From tbutler@birch.net Wed Sep 19 22:53:22 2001 Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 21:33:57 -0500 From: Travis Butler To: Chris Bremner , Philip J. Moyer Subject: [UnS] 9/14 II: Beowulf, Thoric and Naru head to Chaos Beowulf trumps up to Yig, then back to Amber, and goes looking for Thoric. You find him in the conservatory, playing his violin. Naru is sitting and listening to him play. Beowulf smiles and listens to them play for a bit, before moving closer. "That's very nice, Thoric." Thoric says,"Hello, Beowulf. How's it going?" Naru smiles. "Hello, Uncle." Beowulf smiles back at them both, looking a little stressed. "All right, though it's been kind of hectic." Beowulf says, "Been doing some prepwork for the Serpent's Horn rescue in fasttime in the bag, got caught up on what Kanna has been doing, and found out something I had to talk to Lucien about before he left for his Rebma preparations again." Thoric nods. "Will we be heading for Chaos soon, then?" Beowulf says, "I just dropped Kanna off there now." He smiles a bit. "I was hoping to talk to you a bit; you seemed pretty depressed while we were in Leng, and I thought I'd see if I could help you feel a bit better before we left. And see if you had any second thoughts about going." Beowulf says, "I'd be very glad to have you along, make no mistake about that." He clasps Thoric's shoulder. Beowulf says, "But things have been getting messy down there -- Lord Lowen of House Helgram just blew up his own house in the Courts of Chaos to trap and kill some members of the Serpent's Horn -- and I thought you should know about that. I'd understand if you don't want to come along." Thoric says, "My grandfather and mother are in danger. I fear we're all going to die, but I have to take the risk." He puts his violin down. "I am neither a great warrior, not a great mage, but I will do my best for my family." Beowulf smiles. "Your best is better than you think, Thoric. You've done a very good job, both at the trump font and in Leng." Naru nods. "Don't worry, Thoric. If just the four of you managed to handle Daffyl the first time, with this many, it'll be a piece of cake." Thoric says, "We managed to RUN AWAY from Daffyl last time, yes." Beowulf nods. "And sometimes that 's the best thing you can do." Beowulf says, "It's smart to realize when a situation is hopeless, and get out to try again." Thoric says, shuddering, "I've never seen anything that powerful." Beowulf asks, "Hm. How was it, compared to that trump font?" He says, "I couldn't tell much of how strong the Font was, but I could FEEL that thing's power." Beowulf nods soberly. "Well, there's always going to be something more powerful out there. And it's no shame to admit that, and leave if you can't handle it at the moment." Thoric says, "Well, running away from it left Daffyl to become the massive threat that he now is." He clearly sounds a little embarrassed and guilty Beowulf sighs. "And if Morgan had recognized that... well, we might not be in the mess we're in right now. No, Morgan sneaking in is what made Daffyl the threat he is now." Beowulf says, "Once Morgan decided he wasn't going to play by Daffyl's rules... well, everything else followed from there. Because he thought he could handle Daffyl, instead of recognizing that he had to play by Daffyl's rules." Beowulf sighs. Beowulf asks, "Or am I just puffing a lot of hot air?" Thoric says, "No, you're pretty much completely correct." He continues, "Grandfather pretty much went along with it, so Mutsumi and I caved." He sighs. Beowulf sighs and shakes his head. "Well... sometimes I forget I'm just as fallable as everyone else. Please, don't hesitate to knock me in the head if I do." Beowulf says, "I think... everyone's fallable. Everyone screws up. You just have to recognize it, and try to fix things." He smiles at Thoric. "I'm very proud of you for trying." Thoric nods. "We all make mistakes, unfortunately." Naru says, "So who all is coming along on this?" Beowulf smiles gently at Thoric. "How are you feeling, now? A little better?" Thoric says, "About as better as I can be under the circumstances. Music helps." Beowulf says, "Thoric, for sure. Kanna is down there, and Mutsumi... Motoko has the Eye right now, and I believe Moriya and Mitusne are coming too." Beowulf smiles. "Music is a wonderful relaxant, yes." Beowulf asks, "Do you want to come as well?" Beowulf OOCly deals with Snickers plopping down in his lap. :) Naru says, "Yes, I'll come." Beowulf nods, hoping folks down there won't mind. "Right. I was distracted and didn't mention you to them -- Jacqui and Moonshade popped in right as I did -- but they shouldn't mind having another proven fighter along with us." Beowulf asks, "You both ready to go?" Naru nods. "I'm ready." Thoric says, "I'm ready." Beowulf nods. "Good. I can store your violin in the bag if you'd like, Thoric." Thoric says, "I'd appreciate that." Beowulf nods and puts the violin in the bag. He holds out his hands to the pair, then trumps them to Yig. Beowulf asks, "Is this your first time in Chaos?" Thoric says, "Yes, I've never been to Chaos." Naru says, "I've been a little past Yig, butnot very far." Beowulf nods. "There's a few things you should probably know... not knowing them was what first got Jacqui into trouble." He goes over the various 'how to do things in the Courts of Chaos' tips and advice he's picked up in the times he's been down there, particularly the bit about the way laws of a particular House apply within that House. They listen carefully; obviously, neither of them wants to screw such things up. Naru asks a lot of questions to clarify things. Beowulf says, "House Gainax, where we're going, is a pretty good place. The people are nice, they're used to dealing with visitors because they're also more-or-less a cosmic 'Lost and Found' bureau, and the head is Anno -- father of Dowager Queen Anthy. So they're relatives, of a sort." Beowulf answers her questions as best as he's able. Beowulf tries to think of anything else to add, after he finishes answering Naru's questions. Eventually, you get everything about as well laid out as can be done in one lecture. Beowulf asks, "Well, that's that." He smiles at them. "Everyone ready?" John asks, "OOC Who you gonna trump call?" Beowulf asks, "OOC Actually, I still have the trump of House Gainax, right?" John asks, "OOC Yep. Gonna use that?" Beowulf OOCly nods. Unless he gets some sort of bad feeling. :) Beowulf says, "OOC But ICly, I suspect he wouldn't. :)" Beowulf says, "OOC Wouldn't have any reason not to use it, that is, since he doesn't want to bother anyone; he called Motoko mostly to let her know he was coming." Blinkiy, you reach the Gardens of the House. Beowulf looks around, then heads over to the area where he was given rooms. Beowulf asks, "OOC Anything going on?" You head on over. As you head down the hallway, you notice a portion of the wall has melted away. You see Kanna, Moonshade, and Mutsumi in the room, talking to the sign of the Logrus... John says, "OOC Go out to main room now." Travis Butler tbutler@birch.net ...Cats are the proof of a higher purpose to the universe.