Difference between revisions of "Holes/Session 46"

A fragment of the Garden of Remembering
(THIS DIDN'T HAPPEN NOPE DIDN'T HAPPEN I TAKE IT BACK.)
(FORMAT)
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{{holes nav
Apheori (GM): Is Gan here? I don't see him.
|css=true
And gods dammit this spacebar sucks.
|previous=Holes/Session 45
Guys? Hello?
|raw=2850
Is this thing on?
|next=Holes/Session 47
IS IT?
}}
Apheori (GM): DOES IT BLEND?
 
Gaurav: It is!
<screenplay>
It does not.
On the way to the crashed airship and whatnot to the south, the party returns to Dorgin to spend the night, midgets in tow.
Apheori (GM): Is Gan dead?
 
Frezak (GM): I think he was eaten by fruit.
INT. Dorgin guardhouse - morning
Apheori (GM): Did someone kill him in his sleep?
 
Frezak (GM): Since fruit are people.
The Gravedigger, Greibel, and Rhu are all asleep. Radek is working at a table, notes and tablet in front of him, scrivening down and organising his latest findings, not all there, vaguely dozing off as well.
Apheori (GM): For being too much of a robot?
 
Gods dammit firefox is a moron.
Amadi is nearby, watching, making a flower out of bits of grass.
It scales all the wrong things, and everything differently.
 
Because apparently adding 30px of padding is TOTALLY USEFUL when all I really want is to be able to read the damn text.
The Gravedigger Dreams.
Gaurav: Is Opera any better? Either Opera.
 
Apheori (GM): Opera doesn't have any support at all, so I just upped the default zoom.
: ''You dream of roots. You're trying to dig through them, but it's not working. You try to dig around them, but they move to block your path. Don't they understand you need to hurry, you need to get down there, there's not a lot of time...?
...which actually is a better experience than this.
 
Good gods.
: ''The dream shifts and you're standing in a tree, the same tree whose roots blocked you so adamantly before, now holding you aloft in its leafy branches, high in the sky, well above... nothing. There's just nothing as far you can see, and you can see pretty damn far, just charred ground and cloven earth, horrible rifts and chasms opening up in utter disarray. Utterly shameful. You could do so much better.
Okay, everyone is here, my spacebar is shot, my screen is horrific, and I need to shoot someone.
 
AND WHY IS THE TEXT GREY?!
: ''Then you remember. You were the one who did it, and now you're there, doing it, digging the chasms, pushing the earth apart, because down there, down there somewhere, is something that shouldn't be, and you need to get it out. Some things must not be buried, some things cannot be buried, so now here you are, digging, pulling, prying at the earth, tearing it to pieces, not even putting the removed earth itself anywhere in the process.
Wait, that's my eyes.
 
Gaurav: o.0
: ''Somewhere in the back of your mind you realise how utterly wrong this all is.
Apheori (GM): Moral of the story, don't get a giant-arse monitor, get completely drunk, and wreck your keyboard.
 
Ganelon: If you're certain that you're in a state to do this, I'm here.
: ''Amadi turns you around with a gentle hand, but this Amadi is as tall as you are. "Come," she says, drawing you away. "You're strong, stronger than anyone. You don't need to do this. You can put it right."
I won't judge you for calling a rain check on this, though.
 
Apheori (GM): Oh?
: ''And then she hands you a shovel. It's perfect.
Because I'm totally not prepared and would love an excuse to put it off again. Except I'm not even sure what the excuse would be this time.
 
Frezak (GM): That means he likes you.
The Gravedigger wakes up slowly, thinking of shovels.
Excuse : Simba.
 
Ganelon: "I'm not prepared"- no it doesn't, Frezak.
Radek Dreams.
Frezak (GM): You tease.
 
Apheori (GM): ...I'm never prepared.
: ''Sometimes your mind wanders off task. You pretend it doesn't happen, of course, but more and more it does. Perhaps you're just getting old, but there's a certain finality to it, like you're running out of time. Never enough time.
Ganelon: "I'm not prepared" is an entirely valid excuse.
 
Apheori (GM): Maybe for other people. >.<
: ''You were working on your research, cataloguing results and methods, comparing different situations, but right now you just can't focus. Your hands want to make. They want to build. They want to do everything, and you just can't do everything, becuase you're doing something else right now. The chicken is back, too. It wants you to build. You're not building.
Gaurav: As is "I just don't want to right now"
 
Apheori (GM): Pfft.
: ''No.
Bear Soup Guy: YOU ARE NOT PREPARED!
 
Bear Soup Guy points the thunder stick
: ''Not right now.
Apheori (GM): Everyone's here.
 
Ellemerr: Blame your keyboard? :P
: ''The chicken is bones at your feet. The building has crumbled around you. Above, the sky is vast and gaping, a maw opening up into Midnight, the emptiness of the holes you've come to know so well, finally here to swallow you up.
Apheori (GM): We oughtn't waste this.
 
Apheori (GM) hisses at it.
: ''For lack of any better idea, you hold up your tablet in defense, but the tablet is now a bomb, and so you set it off, and suddenly everything is fine.
Frezak (GM): Don't get spittle in it!
 
Apheori (GM): Um.
Radek's dream fades, and he continues on, now rather grumpier than he was, getting back to the details of his scrivening.
Okay.
 
You all were leaving the ferret lady on the way to check out that really big tree and crap.
Greibel Dreams.
I forgot what time it is.
 
Ellemerr: There is time? O_o
: ''You dream of raisins. You're counting them. You need to have a very exact number, or Mrs. Balshmere will be quite displeased, and Mrs. Balshmere is the scariest Kanai you've ever known, and you've probably known every scary Kanai who lives on the island. You seem to have a knack for finding them, and pissing them off, and then running away, and raisins.
Apheori (GM): Yes.
 
So you've been up like 60 hours at least, but you're elves so nobody cares.
: ''The raisins don't want to be counted. They keep moving away as you get to the next one, and no matter how hard you try you lose count at around one every single time. The chicken isn't helping either. It keeps eating your fingers.
Dorgin is basically on the way to the tree. Do you stop and rest?
 
Frezak (GM): The Hour Of The Slavering Dark
: ''"No, no, eat the raisins," you tell it, but it seems to have gone senile in its old age and won't listen, and then you're out of fingers anyway.
Gaurav: If by rest you mean go back to the pub with the annoying singer that Gravy buried and get roaring drunk/fall into the eldritch basement, then *yes*.
 
Apheori (GM): Or just occupy the guardhouse for the night again.
: ''The dream shifts, and you're in a cottage. Have you been here before? It's quite nice, well-lit and airy, full of plants and odds and ends and strange pictures on the walls. You head for the kitchen in search of tea, and suddenly you're there, sipping it, and it's good, normal tea, right and proper, the way you always liked it.
Ganelon: Everyone thinks we're guards anyways.
 
Apheori (GM): Point is YOU CAN REST IF YOU WANT TO, although this being 4e there's less reason to do so.
: ''The woman who comes around the corner is Eapherod. She doesn't really look like anything in the dream, of course, but you know her and she knows you and you share the tea in quiet company for a moment.
Exactly!
 
Ganelon: The /fool/s.
: ''Then she says, "We really blew it."
...Bah, stupid fingers.
 
Apheori (GM): You're not covered in chrome anymore. It's an understandable mistake.
: ''You could argue, but you don't.
And Gravy probably looks like an orcan to those who don't know what orcans look like.
 
Perfectly normal.
: ''She goes on, "You'll have to trust her. The Librarian. She was our sister, you know, and now she's all we have left. A sister who doesn't even know who she is. But that's fine. Nobody really does, anyhow."
Ganelon: Wouldn't Radek look far too old for active duty?
 
Apheori (GM): Not for a lab guy.
: ''Suddenly you remember. You remember what it was you needed to tell her, and you begin to form the words to actually say it as she looks on in quiet expectation, and suddenly it all shatters all over again. This was what happened before, when the last time, when the masks were exchanged. Was it a silvery mask, or a lace mask, or...
Or something.
 
Too cranky to let the clueless new folks do the very important work...
: ''Who are you?
Actually they'd have no idea and probably just go along with whatever so long as folks acted important enough. >.>
 
Ganelon: Man, I wish more civilians were like that in some of these other games.
Greibel wakes up suddenly, only to find that he is, in fact, exactly who he has always been. Greibel. Exactly Greibel.
Nobody takes orders from my gnoll unless they're terrified.
 
Apheori (GM): So terrify them.
Rhu Dreams, his first true Dream since his arrival in Arling Tor.
Also, rest or not?
 
Ganelon: This also has a high probability of making them run rather than obey.
: ''"Hello," Amadi says, smiling. "I was wondering when I'd see you. It's about time."
And also of getting me attacked.
 
Apheori (GM): Wrong planet, clearly.
: ''You're dreaming about a future. You know you've worked so hard to get here, sacreficed so much, but now here you are, standing at the precipice, overlooking the city, and it is so very nearly over, all over. Amadi is with you, and others too, all standing behind you, relieved, fearful, aprehensive. But this is it. The last... last what? You're not quite sure.
Gaurav: Eh, why not. Let's rest in the guardhouse.
 
Ganelon: Sure.
: ''The sun sets suddenly over the harbour, and everything is plunged into darkness. Suddenly you're running, running with the others, running from the fire, running for your very existence. You swing your maul but it does nothing. You try to channel, but you're alone, utterly alone in the dark, and everything is silent. This isn't even a dead end. It isn't even anything.
Gaurav: If we were to rest, would we dream anything special?
 
Apheori (GM): Yes, but I can't tell you what because I didn't write it.
: ''Amadi is sitting next to you, holding a chicken. It looks a little worse for wear.
I'll... uh... do that now, or something. >.<
 
Important question - what's Radek doing tonight?
: ''"It doesn't have to end like this, you know," she says.
Ganelon: Something fairly tame this time, I think. Putting his research notes to paper.
 
Actual paper, no less.
: ''"What?" you say. You don't even know what it is.
Frezak (GM): We have PAPER?
 
Apheori (GM): Radek does.
: ''"It's good you came, though," she goes on. "Nightmares like these strive to be shared." She leans over and puts the chicken in your face, and suddenly you're the chicken and everything is wrong and...
The rest of you plebes?
 
Who knows.
Rhu wakes up utterly confused. He checks his hands, making sure they're indeed hands and not, well, wings, and indeed he finds no feathers.
Ganelon: Well if he doesn't, we're in a town.
 
Frezak (GM): What's wrong with your science future space tablet device?
Rhu then takes out the mask Amadi had given him earlier and tries it on, just in case. Though it, he checks his hands again, then glances over at Amadi.
Ganelon: Its battery time, mostly.
 
Frezak (GM): And you're telling me YOU can't recharge it?
Through the mask, his hands look hair. Amadi looks huge and full of bees. Hairy bees. Then the bees settle down and she just looks like a brilliant glowing hairy Amadi.
Apheori (GM): Not paranoia about paper being more reliable?
 
Frezak (GM): We're all carrying energy weapons!
He puts the mask away only to see Amadi burp a bee, Winnie the Pooh style.
That only one of us use!
 
Apheori (GM): Well, foo. Nevermind.
The Gravedigger scoots nonchalantly over to Radek.
Frezak (GM): And you're a scienceman!
 
Make a damn photovoltaic panel.
THE GRAVEDIGGER
With beard wisps and bark.
(out of the corner of his mouth)
Ganelon: You young'uns just can't appreciate a good blueprint.
Pssssst.
Frezak (GM): Gravy's not young.
 
He's as old as graves.
RADEK
Ellemerr: Amadi is very young.
...What?
She has a few blueprints in her pocket.
 
Ganelon: Oh, fine.
THE GRAVEDIGGER
Apheori (GM): I suck at writing dreams.
You remember the... thing that wasn't a shovel? Right?
Ganelon: If you're going to be so insistent that he act rationally about this, he uses the bloody tablet.
 
Apheori (GM): PFFT.
RADEK
Frezak (GM): No!
I'm not senile ''yet''. Yes, I remember.
Be archaic!
 
Go use your sticks!
THE GRAVEDIGGER
Ganelon: Too late.
Do you think you could find it again? If you were back in the region? And by region I mean dimension rather than geographical location.
He's using the tablet now.
 
Frezak (GM): I have made up a grand total of two dreams.
And one of them didn't leave the involvees time to think.
Yay cheating
Ganelon: I've written a dream once before.
I think Ellemerr criticized it for being too distinct and/or sensory.
Which is pretty fair, I'll admit.
Frezak (GM): She's a real critic.
Ellemerr: I've written... some... dreams... yeah. *shifty eyes*
Frezak (GM): Addict!
Ganelon: As someone who doesn't remember his own dreams for even a second after waking up, it's understandable I wouldn't know quite what they're like.
Ellemerr: Oh, my dreams are nothing like the dreams I write.
... Except maybe that one dream Bartle had about running across a book, maybe.
Frezak (GM): Heeeeee
Apheori (GM): What the hell do avengers actually do in terms of magic?
Frezak (GM): They smite?
And hunt down.
Ganelon: They channel divine power.
Frezak (GM): Mostly smiting.
Ganelon: It's all about finding the enemies of their god and- look, you're basically batman mixed with an inquisitor.
Frezak (GM): HOAR
Gaurav: We can attack with radiant bolts of light type things, and we can swing mauls at people that uses WIS instead of STR and that are occasionally sparkly. I think?
Ganelon: Don't think too hard about the WIS instead of STR thing, that's just 4E's philosophy.
Gaurav: I see it as an attack that's sneaky and ... wise rather than direct and strong.
Ganelon: You're swinging a maul.
There is nothing sneaky about a maul.
Gaurav: This is true.
Apheori (GM): It's smiting attacks.
Thatś all it is.
So Radek's using his tablet? >.>
Ganelon: Yes.
Apheori (GM): Hmm.
Ganelon: He is scrivening (is this really not a word, Firefox?)
Frezak (GM): YES IT IS
Fuck you firefox.
Ganelon: Thought as much.
Apheori (GM): AT LEAST YOU GET A SPELLCHECKER.
Frezak (GM): And brb
Apheori (GM): ALL OF MINE ARE BROKEN!
...aside from firefox, apparently. Screw firefox.
Ellemer: HALP.
Ellemerr: *flails*
Apheori (GM): ...yes.
Can you write a dream for me? >.>
Ellemerr: ... You know I usually spend a lot of time for that, right?
Who for? >.>
Apheori (GM): Uh... Greibel?
Please?
Mine are all terrible. You have a low bar. >.>
(From Ellemerr): I can't just make random dreams at the spot like that; I'm sorry. I need -some- sort of anchor (like the duck and stuff last time), theme, mood... And time is very useful, too!
(To Ellemerr): Bring back the chicken, but now a little worse for wear, and general theme of panic, loss, and/or horrible futures? But also hope.
(To Ellemerr): But if not, no worries. I can probably fudge SOMETHING.
Apheori (GM): Also, guys, really sorry about this. >.<
(From Ellemerr): ... Ugh, no. I've got nothing. Bleh. >.<
(To Ellemerr): No worries, and thanks for trying.
(To Ellemerr): He'll just get something about a gradeschool teacher or something.
Gaurav: No worries! I am excited for the visions.
Apheori (GM): I need a new keyboard.
0bgggvvvvmnvb
Okay. new dusty keybaord.
Ellemerr: Heh...
Apheori (GM): Very dusty.
Argh, my fingers have no idea where the keys are. >.<
(From Ellemerr): Are you absolutely sure you want to keep going? Nobody will blame you if you call it a day, and yes, it is a shame to miss the opportunity, but as an RPer I like says, "sometimes potato happens".
Apheori (GM): I'm sorry.
I HAVE DREAMS.
ARE WE TOO LATE TO PLAY?
Gaurav: I'm still here for another 1hr 40mins!
Ellemerr: ^_^; Go for it, dear.
Apheori (GM): Should I whisper them?
Ellemerr: Only if they contain things that ought to be kept secret.
Gaurav: You could whisper them and let us figure out if our characters would be up for sharing them.
(To Amadi): http://wiki.zaori.org/compendium/Dream_1340 http://wiki.zaori.org/compendium/Dream_1351 http://wiki.zaori.org/compendium/Dream_1352 http://wiki.zaori.org/compendium/Dream_1359
(To The Gravedigger): YOUR DREAM: http://wiki.zaori.org/compendium/Dream_1340
(To Radek): YOUR DREAM: http://wiki.zaori.org/compendium/Dream_1351
(To Greibel): YOUR DREAM: http://wiki.zaori.org/compendium/Dream_1352
(To Rhu): YOUR DREAM: http://wiki.zaori.org/compendium/Dream_1359
Apheori (GM): You all should have received a dream.
I apologise for that.
That was stupid.
Also, as a general note, Rhu wakes up utterly confused.
(To Amadi): And you think that could have gone better.
Gaurav: And checking his hands.
Apheori (GM): Whyso?
Gaurav: To make sure he still has fingers and does not have feathers.
Apheori (GM): Oh, right.
Ganelon: Radek up grumpy. Likely no-one notices.
Radek WAKES up grumpy. My gods.
(From Ellemerr): You did right to do it yourself. Good job, dear.
Frezak (GM): We don't notice the grumping but we tag on the typo
(To Ellemerr): Thanks. >.<
(To Ellemerr): I don't entirely believe you, though.
Apheori (GM): Rhu: This is one of the first proper dreams you've had in awhile. Certainly that you remmeber.
Gaurav: Huh.
If everybody is still waking up, Rhu will take out the Mask of Hairy Sight Amadi gave him and look at his hands and then at Amadi through them. Just in case.
Apheori (GM): His hands look hairy. Amadi looks huge and full of bees. Hairy bees.
Frezak (GM): Whew, everything is normal.
Amadi burps a bee, Winnie the Pooh style.
Apheori (GM): The bees settle down and then she just looks like a brilliant glowing hairy amadi.
Frezak (GM): Gravy scoots nonchalantly over to Radek.
The Gravedigger: Pssssst
Radek: ...What?
Frezak (GM): Out the corner of his mouth.
The Gravedigger: You remember the... thing that wasn't a shovel?
Right?
Radek: I'm not senile /yet/. Yes, I remember.
The Gravedigger: Do you think you could find it again?
If you were back in the region?
And by region I mean dimension rather than geographical location.
Radek opens his mouth to answer, then pauses and thinks about it for a moment.
Radek opens his mouth to answer, then pauses and thinks about it for a moment.
Ganelon: OOC, I'm actually not sure.
 
We didn't exactly "find" so much as "stumble upon" it.
RADEK
Apheori (GM): I don't know either. If that helps.
It's possible, but I won't guarantee anything.
It's a definite maybe?
 
Radek: It's possible, but I won't guarantee anything.
THE GRAVEDIGGER
The Gravedigger: thanks, Radek.
Thanks, Radek. You're a peach.
You're a peach.
 
Radek scowls.
Radek scowls.
The Gravedigger: OKAY.
 
WHO WANTS PORR- I MEAN EGGS.
THE GRAVEDIGGER
NO OAT-BASED BREAKFASTS
(turning to the others)
OKAY. WHO WANTS PORR- I MEAN EGGS. NO OAT-BASED BREAKFASTS.
 
RHU
What sort of eggs? Not... chicken eggs?
 
AMADI
Bee eggs! Mmmmm, bee eggs...
 
Radek doesn't raise his own voice.
Radek doesn't raise his own voice.
Radek: I have a question for you, as well.
 
The Gravedigger: YES? WHA- oops, what is it, Radek?
RADEK
Frezak (GM): Man, I do like playing Gravy.
I have a question for you, as well.
Rhu: What sort of eggs? Not ... chicken eggs?
 
Radek: How likely do you think it is that we will need an exceptionally powerful explosive before the dimensions are completely destabilized?
THE GRAVEDIGGER
Amadi: Bee eggs!
YES? WHA-
Dawn walks in with a yawn and hands Gravy a trowel. It isn't one of his.
Oops, what is it, Radek?
Amadi: Mmmmm, bee eggs...
 
Frezak (GM): Is it a good trowel?
RADEK
Apheori (GM): Decent.
How likely do you think it is that we will need an exceptionally powerful explosive before the dimensions are completely destabilized?
Not great. Probably matches the style of the area.
 
Also, I love Radek.
RADEK
Radek: One capable of... for example, obliterating all life on an average-sized continent, and shattering its tectonic plate?
One capable of... for example, obliterating all life on an average-sized continent, and shattering its tectonic plate?
The Gravedigger: I believe that you have demonstrated an exceptional ability to resolve issues via application of sudden and potent forces. The bigger the better.
 
Frezak (GM): I pocket the trowel.
THE GRAVEDIGGER
Ganelon: That's a reasonable metric, I'm sure.
I believe that you have demonstrated an exceptional ability to resolve issues via application of sudden and potent forces. The bigger the better.
(To Ellemerr): I completely underestimated the ability of dreams to influence characters. Putting ideas in their heads...
 
(To Ellemerr): I love it.
Dawn walks in with a yawn and hands The Gravedigger a trowel. It isn't one of his.
Radek: Hrm...
 
He pockets it.
 
RADEK
Hrm...
 
Radek returns to his own thoughts.
Radek returns to his own thoughts.
Frezak (GM): Gravy is clearly the person to ask about giant bombs.
 
Apheori (GM): He's perfect.
THE GRAVEDIGGER
Ganelon: He's just asking if Gravy thinks we'll need such a thing.
(in Rhu's direction)
The Gravedigger: (in Rhu's direction) ARE THEY INCUBATING?
ARE THEY INCUBATING?
(From Amadi): Why do you think I work so hard on giving my players all them dreams, eh? ;)
 
Frezak (GM): Gravy equips Amadi in his offhand slot and goes looking for eggs.
RHU
Rhu: I ... don't feel like chicken today, is all.
I... don't feel like chicken today, is all.
The Gravedigger: Ostrich?
 
Gaurav: Hee. Wouldn't Amadi's pockets contain all the eggs anybody could ever need?
THE GRAVEDIGGER
(To Amadi): Because you smart.
Ostrich?
Frezak (GM): Would you want them in your mouth, though?
 
Apheori (GM): You put her sandwiches in your mouth.
The Gravedigger equips Amadi in his offhand slot and goes looking for eggs.
Or someone did, anyway.
 
Amadi: It was the best butter!
AMADI
Dawn: Butter and beer.
It was the best butter!
 
DAWN
Butter and beer.
(quietly)
We messed that up. Good thing it wasn't us.
We messed that up. Good thing it wasn't us.
Greibel: mmmmmm
 
Butterbeer
She hurries after the Gravedigger.
Gaurav: Rhu did! It didn't end badly at all. Except for the whole falling-in-to-the-terrifying-basement thing.
 
Rhu: I think I might just skip breakfast today. I had a strange dream. About chickens. *shivers*
GREIBEL
Apheori (GM): He also ate what Greibel gave him. Moral of the story: Do not trust party members?
Mmmmmm. Butterbeer.
Ganelon: That's a pretty sensible moral.
 
Frezak (GM): I'll go down to the Inn and see what food they do.
RHU
Swinging Amadi thoughtfully.
I think I might just skip breakfast today. I had a strange dream. About chickens.
Amadi yells at Rhu while being swung about,
 
Amadi: It was only ONE chicken! It wasn't even very big!
Rhu shivers.
Apheori (GM): Dawn runs after him, or possibly Amadi.
 
Rhu: ... huh? What?
 
Rhu scurries behind Gravy and Amadi.
EXT. Dorgin - morning
Dawn: Two! There were two!
 
Rhu: You know about my dream? How do you know about my dream? What ... where was I? What happened to me? Why?
They all head out toward the inn in search of food, the Gravedigger leading the way, swinging Amadi thoughtfully.
Frezak (GM): Presumably with screaming midgets the town now knows that we're back.
 
Like particularly deranged heralds.
Apheori (GM): Aye.
Gaurav: He tries to time his questions so he asks them when Amadi is facing him mid-swing.
Dawn: (mumbling) Or were there? Time is so funny these days.
Apheori (GM): Amadi: You going to respond?
Radek follows after the others, but he hangs back, still lost in thought.
Radek follows after the others, but he hangs back, still lost in thought.
Ellemerr: Sorry, yes. >.<
 
I was distracted. >.<
Greibel gets a bit left behind due to wandering off into some bushes.
Rhu: (to Dawn) I ... was a chicken? I guess that counts as two? Um ... (he looks shifty-eyed to see if anybody apart from the crazy godlings heard that)
 
Amadi yells at Rhu while being swung about:
 
AMADI
It was only ONE chicken! It wasn't even very big!
 
RHU
...huh? What?
 
DAWN
Two! There were two!
 
Rhu tries to time his questions so he asks them when Amadi is facing him mid-swing:
 
RHU
You know about my dream? How do you know about my dream? What... where was I? What happened to me? Why?
 
'''''Frezak''' (Gravy): Presumably with screaming midgets the town now knows that we're back. Like particularly deranged heralds.
 
DAWN
(mumbling)
Or were there? Time is so funny these days.
 
RHU
(to Dawn)
I... was a chicken? I guess that counts as two? Um...  
 
Rhu looks around suspiciously to see if anybody apart from the crazy godlings heard that.
 
Amadi looks at Rhu as if he's asking questions far beyond her consideration.
Amadi looks at Rhu as if he's asking questions far beyond her consideration.
Amadi: It was your dream!
 
Greibel is off in the distance trying to bend two sticks into something like a balloon animal
AMADI
Apheori (GM): Greibel: d20.
It was your dream!
Greibel:
(glaring at Dawn)
rolling 1d20
And it was only one chicken.
(
 
5
DAWN
)
Oh. Okay.
=
 
5
RHU
Amadi: And it was only one chicken.
It wasn't just a dream if you were in it, was it? It must have been... oh gods... a vision. I hope it wasn't a vision. It was the last...
Frezak (GM): Greibel is now MVP for this game.
 
Amadi glares at Dawn.
AMADI
Rhu: It wasn't just a dream if you were in it, was it? It must have been ... oh gods ... a vision. I hope it wasn't a vision. It was the last ...
How do me being there make it anything but a dream?
Dawn: Oh.
(she rolls her eyes)
Okay.
Stupid.
Amadi: How do me being there make it anything but a dream?
 
Amadi rolls her eyes.
Meanwhile Greibel is off in the distance trying to bend two sticks into something like a balloon animal. ''(rolled 5 reality)'' The result is very balloon-animaly.
Amadi: Stupid.
 
Apheori (GM): Minimum viable product?
Greibel hurries over to catch up with the others.
Frezak (GM): Most Valuable Peasnat
 
or Peasant, even.
RADEK
Peasnat sounds like some slavic dish.
(To Amadi)
Radek: (To Amadi) Dreams are a poor forum for debate. If you have something to tell us, use your voice rather than invading our subconscious minds.
Dreams are a poor forum for debate. If you have something to tell us, use your voice rather than invading our subconscious minds.
Apheori (GM): Greibel: The result is very balloon-animaly.
And I've built ''plenty'', incidentally.
Radek: And I've built /plenty/, incidentally.
 
The Gravedigger: What, chickens?
THE GRAVEDIGGER
Dawn: Dreams tell you what you already know, not anything new. They're the best of you, all you.
What, chickens?
Amadi sticks her tongue out at Radek.
 
Amadi: I didn't invade squat. I was invited. Besides, it wasn't even me.
DAWN
Dawn: Except when the
Dreams tell you what you already know, not anything new. They're the best of you, all you.
y're not.
Except when they're not.
Greibel: One time I dreamed I had a house made of gold!
 
Dawn: Wasn't me either.
AMADI
Greibel: It was very hard to clean.
(she sticks her tongue out at Radek)
Radek: I certainly did not invite anyone.
I didn't invade squat. I was invited. Besides, it wasn't even me.
Amadi: Well, you know best, of course. We all know that.
 
Radek: Hrmph.
DAWN
Ganelon: If only it were true.
Wasn't me either.
He simply knows the most.
 
Apheori (GM): You get to the inn and there's a lovely aroma of pancakes and something very meaty. A group of outlanders who look suspiciously like adventurers are also there.
GREIBEL
And there's the innkeeper.
(catching up)
Ganelon: Oh, I have to ask.
One time I dreamed I had a house made of gold!
Apheori (GM): And the bard is unconscious on the foor.
It was very hard to clean.
floor
 
The Gravedigger: HELLO.
RADEK
Ganelon: How many shady characters are here?
I certainly did not invite anyone.
Frezak (GM): If there aren't at least 15 I am done with this game.
 
Apheori (GM): The adventurers are the shadiest.
AMADI
Sorry. >.>
Well, you know best, of course. We all know that.
It's Dorgin, man.
 
The innkeeper asks if you're here for breakfast.
RADEK
The adventurers eye you suspiciously, sizing you up. There are six of them, three in massive armour, one in a loincloth, and two in cloth. Two have hoods shrouding their faces. They're all a bit dirty.
Hrmph.
Ganelon: I will give them suspicious looks right back!
 
Uppity adventurers.
 
INT. Dorgin inn - day
 
Today, the inn is a bit dirtier than usual. Mugs are on the floor. The bard is passed out on the floor. There is also a rather lovely aroma of pancakes and something very meaty.
 
The innkeeper is sitting by the bar, two locals are at various tables, and a group of six outlanders who look suspiciously like adventurers are also there -  - sitting around three tables shoved together. The tables are heaped with gear and breakfast.
 
The Gravedigger enters loudly, Amadi in off-hand. The others pile in around him.
 
THE GRAVEDIGGER
HELLO.
 
INNKEEPER
(looking up)
You guys here for breakfast?
 
 
The adventurers turn and eye them suspiciously, sizing them up. There are six of them, a massive orcan (skin patterened black and white) in massive armour; two smaller humans in more ordinary heavy armour, one of them with a hood shrouding his face; a man in a loincloth; a robed man who looks like some kind of wizard; and an elf woman in a hooded dress. They're all a bit dirty.
 
Radek gives them suspicious looks right back. Uppity adventurers.
 
Amadi burps a bee at them.
Amadi burps a bee at them.
Frezak (GM): Gravy waves enthusiastically for a bit, then puts down Amadi and resumes waving.
 
And then plods up to the inkeeper.
The Gravedigger waves enthusiastically for a bit, then puts down Amadi and resumes waving.
Innkeeper: Hello again. What'll it be?
 
Apheori (GM): One of the armoured adventurers gets up and blocks the path of someone who isn't Gravy.
Then the Gravedigger plods up to the inkeeper.
Whoever's closest. Who is closest?
 
Ellemerr: Me!
INNKEEPER
... Maybe.
Hello again. What'll it be?
I mean, I assume he put me down somewhere close.
 
Apheori (GM): Amadi: A rather large, stinky adventurer with questionable intelligence is glaring down at you.
THE GRAVEDIGGER
He has a large sword.
I'll have yer finest!
Rhu: (to Innkeeper) Is that pancakes I smell? I'll have two!
 
Amadi looks up at the big adventurer.
The orcan adventurer gets up and blocks the path of someone who isn't the Gravedigger. He winds up facing down Amadi, glaring at her and rubbing the hilt of his sword. It is a very large sword, almost as long as he is tall, hanging precariously on a rope off his shoulder.
Amadi cocks her head sideways, looking curious.
 
Amadi kicks the adventurer experimentally on the shin.
The Gravedigger: I'll have yer finest!
Ganelon: Human, I assume?
Dawn walks up to Amadi and stands next to her.
Dawn walks up to Amadi and stands next to her.
Apheori (GM): The adventurer yells angrily and tries to kick Amadi while getting out his sword entirely.
 
Ganelon: ...Well alright then!
Amadi looks up at the big adventurer. She cocks her head sideways, looking curious.
Apheori (GM): Four humans, one elf, one... large black and whit guy.
 
Frezak (GM): A panda?
Rhu skirts around the orcan and goes up to the innkeeper as well.
Apheori (GM): The large one is the one harrassing/being harassed by the midgets.
 
Frezak (GM): A zebraman?
RHU
Apheori (GM): Kind of like a panda.
(to Innkeeper)
But without the fur.
Is that pancakes I smell? I'll have two!
Frezak (GM): SOmetimes it's hard to tell who's harrassing who when it comes to midgets.
 
Ganelon: Either way, that sounds like trouble.
The innkeeper glances around Rhu and the Gravedigger to see if anyone else is about to come over, but they all look busy.
Apheori (GM): Amadi: What's your reflex?
 
Gaurav: If they try to kidnap the midgets, we might finally find out who's the better hostage.
INNKEEPER
Ganelon: Radek will intervene after this action is resolved.
Sure thing. Just...
Ellemerr: At L5 it was 16. I think I should've levelled since then, but I haven't. *shifty eyes*
(he glances at Rhu)
Apheori (GM): Okay, the guy kicks at Amadi and misses.
...nevermind.
He gets out his sword.
 
Ganelon: That would make it 17.
The innkeeper goes back to the kitchen to pass along the orders.
Amadi frowns.
 
Amadi: Are you okay? You seem upset.
Amadi kicks the orcan adventurer experimentally on the shin.
If I had a sword like that, I wouldn't be upset. It's a very nice sword.
 
Frezak (GM): How's breakfast coming along?
ORCAN ADVENTURER
Apheori (GM): He pauses, looking down at her, confused.
AGH!
Ganelon: Now this is probably a dumb attack to use on a big guy, buuut...
 
Apheori (GM): Oh, the innkeeper went to go get the things from the cook or whatever.
The orcan tries to kick Amadi back, but misses. He pulls his sword off his shoulder.
Frezak (GM): Sweet.
 
Gravy leans his back and elbows on the counter and watches.
AMADI
Ganelon: Radek prepares to use Thundering Armor on Amadi if the big guy actually tries to harm her.
Are you okay? You seem upset. If I had a sword like that, I wouldn't be upset. It's a very nice sword.
Frezak (GM): He produces some straw from nowhere and chews on it.
 
Ganelon: He doesn't need his weapon out for that, fortunately.
The orcan pauses, looking down at Amadi, confused.
Apheori (GM): Wait, why do I already have a character thing for Kyrule?
 
Bizarre.
The Gravedigger leans his back and elbows on the counter and watches, producing some straw from nowhere and chewing it.
Blargh.
 
The large guy doesn't for now, instead just staring down at her for a rather long time. Finally, he just says, "Whah?
Radek prepares to use Thundering Armor on Amadi if the big guy actually tries to harm her.
"
 
One of the others tells him to stop harassing the ladies.
The orcan continues to stare down at Amadi for a very long couple of moments.
Apheori (GM): That one looks like he might be the leader. He's short and in robes.
 
Frezak (GM): Everyone is short.
ORCAN ADVENTURER
Am the tree amongst the wheat.
(finally)
Amadi: ... Could I have it? I don't think I've got any swords quite that big. And it does look very fun!
Whah?
Apheori (GM): He says, "Er..." and looks around uncertainly.
 
WIZARDLY ADVENTURER
(from the table)
Jalik, stop harassing the ladies.
 
AMADI
...Could I have it? I don't think I've got any swords quite that big. And it does look very fun!
 
ORCAN ADVENTURER
Er...
 
The orcan looks around uncertainly.
 
The others are just watching.
The others are just watching.
Frezak (GM): Gravy grins in what may be an encouraging fashion.
 
The Gravedigger grins in what may be an encouraging fashion.
 
Amadi reaches out for the sword.
Amadi reaches out for the sword.
Apheori (GM): Looking completely dumbfounded, he gives it to her. It's considerably longer than she is tall, and weighs... a lot.
 
One of the other adventurers yells disappointedly, "Jalik!"
Looking completely dumbfounded, the orcan gives it to her. It's considerably longer than she is tall, and weighs... a lot.
Another tells him to sit down.
 
Ganelon: Oversized sword acquired...?
LOINCLOTH ADVENTURER
Apheori (GM): I dunno if I should make her do a strength check, or just see what she does.
(disappointedly)
Ellemerr: Her str is 10. I'm considering how much to consider that myself.
Jalik!
Amadi: Woah! You must be very strong! This is much heavier than my other swords. What is it made of? You should've painted more feathers on the hilt! Not on the edge, of course. You want the edge to be heavy. Don't you? I dreamt that I was a sword, once. Except that wasn't really me.
 
Gaurav: Can't she grow extra muscles if she needs them? Or extra arms?
ELVEN ADVENTURER
Ellemerr: I don't think so. But making the sword mysteriously lighter? Probably.
(patting the empty seat next to her)
Orcan adventurer: Metal.
Jalik, come and sit down.
 
Amadi nearly falls over from the weight of the sword, then balances it on its point on the ground.
 
AMADI
Woah! You must be very strong! This is much heavier than my other swords. What is it made of? You should've painted more feathers on the hilt! Not on the edge, of course. You want the edge to be heavy. Don't you? I dreamt that I was a sword, once. Except that wasn't really me.
 
ORCAN ADVENTURER
Metal.
 
Amadi rolls her eyes.
Amadi rolls her eyes.
Radek shakes his head and goes to sit down.
 
Apheori (GM): Meanwhile the cook brings Rhu some pancakes, and Gravy a huge plate of pancakes, eggs, and four types of sausage.
Radek shakes his head and goes to sit down by the Gravedigger. The innkeeper watches him hopefully.
Amadi: Did you want something, anyway?
 
Apheori (GM): One of the other adventurers starts laughing and buries his face in the table.
One of the armoured adventurers starts laughing and buries his face in the table.
The guy just stands there staring at Amadi.
 
Gaurav: Man, I wish I'd gotten sausages.
The cook brings Rhu some pancakes and the Gravedigger a huge plate of pancakes, eggs, and four types of sausage.
Dawn: He wants money and meat and kittens.
 
We could give him kittens.
The Gravedigger digs in.
Amadi: Oh? Oh! Thanks, Dawn, didn't see that. Why didn't I see that?
 
Dawn: He didn't see it either.
Rhu looks at the Gravedigger's sausages a bit disappointedly.
Amadi picks a tiny, red kitten out of her pocket. It's on fire. Smiling cheerfully, she holds it out to the man.
 
Amadi: Here you go!
AMADI
(To Amadi): Actually he just likes fluffy things, and Dawn is completely wrong about the money.
Did you want something, anyway?
Apheori (GM): Will this kitten do damage?
 
Ellemerr: You're the DM. I dunno!
The orcan continues to just stand there staring at Amadi.
Apheori (GM): Hmm.
 
Ellemerr: It won't to Amadi. :P
DAWN
Apheori (GM): Heh.
He wants money and meat and kittens. We could give him kittens.
 
AMADI
Oh? Oh! Thanks, Dawn, didn't see that. Why didn't I see that?
 
DAWN
He didn't see it either.
 
Amadi picks a tiny, red kitten out of her pocket. It's on fire. Smiling cheerfully, she holds it out to the orcan.
 
AMADI
Here you go!
 
He takes the kitten uncertainly, then, when it doesn't burn him, holds it happily to his face. It purrs.
He takes the kitten uncertainly, then, when it doesn't burn him, holds it happily to his face. It purrs.
Frezak (GM): Gravy gets to eating.
 
Apheori (GM): Several of the other adventurers look quite surprised at this.
Several of the other adventurers look quite surprised at this.
Adventurer: Wow.
 
The Gravedigger: I know, right!
WIZARDLY ADVENTURER
Wow.
 
THE GRAVEDIGGER
I know, right! Four kinds!
 
WIZARDLY ADVENTURER
Jalik likes kittens?
 
ARMOURED ADVENTURER
He's got to like something.
 
The orcan, Jalik, sits back down, petting and adoring his flaming red kitten. The elf woman tries to pet it and gets burned.
 
Amadi goes over to the Gravedigger and steals some of his food.
 
Rhu orders a beer, trying to make sense of his disturbing dream. The innkeeper frowns at him suspiciously before providing one.
 
THE GRAVEDIGGER
(in a philosophical tone, to Amadi)
Four kinds!
Four kinds!
Adventurer: Jalik likes kittens?
 
(another one) He's got to like something.
AMADI
Ganelon: Actually, Radek will give these adventurers a proper look-over now.
(with her mouth full of his food)
Do any of them look wizardly?
Fouw hines!
Apheori (GM): The orcan with the kitten sits back down, putting and adoring his flaming red kitten.
 
Another tries to touch it and gets burned.
Ellemerr: Heeee
Apheori (GM): One of the robed ones looks a bit wizardly. The other, the leader, seems to be some kind of healer.
...that should have said petting, not putting.
Also I'll be right back.
Okay, I'm here.
Amadi goes over to Gravy and tries to steal some of his food.
Rhu orders a beer but stays at the bar, trying to make some sense of his disturbing dream.
Frezak (GM): It's really not hard.
Dawn sits next to Rhu and glances over at him expectantly a few times.
Dawn sits next to Rhu and glances over at him expectantly a few times.
Radek approaches the table where the Robed Ones sit. He addresses the wizardly one specifically.
 
Radek: ...Excuse me. You have the look of a proper intellectual.
RHU
Gaurav: Rhu is very, very lost right now. He is in need of beers and enlightenment.
(to Dawn)
Rhu: (to Dawn) Yes?
Yes?
The Gravedigger: (in a philosophical tone, to Amadi) Four kinds!
 
Robed adventurer: Yes? I've put thought into many topics.
DAWN
Dawn: Yes? What is it?
Yes? What is it?
Amadi: (with her mouth full of his food) Fouw hines!
 
Rhu: ... nothing. (goes back to thinking, then) Do you think we're important?
RHU
Radek: I wish to compare theories.
...nothing.
Ganelon: Radek is going to test this man, first.
(he goes back to thinking)
With an exchange of arcane jargon.
Do you think we're important?
Dawn: Yes? No. I... don't know. Important how? To what?
 
Robed adventurer: Indeed? Sit.
DAWN
Apheori (GM): Arcana-off!
Yes? No. I... don't know. Important how? To what?
Rhu: Just. Important. I don't know. Like, with these Holes. Do you think we're going to save the world? Be big damn heroes? I thought that's what we were here for, but -- maybe we're going to fail. Maybe it'll all be for nothing.
 
Dawn: Why be here for anything?
RHU
Radek sits.
Just. Important. I don't know. Like, with these Holes. Do you think we're going to save the world? Be big damn heroes? I thought that's what we were here for, but - maybe we're going to fail. Maybe it'll all be for nothing.
Dawn: Or you. What do you want?
 
Radek:
DAWN
rolling 1d20+16 Arcanababble
Why be here for anything? Or you. What do you want?
(
 
14
RHU
)
I want to help. Them.
+16
(he waves vaguely at the rest of the group)
=
But my god has turned away from me. Whats the point of an avenger without a god? What if my dream was right? What if I just end up empty and alone, stuck in a universe that isn't mine rejecting a god who is a dick failing to fix a problem even my god can't figure out?
30
 
Apheori (GM): Radek: He's impressed, and responds with a string of babble that isn't quite as impressive.
DAWN
(25)
(she shrugs)
Ganelon: Ah, excellent!
It should either eventually crash or show you some kind of success dialog. If it's still sitting there after more than a half hour, it's probably done and you can safely kill it.
He's not terrible at this.
 
Rhu: I want to help. Them. (waves vaguely at the rest of the group). But my god has turned away from me. Whats the point of an avenger without a god? What if my dream was right? What if I just end up empty and alone, stuck in a universe that isn't mine rejecting a god who is a dick failing to fix a problem even my god can't figure out?
Radek approaches the adventurers' tables. He addresses the wizardly one specifically.
Gaurav: Oh crap, I need to leave in a few minutes. Sorry about the lack of warning!
 
I'll be back in an hour or so if you guys are still around then.
RADEK
Ellemerr: I will be gone by then. I should leave soon, actually. >.>
...Excuse me. You have the look of a proper intellectual.
Apheori (GM): I should go find you in boulder.
 
Ganelon: Radek is pleasantly surprised, and it shows in both his face and his tone as he continues.
WIZARDLY ADVENTURER
Pretty much, he wants to talk about the Hole Problem with this fellow.
Yes? I've put thought into many topics.
Apheori (GM): Heheh.
 
Gaurav: YES
RADEK
Apheori (GM): Should we continue that while the others bugger off, or all just resume next time when I'm actually prepared?
I wish to compare theories.
Ganelon: See if he's tried anything himself, share discoveries (it's the absence of stuff interacting with residual magic!), and so on.
 
Aah, you can just come back to this.
WIZARDLY ADVENTURER
Apheori (GM): Can everyone do next week?
Indeed? Sit.
Dig holes, fight demons, punch gods...
 
Bear Soup Guy: Sign me up
Radek sits and emits a long stream of technobabble. ''(rolled 30 arcana)''
Apheori (GM): Sorry about the slow start today. I blame... mostly just alcohol, frankly. >.>
 
Ellemerr: It's fine. You had a grand recovery. :3
The wizardly adventurer looks impressed, and responds with a string of babble that isn't quite as impressive, though he keeps up well enough. ''(rolled 25 arcana)''
I got to throw Kitten at someone! I haven't even seen Kitten in... years. O_o
 
Gaurav: Next Wednesday sounds great! Now I have to run, so byeeeeeeee! See you all next week!
Radek is pleasantly surprised, and it shows in both his face and his tone as he continues.
Apheori (GM): What's the story with that kitten?
 
</pre>
'''''Ganelon''' (Radek): Pretty much, he wants to talk about the Hole Problem with this fellow. See if he's tried anything himself, share discoveries (it's the absence of stuff interacting with residual magic!), and so on.
</screenplay>
 
{{holes nav
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}}

Revision as of 05:27, 28 February 2015

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Session 46 (Overview)
On the way to the crashed airship and whatnot to the south, the party returns to Dorgin to spend the night, midgets in tow.
INT. Dorgin guardhouse - morning
The Gravedigger, Greibel, and Rhu are all asleep. Radek is working at a table, notes and tablet in front of him, scrivening down and organising his latest findings, not all there, vaguely dozing off as well.
Amadi is nearby, watching, making a flower out of bits of grass.
The Gravedigger Dreams.
: You dream of roots. You're trying to dig through them, but it's not working. You try to dig around them, but they move to block your path. Don't they understand you need to hurry, you need to get down there, there's not a lot of time...?
: The dream shifts and you're standing in a tree, the same tree whose roots blocked you so adamantly before, now holding you aloft in its leafy branches, high in the sky, well above... nothing. There's just nothing as far you can see, and you can see pretty damn far, just charred ground and cloven earth, horrible rifts and chasms opening up in utter disarray. Utterly shameful. You could do so much better.
: Then you remember. You were the one who did it, and now you're there, doing it, digging the chasms, pushing the earth apart, because down there, down there somewhere, is something that shouldn't be, and you need to get it out. Some things must not be buried, some things cannot be buried, so now here you are, digging, pulling, prying at the earth, tearing it to pieces, not even putting the removed earth itself anywhere in the process.
: Somewhere in the back of your mind you realise how utterly wrong this all is.
: Amadi turns you around with a gentle hand, but this Amadi is as tall as you are. "Come," she says, drawing you away. "You're strong, stronger than anyone. You don't need to do this. You can put it right."
: And then she hands you a shovel. It's perfect.
The Gravedigger wakes up slowly, thinking of shovels.
Radek Dreams.
: Sometimes your mind wanders off task. You pretend it doesn't happen, of course, but more and more it does. Perhaps you're just getting old, but there's a certain finality to it, like you're running out of time. Never enough time.
: You were working on your research, cataloguing results and methods, comparing different situations, but right now you just can't focus. Your hands want to make. They want to build. They want to do everything, and you just can't do everything, becuase you're doing something else right now. The chicken is back, too. It wants you to build. You're not building.
: No.
: Not right now.
: The chicken is bones at your feet. The building has crumbled around you. Above, the sky is vast and gaping, a maw opening up into Midnight, the emptiness of the holes you've come to know so well, finally here to swallow you up.
: For lack of any better idea, you hold up your tablet in defense, but the tablet is now a bomb, and so you set it off, and suddenly everything is fine.
Radek's dream fades, and he continues on, now rather grumpier than he was, getting back to the details of his scrivening.
Greibel Dreams.
: You dream of raisins. You're counting them. You need to have a very exact number, or Mrs. Balshmere will be quite displeased, and Mrs. Balshmere is the scariest Kanai you've ever known, and you've probably known every scary Kanai who lives on the island. You seem to have a knack for finding them, and pissing them off, and then running away, and raisins.
: The raisins don't want to be counted. They keep moving away as you get to the next one, and no matter how hard you try you lose count at around one every single time. The chicken isn't helping either. It keeps eating your fingers.
: "No, no, eat the raisins," you tell it, but it seems to have gone senile in its old age and won't listen, and then you're out of fingers anyway.
: The dream shifts, and you're in a cottage. Have you been here before? It's quite nice, well-lit and airy, full of plants and odds and ends and strange pictures on the walls. You head for the kitchen in search of tea, and suddenly you're there, sipping it, and it's good, normal tea, right and proper, the way you always liked it.
: The woman who comes around the corner is Eapherod. She doesn't really look like anything in the dream, of course, but you know her and she knows you and you share the tea in quiet company for a moment.
: Then she says, "We really blew it."
: You could argue, but you don't.
: She goes on, "You'll have to trust her. The Librarian. She was our sister, you know, and now she's all we have left. A sister who doesn't even know who she is. But that's fine. Nobody really does, anyhow."
: Suddenly you remember. You remember what it was you needed to tell her, and you begin to form the words to actually say it as she looks on in quiet expectation, and suddenly it all shatters all over again. This was what happened before, when the last time, when the masks were exchanged. Was it a silvery mask, or a lace mask, or...
: Who are you?
Greibel wakes up suddenly, only to find that he is, in fact, exactly who he has always been. Greibel. Exactly Greibel.
Rhu Dreams, his first true Dream since his arrival in Arling Tor.
: "Hello," Amadi says, smiling. "I was wondering when I'd see you. It's about time."
: You're dreaming about a future. You know you've worked so hard to get here, sacreficed so much, but now here you are, standing at the precipice, overlooking the city, and it is so very nearly over, all over. Amadi is with you, and others too, all standing behind you, relieved, fearful, aprehensive. But this is it. The last... last what? You're not quite sure.
: The sun sets suddenly over the harbour, and everything is plunged into darkness. Suddenly you're running, running with the others, running from the fire, running for your very existence. You swing your maul but it does nothing. You try to channel, but you're alone, utterly alone in the dark, and everything is silent. This isn't even a dead end. It isn't even anything.
: Amadi is sitting next to you, holding a chicken. It looks a little worse for wear.
: "It doesn't have to end like this, you know," she says.
: "What?" you say. You don't even know what it is.
: "It's good you came, though," she goes on. "Nightmares like these strive to be shared." She leans over and puts the chicken in your face, and suddenly you're the chicken and everything is wrong and...
Rhu wakes up utterly confused. He checks his hands, making sure they're indeed hands and not, well, wings, and indeed he finds no feathers.
Rhu then takes out the mask Amadi had given him earlier and tries it on, just in case. Though it, he checks his hands again, then glances over at Amadi.
Through the mask, his hands look hair. Amadi looks huge and full of bees. Hairy bees. Then the bees settle down and she just looks like a brilliant glowing hairy Amadi.
He puts the mask away only to see Amadi burp a bee, Winnie the Pooh style.
The Gravedigger scoots nonchalantly over to Radek.
THE GRAVEDIGGER
(out of the corner of his mouth)
Pssssst.
RADEK
...What?
THE GRAVEDIGGER
You remember the... thing that wasn't a shovel? Right?
RADEK
I'm not senile yet. Yes, I remember.
THE GRAVEDIGGER
Do you think you could find it again? If you were back in the region? And by region I mean dimension rather than geographical location.
Radek opens his mouth to answer, then pauses and thinks about it for a moment.
RADEK
It's possible, but I won't guarantee anything.
THE GRAVEDIGGER
Thanks, Radek. You're a peach.
Radek scowls.
THE GRAVEDIGGER
(turning to the others)
OKAY. WHO WANTS PORR- I MEAN EGGS. NO OAT-BASED BREAKFASTS.
RHU
What sort of eggs? Not... chicken eggs?
AMADI
Bee eggs! Mmmmm, bee eggs...
Radek doesn't raise his own voice.
RADEK
I have a question for you, as well.
THE GRAVEDIGGER
YES? WHA-
Oops, what is it, Radek?
RADEK
How likely do you think it is that we will need an exceptionally powerful explosive before the dimensions are completely destabilized?
RADEK
One capable of... for example, obliterating all life on an average-sized continent, and shattering its tectonic plate?
THE GRAVEDIGGER
I believe that you have demonstrated an exceptional ability to resolve issues via application of sudden and potent forces. The bigger the better.
Dawn walks in with a yawn and hands The Gravedigger a trowel. It isn't one of his.
He pockets it.
RADEK
Hrm...
Radek returns to his own thoughts.
THE GRAVEDIGGER
(in Rhu's direction)
ARE THEY INCUBATING?
RHU
I... don't feel like chicken today, is all.
THE GRAVEDIGGER
Ostrich?
The Gravedigger equips Amadi in his offhand slot and goes looking for eggs.
AMADI
It was the best butter!
DAWN
Butter and beer.
(quietly)
We messed that up. Good thing it wasn't us.
She hurries after the Gravedigger.
GREIBEL
Mmmmmm. Butterbeer.
RHU
I think I might just skip breakfast today. I had a strange dream. About chickens.
Rhu shivers.


EXT. Dorgin - morning
They all head out toward the inn in search of food, the Gravedigger leading the way, swinging Amadi thoughtfully.
Radek follows after the others, but he hangs back, still lost in thought.
Greibel gets a bit left behind due to wandering off into some bushes.
Amadi yells at Rhu while being swung about:
AMADI
It was only ONE chicken! It wasn't even very big!
RHU
...huh? What?
DAWN
Two! There were two!
Rhu tries to time his questions so he asks them when Amadi is facing him mid-swing:
RHU
You know about my dream? How do you know about my dream? What... where was I? What happened to me? Why?
Frezak (Gravy): Presumably with screaming midgets the town now knows that we're back. Like particularly deranged heralds.
DAWN
(mumbling)
Or were there? Time is so funny these days.
RHU
(to Dawn)
I... was a chicken? I guess that counts as two? Um...
Rhu looks around suspiciously to see if anybody apart from the crazy godlings heard that.
Amadi looks at Rhu as if he's asking questions far beyond her consideration.
AMADI
It was your dream!
(glaring at Dawn)
And it was only one chicken.
DAWN
Oh. Okay.
RHU
It wasn't just a dream if you were in it, was it? It must have been... oh gods... a vision. I hope it wasn't a vision. It was the last...
AMADI
How do me being there make it anything but a dream?
(she rolls her eyes)
Stupid.
Meanwhile Greibel is off in the distance trying to bend two sticks into something like a balloon animal. (rolled 5 reality) The result is very balloon-animaly.
Greibel hurries over to catch up with the others.
RADEK
(To Amadi)
Dreams are a poor forum for debate. If you have something to tell us, use your voice rather than invading our subconscious minds.
And I've built plenty, incidentally.
THE GRAVEDIGGER
What, chickens?
DAWN
Dreams tell you what you already know, not anything new. They're the best of you, all you.
Except when they're not.
AMADI
(she sticks her tongue out at Radek)
I didn't invade squat. I was invited. Besides, it wasn't even me.
DAWN
Wasn't me either.
GREIBEL
(catching up)
One time I dreamed I had a house made of gold!
It was very hard to clean.
RADEK
I certainly did not invite anyone.
AMADI
Well, you know best, of course. We all know that.
RADEK
Hrmph.


INT. Dorgin inn - day
Today, the inn is a bit dirtier than usual. Mugs are on the floor. The bard is passed out on the floor. There is also a rather lovely aroma of pancakes and something very meaty.
The innkeeper is sitting by the bar, two locals are at various tables, and a group of six outlanders who look suspiciously like adventurers are also there - - sitting around three tables shoved together. The tables are heaped with gear and breakfast.
The Gravedigger enters loudly, Amadi in off-hand. The others pile in around him.
THE GRAVEDIGGER
HELLO.
INNKEEPER
(looking up)
You guys here for breakfast?


The adventurers turn and eye them suspiciously, sizing them up. There are six of them, a massive orcan (skin patterened black and white) in massive armour; two smaller humans in more ordinary heavy armour, one of them with a hood shrouding his face; a man in a loincloth; a robed man who looks like some kind of wizard; and an elf woman in a hooded dress. They're all a bit dirty.
Radek gives them suspicious looks right back. Uppity adventurers.
Amadi burps a bee at them.
The Gravedigger waves enthusiastically for a bit, then puts down Amadi and resumes waving.
Then the Gravedigger plods up to the inkeeper.
INNKEEPER
Hello again. What'll it be?
THE GRAVEDIGGER
I'll have yer finest!
The orcan adventurer gets up and blocks the path of someone who isn't the Gravedigger. He winds up facing down Amadi, glaring at her and rubbing the hilt of his sword. It is a very large sword, almost as long as he is tall, hanging precariously on a rope off his shoulder.
Dawn walks up to Amadi and stands next to her.
Amadi looks up at the big adventurer. She cocks her head sideways, looking curious.
Rhu skirts around the orcan and goes up to the innkeeper as well.
RHU
(to Innkeeper)
Is that pancakes I smell? I'll have two!
The innkeeper glances around Rhu and the Gravedigger to see if anyone else is about to come over, but they all look busy.
INNKEEPER
Sure thing. Just...
(he glances at Rhu)
...nevermind.
The innkeeper goes back to the kitchen to pass along the orders.
Amadi kicks the orcan adventurer experimentally on the shin.
ORCAN ADVENTURER
AGH!
The orcan tries to kick Amadi back, but misses. He pulls his sword off his shoulder.
AMADI
Are you okay? You seem upset. If I had a sword like that, I wouldn't be upset. It's a very nice sword.
The orcan pauses, looking down at Amadi, confused.
The Gravedigger leans his back and elbows on the counter and watches, producing some straw from nowhere and chewing it.
Radek prepares to use Thundering Armor on Amadi if the big guy actually tries to harm her.
The orcan continues to stare down at Amadi for a very long couple of moments.
ORCAN ADVENTURER
(finally)
Whah?
WIZARDLY ADVENTURER
(from the table)
Jalik, stop harassing the ladies.
AMADI
...Could I have it? I don't think I've got any swords quite that big. And it does look very fun!
ORCAN ADVENTURER
Er...
The orcan looks around uncertainly.
The others are just watching.
The Gravedigger grins in what may be an encouraging fashion.
Amadi reaches out for the sword.
Looking completely dumbfounded, the orcan gives it to her. It's considerably longer than she is tall, and weighs... a lot.
LOINCLOTH ADVENTURER
(disappointedly)
Jalik!
ELVEN ADVENTURER
(patting the empty seat next to her)
Jalik, come and sit down.
Amadi nearly falls over from the weight of the sword, then balances it on its point on the ground.
AMADI
Woah! You must be very strong! This is much heavier than my other swords. What is it made of? You should've painted more feathers on the hilt! Not on the edge, of course. You want the edge to be heavy. Don't you? I dreamt that I was a sword, once. Except that wasn't really me.
ORCAN ADVENTURER
Metal.
Amadi rolls her eyes.
Radek shakes his head and goes to sit down by the Gravedigger. The innkeeper watches him hopefully.
One of the armoured adventurers starts laughing and buries his face in the table.
The cook brings Rhu some pancakes and the Gravedigger a huge plate of pancakes, eggs, and four types of sausage.
The Gravedigger digs in.
Rhu looks at the Gravedigger's sausages a bit disappointedly.
AMADI
Did you want something, anyway?
The orcan continues to just stand there staring at Amadi.
DAWN
He wants money and meat and kittens. We could give him kittens.
AMADI
Oh? Oh! Thanks, Dawn, didn't see that. Why didn't I see that?
DAWN
He didn't see it either.
Amadi picks a tiny, red kitten out of her pocket. It's on fire. Smiling cheerfully, she holds it out to the orcan.
AMADI
Here you go!
He takes the kitten uncertainly, then, when it doesn't burn him, holds it happily to his face. It purrs.
Several of the other adventurers look quite surprised at this.
WIZARDLY ADVENTURER
Wow.
THE GRAVEDIGGER
I know, right! Four kinds!
WIZARDLY ADVENTURER
Jalik likes kittens?
ARMOURED ADVENTURER
He's got to like something.
The orcan, Jalik, sits back down, petting and adoring his flaming red kitten. The elf woman tries to pet it and gets burned.
Amadi goes over to the Gravedigger and steals some of his food.
Rhu orders a beer, trying to make sense of his disturbing dream. The innkeeper frowns at him suspiciously before providing one.
THE GRAVEDIGGER
(in a philosophical tone, to Amadi)
Four kinds!
AMADI
(with her mouth full of his food)
Fouw hines!
Dawn sits next to Rhu and glances over at him expectantly a few times.
RHU
(to Dawn)
Yes?
DAWN
Yes? What is it?
RHU
...nothing.
(he goes back to thinking)
Do you think we're important?
DAWN
Yes? No. I... don't know. Important how? To what?
RHU
Just. Important. I don't know. Like, with these Holes. Do you think we're going to save the world? Be big damn heroes? I thought that's what we were here for, but - maybe we're going to fail. Maybe it'll all be for nothing.
DAWN
Why be here for anything? Or you. What do you want?
RHU
I want to help. Them.
(he waves vaguely at the rest of the group)
But my god has turned away from me. Whats the point of an avenger without a god? What if my dream was right? What if I just end up empty and alone, stuck in a universe that isn't mine rejecting a god who is a dick failing to fix a problem even my god can't figure out?
DAWN
(she shrugs)
It should either eventually crash or show you some kind of success dialog. If it's still sitting there after more than a half hour, it's probably done and you can safely kill it.
Radek approaches the adventurers' tables. He addresses the wizardly one specifically.
RADEK
...Excuse me. You have the look of a proper intellectual.
WIZARDLY ADVENTURER
Yes? I've put thought into many topics.
RADEK
I wish to compare theories.
WIZARDLY ADVENTURER
Indeed? Sit.
Radek sits and emits a long stream of technobabble. (rolled 30 arcana)
The wizardly adventurer looks impressed, and responds with a string of babble that isn't quite as impressive, though he keeps up well enough. (rolled 25 arcana)
Radek is pleasantly surprised, and it shows in both his face and his tone as he continues.
Ganelon (Radek): Pretty much, he wants to talk about the Hole Problem with this fellow. See if he's tried anything himself, share discoveries (it's the absence of stuff interacting with residual magic!), and so on.


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Session 46 (Overview)
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We are not going in circles, we are going upwards. The path is a spiral; we have already climbed many steps.