[Day: Friday, Oct. 20th. Time: 9:30 p.m.] [The majority of you return to the office with Ashley in tow. Togo and Khalil are still there, doing some bonding. Aww. Herman also probably shows up at some point.] [Start!] * Brett sets mode: +v Lukas (*gets science fiction by E.M. Forster linked to her by Nic* o_o) * RurAway has quit IRC (Quit: Ruri ) ( What condition/shape/form is Ashley in? ) (Whois E.M. Forster?) (He wrote Passage to India and Howard's End and A Room With A View and a bunch of other well-known novels.) (Edwardian writer. Uh... right. Early twentieth century British.) * Ashley is there! He looks like he normally does, but is dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt which reads "MATRIX 7: THE NORMALIZATION". He tucks a set of keys into his pocket and looks around nervously. (O_o) (XD) (He is *fantastic*, if I may say so.) * Ten rides on Lukas's shoulder, because you can do that kind of thing when you're only eighteen inches tall. * Togo looks up from tying off his sack of doorknobs when Ashley and the others enter. "Ashley, you're okay. Gave me a goddamn heart attack back there. What the fuck happened? ( +" ) (For this to work, uh, we basically have to have called Herman.) (Since that's what we were going to do at the end of last session in otherchan.) (I'm dead?!) (Just for sanity's sake.) (You'll get better.) * Ashley winces. "Look, I'd rather not talk about it. At least until I get a bloody tug-load of alcohols in me." ( There's, like, a shipment of Guiness headed for the states that leaves in two hours! That so qualifies as a tug-load!) * ChibiGriff_Khalil has his eyes closed, sitting on the couch, a thoughtful look on his face. How effective a thoughtful look on a chibi actually is is anyone's guess. (What does Ashley look like? Same gorgeous man he always is? ;P) * Lukas looks like he did yesterday. Actually bandaged and shit. "He's looking pretty decent for a dead guy." He runs his hand back through his hair. "Fantastic night, innit." (Er, earlier today, even.:) * Alys is making a ring out of two paper clips. She tries it on and it doesn't fit, so she starts fiddling with it again. * Togo pulls out a shot glass and a bottle of some pretty damn good vodka from his trenchcoat. "So get talking." * Herman opens the door and enters, letting it shut behind him. He looks like he always does, yes, only today his face has a very tight expression. It matches his grip on the pipe. * ChibiGriff_Khalil slowly opens his eyes and glances about. "So. We are all here?" * Lukas glances to the Vodka and then steps away from the door as it begins to open, towards his chair. He glances to Herman and then slowly sits down. "No, but everyone's present." Like, that's good enough, right? * ChibiGriff_Khalil glances at Lukas. "What is the difference?" Three-fourths of your bodymass, among myriad other crap. * Ashley eyes the vodka longingly. Yep! (Damn you all. *pours vodka*) Small's awesome though! Look, not right now, okay? * ChibiGriff_Khalil stares at Lukas. It is not a happy look. * Herman eyes Ashley, then goes to looking at the others, finally settling on Lukas, given other people are looking at him. * Alys puts on her ring again, and it fits! Yay! "Hey Pipe Guy! How's your day been so far? Look, we found an Ashley!" * Togo shrugs. "Okay. Sometime, though." *puts away the vodka and shotglass* "You mostly intact, though." ( er, ? ) Yeah, looks like it. How's it been, Ashley? * Lukas doesn't look particularly cheery either, and is unaffacted by the GLARE OF CHIBI DOOM. When Alys yells, he looks to Herman more specifically and manages a mirthless smile. Then he settles on rubbing his neck. * Ashley glances at Herman, and away from the vodka. "Bloody awful." * Herman nods, still not smiling. "About bloody right." I've got everyone I can think of looking into a way to reverse whatever it is that cardinal did to us, but it's gonna take time. * Ten nods. I'll bet!" * Lukas says in a dry voice, "Yeah, if we hadn't gotten there he might have tried to cut himself with a DVD box." He closes his eyes. "Fuck time." * ChibiGriff_Khalil has quit IRC (Ping timeout ) * ChibiGriff_Khalil has joined #besm * ChibiGriff_Khalil has quit IRC (Quit: ) * Ashley looks sullenly at Lukas. * ChibiGriff_Khalil has joined #besm (re) ( What the hell, Cham. What the hell. >.> ) (It's a classic polka.) (How can you not like it?) * Herman raises an eyebrow and glances between the pair. (Seriously.) * Lukas can't respond to fey eye lasers of doom either. This time he isn't even looking. Too busy looking like he's trying to squeeze something out of his neck or shoulders. Okay. So we don't get Ashley's story. What've you been up to, Herman? ( Note it's only been a day since the Covenant raid. ) * ChibiGriff_Khalil closes his eyes again. "I do not think this is a time when many of us are interested in small talk, Togo." * Ten rides out Lukas's movement with all the dignity she can muster, which isn't all the much. Tried to check with my dad about how to fix whatever it is that's blocking my magic. He wasn't around. (And only... uh, two days since the kidnapping?) (We're doing so well!) ( Yep! ) ( You're all incompetent, that means you're perfect for the FBI.) (Dood!) ( CIA's worse. You know the old joke, right? ) ( How can you prove that the CIA didn't conspire to kill JFK? He's dead. ) (Hey, we know everything we need to get to her. We just aren't allowed because the not-pope made it pretty much impossible.) Not small talk, Khalil. Just trying to figure out if anyone has any brilliant ideas. *rubs neck* So what now? Do we go after Volt's sister? *Can* we? ( You could. You know at least one way to get to the Unseelie court. ) We so should. * Lukas says with liberally applied tones of annoyance, "Does anyone have a fucking clue exactly how dead we'll get if we go in without any defenses?" Depends on how well we bluff. * ChibiGriff_Khalil lets out a small breath. "And while we hate here with this...*stupid* curse, a madman infects my village. And we can do little about either in this state." (hate=sit. Wow, that's some typo) (Freudian slip.) (Khalil is full of hat.) (AGRFRUGRAL FREUD) From what Ashley's told us, if it gets down to fighting, we're dead even with our normal defenses. Whole point was to do this without fighting. It's not about fighting. It's about bargaining. Even if we have what she wants, if we're no threat, we cannot bargain. Perhaps I can get them to laugh so hard that they forget all about harming us when I enter. * Lukas reopens his eyes, looks to Ashley, then chuckles to himself. "Yeah, bluff. Because I don't need more pressure." Next time we hire people, can we have more optimists? But, then, like won't they want you to stay forever an ever an ever an stuff? Unseelie don't laugh. Oh, okay. ( Sure they do. It's just more the Muahaha type of laughter. ) ( They do it while turning you into abstract art :o ) * ChibiGriff_Khalil eyes Alys. "I have not been able to go out in public since yesterday. Which is further coupled by the fact that I cannot reach any doors and just about make squeaky toy noises when I walk. Forgive me for not being in the best of states." * Ked has quit IRC (Quit: ) * Togo leans forward. "It's risky, but it's not like sitting around and waiting to figure out how to fix ourselves is gonna get us anywhere." * Lukas shakes his head and says, "Risky as fuck. But the best way to bluff is to look like you've got the nuts. Is there anything we can do besides lie a lot to look like we could do something besides die?" A thought before we move onto the topic of not being turned inside out! * Herman rubs at his eyes. "Look, probably not a good idea to let them keep Lukas' sister for much longer." Or he might do something *really* fucking crazy. Has anyone tried calling Sarah and Xuan and them and asking if they know anything? I mean, it's a little group of people who know stuff we don't in the first place, right? It is a thought. Togo? * Lukas smirks a little and looks to Herman. "Like any of this isn't crazy." He looks to Alys and goes, "Well, I would hope that they're in the set of people Togo knows, who he has on it." Oh, okay. I mean, 'cause all cheerfulness aside? I'd like to be able to kick ass without having to resort to actually kicking people. It's fun in its own right, but. You know. ( So Alys wants mind raping powers) Don't have either of their contact info. Mostly reached out to various supernatural and magic experts here and back in the states. I doubt any of us would be very effective right now. I mean, I could at least hold my own as a human but...well, we shall have to be inventive. * Ashley is sitting there thinkin. * Lukas looks back to Herman. "How about you? Contacted your least favorite fiancee yet?" * Herman shakes his head. "I'm not sure what she can do, but..." He has more than one? Is it polygamy, or are there backups? Is polyandry legal? At the very least, they can't harm us directly. Hmm? * Herman pulls out his phone and dials Sarah's number. * Lukas glances to Alys, then just goes with, "Any port in a storm." A small snicker escapes him as Ashley's statement hits the air. * Herman puts the phone to his ear! * Ten tilts her head. "Not here!" The idea of multiple husbands is appealing. Although then they'd legally have a right to some of my stuff, which would suck. * Ashley blinks. "We'll, we're diplomatic envoys. I am, so you are. That means they can't attack directly. You didn't know? * Togo smirks. "I thought you'd noticed that diplomacy wasn't one of my fields of expertise." Yay! Not getting broken is good! Cannot or will not? I took etiquette classes when I was little, will that help? But I get the idea. They attack you, they're attacking a rep of the Seelie, and that starts wars. I mean, they could call their friends to do it. Or try to coerce us into a deal which will wind in our destruction or pain. Or they could claim we insulted them and kill us on the spot. Or, as an off-hand shot, they might be in a good mood. This is Herman. I don't wanna drag you into our problems again, but we were fighting some crazed priest guy, and we think he shut off our powers - including Ashley's illusions and my magic. We're totally fucking impotent. If you could see about anything that'd fix it, or got any ideas, let me know. Thanks. * Herman hangs up. (Computer hates me, have to restart. I'll be back quickly.) * Lukas idly mutters, "Voicemail. The power of waiting in the palm of your hand." * ChibiGriff_Khalil opens his eyes. "Which of these did Justinius know? Do you recall?" He knew the cardinal. Not well enough to know that the guy ran the Vatican's anti-supernatural strike force, though. Yes, but which one? There were a few if I recall. ( At least I think they were the same guy. Brett? ) ( The one mentioned with Justinius was Father Karasu Kage. They've met, but they're not close friends or anything. ) ( The guy you fought was Antonio Lancione, a different Cardinal. ) ( Which one was the head of Team Vatican? ) * Alys has quit IRC (Ping timeout ) ( Karasu, but presumably the warrior priests and Covenant are two seperate entities. ) * Alys has joined #besm ( Gotcha ) ( RETCON my last two lines, then ) (Someone catch me up, please?) He knew the other one, Khalil. The one that runs the Vatican's anti- supernatural strike team. He prolly knew *of* the guy we fought, but... He's probably kinda not happy that he got killed. He's a fucking traitor to someone. They can't care that much. But it is possible that he may know something of this situation. Alys is right. At the very least, what we lose is words. * Togo shrugs, and turns to Herman. "You have Justinius' number, by any chance?" * Lukas looks to Ashley. "So. Nothing we can do except pray they don't want to kill us?" * Ashley rubs his head. "We have what she wants. If we present a unified front and nobody talks but me, we've got a chance." * ChibiGriff_Khalil looks up at Togo. "I didn't think necessarily of contacting *directly.*" * Lukas closes his eyes. "Sounds like the best plan we've ever had." Given that it is A plan, I think that qualifies it by default. *to Khalil* Why not? *to Ashley* You talk, I stand quietly and look vaguely unstable. Gotcha. ( Ooh, give me that part! I can look unstable!) * Herman shakes his head at Togo. "Just Sarah's, and I already called her." * Ashley looks to Alys. "Do you have a robe?" I could make you one if we had a couple of hours! Because, as Herman pointed out, I doubted he had the number. Nope! Why? * Ashley points. "Because you're the only one who can't even carry a weapon, so you are the elite mage by default." ( Oh hell no Cham. Hell no. I'ma listen to KoF music instead. ) ( No polka yodelling >.< ) ( They don't combine x.x ) I doubt any of mine would fit. * ChibiGriff_Khalil looks over at Ashley. "What does that make me? I am afraid to ask." Awesome! I'm a mage except for the part where I can't do magic! * Ten flails. "I so could make her one!" Makes you as good as me. * Alys grins. "Hey Pipe Guy, wanna give me a crash course?" The mascot, clearly. ... Alys' familiar? Oh, can't I have a zombie cat? Penny said she'd make me one when she gets a chance, I've been looking forward to it. * Lukas smirks. "Yeah, sure. Ten and Khalil can both hitch shoulder rides." A familiar's not a bad plan. Failing that, we drop you in a robe and call you a dwarf monk precognitive mystic. But... like, wouldn't he have seen the whole griffon thing coming? That's why we do him up like a Jawa. Oooooooooh. * Herman looks Alys over, then grins a little. "Yeah, I'd like to, but you'd probably do a better job pulling off being a wizard than me as you are." ( you guys should visit the Super Adventures Club.) If you wanna learn magic later, after I get it back, I can teach you. * ChibiGriff_Khalil gives Ashley a dead stare. Really!? Great, thanks! God, isn't that a fantastic idea. * Ashley looks back at Khalil. "Look, you want to stop reprising the lead role of Willow, you've got to see this through." And I can fake the gun thing. Just so long as I don't actually have to shoot one. *mutters* Had to take apart and fix my shotgun three times last night... * Herman nods to Alys. "Sure. I think you'd do all right, even if you are fucking crazy." ...yes. If I had any idea what you were talking about. * Alys 's smile drops right off her face. "I... I am not! You take that back!" ... Jawa? Utinni? Star Wars? Bloody nothing registering? * ChibiGriff_Khalil shakes his head. What? No. Wizards aren't the most stable people out there. Have you seen my bloody father? Being crazy's an asset. * Lukas suddenly snorts, then, "Not to get in the way of Dress Up Khalil Day, but time." Short blokes in brown cloaks with glowing eyes? Steal robots? * Ten flails. "Get me to the computer! I'll get him pictures download the movies for him!" ...why would a short person in a brown cloak steal a robot? What use would it have for them? I'm just weird, okay? Don't say that seriously. * Ashley looks at Khalil and blinks. "You're definitely going in the robe, so you don't get to talk." High resale value. * Herman actually pats Alys on the shoulder. Sure, Ward Girl. ...why would I have to talk as a familiar? Familiars talk. They do not have to. And I doubt that a familiar would have to have watched these Jawas you speak of. We want to avoid even the possibility of you being asked a question. Does that mean that I'm the familiar? Do I get a robe that matches Alys's? Do I? Huh? Huh? One question. On the off chance one of them does ask one of us something, do we bow? Kneel? Salute? Any particular title, aside from 'your Highness'? ...and Alys being asked a question would be better? (Alys is obvously insane. You are not.) * Lukas looks around at the insanity and says, "Christ, make up your minds so we can go and die already. I could use the rest." He stands up and rubs one of his bandages. * Alys frowns. "Okay. As long as you get that. Um, hug?" (If he's a familiar, he's a midget griffin. That's bound to drive even a familiar insane." * Ashley looks to Togo. "Bow, scrape, and defer the answer to me, as you are merely a human and not knowledgeable of such things." * ChibiGriff_Khalil huffs and folds his arms across his chest. Or tries to anyhow. He looks miffed at being ignored. Khalil, you'll be mute. Ten, you defer answers to Alys. Alys, you be batshit raving loony. Herman, Lukas.... growl. I don't know. Grovel like I've never groveled before. *pauses* Just like basic training. Gotcha. Yeah, until my sister wonders what the fuck happened to my voice. As long as we are clear on the fact that I'm not -really- batshit raving loony, okay! I can do that! * Herman taps the pipe with one finger. "I'm in a bad enough mood for it." Don't say _anything_, dammit. Especially you, Lukas. Kaaay. * ChibiGriff_Khalil looks at Alys with a steady stare but doesn't say anything. He must be practicing being mute already! Yeah! * Lukas snorts and replies, "You know just how to make a guy feel like he matters." He goes for the door. You matter. You've just got even less people skills than I do. And my people skills mostly involve shooting them. * Lukas doesn't bother responding, and is out the door. To wait. * Ashley snaps his fingers. "I did forget a rather important point." Oh? Like, what? * Ashley looks sheepish. "Fae can't lie." Not outright, anyhow. .... you're shitting me. * Herman snickers. No. Wow. That's kind of an important thing to forget. (That's=that is) You kind of get used to it. ... sins of omission are your friend, then. Lying by omission, false pretenses, diverting answers, and begging questions are all valid tactics, however. It means you have to be even more careful. So, it'd be rude to ask direct questions, and we'd get the runabout anyway? Precisely. Alright. Kaaay. * Herman nods. Let's go get robes. ( Can FF when you're ready ) * Ten points at the door. "Onward, to shopping!" (Yes. Armani cloaks.) [Some Time Later, you return with Armani cloaks!] * Togo heads out. ( Whoops. Swap those. ) * Ashley has sponge-painted mystic symbols from various late-night B movies onto the robes. ( Like Silence of the Clams! Or maybe not. ) * Herman eyes those symbols. "Are you *sure* you want to go with those?" Well... have you got suggestions? I bet he knows better ones, I mean it's his job right? Being a wizard? ... I can't cast right now, but I think I can put some authentic symbols and runes on there. * Ashley hands over the sponge brush. * Herman takes it, sighs, and starts washing off the B movie symbols before inscribing some of his own. (JUst be lucky it's not body paint, given Ashley) (Inscribing = doodling, really.) * Lukas has, uh, decided that having a sword might be a good plan, for this, and so the sword he'd appropriated yesterday is out. [Sponge paint ftw! Herman paints the robes up.] * Herman draws one last rune on a sleeve. "Okay." * Ashley has several silver daggers strapped onto his arms. * ChibiGriff_Khalil leaves it at the normal symbols and puts it on. Utinni. * Herman has... a pipe. Frankly, he looks like he always does. * Herman puts the sponge brush aside and stands. * Ashley has also changed into a slightly ruffled formal shirt and a pair of dress slacks. * Alys puts on a robe. She looks nifty and wizard-like! Or, failing that, she looks like a loony in a robe! * Ten fans the robes with her wings in an effort to get the paint to dry faster. * Herman wipes off his hands. Uh, like Alys? ... for extra creepiness, I could manage for a while without my glasses if it'd help. Excellent. And Togo, if you could ditch the glasses and go for a bandana around the eyes, it would help wonders. Yes? * Ten points at a smudged symbol. "That so wasn't dry yet." * Alys blinks and stands very, very still with her arms held out to the side. "Um. Eep?" * Lukas waits for Ten to dry off robes before taking his. And until he knows exactly where we are, he's not going to bother putting it on! ... why a bandana? Does anyone know a- wait, no one can do spells! That's the point! Curse the inconvenience! Because it emphasizes the blindness without being huge gaping holes in your face? I know! It sucks! Does it looks really awful? * ChibiGriff_Khalil just stares at Togo. He'd like to say something. Really he would. But he's trying to get into the mute role. I dunno, I mean if you wanted to look like a crazy magic person the smudged symbols kinda work, but, like, don't sit down for coupla minutes? * Togo pulls out a hairdryer and hands it to Herman. "Dry her." That's so better! Thanks Togo! You've got everything in there! Wonders of magic. * Herman sighs and takes it, turns it on (it has working batteries!) and air dries Alys. "There. Better?" Yep! * Alys twirls around. "Thanks!" (Also, could they find something in Tens size, or is she going to raid her own wardrobe for this?) * Togo fiddles with his glasses, pulls them off, stows them in his trenchcoat, and pulls out a dark green bandana. "This is dark green, right?" ( She could probably grab off of an actual wizard doll. ) Yes. Number Two-Nine-Five-Nine-One-Two is dark green! (Sweet) * Lukas rolls his eyes. Good. *ties the bandanna around his !eyes* There. * Ten grabs her own robes. "I'm gonna change in the bike!" (They found something Khalil's size. They can find something Ten's size.) It's not like we're going to drive straight up to their... castle walls. Or whatever. (Ready whenever. Or z whenever. z when ready.) (Seriously!) * Togo takes a deep breath, and starts weaving between the chairs in the room while the others talk. [You head towards the nearest portal you know about: the Mirror at Asahara. Unfortunately, since Herman can't teleport you there, it actually takes longer to get there than you might like. But you eventually do!] [The mirror itself sets you out in a bleak world: frozen over and dang cold. You're at the edge of a forest, all the trees without leaves. Snow covers the ground.] * Segev has joined #BESM * ChanServ sets mode: +o Segev * Segev waves in. And then out again. * Herman wades into the snow and shivers. "Bloody hell," he says to himself as he zips his jacket up. (Seg, game.) ((Ack, sorry.)) [There's a path that leads straight from the mirror through the marketplace of town, and right up to the drawbridge of a fancy-looking white castle. I'm talking fancy like the Disney castle, only real and bigger.] * Ten rides on Alys's shoulder, since she's her familiar now and it'd be funky for her to be riding on the big bodyguard types. (Goodnight) * Togo would be rather impressed! Except, y'know. * Dreol is now known as Dreamland * Ashley takes a deep breath. "It's been ages." * ChibiGriff_Khalil walks alongside the entourage. He's saying nothing, and looking monkish. Yep. * Rustam is now known as ZZD * Alys walks along, shivering and being very amazed at the castle. "Wow. I mean, really. Just wow." * Lukas is robed and sworded, what little he decided to keep from his bag secreted around him. "Glad you're enjoying old home week," he comments dryly. * Herman rubs his hands together and then picks up the pipe again. Keep in mind that most of what you're seeing is illusion. Glamour. It's still an awesome one! [It really is a damn fancy castle. Really. The castles you've seen before (two so far!) don't compare.] * Herman looks around. Yeah! Someone had to make it up in the first place! It's almost overwhelming. Gives me a headache just looking at it. Eh. If it's all illusions, it makes it only 80% like real life. (Brett, can we find a spot to wrap? I am about to die.) * ChibiGriff_Khalil doesn't seem all that impressed as he looks around. Ah the joys of a simple lifestyle. ( orz ) [Ok, um... Here! Session end]