013: Beyond the gilded cage

[Sierra]

<El-Cideon> Climbing back up the well is just a matter of time and persistence without the howling wind to tear everyone back down. You find the fairy twins waiting for anxiously for you up top, scanning the ground with a watchful air for the first sign of an undead uprising. But once you start bringing up the prisoners, Thalia rounds on you with an accusing finger: "Hey, you guys just staged a jailbreak, didn't you? You lied to us!" She sounds more impressed than angry.
<Steph> "Hey, you wanted us to lie to you!"
<Julia> "Actually, the undead uprising occurred downstairs, so you really were safer up here," Julia tells them with a genial smile.
<El-Cideon> "No, not really," she says with her hands on her hips. "But I'm happy you turned out to be good at it." She looks at Julia, reconsidering.
* Franceska shudders. "There were so many of them."
<El-Cideon> "It's true!" Rosemund echoes with childlike sincerity. "They're all dead now. Again. But who knows when their friends will get here!"
<Franceska> "Yes, who knows," Franceska deadpans, looking at Julia.
* Julia isn't telling~
<El-Cideon> Morgan clears his throat, addresses the less excitable members of the crowd. "I would presume someone here knows the way back out of the desert?"
<Franceska> "Of course," Franceska says, sounding offended now. "It is not even that far. Come on, now."
<El-Cideon> It is by now near sunset, the lowering sun painting the white sands as red as the perpetually mournful crimson of Blackbird's realm. You have perhaps a couple hours of decent light left in the day.
<Julia> "If anyone feels hungry or tired don't be afraid to speak up, though," Julia says, "Magical food and shelter can be provided."
<El-Cideon> "He fed us well enough, that's one thing can't be held against him," the old woman allows. "But it is good to feel the wind on me face again." After a couple hours of walking on top of the morning's trek and the gallery battle, you find yourselves growing weary.
<El-Cideon> OOC: pressing on, setting up shop for the night?
<Franceska> OOC: Let's stop when we have no light to go by
<El-Cideon> OOC: make CON checks, in that case
<Julia> roll 1d20+1 Julia. Thing just gets carried so he doesn't have to roll
* Hatbot --> "Julia rolls 1d20+1 Julia. Thing just gets carried so he doesn't have to roll and gets 17."12 [1d20=16]
<El-Cideon> roll 1d20+3 Rosey
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d20+3 Rosey and gets 19."12 [1d20=16]
<Steph> roll 1d20+3 I should have objected strenuously to this strenuous effort
<El-Cideon> roll 1d20+2 Marina
* Hatbot --> "Steph rolls 1d20+3 I should have objected strenuously to this strenuous effort and gets 23."12 [1d20=20]
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d20+2 Marina and gets 20."12 [1d20=18]
<Franceska> roll 1d20+3
* Hatbot --> "Franceska rolls 1d20+3 and gets 15."12 [1d20=12]
<El-Cideon> The sun banished to whatever far-off realm it occupies while down in Arborea, the light dies before your boundless enthusiasm even threatens to do so! Nevertheless, it might be difficult to find your way in the dark.
* Franceska begins the short and painless process of setting up a hut for the night.
<El-Cideon> "Oh, that's a convenience," your elderly companion observes, assuring you with wide eyes: "They get awful storms here!"
<Steph> "Didja have any luck with your, um, kids?" Stephanie says, sitting down next to her newest mechanical friend.
<Franceska> "Yes, I know. We came across two already, which were two too many."
<El-Cideon> "There was insufficient time to experiment before it was suggested I claw through the walls of my cell," the modron replies.
<Steph> "Oh, yeah, then I guess you're gonna need to get a proper workshop, huh?"
<El-Cideon> "Affirmative."
<El-Cideon> "Your friend seems very fond of the walking box," Marcus observes to the others.
<Julia> "He is very agreeable," Julia points out reasonably.
<Franceska> "Is she my friend?" Franceska whispers to Rosemund.
<Steph> "But to do that you're gonna need cash and stuff, yeah?"
<El-Cideon> "We're all your friends!" Rosemund insists.
* Franceska winces.
<El-Cideon> "Participation in market economy is a functional requirement?" the modron asks.
<Steph> "Oh, totally. Well, it depends on where you do it," muses Stephanie. "But you gotta eat, right?"
<El-Cideon> "Negative."
<Steph> "You don't? Well, you still gotta have tools and materials and a place to actually work," muses Stephanie. "So yeah, I figure you'll need cash. Or make sweet with someone who's got a workshop."
<El-Cideon> "Really Franceska, you needn't look as though someone were pinching your ear when I say that," Rosemund presses. "I hardly see why it is something to be ashamed of!"
<Franceska> "And yet, you immediately realize the reasons for it without me spelling them out."
<El-Cideon> "I cannot say that I do," she counters.
* Franceska shakes her head in exasperation. "So what now?" she decides to ask Rosemund instead. "Are we bringing everyone back all the way home?"
<El-Cideon> "Well..." Rosemund looks around. "Well, I suppose that is up to them! Our home is not everyone's home." Marina cuts in: "I have spare beds of my own. Anyone who is uncertain where precisely they wish to go may well stay for a time if need be?"
<Julia> "That's very kind of you, Marina," Julia says brightly, giving Marcus a pointed look.
<Franceska> Deciding that now is as good a time as any to find out, Franceska joins Rosemund in looking over the others.
<El-Cideon> "Arvandor's the closest thing I've had to a home in a while," Marcus adds. "It's a nice enough place without Blackbird in it. Figure I'll stay a while. Much as I'd like to see my old comrades liberated in turn, King Twit was right about one thing. I'm not in much shape to help."
<Franceska> "Have you considered getting your hands fixed?"
<El-Cideon> He raises an eyebrow. "Easier to do that when the wound's fresh, I gather. And even at the time there was something about it resisted magic. But I guess the planes are wide and varied." He shrugs, still quite capable of that gesture at least. "You have something in mind?"
* Franceska looks at Marina. "Is there anything here, since Marcus likes Arvandor quite a bit?"
<El-Cideon> "I have many friends and I could certainly make inquiries," she says with a smile. "I'm sure there's someone who'd be glad to help."
* Franceska returns that smile. "Excellent. And Marcus would be more than happy to properly compensate that special someone, I am certain."
<El-Cideon> "Well, I'm no rich man anymore," he says. "But I could start with an apology for taking you for the wrong sort of person. Being inside a cage for too long'll sour you on spectators, even ones that might mean well at heart."
* Julia nods in approval, her work here done!
<El-Cideon> "There is no need to apologize," Marina insists. "The fault was in waiting so long!"
<Franceska> "How about yourself?" Franceska asks, turning towards Morgan. "Are there any legal issues with you setting foot in Solata?"
<El-Cideon> "You tell me," he says smoothly. "Does the crown have a long memory?"
<Franceska> "I believe you have two options, then. We can either work on reaching some sort of compromise that allows for your return, or help you get settled elsewhere. There is a human community on Earth that might suit you well, if that sort of thing interests you."
<Steph> "Hey, it's a big country! A man doesn't need to be the man he used to be, y'know?" adds Stephanie, skipping to join the rest of them.
<Franceska> "I will pretend I did not hear that, in case you actually want to live in obscurity."
<Julia> "Nothing wrong with a bit of obscurity so a person can do their work in peace," Julia puts in.
<El-Cideon> "A new life in a new town," he muses with a thin smile. "Tell me, where are you bound next? Once we leave this wretched wilderness world behind us."
<Franceska> "Earth is the best lead we have, I believe?"
<Steph> "Although we're going home, first, yeah?"
<Franceska> "Yes we are. Very quickly."
<Steph> "It may be a shock, but I know home pretty well! Can help out with people getting set up, don't worry~"
<El-Cideon> "And where exactly is home?" he presses.
<Steph> "Solata, duh," replies Stephanie, rolling her eyes.
<El-Cideon> "No doubt," he says slowly, "but there is one specific corner within that I would not wish to find myself." Rosemund, grudgingly, adds, "Amaranth," at which he nods. "Mm. A good couple weeks away I should say. It will do. Far be it for me to run to other worlds to find a new home when I may do just as well *at* home." He looks satisfied with the opportunity before him.
<Franceska> "If you would like for us to ensure that you can be there legally," Franceska muses, "then you could stay as my guest. If not...." She trails off, giving Stephanie a dubious look. "I suppose you have plenty of options."
<El-Cideon> "I shall make my own way," he says confidently. "I needn't be precisely who I was, nor be beholden to anyone else for my safety."
<El-Cideon> "You mentioned a means of travel back to Limbo?" Calixta cuts in for her part.
<Franceska> "Yes. There is a portal we can use to send you over, in case you do not wish to stay on a more permanent basis."
<El-Cideon> "Show me the way. I will consider it," she says. "I have some mind to return and see if there were other survivors. Turn myself over for judgement if need be."
<Franceska> "It would be fairly unfortunate to leave one prison for another."
<Steph> "They're all the same once you're inside."
<El-Cideon> "I would not expect imprisonment," she says, adding with a shrug, "but it may be that there were no other survivors."
<El-Cideon> "Not all," the paintspeckled zombie points out for Stephanie's sake. "I have known my share. Some are worse."
<El-Cideon> Everyone beds down for the night in Franceska's impromptu village. The night and the next morning pass uneventfully, for once your travel here mercifully uninterrupted by sandstorms. Marcus proves to have an unerring sense of direction and, based on guidance provided you by the sphinx, you soon find yourself atop a high hill with the scent of flowers in the air. Marina is pleased to lead the way through the invisible portal back to her home realm, taking a deep, relieved breath after finding herself back in verdant wilderness again. Your surroundings are lightly wooded, with flowers crowding around your feet, and you can see the lake beneath rolling hills. You appear to be on the opposite side of it this time.
<El-Cideon> Morgan sniffs irritably at Marina's obvious show of relief. "Hmph. Where there are the flowers, there is pollen," he points out, "and where there are woods, you shall find savage beasts."
<Steph> "So, hey, Franzy, I don't actually have a fixed residence," Stephanie says. "You mind if I crash at your place while we're there?"
<Julia> "Oh, I'm glad to be out of all of that sand," Julia sighs, taking off her much abused shoes and shaking the sand out of them before putting them back on.
<El-Cideon> "Oh, I know!" Rosemund agrees. "I feel if I were to lean over, it would pour right out of my ears!"
<Franceska> "It must have gotten into my ears as well," Franceska echoes Rosemund, "because it sounded like someone was trying to talk to me, but being lazy about it. I could not hear a thing."
<El-Cideon> "Oh, Franceska has far more space than she requires," Rosemund points out for Steph's benefit. "I am sure you could find a spare room. Just slip in when she is not watching."
<Steph> "Can do~"
<Julia> "I'm sure you can afford to rent a nice place, or even buy a less nice place," Julia suggests. "We did quite well for ourselves on this trip."
* Franceska sniffs. "Calixta, I trust you see now that I truly do require someone to keep the undesirables out?" she says with a sniff. "Might you be interested in working for me and handling that part?"
<Steph> "How am I an undesirable?" protests Stephanie.
<El-Cideon> "Oh yes," Rosemund agrees as you start down the slope, Marina leading the way around the lake to her house. "It is true, thwarting evildoers proved to be a more lucrative enterprise than I had considered." She hastens to add: "But that is not why we do it!"
<El-Cideon> The gith snorts. "I am to be a bouncer to keep away your friends?"
* Franceska winces.
<El-Cideon> "You employ that expression a great deal in the short time I have known you," she goes on to observe.
<Julia> "It's almost like a facial tic," Julia agrees.
<El-Cideon> "If you are not careful, it will stay that way!" Rosemund warns her. "Or at least that is what Aunt Leah always said when I was young."
<Franceska> "In any case, I assure you that there are a great many people who might wish me harm and would need to be kept away. Many of which are sore losers, of course. I am prepared to offer a perfectly reasonable contract and good compensation for your time."
<Steph> Stephanie snorts. "You can turn into a bear! Do you actually need a bodyguard?"
<Franceska> "It is the principle of the thing."
<El-Cideon> "It is baser work than I would have sought," Calixta replies. "Perhaps I will renew acquaintance with humility," she adds, though she sounds skeptical.
<Franceska> "What sort of employment were you interested in?" Franceska asks. "I can be quite flexible in these negotiations."
<Steph> "Is this some kind of courtship thing?" whispers Stephanie to Rosemund.
<El-Cideon> "I had not thought to *be* employed at the first," she admits. "I had not thought of a great many things."
<El-Cideon> "But they're both girls!" Rosemund whispers back.
<Franceska> "How about a majordomo?" Franceska offers.
<Steph> "She's, like, a wizard, right? She can probably change?"
<Julia> "Into a bear," Julia chimes in meaningfully.
<Steph> "Well, if you can turn into a bear, turning into a guy must be easy!"
<El-Cideon> Rosemund rejects this entire train of thought with a violent shake of her head.
<Julia> "Hmmm..." Julia turns and looks at Franceska with a new appreciation. "I wonder what she'd look like...?"
<El-Cideon> The gith shrugs, as dour as ever. "Perhaps," is all she'll allow for now.
* Franceska acquires a nervous tick in her eye as she waits for the answer, but now that she gets it she nods curtly. "Excellent. We can do this on a trial basis, then, rather than worry over longterm contracts, and see how it works out for us."
<Steph> "Probably like this?" guesses Stephanie, tapping her hat and turning into a serious-looking, classically handsome, silver-haired young man with a perpetual frown upon his features, clad in a purple waistcoat.
<Julia> "Oh, you can do it too!" Julia yelps, stepping back from Stephanie in surprise.
<El-Cideon> Rosemund jumps in surprise. "Oh my!" she stares with awful fascination. "Isn't it, er, uncomfortable, changing everything like that?"
* Franceska presses a hand against her forehead.
<Steph> "Absolutely," replies Stephanie, in her own voice- she coughs. "Absolutely," she repeats, in a much more husky tone. "But it might be worth it, for the right person," he adds, with a romantic sigh.
<El-Cideon> "Oh, I, I think you should switch back," Rosemund says uncomfortably.
<Julia> Looking between Stephanie and Franceska, Julia is now compelled to muse, "I wonder what their children would be like?"
<El-Cideon> "In point of fact," a watching Morgan points out, "how are we to know whether she ever shows you her true self?"
<Steph> Stephanie taps the hat (now a beret), quickly resuming her ordinary guise, before she starts to cough. "I'll leave that your imagination," she replies, throwing a look at Julia.
<Julia> "We take the hat off when she's sleeping and look at her," Julia says cheerily.
<El-Cideon> Rosemund does her absolute best to keep a straight face while waiting for Stephanie's response.
<Steph> "Hey! H- hey! You pervs!"
<Julia> "Oh, we're only looking, it's not as if we touch!" Julia sighs, before adding in an undertone, "Much."
<El-Cideon> You make good time along the lakeshore, and after an extended walk reach Marina's abode by nightfall. It's a cloudless evening, and enough starlight penetrates the tree cover for you to recognize a familiar train of mounted beetles working its way past the house.
<Steph> Stephanie shrinks back from Julia with a look of horror. "I'm- give me a room I can lock tonight, please," she insists, turning to Marina. "Across the other wing. From Julia. Who I would spank, if I didn't think she'd enjoy it- eugh!"
* Franceska decides to give Darrin specific instructions to look after her at night, lest the deviants she is traveling with try anything.
<Julia> Having had her fun with Stephanie, Julia crouches down towards the beetles, "Hello! Prince Gecki?"
<El-Cideon> A sprite looks up and blinks wide eyes at Julia, before turning and whispering to the next one in the line, who proceeds to pass the message on and on and out of sight...after a minute or two the prince trundles back to you, mounted on his trusty Marauder. A pixie with candy-pink hair floats alongside him, humming to herself and looking generally oblivious. "Bigguns, hey again!" he shouts up, recognizing Julia, scans over your group and spots Marina. "Hey Miss Pillows!"
<Julia> What is it with fairies and having oblivious seeming eye candy on their arms? "Oh, you know Marina as well?"
<El-Cideon> Marina somehow manages to combine a frown and an expression of noble forbearance.
<El-Cideon> "Oh sure, sure, we raid her garden all the time--but not today!" he's quick to point out at an ominous squawk from Canterbury.
<Julia> "Ah," Julia nods, smiling at Marina. "Well, our own raid against Blackbird went very well, so thank you for your help before."
<El-Cideon> "Oh yeah, you showed 'em what's what, eh? That's good! Big folk need someone to show 'em they're not so big once in a while! Other big folk. Not you!"
<Julia> "And how went your own campaign against the pixies?" Julia asks, glancing at pink-hair. "Did you retrieve the acorn crown?"
<El-Cideon> "Oh, well, as to that," he says, scratching his head, distinctly lacking a crown of the seedlike variety. "It turned out somebody ate it or something. I think, I was well drunk at the time. But it was alright because they surrendered immediately, oh they were shaking with fear, you should've seen them! And they said, well, look, we're sorry about that, but two uncrowned heads are better than one with a crown on it, right? So they gave me a princess and as much beer as we could carry and here we are. Lemme present to you my lady wife, Princess Dandelion!" The pixie performs an aerial curtsey. Gecki is approximately doll-sized in comparison to his apparent consort.
* Franceska palms her face, out of sight.
<El-Cideon> "That's, that's...congratulations!" Rosemund manages.
<Steph> "Are you going on a honeymoon?"
<Julia> "Oh, how lovely!" Julia gushes, "I hope you two are very happy together!" Reaching into her coinpurse she places a platinum coin gently atop Marauder's carapace. "Here, a belated wedding gift for you both."
<El-Cideon> "Oh, sure we are," he says to Stephanie. "Gonna climb our way up the mountain, got a little castle up there with a perfect view. It'll be very romantic." He sounds like this is a strange new theory he's only heard about, trying it out to see how it works. He pumps a fist in the air for Julia's benefit. "Thanks, lady! We'll serve the wedding feast on this platter."
<Julia> Nodding happily, Julia stands up and steps back. "Do enjoy the honeymoon. I'm sure married life will suit you well."
<El-Cideon> "Sure, sure, I'll be up to my armpits in little princelings in no time, just you watch!" He turns back to the column to urge it back into motion. "Hup hup hup, onwards blokes, time's wastin'!"
<Julia> "Ahh young love," Julia sighs wistfully as she regroups with everyone else.
* Franceska shudders.
<El-Cideon> "Shall we?" Marina gestures indoors. "I'm afraid I haven't quite enough beds for *everyone*..."
<Julia> "We'll make do, I'm sure," Julia smiles brightly.
<El-Cideon> Marina details some of the extended party to her guestrooms, then pulls Franceska aside to suggest she manufacture another of her little houses for the remainder--while also quietly suggesting, "You know, I can't help but notice this extended company seems to wear on your patience. I wonder if you might prefer my bedroom tonight? It's certainly big enough for the two of us."
<Franceska> "I suppose I am fairly bad at hiding it," Franceska admits. "If you are quite certain it would not be a bother, then?"
<El-Cideon> "Oh, not at all!" she says with a warm smile, leading the way. A peaceful night passes, everyone gathers outside the next morning to part ways. Marina continues to play host to Marcus and the nymph. Everyone else, it seems, is accompanying the party back to Solata.
<Julia> "This was fun, Marina. We'll look you up if we're ever in the area again?" Julia offers as they part ways.
<El-Cideon> "Of course, I would be pleased to help with whatever may ail you in the future," she says. "You know, I do feel sometimes I could do more to be service to my fellows than I regularly do lounging around my own home, pleasant as it is, so please feel free to consult me should you find yourself in any quandaries of an arcane nature." She insists on giving everyone a hug in parting.
<Franceska> "And please, stop by some time?" Franceska offers. "Where it comes to invited guests, I have plenty of room."
<El-Cideon> "I can't claim to have any real memories of the land of my birth," she admits. "I will have to take you up on that offer someday. Take care of yourselves until we meet again!"
<El-Cideon> Rosemund eyes Franceska with an odd expression as you depart, making for the foothills up where the river flows past the portal to Solata. "You know, Franceska, you were almost...friendly, just now."
<Franceska> "Should I stop?"
<Steph> "Yeah, it's totally creepy."
<El-Cideon> "No, not at all! Please go on. It will take some adjustment, I admit, but it is not at all an unpleasant sight."
<Franceska> "I am getting mixed signals here, you might say."
<El-Cideon> "Oh!" Rosemund turns to Stephanie. "Please, Stephanie, you must be honestly encouraging at times like this. Real progress might be made!"
<Steph> "I figured if I told her not to do something, she'd do it!"
<Franceska> "May I hit you?"
<El-Cideon> "Oh, I see." Rosemund observes Franceska closely.
<Steph> "Rosey, can she hit me?"
<El-Cideon> "Of course not!" is Rosemund's instant reply, before she recalls what Stephanie just said. "Oh, wait--!"
<Franceska> It might be a longshot, but Franceska tries to punch Stephanie in the nose.
<El-Cideon> OOC: feel free to make an unarmed attack roll >.>
<Franceska> roll 1d20+3
* Hatbot --> "Franceska rolls 1d20+3 and gets 14."12 [1d20=11]
<El-Cideon> OOC: AC, Steph~
<Steph> OOC: 23
<El-Cideon> Franceska finds her nose-punching skills sadly delinquent.
* Franceska sighs.
<El-Cideon> "There, see?" Rosemund says, pushing herself between the two of them. "You cannot hit her after all! Let us be on our way, please."
<Julia> "At least you didn't turn into a bear first," Julia says in relief.
<Steph> "Of course not~" replies Stephanie, before she throws Julia a panicked look.
<Franceska> "I do not turn into one because I like it!"
* Steph sighs with relief.
<Julia> "It's not nice?" Julia cocks her head in confusion.
<Franceska> "It is a body which is not my own," Franceska firmly states. "That itches."
<Steph> "Can you turn into other stuff?" asks Stephanie, curious now.
<El-Cideon> "Well, I can imagine that, it is covered in a great deal of fur," Rosemund observes.
<Julia> "It looks cuddly, though," Julia pouts in consternation.
* Franceska sighs again. "I can turn into any human I wish. And I could conceivably go beyond my species. But where it comes to animals, only a bear's form manages to match my hair color perfectly, so I prefer it over the rest if I find myself in need of a transformation."
<El-Cideon> "Am I the only one amongst us who cannot turn into another person?" Rosemund wonders aloud, giving Julia an inquisitive look.
<Steph> "Why would you need to, Rosie? You're already perfect~"
<Franceska> "I could teach you."
* Franceska frowns at the implication.
* Julia shakes her head. "Thing can, but I can't. Unless I work out a spell to turn myself into a vampire or ghost or something..."
<Franceska> "How charming."
<Steph> "Umm. You have to be dead to be those things, right? Properly dead."
<El-Cideon> "Let us not be in a great rush to do this thing!" Rosemund cautions Julia.
<Franceska> "More than that, you try to take other people with you."
<Julia> "It's the only magic that works for me!" Julia protests, before adding, "And it works so well, doesn't it?"
<El-Cideon> "Well, well yes, it does," Rosemund says carefully. "And there is something to be said for making proper use of one's natural talents!"
<Steph> "W-well, yeah, it's pretty freaky. I wouldn't wanna be on the wrong side of you," agrees Stephanie, surveying Julia again.
* Julia nods brightly. "No matter how sinister it may seem, did it not work superbly to liberate those poor imprisoned souls?" she looks expectantly at the former captives now.
<Steph> "Oh, yeah. Just another way to stick a sword up someone, right? That's pretty freaky, too, first time you see it."
<El-Cideon> "It is not the means, but the results one must consider," Morgan agrees.
<El-Cideon> Aged Darla looks a little uncomfortable about answering the question. Calixta the pragmatist can only nod approvingly. And of course the zombie is in no position to question Julia's methods!
<Julia> "There, the man who sold his soul to a devil agrees with me," Julia nods, prompting an irate squeak from Thing who glares hatefully at Morgan from atop Julia's shoulder with his little beady bat eyes.
<El-Cideon> "Truly an odd company," Morgan observes again as the little demon stares. "I should wonder how you came to know one another in the first."
<Franceska> "It was all Rosemund's fault."
<Julia> "Yes, she is truly the glue that binds us together," Julia agrees.
<Steph> "There's no other way we could possibly hang out together," nods Stephanie.
<El-Cideon> "Oh, that is not how you should put the thing," Rosemund says to Franceska. "'Fault' implies a mistake. I admit to no such thing!"
<Franceska> "Good, then you are learning!" Franceska says in clear approval.
<Steph> "She is!" replies Stephanie, before pausing. "She is," she continues, sounding disappointed.
<El-Cideon> Rosemund eyes Franceska like she's not quite sure what precisely she should be learning here.
<El-Cideon> Calixta eyes Stephanie, noting her despairing air. "Innocence is an illusion brought about by ignorance. Its loss is not to be mourned."
<Julia> "Ahh, but once it's gone you can never have it back," Julia says philosophically, "Such a fragile thing, it's no wonder we seek to protect it."
<Steph> "Bah, more people should be like Rosie," replies Stephanie. "Preferable to all the other illusions people make up for themselves, huh?"
<El-Cideon> "I do not think *everyone* need be like me," Rosemund says. "It would make for a very dull world if all within it were alike, no matter their disposition! But maybe if there were a few more of me around..." she muses.
<Franceska> "It would make you less special, and that is a bad thing."
<El-Cideon> "True, true," Rosemund concedes.
<El-Cideon> You walk through familiar terrain, following the stream upslope. Past the grove, Lucian's hut (abandoned at present, no sign of the elf), through the apple orchard...in due time you're back up the waterfall cliff, ready to make your return home. The raft is where you'd left it along the rocky shore.
<Steph> "See you later, elf heaven. Hope not, though. How come heaven has date rape? And fops?" mutters Stephanie, climbing aboard the raft.
<Franceska> "And prisons for humans, and sandstorms, and human-eating sentients, and skeletons...."
<Julia> "Probably got in on a technicality," Julia suggests.
<El-Cideon> "Every world has its fops," Morgan complains. "They are an ineradicable weed. All that can be done is for them to be herded by wiser men."
<Steph> "So there's no escape? No matter where I end up when I'm dead, there will be fops?"
<Franceska> "You might be the fop after you die. Did you consider that?"
<Steph> "I guess if you can't beat them..."
<El-Cideon> "Do not say such a thing!" Rosemund says. "Stephanie is a good person, she would never become such a creature."
<Franceska> "She herself is saying it is possible," Franceska points out.
<Steph> "I could be wrong. Rosie is the theological expert, y'know."
<El-Cideon> "Not while I am by her side!" Rosemund counters, shoving the raft into the stream and starting to pole it back upriver, towards the portal and home.
<El-Cideon> ~