A Handful of Dust Session 77

[13:31.07] * DM changes topic to: A Handful of Dust Session 77: Hard Choices - ＋https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNYc-443G6E，
[13:32.07] <DM> Azri's words silence Melchior's half-formed entreaty to Repriever in the chamber of the great crystal heart.
[13:32.30] <DM> "You work with me, or this ends here."
[13:32.38] <DM> "It is time to decide."
[13:32.44] <DM> "This is my final offer."
[13:33.22] <+Shala> "I'll decide"
[13:33.33] * Melchior looked about to speak
[13:33.36] <DM> The shining Essence of Air rotates slowly in front of Repriever's glowering face as Azri stands on the floor of the chamber, facing you.
[13:33.45] <+Melchior> but went silent, looking at Shala intensely
[13:33.46] * Repriever still stands before the crystal heart, high above.
[13:33.51] * Shala descends the steps airily, humming something in verse
[13:34.12] <+Shala> "To the king alone belongs the right of the sword"
[13:34.25] * Shala traipses over to where Azri stands
[13:34.26] * Akvan glances up at preev, and gets up to join him
[13:34.51] <DM> He turns from facing Melchior at the chamber floor, to look over his shoulder at Shala.
[13:35.16] <DM> As she descends.
[13:35.24] <+Shala> "And between you, Repriever, and Mel, I am quite a well trained king wouldnt you say?"
[13:35.33] * Shala breathes deep
[13:36.03] <+Shala> "So what are we to do? Your promising another spell, to me, that will fix everything."
[13:36.07] * Repriever squints at the essence before him, not really seeing it, listening to Shala.
[13:36.12] <+Shala> "And it hasnt yet done so."
[13:36.16] * Akvan puts a hand on preev's shoulder
[13:36.34] * You are now known as Azri
[13:37.04] <Azri> "You've become more considerate with your time abroad."
[13:37.20] <Azri> "Perhaps some benefit then, to your..."
[13:37.24] <Azri> "Unsanctioned tutors."
[13:37.44] <+Shala> "Azri, don't change the subject. You needed the rare power of the Cronomancers, now it's the essences, soon it will be Bel himself I'm sure"
[13:37.54] <+Shala> "What can you promise to me"
[13:37.57] <Azri> "Insufferable as he is, think of Kallos' machines."
[13:38.14] <Azri> "The titans."
[13:38.30] <Azri> "Are they just one machine? Or thousands of smaller pieces, working in tandem."
[13:39.03] <Azri> "My spell...the entire spell...to trap Bel..."
[13:39.34] * Shala looks to Mel
[13:39.39] <Azri> "Not all of the interlocking pieces are correct yet, the research...it needs to be flawless, to defeat...Him."
[13:39.43] <+Shala> "And when he's trapped"
[13:40.00] * Azri sighs.
[13:40.13] <+Melchior> ?roll 1d20+18
[13:40.13] <%tBot> Melchior: 32 ([14] +18)
[13:40.21] <Azri> "It's to save you of course."
[13:40.23] <+Melchior> [for any arcane knowledge I have of the Titans]
[13:40.35] * Azri says it with an air of dismissiveness that he eminently lacks.
[13:40.50] * Shala chokes up a bit
[13:40.51] * Repriever looks downward, now, down the spiral stair to Azri and Shala below.
[13:40.55] <+Shala> "I didnt NEED saving"
[13:40.59] <Azri> "To spare you that...erasure."
[13:41.05] <+Shala> "But I do...appreciate it"
[13:41.12] <Azri> "Yes, you're willing to walk into it like every other martyr through time!"
[13:41.39] <+Repriever> "You've promised her nothing."
[13:42.01] <Azri> "The core of it, the piece I have finished now."
[13:42.21] <Azri> "It will give you the ability to control the Key."
[13:42.31] <Azri> "And the Essences."
[13:42.47] <Azri> "For a Key...a Lock."
[13:42.47] <+Shala> "Can I be a custodian of my own fate? Is there a means for me to inspect this spell, and ensure you wont just be the next Bel?"
[13:43.13] <Azri> "What happens when Bel is trapped, you said."
[13:43.24] <Azri> "We kill him, of course."
[13:43.26] <Azri> "And no."
[13:43.44] <Azri> "His particular power would be gone."
[13:44.22] <Azri> "I am fully satisfied with the power I have now."
[13:44.27] * Azri smiles slightly.
[13:44.37] <+Shala> "Unfortunately, not everyone is"
[13:44.43] * Repriever grunts.
[13:45.08] <+Shala> "What will you do with it, once we remove the only thing above you"
[13:45.37] <Azri> "Continue my research."
[13:45.49] <+Repriever> "He will do anything to not die."
[13:45.58] <+Repriever> "Every mancer fears death."
[13:45.59] * Shala brushes back a curl sprouting from her forehead line
[13:46.03] <Azri> "Observe the planar implications of the restoration of the cosmic forces...the Divines, if you must."
[13:46.17] <Azri> "Perhaps try to find the origins of humanity."
[13:46.21] <Azri> "There are many questions."
[13:46.26] <Azri> "This is simply the most pressing matter."
[13:46.34] <Azri> "And you know what we saw. What he became."
[13:46.48] <Azri> "He still meddles in this world. Across time."
[13:46.56] * Shala nods
[13:47.11] <Azri> "And I'll offer one last thing."
[13:47.30] <+Melchior> "You're offering a lot, but what are you requesting of us?"
[13:48.03] <Azri> "That you activate the spell as I designed it."
[13:48.32] <+Repriever> "And where is Astara in all of this? What promise of Her freedom do you give?"
[13:48.41] <Azri> "That is the last thing."
[13:48.44] <+Repriever> "You won't even show Her to me."
[13:49.02] <Azri> "That is because I have bound her, far from this place."
[13:49.21] <Azri> "My leverage, to ensure you don't betray me until the end."
[13:49.26] <+Shala> "Azri, you must show us proof that she still lives"
[13:49.30] * Shala says in a hushed tone
[13:49.39] * Repriever 's boots audibly jerk on the crystalline floor, as he barely contains himself.
[13:50.20] * Azri considers this.
[13:50.22] * Repriever is troubled beside Akvan.
[13:50.33] <Azri> "If we can avoid any further emotional outbursts."
[13:50.42] * Azri looks to Repriever, above.
[13:50.50] <+Repriever> "Where is She?"
[13:51.23] <Azri> "In a demiplane so far from mortal creation that a thousand years of questing would not bring you an inch closer."
[13:51.38] <Azri> "If I die, she is lost."
[13:51.42] <+Shala> "Show us a brief mirror"
[13:51.56] * Repriever narrows his eyes, chewing on that thought.
[13:51.58] * Akvan puts a bit of pressure on Preev's arm
[13:51.59] <+Melchior> "Show Repriever."
[13:52.16] <Azri> "Very well."
[13:52.49] * Azri holds out his right arm, and the Essence of Air zips back into his hand.
[13:52.56] * Kir whispers something to Mel in Gora Miri
[13:53.22] <Azri> "I call you by your true name, ____."
[13:53.35] <Azri> "Be revealed to our sight."
[13:54.12] <Azri> A giant, circular oval with edges of white fire burns, hanging in midair.
[13:54.24] <Azri> Through it, there is a vision of a strange world.
[13:54.30] * Repriever exhales, waiting.
[13:54.49] * Shala avoids the line of sight and Astara's gaze
[13:54.50] * Repriever gets as near to the oval as he can on the platform.
[13:55.14] <Azri> A sea of amethyst-purple fluid that is not water roils, below a clouded sky of bluish-black clouds, through which strange lights are cast as they roil.
[13:55.53] * Repriever 's eyes dart around at every discernible feature.
[13:55.54] <Azri> In the midst of this sea, approaching as if the scene is viewed from a scrying eye, is a soaring spiral tower of blue-white crystal, with a shining light at the top.
[13:56.11] <Azri> It stands alone amidst the alien ocean.
[13:56.51] <Azri> The scry approaches the window, hanging thousands of feet above.
[13:57.34] <Azri> And inside, seated in (or hovering just above) a chair, motionless, her face cast down, is a being composed of starlight.
[13:58.02] * Repriever reaches out his cosmic hand, flickering in the same colors of starlight.
[13:58.12] <+Kir> "A god.."
[13:58.35] <Azri> She looks up, and her body bursts into a thousand fractal patterns, flitting through forms insectile, quadruped, hexapod, humanoid, the metatron's cube shining on her forehead.
[13:58.46] <+Repriever> <<Can you hear me?>>
[13:59.07] <Azri> <<Where are you?>> she says, sounding utterly lost.
[13:59.12] * Kir averts his eyes
[13:59.18] <Azri> <<I knew that presence...>>
[13:59.28] * Repriever huffs, not sure what to do.
[13:59.36] <Azri> "That is enough," says Azri.
[13:59.45] <Azri> With a flash of white fire, he collapses the gateway.
[13:59.45] <+Repriever> "No. No!"
[14:00.15] <Azri> [
[14:00.24] <Azri> "She relives a thousand lives, a thousand Keepers."
[14:00.24] * Repriever is distraught, breathing quickly.
[14:00.38] <+Melchior> One of Mel's illusions has worked its way up to Akvan and Repriever, and places a hand gently on his shoulder.
[14:00.40] <Azri> "Her recollections are somewhat insightful for historical research."
[14:00.56] <Azri> "If I had time."
[14:01.02] <+Repriever> "You're fucking scrying Her?"
[14:01.30] <Azri> "Just to check up."
[14:01.39] <Azri> "Make sure the pattern hasn't degraded further."
[14:01.46] <+Repriever> "You have no right."
[14:02.18] <Azri> "Leaving her all alone is rather crueler, don't you think?"
[14:02.22] * Repriever turns to descend, but a Mellusion is there, stopping him.
[14:02.58] <+Repriever> "You're hurting Her."
[14:03.13] <Azri> "No, you are."
[14:03.31] <Azri> "The longer you spend opposing me, the more she suffers."
[14:03.37] <Azri> "Do the right thing, Repriever."
[14:03.44] <Azri> "And get her back."
[14:03.46] <+Melchior> "If one chooses to commit someone to prison, and another struggles, it's hardly fair to blame the latter."
[14:04.01] <+Shala> "We will cooperate, won't we Melchior?"
[14:04.07] * Shala puts half the blame on Mel :p
[14:04.15] <+Repriever> [which mel is it?]
[14:04.19] <+Melchior> "So you wish, Azri, to see us aid you in this ritual."
[14:04.26] <+Melchior> [Cleric, she knows she's a calming influence.]
[14:04.37] <Azri> "To see it as you, aiding yourselves."
[14:04.38] <+Shala> [indeed]
[14:04.44] <Azri> "I'm simply an intermediary."
[14:04.56] * Repriever places his hand on the hilt of Nameless, but allows Cleric Mel to still it.
[14:05.06] <+Melchior> "How can we trust you, knowing as you do the fate that ultimately awaits you?"
[14:05.41] <+Melchior> "How can we know that you intend to, one day, accept that, and will not use this to further evade it?"
[14:06.22] <Azri> "You refer to your contract with the Prince of Dust."
[14:06.30] <Azri> "And my damned soul."
[14:06.49] <+Melchior> "Mm."
[14:07.59] <Azri> "The politics of hell are more complex than you imagine."
[14:08.07] <Azri> "Dust is but one lord of many, striving to rule over his peers."
[14:08.17] <Azri> "I have made alliances...with other demons, who oppose it."
[14:08.27] <+Melchior> "More than I know, not more than I imagine."
[14:08.48] <+Melchior> "Then it seems that that reckoning will be forestalled, until our task at hand has been resolved, eh?"
[14:09.00] <+Shala> "So you'll have favors necessary to perform for these hell lords, just as I do..."
[14:09.41] <Azri> "The more powerful your summons, Shala, the more they will demand of you."
[14:10.00] <Azri> "We didn't quite reach this lesson before you left."
[14:10.58] * Shala furrows her brow
[14:11.02] <Azri> "Our reckoning will come, Melchior."
[14:11.19] <Azri> "Your demonic allies and mine will war for the fate of my soul."
[14:11.26] * Repriever descends the stair with Cleric Mel, returning to level with the others.
[14:11.33] <Azri> "And we will see who triumphs in the end."
[14:11.47] <Azri> "Perhaps we will find a way to both escape our contracts."
[14:12.18] <+Repriever> "You'll never return Astara, will you?"
[14:12.19] <+Melchior> "Perhaps. I do not find any pleasure in causing suffering."
[14:12.34] <Azri> "Now now, Repriever."
[14:12.44] <+Repriever> "She is too valuable a bargaining chip to ever release while I live."
[14:13.07] <Azri> "If I wanted her power for myself, I would have simply taken it."
[14:13.07] <+Melchior> "Perhaps restitution shall be the price you pay, rather than damnation, should things unfold that way."
[14:13.18] <+Melchior> "But you want Repriever's power."
[14:13.25] <+Melchior> "Or rather, you want power OVER him."
[14:13.40] <Azri> "I just want one thing."
[14:13.50] <Azri> "The defeat of Bel."
[14:13.53] <+Melchior> "What is to say you will not later twist the thumbscrews and sic us upon your foes?"
[14:13.59] <+Repriever> "Bel is bullshit!"
[14:14.33] <+Repriever> "What does it matter if Bel is gone if the divines aren't whole and free?"
[14:14.38] * Azri raises an eyebrow at Repriever.
[14:14.55] <Azri> "Bel holds the leashes to all Six."
[14:14.58] * Shala takes a step back
[14:15.00] * Azri holds up the Essence of Air.
[14:15.02] <Azri> "This is not mine."
[14:15.03] <+Repriever> "Shala asked you what you gain from this."
[14:15.07] <Azri> "Nor is it yours."
[14:15.09] <Azri> "It's HIS."
[14:15.21] <+Repriever> "Releasing the divines, while you still imprison one?"
[14:15.21] <Azri> "We are just borrowing it, because that is what he allows."
[14:15.28] <+Repriever> "That's true power."
[14:15.37] <Azri> "One now, one later."
[14:15.41] <Azri> "That's how this works."
[14:15.46] <Azri> "I have to trust you, as well."
[14:16.08] <Azri> "I cannot give you Astara, and the Essence of Air."
[14:16.15] <Azri> "And you need the Essence to complete your quest."
[14:16.36] <+Repriever> "And at the end your soul is owed and Astara is still in your prison."
[14:17.17] <Azri> "I will swear in blood to return her after the Ritual if you do my bidding, and then to duel you for my soul's fate."
[14:17.18] <+Repriever> "You're never going to release Her," he says, much softer, exasperated.
[14:17.32] <Azri> "Since it seems what you want more than her...is vengeance."
[14:17.39] <Azri> "I'll give you your chance, Repriever."
[14:17.55] <Azri> "Would that be enough?"
[14:18.01] * Azri grins impishly at the knight.
[14:18.27] <+Repriever> "I'd be a fool to accept those terms."
[14:18.56] <Azri> "Well if you get to bring allies, then so do I."
[14:19.14] <+Melchior> "Neither of you will gain from a fight between the two of you."
[14:19.48] <+Repriever> "Agreed."
[14:20.00] * Shala crosses her arms and rubs her forehead
[14:20.04] <Azri> "Well I'm not going to stretch out my neck for his blade."
[14:20.04] <+Repriever> "Shala Tell Ashara will duel you for me."
[14:20.21] * Shala 's head jolts up
[14:20.23] <+Kir> "No."
[14:20.28] <Azri> The grin slowly melts off of Azri's face.
[14:20.31] <+Kir> "Not here, not now"
[14:20.32] <+Shala> "Do you wish me dead so badly?"
[14:20.37] * Shala whispers at Repriever
[14:20.38] * Akvan looks down, interested
[14:20.43] <+Repriever> "You won't be, and not now."
[14:21.15] * Shala stares a hole into his soul
[14:21.30] <+Repriever> "One way or another a soul is owed."
[14:21.37] <Azri> "So that's what you want," Azri murmurs.
[14:21.58] <+Melchior> "The whole reason we are in this contract in the first place was to save Shala."
[14:22.03] <+Melchior> "We were not going to leave her behind."
[14:22.14] <+Melchior> "All you've done, you have done with the hopes of keeping her safe."
[14:22.21] <+Repriever> "If Azri does not go to hell then Shala loses her life."
[14:22.42] <+Repriever> "He wants to play like a palatine, then we shall."
[14:23.08] <Azri> "Masters and apprentices..."
[14:23.30] <Azri> "You're making us play out our own history, as well."
[14:23.45] <Azri> "Perhaps I was wrong, Shala."
[14:23.49] <+Shala> "It has a certain elegance to its coarseness"
[14:23.51] * Shala sets her jaw
[14:23.55] <Azri> "You did find a teacher more cynical and ruthless than I."
[14:24.15] * Azri does a mock-polite clap.
[14:24.22] <+Shala> "You have his god, Azri. What if someone held your books hostage?"
[14:24.23] <+Melchior> One of the Mels has a quiet, stuffled guffaw.
[14:24.49] <Azri> "I will duel Shala."
[14:24.53] <Azri> "At the end of all this."
[14:25.04] <Azri> "For the fate of our souls."
[14:25.07] * Shala swallows air
[14:25.20] * Repriever looks to Shala for agreement.
[14:25.27] * Repriever has a hard, nigh unreadable expression.
[14:25.41] <+Shala> "Fine"
[14:25.56] <+Melchior> Several Mels blink. Malkara narrows her eyes.
[14:25.59] * Repriever thrusts out his hand at Azri, palm up, waiting.
[14:26.05] <+Repriever> "Give me the essence you sniveling asshole."
[14:26.20] <Azri> "You?"
[14:26.37] <+Repriever> "Yes. Me."
[14:26.51] <Azri> "I think I'll be giving it to my real rival."
[14:27.11] * Shala shoots a brief glance at Kir
[14:27.14] <Azri> "Shala..."
[14:27.25] <Azri> "This isn't what I wanted."
[14:27.31] <+Shala> "It is sporting of you though."
[14:28.06] <Azri> "Fate is a funny thing."
[14:28.13] <Azri> "Draw your Key."
[14:28.21] * Shala looks to the party
[14:28.30] * Shala hesitantly draws it, tight in her grip
[14:28.32] * Melchior nods.
[14:28.37] <+Melchior> Well, several of Me do.
[14:28.56] <Azri> "Until you craft a vessel capable of containing its power, it is the only that will hold it."
[14:28.57] * Repriever is still cutting down Azri with his glower.
[14:29.04] * Kir (8da185b5@ircip3.mibbit.com) Quit (Quit: ＋http://www.mibbit.com， ajax IRC Client)
[14:29.18] <Azri> "Even if I had acceded to his demand, it would have burned him alive, the fool."
[14:29.56] * Melchior has experience crafting vessels capable of wielding the power of essences.
[14:30.29] <Azri> "I will enact the core of the Lock."
[14:31.05] * Akvan brand flares blue flame for a second
[14:31.41] * Azri pulls out a small, narrow scroll, unfurling it in an arc.
[14:31.44] <Azri> But the paper hangs.
[14:32.30] <Azri> His eyes flare a moment, and a cut of blood wells up on his thumb. He flicks the blood across the scroll, as he unrolls it further, and further, making a complex, three-dimensional pattern in the air with it.
[14:32.54] * Melchior observes.
[14:33.16] * Repriever steps away.
[14:33.18] <Azri> Then he floats the Essence of Air, shining bright, into the midst of the rolls of paper.
[14:33.48] <Azri> The paper transmutes, into copper, bronze, iron, a silvery metal, retaining its form as it flickers between the elements.
[14:34.21] <Azri> And then it implodes into the gem, hiding its light for a moment.
[14:34.44] <Azri> The silvery metal roils like mercury.
[14:35.27] <Azri> Then suddenly it takes shape as an interlocking series of concentric circles, like the armillary sphere, surrounding the Essence which floats in the middle as they rotate around it.
[14:36.28] <Azri> And then it flies across the room, meeting Shala's Key with a soft, -click-.
[14:36.43] <Azri> Roll a Will save and a Fortitude save, Shala.
[14:37.10] <+Shala> ?roll 1d20+6
[14:37.10] <%tBot> Shala: 11 ([5] +6)
[14:37.16] <+Shala> ?roll 1d20+6
[14:37.16] <%tBot> Shala: 20 ([14] +6)
[14:37.24] <+Shala> [will and fort in that order]
[14:37.27] <+Repriever> [I can will reprieve if needed]
[14:40.09] <Azri> The room explodes in a torrent of violent wind.
[14:40.25] <Azri> Azri's papers are thrown into the air, his desks overturned.
[14:40.49] <Azri> Your clothes ripple, your hair whipped into your faces or violently thrown back.
[14:40.49] * Repriever stands aside, arms crossed.
[14:41.14] <Azri> Shala's eyes are no longer human, they shine with bright light.
[14:41.29] <Azri> Globules of white, her hair as bright as new-fallen snow.
[14:42.03] <Azri> She lifts off the ground, tiptoes last to touch
[14:42.14] <Azri> Back arched slightly, face pointed upwards, the center of the tornado.
[14:42.22] <Azri> The wind intensifies, blowing each of you backwards.
[14:42.31] <Azri> Unless you make a fortitude save.
[14:42.50] * Repriever hunkers, one leg behind the other, hand shielding his eyes.
[14:42.55] <+Melchior> ?roll 1d20+9
[14:42.55] <%tBot> Melchior: 18 ([9] +9)
[14:42.55] <+Akvan> ?roll 1d20+9
[14:42.55] <%tBot> Akvan: 15 ([6] +9)
[14:43.10] <+Repriever> ?roll 1d20+15
[14:43.10] <%tBot> Repriever: 30 ([15] +15)
[14:43.30] <Azri> Azri redirects the wind around himself with a muttered incantation.
[14:44.18] <Azri> The Key, and the Essence...merge, somehow.
[14:44.27] <Azri> as Azri's spell takes hold.
[14:44.44] <Azri> His masterwork.
[14:45.05] <Azri> Shala's Key does something it has done before...it lengthens into a blade.
[14:45.32] <+Melchior> [*slide whistle noise*]
[14:45.40] <Azri> But now the Essence of Air, and the concentric binding circles rotating around it...are set into the base of the pommel, the Key the grip.
[14:46.35] <Azri> The wind grows EVEN stronger, and Shala opens her mouth in a wordless, violent torrent of wind and words.
[14:47.22] <Azri> Azri steps forward, stretching out his hands, and shouts a word of power.
[14:47.27] * Repriever grins into the wind.
[14:47.41] <Azri> Shala is now pretty close to the ceiling.
[14:47.52] <Azri> And with Azri's shout...it dies.
[14:47.55] <Azri> And she falls.
[14:48.09] <Azri> Anyone who wants to catch her, reflex save.
[14:48.12] <+Repriever> [k]
[14:48.21] <+Repriever> ?roll 1d20+8
[14:48.21] <%tBot> Repriever: 21 ([13] +8)
[14:48.27] <Azri> That'll do.
[14:48.34] * You are now known as DM
[14:48.42] * Repriever jumps beneath Shala, cradling her fall.
[14:49.29] <DM> Azri stands a few paces away as Repriever takes the brunt of her, although she still feels light as a feather, gradually gaining weight.
[14:49.58] * Repriever is strong enough to hold Shala's full weight regardless.
[14:50.29] <DM> "You must be proud of her," Azri says quietly.
[14:50.39] <+Shala> [am i conscious]
[14:50.42] <DM> "There are not many mages who can do what she has done."
[14:50.44] <DM> [no]
[14:51.11] <+Repriever> "Yeah."
[14:51.47] <+Repriever> "This isn't the game you should've played."
[14:52.05] * Repriever says that almost sorrowful.
[14:52.22] <DM> "Nor any of us."
[14:52.53] <DM> "Funny, though."
[14:53.04] <DM> "I sought to kill my old master."
[14:53.14] <DM> "You're making me pay an appropriate price."
[14:53.22] <DM> "Perhaps that's the value of a justiciar."
[14:53.38] * You are now known as Azri
[14:53.43] * Repriever has a tight lipped expression.
[14:53.43] * Azri looks down at Shala's unconscious face.
[14:54.22] * Azri half-raises a hand, then drops it.
[14:54.29] <+Repriever> "You thought I hadn't known hell."
[14:54.40] <+Repriever> "I've been in your position."
[14:54.55] <+Repriever> "You're going to answer my question at the end of all this."
[14:55.08] <+Repriever> "Do you love her, or the idea of her."
[14:55.14] <Azri> "I remember."
[14:55.33] <+Repriever> "Sometimes the master wins."
[14:55.36] <+Repriever> "I did."
[14:55.53] * Repriever carries Shala to Kir, and hands her to him.
[14:56.14] <Azri> "You were led to this place because any part of the labyrinth can be accessed from its heart."
[14:56.58] <Azri> "That hallway, the second door from the left, leads to the gate to the Illusionists."
[14:57.44] * Repriever gets Mels' attentions.
[14:57.44] * Melchior uses aura sight to sync again with Mitsaq's sapphire, to confirm this.
[14:57.50] <+Repriever> [to do that]
[14:58.02] <Azri> "I doubt we have much more to say to one another."
[14:58.17] * Azri waves his hands to begin to reorganize his papers.
[14:58.42] <+Repriever> "She asked me how I would kill you."
[14:58.54] * Repriever leaves it at that.
[14:59.09] <Azri> "Many have entertained the fantasy."
[14:59.58] <+Melchior> "May our next meeting be under happier circumstances."
[15:00.51] * Melchior and herselves head out on the path to the illusionists.
[15:01.46] * Repriever follows Melchior, leading Kir with Shala.
[15:03.38] * Azri changes topic to: A Handful of Dust Session 77: Hard Choices - ＋https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_JgOlGq6i4，
[15:03.48] <+Melchior> Knowledge arcana.
[15:03.51] <+Melchior> ?roll 1d20+18
[15:03.51] <%tBot> Melchior: 22 ([4] +18)
[15:04.25] <Azri> The Airblade clatters to the ground from Shala's fingertips as she drops it onto the crystalline floor.
[15:04.30] <+Melchior> The Mels are quietly trying to figure out what's going on with the illusions.
[15:04.48] <+Melchior> "Mirror image definitely should have expired by now."
[15:04.56] <+Melchior> "Power of the illusionists, likely."
[15:05.12] * Repriever sees the blade fall.
[15:05.40] <Azri> Surrounded by its spinning gears in the pommel, it illuminates the faceted walls, a rush of air fluttering out across your feet.
[15:05.54] <+Repriever> [is she still knocked out?]
[15:05.59] <Azri> Yes, for now.
[15:06.03] * You are now known as DM
[15:06.16] * Repriever kneels, and firmly grips the Keyblade.
[15:06.58] <+Repriever> [I'm not just gonna leave it there]
[15:07.17] <DM> There is a violent burst of electricity in your mind, as a spark shoots from the pommel up your arm, wreathing it in lightning.
[15:07.42] * Repriever barks a cry at the shock.
[15:08.01] <DM> Little zaps of static ping up and down your armor.
[15:08.19] <+Repriever> [can I stand it?]
[15:08.36] <DM> You can. And they dissipate before too long, just leaving an uncomfortable tingling.
[15:09.00] * Repriever hefts the blade, then, and follows after.
[15:10.18] * Repriever considers Shala's state, then focuses on the blade zapping in his gauntlet.
[15:10.32] * Repriever tries to will the blade back into its Key shape, small and pocketable.
[15:10.36] <+Melchior> "I think it might be wise for us to dissipate the illusion now."
[15:10.36] <DM> The hallway has a few twists, rises, and dips, occasionally passing indentations in the wall that look somewhat like abstract or melted people.
[15:10.56] <+Repriever> [umd? will?]
[15:11.03] <DM> UMD.
[15:11.13] <+Repriever> ?roll 1d20+13
[15:11.13] <%tBot> Repriever: 28 ([15] +13)
[15:11.36] * Repriever struggles quietly, gripping the blade.
[15:11.42] <DM> Your mind hits upon that...thing that you saw.
[15:12.11] <DM> And when you focus on it, the mini-armillary containing the Essence of Air pops off.
[15:12.15] * Kir (8da185b5@ircip3.mibbit.com) has joined channel #nesdnd
[15:12.25] * Repriever blinks.
[15:12.25] <DM> The steel of the Keyblade dissolves into dust once more.
[15:13.26] <DM> The Air-sphere and the Key now lie separate on the floor.
[15:13.47] * Repriever tries to pick up the air-sphere with his cosmic hand, holding the Key in his flesh one.
[15:14.34] <DM> It seems to work.
[15:14.43] <+Repriever> [how does it feel?]
[15:14.46] <DM> You feel, distantly, the immense power of the Essence.
[15:14.53] <DM> A desire to go fast.
[15:14.55] <DM> To fly.
[15:14.59] <DM> To soar.
[15:15.08] <DM> To strike down your foes faster than they can imagine.
[15:15.17] * Repriever looks up from the two components to Kir, and unconscious Shala in his arms.
[15:15.33] <DM> The Key feels like nothing at all.
[15:15.41] * DM sets mode +v Kir for #nesdnd
[15:16.15] * Repriever has a brief moment of thought, eyes focusing, then steps up to Shala and puts both the essence and key into her pouch.
[15:17.12] * Repriever looks at Kir.
[15:17.19] <+Repriever> "Don't need 'em."
[15:17.25] * Kir nods
[15:17.37] <DM> At this moment, Shala begins to stir in Kir's arms.
[15:17.56] * Repriever nods down at Shala, so Kir sees, then steps away so they can talk it out.
[15:18.05] * Repriever goes over to wherever the Mels are.
[15:19.31] <+Kir> "You good?"
[15:19.50] <+Shala> [lol am i]
[15:20.22] * Shala eyes widen
[15:20.35] <+Shala> "Release me, male servant!"
[15:20.49] <+Melchior> The Mels are in debate.
[15:20.52] * Shala tumbles off Kir's arms
[15:20.58] * Akvan starts at shala's outburst
[15:21.08] * Kir gives her a mocking glare
[15:21.15] * Akvan moves to stand next to Kir
[15:21.20] <+Kir> "Who do you call servant"
[15:21.43] <+Shala> "All in my...realm"
[15:21.45] * Shala looks around her
[15:21.46] * Repriever hears the outburst, but is going to pretend he didn't, while standing among the Mels.
[15:21.57] <+Shala> "A shabby retinue..."
[15:22.18] * Shala 's back is arched proudly
[15:22.50] * Shala tries to blink a feeling from her eye that wont come out
[15:23.29] * Repriever informs the Mels of this change in Shala, with a reminder of the shared knowledge of Tyao's vision on the mountain.
[15:23.38] <+Shala> "I would follow you now, so that I could be to myself..."
[15:23.42] * Shala drawls in another accent
[15:24.10] <+Shala> "And be myself..."
[15:24.17] * Shala pulls her hair back
[15:24.30] <+Repriever> "Shala."
[15:24.35] * Repriever calls out.
[15:24.48] <+Shala> "Paladin?"
[15:25.04] <+Repriever> "Who are you?"
[15:25.11] <+Melchior> "Glad Melkir's not here."
[15:25.13] <+Shala> "I am...power incarnate"
[15:25.15] * Melchior quips.
[15:25.23] <+Shala> "I mean, I am..."
[15:25.24] * Kir takes a step back now
[15:25.26] * Shala looks down
[15:25.32] <+Repriever> "That is not a person."
[15:25.49] <+Repriever> "Who are you?"
[15:25.56] * Repriever asks gingerly.
[15:26.02] <+Shala> "Observant as always, so fruitful the Calcissi curriculum"
[15:26.15] <+Shala> "I am...something undefined..."
[15:26.35] * Repriever sighs.
[15:26.36] * Shala holds out her arms and turns her palms over
[15:26.46] <+Repriever> "I thought this might happen."
[15:26.52] * Repriever turns back to Mels.
[15:26.58] <+Repriever> "How do we leave?"
[15:27.25] <+Shala> "I have a plan for this!"
[15:27.35] * Shala searches for the plan she surely has devised well in advance
[15:27.37] <+Shala> "Umm..."
[15:28.22] <+Repriever> "Ok. Listen."
[15:28.26] * Repriever steps up to Shala.
[15:28.46] <+Repriever> "You're intoxicated."
[15:29.31] <+Shala> "Perhaps"
[15:29.39] <+Repriever> "What's your name?"
[15:30.04] <+Shala> [roll something?]
[15:30.35] <DM> Roll a will save.
[15:30.41] <+Shala> ?roll 1d20+6
[15:30.41] <%tBot> Shala: 22 ([16] +6)
[15:31.21] <+Melchior> The Mels are arguing.
[15:31.25] <+Shala> "I am...Telashasha...Tela...Tel A Shara... Shala, Tel, Ashara"
[15:31.26] <DM> She struggles with it for a moment.
[15:31.29] <+Shala> "There! That one!"
[15:31.58] <+Repriever> "Yes. Good. You have come into possession of an essence, and you knew that it would affect your mind."
[15:32.38] <+Repriever> "Do you remember our training? Focus on the self you wish to be."
[15:32.53] <+Repriever> "The will of man is unbreakable."
[15:32.53] * Shala breathes, flaring her nostrils
[15:33.02] * Kir approaches, in hope his presence may aid the recovery
[15:33.03] <+Shala> "I do like me quite a bit"
[15:33.03] <+Repriever> "Kir, come here."
[15:33.10] * Shala tries to calm her self and the other competing selves
[15:33.27] * Repriever whispers to Kir.
[15:33.59] * Repriever steps back after.
[15:34.14] <DM> The larger group of Mels appears to be arguing against the draconic Mel and the Mel with obvious signs of dampness and psychological instability.
[15:34.34] <+Repriever> "You've got this, Kir."
[15:34.35] <+Melchior> "Decide it then!"
[15:34.39] * Repriever returns to Mels.
[15:34.42] * Melchior is now known as Explorer_Mel
[15:34.48] <+Explorer_Mel> ?roll 1d20+8
[15:34.48] <%tBot> Explorer_Mel: 12 ([4] +8)
[15:34.48] * Repriever tries getting a feel for their bickering.
[15:34.59] * Explorer_Mel is now known as Cleric
[15:35.01] <+Cleric> ?roll 1d20+8
[15:35.01] <%tBot> Cleric: 14 ([6] +8)
[15:35.04] <+Kir> "Shala"
[15:35.07] * Cleric is now known as Huntress
[15:35.12] <+Huntress> ?roll 1d20+8
[15:35.12] <%tBot> Huntress: 12 ([4] +8)
[15:35.19] <+Shala> "Hello, Kir"
[15:35.19] * Huntress is now known as Satrap
[15:35.22] <+Satrap> ?roll 1d20+8
[15:35.22] <%tBot> Satrap: 28 ([20] +8)
[15:35.27] * Satrap is now known as Mellakarta
[15:35.29] <+Mellakarta> ?roll 1d20+8
[15:35.29] <%tBot> Mellakarta: 21 ([13] +8)
[15:35.30] * Shala 's forehead twitches slightly
[15:35.33] * Mellakarta is now known as Melcirath
[15:35.36] <+Kir> "Tell me how we met"
[15:35.37] <+Melcirath> ?roll 1d20+8
[15:35.37] <%tBot> Melcirath: 19 ([11] +8)
[15:35.50] * Melcirath is now known as Melboleth
[15:35.53] <+Melboleth> ?roll 1d20+8
[15:35.53] <%tBot> Melboleth: 14 ([6] +8)
[15:36.11] * Shala unfurls a smile
[15:37.33] <+Shala> "We met with a...well, I was unimpressed at first"
[15:37.49] <+Shala> "In the woods"
[15:38.15] <+Shala> "We stomped that little demon into the mud, and you were there"
[15:38.20] * Melboleth is now known as Malkara
[15:38.39] <+Malkara> "DRAW, SEIN!"
[15:38.56] * Malkara is now known as Mellakarta
[15:38.57] <DM> A well-timed arrow thumped into the chest of a wild tribesman.
[15:39.04] <+Mellakarta> "Won't be the first time, won't be the last."
[15:39.08] <DM> And after, the small dark boy who shot it.
[15:39.34] <+Mellakarta> ?roll 1d20
[15:39.34] <%tBot> Mellakarta: 16 [16]
[15:39.35] <+Mellakarta> ?roll 1d20
[15:39.35] <%tBot> Mellakarta: 19 [19]
[15:39.36] <+Mellakarta> ?roll 1d20
[15:39.36] <%tBot> Mellakarta: 15 [15]
[15:40.10] <+Kir> "And then.."
[15:40.15] <+Repriever> [are the mels fighting?]
[15:40.18] <+Kir> "Krkesh, and the frogs"
[15:40.28] <DM> Some of the Mels are fighting, while other Mels are standing aside and watching.
[15:40.35] <+Kir> "Trek through mountains"
[15:40.41] * Repriever gets in the middle of the fighting Mels and tries to separate them.
[15:40.45] <+Mellakarta> Mellakarta draws her black and gold blade and flies at Melcirath.
[15:40.48] <+Kir> "Tell me of that"
[15:40.49] <+Mellakarta> "OUT OF THIS DUCKY!"
[15:40.57] <+Shala> "Mitsaq, then the lake of untempered time, then the frogs"
[15:41.02] <+Repriever> "Put it down, or I'll spank the lot of you!"
[15:41.06] <+Mellakarta> ?roll 1d20+13
[15:41.06] <%tBot> Mellakarta: 15 ([2] +13)
[15:41.14] <+Shala> "Who irked me, that whole village irked me."
[15:41.18] * Shala reminisces
[15:41.21] <+Mellakarta> ?roll 1d20+8
[15:41.21] <%tBot> Mellakarta: 9 ([1] +8)
[15:41.30] * Mellakarta is now known as Melcirath
[15:41.31] * Repriever straight up struggles to get between all the blades.
[15:41.37] <DM> Malkara and Mellakarta are cornering the Melcirath, who hisses and spits.
[15:41.40] <+Shala> "An assassin infiltrated it, and ruined my sleep"
[15:41.53] * Melcirath knocks Mellakarta's blade out of her hand.
[15:41.56] * Melcirath is now known as Cleric
[15:42.02] <+Cleric> "No! Repriever, stay out of this!"
[15:42.02] * Repriever holds up his cosmic arm, tunes it to Lethe, then sprays water on the Mels.
[15:42.05] * Cleric is now known as Malkara
[15:42.08] <DM> Two Mels, the explorer and Maelakar with her Kieli furs and horned helm, hold Repriever back.
[15:42.18] * Malkara is now known as Maelakar
[15:42.24] <+Maelakar> "This has to happen, Repriever."
[15:42.41] <+Maelakar> Combat Maneuver of 2 on 1 to grapple Repriever.
[15:42.51] <+Repriever> [give it a shot]
[15:42.58] <+Maelakar> ?roll 1d20+12
[15:42.58] <%tBot> Maelakar: 29 ([17] +12)
[15:43.00] <+Maelakar> ?roll 1d20+12
[15:43.00] <%tBot> Maelakar: 16 ([4] +12)
[15:43.09] <+Maelakar> does Maelakar beat your CMD?
[15:43.11] <+Kir> "And then the mountain"
[15:43.16] <+Maelakar> Cleric mel probably didn't.
[15:43.21] <+Repriever> [cmd 26]
[15:43.22] <+Kir> "Remember our escape?"
[15:43.31] <+Kir> "And trek on plains, after"
[15:43.56] * Maelakar tackles Repriever and attempts to hold him down, away from the fight. Cleric tries to help, but ends up just standing at the side, with reassurances.
[15:43.57] * Maelakar is now known as Cleric
[15:44.04] <+Cleric> "We can't get involved in this.
[15:44.05] <+Cleric> "
[15:44.09] * Cleric is now known as Malkara
[15:44.11] <DM> Melcirath looks dismissively down with a crimson-eyed glare at the two Mels that face her.
[15:44.16] <+Malkara> "HYYYYEEEAAAAHHHH!"
[15:44.24] <+Malkara> ?roll 1d20+13
[15:44.24] <%tBot> Malkara: 31 ([18] +13)
[15:44.29] <+Repriever> "Why? Why are you killing each other!?"
[15:44.30] <+Malkara> ?roll 1d20+7
[15:44.30] <%tBot> Malkara: 25 ([18] +7)
[15:44.35] <+Shala> "I remember the mountain well. Repriever had a friend there, who almost killed us. And then I...the armillary sphere."
[15:44.44] <+Malkara> [2 critical threats.]
[15:44.48] <+Malkara> ?roll 1d20+13
[15:44.48] <%tBot> Malkara: 20 ([7] +13)
[15:44.51] <+Shala> "Several run ins with the undead"
[15:44.51] <+Malkara> confirmed
[15:44.58] <+Malkara> ?roll 1d20+7
[15:44.58] <%tBot> Malkara: 25 ([18] +7)
[15:45.00] <+Malkara> confirmed
[15:45.05] <+Malkara> Malkara, goddamn.
[15:45.10] <DM> Jeez, Malkara lives up to her name.
[15:45.21] <+Shala> "Ok, I am your verbal travel diary now?"
[15:45.23] * Malkara slices Melcirath with two brutal critical strikes of LINECUTTER.
[15:45.35] <+Malkara> ?roll 4d12+20
[15:45.35] <%tBot> Malkara: 39 ([5 5 4 5] +20)
[15:45.46] <DM> I think you actually qualify for critical damage
[15:45.51] <+Kir> "You remember Shala now?"
[15:45.51] <DM> You can sever a limb if you want
[15:46.05] * Malkara is now known as Melcirath
[15:46.23] * Melcirath screams as her left arm is sliced off, a ritual skull clattering to the ground.
[15:46.46] <+Shala> "I think I do. I am here, for sure. Maybe in a bit I'll even be confident about it."
[15:46.47] * Shala smiles
[15:46.50] <+Melcirath> "I AM NOT GOING!"
[15:46.59] * Repriever watches in confused horror from the floor, as fur Mel holds him down.
[15:47.19] <+Melcirath> "ENOOOOOOOUUUUGH!"
[15:47.23] <+Melcirath> ?roll 8d6
[15:47.23] <%tBot> Melcirath: 33 [6 6 1 5 1 5 6 3]
[15:47.35] <DM> The opposing Mels can make reflex to halve
[15:47.45] * Melcirath screams flames of red and gold at Mellakarta and Malkara.
[15:47.49] * Kir embraces Shala
[15:47.54] * Melcirath is now known as Mellakarta
[15:48.02] <+Mellakarta> ?roll 1d20+3
[15:48.02] <%tBot> Mellakarta: 22 ([19] +3)
[15:48.05] * Mellakarta is now known as Malkara
[15:48.07] <+Malkara> ?roll 1d20+3
[15:48.07] <%tBot> Malkara: 20 ([17] +3)
[15:48.22] <DM> Those both pass.
[15:48.23] <+Malkara> "Are you even trying?"
[15:48.28] * Malkara smirks through the flames.
[15:48.36] * Malkara is now known as Mellakarta
[15:48.39] * Repriever tries to fight out of the grapple.
[15:48.51] * Mellakarta is disarmed, and attempts to grapple Melcirath.
[15:49.05] * Mellakarta is now known as Maelakar
[15:49.19] <DM> Given that Melcirath is missing an arm, I'll give you +5 to that attempt.
[15:49.19] <+Maelakar> Prescience preroll.
[15:49.22] <+Maelakar> ?roll 1d20
[15:49.22] <%tBot> Maelakar: 9 [9]
[15:49.26] <+Maelakar> rerolling that
[15:49.28] <+Maelakar> ?roll 1d20+12
[15:49.28] <%tBot> Maelakar: 26 ([14] +12)
[15:49.38] <+Maelakar> That's Maelakar trying to hold you.
[15:49.45] <+Repriever> [oh, good]
[15:49.48] * Kir speaks to Shala
[15:49.51] <+Maelakar> with a continued CMB trying to hold you down.
[15:50.07] * Repriever starts to try to get up, using the cosmic arm's extra strength to push on Maelakar.
[15:50.09] * Maelakar is now known as Mellakarta
[15:50.10] <+Repriever> ?roll 1d20+5
[15:50.10] <%tBot> Repriever: 25 ([20] +5)
[15:50.28] <+Mellakarta> ?roll 1d20+12
[15:50.29] <%tBot> Mellakarta: 18 ([6] +12)
[15:50.36] <DM> Maelakar has all the strength of a raging troll.
[15:50.43] <+Kir> "Now what in hell do they do?"
[15:50.50] <+Mellakarta> That does beat Melcirath's reduced CMD, with the no-arm penalty.
[15:50.58] <DM> Yep.
[15:51.01] <+Mellakarta> "FINISH HER!"
[15:51.07] <+Repriever> [and I toss Maelakar off me, right?]
[15:51.17] <DM> That would probably make her valid for a coup de grace
[15:51.23] <+Mellakarta> [Maelakar outscored him, but he did crit.]
[15:51.24] <DM> 25 vs. 26, I'm pretty sure she still holds you
[15:51.29] * Mellakarta coup de graces.
[15:51.36] <+Repriever> [mine was a crit though]
[15:51.37] <+Mellakarta> Two swift strokes, crits at 16
[15:51.40] <DM> True
[15:51.49] <DM> You can throw her off if you use some spell power
[15:52.02] <+Repriever> [I guess not]
[15:52.11] * Kir reaches out with the sphere to attempt to hold back the combatants, going for strangleholds on their throats
[15:52.11] <DM> I'll allow it
[15:52.21] <+Kir> "CUT it OUT!"
[15:52.28] <+Mellakarta> ?roll 2d12+10
[15:52.28] <%tBot> Mellakarta: 20 ([1 9] +10)
[15:52.30] * Repriever nearly removes the Maelakar, but then surrenders to her hold.
[15:52.30] <+Kir> "What in hell even happens here?"
[15:52.35] <+Kir> intimidate
[15:52.43] <+Mellakarta> alright that's a 30 DC save for Melcirath
[15:52.45] <+Kir> ?roll 1d20+16
[15:52.45] <%tBot> Kir: 30 ([14] +16)
[15:52.46] * Mellakarta is now known as Melcirath
[15:52.54] <+Melcirath> Prescience preroll.
[15:52.58] <+Melcirath> ?roll 1d20
[15:52.58] <%tBot> Melcirath: 4 [4]
[15:53.01] <+Melcirath> not taking that.
[15:53.10] <+Melcirath> ?roll 1d20+9
[15:53.10] <%tBot> Melcirath: 28 ([19] +9)
[15:53.17] <DM> One of the Mels is in the fetal position, and she cringes and holds herself as Kir shouts, whimpering.
[15:53.27] <DM> It was the one who broke down seeing the aboleth brain.
[15:53.41] <+Repriever> "Is this what Sovi would want?" he asks Maelakar.
[15:54.07] * Melcirath tilts over and falls to the ground, a gaping slash through her chest seeping huge amounts of blood.
[15:54.10] * Melcirath is now known as Maelakar
[15:54.22] <+Maelakar> "DON'T you DARE say that name around HER, Repriever."
[15:54.31] * Maelakar flicks her head towards the weeping Mel.
[15:54.43] * Maelakar is now known as Malkara
[15:54.47] <+Malkara> "Sometimes I disappoint myself."
[15:54.55] * Repriever retreats a bit.
[15:55.14] * Malkara pokes linecutter into the torso, twists it, and pulls out a heart, flicking it at Akvan.
[15:55.16] <+Malkara> "Catch."
[15:55.34] <DM> Kir, your sphere retreats before the metal is able to touch any of the Mels.
[15:55.46] * Malkara is now known as Melchior
[15:55.58] * Repriever uses the end of the conflict to roll Maelakar.
[15:56.00] <+Melchior> "Okay everyone, sorry about that, my images are manifesting."
[15:56.06] <+Melchior> "PREEV."
[15:56.09] <+Melchior> "OI."
[15:56.19] * Melchior is now known as Cleric
[15:56.31] <+Repriever> "WHAT!"
[15:56.39] <+Cleric> "The power of the illusionists sustained my images. We're just supposed to be images."
[15:56.40] * Repriever struggles mightly with the furred warrior.
[15:56.53] <+Cleric> "But it's manifesting illusions into flesh."
[15:56.57] <DM> The heart flies through the air, but it vanishes into mist before it slaps into Akvan.
[15:57.02] <+Cleric> "We noticed it, we had to dispel the illusion."
[15:57.15] <+Cleric> "Melcirath didn't want to go, she had to."
[15:57.28] <+Repriever> "So you killed her."
[15:57.33] <+Cleric> "She's not dead."
[15:57.42] <+Repriever> "Isn't she?"
[15:57.42] * Cleric is now known as Malkara
[15:57.45] <+Malkara> "She's quite fine."
[15:57.54] <+Kir> "Correct me if wrong..."
[15:58.02] <+Malkara> "My mirror image simply brings an image of myself from another time, another possibility."
[15:58.05] <+Kir> "This instance of her dies, but.."
[15:58.11] <+Malkara> "That one was starting to think it was real."
[15:58.18] <+Kir> "Can rejoin this world if called?"
[15:58.26] <+Malkara> "Correct."
[15:58.34] <+Malkara> "It's just a copy, a duplicate."
[15:58.41] * Repriever pushes Maelakar aside.
[15:58.43] <+Malkara> "A temporary, very convincing image."
[15:58.44] <+Repriever> "Get off!"
[15:58.53] * Malkara is now known as Maelakar
[15:59.00] * Maelakar rolls off of Repriever and lets him go.
[15:59.02] * Repriever stands quickly.
[15:59.07] * Maelakar is now known as Mellakarta
[15:59.07] <+Repriever> "This is fucked."
[15:59.23] <DM> The Mel lying on the ground continues to sob, softer.
[15:59.32] * Mellakarta looks down and watches the illusory blood disappear from her brown and gold cloak.
[15:59.41] <+Shala> "I thought I had problems..."
[15:59.44] <+Repriever> [which mel is weeping?]
[15:59.44] <+Mellakarta> "We just had to merge back."
[15:59.49] * Mellakarta is now known as Cleric
[15:59.53] * Kir looks to real Mel, and nods towards the weeping one
[16:00.00] <+Cleric> "She is the Melchior who failed the Aboleth's challenge."
[16:00.00] <+Kir> "I deal with her?"
[16:00.04] * Cleric has watery eyes too.
[16:00.14] <+Cleric> "This is a very sad branch of myself."
[16:00.26] <+Cleric> "She failed the Aboleth's trial, because she loved her husband so."
[16:00.40] <+Cleric> "They tempted her with an image of... *him*."
[16:00.45] * Cleric is careful not to say the name.
[16:00.50] <+Cleric> "She killed all of you."
[16:00.59] * Repriever has parted lips, then firms up.
[16:01.02] <+Cleric> "And the Aboleths used that to enslave her."
[16:01.18] <+Cleric> "They didn't even need their mind-dominance, they tortured her until now."
[16:01.22] * Repriever kneels by the weeping Mel, whispering an apology.
[16:01.26] <+Cleric> "Knowing that she'd murdered her friends."
[16:01.38] * Cleric is now known as Mindslave
[16:01.44] * Mindslave shakes her head violently and starts crying more.
[16:01.46] * Mindslave is now known as Cleric
[16:01.54] <+Cleric> "You don't need to apologise to her."
[16:02.03] <+Cleric> "She wishes she could apologise. She can't."
[16:02.09] <+Repriever> "She can."
[16:02.23] <+Akvan> ?roll 1d20+9
[16:02.23] <%tBot> Akvan: 29 ([20] +9)
[16:02.25] <+Cleric> "Release is merciful. I pray we can save her, and give her living peace of mind, in the end."
[16:02.29] <+Akvan> [Planes]
[16:02.31] <+Akvan> @DM
[16:02.46] <+Cleric> "But she too needs to be dispelled. Malkara and Mellakarta know this."
[16:02.48] * Cleric is now known as Malkara
[16:03.04] * Repriever reaches out his cosmic arm, amber and gemstones alight within as it tunes to Mel, to touch the weeping mindslave.
[16:03.15] <+Malkara> "This sad one is not from the Melchior who traveled with you."
[16:03.28] <+Repriever> "They all are a piece of you."
[16:03.33] <+Repriever> "Good or bad."
[16:03.34] <+Malkara> "She is from a different branch, where you no longer exist. Her memories cannot be used to constitute the Mel that is here."
[16:03.37] * Repriever says the last to Malkara.
[16:03.53] * Akvan moves closer to the gate
[16:04.06] <+Malkara> "Repriever. My ol' sparring buddy. Do you think that it would be fair to force the Mel you know to live with that horror?"
[16:04.15] <+Malkara> "A horror I've never known, she's never known?"
[16:04.21] <DM> There is a large room beyond, Akvan, which you edge towards.
[16:04.26] <+Malkara> "You know how much what I experienced darkened her heart, hurt her mind."
[16:04.29] <+Malkara> "Don't you?"
[16:04.45] <+Malkara> "Imagine forcing those memories, that trauma, into someone else's mind."
[16:04.48] <+Repriever> "Astara told me to protect you."
[16:04.54] <+Malkara> "I am protecting myself."
[16:04.57] <+Repriever> "All of you."
[16:04.59] <+Malkara> "All of myselves."
[16:05.32] * Malkara is now known as Cleric
[16:06.14] <+Cleric> "Repriever pleased, let us do this. Unless you have something that can bring absolution for an unwilling crime, a horrid evil one was forced to commit, and cannot choose to forgive themselves for."
[16:06.31] * Kir checks on Shala, then moves to follow Akvan
[16:06.56] * Repriever leans down to Mindslave Mel's ear, and whispers.
[16:07.02] * Cleric gestures to the Mel on the floor, clad in a faded, but gaudy collared cloak of navy and violet.
[16:07.02] <+Repriever> <<I forgive you.>>
[16:07.15] * Cleric is now known as Mindslave
[16:07.37] * Mindslave holds her breath for a moment, then sighs.
[16:07.42] * Mindslave is now known as Cleric
[16:07.49] <+Cleric> "We *will* come for you, sister."
[16:08.21] * Cleric kneels over the now-calm body of the tortured Mel, bearing a holy symbol of Kanetic origin.
[16:08.53] * Repriever meets Cleric's eyes, tracing the motions of the holy symbol.
[16:09.01] * Cleric speaks a prayer.
[16:09.47] <+Kir> ?roll 1d20+15
[16:09.47] <%tBot> Kir: 18 ([3] +15)
[16:09.56] <+Cleric> (Asleep, Asleep, Asleep. On Creation's Breath, Rest, Peace.)
[16:10.19] <+Cleric> (Be weighed daughter, be found worthy.)
[16:10.56] <+Cleric> (Know you are forever forgiven by those who live, for there was never a crime to forgive.)
[16:11.11] <+Cleric> [Understandable if someone knows Middle Kanetic, or has tongues.]
[16:11.22] * Repriever hears gibberish.
[16:11.24] * Cleric is now known as Mindslave
[16:11.34] * Mindslave sighs, and fades away.
[16:11.48] * Mindslave rises up.
[16:11.50] <+Mindslave> oops
[16:11.52] * Mindslave is now known as Cleric
[16:11.54] * Cleric rises up
[16:12.11] * Repriever stays kneeling, having a flashback to Penumbra fading in his arms in the mountain.
[16:12.18] <+Cleric> "I don't know if that can carry through to where the origin of the Aboleth's Servant is... I hope it does.
[16:12.19] <+Cleric> "
[16:12.32] * Cleric is now known as Malkara
[16:12.36] <+Malkara> "To business then."
[16:12.50] * Repriever gets to his feet.
[16:12.56] * Malkara stands next to aged Mellakarta, in gold-fringed brown robes.
[16:13.35] <+Malkara> White-clad Cleric, the rough-clad explorer, the Huntress in her laminar armour and furs, all stand together.
[16:13.39] * Malkara is now known as Melchior
[16:13.43] <+Melchior> "Until next time, me."
[16:13.57] * Melchior is now known as Mellakarta
[16:14.06] <+Mellakarta> "And let's not leave Malkara to do all of the dirty work next time, eh?"
[16:14.16] <+Mellakarta> The voices become jumbled as the illusions begin to fade together.
[16:14.38] <+Mellakarta> Looking at it strains the eyes, as everything shifts briefly out of focus, then snaps back into a singular figure.
[16:14.41] * Mellakarta is now known as Mel
[16:14.53] <+Shala> "Better?"
[16:14.56] * Mel stands in a fading glow.
[16:15.11] <+Repriever> "The both of you are headaches."
[16:15.17] * Repriever considers Shala.
[16:15.21] <+Repriever> "You you?"
[16:15.33] * Mel has a robe, brown with golden trim, over a white dress
[16:16.17] <+Shala> "I believe so, Kir helped"
[16:16.18] <+Mel> At her side is Linecutter, her implements and skull about her waist. On her off hand is a gauntlet.
[16:16.38] <+Repriever> "Good. I thought he might."
[16:16.44] <+Mel> Around her neck is a cicada brooch.
[16:17.00] <+Mel> "Sorry 'bout that all."
[16:17.09] <+Mel> "Shall we proceed?"
[16:17.26] * Repriever can't muster the words.
[16:17.27] * Akvan is already at the door, waiting
[16:17.40] * Mel reaches over to give Repriever a hug.
[16:17.48] * Mel whispers in his ear.
[16:18.17] * Repriever simply nods.
[16:18.43] <DM> Kir is in the chamber beyond, rummaging in some crates when you enter it through a small side door that leaves the shining crystal caverns behind.
[16:19.11] * Kir gnaws on a nut or dried fruit or something, assuming those are available
[16:19.15] <+Kir> "Come, help carry"
[16:19.28] <+Kir> "Provisions here"
[16:19.30] <DM> It is a large chamber, somewhat spartan and industrial looking.
[16:19.53] * Kir has laid out a few sacks of quinoa, potatoes, and a few strands of garlic
[16:20.15] * Kir has also laid a pouch of saffron on a potato bag
[16:20.49] <+Shala> "Hmm, I am pretty famished"
[16:21.00] * Repriever is speaking quietly with Mel.
[16:21.37] <DM> The chamber is dominated by a rough-hewn doorway of stone.
[16:21.37] <+Kir> "We maybe cook now, heh"
[16:21.42] <DM> The portal to which shimmers with water.
[16:21.48] * Kir says this as he pops another nut into his mouth
[16:22.15] * Repriever leans on one of the crates, peering inside.
[16:23.21] <DM> It's filled with quinoa.
[16:23.35] <+Akvan> "We should not wait. let's go through.
[16:23.41] <+Akvan> "
[16:23.53] <DM> Wagon-grooves in the floor prove that this was indeed a storeroom for provisions that Transmutation ships to Illusion.
[16:24.04] * Repriever chuckles at something Mel says.
[16:25.03] <+Akvan> "We REALLY should leave. Rebel angels are about to attack the tower, here."
[16:25.09] <+Akvan> "they're hunting me."
[16:25.21] * Akvan gestures vaguely at the door
[16:25.42] * Repriever looks up to Akvan.
[16:25.45] <+Repriever> "More of them?"
[16:25.56] * Akvan nods
[16:26.05] <+Akvan> "Thousands"
[16:26.11] * Akvan taps his brand
[16:26.35] <+Repriever> "Auh, gods dammit."
[16:26.37] <+Shala> "Through the maze?"
[16:26.42] <+Mel> "If we need to eat, we can generate some field food and move. Let's get to illusion."
[16:26.47] <+Mel> "Where's my donkey?"
[16:26.47] <+Repriever> "There are millions of people out there."
[16:26.50] <+Akvan> "I'm not sure they'll be able to make it to the heart."
[16:26.54] <+Mel> "Right! Boat."
[16:26.59] <+Akvan> "So, let's leave so they hae vno reason to attack the tower."
[16:27.01] <+Mel> "Sorry, feeling a bit jumbled right now."
[16:27.13] <+Kir> "If we go, we go"
[16:27.19] <+Mel> "We go."
[16:27.22] * Repriever eats some nuts.
[16:27.23] <+Kir> "How do we activate gate?"
[16:27.34] <DM> It shimmers, aqueously, the water rippling.
[16:27.37] <+Kir> dm, what kind of nuts?
[16:27.39] <+Repriever> "Shala holds all the power now."
[16:28.02] <+Shala> "Well, the artifact does"
[16:28.10] <+Repriever> "And it is yours."
[16:28.47] <DM> Walnuts
[16:28.56] <+Kir> ooooh
[16:28.57] <+Kir> yummm
[16:29.09] * Repriever has no bags to pocket anything in. He lost that, too.
[16:29.09] <DM> lightly salted.
[16:29.31] * Shala waves the key/sword around the gate
[16:29.33] <+Repriever> "Warn Penumbra before we cross the threshold."
[16:29.39] * Kir continues to munch on walnuts as he sacks out some more food
[16:30.51] <DM> After Melchior does so, coming back with an assurance that the boy is good, as she has been crafting shadow toys and reading to him from her books...
[16:30.56] <DM> You are ready to move.
[16:31.00] * Repriever comes up to Shala.
[16:31.07] <+Repriever> "You're going to kill him."
[16:31.10] <+Kir> "Grab supplies, then we go"
[16:31.17] <+Mel> [which boy is good?]
[16:31.26] <+Repriever> [the vamp bait]
[16:31.32] <+Mel> ah good!
[16:31.44] <+Shala> "Well, I better now, oughn't I?"
[16:32.07] <+Repriever> "I'm sorry."
[16:32.23] * Shala tries to relax her posture
[16:32.34] <+Shala> "No, it's reasonable. Nobody else should be burdened with it."
[16:33.07] <+Repriever> "We'll see how much he loves you."
[16:33.33] <+Mel> "Let's- let's not get into that right now."
[16:34.13] * Repriever concedes.
[16:35.07] <+Repriever> "So, do we just step through?"
[16:35.30] <+Mel> "What do you think, Lethe?"
[16:36.27] <+Mel> "Yeah, the way is open."
[16:36.30] <+Mel> "Let us proceed!"
[16:36.45] <+Repriever> "Everyone hold together."
[16:37.00] <+Repriever> "I'd rather not land on a mountain top."
[16:37.02] * Mel holds hands with Repriever and Akvan.
[16:37.26] * Shala taks the hands of the two nearest
[16:37.46] <+Mel> Arcana check!
[16:37.48] <+Mel> "Just a moment."
[16:37.56] <+Mel> ?roll 1d20+18
[16:37.56] <%tBot> Mel: 34 ([16] +18)
[16:38.06] <+Mel> "Now what have we here?"
[16:38.33] <+Repriever> "Hm?"
[16:38.56] <+Mel> "There's an extra enchantment, just trying to figure it out."\
[16:39.10] <+Mel> "But otherwise this is a permanently open portal. Its security is its obscurity."
[16:39.27] <+Repriever> "And what're we expecting on the other side?"
[16:39.37] <+Mel> "Time magic, it's only supposed to let things through at appointed dates, otherwise we get delayed."
[16:39.38] <+Shala> "A million vampires"
[16:39.39] <+Akvan> "Not angry angels"
[16:39.48] <+Repriever> "Delayed?"
[16:39.51] <+Repriever> "How long?"
[16:39.57] <+Mel> "That said, we might have to put up with that, if we've got your pursuers."
[16:40.04] <+Mel> 3 months at most.
[16:40.15] * Mel looks around for any magical signs or traces of recent uses of the portal.
[16:40.17] <+Repriever> "That cuts the Apastron's timeline nearly in half."
[16:41.00] <+Mel> "Well, I could see if I could bypass the time lock."
[16:41.06] <+Repriever> "Is that safe?"
[16:41.30] <+Mel> "Potentially no, but neither is waiting 3 months."
[16:42.09] <+Akvan> "We don't have another three months"
[16:42.15] <+Repriever> "We have to take the loss."
[16:42.21] <+Repriever> "We can't risk dying tampering with this."
[16:42.32] <+Repriever> "It'll leave us..."
[16:42.36] <+Repriever> [4 months, right, dm?]
[16:42.39] <+Akvan> "I... Uh... Sael's curse is weakening. the Big one is waking."
[16:42.44] <+Akvan> "Faster than expected."
[16:43.01] <+Repriever> "I know."
[16:43.11] * Repriever speaks low.
[16:43.30] <+Repriever> "Carcephon, can you hear us?"
[16:43.58] * Repriever taps the armor with the jewel torc underneath.
[16:44.07] * Akvan pulls preev to stand infront of the gate
[16:44.11] * You are now known as Carcephon
[16:44.22] <Carcephon> "Thanks to your portal to the outside, I can."
[16:44.28] <Carcephon> "Although the influence of Water is..."
[16:44.32] <Carcephon> "Quite unpleasant."
[16:44.37] <Carcephon> You can almost hear her wrinkling her nose.
[16:44.47] * Repriever looks into Akvan's eyes, seeking whatever he's about to say.
[16:45.01] <+Repriever> "We're going to lose time."
[16:46.31] <+Mel> Spellcraft preroll.
[16:46.32] <+Mel> ?roll 1d20
[16:46.32] <%tBot> Mel: 1 [1]
[16:46.35] <+Mel> Not keeping that.
[16:46.42] <+Mel> ?roll 1d20+18
[16:46.42] <%tBot> Mel: 32 ([14] +18)
[16:47.21] <Carcephon> "You're caught between a flame and a wet place, it would seem."
[16:47.37] <Carcephon> "Angels behind you, and a delay that will awaken my father ahead."
[16:47.53] * Repriever seems uncomfortable.
[16:48.06] <Carcephon> "Whatever shall you do?"
[16:48.11] <+Repriever> "A new emergence."
[16:48.35] * Mel starts to sketch out an occultist's circle.
[16:48.48] <+Mel> "Ah, it's been too long since I did this. Ritual stuff!"
[16:48.52] <Carcephon> "I could return to him Ilia's power..."
[16:49.01] <+Repriever> "Why?"
[16:49.03] * Carcephon chuckles.
[16:49.08] <Carcephon> "To save myself."
[16:49.23] <Carcephon> "But I would be forever in his shadow."
[16:49.42] * Repriever paces angrily in a tight circle.
[16:49.54] * Mel is working and not paying attention.
[16:49.59] <+Repriever> "He'll kill so many people."
[16:50.45] <Carcephon> "Oh, undoubtedly."
[16:50.52] <+Repriever> "You want... things."
[16:51.02] <Carcephon> "I always want things."
[16:51.08] <+Repriever> "You can't have your empire, your glory, with him."
[16:51.23] <Carcephon> "Not the way I want it, no."
[16:51.43] <+Repriever> "How long until he wakes?"
[16:51.50] * Mel hums and works.
[16:52.03] <Carcephon> "He stirs."
[16:52.13] <Carcephon> "Every few days, he speaks."
[16:52.25] <+Repriever> "And the Apastron has retreated, as Azri claimed?"
[16:52.26] <+Akvan> "What does he say?"
[16:52.50] * Repriever grumbles about how he shouldn't have killed the Palethorn.
[16:52.55] <Carcephon> "He seeks the throne of lavender."
[16:53.02] <Carcephon> "To kill his oldest foe."
[16:53.22] <Carcephon> "The ruler of the human empire..."
[16:53.30] <Carcephon> "And all the other human gods."
[16:53.50] <+Repriever> "He's not getting it."
[16:53.57] <+Mel> "Not much left of the 'human empire' at this point."
[16:53.57] <+Repriever> "He's not touching Her."
[16:54.07] * Mel comments while carving a series of auxiliary sigils into her cicle.
[16:54.07] <Carcephon> "He isn't really aware of that yet."
[16:54.13] <+Shala> "A bit of a moral victory..."
[16:54.33] <+Mel> "Hopefully he figures out that we're mostly ashes already and turns over for another era or three."
[16:54.35] <+Repriever> "The last emergence killed millions. Fields burned, cities crumbled into ash."
[16:54.45] <Carcephon> "In his mind, the war is still continuing."
[16:54.55] <Carcephon> "He goes back and forth."
[16:55.01] <Carcephon> "Sael's curse keeps him in dreams."
[16:55.20] <Carcephon> "I suspect we have less than a month."
[16:55.33] <Carcephon> "But I will do all I can to extend the time."
[16:55.36] <+Repriever> "He'll come after the Calcissi."
[16:55.43] <+Repriever> "We need to warn them."
[16:56.01] <Carcephon> "If my plan works, Kharvalath will be dead before he can wake."
[16:56.02] <+Repriever> "But they're ill-prepared for the Father's flame."
[16:56.24] <Carcephon> "But you must move quickly."
[16:56.47] <+Repriever> "We need to speak. You need to tell Akvan the truth."
[16:56.59] <+Shala> [brb bathroom]
[16:57.08] <Carcephon> "I always tell Akvan the truth...oh, what a circle!"
[16:57.13] <Carcephon> "Very charming, Melchior."
[16:57.21] <Carcephon> "Such an earthy aesthetic."
[16:57.26] <+Mel> "I try my best, Blue."
[16:58.02] <Carcephon> "Mm, you do, it's terribly endearing."
[16:58.06] <+Akvan> "oh, yes.  That truth. There's something you need to tell me, according to Repreiver."
[16:58.22] <Carcephon> "Do you want to know now, Akvan?"
[16:58.22] <+Repriever> "A fox in clothing brought it up."
[16:58.24] * Mel chuckles.
[16:58.52] <Carcephon> "A vulpinal agathion."
[16:58.55] <+Repriever> "I'm trying very hard to keep on topic right now."
[16:59.00] <Carcephon> "Typical. Little meddlers."
[16:59.07] <+Repriever> "You know what you did, but that's less important than what is coming."
[16:59.23] <Carcephon> "Oh, are you going to thank me?"
[16:59.38] <+Mel> "Well, this is looking pretty good. We're basically resetting the clock on this gate, so that it lets through an extra pulse."
[16:59.49] <+Repriever> "Thank you?"
[16:59.52] <+Mel> "Normally it's on a 3-month rhythm, but this basically overrides it with... a hiccup, if you will."
[16:59.53] <+Repriever> "For that?"
[17:00.02] <+Mel> "An extra pulse, for us to ride through."
[17:00.13] <+Repriever> "No, but if you delay your father I'll kiss your feet."
[17:00.16] <Carcephon> "Are you thanking me for saving your life, or little Couplet's?"
[17:00.35] * Akvan flinches
[17:00.53] <Carcephon> "Either way, you're weeelcome."
[17:01.00] * Carcephon purrs.
[17:01.05] <+Repriever> "Couplet is a topic for another day, when the world isn't on the verge of being a firestorm."
[17:01.18] <+Mel> "Well, we've heard that Couplet is well, and her condition was dire. Isolating her positive and negative portions from one another was quite the ritual, and not a stable long-term solution."
[17:01.18] <+Repriever> "And believe me, you'll hear my mind on that."
[17:01.21] <Carcephon> "Apastron has withdrawn."
[17:01.39] <Carcephon> "To dig up more bodies, I'm sure."
[17:01.45] <Carcephon> "He'll be back."
[17:02.11] <+Mel> "Someone needs to get a legion of clerics to go and sanctify graves some time."
[17:02.17] <Carcephon> "Akvan, this is your choice."
[17:02.24] * Mel jests.
[17:02.29] <+Repriever> "A lot of people died in the wars, Mel, and I tried my best."
[17:02.32] <Carcephon> "Do you want to know your true nature?"
[17:02.39] <+Repriever> "I spent my years out there, putting the dead down."
[17:02.43] * Mel nods, more seriously.
[17:03.05] * Akvan looks at repriever
[17:03.14] * Akvan looks at the claws on his hands
[17:03.18] <+Akvan> "I... yes."
[17:03.38] <+Repriever> "I did as you said, Blue."
[17:04.00] <Carcephon> "I think you know it in your heart already, Akvan."
[17:04.22] <+Akvan> "I don't know that I do."
[17:04.26] <Carcephon> "Ilia searched long years for you."
[17:04.38] <+Akvan> "She made me."
[17:04.54] <Carcephon> "She hoped to use you as a weapon in her unending war against her son."
[17:05.07] <Carcephon> "Who crippled her."
[17:05.16] <Carcephon> "And why you?"
[17:05.24] <+Akvan> "Right place, right time."
[17:05.53] <Carcephon> "The curse that lies on my father is one that only you can lift...or finish."
[17:06.05] <+Akvan> "Sael"
[17:06.14] <Carcephon> "You are Sael, Akvan."
[17:06.22] <Carcephon> "You are his reincarnation."
[17:06.24] * Akvan looks at his hands again
[17:06.32] <+Akvan> "I was better looking, last time, then."
[17:06.40] * Akvan closes his eyes
[17:06.46] <Carcephon> "Well I certainly disagree."
[17:06.46] * Akvan looks at Repriever.
[17:06.49] <+Akvan> "Did you know this?"
[17:06.55] <+Repriever> "Yes."
[17:07.01] * Akvan nods
[17:07.07] <+Akvan> "We shouldn't tarry, here."
[17:07.35] * Akvan reaches into his pouch, scooping out a red ribbon and tieing his hair up into a knot on his head
[17:07.44] <+Mel> "Gate's done."
[17:07.45] * Mel grunts.
[17:07.49] <Carcephon> "I'll speak to you all later."
[17:07.49] <+Akvan> "It's good to know, but it doesn't change much about what we have to do.
[17:07.55] <+Akvan> about who we are."
[17:08.00] <+Repriever> "Keep your hands off of Couplet."
[17:08.19] <Carcephon> "What is it you like to say about free will?"
[17:08.24] * Carcephon chuckles slowly.
[17:08.47] <Carcephon> The bracer melts back into frozenness.
[17:08.51] * You are now known as DM
[17:08.52] * Repriever grumbles.
[17:09.22] <+Mel> "We do have 'friends' who certainly love taunting, don't we."
[17:09.27] <+Repriever> "Today is a trying day."
[17:09.35] <+Mel> "Take my hand, chain up everyone."
[17:10.04] <+Repriever> "The divines we serve, huh?"
[17:10.08] * Repriever takes some hands.
[17:10.11] * Akvan takes mel and preev's hand
[17:10.35] <+Mel> "Kir, Shala."
[17:11.27] * Repriever speaks in draconic.
[17:11.49] <+Shala> [back]
[17:12.01] <+Repriever> |If she wishes to remain divine, she has to work for it.|
[17:12.23] <+Akvan> [She... seems better than her father, or her siblings, no?]
[17:12.37] <+Repriever> [was that ooc or draconic]
[17:13.04] * Kir joins the chain
[17:13.06] <+Akvan> [Draconic]
[17:13.19] <+Repriever> |We'll see.|
[17:13.46] * Akvan shrugs, hands still in the chain
[17:13.49] <DM> Linked up, hand in hand, the watery gate lies before you.
[17:15.03] * Mel leads the way in, with Lethe as her guide.
[17:15.59] * DM changes topic to: A Handful of Dust Session 77: Hard Choices - ＋https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trnt9Q4A414，
[17:16.51] <DM> Far away, Rigole sighs.
[17:17.17] <+Mel> [just caught up with us at one end of the maze, now he's 3 months behind us]
[17:17.27] <DM> Clad in rags, he his chained, hand and foot, locked to the base of a wagon that rolls across the upper city.
[17:17.48] <+Mel> [having less fun that I had originally imagined]
[17:17.52] * Shala (IceChat9@cpe-97-98-83-80.stx.res.rr.com) Quit (Ping timeout: 121 seconds)
[17:18.07] <DM> His protestations at not being involved with an act of mass chaos in vain, he is being taken to interrogation by the secret police.
[17:18.38] <+Kir> [the cats'll get him out.. I hope]
[17:18.46] <+Repriever> [lolyalist]
[17:18.53] <DM> "Surely they'll realize this is a mistake," he pleads, to no one in particular, a scarred rhinoceros-man barely grunting in response.
[17:19.32] * Shala (IceChat9@cpe-97-98-83-80.stx.res.rr.com) has joined channel #nesdnd
[17:19.33] <DM> Then the wagon suddenly stops short, causing Rigole's face to bump into the rhino-man's shoulder.
[17:19.38] * DM sets mode +v Shala for #nesdnd
[17:20.09] <DM> "What's happening? Is this the guard station?"
[17:21.03] <DM> Then suddenly, the wagon turns on its side, the back doors splintering. Beast and man alike cry out in shock and terror.
[17:21.20] * azale_ (IceChat9@cpe-97-98-83-80.stx.res.rr.com) has joined channel #nesdnd
[17:21.56] <DM> Rigole bursts free as the rhino-man next to him breaks the bench they are cuffed to, shuffling into the street still chained.
[17:22.07] <DM> "What in the kasatha's...wait!"
[17:22.45] <DM> And then he looks, not at the shuffling prisoners, or the panicking crowds fleeing for their lives...
[17:23.19] <DM> But the fire in the sky.
[17:23.37] * Shala (IceChat9@cpe-97-98-83-80.stx.res.rr.com) Quit (Ping timeout: 121 seconds)
[17:23.44] * azale_ is now known as Shala
[17:23.58] <+Akvan> [oh fun]
[17:24.04] <DM> Bird-guards take flight, flinging javelins and magical projectiles.
[17:24.15] <+Akvan> [maybe the angels kill the vampires?]
[17:24.18] <DM> And promptly burst into flame.
[17:24.45] <DM> And as angels descend on shining, fiery crimson wings, their bodies shining bright with the internal light of heaven...
[17:25.02] <DM> A circle of them stand, far above, clad in flames that wreath their bodies like armor.
[17:25.28] <DM> Their eyes are just, but not kind.
[17:26.52] <DM> <<Search for him.>> the foremost, a man with burning flames trailing from his eyes and a flaming circlet upon his brow, with the celestial for <<Rulership>> carved upon his forehead.
[17:27.17] <+Kir> [getting some major ksbd vibes from this and loving it]
[17:28.15] <DM> From the golden towers, black and purple-cloaked Transmuters take flight, on winged beasts, or transmuting themselves into giant bats if they are vampiric.
[17:29.02] <DM> The Ameshar forms from the air a staff of flame, a circle of Celestial sigils at its peak.
[17:29.51] <DM> <<In the name of Ilia, the True Flame, you are condemned.>>
[17:30.21] <DM> He thumps his staff down, onto the air at his feet.
[17:30.40] <DM> And the glass breaks.
[17:30.44] <DM> End session.