In reply to Scord (msg # 126):

The Ik emmissary snarls as you mention the Tarin.

"Be silent!" He yells at you, half standing, and raising an arm as if he might strike you.  Your ambassador is staring at you with an open question on his face.

OOC: Bad dice roll.

I compassionately look at the Tarin man, and in the same way I was speaking with him earlier, I say, "Tarin people will be known as equals, but violence will only delay that outcome. If you trust my God - the same one who is allowing me to speak with you as I am, the same one who Is, who Was and who always Will Be, if you trust this God of Love and Life, named Yahweh, you and your people will be saved without ever striking out in violence against another person - even this immature child who is your leader. But I personally won't be able to help your cause if you harm him. Even so, whatever you do, my God is on the side of the oppressed and downtrodden. Your cause will not be lost."

In reply to Scord (msg # 128):

The Ik emmissary pulls back his hand some more, and seems about to strike you when suddenly like a gunshot, the Shayan ambassador's hand slaps the table.

"You WILL not strike my attache', sir.  If you do, there will be highly unpleasant consequences. Not only for yourself, but for your nation. Do I make myself clear?"

At the same time, the would be assassin looks up at you, and then relaxes. He puts his hand away from the opening of his coat jacket.  And the others on the Ik side, pull down their emmissary with words, and soft hands encouraging him to sit down.  He's flushed and blotchy in the face and barely in control of himself.

My base instinct is to just go quiet now, and let the ambassador take over, explaining things when it's all over. But that's not what I'm going to do.

Instead I pray silently for insight into why the Ik emissary reacted in that way.

Checking my instinct & knowledge, I wonder if the Tarin have a history of violence against the Ik, or if the Ik merely consider the Tarin as sub-human because they can.

In reply to Scord (msg # 130):

You see a flash of history, a montage pass before your eyes.  The Tarin were herdsmen who lived quite well on their hilly lands.  They exported meat, hide, and protective animals (guardbeasts), and lived well.  The Ik ruled the lower lands, and built things in factories, but their life was harsher, and they worked harder, and had dirtier air.

Looking closer, you see that the Tarin of that time seem better than the Tarin you see now.

And then jealous of their greater wealth and ease, the Ik attacked the Tarin and burned well, anything that would burn, and put the survivors to work in farms.  And now the Ik live easier as they own the farms that they employ the Tarin to work on.

You see a final image of a fire being set by Iks which spreads for several hundreds of miles, and you see Tarins' with their faces in shadows talking to a being in shadow who promises them revenge in exchange for their worship.

"Worship me, and I shall give you a Great Burning that will m ake the first Burn look small."  And then suddenly you hear the voice. "Someone watches up from uptime. Go now. I shall deal with this intruder."

Speaking ((under what I believe to be the sincere influence of Yahweh)) to the Tarin, speaking in Tongues, I say, "I have a message for you to bring back to your people. Your enemy is the spirit of Judgement. The Ik were placed under the influence of the spirit of Judgement who lied to them and made you appear like filth to the eyes of the Ik. The Ik did what they thought right and tried to burn you away - they were obeying the lying spirit of Judgement. That same spirit is in the position to jump on you and burn your hearts and nobility down lower than the ashes. The spirit of Love offers you freedom from tyranny. If you boldly follow the spirit of Love and Forgiveness, you will be tested and the nobility of your spirits will be forged in fire - but you will emerge stronger than the hardest god-metal alloy. So that you may know that I speak the truth, you will be given visions of truth when you hear this message. Those who love you, know your pain as they learn the truth. Those who learn your pain through vengeance, heap piles of the excrement of judgement on your heads."

To the Ik ambassador, I speak in Tongues for him to hear, "The sins of your fathers have returned to condemn you. Those who let your people starve have been punished, but those who were the slaves have become the slavers. Justice will come and Yahweh has declared that you must repent - turn from your ways of fear and control and turn to the ways of trust and family. Turn to the spirit of Love and Forgiveness or the spirit of Judgement and Death will consume you and crush you. Let it be a sign of the truth of this proclamation that you see the Truth when this message is heard."

I say these things in absolute certainty that Yahweh is the one from whom this message was given, and that Yahweh will see to its fulfillment. I say them in a spirit of mercy and love, with my heart overflowing with compassion for both the Ik and the Tarin in their time of testing. EDIT: I say this with the knowledge of the pattern that Yahweh has throughout the scriptures of every faith and practice, and especially the Jewish and Christian scriptures of my home Verse.

EDIT2: A bit of background about me - I'm not a Process Theology proponent at all. I believe fully in the complete sovereignty of God - everything that happens is under his direction and part of the perfect plan. Traditional theology sees God as the writer of the script of reality. Process Theology treats God like Drew Carey on Whose Line Is It Anyway - affected by reality as much as affecting it. I see God as the perfect fractal that is the Omniverse - the Multiverse of Multiverses. Everything that happens in every reality or potential timeline is perfectly designed according to God's will and purpose.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:36, Fri 13 May 2022.

As you speak in tongues to the Tarin of the past, the Shadow suddenly screams.

"BE SILENT!"  And you feel your throat catch, and blood fill your mouth, and something start dripping down your face, but spitting out the blood, you finish your oration.  The Tarin scream in terror and flee as soon as you are done.

"I have placed my curse on you. You will die in three days. You should not have crossed me." The spirit of Lying Judgement speaks.  More blood fills your mouth, and the vision of the past fades away.  You spit the blood into a handy cup on the table, and everyone draws back in fear and disgust.

Weary, you speak to the Ik amabassador.

"We were never slaves, but we feared they might enslave us." He shouts back.  "I will...." Something catches his eyes, and he thrusts it away.  "We do not give up our servants.  They are low men, unworthy."

"And now you die..." The man with the gun says as he reaches for his weapon.

I say, ((from Col 1:24)) "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my physical body—for the sake of his body, the church—what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ." I give praise to God that he has allowed such a display, and ask that he hear the cry of the blood that has been spilled and bring justice through love and mutual protection against the greater evil until even that greater evil can be welcomed with loving arms into the Kingdom.

To the one who tried to silence me, I say, "May Yahweh bless you with an ever opening heart of love."



"If it is the will of Yahweh, then I welcome the fate." With gratitude, seeing the creature as a tool in the hands of my sovereign and loving God, I say, "Thank you for being the impetus that hastens me on."


I pay close attention to what that might be.



"The God of the entire multiverse emptied himself of all Godly power to become the most humble of people possible - the almighty God of the armies of Heaven loves the underdog and the lowly servant."



I pray that the gun malfunction as I stand in front of the weapon between the Ambassador and the Tarin, facing the Tarin and projecting all of my love toward him. I remember when my brother became very angry with my sister - she was making fun of him and humiliating and emasculating him until he couldn't handle it any more. He went into my parents bedroom and took the loaded rifle from the gun cabinet and cocked the rifle and told her he was coming for her. I stood between them and placed the barrel of the gun on my chest pointed at my heart as I poured my love for my brother and my sister into every word as I explained that I couldn't let him hurt himself by attacking her like that - I was willing to die to protect him from doing that to himself. He pulled the trigger, but the safety was on. After he pulled the trigger, his eyes changed as he realized what he had done and he put the gun down ((EDIT: I forgot, he let me take the gun from him)) and cried. This incident flashes through my memory as I see my little brother in the assassin.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:29, Sat 14 May 2022.

In reply to Scord (msg # 134):

Your mouth continues to fill, and you fight through the throat burrs, as you did not pray for relief.  Instead the Shadow screams in utmost agony.

=================

"Verser."  It snarls. "We will meet again. You will die again and again.  And each time as you cry in pain, I will laugh."

=============

You're not sure what caught the eye of the ambassador.

================

"We are not Old Believers.  Your God is nothing against the Demons and Dragons which I can see with my own eye." He scoffs.  But then fear crosses his eye as the would be assassin who had been reconsidering changes his mind again to kill.

Then you step in front.

The assassin drops his gun weeping, and the Ik ambassador generates a sword of fire, but then suddenly the whole room is filled with Hard Light and the Shayan ambassador booms.

"DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS!!"  You find you can't move, and then you hear your ambassador say.  "Now, I know its not my jurisdiction, but I'm not going to stand for you murdering an unarmed man right in front of me.  And if you disagree, I'll be glad to challenge you to a duel.  Marine Scord, will you stand as my second?"  And now you can move.  But the room is still mostly filled with Hard Light with just enough room for people to move a bit around them.  The ambassador's eyes are blindingly bright, and you can feel power pouring off him.

"Then, though I will try to stop you, I will freely give you my pain as a gift of love."


OOC: That depends on a few things,
First, would I know what a duel is in this world?
What would the rules for a second be? If it is to ensure that the duel was carried out under honorable conditions, on a proper field of honor and with equally deadly weapons, then I would agree to be his second - and I would start praying to ensure that everything was honorable and honest.

In reply to Scord (msg # 136):

The Shadow screams in pain again, and is gone.

You've heard duelling mentioned in passing in class, and yes, that seems to be the gist of the deal.

To the ambassador, "Sir, I would be honored to stand as your second."

And I pay special attention to how he did that Hard Light magic, in case I don't get a chance to learn it from him or someone else directly.

Due to the Ik ambassador's comments and the contents of others, I begin to silently pray that, as in the time of Elijah, the Lord reveal the supremacy of faith in God over other sources of power in the coming years for everyone in this universe. I make this a prayer that I repeat silently every time I eat or drink, and upon waking and just before I sleep.

In reply to Tadeusz (msg # 137):

Sadly, the Ik ambassador refuses to duel, and rushes off with the rest of his entourage.

The Shayan ambassador from New Texas releases his Hard Light, and his eyes no longer blare.  He shrugs.

"Thanks for offering to stand second to me, Scord.  I think you can accompany me back to my ship as I'm pretty sure the negotiations have....'reached a pause' as we say in diplospeak.  After that, I can release you to go about your business, and I'll head back to New Texas."

The would be assassin is still there.

You've got some ideas about how the ambassador did the Hard Light thing.

"Thank you, sir. Sir, I think I should tell you what transpired back there in the silent spaces..." I tell him everything the Tarin told me, the contents of msg #131, 133, and I fill him in on information about the coming umbral creature and the shadow creature that attacked me earlier that I haven't already revealed to him. "I figured it would be best if you knew this - I don't know if it will help, but I wanted to let you know."



While I'm still with him, I ask the Ambassador, "If you have time, would you mind teaching me how you did that Hard Light thing?" I may be able to figure it out on my own, but it would probably be safer with a bit of help.

In reply to Scord (msg # 140):

"You've attracted the attention of something unpleasant indeed.  Let me check...."  His right hand glows, and he studies your body from sole to scalp in that light.  "I don't see a curse wound into you.  Now I could be wrong, or it could be of a type I'm ill equipped to stop like Dream.  But the creatures of Shadow are liars.  You would not be the first man who heard a false threat from one of them. And it would be highly difficult to do such if the being was trying to reach across time at the same time.  Complications can be multiplicative as to difficulty.  Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Lets go back to my ship first." He says after your request.  Once in his ship, he takes you to the cargo bay, and shows you how to make a looping matrix which resists change.  "Light must move.  So attempting to lock light in place without time magic should fail, or be extremely hard.  But you can bounce and bend light, and you can keep light on its course.  This matrix will resist being changed.  And so will lock about everyone you can see, or you can imagine."

He sighs.

"Now there are two more things.  One, if you imagine, and it does not match reality, you're going to be in trouble as your spell will backlash. Two, this is a powerful spell which takes considerable strength.  I doubt you can manage more than a second right now before it fades."

"Basically, but there's a few things I don't understand. For one, what you just did with your hand over my body - that's new to me and I'd also like to learn how to do that, if I'm not being too greedy with your time. I also don't know anything about Dream, other than ordinary dreams and an ancient form of dream interpretation involving Jungian therapy. I know a tiny bit about creatures of Shadow, but not much other than what I've seen and already told you. I'm pleased to learn that it was likely lying. It makes sense that cursing someone across time would be difficult to accomplish."



Before I begin, I explain what I'm about to do, just in case I've gotten some part wrong or misunderstood - better to avoid a botch if I can.

I've looked at my hand many times and even drawn it a number of times, sometimes with pencil, pen, paint and even clay sculptures, so I'm confident that I can imagine my hand with fair clarity. So I focus on a small area directly around my hand. I focus my mind, keeping the area in my imagination and in my sight, and try to bounce and bend and direct the matrix of light in the area to resist change.

Afterward, "Do I need to keep the area in my imagination if I can see it? Or just if I can't see it?"

He smiles gently.

"Patience, son. Patience.  While that spell does not take a lot of power, it does take a lot of skill.  You need a lot of practise before you're even ready to start learning how to examine someone's life field."  In other words, no.  "Dream is one of the eight areas of magic. Light, Fire, and so on."

A faint flicker of Hard Light blooms around your hand, and is gone in far less than a second.  And you stagger exhausted.  Catching your breath, you realize  you know how to d o it.  Just you need a lot of improvement.  In fact, you can already see ways to do better.

1@1 Hard Light. (Near minimal success roll).

"You got it.  As to your other question, only what you can't see.  Now, Mr. Scord, I'll drop a letter to your command, and brief them on your experiences and performance, which I found exemplary, btw, and now I have to say goodbye.  But feel free to come to New Texas.  I'll take you out to my ranch, and you can try to bull ride an aurochs if you like."

He offers a hand to shake, and then ushers you to the door.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:24, Sat 25 June 2022.

"Thank you, Bill! If I get the chance, I will take you up on that offer."


I shake it and take my leave.

Having been freed from my duties to the Shayan Marines for this mission, ((unless I'm mistaken)) I make my way to the most logical place to begin to find transport to the Hand of Dinis - my fellow marines. I ask them how I could get there from here.

EDIT:
If they are reluctant or don't know, I make my way to a common area where locals and civilians could mingle, and I ask around (praying for God to lead me).
This message was last edited by the player at 20:55, Tue 19 July 2022.

In reply to Scord (msg # 144):

They make you tell them what happened as they heard something happened, but not what.  And then they take you to a shuttle pilot they know, and ask him to fit you in to a group going to the Hand.

He's a local, but a friend to the Marines.

"Eh, sure. I'll have him ride up here as copilot.  Its a simple trip.  At least for me.  For the magic seekers not so much."

There is a group of ten magic seekers in the back, and four guides.

So I fill them in on all the details that I can.

I also take stock of my inventory to get an idea of what I'll have to defend myself with when I get there.


((1@10 Soul Healing))
I thank the Marines for everything, and ask them if I can pray for them. If they accept my offer, I bless them with a prayer, "May the God of Peace bless you and give you God's peace. May you be well in mind body and spirit. May you be loved." Praying in tongues afterward as I feel lead.


"Thank you for the ride! I really appreciate this."


If possible, I chat up the seekers and the guides to get a better idea of how to prepare myself.

In reply to Scord (msg # 146):

The Marines appreciate the prayer, and you don't feel led to speak in tongues afterwards.

One of the guides repeats a mantra in a bored tone.

"This is dangerous. You may die, or be captured, or be seriously injured. You take these risks of your own free will.  The local beings, demons, are insectile bipedal in appearance, and have multi part skin armor.  This may be pierced at joining spots. On the average, an adult human in good condidtion is stronger physically and can run faster than a demon.  However, the danger is not one, but a thousand.  The ideal method is to get in, get empowered, and then run like crazy for the spaceship as a thousand demons chase you.  Hopefully you are not discovered getting in, which is why the shuttlecraft lands so far away.  You WILL be discovered when you contact the power field.  You may choose to back out at any moment until you set foot on the Hand and try another day.  After that, the shuttlecraft is closed except for returnees and dropouts.  You dropout, and you can try again, in five years. Any other questions?"

You can practically see his pain under thetone.  He's taken too many cargo shuttles full of  bright eyed seekers and returned with broken, battered returnees in a half empty shuttle.

Part of me wonders why the 'demons' are volatile. That part wonders if they are sentient, and if they could be reasoned with. But that is not my place or purpose at the moment. My purpose is to obtain this new power. Perhaps my purpose will change with the circumstances, but for now I proceed as planned.

"Should we stay separate to minimize our chances of being seen, or work together?"


1@10 Soul Healing
I silently pray for him, and if I get a chance, I mention, "Thank you for doing this. I know we are risking our lives, but we have made our choice and you are helping us to get what we need or want in as safe a way as you are able. I pray that my God will bless you and comfort you with the knowledge of how much good you are doing."

As we get closer to the drop-point, I pray with Faith that we will have God's protection and help - especially those who are destined to fight against EDM and the sources of evil in this universe.

In reply to Scord (msg # 148):

Their team leader quickly replies. "We've had some training together. You can't come with us. Sorry."

===========

You speak to the pilot and he thanks you, looking much healthier afterwards.

The ship lands, and the others bolt out silently as they can.

I wait and watch which way the other team departs. If they are silent, skilled and are eliminating threats as they go to clear their path, I'll follow at a distance to take advantage of the cleared path. If they are leaving the path dangerous, I'll make my own way, trying to stay well hidden, and avoid being surprised. As I begin, I pray for God's guidance and Holy Spirit to lead my every move, focusing on gratitude to my precious YHWH for bringing me to where I am.

If I come across a deadly creature, I'll prepare myself to either use the object-freezing light-locking ability or else shape hard-light into a razor-sharp disk that I can use like a mind-piloted mobile laser blade or something. I'll also make sure my weapon is ready to use.

My goal will be to avoid confrontation and minimize harm, even to the creatures.

In reply to Scord (msg # 150):

They are trying very hard to avoid threats so you go on your way.

You set out on your own path across the stony plain aiming toward the mountain with teh caves down to the source in the distance.  As you walk over a smooth curving rise, it suddenly cracks like a gun shot underneath you, and you drop about three inches.  You're startled, but not hurt.

Looking at it, it seems like a stone covered bubble with very thin stone.  Looking about you realize you're surrounded by these bubbles or blisters in stone.  But there are paths between them.  The problem now is you made a lot of noise.

As you pray, confusion seems to plague your thoughts.  Not helping is that the gravity seems to be about 3/5ths of what you're used too, and there are occasional moments when gravity seems to partially bend in odd directions like to the side....not wholly so you don't go flying, but about 1/10 of normal gravity.

You do not see anyone rushing toward you right now.

OOC: Bad scouting roll, botch on prayer, and due to this world spaceship and previous ones, you gain +@3 to walking as you've now experienced walking in different gravities.