You find yourself in a gladiatorial combat against a bunch of demented bunnies armed with carrot spears.  Suddenly, a horde of coyotes appears, and eats the bunnies, but you last.

You they drag out to a field, and stake down on the ground...

You realize you're laying in a field on top of something stiff, scratchy and itchy.  There's also plant dust.  Its making you want to sneeze.

The sun is baking you slowly as you lay there.

You hear a 'woof' from next to you.  'hey, boss, I mean Krillis, this place has bunnies! Much better than the last place.'

PT

I don't fight the urge to sneeze from the plant dust, opening my eyes.

While I look around, for bunnies, what I'm sitting on, and the environment generally, I talk to Kox,

--Sorry about all the trouble, little buddy.  I just want you to know something that I didn't know until we first went to that last world...  You're an immortal now.  The two of us can't die-we are simply sent to other universes upon our deaths.  I've been like this for a while now.--

Then, I give the pup a huge hug, feeling good that I finally have some lasting company.

Haaachooooo!  The cannon blast sneeze clears your nose, and startles Kox.  You sit up in a tabletop flat field of stubble.  Dry, white stalks dot the ground every four inches in rows that are six inches apart.  They all look like they were cut off a few inches from the ground.

Kox spins around from his chase of a rabbit which then gets away.

"Immortal? Big word there boss.  But yeah, I get ya'. This is cool. I could fight a big bear, and if I lose...."

Kox is lost in dreams of puppy glory.

You look about the vast field of at least a hundred acres, and see windbreaks, thick lines of leafy trees, at some ends.  You also see a number of bunnies dotting the field.

PT

--Just remember...not to go fighting bears on a whim, okay?  Ask me first, just in case, okay, Kox?--

Then, I examine the stalks while examining them closer.  I also look into the distance, seeing if there are any forests, mountains, or any change in scenary I can see.

--Kox, can you catch the scent of people at all?  I know you're not a hound dog or anything, but you've got a better nose than I do.--

Kox takes a moment to reply, and its more in the nature of grumbling under his breath as he agrees reluctantly.

Root structure is straight down about seven inches in something that looks like an underdeveloped carrot, but doesn't smell nearly as good.  The stalk is made of a number of furled leaves that seems to have been at one point green, but has faded to white.  Its tough and scratchy, flexible and rippable.

At the horizon looks to be some mountains.

Several miles away, you see something moving in a straight line.

You see what seems to be a line in the distance, perhaps a half-mile away.

"Very faint. Confused smell.  Wouldn't smell anything at all if there had been a rain in the last bit of days." Kox replies.  He sniffs around curious.  "Mostly its one man."

PT

--I want you to follow the strongest scent of the man and take me to him.  Can you handle that?--

I ask Kox, keeping my eyes on the line in the distance, even as I follow Kox wherever he leads me.

Kox nods, and starts wandering about.  His path is erratic as he casts for scent.  And the path itself is changeable.  Lastly, he's a puppy, and he gets excited to see Small Tasty Treats running by.

About an hour later, you walk over the edge of a field, and into a grassy yard between fields.  You can see the sloping down entrances of underground houses and underground sheds.  One of the shed doors is open, and you see a man working hard with a wrench on a bright red tractor.

You see a newspaper in his gravel driveway.

It reads...

"Plain Inquirer. Proudly serving the High Plains Duchy since 5419 CE. May the grace of the Grey-eyed watch over you."

You see a weather report.

"Continued drought in the HPD. Espers hold out hope for some break next week. Weathermen are less sanguine."

A headline.

"Committee Squabble about Fall Festival Discredits Committee In Many Eyes."

"Astronomers Continue Study of Flicker Stars."

"All-League Speedball to be Hosted Here in 5420.  Pro Stadium Desperately Needs Repair."

"Interesting..."  I say to myself, taking note of certain things and committing them to memory.

Then, I walk up to the man working on his tractor.  (What is he wearing?)

"Sir, I thought I'd bring the newspaper up to you."  I offer the paper to him, and attempt to make small talk as if I know what I'm talking about.  "You think the fields'll make it through this drought?"

He's wearing jean overalls, and a dusty t-shirt under it.  He looks up surprised.

"Eh? Oh, my fields will. I've picked my mur. Which is awful, something awful.  Had to pick it before it hits full growth, only suited for animal feed, but if this drought continues the mur won't even be good for that.  They'll have to use it as waste fuel.  Got some of my neighbours gambling that we are going to get enough water in the next two weeks for the mur to reach full maturity. Even then its going to be a bad crop, but only Herself knows what the weather holds despite what those flaky espers and worthless weathermen say."

He spits a big gob by his truck, and then takes the paper.

"My names Harold Gracchi, and yours son? Nice dog, too. Don't let him chase my chickens though."

Kox barks.

*I won't.*

The man laughs.

"Its almost like he understood me."

PT

"I'm Krillis, and trust me, the pup understands a lot more than he lets on."  I smile, seeing that this guy is actually friendly.

"I am...how to put this...lost.  Where is the direction of town?"  Then, I settle on a story that I like.  "I think I had some sort of heat stroke and I don't have much memory at all, so could you direct me towards town?"

He insists, and if you disagree, practically drags you into the house for 'medical care'.  Once inside (unless you're prepared to be almost violent), he yells for his wife to bring some things.

Soon enough, you've got a wet towel on your forehead, a twenty ounce glass of lemonade with ice, an apple pie a la mode on the table in front of you, and a two-pronged fork to eat it with.

"Eat up, son. This is Krillis, Maggie.  Heat got to him. Krillis, I don't think Athena will mind you eating without saying grace."

Meanwhile Maggie is getting Kox a large bowl of water, and some soft dog food from a big container in her refrigerator.

*Meat, boss. Sure you don't want some?*

"Cow guts, and ground up mur, and a bit of carrot to make sure all the vitamins are in there." Maggie says brushing Kox's hair as he gulps down his food.  "We have several dogs, but they're sleeping off the heat.  I tell my man to rest too, mur's cut, but he don't like sitting in the house relaxing in the daytime."

"Makes me feel lazy." Harold says, and then tosses a map down on the table next to you.

PT

I feel affronted, and politely reject at first.  Still, I give in to his hospitality.

Once inside, I say, "I feel fine.  It's just that I don't remember much.  Still, thank you for such gracious hospitality.  I'm not sure how I can repay you..."

*Don't mind, Kox, go at it with the food they give you.  I'll be fine with the pie.*

I take a look at the map, then say, while observing it, "I do remember some things.  I'm suprised it took me a bit to think of it.  I might be able to help out a little with this drought," though I don't think I'm powerful enough to do the entire field with water, even if magic works here.  I complete the sentance in my head.  "Once I take a look at the map, would you mind showing me to your sink or a pot or pan?  I have something I need to check out.  I can promise that no damage will result."

"Repay? Nonsense." Maggie says quickly.  "I have a young boy off to the university, and if he got in trouble, I'd want someone nice to help him."

Harald grunts in aggrement.

*Your loss, boss*

You look at the map.  It shows the Cherki Region of the High Plains Duchy.  There are a number of small towns every thirty or forty miles in any direction, and a hundred miles away there is a larger city of what looks to be 500,000.  Its Rouge City.

The roads are straight mostly, and set up in a grid.  It looks to be minor roads, and then major roads and all major roads have railroad symbols next to them.  Its very uniform.

You try to cast the spell with a bowl of water.  It doesn't succeed the first time or the third, and on the third you almost feel it spiral out of control and flash freeze the whole kitchen, but you pull it back under control.  Going for a fourth?

You do know some magic works as you can talks to Kox.

PT

I think about trying to generate water again, but decide against it.  I wouldn't want to cause these people any trouble, or hurt them in any way...

Then, I think about the university and the possibilities of things I could learn.  I wonder what kind of things they know in this world...  Maybe they have answers for what's up with me dieing, and how it could've been caused.

I address the man, "Sir, I'm thinking that maybe I might've been heading to this university.  What's your son's name, and how would I get to the university from here?  Is there any means of transportation?"

He thinks, and looks at his wife, and then nods as he agrees with her.

"I can take you over to Roston. Its thirty miles up the road, north.  My son is Drake Gracchi.  He goes to Path of Wisdom University in Princehill on the Great Eastern Lake.  Roston has a railroad, and RoyalTrek buslines.  Either will get you there, although RT is cheaper."

He takes you out to his truck.  It starts running, and you instantly notice the slight pods hanging out the bottom--its a fuel cell powered electric truck.  You'd worked on a fuel cell power system.

PT

I get into his car with Kox.

On the way, I ask him about his son.  I make sure to ask how old he is and what he's studying.

Also, I ask how one goes about getting on the RT buslinse.

"Drake is twenty.  He's studying mathematics.  Its a form of statistics which involves meeting a lot of espers.  I don't really understand it myself.  He's tried to explain it to me, but I'm just a simple farmer.  He's also in the Royal Marines officer equipage program which gets him free through university.  I bet you and your dog here could get a place in the Beastmen if you wanted."

A few miles up the road, and you ask him about the RT line.

He explains that they have small terminals, and you hand over a bit of cash, and they give you a ticket, and you ride the next bus going that way.

"Its a lot of stops and starts, and transferring from one bus to another.  But its real cheap, and it serves a wider area than the railroads do."

He chats with you a bit on the way.  You find out that you're in the Royalty of Columbia.  It has a parliameant, and the King has only limited powers.

There are a lot of names of department stores, and clothing stores, and restauraunts that are unfamiliar to you, but the basic concept seems similar.  There is a Burger King, and a Duchy Donut, and a Castle of Steak that you see on the way in to town.  Kox explains to you fervently that you need to stop at the Castle of Steak.

The farmer drops you off at a small terminal labelled Royal Trek across from the Duchy Donut.

PT

As the man drives off, I sift through my pockets to discover the horrible truth-I don't have any money.

I look around, and look in my bag for anything I could potentially sell.  Then, I stumble accross the jewelry I got from King Street.  The two that catch my eyes most are the diamond ear rings and the gemstone.

Immediately, I begin asking the people near the RT about a ticket price to reach 'Princehill on the Great Eastern Lake'.  Upon discovering the price, I ask around about a pawnbroker nearby.  If there is one, I walk over to it with Kox, letting him have half one of the granola bar from my pack, while I eat the other half.  I notice that I'm running low on the granola bars at this point.

OOC: Sorry, I lost track of your post.  I thought it was up with the others, and didn't realize I'd skipped it.

IC:

Kox eats the granola bar you offer him while grumbling under his breath about the smell of meat from Castle of Steak.  You see an obvious 'bad person' walking on your sidewalk your way, but Kox raises his head, and the guy gives you his most angelic and 'I don't want any trouble' smile.

*coyote scum* Kox mutters.

Once inside the pawn shoppe, you notice that pretty much everything is chained down, or in metal cages.  The big, walrus like man behind the counter gives you a knowing grin as you lay out the jewelry.

"Sure bud, I can take these off your hands.  Hold on to them for several weeks before the cops stop searching for them.  That means I got rental fees, see.  Now you're new in the area, but I'm the man to go to to get your 'acquired' stuff sold with no law trouble."

He scoops them up in his thick fingers.

"Not bad. Say fifty Kingdoms for the earings, and forty for the gem because I'm a nice guy."

PT
OOC: GE 21

I swipe up the gemstone quickly, with saying, "I'm insulted!"  I passionately gesture towards the diamond earrings still on the counter.  "I've done my research, good sir, and those there can easily sell for 100 Kingdoms.  Now, I can understand that you do need to make a profit.  For that, I'm willing to sell them to you for 80 Kingdoms."

I'm now cupping my hand over the earrings after putting the gemstone in my pocket,making sure he doesn't try to swipe them.  "So why don't you cut the act and give me my fair, calculated 80 Kingdoms?"  I look him straight in the eye for the last phrase, trying to show no ignorance in my face.

He scowls at you, and pays you the eighty kingdoms.

PT

"Nice doing business with you."  I flash him a fake smile and leave, heading for the RT.

Once I'm at the ticket stand, I explain to the clerk that I'm new to using this form of transportation.  "How do I get from here to Princehill on the Great Eastern Lake using the bus routes?"  I pay him what I owe for the ticket(s) after he or she shows me proof that it's the actual price.

After that, I follow the instructions to get there with Kox.  I make sure to keep my things close to me and keep an eye on them.

It takes you three days of travel, and with food and the trip most of your eighty kingdoms.  You catch a few hours sleep here and there in a hammock that you get for 'free' but must wash for a kingdom in the sonic washer before using it, and then return it to the next haggard guy.  Showers are ice cold, and the highlight of your cuisine is a hot dog with mustard and a pickle that one bus stop has at their rare concession stand.

You're not sure how many places you've stopped at.  It could be twenty.  It seems like every few hours you're stopping, and getting on another bus, or taking an unexplained rest stop, or stopping for lunch, or...

Weariness and boredom and just general body ache are about to drive you nuts, and then you hear the driver announce on the intercom.

"Outskirts of Princehill. Thirty more minutes about if traffic is light."

Traffic isn't, but an hour later you're in the big city.

 You feel like staggering.  You feel like there is a layer of slime across your skin never completely washed off by the ice cold showers and hard soap (one kingdom for five minutes of water).

But you're in walking distance from the PoW University which is a downtown college.  And you have six kingdoms left.

PT

Exhausted, I take my six remaining kingdoms and Kox in the direction of PoW University via walking.

If Kox is too tired to walk, I carry him.  Along the way, I talk to the pup.  --So, what did you learn how to do when it comes to calling on Fenris for help?  Could you Call Fury Down and seperate your body from your spirit and all of that?--

Once/If we reach the university, I try to find the administration building and enter.  I ask the nearest person who works there, "So, how do I go about getting into this school?  I have the smarts for it, but I don't know the process... a small matter of amnesia."

You carry Kox.

*I can make myself fearless, and make myself big like a ...dire wolf, a young one...I can speak to animals but thats ever since the Mean Black Bird talked to me.  I tried one time to have Fenris bring me a bunny, but he got mad at me, and said 'don't be lazy'.  Should I try something else?  I could try to Call Fury Down.*

You pass a jewelry store, and in one of its display windows you see an earring that is nice, but not as nice as yours.  Its going for 1400 kingdoms.

You walk into the main lobby of the first building you come to...Countessa de Viraigne Building is on the outside.  The receptionist looks at your scruffy self, and indicates by a raised eyebrow that you don't really seem to be the sort of person they are looking for.

She pauses, evidently hoping you'll take the hint,a nd turn around and leave.

PT

I simply smile and ask agian.  "This is where I belong.  Now, how do I go about applying to study here?"

At this, I put my hand on the table enforcingly, but still noiselessly.  "I have a friend who's going here.  I also am interested in attending, so why don't you tell me how I can go about doing that?"

She folds visibly, and with a sudden onset of professionalism hands you a folder full of paper, a pen, and a sheet of questions about where you live, and your parents, and so on.

You realize you have a problem when you come to question #9.

--Where did you take Youth Service Corp? Circle one. And there is a list of seven cities.

And then question #14...

--Three references not related.  Please list name, address, and phone number.

PT

Well, it seems like this place is legitimate when it comes to selectivity.

I put the paper back on the table after reading it.  Maybe there's a job in town that I can get...  All I really want to do here, until I find out what I can do, is learn everything I can.

Before I leave, I say, "Do you know of any libraries, places to stay, or places to work nearby?"  I ask.  "It would help if you could write it down, so that I'll have a solid list to work with.  I'm not familiar with this city.  I promise, once you help me with this, I'll stop bugging you.  Also, can you tell me what the Beastmen are?"

She reaches over to a drawer, and pulls out a laminated sheet of paper, and drops it into a crevice on the desk in front of her.  You smell a faint burning plastic smell, and she crinkles her nose.

"Its breaking down." She mumbles.

And then the crevice spits out two laminated sheets.  She gives you the warm one.

The list heading is:

Student Resources for Off-Campus Activity.  It has libraries, restauraunts, sports stadiums...etc...etc....including several 'work-to-employer match services'.

"The Beastmen..." She looks at you strangely, and then smiles at Kox who gives her a goofy grin back.  "They are a division of the High Guard.  Man and dog teams work together to fight.  I think they are primarily scouts, although sometimes they also provide security."

She hands you a bright, glossy pamphlet.

"Join the High Guard. Defend the Kingdom of Columbia from enemies, help explore Near-Earth space, rescue your fellow Columbians from natural disasters, learn valuable skills and leadership, and get valuable grants."

That runs across the front of the pamphlet.

PT
OOC: The reason for her initial 'go away' is the condition of your clothes and how you need a good bath rather than a five minute scream under really cold water.

I look on the sheet for a place to sign up to join the High Guard or Beastmen.  If nothing's listed, then I ask the receptionist agian.  "Where can I join in this town?"

No matter, I leave and go to the location (if I discover it from reading or talking) of the High Guard/Beastmen enlistment office, while keeping an eye out for spotting apartments and libraries to keep a mental note of.

Upon entering, I ask the nearest seemingly-knowledgable person where I can sign up to join the Beastmen.

She gives you instructions which hallway to go down.  There is an office in the same building you're at.

You step through the glass, curtained door, and see a ponytailed receptionist who takes in your look with a calm smile, and grins when you say 'Beastmen'.

"I won a bet with myself that you'd say that."  She hits a button on her desk. "Captain Taggart, a guest to discuss the Beastmen with you."

A minute later you see a tall, thin man in good physical condition in a dark, black uniform step out of his office, and invite you in to sit down.   He takes in your slightly scruffy condition with a quick look that is noncommittal, and offers you some coffee or juice from a breakfast sidetable in his office.  He also offers you a choice of a sweet pretzel which looks like giant cinnammon sugar doughnut in pretzel form or a meat pretzel which has some form of meat in the center of its pretzel shape.  Kox is looking with longing at the meat pretzel as he sits politely at your right.

"My name is Harold Taggart.  I'm in the Space Program.  Hope to one day get to walk on the Moon at the Lunar Base.  Right now, I'm building my muscles back up after a space tour with microgravity which really weakens you.  Have to gain twenty more pounds before the docs will let me go back up.  I understand you're interested in the Beastmen.  As I'm sure you know, they are a sub-group within the High Guard.  They are considered Special Forces because of the individual initiative required, and the high physical conditioning.  However, its not as rough as the Shock Troopers or the Dagger Teams.  But it is an elite force.  One qualification, I think we can pass on already..."

He points at Kox who is waiting on your command.

"You obviously have a good rapport with animals.  The primary skill in the Beastmen is to be able to infiltrate with your animal partner an enemy controlled region, and live there, if necessary off the land for sometimes weeks at a time.  Its true that sometimes they are detailed as defensive security, but they are primarily scouts.  Its also not true that they are super assassins despite what you see on the vid.  The perfect Beastman mission is one in which the enemy never knew you were there.  But, you do have a link to the Hammer, if need be.  A Beastman call comes in, and the Hammer can drop fifty tons of HE in less than three minutes.  I knew one Beastman who wore a belt made of silver tank kill awards, over two hundred of them."

He pulls out a dime sized silver tank.

"We give these out for confirmed kills.  Not that we're at war right now, thankfully."

PT

Politely, I refuse the coffee, but take a little bit of juice, and I ask Kox, --Are you thirsty?--

"Well, Captain Taggart, I am quite interested in joining.  When and where can I sign up?"

I turn to talk to Kox, --It's okay, get the meat pretzel if you want it.--

I move it on the desk so it's in front of him, but so that he actually has to move to get it.

"Also, after how long of service would it take to get a scholorship of some sort to attend this here university?  I don't know what they teach here, but I'm sure I could find something to study in time."

Its some tropical flavor you're not familiar with, but it is some variety of citrus.

Kox delicately steps forward, scoops up the meat pretzel in his mouth, and then lays down with it to wolf it down in two seconds, and then look inquiringly up at you...

"You would have to take the Basic Recruit Course which is ten weeks.  After that, you'd be able to enter the Path of Wisdom college in any major that you choose.  We'd prefer you chose something like History, or Engineering rather than their Art Criticism degree, but legally, I can't make you choose any major.  You'd be drilling on Saturn's Day from eight to one.  And you'd be on duty in the High Summer for one month out of the year which would coincide with your school break."

He hands you a sheet of paper with the information on it.

"At the end of your four year term at PoW, which would be fully paid for, you'd be sent to Officer Training, and then Advanced Officer Training.  If you fail, you'd be enlisted, which is also what would happen if you are kicked out of college for whatever reason.  OT and AOT take one year.  After that, you'd have a four year committment as an Officer of the Beastmen.  Now, most of the Beastmen are Officer's and senior NCO's so its not like you'd be commanding large groups of troops.  You'd still mostly be on your own, or with a small team."

He pauses and thinks.

"Oh yeah, for every Excellent grade you make, you get a fifty Kingdom bonus. Every Superlative grade is a one hundred fifty Kingdom bonus.  There are other bonuses if you graduate with honors or five years ago, the Valedvictorian was a Dagger Team trainee.  He went out and bought a car with his bonus for that semester, and the Val."

He scratches his head.

"I'm still new at this recruiting business.  You get to house in the barracks on campus, and eat at the High Guard table in the cafeteria.  But if you eat, you have to have your uniform on when you do, and it has to be perfect.  We want to make a good impression."

PT

I pet Kox on the head when he looks up to me, and continue to let my smile grow more and more after hearing what the man has to say about the Beastmen.  It seems like this will work out just fine...

"I'd like to sign up immediately, if at all possible.  Also, I have one more question...  How will accomodations be for my pup?  What I mean is: will I be able to take him with me everywhere?"

I say, ready to see the form, if there is one, for enlisting.

OOC: Sorry the post is so...dull...  I couldn't think of anything, lol.

You sign up, and sleep in a decent hotel at the expense of the High Guard.  The next day, you get on a RT bus again, and travel two hundred miles with Kox on board along with a bunch of others heading to the Western Lake Training Center in the Duchy of the Lakes.

Once you get up, the first word you hear is....

"Stupe!" Shouted by a very loud man.  "Yes, I mean you, each and every one of you!  You think you are tough enough to become High Guard! I'm here to tell you, you're not.  In fact, I'm here to break you, to send you screaming home to your mama so that other stupes will know better than to waste my valuable time."  There is a slithering menace in his voice now.

Others drag you and the rest into a semblance of a line.  He continues to yell at you and the others for several minutes.  Kox does not whimper or growl at him, but merely stares at him the way with a coldness that is at odds with his still puppyish body.

After that, its a run until all of you are hurting, and then its in to get your haircut.  Its a Mohawk.

PT

OOC: I think I'm going to accelerate time a bit since your chances to make decisions for the next ten weeks are going to be slim and far in between.  Please tell me some general ideas, or get as detailed as you like...

I push myself hard through the following weeks during the training.  If I'm left with any free time at all, I talk to my pup and try to get to know the others around me.  I question them on occasion about the job opportunities in the world other than military.

I also try to find out a general history, geography, and what sort of courses the good schools offer.

I make sure to encourage my dog to look at the trainers with respect rather than hate, but to still be careful around them.  I keep my dog with me at all times.

During any down time that I have enough energy during, I exercise in my normal method (20 push ups, 20 sit ups, 19 push ups, 19 sit ups, etc...to zero).

The trainers make sure you have time with Kox, and he has his own training.  Its not the rigorous later courses, but some basic infantry dog training activity called Preparatory School.  Still, its regs for you to see him at least once every two hours to reassure the dog.

Some people make snide remarks about you having it easier as a Beastman recruit.

Kox never warms up to the head trainer either, although he is quiet about it.

Your extra effort is noted, and soon enough you're promoted from One to Two, and given charge of a five squad.

The ten weeks pass quickly, and by the end of them you're moderately competent with a HG-1, or High Guard battle rifle 1@9 skill level which shoots ten millimeter on single shot, burst, and full auto with twenty in a banana clip (its a heavy round, almost twice the size of the M-16 round).  You know how to march in formation, how to don a gas mask and put one on Kox and administer atropine to yourself and Kox, how to make your bed, and how to run five miles with a thirty pound backpack.  You're stronger, more enduring, and mentally harder than you were.  You've put on eight pounds of muscle and lost whatever slight tinges of fat you had.

You know how to snap to attention, and then run at doubletime with Kox on your heels when someone shouts...

"Corporal Krillis and Kox, Beastmen, Front and Center!"

The Commandant of the Camp administers the oath, and you're now officially a member of the High Guard Reserve Officers Program.

You've heard of that PoW is a standard leadership training core with specialties in over a hundred different subjects.  The core curriculum is designed to teach you how to be a wise and strong leader in your community.  It gives you history, art, speech, etiquette, some martial arts, theory of government, economics...its similar to your first home worlds idea of a 'liberal education' except here the idea of making leaders is more pronounced.  Also, it seems that fewer people here go to college than at home.

PT

After all ceremonial proceedings, I smile to Kox.  --We made it through, huh?  It looks like we'll be moving on up in this world...  I wonder how far we can get?--  I convey my thoughts to Kox in dogtalk, although the words aren't directed at him.

I can't help but feel a surge of ambition, and I even try to make contact with Fenris.  Fenris, Lone Wolf, if you can see this, what do you think of these Beastmen?

Whether or not I get an answer, I proceed to try and get admitted into the PoW university (Do I still have a place to live, or was I thrown on the streets?  Also, did they give any money, or does that come afterwards?).

You contact Fenris, and you don't get any words back,  but you do feel a sense of approval.

You have a shared room on campus with another Trainee Reserve Officer.  They gave you no money, but they did give you a sheet of paper which says 'Bill all academic expenses to High Guard.'

You have a list of about twenty core classes you need to take (out of a total of a hundred you will be taking, but these are the beginning level).  You also have a list of majors totally 104.  So, tell me what you're looking to take in general, and I'll roll a GE roll for it.

You do not see a lot of 'fluff' courses, and any sort of acadmic jargonese seems to be minimal.  Your fellow students all have that 'bright, eager' look to them, and everything seems to move very fast.

PT

I have an especially high interest in the following subjects or related subjects (most wanted to least):
1. Quantum Physics
2. Literature
3. Engineering
4. Government
5. Entrepreneurship/Business Management

Of course, all related fields will still be of interest to me upon selection.  If any of these are included in the required classes, but they have excess classes for them as well, I intend to take the excess and normal ones.

Your major is Quantum Physics.

You'll be taking Physics Introduction with lab, and Bohmian Mathematics, and Geometric Algebra in your major.

Your leadership core is Intro to Columbian Literature which focuses on the general ideas embodied, and the major historical transitions between the Five Major Books and their plots and characters.  You have a Civics and the Subject class.  You have a class on Ethics in Small Group Leadership.

The only thing you can't easily fit from your list is the Engineering.  There are plentiful classes, but your adviser suggests you already are carrying enough heavy math classes as it is.  However, she is willing to listen to an arguement before making her judgment if you want to add 'Principles of Engineering'.

Your adviser is Dr. Lucy Langtree, an old, slight woman with occasionally twinkling blue eyes.  Her specialty is quantum physics, and she's also your teacher for Phy Intro.

Your dorm is Sir Commander Kevin Rielly Memorial Dorm.  Your roomie is already in, and gone.  He's taken the lower bunk.  His stuff is very neatly laid out, and put up already.  You see on his military jacket the dagger patch. There is a note on your in-built desk.

"Hey roomie, I run at six in the morning on the obstacle course, and then follow it up with a light five miles on the track. Interested? Corporal David Randall."

The cost of your books, lab gear, and other basic supplies is 370 Kingdoms.  If you'd like to list some of the supplies you're getting that's fine.  However, you don't have that kind of money.

I nod in agreement to my adviser, considering that I feel a focus towards quantum physics.  Before I finish talking to my adviser, I present the sheet saying that the High Guard will pay for all of my fees, and I ask if that includes books, etc...

I write on the same paper back to the roomate, but put it on the other desk (if there is one).
Of course I'm up for some early-morning training.  If I don't find you today, then I'll definately catch you at 6 tomorrow to run through it.
-Corporal Krillis, Beastman

I then go out and try to find David, catch up to him, and exercise with him until he's through.  (I'm assuming that we don't have classes yet, because I just found out the price of supplies.)

There is another desk on the opposite wall.

"Sorry, only things named 'fees'.  Your Student Activity fee, Parking fee if you have a car or trike, lab fees are all covered.  Books, paper, pens, protractors, sports uniforms, locker rental, univsersity museum and theatre visits are not covered.  Now you do get to...I see...eat at the High Guard table.  You have to be in uniform to do so, tho'.  Or you can buy meal chits from that lady over there."  The clerk smiles sadly at you.

You don't find David Randall, but you do find some other people at the Sports Complex which is in a big glass windowed building seven stories tall.  They invite you to join in a game of slaoco.

It invovles a small, fast-moving ball, and fixed positions, and bouncing the ball off walls.  Its a reaction speed and dexterity game.

Some others invite you to a pickup game of water polo.

You have today and tommorrow until classes start in earnest.  Tommorrow is Athena's Day, and religious services posted openly on signs include The High Temple, High Guard Temple, the Archery Common Worship, and there are also some less professionally done signs including the Temple of Ophiuchus, and High Haven.

PT

I wave them off for now, saying, "Sorry, guys, but I have to go to town and get some money for supplies.  I'm not one of the richest guys around."

I give up looking for David for now, and I head to town in the cheapest, yet speediest way possible, with the jewelry I still have from King Street.  I am willing to walk if it's a short enough distance to get there in at least a half an hour.  Still, if there's some free university bus route, I'll take that instead.

Also, if I see anyone that I know (not likely...), then I will greet them friendily and try to get a lift into town, if they have a car.

You're in downtown.  Your university takes up one quite large city block, or about fifteen acres, and the tallest building is the Main Dorm at twenty stories.  The Admin building is the shortest with your dorm next.

Most passageways between the various buildings are in the shade most of the day.

Now, things like the Archery Common seem to be some distance away at a Princehill city park.

You walk half a mile and have spotted four pawn shoppes.

Are you wearing your uniform?

PT

Yes, I'm wearing my uniform.

The only jewelry I bring this time is the pearl necklace and the gemstone, leaving the rings and other turquoise necklace at the dorm.  I go to the first shoppe and ask how much I can get for the pearl necklace.

You walk in, and see another of your fellows from the training camp, Private Morgan.  He has a hat on his head, and he's trying to negotiate for the same of some collectible figures.

You nod to him, and he nods back, and then he blanches.

"You need to get out of here, pronto, Corporal Krillis."  He hisses at you. You stare at him.  "Your uniform. You're not allowed in here in your uniform or without a cap to hide the mohawk.  Its called 'bringing dishonor to the Guard.'"

You'd heard of this offense, but you had no idea it covered going to pawn shoppes in uniform.

The guy behind the counter is giving you a heavy glance, mostly neutral.

PT

I nod, "Right, I'd forgotten."

I then quickly walk back to the dorms and put on my jeans, shirt, and jacket that I normally wear.

Then, I try to find a hat around the room that I could swipe for a short time.  If my roomate is there, then I ask him if I can borrow a hat.  If I find a hat in there, I check the note and leave my own note, Hey, had to do some business in town and I lost my cap.  Borrowing yours, hope you don't mind.

If there's no hat in the room, I take a rag and drape it on the top of my head.

Then, I proceed to the same pawn shoppe to ask how much I can get for the pearled necklace.

The guy behind the counter is alone when you get back.  You're wearing your roomies hat.

The clerk takes the necklace.

"Since you're High Guard, I don't need to ask for proof of ownership because the Guard is very tough on thieves."  He studies you to see if you look guilty.  You seem to pass the test.

"Truth to tell, you should have brought this in last year.  The new robot pearl farms around Midpoint Island are kicking the pearl market to pieces.  You can't sell a pearl for what its worth.  However, for your necklace, I can go 180 kingdoms.  I'm telling you, last year, I would have offered you four hundred."

He looks a bit glum for you and for himself.

PT
OOC: Not great GE roll.

"Well, I'll keep it for now.  What about this?"

I hand him the gemstone, and pet my pup some to give him time to examine it (I take Kox with me everywhere, it was assumed, right?).

I think to myself that maybe the man is trying to fool me about the pearl necklace, but considering that Pvt. Morgan was here, I assume that it's a legitimate place.  I patiently wait for his answer on the gemstone.

More details about the gemstone please.  Jog my memory.

PT

More was in this post, but this is the description of what I took.  I didn't take the useless earrings.

This stuff was in the building that I versed into on King Street, before I jumped out of the building and got stabbed to death by a ghost.

Sorry, it appears that it was actually a gemstone ring.  Still, that's the item that I take to the man-the gemstone ring.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:41, Sun 23 Sept 2007.

OOC: GE roll time.  '3' and your money problems are over for a while...'25' and up or the equivalent since I'm using 3d6, and he laughs at you.

IC:

He picks it up.  Examines it.  Suppresses excitement.  He looks up a description in a book.

"A drak voir stone. Incredible.  These are very rare, much prized by espers.  Um.....two thousand kingdoms."

OOC: GE 4.  The dice, dey like ya' mon.

PT

I smirk at the pawnbroker.  "Three thousand five hundred.  Either you pay me that, or I go to the pawnshop next door and sell it for four thousand."

I keep a look of complete confidence on my face, sure of myself.  That took me a lot of effort to get, and it seemed to be in a rich person's armoire.  I'm sure it's worth a lot.

Still smirking, I put the pearl necklace on the counter as well.  "I'll even sell you the pearl necklace with it for only 100 kingdoms..  That's a total of three thousand six hundred kingdoms for a pearl necklace and the drak voir stone.  It's a bargain, and you know it."  I look him in the eyes the entire time with my confident smile.

He looks a bit nervous.

"I don't have that much.  I mean, I have to hold back some for other customers.  I can give you three thousand, and a chit for six hundred for anything in the store."

He looks at it.

"It sure is a beaut.  I don't usually get something this high-end in here.  Hmm, another idea, friend.  I can call a friend of a friend, got her card.  She dropped by and gave it to me a few days ago.  She was buying tennis rackets.  Anyways, she's an esper.  I'm sure she'd be able to offer you more money...I take twenty percent as an agent fee...you get more money, I don't take so much risk...I'm pretty sure she'd go for five thousand, mebbe more, I'm not sure.  I mean, she was the person I intended to sell it too.  I take a thousand.  You get four thousand.  Sounds all right?  So, door number one or door number two?"

PT
OOC: And good night.

I scratch my chin for a moment, still smiling.  "I'll just deal with you.  That's 3,000 kingdoms and 600 kingdoms worth of store credit, right?"

I look around the room after I get the money from him, counting it myself, and ask him, "Do you mind if I look around now to spend that 600 kingdom chit?"

I proceed to look around the store for things that I might need.  This includes knives, a better backpack, any of the school supplies I need, and a hat.  I also look around for anything that just catches my eye.  (I'm not spending the 600 at the moment, just looking around for what I could spend it on, noting the prices.)

There are a lot of knives ranging from cheap pocket knives at 5 to fancy dragon shaped blades at 50 to a Sykes-Fairbirn commando knife at 70 to a seven foot long sword with gold gilt at 180 to a short, and plain stabbing sword at 275.

Backpacks run from 15 to 35.  Some are suited for school, although one looks to be suited for a back-country hike of two weeks...in the artic.


There's dozens of hats from 2 to 30.  A simple painter's cap at one end, and at the other a black velvet ten gallon cowboy hat.

There is a globe of the world for 10.  Some throwing stars for 3 each.  A whetstone for 4. Oil for swords at 3.  There is a few swordbelts ranging from 25 to 75.  Radio control cars, guitars, a floor harp, two sets of drums, a blue child's wagon, bow and arrows (four sets), boxes of comic books....

There is some slightly used school supplies which are cheaper than the campus store by about 40%.

I buy...

A normal school backpack (20-ish?).
The expensive hiking pack (35?).
A nice, normal hat (earth definition)(15-ish?).
I use the rest to buy the used school supplies that he has and I need.

How much do I have left on the crit?
Can I spend that amount at another day?
Approximately how much will the remaining supplies at the campus store cost?

You spend a $170 of the crit leaving you $430.

The Campus Book Store is going to bite you for $230 now.

Yes, you can spend the crit on some other day.

The clerk talks you into buying a moneybelt to hide your money in because...

"It makes me nervous to see you walk out with three megas.  I mean, its pretty safe around here, the guard are good, but some of the deeper, darker alleys hold rats if you know what I mean."

PT

OOC: What is a money belt?

I nod easily and head off with my small fortune.  Maybe I should loot haunted houses more often before I verse.  It can be quite useful...

After I put the large backpack and my current supplies, as well as my roomy's hat, inside of the room, I head directly to the Campus Bookstore, unless it's too late.  At the book store, I proceed to spend the $230 to buy the needed school supplies.

Immediately afterwards, I head to the dorm and start to read the physics introduction book to Kox, whether or not he understands.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:59, Tue 25 Sept 2007.

A moneybelt is a leather belt, usually, with a secret compartment opened on the reverse side.  A short zipper is on the backside, and this leads to a slim compartment in the hollow of the belt where you can slide in very slim and valuable items.

Naturally, its generally difficult to get money in and out.  But it offers much better security than hiding it in your shoe.

The Campus Book Store has closed, but its going to open up later for an hour for people with odd schedules.

You go home and read to Kox.  He's not getting it, but that's okay with him.  He likes your voice.  You could read him sales receipts and he'd be content.

The physics book has your attention.  In the first five pages, it covers everything you know about physics.  And from there, the water gets pretty deep....

Next morning, you meet your roomie as you both dress to run.

He's shorter than you, but well-muscled.  And when it comes to the obstacle course, he leaves you gasping as you leap from one log to the next log.  Panting you finish the five miles.

He grins at you.

"You didn't puke. I think we're going to be friends.  Don't feel bad, I did the triathalon in high school."

*I got finished first.* Kox barks.

PT

--You most certainly did, good job.--  I rub Kox's head, and talk to him in that baby-talk in dog talk.

"Well, David,"  I breathe heavily, not trying to hide it with my deep breathes, "I guess we could be friends.  I mean, you were able to keep up and all."

With the tired attempt at humor, I tell him, "I need to head back to the dorms.  I need to study."

Once Kox and I are back to the dorms, I get my major textbooks for each class and skim the first couple chapters of each, then I read deeper into the physics book.

If David comes back with us, I ask him before I begin, "Why did you get into the High Guard anyways?"

Kox croons accepting the attention happily.

David stares at you blankly for a second, and then barks out a laugh.  "All right, you got me. But you'll pay for that tommorrow morning."

*Y'know, I could trip him up as he runs.  That way you could beat him* Kox says.

"I always wanted to be Dagger Team ever since I snuck in and watched Steelblood. Pretty violent for a five-year old, but it got me good. And the lines in the film....'Its not hard to know what you should do.  Its the doing it.'"

He pauses, waiting for you to reply.  And then with a puzzled look he adds in a different voice.

"Yeah, you just need steel in the fist, and steel in the blood to get it done."

After a shower, you dive into physics.  The textbook is very well done with a talented writer explaining things. But at the same time, its very dense with information, and it proceeds very quickly.  Soon you're getting the feeling like your brain is melting from the information overload.

You take a break from that, and look into your History.  Right away you can see a problem.  It assumes you know history, and so when it says...

"The stand of MacRory's (who at that time had been the least famous of his distinguished family) troops on Melfor Isle against the numerically superior Persian Army opened the Storm Age, and established the morale superion of the New Officer's Dress pioneered by the Duncanites in response to the Han Knight diaspora and subsequent attacks."

David comes in all dressed up, and says he's going to Temple in a few minutes, and invites you to come along.

Is he in uniform?

Did I learn anything at boot camp about the Temple or why one would go there?

Yes, he's in uniform.  His looks slightly different than yours.  He wears a Dagger Patch which shows the dagger in its sheath (symbolizing he in training, and not yet full-fledged.)

His dress uniform looks very impressive with its main field of black, and its sharply tailored jacket, and the small bits of gold and silver to highlight all the black.  His uniform, and yours too, fairly shout "This man is dangerous."

The dominant religion is worship of Athena, the Gray-eyed Goddess.  Most of the people you meet every day go to Temple to worship once a week in the morning.  There is some variations of worship which you're not up on although you do understand that some services are out of doors, weather permitting, and others are indoors, and this is some sort of societal division.

The society you're in seems pious, but not loud about it.  Its an everyday part of life.  You see statues of Athena here and there.  Some of the textbooks open with a prayer to Athena for wisdom which is one of her special focuses.  You've seen some people with silver necklace charms in the shape of an arrow or a bow, and seen one person kiss theirs before taking a shot with their rifle at boot camp.

PT

"Sorry, David, but I have to get the hang of this history stuff before the classes start.  I've had amnesia for a while now, even since before boot camp, so I don't remember any history in this world."  I lower my voice some and add, "To be perfectly honest, I don't remember anything other than what I've learned recently even about the worship of Athena.  Maybe you can tell me about that some other time."

Once he leaves, I get my History out.  Before studying, I try to communicate to Fenris, Fenris, Lone Wolf, there's a deity in this world called Athena.  Do you know anything about this goddess, and should she be trusted?

After feeling Fenris' reply, or not feeling it, I proceed to try to study the first couple chapters of the history, reading it again and again, trying to learn as much as I can (even if it's just memorizing facts about it).

She is soft, and believes in her wit rather than her rather pitiful flat teeth as the source of her power.  But she sits high in the Councils of the Light.

You're just memorizing facts.  The pattern, the shape of history, and the nature of life in other centuries eludes you.  But you find you're able to answer about half the questions in the chapter study.

The next day you get up early, eat breakfast at the HG Table, and run to class.  Its not very far as everything except for some of the large field sports is cheek by jowl.

The elevator is something like a double-sized freight elevator, but done up nicely, and it carries fifty students at a time.

By the end of the day, you're entertaining serious doubts as to whether you can do this.

In Civics you have to prepare for a debate on Just War Theory and the Briton-Gallic War.  You have to be prepared to attack and defend the theses: "The Britonian Invasion of Paris was Justified by the Presence of Hidden Members of the Gallic Royalty."

In History, you have to prepare a ten page paper on "My favorite person in the last four hundred years."  Its due in two days.

In Geometric Algebra, you have to figure out the volume of a 221 sided object with each side being a different size.

In Bohmian Mathematics, you could swear the professor is speed-reading out loud as you literally can't write fast enough to keep up with his notes.

In Physics, you catch a break.  Dr. Langtree wants everyone to build a rocket.  Her class seems so easy compared to the others.  She just states her goal, and then sits down, and allows people to do what they do.

Your Ethics and Phys Lab is tommorrow.

PT

I don't bother with anything dealing with physics at first.

Before I begin, I pray/think, Sorry if this offends you, Fenris, but I really need some help for this.

I then try to envoke Athena, and pray/think in my head, Goddess, Athena, hear me.  I'm completely lost in all of my tasks, and I need your knowledge-your wit even-to help me through these mental trials.

For Civics, I look in the textbook for any information on the Britonian Invasion of Paris and the Hidden Member of Gallic Royalty.  I also look in the History textbook to see if it gives any detail on that.

For Bohmian Mathematics, I try to develope a shorthand writing where I only write three or four letters of a word, so that it doesn't take so long to write.

For Geometric Algebra, I gawk for a moment after looking at it, and try to look in the textbook for an equation of how to find such an answer.  If there's no answer, then I treat it like a sphere.  I find the surface area, and then use the radius to find what would be its surface area if it were a perfect sphere, assuming that's around the correct answer.

For Physics, I get out my book about Hydrogen Systems, and see how I could make an engine that could make a rocket function, releasing something from the bottom to propell it upwards.

Finally, for History, I wait for David to arrive, and I say, "I'm begging you to help me.  I'm completely lost in my Civics and History.  I have no memory of our History, and I need you to help me until I can find a tutor."

After you pray, you feel a sudden discomfort with sitting in your chair.  The light outside your window looks so tempting.  To be out in the sunshine would be grand....

Your GA teacher is irritated with you about your attempt.

Bohmian math is a blur of misery, but you're getting most of this down.  You can keep up if you spend a couple hours each day going over your notes.

Your Civics book discusses moral and prudential reasons for actions, and small case studies on each.  There is Just War theory in it, and you study that, just not anything specifically about the Britonian Invasion.

Your history book spends five pages on the Invasion, and one page of it on the Paris Burning.  Evidently, the Britonians were willing to level Paris to get the leadership of the enemy.  They evacuated a block, and then burnt it.  Rinse repeat and recycle.  Eventually, the enemy leadership which had supposedly surrendered, this time surrendered for real.

Dr. Lucy Langtree is impressed and intrigued by your hydrogen fuel-cell system.

"Most unusual.  I'm not sure I've ever seen that configuration.  However, I can clearly see itwould work."

She clears her throat.

"Class,I'd like to point out that at age thirteen, I sent a rocket up one mile.  I would like to think that you college children should be ten times smarter than I was at thirteen. I've seen some interesting ideas."


"Help me on my Calculus, and I'll help you on the other." David says.

"I will do everything I can to help you."

I think back, and consider that in my homeworld, I was in Calculus during the time of my life when I versed out.  Of course, it was the middle of the year back then, but perhaps I can catch on to his Calculus easier than a History that I have no clue about.

I continue to work on the Physics in class, knowing that I probably have an advantage with my hydrogen fuel system.  I ask Langtree if she thinks I'd be able to patent the idea and perhaps make money off of it.

I keep up the study of Bohemian mathematics for at least two hours every day, but it's outside with my pup.  I also continue to do whatever workout routine David is doing during the morning with him.

For Geometric Algebra, I delve into the book to see if it can give me any insight as to how to do the work in the class.

Knowing how soon the History is due, I work on it for the rest of the time, attempting to write as intelligently as possible with the help of David's information on History.

I can't help but think Maybe...just maybe this is too much.  Still, I continue to work as best I can, petting Kox as often as I can without slacking off.

The Calculus is very similar to what you were studying at home.  Its a bit of relaxation to help him.

Langtree smiles at you and you feel as if you won a brownie point or even two.

"Since you're on High Guard scholarship, the HG has rights to half your intellectual property profits which is not all bad because they will help you navigate the patent office if they think it looks good.  I've seen some things that are similar, but perhaps its different enough that it will qualify.  Its definitely unusual, perhaps unique."

You're falling behind on the Bohmian math, but Kox enjoys the time outside.

The morning exercise is a very difficult Obstacle Course followed by a 'light five mile run'.  You're able to keep up with him now although you can tell he's coasting.

For GA, the basic concept seems to elude you.  Its there, but you're having a hard time wrapping your mind around it.

You get your History paper back with a 'C+'.  And you sweated hard for that one.

You hear one student boasting to another student...

"I didn't even eat yesterday.  Just vitamins and food tubes and water bottles plus fifteen minutes to shower and get dressed.  That gave me nineteen hours and fourty-five minutes to study, minus the four classes and travel time..."

PT

I'm not afraid of spending twice the time outside doing Bohemian Mathematics to keep up with my studies for it.

To help with Geometric Algebra, I try to look in the book for example problems, or I make example problems for myself.  Then, I work them through multiple times until I get answers repeatedly.  If the book has answers to them, I check my answers and work.

I continue to do my amazing work in Physics, and I try to toss the idea of using nuclear energy for a rocket towards Langtree, to see what she thinks of it.  I make sure to say that I might be able to build a model for her.

For Civics and History, I try to incorporate the two classes togeather when I study them, while using that lessons David gives me on the history of the world to help in both classes.

At the end of one day, I go to the Admissions Building into the enlistment office that I had walked in weeks ago.  I approach whoever is there and ask kindly, in uniform, "I'm Corporal Krillis, and this is Kox.  I have come up with a unique hydrogen fuel system design, and I heard that the military helps get patents, while it gets half of the profit.  Is this true?"

OOC: If I ever get to the point where I'm also coasting on the course I run through with David daily, tell me.

*The Hunt is on, we shall harry the wicked tonight...* You hear as the world spins away from you.

PT

Upon versing back into the world, I check myself for wounds, and am relieved to see Kox with me, as well as my things, even the white crystal.

I smile to myself, and keep the crystal with me.  I proceed to do the following:

(copy and paste...)

I'm not afraid of spending twice the time outside doing Bohemian Mathematics to keep up with my studies for it.

To help with Geometric Algebra, I try to look in the book for example problems, or I make example problems for myself.  Then, I work them through multiple times until I get answers repeatedly.  If the book has answers to them, I check my answers and work.

I continue to do my amazing work in Physics, and I try to toss the idea of using nuclear energy for a rocket towards Langtree, to see what she thinks of it.  I make sure to say that I might be able to build a model for her.

For Civics and History, I try to incorporate the two classes togeather when I study them, while using that lessons David gives me on the history of the world to help in both classes.

At the end of one day, I go to the Admissions Building into the enlistment office that I had walked in weeks ago.  I approach whoever is there and ask kindly, in uniform, "I'm Corporal Krillis, and this is Kox.  I have come up with a unique hydrogen fuel system design, and I heard that the military helps get patents, while it gets half of the profit.  Is this true?"

OOC: If I ever get to the point where I'm also coasting on the course I run through with David daily, tell me.

You're fine, and uninjured.

You dig in deep for the Bohmian (not Bohemian) Mathematics.  You're starting to make progress, but very slowly.

Your example problems are helping with the Geometric Algebra, but you're falling behind.

"What type of nuclear rocket are we talking about?" Professor Langtree asks you.  "I can think of at least two kinds."

Your cross-training helps, and both seem to improve together on the Civics and History.  Still, you're in the bottom fifth of both classes, but you can see that if you can keep up this exhausting pace you'll pass with a C maybe a C plus.

The lady at the office who recognizes you smiles.

"Of course."  She looks curious.

She pages a professor who comes in about fifteen minutes later looking harried.

"I'm Doctor Steve Shiransky.  Fuel Systems, Hydraulics, Non-linear Flow Mechanics."

OOC: David keeps pushing you and himself.  He adds to the difficulty as he thinks you can handle it, or he can.

PT

I continue to do what I normally do in the mathematics, algebra, civics, and history classes.

In Langtree's class, I make a hand-drawn design of the nuclear fuel system that I'm familiar with.  I also make sure to see what she thinks of this design before pushing too hard on its possibility.

I shake Dr. Shiransky's hand firmly, and begin to speak.  "I have a hydrogen fuel system design that I believe would be of use to society, and I have no problem in sharing the patent with the Guard."  Then, with the woman still present, I draw out the design while explaining it in front of Shiransky's eyes.

After a thorough explanation and after I answer his questions, I finally say, "Now, what's the next step in patenting this design?"

At first Shiransky is in a rush, but then he gets interested, and allows you to make the full presentation.

"We take you to over to this desk..."  He holds out his hand casually, and the receptionist gives him a folder. "You answer all relevant questions on the following thirty pages.  You can get that back to me tommorrow.  First though...."

He takes the top sheet from the folder, and very rapidly and precisely sketches out the key components of your design.

"If this is satisfactory, you initial the Preliminary Design Registration Sheet #401b, I initial it, and we mail this to the capital.  As soon as its dropped in the mailbox..." He uses a phrase you recognize from your Civics class which translates to 'in the possession of the King'.  "You own the rights, along with the High Guard, subject to the King's will, of course.  But unless there's another bright guy out there, right now doing the exact same thign, I think you're safe."

"Congratulations.  Its a very interesting design. The paperwork, well, its part of working with the government."

PT

"Perfect, I'll work on a nuclear system design as well."  After I'm through with him, I address the girl once more.

"I don't know if I'm cut out for civics or government.  Is there any way that I could drop those two classes and just stick with what I have, and maybe even take engineering at some point in the future?"

She pauses.

"Its a difficult program here, designed for top-notch students."

She pauses again measuring you.

"You look very tired.  Yes, you can, but you can't pick up engineering this semester.  And before you graduate you have to take quite a bit of civics and history, and there's art, and a foreign language, and there's literature, and ....the aim is not to produce a technocratic elite, but to produce wise leaders well grounded in good behavior who can well handle technology."

She talks to you some more, and you begin to understand that you're attending the equivalent of the Ivy League.  And in this country, there is not much of a college second tier.  Only the best and brightest go to college.  Its not like America where a huge percentage goes to college.

"You pass here, get your Beastman years in, and the world is generally your oyster.  You're a member of the leadership elite working directly with the nobility and the elected councilors."

She talks a bit more, and paints a picture of you possibly in thirty years having the equivalent job of Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense of the most powerful nation in the world, although they call it "Lord Protector of His Majesty's High Guard", but its the same job.

PT
OOC: This is one of those little dimensional differences which I like working on as making each dimension truly different.

I let her talk the whole time, then finally agree.  "Okay, thanks for the information.  I'll keep at my pace, then."

Before leaving, I suddenly remember something, and ask her, "Is there any way for me to locate another student here?  His name is Drake Gracchi.  His family helped me out a few months back, and I was interested in at least seeing him."

She looks him up, and gives you his address and phone number.

PT

I give the woman a slight bow, and head out the door.

Immediately, assuming that Drake lives on campus, I head to his residence with Kox.

On the way, I pull my gloves with the symbols for fire and water on them.  If no one is looking, I focus on the water symbol, and try to generate some in my hands, whispering, "Amen" to myself on every attempt.

Upon reaching Drake's place, I knock on the door to see if anyone's home.

Drake Gracchi (you can tell its him as he's the spitting image of his mother) opens the door.  He looks a bit confused to see you.

"I'm sorry, we're doing a private study group right now.  Are you delivering something, or making a fundraiser...um, do I know you?"

He has the door half-open.

You were able to raise the magic.

PT

I smile, and say, "I'm Krillis.  Your parents helped me out on my way here, and I thought I'd pay you back.  If you would, Mr. Gracchi, please come out here so I can show you something.  All I need is a minute of your time.  If I don't pique your interest, you can go right back in there and I won't disturb you ever again."

If he comes outside with me, I focus on my water symbol as hard as I can, and attempt to make water generate in my hand.  I say in a normal voice while focusing on the result, "Amen."  If it doesn't work, I keep on trying.

It works.

He stares at you in surprise, and then gentle enlightenment.

"Of course, the worldlines would...."  He smiles and invites you inside with a gracious gesture as he steps back to call inside.  "Ellen, there's someone I want you to meet."

He grins at you easily.

"She's been drawing pictures of you for the last ten years."

PT

I walk into the residence.  Inside, I'm beside myself with a mixture of anxiety and fascination.  Who could this Ellen be, and why would she draw pictures of me, especially before I even arrive in the world.

"Do you mind if Kox comes, too?  He's a clean dog.  Don't worry about him causing any trouble, unless there're cats."

I then follow Drake and follow his lead, unless I'm able to recognize Ellen, in which case I say to her, "What is my name?  Are you a verser as well?"  Along with that, I attempt to feel for a vector, like what led me to T.

"Kox is fine."  You follow Drake in, and he points you at a waif of a young woman in black jeans and a dark sweatshirt draped on the couch.  She's pulling a face mask off her, and sitting up with ballerina like muscle control when she turns to you.

Her blue eyes in her pale face go wide, and her mouth gapes open.

"I knew it! I knew it!"  She shrieks. "He's real. I'm not crazy."  She leaps up from the couch, puts one foot on the top of the coffee table to leap it to get to you, and steps through the glass, and topples over to your right taking the remains of the coffee table with her.

You feel no vector to her but you do feel one.

"Um, you must think I'm a total idiot. I'm not. No, I don't know your name.  I never saw that.  And whats a verser?  I'm an esper." She says from the ground.

I do my best to make it to her and catch her, while I try to look around the room for the vector.

"It's okay, it's okay."  Then, I remember the pawn shoppe.  "Wait a second...  Are you the one that was the contact for my gem at the pawn shoppe?"

After things settle down, I try to mix into the normal conversation that I am missing some information about this world, due to amnesia.  Also, I make a small point of asking what an esper is.

You catch her, and help extricate her from the ruined coffee table.  Your search for the vector points you at an outside wall.

"Um, I did buy a drak voir from the pawn shoppe recently, if that's what you mean.  I was going to talk to the owner, but...oh. Well, its a very nice stone, you had there."

She pulls up her necklace out of her sweatshirt, and you can see your stone has been set in a bronze necklace.

When you mention amnesia, they wonder if some of the others they know can help.

Drake grins when you ask about espers.

"High Guard secret project.  The Guard has long used precognitives, and danger sensers and other psi's or espers, that is those with extra-sensory perception aka esp, and thus espers, to protect the nation.  This is classified data, and I'm afraid you'll have to sign this paper before you leave...."

He fishes around in a desk for a sheet of paper.

"Non-disclosure. Our government couldn't live without sacrificing a forest a day. Thing is, I'm trying to improve their forecasting with statistical analysis.  And, we occasionally run into weird things happening to us in the Project, almost like Reality is trying to talk to us...."

"Things like this." Ellen says, and hands you a hand-drawn sketch of you in a Beastman uniform with Kox standing on top of a smoking, and exploded tank with a strange weapon in your hand.  "I drew that five years ago."

PT

"Well, what do espers want with drak voir stones?  Or is it a fashion kind of thing?  Also, I'm interested in seeing other pictures you might have of me."  I think about the crystal in my pocket, and wander if such items are needed to be efficient as espers or other psi's at first.

After a moment, I say, "What kind of things do you do in the Project?  If you can't tell me, you've already piqued my interest.  I'm very interested in joining, and you," I look Drake in the eyes for only a moment, "already know that I'm interesting.

"Drak voirs are legendarily the tears of the dragons who had great mind powers.  Whether its true or not, they seem to set up sympathetic resonances with the use of mind power.  It's like....ummm....you're hiking and the wind is at your back.  Or you're sitting in traffic, and your favorite dance music comes on the radio."

She pauses.

"Oh, you're definitely interesting.  I think he has an invite..."  She looks around, and everyone agrees.  "We try to look for trouble to the nation, and help search it out, and deal with it.  A lot of it involves sleeping."

Drake grins.

"More interesting than even you know, Ellen."

I nod to them, smiling.  I remember too well how important my dreaming was in the Heart, and wander if such skills might come into play here as well.  "Well, I'd love to join this little group you have.  How does this tie in with the university courses?  Personally, I'm not quite interesting enough to handle a full course load and save the world."

"By the way, I'd like you to meet my pup, Kox."  I gesture towards my dog.  I dogtalk to Kox, --Go say hi to Ellen and the others over there.--

While Kox goes over, I lean towards Drake and whisper to him.  "I'd rather the others not know about my skills quite yet.  I'm not ready to tell them.  Still, I want to join this group.  I'm sure that I can put my abilities to good use with you all."

"We're all working on this multi-class project together.  It takes up about half our schedule, and most of our free time."  One guy on the couch offers.  He looks worried.  "But we can't ask you to flunk out."

Ellen shakes hands with Kox, and then the others shake his hand as well following her example.

"He's a very intelleignet dog, isn't he?"  Ellen asks.  Its not really a question.  You can see her bright, blue eyes see an awful lot more than most people do.

Drake nods, and murmurs back.  "Hard to keep secrets in a crowd of mind-readers, but I'll try for now."

Ellen gets up and comes back in a minute with a sheaf of papers.

"I had a feeling I should bring these today."

She starts to lay them out.  One's a field with a man laying in it.  Another's you facing off against a Daemon in the alley.  There's one of a smiling man with a lightsaber, and a girl in Victorian dress behind him.  It carries a feeling of subtle menace.  There is a picture of T, but his face is terrible and fey, and he's pouring out spaceships like salt crystals from his hands into a black hole even as he weeps, and the people on teh ships you just somehow know are screaming in terror.  You see a group picture of Av, Mac, Day, you, Valiant and the rest posing goofily in front of a Mecha.  Av has a t-shirt on with a bunny that says 'yeah, it is all about me'.  Mac is holding a giant hammer from which lightning is leaping.  Day has the sun in his eyes, and The Book of Dreadful Knowledge in his right hand.  Valiant and Devlin both have devil horns.  You are surrounded by a ghostly wolf the size of an elephant.  Mentat is sitting on the Mecha with a "I really wish I knew what was going on." expression on his face.  Its almost comical.

There's more.

I look at the pictures, remembering the Daemon.  "Right, that happened some months ago..."

I smile at the one who talked to me about flunking out.  "I'm not interested in becoming a world leader or anything in the future.  In truth, all I really wanted to do here is learn about quantum physics, but right now there's something that interests me more.  Can I still join up with the lot of you if I drop out of the school?"

I fumble through the rest of the pictures.  Things that I'm looking for is a person with a dog, someone that looks like me, or somewhere that looks like a place that I've been before.

While looking through the pictures, I try to feel if the vector is still around.

You see a pic of you in the House on King Street with a menacing ghost behind you.  There is a pic of the two magical females arguing over you from the Hunters world while Kox tries to get you to ignore them and go play fetch.

Some of the pictures are whimsical, or they don't depict what actually happened, but the essence of what was going on.

You see a pic of you and Kox tied up in ropes being led through a forest by a big brute with some large rifle in his hand.

"Well, Krillis, you signed up to work with the Beastmen.  You quit school, and you're instantly on active duty."  Drake says.

PT

"Okay, well is there any way for me to raise my intelligence at random here to help me out with getting my civics down?  Maybe I should explain something to you all..."

I take a moment to think.  "It might help explain those pictures.  I'm a verser...  Versers travel from world to world upon their deaths, and we learn many abilities along our paths.  I actually met Kox away from my homeworld.  I have done some of those things in those pictures, but I don't recognize a couple.  You guys are supposed to be psychic, so look into my mind if you want to.  I'm telling you the truth."

"That's why History and Civics are causing me trouble.  I simply don't know everything about your world, and I haven't taken any other classes to learn these things.  Do you guys have any ideas, thoughts, opinions?"

Ellen laughs.

"It all makes sense now.  I tried to find you before, but I could not.  And it was because you weren't in this world."

The others ask for more detail, more verification, but you notice that they accept pretty quickly what you have to say.  Telling tales of the impossible to people with the ability to sense lies goes pretty smoothly.

Drake and Ellen look at each other closely as you mention your problem.

"Um, we may have a solution, its the Pilgrim Project, which is ...." He holds up his hands.  "Really, really double, triple secret so no mind probes please.  I have to ask the people in charge if they want Krillis in on it.  I have to tell you, Krillis, its dangerous, and its hard.  So say the word, and  we'll skip it with no problem."

PT

"I've handled hard and dangerous before."  I think back on Devlin for a moment, and the fact that I broke who knows how many bones during that fight.

I look at everyone quickly, and say, "I am interested in this Pilgrim Project, but I'd like to know something else first.  All of you have psychic ability, like sensing honesty, and you," I look at Ellen, "can even precognitive things.  Being a verser, I'm interested in these abilities.  How exactly do you do these psychic things?  Are there any exercises I could do to enhance my own ability?"

After responses, I look Drake in the eyes and say, "I'm prepared for the Pilgrim Project.  Just tell me when it starts, and I'll do it; however, it would be somewhat nice to know what it is."

They test you.

"You're a Latent.  That is, your abilities are there, but quiet.  There is a couple ways to do this.  Both involve visualization.  One connects you to your body, and the other....well....it helps to be able to imagine impossible objects."  Ellen says.

She shows you an EKG machine, and demonstrates the ability to drop into a trance, and alter her brainwave patterns at will.

The other....she shows you a glossy sheet of paper with an M.C. Escher like lithograph on it.

"See it in your mind as a whole. Don't puke.  Don't give yourself a migraine."

Drake smiles.

"We can also do peyote, but that requires high level approvals before we're allowed to drug people."

PT

"All right."  I think back to the Heart and dreamshaping.  "I remember doing this kind of visualization before.  I was able to shape things in a collective subconsciousness, and I used the skill for that.  If you have any pictures with borg, Camelot, or knights in it with me in it as well, do you mind if I see them after this?"

I try to picture every aspect of the image at once in my mind.  I even focus on what it would look like from aerial view, behind it, underneath, and on the opposite side.  If my head starts hurting, I'll still push some, but I'll stop if the pain stays for over 15 seconds.

You're able with some work to get a good view of Camelot going on inside your head.  The sketch in the back of a novel they find in their bookcase helps as well.

One of the espers hovers to your right, just standing there with his hands stretched above your head.

"Very strong visualization talents for a untrained person."  He says to the rest.

"Now, you need to see the impossible."  Ellen says as she holds up the lithograph.  It has angles which turn in on themselves, and spheres that become straight lines...and all sorts of things that are utterly impossible in the world of normal physics.

PT

I think back to the Animator's place in the Heart, remembering that his place was very disproportionate too due to his illness.

I try to put as strong a picture of the lithograph in my mind, focusing on every single detail of it, and trying to believe in its existence as well in my head.

Suddenly you feel an itching in your mind, its almost unbearable, and you've got to itch...

And the others in the room are piling on top of you.

There is a jab in the neck, and things get hazy for some time.

You sleep.

You wake to the smell of mint tea, and hot cinnamon rolls.

Ellen and Drake, in different clothes, walk into the room.  You hear some slight noise from an adjoining room.  Kox looks up from your feet with a growl.

Ellen bows and whimpers to him a bit.

Drake has a cast on his right arm he did not have before.

"Welcome back to the land of the sane." Drake says.

You're laying on an easy chair with your hands tied by cloth above your head.

"Oh, sorry about that."  I gesture at Drake's injured arm.

I cough once for dramatic effect, and say, "So, was it a success or not, then?"

I look down to Kox, and dogtalk to him, --Hey, don't worry.  It's me and I'm fine now.  Wait a second...can Ellen talk to you?--

OOC: Menengitis vaccination, so I'm feeling under the weather.

"We opened your brain to new pathways.  Your brain interpreted that at insatiable itching. A misfire of the neurons."  Drake says. "And Kox thought we were attacking you. So he tried to eat my arm."

PT
OOC: Get well, friend.  If you need a day or two off (more than the weekend) then take it.

OOC: Thanks for the get-well post, lol.  It's dieing down pretty well.  The fever's gone, and the only symptom now is occasional runny nose and headaches if I get up too fast.  It should be completely gone within a day-if only the charleyhorses in BOTH OF MY LEGS would go away, I'd be great.

"Okay, then.  Kox shouldn't be a problem any more for you guys right now."  I look at Drake closer and say, "Was that the Pilgrim's Way, or was it some preliminary how-to-be-an-esper experience?  I'm interested in awakening my latent abilities as well as this 'Pilgrim's Way'."

I then address everyone, "So, I'd rather investigate my abilities before the Pilgrim's Way.  What's next?"

"It was preliminary. Pilgrim's Way is something altogether different."

They untie you, and start training you in biofeedback techniques.  After a couple hours of this, you're able to drift into an altered state of mind with ease.

Drake reaches out and touches your forehead with a finger.

"That exact spot is where your receptive faculty is located.  I'm going to build an emotion in my head, and put on my best poker face.  You can try to guess my emotion."

He deals out some cards, and you realize he really means poker face.  The chits are Exercise Promises.

You have a stack of a hundred Promises to do Push-Ups.

"Best way to get wimpy espers to actually exercise their bodies."

PT

I play poker with Drake as best I can, considering that I'm actually not too good at striaght up five card draw.  Whenever I get good hands, I try to visualize the formerly mine drak voir stone in all its qualities and tone my emotions down by picturing it.  I never bluff against Drake.

In every hand, I try to tap into Drake's head to see if he has a worried or happy emotion bottled up, and play on them likewise.  The whole time, I can stay relaxed, because exercise really isn't that bad of a thing for a beastman.

After an hour, you end up doing seventy push-ups.

"Picturing the Drak Voir stone is a very effective block."  Drake says.  "Usually I take my opponent for everything."

The pushups aren't hard for you, and you're thrilled inside because you did catch several glimpses of Drake's emotions.

PT
OOC: 1@1 Mental Block (Visualize Drak Voir Stone); 1@1 Read Emotions, and a bonus of @1 to your poker skills as playing reasonably successfully against an empath has to count as a new use.

"I'm just really good at visualizing things, I suppose."

I look around at the people in the room, and try to read their emotions for what they thought about my performance.

Then, I get a smirk on my face.  "Drake, I'd like to try something, and if you don't mind, would you be my guinnea pig?  I need you to not be attempting to read my mind, but don't try to block me out.  I'm not that experienced."  If he complies, I sit accross the table from him, and I try to get on the same mental wavelength as I did to read his emotions.  Once I can see his emotions, I try to visualize the force going from myself to him, instead of him to me.  Inside the force, I try to put words in, shouting as loud as I can mentally, IS IT WORKING?!

OOC: I'm not sure if it's clear in the post, but I'm attempting to get on the same wavelength, then project the italicized words to Drake.

Whether or not this test works, I ask him, "So, what's the next step in developing this ability?  Are there any other psychic techniques you can teach me other than reading emotions and blocking mental probes?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:09, Wed 14 Nov 2007.

The group is moderately impressed, and congratulatory.

There is no effect from your psi test, except you feel suddenly a bit tired, and yawn.

"Oh, yes, there is a few.  But, this is work like any other thing.  And you get tired, and you get sloppy when you're tired.  What we say is 'Treat the Esper Abilities Like You'd Treat an Axe.' That is, you don't go chopping down trees when you're drunk, or tired, or sick.  You're likely to cut off a toe if you do that.  With Esper abilities, it can be worse than losing a toe.  You can lose your mind."  Drake replies.

He hands you a booklet.  It covers the basic descriptions of Clairvoyance, Clairaudience, Surface Thought Reading, Drug-Assisted Skills, a half-dozen mind blocks, Empathy, and a few others.

PT

"When does the Pilgrim's Way begin, then?"

I ask all of them, laying back some after the effort and putting the booklet away.  "And can Kox come with me, or is it too dangerous for him?  Also, if I'm accepted into this, Drake, I can teach you a useful little skill as well."  I look him in the eyes, and nod slightly.  "Yes, that one."

Drake says "Let me get back to you on that."

Two days later, he catches you at lunch.  He hands you a clearnace folder, and points to the seventeen places you have to sign and initial.  You stop eating your reuben sandwhich with the nice homemade bread, and start signing.

"The current leader of our Parliameant is John Visconti.  He's a good man.  When you first arrived, the leader was Paul Jacobs, he's also a good man.  You probably don't remember the change, but I do.  Because I was in the Blockhouse behind temporal forceshields.  We had a team sent back into the past to try to stop someone who has been sending agents into our past to change things. This is the Pilgrim Project.  Time travel.  And yes, Kox can go.  They actually think he would be helpful.  A lot of places in the past, a man alone is suspicious, but a man walking a dog is an ordinary citizen taking his dog for a walk."

PT

I sign everything according to Drake's instructions.  "Okay, Drake, you've peaked my interest.  I'll hold up my end of the bargain, now that the papers are signed."

I take out a piece of clean paper and a pen.  I then proceed to put the exact symbol for water that I have on my glove onto the paper.  I fold up the paper and hand it to him.  "I'm not sure how this works, but it seems to.  All you have to do is picture this image in your mind, what you want the element of water to do, and you have to say 'Amen'.  Then, if you're strong enough, the magic will happen.  I suggest that you try small stuff first."

While talking, I try to sense a vector, like I had sensed a few days prior.

He tries, and nothing happens.  He tries again to the same result.

He laughs.

"Its as I expected.  Magic, really.  You've just discovered some untapped by us pschyic potential.  Magic spells are for fairy tale books."

You do pick up the vector with ease.

Once I feel the vector, I look in the direction immediately.  "Drake, you have a choice.  You can come with me...and see something interesting, or you can stay here and I'll see you later.  I'm not really sure what it's going to be like, but there's someone else like me arouns here, I think."

I look down at Kox and dogtalk to him, --Cmon, I feel a vector.  Do you feel the pulling feeling too?--

I then proceed to head quickly out of the building, in the direction of the vector.  I continue to follow it for as long as I can, or until something gets in my way.

You travel with a curious Drake for about two miles until you run smack into the side of a giant sports stadium.

And yes, Kox can feel it too.

PT

I move around the stadium some, to see if the vector still points inside the stadium from different angles.

If that is the case, then I ask Drake, "How can we get inside of there without paying anything for it?  I'm willing to pay, but I'd rather not waste any kingdoms."  I follow his plan of action for getting inside.

If the vector is still past the stadium somewhere, I proceed to follow it.

Its not in the stadium.

You trek on four more miles, and you can tell Drake is starting to get a trifle tired.  You've started to get into the near-suburbs of Lake City having left downtown behind about a quarter-mile ago.

I turn to Drake and I tell him, "This is strange.  Every other time I've followed one of these pulls, it hasn't been so far away.  Maybe distance doesn't make a difference with it."

I proceed to explain to him, "What I'm sensing now is a pull.  The pulls are between versers, if a verser tries to feel for it.  There's another verser in this world somewhere, and I want to meet him, her, or maybe even it; however, I'm now not so sure how far away it could be.  Do you still want to come?  Maybe we should try it another time with a car?"

"I'm used to these types of things with espers. Many times I've had an esper say 'we have to go somewhere, but I don't know where.'  I've done that once myself.  It also makes a great excuse to leave a boring meeting and go to a sandwhich shoppe.  I can call, and have someone bring my car.  Or we can do this another day.  Your choice.  You're the one doing the sensing."

PT

"I'd rather do this now, but I'm thinking that this could be a great distance away possibly.  Still, I want to at least try to reach this other person now."

I let Drake make his call for his car.  If anyone else that I recognize is in the car and wants to come along, I don't object to it.  Then, I proceed to sense while someone else drives.

Drake calls for his car, and twenty minutes later you, Drake, and Brian a Clairvoyant are on your way out of Lake City, and heading northeast.

Three hundred miles, one lunch break, and a stop so that Brian can pick up a piece of paper by the side of the road....

"I don't know why, but its important." He murmurs as he studies the crumpled up sheet of math problems.

...and you arrive in the medium-sized town of Duketon. Your vector to the other verser starts whipping around more, and you follow it with increasing excitement to the ER entrance of Princess Sophia Honorarium Hospital.

PT

"Oh no..."  I look at the entrance slightly uneasy, but I think on some of my abilities.  "Whoever that verser is, if they're in trouble, I might as well help out.  Drake, I need you to make sure I get to this person.  I don't care how you do it-just don't hurt anyone."

I proceed through the ER entrance, and I follow the vector until, hopefully, I reach the individual that I'm being drawn to.

You walk in, and thirty feet into the ER, a nurse waves you down.

"Sir, what are you here for? Are you injured?  If you're not life-threatening, you need to take a number."

She taps a sign on the wall behind her.

"Five Minutes At the Most. You won't wait longer. Princess Sophia."

PT

I step back for a moment, and take a number.  After that, I try to pinpoint the room with my eyes, judging the vector's location.

I talk to Drake while waiting.  "Who is this 'Princess Sophia' anyways?"

Upon doing that, when my number is called (if it's less than 5 minutes), I proceed to ask if I can visit the person in that room.

If it takes more than five minutes, I decide to continue walking no matter what any nurse says to me.

Drake laughs.

"You really are from another world." He says softly. "She is a triathlete, won the silver last year in the All-Kingdom Games.  She has a reputation beyond even her peers of being interested in helping others out." He pauses to think.  "She's....the second daughter of the second wife of the Duke of New Amsterdam.  The Duke's first wife was of course assasinated by terrorists.  Which makes her something like seventeenth in line from the throne as the Duke is the King's younger brother."

The vector is back, and above you.

You're met in four minutes.  The nurse wants to know exactly who you want to meet.

"You're really supposed to go around to the main entrance for the Visitor's Desk, but since you've waited, I'll try to help you.  Now, what is the name, or the room number of the person you want to meet?"

PT

I look the woman straight in the eyes, and point upwards to where the vector is.  "That's the room that I need to go to.  I don't know his or her name or room number.  Cmon lady, I'm an esper!  Just tell me how to get there-it's something important!"

I try to look as convincingly into her eyes as possible.  On another note, I try to 'tap into' her mind frequency and see what she's feeling at the moment.  Her emotions won't make a difference, unless it's chronic depression or something of that sort.

She's feeling a bit of skepticism.

"Let me come with you, sir. I'll ...show you the way."  She waves at a guard, and the five of you traipse off with the guard at the rear, and the nurse receptionist at the front.

Your sense leads you to the eighth floor, and to room 807.

Its a small cubicle.

"Coma patient. Head injury. Unknown female." The nurse reads the chart as she stands at the closed door.

PT

"I have to see her."  I intend to open the door in front of me, and go by her bed for a better look myself, and to confirm that she is the source of the vector.

Immediately inside, I put my hands to her head lightly.  Then, I attempt to use the healing magic I know in hopes of healing her enough to bring her out of the coma.

If it doesn't work, I call Drake over to me, looking him straight in the eyes.  "I need to get inside her head.  I need to talk to her.  Can you bridge my mind and hers?  I don't care about the risks.  She's like me-a verser.  She could know almost anything!"

All of this depends upon if I'm able to get into the room and if she is in fact the source of the vector.

With a bit of insistence, you're able to get past the nurse who offers a last-second "I'm having second thoughts" defense of the door until she succumbs.

Inside, you call upon the healing magic, and improve her skin tone, and relax her breathing, but the coma patient does not wake up.

Drake nods at your insistent request.  He seems to have been expecting it.

"We have enough time for a quick peek, but pretty soon there is going to be doctors and nurses in here.  And it will be just too noisy for me to work."

He reaches out, and grabs your hand, and lays it on the patient's forehead.

"Listen only to me, Krillis.  You're feeling relaxed...."  He starts to lead you into a hypnotic trance.  "Soon your mind will travel down your arm, into your hand, and then very gently into her brain. It will not hurt.  Just relax."

PT

"Okay, let's do this."

I pay attention to Drake's words, and even try to delve into his speech and the feeling of my mind moving down me.  Most of all, I take his advice and try to relax as much as I can.

If I get into her mind, I pay close attention to what I see; however, if presented an opportunity to introduce myself, I say, "I'm Krillis.  Who are you?  I'm a verser, and I'm trying to help you."

You feel a jolt, and then you're in darkness with a big white moon looking down on you.  To your right are battlements, and a steep fall to a lake that sparkles in the night.

"Rupert of Hentzau." Your head whips around to face the man in front of you.  He holds a rapier like the one in your hand. "You really should have fled Ruritania. Paris is very nice for an exile."

Another man is standing next to him on the walkway at the wall's top.  He is faced off against someone to your left.

You look left, and with the certainty of a dream you see the dashing smile of an auburn haired woman.

She salutes you with her blade, and points at the men facing you two.

"My king, shall we show these dastards the point of our arguement?"

PT

"..."  I look at her, stunned by my surroundings for a moment.

I immediately go towards the woman and say, "You're in a coma.  You've been hit on the head, and I'm outside your body trying to help you.  It'd really help me out if you could just wake up.  What's your name?  Do you even realize that this is all a dream?"

I think to myself for a second, then realize that it is a dream-perhaps a collective conscience, now that I'm involved.  I look down at my hand, and attempt to make a fireball appear in it strictly with dreamshaping.  I try to visualize every aspect of it in my mind-even the heat I would feel on my hand.

"You might be right. I thought I had done this already. Saved the King of Ruritania, that is.  But dreams have power, don'tcha know?"

She parries an attack. You summon a fireball, and you feel a cold chill run through your chest as you drop to your knees.  You look up and see a man with a nasty smile removing his rapier blade, sticky with your blood, from your right lung.

"The King is dead. Long live the new King. Me."

PT

Damnit!  I think to myself quickly.  Having been through numerous deaths, I don't let myself panic about this.  I throw the fireball at the man that stabbed me.

Then, I smile at him and focus hard, just like I did against the dragon Ace in the Heart.  I stare at his chest and visualize it ripping apart-such a large gash that he would be completely torn in two.

Whether I succeed or not, I try to think on Drake's frequency.  --Drake, I'm wounded!  Get me out of here-I'm not sure what'll happen if I'm killed!--

He catches on fire, and then disintegrates from chest outward.

The other man flees.

The auburn haired swordswoman turns to you.

"Coma? If you can't get me out of it, then just slide a blade in. I'll verse out, and probably improve."

Drake yanks you out, and you drop to your knees spitting blood onto the hospital floor.

PT

Damn..I need to be more careful when I go in next time.  Maybe there's something in that book Drake gave me-or maybe the one about Gray Magic that I can use to get her out.

If I'm fine, I address Drake then.  If not, I let the hospital staff take care of me, then address him.

"I need to get an extended period with her.  I want to stay in the same room, claiming her to be my sister.  I want your friend who came with us to go back to my place and get my things-all of them.  I have a huge bag full of lots of things, as well as a smaller pack for school stuff.  There's a book inside that I especially need, but I don't want him to open either bag on the way here."

"If it's too much trouble for you, I understand, but I want your help in trying to pull her out of this coma.  I don't know much about versing yet, and I need to know if there's anything more to learn.  Will you help me?"

He looks reluctant, but then decides that yes, this is something valuable to invest his effort into.

He goes away, and makes several phone calls.

The doctors and nurses show up, and begin examining the patient, and want to know what you're relationship to the patient is.  They obviously don't intend to leave you alone with the patient.

PT
OOC: Nice dice roll.  I tried to do a Difficult attribute check, and on 4d10 got '16' so you really persuaded him.  I'm not sure I did it right, but I'm trying.

I try to look solemn, and I move my hand on hers, holding it.  During this, I try to picture the drak voir stone in my head, to create a mental block.  Then, I say, "She's my sister."

"I'm willing to do anything to help her.  I'm an esper, so I felt that something was wrong, and followed that feeling here.  Please, what are visiting hours?  Can I stay during the night-what are my limitations?"

They become very sympathetic, and order a cot to be moved into the room.  Drake mouths a couple words at you.

"You're good."

After another hour, they leave, and in another half-hour, the helicopter crew from the High Guard lands on the roof.  Your roommate comes downstairs with the equipment you requested.

He grins at seeing you.

"Anything to get out of your morning run, eh, K?"

PT

I laugh at my roommate for a second, taking the joke.  Then, I shake his hand.  "Are you here for the long haul, or do you need to get back to the school?"  I ask him for his phone number before he leaves, if he leaves.

Immediately, I bust out the book I have on Gray Magic as well as the esper one that Drake gave me.

I open both, trying to find pages that include curing comas, or entering dreams.

If I find anything in the esper book, I address Drake and ask him to explain the details of the skill thoroughly to me.  I make sure to take notes in the margins on what he says.

If I find anything in the Gray Magic book, I simple give it a once-over to see what it says, then I mark the page(s) that the information/spells/whatever is(are) on.

"Just up and back.  Part of being a bottom rung guy...you get the gopher jobs.  So, unless its need to know, what's going on, and can I help? I do have an hour. The pilot is getting lunch."

The esper book has information on entering dreams....basically a warning on how hazardous it can be.

"While the sleeper can survive most damage in a dream, the visitor is not so well protected.  A fatal wound in a dream is not immediately fatal in the outside world, but such things do take a toll, and can, if repeated enough times lead to actual death."

The Grey Magic book is more useful.

It has four spells related to sleep or coma or dreams....

1. Divining the Meaning of a Prophetic Dream.
2. Summoning the Sandman...a spell to cause easeful sleep.
3. Invoking the Protection of Morpheus, Lord of Sleep
4. Breaking an Enchantment of Sleep...or what to do if you are not a Prince, and the sleeper is not a Princess.

I answer David (I think that's his name), "Well, I'm not sure if it's need-to-know or not, but let's just say that it involves a potentially useful associate.  It has to do with espers.  I suppose that you really can't help now, but you can stay a while, while I try some things to help her."

I open the Gray Magic book to the page on Breaking and Enchantment of Sleep, and I hope that it will help.  Then, after making sure those who I don't know leave the room, I attempt to perform the spell on her.  I also picture her waking up while doing the spell, unless it suggests different visualization.

You cast the spell while David looks at you oddly.  His mouth drops open when the window slams open, and a gust of fresh air rattles the room bringing with it the scent of coffee, and grapefruit, and frying bacon.

He then stares at you, opens his mouth, and then shuts it.

"Wake, I command you." You speak, and the girl turns in her bed, her eyes flutter, and then she falls back into sleep.

The candles you lit are gone out, and you feel power leak from the room.

"Um, your eyes turned white, solid white." David says.

"On the astral, a crown flamed over your head." Drake adds.  Both look a bit spooked.

PT

1@1 for the spell.  It worked, but it didn't do the job.  But you learned some things anyways.

PT

"I think that this book contains some powerful things within it, for those with the experience to believe them."  I try to look at them as pleasantly as possible, "I don't want you two to be afraid of me.  You're my two greatest connections in this world, other than Kox.  I want to tell you what I'm about to do, but it might effect its success."

I look down for a moment in thought, especially about the invocation of Morpheus.  "I'm going to try to talk with the Lord of Sleep, and make a deal with him.  I think it'll work better if the two of you aren't present.  Please, trust me and leave.  I can explain everything to you.  Drake, you should be able to tell that I'm genuine about this."

I'm confident in the knowledge that I'm telling the truth, and I look Drake in the eyes.

"For now, while I look into this, you two can stay.  You can also ask anything you want to.  I open my mind to you, Drake.  You know that I can't do a mental block without picturing the drak voir, and I won't.  I'll answer questions honestly.  Just ask."

If they leave, I look in the book on Gray Magic for a section on how to invoke a deity to speak to you, specifically Morpheus.

Both trust you. For David, its part of being a Beastman, an elite military warrior.  A bond of trust between fellow Beastmen is part of the training.  You know the other guy is trustworthy because he has been severely tested as you have been.

For Drake, he's an esper, and hiding things from him is difficult, and he's used to making decisions based on his intuition.

You lay down, and go to sleep, and then invoke Morpheus. Your first attempt fails, and so you fix the poem in your mind more clearly, and bear down harder.  The second time...

You feel an impression of great and subtle power insinuate itself into your mind.

"You come to bargain with me, Worldwalker? I saw your power in the Heartwar, in the dreams of another world. I enjoyed that.  However, such will not help you here, I am sad to say.  The cause of the young lady's problem is not in the Dreaming Realms, but in the physical.  However, I can show you the cause, for a price."

I smile some at him, and say, "Well, I suppose a cause will do...  I assumed that the limits of the Great Morpheus's powers were beyond simply causes.  I seek a cure; however, if you can't wake her, a cause will have to do.  What's your price?"

While speaking, I try to look somewhat disappointed in him, in hopes that he might actually show me a cure if he knows one.

He laughs genially.

"Nice try. Consider this. Math is the simplest discipline, and then rising in complexity comes physics, chemistry, biology, pschyology, and sociology...with the things of the spirit being at the top.  I labor in an environment more complex than your brain could handle.  Now being a clever fellow you might point out that I could find a way, and you'd be right. Another thing we're fond of is monolithic duoavianicide.  You will serve purposes you wot not. My price is simple...in your next world, you will build a temple to me."

If you accept, he gathers you up with an airy hand, and pulls you from your body into a realm of swirling images.  He points one out.

A girl is standing on a hill.

"That is your cause.  Here, she stands whole, and she shouts."

He pauses and points a finger, and you see the hospital room with you slumped on the floor, barely breathing.  The other  verser is in her bed.

And the shout flies from the Dreaming Realm, and passes through her head with no hindrance.

"Do you understand? Its a simpler order of problem."

PT

I accept his proposal.

Upon watching it all, I get somewhat weary of my image on the floor.  "I don't understand at all.  How am I supposed to cure her, and what does it matter if the shout enters her mind from the Dreaming World?  How do I make her 'whole' again?"

"Let me make it plainer then since you don't understand the nature of your self."  You get the feeling that Morpheus was testing you to determine your skills. "She is whole here, her ka, if you will, is undamaged.  But the interface between the world of the spirit and the macroscale world is damaged.  Her brain cannot hear her cry.  You must seek a physician of the brain, otherwise she cannot awake.  There is a pressure on her brain which needs to be relieved."

He pauses.

"She was safe while she slept unknowing.  But now that she knows she sleeps...the longer she sleeps, the more likely teh condition will carry over to the next world.  She must be fixed quickly, or you must put a knife into her."

PT

Thinking back, I feel somewhat suprised that I couldn't see the meaning of the images.  "Okay, thank you, Morpheus.  I'm sorry, but formalities are only secondary for me right now, considering the time restraint.  I need to go and work on this."

I try to wake myself up, or ask Morpheus to help me if I can't.

Once I'm awake, I get David and Drake.  I look at Drake as I speak.  "I'd rather not say how I got this information at the moment, but I know what's afflicting her.  There's an unreasonable amount of pressure on her brain which is keeping her in this state...  We need to fix her ASAP!  I'm willing to put my money towards a brain physician to relieve the pressure."

I look at Drake and don't hide my personal value of time from him, knowing what might be at stake if she stays like this through multiple worlds.  "Please, call someone!  I'll put all of my money towards the fee if I have to-just help her!"

You wake, and explain it to Drake, and he nods decisively.

You and he and David run off to find a brain physician.  You find someone in their office after asking several people.

His name is Doctor Kendricks.  He nods as you explain.

"Hmm, well, I'd have to examine the patient.  It sounds like an injury to the back of the skull which is causing a ripple pressure in the interior of the brain where the secondary sleep center, I've hypothesized..."

The door opens, and the doctor you met earlier in the verser's room steps in followed by several nurses, and other doctors.

Suddenly the room is very crowded.

"This is my patient Kendricks, and none of your voodoo mumbo-jumbo, your willingness to deep-dive into her brain will suffice here. We will use standard procedure."  Doctor Martins says.

PT

I look to Drake.  "Can you see into them?  Are they both genuine about helping her?"

I address Dr. Martins.  "I need a brain physician to help my sister, which is why Dr. Kendricks is present and going to perform the operation...however..."

I turn to Kendricks, "you need to explain what this 'voodoo' and 'deep diving' is before you do a thing."

I also consult David and Drake in wispers.  "Do you two know anything about this field?  What do the two of you think we should do?  She wants to be saved, but would rather die than be in this state for too long."

Drake studies both as they submit to his gaze.

"Both are sincere about helping. One is touched by fear of risk to the patient and to his position." The older doctor squirms uncomfortably.  "The other is willing to risk the patient because he has a flaming certainty that he is right, but beneath that is the realization that his social status will improve dramatically if his new treatment becomes standard, and that drives him."  The younger doctor flushes red at Drake's pointed remarks.

Doctor Martins protests.

Doctor Kendricks eagerly explains.  "He calls it 'voodoo' because its not been throrougly tested.  My theory is that sometimes damage to the exterior of the brain from blunt force trauma can ripple onward, deep into the center of the brain without always disturbing the exterior brain levels dramatically."

"Rubbish." Doctor Martins murmurs.

"And that means, I have to open up the brain to its very core to find the damage.  Thus diving deeply into the brain."

"And causing more damage along the way. Its irresponsible." Doctor Martins replies.

Your two 'D's know nothing about experimental brain surgery, but they think that since the patient seems willing to risk it, then you should too.

PT

I nod at my friends, and I approach Doctor Kendricks.

"I'm relying on you to do this operation.  If she could express it, she'd say that she wants you to do everything that you can to save her mind-even if it risks her life.  Try your procedure on her."

I turn to Dr. Martins.  "And you stay out of this.  From here on, Dr. Kendricks is my sister's doctor.  I don't even want you nor your staff in the room during the operation.  It's entirely up to Kendricks."

I smile reassuringly to Kendricks, and whisper to him, "If you pull this off, I'll teach you something incredible."

Martins is infuriated, and stomps out of the room. Kendricks gravely agrees with you, and starts calling people to set up the observation followed by a probable quick operation.

You leave with your two friends.

"I've gotta go." David says as he sees a pilot come looking for him.  He waves, and then runs off.

"Good man." Drake observes after David has left. "Ah, I've got a feeling.  Martins is not going to accept defeat so easily. I don't know what he will do, but ..."

PT

I nod to David as he leaves, and I look to Drake.

"There's only one door into this room (OOC: right?), but I don't like the two of us standing guard here without knowing what's going on."

I put my hand to my chin for a few moments and think.  "Can you go after Martins to make sure that he doesn't do anything to put a rut in Kendricks' operation?  I'll stay here and guard the door just in case you either can't find him or can't stop him."

After saying that, whether Drake wants to go or decides to stay, I wait to see what happens and hope that the operation runs smoothly and successfully.

Drake nods, and leaves.  About an hour later, he tells you that Martins has filed a complaint with the hospital administrator about Kendricks.  However, the HA is out of town, and there won't be time to do anything.

Still, if the operation goes bad, Kendricks is going to be in deep trouble.

You can tell Kendricks is nervy when he enters with his team to examine the patient.  He has them shave her head of the long hair, and he pauses to assure you that things should go well.

PT

"I trust you, it's okay."  I nod to him, putting my hand on his shoulder.

With the hand, I try to channel healing energies into him to soothe his nerves.  "You're an excellent doctor.  I'll be outside waiting for the results."

I leave the room and sit outside, guarding the entrance.  I wait for him to finish up the operation.

Your spell takes effect, and what was nervyness becomes keenness.  His eyes glitter, his unsure but energetic movements become precise, smooth, and quick, and his breathing settles to a quick rhythm as he stands on the front of his feet like a boxer about to enter a ring.

The others take courage from his lead, and with brave smiles to you leave the room with the patient in her bed.

You take up post outside the door.

Hours pass, and nurses come by with coffee, and doughnuts a couple times.

And then your choice of a surgeon exits as he peels off his face mask.  His hair is plastered to his forehead under the rim of his cap, and he is swaying slightly on his feet.

"She's fine. Woke up ten minutes ago. She's still pretty out of it from the anesthesia, and from recovering, but she's awake. You can go in if you want. Just have to get gowned first."

PT

"Right, right.  Thank you."  I shake the falling doctor's hands and say, "Congratulations on your success as well.  See me tomorrow and I'll give you your reward for doing this.  I'll probably sleep in this hospital room tonight."

Once it's okay to enter, I do.  Then, I look her in the eyes (hopefully) and say, "It's good that you're alright.  I don't want to disturb you, but is it okay with you if I sleep in here tonight?  They set up a hammock for me and everything.  We can talk things over when the drugs wear off, or now if you'd like.  Just tell me anything you want-or sleep."

I sleep in there if she is fine with it, but I'll sleep on a couch outside if I must, until the next morning.

They move the both of you to a post-surgery recovery room, and you're able to sleep on a couch which slides apart.  Its not comfortable, but emotional exhaustion causes physical exhaustion, and its morning before you're awake.

A nurse is in the room, checking on the patient.

"Your sister is recovering fine." She says, and then leaves.

"Sister, eh? I usually rate girlfriend." You hear from the bed. "By the way, you can call me Alana, or Lady Shadowing, or Producer Unit # 947802-2-2.  And you are....I seem to recall you, but I can't say why."

PT

"My figuring was that I needed to be blood-related to pull of what I did.  I got this hospital wrapped around my little finger to pull you out of that coma.  That's why you remember me.  I entered your dream and spoke to you inside.  That mistake almost landed you to be in that state into your next verse too, but I made sure to get you out."

I nod, "It's nice to meet you, Alana.  You may call me Krillis.  If you don't have any plans in this world, may I suggest that you try and join me and some of my new esper friends?  Ah, but first, we should help your recovery out some."

I go towards her and put one hand on her chest and one on her head.  "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."  Then, I use my healing magic, channeling it through my hands.  "On a side-note, would you be interested in sharing knowledge about skills, magic, versing, and the like?  I'm fairly new to this 'worldwalking' thing."

She nods her acceptance of your magic.

"Espers, eh? Any pyros?"

She thinks a bit, and then smiles as the healing magic begins to mend her body.

"Down deep, under the drugs, my body knew it hurt. Now, its a lot better. I owe you one, or two."  She listens to you a bit more, and nods.  "I'm new to it as well.  Met a really, and I mean really smart guy named 'Marty' for Martian Terraformer which is what his job was before he versed out.  He explained a lot to me. Problem was, it was in five syllable words, and so subtle that I'm still not sure what he meant.  He introduced me on my first world which was this empty space station above a war plague destroyed world.  From there, I went to save King Rupert, and learn fencing.  And then I went to Production Planet #421 in the Galactic Modular Conformity which was as dreary as it sounds, but I joined up with the Psionic Resistance, and from there it  was five years as Lady Alana of Shadowing Castle where I tried real hard to help the peasants out while the nobles tried to invent new ways of messing the peasants over.  Eventually, one of them poisoned me, and...well, I'm not sure how I got here."

PT

"Nope, I'm the only one I know in this world who can create fire.  Still, a friend of mine here, Drake, can do some amazing things involving the mind."

I proceed to use my time to tell her about my own versing history.  I start with my adventures in the Heart, then on King Street and NeoTokyo.  Finally, I cover the world where I found Kox.

"Here's Kox, by the way."  I turn to Kox and dogtalk to him, --This is Alana.  Be nice-she's an immortal, just like us.--

"Do you know any psionic abilities or anything?  I can use a sword a little bit too, but not a rapier.  I wasn't kidding about abilities-are you interested in trading, or swapping?  I'll teach you if you teach me."

She pets Kox who half climbs up to the bed, just his paws.  He's being very careful because he knows she's injured.

She pets his glossy fur.

"What an awful place. I'm glad you rescued this cutie from there."

Kox licks her hand.

"I can create fire by pyrokinesis, but I'm not sure I can do it here, in this universe. I don't want to try until I'm well anyways. But yeah, it would be nice to trade skills. I couldn't learn much from Marty. When he started talking about the 'quasi-basic super-phenomenal overstructure of the quanta foam matrices delineates nicely into nineteen simple poly-braided forms....' he lost me."

She thinks a bit.

"Hmmm...Rapier, and derringer I learned with King Rupert. Also horseback riding, and how to hold a cup of tea properly. In the Modular Conformity, I learned Symbolic Logic since our Robot Overlords did not reply to anything else.  I also learned how to jimmy electronic locks, and Machine Code...I can read Binary at about the third grade level. At Shadowing, I learned more horseriding, and how to shoot a bow. I also learned the Lislanian Code of Justice, how to stock a castle for a winter, chirurgeon work which is first aid without bandaids or antibiotics, and how to build a well, and a thatched hut, and how to make wine. I also learned way more than I wanted to know about how vilely opportunistic the 'best people' can be. By now, I can smell treachery and conniving."

Then she laughs.

"And of course, in my first world, I had a standard prep school education, took gymnastics enough to get a bronze in All-Province, and raced my brothers' ultra-light as a jockey, and had worked my way four times through the whole list of desserts at Sugar Palace."

"Well, let's get you well as soon as possible, then.  If it's okay with you, I'm going to stay here in this room and use all of my spare energy to heal you.  Aside from trading skills, I suppose that we need to get you some supplies for your next world, right?  I can start you out money-wise once you're healed."

If she accepts, I move foreward and continue to push healing energy into her.  I keep up a rest, heal, and talk pattern for as long as it takes.

If Drake's around, I ask if he can teach me (Alana if she wants, too) more about how to do use clairvoyance.

Drake agrees with Alana that learning psi skills should wait until after the student has recovered from brain surgery.  However, he does talk with you and her about it.

You heal Alana a number of times.

The next morning when the doctor comes in, he is startled.

He double and triple checks.

And then he leaves.

"I do believe I'm not supposed to be this healthy." Alana murmurs to you with laughter in her voice. "Should we leave now? I think I could get up, and walk."

PT

"One second.  I promised Mr. Kendricks here a reward if he succeeded, and he definately did."

Then, I look as gravely serious as I can at the doctor.  "This is a secret that you can tell no one about, and you must swear to only use it to help people.  You must not tell anyone that I can do it, but you mustn't claim credit for being the first, either; however, you can tell the public that you can, if you want to.  Do you understand these terms and still accept your reward?"

If he accepts, in front of Alana, I show him how to channel healing energy, as well as explain how to.  Then, I tell him, "If you have any cuts or scrapes, try to heal them with this gifts.  If you don't, then try to heal Alana here more.  Give it a shot."

I wisper to Alana as well, "Consider that a first lesson for what you can learn from me."

Doctor Kendricks looks intrigued, and agrees to your terms.

He then pulls off a bandaid off his finger.

"Scalpel cut. One of the perils of the trade."

He tries it, and it heals.

"Very interesting. I think I am most well paid."

You and Alana are able to leave after about thirty minutes of rigamarole with papers, and stuff.

PT

Once we're out, and in a car with Drake and whoever else, I say, "Drake, I've decided that I don't want to attend that school anymore.  Would I still have to serve my time in the military as a grunt if I'm in this other project and in your esper group?

I'd rather stay with your lot and be invisible to society for the time being than playing simple soldier somewhere."

On the ride back, I look at the book on gray magic again.  Specifically, I'm looking for scrying magic that requires as little ritual as possible and as few extra ingrediants as well.

Drake thinks.

"I don't know. I mean my esper group is kinda unofficial. We're supported a bit, but not as an official gov't project.  And the Pilgrim Project....well, it doesn't take up much time...in a way.  I'm guessing they would want you to continue on with your studies because my people think long-term. They want you to be useful not just now, but decades from now."

Alana goes back with you and Drake in the car.

"I'd love to be in this esper group. Right now, I need a job, and some money. And I'm not the sort to join a large organization like an army like Krillis here did. I'd be interested in the Pilgrim Project..."

"No can do, Alana. I like you, but my not exactly superiors don't 'know' you. They know Krillis can be trusted because he passed Beastman with flying colors, and he's doing high level college work.  You are a former coma patient with interesting abilities." Drake shrugs apologetically.

"Ah. Then this society has strong Insider Club ethos....if you're not a member of the club, don't bother to ask." Alana replies a bit tartly. Drake looks at her sideways.

"Talking to you versers is always interesting. You look at things from such an odd viewpoint."

PT

"Alright, I'll keep up my studies..."

I shrug some, considering I know how hard it will be, especially because of the trip I just made putting me behind some.  "Drake, you told me that the Pilgrim Project would be able to help me with my education.  Can you explain how?  Don't mind what I'm doing-just please explain it."

I get the idea in my head to experiment all of the sudden.  I put my two hands close to one another and focus healing energy into them.  Then, I attempt to push the energy between my hands, keeping the picture of a sphere in my mind.

"Well, it requires an intensive knowledge of history, such as few but history professors have.  And despite their virtues, history professors are not up to the physical challenges.  So...we have Mnemonic Imprinters.  You'll learn your history very well, and very quickly."

Drake says.

"If his brains don't turn to goo, and drain down his nose." Alana snaps out. "those things are dangerous."

You create a ball of pschyic energy between your hands.  Alana and Drake study what you're doing with interest.

PT
OOC: 1@1 Psi Energy Ball

Change that to 'ball of healing energy' instead. Oops.

PT

OOC: What color is my Healing Energy Ball, and how big did it get?

"I'm interested in using this Mnemonic Imprinter."  I look at Alana reassuringly a moment, and then continue, "Trust me, my brain won't turn to goo.  I have a plan dealing with that.  I'll need the two of you, and this new skill I've taught myself will help too."

I show them the ball of healing energy.  "I pushed the same energy that I used to speed up Alana's recovery process into this ball of energy.  It seems as if I'm able to maintain it externally rather than put it into a host.  It'll help with my plan.  I'm going to teach you two how to use this energy.  If the two of you would please, in exchange for this skill, put a constant flow of healing energy into my head while I'm using the mnemonic imprinter, I'm fairly certain that I'll be fine.  It'd help even more if I were able to somehow store this energy to use later."

I look at Drake at my last line, to see if he has any ideas.  "Also, Drake, I want to use the Imprinter for more than history if my healing strategy works."

On the trip, if Drake wants to learn how to channel healing energy, I'll teach him.  While still on the way back, I focus more healing energy into the ball, and try to fill it to its maximum capacity.

OOC: I'd also like to know if this energy ball feels solid or has any physical resistance to matter.

Its about the size of a melon, and bright eye-startling green.

Alana and Drake are okay with that, although both have objections. Alana is not certain she can learn such magic...in this world.  Drake is not sure he will be let into the Pilgrim Project security areas.

You pump more energy into the ball, and it starts to radiate light.  Pretty soon, you're filling the car with a bright green light. It has slight resistance, spongy.  It has no resemblance to matter.

Drake tries to learn the magic, and initially fails.

I continue to put energy into it, then I address the two of them.  "If you let me talk to your higher-ups, I can convince them to see how useful I can be to them.  I can get them to let you and Alana in-or at least you, Drake.  Now, watch this and tell me what happens...  I want to know what I appear like on the astral as well, Drake."

I shut my eyes and push the healing energy ball into my chest.  I try my hardest to focus the energy to travel throughout my body, and to emit from every part of me.  I try to push it to my skin all over my body.  If I feel like it was a success, then I open my eyes and ask what happened.

It gets bright enough that Drake has to pull the car off the road, and you're squinting.  The 'mass' between your fingers is getting more resilient, and harder to control.

You absorb it.

For a second, you're elsewhere.

A green garden full of flowers surrounds you. A unicorn is munching on a rose ten feet away.  An angel??? with glowing, fiery wings turns and smiles faintly with his silver gleaming eyes studying you....

And you're back.

You feel very good indeed. There are no aches,nor pains, nor saddle soreness from the long car ride...and you feel like laughing or singing, or jumping up and down and yelling like a maniacally cheerful madman.

Your compadres are blinking their eyes.

"You flashed us with a big green lightbulb, and I can see black spots in front of my eyes." Drake says

PT

I don't hold back my laughter.  I even open the stopped car's door and stand up outside, breathing in deep.  "Beautiful.  Everything's beautiful!"

After a time, I try to calm myself down from this joy, and sit back in the car, relaxing.  "I think that, when I absorbed that light, I saw Eden-or maybe Heaven.  I'm not sure, but it doesn't matter.  It was beautiful."

I let myself drift into a sleep now.  While going to sleep, I try to mentally call out to that entity, holding its image in my mind as well as that place.  Visit me, please.  You seemed so lonely.  I invite you into my dream.  Please, come.  I still can't worry about if the angel could even hear the thought, due to the intimate bliss I feel at the moment.  I drift into sleep.

You're not sure, but you think no visitor attends your dreams.

You get back, and get back into the harness.  Its hard, but the vacation helps.  Also Alana studies with you, and her having similar troubles makes you feel not so alone.

A week passes, and then you're called to the Dean's office.

The Dean smiles.

"I have good reports on you, Krillis. We know you're struggling, but we also know you're working very hard. Krillis...any questions or comments can be made frankly at this time...."

He pauses to see if you have anything you want to say.  Then he punches a button, and two obvious G-men types walk in.

The taller, leaner one says quietly.

"We're with the Pilgrims, Beastman Krillis. We'd like to take you on an orientation trip for the remainder of the school day."

PT

I address the Dean clearly, "I'm suffering from a harsh amnesia, which is the source of my problems.  Not remembering some education has been my troubles so far, but I think that I'll be better off in a couple weeks.  My only question is what sort of career opportunities will present themselves after my time at this institute is over?"

That's the only question I ask him.

When the G-men walk in, I shake their hands, and I tell the tall man, "I'd be honoured to go to this orientation.  Will I be meeting my future superiors on this trip as well?  Understandably, I do have some questions."

"Son, if you can make it through this institute, plus your Beastman training, and manage to get out of the High Guard with an honorouable discharge which should be easy for you, you could well be ..."  He goes on to describe, 'the world is your oyster'.  You'll be graduating with a college degree in a world where a college degree means a great deal. Add to that Beastman, and only the very upper limits of gov't which are open to royalty, and very arcane specialist fields will be closed to you.

He lists of several dozen fields you'll be qualified for...ranging from history teacher to stockbroker to VP of marketting at a major corporation to cultural attache' for the Foreign Service....basically you're resume will say "Skilled Professional" and except for lawyer, doctor, research physisist, and governor of a province...most jobs or their entrance steps will be open to you.

You won't be able to be a CEO of a Magna Corp, but you will be able to get a VP slot at one, and in fifteen years, with luck, work your way up to being head of a Magna Corp.

Its different than your home because here there seems to be well-marked pathways to get to the top.

=========================================

The two Internal Security people take you with them out to a car.

"I'm Mr. Black." The lean one says.
"I'm Mr. White." The slightly pudgy one says. "Get in."

You do, and they begin talking since the car is a 'secure environment'.

"Do you know anything about time travel?"

PT

"I know that it's dangerous and needs to be respected.  I also know that in order to preserve time, one needs to know history in depth.  I was actually planning on majoring in quantum physics at this university."

I repeat my question from before, "Will I get to meet my future superiors during this orientation?"

They say that you will.

About an hour later, you pull into an underground garage, and ride onto an elevator.  It takes you down ten stories to a secret governmental base.

The car is parked inside, and a similar car is pulled up alongside.

A patrician woman with drawn back hair, and excellent posture steps up to you, and holds out her hand.

"Krillis, a pleasure. I am the Duchess Annette. I am in charge of this facility."

The other car then drives onto the elevator, and goes up.

"Security.  We have to be very cautious since we are in a Time War."

PT

I shake her hand and say, "That's understandable, ma'am.  You seem to have been doing well with security by the looks of things.  I am here to serve in your program.

It's to my understanding that for my participation to be a success, you will have to perform a dangerous operation on me to imprint knowledge inside of me or something.  Is this true?  What other requirements are there?  I'm afraid I don't know much about this program, could you go into detail about it?"

"I'm told that across town, there 'used' to be another faculty like this one.  The commander was a cousin, the son of my 'now' maiden aunt. That is what some of the Espers tell me. To be blunt, Krillis, I fear we are losing this Time War. Right now, we think that someone uptime of us is attacking us, but we have no idea why they would do that.  In any case, certain events in our past keep getting changed.  We send teams back to deal with the situation--wayfarers, wanderers...Pilgrims as it were. It is hoped that your unique nature might render you more resistant to temporal flux, and thus immune to your memory being rewritten. So we're most happy to have you here."

She waves an imperious hand, and strides off. Evidently you are to follow her.

She takes you to an infirmary where a machine with electrodes awaits.

"Its a development of electrical shock therapy. We can imprint pathways into your brain with an electric charge."

PT

"I'm ready for the operation, if that was the next part of the plan, ma'am.  Also, I'm somewhat anxious to start turning the tide in this war."

I stand with a firm military poise when I speak to her, and I begin to channel the healing energy into my head.  For now, I just gather trickles of it there.  If the operation starts, I will push more up there right before it begins.

"All right." She nods, and turns to several individuals who are standing in a doorway nearby. "Prep for Immersive Education."

They all give quick bows, and turn to their locker rooms to get dressed.  Small spots on your temples are shaved.  The contacts are put down....

The electricity surges, and you lose control of the healing power.  It flickers out even as images invade your mind.  With your body twitching, you learn more about history in those interminable seconds than you have learned in the past month.

"Go two." The Duchess says. "He's still in good shape."

Another surge of electricity easily defeats your next attempt at healing.

More images blaze into your mind.

And you're left....

"We'll be in the next room as you collect yourself. All your vitals look okay, and I think the Immersion took." The doctor says.

You feel wrung out, sweaty, the muscles in your neck are wire tight, and your scalp itches fiercely, and your brain feels stuffed. Unfamilar words float up into your mind.  You sit up, and choke back vomit.

PT

Afterwards, I just start laughing a little bit.  "What a rush..."  I attempt to sit up, unless I'm stuck down onto the bed.

I attempt to do some of the following things:

1. Recall everything about a random year, let's say 1782.
2. Think about the political geography of the world (what countries exist and which are modern age).
3. Recall the last two major wars in history and what types of weapons were used during them.

While I do these things, I try to channel more healing energy throughout my body.

You get a vague picture of the 1780's. A little bit of the poltical parties--The Reform Aristoi, and the Guildhall Men comes to you. Wigs, and wide sashes suited for carrying heavy horse pistols and sabres are the typical male outfit. The Skaravini War was a naval war between two major powers of the day. De Laniar invented the hot air balloon.  King Jonathan ruled in your native land.

The other questions are answered likewise.

You have what feels like a well-educated ninth grade education in history.

PT

I flood myself with as much healing energy that I can to regain my strength.

Then, once I can move properly, I get out of the bed and walk into the next room.  If I'm unable to move, I call from where I am and ask if I need to get any more of these done before I'm finished.

Ten minutes later, you walk into the midst of the next room, and their startled presence.

"You are very resilient, Mr. Krillis." the Duchess says softly.

They quiz you on your new knowledge, and seem satisfied with the results.

PT

"Thank you, ma'am.  Do I need to go through anymore treatment before I'm ready to work?"

While I even stand in front of them, I channel the healing energy to course through my entire body.

Whenever they believe my body is ready, I willingly accept another roung of the immersion.  Another question I ask beforehand is, "Upon being taken into the Pilgrim Project, will I be allowed to have operations to put knowledge other than history into my mind?"

You get another three treatments.  They've established the base knowledge.  The next one brings you to a more mature and deeper understanding.  Then they focus on the 30's, and the last treatment gives you a college level understanding of the Vinn Raith.

You heal yourself, and they outfit you with clothing suited for the time along with weapons of your choice--suited to that time.

"Krillis, we theoretically could imprint you with data for math or science, but it takes billions of royal marks to design one of those imprints.  Once we have it, its easy to use, and cheap, but the development costs are high, and the time is usually a year.  We've focused on history." The Duchess explains. "Now, we have a mission. We want to send you back as a courier and observer only. The Vinn Raith, as you know, was a 'friendship society' between some of our kingdom's 'best people' and the totalitarians of Greater Slovaki.  At that time, many thought the Slov a 'new, and useful plan for ordering society.' Few believed the tales of death camps. We sent back a team because the Witness, an anonymous informer in the Vinn Raith, who exploded their myths, has not turned up.  Strange thing, our team hasn't reported in either. We want you to contact our team, take their report, and come back."

PT

I dawn their clothing, and nod at the perameters of the mission.  "It sounds appropriate for a first temporal mission.  I'll get it done."

What do I know about the Vinn Raith?

What sort of weapons does the time period have?

The Vinn Raith is a 'inter-national friendship society' with members drawn from theatre, writers, leading businessmen, and philanthropists according to their mission statement.

.41 and .33 revolvers, switchblades, saps, short clubs, and .18 pistols as well as the 'elmaggie' sub-machine gun which fires an .18.

PT

I decide to carry light weapons in this mission, and take a club, switchblade, and a .18 pistol.

After that's done, I ask them about the specifics of the missions, if Kox can come as well, and I tell them that I'm prepared to begin.

They take you and Kox to a small room with a clear glass globe in the center of it.  You and Kox are escorted to the globe, and enter through a small door.

You're both tied down.

"Time has frequencies.  The Universe pulses at a steady pace, but it slows down marginally between each pulse.  Tiny, tiny, tiny....eventually, twenty thousand years or so, and Time will Stop.  But the point is that each of these small pulses is slightly different in length."  The doctor who is tying you down explains.  He then drapes you and Kox with insulatation 'aprons' which cover you from head to toe.

"Now, if we spin you at the covariant of the pulse...nothing happens.  You're fixed here.  But if we expose you to Absolute Zero, or the space around you to such...you become unfixed in time to some degree.  And that is the pulse's turn.  Of course, eventually, your own natural pulse will drag you back."

He pauses and smiles faintly with an abstracted air.

"Any questions?"

PT

"Yeah.  How long do we have there?"

After that's answered, I'm ready to go.

A few questions, though...

Was I briefed on the location, appearance, etc... of the people I'm trying to find and come into contact with?

They did not give you an appearance for security reasons, but they did give you a location.

1001 Pennywhistle Lane, room B and C.

There is a countdown.

It does your nerves little good to hear the chief tech praying "Hail Mary, Mother..."  Evidently this is fairly dangerous...

3...2...1...


Suddenly you're cold. Colder than you've ever been. You can't even shiver. You're struck numb and you forget who you are, what you are in the cold...and then you hear a pulse, almost like a beating heart.

You remember yourself even as you realize that you stand in Nothingness.

PT

I try to summon the healing energy inside of me and radiate it as strongly as I possibly can.

I push it to the surface with the greatest strength I have before, and I try to push it even harder than that.  I'm going to survive this...  I'm going to survive this.  I still can learn so much here...  From Drake...  From Alana!  I try to feel the same feeling I had in the Heart when I was about to die as I do this.

The healing energy boils through you, and a unicorn comes running out of the Nothingness, and touches you with its horn.

*Greetings, Child of Adam.*

You feel well, but not existent in body.

PT
OOC: I'm going to call this another @1 to healing skill because of the really odd location you're doing it at.

Not feeling my body, I decide it's futile to speak, so I attempt to urge words or think towards the unicorn instead.

*Greetings.*

*Have I seen you before, in a green pasture next to an angel?  I assume that you have business with me if you've come to me.  Please, I'm at your service.*

I try to mentally bow to the unicorn, or at least send thoughts of humility.

*Where you are now, there is no 'Before', and no 'After', not as you understand the terms. You stand in the Garden of Forever, and in the Undefined Lands which are beyond Chaos in this Now.  You made beautiful music, and I came to listen."  The unicorn replies. "Soon, you will be back in the material world with its abundance of rules.  But here, there is so much more freedom.  You could join me in the Garden if you wished.  You don't have to go back to the tedious material world."

PT

Only one thought fills my mind when the unicorn proposes this to me.

I think, with a solid conscience.

*I want to come with you.  Can my companion come as well?*

I give an image of Kox mentally to the unicorn, and I also project a strong feeling of thankfulness.

*He can.* The unicorn turns to lead you away, and then half-turns back. *However, you will not be able to return to the material multiverse.  Once you enter Deep Eternity, you will not fit into a space-time with only one temporal arrow.*

PT
OOC: In other words, if you say 'yes', your character is retired from the game.

The prospect of such a perfect place pushes aside any doubts about the real world.  Everything's going to be fine here-there's Alana and Drake.  Besides, I think this is...right.

*Yes, lead us there.  I'm ready.*

Although knowing this was the end of his journey, Krillis knew that it was a proper end-the best end that could come.  With foresight about the potentiality of all of the hardships of immortality, Krillis took the step into Forever.

OOC: That would be a 'yes'.  Am I still able to make another character or something of the sort?

In less time than it takes to tell it you arrive in the Garden with the Angel/ Visit Valhalla with Fenris and the Enjerarah/Walk down a perfect Manhattan street with your friends on the way to a great club, the most perfect club that ever existed/transform into wolf, and run the moon down with Kox at your side/ enter a Library which dwarfs the Tower of Rhodes and see Shakespeare and Aristotle arguing a literary point and they turn to you to ask your opinion/ Enter the Presence of Perfect Love and Justice Who smiles at you....

And all at the same time with full attention to each.  All underlain by varieties of joy.

You stand in your body sweating in the morning sun as you prepare to clear a stand of sky-breaking trees, and pick up a flute at the same moment to sing Glory to the Creator, and drop in on long-gone relatives for tales of the eighteenth century...

You're so much more than could ever fit in a simple reality.  Time is under your control now.  You can stretch it, bend it, spread it out, and multiply it.  It is joy without any taint of sin, sorrow, or entropy.

You laugh out loud with joy to the your great-great grandfather who merely smiles...

"Krill, m'boy, you've only tasted the first sip of Eternity.  Try another sip..."

PT
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:29, Wed 20 Feb 2008.

You feel something grab you, and squash you, and memories fall through the cracks to dangle Elsewhen, and you fight, but at the same time you realize this is for the best.

"One foot into Eternity. Just one foot. You can come back." You hear Great Morpheus soothing voice, and your resistance ceases.

You're in the Untenanted Darkness with a Being.

You're weeping with what you've lost. A few fragments of memories stick to you, but mostly there is the overwhelming sense of something majestic beyond words thats been lost.

Still...

"You were not ready. Oh, it would have been good, but when you go back it will be so much better than what you lost for now because then you will be ready. And now you understand that."

Still...it hurts....and you feel compassion in the Darkness.

"Sleep's was made to ravel up the cares of life, to provide release and recovery from pain. Sleep."

You do.

And you wake in a dark alleyway with rain sleeting down on you after travelling back in time, and you can hardly believe it...to Paradise as well. It hurts, but its bearable and your tears have dried.

PT

On my hands in knees, I feel the cold rain on my back.  I have a deep feeling that I've lost as much as every drop of rain that is falling around me, and I slam my fist on the ground.

What was before Heaven...right...mission...

I look around and see that Kox isn't around.  I suppose that he was ready for the Deep Eternity.

Then, I'll raise myself to my feet, still feeling the deep pain of loss.  I look around and I'll go up to the nearest person.  I ask them for directions to 1001 Pennywhistle Lane.

You walk downhill to the larger street, and see Kox round the corner of the building.

*Good thing you woke up, boss. I fetched us some food.*

He drops a hot sausage link on the ground (its about a foot long).

You hear some yelling.

"Where's that dog? You look that way, and I'll go..."

Its coming from the around the corner about twenty feet or so away.

PT

Whew, so Kox is with me too, then...

I'll dogtalk to him, *Kox, give me the sausage, then go around a corner and hide somewhere.  Don't make any sounds when you're hidden!*

I then will take the sausage link from Kox and address the people who are coming around the corner, "Excuse me, but I just saw a dog running off with this, so I got it from him."  I'll give it to the group and ask them where 1001 Pennywhistle Lane is.

If all goes well, perhaps I'll learn where my destination is.

They look at you, and then they laugh nastily as they spread out.

"Yeah. Right. That was a big dog, in good condition. You couldn't have taken it from him unless he knew you, and his well-groomed hair proves he's your dog. Now pay up, or me and the boys are going to feed you a knuckle sandwhich instead of a stolen sausage." The leader, who is dressed in a butcher's apron, says.

PT
OOC: It was a good play, but you got a quite bad dice roll almost a botch.

"Okay, okay.  I don't have any money on me at the moment; however, I'll give you something worth the equal amount."  I'll get out my bag of marshmallows and toss them to the leader of this posse.

"Now, if you wouldn't mind, gentlemen, could you direct me to 1001 Pennywhistle Lane?"

I'll start chanting the words for Call Fury Down in my head to increase its power; however, I won't direct it toward the group yet.  I take mental note of where the Call Fury Down knife runic knife is on my person at the moment, so that if the need arises, I can pull it out faster than I normally would be able to.

What sort of emotions do I sense off of the people after I throw the bag of marshmallows?

Their emotions shift from angry to contemptuous to surprised to delighted.

They give you the directions. Its two streets over.

You walk over with Kox trailing behind you. He's interested in that sausage you have even if you're not after it laid on the wet street. He keeps sniffing at your hand.

1001 Pennywhistle Lane is at the corner of Ramparts and Pennywhistle. Its a townhouse, and it looks drably respectable, but you can see how every little detail of security is inobviously 'maxed out' or upgraded. Its front window is a series of diamond shaped that a man could not fit through instead of the bay window that most others have, and so forth.

Its a lot more secure than other houses on the street without looking like it is except to the close observer.

*Boss, there is a dog behind the fence. He told me that he'd rip me up, and you too if we try to do 'anything funny'. He's hiding, but he's a big one.* Kox tells you. *Maybe I could take him if we do tha tmagic thing on my size.*

PT

I simply say into the door, "Report."

--Kox, stay cool for now.  Have the magic ready to use, though, just in case.--

I'll continue to chant the Call Fury Down spell in my head while scanning for emotions behind the door.

You sense Fear, Paranoia, Hope, and Anger in rapid succession.

The door opens, and a young lady is standing there with a shotgun in her hands.

"How do I know you're not one of them?"

A Great Dane slips up from alongside the house, and stands in front of her, and growls at you. He could easily leap the fence.

Kox gets in front of you, and growls back.

PT

"I'm here from the year [insert year here]."  I wisper to her, then, "I'm with the Pilgrim Project, on an assignment to check out what went wrong.  Why haven't you reported in?"

I'll look at her with genuine emotion, and tell Kox to back down as well.

"Ok. Come in, come in. This is a dangerous town in this era."  She looks both ways down the street as she signs her guard dog to sit. Her dog does, and Kox mutters to  you.

*He says 'we're friends now' and wants me to stay out here with him.*

Once inside, she shuts the door, bolts it, and chains it, and then picks her shotgun back up.

"We built this house to withstand riots because we wanted to be in a poor neighbourhood to be below the radar. And riots were common in this era. The local meat suppliers are bribing the meat commission..." She ushers you in to the kitchen, and to a table.

"Coffee. And this is relevant, what I'm saying. See, John Lewis Cooper was shot last week."

She pauses like that should make sense. And then it does as your history knowledge kicks in.

The Cooper family was locally important, and became nationally so with JLC after JLC broke the power of the Mafia which was involved in selling unsafe food to the poor people, and cheating on water piping, and substandard concrete.  JLC went on to become Senator, then Governor, and his son became Prime Minister who led the nation in a major war.

Only thing, JLC survived numerous assasination attempts without a single wound. At least in the history you were taught.

PT

I'll allow Kox to stay in front with the other guard dog.

Then, I address the woman.  "That isn't right.  Do you know if the shot was fatal, or is there hope of his survival?  Could it be that your presence in this time might have caused it, or do you suspect outside intervention?  Also, I was under the impression there would be more of you here.  What happened?"

"We were being careful, I swear. Just observing. I went whole days without saying anything more than 'hot dog with mustard, please.' to any of the locals. Of course, we stayed up late at night, evaluating things, and to be truthful socializing. You have to talk to someone, and thats the members of your team. So we'd sit here at the kitchen table and talk and think."

She looks around at the table as if seeing people who aren't there.

 "So then the team heard the news, and we were really frightened. If JLC died it would maybe change the whole future. There might not be a time travel program at all. We'd be stranded, and whoever our enemy was would have won. So...we interfered. We went to the hospital, and gave JLC some advanced meds...at least for this time. You know they don't even have penicillin?"

She breathes in shakily, and clutches her shotgun.

 "But then we got ambushed on our way out of there by some men in long trenchcoats. Rick was shot down right away. Stephanie got us out of there, and then was run over by a man in a truck. That left me and Bob. Bob died in my arms three blocks from here. He'd been bleeding out the whole way, and told no one. I got here, and they drove by, but no one wanted to force the entrance."

PT

I look at her, and around me as I analyze the situation.

How am I supposed to get back to my current time?

Do I know of any militant organizations that are against the established government in current time (um...meaning the time period that I came from) who would benefit from a different prime minister?

Would it be possible to send this woman back to "present" while I stay here in "past"?

You have a wristband transponder that will take you back. You take it off, strap it to a sealed glass or aluminum container with a message inside containing the date and time and longitude and latitude of your location. You wait for five minutes. If you're not picked up at that time, you dig it up, and try again the next day in a different location.

There are a couple militant organizations. The Democratic Party is a small, rabble-rousing group intent on forming a democracy rather than a constitutional monarchy. The Shell Game Society is a loose coalition of conspiracy theorists who believe that the Establishment keeps them out of power (possibly true as your current world is very 'in-club') and that the leadership is run by aliens who use the aristos as shells or puppets.

As to your last question: Likely yes.

PT

"Look, I have an idea.  You've been here too long, and things are understandably difficult.  Let's get you home.  Do you have a piece of paper that I can write a note on?  We'll get both of us home."

If she gives me a piece of paper and pencil, I'll proceed to ask her name and write:

This is Krillis, part of the Project.  There are circumstances here that require my staying longer.  I've made contact with the last remaining team member in this time, and I want you to bring [insert her name here] back to the present.  Give me one week here and then send someone to search for me at 1001 Pennywhistle Lane.  I'll be there in seven days, [insert date that I want them to send someone].  I'll discover who is behind this counter-operation and is messing with the timeflow.  See you in a week.

I'll give the note to the woman and explain further, "I'm fresh and ready for this sort of assignment.  I want you to return, tell them the situation, and get me backup in a week's time to come to this location."  I give her my transponder to put with the message.  If she complies, I ask her, "I need you to tell me the aliases of everyone on the team, any details about the men in trenchcoats, a general layout of the city.  Don't worry-I'll track them down.  I have a plan."

She agrees after token protests, and is greatly relieved that you override her.

She gives you a picture of the team with happy smiles on their faces as they hold up a This Time newspaper so the date is visible. Its six months previous.

She gives you the names and the current projects they were working on.

She shows you a regular map of the city, and an aerial map of the city.

"The aerial map must be stored in this box which has a voice recognition chip and a small thermite charge. This map is obviously too advanced for this time."

Its detailed enough that you can count the bushes in front of someone's house and spot pedestrians crossing streets although discerning faces is too much for the map.

She's less helpful on the men in trenchcoats except to say they seemed experienced, and they used revolvers.

She leaves to go send the message.

PT

Did she take the dog with her?

I ask Kox to come with me, but to not use his magic under any circumstances, even if there's a cat.  I take the map with me and I'll go to the hospital.

Are there any dining locations near the hospital that JLC (right?) is being kept at?  If so, I enter one and sit down for something to drink.  I'll fake drinking so that I can stay in the diner, and I'll look over the projects this group was given to perform in this time while I look out the window at the hospital, waiting for someone meeting the description of the trenchcoat men to arrive.

She left the dog. Its more of a guard dog than a pet, and its a temporal local.

You spend five hours at the diner, and see nothing.

The group was doing various sociological studies with an emphases on observation. They were also photographing important people, and taking sound and video of important events.

There is a list of 'important events' that the team is supposed to observe for the next month and the previous month. Intervention is strictly forbidden. Most of the previous month events have been observed. A few were not, and there are explanations in the daily team log for this...

"The camera was on the fritz, and we spent most of the day fixing it."
"The team leader came down with the flu, and we felt that the rest of us should focus on this other event on the far side of the city rather than on this less important event on the same day."
"Historical information on this event was incorrect. The Maxine Milk Truck did not tip over at the corner of Fifth and Stuart thus starting the Milk Riots. It seems that the Milk Riots were an urban myth. We always thought they were a small time affair, but we did not realize non-existent."

"Who  yer waiting for?" Asks the waitress. "Listen, I hate to bother you as the day's been slow, but my manager says I got to kick you out if you don't buy a meal."

"Ah, my dear, I agree that the day has been rather slow, and it is much brightened by an angel's presence."  I bow my head respectfully to her, and continue, "Perhaps your manager would be fine if you were to join me over here during the slow parts?  I'll gladly buy a meal if you agree to sit with me a while."

I attempt to come off as charming, confident, and so on, which isn't hard, considering she can't really do anything to me worse than what's already been done.  I'll attempt to release some healing energy into the room in a light amount, so that she'll have a good feeling while I talk.

I also have a Persuasion skill, raised from Kreeps that is at 1@3.

Do I have any money on me?

Her fair cheeks flush just a bit, and she sits down. Then she hops up.

"I'll clear it with him."

She comes back two minutes later, and sits down with studied calm.

"I'm Lucy. And you're...?"

Food arrives, brought by the manager. Its country-fried steak for you, along with mashed potatoes, and squash. For her, its a BLT sandwhich with a bowl of pea soup.

As you release the healing energy, she relaxes, and giggles.

"So, are you a Private Eye, or a government man? Cause, I've been seeing you studying the hospital all day."

OOC: Cause Relaxation 1@1 Psi

I laugh a little, and attempt to read her emotions while doing so.

"Haha, right, government agent.  Why, have you seen any around here lately?  They might be counter-spies..."  I give her a grave look after the question, then bust out laughing a little, as if it was a joke.

"Sorry, do I seem like the government agent type?  I just heard about an assasination attempt and thought I'd come by the hospital-it is a famous place right now, correct?"

I continue to Cause Relaxation at her.

Your emotion read fails.

She speaks up quickly in reply to your joke.

"Its just that on the radio all the government agents are young and handsome."

She blushes.

"Did I say that? I feel so giddy." She fans herself, and then finally catches up to your joke and laughs easily.

"You make me feel like I'm hanging out with my brothers, so comfortable. Oh, its a little famous. They had newspaper reporters out here, and the manager talked to one for a bit. It was a Mob hit, you know. The Mob doesn't like Mr. Cooper one bit. He sent Al 'the Necktie' Digiorno to the chair last year, and good for him what with that monster strangling all his victims with his own neckties, and then wearing them to parties bold as brass. Personally, I think they should have brought back hanging for that one, and hung him with his own necktie. The chair was too good for him."

I'll push harder to read her emotions, while I attempt to shield my own with my drak voir stone imagery.

I'll continue to pry into her mind until I can read her emotions.

"Well, let's assume that I am a government agent.  What would it take for me to find out what time you get off?"

You keep on trying and once you succeed its a little embarrassing. She thinks you're just wonderful and that 'brother' comment was just to pretend she's not jazzed.

"One hour." She looks up at the clock. "And ten minutes."

1@3 Read Emotions for Human (Psi).

PT

I'll wait there, and keep an eye on the hospital the entire time; however, I'll do so out of the corner of my eye, unless I see someone in a trenchcoat like the agent earlier described.

I don't want to give away too much to Lucy.  I'll try to ask her casually if she's seen anyone weird around here, other than myself.  "So, is this place usually so slow, or have you seen interesting things around here recently?"

"Oh, this place usually gets busy about suppertime. The boss, not the manager, but the owner said that when he bought it five years ago it got busy during lunch too, but thing is, everything is more expensive, and people have less money. My manager says 'its those bloodsucking weasels in the Mob who are skimming everyone's money so an honest man can't make a decent living.'"

You don't see anyone suspicious although a few people drift in.

"I remember about three days ago, this man came in. He had a weird skin condition, and he was eight foot tall. Circus freak, I think. But boy was he arrogant, and the way he looked at you was like a dog looks at a cat. This was right after Mr. Cooper got put into the hospital which I remember because there was three ambulances that pulled up, and a bunch of police cars."

Her shift ends, and she comes out after changing quickly.

"Did you want to see a movie?"

PT
OOC: And yes, bad GE roll on finding the agents this day.

(Sorry for how short this is, but I'm feeling kind of down.)

I'll go with her to a nearby movie theater, while I'll attempt to small-talk more information on the "circus freak" in a jovial tone.

I'll also ask her if she works tomorrow, and when she gets off.

Raiders of the Black Mountain is a fine display of horsemanship, trick shooting, lariat throwing, and hat-tipping by white hats to ladies and stomping of black hats by white hats in black and white...WITH Sound!!

Everyone seems quite pleased with the addition of sound to the outdoors movie theatre.  The popcorn is heavily salted and buttered with no pretension of being 'light' and the waitress brings milkshakes and onion blossoms with panache to the 'my second brother's roadster'.

The sky threatens rain for a few minutes during the 'rodeo' part of 'Raiders', but it clears up in time for the female ranch owner to take first place in roping.

"Hmm, tommorrow...well you could walk me through the park, and feed the ducks and the monkeys after I get off work, and its near the hospital so you could keep an eye on that at the same time."

She talks about the 'circus freak' and during intermission she and you 'go strolling' which is social time for all the young couples to hold hands, and chat with each other, and for girls to show off their dates and vice versa.

"If you want to know more about him, well, Helena knows everything about everyone. She's tapped into the grapevine big-time, but you gotta pay to play. She doesn't just give out news for free, she wants news."  She says as you walk up to a car with an excited crowd around it who are listening to a dark-haired beauty dish the dirt with casual scorn and great flair.

I smile and ask the girl next to me, "You wouldn't happen to know anything about anyone in town that I could use, would you?"

I'll see if my history can give me any clues as to what I could say.

Also, I'll attempt to get onto a psychic wavelength with the 'read emotions', however, I'll try to delve to solid thoughts instead of just the emotions of the crowd around this woman.

She shakes her head, obviously somewhat intimidated.

You think back over the history...its hard to say....most of what you knew would be considered basic knowledge everyone knew....still you remember an investigation into the City Highsteppers, a professional sports club, for game fixing and gambling.  It was happening around this time, and it turned out that the whole team was in on it up to their necks.

Your psi attempt fails, but the second attempt succeeds. 1@3. You catch phrases that spin and whirl in great profusion through their minds.  Many are catty or outright nasty, but others betray a genuine amusement at the foibles of mortals, and some are just impatient with the news they have to tell.

PT

I'll reach out and attempt to read minds that are anxious to dish out dirt.  Then, I'll push my way to the front of the crowd so that I'm face to face with Helena, Gossip Queen.

If I'm able to do both of those, picking up dirt on the way to the front, then I'll address her as I hear others who want information address her.

I'll inquire about men about town in trenchcoats, as well as the 'circus freak' that the girl had mentioned earlier.

You've got the dirt, and although not all of it makes sense to you....what does....'and Deke is known for slimrunning the fours at Laxto' mean? Still, Helena tests you, and then nods in approval.

"I am The divine Helena, darling cute boy." She holds out her hand for you to shake it or kiss it, you're not sure which.

"Men in trenchcoats...." She pauses. "Questions like that might be unhealthy as most such men carry gats, and sadly enough aren't afraid to use them. I liked John Lewis Cooper, handsome, strong-jawed, and he knew how to be polite to the ladies while cracking a joke. And then those despicable sorts just gun him down. If I were the sort to want to investigate this, and I didn't mind the possibility of being tossed off Keystone Bridge with a new pair of cement overshoes, I might go talk to some of the people in Jeff's Bar and Grill. And funny enough, but there were reports of a 'very strange looking man' out at JB and Grill a day or two before Mr. Cooper, the dashing and delectable, nearly met his Creator ahead of schedule. And this 'strange looker' is by the standards of people who go by the name of 'Two Knives' and 'Slicker' and Kev 'One Nose' Smith."

She smiles at you.

"So why are you interested in Mr. Cooper's affairs?"

I'll take her hand...  If her grip is strong and straight, I'll shake.  If it's rather loose, then I'll move my forehead down to it, but not kiss it.

After her end of the deal, I will do a number of attempts, while I talk to her.

1. Cause Relaxation on Helena.
2. Read Surface Thoughts on Helena.
3. If 2 fails, Read Emotions on Helena.

"Mr. Cooper just seems like he has a lot of potential, I suppose.  Helena, if you're trying to pry some extra information out of me, I should let you know that I'm not some sheep.  I've got a stronger mind than most."  All of this is said with a smile, as I'm not trying to scare her at the moment.

(Did I pick up a skill for Charm Women when I got the waitress to come out with me, or did that fall under my Persuasion 1@3?)

Oh, and I don't exit conversation with her yet, if I can help it.  I want to still be talking with Helena, and the results of my psi attempts will effect my actions.

You bend your forehead to her hand.

She looks dissapointed.

You try to bend the Gossip Queen's mind. She relaxes a bit.

*Krillis, hmmm, he's well-connected. Wonder if he's a threat to my position. Don't worry your head bout that Helena. He keeps investigating the Laxto Boys and he won't be a problem to anyone. Shame though.*

"Logical connections, my dear boy, logic. I know women aren't supposed to use it, so lets just say I used my feminine intuition to put two and two together."

The crowd laughs delighted at her sally.

And then the relaxation loosens her tongue a bit.

"One, we know that the gents from Laxto Fields and JB and Grill and other points of interest to the local cops probably dealt with JLC. You ask about them, and you ask about a circus freak out at JB and Grill.  Plus, its one of the biggest stories of the week. Very simple to figure out what you're after. I do wish you the best of luck, and that you've made your will. If not, lets make it now, and you can leave all your money to Helena."

PT

I smile when she's through and I say, "Yes, don't worry your little head bout that, Helena.  I'm no threat to your position.  I'm just passing through."  I make my leave after that statement, knowing that the majority of the crowd probably won't understand it.

On a whim, when I'm out of the crowd and barely still in sight, I ask my date where JB and Grill is, as well as Laxto Fields.  At that, I'll bid her goodnight and walk her home.

Once she's home, I'll proceed to attempt a few things in an alleyway out of sight.

1. I'll try to emit that healing energy that I've made a ball with; however, I'll try to release it equally from every part of my body.
2. I'll sit down and attempt to still my mind.  (I've gained the skill Enter Altered Mental State from you already, I think it's 1@1).  I'll take my time to enter that state, then I'll focus on my memories of the Eternity Garden and what it felt like there. If I feel any energies, I attempt to push them out of my hands and form them into a ball, like with the healing energy.
3. If I can find an alleyway with semi-close walls, I attempt to use my wall-dancing (1@4) to climb the alleyway with only kicks.

If I'm alive after those, I'll wait until I'm rested then head over to JB and Grill.  I'll go in and take a short gander around to see if there are any men in trenchcoats or with messed up faces inside.  If I can't bring Kox in with me, I'll ask him to wait outside.

Can we put that bar situation on hold for the time being?

I try to hold the gate open by controlling the energies its using with one hand.  With my other, I'll try to draw some of the energies towards me.  If I can't control them from this distance, I'll try to radiate healing energy and go up to touch the open gate.

1. Can I see through it?
2. Is this clearly an interdimensional/interplanar gate?
3. Do I recognize the gate from some latent memory of the Eternity Garden?
4. Do you like the style of my most recent posts more?

OOC: Yes. And as to the new style, its ok, but no, I don't like it better. I'm thinking that I might need to cut back on the 'list-itis' in my games a bit. Some is good, but sometimes its too much.  And in general the other styles are more fun, however sometimes lists are the most logical way to keep track of things.

IC:
The gate is stable you realize as you try to manipulate its energies. You don't succeed in drawing off energy.

You think its an interdimensional gate, but you're not certain.

It seems to have no connection to Eternity Garden.

You see a large, dark shadow moving amidst the gleaming silver ripples of the gate. Whatever it is, its not human as it seems to be moving on four legs.

PT

Am I able to communicate with him by gestures now, or is it only dogtalk?  I'm figuring that the beastman training has made it so that we can anticipate one another's impulses.

I look down to Kox and nod at the door, signaling for him to come as well.  --You should get Fenris and ask him to bulk you up some.--

I'll pull my runic knife out and prepare to use my Call Fury Down spell.  I also will attempt to read emotions and surface thoughts that might be coming through the gate.  Finally, as a precaution, I'll try to use my healing magic in a new way...

I'll attempt to channel it beneath my skin, rather than on the outside, but all over my body, and I'll attempt to keep this flow going.

You can communicate with Kox by gestures, dogtalk, and magic. But yes, the beastman training has made you both 'on the same wavelength'. You are rarely surprised by what he does, and vice versa. Its a good point that in a fight you two could cooperate without necessarily pre-planning it.  Of course, you're still amateurs at that kind of cooperation, but I'd say 1@3 for Pack Fighting.

Kox nods, and then suddenly he snarls soundlessly as he grows in size.

You're able to channel the healing energy in this way. +@1.

Suddenly the gate shudders, shakes, and a steel beast one and a half stories tall and over thirty feet long has filled the alley. It has bolts and two foot wide strips of heavy metal laid next to each other for its exterior coating.

Its head, as large as a dumpster, looms high over your head.

PT

I'll attempt to read the beast's emotions, surface thoughts, and restrain myself from moving.

--Kox, don't attack!--

I look into the large creature's eyes and try to convey the deepest empathy that I can for it.  I'll use my Cause Relaxation psi on it while channelling healing energy in the creature's direction, to help with the relaxation and good feelings.  I'll channel healing energy to surround the creature.

Do I now have skill "summon angry large beastie?"

You try to send healing energy to it, but it feels alien, strange, not life as you know it.  However, you do attract its attention.

It bends down, and you try to dodge, but its huge, and its mouth has you in it, and you're tumbling down its throat. You're in darkness, surrounded by hard objects, and you hear a crunching noise coming from your right which is the direction you seem to be slowly drifting along with everything else.

You're a bit banged up, but not hurt.

Edit: Generally, I don't give skills for botches as you don't know what you did. Although sometimes I do.  But in this case, if I had, it would be to open a gate.  The 'large, angry beastie' just wandered through.  However, this does serve as an example next time you want to learn 'open gate'.

PT
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:44, Fri 26 Sept 2008.

Okay, I'll work on that later.  For the time being...

Metal, metal.  This creature is made out of the stuff it seems.

I'll then shout as loud as I can to gather energy, steadily increasing my tone.  I'll focus on fire pouring out of my body in all directions.  I picture it exiting me like natural energy, heat given off which already happens; however, I'll picture it as a bright flame instead of simply heat.  I'll picture it growing and growing, building brighter and brighter.

Then, with myself in the center, I picture it exploding, as if the pressure is too much.  While I picture that, I shout the final word to convey my will of the action, as I yell at the top of my voice, "AMEN!"

Fire roars out from your skin, and washes over the metal interior of the holding area and the metal crushing machine you're slowly sliding toward. The heat you generate does not melt anything completely, but it does cause the crushing machine to glow reddish.

You're now very hot as the heat reflects off the metal, and you're panting for breath.

PT

A scene returns to me from Fantastic 4.  What happens when you rapidly cool hot metal?

I focus hard on the coolness that water brings, and what it would feel like to go hypothermic.  I'll raise my voice steadily once more, concentrating on the image of water flowing from my body in all directions, filling up the insides of this creature.

I also summon the elemental warden of fire, knowing that the heat in the place will probably go way up when the water turns into steam.

I'll then shout at the top of my voice, "FLOOD, AMEN!"  I say the word 'flood' with the hopes that it will improve the quality and quantitiy of the spell's effect.

You cast your spells, and the elemental warden of fire doesn't work. You're surrounded by cold water, and then blazing steam, and suddenly you're moving very fast as the steam seeks to escape its confines and shoots you out of the beast's mouth.

You slam hard into a brick wall, and then fall seven feet onto the pavement. The whole alley is filled with hot steam which is cooling and turning everything thick with fog. For one second, you see Kox and then the fog obscures him.

You're still alive, the fog feels like its searing your lungs, and your skin is pink. There is a sharp jar in your left shoulder as if something is not working right.

You feel you're going to live even though you can't move...and then the monster stumbles forward and places one of its multi-ton feet on your chest and squishes it flat as it continues to walk down the alley suffering from a monumental case of heartburn.

=======

And onward....