OOC: This is a placeholder for Avahur's new thread with GM JohnA1nut.  :)

So you've just versed out of wherever it was you were. You are laying in the middle of a modern paved road. Around you are stalled, rusted out cars sitting on four flat tires. The cars appear to have been driving and the drivers vanished. They are in drive with the ignitions on. The road is cracked and broken. The buildings are dilapidated and in desperate need of repair. Windows are broken, it looks like the place hasn't seen maintenance in decades. You see monkeys swinging by on what's left of the power lines. An elephant ambles down the street off in the distance. There are no people anywhere. The world looks to be completely abandoned.

Your gear is laying around you. Across the street you see a mom and pop grocery store. Looking in the window, there are purchases sitting on the counter, the register is open. It looks like they were right in the middle of a transaction. The floor of the store is covered in feces and dead insects. Anything edible or perishable has long since rotted away.

I get up and then I look around.

This isn't the temple. Huh. Guess I lost. Can't speak with animals... or can I?  Well, I'll shelve that thought for later. Well, new world, new plans. Time to see if magic works.

I check myself to make sure all weapons are in their appropriate places; ammo in the bag on my back with the disassembled sniper rifle, pistol is in its holster on my leg, armor and cloak in place with sword easily accessible on my waist. I collect whatever gear may be scattered around and put it all in my duffel bag.

Magic. Fire first.

I channel a small amount of energy to my fingers and snap them, silently invoking 'flamma' to (hopefully) produce a small flame.  If that works, I dismiss it. I'll then cup my hands together and channel some energy to create water to drink. Afterwards I'll create a minor gust of wind and a small clump of dirt, going through the elements to make sure they all work; checking also to see if any are stronger or weaker than expected in this world.

If elemental magic works as expected, or even if it doesn't, I'll then target something fairly light (debris) and try to make it levitate. If that works, then I'll change its color temporarily.

After checking if magic works or not, I try to teleport myself a short distance (15-20 feet) away, away from animals and buildings.

If it works, great, if not, equally great.

I will spend about an hour going through magic and trying to teleport (I expect most of the time will come from trying to teleport, as my skill / success rate isn't currently the best).

After the tests are done I will try to locate a fairly sturdy looking tall building with an intact set of stairs. My goal is to get to the roof to get a better look of the surroundings.

---

OoC: So, I'll typically use green italics for thoughts and orange for out of context discussion; usually at the bottom beneath the hr tag.

One of my major goals is systematizing my 'energy'. At present, Avahur converts some of his energy to use magic; but energy is stamina, it's used to walk, run, fight, and so on. Avahur is in fantastic shape and can do pretty much everything, run laps around marathon runners, fight and use magic for a fairly long period of time (in my opinion), but so far it's 'use a small or medium amount of energy'.

I don't know how much energy Avahur has in total or the rate at which he regains it. I plan to spend some time in character for Avahur to figure this all out.

Edit: Removed lots of OoC text. Will be sending a PM with info.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:41, Wed 08 Nov 2017.

All of your magic works with some trying and trying again.

Going up into a building, you see absolutely no evidence of people anywhere. You seem to be completely alone in this world. All of the buildings are dilapidated and decaying. Cars are stalled out and not running. No people.

But just as you're about the head back down, there appears out of nowhere a young girl of perhaps 14. She's got long blonde hair, wearing a blue dress with white trim, white stockings and black pumps. Somehow you just know her name is Alice.

She waves at you and gestures for you to follow her. Then she steps backwards and disappears. Like going through a looking glass.

Huh. Don't see that every day.

I shrug and follow her, though I prepare to use levitate magic on myself just in case nothing is there, or there is and a drop follows it.  When I reach where she disappeared I'll tentatively wave an arm around the area to see if it disappears or if it feels like something is there.

If there is something there and it looks like my arm disappears or is indeed like a looking glass, I'll step through, magic at the ready.

So you put your arm through the spot where she disappeared. Your arm does disappear. It feels like you're moving through jelly as you step through.

On the other side, behind you, is a huge silvery dome. A half-bubble sticking up out of the ground. It's about a quarter mile in diameter and extends about a quarter mile into the air. There are other bubbles just like this at regular intervals here and there. They seem to mark crossroads and intersections.

Alice is standing there on the other side when you come through.

Looking around, you see people, men, women, aliens, every size, shape, clothing style imaginable. You see carts pulled by animals and flying cars alike. Off in the distance is a massive tower. Its base must cover several square miles and it extends into the air beyond your range of vision.

There are rows and rows of shoppes. It's like a massive flea market kind of place. Every building material imaginable is in use. From mud and straw to high-tech polymers. And every single person that you see has a tugging "That Way" feeling to them. A scriff vector.

Standing at the corner closest to the bubble is a man in a black trenchcoat and an impossibly large backpack. He's working at a blacksmithing forge.

Alice turns to him and calls out "Mister Magehammer!!!! I found one!!!!"

The guy looks up at you, then disappears from his spot at the forge. Then he's instantly standing three feet in front of you. He extends his hand to shake and says politely:

"I'm councilman Magehammer. Welcome to Verser World. What would you like to know?"
This message was last edited by the player at 06:34, Wed 08 Nov 2017.

I look around as I walk through. I let out a low whistle.

Versers as far as the eye can see, this is obviously a hub, but judging by the rest of the world, there isn't much else. Why would someone want to stick around here? Well, I mean, I would stay here to practice, train, and experiment. That's long overdue, but that would take 30 years, tops. This isn't the byproduct of 30 years. Well, it could be. I don't have the skills or magic to do it, but I'm not sure what everyone else has... or how long they've been  a verser. It's been... 20 years? 30? 100? I don't even remember how long it has been since I've been a verser, but I'm willing to bet a few of these folks have eons under their metaphorical belts.  Give me an eon to hone my skills and I bet I could set something like this up. Maybe. No, probably not. Too many wars.

"The obvious aside, how did this setup come to be?  I haven't met anyone that can... survive long enough to set up a city, let alone be the councilman of one. Though I guess everyone doesn't have my luck? Also, when is the war? Every world I've been to has had a war either happening when I arrived or about to happen soon thereafter, I doubt my luck has changed. So, how did this setup come to be, when is the war and who is it between? Councilman." I nod respectfully when I address him.

Magehammer says "That's one of the many mysteries of Verser world. As far as we can tell, this world is a land mass of infinite size. It just exists. It's not in orbit of any sun. Light comes on for 16 hours, then goes off for 8 hours. No one knows where the light comes from. At night there are stars in the sky, but we've had versers fly millions of light years up into the sky. The stars never get any closer. The air never stops being breathable. Eventually gravity loses its grip, but that's it. Scouts have covered millions of miles of land. It seems to just go on forever. Each of the silver bubbles seems to link to a world where a verser had a devastating botch which destroyed all sentient life on the planet. That's actually the world you versed into. Alice checks them periodically to look for new arrivals. That one you were in belonged to Slider. Excuse me. Slidehammer. Versers have just been here. Some think God or whatever set it up as a safe haven for us to congregate. But your guesses and theories are as good as ours or anyone's."



He looks at Alice confused. "War? Why would you automatically expect a war to happen just because you arrived? That's a new one on me."

OOC) You asked for a war before the game started. Well, the referee knows things the characters don't. <Wink>



Since he's already addressed this, he tells you "Anything you could possibly imagine or want is here somewhere. Any skill, any tech or magic can be found here. If you look hard enough, you will find someone who wants what you have and who has what you want. Trading is quite commonplace. If you've got any media, books, movies, music etc. those can be traded for money at The Tower. My best advice to you is to head to The Tower. They can help you get situated. You can get a room there and a job until you can decide what it is you want to do."

Then he asks if he can have a look at your gear. Perhaps you've got something he would like to trade with you for.

"Mostly the society is anarchist. The Council is made up of the oldest and most powerful versers. There's me, Councilman Tadeusz, The Architect, Michael Di Vars, and several others on The Council. We mostly mediate disputes and keep an eye on things. But just observe common sense. Don't step on someone else's toes and they won't step on yours."

Lastly he says "I teach a wilderness survival class. The most important skill for a verser to have is the ability to live off the land. If you can live off the land, you can make a life for yourself on just about any world. It's free to attend. I'm teaching a class tonight as a matter of fact. You're welcome to join."
This message was last edited by the player at 10:05, Wed 08 Nov 2017.

"Nice. Since all my previous worlds I versed to had wars happening when I arrived or a major conflict happened soon after, I just assume that all my future worlds will include wars or a war in the near future. So, where will the class be held, and how do I navigate to it?"

After getting his response, I hand over / put the bag on the ground. "Take a look."

This sounds like an excellent place to hole up, learn some new skills, and polish up on a few of my own. Maybe I can find either a biometric device for body statistics or a magic that can compute and display my stats. I really need to get a handle on my magic and body output.

OOC) I need to make sure we are communicating here. Do you want a war? Is that what you want? Be clear there. I've already run this world once with a war. If you want a war, there will be a war. If you don't want a war, there won't be a war. It's just that simple. So do you want a war or not?

IC) Magehammer says "I sure hope there's no war brewing here. Could you imagine the weapons and magic that versers could bring to bear there?" And shudders.

But as far as his class and everything, he tells you:

"Head to The Tower. Walk or teleport or however you want to get there. They will have all the information about everything you might be interested in."



OOC) If you're willing to say that your Shurikens (19) are made from an exotic metal (And why wouldn't they be?) Magehammer will say:

IC) "Oh man, these are made out of mithril. That stuff is tough to find."

And he teleports back to his shoppe and returns with a 1 quart kettle that's made from a strange metal that kind of looks like iron but not quite. ORDO IN CHAOS IN ORDINEM is inscribed on the side.

"Just fill this with water, put it on a fire, and 10 minutes later it will be full of your favorite soup. And the best part is, even if it botches, it still usually produces some kind of food. You might end up with a hamburger instead of soup, but it's something to eat."

For all 19 of the shurikens.



OOC) This world literally has anything you could possibly ask for. There's more than three billion versers here. Just imagine the kinds of things they brought.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:17, Wed 08 Nov 2017.

"Oh, if a war broke out with versers as the main fighting force, on both sides, it would be awesome, and probably horrifying. I fully expect worlds to literally shatter apart."

I will trade the shurikens for the kettle.

Ordo in chaos in ordinem? Ordo. Like clan ordo. Ordinem... ordinance? Mandalorian ordinance in chaos? What? Probably not.

"Cool, so I'll head to the Tower and will probably see you later."

After saying goodbye, I head to the tower.

---

Yes, I want a war to happen, but again 10-15 years in the future. Brewing. This world should let me accomplish a few particular goals, but even if I train up a bit, how can I refine it if I don't have a way to put it into practice? War is good for that.

Also, I don't think it has ever been stated what my weapons and equipment are made of specifically, so, assuming the shurikens are mithril, then my ninja sword probably is as well. They came from the same world and ninja village.

Magehammer says "That would be bad."



So you do.



Magehammer says "Order Into Chaos Into Order. I'm an Order/Chaos mage."



OOC) I am going to list some of the shoppes you pass on your trek. This is being described on the assumption that you do not stop, and you just keep on walking. If you decided to stop at a particular shoppe, that retcons everything which follows that.

As far as landmarks, Magehammer's shoppe is not more than 20 feet from the bubble. The bubbles seem to be at intersections. There's traffic coming from four main directions to and away from it. Going around it, not through it.

So you start walking. You pass Magehammer's shoppe on your left. There's a sign out front of it. "Shovels, Axes, Scythes, Hand tools of all kinds!!!! Swords, Clubs, Knives, Weapons of every description!!!!! Free Blacksmithing lessons with purchase of complete blacksmithing toolkit!!!! And don't forget, they're magical!!!!" The shoppe does indeed have these items and more hanging up on display.

Then you pass Ray's Ray Guns. This time, Ray himself approaches you as you pass. He's dressed and speaks very much like a used car salesman. Speaking rapidly, he says "What kinda ray gun do you want? I got 1 gigawatt, 5 gigawatt, I got proton lasers and phaser rifles, solar powered and hand crank. I got heat rays, freeze rays, you name the ray, you can get it at Ray's Ray Guns!!!!"

Then you come to Mom's Bakery. An elderly woman with three adult sons are making cakes, pies, and other baked goods. One of the sons drops something, and Mom slaps him soundly upside the head saying "Watch it nincompoop!!!" Then she turns around to you and gives you a smile so warm it would melt a glacier.

You pass by a store selling clothing, and another selling electronic devices. Several restaurants and eateries. Any kind of food you can think of. Yes, even that really disgusting sounding one.

Basically, name the shoppe and it's somewhere in this line. For what are you looking at the moment? Specifically??

An eight year old girl walks past you. Long brown hair, tee shirt and jeans. She stops at Mister Magehammer's shoppe. And although you can't hear what they're saying, she hands him a cloth bag bulging with coins, and he hands her a Katana sword. Then she starts coming back towards you, sheathed Katana in hand and walks past you again going the other way.

Later on, you will see her using that katana fighting a Samurai warrior four times her size. But the little girl seems to be winning.

Off in the distance, you also see a ginormous skyscraper. The top extends into the clouds and you cannot see it. That's how tall it is.



OOC) Magehammer is a metallurgist. Not many people would be interested in the metal.

Blacksmithing is probably super useful. I've got quite a few skills, and while I don't mind being a generalist, I should probably focus on two or three core areas and let the rest fade away. Combat, divided into melee, ranged, magic. Utility, divided into Survival, Weapon and Armor creation (guns, swords, armor). Defense: Magical, Mental, Physical. Teleportation.

Not every world has magic, so I need to keep my pistol and rifle skills in moderate shape. Swords are almost universally useful, and even up against guns - if I master teleportation, it'll remain relevant. There are a lot of different types of magic, I will focus on elemental magic, for both attack, defense, and utility.

I don't always end up with civilization nearby.. my first world, the ice age, for example. Learning wilderness survival, as well as other climates and biomes is a must. I can't always rely on just finding a good sword, I need to create them to suit my needs and skill set. Armor is probably easier to find, but I should at least dabble in it. I need to be familiar enough that if I find a master I can efficiently order what I need that is reasonable.

I really need to up my defense so I don't die so often. Physical defense, magical defenses, mental defenses.  I have some thoughts for all of these, but let's see what I can find here.

Teleportation is really useful for both attack, defense, scouting, and pretty much everything else. It has no down sides, but it is difficult to learn and master.  I need to spent a lot of time on this.

As I walk to the tower and look at the shops on the way, I plan my path forward. Once I reach the tower I head in and try to find a clerk / information terminal.

---

Coolio. Also, I (think) I mentioned it before, but green italics = thoughts / unspoken words.   In the event some entity can read minds, detect surface thoughts, and so on, they are there. Plus, I feel it adds life to the character. At least, in my own thread. Threads with other players I'll keep the thoughts hidden, but if people start responding to my thoughts, well, up go the active defenses. I don't need another body-snatching incident.

Going into The Tower, it's huge. The base is several square miles. The doors are glass. But once inside, you see Black Panthers and Klansmen talking like old friends. Jews and Nazis in a restaurant having lunch together. They're united as versers. There are cavemen and spacemen and medieval knights. Cowboys and Indians. And several alien species. There's an information kiosk. The person behind the counter asks "May I help you?"



OOC) Sorry, I wasn't thinking about that. We're still learning how to react to each other. Just give it some time. We'll get our story straightened out.

I greet the person.

"Hi. Just arrived at this..." I look around and briefly motion to the surroundings. "place. If there's a basic care package for new arrivals, I'd like to request it. Or, if no such thing exists, then if possible, I'd like some form of a map of the area, a generalized 'lay of the land', and perhaps info on a guide if none of the above exist.

I also would like information regarding a place to stay, train, and experiment, while I am here. Please."

---

Yep, no worries, just a reminder. Things could get awkward otherwise.

The person in the kiosk smiles warmly and says "Yes sir, room and board are free. That's a 12x24 foot room, with a bed, bathroom, video unit and a food replicator. All free of charge. Anything above and beyond this does have a per-use charge."

Then she calls out "Carly Rae!!!"

And Carly Rae Jepsen approaches. She's wearing a white skirt and blouse and a blue cardigan sweater. Her hair is up in a bun and she's wearing glasses. She's obviously very shy and mousy. She's looking at the floor. She briefly raises her head to nod at you before returning to looking at the floor.

The desk clerk tells her "Take him to his room."

And Carly Rae looks up at you and says meekly "Follow me." before returning to look at the floor and walking away. She expects you to follow her.

OOC) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWNaR-rxAic In case you don't know who Carly Rae Jepsen is.



At this, Carly Rae brightens up a tiny bit and says "Mister, Mister Magehammer teaches a wild-wild-wilderness survival class. I attend it. I'm I'm going tonight."

Then she kind of stares off into space for a moment and says "Oh Mister Magehammer....." You can tell she's crushing on him.

But information about all of the services offered is available from the room video unit. It tells you what's available, what's free, what's charged and how much. All voice activated.

Hmm, she's cute, but not my type. This is a good setup. Room, bed, food.  Reminds me, I wonder how my son is, maybe he's among this mass of versers? Probably not. Oh, that reminds me as well, I've got an evil doppelganger running around out there. He tried killing Brian and he killed my wife. Well, wife on that world. What was his last name? Mol...mal? Mat...yes, Matthews. Andrew Matthews.

Once I reach the room, "Looks good, thanks.  Now, I need to acquaint myself with what is available. Good bye."

I look at the list of services offered and acquaint myself with the room, seeing everything that it has.

I wonder if there's a shower. I haven't had a proper shower in ages. Especially not one with proper technology.

---

Not sure if it matters, but Andrew was introduced in this thread: post 50 or so.
link to a message in "Worldwalker"

OOC) Wait till you see her at the wilderness survival class. Your opinion of her will likely change drastically.

IC) So you follow her to what you think is an elevator. You both step inside, and Carly Rae says "Two Hundred Ninety Sixth floor please"

The world tastes purple for a moment and you feel yourself cease to exist. Then the doors open and you're standing in a hallway that's lined with doors. Each door has a ten digit number on it beginning with 296.

Carly Rae tells you "M-m-more than a b-b-billion people live in The Tower. Your room number is your telephone number. Just-just dial the room number."

The doors each have a numeric keypad outside. Carly Rae enters a generic code that lets her access empty rooms. She tells you that you can reset the password to secure the door yourself.



At that, Carly Rae becomes assertive. She looks you in the eyes for the first time and says somewhat sternly "It's my job to show you the room."

She apparently takes her job seriously.

And unless you absolutely insist that she leave, she will follow you into the room. Once inside, she says "Lights on." And the lights come on.

"Everything is voice activated. Lights increase ten percent."

And they do.

"Lights decrease ten percent."

And they do.

"Video screen activate."

And it does. It shows a list of everything in The Tower. It also lists movies, music, and other entertainment options that the video screen has. The answer to the question "Is this available?" is "YES."

Then she says "Video screen deactivate." and it does.

In front of the video screen is a bed that folds up into the wall. She shows you how to unfold it.

The kitchen has a sink, stove and a dishwasher. And a food replicator.

Carly Rae goes to the food replicator and says "French Fries with mustard."

And there appears a plate with French Fries with mustard. They taste like French fries but kind of synthetic. Like they're made out of nylon or something.

After you sample some, she puts the plate back in the replicator and says "Recycle." and it all disappears.

"The food menu is available on the video screen."

Then she shows you the bathroom. Sink, toilet, bathtub/shower.

"Toilet Flush" and it does.

"Sink water on." and it does. "Increase temperature 10 degrees." and it does.

"Sink water off." and it does.

The shower has a handheld sprayer. It works just like the sink.

When she's finished showing you everything, the shy, mousy girl returns. She casts her eyes to the floor and says "En-en-enjoy the r-r-room. I'll be g-g-going now."

And she leaves.

Huh, nifty.

After Carly Rae leaves, now that I have a comfortable and reliable place to stay, I'll take the cape off of the armor so it doesn't get in my way and then start a vigorous exercise.

I take a hot shower, adjusting the temperature hotter 5 degrees at a time.

<idle shower thoughts>

More than a billion versers. Room number is phone number. Apparently fire does exist, but not in her everyday life?

After showering, I'll go to the video screen and have it start playing some music, on loop, while I wash my armor.

Huh, I have never washed any of my gear since I've gotten it. I have been going from battlefield to battlefield. While I have some time, let's remedy that.

I decide to wash all my sets of armor that won't be harmed by water, and create sand to sand wash the clothing that probably isn't good for water.

Once everything is cleaned, or at least, cleaner, I'll set them all out to dry as I go over them with air magic to blow dry them. I'll generate a flame to make it a hotter wind, but still ready to douse it all in water if something goes wrong and I accidentally set fire to the place.

I'll wait for myself to 'air dry' with occasional wind magic, and then get dressed in armor again, reattach the cape, and then head out, after firmly memorizing the room number, and turning off the music.  If a pad with paper exists in the room, I'll write the room number down and keep it with me, otherwise I'll just memorize it.

Once I leave the tower, I'll head back to Magehammer to inquire about blacksmithing.

---

Because it's a very tall tower, Climber's High seems appropriate. https://soundcloud.com/user-46...r-1/sets/fuuka-ost-1

OOC) Just curious, are you talking about Carly Rae there? Just wait till you see her at the wilderness survival class.

IC) All of your magic works. I'm just counting it as practice.



There's a pad of paper. What's in this room is free. Laundry service is available, but that's charged. You could get all of your weapons and armor cleaned for a price.



So you step into the elevator. There's a list of all of the places it will take you. After some consideration, you say "Lobby". The world tastes purple, you cease to exist, and the doors open. You're back in the lobby where you started.

It's a couple miles to walk to Magehammer's shoppe. When you get there, he's packing up for the day. He tells you he's about to go teach the wilderness survival class. Asks if you want to join. He teaches the class for free, but donations are always appreciated.

He tells you "There's one girl, Carly Rae, she's been taking this class for at least a century. Never misses one."

But asking about blacksmithing, he tells you that if you purchase from him a complete blacksmithing toolkit, he'll give you a week's worth of blacksmithing lessons. After that, he charges. All of the blacksmithing hammers he makes are magical. However, you must have at least 2@1 blacksmithing to do magic with them. The free lessons will get you to 1@3.

"I think you'd probably do good with a Chaos hammer."

If you want to join him at the wilderness survival class, he will put his hand on your shoulder and teleport you into a wooded area. There's maybe two dozen students waiting. Carly Rae is there. She's dressed in handmade leather clothing. She's got a number of stone tools on her belt.

And if you don't want to join him, he won't do that.

After entering the lobby.

It is weird to associate taste with a color, but it comes to mind anyway. So weird. I wonder what the science or magic... probably science, behind the elevator is...

When he mentions Carly Rae, "Yea, I met her earlier. She seems to fancy you."

I will join him, and I also inquire about currency.

"What passes for currency here?"

At this he laughs and says "Yeah, I know that. It's weird. Before I became a verser I couldn't get a date to save my life. Amazing what learning a little magic will do for you with the ladies."



"Things are worth what you and the other person can agree they're worth. Gold, silver and platinum are the three most common precious metals in The Verse and most people will take those. But I've been to worlds where copper and lead were the gold and silver. Whatever the other person will accept, pretty much."

OOC) And I'm waiting for a reply from Oak before we go any further.

Two Posts



OOC) It was an episode of Futurama. Fry says "Did everything just taste purple for a second?"

I got my reply from Oak. He said: "In terms of emphasis and description, think G-rated animated Disney movie.  :)"

I got in trouble for inappropriate content some time ago. That's part of the reason I didn't have group access. Just be mindful of that whilst playing.

I review the other versers in the woods and wait for the wilderness class to start.

---

Literal filler post.

OOC: This reply would probably make more sense in context.  It is in response to upcoming events in this thread, rather than previous or current events.  :)
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:03, Fri 10 Nov 2017.

OOC) Yeah, what Oak said.

And here's the upcoming events.

IC) Magehammer says "The single most important skill for a verser to know is how to live off the land. If you can live off the land, you can make a life for yourself on just about any world. When I am finished with you, you will be able to walk into the woods completely naked and walk out a week later clothed, armed and fed."

OOC) I had to make sure the "Walk into the woods naked" bit was acceptable in WorldWalker. Keep it G rated.

Then he continues. "Today we're going to be working on crafting stone tools and arrowheads. Will you break into pairs please?"

And of course you are paired with Carly Rae.

He teaches you how to use rocks to chip other rocks into desired shapes and sizes. Carly Rae's hands are a blur as she works very quickly. In the end, she's got a stone knife sharp enough to cut skin. She doesn't say very much.

1@1 craft stone tools.

After a few hours of this, Magehammer looks at his watch. Then you see him counting down on his fingers. 5,4,3,2,1. Boom. The lights go off. It's nighttime. There are stars in the sky.

"Well, kiddies, that's it for today. Be back tomorrow. Same place, same time."

And the group disperses.

Once the lights go out and stars come out.

Weird.

I head over towards Magehammer.

"Thanks for teleporting me here and for teaching this class. But where are we, and is there a conventional way of returning? My ability to teleport is nearly nonexistent in terms of reliability and consistency."

Before everyone disperses, Magehammer tells the class "Tomorrow we'll put arrows and spears on those points you made. So hang onto them."

When you approach, he turns you around. Off in the distance, you can see the lights of The Tower. It's impossible to tell how far away it is, but it is within a good walking distance.

Then Magehammer kind of glances over your shoulder past you, gives you a wink, and teleports away leaving you there.

Then Carly Rae runs into you from behind.

"Oh, I'm, I'm so so so sorry. I I I can't see v-v-very well in the dark. Will will will you walk me back to The Tower?"
This message was last edited by the player at 09:07, Fri 10 Nov 2017.

Ugh. Whatever. Walking, a small ball of light shouldn't be too draining to keep active.

"Girl, where's your fire? You had no trouble speaking when introducing me to the aspects of my room at the tower, and you've been here for at least a hundred years. Isn't it time to shore up and speak normally? Magehammer told me you've been coming to his classes for a century, and assuming at least some if not all of them are in the wilderness here, you can't honestly still need help?  If you can't see well in the dark, use magic."

I create a ball of light to brighten up our surroundings and start walking in the direction of the tower, first taking note of what the area here looks like in preparation for trying to teleport here.

I'll try to slowly feed the ball of light energy to sustain it as I walk back to the tower.

---

I'm thinking of making the magic I use purple text to make it stand out more. Thoughts?

"This this this was my f-f-first verse out. I'd I'd n-n-never make it if I v-v-versed out of here. I I I w-w-wouldn't know what to do."

And she's apparently an expert at wilderness survival.



Speaking normally "Or you could use a torch." And she picks up a stick off the ground, wraps it in some kind of moss and beats a few rocks together to light it.

Holding it aloft, she kind of laughs and says "F-f-funny you m-m-mentioned f-f-fire."




She's impressed by that. "I-i-i can do some psionics." and she teleports 10 feet ahead. Then stops and waits for you to catch up to her. "B-b-but only as f-f-far as I-i-i can see. If I-i-i tried to teleport us to the T-t-tower, I-i-i'd end up slamming us into the side a hun-hun-hundred stories in the air." Because that's what part of The Tower she can see.



OOC) Whatever works. As long as you don't expect me to do the same.

Looking at the torch, "Yea, that works too. Also, 'fire' was a euphemism. You spoke normally right there. Do that more often. We don't age, or if we do, it is at such a slow pace as to be negligible. My first verse was into a desolate ice field where I met another verser in a vehicle. He picked me up and drove off a cliff. Second verse was to a ninja vs samurai world. And then on from there for over 20 worlds. Congrats to being here so long, but you really need to pick up some new skills and some confidence.

Also, have you ever considered teleporting into the air, then looking down and teleporting safely to the ground? Or imagining a place in your mind, even if you can't physically see it, but know it like the back of your hand and just teleport to that place? I have very little experience teleporting but even I can teleport into a room I'm extremely familiar with, given some time."

I put out the light and continue walking.

Looking at the torch again. "Yea, hitting rocks is useful, but if you can use magic, it's probably best to do so." I snap my fingers to conjure a small flame as an example, then dismiss it soon afterwards.

"It's a bit of a hike, so let's go."

I continue walking.

"Also, any tips on how to teleport better and more reliably?"

Here she just looks at you wide-eyed and says "Wow!!!"



"I-I-I like w-w-what I'm d-d-doing here."

She still mostly looks at the ground, even when speaking to you.



Here she just ponders. She's obviously considering what you're saying.



"Um, that's that's something Mister Magehammer said. M-m-magic doesn't always work. B-b-best to have practical skills."



Here she stops dead in her tracks, looks you in the eyes intently and says "I-I-I'll try if if if you want me to."

She's offering to try to teleport you both to The Tower.

"Normally, I'm more confident in my ability to levitate as to ignore the consequences and agree, but I've got far too much to do here to be reckless at the moment, so I'll pass, especially if you've never tried teleporting to the ground from mid drop or to a location you are familiar with before.  It's always harder with a plus one.  Once you're familiar with it, I don't mind trying it out.  I'll be coming to this class for the foreseeable future, so plenty of time.

And yes, magic doesn't always work. If it does, however, it is infinitely more convenient. Obviously you're free to do as you please."

After declining the offer to teleport I continue walking back to the tower.

"By the way, is there any danger or wild animals in this wilderness?"

Hmm, might not return to the tower. Spending a day or two here would be excellent for brushing  up on and improving my skills in stealth walking and navigating forested terrain.  Being able to walk over dry leaves and not make a sound is a super nifty skill, and though I was able to do it once or twice back in the ninja world, it's been 20 something worlds since then.  I should make it a mainstay.

OOC) Darn, I wanted to show you her bedroom at The Tower. That's where she would teleport to.

"OK-K-K I-I-I understand."



"Y-y-you know those silver b-b-bubbles? Each each each one of those is a g-g-gateway to a world w-w-where a verser des-des-destroyed all life with a a b-b-botch."



"Of Course." and she gestures to the leather clothing she's wearing. "I-i-i m-m-made these from an-an-animals here."



OOC) If you tell Carly Rae that, she might stay out here with you. Remember when Magehammer said you would be able to walk into the woods naked and walk out a week later clothed, armed and fed? Carly Rae has done that. Several times, actually.

(Doing Therapy)
This message was last edited by the player at 04:41, Sat 11 Nov 2017.

"It would've been nice to have been there.  There must have been some extraordinary circumstances for a botch to wipe out a world. I also wonder if I could survive it.  I picked up a couple runes from one of the worlds I went to. One makes your skin as hard as stone when it activates - versed myself out once by activating it. Haven't tried it since. Not on any world I want to stay in. The other one is awesome, lets my body phase through attacks. It's super cool, and if I saw a world destroying botch coming, I wonder if whatever caused it would phase through or not.

Besides, even the worst botch probably isn't irrelevant from what you're doing.  I haven't had that many, that I can recall, and not all of them have killed me.  Those versers were probably doing something on a massive scale. Something like trying to save a city or maybe someone close to death, both massive undertakings depending on the situation, but instead doing the reverse and poof, everyone gone."

I look around.

"Does Magehammer's wilderness class cover stealth and stalking prey? Also, not counting wild animals, is there danger? By danger I mean predators on the level of lions, tigers, dragons, or Rocs? Anything below that I can handle, lions and tigers are troubling, dragons and rocs are out of my league. Danger also includes hazards like spontaneous portals or unstable magic."

Here her face goes completely blank. She sounds likes she's reciting a recording.

"There's no daylight anymore. It's freezing. There's nothing but mountains of garbage. The whole town is gone. I've been crawling around for hours waiting for the sun to rise and it never comes. The air smells like burnt plastic. I feel sick Carly. Let me in."



"We'll get to that. And yes."

She won't be any more clear about that.

(Doing Therapy)
This message was last edited by the player at 06:51, Sat 11 Nov 2017.

"Oh. I see."

I walk slightly quicker towards the tower, hand on the hilt of my sword, ready to draw it. I unfocus my eyes, not paying attention to anything specific as I maintain awareness of my surroundings, ready to act or react should 'danger' approach.

"Let's go."

If I had the ability to exude towering killing intent like in anime to ward off predators, now would be the time to do it. Might scare Carly Rae though. Meh. She'll get used to it.  Or she won't. Whatever. Let's try it.

I try it.

OOC) Are you trying to scare off Carly Rae?

IC) When you do it, Carly Rae takes a long, deep breath of your scent. Her eyes kind of roll backwards into her head and she starts saying "Ohhhhhhhhhh" She likes that scent.

(Doing Therapy)

I turn and look at her, raising an eyebrow. I shrug, whatever, and continue walking.

If/when I reach the tower I return to my room, take off my weapons and armor and settle in for the first (hopefully) restful sleep in multiple years.

The next day I re-equip myself in arms and armor and see if I can find a detailed map on the video thing that has information on the area and if there are stalls or businesses arranged by sectors or if it's willy nilly. If none or not enough information is available, I head to the information desk.

---

Not intentionally, but I'd rather not fight something at the moment and reach the tower. Too much to do.

She's just going to follow you. Break into a dead run if you wish. She can keep up.



Takes you an hour maybe to walk to The Tower. Carly Rae is right behind you all the way. When you get there you get the feeling Carly Rae really want to tell you something important. But she can't. Unless you pursue it, she will just leave you.

Shower and sleep, awesome. You feel like a new man.



It's arranged like city blocks. The silver bubbles linking to the other worlds are in perfect squares and naturally occurring. Just another mystery of Verser World.

Fun fact, there are versers who live in some of the destroyed worlds. Especially if they're the ones who destroyed it. It's an unwritten law that they own that world. If they can prove they were there, that is. So far, no one's ever versed out with one. Some of the universes aren't that uninhabitable, such as the one you versed into.

The areas where they are expected to pop up are cleared. The distance can usually  be estimated to a few inches. One minute they're not there and the next minute they are. Sometimes a verser simultaneously arrives. Usually laying right outside the bubble. If you are standing on the spot when one erupts you, will "fall" into that universe. Leaving is of course possible, but some universes are radioactive, or you fall into an asteroid field in deep space that used to be a planet. And while these universes can often but not always be made habitable, falling into deadly universes is one of the leading causes of verse outs.

The bubbles cannot be avoided. This is not the only settlement. It's just the largest known settlement. One billion of three billion known versers. But the land mass is thought to be unlimited. There could be billions more here. The bubbles follow the largest settlements. You get rogue bubbles out in what is considered The Boonies. Strangely enough the bases for The Tower(s) were all laid out before the first recorded verser arrived. There are at least 25,000 known Tower bases, spreading out over millions of square miles. Some in use, some not.

This tower, the one you're in is still under construction, and its height is unknown. It is, however, the single largest known tower. It is taller and larger than any building any verser has ever seen, anywhere.

What else do you want to know?



OOC) You weren't going to. Just saying. (Should I say things like that or not?)

BTW, what does he/you think of Carly Rae?

(Doing Therapy)
This message was last edited by the player at 09:40, Sat 11 Nov 2017.

Two Posts

OOC) Just for color.

Actually, the be accurate, the towers aren't under construction, so much as growing. According to legend, the first verser to arrive (long since versed out) was drawn to lay down in the exact center of the tower base. When he woke up, a perfectly circular, multi story house had grown up around him. And it just got bigger and bigger as more versers arrived.

(Doing Therapy)

Three posts (Sorry, but it is late at night.)

Maps exist of course. You can print one for a price. The known land mass is hundreds of millions of square miles. Any terrain can be found. Deserts, rain forests, even oceans and lakes. Any imaginable animal can be found somewhere. Except for hills and valleys, the land is completely flat, as far as anyone can determine.

Some years ago, a guy named Pieter Maximoff challenged Barry Allen to a footrace to the end of the world. No has heard from them since. They are believed to still be here, as the equipment they left behind is still here. If they are still here, they would be an unquantifiable distance away.

The atmosphere is made from a single molecule which any known species of living being can breath.

(Doing Therapy)
This message was last edited by the player at 10:25, Sat 11 Nov 2017.

After getting ready and plotting my course based on the map I saw, I set off from the tower on a journey; traveling across the land, searching far and wide. Each vendor to understand the secrets that they hide.

Much like how Magehammer openly teaches the wilderness survival class, and blacksmithing for a fee, I'm looking for versers that teach classes or might offer training in teleportation and elemental magic.

I am also looking for a high tech biometric device that can read and display all of my various body statistics; something that would help me form a system for energy output with magic (as I sent to you via pm).

---

Even if I wasn't going to run into something, I'd rather not be informed while in world.  Post world / post ludum / etc, by all means share the extraneous actions.

OOC) I hope you're not expecting me to tell you every vendor. Just trust that what you're looking for is here. How difficult it is to obtain is another question.




GE19

Lots of versers teleport. Some don't seem to walk much at all. Flag one down and ask him.

But as far as elemental magic, you run into an older lady named Karin. Older, but still attractive. She doesn't give classes in it. But she will teach it to you for a price you can negotiate together.



GE 15.

They sell those in a store you've seen in The Tower.



OOC) What do you/he think of Carly Rae? Don't be afraid to tell me if you don't like something. We need to learn to work together. So, if something is bothering you or whatever, don't be afraid to say something. Let's learn together.

(Doing Therapy)

Taking note of where Karin is, after confirming that it is a possibility and saying that I will most likely be back later to negotiate, I head back towards Magehammer (on my way to the Tower shop).

When I reach Magehammer, if he has time, "Councilman Magehammer. I'm not sure if there's a polite way of inquiring how old you are as a verser? You addressed us as 'kiddies' in the class, so I assume you are extraordinarily experienced. I've encountered a troubling situation while versing and I just want to know if it is normal, or if it has happened to others."

---

I was making a reference to the original pokemon^tm theme song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyXTgqJtoGM

'I will travel across the land, searching far and wide. Each pokemon to understand the power that's inside.'  Vendors have secrets, so...

Carly Rae seems a bit weird, not necessarily in a bad way. I do want to confirm something later, or try to confirm it anyway. We'll see after that.

Also, these posts are a bit all over the place as Avahur gathers information. Once we're through here, logic and order should resume. 

"In my experience, most versers don't mind telling their age. For me, five thousand worlds and I stopped counting."

And kind of turning into a fatherly attitude "What's your troubling situation kid?"



OOC) I just conferred with Oak about her. Fear not, she's about to drastically change as a character.

(Doing Therapy)

"Wow. I stopped counting after 20. I have a doppelganger somewhere. On at least two occurrances he has been to the same world as me shortly after I versed out and attacked previous friends or acquaintances. One time he attacked another verser, Brian,  though I didn't find out until I versed back to that world and he jumped me, thinking I was the doppelganger. The other time he attacked and killed my ex-wife - ex cus I versed, and I heard from my son, who is also apparently a verser, that it was my doppelganger that did a bunch of not so good things and killed her.

I thought our verses were random, and it's might weird to have a doppelganger show up to two different worlds just shortly after I verse out. Not only showing up, but seeming to know who my acquaintances and family are and actively seeking them out and attacking them.  Worlds and universes are a big place.  Actively going to where I was specifically active even if I was largely unremarkable during my stay there, is far beyond coincidence.

Does this sort of thing happen often? Have you heard this happening to other versers? Or is this just a multiversally accepted fact of life?"

---

Oh? See, I'm presently under the assumption the nervousness / stutter / etc is purely an act. Saw an anime one time where there was a character that was like that, sort of. Cool as a cucumber on their own but generally a mess when visible to others.

"Yeah, they call that cycling. You establish some connection to another verser; become good friends/enemies etc. and so you see them more often than most. I had a T-800 Terminator chasing me for a while, before I got a handle on him. Then of course, there's Whisp and Mother. Those two run into each  other on almost every  world. Sucks too for the indigs cuz they're always trying to kill each other. And they're super beings so every world they land on it's Hulk Vs Superman."



OOC) No, it's not that. I thought it would be funny for that predator repellent to make her attracted to you. So she's about to lose all of that. Just be patient. We'll get it straightened around.

(Doing Therapy)

"I see. Sort of.  I've never met my doppelganger, but because I've established a connection with others, he's the one that shows up? He's not really an enemy.  It's inconvenient being blamed for attacking friends, but that's it. I'd love to meet my dopp face to face, would be an interesting conversation.

Also, what's a super being?  Is that just versers that passed a certain threshold of power? Mastered one skill? I have literally never heard the term used before. But admittedly, if I last a year here that'll be the longest I've stayed consciously on a world.

Lastly, what would you consider suitable for purchasing the blacksmith tools?  I wield swords, could dual wield if I had another sword - my last sword was fun, it was a cursed sword with some sentience and heavily imbued with darkness.  Made worlds interesting having a chatty partner, but it was thrown into the abyss by another verser, Oak. Or Day. I don't recall, probably Oak. Neither of them are the type I want to meet again.  Anyway, being able to forge a sword of my own would be ideal."

Ugh, that brings back memories. Ajax was a fun sword, but I'll probably attack Day or Oak if I see them again. I don't know who attacked me, but it was probably Day. So what if I gave an ultimatum to an incoming verser? He spoke up for the newcomer then I was attacked. Logically, it was him. Definitely versing him if we meet again.

Oak owes me a sword.  Or a verse, I'll accept versing him as suitable payment. He's the holy type right? Prays a lot? Michael the archangel from that one world owes me a duel. Maybe he'd gift me a sword instead? Would Oak be able to ask that? I don't know. I'll need to ask him next time I run into him.

"He's a divergent of yours? Yeah, that happens too."



At this, he's shocked. "What? They didn't have comic books on your home world? Super hero? That make more sense? You're probably a super being, compared to most indigs. But these two, Whisp and Mother. They got muscles on top of muscles. I saw him hit her and she flew through the sides of two concrete buildings, then she just got up and laughed at him."



"Make me an offer. I'm giving up time and expertise. What will you give up?"



"If all you want is a sword, I can make you a Chaos blade. For a price. Create heat, create light, and complete healing. And that's the cheap one."

(Doing Therapy)

"Complete healing!? The blade would be able to heal me? How complete is 'complete'? Does it involve regenerating limbs that have been severed? Could it reattach a severed limb days after it was severed? I lost a limb once, before I had magic. Severed feom a teleportation incident with another verser, Pollux. We managed to reattach and heal the injury, good as new, but it took a few days. Could the sword do that?"

I chuckle, "Healing is the only thing I can't do well."

At the mention of comics, "Comics aren't really my thing. I prefer light novels. 'Super beings' like Hegemons or Autarchs in Desolate Era require supreme mastery of a dao. Similarly, Paragons in Coiling Dragon completely fused all the mysteries of a single dao path. Comics, from what I've heard, tend towards the cheaper or cheesier methods to power."

"Some of them can. The cheap ones just do basic healing. My bad."

"You never answered me. What are you willing to give up for blacksmithing lessons?"



"Whatever kid. You're speaking Greek to me. So are we gonna do business or what?"

(Doing Therapy)
This message was last edited by the player at 06:05, Sun 12 Nov 2017.

"Funny you should say that, I actually know Greek, a dialect, at least. Learned it during the Trojan War.  But yes! If not necessarily lessons then a sword.  I'm not certain what you would find appropriate, but at least these two things."

I take my ninja sword from my waist and present it. I also take out the triangular healing device.

"The sword is from the same place I got the shurikens, so it's probably also... what did you call it? Mithral?  I can't recognize it on sight. This triangular pyrmid device I got from... somewhere. I don't know what it was supposed to be called, but it was a massive battlefield - quite a few versers showed up. A medic was carrying it. As far as I can tell, it can be used once a day to heal any injury, regardless of severity. It is how I reattached my severed limb.

You've seen the rest of what I have, but these are probably the only two that would interest you.  As far as items go.  I do have some magic skills, I'd be willing to teach, from some basic elemental magic to nifty tricks - opening doors, mending tears in paper, levitation, temporary color changes, but they probably pale in comparison to your own. Still, they are on the table as well.

I'm not willing to exchange the healing device just for lessons, but if it's possible for a similar effect on a sword, I'd trade it, with whatever is necessary to go with it."

He examines the sword and says "Yeah, that's mithral alright. Tell you what, I'll trade you a complete blacksmithing toolkit complete with a Chaos hammer for this sword. But you're never gonna see the sword again. Not as a sword anyway. Free blacksmithing lessons come with the purchase of a toolkit."

You need to have minimum 2@1 skill using his tools as tools to do any magic with them. His free lessons will get you to 1@3. The Chaos hammer will create heat, light and basic healing once you've got 2@1 blacksmithing.



"You didn't get me kid. I said I'm giving up my time and expertise. Aren't you willing to do likewise? I could always use a gopher. That might get you blacksmithing lessons. Remember though, I'm not the only blacksmith here. Feel free to look around."

But then he pauses and says "What's up with you and Carly Rae? I saw her this morning and she was dog sick and pissed at you for something."

OOC) Like I said, I'm gonna change her drastically.

(Doing Therapy)

"Hmm? Not sure.  Ladies are not my forte. Most of the ones I've known have died, usually because of my actions, though not directly.  Once turned down someone's offer to join them, and he raided the academy I was learning magic at, killed the few girls I was getting along with and versed me soon thereafter. I wasn't under my own control when I met, dated, and married my wife, so I doubt that counts. One was eaten by zombies, others were killed shortly after I met them. My luck after becoming a verser with ladies is less than splendid.

That, and I'm just a naturally aggressive and violent person. Maybe my aura made her sick?

Questions: learning blacksmithing from you, do you only teach hammers? I don't need a fancy sword, only an effective one. Would I be able to create that if I learn from you?"

I put away the healing device as I consider my options and wait for a response from Magehammer.

Huh. Illness. Gonna head to the tower and see about acquiring that device, then maybe head over to Karin, if I have time.

"I dunno man, just, uh, I'd keep an eye on her at survival class if I were you."



"You'd be able to make an iron and steel sword, sure. Nothing magical unless you get really lucky and find favor in the eyes of the gods of Order and Chaos."

He makes swords but he doesn't know how to fight with them. He can fight with his hammer of course.

OOC) He's my character and don't think I could ever bring myself to use a sword in a fight. Something about it bugs me. Bludgeons on the other hand........

(Doing Therapy)

"Oh. Gods. Yea, realistically that'll never happen.  My luck with gods is on par with my luck with ladies. The few gods I've interacted with have been terrible experiences. Though Ares did send me to the Trojan War where I got to fight Achilles, so that was cool, but still not a pleasant experience with gods on the whole.

Not at all familiar or even ever heard of the gods of Order and Chaos. I'll keep it in mind, but deities and I do not get along. Maybe if one of them introduces themselves and wants a chat without trying to kill me or sending me to a place that will kill me.  Maybe when I find an agreeable god I could do the whole faith and favor thing. For now, it's not really an option."

I put my sword away, strap it to myself and turn towards the tower. "I'll keep it in mind. Might not show up tonight, give her time to cool off. Agitated ladies that are versers don't stick around for long."

After bidding farewell I head towards the tower. When I reach the tower I will head towards the shop that sells the biometric body stat device thing. I'll also inquire about the price.

---

Yea, that's something I'll never understand. None of my characters ever use bludgeoning weapons. I understand their purpose, and possibly the appeal, but I could never do it. Swords, daggers, magic, pistols, sniper rifles. If high tech, both long and short covered, med range is irrelevant. If low tech, short range covered, long range is irrelevant in low tech. If magical, then I've got it covered.  Even in other games.

"I am an Order/Chaos mage. Through proper manipulation of the forces of Order and Chaos, I can Do Anything. There's a couple of Order/Chaos priests that live in The Tower. You'd be a Tool User. But yeah, that's what the gods of Order and Chaos do. If you're selected to be a mage, they'll visit you. They're extraordinarily polite. Never had a disagreement with them yet."

He tells you that the selection to be an Order/Chaos mage is completely random. Having a tool won't change your odds. He didn't have any tools when he was selected.



"The gods of Order and Chaos don't really require worship or devotion. Sometimes they ask mages and priests to do jobs for them, but most of the time, you're free to do whatever you want. Personally, I think they just get a kick out of giving random people magic powers. Just looking at you, I think you'd probably be selected to be a Chaos mage. I was first selected as an Order mage. Worked my way up."

OOC) Is that a path you'd be interested in? Would you like a visit from the gods of Order and Chaos?



"Uh, no, bad idea. Come to the class. Get it done and over with. Do Not give her time to stew on it. If you saw what happened to poor No-Me when she ignored Carly......"

And he will not elaborate on that.



It's a wristwatch that projects a 3 dimensional hologram of your entire body. You can see at different levels, from the skin to the center of the bone. It will diagnose lots of body problems.

When you ask how you pay for it, they offer you a job.

(Doing Therapy)

I shrug in response to Magehammer. "We'll see."

Later, in the tower when offered a job I raise an eyebrow at that.

"A job. Doing what? For how long? What are the hours like?"

---

Honestly, I have no idea. I have only ever encountered chaos magic in a manuscript a friend wrote. Flip quarters, one lands tails, one lands on its side, the other stops and hovers in the air before transforming into a chicken. Chaos magic.   It sounds interesting, but honestly, Avahur needs to refine his tool set.  If a god of Chaos showed up and was like 'here, have chaos magic' I'd probably set it aside for a while until I was reasonably happy with the skills I have.

Avahur can draw his sword and attack in one smooth motion, faster than most people can react. he's a pretty good sword fighter. He can also shoot people from far away, but that requires bullets, specific caliber bullets. That's cool, but very, very, specific. It's not versatile at all. I don't like the current state of Avahur's elemental magic. Once that gets sorted out, even if I don't improve in any of my other skills, just confidence in elemental magic would make me ready to have Avahur take on the whims of the universes and whatever gods and magic they may hold.

"It depends. Do ya just want the biometric watch? That'll cost ya 16 hours. Gotta package ah some stuff what's so unstable it ain't safe to teleport it by any means. Can't move it faster than 6-8 MPH either. Gotta move it on foot. Anyway, I got this stuff for a gentleman what lives in one ah the outer colonies. Need it delivered. Sixteen hour walk. Then they can teleport ya back here."

Or do you want something more permanent?



OOC) This is not anything like that. Order/Chaos mages create Order and/or Chaos on an atomic level. Chaos is movement, heat, light, radiation, fire, volcanoes, tornadoes, earthquakes. Order is slowness. Stillness. Create darkness, cold, solids from liquids and gases, creating rain from the humidity in the air.

It would probably work with your elemental magic actually. Earth, wind, fire and water right? Wind and Fire definitely. Tornado and flame thrower, anyone?

(Doing Therapy)
This message was last edited by the player at 09:33, Sun 12 Nov 2017.

Hmm, 16 hour walk. Would definitely miss the class.  Do I care about Carly Rae being mad? No, not really. This is her first verse, and she doesn't seem the outgoing type.  Even if she's fierce when mad, I could just kill her.  I refuse to believe some noob verser that hasn't been to a battlefield would be able to kill me.  So long as I don't die, the triangular device can heal me to full. Plus I've got armor protecting most of me.  She can teleport, only to places she can see, which means not behind me, facing me. That's far enough away to react. Let's do it.

"Yea, sounds good. I'm up for a 16 hour walk."

I deliver the package to the outer colonies.

---

Yea, sufficient mastery of elemental magic would let me do all of that. Tier 3 could do it in a small, localized area. Tier 4 for within the area that I can see. Earth with a touch of fire for volcanoes, water and fire for gas (I did that in my last gather thread, generating fog), pure tier 3 water for solids, tier 3 wind for tornadoes, tier 4 fire (or tier 3 fire and light) for plasma Tier 3 light for radiation. Tier 1 fire or tier 2 light for heat.

OOC) Don't forget though. Carly Rae has been taking that survival class for a century. She's expert with bows, knives, hunting, tracking, stalking. A super assassin in the form of a shy mousy librarian. Not to mention the fact that you have no idea what other psionics she can do. I wouldn't dismiss her as a threat that quickly.



But that kind of moot because the guy tells you:

"Not till tomorrow. That's when it needs to be delivered. Show up here at first light so you ain't walking in the dark."

So you can still go to the class tonight.



OOC) Suit yourself. I realize it's not for everybody.

"Huh, ok."

I leave the store and head toward where Karin is/was.

When I get there I will try to ascertain her achievements with elemental magic, in particular how she fuels it.

<Negotiation start>

---

How much time left til the class starts? Not sure how long these errands are taking and how long it will take me to reach the wilderness.

"First off, you show me what you got. Then I show you what I got."

She wants you to demonstrate all of your elemental magic before she shows you hers.

OOC) I'm trying to buy myself time to study up on it a bit. Do you have any suggestions for websites to read?



OOC) You'll know when it's time.

(Doing Therapy)

"Sure.  Just to preface and give you an idea of where I'm coming from and what I want to accomplish: What I can do now is magic of most of the elements, but my application is limited. I need to think or somehow invoke words to put them into action for pre-defined effects. It's too limited. What I'm looking for, is mastery. I want to be able to think or plan an action, and be able to put into use through mastery of magic. Lastly, I need to use my body's energy to fuel the magic.  I'm in excellent shape, but a fight where I have to use magic as well is incredibly draining.

"So, starting with fire," I proceed to demonstrate my fire spells, saying their name aloud when I invoke the spell.. I snap a finger to help invoke 'flamma' and create a small flame. I then move through the rest of my fire magic. 'Incendo' to shoot fire, 'flammas jacio' to shoot stronger fire, 'flammacio' (stronger version (and shortened) of flammas jacio) to shoot much stronger fire. 'Flamma Munimenta' to create a shield of fire.

"I am aware of the spell 'Circumcaesura Flamarum', which should cover my body in fire, though I've never successfully cast it, and have only seen another verser do it successfully. We learned magic at the same academy.

"Water magic includes 'Aqua'," I cup my hands and fill them with water, then I drink said water.

Afterwards I demonstrate 'Lavo' to shoot a jet of water and 'Aqua Tutela' to form a water shield.

"Wind magic isn't as noticeable, so if you extend your arm I can blow it past it: 'Flabra'" I create a small gust of wind blowing towards her arm if she extends it, or otherwise at a flap of fabric to demonstrate. 'Inflo' for a stronger gust of wind, and "'Flabra Tutamen' requires constant motion for the shield.  Mildly annoying."

I wave my arms and hands in a circle as I demonstrate the shield, then stop and move on to earth magic.

I extend my hand, 'Terra', to create a small amount of dirt. (I don't recall if it was specified, but I could probably do any form of dirt, like sand, for example.)

I drop the dirt and point my arm at the ground, 'Humo', and shoot dirt in that direction. Then I crouch to the ground placing my hands on the floor and rise them up as I create a shield of dirt, 'Humus Munitio'.

"So, that's it. Limited in scope, but diverse. One hand fire, the other water, creates a fog when put together. Fire in one hand and wind in the other for a blow drier. Some combinations are nifty, but still limited applications."

I raise an eyebrow in her direction.

"So, what can you do?"

---

To study up on what? Elemental magic?  Depending on the (magic) system you are using or basing it on, there's lots of ways to handle it.  My personal preference is a combination of dao from chinese web/light novels, and wizards from western fantasy. You've got graded step by step progression with the ambiguity of personal preference. I could write a book just discussing magic systems. If you're interested I could provide links to specific examples, as well as web novels.

Edit: This link is an excellent resource: http://powerlisting.wikia.com/wiki/Elemental_Magic
This message was last edited by the player at 03:44, Mon 13 Nov 2017.

Karin takes you into her house. It's made out of pressed clay walls. The roof is some manner of dried animal skin. Inside, she's got lamps burning some kind of oil.

She's also got numerous potted plants in clay pots. You've heard of crazy cat ladies? She's a crazy plant lady.

"You put a lot of emphasis on the words you speak, is that right? Words are just words. It's what the spell means to you."

And she draws a circle on the ground in the dirt with her finger. Then she waves her hand over it chanting "Poteth riseth." and a circular clay pot rises up out of the ground. Some more hand waving and chanting, and she picks up a clay flowerpot.

"It's how I built this house."

Then she waves her hands in the room with all of the potted plants and says "Humideth falleth."

And it starts raining inside, watering all of the plants.

Then you step outside. She holds her arms out at length, starts spinning in a circle and says "Tornadoeth Rideth"

And while she spins, a solid wall of wind, perfectly round in shape, begins to form underneath her feet. It lifts her off of the ground. She invites you to step up on top of it. Assuming you do, you ride on top of a tornado going about 10 MPH up and down the block.

Then she tells you to light a little piece of trash on fire with your magic, saying "You can light a fire, but can you put one out?"

Waving her hands and chanting "Flameth Dieth." and the fire goes out.

"That's just a sampling of what I know. Now let's talk about price."

(Doing Therapy)

In response to:


"Oh, word emphasis was how it was taught. I've been going from battlefield to battlefield and haven't had time to focus on actually learning or experimenting with it, or even really understanding it. The academy was attacked long before I was ready to leave."

I consider for a moment.

"I'm not sure if I have anything you would consider appropriate. Back in my room at the tower, I have a variety of guns, armor, and ammo from previous worlds, all of which are up for grabs if that sort of thing interests you.

"I can be considered a very skilled swordsman, specializing in sword draw one hit K.O.s, Battoujutsu, or Iaijutsu as it is sometimes called. If that interests you, I'm willing to teach that in exchange.

"I'm moderately proficient in unarmed combat, which I'm also willing teach. If none of that interests you, then I'm willing to do unspecified work in exchange for tutelage."

Looking around at all the plants.

"You've got a lot of plants. I know a spell that summons flowers too, not sure if you know it or something similar, I've got a small smattering of non-elemental magic."

"Some day, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, consider these lessons a gift from me."

(Doing Therapy)

"Deal. Doesn't matter what it is, from a one man assault on heaven or hell, a trip to the abyss, or to a trip to a world where violence is prohibited. Whichever or whatever service you may require of me in the future, I will do it to the best of my ability when you call upon it."

I cup fists and bow to Karin.

"When do we start, teacher?"

She ponders. "You strike me as a combative sort. Good. This will do you well."

She starts waving her left hand around, chanting "Rocketh Skineth."

Then she pulls out a small caliber revolver from somewhere and shoots herself in the left hand. The bullet mushrooms in her hand and she drops it on the ground at her feet.

1@1 Rock Skin. Makes your skin hard as a rock for one attack.

Then she starts waving her hand in a circle chanting "Tornadoeth attacketh"

And throws a tornado at you strong enough to knock you on your butt.

1@1 Tornado wind attack

Then she starts waving her hands in front of her chanting "Atmosphereth freezeth"

And a wall of ice forms from the humidity in the air.

And lastly:

She points her finger at a piece of firewood. She's chanting "Nuketh appeareth"

And the piece of firewood explodes. Bursts into flames from the inside out.

1@1 Nuke Em.

This takes hours to teach. But whilst you're practicing, Magehammer sticks his head in the door and says "Hey Karin, do you have those plants I asked for?"

And she says "Yup." and gives him two potted plants.

He thanks her and hands her a bag of coins. And he is about to leave when he spots you.

"Hey kid, ya coming to the class or what? I'm telling you man, it's best to get this thing with Carly Rae done and over. Do Not give her time to stew on it."

He promises he won't let her hurt you....... too badly.

(Doing Therapy)

As I learn the magic, "It's just word association?"

When Magehammer comes in and asks about the class, I turn and bow to Karin.

"Teacher, may I be excused for 2 days, tonight to attend senior Magehammer's wilderness class and hopefully clear up this misunderstanding with Carly Rae, and tomorrow I have to make a delivery to the outer colonies for a tower shop as repayment for a device. I've heard it's a 16 hour walk."

If Karin agrees, I'll go to Magehammer's class, otherwise I'll stay here.  I'll also stay and  ignore both if it's the ultimatum 'stay and learn, or go elsewhere, choose one.' Magic always takes precedence.

If Karin agrees, then when Magehammer mentions 'he won't let her hurt me... too badly'.

I look at him, "I've already mentioned I'm a violent and aggressive individual. This I know, and can't help much. If she wants to yell and be irrational, that I can handle. I'm not even sure why she's mad, I haven't done anything to her, we barely even spoke.

"If she attacks me, however, she may wake up in a new world, or at least have to bear burning for a while.

"Still, I'll apologize for whatever and see where it goes. My luck with ladies is terrible, as you may recall."

---

I linked this in Cala's thread when he just started to learn magic, but it's especially appropriate now, with what Karin mentioned.  Not sure how you feel about anime, but this 4 min 30 sec clip is super appropriate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2Lr-o6YvNM

"Words mean whatever you want them to mean."

And that's all she'll say on it.



Karin just says "Yeah, sure. Go have fun."




He just says "Look kid, I don't know what's going on with her. All I know is she was dog sick and pissed at you for something."

Then he says "You ready to go?"

Then he puts his hand on your shoulder. The world tastes purple, you cease to exist, and you're in the woods. He drops you off next to Carly Rae and teleport himself to a safe distance to watch.

Carly Rae still looks a little green. When she sees you, she turns around and loses her breakfast on the ground. Then she turns to you and says, with no trace of stammering:

"I don't know what that smell you were putting off was. It smelled amazing. Like Joy and Happiness all rolled into a smell. But when I woke up this morning, I had a hangover from the pits of Krogerton itself!!! Don't you EVER do that around me again!!!"

Then she turns around to Magehammer and says "Ya know what? I quit this class!!! The chess pieces told me to try woodworking anyway!!!!"

Magehammer looks at her puzzled and says "Chess pieces?"

But Carly Rae has already teleported herself as far as her eye can see.

OOC) So now she's not attracted to you anymore.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:35, Mon 13 Nov 2017.

Appearing next to Carly Rae suddenly, I raise an eyebrow as she loses her breakfast.

Yep, that's gross. Reminds me of the first time someone sees a dead body, or kills someone.

"Sorry." I cast florae, and summon pink carnations, which I then extend to her.

Assuming she still rants and teleports away, I shrug. "Guess it was the aura."

I attend class as normal.

Carly Rae smiles a little when you hand her the flower, before going off on her rant and teleporting away.



You hear Magehammer muttering to himself "Chess Pieces. She's been selected. Wonder if she's going to be Order or Chaos....."

But then he snaps back to reality. "Today's lesson is how to make spears, bows and arrows with the stone tools you made yesterday."

1@1 Construct spear
1@1 Construct bow and arrows.

Class happens.

After class I walk back to the tower, practicing the magic I learned today.

Words mean whatever I want them to mean? Ok, 1 syllable words. Affix the word and their meaning in my mind, picture what I want to happen, say the word, cast the spell.

I recall practicing rock skin, "Hard", and cast rock skin.

Once it works, I move onto the tornado attack, "Gale", and cast the tornado attack.

Once that works I move onto the ice wall, "Wall", and cast the ice wall.

Lastly I look for sticks and branches on the ground on the way back, concentrate, recall the practice and example of Karin doing it and say "Nuke", and cast Nuke 'em.

Once I get to the tower and back to my room, I'll get some rest.  If there's an alarm function in the room, I'll set it for 4 hours later, and try the sleeping trick to be more rested with less sleep.

The magic doesn't work. Then you remember that Karin said two words for each spell.

There is an alarm clock. You set it, sleep and wake up.

Wake up, stretch, exercise, shower.

Afterwards, I get ready and head down to the tower shop and present myself ready to head out with whatever package needs to be delivered.

I also see if there is a vehicle or other instrument to get it out there (while being under the 6-8 mph limit, like a golf cart), or if walking is absolutely necessary.

Regardless of the circumstances, I will walk it out there if no vehicle is available or an option.

I will also inquire, for future reference, if they have looked into or considered levitation magic as a means for stable and speedy transport.

When you head down to the lobby, you run into Carly Rae. She's cutting a breakfast sandwich with a stone/crystal knife. The blade is pure white crystal and the handle is white wood. Very white.

When she sees you, her eyes hit the floor and she stammers "I'm I'm I'm so so sorry I fl-fl-flipped out on you yes-yes-yesterday. Pl-pl-please forgive me."

And she raises her head enough to see your facial expression.

But the tower shoppe tells you that the item is so unstable that magic or psionics of any kind cannot be used. Don't even practice any magic whilst you're walking. This stuff is expensive and guess who has to pay for it if it destabilizes in transit?

"It's going to Edison Carter. He's a technomancer."

And they give you a small device that looks like an Ipod. It's a map. Shows your location, his location, distance and direction. It's also what Edison is supposed to sign for the delivery. Return that when you're finished and you get your biometric watch.

"Sound good?"

(Doing Therapy)

I nod at Carly Rae, "Hakuna Matata."

Towards the shop employee, "Sounds good. Edison carter.  Technomancer, nice."

I take the map device and the item and start my 16 hour journey, taking care to avoid others, especially those using magic or psionics.

---

Speaking of technomancy, it's a super fun magic. I had/have a Vampire: The Masquerade character, a Tremere, that uses technomancy. Oodles of fun.

Also, not sure if you like to read, or what your preferred genres are, but I have previously mentioned my preferred style of magic includes the style of 'dao' as is common in eastern fantasy novels.  The Coiling Dragon Saga by IEatTomatoes, translated by RenWoXing is phenomenal and can be read, for free at this website here: http://www.wuxiaworld.com/cdindex-html/  It is 21 books long, but absolutely fantastic.  It also has a good base for 'dao' related magic, though that's not present until the 'Saint' level and later (books 7 or 8 and onwards).

She brightens up a bit. That's her version of being happy to hear it. She lets you go.




"Yeah, he's one of the most technologically minded individuals here. Helped us redesign the teleporters all around the building."

Are you taking any food and water with you? Or are you going to try to sample the local cuisine? You did see that a lot of the restaurants were labeled "Free".

But whilst you're walking, suddenly you have a vision. You see a completely gray zone. The purest shade of gray imaginable. And you see four chess pieces. The black and white king and queen. They're about 5-6 feet tall.

And in a voice that you don't really hear, so much as feel, they say to you:

"Do not be afraid. We are the gods of Order and Chaos. We wish to select one Order and one Chaos mage from the pool of versers. We will endow you with Chaos magic. Would you wish to become our servant?"



OOC) I'll keep that in mind.

(Doing Therapy)
This message was last edited by the player at 03:55, Tue 14 Nov 2017.

"Huh. Guessing you chose Carly Rae for Order.  I see what she means by talking chess pieces.  I'm not necessarily against being your servant; Magehammer seems to be of the opinion y'all are different from the other gods I've encountered. He seems knowledgeable and trustworthy, so I'm intrigued, but I'd like to know what it entails. What does a servant do? What responsibilities? Is there anything I'm not allowed to do?"

I talk to the chess pieces, silently wondering which is chaos and which is order.

Actually, black is probably chaos... all colors vs no colors. All colors, black, isn't really orderly, so probably black indeed.

"Magehammer is one of our highest ranking mages."

Just stating it as fact.



"As a servant, you will be endowed with Chaos magic. You will have the ability to create heat, light, atomic decay with a mere gesture. We will on occasion call on you to do our work. Other than that, you are free to use the magic as you see fit. You must avoid Orderly situations. Cold, darkness. Order will be your enemy."

So it sounds like he might be saying you'd need to sleep with a light on.



If they can tell, they don't show it.



OOC) Think about what you know about it. Order is darkness and cold. Chaos is heat and light. Now think about that again. Carly Rae had a white, crystal knife.

(Doing Therapy)

"Will this interfere with my other magic? Water magic's properties include ice magic. Will I have to forgo using ice magic? How does Chaos magic react to or intermix with elemental magic? Will my fire magic get a boost as it shares the same properties? Will fire magic support chaos magic?

"What sort of darkness must be avoided? All darkness? Can I still go out at night?

"I have other questions, but let's start with these."

"Wind and Fire are Chaotic. Earth and Water Orderly."

And that's all they will say about that.



Not stating it in any way you can comprehend. But the feeling you get says "Go out at night, but carry a flashlight."



Though not stated by them directly, you get the feeling they find it Most Amusing that you feel you have the right to question a god at all.

In a good way.

So do you know which are Order and which are Chaos?

(Doing Therapy)

"Ok, will I be punished directly for entering orderly situations?  I'm a fighter, sometimes I  join a military unit-- oh, by the way. You said Magehammer is among the highest ranking? Rankings are inherently orderly, does that conflict? Military units and army structures are generally orderly, must they be avoided?

Not sure how 'Orderly situations' and orderly constructs interact. If I feel atrocious, sick, or otherwise unwell when I enter an orderly situation, or do something that falls in line with 'Order', that's different from directly receiving harm.

Not a question really, but general conjecture. Rules and laws, when someone says 'Order' that's what comes to mind, telling me to avoid something or saying I can't do something... since when does Chaos play by the rules? Does Chaos like being told it can't do something, that sounds like an Order thing.

Rules, schedules, are they to be avoided?

Avalanches, pure ice and snow and coldness, they cause chaos. Turn the lights off, make it pitch black, darkness, that causes chaos, especially among humans. Light seems more orderly to me; Elemental Magic is neither chaos nor orderly, but can be used for both.

I hate being confined. Rules are useful, laws are useful, order is useful. Order only exists because Chaos exists, they define each other. Chaos magic sounds fun, it truly does, but it seems like a lot of rules and restrictions for Chaos.

If I become your servant, and I really do hate that word, by the way, can I upgrade to a level with less restrictions? Could I use both Order and Chaos?"

These guys are far nicer and agreeable than the other gods I've met.  Have I ever killed a god? I know I killed versers masquerading as gods on one world, but not sure if that counts.  Helped kill one of the seven sins alongside the archangel Michael that one time, but still not god status.  I should add it on the list of things to do.

Not these guys, of course. They actually asked and are seemingly giving me a choice. Even if it's not actually a choice and only a pretense, at least they are going about it pleasantly.

GE 18

At this, the chess pieces all turn slightly towards each other and "look" at each other. You feel they are conferring.

Then they say to you "We'll get back to you."

And the vision ends.

You are walking along. All indications are that about 4 hours have passed. And you've been walking the whole time. Your immediate direction was from the area with which you are familiar. You are now proceeding into an area you are not familiar with.

Shoppes and people of every size and description. Aliens and robots. Every clothing style. You see carts pulled by donkeys alongside motorcars and flying motorcycles.

Scriff senses surround you. Your own gear gives off a different sense so you can tell it apart from the versers.

(Doing Therapy)
This message was last edited by the player at 06:39, Tue 14 Nov 2017.

Huh. Interesting.

I look around, and then down to the ipad tracker thing. I reorient myself in the appropriate direction for where I'm supposed to be heading and continue walking that way.

I wonder if the device is still ok? Vision from the gods of chaos and order, was that magical?  Here's hoping the device is fine when I arrive.

You were always walking the right way. You went past Magehammer's shoppe, Ray's Ray guns and all of the other shoppes. You are now in an area of the Flea Market that you've never been in.

All indications are that the materials are fine.

Do you want to stop and look around or do you just want to get there?

(Doing Therapy)

I keep going, though I do keep an eye out for a large tavern or information sharing center. If I find one, great, if not, no worries, the main focus is reaching the destination with the materials in one piece.

GE 19

Nothing really jumps out at you as the kind of place you're looking for. You hear a lot of talk of chess pieces though. Apparently they're asking a lot of people.

But then you get to Carter's house. It's a fortress of stone and metal. Reminds you of a high-tech Frankenstein's castle. Lightning rods in the roof and an all-around not so pleasant feel.

When you get to the door, as you're about to knock, Matt Frewer opens the door. He's wearing a white lab coat. He says with effervescence  "Hi!!! I'm Edison Carter. Did you bring my stuff?"

After you answer:

"Did the chess pieces talk to you too? That's all anybody around here can talk about. I think most folks asked them too many questions. I just said "Will I be able to control electricity?" they said "Yes" and I said "Sign me up!!!!!""

Then he snaps his fingers several times and electricity jumps between them every time.

OOC) At first he was just a techno character. I didn't know "Technomancer" was magical. Thanks for the suggestion!!!!!

(Doing Therapy)
This message was last edited by the player at 07:50, Tue 14 Nov 2017.

I nod and hand him his stuff. "Please sign for it here." I pull out the ipad device.

In response to Order/Chaos showing up:

"Yea, they showed up on my way here. Basic level sounds like too many restrictions."

After he signs, "Can you teleport or have a method by which I can get back to the tower? Not that I don't mind 16 hour walks, but I'd rather avoid it."

If he can teleport me, or has a method by which I can teleport back to the tower and does/let's me use it, then I head back and hand in the ipad device. Upon getting the biometric device I head to my room and sleep.

If he doesn't, and I have no immediate way back, I start jogging back.

---

Yea, technomancy in Vampire is super cool. Encrypt/Decrypt stuff with a touch, remote hacking, control devices remotely, activating/deactivating a device remotely, reading all the information, wiping the drive... cool things and pretty powerful in a high tech society.

He thumbprints it.

Upon inspection, he declares the package fine. He offers you a one ounce gold coin as a tip.



"I guess it ain't for everybody. But hey, I'm just dying to see what I can do with this and my tech."



He says "Well, that depends. I could teleport you straight out. I could. But are you a gambling man?"

And he pulls out a black wax candle. "Some hippie chick gave this to me. Said it was a Babylon Candle. What you do is light it, then think of where you want to go, and poof. You're there. She gave this to me for some work I did fixing her FWK player. Supposed to be good for two uses. I bet it doesn't work. You could test it. And if it works, you'd still have the second use. Or I could just put ya in my transporter. Up to you."



You're gonna teleport home. Only question is how. So you get home and sleep. The light went out whilst you were in Edison's house.



OOC) I was thinking more like the weapons you could build by combining them. Lightning guns, Tornado cannons, radiation bombs.

(Doing Therapy)
This message was last edited by the player at 08:51, Tue 14 Nov 2017.

"I've got a lot to learn, so while I'm here, I'm not a gambling man." I ignore the candle and opt for the teleporter to get back.

When I wake up, I stretch, exercise, shower, and then try out the biometric device. I want to see what functions it has, display, and I try some simple magic, creating some wind, to see if there are changes in the display or readings.

---

Is the device waterproof? Oilproof? Liquidproof?

Carter says "I get these deliveries fairly regularly. Think I'll ever see you again?"



And at the store when you pick it up, they ask you if they can add you to their contacts lists. People they call when they need things like this done.

The biometric device registers all of your body functions. Blood pressure, heart rate, lung capacity, oxygen consumption, whole nine yards.

When you do your magic the first time, this reading dips, this reading spikes. You do it again, this reading spikes, this reading dips. Hard to tell exactly what's going on there.



OOC) Why are you asking me? You need to ask somebody in the game.

To carter: I shrug, "Who knows. I'm only here because I lack currency for the device I'm working to pay for."

To the tower store: "Go for it? I don't actually own a method to contact people long distance, but I'm receiving training from Karin at her place (describe location from tower). In the upcoming days I can probably be reached in that area."

I play around with the device a bit more and then head to Karin's place, monitoring the readings.

Does the device come with a manual? If so, I read it. If not, I'll stop by the store on my way out of the tower and inquire about functionality, features, if it is liquid proof, all the cool non-biometric features.

---

Generally devices come in a box with glaring features on it to grab attention? Versers are salespeople too, I doubt the marketing methods change that much. I'd imagine LIQUIDPROOF in bright red letters on whatever box the device came in. Or do they keep them just laying around? I obviously generally only care for the biometric function, but QoL is important too, and if it came in a box, it'd probably say so, and it'd be glaringly obvious.   Which is why I ask.

Carter says jovially "Oh is that all? Well, here. Here's another gold piece. I believe in tipping when I've got it to spare."

So now you've got two gold coins.



"Oh no, we'll leave you a message in your room. If'n ya don't reply to it within 24 hours, we'll assume you're not interested."



Yeah, it's got a manual. It's a little Ipad kind of a thing that tells the instructions in every known language.

But of course the watch is waterproof, shock proof, they tell you could dive to the bottom of the ocean and then beat on it with a hammer.

Karin is cooking some kind of vegetable soup from the plants in her garden. She offers you a bowl.



OOC) It's not that you're asking. It's that you're asking the wrong guy. I'm the game referee. I'm not the guy that's selling it to you. You need to ask the guy that's selling it to you.

(Doing Therapy)

I read the manual in English, and again in Greek to brush up on my knowledge and make sure my syntax is still gravy. I'll compare the two if I get stuck.

I will eat some soup.

Huh, I didn't eat yesterday, spent the whole day walking.  Should probably remember to eat more.  At least I have soup on the go, now.


After eating, I'll inquire about magic, "Are two words absolutely mandatory? My world history has been notoriously conflict filled, and two words are slower to say than one syllable words; this is a concern for me."

Whenever Karin is ready I'll continue learning.

It's got all kinds of vegetables. Some blue ones and some purple ones and even a few green ones. They all taste different, yet compliment each other beautifully.



OOC) You've got a food replicator in your room. The food is good, but it tastes slightly synthetic. Like it's made out of nylon or something.



Karin gets just a tiny bit miffed.

"You weren't paying attention the last time were you?"

And she waves her left hand around and CHANTS FOR SEVERAL SECONDS "Rocketh Skineth" before catching a small caliber bullet.

"I don't know anyone that knows how to do it faster than that."

(Doing Therapy)

I see.  Guess I'll have to experiment, or just meet more people. We'll leave it to later, mastery first, refinement second.

I close my eyes for a moment and exhale. I open them with renewed determination. "Ok. Sorry. That works."

I ponder a moment, "How long does Rocketh Skineth last? It should block one attack, but is there a time limit? Could we walk around with it activated? Also, what about the material? This should be earth element magic, could we make it rubber, sand, or metal? There should be a limit on what it can take, so I'm curious about changing the type to better counter what is incoming.  Is that up to me when I cast the spell, or is there something special that must be done?"

---

Edit to apologize.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:11, Tue 14 Nov 2017.

She accepts your apology.



GE12

"Like I did it just there, it'll last for about a half-hour. Then it starts to fade away. It doesn't actually change your skin. It just makes your skin as hard as a rock."

She does it again and lets you examine her hand. It feels like skin, but it's hard. She can still move though.

(Doing Therapy)

"Ahh, I see. It reminds me of this rune I have on my right arm, a 'Stoneskin' rune I received on one world."

I continue training, inquiring about changing shape and form of attack magic.

"Tornadoeth Attacketh creates a tornado of wind; when the spell is cast, is it modifiable? Could I make a massive tornado? Or maybe not a tornado at all, but a small slice of wind to attack? Would that be something like 'Gale Attacketh' or 'Galeth  Attacketh'?

Same thing with 'Atmosphereth Freezeth', shape and size is determined by me when I cast it? Could I make dry ice with it?"

---

Also, going through some of my old threads, it seems my character sheet is missing a few skills.  Would it be alright to submit a revised sheet after I go through all the worlds?  Example: Apparently in the world Avahur got his runes he received Resist Torture/Pain of 1@1. Might not show up again, but if it does, having the scattered stuff is probably relevant.

"Nice."

And shows you a tattoo she's got of an eight legged unicorn.



"You ask too many questions. What did I tell you last time? "Words mean whatever you want them to mean." I just add the eth on the end of everything so I don't accidentally say anything in normal speech."

And that's the only answer she will give you.



"Questions questions questions. Here's my answer. Experiment experiment experiment!!!!!"

You've almost pushed her to the point of calling in her favor and asking you to leave.



OOC) You are responsible for recording your skills and gear.

(Doing Therapy)

"Woah, hold up, wait, stop, hang on, wai- wait. What? Wai- what? What!? That's a thing!? How do you accidentally do it in normal speech? How do you generate your magic? To my knowledge, magic requires intent! Energy! You can't just accidentally cast a spell because you talk about it. That's my last question for the day. How do you actually cast magic - what's your source?"

After I get an answer, "I ask questions to understand. I'll be experimenting a bunch, but if I can ask someone more knowledgeable and experienced, I can save myself weeks of experiments."

---

Granted, I last played Avahur 10 years ago, but I don't think it was ever mentioned I was directly responsible for keeping track of all of it.

I'll do that now, obviously, and I'll send you an update with a master list just so we're on the same page.

"Ah ya know, waving my hands around talking. Maybe thinking a little bit how I'd like to tornado attack that jerk over there. Get caught in a rut and cast it accidentally. It happens to me sometimes."



"Okay then. That settles it. Here's what I want you do as payment. Mister Magehammer told me about you when you arrived. You versed into Slider's World. As far as I know, nobody lives there. Go and spend a year in there. Alone. From your point of view, Alice will drop in once a day to check on you. Practice your magic. Try different spells. It's preferred by most if you're going to practice new magic to go into one of those abandoned worlds and do it. So if you have a botch, you'll only kill yourself."



OOC) Well, you are now.



OOC) Looking forward to it.

(Doing Therapy)

"Sure, I'll set out first thing tomorrow, makes it easier to keep track of a year. Want to enjoy my last solid sleep until I can figure out how to magic up a bed.

Also, Slider's world still has animals in it. Or at least, there are currently animals in it. In case anyone is looking for pets to tame or experiment with.

Questions, comments, concerns."

I make sure to make that last point a statement, not a question, to not violate my earlier word of no more questions, but state it in such a manner that I'm amenable to discourse despite not asking.

If there is nothing else, I'll say goodbye for now and say temporary farewell to Magehammer on my way back to the tower, explaining I will no longer be showing up to his classes as I've got a year in Slider's world to practice and experiment with.

Once I return to my room, I undress myself, shower, settle in for the best rest I'll be getting in in the next year.

Next morning: Get up, stretch, exercise, shower, get dressed, grab all my gear and items and pack them up. Biometric device is kept on me (what's it look like, btw? Is it a smart watch?)

After everything is ready, I'll have the replicator make me some breakfast, nylon tasting waffles, hash browns, pancakes.  I'll drink plenty of water and then set off for Slider's world, where I entered this place.

---

Not really expecting all that to go smoothly, but if it does, huzzah.

"Can't bring anything back with you. Only scriff-infected can cross the border. Unless you put it in a bag."

And she shoos you out the door after that.



Magehammer asks "Do you want me to come and visit you sometimes?"



Smart watch. Sure.



So you step through into the abandoned world. You're in the downtown area where you versed in initially.

And excluding an occasional visit, you've now got the whole world to yourself.

WhaChaGonDo?

(Doing Therapy)

In response to Magehammer: "Karin says I have to spend it alone. I appreciate it, but I'll be fine. Feel free to stop by when the year is up to see if I'm still around though, or to see what my base looks like. Probably not wilderness survival level, but I'm playing with magic.  Assuming I don't botch and kill all the animals on the planet, it should be an interesting setup."

Once I'm back in Slider's world, I leave the city.

I head far enough away that, while I am still geographically close (and can see the city), I'm away from city proper and out into the surrounding areas.

What's the non-downtown / surroundings look like? I'm trying to find a large open space. If none exist, I'll be making one.

At this he ponders and says "Do me a favor. Pay attention to how many times Alice visits. How often she visits."

And that's all he will say on the matter.



So you head out on foot. It's a good two day hike to get out of the city. You find canned food to eat. It's all perfectly preserved and edible, but the labels are peeled off. So you're eating a lot of mystery meals.

Are you grabbing any other items to use here?

But you find an area that's a few square acres on the edge of the city right before it turns into woods proper. It's a huge overgrown meadow.

(Doing Therapy)

Once I get to the clearing, I start experimenting with magic.

Words don't matter? Eh... let's just speak what I want, apply magic. I know what I want, trust that magic can do it.  I have the aptitude, now to put it to practice.

I extend my arms and point at a somewhat distant point 20 feet from me and cast earth magic, "Create Trench", with the goal of creating a trench in a large 40x40 area.

If it doesn't work the first time, I keep trying. I have a goal, affix what I want to happen in my mind, and keep trying to cast it.

---

I was actually planning on using the soup jar thing I got from Magehammer that makes soup when water is added, to solve my food problems.  I can create water with magic.

You still didn't follow Karin's instructions. You're saying it once. Karin chanted the spells over and over for several seconds. Try again!!!!!!



But what are you going to do when you try again?



Actually you add water and put it on a fire. Water is Order, fire is Chaos.

OOC) Now, about that. Since you are putting that magic into practice mode, the kettle will produce one quart of soup per day. It will always be exactly the same. About once a week to ten days, it will botch and produce something different. It can produce more soup than that of course, but then I'd have to roll. So your botches can get a lot worse.

So, that's one meal a day handled. Where are the other two meals coming from?

Please note, I often use this unpopulated world as a training world. Teach yourself more than magic.

Also, Alice will show up about every 9-11 days at exactly 12 noon like clockwork. A grand total of 40 times in the year.

(Doing Therapy)
This message was last edited by the player at 06:49, Wed 15 Nov 2017.

Ugh. This isn't working. I recognize Karin's method works, and if I didn't have my personality or history with worlds, I fully concede that it is an excellent method by which magic can be cast.

However, I have seen other systems, and can, in fact, cast magic with one word, one invocation, to create an effect. I know this to be true, so I know it is possible.  Maybe by chanting, Karin is brute forcing magic to achieve the effect. There is no reason to repeat it that many times. Several seconds? Asking to be cut down on the battlefield.

My basic water spell, to create water, is simply 'Water' in Latin. It works with that, so it should work with all magic. Flamma is just... flame, or fire. Single word magic works, and though I don't know know Latin, I know English, and I know Greek. The words probably don't matter, but meaning and intent do. Water, Aqua, is the word associated with water, thus water is created. Flame, flamma, there's a word, it is associated with fire, and thus fire is born.

If I speak the words associated with the effect I want to achieve, magic should work to achieve that effect.  It might not work the first hundred times, but a thousand? Ten thousand? I've got a year, plenty of time.  I should also improve my control and connection to the elements.  Once, long ago, I learned to sense magic, if I combine that with putting words, thoughts, to action... even if magic doesn't exist in that form, I will create it, bend it to my will to achieve that which I desire.

"Create Trench."

I try to create a trench. Not large, just a small 5 foot by 5 foot pit. I will also try to sense magic, feel it around me, feel as I concentrate. Create Trench should be earth magic, so I try to sense earth magic, grab hold, and channel it, to create a trench, while shaping in my mind a picture of what effect the magic will produce.

---

May be relevant, but I'm hoping these three assist with this, in addition to my existing 2@3 skill with earth magic.

Sense Magic: 1@8
Theory of Magic: 1@2
Principles of Power Words and Incantations: 1@3

Avahur can create both water and fire to accommodate the soup, so he does so when necessary. I'll settle food later - I've got some time, but I'm most likely going to hunt some animals.

OOC) I hate to rain on your parade here, but you did ask Karin to teach you Her Version of magic. In Her Version of magic, you chant the words for several seconds. Sometimes longer. If that's what you want to do here then that's what you have to do here. You're not going to learn anything new doing it any other way. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is.

(Doing Therapy)

After a few hours of trying and failing, Avahur will do it Karin's way, slowly and with meaning as well as, as fast as he can speak the words, to see if there's a difference in result.

The goal: 5 ft deep, 10 ft wide trench.

---

Avahur the player recognizes that. That's fine. Avahur the character will have to learn that the hard way. Though we will come back to doing magic like this in the future as we believe magic is not that limited.

Edit: Also, I'm going through Avahur's threads checking for skill increases and new skills and such.   I am pleasantly surprised at everything I missed and didn't have recorded.  You'll get a pm later tonight, but Avahur's 2 weapon fighting is up to 4@0, and Endure pain is 3@0.
 I wasn't expecting that.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:32, Wed 15 Nov 2017.

You wave your hand and you chant. And you chant. And the ground slowly opens up. Five inches deep, ten inches wide. Then it widens. The longer you chant, the wider and deeper it gets.

After a minute or two, or are you keeping track? You've got the trench you want.

You also feel like maybe, just maybe, you should say something else to calm it down. It couldn't hurt.



OOC) That's good. We're clear now. Thanks. I was getting kinda worried. I wasn't sure if you understood exactly what she was doing.




OOC) That's impossible. There is no 4@0 rating for skills. The highest is 3@10. And @0 is a concept. Nothing that exists.

It's okay. I'm not really a stickler for the rules. (Are you?) My thinking is "Are you enjoying playing? Then we're doing it right."

(Doing Therapy)

"Ok, that's good. Stop there." If it keeps going despite no longer waving my hands or chanting, I'll start waving my hands and chanting 'Ok, that's good, stop there' over and over again.

This is going to take far longer than I expected, but PROGRESS! Karin's method seems to work well, though I'll never use it in the middle of combat at this rate. Sneak attacks though? Heck yea.

I should settle food. I wonder if 'Nuke em' would make it to destroyed to eat. Too messy? Or perhaps it all stays inside, like a magic steamer? So I get charred, but cooked meat on the inside, and I just need to open it up? Uhh.... we'll see, I guess.

I look at the trench.

"Yea, maybe I'm trying too much at once. Let's go for an outline first, get lunch settled, then deepen it."

I look at my smart watch ((I'm going to refer to the biometric device as a smart watch from now on, since it wasn't specified, and it's the closest modern technology equivalent.))

I'm checking my vitals and statistics after performing that magic. Based on how I feel, based on what it says, am I more tired now, akin to doing magic the other way I do magic? Am I not as tired as I would be if I channeled magic the other way?  Is the tiredness purely how I feel, but vitals are still strong as if it's not a thing? I'm trying to understand how Karin's method of magic affects me overall.


Once I understand my current status, I go back to chanting 'Create trench' again, but the new goal is 3 inches deep, and I will walk in a straight path sideways while I create it, stop, turn, check my vitals and stats, start up again, then keep walking 80 side steps and stop again. (Assuming here that 1 side step is 1/2 foot). Once I stop, I check my vitals and statistics again.

---

Honestly, I've never seen the rulebook for this game. I largely don't know what the rules even are. But the highest is 3@10? Uhh.. Ok.

I, like Avahur, am sometimes of the more Chaos inclined.  Rules schmools, but since I have to keep track of everything, I'm merely listing them as the various game referees have stated them.

You're not sure if it was necessary, or if it did anything at all. But it does help your peace of mind.



Looking at the watch, your vitals were all over the place. Within acceptable tolerances, but still all over the place. You felt like you were being drained during. Afterwards though, you came back to full health and your vitals stabilized.



So you're pushing it ahead of you as you walk?

It works. +1 Create Trench.

Again, vitals all over the place. Drained during, though not as much. And less recovery time.

(Doing Therapy)

I continue making my 40x40 ft outline, judged purely by sidesteps.

Eh, if I'm off by a bit, I'm off by a bit, I don't really care. I don't have specific needs on living arrangements, and I've never built a house or fort before.

Once my 40 by 40 ish area is mapped out, 3 inches deep, except for that one area where it's really deep, I practice my attack magic.

Ok, animals exist here. How do I want to go about getting food? Create trench obviously works, so pretty much anything should work if I chant enough. I'm most proficient with fire magic, should I go with nuke em? Nuke it? Maybe wind bullet? Would that make a sound from air resistance? Does magic even cause air resistance? Would there be a sonic  boom if my magic traveled fast enough? Huh.

I take my bag of gear and put it in my deep trench.

That should keep it safe from animals, or at least, safe enough. I doubt the trench is shallow or wide enough to allow for an animal to get in then get out with it.

Uhh, I whatever words I choose should be easy to chant. I wonder if I create a water bubble,
 would that drown whatever is caught  within? Would the bubble be able to stand up to being attacked? Not sure I want to find out without sufficient preparation.

I look around, "Forest is that way, so I'm going to need some high walls, and also avoid casting fire magic over there.  I like nature just enough to not want to burn it down. I don't need the bad karma I'd get from doing something like that.

Now, let's  head towards the city.  I wonder what's edible... should I try creating food with magic?  If I chant 'create edible, healthy, ceasar salad' over and over again, would it be created? Probably taste like garbage, but if it works... let's start simple. Create bread. Create edible bread. Create edible italian bread. Yea, let's do it."

I take my cape off and lay it on ground, using my small bag (the one normally on my back with the disassembled sniper rifle and ammo in it) to keep it held down, while I sit on the other end.

I extend my hand in front of me, hovering above the middle of the cloak, and start chanting over and over again, "Create edible italian bread." I do this while imagining a foot long portion of Italian bread as I might order from a sandwich place back on my starting home planet.

I have no idea if this is going to work. If it does, awesome. If it doesn't.. well, I'll have to go look for animals, but experimenting with magic is my goal for the next year.

OOC) It looks to me like this is the only part I really need to reply to. If you were hoping for something different, just say so. Don't be afraid to voice your opinions to me. I'm here to learn.

Your vitals go haywire. You feel a system-wide overload.

You pass out.

Whilst you are passed out, you see a vision. A brick, a lit match, a puddle of water and a ceiling fan. "We are the gods of the elements."

Then you wake up as a gentle rain falls on your face.

(Doing Therapy)

((Not clear - is the vision ongoing? Or just a brief flash - gods of the elements are paying attention, then I wake up?))

I look around curiously.

>> If I'm still mid vision and I see the various gods...

   I hurriedly bow, "It is an honor to meet you all."
   I will glance quickly at each acknowledging the forms they have taken, and wait to see if they say anything else.


>> If I'm not mid vision, I look around after I wake up and see if I created bread. If so, I eat while getting up and putting my cloak back on.  While holding  bread in one hand I eat it and consider my options.

> If I didn't create bread and I'm not in a vision, then I head towards the forest for shelter and possibly game.

---

Yea, not afraid to voice opinions, but I'm also sort of trying to create a story, so some superfluous actions and so one may occur to not only explain why I'm doing what I'm doing but also to serve as a reminder for myself.  That, and, should others be reading this, either now as we post in it, or later, having everything out in the open is far more interesting.

So sometimes there's a wall of text to support one line of action.

The vision is over before it begins. Did it last hours or only seconds? Who can say? It's like a barely remembered dream at this point.

But there's no bread.



You were going to the city to get food. Did you change your mind? Because right across the street is a large chain grocery store. The front windows are broken out, but there is a sign in the what's left of the window that says "Sale on canned food."



That's perfect for me. I like lots of description.

(Doing Therapy)

Halfway to the woods I stop, then head towards the trench where my bag is. I point at it and chant, "Air lift," over and over again to raise the bag up and out of the trench that (I assume) is filling with water.

"Yea, rain ruins that plan.  I know I'm making the outline to be a moat, but I was hoping for rain in a few days, not right now. Whatever, rain will soften the ground and hopefully make it easier to dig out."

Once the bag is out of the trench, I take it with me and head towards the forest.

I was going to go hunt in the city, but fire magic and rain create steam, or fog, and I know from experience that's a pain in the ass to deal with, unless it is your intent to create it. I need food, so wind magic in the forest, and if I knock down a few trees from wayward spells, well, I need wood for my base anyway...

Once I reach the forest, I'll set the bag down and observe my surroundings. As I observe my surroundings, I briefly reflect on my brief vision, and then make an open declaration to the world, and whomever may be listening.

"Gods of the elements, or at least Earth, Fire, Water, Wind; I've already had a visit from the gods of Order and Chaos, they offered me Chaos magic, but I find it too restricting. Elemental magic is my preference. If you are listening, know that I am much more interested in entering into a working relationship with you, than I am with them. My apologies to the gods of Chaos and Order, if you are listening.

I like elemental magic's versatility, and the scope! So much can be done, with proper knowledge and experimentation! Possibilities are endless, and it greatly suits my style, and skill set. So long as I don't have to give up my swordsmanship, I greatly look forward to working closer with you all.  That and I want to create elemental swords and imbue swords with magic, and that comes later. Just letting you know I am open and available."

It's not raining anymore. It was just a gentle misting. Or maybe it was water running off of a roof. Who can say?

Are you still doing the air lift?



Not really. Let's see what you got.



Still?



GE 10

You hear a voice. Or you have a feeling. "You tried to use four at once."

Then you are having another vision. A mound of dirt, a Zippo lighter, an ice cube and a rocket engine.

And then they ask you:

Blacksmithing?
Woodworking?
Stone Working?
Leather Working?

After you answer, the vision ends.

And you get the feeling that this is definitely NOT the time to ask any questions.

(Doing Therapy)

Yes, I still do the air lift. Need to practice this chanting style of magic.

I also still head to the woods.

"Blacksmithing." I reply, after the the choices are presented.

I want to make magic swords, or imbue swords with magic, or create swords out of magic. Blacksmithing is  the only choice.

I wonder if I'll pass out or have a vision again if I try to use different aspects of the same element?  Definitely need to try 4 at once again, just not so soon.

I picture an axe, wooden shaft, iron head, sharp; I try to create it.

Ok, wood should be earth magic, iron is metal, which should be a subdomain of earth. Connecticng it just requires proper form. Picture both sides, form a 3 dimensional image in my mind...

"Create axe."

---

Something like this: https://staticdelivery.nexusmo...271-1-1325932041.jpg (from The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim)

So you do. It takes a few tries, but you get the backpack off the ground.



Right before the vision ends, you "Hear" the Zippo lighter "say" FIREMAGE!!!!

Then it's over.



You close your eyes and you chant. And you chant. And you chant. When you finally give up and open your eyes, you are in a steel mill. There's all kinds of hand tools and equipment for blacksmithing. There's books on it and instructional videos, as well as a generator with a full tank of fuel.



Cool!!!!

Fire Mage, eh? Brings me back to my World of Warcraft days.

I look around.

Huh.

Welp, let's get learning.

I go through the books and start with the beginning. If it isn't clearly labeled, I'll read through the first couple of pages to see what seems like the 'blacksmithing for noobs' book. I'll also acquaint myself with the tools.  If the book describes the process for how to create something, I'll see if there is an instructional video that goes through it as well, and after reviewing it twice, I'll try to actually do it.  Rinse and repeat. Read all the books, watch all the videos, make all the items.

If given a choice, I focus on swords, long swords, great swords, daggers, all the swords.

The first book and DVD set you find is labeled "Axe Making For Dummies." You are just compelled to read and watch them both several times.



The first thing you try to make is your axe head. The one you envisioned. It's a promising start, but you're gonna need More Practice.

1@1 blacksmithing.



You are, for the most part, compelled to make axe heads. You can stop here and there and work on a sword, but 80% of your work is just a mad compulsion to make axe heads.

That is what you asked to create, after all.

Edit. Working around the red-hot forge makes it abundantly clear why the Zippo said "FIREMAGE".

(Doing Therapy)
This message was last edited by the player at 06:06, Thu 16 Nov 2017.

Oh weird.

I make all the axes, or at least, axe heads.

Once I am sufficiently comfortable making axe heads, where I can make three without having to refer back to the book or video, I stop.

I then look around to see if there is anything to use for a haft/shaft for the axe. If so, I start attaching to complete the axes. If not, I stop.

"Stop creating axes." I'll chant it a few times if necessary.

If I go back to the forest I'll assess my surroundings and if I have a variety of axe heads, then I'll cut down some branches with the axe head and see about making a shaft for the axe.

You mean a few weeks from now? This isn't something you can knock out in a day. Even a skilled blacksmith might take a week to make a really quality weapon. I wanted to get you into a rut where you were skipping ahead. This is that rut.

So, four weeks later, Alice has visited twice. When she sees you're blacksmithing, she asks if you'd like her to ask Mister Magehammer to visit.

As far as food, you're not too far from a grocery store filled with canned goods, plentiful hunting grounds and what's left of a few vegetable gardens, now growing wild vegetables.



After a few weeks, sure.



When your axe head touches the tree, you have a vision. A pile of gravel, a burning bush, a glass of water and a kite soaring on the breeze.

The pile of gravel "Says" EARTHMAGE!!!!!!!

When you wake up, the branch you cut is in your hands. You are in a woodworkers shoppe. Instructional videos, books, tools.

And the best part is, after exploring for a bit, you find the steel mill is only a block away.

(Doing Therapy)

I look around the shop, see if there is a source of food, rice for example.


I look through the books to see what I'm making, assuming axe shafts but hoping for bows too.

Learn all the things, eat soup for days. While here I look around for the other shops that I'll presumably work at. If I can see it, cool, if not, cool.

"While I'm an earth mage, can I create rice to eat?"

If I get the feeling that I can, I will go to the vegetable gardens and try to create rice. If not, I try to create broccoli.

Bread required all four elements, sure, but broccoli and rice are crops. They grow from the ground, this should be purely earth magic. Maybe some water, but it should be feasible.


I'll use the soup jar as a medium - even if the magic that powers it only works once a day, I use it mundanely as a container for making food. Adding in food, creating water and boiling it with fire.  With the woods nearby, I'll acquire firewood.

I keep making whatever it is I'm compelled to make, but if not bows, then I do try to add that in every now and then. Every few hours I'll get some food to eat. Rest when tired, but work otherwise.

You're still in the same neighborhood as the grocery store and the hunting grounds. Food isn't an issue.

But any grains would have been consumed by rodents long ago.



Same as before. You're mostly compelled to make axe shafts, but you can make bows.

Weeks go by. Alice shows up 3 more times. About every 9-11 days or so. Exactly at 12 noon when she does.



No stonecutter or leather worker. Sorry.



You chant "Create Rice"

And a small, new seedling begins to sprout in the garden. You get the impression you should stop and let nature take its course.



And wood for making things.

The branch that you cut off. You are just compelled it keep it. Not do anything with it.

Four weeks go by.

(Doing Therapy)

I let nature take its course and stop trying to magically make food, for now.

Well, 2 months, and I can do some blacksmithing, mostly making axe heads, and some wood working, mostly making axe shafts. Some swords and some bows. Let's put them together and see where this takes me. I wonder what I'll use the branch for.

I stop making shafts.  I try to connect all my axe heads with appropriate shafts, that I might have fully functional axes, by which I can attract all the ladies.

Oh dear, that's probably not my best joke.

I take note of Alice, but largely ignore her.

Once I have fully functional axes, I store some in my bag and proceed to chop down a tree.  I'll use the fallen  branches to make arrows for some of my bows.  I'll get some firewood made from the trunk, and also see about getting some longer pieces to serve as my eventual floor or roof.

Maybe I should make a log cabin? It'd be an interesting way to put these woodworking skills to use.

I'll look for rocks to see if I can fashion some arrowheads together.

I bet wind magic will make my bow and arrows far better and swifter. What will I chant for it? Arrow flight? Guided arrow? Precise flight? Wind missile? Wind arrow? Yea, let's do wind arrow, though a bit misleading. No, wait. Wind guide. Wind to guide my arrow to its destination. Yea, let's do wind guide instead.

---

Do I have some woodworking skill now? Or is this a subset of blacksmithing? 

You do. And it works. But something is missing. You can use the axes alright. But somehow they just don't feel right.



And that's fine. You can do that. However, you are now compelled to work in both the blacksmithing shoppe and the woodworking shoppe. You spend a few hours each day in each shoppe.

Whilst in the steel mill, you find a block of iron that would be just perfect to make an axe head with. You set it to the side with the branch.



You've got the skill for that. After a while, it occurs to you to make iron arrowheads.



1@1 wood working.

BTW, you've figured out by now that Blacksmithing is fire, woodworking is earth. Any thoughts on whether stone working or leather working are wind or water?

Another four weeks pass. Alice shows up a few times. All is Wonderful in Verser World.

Finally she tells you that Carly Rae finally versed out. She was one selected to be a Chaos mage and she versed herself out in a magic botch.

(Doing Therapy)

Ahh, she had that coming. Good for her, maybe she'll speak normally when we meet next. Well, speak normally all the time.

I continue to ignore Alice, only nodding once when she informs me about Carly Rae.

I try to make make iron arrowheads.

Hmm, I guess working with stone didn't trigger a stoneworking workshop.  Wonder what will spark that. Maybe when I try to build a house? Or walls?  Definitely walls.

While in the steel mill, I look at the assembled books. I try to find any on sword making. If none exist, I start to chant, "Create sword," and see if books on the topic show up.

If they do, cool, if not, I affix some iron arrowheads to arrow shafts.

After one week I will try hunting deer, elk, or similar style animals.

Leatherworking would be really nice for sword hilts, and even for axes, to keep a better grip. I could also use them to create sheathes. Possibilities.

When I find one, I will quietly whisper chant 'Wind slice', aiming at its head.

Once I get some tendons or other stretchy animal product, I can make some string for my bows.

---

Stoneworking is wind - given time wind turns pretty much everything to dust, wind is also the opposite of earth, which makes it a key choice for stoneworking.  Water is many things, not least of which is life, but also the absence of it. Leather working is definitely water, not only because it is all that is left of the four, but because water nurtures and removes life, and leatherworking functions along the same principles.

Maybe!!!!!!



Don't get me wrong. There's books in here on everything. The gods seem to be relenting a little with the axe making. You're still compelled to make them, but not as much. You make a few swords and knives.

Likewise with the axe handles. You make a few bows and even a few simple pieces of furniture.



If it works, you can't really tell.

One thing you do notice is that fire and earth magic have become much easier. Not as much chanting required.



Another four weeks pass. Alice tells you that Karin inquired about you. She wants to know what you're up to in here. She asked specifically if you were making your totem.



OOC) Very good ideas. But don't forget, these came from me. You've gotten it backwards from my thinking. Have you ever been in a crystal cavern? All formed by water. And when I thought of leather working, the first thing that came to mind was a bull whip. Wind.

OOC) I'd like to get to a point where we can skip to almost the end of the year. You up for that?

(Doing Therapy)

I quirk an eyebrow and tilt my head at Alice when she tells me Karin asks about a totem. "Totem? What totem? Why would I have a totem?"

I try to build the base I have in my mind, complete with home, outdoor cooking area, bed, stone walls, moat, bridge, gate, stables, catapult. I try to build everything that comes to mind, absorbing as much knowledge as I can from the work shops that have popped up.

I ask the god of fire if I can focus on swords instead.

I make a lot of things.

One day, I'll venture into the city and cast Nuke em, "Nuke it", chanting as much as necessary on a few animals to see what happens, though I only target the stray ones.

---

No? Yes? I wanted to see if I'd trigger leatherworking after killing a deer/elk thing, and trying to make a rug. I also haven't finished constructing the base, but assuming that I'll trigger both stoneworking and leatherworking in our time skip, and reach 1@1 in both, then sure. I also want the fort to be set up.

40x40 with stone walls, a moat, bridge, gate. Could build the bridge and gate with newly acquired wood working, but also just general, I have a sense of what I want to accomplish and try to get it done. Moat filled with water, create a log cabin. I was hoping to "create stone" and build a wall that way, after creating a smaller trench to keep it steady, and then maybe somehow creating cement. Or at least, creating a way for the wall to remain steady - maybe it'd show up in the stone working tutorial books. I was hoping to try a few different renditions of 'air wall' to see if  I could get a circular gust of air serving as a roof, keeping away rain, poop, and whatever else might drop from the sky.

Creating a kitchen, trying to create a comfortable bed with magic.. so many things to try out.

If we assume I go through all of that, I have no problem time skipping to when a year is up.

Alice will go back and tell Karin, no, no totem.



You can't do it. You just can't. You're not sure why.



And you get a feeling back "You asked to create an axe."



So, two weeks away from the end of the year.

2@1 blacksmithing
2@1 woodworking.

No leatherworking or stone working.

You take the special block of iron that you were saving. And you work on it. You work on it with care and precision. For three days you solely work on this one axe head. After a while the iron begins to take on a bluish cast.

Then you feel compelled to take the branch you were saving and make it into the handle. You again spend days on it. The wood becomes harder and stronger. It also takes on a bluish tinge.

And with the completely axe in hand, you go to the field where you intended to make your fort. You close you eyes and wave the axe. And speak only once the magic words you intend to say.

Then you pass out. No visions. Your smart watch just shows extreme fluctuations, then a nap.

When you wake up, your fort is built from baked into stone clay and adobe. It is exactly as you envisioned it.

The axe makes earth and fire magic much easier. Only one chant.

(Doing Therapy)
This message was last edited by the player at 09:14, Thu 16 Nov 2017.

I examine my special axe. "So, is this my totem? I only wanted to create an axe so that I could chop down some trees. I wonder... do I need to be holding it or touching it to take effect? Do I just need to have it on me?"

I head out of the base and towards the city. Once 100ft away from the base I try to create a small pit. "Create pit." I will try it a few different ways, seeing if I can cast the magic chanting once if I'm not holding it at all, but it is in my bag, if I'm just touching it with my hand, if it is touching me, but only my clothes, and if it is nearby, but not touching me.

I try to find the limits of the improvement in chanting speed and efficiency.

If I see an animal from the city, I give it a taste of... alcohol.  Sort of.

Alcohol basically gives you the feeling of fire in your belly.  So that's make that literal.

If I see an animal, like a cow, or deer, or something that is normally considered edible and not weird, I point at it (while holding or touching the axe as appropriate) and chant "Fire belly."

A literal fire in the belly.

Your hand needs to be in contact with it. Whether because you are holding it or because it's in a toolbelt and you've got your hand down on it. The absolute best way though to dig the pit is swing the axe down in a chopping motion. The ground kind of explodes into a hole. Like there was a firecracker underneath it.



If you are holding the axe, you only have to say it once instead of several seconds. This only works for earth and fire magic. You can still do the others. You can do them whilst holding the axe even. But they get no bonus. Several seconds chanting for wind and water magic.



OOC) The GE roll was 18. The actual roll was 6-6-6.

So you point your axe and you say "Fire Belly!!!!" You find saying it loudly and forcefully adds a little something something to it. Ideally, axe in hand, loud, forceful speaking, chopping motion with axe directed at target. This gives you Best Results.

The cow looks at you funny and starts to wander away. As you watch though, a four foot jet of flame shoots forth from her south end and smoke starts pouring from her mouth and nostrils. She immediately runs away and drops down into a puddle. She's still alive, as far as you can tell.

1@1 Base damaging internal fireball.

(Doing Therapy)

I walk over to the cow, "My apologies, you have done no wrong, but have encountered such a fate. Though I cannot save you, I can assure you your products will go on and be useful for hundreds of years. Rest in peace, cow."

I draw my sword and send it on to wherever cows go, a pasture in the sky, presumably.

"I need to fasten a proper holster for my axe and, also leather grips, to hold it better and to also assure the grip of other weapons I make. Water and Fire working as one. I can also use parts for my bow. To honor this cow, I will make holsters, to be able to keep the axe at my waist, but also on my legs or at my back. I will make all sorts of holsters, well, it's more of a sheath, I guess. I consider holsters a universal term, but others may not see it that way. So I will make all sorts of sheaths that these products may accompany me to all worlds I travel to in the future."

I grab the cow and, experimentally, chant "Create sheath." I see if anything happens.  If something does, I get to it. If nothing happens, I carry the cow back to the base.

---

One of the things I want to include in the experimentation is if any part of my body, such as my legs, touch it, do I still get the effect - even if it is not the best effect. Whether it is definitely my hand, or just my skin that it needs to touch.

Here, you can make a holster for it. However, you cannot wrap leather around it. It just won't let you. It's like trying to pick up Mjolnir. You're Not Worthy!!!!!!!

The last time Alice visited, she said Karin was going to show up at the one year mark. You've got seven days before that. We can skip to it at any time.



You can try to teach yourself leatherworking if you want to. But you're not compelled to. There's no transportation to a shoppe, no instant knowledge, nothing. You're on your own.



From now on, how are you applying what kind of magic? What are you doing when you do it? Define your spells and the expected results.



Your hand has to encircle the handle. Period.

(Doing Therapy)

Huh, that didn't work. Guess half-assed chanting without a real goal in mind doesn't do the job? Too bad, would make things spicy in conversation.

I look at my axe magic enhancing, enabling device.

Axes really aren't my thing.  This is going to get inconvenient to use magic with. It's so large, not conducive to small spaces at all. I guess I'll hold it in my left hand and adapt my 2 weapon fighting style to suit it. Normally used to swords, but I guess I can make an exception for a magic enhancer.  Still need to create a sheath for it though. Let's go for a back sheath, so I can grip and draw both weapons simultaneously without them getting in the way of each other.

I bring the cow back and get my hunting knife from my bag.

Ahh, knew this would come in handy at some point.  When I get back to the city I'll see if I can find a leatherworker. I should at least learn the basics in case the gods pop up again and yell, WATERMAGE, and poof, leatherworking shop. Plus learning the basics will help with my blacksmithing.  Uhh, can't bring non-scriff infected stuff in, so I guess it all goes in the bag? Not going to fit in there, unless I fold it up. Well. This isn't a one day task, let's make a freezer.

In a corner of my base, where my outdoor cooking area is, I first create a trench, 3 feet deep, 5 feet wide, 7 feet long. "Create Trench." I'll grab and point my axe at the area while I say the words.

Once my trench is created, I'll shoot fire to 'bake' the sides and inside, and kill whatever might be lingering within. Purifying fire. "Purify Trench."

While the trench is cooling down, half a foot around the trench, I'll create another trench 'outlining' the center trench. This outer trench will also be 3 feet deep. "Create Trench."

Once the outer trench is created, while still waiting for the inner trench to cool, I start chanting over and over again, "Create Ice." The goal is to fill the outer trench with ice.

Once the outer trench is filled with ice, I'll point at one part of it with the axe and move it over the rest of it as I chant, "Create Tomb." I imagine sealing the ice in firmly packed dirt.

After about 10 minutes I'll point at the inner trench that has been baked with purifying fire and is now hopefully much cooler after having time to cool down, along with the residual coolness from the outer layer of ice.

I imagine the inner trench's walls slowly coating over in ice, sealing the walls between two layers of ice. The bottom of the trench will also, in my mind, coat over in 6 inches of ice. I start chanting, "Ice Seal." I keep chanting, slowly, over and over.

Hopefully everything eventually goes as planned, and if it doesn't then I'll keep chanting and trying to get it done.

If it does go as planned, then I will put the cow in the newly made freezer. I will then cover it with wood.

Karin will show up whenever you want her to. She will be able to explain quite a bit of this so long as you don't question her too badly. She's still your teacher.

Look at it like this though. Isn't a true warrior one who can use any weapon? Even a magical axe that's "Not his thing"? Expand. Adapt. Overcome!!!

BTW, what size is it? I'm imagining a smaller, one handed hatchet. It can be whatever size you want, within reason.



You do all of your magic. And you feel whipped!!! You feel like you just called Mike Tyson a sissy.

You volunteer yourself for sleep. It feels like a bit longer than normal.



So you do that. Are you planning a barbecue when Karin shows up?

(Doing Therapy)

Now that I have a freezer made, and the cow is safely stored, that's going to be a nice dinner.  When I get back to the city... verser world.. whatever they call it. I'll find a leatherworker, see if I can get them to come back here with me where the materials are, maybe teach me out here as well? Who knows, but first is getting a leatherworker out here. Maybe Karin or Magehammer know one.

I spend the last few days of my year out here trying to get a 'Wind Walk' spell to work as I want it.

I'll chant "Wind Walk" over and over again, forming what I want to work in my mind, with a 10 minute duration - though able to be cast over and over to extend the duration, so long as I have the stamina to support it.

---

Maybe? But why would I want to be a 'true warrior'? True warriors don't use magic.  At worst, I'm a magic swordsman, at best, a war mage. In either case, I use swords and magic.
 Teleportation too if I can learn to do it more reliably. Axes aren't my thing.

Also, I was picturing something larger, as that was the initial concept when I said 'Create Axe', but if it's whatever size I want, within reason, then something small, definitely.
Not as intricate as this, but same general idea:
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/ef/e...fe-art-chop-chop.jpg


Also, wind walk, surrounded by air/wind and able to move quickly through the air, akin to flying.  Here's an example, sorry I can't find a short clip. The first 20 seconds demonstrates it: https://youtu.be/v1bERPw9c40?t=1m57s

You work on that and you get it to work well enough.

On the last day, Alice, Karin and Magehammer all come into Slider's World together. Karin immediately wants to see your totem. When you show it to her, she beams and says proudly "Wow, an axe? And two enchantments already??? You got really lucky. Usually you only get one enchantment for your totem. And your first totem sucks. When they asked me blacksmithing, woodworking, stone working or leather working, I said "pottery". And they said "WINDMAGE!!" I woke up outside a pottery class with a gold coin in my pocket that wasn't there before. You know what my first totem was? A BRICK!!!!! Yeah, a wind mage, and my totem is a BRICK!!!! I still have it. I can throw it and hit somebody 100 miles away. Then the brick comes back to me. But yeah, you're stuck with this totem until they deem it is complete. But you did. You got really lucky with that."

She follow it saying "When they deem your totem complete, you'll have a bit more say over your next one." Then she rolls up her sleeves. She's wearing bracelets with iron, wood, and stone beads on leather straps. "My totems now."



OOC) Who says true warriors don't use magic? How do you know you've not been selected to be an elemental warrior? It's better than a brick, right?



OOC) This is more what I was thinking too.

The Magehammer says "Did you enjoy your forty years in here? Thanks to you, we finally got this one time-charted. 40 to 1 ratio. Outside, it's been forty years."

(Doing Therapy)

"Oh, coolio. That's actually super nifty. But how would you keep track of time? I could understand if I showed up after a year and you were saying, 'It's been 40 years, why wait?', but how do you judge it otherwise?  I don't talk to Alice when she showed up, I barely pay attention to her. Literally none of my actions have suggested such a specific disparity other than me not showing up after a year.

...

Obviously, Alice would notice the time difference if she paid even the slight bit of attention.

Yea, nevermind.

That said, Karin, how's your leather working? I want to make a suitable sheathe to keep it on me. I've got a cow in my freezer. Well, I've had a cow in my freezer for the better part of a year, I guess?  I got it earlier this week. Welcome to my base. Making this thing was interesting. Passed out, woke up it was here. Granted, I was trying to make it when I passed out.

We could roast up some beef while you work. I'd like to learn it, as well. Is there anything behind what triggers it? Do I have to wait until my totem is 'complete' before the other two trigger? "
This message was last edited by the player at 01:31, Fri 17 Nov 2017.

Magehammer says "Every time she showed up, it represented a year outside. She came in here a total of 40 times during your year. So, 40 years."



Karin doesn't know how to work leather. Magehammer does but he's training a new Order mage at the moment. He's not even giving his survival class right now.



Magehammer volunteers to cook, unless you object. He teleport hops around until he finds a wood-burning grill.



Karin looks miffed. "A year alone, and you forget already what I said about questions......."

But then after taking a deep breath she says "It'll be complete when it's complete. You won't expect it. So stop expecting it."

She examines your axe and says "Ah ha!!!!" and she shows you a small circle in the butt end of the handle that you never even noticed you made. "This looks like just about the right size for a gemstone of some sort. Yeah, you got a ways to go before it completes."

(Doing Therapy)

"Yea, I was trying to limit the questions, but it's been 40 years, surely that's long enough to field some questions, yea?

So, Magehammer, how long is a year in verser world? I habitually refer to a year by home earth standards, but it differs everywhere.

Also, by all means, the cow is over here. You'll probably find the stomach... cows have two stomachs, right? So you'll probably find at least one stomach already scorched and the rest singed a little."

I show them to the freezer I made.

"I figure I'll pack up the skin afterwards and bring it back and see if I can get someone to make me a sheath for my axe.  On the upside, I did learn Blacksmithing and Wood working while I was out here. That was an unexpected bonus."

Karin says "Okay, one more. Better make it count."



Magehammer says "We announce a new year about every 400 days or so. You just missed the New Years festival."



He doesn't ask how you did it. But yeah, he helps you skin it and teaches you enough leatherworking that you could tan the cow hide now.

1@1 leatherworking.



Impressed they are.



Karin tells you that you might not make the last two pieces of your totem yourself. The only one of the skills she knows is pottery. Somebody else made the other three for her.

Magehammer asks if you know how to fight with the axe. He tells you "If not, you wanna talk to Samantha. She versed out as an eight year old girl. She's determined to learn every fighting style anyone will teach her. I just made her a Chaos axe. Maybe you two could train each other."

(Doing Therapy)

"Oh?  I've been looking for a sparring partner. Can't let my skills get rusty.  Should make a pair of training weapons though..." I mutter a few possibilities. "Anyone know a verser that makes foam weapons? When I was learning swordsmanship before my first verse we started with foam weapons, before upgrading to wooden, and then iron swords. It's not bad for learning a new weapon or style."



"I'm very curious about that, but that is more than one question could cover."

Once the cow is skinned I'll "air lift" my bag over and roll the skin up before putting it in the bag.

"Looks like I've got quite a few things to look into when I get back."

Will eat food Magehammer cooks and head back as a group.

Magehammer laughs at you and says "Foam weapons? What a wimp!!!! Dude, you are a VERSER. Do you hear me a Ver-Ser!!!! If you get killed, it doesn't matter. If you get injured, heal yourself. Foam weapons indeed!!!! Samantha fights with live steel. Don't let her appearance as an eight year old girl fool you. I bet she could beat me if she got her wind up."



Karin "You'll know when it's time. It'll be when you least expect it. So stop trying to make it happen. The more you try to make it happen, the longer it will take."



So you do.



So you have some steak. You suddenly remember the rice plant you started. It's full and in bloom. The rice is good.

As you're about to leave, Alice says "As long as you're in here for less than 24 hours, it's like you never left at all on the other side."

So you step through. You're back in Verser World.

(Doing Therapy)

"Magehammer, we've been over this. I don't know healing magic. I have no way to heal myself multiple times. Wimp? Please. I don't want to verse out yet - I've got a few immediate goals to achieve, and versing while sparring isn't on the list. If I versed while learning magic, that's one thing, but I've got excess gear to get rid of.

Also, I don't only spar with other versers.

Also, what does looking like an eight year old matter? If they attack you, you kill them. Age never matters, especially when dealing with other versers."

Once back in verser world I wander around looking for a leather worker, an armor smith, and someone selling spatial technology, or space magic lessons.

Carrying around a bag sucks. It'd be nice to just open up a dimensional pocket and store all my gear in there, like Inventory in video games. Or a bag or ring of holding. Something to make carrying gear around easier and less conspicuous.

He starts chanting "WIMP WIMP WIMP WIMP!!!!" It's all in good fun though. You can tell he doesn't mean anything by it.

But then he teleports over to his shoppe and tells you to join him.

When you join him, he hands you a katana sword and sheath.

"All yours. Don't worry about it. It's a Chaos weapon. Have fun with it!!!!"

Then he starts laughing as he goes back inside. The sword is one of his high-end swords. It's not the junk he tried to peddle to you earlier.



I'm glad you feel that way, because as you're walking around, you see Samantha. It's the same little girl you saw buying a katana from Magehammer when you first arrived. She's eight years old. She's in the middle of six other people. She's got a blacksmithing hammer in one hand an a hatchet in the other. As you watch, in a fury of weapons and feet, she quickly dispatches all six of the attackers. When it's over, they all stand up and bow to her.



For the first two, you're referred to Magehammer.

For the last two, you are referred to Edison Carter. The guy you delivered the package to. He's a Chaos mage.



You want a hypercube. Those are rare even for versers. But you've met two who have them.

(Doing Therapy)

Oh, so that's Samantha. Maybe when I'm done with everything I'll spar with her, if she's still around. Or if I'm still around. Who knows.

After gathering all my information, I head back to Magehammer's.

"Magehammer, thank you for the sword. Does it have any special features aside from it being a sword? Also, I really need to offload some of extraneous armor. Would you buy it? Or could I use some of it as payment for using your forge while I smelt the rest of it down into metal that I might or might not use for future smithing?

I need to offload this gear - it occurs to me that I also know blacksmithing and could probably smelt some of it down, but some of it is high tech armor.  Even if you don't want it, you are far more famous than I; would it be possible to sell it on consignment at your shop?"

---

Not sure how many posts necessary to negotiate with Magehammer, but will head to tower and sleep afterwards if this is resolved in one post, otherwise will respond and act as appropriate.

Just from asking around, you hear that Samantha was abused by her father before she versed out. She has since dedicated herself completely to the art of self-defense. She knows any weaponless martial arts style you can think of at a minimum of 1@5 skill and she owns any hand-to-hand weapon you can imagine, again with minimum 1@5 skill. She prefers blades.



"It's a Chaos weapon kid. Create heat, create light, healing. And that's a low-end sword. This is a high end sword. It creates Chaos okay?"

And starts laughing at the last.



"Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Sell it on consignment. I get 20 percent. Guarantee you it will all be gone by week's end."

He seems very confident in his ability to sell it.



Well, what do you think?

(Doing Therapy)

"Sounds good. I wonder if my room is still my room at the tower. Probably, right? It just keeps expanding..."

I hand over the various bits of armor which includes:
Trojan Armor
Trojan Uniform

SWAT-like Armor

Uniform from Academy

Ninja Gear
Stealth Gear
Stealth suit and cloak

After handing over all the gear, I head to the tower and quickly inquire if my previous room is still my room. If so, I head there. If not, I get a new room and there instead.

I then get to sleep figuring I'll ask Magehammer in a week or so if he can make a sheath for my axe totem.

"Oh yeah, I know it's there. When Karin told me what you were doing, I went in in my official capacity as Councilman and told them to hold it for you. It should be just as you left it. Normally they'd put your stuff in storage."



He looks it over and says "Oh yeah. I can sell this easy. No problems."



OOC) So, with everything you know now, are you happy with your axe totem? You could have gotten a brick like Karin got. When you complete this one, you'll get the chance to make another.

IC) Then you wake up rested and well.

(Doing Therapy)

When I get up in the morning, I stretch, exercise, shower, get ready and make a trip back towards Edison Carter.

I'll chant 'Wind Walk' repeatedly to activate it and see how far and how fast I can get there. I'll stop to rest when I get tired, or when my vitals start dipping well below normal; I'll keep a close eye on my smart watch while I magically travel there.

When I arrive, I'll first greet him, as it has been a while, then inquire about space storage, either as a technological device, via space magic, or both.

---

In 2 separate light novels I read the main character's first crafted item is a brick. Both bricks are super boss status items. One has a chance on hit to send the target flying backwards, the other has a 100% chance to knockout for 1 min when hit in the head, among other effects.  A third MC from another novel uses a brick at one point for  his weapon too.

Bricks are not that bad as far as weapons go.  I'd rather have an axe than a brick, yea, and a sword trumps both... as far as weapons go.  For totems? I'd rather gloves, probably. Something I can wear directly, that also won't impede my other abilities and skills.

Your vitals all go into hyperdrive. You're probably running 50-60 MPH. Instead of 16 hours, it only takes you about 2 hours to get there. That is, assuming you run the whole way with no stopping.

When you get there, you just need to sit down on a public park bench and relax for a few. Then you walk up to Carter's house.



When you get there, he greets you rather warmly and asks "Oh yeah. You're that delivery boy aren't you? That mimetic gel you delivered worked great."

To the rest he says "Sounds like you want a four-dimensional, infinite storage hypercube. Opens a portal to another universe. And you can make that universe as large or as small as you need it to be. Unfortunately, the lightest one I've ever been able to build weighs several metric tonnes. Hey let me know when you build one smaller. Seriously, let me know. We'll trade notes. I've heard tell of others, but these are the ones I've got."




Karin said she could throws hers and hit a target 100 miles away.



Work with what you've got.

(Doing Therapy)

Two Posts

OOC) Just because I want to say this whilst it's in my head.

After a week, you go to see Magehammer about your gear. He tells you "I got 100 ounces for all of it. I know a guy that collects Trojan armor, and another guy that collects police uniforms, and stealth tech is always easy to pawn off."

And he presents you with eight small cloth bags. Each contain 10 one ounce coins of the following metals:

Gold
Silver
Platinum
Copper
Nickel
Lead
Stainless steel
Aluminum.

"These represent the eight most common currency metals I've personally found in the Multiverse. I got you 10 ounces of each. You shouldn't be hurting for money for a while. You can take this, or you can risk it all for what's behind door number 2."

And presents you with a wooden cabinet the size of a closet.

(Doing Therapy)
This message was last edited by the player at 09:07, Fri 17 Nov 2017.

"A portal to another universe. That seems... excessive. I suppose if you're carrying a planet's worth of equipment.. or an actual planet, with you, it's not so bad. Still, I was thinking something on the level of a small dimensional plane, a couple hundred cubic meters at most.

Oh, while I'm thinking of it, if you weren't aware, Slider's world has a time ratio of 40:1. That is, 40 years outside is one year inside; my last year was spent there.

Just stopped in to inquire about it, but I'll let you know if I figure out a way to make a smaller dimensional pocket."

Well, that's not happening any time soon. Just a mild fantasy anyway, excess gear is already taken care of.  Just need to find a leather worker out here to make a sheathe. Should kill some time while waiting for Magehammer to sell that gear.

I don't spend much time out this way, so may as well focus on teleportation.  Once that's in better shape I'll probably find some sparring partners.

I spend the next few hours trying to locate a leather worker this far out.

---

I'll be going with option 1, when I get there.

Carter laughs and says "Lemme show ya what I'm talking about here."

And he leads you into his house. To a back room. Inside, you see a massive vault door, 10 feet by 10 feet. He presses some buttons on a console and the door creaks open. It must be four inches thick. Inside it is completely white.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeLrqLP1DJk Like 20 seconds into this video.

There are some boxes stacked up on the floor. He invites you to step inside. The walls open up from the 10 foot door to a room 100x100 feet. Carter waves his hands around and the back walls expand. 200 feet, 300 feet, out as far as you can imagine.

"This, my friend, is an alternate universe. It's blank. There's nothing. But you can put anything you want into a nearly infinite space. You need all the armor plating to contain the sub atomic nuclei......" and goes off on an incomprehensibly complex technobabble about it all.



He invites you to stay with him for a day or two if you'd like. He's a mad scientist type. He likes showing off his inventions.



Carter offers to spar with you, but only if you use the Chaos katana, saying "I'm not terribly good, but I've been dying to find out whose Chaos weapon is better. Mine or Mister Hammer's."

And he pulls out a light saber. The blade is pure white. He tells you:

"I'm focusing Chaos energy through crystals. Pretty cool huh?"

If you choose to stay with him for a day or two, he can help you find a leather worker.

(Doing Therapy)

"Coolio. Blank universe. I wonder if you combined this with elemental magic - they are fundamentally the building blocks of the universe, could you artificially create a universe with life if you add in elemental magic?"

I put plans on hold and decide to stay with Carter for a bit. Tech stuff is cool stuff.

"I'm actually not sure about all the functions  of the chaos katana, Magehammer was pretty vague - I figure I'll find out eventually.  I'm still waiting for the war to happen here.  See, every world I go to, or at least, 90% of them, a war or major conflict happens while I'm there. The other 10% are desolate worlds. This isn't a desolate world, so I'm expecting war at some point in the future. Magehammer thinks that's silly.

So, game on, I'm good for sparring a bit. Is it just between our weapons, or are we including supplementary and support magic?"

"Heh, wouldn't surprise me. Anyways, we better get back outta here. It ain't wise to leave the door open for too long. The gravimetric isotopic field........" More incomprehensible technobabble.



"I'm a Chaos mage. I can show you some of it."

And with your permission, he takes the Chaos katana from you, and holding it left-handed, begins to wave it around. The blade begins to glow like a neon lightbulb.

"That's what inspired me to make a light saber hehehe."



At this he ponders a bit and says "You ever heard the theory of the Nine Missed Meals? It states in brief that a societal structure is only nine missed meals away from complete anarchic collapse."

So he thinks it's possible.



"Heh, just weapons, if you don't mind. It's funny ya know? Before the chess pieces selected me, I coulda blown a city off the map. Sure. Nukes ain't that difficult to build, after all. Now I could do it with a wave of my hand. Hard to comprehend, really."

But he takes a standard fencing pose, activates his saber and says "En Guard!!!"

(Doing Therapy)

"Yea, funny how a visit from the gods does that. Chaos and Order were the most chatty, which was a welcome change. Ares was condescending and a pain in the rump, Thanatos was annoying, the elemental gods are interesting."

As I speak I put the katana back in its sheath and put it back on my waist. My right hand hovers over the hilt, lightly touching it, while my left hand holds the sheath and positions it favorably, I take a step back and slightly crouch, rotating my body slightly, ready to draw.

"Ready."

Draw second, attack first.

Not going for the kill, but definitely aiming for the weapon. Mostly trying to see quality, and to see if any cool features pop out while fighting.

---

Not sure how well versed you are on battoujutsu as a sword style. Though the concept is the same, every style has their variations, and Avahur has altered his slightly over time, as he learns more and fights his way through battlefields.

Here is it in action, sword draw into target: https://youtu.be/1OxI_l9QJ7k?t=3m0s (it's 12 seconds long. Whole video isn't bad, but quality isn't the best and the first 3 minutes are meh overall.

This is a pretty good demo for a battoujutsu sword style: https://youtu.be/tDfSrop26Vs?t=15s (It's about 2.5 minutes long, but a good overall representation.)

Avahur's own style is aggressive, and largely isn't pretty. Most of the flourishes and fancy moves were removed in favor of efficiency. That is, only when referring to single sword.

Avahur's 2 sword style is more defensive oriented, less attacks, but when they happen, they are lethal.

Let me set the stage here. You were in a room with the hypercube. You've since moved into a gymnasium. There's a door 30 feet away that is open to the outside.

Carter says "No blood drawing; fight until one of us passes out."

So he attacks you. You block. You attack, he blocks. Etc. It's a sword fight.

But every time the two blades connect, you feel a strong electrical charge run through your body. Carter's face seems to grow pale during these times.

After a particularly long period of blade contact, Carter just straight passes out.

And you, feeling the electrical equivalent of the need to toss your cookies, runs out the door, raises the katana skyward and fire a lightning bolt harmlessly into the air.

Then you pass out.

(Doing Therapy)

When I wake up...

Shot out lightning.  Yea, that's super cool.  I wonder if it's only because of the build up from clashing weapons or if it can do that all the time?


If I get a chance, or if Carter is not up yet, I'll quickly head outside and see if I slash the sword, if lightning shoots out.  If it does, awesome, if not, well, at least I tried.

I'll head back inside and try to wake Carter up.  Once he wakes up, I will offer to teach him swordsmanship.

"It may never come up, but if it does, it's generally good to have."

I'll check my biometric device to see what it says, see if I can check 'history' and also to see if I can find out how much time passed.

You are outside. But you wave the sword and shoot yet another bolt of lightning into the air.

Then you feel compelled to wave the sword in a circle. A tornado builds inside which you shoot harmlessly into space.

A bit more waving and you throw a fireball. This gets your fascination up and you focus more power until you're shooting a flamethrower into the sky.

Then you pass out again.

When you wake up, Carter is outside cooking burgers and bratwurst on a gas grille.

He offers you a burger, declines your offer to teach him swordsmanship saying "Eh, it's just a novelty to me."



It records history for an hour. Unfortunately, you were passed out for longer for that and the history has gone.

Carter just says "Eat your burger."

(Doing Therapy)

Oh, yea, Chaos, wind and fire. Seems to take a lot of energy for one invocation though. Good to know, really need to use sparingly.

I eat the burger.

Over the next couple of days I marvel at Carter's various inventions and also inquire about a leather worker, if he knows any in the area.

After lunch, Carter takes you into the back and he shows you an ordinary looking briefcase. He holds it up by the handle and touches a control console on the side. It morphs into a laser cannon. Then he touches the console again and it morphs into a rocket launcher. Does it a third time and the case morphs into a minigun.

"Now this is MY weapon of choice!!!!" He says with pride.

Then he shows you a handheld printer. "These are awesome if you're on a world that uses paper money. Just scan a bill and this baby will print all the bills you want. And good luck telling them apart from the original."

He's got a few inventions he's working on that combine Chaos magic and technology. Mostly using Chaos to power them.

But Carter points you towards a leather worker. His name is Mister Leather.

(Doing Therapy)

In response to the inventions, in order: "Wow. That's an interesting set of weapons." "That is super nifty, any chance you'd trade for it, or be willing to build one for me?" "Hooh... interesting...."

Upon meeting Mister Leather, I ask if he could make a small sheath for my axe, which I  then show him, preferably one that can be hung on my back over my left shoulder blade, so the handle is in easy reach of my left hand.  I have cow skin which I would prefer be used for it (at which point I'll hand it over, if/when he asks to see it.)

"It's gotten me out of a jam or two.



Carter says "I've got an extra. You willing to run some errands for me?"

He's just got a few deliveries he needs to make. Other people buying his inventions.



"I think so."



Mister Leather says "Sure. I can do that. Price is one gold coin."

(Doing Therapy)

To Carter: "Sure, I'll do some errands. Just need to visit a leather worker, but after that, I'll go wherever."

Then, eventually, to Mister Leather: "Sounds good." I hand over 1 gold coin and the cow skin.

After doing so, I'll return to Carter to start making deliveries.

Making deliveries isn't too bad.  Get to meet new people, get some exercise... who knows, might meet a specialist.

Carter says "I got one for him too. He's gonna give you a bullwhip."



He asks if he can have what's left of the cow skin when it's finished. He'll trade you something form his shoppe.




So you do. Whilst you are walking to your first delivery though, you hear rumbling footsteps coming from behind you. Then a hand and arm the size of a whiskey barrel shoves you out of the way, grunting "Move puny man!!"

You get a glimpse of the guy as he walks past. He's about 9 feet tall, his skin is gold tinged. If he stood still, you might think he was a statue. He's wearing several cobbled together pieces of Ye Olde armor as well as some stuff which is clearly more high-tech. He's carrying several swords and knives on his belt, and a whole bunch of guns and phasers. And he's got muscles on top of muscles. He looks like a yellow version of The Incredible Hulk's big brother.

Assuming you don't do anything to get his attention, he will just walk on ahead and go into a shoppe.

Oh great, he's your first delivery!!!!!!



Or start a war........

(Doing Therapy)

To Mister Leather: "Go for it. I'll be back a bit later to pick something out, I've got some deliveries to take care."

I'll start the deliveries after returning to Carter's place.  I can pick something out when I make that delivery.

When the yellow hulk passes by:

Indignation, anger, and fury rise. Puny man? I take a deep breath, exhale. Not even 10 years is too late for a gentleman's revenge.  Things to do, still need to pick up my money from Magehammer.

"Sorry."

Watching him go into the shop.  Well, this'll make payback easier. He's 'missed meals' 1 through 4.

I head into the shop to make the first delivery. "Hello! I'm here on behalf of Edison Carter to make a delivery."

He agrees. Then he says "How about you just give me the cow skin and you keep your gold coin for the sheath you bought?"



Yellow Hulk doesn't acknowledge you.



OOC) Mind explaining what that "Missed meals 1-4" means?



When you go into the shoppe, he's sitting in a gigantic recliner. You would look like a child sitting in it. He's drinking something fruity smelling from a plastic 5 gallon bucket. When he sees you and you announce yourself, he doesn't seem to recognize you. In fact, he becomes very polite and well-spoken. Kind of reminds you of a 1930s era gangster.

"You got my stuff? Great. Here, pass it over."

Then he gives you a one ounce lead ingot as a tip and shoos you from his shoppe. There's nothing of note. It's an office kind of place.

(Doing Therapy)

To Mister Leather: "That works too. Thanks."

I nod to the yellow hulk and bring the items over.  Once the delivery is complete I'll make note of the area and return to Carter for the next delivery.

---

Carter said it earlier, "You ever heard the theory of the Nine Missed Meals? It states in brief that a societal structure is only nine missed meals away from complete anarchic collapse."

Missed Meals 1 - 4, aka Avahur is planning something spectacular for this person.

OOC) Good Luck with that!!!!

Anyway, after you finish making your deliveries, Carter gives you a bill printer. It's about a foot long. Looks like two metal bars that open and close.

"What you gotta do is you scan a bill." and he holds up some paper currency from somewhere and feeds it into the scanner.

Then he holds up a piece of ordinary typing paper and feeds it into the machine.

"Then you gotta feed it!!!!"

And when the paper is printed out, a two-sided sheet of bills is printed on the typing paper. As many as the size would allow. They've got consecutive serial numbers, starting one after the bill he scanned.

"Then you just gotta cut em out." and holds up an ordinary pair of scissors.

As he hands it over to you he says "You can use any kind of paper. It's all lasers and holoprojection and a bunch of other technical jazz, so it doesn't need ink. Just power. Oh yeah, and this is really important. Due to a need to keep the memory storage down, I had to program it so that it would only copy money. And yes, it can tell. It cannot forge documents, make photocopies, no. It can ONLY COPY MONEY!!!!!! Besides, do you need any of those others if you've got MONEY????? Not on most worlds!!!! Sure, you might cripple their economy with counterfeit bills, but who cares? You had a good time right?"

Are you mentioning Yellow Hulk to him?

(Doing Therapy)

"Nice. Yea, as someone famous from my home world once mentioned, 'Any problem that can be solved with money isn't a problem at all.' In a modern society/civilization, there are very few real problems."

I consider a moment about crippling the economy.

"Yea, crippling the economy is probably terrible for the people that live there, but it is only through adversity and truly terrible times that innovators and geniuses are born. It's a thing about blessings and curses. At least, on the macro scale."

Once I have it in hand I'll pack it away. "This is surely going to come in handy.  Anyway, I've got to head back towards the tower. I've got to stop by Magehammer's to pick up some funds - had him sell some stuff for me, and head back to the tower.  I was sparked by some inspiration and need to do some research."

I say goodbye to Carter and head back to Magehammer's to get the currency. I choose option 1, and then head to the tower to do some research about meteorites and the impact they do when the hit the surface.

---

No, I generally don't mention to others when I plan to assassinate someone.  It tends to ruin plans. Besides, I'm dubbing the operation: Poetic Justice.  He should've used a term other than puny.

Looking up videos like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJwZ3uBzQV0 regarding a meteorite that hit Airizona, USA some time back, and other sciency information about them.

Avahur may be trying to create one, and is trying to understand the science first.

Carter says "I can teleport you there."

(Doing Therapy)
This message was last edited by the player at 17:54, Sun 19 Nov 2017.

"Nah, I'm good. It's only a 2 hour trip this time. I've got some new magic - though it is terribly exhausting - and if I don't practice it, I can't refine it to be better and eventually less exhausting.  Still, I can run really quickly, with wind magic. One step at a time."

Thus do I run, gather currency, watch videos.

So you do. And it is evening, and it is morning, a new day dawns.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:56, Mon 20 Nov 2017.

Wake up, stretch, exercise, shower, get ready, eat.

I  want to create a boulder, a meteorite of sorts, and drop it on that guy. All men are puny in the face of destruction from space rocks.  Though this isn't so much a space rock as a magic rock.  Gravity will probably do most of the work, but I'm not sure if I can create a rock that  high.  Also not sure if I can send it flying with increased speed towards a particular location.  Even if I can do all that, without further mastering the ability to teleport, I don't have a guarantee of walking away from it alive.  Let's work on that, then I can hop into a world and try it out.  It would also be useful in the future.  Nothing like dropping an enemy army by a 'random' meteorite to the face.

I set out in search of versers that mainly move around by teleporting.  I'll flag some down and see if they'd be willing to teach me. Or at least, what their price is for it.  I'll try to get a few opinions.

Magehammer tells you "That Chaos katana can teleport you."

Karin asks you "Don't you know how to fly by wind magic?"

What kinds of opinions do you want?

(Doing Therapy)

To Magehammer: "Wait, it can?  Every time I do an effect with the katana is seems to be incredibly draining, causing me to pass out not long later.  Good for emergencies, but generally less than ideal."

To Karin: "Yes, sort of. Flying and teleporting are two different methods of travel, and I have yet to figure out if wind can give me the near instantaneous speed teleportation can.  Sometimes I need to fly, but other times I need to get out of danger faster than I can speak."

I try to find other versers that can teleport.

---

Trying to get the opinions of a few different teleporting versers, to see what they'd charge / what their price is, if any, for teaching (or providing) tips, tricks, methods, training, and so on for increasing proficiency and mastery of teleportation.

"Eh, you just need to get used to it kid. But yeah, that weapon can add or remove Chaos from a situation."



She ponders, then says "There's a guy across the way there that sells Babylon candles. Supposedly lets you teleport. (Carter tried to sell you one.) If I hear anything, I'll let you know."



They teleport all over the place. You see some holding teleportation devices, one or two using Babylon candles, but you want to learn to do it by magic or psionics, am I right?

(Doing Therapy)

Avahur specifically looks for people that may be doing it via magic or psionics.

---

Yes, magic or psionics.  Ideally both to see if they can support each other, but one or the other.  This is just player conjecture: I'd imagine that high level wind magic, though not instantaneous, is ephemeral, and could achieve a similar effect. I actually just read something like it in a book, a character did that through the dao of wind. Otherwise, spatial magic; altering space, one step crosses hundreds of feet, thousands of miles. Spatial magic is probably how magic can teleport.

Of course, our methodology is generally opposite. Do you suppose earth magic could do it? Traveling like tremors or earthquakes? Magnetic waves, and so on, using that to 'teleport' across the land?  Fire magic could probably do it, create an absence of heat particles in one spot, and then as particles shift to fill up that void, and the adjacent ones shift to fill up the spot where those moved... and so on, refill the void at a designated spot. Achieving teleportation in effect, but really just the displacement and replacement of molecules of energy.

Whilst you are standing there trying to figure out who to ask, an eight year old girl teleports in right in front of you. She looks you up and down and then says "Mister Magehammer said you wanna learn to teleport. Is that right Mister? You wanna learn to teleport? I'll teach you. All you gotta do is fight me."

She's got two swords of different types and a staff strapped to her back, as well as knives, nunchucks and two sai on her belt. Yeah, shes a regular ninja turtle.

(Doing Therapy)

"Fight you? Sure. Purely weapons? Unarmed? Weapons and magic or psionics? What are the terms for our duel? Also, where? Do you want to do it right here, or did you have a place in mind?"

I nod to the girl, and put my hands near the hilts of my swords, ready to draw them should she initiate an attack. I also stop standing casually and slowly get into a fighting stance, ready to react, retreat, or attack, as necessary.

I do the above as I talk.

---

Is it Samantha?

"No magic or psionics for the fight. Other than that, you pick the method. You wanna go armed? Unarmed? Armed with what? As for where, I was thinking Fight Club. There's a new guy just showed up. Nobody wants to fight him."



Why are you asking me? You need to ask her.

"Fight Club? No idea where that is. According to a movie I saw back home, the first rule about fight club was to not talk about fight club.  Is that not the case here?  Hmm, I initially trained single sword, but grew more proficient dual sword later on. So let's do that. I don't fight many people that also dual wield, that should be fun.

2 weapons each, I'll use swords, you can use whatever you feel is most comfortable to counter that. Let's keep it purely weapon skill, no additional attacks unarmed or from feet. If disarmed or in a position where you are at the mercy of your opponent, you lose. Knockdown isn't immediately a loss."

I head with her towards Fight Club.

"So, why does no one want to fight the new guy?"

---

I've seen Samantha before, at least twice.  How many 8 year old looking versers are there? Even if there's 1 out of every 100,000 versers that's around that age, figure half would be girls, and then, despite how many there are, and how many versers are here, how many have this many weapons and are in this area of verser world that also know Magehammer.

Do they look alike? Same hair color? What about their nose? Is it the same? Noses are very distinctive, if you ever pay attention.  This is what I, and therefore Avahur, would pay attention to on first contact - hair color first, then nose. If they are the same, then probably Samantha, and Av could reasonably guess it as so. If not the same, then that's curious, because again, how many weapon filled 8 year old female versers are there on this world that also know Magehammer and like fighting?

I ask specifically because you are the game ref: I've seen Samantha before, I see this girl now, are they the same? If not, that's curious and I'll ask her about it.



If I could recognize Samantha then, I should be able to do so now.

She says "I never heard of that movie. They just call it Fight Club. A lot of the versers come here to settle grudges with each other. Or just to train. I wonder if Mister Magehammer will be fighting Slider....."



"Okay, first lesson teleporting. Think about where you want to go. Are you thinking about it? Then you do it."

And she puts her hand on your arm, the world tastes purple, you cease to exist. And now you're in a huge circus tent. There are three fighting rings in the middle, and a bunch of people crowded around each one. In the first ring, Magehammer is fighting a guy in a white trenchcoat. She says "That's Mister Magehammer and Slider."

Third ring, two women are fighting.



She says "You'll know when you see him."

Center ring, the Golden Hulk is standing alone. He's taunting everyone there saying "Puny men. None of you wish to fight me????" Nobody is standing around that ring.



Yes, it's Samantha.

...
"And then you do it? That's not really helpful. Should I be mindful of anything? Think of a place, as in a vague description, a place in particular? Think of me standing in that place?"

Looking at the yellow hulk.

"Oh, that guy. Calling everyone puny is a sure way to get a boulder dropped on the head. Meteorites are dangerous, I hear.

By the way, do you prefer Samantha or Sam? Sama? Mantha? Tha? I prefer to call people one syllable names, if possible. Two syllables, at most."

While waiting for a response and for a ring to free up, I pay attention to Slider and Magehammer's bout.

Samantha rolls her eyes at you and says cheekily "I said that was lesson one!!! I'll get to the rest of it later."



"Just stay clear of him. Somebody will come along eventually."



"I prefer Samantha. My father used to call me Sam!!!" And she's obviously furious about that.



According to the spectators, they've been at this for hours. Just as you find a good spot to watch it from, Magehammer hits Slider in the face with an uppercut that sends him flying out of the ring. They're done. Magehammer bows before grabbing Slider and both disappearing to who knows where.

So you're using your sword and the Chaos katana? Samantha is using two Chaos katanas.

She tells you "Don't take it easy on me because I'm a girl. I'm gonna cut you. Don't be afraid to cut me."

So you begin. You're swinging at her, but she's so short she just ducks under most everything you throw at her and uses the opportunity to cut your legs. At first it's not bad, just little nicks. But as it progresses, she's cut your legs up enough that you cannot stand on them anymore. You fall onto your back.

Samantha jumps up into the air and down in a somersault, landing with one foot on each of your biceps. Then she raises both of her swords over her head in victory.

Then she climbs down off on you and waves her Chaos katana over your body. A white aura flows from you and into her swords, healing your injuries within seconds. If you check, you won't even have any scars.

Then she helps you up. She's much, much stronger than an average eight year old and says "Now I'm ready to teach you teleporting. I said you had to fight me. I didn't say you had to beat me."

I accept the help up.

"I know. No one should enter a fight expecting to lose though - it's pretty much a guarantee you'll lose at that point. Besides, do people actually take it easy on you because you're a girl?

"As I told Magehammer, if you attack me, you're an enemy, doesn't matter boy or girl, young or old. Enemies die.  Sparring is obviously an exception.  Next time though, we fight unarmed. I haven't had a good sparring partner in many, many years."

As we walk out of the circle, "So, where do we continue, teacher?"

"I just don't want people to. You look at me and see an eight year old girl. I'm more like 800 years old. It's tough to find sparring partners who actually go full-force."



"I got a dojo set up in my apartment. And I think I can even the odds a bit."

Whatever she means by that last is beyond you.



"I've got a two bedroom apartment in The Tower. Do you want to join me there?"

If we were not versers, and she didn't literally just say 800 years old, which passes me by about 750 years, that would be super creepy.  Hell, it still might be super creepy.

"There are other options in the tower besides one bed room? Now that I said that out loud, that's exceedingly obvious that there should be. But the tower does grow oddly.  Bah, whatever. Let's go.

"Oh, by even the odds.. are you going to shrink me? Or increase your height?"

I head with her to her tower apartment/dojo.

"Yeah, the little studio apartments are free. I work at The Tower."



"You'll see."



So you walk with her. When you get to The Tower, she leads you to an elevator. The world tastes purple, you cease to exist, and you are in a hallway.

She leads you down the hall to her apartment. Inside, the walls are lined with weapons. Swords, knives, bows, crossbows, clubs, axes etc.

"Mister Magehammer made some of these for me. But as far as evening the odds......."

And she goes into the bedroom and closes the door. A few minutes later, a girl of perhaps 18 steps out. She's changed into a baggy, grey sweatsuit. She's got long brown hair, full-figured, beautiful. The kind of girl you wish you could have taken to the senior prom.

But still with the voice of an eight year old girl she says:

"When I met Mister Magehammer, he gave me the ability to morph my body and my appearance. I can appear to be any age I want and I've got the maximum physical abilities that a human being can posses. I just like staying in the eight year old form when I'm fighting. It presents a smaller target to my enemy."

She welcomes you to follow her into the bedroom. The walls are again lined with melee weapons. Name the weapon, she's got it.

"But first, I promised to teach you to teleport. Are you ready?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:51, Wed 22 Nov 2017.