Shyft

06[16:27] * Soul is busy examining the Fire Fruit in the upstairs, away from prying Chayan Eyes. That'd be a good song, Prying Chayan Eyes.
06[16:28] * Soul muses slightly out loud to himself..."Or a decent band name...hmm..." and rubs his chin while holding one of the fruit Yorick-style
06[16:29] * Kris walks in, a bag slung over one shoulder, full of supplies. "Hey, Soul. Do you mind if I take some medical supplies? I might need them on the trip."
06[16:31] * Soul nods without looking away. "What we're here for. Nobody's buying, anyway. Take some extra burn salves, you might need 'em."
01[16:31] <Kris> "Good idea."
[16:32] <Soul> "You're all abandoning me, y'know..."
06[16:32] * Kris looks up. "What do you mean?"
[16:33] <Soul> "Well, you're leaving for Chiaroshuco, Gandr's probably gonna head off for the Wyld soon unless he changes his mind, but he seems a little determined to not let you outdo him so I imagine it'll just be me."
01[16:34] <Kris> "For a while yes, but we're coming back Soul." She giggles. "Are you worried about me? That's so sweet."
06[16:35] * Kris exagerates her last comment, joking.
06[16:35] * Soul nods his head sarcastically as if to mock the concept of him having a soft side. "Yeah, yeah...it's just that I'm feeling a little abandoned here. People keep coming and going, y'know...?"
01[16:36] <Kris> "You've got your apprentices, and Tempest, and Heaven, I'm sure you'll be fine. It's not like you particularly care for anyone of us."
06[16:38] * Soul looks at Kris for the first time since he started talking. "Hey, now, that's a little low blow, I'm hurt. I'm not THAT heartless a merchant, am I?" He looks half-sarcastically hurt.
06[16:38] * Kris holds a hand up in apology. "Sorry, sorry. You are pretty callous though."
01[16:40] <Kris> "You're not a bad person, I consider you a friend, you're annoyingly pessimistic though."
06[16:40] * Soul turns back to his fruit and mutters a little. "I'm a doctor, not a counselor. You want kind words, talk to Lemy."
01[16:41] <Kris> "It's not so much kind words as... Hmm. I don't know how to phrase it. I'm a Dancer, not a philisopher."
[16:42] <Soul> "Then maybe you shouldn't be lecturing ME on my philosophy, mmm?" He turns back to Kris with a :3 face.
06[16:43] * Kris smirks back. "Fine, Fine."
06[16:43] * Kris hmms thoughtfully. "Soul, I think I owe you an apology. Your idea about uniting the East against the Mask of Winters... It has merit. It needs a lot of work though..."
06[16:43] * Soul nods. "Yeah, yeah...I'm not used to thinking of might in terms of troops, I guess..."
01[16:45] <Kris> "I wasn't thinking about armies either.... Mostly it's about developing advantages..."
01[16:45] <Kris> "We have to deal with the Mask of Winters. That reminds me..."
06[16:45] * Kris leans out the door and shouts. "SHI GET YOUR ASS IN HERE!"
[16:46] <@Clarence_Mage> A muffled yell of reply comes through the door. Within a few seconds, Shi opens the door. "Yes, what?"
06[16:47] * Kris fixes the man w/ a Look. "You. Tell us everything you know about Mask of Winters. If you're really seven hundred years old like Altair said, or whatever, you should know something. Or you should know someone who knows something.
01[16:47] <Kris> "If you don't know. Find. Out."
[16:48] <@Clarence_Mage> "He's a deathlord. Currently, I have no clue how the hell the Deathlords came about, but there are many theories."
[16:49] <@Clarence_Mage> Shi looks a little taken aback by Kris's tone.
[16:49] <Soul> "I'm assuming they had to die first."
06[16:49] * Soul says that as deadpan as possible
[16:49] <@Clarence_Mage> "So do I. Now, the Mask took over Thorns."
[16:50] <@Clarence_Mage> "Thorns used to be one hell of a Realm outpost."
06[16:50] * Kris reads the other man's face. "I am not in the mood for cryptic statements or veiled truths."
06[16:50] * Kris listens
[16:51] <@Clarence_Mage> "Until suddenly, undead uprising. One hell of an undead uprising - Or should I say, one underworld."
[16:51] <@Clarence_Mage> "No-one could've predicted it. He could've kept on sweeping through the East and gained a whole lot more of terrain, but he didn't."
[16:51] <@Clarence_Mage> "Some say it's laziness, some say it's lack of resources, I think it's Hubris."
[16:52] <@Clarence_Mage> "Now, Deathlords have Deathknights under their control.
[16:52] <@Clarence_Mage> Not perfect control, as can be seen with Lemy."
06[16:53] * Kris nods.
01[16:53] <Kris> "Ok, we're getting somewhere now..."
[16:54] <@Clarence_Mage> "However, the Neverborn..."
[16:54] <@Clarence_Mage> "They have the tightest leash possible on the Deathlords."
[16:55] <@Clarence_Mage> "Or so we think."
06[16:55] * Kris nods again. "I understand this information is 'best guess."
06[16:55] * Kris thinks a bit.
[16:56] <@Clarence_Mage> "What I want to know is how the Hell Deathknights were created."
01[16:56] <Kris> "Ok, so we know a very rough heirarchy of power... Neverborn, Deathlords, Deathknights... How many Deathlords are there?"
06[16:56] * Kris thinks.
[16:57] <@Clarence_Mage> "Anywhere from 15 to 28."
01[16:57] <Kris> "Well, we have Lemy right here, and I remember seeing his caste mark, so we know he's Exalted, or... something."
[16:57] <Soul> "A corrupted Exaltation, it looked like."
[16:58] <@Clarence_Mage> "How the hell they corrupted the Exaltation, or even got AHOLD of them is beyond comprehension."
01[16:59] <Kris> "Well, he had Soul's caste mark. you're a Twilight, right Soul?"
06[16:59] * Soul nods. "Yes, I noticed it was the same."
01[16:59] <Kris> "Right, just... black and bloody. Well, That's something to investigate... I have an idea about how we can start to deal with Mask of Winters."
[17:00] <Soul> "Finally, we're getting somewhere with this."
[17:00] <@Clarence_Mage> "Remind me to write an angry letter to Altair."
01[17:00] <Kris> "It's going to take a while, but here's the basic goal: Tear Mask of Winter's power out from beneath him."
[17:00] <Soul> "And how do you propose we do THAT?"
06[17:00] * Kris flops down on a chair and puts her chin in her hand. "I'm getting there, geez."
01[17:01] <Kris> "Remember this is a very rough plan... Basically, we find out everything we can about him. Send Tempest to thorns, have him scout around for example. While he's doing that, we find allies among the nations of the East... And, we find the enemies of the Mask, and HIS allies too."
01[17:02] <Kris> "We turn his allies against him, or at the very least, set things up so that they can't help him."
[17:02] <Soul> "Well, that WAS kind of my plan all along..."
01[17:02] <Kris> "We tear out his resources, he runs a city, without money, his city dies."
06[17:03] * Kris nods. "Thats why I apologized to you, because it pretty much is our best bet. Our goal is to find out everything we can, take everything he has, exploit his weaknesses, build our strengths, and above all, misdirect our true actions.... Basically, we need to make sure that he never sees us coming."
01[17:03] <Kris> "If we have to hijack the Realm Defense Grid to do that, then so be it." She holds a hand up to stop Soul. "It's just a dramatic exageration, no need to throw a fit."
[17:04] <Soul> "...actually that doesn't sound like such a bad idea."
01[17:04] <Kris> "At the end of our five year deadline, and Shi, do something about that won't you? I don't mind killing Mask of Winters, I just don't want to do it on a truncated timetable."
01[17:05] <Kris> "Anyway, at the end of the road, Mask of Winters should be alone, in a temple dedicated to the Unconquered Sun, Asleep, Sick, Poisoned, Naked and starving. Anything, Everything we do to get us closer to that goal is time well spent."
01[17:05] <Kris> "The logistics of course of inflicting sickness and poison on a dead person aren't lost on me."
[17:06] <Soul> "Good, because I was about to say..."
06[17:06] * Kris smirks at Soul. "You need to remember that I love drama and hyperbole, I say something to provoke a reaction. I exagerate to draw out emotion, to make people respond."
[17:07] <Soul> "Try not to draw out TOO much emotion in Chiaroscuro."
06[17:07] * Soul smiles...a little
06[17:07] * Kris sighs softly. "Shi, when I get back, I want to see a dossier on Mask of Winters as long as my leg."
01[17:08] <Kris> "Think you can do that? And think you can put the thumbscrews on Altair to stop dicking us around?"
[17:09] <@Clarence_Mage> "I'll certainly get my pen to work."
[17:10] <@Clarence_Mage> "Just don't order me around."
01[17:10] <Kris> "Fair enough."
[17:11] <Soul> "Maybe you'd better go before you anger some OTHER deity." He chuckles. "Oh, and Kris...one last thought..."
01[17:11] <Kris> "Yes, Soul?"
[17:11] <Soul> "That Realm Defense Grid idea...that may actually be our best bet. If we can trigger the Realm into declaring war on Thorns, that may be the easiest way to settle this conflict. Won't be easy-I imagine we'll need your help into conning them into doing it-but it'll be worth it."
06[17:12] * Kris laughs. "It certainly is an idea, Soul, if nothing else, the grid will take out a lot of his resources."
[17:12] <Soul> "And the Realm's."
01[17:12] <Kris> true
[17:13] <Soul> "Well, get lost already, I got no more time to waste on people who aren't gonna help make some damned potions, eh?"
06[17:13] * Soul is sarcastic, of course, in his voice.
06[17:14] * Kris laughs and gives the misanthropic doctor a hug. "See you in a couple years."
[17:14] <Soul> "Try not to take that long, eh."
01[17:14] <Kris> "I make no promises, but I will come back."
06[17:14] * Kris heads downstairs to say goodbye Gandr.
[17:16] <Soul> "Well...let's get to work. She'll be disappointed if she returns and we've made NO headway."
[17:17] <@Clarence_Mage> Soul's apprentices get to work.
06[17:18] * Soul has been busy making notes in his journal about the fruit, which he has never observed up close before, obviously. Of special note, although not surprising in the least, is the fruit's hydrophobic exterior, which seems almost magically repellant.
[17:20] <Soul> "All right, all of you." He is still talking despite observing the plant further. "The good news is, what with the combined resources of myself and Doctor Shi, here, we've got all the equipment here we should need, and then some. The BAD news, we only have four Fire Fruit to work with. What's our plan of attack?"
[17:22] <@Clarence_Mage> Squid: "Cut them up and serve it with rice?"
06[17:23] * Soul facepalms. "We're attempting to make a CURE, here, not dinner."
[17:25] <@Clarence_Mage> Dragon: "Split up into teams, and each decide a different method to approach the mysteries of this Fruit?"
[17:25] <@Clarence_Mage> Dragon: "If we include Shi, it's two people per fruit."
[17:26] <Soul> "Hmm..."
06[17:26] * Soul turns around in his chair and counts. Five of them...plus Shi...plus Lemy...
[17:27] <Soul> "To be honest, I'd rather not ruin all our fruit in the first go just to find out what we CAN'T do. Let's mentally stick together for now."
[17:36] <Soul> "For now...we finally have some Broc Flower samples. If my intuition is correct, whatever makes the Broc Flower ideal for use as a funerary ingredient also applies in the Fire Fruit. The question becomes: How do we find THAT?"
[17:41] <@Clarence_Mage> Over a few months, research is conducted. There's no progress until Squid decides to make a bit of the fire fruit & broc flower into spreads. They both tasted terrible.
[17:42] <@Clarence_Mage> However, they both seemed to greatly improve his livelihood, and preserved the shit out of the sandwhich that Soul threw in rage behind the counter a few weeks later.
06[17:43] * Soul 's rage sandwiches are a secret family recipe. Except for the family part.
[17:43] <@Clarence_Mage> Bear decides to do... "Field work", noting the cultural aspect of the Fire Fruit & comparing it to the Broc Flower
06[17:44] * Soul demands to know what 'Field work' for Bear means
[17:44] <@Clarence_Mage> Bear: "I'm just going to go and watch Chayans be Chayans."
[17:44] <Soul> "Of all the people to let interact with Chayans..."
06[17:45] * Soul holds his forehead in his palm
[17:48] <@Clarence_Mage> He brings back notes. There's much more emphasis on the Fire Fruit in Chayan life than there ever was in any culture that had the Broc Flower. However, he's seen many chayan Monks, who practically gorge on the stuff in reverence of their Radiolari Gods, perform feats that no ordinary mortals can.
[17:49] <Soul> Feats such as...?
[17:50] <@Clarence_Mage> Terrestrial Martial Arts, and occasionally manipulating objects without touching them.
06[17:51] * Soul graciously takes the notes from Bear (not really giving Bear an option, of course). Next course of action: secure some animals. Live animals, that is. We need to experiment.
06[17:54] * Soul suspects Squid would be the best suited for securing the animals...
[17:57] <@Clarence_Mage> Squid got dem dogs on a stick.
[17:57] <@Clarence_Mage> Tied to a stick.
06[17:58] * Soul takes the dogs downstairs into the basement, making room (with Kris gone we have a LITTLE more room I guess...)
06[17:58] * Soul divides the subjects into three even groups. Next, he and his associates need to make a special salve to apply to the tissues, from both ingredients.
06[18:03] * Soul uses the opportunity to gives his apprentices a small showing of the alchemical process, since it wasn't very often they got the chance to see him work his magic. Thus, he made sure to take things slow, and as a result made no errors. He's too damned good. Once done, the next step - also a handy lesson - was to apply the samples.
06[18:03] * Soul takes the group downstairs, and has Lemy assist in (humanely) finishing off the animals, and exposing suitable tissue samples from all three groups.
06[18:04] * Soul then applies samples of the Broc Flower salve to the second group, and samples of the Fire Fruit to the third group. The first group he leaves untouched.
06[18:04] * Soul finally has his apprentices enclose each group off from one another, to avoid cross-contamination.
[18:15] <@Clarence_Mage> The Broc Flower salve slows down the decay process of the dog flesh; and in fact, it doesn't seem to be rotting properly at all. The disease process seems utterly halted.
[18:16] <@Clarence_Mage> The Fire Fruit salve does a somewhat inverted process; the flesh is discolored, and the salve seems to invade the rot, however, once it's completely invaded it seems the rot has been completely nullified.
[18:17] <@Clarence_Mage> The discoloration is a nice deep-yet-bright red.
[18:17] <@Clarence_Mage> The control is fucking swarmed with rats & flies.
06[18:17] * Soul makes note of this to everyone. It's bizarre, almost as if the Fire Fruit has...REPLACED the flesh somehow, supplanted it.
06[18:18] * Soul orders the control group disposed of. Meanwhile, samples of the other two groups should be analyzed, if there's anything else we can learn from them.
[18:31] <@Clarence_Mage> There seems to be something about the fire frout. But, Soul can't quite seem to percieve what.
06[18:34] * Soul can only guess as to the nature of the Fire Fruit's unnatural properties. It appeared to be...REPLACING tissue. Does that mean that if applied to victims of the plague, it would cease the infection?
06[18:36] * Soul is busy pacing back and forth in the basement, in the hopes that his pestering of those around him will spur some inspiration into them
06[18:39] * Soul has made one key note, however: The Broc Flower appears to stop decay of tissue. Meaning, it may very well prove to be an effective vaccine against the disease. Useless to the already infected, but for those at risk...
06[18:40] * Soul arranges with Chei or Heaven, whoever's available, to coordinate with the Guild locals for samples of the flower to be sent back to Nexus, along with notes on what Soul had discovered and theorized. The flower as a species MUST be preserved, and the Guild should put resources towards breeding the plant further to bring it back from the edge of extinction.
06[18:41] * Soul has also been sending notes on the possibility of tricking the Realm into attacking Thorns, after his talk with Kris. And any other notes on the subject of coalescing this part of Creation into a more unified force.