You're riding on a surfboard, on the edge of a tsuanmi, with others to your right and right riding houses, horses, hackneys, and hovercraft on the same wave all engaged in what seemed to be a race. Some laugh and smile at you, others jeer, but all acknowledge you. And then an Apache helicopter, held in the claws of a roc with wings made of gold, swoops down to strafe all the racers...

You wake with a bird sitting on your face. It flutters off. You're in an alley with rough, large stones under your back, and looming darkness over head.

I'll get up and get a better look around.
What is that looming darkness above me?
Do I still have that Torc on me?

I'll try to gather some chi to see if it comes to me.

OOC: Previous thread <a href="http://gamingoutpost.com/talk/topic/magnus-in-mid-tenn/page/12/">here</a>

You're in an alley leading on to a small square surrounded by three story apartment buildings with iron raillings for the walkways in front of them. A desultory fountain is in the midst. Its dirty and dim. The only light is provided by a gas lantern hanging off the edge of one of the apartment complexes.

Looking up, you see spots of colored light, and a solid mass way up, and something huge extending down from it toward the ground. Its allodd and huge.

Torc is on your neck, but it might as well not be as you raise a sweat merely trying to see the flow of mana. Its very weak, and lethargic, and the colors tilt toward red and black more than green and blue.

I failed...

Alicia and Greta are dead...

A terrible rage comes from within me. Rage at myself for failing. Rage at the world for this injustice.
For a brief moment I wish to smash everything around me to make the pain go away.
I let out an anguish scream
but without a decent source of red mana to fuel my rage, the feelings collapse on themselves and I'm left feeling empty.

I gather myself up and start wandering. Mainly towards where I feel my stuff.
I'll try to pick a pebble up with psionics to see how well they work here.

Weak after your fury, you push yourself forward. The pebble floats into your hand.

You walk down an alley, up another one, pass several guys who are smoking cigarettes in the near dark. They have on short dark jackets, t-shirts, and khakis, and leather shoes. Past several garbage cans of metal, and then on to a wide straight street that leads you down under an intricately grilled ironwork awning.

Lights are more common here.

And you come to a set of tables on the sidewalk with a dozen or so people arguing amongst themselves. Your items are sitting on a table in front of them. They're clearly discussing your items.

The language seems French-ish.

I'll use psionics to lift and carry my laser rifle to myself.

Then I'll do the same thing with my zweihander.

Then I'll try to send my thoughts into their mind.
These are my items. Return them to me.

They look startled, and then they bring them to you.

One man asks...

'Le Bon Dieu?'

OOC: Because I had to....

Le = something like 'the' in French
Bon=... ???
dieu=sounds a bit like deus so maybe it is god...
I have no clue, I don't speak French

I look at the man that spoke to me funny.
I'll connect to his mind telepathically.
I'm sorry, I don't speak your language. What did you ask me?

For some reason I keep getting mistaken for a god. Anyway, No I am not a god.
Does anyone you know speak another language? One called English perhaps?

yeah. That is unusual. I can see why you would think that... oh, You know what I did to talk with you...Are things like speaking Mind to Mind common here?

the only one of those languages I've heard of is Latin. And I don't speak Latin.
Do you mind if we sit down for a bit and talk so you can get me up to speed with whats going on here?
Who are those arrogant pigs as you called them? What is that big floating thing over there?
I'm extremely new here.

Ah, no. There are tales of holy men, of ascetics, of the strange who had such abilities, but most think in these modern days of Science that such tales are myth.

Unfortunate, that. Perhaps you wish to go to the Fascist States of Italic?

Please. I will have my wife bring forth some wine, some cheese, some garlic bread.

With that, he gestures you to a chair, and sits down himself, and speaks quickly to his wife who nods, and scurries off shouting at the waiter. The others sit down as well, but keep their eyes on you.

The foreigners come to le Gallia, who sully her beauty and her traditions of reason and scholarship with their worship of their infidel Black Throned God. He sits on a throne made of black rock, and strives to eliminate beauty and glory by forcing us to submit to him. Ach. The young men of their Society are cruel. It is good we have the Brigade to protect us.

Oh. He is startled at the question.

That is Valhalla, and Yggdrasil which holds up Valhalla. It is where the gods live four miles up.

I don't care much for Fascists. What's the government here?

That's good, I like Cheese and Garlic Bread. And I get to try your wine.

Where do the foreigner come from?

What can you tell me about the Black Throned God? Sounds like something I would oppose.

What gods do you worship? What can you tell me about Valhalla And the gods that live there?

Ok let me make sure I guessing the geography correctly.
We're in Gallia. To the west is Hispania or Spain. to the east is Germania or Germany. to the south is Italic. and to the north west is a island called Albion or England.

The Fourth Republic. They are weak, preach democracy, but spend-spend, and never able to do anything.

The wine is a very good red tasting of summer and fruits, and the cheeses are several soft whites similar to Feta, along with some more piquant goat cheeses.

The Eastern Islands.

He is a new god. He tells his people to bring the whole world under his throne with the word of arguement, or the gift of gold, or the fist of fury, or the stick of beating of slaves. They hold slaves, even if its against the Fourth Republic, but the government does nothing.

We worship the Old Gods such as Odin and Thor and the river and land gods, but they sleep more so we spend more time worshipping the Great General. He is for Gallia.

Hispana, yes. Not Germania, but the Germanies, for there are dozens of small princedoms. And to the northwest is the Isle of the Saxons which they share with the Cymru.

The Eastern Islands... there are several possibilities I can think of.I wish you had a map to show me.

The Saxons... English is probably closest to their language.

Can you tell me more about the Great General?

It is easy enough. He yells at the waiter who enters the home behind the cafe' and hunts down a map. Spread out on the table, it reveals that the Indian Ocean is a vast land mass called the Hamivan Plateau, but west of it, India and the Mid-east and parts of Egypt don't exist except as several hundred islands, many of which are volcanic.

It could be, but I do not know the Saxon language. They are traders to the far corners of the world, and they learn the languages of the locals.

Oh, yes, he was the greatest general of my great-grandfather's time. My great, he fought for the General. But eventually, the General was conquered by a coalition of many nations, but rather than surrender, he dared the Siege Perilous and was gone for twenty years. But then he came back....not as a man, but as a god. Even now, he looks after Gallia, although the other gods restrict him from just smiting our enemies.

So those are the Eastern Islands

What is the Siege Perilous

And the Islands are poor land, but they have many sons, and so they send their sons to us to bedevil us.

Up the Great Tree, it is said, is the City of the Gods, and in there is a chair, which only the very brave, who are without fear, may dare to sit. If they sit, and survive, they can come back. Some come back as monstrous things, for this is the judgement of the Chair which none may overrule. Most come back not at all. But some come back as gods.

Sounds like something I should try If I don't find something to do here. I guess I should fly up to the City of the Gods and take a look at it.

What can you tell me about the mystics you mentioned before that had powers similar to mine?

Probably both.

Well I can't think of anything else to ask at the moment. Thank you for talking to me. Hmm...That was worth a favor. What would you like me to do for you?

Ah, I didn't catch your name. Allow my to introduce myself. I am called Magnus

Where do they recruit for the Threat Brigade?

I am Lemuel San Crontain, and I run the cafe' on the 12th Arrondissement. A pleasure to meet you Magnus. The Threat Brigade can be met at the Legion Stadium for football players.

He points it out. Its about a mile away, and seven story tall oval stadiums make for good destination points.

It's a pleasure to meet you too Lemuel. Thank you for all of your help.

I'll pick my things up and attempt to use telekinesis to fly to the stadiums.
If that doesn't work, I'll just walk to them.

It doesn't work. You walk there, and as you get close, you see small groups, sometimes just twos, but often fours, that casually stand at the streetcorners under the gas lights, and keep an eye on things. They seem to be well received by the locals who talk to them, and they talk back, but its clear they are on guard.

They notice you, but do nothing to impede your progress.

When you walk up to the stadium, you see large painted signs above arc lights on the ground that illuminate them. "Thet Brigadeur!" with a raised fist, and "Onvar Legion!". Most of the lights in the stadium are not on, but you do see a sign that seems to say that in two days hence 'le Legion batal Gerenadair'.

There is a group of well-dressed young man standing near the open entrance of a chain link fence into the stadium. And you see your first car. a heavy, blocky mass in black, parked on the sidewalk near them. Its running, and white steam is risinginto the air above it.

I contact one of their minds.

Excuse me. Is this the area for recruitment to the Threat Brigade?

The man stares at you with shock. He babbles at the others, and then one of them, with a sense of authority, steps forward, and touches his head, and points at your head.


Major Leclerc would speak with you mind to mind, stranger. I am Antoine, and yes, you are with the Threat Brigade, and in a place of recruitment. Thank you for coming.

Greetings Antoine. I am called Magnus. It is a pleasure to meet you. I'm glad I found this place. Well I'll Speak with Major Leclerc now.

I'll contact the guy who has the sense of authority around him.

Major Leclerc I presume? I am called Magnus. Lemuel San Crontain, who runs the cafe on 12 Arrondissement, recommended that I come and talk to you to see if I would like to join

Leclerc extends his hand in a greeting handshake.

Lemuel, even all of the 12th are good friends of ours. Magnus, you say? I have never conversed mind to mind. It is strangely agreeable.

I think I should speak to you of our goals, and then what support we can offer.

We stand for Gallia, as she is, and for her people.A land of reason and poetry, of good food, good wine, and good friends. A land where a man can talk to his friends of most anything except the seditious, and ...

He smiles...

....the prettiness of his mistress in front of his wife.

But the Fourth Republic, they do not have the courage to do so. Some of them support our cause, in secret, but in general, they are well-meaning dupes with some paid off traitors.

The men from the Eastern Islands come with atheir strange rules, their cruel god, their unGallic ways, and demand that we change in our own homeland! The outrage is enormous. We appeal to the gov't, but they are the ones sending ships to bring in the immigrants as they call them....be honest....invaders.

Do you have any questions so far?

I'll return his handshake.

Unfortunately I have to converse mind to mind because I do not know the language of Gallia. I hope to learn it quickly.

Hmmm. Wherever you go one thing always remains the same. Politicians are dumb. but these sound particularly dumb.
Yeah I do have a question. What can you tell me about the Eastern Island's strange rules and and Cruel God? I heard a bit from Lemuel, but I would like to know more.

He puts up a hand, and talks to one of his others who runs off. Then he turns back to you.

He laughs and repeats your comment to the others who also laugh.

They give those of their religion the right to rule over those who are not, such as the Sedren, the Gallians, the worshippers of the Older Gods, even the Ancien followers, few tho' they be. And they have no mercy for those who follow not any god.

If one is accused in their courts, one is not allowed to testify unless you are of their belief because 'all those who do not believe are liars, and may not speak before the Judge' which they take to mean even human judges.

One may only speak of what you believe or think in your own house, and if such is deemed 'dangerous' then not even then.

They forbid their people from reading our books.

Our sisters may marry them, but not in reverse. And indeed, our sisters, if they dissappear for a few days, often come back 'married' against their will. But these sisters, being women, are not allowed to speak in their defense.

They require those not of their ways to bow, and step back when they pass, which no true son of Gallia will do!

We are the Fist of the People! We are the Will of Gallia made manifest. Their god says that all must submit to him, by means fair, or devious and corrupting, or by force, and in this life. He gives his people the right to wage war, to lie, to kidnap, to murder in his name. Besides, he is not that bright. I've read their holy book, compared to even the least of the thinkers of Gallia, it is the scribbles of a plagiarizing toddler. And compared to the Tactics and Strategy Manual, it is gibberish.

I get steadily angrier as I listen to what the Easter Islands people do.

And your politicians are importing these barbarians? They Sound too dumb to live.
I would Like to help you. So I can oppose them.

Well, I like this man. If you wish we can do something tonight. Or...later.

He has one of the others bring a four foot long, brass studded club of formed wood. The brass studs go down in the clobbering end. There is a smoothed out handle toward the other end.

He has a couple of them give you a demo fight for you to watch of them going through some various methods of using the Threat Brigade's club.

Only those of the Brigade use this. So if you see someone with one who asks for help....

And a man comes up, a foreign man of pale blonde hair, along with one of Brigade who had left earlier.

This is Ja'ime of the Saxons. He is an accomplished master of languages, and a fair if irritable teacher. Try not to beat him up when he yells at you.

Ja'ime speaks, and while you don't understand a word he says, there is something to it, a music that is familar. He tries several others but the first is the closest.

I like this weapon.
If you like, I could give a demostration of some of the things I can do

After Je'lime tries a few languages I'll speak
"Does this sound like a language you know?"

If I'm right, then English should be similar to the native language of the Saxons

They are eager to see your demonstration. They are fighters, and curious minded.

He speaks back in the first tongue, and after a bit you and he recognize a number of words. At that point, he writes down a few words for you.  You see 'fyre' and he says something that sounds more like 'fee-ray'....

He gives you a few more examples and they are plain and blunt words which makes them easier to learn. Also, he has a way about him that is somehow easy to understand. But when your eyes drift to the side once....SMACK. He thumps you on the head with an open hand.

I'll demonstrate my Martial Arts and and what I can do with the zweihander. I'll ask them to set up three expendable ranged targets and demonstrate my Mind Laser and my laser rifle on them. I'll then attempt to pick up a lot of pebbles off the ground with TK and then launch them with the speed of bullets at the third target.
=======================

*Thump*
I'll say '"ow" in a deadpan tone
Hmmm I guess he doesn't like it when your attention drifts. Now why did I do that? Learning a new language is interesting.
I'll pay more attention to him

They take you out to the 'football' or soccer field. and there are targets already set up. Others are training, some on their own, and the less trained under direction in a group of twenty.

The mind laser does not work. The laser rifle does, and it gets their attention. The TK bullet stones work.

The instructor tries, but then gives it up as a bad deal, and soon you have about thirty Gallians surrounding you, all very enthused and curious, and friendly. They want you to do it again. They want to use the laser rifle themselves. Several of them want to take you on in a sparring match, Threat Brigade club vs. a wrapped for safety zwhiehander.

==========

A young lady in a flowing dress had strolled by with the kind of grace and confidence of someone who knows they are good looking and wants attention is what drew your mind away. Learning this Saxon is more like learning a far dialect of English. It is a very direct and plain language, and you remember that the invasion of William the Conqueror brought French to England and a lot of new words of the longer more complicated sort.

Kyll for Kill is Saxon in this universe. Murder is more likely Norman French import.

I'll use the broadcast project thoughts on them.
This is a Laser Rifle. It fires a high energy beam of coherent light. The damage it does to humans isn't pretty. a hit will rapidly convert the water at the hit site to steam and cause a steam explosion. If that doesn't kill them the rapid rise in body temperature will incapacitate them and probably kill them. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on your point of view., the designers of this weapon didn't understand warfare. They only gave the weapon ten shots and made it impossible to reload in a timely manner. It's ether spend several minutes changing out the battery or wait all day for the Sun to recharge it. and I don't have extra batteries. This weapon is unique here and I don't have the skill to repair it if it breaks.

I'll test my psionic Armored skin technique to see if it works here.

If it does, I'll take them up on a sparring match.
===================================
I should be able to learn it pretty quickly then.

</quote>
<quote Tadeusz at 2013.04.30 06:56>
Having problems with my PC.

They are very enthused with the laser, and wonder if it was meant as a weapon of war. The armored skin technique does not work. Your demo of skill wins respectful as among equals applause. After that, they get out the wine and crackers and talk turns to theoretical jibber jabber.

You do seem to pick up a good bit of Saxon in the hour you study that night.

The leader asks if you would be interested in a mission tomorrow night.

Over on the 17th Arrondisement, there is a bakery whose owner is less reliable than your friend on the 12th. He's being threatened by the Society so instead of asking for help, he's helping them. We are going to  put him on trial, judge him, and then track down some of the Society members nearby to make sure they know to leave him alone.

When you hear him say 'judge' you get a flash of his intentions. He figures to cut off a finger of the baker. And when he says 'make sure' well that is pretty clear, he intends to beat the crud out of as many as he can get his hands on. Broken bones a plus.

I mentally recoil at the idea of cutting a mans finger off.

Is it really necessary to cut the baker's finger off? And who are the Society you plan on beating up?

He blinks at you looking faintly astonished.

He helped them. He let them buy food from his shoppe. We think he let some sneak through his shoppe and out back when we were hunting them. Its probable he's told them some of our secrets.

He agrees.

The next night, you're off to get into a fight. You head down into the city, with a dozen Threat Brigade members, and then you see twenty guys in black leather jackets drift out from alleys around your group. They're armed with short axes and butcher knives.

You also see two policemen, and they see the developing fight and turn around and make themselves scarce.

I draw my Zweihander.
I then use TK lift a bunch of pebbles and launch them into the enemy crowd.

Then I would charge the nearest enemy with a downward chop with the zweihander.

You sting several and knock one down with a pebble strike to his nose. Charging zwiehander in hand, you see one step forward and swing his short axe sideways into your ribs while you cut him in half from crown to breastbone. His axe loses force and is not terribly sharp and you feel a sharp pain in your side but no wetness.

The next couple try to circle you on oposite sides and you slice one's belly open.

The fight has begun in ernest, but the clangor and clamor of the battle seems oddly distant to you as you focus in on the two (one steps up to replace the injured one) man duel you're in. The guy to your right is thinking about throwing a butcher knife at your head. The guy to your left is moving closer, holding his axe in a defensive position which could rapidly change.

I'll lift the one that's planning on throwing the butcher knife with TK and then charge him and slice him while he can't dodge.

I'll then switch stances with the Zwiehander. widening my grip by holding it at the pommel and the blunt section near the cross guard.
I'll then use the zweihandes superior reach to make spearlike thrusting attacks on the other guy

You lift the knife thrower to be, and he considers throwing but decides against it, and then you slice him up. Shifting stance you wheel about as the other comes at you, and he impales himself in the heart on your first jab.

And then no one is coming at you.

And your concentration widens. You're suprised to see the street littered with injured and the dead. Most are Society, but a few are Threat Brigade. There are a few Society, but they are in full blown flight, and a second later around a corner and gone.

The leader conveys that its time to leave, and the distant police sirens reinforce that message.

I'll follow the leader.

Low whoops, and excited chatter which is quieted up by the leader as you and the others dodge down alleys and cut katty corner across streets, and within a quarter of a mile you've lost them utterly. If they were even seriously chasing you.

Then he heads over to the baker who invites everyone in, but looks frightened. He does not look like a dangerous man.

I'll connect to the baker's mind to hear his thoughts and go though his memories to see what he has done.

He did as alleged, but he did so from fear of the Society.

I'll contact the leader with telepathy.

He did as you said. But he was motivated by fear of the Society.Which suggests that some of the common people don't think that the Threat Brigade can protect them from the Society. It might be more effective at wining the support of the people if you let him off with a warning and tell him that he can contact the Threat Brigade if the Society bothers him again.

The leader looks to the side, and purses his lips. He nods his head.

Magnus, how about we set you up as a local precinct guard. You'd be responsible for three square blocks, and could recruit helpers. And if you get in over your head, you can send a messenger for help.

As this areas Guard Commander, you'd be responsible for what happens and what punishments are dealt out.

He gives you a thoughtful look.

Hmmm. I wouldn't be opposed to that. But I think it should wait until I'm more familiar with Gallia and her language.
Still. This Baker needs to be shown why the Society needs to be opposed and the consequence of helping them.
Let me deal with the Baker. I think I can do something that will hit closer to his heart than mere physical injuries.</i>

I connect my mind to the baker's

<i>Greatings Baker. I am Magnus.
The First thing you are going to do is tell me what you know about the Society.

How many times have they forced you to help them?
Could you have alerted the Threat Brigade and have them help you?

Thrice, no four times. Ah, well, you see...and then leaking through...yes, but it was so small, and I was scared, and, and, and that guy I told him of, did nothing that one time...its hard to be a small business owner. I don't have time or men to guard my door.

um, blink, blink, yes.

I'll contact the commander.

I just found out that he alerted a Threat Brigade member about the Society forcing him to help them.
But that Threat Brigade member did nothing to help. That doesn't sound right, Since it is the Threat Brigade's job to protect the people of Gallia from the Society.

I think that it would be a good idea to hold off on his punishment.
One: He is more likely to tell you who he talked to so that we can start investigating.
Two: If we don't punish him he is more likely to help us set up an ambush for the Society here later. |||| even if only one shows up we can capture him and then let me go though his mind to find out the secrets of the Society.

I like the way you think. He uses the pun on purpose, and you can feel the grim enjoyment of your plan in his mind.

The baker readily agrees, glad to be let off the hook. And his wife comes out with a plate full of ham and goat cheese croissants, freshly baked and buttered for the Threat Brigade and of course, you.

"Thanks, merci, monsieur." She says to you, bowing.

I'll enjoy the food.

I'll nod to her and connect to her mind to say
Your welcome.

She jumps a good six inches in the air, and then bows after she recovers her poise.
Can you hear me now, monsieur demon? She seems a bit interested.

second...and you realize you're in Gaullia....where bedjumping is an Olympic sport....

I chuckle.
Heh. That the first time I've been called a demon.
I can assure you That I'm no such thing.

I'm not interested in her because she is married.

She shrugs with the clear meaning of 'you don't know what you're missing' and 'ah, an uncultured one'.

The local culture seems inquisitive, thoughtful, and cheerfully hypocritical along with being long civilized. But it still retains the strength to defend its way of life from invaders so its not that decadent.

One man's demon is another man's god. What matters to us is not your nature but what blessing you bring on our house.

heh. Well I guess I am a demon to the barbarian invaders of Gallia.
My current goal it to get rid of them

perhaps that is what you need to be, a figure of fear from the darkness, a name that one dares not speak lest one summons the Unspeakable....

And somehow you hear a Batman movie theme playing....

That's not my style generally but...That sound like it's a really good idea. I just have to figure out how to go about it...

I can't help haveing a side thought
Huh? Where is that music coming from?

Its coming from your memory. And suddenly you see Batman walking down the street, black armor and dark, almost mad, menace. You can tell he's not real, but then he nods at you as he's walking.

You feel as if a door in your brain opened, and let out various possibilities. Indeed, you see a blonde haired school girl in a blue dress run up to you, grab your hand, and point to an ephemeral hole in the street...

I'll ask the bakers wife
Do you see that?

I point to the ephemeral hole in the street

See what? She stares at you, and then back at the street. Her manner is perplexed.

ok... Only I can see it then... so ether I messed up with Psionics or something is messing with me.

I walk up near the hole and try to psionicly force everything from my mind back into it. Being careful not to let anything else into it.

It closes easily enough, with Batman diving into the hole, and the little blonde girl doing so as well. But you feel as if you have more space upstairs, in your brain, than you did before.

Vlad Tepes, the Dragonform, was a figure of terror to these worshippers of the Black Throne. The baker's wife adds. Her husband, the baker, gets annoyed with her attempting to flirt with you, and drags her off. He talks to her quickly from ten yards away and she affects innocence and explains the innocentn part of the conversation.

The leader of the local Threat Brigade grins knowingly at you.

The woman of our town are lovely, and have the morals....well, they don't know how to spell that word, lets say. But there is also Great Roland the Hero, with his horn. Roland Roncevalles. He went throught he Siege Perilous and vanished. They would fear him coming back.

</i>

<i>So ether some of the things from my mind didn't come back or my mind got reorganized and made more room...

I reply to the local Threat Brigade leader
I can see that.
... It would be easier to adopt the mantel of a Legend that already fills them with terror...
But I would want to see if I can make my own legend. Something like ... The Black Knight...
heh not very original eh?

the Black Knight to oppose the Black Throne....hmmm.....you could claim to have a sword made of the same substance as the throne, or that you're a rebel lord who used to servethe Throne, or that you are some sort of deathless sorcery powered Thing....

We could arrange some tricks like blowing up a temple of the enemy and having you appear in the midst of the wreckage like you caused such when you burrowed up from the Darkness....the enemy are pretty superstitious and easily led to believe in supernatural causes before even considering natural ones.

Why not combine two of them? Hmmm. I like the idea of the Deathless Sorcery Powered Thing. What is the Black throne made of I wonder...
We're going to need to get me a suit of armor like the old knights had...

I like the way you think. I should be able to further confuse matters with the supernatural things I can actually do.

You would have to climb the Tree and ask the gods that....although there are some very good logicians in the City who might be able to deduce it. As to old armor, I know just the place.

He takes you to Le Grande Museume even though its late at night, and after giving a password, an old, white-haired curator lets you two in. This man, being highly educated can manage Saxon.

He shows you the Hall of the Knights with its twenty-five sets of armor, and then grinning, takes you back to the back storerooms where there is another hundred set that they simply don't have room to display.

"If it help Gallia, take one, take two."

"Thank you"

I'll look for the most menacing suit of armor I can find and see if it fits me.

You find one that has a number of seemingly jagged edges and will cast nice scary shadows at night that will fit. Its not the scariest as there are a couple more so, but it fits.

"King Gerard the, err, hmmm, there is no word for it, the Grage. Its an old word, out of use. It meant terrifying, fierce, loving battle. His grandfather was a Viking." The old and slightly bent curator says examining the armor.

....I think the old king would approve....

Second....

"This is Sir Ren's armor. He made it to scare the superstitious inhabitants of Polackia. And this is the Doge of Venice's ceremonial armor. He went to war with us, and well, a great storm came up, and he and most of his ships went to the bottom. We recovered the armor, but fish had already eaten the Doge."

Those are #2 and #1 in looking scary armors, but neither fits that well.

s

"I'm going to be fighting in it. So I would like the armor of King Gerard.
... This will work. Can you show me how to put this on? and adjust it to fit better?"

If he helps me put on the armor, I'll talk to him while he does it
"What can you tell me about King Gerard? How long ago did he rule?"
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He helps you put it on, and adjust the straps. A couple straps are rotted, but he assures you that is easily fixed.  Clanking you go over to the wide workbench, and he cuts out new leather straps using the old straps as a model. At first it seems to fit well enough, but he keeps on fussing with it until its almost just right.

"Your calves are about a half inch longer than Gerards, and your shoulders, beg pardon about an inch narrower."

It does not clank nearly so much now. Its more of a continuous rustle.

As he works, he talks.

"Gerard was son of the Duke of Yrnr who was son of Greytooth the Bloodhand, a true Viking terror. He burnt several cities and tried to take Byzantium once, but the Emperor drove him off.  Gerard himself fought the Usurper Prince of Varia for the crown of Gallia, and despite being outnumbered won. He then organized the nation to make the nation more unified, and put down two rebellions by dukes, and built the port of Marseilles, and he engaged in a five year campaign against the pirates which so diminished their power that for ten years after his death boats could travel without soldiers on board down to Espana. He is said to have killed the Duke of Marnimous in hand to hand combat as a way to settle the dispute between them, and in the famous battle of Averimont, he broke four swords, had three horses killed from under him, and was stabbed twice while still winning the battle. He ruled from 5242 to 5263 AC, and died of pneumonia, we think in the very hard winter of that year."

"Close enough to work"

after the history I'll say
"Interesting"

once he is done fixing the armor.
I'll stand up and try some of my martial arts moves to see how they feel in the armor.

You are slower, but not by much. Indeed, the old man tells you how in his youth he could put on another armor and do handstands and backflips in it.

"And lad, a good armor. It makes brave."

"Yes.
Hmm... Now I need to think how to color this armor black.
I guess I should try out psionic transmutation.
hmm...I need a piece of iron to try it out on since I don't want to mess up the armor."

He shows you an iron bar, similar to rebar. He also shows you a skillet, made of a heavy black iron. And lastly, he pulls out a dagger which is solid black, and it feels strange to your hand.

Looking at it in chi, you see a representation of the gordian knot, but made of metal wire in a ball of flame.

"This Dagger feels odd. What can you tell me about it?"

That's the archetype sight. What do I see with the chi flow sight?

"It was found in a caveman dig. The Ran-Sclerc Caves were home to the outlaws driven from the Vividoc Cities of southern Italia, very ancient, going back to 1500 AC.  himself was the great-great-great grandson of the First Man, if the Palmetto Scroll is accurate. Anyways, in the caves we found a lot of famous drawings including the curious one that many scholars think is a fraud from the last century, the Metal Man Slaying the Enemies of the Ran."

He finds a book, and it shows a giant metal man with lines extending from his hands killing attackers while sstanding in front of the outnumbered group he is defending. There is another picture of them offering a female to the Metal Man, but he turns her down, although he gives her a something, but the detail is missing.

In chi sight it glows a brilliant Red and White interspersed together, and with the White holding the Red in.

What does the metal man look like?

Hmmm.... Using white to bind red into an object and focusing the red into making the object stronger...White and red are normally diametrically opposing as representations of order and chaos. to bind them into an object without then blowing up in your face would be hard... for some reason this all sounds familiar but I can't quite place my finger on it...

"Has anything else like this dagger been found?
I think I have a good idea on how this dagger was made.
I guess I'll test out my idea later...
It is commonly accepted that there was mystics and ascetics who has powers of the mind... But what do scholars think about Psionics and Magic?"

I'm going to experimentally draw in some chi and then some red mana. to see how well they come.

OOC: heh. it's a bit odd to see a world a few thousand years after another player has been in it. Nice!

Looks kinda metal skeletonish to metal armorish, but with a tint of a red eye....

It does sound familiar....and yes, your logic as to what is happening seems sound to you. This dagger should be extremely durable, and have a highly superior cutting edge although not at the level of being supernaturally sharp.

"No, nothing like it. A few tests have been run on it, and it seems to be iron, but it shows no sign of melting at iron temperatures. That was more than a century ago. Since then its been largely ignored as Persistent Enigmas tend to be. People don't like what they cannot understand, especially in this country with its belief in the Power of Reason." The curator says and sniffs. The TBrigade leader laughs.
"Trying to restart an old arguement again, eh, monsieur?"

"An interesting question, but not my field. Ummm, Lady Antonia, yes, she might know. Very gifted. Her family goes back to the days when the Old Gods ruled more powerfully."  He strokes his chin. "Few others would know...there are so few with the powers of mind, you know, that to find Magic and Mind intertwined would be rare."
"Logically, it should be possible." The TBrigade leader says. And then he starts, and so do you as you realize you can understand what he's saying.

OOC: Yeah, 'tis fun. Thanks.

Second....holding the dagger you feel the chi flow in as normal, but the red mana flows in noticeably easier.

ah Athena... i hope my performance in my last world didn't disappoint you too much....
I guess the question is "Is my logic as to what is happening seem sound to you."
... What is familiar about it to you?

"... I understand what you are saying now, Major Leclerc. And yes. It is possiable for one person to use both Magic and psionics.
you already know I can talk mind to mind and do a few other tricks with psionics."

I'll draw a very controlled amount of red mana though the dagger and form a fire ball at the tip of my fingers on my right hand.

"hmm... this dagger makes some of my magic a lot easier to do. May I have it?"

And with this dagger you're able to actually do magic. You can feel a smothering blanket around the Earth, holding magic down so that its very hard to do, but with the dagger, it seems not to notice you.

My warrior, you fought well. And even though the young women were sacrificed, the Earth was saved from the Titans. Even now, the maidens disport themselves in the Fields of Elysium by the Fountains of the Blessed. All is well.

The Major's eyes widen, and then he nods affirmatively.

"Yes, please. It does no one any good sitting on a shelf in a back room of a museum. "

I'm glad that they are happy in Elysium... But I'm still sort of depressed that I couldn't save them.

I wounder if the armor will have the same effect as the dagger when I turn it into the same material...

"Thank you... Can you make a sheath for the dagger? I would like to be able to carry this with me in public..

Hmmm... I'll need somewhere to live and set up a shop to to work on the armor and turn it black like the dagger."

"mmm, yes, I think I can. I have some spare leather around here." Twenty minutes of measuring, cutting, stamping, and sewing later, he is finishing up by putting the design you want on the leather sheathe and then dyeing the sheathe the color you like.

"I'll put some oil into the leather, and you'll need to oil it once a week for a couple months, and then less often thereafter." The curator says putting deeds to words.

The Threat Brigade leader is impressed, and asks for his own sheathe for a hideout knife.

The Curator thinks, stares out a bit, and then whispers to the Threat Brigade leader. Then the Curator nods and turns to you.

"If you don't mind being a Janitor during the day, why, I can get you access to the back rooms here at the Museum, and we have a small forge and other equipment....mostly for repairing armor, but ....and we have sleeping quarters here too."

I would have asked him to dye it a dark brown color and put a simple spiral design on it.

"Yes... That would work. It will work well. Plus I've always wanted to learn how to repair and make armor.
Heh. No one will suspect that the Janitor at the Museum is actually the Black Knight.
If it is ok with you two. I would like to explore the city tomorrow and get to know it better. Then I can start work here the day after tomorrow.
In order to turn the armor into the same material as the dagger. I think I'll need a source of white mana. Which is normally found in cities, planes and other orderly places. normally i would get it from the city... but your city seem more heavily aligned to red and black. which is ok since I also needed a source of red mana to convert the armor."
Anyway That's the reason I need to explore the city."

The next day you step out, and touch the dagger, and instantly notice a very large supply of white mana. Up the giant tree growing out of the City to the land above.....the tree is very green, and the land above is very white.

Well... I found my source of white mana... Let's see if I can draw on it with the dagger. I should try the green too...
Now I just need to find a source of blue and I will have access to all the colors.

I'll try to draw on the white mana and the green mana.

You draw down white fire from the sky until your dagger is glowing white with a furious brilliance. And then you notice that of those watching you, they are being knocked hither and yon, roughly, brutally by some invisible force.

And a voice out of the air cries.

"What are you doing, magician?"

Did the voice come from op in the sky or from one of the people being thrown around?

I'll look with my chi sight to try to see what is throwing them around.

"Drawing White Mana."

I'll stop drawing on the white mana.

It came from the air about twenty feet in front of you. The empty air glows red and gold with mana in your chi sight.

I'll switch over to archetype sight to get a better idea of what it is.

Do I get the feeling that it was the one throwing people around?

"Who are you and What are you?"

OOC: The website has eaten this before.

"I am the bound Ifrit, Fayedi, Lord of the Southern Wind."

You see a black lamp in archetype sight.

"Magician, you are instructed by your superiors in the Arts to not use the godly magics."

"Oh? Who are my superiors suppose to be?
Furthermore I'm not calling on a god when I draw mana, therefore I'm not using godly magic now.
Also. Stop throwing those people around."

"The same who bound me, Magician. And you may not be calling on a god, but you use the Light of the Gods which they use, and this is forbidden. And what matter these transient beings? These mayflies? I have seen a hundred generations rise and fall, what is one more or less of them to me?"

"Who bound you? Why Is it Forbidden?

...They matter to me. And I would suggest that you listen to my command."

I'll start drawing in more white mana
If it tries to attack, I'll form a huge shield out of white mana and block it

"Magician, most of the gods sleep in the Gods' Country up Yggdrasil overhead. Do you think that happened by accident?

"Obviously not. But I'm starting to wonder what kind of gods these are if mortal magi can bind them to sleep."

Athena. What is going on here?

bumpitty bumpitty

Who would trust an Ifrit?
I was already preparing to war with the Black Throne. But Thanks for warning me about the mages.

I'll use all the white mana I've gathered to cast Curse of Chains
"Light Form thyself into chain to bind my enemy. Curse Of Chains!"

Since the chains are made from magic, they should be able to bind an immaterial being like an ifrit.
I'm trying to hold it in place up in the air. I don't want to hit anyone else with what I'm doing next.

I can't let it escape and tell it's superiors about me. so I need to destroy it now.
The question is 'how does one harm an Immaterial being like an ifrit?'. Well I've harmed souls before with banefire. Let's see if it can harm spirits.

I'll draw in red and black mana up to the limitations the torc imposes on me and use all of it for the next spell.

"Come forth o Flames of Utter Destruction.
The Fire that consumes all until nothing remains.
Heed my Command and obey.
Form thyself into a Sphere of annihilation
Banefire Conflagration!"

I'm trying to concentrate the area of effect to a few feet around the ifrit.

The chains flare into brilliant, burning light arcing from your hands to bind the surprised, and then howling Ifrit. A sudden wind comes, hot and dry, and you cast the second spell....

For a long moment there is nothing, and then you hear a Voice that is Destruction and Fire, andyour mind can't comprehend, can't hear, but you KNOW what He said.

Lord Ares has spoken and he said to the Ifrit.

"Die."

The world shakes, and the Ifrit is gone.

And then the wind catches up to you, hits you, and bears you skyward flipping end over end above the heights of the buildings...

I'll draw in red mana and manifest Firy wings to fly

And you're flying in the face of a strong, hot wind that blows you to the far edge of Paris before letting up. Your wings are fading, so you land.

... I showed my powers to the public... This will make thinks harder... hopefully they didn't get a good look at me.

I'll land and start walking back to the museum. I should have left a few things there to feel my way back.
While I walk I'll feel out the mana around me to see what I notice about it.

When I draw in chi, does it come in normally or is it really slow like drawing mana without the dagger?

You are able to vector in toward the museum, but as you walk down the street, you get hard looks. And then you turn the corner, and you see a barricade of blocks, garbage cans roped together, and a mass of rusted wire blocking the road. There are four young guys behind the blockade, and near the makeshift gate through it.

"Hey rich boy." One yells. It takes you a second to realize they mean you. "Come here." It does not sound like much of an invite, more like a command. The buildings look unkempt, not well taken care of, and there is litter in the streets. Their is a pole with a chair of ebony wood affixed to the top of it, by the gate.

As you slowly (really slow)draw in chi, your sight shows the miniature 'chair' to be glowing with an ominous black light.

Do I have my Zwiehander with me? I don't think I would leave it at the museum.

Hmmm. Probably followers of the Black Throne god judging from that ebony chair.
This represents a unparalleled opportunity to gather Intel on the Black Throne.

I'll start filling myself up with red mana. I'm trying to do it subtly so that i can get in with a full charge.

I'll approch them.
"Hello? What can I help you with?"

(Sorry it took so long to post I've been exhausted with real life.I feel better now so I should post more regularly.)

You have the Zwiehander.

The chair is doll sized, and you can feel it broadcasting feelings of fear and a desire to be compliant even if dishonesty is required.
But, there is nothing more to it, which makes sense as magic is very hard to come by or near impossible in this world, so only the most basic forms of magic are available (unless you have a dagger that cuts through the Mages' ward spell).

You fill yourself up. They don't notice.

"Are you insulting me?" A asks. B laughs with a sneer. C says 'Take off your shoes, your wallet, and your watch.' D. says something in another language that you don't know but its clearly about your sword as he's the only one that seems to have noticed it, and he's got a worried look on his face.

What weapons are on them?

I'll start reading they're minds to find out what they are saying in the other language and thinking.

"Come now. Is that anyway to treat someone who want's to find out more about The Black Throne you obviously worship?
Now tell me about the god you worship."

I'm going to use the chi that I gathered before and twist it into the same pattern for charmspeak that I seen in my last world.
I'm wanting them to want to tell me about their god.

Num-chuks and a curved, one edged dagger called a jambiya. They carry the chuks on their shoulders, and the jambiya in their colored belt sashes.

D says....yes, you fools, he has a great sword of the barbarians.

D is thinking of the bloodshed that sword could unleash, and A is thinking of how he could run up to you, and slice your throat before the sword got out. B is not thinking. C is wishing for another turkey roll since he's hungry. None of them strike you as particularly literate or all that bright.

"Infidel barbarian, we don't worship the Throne. We are not idolaters. We worship the Power that sits on the Throne." The charmspeak takes effect and you see them turn more friendly. "He made the World, but the old gods, they rebelled against him, and took his power. Not really, but he let them think so to test his people. And now he has come back to his Faithful and will reward them with dominion over the whole world, the treacherous gods, the false godlings like the infidels of this land worship, this Great General of theirs. We will each have eight wives, and a hundred slaves of the infidels and will summon the gods to do our will."

"Do you know what plans The Black Throne God has for this City and country?
Can I read the holy book for The Black Throne God?
Are there more people that worship the Black Throne God in the buildings behind you?"

Red mana is often associated wit speed. Since the action oriented color of red want's to go FIRST and act NOW.
I'm going to set up a red mana pattern within myself that will infuse me with the speed of red mana when I activat it.
I'm taking my time to set it up (3 minutes) but I can activate it instantly and then it gives me a minute of super speed.
I'm using half of my stored red mana to do this
I'm not expecting them to attack just yet but I want to be prepared when they do.
Although it wouldn't surprise me if they attacked sooner.

"Yes, He will place himself above all other gods, and he will force them to show him respect. He will give to his worshippers women and slaves, and make us lords in this land.

Of course, you can read his holy words. We can take you to a Learned One now, if you like.

This whole section of this City belongs to the Black Throne."

You set up your mana pattern. (give it a name). You have 1@2 skill in it.

You realize they are not likely to attack you now that they seem to consider you a possible recruit. In fact, they offer you some honey cake.

I would call the spell 'Promise of Speed'.

I'll take some of the honey cake from them and eat it.

"Thank you for the cake. Can you take me to one of your Learned Ones?"

Two of them take you, leaving the other two at the roadstop. The two show small signs, and encouraging arm movements as they lead you down one street, and up another alley. Sitting at the door of a two story building are several larger and tougher men, who seeing you, leap aggressively to their feet. But your guides calm them with claims that you are a 'seeker of the Great One' and only wish to speak to the Learned One.

One of the men, their leader you think, calms his men, and then approaches you with a smile.

He explains in halting Gallic that he is very sorry but he must search you for weapons before you can enter the Learned One's house.

"I'm wearing a Greatsword and a dagger. Openly I might add. What else could I hide on my person that is more dangerous than them?
Oh well. You can search me for more weapons. But you are not going to disarm me."

Loud outraged denials from some are met by soothing remarks by others as they discuss whether to allow you to pass from the outer room into the inner room where the Learned One holds court. After a minute of intense discussion, with young men getting up in each other's faces to shout at each other...

You note how the cultures are very different between these Thrones and the native Gallians. The Gallians would rely primarily on cool reason, and the witty jab while these fellows employ reason like a club, and yell...a lot.

"Let him in." A tired voice from beyond stills the discord, and the disputers step back to clear a passage for you. Its narrower than you'd like, with them brushing your shoulders on each side, but that seems normal for them as you're in a room that would be comfortable to you with four or five people, and they have thirteen in here.

You go on in, and see an older man, with fine robes, and gold tassels sitting on a green jade enamelled throne with one black leg.

He points to a chair across the small table from him, and puts up a thick book to the side.

"Please join me for honey cakes and lemon water. And we can discuss things."

I sit down.
"Thank you. It would be good to discuss things.
Prehaps we should start with the history of the world."

He smiles.

"Ah, a clever sort. You think to entrap me by pointing out the Lord of the Black Throne is new. But he is not. He Created the world, and his enemies betrayed him, and stole it from him, and now he has come back."

He tells you how the world began as a pear on Yggdrasil, and expanded outward until it was a world. And then the life was began upon this world by the Earliest Gods, and they were later replaced by the Pantheons of the Now Sleeping Ones, and now we have the so-called New Gods, some of them, like the Great General are genuinely new, but others like the Throne are very old indeed. Or so he says.

"There is a lot more not covered, but the Earth is almost seven thousand years old and such a great amount of events cannot be easily conveyed in one meeting."

I smirk at him calling me a clever sort.
"I see.
You say that The Black Throne God made the world and that the Earliest Gods made live on it...
So, what was he doing during the time of the Earliest Gods and the Pantheons of the Now Sleeping Ones?
By the way does the Black Throne God have a personal name. Just a Title seems a bit distant."

As I listened to him explain the history of the world I would be gathering Chi.
While I speak. I whould weave the chi into Charmspeak to make him more inclined to answer me.

"He was escaping from an other dimensional prison called by the ancient Greeks, Tartarus. He had built it to hold Chaos Lords and Beasts from the Outer Dark and such like things like the Jotunn. But as I said, he was betrayed. One of his servants took his throne from him."
He is influenced by the charmspeak, but only to a degree as he's a smart man.

He says that one does not use the name of The Throne as such was disrespectful.

He goes on to explain the doctrine and history of the world, and you can see a couple things pretty clearly. One this world really is the age he says it is. Two, he spends so much effort defending what is weak and lame that its hurt his mental powers, Three, that his people have a great advantage over the locals in that the local Gaullian males have to defend themselves against each other in competition, their women as the Gaullian women scheme against their males, and against the immigrants. The immigrants on the other hand just need te worry about crushing the natives so they can lord it over them later.

"The Gaullian women run their society. They use their powers and wiles to make men fight over them, and to make men waste time with poetry. So even though I know the inhabitants of this land are smart, they are not wise."

"Which servant took the Trone from him?"

"That treacherous magician Wotan One-Eye. Called himself a god after that too."

"I see.
Does The Black Throne God have any Favourite servants?"

After he answers that question I will say
"Hmmm... It's getting a bit late. I better start heading home.
Thank you for talking with me. This discussion has been most enlightening.
Have a good day."

Well. Let's see if they try to stop me.

"Death, The Sand, and the Nine-Headed Dragon." He answers. He then opens up his book, and shows you a small bit that says the same, although in more metaphoric language. He then shows you that 'He who has nine tongues' is another name in another place for the Nine Headed Dragon.

He pauses as you make to leave, gives you a long, considering look, and then blesses you. You pass on your way with a handwritten note that lets you through several more barricades, and down some fairly squalid streets without incident. And thus you reach the Gallian controlled part of the City, and take a ride home.

As I ride back to the museum in the Gallian controlled par of the city I think to myself.

Death, The Sand and The Nine Headed Dragon... those sound like strong supernatural beings...
Fortunately I'm not expected to fight them directly in my current state.
No. I'm going to sow Fear and Terror into the hearts of their worshipers.
I'm going to Break their will to fight here in Gallia.
I'm going to be a figure of such horror that they wouldn't dare speak my name lest they summon me.

I surpress my feral grin and school my face. Can't let the driver think that he's got a lunitic in his back seat.

There are other problems that need my attention too.

One: I can't draw White mana without drawing the attention of the Mages. Therefore I can't do the long ritual to make the Armor black because they will interrupt me at the start of the ritual...Slight change of plans.instead of making the armor into black iron I can try to make the armor into Elemental Iron. I have all the necessary red mana right here... I'll have to do any enchanting I would want to do before hand because Elemental Iron doesn't let my magic though...Hmmm he Blood Knight shouldbe about as scary as the Black Knight...hmmmm... Maybe I'm being too hasty. I'll have to consiter this matter more.

Two: I need to figure out the spell the Mages used to limit magic throughout the world. And Break it.

Three: I need to figure out how the |||| the Mages caused the gods to sleep. And then Wake them up.
... Wait a minute. The gods are not totally asleep.Athena has communicated with me and Ares has destroyed that Ifrit...
What is going on here?
What do you think, Athena?

Our relationship with you is based on the 'contract' we had before, and it continues in this world according to the rules of the Worldmaker, who is not this piddling Black Throne, however, were we manifested in this world, by you teaching someone here of our faith, we would have to manifest as avatars of ourselves with an Object of Power, for that is the Worldmaker's rules. And the Gallian's Great General is not asleep either.

These avatars are greatly limited forms of the gods. So much so that a great mage could conceivably overwhelm one.

The contract is what you believe about your relationship with your gods. The gods are much greater than you understand. We adapt ourselves to our followers within limits. But there are more limits placed on us, by our worshippers.

You Know your supposition about worshippers times innate power is correct. Although there is another wrinkle, the Worldmaker put a total limit on power.

You, unbound perhaps, but you also might destroy much of the world. It is a desperation play, and things are not anywhere near that bad yet.

You wish to know of my rituals? A wise request.

OOC: Trying to keep this world's rules in line...1. Magic of a high order exists, but its blocked by a Seal of Creation master spell by the Order of Mages. 2. Certain psi powers freely exist, but are most uncommon in the populace. 3. A few devices exist that obviate the SoC, such as your black iron dagger. 4. The locals belief about magic differ from yours. Both beliefs differ from the knowledge of the Gods. 5. The Worldmaker limits gods to avatars. 5. Sleepytime spell affects most deities, variably. 6. You are able to directly commune with your gods. This is a conundrum. 8. Magic exists in the city of gods overhead, up Yggdrasil.9 The Black Throne is a former Order of Mages .

Then hie you to the Siege Perilous

OOC:I think the Conundrum is simple to solve
Athena controls the Avatar from where ever she lives in the supernatural.
The Mages Managed to make the Avatar go to sleep. But Athena herself is still awake.
I'm communicating directly to Athena or possibly another Avatar of her.
The Natives pray to the Avatar by default and never thought to try to pray to Athena Above Athena
... Maybe I need to write down my thoughts more fully some where else...


Hie? What does... I see. It means something like to hurry.
Am I allowed to fly up to it or do I have to climb?

I'll tell the Driver
"There has been a change in my plan. Will you drive me to Yggdrasil?"

OOC: That seems to make sense.

There is no answer.

"Wi, we will get you, there, seigneur." He whips you this way and that, down back alleys and darting across wide roads, to find more alleys. And with a grind of transmission, you're there. Yggdrasil grows out of the ground, surrounded by a clear park. At first glance, its a hundred yards thick; at second glance, you're not sure.

There are some young folk playing a ball game in its lower branches.

"Thank you sir."

I'll start climbing Yggdrasil.
If I fall I'll use the red mana in me to form wings and glide back to Yggdrasil.

You touch it, and a hum leaps up your arms, and green manna flows into you. You smell buttercups, and a spring breeze carries the buzz of bees to your ears. Climbing it is easy as the trunk is corrugated enough for plenty of footholds.

Getting up a hundred feet, you get laughing requests to 'join in treeball'.

I'll carefully monitor the inflow of green mana.
Does it attempt to push more mana into me after it fills me of to the limit imposed by he Torc?

I'll smile to them but shake my head no to decline their requests.
I'll continue climbing.

It fills you up to about a third of that level, and it just makes you feel good.

Three hundreds yards up, you pass a sign tied to the tree.

"The Governing Authorities of the City recommend you do not proceed further."

Being a Big Hero, you proceed anyways.

Six hundred yards up, and you're just tired....

I stop for a minute to cast a spell.
Green is the power of Life and Wild Nature. It should be fairly simple for it to remove my fatigue.
"Power of Life and Nature, Restore my Strength."
I'll Direct the Green Mana around my body to where it is needed.

I'll continue climbing

The spell removes your fatigue, and you climb higher. Just before you get to the lower clouds, you see a decking about a hundred yards up, and you almost get scorched as a mugful of coffee goes sailing past your right arm. Looking up, you can see movement through the cracks in the decking. And there is a Gallian flag hanging from the decking, fluttering in the breeze.

Huh? What's that doing here? Something to do with the Great General?


I'll climb up to have a look a what is on the deck.

You see four Gallian soldiers who look quite surprised to see you interrupt their wine and cards as they half-rise from their folding chairs on the open deck in front of their small cabin.

"Seigneur, you are not supposed to be up here.".
.
You do spot a small shrine tacked to the Tree to the Great General.

OOC: I cannot remember if you have a translation spell on, in any case while you're in contact with the tree, its not necessary.

OOC: Apparantly Athena Cast a Translation on me when I firstcontacted her in this world. Because that's when I started to understand Gallian.

I'll try the charm speak again. since I didn't expect this I don't have time to draw in chi from the outside world. So I'll use my inner chi. I'm being careful to only use a little bit.

"Accually. I am supposed to up here. I have a direct order to climb to the top."

OOC: That works.s

"Seigneur, I am Captain Honore'. We have been given orders to guard this border between the Human Realms, and the Godly Realms. Orders from the City below." He waves a hand at a chair, and invites you to sit down. "Besides, mon ami, it is a dangerous thing to go further. You verge into dangerous areas where the rules of reality may shift without warning. And the squirrels..."

He smiles.

"You may laugh, but when you see a squirrel larger than a bull, you will not be laughing so much, I think."

"Hmmm... I guess I can use a bit of a rest. I did just climb up from the surface."

I climb over on to their deck.

"I can deal with giant squirrels and changing rules of reality better than most people."

I'll start gathering chi. I'm using some of it to continue to fuel the charmspeak and storing the rest for now.

"Still it is useful to know what to expect higher up. So what can you tell me about it?"

"Oui, I understand seigneur. Few are brave to climb so high above the city. You know we don't care if we drop water over the side, as it will be misting rain when it arrives. Very high up." He shakes the deck just a little bit, keeping an eye on you. You withstand the little bit of queasiness quite well, and he nods approvingly.

"Above us, is the city of the gods. For a long time, the Albion, the Great Newton, could not figure it out, gravity. But natural philosophers catalogued what heroes and bards had already said. You will reach a space where every step is seven leagues, and then seven leagues times seven, and then you will have to withstand the utter cold for another span.

If your goal is the City, then look not in the fruits, for each is an aborning world, full of glory, so much potential, like a thousand sunrises on perfect days all rolled into one.

There are other worlds, full born, the Nine Realms, and each has its own voyagers, so one might meet many a strange traveller. Be wary. Many are fond of the marrow of human thigh bones.

The tree will test you, by twisting reality, at least thrice.

My friend, I advise you not to go, but if you must, you must."

He's practically crying.

"I must go, because it is for the good of Gallia.

I am wary and I can take care of myself better than most people.

That is good to know about what I will face.
What can you tell me about the Siege Perilous?"

"Very well, seigneur, we trust you." He pauses. "Go with the blessing of the Great General." You feel an alertness, a strategic awareness, rather similar to Athena in some regards, lay itself over you, and then go away. But he leaves his blessing behind.

They only know what everyone knows.

"Thank You."

I continue to climb up

Soon enough you realize that you're going much further with each step than just a step. In four steps you rise above the lower clouds, and pass into cirrus clouds, thin feathery things. And here, you see your first squirrel. It has a nut in its paws the size of a beach ball, and its about twenty feet above you, and staring calmly at you as it balances on one of the thinner branches with an uncanny grace.

The awareness points out how easy it would be for the squirrel to toss the nut just so, and you can see it happening as in a dream. Colliding with your head, the blood splattering.....that its a bit of a shock to realize you're not tumbling off the tree, and the squirrel has not moved.

I see. thanks

I should still have a good amount of chi from when I gathered it while talking o the Gallians up here.
I'm going to form a shield that will deflect physical attacks out of the chi.
I'm going to form it at a very steep angle so that it would tend to deflect the nut away instead of meeting force with force.

If the Squirrel tosses the nut at me I will activate my Promise of Speed spell.

I'll continue climbing but I'll keep an eye on the squirrel and give it a wide berth

The squirrel flicks the nut at you and it spatters off the shield. The oversized varmint leaps back up fifty feet quick as a wink, and waits.

I'll grab the squirrel with telekinesis while it is mid-leap.
I'll briefly consider what to do with it.
then I'll move it out o about 500 fee away from the side of Yggdrasil and drop it.

Buh-bye Squirrel.

You proceed upward, and the effort seems to be telling on you, and then as you pant you realize you're well above the clouds, somehow having left them behind very quickly. And the air is thin, so even as you rest on a branch, you still breathe heavily, yet don't feel as if you're bringing in enough oxygen.

You see a great fruit, not apple, nor pear, but sharing of both on your branch. Its the size of an RV, and air and wonder seem to float about it. It draws you, promising a breath of pure air...

I shake off the temptation. That is another world that I don' need to go to.

I'll use the green mana within me to supplement my life processes so that I don't need oxygen or need only a very little bit of oxygen.

Once I get that set up I'll continue to climb.

You leave it behind, finding yourself tempted to weep at the things that are not, at the roads not travelled. Choices made and possibilities unexplored. What might have become....

And you see a small door, curiously made, open in the tree trunk, and you feel suddenly that your Past, your personal history is beyond that portal. And all you have to do to relive a moment, even relive one again and again, as many times as you like is to enter.

"Come in, come in." Says a fellow that looks much like the size and design of a Keebler elf.

It hits me suddenly.
I could see my family again with this.
How long has it been since I've seen them...
Do I even remember their faces?

I harden my heart.

No. I don't have time for this.
I Will not let millions of people suffer under the Black Throne God for something as selfish as wanting to see my family again.

I continue climbing and ignore the door.

And suddenly the 'Keebler' elf changes. His skin turns black, his teeth turn to spikes, and his eyes glitter with hatred. He snaps out a shot, and you feel a small bite in your neck as something hits you.

The world sways.

"Fear the Swartheilm, hero! I shall send you to Hela's cold embrace."

As soon as I noticed the elf transform, I would have activated my Promise of Speed spell
Hopefully I can dodge the shot and do something to get rid of it.

First I'll launch a blast of psionic force to knock it off of Yggdrasil

Then I will charge the elf and try to grab it and throw it off of Yggdrasil

You feel the of mana through you, bending your senses, twitching your nerves, and then speeeeeeeddddd!!!! The Swart Elf is considerably faster than a human, more of the speed of a rattlesnake, but you are faster.

You pulse blast it, and it flies backward to cling to a slender branchling with a desperate teeth-baring snarl. And you kick it in the face, weakly, as its so far out. It feels itself slipping, so it yanks on the branchling, which breaks from the tree. With a look of disgust it falls away, branch in hand. As it falls, it elf shots you, despite your dodge.

I'll start moving to a place I can rest at while I heal myself
I'll draw in green mana from Yggdrasil to purge the poison, curse or whatever is in the elf shot.
post_authorpost_datepost_content

A disease is racing through you, shutting down organs with incredible speed. You'll be dead before another minute passes. Its so fast, it doesn't even hurt.

You reach for the green mana, and find it slip out of your hands. A woman with long hair hanging down over her face, and very pale skin speaks softly from a branch to your right.

"Don't fight it, Hero. It will hurt less. And I will give you a place of honor in my realm."

I pray to Athena
Athena,Please heal me. I still need to complete my quest. Or at least give me the wisdom to deal with Hel

"I'm sorry Hel. But I'm A Verser. When I die I'm going some where else.
It's too bad really. I was on a quest o get rid of he Black Throne God. or at least weaken him significantly.
I don't think you liked him much eh?"

"Clever hero. But are you brave as well?' She touches you on the chest with one finger. "I do not permit this one to pass until he asks for it."
You stop dying. But you don't feel truly alive either. And then pain comes. But you withstand it for the moment.

"Do not thank me, Hero. In time, you may wish to curse me, but please don't. Its so lonely in the Cold."

And she's gone.

Well. That went about a well as expected.
At least I'm alive...sort of.
hmmmm...if the gets to be too much. I can try to disconnect my mind from the pain.
Better get back to climbing

I'll try to draw some green mana from the tree to see if I can still do it.

I'll continue to climb the tree.

No mana flows to you from the Tree.

You climb into airlessness, but in your new state, that is only a severe inconvenience as you gasp for breath but do not die. Still, you see a giant squirrel in a space suit who is seeking to discuss the Superbowl chances of 'the Rock' Dwayne Johnson, the noted octopod from Earth #419....and then you don't see him. He's suddenly gone. Now he's on the other side of the tree, still trying to talk to you...

... This is going to suck. Maybe I can draw black mana from my rotting organs. This is a interesting experience being effectively undead.Looks like I should rely on psionics

I'll try to contact the Squirrel's mind and say
I'm sorry Sir. I'm not familiar with Earth #419. So I can't comment intelligently on Dwayne Johnson and the Superbowl there.
I much be going though. I have somewhere where I need to go to.
Have a good day.

If contacting it's mind doesn't work I'll try saying it outloud.

I'll continue climbing while keeping an eye out for the squirrel

You reach out and you realize there is nothing there. You're hallucinating from lack of oxygen. Evidently you can't die, but you can suffer all the other ways involved.

You continue climbing, but its hard to focus.

I'll try to use psionics to force my my mind to stay focused and not hallucinate despite the lack of oxygen.

You're able to dissasociate from your body so that you are almost astral projecting, while still maintaining a kind of robotically stiff control of your body. Now half into the realm of spirits you see many ghosts and spirits of all sorts crowding the place, including what seems to be echoes of other worlds.

Going up further, with your mind now clear, you realize that the Tree exists in more than one universe at the same time.

You pass out of the airlessness and are near the underside of the rocky granite of the City of the Gods foundation which hangs above you, obscuring the sky. Yet, two spirits of malevolent look are dogging you. They seem to be working together. One will rush you, while the other tries to sneak behind you to grab your body.

Now that I'm in air. I'll return into my body. I'll try to keep my eyes out a bit so I can still see spirits.

I'll try to draw some white mana from the ciy.

I'll try to grab the immaterial sprit with psionics.

If ether of them doesn't work I'll try to draw the essence of death and decay from within myself and send it into one of the spirits to force it to decay and die.

You think the white mana worked, but the City is so far away, as far away as the Moon from Earth that its going to take a very long time to arrive.

But you reach out and grapple with the spirit, and feel its innate viciousness, which is appalling. But you have it held in a mindspike 1@1 Psi Attack Immaterial Spirits (Near) to Grab, Causes Minor Pain.

I'll try to swing the one I got to hit the other one.

The other one charges in first and savages you, making you recoil from its filthy touch, and the sparks of pain that run down your nerves. But as it swoops about you smack it,and it flees. Bravery apparently is not in its style.

The other one gibbers at you, promises, threats, blasphemies against any and all gods and decent things even as you hold it mindspiked.

I'm going to try to grab the other one with the mind spike.

If that doesn't work, I'll try to form a psionic shield to keep it away.

I'm going to try to rip the one I have to pieces by holding one piece in place with psionic force and then use other psionic forces the rip chunks out of it.

The other one has fled, and as you rip this one apart, you see several spirit beetles, the size of trycycles scoot up near you, waiting for a chunk of spirit to float free. When one does, it is quickly grabbed and swallowed.

Hmmm. That looks something like that spirit ecology from the newer Werewolf rpg.
I hope the beetles don't get too corrupted by eating pieces of that thing.

I'll continue to climb and keep an eye on the beetles.