<Ebba> have burned through all 5 of my AMPs
<Ebba> maybe I should be the one shouting encouragement, while you people with nigh infinte MP pools take the lead
<Fiona> I can't fly, though.
<Alexa> Aren't you the one falling towards the ground?
<Fiona> not me.
<Ebba> falling, with style!
<Ebba> also, being shot at
- You are now known as HollyhockGod
<Alexa> Ah, yes.
<HollyhockGod> Elizabeth Eliza is also falling, I believe.
<Alexa> And updating her diary.
<Fiona> (back in a moment.)
<HollyhockGod> Ebba's improvised parachute has been shot at and begun to fray.
<HollyhockGod> Fiona has animated the boat in order to use it as a springboard for further miracles.
<HollyhockGod> Ryan has escaped the gravity-breath thanks to Elizabeth Eliza, and is hoping she doesn't die saving him.
<HollyhockGod> Alexa has just managed to inflict a Deadly Wound Level while burning the dragon's eyes.
<RyanSherbrig> Also, even with 0 AMPs, you're better aspect-wise than most of us WITH piles of MPs.
<RyanSherbrig> (Surely the Rite of Holy Fire will protect her from the ground!)
<HollyhockGod> Melangell and Lukas are inside the ship trying to make it not fall out of the sky.
<Fiona> (back)
<HollyhockGod> Hm, whose turn was it?
<HollyhockGod> I suppose I'll let Ebba go first, since she's falling to her do.. um, to her mild inconvenience.
<Ebba> Sigh, and I only needed the parachute to try to save Eliza
<Ebba> and now those unkind people on the ground are shooting at it…
<RyanSherbrig> (Go after the folks on the ground, I'll see if Eliza needs help)
<Ebba> well, If I don't need to worry about other powers potentailly falling to their deaths, I can just ditch the parachute and go int arield torpedo style
<Ebba> and where did the ground fire come from?
<HollyhockGod> Over there somewhere.
<HollyhockGod> You fall towards it!
<HollyhockGod> A bullet hits you in the face.
<HollyhockGod> It doesn't hurt, but you fall slightly slower for a second.
<Ebba> lucky there's nothing inportant there
<HollyhockGod> Come to think of it, what *would* happen if you shot a full-on Immortal.
<Ebba> they might have shot my tea service, or something!
<HollyhockGod> I mean, they can't get hurt, but wouldn't they fall over?
<HollyhockGod> Even if it bounces off you still just pushed them really hard.
<RyanSherbrig> (Well, it's explicit in Ryan's case! His face just turns to light and the bullet goes through him.)
<Fiona> bullets don't actually have all that much momentum, as they weigh next to nothing.
<RyanSherbrig> (Slightly helpful if he wants to stay put, awkward if there's anybody he likes behind him.)
<Alexa> It might not push them all that hard, as they won't have much…
<Alexa> Fiona beat me to it.
<RyanSherbrig> (The Nobilis of Stopping Power demands knockdown!)
<Fiona> also, I guess it depends on the immortal, anyway. if the bullets go through them, or swerve aside because they can't bear to hurt the immortal, for instance…
<HollyhockGod> Well, Ebba dives for the source of the annoying bullets.
<HollyhockGod> Fiona!
<HollyhockGod> You're on the deck of your newly-animated flower ship.
<HollyhockGod> Beneath you, you hear the dragon's roars of pain.
<HollyhockGod> What do you do?
<Fiona> hmm. can I see out of the flowers sufficiently, to perform miracles on things they can see?
<HollyhockGod> Yes.
<Fiona> ok. conjuring a briar hedge/tangle around the dragon. lesser creation, 3 penetration.
<HollyhockGod> Any particular configuration?
<Fiona> in such a way as to be really inconvenient, pretty much. not complete concealment, though - Alexa should still be able to attack Greed.
<HollyhockGod> I mostly mean, is there any particular part of him you want to constrain?
<Fiona> wings, I guess.
<HollyhockGod> While we discuss that, Ryan, what are you going to do to assist Elizabeth Eliza?
<Ebba> hold his mouth closed, crocodile hunter style
<HollyhockGod> All right; Fiona conjures a tangle of brambles and thorns that wrap around Greed's wings and begin to grow tighter.
<HollyhockGod> The dragon's flailing begins to move in smaller circles.
<RyanSherbrig> Well, first I'm going to fly down and ask her if she needs assistance. No sense spending SMP if she's got her own tricks up her sleeve.
<HollyhockGod> How enlightened of you!
<HollyhockGod> Any of my own PCs would have just flown down there and scooped her up.
<HollyhockGod> You match falling velocities with Elizabeth E., who is still scribbling away.
<RyanSherbrig> They're not incorporeal when in flight mode!
<Alexa> (En-light-ened. Heh.)
<RyanSherbrig> "Hello! Do you have your own way out of this, or should I take my monster out of the fight above to rescue you?"
<Alexa> ("Hey! I'm using that monster!")
<HollyhockGod> "Oh? No, thank you, I'm doing quite well, I just need a minute to… oh! Okay, I'm finished. Would you hold this?"
<RyanSherbrig> (That's why I'm asking!)
<Fiona> ("I think it's using you too, Alexa")
<HollyhockGod> She tears the page she's been writing on out of her notebook and holds it out for you.
<Alexa> (:))
- RyanSherbrig assumes corporeality long enough to grab it, and then goes back to elemental.
<Alexa> (It's a trap!)
<RyanSherbrig> (Whoops!)
<HollyhockGod> Upon taking it, you recognize it as a very small, but still carefully drafted, summoning pentacle.
<HollyhockGod> Elizabeth Eliza chants in Sanskrit.
<HollyhockGod> The piece of paper catches fire, and there is a billowing noise as an air elemental of impressive size appears and solidifies enough to catch the Power of Candles in mid-fall.
<HollyhockGod> Alexa, you're attached to a bucking dragon beaming laser vision into its eyes. Action?
<Alexa> Burn! Burn!
<Alexa> "Grix! Tear off its eyelids!"
<Alexa> (Just in case it tries to blink.)
<HollyhockGod> The Grix ignores you, because Greed is tearing at it and trying to get it off.
<HollyhockGod> Also, you feel vaguely uncomfortable as you start to plummet owing to the entangled wings.
<Alexa> (Don't care! Burn!)
<HollyhockGod> With prodigious strength, Greed takes the Grix in its two front claws and pulls you just far enough in front of his face to aim his breath at you.
<Alexa> (Eek.)
<HollyhockGod> You expect force, but what you see is the dragon seem to move further and further away from you.
<Alexa> "Hey, come back here!"
<HollyhockGod> As he grows smaller and smaller in the distance, the Grix loses its grip on his head.
<HollyhockGod> Which has two smoking holes where the eyes were, by the by.
<HollyhockGod> Ebba?
<HollyhockGod> Ah, yes, torpedo.
<RyanSherbrig> ("Now you have something to talk about with Justice!")
<HollyhockGod> As you begin to draw closer to the ground, you find yourself zeroing on a dark-haired young Excrucian with a sniper rifle.
<Fiona> (did the dragon just breathe 'distance' at Alexa?)
<HollyhockGod> As he gets a good look at you he puts the rifle away and pulls out a significantly stranger weapon.
<Alexa> (Can she tell it's a genuine Exy, not a shard or anchor?)
<Ebba> (we know she's an excrutian because she has a lolexcrutian caption over her head :D)
<HollyhockGod> (You can't tell either of those things.)
<HollyhockGod> Well, everyone else can see the dragon, sort of.
<Alexa> ("Ask me about the World Beyond!")
<HollyhockGod> It seems to have created horizontal distance but not in any other direction.
<HollyhockGod> Like a cone of new space.
<HollyhockGod> But to Fiona's many eyes, it seems to be shrinking in actual size at the same time.
<HollyhockGod> Your action, Ebba?
<Ebba> hmm, will try throwing something out of my pockets to dirupt his aim long enough for me to get to the ground
<Ebba> now what do I have in my pockets?
<Ebba> teacups, teapot, spoons, small pot of sugar
<Ebba> hmm, the small pot of sugar is the least important
<Ebba> It's the first up against the wall
<HollyhockGod> Your next CP really needs to be spent on the "Infinite Inventory Method" Gift.
<HollyhockGod> (It's on the wiki!)
<HollyhockGod> What Aspect are you throwing at?
<Ebba> I'd have to add some penetration, right?
<Ebba> so we'll try ascpect 3, penetration 2
<HollyhockGod> I cannot say!
<Ebba> which I can do for free, right?
<HollyhockGod> This is so.
<HollyhockGod> Ebba hurls the sugar pot with the unerring grace of an Olympic gold medalist.
<HollyhockGod> Um… what happens when you throw something while falling at terminal velocity, again?
<Alexa> (Depends how hard you throw it!)
<Fiona> it moves pretty fast.
<HollyhockGod> I assume that the teapot hits the Excrucian only moments before Ebba does.
<RyanSherbrig> It's mythic, not science!
<Alexa> (A teapot will have a higher terminal velocity than a human anyway.)
<RyanSherbrig> (You can literally tell physics to suck it! He might take offense, mind you.)
<Ebba> assuming olympic class throwing, we are looknig at a velocity of something like 30 mile an hour
<Ebba> and depending on ebba's geometry and drag, get terminal velocity would be something like 60-100 miles as hour (iirc)
<Ebba> (though you can do low drag manuvers to bring this up)
<Alexa> (But they'd add, right?)
<Fiona> yes.
<Ebba> but rooting around in your pockets for somethign to throw is hardly 'low drag' :P
<Alexa> (Particularly in a dress.)
<HollyhockGod> Does Ebba wear dresses?
<HollyhockGod> Anyway, I've just heard that my mother's father just passed away.
<Alexa> (Oh no! I'm sorry to hear that, Rand.)
<HollyhockGod> He's been with the hospice people for several days now, so it's not unexpected. He was 87.
<RyanSherbrig> (My condolences.)
<HollyhockGod> I'll be all right for the moment. Anyway, an Excrucian is hit with the miraculous weight of an Aspect 3 sugar pot to the head.
<Fiona> condolences.
<HollyhockGod> Then she's hit by the mundane wieght of Ebba!
<HollyhockGod> Haha, stupid shard! I take my sadness out on YOU.
<HollyhockGod> The Excrucian-shard says "oof" and is knocked down.
<HollyhockGod> Fiona, it's your turn.
<Fiona> hmm. the dragon is shrinking, right?
<HollyhockGod> That appears to be so.
<Fiona> can I preserve my bramble net against escape attempts? that seems to be a thing preservation should be able to do, on snare-y things, anyway.
<HollyhockGod> You could.
<Fiona> ok. lesser preservation, three penetration.
<Fiona> (hmm. I'm now down 4 dmp, I think)
<HollyhockGod> That's less juice than you gave it in the first place!
<HollyhockGod> You can't preserve a level 4 miracle with a level 3 one. Well, you can, but it won't make it any harder to get out of.
<HollyhockGod> Unless the level 3 miracle gives it characteristics it didn't have before.
<Fiona> really? that seems pretty weird. because otherwise I'd have just made it with a level 6 miracle in the first place, since you get cheaper miracles bundled in for free.
<HollyhockGod> Well, it's *because* you get them bundled in.
<Fiona> it also means you can't preseve major creations, which is bizarre.
<HollyhockGod> It's assumed that Lesser Creations are all *already* Lesser Preserved.
<HollyhockGod> And you can preserve Major Creations; they're just *already* Major-Preserved.
<HollyhockGod> At least, they are in general.
<RyanSherbrig> Mmm. Think of preservations as just what you do when you've already got a convenient supply of whatever in question.
<HollyhockGod> If you give it more specific protections with an additional miracle, that would make a difference.
<HollyhockGod> Like if you used a Lesser Preservation to say "I make it so it shrinks with him if he tries to shrink out of it", that would work.
<HollyhockGod> But generic "I give it protection!" doesn't give it any protection that it doesn't have already.
<Fiona> um. right. ok, I do that then.
<HollyhockGod> …
<HollyhockGod> I have to stop giving PCs plans.
<HollyhockGod> I'm supposed to CRUSH you, not help you!
<Alexa> (What should Alexa do next?)
<HollyhockGod> BURN the distance.
<HollyhockGod> Wait, no! Don't do that.
<Fiona> (well, that was what I was aiming for with the preservation in the first place, so…)
<HollyhockGod> I didn't even say anything.
<HollyhockGod> Greed shrinks rapidly down into nothingness, but his entangling net of vines shrinks along with him.
<HollyhockGod> Presumably, wherever he is now, he's still falling.
<Alexa> (Should we let him get away?)
<HollyhockGod> Ryan, you're floating next to Elizabeth Eliza, whose summoned elemental is carrying her gently upwards, while she tells you about her summoning technique.
<HollyhockGod> It's very fascinating and technical.
<RyanSherbrig> "Fascinating!"
<HollyhockGod> The Lady of Candles is pale, fair-haired, and mostly undistingusihed, but she has an amazingly soothing voice.
- RyanSherbrig does a quick check to see if any of his friends require assistance.
<HollyhockGod> It's a good thing you don't need sleep, or you'd be in danger of being lulled.
<HollyhockGod> Your eyesight is not so great, so you don't see any who do.
<HollyhockGod> Hmmm… NPCs take mysterious actions you're unaware of!
<RyanSherbrig> Hmmm. Surely Ebba could use her exemplariness to get my attention if she needed it, and the Grix is already helping against Greed.
<RyanSherbrig> I continue discoursing on the finer subjects of summoning as we make our way back to the ship!
<HollyhockGod> Fiona, you feel a disconnection in your Estate, as though somebody uses an Aspect 5 miracle of physical strength to tear apart your vines.
<HollyhockGod> Then you all hear a noise.
<Ebba> so it's obviously time for a brew up!
<HollyhockGod> It's the kind of noise you hear when something tiny but still weighing hundreds of tons plows into the ground.
<HollyhockGod> Dear me, with that and the eyes, I do believe you've taken two of his Deadlies.
<HollyhockGod> Which as you know is the most you can have.
<Alexa> (Without Gifts, I guess.)
<HollyhockGod> I don't know of any Gifts that give you more, although Durant lets you regen faster.
<Alexa> (Maybe that's what I'm thinking of.)
<RyanSherbrig> ("Oh, hey, I forgot about my Immortality. Silly me.")
<HollyhockGod> And it's not WORTH buying more. If you want to be unkillable you buy Immortal.
<Alexa> (Do we see a rising cloud of dust? Has he knocked down any buildings or anything?)
<RyanSherbrig> (One of these days I plan on throwing an Immortal warmain-shard at some PCs who refuses to negotiate, and just busts heads, and see how they deal with it.)
<HollyhockGod> Yes, there's a noticeable crater, which presumably contains an atomic-sized dragon.
<Alexa> (Alexa would have been trying to watch his flightpath, but I'm guessing he vanished.)
<HollyhockGod> "Aha!" says Lukas, floating out of the ship.
<HollyhockGod> Eager to put an end to this random encounter, he makes an impressive full-body gesture.
<Alexa> (Ryan, is the Grix immortal?)
<HollyhockGod> An impressive-looking runic circle appears and encloses the crater in a protective sphere.
<HollyhockGod> "That should keep him fenced in for a time now that he's been weakened," says Lukas, looking pleased but tired. You suspect he may have just tossed out a Word of Command.
<RyanSherbrig> (Yeah.)
<Alexa> (Damn! I was going to kill him!)
<Alexa> (Which might have been a bad idea, of course.)
<HollyhockGod> Well, you can still ask to be let in.
<HollyhockGod> Or just fill the inside of the circle with a Major cleansing holocaust.
<Alexa> (Two Powers enter, one Power leaves!)
<RyanSherbrig> "Let Lord Entropy and the Locust Court deal with him. They'll be able to do much worse things to him than we will."
<HollyhockGod> Note that he's significantly easier to injure now that his Deadlies are gone.
<Ebba> isn't working with the excrutians among the 'high crimes and misdemeanors' section?
<HollyhockGod> It's ALL in the "high crimes and misdemeanors" section.
<RyanSherbrig> "Yes, it's one of the things they frown strongly upon."
<HollyhockGod> Anyway, Ebba, your shard is finding herself out-classed.
<HollyhockGod> She evidently wasn't specced by her full Excrucian self to go head-to-head with an Exemplar in close combat.
<HollyhockGod> Do with her as you will!
<Ebba> "Now sit there quietly, or I'll kick you in the nadgers again" ?
<HollyhockGod> "Bloody right," says Melangell with satisfaction. "Old Bloody Hands is a right bastard, but it's less'n 'e deserves for layin' 'is paws on me ship."
<HollyhockGod> She looks hard at Alexa for a second as though trying to remember something.
<Alexa> (I'm still there, not falling via Grix?)
<Ebba> I'
<HollyhockGod> I assume the Grix has sprouted wings and returned to the throng.
<Ebba> ll find something shiny to signal the ship with
<Ebba> so thay can coe pick us up
<HollyhockGod> Then she turns away and decides to ignore the thought until it becomes convenient to do otherwise.
<Alexa> (Righto. Otherwise, I'd change into fire shape and fly out through the eyeholes.)
<Ebba> and we can get started on the fiendish experiments
<HollyhockGod> Ebba, your shard struggles for a moment, then weighs the situation, and goes limp. "Very well," she says. "I surrender."
<Alexa> "You're sure you don't want him singed a bit more, Duchess?"
<HollyhockGod> Melangell perceives your signal and lowers a ladder.
<HollyhockGod> Time for a friendly pow-wow!
<Ebba> "You seem much more reasonable that your hired help"
<HollyhockGod> "I am merely a philosophically-motivated opponent of Creation," says the shard. "Whereas he is the embodiment of Greed."
<RyanSherbrig> (Dude, "I surrender" would be the awesomest Blind Lie use ever.)
<Alexa> (:o)
<HollyhockGod> "My superior was able to locate a jewel in the Lands Beyond with a special property."
<HollyhockGod> "Specifically, its value registers as infinite to all appraisals, mystical or otherwise."
<Ebba> "is that all?"
<RyanSherbrig> "Hmmm."
<HollyhockGod> "It was simple to buy his services with a trinket that was worth more than Creation itself, even one that was completely useless."
<HollyhockGod> "Of course, it is the nature of Powers to be fools."
<Alexa> ("Ooh! Can we get one?")
<HollyhockGod> "No offense meant, of course."
<RyanSherbrig> "No taken. We are a foolish sort at times."
<RyanSherbrig> (None.)
<Ebba> "Would you like some tea? I'm afraid there is no more sugar, though" :D
<HollyhockGod> "You may call me Montessa Laud. I am now a prisoner of war, so I will tell you my name and my position: Warmain-at-large to the Children of Harumaph."
<HollyhockGod> "Ah, thank you. It is no problem; I have had sufficent sucrose already."
- RyanSherbrig uses the Sight.
<RyanSherbrig> (Full warmain? Shard?)
<HollyhockGod> Oh my god, she's an Excrucian!
<Alexa> (Noooo!)
<HollyhockGod> No telling. The evidence of getting her antimatter rear kicked by Ebba indicates that she's a shard.
<HollyhockGod> But she could be lying!
<HollyhockGod> Melangell stands guard over her with a cutlass.
<RyanSherbrig> (Hmmm, I thought that shard/full was a distinction that turned up to the Sight like, well, Imperator/Power or such.)
<HollyhockGod> Marsiglio couldn't tell that Genseric was a full Excrucian until he realized he was an Inferno.
<Ebba> (and I though warmains were mostly about the butt-kicking. Why was it so easy, then?)
<RyanSherbrig> He might just have not wasted an action using the Sight in the middle of a fight?
<RyanSherbrig> Fair enough, though.
<HollyhockGod> (Because she was designed for distance fighting against a bunch of highly distracted characters with most of their points in Domain?
<HollyhockGod> (And not an angry Exemplar at close quarters?)
<HollyhockGod> I'll consider the matter. For now, your close mystical observation and testing indicate that she is merely a Montessa-shard.
<RyanSherbrig> "Well, your surrender certainly makes certain matters easier."
<HollyhockGod> "Yes, I detest difficulty. Now, what will you do with me? Perhaps it would be wiser to release me rather than divide your strength away from defending your Estate below."
<Alexa> (Ooh.)
<RyanSherbrig> (Yeah, look at Ryan all remembering the reason we were here.)
<HollyhockGod> Oh my god, Ryan acted with subtlety and tact!
<HollyhockGod> In Ryan Sherbrig's name, explain why you came to this place!
<RyanSherbrig> Nooooooo!
- RyanSherbrig assumes true Deciever form.
<HollyhockGod> Well, I'm out of Hollyhock MPs. You guys?
- HollyhockGod lets his players fight the Deceiver. Ryan, just scribble down your real character stats and hand them to me
<Alexa> (You are kidding, right?)
<RyanSherbrig> (Yes.)
<Alexa> (Phew!)
<RyanSherbrig> (Yay Blind Lie. Anyway, back to game.)
<Ebba> well, we should probably talk the four winds out of leveling the city as a way to stop the flower rite, whatever it is
<HollyhockGod> Although one day I really must replace one of you. "Ebba, don't tell anyone, but a Deceiver locked you in a box and replaced you tonight."
<Ebba> since I tihnk that was her original plan
<HollyhockGod> Yes, please present your small talk!
<Alexa> (Did the fight start any fires in the city that are threatening human life? If so, Alexa snuffs them out.)
<HollyhockGod> (If there were any before, there aren't now. :) )
<RyanSherbrig> "It just so happens we have knowledge of a containment facility for Shards. Would any of yoy" (refering to the other Familia) "be opposed to us taking custody of her?"
<RyanSherbrig> (You, even.)
<Ebba> to the four winds, "Now, are you going to help us locate the threat to your estate? we are not going to help you burn down the city"
<HollyhockGod> Lukas quickly says "Please, take charge of her," before Melangell can speak.
<HollyhockGod> A pair of handcuffs materializes, linking Montessa's wrists and yours.
<Alexa> "What should we do about Greed, then?"
<RyanSherbrig> (And here I thought I'd have to offer Melangell the location of Anna's new summer home in trade. Score!)
<RyanSherbrig> "Anyone have Meon's cell phone number?"
<HollyhockGod> "A simple prayer to the Powers of Locus Medan should bring a warder of the Locust Court.
<HollyhockGod> ", says Elizabeth Eliza.
<HollyhockGod> I've empowered Lukas's binding circle with my own magic, so it should hold him for the time being.
<Alexa> "Yeah, nice trick with that circle. How does it work?"
<HollyhockGod> "I still say we should kill him," says Melangell. "It's well within the law. I tell you what, we kill the dragon, and then I won't raze D.C. Hows about it?"
<Alexa> "Fine by me."
<HollyhockGod> "I've studied circination in sorcery carefully," says Elizabeth Eliza mildly. "Lukas merely has power over all things circular."
<HollyhockGod> Lukas creates a circular diamond necklace around his Sibling's neck.
<HollyhockGod> "Aw," says the Sibling. "Well, perhaps *merely* was a poor choice of words."
<HollyhockGod> Lukas smirks.
<Alexa> (But diamonds aren't circular!)
<RyanSherbrig> Necklaces are, though!
<Alexa> (I think he's cheating.)
<Alexa> (Though maybe I'm just jealous.)
- Alexa eyes Elizabeth's necklace admiringly.
<RyanSherbrig> Discreet prayer to guy-made-of-numbers: "Could you discreetly pick us up in the D.C area, by any chance? We have a Shard in custody."
<Fiona> "it occurs to me that letting Melangell slay the dragon is probably going to be nicer to it than letting the locus court do the same thing."
- Fiona smiles slightly at Melangell
<RyanSherbrig> "Yes, I suppose getting that whole affair done cleanly would be for the best."
<RyanSherbrig> (DING 5 MP)
<HollyhockGod> E'jah responds eagerly: "I'll send down the shuttle instantly! Don't let her escape or turn into somebody else! It would be embarassing if that happened a second time."
<Alexa> "I'll even let you do the deed, if you like, Mel."
<RyanSherbrig> (Just kidding.)
- RyanSherbrig prayers up an address.
<HollyhockGod> "Yeah, yeah!" says Melangell eagerly. "So, it's agreed, right?"
<RyanSherbrig> "I have no objections."
<Ebba> (I can see how having the poer of the four winds rigt next to the nummy, nummy heart of the recently slain power of greed could not possibly go wrong. at tall)
<HollyhockGod> Elizabeth Eliza sighs, but looks resigned. Lukas clearly finds this situation perfectly acceptable.
<RyanSherbrig> (Well, if it were vice versa, there could be problems.)
<HollyhockGod> You can't steal someone's Estate with Redtooth if you're already a Power.
<Alexa> (Sez you!)
<RyanSherbrig> Yeah, but can't you get MP for it?
<HollyhockGod> Although you could probably use it as an excuse to buy Secondary Domain.
<Fiona> (Fíona isn't actually all that happy about it, but well, what other options do we actually have?)
<RyanSherbrig> (Call the Locust Court and have them intercede before Mell does.)
<Alexa> (Yeah. Which is what Ryan's doing, right?)
<HollyhockGod> …I don't know. Was it a Bond? If he had "Maintenance of my own happiness (10)", you could probably do it!
<Fiona> (that's not really going to change anything, though, is it. this is the locust court)
<HollyhockGod> Ryan is calling E'jah to come and take the shard away.
<RyanSherbrig> (Ryan's calling the world-builders to collect our Excrucian. HE doesn't really care about Greed.)
<Alexa> (Ah, right.)
<RyanSherbrig> We thwarted Greed's effort to gain infinite wealth. That's probably a bond.
<Alexa> (But Fiona could try it if she's really bothered about it.)
<Ebba> (but then we'd probably have to answer a bunch of sitcky questions about why we wantd an excrutian shard. and where is our sister, again?)
<Fiona> (true. but she's more resigned than anything.)
<RyanSherbrig> (Yeah, that's a point Ryan considered, and part of why he was happy to let Mell deal with it.)
<HollyhockGod> Then I suppose the thing shall be done.
<HollyhockGod> Melangell flies giddily out the window and down.
<Fiona> (also, I'm going to pass up on nettling the dragon. no point kicking him when he's down, and about to come down with a bad case of murdered)
<HollyhockGod> Shortly after, she returns, carrying a small black gemstone. "'Ey, 'Liza, see what I found in 'is belly!"
<Alexa> (Alexa would have flown down to watch.)
<HollyhockGod> She tosses it to her Sister, who has pulled a case out of her pocket and extracted a handful of nettles before you can say "Simple Rite."
<HollyhockGod> Okay, you flew down and watched her slaughter the blinded dragon.
<Alexa> (Yay.)
<HollyhockGod> Would you like to remove the evidence?
<Alexa> (Sure! Instant cremation.)
<HollyhockGod> Elizabeth Eliza performs the Nettle Rite.
<HollyhockGod> She and her Siblings glow for a moment, as though they had just nettled the biggest Bond imaginable.
<RyanSherbrig> ("Hey, Cammora! We'd like to sell a dragon corpse to you in exchange for some minor favors to be named later!")
<HollyhockGod> ("But darling, this dragon is moldy, and the color is so yesterday. Metallic is the new black, didn't you know?")
<HollyhockGod> "Aww, that's the stuff," says Melangell, as her miracle points refresh.
<RyanSherbrig> ("Oh, sorry. You'll just have to go to one of those OTHER dragon corpse retail chains down the street, then.")
<Fiona> (I should head off now. will see people next week?)
<Alexa> (I won't be here next week.)
<HollyhockGod> Not Uqbarian, but we'll probably meet anyway.
<Ebba> (time for me to go as well)
<HollyhockGod> "Well, I guess I can't kill everybody," says Melangell, happily. "So… what's the plan?"
- You are now known as RandBrittain
<RyanSherbrig> (Yeah, I should be heading off as well.)
- Alexa is now known as Uqbarian
<Uqbarian> Seeya, guys!
<RyanSherbrig> (I assume we get the Shard on the Shuttle no problem?)
- RyanSherbrig is now known as Benhimself
<RandBrittain> Suits me fine.
- Ebba is now known as CrusherBob
<RandBrittain> She happily goes off into captivity. Little does she know what awaits her.
<RandBrittain> OR DOES SHE?
<Uqbarian> How much trouble are we in now?
<RandBrittain> Anyway, this was a successful session, I think.
- Fiona has quit (Disintegrated: Fiona)
<RandBrittain> Well, the dragon tried to kill you, so killing him back is well within Sevenfold Vengeance.
<Benhimself> Uqbarian is probably refering to the "Running off with a Shard for puposes unknown."
<RandBrittain> You've done a lot of collateral damage in the course of the fight, though. If it gets much worse, you may have to offer some bribes… oh, I see.
<RandBrittain> I'm not aware of a section of the Code that relates to prisoner treatment.
<Benhimself> But well, that all depends on how much they talk about it.
<RandBrittain> I presume it's at the discretion of your Imperator.
<RandBrittain> Remember that under the Code you serve your Imperator before the War.
<Benhimself> Mmmm. Well, we're on a mission from our Imperator, so, huzzah.
<Uqbarian> Cool!
<CrusherBob> a very loosely interpreted mission from our imperator…
<Benhimself> If the Phoenix had a better idea of how to go about her orders, I'm sure she would have told us.
<RandBrittain> That seems logical, and I'm sure Lord Entropy will accept it.
<Uqbarian> Because he's so reasonable! :)
<Benhimself> Yay!
<Benhimself> Lord Entropy's such an understanding and upright guy.
<RandBrittain> And I think I finally achieved my goal- a problem where everybody gets to contribute to the solution!
<Uqbarian> Awesome!
<RandBrittain> Fiona bound his wings, Alexa burned his eyes out, Ebba captured an Excrucian-shard, and Ryan flirted with a girl.
<Uqbarian> Hey, do we know what Codes Melangell's Familia follow? And who their Imperator is?
<Uqbarian> Ryan was flirting?
<RandBrittain> Also one of Ryan's servants actually did something he wanted!
<Benhimself> You didn't notice?
<Uqbarian> I thought he was talking shop.
<RandBrittain> Talking shop is the same as talking about yourself when you're a Secret Master.
<Uqbarian> True, I guess.
<RandBrittain> Imagine talking about Firefly to a pretty geek girl and you'll understand.
<Benhimself> Talking shop with someone who shares your interests is totally sexy.
<Uqbarian> *swoons*
<Benhimself> But yes! Mission accomplished! Calooh, callay!
<RandBrittain> Now I guess you have to stop the flower rite, for politeness sake.
<Uqbarian> We do?
<Uqbarian> Oh, yeah.
<RandBrittain> Well, if you just grab a shard and leave, people will Suspect.
<Benhimself> Hmmm.
<Uqbarian> I'd thought grabbing the shard would stop the rite, but I guess it doesn't.
<RandBrittain> Plus then Ryan's new lady friend will think he's lazy.
<Benhimself> The events they set into motion are still in motion.
<Uqbarian> Like if someone turns on a tap, you can kill them, but you still have to turn off the tap afterwards.
<Benhimself> Next week!
