<Rand Brittain> So, is it just us three tonight?
<Rand Brittain> Summer times, so busy for everybody.
<Benhimself> Uqbarian said he wouldn't be able to make it in the forum post.
<Benhimself> Don't know about Bob. Possibly assumed with one short we wouldn't play.
<Rand Brittain> Foolish talk!
<Benhimself> It's held up in the past! You and all your Alexa-centric plots.
- Benhimself sniffs.
<Rand Brittain> The question is, what were you planning to do in order to bring about your sinister agenda? Aside from figuring out how marshmallows are made?
<Rand Brittain> Yes, that's why I stopped doing that.
<Rand Brittain> And it wouldn't have had to be Alexa-centric if the rest of you would get some bloody Anchors!
<Benhimself> Anchors are a weakness!
<Rand Brittain> Seriously, Ryan, just walk into a bodybuilding competition and let the hate flow until magic happens.
<Benhimself> I have considered just lesser creating an Anchor. But then it's awkward, creating someone to love, or creating someone with all the properties I despise simply so I could hate them.
<Benhimself> Besides, Ryan has servants in great store.
<Rand Brittain> You should have taken Maebara while you had the chance, but now he's a miracle baby. What have you been doing with those miracle babies anyway?
<Benhimself> Waiting for them to develop and keeping an eye on any specific changes?
<Rand Brittain> Who's taking care of them? Did you build a crèche?
<Benhimself> I kind of assumed there were too many to organize them all in one place, and they were just growing around the garden.
- Benhimself remembers plans for spider-nannies of some sort, can't recall if they were implemented or not.
<Rand Brittain> I don't think you made any of those in my hearing.
<Benhimself> There are a lot of miracle babies! Multiple limbs would be necessary!
<Nentuaby> Er… so we have feral babies running around?
<Rand Brittain> Yeah, I think there does have to be some kind of plan there. Humans can't self-raise.
<Nentuaby> Good to know we're such responsible folk.
<Benhimself> If I had known they were running around I would have made plans, yes.
<Benhimself> What does Marcus think about spider-nannies?
<Benhimself> Decent Aspect, some sort of "soothing chittering" Gift…. hmmm.
<Benhimself> This is a plan that can only be formed while Alexa is absent, keep in mind.
<Benhimself> I'm unsure how Ebba would feel.
<Rand Brittain> Alexa might perhaps object to giant spiders, yes. Ebba, well, it's a question of whether they eat insects.
- Benhimself makes a note to miracle up some Althaea Officinalis as well.
<Ryan> "Technically, they'd just be spider-like entities from Beyond, rather than actual spiders."
<Marcus> "I think maybe not, Ryan."
<Marcus> "In general, it's not a good idea to have children raised by one of humanity's Primal Fears."
<Ryan> "I'm fairly certain they subsist on their own relationship with the raised children or something like that. They're actually a fairly common servitor amongst those high summoners who actually manage to procreate."
<Ryan> "High Summoners being legendarily bad at child-rearing themselves."
- Ryan may be joking.
<Marcus> "Imagine."
- Marcus probably isn't.
<Ryan> "The major upside is that, when Alexa finds out, she'd almost certainly take matters into her own hands, and then we wouldn't have to worry about it!"
<Ryan> "I should probably include stipulations in the contract about the event of fiery death."
- You are now known as Hollyhock God
<Marcus> "I really think we ought to come up with something that's going to imprint the kids with at least a genus-related form template."
<Marcus> "Maybe even, if you can comprehend it, actual humans. Shocking idea, I know."
<Ryan> "We could give the spiders masks."
<Ryan> "Fine, fine, take the fun out everything."
- Ryan creates some maternal-looking woman in brightly colored clothing with a wave of his hand.
<Ryan> "Somewhere to put the children where our guests won't run across them might be a good idea. Any ideas?"
<Marcus> "We can hedge off a nursery area. I don't think it will need to be changed much. This is the Garden of Eden."
<Ryan> "Mmmm."
<Hollyhock God> Chance of being eaten by a grue: low.
- Ryan is still clearly picturing spider-nannies with tiny human masks barely covering their 13 eyes and chittering mandibles.
- Marcus divines/works necessary miracles on the women to make sure they are A) hypercompetent and B) psychologically fit to raise children despite being created by Ryan.
<Ryan> "Psh! The servants I make are fine at what I make them to do. They just tend to have issues regarding their relationship with myself."
<Hollyhock God> "That's right," agrees the matron, "I'm incredibly competent at dealing with infant minds, but only in infant bodies."
<Ryan> "And you wonder why I wanted to just summon spider-nannies."
<Marcus> Marcus smiles at her. "You'll do."
<Ryan> (Secretly, they're swarms of spiders hiding behind clothing, gloves, and elaborate masks! No, not really.)
<Hollyhock God> A program requires a name to be saved.
<Marcus> (Huh?)
<Hollyhock God> (You need to name the nanny.)
<Ryan> Hmmmm. Matron Verna.
<Ryan> I delegate the task of naming the assistants to her.
<Hollyhock God> Is there a particular reference there?
<Ryan> Just vague connotations with spring and thus beginnings.
<Hollyhock God> That's just vague enough to work!
- Marcus fences off a nice big corner of the Gardens with a thick but thorn-free hedge, and divines over it for any nasty surprises that may have been inadvertently left there by a distracted Noble.
<Hollyhock God> Nastiness index: 0.0%.
<Marcus> "Let's see, hmm. Bottle Bush, Diaper Tree, bottomless diaper bin… What else will you be needing here?"
- Ryan makes some foo-lion-like guards with big friendly grins.
- Marcus creates the aforementioned improbably useful plants.
<Hollyhock God> "We'll let you know. There could be unusual requirements that we'll have to deal with when they reveal themselves."
- Ryan makes a shelf filled with classic Doctor Seuss books.
<Hollyhock God> So, what other party preparations need to be made?
<Ryan> "Hmmm. The marshmallow plants are growing. I think we already covered the orchestra orchard, didn't we?"
<Hollyhock God> What kind of chocolate goes in the s'mores?
<Marcus> "Yeah, it's brushing up on its vegetative Rachmaninoff right now."
- Ryan grows some Theobroma cacao trees.
<Ryan> The s'mores shall spring solely from the fertile soil of eden!
<Hollyhock God> Any excuse to play the Rite of Spring.
<Hollyhock God> Is that milk, dark, or white?
<Ryan> We'll have a variety of options available.
<Marcus> He is, for once, growing the actual plant. Presumably our leafy hosts will prepare it into finished chocolate the old fashioned way.
- crusher_bob has joined #childrenofeve
<Ryan> "Excellent job, spider-nannies."
<Ryan> "Extra flies for every…" Oh, hi, Crusher!
<Hollyhock God> Oh, hey, bob! Just in time for someone with Aspect to start on the cooking. And the growing insane trees, actually.
<Ebba> Hello.
<Ryan> (My spider-nanny plan was shot down, actually.)
<Hollyhock God> If you need a chocolate tree, Ebba is the one to call. Come to think of it, her insane gardening combined with two Major Creations from you two would make a Major Change of Plants for 2/2/0 MPs respectively.
<Ryan> But… cocoa trees actually exist!
<Ebba> But you can't just eat cocoa beans…
<Hollyhock God> So you make a chocolate tree. Or think of some other insanely showy plant-based miracle.
<Ryan> Well, sure, some work will have to be done afterwards. If only we had an exemplar willing to help out!
<Ryan> Mmmm.
<Ryan> Party Kudzu! It's everything you want it to be!
<Ryan> No, no, stately convocation, not debauched party. I keep forgetting.
- Ryan makes a note for later, though.
<Ryan> "Some bamboo ushers to help escort guests to wherever they need to be, perhaps."
<Hollyhock God> Yeah, you should consider some security arrangements via that method, since you'll probably need something like that eventually.
<Ryan> "Ebba! You're here! You can help us plan for the party."
<Marcus> (Didn't we already kind of finish party preparations last session? We had security and food and The Help all set down. I think we're kind of into niggling details here.)
<Hollyhock God> I guess. Do you want to start the party? We've got 75% of our Nobles present.
<Ryan> (Well, it seems to be what our HG wants us to do this session?)
<Ebba> Weren't we hoping for a better idea of what to propose beyond the 4chan reformation?
<Hollyhock God> I think there was also a question of what plans you were going to propose, yeah.
<Marcus> (To be frank, I'm getting very bored. It's been literal months since we've done anything but plan for this party.)
<Ebba> Has it been that long?
<Hollyhock God> Well, we've had some missed sessions that stretched things out.
<Hollyhock God> Okay, party now!
<Ebba> Hard days at work, from what I remember, my proposal was to band together behind the internet to avoid society fragmenting when the age of miracles becomes common knowledge.
<Hollyhock God> Dana arrives first and immediately begins attempting to gently establish a share of control over the proceedings.
<Hollyhock God> Her gown is composed of pure light, frozen into eternity, just soft enough not to hurt your eyes, and her hair is bigger than you've ever seen it.
<Ebba> (Isn't she the one that we actually wanted to be in charge?)
<Ryan> Oh, no, my position as Leader of the Light is imperiled!
<Hollyhock God> Release the hounds!
- Ryan lets her take control as long as her decisions remain reasonable.
<Hollyhock God> Yeah, the potential for dysfunction in this relationship probably won't actualize until it's time for you to do the scutwork.
<Hollyhock God> The Worldshapers arrive second, in their most world-shaking finery, except for E'jah, although he seems fine enough.
<Ebba> "Hello."
<Hollyhock God> Is Ebba planning to show off her most recent alchemical masterpiece to her teacher?
<Hollyhock God> "Greetings!"
- Marcus greets everyone at the door in Full Charm Mode.
<Ebba> Pretty sure he asked to see it, yes
- Ryan has a nice simple business suit that's mostly there to not draw attention away from his adharmic crown.
<Ryan> (The Circle That Perfects!)
<Ebba> And see if he wants any apples to experiment with- they totally didn't drive Marcus insane when he ate some.
- Marcus is always dressed in his Sunday best, thanks much.
- Ryan might let a hint of Elemental and Glorious shine through, but subtly so.
<Ryan> Maybe in the eyes, hidden behind sunglasses, to represent how we must, at present, keep our full majesty cloaked for the good of humanity.
<Ebba> While Ebba is probably still in autumn colors, from the beatings she took in the previous sessions…
<Hollyhock God> Marcus, have you met the Worldshapers yet?
<Marcus> (I think E'jah was at the pre-convocation? Not the others, though, no.)
<Hollyhock God> "Lady Ebba, you seem troubled in your coloring. Are you well?"
<Ebba> "Alas, some misadventures are a bit much, even for my constitution."
<Hollyhock God> "Doubtless you at least have something to show for it."
<Ebba> "Well, at least for some of them…"
- Ebba shows off the miracle-phone.
<Ebba> "And look how useful it is besides…"
<Ebba> (It's almost like you should take it with you everywhere…)
<Ryan> (So has anybody tried any miracles in the garden yet?)
<Hollyhock God> "This is rather skilled… a bit modern, of course. You've clearly been honing your skills, Lady Ebba. I see it never forgets, either. It's clever to have a bug that is also a feature."
<Hollyhock God> (Not that you know of, why? Defender's Blessing only blocks hostile magic.)
<Ryan> (Just curious.)
<Ryan> (Also, handy to know if anybody is trying to get away with anything sneaky.)
<Ryan> (I suppose that'll be more of an issue when more guests are here.)
<Ryan> (Like the rest of the Light.)
<Hollyhock God> Lightlings arrive in massive numbers! Shortly it becomes rather difficult to keep track of everyone, except perhaps for Ryan and Marcus.
<Hollyhock God> There are Marley and Benjamin, and Katriana, and several dozen others.
<Hollyhock God> This gives you an excellent means for claiming to have been introduced to people retroactively when they show up later.
<Ryan> (Benjamin was… who again? It has been a while.)
<Hollyhock God> A few of them were here before when everybody showed up for the conquest afterparty.
<Hollyhock God> The Earl of Day, the energy technology specialist from the Science Ball.
<Ryan> Ah, yes, of course.
<Hollyhock God> Benjamin Gibraltar, owner of a truly ridiculous energy-manipulation Gift and Joseph's opposite number.
<Hollyhock God> Everyone wants to meet all of you because you are Famous.
<Hollyhock God> Or possibly Infamous.
- Ryan meets and greets, lots of handshaking and brief conversation.
<Hollyhock God> So, what's first on the order of ceremonies?
<Ebba> (I think it was supposed to be some political maneuvering where we more or less admit that Dana is still in charge?)
<Hollyhock God> Huh, how would you plan on admitting that gracefully? Bootlicking?
<Ryan> General mission statement! I'll let Dana, our guest of honor, make the speech.
<Hollyhock God> Dana is ever-happy to make a speech, and probably had it already written.
- Ryan calls attention with a polite chiming gong, makes a brief introduction for the 'Lady of Eternity, who needs none,' etc.
<Hollyhock God> She talks quite a good game about the Light's magnificent accomplishments, and about the need to consolidate their gains and find a way to make practical use of what you've now got hold of.
- Ryan claps politely at the end of it, assuming no Excrucian/Dark party-crashers yet.
<Hollyhock God> It's always more efficient to let you make your own trouble, although you've been oddly calm as yet.
<Ryan> (Drop that 'politely'; he would be genuinely happy at her taking point.)
<Ryan> ("Marcus, now! Dump the entire Chancel into the Lands Beyond Creation, and our true masters will be served!")
<Hollyhock God> Mind you, her basic point here is that she wants everybody to start taking a slice of your new Chancel.
<Hollyhock God> You suspect you may be in danger of being given an apple quota.
<Ebba> (Heh! We're not even sure what they do yet!)
<Hollyhock God> I kind of wonder, how devoted are most of you to the Light's goals now that the Phoenix isn't broadcasting Fervent any longer?
- Ryan has it as a Virtue, unless you want to rule that was also the Phoenix's influence and he can change that.
<Ryan> ("You now have the Virtue 'Devoted Gardener!')
<Marcus> (Techincally, Marcus has never actually been Light. He goes along with it.)
<Hollyhock God> So it's likely that Marcus will oppose the Chancel becoming a communal resource of the Light as a body?
<Marcus> (He wouldn't oppose even that, actually- he's easygoing and Light-friendly, until the Light tries to pull one of it's occasional "Well, it's worse than being in hell, but they will live forever" bits.)
<Hollyhock God> Even so, it could be important to assert your self-determination, if only because Alexa will and it's impolite to make decisions she'll hate while she's not here without at least angsting over it a bit.
<Ebba> They why don't we make a comittee to investigate what the apples do before we start turning them over to everyone?
<Ebba> That should buy us some time, at least.
<Ryan> "Yes, of course we will listen to and carefully evaluate all suggestions on how to best utilize the resources of Eden, after the exact nature of those resources is determined."
<Ryan> "Ebba, I believe you were studying the possibility of lingering corruption in those apples that Dana referenced. Anything to report on that angle?"
<Ebba> "Well, Marcus seems to be ok. But he's not exactly the best test case…"
<Hollyhock God> "Has he exhibited any symptoms whatsoever?" asks E'jah. "This must be documented! There should be control groups, and careful screening of outside influences!"
<Ebba> (And our second experimental subject seems to have declined to participate…)
<Hollyhock God> E'jah hovers around Marcus as though carefully scrutinizing him for symptoms.
<Marcus> "Control would be a wise idea, yes. You would hardly notice if, for instance, I had been made reckless or suicidal."
<Hollyhock God> "The apples of Eden must do something," says Dana, exasperated. "They created two entire factions of Imperators more or less by accident."
<Marcus> "It is possible they have been ruined by the First Dark Lord, of course."
<Hollyhock God> "Generally," E'jah notes dourly, "when a source of vast miraculous power is tainted, the one thing it never does is simply become inert."
<Marcus> "Or, perhaps more likely, that they are ineffectual upon Nobility. Experimental safety will be a tricky issue if experimenting upon mortals, of course."
<Hollyhock God> "Yes… safety, of course," says E'jah, passing this over as trivia in the face of Science to be done.
<Ebba> (Any nominations for investigatory committee? (Marley, E'jah, ..? )
<Ebba> (Beta seems an obvious third choice, but not sure we like him)
<Hollyhock God> "Nobody has ever been personally harmed by an apple," points out Selim. "Maybe they created a faction of supradivine beings that want them dead, but they were okay personally."
<Hollyhock God> Beta isn't Light-affiliated. I think he has some personal Code until he goes gold.
- Ryan listens carefully to the inscrutable exhortations of his soul.
<Marcus> "Ah, actually, Adam became deeply self-destructive."
<Hollyhock God> "That's just how men are," explains Dana. "I'm sure it was all talk. After all, he died of natural causes at the end of it all."
<Ryan> "Well, Dana, if you're so certain of the apples' current beneficience, you are more than welcome to try one untested yourself."
- Ryan spends an RMP to change an apple's location to his hand, for effect.
<Hollyhock God> Dana holds out an open palm, wiggling her fingers expectantly.
- Ryan gives it to her.
<Ryan> (What the hell, let's instigate.)
<Ebba> "Or we could all have one, and try to determine their effects by statistical analysis."
<Marcus> Marcus cocks an eyebrow. "That's not how the Great Mother interpreted events, Lady Whitsunday. Do consider, I am at fewer removes from the events of the day than most."
<Hollyhock God> Dana tosses the apple into the air, for effect, and takes a bite.
<Hollyhock God> Light pours instantly from her nose, eyes, mouth, and just generally out of her. It's a special effect that would have been a lot more effective if she hadn't already been wearing a light-based fabric.
<Ebba> (What could possibly go wrong?)
<Hollyhock God> The noise that pours from her lungs might be a scream, or it could be a song. It's hard to be sure.
<Hollyhock God> The light begins to grow brighter and brighter, until it becomes quite difficult to see Dana, or anything, really.
<Ryan> (Hey, Marcus, get ready for a joint Major Preservation.)
<Hollyhock God> Then it begins to diffuse, slowly, so that Dana can't be told from anything else. When the light fades, Lady Whitsunday is gone.
<Ryan> (Or not!)
- Ryan waits a few moments for any booming voices declaring their newfound Imperial nature.
<Ebba> (That was a bit different from Marcus's "Hmmm…" reaction)
<Hollyhock God> "I… was not expecting that to happen," says Selim, as E'jah notes, "Personal experimentation… contraindicated."
- Ryan sighs, and takes the stand.
<Hollyhock God> Further miraculous developments do not appear to be happening, but a hubbub is beginning to develop.
<Ryan> "You all see now, what the fruit of recklessness is. We must be careful with power, lest it destroy us and everything we care about."
<Ryan> (Man, Wanda is going to KILL US DEAD.)
<Marcus> (Mind you, she is a localized phenomenon only by default.)
<Ebba> (Shouldn't we send a message to Timeheart, so see if Dana showed back up there?)
<Hollyhock God> "Is she dead, Duchess?" Marley asks Mystery. "Wait, why am I asking you a direct question?"
<Ryan> ("Maybe.")
<Ryan> (Why is Marley asking if somebody is dead?)
<Marcus> (Because Nobility are not part of any Estate, including hers.)
<Ryan> "The path to immortality, whether ours, or humanity's, is one fraught with peril, and we must advance with eyes open and alert."
<Hollyhock God> "I'll forgo the standard obfuscation as a personal favor," the Duchess avers. "I'm communing with the First Lady now… we don't know. That's not obfuscation; we just aren't sure."
<Hollyhock God> "I think we can forego further tastings for the time being," Marley admits. "How then do we advance?"
<Hollyhock God> This seems like a good time to bring up your amazing discovery.
<Ebba> "We also have proof that mortals are now taking miraculous actions."
- Ebba describes the sunshine man.
<Ryan> (Ah, good, I was about to delegate to Ebba, good of her to take the lead.)
- Ebba then shows the phone, and describes the episode of the suddenly headless men, and how both miracles seemed to hang a right at the corner of "suddenly destructive."
<Hollyhock God> "The Domina Cerna's miracle-spotting device appears to be quite a fine piece of alchemy," E'jah says. "I'll vouch for its accuracy."
<Hollyhock God> "This is a game-changer if it's true," says Marley. "No humans have randomly become Essential creatures as of yet, but if this trend continues, it may be a possibility."
<Ebba> (And since it's the one most likely to produce quick agreement, on to the next thing…)
<Marcus> "Indeed. Also, and perhaps more pragmatically, this may spell trouble for the maintenance of the dementia animus."
<Ebba> "I propose that we start maintaining a roving fire brigade, to keep the destruction caused by these miracles in check."
<Ebba> "It would be the fire brigade's job to detect and respond to these miracles, so that everyone doesn't have to drop what they are doing and come running."
<Hollyhock God> "This device cannot predict miraculous action in advance, however," E'jah notes. "Do we really want to begin keeping track of all miracles, everywhere?"
<Ebba> "I further recommend a rotating duty roster, so that none of us has to give up too many of our own duties."
<Ebba> (Just wait untl the first time someone is really hung over and shoots down the sun…)
<Marcus> (Ooh, we are going to have such a hard time expalining that one to Sol Invictus.)
<Hollyhock God> "I would be wary of any kind of wide-ranging spy program," Marley admits. "Plenty of us have activities necessary to our duties that should not be public."
<Hollyhock God> (He's Sol Incarnate now, since they finally gave him a canon name to match that form.)
<Ebba> (Mostly I was just hoping to have a few Nobles ready to run out when someone shoots down the sun, or goes Gojira on a city, or something.)
<Ebba> (Since having everyone come running when something like that happens would probably leave us vulnerable in other areas.)
<Hollyhock God> Selim frowns. "If this is going to be a thing, why bother trying to stop it? I won't mind at all if humanity becomes more aware of the true nature of the world, provided it's done in a non-catastrophic way."
<Marcus> (I've always taken it that Sol Invictus is not actually meant to be the Sun, on account of being off in Heaven, but rather that our Sol is named in his honor.)
<Ryan> "Because, as Ebba has pointed out, a large majority of the manifested miracles have been destructive in nature. There is a chance that this is the… miraculous energy of the First Lord remanifesting in the human race."
<Marcus> "Are you aware of a non-catastrophic way for six and three quarters billion people to become abruptly aware that the rules of reality are fundamentally incompatible with what they have known their entire lives?"
<Hollyhock God> (Well, no. Haven't you read the new Ink Monkeys articles on the Daystar? It's awesome.)
<Marcus> (The new what now article?)
<Ebba> (Easy, we just send them all an apple in the mail. And use something like Aspect 9 to ensure that they all arrive in the mail at once.)
<Ebba> (:D)
<Hollyhock God> (The Exalted freelancers have a blog for writing up stuff that would never get into books, called the Ink Monkeys. They've written up a bunch of free Charms and a whole series on the sun, as a location.)
<Marcus> (Ah. Except we aren't playing Exalted.)
<Ryan> (Details!)
<Hollyhock God> "Truthfully, it's probably easier to cleanse a tide of miraculous energy than it is to try and sit on an inevitable trend," Selim remarks. "One is merely epically difficult, whereas the other is just plain inefficient."
<Hollyhock God> (It's unwise to remark such, for I'm planning a Daystar-based Power of the Sun. Chirmirajen go!)
<Marcus> "I agree that that is probably true, but even if cleansed of its overall destructive bent, the phenomenon does need to be watched for any potential Extinction-Level Mishaps.
<Ryan> (Unless we have the Power of Undo in attendance.)
<Ebba> "And we need to buy time for futher investigation."
<Hollyhock God> "Lord Entropy will be unhappy," says the Duchess, "but he never is, and he can't stop this either. This may well loosen his grip over the Earth, although there's no telling what he'll do in the meantime."
<Marcus> "That is, for better or worse, designated as this Familia's-" Marcus tactfully declines to twit Ryan on this point for once- "problem. Hopefully we can deal with it, as long as we as a body are able to stave off any catastrophes."
<Ryan> "Lord Entropy has already promised to visit his wrath upon me for any of the Light's future mishaps, as I am sure you all remember. We might as well make it worth it."
<Marcus> (Ah. Yes. Jinx, and all.)
<Ryan> (Lesser Creation of cola fountains!)
<Hollyhock God> Like the mishap that just happened?
<Ebba> (But we totally planned that from the beginning! :D)
<Ryan> (Yeah, that was pretty much how Ryan was expecting it to go down.)
<Hollyhock God> Yes, that is what the Locus Court will say when they drag you in.
<Hollyhock God> Now no one can challenge you as masters of the Light!
<Ebba> (Hey, she totally ate the apple of her own free will.)
<Ryan> (That is an unfortunate consequence of the action, yes.)
<Ryan> (Hence Ryan's sigh as he stepped up to the podium.)
<Hollyhock God> You tricked her with your honeyed words and temptations.
<Ebba> "My next proposal is somewhat more technical…"
<Ebba> "It may become necessary to reveal more of the true nature of the world than has been historically practiced. And the other factions will almost certainly be maneuvering to make this revelation as advantageous to them as possible."
<Ebba> "So I think we should begin our own groundwork in this direction."
<Ebba> (Technical details follow.)
<Ryan> ("If the apples were so irresistable… then why don't you have a bite, Lord Entropy?")
<Ryan> (We can solve all our problems by giving them fruit!)
<Hollyhock God> "There's certainly a few plans we could step up in terms of distributing some advanced technology and seeing how it floats," Selim agrees.
<Hollyhock God> (Lord Entropy bites your head off.)
<Ebba> (You fool, you think this is my own head?)
<Hollyhock God> I for one always keep a spare.
<Ebba> (And isn't Ryan an energy field bigger than Lord Entropy's head?)
<Hollyhock God> Lord Entropy pretty clearly hasn't read that list.
<Marcus> (The size of Entropy's head is a mere matter of convention.)
<Ryan> (I've secretly replaced my head with an apple of wisdom!)
<Ryan> (Nothing can go wrong with this plan!)
<Hollyhock God> I'm just wondering what the kumquats of immortality do. Although they don't seem quite ripe yet.
<Hollyhock God> Ah, but it seems to be eleven, so we must find out another day.
<Ebba> (And why Marcus, and presumably Maliq, can eat the apples without suddenly suffering from existential doubt?)
<Hollyhock God> Well, you killed another Immortal, so I guess you accomplished something!
<Ryan> (We're still not really sure what the apples of wisdom do, yeah.)
<Ryan> (The answer seems extremely varied. If only we had an expert to ask! Like Maliq, or the first lord!)
<Marcus> (I suspect that she had pretty much the same reaction we did… we just don't risk losing our locus during an emotional upheaval.)
<Hollyhock God> Is wisdom universal, or unique to the individual?
<Ryan> (I guess the only way to tell… would be more points of data!)
<Ryan> (There's a surprise in the s'mores.)
<Ryan> (Not really.)
<Hollyhock God> (Clearly it's in the tea.)
<Ebba> "Should we consider trying to send someone 'after' Dana?"
<Hollyhock God> "Not it," says Marley.
<Hollyhock God> No volunteers!
<Marcus> "Who, exactly? A Zen paramedic?"
<Ebba> "One of us seems to be the obvious choice, since Marcus has already eaten one of the apples without serious incident."
<Ebba> "Well, I do fit into both of those categories. But I wanted to consult the group before doing anything rash."
- Ryan considers the possibility of getting out of responsibility by nonexistence.
<Ryan> "An intriguing idea, but the apples clearly have different effects on different people. We don't know if it would indeed send you 'after' her."
<Marcus> "Allow me to state that, personally, I don't think any good can come of this."
<Hollyhock God> You'll live on in the Lands Beyond Creation.
<Hollyhock God> NO WAY OUT. NO WAY OUT. NO WAY OUT.
<Ryan> "If indeed there is a place where she has gone."
<Ryan> (That's what I think about our current situation.)
<Ryan> (The Lands Beyond Creation are an eternal paradise in which I am emperor, after I've resolved this mess.)
<Ryan> (But it never ends.)
<Hollyhock God> (Do you mean that in a bad way, OOC?)
<Ryan> (No, that's IC)
<Ryan> (On the other hand, Ryan eating an apple would provide an ideal reason for him to be absent next week!)
<Hollyhock God> Well, Ebba is perfectly welcome to try an apple. I mean, why not?
<Ryan> (Since I will be at Seattle Go Play NW.)
<Hollyhock God> (Ryan eats the apple and transforms into Maebara, with Ryan as his Anchor.)
<Ryan> (Nooooooooo!)
<Ebba> (This hell is of your own making.)
<Hollyhock God> (Oh, hey, Sherbrig, I was just thinking how nice it would be if I had a whale.)
<Ryan> ("I'll summon one for you!")
<Ryan> (Ooops, I only knew the ritual for god-killing star-whales! Hey, look, your heart OM NOM NOM.")
<Hollyhock God> (Well, Anchors can't use that, obviously.)
<Hollyhock God> Is Ebba going to nom nom nom an apple? I promise something good will happen!
- Hollyhock God smiles, instantiating a spirit of universal love.
<Ryan> "Nobody eats any more apples! My god, that demonstration wasn't enough?"
<Ebba> (Well, we probably shouldn't leave Dana alone in her non-existence. She might get lost!)
<Ryan> "For all we know, she's simply dead."
<Ryan> "And even if not, our concerns that the apples are still tainted with the First Lord's essence have hardly been disproven!"
<Hollyhock God> Perhaps she merged with the universe and become a transdivine being!
<Ryan> (I've only spent one RMP this session, yeah?)
<Hollyhock God> Incidentally, it does please me that someone actually read the character descriptions page.
<Hollyhock God> (Did you spend any at all?)
<Ryan> (I think I spent one to port an apple to me. Regardless.)
- Ryan gestures dramatically (spending 4 RMPs), conjuring a thick hedge whose thorns pierce space and time itself around the Signficant Trees, making themm internally infinite in size.
<Ebba> (Isn't she something like Ryan and E'jah, not really having a body to be in?)
<Hollyhock God> Her speedy movement is described as her being 'a localized phenomenon only by default.'
<Hollyhock God> How are they going to get any sun?
<Ebba> (He can probably get Science! guy to make a small one.)
<Ryan> I'll throw a sun in there as a subset of my Major Change. And water.
<Marcus> They're still open to the sky!
<Hollyhock God> The Chirmirajen comes to steal some!
<Ryan> The Spirit 5 thorns eat him.
<Hollyhock God> Clearly the Daystar can never lose. (This is kind of like how playing Mass Effect 2 convinced me Joseph was invincible for a while, on the basis of various mental associations about "shepards.")
<Ryan> (Anyway, I've got to go off to work! Assume Ryan spends the next session tweaking the miracle to make sure it's reasonably impregnable by anybody other than himself. And maybe Marcus, since keeping another Tempest out would be tricky.)
<Ryan> (I imagine s'mores will take an entire session if not two, anyway.)
<Ebba> "I see you only have one apple, brother. Does this mean you don't plan to accompany me?"
<Ebba> (:D)
<Marcus> (Ciao, all. Fun session. :) )
<Hollyhock God> Is Ebba going to eat the apple, then? I guess she can decide over the week.
<Hollyhock God> I was going to have her become an Imperator on the spot, so that we'd have a positive example to tempt everyone.
<Marcus> Of course. :P
<Hollyhock God> Mostly because I can't really think of any particular wisdom she needs to learn.
<Hollyhock God> Like River Tam: except for being crazy, she's in the pink of health.
<Ebba> And blowing up Dana by accident is bad!
<Hollyhock God> Better to decide that you did it on purpose.