Feeling comfortable in the armour, Pitcarn cannot help but laugh at the officious nature of the construct he is wearing.

"Good afternoon SUIT! And may his days be un-numbered!"

Laughing, Pitcarn took his gear, and began to wander around the Valley.

Pitcarn

Wandering as he did, Pitcarn soon found himself in the Exotic Gardens of the Valley. He may continue his misadventures within that thread.

Ruse

The guards nodded, one went inside. Within minutes Verbalus Exemplar Kriegsmerr was out of the Tower of Babilu, saw Ruse, grimaced. His hair was wild and it looked like he hadn't slept for days. His clothes robes smelled like he'd worn them all week, which was partially untrue: only Monday to Saturday.

"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, I don't have time for this," he said as he rushed at Ruse. "What is it? Dragon troubles? Please no dragon troubles."

Ruse looked at Kreigsmerr sharply, with a look only a high lord or councilman could get away with. It was a "I don't care about your current agenda, you will assist me" sort of face. But it was completely silent on Ruse's part - a natural expression of his nobility and arrogance.

Ruse liked the man though, and tolerated his reply silently because of it. With a sigh, he said,

"Kriegsmerr, no dragon troubles I assure you. Actually, I'm banking on Nadhoggr's residual energies to supercharge my realm's recovery even more than it would be with the godsblood I acquired. But enough about that - it's not why I'm here."

Ruse coughed a bit, and continued,

"I am here because I need your assistance badly for a life and death situation. You also might be able to gain a piece of arcane insight from this that you previously lacked before. You see, I did actually go to Alkan to help protect against the flood. I got there one moment too late though, as everything and everyone was killed. I reinforced this buffer line there with my own power, but shortly after the flood found its way into me. Somehow though, instead of killing me like it did over 100,000 others in an instant, it instead merely infected me. I am surviving (perhaps due to Yggdrasil's providence), but the flood is slowly devouring me and after a point even my divine metabolism won't be able to adapt and keep up."

He coughed, and added,

"Can we perhaps go inside and discuss this? You have a good track record with me which is why I called for you."

"Ah," said Kriegsmerr, replacing his 'I am a High Lord too and an initiate of the Inner Circle of Odin as well as a Verbalus Exemplar within the Tower of Babilu, so don't you dare try and pull rank you pretentious little man' face with a darker 'I am so sorry to hear about your illness' expression of sorrow and pity. "I am.. sorry, Lord Ruse. You've received, according to your claims, extremely high levels of wild magical poisoning.. 'entropomagical poisoning' being the, uh, the proper term. You aren't, uh, aren't on your last life, now, are you?"

Ruse sighed, and tried to reply but was interrupted by a short fit of coughing. No blood had come up...yet. Kreigsmerr's defensiveness-turned-compassion was justified, for he was talking to a man in pain. A slowly dying man.

"Yes, that is the conclusion I reached as well. Fortunately I am not on my last life - that is reserved for the tree of life. However, as you've guessed I'm not...not doing to well right now. I came to you because not only do I trust you, but know you can do good work."

A sincere complement from the arrogant Ruse.

"Kreigsmerr, I am most likely going to die soon. However, I want to discuss a certain possibility. It is a long shot, but I can't really do much since using magic just makes the poison spread quicker. My divine metabolism is compensating but I can feel the flood slowly spreading and gaining ground. Eventually, it is going to overwhelm my theogenic field, and once that happens I won't be able to withstand it anymore."

Ruse approached Kreigsmerr, and continued,

"However, since I'm on my deathbed right now, it can't hurt for me to try something. I mean I was about to face an assassin in my fiefdom but he decided to chat with me, just to show you how messed up this is. But...he let a hint out of something, which I may be able to use to my advantage. This shage could tell that I was sick, but he referred to my ailment as the "great shaman." I believe this refers to the flood or urge. He said that the shaman did not find me worthy. So assuming he was not speaking in tongues or something, this would mean that it is possible to be accepted by the urge. At least, this is my theory."

Ruse rubbed his side a bit, where it ached, but continued,

"I need you to help me attune to the flood. You're one of the few people I both trust enough and acknowledge enough to do this. I believe that the possibility exists, but need a second opinion to bounce ideas off of and assist me, which in this case would be you. You see, that flood killed 100,000 gods, sorcerers, and earthborn in an instant, but for me...I went and reinforced the ward holding it back from the tree, but the flood entered into me as well. However, it didn't kill me off, instead my manifestation blipped a bit and I was left with the poisoning instead. My SUIT shows the "cancer" to be a spiritual residue of the flood. See! When you take all these factoids together, along with the fact that it didn't kill me off when it had the chance, this leads me to conclude there is at least a slim possibility of attuning to the flood. If I can succeed, not only can I preserve this life, but also gain a potent ally in the flood and hopefully even better control over my magic."

"Can you please help me try to attune myself to be accepted by the Flood?"

Kriegsmerr smiled despite himself at the compliment.

"It..." Kriegsmerr shook his head. "I am sorry for your illness, truly. I am sorry for your.. death. But you speak madness. Only one man is - I mean, to be accepted by the Flood! It is madness. I could.. perhaps you could arrange Purification through Callisti, but even then.. the Great Shaman.."

He frowned.

"You cannot enter Alkan. Not at this time. It would be.. madness. No, regardless of affiliation, it would destroy you."

Destroy you. Ruse felt his knees buckle, but held himself. He wasn't that sick - not yet.

"You could.. hmm. There is an extremely short-term solution, I think, while we consider this question. But it will be extremely costly. And it will not heal you, but simply stave off the .. sickness. As for your problem.. I am thinking, High Lord. I am thinking. Great Shaman. You cannot go to Alkan, and to the Realm Sorcerous is worse.. but perhaps.. no, it is madness."

Ruse held himself up, wisps of mist swirling by his knees to keep them from buckling. He was sick, but not ready to give up. Not just yet, anyway.

"Kreigsmerr, I am a true grand magus of the sorcerous arts. I am as attuned to magic as a non-ascended, non-alkanite can possibly be. I cannot afford to give up on magic - not after how much I've invested in it. If the shage thinks the Flood is a great Shaman, than I simply need a way to commune with it and cut past its random urges and to right to its core. Commune with it. Bond with it. Make it my own, and in exchange let its magic course through my divine blood with pride. If I can figure out what it wants, or a way for it to somehow see me as exempt from its wildness. As someone on its side, or within its protection or alliance. I think I could save myself. And...and possibly magic as well. I will die the way it is so I don't care about protecting my current life so much as getting the most use out of it, and if I save it in the process, awesome."

Ruse sighed, and continued,

"You see, I would normally try to use shamanism in a case like this - my understanding of it is deep now too. But with the wild magic effect being the present situation, I might not be able to contact it. This is where someone of your knowledge, experience, and professionalism comes in. Kreigsmerr, can you help me stabilize my magic enough to get a spell or two off?"

"I might be able to do one better than that, friend," said Kriegsmerr. "Though I am sure it'd be illegal at best.. I mean, I shouldn't even tell you this, but we've recently excavated the long-missing Crown of the Forge - built by Osiris himself before it was allegedly destroyed by Odin. What the Forge itself was used for I can offer no answer.. the transmutation through invocation of something for something else.. but I do know that the crown was the receptacle used to call down such powers. Perhaps.. perhaps you could contact whatever this.. 'Great Shaman'.. through that, but it'll be tricky. Lharazed plans on utilizing the Crown in conjunction with the magical tsunami in order to call one thing or another - possibly recreate the Nrictus Operation - and that can't be long off.."

He sighed, lit a cigarette, allowed the purple smoke to flow through his fingers. He didn't put it to his mouth, but instead let it stay there.

The gears, figuratively speaking, in Ruse's mind began to move and tick with plots and plans, cold calculations and not-so-cold excitement. Kreigsmerr is right: this would be dangerous...for most people. Ruse, however, is in a very...special position right now due to many circumstances overlapping. He might be able to pull this off without actually pissing anyone off.

"Actually...that is very interesting indeed, my good Kreigsmerr. Yes, I am concocting a plan as we speak. I think...if my calculations are correct, I think not only would I be legally entitled to use the crown, that Lharazed would like it too! You see, I am a high lord that is currently on a primary task, endorsed by at least two councilors, of looking into Operation EMBALMERS REACH. That technically makes an artifact like this forged by Osiris-Ra within my jurisdiction, especially since my direct councilor himself is the director of it."

He grinned, and continued as his calculations were unfolding.

"But then there is the political issue of Lharazed. Normally, I would expect a lot of opposition from him. However, I think he and I have an understanding due to the Alkan incident. Actually, because of the Alkan incident this is all possible, as well as being even necessary in the first place! I should have his sympathy as it is undeniable that I have entropomagical poisoning. I, hopefully, would have his respect too for surviving the Urge, which killed thousands of his fellow sorcerers even. Finally, if I can communicate with the urge directly with the crown, I can use it to try and help Lharazed stabilize the Tsunami. Technically, I have a connection with the urge greater than other beings as it is inside of me, yet I survived. I may very well be Lharazed's best chance of getting the urge back under control."

He smiled, and added,

"I also already know what I can offer the urge in exchange for its blessing, although I unfortunately don't know the details. This really is a gambit, but then again what part of my life hasn't been?"

He came here, it was finally time. He couldn't help, but take one last look around. Sighing he took off his crimson robe and folded it around his journal. Someone would take it someone would continue his legacy. Closing his eyes he sent a farewell to his other self, and to this land .... his home that he had loved so much. He would not return... now looking up he called for it. The temple divine, the airship hope, the great construct that he had used to travel through the valley of mists and the in-between, taking the paths to worldtrees. The war could not be ignored, even now he knew that the darkness was waiting for him out there. He was leaving and he called his ship to come and take him away.

Hirsu exited the gardens, and walked to the library. Once there, he began a quick search on a particular subject.

Msonus decides to head to the tower of Babilu, entering without regard for the conversation going on nearby.

There he searches for books that deal with the theories of parallel existence.

Maxilita appeared here in a flock of doves. She closed her eyes, drawing in breath.

She called her fairy to her. "Kaie, Guide me.. I don't know where I'm supposed to go next.." She said quietly.

Ruse

"True, true, true.." said Kriegsmerr, obviously still unconvinced. He brightened slightly. "Well, Lharazed is currently engaged with operations most secret, and as Cowl is out I think I am in charge of the Tower.. so.." He stopped. "You must promise not to tell a single soul."

Foun

The ship did not come.

But another did.

"Foun," said the man, tall and hawkish, regal and yet fierce. He wore jewelry of a metal beyond gold and singer, and his fingers were long, slender, powerful. His eyes were calculating and sharp. "Foun," he said again. "You know who I am. Have you not considered, perhaps, that our Mother need you? That your lover - and perhaps your child - need you?"

Taptaptaptap

and time had stopped

Hirsu

Reconfiguration complete.

Good afternoon, Affiliate Hirsu. Congratulations on surviving the Battle of Alkan. Long live the Golden Emperor and his Empire of Conclave!

When Hirsu had reached the library, the reconfiguration had already been complete. Perhaps he could ask the SUIT?

Msonus

In the halls, before he could reach the library, Msonus was accosted by Crowl, obviously on his way out.

"Ah, Msonus, how do you do?" asked the Verbalus Executive of the Tower. "How's that book going? I'm getting quite antsy, actually - I cannot wait to read it."

Max

Awww, don't worry, Maxilita. Things will look up! Uhhh.. I think you have an old friend, uh, to meet.

Max looked up, and saw Sophia staring at him gracefully. She rose a hand in greeting and smiled.

"Max," she said. "I.. you've changed."

He looks about and then smiles softly, My home, my lover... I wish that I could stay, I wish that it were that easy. There is a war sir... a war threatening to destroy all of the worldtrees. Only yggdrasil is safe, only yggdrasil has not met the taint of miasma. One tree ... exodus... the seed of genesis holds the key to the trees salvation... I must go... I must help them. If I do not .... they could all die. Please forgive me... what child? His head shot up in surprise realizing the last part the primordial said. His hands instinctively covering his stomach. Had his last moments with crailek led to something more?

Ruse coughed a bit, but then regain composure and said,

"Fine it is a deal. I'll keep this from everyone but you and Lharazed. I won't even tell Roid - not unless the situation shifts even closer to Osiris-Ra then it already is. I am a huge fan of helping others to help myself, so keeping quit is a fair accomodation to make."

Ruse nodded wholeheartedly, trying to reassure Kreigsmerr, and continued,

"I suppose my next step is to contact the councilor Lharazed then. I can do that easily enough over my conclave channel. And no I won't tell him about the crown over the channel, only in person."

Ruse looked at the man with great interest, and continued,

"Hey...while I'm here...you say you're the head of the tower now, yes? Could you perhaps do a dying man a favor unrelated to magic?"

Hirsu cursed inwardly to himself as the thing achieved full activation, but shrugged the feeling off. Perhaps he was simply being paranoid.

Hirsu proceeded to the library, and began to search for information as to what the new Msonus has been known for, or any listing of his activities, before delving into the historical archives to try and find what previous incarnations of Msonus had done or were known for. While author was certainly on the list, there had to be more. Hirsu had an unfortunate feeling that this part of his research might be either completely unfruitful or extremely long in the undertaking.

He also tried speaking to his suit. "Thank you. Is there a name you prefer to be called, or one you would like me to use when speaking to you? And could you tell me about what your 'reconfiguration' is or does?"

Anik appeared and moved straight towards library. He had some reading to do.

Once he got to a familiar table in which so much knowledge had been absorbed he took out his book bag and began to read... the old fashion way.

((I am reading the books Foun gave me. You already did one, go ahead and PM them to me in the same sort of format you did in the garden before.))
This message was last edited by the player at 18:05, Sat 05 June 2010.

Maxilita nodded. "How swift the currents of life catch us, and carry us away. I've lived three lives, yet have not lived a day.."

"I believe it is coming, now. I merely must make sure what I am to write is not already, by myself or by another, and then it shall only be the passing of time from here. Though I would never quite look forwards to anything I do, but I cannot account for the taste of others.

But I am sure you are heading somewhere more interesting?"

Ruse

"A... favour?" asked Kriegsmerr. "I think so. Depending on what it was, I think I could do that for you."

Foun

"Perhaps," said the Master Divine, reading Foun's mind. "Perhaps. But where will you go? What will you do? What can you do? You know that you are born of Yggdrasil, and that this will always be your home. You are arrogant in your suppositions. You have been reborn here - for all you realize, another Foun could exist here or on Kookhe or even your precious Eo."

Hirsu

'Reconfiguration' is the process by which the SUIT fully ties itself to the mental faculties of its wearer, and often meshes with the theoelecromagnetic field or similar. It is the full analyses of the wearer and the storing of that information in the SUIT's data-vaults for later use, if need be. It is an assessment of the wearer's abilities and inclinations so to further optimize the SUIT.

You may give me a name, or call me Google, or call me SUIT, or call me MIDET(GT)18278.

Msonus

"Ah yes," said Crowl. "Thew Babilu are to be engaging Tushmuthut soon. They have some things we need and so we must ally ourselves with certain Conclave legions. Good luck, Msonus, and I bid you good day."

Max

"I.. see," said Sophie, obviously not impressed by the vagueness of Max's answer. "Well, I uh, I better be off to find my uncle.."

Anik

Anik takes out the books.

(Sorry, you mean the alchemical texts he gave you?)

Ruse smiled at him - his response was most satisfactory.

"My good Kreigsmerr, you may or may not be aware, but I am currently the director of Operation Hierophant. The office of Roid - and thus myself - is trying to build the Babilu equivalent for psychics, as well as the organization (in this case HIEROPHANT) that would be directive of it. All psychics, really, similar to how Babilu is pivotal in wizardly politics."

He squinted his eyes quite seriously, and continued,

"The fact of the matter is that the Conclave has loooooooong overlooked a valuable resource, and it has been right under its nose. It foolishly disregards the existence of psycic phenomena - and I use my high lord status to waive myself of any punishment for questioning this so speak freely - yet it very much has estranged people doing psychic checks, and systemarchs! Everyone knows about them! The fact is that this practice is an antiquated carry-over from a previous age of ignorance. Psionics are not an exclusively Mad phenomena - many og the greatest champions of the tree have had psionic abilities. And they manifest racially for systemarchs, who are certainly birthed by the tree via the realm of anvils."

He looked slyly at Kreigsmerr, and said,

"I would like Babilu to offer its political support for Operation HIEROPHANT. In these tumultuous times, the conclave needs all the resources it can get. We would both legalize psionics all the while regulating them. HIEROPHANT would be an elite group, like Babilu for mages and Drachenorden for fighters. We would be a stand-along agency and be the most effect anti-psychic and Mad force the conclace has ever seen, as well as be efficient at helping the callisti sniff out traitors and especially cultists. We would support every councilman who was interested, while also being a stand-alone operation like Babilu."

He looked coy and added,

"Speaking fo which...HIEROPHANT could offer many opportunities to the progressive-minded mage. Imagine all of the things Babilu could learn? The knowledge they could gain? All from being able to interact with our conclave-legal psychics. You could more easily look into the similarities of psionics and magic, perhaps explore magical techniques that mix with psychic methods. And surely we could work together in researching the Mad entities, given how they have connections to both magic and psionics."

"And also, quite frankly, having psychics aligned with the tree of life as allies in these times would be very, very beneficial for Babilu. And of course, as I am the director and Babilu is currently in my good graces - I respect you greatly Kreigsmerr - that would mean Babilu would be in HIEROPHANT's good graces as well. Especially in an environment where people like Dracul look down on you like earth worms."

There will not be another foun.... perhaps here, but not there.... They need me. I have waited so long to see you to finally meet you. He sighed, he would allow the master divine to see the horrors of the war, he would allow him to see the enemy, he would allow him to know what he remembered. I never truly belonged to yggdrasil... I belonged to genesis first... Murpheous... he wasn't from here was he... that's why I could never connect to him here not fully. I was always different from them and I never knew why. I will always call yggdrasil my home, but ... I belong to this war now.

Hirsu found the answer satisfactory for now. "I'll call you Midet then. Does this data remain only in yourself, or is it also stored or available elsewhere?"

"A most exciting task indeed; beware Surah Hal'amun; his reputation precedes him, in another existence.

And we all know parallel lines are bound to intersect. "

Smiling cheerfully, Msonus leaves Crowl to go look for the books he had come for.