From tbutler@birch.net Mon Oct 8 18:40:16 2001 Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2001 00:04:47 -0500 From: Travis Butler To: Chris Bremner , Philip J. Moyer Subject: [UnS] Things go to hell with Vice Okay, you turn Vice loose and begin following her. Is Aeris going to also trump scry her continually? Beowulf OOCly says, "Not constantly. Say... every 10 to 15 minutes? Trying to strike an optimum balance between frequency of updates and chance of being detected." You follow Vice around the streets. She goes to her and Mature's house, but no one is home. Then she heads down to a scungy bar called 'The Vulgar Unicorn'. It's a depraved hive of scum and villany; you can smell it a block away. Do you want to go inside to keep an eye on her fairly closely or stay outside? You page, "How easy does it look like I'd be able to blend in/not be noticed?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "It looks like the place is full of demon-form Chaosians,and you'd stand out like a big shiny sign." to you. You page, "Drat. :p Better stay outside." to Akemi. Beowulf waits outside, given that he'd stand out like a sore thumb inside. You wait outside. Vice emerges with a scruffy looking green-skinned humanoid in leathers; he has small horns and goat hooves for feet. Beowulf examines the humanoid for notable features. You page, "WF skills, etc. :)" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "He is no great shakes; you'd guess that he might be able to outfight an Amberite soldier, but he wouldn't last very long against you or Mature." to you. You page, "Or Vice, you mean? o.o Probably not Mature herself, then. :)" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Against Vice, yes. Sigh." to you. You follow them through the mean streets. Finally, they go down an alley and into another building, after stopping at a barred door and giving a password to the man inside; you're able to overhear it. Beowulf examines what he can see of the building and any people he can get a glimpse of when the door opens, plus any other people waiting to go in. Beowulf says, "OOC If only I had a Mitsune's Glib Answers racked... :)" You wait and wait and wait, and no one goes in. Aeris calls you and says, "She's talking to some sort of big ugly guy with white hair and blackleather stuff." Beowulf whispers to Aeris, "What did you hear them say when you scanned?" Aeris replies, "She was asking him if he'd heard from Mature, and he said yes he had, and could pass on a message." Beowulf thanks Aeris and asks her to keep listening on the schedule. Aeris says, "She's saying she wants to meet Mature tomorrow morning at the Black Rock Inn." Beowulf asks, "OOC Has Bey heard of the Black Rock Inn?" John says, "OOC You think you might have passed it earlier today, while following Vice." John says, "OOC Near the Vulgar Unicorn." Beowulf OOCly nods. Beowulf waits for her to finish her conversation and come out. Beowulf asks, "OOC Was there much cover in the area where Bey could draw Vice aside for a quick conference when she comes out, without being noticed?" Aeris says, "The other guy she's with is named Sam. And the guy she's talking to is 'Vicious'." Beowulf OOCly facepalms. She says, "I think it's mean to call someone vicious, though he does look kinda bloodthirsty." Beowulf whispers, "Well, some people want to be called names like that... they're funny that way." "She's about to come back out, Daddy." Beowulf asks, "OOC Bey heard anything about Vicious in his talks with folks?" Beowulf quietly thanks Aeris and waits for Vice to emerge. Akemi pages, "If she comes out with the guy, it will be hard to confer with her; if she comes out alone, there's tons of places to pull her aside." to you. You've never heard of the man. Vice comes back out with Sam. They part once they leave the alley; he heads back to the bar he came from, and she heads off towards her house. You page, "Righto." to Akemi. Beowulf follows Vice back towards her house, keeping an eye out for a place where he can pull her aside for a quick update without anyone spotting them, and also keeping an eye out to see if anyone *else* is following her. You don't see anyone following you. You pull her aside into an alleyway. Beowulf quickly asks her for info on Vicious, and what the plans will be for the meeting tomorrow. She tells you that Vicious is the head of a criminal gang and often has acted as an intermediary for her and Mature in arranging jobs. The plan is for her to meet Mature for breakfast at the Black Rock, where it would be easy for you and anyone else to get private booths and be ready to jump Mature if necessary, though she thinks she can take Mature if she gets the jump on her. Beowulf nods, and asks her if she'd expect Mature to show up with anyone else. She says, "I'd say there's a pretty good chance of it." Beowulf asks her for her best guess on who Mature might show up with for backup, and their capabilities. She says, "She'll probably have a few hired goons hanging about, ready to move if I turn out to be fake or something." Beowulf nods. "No one hugely powerful, then?" Vice says, "Not as far as I know." Beowulf asks, "Right. Anyone else you can think of who might try to muscle in on this?" Beowulf asks, "Or anything else that we should expect from the situation?" Vice says, "Not that I can think of." Beowulf nods. "Good. Go ahead and do whatever you had planned, then... and sleep well tonight, OK? We'll want you sharp in the morning." You page, "aaack...." to Rod. Rod pages, "WHAT?" to you. Rod pages, "what have you done?" to you. You page, "Was just about to trump you and let you know what was going to happen. o.o" to Rod. Rod pages, "i hate you. stay awake." to you. Vice nods. She heads home. In a page-pose to you, Rod idles John says, "OOC You going to lurk inside Vice" You page, "Will do." to Rod. John asks, "inside Vice's house to keep watch? Or have Aeris keep tabs on her? Or both ? Or what?" Beowulf says, "OOC Will lurk in a good spot inside Vice's house. Also want to trump Jacqui to let her know what's coming down, but Rod just idled to drive home. x.x" John says, "OOC True. " You watch Vice through the night. Nothing happens. The next morning, Vice gets up to go to the Black Rock, and we have to wait until you can talk to Jacqui. Beowulf OOCly nods. "Was hoping to let her know what was going to happen the night before, so she'd be ready to come in instead of having to come in on a moment's notice. o.o" John says, "OOC well, we can retcon in you calling her the night before. Once we have her... :)" Beowulf asks, "OOC Indeed. :) Hmmm... would Bey have had any time to check out the Black Rock, see what kind of place it was, and what he'd need to blend in there?" John says, "OOC Yes, if you wanna leave Vice on her own. It's a Chaosian bar, and you're going to need something to let you take on a demonform to blend in." John says, "One wall has booths that can be screened off for privacy." Beowulf asks, "OOC Hm. I forget, did I put a demonform into the shapeshifting ring I put together for the Serpent's Horn raid?" John says, "OOC I don't remember, but you have plenty of time to whip up something to let you do it." Beowulf OOCly nods. "Shapeshifting would be much better than magical disguises around Mature, I'm sure." John says, "OOC Yep" You page, "Ready to go, Rod?" to Akemi and Rod. Rod pages, "yah." to you. Beowulf pages Jacqueline. Beowulf says, "OOC Argh... *trumps* Jacqui. :P" Rod has arrived. Beowulf trumps Jacqui that evening. Jacqueline takes the call. "Hello?" Beowulf smiles. "Hello, Jacqui. Hopefully, things will break with Mature tomorrow morning; Vice set up breakfast with her through a mutual acquaintance named 'Vicious.'" Jacqueline asks, "ah. Things are going well, then? Nothing that would seem to be a Bad Sign?" Beowulf says, "It's at a place called the Black Rock, a bar downtown; if you want to come, make sure you come in demonform. I'm using a shapeshifting item to disguise myself that way." Jacqueline asks, "downtown... er... what exactly is the town?" Beowulf says, "Vice guesses that Mature will have some hired goons along for backup." Beowulf asks, "OOC This is in the Courts, right?" John says, "OOC Yes" Beowulf says, "It's in the Courts. The place has a number of private booths that I and anyone else can hide in, ready to strike if need be." Beowulf says, "She thinks she can probably take Mature if she gets the jump on her, but since Mature is likely to have backup, I want to be there to back her up." Jacqueline frowns. "Just you and her against a lot of thugs, an expert mage, and an unknown third man doesn't sound good. Don't try to take them on without us, okay?" Beowulf nods. "She didn't mention Vicious as someone likely to show up, but I want to be ready in case he does." Beowulf asks, "How do you want to work this? Want me to trump you when she leaves for the rendezvous?" Jacqueline asks, "what do you know about vicious? have you asked aunt yumi or grampa anno?" Jacqueline pauses. "Yes, trump me before you leave." Beowulf shakes his head. "No, I haven't asked them; Vice just said he was the head of a criminal gang, and had often helped arrange jobs for her and Mature." Jacqueline says, "aiyaaaah. Doesn't sound good." Beowulf says, "It all depends on whether he decides to poke his nose in, or not. Vice didn't think anyone was likely to poke their nose in except Mature's hired goons, but she could always be wrong." You page, "Whyfor you think you'll be killed? o.o" to Rod. Rod pages, "i have a bad feeling 'bout Vicious" to you. Jacqueline nods. "Is there anyone else you know of that we can call in for this?" You page, "Yah... I don't think John would have mentioned his name unless he was planning on using him, though it could just have been for local color." to Rod. Beowulf hmmms and thinks. You page, "Anyone else I could think of calling in, given that we're a bit out-of-sync? And do I get any itches from my tactical bump?" to Akemi. You page, "Oh, and did I get any impression of how much to trust Vice's opinion on the unlikeliness of anyone else stepping in? Both trust in her veracity and trust in her ability to predict correctly? :)" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "You'd think that with her brain scrambled up by y'all, she may not be judging entirely accurately." to you. Akemi pages, "You could get Lily's help." to you. You page, "'s what I was afraid of." to Akemi. Beowulf says, "Lily could come along to help, for sure. I don't know about anyone else." Jacqueline nods. "Lily's good, yes. I hope I can arrange something for Mutsumi, though. I don't want a repeat of what happened with Vice." In a page-pose to you, Akemi thinks. You could try contacting Naru too. Beowulf says, "I suspect we should keep Mutsumi out of sight in one of the booths... and probably yourself as well." Beowulf hmmms. "Naru might also be available; I'd have to call her." Jacqueline nods. "A good idea." Jacqueline says, "at the slightest sign of trouble, please do call for backup, though. Us, or Lily, or whoever, just don't get in too deep alone." Jacqueline asks, "is there anything else, uncle?" Beowulf nods. "I was hoping to have someone waiting in the booth with me, yes." Beowulf says, "I can't think of anything else." Beowulf asks, "How well is your trip to Beriland going?" Jacqueline says, "the usual pains of a hellride, but i don't mind. I really haven't had a chance to do much for sis since she came, it's always been my quests, so I'm glad to guide her back to Beleriad." Beowulf nods. "Yes. It's only the right thing to do." He quirks a grin. "I'll call you tomorrow morning when we set out." Beowulf says, "Take care, and talk to you then." Jacqueline nods. "Power Animals be with you, et-cetera." Beowulf closes the connection. Beowulf asks, "OOC About what time is it now? Still time to check with Lily and Naru, and trump Yumi to see if she knows anything about Vicious?" John says, "OOC Yes. You have time to do so." Beowulf checks with Lily and Naru and see if they want to help first. Yes, they're both willing to help. Beowulf then trumps Yumi to see if she has any information on Vicious, and whether he'd be likely to stick his nose in. Sable has disconnected. Yumi tells you that Vicious is a pretty potent fighter, and a decent shapeshifter. He has a ton of minions, but theya ren't so good. He says that Vicious is only likely to get involved in anything if he has reason to suspect Vice has been controlled. Jacqueline says, "OOCLy aiyaaaah o.o" Beowulf nods. "Does he have much in the way of trump abilities, or anything else that might have noticed Aeris' trump scrying?" Yumi continues, "I don't know much about his gang, but I suspect that he probably has at least one sorceror and trump master on hire to watch for things." Beowulf nods. "Right. I'll try to assume that he's suspicious and might drop by." Beowulf gives her the rundown on the Black Rock meeting. "If anything goes wrong, you'll at least know what was planned. Anything I should know about this place before we sign off?" Yumi continues, "I think your group can probably handle his gang, though. All I know about the Black Rock is that lots of criminals meet there." Beowulf nods. "Good enough. Thank you... I really appreciate the help." He closes the connection, and makes a mental note to ask Lily for suggestions on something nice to do for her mother. Beowulf asks, "OOC And fast-forward to next morning?" John says, "OOC Ye[" The next morning comes. Okay, what's the plan? Beowulf says, "OOC Would Naru and Lily come through to Bey before leaving Vice's house? I was thinking they might want to ride in the bag." Peorth falls asleep. John says, "OOC Alrightie, that works." Beowulf says, "OOC Then pull them out once we're in the private booth, unless I can think of a better idea." John says, "OOC That sounds pretty reasonable to you." Beowulf asks, "OOC Does Jacqui want to come along and hide in one of the booths, or does she rather want to wait to be trumped in?" Jacqueline says, "OOCly whatever beowulf's tactics advise." John says, "OOC Coming in with Beowulf means that if Trump gets cut off, Beowulf will have you there and won't risk you and your crew being stuck elsewhere, unable to help him." You page, "Since Mature was able to trump disrupt Bey, I'm guessing it would be better to have her there?" to Akemi. In a page-pose to you, Akemi nods Beowulf OOCly nods, and that just beat out his own question to that effect. :) Jacqueline OOCly will come along with beowulf then.... one thing, though, what would a brief experiment on shifting to Shinobu Major reveal? assume mutsumi was standing by to get jaqui's brain back in order if things went haywire. Jacqueline says, "OOCly it's something she'd want to do before facing combat again" You page, "Along those lines, given that Mature was able to affect the shadow inside the bag a little bit, do I think she could cut off the connection to the bag?" to Akemi. John says, "OOC IT reveals you can handle it, though you have a tendency to forget about your spells and want to go charge things with your sword when you do it." Akemi pages, "You fear she might be able to." to you. You page, "So make sure everyone's out of the bag in the booth, before she arrives?" to Akemi. In a page-pose to you, Akemi nods You page, "Or have them wander in in two or three groups, coming out of the bag outside the bar?" to Akemi. Jacqueline OOCLy will accompany Beowulf then, mindshifted to Moriya. Akemi pages, "Splitting yoru group into several booths might be best." to you. Beowulf says, "OOC Would probably be best to split our group into several booths." Beowulf OOCly sums up. Jacqui comes through to Bey, shapeshifts into demonform, as does Bey through shapeshift item. Lily and Naru come along as well... presumably with shapeshift item for Naru. Naru and Bey will be wearing their Mindbolt rings in case Mature gets frisky. They go to the bar in two or three groups and take two or three private booths in the back, and wait for Mature to arrive. Beowulf asks, "OOC Anything I missed?" Jacqueline says, "OOCLY trumps Jaqui & Co. that is." Beowulf OOCly nods. Jacqueline asks, "OOCly oh.... does mutsumi feel up to joining the mission or does she wanna sit it out in Mo-land?" John asks, "OOC Are you going to bring Moonshade/Mutsumi/Thoric? If so, what role are they playing?" John says, "OOC Thoric and Mutsumi both want to help." Jacqueline says, "OOCLy whatever place Beowulf's tactics designate then." Beowulf says, "OOC Hm. I'm guessing Moonshade should back up Vice and Bey, and target Vicious and any other warriors should they show up; lend her another Mindbolt ring. Mutsumi ready to do mental things to Mature if needed, and handle other magi issues with Lily. Not sure where Thoric should be." You page, "Tactics suggest anything better?" to Akemi. Jacqueline asks, "OOCly advise thoric back up the mages?" Jacqueline asks, "OOCly i.e. lily and mutsumi?" John says, "OOC Thoric makes a pretty good guard for the mages who can also back them up with magic." Beowulf OOCly nods. The rest sound pretty good? John says, "OOC Yep." Beowulf trumps Jacqui as Vice gets ready to leave, and fills her in on the plan, bringing Lily and Naru in as well. The place turns out to have a pretty good sized breakfast crowd. Vice goes and gets a table, you all scatter into your booths. Your nerves are jangling as you wait for Mature to arrive. Most of the customers look pretty much like hardbitten Chaosian demon criminal scum. You page, "Nerves jangling as in warning, or just ordinary nervousness?" to Akemi. You page, "And threat estimate of the environment?" to Akemi. The waitresses aren't much better. You page, "You've certainly got *my* nerves jangling. ^_^" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "You're surroudned by a bunch of nasty criminal scum. You probably couldn't fight everyone by yourself, but most of them would be dangerous if you had less skill. Still, if a riot breaks out, it could get in the way of your plans." to you. Jacqueline just chills, being in disguise, justice nicely bundled and hidden from plain view, mind shifted to that of Moriya to increase her battle wisdom several fold above that of her usual peanut-level skills. You page, "Not sure I'm parsing that correctly. They'd be a threat if they all ganged up, and a riot could interfere with getting Mature, but they're not much of a threat individually to Bey, but might be to the others?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Yes, you're parsing correctly." to you. You page, "Right. Oh, do I get any different estimate off of Jacqui when she's mindshifted to Moriya?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "She takes on Moriya's mannerisms, and youhave the feeling she might do more than be a mild annoyance if you had to fight her. :)" to you. You page, "Heh. :)" to Akemi. Beowulf asks, "OOC Presuming Naru and Lily are in a booth with me, Moonshade, Thoric, Mutsumi, Jacqui in another one?" You page, "Anything I can think of to try to keep the crowd out of it?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Not really." to you. You page, "...right." to Akemi. Yep. Naru and Lily with Beo, Jacqui's crew in the other. You page, "Hopefully Jacqui's uprated tactical skills can make the same estimate. :)" to Akemi. Mature walks in and comes over to Vice's table. She sits down at Vice's table, and they start talking. Beowulf keeps an eye out for other folk entering with notable combat abilities (such as Vicious shapeshifted, perhaps), and any others that might filter in that appear to be backup. You page, "I getting any body language reads off of Vice or Mature?" to Akemi. Beowulf watches the room. It's rather hard to judge the combat abilities of people eating food. But there is a short, flabby guy at one table. Who seems to carry himself like a fighter. Akemi pages, "Mature seems very tense. Vice is relaxed." to you. Beowulf nods... obvious disguise for a fighter, make himself look out of shape and no threat. Beowulf asks, "OOC Was the flabby guy there when we came in?" John says, "OOC Yes. He's got a huge pile of trout on a plate, and has been eating them like there's no tomorrow." Beowulf whispers to Naru and Lily, "Watch out for the flabby guy. He carries himself like a fighter, and he saw us come in and might be able to identify us as a group." Mature reaches over and takes Vice Mature reaches over and takes Vice's hand. It's obvious she's doing psychic contact. You page, "Which means she's likely to detect our surgery?" to Akemi. Jacqueline remains acting all natural... as natural as a Moriya can, anyway. You page, "Or did Yumi and Jacqui do their job too subtly for her to detect, did they say?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "They hope she won't be able to detect." to you. You page, "Right. o.o" to Akemi. Beowulf waits as calmly as possible to see if Jacqui and Yumi's surgery manages to pass muster. Then the two of them get up and walk towards the front door. You page, "Dang it, now I'm really wondering what the heck is going on in there. o.o" to Rod. Beowulf asks, "OOC Where did we say to have Vice lead Mature if she managed to fool her?" Jacqueline simply waits to follow Beowulf's lead. John says, "OOC I don't think we said...probably their house, as you had time to make sure the house wasn't trapped against you and it would be a logical place to go." Beowulf OOCly nods. How much of a lead are you going to give them before you follow them? Beowulf says, "OOC just enough time to make it look natural for them to leave." You get up and start to follow them. Your nerves jangle like a Metallica concert. Beowulf asks, "OOC Then... how hard would it be to get there ahead of Vice? Or would it be better to have Aeris trump us there?" You page, "Warning jangling?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Could be." to you. John says, "OOC You could run and get there that way, or you could have Aeris trump you there." Beowulf asks, "OOC And having Aeris trump us would hopefully lose a tail if we had one?" John asks, "OOC Yes. I assume you're going to want to get out of the bar before you trump to the house? Or are you going to just trump from the bar?" Jacqueline says, "OOCly i vote for outta the bar." Beowulf asks, "OOC What's my read of the situation in the bar? Do things feel tense enough for something to start up immediately, or think things will stay quiet long enough for us to walk out?" John says, "OOC You think you can get out the door without any major trouble starting." You page, "And how much notice would we attract trumping out of the bar, do I think, given that we're in closed booths?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "The staff would wonder where the customers went to, and they'd tink you were skipping out on the bill." to you. You page, "Right." to Akemi. Beowulf says, "OOC Trump from outside of the bar." The mounting bad feeling mounts higher as you head across the bar and out into the dingy, empty street. You can see Vice and Mature walking along calmly a good ways ahead of you. You quickly head for a nearby alleyway. Beowulf stays very alert, watching for possible traps or ambushes. Rod pages, "clearly, they're on to us." to you. Rod pages, "or SOMEONE is" to you. You page, "Yah, unfortunately. :(" to Rod. Rod pages, "that bad feeling isn't constipation" to you. You page, "Was tempted to trump straight from the bar, but that might have caused even more notice." to Rod. You reach the alleyway. You try to contact Aeris. Nothing happens. Beowulf asks, "OOC Feel like a trump block?" Jacqueline asks, "OOCly does our resident trump mistress feel a block?" Mutsumi says, "Hmm, this area seems to be trump blocked." Jacqueline says, "well, that's the start of it." She looks around warily. Beowulf nods. "Let's move out as quickly as we can. Naru, Moonshade, Thoric, we protect Mutsumi, Jacqui, and Lily as we move out to a place we can trump, as quickly as we can without attracting notice." Beowulf OOCly is very glad we pulled everyone in beforehand. You page, "Any other tactical plans I can make?" to Akemi. Thoric and co nod. Moonshade says, "I'm surprised they're not all over us already." Akemi pages, "Perhaps you and Moonshade should take the lead, Naru and Thoric to cover the rear, magi in th emiddle." to you. Jacqueline says, "they could just be waiting to hit us with alarmingly overwhelming force." Beowulf says, "Moonshade and I should probably take the lead, with Naru and Thoric taking rearguard." Lily concentrates for a moment, then her eyes widen. "I have a very, very bad feeling." Jacqueline asks, "perhaps we should run?" She says, "I can't call up the Logrus." Jacqueline says, "erm." You page, "Crap. Can I think of anything that would stop that? Or best way to just get the heck out of here?" to Akemi. Thoric glances at his bracelet, then his eyes widen. "Uh oh." Jacqueline asks, "uh oh what?" Beowulf looks at Thoric. "Go where? Or is it completely dead?" Thoric says, "I have, like this bracelet which normally tells me the best escape route. Well, it just gave the message 'You are soooooo fucked.'" Jacqueline says, "well. damn." You page, "Anything else I can tell from the situation, or just GET MOVING time?" to Akemi. Jacqueline says, "so, erm, I guess we've been made." Akemi pages, "Probably best to get moving. Where you moving to?" to you. Mutsumi twitches. Lily turns into a flying cat. "Well, shapeshifting still works, for whatever that's worth right now." Beowulf says, "Time to GET MOVING." He points to a direction perpendicular to where Vice and Mature went, or his best guess as to an escape route. Jacqueline asks, "Uncle Mo, you there?" You begin to run through the streets. Mo doesn't answer. Where are you making for? Beowulf asks, "OOC Trying to cut over a couple of blocks to one side, try and get out of whatever-it-is. Where are we in respect to other landmarks in the city?" John says, "OOC You're a long ways from anything likely to help you, as this is the skungy part of the city near the Abyss. You couldmake for the Abyss, but I suspect you don't want to." John says, "OOC You could equally well try to head for the Plaza at the End of the World to the North or for House Gainax" Beowulf asks, "OOC How about Vice's house in relation to those two?" John says, "OOC Vice's House is about 5-6 blocks away, much closer." You page, "Except they're probably waiting for us there. x.x" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "It does seem likely, yes." to you. You page, "Hokay, trying to visualize this -- if we head to Gainax, will we be heading towards or away from Vice's house, and in what direction?" to Akemi. John asks, "OOC So what do you want to make for? " Akemi pages, "You'll be heading away from Vice's House." to you. Jacqueline asks, "OOCly does tactics say to run home to Gainax like a little bitch or do we still have a shot?" Beowulf says, "OOC Head towards Gainax for the moment, ask Lily/Mutsumi as we go how large these trump/power blocks normally are." Beowulf asks, "OOC OR do my tactics have a different suggestion?" Lily says, "It should be virtually impossible to block Logrus in the courts." Mutsumi says, "Depending on how much power there is, it could be a few blocks or miles across." Beowulf says, "OOC Crap." Beowulf says, "If they're blocking Logrus in the *Courts*, they've probably got a lot of power to play with." John says, "OOC Your Tactics say to run to Gainax like a little bitch." Jacqueline says calmly, "Perhaps we should run home now." You page, "Mine as well, or that both of ours?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Yours too, although yours wouldn't put it that way :)" to you. Beowulf says, "I think you're right," he says, growling, as they run for Gainax. Thoric says, "Yes." Jacqueline realizes exactly what, or from a certain point of view, who, she might run into back at Gainax and sighs. You run through unfamiliar streets, trying to get to Gainax. There aren't many people on the streets, but given that the Grand Assembly is in session elsewhere in the city, they've likely gone to watch it. You keep heading for Gainax and you keep heading and you keep heading. But it seems like no matter how far you go, you're not getting closer. Beowulf asks, "OOC What can I think of that would cause that?" Jacqueline says, "I have a feeling they're molding the shadow into a big gerbil wheel for us." Jacqueline says, "though since this is the courts, that's one hell of a feat" You suspect that Jacqui is prbably right; someone's molding the shadow to make you go in circles or something. Beowulf nods grimly. "Yes." He curses his lack of Power knowledge, and turns to the others. "Any suggestions for getting around it?" Jacqueline says, "okay. right. okay...... damn. I really don't wanna call it again." The failure to attack seems very strange too. Thoric says, "I've been trying to use Pattern, but I haven't had any luck with it." You page, "All right, I'm getting tired and probably not at 100%... ;_; what should this suggest to me? Someone getting ready to open up on us with something big and nasty?" to Akemi. Jacqueline says, "okay. lots of logrus masters. lots and lots." Jacqueline says, "they're not attacking, but we're not getting anywhere." Akemi pages, "It suggests that perhaps someone simply wants to put you out of the way for a while; that they think they have you trapped and they don't need to BOTHER attacking you, because if you can't get out, then that's good enough." to you. Beowulf nods. "Though Pattern wouldn't work very well in the Courts anyway, I think." He hmms. "Someone probably just wants to keep us on ice for long enough, and don't think they need to attack us while we're trapped. Probably giving Mature and whatever help she can call up time enough to deprogram Vice." Akemi pages, "Also, something very funky is going on, because doing this in the courts ought to be awfully hard to do without attracting the attenton of people like Anno, the Priests of the serpent, etc." to you. Jacqueline says, "it isn't as if we have a choice, anyway." Jacqueline says, "I mean, I could get us out of here, but that would mean using.... you know." Moonshade shouts, "COME OUT AND FIGHT US, YOU COWARDS!!!!" Jacqueline crines Jacqueline cringes A rat runs away from Moonshade, but that's all. Jacqueline says, "Sis... please do not be provoking the hordes of thugs that are likely watching." Beowulf hms. "Even with the Great Assembly going on, I'd think someone like great-grandfather would notice if someone else molded the Courts like that. Can anyone think of a way we could have been shifted elsewhere?" Jacqueline says, "I don't know enough abotu how logrus works to say." Beowulf asks, "OOC *Is* there anyone around, or are the streets pretty much deserted?" Lily says, "They could have molded shadow around the bar to send people into a linked shadow when they exited through the door." Lily says, "If they knew we were coming." Lily says, "Or knew _somene_ was coming." Beowulf nods. "And they might well have known. Presumably molding shadow around the bar would be a lot less complacated than molding the entire Courts." The streets have very few people." Jacqueline says, "Uncle Beowulf.... test your bag." Beowulf checks his watch, and checks the bag. The watch is keeping normal mechanical time, but that's all. The bag doesn't work. Lily tests magic. It doesn't work either. Beowulf says, "Looks like the entire shadow we're in has been sealed off from just about every Power." Jacqueline says, "so. if there's going to be a fight, it'll be with swords." Jacqueline says, "or, we could just be stupidly trapped in here." Lily nods. "They probably molded this shadow to resemble the courts just enough to fool us long enough for us to move away from the entrance and them to mold it shut or move it." Beowulf says, "I'm more concerned with out getting *out* of here." Mutsumi says, "I think if they haven't attacked by now, they just want us to rot in here." Jacqueline unsheathes justice and pokes the ground. You page, "Sorry about this. x.x" to Rod. There is a gout of flame upwards as she pokes the ground, and a great scream of pain that makes the heavens shake. Thoric says, "Fuck." You page, "We should have trumped from inside the bar. x.x" to Rod. Jacqueline says, "errrrr." And then the walls and the ground and everything suddenly moves...closing in on you like a giant trash compactor. Jacqueline says, "oh hell." Beowulf asks, "OOC How long do we have?" John says, "OOC Youhave enough time to draw weapons or to shapeshift to well-known forms before the walls close in." Jacqueline tosses Justice to Moonshade. "Chop time." You page, "This is the reason why I feel so fscking helpless as a WF person without power. :( Would I guess shifting to native form would help, or would it matter?" to Akemi. Moonshade attacks one of the closing in walls. Thoric draws Frostrazor and does likewise. Lily turns into a sort of werecat human/cat hybrid. Akemi pages, "Dude, this is a Warfare situation, because all powers are beingnegated." to you. Akemi pages, "Although it's a not very hopeful one. ^^;;;" to you. Jacqueline draws her silver knife and stabs the ground. You page, "...right, but being negated by something Power-related, I guess. x.x Try cutting with Morkeleb?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Righto." to you. frt Nope. :p Those of you with Weapons hack away as best you can. You can feel a massive, angry screaming mind pressing in on your brains. Flaming blood begins to spurt everywhere, but the walls keep coming inexorably. You hack huge chunks out of it, but there always seems to be more. Jacqueline says, "Damn, this is looking more and more like jewel time." Beowulf asks, "OOC Look like there's no chance of cutting out with weapons, then?" Beowulf nods. John says, "OOC You have the impression that there's nowhere to cut to, that the whole city is alive, and now that you've made it go berserk by setting its blood on fire..." Beowulf says, "OOC trapped inside a huge creature with Chaos blood. Greeeat. x.x" Jacqueline asks, "say, er, anybody got power word resume true form?" Thoric says, "They're blocked too." Jacqueline says, "okay. unless anyone has any other ideas, I think it's jewel time." Beowulf shakes his head. "No other ideas." Jacqueline asks, "OOCly do we seem to be managing to hold the tide or are we losing space here steadily?" John says, "OOC The creature is attacking ever more ferociously,and the ground is increasingly awash in flaming blood." Jacqueline says, "guard me." She tries to establish a link with the jewel of judgement. John says, "OOC You can probably hold it a while longer, but eventually, it seems likely it's going to break through." You page, "I can't think of anything else to do, can I?" to Akemi. You page, "All Powers negated, cutting our way out won't work..." to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Not at this point. If Jacqui hadn't berserked the entire city, you could have tried seeing if there was some way to hack open the portal with Justice or to capture one of the passersby and see if they knew anything, or your entire group could have tried to invade the city-creature's mind by psychic contact, but at this point, you've pretty well screwed yourselves." to you. You page, " Damn. Well, let's hope Jacqui can call the JoJ, because otherwise it looks like we're going to die. Oh, well." to Akemi. The group forms a circle to protect Jacqui. Akemi pages, "Well, you won't die, because the people who captured you want you alive for later use...but you'll get knocked out and have no more chances to escape." to you. You page, "That's good, anyway. x.x And at least Yumi knows what we were going to do, and might be able to start looking." to Akemi. In a page-pose to you, Akemi nods. Jacqui concentrates and reaches out to the Jewel. You successfully link to it. Beowulf concentrates on keeping Jacqui free to act. You're all starting to look a little extra-crispy, especially Moonshade. You page, "Well, at least it'd be appropriate... Jacqui got us into trouble, Jacqui might be able to get us out. o.o" to Akemi. Jacqueline says through the link, "Should there be anyone over there listening, we're in a shadow that's got every power but shapeshifting shut off, and now is folding in to crush us. I'd really rather not resort to this, but hey. Sorry." She pulls the Jewel of Judgement through and creates a barrier around the group. The Jewel pops through. And you hear a mighty voice boom around you. "THE EYE OF THE SERPENT! IT WILL BE MINE!" And then, as Jacqui tries to use it to form a barrier, she feels a mind of surpassing might assaulting hers full force. You page, "Do I think it would be best for Jacqui to just get us out of here?" to Akemi. Jacqueline says, "OOOCly well sonovabitch." Beowulf asks, "OOC Can we all hear that?" Akemi pages, "The problem is that it takes several minutes to Jewel=Port, especially this many people." to you. Yes, you can all hear it. Jacqueline tries to teleport everyone to Gainax. Beowulf exclaims, "Everyone, join with Jacqui and give her mental support!" Jacqui tries to focus through the assault. You all join hands withher and feed her your mental strength as best you can. This makes it a lot harder to defend yourselves against the walls, and as Jacqui continues to concentrate, you all begin doing the 'burn and char and get crushed thing'. DM checks Endurances... Beowulf asks, "OOC Probably have Moonshade help cut, since she's low-psyche... could I feel like my psyche was enough to help, or is it better to help cut?" Jacqueline says, "OOCly i suppose it'd be self-defeating to try to shut off the ability to psychically assault" Rod pages, "you know, i haven't had a day this bad since morgy got fried o.O" to you. John says, "OOC You plus Moonshade is not sufficient to really hold the walls off." You page, "Augh. ;_;" to Rod. John says, "OOC And you have enough Psyche to be of some assistance, since you're not a psyche peanut, even if you're not an expert either." Beowulf asks, "OOC How about Naru? From the Trump font thing, did she have enough psyche to make a difference?" John says, "OOC You have the feeling that you'd have to destroy your own ability to psychically link with the Jewel to prevent psychic assaults happening too,Jacqui." John says, "OOC Naru is a little weaker than you." John says, "OOC You have the impression, though, that if Jacqui doesn't get ALL of you tohelp protect her mind, it's going to get eaten long before the walls crush you all to death." Beowulf says, "OOC So best option is just to keep help... right. Everyone help Jacqui. x.x" Jacqueline says, "OOCly yep." You all desperately help her and try not to be crushed. Mutsumi is the first to pass out. Jacqui would pass out, but she has all your bodies shielding her. Red energy begins to dance over all of you...oh, Jacqui, what's the teleport destination? Beowulf says, "OOC Crap; Mutsumi was the strongest psyche. x.x" Jacqueline asks, "OOCly based on my past experience, how far do I think I can go?" John says, "OOC A Jewelport can go anywhere in creation" Jacqueline says, "OOCly yes, but that doesn't mean we go with the jewel :)" John says, "OOC You could go to Gainax...Amber, Yig, Space Potato Land..." John says, "OOC You can go anywhere at all." Beowulf says, "OOC I'm tempted to say Amber, though Gainax would leave us closer to where we could salvage something." Jacqueline says, "OOCLy gainax will be empty except for a moody logrus." Beowulf says, "OOC Agh. Right, it's the middle of the Assembly. x.x" Jacqueline says, "OOCly teleport us somewhere where we'll be safe from whoever's attacking us that we can freely leave via whatever means we have on hand." Jacqueline says, "OOCly be pretty funny if we land in Juri's patio, eh? :)" John asks, "OOC Okay, so that's what you're focusing on as your destination?" Jacqueline says, "OOCly yep" Beowulf asks, "OOC How likely is that to cause problems? Or is it like Pattern teleporting that way?" Jacqueline says, "OOCLy t's like pattern teleporting" John says, "OOC IT's like walking the Pattern and telling it to 'port you." Beowulf OOCly nods. You page, "Can I think of any problems with that destination?" to Akemi. Lily slumps into unconsciousness as Jacqui rounds the final bends in the Pattern inside the Jewel. She can feel her mind reeling under the assault. Fortunately, she has a lot of help and a very tough mind. Akemi pages, "It seems reasonable to you." to you. Beowulf keeps focusing and trying to help Jacqui as best he can. And then the world goes red around you. Jacqui collapses, spurting blood from nose, ears, mouth, and other orifices. But you find yourself inside a giant buffet restaurant, with hundreds of tables all around you with succulent food and a sign on the wall that says, "Eat all you want for free, we'll make more." Beowulf asks, "OOC Magic work again?" Jacqueline says, "nng.....gha....." You can all feel the psychic assault has ceased. Jacqueline says, "trump..... amber..... now." Lily and Mutsumi slump to the ground. Jacqui now passes out, bleeding. Beowulf tries trumping them to Amber. Moonshade falls down, leaning against a table. Moonshade says, "Fuuuuuuccccckkkk...." Aeris says, "Daddy!" Then she helpsyou trump to Amber. Beowulf dumps what healing he can on the folks worst hurt. Beowulf says, "OOC Probably one of the magi, so they can start healing other folks." Thoric staggers over to Jacqui and dumps a powerful spell on her. Beowulf soon gets Lily awake, and Lily then startshelping people as well. Jacqueline whips out The Convenient Cup of Healing and helps everyone Beowulf checks the watch to see how long they spent in that shadow. Jacqueline says, "that... that.... okay.... that was unexpected." Jacqui feels like death warmed over. You could use a few days rest before you try anything much harder than eating a bagel. Beowulf says, "That was very, very nasty." It would appear the time flow was one to one. Jacqueline says, "i feel like crap." Mutsumi says, "I feel smooshed." You page, "Nasty paranoid suspicion... any way I can think of that they could have gotten to Aeris while we were trapped in there?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "They could have tried shadow walking to her during that time. You're not sure how fast they could have travelled, though since you had the bag and she logrus barred her shadow, you'd expect they'd have a hard time getting in." to you. You page, "So it sounds like it should be OK, then?" to Akemi. Jacqueline stares at the Jewel of Judgement. "I'd send it back, but I think i'd pass out from the effort." Akemi pages, "You don't think you were out of it long enough for them tohave really tried anything." to you. You page, "Right." to Akemi. Moonshade says, "We're at the castle. I can just carry it up to the King." Jacqueline says, "......yeah, do that." Beowulf says, "Anyone who needs it can fasttime heal in the bag." He looks around to see who's still hurt enough to need it. Jacqueline says, "bag." Jacqueline says, "need bag." You're all going to need to spend some fasttimehealing because you've all got nasty burns induced by flaming Chaos Blood, which doesn't heal magically very well. Jacqueline says, "owww." Beowulf says, "Right." He pokes his head inside the bag to make sure everything's all right, then motions folks into it. Moonshade runs the Jewel upstairs to the King, then you all retreat into the bag to spend some time resting. Jacqueline says, "n'I thought getting impaled by a patternblade felt bad." John says, "OOC And we cut here, cause it's 3 am." Beowulf says, "Sort of the same thing, I guess, except that it was all around us." Jacqueline says, "OOCLy okay." Beowulf OOCly nods. Jacqueline says, "Damn, what the hell. We ran into Gigantor the shapeshifter? O.o" Beowulf says, "OOC Trying to figure out how we could have avoided getting in a mess like that. x.x I'm guessing trumping straight from the bar would have done it, but I'm not sure how I could have figured out that was the best thing to do. o.o" Jacqueline says, "i was hoping to disspell some illusion or spack some logrussy goodness when I poked the ground. that was NOT what I expected" John says, "OOC The big mistakes:" Jacqueline says, "nnng. i have a bad feeling I know what a few of them are." Beowulf OOCly sighs. John says, "OOC 1. Monitoring Vice via Trump and having Vice wear a magical item she didn't formerly possess that throbbed great gobs of power (the ring with the Mindblast backed by over a 100 Psyche in it)" John says, "OOC 2. Not monitoring the Black Rock Inn to make sure no one cam ein and set up any traps for you." Beowulf OOCly nods. Jacqueline says, "okay, that's what got us into Gigantor..." John says, "OOC 3. Not bothering to scan the Inn for any sort of magical traps, etc, once you arrived." Jacqueline facepalms. Jacqueline says, "that was somethign I coulda done. damn." Beowulf says, "I guess reducing trump monitoring to 'very occasionally' wasn't enough to keep 'em from detecting it. Though I didn't think of the ring as a problem at all. x..x" John says, "OOC The problem is that 'very occassional' trump monitoring isn't very useful." Jacqueline says, "nng." Jacqueline asks, "okay, once we were inside Unicron the titanic shifter.... our options?" John says, "OOC 4. Not trumping directly to Vice's house" Jacqueline says, "oh there were More mistkaes o.o" Beowulf nods. "I'm just trying to figure out how we could have figured out that trumping directly was the best idea." Jacqueline says, "i tink it was just a strategic option, really" John says, "OOC I gave you another warning of rising danger as you started to follow them, then asked how you wanted to follow them (out the door, then run, or trump to bypass)" Mercutio has disconnected. Jacqueline says, "aaaaah." John says, "OOC Also, it has the advantage that you'd avoid any pursuit or a tail if youhad trumped directly." Beowulf OOCly nods. "I caught the danger warning, but didn't interpret it correctly." John says, "OOC Trout guy was Vicious, btw." Jacqueline says, "....." Jacqueline facepalms Beowulf says, "OOC That's why I'd asked about the downsides of direct trumping; it sounded like it would set up more of an alarm than sneaking out would have." Beowulf says, "OOC I'd figured him for Vicious, yup." John says, "OOC Under normal circumstances, yes. But your analysis was hampered by your group's failure to scan the location you were in for trouble." Jacqueline asks, "how bad of an idea would it have been to start a brawl in the restaurant?" John says, "It would have been a hell of a fight, but with your group's resources, you probably wouldhave won." Jacqueline says, "shit." Jacqueline says, "must remember. violence is always the answer." John says, "As virtually everyone in the place was Vicious' gang, but most of them had at best 5-10 warfare and strength." Jacqueline says, "were they all just thugs/" Jacqueline asks, "or were some of them mages and logrussy types?" John says, "Vicious had one trump guy hidden away, a few weak mages. Mostly thugs." John says, "Once you were inside the living shadow trap,though, you were pretty much screwed." Beowulf nods. x.x Jacqueline says, "damn. woulda been great to have unleashed the revised lightning in that bar" John says, "But I tried to give you some chances to avoid walking into it." Jacqueline asks, "so once we were in Fred the Giant Shadow..... jewel was the only way out?" Beowulf shakes his head, cursing himself. "I scanned for myself, but didn't think to ask the mages to scan for their style of trouble." Jacqueline says, "there was one option i didn't explore but felt we were a bit pressed for survival time on so I didn't..... would we have won in psychic combat vs. the, er, living shadow? or how about if I just let loose and started unleashing JOJ blasts" John says, "If you'd accosted one of the passersby, you could have learned what you were dealing with, at which point, you could have tried invading its mind as a group effort to try to force it to let you go." John says, "OOC Or to learn wehre the exit was." Jacqueline says, "aaaaaaaagh" John says, "OOC The Jewel was both the easiest and also the most dangerous way out." Jacqueline says, "well, see, i didn't think of that, since i thought we were just being looped in some funky little shadow" Beowulf says, "Poking the thing with Justice was definitely a bad idea, though. x.x" Jacqueline says, "hey, how was I supposed to know THE ENTIRE WORLD was going to get pissed? O.o" Jacqueline says, "say, with nothing to put out those patternflames, gigantor is gonna burn to death, isn't it." Beowulf says, "Yah, I know. ;_;" Beowulf says, "I kinda hope it does." John says, "Yeah, that trap shadow is pretty much going to die." Jacqueline says, "...." Jacqueline says, "jaqui has now officially slain her first shadow" John says, "The people who made it are gonna be really pissed." Beowulf says, "Mike would be proud. x.x" tfp chuckles. Jacqueline says, "lemme guess, those people being with either a) Vicious or b) a major house of gainax. again." Jacqueline says, "sory, a major house of CHAOS" Beowulf says, "Not Vicious, I think; he didn't sound high-powered enough for that. Major House, I'm guessing. :p" Jacqueline says, "....." Jacqueline says, "well. shit." Jacqueline says, "jaqui's stock in Chaos keeps on plummeting." John says, "Well, there is one good thing" Beowulf says, "Someone with a *DAMN* powerful mind. I wouldn't be surprised it's either Tremere, or Darios." John says, "There was never any real danger of you destroying the Great Assembly :)" Beowulf says, "Um. Cold comfort, I suppose, but better than nothing. ^^;;" tfp says, "Well, if you do this enough, Rod, Jacqui can wipe out the two or three major Houses that are highly Amber-hostile. :)" Jacqueline asks, "i suppose it's too much to hope that vice could somehow clock mature one and run for mo's shadow?" John says, "It's too much to hope" Beowulf says, "Unless we get moving *fast*... how long were we in there?... I suspect Mature and that powerful mind helping her will have Vice deprogrammed." Beowulf asks, "That powerful mind is what really gets me. Yog, perhaps?" John says, "I'll be kind and tell you it's too late for you to get Vice and Mature until they come out in the open again" Jacqueline says, "and now they have a ring from annadil." Beowulf sighs. Beowulf says, "Thank you for telling us, anyway. :)" Jacqueline says, "got any more of those? it'd be great for moonshade" John says, "They're all claimed." Jacqueline says, "damn." John says, "As basically one was taken by each of the four people who fought the Dragon." Jacqueline says, "ah, well, on to beleriad." John says, "But, on the bright side, none of you suffered permanent injury or death, and you're all free as well." Beowulf sighs. "Yup... at least you're free. :) Not looking forward to explaining this to folks, but it's got to be done." Jacqueline says, ""good thing beleriad is fasttimed. Jacqueline says, "gonna need a vacation." Jacqueline asks, "john, how much would shifting to shinbou major have hampered jaqui's spellcasting?" Beowulf nods. "Almost wish I hadn't tried swapping the sequence... well, at least OOCly it'll be a vacation. :)" John says, "Somewhat. The big thing is that it would have tended to throw off your 'magical tactical sense'. As Shinobu Minor doesn't know any of that stuff." Jacqueline says, "so i guess from a practical standpoint, it's best to stick to shifting to shaft or moriya" Jacqueline says, "as shaft has higher sword skills, and moriya is familiar with magic" John nods John exclaims, "I go sleep now. Bye!" Jacqueline says, "baiii" Beowulf Sleep well, John. Spellvis falls asleep. Beowulf sleeps as well. x.x Jacqueline says, "ditto" Rod has disconnected. You page, "Sorry for the hassle. ;" to Rod. You page-mail "Sorry for the hassle. ;_;" to Rod.