Day 61B: Divination and Discussion

[Iron Dragoon]

Session Start: Wed Feb 18 11:46:05 2015
Session Ident: #dunes
* Now talking in #dunes
* Topic is 'Pepo=Lucy(11)>Pepo that is not Pepo(9) '
* Set by Kotono on Wed Feb 11 14:49:57
<Kotono> Moore and Lucy's conversation is soon interrupted. Rocky comes back in, "Good news," he announces, Jetina slowly looking his way, "We found Veren and the dog."
<Lucy> "Did they just appear out of the Light?"
<Moore> Moore smiles. "Wonderful! So I guess that..." Moore frowns all of a sudden as the realization starts to sink in. No, surely, he was able to get out too, right? "...Well, I'll take care of them if you're going to bring them here."
<Kotono> Veren is brought in first - out cold. Macaron follows, placed before Lucy. He's clearly maimed, bloody bandages put on him. As the healer gets to working her magic in the name of Qupan, "A little healing should wake Veren."
<Moore> Moore blinks once, as if being brought back to reality. He nods once, quickly, before he flies over to Veren. "Right, I'll take care of that." He puts a hand on him to heal him and bring him back to consciousness.
<Moore> roll 1d8+5
<Serith> Moore roll for Serith < 13 > 12 [d8=8]
<Kotono> The healing stirs Veren, as his awareness returns. OOC: Go ahead, Veren.
* Veren snaps his eyes open and looks around the room before sitting up.
* Veren peers at the others, a bit suspiciously.
<Moore> "Let me just say, no, this isn't another illusion." Moore says to Veren with a small smile. "At least, we're pretty sure it isn't, anyway."
<Veren > "I will trust you. For now."
<Moore> "You'd certainly better, I've kept some of your other secrets enough times." Moore says while folding his arms.
<Kotono> "We're all here," Jetina says, "Except for Pepo, Bolethon and Kamhoff."
<Veren > "I found the bodies of Pepo and Bolethon. Pepo... returned home."
<Moore> "...Right, well..." Moore sags a bit at this. "...I don't think we're going to be...wait, what?" Moore turns and looks at Veren. "...You found their bodies?"
* Veren nods.
<Veren > "Bolethon had his throat cut and Pepo had his spine broken. Macaron found their bodies as well."
* Veren looks at the dog.
<Moore> Moore rubs at his temple once. "So I suppose thinking that that place was the... crossover point is the correct one." Moore takes a breath. "So I would guess they both... went back. ...I think that means Kamhoff must still be dealing with that place."
<Veren > "He was crushed by a moving pillar. I did what I could to help him, but I am no healer."
<Lucy> "Mister Kamhoff was?!"
<Veren > "No, Macaron was crushed."
<Kotono> Jetina closes her eyes and sighs, patting Macaron's body. He's healed now, "Oh Pepo," she murmurs, rather softly.
* Veren turns to Jetina.
<Veren > "I know he was returned to... wherever he came from before this world."
<Lucy> "We need a divination. Something that asks directly whether Mister Pepo is dead, and a follow up to ask whether the Mister Pepo we came to know is still alive somewhere else."
* Veren turns and digs into his pack, searching for the book.
<Moore> Moore looks over at Rocky if he's still rolling around. "Is that something you could ask your staff to help us with when they have a free moment?"
<Kotono> Rocky's lingering by the door, "A divination? I can get someone to get the stones rolling on that."
<Kotono> The book is found, just where Veren left it.
<Lucy> "And a light mage to see if we're us," Lucy reminds him.
* Veren produces the book and offers it to Lucy.
<Veren > "When I tried to read that, I felt it... Tearing at my mind, I think. It left me with absolute certainty that Pepo had made it home."
<Moore> Moore startles a bit at the book. "You didn't really bring that thing back with you?!"
* Veren raises an eyebrow.
<Veren > "What is it? I thought Lucy might be able to make use of it."
<Lucy> With a gasp, Lucy scrambles away from the book!
* Veren blinks at this.
<Lucy> "That book. That book!"
<Moore> "It's extremely dangerous." Moore says. "If... We can probably give it to the city to have them examine it, but... whatever is contained in there..." Moore shakes his head. "I think it's the sort of thing no normal person should read."
<Veren > "Hm. Unexpected. Should I keep it, destroy it, or turn it over to Aria?"
<Moore> "I suppose it's possible that a Light mage could read it without being harmed..." Moore considers for a moment. "I would just hand it over to the city and let them determine what to do with it. I think it's far too harmful for us to hold onto."
* Veren nods and puts it back in his pack until they meet with Aria again.
<Lucy> "No. Nononono! You cannot give it to anyone! It's a book that hates people!"
<Moore> Moore glances at Lucy before he clears his throat. "...I suppose the question we all have to decide on is how we progress now." Moore says with a look at everyone. "Assuming Mister Kamhoff makes it back to us, he'll probably want to recreate his ship... But that's going to cost a lot of resources."
<Veren > "Hm."
* Veren turns to Rocky.
<Veren > "How much capital did our help with the fleet garner? Enough to replace the ship?"
<Kotono> Unfortunately, Rocky's already slipped on request.
<Lucy> "This is premature," Lucy voices, calming down. "I'm also unsure of ever coming close to the Light ever again."
<Veren > "Well... If the attack on the ship means anything, I doubt the Light will simply let us be."
<Kotono> It's not long for Aria to return, along with a man in a white robe. His cowl is up so you can't see his face. "Lucy," she says, "How are you after that dreadful business?"
<Moore> "I don't know about that, Veren." Moore says quietly. "If it wanted to kill us, it would have simply killed us. Not given us a challenge to overcome."
<Lucy> "I cannot help but wonder if Mister Pepo and I were the intended targets," she admits reluctantly, before glancing at the robed man with wariness. She still remembers Aria's warning not to talk about some things in mixed company.
<Kotono> Aria shakes her head at Lucy's look, "He's reliable," she says, "He's also here to cast a divination on request."
* Veren looks at Lucy.
<Moore> "Oh, thank you." Moore says with a smile.
<Veren > "Should I give the book to her?"
* Lucy sighs. "Miss Aria, first you should listen to our account. Then, and only then, should you even consider accepting anything from Veren."
<Moore> "I'm going to guess Rocky passed the account along?" Moore inquires.
<Kotono> "First of all, tell him the divination," Aria says, "He'll go cast that and then you can inform me."
<Lucy> "It is two-fold," Lucy responds. "First, we wish to know whether Mister Pepo is dead. If the result is inconclusive, we want to ask whether Mister Pepo as we knew him is alive elsewhere."
<Kotono> The man nods silently and leaves the room. Once that's done, " So what happened?" Aria asks.
<Lucy> "I believe I should start?" Lucy asks, glancing over at the others.
* Veren inclines his head to Lucy.
<Veren > "Please."
<Moore> "Sure, we can fill in the differences between each of our... scenarios." Moore says with a nod.
<Lucy> "Mister Pepo and myself decided that we could not ignore the state of the world as we saw it. With the Light holding things that abduct people and replace them with copies, and reality not being as it seems-- one might find a Light Mage making sense under the circumstances, which is a troubling thing. Before we left the ship, however, we discussed our plans and tried a clairvoyance using a magical
<Lucy> beacon that we darkened as much as possible with means magical and mundane." She frowns. "I cannot say whether we got someone's attention -- at a mere sixty feet below the surface! -- or if they were already on the way to deal with us. But those ghostly things came, wielding chains, and broke the ship in half before trying to drag us back." She looks apologetic. "The Light seared my eyes, so I
<Lucy> cannot say how the rest of it went."
<Moore> Moore picks up after Lucy. "Well, after the ship... snapped, Veren and I went onto the ship. We got Kamhoff, Jetina and the others off and onto the shore. There was an explosion from the Light that had some powerful magic in it. After that was when I think we all awoke in that place. I... think it would be best for us to come up with a name for it, so it's easy to refer to. I would suggest
<Moore> Purgatory, or Gateway, because that is what it seemed to be."
<Veren > "I awoke in a cave. The same for all of you?"
<Moore> "Yes. It appeared to be made of... limestone, I believe, but it was artificial. There's no way a cave like that could have existed normally." Moore says.
* Veren nods.
<Lucy> "I had a roommate. He talked about ending up there after asking the Light to come and get him. But he was also begging to die, in his own unique way, so we didn't talk for long."
<Moore> "Hm, I never met anyone else when I was there." Moore says. "I found a lake with a waterfall... but it wasn't really a waterfall, just a giant hole in the ceiling where water was coming from."
<Veren > "I woke alone. There was a passage I didn't explore, but went through an underground waterfall and river. When I surfaced, I found the kneeling corpse of Bolethon with a slit throat. Further down the passage was Pepo's body. Then a room with moving pillars and ceiling where I found Macaron. He got hurt when we moved through the room. Past that, a room with spikes and the book."
<Lucy> "Jetina soon found me and then we explored in earnest. There was no water that I saw, or any corpses. Unless you mean this room that was filled with my lifeless clones, except Jetina insists they were of her. And our perceptions were clearly affected, I tested as much."
<Kotono> "These tales are curious," Aria finally speaks up, "Truly curious."
<Moore> "Ah... that's right, I found a room of copies of me behind a door." Moore nods to Lucy.
<Veren > "Hmm... I came across no copies."
<Veren > "Perhaps down the passage I didn't explore?"
<Moore> Moore nods. "There was one I didn't explore either."
<Moore> "But... did you all return here after picking that book up?" Moore asks, looking to Lucy and Veren.
<Veren > "Not immediately. I was returning to the river with Macaron. When I read the book, I felt madness, but it left me with the knowledge that Pepo was returned home."
* Lucy tilts her head. "There was a passage which ended in blackness. As if nothing else existed. I think it pained Jetina to look at it?"
<Moore> "I didn't see anything like that either. Maybe..." Moore considers for a moment. "If Mister Pepo is the only one of us who 'went home,' then perhaps he went that way?"
<Moore> Moore blinks and reaches up to rub at his head, wobbling a bit in mid-air. He goes back over to his bed to sit down. "Ugh... What in the world...?"
<Lucy> "Perhaps. It seems that we all found this book under dangerous circumstances, and managed to resist it to a degree. But it was-- it told me to stop looking into the Light and it just felt wrong. Reality broke soon after, and I woke up here with Jetina."
* Veren watches Moore.
<Veren > "I felt that madness as well, but it didn't speak to me as such."
<Moore> Moore blinks once, then again. "Stop looking... isn't that what Bolethon said too?" Moore asks.
* Lucy scoffs. "As if I could! Mister Pepo received a warning from the city's diviners that something would be coming for him from below, regardless of whether he was on land or out at sea! Who could possibly ignore this terrible thing right below us?"
* Veren nods.
<Moore> Moore winces once and puts a hand up to his nose. He closes his eyes once tightly, then opens them again. He casts a quick Detect Magic on himself to see if anything at all is going on magically around him.
<Veren > "I am displeased as well. I believe we should find a way to strike at the light."
* Lucy follows suit, looking at Moore curiously.
<Veren > "Moore, what is wrong?"
<Moore> "I felt light-headed a moment ago... and now a nosebleed is coming." He responds. "I don't know what's going on..."
<Kotono> Moore doesn't detect any unusual magic.
<Kotono> Jetina rises at that, "Let me cast a healing spell on you," she says, "That should help."
<Veren > "Poison, perhaps?"
<Kotono> "It could be normal trauma," Jetina remarks as she comes over, healing Moore. "Stress or any sort of injury can cause it." OOC: CLW, enough top you off.
<Moore> "I suppose it's possible it's like what we contracted from that undead forest..." Moore says quietly.
* Veren nods.
* Lucy frowns. "Miss Aria, one more thing. As it was Mister Pepo's story to tell, I did not share it before. This all started after Mister Pepo decided to take measures against the threat Hillmar's diviners alerted him to, and ended up being defeated and ensnared by a ghostly double of his wielding chains, which came from the Light. It replaced him with a copy that had no memory of the events,
* Lucy but which shattered once a Light Mage told him he was a fake. That is why having one of them here is quite important."
<Kotono> A slight nod comes, "I'll keep that in mind," she says, neutrally.
<Veren > "I also have one of the books."
<Moore> "G...Gah...!" *Moore reaches up and holds a hand over his left eye. "...Gah... what in the..." Moore stammers out. "...I... I think something must be...." He takes a shuddering breath. "...I feel...ugh... ...Something is... ..." He takes another labored breath. "...ugh, ow..."
* Veren moves to inspect Moore, trying to see if he can spot anything wrong.
* Lucy quietly backs away from Moore, in the meantime.
<Kotono> Jetina frowns, "Hold," she puts a hand on Moore's head, casting again. This time the pain just stops cold, ceasing when her spell works.
<Moore> "It doesn't make sense... If it's... something from that place, then all of us..." Moore mumbles to himself.
<Moore> Moore takes a slow breath. "...Thank you, but there's still... this isn't normal."
<Lucy> "You did wake up first," Lucy notes dejectedly.
<Moore> Moore quietly asks mostly himself, but it's loud enough for the others to hear. "Didn't you say something about darkness that hurt to look at? I wonder..."
<Lucy> "Oh, it didn't hurt me. Just Jetina. I figured it was a mortal thing."
<Moore> "Except, we're not there anymore." Moore takes another breath. "Well, hopefully nothing else happens. Thank you." He nods to Jetina.
<Veren > "Could we have brought something back? I mean, the book came with me, why not something else?"
<Lucy> "It can't be invisible or magical, so-- did you drink or eat anything while there?"
<Moore> Moore considers for a moment, then shakes his head. "No."
<Moore> "Maybe we can ask for another divination if this continues." He says quietly. "I'm sorry to be a burden."
Session Close: Wed Feb 18 14:42:28 2015