Conversation with #dkap_amber
Conversation with #dkap_amber on Tue 06 Sep 2011 08:07:15 PM EDT:
(08:07:16 PM) mode (+o dkap) by ChanServ
(08:28:32 PM) mode (+o dkap) by ChanServ
(08:29:26 PM) dkap: Grrrr .... power problems.
(08:29:30 PM) dkap: Let's try this again.
(08:33:24 PM) Cagliostro: k.
(08:33:27 PM) Cagliostro: power problems are sad.
(08:34:23 PM) dkap: Indeed.
(08:34:38 PM) dkap: I go and kick the stormy. I'll be back in a moment or two.
(08:38:56 PM) dkap: Hrm ... no Stormy ... I vunder vere che iz ...
(08:39:33 PM) Cagliostro: hm
(08:43:29 PM) dkap: Ahh ... he just arrived, and rushed for the necessary, we will be graced with his presence in a few moments.
(08:45:43 PM) jimblanchette [~jimblanch@pool-98-110-182-250.bstnma.fios.verizon.net] entered the room.
(08:46:01 PM) jimblanchette: Hellooooo!
(08:47:16 PM) Cagliostro: hello, jim
(08:52:38 PM) Mistress_Janice [~chatzilla@pool-98-110-182-250.bstnma.fios.verizon.net] entered the room.
(08:52:50 PM) Mistress_Janice: I am arrived.
(08:52:58 PM) dkap: Huzza!
(08:54:08 PM) Mistress_Janice: Whoza what?
(08:56:10 PM) dkap: The whoza is a wazza, when we was-a going wizzing?
(08:59:43 PM) dkap: I believe, we last left our intrepid chase team, we has paused for 10 minutes to send a counter-virus into the world.
(09:00:20 PM) dkap: Zach was speculating that it wasn't his skill at arms but the very virus itself that was this trap, since they have come in threes, perhaps, other virii should be scanned for?
(09:00:45 PM) Mistress_Janice: And for food and water, a brief respite for Zach's troops, I believe.
(09:01:38 PM) Cagliostro: that was where we left off.
(09:01:48 PM) Cagliostro: I will scan for other virii.
(09:02:07 PM) Cagliostro: I don't believe we have Zach troops with us. Just maybe one or two.
(09:03:44 PM) dkap: There's the ranger, and the Julian Worshipper.
(09:04:35 PM) dkap: And, well, the two of you ... *grin*
(09:04:46 PM) Cagliostro: yep.
(09:04:51 PM) Cagliostro: and the three wind elementals.
(09:04:52 PM) dkap: And the rhino-kitty, but I think that one's Mistress Janice'
(09:05:02 PM) Cagliostro: that too.
(09:05:17 PM) Mistress_Janice: Mine! Good rhino-kitty.
(09:06:35 PM) dkap: And a few Ifrit.
(09:08:03 PM) Cagliostro: them too.
(09:10:54 PM) dkap: So, does Zach's suggestion hold merit? Are either of you acting on it?
(09:11:51 PM) Cagliostro: (9:01:40 PM) Cagliostro: I will scan for other virii.
(09:12:04 PM) Cagliostro: inside the bubble first, then the disease-ridden body again.
(09:12:05 PM) dkap: Ahh ... good good, I missed that.
(09:12:42 PM) dkap: You scan, there is, indeed, some sort of cute, fuzzy creature up ahead, in this shadow, that seems miserable, with a second virus.
(09:14:24 PM) dkap: The creature is inconsistent with the local flora and fauna, has more mystic inertia (by a little, not a lot) than the surrounding area, and the virus has even more mystic inertia (again, a little, not a lot) than the creature.
(09:14:28 PM) Cagliostro: does the second virus seem based on the first, or completely unrelated?
(09:14:30 PM) Cagliostro: hm.
(09:15:03 PM) Cagliostro: point out the sickened import to Zach etc.
(09:15:07 PM) dkap: Completely unrelated, except that it is as virulent, if not more so. The first one seemed to attack all the organs, this one the nervous system.
(09:15:38 PM) Cagliostro: "I wonder if the creature was brought from somewhere else, or it was infected with the disease by our quarry."
(09:16:08 PM) Mistress_Janice: Any sign of such a cross-shadow importation? At least, that I can detect?
(09:17:19 PM) dkap: Not beyond the path you are walking, it could have been brought by your quarry, though ...
(09:18:17 PM) ***Cagliostro sighs. "We may need to wait slightly longer..."
(09:18:24 PM) Cagliostro: gm: any sign of a third disease?
(09:20:26 PM) dkap: There is a broken vial near a stone that has a fungus that is just beginning it's first reproductive cycle, and in that cycle the spoors that it spits out, are carrying the third virus, this one targeted at the respiratory system.
(09:22:03 PM) Cagliostro: gm: seal that off, take a sample, sterilize the fungus. fire, probably. once it's warded.
(09:22:13 PM) Cagliostro: and look for a fourth disease, in case he's getting smarter.
(09:22:39 PM) dkap: Fire sterilizes it nicely, and that one is contained.
(09:23:23 PM) dkap: The second one is passed by touch, it seems, and no one has (yet) petted the really cute, pathetically whining, sad little animal-like being.
(09:23:32 PM) Mistress_Janice: "We should go. This can't have been going on long, or it would've spread further by now. He can't be more than half an hour ahead of us..."
(09:23:52 PM) Cagliostro: "Fair point."
(09:23:58 PM) Cagliostro: gm: is the cuddly animal sapient?
(09:24:35 PM) dkap: It might be. There is a touch of magic about it, as well.
(09:24:55 PM) Cagliostro: aaaargh.
(09:25:37 PM) Cagliostro: gm: figure out a way to ward it and bring it with us, so that it won't spread its contagion to us or to the ground nearby
(09:25:50 PM) Cagliostro: workable?
(09:26:29 PM) dkap: You can easily put a similar ward-bubble around it, as you have around you folks, separate and contained, but easily controllable by you.
(09:27:00 PM) dkap: It's a very familiar spell to you, you can cast it as fast as you can think of it, with all your recent practice with these type of wards.
(09:27:49 PM) Cagliostro: so, yes, as long as we can bring that ward along with us.
(09:27:53 PM) Cagliostro: if we can, then we'll continue.
(09:28:07 PM) dkap: On you go, with no further delay.
(09:28:14 PM) Cagliostro: "I don't want to rush too quickly - I've already made a mistake and cost one poor man his life."
(09:30:38 PM) Mistress_Janice: "This... antagonist," she finally decides on, "has already cost plenty of lives, and seems ready to sacrifice even more, counting neither honour nor entire locales too dear to save himself. The sooner we have him in hand, the sooner all this collateral claptrap ceases."
(09:31:44 PM) dkap: Two shadows over, you come across the edge of a mob being extolled by someone, who for a second, looks like Hamster Dworkin to the both of you, and then, realizing it can't possibly be (the size is all wrong) your minds snap to the image that Harry gave you of his son. He is talking about the witches come to steal their minds, their children, and their livelihoods.
(09:34:36 PM) Mistress_Janice: I waste 'im with my crossbow!
(09:34:44 PM) Mistress_Janice: Sorryl, KoDT flashback there.
(09:36:29 PM) Cagliostro: gm: attempt #2 at the two-ward technique
(09:36:57 PM) Cagliostro: I want to pop his head off like a tiddlywink
(09:37:34 PM) jimblanchette: that's some serious head poppin' action
(09:37:56 PM) Cagliostro: yeah, the last guy I tried this on was very impressed. Briefly.
(09:38:21 PM) dkap: He then points to the company and shouts "I am too late, they are amongst us! Stop the Blasphemers!"
(09:39:09 PM) dkap: Do you remember your words with Harry? That you wanted to talk to him first?
(09:39:29 PM) Cagliostro: *sigh*.
(09:39:30 PM) Cagliostro: mumble.
(09:40:02 PM) Cagliostro: "Stop sending others to fight your battles, you cowardly child. Come over here and prepare for a stern lecture."
(09:40:15 PM) dkap: The townsfolk roar, charge, and their energy and force breaks against your wards. The worst damage is a turned ankle or two. They loose steam very quickly.
(09:40:22 PM) Mistress_Janice: "...followed by a first-class hangin'."
(09:41:08 PM) dkap: He apparently hadn't managed to even rile them up very far, yet.
(09:42:02 PM) dkap: Most of them are just standing (or sitting, those that turned their ankles) and staring at the group of you, and him, collectively.
(09:42:51 PM) dkap: He breaks and runs ... of course.
(09:43:11 PM) Mistress_Janice: Move to surround.
(09:43:21 PM) dkap: And the edge of the crowd chases after him, because, they now blame him for the witch invasion.
(09:43:24 PM) Mistress_Janice: Cut off his...
(09:43:28 PM) Mistress_Janice: ...escape.
(09:43:58 PM) dkap: Weapon drawn? Or just by presence?
(09:44:59 PM) Mistress_Janice: Just by presence. Father wants to talk to him.
(09:45:30 PM) jimblanchette left the room (quit: Quit).
(09:46:25 PM) dkap: He starts back-peddling, wheels around, sees the crowd charging at him, wheels back around, drops his hand into a bag at his side, whips out another of the really cute creatures (they could even be litter-mates) mutters the lynchpin of a spell at it, and flings it at your ... warded self.
(09:46:54 PM) Cagliostro: gm: can I tell the effect of the spell?
(09:47:01 PM) Cagliostro: is it primed to explode, supposed to attack me...
(09:47:28 PM) jimblanchette [~jimblanch@pool-98-110-182-250.bstnma.fios.verizon.net] entered the room.
(09:47:31 PM) dkap: You have a chance to drain it of it's power, and examine it later ...
(09:47:47 PM) Cagliostro: would that kill it?
(09:47:50 PM) dkap: Nope.
(09:47:54 PM) dkap: Just the spell.
(09:47:58 PM) Mistress_Janice: Who did he throw it at, Father, or I?
(09:48:07 PM) Cagliostro: drain it.
(09:48:11 PM) dkap: Mistress Janice.
(09:49:09 PM) dkap: The cute creature impacts the ward, gives a surprised animal noise, scrabbles for purchase, and slowly slides down the outside of the ward, until it is close enough to the ground, at which point it jumps to the ground and begins grooming itself.
(09:49:19 PM) Mistress_Janice: He beat me to it. "You really have noting even resembling honour, do you? Your father was right about you..."
(09:49:35 PM) Cagliostro: to Janice: "*is* right."
(09:50:16 PM) dkap: The target visibly winces at both statements. Perhaps the "is" more than the "was".
(09:51:48 PM) dkap: One of the members of the crowd has gotten up on the rock that the target was on, until he decided to try and run again, and is organizing people to get out of all of your way, including tending to the gimpy.
(09:52:01 PM) Cagliostro: oh, excellent.
(09:52:23 PM) dkap: They melt away, not wanting to be part of ... whatever might be going to happen.
(09:52:51 PM) dkap: The cute beasty-thingy is trying to get at the sick one, in the ward.
(09:53:45 PM) dkap: The target draws his sword, somewhat shakily.
(09:54:19 PM) Mistress_Janice: "He already said it, so was was correct." That's it, let's get pedantic now that we've caught him. "Oh, put that *away*," she says exasperatedly to the target. "The time for that was back before you started this obstacle course."
(09:54:54 PM) dkap: The Rhino Kitty charges him, and jumps over him, such that the bottom edge of the ward around him just barely grazes the sword-arm, knocking it away.
(09:56:05 PM) Cagliostro: gm: are the ranger or Zach wearing clothing similar to that of Zach's army?
(09:56:17 PM) dkap: Zach is.
(09:57:07 PM) Cagliostro: "First question: what were you doing when you encountered an army dressed like this man?"
(09:57:41 PM) dkap: Target: "My plan was sheer elegance in it's simplicity."
(09:57:59 PM) Cagliostro: "I do not think that word means what you think it means."
(09:58:12 PM) ***Mistress_Janice tries not to giggle.
(09:59:17 PM) dkap: Target: "I was going to lead the army I found to victory over the Chaos in Amber, set things right, and show my father that I _can_ be a success."
(09:59:32 PM) dkap: Target: "But the world turned against me."
(09:59:53 PM) ***Cagliostro facepalms.
(10:01:11 PM) dkap: Target: "I didn't know that the army was actually prepped to take over Amber, so I tried to eliminate the other people that I had given the Amber-seeking tokens to, which turned you, the leaders of that army, against me."
(10:02:29 PM) dkap: Target: "Then my 'danger-warning-system' kept letting me know that I hadn't managed to shake my pursuit."
(10:03:58 PM) Cagliostro: "Why the ... why would you eliminate your allies?"
(10:04:03 PM) dkap: Target: "I've used every trick I've known, every trap I've laid on, for decades, to stop you, and you just keep getting closer."
(10:05:24 PM) dkap: Target: "Amberites don't _have_ allies."
(10:05:42 PM) ***Cagliostro refacepalms.
(10:07:04 PM) Cagliostro: to Zach: "I can't decide whether we need a playpen or a really good therapist."
(10:07:25 PM) dkap: Zach: "Dworkenetics?"
(10:07:42 PM) dkap: Zach: "The best of both worlds?"
(10:08:05 PM) Cagliostro: "A capital idea."
(10:08:55 PM) Cagliostro: gm: do I have a trump of Hamster Dworkin? Does it work?
(10:10:09 PM) dkap: Yes, and yes.
(10:10:48 PM) Cagliostro: trump same.
(10:11:17 PM) Mistress_Janice: OOC Lots of Amberites have allies. They're only 6 points each.
(10:11:25 PM) Mistress_Janice: Oh, no, two points each.
(10:12:50 PM) dkap: Hampster Dworkin: "Greetings, Count. What occasion allows me your delightful company?"
(10:14:11 PM) Cagliostro: "Zach, Janice and I have cornered a young sociopathic member of Dworkin's line. He needs an empathy insertion, possibly rectally. Are you available?"
(10:14:53 PM) dkap: Hamster Dworkin: "I'm not sure I understand you, is there a wayward child that needs teaching?"
(10:15:17 PM) Cagliostro: "Does 'wayward' encompass launching three plagues on a world, in an attempt to inconvenience us?"
(10:15:27 PM) dkap: Hamster Dworkin: "And if so, are you near him, for if you are, I'm happy to come through."
(10:16:19 PM) dkap: Hamster Dworkin: "Hrm ... might be a bit of a challenge. Even Julian had a sense that others, beside himself, had feelings, mostly because of his son Zach."
(10:17:23 PM) Cagliostro: "He values the good opinion of his father, and the chance to prove himself competent. Little else."
(10:17:52 PM) dkap: Suddenly Target leaps toward the cute animal-thing, and there are two of them, side by side.
(10:18:18 PM) Cagliostro: pull Hamster Dworkin through.
(10:18:28 PM) Cagliostro: gm: can I tell which is which?
(10:18:37 PM) dkap: (Yes, all of your warfare is high enough to know which is which, even without watching the position.
(10:18:47 PM) Cagliostro: to the correct one: "You have two choices."
(10:18:53 PM) dkap: Hamster Dworkin comes through.
(10:19:01 PM) Cagliostro: "First, spend a thousand years as a brain in a jar on my desk."
(10:19:05 PM) Cagliostro: "Second, talk to this hamster."
(10:19:10 PM) Cagliostro: "I don't care which you pick."
(10:19:19 PM) dkap: Sits up on your shoulder, one paw on your ear for balance.
(10:19:43 PM) dkap: Target tries to pretend to be just a stupid creature, and does so miserably.
(10:20:22 PM) dkap: Dworkin does a lovely dismount, landing just in front of Target. Reaches a paw out and says, "Come along child."
(10:20:27 PM) Mistress_Janice: The other one was defused, yes? I will pick up the not-target cuddly critter and set it on the rhino=kitty.
(10:20:48 PM) Cagliostro: yes, second cuddly critter is defused.
(10:20:55 PM) Cagliostro: first cuddly critter is still rather plauge-ridden.
(10:21:14 PM) dkap: Rhino-kitty, much to the critter's dismay, gives it a big-ole lick with it's tongue.
(10:22:09 PM) dkap: They then do the two pets trying to figure out where they fit in relation to each other dance.
(10:22:47 PM) dkap: HD attempts to be swatted, pushed out of the way, flung, and run from, by Target. None of which, of course, succeed.
(10:24:37 PM) dkap: HD to Count Cagliostro: "You said something about the good opinion of his Father? Is said individual available for consult?" while side-stepping and then disarming a swipe with a dagger drawn from the sleeve.
(10:25:30 PM) dkap: Target in apparent frustration: "I'll at least beat your talking rat!"
(10:25:45 PM) Cagliostro: "I last saw him... thataway. " *gestures back the way we came*. "Perhaps Zach can be more specific."
(10:25:48 PM) ***Cagliostro rerefacepalms.
(10:26:44 PM) ***Mistress_Janice notes helpfully, "Actually, he's a hamster."
(10:26:47 PM) dkap: HD: "Alas, I believe he has made his choice, I would have wished there was more room for negotiation, but ... perhaps, after he is a brain in a jar for a thousand years, he might be ready to take the other option and talk to me."
(10:27:38 PM) dkap: HD: "Would you leave him hearing and sight perceptions, so I might read to him, while he is otherwise incapacitated?"
(10:28:21 PM) ***Cagliostro makes some obvious measuring estimates and conjures a tasteful pink pastel brain-size jar, with a handle.
(10:28:27 PM) dkap: HD: "I wouldn't want him to be, you know, lonely and completely bored."
(10:28:44 PM) Cagliostro: "Well, I would need to find a different desk to keep him on, but certainly that could be arranged."
(10:29:32 PM) dkap: Target goes to smash the jar, and is, of course, blocked by Hamster Dworkin.
(10:30:42 PM) Cagliostro: "I guess I could let him go if... he can get past this hamster to break the jar."
(10:30:46 PM) dkap: HD: "Thank you. I think that will be sufficient. I might, if you are willing, be able to interview his father in his presence as well. Shall I remove his head, or do you wish to? I've never jarred a brain before, and I'm curious as to how one goes about it."
(10:31:23 PM) Cagliostro: "I usually start by making the brain self-sufficient... it's less rushed."
(10:32:14 PM) dkap: HD: "Ahh ... then I will sit and learn. I always enjoy a good learning opportunity. I do so treasure personal growth."
(10:32:32 PM) Cagliostro: gm: work out the brain, eyes, and ears so that they'll survive when disconnected from the support system.
(10:33:20 PM) dkap: It's a bit harder than normal, being an Amberite, but, doable. It might need to be reinforced, now and again, so it doesn't heal itself, but ... such things can be adjusted later.
(10:34:14 PM) Cagliostro: gm: any sign of dawning clue or acknowledgement that he should give up from our target?
(10:34:34 PM) dkap: Hamster Dworkin keeps him busy the entire time, simply by dodging, without acknowledging his presence.
(10:35:17 PM) dkap: Nope, it's as if his last hope of redemption is to somehow get the better of Hamster Dworkin.
(10:36:17 PM) Cagliostro: gm: I'll give him a snooze alarm by fixing the diseased animal.
(10:39:17 PM) dkap: He doesn't seem to notice the reprieve. And it's a complex fix, but you succeed, without having to bacta-tank it.
(10:42:12 PM) Cagliostro: ah well.
(10:42:17 PM) dkap: HD: "Is it possible that his pretty pink flower-pot could have wheels, and pedals on it, so I can take him to find his father, before he ends up on your desk?"
(10:42:25 PM) Cagliostro: "Of course."
(10:43:01 PM) dkap: HD: "Excellent."
(10:43:20 PM) Cagliostro: gm: create the wheels & pedals on the flowerpot.
(10:43:24 PM) Cagliostro: all-terrain vehicle.
(10:43:36 PM) dkap: Nice.
(10:44:39 PM) Cagliostro: and put some appropriate fluid in the pot.
(10:45:43 PM) Cagliostro: gm: does hamster dworkin have a trump of me?
(10:45:59 PM) dkap: Hamster Dworkin takes some time, inspecting the pot, commenting on the accommodations, and still, there seems no swerving of the single-minded attempt to squish him.
(10:46:16 PM) dkap: You believe he does.
(10:47:15 PM) Cagliostro: "The brain, eyes, and ears will survive should they happen to be popped out of the skull. If you are interested in my technique, just get in touch."
(10:47:22 PM) ***Cagliostro bows to the hamster.
(10:48:02 PM) dkap: Hamster Dworkin turns to him and says: "Last chance to learn while still in your body."
(10:48:17 PM) dkap: Target: "Die Rat!"
(10:49:06 PM) dkap: Hamster Dworkin leaps, and with a single draw of his sword, decapitates, and splits the scull, and then flips and catches the brains, eyes and ears, in the jar.
(10:49:25 PM) ***Cagliostro bows.
(10:50:07 PM) dkap: Hamster Dworkin: "Is there any fluid, nutrients, waste-cleaning or anything else I need to know, before I bring it back for your desk?"
(10:50:22 PM) Cagliostro: gm: it's self-contained, I believe?
(10:50:51 PM) dkap: Your work is, unless you deliberately did otherwise in this case. You might be away from your desk for decades at a time ....
(10:51:50 PM) Cagliostro: indeed.
(10:52:13 PM) Cagliostro: "It's self-contained. I believe he will regenerate and would require pruning to last a millenium in the jar."
(10:53:10 PM) dkap: Hamster Dworkin: "I will bonsai him appropriately. If you will point me toward his father?"
(10:53:19 PM) ***Cagliostro will defer to Zach.
(10:53:48 PM) dkap: The now-cured creature has decided to gang-up on the rhino-kitty's side to help establish the "pet order" of things.
(10:54:02 PM) dkap: Zach points down the line of travel.
(10:55:04 PM) ***Cagliostro will describe Harry.
(10:55:16 PM) dkap: Zach: "Just follow our pattern-walk, it should be broad and fresh. I believe he was the only one capable of walking on his own, so if there is a path away, that will be him, otherwise, well, I'm sure you will recognize one of Dworkin's Line, being ... well ... Dworkin."
(10:56:25 PM) dkap: Count, you could even conjure a picture of him, I believe, for you have done so in the past, right?
(10:56:38 PM) Cagliostro: that is a good point, I could and will.
(10:57:46 PM) dkap: He take the picture with a bow, saddles up on the jar, and pedals off, along the line that was walked.
(10:58:57 PM) dkap: Zach to the caretaker of the Armor: "You have done well on this quest. I would enjoy the continued service to my father, and my family, if you are willing. I believe I have fixed the armor, we should begin with returning that. From there ... if you will, I'd be happy to squire you."
(10:59:35 PM) dkap: A member of the village comes out from behind the scree she was hiding behind.
(11:00:23 PM) dkap: Village member: "Umm ... just to double check, you aren't here to ... well ... do whatever that (pointing to the empty meat) fellow said you were going to do?"
(11:00:58 PM) Mistress_Janice: "...Weren't we going to try and find out where the thorns and such came from?" She nods to the villager. "Probably not, though I didn't make out all of what he was saying."
(11:02:11 PM) Cagliostro: "Yes, about the thorns. Hm."
(11:02:45 PM) dkap: Village member: "Umm ... thank you. Harvest hasn't happened yet, but, if you want a meal before you go, the stew isn't more than a few days old, and the bread is mostly fresh ..."
(11:03:32 PM) Cagliostro: "Thank you very kindly, but I fear we have errands to run."
(11:03:48 PM) Cagliostro: and that's where we'll wrap, and we'll spend the next week figuring what the heck we were doing before this wild amberite chase.
(11:03:56 PM) dkap: She bobs a reverence, and scurries off.
(11:04:00 PM) ***Mistress_Janice smiles. "I do hope you have a good harvest. We're terribly sorry about the fuss."
(11:06:02 PM) dkap: She's gone without a backward glance, although there might have been a gesture to ward off the "hope for a good harvest" words so it doesn't jinx them ...
(11:07:07 PM) dkap: Yes, figuring out what army that the Target came across "to use to his own ends" who apparently used him to their end, and tracking back their weapons.
(11:08:18 PM) Mistress_Janice: With extreme prejudice.
(11:08:30 PM) dkap: Indeed.
(11:08:36 PM) dkap: Shall we wrap?
(11:08:36 PM) Cagliostro: aka "Princess Chandra".
(11:08:40 PM) Cagliostro: I think so.
(11:08:50 PM) Cagliostro: good night and good game!
(11:09:00 PM) dkap: Good night!
(11:09:01 PM) Cagliostro left the room (quit: Quit: Leaving.).