[Game Thread] Chapter Four: Complications

[SpatulaOdoom]

Morgan is already taking a step back when Min goes for the throat. A savage corner of the mage's heart hopes she won't stop squeezing until her fingers touch. Still the rest of him is wiser than that. If what said was true, and if his vision from before was about a potential future event, they could get great use out of the psychotic bitch in the future. Saving others was more important than seeing Lucius meet the end his crimes warranted.
For the record, it's not me this time.

Morgan takes another step back, remaining close, and watches the bracer as it floats over to Bane. So that was what he'd been feeling. The other one was probably why he still felt it from Lucius.
”Bane. May I see the bracer? As I mentioned before I'm a seer, and I'm picking something up from it. Sometimes it takes physical contact with the thing in question.

As far as not moving her goes it's a thing Malvain's chosen, called Warmongers, can do. It's like trying to push a wall of force out of the way. It doesn't matter how much power you've got, you won't move the wall via strength.”

[Makenshi]

Bane shakes his head. "No, not that sort of transmutation and a person is more than the information they have." He continues to examine the bracer. "Ah, I think I recognise part of it now. It feels similar to the Many-Dagger Bracers, the ones that allow the wearer to conjure daggers from it. Except this is much more powerful and complex."

"That would make sense." Misa cuts in. "Malvain is a Deity of war who doesn't really care what weapon he or his chosen use. Perhaps it's a 'Many Weapons Bracer'?"

Bane nods. "That would be my guess. The transmutation is an enhancement, but there's different kinds. Some basic ones that give the wearer better durability and ones that I believe enhance any weapons the wearer wields, but others that are less familiar." He shakes his head. "It is too complex for me to learn more without proper study. Even the familiar powers have twists and differences to them."

When Morgan then asks for the bracer Bane nods his head. "Of course." He hands it over to the mage.

~MTWC

[Blue]

It wasn't the transmutation that had been worrying, but the conjuration. It making weapons was quite preferable, of course.
As Wainraith approaches Bane to get a feel for the bracer Nevh made sign to her other companions to come get closer as she followed after him.
Not that she didn't trust Min or anything, but if Morgan was to fall to the edge of consciousness again she'd rather be better prepared than last time.

[SpatulaOdoom]

Mortimer hops to the floor. After looking around a moment he decides Crescent is the safest choice, scampering over to climb onto one of the stools beside the bard.

Nevh had seen two of Three if she happened to catch sight of the one that happened during the Engagement PartyMorgan's visions. The more powerful the vision the more it weakened his sense of self and ability to differentiate between the reality and the vision.

The one at the engagement party had been light, almost like a daydream, and he'd only needed a minor effort of will to stand normally.

When he'd touched Nevh's sword it had taken obvious effort to move and be aware of what was going on around him. It hadn't been the power of the vision that had caused him to become violently ill but the content.

In Malvain's shrine Morgan had quickly lost all sense of self, stiffening and dropping like a felled tree. But there had still been some vague awareness of an "other", that he was not what he was watching.

This one is the most powerful yet. This time there's no struggle, not even the hint of one, just a total loss of consciousness. No observer only observation. Morgan collapses into a boneless slump to be caught by Min and Nevh. There's a loose jointed liquid quality to him, kind of like a sleeping child, that makes holding the tall man awkward. His eyes are open and unfocused, and his breathing is shallow enough that it would be hard for a less observant person to tell that he's breathing at all. The only exemption to the relaxation of all his muscles is the hand clamped to the bracer with a grip so tight the tendons can be heard to faintly creak.

More than a minute passes in silence as Morgan's head lolls and Coiya paws through Lucius's thoughts. A second is beginning before the archmage takes a deep breath and his eyes flutter. It takes another minute for him to put everything back together enough to stand on his own. His movements start out uncertain and clumsy like a man moving through an unfamiliar house in the dark.

He shakes his head. His left eye didn't seem to want to focus.
"Mlah."
He pries the bracer out of his crabbed hand and tosses it back to Bane. The cramped fingers ache as he flexes them, but that will soon pass.
"That was a strong one. Give me a moment."

[Blue]

After taking his pulse to make sure the vision hadn't given stopped his heart or something of the sort.
She didn't know if seer visions could be so intense they could kill, and realized that it might be a good question to ask before long.

Holding him didn't feel as awkward as the silence that weighted down while Morgan's mind was taking a trip somewhere.
Trying to break it felt weirder still, but she tried anyway.
"So... hum. Do you guys have seers of your own?"

Eventually Wainraith seemed to be showing some sign of being back into his skull. Helping him back on his feet, she moved a finger in front of his eyes to see his eye reaction and get a sense of his condition.
"You don't say."
She looked at the bracer for a second, then glanced back Wainraith's way. "Y'left us for a minute or two just now."
There was the wonder if he had a different sense of time when he was having a vision but stayed quiet for the while, listening for the inevitable tale of what he had seen.

[Makenshi]

Min doesn't appear to find helping Morgan at all uncomfortable despite being almost a full foot shorter than him, which probably isn't entirely surprising considering her Godling strength, however she does seem surprised by Nevh's question. "Occasionally, but not as often as we'd like. It was a Seer who founded the Children and who made the prophecies of He-Who-Comes-Wrapped-In-Darkness in the first place, so we have always considered them to be important."

Syoban looks puzzled. "But I thought the Sword in the Dark founded the Children?"

Cipher shakes her head. "The Children in the Dark have existed in one form or another since the Demongate Wars. We have had many names and many leaders, waiting for the arrival of He-Who-Comes-Wrapped-In-Darkness. It was our father who gave us the name we use now, but as a people we have lived for longer than he has been helping to guide us towards the Last War."

"Children mentioned that before, but laughed when I asked what they were talking about."

There is a slight pause before Cipher responds, however it's unclear whether its because she's thinking or because she is not sure whether to answer or not. "We do not have the numbers or power to be a true, direct threat to the Fiends by ourselves, so we harry, harass, assassinate and generally do what we can to kill as many of them with as few casulties as possible. It was prophesied by the same Seer who founded the Children and predicted the arrival of He-Who-Comes-Wrapped-In-Darkness that our purpose was to fight in the First and Last War, during which the Children would be destroyed in the fighting." That seems to catch everyone by surprise.

"You mean..." Misa begins. "...you're all going to die?"

"Maybe. If we lose. The prophecy says the Children will be destroyed one way or another. Either we lose and are killed/enslaved again or we win, in which case there will be no need for the Children any more, and our own children may live a life free of the pain of those who came before."


Coiya is still reading Lucius' mind as this goes on, while the others wait patiently for the results of Morgan's vision as Bane begins to examine the bracer again.

~MTWC

[SpatulaOdoom]

One eye, the right one, follows Nevh's finger just fine. His left eye though keeps twitching to the side and is contracted as though it's been exposed to a bright light.

Morgan presses the heel of his hand against the eye socket and rubs vigorously.
"Ugh I hate it when that happens. It'll go away in a moment."
He closes his eyes and takes a breath. When he speaks again his voice is far off, almost dreamlike as he tries to set every detail in his memory.
"Kala will take up the tools handed her and fight to free her parents but she will not be changed, not by the gifts and not by those she faces, she will still be Kala. Many will stand before her but only six will be worth noting.

There is the Enchantress. Zera's daughter. The one who was there at Edgewater. Somehow she will seem a friend, or take the appearance of one, before trying to stab her in the back. She is smug, and seductive, she can melt the collar of a priest with a smile and shift of her hips and she knows it.

Another child of Zera, a male. He does not fight but watches and directs. His third eye is open. Whether this means he is a seer or a diviner or a psion I do not know. His face says he is irked and jealous. I think he is jealous of Kala but I'm not sure.

The faces of the other four are shrouded to me.

One wears an Elernan soldiers uniform. He wields a sword and teleports in and out of danger.

Another is female. She sends many lesser foes at Kala and she is defeated only to return again and again. I think that she might be the Shaper from Edgewater.

Another is a shapeshifter. She attacks from behind.

The last is another woman. All I can say is she fights with a sword and blasts of fire.

I do not see if she is able to defeat them, but I do not see if they are able to beat her either."

Morgan's eyes open and they are clear and even.

"Give me a minute to sketch out the man and write the entry in my journal before asking any questions. It's best if I do it before the details start to fade."

Opening his pack Morgan fetches his writing and sketching implements and sits down cross legged in a corner to do just that.

[Blue]

Nevh's lips tightened as she listened.
Good news were that now her paranoia would be doubly justified and that they had a little idea of what to expect.
Hopefully the others were also children of Zera, making them easier to notice if only for the gray eyes.
The one in Elernan soldier uniform was the one that made her most anxious. With Elern as a potential ally it was frustrating to know that she would have to be even more distrustful.

"Can you show us with an illusion? I'll remember them."

[SpatulaOdoom]

Morgan gestures at the journal, which he is just starting to write in.
"It's hard to explain but there's more to it than just what you see.
Visual details are easy to remember. Feelings and impressions are more mutable with time and remembrance and analysis.
Now please let me work."

[Makenshi]

As Morgan works on his sketches Misa turns her head towards Cipher. "I don't suppose your father is capable of creating those psionic crystal constructs, is he?"

"No." Cipher sounds a little bemused by the question. "Why do you ask?"

"Because she's blind." Bane says absentmindedly while turning over the bracer before glancing up. "Which brings up a question I had. How is it you can see? Some kind of magic item?"

Misa shakes her head. "No. It is an extension of a specialty of my kin, although due to how much I rely on it mine is unusually strong and sensitive. I 'see' through touch, so most illusions might as well be invisible."

"Fascinating." Bane cocks his head to the side and stares at Misa for a moment before seeming to realise what he's doing and turning his attention back to the bracer. "Unfortunately our father's psionic talents generally involve making things explode or enhancing things beyond a few tricks his mother taught him such as this form of mind reading. Min's powers are mostly the same, while myself and Cipher aren't manifesters." He glances up again, giving a brief smile. "Toy could do it though. Part of the reason Luxuria liked him in particular was his psionic talents. She even ended up teaching him a few tricks."

~MTWC

[SpatulaOdoom]

He's been doing this for more than two decades so it doesn't take Morgan long to fill out the journal entry. One page of dry narration, outlining the bare events and feelings imparted by the vision from start to finish. Following it are two pages of elaboration and notes, as well as his initial impression and interpretation.
Next he sketches out the Third Eye Open man from the neck up. Even if the rest hadn't been indistinct he would have concentrated on the face. Unless you were very familiar with someone, years of association, you recognized a person by their face not their body. Dark short hair, strongly Elernan features. There was a crinkle of wrinkles around his eyes as though he frowned or squinted a lot, as he was frowning now. Notes in the margin of the sketch suggest he's about as tall as Alyyryk (a bit shorter than most men) and of lighter build, though not exceptionally skinny.

The whole process takes perhaps five minutes

Once he's done Morgan stands and stretches before offering The new one plus two each of the Enchantress and Crystal Shaper, one each painted by Kala and one each sketched by Morgan, as well as the painting of Zera from Kala's visionall the pictures to the children to see.
"You never know when being able to pick out a face in a crowd will be useful."

After that he's quiet for a bit, remembering his promise to take a step back for a while. His eyes drift occasionally to Min. He can't help but wonder at how much she looks like Zilira. She even has the sense of energy and life that made him enjoy being around Zilira so much. She does however lack the sense of maturity and self awareness Zilira expressed when they were alone. While being a godling could make appearances deceptive Morgan wouldn't have much trouble believing she's every bit as young as she looks.

[Makenshi]

"Luxuria?" Didina asks hesitantly as everyone starts handing around the various pictures.

"Mmm." Is Bane's absent-minded response as he continues to inspect the bracer. "It's why he's called Toy - as in Luxuria's Toy. It's what the Fiends called him." He glances up at Didina. "So I'd avoid boasting about your Fiendish blood around him."

Didina looks affronted. "I-"

"Everything about you screams pride. Pride in your appearance. Your clothing. Your manner. Your horns. There's nothing wrong with that, just don't talk about the advantages of Fiendish blood around Toy. He's full of self-loathing enough as it is." He looks back down at the bracer again, much to Didina's annoyance.

Before the conversation can continue Coiya lets go of Lucius' head and takes a step back. The Warmonger sways heavily backwards and sidewards for a moment but somehow manages to stay on her feet. She gives Coiya an annoyed look. "Was that really neccessary?"

"Yes." He turns towards Morgan. "She's telling the truth as far as she knows. Malvain has tasked her with finding his daughter, giving her the bracers and helping her to unite the Church of Malvain against Zera under her banner. She's also being truthful about her prior motives, though that doesn't exactly make him virtuous." Lucius smirks. "Still, it appears he is an enemy of your enemy. More importantly, killing him would be a waste of time." Lucius smirk vanishes, replaced with a frown. "What? You didn't think I'd delve that far?" He looks back to Morgan. "She'll be reincarnated the moment she's killed in a random shrine somewhere on Aheka and she has a capsule of poison under her tongue just in case she needs to desperately escape a situation." Lucius' frown deepens. Obviously she had wanted to keep those bits a secret.

"Malvain put a limit on how often Warmongers can be reincarnated so that we wouldn't become soft, not because he couldn't reincarnate us so often. Now, are you going to help me find the girl or not?"

~MTWC

[SpatulaOdoom]

Bane certainly seemed to have Didina pegged.
"I tried to shake his hand when we met and he begged off. I assumed it was something along those lines. He seems a decent fellow though."
Everyone had their scars, some were worse than most.

Once Coiya is done Morgan nods.
"Thank you sir."

Originally Posted by Lucius

"Malvain put a limit on how often Warmongers can be reincarnated so that we wouldn't become soft, not because he couldn't reincarnate us so often."

Morgan's eyes glitter with amusement. He hadn't actually made that assumption, he'd been more of the opinion that if it happened too often the War God might look for someone more worthy.
"So basically what you're telling us is that you can die over and over again? And you need our help. Iiiiinnnnteresting."
More seriously he continues.
"Lucius I may not like you. I may think you're a sad broken individual worthy of nothing more momentous than a quick death and shallow grave. But I'm not an idiot. There are far more important matters at hand than justice for your crimes.

I'll bring you to her myself, I know exactly where she is, but I promise nothing more.

What happens after that depends on how convincing you are. Maybe we'll brain lock you and dump you in a dank dark hole somewhere until you die of old age, maybe you'll be able to find a place by her side in the fighting to come. There is one other thing you should know though." Morgan smiles, the vision had reminded him of something he'd temporarily forgotten. "She's not like you, and she never will be. She'll take up the sword if she has to but at the core of her there is peace, not violence."
It was what had attracted Revenant. It was why even someone like Morgan could spend an entire day with her without saying a single word and not feel odd.

[Blue]

Now one detail caught her attention.
She coughed on her elbow, pinched her nose, sniffing, then cleared her throat.
Her breathing pace had greatly slowed and finding the need for speech disrupted the pace.
"Sounds like a great poison. Perhaps we could share recipes?"

It might weird out some that the way she spoke of it seemed no different than your woman wanting to trade cooking recipes with her neighbor.

Originally Posted by Wainraith

"Lucius I may not like you. I may think you're a sad broken individual worthy of nothing more momentous than a quick death and shallow grave. But I'm not an idiot. There are far more important matters at hand than justice for your crimes."

Nevh looked toward him for a moment, her face without expression.
You don't have to justify yourself to her, you know? Why care care for what she thinks or how she feels about how you feel.

Originally Posted by Wainraith

"She's not like you, and she never will be. She'll take up the sword if she has to but at the core of her there is peace, not violence."

Now that made her wince, but she didn't share her impression on the matter.
How is letting him know that going to be useful at any point? Sometimes... I don't get you.
At worse it could lead to Lucius trying to try to kill her when it would be over. Perhaps the followers of Malvain would follower the one who killed Malvain's daughter after her untimely death. Perhaps Malvain himself would destroy her after he is freed. And then, who could stop Him?

[SpatulaOdoom]

Morgan wishes he knew how to send a raised eyebrow over a mental link, instead he settles for mock sadness.
Nevh, I figured you of all people wouldn't need me to spell it out for you. Do you really think he's going to be able to resist taking up that gauntlet?
Then again Nevh hadn't been too much for playing mind games. Her methods when actually dealing with people had been fairly direct thus far.
Think about what you know of Lucius. He's ridiculously self-confident, and believes wholeheartedly in the superiority of Malvain and all things Malvain. And then I say Malvain's daughter is not going to take after her father in the slightest? Bullcrap he'll think. He's going to take that as a challenge.

He'll try extra hard to ingratiate himself with Kala. Expound on the glory and power of Malvain and show her the superiority of Malvain's ways. He'll demonstrate that by fighting as hard as he/she/it can against anything Kala or we point out as a foe. He'll do it at every opportunity.
That would not only improve his utility as a tool but keep Lucius out of their hair as much as possible. If they simply left him idling he'd instead wind up causing trouble, he wouldn't be able to keep himself from it, or even recognize it as trouble.
Once he's freed Malvain will go after Zera first. How can he not? And he'll owe us for freeing him. Even Malvain isn't that senseless that he'd turn on us for freeing him.

The bit where he'd hinted that the price for their help might be letting them kill him repeatedly had however just been Morgan messing with him. One had to get some fun out of life after all.