Even as Vasily frees up his sheath and is about to try and knock the Pearl out of Prad's hand, the Pearl flies out of his hand towards the alcove.

It's not just floating but neither is it flying very fast. There's a brief window of opportunity for anyone who so wishes to try and grab the Pearl out of the air.

In reply to Dread Pirate Robert (msg # 636):

Alessandra reaches out and attempts to grab it, standing up on her toes in an attempt to reach it.

Alessandra has no problem reaching out and snatching the floating black pearl right out of the air. Half expecting something bad to happen, she's mildly surprised that nothing does. While the pearl doesn't feel particularly warm, it also doesn't feel cold to the touch, though that could possibly be from Prad holding it.

For a moment, nothing happens. Then she feels a slight tug as the pearl seems to want to continue its flight to the alcove. It's not a very forceful tug and Alessandra has no problem resisting it.

It's only then that she starts to feel... something... desire... yearning... longing... It wants to go home.

Then she starts hearing the voices. One at first, then two and three... a dozen... that quickly turn into hundreds!

She can't quite understand what they are saying as it's in a language she doesn't understand. Just when the voices are about to overwhelm her, they suddenly stop.

Letting go of Prad's fate once it's no longer so entangled with the pearl, Fiora grabs hold of Alessandra's instead.  As the strands leading to and from the pearl tangle with the woman's own, she watches with concern.  Reaching into the middle of that seems unwise, but what's happening can't be healthy.

"Are you well?  What's it like?"  Despite her concern, curiosity shines through.  Alessandra is a much more eloquent and observant person than Prad, at least the Prad she's seen so far, which hasn't been long.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:47, Thu 24 Mar 2022.

In reply to Fiora Ambrogia (msg # 639):

"I think... I am hearing so many voices. I think that the Pearl is homesick." Alessandra says, with the voices still ringing in her ears.

"Then I guess this is the moment where we must decide whether to simply let it go home or to risk all manner of problems trying to risk resisting its will to do so."

"Perhaps it's just an affinity for this alcove... this place," Valentino suggests. "I mean, it's not alive, is it? So there's no mind, no consciousness, right? Or are you saying that it holds all those minds... that were the voices?"

"In any case, if we don't let it go, what else will we do with it? Do we destroy it? CAN we destroy it? It found its way here once; is there any reason to think it won't do so again?"

"Remember, too, others are looking for it, perhaps because it has power but also to keep other nations, other people from gaining that power."

"I don't relish becoming the Keeper of the Black Pearl, but is there another course for us to pursue?"

"I say we let it go. Either way, we're operating in the dark."

"I agree; we don't know of any way to destroy it and do not seem to have the time to research such things. At least if we let it go where it wants then it will be static, at least for now; if  we try to resist that then it will continue to move around, possibly causing problems."

"As I understand its history," Anders says, "it's never been static."

"Far be it from me to suggest any powers or motives to a Syrne artifact, but if it has power, it has to use it. All that power in the tiny pearl can only be contained for so long."

"Though... I wonder if the Black Pearl actually had a purpose? Why was it created in the first place?"

In reply to Anders Mendelsson (msg # 644):

"It is entirely possible. What do you think it was created for?"Alessandra asks.

"In this case it would likely be static for as long as it took to recharge itself, at least. It may also need to have a human hand to move it, so it would be static until it was found again. Though, perhaps, if recharged it would have the power to force us to do its bidding from afar."

"So little is known about the Syrne, particularly what made them tick, that it's hard to say why they created this Black Pearl or what its purpose was," Valentino says.

"I'd guess it's a power storage device, but to what end I haven't a clue. For all I know, it may have powered a flying ship!"

"It's your call now, Alessandra, since you're holding it."

"Given a lifetime I might be able to find its purpose in its fate.  Though-"  Fiora grimaces.  "One of my sisters more likely, I wouldn't want to stay in one place that long.  It's a worthy goal, but the world is already too large to see.  Everyone else back up, Alessandra-"  She makes a grabbing motion  "Whatever you're going to do, I'll try to pull you out of the way if it goes badly."

Unspoken is the fact that she's going to watch very closely either way, because this is fascinating.

Alessandra thinks. What should she do? Finally, she decides to let go of it.

As Alessandra lets go of the Pearl, everyone is expecting something spectacular to happen, but, unrestrained, the Pearl simply floats into the alcove and comes to rest in a small semi-circular indentation in the back of the alcove. As it does, it starts to glow with a soft blue light.

That's enough to show that there are many more such indentations in the curved back of the alcove. All are empty.

"Goodness... that represents a lot more black pearls. Trying to find them all and return them here would probably take many lifetimes."

"If they're even all the same color.  Why would they be?"  Approaching the alcove, Fiora reaches out to swipe a pair of hooked fingers through one of the empty indentations, tugging on the strands of fate that connect it to something far distant.  Pulling them closer to inspect, she sights along one of the lines as though the wall it passes through weren't there and she were staring off into that same distance.

"If I didn't have to sleep, I might be able to follow one of these threads to its end.  But I can't keep hold of it in dreams.  There are ways to do it, but I don't know them.  I could weave it into someone's fate to hold onto it, but they might end up like Prad was."


[OOC: Lore Streiga can do things like weaving strands of fate into literal cloth tapestries.  There are no rules for how something like this would work, but it's simple enough to assume Fiora just doesn't know how.  As for weaving it into someone's fate?  That's just a blessing to enhance their ability to find the thing.  As long as Fiora refreshes it before it wears off, they can keep hold of that strand.  Flesh wounds fall off at the same rate as that blessing, as long as they don't actually use it, so she'd just have a permanent 1 flesh wound until she stopped doing that.]
This message was last edited by the player at 02:45, Wed 20 Apr 2022.

As Fiora runs her fingers over the other indentations, she is surprised/shocked to find NO strands!

At first, she thinks that there never were any other pearls in these spots, but then she realizes that the ones that were once here are... gone. Some have clearly been destroyed, but others are just simply.... gone. They no longer exist within the Fate strands.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:40, Sun 24 Apr 2022.

"No Vasily, the rest of the empty places aren't connected to anything.  Or if they are, their pearls are outside the weave of fate.  How that could be I don't know, even Porte doesn't tear things from fate, merely moves them.  They could be destroyed, but if they were as powerful as this one, that would take...  Hmm, I have no idea."

"Perhaps this receptacle was created to house many of them, but only this one was ever created. No matter; if they are outside of Fate then I guess it is unlikely that they can affect the world of man. So we only have to consider how to deal with this one. And it seems to be at rest for the moment. Perhaps we can figure out a way to seal the entrance to this realm and, thereby, prevent this one from ever influencing the world again?"

In reply to Dread Pirate Robert (msg # 653):

Alessandra is surprised to see so many holes in the wall. So many pearls, she thinks. Where have they all gone?

"While that sounds like a decent plan, Vasily," Valentino agrees, "I'm not so sure it's within our ability to do so."

"I'm not sure this is 'another realm'. Though another realm is where the other pearls may have gone. Maybe wherever the Syrne went, they took those pearls with them."

"Fiora, would the Fate strands leave this world... or still connect here if they went to another world? What if they went to Heaven?"

"We don't really understand the power that the Pearl possesses. All we've heard are tales and legends. If... when... it's at full power, who knows how it could affect this place. It came here apparently to recharge. Did... does... it have some other purpose? It has power--at the very least, I would expect it to want that power to be used somehow. Oh, I'm not talking about any conscious mind within it. More like a barrel full of water. The water wants to flow out but the barrel keeps it from doing so. And we can take water from the barrel as we need it, eventually using it all up."

"Doesn't that sound like the Pearl?"

"I'm... uncertain.  When a man dies, some of his strands vanish, those the pull and drag at the world around him.  But some remain.  So long as anyone living remembers him, and acts differently because he lived, his fate remains part of the weave.  The missing pearls..."

Fiora shrugs.  "If they were intact, their fates should be tied to here.  If not, they should still have faint strands here because our actions have already been changed by them, we're discussing them.  If they never existed, they'd obviously have no fate.  Finally, if a Syrneth sorceress cut them from fate then it might look like this.  I don't know, I don't know how to cut fate, only change it's path."

Thinking about it for a few seconds, she adds "I could try giving someone a blessing to make them more likely to find the pearl's siblings.  If they exist, that might draw in a strand.  But they could end up in Prad's shoes if such a pearl exists.  My own blessings don't last long without my attention, but if another Black Pearl uses it as a fisherman's line, you could be quite stuck."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:45, Sun 24 Apr 2022.

In reply to Fiora Ambrogia (msg # 658):

"That sounds a little frightening." Alessandra says.

"It should."  Her tone is oddly cheerful for the content.  This whole thing is just so fascinating.  "Perhaps we can try with some Vodacce ship captain who's ashore somewhere.  If he's ensnared, we use him as a compass.  If he's not, I've already disrupted his wife's blessings, and we let him go to his fate."  The idea of using one of Vodacce's loyalist captains as a fishing lure obviously appeals to Fiora.

"Not you Valentino, obviously.  You're too good with your hands for a fate like that."  The words and tone are teasing in more ways than one.