(no subject)

[creativefool]

[The mental voice drifting in over the network sounds more than a little stressed, as far as it's possible to tell from a psychic message.]

Yo. Can you hear me? If you can, this is Kanji here... and I think we've got a problem.

I don't just mean the whole 'bein' shoved around by guards' kind of problem. But I ain't seen a whole lot of familiar faces yet... and I think I know why. Been doin' some pokin' around - Champion thing, long story - and there's a whole load of people who ain't even in this world with us.

I don't mean Infiltrating. I mean they ain't here at all.

Dunno what you think, but if they're somewhere else... is this like that last time? When a bunch of folks never made it to Questing Country?

[There's a worried pause here. If this means what it might mean...]

Right. On what's going on... Sounds like this city's called Misericordia - did I get that right? Heard something about folks looking for a dragon... dunno how you'd hide a dragon, I figured they were kinda ...big and fiery and all that crap.

...But. I also heard someone say somethin' about Dolorosa? As in, gryphons and Color Magic Dolorosa?

I'm ... there?

...A-anyway. If anyone's out there, or anyone knows what's goin' on better than I do... 'cause seriously, I ain't got a clue... let us know, okay?

Comments

[leftbehindagain]

[Well, this is a first, and Naoki can't say he's not relieved... even as he takes in Kanji's bad news.]

Who're we missing?

I managed to find a map of the city. It's going to be tricky at best to get into most of it, looks like.

[creativefool]

[Is that a mental sigh of relief there? It might be.]

It's - I knew you were here, but ... damn, good t' hear from you, man. Haven't managed to look for everyone I know yet, but ... [Pausing-] I know Naoto and Lupa ain't here, for a start.

[Yeah. He'll leave that a moment-] I'm still workin' my way through everyone, keep getting distracted and I don't want people askin' what I'm doing, but it's not looking good. And this is just goin' by people I know well enough to trace.

Hard to get around, too? Ugh. Shouldn't be surprised with these assholes on patrol. As if things weren't bad enough, huh...

[leftbehindagain]

Well, crap. I'm thinking the more people we can't find, the more likely it is they split us again. You're getting a different result if someone's infiltrating? [He's sure Kanji wouldn't specify if he hadn't, but it's worth asking.]

No kidding. The Defenders weren't this bad. Inaba's finest aren't this bad. At least the first guard who stopped me gave me something to work with by assuming he already knew why I was here.

[creativefool]

Yeah. I think that's what I'm seein', anyway. Ain't exactly done this shit where it makes a difference before. Gonna keep tryin'.

An' he did? Guess it's somethin', if they ain't gonna try and ask us questions about that.

[wholeheaded]

I'm thinking it's very much like that time, which... means we'll be reunited with the others eventually. Just be glad we're not all stuck in a hole in the ground again. Can you tell how many of us are here with your Champion thing?

[ it would be helpful to know who they can keep an eye out for. ]

But, ah, yes, the group we arrived with were from Dolorosa but this is a neighboring country-thing and I wish I'd been more interested in foreign affairs last time we were here. For folks who weren't there or haven't heard of it: magic, gryphons, dragons, other monsters, knights in shining armor, those are all a reality in this world. If you need more detailed help, my is Ambrose and I'm a thought away. I do know dragons here are definitely big ol' fire breathers, so... yeah, also confused about how one can be at all sneaky. If anyone hears anything, please share.

Speaking of sharing: let's work on pooling our resources. Who besides me can open a portal to Liminal Space in case we need to retreat?

[ because he's not going through that again. ]

[fridgeninja]

I've only done it once, but I think I remember how.

[wholeheaded]

Thanks, good to know. At least we have more resources available here than last time we got splintered off, so stuff like food’s not an issue.

[fridgeninja]

How did this work, last time?

[creativefool]

I'm... still having trouble gettin' exact numbers. I really need to know folks to find 'em at all, so if there's anyone I don't know who's out here, I ain't gonna pick 'em up. Still not good with this, so I might miss people... but I ain't gettin' a lot of Investigators, anyway. Could just be four or five of us. More folks're Infiltrating. Probably at least as many again, but it's harder to tell who's who and what's what with 'em. Ain't done this before with Infiltrators.

I'm findin' more folks who definitely aren't here than are. ...Looks like we really are the ones outta the loop. Damn.

And I'm alright with portals if we need 'em.

But, man. [There's a relieved mental sigh here.] Good to have someone here who knows what's going on.

[wholeheaded]

More portals are great. And it’s all right Kanji, you’ve gotten us started, we’ll all work together from here to fill in the blanks. Though the blanks are… pretty obvious. Daneel’s not here but his gryphon Lady stayed with me. [ no he’s not thinking of the possibility that there are bigger implications with that. not yet. ] Maybe later you can explain your process and we can figure out how to support it? Expand the net?

Yeah, it’s a good thing there’s a couple of us here who sorta know the lay of the land, even if it’s not this land specifically. It’ll take a couple days to get settled and figure out the new status quo but we’ve at least got a little foothold.

[creativefool]

Sure. I've got ideas but I ain't quite worked out how to make it work - I can go through it later with anyone who wants, yeah. Anythin' I can do to help, and all.

And we've got more than we usually have, huh?

[leftbehindagain]

I can do portals if we need them. I actually spent most of Nova Venezia overnighting in Liminal Space - wasn't very comfortable without the workshop, but it worked.

[wholeheaded]

Thanks. I know our accommodations here aren’t the greatest, so that’ll make a nice alternative for folks.

[leftbehindagain]

Liminal's a crapshoot from day to day, but it's free and it's more or less safe. We'll get the same thing every day if we bunk out here, but I don't know if it's a thing many of us will want to take a chance on.

I was infiltrating last time - did you guys go back to the same Liminal Space as everyone else, or was it completely separate?

[willyousee]

Ambrose. [Alcuin hasn't gotten the hang of inflection in psychic space, but that definitely has the cadence of one very relieved young man.] I am myself as well, luckily, but I fear that I cannot assist you with liminal space. I think that perhaps we ought to be disguised, you and I. Especially if we are assumed to be part of this delegation from Dolorosa.

[wholeheaded]

[ oh, he hears that, and if he could reflect it back he would.]

It is... truly so good to hear from you, Alcuin. And I can do disguising myself but I dunno about doing it subtly at this point. The gryphon sort of draws attention. [ he has no idea how recognizable Lady might be in this kingdom, nor how well known his former self's affinity for the creatures was. ] Hopefully with some clever use of liminal space I can pull it off but... really not happy to be here.

[fridgeninja]

Naoto's not here. Yosuke, either. Those are all I checked with before you sent this.

[creativefool]

Yeah, I checked for Naoto, but it's good to know about Yosuke too. Thanks, man.

[fridgeninja]

I really like the guards' coats.

[canbebrave]

I can hear you.

...We need to blend in, as quickly as possible. People here are likely to be suspicious of strangers.

[creativefool]

Great to hear ya!

Man, I ain't surprised. The guards didn't seem like the friendliest lot. And if the locals are the same...

[canbebrave]

You, as well. Hopefully we are facing something like what happened in Questing Country-- and not something like we have before, where half our friends were lost after a failed jaunt.

I can help us blend, if you'd like. Dolorosa and my home were very similar- the basic rules should apply here.

[willyousee]

I am here... [It's Alcuin. Sounding a bit shaken even without inflection, but that's definitely him.] And I can confirm what Ambrose says: this is the country North of Dolorosa, where the Travelers visited more than a year ago. And from the sounds of it, not much more time than that has passed here, either. The leaders of the delegation are of that place and were present for the reinstatement of the royal line. They may know those of us who were here before, and will not trust those who show great talent with color magic. Please be careful.

[creativefool]

You - you okay, man? ...ah, crap. I think I get the problem.

Thanks, though. ...But. Uh. When you're sayin' "talent with colour magic", how talented are we talkin'?

[willyousee]

I am all right. I never expected to be back here, and with so many gone... It startled me. My apologies.

I would be cautious of casting spells much higher than a cantrip level where people might see you. At least those of Dolorosan heritage. Hedge mages are likely to be looked on with suspicion, but not outright hostility unless they appear to be pursuing higher levels of magic, such as those approaching the level of the Illuminants. If I am correct in my timing and judgement of the political atmosphere, they would rather kill a mage than risk them learning how to become an Illuminant.