William (#2330) has changed the GM of this room to William (#2330).

StevenE materializes in a burst of blackness as he teleports in from 
elsewhere in the MOO.

Jesdyn has made Jesdyn's local name Neil

fadethecat swings into the room on a bit of rigging.

StevenE has made StevenE's local name Ekur

fadethecat has made fadethecat's local name Thais

Jesdyn has made Jesdyn's local description A Friend of Man who's not a 
friendly man, he wears a blue badge that reads "HELLO My Name Is Neil". 
It appears to have punch spilled on it. Oh, please let that be punch 
spilled on it.

Thais snickers.

fadethecat has made fadethecat's local description Your typical Malakite 
of the Sword: tall, dark, dressed in embroidered jeans and a fringed 
shirt, with sparkly ribbons woven through her hair and around the 
swordbelt she wears.

The GM says, "When last we left off, you were all just outside the 
juncture between Selkirk and Roxburgh.  Wrinth was getting seriously 
spanked in the fight and has fled to refuge with the troops of the Lady 
of Selkirk, though in fact only Thais knows this (though the others might 
suspect, as archery has been coming her way where she sits in the niche 
at the top of the large, dreamshaped wall separating you from the 
Domain).  Wrinth's companions, the frost giant and Maureen, are separated 
from the Domain by this wall."

The GM says, "Recall, OOC, that we have stiffened the rules for celestial 
combat."

-----Combat Prose Redaction-----

After a brief discussion, continuity is retroactively converted and 
Wrinth was now eliminated during the previous session's combat.

----------------------------------------

Neil claims two Essence and kicks the scene off, "Maureen, Tiny, hold up 
there a second."

Ekur turns to maureen and the giant, then.  "Okay, the demon's gone, and 
his plans are in ruins.  These Domains are dangerous, and I suggest you 
return to Asgard."

Maureen sheathes Old Betsy but makes no move to leave.  "Doesn't the 
demon getting offed mean the Domains are even better now?  I didn't like 
the notion of him looking over my shoulder in the first place."

Thais moves back /away/ from the hole in the wall that's being shot at, 
on general principle. The whole "sword vs. ranged weapon" thing did come 
up in basic training.

Neil says, "Well... actually, yes, except that we sort of already 
promised them to somebody else and we wouldn't feel right about not 
helping them out."

The frost giant looks over Yazz and Xiao Li.  "We could take 'em," he 
rumbles.

Maureen looks up at him.  "Them and their friends?"  She shakes her head.  
"That game's over."

Ekur internally sighs about Neil.  "There's a curse on the Domains.  The 
Black Oaths of each side compel eternal combat, which cannot end until a 
trickster god is compelled to return certain geographic features.  You 
want to be enslaved by that?"

Maureen says, "Not... particularly.  But if you've promised them to 
another, you must have thought about fixing the problem."  She crosses 
her arms.  "I wonder if the demon had, or if he was just selling Loki a 
plug nickel."

Neil is silent; he knows what being objectively eyed at means.

StevenE dematerializes in a burst of blackness for elsewhere in the 
universe.

Neil says, "Look, cards on the table. We /do/ think we can fix it and do 
some damage to Hell here, but we've selected Masters of the Domain we can 
trust, and you aren't it. It happens. If you'd like to come to an 
agreement with our two candidates, then welcome aboard, but otherwise, 
well, you picked the wrong side this time around."

Maureen thinks, then nods.  "Fair enough.  Wrinth's deal is off.  We'll 
go back and tell Utgard-Loki what happened.  After that, though, I'm 
personally considering it up for grabs until somebody clinches the deal."


Thais arrives back at the less stab-filled meeting of people on this side 
of the wall. "Never did like arrows," she comments absently. 

Neil says, "Sounds good to me. Hopefully we'll meet again under better 
circumstances."

Neil turns to the giant. "And you?"

The frost giant says, "I know the chick's the brains of the outfit now 
that the demon bit it."  

Maureen says, "Come on, Lars.  Back home.  And let's hustle.  All of a 
sudden I think I know what that human woman was up to."

The GM says, "Maureen and the frost giant take off into the mists."

Neil . o O ( Anansi, and the Standing Stones. )

The GM says, "Let's give Steven five since you're about to switch gears."


[OOC] Jesdyn says, "Steven must've run into some trouble..."

William [to Jesdyn]: Hey, did they implement an OOC command?

Neil says, "No."

The GM says, "Oh, you used an emit?"

Neil says, "Yup."

The GM says, "'k"

Neil says, "Although I could probably write a macro to do that... hmm..."


Neil spends the five-minute break paging through Trebuchet docs.

StevenE materializes in a burst of blackness as he teleports in from 
elsewhere in the MOO.

Neil says, "Welcome back."

William [to Thais]: FYI, Maureen and the giant qualify for Hunt should 
you come across the need.

William pastes to Steven to catch him up, signal when you're done 
reading.

Jesdyn [to fadethecat]: If I recall, you might as well take them both as 
targets, since you can dismiss them later and you've got free slots.

fadethecat [to Jesdyn]: I can take 'em up at any time in the future, 
actually, so no hassle. If we need to track them, we can.

Thais . o O ( Best attunement /ever/. )

William [to Ekur]: Still reading?

The GM says, "I think Steven may not be existing at the moment."

The GM says, "Shall we continue?"

Neil says, "Sure."

StevenE [to William]: Done reading.  bad lag.

The GM says, "Ah, good."

Neil says, "Okay, we've got two options. We can go see why they're 
shooting at us, or we can go find the -- what was Dotty after -- the 
"Standing Stones"?"

Neil says, "Nobody here is arrowproof, and I don't think they know much 
more than they did the last time we talked to them."

Thais sheathes her sword. "Given that they were ready to protect Wrinth, 
I don't think it would be useful to try to get information of them right 
now."

The GM says, "Your support crew gathers around you, and behind you the 
large wall you dreamshaped is incrementally being reduced by dreamshaping 
from someone or someones in the Domains."

Neil says, "I think we're being disinvited, and since we're not going to 
contest it..."

Neil says, "Everybody in!"

Thais glances over her shoulder. "Unless we want to deal with arrows, we 
probably should be moving."

The GM says, "The Judgmentmobile comes up to Neil at this cue."

Thais pats the car as she moves to get in. "Good work, kid."

Ekur gets in the Judgementmobile.

Jesdyn [to William]: The turbo should still be ticking; I'll jump in, 
blast a hole in the wall if there happens to be one between me and the 
exit, and floor it.

William [to Jesdyn]: The wall is between you and the Domain, the Marches 
are clear ahead of you.  Any particular destination, or just "away"?

Thais settles into her seat. "Following those two, or somewhere else?"

Jesdyn [to William]: Away for now. Unless someone has a better idea, I'm 
going to head to Cibola and ask Grandmother Spider just what she knows 
about Anansi's mess.

Jesdyn [to William]: I've been there before, so it shouldn't be /too/ 
hard to find.

fadethecat [to Jesdyn]: I'm in favor of that plan.

Jesdyn [to William]: And -- since we've got the opportunity...

Neil says, "Thais, where's Wrinth right now? On the Corporeal or at his 
Heart?"

William [to Thais]: You get a sense of a nasty location with undertones 
of horror.

Neil says, "Yazz, Xiao Li, we're heading to Cibola. We spoke with 
Grandmother Spider, and she mentioned who was responsible for this mess. 
Maureen has a plan, but we don't know enough about it to stop her."

Neil . o O ( He's in Detroit? )

William [to Thais]: It's definitely a Marches locale.

fadethecat [to William]: Ah, okay.

Thais blinks. "Somewhere in the Marches. Somewhere unpleasant, though 
that's pretty much for granted..."

Neil says, "Wait, how come -- OH BOY."

Jesdyn [to fadethecat]: Hey, here's a riddle. Under what circumstances do 
you get reduced to zero mind hits in the Marches stay in the Marches?

fadethecat [to Jesdyn]: Not having the EPG handy, I don't know.

Jesdyn [to fadethecat]: /You don't/. 

Jesdyn [to fadethecat]: Except he got punked in Selkirk.

fadethecat [to Jesdyn]: ...see, I was assuming he'd just hit his vessel, 
then gone back to the Marches in the few minutes we were discussing the 
matter.

Jesdyn [to fadethecat]: Huh. I didn't even think of that.

The GM says, "(The default rule is, celestials go back to their Hearts.  
Normally, a demon of the War would have his Heart in Gehenna.  If he was 
to be frequently active in the Marches, though...)"

Jesdyn [to fadethecat]: Right. Now I get it. He's in the Vale.

Jesdyn [to fadethecat]: I'm just an idiot.

fadethecat [to William]: ...must resist the urge to stage a Heart raid on 
account of it being a dreadful idea...

Neil says, "Alright, he's going to be inactive for a while, trying to get 
back there... huh. Darn it. I thought he'd be out of commission for days, 
not hours."

Neil makes a note to move /his/ Heart out to the Vale ASAP.

The GM says, "(Well, Beleth's Tower.  It's convenient.  Also allows 
Beleth to keep an eye on Servitors of the War active in the Marches, 
which smooths the political waters there.  There's no paranoia like the 
Fallen Angel of Fear's.)"

Neil says, "Alright, let's get a move on. Ekur, Aaron knows what 
Dorotea's up to and Maureen's figured it out. We've got to put this 
together, fast, hopefully before we get to Cibola."

skill 14 Neil_AK(Marches)_Default

You rolled 6 and Neil_AK(Marches)_Default - succeeded by 8.

Thais buckles her seatbelt. "Ready when you are."

William [to Neil]: The trip back to Cibola won't take long, feel free to 
have as much discussion on the way as you feel fruitful.

Neil says, "Alright, we know Loki's involved -- and Anansi -- and the 
Standing Stones -- and a human sorcerer."

Neil says, "We know something changed between our arrival in Selkirk and 
Wrinth's."

[ snip msg'ing ]

Thais says, "A change other than, well, Wrinth's arrival?"

Jesdyn [to fadethecat]: They knew we were angels, shouldn't they have 
tried something before then?

Neil says, "I guess biding their time until Wrinth arrived made sense, 
but it doesn't feel right to me."

Bloom thinks.  "Midnight happened, do you mean that?"

Thais blinks. "New flow of Essence to ethereals... Right, I can see 
/that/ being a trigger of sorts."

Neil says, "Alright, that makes more sense. So they just couldn't repel 
us until then."

Neil says, "Hey, Ekur, you up on your Futhark?"

Ekur says, "No."

Neil says, "Rats. Yazz, Dr. Bloom, Xiao Li, any of you know Norse runes?"


The GM says, "Bloom and Xiao Li shake their heads.  Yazz looks over from 
his ride and does the same."

Yazz says, "Why?"

Neil says, "Loki was getting cute with me in Asgard, and I wanted to see 
if he was dropping hints I wasn't supposed to catch. It was a longshot, 
though."

Thais says, "If we're lucky, maybe the ambassador we dropped off on the 
way knows how to translate them."

Neil . o O ( I'm getting nothing. There are connections, but I can't see 
them clearly enough to know what to do next. )

Thais leans back in her seat, frowning, and tracks Wrinth's progress as 
the Judgmentmobile goes on.

The GM says, "Shortly afterward, you arrive in Cibola.  It is late at 
night, looking much like it did the last time you arrived, with a warm 
wind blowing over the sandy soil beneath the cliff.  There is a new 
addition to the vista, an adobe house set a ways away from the cliff.  It 
shines white in the moonlight, just different enough to stand out without 
disrupting the ambience of the Domain."

Neil . o O ( Should we get Jahaz to help us? )

Neil . o O ( I mean, we probably don't want ot barge in without saying hi 
to the ambassador. )

Thais [to Neil]: At least stopping by to say hello to the diplomat would 
be politic.

Neil parks the car by the adobe house and resists the impulse to honk.

The GM says, "From inside the house, Jahaz says, 'Motorcars?' and comes 
to the front door.  He sees you all and reacts with pleased surprise."

Thais waves cheerfully to the Mercurian. "How's the new job treating 
you?"

Jahaz says, "Ah, hello again!  I wasn't expecting to see you back so 
soon."  He sees Bloom and Yazz.  "And with additions."

William [to Thais]: They're being very polite.  I have my suspicions as 
to the number of dreamshades that may be about, but I think they're 
trying to keep us from crossing paths.

Neil waves to Jahaz. "We need an audience with Grandmother Spider, and 
fast. Can you help us out?"

Thais straightens a few of the ribbons on her sword hilt after stepping 
out of the car. "Still, not a bad sign. We're only stopping by to ask a 
few questions; do you know if this is a good time? Or, more to the point, 
a bad time."

Jahaz says, "I don't know of anybody in the Domain who would refuse you 
at present.  Is something amiss?"

Thais says, "...one might say that."

Thais shrugs, and smiles. "Demons trying to take over ancient cursed 
Domains with the help of ethereals and sorcerers. You know, same old, 
same old."

Jesdyn [to William]: Game clock check -- we got repelled from Selkirk at 
midnight, so we oughta be six hours off of dawn.

Jesdyn [to William]: The Marches changes things, I know, but I just want 
to make sure I don't miss it.

William [to Jesdyn]: Little less than that, it took a couple hours to get 
here, but you're certainly in the wee hours.

fadethecat [to William]: I have completely lost track of how much Essence 
I spent. I'm not sure I spent /any/ during that last fight. Do you recall 
anything otherwise?

Jesdyn [to fadethecat]: <snicker>

Jahaz says, "Oh, dear.  Well, whoever you need to speak to I can 
certainly gain you entree."

fadethecat [to William]: Because if Thais is full up, she might as well 
pass a note over to Neil before dawn, since he's down more.

William [to fadethecat]: Nope, you're full up.

Thais [to Neil]: Consider yourself tagged for a note from Thais at some 
point on the drive, then.

Jesdyn [to fadethecat]: Thanks.

Neil has spent more Essence this game than both of you combined. Almost 
more than all of you /and Wrinth/.

William [to Neil]: Yeah, you tend to fire off big bursts in climactic 
scenes.

Thais [to Neil]: I always forget to use it until afterwards. I really 
ought to use it more often.

fadethecat [to Jesdyn]: I'm more used to playing Song-heavy than 
combat-heavy characters, so I think of Essence as Song-powering fuel and 
forget how useful it is for skills...

Jahaz says, "So, are you looking to see Grandmother Spider again? 
Nayanezgani has been the one visiting me most often..."

Neil thinks. Wouldn't /mind/ seeing Nayanezgani on the way out, if they 
left on reasonably good terms, but he /knows/ Grandma Legs knows 
something.

Thais says, "I think she's the one most likely to know the answers we 
need."

Jahaz nods.  "This way, then."  He leads you all into the cliff, taking 
you a different way than you came previously.  This time you climb about 
half way up, which takes quite a while in this unnaturally large cliff, 
and you head back into a market carved out of the rock and lit with 
lamps.  Things are fairly active and festive here, with Indian spirits of 
various kinds milling about talking and shopping.  Jahaz leads you into a 
two-story building carved out of the back wall and speaks to a kachina 
waiting inside.  "The Ambassador is here to see Grandmother Spider, if 
you please."

The GM says, "The doll heads upstairs, and you hear, 'Come in!  Come in!'  
Upstairs is an open sitting room with a window overlooking the 
marketplace.  Grandmother Spider is sitting in a corner knitting and 
watching the flow of people.  She looks up.  "Ah, and with your friends.  
Hello hello, young ones.  How went your stay at Asgard?""

Neil says, "<OOC> One second."

Thais stifles a giggle. "It ended on an unexpected note, Grandmother. But 
as Loki was involved, that was...to be expected."

fadethecat [to Jesdyn]: Sorry, pausing.

Jesdyn [to fadethecat]: Nah, if you want it its yours.

Jesdyn [to fadethecat]: Very well.

fadethecat [to Jesdyn]: No, no, go ahead. Thais is just being Cute 
because she's in a good mood.

Neil says, "We delivered a high-caliber refusal to Wrinth when we caught 
up to him at Selkirk."

Grandmother says, "Well, from the sound of your voice it seems not to 
have been so bad."

Neil says, "Nah, we killed him, but... he's got some plans tied up with 
that cursed domain, and we haven't stopped them yet."

Grandmother pauses.  "Ah, Selkirk.  I was wondering how that knotwork fit 
in to this affair."

Neil says, "We've got most of the pieces, but... can you help us put them 
together?"

Neil says, "We know there's a trickster involved..."

Grandmother says, "Yes, Anansi."

Neil says, "We know in the broadest terms what happened -- he came, he 
stole, he probably laughed and/or howled -- but can you flesh in the 
details? If there isn't a why, can you tell us where he /put/ them? Or 
where we should look next?"

Grandmother Spider looks up at Neil.  "Stole?  This is news to me.  I 
could see from the shape of the knot that he was responsible for the 
tangle but I've little knowledge on how he did it."  She picks up several 
threads out of the cloth she's knitting and begins making a cat's-cradle 
of them.  "The two Domains were woven together.  One eventually would 
have knotted off the other and carried on, such is the way of war.  But 
he tangled them so that neither could finish their own knot because the 
other was in the way, you see."

Grandmother Spider says, "I can shift threads myself, but two threads... 
one each from each Domain..." she picks out two threads... "he anchored 
somewhere I can't see."


Grandmother Spider says, "And my lads and lasses, I can see the entire 
Marches.  But if he took them *out* of the Marches, the threads would 
have knotted off.  Which they haven't."

Grandmother Spider says, "What did he steal?"

Neil tries to follow. "Somewhere you can't see but here... could a God 
block your sight?"

Neil says, "He stole the tops of two mountains, tangling a powerful oath 
the Domans had sworn."

Neil says, "The exact wording of the oath was extremely unfortunate."

Thais frowns. "It might almost be easier if he had taken them out of the 
Marches," she says. 

Grandmother says to Neil, "Mmm, yes... the thread would enter the God's 
knot where I couldn't see.  But then, I'd know where it went."  She 
sighs.  "It's not pleasant to admit the limitations of one's power, but 
that's what I have to do here.  The tangle breaks the analogy that 
underlies my Web, you see.  The strands in question stick out of the 
tangle and anchor themself on the wall of the cavern.  I have no idea how 
to interpret that, unlike the rest of the Tapestry."

Neil looks up.

Neil says, "Really."

Neil says, "Grandmother, do you mind if I... try something?"

She says, "Go ahead, dearie."

Thais looks nervously at Neil, but doesn't say anything.

Jesdyn [to William]: Are the threads visible to me?

William [to Neil]: The few she has on her lap, yes.  The spiderweb-like 
threads seem to fade off into invisibility.

Ekur muses.  "How well, Grandmother, can you see into the realm of 
Nightmares?"

William [to Ekur]: Grandmother Spider says, "Spiders can see in dark 
places.  Such portions of the Tapestry as touch ethereal matters I can 
see.  The Towers and the Mountain, they are three knots far too large for 
me to understand, though any individual thread I could follow."

Neil walks to the wall of the cavern, weaves three Essence into the wall, 
and shatters the entire wall with Lucid Dreaming, turning the next six 
solid feet of it into rubble.

William [to Neil]: As I mentioned earlier, you're in a different place 
than you were before.  Do you want to do this experiment on the cavern 
with the vast web that you saw the first time you met Grandmother Spider?


Jesdyn [to William]: Oops! Thank you. Yes, I do.

Neil says, "Can we adjourn to the room with your web, Grandmother? I 
think I know where to find what he stole."

William [to Neil]: Grandmother Spider says, "Certainly.  One moment..." 
She gathers her knitting, sits up, arranges her shawl, stands up, 
collects her walking stick and her knitting basket, and slowly heads 
toward the back of the room.  She opens a door which is suddenly there, 
and leads you all down a staircase into the heart of the mesa.  Gradually 
light grows from below until you are in the same room where you met her 
before.

Neil says, "Can you show us those two threads from Selkirk and Roxburgh? 
Or point out which wall they lead to?"

Grandmother Spider walks over to the edge of the balcony and pokes the 
web with her walking stick.  The view of the cavern warps as if someone 
had billowed the screen on which a movie was being projected (which might 
not be that far from the truth) and when it settles two threads are 
jutting out of a small tangle in the lacework, attached to the corner of 
the wall next to the balcony.  "There you are.  It's just a matter of 
repositioning the point of view from which you see the analogy, you see."


Neil . o O ( Well, since it's no longer funny... )

William [to Neil]: Anyway.  You do the same thing?

Jesdyn [to William]: Not so big -- I just pop some wings and try a much 
more localised blast, without using Essence.

Jesdyn [to William]: I didn't think I could see the threads, and forgot I 
was way high up and not on the cavern floor.

Jesdyn [to William]: I'm trying to take out the stone around the tops and 
assuming that whatever they're made of is too hard for me to accidentally 
destroy.

Jesdyn [to William]: If the tops are indeed in the wall.

The GM says, "The wall behind it shatters slightly, and the rocks shift, 
but the threads remain attached to the loose chunks as they fall down and 
roll onto the balcony."

StevenE dematerializes in a burst of blackness for elsewhere in the 
universe.

Neil grins, and grabs the two chunks.

The GM says, "The chunks appear to be sandstone, like the rest of the 
cavern.  The spider silk threads are attached to them by small wads of 
adhesive, like any web anchoring."

Grandmother Spider says, "I see where you're going with this, but I'm 
afraid those are parts of my cavern."

Neil thinks. "Yes, but Wrinth wanted /something/ here..."

Jesdyn [to William]: First question, did we see what the stone at Selkirk 
was made of?

Jesdyn [to William]: Second question, does Neil see any reason he can't 
just peel that thread right off the rock?

William [to Jesdyn]: First, looked like granite, and second, it doesn't 
*look* any tougher than normal spiderweb.

Grandmother waves her walking stick expansively across the web.  "The web 
represents the Marches, you see.  Normally, the threads attach to each 
other, not the walls.  That would suggest the Marches had a border, which 
of course they don't."

Neil says, "But... don't they?"

Grandmother Spider says, "Does Heaven?  Does the corporeal world?  Does 
the human mind?"

Neil says, "What about the tale of Woyengi?"

Grandmother Spider says, "You refer to Utgard."

Neil looks at the web. "Yes, but to be honest I don't know much about 
him. Is Utgard in this web?

Grandmother Spider says, "I've never seen Utgard, nor met anyone who has.  
If there's anything in the name, Utgard-Loki might know how to get there.  
Anansi, too, if he put the stones there, though why he'd tell you I've no 
idea."

Grandmother Spider looks down at the chunks of stone Neil holds in his 
hands.  "Makes a decent interpretation, though.  Maybe you're on to 
something."

Neil picks at the web, pulling it free from the sandstone and holding the 
loose strands in his hand. "Can you show me where Utgard-Loki is?"

Neil says, "And can I borrow these two stones anyways?"

The GM says, "As soon as you pull it free, the thread disappears and 
reappears attached to the sandstone."

Grandmother Spider peers out over the web into the distance.  "Looks like 
he's Loki today.  Under Asgard."

Neil says, "Web seems pretty determined that these stones matter, and 
even if they don't... I've got a plan."

Neil says, "Grandmother, thank you, but we have to take our leave. You've 
been a wonderful help."

Grandmother Spider says, "My pleasure, child.  Could you let me in on 
your idea?"

Jesdyn [to William]: 

Jesdyn [to William]: Heh heh.

Jesdyn [to William]: It's a /secret/... no, not really.

William [to Jesdyn]: Mainly I'd like to make sure that you don't spend 
half a session running after an idea based on a misassumption.  :^)

Neil says, "Even if these aren't the true peaks, /they don't know that/. 
If they believe they are..."

Neil says, "A trickster started this, so a trickster might end it."

Jesdyn [to William]: And I can back my story up /in Angelic/.

Grandmother Spider says, "Will the *Oaths* you mention believe they are?"


Neil says, "Maybe. Maybe not. Didn't say it was my /only/ plan. But I bet 
you they want to."

Neil says, "If I give them an excuse to die, they won't look too 
closely."

Neil says, "It's symbols and belief that matter."

Neil says, "The Oath was corrupted because Anansi used a very literal 
meaning of a metaphor."

Neil says, "I bet I can patch the metaphor without being literal about 
it."

Jahaz looks shocked.  "You... you want to try to *lie* it in to working?"


Neil smiles happily. "Yes, that's it exactly."

Thais gives the Mercurian a sympathetic look. "It's the Marches. Reality 
can be very...fuzzy...here."

fadethecat [to William]: Er, Jahaz, that is. There being two Mercurians 
about.

Jesdyn [to fadethecat]: That's okay. Neil hardly even answers to "Hey, 
Mercurian" anymore.

Grandmother Spider says, "Either way, there's one problem..." she taps 
the sandstone chunks with a finger, and the wall is repaired.  "You can 
no more remove a piece of this cavern from the cavern than you could take 
a piece of the Marches out of the Marches."

Jesdyn [to William]: I've got three talisman artists standing right here, 
a GOD, and if I remember the EPG correctly I can stablize this construct 
with Essence anyways. Is she right?

Thais leans over to look at the rocks Neil is holding, hands politely 
behind her back.

William [to Jesdyn]: It's her own Superior Artifact, she knows its ins 
and outs.

William <ooc> You're chasing a minor piece of setting color.  Unless I've 
rather badly misjudged plot development, there's a more obvious general 
direction to go.

Jesdyn [to William]: Well, it was worth a shot. 

Jesdyn [to William]: The problem I'm running into is that you can't 
/intercept/ people in the Marches, so we either have to go chase down the 
human sorcerer, chase down Maureen with her head start, head to Asgard 
where we've been barred from (even though Yazz and Xiao Li can enter on 
their own), or go pound Wrinth some more.

Jesdyn [to William]: All of these seem like they're going to take too 
much time I'm not sure we have.

fadethecat [to William]: I'm completely lost. My character is much more 
intelligent than I am, and I'm starting to feel pretty damn dumb.

fadethecat [to William]: Which, I hasten to add, happens any time I play 
a supposedly intelligent character.

Jesdyn [to William]: And I liked the idea of beating a trickster with a 
trick.

Neil says, "Option five is going to interrogate Selkirk again, but we're 
no more arrowproof than we were a few minutes ago; Wrinth was going there 
/why/? He didn't have the stones yet."

Neil says, "We hope."

Neil says, "Could he have had them?"

Neil says, "I guess so. Would he have /kept/ them when he died if he 
did?"

Neil says, "Wait, he couldn't've had them yet, Grandmother never saw them 
move."

William [to Jesdyn]: There are several good ideas in that list.  And you 
have a GPS Handy-Dandy Person Locator with you, and you all know 
CelTongues.

The GM says, "As a matter of fact, Thais, that fourth oath of yours is 
applicable to the human, if you think about it..."

fadethecat [to William]: The sorcerer?

The GM says, "Yeah."

fadethecat [to William]: ...see, it's probably a setting interpretation 
thing, but I'd been assuming "human sorcerer knowingly working with 
demons" counted on the "okay to stab if it's useful to do so" list.

Thais says, "Either way, she's probably a good lead, given that ethereals 
were talking about her as being important to the solution of the Domains 
puzzle."

The GM says, "Sure, as standing policy.  But look at it in the light of 
that oath (as, of course, a Malakite would).  One summons demons why?  To 
ask for demonic assistance.  What would you rather have them do?  Do it 
without demonic assistance."

Neil says, "What's the fastest way to get there..."

Thais says, "Actually, I would assume that anything they're asking for 
demonic help on they shouldn't be doing in the first place, and that 
they'd do so is a sign that they're probably better of smote. However, 
hanging out with Neil and Ekur, she's holding off on this particular 
course of action, as they seem set against it."

William [to Jesdyn]: Where?

Jesdyn [to William]: Earth, her house in particular. I'm trying to figure 
out if I can convince her to summon one of these ethereals with me so I 
could follow, but I don't think any of them are likely to have vessels.

Jesdyn [to William]: Err. Earth. Not heaven.

The GM says, "As it's presently almost the middle of the night, she's 
probably asleep and thus probably in the Marches."

The GM says, "At least, since we've been playing as her night being 
roughly nighttime as experienced Marches-wide."

Jesdyn [to William]: Gosh. How tricky would it be to find her dreamscape? 
Although we should've worn a track through Marches to it, at this point.

fadethecat [to Jesdyn]: CelTongues her Cherub and ask where he is right 
now?

fadethecat [to Jesdyn]: ...assuming the Cherub has CelTongues too, which 
he might not.

Jesdyn [to fadethecat]: Yeah, we already ran into that once.

Neil says, "Alright. Grandmother, we need to run. Thanks for your help. 
If we get a chance, we'll shoot Wrinth again for you."

Grandmother Spider says, "Best of luck, children."

Neil says, "Let's hit the road and call Aaron on the way. If he replies, 
fine, if not, we'll track Maureen instead."

StevenE materializes in a burst of blackness as he teleports in from 
elsewhere in the MOO.

The GM says, "Re."

The GM says, "The paste would be quite long.  We're... hang on."

Ekur swears.  Brownout, router somehow got misconfiged . . . 

The GM says, "Recall the last event you saw?"

StevenE [to William]: Neil was doing something with the tapestry/wall, I 
think.

The GM says, "Eek.  Right.  We've been discussing the nature of 
Grandmother Spider's web and the Marches at large and suspect that Auchop 
Cairn and Ettrick Pen have been secreted among the Utgard Stones.  The 
angels are leaving Cibola to try to talk to Dorotea and, if they can't 
get in touch with her via Aaron, Maureen."

The GM says, "More details when the log is up, of course."

The GM says, "Since Thais has the more Essence..."

skill 14 Thais_CelTongues

You rolled 8 and Thais_CelTongues - succeeded by 6.

The GM says, "What do you want to say when you contact her?"

The GM says, "Err.  Aaron."

Thais says, "We need to check up on the sorcerer, where's she now?"

The GM says, "There is no response for a few minutes.  Then, 'Asgard.  
(Commercial messenger.)  Sought audience Utgard-Loki.  In cave with him 
and Sigyn.  Earthquakes.'"

fadethecat [to William]: ...is this response coming with a commercial 
sponsor, or am I misreading the "commercial messenger" shorthand?

skill 17 IQ

You rolled 12 and IQ - succeeded by 5.

Jesdyn [to fadethecat]: Aaron doesn't know CelToungues but paid somebody 
-- almost has to be the elf, since nobody else knew you.

William [to fadethecat]: Meaning is that Aaron doesn't know CelTongues, 
and sent the message via a commercial service, by a singer who did.  So, 
he won't be passing along anything classified, and it's costing him net 
Essence.

Thais sighs as she gets the message back. "Well, she's off in Asgard 
again. That's going to complicate matters, though it helps that we have 
people with us who /can/ enter that place."

fadethecat [to William]: Ahh.

Neil | Sigyn, says Wikipedia, is Loki's wife. (Wonder how well she took 
the botched Assumption.) Annoyingly enough Loki, after he killed Baldur, 
was bound to three rocks.

The GM says, "As usual, Ekur's intimately familiar with the mythology as 
a professional matter and the other two of you may be passingly aware of 
it on an academic level."

The GM says, "You may recall that word in Asgard was that Loki defeated 
Utgard-Loki's Assumption attempt and can now be either.  Ekur would be 
aware that the god might choose to exist in Loki's imprisoned, painful 
circumstances for any of several reasons... Image fulfillment, Odin's 
imprisoning will demanding it, love of Sigyn, or because Loki gets way 
more Essence than Utgard-Loki, so the meal's worth the pain."

Ekur does pass this information along to Thais and Neil.

The GM says, "Thais gets a second CelTongues.  'My familiar says you want 
to talk?'"

Thais says, "A message from the human. Does anyone want to pass on a 
message? Or call her yourself..."

Neil . o O ( What does she want to hear, in twelve words or less? I've 
got nothing. )

Jesdyn [to William]: Wait, how can she sing Celestial Tongues?

William [to Jesdyn]: Same commercial messenger.  Obviously, she came out 
of the cave.

Jesdyn [to William]: Oh, okay.

Neil says, "Okay, GOOD. "

Thais gives Neil and Ekur a hopeful look on the last line.

Neil says, "She can't carry this conversation on herself -- tell her we 
want to meet her."

Neil says, "Somebody who isn't me, by preference. Ekur?"

Neil says, "Gosh, I don't know /where/ we'd meet her, though."

Neil says, "The Asgard border? Marches aren't full of way stations."

Thais shrugs, and looks to Ekur. 

William [to Ekur]: (Even if you're typing, give us a quick "ping" if 
you're connected.

Ekur nods.  "Asgard border sounds as good a place as any."  He 

The GM says, "(works)"

Ekur <OOC> swears.  Now forgets what he was going to type.

Ekur <ooc> screams in frustration a few times.

The GM says, "D'oh.  You were about to send Dorotea a message?"

Ekur sends Dorotes a CelTounges.  "If you could meet us outseide Asgard, 
please?"

Ekur <ooc> Not what I was going to say, but it's clear out of my brain 
now, this is probably okay.

Ekur <ooc> is not doing well today.

The GM says, "You get back an acknowledgement, and the sense that the 
messenger is feeling a very profitable day."

The GM says, "Unless there is plotting to be done?  we can fast-forward 
to the meeting at the border of Asgard."

Jesdyn [to William]: A little bit of it.

William [to Jesdyn]: Go for it.

Neil says, "Xiao Li, Yazz, we need those stones, and right now we can't 
take them from her."

Neil says, "If you tried, I'd sort of have to, uhm, stop you."

Neil says, "We'll see how this goes, but I'd assume we're going to have 
to buy them from her, and I don't have much ready cash."

Thais says, blandly, "If we hadn't sent a Cherub to look after her we 
could always go for the more /direct/ approach."

Offscreen, Aaron twitches at an unfamiliar unpleasant sensation in his 
newbie Cherub resonance.

Neil says, "No, we couldn't, because she's made amends for her actions."

Thais says, "Has she?"

Ekur says, "I've got an idea.  If we can't come up with anyhting else, 
guarantee to her that she won't ever get out of Blandine's Marches again.  
I've got my Vassal trick, after all."

Neil says, "She told me she wasn't going to wrestle with demons anymore. 
I can't make Geas her and I'm not going to risk smacking her with discord 
because you think she needs to be spanked."

The GM says, "(replace "discord" with "mental problems" there, humans 
don't get Discord in GIN except for Geases... carry on)"

Thais rolls her eyes. "I think she needs to be /dead/, but I'm willing to 
ignore that so long as it conflicts with more important matters. I don't 
think we want to put any more resources in her hands than is absolutely 
necessary, and certainly nothing she could use to wreak more havoc in 
pursuit of her noble goals."

Thais frowns at Ekur. "It's a threat, but are we really willing to carry 
that out? A human's lifespan is quite a lot of time to be effectively out 
of commission."

Neil says, "Keeping humans from wreaking havoc is /not our mission/, 
Thais."

Neil says, "Keeping them from communing with demons is."

Neil says, "She is a human and her entire /birthright/ is wreaking 
havoc."

Thais says, "Depending on the havoc, I'd say that it is, Intercessionist. 
My oaths don't have a convenient clause saying 'Unless the person 
involved is human, in which case never mind.'"

Neil says, "Lucky for her, mine /do/. She's made what amends can be made. 
It's my /Judgement/ that nothing more is appropriate. Until and unless 
she steps out of line again -- and that involves "actively or passively 
damning humans" and not "being incredibly annoying" -- we're not going to 
hurt or even threaten it."

Neil says, "Ekur, that bluff could work but she's a Sorcerer and a 
Willfull little monster; if she learns it's a bluff she'll never respect 
us again, and I don't want to tie a Vassal up for the next hundred years 
chasing after her."

Thais lifts and drops one shoulder. "I will defer to the judgment of the 
more experienced angel. For the time being."

Bloom watches the exchange between Choir and Word with great academic 
interest.

Neil nods. "Cheer up -- Dominic's due by soon, and I'm going to assume 
he'd find it Just to tan my hide where you'd hear about it if I've called 
this one wrong."

Neil says, "In the meantime -- we'll see where this goes, but we need 
those Stones and we will /not/ threaten her unless she threatens commerce 
with Hell."

Neil says, "Since we're the only two customers in the market, if she 
/does/ get the stones, she either has a very limited market, some batty 
idea about what to do with them, or we've got a casus belli and then we 
can kill her."

Thais hmms. "Fair enough. Though if it comes to that, we should probably 
give her Cherub fair warning to deattune."

Jesdyn [to William]: I think we're done, unless Xiao Li or Yazz wish to 
speak.

The GM says, "You arrive at the border of Asgard.  Dorotea is waiting 
well outside the snowline, practicing drawing some kind of Sorcerous 
symbols in the gray sand.  She looks up at your approach, swipes the 
symbols to erase them, and stands up dusting herself off."

The GM says, "Aaron is with her, sitting in squirrel form nearby.  He 
watches you approach."

Dorotea says, "If you pull the Vale trick on me again, I'll be sorely 
displeased.  I've finally gotten directions to a really *interesting* 
part of the Marches."

Neil says, "Really?"

Neil says, "Just going exploring, or looking for something in 
particular?"

Dorotea says, "Well, I *was* intending to go fetch something the demon 
wanted me to get, because I've still got about a week left in my term of 
service, and there's nothing I can do about that.  But a funny thing 
happened when I started dreaming tonight.  He wasn't anywhere around.  
You wouldn't have had something to do with that, would you?  I can't say 
it's displeasing."

Neil says, "We sort of stabbed him and shot him and stabbed him and then 
shot him some more. You know how it goes."

Dorotea says, "Fortunes of war, I suppose.  Darn.  A whole night with no 
orders in particular.  What *ever* shall I do."  She grins.

Neil grins back. "We'd like those stones. Any way you could see clear to 
helping us out?"

Dorotea looks mildly surprised.  "Oh, so you know what I'm going to 
fetch."  She thinks.  "Well.  *Was* going to fetch."

Neil says, "Err. He'll probably manage to get back in contact with you 
tomorrow, and force you to get them then."

Dorotea says, "I guess you'd better get them first, then."

Dorotea says, "I've no love for him, so you can have them.  They're in 
Utgard.  The trick is getting there." and she begins describing the 
process...

Ekur pings Dorotea.

Thais pings Dorotea, as long as she's here.

Thais rolled 3 versus 17 and critically succeeded by 14.

fadethecat [to William]: ...um.

William [to Thais]: !

William [to Ekur]: She's feeling quite cheerful.  She's received a 
pleasant surprise and a stressor is temporarily gone.

fadethecat [to William]: Well, that should shed a little light on the 
Smite Or Not Smite argument.

William [to Thais]: You *really* ought to let Dorotea come with you.  Her 
means may be poorly chosen -- and you should fix that -- but her 
motivation is as honorable as the pure quest for knowledge could be.  She 
wants to learn and share that information with the world, and the only 
taint of selfishness on that is anticipation of academic plaudits.  "To 
explore the boundaries of human intellect" is part of her Destiny!

William [to Thais]: And knowing this feels *Ooh,* so nice.  It's warm and 
tingly.

William <ooc> And here I prepared that little tidbit of information 
assuming *Jahaz* would be the one to let you know.  %^)

Thais [to William]: Hrm. That's reassuring.

Thais blinks at Dorotea. Twice. And doesn't speak up, as Neil seems to be 
handling things quite well, but her posture relaxes slightly.

The GM says, "(To StevenE and Jesdyn) Yep, Divine Intervention.  :^)"

Dorotea is gesturing expansively.  "Utgard lies at the boundary of what 
can be conceived.  Or maybe it *is* the boundary of what can be 
conceived, Loki was a little arcane on that point.  At any rate, to get 
there you have to think on what this place is like, just like you 
navigate to anywhere in the Marches.  To get to Utgard, then, you have to 
head for the boundaries of what you can know."

Dorotea says, "Once you're at Utgard you will be alone.  This is the way 
of things, no one can know another person's unknowability, or something 
like that.  But you can head for other things in the Domain.  Like these 
two mountains sitting next to each other in the sand that the demon 
described.  Apparently there are banners sitting on top, and we need to 
retrieve the flagstones with the sockets in them."

Dorotea says, "Apparently it hurts demons to go there.  He called it, eh, 
atonal for them or something.  They don't like admitting there's anything 
they can't understand because it means there exist things beyond their 
self."

Dorotea says, "I've been trying to think how to get there.  He 
recommended the Uncertainty Principle of quantum mechanics, but I don't 
know anything about that.  I thought I'd meditate on the inability of any 
one person to know what it was like to be another.  You might have your 
own preferences."

Neil says, "So... we'd all show alone but move to the same point?"

Dorotea says, "I think that's the case, yeah.  Everybody has their own 
boundaries, and they have to reach them alone.  But once we're there, we 
can join up."

Neil says, "Why did he need a human to reach it?"

Dorotea says, "Like I said, it seems to hurt demons to admit that there 
are things they can't understand.  Some sort of metaphysical injury.  So 
he recruited me."

Neil says, "Can ethereals or angels go there safely?"

Neil . o O ( I'm not getting why Wrinth thought he needed a human when an 
ethereal would've done just as good. )

Dorotea says, "From what I could tell, yes, but humans are better at it 
than ethereals and angels are even better at it than humans.  You've got 
*practice* admitting there are bigger things than you."  She thinks.  
"Also, he wanted me to summon and bind those bodyguards for him, maybe 
that was part of it too."  She shrugs.  "I don't care, I'm happy."

She smiles at you, with a gleam in her eye.  "Shall we go explore?"

Neil says, "Sounds good."

Ekur nods.

Neil looks at the Judgementmobile. If you end up getting there /alone/...


Yazz catches Neil's direction of gaze and realizes the same thing about 
his ride.  He hmms.

Neil says, "Yazz, Xiao Li, can you take the cars to the Selkirk border? 
We -- and Dr. Bloom, if he wants to take a real shot at selflessness -- 
will get to Selkirk on foot."

Yazz says, "Yeah, that seems reasonable.  Bring us back a couple of 
Domains."

Bloom says, "Yes, I think I should very much like to undertake this 
journey."

Thais smiles at Bloom. "It'll be good to have you along."

The GM says, "Now, an important question.  What would your character aim 
at when trying to come close to something they could never truly 
comprehend?"

Thais . o O ( The Mercurian dissonance condition? )

Neil says, "Easy answer. Hum--- very funny, Thais. Humans. "

Thais [to Neil]: *innocents*

Ekur hrmms.

Thais [to William]: More seriously... let me think about that for a 
minute.

Thais [to William]: What the heck, I'll go for the classic angelic 
answer. Free will.

Ekur <ooc> is hitting a blank wall.

William causes Ekur to psychoanalyze himself momentarily, then...

skill 17 Psychology

You rolled 10 and Psychology - succeeded by 7.

Thais [to Ekur]: The true nature of God? Quantum mechanics? How they get 
the filling into a twinkie?

Neil says, "Wait, God is all things is the Symphony. So it's how they get 
the filling /into God/."

Neil says, "Now if that doesn't make you want to think about nothing, 
nothing will."

Thais [to Neil]: God is all things? Now that's gonna make things weird.

Thais [to Neil]: ...which makes God weird. Wow. Recursive.

William [to Ekur]: "Being a Malakite" would do, for example.  You could 
theoretically get the MoDK(Malakite) Distinction, but it still doesn't 
make you one.  Nature of God, Higher Heavens...

Ekur says, "Hmm.  Okay, nature of God."

The GM says, "Very traditional angelic choice."

Aaron puts a paw on Dorotea's foot momentarily, and she reaches down to 
pat him comfortingly.  "I'll see you there," she says.  She straightens 
up, takes a deep breath, and begins walking in the direction apparently 
away from the Vale, as if in deep thought.

Neil heads East of Eden.

Ekur lights out for the territories.

Thais just, er, starts walking.

skill 18 Ekur_Theology

You rolled 8 and Ekur_Theology - succeeded by 10.

skill 21 Neil_Law(American)

You rolled 12 and Neil_Law(American) - succeeded by 9.

skill 16 Thais_Teaching

You rolled 10 and Thais_Teaching - succeeded by 6.

The GM says, "For each of you this will be a unique experience.  Let's 
start out with Ekur."

William [to Ekur]: As you walk, your path slowly diverges from that of 
the others, and this seems right.  You meditate on the nature of God.  
You've been present at some of His manifestations throughout history, as 
well as some of the hideous manifestations of His adversary, most 
noticeably the Fall.  Fear of the Lord is something whose nature you 
thought you knew, but its own Wordbound angel seems to have lost it... 
leaving you, an Elohite, uncertain where that fear fits.

The GM says, "For a while, you become lost in thought.  When you snap out 
of your reveries, you are in a place in the Marches you have never seen 
in your long years."

The GM says, "Before you stands an impressive mountain.  It fills your 
field of vision in front and stretches to the left and right.  Its lower 
half is a rugged but climbable slope.  Halfway up, though, there is a 
great crack, and beyond the path becomes treacherous indeed.  Overhanging 
lips, loose scree, and thin supporting ledges would doubtless make the 
pathway up a frightening climb indeed.  The climb seems like it *might* 
be possible, for one who has several days -- and who can face their 
fear."

The GM says, "A wind blows, and rubble shifts far up above, the echoes 
falling down.  On the edge of perception, perhaps from the other side of 
the mountain, you hear a strange cacophony of wind.  Or voices?  
Something."

The GM says, "Your impulse?"

Ekur says, "Climb."

The GM says, "I may have been unclear.  Do you act on that impulse, and 
if so, with what purpose do you climb?"

Ekur says, "After all, I'm trying to get somewhere.  If I let fear stop 
me, I'm not just not doing my job, I'm *dissonantly* not doing my job."

The GM says, "Ah, so you climb in order to get to the stolen mountains.  
Very well..."

The GM says, "After about ten minutes' climb the path jumps over a crag 
which affords a better view than you got from the base.  In the far 
distance, on the edge of vision, you see stones similar to the one you 
climb now apparently part of an extensive range, faint and hazy in the 
distance.  More to the point, though, subjective miles to your right art 
two low hills from which fly ragged banners, sitting apart from the rest 
of the range."

Ekur heads to the right, to the hills.  Miles away?  Eh.  He'll get there 
eventually.

William nods.  And thus Ekur arrives at the stolen mounts.  We turn now 
to (hmm... alphabetical order) Neil.

William [to Ekur]: I like the fact that your first impulse was 'climb', 
though.  :^)

William [to Neil]: Ah, humanity.  I took the liberty of supposing that 
your closest touch with them was through the law: the American law you 
knew best, to be precise.  Your path began diverging from the others as 
you considered what conflicting impulses led them to make and break so 
many laws.  Needs drive them that angels don't have, and yet law you have 
in common.

[ snip msg'ing ]

William [to Neil]: As your meditations upon humanity's points of 
difference from angels, alleviated and yet exacerbated by your Mercurian 
resonance, which gets you in closer touch with them yet is an ability 
they do not possess, like Ekur you fall into a reverie, and look up to 
find yourself in a new place.

William [to Jesdyn]: To be honest, I'm not sure I know Neil well enough 
to come up with a mountain suitably allegoric of his biography.

The GM says, "However, surprising though it may be, there is an even 
*more* interesting feature here than the mountain.  Dominic awaits you at 
the foot of the slope."

The GM says, "Indeed, if anything marks the barrier between the known and 
the unknown better than the Utgard Stones, it would be The Cloak."

Dominic says, "An interesting place in which we meet, my servant."

Neil . o O ( "Wow. When you say "every week, no matter WHERE", you aren't 
kidding around." )

Neil bows low. "My lord."

Neil says, "It's nowhere, really."

Dominic says, "Not at all.  It is a very important location for the 
Universe.  I was here when Mind was young.  As grows the capacity of 
living things to know, so grows the interior marked by Utgard.  Beyond 
lies the madness of the incomprehensible.  What brings you to this sacred 
place?"

Neil says, "Recovering something stolen by someone cruel, to give two 
Domains full of the unjustly punished surcease."

Neil says, "That Hell doesn't like it is icing on the cake, but it's 
worth doing anyways."

Dominic say, "Ah.  That must be those two peaks yonder foreign to this 
ground, to which your allies make their way."

Dominic says, "Since last we met I sense that you have experienced 
jealousy of a fellow Mercurian, Neil.  Correct this tendency, it is a 
straight road to a Fall."

Neil twitches. "Yes, my Lord. I will not let it happen again."

Dominic says, "My judgment is that you should inform Jahaz of this 
feeling at the earliest opportunity following this mission, and discuss 
the matter to his satisfaction."

Neil doesn't twitch, this time, but that doesn't help him any. "Yes, my 
Lord."

Dominic says, "Regarding the particulars of your current mission, these 
things are well done.  I see that you have been many places with 
differing ideas of what is right, and this may happen more in the future.  
Perhaps it would assist you in your explorations if you possessed 
Incarnate Law.  Your reaction to the proposal?"

Neil is flattered, but bites that down and thinks. "Knowing the law so 
intimately could only help me know the people who live with it."

Neil goes OOC. "What's the point cost on this one?"

William <ooc> 15 (a fairly inexpensive angelic Servitor attunement).  
It's been a long arc, and you *will* have the XP.  Do you want to spend 
it on that?  He could "take it under consideration" or "begin making the 
arrangements."

Jesdyn [to William]: Wow. I'm gonna have at least 15? Hmm... hmm... well, 
if Dominic's right, at least I know how much trouble I'll be in if they 
catch me doing what I plan on doing. Songs can wait.

William <ooc> A'ight.

Neil nods slowly. "Yes... I would appreciate that, my Lord."

Dominic says, "I will begin making the arrangements for an appointment at 
your Heart.  Walk justly."  He disappears.

William <ooc> Yeah, XP's been building for a while.  We started this arc 
back on January 29th.  :^)

Neil . o O ( I really thought at /some/ point I was going to get razzed 
by Dominic over excessive mercy. I didn't /think/ I was being excessively 
merciful, but I wasn't certain he'd see it my way. )

Neil walks justly up the mountain.

William [to Neil]: Like Ekur, the hills you're actually headed for are 
over thattaway, in the direction indicated earlier by Dominic.

Neil saunters justly to the hills as his scene fades out.

The GM says, "And we turn now to Thais."

William [to Thais]: Your choice of meditation was the ever-popular 
question of free will.  A bit of a curiosity for a Malakite, and a 
servant of one of the most strictly regimented Words, it is perhaps a bit 
of a foreign concept for you.  To be sure, there is *individuality* -- 
you know well how some of your trainers have taken it when you socialized 
with the Novalines that gave you the sparkly ribbons -- but that you're a 
discrete Symphonic entity is not necessarily the same thing as saying you 
have free will.  Besides, wouldn't it be *better* if what they said was 
true, and your will was ultimately God's?  Or is that Habbalite thinking?  
Not that you need to worry about a Fall, but...

The GM says, "Your experience learning how to teach, of course, was in 
the service of angels' ultimate duty, to set examples for and teach 
humans.  And teaching certainly requires that you interact with distinct 
personalities, each different... and as you think this, you realize that 
you have arrived in a new place yourself."

The GM says, "The mountain in front of you barely deserves the name.  
It's a geologically young thing, an upthrust with the characteristically 
sharp edges of such a geological feature.  There are small caves, point 
crags, and axe-cut passes through the top of the thing where the mist 
curls in a high, singing wind.  In fact, with a running start you could 
probably make it to the top in ten, fifteen minutes flat."

Thais looks about, and decides to take a brisk, regular stride, just in 
case there are tricky bits along the way that might cause problems if she 
hurries.

The GM says, "Ah, discipline.  The strait path turns out to be the 
easiest way up, with switchbacks mollifying the difficulty of the steep 
slopes and avoiding the nastier formations.  It takes longer, of course, 
but that's the price you pay for a safe, secure journey."

Thais sees no reason to hurry at this point. Circumstances might change, 
but being careless at the start is a bad way to conduct a mission.

The GM says, "You're about halfway up when the switchback on this side 
brings you in sight of the same hills Ekur and Neil saw, banners 
fluttering.  You're also very close to the bottom of a nearby pass, 
through which the wind is singing so insistently you can almost make out 
a tune..."

Thais listens to the wind, as these sorts of things sometimes matter in 
the Marches, but doesn't slow as she sets out towards the banners in the 
distance.

William <ooc> I rather thought all three of you would refuse to give in 
to temptation.  Well done.  Would have been an interesting result, but, 
ah, not exactly mission-productive.  :^)

Thais [to William]: Virtue is its own reward!

Neil says, "Dominic was /right/ /there/. And what was I going to be 
tempted to do?"

The GM says, "Each of you arrive almost simultaneously at the bases of 
the two hills.  You can see now that the banner above one of them is the 
same red banner with the knotwork that you saw back at Selkirk.  The 
other is a green banner with silver scrolling on it."

Neil looks around. "Guess Dorotea will be along shortly."

Thais nods briefly. "I hope so."

The GM says, "Aaron arrives a minute later.  Dorotea and Bloom take 
several minutes more to arrive."

Ekur looks over to Thais, and before anyone else arrives, said "Any word 
on Wrinth?"

[ snip msg'ing ]

Thais says, "He hasn't moved since I last checked."

Dorotea says, "Am I just being overeager, or does anyone else get the 
impression that there's something really *weird* past these mountains?"

Neil says, "Err, I'd rather you didn't look, because if the tentacles 
snake over the rise and drag you over I'm going to be the one to follow 
you."

Aaron says, "Boss, I get predictions about your future sometimes, and 
while I don't exactly get a *bad* result off of you trying to look at 
whatever's past these mountains, I can't say I get a *good* one either.  
Feels funky."

Thais says, "If this is the edge of comprehension, it's probably best not 
to think about what's beyond it too hard. For obvious reasons."

Neil stops. "Mind, I suppose I could think of it as /justly/ punishing 
deranged foolishness."

Dorotea looks at the three of you and takes a deep breath.  "Well, I 
suppose there *is* a dividing line between curiosity and foolhardiness.  
And this place pretty much defines it."

Neil . o O ( "Neil ascends the mountains and looks over the other side 
and sees... blue... blue all around... and an eye! An all-seeing eye! )

Ekur says, "First time I've been out this far.  Odd things are only to be 
expected.  And are likely to be dangerous."

Neil says, "Welp. We've got the banners, and everyone's all right -- 
least, I think so. Bloom?"

Neil pings Bloom.

Bloom says, "I am well.  Not entirely cured of my curiosity, but that is 
my worry at present."

skill 16 Neil_Resonance

You rolled 12 and Neil_Resonance - succeeded by 4.

Ekur hmms, zaps everybody (emotional state, two strongest emotions).

William [to Neil]: Bloom is wondering if he might not be on the edge of 
something uplifting, but is indecisive about it.  His deviance remains 
unchanged.

The GM says, "Thais and Neil can answer for themselves..."

Neil says, "Satisfied; exhaustion and chagrin."

Thais says, "It seemed simple enough, from my direction."

William [to Ekur]: Aaron is mildly worried about Dorotea's curiosity 
getting the best of her, is protective and mildly anxious.  Bloom is 
introspective and feels accomplishment and trepidation.  Dorotea is 
*flushed* with excitement, and feels both ravenous curiosity and the 
unique pleasure of the satisfied curious.

Bloom looks up at the hills.  "Well.  Is this what we came to get?"

Neil says, "If it's not we're going to lie about it. Let's get them and 
head to Selkirk."

Ekur says, "So, does anyone have a plan for returning these hills to 
their original locations?"

Neil says, "... no. Let's head to /Roxburg/. Hah."

Neil says, "Huh? Oh, that's easy."

Dorotea says, "The demon was pretty clear that we only needed the 
flagstones with the banner sockets in them.  He said I should be able to 
carry both."

William [to Neil]: Did you have something in mind for moving the entire 
installations?

Ekur nods, and walks over to the further of the two to pick up the 
flagstone.

Jesdyn [to William]: I was gonna pick 'em up and put them in my pocket.

Jesdyn [to William]: But this works too.

Ekur . o O ( Sorry, was rather out of it earlier, so I missed the fact we 
didn't have to return the whole hills. )

William [to Ekur]: You pick up the one with the Lady of Selkirk's banner 
in it (which means this is Ettrick Pen, and needs to be taken to Selkirk, 
to free the Oath of Roxburgh).

William presumes one of you grabs the other.  Idly, do you take the 
banners that are currently in them too?

Ekur takes the banner, and pauses.

Neil says, "I figured on taking them all, sockets and banner and 
everything."

The GM says, "Allright, Neil grabs the other."

StevenE [to William]: Is each banner in its original stone, or the enemy 
side's stone?

Neil says, "Oh. Aaron, don't attune to these or use your resonance near 
them."

Neil says, "It's a bad idea."

Aaron says, "Will do.  Was about to head out, anyway."  He climbs up to 
Dorotea's shoulder.  "You should get some real sleep, boss."  She makes a 
sign of agreement, and lets her dreamscape expand, taking her guardian 
Cherub with her.  The globe floats off into the Marches.

William [to Ekur]: The banner you're holding is brass and in a brass 
fitting, the other is steel and in a steel socket.  Both are about the 
same size.

Neil . o O ( We've been at this for five months, but we have by-God 
Captured The Flag. )

Ekur , to Neil, says, "I'm thinking we should switch banners.  That way 
we can socket things as quickly as possible.  If we split up, and each 
took one and the opposite banner to the correct place, then we can end it 
faster."

Neil says, "Sounds good", and makes the swap.

William <ooc> Well done!  Was hoping someone would have that idea.

The GM says, "Allright, you've got the flagstones and the flags are 
switched.  Ekur has the pair that need to go to Selkirk, and Neil has the 
pair that need to go to Roxburgh."

Bloom says, "All done here then?"

Neil says, "Yeah. Let's go."

Ekur says, "I think we are.  Let's go."

Thais says, "Time to meet up with the Judgmentmobile?"

Neil says, "No, Xiao Li took it to Selkirk. I have no idea where we're 
gonna end up when we leave here."

Neil says, "We'll hoof it."

Neil says, "But."

The GM says, "Okay, then it is back to Selkirk and Roxburgh, with Ekur in 
the lead."

William [to Neil]: ?

Ekur says, "Neil, I suggest you and Thais head directly for Roxburgh, 
while I head for Selkirk, with Dr. Bloom if he'd accompany me."

Bloom says, "With zeal, Vassal.  I shall defend your flank as best I 
can."

Ekur says, "Er.  Wait, they're connected, we should head jointly to them, 
shouldn't we."

Neil pulls the flagpole out of the socket, and scrapes out a rough sketch 
of Anansi (a coyote, right?) being bonked on the head by a spider.

William [to Neil]: Anansi is *also* a spider.  Bit of a family rivalry 
going here.

Jesdyn [to William]: One spider has a furry tail, and the one doing the 
beating has granny glasses.

William [to Neil]: 'k.

Ekur says, "Split up when we get there, headed for our individual 
targets."

Thais says, "Works for me."

Neil says, "NOW I'm ready. Let's go."

skill 19 Ekur_AK(Marches)

You rolled 7 and Ekur_AK(Marches) - succeeded by 12.

The GM says, "You all know where you're headed at this point, and the 
march is smooth and swift.  In fact, there's sort of a downhill pressure 
at your back.  Dawn happens on the way, and you arrive near the juncture 
between the two Domains to find the tattered remnants of two armies, in 
this case pushed somewhat in to Roxburgh.  The Lady of Selkirk appears to 
be likely to survive another battle, for all the good it will do her."

Neil says, "I want to find our friends before we enter."

Neil says, "Given any choice, I don't want to parley, I want to MOVE."

Jesdyn [to William]: How close is dawn?

William [to Jesdyn]: Dawn happened on the way.  A cold light illuminates 
the exhausted, meaningless skirmish above.

Neil says, "And where's Wrinth?"

The GM says, "The putter of motors is heard from around the border of the 
Domain and the Judgmentmobile and Yazz' car appear, Xiao Li riding in the 
former."

William [to Neil]: You're asking Thais?

Neil says, "Yes."

Thais [to William]: Been checking along the way on general principle 
anyway.

William [to Thais]: Wrinth is on the move in Beleth's side of the Vale.

Neil sticks the banner of Roxburgh where the Judgementmobile would have 
an antenna.

Thais says, "He's not here yet, but he's moving again."

Neil says, "Just confirm, I'm headed to Selkirk, right?"

The GM says, "A yell goes up from the armies.  This has been happening 
off and on, but this time people are pointing at the two banners you lot 
are displaying."

Ekur nods to Yazz and Xiao Li.  "Okay, we're going to try to quickly 
solve this, before either side can stop us in the name of winning for 
their side.  if you'd like to each pick a banner?  And let's go, 
quickly."

Bloom says, "No, the Vassal has the pair that go to Selkirk, you two have 
the pair that go to Roxburgh."

Neil jumps into the Judgementmobile with Dr. Bloom, counting on the car 
to shift Xiao Li over, slams the turbo, and goes rocketing towards 
Roxburgh.

The GM says, "Bloom is with Ekur, Thais is with Neil."

Yazz grins like a wild man and drives up to Ekur.  "Let's rock!"

Ekur gets in Yazz's car with Bloom.  "Let's go!"

Yazz peels rubber.

Thais doesn't buckle up, because she may need to jump out quickly. But 
does roll down the window.

The radio in the Judgmentmobile switches on.  "We're only going in in a 
hurry, right?"

Neil says, "We're going in in a hurry and we're going to fix the Domain, 
and if it doesn't work we're going /right back out/. No fighting and no 
exploration, cross my Heart."

The Judgmentmobile roars into high gear and leaps the caul into Roxburgh.  
It appears to be staving off the Oaths by focusing on moving very, very 
fast.

Thais pats the dashboard.

The radio says, "Don't drive.  Just say where." and switches off.

Neil says, "Top of the mountain!"

Neil is now taking Wait actions, holding Lucid Dreaming in readiness.

The GM says, "The armies appear to have decided to follow the 
Judgmentmobile; the troops of Roxburgh are chasing Selkirk's banner with 
the Lady of Selkirk tries to keep them from getting over to the racing 
car.  Yazz is almost disappointed that he only has to dodge a few 
rearguard troops on the way in."

Neil . o O ( Isn't that always the way. )

The GM says, "With the vehicles, both Speed figments, going at top speed, 
it only takes you a few minutes to cross the subjective miles to the 
scars on each Domain.  Neither of you is in severe danger of being caught 
at any point."

Jesdyn [to William]: I don't know how long the Turbo lasts, but I'll 
supplement it with my own Essence if necessary.

Ekur piles out of the car and raises the banner, planting the stone 
firmly in the ground.

The GM says, "The Judgmentmobile spends its own.  It's still at top speed 
when it reaches the wide, square, unnaturally flat plateau.  Once atop, 
it does a J-turn and screeches to a stop."

Neil says, "Xiao Li, the honors, please."

Neil keeps one hand reassuringly on the dashboard.

The GM says, "Xiao Li takes out the flagstone and thuds it to the ground, 
simultaneously with Ekur doing likewise in Selkirk."

Thais steps out of the car to guard against anyone who manages to catch 
up.

The GM says, "Black lightning crackles across the border that separates 
the two Domains.  A high wail plunges down through the frequencies of 
your Symphonic hearing, as if a tone had been too high to hear, but 
painfully loud when it dropped enough to become audible."

The GM says, "The armies cry out, in cheer or despair it is impossible to 
tell.  Both turn and rush as if the wind is carrying their bodies, 
plunging into the murky depths of the swampy caul around their own 
Domain.  Left standing are only the Lady of Selkirk and a man in 
Roxburgh's colors facing each other on the bridge."

The GM says, "They turn to each other, raise their swords in salute, and 
with simultaneous strokes end the war."

The GM says, "Silence falls."

Yazz turns to Ekur.  "Whoooooo, TIGER!  It worked!

Ekur tries to resonate the domain itself, again.

Thais is still gripping the hilt of her sword. Just in case.

William [to Ekur]: The Domain no longer has a presence you can resonate.

Neil collapses in his seat.

Xiao Li looks around.  "Err," he says.

Xiao Li looks down at the Judgmentmobile.

Ekur bows shallowly to Yazz.  "So, the Domain is cleared of the curse.  
Are you ready to assume mastership?"

The Judgmentmobile's radio switches on.  "Uh, Boss?  ... I didn't *mean* 
to..."

Neil collapses against his Master of the Domain.

Yazz turns to Bloom, who offers his hand palm up.  "It's yours."  Yazz 
nods graciously.

Thais lets go of her sword. "...ah. That's...unexpected."

Yazz stretches.  "Life is good."

Xiao Li says, "Well, we were giving it to Jane anyway, right?"

Neil says, "Yes..."

The Judgmentmobile says, "...yeah, I think that'd be for the best."

Neil whews.

Neil looks around, and slowly grins.

Neil says, "But we can do that... later."

Neil jumps in the Master of the Domain and goes flying down the mountain.


Ekur says, "My biggest worry, Yazz, is that Wrinth will head down here 
soon enough, and try to put his own choice in command.  I'm going to 
CelTongues Matthias and Jack, see if I can get you some help in case 
demons come calling; until then, I'll stay here."

William [to Ekur]: Yazz finds this quite reasonable, although he already 
appears to be eyeing the lay of the land with notions about redecorating.


Neil assumes Jane can make her own security arrangements, and CelToungues 
her to come take possession ASAP.

----------------- ARC END -----------------

The GM says, "And we can slot further denouement actions into the 
inter-session wilds."

Neil is going to spend the time playing with the Judgementmobile and 
trying to develop /its/ Lucid Dreaming capabilities, given that it's 
never going to be easier than this moment.

William [to Neil]: Heh, that's a good seizing of opportunity.

Neil says, "Hey, I train up Driving, it trains up Lucid Dreaming and 
maybe manages to pick up another Ethereal Force."

Thais says, "Go go Judgmentmobile!"

Ekur says, "<OOC> Okay, nothing else is crossing my mind to do.  You 
guys?"

The GM says, "Mine either.  Right then.  Five months of arc done.  I'll 
tot up XP over the next two weeks; shopping lists will have room for 
padding, most likely.  Although there's always David's Malakite 
Attunement."

Thais flops. "That was /some/ arc."

The GM says, "Whee, yeah."

Thais says, "...someone's probably going to shoot me for this, but I'm 
really looking forward to the next meeting with Wrinth."

Jesdyn [to fadethecat]: I'm not. I don't /like/ celestial combat.

The GM says, "What say we do a light one-session next fortnight, eh?"

Jesdyn [to fadethecat]: It's scary.

Jesdyn [to fadethecat]: I prefer the corporeal where it /can't happen/.

Neil says, "Sounds good to me."

Ekur is looking forward to the /last/ meeting with Wrinth.  And yeah, 
light session in a fortnight.

Neil says, "This kind of XP, we'll spend most of the day shopping 
anyways."

Neil says, "Well, I've already committed most of my points."

@clearlocal

Do you really want to clear all of the local names and descriptions? 
[Enter `yes' or `no']

yes

All local names and descriptions have been cleared.

The GM says, "Allrighty then.  'night all."

StevenE waves at William! William is waved at!

StevenE goes home.

Jesdyn goes home.

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