Unfortunately for Lazardarus, Tafari did have protection against such an effect. The mental static he employed to resist Aineruda's own psionic assault served him well by also granting him considerable resistance to being controlled. The stinging cold and biting chill of the freezing rain didn't have as great an effect on Tafari as would have been prefered - His lightning reflexes gave him considerable tolerance for various conditions that might slow him down, and he quickly hastened himself to negate what the chill did manage to steal. The freezing rain was bone-chilling, and managed to induce a marginal level of entropy within Tafari's being.
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'Doesn't she ever shut up?' Tafari thought to himself. 'She sounds just like a candycane recruit from Mercy. What is she...? Ahahaha. No you don't.'| "Odd, you complain about us assuming things because you come from the Isles.... yet in every way you act exactly as the stereotype... |
Tafari apparently didn't like the thought of his punching bag being taken away, so he took advantage of Aineruda having fallen on her *** and grabbed at her robes, attempting to haul her up before delivering a brutal combo of charged and havoc wrecking punches upon her face continuously for aproximately six seconds. The punches themselves were like miniature shaped charges detonating, and Lady Aineruda woud find that it would actively sap any remaining energy she had, and if she was incredibly unlucky, it may have even thrown her into a temporary seizure.
Fortunately, whether or not Tafari succeeded in his attempt to grapple and pummel her, Ildela's attack would promptly divert all of his attention away from his current target for a brief moment. Tafari's aura of power excelled in absorbing energy, and provided above-average protection against other forms of assaults. However, within it's inherent nature was an intense incompatibility with negative energy, over-reacting and unleashing energy in a wild, uncontrolled fashion in order to deal with it. Which only served to worsen the state of entropy Tafari was already experiencing.
"Ah DAMNIT!" He hissed in a loud voice, stumbling slightly as his form wavered, having had almost half its coherency eliminated right there. He then instinctively tapped into his conduit, pulling out more energy then he actually needed, and energized himself. His coherency fully reestablished itself, undoing most, if not all of the damage he had already sustained, with energy left over to spare.
"Damn My songs have no effect on him! However!" He started singing again this time his focus was on Ildela, Paxtera, and Aineruda. Each one at a time but with the same effect of Fortitude. He chanted another song healing Aineruda's wounds. Then he spun and looked at Jade "I don't know about the rest of you but I say it's time to get that big guy up!" Before anyone could stop him he started another song. This song would Clear jades Mind refreshing his awareness. To what effect who knows but he hoped it was with Jade awake feeling refreshed and calm.
During this time one of the stone Golems acted. It charged Tafai with it's shield smashing into him then it lifts up that stone Battle Axe and attempted to chop at him with all the stone's might.
Toy was a bit distracted, unable to answer Akat even though he heard the question. Still as immobile as a statue and with his subtle lightning aura even dimmer than usual, she might notice something was up.
"Whoa, talkative, aren't you?" he thought into Tyrsis' mind scape. "As too who I am... Reasonable question. Let's see if I can apply some conjecture here..."
Focusing, he called to mind what he looked like, leavened with feelings and concepts of just who and what he was. Gradually it built up, first his body, all green and red and blue with its blank white faceplate and diamond pattern cape fluttering in the theoretical wind. Concepts came next, how he was 'born' a simple machine, gained his sentience through happenstance, and grew into a successful and esoteric mercenary. Associations flashed by, numbering almost as many heroes as villains, and six vague robot-shadows formed behind his mental image. They seemed to be personalities there so often as too become background, but now altogether too noticable in their current absence.
Feelings came next, mostly curiosity directed at Trysis and annoyance at the conflict Tafari was generating. A strong undercurrent of amusement ran in the background as if he found just about everything laughable on some level or another. Then a distinct memory; a bank robbery, so routine as to be almost painful, then disorientation and the sensation of falling, then pain and injury and annoyance and curiosity and reaching forward to try something he'd never tried just for the hell of it.
Spreading his imaginary arms wide he stared right toward the 'location' of Trysis' voices, the shadows of his henchemen staying back, being as non-threatening as possible.
"I think I got that right. Fairly sure you can recognize the truth of all that, direct soul to soul link after all. Now how about you? What exactly is Trysis?"
Behind him the largest of the shadows hit one of the smallest ones on the head. It felt appropriate.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
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"Probably", Kethara replied, shrugging. "No idea what though, only powers I have are all energy-based, and that guy has armor MADE of energy. So.... yeah, not like I can do much."| "Should we be doing something? I think that was bad..." |
Now, one would think the same line of reasoning would apply to Paxtera too. But she had the advantage of having full control of her powers, while her daughter was still learning. And Kheldians by their very nature are resistant to energy-based attacks, even when making no attempt to be so. Of course, when they DID want to be so, they were almost as resilient to it as Tafari was. The Dwarf form in particular was highly resilient to almost everything. So, naturally it was that form which the peacebringer chose to shift into.
"Oh, NOW he's gonna get it", Kethara commented to Akat, watching.
And he might be, too, as Paxtera quite casually backhanded him across the face with one massive claw. Being a peacebringer there was of course some amount of energy in it, but it carried a fair amount of physical force, too. And not only that but in Dwarf form she possessed an ability much like tanker class heroes and their odd power to infuriate people far more than they reasonably should. She'd never really figured out exactly why she did, but regardless Tafari would for the next ten seconds or so find it very difficult to focus on anyone other than her. And that was assuming she didn't hit him again.
Ildela, of course, was well aware of this and intended to take full advantage of it. Thus freed from any potential retalliation at her attack, she took a moment to throw a casual salute to Lazardarus before disappearing again. And, since it worked so very well the first time around, she set about again gathering up a big gob of whatever that stuff was to throw at him, from a completely different direction as the first one so he wouldn't be expecting it. Well he probably would be expecting it, but with no way to tell which way it would come from...
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: STOP!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WAIT ONE SECOND!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WHAT IS A SEAGULL DOING ON MY THRONE!?!?
Tafari was pissed.
He had been in the middle of a no-holds barred beatdown on some pissy elven ***** while shruging off most of the assaults directed at him, and then an infuriating elven asswipe came along, promptly undid everything he had accomplished in half a second, and made the chances of winning in a straight fight against the entire group drop to somewhere around zero.
Not that his chance against all of them had been particularly high in the first place - He had only been planning on sticking around long enough to drain away all of the residual energy from Trysis' spell. As it stood, he had utilized four power sinks, and aproximately half of the mountain of energy was gone. Unfortunately, he had not expected the sudden curveball Lazardarus had pitched.
'Alright. Curbstomp the limey ******* and then go for round two with that *****.' Tafari thought, moving with super-speed away from Aineruda, leaving a certain rock golem to charge into empty space...and possibly her as well. He didn't expect anything from her in the near future. After all, it wasn't like they could heal the energy Tafari had drained away from her. Tafari rushed at Lazardarus, hands erupting with a sudden surge of golden-orange energy as Tafari prepared to lay down a beating...
And then the candycane crustacean ***** got in his way, smacked him in the face and tethered an offshoot of his conduit to herself. This was where Tafari began to worry. He had fought plenty of Peacebringers in his time from his many encounters with the PPD and Sunstorm in particular, as well as the occasional hero, and he didn't view Paxtera as a threat. But with the passive field of energy she radiated, preventing him from targetting whomever he pleased with his powers...That was something he couldn't deal with.
'Alright...' Tafari thought slowly as he recovered from being smacked in the face. 'Time for plan C.' As much as he hated to run away, he had not started this fight with the delusion that he would win. 'And I'm not REALLY leaving. Just going off a ways while living them a few presents to deal with.' Tafari thought to himself. He then utilized another power sink, specifically targetting Paxtera. He knew all about their energy resistance, but they still had a big gap in their defenses that he could exploit. They could be sapped as well as any other sucker, and not even the accelerated recovery of Paxtera's dwarf form would help her here. The power sink, if she didn't get away quickly enough, would both rob her of power AND negate her ability to recover it temporarily.
And then Tafari vanished. Unlike the first time when he had performed this little trick, he did not reappear in the immediate vicinity, although they did hear the effect. The massive echoing explosion tipped them off somewhat, as well as the smoke...Wait. Smoke.
Tafari had gone and started a forest fire. The brute himself had dashed away at super-speeds shortly after, presumably somewhere less occupied where he could continue his work without interruption.
Jade's eyes snapped open as his claws dug into the wood with vehemence and clung to it for dear life to prevent the gushing water from washing him away. For a few scant moments, he hung there gasping for breath, then turned his attention toward the stormy skies above, teeth gnashed together to secure the sharp metal edge between them, bared in a snarl that stood silent against the cracks of thunder and lightning in the clouds.
Rage welled just as did the storm that slapped his face with wind and rain, his long black hair just as wet and sticky as his formerly white blouse, now stained and torn in just as many spots as the short, ragged black pants the crimson sash about his waist held to his lower body. His wings were just as wet and heavy, and he strained to pull the limp limbs up against his back again before starting the climb back up the wooden planks, a grunted breath riding past the length of metal edge clutched in his teeth with each new grip of claws that dug into the hull.
With a final, mighty pull, Jade catapulted himself up and over the edge of the side, loosing the scimitar from between his teeth as thunder cracked and lightning flashed, the claws of his feet hitting the deck of the storm-tossed sailing ship with arresting security. His vengeful eyes flashed to the helm, and there he stood, that revolting piece of filth that dared call itself Captain.
"Yar-har!" the velvet-brown Dragon roared, thrusting the tip of his scimitar toward the smooth, silver-slick metal form up at the steering wheel, guiding the ship with a cold, steady hand, "You shan't get rid of me that easily! Face me, villain!"
But the scoundrel that was Captain Yar-har only cackled mechanically, red-glowing eyes emerging from beneath the large, wide-brimmed hat that stayed motionlessly on its bald silver head no matter how hard the wind and rain whipped the long white feather that jutted from its side.
"Processing request." the machine droned monotonously, and yet its words dripped with cold malice in every syllable, the blank metal teeth that spoke them practically exuding the sensation. It gripped a line and yanked itself into the air, the flashing metal of a swiftly swept arm producing the same from its scimitar as the sword came free of its scabbard, then struck viciously against the Dragon's, bowling Jade over and onto his back.
The Dragon immediately thrust his sword up in both hands, and down came the expected blade of Captain Yar-har, clanging against his own as lightning flashed and thunder cracked, and Jade closed his eyes for a moment in reflex at the impact and the pale-blue blaze, then opened them again to...
...see a tree?
He blinked. The storm was gone. So was Yar-har. And the ship. And the ocean. And the...huh? Why was he in wild form? What had just happened? Where was-?
And then he remembered.
He jumped to his feet from one moment to another, only to promptly have his hind legs to rubbery and deposit his rear back on the ground. There he sat for about a second, still as he could be, then raised his forepaws toward his face. He looked at his palms, his claws, his arms, his chest, a wing, his belly, his legs, his tail...they were all...
Normal.
He felt a gust slap his long hair into his face, shuddering as the soft sensation of the air caressing his hide tickled his body. He could feel again! And it wasn't just that terrible cold! And he could...he could breathe - was breathing, right this very moment! He felt his hearts beat, the earth against his feet, the motion of his eyelids sweeping across the world that was no longer red! It was...it felt...!
Ecstatic!
"Hyaah-haah-haah-haah...!" the Dragon thrust his neck skyward, laughing psychotically, craning back further and further until he finally lost his balance and came tumbling down, crashing to the ground flat against his back, wings spread limply to both sides and legs curled upward in the fashion of a massively oversized cat.
Then he cried. It was beautiful. He could honestly, actually cry again, feel it again. His wish had been granted. He hadn't understood it, and he still didn't really, but right now he just didn't care! It was here, it was now, and it felt wonderful!
Akat meanwhile just sat on her rump exactly where the upward jerk of the Drokar had deposited her, hands flat on the ground behind and legs haphazardly tossed in front. She too blinked. Now what was going on?
And just so that he wouldn't feel left out of wondering the same thing (or so it may have seemed at first), Tafari experienced Jade's reach as well - or rather the reach of the 'alien energies' that had been used to return him to biological life. Until now, the rest of them had only gradually drifted toward him, absorbed by his new body so slowly as to appear almost motionless. Now however, with the Dragon jostled awake, the energies needed to complete their transfer much more quickly, speeding off toward (and into) his body from wherever they presently.
Even from within Tafari.
Whether or not that caused him to feel any sort of inhibitive drain was of course unknown, but with his finely-tuned senses in the matters of energy, it was practically impossible for him not to notice the 'alien energies' departing his form and heading for the Dragon, completely unhindered by his will to keep them...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Toy's audience experienced the presentation with some agitation. Her stream of conscious reduced to mutterings as his story unfolded. That is, until the end when one shadow bopped another on the head. The unexpected classic slap-stick comedy sent her into peals of laughter.
"...oh! oh hoho! what a gift so tell him? tell Toy? tell about Trisys? can't tell about Trysis not me not I not Trysis nor Tyrsis neither Tirsys or Trisis not me not I I am Trisys Trisys Trisys only Trisys just Trisys was Trisys yes was but can tell what was as a thank you thank you very much thanks for your gift the gift of laughter been so long so very long since first Master ..."
As a creature whose outward shape had been determined by the viewer, there was no clear form presented. Instead a crash-course history whirled by like brittle brown leaves in an stormy autumn sky, more impressions than fact.
First were of a little girl, cheery with bouncing blonde curls. To the girl she had appeared a pony with tiny wings and three horns, small as a newborn puppy. The girl had been the one to name her Trisys, raising her as an imaginary friend and using wishes to create more imaginary friends for such adventures as tea parties, fashion shows, and midnight balls. The last sight of her was a tear-streaked face, immediately replaced by a young boy with an untutored gaze. Shortly it was again replaced by an older version of the male, this time with a gaze both calculating and cruel. This third one was the face seen longest, the one who had taken his newly-acquired from her Paragon homesoil to his befouled territory in the Rogue Isles. He had pushed Trisys to her limit, broke her, then pushed more. Her abilities had flourished even as the mental bondage became complete.
Finally another took his place. Then another. And another in rapid succession. Males plus an occasional female. So many it was impossible to count. At the end was a wrench when Patches had scooped up Paragon, Trisys's connection to the land bringing her along too. Except that a vital connection had also been left behind. Something about a borrow connection bonding her to her last Master, Jade, then his momentous Wish which left him restored and her a robot. All, from the first human girl until the restored dragon, had been only known as Master. Trisys had been treated as a pet, an amusement, a tool, a curiosity, envied, traded, hunted, coveted, feared, controlled, and was always a possession. That was among the Masters.
The other half was the dead. Relentless Voices bemoaning their lost lives. Demanding, ever demanding, their wish for a mortal form to be returned to them.
"... no longer Trisys not any more I have lost it all it's all gone now even the Voices even the Dead only me never thought it would be so lonely oh EarthMother! I have lost you it has been forever all for a wish a wish Jade's wish is Jade well? Jade lived lived and died by now was it worth it forever alone forever alone yes really? yes really? yes really? yes? oh EarthMother! I am lost I have lost it all it's all gone..."
It was probably clear to Toy that Trisys defined herself by the one she served rather than possessing a real sense of self. Thus why she had remained lost in her own mind: There was no Master to create a definition from. That, and she was too busy running in figurative circles to even sense Jade's awakening or that he was as delirious as her.
"And again.... In every way a typical resident of the Isles", Paxtera commented in a slightly amused tone after Tafari disappeared. "The instant the battle turns against him, off he runs with his tail between his legs." If she was affected by the power sink he let off before he left, she certainly didn't show it. "...anyway", she commented after a moment. "Illy, come with us please? The rest of you, deal with that." She gestured toward the smoke, before taking Ildela's hand as the stalker came over to her and promptly vanishing into the familiar golden light.
Now, finding Tafari was easier said than done. He had after all left at superspeed, and just because he'd set stuff on fire over there was no reason to think he'd be over there. If anything he'd be in the other direction. So, naturally finding him took quite some time. However, time is very much relative for someone who can move outside of it. So to Tafari it would appear almost instantaneous when they reappeared near him, while for them it'd been much longer. "Arrogant, cowardly... really not doing much to break the stereotype, you know", Paxtera commented to him.
Ildela meanwhile was invisible, and sneaking up on him. With her own shield still reinforced by Lazardarus's spell, she was currently near impossible to hit with any energy-based attack - which all of his seemed to be. She intended to take full advantage. Of course, Tafari might notice as she got close to him that some of the storm around him seemed to be bending away from something. Of course, if he didn't notice (or didn't react fast enough) then he'd wind up with a pair of swords in the most painful places she could put them.
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: STOP!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WAIT ONE SECOND!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WHAT IS A SEAGULL DOING ON MY THRONE!?!?
"Deal...huh?" Akat directed a quizzical stare toward the smoke in the distance, completely clueless regarding what Paxtera meant by that. The Khelari way of interacting with a plume of smoke was to catch something and bring it over in order to...well, smoke it. While Akat appreciated good food as much as any of her people, right now didn't really feel like the proper time for that.
"Shouldn't we be helping him?" she thus inquired of Kethara with a finger pointed toward Jade in an uncertain manner, looking hopeful that she had the answer, "I think he's hurt. Or is this normal for a, um, Dragon?"
"Mh?" said Drokar's attention latched upon that snippet, Jade only now realizing that there were other people around. The tears of joy ceased, replaced by childlike curiosity as bits and pieces of recent memories came back to him one at a time. Yeah, he remembered that voice, and he didn't seem to mind being upside-down as his eyes started to look for Akat. Unfortunately, that didn't produce any results, so he proceeded to roll over that he might get a better view of the area.
"Uh, yeah...I mean no..." he only jumbled forth words at first, prompting him to flick his tongue to undo the imaginary twist, "I mean I'm fine. Really fine. A lot more fine than I've felt in...oh man. I can't believe I'm actually normal again. This is so awesome. I can smell you. Wait, no...yes. Yes I can. Why do you smell so little? Nevermind. Where's Trisys? I have to thank her. This is...wow. I mean...really wow! I have to...I have to get up, have to find..."
He pushed off the ground with force amidst those last few words, as a result of course ending up on very wobbly, unsteady legs, and promptly falling flat on his stomach again, jaw hitting the ground not half a second later - and right atop a certain little acorn.
"Oops." he grinned self-consciously for a moment before lifting his head again, the token wedged to the white-brown scales that ran from his chin down his throat and onward, along with a good bit of wet grass he'd picked up from that hit. Unlike the plants, it didn't go unnoticed of course, and was soon scooped into the clawed fingers of a forepaw while Jade looked upon it with a contemplating, "...huh..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
There were many reasons why Fire was so feared in the Elven Forest but the main reason was the landscape. The Forest had only one quick entrance and exit everywhere else was bowl like cliffs. In other words an out of control blaze would turn the entire place into a death trap.
Aineruda looked at the rising smoke. "Fire... FIRE! 6 Guards with me to the blaze! Lazardarus take four Guards and go with... Those women who are going after that power draining fool. Cerelassion stay with those two machines." She still looked drained but like any leader she was pushing herself in an emergency.
Lazardarus and the four guards looked around wondering where Tafari could have gone. "He wants power... hmm Lets head for the central tree it's the oldest in the forest and would have absorbed the most magic." With that he took off running still dressed in that bath robe followed by the four guards.
Cerelassion looked at Kethara "Your right little lady he's in for it. But now he's really in trouble. Think about it the magic in this area was disturbed by the transformation the Magical energy released here disrupted all but the more powerful Fey. Now however if he's still in the forest. Lets see 2 Million Elves about a third can use magic of some form. Then there are the Skilled Guards. Even an Arrow can hit something vital and seems he was well protected against energy but is his protection worthy of facing hundreds of arrows?"
Cerelassion smiled "Many of those Arrows are my design with nasty tricks like tubes of glass with acid in the shaft. But that's not the best part it's all those fey thought instinctively most would rush to the fire to try to put that out... Hmm but not all so here he was facing about what 20 foes? Out there where the magic wasn't disrupted he be facing much more." Then his face went somber "Of course he might start absorbing the magic out of the Fey. I don't know if he can do that nor do I know what would happen. I think the Fey that gets caught like might die. Then again they live in another plain of reality and only just touch this realm and might flee him to survive."
He smiled and looked to Jade "It seems if I got everything correct that today is your Rebirth day. Welcome back to the living, thought it came at a price." He motions to Trisys "That I believe is your Trisys she has taken on your curse. I hope that all the price the magic requires. I'm Cerelassion an Alchemist here at our humble home."
Just like Cerelassion said as long as Tafari remained in the Forest he would be assaulted by every type of Fey in the area. The ground would spring Golums and spikes even shift to quick sand to slow him down. Trees and plants shifting to grab him. However this would be in the Forest where the magic is stronger. Trees however don't cover everything those Mountainous cliffs however would be outside of the magic of the forest itself but still near. The Fey can't stay long away from the Forest itself with out loosing power.
The sky sprites however would be flocking to the fire Causing a downpour to put out the flames as well as a few earth spirits blasting dirt up and onto the flames trying to smother them. With in the flames were other sprites fire based fey growing more wild and insane as they fed on the fuel for the fire. Normally these Fey would be calm happily burning wood in fireplaces or candles wicks. uncontrolled however madness and hunger to burn things drives them. In other words it was now a battle of the elements Fire vs Air (with some water for rain) and Earth.
The acorn Token was marked with its change as well. When bonding Jade and Trisys it had become a mini super computer. During the restoration Wish, it had reverted to its original stone consistency. Jade, as Master, would be able to instinctively know it was the bond Token. More than that would take little energy. However, it would take intentional focus to utilize.
If that focus were directed, it would be immediately obvious that the Token could perform all its basic functions as it had before. This included knowledge of location, status, thoughts, history, and remote Wish activation for Trisys. Further, the malicious personality that had been developing was gone along with the computerized circuitry. It was now a tool, nothing more. Pretty much the only difference from before was that the information required deliberate will instead of being always at the surface. A parallel would be using a browser to search the internet instead of having a feed automatically correlate the information.
Jade, as Master through the Token, could even enter Trisys's mindscape without needing to have a compatible aura such as Toy was utilizing. Though whether he would desire to do so, especially as it harbored the same endless cold he had only just escaped, was another matter entirely.
Newton's First Law of Motion: Objects in motion tend to stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force.
Moving object: Tafari.
Force: Paxtera.
Tafari laughed to himself as he whizzed right past Paxtera at super speed, not even bothering to slow down as she appeared. And as he shot by, he casually attempted to clock her right in the face with a thunderous strike of both physical and energetic might. It could wreck massive physical trauma in addition to the considerable energy output it boasted, and if Paxtera had shifted out of her Dwarf form, she may have even wound up temporarily stunned by the blow. And, of course, the attack had several Gs packed behind it due to the sheer speed Tafari was exhibiting at the time. If it connected, the results would not be pretty. Ildela herself may have even been caught in the shockwave if she was too close.
And then all the energy Tafari had absorbed from Jade suddenly up and vanished for some arbitrary reason, ignoring Tafari's massive resistance to such effects. Tafari snapped. He prompted screeched to a halt a good thirty feet away from Paxtera and Ildela, turned about, and started to advance on them.
"My patience has been stretched MILES beyond its threshold, you self-assured arrogant *****. I am going to MURDER you, and no amount of elven ******** is going to stop me!" He roared, his face contorted in rage. A patch of quicksand formed under his feet, and he strode right through it without even breaking stride, his lightning reflexes giving him the means to largely negate effects that could slow him down. The trees reached for him, and were immediately burnt and sapped by the lightning field surrounding him, potentially starting up another blaze in the process. As for any golems that decided to erupt from the Earth to attack him, it was fairly obvious he was now determined to ignore them to the best of his abilities in favor of the object of his rage.
Lazardarus reached the tree and found nothing was amiss, for now, although he was correct in the assumption that Tafari may have been interested in it had he known it was there.
At Trisys' reaction to the shadows, Toy had turned to give them all an inquisitive look. Normally this would have been impossible for someone without an actual face, but the feeling persisted. In response the bonked shadow simply shrugged and Toy mimicked the gesture before refocusing. Even when he wasn't here, Mini Bot managed to do something useful.
Then the images began and the android didn't seem to take that very well, going as quiet and still as he was on the outside until she had finished. He seemed to pull into himself and Trisys would be able to sense a furious internal debate going on, though the topic illuded her. After an interminable length of time (which was likely only a few seconds), Toy's mental image extended what looked like a notebook sized PDA, but was actually a piggy-backed connection into his still active sensors.
"I'm not quite sure what to do here, you know," he said conversationally. "I've only done this mind scape thing a couple times before and I've never encountered a genie going through a mid-life crisis before. So I'm not entirely sure what to do..."
The shadows arranged behind him did an about-face and started walking off, slowly fading away as Toy began to withdraw from the link.
"Try thinking of this as a new opportunity. You've shucked off the luggage of all your past deals and now it's time for a new game. Except this time you have all the experience and power you gained from the past," he laughed a bit and shook his head, slowly turning to walk away. "I'd give you a pep talk about self-determination, but that can always be saved for another time. Check the connection, see that your Jade is still alive and well, and come on out of your head. I have the feeling that out of the lot of us, you're the best chance we all have of getting home."
And then he was gone, his soul withdrawing completely to leave behind the electronic PDA, temporary access to his sight and hearing so that she could see for herself what was out there.
Back in the real world, Toy's formerly still form jerked once, the fingers that had rested on Trisys' chest curling into a fist before he turned his head to face the dragon.
"Quit lolly-gagging about, Smaug," he said to Jade as he lurched to his feet, stumbling drunkenly and leaning heavily against the tree he had placed the robot genie under. "You can smell the roses later. Right now your genie is mentally traumitized and probably needs her master to snap her out of it. Or maybe not. God knows how the **** this is supposed to work."
Toy sounded awfully frustrated about something.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
Quote:
The frustration in Toy's voice got a puzzled expression on Cerelassion. "Emotions as well. I say again Mr. Dispenser you are a marvel. So she's still there that's good I was afraid that it would have destroyed her soul completely." |
Originally Posted by Khellendrosiic
Toy sounded awfully frustrated about something.
|
Tafari would find the forest changing tactics now instead of trying to stop him it was avoiding contact. The entire forest was acting as one organism and Tafari was an intruding virus. The Antibodies (The Fey) had Failed so now it was trying to expel the threat by making the path out easier and the way to the heart tree harder to reach. It would also be logical for someone to believe that the Oldest part of the forest would be more wild and harder to penetrate anyway.
Back at Trisys side the Yellow shirt Gnome was scratching it's head then it banged on Trisys forehead and listened to the Metallic echo. Why was it confused was simple it recognized Trisys as another magical being something kin to it's own nature. Now Trisys wasn't so in it's puzzling it moved to where Jade was.
Then it simply appeared in Jades claw/hand. Quite literally it was one moment on the ground the next standing over the Acorn token. It then looked at Jade and pointed to it's chest then at the acorn token. Then he made a motion to touch it but stopped before actually doing so and looked at jade as if waiting for permission.
Lazardarus was setting up a defensive line around the Heart tree. Having sent two guards to fetch others he was also guiding the Gnomes to create Rocky Walls. He had no idea where Tafai was but if he came to the Heart tree Laz was ready to die to defend it.
Lady Aineruda was commanding her people to fight the fire. Under the combined assault of the water brigade and the Storm generated by the Sky spirits the was quickly dying down.
Jade blinked at Toy in confusion. Smaug? What was a smaug? And genie? Master? What...wait - Trisys! She'd kept calling him her master! Mentally traumatized? Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no...!
"Whuh!" excaped the Dragon's lips as the gnome was suddenly on his fingers, Jade resisting the reflex to shake his forepaw in response to the little feet that ticked it. Instead, he watched int closely, only getting the idea after a few long seconds passed, "Um, no, you can't have that. That's important to Trisys. I think. I hope..."
Even as he spoke those last words, he'd already been lowering his fingers toward the ground, pushing the gnome into the arms of the closest person - Akat - with a curtly muttered, "Here, hold please."
"Nyeh?" retorted the Khelari, far too puzzled to do anything but accept, looking first to the gnome for answers (with her right eye closed again, of course; damn malfunctions of the worst-timing kind!), and then back to Jade after the little man gave her but an empty-handed shrug. But the Dragon had already moved on, crouching down onto his elbows before Trisys, extending his fingers toward her.
Okay, yeah, this isn't going to work. C'mon Jade, concentrate. You can do this. Just focus. Think small. Small thoughts. Think arms. Think small. Concentrate...
Even with eyes closed and focusing to drown out all the sensations and distractions he could to look inward, the shift wasn't nearly as easy and smooth as it had been in the past. The beating of hearts, the sound of breath, the rush of blood, warmth of body, brush of the wind against his hide, it all still thrilled him to his very core to experience these things again. Still, he managed. Slowly, gradually at first, and then progressing more quickly, the Drokar shrank down. Forelegs became arms, his posture transitioned from one of a quadruped to that of a creature that walked upright, and slowly but surely he again assumed the relatively small form he'd carried when Trisys had first encountered him, looking almost exactly the same - except now without the armor, of course.
Instead of silver-gray metal plating, his exterior now carried a hide of velvet-brown microscales, the individual little things so fine that brushing against them felt somewhat akin to touching the skin of a shark. Rough, yet somehow streamlined and smooth at the same time. The light-brown tone that began on the underside of his lower jaw and progressed down his throat ran down the width of his chest, on across the abdomen, and from there between his legs all the way to the base of his tail. He didn't much realize this absence of clothes right now though, focused almost entirely on reaching forward and gingerly lifting Trisys toward him by holding her gently around the upper arms.
"Please be okay." he almost whispered, looking deep into her eyes for any sign of life, his own exuding worry and concern, "Thank you. Thank you so much...but please be okay..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
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Toy's withdrawl was trailed by sighs.
"... home what home? no Master no EarthMother not even Toy Dispenser illusion after all all illusion gone away gone alone again all alone wait wait something yet something here something to see see what? not what no not what who Jade! Jade lives! He lives! He lives! He lives! ..."
The excited whisperings condensed around the PDA like morning fog. "He lives! ..." was the chanted refrain made of part doubt, part delight as Jade compacted into his smaller biped form. To her perception it had been a century, maybe an eon, and Jade was surely dead and gone. To see him alive was almost more than she could bear. Then Jade gathered the robot shell close, and the swirling tone changed to bewilderment.
"... is that me? all red blood red new wings no horns me? yes really? yes really? yes really? yes? oh EarthMother! oh Jade! You live! I live I live? yes Toy Dispenser said in own head truth teller can trust get out to self get out to Jade but how? how? ..."
It was like watching her own funeral. Jade searching eyes as flat as paint and trying to hold a stiff body tenderly. The most logical thing was to try interacting with the one difference in the otherwise featureless mindscape: Toy's PDA.
At first it seemed to work. The image growing larger, the sounds more immediate, a world of the living filling out in its wonder. Except that since she was trying to exit through the PDA it was into robot Toy, not the crimson satyr. The Powers That Be had no intention of allowing such, and she was slammed back again.
Like orcas jostling around a small break in the artic ice for precious air, her stream-of-conscious fretted at Toy's connection to outside.
"... sorry so sorry can't get out don't know how unknown don't know but Jade lives! so glad so very glad want to tell you want to say Thank You but don't know how sorry so sorry ..."
"Yes, emotions," Toy snapped at Cerelassion as he stepped away from Trisys, giving Jade room. "I'm an android, not a dumb robot."
Letting out a burst of static that might have been akin to a sigh, the mastermind watched as the dragon shifted forms to something more bipedal. He nodded at this useful skill and then turned to face the elf.
"Right, sorry. Just a little high strung at the moment," he said. "Judging from the smoke I guess that Tafari guy is still around, but I don't know the specifics. Is he contained or still at la-large?"
Toy's voice caught for a moment, but then resumed as though nothing was wrong. Inwardly he had detected the aborted 'download' and was wondering exactly what that meant. Shrugging almost imperceptibly, he coded something and fired it back down the line.
Download into your own body, read the text that suddenly appeared on the PDA in Trisys' mindscape. It's a robot now, just imagine you're a program. Remember: You're in your own head, so you're the boss.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
"Let me explain. I been studying the Machines... the dumb robots of the waste and in truth been trying to construct a being much like yourself. Of course the Humans I question about such tech seemed to have lost the knowledge or given the history of the wastelands reluctant to see anyone make a robot." Cerelassion said as he adjusted his glasses. "You I don't see as a machine I see you like a work of art. A Masterpiece made by someone who was more skilled and knowledgeable then I am. So seeing you as such everything I find out about you only adds to my wonderment. Thought I confess your color pattern is ... um... not what I would have chosen."
Clearly frustrated the Gnome had vanished and reappeared beside Trisys. Then he must have phased because he leaned forward and stuck his head INSIDE of trisys head. If this made any connection to Trisys spirit who knows. But if it did the connection to the Gnome would also connect her to the magical force of the Forest. Thought not the Earth Mother it would seem very akin to the Earth Mother.
"Dumb robots of the waste?' Akat questioned curiously after getting over the gnome's disappearance, having wondered for a brief moment if her natural eye had gotten into scheming in tandem with the artificial one. Thankfully, that seemed unfounded when she saw the gnome...stick his head into Trisys? The people here certainly had some odd procedures.
Jade meanwhile thought much the same thing, but took it a whole lot less calmly. Indeed, he had to force himself to not yank Trisys up and away, worried for her, but at the same time realizing that his begging didn't seem to be doing any good. Perhaps the gnome's effort would...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
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Inside the mechanical satyr was, well, dark. As would the inside of any enclosed metal sculpture that had no opening for light to enter. Though if the gnome was so inclined, he could get some great acoustics.
This both showed nothing and quite a bit. Interacting with the shell was ineffective. As would walking into a neighbor's house who had forgotten to lock their door: They may live there but the lights were out and no one was home. Others could not reach Trisys through the body because neither could she presently. In another metaphor the gnome's poking around with his embodiment/connection to the magical force of the Forest was the equivalent of driving an ice cream truck playing "Pop Goes The Weasel" and hawking wares over the loudspeaker to include, "Free samples! Come and get it!" while circling in an empty parking garage.
That was not to say reaching Trisys was an impossible feat. Jade as Master through the Token would have the easiest time of it, should he make the effort. And Toy Dispenser had proven that the spirit was reachable. It had not been Toy's touching the robot form that had given him access; it had his near-identical aura like short-range radios set to the same frequency. Likely Akat with her expertise on energy would have knowledge to apply. Kethara as a Kheldian knew about merging two entities, which was something distinctly new to the satyr. And Cerelassion could have a trick or two from his crossover studies between robots of the waste and magical artifacts. Any one of them might have success.
Meanwhile, she was a chorus of denial as Toy Dispenser turned to face Cerelassion. Her voices murmured their longing to again behold Jade. If there had been corporal form, it would have turned the PDA this way and that in a futile effort to restore the view. Though it was probably another blessing in disguise that Toy had turned away. Seeing someone stick their head in hers would probably have sent her into hysterics.
As it was, Toy's text message and the desire to see Jade again renewed the excitable energy.
"... program a program a chain of commands a cascade of Wishes program program have to download how? how? a delivery yes really? yes really? yes really? yes? oh EarthMother! oh Jade! scared unknown try try can only try where? where? everywhere yes everywhere search it all ..."
Her presence voices scattered as far and fast as thought could go then coalesced back next to the PDA, the only point of reference. The resulting chatter was hyper.
"... anything? anything out there? no nope nothing try down to a single point like a black hole? yes try try anything? anything in here? no nope nothing how to get to Jade? how? how? I'm trying, Jade! I'm trying, Toy! I'm trying trying without result trying! what if space not like box? what if not in head? maybe need another way maybe? what way? think think! THINK! ..."
She didn't know if Toy, Jade, or anyone could hear but kept rambling anyway.
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Sadly while hitting a stationary target at such a speed was about as easy as normal, hitting a target that's actively trying to avoid being hit while going past at superspeed? Not so easy. Thus, it was only the edge fo the shockwave that caught Paxtera. Perhaps not so unexpectedly, she wasn't knocked of her feet as she maybe should be. She turned to face him as he stopped and started back toward her.| And as he shot by, he casually attempted to clock her right in the face with a thunderous strike of both physical and energetic might. |
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| "My patience has been stretched MILES beyond its threshold, you self-assured arrogant *****. I am going to MURDER you, and no amount of elven ******** is going to stop me!" |
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: STOP!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WAIT ONE SECOND!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WHAT IS A SEAGULL DOING ON MY THRONE!?!?
Tafari stared with disbelief up at Paxtera as her energy bolts fizzled into nothingness before even coming into proper contact with his aura. 'Does she really think she's safe up there? Ha! Nothing a little bit of death from above can't f-wait what the...?'
Unfortunately for Ildela, as previously described, her energy shielding combined with the bonus of fortitude supplied by Laardarus was very effective in dissuading the lightning field that surrounded Tafari - And it bent. And that sent off alarm bells, considering he personally controlled the motion of each individual "strand." If he couldn't see her, even wih his focused accuracy and senses, there was the consolation that her own means of protection ironically gave her away, just as they also hid her. Tafari knew she was there, but not exactly. He lacked the fine details of her positioning, so much so that he could not even begin to come up with a plan to assault her, given that she could have been above him for all he knew. Except one.
Use an attack that hits everything.
Ildela suddenly felt a faint tug as Tafari utilized a power sink. If she didn't get out of range quickly, regardless of whether or not the sink affected her greatly or not, it would disrupt her stealth and Tafari would pounce on her with a vicious combo of charged and havoc wrecking punches. If she was quick enough though, she could probably swoop in and deliver a fatal strike before he had time to even think about using a second sink or any other method to try and get the drop on her.
Unforetunately unless Trisys tried something besides just talking, Toy wouldn't be able to hear her. He had made the assumption that she'd be able to control what was happening to herself and it would take a little while before he started to doubt. This didn't mean he wouldn't spread the knowledge around a little, though.
"You might want to keep the little guy out of her head," he said, chuckling about Cerelassion's complaint about his color scheme. "There's literally nothing in there, just an empty shell with some rudimentary motive programming."
He turned to face Trisys and Jade, holding up a finger toward Cerelassion so as to wait a moment.
"I was able to interface with her... soul, for lack of a better word," he told the Drokar, moving to stand next to him over the inert shell. "She seemed to be stuck in her head, thinking everything that happened to her was an illusion. I left her a link to my sensors to keep that problem at bay, but that was all I could do."
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
"The Fey sometimes listen to requests but they tend to do what they wish. But I never seen them do that before."
The Gnome stopped his looking finding nothing important in Trisys head. At least as far as he cared for such things. He then went over to Jade and started poking him in the leg then pointing at the Acorn again when Jade looked down.
Toy's complete and clear interjection had a marked effect. The fear now churned with excitment.
"... a Voice! illusion just an illusion yes no another a Voice are you dead? am I dead? no yes No! not dead would hear all Voices would hear EarthMother alive? alive then who? not me not me I am Trisys not any more true true not any more then who? another Toy Dispenser who is Toy Dispenser? what is Toy Dispenser? do tell do tell the truth yes the truth the truth or travel on no please no not alone again yes yes alone better alone than living a lie no lying no lies really? yes really? yes really? Yes! the truth please the truth who are you? where are you? in head own head yes really? yes oh how is Toy Dispenser here? how is Toy Dispenser? who is Toy Dispenser? who are you? who are you?..."