Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
[Exalted] Solar Circle of the West - whole slew of updates 3/8/09
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Ao the Overkitty" data-source="post: 2819387" data-attributes="member: 9758"><p><strong>02/06/06 session - “Calibration is Not the Time to Look for the Environment!"</strong></p><p></p><p><em>Synopsis of 02/06/06 session</em></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px"><strong>“Calibration is Not the Time to Look for the Environment!”</strong></span></p><p></p><p>While Jade’s Luck escorted the pirates down to the brig, Gareth found himself left mostly alone to sail the ship. He found out from Ceri that the island they were sailing towards was called Ja-HA. Since it was a couple hours before time, and they were just offshore of the island, Gareth dropped anchor.</p><p></p><p>Jahar and A-dom went down below to intimidate some of the pirates.</p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>You there! What do you know about demons?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Pirate:</strong> <em>They, uh, pull ships real well?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> (grumbling)<em> Yeah, well, he’s right there…</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Pirate:</strong> <em>You don’t want to fall in the water.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>What happens then?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Pirate:</strong> <em>They eat you.</em></p><p></p><p>Jahar found out the pirate’s name was Bob.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>How many ships are traveling with you in the water?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Pirate Bob</strong> <em>Um, none.</em></p><p></p><p>Jahar instructed A-dom to slap Bob to jog his memory. One thump and a dead pirate later, Jahar turned to the rest of the pirates.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>I think you can apply some wisdom, if I ask how many ships were you with, don’t answer literally.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Pirate #1:</strong> <em>What the <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> did he just say!?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Pirate #2:</strong> <em>I don’t know! Answer quick, man!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Pirate #1:</strong> <em>Yes! Four!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>There are four ships?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Pirate #1:</strong> <em>Yeah.</em></p><p></p><p>Jahar, at least, realized that the guy just shouted out a number because he thought Jahar wanted a number. They took him in another room to further the questioning. He found out that the guy didn’t know about any other ships in the area and that he had only been sailing these waters for three weeks. Their ship had been pirating the waters for about twenty years now, if you believed <em>their</em> brags.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>Who are they?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Pirate #1:</strong> <em>Tony and Frank and Jimmy.</em></p><p></p><p>The pirate said their group wasn’t organized enough to have a name. The pirate captain’s name was Nunzio. The pirate didn’t know the name of the demon, since he didn’t know demonic. He said Nunzio spoke demon a lot, though. The pirate had only been on the ship for three weeks, so hadn’t visited the ship’s home port. When asked who had been on the ship a long time, he replied Bob. He did agree to point out someone in the group who had been with the ship a long time.</p><p></p><p>Once back with the other pirates, he pointed out the oldest guy in the group and Jahar and A-dom took that pirate away for questioning. When Jahar asked the old guy, Tony, how long he had been with the ship, Tony pulled off his belt and started counting notches. Seeing it had been a long time, he asked him for the demon’s name. Tony didn’t speak demon either. Jahar asked him where his ship’s port of harbor was and Tony replied he couldn’t tell him.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>A-dom, this man won’t tell us…</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Pirate Tony:</strong> <em>No no NO! It’s not that I don’t want to tell you. I <strong>REALLY</strong> want to tell you. I <strong>CAN’T</strong> tell you!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>Why not?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Pirate Tony:</strong> <em>Spells. (pause) Demon spells.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>Can you write it down?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Pirate Tony:</strong> <em>No.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>Can you rhyme it?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Pirate Tony:</strong> <em>I... hold on. (pause) It sounds like...</em></p><p></p><p><em>*Tony’s head explodes*</em></p><p></p><p>While Jahar admonished A-dom, Tony started to melt. </p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>Go find me another old man now.</em></p><p></p><p>A-dom noticed that the melting Tony was starting to slowly eat through the floorboards. Jahar quickly went and fetched Gareth to deal with this problem. After retrieving a metal shovel, he had A-dom dump the gooey mess out a porthole, away from the boat.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>Oh, by the way. Gareth, just for your reference. There is a spell on these guys that, if we try to make them speak of where they come from, their heads explode.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>COOL!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>Ooh. Ask them to rhyme it. That does it right there.</em></p><p></p><p>While Gareth returned to the deck, A-dom went and had Pirate Bob’s friend point out another old member of the crew. A-dom returned to the small room with Fatty the cook. Fatty looked down at the stain on the floor and gulped.</p><p></p><p><strong>Fatty:</strong> <em>How can I help?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>Well first by not melting.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Fatty:</strong> <em>I’ll try my best.</em></p><p></p><p>Jahar instructed Fatty to stand still and let him examine the spells on him. Fatty complied.</p><p></p><p>Up top, Ceri, Gareth, and Jade’s Luck were discussing things like Jahar and demon summoning. Ceri was quickly becoming convinced that something was clearly wrong with Lightbringer. Ceri asked if he could do anything besides summon demons. Jade’s Luck enthusiastically replied that he could summon swarms of obsidian butterflies and almost destroyed her Manse. Gareth said that Jahar did seem to think it was better to summon demons than summon elementals.</p><p></p><p>Down below, Jahar persisted in questions revolving around the pirates’ port of harbor. He didn’t seem to grasp that Fatty was the cook and didn’t come out of the galley much. He was getting rather irate over this.</p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>It’s okay, Fatty. Calm down, Fatty. He’s a noble. That pretty much explains it.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>Maybe we can get them to draw a map. If we can see where they are going to make the x, you’re not hearing this Fatty. If we can see where they’re going to put the x before the head explodes.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Fatty:</strong> (worried) <em>No?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>If you want to blow up pirates, wait until we’re on the island. Then you can blow up as many pirates as you want!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>I don’t want to blow up pirates. It is messy.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>Well, then don’t! I’m betting they can’t rhyme it, they can’t draw it, they can’t mime it, they can’t like, you know, charade it.</em></p><p></p><p>Having heard A-dom say Jahar could blow up as many pirates as he wanted, Jade’s Luck decided to wander down to their discussion.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>Can’t you just remove the spell?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>I can’t figure out how.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>Look. We’ve already killed three pirates. I’m sure they’re noticing that they aren’t coming back. </em></p><p></p><p><strong>Ryan:</strong> <em>Why is Mr. Magoo our sorcerer?</em></p><p></p><p>Jade’s Luck convinced Jahar to leave the pirates alone for a while so he could figure out the spell.</p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>So, where are you from, Fatty?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Fatty:</strong> <em>Uh, Abalon.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>Oh! From whereabouts? By the volcano or by the water?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Fatty:</strong> <em>By the water.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> (talking to Jade’s Luck) <em>Then A-dom told him to rhyme it. His head exploded.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>It didn’t work. It was COOL!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Fatty:</strong> <em>Wait, you’re A Dom? They don’t get it, do they?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> (laughing) <em>No they don’t. Shhhhhh!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Fatty:</strong> <em>That’s funny.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>What, is this something you can talk about?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Fatty:</strong> <em>Oh yeah!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>Feel free.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>Fatty! I wouldn’t.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Fatty:</strong> <em>I can’t. He’ll hurt me.</em></p><p></p><p>*<em>Jahar steps between A-dom and Fatty</em>*</p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>Jahar! Bob!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>I could make you a dog.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>I could make you a zombie.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>My dog could eat your zombie.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>I didn’t mean I could MAKE you a zombie.</em></p><p></p><p>Jade’s Luck ushered Fatty back to the other pirates and told him to reflect on how naughty he had been as a pirate all these years. He denied naughtiness, stating he was just a cook.</p><p></p><p>Jahar headed up top while Ceri headed down below. When Ceri passed him, Jahar did an about face and followed her.</p><p></p><p>Ceri asked the pirates (well, Fatty) one question; whether they picked her ship on purpose or if it was just convenient. Fatty didn’t know, saying that the Captain ordered the attack. He then said you don’t talk to strange men who talk to demons or question the captain’s orders.</p><p></p><p><strong>Ceri:</strong> <em>Thank you.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Pirates:</strong> <em>Could you not kill us?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>We’re not killing Fatty.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Ceri:</strong> <em>Okay.</em></p><p></p><p>While she was walking away from the pirates, Jahar approached Ceri about trading information about what they knew of the past, what they knew and thought of creation, what they knew and thought of other exalted, and what they were currently doing.</p><p></p><p>Gareth, Jade’s Luck, A-dom and Tiger talked about what to do with the pirates. Jade’s Luck and A-dom thought they’d be a good addition to the crew. Gareth didn’t like that, that way, they wouldn’t be paying for their crimes as being pirates. Tiger suggested making the pirates trustworthy via oath.</p><p></p><p>Jade’s Luck wasn’t sure what to do about the crew and thought they might need to be left somewhere. Tiger added, ‘or killed.’ Gareth pointed out to Jade’s Luck that, for her fledgling trading company to gain other crews, their current crew needed to return safely. Otherwise, the trading company would be considered bad luck and no one would sign on with them.</p><p></p><p>As the two groups chatted, the sun rose above the horizon. When they looked over at the beach, Jade’s Luck and Tiger could see a man waving a yelling at them. A-dom saw the guy and heard him asking if they had a healer on board.</p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>Do we have a healer on board?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Tiger:</strong> <em>Healers? We have Anti-Healers on board.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>Yes. We have two onboard. Myself and also Ceri.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>Ceri?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth: </strong><em>The Lunar.</em></p><p></p><p>Jade’s Luck started yelling Ceri’s name and went down below to find her. Hearing Luck, Ceri headed up top. Luck quickly relayed that Gareth told her she was a healer and that there was a guy on the shore looking for a healer.</p><p></p><p><strong>Ceri:</strong> <em>They’re waiting for me.</em></p><p></p><p>Up top, Gareth was getting a dinghy ready, since he had said he would like to accompany her to the village. He wasn’t expecting her to come up on deck, shift into a raven, and fly over to shore. A-dom saw the guy on the shore look relieved and usher her toward the village.</p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>Apparently they know her here.</em></p><p></p><p>Jade’s Luck tried to get Gareth’s attention. Since Jahar and A-dom were already getting in the dinghy to go with him, Gareth told her he was going ashore and he was leaving her in charge. He clearly didn’t realize this was a bad idea. Tiger, however, did. He quickly headed towards the dinghy, but Jade’s Luck stopped him and told him she had a job for him here. He tried to tell her he was going ashore, but she wouldn’t let him.</p><p></p><p>As the dinghy lowered down to the sea, A-dom made a comment.</p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>Umm, she shouldn’t be in charge!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>Merely an observation.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>You shouldn’t be in charge either. Out of all of us, only Gareth should be in charge.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>Yeah, but the rest of us are going ashore, so it doesn’t really matter.</em></p><p></p><p>Once Gareth’s head was below the deck of the boat, Jade’s Luck started talking to Tiger.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>Wouldn’t it be much more convenient if we didn’t have to keep sending our crew below decks for fear of them betraying us, for finding out we’re the dread anathema?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Tiger:</strong> <em> …yeah…</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>So if we just make them promise to be our good and true and loyal servants and not be scared of us cause we glow sometimes. And maybe we can get the pirates in on that with the not being pirates thing. And then we can have just a whole bunch of loyal servants!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Tiger:</strong> <em> …sounds reasonable…</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>I mean, Gareth doesn’t like pirates, but if they promise not ever to be pirates again, then they aren’t pirates anymore. And we don’t have to kill them. So, we’re offering them new lives as productive members of the new Solar Empire.</em></p><p></p><p>Tiger didn’t have a problem with her making a pact, so Jade’s Luck had to decide which group they were going to talk to first. There was the crew, who were locked in a room. There were the pirates, who were locked in the brig. And there were Jahar’s two loyal acolytes, who were locked in Jahar’s room learning to read.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Gabe then decided Jahar had to write the first reading book of the new age. Liz decided Jade’s Luck would have to write the annotated edition.</p><p></p><p>Ceri found out that a fisherman from another village by the name of Hunar arrived about a week ago. He had been blown off course and wasn’t feeling too well. Then he became very ill and someone was sent off to find her. Yesterday he died, but more people were now getting sick. The symptoms were flu-like as wasn’t always fatal, so Ceri set about dividing people up between the sick, the healthy and the recently exposed and made sure everyone was well hydrated.</p><p></p><p>The dinghy hit shore, skidded along the sand, and A-dom continued rowing for a bit up the beach. As the trio got out of the boat, Jahar found some tracks and started following them into the forest. A-dom was a little worried with the stability of Creation with city-boy #1 finding tracks.</p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>You don’t like pirates, right?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>No.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>Good. All is right with the world.</em></p><p></p><p>Gareth and A-dom told Jahar that Ceri went to the village, not into the forest, and headed off towards the village. They found Ceri in the middle of village ordering people around. Talking with Ceri and a few of the sick, Gareth determined that it was West Nifle flu; a very contagious flu, but not too lethal. She had a good handle on what she was doing, but he gave her some suggestions for making the people feel better quicker and feel more comfortable.</p><p></p><p>Not long after they arrived, A-dom started to not feel so good.</p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>Uh, I don’t like this island. (pause) I don’t think I can raise myself.</em></p><p></p><p>Jade’s Luck decided that, since the pirates already knew they were anathema, that was the place to start. She headed down to the brig with Tiger and found a crate she could stand on the talk to the pirates.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>I suppose you were wondering what was going to become of you.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Pirates:</strong> <em>We don’t want to die!</em></p><p></p><p>She proposed a deal to them which hinged on them not being pirates again and working for her. Since they couldn’t rule out the possibility of her wanting them to do piracy, they agreed to just be her loyal servants.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>You have to be nice. No making undead, no killing people. Well, unless those people need to be killed.</em></p><p></p><p>Jade’s Luck referred to A-dom and Jahar, whom the pirates only knew as ‘The Murderer’ and ‘The One Who Makes Heads Explode.’ She worked out with them the terms of the pact. There was lots of group huddling between the pirates. They decided they would risk it.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>Okay, I think we all need to be holding hands?</em></p><p></p><p>*<em>Pirates look at her like she is crazy</em>*</p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>We all have to be touching.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Pirates:</strong> (sounding hopeful) <em>We all have to touch you?</em></p><p></p><p>She worked out that they needed to form a circle with their hand in. Jade’s Luck and Tiger went into the brig and Jade’s Luck touched one of the pirates on a non stinky looking part.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>I promise to treat you all with justice and mercy for the duration of your lives. You all promise to be my loyal servants for the rest of your lives, never betraying myself or my circle, Tiger, A-dom, Jahar, Gareth in any way. Or betraying any of our companions that I will name later. Also, never give any indication that I or my companions are anything other than mortal.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Pirates:</strong> (unsure voice) <em>We’ll try?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>Okay, if we screw up and do it ourselves, not your fault.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Pirates:</strong> <em>Oh good. Yes, sure, we’re all for it.</em></p><p></p><p>Jade’s Luck then let them out and set them up working on the ship. Fatty asked where the galley was. Fatty was thrilled, since this was the best stocked galley he had ever been in. She found out who the best sailor was, Bob, and put him in charge of making sure all was well. Bob checked to make sure they were anchored then sat behind the wheel. She told the others to do their usual chores, but they didn’t have a demon for them to feed. She told them to make rope knots or whatnot.</p><p></p><p>Jade’s Luck and Tiger then went to the crew’s locked cabin. Luck went inside while the still glowing Tiger stayed outside the room.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>Hi guys.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Crew:</strong> <em>Hello.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>The problem is all gone.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Crew Member #1:</strong> <em>What was her name again?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Crew Member #2:</strong> <em>Luck, I think.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Crew:</strong> <em>Hello Luck. Can we come out now? Are the anathema gone?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>Uh, the demon is gone.</em></p><p></p><p>The crew became awful nervous at that answer. </p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>Okay, sorry, what I meant, I keep forgetting that regular people aren’t scholars and don’t need extra explanations. Yes the anathema are gone.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Crew:</strong> <em>Oh good. Are you sure?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>Yes, well, cause, well, wait explanations bad. One of them ran away and we killed two.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Crew:</strong> <em>Anathemas… What about demons?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>Well, the one that ran away was the demon pulling the boat, and it big scary, and it went that way. We stayed here. </em></p><p></p><p><strong>Crew:</strong> <em>Okay.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>Were there other anathema? </em></p><p></p><p><strong>Crew:</strong> <em>We heard a lot. And there was some glowing. No glowing out there now, just the sun. There was one glowing all gold.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>Well, anyway, it was kind of a good thing cause the pirates got all scared and surrendered. The ones that didn’t die when the demons sunk their boat.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Crew:</strong> <em>Okay.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>So we have some new crew. </em></p><p></p><p><strong>Crew:</strong> <em>Why did the demon summoning crew surrender to you guys?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>Well, they got scared with all the glowing guys. </em></p><p></p><p><strong>Crew:</strong> <em>Okay. Who’s side were they on?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>I don’t know, but they didn’t seem to like the demons. </em></p><p></p><p><strong>Crew:</strong> <em>Can we talk to the captain?</em></p><p></p><p>Jade’s Luck told them he was off ship at the moment, but she’d go get him. She locked the door when she left and sent Tiger off to the island to find Gareth. She also asked Tiger to tell Gareth about their new crew before he got back to the ship.</p><p></p><p>Back on the island, Jahar decided to amuse himself by looking for a demesne. For this he’d need a new crystal and virgin’s hair. Being Jahar, he figured he could find some perfect crystals lying around in the forest, so started off on his own.</p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>Jahar! Sit!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>Come with me!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>Where are you going?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>Looking for crystals.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>Oh, cool.</em></p><p></p><p>The two wandered off into the forest. They thought that perfect crystals came from old shaman’s huts and shops in the market, so they just wandered around looking for rocks.</p><p></p><p>As they wandered, A-dom was starting to feel worse.</p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>A-dom feeling minus twoey.</em></p><p></p><p>Back in the village, things were going well. Gareth and Ceri were caring for the sick in different huts. After a while, Gareth noticed a little old lady standing behind him</p><p></p><p><strong>Old Lady:</strong> <em>You should have children by now!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>Grandma?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Grandma:</strong> <em>You should have children by now! Your brother and sister both have children.</em> </p><p></p><p>Grandma pulled out a stick and poked Gareth.</p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>I’ve been kind of busy! Ow!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Grandma:</strong> <em>You should be married!</em> </p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>I’ve got time! I’ve got plenty of time.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Grandma:</strong> <em>Well, get married. Find a nice woman.</em> </p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>I don’t know any. I know some insane ones.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Grandma:</strong> <em>I’ll find a you nice woman.</em> </p><p></p><p>She started wandering around poking women with her stick and muttering <em>No, not you.</em> Gareth tried to get her to stop, saying they were sick and he was tending to them.</p><p></p><p><strong>Grandma:</strong> <em>Why don’t I hear any prayers? Huh? Huh? Not nice enough to thank your old grandma, huh?</em> </p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>Uh, I forgot. </em></p><p> </p><p><strong>Grandma:</strong> <em>Oh, sure.</em></p><p></p><p>She opened the door and faded away as she walked outside.</p><p></p><p>Back in the forest, Jahar decided that they weren’t finding any crystals and wanted to find out what the woods were about, so activated Spirit Detecting Glance. About five feet away from them, Jahar could see all of the demons from the top of the Manse, Hooknar and a number of odd looking undead ghost type things all in a huddle. As Jahar stared at their group in shock, Hooknar noticed.</p><p></p><p><strong>Hooknar:</strong> <em>I think he can see us!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>A-dom. Walk normally.</em></p><p></p><p>A-dom swaggered as he walked.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>A-dom. All the demons you ever let loose about five feet from us watching us.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>I didn’t let any demons loose!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>And they now know we can see them. And by we I mean I.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> (confused) <em>K? What do we do?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>Let’s go back towards town nonchalantly.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> that!</em></p><p></p><p>A-dom started running his fastest back towards town. Being left alone, Jahar started casting Flight of Separation. This just made A-dom run faster. Jahar turned into a flock of birds and realized he had to travel an extra hundred miles. The thousands of birds flew very fast around the island about a hundred times very fast before rocketing back in towards the island and crashing near the village.</p><p></p><p>The pirate crew started yelling <em>Sorcerer!</em></p><p></p><p>Jade’s Luck told them that it was Jahar, one of her group. They asked her why no one was watching him, since it was Calibration.</p><p></p><p>Tiger, having walked to shore, walked up to Jahar as A-dom ran up behind Jahar. Jahar felt a poke in the stomach.</p><p></p><p><strong>Grandma:</strong> (poking people) <em>Not a girl, not a girl, not a girl.</em></p><p></p><p>*<em>Woman yeeks at being poked</em>*</p><p></p><p><strong>Grandma:</strong> <em>Nah, not good enough.</em></p><p></p><p>They noticed the little old lady, but ignored her. Jahar filled Tiger in on the demons in the woods. Since Jahar didn’t see any demons following them, Tiger went off and found Gareth.</p><p></p><p><strong>Tiger:</strong> <em>Yeah, Jade’s Luck had a talk with the crew and they decided they needed to talk to you.</em></p><p></p><p>Gareth tried to get out of it by stating he might transfer the disease to the ship. Jahar walked into the hut with a hankerchief over his mouth and told him that the demons were following the Circle around. Gareth asked them if they had seen a little old lady walking around.</p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>Your grandmother’s invisible?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>No, she’s dead.</em></p><p></p><p>All of the mortal occupants of the hut shifted away from the Circle members. Jahar then began talking about pickling heads. Figuring it was safer for his sanity to go back to the ship, he went and told Ceri he had going back to the ship for a bit. One of the helpers had relayed Jahar’s topics to her, so she asked Gareth to get ‘his friend’ to not talk about pickling heads.</p><p></p><p><strong>Villager:</strong> <em>No, now its sorcery during Calibration. Should we get the fire and pitchforks ready?</em></p><p></p><p>Ceri assured the villager that it wasn’t necessary and Jahar didn’t mean any harm, he was just stupid. Gareth washed all of his clothes and body thoroughly to prevent spreading the disease.</p><p></p><p>As Jahar and Tiger wandered out of their hut to talk, Jahar started feeling sick, but tried to hide it.</p><p></p><p>Back at the boat, Gareth found the pirate crew walking around. Some of them were fishing, some had their weapons back, one was sitting up by the wheel.</p><p></p><p><strong>Bob:</strong> <em>Everything is still okay, sir!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>Uh, hey guys. This is Gareth. He built this ship.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Bob:</strong> <em>Ah, nice ship!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>He’s part of the Circle.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> (confused and slightly annoyed) <em>I’m the Captain on this boat…</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck’s Loyal Servants:</strong> <em>Excellent. We answer to her!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> (glaring at Jade’s Luck) <em>Right… </em></p><p></p><p><strong>Bob:</strong> <em>We made a deal. There was glowing and everything.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> (nervous chuckle) <em>They’re not pirates anymore?</em></p><p></p><p>Gareth definitely looked like he needed a drink at this point.</p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> (could this day get any worse voice) <em>What’s the problem? </em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> (nervous chuckle) <em>You might want to go see the crew. They asked to see you.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> (this day just got worse voice) <em>Oh great. OOOkay. </em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>Oh, and one of the pirates made a good point about sorcerers needing babysitters at Calibration. (pause) Does Jahar have a babysitter?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>He’s got two.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>Does A-dom have a babysitter?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>Last I saw they were going around together.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>Nooooo! Noooooo. Umm… you want me to, um, to um, um go to the village to, umm, babysit them?</em></p><p></p><p>Gareth told her the village was very contagious and that she should stay on the boat. He told her that A-dom looked like he had gotten sick.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>So maybe they don’t need babysitters?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>All I know is that my grandmother is wandering around the village poking people.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>But, well, you said I was in charge…</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>Clearly a mistake.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>But, umm, I didn’t want you to kill them all, so now you don’t have to kill them all because they’re loyal and they’re loyal.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Bob:</strong> <em>And you’re all perfectly normal.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>Cause, they didn’t want to die and I didn’t want to kill them…</em></p><p></p><p>She did eventually fill him in that the crew had seen glowing the other night and weren’t happy about it. She didn’t really tell him why the crew wanted to talk to him.</p><p></p><p>Back in the village, Jahar wandered around looking for Gareth’s grandmother.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>What’s your name?</em></p><p> </p><p><strong>Grandma:</strong> <em>Grandma!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>Do you bleed?</em></p><p> </p><p>(long pause)</p><p></p><p><strong>Grandma:</strong> (threatening tone) <em>Don’t make me go get my grandson!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>He’s a friend of mine.</em></p><p> </p><p><strong>Grandma:</strong> <em>No wonder he doesn’t have a wife yet!</em></p><p></p><p>Jahar settled down with a pile of rocks examining them. Some of the rocks exploded.</p><p></p><p>Down below on the ship, the crew quickly ushered Gareth into their room.</p><p></p><p><strong>Crew member #1:</strong> (whisper) <em>We think some of your crew are anathema.</em></p><p></p><p>They said that, besides the glowing the night before, when Jade’s Luck left, she locked the door and had a conversation with someone who said he was glowing. They weren’t sure, but they thought it was either Tiger or Jahar. Also, when they asked her if the anathema was gone, she got all dodgy.</p><p></p><p>While Gareth was talking to the crew, there was a knock on the door. Grandma said she needed to talk to him.</p><p></p><p>After watching a flow of essence make a wave in the sand, Jahar wandered over to the healthy villager that was keeping an eye on him and asked him if he knew where he could find some gemstones. When the villager said he didn’t know what a gemstone was, Jahar said they were crystals; shiny stones.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>Do you have any pretties?</em></p><p></p><p>The healthy villager immediately went to Ceri.</p><p></p><p><strong>Healthy Villager #1:</strong> <em>The sorcerer is asking about the women folk now.</em></p><p></p><p>When asked what else he had done, the villager responded that Jahar had made five rocks explode, then made squiglies in the sand.</p><p></p><p><strong>Healthy Villager #1:</strong> <em>Then he asked about the women-folk. He wanted the pretty ones. I think he wants them for a sacrifice.</em></p><p></p><p>Ceri told him to stay away from the sick people and walked over to Jahar.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>You know where I might find any gemstones?</em></p><p></p><p>She said no and asked why the villagers thought he was looking for women. He replied that he had said pretties and was trying to use a word that would make them think of gemstones. She told him gemstones had no worth here. He asked her if she knew how he could find one, because he wanted to find a demesne.</p><p></p><p><strong>Ceri:</strong> <em>You know what? I’m not helping you find anything until Calibration is over. You’re exploding rocks.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>I had no idea essence was so troublesome during Calibration.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Lori:</strong> <em>How come I have control of myself and Jahar doesn’t?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gabe:</strong> <em>Because you have sense and Jahar doesn’t.</em></p><p></p><p>Ceri looked at Jahar’s bloodshot eyes.</p><p></p><p><strong>Ceri:</strong> <em>I have a special hut for you.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>I can drink water out here.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Ceri:</strong> <em>You can drink water in the hut! There are healthy villagers wandering around out here. They don’t need to pick it up from you.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>Yeah, sicko!</em> *Cough, cough, gag, wheeze*</p><p></p><p>A-dom and Jahar put up some resistance, but Ceri wouldn’t take no for an answer.</p><p></p><p>The crew asked Gareth if they could get out, since a lot of them needed to urinate and they were hungry. When Gareth told them there was a plague on the island, they didn’t want to get out anymore. He took their full bucket, said he’d get them a few more buckets and some food.</p><p></p><p>Once out, he locked the door and ushered his grandmother away before talking to her. She told him she had found a wife for him.</p><p></p><p><strong>Grandma:</strong> <em>Really pretty one. Good hips. Running around giving orders to everyone.</em></p><p></p><p>When he said he had a few thousand years, she said that meant he could be married twice! That’s a lot of kids he could have.</p><p></p><p>Jade’s Luck walked up and asked Gareth who he was talking to. He dismissively responded his grandmother. Grandma poked Jade’s Luck and said she might be good too.</p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>No, no, no she’s not.</em></p><p></p><p>Back in the village, Jahar was being a bad sick person. He was wandering around looking for dying people to write down a prayer. Ceri saw this and ushered him back to his hut. He wanted the prayer for the artifact he was trying to build and tried to explain it, but Jahar isn’t good at explaining when he is well.</p><p></p><p>Gareth told Jade’s Luck that the crew was okay for now. He dumped the bucket, found a few more, and wandered into the galley.</p><p></p><p><strong>Fatty:</strong> <em>Would you like something to eat, sir?</em></p><p></p><p>There was a very long silence as Gareth took in the scene. Fatty had clearly made himself at home and had reorganized the shelves.</p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>I had that all organized.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Fatty:</strong> <em>It is organized better now. I’m the cook!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>I’m the Captain!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Fatty:</strong> <em>Hello Captain. I’m loyal to this nice little girl. She’s perfectly normal.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> (muttering) <em>No, no she’s not.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>He’s perfectly normal.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Fatty:</strong> <em>Yes, you’re perfectly normal too.</em></p><p></p><p>Gareth just gave up at this point and told Fatty he needed some food for the crew locked in their room. Fatty was really fast. It is amazing what demon-summoning masters will do for your speed. Gareth brought the food back and told them he’d be back in a while.</p><p></p><p>Gareth told Jade’s Luck that the crew would need to be fed and their pee buckets dumped every so often. Fatty took up the task of the of feeding them.</p><p></p><p>When Gareth went back on deck, he zoned out into a vision.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Shaking himself back to the present, Gareth smiled and headed off for land. He found out that Tiger was off wandering around looking for coral and would be back in a couple hours, so he went to check with Ceri on how the villagers were doing. She said they were getting better fairly rapidly.</p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>And how are the wonder twins doing?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Ceri:</strong> <em>You know them better than I do. Do they always talk insane or is it the illness?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>There is no good answer to that question.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Ceri:</strong> <em>I heard they were looking for gemstones, which I can understand, being from civilized lands, but the villagers thought they were looking for pretty girls…</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>Ah. You were talking to Jahar!</em></p><p></p><p>She told him about the exploding rocks and the sand and that she had banished them to a hut and had someone keeping an eye on them.</p><p></p><p>Ceri went and relieved the poor old lady watching the duo. She said they had been talking about making a ghost ship.</p><p></p><p>Jahar slept and dreamt of zombie sheep.</p><p></p><p>When Tiger came back, Gareth filled him in on the crew’s situation. He also filled Tiger in on his vision. When Tiger heard you needed permission of the ruler of the land, his first thought was that they needed to take over the land.</p><p></p><p>As the sun set, Grandma faded in.</p><p></p><p><strong>Grandma:</strong> <em>She’s in the hut. With your two crazy friends. You should go talk to her.</em></p><p></p><p>Gareth put her off by telling her he would in a little bit. The two went back to the boat to deal with the crew. Gareth really wasn’t sure what he was going to do when he got there, but felt it needed to be dealt with.</p><p></p><p><strong>Crewman #6:</strong> <em>Sir. What’s with the pirates on the ship?</em></p><p></p><p>Gareth told them that the pirates had sold themselves into the ship’s service to pay off their bad deeds. They still didn’t understand why the pirates could walk around and they couldn’t. Gareth explained that it had to deal with the Anathema thing.</p><p></p><p><strong>Crewman #6:</strong> <em>So who is it and when are we going to jump him?</em></p><p></p><p>Gareth sent Tiger out of the room and whispered.</p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>Okay, listen. I need you guys to make a deal to be loyal to me. Otherwise, well, you know how I said we had an anathema problem? I can assure you everybody here lives. But, if you don’t swear, the one out there is going to start killing people. And I’m pretty damn sure he can take on everyone in this room. He seems to be cool with it if you guys are loyal to me. I seem to be able to reason with him and he listens to me.</em></p><p></p><p>Four of them said they’d swear. Three of them said, <em>We’ll save you sir!</em>, pushed Gareth out of the way, then opened the door.</p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>I’m fine, its you I’m worried about.</em></p><p></p><p>The battle was short and not as brutal as it could have been. Apparently Tiger didn’t see the need to kill three unarmed men attacking him. Three people trying to force their way out of one door slowed them down, not that they had a chance of acting before Tiger. Tiger took a step forward, kneed the one in the middle in the groin, grabbed the other twos’ heads and smashed them against the wall.</p><p></p><p><strong>Paul:</strong> <em>Plus two stunt. You actually used the damn environment!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gabe:</strong> <em>I’ve been looking for the environment…</em></p><p></p><p>With three wounded and unconscious men on the ground, Gareth leaned over to tend to them. Tiger stepped into the room and closed the door.</p><p></p><p><strong>Tiger:</strong> <em>Now we have a deal to make with you.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Remaining Crew:</strong> <em>We’re all for it sir. It was just those three <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" />-ups.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Tiger:</strong> <em>That’s good to hear.</em></p><p></p><p>The crew offered to throw the men overboard or give them to the plague-ridden people.</p><p></p><p>Tiger got the conscious crewmembers to gather for the oath binding. Gareth recited a slightly altered oath from Jade’s Luck’s.</p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>I promise to treat you with justice and mercy for the duration of your lives. You all promise to be my loyal servants for the rest of your lives and never betraying myself or those I travel with. You also can never give any indication any of us are anything less, umm I mean anything more than mortal.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Crewman #7:</strong> <em>Can we get paid a fair wage?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>Yes, you’ll be paid a fair wage. You’ll be paid and treated fairly.</em></p><p></p><p>They agreed and Tiger flared. Gareth told the crew they could go mingle. Tiger and Gareth took the unconscious trio and locked them in the brig. The crew was instructed not to let them out till he said.</p><p></p><p>A-dom got better the next day, but Jahar puked essense. The sorcery use may have made his sickness worse. Ceri gave A-dom a clean bill of health, but told him he needed to stick with one of his friends because he was still a sorcerer during calibration.</p><p></p><p>Gareth returned to the village and his grandma kept motioning for him to go into the hut.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>Grandma, is that you?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Ceri:</strong>: <em>That’s not your grandma.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> (to Grandma) <em>Yes, she is very lovely.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Grandma:</strong> <em>Good childbearing hips.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>My grandma says you have good childbearing hips.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Ceri:</strong>: <em>Uhhhh. Thank you? It’s going to bee a while before they’re put to use.</em></p><p></p><p>In another hut, a voice could be heard.</p><p></p><p><strong>Squeaky Voice:</strong> <em>Grandpa? Aren’t you dead?</em></p><p></p><p>They saw a little boy run out of a hut and through the village.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>A-dom, what’d you do?</em></p><p></p><p>In the other hut, A-dom and Gareth found a fairly solid old man. The old man gave Gareth flack, so A-dom said he wasn’t a zombie. They went to find the kid and calm him down. A-dom picked the kid up. He explained that it was okay because it was calibration and his grandpa wasn’t going to hurt him. Once A-dom put the kid down again, the kid hid behind Gareth. A-dom amused himself by going ‘<em>Boo!</em>’ at the kid.</p><p></p><p>During that day, Gareth filled A-dom in on his vision and how the portal worked. A-dom got worried about the whole permission part. He wanted to know if everyone needed permission.</p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>Umm.. You know about volcanoes? You know about getting thrown in volcanoes? I kinda avoided that. Not in the good way. The leader, umm… he doesn’t like me so much.</em></p><p></p><p>Gareth asked him why he couldn’t just look like someone else. A-dom didn’t explain why not.</p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>Especially the leader. Um, well, the leader. You see… I kinda stole his hat. He was called ‘Feathered One’ and had a big feathered hat. Yeah, well, he kinda doesn’t have one. And you know about the horses and the bad stealing? I kinda got caught.</em></p><p></p><p>Jahar gave him the idea that he could just give the hat back, if he still had it. A-dom said he still had it. Well, it was hidden near the volcano. After all, it was in a thing so it might still be there.</p><p></p><p>Jahar then told A-dom he shouldn’t be afraid. After all, he had seem A-dom jump a hundred feet in the air and come crashing down on the pirate ship to destroy it. He could do that to Abalone.</p><p></p><p>Gareth explained that that was a monumentally bad idea. Since the island was constructed to be a doorway to heaven, it was, in essence, one big manse.</p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>Don’t break the island. You might open up a portal to Malfese or something.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>Well, we need to go there too anyway.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Everyone else:</strong> <em>NO WE DON’T!</em></p><p></p><p>The next day, Gareth sought out Ceri.</p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>We’re going to go to heaven. Wanna come along?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Ceri:</strong> <em>Umm. You all seem to have a problem with not explaining what you’re saying. So, huh?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>Oh. Sorry. The Unconquered Sun is not really good with the giving of instructions and how he wants his religion run and all that fun stuff. So, we’re going to take a trip to heaven to have a chat with him. Find out a couple things.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Ceri:</strong> <em>Just… going to heaven?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>Yeah.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Ceri:</strong> <em>Walking in?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>Well, through a portal, but yeah.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>They probably sell some decent crystals there…</em></p><p></p><p>Gareth smacked Jahar for that response.</p><p></p><p><strong>Ceri:</strong> <em>I need a little time before I can give you a response. I need to pray.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>I don’t know if your god gives you more instructions or whatever or if you want to go talk to her or something. We’re going to talk to ours. All we’ve seem of him is ‘You want to live? You want to work for me? Ah good!’ Zap!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Ceri:</strong> <em>He asked you if you want to live? My god won’t grant you anything until you have decided to live.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>Yeah. Our god is kind of an opportunist.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Ceri:</strong> <em>Let me get back to you on this.</em></p><p></p><p>While praying, she recalled that the point of meeting during Calibration was so that you could take care of people who weren’t currently up to speed on things. It strongly appeared to her that she was the only one anywhere near to being up to speed, so the other clearly needed her help.</p><p></p><p><strong>Ceri:</strong> <em>I have a slight counter offer.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>We’ll take it!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>A-dom!</em></p><p></p><p>She offered to take the group to see her mentor. She said he might be willing to clue the Circle in a bit more. They’d have to behave or he might eat them, but they might learn a thing or two before they went into heaven blind. She said if they were willing to do that she’d feel much better about going into heaven.</p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>I think we’d like to meet other anathema that didn’t want to kill us.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>To be fair, we have met other anathema that didn’t want to kill us. What about A-dom’s buddy?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>Skelly?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>No, the Death lord.</em></p><p></p><p>They decided to take her up on her offer.</p><p></p><p><strong>Ceri:</strong> <em>You definitely need to go somewhere else before going into heaven.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>The Underworld and Unconquered Sun have certain relationships and I’m just a liason…ish.</em></p><p></p><p>Jahar let everyone know about the demons following them around and to be careful about going off alone. The group decided to while away the remaining days of Calibration before setting sail.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ao the Overkitty, post: 2819387, member: 9758"] [b]02/06/06 session - “Calibration is Not the Time to Look for the Environment!"[/b] [i]Synopsis of 02/06/06 session[/i] [size=5][b]“Calibration is Not the Time to Look for the Environment!”[/b][/size] While Jade’s Luck escorted the pirates down to the brig, Gareth found himself left mostly alone to sail the ship. He found out from Ceri that the island they were sailing towards was called Ja-HA. Since it was a couple hours before time, and they were just offshore of the island, Gareth dropped anchor. Jahar and A-dom went down below to intimidate some of the pirates. [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]You there! What do you know about demons?[/i] [b]Pirate:[/b] [i]They, uh, pull ships real well?[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] (grumbling)[i] Yeah, well, he’s right there…[/i] [b]Pirate:[/b] [i]You don’t want to fall in the water.[/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]What happens then?[/i] [b]Pirate:[/b] [i]They eat you.[/i] Jahar found out the pirate’s name was Bob. [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]How many ships are traveling with you in the water?[/i] [b]Pirate Bob[/b] [i]Um, none.[/i] Jahar instructed A-dom to slap Bob to jog his memory. One thump and a dead pirate later, Jahar turned to the rest of the pirates. [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]I think you can apply some wisdom, if I ask how many ships were you with, don’t answer literally.[/i] [b]Pirate #1:[/b] [i]What the :):):):) did he just say!?[/i] [b]Pirate #2:[/b] [i]I don’t know! Answer quick, man![/i] [b]Pirate #1:[/b] [i]Yes! Four![/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]There are four ships?[/i] [b]Pirate #1:[/b] [i]Yeah.[/i] Jahar, at least, realized that the guy just shouted out a number because he thought Jahar wanted a number. They took him in another room to further the questioning. He found out that the guy didn’t know about any other ships in the area and that he had only been sailing these waters for three weeks. Their ship had been pirating the waters for about twenty years now, if you believed [i]their[/i] brags. [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]Who are they?[/i] [b]Pirate #1:[/b] [i]Tony and Frank and Jimmy.[/i] The pirate said their group wasn’t organized enough to have a name. The pirate captain’s name was Nunzio. The pirate didn’t know the name of the demon, since he didn’t know demonic. He said Nunzio spoke demon a lot, though. The pirate had only been on the ship for three weeks, so hadn’t visited the ship’s home port. When asked who had been on the ship a long time, he replied Bob. He did agree to point out someone in the group who had been with the ship a long time. Once back with the other pirates, he pointed out the oldest guy in the group and Jahar and A-dom took that pirate away for questioning. When Jahar asked the old guy, Tony, how long he had been with the ship, Tony pulled off his belt and started counting notches. Seeing it had been a long time, he asked him for the demon’s name. Tony didn’t speak demon either. Jahar asked him where his ship’s port of harbor was and Tony replied he couldn’t tell him. [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]A-dom, this man won’t tell us…[/i] [b]Pirate Tony:[/b] [i]No no NO! It’s not that I don’t want to tell you. I [b]REALLY[/b] want to tell you. I [b]CAN’T[/b] tell you![/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]Why not?[/i] [b]Pirate Tony:[/b] [i]Spells. (pause) Demon spells.[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]Can you write it down?[/i] [b]Pirate Tony:[/b] [i]No.[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]Can you rhyme it?[/i] [b]Pirate Tony:[/b] [i]I... hold on. (pause) It sounds like...[/i] [i]*Tony’s head explodes*[/i] While Jahar admonished A-dom, Tony started to melt. [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]Go find me another old man now.[/i] A-dom noticed that the melting Tony was starting to slowly eat through the floorboards. Jahar quickly went and fetched Gareth to deal with this problem. After retrieving a metal shovel, he had A-dom dump the gooey mess out a porthole, away from the boat. [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]Oh, by the way. Gareth, just for your reference. There is a spell on these guys that, if we try to make them speak of where they come from, their heads explode.[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]COOL![/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]Ooh. Ask them to rhyme it. That does it right there.[/i] While Gareth returned to the deck, A-dom went and had Pirate Bob’s friend point out another old member of the crew. A-dom returned to the small room with Fatty the cook. Fatty looked down at the stain on the floor and gulped. [b]Fatty:[/b] [i]How can I help?[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]Well first by not melting.[/i] [b]Fatty:[/b] [i]I’ll try my best.[/i] Jahar instructed Fatty to stand still and let him examine the spells on him. Fatty complied. Up top, Ceri, Gareth, and Jade’s Luck were discussing things like Jahar and demon summoning. Ceri was quickly becoming convinced that something was clearly wrong with Lightbringer. Ceri asked if he could do anything besides summon demons. Jade’s Luck enthusiastically replied that he could summon swarms of obsidian butterflies and almost destroyed her Manse. Gareth said that Jahar did seem to think it was better to summon demons than summon elementals. Down below, Jahar persisted in questions revolving around the pirates’ port of harbor. He didn’t seem to grasp that Fatty was the cook and didn’t come out of the galley much. He was getting rather irate over this. [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]It’s okay, Fatty. Calm down, Fatty. He’s a noble. That pretty much explains it.[/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]Maybe we can get them to draw a map. If we can see where they are going to make the x, you’re not hearing this Fatty. If we can see where they’re going to put the x before the head explodes.[/i] [b]Fatty:[/b] (worried) [i]No?[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]If you want to blow up pirates, wait until we’re on the island. Then you can blow up as many pirates as you want![/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]I don’t want to blow up pirates. It is messy.[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]Well, then don’t! I’m betting they can’t rhyme it, they can’t draw it, they can’t mime it, they can’t like, you know, charade it.[/i] Having heard A-dom say Jahar could blow up as many pirates as he wanted, Jade’s Luck decided to wander down to their discussion. [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]Can’t you just remove the spell?[/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]I can’t figure out how.[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]Look. We’ve already killed three pirates. I’m sure they’re noticing that they aren’t coming back. [/i] [b]Ryan:[/b] [i]Why is Mr. Magoo our sorcerer?[/i] Jade’s Luck convinced Jahar to leave the pirates alone for a while so he could figure out the spell. [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]So, where are you from, Fatty?[/i] [b]Fatty:[/b] [i]Uh, Abalon.[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]Oh! From whereabouts? By the volcano or by the water?[/i] [b]Fatty:[/b] [i]By the water.[/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] (talking to Jade’s Luck) [i]Then A-dom told him to rhyme it. His head exploded.[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]It didn’t work. It was COOL![/i] [b]Fatty:[/b] [i]Wait, you’re A Dom? They don’t get it, do they?[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] (laughing) [i]No they don’t. Shhhhhh![/i] [b]Fatty:[/b] [i]That’s funny.[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]What, is this something you can talk about?[/i] [b]Fatty:[/b] [i]Oh yeah![/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]Feel free.[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]Fatty! I wouldn’t.[/i] [b]Fatty:[/b] [i]I can’t. He’ll hurt me.[/i] *[i]Jahar steps between A-dom and Fatty[/i]* [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]Jahar! Bob![/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]I could make you a dog.[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]I could make you a zombie.[/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]My dog could eat your zombie.[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]I didn’t mean I could MAKE you a zombie.[/i] Jade’s Luck ushered Fatty back to the other pirates and told him to reflect on how naughty he had been as a pirate all these years. He denied naughtiness, stating he was just a cook. Jahar headed up top while Ceri headed down below. When Ceri passed him, Jahar did an about face and followed her. Ceri asked the pirates (well, Fatty) one question; whether they picked her ship on purpose or if it was just convenient. Fatty didn’t know, saying that the Captain ordered the attack. He then said you don’t talk to strange men who talk to demons or question the captain’s orders. [b]Ceri:[/b] [i]Thank you.[/i] [b]Pirates:[/b] [i]Could you not kill us?[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]We’re not killing Fatty.[/i] [b]Ceri:[/b] [i]Okay.[/i] While she was walking away from the pirates, Jahar approached Ceri about trading information about what they knew of the past, what they knew and thought of creation, what they knew and thought of other exalted, and what they were currently doing. Gareth, Jade’s Luck, A-dom and Tiger talked about what to do with the pirates. Jade’s Luck and A-dom thought they’d be a good addition to the crew. Gareth didn’t like that, that way, they wouldn’t be paying for their crimes as being pirates. Tiger suggested making the pirates trustworthy via oath. Jade’s Luck wasn’t sure what to do about the crew and thought they might need to be left somewhere. Tiger added, ‘or killed.’ Gareth pointed out to Jade’s Luck that, for her fledgling trading company to gain other crews, their current crew needed to return safely. Otherwise, the trading company would be considered bad luck and no one would sign on with them. As the two groups chatted, the sun rose above the horizon. When they looked over at the beach, Jade’s Luck and Tiger could see a man waving a yelling at them. A-dom saw the guy and heard him asking if they had a healer on board. [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]Do we have a healer on board?[/i] [b]Tiger:[/b] [i]Healers? We have Anti-Healers on board.[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]Yes. We have two onboard. Myself and also Ceri.[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]Ceri?[/i] [b]Gareth: [/b][i]The Lunar.[/i] Jade’s Luck started yelling Ceri’s name and went down below to find her. Hearing Luck, Ceri headed up top. Luck quickly relayed that Gareth told her she was a healer and that there was a guy on the shore looking for a healer. [b]Ceri:[/b] [i]They’re waiting for me.[/i] Up top, Gareth was getting a dinghy ready, since he had said he would like to accompany her to the village. He wasn’t expecting her to come up on deck, shift into a raven, and fly over to shore. A-dom saw the guy on the shore look relieved and usher her toward the village. [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]Apparently they know her here.[/i] Jade’s Luck tried to get Gareth’s attention. Since Jahar and A-dom were already getting in the dinghy to go with him, Gareth told her he was going ashore and he was leaving her in charge. He clearly didn’t realize this was a bad idea. Tiger, however, did. He quickly headed towards the dinghy, but Jade’s Luck stopped him and told him she had a job for him here. He tried to tell her he was going ashore, but she wouldn’t let him. As the dinghy lowered down to the sea, A-dom made a comment. [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]Umm, she shouldn’t be in charge![/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]Merely an observation.[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]You shouldn’t be in charge either. Out of all of us, only Gareth should be in charge.[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]Yeah, but the rest of us are going ashore, so it doesn’t really matter.[/i] Once Gareth’s head was below the deck of the boat, Jade’s Luck started talking to Tiger. [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]Wouldn’t it be much more convenient if we didn’t have to keep sending our crew below decks for fear of them betraying us, for finding out we’re the dread anathema?[/i] [b]Tiger:[/b] [i] …yeah…[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]So if we just make them promise to be our good and true and loyal servants and not be scared of us cause we glow sometimes. And maybe we can get the pirates in on that with the not being pirates thing. And then we can have just a whole bunch of loyal servants![/i] [b]Tiger:[/b] [i] …sounds reasonable…[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]I mean, Gareth doesn’t like pirates, but if they promise not ever to be pirates again, then they aren’t pirates anymore. And we don’t have to kill them. So, we’re offering them new lives as productive members of the new Solar Empire.[/i] Tiger didn’t have a problem with her making a pact, so Jade’s Luck had to decide which group they were going to talk to first. There was the crew, who were locked in a room. There were the pirates, who were locked in the brig. And there were Jahar’s two loyal acolytes, who were locked in Jahar’s room learning to read. Gabe then decided Jahar had to write the first reading book of the new age. Liz decided Jade’s Luck would have to write the annotated edition. Ceri found out that a fisherman from another village by the name of Hunar arrived about a week ago. He had been blown off course and wasn’t feeling too well. Then he became very ill and someone was sent off to find her. Yesterday he died, but more people were now getting sick. The symptoms were flu-like as wasn’t always fatal, so Ceri set about dividing people up between the sick, the healthy and the recently exposed and made sure everyone was well hydrated. The dinghy hit shore, skidded along the sand, and A-dom continued rowing for a bit up the beach. As the trio got out of the boat, Jahar found some tracks and started following them into the forest. A-dom was a little worried with the stability of Creation with city-boy #1 finding tracks. [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]You don’t like pirates, right?[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]No.[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]Good. All is right with the world.[/i] Gareth and A-dom told Jahar that Ceri went to the village, not into the forest, and headed off towards the village. They found Ceri in the middle of village ordering people around. Talking with Ceri and a few of the sick, Gareth determined that it was West Nifle flu; a very contagious flu, but not too lethal. She had a good handle on what she was doing, but he gave her some suggestions for making the people feel better quicker and feel more comfortable. Not long after they arrived, A-dom started to not feel so good. [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]Uh, I don’t like this island. (pause) I don’t think I can raise myself.[/i] Jade’s Luck decided that, since the pirates already knew they were anathema, that was the place to start. She headed down to the brig with Tiger and found a crate she could stand on the talk to the pirates. [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]I suppose you were wondering what was going to become of you.[/i] [b]Pirates:[/b] [i]We don’t want to die![/i] She proposed a deal to them which hinged on them not being pirates again and working for her. Since they couldn’t rule out the possibility of her wanting them to do piracy, they agreed to just be her loyal servants. [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]You have to be nice. No making undead, no killing people. Well, unless those people need to be killed.[/i] Jade’s Luck referred to A-dom and Jahar, whom the pirates only knew as ‘The Murderer’ and ‘The One Who Makes Heads Explode.’ She worked out with them the terms of the pact. There was lots of group huddling between the pirates. They decided they would risk it. [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]Okay, I think we all need to be holding hands?[/i] *[i]Pirates look at her like she is crazy[/i]* [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]We all have to be touching.[/i] [b]Pirates:[/b] (sounding hopeful) [i]We all have to touch you?[/i] She worked out that they needed to form a circle with their hand in. Jade’s Luck and Tiger went into the brig and Jade’s Luck touched one of the pirates on a non stinky looking part. [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]I promise to treat you all with justice and mercy for the duration of your lives. You all promise to be my loyal servants for the rest of your lives, never betraying myself or my circle, Tiger, A-dom, Jahar, Gareth in any way. Or betraying any of our companions that I will name later. Also, never give any indication that I or my companions are anything other than mortal.[/i] [b]Pirates:[/b] (unsure voice) [i]We’ll try?[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]Okay, if we screw up and do it ourselves, not your fault.[/i] [b]Pirates:[/b] [i]Oh good. Yes, sure, we’re all for it.[/i] Jade’s Luck then let them out and set them up working on the ship. Fatty asked where the galley was. Fatty was thrilled, since this was the best stocked galley he had ever been in. She found out who the best sailor was, Bob, and put him in charge of making sure all was well. Bob checked to make sure they were anchored then sat behind the wheel. She told the others to do their usual chores, but they didn’t have a demon for them to feed. She told them to make rope knots or whatnot. Jade’s Luck and Tiger then went to the crew’s locked cabin. Luck went inside while the still glowing Tiger stayed outside the room. [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]Hi guys.[/i] [b]Crew:[/b] [i]Hello.[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]The problem is all gone.[/i] [b]Crew Member #1:[/b] [i]What was her name again?[/i] [b]Crew Member #2:[/b] [i]Luck, I think.[/i] [b]Crew:[/b] [i]Hello Luck. Can we come out now? Are the anathema gone?[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]Uh, the demon is gone.[/i] The crew became awful nervous at that answer. [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]Okay, sorry, what I meant, I keep forgetting that regular people aren’t scholars and don’t need extra explanations. Yes the anathema are gone.[/i] [b]Crew:[/b] [i]Oh good. Are you sure?[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]Yes, well, cause, well, wait explanations bad. One of them ran away and we killed two.[/i] [b]Crew:[/b] [i]Anathemas… What about demons?[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]Well, the one that ran away was the demon pulling the boat, and it big scary, and it went that way. We stayed here. [/i] [b]Crew:[/b] [i]Okay.[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]Were there other anathema? [/i] [b]Crew:[/b] [i]We heard a lot. And there was some glowing. No glowing out there now, just the sun. There was one glowing all gold.[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]Well, anyway, it was kind of a good thing cause the pirates got all scared and surrendered. The ones that didn’t die when the demons sunk their boat.[/i] [b]Crew:[/b] [i]Okay.[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]So we have some new crew. [/i] [b]Crew:[/b] [i]Why did the demon summoning crew surrender to you guys?[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]Well, they got scared with all the glowing guys. [/i] [b]Crew:[/b] [i]Okay. Who’s side were they on?[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]I don’t know, but they didn’t seem to like the demons. [/i] [b]Crew:[/b] [i]Can we talk to the captain?[/i] Jade’s Luck told them he was off ship at the moment, but she’d go get him. She locked the door when she left and sent Tiger off to the island to find Gareth. She also asked Tiger to tell Gareth about their new crew before he got back to the ship. Back on the island, Jahar decided to amuse himself by looking for a demesne. For this he’d need a new crystal and virgin’s hair. Being Jahar, he figured he could find some perfect crystals lying around in the forest, so started off on his own. [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]Jahar! Sit![/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]Come with me![/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]Where are you going?[/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]Looking for crystals.[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]Oh, cool.[/i] The two wandered off into the forest. They thought that perfect crystals came from old shaman’s huts and shops in the market, so they just wandered around looking for rocks. As they wandered, A-dom was starting to feel worse. [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]A-dom feeling minus twoey.[/i] Back in the village, things were going well. Gareth and Ceri were caring for the sick in different huts. After a while, Gareth noticed a little old lady standing behind him [b]Old Lady:[/b] [i]You should have children by now![/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]Grandma?[/i] [b]Grandma:[/b] [i]You should have children by now! Your brother and sister both have children.[/i] Grandma pulled out a stick and poked Gareth. [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]I’ve been kind of busy! Ow![/i] [b]Grandma:[/b] [i]You should be married![/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]I’ve got time! I’ve got plenty of time.[/i] [b]Grandma:[/b] [i]Well, get married. Find a nice woman.[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]I don’t know any. I know some insane ones.[/i] [b]Grandma:[/b] [i]I’ll find a you nice woman.[/i] She started wandering around poking women with her stick and muttering [i]No, not you.[/i] Gareth tried to get her to stop, saying they were sick and he was tending to them. [b]Grandma:[/b] [i]Why don’t I hear any prayers? Huh? Huh? Not nice enough to thank your old grandma, huh?[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]Uh, I forgot. [/i] [b]Grandma:[/b] [i]Oh, sure.[/i] She opened the door and faded away as she walked outside. Back in the forest, Jahar decided that they weren’t finding any crystals and wanted to find out what the woods were about, so activated Spirit Detecting Glance. About five feet away from them, Jahar could see all of the demons from the top of the Manse, Hooknar and a number of odd looking undead ghost type things all in a huddle. As Jahar stared at their group in shock, Hooknar noticed. [b]Hooknar:[/b] [i]I think he can see us![/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]A-dom. Walk normally.[/i] A-dom swaggered as he walked. [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]A-dom. All the demons you ever let loose about five feet from us watching us.[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]I didn’t let any demons loose![/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]And they now know we can see them. And by we I mean I.[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] (confused) [i]K? What do we do?[/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]Let’s go back towards town nonchalantly.[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]:):):):) that![/i] A-dom started running his fastest back towards town. Being left alone, Jahar started casting Flight of Separation. This just made A-dom run faster. Jahar turned into a flock of birds and realized he had to travel an extra hundred miles. The thousands of birds flew very fast around the island about a hundred times very fast before rocketing back in towards the island and crashing near the village. The pirate crew started yelling [i]Sorcerer![/i] Jade’s Luck told them that it was Jahar, one of her group. They asked her why no one was watching him, since it was Calibration. Tiger, having walked to shore, walked up to Jahar as A-dom ran up behind Jahar. Jahar felt a poke in the stomach. [b]Grandma:[/b] (poking people) [i]Not a girl, not a girl, not a girl.[/i] *[i]Woman yeeks at being poked[/i]* [b]Grandma:[/b] [i]Nah, not good enough.[/i] They noticed the little old lady, but ignored her. Jahar filled Tiger in on the demons in the woods. Since Jahar didn’t see any demons following them, Tiger went off and found Gareth. [b]Tiger:[/b] [i]Yeah, Jade’s Luck had a talk with the crew and they decided they needed to talk to you.[/i] Gareth tried to get out of it by stating he might transfer the disease to the ship. Jahar walked into the hut with a hankerchief over his mouth and told him that the demons were following the Circle around. Gareth asked them if they had seen a little old lady walking around. [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]Your grandmother’s invisible?[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]No, she’s dead.[/i] All of the mortal occupants of the hut shifted away from the Circle members. Jahar then began talking about pickling heads. Figuring it was safer for his sanity to go back to the ship, he went and told Ceri he had going back to the ship for a bit. One of the helpers had relayed Jahar’s topics to her, so she asked Gareth to get ‘his friend’ to not talk about pickling heads. [b]Villager:[/b] [i]No, now its sorcery during Calibration. Should we get the fire and pitchforks ready?[/i] Ceri assured the villager that it wasn’t necessary and Jahar didn’t mean any harm, he was just stupid. Gareth washed all of his clothes and body thoroughly to prevent spreading the disease. As Jahar and Tiger wandered out of their hut to talk, Jahar started feeling sick, but tried to hide it. Back at the boat, Gareth found the pirate crew walking around. Some of them were fishing, some had their weapons back, one was sitting up by the wheel. [b]Bob:[/b] [i]Everything is still okay, sir![/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]Uh, hey guys. This is Gareth. He built this ship.[/i] [b]Bob:[/b] [i]Ah, nice ship![/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]He’s part of the Circle.[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] (confused and slightly annoyed) [i]I’m the Captain on this boat…[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck’s Loyal Servants:[/b] [i]Excellent. We answer to her![/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] (glaring at Jade’s Luck) [i]Right… [/i] [b]Bob:[/b] [i]We made a deal. There was glowing and everything.[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] (nervous chuckle) [i]They’re not pirates anymore?[/i] Gareth definitely looked like he needed a drink at this point. [b]Gareth:[/b] (could this day get any worse voice) [i]What’s the problem? [/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] (nervous chuckle) [i]You might want to go see the crew. They asked to see you.[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] (this day just got worse voice) [i]Oh great. OOOkay. [/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]Oh, and one of the pirates made a good point about sorcerers needing babysitters at Calibration. (pause) Does Jahar have a babysitter?[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]He’s got two.[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]Does A-dom have a babysitter?[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]Last I saw they were going around together.[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]Nooooo! Noooooo. Umm… you want me to, um, to um, um go to the village to, umm, babysit them?[/i] Gareth told her the village was very contagious and that she should stay on the boat. He told her that A-dom looked like he had gotten sick. [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]So maybe they don’t need babysitters?[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]All I know is that my grandmother is wandering around the village poking people.[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]But, well, you said I was in charge…[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]Clearly a mistake.[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]But, umm, I didn’t want you to kill them all, so now you don’t have to kill them all because they’re loyal and they’re loyal.[/i] [b]Bob:[/b] [i]And you’re all perfectly normal.[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]Cause, they didn’t want to die and I didn’t want to kill them…[/i] She did eventually fill him in that the crew had seen glowing the other night and weren’t happy about it. She didn’t really tell him why the crew wanted to talk to him. Back in the village, Jahar wandered around looking for Gareth’s grandmother. [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]What’s your name?[/i] [b]Grandma:[/b] [i]Grandma![/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]Do you bleed?[/i] (long pause) [b]Grandma:[/b] (threatening tone) [i]Don’t make me go get my grandson![/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]He’s a friend of mine.[/i] [b]Grandma:[/b] [i]No wonder he doesn’t have a wife yet![/i] Jahar settled down with a pile of rocks examining them. Some of the rocks exploded. Down below on the ship, the crew quickly ushered Gareth into their room. [b]Crew member #1:[/b] (whisper) [i]We think some of your crew are anathema.[/i] They said that, besides the glowing the night before, when Jade’s Luck left, she locked the door and had a conversation with someone who said he was glowing. They weren’t sure, but they thought it was either Tiger or Jahar. Also, when they asked her if the anathema was gone, she got all dodgy. While Gareth was talking to the crew, there was a knock on the door. Grandma said she needed to talk to him. After watching a flow of essence make a wave in the sand, Jahar wandered over to the healthy villager that was keeping an eye on him and asked him if he knew where he could find some gemstones. When the villager said he didn’t know what a gemstone was, Jahar said they were crystals; shiny stones. [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]Do you have any pretties?[/i] The healthy villager immediately went to Ceri. [b]Healthy Villager #1:[/b] [i]The sorcerer is asking about the women folk now.[/i] When asked what else he had done, the villager responded that Jahar had made five rocks explode, then made squiglies in the sand. [b]Healthy Villager #1:[/b] [i]Then he asked about the women-folk. He wanted the pretty ones. I think he wants them for a sacrifice.[/i] Ceri told him to stay away from the sick people and walked over to Jahar. [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]You know where I might find any gemstones?[/i] She said no and asked why the villagers thought he was looking for women. He replied that he had said pretties and was trying to use a word that would make them think of gemstones. She told him gemstones had no worth here. He asked her if she knew how he could find one, because he wanted to find a demesne. [b]Ceri:[/b] [i]You know what? I’m not helping you find anything until Calibration is over. You’re exploding rocks.[/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]I had no idea essence was so troublesome during Calibration.[/i] [b]Lori:[/b] [i]How come I have control of myself and Jahar doesn’t?[/i] [b]Gabe:[/b] [i]Because you have sense and Jahar doesn’t.[/i] Ceri looked at Jahar’s bloodshot eyes. [b]Ceri:[/b] [i]I have a special hut for you.[/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]I can drink water out here.[/i] [b]Ceri:[/b] [i]You can drink water in the hut! There are healthy villagers wandering around out here. They don’t need to pick it up from you.[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]Yeah, sicko![/i] *Cough, cough, gag, wheeze* A-dom and Jahar put up some resistance, but Ceri wouldn’t take no for an answer. The crew asked Gareth if they could get out, since a lot of them needed to urinate and they were hungry. When Gareth told them there was a plague on the island, they didn’t want to get out anymore. He took their full bucket, said he’d get them a few more buckets and some food. Once out, he locked the door and ushered his grandmother away before talking to her. She told him she had found a wife for him. [b]Grandma:[/b] [i]Really pretty one. Good hips. Running around giving orders to everyone.[/i] When he said he had a few thousand years, she said that meant he could be married twice! That’s a lot of kids he could have. Jade’s Luck walked up and asked Gareth who he was talking to. He dismissively responded his grandmother. Grandma poked Jade’s Luck and said she might be good too. [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]No, no, no she’s not.[/i] Back in the village, Jahar was being a bad sick person. He was wandering around looking for dying people to write down a prayer. Ceri saw this and ushered him back to his hut. He wanted the prayer for the artifact he was trying to build and tried to explain it, but Jahar isn’t good at explaining when he is well. Gareth told Jade’s Luck that the crew was okay for now. He dumped the bucket, found a few more, and wandered into the galley. [b]Fatty:[/b] [i]Would you like something to eat, sir?[/i] There was a very long silence as Gareth took in the scene. Fatty had clearly made himself at home and had reorganized the shelves. [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]I had that all organized.[/i] [b]Fatty:[/b] [i]It is organized better now. I’m the cook![/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]I’m the Captain![/i] [b]Fatty:[/b] [i]Hello Captain. I’m loyal to this nice little girl. She’s perfectly normal.[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] (muttering) [i]No, no she’s not.[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]He’s perfectly normal.[/i] [b]Fatty:[/b] [i]Yes, you’re perfectly normal too.[/i] Gareth just gave up at this point and told Fatty he needed some food for the crew locked in their room. Fatty was really fast. It is amazing what demon-summoning masters will do for your speed. Gareth brought the food back and told them he’d be back in a while. Gareth told Jade’s Luck that the crew would need to be fed and their pee buckets dumped every so often. Fatty took up the task of the of feeding them. When Gareth went back on deck, he zoned out into a vision. Shaking himself back to the present, Gareth smiled and headed off for land. He found out that Tiger was off wandering around looking for coral and would be back in a couple hours, so he went to check with Ceri on how the villagers were doing. She said they were getting better fairly rapidly. [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]And how are the wonder twins doing?[/i] [b]Ceri:[/b] [i]You know them better than I do. Do they always talk insane or is it the illness?[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]There is no good answer to that question.[/i] [b]Ceri:[/b] [i]I heard they were looking for gemstones, which I can understand, being from civilized lands, but the villagers thought they were looking for pretty girls…[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]Ah. You were talking to Jahar![/i] She told him about the exploding rocks and the sand and that she had banished them to a hut and had someone keeping an eye on them. Ceri went and relieved the poor old lady watching the duo. She said they had been talking about making a ghost ship. Jahar slept and dreamt of zombie sheep. When Tiger came back, Gareth filled him in on the crew’s situation. He also filled Tiger in on his vision. When Tiger heard you needed permission of the ruler of the land, his first thought was that they needed to take over the land. As the sun set, Grandma faded in. [b]Grandma:[/b] [i]She’s in the hut. With your two crazy friends. You should go talk to her.[/i] Gareth put her off by telling her he would in a little bit. The two went back to the boat to deal with the crew. Gareth really wasn’t sure what he was going to do when he got there, but felt it needed to be dealt with. [b]Crewman #6:[/b] [i]Sir. What’s with the pirates on the ship?[/i] Gareth told them that the pirates had sold themselves into the ship’s service to pay off their bad deeds. They still didn’t understand why the pirates could walk around and they couldn’t. Gareth explained that it had to deal with the Anathema thing. [b]Crewman #6:[/b] [i]So who is it and when are we going to jump him?[/i] Gareth sent Tiger out of the room and whispered. [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]Okay, listen. I need you guys to make a deal to be loyal to me. Otherwise, well, you know how I said we had an anathema problem? I can assure you everybody here lives. But, if you don’t swear, the one out there is going to start killing people. And I’m pretty damn sure he can take on everyone in this room. He seems to be cool with it if you guys are loyal to me. I seem to be able to reason with him and he listens to me.[/i] Four of them said they’d swear. Three of them said, [i]We’ll save you sir![/i], pushed Gareth out of the way, then opened the door. [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]I’m fine, its you I’m worried about.[/i] The battle was short and not as brutal as it could have been. Apparently Tiger didn’t see the need to kill three unarmed men attacking him. Three people trying to force their way out of one door slowed them down, not that they had a chance of acting before Tiger. Tiger took a step forward, kneed the one in the middle in the groin, grabbed the other twos’ heads and smashed them against the wall. [b]Paul:[/b] [i]Plus two stunt. You actually used the damn environment![/i] [b]Gabe:[/b] [i]I’ve been looking for the environment…[/i] With three wounded and unconscious men on the ground, Gareth leaned over to tend to them. Tiger stepped into the room and closed the door. [b]Tiger:[/b] [i]Now we have a deal to make with you.[/i] [b]Remaining Crew:[/b] [i]We’re all for it sir. It was just those three :):):):)-ups.[/i] [b]Tiger:[/b] [i]That’s good to hear.[/i] The crew offered to throw the men overboard or give them to the plague-ridden people. Tiger got the conscious crewmembers to gather for the oath binding. Gareth recited a slightly altered oath from Jade’s Luck’s. [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]I promise to treat you with justice and mercy for the duration of your lives. You all promise to be my loyal servants for the rest of your lives and never betraying myself or those I travel with. You also can never give any indication any of us are anything less, umm I mean anything more than mortal.[/i] [b]Crewman #7:[/b] [i]Can we get paid a fair wage?[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]Yes, you’ll be paid a fair wage. You’ll be paid and treated fairly.[/i] They agreed and Tiger flared. Gareth told the crew they could go mingle. Tiger and Gareth took the unconscious trio and locked them in the brig. The crew was instructed not to let them out till he said. A-dom got better the next day, but Jahar puked essense. The sorcery use may have made his sickness worse. Ceri gave A-dom a clean bill of health, but told him he needed to stick with one of his friends because he was still a sorcerer during calibration. Gareth returned to the village and his grandma kept motioning for him to go into the hut. [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]Grandma, is that you?[/i] [b]Ceri:[/b]: [i]That’s not your grandma.[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] (to Grandma) [i]Yes, she is very lovely.[/i] [b]Grandma:[/b] [i]Good childbearing hips.[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]My grandma says you have good childbearing hips.[/i] [b]Ceri:[/b]: [i]Uhhhh. Thank you? It’s going to bee a while before they’re put to use.[/i] In another hut, a voice could be heard. [b]Squeaky Voice:[/b] [i]Grandpa? Aren’t you dead?[/i] They saw a little boy run out of a hut and through the village. [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]A-dom, what’d you do?[/i] In the other hut, A-dom and Gareth found a fairly solid old man. The old man gave Gareth flack, so A-dom said he wasn’t a zombie. They went to find the kid and calm him down. A-dom picked the kid up. He explained that it was okay because it was calibration and his grandpa wasn’t going to hurt him. Once A-dom put the kid down again, the kid hid behind Gareth. A-dom amused himself by going ‘[i]Boo![/i]’ at the kid. During that day, Gareth filled A-dom in on his vision and how the portal worked. A-dom got worried about the whole permission part. He wanted to know if everyone needed permission. [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]Umm.. You know about volcanoes? You know about getting thrown in volcanoes? I kinda avoided that. Not in the good way. The leader, umm… he doesn’t like me so much.[/i] Gareth asked him why he couldn’t just look like someone else. A-dom didn’t explain why not. [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]Especially the leader. Um, well, the leader. You see… I kinda stole his hat. He was called ‘Feathered One’ and had a big feathered hat. Yeah, well, he kinda doesn’t have one. And you know about the horses and the bad stealing? I kinda got caught.[/i] Jahar gave him the idea that he could just give the hat back, if he still had it. A-dom said he still had it. Well, it was hidden near the volcano. After all, it was in a thing so it might still be there. Jahar then told A-dom he shouldn’t be afraid. After all, he had seem A-dom jump a hundred feet in the air and come crashing down on the pirate ship to destroy it. He could do that to Abalone. Gareth explained that that was a monumentally bad idea. Since the island was constructed to be a doorway to heaven, it was, in essence, one big manse. [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]Don’t break the island. You might open up a portal to Malfese or something.[/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]Well, we need to go there too anyway.[/i] [b]Everyone else:[/b] [i]NO WE DON’T![/i] The next day, Gareth sought out Ceri. [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]We’re going to go to heaven. Wanna come along?[/i] [b]Ceri:[/b] [i]Umm. You all seem to have a problem with not explaining what you’re saying. So, huh?[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]Oh. Sorry. The Unconquered Sun is not really good with the giving of instructions and how he wants his religion run and all that fun stuff. So, we’re going to take a trip to heaven to have a chat with him. Find out a couple things.[/i] [b]Ceri:[/b] [i]Just… going to heaven?[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]Yeah.[/i] [b]Ceri:[/b] [i]Walking in?[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]Well, through a portal, but yeah.[/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]They probably sell some decent crystals there…[/i] Gareth smacked Jahar for that response. [b]Ceri:[/b] [i]I need a little time before I can give you a response. I need to pray.[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]I don’t know if your god gives you more instructions or whatever or if you want to go talk to her or something. We’re going to talk to ours. All we’ve seem of him is ‘You want to live? You want to work for me? Ah good!’ Zap![/i] [b]Ceri:[/b] [i]He asked you if you want to live? My god won’t grant you anything until you have decided to live.[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]Yeah. Our god is kind of an opportunist.[/i] [b]Ceri:[/b] [i]Let me get back to you on this.[/i] While praying, she recalled that the point of meeting during Calibration was so that you could take care of people who weren’t currently up to speed on things. It strongly appeared to her that she was the only one anywhere near to being up to speed, so the other clearly needed her help. [b]Ceri:[/b] [i]I have a slight counter offer.[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]We’ll take it![/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]A-dom![/i] She offered to take the group to see her mentor. She said he might be willing to clue the Circle in a bit more. They’d have to behave or he might eat them, but they might learn a thing or two before they went into heaven blind. She said if they were willing to do that she’d feel much better about going into heaven. [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]I think we’d like to meet other anathema that didn’t want to kill us.[/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]To be fair, we have met other anathema that didn’t want to kill us. What about A-dom’s buddy?[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]Skelly?[/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]No, the Death lord.[/i] They decided to take her up on her offer. [b]Ceri:[/b] [i]You definitely need to go somewhere else before going into heaven.[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]The Underworld and Unconquered Sun have certain relationships and I’m just a liason…ish.[/i] Jahar let everyone know about the demons following them around and to be careful about going off alone. The group decided to while away the remaining days of Calibration before setting sail. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
[Exalted] Solar Circle of the West - whole slew of updates 3/8/09
Top