Porcelain Child/SessionFourtyEight

[09:44] <onine> With little or no options at hand, Anona immediately sets off into the deep forests with Six carrying Kess in tow. The spirit-wolf Tetsuya watches with a strangely amused expression on his canine face. "Such spirit, so invigorating!" [09:45] <onine> "I didn't think so Tetsuya." An equally deep voice says from one of the roots. "Now stop revelling in her wake. We have things to attend to, remember?" [09:46] <onine> The wolf looks at the small blue bird spirit now perched on the roots of the fallen tree. "One must take pleasure in life, Kirikuchi." [09:47] <onine> "Ha!" The bird snorts. "I take my pleasure when it's due. Now hurry yourself, we have wasted enough time as it is." [09:48] <onine> The bird takes off north through the trees, and like a gust of wind, the wolf follows, moving as silently as the wind. [09:49] <onine> Meanwhile a few hundred yards into the forest, Six struggles to keep up. [09:49] <onine> [Madam? Miss? Shouldn't we wait untill he wakes up!?] The young man falls into a ditch with a crash, the inert form of Kess flattening him into the packed ground of leaves. [09:50] <Anona> [No... this passage may not exist for much longer!] [09:50] <onine> [Can't you help?] He complains. [09:55] <Anona> [Look, he's way too heavy for ME to carry, and my demon servant is currently Dragons-know-where. Meanwhile, it is VERY IMPORTANT we get to a stable place! I can do more for you then!] [09:56] <onine> [I just wish he'd wake up...] Six drags himself to his feet, his face red with the effort. [09:59] * Anona continues on. (any idea if the world's stabilizing yet?) [09:59] <onine> You trek on, with Six in tow. Just what IS a safe place tends to be mysterious and vague. Though eventually the distance distortions begin to fade the further West you travel. [10:01] <onine> You're traveling for a few days before you're relatively confident that you're not about to grow plants for arms or go mad. Whatever that strange glade was, it seems to have been positioned just outside the more stable areas of creation. [10:02] * Anona stops at the first shady, defensible-type place. [Okay... I think we're safe. Well, safe in terms of only having to deal with things we can comprehend.] [10:04] <onine> Six puts Kess down and rests him against a tree with no small measure of relief. He puts a foot against the massive trunk and surveys the area. [10:06] <Anona> [I am sorry you had to carry him, but I needed to keep my hands free. We still might encounter things, but I'll see what I can do to help us out...] [10:07] <onine> [Right, I guess that's fair.] Six replies, looking directly at you, unlike most mortals. [10:09] <onine> [You're not mortal.] He says simply. [10:10] *** Kess has joined #palas [10:11] <Anona> [What was your first clue? Me tossing fire-bolts all over the place?] [10:13] <onine> [No, then.] He takes in the jade artifacts. [Terrestrial exalted?] [10:15] <Anona> [If you mean am I chosen of the Elemental Dragons, yes.] [10:17] <onine> [But you look so... human.] Six replies. [10:18] <Anona> [Well, why shouldn't I? I am, after all. Just... you know... /chosen/.] [10:21] <onine> [Forgive me, I did not realise.] Six bows his head. [The chosen I have seen are more distinct.] [10:22] * Kess starts to come to, shifting in discomfort and groaning with the effort. "Did somebody get the number of that chariot?" he mumbles. [10:23] <Anona> [It is true that as one ages and gains a deeper connection to one's element, one resembles it more. This is not untrue of me... simply in a different fashion.] Anona is startled by Kess's words - "You're awake. Finally!" [10:24] <onine> Six lets the 'dragonblooded thing' go and kneels to look at Kess carefully. [Easy now friend. You took a rock to the forhead it seems.] [10:24] * Kess sits up. "Where is this? Did we make it out?" [10:26] <Anona> "This is in the far East. And we made it out, at least in the sense that we exist and are not dead." [10:29] <Kess> "That's about as good as I could have expected. We're lucky." He groans, rubbing his head. "And I, slightly less so." [10:31] <Anona> "Now we have the far more prosaic problem of how to get back to civilization. Or even just to Six Birds." [10:33] <Kess> "What do you mean? How far away are we?" [10:33] * Anona considers. "Very far." [10:37] <Anona> "All is not lost, mind you. I'd been practicing a travel spell just as we arrived at Six Birds..." [10:39] <Kess> "But we /did/ end up within the borders of Creation...right?" [10:39] <Anona> "Oh, yes." [10:39] <Anona> "After some days of travel." [10:40] <onine> Six just looks on completely clueless. [10:41] <Anona> [Sorry, Six. We're going to have to sit you down and teach the language sometime...] [10:42] <onine> [Somehow I think there is a lot that I need to learn now, everything is so unfamiliar.] He sighs. [10:43] <onine> [You're very heavy by the way.] The young man informs Kess. [10:45] * Kess coughs softly as he switches languages. [It's true. Sorry for the trouble.] [10:46] <onine> [It's alright, but I wouldn't want to carry you all the way.] He chuckles. [10:46] <onine> You spot a small blue-white light moving through the trees at high speed. It seems to be coming towards you. [10:48] * Anona looks up tensely. Probably just a messenger from Epheri... but one never knows... [10:50] <onine> You've never seen the form of Epheri's messenger, but it becomes apparent that it is not hers. The form of the messenger is of a sky-horse. A strange free-floating air creature of the north, similar in a way to plankton, though a little lager, the size of a human thumb. The bulk of its size is taken up by the whispy tentril-like wings that the real creature uses to steer its glide in the air. [10:50] <onine> "Tepet Anona." it states in a whispery voice. [10:52] <Anona> "Present." [10:53] <onine> (hehe) [10:54] <onine> "Dear, dear Anona!" Lady Aria says. "How are you my sweet? I hope this message reaches you, my first appears to have failed. I sent another to that nice little cousin of yours, and she informed us of your drastic situation." [10:55] * Kess clicks his tongue. "Impressive display." [10:55] <onine> Aria's voice lilts and pauses, the words (in High Realm) all rhyme like a poem which she sings out. You can hear the trace of amusement in some of the words. It gives rise to thought that Aria is perhaps a little mad. [10:58] <onine> "So in time I have sent this, a message to you my dear. Should you receive it, what follows are the map coordinates - the map coordinates of our varied expeditions in the north, south, east and west. There you will find sanctuary, supplies and means back to the isle!" [10:59] *** Kess has quit IRC (Ping timeout�) [11:00] <onine> (drat...) [11:03] <onine> "Bye-bye and good luck - I do so hope to see you again *soon*" The messenger coos. What follows are numerous map-coordinates where Juno's people are presently working in the threshold. [11:04] *** Kess has joined #palas [11:04] <Anona> (Any of them sound vaguely close to us?) [11:06] <onine> Sort of, they're still distant, but there is a small feifdom in the Hundred Kingdoms area known as Palas, where some of Juno's people are apparently located. The message didn't go into detail exactly WHY or WHO was there, since there were a lot of coordinates for her to tell you, just in case. [11:07] <onine> Palas is by far the cloeset, just beyond where the forest ends near the main river in the River Province. [11:09] <Anona> (Gee, HOW COULD I HAVE GUESSED - palas!) [11:10] <onine> (shuttup, you take 15L unsoakable...) [11:10] <Anona> Given Kess speaks a little Old Realm, Anona switches to that tongue so she only has to say it once. [Okay, according to that messenger some of Juno's people are relatively near by. it's still a long haul, but it's within reason.] [11:11] <onine> Eight hundred miles. Give or take. [11:11] <Kess> [And Juno's an ally of yours?] [11:11] <Anona> [Yes. He sent us on this wild-goose chase.] [11:12] <Kess> [Ah, so a 'friend' in the loosest sense of the word.] [11:14] <Kess> [But if it's a ticket home, I'm all for it. When can we get underway?] [11:15] <Anona> [You've got legs.] [11:16] <Kess> [Then I'll just check everywhere 'relatively near by'.] [11:16] <onine> [Thankfully...] Six mumbles. [11:17] <Anona> [Well, eight hundred miles is still quite a haul. but we might as well walk that way until I've mastered this travel spell.] [11:19] <onine> (sounds Hunky Dory) [11:19] <onine> Now with three pairs of legs, the trek is signifigantly faster. [11:19] <onine> The forest is strange, majestic and unsettling. The trees seem to rise up into the sky, only the broken green barely visible in the mist above you gives any evidence to their even being leaves. None fall from the trees, though plenty litter the ground in all shapes and sizes despite the fact that their only seems to be one sort of tree here. [11:20] <onine> The days are short and the nights are long, the only real sign of the time of day is the extent of how far into the green mist you can see. No sunlight penetrates the canopy enough to reach the ground. Shafts of sunlight pierce occasionally, but the thick forest mist swallows it up fast before it makes any sort of progress. Despite this, there is light. The entire eldrich place seems fed by [11:20] <onine> a sourceless ambient glow. Bodyless fireflies add pale colours to the green expanse. [11:22] <onine> Thorns nearly a foot in length grow from the bases of the trees and are too strong to break - they'd make good stabbing weapon blades with a little work. At some points the ground seems to sag like you're walking on fabric - entire sections of leafy forest floor supported by thorns of massive proportions. [11:23] <onine> Campfires are small and sad, the only usable wood is the damp fallen branches from the expanse above, and these do not burn well, and when they do they belch thick foul-smelling black smoke. [11:24] *** Kess has quit IRC (Ping timeout�) [11:29] <onine> (curses) [11:29] <onine> The small black squirrels, deer and other forest creatures are rare and difficult to bring down even for an exalt with two mortals. They seem to escape easily, flitting like shadows away. The few you do catch are stringy ans sour - all skin and bone. The rare shrunken black fruit is the better of the food available, musky tasting and dry, but nutricious nevertheless. [11:32] *** Kess has joined #palas [11:34] <onine> Soon however the forest begins to grow more... normal. The animals grow larger and coloured, ferns and other forest plants grow on the forest floor, thorns disappear and are replaced by luminous fungi. [11:39] <onine> Soon, you are travelling in a normal forest, the thin hunting is now rich, and you are well fed for the first time in weeks. [11:43] <onine> At long last, you break through the thicker forest, and the land is now of meadows of long grass and trees. Following your map, you eventually find a rise, one that overlooks the Kingdom of Palas. In the distance you can see the outlines of the capital, and a few miles north, the shape of the city ruler's castle. Numerous lines of thin smoke rise up around the fortress, the kind produced not [11:43] <onine> by homes and chimneys, but of bonfires. [11:44] <onine> [Is... is that it?] Six queries. [11:44] <Anona> [I think so. It's civilization of SOME kind, anyway. Somewhat more edible food! Baths with water that perhaps isn't too filthy!] [11:45] <onine> [What's that smoke, that isn't normal. It rises around the keep rather than from within it.] Six shields his eyes from the sun. [11:50] <Anona> [... hm... you're right. Uh-oh.] Anona continues on, slightly more cautiously, though not obviously so. [11:51] <Kess> [Trouble seems to follow us, doesn't it? Let's hope it's not Juno who's smoldering.] [11:53] <onine> For the remainder of the day you travel, the few towns of Palas you move through, lay semi-abandoned. The people there do not hold markets, they do not walk the streets save for the odd drunk. They watch you from doors ajar and darkened windows as you travel through their streets. [11:55] *** Disconnected [11:56] *** Attempting to rejoin... [11:57] *** Rejoined channel #Palas [11:57] *** onine has quit IRC (Connection reset by peer�) [12:00] <oni-chan> (did I miss anything?) [12:00] *** Kess has quit IRC (Ping timeout�) [12:01] <oni-chan> (argh...) [12:07] *** Kess has joined #palas [12:16] *** Attempting to rejoin... [12:16] *** Rejoined channel #Palas [12:18] <onine> [What is happening here?] Six walks towards a window, and the two small children watching from within flee quickly into their house. [12:19] <Anona> In modern Realm, Anona mutters... "thats' what I'd like to know... [12:21] <onine> You travel through a few more towns , then up one of the ridges close to the castle. When you reach the peak of the rise, the scene before you is unexpected. You see a fortress, a great castle with green tile rooves (japanese castle) and pristine white walls. Around its wall are the buildings of a capital stretching off to the south. [12:21] <onine> But of the modest city you see only the upper floors and the tile rooves. The entire valley is flooded. [12:23] *** Disconnected [12:26] *** Attempting to rejoin... [12:26] *** Rejoined channel #Palas [12:27] <onine> Massive dam walls have been built around the city, diverting and containing the waters of the Yellow and Meander river arount the castle of Palas, creating an artificial lake around the fortress [12:27] <onine> Surrounding the lake you can see the tents of the Imperial Legions. [12:28] <Anona> [Imperial legions? What could this be?] [12:29] <onine> [Imperial Legions?] Six echoes in confusion. [What are the Imperial Legions?] [12:30] *** Kess has quit IRC (Ping timeout�) [12:31] <Anona> [Er.... legions that belong to the Realm...?] [12:31] <onine> [The.... Realm?] He looks immensely perplexed. [12:33] *** Kess has joined #palas [12:33] <Anona> [The Blessed Isle, man!] [12:34] <onine> Six shrugs and runs a hand through his bright orange hair. [There's a lot I dont know...] [12:35] <onine> There's a lot all of you dont know, but at least Anona's questions can likely be answered by the Legion unit surrounding Palas... [12:37] <Anona> [Let's find out what's going on.] Anona strides off towards the biggest, most important-loking tent she can find. [12:37] <onine> (Aliasi, this message arrives shortly after Lady Aria's while you are in the forest) [12:39] <onine> You are moving towards one of the many camps that surround Palas when an imperial footsoldier unit spots you and moves quickly towards you, the lead officer yells. His voice is muffled by his helmet. "Halt! You are in violation of the diplomatic isolation order of the kingdom of Palas! Identify yourself or surrender unconditionally!" [12:40] * Anona holds her ground haughtily. "I am Tepet Anona." [12:41] <onine> The officer looks at his men. "And?" [12:44] <Anona> "And you asked me to identify myself." [12:48] <onine> The soldier appears generically impressed, but he still askes... "And your purpose here?" [12:50] <Anona> "I am currently working with Tepet Juno. I was told some of his men were here..." [12:51] <onine> "Lord Juno?" He replies. "Very well My lady. Tepet Anona was it? You'd best go to command. You must be the new troubleshooters Edell said Lady Aria mentioned." [12:52] <onine> "You." He selects two soldiers. "And you. Escort Lady Anona to the command compound at once!" [12:52] <onine> Two soldiers walk down the hill to you and bow low. "Lady Anona...and servants. Please follow us!" [12:53] * Kess does his best to remain in the shadow of Anona's presence. [12:57] * Anona comes along. [12:57] <Anona> She even makes an attempt at doing so respectfully, though it's pretty token. [12:58] <onine> You are lead along the shore, and are nearing one of the larger camps when a voice calls out... [12:59] <onine> "Anona?! Tepet Anona!" It is a young woman's voice. The owner is speaking with a few higher ranker soldiers near the guard outpost. It is a young woman, by the looks of things about Epheri's age, both in actual age and general wide eyed inexperience. She is dressed in simple whites with brown slacks. [13:00] <onine> She's pretty in a simpletons way, with grey-brown hair and hazel eyes. Her belly is rounded, as one is when they are expecting a child within the month. A staff hangs at her back. [13:00] <onine> You cannot fathom where you have met this woman. [13:08] <Anona> "Do I... know you?" [13:12] <onine> The young woman runs down the slope, nearly dripping. The speed of her descent blows your hair out behind you. [13:12] <onine> She wasnt that fast... you think. [13:12] <onine> "It's me!" She replies [13:15] *** Disconnected [13:16] *** Attempting to rejoin... [13:16] *** Rejoined channel #Palas [13:19] *** Disconnected [13:22] *** Attempting to rejoin... [13:22] *** Rejoined channel #Palas [13:25] <onine> "Edell?" She says. "Sesus Edell? We were in the Heptagram together? Well, kind of?" [13:27] * Anona racks her brains to try and recall the name. [13:28] <onine> Edell catches the confused expression and elaborates a little more. "Sesus Edell... I know your cousin?" [13:29] <Anona> "Do you mean Epheri?" [13:29] <onine> "Yes." She replies. [13:30] <Kess> "I'm impressed. You have allies in the most unlikely places, Anona." [13:31] <Anona> "Sorry for the confusion. It's just been so long... or at least, it's felt like it." [13:31] <onine> Edell smiles politely. "You have noooooo idea who I am do you." [13:34] <Anona> "Not as much as I'd like, no. I like to think I have a good memory for faces..." [13:38] <onine> "It's alright, I'm not known for being particularly memorable." Edell replies. "Sesus Edell, I was in most of Epheri's classes. Usually people just call me Mouse. I thought since Epheri is an Archon like you she would have mentioned me." [13:42] <Anona> "Epheri isn't much of a talker herself, really." [13:44] <onine> "Well that's okay..." Mouse replies. "I guess you were such a rising star at the Heptagram that you wouldn't notice a mediocre student like myself. Its alright, I get that a lot." [13:46] <Anona> "What brings you to this corner of the world?" [13:48] <onine> "Money as a matter of fact. Since I left the Heptagram and married I found it far more profitable to travel. We just happened upon this little trouble here in Palas and offered our service." She explains, and her next words are ones of worry. "I regred that we did now.." [13:50] <Anona> "What's wrong?" [13:55] <onine> Perhaps I'd best explain 'indoors.' Or as indoors as I can manage." Mouse explains and gestures you to follow her to the sprawling camp nestled amongst the bare cherry trees on the hill... [13:57] <Anona> "Alright." [13:57] <Anona> [Come along, Six...] [13:58] <onine> You follow the now identified Air Aspect named Mouse towards the hub of legion activity, as the tension of the Palas siege reaches breaking point...