Melina smiles. She carries a big red tome under her arm "Thank you guys for trekking out here. The book says that the takari culture has extensive rituals to secure the protection of their deities, so hopefully we'll learn something interesting.

The city you enter does not seem to be overly ostentatious or opulent but nor does it seem destitute. Buildings are of clay construction. Some large enough to have multiple stories or rooms. Booths are set to create a market place where villages throng and go about their businesses. A large building to the east stands out for its ornamentation and its bronzed dome roof reaching forth to the sun, almost as if meant to rival the mountain peaks the loom in the distance. Bronze monkey statuary grace both sides of the main open rounded doorway and a monkey head peers down at those who seek to enter.

One thing is certain the building dwarfs the populace. While there is variation as in the people every nation, some things are apparent almost no one stands above 5' feet here. Olive complexion and dark hair and eyes are most common, though not exclusive, those with differing features stand out. Garb seem to be chiefly one piece robes of varying colors many with a monkey upon them . Almost all seem to have a red color charm about their neck.Also, a small square of land at left angle to the large building and at the opposite end of the same thoroughfare is entire devoid of traffic. The lowering sun in the say signals the approach of night

"It's always, uh, kind of fascinating, seeing how it all diverges. Found a culture once where they offer sartorial gifts to their King of Bling. I forget what his name is there... really awkward being treated like some kind of divine messenger," Gailan mumbles all of that, looking about the civilization with a seemingly skip-track attention. The connections of one thing to another to another seem to have him looking around almost at random, so much so he trips over thin air and apologizes to the cobbles.

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Gift: PAT-AS - Adaptive Shifting
Summary: Adapt accoutrements as you shift

This character is able to shift the things that are with him, as he travels through shadow. He can change his clothing and the clothing of those with him, obtain basic items such as weapons and food simply by shifting them into existence, and adapt the items that are with him to the conditions and peculiarities of this shadow.
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Cale's done his homework (PAT-AS makes that pretty easy, he has found) and so Cale's dressed up in the customary local long - robe "monkey suit," complete with red necklace and charm.  Since he's short and slender to begin with, he doesn't stand out all that much, and with a bit of a stoop and a shuffle he gets down to 'almost' within the 5 foot range of height.  "Monkey see, monkey do."  As they say.  And so Cale does.  He spends the first few minutes the same way he does upon entering any other Shadow.  Watching.  Listening.  Learning. Cale's keen eyes take it all in.  With excitement, and anticipation, and a sense of the unknown.  Cale likes learning.  Learning's fun!  Especially in new and strange and faraway places.  Hm.  What's with that small square of land at left angle to the large building?  Why is no one walking there?  Cale watches, for a bit, and tries to figure that one out.  After half a minute's observation, Cale wrinkles up his nose a bit.  Ugh.  That's either foul dark magic going wrong, or really bad eggs.  Note to self: Avoid as well.

RPG: Melina shows a message to MAG-SE or BLD-PA: You can smell the charm. The taste of copper sits upon your tongue. A foul odor emits itself from the avoided square. There is magic at play from both directions.

Dirk is a cat sneaking from place to place nosing around.

Aneirin is dressed the same as usual, like an Indiana Jones fanboy. He even has the hat. Unlike usual, today he's armed. He brought a short sword and a large number of darts, the former hidden under his jacket and the latter holstered along his belt. "Always happy to help, Melina," he sets with a grin, taking in the surroundings with as much attention as the others, "Besides, I've been gagging to get out of Amber." He observes the worn charms, sniffs the air, and makes a face like he tastes something nasty. "Huh. Gailan, do you sense what I sense over in the abandoned square?"

Dirk wanders over to Ane and purrs for attention as he wanders with the gang.

Gailan nods his head slowly to Aneirin. "It's making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Um. Don't go in there anyone, until... uh, until Aneirin and I have been able to have a ... thingy. Touchy feely thingy. Uhm." He sneezes, wrinkling his nose with it. "Bad taste. NOt sure what it is. I don't feel... ... no it's just mystical energy though."

Cale notes that Gailan and Aneirin have also sensed the foul magic in the square, and now intend to do something about that.  Okay.  One less thing for Cale to worry about then.  Cale is then free to concentrate on observing the people, which he does.  How they move, what they say, what gestures are common, what actions taboo. When and where they sit, or stand. What they carry, what they eat. People - watching!  Also fun.  And also usually informative.


RPG: Ascian declares that he has the God Eater: Wind (DIV-GE) gift. Use '+gift DIV-GE' to view the gift description. Last edit: 130 months ago.
RPG: Ascian used the following +declare targets: Stage 1
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Gift: DIV-GE - God Eater
Summary: You've consumed a god for its power
Cost: 10
Powerbits: aspect recognize tough type-divine
Prerequisites:
  * CHARGEN !DEV-CA
  * AL-OLD/3 !DEV-CA
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The character has consumed a being of power, be it a god, demon or powerful spirit and draws upon its essence as fuel. The character no longer needs more than a token amount of food, drink and sleep to survive, and the character's ability to heal is greatly improved. If this character is not killed by something, he _will_ recover from it, whether it's a wound, poison, disease, etc. He can shrug off mundane injuries (wounds, broken bones, poisons, diseases, and so forth) in a matter of days, and heal from critical wounds in a week or two. He can also regenerate -- even wounds that would normally be impossible to heal, like limb loss, recover within months (for a finger) to a few years (for sophisticated nerve bundles burned out by fire). This is comparable to Corwin's capabilities in the novels.

The type of god eaten should be set as an aspect on this gift during chargen. This has no mechanical impact on this gift, but may impact the color of this gift.
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Ascian had arrived with his in laws and cousin, and of course was well traveled with Gailan. As he often did on these sorts of trips, and especially given his unusual appearance and size he'd largely kept silent, especially around the people they passed, wearing heavy, concealing clothing to ensure they wouldn't be too overly bothered by gawkers or anyone else.

"Not just foul magic. A gate," Aneirin informs the group upon the other Karm's reply - quietly to avoid eavesdropping, "Or, well. Portal. Rift. Plenty of similar possibilities, really. Point is, it feels like a Karm brand of problem. We should investigate." He stoops down to pet Dirk almost out of habit. "The bad taste I think is those pendants. Tastes like blood. Looks like blood. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck... I probably don't need to say this but we should all be very cautious." Sharp blue eyes find Melina then. "This is your expedition, of course, so if you'd rather study something else while I attend to Duty then I don't mind splitting up."

Melina looks to ANE considering this "I think that... I think that .. Her eyes begin to lose their focus and droop and she wordlessly begins to make her way towards the portal. A scant few others appear headed in the same direction

Gailan nods to Aneirin, who was considerably more succinct than he, with the wording of things. He spends a moment or two doing up the buttons of his coat, making the gorgette of the collar a visible barrier and creating a long wall of white from his nose to his mid shin with it. His right hand goes to the maker's stamp at his right hip, his left hand goes to the handle of a blade at his side, the metal pristine white and gleaming. "Um?" that's an alarmed sounding utterance though and with a glance to those around him, just to see if things are in fact a phenomenon, he wields the maker's baton out of its holster and starts to hurry forward, muttering as he goes and trying to reach an intercept before the field's borders are reached by the ambling masses.

Cale thinks about this.  Hm.  Okay.  So, blood magic has a coppery taste.  Makes sense, and good to know.  But whose blood?  And to what purpose?  Cale watches the crowd some more, trying to pick out the pattern of who is wearing a red necklace pendant and who isn't.  Are they differentiated by status?  Wealth?  Religious affiliation? Occupation?  Something else entirely?  Cale's anthropological observations are interrupted by Melina's portal - ward wandering. Could it be that anyone without a pendant can be drawn into the Square of Bad? In any case: Uh - oh.  That's not good.  Cale adroitly positions himself to interpose, taking Melina's hand and guiding her for a quick impromptu "Walk around the block" instead.  If he's successful, when they return both Cale and Melina are outfitted with the 'standard issue' monkey logo robes, and Cale's is now a different color than it had been up to now.  Just to try to maintain some semblance of their anonymity, for a little longer, while they learn the ropes in this new Shadow.  (( Also, if Dirk starts doing the zombiewalk toward the Portal, Cale will try to scoop him up as well. ))

As Melina's eyes unfocus, Aneirin droops momentarily and wobbles a step, before shaking his head out with a frown. He blinks several times, then sees his cousin heading towards the avoided square. "Noo, nonono," Ane reaches out for Melina's arm, attempting to grab her and stop her from following the masses. Cale does the same, though, so Aneirin lets the other man handle her while he instead takes off after Gailan at full sprint.

Ascian frowned, watching as Cale had to restrain Melina from being drawn towards the strange space. The eidolon looked about, rather out of his depth in dealing with this sort of thing. What was clear was that the space was some manner of danger, but needed to be understood. His eyes catching sight of a particularly sturdy and large looking building, he moved over to it with explosive speed, kicking up dirt and dust as he landed next to it. Quickly removing his gloves he looked up at the building and spoke. "Hello the building. I am sorry that I'm going to have to try and collapse you now, but I promise that I will immediately help rebuild and pay for anything as soon as this particular situation is resolved." With that he began trying to simply cut the building off at it's base, a blade of fire extending from his hand as his cuts went even further in due to brutal, cutting air. Still... the building didn't fall and Ascian continued to tug at it ineffectually for the moment. "I DID say I was sorry the building... you could stand to be somewhat less recalcitrant on the matter you know!"

Melina allows herself to be led by Cale. the uncharmed populace are moving slowly those rushing gateward will surely beat them but there is a god awful shriek from the other side

Gailan did have a bit of a head start with the rushing forth, baton in hand. His left hand withdraws the blade at his other hip, which gleams and sparkles brilliantly, catching the light and showing the smooooooooooooth. However, he's not faster than Ascian and in fact, proves very solidly that distraction, chaos and extremely unnerving displays of destruction can have a destabilizing effect on him. He's pale as a sheet as he side-eyes the activity over there, slamming the end of his maker's baton at thin air by the field. An image of an open book with crossed hammers in the center, flashes in fire in thin air, hangs there and glows -- at the same time, a ... cthulian nightmare of a lamprey pokes its wormlike head out of the nothingspace, garbles unintelligibly and then vanishes with the distinct /sensation/ of a slamming door, leaving a wide-eyed, hyperventillating Karm making whimpering noises and holding the mark steady with it. "Ihateportalsthey'renevernicethings.Atleastit'snotawildgate!" he garbles. There is an unfortunate dollop of saliva ooooooooooozing its way down his cheek.

Dirk shifts into human form and readies to protect Gailan.

Cale takes Melina for a quick (PAT-FS) Walk around the block.  When they return, both are dressed like natives (PAT-AS) and Cale's robe is a new and different one than the one he was wearing when all this chaos started.  Spiffy!  Well, more likely it's dusty and unobtrusive.  Still, it should let them remain inconspicuously anonymous for at least a little more time, Cale thinks, and give them a better chance to figure out what, exactly, is going on in this Takari city.  At least, that's what he thinks up to the point where he turns the corner and sees what Ascian is doing.  And the cthulian nightmare of a lamprey.  And the fiery image of an open book with crossed hammers.  Erm. Hmmm!  Events have transpired, evidently. Noisy events, and multiple. Cale sticks by Melina, hanging back and observing the chaos and trying to make sense of it all.  Almost certainly, no one is going to pay too much attention to the two of them over here when all of that is going on over there.  So, how *are* The Takari responding?  Cale watches, trying to figure out who's who among the natives, and if there is a response from the monkey temple or the crowd.

RPG: Melina shows a message to MAG-SE: The sense of magic in the square is gone for now but the magic of the pendants remain

Aneirin skids to a dead halt as the gate closes, eyes wide at the brief sight of the Lovecraftian horror. He draws his short sword, brandishing not the blade but the pommel upon which his own seal is pressed. He keeps his senses peeled, looking listening and even sniffing every which way. "Good show, Gailan, keep that seal up," he encourages, "The heck WAS that thing?" He stays at the ready, since everything seems handled for the moment.

<OOC> Gailan declares something to the room, so I don't seem like a total dink.
RPG: Gailan declares that he has the Perceive Order (ROO-PO) gift. Use '+gift ROO-PO' to view the gift description.
RPG: Gailan used the following +declare targets: Stage 1
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Gift: ROO-PO - Perceive Order
Summary: Perceive underlying order
Cost: 5
Powerbits: type-order
Prerequisite: UP-ORDER/1 !BLK-MK !BIT:TYPE-CHAOS
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The character can perceive the underlying order of events. This does not grant any true extrasensory capabilities so much as it allows the character to interpret data in specific ways. Practically, this allows the character to perceive details which would have to be measured out counted, such as the dimensions of a room, the number of books on a shelf and so on. It also gives the player a reasonable excuse to predict short term outcomes. This is not useful in combat, but for color purposes, the character is very good at being in the right place at the right time to catch falling objects, get the right seat or otherwise make their luck.
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Ascian looked to their Karm experts, still tugging at the building. "What is our primary purpose at this point? Keeping anyone from entering that space? Shutting it? Is such a thing possible?" He eyed the oncoming horde of folks moving towards the space, 'hair' and fire flaring as gusts of wind began to eminate from him. He eyed the mob again and frowned. "I do not wish to hurt anyone. I can erect a wall of fire between them and it, but I am concerned they will continue onwards regardless... I can try to put forth tremendous air pressure however..." This time he waited for advice.

Dirk is listening and waiting for orders. "tell me what you need me to do and I am on it." He sounds calmly freaked out.

A wizened old man appears running from the temple, rarely has a man that age run that fast and he approaches the group at this speed arriving at the group he eyes gailan somewhat skeptically points to Gailan and Ascian and says something, presumably in the tanari tongue. Mel is decidedly out of it. good thing another chantris is on hand
<OOC> Aneirin says, "Woohoo I'm useful! XD"

"Uh," Gailan seems at a loss, but the wide-eyed look is being shot outside of the evil field now, landing on Cale for a few seconds of protracted pale-faced boggling, then Aneirin with a vigorous nod and a swallow. "Ephemera. Gate is unshaped, goes someplace where the dreamscape's close to the real. Uh. I ... I think it's... safe? Kind of? I'll just be here. Holding it. Should be safe to talk to the natives uh... now. I'll just... carry on." He nods at the old man. "It's all connected. They're protecting... well, the faithful, I think. That's why the temples are close to the thin places."

Cale does his best to help Melina "snap out of it," for whatever the particular "it" is, that she might have been snapped into.  They're far enough from the temple steps to hopefully be out of any immediate peril, should peril redevelop, but close enough to get the gist, and head on over if called for.

Aneirin peers at the old man. He points to the sealed Gate with his sword and responds in the native language, though a little slow and chopped. Then he looks between Ascian and Gailan. "He says their gods want - sorry DEMAND - to see the um... soulless one and the aggressor? You two, I think? I've told him I'm the only one who understands what he's saying, how do we want to handle this? Gail and I are the only two who can hold the gate shut."

As Gailan uttered the words "safe" Ascian relaxed slightly. He looked to the building he'd damaged and gave it a gentle pat. "I will fix you. My apologies for the damage." He moved towards the strange space Gailan held at bay, standing between it's threshold and the others should something attempt to come through again. Looking a bit sheepish for having needlessly caused damage, he stood quietly, watching the unfixed gate-space with obvious curiosity in the meantime. When Ane spoke he turned back around, raising a brow. "A curious way to describe me, but I suppose whatever I am, a soul is not it. You are right that none of the rest of us can speak the language here, at least until Melina is once more herself I assume." He looked to the old man, canting his head. "Come to think of it... perhaps I am the aggressor..." He looked to Gailan, shrugging.

Dirk says "I can kill it?"