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<blockquote data-quote="Ao the Overkitty" data-source="post: 2819436" data-attributes="member: 9758"><p><strong>Synopsis for 4/10/06 session - "Jahar Got His Wish”</strong></p><p></p><p><em>Synopsis for 4/10/06 session</em></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px"><strong>"Jahar Got His Wish”</strong></span></p><p></p><p><strong>The Grumpy Craftsman</strong> sailed on for months and months across featureless ocean. It was very boring.</p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> (to Gareth) <em>You must have built SOMETHING out here.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>Make Skelly dance again.</em></p><p></p><p>Jahar bemoaned the fact that he couldn’t pick up items along the way to fix the artifact in Tiger and Jade’s Luck’s Manse.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>Gareth picked this route cause he didn’t want me to fix the artifact.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>No. I picked this route because I wanted <strong>To Get <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=":)" />ing Home!</strong></em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>A-dom, come on. Let’s get out and push again. I’ll help.</em></p><p></p><p>Jahar spent a lot of time convincing the crew that things did not suck as bad as they did. A-dom worked on figuring out how to cart his club around inconspicuously. These ideas revolved around rugs and covered carts. He briefly considered just rapping it in a rug and strapping it to his back, but realized that wasn’t exactly inconspicuous.</p><p></p><p>When they got close to home, they made a quick detour to Hoen-ba island. Everyone was very happy to see land (and other people).</p><p></p><p>Hoen-ba-ba-den greeted Gareth and Jade’s Luck as they approached her hut. After a brief amount of chitchat, Gareth got to asking about Joe.</p><p></p><p><strong>Hoen-ba-ba-den:</strong> <em>Oooooh. Man who sits in hut alone. Not so well, I think.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>He’s been sitting in the hut for a while now?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Hoen-ba-ba-den:</strong> <em>Oooooh… One season, at least.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>Oh crap.</em></p><p></p><p>Hoen-ba-ba-den consulted with Gelf before continuing.</p><p></p><p><strong>Hoen-ba-ba-den:</strong> <em>What was he called? Missionary. Ah. Missionary come by. He was tasty.</em></p><p></p><p>*<em>Gareth groans</em>*</p><p></p><p><strong>Hoen-ba-ba-den:</strong> <em>He’s been sitting in his hut ever since festival day. Not sure why. We made sure he was not related. We even offered him arm.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>Oh crap.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>Your generosity must have overwhelmed him.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Hoen-ba-ba-den:</strong> <em>Yes. He is in hut. Far side of island now.</em></p><p></p><p>Jade’s Luck asked Gareth if which of them should go see Joe. He responded that he wanted her to come along. On the far side of the island they found a poorly built hut. Inside the poorly built hut, they found an unshaven, unwashed Joe in a corner with a stick.</p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>Uh, Joe?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Joe:</strong> <em>Who’s there?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>Hi Joe!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>Gareth.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Joe:</strong> (waves stick) <em>You left me here! These people eat people! They offered me an arm!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>They only eat bad people.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>He was a missionary. That’s bad. You’re not a missionary, so you’re safe.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>The trip took longer than I expected. Much, much longer.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Joe:</strong> <em>You said you were going to be gone a little while.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>He’s got no sense of time. I mean, he’s a really nice man, but no sense of time.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>Much, much longer. I didn’t know it was going to take this many months to get there and back. I expected a short trip to go</em> (makes straight line hand gestures) <em> zoop zoop we’re done. But noooooo. We’ve got to go </em> (makes a half circle hand gesture) <em> all the way around!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>And it did take several months to get back the short way. Very boring. Come on, lets get you cleaned up.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Joe:</strong> <em>Can we got to Atlantis now?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>Hmm… almost.</em></p><p></p><p>*<em>Joe whimpers</em>*</p><p></p><p><strong>Joe:</strong> <em>Alright. You sail the boat around to here. I’ll wait.</em></p><p></p><p>Jade’s Luck continued to try and get him to wash. Gareth tried to explain delicately that Joe wasn’t free yet and couldn’t return to Atlantis quite yet.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>You know how long paperwork can take.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Joe:</strong> <em>Hopefully not as long as boat trips.</em></p><p></p><p>Gareth gave Joe the choice of staying on Hoen-ba island or going to an island with no people (Opec’s island).</p><p></p><p><strong>Joe:</strong> <em>No cannibals?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>No cannibals, no people.</em></p><p></p><p>Joe liked that idea and embraced it. Gareth left Jade’s Luck with Joe while he went and got the boat. Joe made sure Jade’s Luck didn’t watch him bathe.</p><p></p><p>Once back on the boat, Gareth got all of the crew’s attention.</p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>Okay. We’re going to have a passenger for a short trip. We’re all perfectly normal.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Crew:</strong> (nods) <em>Riiiiiiiiight. We’re with you, boss!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>You do realize that he is going to find out.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>Eventually. I just want him in a better mood first.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>It might be best if Skelly was back in his barrel.</em></p><p></p><p>Skelly slumped his shoulders and, well, would have sighed if he could. He lumbered over to his barrel in the middle of the deck, climbed in, and closed the lid. A few seconds later he could be heard twiddling his thumbs.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>A-dom, you should move his barrel down below.</em></p><p></p><p>Before they sailed around, Gareth asked Tiger to go negotiate with the Hoen-ba for food, since their supplies were hard tack. Gareth quickly whipped up some new clothes for Joe before heading back to shore.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>No, I’m not looking! You can shave!</em></p><p></p><p>Joe was very happy to have the new clothes. Once onboard the ship, Jade’s Luck showed Joe to Gareth’s room. He was going to make himself a place in the corner, but Gareth said he could use the bed. Joe was elated and collapsed on the bed. Jade’s Luck went to go see Fatty about getting Joe something to eat.</p><p></p><p>Getting ready to leave, Tiger told Gareth he was going to have to come back at a later date and build something in exchange for the food they were getting now. They figured he was good for it.</p><p></p><p><strong>Gabe:</strong> <em>You know, your first artifact is going to have to be a staff of hut creation.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Alex:</strong> <em>Bah. Huts are too easy. My first artifact is going to be enchanted tools.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Liz:</strong> <em>Tools Need No Master!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Paul:</strong> <em>Instead of Craftsman Needs No Tools. A hammer and tongs working in your workshop while you go away.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Alex:</strong> <em>That wouldn’t raise any questions… nooooooo…..</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Paul:</strong> (mimicking an apprentice) <em>Master Gareth is in back! He can’t come out right now, cause he’s busy.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Ryan:</strong> <em>He’s perfectly normal.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Alex:</strong> <em>I’m going to have to save that idea.</em></p><p></p><p>The trip to Opec’s island seemed to go by in the blink of an eye. When Ceri noticed the giant black obelisk, she asked what it was.</p><p></p><p> <strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>Oh, that’s Opec. </em></p><p></p><p><strong>Ceri:</strong> <em>You all listen to a big, black rock?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>I don’t. He doesn’t want to talk to me anyway.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>I’ve had a few conversations with him. He’s interesting enough.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Tiger:</strong> <em>Yeah, he’s not all that.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>Really Jahar mostly talks to the rock.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Ceri:</strong> <em>That explains a lot, actually.</em></p><p></p><p>The group got into one of their meandering conversations. It started with the hoen-ba cannibals not eating many humans; only three that they knew of. It went along to wondering about the whereabouts of the Chief’s daughter to whether she was attractive or not to telling A-dom he couldn’t steal her.</p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>No, cause if I stuck her in a cave for several years she’d die.</em></p><p></p><p>The conversation then went on to about how Jade’s Luck would prefer it if A-dom only stole non-sentient, inanimate objects, or only stole things when he was with Tiger.</p><p></p><p>Gareth went ashore and made a nice little hut for Joe. He then went back to the ship and brought Joe to the hut. Joe had retained his stick.</p><p></p><p><strong>Joe:</strong> <em>Ooh, bananas!</em></p><p></p><p>*<em>Joe pokes bananas with a stick to get them to fall</em>*</p><p></p><p>Gareth went and sailed the boat away from Joe’s hut so he could go properly fix it while the rest of the Circle plus Ceri went to go talk to Opec. During their walk to Opec, they had a long discussion about whether or not they were going to need to kidnap Jahar’s kid and how they were going to go about it. They had a month to plan, at least.</p><p></p><p>Once at Opec, Jahar went and talked to him. He told Opec stories of their travels. When he got to talking about the switching of shards, Opec said that he remembered that and that it had happened once before, to his knowledge. That one was two shards getting switched as a result of the Unconquered Sun sneezing. Opec never heard about the results of the switch, but he said Weijin the Hideous was sure it was going to work and she wasn’t complaining later. </p><p></p><p><strong>Opec:</strong> <em>So, you remember that artifact you blew up?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>Which one?</em></p><p></p><p>Opec explained that they needed the big stone circle for the ritual. He explained that the owners would understand how it works when it was operational again.</p><p></p><p><strong>Opec:</strong> <em>During Calibration this year. Very important. It’s an anniversary of something. Don’t know what. Anyway, this is when the ritual can be done. It has to be sanctified by a Zenith and a No Moon. Hope you can find one of those.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>I think we have one of those. By the way, if she were to touch you, would she get blown away like the dragon-blood?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Opec:</strong> <em>I don’t know. No Lunar has ever touched me.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>Are you curious?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Opec:</strong> <em>Kind of. Bring her over! Anyway, they both have to agree that it is a good thing. Then they have to bless the candidates. Then the Zenith draws the new caste mark on each of the participants’ foreheads where it normally goes with gold dust paste. The No Moon draws it over each one’s heart with the gold dust paste. Then you have the controller of the artifact target the other side of the room. This normally doesn’t do anything, but, during Calibration, things don’t work normally anyway. Oh yeah. And never, ever try to go anywhere else in Creation with that thing during Calibration. Each person then renounces their old caste and wishes to become their new caste and steps through the artifact. Then they disappear. When each of them is inside the artifact, they will reappear on the other side of the room as their proper caste. If they screw up in any way, shape or form, everyone dies. So no goofing around.</em></p><p></p><p>Opec and Jahar then discussed the list for the circle artifact, what they had, and what they were going to substitute for the items on it.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>Left hand of the loyal servant; haven’t found any loyal servants lately.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Opec:</strong> (sputters) <em>What? You don’t even have the left hand of a loyal servant yet?</em></p><p></p><p>The discussion, with both Opec and the group by Opec, stuck on the loyal servant part for quite a while. A-dom was very protective of Skelly’s left hand and would not entertain any discussion about needing to find a replacement. Down by his ship, Gareth felt a strange sense of worry about Joe’s hand.</p><p></p><p>Several violent ideas were entertained by Jahar, such as finding a rival merchant company and destroying one of their ships and harvesting the bodies of the crew. They eventually settled on going crypt crawling, raising a zombie ship, having A-dom make an undead war mount, stealing Cynis’s copy of Jahar and Jara’s marriage contract, having Gareth visit sick houses for prayers, and having Gareth build something right before the ritual, among other things.</p><p></p><p>Once Jahar was finished talking to Opec, Ceri approached him. Before she got up to him, she noticed silver runes in the sand around him. They looked very familiar and she was pretty sure they said <strong>Do Not Touch</strong>. Ceri did the wise thing and backed away.</p><p></p><p>Eventually they get back to the boat and the boat gets back to Atlantis. The circle splits company to go tend to their mortal affairs. Presented with the option of a whorehouse, a smith’s shop, and a noble house full of dragon-bloods, Ceri decided to tag along behind Gareth.</p><p></p><p>Matron Jade was filled in on where Luck had been and told Luck business had been poor and they needed her around for good luck. Gareth’s two nephews looked relieved to see he was back. Since they only had rudimentary metalsmithing skills, they had been making horseshoes and nails.</p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>I’m sorry, the trip took much longer than I expected. You have now mastered shopkeeping. I will now train you in other things.</em></p><p></p><p>And there was much rejoicing.</p><p></p><p>Jahar went home to House Sessus first. His father was happy with the progress he was making with the company. His sibling who exalted (before Jahar did) was off on the Blessed Isle for training. His little unexalted sibling was in school and doing well. His excessively cranking wife was in the last month of pregnancy. His father suggested lots of shiny objects when he visited her. At some point, an employee of Jahar and Jade’s Luck came running up and handed Jahar a list of what suck-up notes and gifts had been sent to Jara in his absence.</p><p></p><p>Jahar waited just long enough to have full knowledge of the list and his own collection of stuff to bring her. He put up his usual suite of social charms before going in. Jara looked very big. And cranky. And assigned to bed rest because carrying around her Grand Goremaul was bad for her back. The conversation was short. She was happy that he was back and had been sucking up to her. She then dismissed him. He found out she had been having difficulties with the pregnancy, which is very unusual for dragon-bloods.</p><p></p><p>Over the next month, during the day, Gareth trained his apprentices and did shop keeping chores. At night, he worked out exactly what he needed to get Joe legally freed and did that. He then brought Joe back from Opec’s island, set him up in a small house (that Gareth didn’t build) and set him up with a paying job at his shop.</p><p></p><p>The Circle plus Ceri discussed how they were going to deal with the birth of Jahar’s child. They ultimately decided that Tiger was going to get to know the little old lady nursemaid for the birth, then knock her out and impersonate her. A-dom, Jade’s Luck, and Ceri were going to impersonate assistants/apprentices, with Ceri doing all of the actual work. Gareth and Jahar were going to be at Jahar’s party that day, since men weren’t allowed at the birth. Tiger decided to store the nursemaid in a crypt they were going to loot for ingredients for the artifact. Jade’s Luck spent hours trying to instruct A-dom on how to properly handle a baby. Not sure how well it worked, really.</p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>I’m not touching that! It’ll have goo on it.</em></p><p></p><p>Tiger made himself look like the little old nursemaid. Jade’s Luck disguised herself to look like a proper apprentice to a nursemaid. Ceri tweaked her features a little to look less like a barbarian. A-dom made himself look female. The entourage arrived at House Cynis to find out that there were a lot of women there for the birth from House Cynis and House Sessus. Half the room was women drinking and the other half was the bed with Jara on it. Jara looked very uncomfortable and was clutching her GoreMaul like a security blanket. Ceri did actual helpful things to let nature take its course more quickly. A-dom and Jade’s Luck did their best to block the view of the drinking women, so it didn’t look like Ceri was doing all the work.</p><p></p><p>Across town, Jahar was a very stressed man. Others were tying to get him sloshed and drugged into oblivion to calm him down. Gareth was mostly keeping Jahar sober and drug free enough for combat, but he was sure Jahar was sneaking some of the hard stuff every once in a while.</p><p></p><p>Two hours later, Jara was in hard labor. This was further evidence that things were strange with this child, since a dragon-blood birth only takes one hour. This made everyone on the drinking side of the room nervous. Ceri noticed that there was smoke coming out of a place it really shouldn’t have been. She wasn’t sure, but, since the mother was a Earth dragon-blood, it was possible the child was currently on fire. Her reasoning continued, since this only happens to exalted dragon-bloods, that would mean that this child had just exalted. Though she didn’t know too much about dragon-bloods, she was pretty sure that it wasn’t normal.</p><p></p><p><strong>Ceri:</strong> <em>We need to get his kid out now!</em></p><p></p><p>Ceri briefly discussed cutting the mother open to get the child out, but Jara’s skin was even more rock hard than normal, since she had clearly activated a few protection charms. She finally decided to just stick her hand in and pull out the burning child. Since she was now holding a flaming baby, she quickly set it down in a metal basin/crib. The drinking women fawned over the baby, but only the fire aspect dragon-bloods were willing to hold it. There was some minor discussion about how this child was going to be fed, since the usual mortal nursemaid weren’t going to work. The nursemaid group joyously told Jara that she had been blessed by a very special child which the dragons had already blessed with their favor. Ceri had the proof that their child was blessed, since her hands were now badly burned.</p><p></p><p>Tiger was glad that they didn’t have to immediately kidnap the child because this way they got paid.</p><p></p><p>Across town, the party eventually broke up and Gareth was sent home. A couple of days later, when Jahar sobered up, his mother came to talk to him. She told him that there were some slight complications with the child, however it was a very special baby who had been sent to the Blessed Isle for training. The elders of House Sessus wanted to meet him. His fire aspect sister took the child, but, since the child was exalted and didn’t know how to turn his power off, he needed to be held for the entire trip. Jahar’s mother (and others) blamed Cujug (Jara’s grandfather) and his random fertility concoctions. She finished by telling him that she wanted more grandchildren soon and that Jara wanted to see him.</p><p></p><p>Once Jahar was dressed and shaved, he went to go see Jara. He brought her a gift, though he wasn’t quite sure what was appropriate, since no Dragon-blood had ever had a difficult childbirth.</p><p></p><p>Jara looked like a mortal who had given birth.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jara:</strong> <em>Our parents want us to breed again. I suggest we put that off for twenty years or so. I know that is getting a bit old for you, but...</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>That bad?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jara:</strong> <em>Yes.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>I can deal with that.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jara:</strong> <em>I’ll send you a list of names. You can leave now.</em></p><p></p><p>Jahar wandered out. Somehow, that conversation had made him cheerful.</p><p></p><p>Over the next several months, the Circle worked on gathering the items needed to fix the artifact. When Jahar put it all together and fixed it, he found it was a big stone circle with a net of Wyld within it. Tiger and Jade’s Luck instinctually knew how it worked. It was a gate that allowed you to teleport to any island in Creation that you had already visited. It would only take to a big, open place on the island. Only those that entered through the circle onto the island could go back through into the Manse. Also, Tiger and Jade’s Luck were the only ones that could target the gate and walk through and back freely. They had control of who could return to the Manse and had to be on the island side of the gate to do so. The portal would not allow for large amounts of stuff to be shipped through it, so this was for adventuring purposes only. And, finally, since it was a Wyld portal, use by mortals was at their own risk.</p><p></p><p>Then Calibration arrived. A-dom was very happy that it was his birthday once again. When he was woken up that morning by an angry gang of monkeys holding muffins. They were angry because they didn’t want to be up this early. Jahar took several hours to drill into A-dom’s head that he couldn’t screw around during the ritual, since that would kill all those involved. Gareth decided, since he wasn’t involved in the ritual, he shouldn’t be anywhere near the gate room. He was more than a little worried when he was told he had to be there.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>You mostly have to do minor occult things in the background at my direction.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>Do you really think that is wise?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>You just have to do mindless stuff; nothing complicated.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Gareth:</strong> <em>okay…</em></p><p></p><p>Gareth still felt worse about his roll in this.</p><p></p><p>The ritual went along well enough. The gods obviously wanted this to happen, since Jade’s Luck’s blessing was phenomenal (ten successes).</p><p></p><p><strong>Ryan:</strong> <em>Wow. You blessed 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=":)" /> out of us.</em></p><p></p><p>A-dom actually felt repentant for his unholy ways and sobbed apologies to the Unconquered Sun.</p><p></p><p>After the caste marks were drawn and they did the renouncing, A-dom went into the portal, followed by Tiger and finally Jahar. On the other side of the room, Tiger came out first, followed by Jahar, and finally A-dom. They were glowing with different animas and colors and the new caste marks glowed brightly.</p><p></p><p><strong>Tiger</strong> is now a <strong>Night</strong> Caste.</p><p><strong>Jahar</strong> is now an <strong>Eclipse</strong> Caste.</p><p><strong>A-Dom</strong> is now a <strong>Dawn</strong> Caste.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The gate then waved a bit and spit out a piece of paper. Jahar was the first to grab it and began reading it intently. After a few moments, Jahar spoke.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>We are invited to a dinner. We’re safe, as long as we don’t break the treaty.</em></p><p></p><p>The note eventually got passed around the Circle.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Gareth and Jahar consulted each other and the knowledge of the past to determined that this letter came from someone they had defeated. Ceri knew that it came from someone whom they (ie all exalted) defeated and made sign the treaty.</p><p></p><p>The group discussed the importance of this meeting and the power of those that sent the letter while the portal flickered on to show an entry room. A-dom walked through the portal, ceasing any discussion. Jahar followed quickly, since he felt A-dom would need his protection. He admonished A-dom for his spontaneity and lack of forethought, telling him that curtains might stab him.</p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>Where’s your sense of adventure?</em></p><p></p><p>Tiger picked up his, A-doms, and Jahar’s stuff and walked through the portal. Jade’s Luck summoned a monkey and told it the Circle was accepting a dinner invitation and should return shortly. Ceri decided she was already all dressed up, so she might as well.</p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>Can I have your bracers?</em></p><p></p><p>Since he now knew the bracers would no longer work for him, Jahar handed the bracers over to A-dom.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>A-dom, in exchange for this you must now behave yourself and make sure you don’t break the treaty.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> (not really paying attention as he puts the bracers on) <em>How do they come off?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>I’ll show you if you agree.</em></p><p></p><p>A-dom agreed and Jahar sanctified the deal.</p><p></p><p>Once the entire Circle was assembled in the entryway, the big doors opened a crack and a rag doll walked through. He was missing one arm, where straw and stuffing was coming out and his head was bent perpendicular to his body.</p><p></p><p><img src="http://home.nycap.rr.com/aokitty/Maibee01.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><strong>Rag Doll:</strong> <em>Ah. Dinner guests! Excellent!</em></p><p></p><p>Jade’s Luck and Jahar put up their social charms. Jahar bowed to the rag doll. The rag doll bowed back with his broken neck causing his head to wobble from side to side.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>We’re here to answer the invitation.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Rag Doll:</strong> <em>Yes yes yes. Did you like my haiku?</em></p><p></p><p>Jahar and Jade’s Luck complimented the haiku. The rag doll led the group into a big, well lit dining room with a star shaped table. Near a side of the table was a metal grate that appeared to open into a pit. The floor was slanted slightly to direct liquid flow into said pit. There were chairs lined up against the wall. Each chair had a post that would conveniently fit into one of the many post holes around the table.</p><p></p><p><strong>Rag Doll:</strong> <em>As is your rite by the treaty, you may place the chairs. Once you do so, the other guests will arrive and we’ll have dinner. Oh. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Maibee.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>And who are the other guests?</em> (to Jahar) <em>Hey, look. I’m behaving. I didn’t hit him first.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Maibee:</strong> <em>Jaznym, Ello, Orabilis, Bellowdona, Captain Zailnox, Drokdo, Adjoran, Cecelyne, and Hegra will be joining us for dinner.</em></p><p></p><p>Jahar recognized Bellowdona as the name of a Yozi titled <em>She who bleeds rivers of poison</em>.</p><p></p><p>Jade’s Luck and Jahar looked over the chairs. There were five gold chairs and one silver chair, which the Circle determined were for themselves and Ceri. There was a poorly made chair of splintered wood, rags and straw. A chair made of plush velvet. One made of shredded books. One was a captain’s chair made of broken oars. One chair that was made out of nails. A brass chair that was full of holes. One gigantic chair made out of granite. Finally there was one delicate pedestal made out of ice.</p><p></p><p>Jade’s Luck spent some time figuring out where the chairs should be placed and directed the others around to place them. The Gold chairs went at the points with the Silver chair next to one of the Gold ones. The big stone chair got the space alone, since she figured he was a pretty big guy and needed the room. A-dom activated a few charms to move it. She also made sure the velvet chair wasn’t placed next to the one made of rags.</p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> (to Maibee) <em>The chair made out of straw is yours?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Maibee:</strong> <em>Oh heavens no. Mine’s the nail chair. It’s comfy.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> (to Maibee) <em>Oh. Should I ask where we are?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Maibee:</strong> <em>You are inside the prison you built… for us.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> (to Maibee) <em>That was a few lifetimes ago.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Maibee:</strong> <em>Oh. I believe the colloquial terms for it are Malfeas and Hell.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Alex:</strong> <em>You got your wish, Gabe.</em></p><p></p><p>A-dom made small talk with Maibee, asking him what he’d done to get here and if he was a really bad guy. Maibee responded that he’d signed the annoying treaty to get here and he wasn’t bad, he was very reasonable.</p><p></p><p><strong>Tiger:</strong> <em>Do you know Spikey?</em></p><p></p><p>Maibee didn’t know anyone named Spikey. He picked off a bit of the stuffing in his arm that was falling out.</p><p></p><p><strong>Maibee:</strong> <em>Which one of you is Wretch?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>A-dom.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>Yes?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Maibee:</strong> <em>Thanks for breaking my neck, by the way.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>It was a lifetime ago! Practically a different person.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Maibee:</strong> <em>I can’t hold it upright.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>Are you still Wretch?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>I don’t know. I think I’m Wretch.</em></p><p></p><p>Ceri muttered a curse under her breath, but no one noticed. Jade’s Luck placed the last of the chairs.</p><p></p><p><strong>Maibee:</strong> <em>Ah, good! Time for the guests to arrive! Our first guest is Jaznym, Lady of Irresistible Desire.</em></p><p></p><p>A small woman dressed in a black burka entered and seated herself on the velvet chair.</p><p></p><p><strong>Maibee:</strong> <em>Our second guest is Ello the Unwelcome Guest.</em></p><p></p><p>An ugly, trollish like gobliny monster came in picking his nose, scratching his ass, and looking around.</p><p></p><p><strong>Ello:</strong> <em>Where’s the food?! Jackasses!</em></p><p></p><p>He scratched his nuts and wandered to his rag chair.</p><p></p><p><strong>Maibee:</strong> <em>Our next guest is Orabilis, the End of All Wisdom. </em></p><p></p><p>A tall man in while robes with a large, orchalum mouth gag all around his collar, mouth and the top of his head entered.</p><p></p><p><strong>Ceri:</strong> (muttered) <em>I guess he won’t be eating.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Maibee:</strong> <em>Yes, well, the End of All Wisdom is not allowed to talk to you anymore.</em></p><p></p><p>Orabilis went and sat in the book chair.</p><p></p><p><strong>Maibee:</strong> <em> Bellowdona. She Who Bleeds Rivers of Poison.</em></p><p></p><p>A very beautiful woman walked in who was literally bleeding poison from lots of open wounds. She sat down in the brass chair full of holes. Her blood rain off down the drain.</p><p></p><p><strong>Maibee:</strong> <em>Captain Zailnox. Bringer of Infinite Bad Luck at Sea.</em></p><p></p><p>A tall green demon with a captain’s hat on entered with a bunch of knee high pirate guys following him around. He sneered at Gareth as he went to sit in his captain’s chair.</p><p></p><p>A thumping noise could then be heard.</p><p></p><p><strong>Maibee:</strong> <em>Ah. Drokdo - All Flee Where He Treads. Now in attendance.</em></p><p></p><p>The door opened up to reveal <strong>BIG</strong>, red, six armed demon with lots of weapons strapped to him. Each time he took a step, the floor tiles got up and ran away. Once he had passed, the floor tiles came back and settled down. He dropped himself into the granite chair. Looking into the corridor, the Circle could see large potholes leading up to the door. It looked like wherever he had stepped, the floor had exploded.</p><p></p><p>The door then opened, but nothing apparently came in.</p><p></p><p><strong>Maibee:</strong> <em> Adjoran, the Silent Wind.</em></p><p></p><p>It appeared like he moved over to the ice pedestal, but it was hard to tell. Some of the little pirate guys fell dead as he passed.</p><p></p><p><strong>Maibee: </strong> <em>And that is all the seated guests.</em></p><p></p><p>Ceri seated herself in her silver chair between Orabilis and seat three. The Circle seated themselves. Jahar, being the Eclipse, sat at seat number one between Jaznym and Maibee. A-dom was told to sit in seat four, between Ello and Orabilis. Jade’s Luck sat down in seat five between Bellowdona and Captain Zailnox. Gareth sat down in seat two, between Drokdo and Adjoran. Tiger was the last of the Circle to be seated. He sat in seat three between Ceri and Drokdo. Fate seemed to mocking Ceri.</p><p></p><p>One of the walls tore away and dissolved, revealing an endless desert.</p><p></p><p><strong>Maibee: </strong> <em>Ah. Cecelyne the Lawmaker and Endless Desert has arrived.</em></p><p></p><p>The entire roof then ripped off to reveal a swirling typhoon of Nightmares. Tiger yelped, dived under the table, and started screaming. No one really seemed to care. A-dom and Jade’s Luck were barely able to remain in their chairs, desperately not wanting to look up. Jahar and Ceri were able to occasionally glance up, but really just didn’t want to think about it. Gareth looked up and stared, thinking <em>Oooh. Spinny. Yep. So I’m in hell. Whatever.</em></p><p></p><p>Gareth made an idle comment about not building that.</p><p></p><p><strong>Maibee: </strong> <em>Hegra the Typhoon of Nightmares is here. Now we can eat!</em></p><p></p><p>A number of demons came in carrying mortal food for the Circle and Ceri and buggy Klingon-like food for the demons.</p><p></p><p>The Yozi tried chit chat, asking about Creation, but the Exalts were fairly tight lipped about it. Ceri was delighted that she was between ‘Mr. Gagged and Mr. Coward’ so she didn’t need to talk. Drokdo did try to engage her in conversation, asking her if she had started any wars lately. She responded in the negative and why she would want to do that.</p><p></p><p><strong>Drokdo:</strong> <em>Cause they’re fun. People die. It’s fun.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Ceri:</strong> <em>I’m a healer.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Drokdo:</strong> <em>See! Creates work for ya! Steady income.</em></p><p></p><p>Jaznym was very polite to Jahar.</p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> (to Orabilis) <em>So, still gagged? Yup.</em></p><p></p><p>Orabilis occasionally tore off a page from his chair, scribbled a little note and passed it to A-dom. A-dom had the sense not to read them.</p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> (to Orabilis) <em>No, that’s okay. I’m good.</em></p><p></p><p>Most of the way through the dinner, Tiger finally managed to drag himself out from under the table and back into his chair.</p><p></p><p>Near the end of the dinner, Maibee stood up and picked up his glass.</p><p></p><p><strong>Maibee:</strong> <em>The time that you call Calibration was created when we created the gods of seasons and time. We set aside this time between years as a festival in our honor. During this time, our powers are not limited by the rules of Creation and the gods who do not give us our rightful due can not maintain control. We also added this time so we could have the power to make some adjustments, should they be needed at a later date. When the gods made you</em> (gestures to the Exalts) <em> and you defeated us and stuck us in this prison. Then, of all the humorous things, your followers rose up and stuck your souls in a prison. It took us a while to realize that you were no longer in Creation. But when we did, Cecelyne, the Lawmaker</em> (the Circle got the strange sensation that the desert was bowing) <em>came up with a plan. We had some paperwork submitted to the bureaucracy of Heaven, on our behalf. Just a few things, here and there, and in an interesting turn of fate, you were released from your prison just in time to see our changes take place. I assure you, when it comes to the bureaucracy of Heaven, the whole is more important than the sum of its parts. So we hope that you enjoy the world that you return to after this dinner. As you won’t be able to turn it back. So I propose a toast. To the eventual escape from all inescapable prisons.</em></p><p></p><p>All of the Yozi drank. The Solars wearily drank to it. Ceri pretended to agree and drink.</p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>I’m sure I’ll be imprisoned sometime.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>Oh, so tell me. What changes have been brought?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Maibee:</strong> <em>Oh, just a few things here and there. You’ll figure it out.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>I’m sure I will. Care to give me any hints?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Captain Zailnox:</strong> <em>All mutinous bastards will be automatically keelhauled.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Other Yozi:</strong> <em>No, we shot that one down.</em></p><p></p><p>Captain Zailnox slumped in his chair.</p><p></p><p><strong>Maibee:</strong> <em>No, you may find things a little different. Things have been a little normalized. Everything is under control.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Ceri:</strong> <em>Normalized? It wasn’t normal before?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Maibee:</strong> <em>No.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>Why did the gods have us over throw you?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Maibee:</strong> <em>They wanted to control heaven.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>Ah. Politics then.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Maibee:</strong> <em>Greed.</em></p><p></p><p>Maibee wasn’t releasing any information. He was just acting smug. Every once in a while he popped off a button eye and polished it.</p><p></p><p><strong>Maibee:</strong> <em>No, I don’t have eyes. Some BASTARD sewed these on my face so she wouldn’t be disturbed because I didn’t have eyes. Kept saying I wasn’t paying any attention to her. (Maibee then "looked" towards Jade's Luck.)</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>I’m sorry, I have very little memory of my past lives. I apologize for anything I did in a previous existence.</em></p><p></p><p>Maibee waved his half an arm about so she would be sure to see it.</p><p></p><p>They made more small talk.</p><p></p><p><strong>A-dom:</strong> <em>So, uh, troll life agreeing with ya?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Ello:</strong> <em>It’s boring here! Dull! Nothing exciting ever happens.</em></p><p></p><p>Ello pulled out a dart and threw it at the Captain’s head. It stuck in the back of his skull. A-dom thought that was cool.</p><p></p><p><strong>Ello:</strong> <em>See, no one pays attention to me.</em></p><p></p><p>He then pulled out a big glob of snot and threw it at Jaznym. It hit an invisible barrier and slid off.</p><p></p><p><strong>Ello:</strong> <em>No one ever invites me, I just come anyway.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Ryan:</strong> <em>So tempted to invite him back to Creation.</em></p><p></p><p>Jahar asked Maibee about other things they helped with.</p><p></p><p><strong>Maibee:</strong> <em>We can’t take credit for everything. The vast incompetence of the Exalted has helped a lot. We’d like you to thank the others for us.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>Which others would you like us to thank?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Maibee:</strong> <em>The incompetent ones.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>The Terrestrials or the ones that don’t talk very much and no one wants to talk about?</em></p><p></p><p>All of the Yozi smiled.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jade’s Luck:</strong> <em>That’s what we thought. We need to find these morons and apparently beat on them a lot.</em></p><p></p><p>There was a thunderous round of applause from all the Yozi.</p><p></p><p>Jade’s Luck tried to find out where these exalts were, but the Yozi were tight lipped. Jahar kept listening for the Silent Wind to say something. A-dom talked over Ello to speak with Bellowdona.</p><p></p><p><strong>Jahar:</strong> <em>Maibee, I did not catch your title.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Maibee:</strong> <em>Lies by Omission.</em></p><p></p><p>After a little more time, everyone got up to leave. Ceri smiled and faded out of existence. None of the Circle noticed, thinking she had just went through the portal. Jade’s Luck found out that this was the anniversary of putting the Yozi in prison.</p><p></p><p>The Circle went through the portal and found that Ceri wasn’t there. Jahar postulated that Ceri figured out that she was in a prison that couldn’t keep her and willed herself home, which took her to her village. He couldn’t verify this until after Calibration, though.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ao the Overkitty, post: 2819436, member: 9758"] [b]Synopsis for 4/10/06 session - "Jahar Got His Wish”[/b] [i]Synopsis for 4/10/06 session[/i] [size=5][b]"Jahar Got His Wish”[/b][/size] [b]The Grumpy Craftsman[/b] sailed on for months and months across featureless ocean. It was very boring. [b]A-dom:[/b] (to Gareth) [i]You must have built SOMETHING out here.[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]Make Skelly dance again.[/i] Jahar bemoaned the fact that he couldn’t pick up items along the way to fix the artifact in Tiger and Jade’s Luck’s Manse. [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]Gareth picked this route cause he didn’t want me to fix the artifact.[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]No. I picked this route because I wanted [b]To Get :):):):)ing Home![/b][/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]A-dom, come on. Let’s get out and push again. I’ll help.[/i] Jahar spent a lot of time convincing the crew that things did not suck as bad as they did. A-dom worked on figuring out how to cart his club around inconspicuously. These ideas revolved around rugs and covered carts. He briefly considered just rapping it in a rug and strapping it to his back, but realized that wasn’t exactly inconspicuous. When they got close to home, they made a quick detour to Hoen-ba island. Everyone was very happy to see land (and other people). Hoen-ba-ba-den greeted Gareth and Jade’s Luck as they approached her hut. After a brief amount of chitchat, Gareth got to asking about Joe. [b]Hoen-ba-ba-den:[/b] [i]Oooooh. Man who sits in hut alone. Not so well, I think.[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]He’s been sitting in the hut for a while now?[/i] [b]Hoen-ba-ba-den:[/b] [i]Oooooh… One season, at least.[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]Oh crap.[/i] Hoen-ba-ba-den consulted with Gelf before continuing. [b]Hoen-ba-ba-den:[/b] [i]What was he called? Missionary. Ah. Missionary come by. He was tasty.[/i] *[i]Gareth groans[/i]* [b]Hoen-ba-ba-den:[/b] [i]He’s been sitting in his hut ever since festival day. Not sure why. We made sure he was not related. We even offered him arm.[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]Oh crap.[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]Your generosity must have overwhelmed him.[/i] [b]Hoen-ba-ba-den:[/b] [i]Yes. He is in hut. Far side of island now.[/i] Jade’s Luck asked Gareth if which of them should go see Joe. He responded that he wanted her to come along. On the far side of the island they found a poorly built hut. Inside the poorly built hut, they found an unshaven, unwashed Joe in a corner with a stick. [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]Uh, Joe?[/i] [b]Joe:[/b] [i]Who’s there?[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]Hi Joe![/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]Gareth.[/i] [b]Joe:[/b] (waves stick) [i]You left me here! These people eat people! They offered me an arm![/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]They only eat bad people.[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]He was a missionary. That’s bad. You’re not a missionary, so you’re safe.[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]The trip took longer than I expected. Much, much longer.[/i] [b]Joe:[/b] [i]You said you were going to be gone a little while.[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]He’s got no sense of time. I mean, he’s a really nice man, but no sense of time.[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]Much, much longer. I didn’t know it was going to take this many months to get there and back. I expected a short trip to go[/i] (makes straight line hand gestures) [i] zoop zoop we’re done. But noooooo. We’ve got to go [/i] (makes a half circle hand gesture) [i] all the way around![/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]And it did take several months to get back the short way. Very boring. Come on, lets get you cleaned up.[/i] [b]Joe:[/b] [i]Can we got to Atlantis now?[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]Hmm… almost.[/i] *[i]Joe whimpers[/i]* [b]Joe:[/b] [i]Alright. You sail the boat around to here. I’ll wait.[/i] Jade’s Luck continued to try and get him to wash. Gareth tried to explain delicately that Joe wasn’t free yet and couldn’t return to Atlantis quite yet. [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]You know how long paperwork can take.[/i] [b]Joe:[/b] [i]Hopefully not as long as boat trips.[/i] Gareth gave Joe the choice of staying on Hoen-ba island or going to an island with no people (Opec’s island). [b]Joe:[/b] [i]No cannibals?[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]No cannibals, no people.[/i] Joe liked that idea and embraced it. Gareth left Jade’s Luck with Joe while he went and got the boat. Joe made sure Jade’s Luck didn’t watch him bathe. Once back on the boat, Gareth got all of the crew’s attention. [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]Okay. We’re going to have a passenger for a short trip. We’re all perfectly normal.[/i] [b]Crew:[/b] (nods) [i]Riiiiiiiiight. We’re with you, boss![/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]You do realize that he is going to find out.[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]Eventually. I just want him in a better mood first.[/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]It might be best if Skelly was back in his barrel.[/i] Skelly slumped his shoulders and, well, would have sighed if he could. He lumbered over to his barrel in the middle of the deck, climbed in, and closed the lid. A few seconds later he could be heard twiddling his thumbs. [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]A-dom, you should move his barrel down below.[/i] Before they sailed around, Gareth asked Tiger to go negotiate with the Hoen-ba for food, since their supplies were hard tack. Gareth quickly whipped up some new clothes for Joe before heading back to shore. [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]No, I’m not looking! You can shave![/i] Joe was very happy to have the new clothes. Once onboard the ship, Jade’s Luck showed Joe to Gareth’s room. He was going to make himself a place in the corner, but Gareth said he could use the bed. Joe was elated and collapsed on the bed. Jade’s Luck went to go see Fatty about getting Joe something to eat. Getting ready to leave, Tiger told Gareth he was going to have to come back at a later date and build something in exchange for the food they were getting now. They figured he was good for it. [b]Gabe:[/b] [i]You know, your first artifact is going to have to be a staff of hut creation.[/i] [b]Alex:[/b] [i]Bah. Huts are too easy. My first artifact is going to be enchanted tools.[/i] [b]Liz:[/b] [i]Tools Need No Master![/i] [b]Paul:[/b] [i]Instead of Craftsman Needs No Tools. A hammer and tongs working in your workshop while you go away.[/i] [b]Alex:[/b] [i]That wouldn’t raise any questions… nooooooo…..[/i] [b]Paul:[/b] (mimicking an apprentice) [i]Master Gareth is in back! He can’t come out right now, cause he’s busy.[/i] [b]Ryan:[/b] [i]He’s perfectly normal.[/i] [b]Alex:[/b] [i]I’m going to have to save that idea.[/i] The trip to Opec’s island seemed to go by in the blink of an eye. When Ceri noticed the giant black obelisk, she asked what it was. [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]Oh, that’s Opec. [/i] [b]Ceri:[/b] [i]You all listen to a big, black rock?[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]I don’t. He doesn’t want to talk to me anyway.[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]I’ve had a few conversations with him. He’s interesting enough.[/i] [b]Tiger:[/b] [i]Yeah, he’s not all that.[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]Really Jahar mostly talks to the rock.[/i] [b]Ceri:[/b] [i]That explains a lot, actually.[/i] The group got into one of their meandering conversations. It started with the hoen-ba cannibals not eating many humans; only three that they knew of. It went along to wondering about the whereabouts of the Chief’s daughter to whether she was attractive or not to telling A-dom he couldn’t steal her. [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]No, cause if I stuck her in a cave for several years she’d die.[/i] The conversation then went on to about how Jade’s Luck would prefer it if A-dom only stole non-sentient, inanimate objects, or only stole things when he was with Tiger. Gareth went ashore and made a nice little hut for Joe. He then went back to the ship and brought Joe to the hut. Joe had retained his stick. [b]Joe:[/b] [i]Ooh, bananas![/i] *[i]Joe pokes bananas with a stick to get them to fall[/i]* Gareth went and sailed the boat away from Joe’s hut so he could go properly fix it while the rest of the Circle plus Ceri went to go talk to Opec. During their walk to Opec, they had a long discussion about whether or not they were going to need to kidnap Jahar’s kid and how they were going to go about it. They had a month to plan, at least. Once at Opec, Jahar went and talked to him. He told Opec stories of their travels. When he got to talking about the switching of shards, Opec said that he remembered that and that it had happened once before, to his knowledge. That one was two shards getting switched as a result of the Unconquered Sun sneezing. Opec never heard about the results of the switch, but he said Weijin the Hideous was sure it was going to work and she wasn’t complaining later. [b]Opec:[/b] [i]So, you remember that artifact you blew up?[/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]Which one?[/i] Opec explained that they needed the big stone circle for the ritual. He explained that the owners would understand how it works when it was operational again. [b]Opec:[/b] [i]During Calibration this year. Very important. It’s an anniversary of something. Don’t know what. Anyway, this is when the ritual can be done. It has to be sanctified by a Zenith and a No Moon. Hope you can find one of those.[/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]I think we have one of those. By the way, if she were to touch you, would she get blown away like the dragon-blood?[/i] [b]Opec:[/b] [i]I don’t know. No Lunar has ever touched me.[/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]Are you curious?[/i] [b]Opec:[/b] [i]Kind of. Bring her over! Anyway, they both have to agree that it is a good thing. Then they have to bless the candidates. Then the Zenith draws the new caste mark on each of the participants’ foreheads where it normally goes with gold dust paste. The No Moon draws it over each one’s heart with the gold dust paste. Then you have the controller of the artifact target the other side of the room. This normally doesn’t do anything, but, during Calibration, things don’t work normally anyway. Oh yeah. And never, ever try to go anywhere else in Creation with that thing during Calibration. Each person then renounces their old caste and wishes to become their new caste and steps through the artifact. Then they disappear. When each of them is inside the artifact, they will reappear on the other side of the room as their proper caste. If they screw up in any way, shape or form, everyone dies. So no goofing around.[/i] Opec and Jahar then discussed the list for the circle artifact, what they had, and what they were going to substitute for the items on it. [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]Left hand of the loyal servant; haven’t found any loyal servants lately.[/i] [b]Opec:[/b] (sputters) [i]What? You don’t even have the left hand of a loyal servant yet?[/i] The discussion, with both Opec and the group by Opec, stuck on the loyal servant part for quite a while. A-dom was very protective of Skelly’s left hand and would not entertain any discussion about needing to find a replacement. Down by his ship, Gareth felt a strange sense of worry about Joe’s hand. Several violent ideas were entertained by Jahar, such as finding a rival merchant company and destroying one of their ships and harvesting the bodies of the crew. They eventually settled on going crypt crawling, raising a zombie ship, having A-dom make an undead war mount, stealing Cynis’s copy of Jahar and Jara’s marriage contract, having Gareth visit sick houses for prayers, and having Gareth build something right before the ritual, among other things. Once Jahar was finished talking to Opec, Ceri approached him. Before she got up to him, she noticed silver runes in the sand around him. They looked very familiar and she was pretty sure they said [b]Do Not Touch[/b]. Ceri did the wise thing and backed away. Eventually they get back to the boat and the boat gets back to Atlantis. The circle splits company to go tend to their mortal affairs. Presented with the option of a whorehouse, a smith’s shop, and a noble house full of dragon-bloods, Ceri decided to tag along behind Gareth. Matron Jade was filled in on where Luck had been and told Luck business had been poor and they needed her around for good luck. Gareth’s two nephews looked relieved to see he was back. Since they only had rudimentary metalsmithing skills, they had been making horseshoes and nails. [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]I’m sorry, the trip took much longer than I expected. You have now mastered shopkeeping. I will now train you in other things.[/i] And there was much rejoicing. Jahar went home to House Sessus first. His father was happy with the progress he was making with the company. His sibling who exalted (before Jahar did) was off on the Blessed Isle for training. His little unexalted sibling was in school and doing well. His excessively cranking wife was in the last month of pregnancy. His father suggested lots of shiny objects when he visited her. At some point, an employee of Jahar and Jade’s Luck came running up and handed Jahar a list of what suck-up notes and gifts had been sent to Jara in his absence. Jahar waited just long enough to have full knowledge of the list and his own collection of stuff to bring her. He put up his usual suite of social charms before going in. Jara looked very big. And cranky. And assigned to bed rest because carrying around her Grand Goremaul was bad for her back. The conversation was short. She was happy that he was back and had been sucking up to her. She then dismissed him. He found out she had been having difficulties with the pregnancy, which is very unusual for dragon-bloods. Over the next month, during the day, Gareth trained his apprentices and did shop keeping chores. At night, he worked out exactly what he needed to get Joe legally freed and did that. He then brought Joe back from Opec’s island, set him up in a small house (that Gareth didn’t build) and set him up with a paying job at his shop. The Circle plus Ceri discussed how they were going to deal with the birth of Jahar’s child. They ultimately decided that Tiger was going to get to know the little old lady nursemaid for the birth, then knock her out and impersonate her. A-dom, Jade’s Luck, and Ceri were going to impersonate assistants/apprentices, with Ceri doing all of the actual work. Gareth and Jahar were going to be at Jahar’s party that day, since men weren’t allowed at the birth. Tiger decided to store the nursemaid in a crypt they were going to loot for ingredients for the artifact. Jade’s Luck spent hours trying to instruct A-dom on how to properly handle a baby. Not sure how well it worked, really. [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]I’m not touching that! It’ll have goo on it.[/i] Tiger made himself look like the little old nursemaid. Jade’s Luck disguised herself to look like a proper apprentice to a nursemaid. Ceri tweaked her features a little to look less like a barbarian. A-dom made himself look female. The entourage arrived at House Cynis to find out that there were a lot of women there for the birth from House Cynis and House Sessus. Half the room was women drinking and the other half was the bed with Jara on it. Jara looked very uncomfortable and was clutching her GoreMaul like a security blanket. Ceri did actual helpful things to let nature take its course more quickly. A-dom and Jade’s Luck did their best to block the view of the drinking women, so it didn’t look like Ceri was doing all the work. Across town, Jahar was a very stressed man. Others were tying to get him sloshed and drugged into oblivion to calm him down. Gareth was mostly keeping Jahar sober and drug free enough for combat, but he was sure Jahar was sneaking some of the hard stuff every once in a while. Two hours later, Jara was in hard labor. This was further evidence that things were strange with this child, since a dragon-blood birth only takes one hour. This made everyone on the drinking side of the room nervous. Ceri noticed that there was smoke coming out of a place it really shouldn’t have been. She wasn’t sure, but, since the mother was a Earth dragon-blood, it was possible the child was currently on fire. Her reasoning continued, since this only happens to exalted dragon-bloods, that would mean that this child had just exalted. Though she didn’t know too much about dragon-bloods, she was pretty sure that it wasn’t normal. [b]Ceri:[/b] [i]We need to get his kid out now![/i] Ceri briefly discussed cutting the mother open to get the child out, but Jara’s skin was even more rock hard than normal, since she had clearly activated a few protection charms. She finally decided to just stick her hand in and pull out the burning child. Since she was now holding a flaming baby, she quickly set it down in a metal basin/crib. The drinking women fawned over the baby, but only the fire aspect dragon-bloods were willing to hold it. There was some minor discussion about how this child was going to be fed, since the usual mortal nursemaid weren’t going to work. The nursemaid group joyously told Jara that she had been blessed by a very special child which the dragons had already blessed with their favor. Ceri had the proof that their child was blessed, since her hands were now badly burned. Tiger was glad that they didn’t have to immediately kidnap the child because this way they got paid. Across town, the party eventually broke up and Gareth was sent home. A couple of days later, when Jahar sobered up, his mother came to talk to him. She told him that there were some slight complications with the child, however it was a very special baby who had been sent to the Blessed Isle for training. The elders of House Sessus wanted to meet him. His fire aspect sister took the child, but, since the child was exalted and didn’t know how to turn his power off, he needed to be held for the entire trip. Jahar’s mother (and others) blamed Cujug (Jara’s grandfather) and his random fertility concoctions. She finished by telling him that she wanted more grandchildren soon and that Jara wanted to see him. Once Jahar was dressed and shaved, he went to go see Jara. He brought her a gift, though he wasn’t quite sure what was appropriate, since no Dragon-blood had ever had a difficult childbirth. Jara looked like a mortal who had given birth. [b]Jara:[/b] [i]Our parents want us to breed again. I suggest we put that off for twenty years or so. I know that is getting a bit old for you, but...[/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]That bad?[/i] [b]Jara:[/b] [i]Yes.[/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]I can deal with that.[/i] [b]Jara:[/b] [i]I’ll send you a list of names. You can leave now.[/i] Jahar wandered out. Somehow, that conversation had made him cheerful. Over the next several months, the Circle worked on gathering the items needed to fix the artifact. When Jahar put it all together and fixed it, he found it was a big stone circle with a net of Wyld within it. Tiger and Jade’s Luck instinctually knew how it worked. It was a gate that allowed you to teleport to any island in Creation that you had already visited. It would only take to a big, open place on the island. Only those that entered through the circle onto the island could go back through into the Manse. Also, Tiger and Jade’s Luck were the only ones that could target the gate and walk through and back freely. They had control of who could return to the Manse and had to be on the island side of the gate to do so. The portal would not allow for large amounts of stuff to be shipped through it, so this was for adventuring purposes only. And, finally, since it was a Wyld portal, use by mortals was at their own risk. Then Calibration arrived. A-dom was very happy that it was his birthday once again. When he was woken up that morning by an angry gang of monkeys holding muffins. They were angry because they didn’t want to be up this early. Jahar took several hours to drill into A-dom’s head that he couldn’t screw around during the ritual, since that would kill all those involved. Gareth decided, since he wasn’t involved in the ritual, he shouldn’t be anywhere near the gate room. He was more than a little worried when he was told he had to be there. [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]You mostly have to do minor occult things in the background at my direction.[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]Do you really think that is wise?[/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]You just have to do mindless stuff; nothing complicated.[/i] [b]Gareth:[/b] [i]okay…[/i] Gareth still felt worse about his roll in this. The ritual went along well enough. The gods obviously wanted this to happen, since Jade’s Luck’s blessing was phenomenal (ten successes). [b]Ryan:[/b] [i]Wow. You blessed the :):):):) out of us.[/i] A-dom actually felt repentant for his unholy ways and sobbed apologies to the Unconquered Sun. After the caste marks were drawn and they did the renouncing, A-dom went into the portal, followed by Tiger and finally Jahar. On the other side of the room, Tiger came out first, followed by Jahar, and finally A-dom. They were glowing with different animas and colors and the new caste marks glowed brightly. [b]Tiger[/b] is now a [b]Night[/b] Caste. [b]Jahar[/b] is now an [b]Eclipse[/b] Caste. [b]A-Dom[/b] is now a [b]Dawn[/b] Caste. The gate then waved a bit and spit out a piece of paper. Jahar was the first to grab it and began reading it intently. After a few moments, Jahar spoke. [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]We are invited to a dinner. We’re safe, as long as we don’t break the treaty.[/i] The note eventually got passed around the Circle. Gareth and Jahar consulted each other and the knowledge of the past to determined that this letter came from someone they had defeated. Ceri knew that it came from someone whom they (ie all exalted) defeated and made sign the treaty. The group discussed the importance of this meeting and the power of those that sent the letter while the portal flickered on to show an entry room. A-dom walked through the portal, ceasing any discussion. Jahar followed quickly, since he felt A-dom would need his protection. He admonished A-dom for his spontaneity and lack of forethought, telling him that curtains might stab him. [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]Where’s your sense of adventure?[/i] Tiger picked up his, A-doms, and Jahar’s stuff and walked through the portal. Jade’s Luck summoned a monkey and told it the Circle was accepting a dinner invitation and should return shortly. Ceri decided she was already all dressed up, so she might as well. [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]Can I have your bracers?[/i] Since he now knew the bracers would no longer work for him, Jahar handed the bracers over to A-dom. [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]A-dom, in exchange for this you must now behave yourself and make sure you don’t break the treaty.[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] (not really paying attention as he puts the bracers on) [i]How do they come off?[/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]I’ll show you if you agree.[/i] A-dom agreed and Jahar sanctified the deal. Once the entire Circle was assembled in the entryway, the big doors opened a crack and a rag doll walked through. He was missing one arm, where straw and stuffing was coming out and his head was bent perpendicular to his body. [img]http://home.nycap.rr.com/aokitty/Maibee01.jpg[/img] [b]Rag Doll:[/b] [i]Ah. Dinner guests! Excellent![/i] Jade’s Luck and Jahar put up their social charms. Jahar bowed to the rag doll. The rag doll bowed back with his broken neck causing his head to wobble from side to side. [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]We’re here to answer the invitation.[/i] [b]Rag Doll:[/b] [i]Yes yes yes. Did you like my haiku?[/i] Jahar and Jade’s Luck complimented the haiku. The rag doll led the group into a big, well lit dining room with a star shaped table. Near a side of the table was a metal grate that appeared to open into a pit. The floor was slanted slightly to direct liquid flow into said pit. There were chairs lined up against the wall. Each chair had a post that would conveniently fit into one of the many post holes around the table. [b]Rag Doll:[/b] [i]As is your rite by the treaty, you may place the chairs. Once you do so, the other guests will arrive and we’ll have dinner. Oh. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Maibee.[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]And who are the other guests?[/i] (to Jahar) [i]Hey, look. I’m behaving. I didn’t hit him first.[/i] [b]Maibee:[/b] [i]Jaznym, Ello, Orabilis, Bellowdona, Captain Zailnox, Drokdo, Adjoran, Cecelyne, and Hegra will be joining us for dinner.[/i] Jahar recognized Bellowdona as the name of a Yozi titled [i]She who bleeds rivers of poison[/i]. Jade’s Luck and Jahar looked over the chairs. There were five gold chairs and one silver chair, which the Circle determined were for themselves and Ceri. There was a poorly made chair of splintered wood, rags and straw. A chair made of plush velvet. One made of shredded books. One was a captain’s chair made of broken oars. One chair that was made out of nails. A brass chair that was full of holes. One gigantic chair made out of granite. Finally there was one delicate pedestal made out of ice. Jade’s Luck spent some time figuring out where the chairs should be placed and directed the others around to place them. The Gold chairs went at the points with the Silver chair next to one of the Gold ones. The big stone chair got the space alone, since she figured he was a pretty big guy and needed the room. A-dom activated a few charms to move it. She also made sure the velvet chair wasn’t placed next to the one made of rags. [b]A-dom:[/b] (to Maibee) [i]The chair made out of straw is yours?[/i] [b]Maibee:[/b] [i]Oh heavens no. Mine’s the nail chair. It’s comfy.[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] (to Maibee) [i]Oh. Should I ask where we are?[/i] [b]Maibee:[/b] [i]You are inside the prison you built… for us.[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] (to Maibee) [i]That was a few lifetimes ago.[/i] [b]Maibee:[/b] [i]Oh. I believe the colloquial terms for it are Malfeas and Hell.[/i] [b]Alex:[/b] [i]You got your wish, Gabe.[/i] A-dom made small talk with Maibee, asking him what he’d done to get here and if he was a really bad guy. Maibee responded that he’d signed the annoying treaty to get here and he wasn’t bad, he was very reasonable. [b]Tiger:[/b] [i]Do you know Spikey?[/i] Maibee didn’t know anyone named Spikey. He picked off a bit of the stuffing in his arm that was falling out. [b]Maibee:[/b] [i]Which one of you is Wretch?[/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]A-dom.[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]Yes?[/i] [b]Maibee:[/b] [i]Thanks for breaking my neck, by the way.[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]It was a lifetime ago! Practically a different person.[/i] [b]Maibee:[/b] [i]I can’t hold it upright.[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]Are you still Wretch?[/i] [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]I don’t know. I think I’m Wretch.[/i] Ceri muttered a curse under her breath, but no one noticed. Jade’s Luck placed the last of the chairs. [b]Maibee:[/b] [i]Ah, good! Time for the guests to arrive! Our first guest is Jaznym, Lady of Irresistible Desire.[/i] A small woman dressed in a black burka entered and seated herself on the velvet chair. [b]Maibee:[/b] [i]Our second guest is Ello the Unwelcome Guest.[/i] An ugly, trollish like gobliny monster came in picking his nose, scratching his ass, and looking around. [b]Ello:[/b] [i]Where’s the food?! Jackasses![/i] He scratched his nuts and wandered to his rag chair. [b]Maibee:[/b] [i]Our next guest is Orabilis, the End of All Wisdom. [/i] A tall man in while robes with a large, orchalum mouth gag all around his collar, mouth and the top of his head entered. [b]Ceri:[/b] (muttered) [i]I guess he won’t be eating.[/i] [b]Maibee:[/b] [i]Yes, well, the End of All Wisdom is not allowed to talk to you anymore.[/i] Orabilis went and sat in the book chair. [b]Maibee:[/b] [i] Bellowdona. She Who Bleeds Rivers of Poison.[/i] A very beautiful woman walked in who was literally bleeding poison from lots of open wounds. She sat down in the brass chair full of holes. Her blood rain off down the drain. [b]Maibee:[/b] [i]Captain Zailnox. Bringer of Infinite Bad Luck at Sea.[/i] A tall green demon with a captain’s hat on entered with a bunch of knee high pirate guys following him around. He sneered at Gareth as he went to sit in his captain’s chair. A thumping noise could then be heard. [b]Maibee:[/b] [i]Ah. Drokdo - All Flee Where He Treads. Now in attendance.[/i] The door opened up to reveal [b]BIG[/b], red, six armed demon with lots of weapons strapped to him. Each time he took a step, the floor tiles got up and ran away. Once he had passed, the floor tiles came back and settled down. He dropped himself into the granite chair. Looking into the corridor, the Circle could see large potholes leading up to the door. It looked like wherever he had stepped, the floor had exploded. The door then opened, but nothing apparently came in. [b]Maibee:[/b] [i] Adjoran, the Silent Wind.[/i] It appeared like he moved over to the ice pedestal, but it was hard to tell. Some of the little pirate guys fell dead as he passed. [b]Maibee: [/b] [i]And that is all the seated guests.[/i] Ceri seated herself in her silver chair between Orabilis and seat three. The Circle seated themselves. Jahar, being the Eclipse, sat at seat number one between Jaznym and Maibee. A-dom was told to sit in seat four, between Ello and Orabilis. Jade’s Luck sat down in seat five between Bellowdona and Captain Zailnox. Gareth sat down in seat two, between Drokdo and Adjoran. Tiger was the last of the Circle to be seated. He sat in seat three between Ceri and Drokdo. Fate seemed to mocking Ceri. One of the walls tore away and dissolved, revealing an endless desert. [b]Maibee: [/b] [i]Ah. Cecelyne the Lawmaker and Endless Desert has arrived.[/i] The entire roof then ripped off to reveal a swirling typhoon of Nightmares. Tiger yelped, dived under the table, and started screaming. No one really seemed to care. A-dom and Jade’s Luck were barely able to remain in their chairs, desperately not wanting to look up. Jahar and Ceri were able to occasionally glance up, but really just didn’t want to think about it. Gareth looked up and stared, thinking [i]Oooh. Spinny. Yep. So I’m in hell. Whatever.[/i] Gareth made an idle comment about not building that. [b]Maibee: [/b] [i]Hegra the Typhoon of Nightmares is here. Now we can eat![/i] A number of demons came in carrying mortal food for the Circle and Ceri and buggy Klingon-like food for the demons. The Yozi tried chit chat, asking about Creation, but the Exalts were fairly tight lipped about it. Ceri was delighted that she was between ‘Mr. Gagged and Mr. Coward’ so she didn’t need to talk. Drokdo did try to engage her in conversation, asking her if she had started any wars lately. She responded in the negative and why she would want to do that. [b]Drokdo:[/b] [i]Cause they’re fun. People die. It’s fun.[/i] [b]Ceri:[/b] [i]I’m a healer.[/i] [b]Drokdo:[/b] [i]See! Creates work for ya! Steady income.[/i] Jaznym was very polite to Jahar. [b]A-dom:[/b] (to Orabilis) [i]So, still gagged? Yup.[/i] Orabilis occasionally tore off a page from his chair, scribbled a little note and passed it to A-dom. A-dom had the sense not to read them. [b]A-dom:[/b] (to Orabilis) [i]No, that’s okay. I’m good.[/i] Most of the way through the dinner, Tiger finally managed to drag himself out from under the table and back into his chair. Near the end of the dinner, Maibee stood up and picked up his glass. [b]Maibee:[/b] [i]The time that you call Calibration was created when we created the gods of seasons and time. We set aside this time between years as a festival in our honor. During this time, our powers are not limited by the rules of Creation and the gods who do not give us our rightful due can not maintain control. We also added this time so we could have the power to make some adjustments, should they be needed at a later date. When the gods made you[/i] (gestures to the Exalts) [i] and you defeated us and stuck us in this prison. Then, of all the humorous things, your followers rose up and stuck your souls in a prison. It took us a while to realize that you were no longer in Creation. But when we did, Cecelyne, the Lawmaker[/i] (the Circle got the strange sensation that the desert was bowing) [i]came up with a plan. We had some paperwork submitted to the bureaucracy of Heaven, on our behalf. Just a few things, here and there, and in an interesting turn of fate, you were released from your prison just in time to see our changes take place. I assure you, when it comes to the bureaucracy of Heaven, the whole is more important than the sum of its parts. So we hope that you enjoy the world that you return to after this dinner. As you won’t be able to turn it back. So I propose a toast. To the eventual escape from all inescapable prisons.[/i] All of the Yozi drank. The Solars wearily drank to it. Ceri pretended to agree and drink. [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]I’m sure I’ll be imprisoned sometime.[/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]Oh, so tell me. What changes have been brought?[/i] [b]Maibee:[/b] [i]Oh, just a few things here and there. You’ll figure it out.[/i] [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]I’m sure I will. Care to give me any hints?[/i] [b]Captain Zailnox:[/b] [i]All mutinous bastards will be automatically keelhauled.[/i] [b]Other Yozi:[/b] [i]No, we shot that one down.[/i] Captain Zailnox slumped in his chair. [b]Maibee:[/b] [i]No, you may find things a little different. Things have been a little normalized. Everything is under control.[/i] [b]Ceri:[/b] [i]Normalized? It wasn’t normal before?[/i] [b]Maibee:[/b] [i]No.[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]Why did the gods have us over throw you?[/i] [b]Maibee:[/b] [i]They wanted to control heaven.[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]Ah. Politics then.[/i] [b]Maibee:[/b] [i]Greed.[/i] Maibee wasn’t releasing any information. He was just acting smug. Every once in a while he popped off a button eye and polished it. [b]Maibee:[/b] [i]No, I don’t have eyes. Some BASTARD sewed these on my face so she wouldn’t be disturbed because I didn’t have eyes. Kept saying I wasn’t paying any attention to her. (Maibee then "looked" towards Jade's Luck.)[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]I’m sorry, I have very little memory of my past lives. I apologize for anything I did in a previous existence.[/i] Maibee waved his half an arm about so she would be sure to see it. They made more small talk. [b]A-dom:[/b] [i]So, uh, troll life agreeing with ya?[/i] [b]Ello:[/b] [i]It’s boring here! Dull! Nothing exciting ever happens.[/i] Ello pulled out a dart and threw it at the Captain’s head. It stuck in the back of his skull. A-dom thought that was cool. [b]Ello:[/b] [i]See, no one pays attention to me.[/i] He then pulled out a big glob of snot and threw it at Jaznym. It hit an invisible barrier and slid off. [b]Ello:[/b] [i]No one ever invites me, I just come anyway.[/i] [b]Ryan:[/b] [i]So tempted to invite him back to Creation.[/i] Jahar asked Maibee about other things they helped with. [b]Maibee:[/b] [i]We can’t take credit for everything. The vast incompetence of the Exalted has helped a lot. We’d like you to thank the others for us.[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]Which others would you like us to thank?[/i] [b]Maibee:[/b] [i]The incompetent ones.[/i] [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]The Terrestrials or the ones that don’t talk very much and no one wants to talk about?[/i] All of the Yozi smiled. [b]Jade’s Luck:[/b] [i]That’s what we thought. We need to find these morons and apparently beat on them a lot.[/i] There was a thunderous round of applause from all the Yozi. Jade’s Luck tried to find out where these exalts were, but the Yozi were tight lipped. Jahar kept listening for the Silent Wind to say something. A-dom talked over Ello to speak with Bellowdona. [b]Jahar:[/b] [i]Maibee, I did not catch your title.[/i] [b]Maibee:[/b] [i]Lies by Omission.[/i] After a little more time, everyone got up to leave. Ceri smiled and faded out of existence. None of the Circle noticed, thinking she had just went through the portal. Jade’s Luck found out that this was the anniversary of putting the Yozi in prison. The Circle went through the portal and found that Ceri wasn’t there. Jahar postulated that Ceri figured out that she was in a prison that couldn’t keep her and willed herself home, which took her to her village. He couldn’t verify this until after Calibration, though. [/QUOTE]
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[Exalted] Solar Circle of the West - whole slew of updates 3/8/09
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