[Day/ Time: Unknown.] [Music: Not f'ed up redneck hobo stuff.] [Having been split up, you both made your ways through respective and respectable caverns (those were some caverns) where you wound up in a pleasant valley full of plantlife and stone pillars and stuff.] [Along the way you spotted each other and met up.] [But no Herman. Session Start!] * Ashley has his hands in his pockets, and is standing around, apparently enjoying the scenery. * Alys, whose hair is extremely windblown by this point, is hugging Ten and whining at Lukas. "Can I hold her a bit longer? Please? I've been taking really good care of her." * Lukas looks at Alys suspiciously. She's so pretty and nice and I took her over to the book when she wanted to read it and I like her. * Togo took a moment while the groups were getting back together and swapping stories to pull a stretcher out of his coat, attached wheels to one end of it, and has the Covenant girl on said stretcher behind him. (Who brought the sheep?) (Togo.) * Griff_Khalil steps out into the valley. "She has been, at that." He bows to the rest of them, dipping his wings. "Good to see you all again." ( In case we got hungry. ) So. Where did Herman pop off to? * Togo also looks pretty well worked over, though he definitely is moving around better than he was earlier. He is a wizard. Does he really need an explanation? Not especially, but it'd have been nice. * Lukas shakes his head and steps towards Alys. "Sorry, but she's a bit on the unique side." * Ten looks up at Alys. "Thank. You. For. Carrying. Me." * Griff_Khalil eyes Lukas. "You are quite a bit over protective of her at times, you realize..." * Alys sighs and holds Ten out for Lukas. "My pleasure." * Lukas looks to Khalil, then chuckles, shaking his head as he takes Ten back. "Well, she certainly convinced you all." ( I assume we can see the tower in the distance, Brett? ) * Griff_Khalil keeps watching Lukas without comment. ( Yes, Togo ) * Ten sits on Lukas's arm now and looks pretty. * Lukas says, with a faint smirk, "Let's just say I've spent enough time fixing her when she gets hurt to want to keep that from happening." And ask Togo how happy she is about that. If I was a wizard trapped in an alternate dimension... I'd probably be in that tower over there. *points at tower* Wizards like towers. Oh, almost forgot! * Alys steps toward Togo and salutes, badly. "We did actual work! We found Rachel and talked to her." Find out anything useful, or was it mutual bullshitting? * Griff_Khalil keeps glancing at Lukas for a while, then turns towards Alys. "Yes, but do you have to use the term "actual work"? * Alys ignores Khalil. "Um, she wanted these books on apocalypses, but she only found the first one and the second was missing. It played movies on the wall." * Lukas blinks. "... well, that is certainly familiar." * Griff_Khalil then looks at the tower in the distance. "But if you were brought to this place with a group, I doubt you would be separated from them willingly. Do you wish for me to scout the tower? I could try." Hmm... tryin' to figure out how to do it from how was once tried? To see where people went wrong? Any hint of that? It is uncertain. * Togo turns to Khalil. "Nah. As a rule, I prefer not to split up when trapped in alternate dimensions." We found the second one, Alys. Rather interesting, really. Did you read the ending? * Griff_Khalil looks straight at Togo. "With all due respect, to fail to use the resources available to you..." Just because, Rachel said we couldn't do anything until the end, but she could have been all metaphorical and completely over my head. That happens more often then you would think. * Lukas pats Ten on the head and then glances to Alys, before looking to Khalil and Togo's argument. "You know, if we started walking, we wouldn't have to split up." ( And the alternate dimension kills the GM. ) Noted. But in unknown terrain, I'd rather be cautious. And Volt's right. *starts walking, pulling the rolling stretcher behind him* * Ashley follows the people, looking around idly. * Griff_Khalil hmmphs and starts walking, arms folded across his chest and him muttering in Arabic. * Alys walks along, her hands fidgety now that she has nothing to carry. * Lukas walks along, not fidgety! Then again, he's not fidgety in general, so. * Ten rides on Lukas. [You walk and walk. Exciting! And you come to the edge of the lake. When you approach, a bridge rises out of the water. Woo.] Hey. Kick. Easier than gate opening. * Ashley looks at it. "Alakazam, as it were." Army Corps of Engineers would kill to know howta do that. * Ashley snorts. "Unless there is a Magician's Brigade, they are likely to go unfulfilled." * Ashley crosses over the bridge! * Alys sticks her hands in her pockets and follows. * Lukas follows too and chuckles slightly to himself. * Togo follows. "Fortunately, they literally don't know what they're missing." * Griff_Khalil hovers a bit over the bridge, following along on his wings. [You enter the tower! It's a circular structure. Inside, the room has numerous pictures on the walls, a table with what looks like chemistry items, a locked box, a big book, what looks like elevator doors, and... ] [Against the wall is an old man, sleeping in a chair. He's got a twisty cane and a long white beard and mustache. He's wearing blue robes and a floppy pointed blue hat.] * Griff_Khalil points to the old man, speaking a little quieter than normal. "Wizard." He then points up at the stones. "Tower. It seems as if you were correct." * Lukas mutters, "Oh Jesus." Oh my gods. [He's snoring away.] ... who in the hell let him out of the store dressed like that? * Alys blinks. "Well, yeah. Rachel said Merlin was in here." God, the cut's abysmal, and the color's SO last year. Is that ALL you think about, Ashley? You're lucky it's not... uh, a couple hundred years ago? Of course not. His haircut is also mediocre. * Alys starts walking around and looking at the pictures. [Actually, his outfit doesn't look that much different from Sarah Fallsworth's, except his doesn't have a low-front.] And yours is a farce. What is your point? (And it isn't full of boobies... I hope.) (MANBOOBS) * Lukas walks over to the locked box. [Alys sees a picture of the man, captioned. "Merlin."] ( Be nice to the guy. ) (No, no! Piss off the most powerful wizard of all time.) * Ashley sticks his tongue out at Khalil. "Just because I escape from the cutthroats at the salon is no reason to be mean." Gosh. Man doesn't take much effort naming his pictures, does he? ( Or do that. I'm sure that'll go well. :P ) [The one next to that is a man who looks Asian. He's wearing yellow robes with a Yin-Yang symbol. His caption reads "Seimei"] ( And after him, Zhuge Liang. XD ) Hey guys, who's Seimei? Is he famous too? (Yeah, I was waiting for Kongming to show.) * Lukas touches the box carefully. [The box does nothing!] * Griff_Khalil snickers from the back of the throat, ruffling his neck feathers. "Indeed." He watches Lukas. * Togo points to Merlin, and looks back at the others, whispering. "Should we wake him up?" (To satisfy Ten's curiosity, how, exactly, is the box locked?) [Next to the portrait of the Asian guy is one of a man with a thick bushy beard. His caption reads, "Rasputin"] * Alys glances at Togo before looking at the picture again. "It'd be polite. And less like trespassing, probably." Oh, this one I've heard of! I think. We did not wish to come here. If anything, this environment is the one trespassing itself upon us. * Togo nods, lets the stretcher down onto the floor, goes over to the door they came through, and knocks. [What door?] [The box is locked with a padlock.] [There's another bushy-haired man next to Rasputin, but this one looks Asian. The caption: Zhang Jiao.] * Ashley is perusing about the place. I bet Pipe Guy would know who these people are. Oh, good idea! * Alys takes out a marker and starts writing down the names on her arm. [Togo and Ashley notice that the way they came in is rather not there now.] * Ashley frowns. "... bugger." * Togo frowns as he fails to find a door, and goes over about ten feet from Merlin and clears his throat loudly. ( Where's the Togo and Ashley romance? *runs* ) (It was Lukas and Ashley.) ( I thought it was Ashley/Ashley. ) (<3) * Lukas turns around from the box and says, "Oh, for fuck's sake. Just wake him up!" (Hey, OLD DUDES!) (/2 pts) [Alys sees, meanwhile, a picture of a pretty young woman, "Circe"] (Bill and Ted want you to take a dirtnap.) (Excellent!) * Togo looks back. "Trying not to startle the wizard." He frowns, moves closer, and tries to gently shake Merlin awake by the shoulder. Volt, as crudely as he put it, is correct. [The old man stirs, and his eyes open slowly. "Ow." He brings a shaking hand up to his eyes and rubs at them before letting out a long yawn. "What the fuck."] (Wrong.) * Alys snickers and writes another name on her arm. * Griff_Khalil then turns towards the old man and blinks. Merlin has a dirty mouth. My, quite a spark left in him. [Alys sees, then, a gaunt balding man in a suit. Caption: "Alister Crowley".] * Lukas grins. "Not feelin' so crude now." I... suppose not. [He shakes his head slowly, letting out a grunt, and then turns to see whoever shook him. "Togo?"] ... you know my name? [As Alys continues down the portraits, she also sees, "Plato", "Abraham Abulafia", "Albertus Magnus," "David Copperfield," and one titled "Dad"] * Lukas blinks. "... was Merlin the all-knowing sort?" ["Yeah." There's a pause. "'Course I know your name." The man gets to his feet, then grunts. "Jesus, that hurts. Feels like-" He stops, looking down.] Excuse me. Pardon the interruption, but what, exactly, is it that is hurting? * Alys scribbles all the names down and ends up having to lift up her shirt a bit and write on her stomach. * Togo pauses. "Well, I suppose I should be flattered..." [One picture has a multitude of men and women in it. The caption reads: "The Golden Dawn"] [The old man doesn't seem to exactly hear Khalil as he says, "Why... the hell... am I in a blue robe?" And then he brings a hand to his face, moving it a little so he can see it. "And old. I'm old."] How are we supposed to know? * Ashley blinks at that one. "Golden Dawn, eh?" I have the feeling that this may not exactly be Merlin as we think. * Alys looks up at the old man and blinks. "You're not... um. Are you?" * Griff_Khalil walks up to the blue robed figure and looks him over closer. ["It'd be awfully fucking nice, Volt." He looks at Alys, wobbling before putting a hand on his chair to steady himself. "I'm not what?"] * Griff_Khalil backs up a little. "Where is your pipe? Did you lose it?" ... what? Pipe Guy! Excellent! Who are... Merlin, Seimei, Rasputin, Zhang Jiao, Circe, Alister Crowley, Abraham Abulafia, Albertus Magnus, David Copperfield, Dad, and the Golden Dawn? Herman? Geez. Well. A rather unpleasant surprise. * Togo holds up a mirror. "We're in an alternate dimension. You're apparently Merlin." * Lukas clutches his head. "Oh, Christ." * Herman looks at the mirror. "Fucking. Great." He reaches up to touch the beard. Why the hell did Merlin have to live to be so damn old? Great. * Lukas looks frustrated. If you're Merlin, shouldn't you be able to zap yourself back to not- Merlin? If Merlin could choose not to be old, do you truly think he would continue to be? He knew how to change shape and age. How'd you think Arthur was born? * Herman looks around, trying to find a staff or something. [Herman finds one! He's holding it.] That's okay. You can tell me later. The real question is, are you now super-powerful? * Herman blinks at the staff. Okay. And there's a locked box over there. Worth checking. * Lukas snickers to himself. I never really considered it, to be quite honest * Herman starts walking around the room. He uses the staff to support himself as he does so and glances over the box and book, in particular. He looks, yes, like an old wizard. Probably because he is one. * Togo looks around. "And... other stuff. Which we should probably look at." If by 'super powerful' you mean 'fucking old', then yeah. Wonder if he has some magic painkillers around here. * Lukas turns back to the box. "Well, since we're not going to get nicked for thieving, excuse me while I open it?" Maybe Togo can get some painkillers out of his coat of awesomeness? They say that true wisdom comes with age. Although I would presume that coming there without the journey somewhat defeats the purpose. * Herman shakes his head. "Better not, Volt." Well, since you're doddering and old, and we're stuck in this tower, how about we all take up macramé? Or possibly figure a way to get out of this alternate dimension? I hear wishing is in vogue this season. * Herman hobbles over to the elevator and looks for a way to make it go up. Or maybe him approaching it will make it go up. "Better open that box with a key. That thing's probably trapped with something that'll make what happened to me look like the best thing ever." Painkillers I've got lots of. Do you like aspirin, ibuprofen, Tylenol, naproxin, Kirby's Pain-B-Gon, or Motrin? Haven't tried taking us straight to my apartment yet, but I ain't going back like this. I need a spellbook. 2d8 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Herman (2d8) and gets a natural 9 for a result of 9. * Lukas looks around idly. "Sure. Key." Yes. Magic curse most likely. [Nothing happens as Herman approaches the elevator.] * Herman frowns a little, and he tries a few phrases in Anglo-Saxon. I also have Official Grim Badass-brand painkillers, for when your body hurts almost as much as your tortured soul. [Nothing continues to happen.] 2d8+1 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Herman (2d8+1) and gets a natural 11 for a result of 12. [The book falls off the table.] * Herman reaches out and feels over the door, looking at it for- He turns when the book falls off. * Herman shuffles back to the book, stooping to pick it up. He keeps a strong grip on his staff. Does everything have to have a tortured soul? [Herman gets the book!] * Lukas looks to Togo for a second before continuing to idly look for the key. * Herman sighs and sets it down, looks at whatever page it was flipped to (if it was), and if not, he quickly skims it. Possibly out of frustration. * Ashley keeps looking at the pictures, seemingly lost in thought. * Alys looks at the Dad picture. "So, is this your dad, or Merlin's?" Or maybe someone named Dad. But who would name their kid Dad? If I ever have kids, they're getting cool names. [As Herman reads, the book speaks! "If you are reading this, you are inside my novel. I'm going to presume you are a magician, as no man could find his way here without magical assistance."] * Ashley looks away from the picture of Rasputin. "Good lord." I would highly doubt that. * Herman blinks. He listens to the book and keeps reading. "Yeah, guess you could say that." ["As I write, it is currently 1997 and I am dying of cancer. I don't have a lot of time to say everything I need to, so I'll cut to an explanation. I am Harry Blackstone Jr., currently hailed as the most powerful magician of our time, though whether that is true or not, who's to say? My father had a similar title, which he achieved after defeating Aleister Crowley in a duel. It is Crowley I must talk about.] Here's where he wants a donation to the Make A Wish Foundation. * Herman flips the page and keeps reading. Or the book keeps talking to him. Or both. ["Crowley was amongst the most powerful, evil magicians in history. But he was very able. He confided information to my father upon his defeat, information which was quite shocking when I learned it, but which I believe to be true.] ["You may have heard of the Mayan civilization? Inhabiting the Mayan peninsula of Central America, they were thought to have been an extremely advanced civilization for their time. Amongst many of the things they did were precognitions. Precognitions which were dangerously accurate. Histories and scientists argue on different theories of how they were able to be so accurate to this day."] ["Of course, we of the magic world are able to broaden our horizons. We presume they used sorcery, because it was sorcery that allowed Crowley to find what he did in the first place.] * Herman frowns a little and keeps reading. * Lukas rolls his eyes. "Of course. Everyone uses magic." Why not? It's useful, it's shiny. I want magic. ["But Crowley discovered something else: The Mayans were not human. The human visages they used were probably Incans or other indiginous peoples, which they sacrificed quite commonly, but that's not important."] * Herman says, distractedly, "It's one of the Blackstones, and you're in a wizard's tower. Not a big surprise." * Togo just listens, because his knowledge of magic is notsogreat. ["What is important is this: The Mayans predicted an apocalypse multiple times: In 2022, 2042 and 2062 among others. The details are vague, but obviously it appears that mankind survives."] One moment. There is a magic world? I am sensing a pattern with the years. ["However, 2062 is a special case. I can't explain too well because this is all second hand information, given to me by my father decades ago."] ... good, solid pattern. ["But from what I can tell, there's going to be more than one incident in that year. Furthermore.... If I'm correct in this guess... Well, if you know anything about the Mayans, you know that their civilization vanished without a trace. But my information suggests that this is the year they will return."] (neat trick, predicting stuff beyond the end date of the Mayan calendar of Dec 21, 2012, which is day 0.0.0.0.0, the end of the Fifth World we live in and the start of the Sixth World) (Ssh. Don't get your logic in his fantasy.) Oh, bloody fantastic. Feathers and human blood will be back in style. * Griff_Khalil looks over pointedly at Ashley at the "feathers" comment. You mean it's not already? * Herman flips the page. Have you seen the headdresses those blokes wore? How much is one of those going to cost, I ask you? * Lukas glances to Ashley, then says, "Can't you just poof one up?" ["The Mayans are not a race friendly towards humans. You may have seen the grey skinned humanoids on the way here. When I created these creatures for my novel, I created them much like I believe the Mayans to be. Of course, these are far more primitive and not portrayed quite accurately... but then, I have no idea what the true Mayans are like. Only that if they return, it will be a bloodbath."] (This is kind of like Persona 2: IS, except much less Nazis.) That's totally beside the point. Not really. God, does anyone see that key? * Alys helps to look for the key. * Herman reads and mutters, "Sure, gray-skinned aliens. Why's everyone else themselves and I'm a wizard past his physical prime?" ["If not for my illness, maybe I could stop them. I tried to contact Copperfield, but he's far too much a celebrity now, and I'm not certain he'd even believe this story. So I'm writing it here, in a book within a book, in the hopes that someone will fiind it before it's too late."] Because you are the wizard. I would maybe take your place if it got me magic powers and a staff. But only maybe. I think you'd just get the staff. * Lukas smirks. You would take the place of anyone if it made you do anything interesting. Not enough. Sorry. * Alys grins at Khalil. "Extremely possible!" * Lukas says, as he looks, "I somehow doubt she'd go for Ten replacing." But then I'd be pretty and awesome and everyone would love me. You do not understand Alys very well, do you? ["By now you'll be noticing that your spells to return to your own world aren't working. You needn't worry, as I've installed a way out through the locked box you see there. To open it, just tap the lock and say 'Abracadabra', then enter through the hat you find inside.] Although, I do not believe anyone can understand her very well. No offenses meant. None taken. * Lukas smirks. "I can't carry you around as easily, though... oh, for chrissakes." * Ashley rolls his eyes. "He must be joking. Please tell me he's joking. Nobody could possibly be this *cliche*." * Lukas taps the damn lock. "Abracadabra." * Herman frowns a little. "Yeah, and with my luck, I'll *still* be stuck as Merlin." He keeps looking to see if there's anything else. ["It should work properly, but if it doesn't, check the four magical towers surrounding this valley. And if you don't believe Crowley's story, for God's sake, find someone who does!"] [There it ends.] Wait, did it just say we should exit through a hat? The other lock was Abracadabra'd too. * Togo processes all that. "... I'm gonna need more guns." [The box opens, revealing a black top hat with a red line around the rim.] * Herman looks at Togo like he's crazy. Because he is. * Lukas picks up the hat with one hand and says, "Well, Ashley, looks like I get a point." [No sooner do you open it, then it starts sucking everyone inside. Vroom!] * Herman is... sucked inside. (Togo secretly wishes he were Khalil just so he could hold a third gun with his tail.) ( Suck! Suck! SUCK! ) Oh, congratulations, you- * Ashley is sucked in! * Ten goes in the hat! * Lukas falls into too! * Togo gets pulled into the hat. [You find yourself floating in a red space, falling towards... something.] * Alys gets sucked into a hat! ( Gimme awareness checks ) 2d8 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Herman (2d8) and gets a natural 9 for a result of 9. 2d8 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Ten (2d8) and gets a natural 12 for a result of 12. 2d8 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Alys (2d8) and gets a natural 15 for a result of 15. 2d8 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Ashley (2d8) and gets a natural 10 for a result of 10. 2d8-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Lukas (2d8-2) and gets a natural 7 for a result of 5. 2d8-6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Griff_Khalil (2d8-6) and gets a natural 9 for a result of 3. [Everyone who made it notices Rachel, about 40 feet away. She's got a weird-shaped red pyramid tucked under an arm.] 2d8-6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Togo (2d8-6) and gets a natural 10 for a result of 4. (Is naked and hurt lady with us?) (And am I still old? ;P) ( yes and yes. ) * Lukas looks up to the Rachel. "Oh, hoo-ray." * Alys waves at Rachel. "Hi again!" Bloody wonderful. Today could get worse, but it would involve spiders. * Herman doesn't notice, probably because he's still old. "Aw, fuck. Hope this wears off by the time we're dropped home." He takes off his hat and runs his hand over his head, trying to find out if there's hair there. [Rachel returns Lukas's feelings. "Dammit. I only got one. Didn't expect you to drag us out of there so quick. Bastards."] * Herman looks over at Rachel. "Oh, hey." Are you gonna summon the Ancient Egyptians? Maybe they're aliens, too. * Togo frowns, glancing back at the stretcher. "Don't suppose pulling out a gun and asking what that pyramid thing is for would do any good?" ... Damn, now I'm sounding like Alys. I'm infecting people! That's not a good thing. [Rachel scowls. "It's a magical enhancer. Harry Blackstone was an expert at creating them. I'm assuming you at least know who Harry Blackstone is?"] * Herman grins. "Yeah, lady. You sure you can take that back into reality?" It may improve our image of you if you ceased continually treating us with scorn at first opportunity. Or you might go starkers. That'd do wonders. [Rachel grins back. "I did my homework before coming here. Of course I can. And since I'm holding it, I won't be affected like you upon our return."] Affected? * Herman grumbles. "Shoulda hit that spriggan a couple more times." 2d8-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Ten (2d8-3) and gets a natural 11 for a result of 8. * Lukas thumbs back at the body. "Might want to think about that one. I mean, you seem to be into sacrificing your people at the first sign of your sucking, but at least that one's alive." [Rachel grins triumphantly. "Who knows what will happen? Certainly, s-" and then she stops. "... One of them survived?" Meanwhile, a hexagonal shape flickers halfway between her and you.] * Herman rolls his eyes. "Yeah. Gotta wonder why they're all so damn loyal to you if you treat 'em like that, anyway." Yeah. We saved her before they could do more than twist her arms and legs into pretzels. * Lukas grimaces. "And we sorta missed the other as she was turned into screaming goop." Please, don't remind me. Wow, I missed a lot. I am so glad I didn't end up with you guys. Helluva rescue if I do say so myself. *frowns* Yeah, couldn't get to the other one. Nasty way to go. [Rachel looks down, for a second. Then looks back fiercely. "So what? Her memory's already been erased. She's useless to us now."] * Griff_Khalil glances at Rachel. "And who erased her memory in the first place?" [You rapidly approach a bright light. Rachel looks down at it. "Hmph. Do what you want with her. That is, if your souls aren't torn asunder."] You have a very nice rack, but you are decidedly not a nice person. You mean she's fucking nuts. * Herman looks down at the light. "This'll be fun." Subjective judgement. What!? I don't want to be sundered! It sounds painful! * Togo waves. "We'll see you soon. I'll bring the guns." [Rachel keeps looking down. "I don't care what you think. You won't be a problem soon anyhow."] * Lukas sighs, then smirks. "Yeah, and neither will your friend. Didn't even have to waste your time wiping her mind." [You impact with the light. Boom! It, um, hurts a lot. Feels like you're being... well, torn asunder.] [And you all die! Game over!] (I cast magic missile at the light.) [Wait, that's not what happens.] [Alys wakes up in a nice hotel room. She gets to live 'cause she's the female character of the crew.] ( Yay Alys! :D ) (Speaking for the male contingent... "Boo.") (I have boobies! They're just teeny and made of plastic!) (Whee!) (She awakes in a hotel room next to a naked Ashley!) (... ew.) (Wait, not ew to that. SCORE) (Alys is getting all the luck!) [It's a nice hotel room, with free TV and all that stuff. She's lying in a bed, wearing a white nightgown.] (Ashley'd hit it.) (The TV, I meant. And Alys too.) [It's a two-bed room, actually. There's another person lying in the other bed, covers pulled up.] ( It's AsHerTogTenkas! ) ( O_O ) (.... you're done.) ( Transporter malfunction! ) (4 wings and a tail! We're AWESOME!) (Snerk.) (Herman has spiky hair. We'd turn into Chomeix2+Rei.) ( And then the world would IMPLODE. ) (I am so not Chomei dammit) (You are too totally lame.) [It appears to be daytime outside, albeit evening.] * Alys looks around slowly. "What. The. Ooh, telly!" She gets out of bed and goes to the television to start channel flipping. [The hotel news page turns on. It plays piano music, and lists the date/time as October 7th, 5:00 p.m.] [The news also stirs the person in the other bed.] [And, Alys notices her voice seems to have changed.] Oh man, my brother's going to kill me! (Well, at least she/we didn't disappear too long.) * Alys frowns. "Ashley? Is that you? Did you put an illusion on me or something?" She goes over to the other bed and yanks the blanket off. (You're assuming the year is right.) (So true.) [Under the bed is a cute red-haired girl in equally red pajamas.] ( It's Ada! ) (Please, god no.) * Alys blinks. "Um. Who're you?" [The girl blinks twice and then starts to choke and gasp for breath.] * Alys panics slightly. "Hey, are you okay!?" She looks around for an inhaler or anything that could help. "Do you have asthma? Medicine? Anything!?" [The girl waves off Alys and seems to get it under control. "In, then out. Kay, this breathing thing's, like, harder than I thought it'd be."] (Alys, meet Alys.) Right. Breathing is good for you! Don't forget that! [The girl looks up at Alys. "Ack! Who're you? And, uhm, could you kinda, like, forget I just said that?"] ( ...Alys, you are cordially invited to join the #besm Club Of Awesome. Currently Presiding, Enzo Brennan. -_^ ) (Who else is in this club of yours?) My name's Alys. And I'm not sure I can. I have trouble forgetting things that I actually need to forget, and then I forget everything else, and then... right, so who're you? ( Nasira, Official Kicker of People's Butts. ) (I wanna be Vice Prez!) ( You are hereby appointed the President of Vice! ) (Excellent! I shall reign with terror and cookies.) ( Mmm, terrible cookies. ) [The girl stares at Alys untill she starts to choke from forgetting to breath again. "This is so totaly not fair! I was gonna go and surprise all of you and stuff! This isn't half as fun!"] Breathing! This is like a blonde joke I heard once, except more scary and less funny. Surprise all of who? Do you know where my friends are? [She continues. "And Lukas was totaly compleatly ULTIMATLY wrong about people not swapping bodies! I'm so gonna make him take the points back for that one!"] (Go Ten.) (>_<) (That's okay. I'm still way in the lead.) * Alys tilts her head. "Who's Lukas? Don't forget to breathe." [The girl blinks at Alys. "But you, like, said you're Alys! She... oh, yeah, he only told you that stupid nick of his. Volt."] (Bet Alys is Sarah. She was muttering about magical powers and all.) * Alys brightens up. "Volt! I know him. Is Ashley around here, 'cause my voice sounds weird. And you still haven't told me your name, which makes this lopsided and unfair." [The girl giggles nervously. "I'm, like, Ten. And this was gonna be so much more awesome if it'd worked out the way I was planning it to."] * Alys stares, then tacklehugs her. "TEN! You're so cute! You're a cute human! This is great!" * Ten gets knocked back onto the bed. "I so am! And uh, like, could you let go a bit?" * Alys lets go and sits next to her, grinning happily. "Sorry! But you can hug me whenever you want. And don't forget to breathe at all times. Do you want a mirror? Let's go find one!" Alys jumps off in search of a bathroom with a mirror. [Alys finds one! Staring back at her through it is a short Asian girl with shoulder-length brown hair and purple eyes.] Mirrors are cool... Ah man, like, none of my clothes are gonna fit any more! And... and! * Ten twists around to see if she still has wings or not. (She turned into an Ueda!) [Ten has no wings.] * Alys calls from the bathroom. "Ten.... do I look, um. Nothing like myself?" My wings! That's totally not fair! They're totally gone! And you looked like some Asian girl with purple eyes and stuff. Right. That's what I thought. I thought the floor seemed kind of closer than before. Right. It's kinda farther away from me if you know what I mean. [Ten is taller than Alys by about a head and a half.] * Ten crawls out of the bed and stands up. * Alys stares at herself some more. "I don't like this nightgown at all. Or my hair." She walks back into the bedroom and looks around for a suitcase or closet with clothes. 2d8 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Ten (2d8) and gets a natural 6 for a result of 6. [Ten's right hand catches fire! Fwoosh! But it doesn't burn her or her shirt.] * Ten screams. "Ahh! Put me out I'm gonna melt again!" * Dreol is now known as Dreamland [Ten's arm goes out.] That, was, like, all bad! [It's kind of awkward, but she's getting an instinctual feeling of how to do it.] * Alys looks up in time to see the flame go out. "Human's don't melt. We kind of just crisp." [Fortunately for you, the smoke detector seems broken.] Aah! That's even worse! I can't just go buy new parts anymore can I? This totaly sucks! Nope. But Pipe Guy can heal some stuff, I think. And blood clots up on its own. And do you see any ID on the nightstand? * Ten looks at the night stand. "I dunno yet!" (There anything there?) [There's a wallet on Ten's. Alys has a purse.] * Ten digs into the purse. "Yeah, there's stuff here!" Anything good? [Ten steals Alys's new stuff!] (She's starting off right. I'm so proud of her.) (Go me! What's in there?) * Alys stops in her noble search for actual clothing and sits on her bed. She sees that the wallet is lonely and sad, so she nicks it and starts looking through it. [Inside Alys's purse is some funky stuff. Japanese good luck charms, a pocket knife, a wallet, a flashlight, some spirit wards...] * Ten pulls the stuff out of the purse and sets it on the bed next to her. "Hey, like, you can use these right?" She holds up the wards. Spirit wards! Thanks! Oh, these are quality. One of these bodies has good taste. * Alys takes the wards and automatically tries to put them in her pocket. Alas, no pocket. She ends up putting them on the bed next to her. * Ten pinches her nightgown. "Like, I don't think it was this one." [Alys flips through it, finding money! Oddly, not just English pounds. There's Japanese yen, too. Also, there's an ID card: It's got the red-head's picture and the name "Liadan McCann". Also in the wallet is a police badge that reads: Interpol: Special Investigations Unit.] * Alys hands the wallet over. "This one's yours. Interpol. I guess this means you've never driven a car before?" I've, like, driven lots of them in videogames! Me too! Okay, we're probably about equal, then. Except for that one time when I drove my dad's car, but I was eight and he took it when he left anyway. He should've let me keep it. Yeah! Lukas never let me drive a real car! He's a meanie. * Ten digs through the purse some more looking for some ID. No one else lets me drive. It's incredibly unfair. You know what? I think it's 'cause we're girls. Nuh, uh. Lukas said it was 'cause I couldn't reach the peddles with my feet even if it totally didn't matter. He's like that with things. [Ten finds a similar ID in the purse, this one with a picture of Alys's present face. The name is: "Xuan Fang Ueda".] (BWAHAHA!!) ( You mean logical? Shut up. ;_;) Psh. I bet you could've if you tried. Or he could've helped. Stilts! I'll make you stilts if we ever get back to our normal bodies. (Welcome to the Ueda family, Alys.) (I'm shorter, but I probably have more powers!) ( As a note: You guys have your skills, but not your powers. ) * Ten pulls out the ID. "Hey, you, like, work for them too! That's cool. And your name is Xuan Fang Ueda! See?" Oh, neat. I get a cool name. Alys Onedyr makes people, you know, want to buy you white rabbits and old editions of Lewis Carroll books. And a pocketwatch, once. * Ten nods. "Uh huh! I bet the watch was cool though!" It was awesome! It stopped working and I haven't had time to get it fixed, though. It's sitting next to Syla in my room. * Ten grins at Alys. "I bet Lukas could fix it! He's awesome with things like that!" Really? Okay! I'll ask him! When I see him! If I recognize him. He could be in a girl's body! * Ten stops breathing again. * Alys looks up quickly. "Ten, breathe!" Ack, sorry. I keep forgetting about that! Okay, do you know what breathing does, exactly? Yeah-huh, it's the process for exchanging oxegen for carbon dioxide in the atmosphier to keep it from building up in the bloodstream! Good! Because I didn't and still don't know. But what I do know is that it keeps you from dying in general, and dead girls are neither cute nor pretty. Just sort of cold and gross and maybe zombified. 2d8-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Togo (2d8-3) and gets a natural 11 for a result of 8. We've gotta find our clothes and stuff. Lukas is, like, waiting for us. * Alys starts looking for clothes again as she asks, "How do you know? Is he in a girl's body?" I dunno yet! 2d8-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Herman (2d8-3) and gets a natural 7 for a result of 4. He says no! Can you hear him? Is your new body psychic? Can you hear what I'm thinking? * Ten stands up and dumps the stuff back into the purse. "Like, here you go!" * Ten shakes her head. "Nuh uh, he's always been able to read what I was thinking." * Alys takes it and continues on her quest. "Thanks!" That's completely neat. I guess he built you like that, right? Ew, dust. [Alys finds clothes! They're relatively plain, although one outfit is weird: It's like a karate gi, but with red, wide-legged pants.] * Ten shakes her head. "Nope! He's rebuilt me a couple of times though if that counts." Found some! * Ten walks over to Alys. "What've we got?" * Alys holds up the gi-thing. "I think I saw someone wearing this in a movie. With wooden swords. The rest is basic stuff, I think." A miko outfit! How cute! I've got one too! Hey, you might be a real one though! That's cool! Spiritual powers! Not Pipe Guy-ish, but still cool. Do you think I should wear it? Where are we, anyway? * Alys gets up and looks out the window. We're in a room! My satellite link's kinda back with my other body so I can't tell you where it is. * Ten picks up one of the boring outfits and holds it away from her. "We've gotta get some new clothes soon. This is just... bleh." I got money in the purse. We should probably find the others first, then we can go shopping. I'm not big on clothes, but I need to do something with my hair. * Ten pulls off her nightdress with a total disregard for modesty and starts to change clothes. "I like that plan!" * Alys is still looking through the window and doesn't see naked Ten. * Ten walks over to Alys. "Kay, I'm gonna go look for Lukas now." [Ten's clothes are relatively normal, yet somehow more fashionable than Alys's.] Oh, let me change too, I'll come with you. Look for a keycard so we can get back in, okay? (Go me!) Maybe it's in my wallet! [They're on the table, actually.] * Alys pulls the blinds or curtains or whatever shut and changes into a white shirt and jeans, they uses the pocketknife to cut a strip of cloth from another shirt and ties it on as a headband. * Ten picks the wallet up as Alys changes clothes and snags the keys while she's at it. Let's go! * Alys grabs her purse and pockets the wards. "Kay." She walks to the door and opens it. "Lead the way, psychic girl!" * Ten goes out the door and looks around. * Alys closes the door and cheerfully follows Ten wherever she decides to go. [You head out into a nice hotel suite. There aretwo other women there: One an attractive, silver-eyed Asian, about thirty years old. The other, a familiar Herman's fiancee.] * Togo waves. "Hi. I'm Togo stuck in a woman's body. Can we skip the confusion and just say who we're supposed to be?" * Ten waves at the women. "Hi! Who were you?" (Togo, at least say WHICH ONE YOU ARE.) [Shortly after, from the room opposite Ten's and Alys's come two more people: One a middle-aged man with huge, bulging muscles, messy black hair and blue eyes. The other, a kid who couldn't be much older than fifteen, with brown hair and purple eyes.] * Alys waves back with her brand new Asian body! "I'm Alys, except the body is Xuan Fang Ueda." [Sarah looks up from the gold pocketwatch she's checking with her free hand and blinks once at everyone walking out. She is, for the record, fully dressed, and her other hand's holding the staff. "Right. I'm Herman. Sorry if any of you were expecting Sarah." She tucks the watch back into her cleavage as if it were the most natural thing in the world.] * Togo is an attractive Japanese girl with silver eyes. "And my name's supposedly Mariah. Except that I'm Togo." (Woman, really, given she looks like she's in her thirties.) ( Okie. ) * Lukas, as the terribly young male asian kid in pajamas, walks out! * Ten is a tall, red-headed, and somewhat well dressed woman. She gives an embaresed giggle. "Hi, this used to be Liadan McCann, but I've claimed it in the name of Ten!" She belatedly raises her right hand. ... Ten? ... that's one hell of a robot, Volt. * Lukas stares... up, at Ten, as he walks over. "Jesus, Ten! You're taller than I am now!" * Ten grins widly. "Yep! This was supposed to go differently though.." Supposed to? * Alys looks at Lukas. "Oh, you look like a sibling! We're so related." * Khalil looks out and glances at the others. He has huge bulging muscles and messy hair. He's also hefting a rather large semi-automatic assault rifle over his shoulder that'll probably make Togo drool. "Well then, this does make things quite easier, does it not?" * Alys grins and hugs Ten loosely. "Isn't she adorable? She is always adorable." Okay, only Khalil'd talk like that. Which means... Well, yeah. I was gonna start showing off anyway, but this whole everybodies in new bodies now puts a huge damper on the awesomeness that is me not being just another AI! * Herman walks over to the last door and bangs on it with her fist. * Togo loks over at Khalil. "Ah, somebody has a gun. Small favors." * Lukas looks to Alys. "Yeah. The name's Mitsuji." He snickers. "Adorable? You've got a funny scale." Yes. In exchange for feathers. I suppose it is an even trade. (Stupid typing.) I found spirit wards. Um. I trained with a bunch of stuff when I was like, nine, but I still really like my chains. Has anyone seen any? ( Meanwhile, Ashley has ported into the body of a speedy snake. *tongueflick* ) * Ten puts for a moment. "Anyway. We've totaly got to go find our bodies and get some new clothes and stuff!" (*tongueflick*) Why are clothes so important? * Khalil should note at this time that he hasn't changed out of pajama bottoms. * Ten plucks at her clothes. "'Cause I don't wanna go around dressed like this!" * Lukas rubs his head and looks at Ten. "Ten, can we not worry about clothes now? Nobody'll even know it's you." * Alys gives Khalil an odd look and lets go of Ten. "You are such a guy." [Khalil is bare-chested, by the way.] I'll know I'm me! That's totally enough! Clothes later. Bodies now. Waking up in my body is not gonna be pleasant for this Mariah person. * Lukas sighs. "Yes, yes." He looks over to the other two. "Uh. I caught Togo as I was coming out.... Ashley?" (He's looking at Sarah as he says this.) * Herman calls in Sarah's voice, "Ashley! This is Herman. Get out here!" * Khalil glances over at Alys for a moment. "Yes. I do believe you are correct in that statement." 2d8 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Khalil (2d8) and gets a natural 11 for a result of 11. Whao... Liadan's in for a shock. I hope she doesn't break me. Even if you're not, whoever the hell you are, open the door! Xuan's got it easy. She's got my wards and my wonderful chains. So this is a direct exchange? * Lukas snickers, then says, "I think she'll have to get use to having batteries, Ten." He looks back up to her. "Christ. This is too much." * Ashley cracks the door, and peers out. "You're not... I mean... uh." He looks around. No clue. Anyone know where we are? Um, geologically speaking? * Herman smiles prettily. "Good afternoon." * Ashley has a monocle! And black hair with white stripes. * Ten blinks. "I'm, like, gonna have eat and then... Oh Em Gee I'm gonna have ta..." You're Ashley, right? God, I hope so. It'd be too fucking weird if we weren't all switched. ... switched? You mean... oh, thank fucking christ. * Alys stares at Ashley. Then she starts giggling. * Herman nods. "Illusions wouldn't work?" * Khalil starts looking people over. He takes just a bit longer at Herman/Sarah and Togo/Mariah. * Lukas chuckles again. "Yeah, Ten... it's gonna get weird." * Ashley basically hugs Herman. "No! Bloody gave me a fucking bloody thrice- cursed heart attack." * Ten trails off and just looks disgusted. * Lukas adds, "And, uh, just for the record? Talking in acronyms is a dead geek giveaway." * Herman oofs and then... er, pats Ashley's back. "Yeah. Me too." Pause. "But with the light spell." * Ashley is wearing a purple cross between a robe and a trenchcoat. * Alys turns to Ten. "Okay, along with the breathing thing? Eating is important too. And using the bathroom." Christ. I've had hangovers so bad I couldn't do things before, but ... oy. * Ashley releases Herman and looks around. "So who is whom?" Ew! Ew! Ewewewewewew! Yeah? Did you suddenly get shorter and grow boobs, too? * Lukas grabs Ten's hand. "Calm down, Ten. One step at a time." Can we... not talk about toiletry functions at the moment? (End whenever) * Herman turns and starts pointing out people. Black haired, silver-eyed, thirty-something, Asian woman: "Togo." * Ten shivers, and then blnks. "That's new and different. And, uh, kay." * Herman points out the brown-haired, violet-eyed Asian girl. "Alys." And then the boy who looks like he might be related, who's still going through puberty. "Volt, I think." * Lukas nods at that, still holding Ten's hand. It's odd, for the kid to be comforting the adult. Which, uh... the big guy with the gun is Khalil, and the redhead is... Ten. Seriously. * Ashley quirks an eyebrow. Which looks perfect with the monocle. "Really? Well. I'll be damned." ( The monocle falls out and shatters. D'oh! ) * Herman snerks. "Yeah. Fits her pretty well, don'tcha think?" * Alys starts laughing again and ends up having to sit on the floor. Yah huh. * Khalil is watching Herman the whole time he talk, not saying anything anymore. I'd have to agree. * Lukas shakes his head. "It's just not Ten without the wings." Beat. "Then again... yeah." It's time to go... to the library. *pauses* Y'know, that sounds really dumb. (Also, now? Everyone in the group is totally hittable. Except Volt.) * Herman nods. "Probably the best place to start." (Snerk. Teenage boys just not your thing?) I know! And when I tried to fly I caught fire! (He's Gaelic, not Greek.) ( I'd hit Volt. With a tire iron. ) ... right. Might want to call Interpol or something. Maybe they contacted them. Bloody fuck. This Dante fellow had best be careful with the merchandise. This is so great. And I still need to call home. * Togo mutters under his breath. "Be careful with the glasses, Mariah." [Session End! But hang on a min.]