[Lendria, Day 1 still] [I'm not retyping all that stuff. You're at the cathedral in the Imperial Capital.] [Go.] * Josh tries the door, because yeah. * Logan looks around at the others. "All right, we're here. So... do we just go in? Are we going to try to come up with some cover, or do we just barge in and tell them that we're reps from their goddess's brother from another world, here to save their country from something that we don't know by doing something else that we don't know? * Chess raises one hand. "I don't do subtlety well. Or, at all." * Logan chuckles dryly. "Duly noted." Which is why we're going in the front. * Yoshiko shrugs and opens the door. * Logan sighs and shrugs. "All right then, I guess the unrehearsed truth it is. This is why I used to work alone." [You go in. The door (which is huge, by the way) opens up into a chamber (which is huge). Pews line the row to the (huge) altar with a (huge) pipe organ behind it. There's several monks and, um, monkets, going abot their business. Also Billie's back with you.] * Billie blinks at the new scenery. "Whoa, hey. What's going on? Where are we?" * Chess whirls around and points. "Billie! We're in one of the main temples. Where'd you go?" "Oh hey, welcome back, where have you been?" Gah! * Billie furrows her brow. "I was gone?" Poofed. Of course you were, you weren't here. You had a headache or something. There are pills for that, you know. Right... I don't know? Maybe this whole staying stable in the afterlife is a little harder than Mr. He Ho implied. * Yuki twitches her nose. Which is why we're here to find somebody who knows what he ... or she's talking about. Heh, I like that. Mr. Heho. * Yoshiko looks around for someone who looks important. [They're all wearing the same robes! Oh noes! ] * Billie rubs at her forehead. "Still have a headache, though," she mutters irritably. ( You guys can hang out in the ooc channel if you want. I'm just going to do roles and game-centric stuff in here :P ) (And if we want to contact you, it should be in here?) (Logan throws a rope ladder down to Josh) ( Yah ) * Josh looks for the nearest person dressed like a monk and makes his way over. "Excuse me." * Logan follows Josh, looking uncomfortable about this whole 'Not having a plan' thing. [That's not too hard, since they all are. "Yes?" he says, "How can I help you?" Beneath the skull-cap, he actually is bald.] * Yoshiko decides to have a good look around the church-type-thing. ['Tis a big ol' thing. With stained glass windows. Pictureless stained-glass windows. And a bigger version of the statue you saw in the border town.] * Josh gestures helplessly with his hands. "I've got a bit of a strange message to deliver to Ziphy by way of her divas, or anybody particularly close enough to her to get in contact with one." * Chess starts talking quietly to Yoshiko. "But really, we should at least have color-coordinated armbands or something, right?" Like a super secret band of heroes? That'd be great! I hope not green. Green is so not my color. ( Y'mean Ziphi? ) Green's okay. I like cool colors better than warm ones. (... Yes) (And devas.) (It's pronounced the same...) [He peers at Josh, glances around the cathedral, then says, "Come with me," and heads deeper in.] (I can't spell. ._.) * Logan calls over his shoulder. "Hey guys, we're going this way. Fashion talk later." * Yuki looks over at Josh & others, Yoshiko looking in that direction a second later. * Josh nods. "Thanks." And then follows. (You wordin': AWFUL.) Coming! * Yoshiko follows. * Billie glances at the girls. "I kiinda like green," she puts in, as she walks along. (kinda) (I'm going to infect you all, and then CCD will be the king of the bad spelling land.) Yuki likes green too. I think it's because she's a rabbit. * Yoshiko grins. * Chess follows along. * Billie nods. "It's a tasty color." [He leads you to Chinatown! Actually it's just the back of the cathedral and looks nothing like Chinatown. He heads out a door and into a garden, where there's another huge statue of a robed-woman holding a scale, standing in the middle of a fountain.] "I'm rather fond of blues and browns myself. But as long as it's not pastel..." Oh, are we talking about lettuce and stuff? Salads are pretty yummy, but they're not very heavy in calories unless you add tons of dressing, so I usually avoid them. [There's also streetlights illuminating the courtyard. In front of the fountain is a guy who looks like all the other monks, except he's older, with a grey beard that falls to his waist. And he's got mad bling.] * Josh spends a moment trying to figure out how to seperate him from his bling and then dismisses the terrible idea. You need to eat a lot of calories? [The monk walks up to him and says, "High Abbot, there's some people here to see you." He leans in close and whispers something.] ( Anyone got enhanced hearing? ) (me!) ( Actually just make hearing rolls. XD ) 2d6+5 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Josh (2d6+5) and gets a natural 7 for a result of 12. 2d6+11 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Logan (2d6+11) and gets a natural 5 for a result of 16. 2d6+6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Chess (2d6+6) and gets a natural 5 for a result of 11. Not anymore, I guess? Being dead has apparently fixed my ultra-high metabolism. It's actually pretty gross, you can totally see my ribs if I don't eat enough. 2d6+5 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Yoshiko (2d6+5) and gets a natural 7 for a result of 12. 2d6+10 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Yoshiko (2d6+10) and gets 12, a CRITICAL SUCCESS!!! "I wish I got to hand out more of these, really." (A fail is you!) (And yeah, Yuki has enhanced hearing. She's a rabbit. :P) Huh. I don't eat a lot myself... but I heard there was a special artifact that would let you eat as much as you wanted and not gain any weight... * Logan waits patiently for the Abbot to acknowledge them. (Billie, hearing roll?) * Josh isn't particularly good with the random small talk himself. (Sorry, finding my charsheet.) It's not worth it. Having to eat constantly is a hassle. 2d6+8 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Billie (2d6+8) and gets a natural 5 for a result of 13. [The Abbot nods to the man. "Thank you, you may leave." He nods. And does!] [The Abbot then studies you for a bit, before asking, "And how do you know about devas?"] * Yoshiko smiles knowingly. "Well..." "Personal experience." Logan quips. * Billie rolls her eyes a little at that. Ziphi's brother Zomegar... how should I put this? Doesn't know what to do with his? ["Zomegar," he repeats.] Yes. * Logan glances at Billie and shrugs. Aside: "What, how would you phrase 'We are them, for your goddess's brother.' without it sounding daft?" It's pretty daft no matter how you put it. "Exactly, so you might as well be succinct about it." I don't know what's so crazy about it. You'll run into celestials at some point or another. * Yoshiko shrugs. By the grace or random will of Zomegar, I can turn into a jaguar. It's pretty cool. Or devas, or however you want to call us. And so cute! Speak for yourself. They don't see you as lunch. * Logan grins at Yoshiko. "Probably shouldn't call her that while she's in big cat form." No, it's cool. I don't mind being called cute. I just mind people petting me. [He frowns. "Zomegar has no devas. Who do you work for, really?"] * Logan abruptly turns back to the Abbot. "Seriously though. Zomegar sent us here to prevent his enemies from messing with the natural order of things, but we're relatively new at the job." Which is why he doesn't know what to do with us. He's gotten himself in trouble and is rather stuck. But you liked it so much. But I'm a person! You wouldn't pet me when I'm human, would you? ["How could he be in trouble when he never leaves his sanctuary?"] Got me. That's one thing we're trying to figure out. * Yuki turns her attention to the more serious conversation. "He kinda went poof." Sealed was the word the snowman used. Yeah, sealed, like a spirit at a shrine. To be fair, we haven't actually met him. We met a servant of his who goes 'hee ho' all the time and put us in the loop. ["Hmm...."] * Yoshiko walks up to Chess and reaches up, petting her on the head. "I dunno, maybe?" * Logan sighs. Under his breath (so that probably only Yuki can hear him): "She did warn me that subtlety was not her strong suit..." ["Much of what you say, no ordinary human would know. And yet much of it is contradictory with what we know of Zomegar."] * Billie shrugs helplessly. "Maybe you don't know everything about him? Right now?" "We did get the impression that we were chosen at this particular moment because things had changed, and Zomegar was having problems exerting his influence directly." * Chess reacts much like she does while she's a cat - she leans into the touch, then jerks away. "H-hey!" Yep. ["Hmmm...." He turns to the statue. "And what do you think?"] * Yoshiko giggles. "See? You do like it." Yuki likes getting petted to. Most people do, I think. * Billie blinks at the statue. Is the dude talking to a statue? Really? * Logan turns around and gives the two of them a glare. "Can we please pay attention to the matters at hand?" Hey, I'm paying attention! [A knight comes out from behind the fountain. He's wearing black armor and has blond hair, and is armed with a sword. "My question would be, how do we know they work for Zomegar?"] (is Yuki talking in our heads?) (Nope) (Yuki's talking talking) [The Abbot faces you while still speaking to the knight. "Their mannerisms are strange, surely. They are not of this world."] * Chess gives Logan a cool look before looking to the suddenly appearing knight. Quietly. "Well, then I wasn't referring to you. Carry on." * Logan turns back to the abbot and the knight. "We're supposed to be trying to blend in... but it's easier said than done." * Josh makes a mental note to try and find out if Zomegar has a mark or a symbol or even a flag. Do you have like a tour guide or something? Or a book, I like books! [The Abbot looks at the knight, who says, "Then let me ask, where are you from?"] To Yoshiko: "I dunno, how many books do you think there are about Earth's world cultures for beings from other planets? I doubt it's a very big market." London, in the UK, which hangs off the west side of Europe, on Earth. "At least four of us are from Earth, although I think her's" He points at Yoshiko "is different from ours." He points at himself and Billie and Chess. * Billie tilts her head upon seeing the knight. "San Francisco, California, United States. Earth." * Josh shrugs. "A world called Earth, we died, a snowman said we worked for Zomegar, said we had to do something with tipping points to unseal him, that Ziphi was his sister, and sent us here." [The Abbot looks at the knight, who shakes his head.] * Yoshiko nods and smiles. "A small village in Japan. We call our world Gensokyo." "...and one of our companions is off doing some recon, she's from..." He turns to Josh. "Where is Raxa from?" * Yoshiko shrugs. Somewhere that considers jaguars to be guides in the afterlife. (I uhm... Mecha! Why is that half of the log not up?) (... a good question.) * Yuki starts talking. "Oh, and if you're wondering..." she and Yoshiko finish the end of the statement simultaneously, "She's/I'm with me/her." [The Abbot and the knight exchange looks again, then the knight says, "In the end, I guess we have no choice but to trust you. Besides, you don't seem threatening."] * Logan grins. "You haven't seen Chess as a Jaguar." (Put this above the Abbot's reply) She said Earth, but definatly not the one I'm from. * Josh nods at the Abbot. "Thanks." Hey! I'm very nonthreatening, thanks okay. Yeah, she's pretty much anti-threatening. [The knight speaks, "Then allow me to introduce myself. I am Jenner. But if you prefer, you can call me Sir Jean-Pierre de Bordeaux."] Right? Thank you! Well, which do you prefer? "...I think I prefer 'Jenner.' It's shorter, and involves less of me trying to pull of a French accent. But it's really up to you." ["Jenner. That is who I am now."] [The Abbot mutters, "Or at least, FOR now..."] Okay, Jenner. Nice to meet you! * Chess raises a hand in greeting. "Well then, hey." "So you're a deva of Ziphi?" Josh. * Yoshiko bows and offers him a bottle of sake. [He nods. "Selected for my bravery against the cowardly English."] * Logan blinks. * Josh snorts. * Chess straightens and grins. "Oh yeah? What year?" * Billie snorts a little, but she has a smile on her face. Sounds like this guy's from Earth, or at least a version of it. * Logan grins slowly. "And we just got chosen because we happened to die at the right time. Must be nice, having a purpose." Hey, you're all pretty awesome. Like Billie makes some really great sushi. ["It was 1346. I'll never forget. The cowards refused to fight like men, hiding on their hill."] * Logan sticks out a hand. "Nice to meet you, Jenner. I'm Logan." [He shakes, "But! That was long ago. Now I serve here, as Milady's agent in ensureing the valiant knights will always perservere."] * Yoshiko offers a hand upwards at him. "Yoshiko Hayashi." Yuki also offers her paw. "Yuki." * Logan nods. "See? Purpose. We need to get that part figured out soon." [He shakes. Amazing that he knows how to do that. Or not.] I'm Chess Onedyr. Nice meeting you. * Yuki looks at the Abbot. "Hey Mr. Abbot. What do you mean by that?" * Logan points to Josh and Billie. "That's Josh and Billie. They're just shy." ["I'm not sure I can help you there. I've been unable to contact the Lady for days now."] ... That's probably not a good thing. Would you be able to tell if she'd been sealed too? "Do you have some sort of sanctuary that you can go back to? Maybe with some sort of... spirit, or something, that She can summon to communicate with you?" He shrugs. "It worked for Zomegar, anyway." [He shakes his head. "In fact, I haven't been able to return, either."] * Logan frowns. "That bodes poorly." ["Quite. You understand my mistrust now, I hope?"] * Logan nods. "Has this ever happened before?" That's very ungood. ... And here I thought your prince getting love letters from a forgien princess was going to be our problem to solve. Silly me. ["Never. I've wondered if the Lord was somehow punishing me for abandoning the faith."] ( ... Lord?) * Billie furrows her brow. "You mean the Christian God? I dunno if he can reach that far, assuming he exists and all of that." [He stares at Josh. "He what?"] I mean, you've been okay so far, righ- oh, you didn't know about that. (GOOD JOB, JOSH) (You're welcome!) (Man, I had to SEDUCE a guy into drinking my blood, and I didn't give that away!) (You're bad at this!) * Logan rolls his eyes at Josh. "One thing at a time, right." He turns to Jenner. "Yeah, do you remember... When was Romeo and Julliet written, anyway? Before Jenner's time? Anyway, the prince and one of the princessses from that other country are in love and would like to get together, but the hostilities are preventing it. We figured we were sent here to help them get hitched and stop the war." A pigion got shot down over our heads. But unless you think there's a connection between that and Ziphi going missing, I think one of them's a bigger problem than the other. ["Which princess? No, wait," he pauses. "Alcarest's, am I right? Lady Jolanna?"] "Well, she signed it "J", so it's a pretty fair bet." [He nods. "It must be. She's a beuty beyond compare. A marriage with her would surly usher in an era of peace between the Empire and Alcarest. But their parents would never allow it."] * Logan pauses. "Also, we have reason to believe that the messenger bird was shot down by a more modern weapon than you have here at the moment, probably with the purpose of keeping the two apart, and thus causing a war. Or something." ["Modern? A new kind of crossbow?"] "... Something like that." Maybe an energy blast of some kind. "It's possible that someone else's devas are here as well, trying to cause problems." I bet that's what it is. [He nods to Logan, then looks at Yuki. "A what?"] * Josh rubs his chin. "I suppose something randomly terrible happening to the parents would reflect badly on the kids. And just think of it as a weapon from after your time." ["Easier said than done. But if it is a new weapon..." He frowns. "Such a weapon could shift the political climate drastically."] We were advised against using such things, I guess whoever shot the bird didn't get the same warnings. Or maybe it's just not a deva, like Jenner said. "The important thing is that we need to figure out how to convince the parents to let the Prince and Princess get married, and keep whoever is trying to interfere from being successful. And then figure out why you can't contact Ziphi." What, devas causing problems? * Logan gives the rabbit an innocent look. * Yuki gives Logan an innocent look back!@ (I imagine Yuki's is more successful.) (Don't trust the rabbit! She only looks innocent!) [He frowns. "It's no secret the Emperor will soon pass from this world, but King Baran.... I doubt he can be convinced."] (^_^) (Aaaaaah, what's up, doc?) * Josh looks around for something to sit on. "Well, what does he want?" "What if they eloped, and then announced their marriage afterwards?" Oh, THAT idea worked really well in the play. Wouldn't that end with them kinda... dead? Yes, let's not get them killed, and work through the king, yeah? [He frowns. "I know not what you speak of. But without the Prince, the Empire has no successor."] There's a famous play from after your time about forbidden lovers it ends badly. Back to the king. ["Relations between the Empire and Alcarest have never been good, but lately there's been an increase on the number of raids in Imperial territory."] * Raxa approaches from the near distance, looking around at the stuff in the garden with a slight smile on her face. Hmm, I wonder if those raiders are who you assume them to be. * Billie nods. "Yeah, we were around for one of those..." She glances over. "Hey, Raxa." [The Abbot looks over at her.] "I would ask whether you have any idea why the raids are increasing, but I imagine the best place to get the answer would be Alcarest." * Chess waves happily at Raxa and calls out, "Hey, how'd it go?" * Yoshiko waves at Raxa "Heya!" ["All we know is that Alcarest takes no responsibility for them."] * Raxa waves slightly and says, "Ah, hello. Well, I think." She looks over at the knight and monk, then back to the group. * Josh waves. "Raxa, deva of Zomegar, meet Jenner, likewise of Ziphi." * Raxa looks up at him and gives him a slight grin. "Ah, another knight. I think I like the knights around here." ["Indeed. This world is like the Arthurian Legends come to life."] Forsooth! And all that. Maybe I should get a witch hat... You'd get burned. Don't, I think witches are a bad word around here. * Yoshiko frowns. "Oh. That's a shame." * Raxa idly looks at the back of her hand, then back to everyone. "So, did we learn anything useful?" [He nods. "Witches are not well liked. They've all been banished to the far continent."] To Raxa: "Apparently Jenner can't get in contact with Ziphi either. Also, Alcarest has a beautiful princess by the name of Jolanna, who is probably our Juliet. Jenner says that the king of Alcarest would never approve of the marriage." Yeah, well, they're all, uh, very chaste around here. And nobody is owing up to starting the mess on the borders. Oh, that must be bothersome. ["The Emperor surely would object, too, were he able."] Right, who's going to get his throne anyway? "Right, that too. And everyone seems to be against tempting fate by suggesting an elopement." ["Prince Maril, of course. As I said, he's the only successor."] * Raxa clears her throat, then says, "Yes, uh... and well, everyone does seem to like the prince. Which is as it should be." Royalty should be so respected everywhere. How many people are in line for Alcarest's throne, again? (I'm not seeing a Maril in my backscroll) ["Princess Jolanna is the only successor, I believe," says Jenner.] (Ah right) (That's his name.) (Josh was asking about the OTHER throne) Is there another deva in the main temple over there? Maybe we should, um, coordinate. [He shakes his head. "I am the only one. I simply travel the world, setting myself up as a knight in one country or another every few decades."] Ah. "Perhaps their High Abbot, then?" [He nods. "The Abbot would know of my presence."] "I don't suppose you can give us a general description of their main temple, so we can get there more quickly?" [The Abbot gestures. "It looks much like this one. All of the Goddess's temples look similar."] Conienient. (... THere's 'v' in there somewhere.) * Raxa gets an idle smile on her face as she listens, idly running a finger along her own neck. "All right then, we should go there and get the other side of the story, see if we can't work out a way to get the two sides cooperating. Jenner, if you could see to it that Prince Maril doesn't kill anyone important from Alcarest or get himself banished or... actually, how about this." He reaches into his coat, concentrates, and pulls out a copy of 'Romeo and Juliet' and hands it to Jenner. "Read this, and try to make sure it doesn' "We'll do the same from the other side." ( j00 got cut ) (cut off: sure it doesn') (Cut off!) [He peers at the book. "I don't understand."] It's a similar story to what's going on. Not exactly the same, though. * Josh rubs his face. "I think he just handed you the script for the play... Can you read?" * Billie glances at Logan and comments, "I don't think reading it's *really* gonna help." ["Of course I can read."] Ah good. I've spent faar to much time in the complany of people who can't write their own damn names. That's good, not everyone can where I'm from. [He nods. "Well, reading isn't a skill required by commoners on Earth. Here, though, everyone can read."] I live in a bookstore. Or, um, I did. As long as we're all volunteering literacy-related information. ("And try to make sure it doesn't happen.") * Raxa glances to Chess, and then looks back to Jenner. "As long as we don't tell him he's at risk. That'll just make things messy. Everyone closes ranks around royalty." [He nods. "I have someone watching the prince. If anything happens, I'll know."] Great... is there any way we can contact each other? Besides carrier birds that get shot down? That's good, because somebody around there is causing more trouble than he knows about. [The Abbot raises a hand. "I can hold any messages for you."] * Raxa frowns a touch. "As in... we come to you, leave a message, and then Jenner comes and picks it up?" [He nods. "Of course. How else?"] * Logan grins at Raxa. "We'll get used to it eventually, right?" * Raxa chuckles and holds up a hand. "I'm just making sure." "Maybe next time we'll be on a world with cell phones." * Billie snerks. "Yeah, we wish." ( Mebbe :D ) Eh? * Raxa shrugs slightly and says, "Well, no reason to stay here, yes?" Life waits for nobody. To Jenner: "You don't happen to have a personal connection with the Prince? It would be nice to hear more about this relationship, and not just because I'm nosy." I think he stays pretty quiet most of the time. Right? * Yuki turns to Jenner. "But he might confide in a friend, if prompted." ["No. But I have someone very high up watching him. Still, he's kept careful about his relations with Lady Jolanna. This is the first I've heard of it."] "Well, whatever gossip you can pick up." * Logan nods and stands up. "Well, thank you for your help, and hopefully we will have happy information to report soon." * Logan turns to the others. "Shall we?" Smart of him given his father, wish I knew a good way to get him to change his mind. * Raxa rolls her eyes. "I don't think there's any gossip here. Gossip would probably get people killed around this place." Anyway, we should go. We can talk about this stuff on the way. Are they really that serious about that sorta thing? * Brett has quit IRC (Ping timeout) (WE WILL NEVER KNOW) (W... DAMNIT!) * Brett has joined #MCDC * ChanServ sets mode: +o Brett ( So like.... ) (rehi) ( wha happebn? ) (You pinged!) (We saved the world and everyone lived happily ever after, while you were gone.) (Ha. XD) (Pastde.) (My lines are pastded on YAY) ["Not usually. But when you're the successor to the most powerful country in the world and you're in love with the successor of a country your people despise...."] We, of course, won't be telling anybody else. "They just need a little bit of convincing, is all." ( Wrap it up :X ) * Logan turns to the others. "So! Shall we away?" (Doing my best...) I'm outta smart ideas for here. May as well. Nice meeting you Abbot, Jenner. [The Abbot bows, Jenner says, "Likewise."] * Raxa makes a gesture with her clawed finger. "Sure, away." "Ok everyone, Like this place but in the capital of Alcarest. Nobody get lost." He closes his eyes and concentrates. [Poof. Session End.]