oh god how did I get here I am not good with mana

18:33	FunTyrant	The flight is a rather dull afair. Sawyer international airport is a single runway with little more than a gas station sized check-in and the bare minimum employees. Security is surprisingly simple, likely owing to the fact that there is only one flight in or out a day, and almost never both.
18:34	Lorelei	Lorelei has never flown before. It's pretty exciting. And a little nerve-wracking. She's clutching a book for support.
18:35	FunTyrant	Edison spends most of it talking about ruins he's been to and other "war stories" you might expect out of someone who has read a little too much lovecraft and drank a lot too much hard alcohol while doing so, if you weren't all aware of what you are.
18:36		Pawn doesn't seem too interested in said stories. He also hasn't flied, so he can at least relate to Helen a little. Although he seems to enjoy looking out the window.
18:37	FunTyrant	The flight is a little harrowing at times because the small 8 seater doesn't handle the winter gusts well, but after 7 hours you make it to Alaska. The boat ride to Shuyak Island is slow going because of ice floes, and you get onto the beach just as the sun begins to dip below the horizon.
18:37		Medraut picked a seat next to Lorelei. "You okay?" He's not exceptionally worried, though he has been on a grand total of one flight.
18:38		Aetherius seems mildly interested, but is pretty quiet the whole way, and spends most of it reading. He's flown with his family a bit before, so he's not really worried much about it.
18:41	Lorelei	"I'm alright!" Lorelei chimes up, perhaps a little too suddenly. Her grip on the book increases. And stories from Edison don't seem to put her at ease.
18:42	Medraut	He watches his breath mist in the air. Okay, /now/ things were looking adventurey.
18:42		Lorelei is bundled up, because it's cold.
18:42	FunTyrant	The woods are thick near the rocky "beach", immense pines and cedars that make finding a trail of any kind tough, let alone making one. However, as you get deeper in the trees get more sparse, giving way to odd remnants of rock outcroppings that once may have been fire pits, or even buildings.
18:42		Lorelei even has an ushanka on. It's very comfy.
18:43	Aetherius	Aeth is constantly shivering, and though he never mentions it, he obviously doesn't handle the cold well.
18:43		Pawn is likewise bundled up. Lorelei had a good idea. He peeks at her to make sure she's not frozen as they walk along, his hand stuffed in pockets. He's looking mildly unhappy, for the most part, but apparently he decided to come along for some reason.
18:50	Medraut	He almost always has that jacket on, anyway. "So, what are we looking for?"
18:52	FunTyrant	The light has almost left when you enter a large clearing: several huge obelisks forming a sort of ellipse form the boundary, and within it is completely bare earth. Decidedly uniform too, except for what looks like a scorch mark slashing through it at an awkward angle.
18:53	Aetherius	"How have sleepers not notice this?"
18:53	FunTyrant	"I'd say we found it. I wasn't expecting it to be so noticeable - it must be powerfully occluded to hide from sleeper satellites so well, for so long."
18:53	Lorelei	"Wow... how long has this been here?"
18:56	FunTyrant	"According to my source, before the Fall! Which means from a Sleeper perspective, this is anywhere from a few hundred to a few tens of thousands of years old. Old magics were as powerful as they were strange, and the war warped much of them even more."
19:07		Lorelei focuses on the obelisks, as if she's trying to discern something. Then, she blinks when nothing seems to come to light. Huh.
19:10	FunTyrant	Aeth notices that there is indeed *something* here, and something hiding whatever it is. The mana of the area flows around the obelisks, and seems to be sparking, popping around the scar in the ground like wood in a very hot fire.
19:12	Aetherius	"Well, that's... strange." He explains what he sees to the others.
19:13	Medraut	"I guess...there's a spell present." Connor had seen exactly nothing.
19:15	Pawn	"I can't see anything." Pawn notes
19:16	FunTyrant	Edison is running his hands over one of the stones, muttering. "...the prima materia is merely the path..."
19:17		Lorelei remains quiet, scrutinizing the sight.
19:17	Lorelei	*site
19:17	FunTyrant	Lorelei and Aetherius here the snap of a small twig behind them.
19:17	FunTyrant	hear*
19:18		Lorelei turns around immediately, eyes darting around suspiciously. "Did anyone else hear that?"
19:18	Medraut	"No." He looks around anyway.
19:19		Aetherius does the same, and says, "Yeah, I did."
19:19	Pawn	"What?" Pawn swivels around, glancing over at Lorelei.
19:19	Lorelei	"There's something..."
19:20	FunTyrant	There's a group of four, half-assedly trying to hide behind whatever they can. One of them steps out. "I was hoping to beat you here, but I guess being adept with Forces has its benefits, eh Edison?"
19:20		Lorelei takes a cautious step back.
19:24	FunTyrant	the others come out: A rather tall, thin black man with a shaved head is their apparent leader, but there's also a young girl who looks like she just stepped out of a club, wearing boots, fishnets, and a gauzy black dress; a guy in his mid 20s in a hoodie and jeans; and a latina woman in a sweater and a long skirt.
19:24		Aetherius moves only slightly back, while being more focused on trying to make out if he knows who this person is.
19:24	Medraut	"And who're you supposed to be? Belloq?"
19:25		Lorelei remains quiet, sizing each of the four individuals up wearily.
19:25	Medraut	He's not completely serious on that front.
19:25		Pawn tilts his head, taking a glance at their teacher, and then back over at the group that's appeared. He doesn't say anything yet.
19:26		Aetherius is also silent, waiting for more information.
19:27	FunTyrant	"I'm Magellan. This is Evita (gesturing to the latina woman), Iliaster, (the hoodie), and Brat (club girl). Using kids for your blasphemies, Edison? Never thought you'd sink that low."
19:28	FunTyrant	"You know Maggie, if you're gonna be my nemesis you really ought to change your name to Tesla. Historical accuracy, you know."
19:28	Aetherius	"Blasphemies?"
19:29		Lorelei continues to keep quiet, though her eyebrows fly up when the word "Blasphemies" is uttered.
19:30	Medraut	There's obviously a story here. "Alright, I'm curious. What now?"
19:34	FunTyrant	"Oh, of course he didn't tell you. Eddie here thinks he can rebuild the golden ladder. When his last 'experiment' ripped a hole in reality that destroyed a resort town in missouri, he was redlisted; kill on sight."
19:34	Lorelei	"W-What?"
19:35		Pawn glances at his instructor. Again. "Really?"
19:36	Medraut	"Woah."
19:36	FunTyrant	"And it would have worked if it wasn't for your damnable meddling! But nooooo, it wasn't the guardians' idea so of course it's a 'blasphemy'. Times Beach could have at least coughed up some useful data if nothing else, but naturally it's dispel first, contemplate never with you."
19:36		Aetherius glares slightly at Edison, saying nothing.
19:38	Aetherius	Hearing that it wouldn't have killed so many people had it not been dispelled (apparantly) makes Aeth's glare fade somewhat.
19:38	Medraut	He feels himself growing just a little colder as he glances at the two men arguing. "And you're one of them." Connor turns his head over to Magellan. "Guardians of the Veil, right?"
19:39		Lorelei isn't liking where this is going one bit.
19:40	FunTyrant	"Oh, he's taught you a little about the orders I see. Nothing good, I bet!"
19:41	FunTyrant	"Oh my GOD, Mags. It's been 20 years, just let go."
19:41	Medraut	"I decided to reserve judgment." His voice has grown rather quiet. "What...what happened?"
19:44	FunTyrant	Evita pipes up. "He got himself a gig as the city planner and had the town built in geomantic patterns. Unfortunately, his plans were either poorly drawn or perfectly executed, depending on how the story is told, and it got the attention of an abyssal entity of enormous power."
19:45	Lorelei	Yep. That doesn't sound good at all. Lorelei is looking a bit sideways at Edison now.
19:46	FunTyrant	"Not the feather in my hat that I wanted, but to reach the supernal we must span that gulf. I merely wanted to study the event for a moment or three. Perhaps learn the true scope of what we so desperately fear!"
19:47	Pawn	"That sounds like it was a bad idea." Pawn has this to note.
19:47	FunTyrant	"But of course, a portal opens up and it's not somewhere they've already seen and the thought police show up to unmake it. If you didn't know any better you couldn't tell a guardian cabal from a seer pylon."
19:50	FunTyrant	"And where do you think this is going to lead? What do you hope to gain? You activate this thing, then what? You don't know. No one does. That's the problem."
19:50		Aetherius is not pleased with his justifications, and lack of remorse, but has decided to silently wait for now, and see what the others do.
19:51	FunTyrant	Iliaster is increasingly fidgety. "This place feels so... /odd/. There's magic, but I can't place it."
19:51	Medraut	Connor's hand clenches unconsciously. What were they here for? He wasn't about to trust Magellan implicitly, but...Edison wasn't even denying the accusations.
19:52		Medraut laughs humorlessly. "Join the club."
19:53		Lorelei doesn't like these newcomers... even if Edison is seeming pretty sketchy at the moment.
19:53	Lorelei	"Are you going to hurt him?" She speaks up. By "him" she means Edison, of course.
19:54	FunTyrant	"It's not like I didn't take any precautions. I waited for the off season so there'd be as few people around as possible. I even bought some people's houses so I'd have a decent berth to perform! The only problem was that I had been too consumed by worry over avoiding your order. Without that I could have worked in peace!"
19:55	FunTyrant	"Depends on how much he fights back." Brat says. Her voice is interminably smug.
19:56	Medraut	"Okay. You tell us, then." He points at the structure. "What are we looking at, here?"
19:58	Lorelei	So they /are/ here to take him. Lorelei doesn't want Edison to get taken. That would be bad.
20:00	FunTyrant	"This, here? An ancient magical site of unknown origin, use, and power."
20:01	Medraut	"To hear him tell it, it's use is to enter a little piece of the past."
20:01	Medraut	its*
20:01	FunTyrant	"Rumor has it it's an archmas-OOF." He's jabbed by Brat in the side.
20:05		Pawn is looking at his companions now mostly, as if trying to decide what to do about this whole mess.
20:05		Lorelei is looking pretty frazzled.
20:05	FunTyrant	"How about this. I know how to turn this thing on, so to speak. You stand by and let us do it, and if something goes terribly awry you can step in and play hero."
20:06		Aetherius raises an eyebrow at pawn as if to say, "You're looking at me?"
20:07	FunTyrant	"What, so you can tear another hole in the world? You won't be happy until we're all floating in unreality and screaming for death, will you?!"
20:09	Medraut	"You don't know how this works, either." And if they were looking for a fight, it'd be a much tougher one with better odds for Edison.
20:12	Medraut	"If it starts to look like another mini-Apocalypse, I'll help you take him in. Or kill him, whatever you were planning on."
20:13	Lorelei	"I think we should give him a chance..."
20:13	Medraut	"Right. /A/ chance."
20:15	FunTyrant	Evita sighs. "They do outnumber us..."
20:16	Aetherius	"Do we? I won't stop you if you want to take him. He built his own grave."
20:18	Pawn	"If you want a fight, you got a fight. You're probably gonna lose."
20:19	FunTyrant	"Fine. You get *one* shot. And if anything looks even slightly shifty, we're gonna put a stop to it."
20:20	Lorelei	"Thank you." Lorelei smiles at the four.
20:21	Medraut	"I said I'd help you, and I meant it."
20:23	FunTyrant	The four step back, staying about two paces back from the bare earth. Edison steps into the center, directly over the rift.
20:25	Lorelei	"Please don't end the world." Lorelei says softly in Edison's direction.
20:27	FunTyrant	"Okay kids! Mana opens the way, and we will then walk the path. I need you to pour your mana into this divot in the ground. When the gate has been fed enough, it will open."
20:36	Lorelei	"How much do we need to pour into it?" Lorelei moves closer to Edison.
20:38	FunTyrant	"As much as we can." The mana flows out of everyone and into the the scorch mark, which then ignites with a white-gold flame. The motes of power flicker and burn through the air, swirling into a blur of colors, scents, even flavors.
20:40		Pawn follows, as directed. He concentrates, pushing mana out, taking a small step back as he watches the results.
20:41		Lorelei does the same, feeling the mana leave her. She sways to and fro but doesn't fall over.
20:41	Medraut	He slowly opens a hand, allowing the energy to flow forth. Nothing earthshaking and horrible seemed to be happening. As if he had a frame of reference for that.
20:42	Medraut	Connor places a hand on Helen's shoulder, just in case.
20:42	FunTyrant	The blaze engulfs everyone and in a flash of blinding energy you are pulled through a brilliant vortex of incomprehensible sensory overload. It's at once nauseating and glorious, and just before you completely lose consciousness, it ends with a lurch of supreme vertigo and knocks you to the ground.
20:43		Aetherius moves to the divot and hesitates a moment before putting his hand near it and willing mana into it, through his arm, which quivers.
20:44	FunTyrant	When you open your eyes, you're in a very, /very/ different place.
20:45	Medraut	Right idea, but not enough in terms of effort. Medraut slowly opens a clenched jaw (he'd fought the urge to scream through most of the whole thing). He then coughs and looks up. "Everyone okay?"
20:45		Lorelei covers her eyes and yelps. And then there's a whole host of feelings that give way to blackness. She stirs along with everyone else sometime later, the world swaying before her green eyes.
20:46	Lorelei	"I think so..." She reaches for Connor's arm, grabbing it.
20:46	Medraut	He carefully helps her up.
20:46	FunTyrant	It would be rather idyllic, if not for the color scheme. You're on a grassy field with rolling hills, and the sky is almost cloudless; however, the grass is an ashen grey color, and the sky a rather unsettling shade of red with clouds the color of a half-healed bruise.
20:48	Pawn	"Fine." Jamal wobbles a little bit, but brings himself under control. His eyes rise up toward the sky, and then to the ground, checking on the others before asking, "What is this?"
20:48	FunTyrant	Up ahead, there's a river that traces its way through the field and farther away, the outline of a massive church.
20:49		Aetherius gets up, and tries not to seem shaken, but almost falls over a couple times, "...the Hell... Well. This is different than expected."
20:50	Lorelei	"Definitely not what I expected."
20:53	Medraut	"Looks like a photo negative."
20:53	FunTyrant	"I didn't know what to expect, but... well, it wasn't this."
20:54	Aetherius	"You didn't... lovely."
20:54	Pawn	"Does going back work the same way?"
20:54	FunTyrant	"The legend I had heard called this place 'the menagerie'. supposedly, we are now in the soul-creation of an archmaster, one who lived either just before or just after the sundering."
20:55	FunTyrant	"I hope so, otherwise I dunno how we're gonna get back."
20:58	Lorelei	"Maybe there's just something we have to see?"
20:58	FunTyrant	"Maybe that's why it's a menagerie. mages go in and are kept for some incomprehensible purpose."
20:58	Lorelei	"You know. Witness something that'll let us leave? Am I making sense?"
20:58	Lorelei	Lorelei twiddles her thumbs.
20:59	FunTyrant	"Or maybe that!"
20:59	FunTyrant	"One way to find out. wanna go explore?"
20:59	Medraut	"...Sure." It looked like they had a destination to reach now, anyway.
21:00	Aetherius	"Not terribly, but it hasn't stopped me before."
21:00	Pawn	"Sure."
21:00	Medraut	He starts off toward the church.
21:03		Lorelei follows with not much else in mind.
21:04		Aetherius follows, looking at every blade of grass as if it were an abyssal creature in disguise.
21:04	FunTyrant	As you walk, off to your right is what looks like it might be a forest. A murder of crows flies overhead towardsit.
21:05		Pawn keeps his eyes on the surrounding landscape, frowning slightly. He peeks up, then toward the church again.
21:06		Lorelei watches the crows with mild interest. Wonder where they're headed?
21:08	Lorelei	"A-Ah..." Lorelei notices the interesting tidbits about the birds and turns away. Spooky.
21:09	Medraut	"That's...not right. At least there are animals in this menagerie."
21:10		Aetherius looks up from the grass, "What's not right?"
21:10	Medraut	"Mutated looking crows."
21:10	Aetherius	"Ah... Fun."
21:12	Medraut	Assuming they don't abruptly change course and become an...obstacle, Connor will keep walking.
21:12	Pawn	"Great."
21:13		Aetherius does the same.
21:20	FunTyrant	Up ahead, the brook is similarly odd: its a silvery oil, slightly more viscous than your average motor oil.
21:24	Lorelei	"Umm. That looks off."
21:24	Lorelei	Obviously.
21:25		Pawn wanders over to take a closer look at the liquid, leaning down a bit.
21:26	Aetherius	"Either this archage had an... interesting tastes, or the world was pretty strange in Atlantean times."
21:26	FunTyrant	there's a few rocks here and there. looking closely, a couple of them have eyes.
21:27	FunTyrant	"I feel like I would be remiss if I didn't take samples." He pulls out a plastic vial and fills it with oil, then grabs a handful of grass and stuffs it in his pocket.
21:28		Lorelei spies those rocks. She won't be getting close to them.
21:29		Pawn attempts to see if there are any fish in the lake, though after a casual look at a rock he leaves those well enough alone. "Weird."
21:32	FunTyrant	A fish in fact does swim by! it has three eyes. It blinks asynchronously at you, then swims away.
21:33	Medraut	"You think it's safe to cross?"
21:34	Pawn	"Probably not. Lorelei could make the water hard again and see what happens?"
21:34	FunTyrant	There's no bridge that you can see, but if you got a running start you could probably jump it.
21:36	Lorelei	"Or we could just jump across?" She doesn't know why she's suggesting this given she has little to no athletic ability. But this is a pretty small stream, right?
21:37	Medraut	"I could try. But it wouldn't help you guys."
21:38	Pawn	"Go for it. We'll know if the fish jump."
21:47	FunTyrant	Medraut takes a running start and just barely jumps over.
21:49	Lorelei	"Good job." Lorelei smiles at Medraut from across the stream.
21:50	Medraut	He stumbles on the other side, ducking into a clumsy roll. "Well, I guess they aren't piranha. Or I'm not worth the effort." He dusts himself off and stands. "Thanks."
21:51	FunTyrant	The grass reacts in much the same way you'd expect, although there is a fine dust on your clothes.
21:54		Aetherius chants for a few moments, before lifting off the ground and floating over the river, slowly and careful to avoid getting too close, and dropping down on the other side lightly.
21:59	FunTyrant	Pawn attempts to jump and gets exactly half way before body slamming the oil. It stings a bit from the impact, but he's able to completely halt lung function until he gets to the other side and up onto solid ground.
21:59		Medraut lifts his hand, chanting under his breath. He can see the thorns unfurling from around Lorelei.
21:59		Pawn tries to jump! He doesn't do too well. It's a bit short, and he goes splooshing into the water. He flails for a second, then begins moving toward the other side.
22:00	FunTyrant	it is definitely a slimy goo more than water. Fortunately, it's also warm.
22:00	Lorelei	"Are you alright?" She asks Pawn with some concern. No telling what that water will do to someone...
22:01	Lorelei	"Umm, I guess it's my turn..." And after backing away and prepping herself Lorelei breaks out into a run and jumps...
22:01	Medraut	"More to the point, do you /feel/ alright?" He holds out a hand to him.
22:02	Pawn	"I'm okay." Pawn responds to Lorelei and Medraut, reaching to take the other boys hand to get some help out of the oily substance. "Ugh."
22:02		Aetherius doesn't seem in a massive rush to help.
22:03	Lorelei	Lorelei really does sail through the air... perhaps aided by something? She lands well enough, stumbling a bit but not falling down. "Whew!"
22:08	Medraut	He gives Edison an expectant glance. "Well?"
22:09	FunTyrant	He flies over. "Sorry, was a bit lost in thought. This is such a new experience."
22:10	FunTyrant	"I mean, I've been to ruins, I've seen a few astral realms, but this... this is a whole new level of experience."
22:12	Aetherius	"Yeah, much as it is unsettling, it is interesting. I can't imagine what went into creating a place like this."
22:16	Lorelei	"Well this is new for me too." Lorelei states with a nod. Imagine that.
22:16	FunTyrant	"Maybe we'll find out in the church up there. but it does make me wonder... how is a church of relatively recent build existing in the world of a prehistorical mage?"
22:18	Medraut	"The guy behind this was supposed to have powers far beyond us, right? He could have looked ahead."
22:19	FunTyrant	"Perhaps. Or maybe certain religions have within them some seed of atlantis within them."