Thankfully, despite the "high alert", nobody suspects Cham. He's actually doing a good job blending in. Ironically, his attempts to kill boredom is blending him in even more. Other agents assume he's an especially busy one.

The adviser fills in Mittens in regard to her questions: "The Nature Kingdom's only ally that concerns us is the Water Kingdom. Earth Kingdom's people are said to consider this not their fight and Light and Life are not yet ready to go to arms. By the time they would, we would have won. Besides.. you forget we have allies as well. The Thunder Nation would deal with the Kingdom of Light easily enough and on the very unlikely chance the Kingdom of Life steps in, the people of Chaos would be happy to mess up their plans. As for the edict.."

The advisor takes a breathe. "About 6 years ago, the Emperor ordered this edict as a means of stalling any spies or sympathizers from going to aid whoever they work for. It was also to protect our people from being taken by other nations when off-world. The edict still permits Fire citizens access to come ON to our world. Just not OFF it until the ruler lifts the edict."

He then glances at Alexis, "It's puzzling that Alexis here wants to even bother talking to you since her people are sworn enemies... her very being here may cost her position due to sheer unpopularity when she returns home."

He then looks back to Mittens. "As for plotting, you are still new. Fire people don't stab in the back. It is simply not our way. We face our foes head-on. It is why you currently rule the kingdom. What they might be discussing is how to go about reducing casualties on our side when we inevitably go to war yet again with the Nature Kingdom."

It's around then that Timothius enters the room as well.

----

Meanwhile, the bartender looks at J'Renn and says, "Yeah?" as if waiting for her to make her order.

A skunk sits on the barstool next to J'Renn and slides a coin. The bartender seems to know what the skunk wants and gets it for him, still occasionally glancing at J'Renn.

Alexis is annoyed by the adviser, but says nothing about it. Instead, she nods to Timothius as he enters and then looks at Mittens.

Prism Jr. looks up at Joe, only mildly surprised at being spotted.  They weren't going to great effort to be concealed, it was only a natural consequence of their small size that most overlooked them.

"That was our mother," they answer, choosing to take the metaphor to a literal extreme rather than spend time on explaining how they work, "We've been separated. She is in the palace as far as we know. We both want to find a way to leave this world."

---

Prism Sr. arrives at breakfast with just as little fanfare as Raichel.  They sit quietly at the least politically significant seat available.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:52, Tue 16 Feb 2010.

Mittens turns the TV to face her guests.

"Good morning, your highnesses," she greets with a smile, "I trust your night was comfortable.  I don't know about you, but I find this rather ridiculous.  When I survey the faces of my people, I see a lot of healthy smiles.  I don't see them in chains made of vines.  I mean seriously.  What quarrel have WE with NATURE?  What excuse did the last Fire King have for waging war?  Did your kingdom beat my kingdom in a soccer match or something?  And what's all this 'WHEN we go to war' talk?  Wouldn't that be up to me?"

She rubs her chin.

"Fire types aren't sneaky, you say?  Good.  Then invite a TV crew or 3 to breakfast with me and my guests.  We'll iron this all out in public."

She looks at the other two monarchs.

"Objections?"

To Raichel: "I haven't forgotten your request.  I expect there'll be time to chat in private before the cameras get set up."

  Darkthorne considers Prism's fancy colored words.  They would consider J'Renn's problem and suggest a bank if they knew of it, but they can't read her mind any more than they can read his.

  "It was a bit of a surprise considering who was in the crowd with the Fire Queen yesterday.  I had planned on looking around this world more anyways unless something turns up that would require me to head to the other worlds."  Returning to the Kasketon midway point and then going to another of the worlds from there would be a cop-out.  "But this would only be a non-issue to me if a lockdown was all that was happening right now, or if it didn't last a long time."

  Darkthorne resisted the urge to sigh, "Politics is not one of my stronger points.  Sarcasm is usually the extend of my duplicity.  Do you have a specific need for getting out of here aside from the understandable worry caused by 'war is coming, lock everyone in'?"

OOC Style: Dohs, I typed up and saved this on the 16'th, but it seems I got distracted and never posted it <.<

As the bartender looks at her expectantly, she points towards the "Today's special" sign, she feels that whatever it is he very much wants to sell it.  As an offer she slides one of the polished platinum ingots towards the barkeep.  Stamped on the flat, rectangular slab in Garendian is <0.1 weight measure .9999 pure platinum, .0001 trace elements.>  It weighs about 35 grams.

As she awaits the bartenders decision she senses some barter behind her, at a fully inhabited card table.  One of the card players sets out a gold wristwatch atop a pile of chips, "I'll see that and raise this." the player declares.

J'Renn listens in to the minds of the players at the table, getting an idea of the rules of the game, and the value of the cards.  She also can sense the value of the chips on the table and how they might as well be currency.  She watches a bit longer, wondering if this might be somewhere she could barter her metal.

Paula looks down at Miranda's words, understanding the logic behind the question, "I... I guess I never thought of the question as being as simple as that, honestly.  When asking that which knows all things, it just seems odd to ask for a means of war rather than a means of peace."

She looks at Miranda thoughtfully then, "If it were me, however, I think it would be very difficult to decide on which question to ask.  There's so much that I just don't know... And questions seem to always change in their importance. Hmm, but, if I had to ask only one, I think I would ask... What is it that I am supposed to do in my life?  What is my true mission?  That's always been a question that I haven't been able to answer for myself."

She smiles with a bit of embarrassment at her admission, but brightens up a little as she sees the headdress that Miranda is examining, commenting on how nice it would look on her and urging her to try it on.  Shortly after that, she can't help but look at Miranda with curiosity and ask, "What about you? What would you want to ask Heart, Miranda?"

Cham's ears perk as he pays a little attention to Mittens' advisor go over the specifics of why they have to go to war.  At the mention of them counting on the people of Chaos to mess up the plans of the Kingdom of Life, the raccoon gives a chuckle.

"Hehee... Counting on Chaos to do something... heheh... *ahem* What? Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. Agent Superball, over and out."

He grins a little expectantly as Alexis comes in and is given the passingly negative comment by the adviser, wondering how long she'll stay quiet.  However, when Mittens starts implying that she may not want to go to war at all, Cham gives a disappointed whine.

He listens in a bit further, trying to still look inconspicuous as an adviser, but he turns his head away when Timothius enters the room. if anyone might pay enough attention to recognize him, Cham figured it would be him.

Miranda smiles at the urgings, takes off her helmet and tries on the headdress. "I would ask how my friend's dream of eternal peace could come true. I desire nothing more than making him smile..."

She then squeaks with delight and pays for the headdress.

Raichel says, "I like your style, Mittens. Yes. Let's do this publicly."

Raichel would take on the world if she had to. Mittens just basically said "why not?"

She then says, "Be warned, though... the public opinion of the Nature Kingdom is strongly formed by years of propaganda. Much as I'd love peace to be attained right now, you may have to be gradual for the sake of your own people or else they will rebel, kill you, and put a Tyrant in your place."

Timothius also agrees. "A public meeting would certainly earn trust from the citizens."

The advisor eye-twitches, but can't help be proud of his new empress for the suggestion of public meetings. "As you wish." he leaves.

One of the agents near Cham eyes him with some suspicion. "Oh? Having thoughts about the current conversation?"

----

The bartender looks at J'Renn and then looks at the plat. He shrugs and pockets it, taking advantage of the alien. Of course, J'Renn could easily "hear" his intentions as it's all over his surface thoughts. He serves the special nonetheless.

The skunk looks over at J'Renn and thinks, <<Greetings. My name is Doug. My telepathy is weak, so please project to me like you do for others. Are you feeling lost? Or could I be of assistance.>>

Alexis says, "Public is perfect. I want to form a treaty and end the war that's been waged on my people."

She may hold a grudge against the previous ruler of fire, and consequently, most of the people of fire. But she's willing to give this a shot because of Timothius. Not that she'll say anything about that just yet...

Mittens ear twitches at Agent Superball's surprisingly sane commentary on the Chaos Kingdom, and the resulting question, and chuckles.

"You there," she says to Cham with a smirk, "Agent Superball.  You've just been promoted.  Come have a seat and a bite to eat.  Your new duty is to speak your mind like you just did."

She addresses the monarchs: "'For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.'"

Mittens hrms and nods at Raichel's dark prediction.

"The voice of experience.  And I'm not so fancy that I can just pop right back up after being killed... Oh wait...  I CAN do that too!  Go Go amazing adventurer powers!"

She smiles and noms some more breakfast.

"I'm glad to see we're all in agreement as far as the public ironing is concerned."

Mittens glances at Alexis and puts on an uncharacteristically serious demeanor.

"Please bear in mind what Raichel just said.  The opinions of my people have been formed by what they've been told.  I intend to show them the truth of what really happened.  I've already asked why the former king felt justified waging this war, and got no answer.  When the news crews arrive I'll be asking why my people felt justified.  I'm rather new to all this..."

Then to her subordinates: "And someone get me Mr. Top Advisor on one of them communication gizmos.  I want him to be in on this talk."

Back to the monarchs: "I've got a lot to say and ask, but I'm holding out on most of it till the news crews arrive 'cause I'm not fond of having to repeat myself.  Hopefully they'll be here soon, but may as well ask if there's anything you all want to get on the table off the record?  For example, 'It wouldn't be wise of me to say in front of millions of Fire Nation viewers, but I do not approve of yesterday's event.  No not one bit!' or 'This Fire Nation food is giving me indigestion, so I'll not be eating much' or whatever?"

She hrms for a moment.

Back to the subordinates: "Oh and by the way.  Tell the news crews that I insist this be shown in REAL TIME both here AND in the Nature Kingdom.  I'm not going to waste my breath on something that can be edited and twisted before it reaches the eyes and ears of the people of both sides.  So get Alexis one of them communication gizmos too so she can confirm the message isn't being tampered with between here and the Nature Kingdom."

The technology and terminology may be new to her, but she picked up fast on the concepts given that there's a magical equal for most of it where she comes from.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:42, Sat 20 Feb 2010.

Prism Sr. decides it wisest they remain silent given that they probably weren't included in Mittens' question.  They radio Jr. with news that so far things are going favorably.

---

Prism Jr. nods in response to Joe's commentary.  They can't quite figure why he seems so unconcerned with the situation.

"We too had meant to stay," they answer, "We are explorers. We came here to learn, but we fear for the safety of these people..."

They finally recognize J'Renn at the bar.

"I know that person," they say, nodding at the dual gender telepath, "She was with mother yesterday. Would you carry me to her please? At this size, it's very difficult to do on our own."

((OOC: Don't remember whether Prism ever figured out whether to refer to J'Renn as 'her' or not, and am too lazy to bother.))
This message was last edited by the player at 21:05, Sat 20 Feb 2010.

  Joe Darkthorne as well as the others from his home do still have some issues figuring that line between 'Uninvolved Exploration' and 'Interdimensional Vigilante Justice'... Okay, so they knew where that line was just fine, but whether or not to cross it, mock it, then burn it was the issue.

  The fact the vast majority of their problems back home were flagrantly obvious and preferred active shenanigans over political ones (Well, aside from with eachother) also left them less adept at working out the more subtle problems... So far as possible war was subtle.

  "Alright then, hop on and I'll take you over."  They said, offering a hand.  Provided Prism Jr. goes for the ride, Darkthorne would head over towards J'Renn and comment. "Someone who knows you wants to say Hi."

  So, a Telepath, a swarm, and a mentally shielded guy are about to try and hold a conversation... This should be good.  Doug may be more convenient than originally expected.

J'Renn frowns lightly as it seems the deal will greatly favor the bartender.  As doug sends his weak transmission to her she turns to him, and smiles, (Oh, greetings.  I wasn't aware there were people who could use telepathy on thier own on this world.  But lost... Well, perhaps.  I'm not used to dealing with currency.  I am assuming this metal can be bartered for some amount of it.) she explains to Doug.

As Joe walks up behind her and speaks aloud J'Renn startles and gasps, spinning on her heels to face Joe as if he just snuck up behind her with a running chainsaw.  She stares at him wide-eyed, as if he was some sort of anomaly that shouldn't even exist.  She thought she was aware of every person in that bar, she even sensed Prism Jr., even though she is shielding herself from the chorus of voices.  J'Renn holds a hand to her chest, taking a few deep breaths.  (Is that a hologram?) she asks Doug, referring to Joe.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:45, Thu 25 Feb 2010.

Paula smiles at Miranda's answer, nodding to her, "That sounds like a beautiful thing to ask, Miranda. I think, if I were there to hear it, I'd really like to know the answer to that myself."

She giggles as Miranda seems to like the headdress, clapping her hands with approval when she wears it. After she buys it, Paula looks around herself, realizing that it's been far too long since she last went window shopping. Idly, she looks over the wares before them, picking up a few similar headpieces, but shaking her head at them, as none seem to be in her color or style.

Not too far away, however, the skunk sees some blouses that seem to be in a style much like the headdress, looking somewhat tribal and traditional, with colorful designs of dyed flames licking across the bottom. She holds it up against herself, looking questioningly at Miranda, though she doesn't ask her about her fashion input directly. "You've mentioned your friend so many times now... I'm very surprised that he's left you here on your own for so long. Is he in the area?"

Cham folds his arms at the adviser, maintaining a surprisingly stone expression as he looks blankly at him from behind his glasses, "Our job is to advise, agent. Not to think."

He's called over almost immediately after his response, causing the raccoon to hop happily to the table and pull up a plate of food. It's not entirely clear if this is the same food that Mittens herself is eating for breakfast or not, but that doesn't seem to matter as Cham starts rapidly shoving the food into his mouth.

He stops himself suddenly, remember his 'adviser' persona, and assumes his expressionless expression, occasionally shoving a fork full of food into his mouth and gulping it down stoically. Not long after calming down, he speaks up in an official, adviserly tone, "Fluff, sir. That's what's on my mind.

Miranda says, "He's actually in the Nation of Order at the moment... and according to the news, this place is in total lockdown, so... if I brought him here, he couldn't leave. As for why I am here and he is not, the Nation of Order is very strict about him staying home and doesn't let him leave except for very special occasions. For the opening of the arena, he allowed me to go of my own accord, but was also curious enough about the event to ask me to relay what happened."

She examines Paula. "Get it... I think you would wear it well." in reference to the clothing, of course.

Somewhere, in some kiwi-ridden city full of furries, practically half the population of super-powered individuals that don't even call themselves gods have self-ressurrection powers. Usually through means of technology.

Raichel hears Mittens' bragging about being the second person Raichel has met in a 24 hour period who can resurrect and says, "Rez is handy, yeah." like it's the most unremarkable power in the universe.

Of the people present, actually Raichel is the one to recognize Cham. She is both amused and annoyed as Cham gets "promoted" when he didn't work for Mittens in the first place. And all because the guy is being silly. She weighs whether or not to let Mittens suffer for her impulsive and unwise decision. Sure, it's smart to bring the guy to the table and have him speak his mind whether he's a spy or not, but Raichel doubts Mittens is capable of thinking she might be fooled. Still, Cham's comment is rather funny and she cracks a smile to Cham.

When Mittens gets all serious with Alexis, Raichel glances at Mittens. She's relieved, but tries not to get her hopes up. So far, she fully expects Mittens to be the same as the old tyrant, but worse.... because Mittens is as chaotic as Raichel has seen fire types before without completely crossing the line of insanity.

"You're doing OK for someone who's new to being a ruler," Raichel says, "Especially considering you didn't want this position to begin with." how did she know that? "If I have anything to say off the record, I'll save it for after the live broadcast."

Timothius says, "Off the record? I don't approve of unwilling participants, prisoners or not, being offered as a possible arena spectacle. When your advisers mentioned that, I really had to hold my tongue."

The news crews are entering the room, but are setting up, not live yet. A portable TV of sorts is set in front of Mittens and her top adviser shows up on the screen.

----

Doug looks over towards Darkthorne seemingly unsurprised. <<He is not a hologram...>> Doug telepaths, keeping his calm, <<This universe is vast and while it may be new to you, there are such things as minds you can not sense or invade.>>

Doug tosses some of his own cash at the bartender and pulls the platinum away. The bartender looks annoyed and says, "Hey, now... the young lady payed me with that." Doug replies, "It's counterfeit. I'm doing you a favor." to which the bartender looks furious, but Doug says, "She's new. Leave her be." the bartender reluctantly relents. Doug pushes the platinum back towards J'Renn. <<When you are done with your friend, I'll give you some advice concerning how to get along with locals.. financially or otherwise.>>

He then turns entirely to face Darkthorne and tips his cap in a greeting of sorts.

Alexis says, "On or off the record, I noticed you had far more interest in the arena than you did in what we're about to do right now. I rather suspect many of your subjects have the same attitude towards battle and feel death is just fun and games and that peace is an afterthought. But for everyone's sake, I say this now while it's still off the record so that YOU at least know where I'm coming from without your people needing to misinterpret me. Leaders lead by example, Mittens... when you showed more interest in the arena than in what Timothius or I had to say, while I understand timing wasn't best, it still showed your people how they should treat such matters."

Alexis notices Cham eat with reckless abandon and assumes he's just being chaotic as fire sometimes is. However, to the comment of fluff being on his mind, Alexis coughs, trying not to smile and failing slightly.

She straightens out and says, "Your willingness to set this up and live no less, makes me both hopeful and nervous at the same time. Hopeful that you will make some kind of peace agreement LIVE. Nervous that you will try to kill us on live TV, seeing as you've acted within the realms of crazy enough to do something like that."

Mittens giggles at Cham's commentary, still not making the connection who he is, but it sure is a familiar kind of zany.  She nods to Raichel when she gives her answer.

"Oh yeah!" she answers Timothius, "That!  I had meant to look into that!  Blasted distractions.  I was very curious how that all works.  Does the Arena have it's own police?  Do they have their own courts?  Or was this some sorta arrangement the former King had where people caught red handed doing something super nasty could be instantly sent into the arena as gladiators, no trial needed?  I wonder what crime they committed.  Someone write up the answers to those questions for me and Timothius."

Mittens waves at the TV with Frank, the top adviser on it.

"Hey there.  Gunna have war talks with Timothius and Alexis.  Figured you'd want to have the option of giving input rather than just watch on your TV."

Mittens faces Alexis and listens to her lecture with a forced frown, trying to suppress a laugh.  When the Nature Queen says she thinks Mittens is crazy enough to try and kill her, Mittens is unable to hold back a snerkle - a chuckle-snort kinda thing.  She takes a deep breath to contain herself and rubs her chin, pondering how to answer.

"Well.  Yes.  Ahem..."

She takes on a mock regal demeanor, even going so far as to strike a pose.

"How dare you and your brethren make a mockery of my nation's most sacred of traditions, take that tone with me, and imply that I have lost possession of my yiddish cup!"*

She shakes her head and returns to her usual relaxed posture.

"Sorry.  Can't stick with the 'regal' persona for long.  I was supposed to say 'our' not 'my.'  I'm glad to hear about the hopeful part.  Try and relax about the other parts.  One, it would be pointless of me to attack a monarch who has a 'haha I can just teleport home at any time I please' magic item.  Second, while there may be some part of my pride that was mildly pinched by your lecture, I literally asked for it, and well, to be frank, you're almost right.  If you hadn't heard, I'm not a native to this region of the universe, much less this nation.  So while this war may be of immeasurable importance to a mother who's lost her son in battle, it's brand spanking new to me.

"Now to turn this around a bit.  I don't recall being told that you or Timothius or Raichel were invited here, much less invited to negotiate a ceasefire.  Call me crazy, but at the time I was thinking: 'Wow!  Unwelcome guests!  One who's at war with my nation!  They must think I'm an idiot!  They're here to take advantage of my being new to politics.  Well I may not know much, but unwelcome guests are usually invited to leave.'  But being the crazy I am, I figured I'd just be neighborly and welcome you to talk about what's important to you once I had completed what I set out to do: escape from the endless chores of a queen for a day.

She turns serious.

"Now to turn this around around once more.  I'm no stranger to war.  Last time I checked, the number of foes I've defeated personally was in the tens of thousands.  For that I'm hated by my enemies and loved by my home nation.  They call me 'hero.'  But I have no illusions about being a 'good' person.  I'm a realistic person.  In war there is only two real options: come to an agreement, or slaughter the hell out of your foe."

She takes a bite of her breakfast, leans back, and glances between her three guests before asking of the TV crews, "Ready to go live yet?"

*((OOC: Inspired by: http://wiki.ytmnd.com/Yiddish_Cup ))
This message was last edited by the player at 00:55, Sun 28 Feb 2010.

Prism Sr. is very nervous and remains motionless.  They transmit to Jr. what is going on.

---

"Thank you," Prism Jr. says to Darkthorne before hopping onto the bar, facing J'Renn, and bowing.  They're very surprised by the telepath's reaction to his intruduction, and are unable to figure out why she was so surprised by him.

"J'Renn is a telepath," they explain to Darkthorne, "But mother's mind was too noisy for J'Renn to hear her thoughts clearly, and J'Renn doesn't speak the language. Queen Alexis offered to allow J'Renn to listen to her mind's interpretation of mother's words so they could communicate. Would you be so kind as to do the same for us?"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:58, Sun 28 Feb 2010.

  Darkthorne (Who is this Joe person anyways?) was also somewhat surprised at reactions of complete shock at their appearance.  Especially considering appearing out of nowhere with nobody commenting was something many Joes Darkthornes do.

  They nod in greeting to Doug, pretend the Bartender isn't inviting a poke in the eye, and put clues together from Prism Jr.'s comments... That were less clues and more direct facts.  "Ah, I thought I recognized that expression."  Granted, the expression was also usually a bit more shocked because hey, a second away from having your head blown off because you failed to mentally dominate the 'primitive mortal' is a bit more shocking than someone saying hi in a bar.

  "That's gonna be a bit of a problem, as my kind are shielded to the point it disproves omniscience.  If it was a spoken language, or a body language within humanoid structure limits I could dictate, but not so much the brain talk."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:09, Sun 28 Feb 2010.