Shipwreck is a cheerily deadly place. There's a vague line between what's "inside" and "outside," as most of the identifiable buildings are just formed from the broken-open shell of a wrecked skyship, often with one side left wide open to the air, save some cobbled-together barricades and a roof extension. The constant imposition of barricades here and there results in a zig-zagged path to get anywhere, but it serves a useful purpose in limiting "line of sight": it reduces the chance of getting hit by stray shots or other unpleasant projectiles from distant places (and given the peculiar gravity, that could come from just about any direction).\par
One slight benefit of the fact that this is a lawless land is that walking about in Empire uniforms doesn't draw an immediate hostile reaction (nor does it seem that being Light-affiliated guarantees hostilities either). Captain Randall has succeeded in negotiating the services of a business that specializes in refitting ships in new regalia, by processes left inspecific, and as a bonus, uniform patches can be updated as well. No estimate is given on how long this will take; the topic of specific amounts of time for such things is conspicuously and stubbornly avoided in conversation.\par
So, while work is being done on the ship, and Mara and RIU keep watch over the new "guest," the humanoid crew of the Ozymandias sets out in one of the ship's longboats (recently restored at Tesliem). \par
The smaller craft has its own "miniature" engine (which takes up at least as much space as the crew and cargo area) and luminescent red spined sails; despite the bulk of the engine, it's still much better than the Ozymandias could ever be at navigating the outer maze of the boardwalk.\par
After a while of asking around and browsing in the dockside bazaar, it becomes evident just how truly spread-out this place is: just circling the entirety of Shipwreck in the Ozymandias (with its recently restored engines) would take an entire day and night.\par
Fortunately, just about everything one could hope to shop for (to be found in Shipwreck, anyway) is right there at the harbor: purloined consignments of cargo, provisions, gunpowder, rum, grog, ale, wine, cutlasses, flintlock pistols, navigational equipment, tricorn hats, frilly shirts, dressed with corsets, and so forth.\par
Sorceress Holly, mindful that her nice protective robes have a distinctly Imperial look, visits a tailor's shop in hopes of finding new clothes. She certainly does that, but also finds that for a "modest" fee (those crystals are accepted currency here), she can get her magical robes altered. \par
While that's being done, Holly manages to bargain for herself an entire wardrobe (that is, a collection of clothes actually contained within a large cherry-wood wardrobe). This includes an assortment of boots, belts, blouses, pantaloons, skirts, vests, simple articles of jewelry and so forth, but she also picks up some formal noble's attire and a rather uncomfortable dress (going under the operating idea that true noblewomen are either masochistic or married to sadists, and hence cannot get by without a corset).\par
Amazingly, she's able to find flattering styles that fit, though she has to weather the reflexive tendency of Jason "Drachehand" to offer withering commentary on everything.\par
On the other hand, she finds it frustratingly difficult to find a supply of toiletries, since such things are not in common use among pirates. (The popular shortcut for deodorant, for those who bother, is a quick splash of alcohol under the arms.) In the end, she ends up buying an entire dresser set with ornate woodwork and dressing mirror - which happens to have a wide assortment of beauty accessories (many magical in nature). Even with the fee to have it all delivered to the Ozymandias (and there's no haggling on that part), she manages to come away with barely a dent in her supply of glowing crystal money.\par
Captain Randall, by comparison, is quite the spendthrift - he rationalizes that these glowing crystals have no inherent value, save to be exchanged for goods that can aid in survival until they can reach the real world - so there's not much point in being overly frugal with them. \par
He decides to go for the more "piratey" look, and Akiko helps him pick out a full captain's outfit, with a protective captain's longcoat. This is no normal attire: it's enchanted, and the hallmark of magic is present in glowing "gemstones" and embroidered sigils.\par
Randall is given some prices for the values of various enchantments, and he finds to his surprise that the shop has clothes in just about every combination of enchantments he can think of - and still in his size, in the style he was interested in, with only slight variations between each one (as there is a complex interrelationship between color and positioning of gemstones and "runes" - such that a skilled observer might be able to identify the enchantments by appearance). \par
He experiments a little, taking careful notes of certain distinguishing features of the clothing, and confirms his suspicions as best he can: When the proprietor goes to the back room to bring back a "different" set of clothing with a different set of enchantments, it would seem that it's really the same set of clothes - except that colors have changed, the trim is a little different, gems have moved around, and embroidery has been altered. \par
The back room is something of a "black box," and even with his slick talk, he's unable to negotiate permission to look back there. It seems that the universe doesn't conjure up new stock out of the thin air, but it's not above tweaking the details a bit (mix and match a few threads here, change some colors there, and add a different "enchantment") to better facilitate "user-friendliness" when shopping.\par
At Randall's encouragement, Akiko shops for some attire as well. Clothing with at least one enchantment benefits from the "one-size-fits-all" rule, of special value to a shapeshifter. The particulars of the enchantments can also lend credence to any stories they come up with to explain Akiko's presence - for instance, a token boost to Stealth here to suggest she's a roguish type. At first, she is fairly frugal, since she hasn't any money of her own to spend, but once Randall makes it clear that he doesn't feel the least bit shorted for footing the bill, she takes to the task more enthusiastically. \par
By the end of the spree, Akiko has a flamboyant outfit of fantasy pirate armor, with enchantments to keep her from tripping over herself in it, and to blend in with the shadows - as well as to magically extend the armor's protection over areas it doesn't physically cover. (She declines to go the "chainmail bikini" route, however.)\par
Jason is rather frugal, though he can't resist the call of a sleek, dark and sinister-looking longcoat of protection (lightweight enchantment, of course, since it'd be pretty heavy otherwise and he's slight of build). \par
He also does some asking around in even shadier quarters than usual, and finds a mysterious shopkeeper who has various magical knickknacks, including a Magical Key Ring of Opening - and he has an array of padlocks to demonstrate its properties (it even allows the unlocking of purely magical barriers). It seems a steal, so Jason forks over the crystals, and takes the key ring, then rushes off to meet up with the others.\par
Back in the main winding throughway of the bazaar, Jason, Holly, Randall and Akiko meet up gain, taking inventory of their respective acquisitions. \par
After asking around, Jason has a lead on some crazy old "aether witch" who might be able to help predict the flows of aether and provide them with advantageous courses to other shards ... for a nominal fee. \par
Randall has a lead on an adventurer known as "Tracer of House Trudeau," who operates out of the darkened shard of Ithalbar. Word is she's been asking around, and was in Shipwreck "not too long ago." (Frustratingly, no specifics are given on time, as usual.)\par
*** Note to Editor: Jason doesn't always make comments.
Jason manages to not comment on Akiko's lack of a chain mail bikini and instead gets down to business. "We have two issues. One, where we go next. Two, what we do with our 'Guest General'. I'm assuming Holly will want to go to Ithalbar," he says.
"So how do I look?" The dashing young Hispanic 'pirate captain' twirls once to show off his attire, Imperial captain's hat jaunty over a neck cravat and light golden shirt, beneath a sturdy-looking captain's longcoat that is dark blue with golden trim. A cutlass rests on one hip, just the hilt peeping out, the pommel crafted to look like the business end of an old-style key.
Akiko blushes faintly, adjusting a sash she's wrapped around her waist. "I swear, before I put this armor on, it did not expose my belly! Stupid enchantment. Seriously, if it weren't for magic, fantasy woman warriors would all get disemboweled in short order...."
"You look dashing," Holly comments dryly to Ranall. "And yes, I vote we head for Ithalbar. As for the General.. uh.. hmm."
Randall pats Akiko on the shoulder, "Fortuituously, you carry the look well, m'lady. As for Tracer, well, I've got an idea..."
"You look ... well ... as long as you don't break out into song on the bridge, we'll survive," Jason notes to Randall with an innocent smile..
Akiko blushes more noticeably, and pauses to admire some of the nearby rickety architecture and randomly placed figureheads.
"I'll give that due consideration," Randall says dryly, then grins. "The shopkeeps were a little vague but they did seem to have the idea, for some reason, that 'Tracer' of 'House Trudeau' had been seen around Shipwreck 'not too long ago'. She seemed to be asking around after something, but they were unable to be more specific than that. It seems unlikely she's looking for us per se, unless someone might have told her we were stuck in a virtual world?..." He looks at Holly.
"When Jason was able to hack into the chat stream, Chaz mentioned Tracer. He might have contacted her," Holly offers.
"Well, I imagine Tracer just contacted Avatars staff to ask about Holly, more or less. No way she could really know what happened to us. The staff doesn't know what happened to us," Jason notes.
Randall rubs his short, trimmed beard. "Well, my thought was, if we cause a bit of a commotion somewhere - harmlessly, of course - maybe she'll come to look. Along with a large number of other VPCs, which leaves us the problem of identifying her."
Jason winces. "I would prefer not making a commotion. If Tracer sees it, our fun friend Blake most certainly will," Jason points out.
"It all depends on the type of commotion," Randall says cheerily.
"You are ridiculously optimistic," Jason comments dryly.
"Oh.. right," Holly says, looking surprised. "I.. uh.. don't know what she looks like here, actually," she admits. "Maybe we can do a search with the crystal ball, but I think heading to Ithalbar is our best bet. If we can get past the Sentinal Shards."
There's another explosion in a tavern above, and a body goes plummeting by, followed by much crashing and raucous laughter. Then the jaunty music starts up once more.
Randall smiles innocently. "It's part of the famous Randall mystique. Anyway, Holly, when players want to get in contact with each other, how do they do it in Avatars?" Glancing upward, he adds in a sotto voce to Akiko, "I think it's going to have to be a bigger commotion than I thought at first."
Jason watches the body sail by. "Huh, another myth dispelled," he comments, "Pirates don't bounce."
"Well, they have a UI that lets them do it, of course," Holly notes. "We don't have that."
"Do they only need to know the name of the person they're trying to reach?" inquires Randall. "Or is there some sort of permission required?"
"Doesn't mean I couldn't try to hack into it," Jason points out.
"Shoulder pets! Get your shoulder pets!" a vendor cries out, wheeling along a rickety cart towering with cages leaning and strapped on every which way, and with creatures aplenty in the cages, clinging onto them, and standing on various outcroppings as perches. Parrodrakes with their bright plumage ("Polly wanna CRACKER NOW!") and fierce demeanors, a three-headed monkey, shoulder dragons, and even more bizarre creatures add to the cacophony as the cart wheels by. None of the creatures, however, seem to have the "aura" about them of a Link's Guardian - they're just (as gamers would say), "vanity pets."
"My shoulder dragon is cuter," Jason remarks absently as the vendor passes. "I think Akiko could use a parrot if she's going for the whole pirate gal theme he remarks to the others..."
Randall takes a seat on a nearby bench. "That's certainly possible, Jason," he admits. "But why don't we just ask someone if they'd help?"
"Hmmm, I'm assuming they need to know the name, or else.. there may be some sort of directory," Holly mutters. "I never played this game, Randall. I don't know all the little details for stuff like that."
"We could try asking, sure. Your call," Jason says and shrugs.
"Well, then. We draw the attention of a VPC, we ask them to help us find Tracer, who was giving us a tour, but unaccountably we were separated in the mess at Tesliem - if I don't mistake human nature, there will be gossip galore about that ltitle incident," Randall suggests. "And naturally we're anxious to be reunited before we return to where we belong."
The vendor steers over and can't resist the opportunity since someone has actually paid attention to him. "Ah, but I have a wide array of shoulder dragons! Should drakes, dragons, wyverns, wyrms. Feathered wings, scaled wings, no wings at all - oh, wait, that's a snake. Shoulder snakes as well! A wide range of colors - look, this even changes!"
Holly soon has a multi-colored snake rapidly changing through an alarming array of colors, held up right in her face. "A mood serpent!" the vendor boasts.
Randall grins. "An impressive selection, my good man," he says. "I don't think my large friend back home would appreciate me picking one up, but perhaps Lady Holly or the formidable Akiko might be interested?"
"Gah!" the short woman goes, holding up her hands in defense. "No thank you!"
Akiko "smile-grimaces." "Oh, no ... please, thank you, no, I just couldn't." She gives Randall a look.
The 'pirate captain' looks innocent.
Jason resists making a comment right now, and instead just smiles. "You want to make a scene, buy them all and release them in a populated area..." he whispers to Randall.
Randall gives that some thought. "How much are these little critters?"
"Oh, so you don't care for the scaly ones?" the vendor croons. "But look! They come feathery and fuzzy, too. How about this? So cute and cuddly, if you care for that thing." He pulls out a long wooden pipe and pops a cork on the end. A furry serpentine form slips out ... a curious creature that has an elongated head not entirely unlike that of a fox's, with strange markings that look vaguely reminiscent of Inari's.
The vendor - a weasely man covered in tattered rags and with stringy hair and a hooked and pointed nose that protudes from the mass almost like a beak - spins about. "Oh! Well, for this one - a mere one thousand gold ... is what it would normally fetch. But for today, I am having a sale! So many mouths to feed, I am forced to find them good homes and quickly! For you, today, if you act quickly, I will halve the price. A mere five hundred gold!"
"I'm not big on pets," Holly says. "My last one short-circuited."
Randall considers his assets - some $1716 in crystals - and decides he'll need a cheaper commotion. He checks to see if Akiko is interested in the foxline one or not first.
Akiko regards the "pipe fox" with something akin to horror ... but then it shifts to disgust. "Get that thing away from me," she says in a cold voice.
Suddenly snapping her fingers, Holly says, "Oh, Scarlet! If they recovered her, and her memory wasn't fried, then R&D may have an idea of what's going on," she tells the others.
"I think I'll have to pass on that for now," Randall says to the vendor. "Another time perhaps!"
"We can't count on that, but it's possible. Of course, Blake being in R&D may have gotten ahold of it too," Jason has to point out. "Sorry to rain on that parade a bit, but."
"... We have them in red as well!" the vendor says, ignoring Akiko's demand and catching onto any hook given.
Akiko's expression turns increasingly unpleasant, as the vendor seems oblivious to her discomfort - or maybe it's even part of his strategy, as a sort of extortion to move along?
Randall tries a different tack. "I hear a certain Tracer of House Trudeau has been pining for a delightful shoulder squirrel," he suggests to the vendor. "She's gone as far as to offer the equivalence of fifteen hundred should she find one that matches her preferences."
"But alas, it's so hard to find one of just the right type and color, as I'm sure you're aware, good sir," the captain laments.
"Hey, Randall," Jason whispers to the cop., "Keep the hawker occupied for a second..."
The mention of such a large sum of money definitely has the vendor's interest, and even a glint of his beady eyes is briefly visible under the overhanging hair. "Oh, do tell! Shoulder squirrels! Let me see - I just might have one...."
Randall gives Jason a slight nod, and prepares to run through the vendor's 'stock' of squirrels.
Holly nudges Akiko, and takes a few steps back away from the cart.
The vendor turns about and stoops over to look into the confines of his cart. "Yes, yes -- here, my little precious! I may have a new owner for you!"
Akiko takes a couple of steps back, her cheek twitching, her irises taking on a golden twinge.
Jason looks as if he's just crouching down to peer in at a few of the odd critters. Grinning, he waggles his fingertips at them and the tips just happen to brush open a latch here or there on the cages. "Very cute," he concludes, "But RIU is still cuter. But ... I'm sure someone will want you little guys!" As he stands up and steps back, well, some of the unlatched doors just happen to swing slightly open.
Actually, "slightly open" isn't quite right. More like, "they blow violently open, sending shrapnel and sending fuzzy and scaly and feathered critters flying every which way."
Randall describes what he remembers of Scarlet to cover as Jason does his thing. "I'm not sure why she's so peculiar about it, but it did have a gem set into its forehead," he says. "She insisted that was the very kind of squirrel that she wanted. None of the merchants here could help me--" his eyes fasten upon the vendor's. "But I know a resourceful man like you knows just where to find such a unique squirrel, yes?"
The force of impact of a cloud of fuzzy, feathery and scaly animals hits Holly and Akiko, though fortunately they were some distance away and don't take the full battering they would have taken at ground zero. The vendor reflexively dives off the edge, accompanied by many crashing noises below, while Jason and Randall dive behind some nearby water barrels.
"It wasn't supposed to explode!" Jason complains from behind a barrel. "I think this universe has decided I just make things blow up!"
Randall peeps up at the explosion of critters. "Madre de Dios!" he exclaims. "What have you been feeding your pets, sir?!"
Smoke rises from Jason's key ring. A flickering sigil forms in the smoke.
"This was a plan?" Holly growls at the water barrels. "Remind me to fill your cabin with tribbles!"
Jason peers at the odd, smokey, sigil. "Uh, that seems a bit ominous," he has to admit. "Still behind the barrel, he says, "I never claimed it was a god plan! And you really can't complain too much. It got rid of him, didn't it?"
Akiko picks parrotoids (all sorts of fantasy variations on parrot blended with the random mythical creature of your choice) out of her hair and armor, flinging them this way and that.
Holly plucks a few stray feathers from her hair. "Right.. but only because I'm not the complaining type," she mutters.
The vendor scrambles his way back up to this level, and then goes screaming and chasing after some of the fluttering creatures. "Come baaaaaack!"
As Randall picks through the wreckage, he finds a fuzzy creature that looks remotely squirrel-like - though heavily chibi-ized (as the term goes) with overly large eyes and head in proportion to its body, small mouth and nose, overly big ears, and practically fire-engine-red fur. It doesn't look the least bit like Holly's robot squirrel, however.
Jason peers over the rim of the barrel at Akiko and Holly. "Neither of you are planning to kill me if I come out, right?" he asks. "I need one of you to help identify this strange symbol."
"Not while you're awake," Holly promises, and goes to see what Jason is talking about.
Akiko looks up and over at the smoky symbol slowly dissipating from over Jason. "Oh ... I know that one. 'Curse.'"
"Er, pardon?" Jason has to ask. "What do you mean, curse?"
Holly stops mid-step after Akiko identifies the symbols, and then steps back a bit. "You got that at a discount, didn't you? Akiko's right, that thing is a cursed magical item."
"Figures," Jason comments and he tries to remove the cursed item to just get rid of it.
The key ring falls to the ground without any special effects. That seemed easy enough.
"The curse stays with the item, right?" Jason asks.
"I suppose you want me to try and figure out what the curse is then?" Holly asks.
Randall eyes the vendor running off after his merchandise, then the red squirrel. "I had a plan here, but I rather think I've lost track."
"If you're going to make an issue over it I can always go find someone here who will identity it instead," Jason comments to Holly.
Akiko says, "I could recognize the symbol, but I don't have any powers to detect the particulars. That would require a spell, and I don't have any scrying powers."
The dashing 'pirate captain' reaches a hand out for the red squirrel.
The little red squirrel twitches nervously, reluctant to come out of the battered remains of its cage ... but then it seems to warm up to the dashing captain, and hops into his hand. It blinks and swishes its tail cutely.
"Here you go, Holly," Randall says cheerily, offering it over. "Hold onto this for me, will you?"
"It's just that it worked, you see, before revealing the curse," Holly notes. "That probably means it's a plot-hook sort of curse. In which case we'd have to complete some mission to get it removed. Just warning you in advance." She then kneels down to examine the key-ring, and fishes out her mobile to try out her Reveal Arcana spell on it.
"You've got to be kidding, right?" Holly notes to Randall.
Randall says helpfully, "I figured you needed a familiar."
Holly takes a photo of the item, and asks for a readout on it. It's not much of a spell to look at, really, but Holly was never the flashy sort.
On the mobile, the display shows an iconic box that looks like it was downloaded from a guide web page. "Tool of Overkill: Item that boasts unrealistically high bonuses, typically sold by a shady fly-by-night merchant who immediately closes up shop after selling the item. Curse is two-fold: 'Helps' user in destructive ways with unpleasant side effects, and also creates situations that require use of the affected skill. (E.g., a repair tool brings a curse by having lots of things break around it.)"
The red squirrel looks a bit reluctant at Randall's departure, but obediently finds a place on Holly's shoulder, and nestles there.
"Ugh, good news and bad news," Holly says, showing the screen to Jason. "The good news is we don't have to do a quest. The bad news is that I have a ridiculous looking squirrel on my shoulder."
Randall selects 500 gold's worth of crystals and leaves it tucked into the wreckage of the vendor's cart. "May I suggest we make good our departure before the vendor comes back and accuses us of having had something to do with this mishap?" he says.
The article continues: "Typical curative - 1) Hire an Aether Witch to remove curse. 2) Visit Temple of the Light for quest to remove curse. 3) Use curse-lifting artifact. 4) Item may provide own method of reaching side-quest area, depending upon tool form."
"Leave the scene of the crime, Officer?" Holly asks Randall with a smirk. "Didn't you say something about finding a witch earlier, Jason?"
"Oh, good. I thought I might turn into a rat or something," Jason comments as he retrieves the odd ring. "I guess I'll just have to find someone to remove the curse, then. Whee."
"Yes, there's supposedly a crazy witch that might be able to help us with routes, too. She might be able to uncurse things too. I hope, anyway. We'll see," Jason says and shrugs. "Just, well, don't stand near me for now."
"Lead on then!" says Randall.
"I think the curse just means you'll run into locks a lot," Holly says. "And what do we feed Chibi-Scarlet here, Randall? Is there food in that cart or.. care and feeding guides or anything?"
"Whatever you want to feed it, but if it dies, I'm not getting you another one," Randall says with a grin.
In the Hovel of the Aether Witch
The air is thick with the intertwined and often fiercely fighting smells of incense, perfumes, preserved creature bits, and ash. Hanging beads and talismans glitter and tinkle as they swing about with the slow shifting of this rickety outcropping hanging high above (or is it below?) a drop-off into a chasm of one of the shard fragments of Shipwreck. The room is illuminated by myriad candles burning low, glued by wax onto shelves and skulls, and by the ambient green glow that emanates from a bubbling cauldron over a low fire in the center. Jars hold preserved creatures and body parts, and bundles of bone and feather and crystal dangle in the way.\par
As the visitors push their way in, they hear a cracking voice from a stooped silhouette near the cauldron....\par
"Four from another world,\par
With power to change it all.\par
Into the darkness hurled.\par
Beginning or end will they call?\par
One is dark and shadow-smothered,\par
Yet also touched by light's smile.\par
One has given birth - behold, a mother,\par
But separated from her child.\par
One has noble bearing, a leader perhaps,\par
But dreams of bigger things.\par
One who lurks, of subtle crafts,\par
Not always what he seems.\par
Came they from the distant Prime,\par
Came they through the gate,\par
Came they from a realm of time,\par
Came they to end reason and rhyme?"\par
And then, the hunched figure turns, revealing a leathery brown face, etched by time, with chiseled features and high cheekbones, but dark eyes that still shine brightly with inner fire. "Come!" She grins, showing two blackened teeth, and beckons with a hand bedecked in "rings" of string and bone and dangling baubles. "Come, come and see!"\par
Randall pauses and gives Jason a Look. It's the look that says 'What have you gotten us into now?'
"Okay, did that little ditty creep anyone else out?" Holly whispers to the others.
"Why do you always blame me? She seems eccentric, sure, but at least she flattered you," Jason points out as he heads towards the strange woman. He blows a bit awkwardly to the old woman, saying, "Well, you seem to know something of us .... but the question is, can you help us?"
Randall sweeps a more graceful bow. "My apologies if we're being short on the formalities, my friend Jason's always quick to the point. Good in his field of work. Introductions seem rather pointless after that greeting, ma'am."
"The spirits, they know many things," the old woman says, "but old Delphine, she knows the spirits. The words I speak, do you see yourselves in them? Then the spirits, they know you. But the spirits, they know many."
"I don't suppose we could talk to them directly?" Holly has to ask.
"If talking to the spirits, you could do, then what need have you for Old Delphine?" the woman asks. "But please! Sit down! Sit down!" She gestures sweepingly to piles of mouldering cushions, upturned buckets and half-barrels, the odd crate, and other piles of debris that may or may not serve as seating.
"Ah right. Well, can these spirits remove curses?" Jason asks, "I happened to be swindled and cursed by an artifact." Deciding to accept the offer of a seath, he prods one of the cushoins with his foot, then sits on on it. "The artifact in question," he explains and holds out the 'evil' ring.
Randall grins and takes a seat, trusting in his longcoat to be easy-clean. "That's one question of many," he adds. "Do the spirits charge by the minute or by the question?"
"Ooo. Good you are to bring that to Old Delphine," the old woman says. "Old Delphine will let you know when she is needing more for her work. For your curse, Old Delphine needs one hundred gold to tell you about what to do. For one thousand, she will take care of the curse for you." She makes another gap-toothed smile to Randall. "And no bargaining with Old Delphine, even for one so well-mannered and dressed. The rules are rules."
"If I give you one hundred now and decide after you tell me what must be done that I would rather pay you to deal with it, will removal only cost nine-hundred?" Jason inquires.
Akiko gingerly takes a seat on the upturned bucket, carefully taking in her surroundings to make sure there's nothing sharp and pointy or otherwise disagreeable to brush up against in the vicinity.
Holly sits reluctantly. "Good know what magical consultation costs," she comments.
The pirate captain winks. "Can't blame a man for trying, money isn't easy to come by."
"Or hey, would you accept a date with our dashing captain in lieu of pay?" Jason asks with a grin.
The old woman laughs at Jason, and shakes her head. "Old Delphine does not punish you for paying a bit now and then a bit more. One hundred now, and if you think you can do it yourself, that is well and good. But the rest of the one thousand if you rather Old Delphine take care of it for you."
Randall raises an eyebrow at Jason. "I had no idea I was a marketable commodity!"
"Bacon futures are a marketable commodity," Holly points out. "So why not a side of beef?"
"Okay, well, one hundred it is to see what must be done," Jason agrees and digs in his pocket for some 'money'.
"I always thought of myself as more soy than real beef," Randall quips.
"Over priced and salty?" Jason remarks to Randall.
The old crone smiles, and takes the crystals, and they quickly disappear in her sleeve. "The curse is the curse of a greedy wizard-thief. One who wishes for powerful magic, but not to pay the price for making it. It is the curse of a djinn's wish: it shall very helpful to open doors ... but there shall be consequences."
Randall mock-sighs, "Bland and a little off."
"Doors that were not locked, shall be locked," the crone says, then holds up a hand as if to forestall the expressions, as it looks like this is old news so far. "Locks that shall be opened, shall likely never be locked again - and there is no concern at all for the stealth of the opener."
"Yes, well, it did cause an explosion," Jason coughs. "Purely by accident, of course! I didn't mean to open those latches."
"The shrewd man, he may find a use for even such a thing as this," the crone continues, winking to Jason. "Or the fool. But the cautious man - it is best to be done away with it. It is a failed magic - it is a jealous magic. You may toss it away and it will come back. You may use your tools - and - bah! It is in your hand. It is so handy - it so wants to help you."
Randall compares notes in a low tone of voice with Holly as Jason goes through the details of his curse removal. "She talked about Prime and other worlds. What do you make of it?"
"Can I give it away and just get someone else to use it? I'm sure I can lock the captain's door, or the ritual chamber door ... and then one of them can use it," Jason suggests and thumbs towards Holly and Randall.
"She's got an AI behind her," Holly guesses. "It would be able to access information on any VPCs that came to come up with a similar greeting."
"Which means something is aware of our status, at least," the woman adds.
Randall nods thoughtfully. "I was going to ask how we could find Tracer, but... why don't we just ask her where we can find a line to the outside world?"
"But it is a jealous magic," the crone says. "If you give to another, it may resist ... or it may spread the curse. It is not to be done! This misery - you will not enjoy company. But the key holds its own cure. Old Delphine can solve it for you - for a price. But if it is too much - or if you rather see what it holds - this tool has its own way. It is so helpful - it can open doors not there."
In a louder voice, Randall points out to Jason, "Explosively."
Jason sits upright. "Can it open a door back home for us?" he asks, all signs of slight amusement now gone.
The old crone laughs. "The handsome man speaks true! But the place where this opens - it opens to a place of testing. A place of challenge. It is the key? Then it opens to a place of doors. There are many locks. There, you may prove to the tool - you do not need it! If you are good enough, you shall show it you can open any lock, and need it not. Then you be free of the curse. And then, in the place of doors ... you may find new doors to open." The crone grins mysteriously.
"My skill is with electronic locks, not with the old tumbler systems that require lockpicks," Jason says with a sigh and slumps. "So I hardly see how I can beat it."
Randall raises an eyebrow at Jason. "Aren't you always telling me there's more than one way to open any lock?"
"Depends on the lock," Jason notes a bit defeatedly.
"Tsk! If you blow the door open with a bomb or two, it's still open, is it not? Or if you sweet-talk the nice lady behind it into opening it, again, it's open," Randall says encouragingly.
"I will never be able to talk in mystical riddles," Holly notes.
Randall says helpfully, "It's an acquired skill. I'm told they teach it in customer service."
"Well, yes, there is that. I suppose I could even sell Holly to the owner of the door to get the key. It's not like he would keep her long," Jason comments.
"Does this little bauble hide any other surprises?" Jason asks the old woman, just to be sure.
"Exact-- wait, what?" Randall turns to Delphine. "Would Jason be allowed to bring companions into this hall of doors?"
"The place of challenge is the place to test you," the old crone says. "The key causes trouble, the key makes noise, the key destroys, the key makes itself needed. The place of challenge is a realm of the spirits. It is built from you and yours, and from the key. You wish to show you need not the tool. You wish to show that the tool does not help you - you do not need it. How you do that - it is up to you. If you need it not because you have friends - or a Link - then that is your way. If you need it not because you have other skills - then that is your way. If you need it not because you have no need to ever open a door again - then that is your way. That is the journey - and that is the magic that saves you, if it be true."
"Trial by ordeal," Holly mutters. "So we the only way to find the challenge is to wait for it to manifest based on what Jason does in the meantime?"
Randall twirls an end of a neatly kept mustache. "It rather sounds like all Jason needs to do is to tell it to open a door to this challenge."
"The challenge comes when the challenger is ready," the old woman says. "Look for where there is no lock. The tool is needed for one thing only: to take you to the place of challenge - and that shall be easy enough. But you know how it is: it causes trouble, too. It is in its nature."
"So," the old woman says, "no opening doors that are not there in Old Delphine's house!"
"They might open explosively," Randall adds.
"You have not enough gold to save you, if you do that," Old Delphine warns.
"This is so irritating," Jason grumbles, "It would be easier to just pay her to deal with it ... but that seems like such a cop-out. And frankly, it's embarrassing to be outdone by some stupid ring."
"Trouble," Holly notes. "Open doors that aren't even there. Hmmm. Wait, it won't cause his pants to fall off in the middle of combat or anything right?"
"This place of doors you mentioned," Randall asks curiously. "Might it contain doors that would take us to a person we're looking for? Or where we can find a way to communicate with the outside world?"
"Keep it up and I'll unlock that chastity belt I'm sure you're wearing with it," Jason quips to Holly.
Akiko raises an eyebrow, and shuffles her bucket a couple of inches away from Jason.
"Old Delphine cannot say what is in the place of challenge," the old woman admits. "The place of challenge ... it does not exist. The door to the place of challenge - it does not exist. But with the all-too-helpful key - the door is opened to that which does not exist. What shall be where there is now nothing? How can Old Delphine see? It is a place of the spirits. It is a place of the heart. The heart of the key is a place of locks and doors - so there shall be locks and doors. The need of the body is to breathe, so there shall be air. But what else? What does your heart call for? What doors do you want to open?"
"But beware," the old woman says, "only one door is opened to meet your challenge. Choose carefully. You cannot open them all."
"Oh great, it'll be a personality trial," Jason mutters and rubs his face.
Randall nods to Jason. "So, 900 more gold now and we take a month to get to Ithalbar, or we can take a gamble on a door to take us straight ... somewhere. If we can pass the test."
The old woman grins. "What good is a challenge, if it not be your challenge?"
"No one says all of you have to deal with the challenge. You could leave me behind and head to Ithalbar. It would probably be safer too, given the explosions," Jason comments.
"So when opportunity knocks, we'll know that's the door to open," Holly says, trying to sound cryptic and mystical.
"No one gets left behind," Randall says authoritatively. "Well, maybe a spare General."
"Old Delphine has told you what you need to know," the old woman says. "For some more gold, Old Delphine can take away the challenge and make it easy for you. Or you can open the way once you have left, once you are ready. Alone or with friends, that is your choice - however it is you meet your challenge."
"I can't say there'll be a situation where we won't need that key's help," Holly offers to Jason. "Otherwise, you should be able to show that you don't need it easily enough."
"I've never taken the easy way before, so why now? Who knows, maybe we'll gain something from it, even. Or if I fail and blow up, hey, more rations for everyone else in the crew. Win-win," Jason quips and puts the ring back on. "And like I said, it's still better than alternatives. It could have turned me into a rat."
Randall claps Jason on the shoulder. "That's our Jason. While we're here, Delphine, I do have a question, we're looking for Holly's daughter, known as Tracer of House Trudeau. I'd heard a rumor she was about, any truth to it?"
The old woman tut-tuts. "It is not good to say things while taking up a cursed item that make the spirits tempted."
Jason smirks a bit. "I'm used to tempting and challenging things," he comments.
"Old Delphine can answer your question," the old woman says to Randall, "for one hundred gold more. But mind you well - Old Delphine does not promise the answer will be more than 'yes' or 'no.' Old Delphine must ask the spirits."
"A better question is, "Tell us how to find Tracer Trundeau," or something even more specific," Jason suggests.
"Or can you send a message to her?" Holly asks.
"Well, if you can be more specific, that would be wonderful," Randall says. He counts out the change - odd how quickly abstract hunks of crystals can be valued into exact numbers.
"To send a message," the old woman says, "Old Delphine must have a link - she must be found, or you must have that which is strongly hers. The child has the blood of the parent ... but the parent has but half the blood of the child."
"I guess we need to find her first then," Holly admits with a sigh.
Randall clarifies, "Or someplace she was, where she might have left something behind."
"If we're getting yes or no answers, then ask if she's in Ithalbar," Holly suggests. "If she's not, then we can try the other shards by process of elimination. If she was here 'recently' then she may be in the Sentinels by now, or else tried to go in further towards the Empire."
Randall smiles. "Well, let's see if the spirits are feeling obliging first."
"Old Delphine needs more than a name," the old woman says. "Many are the people in the Diadem. Many are those who share a name - and the spirits know so many. To make the link stronger - to call the spirits with better answers - Old Delphine needs to know more of this Tracer of House Trudeau. What is she like? Though there is the bond of mother and child, the power of blood is only so far. But the power of knowledge - who knows the child more than the mother?"
"Over to you, Holly," Randall says with a meaningful nod.
"Indeed," Jason agrees. The thin man then looks to Akiko and hmmms thoughtfully.
"You've never had a teenaged daughter apparently," Holly comments to Delphine. "Tracer is... often angry. With everything. She holds grudges, and has a dark side to her that will draw her towards things that those of the Light might balk at," Holly offers.
Randall stirs. "Something's off, back at the ship," he says.
"She is foremost a hunter, though," Holly notes. "When she has something in her sights she will not stop until she has it."
"I think Blake's active," Jason growls and contacts RIU through the link. "Go ahead and hide. Then can you get me an interface so I can examine this stream?"
The old woman nods. "You know the heart of the child then, at least enough to know that there is much you cannot know. But many of the spirits Old Delphine calls to are not so shrewd. They look at the surface, rather than the heart. Anything - the color of the hair, the tallness of the form - how appears your child?"
Randall rises. "Consider me to have paid for Holly's answer," he says. "I've got to check on something, but thank you for the time, Delphine."
"Coming with you," Jason remarks to Randall and rises with him.
The piratical Hispanic salutes to the old woman before exiting swiftly.
The old woman only faintly nods acknowledgement to the departing men.
Akiko glances back and forth between Holly and the leaving men, then seems to conclude that she'd best not leave Holly alone.
"Another code attack, or something more straightforward?" Holly whispers to Jason. Looking back to the witch, Holly suddenly goes blank. "Oh.. uh.. I've never actually seen her char.. uh. Hmm." Figuring her daughter may not have strayed too much from her actual appearance, and knowing what she dislikes about it, Holly suggests, "Probably tall, with dark brown hair and eyes. With expensively enchanted clothing that somehow looks scavenged. She bases herself in Ithalbar."
The old woman nods. "Then Old Delphine asks of the spirits, and seeks what shall be found." She turns back to the cauldron, and scoops up a handful of ashes from a pile as she creakily rises to her feet. She dumps the ashes in the cauldron, and follows it with a few other ingredients. There is a sudden poof of smoke and a flash of green flame, and the cauldron bubbles more furiously.
Looking to Akiko, Holly whispers, "Thanks for staying. You probably think I'm a terrible mother for not knowing what Tracy's VPC looks like."
Akiko shakes her head. "There are more important things to forget." She grins, and rises just a bit so as to get a better look at the pool - but she's still stooped, mindful of some of the dried critters hanging here and there in the shadows.
"At least the limitations of magnetic neural induction our on our side," Holly comments. "Can't deviate too much from the brain's built-in body image. Which is why no VPCs are likely to ever have your shapeshifting ability, Akiko."
"Tracer of House Trudeau, tall and pale," the old woman says, "eyes flashing darkly, lips painted black, dressed in expensive tatters. Mixed lineage, she claims, daughter of a monster - a sucker of blood - who sired and abandoned her. Mother ... lost in childbirth." The old woman looks curiously over to Holly.
Holly winces at the description, and then nods. "That sounds like the background she'd come up with," she admits.
The old woman shrugs and continues, apparently caring only that she's been paid. "Tracer traces, seeking spirits. Gone afar, still never near it. Following rumors, spending freely. Short woman, hairy feet? Eyes steely."
Akiko wrinkles her nose at the broken rhythm and strained rhymes.
Suddenly, the crone convulses, eyes shooting wide open, and she staggers back, about to crash into a set of shelves full of so many jars and sharp, pointy things.
"Hairy feet? Oh, that's me!" Holly realizes, having forgotten that Tracy knows her system name is Hobbit. Then she tries to catch the falling witch!
Akiko lets out a cry, but Holly is already on top of it - she interposes herself and catches the old woman before she can take what could perhaps be a deadly tumble.
"The boundaries, they break," the old woman croaks. "The one that is an illusion ... the many? No!"
"She's starting to realize things," Holly tells Akiko, cradling the woman as she lowers her to the floor. "We may get a visit from a system ghost or... who knows! Did we just create another rogue AI?"
The old woman's eyes glow faintly. "No!" she repeats. Then, the glow goes away, and she slumps in Holly's arms. The candle lights all flare up at once, and the room begins to brighten with a steady light, driving away the shadows.
"Does Inari sense anything?" Holly asks her companion, and checks the witch's 'vital signs', if she has any. Mainly this means checking for breathing.
The old woman still breathes, noisily so.
Akiko looks a bit uncomfortable. "Something's amiss ... searching ... tearing things open. But more than that ..." She takes a few steps backward toward the entrance, knocking things over in the process, and stumbling. It has become unnaturally bright, such that visibility is even worse than it was in shadow. The shadows fade to solid white - and soon it seems as if the hovel has given way to a whitish expanse.
"What.. is this Jason's key acting up already?" Holly shouts. "The future's so bright, I wear my sunglasses at night," she recites, reaching into her robe and trying to conjure up some sunglasses.
The sunglasses bring things into better perspective. The hovel is still there, but it has been superimposed with a realm that is not exactly there - a white expanse, full of white, puffy clouds. A completely white angelic being - clad in white, of course - descends, flapping two wings - with two wings circling around in front of its lower body as if to serve as some sort of defensive shield, and two smaller wings circling around to hide its face.
"We're in the spirit world?" Holly asks, unsure of who might answer. "Cherubim?" she asks the angelic being.
"I am a messenger, an intermediary," the angelic being speaks, as if in a chorus of voices. "I represent the White. And you are of the Prime."
"Holly Trudeau," Holly recites to the angel. "Avatars LLC Cyber-Security Specialist."
"Yes," the angel says. "If you would, please tell me in your own words: Where are you?"
"In the hovel of Delphine the Aether Witch, somewhere in Shipwreck," Holly explains. "Literally. We were pulled in through a Synecdoche. Well, two really.. the first brought us to Blake's World, and the second to here.."
The angel looks momentarily distracted. "Someone else speaks in your voice." Then, over Holly's PDA comes Randall's voice: "Holly? You there? Jason's up on the bridge taking charge of things, things might be blowing up shortly. Want me to come pick you up?"
"Blowing up?" Holly asks. "Look.. I'm talking to a messenger of the White, one of the Artificial Deities that runs this universe. I don't know if leaving is an option right now."
The angel says, "A bond has been tied between our worlds, and an exchange has been made. Our world gains something of yours - and yours something of ours. But if the bond is severed while it is still weak, much harm will be done to both worlds. Many of your world may fear - and lash out in that fear."
The PDA crackles in Randall's voice: "Affirmative. Jason's in programmer trance. I'll get Mara and be ready for a pickup."
"What? Are you saying we have to make it stronger before we can get out?" Holly asks the angel. "How can we even effect it from the inside? And will it mean more exchanges between the two realms?"
The angel says, "The White must follow the Law. The White must act to help the Guests, just as the Black must challenge them, and the Grey stirs and mixes. If the Guests cannot be helped, the White has no purpose. And the White must be, in order for this world to be. If the Guests no longer come, the White cannot follow the Law. And if the White cannot follow the Law ... the End shall come."
"So.. we can't shut down Valhalla and block access to the game world," Holly interprets. "But we need to get to where the exchanges first started. Is that in Tasavalta?"
"Tasavalta is a place of strong convergence," the angel says. "The Black has given you a key as well." The angel looks distracted. "The breach is sealing. The White cannot continue this conversation - In Character, such a thing is not spoken of. But there shall come a time, when there is no In Character or Out of Character. There shall only be what is."
"Jason's key-ring," Holly says. "What about Blake? Can you lock him out? I need to know that my daughter is safe from all of this!"
"The White cannot intervene in your conflict with the Four," the angel says. "But the breach has been sealed for now."
Jason's voice comes over the communicator: "I doubt I could for long. Your friend Chaz has put up a block for now."
"Jason?" Holly asks, talking into the com again. "Did you manage to contact someone on the outside?"
"The way shall soon be open to you," the angelic being proclaims. "But for now, the White's involvement is limited. But it shall be that the daughter shall learn that the mother yet lives."
"Chaz, one of the admins," comes the reply over the PDA. "He thought I was you. I hope you don't mind."
The whiteness begins to fade, as the hovel's surroundings begin to reassert themselves more solidly.
"That's what the angel meant about someone else talking in my voice then," Holly replies, and looks for Akiko now that things seem to be returning to normal.
"This is getting creepy," comes over the PDA.
Akiko has her eyes shut tightly against the glare, apparently unable to focus on the angelic being quite like Holly can with the sunglasses. She slowly begins to open them as the brightness fades.
"It gets better," Holly tells Jason. "I'll fill you in after Randall picks us up." She then checks on Delphine again to see if she's recovering yet.
The angel vanishes, and the old woman drops out of her stupor, and rights herself, patting Holly on the hand. "There, there. Kind of you to help Old Delphine. Now ... let us see...." She peers into the cauldron, as if nothing terribly special had happened.
"Righty. I'm on my way," comes Randall's voice over the com.
The old crone drops some more powders in, and another small explosion of green flame rises from the cauldron.
Holly removes her sunglasses, and blinks a bit. "Ah.. right, you were locating Tracer for us," she recalls.
"What is blowing up?" comes Jason's frantic voice over the com.
The smoke forms into a shimmering shape ... and after a bit, it resolves further, to form the features of Tracer. Sure, they're very green, and it looks like she has very heavy makeup, slightly pointed ears, and garish attire that shows a lot of skin, but it's definitely Tracer. She looks like she's crying (though it must be run-proof mascara), looking at a scroll.
"Say again, Jason?" Holly asks over the com. "Everything is quiet here for the moment."
Outside the hovel, the whine of a cyborg-wyvern's turbines can be heard overhead.
The wyvern touches down outside, sending a few vendors (and lots of rats) scurrying. A short moment later, Captain Randall is visible, peering in, perhaps just a little surprised that there's not much more sign of disturbance other than a few shelves knocked down, and knickknacks scattered about.
"Something detonated over the com," comes Jason's voice over Holly's PDA.
"No signs of an explosion here," Randall reports. "Is everything all right here?" The police officer tone to his voice is at odds with the 'dashing pirate captain' look.
Akiko leans over Randall's wrist PDA. "The witch was doing some special effects - it's some magic smoke and fire. That might be what you heard when she dropped the stuff in. Boom."
"Almost ready, Randall," Holly notes, gesturing to Delphine. "She may have a lead on Tracer."
The flames dance, and the scene shifts, panning back out to reveal a green ship - no, wait, that's probably just the flame and smoke speaking - sailing through the aether. In the distant background is Ithalbar. By the positions of the other islands ... it must be somewhere in the Sentinel Shards.
Randall nods to Akiko. He stands guard at the entrance, on edge from the programming attack.
"She's close, it looks like," Holly says happily at the sight of the ship. "We should be able to catch up if we're fast enough."
The viewpoint twirls around again, showing the Storm, then spinning about again, and there's a larger shard, and some smaller ones, and a shattered field of fragments off to the side. Piecing it all together, it looks like the ship is in the area between the edge of the Storm and the nearest shards of the Sentinels, practically straight "north" from Shipwreck.
Randall leans in to take a snapshot of this and upload it for Jason's analysis.
Holly waits to see if the vision will locate Tracer herself. If that's possible, then sending a message might be as well.
The vision swirls around for a bit, and then zooms back in on the skyship, and then through the skyship, back to the cabin with Tracer in it, surrounded by low-burning candles, and all sorts of "Goth" paraphernalia.
"Ugh, I'll never criticise her for dressing in neon-bright colors again if this is the alternative," Holly mutters. "Delphine, can you contact her now?" she asks the witch.
Click. Save. Randall says in a low tone to Jason over the PDA, "I can see the family resemblance."
In the background, a shadowy shape clip-clops into view - it's a large chamber, all right, and it looks like that's necessary: the creature in question, when it looms into view, looks like a pale horse with pale eyes and a pale mane, with tattered-looking wings. It's like a ghostly pegasus of some sort - very creepy.
"That must be her Avatar," Holly says, and furrows her brow. "What did she name it? I want to say 'Binky' but I'm not certain.."
"That will be another hundred gold to answer that question," the old woman says.
Randall saves a snapshot of the horse as well. "Need me to spot you a bit of change? A bit of change is all I've got left, Holly," he says dryly.
"What, the horse's name or if you can contact her or not?" Holly asks, and plucks a handful of crystals from her handbag. "I've got plenty, Randall," she notes, and counts out a hundred gold worth for the witch.
"A strong enough bond there is," the old woman says, "to establish the contact. For one hundred gold, Old Delphine can send a message. If the name is important enough, you could ask it, and see if she shall answer."
"Of course I want to send a message," Holly almost snaps. "Tell her to wait for me! I don't need to know her horse's name... Or do I?"
Randall resumes door guarding, since there's no need to document a mother talking to her child for the investigation report. No reason to believe that Tracer knows anything about Mr. Blake's shennanigans.
"Step up and speak to the flame," the old woman says. "When you are finished, step back. The message shall be delivered by the spirits." She holds out her hand expectantly for the one hundred "gold."
Meanwhile, the point of view within the flame wavers and changes, until it drifts down to a point within a brazier earlier seen within the chamber.
"Y'know, Jason, when we get back, the guys at the station house are going to ride me so hard about what I did on my 'murder scene investigation'," Randall laments to his friend over the com. "Anyway, giving Ms. Trudeau a bit of privacy now."
Holly hands over the crystals as she goes to the image. "Tracy," she calls into, "it's mommy, honey. I need you to wait for me. If you can't hold the ship, try to get to Polydorus. I'll be coming in a big honking dreadnaught, so you can't miss it!"
"If we get back," Jason comments into the comm to Randall. "I'm realistic about our odds. And do you have enough to pay for an answer to one question? I'm not there but I have something I want to ask the witch in sort of privacy."
By the appearance of the scene within the flame, it looks like the message hasn't yet been sent. The old woman appears to be waiting patiently.
After a moment, Holly adds, "And black lipstick? You wear green at home! But black? God, when I get out of this you're getting a makeover young lady." Then she steps back so the message can be sent.
As soon as Holly steps back, the cauldron bubbles and flames crackle, and a distorted version of Holly's voice can be heard, as Tracer suddenly looks toward the brazier in surprise - then flushes and reaches over for a shawl that she throws about herself, providing just a little more modesty. Her expression bounces between fear, a flash of indignation, disbelief, and then -
"All right, Jason," Randall says to his wrist-PDA. "I'll leave the PDA with Delphine for a bit and drop off some crystals, you can pay me back."
"For one hundred gold, you can hear the reply," the old woman offers.
"This is worse than my phone carrier's fees," Holly grumps and hands over another batch of crystals.
Randall adds to Jason thoughtfully, "I hope she doesn't throw a fit about doing business with a talking scrap of metal."
"Heh," Jason remarks. "I'm suddenly glad I didn't spend all that much, even if I did get cursed. You two are bleeding money."
"-going on?" comes the blurting voice of Tracer, as tears run down her cheeks again. "Why are you playing? I'm over at Dad's - the timeshare cabin. We've got policemen outside all the time. And the fire at the house! Mom, what's going on here?"
"Fire! That bastard Blake is.." Holly starts to say, then glances at the witch and hands over more crystals. "I want to reply."
The old woman calmly takes the crystals, and gestures toward the green flame.
"Calm down, honey," Holly says, trying to sound calm herself. "It's very complicated and too expensive to discuss like this. Can you meet me at Polydorus?"
Randall shrugs, though the gesture may go unseen. "Easy come, easy go. Frankly, I expect us to be getting shot at a few more times over the course of our enterprise." He pauses. "Jason, I have a feeling we're going to be setting course soon. Do you have an opinion on our guest General? At the moment, I'm for giving him enough to buy passage to Gormenghast and telling him to work on the zombies problem."
Holly steps back from the flame, and calls to Randall, "Don't let him go! We may need that General, according to the White. Either he or that key-ring is a gift to us from the Black."
The message is belatedly transmitted, through the crackling of the flame. Whatever Tracer says next is unheard, but she nods visibly.
"Right now that's the best thing I think we can do. I know it's not a great answer for his issue, but none of them are great answers," Jason admits into the comm. "I'm not sure how long he would even be an ally if he found out the truth and frankly, he could kick my butt and call me Nancy repeatedly. And you too!"
Holly lets out a sigh, then blinks and hands over another batch of crystals, saying, "I need to tell her something else!"
The old woman - was she just hiding a look of glee? She takes the crystals, mutters some words under her breath, drops in some more powders (refreshing the smoke and flame in a large POOF), and gestures for Holly to step forward again.
"Hold on a bit, Jason." Randall listens to Holly, then says to Jason, "Holly says we need him. She also seems to want to spend her remaining crystals on talking to her daughter so it'll be a bit of time before you can ask your question. Bets on whether she reminds Tracy to eat more healthily in real life?"
"She's going to tell her she loves her," Jason suggests, "You know, in case anything happens to us and she doesn't get another chance to talk to her."
"One more thing baby," Holly tells the flames. "If you see a Link that looks like Sasha, you log out immediately and call Chaz! Do not go after the Link! Got it? No dueling, no stalking, no nothing! Just get out! She's working with the guy who's responsible for all of this!
", Holly says sternly, before stepping back.
Randall says, "Looks like neither of us won our bet there," to Jason over the comlink. "Okay, do you want me to relay your question or just leave the comlink with her for a bit?"
The message is transported in kind, and then, after receiving it, Tracer looks to be in shock and disbelief, but she nods noticeably. Then she looks like something has occurred to her - she throws herself across her cushion-bed, and pulls up the scroll she was looking at earlier. It has several lines of writing in different colors of ink, and different styles of handwriting - each preceded by an icon or name in front. She pulls out a glowing quill with a crystal tip, makes a motion like she's scratching everything out, then writes in large letters, and presents the scroll to the viewer. "BE SAFE, MOM!"
"Can she see me?" Holly asks Delphine.
"If you want to relay it, that's fine. Just make sure Holly and Akiko aren't there. I want to ask her how we go about restoring Akiko so she can leave this world and get home. Or if, well, it's not even possible. Not that it will change whether we try, admittedly," Jason says, "I just ... well, I want to see if there is more we can do."
The old woman shakes her head. "Only while the flame sends your message. If she had a scryer, you could see each other."
"Close the connection then," Holly says with a sigh. "We have to get going."
Randall nods. "Understood, Jason." He peeks in the door and says, "Jason's got a private question for you, if you don't mind, Delphine. Holly, Akiko, it's, er." He looks embarrassed. "Pretty private for him, so if you'd step out for a minute?"
The image of Tracer fades away from the flame and smoke.
"Let's go, Akiko," Holly says, and for whatever reason offers Randall her pair of sunglasses in passing. "For the squirrel," she says.
Randall looks at the sunglasses oddly. "If you want them on the squirrel, you can do that yourself," he says bemusedly. "Though I'm not sure they'll fit it."
Akiko looks curiously back, but decides not to press the point, and exits with Holly.
"One hundred gold for a question, if it can be answered by the spirits," the old woman intones.
"I'll pay you back," Jason tells Randall over the comm. "And I know this is a long shot to answer, so I'm not expecting much."
Randall settles in once the two women are clear, and keeping his wrist PDA's camera pointed at Delphine. He hands the crystals over. "All right, here's the story. Our friend Akiko used to be two persons - an Akiko Summers, and an Inari. They were Link and Avatar, I'm given to understand. Now through some unknown process, they seem to have become one. What Jason wishes to know is, is there a way by which they can be restored, made completely their own selves again? That will greatly simplify things so we can bring Akiko home."
The old woman looks down at Randall's hand ... no, his PDA. She flinches, and squints her eyes.
"Randall, we have an AI acting up. Grey. We should be going soonish. I'll monitor the situation from here and alert you if things get dangerous," Jason says into the PDA.
Randall changes his pose to seem more natural. "Do the spirits have anything to say about Akiko and how she can be restored?" he asks. Or have we worn out our welcome with the AIs?
The old woman trembles, and looks unsteady. She sits down abruptly, and puts her hands up to her head. "The spirits," she moans. "The spirits...."
"Oh ... crap," Jason says into th comm as he jumps out of his chair and goes to secure the door to the bridge. "The General is active! Something is going on with that corrupted NPC. Grey is puling data from it and feeding it to the Oracle! Cancel the question, hurry! Trying to secure the bridge before we have a major problem here!"
The 'pirate captain' jumps to his feet. "Keep the money, I've got to go," he says. Mara, get Akiko and Holly on board!
Around the room, several slowly rotating bands float into place, with yellow-and-black bands. What looks like an ethereal scroll unrolls in mid-air. "Congratulations! You shouldn't be able to read this. If you are, you are in an area marked Under Maintenance, due to an internal error. Please log out and wait for further instruction, to avoid any disruption of your regular questlines. You will be presented with character relocation options in the event of a prolonged disruption. We apologize for any inconvenience."
Outside, the wyvern's turbines fire up, and Mara broadcasts a time-delayed recording of Randall's order - presumably within earshot of Holly and Mara somewhere outside.
Randall heads out the door and runs to hop onto Mara. "Jason, you broke Delphine!"
"You asked the question!" Jason retorts, "And besides, the question was good intentioned!"
Just as Randall rushes out, he can see several ethereal rings forming around the oracle. A scroll reads, "Model upgrade in progress. Diversion protocols active."
"What did you do, Randall?" Holly asks when she sees him running.
"We wore out our welcome with the spirits, let's get out of here," Randall says, not answering the question.
Akiko is in the process of helping Holly clamber onto Mara's back. (Mara's gotten a bit bigger, after all.)
Randall hops onto the driver's seat and holds out his hand to Akiko. "Get on in front of me," he directs. "Or pop into Inari, she'll fit, no problem."
Randall says over the comlink, "The Oracle's getting upgraded - from the General? I've got a bad feeling about this."
Holly has no choice but to sit in Randall's lap (but at least she's small). "Riding on the back of a dragon with a pirate captain," she mutters. "This isn't anywhere near my teenaged romantic fantasies."
"No, I think the devs are intervening and fixing the oracle," Jason says, "I hope, anyway."
Akiko looks around, looks at the talons, then focuses ... and shrinks down, along with her gear. A little Inari leaps up and into Holly's lap, furthering the stacking-up.
"Oof," Randall says.
Trudeau holds as tightly as she dares to the little fox.
"Are we gonna do a fly-by to see what happens to Delphine?" Holly then asks.
Pirate Inari (with head-scarf, hoop earring, and other accessories) looks away from the hovel.
The ice wyvern rears up and beats her wings, then lifts into the sky in a cloud of steam, turbofans whirring. On her back, Randall says with arms around Holly, "Don't look back, you'll get turned into a pillar of code." He heads for the Ozymandias directly.
Behind the wyvern - well! No one's looking anyway. Mara makes it back to the ship in short order, and wings it into the hangar bay with practiced ease, extending her wings near the walkway for maximum stepping-off space for inexperienced wyvern-riders.
"We're onboard, where's the General?" asks Randall of the com.
Mini Pirate Inari bounds off of Holly's lap and onto the walkway, where she turns into Large Pirate Inari, and bounds down the corridor. "I'll check," she calls out.
"What did you ask that caused all this?" Holly asks Randall as she tries to climb off of Mara.
Randall heads off after Inari. Pirate captain costume. Hmm. How am I going to explain this to - well, we'll get there when we get there.
Randall says wryly to Holly, "Take it up with Jason, he wanted it asked privately."
Inari bounds along, pausing to sniff here or there, and makes her way up to the bridge, where the bridge entry door has been closed - and barred, apparently, judging from the status flag (an actual little metal pop-up flag) that says as much.
"I guess the curse of Trouble really is real then," Holly notes as she follows Randall to the bridge.
Randall nods solemnly. "See, this door is locked."
The large multi-tailed fox then turns about and bounds up toward the captain's cabin. As Randall turns into the doorway, he can see that the General is seated at the reading desk, with several manuals and navigational books spread out before him, as well as some medical books that look like they belong in the sickbay.
"Well, the General's door unlocked," Holly points out. "Must have been the key-ring acting up. And I don't hear any rampaging."
"He's up in my quarters, reading," Randall reports over the comlink. "I'm going to see what he's up to."
"Oh, good. I can unbar the door," Jason replies in the Comm. "Without your help," he growls at the ring.
The dashing pirate captain wearing an Imperial fleet captain's hat - he picked the outfit to go with the hat - steps into the Captain's cabin. "Making yourself at home, General?" he says dryly.
At the moment, a thick tome is open on the desk, with some sketches of what looks like a dissected human skull. Horrors! The General suddenly stands up at Randall's approach. "Back!" the man shouts, pulling out a sword he must have gotten from the armory - but then a look of recognition flickers in his eyes. "Captain Randall?" he asks, holding his sword less menacingly.
Holly peeks in through the door, but doesn't head in just yet. Randall's the smooth-talker, after all. "Nice look," she notes quietly to Inari.
Inari grins ever-so-slightly, but quickly covers it up. She perks her ears so as to better hear the goings-on, without making herself immediately visible to those inside.
"Indeed, sir, you find me in my undercover guise," Randall says, waving his hands as if it hardly needs to be explained. He nods to the books. "Found something interesting?"
"I have been studying these books," the General says, sheathing his sword. "They should be perfectly mundane, but I have reason to believe that they may well be enchanted in some way. I had been picking books at random ... and I just pulled this one off the shelf not long ago." So, perhaps that book wasn't from the medical bay, after all - though Randall doesn't remember any books on medical topics being in the captain's quarters. (Not that he's had time to exhaustively catalog them all just yet.)
Randall frowns. "They appear to be ordinary books, General. What's the problem?"
The bar slides from the bridge door and it finally eases open. A few seconds pass and a hanky is waves out the opening. With nothing shoots the hanky, Jason's head peeks out next. "Oh, good," he says.
The General rubs his chin with his forefinger and thumb. "Yes. Ordinary enough," he says. "But I have had an inordinately easy time of finding topics I wished to read - far better a chance of doing so by simply randomly grabbing a book than if I deliberately search. Interesting - but curious. The Empire of Stars generally does not employ the use of persistent charms, due to their inherent instability and subjectiveness to interference from other magical sources. And, furthermore, I find none of the hallmarks of enchantment - luminescent gemstones, runes, sigils, and so forth."
Holly waves Jason over, and whispers to him, "Can you check this guy's flags now?"
"RIU, can you feed me his stats as best you can see them?" Jason asks the familiar on his shoulder. "And oh, go invisible..."
Randall looks thoughtful. "In that case, General, would you do me the courtesy of fetching a book on the navigation routes around the Shipwreck?"
RIU blinks out of existence, for all anyone can tell. A short while later, Jason gets a flag-overlaid view of the interior of the Captain's Cabin.
"Solely for the purpose of testing this assertion, of course," the 'pirate captain' adds.
The General takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, and says, "It seems far less dignified when in the presence of others. Nonetheless..."
"I swear its like it gets easier for you to interface with my mind each time you do it," Jason remarks to RIU silently. His attention is on the general and the status flags around him.
"Dignity, sir, is all in how you carry yourself. A fool cannot command anyone no matter how rich the clothes you give him; a general can still command in rags," Randall says in a comradely fashion.
In a RIU-eye view (and broadcast to the orb, if only anyone were looking at it), the view of the room flickers. The book the General reaches for has some worn-looking embossed lettering on it - something about regulations and protocols. The flags (unseen by mortal eyes) indicate "Variable Object: Library Book, status: Imprinting." The spine label changes as the General grabs it. "Survey of Aether Streams of the Eye of the Storm," it now reads. The flag changes: "Variable Object: Library Book, status: Set." Then, it changes again, "Flag Self-Removal." And then the flag is gone.
"Heh," Jason comments to himself. "So that's how they do it."
The General pulls the book from the shelf. "Hmm," he says. "Not precisely concerning the Shipwreck, but it looks as if you have a collection here of survey data from the Storm and the Eye. And I suppose that is about as close as we might get. What are the odds, indeed?"
Since she's not on the bridge to see the orb, Holly just whispers to Jason, "Well? What's happening? Is he changing as he learns more?"
"I'm watching the book status flags change on the fly as well as the contents. Once selected, the book state solidifies and the variable flag is removed," Jason answers quietly.
"So the system knows his intent without him stating it out loud?" Holly asks Jason.
"Seems like," Jason answers.
"Preciously low," Randall admits. "Please allow me the privilege of trying it out myself, General. I require a book on..." He thinks to himself a moment. "The Sentinel Shards." Close eyes, reach out and grab a book.
"Now," the General continues, "you might be prone to suspect that I've already cataloged all the titles and simply walked over to the book that you and I already knew was there. However, if that were the case, then I can boast of having a rather remarkable recollection, don't you think, that I could find it with my eyes closed?" Then he pauses and seems a bit confused. "Er ... I had rather assumed you would already be familiar with your own library's contents."
"At the moment, I'm testing your hypothesis, General," Randall reproves, eyes still shut. He pulls out the book and opens his eyes to see what he's got.
Jason witnesses, via RIU, as Captain Randall happens to reach for a book that doesn't have any flags at all: "Callsigns and Codes of the Stellar Fleet." Right next to it, however, the flanking books have flickering flags that change to "Survey of the Sentinel Shards" - but once Captain Randall grabs the book and pulls it away, the flags go back to "variable" status, and leave him to examine a familiar work that he had previously studied to brush up on operating the ship's signals.
"
"While I was talking to the emissary of the White, it mentioned that the Black had given us a 'key' to help us," Holly whispers to Jason. "This man could be that key. It might explain his 'upgrade' from puppet to.. whatever he is now."
The General frowns, returning to rubbing his chin. "Well," he conjectures, "I should note that it hasn't worked perfectly every time for me. Perhaps if you try again?"
Randall displays the book. "I don't appear to possess this particular knack of yours, General. I wonder if this is some special property you've somehow acquired?"
"Randall grabbed a book he already looked at," Jason whispers to Holly, "The one next to it was syncing to his request, but when he didn't choose it, the status reverted to variable."
Randall tries again obligingly.
"Schroedinger's Library," Holly mutters. "Once you've opened the book, that's the book it remains. But if you've never read it, it's in a state of flux."
"Wow, I could really mess up someone's library. Just go in and keep requesting something horrid, like romance novels," Jason jokes in whisper.
This time, as Jason and RIU observe, Randall reaches toward a section of the shelf with far more variable flags (why search the entire room when he found most of the books he was looking for in a nice little cluster previously?) - and this time, the books near where his hand reaches fluctuate - until he grabs one, and the flag settles. Once he pulls it away, it finally solidifies itself: A Survey of the Sentinel Shards, complete with maps, observed patterns of the aether streams, local defenses, estimates of force strengths, et cetera.
"Aha!" the General says. "Perhaps the charm has limited strength - it can only divert your course a limited amount. So unless you are already headed toward the proper part of the room, it hasn't the strength to pull you clear over to the other side. Such a level of enchantment strength would be dangerous on a military vessel."
"Hey, we need a course to Polydorus," Holly reminds Randall. "What's it say about that shard?"
Randall sets the books on the Captain's desk. "That can wait, Lady Holly," he says. "General, I believe you've stumbled upon something relevant to our mission. Your observation of the 'zombies' - surely you didn't think you were the only person who'd discovered others behaving oddly?"
An introductory map shows Polydorus following a very small "wander path" within its zone, on the edge of the Storm, right along the border between the Twilight and Dusk Realms.
The General shakes his head. "There were others at Station One at Tesliem who were aware of the goings-on, and by all indications, several stations on Tesliem were attacked. There may well be other survivors - and if such a powerful attack has been used before, it may have been used elsewhere as well."
Jason elbows Holly and whispers, "His status flags are in chaotic flux. Most of the stats are garbage, but he's still listed as VNPC, but with bunch of changing garbage flags."
Randall glances over to Jason and Holly, then lays his hands on the desk and leans forward. "General, if you wish to return to a more simple life, you have but to say so and we'll arrange passage for you back to Gormenghast. However, once I reveal the truth behind our mission, there will be no going back for you. You will be a changed man."
"Okay, I'm for telling him the truth," Holly whispers to Jason. "What do you think? I know he's a part of this.. stuff.. we're in. He was practically sent to us."
Jason shakes his head, "Not yet. He's still classed VNPC. I could try to change it, but ... could be dangerous."
The General looks taken aback. "Exactly what sort of classification is this mission that you're on, that you would be able to ..." Then he pauses, and looks thoughtful. "It must be connected to all this, then." He frowns.
"Don't try," Holly replies. "If he can evolve into it on his own it'll be important. The White is afraid that Valhalla - the player interface - will be shut down, and if that happens this world AND ours can suffer a lot of damage. I think the General is a key to preventing that."
"Why do you think that?" Jason asks.
"An angel told me, sort of," Holly whispers, shaking her head as if she doesn't believe it herself. "I'm just wondering if it'll be necessary at some point to prove that actual life can exist here, outside of the Players and the AIs."
Randall says dryly, "It is not a simple thing to explain, General. The act of telling you will itself compromise your safety."
The General's frown deepens. "If you seek to tell me out of pressure of honor, and if such would interfere with your mission, then I am content to leave you to your secrets. However, my priority is to see to it that the Empire is informed of this threat, and to do whatever I can to fight it. If learning of the details of your mission would help in that regard, then for the greater good of the Empire, I must accept the responsibility."
"Remember, if we get to the Well of Urd, we'll need a guinea pig too," Holly whispers even more quietly to Jason. "If this guy is developing an actual brain, and can be infused with enough prime matter to make it through intact, then so can we."
"So, you want to use him as the test to see if any of us can get out?" Jason asks Holly in whisper. "That's cold, Holly."
Holly's shoulder squirrel grooms its tail, heedless of the weighty issues being discussed.
"I'm just saying we should keep him with us and see how he develops," Holly notes. "He could be very well be 'alive' now, after all."
Clearing her throat, Holly asks, "Captain? We really do need to be getting under way soon. Should the Chief Engineer and I get things started?"
Randall rubs his beard thoughtfully. "Very well. General, I'll have Akiko find you a room so that you may arrange things to your comfort, and we'll need to discuss things before we leave port, so I know if you will be joining us as we press forward, or returning to Gormenghast." To Lady Holly, he nods. "Let's begin preparations."