[Last Time, on El WHAT?!: The group aaaaaaaaalmost started a fight with the slave caravan. Instead, Daphne got some much needed alcohol, Everybody got some much needed foodstuffs in the form of dried... meat, and they got royally ripped off, though I doubt they've realized it yet. Cara decided to get some petty revenge and sat down to draw the caravan leader, the telepath, and one of the guards a seven year itch... ...and in the process defoliated a four foot radius circle of ground for the forseeable future. Just to make sure she felt _really_ bad, the group camped right in that circle, because it was handy for propping up their makeshift tent.] [We open as Shiho is, once again, just about ready to wake the others to head out for the night. As usual, her efforts are made unnecessary by the strobing light of somebody plushifying, waking everybody up. When they come around, Amy is gone, replaced by her plushie counterpart.] [Session Start] * Daphne mumbles something about not having school today and doesn't get up. * Shiho starts packing away. "Everyone up. We should be able to reach the city today, so let's get moving." * Rocky pokes Daphne's nose to get her to wake up. * Ichi yawns, but doesn't bother to sit up yet. * Daphne wrinkles her nose as it's poked, and rolls over. * Cara slowly opens her eyes. Her cheeks are wet with fresh tears. * Rocky moves around to Daphne's other side, and pokes her nose again. * Daphne swats gently at Rocky. "Um' awake, um awake." She yawns. * In a flash of industrial light and magic that intrudes on Daphne's waking-up process, Amy de-plushifies. Short trip. * Rocky hops out of the way. ^_^ Woah. * Daphne squints and sits up. "Guh. Okay, who turned into a doll or whatever this time?" Welcome back, Amy. Not that you went anywhere. * Ichi sits up with the second light. "I'm awake! I'm awake!" What happened? * Cara sits up slowly. You turned into a plushie for about half a minute. Weird. * Shiho has finished packing by now, and is waiting for the others. * Cara quietly slips her backpack on. * Amy rushes to get her stuff together. * Daphne staggers to her feet. "Mm. Morning, everyone." Evening, Daphne. Yeah, that. * Cara crawls out from under the shelter and stands. * Ichi stands and gets to work on his parts of the shelter. "Good evening everybody." Morning. ^_^ * Daphne stretches. "So, this is it, huh? The day we reach whatevertheheck. Tier." * Shiho nods. "Should be." * Daphne tries to rub the sleep out of her eyes. "Good, good. Maybe we'll get lucky and the city's in an air-conditioned dome like something outa' one of those sci-fi books." * Amy looks disturbingly cheerful, even for her. ^_^ * Cara watches Amy, keeping a blank look on her face. I have the feeling today is going to be a good day. We should try to keep cheerful! * Daphne looks happier than she's been lately, too. But her good cheer probably isn't inspired by the same thing Amy's is. * Shiho doesn't look much different from how she usually is. * Cara looks sad and slightly out of it. * Ichi looks the way he usualy does, lost. * Rocky looks like a cute widdle raccoon ^^ * Daphne rubs the side of her head. "Mmm. Never thought I'd be so glad to have a headache." * Shiho waits for the others. * Daphne shoulders her stuff, takes a swig of the nectar stuff, and generally looks ready to go. * Ichi gets his swords sorted out and makes his way to Shiho. * Shiho heads for the city, once everyone's ready. * Cara walks silently after Shiho. * Daphne follows, rubbing her head occasionally but seeming happy enough. * Amy follows after. * Rocky climbs onto Shiho's shoulder. * Ichi walks on the road. * The miles pass quickly with the prospect of being in a real city at the end of the night. The land grows steadily more green, and though not lush, it definitely shows the signs of being inhabited, and compared to the Great Waste, it's fairly packed with life. * Slightly more than two thirds of the night later, the road begins to slope slightly upward, just enough to make you work a tad harder, and you actually start sweating in the cold night air. * Daphne keeps trudging along, not seeming to mind. * The road continues on, but you can see a place just ahead where it takes a downturn, probably over a hill. All around you, the land is actually being cultivated for various crops, and the road bears more signs of frequent use. * Cara breathes a little more heavily, but doesn't utter a word. * Daphne looks around curiously. * Ichi wipes the sweat from his forehead and keeps up the pace. * Shiho pushes onward. * To the left, there is a grove of short trees, though it's hard to refer to it as a grove, really, since the trees are in carefully arranged rows and columns. * Amy hums a cheerful song, and continues to push onward. ...trees. Trees! * Amy looks even more cheerful. * Daphne blinks. "Trees?" Trees? ::looks around:: Huh. Never thought I'd see those again. * The branches of the trees are heavy with some sort of fruit. It appears something like a pear, but it's much larger, perhaps the size of your head, and you cannot tell the color in the light of the two moons. See! We just have to keep up hope. * Amy peerpeers at the fruit, and the trees, and the nature. * Shiho nods. "We'll make it out of here." * To the other side of the road, there are short vines strung up on wooden fences. They resemble nothing so much as a vinyard. * Almost without realizing it, you have approached the top of the rise. You're almost to the top of this stretch, and the road will get easier ahead. * Amy continues to hum happy songs. * Ichi looks over at the trees and then over at the vines and then back at the trees. * Cara looks around a bit, but doesn't comment. * As you come over the top of the rise, you involuntarily stop to take in the breathtaking view. Below you spreads an immense lush valley, bordered on one side by a chain of mountains that stretches off to the horizon. At the other end of the valley, surrounded by fertile fields, is an immense city, which still manages to be dwarfed by the still larger ziggurat that rises from the center. ...nice. * And yet in spite of this lushness, there does not appear to be a visible body of water. Wooooow... * Cara 's eyes widen. "...it's pretty." Big... Just when I thought this place had nothing redeeming to it, it goes and surprises me. * Shiho keeps heading for it. * Daphne continues after Shiho. "Wonder if those vineyards were making grapes..." * Cara continues walking. * Ichi walks and boggles at the city. It would be my guess. * Daphne grins. "Well, that's good news, anyway." * As you approach closer to the city, you can see that the valley isn't all beauty. Surrounding the city walls is a stretch of what can only be referred to as slums, presumably where the people too poor to afford a place in the city live. ... ... * Daphne isn't really surprised by that, and just keeps walking, having another swig of nectar as she does. * The road you are following leads directly up to the city wall, proceeding through an immense gate that is currently closed by large wooden doors. Beside the gate rests an immense stone block carved into the shape of a dragon's head. The stone must be simply... immense, in order to be visible this clearly at this distance. * Ichi doesn't know what to make of the slums so he ignors them. Wow. * By the time you have approached to a distance where you can accurately judge the height of the city wall and the great stone dragon head that stands beside the gate, the sky is beginning to lighten, and the slums are beginning to come to life. * Ichi reiterates "Big..." * The block itself is even larger than you had expected. The gate itself is large enough to allow two of the immense lizards that you saw in the slave caravan pass through, side to side. The walls are so high they seem unconquerable, even if you were to discount the guards that patrol the top. * As you come to the outskirts of the slums, you can see that a general migration of people is in progress, toward the great gate. As you watch, the wooden gates currently barring the way are pushed open by immense manlike figures that must be at least fifteen feet tall. Uh... Everything around her is big... Yeh. Ne'er thought a place like this could sustain big things. * The apparent 'standard' for clothing appears to be as little as possible without being naked. Women generally wear a tunic of some sort of cloth, while men and children wear either similar tunics or a simple loincloth. * Ichi (beats up a typo deamon and takes his other 'e' back) * HerdofChildren runs past the group, jostling people randomly as they play some strange variant of 'tag.' * HerdofChildren runs off in the general direction of the gate. * Cara doesn't seem to notice being bumped into. * Ichi stops staring at things as one of the kids bounces off him, and watches the kids run off for a bit. * Shiho frowns, and checks her equipment. * The people around you seem to be almost exclusively of human descent. * Daphne note Shiho doing this. "Y'don' think they'd..." They'd do what? * Shiho's equipment is intact. They might. Better check your belongings. ...huh? * As a matter of fact, _everybody's_ equipment is intact. Why? Why? * Daphne checks her stuff. "I think I have everything." Because we don't want to be robbed. Robbed? That's the obvious answer, yeah. They wouldn't rob us Shiho. ^_^ You can't be certain, Amy. Oh.. ::checks his stuff and finds it's still there:: "They don't seem to have." * All around you, people keep emerging from ramshackle tents and temporary buildings, and they're all headed in the general direction of the gates. * Shiho shrugs and heads for the city. "That's all well and good, but it never hurts to check. Better safe than sorry." O' course it is. * Ichi nods. "I see." * Cara doesn't bother to check her pack. * Cara continues to head towards the city. * Amy looks around, and continues walking. * Daphne continues towards the gate, keeping an eye out for thiefs. Not that it'll do any good if someone who knows their buisness makes a try, but... * Shiho heads for the gates, since that's where everyone's going, and since that looks like the best place to find a way out of here. * Ichi keeps a tight grip on his pack (not that'd stop a determined pickpocket) and follows Shiho in. * A few people take notice of the group, but mostly they keep moving towards the gate. Most of the people seem very excited for some reason, though it's hard to pick out in the general roar. * Daphne hums to herself, looking around curiously. * You proceed up the road toward the gate, but are stopped by the sheer number of people trying to enter the city. It's enough to cause a traffic jam even in the immense gate. * Cara comes to a halt. Wow. I wonder what's going on? Maybe it's a fair! A what? * Shiho frowns. "I don't know, but if this goes on, we may as well not bother." * Man practically screams at Amy just to be heard over the general uproar. What? A fair. ^_^. Uh.. with rides and cute animals and cotton candy! What the heck are you talking about? * Daphne frowns as he hears the man practically screaming. Uh.. I guess you don't know about fairs. What's going on? * Cara winces. * Woman pipes up from the other side, speaking just as loudly. It's the coronation, I think it's called! They're making Tithian the official King! Yeah! Everybody's going to the colliseum to see it! * Daphne nods to herself. .. Coronation? They're getting a new king? Yeah! Tithian'll make a great king! He killed Kalak when he tried to sacrifice everybody to become a Dragon! ... A dragon? * Daphne blinks at that one. "When he did what?" ...dragon. * Ichi says something that would probibly get them strange stares for his ignorance, but nobody can hear him over the crowed. He tried to sacrifice everybody in the city! It was horrible! Well. Good thing Tithian was around, then. Wow. He sounds like a bad man. * Shiho nods. * Traffic has started moving more quickly now, and you are nearly to the gate. * Ichi just smiles and nods. * Cara nods slowly to herself. * It's now possible to see just what's been holding up traffic. A dozen men in identical robes made of a glistening, sheer fabric are recording the name and occupation of every person who comes through the gate. * Soon you're up to the line of men, and Daphne is pushed to the front of the group by the press of the crowd. * Daphne frowns. * Daphne is pushed. o_O * Templar reaches out an arm to stop Daphne. Name? Daphne. * Templar raises his voice to be heard clearly. * Templar pens the name into the book her carries. Occupation? Adventurer. ...I think. * Now that the crowd has thinned out a bit into discrete lines, it's possible to make more sense of things. * Templar enters Adventurer in the book next to Daphne's name. Is this your first time in the city? More or less. * Templar nods. Okay. There are two things you need to know about the new laws. As of today, all slaves in the City-State of Tyr are free. If you had any, you don't anymore. You can keep them, but they must be paid fair wages for their work and cared for appropriately. * Daphne nods. "I'd heard about that one. Never had slaves. What else?" Two, defiling magic has been banned in the city. If you cast a defiling spell, you _will_ be hunted down and executed in the colliseum for all to see. * Daphne shrugs. "Magic never liked me anyhow." * Cara shudders. * Ichi pales. * Templar leans closer to Daphne and says in a slightly lower tone, "And if you're what they call a 'Preserver,' I suggest you keep that a secret, too. You don't want to be mistaken for a defiler and drawn and quartered and tarred and feathered an hanged. Not necessarily in that order." * Daphne raises an eyebrow, and speaks back in much the same tone. "Dunno what a 'preserver' is, but I'll keep that in mind, thanks." * Templar waves Daphne through. Cara is pushed through next. Name? C-cara Carter. Profession? * Daphne walks through and waits for the other. * Cara looks fearfully at the Templar. Ad-adventurer. * Templar writes it down. "First time in Tyr?" Yes. * Templar says the rules again for Cara, adding in that same warning about 'preservers,' whatever they are. * Cara looks scared and confused as she listens. * Templar pushes Cara through. * Cara goes over to where Daphne is. * Templar sighs wearily as Shiho is pushed up into his face. "Name?" * Daphne nods to Cara. "He give you that warning about preservatives, too?" Shiho. Yes. Profession? Adventurer. * Templar notes them down. I suppose this is your first time in the city, too? * Daphne nods. "Right. Don't suppose he told you what they were?" * Shiho nods. Nope. * Templar sighs wearily. Maybe that's what they call what Amy is here. Okay. First, no slaves. If you have any, you don't anymore. You can keep them as employees, but you've got to pay them fair wages and provide for their food and lodging. * Shiho nods. Second, no defiling magic. If you cast a defiling spell, you'll be hunted down, tried, and executed in the colliseum for all to see. * Shiho nods. * Templar leans in toward Shiho and gives the same warning again, "If you're what they call a preserver, you'd best keep it secret. You don't want to be mistaken for a defiler." Very well. * Templar pushes Shiho through. * Shiho is pushed. * Templar pulls Amy up before she can be pushed. * Cara hugs her arms and looks frightened. * Daphne nods to Shiho as she comes through. Name? Amy. ^_^ Profession? Druid-in-training. ^_^ * Templar looks mildly surprised. You're on your Wandering, then? Uh.. I guess so. I'm kinda lost.. ^_^; We came here from a different place, and we've been lost for a long time. * Templar notes down Amy's name and profession. Ah, I see. Well, I certainly don't need to warn you about defiling magic. I doubt you've got any slaves, either. * Templar bows deeply to Amy and waves her through. * Amy nods. Thank you. ^_^ * Amy continues through. * Cara watches the exchange with Amy. "...guess I was wrong." * Templar watches as Ichi is pushed up into his space. Name? Mmm? About what? Ichi * Templar blinks. About preservers. Could you spell that, please? Hiya guys. ^_^ That was a nice man, wasn't it? Perservers? What are those? I'm scared of him. I. C. H. I. Hmm... I could make a guess as to what one is. * Templar notes it down. Profession? Adventurer. * Templar looks over Ichi and nods. Something he warned us about. Dunno what they are. * Templar notes it down. New to the city? I'm afraid so. * Cara lowers her voice. "I...I...I'm a criminal here." Okay. This isn't the place. First off, if you've got any slaves, you don't anymore. They're all freed. You can keep them as employees, but you have to provide for them and pay them appropriately for their work. * Daphne sighs. "Yer not a criminal, Cara. S'long as ye' don't do it again, you'll be fine." I never had any slave, so that won't be a problem. Guys. * Cara rubs at her eyes. * Shiho flicks her eyes to the crowd. "If you've got to talk about it, do it later." Second, you don't look like the type to be using magic, but just in case... Defiling magic's been banned. If you cast so much as a single defiling spell, you'll be hunted down, tried, and then drawn and quartered and tarred and feathered and hanged, not necessarily in that order, for the entertainment of the people. O.O Ri right, no magic... * Templar leans in toward Ichi and speaks in a lower tone, "And just between you and me, if you're what they call a 'preserver,' you'd probably best keep it to yourself. You don't want to be mistaken for a defiler." * Ichi nods. * Templar waves Ichi through and continues processing other people. * Ichi walks up to the others. "Hi." * Daphne looks around. "Everyone here?" Hi Ichi. Wasn't he a nice man? * Shiho counts heads. "Looks that way. * Cara continues to look downcast. Alright. Shall we get going again? Yeah... what's drawn an quarted mean anyway? I think it means to draw a very small picture. A quarter of a picture. ^_^ They stretch you out. Then they cut you in four pieces. Eww. That's gross. What Cara said. O.O Uhgh. ... * Shiho tries not to make a face at that. "Let's get moving." She heads for where the other people are going. * Rocky rides on Shiho's shoulder. * Amy follows after Shiho. * Ichi follows Shiho following the people. * Cara walks after Shiho. * Daphne moves along, too. o/~ * It's easy to get where the crowd is going, and hard to get anywhere else. The shops are all closed up for the occasion, though there are more than a few mobile vendors taking the opportunity to sell various things, all of them onna stick, of course. * The crowd almost forces you down the path towards the immense golden ziggurat, which looms even more now that you're at its base. The crowd parts and goes two different ways around the ziggurat. * Amy peers. peers. * There does not appear to be any significant difference between the two paths. * Amy ponders. * Shiho goes right. 'Cause, why not? * Cara continues to follow Shiho * Merchant thrusts a stick upon which is impaled something that must once have been a cute furry creature right into Amy's face, looking hopeful. Waaa! * Ichi walks ofter the others. Quig on a stick! Two bits! Only two bits! * Amy jumps into the air. "D.. don't do that!" Uh.. no.. no thanks. * Daphne goes right, too, ignoring the quig on a stick. * Merchant looks disappointed, but recovers quickly and thrusts it in Ichi's face. "Quig on a stick!" * Amy quickly goes in a direction, to get away from the quig on a stick. * Amy heads right. No thankyou sir. * Merchant sighs and moves away into the rest of the crowd, which starts eagerly snapping up the quig on a stick. * The group proceeds to the right side, and the merchants are even thicker here, offering many things onna stick. * Ichi has nothing to pay for things onna stick with, pity he can't convince the merchants of this. * Merchant pushes something long and wiggly at Shiho. It's onna stick, of course. "Dustel? Two bits? Two bits?" No thanks. Lock of Kalak's hair! Straight from his rotting body! Dragon-king's hair! Only five bits! Hair? Who would want hair? Why doesn't anyone sell neat things? Like pet supplies and plushies. * You're all pushed swiftly along, and the crowd speeds up as the entrances to the colliseum come into view. * Daphne idly eyes what the hawkers are selling. * Ichi wonders where they got all the sticks. * The hawkers are mostly selling food and drink, the drink carried along in kegs by large, stocky men with dark skin. They're grinning madly, probably because they're being paid for the first time in... well... ever. * There are also a number of people selling what are supposed to be various body parts of Kalak, including, but not limited to, locks of hair, toenails, fingernails, fingers, and ear. Nevermind that Kalak probably didn't have more than two ears. The merchant is still doing a brisk business. * Hawker waves at the richly dressed adventurers. "Ears of Kalak! You can own the ears of a Dragon-King! Guaranteed to bring you fame and fortune!" N.. no thank you. I don't want anyone's ear. @_@ * Cara fixes the hawker with her blank and slightly dazed gaze. "Go away." Kalak's toenails! Mix them in your morning drink and it'll cure all that ails you! * Ichi blinks at the hawker, "How many ears did he have?" * Hawker blinks and goes away from the frigid woman. * Daphne ponders trying to scare the poor merchants, but decides against it. * You're soon hustled up to the entrance of the colliseum. The crowd divides into many different pathways here, and it's much easier to stay together. * Shiho heads for the colliseum, making sure the others are with her. * Cara continues to follow Shiho, not paying much attention to anything else. * Ichi walks behind Cara. * Amy continues to walk along. * You make your way quickly to the stadium seating of the colliseum, and your seats are, luckily, fairly low on the stands. You can easily go higher, of course, as the stands seem to be filling on a first-come closest-seated basis. * Daphne follows along, taking in the sights. * Shiho would rather sit near the bottom. :P * The current entertainment seems to be a large number of warriors, perhaps a hundred or so, all busily attempting to beat the hell out of each other with various weapons. Bookmakers are circulating busily with those same large, dark-skinned servants carrying large boxes of coinage. * Amy frowns. "W.. why are we watching this?" * A small man with a whip goes down under the concerted assault of three men and the crowd goes wild. * Cara finally shakes herself out of her reverie, and gasps in horror at the sight. No idea. Hm. ...If I were drunker, this might actually entertaining. * Daphne has another swig, perhaps to test that theory. * Ichi looks down at the fighters and tries to see if the man with the wip is allright. Oh my goodness... They're...they're killing each other... ...I think he's still alive... Reminds me of American Football. Reminds me of Rugby. * A large man, at least seven feet tall, is in the thick of the melee, busily throwing people left and right with his bare hands. Even as he attracts your attention, he picks up a smaller man and uses him as a club to beat back three others who dare to assault him. Gladiators... * Daphne raises an eyebrow. O.. oh. * Amy covers her eyes. * Cara looks away. "They...they're paying them to do this..." * Ichi continues to watch them fight, it's like a train wreck, only he's got some idea of what's going on. * The man breaks free from the melee and sprints away, covering ground at an incredible speed towards a small dirt mound at the other end. He races to the top of the mound, which stands perhaps fifteen feet high, and proclaims himself "King of the Hill" in a voice that carries all the way to the stands. * Almost as one, the other gladiators turn towards him, enraged that he would dare to try to finish the game before he was the last man standing. They rush him all at once. * Daphne shakes her head. "So that's how it got started." * Shiho frowns. "Does that mean it's over?" * The man defends bravely for over a minute, surviving dozens of attacks by the simple expedient of seizing an attacker and hurling him into his fellows. Or rather, supposed to be over. W.. what's going on? * Cara refuses to turn around and see what the others are commenting on. * A small, swift man, however, proves his downfall as he ropes a lasso around the man's neck and at least a dozen men all latch on, pulling the giant from the top of the hill. Looks like one of them won, and the others aren't happy about it. I don't think it's over untill they stop trying to knock eachother down. Yup. Hm. Too bad, I was rooting for the big guy. * Woman speaks up from behind Daphne. Actually, he was _almost_ there. He only had... about half a minute left to go before winning. Really? Huh. How does one win? * The threat averted, the crowd of men degenerates into a general melee again, this time with the slopes of the mound complicating things again. * Daphne has another swig, and mutters to herself. "What a barbaric sport. Better'n Pro Wrestling." * Cara looks at the woman. "Are...are they fighting to the death?" Oh, no. It's bad form to kill anyone. The weapons are all blunted. Well, unless it's a deathmatch. * Cara sighs in relief. * Ichi looks to see what became of the small man. I'm surprised they allowed the lasso at all. A...a deathmatch? Oh yeah. They happen sometimes. Usually with criminals. Or in grudge matches. D.. Deathmatch? * The small man was doing quite well for a moment, but then his short reign at the top ended when the big man stood back up. Deprived of his help in holding the lasso, the man was wrapped in his own lasso and is now being used as a makeshift flail by the big man he helped to bring down. * Ichi winces. I.. is it over yet? * The big man goes down _again_ under a dogpile of men, but the temporary alliance degenerates as soon as someone else claims the top of the hill. Doesn't look like it Oh, it probably won't end for another few minutes. Some of these guys are amazing. They can take so many hits and still keep going. * Indeed, the end takes another three minutes, plus two minutes for the count-out. In the end, the large man gets up yet _again,_ winning against the half-dozen men who are still conscious when he rises again. Is.. is it over? * The members of the crowd who were wise enough to bet on him go wild. I think so. Yeah. * Amy uncovers her eyes. W.. why are we here again? For the coronation. The coronation, silly! * Cara turns around to look, and sighs in relief. To see the King get...what they said. Ah. ^_^ * The stadium has been filling all this time, and the last stragglers are running franticly to the nosebleed seats. * Down on the field, a small, stocky man, perhaps four and a half feet tall, but with shoulders at least that wide, walks out to the hill and climbs it. He holds out a large bag to the winner of the fight. * Gladiator reaches into the bag and begins throwing pieces of silver mightily into the crowd. There are probably a few injuries, but I doubt anybody cares. Wow. That's awful nice of him to share his money like that. ^_^ * Daphne grins. * Ichi nods. * Like baseball fans, but rabid, the crowd converges on the pieces that fall, and there are small scuffles over the pieces of silver. * Gladiator does not stop until the bag hangs limply. There can't be more than a half dozen coins left in it. * Daphne shakes her head, still smiling. "What a mad world." She has another swig of booze, then caps the skin and slings it down to her side. Hm * The downed combatants are carted off the field once the gladiator struts out. I don't understand... What's not to understand? * The colliseum floor is swiftly cleared of unconscious men. He fought through that...and gave his prize away. How does he survive if he doesn't keep his money? Hm. Don't suppose y'know what the big guy's name was, ma'am? Oh, he's got plenty. He fights for the fame, mostly. And the roar of the crowd. Oh. That's Gorbach. He's legendary. People from all over come to fight him. * Daphne nods. "I see. Thanks." He's always a main attraction. * Trumpeters blow a fanfare, quickly silencing the entire crowd. * Ichi nods. "He's good." * Man rises up into view on a platform about halfway up the Ziggurat. * Cara watches. * Man speaks, his voice easily projecting to the entire colliseum, despite the fact that he speaks in relatively quiet tones. "Assembled people of the City-State of Tyr. I give you your new King, Tithian of Tyr!" * Ichi looks up. * Man gestures to higher up the ziggurat, where a small group of richly dressed people rise up into view. They part, revealing a simply dressed man wearing a small circlet and bearing a scepter. Despite the distance, you easily recognize the man as Brian Nowack, the school brainiac from back home. [Session End]