070: Forever is our today

[Sierra]

<El-Cideon> "So, ah...how does it work?" Rosemund wonders, seeing no more obvious control mechanism on the ship other than the crystal sphere.
<Steph> "Do we really need the boat?" wonders Stephanie. "We're just going to have to plane shift them all anyway, aren't we? Unless the boat itself can plane shift." She walks towards the sphere and peers curiously at it, before experimentally poking it.
<Julia> "Maybe there's a portal somewhere nice nearby?" Julia wonders. "We'd need a compass or a chart or something to find it, though. Lets see if there's something like that on board?"
<Franceska> "Maybe you need a command to activate it properly?" Franceska muses, trying to see if she could work it out.
<El-Cideon> Stephanie has a brief mental impression of...pliancy. As though she'd only have to think to instruct the ship in its required movements.
<Steph> Stephanie thinks the ship forward by inches!
<El-Cideon> Stephanie finds that nothing happens without her maintaining direct contact with the control sphere.
<Steph> Stephanie grabs the sphere properly in one hand, then tries to make it levitate a little.
<El-Cideon> The ship obligingly lifts a little off the ground, to the vocal surprise of its other passengers.
<Steph> "This is surprisingly easy," Stephanie voices. "I want to take it home." She studies the sphere for a moment, then tries thinking of making the ship show her a map.
<El-Cideon> The relation of directions seems not to be within its capabilities. It can only take them.
<Julia> "I'm going downstairs, see if there's anything helpful down there," Julia says, heading off to explore.
<Franceska> "Rosemund," Franceska takes the time to ask, "how about checking with Ione over what she would like to do? If she can come here and take a look at the queen-- actually, can she just turn her to stone?"
<Steph> "Ok." Stephanie lets go of the crystal for anyone else who might care to try. "Wouldn't she have to wake her up to do that? I guess it's harder to crack than the stake."
<El-Cideon> Belowdecks, Julia finds the ship only sparsely furnished. There's a decently-sized cargo hold, albeit one that suggests with a compressed odor of stale sweat that its usual cargo was packed sentients in a state of distress. There's also modest crew and captain's quarters, though none of the pallets look to have seen much use--perhaps unsurprisingly given the nature of the ship's former owners.
<El-Cideon> "I am not an expert on that sort of thing, but would it even work on a dead person?" Rosemund wonders.
<Julia> "There's a crew quarters down here!" Julia's voice rises up from below in case anyone's interested. She is, since they might have logs and maps and things, so she goes to rake around the captain's cabin.
* Franceska shrugs. "Regrettably, it looks as if either she has an idea for what to do, or we kill the queen for good."
<El-Cideon> Rosemund frowns. "Can we not find some way to keep the good side in charge all the time instead?"
<Steph> "Nah, I'm pretty sure you have to actually see them." Stephanie shrugs. "I think the spell works, though. I mean, she's still made of flesh even though she's doubly dead." She walks towards Franceska and Rosemund with her hands in her pockets, feeling moody. "Rosemund, what happens to the souls of vampires when they die for real? There's heaps of stories about decent people becoming vampires."
<El-Cideon> Julia finds the ship's former owners haven't troubled to keep much in the way of charts, other than some scribbled directions for direct bearings from Whitsunhold to other sites on the negative energy plane (among them the portal).
<El-Cideon> "I am not sure," Rosemund says. "Do they still count as decent people when they have things like..." She gestures vaguely to the lower floors. "...Like all of that?"
<Julia> Any interesting sites that don't lead to the realm of fire?
<Steph> "Well, no, but at the same time turning into a vampire fucks up your mind. We wouldn't hold it against someone if they were, say, dominated and forced to attack their friends... is being turned into a vampire really any different?"
<Franceska> "How would you kill just one half of her, in any case?"
<Steph> "Beats me." Stephanie clucks her tongue. "There are spells to move minds around, right? It's like she has two. So could you use a spell like that to move just one side of her and leave the other behind?"
<El-Cideon> Julia also finds bearing for some place ominously named Death Heart, and a more recent note for Coldlight Station.
<Franceska> "Julia probably knows one."
<Julia> Grabbing the list of directions, Julia goes to have a quick look in the other crew quarters before rejoining the others.
<El-Cideon> "I do not know," Rosemund admits. "But the evil queen was made through torture and hypnosis mostly, not magic, yes? Maybe there is a way to unmake her...er, without the torture part."
<Steph> "I'll go ask her. Hey, Julia Julia!"
<Julia> "Yes?!" Julia shouts back up.
<Steph> Stephanie troops over and pokes her head into the cabin. "Do you know spells that let you move people's minds from one body to another?"
<El-Cideon> The crew quarters are as drab as the captain's. It doesn't look like the ship was used for much more than transporting Whitsunhold's food supply.
<Julia> "Only one, I used it earlier when we fought all those vampires," Julia answers at a normal volume. "That's only for moving my mind into someone else's body, while their mind is transferred into a small crystal, I can't swap other people around though."
<Steph> "Oh." Stephanie pauses. "Wait... that works on undead. So you could possess Auranelle, and, um... go have Calloran executed?"
<El-Cideon> "Could you transport it from that crystal into some other...shell, or apparatus?" Marina wonders. Then she has a brief attack of the shivers. "Brr! Just think of finding yourself trapped in a tiny little crystal with nowhere to go. That must be awful."
<Franceska> "Yes, there is no way it could go badly."
<Julia> "Well... I suppose I could," Julia admits in response to Stephanie. "I can't move things around from the crystal though - it's a fairly complicated spell but it has hard limits on what it can accomplish. I put my mind into the crystal and then swap places with others, but swapping is all I can do."
<El-Cideon> "How long can you stay there, then?" Marina wonders.
<Julia> "Fourteen hours," Julia answers, with a touch of pride. It was thirteen not long ago!
<Steph> Stephanie clucks her tongue. "I have to admit that we don't have a lot of time to spend on this, she says, reluctantly. "Let's see what Ione says. I'd prefer to leave Auranelle imprisoned than kill her, if we can't find a solution now." She glances at Franceska. "Even if there is one, I bet it will take time- oh, unless we can just wish her better. That did work for Rosemund. Either way, I
<Steph> suppose we should think about the palace as well- we ought to return the royal signet ring, I think. If we can show it to the king, we should be willing to hear us out over the vipers he's got advising him."
<Franceska> "How about stopping Auranelle from using her powers?" Franceska wonders out loud. "If we had a good method for that, when she is awake and coherent, we might have more options."
<Julia> "Hmm... well, she's a mage isn't she? She can't regain magic without resting, vampire or no. And having a stake in your heart does not a good rest make. We'd have to rouse her and provoke her into casting all of her spells, then... put her on ice, so to speak? She'd still have natural vampiric powers like domination and blood-sucking, of course," Julia says, her tone growing bleak at the
<Julia> end.
<El-Cideon> "Er, it mostly worked," Rosemund corrects, taking her hat off to remind Stephanie.
<Julia> "Or I could just control her like I did her minions..."
<Steph> "The most important part worked," declares Stephanie. "Which is that your mind is functional! Then again, it took a miracle to undo a wish..." Stephanie furrows her brow. "What about antimagic?" she asks.
<Julia> "Then she'd only have blood-sucking to fall back on."
<Steph> "That's the least fearsome part of her."
<Julia> "And a gag prevents it nicely."
<El-Cideon> "Could she still try to turn into mist to get away?" Marina wonders.
<Julia> "Not in anti-magic. Almost all of a vampire's powers are supernatural in nature," Julia shakes her head.
<Franceska> "So we arrange for it?"
<Julia> "Can any of us produce an anti-magic field?" Sadly it's not necromancy, so Julia sure can't.
<Steph> "Ione should be able to buy the necessary materials for us, no? So if she comes here or we go to her, it can work out. And of course, if we convince the King, he would easily be able to provide whatever is needed." Stephanie taps her foot. "I bet Leah could have, too," she says, sounding sad. "Damn them!"
<El-Cideon> Marina shakes her head at Julia's query.
<Julia> "Just one last concern," Julia says, "How do we know the King isn't on board with his advisors' actions?"
<Franceska> "By watching his reaction."
<Julia> "If he calls for guards and has us arrested and executed it would be very telling," Julia nods sagely.
<El-Cideon> "How would we even obtain an audience with him?" Rosemund wonders. "None of us are exactly regulars in noble circles..."
<Steph> "The heroes could get one."
<Franceska> "We teleport in, of course."
<Steph> "Surely they'd have a kill-on-sight policy for that."
<El-Cideon> "I do not think that teleporting into the King's court would be received well at all," Rosemund agrees.
<Julia> "Or some sort of redirection or barrier... but the more I think, the more I wonder why we even want to provoke a confrontation with royalty? What does it actually gain us?"
<Steph> "Justice for Leah?"
<Julia> "How so? How does the existence of the vampire queen lead to all of Leah's killers being bound in irons and thrown into a dark pit?"
<Franceska> "The angel did die most inconveniently. How about we focus on getting all these people out of here, and then lure the wizard out with a summoned messenger?" Franceska suggests. "Then, we get his confession and explore options to contact the court."
<El-Cideon> "We would need proof for the King to listen to us at all," Rosemund agrees. "I am not sure whether just bringing him his mother accomplishes that." She nods to Franceska. "There are a lot of people here who probably do not wish to be here any longer! Could the ship get them out? There are certainly far more than my spell can manage!"
<Julia> "Yes, I like that!" Julia nods. "If we want justice, we should entrap and deal with the conspirators ourselves, in secret. A very public confrontation avails us little."
<Steph> "Y-yes, you're right." Stephanie looks a little upset, but then she just smiles tiredly. "Not like I ever had much faith in due process."
<Franceska> "I will take care of the due process once we have had a chance to interrogate that mage and his flunkies."
<Steph> "Do you mind if I hold onto that signet ring?"
<Julia> "Speaking of flunkies... do we want to take the soldier downstairs that we found with Clanktron?"
<Steph> "Hmm? What for? She was dead, right?"
<Franceska> "She can still talk."
<El-Cideon> "Well, he is dead," Rosemund points out. "I am not sure what a dead person could prove...If you will pardon me, Julia, I am not sure spells to interrogate dead persons are admissable in court as evidence."
<Franceska> "Not really, no. But they can be used to pressure someone into an entirely legitimate confession, Rosemund."
<Julia> "It is easily faked," Julia admits. "But what if she were to pen a letter to her master? Wouldn't that be helpful for drawing him out?"
<Steph> "For what purpose? What excuse could we use to call the archmage somewhere isolated?"
<Julia> "Wait, forget that," Julia shakes her head and winces. "I used all my spell components on raising Istradi, so I couldn't get the corpse in any condition to pen anything."
<Steph> "Where should we take all the people?"
<El-Cideon> "Ah, I have a spare diamond if necessary," Rosemund offers.
<Franceska> "First of all, let us check just how many there are. Wasn't there someone who took care of records around?"
<Steph> "The bailiff? Yep, let's head up top, then."
<Julia> "Well, I found some directions in the cabin," Julia waves the paper she found, "But the only portal it mentioned was the one to fire." Nodding to Rosemund she says, "Thank you for offering, but it must be black diamond."
<Steph> "I think Rosemund was suggesting we raise the special forces soldier and conduct a live interrogation."
<El-Cideon> "There must be at least a small town's worth of them out there," Marina estimates as the party walks back to the Vivarium proper. The heavy doors are still closed, of course, and show no sign of conveniently opening at your approach.
<Julia> "Oh! Haha, silly me," Julia laughs off her first inclination being to minionise any corpse they come across.
<El-Cideon> Rosemund nods and delicately points out, "Yes, I am not sure whether us bringing a zombie to court would help our case at all either."
<Franceska> "Stephanie, open the door."
<El-Cideon> Hands on her hips, Marina looks up at the imposing security door. "How does this open?" she wonders, seeing no obvious device for it. She looks at Franceska expectantly.
<Steph> Stephanie waves the signet ring at it.
<El-Cideon> The door does not react in any way.
<El-Cideon> "Well, maybe there is a password or a spell or something?" Marina speculates.
<Julia> While they puzzle it out, Julia directs Bedford to try bashing the door down.
<El-Cideon> The undead nightmare's hooves put a solid dent in the door. Obviously whoever built this gateway wanted to keep something securely in or out...but apparently they also didn't count on a dire fiendish steed battering at it for an extended period of time. It takes an imposing degree of effort, but the nightmare eventually forces a rent large enough for the team to slip through. Beyond, the village is still bright and oblivious.
<Julia> "Good boy," Julia pats the nightmare's ribs before passing through the gap into the nice facade.
<Steph> Stephanie troops towards the bailiffs tower, cheerful that another bout of horrible manual labor has been dealt with by mindless sacks of meat!
<Franceska> "She is so useless," Franceska mutters, staying by the doors for now.
<Julia> Julia tags along with Stephanie, since what else is there to do?
<El-Cideon> The blonde bailey is sitting nervously at her desk, looking out the window as though expecting some unspeakable disaster to arrive at any moment. Instead, Stephanie appears. This still provokes a jolt of shock. "You're still alive!" she exclaims. Then, suspiciously: "Aren't you?"
<Steph> Stephanie smiles brightly, showing fangs that just aren't long enough to be vampiric!
<Julia> "More or less," Julia says, before offering an introduction. "Hello, I'm Julia."
<El-Cideon> "Flora Weaver," she says with practiced politeness. "What's happened? Did you not go beyond the palace doors? How have you come back?" She's frankly incredulous.
<Steph> "We killed most of the palace guards and staked the queen," replies Stephanie. "Her rule is over!"
<El-Cideon> "She's dead?" Flora echoes with disbelief. "Permanently?"
<Julia> "No, just paralysed really. We're debating what to do with her," Julia admits. "Her minions are all dead though."
<Steph> "In any case, we're presently working on how to get you all out of here. I'll need you to give me your population figures."
<El-Cideon> "What to do with her? I should think that obvious!"
<Julia> "Apparently not as much as you'd think."
<El-Cideon> "Oh. Oh, of course," she says to Stephanie, rifling through her books to rattle off officially, "The population of Whitsunhold presently stands at some two-hundred forty-eight living citizens. Not counting yourselves, of course."
<Franceska> "I think we can afford to spends a few days sending those who wish to go back," Franceska tells Rosemund. "How does that sound? You will be doing all of the work here."
<Steph> "And you're basically able to sustain yourselves for the time being." Stephanie rubs her nose. "It'll probably take us a while to work out a solution," she says. "Especially for that many people. We could possibly shift you all to Solata itself, in small groups over a week or two."
<El-Cideon> "I still cannot be very precise with that spell," Rosemund says apologetically. "It might take a long time!"
<El-Cideon> "Ah, you found the ship?" Flora assumes.
<Franceska> "Those who don't want to walk the rest of the way can always choose to stay here."
<Steph> Stephanie blinks. "Yes, we did," she remarks. "You knew about it- ah, of course, they must have brought you here in it." She looks at Flora curiously. "Do you know if it has any special functions?"
<Julia> "Or for that matter do you know how to get the ship back towards whichever portal it took you through?" They can't all have come from Ashpile, right?
<El-Cideon> "I haven't any idea of how it works, but that woman who bought us--myself from the drow, and quite a lot of others, I gather--had some means of moving the ship between worlds. I'm afraid I don't know how it works myself."
<Steph> Stephanie blinks. "It can plane shift? That will make things a bit easier! We thought it only traveled from portal to portal." Stephanie nods.
<Julia> "Maybe the pilot has to cast plane shift, but can do so through the boat to expand the usual number of targets?"
<El-Cideon> She shakes her head. "Speaking for myself, at least, I was brought here straight from the--the drow city. Some days I think it an improvement, others not. Well, not precisely straight here, the ship appeared in the dark outside and then they ferried it in. I couldn't say why." She shrugs.
<Steph> "We'll need to study the ship a bit more, then," notes Stephanie.
<El-Cideon> "So, your kingdom, is that where you propose to take us?" she asks. Then, with a bitter laugh, "You know, after years of hearing Her Majesty speak as though we already lived there, that would be quite the strange experience."
<Julia> "Well, with the way plane shifting works we might end up in one of the neighbouring kingdoms," Julia says. "They're not as nice, though."
<Steph> Stephanie blinks. "I, I guess it would be." She pauses. "This place isn't so bad, in itself. Without the disappearings, I mean. We've been to a lot of planes and honestly..."
<El-Cideon> Flora stands up. "I can't say I'd wish to stay here. Even if the others did."
<Steph> "Perhaps you could find out what the people here want to do for us, now that there is a possible way out..." Stephanie shrugs. "Let us find out how to operate the ship, first."
<Julia> "Would it work without new population coming in?" Julia asks, "I mean, how many births do you see around here?"
<El-Cideon> Flora smiles sourly. "Much of our female population is rather beyond the proper age, you realize." To Stephanie, she nods. "Let me gather my assistants and we'll canvas the area." She heads downstairs.
<Steph> Stephanie glances at Julia. "Let's go back and see if we can put the ship through a test run," she suggests."
<Julia> "Good idea," Julia nods, heading back down.
<El-Cideon> Flora strolls off with her gang of physicians to ask around town. "Now what?" Marina asks.
<Steph> Once she returns to Franceska, Stephanie speaks: "So Flora reckons the ship can plane shift," she says. "Somehow. But only from outside the dome. Let's go see if we can make it do things?"
<Franceska> "Very well," Franceska agrees. "We should sort out those who wish to stay from those who would be coming along."
<Steph> "Flora's working on that, so all we have to do is figure out how we can take them."
<Franceska> "Can you still plane shift us today, Rosemund?"
<El-Cideon> Rosemund nods. "I have a few of those left!"
<Franceska> "I can try to take us out of the dock, then, and if I cannot send the ship over to Air you could give it a try?"
<Julia> "Wait," Julia says, "We should test if the boat can navigate back here on its own first. I don't particularly trust my sense of direction out here. Either that or retrieve Rover."
<Franceska> "Retrieving Rover is a good idea."
<Steph> "We should block up that hole once we get him in, too."
<Julia> Julia stays where she is. It's a bit of a climb to get back up to the hole after all!
<El-Cideon> Rosemund leads the way back to the boat and tries ordering it around as Stephanie had briefly done. "Oh! You only need to think a thing and it moves around. Well, let me try moving it somewhere--oh, but it is in a cave right now..."
<Steph> Meanwhile, Stephanie scoots away to pick up their favourite zombie.
<El-Cideon> Rover is still standing where he was left with a dumb happy smile on his face from a job well done.
<Julia> "This'll help," Julia says, going to pull the lever by all those complicated gears.
<El-Cideon> In response, a large circular swath of wall just large enough for the ship to slip through slides open onto the absolute blackness of the plane.
<Steph> "I can't believe I'm going to have to lug a rotting corpse around," mutters Stephanie, before remembering that she's on a plane with lots of farms, give her a chance to liberate a wheelbarrow, which she uses to trundle him back to the palace with.
<El-Cideon> Rover rides back to the rest of the group in blissful nonresistance!
<El-Cideon> Meanwhile, Rosemund experimentally floats the ship just outside into the void. "This is very easy to work," she assures Julia on floating it back in. "Ah, should I try moving it to another world, or wait until everyone is here? In case it does not work exactly as we would like..."
<Steph> Stephanie soon hops into the ship, zombie cart in tow! "I'm here. What's the story?"
<Franceska> "If we go to Air, then even if it doesn't quite lead us where we want to go I could always teleport over to invite Ione to come and take a look in person. How does that sound?"
<Julia> "Try moving it forward a bit, then try and will it specifically to return home rather than thinking of moving backwards?" Julia asks. "That'll test if it can move back here without needing Rover or directions."
<El-Cideon> Rosemund nods and performs Julia's test first. She shakes her head as the ship doesn't respond to the second command. "I think that it needs specific directions to go anywhere. Well, let me try something else." Rosemund concentrates on her usual spell, and suddenly--the ship and all of its inhabitants are floating within the great spiral city of Azure, the red eye of the portal looming far below. In spite of this world's lack of definite gravity, you find that your feet remain firmly rooted to the deck.
<Julia> "Oh!" Julia looks down over the desk. "That is the most accurate plane shift I have ever seen, Rosemund!"
<Steph> "Hey, we're here," notes Stephanie, peering over the edge. She whoops in delight. "We're even where we want to be!"
<El-Cideon> "I did it right this time!" Rosemund beams.
<Franceska> "Nicely done!" Franceska congratulates her.
<Steph> "Should we go see Ione now, or test heading back first?"
<Franceska> "Might as well ask her along?"
<Steph> Stephanie nods, and thusly vaults off the edge of the ship to go and find her favourite medusa.
* Franceska comes along this time.
<Julia> "Istradi, can you make sure no one tries to steal our boat?" Julia asks before heading off.
<El-Cideon> Rosemund nods and navigates the ship first to Ione's restaurant, because it's been a long day and a long time since the party had something other than magically-generated food! As Istradi waits behind on the ship, giving the city around her an appraising look, the proprietress is found consulting her books in a secluded corner table. "Rather earlier than I expected to see you back," she says to Rosemund. The strains of an elven singing troupe lilt unobtrusively in the background.
<Franceska> "Magic is convenient at times."
<Julia> "It really was the best plane shift ever," Julia nods effusively.
<El-Cideon> Rosemund smiles proudly!
<Franceska> "Practice does make perfect," Franceska agrees. "And now that we are here, I hope we can steal you away for a bit and make use of your expertise?"
<El-Cideon> "You look fresh from battle," the medusa observes. "Rosemund tells me you have a deranged vampire queen over which I am expected to exert some degree of influence?" She sounds skeptical.
<Steph> "We were hoping for your professional opinion."
<Julia> "Well she has a split personality, one nice and sweet, the other murderous and domineering," Julia explains. "We'd like the former to take precedence, but it's rather outside our own expertise."
<Franceska> "Specifically, we have detailed notes of what was done to her, and the opinion we wish for you to provide is whether it can be reversed or treated."
<El-Cideon> "I'll have to peruse whatever documentation you have she says. "And, if possible, speak with her. Ideally both of her."
<Franceska> "Might it be possible for you to arrange for some means of antimagic?"
<Julia> "Or even if you know someone that can sell a scroll, we'll cover the cost," Julia adds.
<El-Cideon> "I'm certain that the Brothers could provide one," Ione says. "Worry not for the cost. Consider it a token of Azure's gratitude."
<Steph> "How is Brigid?" asks Stephanie, now that things are settled for the immediate future.
<Franceska> "In that case, we can arrange for you to speak," Franceska muses. "Stephanie could take care of the manacles, I'm sure."
<Steph> "Yay."
<Franceska> "So yes, how is Brigid?"
<El-Cideon> "I have her learning music again," Ione says. "She takes to it well, but the fact that she must learn it again no doubt speaks volumes." Ione taps one elegant finger to the side of her serpent-bedecked head. "Her memories are not here to be reawakened. They have been removed through unusual means. She could grow to be another person in time, if we wished her to. But that is not precisely what we wish, is it?"
<Julia> "No... do you think the illithid store stolen memories somewhere, or is it just... eaten and gone?" Julia wonders.
<Steph> "They do! I have one of their memory stones here," says Stephanie. "Remember?"
<Steph> She clucks her tongue. "I asked Thela to bring the rest of them, so next time we go home I'll go ask her how it went."
<Julia> "Oh yes, I'd forgotten about those."
<Franceska> "Do you know of them?" Franceska asks Ione. "If not, you could experience this one."
<Steph> "I'm going to warn you in advance: some of the material is pornographic."
<Franceska> "I'm certain Ione expects nothing less from you."
<Steph> "Hey, I didn't make it. And I never slept with no knights!"
<El-Cideon> Ione takes the stone and examines it for a long moment. She seems unphased by whatever she might have seen. "It seems a life lived healthily enough," she says. "Have we any notion of what happened to the owner of these experiences?"
<Steph> "Uh, no idea. Probably killed by the illithid what got his mind."
<Franceska> "A scrying spell could answer that."
<Julia> "I suppose the meat of the brain is eaten and the memories are retained as a novelty or in case they're ever useful?"
<El-Cideon> "I will make the attempt," Ione says. "Should I fail in finding a living owner, are there objections to my experimenting with this object? I've no immediate notion of how to return Brijid's own memories to her even if we should find the proper gem."
* Julia shakes her head, having no objection.
<Steph> "Why don't you keep it? I don't think we're going to find the original owner of all those memories... it would be quite a task, if what Thela told me was correct."
<El-Cideon> "If he is dead, then I suppose they are not of any use to him any longer," Rosemund admits.
<Franceska> "It's very efficient, and it advances useful knowledge."
<Steph> "I wonder how it's done?" muses Stephanie. "I wouldn't mind leaving behind something like this when I'm dead."
<El-Cideon> "So others could benefit from your life experience?" Marina guesses.
<Julia> "Or so your memories could slowly subsume their own, effectively turning them into you so you can live again."
* Franceska coughs.
<El-Cideon> "But would it truly be you if you were to impart your own recollections into some other form?" Ione wonders. "Or just something that believes it is you? It would hardly have your soul."
<Franceska> "Oh, Julia can send her soul into rocks."
<Steph> "Well, god knows where my soul will end up," reflects Stephanie, before she snaps her fingers. "Julia! Can you go find it after I'm dead and make sure it's happy? And if it's not, give it my memory stone! I'll write you into my will."
<Julia> "Perhaps, but it's worth a try, isn't it?" Julia says. "If you have some unfinished business then at least you can be sure it'll be settled."
<Julia> "Happily," Julia smiles at Stephanie. It should be quite an adventure! "If you have any descendants I'll make sure to train them into proper adventurers and bring them along as well."
<Franceska> "Who else is planning on becoming functionally immortal? You, Rosemund?"
<El-Cideon> Rosemund shakes her head vigorously. "I have never even thought about it!"
<Franceska> "But do you even age now?"
<Julia> "It hasn't really been long enough to tell, has it?"
<El-Cideon> "I will trust that we all have long and happy lives ahead of us in which to find out," Rosemund concludes.
<El-Cideon> ~