Story Ten- Highly Practiced Recklessness, Part Two

<Ebba> missing Fiona?

<Alexa> I think she's in disguise.

<Ebba> heh

<Alexa> So is Ryan old enough to look after himself, or should we be keeping an eye on him?

<HollyhockGod> It could very well be both.

<RyanSherbrig> The question is… do you want to keep an eye on him?

<HollyhockGod> I think she wants more beer!

<Alexa> I'm still finishing this martini.

<HollyhockGod> I can't actually remember what people were drinking in any case because I don't know alcohol.

<HollyhockGod> Where did I leave Ryan?

<Alexa> A martini is a small flightless bird from New Zealand.

<Alexa> Ryan shot off into the crowd after facing off with Maliq.

<RyanSherbrig> (Drinking something pearlescent and wandering off with Candles, I suspect. But I'm happy let other people have the plot spotlight tonight, after the last storyline.)

<HollyhockGod> All right. Ryan and Elizabeth Eliza wander off to have some conversation alone together.

<Alexa> Aww, I want to see that!

<HollyhockGod> These balconies are very intimate, insofar as that's possible when one half of the conversation has an ivory sphere covering her entire head.

<aHummingbird> (well, that's only a small aspect miracle away)

<HollyhockGod> Alexa is at the bar, with Fiona by her side, sipping one martini and one nectar-and-ambrosia.

  • HollyhockGod doesn't know what ambrosia is. Please don't explain.
  • aHummingbird 'accidentally' leaves her drink on a passing boat rather than drink whatever it was.

<HollyhockGod> Ebba is trying to find Maliq before she happens to someone.

<aHummingbird> (I think someone ordered something strange for me)

<HollyhockGod> Oh, right, it was a Mind Eraser.

<Ebba> I'm sure nothing could possibly go wrong!

<HollyhockGod> How can I arrange comical situations if you won't get screaming drunk for me?

  • HollyhockGod is sad.

<HollyhockGod> Where was I? We'll start with Ebba for a moment.

<RyanSherbrig> (Get NPCs screaming drunk instead?)

<HollyhockGod> Maliq is not where you left her.

<HollyhockGod> Although what looks like half of her wig is.

<Ebba> (mind eraser is something like: cofee, soda water, vodka)

<Alexa> (She wigged out!)

<Ebba> bloodhound like nose to the rescue!

<HollyhockGod> …that doesn't sound like it would erase someone's mind. I'm disappointed.

<HollyhockGod> You follow your nose, tracking the very unusual odors that Maliq leaves behind her as she goes.

<aHummingbird> depends on how much vodka is involved.

<RyanSherbrig> (And what quality.)

<HollyhockGod> It's the kind of odor that only an alchemical emeritus could possibly produce.

<Ebba> (does she smell like boomex? :D)

<HollyhockGod> According to your finely tuned senses… she walked through one of the walls.

<Ebba> hmm, is the the sort of wall anyone can walk through?

<RyanSherbrig> (Bah, Ebba could do that. She's leave a hole, though.)

<HollyhockGod> Nope, it's delightfully solid.

<Ebba> hmm, I'm sure they wouldn't mind a small hole…

<HollyhockGod> I'll let you think about it for a while.

<HollyhockGod> Alexa, you find someone sitting on your other side who wasn't there before.

<Alexa> "Oh, hello!"

<HollyhockGod> It's a woman dressed in blue and a mask streaked with cyan and green. Her eyes are the only thing you can see of her (blue) except for her hands (young and smooth).

<Alexa> "Feeling blue?"

  • Karen has joined #childrenofeve

<Karen> Never more so than right now.

<Alexa> "I'm sorry to hear that."

<Karen> Let me introduce myself. I am Karen Chalcanth, newly appointed as Lady of Water after the death of my mentor, Queen Anna.

<Karen> You, of course, are the Fire-Queen. My opposite number, in a sense.

  • Karen bows semi-formally.

<Alexa> "Alexa."

  • Alexa nods, informally.

<Karen> Please, call me Karen.

<Karen> I was hoping to meet you tonight.

<Alexa> "Likewise. Were you and Anna close?"

<RyanSherbrig> ("We helped her move, once.")

<Karen> Queen Anna was a dear friend of mine, and of my mother before me.

<Karen> I still haven't fully internalized how I'm expected to act on these occasions, so I thought I should seek out the person to whom I have the closest connection in terms of Estate, and see how we naturally interact.

<Alexa> "Sounds like a good start. I don't really know much about these things either."

  • Karen nods.

<Alexa> "Please accept my condolences. I didn't know her well, but I liked her."

<Karen> It's very difficult… to know how to be. Lady Blue is… she has a strict idea of how things ought to be.

<Alexa> "Lady Blue?"

<Karen> My Sister, Bertha, the Queen of Seals.

<Karen> I'm sorry; I didn't realize you weren't acquainted.

<Karen> She has that effect on one.

<Alexa> "Oh, I see."

<HollyhockGod> I think you might have missed that session.

<HollyhockGod> Bertha Blue, Seal's-Regal, is the Sibling of Anna, Rhys, and the Power of Silver. And now of Karen as well.

<Alexa> (She was in Atlantis, is that right?)

<HollyhockGod> That's correct.

<Alexa> "And do your ideas differ from hers?"

<Karen> …I suppose they must.

<Karen> It's part of my duty to be true to my nature. Whatever it is.

<Karen> But some things we only learn in practice.

<Karen> On that note…

<Alexa> "Well, I shouldn't interfere in family business, but yes, I'd say you have to be true to yourself.

<Karen> I would like to challenge you to a duel.

<Alexa> "And that's not always obv… wait, what?"

<Karen> My mentor, although wise and kind, was brought to her end through violence.

<Karen> I wish to learn from her example and become capable of defending myself.

<Alexa> "Yes, but…"

<Karen> The actual shedding of blood is not required.

<Karen> I think a duel of ghost miracles will suffice to help me understand how to think quickly.

<Alexa> "Oookay. Why me?"

<RyanSherbrig> (Fire versus Water. Classic!)

<Karen> …I'm unable to find a suitable partner at home.

<Alexa> (Earth wins.)

<Karen> Rhys couldn't even pretend to do violence to me. Lady Blue… wouldn't pretend. Equity is not a violent creature.

<Karen> I don't know; it just seemed appropriate.

<Karen> You strike me as spirited.

<Alexa> "Er, right. When did you have in mind?"

  • Alexa thinks, "Please don't say right now."

<Karen> I believe there is a suitable facility in this place.

  • Alexa thinks, "Dammit!"
  • HollyhockGod cackles.

<Alexa> "Of course there is."

<Karen> Naturally, I would not wish to presume upon your time with my requests.

<Alexa> "It shouldn't take too long. As long as we don't miss too much of the party."

<Alexa> "We probably need some witnesses, though."

  • Karen is beset by a lion.

<HollyhockGod> The gentleman in the lion costume appears, staggering somewhat.

<HollyhockGod> "Karen!" he cries. "Are you still…?"

<Karen> We were just about to begin, Rhys. Please, don't worry; I am not in danger of hurting myself."

<HollyhockGod> Rhys's lion mask looks sternly at Alexa. "Don't be too rough with Lady Karen; she's still very young."

<Karen> I'll never learn if people always coddle me.

<Alexa> "Hey, I'm still young myself!"

  • Karen tries to look fierce.

<Karen> That's right!

<HollyhockGod> "Oh, God," says Rhys. "Did I just comment on a lady's age?"

<HollyhockGod> "I must be very drunk indeed."

  • Karen takes his hand.
  • Alexa looks for one of her Siblings Caelestis to serve as a second.

<Karen> Please, Rhys. Trust in my ability to remain unharmed by highly realistic illusions.

<HollyhockGod> "…I can't argue with that."

<HollyhockGod> Rhys is eager to act as Karen's second, although it probably won't be necessary.

<HollyhockGod> Fiona, I think you're the only Sibling on hand to help Alexa.

<Ebba> (Yay, beat up the liddle kiddies)

  • Karen doesn't sound that young.

<HollyhockGod> She's as tall as Alexa is, for one thing.

  • aHummingbird agrees to come watch

<HollyhockGod> Rhys, who has evidently done this before, leads you down to the Room of Challenge.

<HollyhockGod> Which is, basically a large square room with a very complicated binding circle in the middle to keep stray magic in.

<HollyhockGod> Also plenty of seats for onlookers, of which there are some.

<HollyhockGod> Several Powers who were wandering around waiting for the fun to start see that it now has, and pile in.

<HollyhockGod> You don't recognize the eagle, the highwayman, the female mummy, or the soldier, but the giant burning kanji kaeru must be E'jah.

<HollyhockGod> And the build of the Valkyrie next to him indicates that it's probably Gloria.

<HollyhockGod> Alexa and Karen stand on the two appointed markers.

<Karen> Please, don't feel obligated to spare my dignity.

<Alexa> "So, lion boy, how does this work?"

<Karen> I want to understand how it feels to be beset.

<Alexa> "Right. You can spare my dignity, if you like."

<HollyhockGod> "The rules are simple," Rhys explains, raising an eyebrow at you.

<HollyhockGod> Luckily he cannot give you the come-hither look through his mask.

<Alexa> (But he can raise his mask's eyebrow?)

<HollyhockGod> "Each party takes turns attacking with ghost miracles, until one of them is forced to concede."

<HollyhockGod> Yes, he can.

<HollyhockGod> Did you see Half-Blood Prince? Do they have that in Otherplacia yet?

<Alexa> (We do, but I haven't seen it.)

<HollyhockGod> Because it's a mask version of the hat Luna wears.

<Alexa> (I've read the book.)

<HollyhockGod> It is the most awesome hat ever.

<Alexa> (Uhuh.)

<HollyhockGod> "As the challenged party, Lady Fortis has the right to make the first move."

<Alexa> (How can someone be forced to concede with ghost miracles?)

<RyanSherbrig> (The other person does something so awesome it takes you more than a moment to think of a response)

<HollyhockGod> Well, you can't really contest miracle levels since it's all illusion. So it's mostly creativity, yeah.

<Alexa> (Alexa will suck at this.)

<RyanSherbrig> (It's like the shapeshifting contest in Sandman)

<RyanSherbrig> ('MOAR FIRE!!!1!')

<HollyhockGod> I feel like in competitive circles that contest would have gotten old fast.

<HollyhockGod> Sooner or later you reach the point where everybody starts with "I am hope," and then you get balance issues.

<RyanSherbrig> (You could do something involving formalized judging. Like, y'know, most modern gymnastics or whatnot.)

<RyanSherbrig> ("I am reality, uncaring about your puny dreams and hopes. Pbbbt.")

<HollyhockGod> Yeah, that's basically all the rules. It's a test of creativity and flexibility.

<HollyhockGod> Alexa may move whenever she wishes.

<Alexa> "Is it hot in here, or is it just me?"

<HollyhockGod> Is it?

<Alexa> (Creation of Fire: superheat Karen to boil the moisture out of her body.)

  • Karen transforms herself into living water.

<Alexa> (Is that her move?)

  • Karen phase-changes into steam from the heat!

<HollyhockGod> Yes, it is.

<RyanSherbrig> (Ooooh, oooh, I know what you could do! But, alas, I'm not there. And also, a pawn.)

<Alexa> (Bother.)

<Ebba> (moar fire!)

<Ebba> (should we be helping?)

<HollyhockGod> That would be cheating.

<Alexa> (Change: create a steam engine out of solid fire around her steam cloud to then run round the room making little tooting noises.)

<HollyhockGod> So, you're trying to use her to power your steam engine?

<HollyhockGod> Remind me, how do steam engines work?

<Alexa> (Yes.)

<HollyhockGod> What happens to the water?

<Alexa> (It goes out?)

<HollyhockGod> Hm, that sounds embarassing but not immediately painful.

<Ebba> They basically heat water to turn it into steam to turn a turbine

<RyanSherbrig> (She did say to assault her dignity)

  • Karen fills the arena with the intense pressure of the sea bottom.

<Ebba> which turns a crankshaft

<Alexa> (Yeah, it's meant to be embarrassing but not painful.)

<HollyhockGod> The intense pressure is incredibly painful, albeit in an illusionary "And this is where I would be suffering intense pain, ouch, yes," kind of way.

<HollyhockGod> It also makes it somewhat difficult to move.

<Alexa> "Burn the land, boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me!"

<Alexa> (Greater Creation ghost: turn into phoenix, unleashing primal fire to boil the sea.)

<Alexa> (and fly above it)

<HollyhockGod> What sea? There's just pressure like the bottom of the sea.

<HollyhockGod> Also, you're indoors.

<HollyhockGod> So there's a limit to how high up you can get.

<Alexa> (Bother. But it's an illusion of flying!)

<HollyhockGod> I'm not sure that "I pretend not to be in the arena anymore" is viable.

<Alexa> (Okay, scratch that.)

<Alexa> (I think I have to concede.)

<HollyhockGod> For the sake of letting the duel go on longer than two rounds, does anyone have an OOC suggestion?

<Ebba> (undersea thermal vents, happy tube worms, pressure no problem)

<RyanSherbrig> (Pressure is just force, pushing inwards. Create a continual explosion of fire counteracting said force outwardly.)

<HollyhockGod> I would suggest burning a hole in space-time and letting the pressure leak out.

<Alexa> (The thermal vents require actual sea. I'll try the explosion, though.)

<Alexa> "Hello sun!"

<RyanSherbrig> (Alternatively, ghost-major-change of fire such that it can burn abstract concepts.)

<Alexa> (Creation of solar counterpressure)

<Alexa> (Alexa doesn't like burning abstract concepts, except for emotions.)

<HollyhockGod> Mister Sun, Sun, mister golden Sun…

<Alexa> (Rain, rain, come again?)

<Karen> ("Don't mind if I do!")

  • Karen condenses into boiling-hot drops of water against Alexa's skin, only to go gaseous again after each touch.

<HollyhockGod> It's like a never-ending rain of ridiculously high-temperature liquid.

<Alexa> "We could go on like this for hours."

<Karen> But we're having so much fun!

<Alexa> "Sure, but it's only supposed to be three rounds. Call it a draw?"

<HollyhockGod> No, that's a "challenge of threes," which is something different.

<Alexa> (Oh!)

<Alexa> (Turn up the heat so the gas can't condense back into water.)

<HollyhockGod> This works, but it's still somewhat (theoretically) painful for Alexa.

  • Karen condenses herself into a piece of ice surrounding Alexa in an instant, trying to shatter you with the sudden temperature change.

<Alexa> (I was going to try that trick next!)

<HollyhockGod> That's the trouble with diametrically-opposed rivals.

<RyanSherbrig> (Yeah. What you really need is some way to make water into not-water, rather than just change phase.)

<RyanSherbrig> (Molecularly excite her hydrogen atoms!)

<Alexa> (I don't think Fire can do that.)

<RyanSherbrig> (Take a philosophical approach. It's not like you have Small Domain.)

<RyanSherbrig> (Fire is Force and Energy!)

<Ebba> split the oxygen and hydrogen, fuse the hydorgen into helium, now you just have oxygen and helium

<Ebba> no more water

  • Alexa melts the ice.

<aHummingbird> (turn her into plasma?)

  • Karen is forced to revert to watery form.
  • Karen fills the entire arena with stormy, churning seawater that picks you both up.

<HollyhockGod> You're carried away by the currents, and Karen is blending in with the rest of the water.

<HollyhockGod> Luckily you don't need to breathe.

<Ebba> (nmm, how do you do this with non-tangible domains, like Ebba's?)

<Alexa> (Now a Destruction of Fire to turn her into ice.)

<HollyhockGod> The water resolves not to harm Ebba.

<HollyhockGod> You don't know where she is. Do you want to do the whole room?

<Alexa> Yes!

<HollyhockGod> All right, you find yourself sealed in a two-hundred foot column of ice.

<HollyhockGod> Possibly with a few feet around yourself for comfort.

<Alexa> (Yeah, I saw that coming. :) )

<HollyhockGod> And you shape yourself a chair, because why not?

  • Karen shapes a spike of ice out through the wall and straight towards your vital organs.
  • Alexa smashes the spike with the chair.

<HollyhockGod> That's a mundane action.

<HollyhockGod> So you get to go again!

<Alexa> (Indeed! Um… Destruction of Fire (active emotions), remove her courage.)

<HollyhockGod> I'm pretty sure she's still immune to that even with a ghost miracle.

<Alexa> (Yeah, I guess so.)

<Alexa> (Destruction of Fire, make the ice colder around her.)

<HollyhockGod> You still don't know where she is. Do you want to do all of it?

<Alexa> (Yep. Which hurts me too, I know.)

<HollyhockGod> Alexa completely stops the molecular motion of the ice.

<HollyhockGod> You're both now experiencing absolute zero.

<Alexa> ("But that's impossible!")

  • Karen imparts the ice walls with some amount of liquid's fluidity.

<HollyhockGod> The ceiling begins to move down towards your head.

<HollyhockGod> I'm beginning to think this duel is going to end in a draw.

  • Alexa creates a blowtorch to burn through the side of the pillar.

<HollyhockGod> Do you want to move towards that end, or are you pressing for victory?

<HollyhockGod> This gives you space to escape!

<Alexa> (Alexa has been moving towards a draw for a while.)

  • Karen closes the walls behind you.

<HollyhockGod> I think the simplest way is to go Elemental.

<Alexa> (How does that change things?)

<HollyhockGod> Well, it makes it rather hard to hurt you with any of the tools at her disposal.

<HollyhockGod> Much like being burned and frozen isn't really hurting her.

<Alexa> (Exactly. But okay.)

  • Alexa assumes Elemental form.

<HollyhockGod> Mostly it just makes the futility of this conflict more obvious to the spectators.

<HollyhockGod> Firey Alexa sends waves of heat shimmering across the battlefield.

<HollyhockGod> Watery Karen responds with an aura of bitter cold!

<HollyhockGod> End Result: lots of nothing!

<Alexa> "Like I said: hours."

<Ebba> (simulate conditions shortly afer the big bang, regular matter can't exist; it has a too low engergy state)

<HollyhockGod> With unspoken agreement, you coalesce back into your human forms and break off the assault, panting.

<Karen> That was amazing! Draw?

  • Alexa extends a hand.

<Alexa> "Draw. Good show!"

  • Karen shakes it good and hard!

<HollyhockGod> "Oh, that's right," said Rhys, dreamily. "When diametrically-opposed Estates perform a ghost miracle duel, it goes on forever and nobody wins."

<HollyhockGod> "I forgot because I'm very drunk."

<HollyhockGod> The mummy, wearing a gold mask similar to Nefertiti's head, nods grandly at Karen. "A reasonably well-performed dance," she says in Bertha's deep voice. "Well done, Karen."

  • Alexa sits down for a bit.

<HollyhockGod> Have I mentioned that Bertha is physically based on the Seer from Charmed, an otherwise terrible show?

<Alexa> (Not that I recall!)

<HollyhockGod> "Yes, well done K… both of you," agrees Rhys.

<Alexa> "I'm parched. Shall we get some drinks?"

<Karen> Yes, yes!

<HollyhockGod> Everyone returns to the bar!

<Alexa> (So what's Ryan been up to? :))

<HollyhockGod> Good question. Ryan, what have you been up to?

<Alexa> (Ry-an and Li-za, on the balcony, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!)

<Alexa> (Though that would be difficult when she's wearing a sphere on her head.)

<Ebba> (this is what aspect is for)

<RyanSherbrig> "Ah, yes, but if you generalize Ezekiel's valence principles to the third law of metaconjuration, it becomes clear that the polarity of the… oh, everyone's back."

<aHummingbird> (that's basically kissing for Ryan)

<Alexa> (Oh, Ryan's inside again?)

<RyanSherbrig> (Perhaps just refilling their drinks.)

<Alexa> (He's such a smooth talker.)

<Alexa> "Bartender! Two Fire Engines for me and my blue friend here."

  • Karen ooohs.
  • Karen finds the prospect of casually ordering bizarrely-named drinks fascinating.

<Ebba> (Bartender, a bullet in the head! If you say so, sir…)

<Alexa> (We used to make them with vodka, lemonade and red cordial, but I think the more official version is jagermeister and red soda.)

  • Karen adopts a look of fierce concentration.
  • Karen downs it in a single gulp.
  • Alexa clinks Karen's glass and downs her own.

<Alexa> "Great party, Liz!"

  • RyanSherbrig nurses his Quasar Surprise.

<RyanSherbrig> "I metabolize most alcohol as light, so the solution was, of course, alcohol that was already light! This bartender is a brilliant man."

<RyanSherbrig> "Pun unintended."

<HollyhockGod> "Daaarrrrr," says the bartender, blushing with embarrassment.

<Alexa> "Karen, this is Ryan."

<HollyhockGod> "I see that it was a draw after all," says Elizabeth Eliza, pointing the front half of her sphere at your slightly mussed hair.

  • Karen is pleased to meet you.

<Alexa> "Yeah. It was exciting, though. We should try it again some time."

<HollyhockGod> Eventually, Ebba arrives back at the bar, having presumably decided that breaking other people's walls is rude.

  • Alexa grins at Karen.

<Ebba> (heh)

<Karen> Next time we should probably go doubles.

<Alexa> "Hey, Ebba! Meet Karen. Karen, Ebba."

<Ebba> "Hello."

<Alexa> "What have you been up to, Ebs?"

<HollyhockGod> All of a sudden, there is a crash, as though the plot hook for next week had suddenly thrown open the other doors!

<RyanSherbrig> "Ah, yes, it is a pity that, as a Pawn of my Estate, I'm unable to participate in ghost miracle duels. Although, I could summon a Weaver to approximate…"

<Alexa> (It's the cops!)

<RyanSherbrig> (It's Lord Entropy!)

<HollyhockGod> Maliq, triumphantly crazy, strides through the opposite doors, wearing half of her wig, and crying "Did you miss me?"

<Alexa> "No!"

<HollyhockGod> At her side, ever elegant, walks Pandora, smiling.

<Alexa> "Holy crap!"

<RyanSherbrig> (Whoops.)

<HollyhockGod> "I'm sorry for being late, everyone," Pandora tells you all. "I've got to learn to do better."


<RandBrittain> That was fun.

<Uqbarian> Well, that's a turn up for the books.

<Uqbarian> Pandora, I mean.

<Uqbarian> If that *is* her real name.

<borogove> does that mean I have to give her estate back?

<RandBrittain> That probably isn't what's written on her most recent birth certificate, no.

<RandBrittain> I don't advise it!

<RandBrittain> She'd just get it dirty!

<Uqbarian> I meant it might not be her.

<crusher_bob> hmm

<Uqbarian> I say we kill her. If she reforms from her scarab, they've at least done their homework.

<crusher_bob> time for me to go

<Uqbarian> I'm sorry we didn't get to watch Liz and Ryan, though!

<Uqbarian> Seeya, bob.

<borogove> we can't kill her unless she's evil, though. unfortunately.

<RandBrittain> Can't you give them a little privacy?

  • Crusher_Bob has quit (Disintegrated: Leaving)

<Uqbarian> No!

<borogove> I should go too. laters people.

<Uqbarian> Ciao!

  • borogove has quit (Disintegrated: borogove)

<RandBrittain> It was a fun duel, though. It didn't occur to me until it was too late that you were likely to have problems.

<RandBrittain> Given that your powers are fairly good mirror opposites.

<RandBrittain> I originally planned for Karen to be much more brash, but it seems like she's a bizarre combination of forthright and shy.

<RandBrittain> But I feel like she went over well.

<Benhimself> All right, I'm off for works. Thanks for game, everyone!

<RandBrittain> Thanks for coming!

<Uqbarian> Bye!

  • RandBrittain still needs a Fiona plot.

<RandBrittain> I failed to have her summoned away by a crazy witch.

<RandBrittain> And then I failed to get her drunk.

<Uqbarian> There's always the Flower Rite.

<Benhimself> Yeah. Can't go wrong with 'your estate is front and center!'

  • Benhimself has quit (Disintegrated: )

<RandBrittain> I suppose I can always have Pandora collar her.

<Uqbarian> I tend to think that ghost miracle duels must be hard to actually win.

<Uqbarian> Even for non-opposing Estates.

<RandBrittain> I think by a strict ruling the loser is the first person to look stupid.

<RandBrittain> But when you can both go Elemental if one of you doesn't have an obvious way to do the other one harm it sort of bogs down.

<RandBrittain> For more fun and profit, consider how to beat Bertha in a duel.

<Uqbarian> Seals?

<RandBrittain> That's right.

<Uqbarian> As in sigils, not the marine mammal?

<RandBrittain> Locks, wardings, restrictions.

<Uqbarian> Oh.

<Uqbarian> Burn 'em.

<Uqbarian> (When you have a hammer, everything looks flammable.)

<RandBrittain> Bertha creates a seal that locks all the air out of the arena, snuffing your flame.

<Uqbarian> Alexa creates a flame that doesn't need air.

<RandBrittain> Bertha dispels her seal. The rush of wind puts your flame out.

<Uqbarian> (I suppose that does point to another criterion — if one of the duellists is more efficient, as in using lower miracle levels for equivalent effects, they could be said to win.)

<RandBrittain> Luckily, that doesn't apply, which is why a ghost miracle duel isn't the end-all-be-all of conflict resolution.

<RandBrittain> But yeah, keeping your cool helps you look winnery.

<Uqbarian> It doesn't apply mechanically, but wouldn't it (at least sometimes) be apparent to observers what level the miracles are imitating?

<RandBrittain> Yes, but to some degree being able to use miracles you wouldn't normally be able to do is part of the charm of the thing.

<Uqbarian> Sure.

<Uqbarian> Anyway, time for lunch. Thanks for the session!

<RandBrittain> No problem.

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