The road to Gervasiel

As we play, occasionally we'll close a thread and open a new one to keep the size of threads (and relative complexity) down to a dull roar. Here's where we store the closed posts from the history of Errant Road.
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Drannin
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Re: The road to Gervasiel

Post by Drannin »

Argus almost rocketed out of his chair. WHAT!?!?

Blurring and rapid movement? Even the best bio-thaumaturgy couldn't pull off that speed. There was only one other possibility: time magic.

One of the most heavily regulated and easily-abused schools of magic ever devised, that routinely backfired and zapped Tsuirakuan mages into oblivion. The stuff that Argus avoided like the plague. Messing with time magic was more than stupid: it was insane. Hell, Argus didn't even associate with the two, maybe three guys that were licensed to actually research this stuff; they tended to die quite horribly. Of course, there was no point keeping track of all the lunatics who practiced it illegally. Idiots always figured that they'd be the ones to make the stuff work properly. They never were.

Time magic! But how could a couple of flat-out backwater farmers know time magic?!

Answer: they couldn't.

Ergo: they were hiding something. They were secret practitioners of a highly dangerous form of magic living in an area where no-one was supposed to live. There was only one possibility, and it was so obvious that Argus couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it earlier.

Clearly, they were working for Haniko Goto.

Clearly, Haniko Goto, in her lunacy, had started to study forbidden magic, and had a small cadre of followers who shared her interest. Followers who no doubt had decided to close in on him for a closer look. Weave alone knew why. After all, it was obvious that Goto had SOMEONE tracking them. They must have rushed ahead and taken this place over for the sole purpose of spying on him and possibly the people traveling with him. Argus paused for a moment to take it all in.

"..........................."

This is the most idiotic theory I've ever come up with. And yet it manages to be the only sensible possibility. I mean, what else could it be? There's some secret order of time-magic using ninjas, and we've accidentally stumbled upon one of their safe-houses? That's just stupid.

In any case, a plan that senseless and moronic is JUST what a Tsuirakuan would do. Especially a loopy one like Goto.


(OOC: Aaaaaaand presented with the facts, Argus manages to logically come to the exact WRONG conclusion. Mayhem ensues. Well done, Argus. Well done.)
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Drusia
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Re: The road to Gervasiel

Post by Drusia »

"It was the damnedest thing -- excuse my language," he apologized (to Lillith, of course). "He just blurred. And the next thing I knew, he was a quarter mile down the road. It was like time stood stiOOMPH..."

Teleportation magic? A rather cavalier use of it, if so. But, if he's doing it where he can be seen... an elven agent wouldn't risk it. At least a smart one wouldn't. That's more like the action of... a local.

But if so, then what does that say about the rest of the locals?

Well, on the bright side, they aren't elves. Or, the likelyhood that they are has droped significantly. Good. None of my business then.

-- Drusia
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Graybeard
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Re: The road to Gervasiel

Post by Graybeard »

It didn't require any great capacity for empathy, magical or otherwise, for Sister Rose to observe that Brad's bit of news, such as it was, had had strong effects on Argus and Drusia. Strong, and decidedly different. Drusia had visibly relaxed, for reasons that Rose was pretty sure she'd never be able to understand. But Argus ...

I've never seen this man in a state of near-panic before, she thought. He'd kept his cool when the giant carnivorous beaver had appeared at the Hamael house (and, she reminded herself, been dispatched with a single, fatal word from Father Egbert's nephew). He'd been focused when the giant war golem appeared at Centoriel, and even when the spider-thing crawled out of the pit, he'd feverishly set to work preparing a counterattack against an adversary clearly potent enough to kill them all ... feverishly, but without a shred of panic. And again in the messy business at Nautkia, and again when the living storm came to Ramanzel, and --

She caught herself. Wait a minute. I have seen that look in his eyes once before: when Kureji Mesuinu appeared in Centoriel. A mad Tsuirakuan can terrify him when a mere engine of mass death and destruction cannot. And that must mean ...

She became aware that Brad, Lillith, Maduin, and even Drusia were staring at her as she thought. (Argus was still staring fixedly into space.) I guess I'd better act like the grown-up here. "Brad," she said, "you said that -- that man went 'down' the road from where you were. Do you mean back toward where we came from, or on into the farm country to the east? It's important."

Brad pointed. "That way." Toward the mountains. (Did he not know up from down?) "Toward the main road we were on yesterday."

Well, that made the next step clear enough. "Then we'd better get ready to go the other way," Rose said. "It'll be a bit out of our way, but there's something in that direction that I wanted to do anyway. I think we'd better avoid contact with that man for now. Let's get packed as soon as we're finished eating." She stood up to go back to her room, wondering whether the thing that frightened Argus was a Mesuinu, or Haniko Goto, or some other ineffable Tsuirakuan force of madness ... and hoping that she'd never have the occasion to find out.

[OOC: See, Rose can jump to completely bogus conclusions too. ;) ]
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Drannin
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Re: The road to Gervasiel

Post by Drannin »

Argus nodded, and stood up. "I agree wholeheartedly."

Okay, so based on what Brad just said, there's a decent probability that I'm in the domain of Haniko Goto's henchmen, who very likely are dabbling in a very dangerous form of magic. Right. Need to stay calm. If they were going to make a move, they would have done so before now. This is most likely an information-gathering exercise. So, I just need to keep cool, get out of here, and consider imploding this house once we're a safe distance away. Maybe I can cause enough friction to ignite the joint. No, wait... if I do that, and they use their time magic to try to escape... using such unstable magic in a panic, and multiple users at that... plus interaction with another magical field i.e. mine... Yeah, the temporal burst could be dangerous. Best to just get out of here and set up some deflection wards. really need to carve something more permanent...

Argus was so caught up in his paranoid, and rather fallacious, ramblings that the entire group was up the stairs and walking towards their rooms by the time he caught himself. Crud. With a cough to get their attention, Argus glanced around to make sure no-one else could hear them. "Okay. Judging from Brad's information, there is a distinct possibility that we are dealing with henchmen of Haniko Goto, who are dabbling in a very dangerous form of magic. I say possible because my own reasoning seems a little out there, even to me. What do you all think?"

(OOC: Those trains of thought can be dangerous. Anyway, does anyone else care to board the paranoia express?)
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Graybeard
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Re: The road to Gervasiel

Post by Graybeard »

"What do you all think?"

Brad's reaction was entirely predictable -- move slightly closer to Lillith and vow to protect her with his life, never mind that the semi-legendary Haniko Goto had probably never heard of Lillith -- and Sister Rose's perhaps nearly as much so, albeit from a very different starting point. "I think there's every chance you're right," she said. "There might be some other explanation, but at the moment I can't think of one." [OOC: As mentioned earlier, Rose is aware of the existence of a shadowy outfit called the Ensigerum, but doesn't know their capabilities; the Orthodox Veracian church doesn't share that bit of information with the splinter denominations ... /OOC:] "We probably need to take some countermeasures to deal with this. Excuse me for a moment." And there's something else I need to do, too, that I can't tell Argus and Maduin about.

She didn't have that much packing up to do (one of the advantages of her shape-shifting talent was that she could travel light), so she left the group and headed out to where the wagon was parked to prepare another parrot. Did this justify use of the RAGWEED code word indicating that the group was in trouble and might need rescuing? She thought about it, decided against it ... particularly since she didn't know how to use that code word in a classified message, and what she was sending was most definitely one of those LUMINOSITA'S SECRET things. She loaded up the parrot, gave it a most un-military kiss on its head (getting a glare in return), sent it on its way, and returned to the group to prepare for their escape.

[OOC: And on that count, check out the "OOC Discussion" forum for a small contest that's getting going regarding what happens next.]
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Sareth
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Re: The road to Gervasiel

Post by Sareth »

As Sister Rose slipped out, Lillith cocked her head to the side. "But why?" She shook her head. "I'm not saying it isn't, as I can't think of anyone else that might be wanting to keep an eye on us. But what is her motivation? Why would she risk using dangerous magics just over some old grudge?"
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Porcelain Fish
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Re: The road to Gervasiel

Post by Porcelain Fish »

"If what I've heard about her is accurate," Maduin said quietly to Lillith "She really wouldn't be concerned as long as the danger belonged to someone else. I very much doubt she would employ such dangerous magic personally." He glided quietly up the stairs.

Zeb wasn't available to assist him with his luggage this morning, apparently departed for parts unknown. Fortunately, Maduin was already prepared for just such an eventuality. A little magical assistance, and trunks and suitcases were all piled on top of the largest of the steamer trunks, secured with thin filaments of magic. He gave the big trunk a swift kick in one corner, and the brass roundels on the corners shivered and then pushed outward as the trunk extruded long, segmented legs of sturdy bronze and lurched up in a standing position.

Maduin made a mental note to thank Fayna as he led the way back downstairs, luggage in tow.
Last edited by Porcelain Fish on February 20th, 2010, 10:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Graybeard
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Re: The road to Gervasiel

Post by Graybeard »

The walking steamer trunk gave Sister Rose quite a start, but it passed quickly; she'd lived in Kiyoka, after all, and you could see stranger things walking the streets there (although, in fairness, not much stranger things). She shook her head, smiled, turned to go into her room and retrieve her own gear ...

... And then there was another noise in the hallway, followed by a shouted "LOR'A'MERCY!" and the thump of a body hitting the floor rather clumsily.

Mrs. Handriel had started to come upstairs to see off her guests, and quite obviously, had not seen stranger things.

"Get some water," Rose said to whoever was listening, as she bent to check the collapsed woman for a pulse.
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Porcelain Fish
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Re: The road to Gervasiel

Post by Porcelain Fish »

Maduin blinked, open surprise on his features as he regarded the fainted housekeeper. Her shout had been quite piercing. He continued to study her quizzically until Rose arrived on the scene.

"Get some water."

Maduin gestured, and water splashed out of the air onto the fallen woman's face. He waited, intrigued, to see what could possibly happen next.
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Graybeard
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Re: The road to Gervasiel

Post by Graybeard »

"That wasn't exactly what I had in mind," Sister Rose said as she looked at the puddle Maduin had conjured, but it seemed to work; at least Mrs. Handriel sputtered back to consciousness as Rose toweled her off. The old woman repeated herself. "Lor'a'mercy. I never be seein' the likes of that. Where did ye be gettin' such a thing?"

Dare that question be answered straight? Rose thought not, decided to tell part of the whole story but omit some details. "I've been overseas for the last few years. Maduin here is a friend of the family --" Argus' family, at least -- "from there. They have some strange and ingenious gadgets, don't they?"

Mrs. Handriel looked like she didn't want any part of any more "strange and ingenious gadgets," and Rose really couldn't blame her. It was interesting, though: she showed absolutely no sign of recognition at the mention of Maduin's name. Either she herself wasn't one of Haniko Goto's agents, or Goto hadn't confided that there was another Tsuirakuan in the party beyond Argus. (Of course, she probably wouldn't.) So maybe Zeb was the only agent here?

She put the speculation out of her mind for the moment, helped their hostess regain her feet (and her dignity), and returned to the preparations for the wagon's departure.

[OOC: Truthfully, I'm a bit writer's-blocked here. Anybody got anything they want to do before leaving the inn? There's one small thing that Rose will want to do on the open road nearby, but I can't think of much more for her to do with the Handriels.]
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