Unidentified Flying Objects

[Gennadiya Arishina]

I am a damsel

locked in her tower,

but I am my own capture.

No one else has the

strength to lock me away.

You though have the key

to free me from myself

DATE

Genna smiled at the ferret as he flatteringly denied having made the flying ships. The two talked for a while about their plans and how they could each support the other. The organizations while were different still had worked together to help people in their own ways. Genna tilted her head as he talked about hosting a party. “We can use the clinics as centers for the party, and my residence if you like. I have the space.” She said in ways of helping with his idea. The healer through acting like the ships weren’t a threat was best, though she would also want to be ready. She accepted that having a party wasn’t something she would have thought of doing. Once the conversation was done she moved on to the next stages.

Even with approaching ships the Order had its daily jobs to do. Genna made sure that the necessary day to day work continued as normal. People still had accidents and medical problems and needed to be attended to. So she made sure that everything there was taken care of. During that time she did receive two messages. One from Commander Urien requesting a group of healers in the sky quarter, but that he didn’t need her and the suggestion she stay at the hub of the order. Genna took the note in the way it was meant to be taken, and took into account the nature of the sender. She made arrangements for a group of healers with a diversity of skills to be sent to the Sky quarter. The second note was from Vivian acknowledging her own message and asking about any notes on ether as left by Faith.

Genna called in some help and did a look through Faith’s notes seeing if she has notes on either relevant to Vivian’s question and would send the information back over.

Through out the trial Genna kept abreast of the information that was being supplied by the other organizations. It seemed that the group was stopping at sights, the prison and the caves, sites that Genna was aware had been sites of big events. Genna had helped Vega rescue Genna’s daughter Lilabell from the caves. As Genna finished reading over the reports she thought for a moment. She locked her door and settled on the couch where she had meetings. She closed her eyes and pondered the upcoming event. She was quiet for a while seeking peace. She prayed to Ziell for wisdom to help with the coming event. She knew she was only a adored of his but she also sought to see if the approaching event sought conflict or peace. She was aware that both could cover a large area and that even if peace was intended conflict might happen, but she was hoping for guidance of some sort.

Next Six Hours

Helps Wintson with plans for parties.
Continues to have the healers work towards talking up Rharne.
Keeps the Order function as normal as possible.
Send Healers to the Sky Quarter
Search Faith’s notes for the information Vivian asked for.
Seek guidance from Ziell if the approaching ship have peace or conflict as intent.

~NPC~

Pablo

Lilabell

Koyla

Michail

Nayeli

[Pig Boy]

UFO

Seira heard people make a lot of conflicting statements. Some said that the ships were entirely made of some metal Others wood, still others claimed it was made of magic stones, with gems floating all about.

Some claimed that their lightning knight relatives had told them the people emerging from the flying vessels carried winged folk. Others contradicted this, saying they could float and fall slowly, but had no wings.

She heard they were far to the southeast, and may well go into the Eternal Empire, toward the scholar city Cahryst. Others speculated it would turn west and south, toward Volanta. It was clear by their willfully rumor-mongering about the direction of the vessel, that a lot of people didn’t want them here in Rharne.



The Lightning Knights that Netzach passed by, and their presence was considerably elevated now, of all times, suggested that the Lightning Knights were preparing for defense, but with a definite stopper in their aggressive impulses. There were notes of hesitance perhaps suggesting they would only fire on orders given.

However, as he attuned to the Lightning Knights, he’d recognize a few faces he’d seen at the All-Taverns tournament. They bore the same note as he’d detected then. Target. They all were more cheerful than the other Lightning Knights, more relaxed and full of humor. They joked about the people conspiracy mongering about the flying folk.



Lady Ebony returned with good information. There were Lightning Knights spread out through the Quarter, ready to greet any landers or incursions from this new phenomenon of flying vessels.

Her contacts in the local club gave similar information to what Seira had found, that the people on the ships (who’d been seen by Lightning Knight relatives, and higher ranking ones, so this could be trusted) were winged beings, and seemed to be searching for something. They were combing through the countryside where they were at, scouting and looking for who knew what.

Chester sent a word back to Ayla, making a feline smooching sound at her. “Good girl. Of course I’m the best Chester.”

And to own that title, over the next six hours Chester began floating into the air, to follow where the ships were. He found them, and yet when he approached what appeared to be a port entrance to the vessel, another spirit, a diri appeared before him. It was green, and had ram’s horns with a humanoid face. It was basically a head. “Greetings, spiritkin.” It said in a strange language, that by Chester’s power shared with Tristan, his master could also understand. “We are explorers, looking for other lost kin and hoping to establish a meeting with your Ruling Houses.”

Chester furrowed his feline brow, and spoke back to Tristan. “You heard that I trust?” Then Chester turned his attention to the diri before him, “We come to ask for entrance into your… fine vessel.”

The green, horned head responded, shaking its head. “No you cannot board, but you may fly along as we go.”

Chester felt a little stumped, and turned his thoughts back to Tristan. “Well, any bright ideas, master? Also, although we can understand them, they speak a language I’ve never known or heard of, anywhere. Quite unlike anything where we’ve traveled.”

Tristan researches his sources and books. Many speculations about underground species, and then species living in landmasses beyond the shores of Idalosian continents. And of course the rumors that have abounded about the Iulure Isles which some have speculated about. But no solid details. He makes headway, but if he hopes to make any landmark discoveries he’ll need to enlist the help of a much more talented researcher.

Koral, unfortunately doesn’t have many stories at her disposal about flying castles and the people that might live in them. Although she has a few really good tunawa nursery rhymes.



Winston of course has SHinwa working overtime, making sure the Breweries and Guilds are on board for a welcoming committee. This is aided by all the gathered organization of Isonomia in Rharne. He’s able to organize quite a lot of it in the next six hours, and there are brewer hawksters ready to exchange samples of their fine drinks with the new-comers, whoever they were.

There was no sense in hiding under their roofs, even if the enemy turned out to be hostile. A bombardment from above would likely make it safer to be out of doors, where the buildings wouldn’t cave in on them. Perhaps.

Shinwa also relayed the message to Genna and Vivian, advising them to keep their healers and knights at a distance from the ships, for now.

After the Knight’s Arrival:

Winston makes it to the armory, and there are indeed chi-stones worked into several of the cannonballs that Joe can detect. However, when he tries to pinpoint the magic inherent in them, he goes a little loopy.

He begins speaking nonsense about the Perfect World, and the Other Side. Clearly the magic imbued into the well-crafted cannonballs are beyond master.

When Winston began inspecting them himself, his keen ensorcelling senses sensed something familiar about the magic, but powerful all the same. Even he had trouble keeping a lid on his meditative focus as he delved into it. He did get close enough of a read on the magic, to know that it resembled in some way the same magics that had produced his special portal technology.

It was a class 4 regalia, the cannonball, meaning two class 2 wells had been put into it, or else… perhaps a natural class 4, refined.

Either way, selenenyte wouldn’t be quite enough to dampen the effects of it. He would have to find another way to deactivate or disarm the cannonballs.



As it happened, one of the ships did peel off toward the southwest, over Rosebay. A few of the winged individuals flew overhead, circling Rosebay as their ship continued on its way.

Only one of the flying people touched down to the ground, outside the walls of Rosebay,, walking up to its aperature. He didn’t carry heavy weapons, and appeared to be a creature that Dan nor any of the villagers had ever seen before.

He had a reptilian look about him, with bat-like green wings, and short straight black horns. He himself had green eyes, and a friendly, human-like face. He spoke to whoever greeted him at the entrance to Rosebay, in a strange undecipherable language. However, when Dandelion began signing, the winged man swiftly began signing back, albeit in a hard to understand manner (Broken common sign). It really was more pantomiming, but it was enough to know that he was looking either for entrance to the village, or directions. Not a direct translation from sign, but then, these people probably didn’t know Idalosian common sign.

Meanwhile, over the next few hours, the ships continued to float onwards toward the southwest. But the winged man seemed content to stay for a time.

The messenger from Rharne was dumbstruck by the appearance of the winged man, and asked Dandelion only for a waterskin, before taking off to return to Rharne with news of the winged person that touched down at Rosebay, making first contact in Idalos.



At the Infirmary, Revan looked into the candle for a good long few moments. He almost felt himself shifting, with butterflies as if he was moving suddenly very fast. But at the last moment, he looked away, and was no longer moving without walking. He felt a sudden influx of vertigo and imbalance, near enough to knock most people off their feet.

Willow determins that the medicine might be worth taking, but it appears to be only one substance. What substance she cannot tell without labels, and these phials have none.



Word comes back to Vivian that the Voice, Nathaniel Dubois knows an Attuner. He’s the only one of much ability in the city. His name is Timur, and he is prepared to render aid for a price as a independent contractor. Supposing Vivian agrees to release a discretionary fund, most of the Lightning Knight Commanders agree that it is a good use of them, and the wheels are in motion by the time Winston arrives at the Armory.

The Knights who pursue the winged folk from their vessels into the Rharne Prison, find that it has been fortified by them. They are not allowing them in, and since ordered to stand down and not engage in aggression, the Lightning Knights keep their distance. There’s a sense of tension, as one of the three ships, one of the smaller ones stops over the Prison and Umbral Caverns area, and the larger one heads onwards toward Rharne.

The Induks appear not to know much yet, as of Vivian’s sending contacts to them, except for Lovalus, who preaches calm and serenity. Esher says he’s ready to speak to Clemengoth, should the flying ships turn hostile, but that he will not risk waking him until they’re sure, and by then the storm is slow moving, it may be too late to sweep the flying ships off course.



Genna is a great support to all of Winston’s efforts to plan the parties. With her leadership skills, she’s able to outpace even Shinwa in the ordering of the events to unfold.

The healers continue doing a stellar job calming people down and stopping the worst of the catastrophizing people tend to do with the approach of the unknown.

The healers arrive at the Sky Quarter, ready to engage with the knights there and provide healing if necessary. Or at the least to calm folks down so there’s no mishap.

Faith has some interesting notes on how ether relates to blood flow, and that mages have ether inside their blood. Of particular interest is a note that magic flows through blood, but so does divine mark magic, albeit in a slightly altered, more ordered way.

Ziell doesn’t answer Gennadiya’s prayer, but she feels a warmth inside that shows he appreciates her remembering him. However, as if giving encouragement, she receives an impulse, not compelled to but a mere suggestion, that she be one of the envoys to this unknown entity.



At the Armory:

Timur arrives, and immediatley greets the small Winston with a smile. “Timur, at Rharne’s service, for no small fee I might add.” He winked at the cadouri, and then went to check the magic on the cannonballs. He furrowed his brow, as his attunement magics began working around them, unraveling them note by note.

“These… are rupturing magics imbued into the ammo.” He said, furrowing his brow, “Only master level perhaps worse. In my expert opinion, the only master level technique one would reaosnably want on a cannonball is Nail. That means… this entire army is in the cannon barrel, pointing at something. But what?”

He looked to Winston, “What kinds of wells are installed in these?”

Assuming Winston answered, he’d close his eyes. “We need to get these cannonballs neutralized immediately, or else find out where the other half of the well is. If you find the other halves of the wells, you’ll find their targets.”

[Tristan Venora]

“That’s excellent“, Tristan remarked and breathed a huge sigh of relief when his grandmother shared the information from her contacts with him and told him that there were Lightning Knights spread throughout the Glass Quarter. At the moment, it didn’t sound as if the newcomers were hostile, but in his opinion, it was good to be prepared, nevertheless.

The mention of winged beings that were searching for something caused him to furrow his brow though. “I don’t assume those winged beings are Avriel or some sort of mages?” he asked hopefully before he came to the only possible conclusion, “I think we are dealing with an entirely new race – or a race that only just now returned to Idalos!”

~~~

Tristan didn’t know if he’d ever been prouder of Chester than he was now. His diri didn’t only provide him with more information, but actually approached the ships and talked to the people on them. He agreed with his daughter.

Chester really was the best Chester!

When Chester talked to the other diri, the young man furrowed his brow. He was, he had to admit, utterly confused, and he really wished he could be up there, with his friend. What kind of lost kin was the other diri talking about? Were there other strange winged beings? And what more, what did it when it talked about their “Ruling Houses”? Ilaren was only one person …

“I heard that”, he confirmed. “Let me think about it”, he asked.

“Can you ask the other diri to tell us more about their lost kin, please? What exactly are they searching for? Can you also ask it what those people are called and which language they speak?” he continued, realizing that communication was definitely going to be an issue.

Maybe, knowing the name of the language would help though.

“Please let them know that I will do my best to facilitate a meeting with Rharne’s Ruling House”, he added.

His last sentences were meant for Chester and Chester alone. “Can you describe the people on the flying ships to me, please, my dearest friend? Maybe knowing what they look like will help us figure this out”, he mused, hoping that his diri knew how much he appreciated his help.

~~~

Having done that, he penned another message to Vivian:

Dear Vivian,

I have been able to make contact with the flying ships with the help of my diri Chester. The winged beings are explorers, looking for lost kin and hoping to establish a meeting with our Ruling Houses.

They speak an unknown language, but I’m capable of communicating with them with the help of Chester who is a Diri of Communication.

During my research I found some mention of the Iulure Isles, but nothing concrete.

I don’t know what exactly they mean with “Ruling Houses”, but I’ve decided to contact Lady Ilaren.

In any case, if there is going to be a meeting to officially welcome the winged beings, I offer Chester’s and my support as communication might be the biggest challenge in this matter.

I’ve asked Chester to continue to remain in contact with the ships and try to find out more.

Please let me know if there is anything in particular you need from me.

Yours,

Tristan

~~~

While Tristan had sent a letter to Vivian, he didn’t think that a letter would be enough when it came to Ilaren, not nearly enough. So, he’d decided to head to the Lightning Cathedral – or wherever Ilaren happened to be at the time - himself, using all of his charm and his gentle persuasion to convince the Thunder Priesthood to let him talk to her.

On his shoulder was Koral, looking very cute and friendly and harmless. The Lightning Knights seemed to have things under control, but he still didn’t want to go anywhere alone.

His name was Tristan, Venora, and his companion was Koral, a Tunawa storyteller. He had information on the flying ships, he said, and a way to communicate with their passengers. The winged newcomers wanted to talk to their Ruling Houses, he continued before he fell silent and waited for them to make a decision.

Ilaren was also part of the Council, he thought, so she could inform the other members of the Council, if need be. He trusted her the most out of all the leaders of Rharne, and being an Immortal, she might know something about what was going on, something that the mortal members of the Council didn’t.

She had been alive for centuries.

Maybe, they’d be able to figure this out if they worked together. Maybe, Ilaren already knew, or did at least have a suspicion.

~~~

While Tristan tried to meet with Ilaren, Ebony made her way to the Institute for Innovation, accompanied by Tristan’s bodyguard Hannah, a letter that summarized Tristan’s findings so far in her bag. She made her way to Professor Vin Hallowswift’s office, or wherever he happened to be at the moment and knocked on the door.

If the professor opened the door, the old woman who was wearing a dark grey dress and looked very dignified, would incline her head before she began to speak.

“I’m Duchess Ebony Venora. I come in the name of my grandson, Tristan Venora”, she informed him, hoping that the fact that Tristan’s fame would cause the professor to hear her out. She spoke in a calm and clipped tone of voice, and firmly, a sign of her noble education.

She wasn’t just a random old grandmother, but a leader, a politician.

“Tristan has been researching the flying ships and their winged passengers since they first showed up, and he’s made some headway, and found some stories about the Iulure Isles, but now, he’s reached a point where he needs the help of a more accomplished researcher. I have heard that you are also a linguist of considerable skill”, she continued.

“My grandson told me that the people on the flying ships speak an unknown language. Will you, and perhaps your colleagues, help us, professor? My grandson is currently trying to meet with Lady Ilaren, but he will join us as soon as possible.”

“Here is a summary of Tristan’s findings”, she would say if the professor turned out to be accommodating and handed him Tristan’s note.

Notes

Tristan is using his Socialization capstone “Gentle Persuasion” to convince the Thunder Priesthood to let him talk to Ilaren.

Here is a summary of this post:

Tristan tells Chester to ask the other diri to tell them more about their lost kin. What are the people on the ships searching for? What are they called, and which language do they speak?

He also asks him to let them know that he will do what he can to facilitate a meeting with their Ruling Houses.

He asks Chester to describe the people on the ships to him.

Following that, he sends an update to Vivian and offers Chester’s and his service in case they decide to meet with the winged people.

Finally, he decides to try and talk to Ilaren.

Meanwhile, Ebony visits Professor Vin Hallowswift at the Institute for Innovation. She asks him to help them and gives a summary of Tristan’s research to him.

[Dandelion]

Rosebay, 121 Ashan 724, 18:00 - 23:59 hours

Dan let Agnes make the first greeting, as she knew more languages than most in Rosebay. Even so, she clearly didn't know the language that the flying stranger replied in. Dan supposed it was up to him now. He had, after all, spent his entire life communicating with people who did not share his language.

The stranger wasn't carrying heavy weapons, and Dan had not missed that he was being polite - if he wanted to force his way into Rosebay, the flying man could just have landed inside the walls rather than outside.

Dan set his spear at his feet, where he could snatch it up again in a hurry if he needed to, and held his hands out, palm up, in a near-universal gesture of peace. "Do you know Sign?" he asked.

The flying man immediately began to sign back. It was more pantomime, than true Sign, but Dan had long learned to take what he could get on that front. The flyer wanted to - go somewhere? Into Rosebay, perhaps? Somewhere else? Dan decided to start with testing the simplest option first.

Dan tapped his own chest. "Dan," he both signed and said aloud. Then he pointed to the ground beneath his feet. "Rosebay," he named it, and enquired the flying man's name by the simple expedient of pointing to him with a raised eyebrow.

He also cautiously beckoned to see whether the flyer wished to come in. If he did, Dan sent the other settlers to eat in shifts, supplied the gaping messenger with the waterskin he requested, and had stools and lanterns brought out, for a longer discussion, so that they could sit if they wished and see each other even when the sun went down. If the flyer asked to go inside, Dan wouldn't deny him, but he wouldn't offer, both knowing how birds often disliked enclosed spaces (the time he had woken up with a panicking small bird flapping around the inside of his tent was unforgettable) and preferring to keep the stranger away from Rosebay's children, who were in Rosebay's main gathering space, the Hall.

He pulled out his writing slate, and sketched a crude map of Rharne. "Rosebay," he said, tapping the appropriate point, then pointed to the flying man and the ships drifting away from them. "Go Where?" he asked offering the map for the flyer to point too. He had many questions, ranging from where the ships and flying man had come from, to where they were going and what they were doing here, to how the ships worked, but he was wary of asking them all at once and he strongly suspected that as soon as the messenger got somewhere (like, say Storm's Edge) people higher on the ranking scale were likely to descend on Rosebay with their own questions. Instead he began with the simplest ones - or at least the easiest to pantomime, and allowed pauses for the flyer to ask questions of his own as he worked slowly through them, trying to learn as much as he could.

Agnes would step away long enough to fetch a tray containing buckwheat flatbreads, sliced ham, dried raisins, and pitchers of hot mint tea and cold buckybeer. "You don't get to skip a meal just because you're out here," she told Dan. "Everyone gets a meal, that includes you and our - guest."

Dan grinned ruefully, and invited her to join them as well. She was far more likely to pick up on spoken names and the like than he was, after all.

6 hour summary and notes

All Rosebay NPCs can be found here

Dan has:

• sent the messenger off wth the requested water skin
• made first contact
• introduced himself and asked the flying man's name in return
• invited the flying man into Rosebay
• offered food
• seen that Rosebay's people ate
• asked as many questions as is safe, practical, and polite

Filler Text, Filler text

"Signed words" Spoken words

[Netzach Embersoul]

Sticking his nose where it doesn't belong.

Netzach wanted to know more. Despite the dreary pessimistic outlook that seemed to pervade the air like life-sucking miasma, he felt a sense of excitement. Something was afoot, something big, and it was about to happen soon.
Seeing the way that the knights with 'target' marked on their frequency behaved, he wondered if this was part of Tobias's plan. Was this what he was hinting towards? Was this all orchestrated by him? Why make the Lightning Knights more cheery; to make them lose their guard?


He walked away from the gate, the sound of his footsteps felt as though they reverberated in his head, clearing his thoughts.
He needed to sniff out the truth, through eavesdropping and rumors and gossip. Yet the ordinary rabble weren't likely to know much, no. He needed to get closer to source, and nobody was closer to knowing anything about these flying ships that the Knights.

He pulled together the note of 'Target' and combined it with another note, one that he had familiarized with all the rumors and whispers flitting about through hands cupped up to each other's ears. Notes were often named after events or states, so he named this note 'Gossip'.

"Dowse" he muttered under his breath, giving life to the command with ether ushered from his spark. A feeling like his soul being pulled into a thin needle, pointing outward in different directions became sensate within his mind.
If he had simply dowsed for "Gossip", he might have been led to the nearest house-wife get together, but by combining it with the note of 'Target' a relatively rare note that he knew was largely being applied to the Knights, he might be able to find a few cheery-eyed Lightning Knights with loose lips, giving him the opportunity to eavesdrop.

His plan was simple, go to the nearest gossiping Lightning Knight, eavesdrop, then repeat.
He hoped he would find out whether they knew what these ships were, and exactly what the heart of what they were trying to do here was.

Actions this post

Netzach will be Dowsing for "Gossip" and "Target" combined into one Dowse, to increase the accuracy.
His plan is to go from one gossiping knight to the other, and get as much information as he could.
Mainly he wants to know: 1) What the knights know of the ships 2)What they are planning to do about it 3)Where are these plans supposed to go down.
Hopefully it gives him a chance to meet up or interfere with what the other players are doing!

[Revan Blackhand]

121 Ashan 724

While the breaks continued to roll on with the looming rumors of flying ships and winged people- only half of which Revan had heard about, the thief himself set his focus on more grounded endeavors. Crime being the most prominent one of those endeavors. Staring into the strange candlelight gave him a sense of vertigo that he hadn't felt before. He was no strange to being whisked away by untold forces but this was different. It was slower. He felt as if he would have been pulled into some trap or void if he had looked for much longer. He nearly fell to the ground like a drunk when he finally pulled his attention away from the candle.

After assessing the security around the medicine and finding Willow, Revan was a little put off by the findings. Only one type of medicine? That was problematic. If a little bit of many different things went missing it would be harder to tell. Alternatively, it could also work in their favor. One type of medicine meant they only had to replace it with one type of imitation. Maybe the owners would write it all off as a bad batch or blame whoever had sent it to them... yes... that seemed more likely if they managed to get enough of it.

"So... why are you after this?" Willow whispered to Revan from where they were blending in. Her voice shook him out of his thoughts for a moment and he shrugged.

"Practice and profit." Revan said as if stealing a supply of medicine wouldn't hurt people like them. People who more often than not had to make hard choices to survive in the world. He hadn't expected Willow to show any doubt when it came to the game but he could tell from her tone that she had reservations.

"Do we have... any buyers lined up for medicines? Especially these. Without labels we don't even know what we're taking." Willow's argument made more sense than Revan was happy with but he'd set his mind to the job. He didn't want to abandon it now.

"We can find buyers." Revan countered.

"Medicine doesn't last forever." Willow pointed out, causing Revan to look towards her.

"What?"

"It doesn't. Like... fish and venison." Willow repeated.

Revan's brow furrowed and he looked towards the ground. Would they really risk exposure to get something they didn't have an easy output for? As soon as they took the medicine, even if it wasn't noticed, they'd be put on a timetable be didn't like. "Alright... what would you propose?"

"Did you find out what was happening with the candles?" Willow asked. Revan shook his head. "Why not?"

"It felt... strange. Risky."

"I get that." Willow agreed. Still, she didn't seem content. "Strange how?"

"It felt like... I was moving. Then I stopped looking and I just... lost all sense of direction." He admit.

"Have you been drinking?" She asked.

"Not that much."

"Maybe you need to learn your limits." She teased with a small smirk. Revan shook his head. He knew the truth. He was Yludih. He didn't get drunk. He didn't lose his balance and feel those familiar butterflies without something else happening. Willow seemed to recognize that Revan wasn't sold on her teasing. "What?"

"I know you wanted to head to bed but... would you mind trying something with me?" Revan asked.

Willow's eyebrows shot up quickly. "How forward of you!" She exclaimed.

Revan shook his head quickly. "Not that." He assured her. He looked her in the eye and Willow's jesting stopped almost immediately.

"If it's not the medicine and you're looking at me like that, what's the plan?"

"You're not going to like it." Revan said. "I don't even like it."

And so he explained the horrible idea he'd come to after a brief night of searching for marks. He was right, Willow didn't like it but her feelings were not very far off from his own feelings on the issue. He had decided the medicine was not worth pursuing without more assurances but the candles? The candles were something mischievous. There had to be something more to them. However Revan wasn't about to mindlessly throw himself into another situation that pit his lock picking skills against the life of another- even if those skills put most locks to shame.

This time he wanted to have more control. More knowledge. Knowledge was the key to a well planned theft... so Revan started with a simple but maybe dumb plan. He had Willow watch him while he stared into the candle until it did something. Her instructions were to physically stop him if he began to draw too much attention, but otherwise witness and gather as much information as she could about what happened- whether that be following him or protecting him.

It would have been safer to make her look into the candle. It would have been better for him... but at the end of the trial she was his friend and he wouldn't do that to her. No matter how much he lied, she had earned that much loyalty at least. He'd rather burn Revan than burn Willow. He could always start again. She didn't have that choice.

If nothing came of it, they'd retire to a tavern to listen for more rumors about flying ships or why the infirmary had to receive such a selective shipment.

Fourth 6 Hours

Organize a plan with Willow
Look into the candle till something happens - Willow is there to stop him from being attacked / follow him if he begins to wander.
If nothing happens, go to a tavern to listen for more rumors about flying ships or why the infirmary needed a bunch of one type of medicine.

Willow's instructions are to watch Revan not the candle. Her discipline skill means mod should be free to play that however you'd like.

[Winston]

The Almighty Ferret

As soon as it becomes apparent that Joe could not take the power of the wells, Winston asked him to stop. "Perfect World, huh? Fanatics an' dems plans far world dominashun. 'onestly." He said mostly to himself in dispair over the endless supply of people willing to cause death to get their way, when their's is no less a pointless opinion thatn everyone else's.

~~~ After Timur arrives ~~~

A little surprised at the arrival of the mage, Timur, he nodded.

"Watch you back Winston." Advised Felicity telepathically from within the recesses of his mind. "We don't know who's going to be giving us information or feeding us lies."

"'ello. Gat sometin' a bit wiered 'ere. Dat's far share. Be carful, et's pretty potent." He cautionned as the mage started his work.

He considered Felicity's words as the mage started uncovering some of the facts he'd already seen signs of himself. All seemed OK so far.

"Rupturing? Nail? Right... Mun Chep, me cud really doh wid some advice right naw..." He mumbled as he consodered their options. "Yuh suggestion seems sound tuh me an' could result in Rharne easily being framed far 'firing first' in the event dat de flying ships get 'ere an dese cannan balls sodenly start flying from de city af Rhane."

"We need to let someone know..." He said as he began to make his way to the gaurd.

"Wait, Winston! We don't know who we can TRUST. We HAVE to tell her via a trusted source and any one fo these Armory guards could well have been in on it..." The ferret froze for a moment before continuing.

"Oh-key. Joe... Go tuh Vivian, tell 'er everyt'ing, OK? An' giver 'er dis." He said allowed, giving the Diri one of his Holo-coms and then telepathically added, so that only Joe would know. "An' tell her dat someone might be trying tuh start a war an' ontil we say oddawise, she might want tuh turn de ships away fram Rharne, cus someone may watch tuh shoot dem." Taking corporeal form, the Diri took the Holo-com and started to make his way off.

Joe nodded. "Guard!" Cried Winston, if they were not already in the room. "Please tell os where Vivian es, we 'ave a message far 'er." If the guard misdirected Joe or Joe went silent, Winston would know, but for now, he let them go off to deliver the message.

The Devil on My Shoulder
Curiosity: Find them!!
Winston: Es dat even possible?
Curiosity: Dunno till you try. No one ever said these things were one-way!
Winston: Dat's true... The Chi Well are two way... Usually.
Curiosity: Yeah, so touch it and work some mental arithmetic and find out where they are!
Winston: Me don't know. Teleportashun might nat be de only power dem gat.
Curiosity: But if we don't find them, then they will get away!
Winston: An ef dem blow dese op, den we all die.
Curiosity: You do make a good point, yes.

At the suggestion that they try to locate the source, Winston shook his head. "Yuh right, bot noh. We need to make peepal safe first, den chase afta. Dere es an equal chance dem were just teleported into dis place as brought in by a trator."

That might not say much for the Ferret's confidence in the loyalty of the Lightning Knight's ranks, but in very true Winston style, he was just stating the obvious, no point in blunting the truth here.

"Me might be able tuh try and locate de odda end... Me neva cansidad dat dis wud be psaaible befar, bot de Chii well es two way. Always usually es, anyway. Cod try to make cantact back... bot locashun? Per'haps ef me canected a Holo-can tuh dis canonball, then when dem activate et, it might show a glimpse af dem?" He huffed. [say}"A moment befar et teleparted away an' started a war. Noh."[/say]

"Me don't know wat tuh do wid dem... Anywhere we move dem cud make no difference ef dem con jost portal tuh a cannon from anywhere an ida..."

"No!" Said the Wisp inside his mind as he was interrupted mid sentence.

"But..."

"NO! Just NO! You have no idea what sending these things to the Dreaming via a gateway would do. You have no idea what they might be capable of in the Dreaming once they were THERE and you have no idea what might coe OUT while the gate was open!" Felicity was beyond stern. It was very much her opinion that this was possibly one of the most reckless ideas he's ever had.

"Hear me out..." He said, forgetting himself and now speaking out aloud. "If they are in the Dreaming, then they are no long in Idalos and as best me know, Rupturing don't work across soch barriers."

"Winston, you could wreak all kinds of hell on someone's dreaming or summon creatures of unfathomable nightmare from that place when you open the emean gate. You have NO skill at Dreamweaving... Don't. Just... Don't.." The mage with them could only hear Winston's side of the conversation of course. A fact the ferret just remembered with a cough... "Right, OK, noh, bad idea. Lets nat open gateways tuh Emea. Noh. Uuuuummmm.... Absidian well et es den?" He said to the mage with a grin.

With that he set about to get Chest.

There were Obstimite Wells he could use in there, but he'd need to work one of them to commit it's smog.

Probably no bad thing in the long run, once it was welled into an item it would be nice and stable... But did he have time? Never minding that, did he have the skill? "Tsk... Me need tuh get tuh de lab. Chest cannat 'elp wid dis one."

"He turned back to Timur with a smile, me need tuh goh work an' something. Me need tuh get tuh me lab and make share dem cun set op a lab somewhere isolated."

~~~ With Vivian ~~~

Assuming that Joe made it to see Vivian, he bowed to her and began to speak. His caporial form was that of a large cat, a large talking cat... Joe knew her, but could not remember if ever she had met him before. "Hello, Lady Viv... Lady Shiryu. My name is Joe and I have a message from Winston." He paused to see if she tried to fry of kill him or something.

If not, he continued, offering her the Holo-com. "Here, you can contact Winston using this, just press the button if you need him. He may call with information if needed if that's OK. He's in the armory with the attuner you sent, thanks for that by the way. He's found some really powerful magical cannonballs. They can be remotely activated and they are currently in the process of trying to disable them, but he's concerned because it looks like they could be teleported to another location. He says he's seen Sir Chip... Kisaik propell water like it was being shot out of a cannon using Rupturing magic before and this has that in it... Only with cannonballs. He's worried that someone either has it out for the newcomers, or perhaps wants to frame us for firing first and start a war. He suggests we try to get them to avoid the city until we have an all clear, but of course, that's your call." The Diri smiled. "You can of course call Winston to check I'm not a random talking cat that knows your name, Winston's name and that you sent an attuner to the armoury." He smiled.

He knew that the woman didn't really have anything but his word for every one of these details, but they didn't have many other options. "Winston does not know how the cannonballs got into the armory. Perhaps someone ruptured them in, since you know... Rupturer. Or perhaps there's someone 'on the inside'. Either way, he wanted to make sure you got this message, cos he's not confident he can disarm them right now so we need a back-up plan. Winston's going to try and refine an Obsidimite well to suppress the cannonballs, but as a last resort, before the ships reach Rharne, moving them might be our only choice. Would you mind authorising him a little space someone in Rharne, away from everyone... Just in case it goes... badly?"

If the woman used the device and called the ferret, he would of course answer her and give as much information as she wanted, before continuing to weigh the options...

~~~ With Gennadiya Lyosha ~~~

At some point, Genna would find herself in receipt for the second call on her

Holo-com

from her good friend Wisnton Miller.

"'ello? Yuh dere?! ... Yeah-yeah, me know right? Me really do need tuh work an some system tuh get et tuh ring ar somet'ing tuh let peepal know me es callin'... .... ....What duh yuh mean 'say ding dong'. My nat a bell... Dough... A bell..."

If she eventually answered the ferret he would wave brightly. "'ello! Tanks soh moch far answerin', me 'ope yuh don't mind me callin' bot me gat a bit af a situation wid some magic sabotage." He deliberately left it at that for now, not wanting to advertise anything about Rharne's current security problem without clearance, but giving enough information to clarify the urgency.

"'ow are yuh preperashuns goin?" He asked, waiting to here if there wa anything he could help with.

"Me need tuh ask yuh permishun to use one af de Wells Faith left os." He began, with a gravitasi to his tone that would make it fairly clear that this was no normal request. "Et's de Almighty Dark Star... Me want tuh refine et intuh somet'ing we cun all use tuh 'elp protect os. Aside fram which, me want to remove et's potential to do 'arm." The well had been on his todo list for a very long time. The ability to flay living beans on demand was something far to dangerous to simply leave laying around, not that being locked away in a magical vault counted as such.

"Et's nat gonna be widdout risk, bot me believe me cun do et an' we cud do great gud wid et... Me know et's a lat tuh ask..."

He waiting patiently for the reply

.

~~~ With the Lab ~~~

While the space for them was arranged, he set about talking to the Lab in Willow Tree Hospital. He'd need their help for this one, not to mention the Well.

He had left the guards with very strict instructions that he should not allow anyone to take anything from the Armoury without checking with him first. Whether Winston had the authority to do that or not, it was the safest call.

Having sent word ahead of his arrival, he walked into the Lab and waved at

Galadrius

with a chipper smile. "Sup chief." He asked as he moved over towards the board that held their most recent work reports.

"Very well thank you. I have requested that everyone meet us at the location Lady Vivian has arranged for us."

The ferret nodded. "Tanks."

"So it's true?" He began, disbelief in his voice. "You are going to worth the Greater Obstimite?"

The ferret nodded. "Dat's de plan. Es everyt'ing we need en rout?"

The administrator nodded. "Yes, of course, you are planning to use the room of requirement that Faith left us?"

Again, the ferret nodded as he walked toward the room where the wells were stored. "Yup."

"Good. We have just sent the regents and materials... Are you sure we can do this?"

"Me sure me gonna try." He replied and entered the protected chamber of the well-room.

There was an electricity to the air in here, he was sure of it. Perhaps it was just his own adrenaline every time he entered this place of unbelievable power… Whatever it was, it made his hair stand on end and his whiskers twitch.

There it sat, the indomitable rock, the jewel of the collection’s crown, the poison in the bottle… The fly in his ointment… It didn’t move… It didn’t do anything. It just existed, silent and unassuming, it held the potential to kill every living thing in sight. It was a terrifying force to be recon with, it was, in the wrong hands, the end of life as everyone in Rharne and perhaps Idaho’s knew it… It was the Almighty Dark Star!

Joe was strictly prohibited from entering the Well-room at the lab in Willow Tree Hospital. Such strong sources of Ether were, in Winston’s opinion, not good for the spirit. To be totally frank, it was probably not ‘good’ for anyone.

Felicity however was determined to see it, even if only from within the ferret’s head. ”That’s it?” She said, a little underwhelmed after all the fuss the Alchemist had made of it. ”That can really kill a person on sight?”

Winston didn’t say anything. He just sat, his head resting upon his paws, his eyes fixed intently on the stone. His mind racing with formula and magical circles.

”And you think you can nullify it?” She asked, trying to understand why he didn’t just burry it deep inside some volcano somewhere.

The ferret twitched an ear as he dismissed the use of a light well to stabilise the power of the armageddonic smog of the well. During his trials, he’d found that the beam approach offered by the sunwell didn’t provide a consistent enough supply of energy. He needed something more stable and permanent In order to channel the well’s power.

His brain whirred as the stilted air of the well chamber throbbed with the energy of an impossible number of wells.

”You can do this right? I mean, you said it was impossible last season… That no one could merge that well with another.” She reminded him, as if he might have forgotten during some bout of insanity driven insomnia.

He fidgeted slightly, releasing the pressure in his left but cheek and allowing feeling to begin to return to it.

Last season it had seemed impossible. It probably was… Might even still be… But this well could not continue to exist and right now it could provide an answer to something that could not only save lives, but prevent a war before it even began.

”Et’s time…” He said, standing and letting the pins a needles in his rump fade as fresh blood course through his veins.

~~~ Crafting the Obsidomite ~~~

Winston laid out the wells infant of him. Fire, Sea, light and sand… all were inadequate for this… None of them ‘remained’ or ‘attached’ to their target.

He needed the power of the Dark Star to be held to its intended target, to smother it and (most important of all) contain it... He decided that the perfect solution for that was a webwell, for as much as the target, he needed to containt he smog itself to prevent it doing harm to unintended bystanders.

”Please reconsider this, Winston. This… What I mean to say is… There are legends of people powerful enough to work with this Well. To create or manipulate it. LEGENDS, Winston. I mean, theoretically, sure it’s possible, but to say I’ve never met anyone able to do it is an understatement the likes of which only the fact that the most recent story of someone capable of working these wells comes from before I was born… Don't let your huberouse get you killed.“

Lyra

, the much more reserved Cadouri mage and ensorcelor didn’t want to shoot down the ferret’s confidence in himself, but equally, she would much rather he didn’t just kill himself… or worse.

”Just please, consider coming back to the lab, where it is safer. It was designed for this very purpose in mind.” She suggested, for the third time.

The ferret shook his head. They were currently in a small facility in the middle of nowhere just outside Rharne. It was far enough away from the city to not be surrounded by people and thus, far less of a threat if anything went wrong. ”Me nat son ova confident uh think dat me might nat fail… If dis goes wrong, we need duh know dat we are only putting ourselves at risk.” He looked at his lab crew, some present out of the responsibility left to them by Faith, some present out of loyalty to the ferret, all determined not to leave.

”Yuh don’t ‘ave tut be ‘ere.” He said plainly for what was probably the third time in the last break. ”Dis es beyond de call af duty.” He continued. He knew all to well that if her really tried, he could convince them to leave, but the truth was, he didn’t want them to. He needed every advantage he could get if this was going to succeed.

”Look, this is the reason our lab was created. To curate these wells, research the potential for applying them safely for the betterment of Idaho’s and to… do good.”

Cedric

, the gruff smith, said as he finished preparing the equipment they would need. ”It’ll do no good if we leave and you blow up.”

Lyra poppied back up again, injecting her opinion back into the proceedings. ”It’ll do no good if we do this and ALL get blown up.” She insisted as she quadruple checked the condition of their tools before they started.

The old man smiled. ”True, but if we all get blown up, I won’t have to worry about it. Cos, ‘see got blown up’.”

That did not go down terribly well with the Cat Cadouri. The man’s dry sense of humour was not a source of great enjoyment for her on a good trial and totrial stood a high chance of being a ‘not a good trial’. She was about to snap back a curt response when Winston cut in.

”Naw-naw. Let’s focus.” His tone was firm but friendly. He was all to aware that tensions were high and this bread friction. The team had been working together a long time now and he could have done a better job of helping them work as a team from the beginning, but right now, they were the correct specialists in the only place they could be of most use and Winston was capable enough to keep them on task if they didn’t want to be forcibly ejected.

Chest

had not been happy when the Ferret demanded they wait. They had in fact, refused to remain behind until Winston chained them up to a tree to keep them away. He had

his pack

, of course, for supplies, but however little he understood the nature by which his friend existed, it was without a doubt some form of magic and thus, not a thing he wanted to risk destroying if the process of working the well went awry.

The location for their work was well equipped, thanks to the Room of Requirement that Faith had left them. Having moved to the remote location, which was little more than a shed in a field int he middle of nowhere, he had drawn the door on the wall inside and summons the lab required to do their work.

As usual,

Smoky

provided an invaluable second pair of hands, the equivalent of a second grand master ensorceler to apply technique.

No-one else present was even close to capable of what was about to happen, but as apprentice to the impossible, they stood ready to do all of the lesser tasks required to allow the ferret to focus of not getting them killed.

Tapping the well, carefully working out the smog and de-weaponizing the it, he carefully applied layer after layer of intricate circles to the arrangement on the floor. The circle magic involved in this was… complex. The books containing the magics necessary to bind the two wells together very simply put, didn’t exist and finding the space on the floor to form the channels was proving close to unachievable.

Elara

whispered to Lyra as they looked at the floor, ”I can't believe we are doing this.” She said, her voice filled with awe. For her part, she was supposed to be helping the administrator log the work being done, but quite frankly, she’d stopped trying to following the patterns being scrawled across the floor bits ago.

”Don’t get too excited. Believe it or not, this is the simple part...” She warned. Compared to combining a class five well with another well of any class, ‘simply’ tapping the Almighty Dark Well was at least a practice that the mage had heard of before.

Elara gulped as she made herself busy, ensuring chalk and the other regents didn’t run dry.

After some time of watching the ferret pace back and fourth around the maze of glyphs and circular lines, Galadrius spoke quietly. ”He's stuck...” He observed to Cedric. ”He’s been writing and re-writing that section now for a break...”

”Perhaps...” Growled the older man in a ‘so what’ tone of voice. He was feeling a bit like a spare wheel right now. Until the smithing actually begun, he was just waiting and watching. Hoping that whatever this insanity was on the floor was, worked.

”I’m telling you, Lyra is about as good with this stuff as it gets around Rharne, Winston aside, and she lost track of what’s going on a while ago...” The words were not born of a mistrust in the ferret, but rather just an observation that perhaps it was too much.

The old man just shrugged. He’d seen the ferret literally absorb wells into himself and unlock Domain Magic... If anyone was going to do this it was him. ”Rushing him is not going to improve matters.” He observed with a chill to his tone.

”...by Aeva’s slag dere’s just noh SPACE...” Exclaimed the ferret to himself as he attempted to work the glyphs needed for the magic into the arrangement for what felt like the hundredth time.

The administrator scowled in the engineer’s direction. ”That’s not what I meant and you know it.” He stated plainly, causing the corners of the old man’s mouth to curl up ever so slightly.

”Care to place a wager then?” He taunted, more or less just trying to pas the time until the feet either cracked it or gave up.

How he could hold such a blazey manner around what they were doing was beyond Galadrius. Perhaps the old man thought he would not have to pay out if they all died.

”Twenty nel he cracks it in the next fifteen bits.” Proposed the man in a dry tone of voice.

The collar considered to offer, more specifically he considered whether there was really any harm in a friendly wager. ”OK. Your on...” He replied as the ferret crouched down beside the concentric patterns surrounding the wells.

Galadrius suddenly became very disappointed as realisation came to them that the ferret had an idea. The old man chuckled, entertained more with the timing than his potential winnings and hand out his hand for the coin.

The Administrator held out the nel, having reluctantly retrieved it from his pocket.

””YYYyyeeeeesss... Began the ferret in a vague tone of voice, as if his mind was still not entirely in the room. ”...mar dimanshuns. We jost need anode dimension!” He insisted to himself.

Galadrius held on to the nel for a moment. ”Wait just one bit...” He insisted, suddenly concerned that additional dimensions were not going to be achievable even for this ferret.

Winston sprung to his feet and produced bowl after glass bowl from his pack. ”Nope... Nope... Too small... Nah... AHA!” He exclaimed finally as he passed a large glass bowl to Smoky with a ‘heft’. ”Dis one! Dis one! Put et a tap af de well, an’ de odds, dem can go over de nexus points!” The Diri placed the bowl upside down over the well and Winston tippy-toed around the patterns drawn all over the floor to crouch beside it and start scribbling over its surface with a look of excited constipation on his face. ”Yuuuuuussss-YUUUUSSSS! Mar space! Mar dimensions! Anode bowl! Bigger dis time!” He demanded of the Diri, which lagging behind the lab tech, was presented with the bowl as everyone started to pitch back in as the ensorcelling preparation was back underway.

Cedric tugged the nel from his companions had with a wink. ”Always bet on the ferret.” He advised as finally it looked like he might have something to do.

Breaks had passed, the floor was covered in magical circles and upturned mixing bowls, all of which were covered in glyphs and incantations that for the life of most present, only Winston understood. The air was now charged with energy and the circles were all giving off a a faint glow as they gradually came to life. ”Oh-key. Dis es et. We start dis naw an’ no matter wat, de energies from de wells gonna need somewhere duh goh. So noh turning’ back.”

The point of no return was a place Ill thought they left far behind them long ago, but she nodded none the less. ”We are ready when you are, Winston.” It had been a very long time since she had felt this way, but in the presence of this tiny ferret, right now, there was not other way to describe it... She felt like an apprentice again. What was either about to be created or kill them all was something so far beyond her capability, she could nearly fathom it, but as the brilliant and puzzlingly talented Cadouri worked his craft, her mind span only just fast enough to hand him the right tools as the wells began to move around in their little bakery domes covered in glyphs. Atop the domes were fixed spoon handles, snapped off at the neck, to form little towers that were then connected using delicately arranged threads of silken thread.

All told, it looked like the simple most disturbing childhood art project ever created and the hum that began to rise from the floor made all of their chests tight. The Dark Star began to throb and webbing began to seep from the webwell as what little stability they actually had faded and they entered the state of malleability necessary to combine them into the final result.

Winston had worked with powerful wells before, but quite frankly, nothing of this power and the speed at which things turned was so fast, he could nearly even see it happening s he reflexively started to respond to the unfolding energies. They expanded and filled the inner circle of glyphs, which immediately redirected the smog from he well out into the next layer... then the next and the next... Until within mere blinks of an eye, the web well was being overwhelmed.

”No-no-no-no-no... Et’s too soon. De web well es nat ready et will jost get negated...” He exclaimed as Smoky attempted to adjusted the flow of energy to cast it over a new path on the far side of the circle.

Dropping to his knees, he placed his tuning fork in the centre of one of the nexus points, that was covered in a complex network of lines and glyphs draw upon a bowl over a small fragment of the webwell’s well dust. Striking it and focusing the energy away from the silken webbing, he released just a fraction of the energy, to delay it’s coalescence for a moment... All he needed was a moment for the web well to reach the thread about the bowls to allow the energies to unit and not collide.

There was a shaking sound around them... Winston began to apply the channels to the circle as Adam and Illuvia looked at the ceiling. ”I don’t know how much of that this place can take, Winston.” The man cautioned as they moved around the edges of the affair and applied the regents as instructed as quickly as they could.

Cedric held the forge ready, for the pouring of the metal. The only thing Winston was even mildly confident could hold such a power was, he hoped, was his alchemically imbued Grave Gold. Infused with an affinity for ether and a few other magical regents, it was their only hope of success as the master of magic yelled. ”POOURE!” Cedric tipped the metal from the hot, furnace-driven melting pot and watched as it run along the channel towards the infusing circles.

The team worked furiously as the circles seemed to mutate and evolve beneath the hands. Winston adjusted and tweaked the lines and glyphs as activation of the delicate and simultaneously violent process took place. There were vast swathes of glyphs being replaced as the dark energies of the star fought out against the barrier the group had created to keep it at bay.

It was like an angry eel, caught on the line of a fisherman, coiling a writhing and attempting to pull the fisherman into the black abyss beneath the waves.

Not for the first time, Winston recognised the signs of the energy and it’s want to break free... What’s more, he recognised the inevitability of it’s escape into the world... Unhindered and unrestrained it would rip apart this place and anything else it came into contact with along the way.

”Here! Stand HERE!” He yelled at his fellows as they attempted to operate the apparatus and collected the regents.

”But...”

”NOW!” The ferret yelled as he quickly activated the circles intended to allow them to avoid the magic.

He jumped into the circle, attempting to reinforce the fading lines as he went. Applying new glyphs and and entirely new dome at the far side.

He didn’t notice as he went, the smudge he created as he moved through the evolving circles of ether and well dust.

As the ferret passed over the circle, its energies beining to focus smoothly with the decrease in pressure he naively began to let the adrenaline coursing through his veins let out a small giggle. It was going to work. It was actually going to work!

No one saw the mistake, everyone was so desperately tying simply to keep up with the Cadouri that as he moved from glyph to to bowl, and circle to molten hot metal, they just ploughed ahead as the process seemed to be succeeding.

As the wells combined and the silken threads channeled the energy into the metal, combining the well dust with the ingot to be forged into whatever it would be made into next, an invisible force began to eat away as the protection around his companions.

Lyra

was the first to notice as her Attunement began to pull at her attention. ”Winston...” She said in a panicked gasp. ”The circle... It’s LEAKING!” Pointing desperately at the location of the smudge, her face as filled with terror. The legends she had referred to at the beginning of this endeavour included the loss of entire continents to the exploding of wells of this nature and all the horrors that lay before them flashed through her mind as the Cadouri looked up, unable to see what she could floating all around.

Before any of them could react beyond horrified shock, the ferret leapt over to where the mage was pointing activating the Talk power, Turtle Barrier to protect himself from whatever the mage could see.

”No-winston-it’s...” Began the woman but the ferret was operating on auto-pilot, whether it was wise or not, his first thought was to the others, followed very closely to fix it...

Bending down, chalk in hand, he paused as realisation struck and he redrew the smudged line. ”Damn...” He whispered gently to himself, almost apologetically as a burst of energy was expelled from the broken section of the circle, spraying him with dark purple webbing and mist.

For his folly, the Mark power of the Turtle Barrier was little more than a snack for the deep and insatiable hunger of the Almighty Dark Star. The shield did nothing to stop the advance as it searched for more to sate its ravenous hunger... The ferret was all that was left, whatever potential he had within him for Domain Magic would be all that was left to abate the starvation of the smog he had created.

It permeated his every pour, entering his very being and feeding on what it had to offer. Sated by the use of the Mark Power, it stopped short of draining him of his connection to his Immortal, but any hope of ever casting a domain magic spell personally was stifled by the Greater Obstimite, causing a change in the Cadouri as raw etheric energy invaded his body, radiating, consuming the ability to channel anything more than a trace amount of ether... In a way that he might not even notice short of ever being initiated into magic himself.

It was all he could do to fall backwards away from the settling metal and ether as he stuck himself to the wall with the webbing. "Ahhh! Gah! Be-gads! Dat... Ewww. Et's soh STICKY!" He complained as he tried to blink the stuff from his eyes.

Elara went to move, but Lyra called out to halt her before she left her position. "Don't move! Not until it is safe." The much younger girl looked at the mage pleadingly, but acquiesced all the same. "We are not dead and he is not dead. Lets keep it that way, then we can help him down." Her words were not unkind, but perhaps a little harsher than she had intended them in the pressure of the moment as she watched the energy dispurse and the wellcraft settle.

"OK." She said finally and at once, Cedric and Elara ran to the ferret to help him down, cutting at the strange webbing with their tools, doing their best not to make contact with it themselves.

Lyra meanwhile studied the remnants of what had hit Winston with a curious expression. It defied her magic, like even attempting to read it was being dispelled... Like it made her magic inert.

The ferret fell to the floor, exhausted, but by and large feeling OK. "Oh, tanks. Tanks. Me fine, really. Don't know wat dat wus, but me feel oh-key." He insisted as his team set about making sure that this was in fact true.

"By Avea's hammer and anvil, he actually did it..." Said the mage under her breath in total disbelief. Even seeing it for herself, she knew no one would believe her. SHE wouldn't believe her... She looked up at the ferret, still trying to rip thick purple webbing from his fur with little yelps of pain. There was something primal in her eyes, deep inside, that she could not hide... Fear. What could this man do... What untold horrors was he capable of? Nightmarish horror stories were told of creatures capable of working such feats of magic were made up! Created to cause fear and terrify anyone from pursuite foosuch power! Right?! "By the Immortals themselves, Winston. I bloody glad you are on our side." She exclaimed.

Justifications for this thread

What Winston is creating here has been approved here.

He is GM in Ensorcelling with

Two Capstones

that result in it being ‘within rules’ for him to be able to create an item with up to 7 levels of well in, in this cals a C5 Almighty Dark Star + a C2 Webwell.

He has with him a cohort of NPCs to support him:

• Smoky
  : Can independently (in the presence of Winston) provide a second pair of hand with Winston’s level of skill in whatever it is he is doing.
• NPCs from the Lab in the Willow Tree Hospital that he runs include
  Galadrius Silverthorn
  ,
  Elara Whisperwood
  ,
  Cedric Gearsmith
  and
  Lyra Nightshade
  .

4th 6 hourly block action summary

• Focuses on the Cannonball problem, but liaises with Shinwa regarding anything of import.
• Vivian:
  • Is given a Holo-com to talk to Winston.
  • Is given any and all information about what Winston finds in the Aumory.
  • Is advised to turn the ship around unless they can disable the cannonballs.
  • Is asked for a place or authority to find one that he can work the well in isolation.
• Asks Genna for permission to use the Almighty Dark Star from the Isonomia Well supply.
• Gets the NPCs from the Lab in Willow Tree Hospital, which he runs, to get themselves and the required regents to the remote location where they will use the room of requirement to refine and craft the well.
• Wellcrafted the Almighty Dark Start into an ingot ready for crafting.

All template credit, love and admiration goes to Kisaik

[Vivian Shiryu]

When Vivian got word that The Voice knew an Attuner that was willing to help, albeit for a price, Vivian nodded and authorized the hiring. The rest of the commanders agreed that it had been a good use of funds, given the potential problems that could arise if their defenses had been severely tampered with. Then she got the report from the scouts that one of the ships had occupied the old prison. Vivian growled to herself and considered giving the order to retake the prison, but that would definitely precipitate an armed conflict between these strangers and Rharne. There was still the possibility that they just didn't know they were occupying claimed territory. If that was the case, a conflict would simply lead to tragedy more than anything. Still, they couldn't just let the strangers have it either. Vivian tapped her fingers against her desk for a bit, then nodded. "Give the order not to try and dislodge them for now, but no one else goes in, and no one leaves. We're still looking to resolve this without any bloodshed." she said, her tone calm.

Still, these strangers were very much pushing at the edge of what could be allowed. Then Vivian got her response from the Induks and Vivian let out a soft sigh. "I'm trying, Lovalus. But they are not making it easy on us to stay our hands anymore." she said, her voice quiet. Esher's response was about what she expected, though she thought to herself that if she called Clemengoth for help, it would be to destroy the ships, not to blow it off course. Then she started getting messages in from others from around the city. She read Tristan's message first, and thought for a moment before sending her response.


Tristan,

Thank you for your help with communication. In regards to their comment about "Ruling Houses", it lends credence to our assumption that they simply aren't familiar with us. It's likely they don't know how Rharne is run, but the equivalent would be either the Council or Ilaren herself, so contacting her is wise. I will notify the Council that these people want to meet with us. We would welcome your aid at a meeting between us. As for what to find out, this is not to be discussed with anyone but myself or another member of the Council, but one of the ships has occupied the old prison and we don't currently know why. If Chester could determine what their interest in the prison is, as well as perhaps inform them that the prison is very much part of our territory, that would be helpful.

Again, thank you for your assistance.

Yours,

Vivian.



After responding to Tristan, she looked at the other responses she had received, though the one that was most noteworthy was the message from Winston. It contained a device he called a holo-com that she could apparently use to speak to him as well as several updates on the situation with the wells. It was also then that she realized she hadn't told him about Timur. She hesitated for a moment, then activated the holo-calm in order to speak to Winston. "Winston, it's Vivian. I've contracted an Attuner named Timur and sent him to help you. Hopefully, he's already there. As for turning the ship around, that's not particularly possible. Communication with them is limited at best and any attempt to get them to change direction could precipitate a conflict. That said, I find it highly unlikely that those spells are targeted at the ships. It would be too convenient, plus there's no way that kind of magic doesn't take a lot of prep-time, if it even works at that kind of distance. Remember, these ships came from outside Rharne's borders. Let me know what else you find, I think you stumbled onto something else that was in the works." she said, her tone serious.

Once her conversation with Winston was done, she sent a note out to each of the Council members.


Councilors,

Limited contact with the flying ships has been established through Tristan Venora's Diri of Communication. We're trying to find out more about their motivations, but we have established that they want to meet with Rharne's "Ruling Houses". Given they don't seem to speak Common or any other known language, we believe they flat don't know how we're governed or what our holdings are. Given the Council is the actual ruling body of Rharne, I suspect that is who they want to meet with, unless Lady Ilaren chooses to meet with them herself.

Vivian Shiryu



With that note sent to each Councilor, Vivian turned her attention back to the oncoming ships and gave the order to determine how far away the ships were so they could begin planning how, if at all, they were going to meet with these strangers.

Off Topic

Vivian authorizes hiring Timur.

Vivian gives the order to keep anyone else from entering or leaving the prison, but not to try and retake the prison at this point.

Vivian asks Tristan to try and find out what the ships want and to inform them that the prison is, in fact, Rharnian territory.

Vivian tells Winston about Timur, asks him to keep working on the cannonballs, but says she can't turn the ships at the moment and that she doesn't think the cannonballs are aimed at the ships. She asks him to keep her informed.

Vivian sends word to the Counci that the ships want to meet with them.

Vivian gets an ETA on the ships so they can begin planning any potential meetings.

[Gennadiya Arishina]

I am a damsel

locked in her tower,

but I am my own capture.

No one else has the

strength to lock me away.

You though have the key

to free me from myself

DATE

The order was kept busy as the city faced the unexpected guests. Genna walked through the Dust Quarter clinic talking with others. While her office was in the more centrally located Earth quarter she felt that this had the bigger chance to blow up and so she had come down and helped her people work to calm the population while at the same time plan for celebrations. She finished talking with gold and grey cloaks about there assignments to keep the orders efforts from falling apart.

As she finished up her assistant Michail came forward and leaning close said for her ears only. “Winston is on the holo-thingy.” Then he moved on as he already had assignments to do. Genna quickly walked into the office in this clinic and closed the door securely behind her as she then turned to Winstons call.

“Hello Winston.” She said with a smile of greeting. “I don’t mind you calling at all. I apologies for the delay in answering you.” She paused and let him continue with his explanation. Genna’s understanding of wells had expanded, and while she didn’t know much about the details of wells she did remember from Faith’s notes on the wells that he was talking about a rare and powerful well. Genna guessed that this sabotage that Winston was talking about connected with Vivian’s question. She stood for a moment. Then her serious sapphire eyes stared into Winston’s eyes. “I trust you to use Almight Dark Star.” She raised an eyebrow, ‘but you had better be safe. I don’t want to lose another friend. Please keep me informed of progress.” She waited to see if he had anything else to say.

Then she sat down and wrote a letter to Vivian.

Dear Vivian,
It has been a strange couple of trials. Attached is a copy of Faith’s notes, I suspect that it won’t help much as most of her information about Ether seems to be connected to how it interacts with a person using it, but please be careful with the information but share as you need.

As a side note and one more possible complication in, I am sure, your already busy trial. Can I be there when we do make contact. I have received a promotion from Ziell that I should be there.

To a personal note take care of yourself my sister. There is a lot to do.

Yours
Genna

Genna had the letter sent off and then looked at her dirri Nayeli. “I am going to get some rest, it has been a busy trial. Can you please spend some times seeing what you can sense about this visit among the spirits. I don’t just mean Lovalus, but spirits in general, though checking in with Lovalus would be good as well.”

The spirit tooted and disappeared. Genna sat there for a moment, and then departed for home and some rest realizing she needed to follow her own advise, but not before making sure things were in place while she slept.

Next Six Hours

Contiunes helping Wintson with plans for parties.
Continues to have the healers work towards talking up Rharne.
Keeps the Order function as normal as possible.
Sends letter with Faith notes, and own comments to Vivian
Follows her own advise and gets some rest.

~NPC~

Pablo

Lilabell

Koyla

Michail

Nayeli

[Pig Boy]

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Dandelion

The guest grinned and nodded at the offer of food, and gladly partook of Dandelion's offerings. When it came to questions, the answers the flying man had were somewhat confusing perhaps. HE seemed to take a great deal of interest in the map that Dandelion drew on a slate. He furrowed his brow, and then pointed up. Then he shrugged and pointed to his eyes and then down on the map. Perhaps he was taking issue with the way the map looked from the sky, but then it was a rough map at best.

Nevertheless, he continued to partake of the hospitality, and even began taking out a small piece of cloth, which he wrote on. It was a silver threaded cloth, with strange enscriptions on it. He gave this over to Dandelion. Was it payment of some kind, or a note?



Tristan

Chester asked and related all of these communications to the diri. It came back with the answer that it was looking for dragons, dragon-touched people, dragonlings, dragonets, and also spirits that might know more about these dragons.

They claim to be somehow touched by the dragons themselves, or else related... But everyone knows that dragons are just big cats, with wings. These people don't look like cats, more like lizards.

Thus was Chester's communication. And as the assurance of meeting with the Ruling Houses was given, the large ship sped along on its way. It would be to Rharne soon, very soon. It would be there within the hour, in fact, and ready to mobilize and arrange a meeting with the ruling houses.

Ilaren couldn't be reached at this time, unfortunately according to the Thunder Priestesses, as she was seeing to a secret matter elsewhere. And anyway, she trusted the mortal members of her council to see to Rharne's best interests.

Ebony was able to acquire the temporary expertise of the Linguist Vin Hallowswift, who accompanied her wherever it was the former Duchess wished him to be.



Vivian

Vivian's cool-headed orders were adhered to the letter, and the troops kept their distance, although the hyludin garrisoning the prison seemed more confused than threatened.

One of them approached, having left their weapon behind, and tried to speak in a strange and unknown language.

He began patnomiming when that didn't work, and the most anyone knowledgeable in body language could figure out, was that they wanted to know what this place was. Or what they were doing there.

When Vivian sent word to the councilors, they agreed that they should meet. They all left the council halls, and informed Vivian that they would meet the Hyludin outside the city in neutral territory as the situation was delicate and had a risk of swiftly unraveling given the volatile and unknown situation with the armory.

The ships would be met in short order. Anyone who wanted to be there for the greeting on the crossroads inn, known as the "Last Drink Inn & Tavern" would be provided transport. As that was where the big ship was currently floating over.



Gennadiya

Nayeli investigated, and reported back to Gennadiya that for the moment the spirits were calm.

In the next six hours, things would come to a head as all who were expected to attend the meeting with the alien folk would be required to be at the "Last Drink Tavern" on the edge of the Stormwastes, at a crossroads some distance to the southeast.



Revan

Revan looked into the candle. As he did so, a great sonic blast rended the air above them all, and Willow was distracted by this noise long enough to forget all about watching over Revan. For better or worse, this meant Revan's consciousness was displaced to what the candle wished to show him. He found himself linked to another point in space, somewhere high above them, to the west. On top of the mountain. He had a strange sense of knowing exactly where he was, but that couldn't be right... He felt he was in the Sky Quarter, in the Skywatch Keep. There was a Lightning Knight Guard there, sitting at a table with a white haired, gaunt woman, who looked very haggard. There was blood nearby, and a pair of broken shackles. Blood dribbled from the white-haired woman's lips.

"I trust you've found your tongue now?" The Lightning Knight questioned her.

She smiled, wiping the blood from her mouth. "It will do."

"More than that." The Lightning Knight replied. "It wasn't easy finding a match for your very... unique enervations."

"Yes well, it will all be for nothing if this plan comes to nothing."

"Oh ye of little hope." Said the Lightning Knight. "It was your foolish play with that naer slattern that resulted in your current predicament. Why you saw fit to help her before yourself, I will never know."

The woman shrugged, and played with the shackles that were cast aside, onto a blood-stained mark on the table. "It was a favor. Anyway, it's not important. She hasn't been heard from since?"

"Neither hide nor hair. Shameful waste."

The woman sighed, "Very well. It's time we look to our own hides then. You made the preparations?"

"Yes... Lord Vuda's man will be here any moment I presume." The Lightning Knight paused, and then looked in the direction of Revan's perspective. It was as if he was looking right through him. "Speak of the devil?"

"Wait, you're not Vuda's man." He stared deeper into the candle, into Revan. "You're not even... Ahh, so you're an Yludih. That explains it."

Revan felt his illusionary skin crawl as he was oggled by this Lightning Knight, who eventually let his illusionary disguise drop, revealing a dapper old man in his place. The man brought out a yellowish crystal, which pulsed with the poewr of what could only be described as unrestrained avarice. If Revan had ever wanted anything, he would feel it for that crystal.

"You want this, don't you" The Warlock smirked, "Well, come and find it then. It seems you've been unwittingly drafted into this tragedy."

The woman growled at the Warlock. "This isn't Lord Vuda's man, why are you talking to him?"

The Warlock shrugged. "Excuse my manners." He smiled at Revan, "I am Tobias Acothley, the Warlock. And this is the Witch Doctor. As for why we're talking to them, why not? He's already an accomplice. His fortune's now tethered to ours. And anyway, he's nobody important. Nobody at all, really. Yludih, you see. Their very existence is a lie. Quite fascinating really."

"But you're probably wondering what I mean by 'accomplice'. Funny thing. Once I snuff out this candle, sending you back wherever you came from, several well-placed projectiles will begin bombarding the fortified shell of this position. I couldn't afford to take chances, but infected as many of the Lightning Knight Guardians as I could, during the tournament."

"One of them will arrive here surely, but there are others all over the city. Perhaps there's something you'd like to have broken by the bombardment. I'm offering you a part in this, to clarify."

"Tell me which wall to tear down, what fortification to blow open. Perhaps you have a friend in jail, or would like a jewel store's cache laid bare. Name your wish."

The Warlock would only wait a moment for Revan to answer. Whether he answered, the Warlock would snuff the candle, and thus catalyze the nailed ammunition.



Winston

"Wait." Timur said, dumbfounded. "Did you say obsidian? You mean a well, Obstimite. A greater obstimite? How on Idalos do you of all people lay claim to such a thing, and where is it?"

Timur chuckled. "You've got a taste for the finer catastrophies, I can see, my young ferret. Would you mind if I come along? I'd very much like to witness this."

Winston either allowed him or not. Either way, Timur would not be denied the privilege of closeness to this phenomenon, and so ignored a prior appointment just for that purpose.

Winston ended up making his ingot, but at the moment he was tied up in the webbing, a collection of unsavory looking individuals were crowded outside of the room of requirement and shack. They all had weapons, and were armed to the teeth. Timur was behind them. If Winston ever came out of the room of requirement or poked his face out, he'd see them, and Timur would flash him a smile.

"Sorry Mister Miller." He said, genuinely. "A greater obstimite is too great a thing to waste on the crafting of your trinkets. Such a thing can reshape the world in its wielder's image. I'm going to have to ask that you hand it over."

"If you don't, well. I can make life very uncomfortable for those you care for. You have family, a daughter. It'd be a shame if she were to incur our organization's wrath." So saying, he snapped his fingers, and one of his goons lit a torch which emitted a green smoke. "I'll give you only one chance. Hand the greater obstimite over, or we make you and your family our very special interest until further notice. Fail, and take shelter again in that portal, and our intent will be sealed. The choice is yours. I'll give you thirty bits to decide before we smoke you out."

Winston would note they not only had steel weapons and other gear, but also weapons made of copper for dealing with ghosts.



Netzach

Netzach's attunement nose would lead him in one particular direction. The very nerve center of the Lightning Knights organization. The Sky Quarter. Whether he dared go that direction, to go that far, was his own prerogative. If he didn't, no harm no foul. He''d still be treated to the same old gossip about the strange visitors. That nobody really could agree why they were here, although there were also rumors they'd fortified the old Prison in the Stormwastes.

If he did follow his spark's nose to the Sky Quarter, however, it'd lead him all the way up to the western wall of Skywatch Keep. There, he would stand only a moment before all hell came unraveled from the sky.

A massive sonic blast rent the sky, and fiery cannoballs began streaming through it fast. They collided with the western wall of Skywatch Keep, breaking through the foundation and into what could only be the dungeons.

The explosion kicked up dust, and would've blown Netzach backward from its impact. However, if he stared long enough into the rubble, he'd notice things creeping and crawling out of the dust of stone and concrete. He'd recognize them as simple husks, but these were controlled by a necromancer of greater magnitude of power to himself. A master.

Two other individuals crawled out of the wreckage behind them, and noted his appearance. One of them was the Warlock himself, who gave Netzach a little wink, before cutting open a portal and escorting a youth-ful but battered-looking woman through it. The undead meanwhile stayed behind, and were crawling in search of flesh. One or two of the corpses fell inert, as if on purpose for Netzach himself to utilize, if he needed...

!	Message from: Pig Boy
	New timing paradigm. We're moving from six hour blocks to just the immediate moment, at the tail end of your last round. All those seeking rest can be assumed to have done so, and have time to be where they want/need to be. Otherwise, we're carrying on the action from that point.