Part 44: Construct

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Part 44 - Construct by Dworkin (GM)
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The gate is finally opened, and the group who are to go through it move forward.  They step into the portal, accompanied by the brintizzi guards, ready as always for...

a sensation of

-stretching-

and springing back

trouble, should they encounter it.  And something is clearly wrong, as becomes apparent just as soon as the group arrives.

The world is a desert, as has been said.  They are on a hillside, and there are ruins in the valley, not too far away.  But it is dark here, like a night lit only by a thin sliver of moon, and cold, with a wind which seems to carry shards of ice through clothing, and whips up flurries of stinging dust.

And yet, also as they had been told, three suns burn in a clear sky.  Sullen red suns though, faint, and cold enough to look at, not the eye searing blue they had been led to expect.  Stars fill the sky, showing that it's not cloud cover which dims the light, and many of the stars appear almost as bright as the three suns.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Devlin
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Devlin is the last through the gate and when he arrives at the other side he drops into a crouch and looks arround. He smells the air, and listens to the world they have entered. Three dying suns, he thinks, what would cause three suns to die in shuch a short span of years? He's sure he already knows the answer.



He turns all of his senses toward the ruins, where the stench of rotting fless comes from, where the fly met its end. He wants to relay the information he has to everyone, but he wishes to remain silent as well, do Devlin sends a mental thought to everyone, even the warriors that have accompanied them but not knowing if it will get through. This metal communication is relatively new to him...

"This world seems to be dying, our enemies have already taken it?" A statement but it has the feeling of a question also. "As I said, Dark, Cold, Something dead and rotting near the ruins; I can smell it."

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Ech'hisst (NPC)
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The warriors fan out, forming a defensive perimeter while not obstructing any of the people they are defending.  Ech'hisst gives a satisfied grunt as his troops make a series of rapid hand gestures.

"There are no enemies in sight.  Though I still advise caution."

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Cyan
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"A dying world," Cyan whispers in agreement with Devlin.  She slowly turns, surveying the area, her amber eyes gleaming in the dull light.  "Red suns...has the time passed so quickly here?  Is that it?  If so, we should not linger.  This may be a swift world."

'Trump'.  That was how the mechanism worked.  The bard stares at the ruins in the distance, searching for hints of palanquet.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Dworkin (GM)
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The dim glow of the suns turns the landscape into a patchwork of blacks and grays, more shadow than light.  Details are difficult to see, even once the eyes become accustomed to the gloom.



The three descend the slope, shadowed and foreshadowed by the brintizzi, who move in rapid blurred darts, vanishing when they stand still and blend into the darkness.

Closer to the ruin, and now all can smell the death in the air, carried on the cold breeze.


Back in the gate room, a messenger brintizzi appears, looks about for a moment, then approaches one of the bodyguards.  It speaks in a rapid series of chirps, clicks and whistles, then leaves again.  The warriors edge closer to their charges, clearly nervous.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Berd
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Berd glances around with some concern, his eyes beginning to glow more brightly.  His 'voice' echoes out to the members of the group still on this side of the portal.  Something is wrong.  The soldiers are agitated and I feel...a growing threat.

Be on your guard.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Dorian
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"Is there a concern?" Dorian asks the guards, glancing around to assess their actions. Of course there was. There was always something. It hardly surprised him, anymore, the constant state of impending danger, one difficulty after another.

He held his ground, deliberately keeping himself from acting on guard. He was confident in the guards abilities on this world, and didn't want to stir them any further than they seemed to be.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Aaron
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Aaron's single eye widened, and he gripped the hilt of Ilsefranvir as he unsheathed it from his back.

"Something approaches, Dorian. Something awesome and terrible."

Aaron's voice was cold as he spoke, his knuckles white as he strained against the alarms going off in his head.

He turned, taking in all those who remained with him.

"Prepare yourselves. We have no time left."

In his other hand, he raised Cyan's trump to his eye and prepared to contact her...

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Devlin
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"I agree, Let's move quickly. I do not like it here."

As the group approaches the ruins close enough that he can see them he slows and whispers, "Through the rubble I can see what appears to be many bones, along with some metal parts of some kind. There is a dead animal near the building. That is where the fly was destroyed as it approached."

Devlin stops moving and drops to a crouch on the ground. He smells the air then continues in a whisper, "The danger could be within, but I can smell nothing above the smell of rotting flesh."

He tilts his head to one side, staring off into the dark for a moment as he thinks and then he adds, "I suspect a trap and that the dead animal is the bait."

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Cyan
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"One of us has to step through, first," Cyan whispers.  She frowns.  Cold.  The bard looks to the left and right.  "Someone should flank the structure - move around to that side, see if they can espy aught else, be it additional entrances or merely holes through which we might garner a better view of the inside."  The young woman thins her lips for a moment, then nods.  "Once that is accomplished, I will move to the entrance, supported from a distance by the remainder of the group.  We will see what we can see, for now."

She looks toward Devlin with a wry expression.  "A trap is only a trap if it is unexpected.  We may yet turn this around, thanks to your reconnaissance."

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Dworkin (GM)
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One of the brintizzi, commanding in Ech'hisst's stead, bows to Dorian, a shallow bow which allows him to keep watch on the gate.  "I am Shturrrsht.  I command your guard while Ech'hisst is absent.  One of the domherra prisoners may have communicated with their masters before they were captured.  A... device was found in their quarters by those detailed to search.  The messenger just brought word."


On the sand, lit by three red suns, the dead animal moves suddenly, and something that, in the dim conditions, looks remarkably similar to Berd lunges up from the rotting flesh to snatch a flying insect from the air, before withdrawing into the carcass once more.

Cyan, not waiting for confirmation, moves closer to the structure, and around to the left, where she finds an opening, a broken section of wall to peer through.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Dorian
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"May I see the device?" Dorian asks, eyes narrowed. "I may be able to learn something from it."

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Jonnee
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Jonnee's head whips around to look at the guard as he speaks, then back to Aaron, "Crap!  Get ready to fetch them back here, Aaron!  The trap might be at that end, not here."

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Aaron
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He concentrated at Jonnee's demand, looking to link himself with Cyan, or at least make sure she knew he was paying attention to her. Aaron didn't necesserally want her to grasp the contact just yet, but he did send it out far enough so she could when they had to.

"I'm prepared, Jonnee. Holding a Trump contact takes concentration, so watch my back just in case the enemy is on this side."

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by James
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"If we hit trouble, everyone fall back towards the portal.  We can't trump out without you, Cyan.  Devlin, if you sense something report quickly.  In this light you can see things much better than I can."  James whispers to Cyan and Devlin before they split up.

Then, using hand signals James indicates that his three brintizzi guards should join him in circling to the right, flanking the ruins across from Cyan's new position.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Dworkin (GM)
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James starts to circle to the right, the brintizzi fanning out around him, their sharp eyes seeming to watch everything at once.  Part way around the man finds the entrance to the building; a crunbling arch of stone, with a buckled metal door laying in the dirt.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Cyan
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Ruby eyes narrowed, Cyan pauses where she can view the interior.  Something touches her mind, then - palanquet.  Aaron, no doubt.



Frowning, she motions for the Britizzi to remain where they are, and silently loosens Kirilindë in its simple, oiled-wood scabbard.  The device she can see before her is singularly unpleasant - the creation of pure evil, or that of a madman.  This 'Brand'...it is good to think that Jonnee halted the mechanism's insane plans.  It gives her the shivers, staring at the vista before her.

Quietly, the bard moves to the hole in the wall and peers through, ready to jerk back at a moment's notice.  The buzzing of Aaron's staticky connection is constant in the back of her thoughts, but mindful of James' warning, she ensures it remains stable.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Dorian
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Awsome and terrible, he wondered. He hated being on this side, no matter the peril on the other side. He watched Aaron with the Palanquet with some tinge of jealousy. He didn't like the group being seperated in this way, seemingly both close and far at the same time. He busied himself searching for Archons and other problems within this world, while he prepared to leap through the portal and unleash his worst should word of trouble arrive.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Dworkin (GM)
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Shturrrsht glances around the room, then decides that, yes, he can spare some troops just now.  "If it is possible that you can learn something from this thing, then I will send somebody to show you the device."  He raises a hand and signals two of the other warriors to come to him.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Dorian
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Dorian bows slightly in the direction of Shturrsht. "You have my thanks,"

Turning to Aaron, he says. "Your trump connection to Cyan seems rather strained-- it flickers and seems perhaps muddled, where it normally has strength and clarity. There are mundane causes, but I fear something interferes with that world. Perhaps the Archons are moving to isolate either us here, or them and that world? I can detect no disturbance here, though-- In theory, though I've never experimented with it, it could be due to an unusually fast world or a world that was fading away for some reason. In any event, this whole thing concerns me.

Other than that and the portal, I sense no other activity on this world's boundries. I would have to go there, to learn more of that place."

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Devlin
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Devlin watches Cyan move around to the left and ackowlegdes James' words as he moves off to the right. His eye sill on the dead animal carcus as something that looks disturbingly familair darts from the dead animal to consume yet another fly... <i>A trap for flies?<i> he wonders, but he feels there is more to it than this.

Devlin is quite unsure what to do, should he follow Cyan? James? Wait here?



He decides that he will wait, and watch, peering into the darkness and trying to detect any other movement; He adjusts his hearing so that he can hear the buzzing of the flies and the others footsteps, as soft as they are, as they approach different sides of the structure. Devlin continues to sniff the air for any detectable changes and peers from side to side.

While he does this, Devlin creeps a bit closer to the building and the dead animal. Stopping about ten feet from the rotting carcuss he tried to get a closer look at it.

His skin crawls with anticipation and he wants to either run into the building to hurry the taking of this machine, whatever it is, or run back through the gate, but he somehow resists both.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Aaron
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Aaron gritted his teeth, both at the connection and the images that Cyan sent him.



Apparently concentrating for a few moments, Aaron merely nodded to Dorian's statement before opening his eye and speaking, his voice obviously distracted by the confusion of the Trump contact.

"Yes. This... machine, if that is in fact the construct, is a thing of vile methods, it seems. I don't like it, but I don't like the idea of the Archons having it, even more. Time winds down. We must finish this quickly."

Ilsefranvir's blades rotated individually, reflecting the agitation in Aaron's voice.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Dorian
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"Time winds down," Dorian mutters, pondering the odd expression. Vile methods? "Could it be the machine drains the energy of the world, to the point that the world fades to nothing.. dies? if that is the case, what danger might  Cyan and the others be in? If you mean time itself is slowing down there, they might find themselves frozen and unable to return to us..."

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Dworkin (GM)
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There is a hazy blur, and a small cloud of kicked-up sand, and a brintizzi stops in front of Devlin.  "The one who currently commands me, the one you call James, requests that you join him.  You should go around the building, that direction."  Then it is gone, only to reappear, a moment later, at Cyan's position, where it relays the same message.



In the gate room, the two warriors approach Dorian, then wait silently for him to indicate his readiness to go.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Cyan
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With a nod, Cyan takes one last look in the room then begins her own, quiet movement around the building to meet up with James.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Devlin
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Devlin stops what he was doing and immediatelt moves in the derection that James took around the ruins in order to join him as requested, though he is still pays close attention to every aspect of his surroundings.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by James
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Beside the ruins, James converses with Cyan and Devlin.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Dorian
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Dorian turns to the two who have approached him, looking them over briefly. "I am ready," He says. "Let's see this device they used."

He glances over his shoulder at Aaron for a second, before following them. "Keep in touch."

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Cyan
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Cyan's face goes pale the moment she sees what lies before her.  She swallows, heavily, and turns glittering eyes of almost sky blue toward James and Devlin.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Devlin
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Devlin joins the conversation...

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Dworkin (GM)
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At Cyan's command, two of the brintizzi turm away and move, as only they can, back up the hill towards the gate, their rapid passage marged by small clouds of dust.  Then they are standing at the portal, which from this side is marked by little more than a shimmer in the air, like heat-haze, where none should be.






The two warriors bow to Dorian, then lead him out of the chamber.  The trio make their way back the stairs to the main part of the palace, and then away into the maze of corridors and chambers.

Finally they arrive at a suite of rooms. similar to that occupied by the questors.  The main door stands open, though guarded.  Dorian's escorts speak, briefly, to the guards, and access is granted without argument.

On a table inside sits an open silver box, some six inches along each edge.  Inside, in a nest-like cushion of dark green velvet, sits an egg-shaped crystal, fist sized, clear, and etched with spiral patterns of ever smaller triangular forms.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Aaron
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Aaron ground his teeth at Cyan's next message, his eye narrowing in agitation.



"An Orb. This just gets more and more complicated," Aaron hissed. With all his being he wanted to shift his concentration to his other skills, but he dared not, for he needed to maintain the connection with Cyan at all costs.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by James
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James has to will himself not to take a hasty step back from the orb he had so blithely approached.  "Bloody hell, I was thinking about picking it up and have a look. I've never been this close to an orb."

"I say we leave it here.  The last thing we want to do is bring an active orb into the Brintizzi's world and there's not much left to save here."

"Dorian said he was blocking the portal, but he'll be hard pressed if the Archons contest it.  We should get out of here."

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Cyan
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"I still believe this to be a trap.  Everything...it is far, far too neat.  The Archons wish to destroy any possiblity of resistance to their plans.  If they can attack here, now, through the portal they kill many birds with one stone...including the Britizzi, and us."

She concentrates against the mental static that has overlaid the contact with Aaron.  Aaron, what would you have us DO?  Our original purpose was to capture the machine, or destroy it, but now...the orb may have corrupted the machine as well.  Her fingertips itch, and she wants to be away from here.

"In any case," she continues, aloud, "we cannot move it.  It will have sunk its accursed anchor deeply within the mantle of this world.  I am waiting for Aaron's opinion on what to do, here, but I believe you are correct, James - we should go.  Should Aaron wish us to destroy the machine, we can, but...I think moving back toward the gate would be best.  Now."

Amber eyes, pale as thin honey, glance around the area, searching for any signs of approaching danger.  "Without Berd," she whispers, grimly ironic, "I have no means of sensing a threat, or detecting the presense of an Archon...Devlin, unless you have an idea, we should move."  With a grimace, Cyan reaches down and picks up a bone from the corpse.  "Perhaps Berd can discern who this was," she notes quietly.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Aaron
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Aaron had thought long and hard over the matter, and he could only come to a single conclusion. It was insanity to keep the remainder of the group within an area in which the Archons might already be intercepting, and it was obvious to him that they could do nothing more where they were.

They had no more time.



He had made his decision. Aaron knew that these abilities had been given to him for a reason, and he felt that at the moment, there was no greater reason than survival.

Aaron prepared himself. The time was now, he had to do what must be done.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Jonnee
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"An orb?"

Jonnee steps forward, staring at the portal, as if trying to will his eyes to see what is happening beyond the gate.  "Aaron, tell them to get out of there.  Now!"

"I'd guess that one of the archon's servants went there and planted an orb, 'cause they don't like to do their own dirty work.  That'd mean that their man got trapped there, because this gate is the only way out, for regular people anyway, and it's been blocked.  If that happened, then the archons wouldn't have a clue what happened to him.  No worries."

He starts scratching at his right wrist, "Trouble is, did the traitors here manage to get word to their bosses?  If they did, then the archons know of a place where they'll find a group of people who are trying to stop them, and they could be on their way there."

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Aaron
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"You share my sentiments, Jonnee. I've already given them the order. They need to come back now. If they can't make it to the gate, then I'll try to pull them through the Trump. We still need to do something about that machine, though, and it seems that it might be tied into the Orb in some way."

Aaron's voice was strong, collected, no longer allowing a hint of aggravation to show through at having to maintain such a garbled Trump contact.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Devlin
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"I have no idea what we're still doing here." Devlin says in reply to Cyan's comment. "Let's get out of here." and with that the man allows himself to do what his mind has wanted to do since getting her; he moves quickly back towards where the gat lies, but he does not pass through it, he waits to be sure that the others have made it back also as he nervously looks around the dying world for any signs of anything in pursute.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Cyan
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Cyan, still in converse with Aaron, and unaware of Jonnee's (likely correct) conclusions, has her own reservations regarding his plans, based on her own thoughts.  Aaron, if this is, indeed, an attempt to gain them access to the palace, they will be here momentarily.  You do not have time to come and corrupt the Orb.  It is something with which we can deal, later!

His ideas on leaving, though...that's not an issue with her, not at all.  Full agreement, Devlin," Cyan murmurs with a nod to that man, as eager to leave as she is.  "James, let us hurry," she whispers, touching him on the shoulder before turning back toward the gate.  Moving quickly but carefully, the bard heads in that direction, turning as she walks, sometimes backward, sometimes forward, light amythest eyes flicking to watch in all directions.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Dorian
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Dorian steps forward towards the box, peering inside carefully. He knows better than to touch it. "Has anyone else touched this since it was discovered?" He asks the guards.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Aaron
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"Damnit!" Aaron yelled, unable to control himself. "It's right there. I don't want the Archons getting ahold of such a potentially dangerous object. I am not as concerned about the orb as I am about the machine that's possibly attatched to it."

Aaron clenched his fist against the hilt of Ilsefranvir and spoke into the contact.

"Just get yourselves back here, Cyan." he answered in something of an agitated huff. "I understand your reasoning."

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by James
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James doesn't hear Aaron's concerns about the machine, which is just as well, he's happy with the collective decision to leave.

He issues the command to the brintizzi escort.  "Fall back to the portal," then hastily adds, "with us."  He doesn't want the fleet-footed brintizzi leaving them behind.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Devlin
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As the group moves back toward the gate, Devlin asks, "How imortant do you think that machine is to us? Do you think that it could really help us?"

The man is torn by his urge to flee and not wanting to leave something important behind. He stops at the gate and does not pass through. One or two more moments should not put them in any more danger than they already are.

"If we leave it and seal the gate once again, will we be able to return for it if we discover that we really do need it?" Devlin looks from James to Cyan and then down the hill toward the ruins, "I do not like being here, but..." He stops and shakes his head, not knowing what to do and hoping that one of his companions has a better idea.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Cyan
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Cyan, pausing at the gate, slowly turns in place, studying the area with her emerald eyes.  "I might...be capable of constructing a palanquet.  If not, if we can FIND this place amoung the myriad worlds, we could possibly 'break in'.  Berd and Dorian now have access to other methods of movement."  Gone are the days when she and Berd would have to wander aimlessly, world to world, slowly closing in on their goal.

Gone are those days, in more ways than one.

"But if they seize the machine...might you plant one of your creatures upon it, Devlin?  Something that we might follow, should the Archons take the device?"

A glance to the Brintizzi, then - they are too many, and leaving here will take too much time.  "Half of you return, now," she snaps.  "We will bottleneck at the gate, should swift retreat be required."  Kirilindë, still not drawn, shifts in her hands.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Dworkin (GM)
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The crystal egg, has not been touched. save to move it from its hiding place.  Even then, only the box it resides in was actually handled.  It has given no sign of activity, at least as far as the guards can tell, since the domherra ambassadors were taken away.

One of the guards does, however, claim that when they came to arrest the domherra, just for a moment, a burning wheel had appeared to float in the air above the egg.  He saw it only for an instant, before it had winked out of existence.



In the portal chamber, a group of Brintizzi step through the gate, immediately bringing their companions to a state of alert.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Cyan
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Cyan's face grows pale, there on the other side of the gate.  Her shadow vanishes as the sky brightens.  "Ech'hisst."  Her bard's voice is cold with command.  "I am the only one with the means to escape if the gate is closed.  Take your men and go, NOW.  Protect your Queen - I order you."

Her eyes remain brilliant rubies, shining in the bright light.  Fingers lock into place around Kirilindë's hilt, her other hand gripping the sheathe more tightly, in prelude to the draw.  The sand shifts under Cyan's feet as she bends her knees, and her deep indigo shirt slowly darkens further, tiny flecks of moving light appearing on the shimmering silk.

They look like stars, slowly moving away toward a distant point.

Or perhaps, now that people have seen the Undercurrent, worlds in the void.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Berd
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Back on the other side of the gate, Berd's eyes begin to glitter more stridently.  He turns to look at Aaron for an instant, and then at the card Aaron holds.

Something is wrong.

Something touches Aaron's card - poor etiquette, perhaps, but at the moment Berd isn't particularly concerned with that.  The little dragon, catching the tail end of Cyan's reply, snaps his head around to the direction where Dorian followed the guards.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Dorian
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"Of course there are," Dorian mutters to himself.

He snaps the lid closed on the box with a click and spins to face the guards. "The fiery wheel is our enemy, and they move beyond the portal. One of you, tell your commander I advise reinforcements near the portal-- battle is imminent, move fast."

He tucks the device into his cloak, still a heavy winter cloak and now uncomfortably warm. "The other, lead me back in haste." An idea strikes him at that point, but he lacks the time to experiment with it.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Berd
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Berd's eyes begin to burn, and he hisses at the portal, wings beginning to beat the air in his agitation.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Dorian
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Dorian walks briskly along with the guard...

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Berd
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More conversation, all in a second or so....

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Dorian
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Walking...

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by James
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James stops Ech'hisst before he can complete Cyan's command and retreat through the portal with the rest of his troops.  "Send messengers to bring water.  Hoses, fire pumps, anything you've got.  Flood the portal chamber if you can.  And if you've got anything that can generate a strong magnetic field set that up too.  Call for reinforcements and set up a defensive line on the other side of the portal.  Set the entire garrison on highest alert.  Do not underestimate the Wheels."

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Cyan
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Cyan's eyes glitter for an instant, topaz shading brighter at James' words.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by James
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James speaks earnestly, trying to convince Cyan.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Devlin
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Devlin was already nervous and it didn't take as much as what had just happened...

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Cyan
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Still discussing...and running out of time.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Ech'hisst (NPC)
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Ech'hisst and the other brintizzi appear through the gate, but Cyan, Devlin and James are not with them.  The brintizzi commander growls to his troops, then looks to Aaron.  "We were ordered to retreat by Cyan.  We do not fear the wheels of fire and metal.  James commanded that water be brought here, and magnets.  We can flood the chamber, but all must be out of here."

Dorian, with his brintizzi escorts, reaches the head of the stairs which descends towards the gate chamber, and starts down.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Devlin
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What?

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Cyan
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*humming to self*

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Dorian
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Water, that was a good idea. Way to go, James. He doubted it would help against the bladed Archons, but it was a good defense against the others. "Prepare the water," Dorian commands. "But do not flood the chamber until we are ready. I am going through-- I have a task."

It was typical of their party to try many things at once, in an unorganized fashion. He realized he was doing that very thing in this act, but he had so little information to go that he had to try. The machine needed to be destroyed.

He strides towards the portal without hesitation.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Berd
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Berd lances a look at Dorian as he enters.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Dorian
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Dorian nods in Berd's direction.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Dworkin (GM)
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Primordial Chaos must have been like this...



A demonic scaled form appears through the gate, almost colliding with Dorian as he walks forward.  The thing is a living embodiment of terror, a mass of spines and horns, fangs and claws, and black armoured skin.  It holds James tightly under one arm, and the brintizzi in the chamber swarm forward to rescue the man from the horror.  The gate seems to explode behind it...



Aaron shrieks, clutching at his skull.


Berd howls... and everything in the suddenly dark chamber stops.

The drake's voice fills every mind in the room, She... is gone.  I am alone.  His eyes start to burn, their light the only illumination in the chamber, now the gate is gone.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by James
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Fortunately, James retains sufficient presence of mind when passing through the portal to realise that blurring brintizzi is not a good thing.  "Ech'hisst!  Stand down!  It's Devlin, he's a shapechanger!"  It's not a particularly dignified position of command, slung under an arm, and James can only hope the soldiers understand.

That done, James wastes no time in breaking Devlin's grip.  He's not gentle about it.  Dropping to the ground he whirls towards the place where the portal had stood.  "Cyan!"  He spins back  "Berd!  Dorian!  Open a new..."  James' voice peters out as the futility of what he is saying sinks in.  He cries out in frustration and flings Fangmir violently away.  The sword ends up buried to the hilt in the stone of the floor where it vibrates slightly with the force of the impact.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Berd
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Berd rises into the air, the room beginning to fill with light as his body starts to burn with power.  Take up your sword, James of Amber.

The blade, buried in the rock, tears free - it is a testament to James' strength that it comes out still embedded in granite, the terrible pressure of the impaled rock gripping the metal tightly.

And unsheathe it from its stony sheath - I travel, NOW, and not alone, should you accept!

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Devlin
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Devlin sets James down as he is tries to break away. It was all he could think of. if only he was able to grab Cyan too. If only she did not jump out of his grasp. The demonic creature stares at the wall where the gate had been.

Berd says something about travelling, to where is it planning to go? he wonders.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Jonnee
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Cyan is gone!  Berd says so, and he'd know, I guess.

"Hunter!  We're going!" Jonnee calls the wolf to him, then turns his attention to Berd, "That is, we're going, if you're talking about going after her?"

Twin *snicks* then, as his blades spring into view.  "If not, then why not?"

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Devlin
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As he was looking at the wall Devlin got himself under control enough to manage his transformation back into his human form.

"Cyan is dead." the man says at the wall, "She was less than a step behind me; I could feel her, that is how close to me she was. How can we go after someone that is dead?...

"Why didn't she let me grab her when I grabbed James?">

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by James
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Without saying a word, James stalks over to where Fangmir now hangs, torn free of the floor by Berd's power.  In truth, nothing needs to be said.  The others must understand that if Cyan lives they will find her, if not, they will avenge her.

The only question is who will go.  James doubts that Jonnee will be the only one to volunteer.  James knows that is not his decision to make.  Instead he grips Fangmir's hilt in his right hand, the stony sheath with his left and unsheathes the sword with a single powerful flex of shoulders and forearms, indicating his own readiness to go.

There is still something that needs to be said, however.  "She may have been startled by your transformation, Devlin.  I suspected you might be capable of that from things that Bleys told me and I might have avoided your grasp regardless had I not been knocked down by the blast.  It was not your fault."

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Berd
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I am, and will, Jonnee Kay.  His burning eyes turn to Devlin.  James speaks truth, Devlin.  The fault is not yours - the fault is those who attacked.  The little dragon's mental voice is taut steel.  She may not be...  The voice trails off, then firms.  I do not KNOW.

Aaron, Luke will safeguard the Queen...and warn me if aught occurs, here.

The little dragon waits a single beat more to see if others will come.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Dorian
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Dorian fights to refrain from trembling, as he backs away. Devlin, the creature. He'd frozen between the fright and Berd's announcement. Now, he merely stood, staring at the place where the portal had been, trying to fit pieces together in his mind.

The portal, Aaron's connection. The world was fading. The portal collapsed because it no longer had a destination. Logically, she couldn't still exist. Part of him couldn't accept that, the part he didn't like. The part that believed the impossible.

He couldn't let her go without trying.

"I'm going."

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Devlin
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Devlin, calm now, at least on the outside looks at Berd, "I don't plan to stay behind." He says in a level voice.

He looks around then at the others and his eyes stop on James, "I can take that form if I will it, but..." Devlin shakes his head and looks down, "... there are times that I cannot control it. It was an instinctive reaction..." He wonders for a moment if he should have warned his new companions but then realized that it's too late to go back and do so, so he stops worrying about it.

"Berd," Devlin says, turning to the drake, "How many can you transport when we travel? Might it be prudent to take Jonnee's new army, or part of it, with us?" Full of questions the man does not stop there. "And do we travel to the world we just left... No, that world was dying, it no longer exists, does it? If it did the gate would still be there... What is our destination?"

And speaking of other desinations, Devlin turns part of his mind to other things...

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Jonnee
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"We need to go soon.  I don't think the whole world's gone.  I think the gate has been trashed at that end." Jonnee looks from face to face, his eyes finally coming to rest on Berd, "That's possible, isn't it?  That it's just the gate?"

Desperation edges his voice.

"We have to check, at least."

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Aaron
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(NPC'd)

On his knees before the ruined gate, Aaron's head is bowed, his hands clenched in his hair.  Cyan's palanquet lays, forgotten, on the floor in front of him.

Finally he raises his head and rwaches down to scoop up the image.  Thin trickles of blood seeps from each ear, from his nose, and from his ruined eye.  He scrambles to his feet, shaking his head, and then he speaks.

"Hnarua chporruk kaallan ym - "  He pauses, frowning, then raises the palanquet in front of his face, and his single eye peers through the hole charred straight through the centre of it.

Lowering the card, he tries to speak again, "Narra - king Hell!  That hurt.  I cut off my own hand once, and I've had half my face eaten, but those were easy compared to what just happened."  Another glance at the ruined card.

"So, let's go find Cyan?"

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Berd
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Berd freezes for a long moment, staring at the card.  The hole, right in the center.  Icy cold flows from his spirit at the sight.  That....

Silence from the dragon.  Then, in a quieter tone, Come, then.  A quieter tone; an empty tone.

Power flares about the dragon, then, and everything fades from sight around the group.  Darkness flows over them in waves, then -

There is a place, where a boat rocks gently upon a glittering sea.  It is night in this place, always night, the stars reflected in all of their infinite glory upon the waves.  With the moon high in the sky, there is a burning in the depths, a phosphorescent fire deep below the stars like another river beneath the waves.

Take away the moon, the stars, and the waves.  Leave only the reflections, and the fire deep beneath.  Hang in the darkness.  Fall slowly through countless, shining reflections of stars, each of them snowflakes, different in their own way.

These are the Myriad Worlds.

Fall through them, and down, past them, into the darkness, the absolute nothing.  This is the Void.  Look up.  See them, swirling between two poles like an elliptical galaxy, stretched by the pull of Chaos and Order.  Infinite glory above, in the Myriad Worlds.

Now look down, down at the light that begins to reflect from the others around you.

There, far below in the Void (insomuch as terms such as below hold any meaning, here), lies a great, burning river.  Golden it shines, a ribbon of light in darkness, fast growing larger and larger.  All around you dances a bright creature, a tiny, shining dragon, its glittering, dancing eyes that same colour of gold.  It splits, and there are two dragons.  Four.  Eight.  Twelve, each of them spiralling about.  It should be an amusing image, wildly glorious.  Instead, the dragons are sombre, silent.  Afraid.

Then the burning glow surrounds all.  Hot and cold, light and heavy, everything and...everything.  Never nothing.  That is the purpose of the Void - to be nothing.

This is the Underflow.  And what falls in it is swept away in the endless current.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Aaron
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Taken, moved along.

Blood still trickling, ignored.

The universal expanse, represented, viewed, but unappreciated.

A great hope, exposed, consistent and neverending.

Bonded, forever together, never apart, constantly unrequited.

Black death, burning, a desire unquenched.

A demand for violence, action, destruction, revenge.

The impossible cosmos, imposed upon a bed of stars.

The river of life, burning 'neath.

The Truth, crying out, requesting representation.

The fist, gripping the hilt, the sword resting silent beside the weary soul.

A single tear, finalizing all else, ending the torment and cementing desire.

"Cyan," Aaron whispered, heard by all and by none. "You will be found, or avenged. I will not rest until either is done. I have eternity to do it, and I will use it all."

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Dworkin (GM)
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Cold desert below three suns which shimmer and flicker, and occasionally grow dark for seconds at a time, and yet the stars still shine, bright and steady, as if to demonstrate that there is no cloud obscuring the heavens.

Somewhere, not far off, animals make sounds, unpleasantly like the demented gibbering of lunatics.

A hillside.

In the valley, barely visible through the unsteady gloom, is a broad, low dome, largely fallen into ruin.  Further up the hill, James points out the site of the gate, now occupied by a deep crater.  Something jagged and black hangs vertical in the air above that crater, and whisps of darkness flow from it.

Closer they move, as the cold wind brings a flurry of ice crystals.  The black thing reveals itself in more detail, and it gradually becomes apparent that it is a crack.  A flaw in the fabric of this world.

Below the world-wound, the fragments of a broken sword lay in the crater.

Kirilinde.

Of Cyan herself, there is no other trace, save only a few shreds of blood-spattered silk, the exact colour of her blue shirt.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Berd
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The drake has become One again, and immediately flits over to the crater, giving forth a despairing, bell-like cry.  He sits on the edge, eyes softly luminescent, and stares down at the sadly tarnished pieces of silver within the crater, at the lonely hilt with a small length of blade still jutting from the guard.

No.

It cannot...how?

Desperately casting about with his spirit, the dragon drinks deeply of the psychic impressions of the area, hunting for something, anything, that might give him a clue to what might have happened.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Devlin
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Devlin looks around nervously, back on a world he had just run from, through a gate that was no longer there, only a rip in the frabric of space itself remains.

This is madness, weren't the runes destroyed when the blade archon spun its way out from under it? Perhaps he only thought so because of all the flying sand and dirt. And perhaps he was not seeing things as they were, he could not recall everything that had occurred.

Devlin moves over beside the drake and crouches beside the crater. Spying the fragments of metal and cloth he jumps into the hole and bends down to carefully pick up what is left of Cyan. Holding the peices of the sword in one hand he sniffs at the bloody cloth in which he holds in the other.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Dorian
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Dorian scowled down into the pit, looking over the evidence. That was how his mind worked. It sought evidence and logic. Yet, he didn't want to see the evidence here. He couldn't.

He felt hollow, emptied out. He wanted to ask the others what had happened and why she hadn't come back with them, but he refrained. Now was not the time.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by James
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Once again James is struck by the sheer magnitude of Berd's powers, but he is too careworn and spirit-weary to marvel at the awesome vision of the Myriad Worlds.

Arriving back at the hillside he had so recently departed, James was a little surprised to see that it still existed, part of him felt that if Cyan was gone, the entire world should have disappeared with her.  That so little was changed, gave him a sense almost of disappointment.

The crater was new, though.  It was far too large to have been caused by the Archon's assault.  The inevitable conclusion was that it was linked to the collapse, either by implosion or explosion, of the portal.  James wondered whether that had been manipulated by the Archons.  It seemed unlikely.  The Archons, he thought, would probably have wanted the portal intact.

James looked around, keener senses than his had begun the task of investigation.  He stood for a moment watching.

"I'm going to check whether the Archons tampered with anything at the ruins.  Does anyone want to come?"

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Berd
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Berd continues to cast about at the edge of the crater, looking like nothing more than a frantic dog, in search of something precious that has been lost.  He looks up at James' words, eyes pulsing with agitation.

I...yes, James, in a moment.  There is something here.

Something happened - something potent enough to break a palanquet inscribed in ithilinaur.  The very stones hold the impression of the energy's release.  I may be capable of drawing it forth, painting a picture as it were.

Please, remain alert.  The Archons use the Underflow for travel, as do I.  I will have to restrict my movement along those routes to the direst of emergencies, for if I can sense them, no doubt they....  The drake's absent, rapid-fire rambling winds down as he begins to focus.

I have...something.  A bridging is offered, for any to accept.  And a vision unfolds.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Cyan
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It begins with a thunderous eruption.

Blown backward by the echoes of the gate’s death throes, Cyan hits the ground hard, rolling to soak the impact of both explosion and landing.  She lies gasping under a rain of pebbles and dust.  Only the rocks peppering her hair and neck are noticed – the others strike her clothing and bounce away as if repelled.

Bizarrely, a song begins to run through her head.  One heard in an ‘automobile’, so long ago, driven by Jonnee Kay and shared with Dorian, Aaron, and James.

Now I will tell you what I've done for you
Fifty thousand tears I've cried
Screaming, deceiving, and bleeding for you
And you still won't hear me

I’m going under

The bard lies still for a long moment, before turning her head to stare.  What she sees makes her heart sink.

The gate is gone.  In its place is a hole, a tear in the sky.  A broken wrongness in the world.  She coughs once, staring at it, and tastes salt.  Bitten cheek, no doubt.  Trapped.  Desperately she searches in her mind for contact with Aaron, finds it...only to feel static, that strange, odd interference boiling away any hope of communication, much less actual transport.  Her eyes fall on Kirilindë, not a foot from her hand – she reaches for it, breath shallow, and her fingers latch around the hilt.  And it hits her.  Something is wrong.  The blade feels twisted to her spiritual sense.   Berd?  Are you...?

Don't want your hand, this time I'll save myself
Maybe I'll wake up for once
Not tormented daily, defeated by you
Just when I thought I'd reached the bottom

I'm dying again

Closing her ruby eyes for a long moment, Cyan takes in a deep breath…and almost screams at the pain that rips through her body.  Ribs...lung....  Something is broken deep within her; she bleeds inside, and with every second more of her strength fades.  Rolling onto her side, Cyan clutches Kirilindë to her, drags the blade a quarter-inch from the battered wooden sheath; the crackling dance of fury in her mind, cutting off the contact with Aaron, intensifies.

I'm going under
Drowning in you
I'm falling forever
I've got to break through
I'm going under

Dumbly, she stares down at the wooden scabbard, one finger sliding along a crack running its length.  Something is wrong with the sword.  When I partly drew it before, that happened.  And now the sheath is ruined, and the weapon is exposed.  Somehow the palanequet within Kirilindë has become damaged and in its distress is interfering with all other palanquet, including her link with Aaron.

Now there is no escape.

Blurring and stirring the truth and the lies
So I don't know what's real and what's not
Always confusing the thoughts in my head
So I can't trust myself anymore

I'm dying again

Head against the sand, Cyan feels the marching footsteps.

Slowly the bard rolls onto her front again, pushing herself up to her hands and knees.  She coughs once and tastes blood on her lips, watches it sprinkle the sand before her.  With the sword as a cane, Cyan makes her feet and, wobbling, stares at the advancing men, the Archons behind them.  Waiting.  For her.

Staggering back a step she waits for the sweeping fury to hit; Berd’s legacy to her, among others.  One last, desperate throw of the dice, the baresark rage shoving aside pain and weariness.  But nothing comes as the men grow closer and closer.  With a bitter laugh Cyan realizes the truth.  She isn’t afraid - in fact, all of her fear is gone.  Another of Berd’s legacies.  How can I be afraid, if I do not truly exist?

But she does to them, those wheels of blade and flame.  And they will use her to harm people who matter to her, who matter a very great deal.

I'm going under
Drowing in you
I'm falling forever
I've got to break through

“No,” Cyan whispers, shaking her head.  Her amethyst eyes look past them and she stares outward, vainly hunting in the sky for a world far away, a world where people stand in a cellar beside a ruined gateway.  Swallowing blood, Cyan spares herself one moment for hopeless wishes, things she would have said to those people.  Some of them, she suspects, they already know.  Others...things she would say, and to whom, surprise even her.  A small smile touches her lips as the bard stares up into the sky.  Then she lets her gaze drop, to fall upon the advancing, armoured figures.

The smile fades.  Fingers tighten on sheath and grip of her damaged blade.

So go on and scream
Scream at me, I'm so far away

I won't be broken again

“No,” she whispers again, then draws in a breath, steeling herself against the pain.  “I will never surrender,” the bard grates, her musical voice gone.  What’s left is broken glass, but she raises it to a hoarse cry.  “NEVER!”

The sword tears free of the scabbard –

There is a shocking eruption of light as, halfway up the blade, Kirilindë shatters like glass –

Cyan feels a sudden agony in her head, twin to that Aaron suffers, only a thousand fold worse –

A sudden, lethal, agony –

I've got to breathe
I can't keep going under....

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Aaron
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Aaron rested his face in the palm of his hand, his other shaking with a myriad of emotions.

Agony, sadness, pain, fury, loss, revenge.

"death... DEATH!!!" came the mental wail, an inadvertant result of the shared link.

"Devlin. I've been meaning to ask you to fix this eye of mine, if you're up to it. I don't know much about shapeshifting, but it seemed to me that that last shift of yours must have taken alot out of you. When you can, I would appreciate the assistance." His voice was dead, but there was a certain shake to it that clearly told all around him of his true state.

"Death. The final truth. Destruction is the only answer to this. Nothing will stop me from avenging her. Nothing!"

Aaron spun Ilse and sheathed the blade behind his back, raising his head to acknowledge James.

"Yes. Let's search while we can," he frowned. "I hate this place."

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Jonnee
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Jonnee kneels in the dust, fingers tangled in Hunter's pelt, as Berd lets the whole story unfold before them.  By the time it's finished, his face is buried in the thick fur around the wolf's neck, and he stays that way, even while others are moving around him.

Finally he looks up, blinking, and clambers to his feet.

"She's really gone.  Killed by that pain.  Archons will die for that, in more pain than they gave her." his voice is a low, like a savage snarl.

"In more pain than they can even imagine!"

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Luke
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A voice filters through Berd's mindlink, without its customary sardonic edge.  "I tried to warn you, Berd.  My condolences.  Truly."
Back in the palace, Luke slowly lowers himself into a seat.  "Damn."

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Dorian
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"So.... That's it, then? Cyan is dead? Our search is done already?" His tone is cold, articulate. Any warmth and tranquility that might have been in his voice before the gate exploded is gone. He stands with his black winter cloak wrapped tight around his skeletal frame, the black fur lining ruffled by the breeze. His fingers work, clenching and unclenching on the gnarled gray walking staff. His lips were pursed. His eyes narrow, cold and calculating-- never looking any of the others in the eye.

In his mind, thoughts of mum's house, of the room above the inn, casual glances, brief words, all imploded. A cold, stiff wind swept them away into a bottomless chasm, where they tumbled, abandoned and forgotten, for the rest of his life.

He should, he knew, honor her memory-- of what she suggested in the room above the inn-- be that man. Be warm, take time to dine among friends, trust, love.... Never! It hurt. It felt like betrayal; it felt like being stabbed in the back and heart at the same time, by the same person. He should be the man she encouraged him to be, but he can't. It hurt too much. He would never open himself up like that again. He was vulnerable, foolish and weak-- like all these fools who stood here with him.

His heart was a maniac in his chest and his throat felt swollen. With a quiet sniff, he brushed something from his cheek and pulled the hood of his cloak up over his head.

Memories, fading into nothingness. They fought, struggled with tooth and claw, to rise from the pit. He wouldn't let them. With wrathful curses, he beat them down into nothingness. He wouldn't let himself dwell on such emotions. He would never be weak again. He would never be the fool again.

Twice, now. Twice, he'd let it happen. First his wife, and now Cyan-- Different women, different feelings-- the same idiot opening himself to something that didn't exist, something he didn't need. Never again!

He could search. There was no body. No body meant hope. He didn't like hope, but he gnawed on it for a moment. Could he go on, doubting, not knowing for sure? Could he search, knowing it was hopeless after all.

Fool! She is dead, he scolds himself.

Never again.

"Then let the dead bury themselves," he says in a monotone voice. "We have work to do. Our enemies will not waste time mourning the fallen."

He turns his back on her grave.

Never again.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by James
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James swallows hard.  Tears run down his cheeks, drip forlornly from his chin and he makes no move to stop them.  That Cyan should be the last through the gate, her retreat blocked, her means of escape denied, for his entire morbid prediction about her last stand to be proven so conclusively right leaves a bitter taste in his mouth.  Far worse, though, that she should die without the chance to seek a new destiny, to find peace from the anguish that Berd's truth had brought her.  That wasn't just, wasn't fair.  But James had seen enough dying to know that death seldom was.

He burned with anger.  His heart leapt at Aaron and Jonnee's declarations of vengeance and retribution.  He wanted to tear this world apart stone by stone, to rage and flail and weep.  But in the deeper, still parts of his soul James knew that would not bring her back, that the revenge Cyan would want would be to stop the Archons, to deny them, to preserve the Myriad Worlds that Cyan had so loved in all their beauty, honour and loveliness, their mediocrity, squalour and hatefulness.

There is a crack and a twisting of weight in his hand tells James that his stone scabbard has broken.  He drops the remnants and idly picks splinters of stone from his palm.  The pain does not concern him, it barely even registers.  You could cut his hand off and it would only begin to echo the pain in his heart.

Woodenly, James moves off towards the ruins, retracing steps that he had taken at once mere minutes and half a lifetime ago.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Berd
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Berd scrabbles around on the ground, hopelessly, almost as though digging.  His aplomb seems to have deserted him, and he is acting like the animal so many take him for.

Pain, Jonnee Kay?  Archons?  If you wish to cause pain, place the blame where it belongs.  I destroyed Cyan.  It was my hand that damaged her blade....

...a silvery sword lancing the air, slapped from it by an instant of terrifying force.  Hammered to the ground, it bounces once, and a rainbow ripple passes up the flat, stopping halfway up....

I cracked the blade, and the palanquet within.  The damage...feedback, what struck at Aaron.  Cyan held the blade, wore a palanquet of herself.  Unsheathed, Kirilindë oscillated more wildly due to the contact with Aaron and Cyan's attempt to summon a defense against...against...go, all of you, I will follow when...Heaven and Light, what have I done, what have I -

The drake's bridging shatters, splitting into a dozen voices, all clamoring and shifting too quickly to be comprehended fully.

...broken, and the vibration...why, why did I not...SHE WHO IS LIKE ME LOST...could not come in time, could not predict...(life) {ending/finished} and (who) must {take/seize} (blame/fault)...Cyan, Cyan, where are you...madness, madness and evil that I...shining/glorious (child/girl), never {sing/play}...pay, pay in blood and tears!...not like this, not with this pain in her...NO...again, the children...no...MY ANGEL...no...how could I do this...noNonoNO!

Silence.

The hilt of the sword slowly rises out of the crater, shard of the blade facing down, slowly rotating in the dim light.  Berd stares at it almost blankly.

Was (once/first) notenough/insufficient?  (Cyanfriend/daughtermine)...i/berd was not (here) for you....

The tarnished hilt floats closer, and Berd reaches out to grip it with his foretalons, closing them about the hilt.  One shred of blue silk flutters in the air, then wraps itself around the shattered blade.  The dragon holds the broken weapon close for a long moment, then begins an awkward, shuffling walk, his thin, keening cries like flawed crystal being rung.

A thin line in the sand trails him, the mark of Kirilindë's passage.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Devlin
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Devlin watches and listens to everyone. They are all very upset. Devlin is a bit upset himself but he did not know Cyan as they had. Berd seems most upset and as the drake wanders off through the sand he follows the creature.

"Did you not tell me not to blame myself because I was unable to carry Cyan to safety?" He says to the creature's back as he walks behind him. "You could no more see what was going to happen than I could, and you could no more have prevented it than did I. Sulking is not going to help us or bring Cyan back"

He continues to follow Berd for a step or two. "I did not know Cyan well, but I knew her well enough to know that what she wanted most was to stop the Archons. So, let us do so and give her death some meaning. As it is it already has a meaning. I think it was the feedback between the trump and her sword that destroyed that gate, and in doing that she most likely saved the rest of us, and delayed the atach on the world at its other end."

Devlin continues to walk behind the drake, refusing to leave the small creature alone.

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Aaron
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Aaron moved to Dorian, an unknown empathy suddenly brimming to life within him. He placed a hand on the man's shoulder as the sorcerer turned his back, Aaron standing somewhat behind him.

"Do not harden yourself. If you lose the feeling she gave you, you will be no better than..." he paused, emotion building in his voice. "..than the monsters we fight against."

His lone eye turned to glare at Berd.

"And you. You would wish that we would slay you now, wouldn't you? That would be just the gift we could give you, to release you from that pain. But I say such is a coward's demand, sinking in the hopelessness of loss and despair. I, for one, will destroy our enemies for bringing us to this end, and I will kill, Berd, yes, even so you can live on. So you can atone for the pain you have caused. For the pain you have caused me, I will see that you live on and on, not for my own desire, but so that others may live in the wake of peace you help create."

Aaron lowered his hand from Dorian's shoulder and turned, to stare at the tear in reality.

"Pain, death, destruction, woe, loss. We are men bound to such fates. Cyan may be dead, but she is... is still just as real to me now..."

Aaron clenched his fists, clenched them till the nails bit and drew blood. His voice hitched, uncontrollable.

"Damn you. Damn YOU for taking her from me," he hissed, his curse not directed at anyone in particular, his eye clenched as tightly as his fists.

Then, just as swiftly as his rage and emotion had come upon him, he swallowed it. He drove it down, deep into the coldness of his being, where he would forge it into a great an awesome weapon, a weapon of truth that would reveal all. At that moment, Aaron dedicated himself to his utmost desire.

Opening his eye and looking again towards the rift, Aaron nodded.

"So be it. Let us move. Let us get what we can and continue on. Now."

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Dorian
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"Do not placate him, Devlin," Dorian sneers. "It's as much his fault as it is yours. She is no more dead than we all will be if we do not do our job."

He spins on the pair, his black cloak flapping out into the wind behind him like the sail of a sleek ship. He scowls at Berd with loathing. "And you," his voice is full of broiling anger. "Pull yourself together, whelpling. Go ahead and make another one if you must, if it'll bring you back to your senses. Make an army of them; I don't care. We have no time for scrabbling around in the dirt. We must move."

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Re: Part 44 - Construct by Berd
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Berd struggles to ignore Devlin as he walks after James, but it's more than a little difficult.  The man is tenacious in his arguments, simply not letting the issue go.  Finally the little dragon stops, bowed more by the weight of Devlin's words than the hilt he bears.

Silently, he listens, then turns his dull gaze on Aaron as that man levels his condemnation.  The drake waits until Aaron finishes, then turns his head to stare at the rift.  Dorian's voice batters at his back like the wind whipping the dark man's cloak, but Berd does not turn.

When he finally speaks, it is with one voice, though whispers of confusion still echo behind it - the others, involved in their own, lost discussions.

My self-pity does no good.  Thank you, Devlin, for your perspective.  Perhaps...no, I doubt I will ever believe it, but your kindness is welcome.  Thank you, Aaron and Dorian, for giving me the mirror of your own selves.  I am sorry, to both of you, that I have not managed to hold myself up to the image you held of me.  Regrettably, that is not the worst of my sorrows at the moment...but there it is.  His dull eyes study the gate, before he drops the hilt to the sand, stepping onto it and hooking rear claws around the pommel.  Pausing, the little dragon looks back at Aaron and Dorian, then turns his eyes to Devlin for an instant.

Regardless of how correct he may in his assessment of myself, Devlin, Dorian should know you were not responsible in the slightest.  His anger merely seeks an outlet.  A measuring look toward the Dark Man, then Berd's wings fan up dust and he rises, hilt in claws, to glide after James.

I will assist James examining the ruins.

Settling to the ground beside the man, Berd clumsily begins his walk again, struggling to find some way to balance the hilt while keeping up with the silent man.  He finds it, using his tail and one foreclaw while limping on three legs.

This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 16:17, Wed 11 Jan 2006.