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 Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 8:08 pm
So the trio ascended--Tanessa being the only unwilling one--and entered the bottom floor lobby of the Academy. Cedric immediately began walking towards the central furnace, as soon as they arrived. Tanessa, sporting a mild frown, followed slowly.
~
Ephlas was in a hurry again. At first, it seemed as if he had not heard the question, picking himself up and sitting onto the sand beetle. Ephlas sat there for a few moments, before it registered in his mind that he had not paid any attention to Clem.
"To explore, of course..." Ephlas replied, but he looked away, uncertain of something. "Have you ever found any... tombs, or ruins, out in the desert, by any chance?" He asked. Not avoiding the question, but trying to find a common ground by which to answer it.
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Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 8:22 pm
"Me?" Clem asked, confused, "I've only taken samples from known areas..."
"Our hive wass built by ssomething under the ssandss... it iss probably empty, ssince the Horde dissliked our location for ssome reasson"
"he was halted by a massive arcane construction. An Academy Golem... immune to magic. Leonard stepped out behind it before the golem blocked the entryway entirely.
"I'm afraid this area is off-limits to non-members." the Archmagus said, "what can I help you with, children?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 8:37 pm
Arcane. Arcane arcane arcane. This word spun around in Cedric's head, and he did not realize he'd been repeating the word aloud until he snapped out of his trance.
Tanessa (and, likely, Irwin) stared at Cedric, more curious than anything, including worried, unfortunately, at what he was going through.
"M-my... head...." Cedric said slowly, stammering, and then collapsed. But not before he reached out to attempt to steady himself--touching the golem.
What was left was a glowing indigo hand print, that did not fade away. Cedric fell unconscious, and Tanessa was immediately at his side. "This kid is magically unbalanced," she heard herself say, though she wasn't quite sure of the implications of what she was saying.
It was, however, an extremely dangerous condition where an exceptionally magically talented person was out of control of their abilities, which was hazardous for all involved and many innocent people, in an environment such as there, in the middle of a city. Tanessa knew this from somewhere; she had learned it, somewhere; but if asked she wouldn't be able to recall such information at will. It was a matter of her cousin's safety, though, and this apparently brought out the best in Tanessa.
~
Ephlas sighed. "...There is an uncharted location, far to the southeast. I cannot tell you any more, however, unless you swear an oath that you can keep this from the world."
He was absolutely serious.
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Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 9:16 pm
Leonard's eyes widened, "And you brought him into a city?! You're lucky he hasn't exploded yet! At least he's in the right place..." he gazed at the handprint on the golem, "He's very powerful to do that to something immune to magic..." he winced, "The Academy is built to withstand an unstable magi, but he must gain balance immediately... or he could very well die... and kill everyone in this city... if he was outside... now at least he'll only kill off the rooms with unsealed entryways..." Leonard swept up Cedric on a cushion of air, created by his runed staff. It was enchanted for wind magics, depending on the runes he touched... It also wasn't allowed outside.
---
"We sswear. The world would like to kill uss right now... sso no problemss..." Ne'galash said.
"I can only promise not to tell under my free will... if I'm interrogated by mindbreakers..." Clem shuddered, "I'm liable to spill the beans... that is, if my Magitech stuff isn't working, of course..."
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Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 9:48 pm
Tanessa's expression turned into a hateful scowl. "We're refugees. I don't even know half of what I just said, but it occurred to me that it's true. I can't explain it--but Cedric hasn't gone berserk yet. Control--I don't think he ever had it to lose it--but I don't think... his powers are malignant."
There was hardly any time to say more than this, however, because Tanessa had been jogging to keep pace with Leonard and the floating cousin of hers. She almost said, "Why me," but mentally slapped herself--violently--as that train of thought came around. It was extremely irresponsible of her, when her cousin's life was in danger. Supposedly.
"And - and you are?" Tanessa managed to ask as she lost pace with the levitating boy but was still within earshot of Leonard. She wasn't paying attention to Irwin's actions at all, right now--understandably, though.
~
Ephlas nodded. He didn't know why, but something about the Nesk--it just didn't feel as if the creature was malign in any way, and although he was sure it could be, it didn't feel like the creature would ever be cruel for the sake of cruelty, or evil.
Basically, it did not feel like an evil creature whatsoever.
"There is a city," Ephlas admitted. "Being a scientist and a scholar, you may have heard tale or two of it. Not much more, I'm sure... but it would be like a dream come true. There's a library. A vast, unimaginable library that is unmatched in any aspect of any field of science, magic, or anything else for that matter. It is an ancient city, and I need to deliver its council this."
From out of his robe, from some hidden pocket, you might presume, Ephlas obtained the small, obsidian-looking rock or stone, that had glass shards littered throughout its mass. It reflected no light, regardless of how glassy it looked (with and without the shiny specks of glass that did reflect light), but seemed to absorb it. A certain energy radiated from the stone--and it was about half the size of an ordinary orange--a dark, malignant energy. The stone was obviously magical in nature, though the source and type of energy... gave Ephlas goose flesh thinking about. He dared not probe it with his magical abilities--it was a great magical item, of that he was sure--and it might contain forces strong enough to overwhelm the strongest man.
Ephlas knew as well as anyone, especially a knowledgeable scientist such as Clem, the tales of the Great Objects, a handful of items of legendary power, used by some ancient race no doubt that no longer exists.
And Ephlas may have--combining the most potent of the Gravity mine air, at the time when the magic was most unstable, and the awesome power of a multi-flamed core furnace fire (also possibly affected by Elysia's close proximity)--managed to create another Great Objects.
Weapons were not capable of containing an energy--an aura, if you will--of benign or malignant energy, with the exception of the weapons salvaged from ancient races. Possibly an ancient ancestor of even the Ganzi, or the Draon, or the Magruev, could have been the ones to create the Great Objects... or, maybe, it was all a matter of infinitesimal luck, the right combination of circumstances and conditions, to accidentally cause one of these items....
Or, it could be nothing like a Great Object. None were, in a museum for viewing and experimentation, or anything like that, so Ephlas couldn't know what he was dealing with, truly.
But it did indeed feel evil.
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Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 10:05 pm
"I am Archmagus Leonard! I am the current holder of the Academy head seat. I'm basically the guy in charge around here." He said, still not breaking stride.
Iwin wasn't losing against the large spiral slope they were now ascending.
---
"Amazing." clem breathed, gazing at it and appreciating it as a man of science would.
"It'ss unnatural..." the Nesk said, leaning towards it, "Where did you get thiss... object?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 10:34 pm
Ephlas was then silent. He looked down, brooding for a moment. "I made it," he declared finally, with a calm voice. "I believe it is very dangerous--it's repugnant with malignancy, magically, in case you can't tell, Clem--and that is why I seek to take it to Sunclipse. It is the only option. I wouldn't allow that stone too close to my face, were I you," Ephlas warned suddenly, though calmly.
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Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 11:26 pm
(check This out. possibly the best bug in 6. (you can't use it on advance though...)) Clem pushed up his glasses, "That's something I never expected..." The nesk nodded, "It feelss dangerouss..."
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Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 11:43 pm
((Ooo. If only... And I've gotten to very nearly the very end on 6. Unfortunately, I accidentally erased it right before my characters entered the final dungeon (that isn't extra) and right AFTER I spent a freakingly long time training them in a special forest! It's... very angerfying, actually.))
"I don't even know what the... what Ne'galash's reaction to the Object would be," Ephlas warned, reaching out to take back the stone. "I assure you, once the Elders determine it's nature, if it is safe, I'll be more than happy to allow you to spend more time examining it."
It was important that they be moving, now, for the time being.
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Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 10:22 am
"well, since I have no idea where we're going, lead the way." Clem said.
"If you near the hivess... we can keep you a ssafe disstance away..." Ne'galash hissed.
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Techni-coloured BloodBath
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Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 12:39 pm
[I'm sorry. Has anyone gotten to the desert prison yet?]
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Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 1:02 pm
((No. K-JAG/Kaye has not posted in a time... though the wagon did almost get hit with a sandglider and everybody's preparing to fight and kill a little girl... they think it's a goblin. Pfft. XD))
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Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 4:21 pm
(yep. Oh! and there is a girl with the same name as the legendary hero Elysia in the Academy building... and Leonard is one ogf the few who knows about her... And a would-be Horde creature has joined Clem and Ephlas in the desert.)
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Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 6:23 pm
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Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 7:14 pm
((Seriously, Technicolor... I'm sorry. I wanted our characters to interact, but I've just been a thorn in your side, haven't I?))
Raedou slowly crept towards the heap of metal, his sword drawn and ready to kill. If it was a wayward goblin he was dealing with, then it had better pray for it's life. Now.
-----
Perrault followed closely behind the Ganzi, his Athures shield mounted in front of him in a defensive position, glowing orange with nervousness.
-----
Tida sat up from the wreckage, moaning in pain. She stood up, hands to her hips, and marched toward Raedou and his friends, growling with rage.
"You stupid jerks!" she yelled, "I crash my brand-new sand skiff, and all you do is come toward me with the intent to kill me! Sweet little me... little me..."
She started sniffling, and then began to cry.
"WHAAAAAAHH!!!" she wailed, "NOBODY LOVES ME-HEE-HEEEE!!!"
-----
Raedou jerked back and drew his sword. Not only was he about to unknowingly kill a human being, but a human being that was, in fact, a young girl. But all truth be told, he was disappointed that he wouldn't be killing anything... not because he was a blood-thirsty maniac, but because nothing exciting had happened since the prison wagon incident in Eopia. He grunted and turned to his friends.
"False alarm. Come and help me get this..." he stared at the sand skiff, "...thing... into the caravan."
-----
Elmire nodded.
"Of course you have. Have you ever considered the possibility that the Grand Bishop is hiding among the Ganzi? It's very unlikely, but..."
He paused, and then spoke again.
"My sources in the desert have informed me that the Ganzi have emerged from underground. Since the Grand Bishop is not even visible to my Zu Riders aboveground, then he must be underground somewhere."
-----
Diine made a small whimper at the ear-piercing noise of Valthere's mighty blade, scratching against the marble floor. He started crying.
"IT WAS ALL HER IDEA!!!" he wailed, sniffling and blubbering like an upset baby, "OUR HOUSE WAS ATTACKED BY THE HORDE AND WE HAD NOWHERE TO GO... THIS IS ALL HER FAULT!!! KILL HER, NOT ME!!!"
Emerelda could not believe her ears.
"Is that any way to treat your girlfriend?!" she yelled.
"FOR THE LAST TIME, YOU ARE NOT MY GOD-DAMN GIRLFRIEND!!!" screamed the elven boy.
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