[Last Time, on El WHAT?!: The group split up to train for three months, since they nearly died horribly on the way to Colorford. Ichi trained with the Magic Knights of Colorford, Shiho took an introductory course in Invocation at Hogwart's University, Amy wandered around out in the forests, Cara... 'studied' with a cute boy she met, and Daphne was a test subject.] [You've all been working very hard for the last three months, and you have all gathered back together at your rooms in the inn, where Daphne has been left as a plushie on her bed.] [Session Start] * Amy sits on her bed, playing with the little Daphne plushie. For some odd reason, there is a staff lying on the bed next to her. * The feeling of euphoria gradually wore off as you went, but magic is still easier to do in this valley. * You also wake more refreshed than you're used to in the morning. * Cara peeks at the staff. "Where'd you get that?" Oh. A nice tree gave it to me! A tree, huh? * Cara blinks. "You met Ents?" * Rocky is a small raccoon. * Rocky darts out from under Shiho's bed and looks quizzically up at Amy. Ents? No. Just a regular tree. * Amy looks at the cute little raccoon. "Hello there little guy!" * Rocky chitters a little at Amy. * Ichi looks at the raccoon and blinks. "Hello, what are you doing there?" * Rocky jumps up onto Shiho's lap. * Cara blinks. * Shiho chuckles. "He's my familiar." Aww. Is he yours Shiho? He's so CU~UTE! * Rocky chitters a bit at Shiho. Familiar? and what's an Ent anyway? * Amy walks over to the cute wittle raccoon and looks at it. "Aww.. What's his name?" * Rocky chitters a bit at Shiho < ...I am _NOT_ cute. Tell her to stop looking at me like that. > Cool! So what kind of magic did you learn? Erm, Amy, he doesn't like it when you stare at him like that. Huh? Hey, you can understand him Shiho? That's cool! Did you learn from a druid too? I'm not staring, he's just cute! * Rocky glares at Amy. Hm? No. I can understand him 'cause he's my familiar. And Cara, I learned how to make things explode. Oh. What's a familiar? Is it like a pet? What's his name? .. ... * Rocky chitters a bit at Shiho < I AM NOT A PET!!! > * Rocky jumps up and down to make his point. Aww! Lookit! His name is Rocky, and he's more of an aid to help me cast magic than a pet. A..anno...Why is he jumping like that? Oh. Hi there Rocky! Nice to meet you! He's, um, trying to make a point. Oh, does he want a snack? What's he saying? Ahh, must be hard when there's only one person who understands you, what does he want? Uh.... I don't think so. Anyhow, uh... I heard something interesting when I was at the University. Hmm? Whatya hear? What's that? Ohh? Apparently there's a department at Hogwarts called the Department of Dimensional Magics. It might be able to help us get back home. Oooh. Yay! We can go home? I don't know for sure, but it's worth checking out. * Ichi nods. "Yes it does." Is the cute widdle raccoon gonna come with us? * Rocky chitters a bit at Shiho < Do we _have_ to take her? > * Shiho responds telepathically. < It's my responsibility. You'll get used to her... Or maybe not.> * Rocky glares some more at Amy. * Rocky chitters a bit at Shiho < Just keep her away from me. > ... Why does the cute widdle raccoon look upset? Erm... * Cara sweatdrops. * Shiho stands up. "Well, how about we go check out that department?" * Amy blinks at Shiho. "Uh.. alright.." Okay! Sounds like a good idea to me. Which way? To the University, of course. * Amy makes sure she has all her stuff, including the Daphne Plushie and the staff. Ah, right... * Hogwart's is just as busy as usual, with the Invocation classes practicing in the outer yard throwing lightning and fire into the air in a near constant fireworks show. The main gate is, as usual, closed, and the smaller door beside it has the same 'open' sign. Wow.. * Shiho walks right through the main gate. Literally. * Ichi watches the fireworks show. ... Wa! How'd she do that? * Indeed, Shiho walks directly through the immense wooden gate. * Cara blinks. Wow. She can walk through walls and has a pet raccoon. Neat! * Ichi distratedly walks *into* the gate. "Itai." Hmm. Ichi actually walked into the wall, strangely enough. * Cara walks up to the gate and pushes on it. Weird. * The gate appears solid to Cara's touch. * Cara scratches her head. "She didn't SAY she learned how to walk through walls." Maybe she forgot to tell us. * Shiho pokes her head back out. "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you; the gates are only an illusion, so if you don't believe in them you can walk right through." * Shiho vanishes back inside. ... .. Oh, they are not real? Silly Ichi, pretending to bump into it. * Amy tries to walk through the gate. * Amy walks face first into the gate, and gets a bruised nose for her trouble. Ouch! Hey! Shiho said this wasn't real. That was mean of her. ;_; * Cara walks through. * Indeed, Cara passes directly through the gate. Hey. How'd she do that? * Ichi watches Cara walk through, and then pokes at the gate. "I guess she didn't belive this was real." * Ichi's finger touches wood. Feels real to me. * Amy pokes the gate. "So.. it's not real? Then why did I bump into it?" 'Cause they're magic? Oh. Magic gate. So.. they are not there? * Cara walks back out. "Can you guys still not get through?" * Ichi nods. ^_^; Look, you can tell it's fake. * Cara attempts to point out some of the flaws in the door. I don't see how it can be fake if I bumped into it. * Cara's attempts make little sense to people who aren't used to looking at the fine details of wood. I think it's because you THINK it's real. Here. * Rocky pointlaughs at Amy from the other side of the gate. * Cara takes Amy's hand and walks through the gate. * Shiho peeks back out. "Hey, what's the hold up?" * Amy pulls her hand out of Cara's as it touches the illusion. Amy does not realize that she did the pulling, though. Uh... * Amy frowns. * Cara walks back out. "Try pretending that the door isn't there." This is a stupid way to get in. Why don't they just have regular gates? Alright... Hmm...So if I think this isn't a real gate I should be able to go through right? ::walks:: * Amy closes her eyes and tries to walk through the door, pretending very hard that it isn't there, and she won't bump her nose again.. * As Ichi touches the illusion and passes through it, it shimmers and vanishes, the spell broken. Well, it can't be real, 'cause me and Shiho can walk through it. ...oops? * Cara blinks. "Was that supposed to happen, Shiho?" * Shiho blinks. "Uhhh... Ichi? What did you just do?" Good work Ichi! * Amy follows Ichi in. Not to my knowledge. How'd you do that? * A Klaxxon begins to sound. ... I just did what you said and thought that it wasn't there... Um... * DutyWizard appears in a snap of displaced air. Yeah, but... * DutyWizard is a large man, at least six feet tall, and willow thin, with a rather angry look on his face. What's going on here? * DutyWizard waves his hand and the klaxxon shuts off. Um... We're not sure. * DutyWizard looks over at the gates, or rather, where the gates should be. Uhm...I think I accadently broke your door. ...did somebody screw up a dispel again? * Cara shuffles her feet nervously. "We were just trying to explain to them how to get through the door." I see. Apparently, when Ichi disbelieved in the door, the door ceased to exist entirely. So who dispelled the gates? * DutyWizard peers at Ichi. You dispelled the gates? * Ichi blushes. Yes? You've no magical training whatsoever. I can tell. How did you dispel the gates? He wished very hard I bet! A WISH? You wasted a WISH on bringing down the gate illusion?! Uhm, I just thought realy hard that they wern't there... ... Wow! Ichi must be psychic! * DutyWizard starts waving his hands and mumbling under his breath, casting some sort of spell. * Cara starts glowing when the spell is completed. Neat! * Ichi watches the wizard. * Cara blinks. Well, you're not a sorceror. * DutyWizard dismisses the spell, and Cara stopps glowing. * DutyWizard begins waving his hands and mumbling, casting a different spell. * DutyWizard finishes the spell with a flourish, and nothing happens. Hmmm, not a psion... I did start learning a little mahoukensai if that helps. Perhaps the spell was just getting old. It's been up for ages. You can recast it, I hope? Oh, of course. * Shiho sighs in relief. It's just a pain. Have to convince the bloody head of Illusions that it's necessary, and all. Rather a lot of paperwork and arguing. Feh. Feh, I say. Sorry. * DutyWizard waves his hands, speaks a word, and disappears in a bang of imploding air. That was weird. * Cara looks at Ichi with new (and probably misplaced) respect. * Ichi just looks confused. Could be worse, though. Come on, let's go visit that department. 'k.. Alright. Yeah... * Shiho heads into the U. * The department of dimensional magic is located in an exceptionally dusty and disused end of the university. It looks rather like no students have studied here in quite a long time, though there are a few footprints, indicating that at least two people are here. * Amy follows after Shiho. * Ichi walks behind them with his arms clasped behind his back so he dosen't acadently touch anything. * Cara floows Shiho. * There are a few smaller offices, which have no light behind them, and a main set of double doors behind which is a feeble light. * Shiho looks around for signs of life. * Ichi raises his hand to knock on the door...pauses...and steps back. * Amy knocks on the double doors. "Hello? Anyone in there?" * There is a slight shuffling inside, and a bang as something heavy falls. Who's the-OW! * Cara blinks. * The voice sounds old, but still strong. * Several more thumps sound from inside the main office as more things hit the floor. Hi there! We need your help to get home! OW! Dammit! Just... just open the damn doors and get in here! * Amy opens the doors. * The doors open into a dusty old room with a single desk and shelves upon shelves of books, scrolls, crystals, tuning forks, bones, dice, and many, many other objects that you wouldn't expect to find in a library. * OldWizard lies on the floor, trying to pick himself up from under spilled magical paraphernelia. Dammit. No apprentices to do the dirty work anymore... Everybody wants to study invocation, power hungry fools. Neat place. Hi there Mister! * Ichi goes to help the wizard up. Or summoning. Feh. What kind of respectable wizard summons demons? * OldWizard accepts Ichi's help gratefully. * Cara looks around. * OldWizard peers at the group. ...you look like adventurers. We are! We're trying to adventure for a way back home! * Ichi nods. We though you might be able to help us. Yeah. Home? Where is this home? Probably a simple vanilla teleportation. Feh. Apprentice work, if I had any. Uh, actually... Well.. Ah, nevermind, I'll just check your quantum signatures. * OldWizard starts mumbling loudly and waving his hands. Halfway through, he grabs a bone off the counter and starts gesturing with it, and when he concludes, the bone disappears. * Rocky chitters a bit at Shiho < This guy scares me. > HOLY SWEET SELENE! * OldWizard falls on his ass in sheer shock. It wasn't supposed to do that? What's wrong? * Rocky chitters a bit at Shiho < These old wizards make me nervous. > * OldWizard scrambles back to his feet and PEERS at the group. ... Let me guess, you can't do it? Ahem. Sorry, let my surprise take hold of me for a moment. Oh no, I can do it. It's just... you're from a long, long way off. Yay! You can send us home! How in the nine hells did you people get here? We're not sure. Oh. We were at a pep rally and got sleepy and woke up here! Oh, no wonder. A demon summoning ritual. Why in the world were you people trying to summon Pep? ... ...what? Uhh...no... No no! A pep rally is where you show support for your school! No demons! Yes, yes, I know. The legendary School Spirit. Very insidious, that one. Uh. O.O * Cara starts giggling. I... think you've got the wrong idea. We really were not trying to summon anything! We just were trying to support our school! You're sure you weren't trying to summon Pep? * Amy nods. Yep! Humph. Well, maybe you just didn't know about it. _somebody_ must have known, I bet. Uh.. if you say so.. But you can send us home, right? Yep. Yay! We're going home everyone! No problem. The ritual will be a bit lengthy, because of the extreme metaphysical distance, but I can do it. Are you sure about that? Well, we can do it. That's good to hear. Great! I'm Nicholas, by the way. When did you want to go? Ahh, ::bows a bit:: I'm Ichi. I'm Amy! Soon! My mom and dad must be worried sick.. As soon as possible. But are you sure you can do this? I don't want to wind up stranded somewhere with no way back. Yes, yes. I've done it a thousand times. I've been all over the multiverse to research. See! No problems! You'll want to make sure you've got adequate food and water to get to where you need to be, though. Huh? I can put you back in your dimension, but the exact location is extremely difficult to specify. Too many variables. What do you mean? You'll end up... hmmm... ... So, we could wind up on Mars? * Nicholas draws in the air with his fingers, apparently doing figures. ... * Nicholas peers at the air beside Cara and continues doing figures. No worrys! I'm sure we'll be fine! Hmmm... I'd say... within a five hundred mile radius of your departure point. .. Wow. That is quite a walk. Yes, well, that's pretty accurate, overall. Your dimension appears exceptionally stable. Well, if you say so! If you were going to say... Limbo, or Pandemonium, there'd be no telling where you'd land, and there are other places that aren't much better. I'm glad we're not going there! Be very, very glad. Horrid places, those. On Limbo, your existence is determined by how well you believe in yourself. Let your concentration waver for a moment and you stop existing. Horrible, horrible place. O.O Hard to believe there's an entire race living there. In a place where the existence of everything is based on living will, they have entire cities forged from their collective will. Very strong minded people. Wow. Bah. I've been wandering from the point. When did you want to leave? As soon as possible. Well, that would be right about now. Are you prepared? Uh.. lemme check. * Amy looks in the belt of stuff to see how much (if any) food we have left. * Ichi nods "As I'll ever be." * Cara nods. * There's enough food for about a three day journey for the five of you. Ralph! RALPH! I guess so. When we get back, we can get some more food. Get in here, you lazy bastard! * An adult smilodon wanders lazily into the room. ... Wow. * Ralph eyes Rocky and licks his chops. Aww! Is that your pet? Hi there! * Amy waves at Ralph. * Rocky hides behind Shiho. * Ichi takes a step back. Oi. Keep away from my familiar. * Ralph looks at Amy and growls. Oh. Looks like he's in a grumpy mood. Its been a while since I ate a druid. can I have this one? ... Eep. ...no, you lazy beast. NO DRUID FOR YOU! ... Why'd he want to eat me? I want to eat you because you talk about me like I'm a baby. No, I just said you're cute! ... I am not little, I am not cute. I am a fully grown smilodon, and I could eat you in two bites. I am also at least twice as intelligent as you, human. You're not little, but you are cute! And lots of cute things could eat me in two bites probably. That doesn't make them not cute. * Shiho sighs. ...stop flaunting your education, beast. Wow. You're pretty smart then. * Nicholas kicks Ralph in the side, and hurts his foot. Ow, dammit! I knew it was a mistake to make you my familiar! Hey! You shouldn't kick him. He's your friend, isn't he? You're forgetting, old man. I chose you, not the other way around. Enough, dammit. Get ready to cast a long distance dimensional shift. Oh, very well. Four passengers, then? Or are you taking the snack food with you? Uh, I'm not sure is Daphne counts... * Ralph eyes Rocky. * Amy holds up Daphne-Plushie. She's a plushie right now! Yeah.. But she'll probably turn back to normal soon! * Ralph turns to eye the plushie. * Shiho picks up the raccoon. "He's coming with us, and I'll thank you to stop calling him that." Hmmm, I'll account for it in the preparations. * Ralph eyes Shiho, too. Why should I stop calling him that? His name is Rocky! He's cute too. Hey Shiho, is Rocky as smart as Ralph? * Ralph turns about and begins meditating on the edge of a large magical circle. * Nicholas begins gathering components. Ingrateful beast. Only bonded him because he could channel so damn much power. Should never have done it. But he's cute! and smart! * The 'circle' is a fairly standard magical circle, inlaid in the floor in a silvery metal. ... Get in the center of the circle, please. Make sure all hands, feet, and heads are inside the inner circle, unless you want to lose them. Right. Okay! * Shiho gets in, bringing Rocky. * Ichi walks over into the circle. * Amy steps in the circle, making sure all her hands, feet and heads, and stuff are inside the circle * Cara enters the circle. * Nicholas waves a hand and candles evenly spaced around the circle burst into flame. * Nicholas takes up a position across from Ralph. * Ralph sits at attention, and his fur begins to stand on end, which looks rather... comical. * Nicholas starts a brazier of incense to burning, and the room quickly fills with translucent smoke. Strangely, nobody has any trouble breathing. * Amy looks around nervously. * Ichi stands and watches the magic users with interst. * The smoke, as you can all tell, because you all have magical training, is laced through with absolutely insane amounts of energy. It's as much more powerful than Colorford as Colorford is to the areas around it. * Cara waits. * Ralph begins chanting in a deep voice, words which can't be remembered, as hard as you try. * Nicholas begins chanting in a deep voice, words which can't be remembered, as hard as you try. * The chanting proceeds for several minutes, growing in intensity. * A white curtain of light springs up from the inner and outer edges of the magic circle. You are understandably wary of touching the circle nearest you. * Nicholas keeps chanting. * Ralph keeps chanting. * Ichi keeps waiting. * As the chanting continues, the words dim in your ears, until you cannot hear them anymore. The area between the two circles goes black, with occasional crawling bolts of yellow lightning, and you can no longer see the outside. This is creepy... * There is a wrenching sensation, and everything begins to look rather fuzzy. You can see slight double images of the other people in the circle. Something is wrong, old man. Keep chanting. I'm going to try funneling more power into it. * The black void around you begins crawling with images and colors. ... Wha what's happening? * A picture floats past, of a void filled with floating rocks, and a man standing on one of the rocks. He has his hands over his ears, and is screaming along with the wind. ... * On another side, immense cubes of iron float through an airy sky, slamming into each other and grinding everything between them to dust. People appear to be standing on each cube, and they calmly accept as everything, and everyone, on one side of each cube is crushed. ... This is REALLY creepy. * Cara stares, terrified. * On another side, a world of dark, gothic aspect floats past. A man runs through the woods, only to be pulled down by wolves that are not, while a vampire plays the piano in his castle. * Yet another scene floats past, of a battle in space. Rather than the familiar mechanical ships, however, the ships appear to be wood. One side appears to have been grown from living trees, and the other appears to be classical sailing ships, complete with sails. Strangely, the ships appear to be floating in vacuum, as demonstrated by the explosive decompression when one man falls overboard. * Cara covers her eyes. It's not working. Chant harder. You have to push through the resistance, I can only give you the power. * Amy bites her lip, looking at the scenes in horror.. * Ichi watches each image in amaizement. * Another scene floats past, showing two armies of immense size, and fearsome aspect. It's hard to tell which army is the 'good' one, because they both appear to be made up of demons, and they are slaughtering each other with fiendish glee. * There is a wrenching sensation, and the double images that you see of each other pull farther apart. Harder, dammit. I've got all the power you need right here, just use it. You're almost there. * The scenes begin to float by faster. * An apparently normal world, with people of many different races working happily side by side. The world pans upward, and there is another world above, in the sky. You can see the towns on that other world, it is so close. * An immense mountain with an equally immense temple at the top. In the distance, a tree so large that you can see neither the top, nor the bottom. * A mountainous region, with that same immense tree in the background. In the few valleys, people of all races happily slaughter each other, and then rise to fight again. ...is it over yet? * The images whirl by faster and faster, and you begin to feel a tearing sensation. No.. * It feels as though your soul is being torn in two. Something is interfering! If you don't push through now, it's not gonna work! * Ichi kneels "nrrrrrrgh" * Nicholas intensifies the chanting once more, and in spite of the dampening effect of the blackness around you, it rings loudly in your ears. Ahhhh... * The tearing sensation intensifies, and THERE! * Everything goes black. * You begin to wake up, slowly. Something doesn't feel right. * Shiho blinks a few times and looks around. * Amy blinks and tries to look around. * Shiho sees nothing but expansive desert. ... Something is very wrong her.. Nature.. Nature it's.. in pain. Something is VERY wrong here. * Amy looks around in horror. Nrrf::sits up:: Where are we? Just as I suspected. * Rocky chitters a bit at Shiho < Where _are_ we? > * Cara opens her eyes and looks around. "...sand? Wha-what happened?" He wasn't able to send us back. I.. don't know where were are.. b.. but.. I don't like it. Something is really wrong here. Yeah. * Shiho stands up. "Well, come on." * Amy stands up and looks around, quite scared. * Cara gets up. Where to? ::looks for something that isn't sand or sky:: But...wh-where do we go? Pick a direction. It doesn't matter. But we won't gain anything by staying here. * Shiho and Rocky begin glowing with that familiar light, and then it strobes, and flashes once, and they are gone, replaced with a pair of plushies. Oh no... Wow! Two plushies! O.O I don't think I'm ever going to get used to that. * Amy picks up the plushies and puts the Shiho plushie in her backpack, but keeps the Rocky plushie out. Aww. He's even cuter! * Amy plays with the cute widdle plushie. * So you're in the desert, with no map, and no idea what to do. * Cara looks like she's about to cry. ... Uh.. I guess Shiho was right. Pick a direction and go with it? do either of you have any magic that might help? Not rea.. one second. No. No I don't. * Amy closes her eyes. * Amy closes her eyes and concetrates. * Amy mutters under her breath. ... Alright. Let's head *point* that way. * Cara looks at Amy hopefully. There's water that way. Not much, but... Hey, it's a starting point, right? ^_^ Magic is such a usefull thing, thanks Amy. Well then, let's go! * Cara nods. * Amy starts walking towards the water, not having any better ideas at the moment. * Cara follows Amy. * Ichi follows after Amy. * After what must be at least ten hours of stumbling through the desert, the sun is nearing one horizon. Where was this water again? * Amy points in the direction they're walking. * The sun, by the way... is rather unlike you're used to. That way. It's quite a bit larger than you're used to, for one, and for two... it's red. ... ...are we there yet? * There is still no civilization in sight. No. Can't you like.. draw a dune buggy or somethin'? ...I wish I could. So I guess we keep walking. ...yeah. * The sun is setting. At least it'll be cooler now. * Cara smiles weakly. * That was a stupid thing to say. * It begins to cool off. * It begins to go significantly below cool. In fact, it's downright cold. And here you are, dressed in your spring and summer clothes. Brr... It's chilly.. It's getting a bit too cool.... Yeah... * Cara hugs her arms. Perhaps we should stop and set up camp? Y-yeah. [Session End]