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  1. - Top - End - #91
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    Default Re: Unraveling Tapestries IC: Interference Pattern

    Quote Originally Posted by Anarion View Post
    “It is entirely fitting, but it also invites comparison to a small bug, and it’s humorous in any event.”

    Hayabusa chuckles, but only for a moment. So, Sköll is from here in some way, or at least welcome? I hope no harm will come to her here. I offered her my protection. And what would you like to talk to us about?”
    The dragon seems neither amused nor offended. "She was born here, yes. It used to be her home, though I wonder if it can ever be her home again. But for now, at least, she is as safe as she can be. Which is admittedly less safe than we would like, but it is good that you care. If harm comes to her, it comes to us all, but we will do all that we can to prevent that. That is all I can promise.

    "You saw the madman on your way in. Once a respected member of the Silver Ladder, he has fallen quite far. He is beyond saving, and it is best that most of what he knows dies with him.

    "Her father," the dragon gestures at Sassolino, who has found a chair to throw herself in, "is one piece in an important puzzle. Sköll is another. The Diamond Orders and the Seers both vie for these pieces, as does this Unicorn and his ilk. There are certain disagreements within the Orders about what to do with these pieces, once we have them, but if there's one thing we all agree on, it's that they must not fall into *his* hands ... which is why you're all here."

    Quote Originally Posted by Thanqol View Post
    Okay. Okay. She's freaking out. She's freaking out at - click - and she's fine. She's better than fine, even! She's curious!

    Killing an emotion outright was beyond her, but transforming it was an easy trick. Fear blends into curiosity very naturally and a quick expression of will renders her as a different kind of person - someone who is captivated by the possibilities of this strange space rather than terrified by it. It's always jarring and artificial when she changes her mind like that - all of a sudden she's an entirely different human being, with mannerisms and responses like a stranger.

    So she takes immediately for the books like a good Mystagogue. Books are fascinating in terms of Mind magic - frozen thoughts, crystallized daemons, like the deep dreams of the world that still dream even if nobody's there to dream them. With the right adjustments to her intelligence and memory she should be able to sort through a vast amount of information in a narrow period of time. What is this library about? What kind of secrets are contained here?
    Fairy tales and legends, myths and folklore, every kind of old story whose truth has survived the ages, and perhaps some that haven't.

    Quote Originally Posted by Raz_Fox View Post
    Out it hops gleeful from her coat’s pocket: pressed careful in a steel case stamped with the moon, and how she got it is another story indeed: her tarot deck, holding her instructions. Let’s draw now, draw here, in the shadow of all libraries: what book are we to read?

    [Fate 1 spell, 1 success!]
    You pull the first card - the World. As you pull the second - Death - one of the fairies grabs it and flies off, landing on a small tome on the other side of the room where it begins to nibble the card.

    The book in question is an old children's book. Judging by the beautifully hand-drawn images, it tells the story of Ragnarok. It is written in a language that you assume belongs to the Nordic family, fittingly enough.
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  2. - Top - End - #92
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    "Sounds like a lot is happening. How do you fit into it all? And what do you need to know from us to let us in?" Hayabusa says as she mulls things over. Rushing Heart had seen the unicorn and the Pikachus, but beyond something abyssal she really didn't know how all the pieces here fit together. "Actually hold that thought."

    "...her father" Hayabusa looks over at Sassolino. "Come to think of it, aren't you in the Mysterium?" [2 dots of mysterium status probably being enough to recognize the connection.] "What brought you to the mansion, the only one I called was the Witch and at the time it was just about a Changeling being there, I didn't know about anything else."

    She looks back at the dragon, waits on either or both of their answers. She felt like the blind man circling an elephant feeling at feature after feature never knowing they're all part of the one whole. Normally, the talent of being a shaman was being the one with the insider knowledge, one of the few to cross between two domains and so the best positioned to understand their interaction. This though, this was too many domains, some outside of the normal realms of a Thyrsus. She should ask Jayden to do some sort of spell to let all three of their minds think together so they could think about the problem from all their different paths combined (assuming that wouldn't, like, melt their psyches or something, she didn't really know how magical minds worked).
    School Fox by Atlur

    Quote Originally Posted by The Giant View Post
    Anarion's right on the money here.
    Quotes

    "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.”
    Oscar Wilde Writer & Poet (1891)

  3. - Top - End - #93
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    Default Re: Unraveling Tapestries IC: Interference Pattern

    Quote Originally Posted by Anarion View Post
    "Sounds like a lot is happening. How do you fit into it all? And what do you need to know from us to let us in?" Hayabusa says as she mulls things over. Rushing Heart had seen the unicorn and the Pikachus, but beyond something abyssal she really didn't know how all the pieces here fit together. "Actually hold that thought."

    "...her father" Hayabusa looks over at Sassolino. "Come to think of it, aren't you in the Mysterium?" [2 dots of mysterium status probably being enough to recognize the connection.] "What brought you to the mansion, the only one I called was the Witch and at the time it was just about a Changeling being there, I didn't know about anything else."

    She looks back at the dragon, waits on either or both of their answers. She felt like the blind man circling an elephant feeling at feature after feature never knowing they're all part of the one whole. Normally, the talent of being a shaman was being the one with the insider knowledge, one of the few to cross between two domains and so the best positioned to understand their interaction. This though, this was too many domains, some outside of the normal realms of a Thyrsus. She should ask Jayden to do some sort of spell to let all three of their minds think together so they could think about the problem from all their different paths combined (assuming that wouldn't, like, melt their psyches or something, she didn't really know how magical minds worked).
    "You're thinking about me, aren't you~?" purred Jayden in a kneewateringly melodic voice from right behind Hayabusa, almost whispering into her ear. "I can tell! You want me to crack your mind open like an egg and whisk the contents together with mine, scrambling every one of your thoughts, ideals and personality traits into a divine nothingness so that you will be in a state to drink deeply of my knowledge - and oh, you want a threesome? My, Hayabusa! How forward! How twisted!"

  4. - Top - End - #94
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    “The world’s changing in fire,” the Witch of the Two Streets adds from over Hayabusa’s other shoulder, ominous and silky and all but inviting you to walk into the flames with her. As it is said: the only way out is through. “I don’t know which one yet, but it’s important. Might be our streets. Might be the city. Might be the whole world. Death’s walking through the rows and leaving no two things unchanged. The snake’s drowning the world, just as I saw all back then, and the wolf’s eaten the sun.”
    freedom in the flame

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    Quote Originally Posted by PhoeKun View Post
    Raz, you scoundrel! You planned this!
    Quote Originally Posted by BladeofObliviom View Post
    Great, and now I'm imagining what Raz's profile on a dating site would look like. "Must be okay with veils."
    Quote Originally Posted by Kasanip View Post
    I don't think there is such a time to have veils that it is not the fault of Raz_Fox.
    Quote Originally Posted by Dervag View Post
    It's a freaking Romulan dump truck. The Romulans are no more likely to build an unarmed warp-capable ship than they are to become a hippy commune.

  5. - Top - End - #95
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    Default Re: Unraveling Tapestries IC: Interference Pattern

    Quote Originally Posted by Thanqol View Post
    "You're thinking about me, aren't you~?" purred Jayden in a kneewateringly melodic voice from right behind Hayabusa, almost whispering into her ear. "I can tell! You want me to crack your mind open like an egg and whisk the contents together with mine, scrambling every one of your thoughts, ideals and personality traits into a divine nothingness so that you will be in a state to drink deeply of my knowledge - and oh, you want a threesome? My, Hayabusa! How forward! How twisted!"
    "Ugh, mind wizards. Can you manage five minutes without being creepy?" Hayabusa glares, but there's an affection buried there that I'm sure is clear as day if you're already poking about in her brain, Jayden.

    Quote Originally Posted by Raz_Fox View Post
    “The world’s changing in fire,” the Witch of the Two Streets adds from over Hayabusa’s other shoulder, ominous and silky and all but inviting you to walk into the flames with her. As it is said: the only way out is through. “I don’t know which one yet, but it’s important. Might be our streets. Might be the city. Might be the whole world. Death’s walking through the rows and leaving no two things unchanged. The snake’s drowning the world, just as I saw all back then, and the wolf’s eaten the sun.”
    Back to the dragon skeleton. "So...lots of questions today. Is it the end of the world, that's the deal you called us here for?"
    School Fox by Atlur

    Quote Originally Posted by The Giant View Post
    Anarion's right on the money here.
    Quotes

    "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.”
    Oscar Wilde Writer & Poet (1891)

  6. - Top - End - #96
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: Unraveling Tapestries IC: Interference Pattern

    Quote Originally Posted by Anarion View Post
    "Sounds like a lot is happening. How do you fit into it all? And what do you need to know from us to let us in?" Hayabusa says as she mulls things over. Rushing Heart had seen the unicorn and the Pikachus, but beyond something abyssal she really didn't know how all the pieces here fit together. "Actually hold that thought."

    "...her father" Hayabusa looks over at Sassolino. "Come to think of it, aren't you in the Mysterium?" [2 dots of mysterium status probably being enough to recognize the connection.] "What brought you to the mansion, the only one I called was the Witch and at the time it was just about a Changeling being there, I didn't know about anything else."
    "I knew the changeling's importance," Sassolino says, "and couldn't let it fall into the wrong hands. Could have gone better, could have gone worse," she says, looking at the dragon.

    Quote Originally Posted by Anarion View Post
    Back to the dragon skeleton. "So...lots of questions today. Is it the end of the world, that's the deal you called us here for?"
    "I didn't call you here," the dragon says. "I merely welcome you. The librarian knew her sister had returned, but ... well, she doesn't venture out much, you see, so she made sure her sister would come to her instead. That you're also here is not exactly planned, but as I said before, such are the whims of Fate. I like to think there is some greater cosmic purpose to it all, some grand, coherent story, but maybe I'm wrong."

    It looks at the Witch and her book. "The world is changing, yes. You've surely noticed the increase in strangeness around the world. Things that ordinarily would require a willworker's magic appear to be happening spontaneously, and you can imagine the consequences of rampant magic with no apparent mind behind it. We're working on the assumption that it will get worse, but we still seek answers to many questions. Answers that Sköll and the young lady's father can hopefully help us with." It gives Sassolino a long, ponderous look, which is met by a deadpan stare, before continuing. "Unfortunately, some seek such answers to recklessly hasten what they see as a new Age of Magic, a pretty way of describing an Abyss-tainted hellscape. And we are still trying to secure the last keys to the puzzle chest, as it were.

    "Perhaps that is where you come in," it says, almost like an afterthought.
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  7. - Top - End - #97
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    Quote Originally Posted by Raz_Fox View Post
    “The world’s changing in fire,” the Witch of the Two Streets adds from over Hayabusa’s other shoulder, ominous and silky and all but inviting you to walk into the flames with her. As it is said: the only way out is through. “I don’t know which one yet, but it’s important. Might be our streets. Might be the city. Might be the whole world. Death’s walking through the rows and leaving no two things unchanged. The snake’s drowning the world, just as I saw all back then, and the wolf’s eaten the sun.”
    "Nice," said Jayden with a weird casual interest that indicates that she's taking you completely seriously but can't see anything wrong with that situation. She's already living her own apocalypse already after all.

    Quote Originally Posted by Anarion View Post
    "Ugh, mind wizards. Can you manage five minutes without being creepy?" Hayabusa glares, but there's an affection buried there that I'm sure is clear as day if you're already poking about in her brain, Jayden.
    "It'd be way easier to change your deep-seated insecurities and fears around so that you don't find it to be creepy," said Jayden.

    It looks at the Witch and her book. "The world is changing, yes. You've surely noticed the increase in strangeness around the world. Things that ordinarily would require a willworker's magic appear to be happening spontaneously, and you can imagine the consequences of rampant magic with no apparent mind behind it. We're working on the assumption that it will get worse, but we still seek answers to many questions."
    "I dunno, that seems like heathen talk, no offense," said Jayden. "Magic is alive. It's as alive and sentient and intelligent as any of us. It's always acted with its own agenda, and we are but the humble scholars and priests who chart its course and divine its will as our first steps along the golden road to oneness with the All. I'm totes down with study and investigation, but I'll have less of this implicit sass for the will of the Mysteries."

  8. - Top - End - #98
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    Default Re: Unraveling Tapestries IC: Interference Pattern

    Quote Originally Posted by Thanqol View Post
    "I dunno, that seems like heathen talk, no offense," said Jayden. "Magic is alive. It's as alive and sentient and intelligent as any of us. It's always acted with its own agenda, and we are but the humble scholars and priests who chart its course and divine its will as our first steps along the golden road to oneness with the All. I'm totes down with study and investigation, but I'll have less of this implicit sass for the will of the Mysteries."
    "Far be it from me to lecture a mage on magic," the dragon says, "but it seems to me anything causing an increase of paradox and abyssal activity is not the enlightened, transcendent divinity worthy of your scholarship."
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  9. - Top - End - #99
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    Quote Originally Posted by stveje View Post
    "Far be it from me to lecture a mage on magic," the dragon says, "but it seems to me anything causing an increase of paradox and abyssal activity is not the enlightened, transcendent divinity worthy of your scholarship."
    "It's hilarious that you think a couple of scary buzzwords like 'paradox' are going to make me denounce the cosmic thread that weaves and unites all things," said Jayden. "If the harmonic forces of reality have decided they are going to cast off human life there is not a damn thing any of us can do about it. If scary abyss monsters are the consequence of that then I guess I've got a future to look forwards to with a lot more running, but I'm not going to question the divine intelligence of the cosmos or blind myself to the lessons it's trying to show me."

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    Default Re: Unraveling Tapestries IC: Interference Pattern

    Quote Originally Posted by Thanqol View Post
    "It's hilarious that you think a couple of scary buzzwords like 'paradox' are going to make me denounce the cosmic thread that weaves and unites all things," said Jayden. "If the harmonic forces of reality have decided they are going to cast off human life there is not a damn thing any of us can do about it. If scary abyss monsters are the consequence of that then I guess I've got a future to look forwards to with a lot more running, but I'm not going to question the divine intelligence of the cosmos or blind myself to the lessons it's trying to show me."
    "A curious position to take, but if that's how you truly feel, I hope we can at least count on your curiosity ... and your leg muscles, to carry you forward." It turns to everyone else, apparently deciding there's no point trying to argue with someone like that. "And do the others share your view, I wonder?"
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    Default Re: Unraveling Tapestries IC: Interference Pattern

    Quote Originally Posted by stveje View Post
    "A curious position to take, but if that's how you truly feel, I hope we can at least count on your curiosity ... and your leg muscles, to carry you forward." It turns to everyone else, apparently deciding there's no point trying to argue with someone like that. "And do the others share your view, I wonder?"
    "Not particularly. Magic is transcendent, but my view is more of the mysterium orthodoxy that it needs protection from paradox. If the abyss leaks into everything, I think it would keep the supernal out. I've seen it, just barely" Hayabusa grows distant as she reminisces on her awakening, the sight of a distant and supernal stars and the vast and uncrossable ocean of nothingness that she couldn't quite reach and yet somehow bypassed entirely.

    "Also, Jayden, we're not doing the mind debate now, I like my mind just as it is and I trust that my instincts represent a greater truth, even if they just look like toys to you. You might not enjoy seeing the things I see, sights like our book wyrm here are not so unusual if you look the right way."

    She turns back to the book wyrm. "I take no position on the apocalypse though, save that I'd like to learn about it and understand the shape and echoes of the thing. If it's that big, it's going to reverberate beyond humanity after all."
    School Fox by Atlur

    Quote Originally Posted by The Giant View Post
    Anarion's right on the money here.
    Quotes

    "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.”
    Oscar Wilde Writer & Poet (1891)

  12. - Top - End - #102
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    Default Re: Unraveling Tapestries IC: Interference Pattern

    "Hmm, yes," says the dragon and casts its glance around the room, and maybe you realize that someone isn't here who you're pretty sure was there when you came through the portal. Or maybe you didn't pay that close attention at the time, either. Either way, Curb appears to have left at some point. The dragon doesn't seem particularly concerned about it, and turns back to Hayabusa and the Witch after a brief silence in which is seems like it's listening to something. "Go on up the stairs behind me." It indicates the passage behind it, where Sköll went a few minutes ago.

    It looks at Jayden and Sassolino next. "You two, take the other passage to your right, there."
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    Default Re: Unraveling Tapestries IC: Interference Pattern

    She had her curiosity and she had her leg muscles, as the dragon said, so she started down the indicated path with a jaunty wave goodbye to the other two.

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    “You know,” the Witch of the Two Streets says thoughtfully, almost as if to herself, but such that for a moment those words are the only things that hang in the dusty air. “In this story there is one place— only one— where two people find shelter when the world burns. When they emerge, they find the gods playing chess with golden pieces. The dead gods, saved away for just such a day. And chief among them was Baldur the Beautiful...”
    freedom in the flame

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    Quote Originally Posted by PhoeKun View Post
    Raz, you scoundrel! You planned this!
    Quote Originally Posted by BladeofObliviom View Post
    Great, and now I'm imagining what Raz's profile on a dating site would look like. "Must be okay with veils."
    Quote Originally Posted by Kasanip View Post
    I don't think there is such a time to have veils that it is not the fault of Raz_Fox.
    Quote Originally Posted by Dervag View Post
    It's a freaking Romulan dump truck. The Romulans are no more likely to build an unarmed warp-capable ship than they are to become a hippy commune.

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    Default Re: Unraveling Tapestries IC: Interference Pattern

    Hayabusa was in the camp of not paying attention, she arrived quickly and had been focused on Sköll and her own friends. She looks unsatisfied though. The dragon had acted as a gatekeeper and given no explanation for why it had held them up or why it was letting them through now. Still, better to just be free to explore and meet the librarian. They seemed interesting. So she went where she was pointed and gave the book wyrm a slight bow for its service.
    School Fox by Atlur

    Quote Originally Posted by The Giant View Post
    Anarion's right on the money here.
    Quotes

    "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.”
    Oscar Wilde Writer & Poet (1891)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Thanqol View Post
    She had her curiosity and she had her leg muscles, as the dragon said, so she started down the indicated path with a jaunty wave goodbye to the other two.
    You wander down a passage which seems perfectly straight to your senses, and yet feels like it's not at all straight in some strange way you can't put your finger on. Sassolino doesn't seem much help; maybe Hayabusa or the Witch, but they went the other way.

    It's probably not important, unless you tend to get sea sick. It's kinda like being in a car that keeps accelerating and breaking - drive, break, drive, break, drive, break ... ad nauseam.

    And then you find a door which, while it looks like a door and opens like a door, somehow seems like not a door at all in the same strange way you can't put your finger on.

    You step through, and there's a slamming sound behind you which maybe sounds like the door banging shut? Or maybe it was more like a book snapping shut, maybe. Weird.

    You find yourself back in the real world. It's pretty easy to tell the difference. You're standing inside a giant hangar. You can tell immediately that Space is "wrong". From outside it probably looks much smaller, like a single apartment or something else less attention-seeking than a giant hangar.

    Hundreds, perhaps a thousand tiny drones buzz around the open space, waving reflective panels at each other in some kind of coordinated display while loud rock music blares from every corner. In the center of this space is what can best be described as the Command & Control of Batman's secret cave ... hundreds of screens flickering with cryptic displays.

    "Hi!"

    You look up. Hanging upside-down from a web of steel cables ...

    "I'm batgirl!"

    ... she's wearing a pretty sweet Spider Gwen costume, white mask with whiter eyes completely obscuring her real face.

    Quote Originally Posted by Raz_Fox View Post
    “You know,” the Witch of the Two Streets says thoughtfully, almost as if to herself, but such that for a moment those words are the only things that hang in the dusty air. “In this story there is one place— only one— where two people find shelter when the world burns. When they emerge, they find the gods playing chess with golden pieces. The dead gods, saved away for just such a day. And chief among them was Baldur the Beautiful...”
    Quote Originally Posted by Anarion View Post
    Hayabusa was in the camp of not paying attention, she arrived quickly and had been focused on Sköll and her own friends. She looks unsatisfied though. The dragon had acted as a gatekeeper and given no explanation for why it had held them up or why it was letting them through now. Still, better to just be free to explore and meet the librarian. They seemed interesting. So she went where she was pointed and gave the book wyrm a slight bow for its service.
    The dragon watches you as you walk up the stairs. Each step is like the page of a book turning. You're on one page, then moving to the next page, and the next ... and then you come out into another room of the library, this one long and square, tall stained-glass windows lining the sides.

    There's a giant armchair in the center, more like a luxurious throne for the king of the Giants or something. Sköll is sitting in it, almost disappearing into it. She can't even rest her arms on both armrests at the same time, though she makes a valiant effort at it. She looks like this is the greatest chair she's ever sat in, and it just might be.

    "Hello, sweetmeats!" she declares, seeming to enjoy herself immensely. She is dressed rather ridiculously in an old grandma's costume, her wolf-like face somehow more ... wolf-like than before. "You are a feast for my eyes."
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    Quote Originally Posted by stveje View Post
    Hundreds, perhaps a thousand tiny drones buzz around the open space, waving reflective panels at each other in some kind of coordinated display while loud rock music blares from every corner. In the center of this space is what can best be described as the Command & Control of Batman's secret cave ... hundreds of screens flickering with cryptic displays.

    "Hi!"

    You look up. Hanging upside-down from a web of steel cables ...

    "I'm batgirl!"

    ... she's wearing a pretty sweet Spider Gwen costume, white mask with whiter eyes completely obscuring her real face.
    Jayden actually takes her word for it. She might be one of the few people left on earth who still hasn't gone to see a superhero movie ever. She has a pretty deep aversion to watching movies and television in general, really - she always secretly kind of hated acting and watching anything on a screen feels like a combination of work and unpleasant childhood memories. Plus the idea of having all of that power and using it to hit people... well, she feels like that particular life stage is behind her.

    So she takes the scene for what it is: A lunatic in a mask surrounded by a robot army. She visibly starts backwards but stops herself from running. No, the lunatic part of this is the weak point. Everything else is decoration. It's just a power dynamic like any other, and this is just a person like any other.

    "Hey," she said, forcing some calm back into her head, and waving one hand hello. "You comfortable up there?"

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    Default Re: Unraveling Tapestries IC: Interference Pattern

    Exciting! Exciting exciting exciting! Hayabusa had already been intrigued at finding a Changeling. They didn't fit into her known taxonomy, but obviously were creatures partially of spirit. But this, this was playing out a whole part, different pieces and symbols mixed with Sköll's same look buried in that chair. Hayabusa had so many questions. Would she get bigger over time? Did she need to eat them for that? What if Hayabusa offered her some essence? Oh, so much. Witch, if you're watching your friend here, she looks like she's ready to start quivering and you haven't seen her this obsessed since the time the little kid somehow got possessed by a picture frame!

    [I'm marking down study changelings as an obsession]

    "Oh wow, Sköll this is cool. What's going on? Are you playing the part of a giant here? Was this your room sometime before?"
    School Fox by Atlur

    Quote Originally Posted by The Giant View Post
    Anarion's right on the money here.
    Quotes

    "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.”
    Oscar Wilde Writer & Poet (1891)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Thanqol View Post
    Jayden actually takes her word for it. She might be one of the few people left on earth who still hasn't gone to see a superhero movie ever. She has a pretty deep aversion to watching movies and television in general, really - she always secretly kind of hated acting and watching anything on a screen feels like a combination of work and unpleasant childhood memories. Plus the idea of having all of that power and using it to hit people... well, she feels like that particular life stage is behind her.

    So she takes the scene for what it is: A lunatic in a mask surrounded by a robot army. She visibly starts backwards but stops herself from running. No, the lunatic part of this is the weak point. Everything else is decoration. It's just a power dynamic like any other, and this is just a person like any other.

    "Hey," she said, forcing some calm back into her head, and waving one hand hello. "You comfortable up there?"
    "Looks like a fine way to fall on your head," Sassolino comments humorlessly and waves a hand in front of the girl's mask, as if to check if she can see through those masked eyes. "And then get attacked by a frothing mob of nerd bros yelling 'Actually, that's not batgirl!11!'."

    The 'batgirl' laughs and drops, twisting around elegantly to land on her feet in front of you. Then she leans in, and says very seriously, "How do you know it's not Batgirl under Spider Gwen's costume? Batwoman, catwoman, spiderwoman ... All these masks and names and identities, how do you know they're not all the same girl?"

    She looks at you, Jayden. "It's so easy to change who you are, isn't it? It's all just wiring." She waves a hand around as if the whole room was full of wires. As if the air itself was nothing but wires. "What if you could also change your face, as easily as you don a mask? And then get a wardrobe full of masks and a drawer full of ID cards because why not? That's all just wires too."

    Now that she's not doing that Batman voice, you kinda recognize her voice from the car. That would explain it going all Transformers and turning into a drone mid-flight.

    Quote Originally Posted by Anarion View Post
    Exciting! Exciting exciting exciting! Hayabusa had already been intrigued at finding a Changeling. They didn't fit into her known taxonomy, but obviously were creatures partially of spirit. But this, this was playing out a whole part, different pieces and symbols mixed with Sköll's same look buried in that chair. Hayabusa had so many questions. Would she get bigger over time? Did she need to eat them for that? What if Hayabusa offered her some essence? Oh, so much. Witch, if you're watching your friend here, she looks like she's ready to start quivering and you haven't seen her this obsessed since the time the little kid somehow got possessed by a picture frame!

    [I'm marking down study changelings as an obsession]

    "Oh wow, Sköll this is cool. What's going on? Are you playing the part of a giant here? Was this your room sometime before?"
    "Thanks!" Sköll beams, and looks around. "No, this is my sister's place. You can tell 'cause of all the books, and the owls, and probably the books about owls. I even saw owls made of books on the way in.

    "We used to share the top floor of our house, she and I, when we were kids. This reminds me a little of that, but it's clearly not the real world. She says it's part of the, um, Shadow? I'm not really sure where that is. It's almost like a dream, but I know it's not a dream, and I know it's not the Hedge either ... if this is some Fay trick, it's next level." She looks worried for a moment but shakes it off.

    She turns around in the chair, searching behind her. "Come out, sis. They won't bite, or I'll bite first."

    Someone cautiously takes a few steps out from behind the chair. She's wearing an over-sized hoodie, with - of course - a bespectacled owl on the chest. The hood is pulled over her head, obscuring her face, but her glasses gleam in the light of the windows.

    She hugs herself and stays within reach of the chair, as if at any moment she might want to jump back behind it for cover. "Sorry, I d-don't invite many visitors," she says. "But the, um, Wizard thought you might be worth trusting, and I did want to thank you for bringing my sister safely here. You can call me Nyctimene, or the L-Librarian, if you like."
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    Quote Originally Posted by stveje View Post
    "Looks like a fine way to fall on your head," Sassolino comments humorlessly and waves a hand in front of the girl's mask, as if to check if she can see through those masked eyes. "And then get attacked by a frothing mob of nerd bros yelling 'Actually, that's not batgirl!11!'."

    The 'batgirl' laughs and drops, twisting around elegantly to land on her feet in front of you. Then she leans in, and says very seriously, "How do you know it's not Batgirl under Spider Gwen's costume? Batwoman, catwoman, spiderwoman ... All these masks and names and identities, how do you know they're not all the same girl?"

    She looks at you, Jayden. "It's so easy to change who you are, isn't it? It's all just wiring." She waves a hand around as if the whole room was full of wires. As if the air itself was nothing but wires. "What if you could also change your face, as easily as you don a mask? And then get a wardrobe full of masks and a drawer full of ID cards because why not? That's all just wires too."

    Now that she's not doing that Batman voice, you kinda recognize her voice from the car. That would explain it going all Transformers and turning into a drone mid-flight.
    "That's a good question," said Jayden. She was rapidly changing her mood - she liked this person, this was her kind of lunatic in a mask surrounded by a robot army. "But why do I need a mask to do that? Why clutter a drawer with all that crap? Why don't I just cut to the chase and alter your perceptions directly?"

    She adjusted her tone and continued in fluent High Speech. High Speech was an intricately complex language of glyphs and signs and multiple meanings; each word three words, each truth altered and variable. Not when Jayden spoke it. Her voice somehow caught every melody and subtlety, a singer's precision capable of catching every note like falling raindrops. And as she spoke she seemed to pull off the mask of her face to reveal - well, she had no idea what she was revealing, but to Batgirl it'd look exactly like below the mask of Jayden's face was her own face, just as she imagined it in her own head.

    Jayden would have no idea what she was showing to Batgirl. She was just holding up a mirror.

    [Imposter: 2 successes.
    Last edited by Thanqol; 2019-10-11 at 03:57 AM.

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    The Witch of the Two Streets elegantly takes a bow, welcoming Nyctimene to the conversation with all the poise of a gracious queen.

    “Now, I do believe I would appreciate an explanation for exactly what is going on. I have missed quite a lot, and while I am quite capable of landing on my feet, it’s still better to walk in the light than wander around in the dark.”
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    Raz, you scoundrel! You planned this!
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    Great, and now I'm imagining what Raz's profile on a dating site would look like. "Must be okay with veils."
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    I don't think there is such a time to have veils that it is not the fault of Raz_Fox.
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    It's a freaking Romulan dump truck. The Romulans are no more likely to build an unarmed warp-capable ship than they are to become a hippy commune.

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    Hayabusa follows suit, though you might catch the briefest moment of disappointment that Sköll isn't playing some kind of giant role and intends to eat them (it would have been so interesting!) before she flashes that out of her face and goes into the bow. Nyctimene seems very easily spooked, so Hayabusa's approach is to hold her bow a bit longer than usual and come out of it slowly, deferring to the simple question that the Witch had asked. In her mind, she was building a small cast of characters for this spirit manse though. Two sisters, one rough and tumble, the other shy and into books, the Book Wyrm playing the role of loyal guardian, and now this hint of The Wizard who perhaps had forged the place? She did wonder who had collected all the books, and how many were books as opposed to spiritual symbols.
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Giant View Post
    Anarion's right on the money here.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Anarion View Post
    Hayabusa follows suit, though you might catch the briefest moment of disappointment that Sköll isn't playing some kind of giant role and intends to eat them (it would have been so interesting!) before she flashes that out of her face and goes into the bow. Nyctimene seems very easily spooked, so Hayabusa's approach is to hold her bow a bit longer than usual and come out of it slowly, deferring to the simple question that the Witch had asked. In her mind, she was building a small cast of characters for this spirit manse though. Two sisters, one rough and tumble, the other shy and into books, the Book Wyrm playing the role of loyal guardian, and now this hint of The Wizard who perhaps had forged the place? She did wonder who had collected all the books, and how many were books as opposed to spiritual symbols.
    Patience, my dear. Maybe she's just working up her appetite. You could always get in the role by asking her about her big eyes and big teeth ...

    Quote Originally Posted by Thanqol View Post
    "That's a good question," said Jayden. She was rapidly changing her mood - she liked this person, this was her kind of lunatic in a mask surrounded by a robot army. "But why do I need a mask to do that? Why clutter a drawer with all that crap? Why don't I just cut to the chase and alter your perceptions directly?"

    She adjusted her tone and continued in fluent High Speech. High Speech was an intricately complex language of glyphs and signs and multiple meanings; each word three words, each truth altered and variable. Not when Jayden spoke it. Her voice somehow caught every melody and subtlety, a singer's precision capable of catching every note like falling raindrops. And as she spoke she seemed to pull off the mask of her face to reveal - well, she had no idea what she was revealing, but to Batgirl it'd look exactly like below the mask of Jayden's face was her own face, just as she imagined it in her own head.

    Jayden would have no idea what she was showing to Batgirl. She was just holding up a mirror.

    [Imposter: 2 successes.
    Batgirl giggles and taps her masked nose. "Very good, but what's your fallback? Mysteries are like characters: the good ones have multiple layers, and each layer only reveals as much as it has to.

    "If you're trying to break into a super secret government vault and steal a cache of state secrets, you'd be disappointed to find the only door between you and the prize is a simple wooden door with a common lock. No multiple steel doors with biometric locks and rotating passwords, no video cameras and motion sensors, no specially trained guards with vicious dogs roaming the halls.

    "Which brings me to why you're here!" she says, beaming, and makes a series of quick gestures, then finishes by holding her nose as if she's about to jump in a pool of water. Several drones whirl into action, projecting light and images. The room around you seems to turn watery, and you find yourselves staring at the blurred vision of a library as if you were inside a giant aquarium looking out at the room beyond the glass. There's Hayabusa, the Witch, the changeling, and someone else. You can see and hear them - the sound distorted in that peculiar way water distorts sound - but you don't think they can see or hear you.

    Quote Originally Posted by Raz_Fox View Post
    The Witch of the Two Streets elegantly takes a bow, welcoming Nyctimene to the conversation with all the poise of a gracious queen.

    “Now, I do believe I would appreciate an explanation for exactly what is going on. I have missed quite a lot, and while I am quite capable of landing on my feet, it’s still better to walk in the light than wander around in the dark.”
    "I wish I could tell you, um, exactly what's going on ..." the librarian says, "But I'll tell you what we know, and how you can help. You'll f-forgive me if I make it somewhat brief.

    "The recent, um, turmoil is - we think - not as recent as it may seem. It has been developing for a very long time - centuries perhaps - but only now it's become obvious enough to draw attention from anyone other than a few, um, eccentrics and fringe elements.

    "Perhaps the first to ever see what was coming with real clarity was a man, called Haara the Unbraided, who in his lifetime was deemed mad for his theories. There is a story about him, not well-known, and it would have been considered just a story by most until recently. The reason it's no longer seen as just a story is that it tells of things that match current events too well to be a coincidence. Unfortunately, the story doesn't tell us much about the man himself, or his precise theories.

    "It only tells of how he was killed, his mind and body 'unraveled' or 'unbraided' and scattered to the four winds, that his heretical knowledge may never be gleaned from the pieces. We believe we have located the pieces, but we are not the only ones who are looking, and many have already learned much of what we know on their own.

    "As you may have guessed, my sister here -" she indicates Sköll "- is one of the pieces. Or, to be exact, she swallowed one of the pieces when she, um, escaped her ordeal. In fact, to be even more exact, she uh ... swallowed an entire fairy realm, which contains the piece somewhere in it."

    Sköll looks both very pleased with herself and guilty like a dog who ate something off the table.

    "We ... kinda have to get the piece out of there," Nyctimene adds.
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    Quote Originally Posted by stveje View Post
    Batgirl giggles and taps her masked nose. "Very good, but what's your fallback? Mysteries are like characters: the good ones have multiple layers, and each layer only reveals as much as it has to.

    "If you're trying to break into a super secret government vault and steal a cache of state secrets, you'd be disappointed to find the only door between you and the prize is a simple wooden door with a common lock. No multiple steel doors with biometric locks and rotating passwords, no video cameras and motion sensors, no specially trained guards with vicious dogs roaming the halls.
    "Pshhhhh. Set dressing," said Jayden. "The vault is designed to keep people out, but also to let someone in. All you have to do is be the right someone."

    She changed the spell, altering the arcane glyphs that made it up - now instead of MIRROR it read TRUST, altering Batgirls' perceptions so that she'd see someone she trusted deeply in place of Jayden. Again she had no idea who she was seeming to be; it'd be different to anyone else watching. "Or," she mused, "you can just find the right someone and tell them to tell you. People are always the weak point."

    "Which brings me to why you're here!" she says, beaming, and makes a series of quick gestures, then finishes by holding her nose as if she's about to jump in a pool of water. Several drones whirl into action, projecting light and images. The room around you seems to turn watery, and you find yourselves staring at the blurred vision of a library as if you were inside a giant aquarium looking out at the room beyond the glass. There's Hayabusa, the Witch, the changeling, and someone else. You can see and hear them - the sound distorted in that peculiar way water distorts sound - but you don't think they can see or hear you.
    Jayden stifled a little giggle. "So the secret behind the second door was actually the secret behind the first door, except it was a secret from the other people who went through the first door? Well, like you said, I appreciate the layers. Does it go deeper?"

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    Hayabusa looks excited again. "You swallowed a realm?! Oh wow. Did you, um, hm, how to say it. Is it like the story where Thor drank the sea because illusions made it seem like it was in a beer mug? Or more like the one where the monkey got so big that he was briefly the size of the whole universe before he came back down?" She looks at Nyctimene. "I'm assuming you'd like us to help somehow and I am all about figuring that out and then deciding what the best thing to do is in response to the apocalypse. Also the owls are cool and I'd like them to have a good home out of it." She gives both of them a look, probably more confident than she actually feels, that says I know what I'm doing and I'm in charge. The latter at least, is true. Until they call in somebody bigger, she is the ranking Mysterium in all this.
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Giant View Post
    Anarion's right on the money here.
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    Well. Goodness. That seems to fit, doesn’t it? It has all the pieces of a particularly interesting story, for all that something is nagging at her that it’s incomplete: the secret knowledge, the quest to find the scattered pieces, the idea that it has something to do with what’s going on.

    Ah, there it is: that’s too simple, too easy. The thought that you could solve the problems of the whole world with a fetch quest? Insulting. Put the pieces back together and you’ll know how to save the world! If only it was that easy.

    ...but following along would let her know when it was time to get off. Or, better, to make some incisive revisions and rewrite the ending.

    “Have you tried inducing vomiting?” The Witch asks, dryly.
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    Great, and now I'm imagining what Raz's profile on a dating site would look like. "Must be okay with veils."
    Quote Originally Posted by Kasanip View Post
    I don't think there is such a time to have veils that it is not the fault of Raz_Fox.
    Quote Originally Posted by Dervag View Post
    It's a freaking Romulan dump truck. The Romulans are no more likely to build an unarmed warp-capable ship than they are to become a hippy commune.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Thanqol View Post
    "Pshhhhh. Set dressing," said Jayden. "The vault is designed to keep people out, but also to let someone in. All you have to do is be the right someone."

    She changed the spell, altering the arcane glyphs that made it up - now instead of MIRROR it read TRUST, altering Batgirls' perceptions so that she'd see someone she trusted deeply in place of Jayden. Again she had no idea who she was seeming to be; it'd be different to anyone else watching. "Or," she mused, "you can just find the right someone and tell them to tell you. People are always the weak point."
    I'm not sure what (if any) reaction you're trying to get with these spells, but you realize she probably knows what you're doing.

    "So you find out who the right person is. It turns out they're a Mage too, and they see right through all your magic. Then what? Are you gonna whack 'em on the head, cut off their finger for the finger print scanners, search through all their belongings for a password they've hopefully written down, make a rubber mask of their face for the facial recognition cameras?"

    She seems way too excited about the thought of whacking someone on the head and making a mask of their face.

    Quote Originally Posted by Thanqol View Post
    Jayden stifled a little giggle. "So the secret behind the second door was actually the secret behind the first door, except it was a secret from the other people who went through the first door? Well, like you said, I appreciate the layers. Does it go deeper?"
    "Layers all the way down." She snaps her fingers and makes some kind of signal, and the water transforms into a skyline, the city seen from above. Threads of light weave together like a great tapestry ... or the synapses of a mind. "While the others dig through the guts, I had something else in mind for you."

    She gestures at the city. "Get it?"

    Quote Originally Posted by Anarion View Post
    Hayabusa looks excited again. "You swallowed a realm?! Oh wow. Did you, um, hm, how to say it. Is it like the story where Thor drank the sea because illusions made it seem like it was in a beer mug? Or more like the one where the monkey got so big that he was briefly the size of the whole universe before he came back down?"
    "I got tired of chasing the sun around like an idiot, so I thought to myself, what if I just start swallowing everything? Sooner or later, I'll have swallowed it all, and the sun won't have anywhere to go.

    "Once you're big enough to swallow the sun, the rest just looks like a course of appetizers."

    Quote Originally Posted by Anarion View Post
    She looks at Nyctimene. "I'm assuming you'd like us to help somehow and I am all about figuring that out and then deciding what the best thing to do is in response to the apocalypse. Also the owls are cool and I'd like them to have a good home out of it." She gives both of them a look, probably more confident than she actually feels, that says I know what I'm doing and I'm in charge. The latter at least, is true. Until they call in somebody bigger, she is the ranking Mysterium in all this.
    Well, technically true, since you're the only Mysterium here (Jayden and Sassolino having left). You're not familiar with Nyctimene, and she hasn't identified herself as Mysterium, so it's safe to assume she's not.

    Quote Originally Posted by Raz_Fox View Post
    Well. Goodness. That seems to fit, doesn’t it? It has all the pieces of a particularly interesting story, for all that something is nagging at her that it’s incomplete: the secret knowledge, the quest to find the scattered pieces, the idea that it has something to do with what’s going on.

    Ah, there it is: that’s too simple, too easy. The thought that you could solve the problems of the whole world with a fetch quest? Insulting. Put the pieces back together and you’ll know how to save the world! If only it was that easy.

    ...but following along would let her know when it was time to get off. Or, better, to make some incisive revisions and rewrite the ending.

    “Have you tried inducing vomiting?” The Witch asks, dryly.
    "And where exactly do you want me to vomit up an extra world?

    "Besides, there are things in there that I think are just fine staying in my belly, so ... no. I was thinking I just swallow you two, and you can find the thingy."
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    Quote Originally Posted by stveje View Post
    I'm not sure what (if any) reaction you're trying to get with these spells, but you realize she probably knows what you're doing.
    Jayden's not looking for anything in particular - this is just her version of the same playful energy she's receiving.

    "So you find out who the right person is. It turns out they're a Mage too, and they see right through all your magic. Then what? Are you gonna whack 'em on the head, cut off their finger for the finger print scanners, search through all their belongings for a password they've hopefully written down, make a rubber mask of their face for the facial recognition cameras?"

    She seems way too excited about the thought of whacking someone on the head and making a mask of their face.
    "If I meet someone who is a mage of equal or greater arcane knowledge than myself," said Jayden, "why would I assume I knew better than them? What would motivate me to ambush and kill them? A belief, an ideology? Those are also weird mental tricks that are within my ability to create and destroy - and if I'm up against someone who has more ability than me, then how do I know that my opinions aren't just the opinions they programmed into me?"

    She swung herself up into a chair, legs dangling. "I went to catholic boarding school. I like shooting guns. I like metal. So I absorbed an entire ideology based on associated concepts that I didn't fully shake off even after marrying another chick. I then decided that what I really wanted out of life were drugs, metal, and driving expensive cars while taking drugs and pumping metal. Who the f*ck am I, someone who has been wrong about literally everything I've ever believed, to decide that that guy should live or die?"

    "Layers all the way down." She snaps her fingers and makes some kind of signal, and the water transforms into a skyline, the city seen from above. Threads of light weave together like a great tapestry ... or the synapses of a mind. "While the others dig through the guts, I had something else in mind for you."

    She gestures at the city. "Get it?"
    "nice," said Jayden. "Yeah, I get it. What's the pay?"
    Last edited by Thanqol; 2019-10-26 at 03:29 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by stveje View Post
    "And where exactly do you want me to vomit up an extra world?

    "Besides, there are things in there that I think are just fine staying in my belly, so ... no. I was thinking I just swallow you two, and you can find the thingy."
    Objectively, this is a terrible plan. Hayabusa is aware that this is a terrible plan. Witch, you can tell this sounds like a terrible plan. I mean, who knows what's going on in there? What sorts of weird rules might apply to a world inside a Changeling's stomach. It's probably got a bunch of special exemptions from reality and magic might not work normally there. Plus, you'll be inside a stomach and that usually implies some kind of time limit and really it's just got a high chance of being miserable all the way around.

    "Alright, let's do it! Anything we need to be careful about or to prepare or can you just swallow us up now?"

    Wait, sorry Witch, you might need your hearing checked. Did Hayabusa just volunteer to go immediately and volunteer you with her?! She did, didn't she. In fact, if the two take her up on the offer, it's actually too late to stop it, isn't it. And she was giving off such an air of being the one in charge that they'll probably just roll with it without checking that you're okay with it too. Oops

    [This is absolutely advancing Hayabusa's new Changeling obsession and she is game to jump in headfirst and see what happens.]
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Giant View Post
    Anarion's right on the money here.
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    "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.”
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    Quote Originally Posted by Thanqol View Post
    "If I meet someone who is a mage of equal or greater arcane knowledge than myself," said Jayden, "why would I assume I knew better than them? What would motivate me to ambush and kill them? A belief, an ideology? Those are also weird mental tricks that are within my ability to create and destroy - and if I'm up against someone who has more ability than me, then how do I know that my opinions aren't just the opinions they programmed into me?"

    She swung herself up into a chair, legs dangling. "I went to catholic boarding school. I like shooting guns. I like metal. So I absorbed an entire ideology based on associated concepts that I didn't fully shake off even after marrying another chick. I then decided that what I really wanted out of life were drugs, metal, and driving expensive cars while taking drugs and pumping metal. Who the f*ck am I, someone who has been wrong about literally everything I've ever believed, to decide that that guy should live or die?"
    "Aha!" Batgirl exclaims excitedly. "What does a single brain cell know? Nothing! But a million, a billion brain cells together might have an inkling of something, even if it's just the eventual realization that it doesn't really know or understand anything. What does one brain know? Next to nothing, so you get many brains together and maybe, just maybe, there's a chance they'll know a thing!

    "Anyway," she says and twirls her finger. A drone flies over and positions itself so she can sit on it, her feet dangling a few inches off the ground. She crosses one leg over the other, hand on her knee. "I was just making the point that mundane means may serve a purpose."

    Quote Originally Posted by Thanqol View Post
    "nice," said Jayden. "Yeah, I get it. What's the pay?"
    "Pfft. Knowledge, of course." She gestures around dismissively. "I mean, I could offer you plenty of other things, if you were inclined, but you are Mysterium, are you not?"

    She leans forward, balancing on her drone as she gazes into your eyes, "What knowledge do you seek? If you could pursue any secret, any knowledge, at this moment, what would it be?"
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