The_Prof pages, "Phil and I were also talking some about when to try and
hold the funeral IRL, since I'm guessing pretty much everyone is going
to want to be there." to you and Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Yeah, that's gonna be hard." to you and The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "Best guess I could make would be next Fri. or Sat.
night, though it would depend on everyone's schedules." to you and
Akemi.

=====
=====

Kanna OOCly nods.  Yup.  Also, this gives Bey a chance to report to Anno
'bout Moriya, if he hasn't heard.

Ceitidh OOCly says, "Anno was told directly by Yallari, the Serpent of
Sorrow, just after Moriya died."

Kanna OOCly says, "Oh.  Hmph.  well, so much for that. *wl*"

John exclaims, "OOC Righto!"

Beowulf OOCly says, "Going to take a bit of finesse to explain why he
didn't tell Kanna, though we could just assume that he figured she
already knew but was more distracted by worry over Lian."

John says, "OOC Yep.  Since it happened several days ago, he assumed she
already knew."

Kanna OOCly says, "He was a depressed Keeper of the Logrus who had ended
up becoming even -more- depressed. *nod*"

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

You head to Anno's offices.  He's staring into a crystal ball full of
endlessly falling snow. He looks up sadly, and says, "Hello, Beowulf,
Kanna."

=====
=====

Kanna OOCly says, "presumably, Ruka's tagging along. *wl*"

John says, "OOC Oh, right. :)"

=====
=====

"Good day, Captain Ruka."

Beowulf bows deeply in sorrow. "Hello, Grandfather." He sighs. "How are
you doing right now?"

Ruka says, "Good day to you."

"Dwelling in the past."  He sighs.  "I assume Kanna has told you about
Lian?"

Kanna bows to Anno, respectfully.  "Hello, Anno-Sama.  I apaologize for
coming back so soon, but... we had a few questions to ask if, possible
before heading out."  She nods.  "We need to schedule... schedule her
funeral to be alongside Moriya's."

Beowulf nods. "And I told her about Moriya. It's a sad week for the
family."

Anno says, "I will do my best to answer your questions, then."

Beowulf nods. "Basically... we needed to see about setting up
arrangements for --" He winces. "For having the Abyss Pirate contact
us."

Kanna nods.  "Thank you, Anno-Sama."  She straightens a bit.  "I do not
wish Lian's efforts to retreive the White Knight to have been in vain,
however, my duties elsewhere will not allow me to stay here to attempt a
contact here.  I have a spell on a rock designed to attract the
attention of one Dread Pirate Demetrius, of the universe of Avalon,
where Juri and Gideon of Avalon hailed from."

Anno says, "Alright.  If you'd like to have him contact me, that is
acceptable to me."

Beowulf just looks at Kanna, eyebrow sadly raised at her retreat into
formality.

Beowulf asks, "Thank you, Grandfather. Is... there anything we can do
for you in return? Or any message you would like us to present for you
at the funeral, if you can't make it?"

Kanna nods, and pulls out the rock.  "Thank you, Anno-sama.  I will give
directions and contact information for how he should reach you in
Gainax, then?  As given the current crisis, I doubt you'd want a trump
of yourself directly attached to the rock... perhaps a location trump of
the courts for the front of Gainax..."

=====
=====

Kanna OOCly says, "Should my Caine Dagger be sufficent for carving
instructions on the stone without worrying about disrupting the spell?"

John says, "OOC Yes, it should."

=====
=====

Anno says, "That should work."  He passes you a suitable trump.  He
turns to Beowulf, "There is nothing I need of you at the moment.  I will
likely speak at our memorial here in the Courts."

Beowulf nods. "Thank you. I'm sure... I'm sure he'd appreciate that.
When will the memorial here be held?"

Kanna accepts the trump with a nod, considers it, and starts using her
dagger to carve instructions on one flat face of the rock in question
(signed Kanna, Crown princess of Ember, c/o Anno, Keeper of the Logrus).
 She then tries to figure what she should use for making sure the trump
stays ON the rock... tying should do it, and shouldn't get screwed up in
the Abyss?

Anno says, "I believe the plan is to hold it at the Demogorgon Memorial,
but we're still struggling to find a suitable time."

Perhaps slit the rock, insert the trump, then seal the rock back shut
again.

With just a bit of the trump sticking out.

Though rope does also work reasonably well in the Abyss

=====
=====

Kanna OOCly hrms.  Is the rock bigg enough to do the slit/insert
trump/seal thing? (somebody with a miniblowtorch, like bey, be able to
seal it back shut?) I don't want to risk the attention of untoward folks
out there, or of the trump falling off when I THROW the damn thing...
*wl*

John says, "OOC I didn't suggest something you couldn't do :P"

John says, "OOC And yes, Beowulf could seal it up well."

Kanna OOCly says, "Oh, okay, okay.  Sheesh. :)"

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

Beowulf nods to Grandfather. "That would be appropriate. A memorial for
a brave man at the memorial for a brave battle." He sighs, face drawn.
"We're holding ours during the holiday for the Second Day of Darkness...
as no one will want to celebrate a holiday then, I think."

Kanna carefully makes a trump-sized slit in the rock, slides the trump
in, and then arranges it so that just a corner of the trump sticks out. 
Offhandedly, she asks beowulf, "Could you seal this for me?  Thanks."

Beowulf squares his shoulders, as if bearing a further burden. "And I'll
need to tell them about Lian, so we can include her in the services. No
one up there knows about her yet... I just came down because I'd heard
Kanna was here."

Kanna nods, quietly.  "As will I.  And I will need to tell Thropan, as
soon as possible."

Beowulf shoots a look at Kanna again. "Very well." He takes the rock,
seals it, and hands it back to her.

Beowulf winces. "Yes. Thropan needs to know as soon as possible."

Kanna smiles a bit, breifly.  "Thank you, Beowulf."

Beowulf relaxes just a bit at the smile.

Kanna considers the rock in her hands, and then purses her lips.  "If
Dread Pirate Demetrius comes calling and starts to open negotiations,
you can tell him that Kanna of Ember will be authorized to negotiate on
Ember's behalf, and that several attractive offers will be provided for
his services... mostly in the way of materials for ship hulls, and
transporation and exotic goods... but that the details are not finalized
yet.  Oh, and here's what he looks like."  She goes, rumamges in her
pack, pulls out her sketchbook, and draws a piccy of Demetrius (look, no
beard! No Beard!) and the Silver Cormorant.  She then hands it to Anno.

Anno takes the picture and studies it.  "Alright.  I will contact you
when he contacts me."

=====
=====

DaR pages, "Dude, you need to mention corn.  Lots of unfenced corn. :)"
to you.

=====
=====

Kanna nods, and bows again.  "Thank you, Anno-sama.  I have one final
request, and if it is untenable, I understand... but basically, I have
no idea how to -get to the Abyss, and while my desire to visit that
place is not high... I would not feel right leaving the tossing of this
to somebody else, given all that has happened.  Is there anybody within
Gainax who would be willing to escort us there and bring us back, using
Logrus?"

Anno says, "Well, it's easy to walk to, but hold on, I'll call someone
to take you."

Beowulf takes a deep breath, then lets it out slowly. Ready to face the
world again, hopefully. "Thank you again, Grandfather."

Kanna bows again.  "Thank you, Anno-sama."

=====
=====

You page, "I ain't goin' there alone, and I ain't goin' there without a
local escort, darnit. :)" to The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "Hey, what is Bey, chopped liver? ^_^ But seriously, I
understand and agree. :)" to you.

=====
=====

He trumps in a short, cute girl with reddish-brown hair cut short,
wearing the House Gainax uniform (think the pilot outfits from
Gunbuster).  "This is Miki.  Miki, this is Prince Beowulf and Princess
Kanna of Amber.  They need to be taken to a point from which they can
throw something into the Abyss."

Beowulf bows to Miki. "I would be honored to have you guide us."

Miki smiles. "It's no problem.  It's not much further than going to a
nice place for shopping.  Well, except you can't shop in the Abyss,
but...you know what I mean."

Kanna bows to Miki, and smiles.  "Thank you for your assistance, Lady
Miki.  I understand."

She says, "I'm ready whenever you are."

Beowulf nods. "I think we're ready. Kanna? Ruka?"

Ruka says, "I'm ready."

Kanna stands straighter, shoulders her pack, makes sure all her gear is
with her, and holds her rock in one hand.  "I'm... I'm ready."

Beowulf puts a hand on Kanna's shoulder. "We'll be there with you," he
murmurs quietly to her. "And some day, we'll make the place a memorial
to her."

Kanna glances over, and smiles slightly at Beowulf, and Ruka.  "Thank
you, both of you."

Miki calls up the Logrus, then extends a tendril your way.  "Everyone
grab hold," she says.

Kanna grabs hold.

Beowulf grabs hold as well.

Ruka takes hold.  And then the world yanks around you, and you stand in
a lonesome countryside.  Way off on the horizon, the Courts glimmer in
all the colors of the rainbow, but before you, infinite darkness spreads
off in a great wedge.

Beowulf. o O (You've been pulled along by Lily like this dozens of
times, no reason to be paranoid now...)

The land is covered with gravel and small rocks and scrubbrush.

High above you, the sky shines blue-green in this quarter, though it's
green over the courts.

Kanna looks up at the sky... she doesn't get much chance to see the
Courts, the few times she's been here, and its pinwheel sky even moreso.
And then she looks down.

And, to your surprise, a red-haired body lies tossed by the side of the
Abyss, wearing familiar clothing.  It looks like a rather mangled Lian.

Beowulf looks around. Then, slowly, his eyes go to the Abyss, expression
hardening into a mask as he sees the body.

Miki blinks. "How strange."

Kanna -stares-.  ".... lian??" she whispers, going pale once more.   She
looks utterly poleaxed.  "... how... how do you mean?"

Ruka grits his teeth.

Beowulf looks over at Miki, face set like stone. "I see," he says
flatly. "I take it this is not a normal occurence."

Miki says, "Well, I've never seen a body that hadn't been eaten by
predators this close..."  She pauses.  "Umm.  Anyway, normally,
something would have eaten her by now.  I...uh...take it you know her?"

Beowulf nods. "Oh, yes," he whispers, voice like iron. "We know her."

Kanna nods, quietly.  "Lian of Amber, daughter of Wasyuu of Amber and
Gideon of Avalon."  She looks at Lian's body, and patternsights it.

Beowulf says, "Assuming it's not something set up to decoy us." He
growls. "If it is, someone will be very, VERY sorry," he grates out
between clenched teeth.

Her body has the Pattern imprinted on it, the ring she wears on one hand
has very faint magic and chaos energies.

Kanna says, "Or a message to us," she murmurs softly, a confusion of
expressions crossing her face... she sucks in a breath.

Ruka frowns.  "Yes, they may want us to know who killed her."

====
====

You page, "What blood is she possessing?  And how far away is she from
the edge?" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Blood of Amber. She's some 20 feet from the edge." to you.

Akemi pages, "Pretty much, you're getting the results you'd expect to
get." to you.

You page, "Well, save I didn't explicitly know Lian'd gotten Blood of
Amber around here, though I know she discussed it.  Metal imprint?" to
Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Metal Imprint." to you.

====
====

Beowulf says, "If they do, they are very foolhardy. Or insane."

Beowulf says, "As we may not be able to penetrate the Abyss right now.
But one day we may be able to. And on that day, there will be
vengeance."

Kanna murmurs, "it's her, it's gotta be... but since when did she ...."
She shakes her head.  "Anyway, there's no other spells on her... that
ring... must be what remains of Hoard."

Ruka says, "Since when did she what?"

Kanna looks at Ruka, looking apologetic.  "I'll explain later, dear. 
Not... not here."

Ruka nods.  "Alright."

Beowulf bows his head, eyes closed. "That ring. That ring that caused us
so much trouble..." He looks back up at Kanna. "Grandfather would
probably be able to identify it."

Kanna squares her shoulders, and walks slowly, carefully, towards the
body.  "We'll take them both to him, if you can create aa stretcher...
though if possible, I'd like her to be buried with it."

Ruka asks, "Do you want my help carrying her?"

Beowulf nods slowly, sadly. "Yes. That would be appropriate, I suppose."

Beowulf calls to Kanna to stay back. "Hold on a moment."

Beowulf frowns. "Something doesn't feel right. And anything could be
hiding in there, just out of sight."

Kanna nods, quietly, and comes to a halt.

Kanna considers.  "Could we move back, and have the Logrus pull the body
to us?"

Beowulf looks at Miki. "What are things normally like here, near the
edge?"

Miki says, "About like they are now," she says.

She continues, "This is a pretty typical day.  And yes, I could pull her
over if you want me to."

Beowulf shakes his head. "Except for bodies lying on the edge. You said
yourself that... predators, was it? normally... ate them." He spits the
last words out.

Beowulf says, "Go ahead and pull... her..." His voice breaks. "Over to
us. But everyone be prepared in case there's something nasty using her
as bait."

====
====

You page-pose, "Aerianne twiddles his thumbs.  (hm, wonder if it'd be
possible to temporal scry Lian's body to find what happened... they did
something like that with the armor at shizu's trial...)" to The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "I doubt it... she was in the Abyss. That cancels out
just about everything." to you.

You page, "Well, feh. But hey." to The_Prof.

====
====

Kanna nods, stuffing the rock in a pocket and resting one hand on
Beryllina's hilt.

Ruka draws his sword.

Beowulf holds Morkeleb and the whip at the ready.

====
====

Beowulf OOCly d'ohs, as he should probably have asked Miki more about
what sort of thing hides in teh Abyss.

Kanna OOCly says, "Well, you can still ask, and the GM has yet to have
her respond -about- Preditors."

====
====

Miki concentrates and two logrus tendrils snake out from her hands. 
They extend over to Lian, then gradually meld together into a platform
which she extends under the body, slowly lifting it to about three feet
off the ground, then retracting it from where it lays, gradually pulling
it back to all of you, and then leaving it hovering a few feet away from
you all.  Nothing rises out of the Abyss.  Lian's body appears somewhat
burnt, as if something had exploded in her face, but the golden ring on
her right hand is still intact.

Her clothing lies in tatters, carried by the fire.  You can see bits of
metal melted onto her left hand from other rings.

And, to your surprise, her chest is rising and falling, as if she was
breathing.

====
====

Kanna OOCly says, "..."

====
====

Beowulf sighs, looking at her body, but not letting down his guard. "I
hope I was..." He notices her chest rising. "WHAT?!?"

Beowulf frowns. "This is beyond us, I think. We probably need expert
help. Now."

Kanna sucks in another sharp breath.  Once again, a mix of expressions
flash across her face, from fear to hope to distrust to who knows what. 
She nods, mutely.

====
====

Kanna OOCly says, "I still have a trump of Anno, yes?  he's about as
expert as they come, I should think."

John says, "OOC Yep."

You page, "I got Pattern and minor magic from the gold ring, but no
other signs of acttive spells or abyssal stuff, yes?" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Yep." to you.

====
====

Beowulf tries trumping Grandfather.

Anno does not take your call.

Kanna reaches for her trump deck, and looks over at Beowulf as she
notices he's already pulled out the trump of Anno.

Lian's lips move slightly, though no words come out.

Kanna says, "... she has no other spells on her... the ring is just
lingering magic... and there's no logrus or abyssal taint within her,
beowulf..."

Beowulf says, "He's not responding." He frowns harder.

Kanna looks at Beowulf, Ruka, and Miki.  "But who else -would- we go to
about... this?"  She gestures at Lian's body.

Miki says, "Well, we can always take her back to Gainax and wait until
Anno-sama finishes whatever he is busy with."

Beowulf asks, "I think we need to get the hell out of here. Now." He
turns to Miki. "Can you suggest an open area that's both far away from
here and safely away from the Courts proper?"

=====
=====

Kanna OOCly says, "Did it look like Lian-body -was trying to speak, just
insufficent motive power/air to make words, etc?"

John says, "OOC The general impression is what sometimes happens in
people's sleep, when they dream of talking, and their lips move, but
they don't actually say anything."

Kanna OOCly nods.

John says, "OOC Not to be confused with my sister Christina's magical
'Talk in My Sleep Without Waking Up and have a coherent conversation
then forget it all, but you can't tell because I can sleep with my eyes
open' power"

Beowulf OOCly thwaps the GM.

John says, "OOC But I'm not bitter."

=====
=====

You page, "this is just SO not what I expected. o.O;;;" to The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "You're telling me. ;_; But we know OOCly that
whatever-it-is is permanent, since Chris is out of the game." to you.

You page, "I mean, ferpetessake, the GM said she was DEAD.  Yes.  So...
what the heck have we got -here-?  Just an empty shell, no soul?  Gyah,
how morbid." to The_Prof.

=====
=====

Miki says, "Hmm, an open space. Yes, I can think of lots."

She says, "Shall I take us to one, then?"

Kanna says, "All of us, yes, please."

Beowulf nods.

She extends tendrils to everyone, then yanks.

Kanna goes with, natch.

Beowulf goes along as well.

You find yourself in a brown grassy field.  A bunch of chocolate cows
are on the northern side of the field, grazing.

The sky shimmers many sparkly colors above you.

=====
=====

Beowulf asks, "OOC The place look familiar?"

=====
=====

None of you have ever seen it before.

=====
=====

Beowulf says, "OOC Sounds familiar, but I can't place the referent.
o.o;;"

=====
=====

Beowulf turns to Miki. "Thank you. Where are we?"

Kanna patternsights the environment, absently, before looking at
Beowulf.  "Bey... do you have any magics or devices with which to..
examine the body?"

You're in a land of vaguely Chaosy goodness.

All powers work here, the only funky thing seems to be that the cows
give chocolate milk.

====
====

Kanna OOCly says, "Moo."

====
====

Beowulf nods to Kanna. "Yes. I have a magic scanner I can use now, and
it shouldn't take me long to whip up a medical scanner." He hands the
magic scanner to Kanna while he works on the medical scanner, assuming
no threats strike him.

Kanna takes the magic scanner, and tries to figure out how to use it.

=====
=====

Beowulf says, "OOC Er... 'strike him' = 'come to mind', not 'hit in
head'. o.o;;"

Kanna OOCly patpats.

=====
=====

The magic scanner is like a tricorder, we'll say for lack of a better
idea.  Wave it over the body, and it gives you data.

Kanna takes some tentative steps, and moves closer to the body, scanning
it for anything informative.

=====
=====

Beowulf OOCly would have figured it would have been pretty obvious to
use, but oh well... o.o;;

Kanna OOCly says, "Recall that Kanna's a magical Neophyte, and there's
always interpretation that needs to be done... hopefully the scanner
would help with that. :)"

Beowulf says, "OOC I should hope so, Bey made it. ^_^;;"

Kanna OOCly hehs.

Kanna OOCly says, "Oh, also when closer, look at the detailing of the
gold ring.  Lemme guess, image of a dragon protecting a pile of
treasure?"

=====
=====

You step over to the body, and begin to scan it.  The magic detector
indicates lingering magical energies in a few places around her torso,
and slightly stronger energies around the ring.

The ring shows a dragon protecting a pile of treasure.

Kanna nods, slightly, her expression flat.  Details on what the magical
energies were used for?  explosive magics, raw output, other things?

Beowulf frowns. "The medscanner shows normal lifesigns and normal brain
activity."

Kanna says, "..."

Looks like the remains of some magical explosion on her chest.

The energies around the ring seem to be holding the ring together.

Kanna says, "... There was a magical explosion... and what remains of
the magic on the ring is what's keeping it together."  She frowns,
looking concerned and puzzled.  "What the fuck is going on, here?"

Ruka watches the countryside for trouble.

Miki says, "Well, perhaps reports of her demise were exaggerated."

Kanna considers, and pulls out her trump of Lian, touching its surface,
trying to tell if it's cool and slick (ie, person still alive/reachable)
or warm and dull (she's dead.)

====
====

Beowulf says, "OOC And now the tension between OOC player knowledge and
IC knowledge. :p"

Kanna OOCly nods, and patpats.

====
====

The trump refuses to do anything at all.

Kanna sighs, closing her eyes.  "Her trump is dead.  Whatever... whoever
is creating that brain activity... I doubt it's her."

Kanna says, "Have Aeris try and use Trump to sense her... if you wish, I
could try a brief bout of Patternwalking to Our Real Lian... but I
suspect it would be fruitless."

Beowulf closes his eyes. "I see." He tries to think of who he knows who
might have a better idea of what's going on.

You really don't know anyone who knows much about the Abyss.

Ruka says, "That might be a good idea, Kanna."

Beowulf blinks, and actually does -- Morrigan.

=====
=====

Kanna OOCly says, "(well, save for the pirate who we were going to try
and leave a message for... jeeze, this is getting complicated.)"

John says, "OOC Yep."

Kanna OOCly ahyeahs.  Good point, her.

John says, "OOC oh yeah.  Hold on a sec, lemme load her up"

=====
=====

Kanna pauses, and looks over at Beowulf.  "Got an idea?"

Beowulf nods. "Morrigan. Lucien's companion -- she was from the Abyss,
wasn't she?"

Kanna blinks, and nods, looking chagrined that she had forgotten. 
"Around that area, yes.  And you've met her, which means you and Aeris
could reach her... I'll try patternwalking breifly while you call."

Going to Patternwalk to 'The Real Lian' basically?

=====
=====

Kanna OOCly says, "Patternwalk away from the group (basically just
edit-out), then walk to "The Real Lian, the woman I fell in love with,
the woman who Thropan fell in love with, and loved us back".  JUuuuuuust
want to make sure. :)"

Beowulf asks, "OOC You get the file up and ready for call, John?"

=====
=====

Aeris manages to boost your signal enough to call Morrigan.  She seems
somewhat surprised, and is apparently underwater, in one of her more
human forms, dressed rather like an 18th century pirate.  "Hello, Prince
Beowulf."

Kanna vanishes into shadow.

Beowulf bows to Morrigan. "Hello, Lady Morrigan. We just ran into
something that... we hope you can shed some light on." His face draws
in.

She blinks.  "Umm, alright.  What is it?"

=====
=====

You page, "I take it once I get out into shadow and try Heading For Real
Lian, nothing happens? *fwl*  No direction, no tug, no motion?" to
Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Once you head out into shadow, you feel a tug drawing you
back the direction you came from." to you.

You page, "BLINK." to Akemi.

You page, "Shift to try and walk for Lian's Spirit/Lian's Soul." to
Akemi.

Akemi pages, "You can't walk to people's souls with the Pattern, as it
doesn't have the ability to detect souls." to you.

You page, "Darn.  This just gets MORe puzzling, then. *pause* What about
when Touga was stuck in the bottle?" to Akemi.

You page, "Any other ways I can think of to confirm wether or not this
is Our Lian or Our Lian Possessed, etc, with Pattern?" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "No one tried doing that with Touga in a bottle." to you.

Akemi pages, "You could have Miki insert a Logrus tendril in her head
and try reading her mind." to you.

Akemi pages, "Or you could go hunting for 'The shadow which will give me
some idea of what's happened to Lian'" to you.

You page, "Hrm.  Right.  Hm, one other thing I can think to check.  Try
walking "To the Nearest Hel Agent/Sympathizer To Hel", see if it tries
taking me back to the group... then that seeking shadow trick, just to
see if such a place exists." to Akemi.

=====
=====

Beowulf says, "We just found the body of Lian at the side of the Abyss.
After we'd heard that she went in there, and Kanna... felt something
that she was sure was her death. And the Keeper of the Logrus felt the
explosion of the spikard she held, that he had made."

Beowulf says, "And the body is breathing. And appears to have mental
activity."

Morrigan says, "Well, that probably means her body has been possessed by
horrors from beyond space and time."

Beowulf winces. Damnit. "I was afraid of that. Is there... anything we
can do?"

Beowulf asks, "Any way we can test and be sure it's not her mind in
there? Or... evict the possessor?"

====
====

The_Prof pages, "Going through the p-walk with John?" to you.

You page, "Yah.  It is, as usual, confusing." to The_Prof.

====
====

Morrigan says, "Have you tried psychic contact?

Beowulf says, "Kanna tried using her trump of Lian, and got nothing.
Beyond that, no."

She continues, "I would suggest trying some dispellings, and perhaps
initiating psychic contact to see if it's the correct mind."

=====
=====

Akemi pages, "That's another good idea (the seek agent of Hel thing)" to
you.

You page, "That definitely first." to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "You start heading off across shadow in a direction that is
not the way you came." to you.

You page, "So not back to the cow group.  Okay, so that would preclude
whoever/whatever is in Lian now not being in it for Hel.  Shift
shadowseeking to find a place that will give me some idea of what
happened to Lian." to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Righto." to you.

You page, "(just to get an idea of direction (back to the group or no),
not to committ to the path, as I don't want to be gone too long.)" to
Akemi.

Akemi pages, "You get the impression that there is a way to go through
shadow to get some idea of what's happened to Lian, but you haven't
reached it yet." to you.

You page, "Not in the direction I came, then?" to Akemi.

You page, "(ie, not leading back to bey and co?)\" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Apparently, whatever clues Pattern wants to guide you to
is off in some other direction." to you.

Akemi pages, "Which given that you've pretty much examined everything
you could think of/could do with Lian, isn't too surprising." to you.

You page, "*sigh* Right.  Well, back to the group then, unless my skills
can suggest other stuff to do while I'm wandering with Pattern." to
Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Not much, other than actually going all the way to
whatever Pattern thought you could find." to you.

You page-pose, "Aerianne nods.  Back to the group to report, then." to
Akemi.

=====
=====

Beowulf nods. "Very well. Any suggestions for mentally fighting the
thing if it isn't the correct mind? How strong are these things,
usually?"

She says, "You might also try pricking her with silver to see if she's
some sort of shifter."

"Or a resume true form power word."

Beowulf twitches, obviously just holding his emotions in check.

Beowulf nods. "Of course. I should have thought of that... we did a
magical scan, and found what we thought we should have found, but that
doesn't necessarily mean anything. Although she did have a Pattern
imprint."

Morrigan says, "Well, if she has a Pattern Imprint, it's likely her body
and not a shifter, though it could be an Abyss Creature implanted in her
body."

Beowulf nods. "Again..." He twitches. "How strong are these things?"

She says, "It could be anything from a very weak creature to something
very powerful, although the fact that it's just been lying around while
you discuss with people about how it could be a threat would seem to
indicate it's probably one of the more cunning ones."

"Or alternately, that it's just killing time until something happens."

Beowulf nods, and mentally slaps himself.

Beowulf nods. "Is there any way of evicting it and leaving her body
intact? And..." He gulps, wincing. "Is there any chance that her soul is
still alive, somewhere, and could be put back in?"

Morrigan says, "IT is possible her soul is in a jar, and it is possible
the creature could be evicted by someone with the right skills."

She says, "I could try casting it out for you, though I'm not really an
expert at such things."

Beowulf nods. "Thank you. Who would be the best choice?"

Morrigan says, "Most of the people I know who have the right skills
would want to eat you and thus wouldn't be of much help, I'm afraid."

=====
=====

You page, "(shifting up to Shadow Shortcut Speeds, etc.  Yay me.)" to
Akemi.

You page, "(should I pose myself returning?)" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "I'll tell you when you return." to you.

You page, "right, right." to Akemi.

=====
=====

The_Prof pages, "Still going? x.x" to you.

You page, "Well, I'm supposedly returning now. *wl*  Eventually." to
The_Prof.

=====
=====

Beowulf says, "I would hate for you to risk your life trying to help us,
if there's someone else who wouldn't be taking as much risk."

She shrugs.  "Your call.  I'm mostly sitting around watching troops
drill right now."

Beowulf says, "If you could come through, at least, I would appreciate
it, if only to act as a consultant. I'm going to ask someone else for
backup as well."

She nods.  "Alright."

She holds out a hand to you.

Beowulf reaches out and pulls her through, ready to support her if she
needs a moment to shift back to normal dry-land form.

Morrigan says, "I'll go take a look at her while you make the call,
then."

She ambles over a bit closer to the body and starts casting a spell.

Beowulf looks briefly to make sure she's not going to be immediately
attacked, then quickly trumps Aunt Nanami.

Nanami takes the call.  She's looking fairly shaken as she sits in her
office.  "Hello, Beowulf."

Beowulf squeezes his eyes shut in pain, then opens them again. "Hello,
Aunt. I hate to disturb you at a time like this, but... we have another
Situation. Lian went down into the Abyss, Kanna apparently felt her die,
Grandfather felt her spikard explode... but we just found her
still-breathing body at the side of the Abyss. We're afraid it's been
possessed."

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

Akemi pages, "Okay, at this point, you come back right as the sky opens
up in a circle next to Ruka, and four people come out of it.  A black
circle, near ground level.  There's two men and two women.  One man and
one woman are dark haired, clad in black shimmering armor.  The man has
a black blade, the woman has a bow with black tipped arrows.  The other
pair are light haired and short, wearing black clothing.  The woman has
a wand, the man has several amulets on and a sword.  They give you bad,
bad feeligs." to you.

You page, "Oh SHIT." to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Keep this in page for the moment, as Beo is doing Trumpy
Goodness and is oblivious." to you.

John says, "..."

You page, "Right.  Draw Beryllina, shift it to crossbow mode, bellow,
"RUKA, GET OUT OF THE WAY!" and open fire... how close am I to the group
given all this?  Hopefully Ruka's getting the fuck away, and Miki and
Morrigan are going into defensive postures, etc..." to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "You're about thirty feet away." to you.

Akemi pages, "Who are you shooting at out of the four people?" to you.

You page, "Sprint in closer to get better range, using my marksmanship
skills not to shoot allies, etc.  Who on the badguy side is closest to
the group/greatest threat?  The ones who seme to have magic/ranged
weaponry?" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "It looks like a sorceress, a guy with a sword who isn't so
good, a guy with a sword who is really good, and a woman with a bow who
is pretty good" to you.

Akemi pages, "All four of them are about 5 feet from Ruka." to you.

John says, "OOC Okay, hold on a second, Travis"

Beowulf OOCly nods.

You page, "Sorceress, Good Guy With Sword, then Woman with bow, in
priority.  Are they in a circle around Ruka, or just in a knot around
them?" to Akemi.

You page, "Er, I mean, in a group together." to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "They came out of the circle in a knot." to you.

You page, "Righto, sorceress first, if others of their group take shots,
I'm not gonna complain if -they- get hit." to Akemi.

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

Beowulf says, "And we don't know if her soul is alive or dead."

Nanami buries her face in her hands for a moment, then looks up and says
softly, "It never rains but it pours."

Beowulf nods back, a tear starting to trickle out of one eye. "I know,
Aunt. I know. I hope against hope that she's alive, but..." He sighs.
"Can you come and help examine..." He chokes up. "...the body?"

Nanami asks, "Where are you?"

Beowulf says, "We're in a shadow near the Courts, a place with chocolate
cows. Kanna's trying a test with Patternwalking right now, and should
hopefully be back any minute."

Nanami says, "Please trump me back in a couple of minutes.  I'd like to
make a few preparations, as I am not currently prepared to operate on
the Chaos side of things."

Beowulf nods. "I will. Talk... talk to you shortly." He closes the
connection.

As you drop the trump call, the following things can be seen:

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

Beowulf OOCly winces. Oh, shit.

You page, "Yes, it's gone to hell. :P  Well, perhaps not, as I just got
there in time, but if any of you or ruka get hurt/killed, I'm gonna
scream. :P" to The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "Yah. ;_; Wonder what Brem's going to think of the whole
thing, assuming he doesn't know about it?" to you.

You page, "Prolly (if he doesn't know) gonna be pissed.  Either that, or
he's been a damn good silent actor." to The_Prof.

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

There is a black circle in the air near Miki and Ruka.  Four people in
black clothing or armor have emerged:  A light haired sorceress, a
well-dressed swordsman who doesn't actually look all that skillful, a
heavily armored swordsman who does, and a female archer who also looks
quite competent in black armor.  Morrigan is in the middle of casting a
spell over Lian, but she now seems distracted by the emergency.  Ruka is
backpedalling desperately as the armored man attacks him, and the woman
just riddled Miki with arrows.  She screams and collapses.  Meanwhile,
the sorceress just got mowed down by Beryllina, and you can see Kanna
charging from across the plain.  As the sorceress collapses, inky
blackness begins flowing out of the portal and out of the ring she's
wearing.

====
====

Beowulf OOCly oh, crap's.

====
====

The first two of the invaders are light haired, the latter two dark
haired, for what it is worth. :)

====
====

Kanna OOCly says, "Okay, so Sorceress-lady is now dead, I should assume,
but we've now got Abyss Leak?  Oh frigging great. :P"

Kanna OOCly would like to remind the Bey that he does have a construct
he can call so we can, if need be, evac with who we have, but ... okay,
hrm.   Who's threat levels now?

====
====

ATM:  Miki is lying on the ground bleeding.  Her logrus constructs have
collapsed, and Lian now lies at Morrigan's feet.  Ruka is under heavy
assault by someone who appears to be about as good a fighter, but MUCH
stronger, while the archer is turning to fire back at Kanna.  The fallen
sorceress looks to be fairly well screwed too.  Closing to hand to hand
with any of them means risking coming near the inky blackness.

=====
=====

Kanna OOCly nods.  Hopefully bey will start dealing with Mister Duellist
to aid Ruka, or Morrigan will assist... avoid the Inky Blackness and any
incoming arrows, Shoot at Archer-Girl while still running and dodging to
avoid getting shot and get -her- out of the way.

Kanna OOCly says, "As I assume I'm still too far away for even melee
combat via blades."

John says, "OOC Yes.  Are you trying to close over to them?  As you have
to get closer to inky blackness to get to melee range"

Kanna OOCly says, "I'm trying to get closer yet -avoid- the inky
blackness, circling around if need be.  Also yell for Aeris to contact
my sister to get me back online, send alerts if possible.  (how big is
the inky blackness now, etc?)"

Kanna OOCly says, "And how close is it to
Bey/Ruka/Morrigan/collapsedMiki/Lian?"

=====
=====

Sadly, it is impossible to get closer ot most of them without
approaching the inky blackness.  As it is spreading out from the fallen
woman and from the portal, and is following Ruka as he retreats away
from it.

The inky blackness will soon rush over Lian and Morrigan if they don't
move.

=====
=====

Kanna OOCly says, "Okay, so I can't get there unless I suddenly
miraculously take flight, essentially. :P  With that in mind, who should
I shoot next, in my evaluation?  Still arrow-girl?"

John says, "OOC You could circle round to join Ruka if you want to."

John says, "OOC Arrow girl looks like she's about to start shooting you.
:)"

Kanna OOCly says, "circle/run to try to get around to ruka, avoiding the
inky-blackness at a distance, try to shoot Arrow girl before she does,
avoiding any shots SHE sends off, etc.  I want her -dead-."

=====
=====

The_Prof pages, "God damn it." to you.

You page, "yeah. -.-;" to The_Prof.

You page, "I'm right now without gaby-access, we have no real heavy
magic users to contain that abyss-stuff, and it's all gone to hell...
this campaign is getting less and less fun. *sigh*" to The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "Yah. ANd I was actually feeling pretty good going into
tonight..." to you.

You page, "yes.  I'm about readdy to lodge formal protest, gamewise. :P"
to The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "I'm about to lodge a formal protest with John tomorrow
as well. As... all right, the deathtrap was lousy but relatively fair,
but this is just plain cruel and sadistic." to you.

=====
=====

Okay:


Darkness washes over Morrigan and Lian.  Beowulf manages to shoot the
well-dressed fellow several times and he falls down, darkness washing
over him.  Kanna trades shots with archer girl; they both miss each
other.  Ruka continues fighting hard, he's given his opponent a few
nicks, and now he's got a nasty leg cut on his left leg.  Kanna gets
close enough to Ruka to go to melee next if she wants.  The darkness
flows towards her and Ruka, and also towards Beowulf.

Oh, and the darkness swallows Miki too.

Leaving you uncertain if the healing worked.

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

Kanna OOCly says, "*sigh.* figured.  Guess at this point cut and run,
with all the blackness?  No way to stop THAt from spreading, as far as I
know?  What's Archer-girl doing, and did any of my Beryllina bolts hit
the ground or near the inky blackness and effecting it?"

Akemi pages, "She heard it and tells you that she's making the call." to
you.

You page, "righto, so hopefully gaby will get online soon." to Akemi.

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

John says, "OOC If you cut and run, you're going to be abandoning
Morrigan."

John says, "OOC And Lian's body, and Miki."

Kanna OOCly says, "Ah, so it's just pouring over, not siphoning them
away, etc."

Kanna OOCly says, "Bad assumption on my part, then. *wl*"

John says, "OOC Archer girl looks like she's going to keep shooting at
you; your bolts fired into the darkness and after that they  vanished
from sight."

John says, "OOC You don't know if they're now in the Abyss or just in
the darkness."

=====
=====

You page, "Move reading is pretty obvious -- archer-girl is trying to
hit me/Ruka, while Swordboy is trying to kill Ruka, etc?" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Archer girl is going for shooting you, Swordboy for Ruka."
to you.

You page, "So, Bey can't melee assist Ruka, but I can.  He can either
shoot at Arrow-girl or Swordboy.  I can either shoot Arrow-girl, or risk
getting shot and assist ruka with Swordboy.  What does my
tactics/warfare tell me to do?  Shoot Arrow-girl or help Ruka?" to
Akemi.

Akemi pages, "They tell you to get the hell out of here.  Barring that,
you'd better take out Arrow-girl, or else she'll riddle you while you're
taking down Ruka's foe.  Ruka will last a while longer, but you won't
last very long under a barrage of accurate arrow fire if you can't
defend yourself." to you.

You page, "Okay, barrage fire Arrow-Girl, pray to the Pyricorn and
Serpent that sis gets online FAST, covering ruka and protecting him,
etc.  I assume we're still backing up from the Inky blackness, etc." to
Akemi.

You page, "As since we're in the middle of combat, i can't exactly handle
a trump myself. *wl*" to Akemi.

You page, "(otherwise it'll be up to Aeris to pull us out.)" to Akemi.

=====
=====

Kanna OOCly says, "And Beowulf can no longer get over to us, due to the
blackness, etc?"

John says, "OOC The Darkness is now between you and Beowulf."

=====
=====

Beowulf begins circling round the blackness.  Kanna and Arrow Girl try
to hose each other down with arrows.  Neither of them has much luck.
Kanna takes a not fun arrow in the side, and Arrow girl takes an ugly
leg wound.  Ruka continues fighting desperately.  And then, out of the
fog, Lian stumbles towards Beowulf, with a look of abject terror on her
face as something dark and tentacular reaches after her out of the
darkness.

=====
=====

Kanna OOCly says, "...."

Kanna OOCly says, "I'm sorry."

Kanna OOCly says, "Pause, please."

Kanna OOCly says, "I'll be back in a few.  Please hold."

John says, "OOC Travis' ISP is giving him trouble."

John says, "OOC It will likely all become clear soon."

Kanna OOCly finally returns.  mmm. *deep breath* Okay.  Hm.  When I
patternsighted the environment earlier... what tech-level was it?

John says, "OOC Medieval."

Beowulf says, "OOC All right... looks like outage is over. x.x"

John says, "OOC Lemme redo the pose you missed."

Kanna OOCly says, "So Whalekiller mode should work fine here?"

John says, "OOC Yes, Whalekiller will work great."

Kanna OOCly Right.  Shift to Whalekiller mode, continuing firing on
Arrow-girl, torso/etc shots, center of mass, still moving to stay out of
the blackness and to keep with Ruka, etc.  (and there's fog?  So this
inky blackness has got heigt and depth, etc?)

John says, "OOC The inky blackness is like a great expanding billowing
cloud of darkness, yeah."

Kanna OOCly says, "(is Arrow-girl -in- the darkness and still
functioning, or is she trying to stay out of it too?)"

John says, "OOC Arrow Girl seems unbothered by the darkness, and in fact
should have already vanished into it, but the DM forgot to have her do
so.  So you can still see her at the edge of the darkness."

John says, "OOC Your foes seem unbothered by the darkness."

Kanna OOCly Joy.  Well, shoot at her anyway, still trying to keep OUT of
it.  If all this was just a massive illusion spell in the end of it,
Kanna's gonna be pissed off.  Well, she's pissed off already, but hey.

John says, "OOC Righto.  "

=====
=====

Ruka continues fighting his foe.  Kanna continues trading shots, but now
her foe disappears into the darkness, making it hard to shoot at her
foe.  OTOH, her foe doesn't succeed in shooting Kanna either.  Beowulf
turns and bolts across the field, whipping out a trump of Nanami.

Lian continues running towards Beowulf, while the tendril reaches after
her.

=====
=====

You page, "Still no Gaby-access yet?  Does tactics say keep shooting at
whereArrow-girl was, or shift targets now?" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Sadly, it is not the matter of a few seconds to reach
across the universe from Ember to DEEP into Chaos to turn your
manifestation back on." to you.

You page, "Ah.  Right.  Wasn't sure how far out we were, and how long it
had been.  Wheee. :P Annyway." to Akemi.

You page, "Can I reasonably pattersight while fighting/running/etc, or
am I too focussed on trying to keep my cute lil' butt alive to try and
figure out what that cloud is, etc?" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Tactics say to just turn and try to slaughter Mr. Big Guy,
as if you take him down, you and Ruka will be readier to run to the
hills.  Although you're in risk of being shot.  You're too busy to use
Patternsight, but your gut instinct says this is Abyssy Goodness." to
you.

You page, "Right.  Well, I -am- a tough Girl, and I generally can take
more punishment than he can, and I'm wearing my jumpsuit, which likely
got fixed sommewhere in here.  Turn to assist ruka, shifting Beryllina
to saber form, trying to keep Big Guy between myself and the inkiness so
that arrowGirl would have to shoot through him if need be, etc." to
Akemi.

=====
=====

Beowulf keeps running across the field, trying to keep out of
Lian/tendril/spreading Darkness' reach.  Meanwhile, Kanna shifts
Beryllina to Saber form, and goes after the armored warrior.  Her sabre
parts his armor and she delivers several hideous wounds.  While he keeps
coming, he's now very wobbly, and Ruka wounds him more.  One or two more
blows and he's toast.  Kanna tries to keep him between her and archer
girl, but has no luck whatsoever, and gets shot full of arrows which
seem to penetrate her armored suit like it was tinfoil.  She is,
however, tough as hell, and while she's now in a lot of pain, she's
still going.

Lian and the tendril seem to be closing on Beowulf, BTW.

=====
=====

You page, "Finish the armored dude (if Ruka needs the assist... probably
does, but if he doesn't, then default to firing and moving again), then
saturation-fire Beryllina back at Archer-Girl with Whalekiller -- approx
area of where the arrows came from and the ground, etc.  Tune out the
pain, keep praying, keep backing up, etc.  As long as I'm playing human
target, as it were, I can't do anything about the tendril after Lian,
yah?" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "The entire inky darkness is between you and them, so not
much you can do about Lian." to you.

You page, "Right. *sigh*" to Akemi.

=====
=====

Beowulf now turns and runs towards the cows in the distance.  Lian and
the tendril continue to run after him.  The darkness spreads further
across the land.  Kanna and Ruka finish turning the armored boy into
hamburger, and now Ruka gets shot up, bleeding plentifully.  Kanna aims
a hail of bolts into the cloud, but if she hits anything, there's no
indication of it.

=====
=====

You page, "Grab Ruka, Run Like Hell? *wl*" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Sounds good to you :)" to you.

=====
=====

As he runs, Beowulf fires several stunning bolts at Lian, who just keeps
running like he fired nerf weapons at her.

====
====

You page, "Grab Ruka, carry in arms, Beryllina in Gauntlet form so as
not to lose it, and frigging SPRINT away from the blackness, etc. 
Dodging and Jinxing to outrun the black and any arrows." to Akemi.

====
====

Beowulf shoots Lian in the legs.  She falls down, and the darkness
sweeps over her.  You hear screaming.  But this enables Beowulf to get
more of a lead, and he can now try trumping someone.  Kanna picks up
Ruka and RUNS for her life, desperately dodging arrows which buzz all
around her.

=====
=====

Kanna OOCly Run Like My Butt Is On Fire, Thank You.

Beowulf shouts out, "Connection made, but slow!" OOC And it should have
been shouted earlier, but oh well. o.o

Kanna OOCly ahs, and nods. *wl*

=====
=====

You page, "Any feeling of Gaby Manif Reactivation, or still on waiting?
*wl* (mind you, once she -does- get Gaby online, Priiority 1) Dump
Healing on Ruka and Herself, Priority 2) Deal with Cloud if Possible,
Priority 3) Evac." to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Still on waiting" to you.

You page, "Then I'm still running then. *wl*  Mad Martial Arts Running
Skills!" to Akemi.

=====
=====

Kanna continues running.  Ruka takes an arrow in the butt and yelps. 
Beowulf trumps Nanami.

Nanami takes the call; she has Ramon and Keiko with her.  "Shall we come
through or you come to us?" she asks.

Beowulf says, "Come through! I'm seperated from Kanna and Ruka, and
there may be our people still left in the Abyss cloud!" He reaches out
his hand to pull them through as quickly as possible.

=====
=====

Kanna OOCly says, "Can I stary trying to rejoin Beowulf given how fast
I'm running, etc, and the fact that -- oh, wait, seperated. Whee.  I
take it we're running in TOTALLY opposite directions, then?"

Beowulf asks, "OOC I'm not entirely sure. o.o John?"

=====
=====

You pull them through.  A wall of Abyssy Goodness continues to advance
on you.  Nanami, Ramon, and Keiko are all flying, having had pre-cast
spells put on them.  Ramon yanks you off the ground, and the four of you
flee in front of the wave as Nanami and Keiko begin casting spells.

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

John says, "OOC Yes, you're running in very different directions."

Kanna OOCly says, "Keep Running Like a Mofo, then, keep dodging the
arrows and black inky goodness, and Pray To Hell Sis gets Connected Damn
Soon. *wl*"

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

Beowulf points out the direction he's guessing Kanna's running in to the
others.

You all keep running.  Nanami finishes her spell.  The Pattern appears
over the Inky Blackness.  The Pattern falls on the Inky Blackness. 
There is a loud FWAKOOM.  The darkness rumbles, crackles, and burns. 
And then it is gone

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

Beowulf OOCly blinks.

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

Nanami shakes her fist in the air.  "Nothing beats the taste of
Pattern!"

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

You page, "Oh, hey, hello." to Chris.

Chris pages, "Hiya." to you.

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

The darkness leaves behind two mangled bodies.  One of them is very
badly charred, while the other is blazing like a bonfire.

Kanna skids to a stop once she's sure they're not being shot at, chased
by abyss clouds, pursued by tenticled bodies, etc...

Correction, it leaves behind...a blazing body, and three badly charred
bodies

No, wait...

Three blazing bodies, one charred.

And that's my final offer.

=====
=====

Beowulf OOCly groans... does the blazing body look like Miki, and is
there time enough to get in there and try using something to put them
out?

=====
=====

Nanami blinks.  "Hmm."

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

Chris pages, "Do I wanna know what I came in on?" to you.

You page, "Well, we found Lian's body.  Then we found it still
apparently alive and with brain activity, but we were suspicious and
took the body and the rest out, etc -- and while we were trying to
figure out what the fuck was going on, got jumped by some Abyss Folks...
we think." to Chris.

Chris pages, "..." to you.

You page, "And we never -did- get to toss the rock into the Abyss to try
and get demetrius. :P" to Chris.

You page, "As we found Lian's (nicely posessing a metal imprint and the
remains of Hoard) body, there." to Chris.

Chris pages, "Yay. x.x" to you.

You page, "Lian IS dead, yes?  *wl* She seemed remarkably intact for
somebody who bought the big one in the Abyss, etc." to Chris.

You page, "Burned, but living, etc." to Chris.

Chris pages, "Well, according to John, yes." to you.

Chris pages, "If she is still alive, I'm definitely making a side trip
to Kansas in FEbruary. :P" to you.

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

She has Ramon bring Beowulf in closer with her and Keiko as they fly
along.

Kanna turns, and starts running BACK.  Yay.

Beowulf says, "Morrigan and a House Gainax servant were in there." He
tries to pick out who the bodies are.

Beowulf says, "And..." He sighs softly. "Perhaps the possessed body of
Lian."

Beowulf starts crying, unashamedly.

====
====

Kanna OOCly reminds the GM to let him know when he gets back within
range of folks. *wl*

=====
=====

As you draw closer, you can see that the badly charred body is Morrigan.
You're not sure if she's alive or dead.  The blazing bodies are the
sorceress and the well-dressed swordsman and Miki.  All three are beyond
help.,

=====
=====

Akemi pages, "Gabby now comes online.  "Shit!  I had this ugly
interference to get through!" to you.

You page, "SIS!  HEALING!  ME, RUKA, MORRIGAN!  *NOW!*" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Gabby dumps healing on you and Ruka and needs to get over
closer to Morrigan to help her." to you.

You page, "I be running, so that should help. *wl*" to Akemi.

====
====

Beowulf moans. Another death on his soul.

The DM now realizes that the armored swordsman's body is also there,
blazing merrily.

=====
=====

Kanna OOCly says, "Is the body of Good Armor Guy there?  Ah, there we
go."

=====
=====

Lian and Archer are gone.

Kanna gets closer, still running at a full-tilt, her eyes taking in the
remains and carnage, staring in shock.

Beowulf takes a deep breath, realizing that this isn't over yet, and
tries to pull himself together. "Can you heal her, Aunt Nanami?"

Nanami kneels by Morrigan and mutters something to herself, then waves
the Mind of the Dragon over her and mutters some spells.

Morrigan sits up, clutching her head, looking to have lost a few years. 
She looks to be only about fifteen.

She's pretty much dressed only in ashes.

Morrigan says, "Did I get that punk who tried to invade my brain?"

Beowulf quickly conjures some clothes for Morrigan. "I'm glad you're
still alive, at least." His expression seems to fall inwards as he wipes
away tears. "What happened?"

Nanami says, "Is he one of those blazing corpses over there?"

====
====

Akemi pages, "You now reach them." to you.

====
====

Kanna says, ".. oh pyricorn oh serpent oh elder gods..."

Ramon comes over to Kanna.  "Hey, you don't look too good."

Kanna screetches to a halt, panting, setting Ruka down.

Kanna now goes to work on extracting all those damn arrows.

Kanna exclaims, "No, I DON'T look too good, Cousin Ramon!  Lian's for
all I know dead or posessed, I found out today Moriya's dead, and I've
been shot up by fucking abyss fuckers!!"

Kanna exclaims, "Or whoever, whatever those assholes were!"

Kanna then pants, visibbly working to center herself.

Morrigan takes the clothing.  "Thank you, Prince Beowulf."  She quickly
gets dressed.  "Yes, I think he's blazing merrily."

Keiko comes over to Kanna and puts some healing on her to go with the
spells Gabby cast on her.

Kanna says, "I'm... i'm sorry, Cousin Ramon.  It's been a long few days,
and not good ones."

Beowulf looks up and seems to see Kanna's injuries for the first time.
"Oh, *crap*..." He then starts throwing out a string of blasphemies that
the player can't think of, but would undoubtedly singe the ears off of
most people.

Kanna says, "Heal Ruka... he's not as tough as I am..."

Gabrielle pops out of the manifestation and starts snooping around the
area with a magnifying glass.

Beowulf asks, "Damn it, can't I do *ANYTHING* right?!?"

Nanami pulls the arrow out of Ruka's ass, then casts a healing spell on
him.

====
====

Kanna OOCly says, "What about the other injuries, etc? *wl* Or were they
just cuts? *wl*"

Kanna OOCly says, "Okay, so it was me being the human pincusion, not
ruka."

John says, "OOC Nanami's got enough healing mojo to do multiple wounds
with one spell."

Kanna OOCly Yay!  Okay, so I'm better now.  Yay.

====
====

Morrigan says, "And what the hell was that which blew me up?"

Kanna lets the healing take effect, and then gets slowly to her feet,
then helps Ruka up.

Ramon says, "What happened?"

He looks around.

Gabrielle says, "Abyssal Breach.  Quite a nasty one."

Beowulf looks up at the sky and curses some more, then seems to run down
and collapse. "I'm sorry..." He turns to Morrigan, face re-setting into
guilt. "You're welcome, for the clothes; I'm glad I could do *that*
much." He shakes his head. "The last thing I saw before I started
trumping, you were doing a spell and looked like you were in no trouble;
I made sure of that before I trumped. What happened?"

Kanna says, "We recovered for what all we knew was the sleeping or
possesed or whatnot body of Lian at the edge of the Abyss, with the
still-hanging-on-there remains of Hoard of the Dragon, which Anno-Sama
was certain had been destroyed -in- the abyss, around the same time I
could have sworn feeling Lian's death up in Ember.  Suspicious, we
brought the body here to investigate."

Morrigan says, "Basically, I think after you pulled me through, it
figured out the jig was up, and so 'Lian' got used as a remote to open
an Abyss Portal, through which those four people came."

She says, "I should have been more careful myself, but I didn't realize
whoever did this was good enough to fool you so you didn't notice the
Abyss Power I assume must have been inside her."

Beowulf nods slowly. "All right. What was 'Lian', then?"

Kanna says, "I walked shadow a Little bit to try to determine if this
WAS Lian or not... Pattern said it was Real, but not a Hel Agent, and
there was a place away from Shadow that would hold clues ... and when I
got here, those... 'people' appeared.  I shot the sorceress, and then
things went to hell."

Morrigan says, "I'm guessing she was either an Abyssal Power Puppet or
else an Abyss creature of some kind possessing her.  Unfortunately, I
never finished my spell before the gate opened."

Kanna looks at Morrigan, and then down at the ground.  "But... I
-patternsighted- her..."

She continues, "As I hadn't racked any really suitable magic."

Beowulf sighs. "It didn't move like Lian at all; whatever her body was,
it wasn't her running it."

Kanna says, "... damnit..."

Morrigan says, "And your brain isn't very powerful and the Abyss is
pretty strong.  I can think of half a dozen ways I could probably fool
you.  And you didn't have Gabrielle backing you up, right?"

Gabrielle says, "I didn't come because we wanted to avoid any trouble
with the Logrus."

Kanna nods, Jerkily.  "Not down in Chaos.  I turn her access down
there,f or that reason.  Damnit.  Dammmit...."  She trembles slightly.

She continues examining things.  "These burning people are all burning
because they've got the blood of chaos in them, and it ignited."

Beowulf sighs. "I'm sorry, Morrigan; I should have briefed you better.
I'm *very* glad you're not dead." He looks over at the burning body of
Miki, and crumples. "And if I could have given my life instead of hers,
I should have... she was just an innocent clerk at House Gainax." He
looks just about crushed with guilt.

Morrigan sighs.  "Poor kid.  I think she was already dead long before
that spell came down on us."

Kanna finally links that. "... no... damnit, Bey, -I- was the one who
asked for assistance -getting- to that damnible place, and she was
riddled by arrows as I got there...."

Kanna looks like she needs a Ruka to lean on right now.

Morrigan says to Beowulf, "Don't you have a girlfriend who can use the
Logrus?  Where's she?"

Beowulf closes his eyes. "I'm not sure whether that makes me feel any
better or not. She's still dead."

Ruka leans on Kanna, as he's feeling pretty exhausted.

Gabrielle says to Nanami, "You really sealed this breech well."

Beowulf says, "Lily's up in Amber, helping prepare... Moriya's..." He
chokes up again. "Funeral. This was just supposed to be a quick check of
what happened to Kanna, so she didn't come along."

Nanami says, "It wasn't a very stable breach. They didn't have much time
to fortify it."

Morrigan frowns.  "Moriya died?  I never hear anything."  She sighs. 
"And his father's in prison...what an unlucky family."

Beowulf says, "And then one thing led to another, like it always does,
and..." He sighs. "We didn't expect to see Lian's body at the edge of
the Abyss, and once we found it... the whole thing came unravelled."

Kanna says, "And it was -supposed- to be a quick run down to find out
what happened to Lian and to cchuck a rock intot he Abyss to arrange
contact with Dread Pirate Demetrisu of Avalon, and...." she nods to
Beowulf.

Ruka says, "Did we actually get the rock in?  I can't remember."

Kanna shakes her head.  "Didn't get a chance, Ruka." She sighs.  "Not
with 'Lian' apparently alive or not at the time."

Beowulf sighs. "No, we didn't. We saw Lian's body and didn't actually
get any closer to the Abyss."

Kanna sighs.  "How are you feeling, Ruka?" she asks with concern.

Ruka says, "I need rest, but I'm not bleeding any more."

Nanami says, "What were you going to throw in the Abyss?"

Kanna nods at that.  "so.  what the fuck now?"  She rummages around for
the damn rock.  "My desire to be near Chaos is now even less than it was
before, as I'd have an extreme desire to NUKE the fucking abyss and
everything in it, but I've still go this..."

Beowulf rubs his hands with his eyes, then slowly tilts back to look
heavenward. New lines seem etched into his face. He takes a deep breath,
then lets it out. "So... what now? It seems like Lian's body..." Tears
start running again. "...is in the hands of Abyssal evil. Is there
anything we can do about that?"

Nanami says, "Well, I'm sure they'll send her out again, so we will
likely get another chance to recover her body."  She frowns.

Kanna shows Nanami the rock with the carved instructions.  "A spell with
which to get the attention of the Abyss Pirate that mother traveled with
during her cross-universe journeys back during the Annadil Crisis."

Nanami says, "I suggest we find someone not associated with Amber to go
and throw the rock in, as that way, it's less likely to result in
another Ambush."

Kanna asks, "And... what the hell was that tentacled thing?"

Beowulf's chin settles down to his chest as he shakes his head slowly,
then looks up at Nanami and nods. "And those fucking bastards have even
taken away the chance to give her a decent funeral."

Morrigan says, "Abyssal Strangler.  Not very tough if you're resistant
to Abyssal power."

Morrigan says, "So why did Lian go into the Abyss anyway?"

Kanna sighs and nods.  "Ask somebody else from Gainax, I suppose... as
we will need to tell Anno, damnit."

Kanna says, "She... she was tring to retrieve the White Knight.  She got
some assistance from some helgramites, and other than that, I don't know
what happened."

Kanna says, "Or at least to investigate... damnit... DAMNNIT I *WARNED*
HER NOT TO DO SOME SHIT LIKE THIS!!  *FUCK*!"

Beowulf nods to Kanna, his face going grey. "Yes. It's my duty, I
think."

Kanna mutters dammit again, like a mantra, trying to reign in his
frustration with some effort.  "... mine too."

Nanami says, "She got some help from Helgramites?"

Kanna says, "Er,m Hendrake."

Kanna says, "My mind's not thinking straight."

Beowulf puts a hand gently on Kanna's shoulder. "I don't blame you. Mine
wasn't either."

Kanna sighs, sagging under Bey's hand.  "... not one of our better
days."

Beowulf sighs. "No, it wasn't. Damnit. Damnit. Damnit."

Gabrielle picks several sigils out of the flaming bodies.  "Looks like
we have three dead Hendrakes right here."

Beowulf sighs. "Wonderful. These Abyss folk are economizers."

Nanami says, "Waste not, want not."  She goes and casts a spell and the
flames go out.  "We'd best take them to House Hendrake for burial,
then."

Beowulf sighs. "Yes. Assuming they believe us about what happened,
*this* time..."

Kanna pauses.

Kanna pales as THAT ramification sinks in.

Ruka says, "It would likely be wisest not to mention how Princess Nanami
set them on fire."

Beowulf says, "Though at least I hope we have enough things with us that
we can get a good temporal scry off of to prove what actually happened."

Beowulf says, "Assuming we weren't set up like Shizumaru was."

====
====

You page, "Were the Hendrakes, say, a sorceress, archer, okay swordsman,
and good swordsman?" to Chris.

Chris pages, "Yup." to you.

====
====

Morrigan says, "Too many witnesses this time."

Beowulf heaves a huge sigh. "Right."

Beowulf says, "But yes... wiser not to mention how Aunt Nanami set them
on fire."

Kanna murmurs, under her breath, "...fucking thricedammed cursed punkass
abyss-spawned assholes... not even letting them.... -damnit-..." she
practically grinds out the last word as her fists clench tight.

Kanna visibly gets herself under control, once more.  "... right...
right... which of us as witnesses should go and explain, then?"

Beowulf turns to Nanami. "Do you want to take them to Hendrake while...
we notify Grandfather, or ...right, Kanna."

Nanami says, "Ramon and Keiko and I will take them to Hendrake.  We will
call you if we need you."

Kanna nods.  "we shall go explain to anno-sama, then."

====
====

You page, "Kanna's opinions on Abyss-folks, save for one or two, has
just plummeted like the rock she was about to throw."" to Chris.

====
====

Ruka goes over and picks up Miki's body.

Beowulf says, "Yes." He holds out a hand to Kanna... oh, wait. "I
suppose... Gabrielle, you'd better demanifest." He looks at her for the
first time in a long while, something unreadable in his eyes.

Kanna sighs.  "You heard bey, sis... offline, but be ready to come
online once I'm out of the courts or if Aeris or I trump you."

Gabrielle says, "You nearly died horribly the last time I went offline."

She points all around.  "You sure you want me to have to start from
scratch if something goes wrong?"

Beowulf says, "I'm... still not happy with what happened back at the
cage match. But I've been through too much death lately to stay angry at
you."

Kanna looks down at beryllina around her lower arm, shifts it back to
saber form, and sheathes it.  She looks up at her sister, pained. 
"Please, sis?  I'm heading back to Gainax for this and only this,
somebody else can throw the rock in, and then I'm out of Chaos and will
keep out of Chaos as long as I can manage it."

Gabrielle says to Beowulf, "I'm sorry if I caused you any aggravation,
Beowulf.  I'm...well, I'm Fire, and when I get worked up, I burn stuff. 
I can't help it, but it's often not such a good idea.  But I never meant
to cause you any trouble."

She says to Kanna, "Fine, fine.  But if you get yourself killed, I'm
going to be crying for centuries."  She sighs.  "Time for me to
vamoose."  She pops into the manifestation and it goes dead.

Kanna nods at that, and hugs her sister, shivering.

Kanna then sighs as her sis vanishes.

Beowulf makes a little brushing-off gesture, as if dismissing the
trouble to himself. "I'm not so... drat." He sighs as she vanishes.

Kanna says, "Let's get this fucking over with and out of here, people,"
she says quietly.

Nanami says, "See you all."  She casts a spell and vanishes with her
family and the Hendrakes.

Beowulf nods. "Yes. And I... need to finish talking to her when we get
back."

Kanna says, "Explain to anno, give him the damn rock, get back up to
Amber, get back connect to sis, explain to the king, and break the news
to Thropan."

Beowulf waves goodbye to Aunt Nanami, then picks his Gainax trump in one
hand and offers his other to Kanna, nodding. "Ready?"

Kanna takes Bey's hand, and takes Ruka's shoulder in her other.

Ruka says, "Ready."

Kanna nods, mute.

Beowulf nods, and trumps them to Gainax.

You land in the gardens of Gainax.

Several gardeners are at work.  They blink in surprise at the body.

Kanna says, "We need to see Lord Anno."

"Lord Anno is in the middle of some sort of experiment, but you can find
him in his lab, I think."

Kanna says, "As well as a... proper place to lay out the body."

Beowulf bows to them, tears starting to run from his eyes again. "Yes.
Please, if he's here. Miki of Amber might have been trying to reach
him."

The gardener asks softly, "Who is it?"

Beowulf shivers a bit. "Miki... of Gainax."

His eyes widen.  "Damnation.  What happened?"

Beowulf says, "If..." He shakes his head, seeming to have trouble
finding the words. "We were attacked by people out of an Abyss portal,
apparently generated from... from the body of our friend."

Kanna says, "Shot by a person possessed... or effectively replaced... by
one with the powers of the Abyss.  She was dead before we could get to
her."

Kanna looks pained.

Beowulf says, "Did... she leave anyone special behind?" He steels
himself. "I should tell them myself, not let them get the news
second-hand."

Kanna nods.

=====
=====

The_Prof pages, "'So, how *does* it feel to have your former character's
body possessed by the Abyss and running around attacking people?' 'Just
*fucking* great!!!' x.x o.o ;_; x.x ;_;" to you and Chris.

You page-pose, "Aerianne sighs, and hugs." to Chris and The_Prof.

Chris pages, "This sucketh majorly, yes. I should have made sure to die
in a way that destroyed the body too. x.x" to you.

You page, "So as this wouldn't happen, and the onlt real leftover body
would be the one with Vector? *wl*" to Chris.

=====
=====

He nods.  "She was seeing a fellow named Yuu.  They seemed to break up
every few weeks for no apparent reason, then get back together, but most
of the time, they were happy together."  He sighs.  "Her parents wont'
be happy either."

Kanna murmurs "damn" under her breath, and closes her eyes.

They give you directions to where to find Anno.  Anything else you want
to ask them?

=====
=====

Kanna OOCly says, "basically, where should we put Miki's body."

=====
=====

Beowulf bows his head. "Yes. If... Serpent, there's no way you can make
up for something like this, but if there's anything at all we can do for
them..."

He says, "You should probably tell them how their daughter died," the
man says, sighing.

Beowulf says, "Of course." The sorrow actually seems to lift for a
moment, as he seems surprised that that would be in question, before the
sorrow settles in again. "I meant something more we could do, for any of
them."

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

Kanna OOCly blinks.

Kanna OOCly says, "Oh, did Morrigan go with the Hendrake group, or us."

John says, "OOC Oh shit, Morrigan got left behind.  ^^;;;"

Damasq says, "OOC:  Well, I presume she went with _someone_."

Beowulf says, "OOC Probably finesse by saying she went with Nanami,
since she'd be the most likely person to give testimony. Then... hm."

John says, "OOC Hmm, she probably hopped with Nanami's group, as they'd
be heading back Amber way sooner"

Beowulf says, "OOC Not sure if she'd reasonably come looking for them at
Gainax or not. Probably not."

Kanna OOCly nods.

Kanna OOCly says, "She went with Nanami.  that works.  Let us continue."

Beowulf OOCly nods.

=====
=====

Chris pages, "Yup. I was expecting this to happen one way or another,
though. EBT'd Lian if I surrendered, animated Lian if dead.
Unfortunately, I was right. -.-" to you.

You page, "Yay. :P |P" to Chris.

You page, "And of course, this'll wear on Kanna for weeks, as until body
recovered and able to check the mind, well..." to Chris.

You page, "(["Hi, Thropan.  We think Lian's soul is dead, but her body's
still around and controlled by the abyss, but we're not SURE..."])" to
Chris.

Chris pages, "I have considered turning my puppet off,as this just makes
me feel guilty about my choice back then again. But there is also this
masochistic kind of curiosity that wants to know what happens anyway.
x.x" to you.

You page, "(at least with EBT, you could've eventually gotten it cleaned
out, y'know.  Though that was what happened to JuriAv, and we saw what
happened THEN... :P )" to Chris.

=====
=====

The man says, "I have no idea, I must admit."

Kanna says, "we can ask them, Beowulf, if there's anything."  She sighs.
 "And as for her body... where can it be laid out?"

Beowulf nods sadly. "All right."

The man says, "I suggest you take her to the chapel.  They'll know what
to do.  I've never had to...handle this sort of thing."

Kanna nods.  "Which way?"

He gives you very good directions.

Beowulf says, "I can understand." He sighs. "I hope you never have to. I
apologize for... bringing this into your life."

Kanna bows low.  "Thank you, sir."

Kanna says, "As do I."

Beowulf bows himself. "Fare you well." He then carries Miki's body to
the chapel.

Kanna follows (as ruka was helping carry, etc.)

====
====

Beowulf OOCly nods. Oops.

====
====

You all head to the chapel, where an acolyte is busy doing cleaning. 
His eyes widen. "Who...who has fallen?" he asks softly.

Beowulf swallows hard. "Miki of Gainax."

Kanna says, "Miki of Gainax, good sir," She says, quietly.

====
====

You page, "[Shiori] Hey... bro?  Would a legit psychosis for studying
with Great-Grandpa Fuy be "Unreasoning Hatred Of Abyss Beings" too?" to
Chris.

Chris pages, "[Orien] I've got that without studying with Gramps, so ...
your call, sis." to you.

Chris pages, "(Yeah, but with EBT, who knows what I'd have done ...
killed Tylor? Killed Kanna? Maybe set off a bomb in Amber castle to take
out as many critical royals as possible ... )" to you.

You page, "(Point.  Blech. :P  Why the hell merc thinks Abyss is so cool
is anybody's guess... -.-;; )" to Chris.

Chris pages, "(Also, I just typed. Lian decided, and option number two
of the above was one important reason not to accept the monks' offer to
kick her out. As all they promised was that she would leave the Abyss.
They never mentioned in which state.)" to you.

=====
=====

Kanna looks around the chapel... even here, one small part of her mind
sizes up the archetecture and artistic quality of the place.

The chapel is very nicely decorate and quite fancy.

The acolyte sighs. "Come with me, we can take her to the preparation
room, and I will find one of the priests."

Beowulf says, "Please... what should we do with her? She..." His throat
clogs up. "She deserves all honor, in a situation that we should never
have taken her into."

He soon guides you to a room, where you can lay her down upon a padded
bed, and then he goes and finds a dark-haired priest named Marklar.

Kanna follows, of course.  She looks a tad uncomfrotable, but stoic.

=====
=====

The_Prof pages, "...are we masochists, or what? ;_;" to you and Chris.

You page, "We're potential future kingdom rulers.  It comes with the
territory." to Chris and The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "Bey's not going to be if he can help it. o.o As Touga
would probably be a better ruler by far, even if more in the Gendo-ish
mode." to you and Chris.

=====
=====

Marklar looks at Miki.  "Poor child.  How did she die?"

Beowulf says, "We... asked her to take us to the edge of the Abyss, to
throw in a spell to contact someone. We found the body of our friend
Lian lying there, at the edge of the Abyss."

Kanna says, "We ... were investigating the loss of one of our
compatriots to the Abyss.  We asked for help getting there, and Miki was
brought in.  We found our friend's body, but was suspicious, and pulled
back elsewhere to investigate the circumstances."

Marklar nods and listens.

Kanna says, "When we brought in additional help, an Abyss Portal and
four others were pulled out of it.  I just arrived on the scene when it
happened.  She... she was already being shot at when I got there, and I
beleive dead before I could deal with the one who slew her."

Beowulf says, "And then..." He sighs. "When I pulled in some help, and
was talking to someone else, apparently something planted in our
friend's body went off, and an Abyss Portal opened up, spewing out four
fighters. She was riddled with arrows."

====
====

Kanna OOCly says, "(and once again, the Kanna/Bey synchonicity
happens.)"

====
====

Beowulf says, "I tried to dump a healing spell on her... but then the
Abyss rolled over her, and we never saw what happened next. I don't even
know if it worked or not." His eyes close in shame.

The priest says, "Have her parents been told yet?"

Kanna says, "And I tried to deal with the one who slew her, and... while
wounded, I believe she escaped."  She sighs, and her eyes close as well.
 "No, not yet.  We just arrived here."

Beowulf shakes his head slowly. "No. We came straight here after
trumping in, though we did ask some of the gardeners for directions."

He nods.  "I will prepare her body, and send someone to her parents
then."  He sighs.

Beowulf sighs. "When the Abyss cloud was dispelled... we found her like
this."

Beowulf says, "Could... you tell us how to find her parents? They...
should hear it from us, I think."

He says, "Alright."  He gives you directions to her parents place within
Gainax."

Kanna nods, memorizing them.

Kanna says, "Thank you, Marklar.  I.. just wish things had not come to
this."

Beowulf sighs, then looks to Kanna. "Let's go." He turns to Marklar.
"...yes." He bows his head again, then looks up. "May the Serpent and
all the Powers of Good bless her and her loved ones."

Marklar says, "I am sure the Serpent has already gathered her into his
coils."

Beowulf says, "May she rest gently within those coils," he murmurs.

====
====

The_Prof pages, "Anything more to say before we take our leave? o.o" to
you.

You page, "Kanna has a need to do a little praying.  So sue her. *wl*"
to The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "Hardly. o.o" to you.

The_Prof pages, "Hardly sue her, that is. o.o" to you.

You page, "(and my MP3 player is playing "Dust in the Wind".  Whee.)" to
Chris and The_Prof.

Chris pages, "(How ... fitting.)" to you and The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "Uh-huh. ;_;" to you and Chris.

====
====

"Yes," Kanna murmurs as well, and bows low and respectful to the
priest.  She nods to Beowulf and Ruka.  As they head out, though, she
hesitates while in the main section of the chapel, and goes and kneels
in one of the pews.

Beowulf quietly follows, and kneels beside her.

Ruka follows ane kneels expectantly.

Kanna hangs her head low, her hands clasped in front of her.  "Hi there,
Mr. Serpent." she harshly whispers.  "You're... probably wondering why
it's me of all people down here talking to you... hell, I'm not even
sure which aspect of you I should be addressing.  But... but I figure
that if Motoko can chat with you all the time, and she's of Amber and
Chaos, really... then there shouldn't be a problem with me doing it,
too.  I'm sure the Pyricorn and Unicorn would understand."

If the Serpent hears you, he makes no reply, for good or ill, though you
can feel the holiness and peace of this chapel.

Beowulf murmurs, rather more softly... "I don't know if you hear me. I
don't even know if I should be here. But... may you protect and cherish
her soul."

Ruka nods his head in silence.

Beowulf says, "May she know love, and happiness, and all the blessings
of life, when she returns to the world." He sighs. "I'm not very good at
this... but that's all. May she know peace."

Kanna is more in the need of the latter aspects than the former.  It's
not like she's got the Pyricorn on speed-dial up in Ember, so she's used
to it.  She continues, quietly, haltingly, "A-anyway... as you probably
know, things are getting worse down here. More 'f my friends and family
are getting hurt... -killed-... and even those i barely know are being
affected.  And I'm ... 'm not asking for miracles... w-we haveta pull
them off for ourselves, since.. since that's what we've gotta do.  I...
I just ask that... wherever Lian and Moriya's souls have ended up... and
all those of those who have fallen on the path, fighting against those
who threaten those we love, or protect, or aid... that you watch over
them 'n keep 'em happy, 'kay?"

"Give us the strength to hold together and protect our families, and
to... get through this."  Kanna sniffles slightly, and reaches over to
take Ruka's hand, then Beowulf's.  "So that we can have a bright future
and it all not be for naught."

Ruka nods.  "Amen to that."

Beowulf nods silently, not able to find any more words.

"Anyway, that's pretty much all that I had to say.  I... I hope you 'n
the Phoenix 'n the Unicorn and its heralds are doing fine.  Please take
care of Lian.  Thank you."

Kanna then squeezes both of the guy's hands, gently, as she remains
silent.

Beowulf squeezes Kanna's hand in return, then stays lost in thought for
a moment, trying to feel some of the peace of the chapel.

Kanna just stays quiet for a while, save for her sniffling, and the
tears that silently fall (though not to the degree of her crying
earlier.)

Ruka leans over and kisses Kanna on the cheek.

=====
=====

The_Prof pages, "...this is turning into a very interesting cycle. o.o
As Bey was feeling pretty crushed... but that'll just fuel his anger all
the harder the next time he runs into folks like that." to you and
Chris.

=====
=====

Beowulf lets go of Kanna's hand and gives her a soft squeeze on the
shoulder. Well, a hard squeeze, but it'll probably *feel* like a soft
one.

Kanna turns her head slightly, and kisses Ruka back in return, gently,
mouthing a "thank you" as their lips touch.  When they finish with the
kiss, she turns to regard Beowulf with a soft, sad smile, and kisses him
on the cheek, sisterly-like.

Beowulf smiles back, sadly, then ruffles her hair. "Well." He takes a
deep breath. "Are we ready?"

Kanna takes a deep breath as well.  "No," she says, honestly.  "But I'm
still going to go forward, anyway."

Beowulf shakes his head ruefully. "True. When are we *ever* ready?
Still, need drives us, and we do."

Ruka nods.  "Exactly."

Beowulf stands up slowly, feeling all the aches in his legs, then offers
a hand to Kanna. "Let's go, then."

Kanna quirks that wry smile again, and accepts Bey's hand, pulling
herself up.  "Yup."  She then offers -her- hand to ruka.

Ruka smiles and takes the hand and lets Kanna pull him up.  "Let's go."

=====
=====

Beowulf asks, "OOC How much longer do you want to run, Phil?"

Beowulf says, "OOC As I believe you're currently running latest in time.
o.o"

John says, "OOC Yep."

Kanna OOCly says, "Hm... I think if glossing over talking with the
parents is okay, we need to make/play out talking with Anno to explain
what happened and hand over the Rock, and then fork with us heading out
back to Amber."

Beowulf OOCly nods. That works for me.

Kanna OOCly says, "(as I want to get things settled down here, but
they've clearly got a long way to go. *wl* )"

John says, "OOC That sounds good."

=====
=====

The_Prof pages, "...crazy to think now how a funeral would have been
*simpler*. x.x" to you and Chris.

You page, "Always check the body... you never know.  After all, think
what things would've been like if 'Lian' suddenly appeared tring to
pretend to be her?*wl*" to Chris and The_Prof.

=====
=====

You go talk to the Parents.  You talk to lots of other people. 
Eventually, you finish that and go to see Anno, who appears to be trying
to build a large crystal lattice in his lab.

Kanna waits respectfully, glancing around the lab but not touching
anything, waiting to see if he'll notice their arrival...if not, she'll
politely clear her throat to get his attention.

Beowulf gulps. "Hello, Grandfather," he says softly, at a point when it
looks like he won't immediately drop something. "I'm ashamed to have to
say this again... but I screwed up. Again." He sighs. "Though you've
probably heard part of it from Uncle Miki, if he was able to reach you."

=====
=====

Beowulf says, "OOC Gak, when *Anno* won't immediately drop something.
x.x"

=====
=====

Anno sighs, looking up from his device.  "I should have sent someone
more experienced, but I failed to anticipate they would strike against
you."

Beowulf actually manages to quirk a very weak smile at that. "Well... no
one's perfect. As we just proved."

He says, "But we cannot undo the past.  The hand writes, and having
writ, moves on."

Kanna says, "And while we were cautious... we were not cautious enough."
She sighs.  "And now we know part of what happened.  We are forewarned,
even though that warning cost us dearly."  She nods, quietly.

Beowulf looks down at his feet. "I just wish we could have saved her...
but yes. Now we move on." His voice hardens. "Like seeing whether
there's anything we can do against the bastards who did that to Lian."

Beowulf says, "Not to mention several innocent knights of Hendrake."

====
====

Beowulf OOCly just had an ugly thought... suppose we had thrown the rock
in, and these yahoos intercepted it?

Kanna OOCly says, "Oh yes, Kanna's thinking that, ohhh yes."

====
====

Kanna says, "Indeed.  Though I fear their souls are in the coils of the
Serpent now, and Lian's on the back of the Unicorn."

Anno nods.  "What a mess.  It is very dangerous to tamper with the
Abyss.  I would recommend you abandon thoughts of revenge, for they will
likely only lead you to her fate."

Beowulf nods sadly. "Yes." Hard again. "I'm more worried about
preventing others from sharing the same fate."

Beowulf says, "And..." His voice drops again, catches. "Seeing if we can
get... her body back, at least. The thought of them using it like that
makes my skin crawl."

Kanna says, "I beleive the only chance we'll get at that will be if they
bring it out again.  We will need to spread word, and cautions to that
effect."

Beowulf nods slowly, and waits to see what Grandfather has to say.

Kanna mmms, quietly, pulling out the rock once more.  "In light of
everything that has occured, however... I am no longer sure of the
wisdom of contacting Demetrius.  At least, not ourselves, and not in
that area.  Or if wether to do it at all."

=====
=====

You page, "I shudder to think what would've happened if Kanna had taken
that trump that morning, now.  As she didn't get ID, and Lian's trump is
dead, but the body's still alive..." to Chris and The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "Well, Phil... we have had our first experience with
Abyssal Badness, and it is... ugly. x.x" to you and Chris.

The_Prof pages, "Yeesh. Yah. x.x" to you.

=====
=====

Anno nods.  "Yes.  They may lie low for a while."  He sighs.  "I have
certain contacts.  I will make inquiries and try to determine what
happened."

Kanna nods.  "Thank you, Anno-sama.  If... you feel that attempting to
Contact Demetrius is still a viable idea, or one that can be implemented
without risking House Gainax and Chaos... I trust that you would be able
to find someone to toss the message rock in.  If that is all right with
you."

Anno says, "I will do my best to find someone."

He continues, "As I would like to see the White Knight found as well."

Beowulf nods, slowly. "Yes. What are the chances that the... people...
who Lian ran into would intercept the message?"

Kanna smiles slightly, and nods.  "Thank you, Anno-sama."  She hands the
rock to him.  "It would be nice to meet an Uncle I never got a chance to
know, after having finally gotten to meet Aunt Juri and talk with her."

Anno says, "I don't know.  But it's a risk that will have to be taken, I
think, Beowulf."

Anno says to Kanna, "An Aunt.  The White Knight was usually female, I
believe."

Kanna blinks.

Kanna says, "Ohhhhkay."

Beowulf nods slowly. "Yes. I see. I just wish you didn't have to take
the risk along with us."

Kanna says, "Well, whatever."  She smiles faintly.  "One Uncle, two
Aunts, one Father, and one needing to be reborn.  I can cope."

Beowulf manages to smile as well. "You have a very strange family tree,
coz." He tries a wink, to see if it comes out well. o.o

Anno says, "All immortals live in strangely shaped bushes, Anthy once
told me."

Beowulf chuckles weakly. "I suppose so." He sighs. "Family... is
important. Is everything, in a way."

Kanna chuckles softly, and manages another smile.  "It's part of the
course, Beowulf."  She quirks an eyebrow, takes a deep breath, and bows
again to Anno-sama.  "We'll be going now, Anno-sama.  The kingdom of
Ember, and Amber, thanks you for your time and assistance in this
matter, even with the harm that came to your House.  One day, this will
be put as right as we can manage it."

Anno nods.  "It is no problem."

Beowulf says, "Thank you for your understanding, Grandfather." He sighs.
"Now we need to go inform the rest of the family of what happened."

Kanna stands and nods.  "Yes."  She looks to Beowulf and Ruka.  "Trump
to Yig, contact sis, and gate the rest of the way?"

Beowulf nods. "Yes. I need to finish that talk we started with her."

Kanna nods, pulls out her trump deck, and pulls out her trump of Yig,
after exhanging final goodbyes with anno and exiting the Lab with Ruka
and Bey.

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

John asks, "OOC ANd we cut you all here?"

Beowulf OOCly nods. A good spot.

Kanna OOCly nods.  Yes.  This... did not go as expected.  At all.

Beowulf OOCly shakes his head. No, it didn't at all. x.x

John says, "OOC I was starting to worry for a while that things were
REALLY going to go to hell."

Beowulf OOCly nods. "And then Nanami was able to take care of it, so
easily."

Kanna OOCly says, "Well, none of us were really big-ass-
pattern-slinging sorcereors.  'course, she's got a spikard too..."

Beowulf OOCly sighs. I wish I could have gotten her through sooner, and
that I had warned her about the Logrus-user in the cloud of Abyssal
badness.

John says, "OOC I'd like to note that you guys took down almost all of
your foes 'afore Nanami showed up."

Kanna OOCly True.  There was just The Cloud and Arrow-girl left.

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

You page, "[Kanna] ... okay, lian, i can see why you dad ain't keen on
the abyss." to Chris.

Chris pages, "[Lian] Me too. And he'll be even less happy if he ever
finds out about me. Darako, his first love, killed by Juri under Abyss
influence. Venir, his brother, used as an abyssal puppet by Brand and
killed by Juri under Abyss influence. My half-sister, assimilated by an
Abyss-construct." to you.

You page, "[Kanna sighs, and hugs.  "Yeah.  Shiori?" ] [Shiori] Yes,
mom?  [Kanna] No Pit-Diving for You.  [Shiori] No mom." to Chris.

Chris pages, "[Orien] Good idea." to you.

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

Beowulf OOCly nods. "Though archer girl was still being nasty... and
more to the point, the Abyssal cloud was still there."

John says, "OOC And if it hadn't been for the spreading cloud, you'd
have likely taken them all.  The Cloud was the big problem."

Beowulf asks, "OOC Unless it would have gone away eventually by itself
if we'd killed them all?"

Kanna OOCly So I guess I interrupted some spell the spellcaster was
using and it just went into automatic?

John says, "OOC If you'd killed them all, their boss would have given
up."

John says, "OOC Also, you could escape the cloud by using Pattern to
step one shadow over"

Beowulf OOCly nods. "And sucked the Abyssal cloud back in?"

Beowulf says, "OOC Yah... but we couldn't do that, not when we had
allies still in the cloud."

Beowulf says, "OOC Not knowing if they were alive or dead."

Kanna OOCly says, "that's what we get for being concientious folks.
*wl*"

John says, "OOC Basically, the sorceress was wearing a ring linked to
her boss that he could use his powers through."

Kanna OOCly says, "Kanna was less worried 'bout Morrigan, as she's
part(full?(whatever)) Abyssal, but Miki was a loss at that point....
-oh-."

Kanna OOCly says, "D'oh."

Kanna OOCly says, "I should've shot the damn -ring- when I was still
able to."

John says, "OOC Taking her down ensured he couldn't use her as a remote
terminal to start tossing Abyss Sorcery like mad."

Kanna OOCly says, "Well, that's a good point."

Kanna OOCly says, "Yay Me."

Beowulf OOCly nods. Good for Kanna. x.x At what point in the trump convo
with Nanami did all hell break loose? I'm trying to figure how bad a
screw-up that was.

Kanna OOCly says, "It all broke loose as soon as I came on the scene. 
Lemme check...  Pretty much RIGHT as yo dropped the trump call."

John says, "OOC Basically, everything went to hell shortly before the
end of your call."

John says, "OOC Once you called in Morrigan, they decided they were
going to have to strike."

Kanna OOCly nods.  As I was already doing reaction stuff by page and
tac-analysis.

Beowulf OOCly nods. "So should I have called Nanami in first, or called
them in together?"

John says, "OOC YOu should have taken her to Bagworld and shut off Abyss
there.  ^^;;;  Barring that, Nanami wouldhave been better, as they
couldn't just look at her and know she'd figure them out."

Kanako says, "OOC: It was actually an amazingly good pan on their part."

Kanako says, "OOC: If it weren't for kanna's weird power to feel when
Lian died, you'd probably have been tekn in."

Kanna OOCly says, "Well... live and learn.  Especially if we manage to
-live- TO learn...."

Beowulf says, "OOC I didn't think of Abyss at all wrt Fibber's Closet,
really. Though Bey will be turning it off the instant they leave Gainax,
I think."

Kanna OOCly says, "The oddity of the situation threw her off, but that
and Bey's own caution, well..."

John says, "OOC Yep"

Kanna OOCly says, "Jade may or may not... probably 'off' when she's not
there, and for the rest of the realm, unless she needs to bring
Demetrius there as a waystation."

John says, "OOC Yep"

Kanna OOCly says, "But that's enough of that... pick up
tomorrow/whenever in this sad, sorid tale. *wl*"

John exclaims, "OOC Righto!"

Beowulf OOCly nods. "Yes. Sleep good."

=====
=====

The_Prof pages, "I'm hoping this doesn't spawn another sub-thread, like
what Jacqui did." to you.

The_Prof pages, "Or what Morgan did. x.x As this would be a really lousy
time to start having Abyss Dwellers attacking us." to you.

You page, "Heh.  Well, we shall see.  two+ weeks until Hel invades, it'd
stand to reason she'd be sending agents out now." to The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "Suppose so. x.x Let's hope they don't cause any more
problems when we go after Tharkold. Then... ghu, I'm not sure just what
we'll be doing." to you.

The_Prof pages, "Anyway... have a good night, and sleep well. Probably
pick up again on Sunday, or maybe later, to give folks time to catch
up." to you.

You page, "Toss the outsiders and the abyss weirdos at each other.
Escape in the confusion.  Right, well, we'll see, though if Sunday, then
a short night." to The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "Indeed. We're gonna run late here tomorrow night, as
it's one of our last weekends to get together before Mike graduates." to
you.

You page, "Ah-hah.  Right, well, luck to Mike, then." to The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "Indeed. I've offered to let him stay here for a while
if he wants to job-hunt out of KC instead of Vegas, but we'll see." to
you.

The_Prof pages, "Anyway... seeya later. Sleep well." to you.

=====
=====

Chris pages, "I'm not looking forward to the log of this. x.x" to you.

You page, "Well, it was all well and good until we found Lian's body at
the edge of the abyss..." to Chris.

Chris pages, "Especially that part. I managed to get over it, kinda. I
really don't need to be reminded of my stupid actions back then. x.x" to
you.

You page-pose, "Aerianne sighs, and hugs." to Chris.

Chris pages, "Ah well. Obsessing over Orien now helps. :)" to you.

You page, "Heh. *patpat* [Shiori yays, and hugs her adoptive broher. 
"Mommy and daddy didn't die.  I'm happy."]" to Chris.

Chris pages, "[Orien smiles and hugs the Shiori. "Good ... I want to
actually meet you in ICland, 'sis'."]" to you.

You page, "[Shiori hehs, and nods, and fuzzles her brother, rubbing her
smooth cheek against his furry one.]" to Chris.

Chris pages, "[Orien smiles at that and winks at her. "Have I told you
yet what a terrible tease you are?"]" to you.

You page, "[Shiori blushes.  "Not recently, no..." She winks back, and
then kisses his cheek.  "But I'm glad you think so."]" to Chris.

Chris pages, "[Orien laughs softly and kisses Shiori's cheek. "Be
careful, little one ... if one of your lovers sees us like this, they
might get the wrong idea."]" to you.

You page, "[Shiori] Who says I'd let 'em?  *she smiles, and then yawns,
and blushes.*" to Chris.

Chris pages, "[Orien] Good point. *he grins at the yawn and blush* You
might want to see your bed soon." to you.

You page, "[Shiori hehs. "Right, right.... Player was just working on
this stuff here... and trying to design/rendder the Keep of the five
worlds." to Chris.

Chris pages, "[Orien] Heh." to you.

You page, "[Shiori] Oh, belive me, it's gonna look -really- spiff.. but
anyway.  G'night, Orien... sleep well. *she hugs him ight, then
releases.*" to Chris.

Chris pages, "[Orien] Oh, I don't doubt -that- ... your player knows his
stuff. But yeah ... g'nite. We should do the sleep thing too. After
shopping for food, that is. *grin*" to you.

You page, "[Shiori hehs, waves, and heads out.]" to Chris.

Kanna OOCly says, "ahwell, bed now.  G'night. x.x"