She pauses to consider, then says "Well, no matter what, yer god sounds like he'd be a good-un ta follow...... Hey, you hungry? How bout you be a gent and buy us both some breakfast? Then you can tell me bout you almost beatin' a feller ta death. Ain't no big deal ta beat a verser ta death ya know. Unless you the verser what got beat ta death I s'pose."

You might have gotten the door open. It's hard to tell with her.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:50, Sun 23 Aug 2015.

I had planned for the wilderness, but maybe this is....heh, maybe this is what God wants me to do?

"Sure.  I like bacon, eggs, and fried potatoes.  Know a good place nearby?"

Her eyes light up "Now you speakin' muh language!!! An grits an a big stack ah flapjacks. Yeah, I knows a place. Just don't ask em whar the bacon and eggs comes from. It tastes fine ta me."

She leads you back to the main flea market. That's about the only way to describe the array of shoppes. She's in cut off Daisy Duke shorts and a red flannel shirt tied at the bottom. She takes you into a small diner. It's built to look like a barn. The owner raises his eyebrows at Olivia and says "You gonna give me a special for The Special?"

She just rolls her eyes at him and says "I ain't doing that no more. Now you hush up fore I have muh buddy here stomp on you!!"

So the guy shuts up. She gets just what she says. Bacon, eggs, fried potatoes, grits, flapjacks and coffee. It's fairly decent food.

When you sit down she says to you confidentially "Ya know, I think yous the first guy what ever turned me down. I so wanna git out ah this prostitutin' life, but I ain't really gots no other skills."

The whole meal sets you back two ounces of metal.

OOC) I conceived Olivia when I was running Glantri. She's devolved since then. She went from being a minor supercharacter to just an ignorant hillbilly prostitute. In different incarnations, she's been Samantha's mother, Magehammer's lover, and a thorn in the side of a few players. I really like playing her.

"Meet me here for lunch tommorrow.  I'll check around, and see if I can figure something out."

After paying, I get up and leave without going with her.

The way I figure it, she needs Christ.  She also needs to be away from men, and she needs to be doing something not that hard, but physical.  Ideally, something with possibilities, but how easy is that to find?  And she needs people who are of her level.

I've been to a church or two where I was clearly not in tune, partially because I was poorer than the rest.

So, I tell my boss I need a day off, and then I wander around the various churches, talking to pastors.

"Thanks maan. Yous a good fella."



She's a bit confused. She wants to stay with you. But she understands. You make her feel safe.



OOC) Join the club. I've been kicked out of three different churches. Mostly because of psychotic behavior. So much for WWJD, Love thy neighbor, forgive and forget and everything else the bible teaches.



Your boss gives you a bit of static over it. Nothing unexpected. But he gives you the day off.

But you head to The Religion Zone. It's an entire floor of The Tower.

The various gods are listed alphabetically.

Allah
Balthazar
Cokus
Dmitri
Edwin
etc.

Towards the end you have:

Xavier
Yahweh
Zeus.

I would assume you want Yahweh. Going in there, there are about a dozen pastors. They've got hundreds of different "Bibles". Some of them are the one with which you are familiar. There are others that are completely different, but still have the same feel. The same basic premise. Some of the bibles talk of Jesus Christ. Others talk of Jessie Christo. Others talk of Jessica Cross. Yeah, on some worlds, Yahweh sent a daughter. But their basic messages are similar enough.

Believe it or not, there is very little arguing about it between the pastors. Through study of all of the texts, they've all come to the conclusion that Yahweh is not just beyond their comprehension, but beyond their ability to comprehend. They just study as many of the texts as they can and draw what conclusions they feel they are led to draw. They've all pretty much given up on their original beliefs from when they left home. Now seeing a much larger picture.

Yahweh seems to be a more prominent god in The Multiverse.

But a rather large priest approaches you. He asks what you need help with.

OOC) This has me racking my brain. Imagine how many versions of the Bible would exist in The Multiverse!!!!

Running through the alphabet is depressing, but meeting with the pastors quickly restores my spirits.

I ask one of them if perhaps when Jesus incarnated, and thus as I understand permanently limited himself to one location, it might have only applied to the one dimension.  Its the sort of thing, God could, and perhaps would do. There are a lot of things He doesn't give you the details on.

OOC: New thought for me.  Interesting.

I turn to the large man.

"Pastor. This is a delicate situation. If we could talk in private."  After he takes me to his book-lined office (all pastors have hundreds of books with titles like Walking with God and Practical Hermeneutics of the Greek Language :)  ) I speak.

"I know a lady, distantly.  She's a lady of the night, and she wants better things from life.  Now I've tried a little bit to witness to her, but I can't answer all her questions.  Although I don't think she's that deep theologically.  Worse, I can't help with her problems that led her to this life, especially because I'm a man.  So I need a warm, attractive, but not too much so, older woman with spiritual wisdom to guide her to Jesus."

To be clear, that list is far from being all-inclusive. There were lots and lots of gods for each letter. I just gave you the simple version.



"So you are from a universe where the Offspring Savior was a male named Jesus Christ? That is one of the more commonly used monikers. Through our study of the different texts, we believe that the various Offspring Saviors were essentially the same entity. Even the females. Just placed into different clay vessels to better serve Yahweh's intended purpose in that world. We've also concluded that one should be very careful when using the words 'God' and 'limited' in the same sentence. The concepts of infinity and immortality are most difficult for even the minds of versers to grasp."



His is lined with nothing but bibles. All of the other various books written about the bible have become small and meaningless in this context. It would be comparative to using a book on human anatomy for every single living being that exists.




He holds up a hand and says politely but firmly "We prefer to use the term Offspring Savior. That is one of the few constants of the various texts. The being is Yahweh's offspring, sent to be the savior of mankind. I came from a universe where the Offspring Savior was female. If you had insisted that the Offspring Savior was a male named Jesus Christ, I would have accused you of blasphemy. It took a great deal of study, soul searching and prayer to realize how limited that ideology actually was."

"But as far as your lady friend, bring her in here at your earliest opportunity. We will be happy to work with her."



OOC) I'd love to run this past that close-minded moron Nikolaj.

An interesting point about God and immortality and infinity, but for now I'll stay with CS Lewis in that part of the Sacrifice was for Jesus to give up His previous omnipresence permanently.

"I'll stick with Jesus as a title for now, Pastor.  I understand what you're saying, but even as you said, it took you a while."

I look at the rows of Bibles with a low whistle.  "My father in law would love this. A very bright man, and he got every translation he could get his hands on."

It occurs to me that this pastor is very much in the Protestant or the Baptist way of thinking of sola scriptura, and is not in the Catholic way of giving great (and in my view, absurdly too much) credit to wise Christians of the past.

OOC: Niko can be a closed-minded saint, but he loves God.

The pastor would tell you "Define 'permanently'. From the perspective of our clay vessels, 'permanently' could simply mean for the entire existence of that particular universe. And, however many eons that might be, it is but a moment in time compared to the infinite existence of the Offspring Savior."



"I understand completely. One single religious text can be mind-bending to comprehend. Try to imagine reading and trying to comprehend all of them. I've spent centuries studying these with this others. Doing comparative analysis. I never realized how close-minded I really was until I came here. My eyes have been opened."




"They all have a similar feel, although there are very few discernible constants among them. One constant is the fall and punishment of man. Sometimes depicted as a worldwide flood with very few survivors. Sometimes an earthquake of epic proportions swallows up the vast majority, leaving only a handful who escape. Sometimes it is even the extinction of certain plants of extreme medicinal value. It is prophesied that the plants will be restored when humanity returns to grace."

Yeah, the extinction of hemp is a Noah's Ark level cataclysm.

OOC) I've heard that the bible has actually been translated into Klingon.



OOC) Just imagine how much I have to open my mind to run this.

"Good point."  I nod in response to his first comment.  It seems to make sense.

"Hah. Yes, mind-bending is a good word."  I give him a rueful smile.  I've had God do a bit of mind-bending on me.  We always want to be rescued according to our specs, not to His.

"In my history, the Fall and exile from Eden were separated by over two thousand years from the Worldwide Flood."

OOC: I hear ya'.  I ran a game for Misty set before the Flood.  It had Orchardists who were the good guys.  Agriculteralists who were bad.  Murder Cultists who were very bad.  Lot of fun.

At this, he looks somewhat puzzled. Then he ponders. "Eden. Eden. Ah yes, The Perfect Beginning. Believe it or not, Yahweh does not always begin His created species in a perfect world. Often times, the world is created imperfect, and it is up to mankind to try to make it perfect. But then man falls so far from grace that Yahweh must act. In a Multiverse of infinite possibility, I have yet to see a version of this text that did not have man falling so far that Yahweh had to smite the vast majority of them somehow. The Fall."

This seems to bring him down some.

And then he says "I've enjoyed our discussion, but I really must return to the work. We lead a spiritual service on Sundays. Bring your lady friend in then. We will be happy to work with her. But the Lord's work is never done, and we must return to it."



OOC) Misty is one I wish you wouldn't run. I was running her for a time. I didn't know the site rules, and I got a little (Okay, a lot) carried away. I've apologized profusely, even sent her an Rmail recently. She's still holding a grudge over it. I just made a mistake ya know? I'm sure she's forgiven somebody somewhere for worse wrongs than I've done. So why won't she forgive me?

I'll go back to work the next day.  I'll take the message to the woman at lunch, and try to make sure she makes it to church.  Meanwhile, I'll hang back because I don't really want to get involved.

OOC: Some people do hold grudges, and you don't always have a stop button.  I, OTOH, am insensitive and cold enough to hit your stop button with a sledgehammer if I need too.  Most people are not like me. They're a lot nicer.

You're probably not going to win her back, or if  you do, it will be a surprise years from now.  Just go on, and try again with others.

So you leave the church of Yahweh. As you're walking down the hallway, you see various characters in all manner of religious garb, wearing a myriad of symbols and relics.

When you pass by the church of Order and Chaos, a gentleman is leaving. He's in a black outfit not unlike a Catholic priest, except instead of a crucifix, he's wearing a black iron necklace with a miniature blacksmithing hammer hanging from it.

Seeing your assortment of Order/Chaos weapons, his eyes glaze over black and he looks you up and down, examining the weapons more closely. Then he says "Those weapons were made by a master mage. Are you a student of Order/Chaos?"
This message was last edited by the player at 05:12, Mon 31 Aug 2015.

"Not exactly. I believe Chaos and Order are balanced forces that exist inside Creation, but while mighty, they are not the Creator.  I do not worship them."

The priest's eyes return to normal and he says "The gods of Order and Chaos do not request or require worship. But of course there are those like myself who choose to worship them willingly."

Basically it just gives him a warm fuzzy to actually worship the gods from whom he draws his power.

Then he says "There are three classes of practitioners of Order/Chaos magic. Priests, mages and those like yourself. Users of Order/Chaos weapons. My Order sight confirmed that you were neither a mage nor a priest."

In a nutshell, it's like the difference between a Jedi Master, a Jedi Knight and a guy who stole a lightsaber. You are the guy who stole a lightsaber.

"Are you interested in learning to tap into the full power of your weapons? My Order sight confirmed you've just barely scratched the surface of what they can do."

He's offering to teach you to use the magic. Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee are just teaching you to fight with the weapons. Their style would work with any blacksmithing hammer and Katana.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:49, Mon 31 Aug 2015.

"No, thank you." I shake my head, give him a short bow, and walk on.

He returns your bow and says politely "Well, if you ever change your mind, you know where to find me."

What are you doing now?

OOC) That's quite surprising. I figured you'd be jumping at that. Care to explain why you don't want to learn it? Seriously, I'm confused.

Two Posts

Seriously, if it's because you don't want to deal with Magehammer, that's fine. I promised you I wouldn't force you to interact with him, just to know that sometimes he was present. He's hardly the only Order/Chaos mage here. I figured you'd be jumping at the chance to learn to use those weapons.

But anyway, in my game, the Priests worship the gods of Order and Chaos but cannot make weapons. They can use them but can't make them. However they can actually commune with the gods of Order and Chaos and ask their advice or favor.

The Mages do not worship the gods of Order and Chaos. They can make weapons but cannot (normally) commune with the gods of Order and Chaos.

Neither of them need to have a weapon to perform magic.

You are a weapon user. You are the lowest of the three. You can neither make weapons nor commune with the gods of Order and Chaos. And you need to have a weapon in hand to perform magic.

Just thought I'd share my take on it.

I don't really feel like learning magic, especially from a priest.  If I was going to, well, I'd go in for a different magic.  Besides, what I remember of Order and Chaos was how difficult it was, and how strenous.

I head back to work the next day, thanking the boss for the day off.

OOC: Blackstaffs, Ordermasters, White Wizards, Gray Wizards, and Engineers.  1,2,and 5 are Orderly.  Oh, yeah, there are also Healer blacks.  And there are Druids.  No real priests although ordermasters who are also mages come closest.  There's also Natural Order Mages who I think create there own Order according to their own pattern.

Blackstaffs can be quite skilled combatants with a staff.  Ordermasters might turn invisible and turn back huge spouts of Chaos. Engineers can create Black iron for, among other things, steam engine powered warships.

Confused, yet?  I am.

Yeah, that's why we're not playing by the rules that you know. Tadeusz needs to forget almost everything he knows about Order/Chaos magic. About the only information you have that's accurate is most of what the magic itself does. (Order freezes, Chaos causes heat, etc.) I never read those books. This is my version of it. Based off of what I know about it. It's not difficult or strenuous. Or at least not as much. An Order tool user can lie, cheat and steal without any of the repercussions that Magehammer dealt with. An Order mage is more powerful and more restricted. But you're not a mage, you're just a bum with a hammer. Less committed, less powerful, and less restricted. No matter how hard you try, you will never be able to make black iron. Only a mage can do that. You're stuck with just the weapons you've got. That's the difference between being a lone magic user and being able to raise an Order army. And personally, I think that's enough of a power drop to lift most of the restrictions that you know.

In other words, if it is your desire to become a bad@$$ user of Order/Chaos magic, don't let what you know stand in the way. As of right now, it means completely squat. You in my world bee-aitch!!!!!

And Tadeusz dreams this whilst he's sleeping.



Your boss gets kind of gruff about it. He says "You're lucky you're the divergent of a councilman." But the day goes more or less smoothly. You make quite a few tips.

Then lunchtime comes and you go to that restaurant to meet Olivia. She's waiting for you. She greets you with a huge country girl smile and a hug.

"Hey thar stranger. So wha'd you want me ta meet ya here fer?"

Fair enough.

I just stare at him, not angry, but really, this is stupid, I'm thinking to myself.  After a bit, I just walk off, and go back to work. (attitudes like this may impede my rise to managerial level....probably here and on Earth before.)

I remember this lady telling me I needed to work more as work was important, and I did not need to focus so much on my marriage in its first year.....said the lady on her third divorce.  I didn't say anything, but I was not impressed with her logic.

Shaking my head, I continue working, and soon forget about it in the rush of work.  Its fun hustling here and there, or mostly so.  And now that I don't take things so seriously, I'm having more fun with it.

At lunch, I explain the situation, and I tell her that i think they can help her, and that i'll drop her off there.  And best of luck with her life.  Yes, I'm that cold.  I do wish her well, but I'm not interested in friendship with her.

So you take Olivia to the church of Yahweh. The pastor was expecting you. He says "The Lord sent me a vision of your coming today, and I prepared for it. Annette, come out and say hello to our guest."

And a robust matronly woman of perhaps 60 comes out. She's got dark, greying hair. She says "Hello Olivia. Nice to meet you."

And then you leave.

OOC) That was my mom you dropped her off with.

IC) As you're leaving, you again pass by the church of Order and Chaos. The priest again comes out as you pass. He stops you and says "I asked the gods of Order and Chaos to help you clear up any questions you might have had about your weapons. Did you receive such guidance?"

OOC) I said Tadeusz dreamt what I told you before.

IC) This time, the priest looks mildly concerned. He says "Have you seen Slidehammer around?"

You were at Fight Club when he fought Magehammer.

The priest continues. "Slidehammer is above and beyond the single most powerful Chaos mage I have ever seen. And he's most unstable. I and others fear for the safety of Verser world, and for the Multiverse as a whole. We were hoping to recruit other users of Order/Chaos magic to help us, if it should come to something serious. You've got two Order and two Chaos weapons, crafted by a master. With proper training, you could be a formidable ally to our cause."

He seems really concerned and hoping you will join him.

I nod, a bit weirded out, but remember my manners, and thank him.

Then I head on out, and spend a few hours walking among the shoppes.  Lonely yes, but I tell myself I want it that way.

He looks a little disappointed, but he lets you go.



You're on your lunch break. They're expecting you to go back to work. Just saying is all.

But sometimes there are more important things than having a job. So you go through the shoppes. You find an area that is straight off of the Sci Fi channel. There's Klingons peddling blades and Federation officers selling phasers, tricorders and med kits. You pass by what could be best described as Jedi land. Jedi selling lightsabers and stormtroopers selling laser guns. Space Marines straight out of Aliens selling pulse rifles and flamethrowers, and Terminator future soldiers selling plasma rifles and plasma grenades.

And they're all getting along peaceably. There's enough firepower here to level Nashville, and everyone is getting along like old friends. United as versers.

OOC) You should know by now my brain immediately goes to weaponry as the default setting when trying to think of where to put you, so if there's anything else specific in Sci Fi land you're interested in, just say so. Almost certainly you will find it or something similar.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:15, Thu 03 Sept 2015.

Sorry. I started to head to my walk, when I saw someone hurrying by eating a sandwhich on the run.  Drat. Work calls.  I spin about, and scoot over to work.  Once there, I splash water on my face to cool off, and come into the main area looking for a delivery, hoping there is not a line of messengers also waiting, in front of me.