Onward with war

[Anastasia]

Okay. First of all, this is worth 63 for your total, Moore. Everyone can make a K:A and Spellcraft check here.

[Nephrite]

For reference, everyone gets +8 morale to skill checks and +5 untyped to skill checks in addition to whatever they normally can do for themselves.

[Corwin]

Taking 10 for K:A 130 with the Moore bonuses and the usual buffs.

19:27 <CC> roll 1d20+117 spellcraft
19:27 <Penuche> CC invokes Penuche's magic: < 134 > [d20=17]

[Ebiris]

[17:23] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+46+64 (+15 insight, +8 morale, +16 luck, +20 competence, +5 untyped) super-buffed arcana
[17:23] <Penuche> Ebiris invokes Penuche's magic: < 128 > [d20=18]

[17:27] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+46+64 (+15 insight, +8 morale, +16 luck, +20 competence, +5 untyped) super-buffed spellcraft
[17:27] <Penuche> Ebiris invokes Penuche's magic: < 130 > [d20=20]

[Nephrite]

Take 10 for 116 on K:A, and 101 on Spellcraft.

[Anastasia]

It's progress, more of it revealed. It takes some time studying, Seira's sheer skill, Moore's aid and finally Alicia's grasp of magic, but you manage to puzzle an important fact out - it's a ritual that will open a portal somewhere. Where you cannot say, but what runes and patterns you have suggest nothing which is in Creation. Simply, it should not work and yet seems solid, working towards something outside of orthodox magic.

You also get a strong suspicion that any of you could learn a great deal about portals and teleportation if this were complete. The work is sublime.

Antenora politely watches, but after a few minutes shakes her head and sits back.

Amaryl is more persistent, but mostly keeps quiet. When it's at last done, "So..." she says, "Is this somewhere in Creation we don't know, or is it outside of Creation altogether?"

[Corwin]

"Both works. Being from the Beyond makes great sense, but then again I'm intending to ask all those present of taking a trip to a place within Creation that was hidden from everyone until just now."

[Ebiris]

"I'd wager Outside," Alicia says. Or perhaps to another Creation entirely... she has been wondering a great deal lately if this was the first one made by the Incarnations after all.

[Nephrite]

"If I were to hazard a guess, it's wherever those who bear 21 end up." Moore says. "I know it's not really a stretch to say this is somehow related to Sylvie in some fashion. I imagine it's something the Incarnations set up for... some reason." He says, then glances over to Seira.

[Anastasia]

"Either way, Sylvie may well be involved," Amaryl agrees, "And 21." She frowns, "Cursed thing," she murmurs, more to herself.

[Corwin]

"It's okay, you stop feeling the effects pretty soon," Seira tells Amaryl. "So! I have another reason for inviting you over, Moore. Remember the whole empowerment business that serves as Celestia's attempt to stop Shar? We're also in that group."

[Nephrite]

Moore blinks.

"Ah, I see. I suppose I must've been a bit too eager the last time we met to discuss it." A smile and a nod follow. "Do you mean... both of you, or... It's my understanding there are a total of five groups, including my own, so do you mean the powers of Sylica and The Cauldron make up two others?" He asks.

[Corwin]

"Yes. We are aware of another, although request that at this point you not initiate contact. I'm willing to pass your information along if they ever look for it, but I don't want to draw them into the larger conflict until they are ready for it. As for the fifth... well, we should see soon enough. You see, I've found Io and he invited us over for test to prove our mettle. Are you in? You'll get to bring a plus one, same as Alicia and I." Her gaze goes over Amaryl and Antenora to indicate their inclusion in the trip.

[Anastasia]

Antenora meets that with a nod, while Amaryl says, "I have no doubt it will be a trial of some kind."

[Ebiris]

Alicia only nods. "Of course we've been fighting Shar on our own terms for a lot longer than this. Being chosen whether by Celestia or Io isn't the be all and end all," she says.