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Logging Started: 06/05/2001 at 20:01:39
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Moriya OOCly says, "Okky. Anno is helping Moriya boost a trump connection all
 the way up to Ember, from the Courts."
Queen Corrine OOCly says, "... -woah-.  Long Distance Call."
Moriya OOCly says, "Quite."
Moriya trumps Corrine, long-distance style.
There's a few moment's pause... longer than you might normally expect for
 somebody to recognize a trump call... but then again, it's probably the
 distance.  Corrine looks up and blinks, currently sitting at a desk in her
 office.  "Moriya?  I thought you were in Chaos..."
Moriya smiles. "I am. Thanks to Anno-sama, I'm able to reach you all the way
 from down here."
Queen Corrine whistles, and smiles.  "Well then.  How goes things down there? 
 Are you and Motoko and Davros and company all right?"  She hesitates a bit. 
 "... how is your father doing?"
Moriya becomes somewhat subdued; the light in his eyes darkens. "We're all
 here, yes. My father...has been sentenced to fifty years for ten counts of
 involuntary manslaughter." He sighs, shaking his head. "Better than we had
 feared, worse than we had hoped," he says, echoing his father.
Queen Corrine nods, quietly, her own mein subdued.  "Yes.  Better than death or
 life, but..." She lets out a sigh.  "Well, the sentence has been made, I
 suppose, unless there's some way to get it lightened further.  But with all
 the things I've been hearing through Kanna..."  She shakes her head. 
 "...how's your mother taking it?  And what are your group's plans now?"
Queen Corrine OOCly says, "s/life/life imprisonment"
Moriya nods. "There is the opportunity for us to perform some services to
 Chaos, and thereby have his sentence reduced...perhaps even gain a full
 pardon. I've made an appointment with King Ishmael to discuss that; hopefully
 he'll have the time to grant me an audience soon." He pauses, thoughtful. "My
 mother is...well, she pretends to be all right, but I know she is hurting
 inside. But it isn't over yet, of that I'm certain. We'll manage something.
 Part of that something is, well, we plan to hunt down an ancient horror that's
 escaped from the Abyss. It threatens the Logrus evidently."
Queen Corrine Blinks at that, then nods.  "Good luck, then.  -Anything- that
 threatens either end of Reality or the middle is worthwhile to be taken out. 
 You and your family's strong, you -will- weather this well, and be stronger
 for it when you're all together again."  She smiles a bit.  "Don't mind me,
 just trying to interject some hope into things... Unicorn and Pyricorn know we
 -need- it."
Moriya smiles faintly. "It's appreciated, Aunt Corrine. These days...well, Aunt
 Nanami tells me that things haven't been as...eventful as they have been since
 the time of the Crisis, forty years ago. Must be quite something." He blinks,
 thinking of something. "Did you know, for instance, that Motoko's apparently a
 prophesied figure in Chaos? The Bride of the Dragon, in fact. And I'm one of
 the Pillars of Wisdom, the Sword, who travels with her."
Queen Corrine decides that doing that blinking thing is a good thing.  "Yes,
 activity has picked up... Motoko's a Chaosian Religeous Figure?  And for that
 matter, you?"
Queen Corrine scratches her head, beneath her tiara.  "And here I thought
 getting a copy ogf the Prophesies of the Serpent back during the Crisis with
 all my half-siblings in it was weird."
Moriya looks vaguely embarrassed. "Yes. Davros-san, the Chaosian monk who's
 been helping us, is the other Pillar, the Soul. And I spoke face to face with
 the Serpent just earlier today. It's been, to be quite honest, extremely
 surreal." He chuckles, then blinks. "Oh. The Crisis, yes, reminds me of the
 original reason I called, anyway. As you might know, my father was pulled into
 another universe. That's why he disappeared, and the side effects damaged
 Kafuin badly."
"... you spoke... with the Serpent.  Oh man."  She stares, and then shakes her
 head, composing herself.  "You youngsters, trying to top us in all ways..." 
 Corrine chuckles, some of her humor returning, and nods.  "I'd heard that from
 Kanna, who'd heard the results of your investigations and the Ebenscrux
 assault from Beowulf.  I believe Nagisa's been working on repairing him, along
 with Gabrielle."
Moriya nods. "Yes.... At any rate--my father ended up in the middle of a civil
 war, it appeared. One of the contenders for the throne of Chaos there had this
 item called the Gloom Device, and had been trying to figure out how to use it.
 One of its effects was to yank someone from a neighboring universe into that
 place. My father wasn't the only one, he told me. There were two others, named
 Walker and Joan." He hesitates for a moment. "And they came from a universe
 called Avalon."
Queen Corrine sucks in a breath.  "The Gloom Device... one of the things that
 can be used to destroy the Logrus.  Ohhh shit."  She closes her eyes, and
 takes a deep breath.  "Good thing your father got out of there in ti---"
Queen Corrine asks, "-- Joan and Walker... of -Avalon-?"
Queen Corrine stares.  Yes, she's good at this.
Moriya nods very slowly. "They wanted my father to pass along to you that Juri
 has returned home, finally. After years of hardship, she, her husband, their
 daughter, and her half-brother made it home." He smiles, very faintly.
Queen Corrine closes her eyes.  Her body shivers a bit, her hands clasped in
 front of her face, and she starts to cry.  But, you can see, you can -tell-
 that she is smiling.  "... by the four heraldric breasts... by unicorn and
 narwhal and alicorn and pyricorn... she's alive... thank all the Patterns and
 the Logrus too, they're -alive-...."
Moriya reaches out through the trump contact to take Corrine's hand. "Yes, they
 are. They spent four decades in yet another universe...one similar to ours,
 but one where the Children of the Elements failed to close the Gate of
 Revolution. Sixteen years in the Keep of the 25 Worlds, hiding from the
 Outsiders." He shivers. "It must have been absolutely terrible. But they
 finally escaped and made it home."
Queen Corrine looks up, grasping at Moriya's hand, taking it and squeezing it
 (though not bone-crushingly so).  Her blue eyes are still collecting tears at
 the corners, and she wipes at them with her free hand.  "... that's... good
 Pyricorn."  She shivers.  "... i'm glad that they got home, and the same with
 your father.  But -nobody- should have gone through what they did."  She lets
 out a shuddering sigh.
Moriya shakes his head. "No, no one deserves such a thing." He smiles again.
 "I'm sorry I wasn't able to tell you sooner, but we've been a little busy.
 I've only finally found the time to sit down and call you now."
Queen Corrine hehs a bit, softly. "But they're alive, intact, and with their
 families.  And that's the importaint thing."  She finally smiles again,
 letting out a long sigh, and sits back in her chair, her shoulders sagging. 
 But there's a feeling of a great weight that had been on her shoulders, now
 finally having been removed.  "Thank you, Moriya.  You do your family proud. 
 Thank you for taking the time to call."
Moriya chuckles. "I could do no less. Father insisted that I tell you in case
 he couldn't, and I remember your stories of Juri of Avalon, and how important
 she was to you." He pauses, thoughtful. "Hmm...I think...Uncle Miki and Aunt
 Kozue will want to know about this as well, right? Could you pass along that
 information?"
Queen Corrine smiles.  "I will, indeed.  Though last I heard, Kozue was on the
 mission with Kanna to recover Jacqueline, Utena, and Wakaba."  She rolls her
 eyes, rueflly.  "Yes, Kanna's going to have her hands full with this, but
 she's got others to help out.  And I beleive Drake's accompanying them too."
Aerianne pages, "And yes, Corrine did blush a bit at the mention of how
 Importaint JuriAv was, but I'm not gonna let most folks know. ;)" to you.
Moriya blinks. "Aunt Kozue is on a rescue party to retrieve Cousin Jacqueline?"
 He looks faintly worried. "Is that really a good idea? And I know she doesn't
 care much for Aunt Utena, either...." A frown. "Well, hopefully the others
 will make sure that no...accidents happen."
Queen Corrine nods, and sighs.  "Yes, you're thinking the same things I am. 
 But King's orders.  I think Touga's along with them too, though, so he should
 serve as a good check.  And I sent Mia and Misaki along as well.  By now,
 Beowulf should have joined up with them as well... I know Kanna was hoping as
 much."
Queen Corrine shrugs a bit.  "The Ball's in Kanna's court, now.  I think she'll
 handle the various dynamics well, though."
Moriya nods, chuckling. "That's the best we can hope for. I hope they'll be all
 right...fighting against Ebenscrux was rough. Very rough. I hope their
 foreknowledge and extra firepower will give them an easier time than we did."
Queen Corrine nods.  "Oh, I have a feeling Kanna knows it won't be a cakewalk. 
 But I'll be praying for them, and I have confidence in my daughter."  She
 smiles, fondly.
Aerianne pages, "[Corrine] . o O (Provided the rescue op doesn't nuke half of
 Shadow in the process, but hey, you live in an RPG world, you take your
 chances.)" to you.
Moriya nods, sharing the smile. "Aunt Kanna is quite a capable person indeed."
Moriya OOCly says, "Hm. Anything else that Moriya and Corrine need to discuss?
 I ran out of steam a lot sooner than I thought I would. o.o;"
Queen Corrine chuckles, and finally releases Moriya's hand (before she can cut
 off the blood flow dontchaknow.)  She goes and straightens up the papers on
 her desk.  "We're both quite proud of her." She hrms, thoughtfully.  "Anything
 else, Moriya?"
Mitsune says, "OOC Nothing I can think of particularly."
Queen Corrine OOCly says, "not that -I- can think of, either.   Moriyas' been
 informed of the Jacqui rescue, Corrine's been informed of JuriAv's getting
 home, that's the main bits."
Moriya OOCly says, "Yah. I guess we can break it off here."
Moriya shakes his head. "I think that's all. I'll be sure to keep you appraised
 of the situation down here in Chaos. Hopefully, the Demogorgon will be soon
 destroyed, and my father...perhaps freed."
Queen Corrine smiles.  "Thank you, and I appreciate that.  I'm sure you'll
 succeed.  You've got your father's and mother's strengths."
Moriya smiles, shaking his head. "Everyone's telling me how strong I am. I may
 start believing it."
Queen Corrine says, "Well, true strength comes from within."  She chuckles, and
 taps moriya's forehead breifly.  "It's something you and Kanna share."
Moriya chuckles. "Thank you, Aunt Corrine. I'll call you again soon."
Queen Corrine smiles.  "You're welcome, Moriya.  Say hi to Anno for me!"  She
 waves.
Moriya says, "Certainly." And he closes the connection.
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Logging Stopped: 06/05/2001 at 21:39:40
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Logging Started: 06/06/2001 at 21:38:29
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Davros asks, "Ready?"
Moriya OOCly says, "Yur."
Moriya OOCly says, "Okay. Moriya heads to Motoko's room to talk to her, having
 heard about the horde of girls who descended upon her. :)"
You head over to Motoko's room.  At the moment, she's fallen asleep, and is
 leaning on Davros, who is sitting very still and trying to figure out what
 exactly he ought to do now as he holds her up.
Moriya knocks on the door. "Motoko? Are you there?" he calls, in a clear voice.
Motoko sleeps quietly against Davros.
Davros . o O (Oh mighty Serpent, please tell me what to do...)  The Serpent
 does not answer this heartfelt plea.
Davros very gently shakes Motoko.
Moriya frowns slightly. "It's not that late yet...and I was told she was here,"
 he murmurs to himself, before knocking again. "Motoko?" he repeats.
Motoko starts awake.  "Hmm?  What?"
Davros says softly, "Moriya is at the door."
Moriya drums his fingers on the door, then sighs. "If you're tired, I'll come
 back later," he says, a little more softly--so that if she's awake, she'll
 hear him, but if she's asleep, she wouldn't be woken.
Motoko realizes she's in a somewhat compromising position and gets up from the
 bed.  "I'm here.  Please come in."
Davros stands up and moves to a chair.
About to turn away and walk down the hall, Moriya pauses, slightly off balance,
 and opens to door. "Motoko? Is everything...." He trails off slightly and
 blinks at Davros. "Er...hello, Davros-san."
Motoko looks embarassed.  "We were talking and I think I sort of dozed off. 
 Hello, Moriya."
Moriya nods slowly, thinks a bit, puts two and two together, and comes up with
 the cube root of sixty-four. "Is everything all right? You seem...distressed."
Motoko sighs.  "I had a visit from Lord Alars' youngest daughter, Suu.  And I
 met her mother, too."
Moriya glances skyward in a moment of recall. "That little girl at the
 trial...what did you talk about? Is there bad news?"
Motoko shakes her head.  "No.  It just got me to thinking about everything..."
Moriya frowns. "Do you want to talk about it?" He glances over at Davros, and a
 flicker of...something passes over his face. "Talk about it some more, or
 shall we leave it be for now?"
Motoko shakes her head.  "No.  I'm feeling better now, thank you."  She glances
 at him, then at Davros.  "I talked to Anno-san and suggested we go out
 actively looking for Demogorgon, given that Uncle Drake taught me how to
 travel through Shadow more quickly than usual."
Moriya finally smiles slightly. "Good. It's only been a day, but I'm beginning
 to feel restless just sitting here and waiting for others to perform the
 search. I'd feel better if we could go seeking it ourselves."
Davros says, "I am ready to go whenever you two are."
Motoko nods.  "He's going to provide me with a trump of General Gilva, who's
 leading the hunt."  She pauses.  "She's the one who prosecuted your father."
Moriya face darkens slightly. "Mmm, I see. Well. I suppose we'll just have to
 be, ah, diplomatic."
Motoko nods hesitantly.  "I thought her harsh, but fair, and we need to work
 together with her, it seems."
Moriya sighs in resignation. "Right, right. I'll deal with it, such as it is."
 He looks thoughtful. "Do you know when we'll get the trumps? Although I
 suppose I wouldn't want to head out tonight. It's been an eventful day, and a
 good night's rest is best before setting out on something like that."
Davros nods.  "I need to spend some time trying to practice using this."  He
 waves his spikard about.
Motoko says, "I'm not sure when he'll get them to me.  It was quite some time
 ago that I talked to him.  Rest might be good, however, as I need to assemble
 spells."
Moriya glances down at his manifestation/spell rack. "Mmm...yes, so should I."
 He laughs faintly. "I think it'll take some getting used to...having to
 prepare my spells myself, now that I know how to do so."
Motoko smiles.  "I'd be glad to tutor you, if you like, or teach you some of my
 own spells."
Moriya nods. "That would be good. Now that I do have some extra space in this
 rack, I need to figure out what to add in."
Motoko thinks for a moment.  "You haven't learned how to use higher-level
 Pattern magics, have you?  All my spells incorporate the Pattern in them to
 some degree, but I think most of them would be usable by someone not trained
 in Pattern sorcery, with some adaptation."
Moriya shakes his head. "I haven't gotten to that point yet, I'm afraid. Maybe
 later, when we have more time." He pauses. "Have you got any good fire spells?
 I...seemed to have picked up a talent for them, after spending some time with
 Aunt Hiko."
Motoko shakes her head.  "I tend to use lightning, myself, and none of my
 personally-developed spells are fire-based."  She snaps her fingers. "Oh, yes,
 before I forget--you remember how your father described the former priestesses
 of the Keep of the Five Worlds to us?"
Moriya nods, looking slightly disappointed, then blinks. "Hmm? The priestesses
 of the Keep? Yes, I do...why do you ask?"
Motoko says, "Well, I think Suu-chan's mother is one of them."
Moriya shakes his head. "I'm sorry, did you say...Suu of Alars' mother is one
 of them?"
Motoko nods.  "Kodachi, the former Priestess of Wood.  The description matches,
 as well as the name, and Suu-chan told me she likes to grow plants."
Moriya shakes his head slowly. "Well...I'm guessing that she didn't try to give
 you mind-controlling tea or threatened to unleash the Outsiders. That's...hm.
 Did she show any sign of being connected to the Outsiders? Even the slightest,
 palest hints of such?"
Davros asks, "She seemed like a kind, gentle woman."
Motoko nods.
Motoko says, "It could be nothing, but Suu-chan says they've been married for
 about thirty years, which means it would have been after the priestesses
 disappeared from the Keep."
Moriya scratches his chin thoughtfully. "Well...it's possible that once the
 Fount was sealed, the influence of the Outsiders disappeared from them. I'm
 not very comfortable with this at all, though. We may need to investigate,
 when we have the time and opportunity."
Motoko nods.  "Suu-chan also said her father was interviewing pirates all day."
 She frowns.  "Some of them had beards.  I think they might be Abyss Pirates."
Motoko says, "For now, we'll concern ourselves with Demogorgon."
Moriya sighs. "It never ends. One thing after another. I'm dying for a
 vacation, or at least the opportunity to find some of the things I want to
 look for." He sighs, looking tired.
Motoko pats him on the back.  "Well, perhaps you can go to a fast-timed Shadow
 for a little while after this, and spend a month or two relaxing."
Davros says, "The reward for virtuous deeds is often to be asked to do more."
Moriya mutters irritably. "I definitely want to take a month or two off, yes.
 Probably at the...Keep." He grimaces slightly. "Or maybe I should go somewhere
 that doesn't remind me so much of my father."
Davros looks thoughtful.  "If you like, I could take you to meet my parents. I
 haven't been home in a while.  I'm sure nothing disastrous is likely to happen
 there."
Moriya OOCly says, "I thought Davros' mother died."
Davros says, "OOC This is what I get for keeping notes in my head.  ^^;;;"
Motoko says, "OOC:  I don't recall that myself, but..."
Davros says, "OOC I know Rimururu's mother is dead, but I can't remember if I
 said Davros' was."
Motoko smiles.  "I'd be happy to meet your family, Davros-san."  She looks
 pensive.  "The question, of course, is always one of time."
Moriya OOCly says, "Yes, because when we first met Davros, I asked when the
 last time he'd left the pillar was; one of his recent trips away was to go to
 his mother's funeral."
Davros says, "OOC Doh.  Right, to meet his father, then :)"
Moriya looks thoughtful and nods. "Well...it would be nice, yes. Although I'd
 been thinking that...er...." He catches himself, waves his hand. "I'll worry
 about that later. But if we've got the opportunity to, I'd be honored to meet
 your family, yes."
Motoko asks, "OOC:  John, Anno did say that he'd contact Motoko when he'd
 arranged things, didn't he?"
Davros smiles.  "Father would be very surprised, I think."
Davros says, "OOC YEs, he did."
Moriya chuckles softly. "The Bride of the Dragon and the Pillars of Wisdom,
 come to call on him. Moreso that one of the Pillars is his own son."
Motoko frowns slightly.  "I hope Anno-san hasn't had any problems arranging
 things.  I didn't think it would take this long for him to get back to me."
Moriya says, "How long ago did you last speak with him? Maybe we should go
 inquire."
Motoko says, "Quite a few hours ago."
Motoko says, "But if he's busy, I wouldn't want to disturb him."
Moriya nods. "We'll inquire with him if he hasn't gotten back to us by morning,
 certainly."
Motoko asks, "OOC:  Does it strike us as unusual that Anno would take this long
 to get back?"
Moriya OOCly says, "Time out. Shift's over, heading home."
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Logging Stopped: 06/06/2001 at 22:51:23
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Logging Started: 06/06/2001 at 23:36:40
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Motoko asks, "OOC:  In answer to that question I asked right before Andrew
 left, does the time it's taking for Anno to get back to us seem odd?"
Davros says, "OOC Anno is unlikely to have a trump of Gilva lying around, and
 probably needs to get House Hendrake to supply one.  Hendrake may or may not
 have any spares lying around, as Hendrake is not noted for its trump artists."
Moriya OOCly says, "So it's not that unusual. Right."
Davros says, "OOC They'll probably have a card drummed up for you by the
 morning."
Motoko asks, "OOC:  Okay... so, do we have anything else we want to do this
 evening?"
Moriya OOCly says, "Hrm. Nothing comes to mind here."
Davros says, "OOC We can cut to the next morning, I think."
Moriya OOCly says, "All right."
You get a good night's sleep.  In the morning, Anno supplies your group with a
 trump of Gilva.
Moriya asks, "Thank you, Anno-sama." He turns to the others. "Is there anything
 else you can think of that we might need or want to do before setting out?"
Motoko says, "Aside from contacting Gilva-san and telling her our intentions, I
 think not; I can handle that."
Davros says, "Nothing I can think of."
Moriya nods. "All right. You do that, and then we can go out into Shadow to
 begin searching."
Motoko turns her back on Moriya and Davros and stares at the trump.
A fanged, horned, and scaled woman in armor answers.  "Hello?" she asks.
It's Gilva.
Motoko introduces herself politely and explains the situation.
Gilva nods.  "If you find him, let me know immediately."
Motoko nods.  "Good luck to you, Gilva-san."
Motoko closes contact, if that wasn't obvious.  :)
Okay, going to head out into sahdow searching now?
Moriya nods. "Then, we'll be off."
Motoko says, "Yup.  Teleport to the edge of the Courts and start searching."
Motoko says, "Using Shadow Short Cut, as Drake taught."
The land is flat at first, but quickly begins to slope downwards, becoming
 wetter.  After half a day, you come to a sign which reads 'Now Entering the
 Malpheggi Swamp.  Caveat Emptor."
Motoko frowns slightly.  "This doesn't look very pleasant."
Moriya says, "We've been through worse."
Davros says, "Hmm.  We may be getting close to house Formorian's lands."
Moriya asks, "What can you tell us about them?"
Motoko tries to determine if the swamp actually does lie in the way of the
 fastest route to Demogorgon.
Davros says, "Bitter, ugly, twisted freaks.  Their leader is still angry
 because Odin poked his left eye out a long time ago, although he hates house
 Danaan more.  They like to hunt a lot, so much of their lands are wilderness."
Yes, it does
Moriya frowns. "It might not be a good idea to trespass on their lands, then.
 The two of us are already in trouble with Darios; best not increase the count."
Motoko says, "Well, given that we're Royal Agents, we shouldn't be given any
 trouble if we do encounter them, and if Demogorgon is close to their lands,
 any hunting party we meet may be seeking Demogorgon already."
Davros nods.  "We should see border markers once we cross over."
Moriya tilts his head. "Then again, you do have a point. We're on royal
 business now."
Motoko says, "OOC:  I assume we all got nifty 'Royal Agent' papers and stuff,
 right?  :)"
Davros says, "OOC Well, Motoko never went and signed the papers... :)"
Motoko says, "OOC:  Davros and Moriya did, though."
Moriya OOCly says, "And Motoko can bring the proclamation naming her Bride of
 the Dragon, or something."
Motoko says, "OOC:  'I've had mystical sex with the Serpent of Chaos.  Stay out
 of my way.'"
Davros says, "OOC Righto."
Motoko says, "OOC:  Her technical status as a priestess probably does give her
 some kinda right of passage.  :)"
Moriya OOCly says, "Well, then."
Motoko says, "OOC:  Onwards, then, I suppose."
Motoko says, "We'd best make sure that anything that seems threatening is
 actually hostile before we attack it, though."
Moriya nods. "Of course."
You begin slogging through the swamp.  This is about as much fun as bathing in
 LCL.
Moriya frowns, and tries to see if he can weave a spell that would allow the
 party to walk on top of the water, at least.
This takes a bit, but you succeed.  This reduces the slog factor a lot.
Motoko smiles.  "Good job, Moriya.  I should have thought of that."
Moriya chuckles. "I need to exercise my spell-casting abilities a bit. Beyond
 using it as a tactical advantage in the midst of battle."
Motoko says, "Grandmother's always said that I'm too focused on blowing things
 up, and not focused enough on the more mundane uses for magic."
Moriya says, "Well, you do that quite well, Cousin, and we've had need of that
 lately."
You start to hear what sounds like humanoid movement, just one being, somewhere
 off to your left.
Motoko raises a hand silently.
Moriya nods, and stops. He draws Thought, moving into a defensive stance.
Motoko asks, "OOC:  How big does this thing sound?"
Davros says, "OOC Around human sized, maybe a little bigger."
Motoko asks, "OOC:  Does it sound like it's approaching us, or just going about
 its own business unaware?"
Davros says, "OOC IT is coming your direction."
Motoko whispers, "Be aware, but do not strike unless we are attacked; subdue if
 possible."
Motoko moves on, slowly and cautiously.
Moriya nods again, and now pulls out Baby Ilvig as well, in whip form.
Davros calls up the Logrus and calls forth two tendrils.
Moriya moves to walk at Motoko's side, between her and the sound.
And then, out of the mist, shambles a large humanoid figure, made out of swamp
 muck and rotting plants.  It's roughly humanaoid, though it has a long
 ant-eater like nose and huge, faceted red eyes.
Moriya calls out, "Hold! Who goes there?"
It turns and stares at you.
Motoko regards it cautiously.  "We are merely passing through," she says.
Moriya continues to stand in a clearly defensive stance, and waits for it to
 answer.
It seems to almost be sniffing the air as it gazes on the three of you
 impassively.
Motoko asks, "OOC:  We getting hostile vibes off this thing, or does it just
 seem curious?"
Moriya lowers his weapons ever so slightly. "It doesn't _seem_ to be
 intelligent...or perhaps, it regards us as unintelligent and not worth
 bothering with. Or it could be a ruse."
Davros says, "OOC When you think about it, it seems to be more curious than
 hostile."
Motoko says, "Let's just try to go around it."
Motoko moves slowly and nonthreateningly to take a detour around the beast.
You detour around it; it watches you go by, then shambles off.
Moriya nods. "All right. Unless this is the Demogorgon?" He smiles wryly,
 watching it move away. "Where is your Patternwalking taking you now?"
Motoko says, "Through this misery of a swamp."
Away from the creature, though it would have been ironic if you'd missed Demo
 like that... :)
Shortly afte ryou leave Muck Man behind, every mosquito in the entire universe
 finds the three of you and begin closing in.
Motoko says, "OOC:  Well, presumably you would have said 'You're _really_ close
 to Demogorgon' sometime earlier.  :)"
Motoko does a quick repellent spell.
Disgruntled Mosquitos leave.
Moriya hmms. "Can you tell how far we are from it now, Motoko?"
Motoko pauses for a moment and tries to estimate.
The sun begins to set as you trudge through the swamp, although you're not
 actually tired
Unfortunately, Pattern doesn't give you a % complete estimate. :)
Somewhere up ahead.
Moriya OOCly says, "Yes, but is the pull noticeably strong or anything at this
 point? :)"
Moriya OOCly says, "Noticeably stronger, I mean."
Davros says, "OOC You have a ways to go, you think."
Moriya OOCly says, "Whee."
Motoko says, "I hope that we leave these swamps behind at some point."
Davros says, "Well, Demogorgon did make his first appearance out of a swamp."
Moriya grumbles softly.
As you head along, you hear the sound of many humanoid splashings off to your
 right.
Moriya looks over that way. "Another search party, perhaps?"
Davros nods.  "Quite likely."
Motoko says, "It could be.  Wait and see if we encounter them."
The splashing grows closer.  Then you hear the sound of some animal making
 splashing noises and a burst of machinegun fire.
Moriya's eyes widen. "Motoko, the Demogorgon isn't that way, is it?"
They're coming perpendicular to your line of travel.
Motoko shakes her head.  "I suspect it's a hunting party of some sort."
Moriya hesitates. "Or, if it's another search party being attacked by a random
 creature, they may need our help...."
Davros says, "Well, House Formorian doesn't normally use guns, so it's not
 them, I think."
Motoko says, "I suspect any search party hunting for Demogorgon is well-enough
 equipped to handle a random creature, but we could made sure if you like."
Moriya nods. "We cannot be their keepers. It is a race against time to find the
 Demogorgon before it grows too large."
Motoko says, "Let's just try to stay out of their way, then."
You move forward, and gradually, they fall behind you.  But then it becomes
 apparent they're now following you, as they stop getting further away.
Moriya glances behind. "Mmm...now that they're going in the same direction as
 us...perhaps we should let them catch up? Less chance of them stumbling on to
 us in surprise and attacking out of confusion."
Motoko asks, "OOC:  Are they following us through Shadow, or just through this
 particular Shadow?"
Davros nods.
Davros says, "OOC You think they're following you through shadow, as you should
 be moving through variuos similar but contiguous shadows as you move along."
Davros says, "OOC As you're moving at a fair clip."
Motoko says, "All right.  Let's see just who is following us."
Moriya says, "All right. Let's keep on moving toward Demogorgon, but more
 slowly, so that they can catch up to us. Be careful and prepare to defend
 yourselves in case they mistake us for hostile elements. Or if they aren't a
 Demogorgon search party and are bandits or somesuch instead."
Davros nods.
Motoko nods.
Motoko says, "I don't think mere bandits would be capable of keeping up with
 me."
Moriya chuckles softly. "You never know. I'll take rear guard."
Motoko asks, "OOC:  Can I mould Shadow as we move so that we get into places
 where gunpowder doesn't work, without losing the trail?"
Moriya OOCly says, "I can help with that, given Thought's abilities."
Davros says, "OOC You'll slow your progress, but you could."
Moriya OOCly says, "And since we want to slow down a bit, that's a good thing.
 :)"
Motoko says, "OOC:  Well, we're slowing our progress anyway, so... :)"
Moriya OOCly says, "Actually, since Motoko's taking care of that, I'll give her
 Thought for now, until any potentially dangerous situations arise. He'll take
 it back then."
Moriya OOCly says, "This includes the following party getting close."
You change your arc of travel.  After a bit, the air smells pretty wretched. 
 The forest is creepy.  But guns won't work.  And you hear them getting closer.
Moriya OOCly says, "How far behind does it seem?"
Motoko charges the arc of travel again, slightly.  "I've got an idea."
Moriya asks, "What have you in mind?"
After a short bit of travelling, you see a note pinned to a tree by an arrow,
 written in Thari.
Motoko heads over to the tree and takes the note.
It reads, "You are being followed by plant-men with Uzis sent to kill you."
Motoko says, "Well, I think that settles that."
Moriya snorts. "And who would want to do something like that?" he asks, dryly.
Motoko asks, "OOC:  Did we get an estimate of how many footsteps we were
 hearing?"
Davros says, "Plant men sound like the creations of House Ivy."
Davros says, "OOC Maybe fifteen to twenty."
Motoko asks, "OOC:  How much time have we got before they catch up?"
Motoko asks, "Why would House Ivy be sending plant men to kill us?"
Davros says, "I can't think of a single reason whatsoever."
Motoko frowns.  "Should we lay an ambush for them, or just try to lose them?"
Moriya shakes his head. "They might have been bought from House Ivy by whoever
 wants us dead. Motoko, I'd best take Thought back now. Let's try to outrun
 them. If we can't...find a favorable place for us to fight them and get them
 off our trail."
Moriya OOCly says, "Does this sound good to my Tactics, John?"
Motoko hands Thought back to Moriya quite happily, as carrying a weapon that
 can ingite her blood with a scratch makes her nervous.
Davros says, "OOC IT sounds good to you."
Moriya OOCly says, "Let's give it a shot, then."
Motoko nods and heads off again, seeking Demogorgon while continuing to move
 them through Shadow's where the plant-men's guns won't work.
It becomes apparent you won't outrun them while sticking to no-guns shadows
 here.  They grow closer.  Finally, you create a small clearing, then hide
 yourselves off to one side of it.  The unsuspecting plant men begin to shamble
 in an irregular horde into the clearing.  There's seventeen of them with uzis.
Moriya murmurs, "Let's hope that note was accurate." What other weapons do they
 have?
No apparent other weapons.
the creatures begin shambling about, then start to turn the direction you went
 to hide.  Behavior makes you think they are tracking by smell.
Motoko says, "I molded Shadow in order that a note telling us the intentions of
 those following us would be clear."  She glances to Moriya and Davros.  "I can
 dump a spell on them that should rip them up nicely, and have it stay off us."
Moriya nods. "Let's try not to let them even get a good look at us."
Motoko begins casting a spell.
Davros readies his logrus tendrils and shifts to wolf form.
Motoko finishes her spell and dumps a spinning whirlwind of force blades into
 the biggest concentration of plant men.
Many of them fall slaughtered by the spell, and then it begins to slice up more
 of them.
They try firing their guns...which don't work.
Dim-witted plant men begin running everywhich way.
Moriya tenses, ready to spring up--or teleport behind them--in case he needs to
 enter close combat.
Motoko Neural Destroys a few to let the whirlwind catch them more easily.
Davros extends his logrus tendrils, which begin grabbing and crushing plant men.
Motoko whispers, "Let's see if we can take one alive... we may be able to get
 something out of it..."
Davros nods and yanks one of the plant men over to the three of you, then ties
 him to hang from a tree.
The creatures are soon finished off by the spell and the logrus tendrils.
Motoko examines it carefully.  "Does this look like House Ivy's work,
 Davros-san?"
Davros studies it.  "Yes, it does."
Moriya asks, "Do you think it might know who specifically sent it and why?"
Motoko says, "Well, I can try seeing if it has a mind."
Moriya says, "Be careful, Motoko."
Motoko says, "If it does, I should be able to pull the information from it."
Moriya says, "In case there's some sort of mental trap in it."
Motoko thinks, then brings up the Lens and examines it first to make sure
 invading its mind is safe.
 The creature is rigged to explode with messy primal chaos if its brain is
 invaded.
Motoko says, "Yum."
Moriya twitches upon hearing that. "Well. Good thing we checked beforehand."
Motoko asks, "OOC:  Any way to safely disarm it, or is it a lost cause?"
Moriya asks, "Any way to disarm it, without taking too much time?"
Davros says, "OOC Davros could try to disarm the Chaos.  Or you could try to
 disarm the magic aspect, but it's risky."
Moriya OOCly says, "How long? Given that we're still on the chase."
Moriya OOCly says, "Hrm. Actually, if we don't have the time to do it here and
 now, we could send the creature back to Gainax and have Anno take a look when
 he can. I'm sure he'd be able to disarm the Primal Chaos easily."
Davros says, "OOC Hours to days.  Given it's dangerous as hell.  Yes, sending
 it to Anno is an option."
Motoko says, "OOC:  Send it back to Anno, then."
Motoko says, "OOC:  If he's amenable."
Moriya OOCly says, "And be sure to tell him exactly what's up with it, of
 course. :)"
You send it for Anno to play with, then resume your hunt.
Motoko says, "I do wonder what that was all about."
Moriya says, "We'll find out soon enough. In the meantime...onward."
Davros says, "What strikes me strange is that such inept creatures had such a 
 hideous failsafe."
Moriya chuckles. "They were probably betting on us taking them down easily and,
 in our overconfidence, try plumbing their minds without checking beforehand.
 Fortunately, we're wiser than that."
Motoko nods to Moriya.  "Exactly."
Davros blinks.  "That makes sense."
You continue tromping along through the night.  The swamp suddenly rises into
 high ground, where you find a village which has been stomped flat, full of
 severed body parts.
Blood is splattered everywhere.
Moriya grimaces and turns away. "I think the Demogorgon has passed through
 here. Or something equally nasty."
Moriya asks, "Shall we alert Marshal Gilva to our findings so far?"
Davros nods.  "A good idea, I think."
Motoko frowns and nods.  "Perhaps; I could try a Temporal Scrying to look back
 for a month or so, which might let us see what happened."
Moriya nods. "Do that first, and then we'll call on the Marshal."
Motoko asks, "Why don't I do that first, and then we can decide whether or not
 to contact Gilva?"
Motoko takes out a mirror from her luggage and begins weaving the spell.  "Why
 don't you see if you can find any survivors?"
Moriya OOCly says, "Already ahead of you, Alan. :)"
Moriya nods, and cautiously searches through the village.
Motoko says, "OOC:  Well, fine, Mister Big Stuff.  :)"
Davros begins searching.
Moriya Patternsights as he goes.
Moriya OOCly says, "I'm starting to wind down. Let's call it a night after we
 find out what happened in this town."
Davros says, "OOC Righto."
You roll back history.  A week ago, a strange creature crawled into the village
 and ate many of the charred corpses which were already present.  It appeared
 to be a strange patchwork creature the size of a cow, made of many poorly
 connected body parts.
Moriya OOCly says, "Fantastic. Something nasty stomped on the village, and then
 the Demogorgon came through."
Motoko frowns and rolls back more, to see how the village got burned and
 slaughtered in the first place.
Perhaps some fifteen minutes before its arrival was the cause of the
 devastation.  A huge metal cylinder fell from the sky, hit the village, and
 exploded, killing everyone.
Motoko says, "OOC:  Ahh, okay... that'd do it."
Moriya OOCly says, "Anything distinctive about the cylinder that we would
 recognize?"
Searching for survivors does reveal a few sets of humanoid footprints leading
 in various directions.
Davros says, "OOC IT looked like a stereotypical 1950s 'rocket ship'"
Moriya OOCly says, "Huh. Hrm. Now...is this part of a House of Chaos, or just a
 random village springing up in Shadow?"
Motoko asks, "OOC:  Is it War Rocket Ajax?"
Davros says, "OOC You're near House Formorian's lands, but this isn't any major
 house's domain.  "
Davros says, "OOC Could be :)"
Motoko says, "OOC:  Great, Gloom Device.  :)"
Moriya OOCly says, "Then the Courts wouldn't want to spare any people to search
 for the survivors and such. All righty. We'll have to let them be."
Moriya OOCly says, "Oh, great. Damn Gloom Device. >.<"
Motoko calls Gilva to report in, noting the suspicious coherency between the
 rocket ship destroying the village, and Demogorgon showing up to feast.
Gilva sighs.  "Delightful.  If it has shadow-molding powers, this could get
 very ugly."
Motoko asks, "OOC:  Gilva does know Demogorgon is carrying the Gloom Device,
 right, given that Anno said he was going to inform people?"
Davros says, "OOC Yes, but she has only a vague idea of what exactly it does."
Motoko says, "OOC:  Well, Motoko explains it as best she understands it from
 Anno and the Serpent, saying that the rocket dropping onto the village could
 be a result of the device firing, and also mentioning what she was told about
 possible ways to counter it."
Gilva nods.  "I'll start moving our forces to be ready to move into the areas
 around House Formorian, as it sounds like it has moved through there."
Motoko says, "It devoured this village a week back, but I'm not sure if it can
 move through Shadow faster than me or not."
Moriya OOCly says, "Ask Gilva to tell Fomorian that we're coming, so as not to
 create any misunderstandings."
Motoko says, "OOC:  Good idea.  Does so."
Moriya OOCly says, "If Formorian has a beef with us, then that might be
 bad...but we're Royal Agents, and Gilva knows about this, so it wouldn't be
 prudent for them to try to mess with us."
Davros says, "OOC No problem.  She'll tell them you're coming."
Moriya OOCly says, "Hm. Anything else?"
Motoko says, "OC:  Not that I can think of."
Motoko bids Gilva farewell and closes the contact.

Davros says, "OOC we can cut ehre then, so Drew can get sleep."
Moriya OOCly says, "Okky...how much time has passed since we started, John?"
Davros says, "OOC IT's late at night in local time.  By body clock time, it's
 late afternoon."
Moriya OOCly says, "So half a day, approximately. All right."
Moriya OOCly says, "Right. We stop here, will pick up tomorrow or whenever."
Moriya OOCly says, "This has been the most low-key quest we've been in for a
 little while. o.o"
Moriya OOCly says, "Granted, we've just started, of course."
Davros says, "Heh.  WEll, having Shadow Shortcut makes for faster, safter
 travel :)"
Motoko says, "OOC:  Oh, I expect it will get exciting once we catch up to
 Demogorgon."
Moriya OOCly says, "Shadow short cut is very nice. :)"
Motoko says, "OOC:  Motoko continues to serve as packhorse.  :)"
Moriya OOCly says, "Hm. Next point award, I go back to putting things into
 stats, as I got myself a whole slew of powers stuff the last time. o.o"
Motoko says, "OOC:  Trying to decide whether or not I should have Motoko start
 learning shapeshifting.  :)"
Moriya OOCly chuckles.
Davros says, "OOC Davros would be happy to teach you."
Motoko says, "OOC:  So would Suu.  :)"
Davros says, "OOC Davros sank his last point award into sorcery so he can
 actually USE his spikard. :)"
Moriya OOCly says, "Man. Offing Fake Nanami and Malraux solo was sweeeeet. :)"
Moriya OOCly says, "Oh, and just to be sure--I did manage to pick up another
 potato from Nanami before we left, right?"
Davros says, "OOC YEs."
Motoko says, "OOC:  Yeah, as Mitsune said--'what a badass'.  :)"
Moriya OOCly powerposes.
Motoko says, "OOC:  Once it became clear you had a chance to win that, much
 less escape, I was just living vicariously through you.  :)"
Moriya OOCly struts and impresses all the ladeeeeees.
Moriya OOCly says, "Heheh. :)"
Motoko says, "OOC:  As when John paged me about what you were getting into
 privately, I just winced multiple times and started making plans for Motoko to
 rescue you.  :)"
Moriya OOCly says, "I still get great joy out of rereading that log. :)"
Moriya OOCly says, "And the post-session commentary from John. :) Making him,
 you, and Mike boggle makes me feel all warm inside."
Motoko says, "OOC:  That's been one of my favourites of the game, yeah."
Motoko says, "OOC:  Other favourite moment being the 'warrior hussy' scene.  :)"
Moriya OOCly says, "Did you log what John paged you? I wanna see. :)"
Davros says, "OOC Heh."
Davros says, "OOC It's one of those weird things that sometimes players win
 impossible battles...or lose ones that should have been impossible to lose."
Motoko says, "OOC:  No, unfortunately; I didn't log Shinobu Minor walking the
 Pattern, either."
Moriya OOCly says, "Awww."
------------------------------------------------------------
Logging Stopped: 06/07/2001 at 2:33:36
************************************************************
************************************************************
Logging Started: 06/08/2001 at 20:47:24
------------------------------------------------------------
Moriya OOCly says, "Continuing to hunt the Demogorgon after having found that
 wrecked town and reporting to Gilva."
Motoko says, "OOC:  We'll find the oprhans pretty soon."
You continue tromping through the swamp.
The sky changes color to a pleasant off-mauve, and five moons orbit each other
 rapidly in complex patterns.
The ground sinks into hideous bog again.
Motoko performs the 'keep our feet dry' spell this time.
Moriya renews the water-walking spell as necessary.
Motoko says, "OOC:  Oh, look, someone's saying, 'Gee, Motoko, I don't need your
 magic any more, I'm fine on my own...', I see... :)"
Moriya OOCly pffts. :)
The first sign of trouble is when the water walking spell suddenly fails, and
 you all sink knee-deep into muck.
Moriya frowns. "No magic in this shadow?"
The second sign is when albino alligators begin to pour out of the stagnant
 pools of water around you.
Moriya frowns and gets out Thought. Time to Patternsight them before they're on
 us?
Patternsight reveals they are, in fact, albino alligators, and that this shadow
 you're in seems to have been molded recently by everyone's favorite power,
 Logrus.
Davros turns into a wolf and calls up the Logrus.
Moriya gets to work to drive them off. Don't kill them if possible, just
 inflict nasty wounds that clearly communicate, Don't screw with us.
Motoko asks, "OOC:  How many gators are we talking about here?"
Motoko asks, "OOC:  i.e., are we in the 'Shadow of Infinite Albino Alligators'?"
John says, "OOC Infinite Albino Alligators witha  hunger for the taste of
 people who look like you three."
Moriya OOCly says, "Oh. So that many. Hrm."
Davros says, "OOC Not quite infinite, but certainly a lot."
Motoko says, "Keep them off me."
Motoko begins walking a tight circle, moulding Shadow.
Moriya shreds alligators.
You feel something pushing back, trying to counter your manipulations.
Davros begins tossing Alligators around.
Motoko asks, "OOC:  Any idea where from?"
Davros says, "OOC Unfortunately, it's not a directional sense."
Moriya calls out, "Motoko--do you need Thought to help you with this?"
Motoko shakes her head.  "Better you keep it!"  She shouts a power word.
Some of the alligators back off, as Motoko gets the upper hand for the moment.
Motoko says, "We need to find out where the Logrus user is."
Moriya says, "Davros, can you try to do that? I need to keep on holding these
 creatures off."
Davros says, "I will do what I can."
Davros begins to extend a logrus tendril.
Moriya continues dicing alligators.  You begin to get the impression your foe
 may have underestimated your armnanment and fighting skill, or perhaps he just
 intends to throw alligators at you until you die.
Motoko continues moulding the Shadow, using frequent Chaos Negations to grant
 herself temporary upper hand.
Many of the alligators back off as you struggle for control of the shadow. 
 Then you hear the sound of running feet approaching from the distance.  Davros
 continues his logrus search.
Moriya OOCly says, "Any breathing space for me to back off and try molding
 shadow along with Motoko, using Thought to help?"
Caliban wakes up.
Davros says, "OOC Someone needs to be on 'fend off Alligators' mode, still,
 though the tide has slackened."
Moriya OOCly says, "All right. Keep it up, then."
About six dozen demon form chaosians in light armor with swords, axes, etc,
 come screaming out of the jungle.  "Death to the Children of the UNICORN!!!!"
Moriya's head snaps toward them. "Damn. Davros, you take care of the
 alligators. I'll deal with them." He shifts to fighting the newcomers,
 bringing out Baby Ilvig in staff form, and tries to incapacitate them.
Motoko murmurs, "I'm going to try and get us out of here."
Motoko says, "Stick close to me..."
Moriya moves to Motoko's side, fighting off alligators or the demons as
 necessary.
Moriya begins smacking the oncoming horde around as Davros starts fighting
 alligators.  The three of you have to give ground desperately, as your foes
 are tough enough not to go down from one blow, though they fight poorly, and
 they massively outnumber you.
Kima pages, "You might want to declare yourself as a Royal Agent to these guys
 and see what happens.  :)" to you.
And then the alligators suddenly surge forward...
Moriya exclaims, "Hold in the name of King Ishmael of Chaos! You are
 interfering in Royal Duties!"
"Liars!  The Unicorn's Children must perish for their crimes against Chaos!"
Motoko exclaims, "Now!  To me!"
Motoko grabs Moriya and Davros, and teleports them out.
Blink, you're now in more icky swamp, sans attacking maniacs.
"I am the Bride of the Serpent," Motoko declares as they vanish in a burst of
 lightning, "and there shall be a reckoning for this."
Moriya scowls darkly. "Someone is trying pretty hard to kill us now."
Motoko immediately begins moulding the Shadow to give her an edge in it against
 any attempts to mold it with Logrus.
Davros sighs.  "Probably from the Serpent's Horn."
Motoko says, "It certainly makes hunting down Demogorgon difficult when various
 people from the Courts keep on trying to kill us."
Moriya says, "Let me guess. They hate Amberites."
He nods.  "They plan to rip off the Unicorn's horn and give it to the Serpent."
Moriya says, "I'd like to kill them, but that probably wouldn't be very
 diplomatic."
Motoko frowns.  "I can try taking us on a route that would avoid future
 attacks, but if they're laying things in our path, that could be difficult."
Moriya nods. "Where is this place anyway, Motoko?"
Motoko says, "A few Shadows back."
Moriya says, "Mmm. Grand."
Moriya says, "We might want to tell Gilva that there are Chaosians now actively
 attempting to kill us despite our being Royal Agents."
Motoko asks, "What sort of group are the Serpent's Horn, Davros-san?  Fanatical
 terrorists who consider themselves to answer to no one but their own
 conception of the Serpent?"
Davros nodded.  "They're run by a self-selected council recruited from the
 membership.  Most of the time, no one notices them, because they run off
 towards Amber and die."
Motoko says, "When we move on, Moriya, I suggest that you mould Shadow using
 your Pattern and Thought to actively keep the magic on."
Davros says, "Few people of great skill actually join them."
Moriya says, "And yet, they had a Logrus master of some sort with them this
 time, it would seem."
Moriya says, "Of course, Motoko."
Motoko asks, "OOC:  Did it seem that they'd specifically prepared that Shadow
 as a trap, and would have trouble doing it again for a different Shadow on
 short notice?"
Motoko says, "There were several of them working together."
Davros says, "Well, there's Logrus Masters, and then there's Logrus Masters, so
 to speak."
Moriya raises an eyebrow. "Several? Hmm."
Motoko says, "Combined, they had enough power to keep me from taking control of
 the Shadow from them, particularly this close to the Logrus and, thus, far
 from the Pattern."
Motoko says, "However, I was able to feint out the one directing them, as such,
 and turn the magic back on, letting me transport us out."
Davros says, "OOC Davros call tell you that it probably took them a while to
 design that shadow, and they may not have been finished with it, given that
 they didn't think to turn off Pattern.  On the other hand, if they had, you
 might not have ever stepped into the trap"
Moriya nods. "Excellent job, Motoko."
"My fear is that they will show up in the middle of an encounter with
 Demogorgon."
Motoko says, "Davros-san, would you be able to sense ahead using Logrus as we
 travel and detect  further such trap Shadows?  I can take us around that
 particular one, but there might be others."
Davros says, "Yes.  It will hamper my ability to notice anything here, so you
 will need to guide me, but yes, I could do that."
Motoko nods and frowns.  "I suspect someone hostile to our family, but not
 inclined to have it known they were attacking Royal Agents and the Bride of
 the Dragon, may have tipped them off."
Moriya nods. "Motoko and I can be on guard here and now, while you look on
 ahead."
Motoko says, "I'll report this incident to Gilva, and then we'll move on."
Moriya takes up a guard position while Motoko calls Gilva.
Motoko Trumps Gilva and informs her of the possibility of Serpent's Horn
 members interfering in the Demogorgon hunt.
Gilva grumbles a lot at that.  "Just what we need. Insane fanatics."
Motoko nods.  "We're going to hopefully avoid them in the future, but I felt
 you should be made aware."
Gilva asks, "You might want to consider...oh wait, you people can't do that. 
 Nevermind.  Good luck."
Motoko asks, "Can't do what?"
"Shapeshift into less recognizable forms."
Motoko says, "No, that we can't do.  Such is our loss.  I suspect if they're
 searching through Shadow for us that it wouldn't help much.  We'll simply have
 to move so as to avoid them.  Good luck to you, Gilva-san."
Motoko asks, "OOC:  Hrm... could Motoko do a Pattern-based spell that would
 make it harder for Logrus users to 'lock' onto us while seeking through
 Shadow?"
Moriya OOCly says, "And Davros can shapeshift us into different appearances."
Motoko says, "OOC:  Not sure how much good that would do if we're trying to
 avoid people seeking us in Shadow."
Moriya OOCly says, "Well, given that the alligators were keyed to attack us by
 our appearance, it can help."
Motoko says, "OOC:  Easier to put up illusionary appearances using magic, than."
Moriya OOCly says, "True. And hopefully we won't stumble into more null-magic
 shadows."
Davros says, "OOC It would take more time than you probably want to spend if
 you want to make it linger across rapidly changing shadow boundaries, Alan."
Motoko asks, "OOC:  Okay.  How about an illusion spell to make us all look like
 demonformed Chaosians, which might help to throw them off for a moment if we
 do end up in the same Shadow as them again?"
Davros says, "OOC That would be viable."
Motoko says, "OOC:  Do that, then, and move on as specified, with Motoko
 finding a route that'll hopefully lead us around any further traps, Moriya
 molding Shadow to make sure magic stays on, and Davros looking ahead with
 Logrus."
More hours of travel fly by; your precautions work pretty well for dodging
 trouble.
After many hours of swamp trudging, the swamp dries up and you enter just plain
 forest.
Motoko watches the disappearance of the swamp with a complete lack of
 melancholy.  "I will be happy if I never see a swamp again."
Moriya sighs with faint relief. "Yes. This is much better." He grins. "This
 sort of terrain, I know."
Moriya uses his Forest Survival notable skill to keep an eye out for any sort
 of trouble.
Motoko says, "I propose we stop for a bit of a rest.  I'd like to replace the
 spells I've used with some quick ones, just to have them on hand."
Moriya nods. "Good idea."
Motoko says, "It will only take an hour or so."
Davros sits on a handy stump.  "Alright."
Moriya sits on the ground, Thought cradled across his knees.
Davros closes his eyes and starts meditating.
Moriya remains vigilant for anything approaching, anything awry...does some
 Patternsighting to check out the shadow.
Motoko finishes filling in her spells after a little over an hour, and is ready
 to move on again.
You rise and begin to move on.  The forest parts, rapidly thinning out.
Motoko asks, "Davros-san, are we still moving towards the lands of House
 Formorian?"
Davros says, "I think we're skirting past their borders."
He says, "This forest doesn't seem twisted enough to be tehir lands."
Motoko frowns.  "I hope the beast isn't too far ahead."
The forest parts, and you come upon a devastated village.
Bodies hacked by swords litter the ground, along with many black clad dead
 ninjas.
Also hacked by swords.
Motoko frowns.  "Ninjas?  I didn't know the Courts had them, though I suppose
 the Courts have everything..."
Moriya blinks at the village. "And what happened here?"
Motoko asks, "OOC:  How recently dead?"
Faintly, you can hear the flap of wings and a single person's footsteps
 somewhere in the village.
Davros says, "OOC Dead for maybe two days."
Moriya's ears prick. "Someone's close."
Davros says, "Several houses have ninjas."
Motoko frowns and heads towards concealment.  "Let's find out who that is
 before we do anything else," she whispers.
Moriya nods, and finds some cover for them.
Motoko laughs, very softly.  "Remember, Moriya, how this whole thing really
 began with ninjas?"
Moriya smiles faintly. "How could I forget?"
Davros says, "Eh, what?"
Moriya scopes out the place with Patternsight.
Motoko moves to creep up upon the single walker.  "We'll explain later," she
 murmurs to Davros.
A woman comes into sight.  She is short, with short red hair.  She looks
 somewhat familiar, but you can't quite place her.  She is wearing a lab coat
 over a blue blouse and slacks.  A large raven flies along beside her.
Moriya OOCly says, "Does Patternsight tell me anything about her?"
Motoko frowns and tries to figure out why she's familiar.
Moriya examines the woman with Pattern sight.  She has some sort of mangled
 Pattern Imprint, and shapeshifting and Blood of Chaos.  She then turns and
 looks right at where you all are hiding.  "Is someone there?" she asks.
Motoko steps out.  "Were you an inhabitant of this village?"
Moriya emerges as well, standing there quietly.
The woman says, "I was yanked out of my lab by this really hideous bongo drum
 noise, and dumped into the middle of a four way fight between two ninja clans,
 villagers, and a hideious monster."
Moriya pauses, frowning. "...the Gloom Device."
Motoko describes Demogorgon.  "Is that it?"
She continues, "I ended up hiding once I realized my Pattern abilities had
 suddenly failed."
The woman nods.  "Yes.  What was that thing?  And where am I?"
Motoko says, "You're near the Courts of Chaos; if you were yanked out your home
 universe by the Gloom Device, likely not the ones you're familiar with."
Davros comes out as well now.
Moriya bows to the woman. "That was an ancient horror come back to haunt us,
 unfortunately. And you are probably in a different universe than where you
 belong. Not just a different Shadow, but actual universe. You may need to go
 through the Cave of Worlds to get back."
The woman sighs.  "Delightful.  Well, it's a pleasure to meet you.  My name is
 Rhianna, and that's my raven, Quoth."  Quoth says, "Nevermore!"
Motoko nods.  "I'm Motoko.  This is my cousin, Moriya and Davros-san."
Rhianna asks, "Does this universe even have an Amber?"
Motoko begins using Temporal Scrying, to see in detail what went on (and also
 to confirm the woman's story).
Moriya bows again. "Yes. Motoko and I are scions of Amber."
Monster approaches village.  Villagers charge out.  Then Ninjas pour out of the
 woods and attack each other and the unfortunate villagers.  Monster eats most
 of the people.  Rhianna appears, then runs off and hides.  Monster leaves, now
 larger.
Motoko asks, "Davros-san, are these ninjas identifiably of any House?"
Davros searches the dead ninjas, and identifies one group as carrying golden
 lightning bolts and the other as carrying blue spheres.  "Hmm, too obscure for
 me, unfortunately.  But they look like normal humans, not chaosians."
Rhianna says, "Ahh.  Who rules this Amber?"
Motoko frowns, and calls Gilva to report on the other massacred village, the
 mysterious ninjas, the increasingly-growing Demogorgon and its location, and
 the presence of Rhianna.
Moriya says, "King Tylor the First, who was crowned about...seventy years ago,
 after the death of King Gendou the First."
Gilva takes the report and advises you to keep an eye on 'Rhianna'
Motoko nods and closes the contact, turning her attention back to Rhianna.
Rhianna says, "Oh, this universe.  I don't suppose you know what ever happened
 to Roderick?"
"Uncle Bleys has been starting to worry."
Motoko thinks for a moment, then looks at Moriya.  "Wasn't somebody called
 'Roderick' part of Corrine's harem, along with those Shadows of Juri and Vash?"
Rhianna boggles.  "Roderick became a harem boy?"
Moriya blinks. "Roderick? That would be...Juri of Avalon's husband? You've met
 him before?" He smiles. "Well, it appears that he and Juri have made it back
 home." He eyes Motoko strangely.
Motoko coughs.  "Not that I believe those rumours, of course, but you know how
 people talk."
Moriya frowns. "I was about to say, Motoko; I wouldn't think you would buy into
 those rumors."
Motoko coughs again.
Moriya turns back to Rhianna. "I don't think that's the case, myself."
Rhianna says, "Well, it's been about sixty years since he left Amber. Even for
 us, that's quite a while to not call home at all.  So he hooked up with the
 Juri woman.  Right."
Moriya nods. "I take it he hasn't had the chance to call home, has he?"
"If he hasn, he didn't call me."
Rhianna says, "So what exactly brings you all out to this forsaken forest?"
Moriya says, "Well...that beast that you saw? It threatens the Logrus. The
 Gloom Device, which pulled you into this universe, has the potential to
 destroy it."
Motoko nods.  "So we're going to destroy it."
Rhianna pales.  "This thing has the potential to destroy the Logrus?"
Motoko nods.  "It's already done it once, in another universe."
Moriya nods grimly. "It's a long story, but my father witnessed it."
Rhianna says, "Well, I can't get around shadow under my own power now, but I'd
 be willing to help you hunt it down, as I will be needing an intact logrus to
 ever get HOME."
Motoko says, "Which means, to be honest, we haven't much time to stand around
 and chat about it.  If you like, you can come along with us, and, once the
 beast is dealt with, we can transport you back to the Courts, where you should
 be able to use the Cave of Worlds to get home."
She says, "My sorcery seems to still work."
Moriya smiles. "We welcome your help, Rhianna-san."
Motoko nods.  "That sounds agreeable."
Motoko says, "If we're all finished here, let's get on the trail again."
Davros says, "OOC Okay, you all start off through the woods again."
In the distance, you hear a hideously loud chord of music.
It's enough to make your ears hurt
Moriya clamps his hands over his ears, wincing. "What was that?"
Motoko winces.  "Rhianna-san, did it sound like that when you were transported
 here?"
Rhianna says, "No, that sounds like a riff from 'Anarchy in the UK', a
 punk-rock song."
Moriya shakes his head. "It might still be the Gloom Device. Let's close in."
You pick up the pace, and then you hear a loud roar, like an angry animal.
Moriya draws Thought. "Right...."
You sprint through the woods.  You hear another roar, and feel a wave of heat.
Motoko frowns and takes out Gilva's trump, to have it at ready.  "Let's see
 what that is," she says in a low voice.
Moriya blanches slightly at the heat. "Yes...." Patternsight show anything of
 interest?
Too much jungle in the way; there's no heavy logrus use though.
Then the forest parts again, and you see a huge patchwork beast attacking and
 killing a giant humanoid lizard being.
Motoko trumps Gilva.
Motoko asks, "OOC:  How big has it gotten?"
Moriya regards the beast grimly. "There you are."
The creature is about the size of Godzilla, which it is currently fighting.
Moriya OOCly says, "Can we see any other presences around?"
Motoko trumps Gilva.  Trumpy trump.
You trump Gilva.  "Hello, Motoko," she says.
Motoko says, "We've found it.  It's very, very big."
Suddenly, a wave of pink energy radiates out from Demogorgon.  it's coming your
 way.
Moriya turns and shouts over his shoulder. "Davros! Try to disable the--damn!"
 He tries to snap off an AT-Field.
You manage to raise the shields.
Motoko's eyes widen as she sees the pink energy approaches; she shouts
 Defensive Luck and extends her hand to Gilva.
Moriya brandishes Thought, trying to hold it ready to cut through the
 approaching energy wave. "Get behind me!"
Rhianna and Davros dive behind Moriya.
Moriya attempts to mold in a more physical barrier between the wave and the
 party, using Pattern and Thought.
Moriya OOCly says, "And heck, snap off a couple Defensive Luck power words."
Motoko moves behind Moriya, keeping the contact with Gilva open.
The energy wave...as you look at it...it looks a lot like a heart....
It gets sliced apart by the Logrus blade.
Suddenly, Godzilla gazes into Demogorgon's eyes, and realizes Demogorgon is his
 one true love.
Demogorgon and Godzilla pledge undying love to each other.
Moriya sweats. A lot.
Motoko continues frantically trump conferencing with Gilva.
Hand in hand, the two monsters start to stomp off through the jungle.
Moriya runs after them, keeping them in sight. "Dammit, I was prepared to face
 one giant monster, but two was not in the itinerary!"
Motoko finishes her trump conference and runs off with Moriya, concentrating on
 molding Shadow as she goes.
Rhianna and Davros run after you.  The monsters don't even notice the four of
 you.
Motoko says, "I'm trying to see if I can undo the err, romantic effect."
Moriya nods, and tries to mold some obstructions into place in front of the
 monsters. Like a large mountain range.
Moriya asks, "What did Gilva-dono say?"
Motoko says, "She's sending troops to this area.  10-15 minutes; but since the
 monsters are moving on..."
Motoko groans.
Moriya OOCly says, "Are they moving through shadow as they go, John?"
OOC You are moving through shadow.
Motoko thinks.  "They don't seem too clever... if we could get ahead of them in
 Shadow, mold a large chasm... perhaps drop them into it?"
Moriya curses. "Well, let's hope they'll be able to follow the trail through
 shadow...."
Moriya says, "I am trying to create an obstacle in their path as we speak."
A large mountain range rises up ahead of you.
Moriya asks, "Davros-san, can you try to get a Logrus tendril into the Gloom
 Device?"
Davros nods.   "I will try."  He begins sending a tendril forward.
Motoko asks, "OOC:  How do they seem to be responding to the mountains?"
Demogorgon and Godzilla start trying to find a way around the mountains.
Motoko begins moving about, molding Shadow.
Moriya continues molding obstructions into place to keep them there.
Moriya OOCly says, "Box them in."
More mountains begin to rise.  Demogorgon and Godzilla stop and begin tearing
 up and eating the woods.
And then tre-stone coins begin pouring out of Demogorgon's pores.
Motoko says, "I have decided they will think this is the perfect spot to settle
 down and start their, err, family."
Moriya tries to mold the trees into containing powerful sedatives that will
 knock creatures out when ingested.
Motoko says, "Hopefully that will hold them for a little while."
Moriya nods grimly. "I'm trying to slow them down even more if possible."
Motoko says, "I don't really think I can have anything potent enough to do more
 than annoy them at this size; hopefully, Gilva-san's forces will.  For now,
 let's try and hold them here."
Mountains plus feeding frenzy slows down the monsters; Regiments of Chaosians
 start to appear.
Moriya asks, "Davros-san, how is the Logrus tendril coming along?"
Motoko looks about for Gilva.
More and more Chaosians show up, ringing the blissfully tree-eating monsters.
Davros' logrus tendril is creeping along the ground towards Demogorgon.
Moriya takes a deep breath. "Tsuki yo ni agake!" he shouts, and sprints forward
 toward Demogorgon.
You find Gilva, Motoko.
Motoko makes the suggestion to Gilva of taking over Godzilla's brain and using
 it to fight Demogorgon.
Motoko then notices Moriya charging towards the monsters, swears softly, and
 murmurs that she hopes he knows what he's doing.
Akemi pages, "What is your plan?" to you.
You page, "Charge forward, moving erratically, and engage Demogorgon. Swarm
 over it, slicing it up at perceived vulnerable spots." to Akemi.
Gilva nods to Motoko and puts her Logrus Masters on the job.
Meanwhile, Moriya is almost to Demogorgon, who doesn't notice him.
You page, "Snap off minor teleports to move around as well, to throw it off."
 to Akemi.
Motoko adds that Demogorgon is currently in love with the creature, and
 believes it's in love with him; thus, once it's under control, it can probably
 be sucker-punched.
Godzilla suddenly turns and dumps atomic breath on Demogorgon.
Motoko turns from Gilva and teleports to beside Moriya.  "Moriya, what are you
 doing?" she hisses.
Moriya skids to a halt as Godzilla suddenly breathes on Demogorgon. "...!"
Moriya says, "...I'm trying to kill it. I've got this Logrusfoil, and the
 Serpent said...."
Motoko grabs Moriya's arm.  "Gilva-san's Logrus Masters have taken over the big
 lizard's brain and are using it as a puppet."
Motoko says, "Moriya, he's too big to fight right now."
A pink wave erupts from Demogorgon.
Moriya stares at the two beasts uneasily. "But I have to...damn! Again!" He
 tries to cut the wave once more.
Motoko gets behind Moriya for cover and curses.
A giant line of identical looking men form around Demogorgon.  Linking arms,
 they begin to clogdance.  They look like old-demonform chaosians wearing the
 crown of Chaos.
Moriya stares.
Motoko stares.
Davros stares as his logrus tendril creeps up Demogorgon's side.
Motoko asks, "Who _made_ this thing?"
Motoko studies Demogorgon carefully.
Moriya says, "Someone who was drunk at the time, I think."
Motoko frowns.  "I hope Davros-san can turn that insane device off soon."  She
 begins casting a spell.
Moriya brandishes Thought uneasily.
Demogorgon and Godzilla begin to go at it, tooth and claw.
Motoko scribes red calligraphy in the air with her bokken, a long line of it. 
 "Spirits of fortune, gods of luck, chance, fate... cling to me and my allies,
 depart from my foes!"
In the distance, you hear the baying of hounds.
And the sound of hundreds, maybe thousands, of hoofbeats.
And then the mountains turn black as seemingly infinite numbers of bison charge
 over the mountainsides.
Moriya stares. And starts trying to edit them out of existence.
Gilva shouts orders, getting her troops to rearrange themselves to face the
 charge.
Motoko exclaims, "Moriya, join your strength with me!  The bison will flow
 around us and our allies like water around rocks, leaving us unharmed!  It's a
 possibility!"
Moriya nods, and tries to add his will to Motoko's.
Motoko takes Moriya's hand.
The bison begin to part; not all of them are affected, but many of them charge
 at Demogorgon instead now.
This is enough to enable Gilva's troops to handle the rest.  Davros' tendril
 now searches inside Demogorgon.
Motoko swings round, points her bokken at a dangly bit of Demogorgon, and
 begins a spell.
Moriya prepares to defend Motoko against any bison who come too close.
Moriya can hear the baying of hounds, coming closer; it weighs upon him like 
 ajudgment.  He starts to get a  BAD feeling.
Moriya swallows. "Those dogs...what do they mean?"
The baying of the hounds draws closer, and some of the bison suddenly turn and
 charge towards Moriya.
Motoko swings her bokken and shouts the final lynchpin; a force blade launches
 towards a dangling conglomerate of tentacles and hands on Demogorgon.
Moriya curses and moves to intercept.
A fair sized chunk of Demogorgon gets sliced off.
Moriya begins fighting bison desperately.
Motoko asks, "OOC:  Bison seem at all interested in Motoko, or just Moriya?"
Another pink wave erupts...
Motoko brings up Pattern Defense, as Moriya is too busy fighting bison to
 defend her.
Davros says, "OOC THe bison seem focused on Moriya."
Moriya OOCly says, "Start hopping the bison, slicing them as I go."
As the wave hits people, their hair mutates.  Soon, everyone except Motoko has
 a huge beehive hairstyle.
Moriya OOCly groans.
This includes Godzilla and Demogorgon.
Moriya OOCly says, "You and Mike are grade A nutjobs."
Motoko asks, "OOC:  How well does Moriya seem able to handle the bison?"
Davros says, "OOC Moriya is holding the line with the bison, as he has a Logrus
 foil and Mad Warfare Skillz"
The constant baying of hounds wears at Moriya's nerves, and he slips up; he
 gets a nasty gore wound on the leg.
Meanwhile, hundreds of crossbow bolts, spells, etc, are being rained down on
 Demogorgon.
Moriya grits his teeth and tries to retreat back toward the massed Chaosians.
Moriya exclaims, "Fall back, Motoko! Rejoin the others!"
And then Demogorgon visibly shakes and howls in rage.
Moriya OOCly says, "Can I drop one of my racked healing spells on the wound
 without getting injured further?"
Davros says, "OOC Not while in hand to hand with Bison."
Moriya OOCly says, "Drat."
Motoko casts another spell, slings another force blade at Demogorgon's tail,
 and shouts a power word as it hits.
Moriya uses Defensive Luck as he dances across the backs of the bison.
Demogorgon loses his tail and howls again.  A wave of pink energy rushes forth
 as something erupts out of his chest.
Motoko then runs towards Moriya.  "Moriya, to me!"
Moriya tries to move back to Motoko.
Moriya runs for Motoko and vice versa.  A pink wave RUSHES across the field as
 Demogorgon topples and the Gloom device arcs upwards out of him towards Davros.
And then the wave rushes over everyone.
Motoko tries to call the Pattern to mind.
Moriya OOCly says, "Can I cut the wave? n.n;"
And hundreds, maybe thousands of bison and chaosians die as their heads explode
Moriya OOCly says, "Aiyoh. x.x The less-than-100-points setting, huh?"
A handful of bison, a strange looking critter, a dozen or so Chaosians, Davros,
 Moriya, and Motoko remain.
And Godzilla is now ripping into Demogorgon.
Motoko asks, "OOC:  Rhianna?"
Davros says, "OOC ANd Rhianna.  Sadly, her raven dies."
Moriya stares in horror. "...let's get back to the others. Quickly."
Motoko nods, grabs Moriya, and teleports them back to the Chaosian lines.
You see Gilva scream in rage and rush at Demogorgon.
Moriya now tries to heal his leg. "...Gilva-dono! Stop!"
Motoko curses and teleports in front of Gilva.  "Gilva-san, no!  It won't do
 any good!"
Moriya staggers after Gilva, trying to stanch his wound.
Gilva shouts, "That DAMNABLE THING HAS TO DIE!"
The Gloom Device drops into Davros' hands.
Motoko tries to grab Gilva's shoulders if she can do so safely.  "Yes!  And it
 will die!  But throwing your life away won't bring back your troops!"
Moriya curses loudly, then staggers back to Davros. "Make sure that thing
 doesn't go off again!"
Motoko asks, "OOC:  Godzilla seem to be winning the fight?"
Davros begins wrapping the device in logrus tendrils.
Davros says, "OOC Godzilla seems to be winning."
Motoko grabs Gilva's shoulders.  Gilva shouts, "I have to kill it!  I HAVE TO!"
Motoko grabs Gilva in something between an embrace and a restraining hold. 
 "You will--"  Her voice catches, unable to contain her grief at the sheer
 senseless loss of life any long.  "We all will... but please... be calm...
 rage in battle leads to your own death, not just your enemy's..."
Gilva begins to sob.  "My son.  My son..."
Motoko shivers and gulps down any of her own tears.  "I'm sorry, Gilva-san...
 so sorry..."
Gilva cries on your shoulder.
Godzilla continues kicking Demogorgon's ass.
Motoko moves to stroke Gilva's hair, pauses at the beehive, and then simply
 pats her on the back.
Moriya sinks to the ground, looking miserable. "Damn it. Damn that thing."
The surviving Bison and the strange creature decide to leave before their heads
 explode.
Moriya OOCly says, "That's the Questing Beast, isn't it?"
Motoko unhappily lowers Gilva down to the ground once she seems to no longer be
 thinking of throwing her life away against Demogorgon, and turns to face the
 beast.
Davros pulls out a trump card
Motoko grimly draws back her bokken, shouts lynchpins, and throws another force
 blade at Demogorgon.  She then begins shouting power words.
The brawl goes on a while longer, and finally, Demogorgon dies at the hands of
 Godzilla and several pissed off Logrus Masters dumping Primal Chaos on him.
Moriya stands up slowly, and surveys the battlefield, shaking his head, before
 turning to Davros. "Who are you calling, Davros-san?"
Davros passes the gloom device through the trump contact.
Motoko turns back to comforting Gilva, as it looks as though it's in hand now. 
 She tries to do a spell to return Gilva's hair to normal.
It returns to normal.
Motoko says, "I'm so sorry... dear Unicorn, sweet Serpent, all those lives..."
Moriya asks, "Davros-san?"
Davros finishes the contact and turns to you.  "Anno has it now."
Motoko stands in the middle of the field, halfway between Demogorgon and what
 used to be the Chaosian lines, holding Gilva and shaking with repressed
 weeping.
Moriya nods. "Good. He'll keep it secure."
Moriya turns and looks over his shoulder. He sighs, and quietly murmurs, "I
 think...Motoko needs some comfort. This senseless massacre...she isn't taking
 it well."
Motoko calls, stutteringly, "Moriya... Davros... make sure that thing is
 dead... every bit of it..."
Moriya says, "You go to her. I'll check on the Demogorgon."
Davros nods and heads over to Motoko, putting a hand on her shoulder. 
 "Motoko-san, Anno has the Gloom Device now."
Moriya performs clean-up work on the bits and pieces of Demogorgon.
Moriya OOCly says, "Dogs stopped howling, John?"
Motoko almost shies back at Davros's touch, then sags, keeping herself upright
 merely becausely she has to hold Gilva up.  "Davros-san... your spikard... you
 have to make sure it stays dead..."
Davros nods and strides towards Demogorgon.  Fire and lightning and ice begin
 to whip around him.
Davros says, "OOC Dogs stop howling."
Moriya OOCly says, "Good. That was the QB, wasn't it?"
Davros raises his arms to the heaven.
Moriya takes a moment to dispell his Bad Hair Day.
Davros says, "GREAT SERPENT OF FLAME, WHO BURNS AWAY THE OLD TO MAKE WAY FOR
 THE NEW!  I CALL UPON YOUR POWER!  I PLEDGE MYSELF TO YOUR ETERNAL FLAME!"
Falmes begin to roar around him in a spiral.
FLAMES
Moriya OOCly says, "Falme-dono!"
Motoko exclaims, "OOC:  Wow, with that many Falmes, he can toss Demogorgon
 right into another _universe_!"
"GREAT LORD OF FIRE, LET US DESTROY OUR ENEMIES TOGETHER!!!!!"
And then the spiral becomes a huge serpent of flame, which engulfs Demogorgon's
 remains.
Demogorgon turns to ashes, and the Serpent of Fire devours the Ashes.
Moriya sighs and turns back toward Motoko and Gilva and the rest. And dispels
 his beehive if he hadn't already.
Motoko tries to remember if she knows the Chaosian death rites from all her
 reading.
And then the fires begin to die down.
And they gutter out.  Davros quietly collapses.
Motoko exclaims, "Davros-san!"
Motoko exclaims, "Moriya... take care of Gilva-san, please!"
Moriya quickly moves to Davros' side and checks his vital signs.
Motoko hurries to Davros's side.
Moriya looks up, pauses, nods, and moves to attend to Gilva.
Motoko kneels down beside Davros and makes sure he's all right.
You both rush over to Davros.  His vital signs are pretty weak at the moment.
Motoko uses Lifeforce on him, then applies her racked healing spells.
Davros wakes up.  "Pain."
Moriya looks around again. "Gilva-dono," he says, quietly, "what shall we do
 for the fallen?"
Gilva says, "We need a priest."
Moriya turns. "Motoko is the Bride of the Dragon."
Motoko looks up from holding one of Davros's hands.  "I'm one," she murmurs
 distantly.  "A priestess, I mean.  But... I can't seem to recall the death
 rites... I know I read them..."
Davros says, "I am a priest.  I remember them.  Motoko, if you will help me" 
 He staggers to his feet.
Motoko helps Davros up.
Davros, with Motoko's help, begins to perform the rites for the dead, while
 Gilva directs the gatehring of the bodies and prepares something to hold them
 for now.
Moriya quietly assists where he can.
Motoko half-walks and half-staggers as she performs the rites for the dead in
 imitation of Davros.
The rites for the dead take quite a while.
But they are also strangely soothing in the way of rituals.
More chaosians arrive as you continue the rites.  They look utterly shocked.
Motoko seems to actually gain strength as she administers the rites, or perhaps
 it's just the soothing nature of them letting her calm down.
Moriya simply continues helping, face a mask of silent grief.
Motoko says, "OOC:  Wonder if there was any way we could have taken it down
 sooner, other than going after it earlier."
Motoko says, "OOC:  As other than the random effects of the Gloom Device, which
 we pretty much countered as best we could, everything went off pretty
 smoothly."
Moriya OOCly nods.
Gabrielle says, "OOC: As these things go, you guys stomped all over it pretty 
 damn fast."
Motoko says, "OOC:  Turning Godzilla back on it was a good idea.  o.o"
Davros says, "OOC Yes, it was."
Moriya OOCly says, "Very. o.o"
Moriya OOCly says, "Fighting them both would have been nasty."
Motoko says, "OOC:  Geez.  What a way to go out, though.  o.o"
Moriya OOCly says, "Eh?"
Motoko says, "OOC:  I dunno what portion of the promising young folk of Chaos
 this took out, but... o.o"
Moriya OOCly says, "Oh, yes. x.x"
Motoko says, "OOC:  Blowing up everyone's heads."
Moriya OOCly sighs.
Motoko says, "OOC:  OTOH, Moriya and Davros are pretty sure to get pardons,
 given that they were one of the slightly-more-than-a-dozen survivors of the
 terrible Second Demogorgon Battle, and Davros was the one to personally
 destroy Demogorgon at the end.  o.o"
Moriya OOCly says, "I certainly hope so. o.o"
Davros says, "OOC Yep."
Motoko says, "OOC:  Maybe Motoko can do the eulogies at the funeral.  And
 preach.  And stuff like that."
Motoko says, "OOC:  Oh, and someone better comfort Rhianna about her bird, as
 we kinda forgot about her."
Motoko says, "OOC:  Clearly Motoko's job, I assume, as they have to fall in
 love."
Moriya OOCly snorts. Actually, Moriya will probably have to do that, since
 Motoko's busy.
Motoko exclaims, "OOC:  New love interest!  With a pleasing beehive!"
You spend time burying some of the dead and preparing the rest for transport,
 and doing last rights.
Moriya goes to talk to Rhianna.
Motoko, by the end of things, is walking straighter and looking strong, moreso
 than she did at the beginning--though still very saddened by everything.
Rhianna says to Moriya, "I feel useless."
Moriya shakes his head. "So do I, Rhianna-san. So do I," he says, softly.
Motoko continues performing the last rites over the last of the dead.
Gilva trumps in Ishmael, who begins to inspect the site.
Moriya bows to Ishmael tiredly.
Motoko does the same.  "Highness," she murmurs, before going on with the rites.
Ishmael looks about the site, looking quite sad.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty," Moriya murmurs thickly. "We couldn't get the Gloom
 Device soon enough."
Ishmael says, "Gilva told me what happened.  This...compared to the last time,
 these are small losses."
Moriya sighs. "Small comfort."
Ishmael says, "We will build a great monument, of course."
Moriya nods. "To remember."
"Stones cannot remember," Motoko murmurs, "only people."
Moriya says, "No...but the stones will speak so that people will hear and know,
 and they will remember."
Ishmael says, "We will never forget, but one day we will die.  But the stones
 will survive."
He continues, "And future generations will remember the heroes who died here
 that others might live."
Moriya stirs. "Oh...Your Majesty, the Gloom Device yanked someone from another
 universe over to ours." He indicates Rhianna. "This is Rhianna. Rhianna-san,
 this is King Ishmael of Chaos."
Rhianna looks at Ishmael and twitches visibly.
Rhianna then bows to him.  "Your highness."
King Ishmael says, "A pleasure to meet you, Rhianna."
Moriya says, "We will need to have someone lead her through the Cave of Worlds
 to return home, I believe."
Ishmael nods.  "I will make sure Grandfather helps you, Rhianna-san."
Ishmael turns to Moriya.  "Well, this should be enough for me to leverage to
 get House Darios to drop its charges against you and your kin."
Moriya blinks, and bows deeply. "I am deeply grateful, Your Majesty. Thank you."
Ishmael says, "As it would be rather impolitic for them to persecute heroes
 like yourselves."  He smiles.
Moriya smiles weakly and looks down. "I hardly feel like a hero...but thank you
 once again."
Motoko comes over, having finally finished the last rites.  She looks both
 weary and somehow invigorated.  "We are fortunate that this other beast was
 here--"  She gestures to Godzilla, presumably still the docile butt-toy of the
 Logrus masters.  "Without it, slaying the beast would have been far more
 difficult."
Ishmael says, "Indeed.  I must thank House Tremere for sending it."
Motoko's face quirks slightly.  "So, it was not a random occurence.  Fortunate
 indeed.  Though it seemed for a time as though we might have to face the two
 beasts together, as the Gloom Device caused them to, err... fall in love."
Ishmael stares at you in surprise.
Moriya laughs, despite himself. "That...was rather unexpected."
Motoko laughs, with a slight edge to it; then her face falls.  "I feel shamed
 for laughing," she murmurs.
Rhianna says, "It was rather funny, I must admit."
Moriya says, "Although at the time, I was just dreading having to fight another
 monster."
Motoko says, "The poor great beast must have been heartbroken when its new
 love turned on it."
Motoko giggles, then covers her mouth and hiccups, looking really embarassed.
Motoko manages a straight face.  "I am sorry," she says.  "It is--"  Hiccup. 
 "Inappropriate."
Davros pulls a glass of water out of shadow for Motoko.
Moriya is silent for a while, then suddenly says, "I feel so tired."
Motoko drinks the water and manages to stop hiccuping.  "Thank you."  She
 stares at the ground.  "I haven't hiccuped since I was a child.  I used to do
 it all the time when I was scared or nervous."
Motoko hesitates, then puts her arm around Moriya and leans against him,
 letting him do the same to her.  "Well," she says softly, "it's over.  For
 now.  And by now, Aunt Kanna and Uncle Beowulf have rescued Jacqui-chan and
 Aunt Utena and Aunt Wakaba..."
Motoko murmurs, "And everything is all right... I'm sure."
Moriya allows Motoko to rest against him. "I hope so. I hope they're all
 right.... I hope...."
Davros says, "It must be.  I'm sure they must be fine."
Motoko sighs.  "Perhaps we can finally get some time to relax now," she
 murmurs.  "For an extended period.  A few years.  I'd like to spend it all in
 a hot spring..."
Davros says, "Yes.  I could use a rest."
Moriya chuckles softly. "That would be nice."
Motoko says, "Do you remember that Shadow your father took us to when we were
 very young, Moriya, before we walked the Pattern... one _giant_ hot spring...
 a whole world..."
Moriya tilts his head. "I...vaguely do, yes."
Davros says, "I could sit in a hot spring forever."
Motoko smiles slightly and closes her eyes.  "Let's go back there soon.  All
 three of us.  And anyone else who wants to come along."
Moriya nods. "We'll call all our friends."
Davros says, "That would be wonderful."
Moriya says, "Let's go back to the Courts at least, for now."
Motoko sighs again and straightens up, ceasing to lean on Moriya.  "Pleasant
 little fantasy," she says wistfully.  "For now, though, we'd best handle the
 ceremonies for the dead, and I'm sure something else will come along soon
 enough."
Moriya says, "Oh, yes...we need to finish the rites."
Motoko looks to Ishmael, somewhat nervous.  "Your Majesty... if permissible, I
 would like to speak at the memorial service.  As one who fought here, as Bride
 of the Dragon... as myself."
Ishmael says, "Yes, I think that's a good idea."
Motoko nods and looks over the battlefield.  "What a waste," she murmurs. 
 "What a terrible waste of lives."
Ishmael continues, "I think their families would appreciate that."  He turns to
 Gilva.  "I'm sorry about your son."  She nods mournfully.
Moriya murmurs, "I will write a poem for them."
Motoko says, "I hope Anno-sama can destroy that device permanently."
Gilva turns to Moriya, Motoko and Davros.  "Thank you for your assistance," she
 says weakly.
Moriya bows. "We did what we could."
Davros asks, "OOC Okay, gonna head back to House Gainax once things wrap up
 here?"
Moriya OOCly says, "Yes."
Motoko bows as well.  "I am only sorry we could not do more."
Y'all head back to House Gainax.
The King tells you the memorial service will be in two days.
Motoko heads immediately for the hot spring as soon as she's back at Gainax.
Moriya trumps back home with Anno's help to report.
Moriya OOCly says, "Er, that is, trump someone back home, not go back home."
Davros says, "OOC No problem.  You report in.  The King tells you that Jacqui
 and company have been rescued."
Moriya goes to the hot springs after this, mindful to stay on the men's side,
 of course. "Motoko," he calls out. "They're all right. Jacqui, Aunt Utena,
 Aunt Wakaba hav been rescued. Everyone survived, though many were badly hurt."
"Thank goodness," Motoko mumbles, nearly submerged entirely beneath the water
 with a cloth on her forehead.
Moriya paused. "Some were very badly hurt," he murmurs, barely audible.
Davros soaks, half asleep.
Motoko asks, "How is... Mitsune-chan?"
Moriya straightens up, blinking. "Mitsune...oh, kami...she was stabbed by a
 Patternblade, her blood ignited...she almost died. But she's all right."
Moriya quietly adds, "I thought I told her to be careful."
Motoko murmurs, "As long as everyone's all right... and they're all safe... I
 think that means we've no family currently strapped into Constructs, doesn't
 it?"
Moriya says, "Yes. That seems to be the case."
Motoko sighs.  "Knowing Mitsune-chan, she probably did something stupidly brave
 and stupidly dangerous."
Davros says, "There is more to her than Nanami-chan knew."
Moriya smiles faintly. "She did. She blocked a blow to protect Uncle Beowulf,
 wrested the Patternblade away from its wielder...and used her burning body, in
 mist form, to immolate their enemy from the inside out."
Motoko nods.  "I love my grandmother dearly, but she tends to make judgements
 about people too quickly."
Moriya says, "Sometimes, it seems, I do too."
Davros says, "I can't believe I'm just so tired."
Motoko smiles.  "Well, we've all learned valuable life lessons and become
 better people because of this.  And now, by all rights, we should get happy
 endings.  She laughs dryly."
Moriya says, "I wish."
Motoko laughs again.  "So do I, Moriya, so do I."
Davros says, "Do we get a really nice meal to go with our life lessons?"
Moriya groans. "Now that you mention it, I am very, very hungry."
Motoko sweatdrops.  "Perhaps we should have eaten before rushing to the hot
 springs."
Davros says, "I could bring us food with the Logrus if I could remember what it
 looks like."
Moriya says, "Let's just send word down to the kitchens."
You send for food, and soon you each get several big heaping plates of whatever
 you want.
Moriya eats ravenously.
Motoko eats delicately and ravenously.
Moriya OOCly says, "I should probably go pass out now."
Davros exclaims, "OOC Righto!  "
Motoko says, "OOC:  And John and I will run a two-hour conversation between
 Motoko and an NPC until he realizes it's 6 am.  :)"
Moriya OOCly says, "Oh, John, I'm going to be out all day and night tomorrow,
 so don't expect me to be around to game. :)"
Davros says, "I have D&D, so I'll be gone most of the day."
Moriya OOCly says, "However, I demand mad smoochies with Mitsune the next time
 I'm on. :)"
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Logging Stopped: 06/09/2001 at 3:57:42
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