Shivers a little "Naked men covered in blood and guts in the middle of my lab is not a sight I want to see again." Shakes her head. "Nasty.... all the nasty.."
This message was last edited by the player at 08:47, Sun 09 Feb 2020.

Raises a brow. "umm....."

The burly, barbarian... clown... blinks several times at Aflae, puzzling over what she might be talking about. Her jewelry, for so he assumed the shards were, surprised him. It almost looked inset in her flesh, like some insect-like folk did in their carapaces. But she wasn't a bug...

Has a cybernetic eye, with the eye itself a rather large shard, and has several shards in her body indeed.... Bozon would guess several months worth of wages are embedded into her flesh, and from the way they are stylishly shaped you would almost think for looks alone if not for the half hazard placement of most of them. (he's not seen modern art so he wouldn't think anyone would just randomly throw things into place for looks!) She has a chuck of her lower torso made out of what looks like glass or plastic too with translucent organs too (that are smaller than they should be and in odd placements) with some organs that shouldn't be there... and is she pregnant? I mean she's not got a belly but there four little things in her belly all curled up with each other. She also has an arms looks to be made out of metal and plastic.

She blinks looking around "um.... ok where the fuck am I and how did I get here? You guys better not have done anything to Val..." her arm open up coming apart and reforming into some kinda device as little holes open up in her belly and the 'babies' fly out... little tinny machines made out of shards, that fly around the area.... one flying right up to Bozon, shining a light over him.

She's a very strange lady with lots of things Bonzon has no idea what they are..... she dose however have what looks like a cross between a guitar and a harp on her back though!!!

With Bozon still having only the slightest idea of how much these crystals were worth in terms of spending power, he's not guessing at the values at all yet. He stares at her arm more than at her belly, even more puzzled by what seemed to be (to his point of view) an ancient prosthetic limb from one of the lost cultures of the past.

The big clown ducks as one of the 'babies' flew towards him, then looks up at the light. His glowing nose seemed weak in comparison. Hmm. Bozon pantomimed looking over the 'baby' with exaggerated mannerisms while he went through the mental efforts to try and operate his cut-down, cantrip version of Enchantmentsensing (or, as D&D would call it, Detect Magic) in an attempt to find out if this thing was alive or a magical construct. Not that the cantrip form of the spell could tell that much, but he didn't know that. All it would tell him was whether magic was present or not.

"Bozon?" he asks Aflae, using the one word (of sorts) that he could say without expending mana for it as an all-purpose, vague query.

Of course the cantrip was being enhanced by Magus which only knew what Bozon knew, so he suddenly felt the mental knowledge that the 'babies' were a sort of magical construct made from a magical substance - the same substance that the payment crystals Bozon has seen seemed to be made from. He also felt that they were like guardian pets and under this woman's control.

Scord looked at Aflae and exclaimed, "Aflae! I'm so happy to see you! You look even more awesome in person than I'd imagined. I've been watching you from another universe and rooting for your cause. I was very impressed with how quickly you arranged your resources to work for you and created your company. Mostly I am constantly surprised by your ingenuity and creativity. You sure keep the Oner on the edge of its seat keeping up with you! For awhile there, I thought you'd for sure figure out a way to end the Balur War. I can't help myself, here, take this special knifemissile I made for you." Scord hands a white crystal knifemissile to Aflae. "It is made of Chaos Crystal - it's a different form of magic than is found in your home Oner. I programmed it to work like a normal knife-missile, but it has certain abilities that you'll enjoy exploiting. It can add or remove chaos or entropy from anything. Adding chaos makes things hotter, brighter, or dirtier and broken. Removing chaos cools things to room temperature, removes light from light-sources, cleans things, fixes broken things, heals body parts and generally makes things more orderly. Because of the way Magus works, it will be enhanced from its normal functioning, and you should find it very easy to use at first. I can't wait to see what you do with it."

Seams a little taken a back but tries to take it in stride as she scans the knife missile, virtually taking it apart with scans. Finding magus version of her creation fascinating... hoping it don't require hearts to run it. "Thank you? That still don't answer my questions..."

Chaos Knife Missile [7/7]


"Oh right!" Scord pulls up a screen from nowhere and watches a playback of the previous few moments to remind himself of the questions, then watches a video playback of Aflae's life since he last saw her, then one of everyone else present.

Then Scord looks Aflae in the eyes, and pulls her into a Mage's Stare which places avatars of themselves in a virtual reality operating on Scord's tattoos. He says in this aside to Aflae, "We are in the Sideways, which is a place... sorry to brag, but... a place I invented a number of years ago. I've been itching to pull it out in gameplay but could never find a good enough excuse. Apparently I've indulged." Scord ends the aside and returns to regular Sideways where everyone can see and hear.

"The Sideways are an Oner 'discovered' (and you know exactly what I mean, Aflae), by the Sprites and chosen as a place that would keep the Leprechauns - their descendent nephews and nieces - safe from all harm. Wherever Leprechauns are born, they instinctively teleport to whenever they're in any danger - perceived or real. Because of this they are free to watch anything from a safe distance and intervene when and if they feel like it. Their natural abilities of sliding between Oners and through dimensions in space, lets them be practically impossible to catch or harm in any way. They are some of the most truly free peoples in Oner 0.

They love to play tricks on people, especially when people make meta references or break the 4th wall. They are meant to encourage good natured chaos and beneficial mayhem. When the ordered system is stark and stale, they like to stir things up to bring justice to the oppressed.

"You got here because I wanted to meet you. I saw you grow quickly in power when you first came on the scene of my observations, overwhelming me and others.

"As for VelAnna, that dear tortured heart, she is safer now than she has ever been in her life, and she's about to receive some of the deepest healing of her life. Not the deepest healing, but some of it. There is a possible future for you where you become two people, both a combination of you, Velerie, Annabelle and Annabelle's lost twin, both connected like all Sangwen Twins (like one person in two bodies who can branch off if they need to, but are smarter than any one or two other people when together). This is more likely to happen if you want it to happen than if you don't. Because of the method Sangwens have to use to Turn someone, it is only possible in a loving and trusting relationship. You and VelAnna have such a relationship, so you could be made Sangwen if you wanted it. And Sangwen don't have to drink blood to live. Kurku's clan is actually fruitarian and partially photosythetic (like Metal Trees) thanks to their friendship with the Queen Sdrankhn's Dragon clan. Queen Sdrankhn is the first Dragon, and the most powerful. Though I think she might be in a disconnected Oner at the moment, I'd have to check my copy of the timeline to be sure.

"Anyway, let me know if you'd be okay with either
-becoming one person in two bodies, combining with VelAnna and her Twin
-or becoming a Sangwen

"Please know, this is a huge indulgence for me, so I'm very grateful to you all for being here.

"Oh, one more thing for you, Aflae," Scord hands her a black iron ring. "This is an Order Ring. An Order Magic ring made of Black Iron. Black Iron is a super dense perfected iron aligned with Order magic, the balance of Chaos. Adding Order freezes, quiets, darkens, arranges, fixes, dulls sharp edges, heals things and orders things. Removing Order warms them to room temperature, blurs shadows, sharpens edges, breaks things, and kills living things. It'll also give you super strength in whatever arm you wear it, freezing anything you want to freeze with a freeze punch. Magus will enhance it's abilities and make it easier to use. Actually, you should have 4 rings, since that is an orderly number."

4 Order Rings [8/8]

"Bozon, I have a bad feeling that you're going to be experiencing some sort of tragedy soon. Things are just going too well. It can't last. But if you never give up hope, I believe everything will turn out alright. If there's anything I can do for you, let me know. Also you might meet Aflae and Azraile back in the real world in the not too distant future."

Looking at everyone, "If you all think that would be a good thing."
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 07:26, Mon 10 Feb 2020.

Bozon eyed the little flying thing with its' light. A magical construct, yes, but also... a pet? He didn't understand how the cantrip might have told him that, but accepted it as just more newness in his complicated ordeal.

He wasn't a threat to the woman - Aflae, he'd heard the others call her - but how to make friends with her pet? It didn't look like it had a nose to sniff him with, or any place to gently scratch or rub to comfort it.

Then Scord spoke up, and the clown glanced his way. "Bozon?" he asked, attention divided between Scord and the flying pet construct.

Alfae is one to look a gifted horse in the mouth, she takes the rings but dont put them on.... she plans to study them and especialy the knife-missile being she didnt awaken the spirit of it and no telling what kinda mind it has. She is of that mindset give everyone a chance to be trusted but expect them to be screwing you over.

"Not that it matters much to you but I kinda figured people already figured out I was doing the one person in more than one body thing already." Though it was more like one person with multiple personalities with a hive mind and a few bodies at this point... but only because she was waiting till she could make herself a dragon for the full blown pluraling of herself as it would be so much easier then.

She looks around thinking "Forth wall? You and the lepricons hu..... so you implying your some kinda higher dementional being or something? Your braking more than the 4th wall....your braking the 5th and 6th... Some dangerous implications there.... and some that piss me off. Considering it implies some one found it entertaining to watch... or orchestrate that I die four times..... well four times from my own relative view of time, I can't say for sure how many times I've died already as apparently I'm not only going to be more plural but an avid time traveler."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:36, Tue 11 Feb 2020.

(and would it be ok to just say az don't hear all this x.x because knowing some of the things that happened to hir was ocistrated by other people for entertainment means would not be good for hir mental state.)
This message was last updated by the player at 16:36, Tue 11 Feb 2020.

Theophili actively prevents Azraile from hearing anything that will upset hir.

Scord says to Aflae, "Okay, let me try to be clear. I'm a human from a different Oner. In my Oner, magic doesn't really exist. To entertain ourselves, we sometimes imagine stories with magic and stuff. There is a theory that everything possible happens in some Oner somewhere. Well, I was killed in my home Oner and made into a sort-of immortal being. Whenever I die, I teleport into a new Oner. This time, I ended up in one of the Oners I used to imagine stories for. I have no real power here, other than knowledge and affinity. Since I imagined an Oner like this one, I'm familiar with it.

"When you imagined the Oner that became Stellaland, you actually just opened access to it. Just like me, you didn't actually create the Oner, you just discovered the Oner that you had imagined. In the same way, I've been teleported into this Oner which I had imagined before I first died. Since there are an infinite number of Oners, every thing possible that you can imagine happens somewhere. Somewhere there is an Oner where people are imagining these things, and even writing what I'm saying as I type it. When you refer to the people who are writing or watching your story, you are breaking the 4th wall. It'd all be theory, except that I came from the Oner where I imagined this Oner.

"As to your death, yeah, that was me. I imagined that too. But I also imagined your coming back to life! Also, I didn't actually cause any of that to actually happen. From my perspective at the time, I was just pretending and making things up. Besides, if I hadn't imagined all that, you'd have never gotten to be so powerful. Think about it: I know things about you that I couldn't possibly otherwise know, and I'm trying to help you.

"Like I said, I know almost everything there is to know about the Oner you came from. I've even got a list of all the High Wizards on my cellphone in my pocket! Also the timeline for the entire history of your Oner, from year 0 to the very end. You know that there is a Big Crunch coming in the distant future, but did you know that the Oner will be reborn afterward, and that everyone from Oner 0 who survives will eventually return? Did you know that Balur and Magus will eventually be at peace and cooperation with each other? Did you know that your jumper bracelet could teach you how to teleport without the aid of the bracelet if you used it enough?

"Seriously, dude, what do you want to know? I'm your genie in a bottle. I can even tell you how to find a Djin, from whom you could demand a wish- I shouldn't have said that."

Bozon just... stared... at Scord, his bearded jaw slack after what he'd just heard said to Aflae. The implications, both practical and philosophical, were beyond staggering.

"Uggg that's confusing.....  your still telling people about the backstage and the spotlight.... the only thing your avoiding is braking the 7th wall and telling about the author and the nature of the world." She stretches. "I would think it was more likely your imagination just 'saw' us than your imagination affected us.... And I think I can still end the war once I've got a Magem free me and the me's 'pick a side' to learn what the fuck is actually going on.... Figure if we can find a way to protect people from Magem we can take some skilled ambassador/negotiator and find some way to safely communicate with the balur oner directly.... likely with a Magum personal oner and some kinda drone."

"Yes! That's exactly what I meant - about joining with VelAnna that is - the idea was to get a Magem free you and a very Magem you. But I just realized that you could do that already, since you're a hive-mind. I had forgotten about that.

"VelAnna is going to find her Twin, though, and after some time with Kurku, they will reintegrate to be one person in two bodies. Regarding the Leviathan Lance curse, I believe you could find the Twin who was lost with the Humagus Guild people. If you go there, be careful. Humagus Guild Wizards are usually humanitarians, but not above doing nasty things for the 'greater good'. Also, I'd be willing to bet that they have a Magem-free, Magus-enhanced environment around them.

"Finding VelAnna's Twin would be fairly quick and easy for you. But she'll be found with or without your help.

"I can tell you that in the original timeline - before Azraile came into the universe- er, sorry, Oner - Balur was defeated after an alternate universe of origin was discovered in which it hadn't become the sole lifeform. In that alternate Balur Oner, many Balur predators were discovered. Like the ones on Gamma, but some even more intelligent than Balur. The predators were captured and used as a bargaining chip in discussions with Balur - if Balur didn't agree to work with Magus, stop fighting against other magics and technologies, and convert no more than a certain percentage of the mass in each Oner it was present in, the predators would be replicated and released en masse such that Balur would become an endangered species, or even extinct. It was a group of Wizards who were able to suppress the Magem around them to the point that Balur couldn't affect them or even reset them.

"Also, the Balur can be communicated with in any crystal large enough. I forget how large, but if you found a way to scan for Balur concentrations, you'd find a few planet-sized Balur crystals in Oner 0.

"Regarding the 5th and beyond walls, I'm not familiar with those terms, but if you want to know about the author who saw/imagined this Oner, ask away!

"Bozon, I have to say, that performance you did in front of the Pirate King was awesome! Also, I love the music you play. It sounds alot like music from the country called India in my home world. Beautiful."

(So did the events of Gamma, Lost and Found not happen?)

"Thats a lot to take in.... I think Val should probably handle this herself if she can... but I hope we can find some better means of more lasting peace than at gun point." She sighs and slumps into a couch which she has come into existence. "So Balur wants to replace other forms of technology and magic and convert all mater into it? I had theories this was the case... it's why I only made the generators available to high up company use and for worlds with exstream power needs that are threatening the loss of many lives. I didn't need to run similuations to know mass use of the generators would lead to post scarcity but would drastically incress the levels of Balur. Well there must be a way to convince them people do not want this and will fight and destroy them if they keep forcing this." Scord should be careful what he says....   "And yes I was aware of the big cruch, Balur manipulation of atoms has lead to a universe much older than it should be, and there constant manipulation of events is accelerating the relative time.... the relitive large number of damage and luck crystals shows just how much they have been toying with things."

She sighs stretching out on the couch.

"oh... yah... the stage stuff..... First is stage left, it's where actors come onto the stage, birth and the sorce of life the flow of living things into the system and the interduction o the soul. Knowing it is knowing your alive, being self aware of your own exsistance. Second is the back drop, the scene where everything takes place, the world itself or oner and what have you. Know it is knowing where you are and having knowlage of the world around you. Third is stage right, where actors leave the stage, where life ends and the soul leaves to well where ever the souls leaves. Knowing it means knowing you are mortal and will die, general the second part of self awareness and a sign of being an adult or a loss of innocence. The forth is the audience, those who watch the actors. Knowing them means knowing you are a form of entertainment and being aware of the world of the audience, being able to talk to them and converce with them... how well you know of the audience can varry really what this means as there is so much to know there and one can know so little but it still affect them. There all associating with directions... the fifth wall is up, the spotlight. Knowing it means knowing who the is the center of the story at any given time... who the world is focused around, the protagonist. So your letting us know the three of us are protagonist....   Then there is down, the sixth wall the various trap doors and ((what ever that thing is you call it where the dome at the front of the stage is where people hide i can't find it's name >.<)) where the script is read, props are brought in from offstage, and there is access to backstage. Knowing it means having access to backstage, being able to bring props into the world, and being able to have some ability to change the script...   The seventh is all around and is the author... Knowing of the author means knowing the nature of the medium itself and what kinda medium you are in, giving one access to do just about anything allowed within the bounds of that medium. This all of course an 'eventually' with practice and further understanding kinda thing."

Bozon gave Scord a 'what the?' sort of look before raising one hand and closing his own mouth by lifting his chin up until the dropped jaw was back in place. From his own point of view, that of the actor here in this backstage, his performance among the pirates was incomplete, yet somehow he remembered the rest of it and Summer Knight's aid arriving to reunite him with the Elf children. Likewise, the music at the restaurant was both in his future and something already performed. Was this how oracles and prophets felt, perceiving the tapestries of the future? Or was that more akin to reading the script-to-come?

Nonetheless, what Scord had said of imagining places into being and people's lives coming to pass reminded him of passages in the epic poem Chlòkh Azyshmé, as well as certain philosophical observations uttered by Mimulâno of Jtam Yss regarding the capabilities and limitations of the gods.

Paying closer attention now to both Scord and Aflae, the king-turned-jester pondered the war being mentioned, as well as the walls which Aflae described. The first four he had some knowledge of from both theatrical training and philosophical study, but the latter trio were new to his experience.

Am I to understand that this 'Balur' is the major antagonist of the living performance we are part, Vòrin Writer?



OOC: Vòrin is a high-level honorific, similar to the Japanese 'Sama' or addressing someone as 'Lord' in the mortal sense. It is also used as the rank-title for the minor gods.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:38, Fri 14 Feb 2020.

Theophili asks Bozon, "Tell us about the guardians of your world. What do they do to inhibit outsider influence?"

Scord responds to Bozon, "Balur is the major antagonist of the setting, but was originally meant to be an unconquerable backdrop rather than a conquerable antagonist of the story. But Aflae started bringing in ideas from the Culture Series of books that both me and her writer are fond of, and I couldn't resist helping her guide the zeitgeist toward a post-scarcity economy.

"Also, soli deo gloria. That is to say, I give all the honour and praise to my Creator who gave me all that I have and am. Also, I'm no longer the writer. Now I'm like a copy of the writer who has experienced other worlds, and obtained other magics. Please just call me Scord. We are all equals in my eyes."

"Thank you for explaining the walls to me, Aflae. I'd say that you 3 are major protagonists in this story, though from experience I know you're not immune to death - just ineffectiveness.

"The Backdrop: Given the nature of magics that are appearing in the worlds, I'd say that the original restriction on the introduction of new magics has been lifted. This must mean that some major groups of powerful Magus Mages is fighting to change the timeline and bring about the fall of Balur earlier than the original timeline ordained. This is both exciting and dangerous, because it means that fate is less clear to the clerics, though any verified prophecies will still come to pass.

"Stage right leads to the Bow where the actors are given what they wanted in life. Those who wanted justice are given justice according to how they judged others. Those who are merciful and love Life are given Life and shown mercy as they showed mercy to others.

"The Audiance is, in my original world, a group of people from around a world that has little to no magic, who are mutually writing the story from the perspectives of their chosen protagonists. But there is also an audience here and in the Oners of the people who have exited the stage and are now given the opportunity to yell at the actors on stage, and occasionally throw things at them. In other words, the dead watch history unfold, and voice their opinions to the Owner. The Owner then affects the events as they unfold to ensure ultimate justice and mercy. It is a world where pain is very real, but every wrong will be righted in the end, and also after everyone exits the stage, they will all return for a cast party or go home to their treasure chests. But be aware that breaking the 4th and above walls tends to summon Leprechauns who are what is called a Deus-Ex-Machina in my world - that would be the 6th wall. They will reverse any advantages that the protagonists try to take by breaking walls if it has the potential to jeopardize the planned outcome - unless the new outcome is more interesting.

"The 7th wall is actually multiple people, but ultimately the Owner is above even the writers. The Owner controls chance, and even over-rules the writers.

"One little used effect of the medium of your story is the off-the-wall effect. When in a contest type situation, if you act in an unconventional manner especially to a humorous effect, and if chance allows success, you are much more likely to win the contest.

"Also, the more you exercise your diverse skillset, the more likely to succeed in your endeavours you'll become. That's why Aflae has done so well. Her writer knows how to game the system pretty well."

OOC:  What about Gamma, Lost and Found?  Did they not find the magem eating stuff?

OOC: Scord's post mentioned Gamma. Re-read it?

ooc maybe i'm reading the wrong part? but don't seam 100% clear

In reply to Narrator (msg # 50):

The big clown thought about Theophili's question, shifting pose several times as he considered different aspects of it. Guardians, yes... the various gods and the Watchers could be construed as that, along with the apparently unusual and abnormal location that Ushù'l held relative to other Oners. Tékumel, the homeworld of the Fasiltumians, had apparently had that same peculiarity, both worlds having experienced dire cataclysms that had thrown them free from their original realities. But what would inhibit outside influences? Other than the oddities of Fasiltumian culture with their duality of Stability and Change, what was constraining his people from being influenced unduly by tourists? Nothing, that he could think of. The Watchers set forth laws for interactions and portrayal of the kind of society that the tourists expected, but they did not forbid the locals from listening to tourists and taking in new ideas. Yet... come to think of it, very few such concepts ever took root beyond being incorporated into further theater. New tastes in the arts arose, grew, and faded as they always had, but what actually changed? It surprised him that he had never read of any philosopher approaching this. Like there was a wall, a blind in the mind, a direction that the peoples of his world could not look in. Could not be aware of, in their own realm. What lay beyond it, and why was it locked away?

He looked at Theophili having no real answer for her, only further questions that hers had stirred up.

OOC: The events of Gamma still happened, though I may have inadvertently contradicted myself. What lead you to ask the question? Also, I really want to free Kantoku from that world, and I plan on finding a way to do that when I have the chance to re-read that thread.

IC:

Theophili speaks to Bozon, "If reality is never truly presented, change is never given opportunity to take root. What do you think would happen if an alien lifeform too small to see, invaded your home world?"

Scord pulls Magusstone, and a few other things, then sits cross-legged and meditates while waiting in case anyone talks to him.

The burstbarian was taken aback by the question. 'Alien lifeform' he understood, like a creature from another world or from one of the Planes. But what kind of living things were too small to see?

Too small to see? I do not understand that, Theophili. Would that be like a very, very small seed, or the eggs of a wasp? Of what sort of lifeform do you refer? he thought hard.

"Come to think of it... even if Balur agreed to peace, peace couldn't be assured with out some gun pointed at it's head and it would know that so I don't think it would mind all that much as it would be a necessity.... as no one could ever fully trust it with out one." She sighs. "Thats.... kinda disappointing but with the nature of Balur mutually ensured destruction has to be set up for anyone else to trust Balur."


(well because Gamma is the story where they ran into those life forms that eat balur was)