of Judgement was there?"

Kanna says, "Sun at Noon -- Merhallow, waiting the 'ever burning
brand'."

Lian says, "Awaiting its master in a tower ..."

Kanna says, "Dawn -- Micklefang/Justice, which was being used by Shaft
as the Marshal of Amber."

Kanna says, "And Evening, Withywindle, the Wood Blade, sleeps beneath
a forest."

Gabrielle says, "You know... two of us have Pattern Imprints, and I
-am- a Pattern. We could probably -walk- to half this stuff."

Kanna says, "So, this Black Heart prophesy appears to be guiding the
bad folks to trying to acheive their goals of duing Really Bad
Things."

Kanna quirks a smile.  "True."

Lian says, "Pretty much, yes. Like becoming the new soul of the Outer
Gods. Which is definitely a Really Bad Thing."

Kanna says, "meanwhile, -our- stuff gives us hope and stuff to
acheiving -our- goals to trying to PREVENT this."

Beowulf says, "Or even walk the Pattern and teleport to the stuff."

Gabrielle sighs. "You know, you'd think I could DO that."

Kanna says, "But that poses its own risks.  That's the reason why I
didn't walk sis to try and just dump me in Aunt Juri's lap."

Kanna says, "But I suspect we're going to need Aunt Juri back to
-fight- some of this shit."

Beowulf says, "Speaking of Pattern... look at all those references to
Blood, and what happened to Shaft."

Kanna nods.

Kanna says, "That sort of thing gives me nightmares."

Kanna says, "Hell, it -did-."

Beowulf says, "But it will take nine/Whose blood holds power"...

Kanna says, "There was a -reason- I stayed at mom's beach house for a
bit after hearing this, bey."

Kanna mmms at that.

Lian says, "There's a lot of nines in this. Nine whose blood holds
power, nine who would be the new Herald ..."

Beowulf nods.

Beowulf says, "All the references to Melkor and nine..."

Kanna says, "Nine Lion Spikards... Nine seems to be a big Outsider
number."

Lian nods.

Gabrielle says, "There is... no... Melkor."

Beowulf says, "So far, Aunt Nanami has been sealing them. We need to
see about a way to actually destroy them, I think."

Kanna nods.

Lian eyes Gaby.

Kanna says, "Anymore, perhaps."

Gabrielle says, "Only.... Morgoth. The Black... Enemy." She licks her
lips.

Kanna says, "... ah."

Lian asks, "Morgoth, hm?"

Beowulf asks, "Morgoth... didn't Shaft once fight someone by that
name?"

Kanna mmms quietly, and rubs her brow.

Kanna says, "Yeah.... in Berliand, the home of the Arden Elves."

Kanna says, "'ccording to the Elves, he totally -reamed- him.
Literally."

Beowulf asks, "And will the real Morgoth please stand up?"

Lian asks, "Gabrielle ... why do you say that there is no Melkor? do
you mean that there is no Melkor now, or that there never was one?"

Gabrielle chews her lip, and her forehead beads with sweat. "He was
jailed... by those who dwell... in the Blessed Realm... beyond the
Gates of Night... in the Halls of the Dead... chained until the
Last... by the hand of Aule... and Thangorodrim lies broken... and his
Lieutenant was scattered... by the Scion of Order... who... who..."

Gabrielle collapses into her chair, breathing heavily.

Kanna sighs, and moves over, to squeeze Gabrielle's hand.

Kanna looks at Lian and Bey, as if to say 'Don't Ask Further.'

Beowulf raises an eyebrow, but stays quiet.

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

You page, "Aaand does that sound familiar to Kanna's Arden Lore
skill?" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "You remember hearing Thangodrim was Morgoth's mountain
fortress." to you.

You page, "*nod*" to Akemi.

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

Gabrielle whispers, "Every time I try that, it never works like it's
supposed to."

Kanna leans down, and gives her sister a kiss on the forehead, and
murmurs back, "don't force yourself, sis.  I don't want you hurt, and
I don't want to lose family."

Kanna quirks a slight smile.  "We can muddle through this, somehow.
It's what we're -here- for," she whispers.

Lian asks, "What did you try, Gabrielle?"

Gabrielle sighs, and pulls herself together. "It never WORKS right."
She glances at Lian. "I tried to stop limiting myself. "

Kanna -looks- at Lian, and then sighs.  "Limits are there for good
reasons, usually." She smiles a bit.

Lian nods, hmming a bit.

Kanna takes a deep breath.  "Well.  We've gone through more prophetic
goodness than is good for twice as many people here to go through.  I
propose some action now."

=====
=====

Nagisa says, "OOC You should go to Dworkinland! :)"

Beowulf says, "OOC Where everyone knows your name. ^_^"

=====
=====

Gabrielle wipes some sweat away. "I'm sorry. I'm... i'm supposed to
know COHERENT prophecy,but every time I try...."

Kanna says, "We need to notify folks with warnings, and continue
investigations and moving towards the Hoard of the Dragon.  Just
because we've got two of the Keys doesn't mean folks won't try to grab
'em from us."

Kanna helps her sis dry off.

Beowulf says, "Once we have the third key, we're pretty much there
except for travel time."

Gabrielle pulls up her legs under her, and closes her eyes.

Kanna says, "Sis?  If prophesy was immediately coherent, it wouldn't
be a prophesy, it'd be an instruction sheet.  Don't worry yourself
over it."

Kanna mmms, mvoes around, and starts massaging her sis's shoulder.

Kanna says, "Hell, how many years did it take until Yig started making
sense in full?"

Beowulf says, "Travis said the map could be one of two places: 'The
Temple of Screaming Undead Hordes' or 'The Temple of the Mad Cobra
God'. The former is on the Discworld."

Lian asks, "How do you feel, Gaby?"

Gabrielle sits quietly, her eyes closed, indian style.

Kanna says, "Spellvis said 'Temple of the Really Bad Dead Things'"

Beowulf says, "Yup. Undead Hordes."

Kanna makes a 'don't ask questions right now' motion at Lian, still
massaging her sister's shoulders.

Lian looks over to Beowulf, "Does that mean I should get a Holy Water
supersoaker?"

Beowulf says, "Quite possibly. But there's more..."

You page, "Make note.  Thwap Lian.  Good-naturedly, but still." to
Mercutio.

Beowulf says, "Jacqueline drank from some kind of prophecy well when
she was with Odin. It said something about looking for Hoard in the
temple of death, on a flying world."

Kanna says, "cute."

Beowulf says, "I think that pins it down pretty closely."

Beowulf says, "Three different data points... good enough
triangulation for me."

Gabrielle's head lolls a bit as Kanna rubs her neck.

Kanna says, "Well, that takes care of destination.  So... how about
this, to float ideas.  We've got a LITTLE bit of window... not much,
given everything and everybody and their dog hunting for spikards.
Bey, you get back with Lily and Mitsune, and start informing stuff and
filling them in about the stuff prophesy-spikard wise, and warning the
Amber contingent.  Lian and I can warn mom, and then go and see
Dr. F. about second keys and gates and stuff... -and-, if you're
amenable, Lian, I'd like to shanghei you breifly to visit Lipun and
the gate area again.  If you know Temporal Scrying, so much the
better."

Kanna smiles a bit down at her sister, getting allllll that tension
out.

Kanna says, "If not, I can see about shangheiing Mia for some
fieldwork, since she and Keiko correspond."

Beowulf asks, "Hm. How much prophecy?"

Gabrielle is still pretty tense. In fact, her cheek is starting to
twitch.

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

You page, "... is this a good sign or bad?" to Akemi and Mercutio.

Mercutio pages, "Maybe both. ^_^" to you and Akemi.

You page, "as -I- OOC am worried and would like it NOT to go
3-for-tree with constructs getting hurt. :P" to Akemi and Mercutio.

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

Beowulf says, "The other thing I thought of doing is doing a quick
shadowalk to where I could find out about why the vase got sent back
to me."

Beowulf says, "As if we have two of the three keys, it's not likely to
go anywhere without someone coming after us."

Kanna leans down,a nd murmurs in her sis's ear, "Sis, if you want to
punch out, we'll understand."

Gabrielle doesn't answer.

Kanna looks worried down at her sister, and looks more worried up at
Bey and Lian, somewhat afraid as she does so.

Beowulf whispers to Kanna, "Trump your mother, and have her check
Gabrielle out?"

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

You page, "Arrrrgggghhhhh... now it IS late. |P But can't let go." to
Akemi.

Kanna OOCly argggs, as now it -is- getting late.

Kanna OOCly says, "or more to the point, is past it, kinda."

Nagisa says, "OOC Ummm...it's 330 on the East Coast.  I don't mind,
but I think we will soon slay Phil :)"

Beowulf says, "OOC Ayup. o.o"

Kanna OOCly says, "can we resolve this in a way that WON'T have me
SLEEPLESS all night?"

Nagisa says, "OOC Snap out of it, Gabby :)"

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

Kanna purses her lips.  "... not sure how much that'd help, bey," she
murmurs back, and sighs.  "wish we'd stop pushing her like this."

Lian says, "Well, Kanna ... we can do the Gate check. I want to talk
with uncle Fuyu anyway ... " She hms, peering at Gaby. "Gabrielle?"
She extends a finger. *poke* "Gaby?"

Gabrielle's head jerks up.

And her eyes fly open.

And then burst into flame.

Kanna glacks, and backs up, automatically.

Lian pulls back. "Hey, hot stuff. Get yourself under control!"

"Seek ye the child/ who dwells in the Blessed Realm/ Beyond the sea/
Child of the Weeping Woman/ and her Champion./"

Kanna pauses at that, and mvoes to the endtable to take notes... and
to keep her burnables out of Gaby-burn range.

"Trained by the Forger/ steeped by the Deathlord/ nurtured by the
Mother/ in his hair, Stars/ and in his mind, the Sun."

Lian blinks and takes the crystalcomp, setting it to record.

Beowulf starts taking notes as well.

"He knows the arts/ his Father would not learn/ and his Sister
misuses/but he knows not/ from whence he comes."

"If the child comes/ to the realm of order/ realm of her Greatdam/ who
will teach/ what must be taught/ what must be learned..."

"... to be Menelcamar."

Kanna . o O (Well, you wanted to try and recite prophesy, sis...)

Gabrielle's eyes flare blindingly bright, and when you can see again,
she is gone.

Kanna gahs!

Kanna blinks away the stars.

Beowulf calls out, "Gabrielle!"

Kanna sighs at the incinerated place where Gaby was sitting.

Kanna says, "Bey.  Leave her alone."

Lian sighs. "Owwie. Poor Gabrielle ... "

Kanna sighs, and rubs her brow.

Beowulf looks hurt. "I just wanted to make sure she's all right."

Kanna sighs again, and hugs Beowulf.

Kanna says, "...i know.  good pyricorn, you mean so well."

Lian asks, "Kanna, she -is- okay?"

Kanna says, "As I said to Bey, and I don't know if I said to
you... Sis is tied to the Fire Pattern... but the Fire Pattern, and
the Patterns as a whole... know things she doesn't."

Lian says, "I know the mechanics, Kanna."

Lian says, "And I have an idea of the dangers inherent in what she
did, which is why I asked."

Kanna lets go of Beowulf, and sounds... small.  "I don't know, Lian."

Beowulf sighs, and patpats.

Lian nods, "Can you check somehow without calling on her?"

=====
=====

You page, "Hm... How -would- I check?" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "You could go walk the FP and go down into her control
room." to you.

You page, "Wheeee." to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Other than that, not much else you can do if she chooses
to be silent." to you.

=====
=====

Kanna takes a deep breath.  "I'd have to walk the Fire Pattern and go
inside her machinery.  Other than that... nothing really, if she wants
to not speak."

Lian says, "Okay ..."

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

You page, "(suppose I could check to see if Shinobu or Mom have
suddenly gotten interruption of service, tho.)" to Akemi.

You page, "(since Shinbou was with her mom, Gaby... and mom wears
manifestations all the time.)" to Akemi.

In a page-pose to you, Akemi nods

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

Kanna looks thoughtful, and pulls out her trump deck.  "Or, I could
try trumping Shinobu or mom, and see if they've noticed anything odd."

Kanna pulls out Shinobu's trump, and looks wryly at the image of Young
Shinobu there.

Shinobu Minor says, "Hi!"

Beowulf says, "Hm, yes." He smiles a bit.

Kanna smiles at Shinobu.  "Hey there, Shinobu.  How you've been liking
the town?  You and your mom running around okay?"

Shinobu Minor says, "We're having fun!"

Kanna grins a bit.  "Cool.  Whatcha doing right now?"

"Oh, we're at a play right now."

Kanna whistles a bit.  "Cool... which one, and where?  It's been a
while since I've been able to see a good one."

=====
=====

Nagisa says, "OOC warning, I go to bed in ten minutes, so we stop then
whether we finished or not :)"

Kanna OOCly says, "no problems.  Should wrap before that."

Beowulf says, "OOC Ayup. o.o"

Lian OOCly nods. x.x

=====
=====

Kanna's body lets out some of the tension she's been showing.

"The Tragedy of Gil-Galad."

Kanna says, "Oh, right, that one." She smiles a bit.  "Well, you two
take care, okay, and give sis my regards, okay?"

Kanna says, "Bey and Lian and I are gonna be running around a bit
through the rest of the day."

Shinobu Minor says, "Okay!"

Kanna quirks a smile.  "Maybe we'll luck out, and see you at dinner?
Take care, you two."

Kanna lets the connection drop, closes her eyes, lets out a shuddering
sigh, and goes to her knees (which makes her about eye-height with
Lian).  "They're okay they're at a play nothing weird's happened to
them...."

Beowulf hugs Kanna.

Lian hugs Kanna. "Good ... "

Beowulf says, "You know, I just realized something... you're now
Auntie Kanna, aren't you?" He grins. "Something to cheer you up,
anyway."

Kanna trembles under their hug, but doesn't resist them.  "...good
pyricorn don't want things to happen to sis or mom or dad but have
nightmares since heard about shaft...." she shudders, tears at the
corners of her eyes, and then glances up at Beowulf, and cracks a
slight smile.  "... well, was a half-aunt before, but... yeah... 'n
there's morgan, too...."

Beowulf says, "True, but now you're a full Aunt. Auntie Kanna." He
grins and tousles her hair.

Kanna sags as the tension and fear bleeds out of her body under the
mutual hugging.  ".... thank you.  both'f you."  She blushes at the
ruffle.

Lian smiles, "Already an aunt ... " She winks, "Any bets on when
auntie Corrine starts wondering when she'll become a grandma again?"

Kanna just coughs and -blushes-.  "... nocomment."

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

Beowulf asks, "OOC And shall we wrap here?"

Kanna OOCly says, "Yes."

Kanna OOCly says, "With this, I figure Bey goes off with Lily and
Mitsune for a bit, and Kanna heads off with Lian to get into trouble
on seperate tracks until they rendevous."

Nagisa says, "OOC Okay, goodnight, everyone."

The_Prof pages, "Well, if Ucchan isn't to Kanna's tastes, we'll just
have to stir up someone else. :) Ucchan *could* be a shapeshifter, you
know... :)" to you.

Lian says, "OOC G'Night."

Beowulf says, "OOC For a bit, at least."

Beowulf says, "OOC Right. Night, all."

Akemi has disconnected.

You page, "Well, 1) John's hinted that there's two other potential
suitors seeking -kAnna-, and 2) Gender isn't the issue to Kanna right
at the moment about Ukyou." to The_Prof.

Gabrielle says, "OOC: ph33r my l33t pr04ecy sk1llz."

Lian says, "Roit."

Kanna OOCly says, "Well.  I can safely say you took a year ot two off
Kanna's life right there, Merc."

The_Prof pages, "Oh, I know that's not the *main* factor with Ukyo,
but you never know..." to you.

Beowulf says, "OOC Ayup. o.o"

Gabrielle bows. "I aim to please."

Kanna OOCly says, "OOC, I can say 'hey, part of the original design
spec of Gabrielle has been fulfilled!'"

Beowulf says, "OOC Oh? o.o"

Kanna OOCly says, "She -was- supposed to have a slight vein of
'Archangel Gabriel' in her."

Lian says, "Bad Gaby ... trying things like that."

Kanna OOCly says, "ie, occasional random prophesy."

Gabrielle says, "OOC: Really? Wow, me too."

Kanna OOCly says, "as in, in a character-design sense."

Kanna OOCly says, "Not in a 'Corrine engineering it in' sense."

Gabrielle says, "OOC: Well, this will NOT happen often."

Kanna OOCly says, "THANK YOU."

Kanna OOCly says, "It's one thing to plan these things, it's another
to be on the receiving end. ^_-;"

Beowulf says, "OOC Huh. And yes, Thank you. :)"

You page, "well, one of Kanna's worries is that the 'real' Ukyou got
'assimilated' like Gil-Galad did." to The_Prof.

Gabrielle says, "OOC: Well, you have a fairly bengin and easy to
fulfill prophecy now."

Kanna OOCly says, "On top of all the others. :)"

Lian says, "It better not happen often. Tapping into that particular
power can have Bad Effects on Gaby."

The_Prof pages, "I'd kinda caught that, yes." to you.

Kanna OOCly says, "We're trying to -reduce- their ocurrances,
thankyee."

Gabrielle says, "OOC: What? all I did was deactivate most of my
stallers."

Kanna OOCly says, "Let's not go Three-For-Three in broken constructs
on the good-guy side? *wl*"

Lian . o O ( Patterns. *sigh* Always so careless ... )

Gabrielle says, "OOC: Well, keep in mind that, for a Pattern,
Gabrielle is more-or-less lobotomized most of the time."

Beowulf says, "OOC Ayup, Kanna. o.o Looks like the perceived need I
had for my construct idea is dwindling..."

Kanna says, "mmm."

Gabrielle says, "Admit it, Phil. The rush of pure fear mixed with
adrenaline was good. ^_^"

Lian says, "Not exactly lobotomized, Merc. But she's built on an
human(oid) mental/psychological template, which doesn't work well with
some stuff."

Kanna just -looks- at Merc.

Kanna says, "Next convention, I smite you with the plush Cthulhu,
Merc."

Beowulf says, "Well, I'll be seeing him this weekend... taking
bids... ^_^"

Gabrielle exclaims, "Yeah.... more or less, Brem. Still, when the
gloves come off... BAM!"

Lian says, "A shadow spikard for Bey? ^.^"

Beowulf grins. "Perhaps."

Kanna says, "Anyway.  Good session, if long, and must bed now."

Lian says, "Yeah, except that the BAM can burn Gaby out, Merc."

Gabrielle says, "this is only the second time. The first being when I
almost went head-to-head with the Logrus."

Kanna says, "Ah."

Kanna says, "Well, let's keep the occurances really, really, REALLY
few and far between, shall we? *slight smile*"

Beowulf asks, "At least the Give-Kanna-a-heart-attack ones, ne?"

Kanna lays on the 'You're a -Momma-, don't abandon your kids by doing
stupid things!' guilt.

Gabrielle shrugs. "There are security deivces in place for if I look
like I'll burn out."

Gabrielle says, "although one of them will likely result in me taking
ashot at Corrineif it ever gets set off."

Kanna says, "Hm.  That is a a point, and after the entire 'nearly
getting fried by water' incedent, Corrine would've been paranoi---"

Kanna says, "erm."

Kanna asks, "No go shootie at mom, please?"

Gabrielle says, "Nah, don't worry. Million to one chance."

Kanna looks at this campaign so far.

Lian says, "... Corrine is doomed to be shot at by Gaby."

Kanna starts lobbying for Jacqui to be banished from Ember.  Not
taking any chances.

Beowulf says, "Um, right. o.o"

Beowulf says, "Maybe Kyoko isn't such a bad idea, after all."

Gabrielle asks, "Kyoko?"

Beowulf says, "Just a passing thought."

Kanna says, "Mmm."

Kanna says, "Well, there's Head Chambermaid Kyoko of Ember, but..."

Gabrielle says, "Man, it's been a good night. I could practically hear
Phil's heart skip a beat."

Kanna says, "It's late.  Must sleep.  Must keep characters in head
from worrying."

Lian says, "... remind me to adjust MEchanus' barrier system to
automatically send Jacqui into Primus. Only an incinerated Jacqui is a
good Jacqui."

Beowulf nods. "Sleep well, phil."

Kanna says, "And oh, mommy's walking around upstairs, wondering why
I'm not in bed.  whee."

Lian says, "Goodnight, Phil. And everyone else in there. :>"

Kanna sighs.

Kanna says, "One day, merc."

Beowulf gahs at the time. 9 hour drive Thurs. to look forward to,
whee. o.o

Beowulf says, "Seeya all later."

Kanna OOCly waves.