[ We find Our Heroes standing on one side of a portal! On the other side, you think you see a winged figure falling to the ground. ] [ Session Start! ] * HKenji leaps straight through the portal, past everybody, in a flash of gold and brown. * Max kneels, leaning forward on his hands, on his floating book, and peers through thick glasses at the portal. "Well, here goes!" His book jets forward after Kenji. Sey! * Tia speeds through the portal. ... oh, I just know I'm gonna regret this. [ Kenji's leap takes him far, because he's badass like that. Alcinoe is running right after him, but she stops and slumps over after stomping on something that goes 'click'. ] ... shit. Will! Over here. * Patrick runs in as well. * Istvan runs over to Alci. * Will runs in as fast as he can. [ Meanwhile, a robed figure walks over to where the winged figure fell and stoops down for a moment. ] [ Kenji makes good time, but Patrick bounds ahead of him. Will isn't so quick, however. Tia's just damn fast. ] [ Max keeps up just fine with Patrick or Kenji, whichever he elects to follow. ] * Patrick snaps and his bow appears in his hand. He sprints torwards Seylin (Or at least he thinks it's Sey) and knocks an arrow in one smooth motion. * Will runs towards Alci as well, hoping for the best. * Max floats alonge behind Tia and gestures madly while uttering a spell, ending with an outstretched hand towards the robed figure, yelling "WEB!" [ The robed figure finishes healing Seylin and her eyes blink open. Patrick reaches him first, slamming into an invisible wall. ] [ Alci seems to be paralyzed. Her lungs are working fine, and apparently her heart is, too, but the rest of her muscles are on strike just now. ] Think she's okay, Will. Musta been some kinda paralyzin' trap. * Patrick oofs as he hits it and swears. Pausing for a moment to survey the situation, he smirks at the figure. "So, what's going on?" * Seylin opens her eyes, sees Patrick hit the wall, and sits bolt upright. "No!" Sey! Are you okay? * Will looks concerned. "She'll be fine right, Isty?" I dunno. You're the healer, not me. But she's breathin', and her pulse seems fine. * Seylin blinks. "Tia? What are you doing here?" * Max floats over, and pokes the wall. "...oh." I didn't wanna miss out on the fun! * Will nods and kneels down by Alci to ascertain her condition. * Tia grins tentatively, but her spirits seemed just a tad damped by the serious-seeming situation. She got done with her family visit. Now, what are you doing on the other side of that wall? You had me scared here. ^_^; * HKenji skids to a stop just behind Patrick. * Seylin shakes her head sadly. "I'm sorry." * Tia blinks. "What's going on?" [ The figure smiles at Patrick - with one side of his wrinkled face. The other side is terribly scarred, giving him the impression of a permanent sneer. "Why, we're just going to have a talk, that's all. You can handle that, I'm sure, Patrick." ] Check on her, Will. I'm gonna go see what's up with Seylin. * Max pushes his glasses up his nose. "Who's that?" he asks the people on his side of the Wall, pointing at robed-guy. * Will nods. "I'll catch up as soon as I can." Fine. YOu want to talk, let's talk. * Istvan catches up with the others... and bumps into the invisible wall. "... ow. The heck? * Patrick lowers his bow, but doesn't unnock it. "I'm listening." * Tia turns to Max. "I don't know 'im." * Seylin wonders who Max is, too, but she's got more important things to worry about. Like being on the wrong side of the invisible wall. [ Webs come up to grab Seylin and the figure, the latter of whom keeps smiling. "Now, now, little halfling. No need for that. And yes, Kenji, let's talk. You and I have business." ] ...Business? What's he mean, Kenji? * Seylin is entangled by webs. She tries to point at Max, but fails. "Guys, behind you!" * Tia jumps and whirls around. Huh? I don't know what he means. Well, I don't know what you're doing with my friend in there. Well, soon-to-be-friend, but I know her by reputation. And my other new friends don't seem to trust you, so please bear with me. *pushes his glasses up his nose again* * Patrick doesn't even bother turning around. "He's just trigger happy." * HKenji trusts his companions to deal with whatever is behind them. A sorceror! ...wait, he's with *you*? * Istvan rubs his forehead. "Yeah. Seylin, Max. Ariake's replacement." * Tia sees noone and turns back around to face Seylin and the robed figure. "Oh, uh, Max, you mean? He's our friend!" She attempts another smile. Replacement?! What happened to Ariake? * Tia shakes her head. Research project. You know how she is with that. * Patrick smirks. So, uh, Sey, who's -your- new friend? Oh, right. I missed a lot, looks like. But now isn't the time to catch up on things. * Max , as Seylin gets a better look, is a halfling in heavy glasses and mage's robes. And he's sitting on an open, over sized spellbook that is floating in mid-air. [ "Dear, dear Tia. Kenji doesn't know, either. He is waiting for me to tell him, and I... I am waiting for the other conversation to end." ] Oh, guys, Alci's out cold. Paralyzin' trap. I'm done. Sorry. Oh, Ariake's an old friend of mine! She's got a research opportunity, so I'm helping out here. This is much more interesting than teaching my classes, anyway. ^_^ * Seylin stands up and walks over to the wall, putting one hand out to touch it. * Tia blinks at the robed guy. "You know me? Are you from our school, Mr. Robed Man?" [ "Oh, the trap. I'd forgotten about it. Ah well, she'll just be unable to say anything stupid while we talk." ] * Tia looks awfully confused. [ "And I don't know any of you directly, but I have been watching you closely ever since you killed my son. He had something that he stole from me, and now you have it." ] Huh? * Patrick raises an eyebrow. "Heh. You mean him?" Hm? Sorry, as you've deduced, I'm new here. Who's your son, what did he take, and are you sure we've got it? * Tia tugs on Kenji's sleeve. "Who's his son, Kenji? I don't remember killing anyone's son..." * Seylin pales as she realizes exactly who that was. * HKenji looks unimpressed. [ The man just smiles, evidently waiting for you all to puzzle it out. ] Let me guess. Somehow I pictured you as rather larger. ...I don't get it. Ganache, and you want that freaky cone that we found from him. ...Ganache? The nasty ol' dragon that said bad things 'bout my mama? * Seylin wipes the last of the webs off her. Yes. * Istvan facepalms. Then realizes he's wearing Ganache-skin armor. He facepalms again. * Seylin nods. Oh. What kind of dragon? Fire. Red. [ "Exactly, Patrick. And yes, I do. There are poeple out there that I'd rather not have the thing, honestly. Ironically, they are not the ones who have it now." ] * Tia frowns. "You shoulda told him not to say bad things about people's mamas, Mr. Robed Man. That wasn't very nice of him." Well, then, is all satisfactory, then? [ "Now, whyever would I raise a child to have manners? Such a waste of time, manners." ] * Tia 's eyes widen. "What's so bad about manners?" * Max turns to a new page in his book, and begins scribbling some notes again. He's evil, Tia. Evil people don't like manners. Not entirely true. *Some* evil people don't like manners. Some good people don't either. It doesn't matter, really. * Tia blinks. "Mr. Robed Man is evil?" ... point. I didn't know red dragons raised their children at all. *scribble, push up glasses, scribble* What else do you have to say, Mr... * Seylin looks really, really upset now. * Tia finishes Patrick's sentence helpfully, "...Robed Man!" And can we have our winged friend back now? It'll be easier to keep our minds on what we're discussing if we're not worried about her being seperated from us. Um, Mr. Robed Man, we're sorry about Ganache, but can we have Sey back? ...Please? Well, at least Tia knows her manners. ^_^ *pushes his glasses up his nose once more, and peers at Ganache's daddy* [ "Oh, no. I'm keeping her here as... incentive, I suppose? How can you refuse to at least consider the offer while your friend is here alone with a red dragon?" ] * Seylin hangs her head. "I'm so sorry, guys." Don't worry, Sey! We'll getcha out! *shrug* I'm always willing to consider things. Just don't like it when people try to blackmail or extort. And hostage-holding is downright impolite. But, as you said, you do not care about manners. So... *shrug, smile myopically* State your business, wyrm. * Istvan keeps silent. This situations requires a careful, delicate touch, which he utterly lacks. Plus, his armor. * Patrick grins. "Very well, if that's the way you want to play." What's your offer anyway, Mr. Robed Man? [ "I already have. I wish you to return that which my son took from me. Oh, I suppose I might give you something for it. It is important, after all. I can't lie to you about that." ] What's it do? * Tia tugs on Kenji's sleeve. "What's he talking about, Kenji?" * HKenji looks at Seylin. [ "The others can tell you that, halfling. They've heard the speech before, I'm sure, when they were in the Loremaster's tower." ] * Seylin doesn't look back at Kenji. You can tell that she's crying now. Do we even have it with us? No. We do not. Of course not. The dragon likely knows that if I agree, I will ensure that my word is kept. * Tia digs around in her bag until she pulls out a large star sapphire, which she holds out to show the robed dragon. "Um, you mean this? I got this from Ganache." [ "As for me, I am... the third option, I suppose, in things to come. If the artifact comes under my care once more, I can promise it won't be used by... 'the forces of evil'. Gods below, that sounds so cliche'." ] There's something to be said for a good cliche` every now and again. * Istvan turns back to Tia. "Not that. Remember the cone?" * Tia thinks awhile, then shakes her head. "What cone?" [ "No. Valuable as that is, Tia, it is not what I seek. You may keep it. It'll make a nice brooch, or something." ] There was a cone. Big magic. He wants it. * Tia nods to the robed man and pockets the gem. "Okay." There was a big magic cone? Oh! That! * Patrick discreetly checks his pockets. "Mmmhmm." * Max looks between his party and the strangely polite Red Dragon curiously. [ "Now, Kenji, I know this is hard on you, but consider that you don't have to make a decision just now. You're honestly not prepared, and I have no interest in informing you." ] * HKenji is silent and utterly motionless, left hand on his katana, right hand slack. [ "I want you to consider giving the artifact - and any more pieces you find - to me. I don't expect your fragile mind to make a decision on the spot. Just consider it, in the future." ] Perhaps if we knew what you planned to do with it, such decisions would be easier. [ "If you refuse to consider my proposal, I will kill dear, sweet Seylin. If you consider my proposal and reject it in the future - well, we'll see what happens, yes?" ] Oh. Hm. *looks to Kenji and the others, since it's not really the new-come halfling's decision to make* * Tia jumps. "You wouldn't! I mean, you wouldn't....would you?" Tia frets. Of course he would. He's got no reason to lie about it. * Patrick side-glances at Kenji, then back at the dragon. * Tia 's wings quiver, and she whines softly. * Seylin rests her head against the wall. I will give you... proposal... all the consideration it is due, Dragon. * Max taps his quill against his lip, eyeing Kenji through his glasses before looking back at the dragon. [ "I most certainly would, Tia. And Kenji, you and I know that you don't consider my proposal to be due anything. I want better than that." ] * Tia struggles in vain against the invisible wall. [ "I would keep it safe. I have defied her this long... what is another few decades?" ] * Max floats behind Tia's head, and pats her gently. "Hush, little one. You'll only hurt yourself." * Tia reluctantly calms down and resumes whining. She takes Mr. Teddy from her back and buries her face in his fur. Very well, Dragon. I will... consider your proposal. * Istvan steps up behind Kenji, and speaks softish. "Right choice. Only choice, really." Shut up, Istvan. * Istvan scowls, but does so. * Max, meanwhile, pulls out some chalk and tests it on the wall of force. * Tia replaces Mr. Teddy on her back as curiosity overcomes her unease. Following Max's example, she begins making faces at Seylin and her captor against the invisible wall. [ Max fails to write on the wall. The dragon keeps smiling. "Very good, Kenji. You'll know when to consider, I'm sure. And you'll know where to find me." ] * Seylin looks up, her face tear-streaked, and starts giggling at Tia. She can't help it. * Max shrugs and puts the chalk away. * Tia grins at Seylin as reassuringly as she can and mouths to her, "We'll save you!" [ The dragon sighs. "Oh, where has my youth gone? It used to be I'd have kept your friend here until you came back to me with that which I seek. Not a bad deal for me, really." ] But that ain't what you're gonna do. * Tia straightens. "So we can have her back?" she asks hopefully. Please? * Tia nods emphatically. "Please?" * Max makes a few more notes while waiting for the dragon to make up his mind. [ "No, it's not. This will be far too interesting, I think. I might drop in once in a while to offer reminders. We shall see. And the wall is gone now. Or couldn't you tell?" ] Nope! Couldn't! Oh! * Tia walks experimentally forward. * Seylin reaches out just to make sure. Before you go, Mr. Dragon...one question. Do you play Chess? * Patrick moves quickly over to Seylin and gives her a big hug. * Seylin hugs Patrick tightly. * Tia envelopes both Patrick and Seylin in a bigger hug. Yay! * Seylin hugs Tia, too, to the best of her ability. I'm so sorry! * Tia looks up at the dragon. "Thanks, Mr. Robed Man!" * Istvan smiles thinly at Sey/Pat/Tia, then looks back at Will. "How's Alci?" [ "Why, yes, I do. I don't fancy a game now, however, and you've got a dungeon to purge of undead." ] It's okay, Sey. We're just glad to have you back! * HKenji turns his back on the Touching Scene (TM) and walks straight back out the portal. Kenjiii! Wait for us! * Seylin says, so quietly that probably only Patrick hears, "Yeah. He definitely must hate me now." Oh, of course not. Just something I've always wondered. Maybe we can discuss it further when next you show up, since you said you would. Bye. *writes a final note in his book, then floats over to Seylin* * Tia lifts both Seylin and Patrick bodily and runs out after Kenji. Whoa! Bye, Mr. Robed Man! Hi! I'm Max, and I'll be your wizard for the forseeable future. Pleased to meet you, and sorry about the troublesome situation in which it happened. ^^; *holds out his little hand to shake* He hates himself for letting this happen. * Patrick spoke that in a hushed tone, too. * Max is, obviously, floating along in pace wiht Tia as he does this introduction to Sey. * Tia looks at the dragon just one more time before she runs pellmell through the portal. * Seylin is carried along and talked to be several people, but she manages to shake Max's hand, albeit somewhat distractedly, tell him that it's okay, and give Patrick a small shrug. * Patrick is carried through the portal too. He shrugs back and smirks to Seylin. * Max floats along through the portal almost without noticing. And follows a bit, waiting for things to calm a bit. He's obviously got something he's waiting to say or ask. * Istvan walks over to Alci, hefts her over one shoulder, and heads for the portal gate. "How is she, Will?" * Tia continues running after Kenji. "Hey, Kenji! Wait for us! Where're you going?" * Will shakes his head sadly. "Nothing I've tried has woken her up. I've even tried dumping water over her head to no avail." I'm going to kill some undead, Tia. Don't worry 'bout it. That's gotta be one old-ass dragon, if he's Ganache's father. Powerful magic. Hey, Tia? Mind putting Sey and I down? And Kenji, we might wanna wait until Alci wakes up. Oh, sorry, Patrick! Sure! * Tia gently places both Patrick and Seylin on their feet before catching up to Kenji. "I wanna go too!" * HKenji looks down at Alcinoe's body and coldly concedes the point. "Perhaps." [ Alci's hair is wet. ] * Seylin is set down. She still looks mostly upset. * Tia wags her tail hopefully. * Patrick is set down as well, his arm around Seylin's shoulders. * Max floats down to look at Alcinoe, too, but not close enough to be in the way. "The dragon said she'd be okay in time, I think." * Istvan sets Alci down. "Magic's more powerful than Will can deal with, and... yeah, what Max said." * Seylin leans her head against Patrick. Flying into invisible walls and then being held hostage by a red dragon takes a lot out of you. Besides, I think we need some time to cool down 'fore we go explorin' any more. *throat-clearing noise* So, um. *push up his glasses* Mind telling me what the dragon wants, now? What it does and stuff? * Will nods and sits down next to Alci's limp figure. We've got a few minutes, at least...and I do so hate being left out of secrets. A cone-thing! He wants a cone-thing. * Patrick is idly looking away like he's talking to someone. Gee, I wonder what's going on between him and Seylin. :P * Max closes his book and sits cross-legged on it. How he manages this while sitting on it in the first place is a mystery. Cone thingy. Part of a bigger magic artifact. Bigass magic. And what does it do? * Max seems a might more serious than he was when talking to the dragon. A bit more focused. It attracts armies full of evil creatures from the Shadowlands, mostly. Part we had is supposed to basically nullify magic or somethin'. But it doesn't work 'thout the other parts. * Tia nods emphatically. "Yup!" Forget what the whole thing was supposed to do, honestly. Oh. *abosrbs this, then asks another question* Who's the "she" he said he'd been defying for years? Dunno. *looks at Kenji* Blue Dragon bitch? No... I doubt it. A red wouldn't fear a blue. *shakes his head* Not even if it were sensible to do so. Mmm. Then I got no clue. What are the other two options, if he considers himself the third? Use it for good, give it to the bad guys. Like the Blue Dragon bitch, or the mysterious 'she'. * HKenji stares off into the as-yet unexplored bits of the dungeon. He swears he won't use it "for evil". Whether we can trust him or not aside, have you any inkling what his purpose with it might be? Who knows? Personal power? Vanity? Barter? He's a red dragon. They're about as trustworthy as a chaos beast. Him, for one. But he didn't seem to want to share. *shrug* Okay. Obviously, giving it to him is not a good idea at the moment. I imagine he offered this bargain at the cheap price of being open to the idea of giving it to him at some future point for a reason. Piece is useless. Whole this is supposed to be ridiculously powerful. Why do the work himself if he can make us do it? I imagine he forsees a strugle for the doohicky. As he said it was not in hands he minded it being in - i.e. yours...ours, I suppose, since I'm with you now - right now, I imagine he must think we'll be put in a position where either our hands become undesireable from his perspective, or where we won't be able to keep it ourselves. Or both. * Tia wanders about idly. * Seylin listens intently. Don't matter. Kenji promised to consider it. *eyes Kenji* Kenji's dead serious about honor, so he'll consider it fairly. But if he doesn't have it, he can't give it. I suppose the consideration we should give is to determine if there is any circumstance where entrusting it to him and his not-so- trustworthy word is better than trying to keep it ourselves. IT would come down to a matter of choice of guardian, I imagine. ... which leaves the issue of how ta deal with an unhappy red dragon old enough to have fathered Ganache. But we'll blow that bridge when we come to it. * HKenji snorts. * Seylin looks nervous. m'serious, Kenji. Let's say we find another piece. We should figure out a way to be able to immediately teleport it back to the Headmistress for safekeeping... s'gotta be some kinda magic thingee that can do that. Or someone. * Patrick glances at Max. * Tia sits at the edge of the group, absently wagging her tail and humming Ganache's song. The matter is done, for now. That way, if the dragon comes askin', and you, after considerin', find you got no choice but to agree, it's all irrelevant, 'cause you ain't got it. Put it out of your mind. Hm...I could look for a portable Gate or research a spell for just that purpose, but it would take some work. Or you could teleport it. * Istvan rubs his temples. "Yer right. Ain't got another piece, ain't got one in sight, so there ain't no use worrying about it now. Maybe talk with the Headmistress when we get back? ... without me. Doubt she wantsta see me." I could...I'll have to keep one in my repretoir every day, but that's not a problem. I just hope I remember the Headmister--nah, I'll 'port back to my office, and hoof it from there. So, what do you think the odds that Dragon was scrying us the entire time are? He was. He said so. Anyway, we have some nasty rotting corpses we need to convince are dead, don't we? *looks down at Alcinoe* Sheeze, she's sleeping a while. Stinky dead people! * Will nods. "That must of been one powerful spell." Big dragon, big magic. * Patrick whispers to Seylin. Everyone try'n relax. We ain't movin' 'till Alci wakes up, and that might be a while. * Seylin nods. * Max blinks, and looks belatedly at Istvan. "Oh, she's probably forgotten about that by now. I mean, how long can you hold a grudge for such a little thing?" * Tia nods too. Alci's just sleeping, right? I think so Tia. She should be fine....I hope. Dunno. Don't think I wanna find out. Unless the guy chose a wierd thing to lie about, she will be just fine. * Tia nods. "Okay! Don't want her to miss out on the fun when we go hit the bad people." She grins widely. [ And so then Alci woke up and they went to explore the dungeon. Session End! ]