OOC: This thread is for the continuing adventures of Magnus, GMed by Mentat.  :)
This message was last updated by the GM at 04:24, Mon 09 Mar 2015.

You arrive after having literally felt yourself reassemble after being pulled apart in ways you didn't realize could be done. You have acquired new insights into the infliction of pain, as you now understand it is possible to literally beat the charm out of a person. Or their memories of cheese, should you feel inclined.

You feel fully refreshed, with no chattering in your ears or spiders on the edges of your vision, and no exhaustion. A honking car is barreling down on your position, its driver desperately trying to stop.

Hmmm... Interesting. I didn't know you could take people apart like that. Huh? DODGE!

I reflexively use Iron Skin Technique to harden my skin as I try to dodge to the side to avoid the car.

The vehicle clips you as you evade the oncoming traffic, but it is just a bruise instead of something more serious. It swerves off the street, and crashes into another oncoming car. Traffic at the intersection comes to an abrupt halt, as enraged people step out and start yelling at each other, with others simply looking at you with confused faces. One or two stay in their vehicle, and look scared.

It is now that you can fully take in your surroundings. The surrounding roads and buildings have a ceramic feel and look to them, smooth and rounded. The vehicle that came at you was built in a matter akin to a Volkswagen; compact and effective at the expense of appearing formidable.

"Halt!" A metallic voice booms behind you. It comes from a blank faced, shiny black humanoid machine with a wrist mounted laser stylized as a crossbow aimed directly at you. It is heavily armored, although your experienced eyes note it could probably be surprisingly agile and fast if pressured. "You are in direct violations of Codes J-274159 and C-171230." It reads the full numbers out to you as it speaks. "Come with me or there will be...trouble."

I hold my hands up.

"May I ask what those codes are?"

I'll Try my chi sight to see what I can tell about the robot.

Your chi sight informs you that you are looking at some kind of biological construct. Too artificial to be alive, but not quite a machine either. No human or truly organic parts at all, although it does possess a humanoid anatomy and can be killed.

"Jaywalking and lacking citizenship. The first can be solved by obeying the pedestrian traffic signs. Your failure to do that simple instruction will earn you two years in the cubes, eating citizen's valuable resources and living at government expense. The second, however, is more interesting to us. Where is your identification?"

"Both can be explained fairly simply Judge Dread. But I doubt you will believe me.
The first is a simple accident involving my method to travel between worlds. I literally have no control over where I come out. Which Brings me to the second explanation. I'm not from this world therefor I don't have your citizenship. Now are we going to act civil about this or are you going to try to lock me up?"

A pair of red blank eyes light up, then narrow in irritation. "The name you are seeking is Dreadful Adjudicator of Justice. 'Judge Dread' is an apt corruption of my name, implying intimacy or, more likely, inferiority. I suspected you were not native to Autochtonia at all. The first charge shall be waived with a warning to be more careful with your method of transportation."

He did not lower the weapon, and paused for a moment seeming to let that sink in.

My eyes widen in surprise at his name and that he is actually listening to me.

"Oh... wow... I'm sorry Dreadful Adjudicator of Justice. I didn't expect that to be accurate. I'm glad we can be civil though. I try to avoid using that method whenever possible, but it is still better than the alternative ... Anyway I expect that you will want to take me in for questioning and to work this out. I will come peaceably as long as you don't put restraints on me."

The weapon nor the eyes change. "You have ascertained half the situation. You are coming with me. What you have not grasped is that you are to lie flat on the ground, and put your hands behind your head. The Tribunal will want to speak with you."

"Meh. It was worth a shot."

I do as he says.

He simply keeps the weapon pointed at you, with no effort made to incarcerate you. After a bit, about six of those cars with a black and white paint scheme, which you now realize have no wheels and are hovering slightly off the ground, arrive on the scene with sirens flashing, although no sound.

Most of the ones that step out are human, but one seems more than that. He has a thick mustache and a muscular frame. He is not wearing the same blue and red uniform the others coming out of the cars are, his is gold with white trim, and his plate armor blazes bright gold. He approaches Officer Justice. "So, Dread. What have you got for me today that's worth me leaving the field over?"

"Captain Dace." The machine man replies coldly, but professionally. "I didn't think they would recall you out of the field. I requested Exalted support, nothing more."

"Yes, well, this is the third of these incidents we have had today, and we will not be surprised if more show up. The city redirected your call to me." He looks to you. "Who are you, and what are your intentions?"

"I am called Magnus. Generally I keep to myself and train in Magic and Martial arts until I find a cause worth fighting for. I gather from your dialog that Autochtonia is at war with someone. If you tell me about it, I might be willing to help in exchange for training."

What does my Chi Sight detect about Captain Dace?
This message was last edited by the player at 11:22, Thu 23 Apr 2015.

He glares at you hard and cold. You see unfettered power rolling off this man, so much inner power, in fact, that it could literally create a star, or destroy one. It is unreal to behold. How much of it he could control or direct, on the other hand, well, your reading has some doubts that he could focus it to such an end.

"Magnus? The Magnus?" He looks at you incredulously. A massive laser beam emerges from his arm. It takes up an area almost as big as he is as he steps back and points it at you. "Adjudicator, take him into custody. We have some questions that need answering." He looks at you. "I ask that you wear the handcuffs he will put on you. I do not want this to get ugly like it did with the first one of you. I am hoping you will be more like the second one."

I roll over and kip-up from the ground.

"Is the light show really necessary? I've already decided to come with you peaceably. Why did my name provoke such a reaction?"

hmmm... even if it is rather inefficient. A small fraction of that kind of power can do a lot.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:17, Tue 28 Apr 2015.

"Your name is of great-" Adjudicator had stopped his forward movement as soon as you stood up. He fired off one bolt of electrical power at you while Dace was talking. "Dammit, Dread!"

You feel a surge of electrical power go through you, and your muscles all tense up at the same time, locking you in place. The machine, without saying a word, moves to cuff you while you are rigid.

OOC: You can move if you choose to, but you will take some nasty sit-mods to do so. You just got tazed.

"Ever since I got here I've been Peaceful and Cooperative.
I SAID I would Go Peaceably But If you continue to Provoke me I will Show you what I can do."

I'll expend a bit of my chi to remove the effect of the electricity on my muscles.

"You speak cooperation. As soon as your name came up, and the captain got on edge, you replied in kind." He fires the bolt at you again, this time hitting you squarely in the heart, flooring you. "Cooperation involves you not spending Essence to resist arrest."

Dreadful has stopped moving forward, seeing if you are simply waiting for him.

Dace shook his head and looked down at you. "Diplomatic as always, I see. We'd better hope he doesn't spend more Essence. I'd rather not repeat a bad incident again."

OOC: That second shot hurt at lot. Non-lethal though. If you were less resilient, though, it might have hospitalized you.

I force myself to one knee.

"Well excuse me for not being 100 percent trusting of a police state that employs the likes of you. Shoot me again and the results won't be pretty. meh. Fine. I give up for now."

I lay back down again.

Dreadful's eyes narrow once more, and then he approaches to put the cuffs on. When he does, you feel your chi being jammed. "Dreadful is rough around the edges, but he's loyal to the Deliberative."

He starts to turn, and looks back. "You should not be awake after a hit like that. I'm not sure if my troops would survive any training you might offer them. Once we ascertain your intentions, the Deliberative will assign you a task suited to your talents."

Dace sheaths his weapon, and starts to walk off. "Get these vehicles back to supply. They will be needing them. This delay is not acceptable. MOVE IT, PEOPLE!"

Dreadful lifts you up to your feet, and seems to inspect you briefly. "Follow me. Can you orient yourself, or will you need me to guide you?"

Assuming you don't break loose, he'll be attempting to lead you to a large black brick of a building. You read "Ministry of Order" in large letters on the side.

OOC: While the cuffs are on, any power considered "magic" will not function. Your new kung fu wizardry is affected by this. "Psychic" powers are hindered, but operational.

In response to the handcuffs being put on.
"Interesting, Handcuffs that jam magic."

In response to Dace's comment that I shouldn't be awake.
"I can tone back my training to their level. Besides I would have to Get them to be able to use their chi."

In response to Dread.
"I'll need to follow you since I'm not familiar with this area."

I'n response to the "Ministry of Order."
"Hmm... Feels just like 1984."

I don't resist for now.

OOC: I'm taking the liberty to assume cooperation on your part.

He simply waits until the last remark before talking to you. "You like to hear your own voice, prisoner Magnus. I'm personally glad you are more like the other one; I was not looking forward to facing off against another of your kind. That one killed a full circle of my brothers."

He leads you to a cell, which is shaped like a sphere. Half of it opens up to accommodate your entry. He removes the cuffs from you. "No, these are not the cubes. Consider yourself fortunate. Enter. If you need anything, just pray. The facility will provide. A visual/audio link to another cell has been provided for your interest."

When you enter, it closes behind you, a golden yellow barrier encompassing a 400 square feet. A wall lights up with a hand symbol on it.

I sit down and wait a bit. Get bored and try to pray for food. I'll eat the food if it shows up.
Get bored again and try putting my hand on the glowing hand symbol.

Bread and water show up through the floor, like it phased through the floor. The bread, however, is filling and delicious, and the water has a tinge of lemon to it.

You see an image, clear as day, of Mentat in a cell just like your own. He replies to you without changing his lotus setting position. "Huh. So you're the signature I sensed. I've only sensed you recently. How long has it been since your last world?"

"I just got here. They said that there was another one like us and one of them gave them a hell of a fight."

He smiled. "Carmine. I can give you that name, because they already know it. She was in a sociopathic state when she versed, having just finished up with a deep cover assignment elsewhere. She followed me through the chaos between worlds when I versed out, found herself surrounded by those demanding her surrender, and didn't switch herself faster than her situation evolved. She made a swath of death and destruction, leaving me holding the bag to explain everything."

He shrugged. "I told them directly what happened. They didn't believe me, so I'm just drawing amusement talking them in circles. They are pretty good at resisting it. There's someone else here who could give me lessons that they deal with on a regular basis; I just don't know who he is. Yet."

"Hmmm... They freaked out when I mentioned that my name was Magnus.
Who's Carmine?"

"My wife, although I'm not sure either how that happened or why that is still the case. She's exceeded me by far, and really doesn't need me anymore. Yet she still cares, when she's someone other than the psycho she is last I heard from her. Even now, though, she would regard me in a possessive sense."

He sighs. "I hope she switches soon. I rather like her more when she isn't like that, no matter who she is."

"As for your given name, I'm not sure why they would care. They didn't react to Mentat or Carmine, so perhaps in the past, you do something terrible? Who knows why? I suspect you'd get better answers from them on that topic. Hopefully they will be in an explaining mood. I've been stealing secrets from them all day, because they won't talk to me. Not major secrets, mind you. Little ones, like this city's life and who it used to be."

"Perhaps I did something terrible in the past?... I hope that is not the case...
huh? The city is Alive? What do you mean?"

"I mean exactly what I said. The city is an artificial life form. I haven't been able to get more than that, but I have a bit of an affinity for technology since versing, and this city is alive. It is sizing us up, too. It has noticed it can effectively kill me whenever it feels like it. You - it would have to work harder on."

He tapped his chest. "You sensed a powerful energy source on me...before." He seems to be using the term carefully. "My heart is artificial. You have no idea how hard achieving that is for us versers, by the way. I quite proud of it. Most of the time, it is a nasty surprise for my foes. Every now and then, though, something like this happens."

"Hmmm... Staying alive though a surgery like that would be very hard.
They are quite skilled at making artificial life forms though.
I was a bit surprised that the one I saw was not a robot.
And now an artificial life form that is a city.
It's a bit unusual to see magic and technology together like this."

"You only explored the edges of the world I was in last. Emerald Scythe was not powered by anything our sciences would have accepted. I think we are in what I have designated a 'shard.' That is a collective of related but separate dimensions. Apparently, we are also in a low-caliber gather as well. Relative to me, your signal died two months ago, I arrived here and shortly afterwards you showed up on my wall. To you, this is likely immediate and rushed."

He shook his head. "Stupid temporal shenanigans. Carmine laughs at those things, though. Says they are easy to figure out. Maybe for her and her fourth-dimensional existence. I'm still getting used to dimensional hopping."

"Fourth-dimensional existence?... She can mess with Time?"

"Messing with time would not explain what she can do. She's multitemporal, capable of existing in multiple time lines simultaneously, which often allows her to do moronic things like jumping a few seconds into the recent past whenever she makes a mistake. I never notice when she does it, but she sometimes let's me know. She's exceeded me by far; I follow her from world to world, not the other way around, as it used to be."

"That's the least of her tricks. I can't do it so easily, because being multitemporal is a natural state for her. I have no clue how to mimic that state, and I'm not sure I want to. I've done a lot of alterations to myself on levels most would not empathize with, but I don't think that one would bring us closer. I think she likes how constant I am."

He shook his head and awkwardly changed the topic. "Annoying they speak a different dialect of Old Realm here. They thought I was a Fair Folk spy at first. The point is, we might be seeing a lot of each other soon. You just won't be seeing much of me until I can talk them out of this cell."

"Huh? Old Realm? They where speaking English. Or do they call English Old Realm?"

He sounded annoyed. "They aren't speaking English. You are hearing that language somehow, but they aren't speaking it. Maybe you picked up a mutation or something that enables you to understand them, but they aren't speaking English at all. They probably wouldn't know what that is."

You feel something small shift in your pocket.

Huh? The Ring... It has Something to do with this.

"When do you think they will talk to us again?"

"Probably when they either hear what they want to hear, or realize they won't hear it. Whichever comes first." Mentat goes strangely silent for a bit after that.

"Not yet. Our time can wait." You hear that in your mind, and instinctively know it comes from the Ring.

I'll sit down, rest and meditate.
I'll try to get a fell for what mana flows though the city.

I'm not really surprised that the ring is sentient and can talk to me in my mind.

I think back to it
You shut up. I don't want to hear anything from you.

You don't sense another mind in your pocket, and the ring doesn't reply in any event. You sense living power through the city, something logical and bureaucratic almost to a fault. You also sense it shifting, and you sense it studying you right back, and reinforcing the cell walls around you.

Hmmm... White and Blue...Not the best mana combination for me...

I'll continue to study the city, Trying to feel out what I can.
I do have a flash of curiosity, I wonder if the city would want to talk to me.

The screen on the wall allowing communication goes out, becoming a golden opaque wall once more. You see pictograms going across the wall, but your mind somehow understands them, recognizing them as words.

<ONE MOMENT PLEASE>

It pauses, and resumes.

<I AM AWARE>

"Hello. My name is Magnus.
What is your name?"

<I AM SOVA METROPOLIS, THE CITY YOU TOUCHED>
<YOU ARE AT THE DELIBERATIVE HOLDING CELL, AWAITING INVESTIGATION>
<THEY WERE NOT SURE IF YOU WOULD TRY TO TALK TO ME>
<THEY, AND MYSELF, WISH TO KNOW WHAT YOU WOULD WISH FROM HERE>

"I would like to know what is going on. I've gathered that Autochtonia is at war with somebody. Who are you at war with and why? If it is a reason I'm agreeable to, I would be willing to help. "

Instead of a reply, golden light flashes around you. You find yourself in a darkened room with a single column of light shining down on you. A soft, sarcastic and deep voice chimes in.

"Guys, do we really need to do this whole 'dark and spooky court' thing to the only one of the two visitors which hasn't been giving us a hard time? I don't think the other one actually cared, and I doubt this one will either."

A deeper voice joins in. "The prisoner can hear you, and we are live, fool. Sova saw fit to bring the prisoner to us right now." The voice seems to come from everywhere. "Sova briefs us on your questions, but we have one for you: do you know why you are here?"

"The first one is right. I don't really care. But I have to admit you have a nice sense of theatrics. If I was less experienced, it might actually intimidate me.

Anyway, to your question.
I think I am here because you want to determine if I am a threat to Autochtonia.
Is that correct? "

"That is correct. We assume you will try to explain to us why you are not a threat. However, that isn't what we asked. We asked if you know why you are here." He put some emphasis on the last four words, almost like he was asking it again.

"Are you Asking what My purpose here is?
If that is the case, I don't know yet. I generally like more information before I decide what I will do in a world.

if not...Then I'm not understanding what you are trying to ask.

That Captain Dace Reacted oddly when I said my name is Magnus. I never got a reason for that..."

I'll activate my chi sight to see what I notice.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:31, Sat 16 May 2015.

"So, you claim you are some kind of an explorer, who travels from world to world, and you have arrived here. Information is why you are here. As for your auspicious name, it is because there is someone else with that name here, and we are wondering if you are metaphysically connected to a very brilliant and very dangerous man."

There is some shifting, and your power sense notes there power reflexively tighten up around them when you activate your sense. They still have unfettered power washing all over the room.

"You could call my kind explorers of other worlds. Information is not why I'm here, I stated that I'd like more information before I decide what I'll do. My general goal in each world I visit is to make the world into a better place for the people in it.

I'd doubt that I would have a metaphysical connection to anyone here. Since I'm from outside of this world."

Can I estimate how many are in the room with my sense?

"That must be quite a light show on the other side of the barrier. So All of you must be like Captain Dace. In my travels, I've Seen only a few beings that could command that much magic. although they had more fine control over their power"
This message was last edited by the player at 08:46, Sun 17 May 2015.

"You've seen others like us? When and where?" They seem to have taken a keen interest in what you just said, urgent almost.

"I only said that they where comparable in power. I would have to study your magic to tell you the differences.

They where major gods in another world. Personifications of various natural forces and universal concepts. Another was a very old dragon. Although I didn't get a proper feel of her power before I was forced intro my next world.

Anyway they where in the worlds I visited previously. It would be easy enough with the level of magic here to open a portal to them... But it would be almost impossible to target the dimension they are in."

The silence is almost palpable.

"Tell me," You actually catch a hint of caution in their voice, like they are treading in unknown territory. "what was your impression of these entities?"

"... Let me put it this way. I saw the power of their strongest member unfettered once. He is the embodiment of Lighting. And simply viewing him unfettered would reduce a mortal to ash.
All of them are Powerful and Immortal. Which causes them to think in a different way from humans.The reward can be great for a human that gets their attention. but it is also very dangerous to get their attention. They fight against the Titans of their world;who are not exactly friendly to humans; So you can say the are on the side of the humans

All in all. I prefer to avoid getting their attention. And if I do deal with them I prefer to talk to the most reasonable one of the bunch. She is the embodiment of Wisdom, Hand crafts and the Tactical aspects of Warfare.


Anyway I've been answering your questions freely. Now would you mind answering one of my own?
I've guessed that Autochtonia is at war with someone. Who are you at war with?"

There is a longer pause this time. Several minutes of silence go by.

"I have an idea." This sounds like an older voice. "Let's flip the safeties off for you."

You feel a flood of power returning to you. "So what will you be doing now?"

"I guess I'll keep talking to you guys. I still haven't figured out who you guys where fighting or why each of you has so much magic power within yourselves."

The pause is much shorter this time. "We are a persecuted race from a land called Creation. We were banished by the forces that now tyrannize it, and we intend to return and reclaim our homeland."

I smile.
"Ok, now we are getting somewhere.
So, These beings forced you and the humans out of this Creation. And you want to get it back with Military force.
This sounds like something I would be willing to help with.
What can you tell me these beings that forced you out of creation?"

This message was deleted by the player at 03:33, Sat 13 June 2015.

They pause, another one that allows you to divine the obvious, if nothing else: they are phrasing what they say to you very carefully.

"They are rather like these beings you have served, these embodiments of things. The leader of the group we fought, however, was the embodiment of absolute rule, not lightning, and their strongest was the embodiment of independence. They have many incarnations, but none of them are friendly to mortals. We were just chaff to them, and they would callously destroy their creation at will. So I believe your entities are different from ours."

"We would like for you to aid us, but we need to know what you might know about the one of your kind that slipped from us. The other one seems to have a connection to her, and we have detected a metaphysical bond between all three of you."

Another voice joins up, a younger voice. "I was just hoping to see what you could do. Like a demonstration of power."

The older voice speaks again. "Try not to level the area. It's resilient, but not indestructible."

" I haven't actually met her in person. So I can't tell you much beyond what Mentat has told you. Apparently she has several modes she can switch to. You found her in her sociopath mode. Mentat tried to calm the situation down but she deemed you a threat and that carnage happened.
...Anyway She is very attached to Mentat. So if you would actually listen to Mentat and not dismiss him as somesort of fae spy. Which he is not by the way. He's a bit of an asshole but we both hate the fae of your set of universes... where was I?...Anyway if you convince him to help you, you'll get two extremely powerful versers on your side.

As for a demonstration of my power... That's not a very good idea.
The side effects of using a large amount of magic can be unpredictable.
Plus I'm sure there are civilians near my current position and I would rather not risk harming them. Assuming you gave me an area where I could aim without harming anyone. The Mana in this area is wrong for my more impressive destructive spells. It's mainly Blue and White mana. I Might be able to draw on the solar magic you are radiating. But I'm not sure of the side effects. Now if I had Red mana I could probably destroy a couple hundred square miles if I tried... And probably blow myself up in the process. Oh there is that Wrath of God Spell white mana has... But that is indiscriminate as hell. so not doing that... I could just do a Kamehadoken... yes, The local mana could be used for that. That would work. And the destruction would be limited to a wide line...

Ok. Can you direct my aim to a vector that won't hurt anyone?"
This message was last edited by the player at 04:37, Mon 22 June 2015.

"Pick a direction. You'll find the region surprisingly clear of fire." And on that note, your senses pick up a large heat source below you, as if the universe had a twisted sense of humor.

"Of course there is a red mana source below me. That's what I get for not paying attention beyond my immediate vicinity. oh we'll not using it for now. still need to let my aura heal."

I walk up to the wall and touch it to analyse it structure. Then I'll send the concept of "Breaking" into it's weakest point with my fist. Like A supercharged broad-breaking technique

The wall blasts apart under your fist, falling apart like a sand castle before the tides. The voices get rather excited at this point.

"Who taught you how to do that? Answer us immediately!" You feel a wave of power wash over you, burning away any falsehood you might give and compelling some sort of reply.

"Another Verser taught me the basics. I've learned the rest myself.
What is that Magic?"

"'That' is you like to blithely call it, is you ordering the Pattern Spiders themselves to remake the universe as we understand it. Your method is extremely reckless and unpolished, but for some reason they listen. And you honestly don't know why." This is a woman's voice speaking, stern, matter of fact, and clipped, with the last sentence not being a question at all.

The young voice chirps in. "You said a verser. That is one of your own kind. Is it one of the one's we have encountered?"

The older man's voice speaks up again. "Perhaps its the one we have in custody. That would speed things up quite a bit."

"While That Give an interesting insight into why they hate it when I do that. It wasn't the subject of my question. What Was that magic you used. It was some sort of compulsion to tell the truth. That's dangerously close to mind control. And that is something you don't want to use on a potential ally." I say with a note of warning


"Hmmm... I knew I was basically rewriting reality when I do that. But I didn't know the pattern spiders where the ones that where doing it... That explains why they get annoyed when I do that. How did you know I didn't know?

And Yes, he is one that you encountered. What do you plan on doing with him?"

A few seconds of silence pass before the woman's voice starts, clearly annoyed. "We know you don't know what kind of power you are dealing with, because of how you did it. It wasn't formal like the Servants of Fate do it; you just did it without thinking about exacting what you were doing. Your complete failure to understand why it enrages those doing your work proves this further."

The older voice speaks again. "Forgive Bright Shattered Ice for her bluntness and focus on yourself. That effect you felt was a simple charm, nothing more. And it won't be repeated for the duration of this discussion, as that was rather rude of her."

The young voice chimes in again. "He seems rather eager to show off his power to destroy. That tells me he's very proud of his power. Fascinating. Should we have him meet his counterpart?"

"NO!" Three other voices respond to that, including one you had not heard yet.

"And as for the other one, we are trying to figure out what to do with him. After we told him we weren't letting him out to join with the other one, whom we've identified as his wife, he became rather uncooperative. We were forced to use charms on him to stop him from talking in circles and leading us into verbal dead-ends. He is still less than cooperative; he is rather stubborn about not helping us on any terms but his own."

"Well Sorry. In most worlds I've visited the Laws of physics Are not sentient and Can't get angry at me. The only thing I've been told before now about Pattern Spiders was that they where spirits in charge of holding reality together. Which neatly explained why they got angry when I use that style of magic. There was never any indication that they  where the ones carrying out my alterations of reality. So I assumed that it was like my other style of magic; A direct alteration of reality. I guess that's what I get when I learn something from someone who's teaching method is best described as throwing me to the wolfs.

I'm halfway tempted to risk my other style of magic to see what insights you have into it Bright Shattered Ice.

Anyway, what are this Charms you are talking about? Some sort of magical device? A simple spell?


You won't get his support that way."

The older voice sighed. "I suspect this is another language barrier, rather like the 'god' one we just had. Perhaps we should not use the word 'charm' and use 'stable innate magic' instead."

The young voice pips up. "Seems wordy. Couldn't we just continue using 'charm' now that you have explained its meaning?"

The woman speaks again, scornfully and completely ignoring the present topic. "Your mentor, sloppy though he may have been, was correct in telling you they are in charge of reality, to a strong point. How do you think your magic can alter the reality in the first place? Do you know nothing of the power you wield?!"

The older voice speaks again. "He just said the verser who taught it to him is in our custody. Perhaps we should ask the teacher, rather than the student." A small pause. "We are no longer interested in his support, as its clear to us he would just seek to escape our custody if we gave him any slack and he believed he could locate his wife without us being close to him. He wants to spy on our culture, and learn our blackest secrets for his own shrouded reasons. The viziers would be displeased if they learned what he did to their arts."

"Stable innate magic or Charm. So you can't learn new magic or it is very difficult to do so. Equivalent to taking someone who has never punched before and training them to be good at punching. I'm guessing that you train your magic to flow in preprogrammed paths so that you can quickly activate your magic. So that means... You Should also have magic that permanently enhances yourself. Do you have magic that enhances how tough you are or make you able to take a hit better?"


I sound clearly annoyed.

"I know a lot about the magic I wield. Because I'm familiar with the material he used to develop this style of magic. And It wasn't from your Viziers or servants of fate. I'm certain that he developed it on his own. Hell, I could have developed this on my own if I got the Idea to try.

As for Mentat. Why do you Think he is a spy?"

A deeper voice which has not spoken yet joins in. "Because all three of you have a common thread: you are outside of fate. Not a shrouded fate, like a creature of darkness, but none. No destiny at all. I've thankfully eliminated the possibility that you are the Shadow of All Things trying to infiltrate. He would not leave a hole that wide in his disguise, the risk of being killed would be too high."

"His mind reacts to the name." Bright is speaking again. "I wonder why?"

You swear you feel a shift in your pocket.

"... That's what I would Like to know. I'm sure I haven't heard that name before. But I can guess what it is about. I might Need your Help Destroying something."

"You can guess?" Bright has taken a rather condescending tone, one that seems well practiced. "The Shadow of All Things is not a title many would claim, and only one of the Primordials lays a claim to that title, the Dragon's Shadow, the embodiment of all antagonism and evil. You think you have found something of his, and you would like us to destroy it? If you have it on you, show it to us. If you don't, simply carve its location on the floor."

"Using that Sidereal sorcery of his?" The older man's voice joins in. "An explanation will suffice."

I direct as much venom as I can towards Bright Shattered Ice's voice.

"You have a very low opinion of other peoples intelligent Bright Shattered Ice. You should fix that before it comes back and Bites you."

"Primordial? That is a bit bigger that than the gods I thought you where fighting. I guess this is the language barrier you where talking about before.

Anyway Carving it's location into the floor won't be necessary. I have it right here."

I pull out the One Ring and show them.

"I found this in my last world. I analysed it and sensed the great evil within it. My guess is that it was made by that Dragon's Shadow. It's very dangerous and Needs to be destroyed. And let me guess how... It needs to be returner to the fire where it was forged to unmake it permanently... If that is actually the case, I'm going to bang my head against the wall for a bit."

There is a slight pause before Bright speaks again. "Is this your people's idea of a joke, rather like the likely not coincidental choice of your name, Magnus? That is an ordinary ring, with an enchantment on it to fool the weak minded into believing it is a ring of power. What did you trade for it, your last cow?"

The older voice speaks, and sounds like he's losing patience. "Bright, perhaps we should remind you this is a diplomatic mission?"

How does the ring appear to me in my chi sight?

"Heh. It's obvious that you can see magic like I can. Tell me, can magic specifically designed for stealth or hiding fool your senses. And maybe it's just my fool self thinking on a tangent but something called the Shadow of All Things sounds like it would have such magic. Now I saw it before it started hiding itself. Now maybe in Bright Shattered Ice's mind where everyone but her is an idiot, I could not notice such an enchantment. but there is one problem. I CAN SEE MAGIC! Now if I was the Shadow of All Things and put effort into making this Ring, i would obviously put an enchantment on it to hide it in plain sight whenever a fool like me decides to try to get it destroyed.

But what do I know, I'm just an idiot in Bright Shattered Ice's mind.
If it is so easy to destroy the ring Why don't you come down here Bright Shattered Ice, And show me how easy it is to destroy. Come on. Break such an simple enchantment and melt the ring into slag"
This message was last edited by the player at 05:56, Mon 13 July 2015.

Actually, the ring does look like an ordinary ring, with a hint of power to it, and enchantment designed to cloud minds.

"Fine." She's clearly annoyed by your words. "Set the ring down, step back, and watch the big bad ring go away."

The older voice speaks up. "Bright, such petty displays of power are not needed. This could also be some kind of trap, like the one Mentat performed-"

"I can handle anything this conjurer can do, nevermind-!"

He cuts her off. "I will allow ONE such indulgence, then you are not to speak for the reminder of the negotiation. As I am speaking for the Deliberative, am I crystal clear on this?"

After a moment of silence, the older voice speaks again. "Set the ring down, and step back from it."

I set the ring down in the center of the cell and move over to the hole I made into the wall.
I use my iron skin technique and watch her magic in my chi sight.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:15, Mon 13 July 2015.

You see the magic begin to form around a figure in the darkness, before the older voice speaks one more time. "You haven't been oathsworn yet. Take my hand, and let the oath be sanctified."

"You cannot be serious about this." She sounds rather indignant.

"Deadly serious. You fire on that ring, and then you go quiet. That is the deal. Or you can not shoot it, and let the stranger have the last word."

She pauses only for an instant before you see power flare around three people. The young voice speaks. "The deal is made!"

Magic again pools around her, and you see a glowing sword forming in the darkness before her. Her magic is static, rigid as you predicted. You were quite spot on with your understanding of their metamagical principles.

One massive golden sword flies out of the darkness and shatters the ring with one blow, leaving no remains.

"And now you cannot even talk trash to the newcomer!" The young voice laughs.

"Thane! Recall your place!" The older voice snaps at him, and then goes thoughtful. "Odd, how easily that was destroyed. You seem quite proficient at annihilation, and you seemed legitimately concerned about it."

"Odd that wan't what I was expecting. Good thing I have a spell to break illusions."

I walk over to where I think the ring is and do Illusion breaker.

No ring appears, nor do you sense a ring there. It is truly destroyed by all accounts.

"I am sorry for the outburst, Elder." The young voice is apologetic. _{"Although it IS-"}

"You can simply end with the apology, Thane. No further words are required between equals in rank." The older voice stops, pauses, and continues, sounding much more official. "I have received word from our advisers, however, and they believe you should talk to the Magnus. I am not sure what they see, but I will accept their counsel. Does this sound like something of interest to you? He IS an extremely dangerous man, and no matter what he tells you or how charmingly he phrases it, he is NOT your friend."

"Damn, Now I lost it. Meh, It'll show up later...

I guess I should say congratulations Bight  Shattered Ice, It appearances that you destroyed it.

I guess so. I assume he is the reason all of you had a bad reaction when I mentioned my name."

The older voice replies, ignoring your compliments to Bright. "The Magnus, you mean? Our relationship with him is complex: he is too dangerous to give his freedom too, but too useful to simply kill and allow to be reborn and reassigned. He is extremely useful, and is unmatched in the area of his expertise. Even Bright Shattered Ice concedes his superior skill in the field."

Obviously she does not add to that reply, but you can almost feel her glowering, even though you cannot see any of them.

"We will not be with you when you talk to him, but we will be close by. If the conversation turns bad, we will end it and get you out of there. Even without the use of charms, his prowess with words almost doubles as mental control, so be very careful if you go along with this."

"Are all of you superhumanly skilled?
...I'll be on guard. Let's see what insights the Magnus has."

"Superhuman...sounds like an apt description of our abilities, so yes." Older voice sounds a bit worried as he continues. "Again, even with this forewarning, he is very charming, but he will try to use you to escape."

A blue set of lines appear in the floor. "Follow them, and you will enter a one of our Gates of Auspicious Passage. A modified version of one of them is how you got here in the first place. Good luck, and remember, we are watching and you are not alone. Be safe, and may you always return home alive."

The floor lights up.

"Thanks for your concern."
I'll follow the blue lines.

You follow the blue lines, and then they suddenly disappear. You feel a mild sense of vertigo, like a weak verse out, and then you appear in an all white room.

A wall opposite of you slides open to reveal a man's head peeking out of what looks like a large iron lung. He smirks at you, but his head does tilt out of curiosity.

A voice booms out. "SPEECH INHIBITORS DISABLED."

He looks at you. "This is an unexpected visit. You are not Deliberative, and you are not of this world. Why are you here?"

"Their Advisers wanted me to talk to you for some reason. How did you tell I'm not from here?"

"You move wrong. It's not something I can explain easily, but you are not motonic, are you? I'd almost say you are Primordial, a construct made of a material less complex than motons, yet somehow capable of survival in a universe such as ours. While this is very fascinating, I hardly understand why you are here, and why they want you to talk to me any more than you do."

He smiles at you. "I don't suppose you'd have a guess as to why, would you?"

At this point, you feel a now familiar shift in your pocket.

I indulge in a small glare at the pocket the ring is in.

"I don't know them well enough to make an educated guess, But if I had to guess I would say that they want your insights into exactly what I am.

Motonic? Motons? I'm not familiar with those words. Could you explain what they are?

What can you tell me about Primortials?"
This message was last edited by the player at 11:33, Mon 13 July 2015.

"That you are not aware of what you are, which is why they are listening to us, right now, hoping I will give it to them. Or rather, I should say, you don't know what you are to us. As for motons, they are the building blocks of the universe. Simple stuff, really. I'm tempted to give you a lesson in them, simply to frustrate our listeners by giving them the equivalent of a basic school lesson for about on hour or two. They know I'll do it, too."

He gives another of those smiles, this time with a hint of business to it. "As for the Primordials, they are the enemy our predecessors fought, and they are the enemy I would destroy, if they'd let me out. I believe they will, eventually, when we reach Creation again. Autochton is nearly completed his transformation into the Gunstar, the battleship you are in right now."

He leans a head. "You really didn't know that either, did you? A proto-Primordial, having drifted through space, assuming an identity from the dreams of those on this ship, not really understanding anything. A tabula rusa. That's an interesting story, isn't it?"

"That would be an interesting story but it doesn't quite reflect me. I'm a outsider here. And they haven't told me much about this world Battleship. And you're right. I know exactly what I am outside of this universe, but I'm not sure what I translate into for this universe. You seem to think I'm some sort of proto-Primortial.

As for motons. It probably wouldn't take that long for me to get the basics. Since my Homeworld had a similar theory about the material I'm made of.

I believe I'm going to be fighting the Primortials at some point. What can you tell me about their metaphysical structure? "

"Your homeworld? Fascinating, yet I doubt it is any homeworld we have physically contacted. You are outside of the known universe, aren't you? I'll bet everyone else is trying to fit you into some neat little theoretical idea they have worked out, but you don't play by all of our rules, and the rules you do play by you can bend. Except one: here, Holy power kills you and is outside of your reach. The ancient verdict of the Unconquered Sun extends to you, friend, just as it extends to the Primordials. In our world, like me, you are considered evil just because you cannot be understood."

His smile didn't waver a bit. "They warned you I'd try to be chummy with you, didn't they?"

"Indeed, I"m am certain that you have never encountered my homeworld or any world I have visited. And they did warn me about you."
This message was last edited by the player at 11:37, Wed 15 July 2015.

"How flattering. They seek to continue my isolation in spirit from a person who has no perspective on who or what I am or have done. I am a patriot, one who wants to win the war against the Primordials. I'm simply unwilling to play pretend politics while I do so. I kill a thousand people today to save a million in a month. They kill a million over the course of a year to save a thousand today. Fools."

He frowned. "Sorry, I got distracted. It's rare I have company that is truly new. What do you need to know about the Primordials? They aren't what you will fight out here, but I'll tell you what you need to know."

"The stories in my homeworld didn't go into much detail about them. They just indicated that they are really huge like a landscape. I guess we should start with the basics and work our way out."

"They are big...well, I suppose knowledge starts somewhere. They are 'big' is rather an understatement. Try planet-sized rather than..." He grins. "You don't know you are in one right now? That is fascinating. I suspected you knew nothing of this world, hence my earlier theory."

"As for class time, just know Autochton is rogue from its own, and in our corner. That one will be our ultimate weapon for retaking Creation back. Try not to break it while you are here, and if you must, insure it mends stronger then you saw it."

"True I know nothing of your universe besides what I've learned and what I can guess from what I learned. Hence why I'm trying to learn as much as I can so I can make educated decisions.

... I'll try to refrain from using my more destructive abilities. I would have to learn how to make him stronger.

So Primordials are Planet size entities that are sentient...wouldn't it be hard for something that size to communicate with something the size of a human? ... How did you fight them before? The only thing I can come up with is a Spell that deal a massive amount of damage over several hundred square miles or an orbital bombardment or a Black Hole..."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:16, Sat 18 July 2015.

"They are composed of several elements. A world body is the first, and can be considered their primary form. That is both battleground and opponent at the same time. Their soul is what most interact with. They are divided into First, Second and Third Circle souls, or demons, as they are commonly called, unless you are Primordial, then they are called devas. All perspective, really."

"First Circle souls are about as valuable to them as dandruff. You can kill armies of these things, and the world body will just dream up more of them. Eventually, anyhow. You can achieve a short term victory against them if followed through adequately, but in the long term, killing them means nothing."

"Second Circle souls are more interesting. They reflect some desire of a Third Circle, and are sentient. Killing any Second or Third Circle soul will diminish the Primordial in the short term, and alter them in the long term. Second Circle alterations are noticeable, but almost always minor. These are much more powerful then the First, as you might have guessed."

"Third Circle souls are the Primordial's ideals made manifest. Killing them is high priority, as they are often difficult to replace, and cause major changes to the Primordial. One of them will be an entity called a jouten, the heart of the Primordial. Killing this entity will reset the Primordial entirely, causing it to collapse unto itself in raw Essence and then rebuild itself anew. This is not always a good thing. While usually weaker then its predecessor, the new being might have new powers and ideals, potentially being more dangerous then its original form."

"Killing one seems to be about killing all second and third circle souls in a twenty five hour period. Wiping out an ideal it is built upon should also have the same effect. This, also, is not necessarily a good thing, although it turns them from a foe into a wild card, which is preferable to us in the long run. They become an entity classified as Neverborn, a being that died in a Creation not meant to accept the death of such beings."

"By the way, I'm telling you this because our eavesdroppers already know all this. I'm drawing joy envisioning their bored expressions right now. I'm wondering what they expect me to tell you that they don't already know."

"That is one of the reasons I figured you where telling me about your world... They Probably want to know how I relate to all of that. You implied that I was some-sort of proto-Primordial before.

Anyway, I think I understand the structure of Primordials. Superhumans with enough magic to ether make or destroy a star looks like something that could fight Primordials. Although I still haven't figured out how you guys are containing that much magic within yourselves all the time without exploding. I'd need to take a close look at one of you with my chi sight."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:06, Sat 18 July 2015.

He laughs, a surprisingly pleasant and grandfatherly laugh for someone who looks thirty. "Well, here I am. Although you need not ask with me; I have no Essence save that which is needed to continue existing. And I should point out to you the results of that fight: us exiled from Creation, with our former patron hunting us across the stars and the rulers of Creation still ruling over it. Still, if you believe you can change that, you are free to try."

"The fight was close enough that you where dangerous to them and even killed a few and turned them into into those Neverborn things. Which is still quite an accomplishment. Even if you did lose you guys are regrouping and preparing to have another go"

I smirk.

"And now you guys have me helping out out. With the right training I could probably take one of them on." I smile "I'm actually excited at the idea of trying to fight one of them. How often does one have the opportunity to take on the creators of an universe?" Sigh "But that's not for a while. You mentioned that I wasn't going to be fighting Primordials immediately. So what is the more immediate threat? The patron that is hunting you, was it this Unconquered Sun you mentioned before?"

I'll examine him with my chi sight.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 16:51, Sun 19 July 2015.

His magic is completely suppressed. The device he is encased inside is draining it from him on a constant basis, rather like the room you were in, but more intense.

"Oh, the Primordial War isn't over yet, because we still have our army. Do not confuse my words with that of a defeatist. I am simply realistic. We will need to return with new tactics, and a willingness to win at all costs. My peers lack that second."

"As for our patron hunting us, it would be the Unconquered Sun. Theion-O, King of the Primordials, somehow turned him against us. He hunts us all, although without question the Zeniths get the worst of him, being his priests. They cannot avoid thinking of him. He has a crown on his head which is from the king himself, and I do agree with the theory that it is some kind of control device. Whether he wants the control on him or not is a more complex question. Destroying it might mean nothing at this point. Worth a shot, though, if you think you can do it."

"Know a few things about him if you fight him. First, because of what you are, his powers are pure annihilation against you. Anything he can do to the Gunstar, he can do to you. His Sunspear is a devastating weapon. However, his power is linked directly to his virtue. Late in the war, but before he turned, he altered his own nature to make his virtues match humanity's idea of virtue. It focused his power, but gave him noticeable and exploitable weaknesses."

"His greatest strength is his greatest weakness: his temperance. As long as he is not suppressing it, he is inviolate. Unassailable through mind or body. We've tried to get him to drop it, but he always suppresses something else instead. Moral paradoxes do weaken him, though, and increase your odds of survival."

"...It's going to be difficult to fight him...What do you mean by Zeniths? Are they a subset of your group?

You have the Sun hunting you, What about the Moon?"

"Your ignorance is not surprising to me any more. I'll continue answering your questions, because it amuses me to do so. Besides, if our leaders were have as willing to listen as you are, we wouldn't be struggling to return to Creation in triumph."

"Each one of us has an intended role. Dawn, Zenith, Twilight, Night and Eclipse castes are warriors, priests, savants, troubleshooters and diplomats, although we are quite flexible and capable of being more than any one of these things."

"As for Luna, she took Gaia on to a star, left Creation, and neither of them has been seen reliably for some time. They are both still alive, and likely close, but their location is otherwise unknown." This last bit seemed to disappoint him a bit.

"Ignorance can be cured with information and teaching. The others said that you are the best in your field. So I guess you are one of the savants, one of the Twilight castes...You call members of your group Solar Exalted,correct? And there are other kinds of exalted too. Lunars, Sidereals and Dragonblooded. Is that correct?"

He chuckles. "And now I see what the others have not. You've spoken to someone who possesses intimate knowledge of us before, but they didn't tip everything to you, did they? Likely another of your kind, probably here in the Gunstar itself right now. How many of you have been encountered so far? Two? Three? Likely there are more here now that have not been detected."

"You have an outsiders knowledge of our setting, like someone wrote it down in a book and explained it. Or rather I should say your source probably does."

"You are smart beyond most peoples understanding of the term to intuit that about the multiverse. The Multiverse is Big beyond what most people can comprehend. So Somewhere someone has probably wrote about your struggles against the Primordials. Admittedly I haven't seen it yet. That bit of knowledge didn't come from one like myself. Heh the Deliberative probably wont believe me on this so I'll go ahead and tell you. It came from my previous world, One that seems is very closely related to your world. But in this world you guys won the war, Which is one of the reasons I think the fight was very close. Anyway You guys brought an age of prosperity to Creation. But something happened and and the fae invaded. I learned that bit of knowledge from something called a MI but they never explained what a MI is. I guess it is like a AI or Artificial Intelligence.

There are three of us here. We call ourselves Versers or Worldwalkers if you want to be poetic."

"I was close, although no more? Doesn't seem like more than an expeditionary force to me. Although I don't think any of you chose to be here, a tidbit I will grant to our eavesdropping friends."

He sounds almost like he's trying to envision it. "Age of prosperity, brought by us? So winning the war will be worth it. That's good to hear, although for mere fae to end it means we must have gotten extremely careless in our victory. Good to know, then, that men like me shall never be bored, even in victory."

"MI is Material Intelligence, something designed to work with geomancy. Ours is attuned to the Gunstar's world-body, although the one you describe was likely attuned to Gaia. Problem solving devices, capable of helping us do work faster and more effectively, to waste less time."

"Ah, so they are like a AI. Except with magic.
Anyway, Something else ended it. I'm not sure what ended it though. Fae messed up creation, or at least the edges of it.
Yeah. We don't have any control over where we end up. It's sort of hard to be organized with that limitation."

He shook his head. "Hmm, I doubt I'll be able to get the details out of you in the future. It is also irrelevant. The point you really want is fighting the Unconquered Sun. You have to go through him, and the turned and corrupted Exalted fighting with him, combined with demonic support. That one is our most dreaded foe today. The Primordials can wait until he is either dispatched or turned back."

"The minions with him bear their masters' power. You shall see, and I suspect they will be unlike any foe you have ever fought. You strike me as an infantry man. How are you with a craft?"

"Yeah I simply don't know. I haven't piloted any kind of spacecraft before. There is nothing stopping me from learning how to fight in one, but I generally fight on foot... or flying. Actually I could probably develop a spell to survive in a void. Oh. They explained charms as stable innate magic. I think you guys train yourselves to channel magic in a set path..wait you call magic energy Essence don't you? Anyway you can reflexively channel Essence into that path to produce an effect. Since you channel magic that way, Does that mean that you can put a effectively permanent effect on yourselves?

What can you tell me about these corrupted exalted and these minions with the powers of the primordials? "
This message was last edited by the player at 16:32, Tue 21 July 2015.

He smiles. "I think you should offer your services to the Gunstar Defense Line. You shouldn't have any trouble finding them, or getting information about them. I'm through answering questions for today. You can get more detailed and up to date information about our enemies from them."

"Oh, and by the way. I presume your kind have names. You know my name, no doubt they briefed you. What is yours?"

"You'll get a kick out of this. I'm larger than most human so I picked the name Magnus in my first world to reflect this. Because it means Large or Great in a old language in my homeworld. It was a pleasure to meet you Magnus."

I turn to leave

"Ah. Magnus. It means the same thing here. And a pleasure meeting you as well. They rarely send simpletons at me who are willing to listen. May you be reap a terrible toll of your foes."

Nothing stops you from leaving the room, and should you proceed, a flash of light takes you back to the darkened room.

"So, what are your thoughts?" The older man is speaking.

"Heh. It's true that your smarter than me. Thank you for your blessing."

I walk though the teleporter.

I reply.

"He is inhumanly intelligent and perceptive. And I believe him when he says that he will go to any lengths to win. I can guess why you imprisoned him. His advice to offer my services to the Gunstar Defense line was good though. I got the impression that he was being honest during the rest of it."

"He was. We were listening. He actually did give us useful information about you, although whether he intended to or not is up for debate. He is smart, but has an extremely high opinion of his own intellect. We have used this against him more than once."

The young voice spoke. "I still don't understand why the Viziers asked us to have the two of them talk. Other than name, I don't see a connection between them."

"Don't overthink it." He was talking as a friend for a moment, brief though it was, and then shifted tone back to business. "If you wish, I will fast track you into the Gunstar Defense Line. Normally there is a rather extensive evaluation period, but I believe you will pass the physical. The psychological they will work out during training; if you wash out then, at least we only lose you as opposed to you and a high value warfighter."

"I would like to be fast tracked to the Gunstar Defense Line. What can you tell me about these warfighters? You are advanced enough to make synthetics like Dreadful Adjudicator of Justice. So you are probably advanced enough to scale up power armor into a humanoid fighting machine. I assume you have those in addition to the equivalent of fighters for space."

"We do. They are mostly used to repel boarding actions on the part of the enemy. Some of them we are still fighting off. They go to ground and harass us endlessly. The fighters are our front line, though. Still, we do often fight the foe on the surface of the Gunstar."

His tone gets thoughtful. "A man of your strength...not going to lie, I'm not sure if I want someone like you on the surface of the Gunstar. You might do more damage then the enemy entirely on accident."

"I'm surprised you don't just combine the two into some sort of transforming mecha. Oh well, I guess that would be fairly hard to get to work. Anyway ... you are right about me accidentally causing destruction. The power runoff from my damaged aura can cause many unintentional side effects from my other style of magic."
This message was last edited by the player at 11:34, Fri 31 July 2015.

"I am not sure, but I am..." He trails off. "We have had a change of situation. If you wish to join the Gunstar Defense Line, we will fast track you if you establish your loyalty and keen judgement situation skills."

A hand sized circular platform raises out of the ground next to you with a yellow glowing button made of light in the middle, and stops at waist level. "Your friend, this Mentat...since we've been speaking to you he's been in his holding cell, doing nothing but sitting in a lotus position. Despite being Essence suppressed, we've received word from the city that he's doing something. It's like he's doing what you were doing, except they aren't hearing anything and he's not responding to any communication."

The young voice speaks up. "We believe he can hear us, but he's choosing not to respond. We believe you might be able to ask him what is doing, and to please stop it. It's making us rather uneasy, as we suspect he is executing some kind of city-wide subversion charm. Turn the button in front of you to talk to him. And...should the worst happen, slam the button to execute him."

The older voice speaks again. "You are familiar with the method of execution that will be used. Your soul bears fresh scars from it. Odd, that your kind can survive such a total obliteration, but our auguries state that it will remove him from the Gunstar with one hundred percent certainty, should you slam down."

My eyes narrow at where the voices are coming from.

"Being ripped apart by pattern spiders is an exceedingly unpleasant way to go to your next world. And you are asking me to do that to one of my friends? Are you sick?!?"

I'm so angry that it wouldn't surprise me if wisps of fire started spontaneously forming around me.

"Hmph. I'll talk to him though and get him to stop. Knowing him he is doing a wide area search spell to find his wife."

I'll press the button to talk to Mentat.
"Hello Mentat."

"Hello Magnus." You hear a slight reverb to Mentat's voice. "I am attuning right now, and I see what your newfound friends are planning. Surely they don't think I cannot hear them chittering and assembling around me. I have not cast enough magic to justify this level of activity, so someone else has sent them. Likely disassembly, if I had to guess. Of me, I presume? Likely the meditation made them nervous."

He's beginning to go on a ramble, clearly. "Maybe they can't hear them like we can, or most cannot. But you can, and you can see and hear them as clearly as myself. Your mind's constructs of the builders and janitors of the known universe. Not a blessing, all the time, mind you, but it does give...oh, right. Imminent danger. What's your plan, exactly? Or rather, what is their plan?"

The older voice speaks. "He cannot hear us, but he can hear you, so I will speak plainly: it is only way we have discovered in our short time of meeting you to exile one of your kind. You are exceedingly resilient, and your full capabilities are largely unknown to us. Yes, you make us very nervous, and your friend in the cell is making us very nervous, and unlike you he's enjoying it. Make him stop whatever he is doing. You are the moderate option, and so is that button. I pray to the Maker we do not need an extreme option."

"What do you mean by Attuning? Anyway. Could you please stop and talk with them? I would prefer to not see you ripped apart by pattern spiders. It's happened to me before and it is a rather unpleasant way to go into your next world. We should be able to work something out if we talk."

He gives a reverberating chuckle. "So, they have authorized the Pattern Spiders to directly unmake me as an abomination to the universe. Of course. We are of them and not at the same time, and Yu-Shan's remaining authority would allow this more easily than normal. Still, they don't worry me, and you will soon see why."

"As for what I'm doing, I'm preparing to leave my cell. I've had enough of waiting for them to see reason, and my patience is gone. I don't believe it will happen, because the leadership is paranoid. Sad, too. They are strong allies and dangerous foes."

"They love to talk, so I'll make a term for them: let me out of my cell, and I'll find my own way out of the city. No fuss, no muss. Refuse, and I'll find my own way out of the city. More fuss, lots of muss."

"So if they have something other than a threat I can swiftly make empty, even weakened as I am, I will reason. If they do not, I shall finish what I am doing unless interrupted. If they do that, I will use plan B. Feel free to ask them on my behalf if they have something I want."

The reverb in his voice is a side effect of tremendous psychic power being channeled. Your ki sense is seeing it travel along currents and what seems to be wiring.

The elder voice speaks and voices some pent up irritation. "We can't give him his wife, because we don't know where she is. I don't know what this vicious creature wants other then that, because he's not offering us anything either. He's got more to lose then we do, and he doesn't see that." His voice relaxes. "I think he might listen to you. Just show us that you are not rash, and not only will we all win, but you will have your chance at glory against a foe greater than any you've ever fought."

I talk to the elder Solar.

"Mentat and his wife Carmine would be extremely powerful allies. I Might rival them in pure destructive power but they are definitely better than I am when finesse is required. I would highly suggest dealing with them with an even hand. If you do, You'll get Allies that can help you a lot more than I can with your fight against the Unconquered Sun and the Primortials. As for having more to lose than you. He doesn't see it that way. Versers really don't like being imprisoned. Most would have reacted with all the violence they are capable of. Mentat and I where a lot nicer about it and negotiated with you first. Since his first negotiation with you failed he is fine with fighting you until you kill him and send Him and his wife to their next world. So they are not losing anything that they didn't start with."

I'm turn and face Mentat's image.

"Mentat. They really can use our help. And they can repay that help with many things. Right now we are on a Primordial that is also effectively a Worldship and Battleship. They have advance Magitek that can produce Giant Mecha, power armor and Space Fighters in significant numbers. oh, I also saw something that is like a Lightsaber. They could also probably produce something like the Millennium Falcon. Our Help is quite valuable. And they have and entire industrial world to make things that would be hard for us to make on our own. And they can teach us a few things too. Their Magic is quick but static, unchanging. It would be worth it to study it and learn a few things from it."

I'm now talking to both of them.

"Ok I'm going to try to make this as evenhanded and fair as possible. First Mentat will stop using his psionics to break out of his cell. Within ten minute of Mentat stopping, The Solar Deliberative will Release Mentat from his cell but he will have an escort consisting on myself and one Solar. Both Mentat and I can sense where Carmine is. We will travel to her location. And when we get to her I will moderate a negotiation for terms of service between Mentat, Carmine and the Solar Deliberative. If you two can't come to an agreement, The Solar Deliberative will immediately direct Autochton to the nearest inhabitable planet to drop you off there. While traveling there the Solar Deliberative will provide sufficient food and living space for Mentat and Carmine in exchange for not causing trouble. I just want to point out that the cost for Living space, food and traveling to a inhabitable planet is a small drop in a bucket compared to the property damage and lose of live that would occur if Mentat and Carmine go all out in fighting you.

If you do come to an agreement. That's good because that means we all can work together.

Are there any objections to this plan?"

The voices in the room are presently silent, waiting to see how this all plays out.

Mentat responds with some surprise. "I've discerned their intent for me. That would eliminate me for a relatively long time. Irritating...they don't have anything I need, but I'll go along with this tale, and see where it takes me. If they do what they are thinking, they had better hope I never return in this time period again. I will not show mercy twice."

A brief flicker of the lights occur, and Mentat leans against the wall of his cell, sitting and exhausted. "My consciousness is no longer in the machines. I'll be a moment. Your judgement had better be spot on, because I'm dumb enough to trust it."

The deep voice speaks once more. "We will honor the terms of the deal. Our youngest will accompany you, when you are ready."

OOC: Diplomacy +@1. Well spoken.

"I'm ready to go and met with him now. Unfortunately I don't know my way around here."

Once I met the solar I say
"Thane I presume? I would guess you and one of the Eclipses. It would make sense to send a diplomat to negotiate with someone. Anyway It's a pleasure to met you. Let's get to Mentat before he decides that you are not going to follow though."

Thane possesses black, waist length hair in a braid, and a pair of rounded spectacles. "Agreed. Our defenders claim he was doing some kind of undermining activity to our network." The floors lit up once more. He speaks even as reality turns white and bends, unfazed by a familiar experience.

"I understand some of what he was doing, although how he did it without access to personal or peripheral essence is beyond my understanding. To put what he was doing in physical terms, he dug a tunnel under several of our walls, and was planning on either using them to access whatever he wanted, or failing that, collapse them, causing citywide catastrophe. We'd have survived, but it would have thrown the timetables off tremendously. His exhaustion means he undid his own damage, at least in part."

You arrived outside a familiar cell surrounded in golden light. "He, nor anyone else anytime soon, will not be able to do that again. You're something of a hero, I guess."

You hear snoring from inside the cell.

What does my chi sight read about Thane?

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

I look at Thane confused for a moment then I translate what he meant.

"Ah. He was Hacking your computer network. Or your analog to an computer network. I still need to get familiar with your MagiTech. Your network uses Geomantic leylines and physical lines to transport Essence and information, correct? Anyway, What do you mean by Personal and Peripheral Essence?"

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

"Well. let's open the cell and wait for him to wake up. Going against the nature of his power must have contributed to his exhaustion. He should wake up soon knowing Mentat."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:38, Sat 19 Sept 2015.

Now that you have a close look, and you've had some time to adjust to the "glare", Thane's aura is quite telling. The young man is clearly some sort of diplomat, but he has a strange passive aggressive attunement to power not native to himself, like a weaker verser.

"I don't think he so much went against himself so much as he had to improvise." He tips his head. You see several small areas on him where power is concentrated, likely some form of magical artifacts or devices. "Apparently, if we had taken him out, he'd have blacked out large chunks of the city, an unacceptable delay to our production. And..." He smiled as he tipped his head. "He did a controlled collapse of the work he had done. How generous of him. If he hadn't caused the problem in the first place, we might reward him."

"By the way, what do you hope to achieve in the armed forces? You have no stake in our world. Are you simply seeking a challenging fight? There are many of those beyond Creation."

"It's true that I have no stake in your world. But I decided to help you guys Because of what you fight. Plus you guys can help me out by teaching me your magic and building a few things for me. You didn't answer my question on what you mean by Personal or peripheral essence. I'm hopefully going to be here for a while. So it would make it easer for me to be here if I knew what you where talking about."

He sighed. "That essence difference really is basic stuff. I'm amazed you don't know this. Peripheral is the essence around you in your reach. Personal is yours. There's more nuance then that, but that's the short version without going into metaphysics."

"Magical instruction might do you some good. We might have to get you out of the Gunstar before we could get a full measure of your fighting ability. Your raw essence is brighter than his." He waves to Mentat. "His is just more polished and focused. He's also very, very good at hiding it, but I can see where he somehow mutilated his own soul to refine his power. There's a reason we thought he might be a spy for the enemy: that's something they tend to do. Reminds me of She Who Lives In Her Name."

He looks at you, heading off the question. "One of our enemies. Very rigid, opposed to free will. Thinks it was a bad idea. Knowing her full name is supposed to enslave the one that learns it. So we don't say it. The Pyrian Flame is another of her nicknames."

"I am familiar with those concepts. I wasn't familiar with the terms you used for them.
So Personal essence is stored within you ready for immediate use. And Peripheral essence is the essence of the world around you which need to be gathered up before you can use it.
My fighting ability varies depending on how far I'm pushing myself. Push too far and I'll probably explode. It also varies based on what type of essence I can access...

Anyway, I saw that crippling before. I'm not sure why he did that.

The Pyrian Flame sounds like something I would want to fight anyway. "

"Probably did it to make him better at sorcery he intended to use. It's one of our advantages on our Primordial foes: they have huge blind spots we can exploit. The Pyrian Flame, for example, doesn't deal well with surprise or anything new. This can backfire, though. When we demonstrated that we could kill her unkillable siblings, she went into a brief catatonic state, then annihilated the majority of the Creation her and her siblings made. They've rebuilt much of it, but it cannot be as it once was."

"Your friend here has a very similar weakness, but it's not as noticeable, because the power isn't as concentrated. Keep him on his heels if you ever fight him, and don't let him breathe."

He stopped himself. "What do you mean, type of Essence? I have a feeling you don't look at things in terms of Essence within and Essence without."

"Yeah, Essence can have many aspects or flavors. Depending on how you look at it. There is undifferentiated or colorless mana: Chi which acts like a combination of Red, Green and White mana: Oh mana is another word for Essence. anyway there is the Five Main colors of mana Red, Green, White, Blue and Black along with  Snow mana that is different from the rest. Actually there is different essence type for what many world would consider magical elements. Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Ice, Lighting, Sun, Moon, Stars, Darkness, Void... It depends on how the world is set up to determine what type of Essence I can channel into myself. There is an hierarchy for how rarefied the essence is. Colorless mana is ok for most uses but doesn't excell at any use. While Fire essence is really good at burning things and not much else. and Red mana is between them in usefulness."

"You are something of an essence gourmand. I'd swear you were talking about geomancy more then sorcery or Essence usage. Sounds complex. The savants might be interested in what you have to say. I understand your words, but if they have implications for me, they are over my head."

He looks to Mentat. "Seriously, how long is he going to be out like that? Can't we just..?" At that point, his body disappears in a flash of blue light. You get a verser sense for a brief moment, and then his life and verser signals vanish.

Thane is stunned, confused, and somewhat frightened.

"We'll technically that style of magic is a type of geomancy..."

After Mentat Disappears.
"Huh? A blue Teleportation spell? And now I can't sense Him. Must be that cloaking skill he has. Odd that I didn't feel a mana buildup from him though. And Teleporting doesn't make much sense at the moment. Hold on, is that room still suppressing Magic?"

I walk into the room and then sit in a lotus position. I meditate for a bit to quite myself then I try to extend my magical senses and try to feel out the magic that has happen in the last minute or two.

Can I sense another verser?(Carmine)

There are no other detectable versers in the world you are in. "Yes it was on, we never turned it off! That's why we still don't know what's going on!" He tips his head slightly to the side, like he's hearing something, namely a telepathic communication that your senses can perceive. The message has a tiny mechanical spider on it, and seems to carry something calming and focusing. "Right. We can trace a teleportation, but if he did that, he didn't use any means we know."

"Besides, I...really don't think that's what happened here." He's noticeably calmed down. "If he could have teleported out all along, why wouldn't he have just done that first?"

"He would have. He couldn't have used magic to teleport and he would have use psionics to teleport out in the first place, if he could teleport with psionics...Damn it. if he was that hurt he should have told me, I could have healed him with my magic. oh Sorry. Based on the available evidence the most likely explanation is that he has move to his next world by dying, Or Versing out.

What he did to your essence network must have put a massive strain on his soul. I would have probably died sooner if I tried it.

Anyway Somehow He was following his wife though the Multiverse or she was following him. I'm not sure how that works so I don't know if She left with him. If I was you I would be on a lookout for her just in case she is still here. Because I can't tell if she is still here with my sense for other versers.  If you contact her you'll want to negotiate with her.

Let's go, there is nothing else to do here."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 03:01, Sat 03 Oct 2015.

He sighed. "I guess nothing else can be done. A shame, too."

"Well, let's see about getting you fast tracked in. Now, did you want to be a pilot, or did you have some kind of MOS in mind. The more you know about what you want to do, the better you will be able to serve. And the less you will resent it."

"What's a MOS? I'm not familiar with that term. Anyway, I think I'll want to be a pilot. I'd like to try that giant armored suits that the other Solar told me about. Since I like fighting with Martial arts... but you guys don't want me fighting on the surface of Autocthon. I would also like to work with your Savants. I'm probably not as good as your Twilights. But I sould be able to help out there."

Thane thinks hard, like he's trying to recall a lot of information all at once. "A Marine Engineer? I suppose I could put in a word for you, but the prerequisites for that one are fairly strict. The physical you could probably pass, but the mental and technical tests might prove rather difficult for you."

"If you made it in, though, your role would be technical work under fire, on board enemy ships. You'd be rather important in the role of invading and destroying enemy vessals at knife-fighting range. 'Knife-fighting' in this case means you are less than a kilometer from your foes. In void, that's pretty close."

"That sound like something you want me to push you in for, or did you have something else in mind? If you fail, you will likely end up a basic marine. Still formidable, but not as important."

"The Marine Engineer sounds interesting. I would need to familiarize myself with your magic technology before I try that I think. A Crash course Might be what I need though...

Anyway. That's not quite what I meant. Despite how interesting that sounds. You guys have very interesting magic items. I would like to learn how to make them. Something like helping out in Research and Development? I guess it wouldn't be my main focus though.

I also want to learn how the Exalted fight. I want to learn all the martial arts you have developed. "
This message was last edited by the player at 13:12, Mon 12 Oct 2015.

"I don't think I'd be able to get the brass to accept that. My predecessor died rather recently, so I don't yet have the pull to make that kind of call. From what the others have seen of you, you are good at destruction, not creation."

"If you can present me with a master-craft of some kind, I can vouch for it, and speed you in."

"I'll need to learn how to make a master-craft item then. Could you find someone that would be willing to teach me in our spare time?

Anyway I guess I should try for that Marine Engineer. That should teach me a somewhat rounded skillset."

"No. That's what I'm saying: you need to have some kind of talent for them to work with in the first place. If you don't have that aptitude, they won't let you in." He realized quickly what your issue really was. "What they do teach is how to make that sort of thing quickly, and how to make the things quickly that save lives."

He looks around, and almosts whispers. "Seriously, you can make something on short notice, right? Just create something cool, right now."

"Generally I work better if I have something to work with at the start."

I focus my intent into a kiai as I stomp the metal ground below me dislodging a spirit of metal in front of me which I punch continuously for a few minutes to make it into a prefect twohanded sword.

"Do I need to make it magical too?"
This message was last edited by the player at 04:56, Mon 19 Oct 2015.

"If possible. So far, you are demonstrating Solar level skill with your environment." The weapon is high-quality, although not quite perfect. Functional, however, and quite durable if your aim is to kill horses. "So far, so good. Show me your finished product."

I step away from Thane so I have room to perform a long kata with the sword. The kata clears my mind as I construct a path for chi within the sword to aid it in striking true.

"I'm not quite done yet."

"Let me know when you are. You might want to polish the sword's appearance off a bit. Make it like it's going in some Solar's hallway to show off to guests, but it also has to be functional. You got the second part down. Most people get the first."

"... Sorry, my sense of aesthetics isn't that great. Anyway wasn't the point of this to see what I can make on short notice? Anyway, You might want to turn on your essence sight. Because I'm going to show my other style of magic."

I feel out that massive source of red mana I felt before And start a slow controlled draw from it. I channel it into the sword to change the nature of the iron to be like the Elemental Iron I experienced In the That Plane of War who's name I can't pronounce. Red Mana is the energy of Chaos and War. Iron is associated with Ares or Mars. And though that Chaos and War. Therefore Iron purified to an absurd degree becomes a perfect tool of war by becoming indestructible.
I'm infusing the sword with red mana to strengthen it's nature as a weapon of Chaos and War while using the red mana to burn away any impurities both physical and metaphysical. I'm going to take it slow so I can maintain control of my power.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:46, Mon 19 Oct 2015.

For a brief moment, your facial features flash into a two-faced monster with blazing antlers emerging from your head. The environment is promptly flash-scorched within arm's reach around you and the upraised weapon. "Chaos" and "restraint" (i.e. "slow") do not mix well, and the conflux of energy blasts back into you with no ill effect to you, then the illusion is burned off your face, into the weapon.

Thane, on the other hand, is rather aghast. "What in the name of hell are you?!"

The weapon is forged. It has some sentience you can sense in it, and it aches to be used. You feel it. You also feel a hint of annoyance from your pocket as well. Jealousy, perhaps?

"Woot! It worked! oh wait. You asked me to make this into a functional display piece...eh opps. I guess I'll keep this one.

Oh you asked a question. I'm a human verser. but we tend to pick up various abilities that add to what we are. My three main abilities are Akashic Martial arts, Mana and chi Manipulation and the various more mundane skills I picked up. What you saw is a relatively minor side effect of my channeling of red mana into the sword to transform it. You see, I channeled too much red mana before and damaged my aura. Now I leak magic and produce side effects. Unless I explode. That really hurts by the way. I honestly should take it easy and let my aura heal. But That generally doesn't happen. I could use my other style of magic but I have to do everything with a martial arts theme. And if I overuse it the Pattern Spiders get pissed off at me and rip me apart...

oh that visage you seen was my Avatar."

I assert my will over the sword letting it know I'M in charge. But when it is time, It will be used.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 14:59, Mon 19 Oct 2015.

You sense two things in quick succession: the sword simmering down to the point where the blade, once red hot with power, suddenly drops dramatically in temperature, to the point where it now absorbs heat. A sense of sullen disappointment radiants from the weapon.

The follow-up sensation is smug satisfaction.

"I know about the martial arts thing, and the red mana issue. I was present for both when you explained them." He seems to have forgotten he's supposed to be diplomatic, and seems rather annoyed. "I asked what you are, not what you know. Human is not something that you are. I mean, I suppose medically you are still human, but your Essence is all over the place and doesn't match your species. I'd say you are Fair Folk, but you haven't died yet and your Essence doesn't fit."

"Wait." He thought of something. "How much contact with our culture have you had?"

You hear a sly voice in your mind. "Wear me, and lie."

I'm not putting you on until I understand what you are.

"What do you mean by all over the place? Sorry, but I'm new here. So I don't know what to compare myself to in your world... So yeah. This is the first time I encountered your culture"

"How...?" He takes a step back from you. "How do you speak our language so fluently?"

You do not get any further communications in your mind. You do, however, have enough battle experience to recognize when someone is about to attack you, or at least warming up to the idea.

"Hold on. I'm an experienced world traveler. I picked up a blessing that allows me to understand and speak any language."

Something is very wrong with this "Thane." Wear me, and I will elaborate. Refuse, and he will try to kill you. I can help you avoid a costly battle. Look at his gathering Essence again, then put me on. I am out of time for more.

"Do you, now?" Thane is beginning to glow golden, and a large, curved scimitar appears in his hand. "You claim power not your own, take on the form of the Fair Folk shock troops when channeling large amounts of power, and your Essence twists the Loom. We should have seen you were an infiltrator some time ago."

He is clearly getting ready. Power is assembling around him, and you sense something...strange about his power.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:12, Tue 27 Oct 2015.

Fine, Tell me.

I slip my hand into my pocket and slip the ring on.
I activate iron skin technique.

"I do not wish to fight you thane. But I'll defend myself if I must. You said so yourself. My essence doesn't match that that of the Fair folk. Besides I don't have their feeding maws."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 11:42, Tue 27 Oct 2015.

"I care not for your trick...er...y." The world slows for a moment as pretty much everything changes the instant the ring slips on to your finger. Now...return me to...my...master?

You sense a confusion from the ring, which you may or may not care about. You notice Thane's aura has something in it hiding his aura, namely that there is some green tinge of power hiding in it you've never seen before, but resonates with the ring. You think he's probably some kind of Primordial double agent. He is not what he says he is at all. You also aren't sure if you even care about really anything other than whatever you want to do in the moment.

You feel an absolute mastery of power over all things in the dark, be it actual darkness or a metaphysical one, like concealing the truth. You can pierce all darkness lesser then yourself, which is all darkness right now. You can become the absolute foe to whomever you want, and you find yourself really, really wanting to oppose Thane's goals, which oddly enough, he doesn't have any of his own. He's hollow, like you. You still hate him, though, because he's opposing you and what you want to do.

You care for nothing, save yourself. You feel no connection to anyone not you, feel no sense of honor, no desire to fight, no desire for anything but the moment. You feel better than ever, though, like you can do anything. Hell, you can: nothing is beneath you anymore. Truth is a commodity to be shared only with yourself, or when you can crush another with it.

Nothing can confine you, for in you is the power to be free from all restraint, physical, moral, mental, whatever. Nothing can hold you from what you want.

And all that stands in your way, is some diplomatic little worm who can no longer draw upon that hated power of righteousness, the one thing that can actually still threaten you. Who knows what bauble he traded it for? You can show him with glee why it wasn't worth it as long as you are around.

...You find it difficult to tell where your thoughts end and the ring's influence begins. The ring itself is very confused, though, and wondering who in the hell you think you are defying its power, and how you are doing it.

OOC: Verser soul structure, hard at work. You don't draw on a charm pool. You ARE the Shadow of All Things, for all intents and purposes, which confuses the metaphysics of this world to no end. Anything that thematically falls under your themes (listed below) you can attempt and likely succeed at.
    Your themes: shadows, darkness, night, fear, lies, subtlety, treachery, blasphemy, malice, crime, seduction, indulgence, revelry, sophistication, corruption, debasement, slavery, despair, resistance, persistence, transitions, weddings, funerals, death, reptiles, spirals, the Fiend Caste, caves, mines, graveyards, doors, daggers, seven-section staves, flutes, dirges, tarnished gold, and obsidian.
    Your flaws: Roleplaying challenge. You are an utter sociopath. You CAN be "heroic" for a certain definition of the word, but you are likely to be rather backhanded about it. Truth is only something you can do if it will hurt someone, or cause some damage from being revealed. You have an Urge to serve yourself, first and foremost. You can be motivated to do other things, but only if you choose to oppose another. Sunlight hurts your eyes, and holy powers can wreck you if you wear this ring. Darkness always retreats from light, even reluctantly.
    Oh, and you can take the ring off at any time, once you can figure out why you would want to within this character perimeter.

"Mwahahaha!!! I can see your betrayal of you fellows and society. You Have rejected the power of Righteousness and thrown your lot in with the primortals. And here you thought I was a mere fair folk. Hahaha. You pathetic man, Can you not see my true glory? I AM The Shadow of All Things and you will dance to MY Will Puppet!

I'm going to forcibly take control of Thane and enslave him to my will.

Thane, in pure terror, manages to shake you off, but he's definitely rattled. "You are akuma?!"

He snarls quietly. "A shame you didn't tip your hand sooner. If you can feign your death, we can talk later. For now, play along and 'die.'"

His sword still glows bright gold, although you sense no righteousness in it. He delivers one sloppy, easily countered attack that is clearly meant to be something for you to interact with. "NOW YOU DIE, MONSTER!"

The power you would have expended taking control of his will mostly returns to you.

I turn into a being of living shadow and slip behind him and congeal back into myself. I then strike with my newly made sword in a powerful overhand swing charging it with darkness and spite, Hopefully catching him unaware.

He fizzles into sea foam in surprise, some of which freezes as a result of your chilled sword, publicly tipping his hand given the amount of surveillance you are both under. "What are you DOING?!" Thane is furious with you now. "Do you realize what you've done?! Years of work, infiltration, ruining because of you stupid outsiders! You have no place here, and you will not usurp my masters! They know what you are, shinma-spawn, and you will not leave here alive!"

At this point, his weapon glows again, and you feel a strange urge to look at the shiny weapon and get closer...until you reflexively and almost contemptuously decide not to. You also see the underside of his skin beginning to writhe, like he has something alive inside him and under his skin.

OOC: Oh, an extra benefit from wearing the ring. Your ego is so colossal, your willpower increases by a full 1-X value, maxing at 3-10 as normal. If its already 3-10, you gain an overwhelming sense of smug self-satifaction from the knowledge you cannot be more awesome.

"HEheheHA! You shouldn't have attack my Imperial Awesomeness! Now I'm Going to kill you Worm!"

I'll focus on thrusts to keep him out of range while I focus my power into his shadow. Once I've built up enough I'll solidify the shadow into a multitude of spikes to stab him in the back.

OOC: You are terrible at being a villain, which is actually a good sign, in and out of character.

"Look. At. The WEAPON!" He takes a swing at you with each word, not wanting to get to close to your surprisingly heavy weapon. It's rather hard to swing right now, as you sense a sullen mood from the sword. If you had empathy, you might notice it's still chapped about having been told it won't be fighting. Even though it is being used in a fight right now, it's still upset.

You do sense triumph from the ring at your blade's discomfort.

Thane's shadow emerges to stab him as alarms go off, with gold and silver lights crazily dance across your vision, making a strobe effect out of your sword and magic duel. His flesh is torn off his body, and a half-dozen tentacles emerge from where he once was to strike you. You aren't really sure what that...mass that is standing where he was actually is, but your instincts recognize it as Thane, and your hate does not subside.

One of the tentacles picks up his weapon and gurgles speech at you, and the floor begins to melt around it. "I shall dissolve you until there is nothing left, not even a soul. Then I shall poison the memories of you while you were here until nothing remains but pure hatred."

Oddly enough, you sense one more hole in yourself, one you just noticed: your knowledge of Akashic magic is gone. Strange that you would think of that now.

That revelation infuriates me. ALL power is MINE to do what I want with it. I search to see if I still have my mana based magic.

I hang back and only cut the tentacles that get near me. if one grabs me I'll simple escape by turning myself into living shadows and move further away.

He still still has eyes and other body cavities that are filled with shadows. I'll infuse those shadows with my essence. Once I saturate them I'll cause the shadows to burn with a black fire of spite and hatred

Thane is struck, and then begins to glow as appendages with dangling glowing green light emerge from him. "Is that your only trick, little man? Stab it with a solid shadow? I shall-"

A solid beam of light cuts off his increasingly growing form. He screams in pain, and melts through the floor. You hear loud crashing, and you can see the dim glow of lava and feel a rush of heat flooding the room.

"Secure that breach! Scan the magma for life! The akuma may yet live!" You hear a deep voice, and for the first time, you witness a large black man with a plain staff approach. He wears solid white robes, and is escorted by a golden construct.

His light burns, and your instinct calls you to hate, fear and kill this man. "State your side, creature. The fewer words, the better. We have little time."

"I'm on your side." I lie with apparent sincerity

I may want to hate and kill this man for his righteousness but I know that I would die if I fought him now. if not now then I would eventually be worn down by the resources of a world. An I don't do suicide. For all my power I'm ultimately a coward and devoid of virtue. My Foolish other self would be willing to fight a battle that could kill him. But I grew a brain.

This presents a bit of a problem for me. They can see my essence and know that I am The Shadow of All Things. They will hunt me down to kill me. I Could hide from them here but there is an easier way. My foolish other self. Take off the ring and I revert to my foolish self, undetectable to my hated foes. That fool will keep the ring because he deems it to dangerous for anyone else. But he just wants the power for himself. And when his virtue fails him and he deems there is no other way, He will put the ring on and I will be reborn.

With that thought I pull off the ring and put it back into my pocket.

OOC Hopefully that chain of reasoning will help me take the ring off.

It resists, and it is only with tremendous effort that you can remove it. You are physically tired from the mental effort, and you feel so weak now...although you feel your connection to Akashic techniques returning, and potentially with a roar.

The man cocks an eyebrow at you, and points below. Your eyes sense a lot of energy coming from the magma. "If you have any preparations you need to make, I would make them very quickly. That cold weapon...it might help us."

He looks to his companion. "Order an emergency, and get the work crew to dump as much coolant as they can in the disposal."

He smiles back up at you. "Are you in the condition to fight? You...aren't radiating blasphemy anymore. Because you and I have to stop it from leaving this area."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:28, Mon 09 Nov 2015.

...that was an odd and disturbing experiance. When I put that on...myself without morals or virtue...the ring made me like thar. Dangerous but even more dangerous for other people. It's disturbingly accurate when the truth hurts others. But is not completely right.

"...I've fought in worse conditions."

I draw upon the ambient white mana in the city I was in before to cast Holy strength on myself to help me get back into fighting shape.

"Strength born from the Fetters of Righteousness.
Cast down the Wicked with that Might.
Holy Strength!"

"I can probably freeze the entire area down there and encase it in the solid material.
But it'll take me a bit to gather the essence needed to to that and I might explode catastrophically from doing that. Are you willing to take the risk?"
This message was last edited by the player at 14:40, Mon 09 Nov 2015.

Your power momentarily tears reality asunder for a brief moment. Terrible beings made of light, with blue fire for eyes and white flames as bodies cast their baleful gaze upon you and your ally of the moment. You can see them all around you, tense for the righteous combat to come, and they don't like that you are looking at them.

Reality reassembles itself, and you feel a familiar rage filling you. Your holy strength has manifested in added bulk to your body, with an extra thing made of white light attached to your left shoulder.

A familiar stag's head is glaring at you with bright blue eyes. It grins insanely. "YOU TRIED TO KILL ME JUST NOW! WHAT THE HELL?!" On the plus side, your sword has gone from cold to hot. It knows battle is impending, and its getting excited. Whether it is with you or the akuma in the lava below is not important to the weapon.

Sigh
"I didn't intend to try to kill you. That would be bad for me too. Admittedly that was a stupid move on my part. I'm sorry."

I turn to the solar.

"Well you saw one of the side effects of my magic. are you willing to risk another one to freeze the entire area?"

"Freeze the lava, not everything. We will discuss the Wyld zones of magic you radiate later." He didn't seem too concerned with your high collateral damage.

You witness the lava beginning to bubble up in one location.

"Block anything major. I'll get to work."

I Start drawing in a large amount of blue mana. Not the ridiculous amount I drew before at the planes on war but still a respectable amount.(if we where playing the card game I would say four or five mana.)

Blue has dominion over ice and control type spells like freezing them so they can't move.
Making it perfect for my intentions. My goal is to freeze the lava and everything in it so that it can't move.

I gesture precisely to help control the flow of mana.
"Come forth O Darkness of the Eternal Glacier!
Freeze the Soulless Puppet with frozen rock!
The Eternal Prison of Ice and Rock!
Frozen World!"
This message was last edited by the player at 17:56, Mon 16 Nov 2015.

Reality itself gets blasted open next to you on a metaphysical level. You barely manage to avoid getting pulled into the world between worlds, and you see an entity made of unholy flame and mouths reaching for you, desperately hoping for you to get in its reach again.

The magma below is crushed underneath the weight of giant glaciers which descend down upon it. Massive eruptions of steam blast out in all directions, making it now impossible to see anything.

"Clear this fog away! We need to see it right now!"

You hear a roar of pain and frustration below you.

That's not good... I need to switch styles before I send myself to the next world.

I briefly consider punching the steam to make it into some sort of elemental to help us fight. But dismiss it as too complicated to pull off in battle.

I'm assuming the hole in reality closed back to normal.

I rush towards the Steam and focus my nature of destruction into the punch and send it into all the steam to destroy all of it. A more powerful version of what I did before with breaking the wall.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:38, Wed 02 Dec 2015.

The reality rift is somewhat closed. Physics around you are rather becoming questionable things when your aura curse is damaging the fabric of reality itself. If you weren't blinded by mist, you might have noticed objects around you beginning to float, or change color.

Your punch successfully clears the fog, blasting a hole through it and causing two weather fronts to begin building up and moving away from the area.

Below, you see the lava has cooled down to a dark red shade, with many black patches. You also notice it beginning to rise into what can best be described as a column with tentacles slowly waving out of it.

You feel an attack coming from below in the form of a quake, and with astonishing speed for a creature of its size, you feel the room you are in beginning to collapse! The lights go out, and everything begins falling in a confusing tumble of darkness, oil, metal and steel.

You feel yourself freefalling, and your eyes burn with what apparently was an eruption of some kind of oil.

Oh Great, I am possibly blinded by the oil and it's dark anyway. And I'm Falling.

I quickly wipe my eyes against my shirt to get most of the oil and limit the damage to my eyes.
Fortunately, I don't need my eyes to see. I use my chi sight to see and note where Cthanelu and the Solar are. and and try to see the bottom of the drop.

If there is a ways to go.
I kick off against the air like they do in wuxia films and anime and produce more force than is physically possible with that kick. Sending me flying past Cthanelu and I swing my new sword into him as I pass. The Elemental Iron sword should cut though the slag like a hot knife though butter.I'm trying to cut Cthanelu in half as I pass by. (Because you can cut things in have as you pass by in Samurai Movies and Legends)  I stop myself with another kick against the air when I'm out of Cthanelu's reach.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:23, Fri 11 Dec 2015.

He is sliced cleanly into two pieces, with his top half sailing off from his bottom. Dark green ichor ruptures all over the city as both halves fall into the  frozen lava thrashing, acidic blood having lethal chemical reactions below.

You note the ichor forming into humanoid shapes. Panic erupts everywhere. "Magnus?" You hear the Solar who was with you, and he doesn't sound good. "Give me a moment to see, but I can feel the alerts going off. An army has formed to assault the city!"

I kick against the air repeatably to move me to a safe landing point and to bleed off my momentum.

"Great! An army in the city."

Ok. There should be a connection between all the sub-beings of Thane. I've forced destructive concepts into objects by hitting them before. Therefore, I should be able to destroy the thane network by inserting a destructive concept into one of them and then having it spread to all of them.

I rush up to one of the Thane clones with my sword sheathed with the concept of 'Destruction'.
(It should be ok since Elemental Iron is so resistant to magic.)
I'll then stab the Thane-clone and force the concept of 'Destruction' into the network that binds them and Destroy the entity of 'Thane'.

You watch all of the Thane clones begin to detonate, the destruction spreading all over the city...and mid-detonation, they stop. Everything stops. The world around you freezes in place.

You sense your connection to time has somehow been cut. You sense your time severance has a range limited to the edges of the city...and you sense something is now hunting you. And it has a familiar voice.

"WEAKLING!" It is the voice of your avatar. "I AM COMING FOR YOU! WE HAVE UNSETTLED BUSINESS, YOU AND WE!"

Your ring speaks, urgently but calmly. Put me on, and you can kill it without a fight. As for this temporal field, I can grant you escape from anything and everything, and you know it.

Don't fight your avatar. This voice is new and feminine. My husband would just let you fight yourself and just figure it out on your own. Don't fight it. Don't brute force it, don't yell at it. I don't know your internal issues, or what you need to actually do, but I know that fighting it outright is the worst action you can take. Putting on that ring is the second worst action.

Who is this other voice? I cannot hear what you are saying to him, but I can feel you, woman. For the first time since it has spoken, the ring's mental voice is openly malevolent and hissing hatred into your mind.

"Shut up Ring. I don't want to hear anything else from you. One I don't want to kill my Avatar ; two I'm going to learn to get out of here myself and Three I'm not going to wear you!"

I turn my attention to the feminine voice Speaking out-loud and broadcasting telepathically to her.

"Carmine I presume? Greetings and thank you for your advice. I'm called Magnus. The results where not pretty the last time my Avatar appeared. It took me a bit to figure out that it was my Avatar. One half of it is my Sense of Dominace, My need to impose my will on reality. I Haven't figured out what the other half represents. I did figure out that fighting it is pointless. It just gets stronger the more I struggle against it. I have an idea that hopefully doesn't count as fighting it."

I turn my attention to my avatar
"If I'm weak, Isn't it your job to teach me Strength?"

I'm reminded of a character I used to play in the Role Playing Games of my home-world.
In Fact it was my very first character. Kyotsu, The Cursed Fox. His strength wasn't from Brutal Power or Magic like my Strength is now. His strength was Based on a particular brand of martial arts. A Soft style developed to an absurd degree. Unlike my normal method of meting force with force. His style yields to and redirects the force, often back into the being that attacked. I didn't realize it at the time, But he became an embodiment of the Pointlessness of Conflict. If he so chooses, All attacks that occur around him are parried, Rendering conflict completely pointless.

Remembering my homeworld reminds me of my old friends and family. I feel lonely and alone. But I put that aside and clear my mind. I have things I need to do.

I start with a slow kata mimicked from a soft style. I focus on Kyotsu and the Ideal he represented. I hold that in my mind and heart, Then I enter a stance to make that ideal into a reality.

I'm expecting my Avatar to lead with an attack when he meets me. I'm going to try to parry it.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:01, Tue 29 Dec 2015.

"Yes. I see he's mentioned me. One more thing, and above all: don't use your magic. Any kind. That's in the same class of bad idea as direct violence. And that's all I can really give you. It's your soul. Good luck. I have a distraction I have to deal with." Her communication is cut off.

If you insist. I'll wait until you get reasonable again, my master. Your ring goes quiet as well.

You can sense your avatar closing. "Do I smell power rising from you? Shall we have a final reckoning between us?"

The only presence in your mind is the sword, glowing red, eager to engage your newest foe.

Great. How do I always pick the wrong course of action?

I let the magic I was putting together dissipate.

"No. We will have a discussion. What do you want?"

"How about this? Let's NOT have a discussion, and we find out which of us really needs to be in charge of us." He drops out of the air in front of you, iron two-handed club in hand.

"So, what spell shall you be using to prepare for this battle? I'll give you the first shot." He grins at you, or at least shows off his teeth. He is buck headed, after all. He widens his arms invitationally, holding the large club with one hand.

"Make your spell a good one..."

"You saw what our power unrestrained did to the last world. Like that world, The fabric of this would is fragile. I've already caused a glitch in the world with my power. Using more magic would endanger the people of this city. Therefor I refuse to use magic now.

"There is no point fighting you now. You said that I can have the first shot. What Happens if I don't attack? Will you go back on your word? You are like me, So I know you hate doing that.

If I was you, I would hold off on fighting me. And here is why.You are my sense of Dominance. But you also represent my desire to use my power unrestrained, Correct?
The Unconquered Sun and those Primordials. I know that You and I are excited for the opportunity to face something like that. The opportunity to face something that is invincible and perfect. The Chance to face the Creators of a World. To Test our might against the Impossible. If you face me now, we would invariable move on to the next world and lose this opportunity.

So, Will you waste this opportunity?"

I'm keeping my sword out in case he decides to attack with that two-handed iron club.I'm not going to let myself be killed. If he swings down, I will dodge out of the way and brace the sword so that the club hits the edge of it. The sword will be ok since it's made of indestructible Elemental Iron. The force of the strike should force the sword straight though the club and destroy it.

If he swings sideways, I'll dodge out of the way and start running looking for something I can cut to drop something on him. We are in an industrial area so there should be something I could use. I'm also looking for him to make that critical downward swing that I need to destroy his club.

I'll also try to enter No-Mind so that my killing intent and aggression don't feed him.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:54, Sun 10 Jan 2016.

"You AREN'T me, so we are fighting NOW!" He pounds his club straight down, but not at you. The ground around you explodes with white hot fire, throwing you off your feet. "And since you won't fight, I guess it falls on ME to carry that burden! Still think you can conquer me with peace? This useless sense of pacifism you don't feel? You want to fight me, and we both know it. Peace is foreign to us, and neither of us use it for anything. We both want to turn this city into a battleground to determine once and for all which of us has the right to command your soul."

He leaps to your prone form, leering down, not shouting this time. "Stakes that matter, and a strong foe. That is life, and we both know this. Now, do what you do best, and make me believe you care."

He opens his arms again, inviting another attack.

I roll out from under him, kip-up to my feet and take up a defensive position.

"You are right, we are not alike in all ways. It may be true that I would normally jump at a chance to fight something like you for such grand stakes. It is also true that I have used my power irresponsibly in the past and endangered those around me. I have revelled in my power and looked for strong foes to fight, because that seems to be the major thing that makes me feel alive in my eternal existence. We are similar, I see my vices in you. Here is where we are different though. I do not wish to turn this city into a battleground. I do not want to hurt the people of this city.
I care about more than the thrill of battle.
I will not fight you here. And I will not yield control of my soul to you."

The furious head simply snarls at you, and gives you a quick backhand to the face. It is the detached head, the one that wasn't quite paying attention to anything, that now looks at you directly. "When you detached yourself from us, with that...thing you have, you could have taken any number of options."

Angry Head roars at you, while Calm Head continues. "Indeed, it encouraged and rewarded subtlety, and you chose a path both against the ring and what was, at the time, your own interests. You could have made an ally of this Thane just by lying to him, and kept everything low profile, reporting him later to others and undoing much of his work. That didn't occur to you, or to us."

"So...why cease fighting now? It's gotten you this far. You aren't seriously trying to conquer your embodiment of domination, that is, us, by tricking us into believing you actually think peace is suddenly the answer, do you?"

"Obviously not. I'm not good at tricking people or deception in general.
Normally I would love fighting you. Although it is annoying that you get stronger the more I fight you. But I got advice from an older verser that I shouldn't fight you. and I shouldn't use magic against you. I'm inclined to think that she is right. Plus I remember something from my homeworld about this kind of magic. When you mess up and get paradox I.E Something like stopping time in an area. It's a really bad idea to continue using magic.

The thing that is stopping me from fighting you though is the fact there are innocent people in this area and I would rather not hurt them.

I'm honestly expecting my attempt at peace to not work and I would have to force us to move to the next world in order to prevent the needless deaths of these people.

As for your point about Thane... You're right. That probably would have been better. I don't know why I did it like that."

Angry Head snarls, and he raises his weapon in fury...and pauses, holding it over his head. Calm Head just glances up for a moment at the iron club.

"You are sure about this? There is so much we could do in this world if we remained. You will likely never face stronger foes than these Primordials. I don't like the idea of leaving, and in fact, I'd rather not do as asked. Us killing you was seen as the best way to eliminate the backlash you have developed with minimal damage."

"I really don't care. I'd crack this city in half as long as I knew why I did it. Do you really value abstract lives above...well, what you really want? We want a glorious fight, and I want to see you break this field we are in. But we will kill you if you don't fight."

"If you where any other monster. I would by ok with fighting. Reasoning that the collateral damage you and I cause would be less if you where left alone. But Since I caused you to appear and your existence is tied to me for now. Then the Damage we cause is effectively all my fault. And I would rather not have the guilt from killing people needlessly.

Is there a way to fix this time stop field? I have a feeling that using magic or psionics will make it worse. If we get out of this field, I can probably convince the leadership to go to a world that they don't care about. Once there, Then We can have our glorious battle. Where We can go at each other unrestrained.

Will you put off our battle for now so that we may have an even better one in the future?
If you help me for now, I'll swear an oath to work toward getting us a planet that we can fight freely on."

The Calm Head sighed, while Angry Head gave a vicious baring of teeth, or a grin. It was difficult to tell. "If only. We have a limited time to manifest. This field will then collapse, and spiders will be going crazy, if you get us."

"We must do this for now. Good bye, Eli. Until the next world." He brought the club down on you fast and hard...

The woman, Carmine as you believe, speaks one more time. This was not expected. Not bad, though.

OOC: I'm giving one chance for you to defend yourself, if you choose to take it...

I... Want to defend myself so damn much. But my gut is telling me I need to take this in the face.

I... Let him hit me.

You are crushed and killed, dissipating into scriff. Strangely, as you leave this world, you feel...clearer. Like you somehow understand something you didn't before.

-fin-