No One Expects the Spanish Inquisition

[Sierra]

<El-Cideon> A few minutes pass in silence. The car passes through a narrow tunnel, then emerges into another cavern. Another branch of the railway joins yours from the west, and just off in the darkness you can make out a fragmented stone pillar, the top half shattered and in pieces on the ground. (more)
<El-Cideon> "And here we see a remnant of the Dark One's oppression," Munn says. "Once, the curses bound in the stone would inflict terrible suffering and death on any who drew near. No longer--now we can go where we wish."
<Brunilda> "Grish said it was Ishtar's power that destroyed such pillars," Brunilda speaks up. "Have you ever seen how such power was manifested?"
<El-Cideon> "I have seen the light of Eridu. It is enough."
<Yomi> "It's not that we doubt Ishtar's power," Yomi says. "But say that we have a pillar like that, where we're from. Do you know how to destroy it by calling on Ishtar's power? Or is it a matter of praying and waiting?"
<Erin> "Was it spontaneously destroyed?" muses Erin. "Or did some being appear before it to crush it?"
<Yomi> "Yes! Like that!" Yomi agrees, nodding at Erin.
<El-Cideon> "How and when She chooses to strike such obstacles down is no concern of ours," Munn says, rather stiffly. "It is enough that it happens. You will understand once we reach Eridu, I am sure. If She wills something to happen, it is so."
* Yomi shrugs. "Well, if we'll understand when we get there, that's enough for me...."
* Brunilda shakes her head at the telling lack of any spirit of scientific enquiry. If all of these people are like this, humanity has nothing to fear from being displaced as earth's apex lifeform.
<El-Cideon> The shattered pillar disappears in the darkness behind you. The car floats along through a series of narrow tunnels--every now and then the walls around you open up into a cavern, but nothing on the scale of what you just left. After a few hours of this--
<El-Cideon> roll 1d100
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d100 and gets 93."12 [1d100=93]
<El-Cideon> --the walls around you open up again, and quickly take on a distinctly different appearance. Sharp planes and angles glitter off in the distance and overhead, just too far to clearly make out the composition of whatever's out there. A series of buildings loom just up ahead and the car starts to slow. (more)
<El-Cideon> Off to the left, outside the car, a low, vague form moves across the cavern floor, something orange and amorphous. Munn gives it a casual glance and then proceeds to ignore it. "We will stop here for refreshment. Surely a chance to walk about will be welcome after hours of travel?"
<Erin> "Uh... before getting out, what's that thing?" asks Erin, pointing towards the orange blob.
<El-Cideon> "That? A custodian of sorts. They seem alive, but I have never properly understood how this is. They amble along cavern floors more or less aimlessly and absorb whatever debris happens to lie along their path. We expelled them from the great caverns because they would eat our crops, but you still find them roaming the outer reaches. They're harmless enough, assuming you have the sense not to lie down in front of one."
* Yomi can't help but wonder if it belongs to their world or not!
* Yomi nods to herself in satisfaction.
<Erin> "A sort of ooze. Do you think we should get a sample?" asks Erin, eyeing the creature. "Ah, if they're everywhere, we can pick one up another time, but..."
<Yomi> "Why would we need one?" Yomi asks, genuinely confused by the question.
<Brunilda> "To find out how it works, obviously," Brunilda interjects. "It's entirely dissimilar to any macroscopic life form science is aware of. A cell colony might reach such sizes, but would never have such motive power."
<Erin> "Well, imagine if it could literally absorb anything! I'm not entirely sure what applications that would have in itself, but..." explains Erin.
<El-Cideon> "I would advise against interfering with it in any way," Munn says, disembarking. "Piercing the membrane often causes the contents erupt towards the interloper."
<Erin> "Do the contents retain their original composition? Or are we talking about an acid, here?"
<Yomi> "Doctor Ivo's blob could absorb anything, too," Yomi mutters, looking vaguely ill. "You didn't want to get a sample of that."
<El-Cideon> "Very little retains its original composition for long once absorbed," Munn says. The collection of buildings just past the aircar platform is a series of low domes in the familiar style of underground architecture. A pair of soldiers lounge outside one that is lit from the interior. Munn walks up to them and exchanges pleasantries.
<Yomi> "So I've been wondering," Yomi voices. "For the one-story houses, why would they need roofs?"
<Erin> "Yes, well..." mumbles Erin, glancing at the ground. "It was a terrestrial blob. This is.. different..."
<Yomi> "Demonic ooze is better than local ooze?"
<Brunilda> "Insulation," Brunilda tells Yomi. "Or privacy. Or a place to hang decorations from. But I think insulation."
* Yomi nods at Brunilda's sensible explanation.
<Erin> "Obviously! An alternative method may have been used in its conception. Also, it's orange. It's not the same, and it isn't trying to kill us, either..."
<Yomi> "I'm sure it's only biding its time."
<El-Cideon> "Not everything wants to kill us, Yomi!" Suzume says.
* Yomi gives Suzume one of her most skeptical looks.
<El-Cideon> "Privacy, of course," Munn says. "Although it's a sensible point to raise. The great palace in Eridu, for example, has no roof and bathes in the perpetual light of the sun."
<Yomi> That, too, makes perfect sense to Yomi!
<El-Cideon> "Now, there is food and water inside for those in need of such. If you wish to walk around, this cavern serves as the base for local scouting teams and is safe as long as you don't wander down any stray tunnels. Alert me when you're ready to continue on down the road?"
<Erin> "Certainly. Is there anything of interest in the cavern itself?" asks Erin, glancing up.
<El-Cideon> You can just make out the roof. From here, it looks like a mad jumble of crystal shards. Munn points just to the right of the building that seems to serve as a sort of soldiers' barracks. "A descending trail here leads to a heathen temple. Out of use now, obviously, though the view from its balcony is excellent. Bring a strong light with you and cast it about the walls there if you go."
<Yomi> "I'd like to see the view," Yomi volunteers. "Who else wants to come?"
<Erin> "A fine idea."
<Brunilda> "We might as well stick together," Brunilda agrees to come along.
<El-Cideon> "If it's that or have lunch with the demons, I believe I'll accompany you," Sayuri says, starting along the path. It leads to a narrowing in the cavern as it leads away from the rails, and as the walls close within reach it becomes apparent they're composed of large chunks of a faintly gold crystal. Past the settlement proper, it leads to a small tunnel in the far wall.
* Erin wanders towards the tunnel, torch in hand.
<El-Cideon> Any light brought in here refracts madly off the walls in all directions. There's no way for any shadows to hide in this structure. You have to crouch a little as you walk through the tunnel, but it soon opens into a four-way intersection. The proportions of the area are modest, though--you can see most everything from here. (more)
<El-Cideon> To the left is a short hallway with a series of doorways, to the right a room with a set of stone tables, and directly across from you what looks like a much larger room with a stone basin in the center of it. Aside from the stone floor of this last room, the entire structure is carved from the same faintly translucent crystal.
<Yomi> "This is a heathen temple, right?" Yomi wonders out loud. "So there would have to be writings left over? Maybe even some fading magic to go along with it?"
<Brunilda> "If it was a heathen temple then they might have destroyed all heretical materials," Brunilda observes, "But that shouldn't keep us looking."
<Erin> "We haven't found much writing so far, even in the other places that seemed spiritual," notes Erin. "Still, I hope to find accounts of the past during our search."
<El-Cideon> "Maybe it all fell apart?" Suzume wonders. "Paper doesn't last very long unless someone takes good care of it, and these places seem like they've been empty for a long time." She wanders into the large room across from you, looks down at the basin and around at the walls.
<Yomi> "More people should write over stone. Or with magic. If it's important, you would think they'd invest in something really lasting," Yomi grumbles.
<Brunilda> "There's no trees to make paper from down here, anyway," Brunilda points out. "Carvings are more likely."
<Erin> "That's a good point," admits Erin. "We found plenty of them, as you've seen."
<Yomi> "Aren't they?" Yomi readily agrees, nodding.
<El-Cideon> There aren't any carvings here, as it turns out. There was clearly writing of some sort along the floor around the dry fountain in the large, circular room, but it's been very thoroughly defaced. Gouged, cut, and in some spots melted into nonexistence. On the far side of the room, a series of open doorways looks to lead out onto a balcony.
<Erin> "In any case, it seems like this place got the anti-heretic treatment in the end," notes Erin, sighing.
* Brunilda at least consoles herself with the view from the balcony.
<Yomi> "Do you have a spell for that?" Yomi asks eagerly. "To tell what was there before?"
<Erin> "A spell to look back in time? Heavens, no! Even if one existed, the mere act of observing the past could send ripples towards the future, and there's no telling what could result from it..."
<Yomi> "A spell of, uh, mending? But looking back in time would be great, too!"
<Brunilda> "I actually have a theory on that!" Brunilda brightens. "I lost track of it during my adventure in Japan, but it's still something I need to work on. It relies on quantum echoes, observed through the vibrations of atoms transmitted through the fourth dimension."
<Erin> "To mend it, I'd need to know what it was beforehand," replies Erin. "That's more for broken things, though... oh, so it's not actually looking at the past, but looking at the vibrations emitted from the past? Hmmm."
<Yomi> "How many dimensions are there?"
<Erin> "You have to remember that dimensions are supernal constructs that we use to help us sort out the world around us. Given that, there are four obvious dimensions, and there is the potential for more."
<Brunilda> "Decoding them into a format that we can comprehend is an obstacle all by itself, but I think I have an idea on how to project them..." Brunilda trails off and turns to Yomi. "Four. The three dimensions of our physical world - up and down, left and right, back and forward. And the fourth dimension of time - which only goes forward as far as we know right now."
<El-Cideon> The balcony edges out over a black void, but all around and above it, crystal crowds in on all sides, an untidy mass of polyhedrons all vying for attention. A profusion of colors, too, all of them clear but faint enough not to overwhelm the senses. Turning the light on the walls around the balcony produces a wild riot of hues.
<Erin> "Oh, I must get this onto paper!" exclaims Erin, producing a heretofore unseen sketchpad, and a set of pencils. "It really is an excellent view, isn't it?"
<El-Cideon> "'Right now,'" Sayuri echoes as she studies the view outside, "implies you plan to change that."
<Yomi> "So it is," Yomi agrees, studying it along with the rest of them.
<Erin> "Being able to treat time as another axis of motion could, in a sense, be a form of transcendence," muses Erin, as she begins to scribble away. "One capable of that would be- well, to them, changing the world would be as simple as drawing on a piece of paper."
<Brunilda> "Well... observing echoes of the past is challenging enough. I'm more just leaving open the possibility," Brunilda shrugs to Sayuri as she looks over the view. "I'd hold judgement on the likelihood of moving in other directions or speeds through the fourth dimension until we've mastered performing such changes to the physical dimensions. Erin's wormhole constructs offer a tantalising
<Brunilda> avenue there, but as she says. with control over all four dimensions we would be like unto Gods."
<Erin> "I'm somewhat skeptical of whether it should be done at all, I have to admit. Of course, anyone can get a pencil and draw something, but there is a world of difference between a good artist and a bad one. Of course, anyone with such control over time could inadvertantly take actions detrimental to other people, or even the entirety of humanity. It's just so far outside our realm of
<Erin> understanding what could actually happen..."
<El-Cideon> Diane eschews contributing to the metaphysical discussion, merely gasping at the vista outside. "This is magnificent! It's good to have a break from everything being monsters and darkness," she says, with some obvious relief.
<Brunilda> "If it can be done, it will be done," Brunilda states with conviction. "Better it be done first by humanity than any other species, else we become obsolete."
<El-Cideon> "Better to do unto others before they do unto you?" Sayuri says.
<Erin> "There's no prize for being the first to unmake reality, you know."
<Yomi> "How would you know?"
<Erin> "Who would award to you, if there was?"
<Brunilda> "Exactly," Brunilda nods to Sayuri. "The prize, Erin, is being able to ensure that you don't get unmade by anyone else."
<El-Cideon> "If I know people at all, I suspect there would be a certain grim satisfaction for the one that did it in knowing he was the first to do so. If also the last."
<Erin> "I cannot tell you how depressing it is to hear that. I think the worst part is that I find myself agreeing."
<Yomi> "So the occasional darkness and monsters, not a deal-breaker for you?" Yomi asks Diane, migrating towards her and to a discussion she can relate to more.
<El-Cideon> "It's...not exactly what I was expecting...But I can't exactly turn around and leave now, can I?" she says with an apparent attempt at good cheer.
<Brunilda> "And then God said 'Let there be light'," Brunilda recites. "With such mastery of reality, making it could be accomplished as easily as unmaking it. And I have to think that a people wise enough to master such advanced science would also be wise enough to use it without destroying themselves."
<Yomi> "It's a pretty long walk," Yomi agrees. "The darkness is pretty rare, anyway, and we're making first contact with a whole new civilization! I didn't expect that would happen until we got here, either."
<El-Cideon> "I feel pretty safe as long as we're in the car," Diane admits.
<Erin> "Ugh. I think I can agree with wanting to prevent it," replies Erin, rubbing her head. "Perhaps I'll try and study it myself, when there's time."
<Yomi> "Maybe we could make one of our own some day, back on the surface. Or bring more of that knowledge with us. That would be pretty satisfying."
<Brunilda> "They're a considerable improvement over steam driven trains, but not as big an improvement as wormholes are," Brunilda comments to Yomi.
<Yomi> "But if you mentioned both to normal people, they could accept one but be deathly terrified of the other. We should really start small, shouldn't we?"
<Erin> "Either way, the Inquisition will likely be upon us," mutters Erin. "I suppose we should consider public opinion so that they're viewed as the lunatics they truly are."
<Brunilda> "Poppycock!" Brunilda dismisses that. "Imagine the expense of creating such a massive infrastructure that you outright plan to make obsolete shortly afterwards!"
<El-Cideon> "The Inquisition?" Diane says. "Wasn't that hundreds of years ago? I don't think they operate any more."
<Erin> "Of course they still operate! But people don't believe in witches anymore," replies Erin, making an awful face. "So they hide themselves, but they're on the payroll of the Vatican, and even today, they hunt down innocent mages in the name of God!"
<El-Cideon> Diane just nods slowly and edges away a little from Erin.
<Brunilda> "That's awful!" Brunilda gasps. "We should put a stop to it! Killing people outside the law simply for knowing arcane secrets of the inner workings of the universe? They should be trying to spread such knowledge, not wipe it out!"
<Yomi> "I'm sure that's not true."
* Yomi coughs. "I figure I would know?"
<Erin> "Why would you know? They're witch hunters, not demon hunters. I'm sure you couldn't have had much association," replies Erin, darkly.
<Yomi> "I don't really think they would see the difference, if they still really existed?"
<Erin> "Well, I suppose they would go after high-profile, demon-summoning mages most often, but to them, any magic is a form of congress with Satan." Erin wrings her hands. "I can only hope that when the time comes to reveal ourselves, humanity is sensible enough to accept us rather than go into a violent panic."
<El-Cideon> "How long do you plan on waiting?" Sayuri wonders.
<Yomi> "I never really came across any, and neither did the people I worked with," Yomi muses. "Considering Italy and Japan and how they worked together lately, it's just really unlikely."
<Erin> "Not much longer, actually," admits Erin. "I've been thinking about going public."
<Yomi> "You should probably downplay that whole being able to pop into other people's homes thing, but other than stuff like that, why not?
<Brunilda> "You can start by being more clear about how you do what you do," Brunilda sniffs. "Even if the Dreadnoughts sparked the Great War, people still accepted them easily. But if the shipwrights had claimed they were infernal engines of astral power, draining the screams of dying souls to run their engines and raining hellfire from Satan's darkest pits across their enemies, then yes there
<Brunilda> would have been a more worried reaction. Make things clear and scientific, and people can accept anything. Mystery helps your cause none."
<El-Cideon> "Well, why not?" Diane says. "They haven't killed Aleister Crowley yet, after all. It should be safe."
* Yomi snorts, muttering, "Yet."
<Erin> "Well, magic's not like that," replies Erin, primly. "I do want to discuss the implications more, though I suppose once you set something free, it's no longer up to you what happens."
<Brunilda> "You've been quite good about explaining things so I can follow, but the eye of newt stereotype is a strong one and I imagine it remains popular with other mages, so it must be combated," Brunilda shrugs.
<Yomi> "If Erin goes public first, though, that's what people would remember," Yomi points out. "What do you actually want to achieve, here? Offering your services to all sorts of people? Offering training to many more?"
<Erin> "Well, the first and foremost reason is a simple matter of free science," replies Erin, with a shrug. "Truth itself is a value worth pursuing, and if magic exists, then on some level, I think humanity should know. The next step is considering how what we know can improve society, isn't it? If there were more mages who put their talents to use, who knows exactly what could be accomplished?
<Erin> So I think training would be a part of it, a necessary step."
<Brunilda> "Replicability is key. After the Wright Brothers' first flight, they showed how their craft worked, allowing anyone with the means and inclination to copy it and get the same results - and indeed improve on the design. If you make magic as simple to understand and follow, you could see it take off just as much as the aeroplane did," Brunilda adds brightly. "That way it's all sorts of
<Brunilda> people copying your work and spreading magic, instead of everyone focusing on *you* as the great wizard and only one who can do what she does."
<Yomi> "Do you want people copying your work without understanding how bad some parts of it might be? And I'm not just talking about the demon-summoning parts."
<Erin> "Well, we run the only proper magical school that I'm aware of," notes Erin. "Naturally, anyone who wishes to become a mage undergoes a thorough education in just what it all entails. The problem is that it's not just a thing of logic and reason, you know? It's a real... shift in mindset to become someone able to cast spells. Rigorous mental training is required, and even then, we don't
<Erin> have a perfect method that is sure to result in success." She rubs her head. "Basically, we can't guarantee anyone who tries hard enough will be a mage yet."
<Yomi> "What if we work together?" Yomi suggests. "Some might be more suited for Suzume's brand of magic, and I could certainly train those who are willing in what little I know."
<Brunilda> "For the rest, there's science!" Brunilda smiles at that. "Not everyone can build an aeroplane right now. If in the future not everyone can form their own wormholes, there will surely be those who make them for the benefit of others, or even build a technological variant that accomplishes the same thing and can be mass produced in factories."
<Erin> "Suzume's brand of magic is, if I understand, rooted in faith," muses Erin. "Is that right? I'm very jealous, you know. Being able to heal others is a great thing. If we could have a really large quantity of such magicians out there..."
<Yomi> "That's how I understand it, too. But the good part about it is that they don't have to share Suzume's exact faith to succeed," Yomi responds. Nodding at Brunilda, she adds, "And certainly, those who prefer science or to study the difference between science and magic would be more than welcome. We might really make this work."
<Erin> "Urgh. Differences between faiths are strong. Can you really teach that sort of magic without teaching the faith that comes with it, too?"
<El-Cideon> "Er, yes, pretty much," Suzume says. "I just...really want to help people! And it happens. I don't know if I could teach it to someone else."
<Yomi> "I don't really see why not," Yomi responds in confusion. "For example, a Christian nun already has plenty of faith, doesn't she? So isn't it just a matter of encouraging her to draw more from it, or of meditating the right way?"
<Erin> "Well, the implications will certainly be eye-opening when a Christian nun calls upon god to heal the sick, and a Japanese miko does the same. Maintaining one's faith in light of that sort of revelation..."
<Brunilda> "That should be interesting to see," Brunilda nods with a thin smile.
<El-Cideon> "I guess maybe it is..." Suzume admits. "I couldn't do most of the things I can do before Kurou encouraged me to try. Um. Not that he was doing it for a good reason, but it worked out in the end."
<Yomi> "I don't think it's actually calling upon a god," Yomi muses. "That's not how my friends would always explain it to me. It's all you, but you just need to have a very strong conviction."
<Erin> "On the other hand, it would help by thesis on pantheism," muses Erin. "Well, why don't we take it slow on that front? You could try teaching acolytes at the Lodge," suggests Erin. "Actually, before that, maybe you could teach me."
<El-Cideon> "I could try? Next time we're safe back home and there's nothing horrible we need to stop from happening, I mean."
<Erin> "Certainly! Well..." Erin rubs her head. "There may well always be something horrible about to happen out there. Judging by the relative frequency of demonic encounters... but, that means they might still happen when we're long gone, so training others to take up that cross is important."
<Yomi> "If we do go along with this, though," Yomi feels obliged to say, "we must also take responsibility for our actions. I very much doubt there would be any other group out there so well equipped in dealing with the waves any announcement like that would cause."
<Erin> "It's not like we'd just go 'oh, we're mages! And now that you know that, goodbye,'" replies Erin. "Shaping the educational process would probably be my job from then on until forever."
<Yomi> "Oh, does that mean you're going to research immortality?"
<Erin> "It's my primary project, actually."
<Brunilda> "How's it coming along?" Brunilda asks curiously.
<Yomi> "Yes, I would like to know that too."
<Erin> "In this case, it really is 'research', in the effect that I believe the likelyhood of it already being discovered is high, and I'm simply trying to decode the notes of the alchemist responsible," replies Erin. "I didn't fly halfway around the world to retrieve just any book, you know."
<Yomi> "Huh."
<El-Cideon> "Wait," Sayuri says. "If someone else figured it out already, why not just find him and ask him about it? He must still be alive if he discovered the secret of immortality, after all."
<Brunilda> "So it's a kind of medicine?" Brunilda asks.
<Yomi> "I'm with Sayuri on this one. Why not fly halfway around the world looking for this writer instead?"
<Erin> "As for progress? Well, after translating about half of it, I figured out how to cast spells on my own, and I'm slowly making progress on the rest," replies Erin, proudly. "Translation magic doesn't work, and negative vibrations prevent any copies being transcribed, so the entire thing is in my head. However, I do believe the results speak for themselves," she adds. "In a few years...
<Erin> oh, well, you'd think, but he's nowhere to be found and presumably doesn't want to be, so his journal is all we have to go on." admits Erin. "It could conceivably be a spell, as well."
<El-Cideon> "I don't know," she continues, "all of that sounds very convenient to me."
<Yomi> "And wasn't that book just gathering dust in Ivo's lab?" Yomi adds. "He didn't really believe in it."
<Erin> "I think we would be in a lot of trouble if we only believed in things that man believed in."
<Yomi> "I'll grant you that one."
<Erin> "In any case, whether or not it actually contains the secret to immortality isn't something I can verify at this point," she admits. "But the journal's owner was a noted alchemist and mage who was said to have discovered the key to it. It's a lead worth pursuing."
<Yomi> "And all you need for that is just time? You've got everything else covered?"
<Erin> "It's a translation and memorization project. Give me enough time and I'll get it finished!"
<Brunilda> "Do let us know how you get on. It sounds fascinating."
<Erin> "Indeed!"
<El-Cideon> roll 1d100
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d100 and gets 90."12 [1d100=90]
<El-Cideon> After a brief lunch (mostly of dried meat and various mushrooms), Munn ushers everyone back onto the car and travel continues. It's a long trip--long enough for everyone to get a good amount of sleep along the way--with a number of other small stops along the way. It must be close to a solid day spent traveling by the time you near your destination. (more)
<El-Cideon> The car enters a large cavern with an environment of the sort you've come to recognize: ceiling lost in the darkness overhead, great columns supporting it, soil layered on the cavern floor outside. The landscape here looks organized and cultivated, however--mushrooms and strange, sinuous vines arranged in square plots, the occasional pen of squat, gray quadrupeds. (more)
<El-Cideon> "We approach Urgesh now," Munn says. "The fields you see outside support the local populace. Not as fruitful or nourishing as grain from Eridu, these crops, but they prove a useful supplement."
<Brunilda> "Grain?" Brunilda blinks. "Can you describe the plants that the grain comes from?" She'd be very surprised if they had wheat down here, even in a lit area.
<Yomi> "And the vines. What are they, exactly?" Yomi wonders.
<El-Cideon> Munn describes a golden-stalked plant that sounds very much like terrestrial wheat. "The vines produce a modest amount of fruit and grow from a slight amount of water and almost any manner of offal. It's tasteless and grows slowly, but is useful to have stocked just in case grain supplies become strained."
<Brunilda> "We have grain like that, too. Has it always grown near Eridu?" Brunilda asks, wondering if it was imported long ago by the previous inhabitants.
<El-Cideon> "Only as long as the sun has shone there. It can't survive in the other caverns."
<Erin> "Did Eridu always shine, as far as you can remember?"
<El-Cideon> "As far as I remember? Oh yes. There was a time when all was dark, after the cataclysm. It took time for Ishtar to recover her strength after banishing the Dark One. It was...five hundred years ago that the sun of Eridu lit again? Accounts differ--the priesthood was not as organized then and records are scarce from those times. But most agree on a similar figure."
<Brunilda> "And the grain just grew by itself at first? No one needed to plant any when the light first shone?"
<El-Cideon> "The seed was Ishtar's next gift to us thereafter, for remaining faithful through the dark times. Ah, here we are--" The car ascends a narrow tunnel, then emerges directly onto a city street. (more)
<El-Cideon> In sharp contrast to the abandoned cities you've seen, this one is brilliantly lit throughout and much of it is visible from the tunnel mouth you emerge from. A chasm runs through a large cavern; numerous bridges cross it, domed buildings proliferate on either side, and hollowed-out cliff dwellings fill the sweep of the cavern walls on either side.
<Brunilda> "This looks much better than the other settlements we've seen down here," Brunilda approves of the civic planning on display.
<El-Cideon> A couple buildings stand out for size and incongruity: a tiered tower that looks remarkably like a Mesopotamian ziggurat, on your side of the chasm, and a smaller collection of such on the other side.
<Erin> "Are we stopping here?" asks Erin, peering out the window.
<El-Cideon> "We'll stay here long enough to rest. I'm sure you've all spent enough time sitting down and would appreciate another chance to walk around? Sleeping quarters have been set aside for you in the temple. If you wish to look around the city, I ask that you notify me first so that a guard can be assigned to you. For your own sake, of course. Your presence will no doubt come as a surprise to the populace--I wouldn't want anyone bothering you, you understand."
<Yomi> "We could see the sights," Yomi muses. "You would probably know the city better than us, so what should we go and visit while here?"
<Erin> "I wouldn't mind consulting any texts you might have on Ishtar?" asks Erin, hopefully. "Might there be anything within the temple?"
<Brunilda> "You mentioned a workshop before?" Brunilda speaks up. "Grunk's, I think?"
<El-Cideon> "Urgesh is modest by the standards of the great caverns, but growing. The liveliest place to pass the time would be the grand concourse, which lies on the largest span across the chasm. Public performances are prone to breaking out in the plaza there, aspiring artists display their work, and shops trade in curiosities from across the realm. (more)
<El-Cideon> "We have accounts of the histories since the revival of Eridu's light in the temple, yes," she says to Erin. "Texts older than that are rare and kept strictly in the care of the priestesses, for the careful preservation of the texts themselves." To Brunilda: "Ah, Grumk the tinkerer? His workshop lies in Nishpur, which we will pass through on the way to Eridu. Some of his engineering will be evident on our way out of Urgesh tomorrow, however."
<Yomi> "I'm good with curiosities-- ah, but we don't have local coin." Yomi frowns. "That might be a problem."
<Brunilda> "Ah, I can wait for that. For now I don't mind seeing the sights of this city, then," Brunilda nods.
<Erin> "I'd be interested in viewing the histories, if you wouldn't mind," speaks up Erin. "If I could view the restricted texts at some point..."
<El-Cideon> "I am sure that some can be spared to make your stay a more amusing one," Munn says to Yomi. "Some shops are known to accept unusual items in trade as well, of course, if you have gathered such in your travels? Artifacts from your home tunnels would likely be of interest to them."
<El-Cideon> "Ah, well..." She looks at Erin, pauses. "I will have to consult with my superiors before granting you access to those," she says, idly resting a hand on the circlet around her head.
<Erin> "I see..."
<Yomi> "I'm good with going shopping!" Yomi exclaims. "Who knows what strange stuff we can find?"
<El-Cideon> "We will proceed to the temple, then? I will see you settled in your quarters before--oh, what's this?" You approach an aircar platform at the outskirts of the city. Munn doesn't seem inclined to stop there until it becomes apparent that the tracks are blocked some ways beyond it. A two-wheeled pushcart lies at rest just across your path. Two local Eridani stand next to it, one of them gesturing placatingly at a pair of nearby guards. Without having much choice otherwise, Munn slows the car down. 
<Yomi> "Should we help?" Yomi offers.
<El-Cideon> "They seem to have things well in hand," is Munn's swift response. "A moment, please. I'll see that they remove themselves from our path." She stops the car about twenty feet from the group and steps down to approach the bystanders.
* Yomi resolves to sit and watch!
<El-Cideon> OOC: if no one's tagging along with her, feel free to make listen checks
<Erin> roll 1d20+2
* Hatbot --> "Erin rolls 1d20+2 and gets 6."12 [1d20=4]
<Yomi> roll 1d20
* Hatbot --> "Yomi rolls 1d20 and gets 15."12 [1d20=15]
<Brunilda> roll 1d20+1
* Hatbot --> "Brunilda rolls 1d20+1 and gets 17."12 [1d20=16]
<El-Cideon> roll 1d20+2 Sayuri kinda fails at this.
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d20+2 Sayuri kinda fails at this. and gets 20."12 [1d20=18]
<El-Cideon> roll 1d20+10 mikos don't!
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d20+10 mikos don't! and gets 22."12 [1d20=12]
<El-Cideon> Everyone but Erin gets a decent earful of the confrontation up ahead. Munn's trying to keep her voice down, you can tell, but she's speaking with the level coldness of someone trying to defuse a situation through the brute force of authority. The guards claim they were sent here on orders from the hierarch to arrest the two citizens before they could flee the city with supplies for supporters of "the heretic." (more)
<El-Cideon> The citizens insist on innocence. Munn's primary concern seems to be getting them out of the way and she's especially annoyed that the whole incident is inconveniencing her guests, and suggests the citizens accompany the soldiers to the hierarch's camp before interfering with a priestess gets added to their list of offenses.
<El-Cideon> The citizens shortly shuffle off at spearpoint and Munn returns to the car. "My apologies. Shall we continue?"
<Yomi> "So. Heretics, huh?"
<Erin> "Eh? Heretics? Them?"
<Brunilda> "They don't wear signs, do they?" Brunilda comments dryly.
<Yomi> "I'm sure it would be easier if the heretics wore signs."
<El-Cideon> The car lurches into motion again. "There was...a disturbance in Urgesh some months ago involving a disloyal priestess. The matter is largely resolved and we needn't speak of it. Some of those she swayed with her lies still hide in the city, but it's only a matter of time before they're all found. I cannot say whether those two were guilty or not. I am sure they have nothing to fear if they are innocent."
<Brunilda> "How will they be prosecuted? Do you have specific judges or a jury system?" Brunilda asks, intrigued by the hint of 'innocent until proven guilty'.
<Yomi> "Do you think she was, I don't know, affected by agents of that death goddess?" Yomi wonders. "Or did she just spontaneously go nuts?"
<El-Cideon> "Enforcing the law is principally the hierarch's responsibility," Munn says as the car approaches the ziggurat. "It will ultimately come down to his judgment once he has weighed the evidence gathered by his staff against whatever may be provided by the citizens. Although I am sure he would not have sent his men to act without sufficient cause."
<Yomi> "I really do want to know what drives people to heresy," Yomi casually mentions.
<El-Cideon> Munn gives Yomi a long look. "It is known that heretic was once attached to the army exterminating the Dark One's forces in the far east. My suspicion is that she was corrupted by one of their agents during that time."
<Erin> "Corrupted?" asks Erin, frowning. "As in, some sort of magic transformed her?"
<Yomi> "Brainwashing!" Yomi exclaims. "That sounds really horrible!"
<El-Cideon> Another long pause, only relenting as you continue to ask questions. "She was swayed by promises of power and influence, and sought to turn the people against Ishtar for her own personal enrichment when she returned from the war. I know nothing of certainty regarding spells placed upon her, but as she refused the crown, it is possible some vile enchantment was in effect and she wouldn't risk having it revealed. It makes no difference. In time, she will be caught and duly punished."
<Erin> "The crown?" asks Erin, curiously.
<Yomi> "The crown?" Yomi echoes Erin.
<El-Cideon> Munn taps her forehead, the gold circlet with the amber gem. "Ah, here we are," she says. The car pulls to a stop in front of the ziggurat. "Shall I show you to your rooms now? I ensured that quarters with a splendid view across the city be emptied for your use."
<Yomi> "It looks nice," Yomi forces herself to say. "What does it, umm, do? And rooms, sure, that would be great."
<El-Cideon> "Through this, High Priestess Lemmet is able to contact us at any time," Munn says, leading you up a short set of stairs to the entrance.
<El-Cideon> ~