Selenei (Freeform)

[Thelonius]

Turn 0

“The Slavers took every single person, leaving behind a completely deserted village. Perhaps this is how the Mists superstition came into being. A lone huntsman returning to his community on a misty day and finding that everyone is gone. Slavers are the logical explanation, but how often man turns to logic in the face of unknown. An eerie weather phenomenon get blamed on the misfortune.”

Location - Unknown

You slowly regain your senses. You are located on a round, marble platform in the middle of a vast, unending sea of thick fog, below which you hear a soft sound of small waves. Fog circles around the platform, only small wisps penetrating some invisible barrier. There is a lot of rubble scattered on the platform. It seems some structure was completely destroyed here recently, there is only a lone column left standing now.

There are five other beings here beside you. Everyone is holding a single piece of white crystal. You feel some kind of power inside the Crystal, stirring and surging into you. The sensation is very strange, but you feel it gradually transforming into something pleasant and invigorating. All Crystals resonate between each other, you feel an energy flow from yours into others and vice versa. You sense part of the energy from all crystals flows to form a circle around the marble platform as if to form a barrier against some threat. Then you realize.

The Mists! Fog clouding your mind lifts for a moment and you remember their terrible power. The Mists are erasing your very identity, dissolving your most precious memories and darkest secrets. This place is a death trap that would consume you before long, unless you find a way to escape.

One of the beings moves. It appears rather like an androgynous human, dressed in thick working overalls, before you notice that it lacks face. The surface of the head is completely smooth, except for two large black eyes. It moves to the edge of the platform, holding its Crystal tightly. As It extends the Crystal against the Mists, you feel the flow of energy strengthen at this point and actively push the Mists away. It works as the Mists part slightly, but the pressure against the push sharply increases and faceless being hastily withdraws the Crystal. It doesn’t look like the Crystals have enough power to combat the Mist away from the platform for very long and the process consumes a lot of energy. The faceless being sits itself and stares into the Crystal.

There is a perfectly human looking person sitting on a large piece of marble column in the center. He looks about 30 years old, middle height with short dark hair and a beard. He wears no clothes. Unlike the faceless being, this man concentrates his attention on others present, his expression worried.




DMTibernius

One thing cuts through the confusion. This isn’t Material World. You don’t feel its warmth; some indescribable quality your spirit longs for so much is missing here.

Warpfire777

Something is wrong, yet due to the interference the Mists create you just can’t realize what it is.

Special Rules

1. This place is affecting your mental activity. You don’t automatically remember things that would be apparent in any other circumstances. You need to expend an action for that.

2. In this situation I consider your Actions to be an equivalent to your mental and physical endurance. You may loose Actions if you aren't careful. The consequences of spending them all should be apparent.

3. Consider your most recent memory of “how I got here and what happened then” completely inaccessible.

[Kalirren]

Around one crystal was coiled a large, hooded snake Its tongue flickered, its tail erratically slid to and fro, and its one visible eye looked out to the dreamlike scene blankly, as if it neither recognized nor cared where it was or what it was doing there in the haze. The other remained hidden in the nest of its own body. Jealously the serpent guarded its shimmering treasure, its individual twitches and movements separated by seemingly immeasurable stretches of time.

At some arbitrary point, the serpent slowly uncoiled as if with a human sigh. Perhaps it had finally committed to dealing with its surroundings, or maybe it had just soaked up enough of its crystal's warm energies to be persuaded to move. It was (only) about twice as long as a man was tall; its glistening scales mottled into patches of gray and black. It slithered calmly across rock and rubble towards the middle column, then across directly into the middle of the central man's gaze. Finding an appropriate hold to wrap its tail around, it coiled again and lifted its head, as if in acknowledgement of the being before whose gaze it had chosen to rest itself.

In an accusatory tone it somehow spoke, in one of the oldest tongues known to man.

<What ancient are you, that you have summoned us?>

[Thelonius]

The man tensed at the approach of the serpent and clutched his Crystal so tight, that a sharp edge pierced his skin so a drop of blood fell on the marble floor. As the serpent spoke he
answered in speech and accent perfectly mirroring the serpent’s question. “I’m afraid, I don’t know what you speak of. I’m no ancient and I haven’t summoned anyone. But if you were to leave, I ask you a favor of allowing me to follow you. This place is not to my liking and I haven’t seen any means of leaving it myself.”

[DMBlackhart]

Off near one of the edges sits a figure. He, like the "ancient" man in the middle of the platform is completely nude. The figure stands up, crystal in had. His body resembles that of a newborn. He has fresh looking skin wraped all about his form. The skin looks to be applied in strips, like that of a mummies rappings. He stands roughly six feet in height, and has deep yellow eyes. He lacks eyebrows or any other hair, and his eyes always seem to be in a state of shock.His mouth is completely tan, no pink to be found, and he seems to rarely, if never open it. The being is also noseless, as well as genderless."He" Is extremely skinny, as if only a skeletal structure lies under his bandage like flesh. He moves with the same mobility as any other humanoid being however.

" Grhhmm " The being opens his mouth, and yet seems to strain with his words...

" Urk " * Coughing * " B-behter.." THe being seems to have a voice as fluid, dry, and silent as smoke. He stands, keeping eye level with the thing in the middle of the platform. After a quick glance about the area.

" H-who are y-you?" More strain in his words. " W-where am I-ee? "

An odd sense of emptyness creeps over "him"

" Hmmm "

"He" Then advances towards the middle, reachs a hand up to his face. "He examines "his" hand. Then looks over at the serpent, then finally at the now closer nude creature in the middle of the platform.

" H-how do w-we get o-oout of heere?" His voice dry, and broken.

[Thelonius]

As the figure moves a few small whiffs of the mist inside the marble circle come into contact with its body. They eat directly into the bandaged flesh, corroding it on contact as if they were acid. It doesn’t appear to do any serious damage or cause any pain to the figure, perhaps because there is so little mist inside the circle.

The man in the center coughed and answered in a slightly raspy voice. “I was just saying I don’t know”. The man’s voice normalized and he continued “But this Mist is dangerous, if the Crystal’s power runs out we’ll all be erased. We must all work together to find the way out”


DMTibernius

The Mists are some sort of magic that erases Memory Auras – the Spirit energy itself. Since your outer body is mostly made of Memory Auras, no wonder it gets erased so easily. You’ve never even heard of anything capable of actually destroying Spirit. If you get caught in this Mist it won’t be Death, it would be Oblivion.

[Kalirren]

(OOC: Does each of us understand the others, or can we only speak via the mediation of the man in the middle?)

<What is it saying?>, interjected the serpent. It recoiled from the hostile mist, of which it was all too keenly aware, and for one thing, afraid. <How was -that- being summoned here? does it not know? and who are you then, if not an ancient with the power to walk in dreams?> The serpent blinked, and upon opening its eyes again, they were slanted differently. Angrily, perhaps?

[Thelonius]

“I’m… just another prisoner of this place. I’m sorry that I’m not that much of a help. Why do you think it’s a dream?” answered the man. He tensed slightly at the new expression of the serpent's eyes.

OOC

The mediation presents no problem since all of you know human language, and the man seems to know draconic as well.

[Kalirren]

<I guessed,> replied the serpent sardonically. <I could be wrong.> A literal wave of uncertainty propagated down its back as it heard the human tongue. It appeared to be genuinely surprised that it knew the other being's language. <I do not remember how I came here. It was as if I woke from a deep dream into a shallower one. I only know that this is not where I laid myself to sleep, and I have not yet woken except to this place. There appears to be no sunrise, no sunset, neither warmth of day nor cold of night. Therefore I assume this is a dream. But it appears that this dream has a very real potential for destruction.>

<Although you do make me think, human.> There was modicum of respect in that concession that had never been afforded before. The serpent's gaze softened, as if to regard the human as slightly less desirable of a meal. <There are places on the planes, between planes even, where the sun's light does not reach. There too would there neither be sunrise nor sunset. They often exist at the boundary between the Essence and the Void. Perhaps we are in one such place along that boundary.> It flickered its tongue attentively, as if it had the power to taste the essence itself and recognize its scent. <Tell me, do you remember how you came here?> The serpent's anger was by now tempered by a veritably inhuman patience.

Actions

1. Attempt to see what sort of essence, if any, flows through this place.
2. Attempt to change my voice box so I can speak human language. This is as much a experiment in the reality of this place as it is a measure of convenience.

[Thelonius]

“I’ll try to remember” The man concentrated very hard, his face completely lost in thoughts. As the serpent moved, its tongue flickering and eyes observing something in the air, the man exclaimed. “I think I remembered something”. He looked at everybody present as if counting and then stated “There were… seven of us before. As I was coming to my senses I saw someone, whose appearance doesn’t match to anybody present here. These damn Mists, I’ve realized it only now” The man breathed. ”I can’t properly describe it, I think it was something dark, bigger then a human, but… shapeless somehow, I’d say even distorted”.

Kalirren

There is much less Essence here then on the most essence deprived Planes. And it is a mystery where this minuscule amount would come from anyway. There aren’t any Elemental Streams that transport the Essence here. The present Essence lies inert. This could mean that there isn’t a P-Field here to transmute it into light and oxygen, yet you seem to be able to see and breathe.

As you try experimenting with languages you notice it. The Crystals seem to be forming some sort of mystical connection between you. While you don’t understand its nature, it seems to provide you ability to commune between each other freely.

[Kalirren]

"Seven of us? What do you mean by that?", asked the snake in the human tongue. "There are seven of us -now-, are there not?" The snake looked and counted the glowing crystals. Sure enough, there were seven; its own and six others, six around the perimeter and one in the center. "Are you sure you're not forgetting yourself? Do you know what you even look like?" It tried to remember itself: Did it remember this being of which the human spoke? Had there always been seven on this lonely platform?

[Thelonius]

There are six beings now on the platform. Each is holding a small crystal, the shape of each crystal different. Some of the crystals have sharp edges as if they are broken pieces of something larger.

The man replied a little embarrassed. “I’m… afraid that I don’t know how I look. This Mist must have affected me very strongly, I actually have no recollection of time before I awoke here”

Kalirren

You remember there being seven of you, but nothing more, the man’s recollections of the seventh being’s appearance seem to be stronger then yours.

You were under impression that there were seven of you, because you actually can feel existence of the seventh crystal and being holding it. While this crystal isn’t here on the platform and it’s not part of the energy flow between crystals here, somehow you feel it, somewhere both far away and close at the same time.

[DMBlackhart]

"He" looks about the area. Taking it all in. Trying to find ANYTHING that might be of even the slightest importance. When that fails "he" turns "his" gaze apon each individual seperatly. From the snake, to the ancient, to the others in the circle. "His" Luminescent yellow eyes fix on each being, as if "he's" reading them.


DM Ok so I am reading all the beings auras, I dunno what action that is.

[Thelonius]

DMTibernius


This is result of your examination. It is possible you missed something or could have learned more under different circumstances. But it would take a lot of energy and time to carefully study all their Auras.

Faceless

The Auras seem human, only they are cobbled together in a very strange way. You sense layers and layers of Auras and something twisted beneath them. This creature’s spiritual power is great and it seems to possess some form of spirit magic, though you aren’t sure if it is necromancy or something else.

Serpent

You remember observing similar Auras before, only they were much more weaker, almost animal-like. It is different from the human Auras, for one thing you can’t determine serpent’s longevity. It looks strong, indicating a powerful personality and rich life experience.

Man in the center

He is a complete void. There is “something” there, but you simply can’t perceive it.

Uzirael‘s character

It is simply astounding. This person is a normal human. You detect a slight disturbance in the Auras, perhaps indication of some recent traumatic experience or mental affliction.

Warpfire777 ‘s character
You don’t perceive any Auras. It’s as if you are facing an inanimate object, not a living being.

[DMBlackhart]

DM Can I examine the mist in any way?


"He" looks about the group. "He" doesent show much concern for the majority of the group, however the faceless man in the middle shows the most concern.However "He" Turns "His" gaze to the lethal mist surrounding their momentary safe haven."He" stares at it for quite sometime, "His" body unmoving or tiring.

[Thelonius]

DMTibernius

You can't examine Mist, beyond realizing that it completly blocks your perception.

[DMBlackhart]

After a few moments of fruitless effort, "He" retreats his gaze to the faceless ancient. "Whell, I-i'm stumped"

[Kalirren]

"You don't remember anything at all before this existence, then?" commiserated the serpent, a stroke of pity in the voice showing. "Then you have probably been here the longest of us all." Or were somehow the weakest. Or tried the hardest, unsuccessfully, to escape, and was most scarred. How horrible, not to remember what one was. It made all the difference between being the lord of a forest and being only its largest predator.

The serpent reared, lifting its head to survey the whole platform. "But you are correct, I see. One is gone." The serpent let out a seething hiss. "Departed, perhaps. Or destroyed. I do not know. Yet I can feel its crystal. It exists elsewhere." If it had eyebrows to raise, it would have. "At least we have reason to suspect that it is possible to depart this place."

And with that, the serpent meandered away, lost in its alien rhythm of thought.

In its native language, Essence and Existence were the same word. And there was so little of either here. What little there was seemed to radiate from nowhere, isolated islands and pockets of it, as if each were a snowflake drifting in the wind, and upon coming to rest on a surface, melted into ice, its form naturally absorbing and becoming lost into greater amorphousness.

If this place were truly at the boundary between the Essence and the Void, where each became like the other, what would it look like from the inside? Would it not be like a snowflake, or melting ice, its crystalline pattern repeating itself? Or a eddy in a stream, the vortex appearing constant from its center, but in reality dissolving into the current?

Was that a key? that this place was a real metaphor for itself?


Again, then, the serpent's attention was drawn to the crystals. Of all the things here, they were the most constant, the most radiant. In all likelihood they defined what was around them. Perhaps they fit together somehow, could be pieced together, and their strength would grow, giving them more time to escape the prison itself. Which was evidently possible. It returned to its own crystal, coiled around it again, tongue flickering investigatively. What was the crystal? What did it taste like, feel like? Could anything be seen in it, felt through it?

[Thelonius]

As the serpent gazes into its crystal, the flow of energy trembles if only slightly. The serpent’s working of the crystal’s power resonates between each piece.

Kalirren

The crystal’s physical properties are ephemeral. By your will it can shift its form, change color and taste, yet remain the same on some level beyond your perception. You doubt it can be damaged by the strongest metal or fiercest flame. It reminds you of the immutable, eternal things like Sun or Void, step above the mundane materials like wood that rots, metal that rusts or stone that erodes. Yet it was broken somehow.

There is a bond between you and the crystal. The flow of its energy into you was the sensation that awakened you. You can sense the bonds between the crystals and other beings present here. Each feels a little different, taking on nature of their master.

Still they all come together to form the barrier against the Mist, growing strong together, as they could not alone. You doubt that uniting them physically would have any effect. You need to either unite the will of their holders for a single intent or make them bond exclusivly with you, so you can direct them all through your will alone.

[Kalirren]

Interesting. There were ways to send vibrations, waves through the crystals without even meaning to. Something was better than nothing, if only because it was interesting.

Not knowing what to do, what to settle upon, the serpent played with its crystal for a short time it took for a good idea to strike. With new purpose it flattened its crystal into small round disk. It turned its crystal dark and black, like a onyx. Then with pressure from its own body, it molded one side of the flat disk into a smooth reflective surface. It checked its work from time to time, making sure that the image was getting clearer, until it was satisfied with the mirror it had fashioned.

Having done so, it once again approached the two beings in the middle. "Come here, I have something to show you all; especially you," it remarked, tilting its head towards the nude man. "Something that may help you remember who or what you were before you came to this place."

(OOC: We really need to get some more PCs in here. Maybe I'll PM them and try to get them out of their writer's block.)

[Thelonius]

(OOC - Yes, that would be nice. I can also add 1 more player, to take the role of the man in the center. Originaly I've planned for 7 players, but then thought it would be too many.)

[DMBlackhart]

OoC Ok well, sorry im not posting much. There hasent been much going on In Character. So hopefully once we get some more players or when the story picks up a bit I will post more.

[MrEdwardNigma]

There was a sigh, almost like a whisper. A person, very human looking, was staring at the scene from under the brim of his bolar hat. Strangly, both the hat and his red suit seem to be quite stuck to him, almost as if they were part of him. From the back of his pants extended a long thin red tail, topped off by a bit shaped like an arrowhead. His ears were like those of elves, his teeth a pearly white and his eyes strangely grey, with star-like sparkling dust floating inside. He stepped forward, his shoes clacking on the marble.

He pulls out a ballpoint pen and a notepad and starts jutting things down, as if making an inventory of the place. There was not much to note, but perhaps this way of working made him feel more comfortable.

He merely glanced into the mirror, seemingly hardly interested.
No, no new memories, I fear
He sighed.
This place is so lonely, so dreadful, so unconnected
He sighed again and then walked over to the human, sitting down next to him and laying his hand across his grey eyes. He seemed to relax, and no longer did or said anything.

GM
Nigma, for that is what I will call him, will examine his surroundings as closely as possible. The others, that is, the stones and the architecture. He will try to recall what he knows about any of them.

He will then check if he's got a mind link with the only human, and he'll try contacting several deamons and humans he remembers from the past as he sits down.

[DMBlackhart]

"He" takes a long look into the mirror. And with a deep sigh, closes "His" shimmering light like eyes.

Sorry for the late post.

[Thelonius]

The man in the bolar hat moved around the marble platform carefully examining his surroundings. His movements looked very light, almost effortless. At some point a large piece of rubble attracted his attention.

MrEdwardNigma

Among the rubble you find four pieces with complex patterns carved in them. Three patterns are completely incomprehensible, but the longer you look at the fourth one the more it starts to make sense. It depicts the time of the Eternals, you recognize their cities, Streamships, golems working in the streets, even Daemons attending to the citizens.

You feel the power of the Crystal you hold surge, as you attempt to establish Mind Link. After countless failed attempts to master this ability, the strange magic of the Crystal unlocks it to you in mere seconds. You are free now, to go where you please and when you desire. Yet as you direct the Mind Link at the man in the center it produces no results. It’s as if something is missing, something vital at establishing the Mind Link. The man in the center just “feels” strange.

You fail to contact anyone. It is possible that there are no humans in range of your telepathy or that they are unconscious. The communication with Daemons has no range, but they must be present in the Material World to be contacted, so maybe none of them are. Another possibility is that there is something that blocks your communication powers.

[Kalirren]

It was the man in the middle who really needed to look at his own reflection. But to each who approached the mirror, the serpent offered the full extent of its understanding.

"Each of these crystals is connected to the others," it began. "Their connection is what stays the Mists from overwhelming us. But each of these crystals is imprinted with our own essence, and the connection has become discordant. If we bring the crystals into harmony, the barrier against the Mists should strengthen. It might buy us some time to leave this dangerous place."

Just what was this place, anyhow? If it was a metaphor for itself, then what was the underlying symbolism of their surroundings, the core pattern upon which it was based? The rubble? the waves? The serpent searched its own memory: Had the rubble once been a structure, that needed to be rebuilt?

As it mused, it noticed another who was looking at the rubble. "You are awake. Good." The serpent looked him up and down, puzzled. It didn't know what to think of the man with tail at all; his dress was of doubtful significance, and his mannerism aloof in a way in which it was not used to seeing people act. "What are you?" it asked warily. "Or rather, who are you? Do you at least remember your name?"

[DMBlackhart]

"He" Re-opens "his" eyes. "C-connect, the crystals...."

"He" continues to toy with the gem a bit, changing its color, geometric shape, and its temperature. "Alright. But h-how?"

[Kalirren]

"Concentrate," exhorted the serpent impatiently, "concentrate on my crystal, and feel the rhythm that I impart to it." The serpent closed its eyes, and through the connection that enabled the various beings to understand each other in the first place came a pulse slow, distinct, and strong. The black mirror throbbed, as if it had a heartbeat. "Let your own rhythm come into resonance with mine. Then the crystals will be in harmony, and together we shall grow strong."

[Thelonius]

The man joins your efforts, his expression thoughtful, as he gazes into the mirror. As the harmony between the Crystals grows, the power of the barrier strengthens. Now it pulses with your will to repel the Mists and they leave the marble platform. Perhaps the platform affects the Mists as well, because beyond it they persist with much greater strength. You may be able to push them away, but that would require some effort on your part.

You detect interest in your actions from the Faceless being, but it neither helps, nor disrupts the harmony.

[DMBlackhart]

To DM If im right,from your description your saying we can leave?

"He" notices the change in energy, as the crystals work in unison to repel the mist. " N-n-now we must Gooo." "He" Grasps his throat, aparrently in pain, still not used to talking.

[Thelonius]

To DMTibernius

Well, no. As far as I could tell, your intent was to use Crystal’s power to empower the Barrier against the Mists. You are safe for now, but the platform you are on remains surrounded by the wall of mist that will dissolve you on contact.

Don’t forget that you are trapped in some strange Reality altogether and you need to find way to the Material World. The escape remains a step (or two) away, you just need to test the waters a little more and continue cooperating.

[DMBlackhart]

DM Ah, m'kay. Well, i've got no idea, maybe once I sober up I will have a plan.

[An Enemy Spy]

Razhn sits int the cave meditating what he must do. The mist was truly a force to reckoned with, but if he sat by and did nothing, there was the possibility of infestation escaping him. He sat there for a year, or perhaps it was only for a minute. Time had no meaning to one such as Razhn. Finally he decided to return. The threat of an infestation was too great to ignore. Gathering the other entity in the crystal, he willed himself back.

[Thelonius]

Suddenly there are seven of you on the marble platform again.

Kalirren

You detect a very small inflow of the Essence. Most of it is immediately attracted to the newcomer and is apparently absorbed into it’s body.


Enemy Spy

Can you add your appearance in the next post.

[Kalirren]

"Is there a way out now?" asked the serpent. "I can see none, though I trust a way out does exist." The serpent uncoiled in thought. "There was a seventh. Perhaps we should find that one through the connection. I can feel its crystal, far yet proximate. Maybe we can find it and use the fact that it has already left to ourselves leave..." The serpent turned its head as if to look at empty space.

"Or maybe that won't be necessary at all..." And as if on cue, out of thin air there coalesced a being. "You are the seventh, are you not? You have left this place before. Who or what are you?"

[Thelonius]

The World. Is it still as you remember it? The answers to your past and present lie somewhere there, but where do you start looking?

The Planes are grouped in three clusters called Upper Planes, Middle Planes and Lower Planes, names based on their position relative to the Sun.

Kalirren

Upper Planes

Here lies the Plane to which the Dragons descended for the first time, when they left the Sun. Most of the Dragons are hatched here on the three Planes, where the first Dragons originally settled. The Upper Planes are well explored by the Dragonkind, so most Dragons eventually leave for the Middle and Lower Planes.

One of the most notable features of the Upper Planes is the Void Cloud. It is a mass of Void’s Dark Matter surrounding a single Plane. The stories tell of an epic battle between the Dragon Elders and Walking Void, one of the creatures from the dawn of time. The defeated creature’s body turned into Dark Matter, remained as the Dragons decided to leave it for the later generations to remember and marvel.

Middle Planes

The Middle Planes contain more Planes then the Lower and Upper combined. There are many different planes here – rocky and dry, completely covered with forests or water as well as plains with diverse terrain.

Through the center of the Middle Planes passes the World’s Spire – the largest, perfectly vertical Elemental Stream in the World. It was created artificially by the combined efforts of the Dragonkind to spread the Essence far and wide from the Sun to the furthest reaches of the World. It is often used for fast travel.

Most of the Dragons inhabit the Middle Planes. Each Plane hosts ever changing communities of the Dragons.

Lower Planes

The Elemental Streams of the Lower Planes are weak. Dragons born here are much smaller then those born in planes located closer to the Sun. This is also a place where most skilled of the Dragons practice their powers of Transmutation. Small amounts of Essence available require greater fineness in manipulating the elements.

Several of the Planes still contain remnants of the age before the Dragons. Odd, un-living creatures and terrifying distortions present one of the few dangers to the adult Dragon. The Elders claim that with time less and less evidence of the Primeval Age remains and eventually all of it will be gone.

The humans inhabit three planes and it is apparent that they plan to expand to others as well. Several of their fragile ships have visited the Middle Planes, but the vast distance and different power of the Elemental Streams between the Lower and Middle Planes makes the travel very dangerous (for humans not dragons of course).



DMTibernius

Upper Planes

You’ve lived here for some time. The most important plane in the World is doubtless the Avalon. It draws its Essence directly from the Sun and its Transmutation magic has surpassed even the mysterious tech of the Eternal Empire. Since the War of Succession, Avalon remains at peace, it's millitary power unchallenged.

Upper Planes remain the most prosperous, technologically advanced and safest places to live in the World. That’s why there are many restrictions on immigration from the lower planes. It helps that there are only two charted Elemental Streams between the Upper and Lower Planes, and one of them is a Spiral Stream.

The Upper Planes is also the place, where the largest and most dangerous Dragons in the World live. The Dragon Hunt is tradition restricted to the highest echelons of the Avalonian nobility, both by tradition and requirement of strongly armed Stream Warships. The only other plane to hunt dragons on regular basis is Eisen located in the Middle Planes, but they hunt smaller and weaker bronze dragons.

Middle Planes

You have been to the Middle Planes in the later part of your life.

It used to be the center of the human civilization, but after the collapse of the Eternal Empire most of the Middle Planes have fallen to barbarism. Several centuries have passed and there is no restoration in sight. Most of the impoverished planes have resorted to piracy and slavery and now are ruled by the corrupt militaries.

There are several Planes that at least maintained the previous level of civilization. The former twin capitals of the Eternal Empire - Alora and Victoria are one such example. Avalonian Exiles in Denover are another example of orderly and technologically advanced nation.

The collectors of the Middle Planes hold the largest numbers of the Eternals Artifacts. There are many Cults preaching different world views. There are dragon hunters of Eisen and remnants of the Eternal Empire in Mirrordin.

Lower Planes

You memories from life don’t tell you much of the Lower Planes. It used to be a cradle of Humanity a very long time ago, when the Eternal Empire still existed. Now the place has completely fallen into chaos and barbarism and if some of the more fantastic rumors are to be believed, it is completely overrun by the forces of darkness. Perhaps there is a merit to some of the rumors, since you can be referred to a creature of darkness as well.

The group of Greater Dead you were in was traveling to the Barrier correspondent to the Lower Planes. One of the stronger Undead called Shega claimed to know a weak spot in the Barrier there that would allow you to cross. Of course It could have been lying to discourage others from devouring It.

OOC – Your “life” memories are a bit muddled at the moment. You may start recalling more things about it once you step into the Material World.


An Enemy Spy

You can detect the location to where anyone would leave from the Mists.

Upper Planes

The Elemental Streams are strong here and there is a lot of Essence in the air. You can bear it, but your opponents may use it to their advantage. It is also place where you were almost destroyed, when you answered your last Divine Call.

Middle Planes

You’ve visited the Middle Planes in pursuit of infection once. They weren’t as corrupted as Lower Planes so you didn’t damage them as much.

Lower Planes

You’ve eliminated the source of the first major infection here, but you were too late to prevent its spread among the Lower and Middle planes.

OOC – Since you used to be more of the “force of nature” I’m not describing the human civilization you’ve encountered in the Planes, since you deemed them insignificant at the time. You might need to learn more about them now. I'll let you know if you'd detect anything in the Material World.


MrEdwardnigma

Upper Planes

The Upper Planes are the territory of the Dragonkind. The Eternal Empire maintains a single outpost here as a diplomatic mission to the Dragons. Eternals don’t wish to invade the Dragon territory to avoid any conflict between the races. The Dragons both helped and hurt the Empire. The advanced Transmutation magic was learned from the Dragons as well as first charts of the Elemental Streams were made with their help. On other hand some Dragons have acted agressivly against humans and others sought to meddle in the Empire's internal affeirs to their interest and pleasure.

Middle Planes

After Eternals technology allowed for the sufficiently durable Stream Ships the first exploration missions were sent to the Middle Planes. The unknown Streams were slowly charted, the Ship’s Engine Crystals tuned for the stronger Elemental Streams of the Middle Planes and humanity was ready to expand.

The Middle Planes are better suited for life then Lower, due to greater amount of Essence available. The Eternals technology braved diverse conditions of every plane – underground mining settlements, floating ocean cities, lodges in the dark, predator filled jungles.

The Planes Alora and Victoria became the administrative centers of the Eternal Empire, while ten other colonies were established bringing the population numbers to tens of millions.

Lower Planes

Lower Planes are the cradle of the humanity and Eternal Empire. The first human colony was founded in the Lower Planes and the second colony New Eden still remains prominent center of the economy and culture of the Eternal Empire.

The Elemental Streams are weak here so the settelments don’t grow too big and Essence Collectors need to be constructed to satisfy the Essence needs of the cities. The climat is cold and nights are longer then days. Some of the Planes never were colonized, due to more lucrative opportunities present in the Middle Planes.

Lower Planes still contain major research facilities and cultural centers. The pilgrimage to the First Colony is almost sacred duty of every citizen of the Empire. In one of the research facilities here the first Daemons were created.


OOC

I'll go into the transportation from the Mists tomorrow. There are several destinations available.

[Lonna]

The last figure in the circle moved for the first time, starting in surprise as the missing member of the group materialized. She was clearly human, in her mid-twenties, with black hair cut boyishly short and light brown skin showing under loose grey sweats. Clutching her crystal in both hands, she now stepped forward hesitantly, her silver eyes darting as she looked nervously at the others.

"Even if... even if we can get out, where do we go? I don't... I think the Mist must be affecting me very strongly. I remember some things before this place, but..." Her eyes closed for a moment and she shivered slightly. "Nothing useful."

[DMBlackhart]

G-go.... We will go, home. I-i-i will go home. " He" seems to be lost in thought after "he" says this.....

[Lonna]

"Yes, but where is home? No offense, but from what I can remember most of you wouldn't fit in where I call home." The woman's hands still clutched the crystal, but some of the uncertainty had left her voice.

[Kalirren]

"Well, this may surprise you then, because -you- certainly do fit into -my- notion of what home is. I have..." and the serpent then seemed to struggle to choose a word, "...guided your kind before." A inevitably quizzical pause. "So at least that means I have a guess at where your home may be."

[DMBlackhart]

"HE" Stares at the others while the plan out the next step and talk about homes. H-Home. I cant remember my home.

[Kalirren]

"...That's sad," responded the serpent, almost dispassionately. "Do you at least remember what you are, or were?"

[DMBlackhart]

"HE" coughs a little before catching "HIS" Breath. N-no. I seek, something. I've said enough.

[Thelonius]

Razhn's arrival has alerted you about the existence of a small distortion of space. For some reason this strange being has shown you the way out.

As you gaze into the distortion you can feel a vast, almost limitless bouquet of sensations – of warmth and cold, of dirt and stone, of essence and emptiness. Some of the sensations are totaly incomprehensible. You are completely overwhelmed for a moment.

You collect yourself and try concentrating on the distortion again, but your senses seem to have dulled, as if the sudden shock has temporarily burned them out. This allows you to perceive without being overwhelmed. Slowly you begin to distinguish between the different sensations - first the enormous energy of the Sun, then the lack of cold and warmth of Void. Finally you feel the vast emptiness between the small chunks of matter and suddenly you can differentiate between the rich in sensations Planes.

This seems to be the limit of your perceptions for a moment, until you sense several places that you can feel with much greater clarity. As you concentrate on them smaller and smaller details come into focus. You begin to feel temperature, sense the terrain, soft and warm objects that you suddenly realize are people, going about their business. You feel that if you continue gazing into the distortion and let your perception be completely overwhelmed again, you will be able to just step into one of those clear spots.

Five Portals


First Portal

This is the largest portal and you can feel the area at greater distance from it. There are many corridors and rooms. It seems that this portal is located inside a building. There are living beings present near the portal, engaged in some kind of work.

This place is located relatively close to the Sun and to the 4th portal. From other portals it is closest to the 5th.

Second Portal

The temperature here is lower then in the other portals. You sense a large number of buildings, but detect no living beings in the proximity of the portal. There are several oddly placed statues on the streets and you noticed several buildings are in a state of disrepair.

This place is located farthest from the Sun and all other portals. The 3rd portal is the closest to it.

Third Portal

You feel strong air currents and you don’t feel earth, so the portal must be located above the ground. It is a warm sunny day there, you can hear the voices of birds. Smoke is rising from below.

This Portal is located relatively close to the 5th portal.


Fourth Portal

The air and rocky earth feels hot. The portal is located in mountains and you detect no humans near it. Several bushes grow nearby and a couple of animals seem to be grazing.

This portal is located closest to the Sun and the 1st portal.

Fifth Portal

The air feels damp and you sense rock ceiling. The portal seems to be located underground. You detect a large number of living beings at some distance from the portal.

This portal is located farther from the Sun then 1st and 4th.


OOC

By the way I've liked what Kalirren did with her Crystal. Since it will be awkward to constantly carry your Crystals in hand you can make it into an item to wear or use whatever other options are available to you. Crystal is also rather uninspired name for a powerful artifact, so if you want you can name it as you like.

[DMBlackhart]

"He" Peers at the portals, then his crystal. Soul....

And with this the crystal turns into a glowing blue bead that "he" hides under "his" flesh like bandages.

Taking some time to decide "he" finally moves towards the first portal.

Y-yes.....

[Kalirren]

The serpent blinked its right eye suspiciously. "Surely you -must- have a past for to seek anything at all in your future." But if that being wanted to be secretive about its motives, there was no obligation to question that. The serpent watched as the being left the Mists, then turned to the lost human woman. "You see the destinations too, I assume. You probably feel them through the crystals if nothing else. Does any of these places feel more familiar to you than any other? Look more like home?"

[Thelonius]

As the yellow eyed being moves to the portal, the man in the center speaks. Can I go with either of you? I don’t remember my past as well, so it doesn’t particularly matter where I go. It just seems that you know more about the world and I could really use some directions, at least at first. I’ll try not to be a burden. He looks a little embarrassed by his nakedness, now in the presence of another human being.

DMTibernius

Just a little curious, why the first portal?

[DMBlackhart]

Please DO NOT READ THIS IF YOUR NOT THE DM
DM Simple, he seeks a body, where else to go then where he senses them in mass? Not his BEST move but hes more or less running on instinct right now

W-with me. C-come with me. "he" then sets off through the portal. Unprepared for what world awaits him.

[Lonna]

Seeing several of the other Crystals being manipulated, the human looks at her own. Slowly at first, then with increasing speed, it molds itself around her right wrist to form a clear bracelet, nearly invisible under her sleeve.

In response to the serpent's question, she shook her head. "I can't tell. I remember darkness... but that wasn't home. The rest of what I remember could be any of these."

Glancing at the other human she adds, "I don't see why you can't come with me - honestly I'd appreciate having someone normal along." She is careful to keep her eyes on his face as she speaks.

[Kalirren]

"I don't know what that being saw beyond this portal that it desired," remarked the serpent. "Something, clearly. It seemed rather enthusiastic." The serpent started towards the first portal and stopped abruptedly. It turned to look upon its own body, as if considering its own form. "All I know is that I want to see the Sun again."

The serpent turned once last to look at the others; the faceless being, the tailed one, and the one who had shown them all the way. Would they leave as well?

"I think it has been a long time. I won't be going to the same place as it just did, but I do believe that we will be able to find each other after we leave here." And with that, the serpent closed its eyes and disappeared into the fourth portal, mirror crystal in tow.

[Thelonius]

And where are you going then? With… The man struggles to name the yellow eyed creature. Him or the serpent?

After observing the Crystal’s transformation, the man concentrates on his Crystal, but nothing happens. Can’t seem to make it into clothes. I guess there’s the limit to my imagination. I’ll leave it as it is for now The man chuckles with apologetic smile.

[Lonna]

The woman shrugs, looking at the portals. "The third portal's out," she mutters, clearly thinking out loud. "No point inviting a fall to my death, even if... Anyway. I don't like the idea of getting lost in some cave or desert, so that rules out the fourth and fifth portals. Which leaves the first and second." She raises her voice slightly, addressing her next question to the nude man. "What do you think? The deserted city or the building?"

[Thelonius]

Well, I guess we follow Him then. Better to have someone who knows what is going on around. The man concentrates on the portal, preparing to go. You with us? he addresses the faceless being. Thank you. But I’ll pass, the Faceless answers softly.

[Thelonius]

Turn 1

"At last, after so long the technology of our precursors was surpassed. This is a long awaited sign of our race’s revival both technological and cultural. The Great Chaos is finally over. Praised be Avalon - humanity’s beacon of hope"

“The Upper Planes have plundered us. They have dumped their undesirables on us. They claim the power of the Sun, yet do nothing with it. Don’t speak to us about the City below the Sun. This ain’t our dream”

Location - Gond

Material World

DMTiberius

The second you materialize in the Material World, the Death’s Call pulls you with its unrelenting strength. For a moment you are almost pulled through the Barrier, all your efforts nearly undone. At the same time you are filled with sensations of the Material World, even if they are only phantoms of real things your undead perception allows you to feel. The feeling of warmth, the stone floor beneath your feet, presence of other living being nearby empower you to fight. The long cold embrace of the Spirit World has worn you down, but here in the Material World you can grow strong again.


Lonna

You feel much better. You didn’t even realize how bad the Mists were before you come here. It feels just normal and good.

You notice that the yellow eyed figure looks different here. Translucent. Cold. Dangerous. You feel a bit uneasy merely looking at it.



You stand in a large windowless hall. Dim light shines from the essence fueled lamps at the walls. There are several people wearing grey clothes and working near two mechanical contraptions. They look tired and their movements are a bit sluggish. The two mechanisms clank endlessly, their large wheels spinning and you realize that Mist is flowing from somewhere within these machines. The workers gather the Mist into transparent orbs, that begin to glow in a silvery light once filled. There are maybe a hundred already filled orbs, placed in the carts and a couple hundred more empty ones on a long shelf along the wall.

The only exit from the hall is located on a platform about 15 feet high. You notice an elevator for the carts built into the wall as well as two rope ladders, currently folded to deny access to the platform. There are several men on the platform. They are wearing grey cloaks with simple black uniforms underneath.

One of the workers turns while gathering the Mist and sees you. His dull eyes fail to register any emotion at first, then they grow wide in terror. One of the cloaked men on the platform notices you as well and he reacts much quicker. “A-a-larm, raise alarm” he shouts with quivering voice. His expression betrays utter fear. “Type 3 attack now!” The man’s hands raise in the air and something small and round sparkles between them. Other men in the grey cloaks follow his example, except for one who dashes to the doors.


DMTibernius

The worker’s Auras seem to be in disarray and you quickly realize what’s wrong. They are working in the presence of the Mist and it has been slowly dissolving their Spirits. Their situation can be compared to people working in a highly radioactive zone without any form of protection.

You are in your Spirit form and should be invisible and intangible, yet they can see you. It is possible that the presence of the Portal distorts reality somehow changing the rules of the game for you. You should be invulnerable to any physical harm they can dish out. It is unlikely that any of them is capable of producing planelight or sunlight. While you no longer can sense flow of essence you recognize the gestures – the grey cloaks are preparing a Transmutation magic attack, probably fireball or projectiles.



Location - Rijuk

The multicolored lines paint the sky. Essence of the Elemental Streams is colorless, but when it passes near the Planes, part of it gets transmuted creating a colorful picture. There are sparks gently floating down and breezes of hot air from above. The Stream Patterns in the sky recognizably belong to the Upper Planes. Somewhere far away the Sun is sending its power to allow this beauty to exist.

The animals grazing on the bush turn out to be scaled goats, at the sight of you they bolt, gracefully running down almost vertical mountain side. As far as you can see there are mountains, mostly devoid of plant life, except for several spots of lush green here and there.

You can see a human city far in a distance. It is build into a side of the mountain. You can distinguish several circles of walls. There is a couple of Stream Ships drifting above the city.

You notice an old man wearing tattered clothes climbing one of the slopes. There are no human made paths in sight and he is moving in a different direction then the city

Kalirren

You recognize the place immediately. After all it wasn’t long before your slumber, that you visited it. This is one of the three planes, where Dragons prefer to hatch their eggs. You pause to recall the places where you can find your kind here.

The human city is something new, humanity was only beginning to explore Middle Planes, and it is a far road to the Upper Planes from there. You must have slept for a long time indeed.

[DMBlackhart]

DM I forgot alot of my abilities, can you re-PM those?

"He" Will "smell" the chaos in a sense of the word. "He" is tempted to go and posses one of these men, but knows "he" is weak. Instead "he" will pass through something solid for cover or to hide. While looking for someone ( or someway ) to regain his energy*.

( or go into a seperate room if possible )

DM He will possibly take aura from the crazy people in gray if the area is that much of a threat, but if its as threaning as you say then he will go into another room or into an object or wall or something to hide until he can be invisable.

[Lonna]

There was barely time to breath a sigh of relief before the alarm was sounded. Hearing the call to attack, the woman didn't hesitate. She grabbed her human companion by the arm, pulling him behind one of the machines. "Looks like we're not exactly welcome here. Hopefully they won't risk hitting the machine to get us."

[DMBlackhart]

Edited my above post.

[Thelonius]

Lonna

The fire explodes behind you as you drag your companion out of the harm’s way. Your skin is singed by sparks, but you are unharmed. You hide behind the machine and the attackers on the platform don’t notice you as their attention is concentrated on the yellow eyed being.

The force of explosion has shattered some of the orbs – they turn out to be very fragile. The workers rush to the platform, a couple were too slow to escape harm and they appear to be injured and in pain. “Drop the ladders! Drop the ladders!” shouting begins.

As the creature appears to be retreating the leader of the attackers shouts emboldened “It’s working, second blast”.

DMTibernius

It seems you were unharmed by the explosion, so although you are visible, you are still intangible. You companions on other hand are flesh and blood.

[DMBlackhart]

"he" decides to come out of hiding. Noticing the explosion still cant hur,t "him" "his" momentary fear set aside. "He" takes a look at the others...

Run.....I...Fight....

"He" Then comes out into the open and make for the closest man he can find ( or the weakest ) He will then commence to abosrb its aura. All the while making gutteral growl like sounds as to cause more fear in the less startled mambers

[Lonna]

Run.....I...Fight....

The woman looks at her companion and guestures toward the platform. "You heard the, er, man." Ignoring the clamoring workers, she heads for the elevator, trusting that the man will follow, silently praying that the magicians, or whatever they were, wouldn't see them.

Assuming they both get there safely, she will attempt to use it to get up to the platform and then to the door.

[Kalirren]

It had been long, too long since the serpent had beheld the beauty of the world, and to come back and behold at once the marvelous sight of the Solar aurora of the Upper Planes was almost heartbreaking. The entire world felt like an old friend; changed in innumerable individual ways, yet still the same after all these years. But where to start exploring, then? Was anything the same as it used to be?

Where it was headed it did not yet truly know. It eventually decided to make its way towards the human city and observe its goings on while it attempted to better recall where it could find another of its own kind.


Only a few decades, thought the serpent. What a fool I was. I went to sleep expecting a friend to wake me up when he recognized nothing of my doing, when all the repercussions of the experiments that I had conducted, the games I had played, had faded into the mists of time and legend. Amazing to think that such had never happened during the long slumber.

Cautiously, the serpent found shelter in a rock formation, where it could yet bask in the aurora's rejuvenating energies. Its skin started loosening as if it were begining to molt; yet instead of emerging longer and larger, like a serpent, it shrank, segment by segment, vertebra by vertebra. Its skeleton twisted and jerked upwards and its rib cage expanded as its long tail was nearly completely absorbed into the remainder of its body. Rock-colored downy feathers sprouted from its frame as first arms, then legs emerged from its linear form. Its jaws became harder and more angular in shape, then changed color to form a yellow beak. The legs sprouted talons of the same color. The arms themselves turned into wings as they became covered with long, tapering feathers.

After what seemed like a hour or two to the being undergoing the transformation, what was nestled in that crevice was no longer a serpent, but a large raptor. Once its feathers had dried, the raptor extended its wings to their fullest wingspan, which was wider than a man was tall, and took flight, leaving behind an empty snakeskin, as if one had molted in the very spot.

[Thelonius]

Lonna

You reach the elevator going through the workers. They appear to be a little slow in their reactions so you pass without interference. You search for anything that might start the elevator, but its mechanism doesn’t seem like it could be operating at all. Suddenly your companion touches the metal and cogs begin to turn, releasing gusts of air. “I just suddenly could do it” hastily tells the man.

Meanwhile another streams of shimmering air fly from the platform, turning into fire as they close on the yellow eyed being. It doesn’t seem to affect it at all, merely passing through. It looks terrifying in its invulnerability. The second explosion shatters even more orbs and Mist fills the air of the hall. It doesn’t rise, so you seem to be safe, which can’t be said about the workers left below.

When the elevator rises to the level of the platform the attackers are gone through the twin doors. The terror has chased them away. “They were talking about rising alarm” nervously says the man. “We’ll be in trouble if reinforcements won’t be as afraid of our friend as these guys were”

DMTibernius

The second volley of fire passes through you without doing any harm. As the attackers realize it they turn to flee into a corridor.

You can’t actually scream or make any sounds, since you lack corporeal body. You can communicate with other Crystal holders, through its magic.


Kalirren

You set for the human city. It is pretty far away, you could see it only because of your sharp sight. Still it shouldn’t take too long to get there.

As you pass the old man he looks at you. For a moment you think you see pain and sorrow in his eyes as he continues to look at you, while you move further and further away.

As you begin to make out more details you realize that the city is built with defense, rather then convenience in mind. The humankind does have something called war that requires fortification and weapons to be created. There are signs that destruction was visited on the city only recently.

Kalirren

The city is drawing large amounts of Essence. The human mastery of the Transmutation must have really improved. The design of the Stream Ships also looks different, though you can’t tell what their technical characteristics are merely by looking. One must chase the Stream Ship to recognize its strength.

As you draw closer you sense the change in the Essence flow. The city just started drawing more power and rerouting the existing Essence to a number of round structures dispersed inside it.


MrEdwardNigma

When the Crystal holders begin to leave the Mists the barrier weakens a bit, but due to eariler strengthening by serpent, yellow eyed being and the man it holds, at least for now. The prospect of the barrier failing doesn't seem to bother the faceless being at all. it just goes on sitting almost apathetically.

[DMBlackhart]

DM so did I get any aura? I tried to take some from the fleeing humans?

"he" doesent spend long enjoying his victory. Within seconds hes off, flying higher, trying to escape the mist.

[Lonna]

The woman watched the Mist spreading as the elevator rose, putting aside for now the question of how her companion was able to operate the lift. With the memory of her own experience with the Mist still fresh in her mind, as soon as the machine stops she heads to the rope ladders and lets them down for the workers trapped below. In response to her companion's concern she nods and starts heading for the doors.

"There's not alot we can do about that though. There's really only one way out, unless you're willing to try and find the portal back in the Mist down there. At least if we head out this way we might be able to find you some clothes."

[Kalirren]

Somewhere along the way, a random question popped into the serpent's head...what was its name, anyhow? Or rather, what was its most meaningful appellation, given the multitude of things it had been called in the past? It struggled to remember, and could really come up with none suitable to the occasion. Everything it knew could be gone for all it knew of the present, and nothing related to its old existence would be meaningful. Then prompted to choose a name, it could think of only one: Dawn. Sunrise. The sun reborn from night.

Dawn was pleased when it saw the city, the way it weaved the essence that streamed down from solar aurora into a pattern, like dewdrops on a wet tree in the morning...

...or less innocuously, like a web of sentry towers, a network of defence. It would certainly be consistent with the rest of what Dawn had seen. A twinge of guilt crossed Dawn's mind as it approached the city. Walls and devastation? Had humankind never grown -out- of war? If the humans had come this far, both in skill and in literal distance, then there really was no guarantee that any of Dawn's own kind were left here, or that Dawn itself would be welcome. It would be ingenuous to presume that the defenders could not see Dawn for what it truly was.

Warily, Dawn turned tail and started looking for the old man who had noticed it before. He presumably couldn't have moved too far from his previous location, and in the worst case, one lone human would probably be less trouble than an entire network of fortifications.

Upon finding him again, Dawn came to rest on a nearby rock and turned its head sideways to regard him, as birds do. "Can you understand me?" Dawn hoped it did. It needed to find out what was going on. Was there a war going on that it had just walked into?

Dawn remembered, that in the time before its slumber, quite possibly aeons ago, the Eternals had often warred with each other for no particularly good reasons. What had first taken Dawn by surprise was Dawn's own experiment, where it lead a group of humans, none of whom knew how to manipulate Essence, to a unsettled island isolated by ocean.

The question to be settled was this: Did they experience desire, lust, or novelty like Dawn's own kind did? And if so, how? To Dawn's kind, humans were but automata of flesh; their existence was fundamentally different from Dawn's own. They did not naturally manipulate Essence. They were not shaped from Essence itself, but instead derived their existence from the basic interactions of matter. One would have thought they were incapable of feeling need; indeed, incapable of truly feeling anything at all.

Amazingly, when Dawn visited again after many human generations, the humans had redeveloped war all on their own. Intrigued, Dawn tried so many other things to stimulate them, seeing what else the humans could develop, coax into being from the presumably blank slate of their existence. And many other things did emerge, like art and dance and ritual. And so the experiment continued to be meaningful until one of the Eternals decided it wanted to expand its holdings onto the island. Many of Dawn's people died from war or disease in the ensuing occupation. The others were simply enslaved.

And Dawn, having grown so attached to its experiment, despaired at its untimely and unwarranted destruction. Seeing the impeding doom of its creation, it decided to enter slumber, and asked to be awoken when none of its experiment's creations could be found or recognized...

[Thelonius]

Location - Gond

Lonna

The workers climb the ladders. The Mist has affected them greatly, many of them have dull, expressionless eyes and they move with others not really seeing the way. Those that were least affected are giving the group some sense of purpose. They move towards the corridor with a single intent of escaping this place.

The clothes problem is indeed solved very quickly. In the nearby room there are lockers with spare worker’s clothes. You pass a utility room and storage with round protective cases for the orbs as well as crates with “Fach Ornaments” painted on them. So far there are no guards in sight.

DMTibernius

You rend the Auras and devour them. The process isn’t very efficient. Like a thirsty man’s shaking hands spill the water into desert sand the Aura’s slip from your weak grasp. But slowly and steadily you build up your strength, retaining more and more of the power. In the end you feel yourself more confident, with reserves of strength to spare. If you wish you can change into Materialized Form. The Barrier is strong here so you can maintain this form only for a short amount of time and you will be tired after it ends.

There are noises, flashes of images and feelings in your mind – the result of foreign Auras integrating into your Spirit. They provide only a minor distraction and if you take some time (half an hour perhaps) you can easily bring them in order. It might be possible to develop ability to fully integrate foreign Auras to read another person’s memories or gain skills and abilities.

You experience rending Auras gave you some insight you can use to try and develop stronger spirit attacks. At your current level you are capable of taking Auras only from people with very weak Spirits. Your hands (or claws) simply can’t penetrate the defense of stronger Spirits. This applies only to living beings, undead Auras lack such protection.


Location - Rijuk

The man doesn’t look as old as you thought at first. Rather he looks extremely weary and tired. As you approach he closes his eyes and his lips mumble something endlessly. As you speak he is startled and looks directly in your eyes. The men’s eyes are full of fear, but at the same time you notice relief and hope in them. He drops his gaze almost instantly.

Y-y-es I can. I can. I’m ready to listen to whatever you wish to say to me. But please I beg of you. Forgive us. Most of other people, they never knew and they would have disapproved. We… We never wanted to come here in the first place. We were forced and there was so much confusion. So much anger. We weren’t in our right minds. I will accept punishment, I just want to make things right.

Kalirren

There was a big conflict between humans, with people splitting equally between two sides. This was the first time dragons vitnessed bloodshed of such magnitude. The conflict was resolved as part of humanity left for another Plane. Humans also had historical records of numerous other conflicts in the past.

The remaining humans stayed united for a time, until they gained sufficient knowledge of Transmutation magic that smaller groups of people could survive. A number of small communities split from the majority of humanity due to a variety of reasons. You looked after one of them.

[Lonna]

Pointing the man toward the spare clothes, the woman occupies herself by investigating the crates marked "Fach Ornaments," never having heard of such things - at least, that she could remember.

"By the way, what should I call you?" she asks her companions, including the yellow-eyed being in her question. "My name is Lilah."

{{Lilah is pronounced LEE-luh}}

[DMBlackhart]

"he" comes out from above the mist. Feeling much better, is hunger slated for now, he heads off in the area the nude man and the girl went off to. Maybe in hopes of fidning direction for his life? Who knows.

[Thelonius]

The man struggles with the question. His eyes dart around the room, but unfortunately crates aren’t exactly a great source of inspiration. “I’ll… call myself… Grey. Yes, I think Grey would do nicely”

At this moment “He” arrives. “You look… more transparent”. Grey squints his eyes as he looks in yellow-eyed being’s direction. “I can see through you now”.

DMTibernius

As you go further and further away from the Portal, your form grows more transparent and soon you can be barely seen at all.

You easily find your two traveling companions – spirit sight isn’t impeded by physical obstructions like walls. You also sense presence of a lot of living beings. You must be in the center of a large city.


Lonna

While Grey said he is having trouble seeing “He”, you can still see him as well as before.

[Kalirren]

"Understand," began Dawn matter-of-factly, "I speak for none but myself, and it has been a very long time since I have visited this place." Dawn jerked its head towards the fortress settlement. "The last time I was here, that city did not exist. I don't know what has happened here at all." Dawn's voice naturally took on the stern yet well-reasoned manner of one who was comfortable with, if not accustomed to, a certain degree of authority. "If you want me to intercede on behalf of anyone, you'll have to tell me everything."

[Thelonius]

The man nods “I understand. Then I’ll tell you all and you will decide. As I’ve said we were exiled here. Most of the people were unprepared and we didn’t have many supplies. We haven’t seen any of your kind before. Many thought you to be nothing more then… then animals. It was our ignorance. There were several clashes at first, a group of humans encountering your kind… misunderstandings were to be expected”.

The man catches his breath and continues. He seems to grow more nervous. “We had enough place to survive, if only barely. Perhaps if we took time to learn more of you, then we could have found ways to grow without confrontation. But it was a long and hard way” The old man stumbles and falls silent for a moment. He continues as if reciting someone’s words “We destroy the eggs to reduce their population. Then we can expand and bring civilization to this barren Plane. Our children will be safe playing outside and someday we’ll be able to return to our home”. Now that these words are said the man begins speaking fast, barely catching a break. “At first there was no reaction at all. Many took it as a good sign and the practice spread. Now I think that your kind simply couldn’t comprehend that something like that could be done. Then the retaliation came. You attacked with ferocity and numbers previously unseen. We were driven to our cities and end seemed near, but your kind stopped there and just left. Then constant attacks began. There is no pattern to them. Sometimes there are periods of peace as long as a year. But when people start thinking it is over your kind comes and brings destruction again and again. Anything new we make, you destroy. Usually enough are spared to rebuild, to continue living in fear that they will be the ones killed in the next attack. Some choose not to wait”

The man tenses and his eyes close as he goes on. “At some point people though that if those that participated in egg breaking were to be sacrificed, tied outside when your kind attacks, it would placate you. Few managed to escape to the wilderness. If I though it would work I would have stayed, but I knew it was futile. We tried in many ways to communicate, to do something to stop the attacks, but… you are the first to actually speak to the human. I… I understand if you… just so much time has passed, we have suffered… just…” The man’s composure breaks as he can't seem to find any words to go on.

[Lonna]

Lilah gave Grey an odd look - was he faking his difficulty seeing their inhuman companion? She couldn't see why he would, though the translucent being certainly looked more dangerous here than it had in the Mist. She tried to remember if there was ever a time she had seen things other humans could not.

Lilah had too many questions, and not enough time to find all the answers. For now, she focused on the crates marked "Fach Ornaments," prying the lid off one of them in hopes that the contents would turn out to be useful.

"What should we call you, my yellow-eyed friend?" she asked as she worked.

[DMBlackhart]

"he" floats idly for a time. His legs curled in a kneeling pose.

".....Friend....." "his" eyes shimmer at this word.
Then, after reaching behind his bandage esque flesh he pulls out a shining blue ball of light, no bigger then a marble."Hmmm, soul....."

"he" then looks back to lilah."Soul" followed by a swift nod.

[Kalirren]

"...That's all right, I think I understand the situation now," interjected Dawn. "By your manner I see you at least understand that it is difficult to forgive the slaughter of defenseless children. I have seen worse examples of cruelty from far worse men than you. You are a man of your own courage, your own desire and integrity, and I respect that. I can personally forgive you." Dawn closed one eye. "Whether I will be able to convince any others to do the same is another question."

"This place has been a nursery for my kind since before your kind learned how to sail against the current of an Elemental Stream. It is ancient and hallowed to us. I can hardly imagine that any of my kind would have even hinted at the importance of this place in their dealings with humans," and there Dawn twisted its neck the other way, "especially if you were completely unaware before arriving here that we existed in the first place. The way I understood it, the hope and understanding among my kind was that this place would be best defended through its remaining in obscurity, given its inherent importance and vulnerability. I see that hope is no longer tenable."

"Incidentally, I do find it strange that the city has not been destroyed yet. The way you describe the attacks, you have little doubt that my kind could, if they so wished, destroy the city entirely, and without any other knowledge of the situation I would still have reason to agree with you. I think they must have some reason for leaving standing what remains standing. Just what that is, I don't know. My wager is that they are looking for something, waiting for something, from your people, but I could easily be wrong." A look of worry emerged on Dawn's face. "If you are exiles, who and where have you been exiled from? How extensively have the Upper Planes been settled by humans?"

[Thelonius]

Lonna

The crates are specially made to carry the orbs filled with Mist. The orbs are stored in round protective cases - a sound measure considering how fragile they are. There must be a couple hundred orbs stored here at the moment.

Kalirren

We were exiled from Avalon during the War of Succession. It was… unclear who the ruler of Avalon would be and nobles were split almost evenly. Eventually the war began and our side lost. Many from our side were exiled to this Plane. To be honest it was a choice… but a choice we made without proper knowledge, the alternative seemed worse at the time. Avalon’s power is undisputed in the Upper Planes. Now there isn’t a Plane that would accept us should we try to return, the few ships we possess were turned back again and again.

"All the Planes that I know of are settled by humanity" The man starts listing the Planes, counting them on his fingers. "Avalon called the Plane below the Sun, then Sei that lies below Avalon. Vesper was settled even before the Grand Chaos, the oldest of the Upper Planes settlements. Coeranus. It lies near the Void Cloud, but people there managed to adapt. Revlos, a minor colony, mostly farming communities. Gond. And now this Plane that we call Rijuk"

The man thinks for a second and then adds. "There used to be a few small mining communities here before we arrived. They must have avoided your kind or perhaps had come to some understanding. We ignored them at first and they simply disappeared after the attacks began. I’ve been trying to locate them ever since, hoping they might know something"

Kalirren

You know of two more Planes. One is very small and mostly submerged in water. There are many small and a couple of large islands. You can describe the second one as you wish.

[Lonna]

Lilah frowned at the Mist-filled orbs. "It doesn't look like we're going to find anything else useful in here. Let's get out of here before more flamethrowers show up."

{{OOC: I take it she failed to remember anything useful?}}

[DMBlackhart]

"Soul" Will just follow Lilah until further notice.

[Thelonius]

The last room leading out of the building is a spacious hall turned into a large guard station. The building is fortified against intrusion - there are bars on the windows and a powerful looking steel door. It is open at the moment and Planelight shines through.

Thirteen man wearing black uniforms stand in a loose triangular formation facing the door. The man in the point of the triangle looks aged, but tough. He is wearing a silvery insignia in the form of waves. A younger man behind him asks “Jareed said that monster was invulnerable. Are you sure we should be waiting for it here”. The man with insignia replies harshly “Don’t take his word for it. That place drives people crazy, that’s why the personnel are changed so often. For all we know, he simply lost it”. The younger men nods in agreement “I just hope whatever they are mining there is worth it. Even if they are using Lowlifes, it just doesn’t seem right”.

(OOC – I assume Soul scouts ahead and spots the men before they spot the rest of you)

DMTibernius

The men in triangle formation look like professional soldiers. The man with insignia is probably a knight, highly skilled user of combat Transmutation magic and the rest are his support unit.

“Lowlife” – degradatory slang for people from Middle Planes, used in Upper Planes.

You are almost completely invisible by now.

[DMBlackhart]

(OoC: Sounds like him, so yeah sure. Also, seeing as how I dont know how exactly to practise my necromancy....)


Soul turns to lilah, he is hard to make out, but his voice is gives his location away. Soul whispers, Stay... I will scout. His voice seems to be getting better. Although without a physical body its hard to imagine something such as him having a throat cold.

Soul will soar through into the area with the gaurds only if he is entirely invisible at which time.

( you mentioned planelight? what exactly can i do with plane light again? or how does it affect me?)

The apptly named spirit called "soul" will ( if invisable) and look about the gaurds, looking for any that seem like they are worried, paying particular interest in the boy that converesed with the "general".

After which soul will go ahead to the rooms after which and do a little recoinesscence, see if he cant find someone who looks to be in a place of power, or a messanger.

DM: My plan is to call the gaurds back, or start a riot so lilah and nudy can skip town.

[Thelonius]

The men look a bit worried, but they keep their emotions in check and the knight’s words seem to reassure them. Some of them appear to have combat experience and wouldn’t loose their cool that easily.

Outside is a walled yard. You are indeed in the center of a large city, there are many buildings around this one with hundreds of people inside. The yard is partially lit in Planelight, partially covered in shadow from the nearby high buildings and walls. You detect Auras of the workers and the grey cloak guards that fled earlier as well as couple new people.

One of the men you didn't see before is communicating through a wireless transmitter (on the illuminated side of the yard), he keeps his voice down so you can’t hear him without actually coming into the light.

Two grey cloaks stand at the compound’s gates, occasionally throwing worried glances at the building. They stand completely in shadow.

Workers are huddled at the corner of the wall and three guards are keeping watch over them. The shadow from the wall half covers them.

DMTibernius

You are invisible so you can enter the room.

In your current Spirit form the Planelight will merely render you incapable of assuming two other forms for a time. Considering that you mostly can’t affect Material World in your Spirit form it is a serious limitation. If you decide to search for a dead body to possess somewhere outside, avoiding the Planelight would slow you down. If you assume Materialized Form the Planelight will burn you to crisp on contact.

Wireless Transmitter is reasonably high tech Transmutation.


Lonna

It does seem familliar to you. Perhaps you saw creatures like Soul or somethign simillar before...

[DMBlackhart]

OoC: Ok I have my battle strategy, lilah prepare to split some heads. :p

Soul, after previewing the area, comes up with two plans. But first he needs to understand a bit more about himself and the people around him before he sets to it.

He creeps around the men in grey, enjoying their worry, "smelling" their magical powers ( I think they can do magic? )

He then creeps over to the workers... testing them for any signs of weakness.

After a moment his mind is made up.

DM: Ok so, heres my strategies.
1. Take over a worker, start a riot, jump out of his body.
2. Take over a mage, confront the gaurds, jump out of the body.

In both scenerios I will first absorb the aura of the other workers or greys around the one I want to posses IF it cripples or kills or even weakens them. If it doesent then I will skip supplying aura and just relay the numbers of units back to lilah and the nude guy. So tell me if draining aura does that, if so I will most likely go with workers since I have a better chance of not dying in that one.

Edit: A third scenerio will be to stock up on aura, then go possess the gaurd near the workers. using him to sound an alarm or call away the other gaurds.

[Thelonius]

DMTibernius

Possessing anyone but workers won’t work, since you lack power to affect undamaged Spirit.

Draining Auras might cause seizures, madness or death, if done violently it is an unpleasant sight. The people nearby will feel something is terribly wrong so this might provide a riot among workers by itself.

Possessing worker has a single obstacle. This is your first time possessing living body so you lack experience. So you can either go slow, mastering the control of the body, but it would take some time. Or you can go fast, then your control won’t be precise (stiff movements, lack of finer manipulation) and the body will die much sooner.

[DMBlackhart]

Soul ponders for half a second. Finally, he wisps back over to the workers. Then he begins slowly sucking the "live" out of them. (aura) One, by one. If at the slightest sign of trouble soul will then spirit himself off back to wear lilah is.

[Thelonius]

At first sensation of cold is the only indication something amiss. The first victims are the most hurt workers, already almost catatonic they succumb to the creature’s power without so much as a whimper. The feeling of unease starts growing among remaining workers, one of them tries to bring one of the victims to his senses only to recoil with shock at something he sees in his eyes. “Hey something is wrong” one of them addresses the guards, who are frozen with indecision. They were present when the creature attacked and they recognize the same unnatural presence now. Then one of workers falls to the ground screaming, clutching at his head. His body convulses again and again as if he completely lost control over it.

The workers rush the guards to get away from the afflicted man, and the later provide no resistance. They rush to the gates, guarded by the two grey cloaks. The men who was speaking to the Transmitter turns and shouts to the guards “Stop them! You don’t move or…”, but this has no effect on the crowd. In a few seconds they will clash with the guards and whether combat magic or raw brutal strength will prevail is unclear.

[DMBlackhart]

DM: So are the guys that are with that commander dude moving away? if they are still there ignore this following reply


Soul will spirit himself away to lilah. And relay the news.
All clear. Move quick, and stealthly.


OoC: Also did the aura drain make me any stronger?

[Thelonius]

The kinght and five of his men rush to the outside as the shouting and sounds of combat reach them. The rest refrom into a smaller triangle but their attention is diverted to the outside. The younger man who spoke to the knight before is now at the point of the formation.

DMTibernius

In terms of endurance and raw power yes, you've got stronger.

[Kalirren]

"They've disappeared? Entirely? Even the buildings and the equipment?" Dawn gave the man a strange look of disbelief. "Or do you mean that they haven't been heard from since the attacks began?"

The world had indeed completely changed, and not necessarily for the better. If the human Streamships were capable of traversing into the Upper Planes without assistance, who knew what else they had become capable of? Dawn had never been as obsessed as some were with rulership, but Dawn still felt power to be unequivocably enthralling. Perhaps there was something more to be gained from holding dominion over humans than ever before. In which case...

"Well, all right," acquiesced Dawn, "I'll do what I can to bring about a more mutual understanding of the situation. Is there anyone I should talk to in the city?"

OOC:

You said that this was one of three planes where dragon eggs and hatchlings are kept. You mentioned there being two other planes that humans had not yet found. Are those the other two of the three?

[Lonna]

Lilah looked at Soul with concern as "he" related the situation. "Any idea how Grey and I can get past those men? We're much more visible than you are, and from what I've seen so far they aren't exactly going to let us through because we ask."

[DMBlackhart]

Edit: yeah I mentioned it in a spoiler, if they were still there to ignore that. Lol

[Lonna]

Ok, edited last post.

[MrEdwardNigma]

The man in the bolar hat removed his hand from over hsi eyes, stopping whatever activities he'd been performing that had held him occupied for so long. He'd missed most of what had happened so far, but he now noticed several of the others were gone, the mists were weakening, and there were several exits. He looked at the human, if you could call him that. His apathy was of some concern to the being.
It is closing in - We should leave the being decided.
My name is Nigma, you should remember it - It is important

Nigma took out the notepad again. If they were going to leave, he was going to make an educated decision as to where. He focused, and observed the portals as best as he could, jotting down all the information on his notepad.

[Thelonius]

Rijuk

"Oh nothing so mysterious. They abandoned their houses and moved somewhere" The old man chuckles nervously. He is looking a little better now. “I’m afraid I can't answer you. I haven’t been to city for a long time and when I left there was a lot of internal strife. Fingers pointed, blame assigned, old grudges remembered. Not our best hour. I don’t know who can be in charge now”

OOC

The three Planes were Avalon, Rijuk and the third is undiscovered Plane with islands.


Gond

At Lilah’s words Grey lights up. “Or maybe they will. I mean with all this confusion they might not bother checking the faces. As long as we are wearing gray clothes they’ll assume we are simply workers and let us through."

Mists

“Pleased to make your acquaintance Nigma. I’m not concerned about the Mist” replies the Faceless, “I’ve figured my own way out some time ago. Now I’m merely observing what power this crystal holds over the Mists. They come to the main reality sometimes so it would be a good thing to know how to drive them back. And I admit, I am savoring the moment of anticipation before I return to my beloved”

MrEdawardNigma

You memorize the information. The second Portal leads to New Eden, the capital of the Lower Planes. The “statues” are merely inactive golems. You also detect Soul Web – a massive stationary data network based on Daemon technology. It was built using thousands of flawless Soul Crystals and was meant to run operations of entire city as well as contain the sum of all knowledge of Eternals. Second such project was going to be started on Alora, but you were deactivated around that time.

You don’t recognize any other locations.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Nigma's gaze lands on the second portal. His form raises an eyebrow.
I wonder - Your own way out? - You are not human, are you? - Not quite, no... I'll have to make a note of this
Nigma scribbles on his pad.
There was a human here - Where did she go?

[Lonna]

"Good point. It can't hurt to try anyway." Taking a deep breath, she tugs her sleeve down to completely cover the Crystal bracelet, then heads for the guards, doing her best to imitate the dull expression of the workers who had passed them earlier.

[Thelonius]

Lonna

When you come into the view of the guards, they expectantly wait for the orders from their leader. He tells two of his men “Get them here now”. They rush to you and shove you forward. “Move! To the wall! Hands to your head! You are driven to the corner of the room. Their leader apparently made the decision. “We don’t have time to deal with them properly. Knock them out for now and return to the formation fast.”

MrEdwardNigma

Ah. The Human. Interesting strain at that. She went through the hole in Reality inside a building. If I observe it correctly the place is flooded with Mist at the moment.

[MrEdwardNigma]

"Nigma" nodded.
What are you then, if not human? he asked with interest.

[Thelonius]

"I have thought about it for a considerable time and reached a few conclusions. But I'm afraid our acquaintanceship is far too brief to reveal matters of such intimate nature" replies Faceless.

[Lonna]

Lilah gave Grey a panicked look. Whatever the "proper way" to deal with them was, she didn't like the sound of it or their interim solution. Instinctively she lashed out at the nearest guard's head with her right hand (the hand with the Crystal bracelet, if it matters).

[DMBlackhart]

(OoC: Hay lonna, why not just use your crystal to make grey robes or something? I meen the GM did say it can change. )

Soul will whatch the events unfold. All the while staying a resonable pace behind lilah and grey. ( far enough to not be detected, but close enough to know where they are headed)

[Lonna]

{{OOC: Lilah is already wearing grey sweats, and it was never specified what kind of clothes the workers have. Since they were working near machinery, I assume it was something similarly cut so that it wouldn't get caught in the gears.}}

[Thelonius]

You feel pain as your fist connects with man's jaw, but it is enough to knock him out cold. Grey's attack follows yours, but it is less effective. The guard is pushed away stunned, but stays on his feet. The guards look at you surprised by this turn of events. Their leader raises his hands to prepare some magic, while the remaining two guards draw daggers and prepare to advance on you.

[Lonna]

Still driven by fear and instinct more than calculation, Lilah lunged for the nearest knife-wielding guard, trying to gain control of the dagger and making a vague attempt to keep him between herself and the other guards.

[Thelonius]

Before the guard has chance to use the dagger you catch his hand and twist it. The dagger is in your possession. But at the same time a powerful air current slams Grey into the wall. The guard's leader curses and the other armed man changes his stance. His eyes are focused and movements cautious now.

[Lonna]

The success of her attacks helping to calm her somewhat, Lilah held the dagger in a defensive position and started inching her way back toward Grey. "We just want out."

[Thelonius]

“I can’t let you do that. You know too much. And your moves are too good for you to be an ordinary Lowlife. A rebel agent?” The guard’s leader looks carefully at you. “Keep her occupied. Victor, channel essence”. The man, Grey hit before, recovered a bit and slowly backs to the guard’s leader. The armed man positions himself in front of you and keeps the same distance. The remaining two men seem to be out of the fight at least for now.

Grey groans at the back and tries to move. He doesn’t appear to be seriously injured, but he is obviously in pain. “I… I think I’ll have trouble running just now. If you have a chance… just go”

[DMBlackhart]

Soul niether frowns nor grins. His mouth hasent moved an inch beside talking. He merely flys over to the men ( particularly a strong gaurd )

Hmmm, you'll do nicely. (italics is thought)
Soul will then commence to possess the first armed gaurd. Taking his time unless it draws attention, then he will do it fast.

Option 1. If its the lead gaurd or someone in the place of command he will call the others off, as if reporting they must head out quickly.

Option 2. If option 1 isent viable he will possess any armed man, and begin fighting the most pressing threat to lilah and grey.

[Lonna]

Lilah shook her head, though whether this was in response to the guard's statement or Grey's was unclear. Her mind raced as she tried to decide what to do next. I don't want to hurt these guys. I'm not even sure I can hurt them. On the other hand, they won't hesitate to hurt me, particularly now that they know I'm not a worker. I guess that means I don't have much of a choice.

Her mind made up, the last trace of fear left her face, replaced by an expression of pure determination. Facing the armed guard, she feinted toward the side holding the dagger (his, not hers). He took the bait, extending the blade to block a strike that didn't come. Instead, Lilah darted the other way, grabbing his free arm as she spun behind him, blocking his returning blade with her own before twisting his captive arm up behind his back and pressing her dagger to his throat.

"Drop it," she ordered curtly, manuevering her captive to put him between herself and the other guards. "Like I said before, we just want to get out. I don't know who the hell you think I am, but I promise you, once we get out of here you'll never hear from us again."

DM:
I don't know if Lilah is actually capable of that little stunt, but she's at least going to attempt it. Feel free to mess with my plans however you like. If she is capable of that stunt, she'll be wondering how she knows how to do this, so a memory check please. :smallsmile:

[Thelonius]

DMTibernius


Your attack powered by the consumed Auras will at minimum distract the attacked. From the guards present you have greater chances of success with two hurt guards. The state of unconsciousness slightly increases Spirit’s vulnerability. The strong sense of pain other guard feels from twisted arm can also be used to your advantage. Their leader looks the least susceptible – his Auras are the strongest. It will take you a lot of effort to possess the guard and you might end up only temporarily suppressing their Spirit.

It would take less effort to materialize ectoplasm body then to take control over living one of any guard present here. Its major weakness remains high vulnerability to any form of natural light and that you can’t maintain it for an extended period of time.

Taking over living body is mostly about experiencing life again. It strengthens long-term power of the Greater Dead as his Auras are slightly refreshed. You get opportunity to interact with humans directly, without keeping to shadows and concealing rotting aromas. Living body is also the strongest shield against Death’s Call. In terms of combat potential it is the most vulnerable form. If your vessel (dead, alive, ectoplasm) is destroyed you will most probably be dragged into the Spirit World.

[DMBlackhart]

DM By chance can I make my self visible but not physical? or if physical only long enough to frighten away the gaurds. if im right I look like some kind of monsterous humanoid. So yeah. If not then just consider me possessing the captain gaurd then, hay gotta take a chance sometime

[Thelonius]

DMTibernius

You can't become only visible.

De-materializing is fast unlike untangling yourself from a body. You can still be harmed by Transmutation magic if your opponent is good enough to fast-cast and you fail to dodge. If he fails to react fast enough you are out in the clear. You would look pretty terrifying, so this plan might work.

Both plans have their risks (captain's spirit proves to be too strong or he is good enough to hit you before you de-materialize and the guards stand their ground)

[DMBlackhart]

Soul floats around for a second. Its difficult to make up his mind.

Then, he falls level with the ground, all during the decent he begins to materialize ( if he can makes noises he will moan and screech)

He will also try to do horrible things to his physical form, like twisting his head around and twisting his form and such.

[Thelonius]

Lilah makes her faint but her opponent deduces her maneuver. His hand suddenly changes direction and his dagger draws blood from Lilah’s own hand. Before the wound can become dangerous, Lilah manages to drive his blade away with her own powerful strike.

At this moment Soul materializes in the room. The temperature drops a couple degrees. The screeching noises fill the room and darkness rushes from nothingness coating a horribly deformed creature. The beings similarity to human figure only makes it more grotesque.

The guard’s leader stands frozen still at the sight, but doesn’t flinch, unlike his comrades. They look at him for guidance. Then he speaks very quietly “I see. This must be the monstrosity that Jareed spoke of. It might be a mere phantom or an invulnerable foe, something I have no desire to test. But you on other hand bleed. I will drown you in flames if you loose it on us now. I think I believe it when you say you do not wish for our blood. Take your friend and leave. Slowly.”

Lonna

You lack skill, but your movements are fast and you are strong. Your body feels light and even the wound you just sustained doesn’t hurt as much as it should.

[DMBlackhart]

As lilah is released, soul begins making a purring noice. Manifesting a tounge roughly 5 feet in length in which he uses to lick his own face.An odd cackle escapes him all the while.

[Lonna]

Lilah nodded. "Soul is his own person and I can't guarantee his actions, but I believe he will leave you be as long as we aren't harmed. Grey, let's go."

She will remain unmoving until Grey reaches the door, at which point she will release her captive and calmly follow him, trusting Soul to warn her if the guards try anything.

[Thelonius]

You walk out into the bright light. The yard is a picture of bloodshed and death. There are several bodies of the workers at the corner of the wall. They lie still, either unconscious or dead as there are no visible wounds. Near the gate there are more bodies – of workers and guards. There is spilled blood and torn clothes. A quick count confirms that not all of workers are here. Some must have managed to break through and flee.

Three guards, one clearly hurt but alive sit near a golden lined box. You recognize the grey cloak from the Mist producing room. He looks pale and mumbles something indistinguishable to himself. Another man is tending to the wounded. His hands glow slightly producing a white substance with which he is coating the wounds of his comrade.

The gate in the yard’s wall is partially open. There is nobody guarding it at the moment.

Lonna

You are stunned by the sight of the sky. There is no Sun, instead a bright Aurora seems to produce illumination. Many multicolored lines form an intricate pattern. There are objects, only barely resembling normal aircrafts flying up high. A moment later you see a round platform with several men on it float from one of nearby buildings to another.

[DMBlackhart]

Soul will wait a bit, giving lilah and grey some time. Then he will cackle one more time, howling like a dog before becoming intagible and invisable.

[Kalirren]

"You sound like you were personally involved in all of the bickering," commented Dawn. "Were you of some standing in the city before you left? If so, perhaps your having established meaningful contact with our kind will be sufficient to restore your position there."

[Thelonius]

"I am a noble, though it doesn't mean that much here. Many of the exiled are nobles and their retainers" The man considers your words. "I guess you will need someone who knows how the things work to help in your dealings with humans. I think if I had a bath and a good night's sleep I might be up to the task. I just don't look very dignified right now. But it is possible. Yes definitly so" He is lost in thought for a second, then his expression grows serious. "But you said you are a newcomer here. Will you be able to convince others of your kind to stop the attacks?"

[Lonna]

Lilah stares at the sky for a little while, searching in vain for the sun. "That's not normal," she mutters finally, not realizing that she has spoken aloud. Then she shakes her head and focuses on the gate - open and unguarded.

"Come on Grey, Soul. Let's get out of here while they are distracted." Unless one of her companions says something to stop her, she'll head straight for the path out.

[DMBlackhart]

No. Hope we do not meet again.

At this grey heads off into the nearest town. He has no real reason to follow the ancient nor the girl. Now hes off to finish his task, whatever that may be.

[Thelonius]

Lonna

You pass through the gate into the city before the guards realize you were there. They didn’t look very eager to follow you either. You pass through a series of narrow passages between large, ugly looking buildings and suddenly enter a square filled with dozens of people. Many of them are wearing grey overalls so you don’t seem out of place.

You walk several streets observing the crowds. It is obviously a heavily populated city in the middle of a work day. People are going around on their business, food is sold at the corners, the local currency seems to be metal cards that some of the shopkeepers sniff and taste before accepting. You also notice many people using similar powers as the guards. A number of people simply open their palms and after a brief glow water materializes to satiate their thirst.

There are a lot of pictures and graffiti painted on the walls. They later seem to be firmly anti-establishment. Many pictures are advertisement for lottery tickets or “work offices”. You also notice a number of “Wanted” pictures with faces of several man and woman. You notice a number of walls and towers with guards, wearing black uniforms stationed on them. The people move carefully near them, eyes downcast and conversations silenced.

DMTibernius

You pass through the city. It wasn’t built with aesthetics or comfort in mind. Many buildings seem to be newly construction and quite a shabby work. You recognize many people filling the streets as natives of the Middle Planes, although you are definitely located in the Upper Planes now.

You cross several walls with checkpoints and guards and arrive to a different part of the city. Its architecture is more sophisticated and rich. While the other part of the city was crowded with manufacturing halls and barracks, here there is an equal measure of guilds, oratory platforms, cultural monuments and schools. It actually looks like a proper Upper Planes city. There is a stream ships port and the sky is filled with heavy traffic. Tons of goods are loaded on the ships, while rope or platform elevators unload groups of passengers.

DMTibernius

You detect a very small amount of Mist in the air. The concentration is too low to harm you, unless you would stay here for a considerable amount of time. The Mist is present only in the industrial part of the city, where the natives of Middle Planes work. In the part with the stream ships port it is almost absent.

You finally recognize the plane as Gond. It lies at the single charted way to the Middle Planes. It is one of the least developed places in the Upper Planes, often even referred as “our middle plane” in more prosperous nations.

You visited this Plane several times as you traveled from the Upper to the Middle Planes. Your visits to the city proper were always short, so you don’t have many memories about this place.


OOC

I'm on a one-week vaction and completly beat on it's first day, so please bear with less frequent posting until I return.

[DMBlackhart]

Theo: So do I know how to go about getting to the material plane?

Soul traverses the town, a few memories flowing back into him. As a being of magic rather then flesh he seems to not find himself niether bored nor entertained, only...hungery.

He sets off to the docks, where the mist is less present. He will then look in alleyways and other places to find the occasional "snack" To slate his thirst. (Aura)

[Kalirren]

But you said you are a newcomer here. Will you be able to convince others of your kind to stop the attacks?"

"That is a concern," conceded Dawn. "As I said, I currently speak only for myself. I will have to make anew any authority I attempt to exert over this situation on behalf of my kind." Just what exactly that involved could not be read from Dawn's expression, but something was up. "But if I understand you correctly, none have openly attempted direct communication with your city. I am the first. That in itself will mean something, I am sure." Dawn's gaze narrowed meaningfully. "Certain prerogatives are always accorded to the first."

"So in the interest of trust, I will be honest and warn you that I guarantee nothing. I can only give you my word, whatever it is worth, that I represent the possibility of a future different from your present. In the worst case," if I lose, thought Dawn, "it may fall to me to become a designated emissary of war. But even in that case, I think our mutual understanding would be more complete, and the situation no worse than it seems to currently be. Wouldn't you agree?"

[Thelonius]

DMTibernius

The port is a very busy place. It seems Gond is exporting a lot of goods to the other Planes and there is a steady flow of ships traveling to it as well. You scour the usual places where an Auras could remain. All those places are completely devoid of any sustenance. There aren’t even smallest remnants left. Others have beaten you to them.


There is/are other Greater Dead here. The absence of Auras, slight disturbances in the Barrier and your spirit senses all point to it.

You are in the Material World. You’ve arrived here bypassing the Barrier altogether somehow.

You can travel between Planes via Stream Ships. Another way for you is to slip into the Spirit World. It is connected to every place in the Material World and distances are relative there. You still need to locate the place to where you traveling to and then break through the Barrier to return.


Kalirren

“I agree completely. This is more then I ever hoped for.” The man nods firmly. “I guess I should have introduced myself earlier. My name is Felios and I’m ready to do whatever it takes to bring peace between our people.”

[Lonna]

{{OOC: I could have sworn I replied to this already. Oh well. It's here now.}}

Lilah stayed on the fringes of the crowd, careful not to lose track of Grey and following the lead of those around her whenever she passed a black uniform. After wandering aimlessly for a while, she signaled Grey to follow her and ducked into an alleyway. Looking at the nearest wanted posters she memorized the faces, then turned to Grey.

"We're not going to accomplish anything by walking around randomly. Wherever we are, it's definitely not the world I know. We have no money, no food, and no water. We need to find someplace safe to plan and eventually sleep."

[DMBlackhart]

Soul senses it. Others like him. but where? This is his new mission. He has enough sustenance to hold him over, now he seeks answer. Who is he, where is he. None of which he believes will end in 42.

[Kalirren]

"That's already more of a commitment than I've made," remarked Dawn with a transparent hint of amusement, "though I would personally be willing to go that far." Dawn met Felios's gaze head on the first time during the entire conversation. "I've never told you what I am called; since this is first contact, it would be the only proper thing for you to know my most powerful name, and that was Itzpapalotl Seven-Water. I don't know if anyone now, even among my kind, would recognize it. It is an old name."

"But you, Felios, can simply call me Dawn. Even when others do not. I would prefer that." Familiarity. Privilege. Contact. It was only then that Dawn truly appreciated the reality of its own existence. Not only was Dawn awake again, out of the Mists, but it was interacting with something real, something that truly existed outside of the clouded perceptions of a fogged mind.

And with that reality came real needs that had also gone forgotten. "How do you forage out here, Felios? Do you hunt? gather? farm? You can't possibly live alone."

[Thelonius]

(OOC - and I am back. Thank you for your patience.)

Lonna

“As far as money goes, maybe we should visit one of “work offices”? Or we may try stealing one of those metal plates they are carrying.” Gray replies. It seems he makes no distinction whatsoever between honest work and stealing. “It’s good we don’t stand out much, there are a lot of people looking even more lost then we are”.

Kalirren

"Honored to meet you Dawn". Felios smiles “I’ve studied Diet Transmutation in the University of Avalon. Never completed the course to become proper Dietitian, but learned enough to transmute basic foods. And I’ve learned from Miners enough about foraging the local herbs to avoid avitaminosis.”

DMTibernius

You can try tracking the others, either during the Planelight or wait for the dark, when they would become more active. It might be dangerous if they are hostile, since they can harm any of your forms.

DMTibernius

A little about the types of undead you may ecounter.

Brutes – they care only about tasting the life again. The nickname refers to deaths they are prone to cause. Brutes try everything to steal Auras of the living. Their attempts are usually very crude, they waste more then they steal. Common practice is murder of the living and devouring of fast escaping Auras, before they leave to the Spirit World. In a very few cases Brutes that hold on long enough and learn a few tricks can go as far as possessing living bodies.

Brutes are almost always freshly dead. This means they are unskilled, often even unable to take over dead bodies (this requires certain ability). On other hand their Auras are fresh and connection with the world still potent, which makes them very strong.

Brutes are short existences. As they descend into unthinking gluttony, devouring and taking, they loose their humanity. Only human will keeps the Greater Dead together, so when it is gone they break into the component Auras and are carried off to the Spirit World.

Shades - they combine their thirst for life with desire to resume living. Shades often try to assist the causes they believed in life, help their descendants, finish any unfinished business, etc. If Brutes try to avoid human contact, Shades are desperately trying to rejoin human society.

Shades are usually skilled. Their power varies. They grow weak with passage of time, but sometimes recover their zeal for life if something in life spurns them. Their connection with life is both their strength and vulerability. It helps them resist Death's Call, but can be threatened to weaken their willpower.

Shades are long-lived. They may hold on for hundreds of years. Eventually they still gorw weary of existing, but not truly living. Their will slowly erodes and they succumb to the Death’s Call.

True Greater Dead - they are much like Shades, except they know that there is a way to return to life. The True Resurrection. This knowledge burns deep inside them, never letting them to give up. Theoretically True Greater Dead can exist indefinitely, unless destroyed by some outside force. Even if Death’s Call rips them from the Material World, they always find a way to return eventually. True Greater Dead almost always possess some necromantic knowledge and often actively seek more.

[Kalirren]

"Well, then, you must be starving for a real meal. What do you think of scalegoat meat? Or fish, even? It may be hot and dry here, but there's still plenty better to find than transmuted gruel." And few experiences as invigorating as a truly wild hunt.


It was true, too. There were plenty of dragons who had discovered that they could make for themselves plantlike existences on the Upper Planes, transmuting Planelight into sustenance, surviving just enough to enjoy the basics of existence. Younger dragons who approached such elders often found their consciousnesses long lost in a state reverie far deeper than sleep or hibernation.


"How about I find us both some real food, and we talk more over a meal?"

[Thelonius]

Felios smiles in agreement. "The natural food would be better then transmuted replicas." He looks around and says "I'll set up camp by those rocks and wait for your return then".


You also remember of a Dragon who wanted to grow to cover an entire Plane. It was a very ambitious project that would test dragon's powers to the utmost level. He chose the location in the Middle Planes, upper part, near the World's Spine.

[Kalirren]

"Suit yourself. I'll try not to bring down anything that would make you have to move camp." And with that, Dawn took off once again.

A few hours later, the bird appeared again, its unmistakeably large outline in the sky silhouetted against the receding Planelight. Clutched in its talons was (what appeared to be) a pointed wooden skewer with three chicken-sized rodents each neatly pierced through the neck.

"Some things never change, I suppose," bantered Dawn as it made its final circle over camp only a few feet overhead. "Prairie rodents are always tasty." It picked a spot, then made a short dive, ramming the skewer's blunt end vertically into a crevice in the baked ground before alighting on a rock. "Raw or cooked?" Dawn of course knew the answer, but wanted to see what exactly Felios was capable of doing.

[Lonna]

Lilah shook her head when Gray mentioned stealing. Moral issues aside, getting caught would draw far too much attention to them.

"A work office is probably less likely to make us stand out," she pointed out, "and until I get a better idea of what exactly is going on here, I don't want to stand out. Everything here is different from what little I remember; I need some time to get my bearings."

Thinking about just how different the laws of reality seemed to be here gave Lilah an idea. Cupping her hands experimentally, she stared at the air within them, willing it to become water in much the same way she had willed her Crystal to change before coming to this strange place.