[Last Time, on El WHAT?!: After the long trek home and a rescue by Shiho's suitor, the three remaining members of the group made it back to the Inverted Inix, where the bartender notified Tithian of their return. They waited only a short time in the room before Tithian teleported in, but instead of his customary clothing, he was half-dressed, sweaty, and mussed, and his lack of a shirt revealed a necklace tattoo... ...that was similar to the group's tattoos, but with a key instead of a lock.] [Session Start] * Tithian looks up at the group and gets a panicked look on his face. * Shiho looks at Tithian, blinking a few times. "What's with you?" * Daphne blinks. "Hey, T. Rough day?" You...you're neck... * Tithian waves his hand and teleports out in a flash of light. ... Well. ... * Daphne frowns and mutters. "Hey, nice ta' see you too, boss." * Rocky blinks. "Gee, think we came in at a bad time?" * Tithian reappears without any flashing or confetti, this time quickly buttoning a high-necked, long-sleeved shirt. * Tithian coughs a little. * Daphne raises an eyebrow. * Shiho frowns. "Guess we should..." She stops when Tithian comes back. * Cara looks at Tithian. Sorry about that. You caught me at a bad time. Uh huh. * Tithian looks sheepish. * Rocky smirks. * Cara quickly puts a smile on her face. "That's okay." * Tithian smooths his hair back with one hand as he finishes the last button. * Shiho doesn't smile. "Cara, show him Amy and Ichi. * Cara nods. "Right." * Cara produces the plushies and shows them to Tithian. "They're all faded like this, now..." * Tithian looks puzzled. And? Well, it just happened all of a sudden. What could have happened to Amy and Ichi to cause this? It happened right after we got out of that place you sent us to. How am _I_ supposed to know? Have you been washing them too much? Because you're the powerful wizard! These aren't toys! They're Amy and Ichi! * Cara takes a deep breath and calms herself down. I don't know anything about the spell that does this to them. I wasn't there when it was cast, and in any event, even if I did know, I doubt I should mess with the spell. * Daphne studies the cieling. * Cara frowns sadly. What's that tatoo? What tattoo? The one around your neck. I don't know. It was around my neck when I got here. I...I'm sorry. I was just hoping you could help us...you're super powerful and knowledgable and we aren't and I'm really scared about what could've happened to them and... * Rocky idly scratches behind one of his cute little raccoon ears. * Cara trails off. * Daphne chuckles. "Oh, that's just perfect." * Shiho frowns, but doesn't say anything. Not just yet. Did you find anything in those ruins? They melted before we could. ...melted? Melted. Yeah, there was this really strange room... Melted. We got some nice shiny rings out of the deal, and a few other odds and ends, but the dungeon melted. Still haven't identified most've the stuff we found, though. Interesting. Why haven't you identified it, though? We haven't had the opportunity. * Cara scratches her head. "Well, when I identified the first thing..." Your hair... why is it blonde now? Cause my magic changes things. You changed yourself? Why? Cause I was in the drawing. Was an accident. ^^ ...ah, I see. Well, I hope you keep it. You look nice as a blonde. I thought of a better way to do it, but I never got the chance to try. * Cara blushes a little. * Rocky eyes Cara, then starts picking at his tail. So if you can't help Ichi and Amy, who can? Whoever put the spell on them, most likely. Barring that... Um... Well, if I had a source of enough power, I could break just about any enchantment. I don't think they'll be keen on helping. Hrm. What kind of source are we talking about? What happened to that guy with the army, and stuff? * Tithian smiles. The army of gladiators was a complete success. We routed the enemy and suffered no significant losses. * Daphne raises an eyebrow. "Nice. Been celebrating the victory?" Even the wizard guy? Wasn't he supposed to be really really powerful? * Shiho taps her foot. Sorceror-kings do _not_ do battle. If they did, all the others would band together and destroy the offender. ...oh. We only have to worry about him if we try to invade. Since I've no intention of doing such a thing, we'll have no problems on that front. As for a power source, there are legends of a thing I could use. Hey, alright. Legends are always fun. * Cara perks up a little. Hm. So what deathtrap are you sending us to this time? A place called the Pristine Tower. That sounds nice... Hey, sounds nice. It couldn't be *too* riddled with traps and zombies with a name like that, right? * Shiho says nothing. Don't be so sure. The Pristine Tower is a place of powerful and ancient magic. Terriffic. What's there that ye need, T? The Dark Lens. It is both a source of power and a focusing device. * Cara nods slowly. With it, there's nothing I couldn't do. And it's closely guarded by anti-magic fields, or some large monster, isn't it? Dark.. uh-huh. My guess is that it doesn't need those. The Pristine Tower is probably guard enough. Mmm... Don't be decieved by the name, though. The Dark Lens is called "Dark" because it's made of obsidian. Obsidian is a powerful focusing material for magic. Ah. Well, that makes me feel worlds more comfortable about it. What's the catch? The catch is that it's about six feet in diameter. * Cara blinks. Nice. But...how come some other sorceror king hasn't gone and taken the thing? Or you, for that matter. I can't afford to leave the city. If I leave, the others may get nervous and decide to destroy the city. As for why the sorceror kings haven't gone after it... they have. They've been seeking the Lens for over a thousand years. And you expect us to be able to get it? Um... _YOU_ are not sorceror kings. Neither are your're mighty templars. Am I right? My templars are agents of my government. If I send them, they will be seen as an invasion. Add this to the fact that my templars are not so powerful anymore, now that they cannot cast spells... * Rocky looks up from grooming his tail. "You have a whole city." Then what about the other sorcerer-kings? The ones with templars that can cast the spells. But...I'm confused. How can we do something that nobody else could? Especially the king who's land the tower is located in? I don't have all the answers. Perhaps there is a truce between the other sorceror-kings not to seek the lens. And nobody else would think to hire mercenaries? * Cara chews on her lower lip. As I said, I don't have all the answers. Mmm-hm. * Shiho moves from frowning to scowling. Well gosh! I don' suppose it'd be *too* impossible, right? I mean, why put a powerful magical artifact somewhere if you don't expect someone to come along and get it eventually? I mean, ignoring the possibility of using it as bait. * Cara shuffles her feet. * Tithian scowls. * Daphne pulls up a boozeskin and has some nectar. If you're afraid, you don't have to go. You can always stay here for the rest of your lives. * Cara looks at the ground. * Daphne laughs around her drink and almost snarfs it. She swallows carefully, and then says "Heh. Who said I was afraid?" If you're going to be adventurers, you're going to have to get used to doing the impossible. * Cara moves her head a little, possibly nodding. And just where is this forbidden tower located? In Urik. Unfortunately, this is the country that just got done attacking us. Fortunately, that means their army is undermanned, and it's not far from here. Hm. Is their army going on foot? The portion they sent? Yes. We're going to need some time to prepare. * Cara looks up. "Closer or farther than the other ruins?" Farther, much farther. Oh. * Daphne nods. "Then we might be able to beat them there with mounts, if we leave in time. That's one bit of good news, anyway." You won't have any trouble beating their army back to the city. Good. Then we just have to get out before they get back home. Do we need to go to the city? That depends on if you figure out the precise location of the tower before you get there. You don't know exactly where it is? No. And I don't know anybody who does. * Daphne nods. And if you did, they might not wanna talk anyway? * Tithian shrugs. Um...I have a question. * Tithian gives Cara his full attention. "Yes?" Well, um...when we were in those ruins, we ran into a lot of traps. And we didn't really know what to do about them. What do, uh, adventurers usually do about that kinda stuff? Rely on luck? Yeah. We haven't been trained in melting dungeons. I'm not an adventurer, but I'd guess that they hire someone who can deal with that sort of thing. A successful thief would be the best bet. Hard to pay, though. A thief? Yes. A catburglar, specifically. Someone skilled in entering a place without setting off alarms, getting the goods, and leaving unnoticed. Uh-huh. I suggest looking in Shadow Square. That's also a good place to find information. Perhaps. Sounds like a fun enough place. It's the underbelly of the city. Dangerous. Figured. Go armed and in a group. And keep your money hidden. Anyway, I have to go. You can seek the tower or not, as you like. Uh huh. Later, T. * Tithian waves his hand and disappears in a shower of illusionary confetti. * Cara lets out a sigh. * Shiho heads for the door. "Let's go." * Cara walks after Shiho. Hunh. Wonder who... nevermind. * Daphne heads after the others. * The Amy plushie starts strobing with light. * Daphne blinks. * Shiho stops and blinks. * Rocky peers at the plushie. * The intensity of the light increases steadily, forcing you to close your eyes or be blinded. * Cara puts the plushie down. * Daphne closes her eyes, given that choice. * Cara backs up while closing her eyes. * Shiho looks away. * Rocky partially covers his eyes with his paws. * The light gets brighter. The leakage through your closed eyelids is painful. * Shiho closes her eyes, too, if she has to. * Cara turns away, covering her already closed eyes with her hands. * Daphne shields her eyes with her arm, while she's at it. Amy...what's happening to Amy?! What, y'think *I* know? * The light disappears, leaving you in relative darkness. When you open your eyes, the plushie is gone, but Amy is not present. Instead, standing there is a young boy, perhaps sixteen years old, of obvious asian descent, black haired and brown eyed, carrying a school bag, a longsword, a shortbow, a small buckler, and wearing leather armor over his clothes. * Shiho blinks. * Taro blinks, then shakes his head. * Cara looks back. "Amy! What did you do with Amy?!" * Rocky stares. * Taro blinks, then looks around. .... okay, right people, wrong place. Who are you? Where's Amy? Oh, wait... You...you're, uh... * Daphne blinks once, blinks twice, and cracks up. Taro. Urashima Taro. Right! Taro... I recognize you. Now what'd you do with Amy? I didn't do anything with any girl named Amy... @_@ I just stepped through a portal that was supposed to take me home. ^_^; Heh. I have an easy time believing that. The portal, or my inability to do anything with girls named Amy? ... Both. * Daphne grins. Amy O'Neal. Know her? * Cara twitches a little. She was where you are right now. ... I see. * Taro frowns. ... agh. Where is Amy, then... * Taro looks around. * Taro looks behind him, then moves to make sure he's not stepping on her. That's what I want to know. Nope... nope... nope... not here. Not here at all. * Cara looks up, eyes wide and breathing hard. Noticed that already, eh? * Taro takes out a sheet of paper and writes "Quest List" on the top, underlines it, then writes "1) Locate Amy O'Neal" under it. * Taro looks the sheet over to double-check it for mistakes, nods approviingly, then puts it away neatly. * Daphne watches this all with mild amusement. Oh dear. It doesn't look like there's much we can do to find her right now. I suppose we should go look for clues... unless you guys are already on some grand, sweeping quest of epic proportions. ^^; * Daphne looks at Shiho. "Are we on a grand, sweeping quest of epic proportions?" Not exactly. If getting home is epic... Well, Homer's Oddyssee was a grand sweeping quest of epic proportions to return home I suppose that's fitting enough. Oh, we'd love to get home, don't get me wrong. * Taro takes out the paper. * Taro adds "2) Return home", then looks it over again * Taro nods, then puts it away. Looks like we'll have to locate her before trying to return home. Wouldn't want to leave her by herself for who knows how long. I know I've been travelling around by myself for long enough... * Cara speaks in a small voice. "How're we ever gonna find her?" We're going to. No point in asking how. We're going to, and that's that. * Daphne shrugs. Now come on, we don't have time to be standing around. * Cara nods weakly. * Shiho heads for the exit. "We've got a lot of questions to ask, about a lot more than the location of the tower." * Taro adds "3) Find Way To Find Amy" to his list. * Cara walks after Shiho. * Taro follows. They say that people who make lists have a higher chance of success. * Daphne follows out. So, what's been happening with you people? I've been isolated from everyone for... so long. @_@ ...how long? * Taro takes out a calendar, with a TON of stuff written on it. Various dates and names of months have been crossed out. Hmmm.... * Taro flips through it. .... yep. About a year now. By myself. * Daphne shakes her head sadly. Well, not totally true. I did talk to people for the accumulation of goods through trade, and during training, but aside from that, I've had nobody to talk to. You didn't end up with anyone else, then. Nope. Totally alone. D'you have a mark on your neck? * Rocky hops down from Shiho's shoulder and scurries up to Taro. He peers at him. Hmm... yep. Yep, yep, yep. Would you like to see it? No. But...is it a key, or a lock? It was a depiction of a locking mechanism. At least, the parts visible on a casual glance. * Rocky hops onto Taro's shoulder. Oh, hello there, little fellow. * Rocky blinks at Taro, then smiles as only a raccoon can. "Greetings, Earth Creature." 'Locking mechanism'. Wonderful. * Cara eyes Taro strangely. * Taro blinks at the raccoon. o.o * Rocky tweaks Taro's nose. * Daphne bursts out laughing. o.o; * Cara blinks at Rocky, then giggles, just a little. ... oh my. Looks like this world has sentient raccoons. I'll have to inquire about their society, government, religon, customs.... o.o Well, we like shiny things, we spin around five times every other day, and we worship the paper cut god. Watch out, or he'll bleed you to death. * Daphne slowly stops laughing, and has another swig out of one of her boozeskins Ah, yes. Thank you. * Daphne laughs some more as Rocky feeds Taro a delightful line of... stuff. * Rocky beams. "And once a month, people come down from flying ships of gold to offer us tribute. Because we're the dominant species of this world and all." ... I'll have to confirm with other talking raccoons about last bits. * Cara struggles to keep from cracking up, now. She can't keep a quirky smile off her face, though. Now, when you say flying ships of gold, do you mean the ships are made of gold, or are the ships merely carrying gold? * Shiho can't help but chuckle. Wouldn't *you* like to know? Have anything shiny in there? * Rocky tries opening Taro's backpack. * Rocky sees something VERY shiny in there. It's kinda wrapped up, but it's peeking out. I've got textbooks. There's one with a rather fascinating article about different learning styles relating to various environments... * Rocky beams and grabs it. Yes, shiny textbooks, illuminating the mind and opening new possibilities. Right, lots of possibilities! Umm... could you give that back? Please? ^^; * Rocky tries pulling it out of the backpack. * Rocky pulls out an exquisitely worked silver necklace inlaid with emeralds. It must be worth a small fortune. * Daphne grins. "Need some help there, Rocky? " I really do need that back, please. ^^; * Rocky goes starry eyed. He jumps down, necklace in hand. "Mine mine mine!" He scampers behind Shiho and gets a better look at the necklace. Hey, nice. Um... please? * Cara sees what Rocky's grabbed. Her eyes widen. "It's so pretty..." But it's so pretty! And shiny! * Rocky clutches the necklace. * Daphne chuckles. I really do need that back. I worked an awfully long time to get it. Awful lot of effort and risk to myself as well... And we thank you for your tribute, kind sir! Reeeeealy? * Rocky puts the necklace around his neck and peers at it. *_* * Cara blinks. "So...what happened in the world you were before here?" I remember... trying to make sure I'd survive. * Taro seems preoccupied with getting the necklace back. ...huh? You don't remember everything? If you really want to be technical, nobody remembers everything of anything. * Rocky pulls off the necklace with a sigh. He looks up at Taro with sad raccoon eyes. ... I certainly don't remember what I ate on the morning 5 weeks ago, whe-.... oh, wait. I have it written down. Y'do? Fascinating. Oh, thank you. * Taro accepts the necklace. ...why do you write everything down? I'll find you a better tribute later. * Daphne frowns and decides she's going to have to be more obviously sarcastic in the future. * Rocky scuffs at the floor. "Yeah, okay." He hops back onto Shiho's shoulder. So I don't forget things. And breakfast is an important detail? I suppose I went a bit overboard with it after a while. You have that much trouble remembering things? Seemed to be the best way to keep my mind stimulated. Helps to... organize things. So...is this the second world you've gone to, like us? Hmm..... yep. What was the last one like? Tech level was about midieval... various nonhuman sentient species. Elves, dwarves, orcs.... that sorta thing. Oh, and magic was present. ... * Taro looks around. You didn't go through this portal at some magic school, did you? Nope. It was in some abandoned ruins. With traps. Nasty traps. I don't like the blasted things. I don't think anyone does. Hmmm... * Taro looks into the distance. So, how many days will it take until we can journey out of the desert? * Rocky blinks. You got through traps? * The distance is very woody, given that there are no windows in this room. This world...I don't like it. We don't. The desert just goes on, as far as we can tell. Out of the desert? You're there. ... huh. It's all sand, and nasty plants and animals, and sorceror kings, and messed up magic. Messed up in what way? Nothing big. It just sucks the life out of everything around you. I see. Doesn't just use your energy. It needs...life. Either from you, or from nature. * Taro nods. * Cara shivers a little. Hm. I'm suddenly glad I decided not to take up sorcery. ... although I do wish to explore the arts someday. * Cara shakes her head a bit. "What do you do, then? I guess you learned stuff in the past year, right?" Yeah. Mostly learned how to not-die. Wonderful. In what speciffic way do you not die? * Cara frowns a bit. For example, how do you not die while getting through traps? I had some trouble with that one, see. * Shiho grins. "You're not the one who died." * Daphne snickers. "A point." Hmm... disarmament. Yes, disarmament of mechanical/magical intrusion countermeasures. Smash a gear here, remove a pin there... Or figure out the trajectory of hostile projectiles. * Taro seems satisfied. Ah ha. See, that's much better than the way I was going about it. What were you doing? * Cara nods. "That'll help, for sure." Getting shot and falling in holes, mostly. I see. No, that's no way to not-die. Not in the long run, no. ... hm. Yes, falling in large indentations in the ground is nasty, yes. So, I guess...you're like a thief, then? * Taro blinks. * Daphne eyes Taro. "Just call 'em 'holes' and be done with it, man." How is disabling traps thief-like? A scout. Rogue. Person who shuts things down. Obviously, there'd be no need to disarm traps if you ween't breaking into somewhere. Hmmm... yes. Scout. Coulda trained to be a scout. In other words, you go first. ^_^ But those traps... nasty traps. S'what Brian called people who did it. I'm not a thief. I'm a treasure hunter. Aren't we all. Hmm... learned to use the sword and bow. But I preferred not to fight. Fighting leads you away from not-dying. * Shiho raises an eyebrow. "So you're an archer?" Just hide, hide and wait until danger passes. Uh-huh. Hmm.. yes. Archer, swordsman, student, trap-disabler, and... hm... what's that word... Ah, yes. detective. Haven't used that term in... quite some time. I see... * Cara giggles a little. "Right, you were the school 'detective'." Yes... although it's been... so long. * Daphne rolls her eyes. * Shiho starts walking towards Shadow Square. "At any rate, you'd better stay here. C'mon, Daphne, Cara." 'Kay. * Cara follows Shiho. Where're we goin', Shiho? * Taro blinks. Towards Shadow Square. Watch your belongings. * Daphne shrugs and follows. "Alright. Why're we going there again?" Why am I supposed to stay here? Cause Shiho said so. It's probably better. ... you'll come back for me, right? You won't leave me alone again? * Rocky waves. "Bye bye, Earth creature!" ^^ * Shiho stops and sighs. "No. I guess we won't. That's funny, Cara. ^^ I want to see something first, though, Taro. Draw your bow. Alright. * Taro takes it out. Now, let's see your stance. Ready an arrow. Hang on... * Taro strings the bow. * Taro readies an arrow. * Taro readies the arrow when he's done whatever's necessary. * Rocky jumps down and hides behind Shiho. Can I ask you why you're doing this? * Daphne makes sure she's well, well out of the line of fire. * Shiho peers at Taro. Or why everyone is reacting so oddly? Alright. That'll do. ... please respond, or I'll stop this right now. ... Me? Oh, no reason. ... She said that'll do, Taro. ^^; * Rocky hops back onto Shiho's shoulder and makes an exaggerated forehead wiping motion. * Shiho nods. "It's a start. Now, c'mon, let's get to the square." * Taro unreadies the arrow and that sorta thing, then. General bow unprep stuff. * Cara shakes her head. [Session End]