Random Plots and Places 9: What a crazy, random happenstance!

[Lost_Deep]

Vulpine Outpost

Caravan looks at Caroline being taken away...

"She may have a connection to some of the upper members of the temple of Inari's hierarchy. One of the messengers, I think. If she feels strongly about something, it may be worth it to listen to her."

"As for the undead dragons... I'll make some calls, but I'm not sure how much help I can get in forty minutes. The skyrangers might not be much help against dragons, undead or otherwise. Bah, I'm not set up here to fight this much. I'll let you know if I can get anything."

[Shadowcaller]

[Not quite Hell]

Certain curses as the thing runs off, but sighs, ignoring it at this point, deciding it not worth the effort, and flies off again, continuing to explore.

[Not quite Hell]

Certain will find wast unsettled wilderness all around, it looks like few like to settle in any proximity to the wandering giant Certain met earlier. What she can see however is that there any no birds around here, just flying spider-like creatures and insects.
But finally she can see a sign of civilization in the form of a road leading up what appears to what appear to be a watchtower in the distance. If she follows the road towards the tower she will soon come across a sign with arrows pointing in various directions.

<==Aztheka City
The Golden Road==>
The Golden Goat Inn==>

[Ionbound]

[Not quite Hell]

Certain will find wast unsettled wilderness all around, it looks like few like to settle in any proximity to the wandering giant Certain met earlier. What she can see however is that there any no birds around here, just flying spider-like creatures and insects.
But finally she can see a sign of civilization in the form of a road leading up what appears to what appear to be a watchtower in the distance. If she follows the road towards the tower she will soon come across a sign with arrows pointing in various directions.

<==Aztheka City
The Golden Road==>
The Golden Goat Inn==>

Certain looks both ways, then shrugs and says, "Eh, doesn't matter," as she flies off towards the city.

[Palace of Orochi]

Orochi nods

And it is a wonderful thing that you have, Helen. So, now that we have eaten, are you ready to begin?

Helen noda and says, "Of course, Orochi. What are you going to teach us?"

[Fenric]

[Vulpine Outpost]

Verise nods and mutters into a communicator briefly, then back to Caravan

We weren't expecting any grand rescue - if there's nobody on hand, then we'll deal with it ourselves. And I've told the medics to treat Caroline's ramblings as potentially important - indulge and record every word she wants to say. If there's something useful, we'll know soon.

On screen, a squad of small fighter ships is already engaging the dragons. They're having a bit of difficulty because they are so fast compared to the dragons that they can only fire a few times before going right past. The progress of the six monsters is certainly slowed, but they are continuing toward the base overall.

---

[Palace of Orochi]

Orochi smiles

I would like to review some of the basic theory of reality that our abilities are based on: it isn't strictly required, but it really does help later on if you have a solid grasp of the details before you ever begin.

He stands

Shall we retire to the study?

[Ionbound]

[Palace of Orochi]

Helen nods as she stands as well and follows Orochi as she says, "Of course."

[Lost_Deep]

Vulpine Outpost

Caravan is quiet, making calls inside her suit and watching the battle.

[Baeleck]

[La Fontaine]

Katrina smiles

I do marketing for them: both pictures and consultations. I've more than doubled their business in the last eight months, and I have a lifetime membership because of it. They're ... important to me. They believed in me when a lot of other people gave up.

[La Fontaine]

'Wait, so you work for the folks here and at the temple? You must be a busy person.' Urias found himself to be plenty occupied at the temple alone, and couldn't really imagine splitting his time like that. The temple was very important to him, though.

'I guess it's worth it, given they're so special to you. I can understand that pretty well.'

[Fenric]

[Vulpine Outpost]

Verise watches the battle with irritation: the dragons can't seem to hurt her fighters, but they aren't having any significant impact on the dragons either.

This is ridiculous. Verise to wing commander: back off. Let 'em get within anti-aircraft range. We'll see how much they enjoy flak cannons and missiles.

Several other officers have gathered around

This won't do: everybody's awake now! We'll lose critical time and momentum in the morning, and half the troops will be sleepy!

They're forcing our hand, Ma'am - we have to choose between attacking now, or waiting and taking a hit to our effectiveness in the morning.

Report from the Med-Bay: Lady Caroline is not well. She has a fever, and repeatedly insists that the "Demon Lord Monrotha" is coming. We have confirmed that the only known match on that name is still back on Caroline's home world, so it is not clear what she could mean by it. Surprisingly, her calls to Tamamo to return her to Vulpan form have so far gone unanswered.

---

[Palace of Orochi]

Orochi leads Helen and Frederick to a well-appointed study. A large, black leather sofa sits invitingly in front of a fireplace and Orochi gestures to it.

Please, take a seat.

---

[La Fontaine]

Katrina shrugs

Nah, the gardening work is really pretty light a lot of the time - especially in the winter, so I have the spare time to do other things. And my work here is contract and project-based, I'm not an employee and I don't have any set schedule.

[Ionbound]

[Palace of Orochi]

Helen nods and sits on the couch, waiting attentively for Orochi to begin his explanation.

((I'm thinking of a story...))

[Lost_Deep]

Vulpine Outpost

Tamamo! Can you receive this? something is going wrong. Can you copy?

Caravan sets up a netsearch for Monroatha, and then makes an executive decision...

"Bah, no. I'm not having that. I'm calling for something, big, angry, and violent. I WANT THIS HOLY WAR TO BE AS ONE-SIDED AS THE LAST ONE! Fifteen minutes!"

[Fenric]

[Palace of Orochi]

Orochi stands in front of the fireplace

I hope you don't mind my standing - I find it easier when teaching if I can move around somewhat.

At the very base of everything, the universe stands: immutable, unchanging, and all-encompassing. Everything that could possibly be, is and forever will be.

It is, in and of itself, rather boring and pointless.

Delineating the universe is the concept of dimension: that which measures. The universe can be measured. You have your familiar spatial measurements of Length, Width, and Breadth. The more esoteric descriptions of space that are Spatiality, Spin, and Sympathy. And finally the wavefunction measurements of Continuity, Probability, and Amplitude.

So no we can measure this blob of everything-ness that just sits there forever. And since it is there, forever, unchanging, eternal... there is no such thing as Time. Let that sink in for a moment. There is no such thing as Time. But obviously we experience it... so where does it come from?

---

[Vulpine Outpost]

Tamamo texts back

Yeah, I'm here. What's going on? You're all quiet, so I assumed everyone was asleep.

Caravan's excessively comprehensive web search brings the following information

Monrotha

One of the Demon Lords of the Dark Elves, Monrotha came to Erda with the Dark Elf migration in the eighth year after creation. She manifests as a tale, pale-skinned, dark haired human female of slender build. She uses enchantments that permanently influence anyone who sees her to consider her as the paragon of beauty. Her particular talents lie with necromancy and biomancy, and she is widely regarded as one of the more dangerous of the Demon Lords.

She was very active in the Dawn War, killing the Messenger of Jupiter and leading an invasion of WinterHearth which was only stopped by the direct intervention of Malukhar himself.
She was also instrumental in orchestrating the civil war that led to the end of the Empire of the Sun.

Verise nods and turns to her officers

Get the briefings started: we're leaving tonight.

[Lost_Deep]

Vulpine Outpost

The outpost is under attack by undead dragons, Caroline if freaking out about "Monrotha" and loudly asking to be returned to her body, and the group is going to have to ship out early because of all this.

Might want to check your sources.

"Repeat, 15 minutes until my heavy gets delivered. What's that look like on your time frame?"

[Ionbound]

[Palace of Orochi]

Helen nods and says, "Okay...I think I understand. So what you're saying is that the universe only exists because we give it form?"

[Baeleck]

[La Fontaine]

Katrina shrugs

Nah, the gardening work is really pretty light a lot of the time - especially in the winter, so I have the spare time to do other things. And my work here is contract and project-based, I'm not an employee and I don't have any set schedule.

[La Fontaine]

'Ah, right. I understand.' Urias nods and takes a more tentative sip of his drink. 'I guess I'm just used to being called on whenever at the hospital. There haven't been any major incidences recently, but you never know when someone will need to be seen to.'

If only illnesses and injuries were courteous enough to strike during regular clinic hours.

[Fenric]

[Vulpine Outpost]

Verise turns to look at Caravan

We will be ready in ten.

---

[Palace of Orochi]

Frederick stifles a yawn as he tries to pay as much polite attention as he can to the first-day-of-first-year spellweaving class lecture.

Orichi smiles and nods

Very good, Helen!

Perception. Observation. Experience. These words attempt to describe the fact that *something* is here, moving through this unchanging, boring universe. The elves call it the "Dynamic Singularity": the seat of perception, the source of time. It is the movement of the singularity through the universe across the framework of dimension that gives rise to the reality that we know. There is philosophical debate if there is one or many instances of the Singularity. There is evidence that there is only one: the memory of previous passages through the same or similar points is recognized. Or perhaps the many Singularities have the ability to notice each other when in sufficiently close proximity? It is not clear. What we do know is that the Singularity arrives at one discrete point in Dimension, samples a subset of the universe, examines it briefly, and moves on to a new point. It is this motion of the Singularity from point to point that creates the illusion of Time: merely a history of the progression of experience through the various possible states.

---

[La Fontaine]

Katrina nods

No kidding! Were you there when Hanjo hit his leg with the axe right at the beginning of his shift last week? That was scary.

Oh, oh! Did you hear about Cienwen, our dryad?

[Lost_Deep]

Vulpine Outpost

Caravan nods. "Should I come with you or stay here? I don't wish to fight, but if this place will be empty during the attack I'd prefer to not be here."

[Ionbound]

[Palace of Orochi]

Helen, who is fascinated, nods and says, "So...How does magic play into this? Is is just altering perception?"

[Lady Serpentine]

For SCIENCE

"I'm not a perv, I'm a hunter. Furs don't blend with trees. And if you don't want to make small talk, that's fine with me," Griffin's sclera flash a deep violet colour, "I was getting bored anyways."

Assuming there's nothing blocking telekinetics here, Griffin draws something suitably sharp or weighty to his hand and unlocks the clamp holding it down. With speed no unmodified human could match, he swings at the closest thing their is to an exposed point in the full body power armour, and attempts to reach out and fray his kidnapper's mind, a mass attack on the synapses and vessels of the brain!

Griffin likely has a harder time than he'd think getting free - but if he can manage to manipulate the inner workings despite the electronic lock maintaining both a strong magnetic lock on all inner workings (the lower section is steel, rather than titanium) and mechanical pressure on them, he'll be able to pop it open! However, the power armor's not exactly weak enough for him to punch though, so while it does send her stumbling backwards a bit, it's the mind-fray that really does anything, sending her to the ground, apparently unconscious.

However, that thing that looks menacingly like a cyberdisc isn't just for show, or some kind of strange surgical assistant; as she falls, and it gets a clear shot at him, it spins upright and opens up, some kind of mix between a gun barrel and a nozzle slotting into place, then tries to shoot him with what's essentially an industrial-strength plasma torch, aimed for roughly the middle of his chest

[TechnoScrabble]

For SCIENCE

Blistering heat causes distortions in Griffin's skin as it and the upper layers of flesh bubble and sizzle. Unable to feel the pain, Griffin sidesteps, leaving a reddened streak along the side of his torso, and dashes to move under the Cyberdisc. Legs modified to fling a man stories into the air kick up, aimed at the disc's underbelly. Whether it works or not, it's followed up by Griffin reaching with his mind to find something soft and important feeling inside the disc and crush it with his telekinesis.

"Do you have any idea...any idea what the **** I am!?" he demands nobody in particular.

[Baeleck]

[La Fontaine]

'Yeah, I helped fix him up. It could've been much worse. He didn't hit any major arteries or veins, so it's only really an infection that needs worrying about, and I feel like we cleaned out the wound pretty good.'

Urias seems very calm talking about that incident. He was pretty desensitized to most injuries from his work before the temple.

'Cienwen? I remember her from the DART attack... what about her?'

[Fenric]

[Vulpine Outpost]

Verise looks frustrated

Originally, I would have said you should stay here. But the base is going to be very nearly empty when we go, and since the enemy has already launched one attack... it might be best if you and Caroline transfer to the command ship and come along.

Then she frowns, and talks into her communicator... but Caroline walks into the command center herself before Verise can even finish asking about her, and she is back to her usual Vulpan self.

I will need to have a chat with Tamamo later about considerations to keep in mind when altering someone's form. But regardless of that, Tenjin has cut us off from the usual communication channels to Inari's organization, it is my firm conviction that the currently approaching force is more than it seems, and I have a very real concern that this base is already compromised.

Verise's frustration is not lessened by that news

You're making me look bad, Caroline. Why do you think we're compromised?

Caroline looks down

I was attacked in my sleep, Verise. The fever did not help, but the true problem was a mental intrusion that was doubtless supposed to incapacitate me. If it had been Stephanie instead of me, it would have been very bad indeed. But it implies that someone or something is already here, doesn't it?

Verise closes her eyes

They certainly had this planned better than I gave them credit for. Now I have to leave some of my troops behind to try to rout out a potential infiltrator - we can't just leave the ground crew and support staff completely unprotected.

Whatever you have coming is going to be more welcome than I knew, Caravan.

---

[Palace of Orochi]

Orochi smiles

It is the adjusting of your perception to include more effects of your conscious choosing, rather than the poorly understood unconscious automatic process that is generally taken for dimensions and conditions beyond what is "normal".

But it is beyond any of our capabilities to determine the precise nature down at the level of the Singularity - we can only say what the results are. Many things in the universe are still mysteries.

He smiles

But now we must leave measurement and experience for a time in order to discuss what it is that is being measured and experienced! At its very foundation, the universe can be described by three sets of opposing concepts: Positive and Negative Energy, Substance and The Astral, Order and Chaos. It is the relative Amplitude dimensions of these conceptual entities, modified by Continuity and limited by Probablity, when sampled at a particular point within the Length, Breadth, and Depth of the universe and corroborated by other Singularities (or other passes through the area of The Singularity - the effect is the same, so we do not generally bother to mention it) within the Spatiality, Spin, and Sympathy of that point that gives the nature of the Experience that the Singularity perceives!

Given that even though it is an illusion, Time is a valuable concept when discussing the chain of Experiences that a Singularity encounters, we then can describe the universe as a combination of the constructive and destructive interference patterns of the six 9-dimensional waves, moving forward through Time at the sampling rate of the Singularity.

---

[La Meridian]

Katrina smiles and takes a sip of her drink

I am glad to hear it went so well with him - that was scary.

Then a conspiratorial smirk

She's pregnant! She got contacted by some god of candles or something, and agreed to have a baby for him if he'd help her fix the trees that got blown up. It was a weird ritual where we painted a symbol on her tummy and stood around in a circle. I have no idea why, and she refuses to talk about it.

[Lost_Deep]

Vulpine Outpost

"And blacktop's in the garage... wait. Caroline, go down to blacktop. He's hardened against psychics and mental magic, and can connect you to Tamamo via text. In case of emergency, you two can escape. I have iron mare armor and plans for if I kick the bucket, but you need to stay alive!"

She looks at the screens again. "My help coming right now won't help much with an infiltrator, but if there is one they will have to be dealt with. I'll make another call."

[happyturtle]

Grief

((Sorry, accidentally unsubscribed the thread. ))

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Grief

The path chosen is devoid of the jackals ahead of them, but as soon as they begin to move, the others close in from behind with some splitting up along the paths to try and find ways around. Four tag behind, sticking to the shadows, and The Mother and Needs will hear the pad of running paws all around as they seek alternate routes. A few seconds later however, and everyone will hear a series of loud yelps and screeches off to the right followed by a loud crunch of bone being crushed. The sound causes the visible jackals to flinch and look around warily, but they don't shy away, staying on the group's heels.

It might be best to start running.

Grief

"There it is. If it runs out of other targets, I will have to pick you up again. The next time won't be fun at all, be ready." The Mother speaks in a monotone that wavers and breaks at the end, rising into a fearful moan that swiftly cuts out. Reaching behind with the pair of spike-ended tentacles trailing from her left arm, she'll allow them to extend and leave their tips on the ground, getting further and further behind them as if she was spooling out rope. When the jackals near the trailing ends of the appendages, she'll whip them up and flail them around, attempting to smash into the legs of the beasts and crack their bones while reeling the excess muscle and ligaments back in.

After she's made her attempted attack, she'll pick up her speed while staying on the same course after Kirby's scent as she did before.

Running! Always running!

With his gangly height, Wesley is fairly good at running. Wheeeee! Hopefully the footing isn't too precarious.

[Lord Magtok]

Grief

Needs hates running. Running away is what wimps, amateurs, and children do. A sorcerer of his caliber shouldn't have to move any faster than a light jog, and yet here he is, scrambling to keep up with an ordinary human boy, dashing away in fright without any sort of dignity or grace about him. Someone was going to pay for this.

[Baeleck]

[La Meridian]

Katrina smiles and takes a sip of her drink

I am glad to hear it went so well with him - that was scary.

Then a conspiratorial smirk

She's pregnant! She got contacted by some god of candles or something, and agreed to have a baby for him if he'd help her fix the trees that got blown up. It was a weird ritual where we painted a symbol on her tummy and stood around in a circle. I have no idea why, and she refuses to talk about it.

[La Fontaine]

Urias's brow furrows. The nature of the pregnancy was rather suspect in his mind. 'This is the first I've heard of it. If she's having a child she should have come to see someone at the hospital, regardless of the circumstances.' Ensuring someone bearing a child is in good health is very important - not that Urias would likely have any direct part in it.

[Rebonack]

[Geode Town]

"Welcome to your very first pokemon adventure! The amazing world of pokemon stands open before you! With the help of your pokemon, you'll learn about the power of teamwork and friendship while you train to become a pokemon master! I'm Professor Willow, as a pokemon professor I have dedicated my life to the study of these amazing creatures. Now, before you begin your journey I have a few questions to ask you. First-"

The obscenely elderly, balding professor squints at the gathering of thirteen year old children arrayed in front of a desk covered in pokeballs.

"-are you a boy or a girl?"

Before any of the children can answer there comes a rather explode-y sound, followed by a crash of equipment as Fortuna and Henry materialize inside a supply closet. <Wow! That was the most awesome teleport EVER!> Henry proclaims while the Mew tries to wrestle a bucket off her head.

"Goodness me, what was that?" Prof Willow mutters. "Umm... you there!"

One of the students points at himself.

"Yes, are you a boy or a girl?"

"I'm a boy, my name's Sky," the youth replies.

"Excellent! Sky, could you go check the closet for me?" the prof requests.

The kid gives him a weird look and heads for the closet. Fortuna, of course, hears the child coming and quickly Transforms into a human shape! The boy opens the door and gives a little start at the sight of a weird girl in a pink jacket wearing a bucket on her head whilst a Magikarp flops nearby. "What are you doing in the closet? Professor Willow is giving out Pokemon."

"I was just... umm..." Fortuna mutters as she tugs at the bucket on her head. "Sitting here. In the dark. With a bucket on my head," she replies as she finally manages to yank the thing free, pulling off her cute little Mew-eared hat along with it. She frowns at the bucket and retrieves her headgear.

"You're weird," Sky observes. "Come on, the Professor is giving out starter pokemon!"

Fortuna scrunches her nose, grabs Henry by the tail, and follows the kid. She has to blend in! Ugh... even if that means picking out a pokemon slave of her own. At the very least she would have someone else to talk to. If she's lucky she'll be able to convince the prof that Henry is good enough.

[Granite City]

Ah, Granite City! The second largest City in all of the Iwa Region, ranked only beyond the vast and bustling Marble Metropolis! But that doesn't mean there's no lack of bustling in this City by any means! Bikes zooming to and fro, pedestrians hurrying from appointment to appointment, officers making sure that no one starts any unauthorized pokemon battles in the middle of the street. And, of course, the capitol of the Iwa Region's famed gem trade! Booths are set up along the streets loaded down with stones and gems. Some are simply attractive trinkets while others are tools for the augmentation of pokemon and even machines!

It's into this place, in an otherwise unassuming alley, that Jace and Zebes suddenly find themselves with a crackling pop! They're surrounded by old crates of not-so valuable stones, dumpsters, and a few clothes lines hanging the wash out to dry. Thankfully it doesn't look like anyone has spotted them just yet...

[Silicone Route]

Ah, the routes.

Full of ledges, paths, shrubs, overgrown grass, and of course pokemon trainers loitering around waiting for some unsuspecting victim to walk past.

The sun is shining Bright! The Flying-types are singing, the Bug-types are droning, and the Kells just got dumped into a thick patch of absurdly tall grass. Their sudden appearance doesn't seem to have phased the nearby trainers. They are, after all, pokemon in tall grass. Pokemon in tall grass are uncannily difficult to spot for reasons that won't be elaborated on.

But what DOES spot them?

Wild pokemon, of course!

A Bidoof waddles up to Kellia and begins sniffing at her.

[Deathkeeper]

Granite City

Jace and Zebes awake at the same time, groaning as they pick themselves up.
<Oh geez oh geez. Where's Fortuna? Where are the Kells? Where are WE?> squeaks Jace.
Zebes sniffs the air, and ponders. <The place smells different, Jace. It absolutely reeks of pokemon. I don't think we're in Inside any more.>
Jace looks at him, and then covers his mouth to prevent himself from screaming.
Crap crap crap! That means we're totally unprotected! We have to find the others, Zebes, and then we need to get Fortuna to get us all home! We can fly out of this city, buddy, but if the others are here too the Kells can't do the same! Fortuna would stay here to look for us too since she can transform.
He's clearly a little bit jealous about that right now.
Quick, look around. Maybe we can find something to cover you up with? You're kinda humanoid, with enough clothes on they might not ask too many questions.
The pair look around the alley for a size XXXL set of clothes. Of course there's a chance of it; everyone knows normal people can hit seven feet tall. Have you seen some of those gym leaders?

[Lost_Deep]

Silicone Route

Kellia pets the bidoof. "<Okay, where are we?>"

Kellform floats up a little and looks around, trying to get a feel for this general area. Fields? Forest? Just off of a road?

"<I don't see the others. Were we separated? I think we're in outside somewhere.>"

[Rebonack]

[Geode Town]

"Yes, you'll all be beginning your pokemon journy today," Prof Willow continues to ramble. "Please step forward and I'll give you your PokeGear and you may pick out your very own starter pokemon!"

The first child steps forward, considering their options. "You may choose Trapinch, Aron, or Vanillite as your starting pokemon! They will help you begin your journey toward an exciting life as a pokemon trainer!" One after another, the kids pick their pokemon as they step forward.

"So how come you're here if you already have a pokemon?" Sky asks of Fortuna. "And what's your name, anyway?"

"Huh?" the girl with the Mew-ear hat starts. She had been looking around the room as if expecting a Dragonite to suddenly materialize. "Oh. I'm Fortuna. And... Umm... Well. I'm pretty happy with Henry here. I just need a pokedex update and stuff."

"You're happy with a Magikarp?" Sky asks, his tone incredulous. "Seriously?"

<I think it's pretty cool to be happy with your friends!> Henry proclaims.

Fortuna giggles at the fish. "I'm always happy with my friends. I just wish I knew where they all were..."

"Are you talking to your Magikarp?" Sky inquires.

Fortuna's eyes widen as she begins glancing around in a shifty fashion. "What? Nooooo! Of course not! Humans can't understand pokemon talk and since I'm a completely normal human I can't tell what he's saying either."

"You're weird."

[Granite City]

Hmm... disguises...

As it just so happens there's a HUGE trench coat and a matching hat hanging up on the line right over there. What a favorable turn of fortune! Hopefully no one would be too broken up over their fancy coat vanishing.

[Silicon Route]

<Like pettings. You nice,> the Bidoof comments, leaning into the pets. Several more Bidoof begin approaching through the tall grass.

Then Kellform takes a little gander at the surroundings! Thankfully she didn't go very high since there are half a dozen trainers milling around by the edge of the path that's meandering its way through a pleasant, hilly patch of countryside. At present two trainers are in the middle of a battle! Patrat vs Rattata! Truly an epic rodent-based struggle!

[Deathkeeper]

Granite City

Zebes smiles and takes the coat and hat, slipping them on over his bulk. He makes sure to button everything so as little of his yellow scales are exposed. He tucks his antennae into the hat and makes sure it's tilted down to cover as much of his face as possible.
<Zebes, this is never going to work. Your feet are still completely exposed.>

<If it worked for Broadway, it can work for me. Pokemon has an even worse record for not seeing through disguises than that show did! Besides, I'll just fly if we get caught. Now hide under the coat. You're a fire type, you can't complain that it's too hot.>

Jace grumbles but does as instructed. Zebes looks both ways and exits the alley, hopefully walking down the street unaccosted, remembering to tuck in his tail most of the time.