Session Start: Sat Feb 14 19:07:40 2009
Session Ident: #castlevania
<Holmes> [With a burst of air and a hint of ozone, Theodore, Olivia
and Biff appear about one-tenth of a mile outside of Stavograd.  They
are standing in a wide plain and the city looms to the west.]
* Olivia sees her distance, and then exhales noisily and says,
"Teleportation protection. Far more trouble than it's worth."
* Olivia quickly ponders the options, then drops into a dead sprint,
Biff on her shoulder, saying, "Move as fast as you can! Kinda need
you to get back in time."
<Holmes> [Theodore floats into the air several feet and flies along
with Olivia.]
<Holmes> [After several minutes, the trio reaches the southern gate
of Stavograd.  The guards, some of them veterans of the seige of
Stavograd, waive them through without incident.]
<Demota> Whew.
<Olivia> (Wrong name, wrong place!)
* Olivia waves, and breathes out, "Pelorian Contact! Really need to
talk!"
* Olivia continues running, and lets Biff guide her that way anyway.
If they can speed it up for her, hey, all the better.
<Holmes> [The guards point toward the center of the southern quarter
of the city.  After the seige, the main body of the city was largly
abandoned and the older southern quarter became the de facto city
center once again.]
<Holmes> [The trio races onward.  After a few more precious minutes,
they reach a taller building in the center of the old quarter at a
crossroads.  Markets and eateries bracket the building on the square
and foot traffic is consistent.  Guards and workers file into and out
of this apparent town hall constantly.]
<Holmes> [Two guards stand watch at the front doors.]
* Olivia slows as she approaches, saying, "Pelorian Contact please!"
<Holmes> Guard: "Sorry miss, court's in session.  You'll have to go
inside and wait your turn like everyone else."
* Olivia stares at him, then snaps, "We don't have time for this!"
She heads inside, yelling loudly, "Lifebreak is about to be taken and
destroyed by the Damacine Golem. I come from the Boccobite Contact
and I will speak with the Pelorian Contact NOW."
<Holmes> [Olivia walks into the entryway of the town hall like she
owns the place, only to be told by a passerby that the Contact is in
an audience chamber down the hall and to the right.  At a brisk walk,
the party is there in a matter of seconds.  Within the audience
chamber, the Contact sits in a large, high-backed chair at the far
end of the room with a set of large windows behind him.]
<Holmes> [City officers and petitioners file into the room from one
end, wait their turn, state their question or complaint and file out
at the other end.]
<Holmes> [The Pelorian contact looks far older than Theodore
remembers but still carries himself with ease and vitality.  The
other two have never met this being and study him intently before
advancing.]
* Olivia breathes heavily as she stalks in. Maybe she does own
the--okay, probably not.
* Olivia then sighs, before loudly saying, "Contact, I'm... sorry for
the haste and impudence, but we really... need the red stone that was
brought to you earlier. Damacine Golem. Bad... things."
* Olivia murmurs, with a wan smile, "Excuse me," as she slips by
people to get up closer to the contact.
<Holmes> [The Contact looks at Olivia intently as the petitioner
before him tries to continue.]
<Holmes> Contact: "Who are you?  What are you saying about a red
stone and a golem?"
* Olivia puts her hand to the petitioner's shoulder and says quietly,
"Your goats will wait," before meeting the Contact's eyes. After a
moment, she gestures to Theodore and says, "We're... from Natalia and
Charlotte's party... she's one of yours, right?"
* Olivia puts her hand to her chest and continues, "Black stone and
red stone gotten together, I think. Need the red one now. Damacine
Golem resurrection in Lifebreak."
<Holmes> Contact: "Yes... I see.  And Theodore, that mage from
Kronnenburg, is with you."
<Holmes> Contact: "Please try to breathe.  I know about the troubles
in Lifebreak.  You say the Golem is awake?"
* Olivia nods.
<Holmes> Contact: "How will the stones help?"
* Olivia replies, hand still on her chest, "Red Stone... we think it
has powerful anti-magic capabilities if properly used..."
<Holmes> Contact: "It does."
* Olivia nods and says, "We... we think it is the only way to hurt
the Golem... the others are holding it now, but..."
<Holmes> Contact: "We haven't much time and the fate of the world is
at stake?"
* Olivia manages a faint smile. "Cliche aside, yes."
<Olivia> I've had... too many cliches for one lifetime...
<Holmes> Contact: "You aren't the first adventurers I've dealt
with..."
<Holmes> Contact: "How will you get it to Lifebreak in time?"
* Olivia replies, "It... didn't affect the black stone... there has
to be a way to configure it... and I know how to make artifacts do
what I want."
* Olivia licks her lips and adds, "But if you've got a faster idea, I
won't complain..."
<Holmes> Contact: "I want this court cleared now."  [He gestures and
the guards start to lead petitioners away with no lack of complaints
and groans.  The petitioner there about her goat is flatly stunned by
this turn of events.]
* Olivia turns to them and turns on a suddenly brilliant smile,
saying, "I'm sure all your concerns will eventually be addressed."
<Holmes> Contact: "You want the red stone so you can try to kill of
the Golem.  You can have it.  I still don't know how you are going to
reach Lifebreak in time, however."
* Olivia turns back to the Contact after smoothing things out, and
says quietly, "... because sometimes, Contact, you have to."
<Holmes> Contact: "We have studied the red and black stones
extensively and we have yet to suppress the red stone's effects
without the presence of the black."
* Olivia scrunches up her face a moment, then says, "And taking both
would be a problem?"
<Holmes> Contact: "The Seven Temples set up this facility in
Stavograd specifically to keep the black stone at a neutral third
party location."
* Olivia smiles wanly. "And I suppose if I pledged to return it
immediately, it would not be enough."
<Holmes> Contact: "Much too late, we realized why Gregor left it
behind for us to find.  It infects all of those in its proximity with
the taint of his demiplane.  Its a forerunner to the southern jungle
plague.  It is also too powerful to simply abandon or hide somewhere.
We staffed this city with volunteers and infected.  Now, you would
spread Gregor's influence to Lifebreak."
* Olivia snaps her fingers and puts her fingers to her temple.
"Right, right."
<Olivia> So... what if we took the red stone with the black stone
right next to it, and just teleported from there?
<Olivia> Leaving one here and the other there?
<Holmes> Contact: "I am not certain that would work.  It may cause
the teleportation to fail on exit.  I have no idea where you would be
sent."
* Olivia says, after a moment of thinking, "Well, can you bring them
here, please? We're running out of time and if I can make the Red
Stone work for me, all the problems melt away. If not..."
<Olivia> Well, I wouldn't want to break your truce.
<Holmes> [The Contact stands and produces the two stones from his
robes, holding one in each hand.]  "I take my job rather seriously."
* Olivia looks at them, then looks up and smiles faintly. "As do I,
Contact. As do I." And to show it, she pulls a whole bunch of books
from her pack, all bound together, and puts them on the ground before
taking the Red Stone.
* Olivia flips through her oddly named books incredibly rapidly, like
she knows them as the back of her hand. Why would she have something
called 'Anarchist's Cookbook'? And then, finally, she concentrates,
hard, both hands on the wheel (as it were.)
<Holmes> [Olivia places her hands around the red stone and
concentrates.  She focuses on the wild potential of the black stone
and its power in overrunning even an antimagic field.  As she pushes,
she feels the solidity of the red stone.  She feels it's weight grow
as the Pelorian Contact begins to walk away.  By the time he is at
the far edge of the room, the red stone is at it's height.]
<Holmes> [Theodore drops to the ground roughly.  The iron law of the
stone, its sense of nullity and hollowness clamp down on Olivia and
threaten to burn out her magic forever.  She resists, if barely and
forces the stone's power to cower at the presence of a second black
stone - Olivia herself.  How long can she manage this?]
* Olivia breathes in roughly, clearly pressed, as she aligns herself
like that. Her skin actually wavers slightly, eerily, before she
intones in a very tense voice, "Get the books Biff. Theodore, take us
out of here... now..."
* Olivia 's eyes do not even flick to the Contact to acknowledge or
thank him, lest the effort cause her to lose her battle.
<Holmes> [As Biff paws the books into the bag and Theodore steps
between them, Olivia's nose begins to bleed and her fingers begin to
smolder.]
<Holmes> [Fine a bound, Biff is on Theodore's shoulder and the trio
vanishes is a burst of smoke.]
* Olivia 's skin shimmers moreso, actually getting paler as she holds
herself, the crimson blood standing out brightly. When they
disappear, she leaves a few drops of her blood on the chamber floor.
<Holmes> [The trio reappears in the sewer under the central tower of
the city of Lifebreak.  Overall, nearly eight minutes have passed.]
<Holmes> [SHIFT BACK EIGHT MINUTES.]
<Holmes> [The party, sans Theodore, Biff and Olivia, stand with His
Emminent Remains facing the giant Damacine Golem.  The party is on
the "roof" of a cube shaped vault.  The far side of the roof is
shattered and the seventy foot tall Golem can be seen within.]
<Holmes> [What few spiders remain have begun to retreat and flee
towards the surface.]
* Nyyx gets ready to distract and hopefully evade a golem.
* Charlotte darts around the room firing arrows at the giant column.
A few bite.
<Holmes> [Two of the arrows impact on the creature's face and
shoulders leaving smoldering divits.]
* Nyyx swoops off the top of the cubic vault and speeds off, away
from the golem.
* Roland grabs an amulet and does something magical, causing a huge
scorpion to appear between them and the golem. Dwarfed by the golem,
but perhaps an effective roadblock.
<Holmes> [The Damacine Golem reaches two arms up and grips the edge
of the vault.  With little apparent effort, the creature hefts itself
up and over the edge of the vault and brings itself to a standing
position in front of the party.  The Golem is a spectacle of various
metal alloys crafted into the form of a humanoid.  It stoops over the
party, it's shoulders nearly brushing the ceiling above.]
<Holmes> [The scorpion swipes at the giant's heel, scraping chitin on
steel.]
<Holmes> [The Golem raises a huge foot and brings it down on the
scorpion, damaging it badly as it slides wide.]
* Roland 's scorpion screeches, before claw-claw-tailing back. In the
meantime, he makes another gesture, and an elemental of earth comes
into being!
* Nyyx continues flying off in the opposite direction from the golem.
<Holmes> [Nyyx finds herself floating near the far wall of the
chamber close to the breach that allowed the party into the vault
room in the first place.]
<Holmes> [PAUSE]
Session Close: Sat Feb 14 22:15:48 2009