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Logging Started: 07/05/2001 at 21:30:58
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Beowulf asks, "OOC Is Moriya already there from last session?"
Moriya OOCly says, "Not yet."
Moriya OOCly says, "We can play out Moriya getting trumped through to the
 party."
Beowulf OOCly nods.
John asks, "OOC Okay, who you gonna call to bring you over?"
Moriya OOCly says, "Would have been Jacqui, but that's a bit of a problem. So
 I'll call Mitsune. :)"
Mitsune takes the trump call.  "Hey, Moriya, how's it going?"
Moriya smiles broadly and holds up Withywindle. "Very well, actually."
Mitsune smiles.  "Excellent!  You ready to come hook up with us?"
Moriya says, "Of course, my dear." He reaches his hand out toward Mitsune.
She reaches out and pulls you through, then sweeps you into a smooch.
Moriya is ready for the kiss, and embraces her readily.
Beowulf asks, "OOC About what time is it?"
John says, "OOC It's lunchtime on Day 51"
John says, "OOC You're all camped in the tunnel."
Beowulf OOCly nods.
Beowulf raises an eyebrow and grins a bit at the display.
Mitsune grins.  "Well, you got to skip the great falling down and all the
 boring marching through endless tunnel bits, Moriya.  I'd almost think you
 planned that."
Moriya chuckles softly. "Lucky me."
Moriya looks around. "Still some ways to go though, hmm?"
Beowulf says, "Apparently so." He hmmms. "I know, next time we'll let you talk
 to Mr. Kuonji. It should at least be amusing."
Mitsune nods.
Moriya blinks. "The notorious Kuonji Ukyou happened by? A pity I missed him."
Moriya says, "Or, ah, her, if that's the case."
Seta says, "I didn't even get to discuss his studies of the Flying Polyp cities
 with him.  I was quite disappointed."
Beowulf says, "Since he seems to prefer being known as 'him', I'll refer to him
 that way until I need a good way to get under his guard. Not that it's likely
 to be that productive."
Moriya chuckles. "Ah well. Oh, hello, Seta-sensei," he says, smiling. "It's
 good to see you again; I haven't had much chance to talk to you lately."
Seta-sensei says, "Well, our little archaeological dig I planned with Keitaro
 seems to have turned into an armed expedition, but..."  He shrugs.
He says, "I see you found Withywindle."
Moriya says, "I'm sure there'll be much to be discoverd still. I'll try to be
 careful and not smash things up." He nods, holding the sword out for Seta to
 look at. "It took quite a bit of searching and investigation, but we finally
 got it."
Beowulf looks on, impressed. "Very nice, cousin."
Naru brings Moriya some of lunch, which is a not very tasty stew, but better
 than starving to death.
Moriya says, "Ah, thank you, Naru."
Beowulf asks, "So what all went on when you picked it up?"
Moriya takes a bite of stew and swallows before answering. "Well...as it turned
 out, Ksinge Ivan the Terrible wasn't entombed, but rather, imprisoned. The
 Broken Pattern that he walked, coupled with his already unstable personality,
 drove him to dark rituals. He became a type of undead called a Soulstealer."
Beowulf raises an eyebrow. "Nice."
Moriya says, "So his sons and the shadow deity who gave him Withywindle, Tobor
 the Thunderer, sealed him away in his tomb on Endor. Withywindle became the
 lynchpin of a trump construct meant to keep him in and keep meddling thieves
 out. You see...as soon as the construct sensed someone entering a mound, it
 would trump the tomb away to another mound."
Beowulf raises an eyebrow. "A nice system. Would have liked to see that; I
 don't believe I've ever heard of that kind of a tomb defense before."
Moriya nods. "Very impressive, if frustrating. The only sure way to reach the
 tomb was to have other people enter four of the tombs, forcing it to the
 fifth, and then enter the fifth while holding Ivan's old scepter, which was
 turned into a key of sorts for the construct."
Beowulf says, "Which obviously worked, as you have Withywindle now."
Seta says, "That's a very impressive little security system, I'd have to say."
Moriya chuckles. "We ended up going to Muscovy after exploring one of the
 mounds completely to no avail. We decided that it'd probably be safer to find
 some way of getting through the one mound that did contain the tomb rather
 than search each one individually. While we were there, we discovered Ivan's
 story, and got in contact with Tobor himself, in fact, and learned yet more
 about the circumstances."
Moriya says, "Once we realized how dangerous it would have been to face Ivan
 unprepared, I was actually a little glad that we'd failed earlier, however
 frustrating it had been. Now, though, we could set an ambush for him.... You
 see, a Soulstealer has two primary powers--a glowing gaze that steals your
 soul from your body, hence the name, and a scream that can incapacitate or
 even kill someone."
Beowulf asks, "So, earplugs for the scream... what'd you use for the gaze? "
Moriya shakes his head. "Earplugs wouldn't worked, apparently; Father Grigori
 in Muscovy told us that people who stuffed their ears with cotton would still
 be struck down by the scream. Instead, we had Kafuin stop sound from
 transmitting, with his power over air. As for the gaze...." He chuckles. "I'll
 get to that in a moment."
Moriya says, "Once I drew Withywindle, Ivan emerged from the next room over,
 where his coffin was. He screamed, with Kafuin blocking it; I pretended to
 fall down and die. When his eyes started glowing, Motoko--who was hovering
 above the door in bird form when Ivan came through--dropped a crate of wood
 filled with glue on him. His eyes were covered, and so, he couldn't even fly
 straight."
Moriya says, "And with that, we simply beat him down very easily." He sighs.
 "That was so anticlimactic by comparison, after all the hard work it took to
 gather the necessary information and finally find our way to the tomb itself."
Beowulf smiles. "Well, you did the hard work on the starting end, instead of
 the battle end. A rather good way to do things, as it puts fewer people at
 risk."
Moriya laughs. "Very true, very true. Our plans came together beautifully,
 which is what we always hope for."
Beowulf says, "Yes. Which is something we probably need to do, before we spring
 our little surprise. Jacqui and Mitsune have been trying to recover the Dragon
 Spikard before the Black Pharoah did, but as we seem to be heading pretty
 straight for the Black Pharoah..."
Moriya frowns. "I was worried that someone in Mystara might have already gotten
 a hold of the spikard."
Mitsune says, "The Spikard is in Nithia."
Beowulf says, "It would appear so, unfortunately. Drake, Keitaro, and the rest
 of our group rushed off to try and intercept the Lion Spikard before it
 reached Mystara, only to find it in the hands of our Mr. Kuonji. We then tried
 to intercept the Dragon staff, only to get led through a series of elemental
 planes, which delayed us long enough for the staff to reach Mystara."
Moriya nods. "So it's a race to see who's got what."
 status was sufficiently ambiguous that I didn't want to fight him for the
 spikard, and he had no Outsider taint to show that he'd been using it..."
Moriya says, "But there is still the matter of the staff and the Dragon
 spikard."
Beowulf says, "Unfortunately, he's probably the most self-assured man I've met,
 and we couldn't get much of use out of him at all."
Moriya chuckles. "We'll just have to keep a close eye on him, then."
Beowulf says, "Yes. By the point when the staff had entered Mystara, its trail
 was sufficiently confused that we decided our better tack was to join Jacqui
 and get the Dragon spikard first. So, here we are."
Beowulf says, "Kuonji did claim that he was going to take the Lion spikard to
 Anno for destruction, later. That intrigues me a bit, since great-grandfather
 said he'd never heard of Kuonji, but..."
Moriya says, "Hm. Well, you must admit, Anno-sama would be the best person to
 go to for that, given what he accomplished earlier, after Ebenscrux."
Beowulf says, "Oh, yes, I completely agree. However, Kuonji seemed most
 reluctant to go there with me and take care of it then and there."
Moriya mmms. "Again...the best thing to do is keep an eye on him."
Beowulf says, "Indeed. Fortunately, both Keitaro and Aeris were able to make
 trumps of him."
Moriya says, "He's certainly suspicious, but at the same time, he's done enough
 things that benefit us that we should treat him with respect."
Beowulf nods. "Next time, though, *you* get to put up with his supercilious
 remarks." He grins.
Moriya chuckles. "I'"
Moriya says, "I'll be able to deal, I'm sure."
Beowulf smiles. "I want to watch."
Haruka asks, "But is he as supercillious as Mikage?"
Beowulf hmmms in thought. "Hard to say. Worse, I think."
Moriya blinks, then grins nastily. "Excellent suggestion, Haruka-dono. Maybe we
 should have the two of them meet."
Beowulf gets a predatory grin on his face. "That should work nicely."
Beowulf says, "Let's see... I didn't have any real chance to research Nithia
 before we left, since we raced off after the Lion spikard."
Moriya turns. "But I suppose that's what we have Mitsune here for, hmm?"
Seta says, "Well, Keitaro and I already did several days of research on Nithia
 before we left."
Beowulf nods. "What did you find out?"
Seta says, "A lot, although most of it probably isn't very relevant.  What
 sorts of things do you want to know?"
Beowulf hmmms. "Well, to start with, how likely are we to draw attention as we
 move around the countryside?"
Seta says, "Well, it depends on where we go."
Seta continues, "Nithia is basically a 20 mile wide, 2000 mile long river
 valley flanked by desert."
He continues, "With a much wider delta at the sea end."
Beowulf nods. "Logically, we shouldn't be in much trouble in the desert, but
 might cause a stir in the inhabited river valley."
Beowulf asks, "What do we know about the location of the Black Pyramid?"
Seta nods.  "We'll stand out very, very much."
Seta says, "It's about 60 miles out in the desert, about halfway along the
 river."
Beowulf says, "So, finding the spikard may or may not put us into contact with
 the locals, but we shouldn't run into any when we go after the Pharoah
 himself."
Beowulf asks, "How close will we have to get to Nithia before we can narrow
 down the spikard's location?"
Seta nods.  "Exactly."
Beowulf says, "Of course, crossing the desert will be pretty obvious in itself,
 unless the dunes are fairly high."
He nods.  "Yes.  We may hit a few nomads, but most Nithians stick to the river
 valley."
Beowulf says, "Understandable enough."
Beowulf looks at Mitsune. "So how are we tracking down the spikard?"
Seta says, "The Black Pyramid is said to be a very nasty place, so I'm
 suspecting there's probably some Outsider minions about it."
Beowulf nods. "Somehow, I'd guessed." He grins wryly.
Moriya speaks up. "I've got some Elder Seals with me. Kafuin can produce more
 if necessary."
Beowulf nods. "Lily and I have Elder Sign pendants, which may help."
Seta says, "The place was originally built by a mad pharaoh who worshipped dark
 powers and sought to become an immortal.  So they sealed him up in his own
 fortress."
Beowulf hmmms. "External seal exclusively, or did they tie him down personally?
 If he's been free to roam around inside his fortress, we could find all kinds
 of interesting toys there."
Seta says, "The records remain unclear."
Beowulf nods. "What did they have to say about the pharaoh himself, besides
 worshipping dark powers?"
Seta says, "The records are pretty vague.  His name was Nephren-Ka.  He was a
 powerful priest and sorceror.  And quite off his rocker."
Beowulf hmmms. "No record of his skills and abilities, then?"
Seta says, "Hmm.  Some other general notes.  The desert is boiling hot, so
 don't wear armor unless you like baking."
Seta says, "Too long ago and they tried to destroy most records of the reign."
Beowulf nods. "Didn't you mention a local Nithian expert before you left,
 Mitsune?"
Mitsune says, "There's Franich, but we sort of ended up being in too much of a
 hurry to contact him, because Jacqui was acting like she was going to die if
 we didn't get moving instantly."
Beowulf says, "Franich... he was in Darokin, right? If we're going to be going
 through this tunnel for a few days more, might be worth the time for some of
 us to go back and see if he'll come along, or at least talk to him."
Mitsune says, "Hmm.  Just keep in mind it's a real pain in the ass getting into
 the...well, I suppose trumping Moriya worked, so you could trump to us."
Beowulf nods.
Beowulf turns to the CFRC. "You've passed through Darokin before, right? Are
 any of you familiar with Mr. Franich?"
Mitsune says, "and Franich is an expert on the old SURFACE Nithia, not the
 Hollow World survivors of it."
Beowulf nods. "Hm, point."
Ivan twitches.  "If you try to bring Franich along, I will backstab you all to
 death.  I killed a God, you know."
Beowulf blinks at Ivan. "Hm? He couldn't be that bad, could he?"
Tharg says, "The last trip with Franich, an Immortal obliterated the souls of
 two of our company.  Never Franich.  Never again."
Beowulf's eyebrows climb up into his hairline. "I... see."
Anna says, "Well, that was because they were evil."
Tharg says, "And who says the next one's going to hate evil people instead of
 say mages?"
Beowulf says, "Hm. So no Franich, I take it."
Rimmer says, "Franich pays ten times normal cost next time."
Beowulf says, "...right."
Ivan says, "No Franich, I pray."
Beowulf says, "So, to sum up, we know that the Black Pharoah was a powerful
 being, who may or may not be roaming around inside of his sealed fortress, but
 we don't know what kind of powers he had."
Seta says, "We know he has a lot of magic."
Seta continues, "With magicians, it's pretty much impossible to knwo much of
 what they'll pull out of their butt."
Seta says, "I mean, you're dating Lily, but I bet you don't know what spells
 she has racked right now."
Beowulf says, "And that he probably has some sort of link with the Outsiders.
 Based on what we've been through, we should probably plan for him having an
 Outsider-based construct, or at least having access to one."
Beowulf says, "Nope, I don't."
Keitaro nods.  "Yes.  I've been building some trump weapons that I hope can
 disable it or at least hurt it, once we find it."
Beowulf says, "Pattern Defense should help with that some; as I understand it,
 Pattern usually wins out over magic, and Pattern should be especially
 effective against Outsider powers."
Beowulf looks at Keitaro. "What kind of weapons? I should see if Aeris could
 make use of them as well."
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Logging Stopped: 07/05/2001 at 23:39:14
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Logging Started: 07/06/2001 at 0:15:16
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Moriya quietly returns from his meditations.
Mitsune says, "I can shapeshift myself to gain the power to seek things in
 shadow."  She grins.  "I can turn into a toaster too."
Beowulf grins. "That's what you can do when you're ready to retire from
 adventuring; get a job as a mascot for a kid's TV show. The Brave Little
 Toaster?"
Moriya asks, "What? I'm dating a toaster?"
Mitsune giggles.  "Want some toast, honey?"  She winks.
Moriya chuckles. "Maybe later."
Jacqueline says, "oh.  okay.  was kinda worried you were charging forth on a
 hunch."
Moriya says, "Your shapeshifting abilities really are impressive, Mitsune. Even
 Aunt Nanami admits such."
Mitsune cracks her knuckles.
Mitsune says, "It's my knack.  I'd say I'm the best shifter in Amber.  Well,
 and almost the only one, but..."
Beowulf says, "Doesn't stop you from being the best." He grins.
Beowulf asks, "So, anyway, we know it's in Nithia; how close will we need to
 get before you can start narrowing it down some?"
Jacqueline shapeshifts her face to Mitsune's. "I wouldn't say the only one,
 no..."  She grins.
Moriya laughs. "I'm thinking about learning some shifting, actually, having
 seen Motoko learn and do some nice things with it." He holds up his arms,
 looking at it. "The Chaos blood in me...."
Lily does the same thing.
Moriya looks around. "That...is a very distressing sight, somehow."
Lily giggles, then turns into Beowulf, then back to herself.
Jacqueline-Mitsune leers at Moriya.  "Why, whatever do you mean, Poetry Boy?"
Beowulf just rolls his eyes, then tickles Lily quickly in the ribs, grinning a
 bit. "That's for taking my face in vain."
Moriya snorts.
Jacqueline laughs and returns to her own frightening little visage.
Lily giggles.  "What, you don't find yourself attractive, hmm?"
Beowulf grins back. "Not particularly. I'm still not sure quite what you see in
 me."
Lily says, "It depends on whether you really want us to get mushy with everyone
 watching, dear."  :)
Jacqueline wolf-whistles
Moriya chuckles, shaking his head.
Anna comes over.  "I think we're ready to start travelling again."
Beowulf says, "Wouldn't want to distract the audience while they've got better
 things to do."
Beowulf nods to Anna, and gestures down the tunnel to the rest of the group.
 "Shall we?"
Moriya nods. "I'm ready to go."
Jacqueline exclaims, "let's ride!"
Beowulf begins humming. o/~ We're going to/Ease on down, ease on down the
 ro-oooaaaaad... o/~
Jacqueline takes the time to consult with Benji on making a more godlike
 edition of the Cannon spell, perhaps pattern-backed
An exciting day of walking through long tunnels follows.  A little into the
 next day, you notice the ambient temperature of the tunnels is slowly rising.
Jacqueline frets.  "Uncle Mo, any change in magic or trump power here?"
Moriya checks his Kafuin manifestation, too.
Morgenstern says, "IT's just starting to get nice and toasty."
Kafuin asks, "Is there a problem, lad?"
Beowulf says, "Hm. Well, if we're coming out close to Nithia, Nithia is a
 desert land..."
Moriya asks, "Just making sure everything's all right. It's going to be hot out
 there...can you help keep us cool, a little bit?"
Jacqueline looks like she's going to have an ulcer, yet again. "Please tell me
 we're not going in the wrong direction after all."
Kafuin begins producing some cooler air.
Moriya smiles. "That'll help. Thank you, Old Man."
Mitsune says, "Hmm, I hear lava collects along the gravity plane.  That's
 making the heat, I bet."
Beowulf ah's. "Makes sense, as much as a Hollow World ever makes geologic
 sense."
Beowulf says, "Too bad Gabrielle isn't here, or we could ask her to make some
 surfboards." He smiles.
Mitsune says, "Still, if the Elves used this tunnel before, there should be a
 safe way through."
Rimmer coughs.
Rimmer says, "They may have used this tunnel, but that doesn't mean they used
 it this century."
Beowulf nods. "True. And if worst comes to worst, we could probably ask Kafuin
 to cool some of it to solidity, or have Aeris trump in some liquid nitrogen to
 cool it down."
Mitsune nods.  "We have the technology.  We can make a highway if we have to."
Jacqueline looks around.  "What I'd like to know is how the spikard ended up in
 here..."
Keitaro says, "That's a very good question."
Beowulf asks, "Morganstern just said that it'd 'settled' here, right?"
Jacqueline blinks. "Uncle Mo, you say that?"
Morgenstern says, "It was alreadyhere when I first looked for it."
Jacqueline says, "hope it wasn't taken inside by someone..."
Beowulf nods. "Unfortunately, I think that's probably the most likely
 possibility."
Jacqueline says, "nuts."
Beowulf says, "Unless it was flung here in such a way as to land straight in
 the Hollow World, which I suppose is always possible."
Moriya says, "When things get thrown across Shadows, that's quite possible, I
 imagine."
Jacqueline mutters, "Nothing's ever easy...."
Moriya pats Jacqueline on the shoulder. "Few things worthwhile ever are,
 Jacqui."
Jacqueline asks, "uncle mo, can you create something small to scout ahead?"
Uncle Morgenstern says, "How about a flying metal bat, Jacqui?'
Jacqueline looks around.  "Unless anyone can make anything more stealthy, sure."
Anna points out, "We already have Ivan and Lara scouting ahead."
Jacqueline says, ".... point"
Jacqueline, out of idle curiosity, casts a temporal scry as they ride forth
John asks, "OOC How far back do you want it to go?"
Jacqueline says, "OOCly since this seems to be quite a long ride, i want to
 ease back in time... starting a day previous and stopping the day the gaunt
 man bit it."
John asks, "OOC So you basically just need a few weeks?"
Jacqueline says, "OOCly yep"
As you ride, you study the history of the tunnel you're in.  Absolutely nothing
 interesting has happened in this tunnel in the last month.
Unless you like cave crickets, anyway.
Jacqueline, having nothing else to do, decides to push the scry as far as she
 can go, stopping, of course, if anything comes up in their travels
You keep watching the past of the tunnel.  Utter, total boredom.
Around noon, it gets very, very hot, although Kafuin is able to keep you all
 cool with effort.
The rock looks very volcanic in nature.
Rimmer quietly whistles an ancient Elven salsa tune.
Jacqueline says, "well... unless they hid their tracks with magic, it's safe to
 say we're the first ones that came through this tunnel in a very, very, very
 long while"
Moriya frowns slightly. "Jacqueline, could you ask Morgenstern to help Kafuin
 out with draining off some of the heat?"
Beowulf says, "Well, we're not exactly blazing new ground, but there is a
 certain sense of discovery." He smiles.
Jacqueline taps her ring.  "Uncle Mo, can you help cool things down here?"
Uncle Mo says, "I can try, but I'm a lot better turning the heat UP than down."
Jacqueline asks, "er... can you maybe just try to move the heat elsewhere?"
Morgenstern says, "Hmm, that just might work."
Soon, things are comfy again.
Then the tunnel begins to slope more and more steeply.
Beowulf asks, "OOC Down or up?"
John says, "OOC Down."
Beowulf hms. "OOC How much warning would we have of a sudden drop down? Might
 not be a bad idea to get the group ready to fly, if needed."
John says, "OOC Right now, you have only about a 60 foot visual range ahead of
 your group."
John says, "OOC Enough to easily avoid a surprise, but not to give a lot of
 warning."
Beowulf OOCly nods.
This goes on for several miles.
And then you come round a bend and see something really weird.
The tunnel is rimmed with five foot long tongues of blackness which look flamey
 but don't seem to radiate heat.  In fact, things get colder as you approach
 them.
Moriya patternsights the area.
Rimmer's eyes light up. "Motherlode!"
Beowulf's eyebrows raise. "My, my."
Jacqueline says, "...."
Beowulf turns to Rimmer. "Ah, you're familiar with this?"
Akemi pages, "It's some kind of weird anti-flame." to you.
Akemi pages, "Magical in nature." to you.
Rimmer says, "Gherman, note this spot." He glances at Beowulf. "Yes. Black
 Fire. useful for any number of things, artifact forging in particular."
Moriya frowns. "Magical in nature...some sort of anti-flame. The opposite of
 heat. Not just cold, the absence of heat."
Jacqueline asks, "ah... this isn't bad, right?"
Rimmer says, "This is actually a vent leading to another plane of existance."
Beowulf asks, "A crack into another universe, so to speak?"
Rimmer says, "Not bad per say, although there's always a slight risk of
 something nasty coming through. Yes, exactly."
Moriya looks around. "But are we still headed toward Nithia?"
Jacqueline says, "i've been flung to chaos. I'm not eager to go further...."
Rimmer says, "Oh yes."
Rimmer says, "This is just a random hole to the Nightmare Dimensions."
Jacqueline says, "..."
Moriya nods slowly. "Just...passing by a thin spot in reality along the way."
Jacqueline says, "okay, I'm scared."
Rimmer says, "Exactly. Think of it as local color."
Beowulf asks, "Moriya? Could you have Kafuin check this out? Anything like the
 Keep's font?"
Rimmer says, "Well... local monochrome, anyway."
Moriya asks, "Kafuin, could you do a quick analysis of this?"
Mitsune says, "Ahh, I bet this is why this tunnel can take people through the
 world shield without them burning to death."
Rimmer says, "Unless you feel like forging an artifact, though, I'd suggest
 moving along. Like I said, it's a hole, and things can creep through holes."
Jacqueline says, "moving along would be a good idea."
Moriya keeps his hand on the hilt of Withywindle.
Beowulf nods. "o/~ Moving right along, in search of good times and good news...
 o/~"
Well, the trick is how to move on without getting flamed.
Moriya says, "Let me see. Magical in nature...."
As the entire tunnel is limned with black flame around its entire circumfrence.
Moriya snaps a few magic negation power words.
There is open space in the middle.
Beowulf asks, "OOC How wide is the tunnel at this point?"
The flame goes out.  More jets out.
Moriya draws Withywindle and slices at a nearby flame.
Rimmer shifts uncomfortably.
Jacqueline looks around curiously for  a cricket to fling into the flames, just
 as a test.
Beowulf says, "I'd suggest flying through it, if the open space is wide enough."
John says, "OOC The tunnel is 20 feet across, so with 5 foot flames all around,
 there's a ten foot circle in the middle."
Rimmer says, "I'm sure you mighty and powerful Blackmoorian sorcerors know what
 you're doing, but in this time period we generally don't tamper with
 extradimensional portals to places called 'The Nightmare Dimensions' without a
 bit of study..."
Jacqui catches a cricket
Jacqueline pauses
Jacqueline looks at the cricket.  "I don't suppose you're like a race of
 superintelligent crickets or something...."
Beowulf looks at Moriya. "He has a point; since there's plenty of space through
 the center, I'd suggest getting everyone flying and going through the center.
 Though we should send something through as a test, first."
Moriya hmms, shrugs, and sheathes Withywindle. "Caution is always good."
The Cricket hangs out and  is a cricket.
Jacqueline says, "we thank you for your sacrifice.  GO!"  She flings the
 cricket into the passage, over the flames.
The cricket falls on the fire, freezes over, then shatters.
Jacqueline says, "yow."
Beowulf sits down for a few minutes and creates a small flying device, then
 sends it flying through the open space in the center of the flames, before
 coming back to report.
Jacqueline asks, "Uncle Mo, can you try to send that bat out across?"
The little metal dragonfly buzzes forward towards the flames.  Frost forms on
 its wings and it falls into the flames, which freeze and consume it.
Moriya says, "This...will be tricky."
Jacqueline says, "ah... er..."
Moriya turns to Jacqueline. "Well, Morgenstern said he's better at heating
 things up. It's going to be cold when we go through the center, so I think
 this is his time to shine."
Beowulf hmms. "Jacqui, could you ask Morganstern to encircle the next one with
 a flame shield?"
Jacqueline says, "actually, i was thinking we could just teleport to the other
 side, but then again, teleporting near thin and weird regions of space might
 be.... bad"
Beowulf says, "Especially since I've heard that teleports can be... tricky...
 in this shadow."
Morgenstern equips his bat with flamethrowers, then sets it on fire and sends
 it through the circle.
Rimmer says, "That's some talking ring."
Morgenstern's bat flies through the flames without any trouble.  But then it
 suddenly goes haywire on the other side, fluttering about wildly.
Jacqueline asks, "Uncle Mo?  What's happening to the bat?"
Beowulf says, "It's gotten her out of trouble a few times. Of course, it's also
 gotten her into trouble a few times."
Morgenstern says, "What the hell..."
The bat finally rights itself, now upside down.
Moriya asks, "Reversal of gravity?"
Beowulf asks, "Ah... gravity reversal?"
Morgenstern says, "Yeah.  Which is gonna make getting past here a bitch, cause
 this floor you're on is about to turn into a ceiling."
Beowulf looks at Mitsune. "You called it -- we're right at the gravity plane."
Jacqueline says, "ermm.  Aside from letting uncle mo set you on fire and fling
 you through the flames, I'm out of ideas."
Moriya draws Withywindle, looking at it thoughtfully.
Rimmer says, "Well, fire doesn't bother me."
Rimmer says, "I suppose Gherman and I could simply ward everyone against
 extreme cold."
Jacqueline hmmms.  "That's neat.  you go first?"
Beowulf asks, "Could Morganstern just create a flame 'shield' -- a hollow
 sphere of fire, with us inside it?"
Jacqueline asks, "good question.  Uncle Mo?"
Morgenstern says, "I am the man!  Of course I can!"
Beowulf says, "What I'd suggest is using flying magic to neutralize our weight
 -- the equivalent of neutral bouyancy in water -- then giving ourselves a big
 shove with enough momentum to carry us through the blackflame, protected by
 the fire shield."
Jacqueline says, "hm"
Beowulf says, "If we use momentum to get us through while hovering, instead of
 trying to power-fly, that should make things easier at the other end when the
 gravity switches."
John asks, "OOC So what's the plan?"
Jacqueline asks, "Uncle Mo... can you try to trump the bat back over here, then
 back to the other side?"
Beowulf says, "OOC Was waiting for comment on my idea; anyone see any glaring
 flaws? o.o"
Jacqueline says, "OOCly no glaring flaws.. just have this fear of ice burn :)"
Jacqueline says, "OOCly i'd assume the bat is magic, ergo magic won't cut out
 on us"
Jacqueline says, "OOCly because that'd be the only major problem, magic
 suddenly going baibai"
Jacqueline says, "OOCly heck with it, whether or not he trumps the bat back and
 forth successfully, that's still too scary.  go with Beowulf's plan, I guess."
John says, "OOC Most of the rest of yoru group thinks your plan is better than
 any ideas they have, Beo."
Rimmer incants a string of syllables. An aura of orange flame leaps up around
 him. With uncanny speed, he jumps into the center of the black flames, zooms
 through, and then bounces with a decided lack of grace onto the far ceiling.
 "OW! Bloody gravity!"
John says, "OOC Mitsune thinks she can just shapeshift to adapt to the cold and
 suggests Lily and Jacqui do likewise."
Beowulf nods.
Jacqueline nods and does so
Beowulf asks, "Rimmer, you all right?"
Rimmer says, "Just fine."
Rimmer says, "Be careful; the gravity shift is a bit disorienting."
The various CFRC people begin castng spells on each other.
Mitsune, Keitaro, and the rest of your mages cast some spells to resist cold as
 well.
Moriya says, "Well, I suppose, let's go with your suggestion, Uncle Beowulf."
Beowulf nods. "Well, nothing for it but to do it."
Jacqueline says, "let's go, Uncle Mo"
Yoru magi, plus Morgenstern carry out Beowulf's plan. This is good enough to
 get you past the Blackflame.
With no particular problems.
and then you begin the LONG climb upwards into the Hollow World.
John says, "OOC And we cut here."
Beowulf OOCly nods.
Moriya OOCly says, "All righty."
------------------------------------------------------------
Logging Stopped: 07/06/2001 at 2:10:21
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************************************************************
Logging Started: 07/08/2001 at 16:59:43
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During one of the breaks that the group is taking, Moriya is sitting a slight
 distance away from the group, apparently meditating.
Jacqueline eyes Moriya on his own off to the side, then looks to see what
 Mitsune is up to.
Surreptitiously, Moriya straightens up, takes a quick look about, then turns
 around so that his back faces the rest of the group.
Mitsune is off somewhere out of sight.
Jacqueline hmms and approaches Moriya quietly.
Moriya does not, at first, seem to sense Jacqueline's approach, but then, there
 is a soft rustle of paper, some quick movement, and he turns to look over his
 shoulder. "Jacqueline?"
Jacqueline nods to Moriya, looking rather neutral.  "Meditating?"
Moriya nods. "And doing a little bit of light reading," he says, casually.
 "Something I can help you with?"
Jacqueline takes a seat next to Moriya.  "Just wondering how things are so
 far."  She eyes your ring briefly.
Moriya blinks, then looks down at his hand. "I'm still wearing it, yes," he
 says, a bit amused.
Jacqueline says, with a somewhat hinting and probably jokingly irritated voice,
 "Put those ninja skills to work yet?"
Moriya snorts. "We've been a little busy lately, you know. And I'd hardly want
 to...get intimate...with so many people around." He smiles, wryly. "Just
 waiting for the properly _romantic_ moment. Timing is important, after all."
Jacqueline rests her chin on her palm.  "Tell me you've got poetry ready for
 her or something."
Moriya pauses, then says, "Well...I have written a few poems for her, yes...."
Jacqueline raises an eyebrow.  "Don't suppose I could hear a few, no?  I mean,
 these had better be appropriately romantic...."
Moriya chuckles softly. "Actually...hm...." He gets out a few papers from his
 coat, hands them over to Jacqueline. "I don't want her to overhear, in case
 she's close." There are a few poems written on them, really quite romantic,
 they are, more than Moriya's player could ever write.
Jacqueline grins and elbows Moriya. "Not bad, not baaaad."
Moriya mmphs. Jacqueline might feel something else in his coat as she does
 so--a book? "Thank you, Jacqueline. See? I told you."
Jacqueline blinks.  "What've you got in there? Is that a book or are you eager
 to see Mitsune?"
Moriya blinks again. "Hm? Oh, yes...like I said, some light reading." His voice
 is, perhaps, just a bit too casual.
Jacqueline looks at Moriya suspiciously.
Moriya asks, "...what?"
Jacqueline continues to look at Moriya suspciously.
Moriya scratches his head. "Er, yes. Could I have my poems back?" He holds out
 a hand.
Jacqueline says, "hm?  Oh, sure." She holds the poetry out.
Moriya takes the paper, and moves to tuck it back into a pocket within his coat.
Jacqueline says, "you know, voice of yours.... it sounds suspiciously like when
 Mitsune was trying to hide her Playgirl Magazines from Uncle Travis."
Moriya stares at Jacqueline, and snorts. "I have nothing of that sort with me,
 to be sure."
Jacqueline extracts from her pocket a jewel-of-judgementish object.  It seems
 to have a little window on it.
Moriya blinks and leans close. "What's that?"
Jacqueline says to the jewel, "Hey, does Moriya have some sort of pervo
 magazine or nookie book he's hiding?"  She shakes it.
Moriya says, "..."
"Definitely yes."
Jacqueline grins
Moriya exclaims, "What? What--this isn't a 'nookie book'!"
Moriya says, "It's...it's a treatise on human relations."
Jacqueline says, "maybe I oughta call Mitsune over, I'm sure you two would like
 to... look at it together."
Moriya makes a slightly strangled sound.
Jacqueline holds out a hand.  "Come on, let's see it."
Moriya stares at Jacqueline's hand.
Jacqueline says, "book.  now."
Moriya faintly says, "Really...it's nothing you should concern yourself
 with...."
Jacqueline grins and opens her mouth as if to yell.  Something tells you she's
 probably going to call Mitsune over unless you shut her up.
Moriya wilts, and pulls out a book from his coat. "Damn you, Jacqui."
Jacqueline takes the book and looks at the cover.  She blinks.
Jacqueline flips through some of the pages.... more of the pages....
Moriya's face is burning bright red.
Moriya says, "I'd appreciate it...if you didn't tell her about this. I was
 hoping for this to be, erm, a surprise."
Jacqueline hands the book back to Moriya.  "Oh, yeah, I've read this one
 before.  You'd wanna check out chapter 15."
Moriya twitches. "You have? Mother said that this was a very limited release."
Jacqueline nonchalantly replies, "Dad had a copy.  I found it once cleaning out
 the house.  And Auntie Yumi let me read through her copy too."
Moriya twitches again. "...oh." He pauses. "Does Mitsune know about this thing?"
Jacqueline grins and pokes Moriya's cheek.  "Awww, you're blushing, that's so
 cuuuute.  Mitsune's going to love this."
Moriya hurriedly tucks the book away. "Ergh. Well, I'll just have to hope she
 doesn't expect this." He pauses. "Why am I telling you this?"
Jacqueline looks thoughtful for a moment.  "I don't know if Mitsune really
 bothered to read it..."  She grins maniacally.  "How about we call her over
 and find out!"
Moriya twitches yet again. "No, let's not."
Jacqueline looks at Moriya, concerned.  "Are you okay?  You're twitching an
 awful lot..."
Moriya tightly says, "Well, this is usually not a very comfortable conversation
 topic for me, you know. And I did say that I want to make this a surprise for
 her, didn't I?"
Jacqueline says, "aaah.  Hm.  To surprise Mitsune.  That'd be a tough one. 
 Then again, this is you."
Moriya coughs. "Since I'm usually regarded as boring and unromantic, this
 should, at least, be unexpected."
Jacqueline nods solemly.  "Yes, yes, very boring."
Moriya scowls, then smiles. "Besides, I've already managed to make her blush,
 rather more easily than I thought it would be."
Moriya says, "Admittedly, it was more her own doing than mine, but eh."
Jacqueline patpats.  "Maybe you should write poetry with her in the moonlight."
Moriya says, "With her? I didn't think she'd have the patience for it. Aside
 from a haiku or two. Aheh."
Jacqueline crosses her arms. "No, no, no.  Use your imagination.  Hold her in
 your arms while you try to write poetry.  And bring sake."
Jacqueline says, "definitely bring sake."
Moriya blinks, then laughs. "Ah. Right. Of course."
Moriya sighs. "Jacqueline, don't you think you ought to let me just give it my
 best try before nosing in on this?"
Jacqueline blinks, then crosses her arms and mutters, "Well, excuse me for
 following the word of The Unicorn"
Moriya snorts. "I appreciate your concern, but I think it's best to let things
 proceed as they are. Now, if I screw up, which I don't think I have yet, then
 you can help. Until then, though...."
Jacqueline smiles.  "Fine, fine, I'll ease off a bit."  She pauses a moment,
 then says, "Moriya?  Stick by her, okay?  She's got this bad habit of nearly
 getting killed on adventures."
Moriya's face darkens. "You bet I will, Jacqueline. I've heard." He sighs.
 "Which is why I wanted to find Withywindle as soon as I could, so I could come
 help."
Jacqueline looks around real slowly, as if to make sure nobody's in earshot
 range.  "Hey... Moriya... there's something I heard, but I'm not really sure
 if it's true.... would you mind if I asked?"
Moriya blinks. "Don't know if I can mind if I have no idea what you mean. What
 is it?"
Jacqueline says, "well, um, Motoko told me that you... er...."
Moriya's brow furrows ever so slightly. "That I...?"
Jacqueline scratches her head. "Well, did you, you know, _really_ sit on
 Davros' pillar, if you know what I mean?"
Jacqueline says, "I mean, if you go both ways, I'm okay with it... as long as
 you make Mitsune happy...."
Moriya blinks again. "Er...well, when we first met Davros, we had to go up to
 the top of his pillar to...." He stares.
Moriya says, "Sometimes a pillar is just a pillar, Jacqueline."
Moriya continues, a bit testily, "No, that is not what was meant by me sitting
 on his pillar."
Jacqueline says, "oooooooooooh.... I see, I see... okay.  Good.  Er... aheh....
 no offense meant."  She grins nervously.
Moriya shakes his head, seeming a bit disgusted.
Moriya says, "I mean, honestly, 'sitting on his pillar'? Such a meaning never
 would have occurred to me if you hadn't pointed it out like that."
Jacqueline says, "Hey! It was an honest misunderstanding!"  She pokes at where
 the book is under his jacket.  "Page 184, Pillars, Uses of."
Moriya pulls out the book, thumbs through it quickly, stares, blanches, and
 puts it away. "Good heavens."
Jacqueline nods, feeling the righeousness of those Proven Right, and stands up.
 "Well, if you'll excuse me, I need to maintain my spell rack... go smooch
 Mitsune or something, okay?"
Moriya laughs nervously. "Right."
Moriya gets the book out again, and turns to a milder part of the book:
 Advanced Kissing Techniques, to kill time.
------------------------------------------------------------
Logging Stopped: 07/08/2001 at 18:11:40
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************************************************************
Logging Started: 07/08/2001 at 21:21:38
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the rest of the day goes fairly calmly.
You camp that night, and in the morning, set out.  About two hours into the
 morning, you start to feel faint vibrations in the ground, and distant
 rumbling noises.
Moriya frowns. "Earthquakes?"
Beowulf asks, "OOC Rumbling noises from all around, or up/down the tunnel?"
Rimmer says, "We should be so lucky."
John says, "OOC The noise comes from somewhere off through the wall to your
 right."
Jacqueline stares at the wall.  "We should run now."
John says, "OOC IT doesn't sound Earthquakey; it sounds like stone being
 smashed."
Moriya blinks. "Miners?"
Beowulf hmmms. "Anyone have a way to stabilize rock?"
Rimmer says, "Worms. I hate worms."
Jacqueline looks at Beowulf.  "Perhaps it's some_one_ coming through the rock?"
Jacqueline exclaims, "Worms?!"
Moriya looks at his manifestation. "Kafuin, could you help out with that?"
Jacqueline asks, "We should run now, yes?"
Mitsune curses.  "Purple worms.  Delightful."
Many people's swords come out.
Jacqueline says, "aaah, nuts."
Rimmer says, "We'lll just have to beat them up. No use running."
Kafuin says, "If it's natural, I can try to tamp it down, Moriya.  But it
 sounds more like something pounding through the rock."
Jacqueline waves her hands briefly, and elemental blades of electricty appear
 in her hands.
Moriya draws Withywindle and Baby Ilvig. "All right, then. Yeah, that's
 apparently the case, Kafuin. In light of that, give me some elemental energy
 to charge my weapons."
Rimmer incants a spell. Energy crackles about him, and hist fists glow with a
 hard, cold light.
Kafuin lays down a line of lightning along Baby Ilvig.  The charge gutters and
 goes out when he tries to charge up Withywindle.
Moriya blinks. "Ah well. Thank you, Kafuin."
Beowulf looks at Mitsune and Rimmer. "Anything in particular these things are
 vulnerable to? Acid, say?"
Anna mutters and waves her hands on autopilot.  Several other CFRCers start
 casting spells.
Jacqueline asks, "Um... exactly what are these worms?"
Rimmer says, "They are vulnerable to whoopass. I haven't noted any special
 weaknesses or immunities."
Rimmer says, "Well, Jacqui, picture a purple fishing worm."
Jacqueline says, "okaaaay..."
Beowulf nods. "Well, we'll try the acid first; I doubt exploding weaponry would
 be that good underground."
Rimmer says, "The size of a cathedral spire."
Jacqueline says, "... we should run now."
Rimmer says, "Oh, hardly. I could handle one by myself; with all of us, they're
 just a nuisance."
Beowulf smiles. "Should be interesting."
The ground rumbles more.  Mitsune assumes her angelic form.
Jacqueline casts a Flight spell
Moriya moves into a two-weapon stance.
Jacqui rises into the air.  Of course, the ceiling isn't very high, but... :)
As the pounding gets louder, you can all feel the beginning of a pressure at
 your mind.
Rimmer asks, "The hell?"
Moriya frowns. "Mental attack. There's more than worms at work here, unless
 they have powerful minds too."
Rimmer says, "They're worms. They have worm minds, which is to say almost none."
the hallway now shakes enough to make people stumble.  The pressure grows
 greater.
Rimmer says, "At least, I hope these are Purple Worms..."
Moriya asks, "Perhaps we should get moving anyway?"
Rimmer says, "Perhaps that would be wise, yes..."
Jacqueline looks to Utena and Moonshade to see if they're shielded
Moriya says, "Then let's go."
Beowulf says, "Or they could be those burrowing things we ran into on the way
 to the Gaunt Man's construct."
Jacqueline says, "that's what I've been _saying_"
Somewhere on the muck, Skuld has disconnected.
Moriya exclaims, "Make this a moving battle, if we have to fight. Run!"
Ivan says, "Get moving where?  We have no room to manuever, and I seriuosly
 doubt we're going to outrun purple worms in their natural environment.
Rimmer says, "These may not be worms."
Utena and Moonshade are too focused to notice Jacqui staring at them.
Rimmer says, "And, if they are, we just kill the silly things."
Beowulf says, "OOC Right... corridors look open enough to use the
 hamster-powered Humvee, then? I'm trying to remember how many people we have
 here and if it'll hold everyone."
John says, "OOC Actually,yes, you could load everyone into the hamster-powered
 Humvee."
Beowulf OOCly nods.
John says, "OOC It would be fairly tight fit to get everyoen in it."
Beowulf pulls out the hamster-powered version of his humvee. "Jump in... it's a
 tight fit, but faster than walking."
John says, "OOC Although the CFRC cuold cram most of their people into the bag."
Your compatriots start cramming into the vehicle.
Moriya hops on.
Jacqueline hops on
Beowulf gets into the driver's seat, and starts off as soon as everyone's on
 board.
Moriya switches to crossbow and watches for things coming from behind.
Jacqueline asks, "Gramma?  Sis?  Do you still have your mindshields on?"
The vehicle proves to be quite speedy.
Utena says, "I'm fine, Jacqui."
Moonshade says, "No stupid worm's taking over my brain."
Beowulf asks, "OOC As soon as the noises start getting left behind... what's
 the safe viewing distance ahead?"
Jacqueline marvels at the speed.  "We should've used this earlier."
The pressure on your minds gradually eases, as the humvee does prove to be
 faster than what lays behind you.
John says, "OOC Hmm.  The magic lights probably give you about a hundred feet
 visibility."
Beowulf says, "We should probably have someone flying scout up ahead, to make
 sure we don't drive headlong into any trenches or suchlike."
Lara, who can see in the dark, goes on ahead.
And flies too (Belt of Flying Power!)
Rimmer looks faintly disappointed. "You people are strange."
Moriya says, "We're also alive."
Beowulf raises an eyebrow. "Eh?"
Jacqueline says, "Nothing wrong with being alive."
Rimmer says, "You fight with gods and run from monsters. We generally do it the
 other way around."
Gherman says, "Fighting's not always the best solution to every problem."
Rimmer says, "True. Such as when your opponent is the god of war."
Beowulf shrugs. "These things may have been the same as a group of nasty things
 that literally tore up the ground psychically that we ran into a while back."
Moriya continues to keep a watchful eye for what lies behind.
Beowulf keeps driving down the tunnel, keeping some attention out for a warning
 from Lara.
You ride down the tunnel, which continues to usually slope upwards for many
 hours.
Jacqueline works on mindshifting to Shaft as they ride, her features changing
 just _slightly_ in reflection of that
Shortly before dinner, you drive out of the tunnel and out into a red-tinted
 jungle.
As the tunnel opens into a clearing out of the side of a tall ridge.
Moriya turns his attention forward, now. "We are inside, now?"
Jacqueline says, "about frickin' time we got outta that goddamn tunnel..."
High above you, you can see a red sun that hangs still and distant in the sky.
Utena says, "Language, Jacqui."
Beowulf nods. "Looks like it, although I'm not sure just where we've ended up."
Rimmer says, "Seems a bit too arboreal for Nithia, but it does seem equatorial.
 And yes, this is the Hollow World. I think."
Jacqueline smiles sheepishly.  "Sorry, gramama"
Beowulf looks at Mitsune. "What direction is the spikard in?"
Jacqueline looks at Utena as if to ask the same question
Mitsune spins around in a circle, rising a bit into the air with her wings,
 then points off one direction.  "That way.  I suggest you bust our your
 zeppelin, Beowulf.  Faster than walking."
Jacqueline says, "...."
Jacqueline asks, "we flyin' again?"
Mitsune says, "It's that or spend days to weeks walking through nice humid,
 diseased jungle."
Beowulf nods. "Probably in pterodactyl form, though; less noticeable. And this
 time, let's set down before we get too close to the Outsider construct." He
 smiles.
Jacqueline winces.  "Aw, damn, I just know this's gonna end in pain.  Fine,
 let's fly."
Utena asks, "Isn't riding on the back of a pterodactyl kind of dangerous?"
Beowulf stuffs the humvee back into the bag, shifts Ajax to pterodactyl form,
 then pulls it out. "Oh, no, we ride inside it. It's a fairly large
 pterodactyl."
Utena blinks.  "In its stomach?  or does it just LOOK like a Pterodactyl?
Beowulf says, "It just looks like one, yes. It's a shapeshifted form of War
 Zeppelin Ajax."
Jacqueline snuffs out her elemental blades and approaches the pterodactyle. 
 "Aw, man....."
You load up inside the giant artificial bird.
And soon, you are winging your way over endless jungle.
Beowulf asks, "Hm, contingency plans if this thing gets dispelled, since the
 parachutes didn't work last time... everyone jump in the bag or your portable
 hole?"
Jacqueline frowns at Beowulf.  "What the hell you mean 'your portable hole'?"
Moriya kills time by chatting with Mitsune.
Mitsune says, "Lemme hop in your bag and I'll rack some long-duration fly
 spells and then cast them on everyone, Beowulf."
Lily nods.  "Good idea.  Plus the magic bags do make good emergency refuges."
Beowulf says, "The CFRC's portable hole. Good idea, Mitsune."
Jacqueline shakes her head.  "I frickin' hope magic don't cut out on us...."
Jacqueline says, "I can fly, but a lot of you guys gonna be screwed."
Rimmer says, "Well, true."
Beowulf says, "Well, I'll skim fairly close to the treetops; that should make
 us less visible from a distance, and also means we have much less to fall if
 anything goes wrong."
Jacqueline frowns and taps her ring.  "Hey, Mo, can ya still hear us?"
You cruise across the jungle towards a mountain range.
Morgenstern's voice is staticky, "Bzzt...bad reception...bzzt...I hear
 you...poorly...bazzt."
Jacqueline says, "aw shi.... dang."
Moriya frowns, and checks his manifestation. "Kafuin, how's your connection?"
Beowulf checks his link with Aeris. "You OK, honey?"
Rimmer asks, "Dang, was there a Blue Continual Light Special on magic talking
 rings?"
Mitsune says, "I think the Hollow World is largely barred against outside
 communication."
Lily says, "Yes, there was, Rimmer."  She holds up a ring which says hello to
 him.
Then she laughs.
Rimmer says, "Blackmoorians."
Commercials for Patternblade Pizza blare out of Aeris' connection.
Kafuin says, "It's like...talking through...waves of water...against the
 shore...lad."
Jacqueline bites her lower lip.  "If this is one'a those things where I havta
 use the jewel again... I really don't wanna do that again..."
Beowulf frowns.
Moriya sighs. "Do your best, Kafuin, that's all I can ask for."
Mitsune says, "Given that summoning the Jewel would probably attract all the
 Hollow World Immortals to kick our ass..."
Jacqueline says, "yeah, mor"
Jacqueline says, "yeah, more reason not to."
Moriya says, "Mmm. Sounds like a last resort, then. And only to get us out."
Beowulf says, "Point."
Wakaba says, "It would probably be best not to get in the habit of doing that,
 jacqui."
Jacqueline looks exasperated.  "Ain't like I _want_ to get into situations like
 that."
The air gradually chills as you rise up to rise over the mountains.  As you hit
 thm, night is falling.
Rimmer says, "I am not famous for prudence, but let us at all costs avoid
 things which call out the Immortals to kick our asses."
Night consists of oen of the many high floating islands in the air passing
 between you and the Sun.
Jacqueline looks at the night time sky.  "Dang.  Neat."
Beowulf says, "Remind me to take you by the Ringworld one of these days,
 Jacqui."
Beowulf says, "I suggest we find a good spot to hover for the night, so we
 don't blunder into anything."
Moriya asks, "Any particular reason not to land?"
Beowulf says, "Hovering keeps us out of the way of any land-based attackers."
Jacqueline says, "yeah, not getting attacked by.... what he said."
Moriya nods. "Let's hope there aren't too many air-based ones, then."
Beowulf says, "Unless they can jump 30 feet or more."
John asks, "OOC How close to the ground you gonna hover?"
Beowulf says, "OOC About 30 feet, unless someone has a better suggestion."
Jacqueline OOCly not really
Beowulf asks, "Suppose we have... say, half our folks stay awake and keep
 watch, while the other half and the CFRC sleep in the bag?"
Moriya OOCly says, "Sounds good."
Righto.  You sleep peacefully.
Then the next morning, you rise up and cruise along.  What's your cruising
 altitude in the mountains
Beowulf says, "OOC High enough to avoid ground-effect downdrafts and the like,
 but not higher."
Beowulf asks, "OOC What can we tell about wind conditions in the mountains?"
Jacqueline OOCly out of curiosity, are we the only gigantic pterodactyle in the
 skies?
John says, "OOC The winds are fairly gentle here.  And yes, you're the only
 gigantic pterodactyl.  You fly over a lot of EXTREMELY primitive human
 villages (we're talking stone age) and also villages of human-like creatures
 (dog-men, jackal-men, pig-men, etc) which are much less primitive."
You seem to generate a lot of pointing and shouting, but they apparently
 couldn't do anything to harm you if they wanted to
The mountains grow every taller and more frozen over, and now you float among
 snowcaps.
Villages stop appearing, but some arctic animals seem to live here.
Jacqueline, having slept and shaken off the mindshift, is looking more like her
 nervous self.  "I, er, hope we don't make a really obvious target to someone
 down there...."
As you fly along, you spot something in the distance.  It gets a bit closer and
 seems to gleam white.  Thoric announces weakly, "I think that's a White
 Dragon."
Jacqueline says, "Ohno."
Beowulf says, "Actually, does anyone have an invisibility spell we can put on
 the... ah, perhaps too late, now. This could be interesting."
Jacqueline works furiously fast on trying to get a SEP spell going
Beowulf asks, "OOC Look like there are any good spots to land?"
Jacqueline asks, "Benji, help?"
Beowulf asks, "OOC Or can the CFRC throw spells at it from inside the
 pterodactyl?"
Rimmer says, " We can get out and kill it."
Jacqueline asks, "you ever killed one before?"
Beowulf OOCly nods, which is why he was looking for spots to land, unless
 you're talking about bailing out in mid-flight. :)
Rimmer laughs maniacally.
Jacqueline says, "er..... I guess you have."
Gherman lifts up a corner of his cloak to show the white dragonhide lining.
Rimmer says, "C'mon, lads, let's go kill the silly little thing."
Jacqueline says, "okay, let's fling Mister Rimmer at the dragon."
Rimmer casts Fly on himself.
John says, "OOC Okay, I need to ask Beo a few questions on the Pterodactyl form
 afore we continue:"
Beowulf OOCly nods.
John asks, "OOC First of all, how do people inside the Ptero actually see
 outside it?"
Beowulf says, "OOC There's an opening in the neck to look down its throat, you
 can look out through the eyes, and there are one-way mirrored windows along
 the sides."
John asks, " OOC Secondly, how does one actually get in and out of it?"
Beowulf says, "OOC A camouflaged door in the side."
John asks, "OOC And you're basically riding inside the head?"
Beowulf says, "OOC I'm steering from the head area; the rest are probably
 riding in the body."
John says, "OOC Righto."
Okay.  Those who want to fly out the doors can.  Most of the CFRC sill want to
 bail out, as their attack magics typically require not having things in the
 way and the rest use hand weapons, Most of your Amberite magi will not be
 bailing out; your Amberite fighting types will need to fly out so they can use
 missile weapons.  PC actions are, of course, up to PCs. :)
There is no good place to land something this big around where you are,
 although if you pressed a mile over to a large glacier area, you could land
 there.
Rimmer bails, casting an anti-cold dweomer on himself as he does.
Beowulf says, "OOC What direction is the glacier area compared to the dragon?"
John says, "OOC IT's off to one side."
John says, "OOC You think you could probably get there before the Dragon
 reaches you."
Beowulf flies the pterodactyl over to the glacier to land as the folks bail out
 to fight.
Jacqueline takes a moment to minshift to Dad again
Akemi pages, "What you going to do?" to you.
Okay, no prob, JAcqui.
Beowulf calls out, "Try and cover us while I land this thing so we can get out
 and fight?"
Rimmer asks, "Mitsune, do fire-flinging spells work here?"
You page, "Going to get spells cast on myself and fly to keep the Pterodactyl
 covered until it lands." to Akemi.
Moriya says, "I'll do that, Uncle Beowulf."
Various CFRCers stream out of the pterodactyl.
Jacqueline says, "what the hell...."
Mitsune says, "Most attack spells don't work worth shit, unfortunately"
Jacqueline stares at Mitsune.  "Say _what_?"
Moriya frowns. "That handicaps some of us rather badly, Mitsune."
Rimmer says, "Well, damnation. Looks like we'll have to take it hand to hand."
 He grins. "Sounds fair to me."
Mitsune says, "That's why I crosstrained in being an all-around mountain of
 shapeshifting whoopass."
Jacqueline says, "an'all I got is a frickin' sword.... man, I'd kill for
 Whalekiller right about now..."
Mitsune says, "Touch delivered spells often do seem to work."
Rimmer exclaims, "Better and better!"
Moriya chuckles. "And that's why a sharpened piece of metal is still a
 sharpened piece of metal. Unless you hit some very strange places."
Jacqueline tests out Elemental Blade - Fire Variant
Elemental Blade seems to work fine.
Jacqueline goes double-flaming-sword stylz.  "Cool."
Jacqueline looks to see how Mister Rimmer is doing
By now the Dragon has come into better sight.  It's pretty large.  It also
 seems quite surprised as flying people fly out of the Pterodactyl.
Jacqueline eyes the dragon, then the pterodactyle... "Hey... y'don't suppose it
 was lookin' to score some nookie on a pterodactyle, do ya?"
Rimmer chants a final dweomer. "BORODIN NO OUGI," he finishes. "TEN-KEN!"
Mitsune shouts, "Spread out as you approach it, it's got a breath weapon!"
Rimmer flies towards it. "C'MERE, PUNK-ASS DRAGON BITCH!"
Moriya flies close to the pterodactyl, crossbow drawn and ready.
Beowulf tries to get Ajax down as quickly as possible so he can join the fight.
Jacqueline sprouts wings and takes flight on high, looking to do an imitation
 of Gra'mamas sky-plunging-Dios-lunge
Haruka and Naru begin to arc way off to the left of the Dragon; Halav and
 Commander Mikhail come in below the dragon.  Thoric hangs back nervously,
 trying to move off to its right.  Mitsune simply charges headlong right at the
 creature, wings beating and flaming sword trailing flames.  Wakaba takes a
 minute to cast some spells on Utena and Moonshade and Shinobu's weapons.
Moriya . o O ( Damn it, Mitsune, be careful. )
Rimmer points a key at the dragon. "SIT!"
The Dragon, much to its surprise, begins to plummet.
Rimmer exclaims, "Good boy!"
Rimmer dives after it.
Moriya breaks away from the pterodactyl as soon as it's clear, to join the
 fight.
Various people begin peppering the creature with crossbow bolts and arrows as
 they charge towards it.
Beowulf takes off after the dragon, starting with the crossbow, switch to the
 airgun as he gets into range.
It smacks into the mountains below and begins to tumble as it still has
 momentum, if not lift.
Jacqueline begins to divebomb after the Dragon, then pauses.  "Hey, who the
 hell's watchin' over our ride?"  She flies off to guard the Pterodactyl
 instead.
Utena, Moonshade, and Shinobu Minor now begin to surge towards the Dragon, even
 as Halav, Haruka, Naru, and Commander Mikhail close to hand to hand.
Rimmer zooms in, slamming into the back of the dragon's head. He begins to
 pound gleefully on it with his fists. Scales crack and shatter, blood spurts,
 and ugly snapping noises are heard as the dragon bellows.
You all descend on the poor thing.  IT really never had a chance, and pretty
 soon, it breathes its last.
And then there is silence in the mountains.
Moriya asks, "Shall we get moving once more?"
Mitsune says, "oh, first we have to strip the hide, and take enough meat to
 have Dragon steaks for dinner to celebrate."
Jacqueline says, "Movin' along would be good, I got Taylors to smack down back
 home."
Rimmer wipes his gloves off. "Poor thing. But salvaging the hide is good."
Moriya nods. "Withywindle should make quick work of him."
Mikhail and Halave seem to have already gotten down to the business of taking
 the hide off it.
Jacqueline says, "OOCly scavengers at heart :)"
Rimmer says, "And dragon steak is tasty."
Beowulf says, "o/~ Moving right along, in search of good times and good news,
 with good friends you can't lose... o/~"
Moriya helps, using Withywindle to help skin and carve.
Jacqueline whistles along
Soon, you strip the beast of its hide and chop up some hunks of meat to eat for
 dinner.  And Moonshade takes a few claws to carve into interesting shapes.
Soon, you're on your way again.
Jacqueline peeks over Moonshade's shoulder. "Whatcha carvin'?"
Moriya walks up by Mitsune's side. "Charging headlong at the dragon, hm?"
You climb over the continental divide, and in the distance, you can see a
 desert.
Moonshade says, "I'm going to see if I can make some figurines."
Moonshade says, "I spent a few centuries studying the art with Uncle Aule."
Jacqueline says, "oh. cool."
At the moment, she seems to be making a figurine of Utena.
In mid-dios lunge.
It's very desert looking.
Jacqueline smiles.  "Yeah, Gramma's pretty damn cool."
Mitsune says to Moriya, "Did I get hurt?  Hmm?"
Moriya chuckles. "Not this time, my dear. Still."
Beowulf chuckles ruefully. "I've found out that there isn't any way of keeping
 her out of danger, short of a silver straightjacket. And probably not even
 that."
Moriya puts his arm around Mitsune's waist and squeezes gently. "But then, this
 dragon apparently never stood a chance against all of us."
Jacqueline sits back down and shifts back to Jacqui-ness.
Beowulf says, "Better check with Washuu when we get back, and make sure you've
 got a strong heartbeat." He grins.
Mitsune says, "I think a silver straitjacket would hurt enough that I'd have
 other things on my mind."  She leans over and kissed Moriya's cheek.  "We have
 a big army of whoopass here."
Moonshade asks Jacqui, "Anything you'd like me to make a figurine of?"
Moriya says, "We do indeed."
Jacqueline almost asks her to make a figurine of Dad, but realizes she might
 chop off his head.... or something else.  "Um... how about Shinobu-chan?"
Beowulf hmmms. "Now that you mention it, who's got the best Pattern abilities?
 Just in case we end up fighting Outsiders and have to force them out using
 Pattern defense?"
She nods.  "Sounds good to me.  Once I finish this one, I'll do Shinobu-chan."
Naru says, "I just know the basic stuff.
Keitaro says, "I only have Broken Pattern."
Moriya frowns. "I know an extra Pattern trick that Uncle Drake taught me, but
 it's only for looking at things through the Pattern. Not much for battle."
Jacqueline says, "I just got pattern recently, sorry."
Utena says, "I must admit I've never studied advanced arts."
Moriya then fishes around in his pockets. "I have a number of Elder Signs from
 Kafuin, though."
Wakaba says, "Probably me, Beowulf.  I won't call myself an expert, but I have
 a fairly powerful mind."
Beowulf nods. "That will definitely help, Moriya." He hmmms. "Sounds like
 Mother's the best one to anchor on, and everyone else with some mental
 strength feed it to her, if that becomes necessary."
Jacqueline peeks outside and frets.  "How close are we to the dragon spikard
 now?"
Beowulf asks, "OOC Head on to the desert, then... did jacqui get the chance to
 put up the SEP field?"
Jacqueline says, "OOCly good question."
John asks, "OOC No, as you got distracted by other things.  You wanna do that
 now?"
Jacqueline says, "OOCly if beowulf thinks it's a good idea,yes"
Beowulf says, "OOC Since we're going to be heading out over fairly flat desert,
 where flying things will be very visible, yes. Or we could land at the edge of
 the desert and go the rest of the way in the humvee."
Beowulf says, "Either way, SEP would probably help, assuming it works here. :)"
Okay, you put up a big SEP field to protect the Pterodactyl.
Jacqueline says, "OOCly right, SEP field on, we're flying onward"
Jacqueline asks, "OOCly do we see anything that screams 'YOU SHOULD LAND NOW'?"
By the mountains, the desert is extremely rough badlands.
Gradually turning more sandy as you move along.
How high do you fly?
Beowulf says, "OOC About 20 feet above ground; should be low enough that we
 won't get hurt much if we fall."
John says, "OOC IF you fly that low, you're going to generate sandstorms."
John says, "OOC Which won't be hidden by SEP."
Beowulf asks, "OOC Oh. How far up do we have to fly to avoid sandstorms?"
John says, "OOC I have no good way to estimate exactly how high, but I'd think
 you'd want to be high enough that your wingbeats won't generate enough wind
 for people to notice, the landscape to blow about...maybe a hundred feet or
 so."
Beowulf says, "OOC All right, about 100 feet up."
You go cruising along for hours.
Beowulf says, "OOC And hope everyone's fly spells hold up. :)"
Jacqueline asks, "how far are we from teh spikard now?"
Mitsune says, "No clue, given that shadow travelling powers give a direction,
 not a distance.
Jacqueline frets
After lunch, you fly over sandy desert, covered with caravan tracks.
You begin to notice caravans of dark-skinned folk, and occassionally paler ones.
Jacqueline says, "...."
Moriya watches the environs with Patternsight.
Jacqueline says, "well, if the pterodactyl suddenly drops, I guess we've
 arrived where we're trying to go."
Beowulf hmmms. "Seta, any of those look familiar to you? Mitsune?"
You also start to notice occassional small bands, usually on camels, of some
 five to eight people, often off the main tracks.
Seta says, "I'd assume those are Nithian and Milenian caravans, as Milenia is
 somewhere east of here."
Beowulf nods.
Beowulf leans back in the flight chair. "What all does everyone have planned
 for when we finish here?"
Moriya tilts his head. "Probably going back to Chaos, to rejoin Motoko and take
 care of matters there."
Naru says, "More studying."
Keitaro says, "I may want to poke around here a bit more."
Moonshade says, "I'll be going wherever I can kick some ass."
Beowulf nods. "I... still need to go back there, I think. To fulfill my promise
 for Tea with Kodachi, if nothing else. And since you said they were favorably
 impressed by my returning the sabers, perhaps I can talk to them about what
 they would trade for Justice."
Utena says, "I hope to resume my investigations."
Wakaba says, "Back to my teaching, I think."
Beowulf says, "First, though, I promised to set up a sensor network for
 Saionji, to help him with the fleet in the Ashante mess."
Lily asks Moriya, "What are you planning to do in Chaos?"
Moriya says, "Make some investigations, both about our longstanding issues down
 there, as well as more recent developments." He falls silent, for a moment.
 "The Bloc Rebmaquois, for instance, seems to have Chaos ties of some sort."
Haruka asks, "What makes you think that, Moriya?"
Moriya says, "Their leader, Dolphin, appears to have Logrus."
Beowulf mmmms. "If I remember correctly, Aunt Nanami also said he had a lot of
 conjuration skill."
Haruka laughs.  "That would do it."
Haruka says, "Well, fortunately, Begma has had little trouble with the Bloc, as
 we're not seafaring."
Moriya nods. "Unfortunately, Amber is a port, so we have to deal with them."
Beowulf says, "And getting Rebma back is in everyone's interests... and the
 Bloq prevents us from doing so."
Moriya turns to Mitsune, and smiles. "Would you come along to Chaos with me, my
 dear?"
Mitsune says, "Sure thing.  I want to see Motoko with her Serpent boyfriend." 
 She grins.  "That must be quite a sight."
Moriya's smile fades, to be replaced by a look of wonder. "It is, Mitsune. It
 is."
Mitsune says, "Hmm...rampaging Serpent kisses."  She laughs.
Moriya snorts, shaking his head.
Beowulf raises an eyebrow. "Feeling inspired?"
Lily smiles.
Beowulf asks, "OOC Given the communication shutoff, is Trump still working?"
John says, "OOC Trumps seem to be rather streaky and staticky in a disturbing
 manner."
John says, "OOC YOu can communicate, but you think it might be dangerous to use
 for travel."
Most of the caravans are heading east with dark skinned Nithians; a few are
 wending their way best, with paler or yellower folk.
Moriya looks at them thoughtfully. "Do you think, perhaps, that some merchants
 may have found the spikard?"
There's also the occassional small party heading in many directions off the
 trail.
Jacqueline asks Utena to again confer with Mitsune on navigational direction,
 just to be sure.
Mitsune says, "The direction the Spikard is in isn't changing, so I think the
 Spikard must be in a treasury or in the Black Pyramid, or some other place
 where it doesn't move significantly.  Although I suppose the merchants might
 have found it and sold it to someone more sedentary."
Beowulf asks, "OOC What's our sight range from here?"
John says, "OOC You can see 30 or 40 miles in radius."
Every so often, there start to be large monoliths along some of the routes,
 perhaps marking ancient battles or erected by some king to proclaim his
 glories.
Jacqueline casts Savoir-Fare to see if she learns anything about them
Then a city appears in the distance.
Beowulf says, "I suggest we go ahead and land and finish going in on the
 ground."
Jacqueline asks, "i guess.  Can we ride in the gerbil thing again?"
Moriya asks, "Sounds like a good idea. Approach in the Humvee, then get some
 camels for actually entering the city?"
Beowulf nods. "Yup. Shouldn't be any trouble to conjure some camels, and
 appropriate garb."
With Savoir-Faire, you know that these monoliths are usually erected to
 celebrate various triumphs.  Since with S-F, you can now read them, you can
 see that most are various kings bragging; some of them announce that you're
 approaching Tabriz, the City of the Dead, the traditional burial city of the
 Pharoahs.
Jacqueline cringes.  "City of the dead.  oh boy."
Beowulf raises an eyebrow. "Interesting."
Jacqueline says, "lots of buried pharohs.  sounds liker, er, mummy-land"
Jacqueline sighs.  "Well... if that's the way we have to go.  Uncle? 
 Gerbil-thing?"
Moriya chuckles. "I faced a Soulstealer to get Withywindle, Jacqueline. Nasty
 piece of undead work. Mummies shouldn't be nearly as much of a problem."
Seta says, "Now, now, some Mummies are quite handsome."
Mitsune twitches quietly.
Beowulf pulls out the hamster humvee. "There may be a few temples that are
 being used, and they will probably not care to see us, ahem. Most of the place
 should be pyramids and tombs, though."
Jacqueline frets.  "They're gross."
Moriya says, "Yes, and they should be quite flammable." He blinks. "Something
 wrong, Mitsune?"
Lily casts Savoir-Faire, then shapeshifts into the appearance of a Nithian
 woman, then changes her garb to match.
Beowulf asks, "Will your SEP field still protect us, or was it just cast on the
 pterodactyl?"
Mitsune says, "Nothing.  I'm fine."
Jacqueline says, "er... I just put it on the pterodactyl."
Jacqueline asks, "you want us to cast it on everyone too?"
Moriya nods, and shrugs. "Well, let's get going. Hm. Yes, a disguise would
 help."
Beowulf says, "Ah. Might not be a bad idea to put it on... well, everyone, if
 that's practical, on the humvee if not."
Beowulf grins at Lily. "Lovely as always."
Seta says, "OF course, sneaking in with magic will likely cause any live
 inhabitants to assume we're robbers and shoot on sight if they penetrate the
 spell.
Jacqueline blinks at Lily then shapeshifts to look a bit more Nithian herself.
Ivan says, "Well, we are here to rob a tomb, so they'd be right."
Jacqueline says, "we don't know if it's a tomb we're raiding.... yet"
Beowulf raises an eyebrow. "Point. The question is, if they spot us when we
 *aren't* magically disguised, are they likely to think any different?"
Jacqueline looks at Ivan curiously.  "Unless you guys want to grab something
 while we're here."
Mitsune says, "Actually, I could shapeshift everyone to look Nithian."
Seta says, "They might talk if we're honest.  They're almost guaranteed to
 shoot on sight if we're obviously being sneaky."
Jacqueline says, "let's go with the shapeshift idea"
Halav says, "I dunno if I'm going to fool anyone with this heavy armor."
Beowulf nods. "Fine with me, Jacqui."
Jacqueline asks, "um... we'll just say you've come back from a vacation to
 foreign lands?"
Seta says, "Well, you'll probably broil alive in it, rendering the issue moot. 
 You might want to change into lighter clothing."
Halav says, "I only take this armor off to bathe.  Not safe to fight without
 armor."
Jacqueline says, "well.... okay, if you insist"
Beowulf shrugs. "You'll have the chance to change your mind when we get further
 in, I suspect, Halav."
Moriya looks down at his unarmored self. "Depends on your style of fighting,
 perhaps."
Ilyana says, "That's why I made my temperature control spell."  She wiggles her
 fingers and mutters magical words, and the temperature drops down to 68
 degrees.
Halav says, "I tend to favor the 'not having a sword stuck through my gut
 because I'm not wearing any armor' school, myself.
Moriya smiles. "I'm of the school of 'Don't be where the sword is'."
Jacqueline hops into the gerbilmobile, obviously glad to get some shade.
John asks, "OOC Gonna take the Gerbil Mobile?"
Moriya OOCly says, "Until we get a little closer. Then we switch to camels."
Beowulf OOCly nods.
Beowulf asks, "OOC Actually, we can conjure camels with extra speed, can't we?"
John says, "OOC Yes.  "
Beowulf says, "OOC Would they be more or less noticeable than the humvee? :)"
John says, "OOC The camels would be much less noticable, as Nithians use
 Camels, but don't use Humvees.  Nor do Camels have noisy engines."
Beowulf says, "OOC As I suspect if they see a camel running at 30-40 miles an
 hour, they'll just rub their eyes and think they were seeing a heat mirage. :)"
Beowulf steps into the bag to conjure some camels with 4 pt. Engine Speed.
Jacqueline pouts.  She liked the gerbils.
You spend some time conjuring camels.
Beowulf says, "OOC Fasttimed in the bag. :)"
And then you ride.  Is everyone going to go ahead and let Mitsune shapeshift
 them?
Jacqueline says, "OOCly i can shapeshift myself :)"
Moriya OOCly will.
Beowulf OOCly is willing, though he'd rather have Lily do it if she can do it
 as well. :)
John says, "OOC Lily doesn't have shapeshift other, I think."
Beowulf says, "OOC I thought I remembered her doing it on the first trip to
 Chaos... but no matter, then, let Mitsune do it. :)"
You ride towards the funerary city.  Around evening, you hit the city outskirts.
The place seems to be basically laid out in a great wheel; the occupied temples
 to the major Nithian immortals and the oldest tombs are in the center, then
 newer and newer works fan out from that center.
Jacqueline taps her ring.  "Uncle Mo, can you still hear me?"
"Bzzt...not so...bzzt...kinda bad."
Jacqueline frets
Beowulf says, "I think we'll have to get ourselves out of things, except for
 major emergencies."
Jacqueline asks, "can anyone here sense any sort of Outsideryness?"
Your directional sense leads you through the city at an angle. As you pass
 within a few hundred feet of the city center, you can see a detachment of
 thirty or so guards wearing cotton armor and carrying long shields and spears
 march towards you.
Jacqueline says, "..."
Moriya looks around with Patternsight.
Wakaba says, "I don't sense any particular Outsider powers."
Jacqueline OOCly are they seemingly aiming FOR us or just going in our
 direction?
John says, "OOC They've definitely seen you and are coming your way."
Pattern sight tells you these are ordinary dudes.
Jacqueline says, "problem, big problem, hostile natives"
Jacqueline says, "if they ask us to surrender or die, I think everything's
 going to heck."
Beowulf asks, "They look like they're slightly better than Amber soldiers,
 which means we should be able to take them out without trouble if we have
 to... the problem is that they'll likely be missed. Who can think up the best
 story?"
Jacqueline OOCly savoir-fare tell me anything useful about the soldiers?
John says, "OOC Savoir-Faire says these are probably temple guards. They've
 likely got several priests with them, and if you get in a fight, you're in
 earshot of the temples, and hundreds of guards and priests will try to swarm
 you."
Jacqueline sighs
Beowulf looks at Mitsune. "No trying to pretend you're a deity this time, all
 right?"
Jacqueline says, "let's not start a fight.  bad. very bad."
Mitsune nods.  "I'll be good."
Jacqueline says, "city-swarming-on-us bad"
Beowulf asks, "So who's the best fast-talker?"
Mitsune says, "No one here can sling a line of bull like I can."
Jacqueline says, "er..... if Mitsune can quickly Savoir-Fare and not get
 carried away......"
Rimmer says, "Now, now, I'll handle this."
Jacqueline says, "if the entire city attacks us, it's your turn."
Jacqueline says, "again."
Moriya OOCly says, "I'm about to die, folks."
John says, "OOC Then we'll stop here."
Beowulf OOCly nods.
Moriya OOCly says, "Thanks."
Jacqueline says, "OOCly wah, fair'nuff"
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Logging Stopped: 07/09/2001 at 1:21:09
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