<Rand Brittain> It is Mr. Damiani!
<ADamiani> Yo.
<Rand Brittain> Come to indulge in my delightful plots.
<Rand Brittain> Yes, this plot is delightful and carefully-considered.
<ADamiani> Excellent!
<Rand Brittain> The secret ingredient is space.
<Rand Brittain> Space.
- KreenWarrior has joined #lastmiracle
<Melum> Also, the terrible secret.
<KreenWarrior> Hello!
<Rand Brittain> What did I tell you, Melum?
<Rand Brittain> You Don't. Cross. The Memes.
<Rand Brittain> Why is it that you don't cross the memes, Melum?
<Melum> Complete protonic reversal?
<Rand Brittain> No.
<Rand Brittain> Because Actuals is why.
<Rand Brittain> Next thing you know we're all lolcats.
<Melum> What's an actual?
<Melum> Longcat.
<ADamiani> Actuals?
<ADamiani> Isn't that the Dreams plot?
<Rand Brittain> Doubtless the Rose Actual is the result of someone combining two memes.
<Rand Brittain> But tonight, there is space.
<Melum> There was space before.
<Melum> Which means tonight there is NOTHING.
<ADamiani> Yay!
- You are now known as HollyhockGod
<KreenWarrior> Hurray for consuming voids!
<Melum> On that note.
- Melum is now known as Immanuel
<ADamiani> … don't go all Dave Sim on us.
- ADamiani is now known as Miranda
- KreenWarrior is now known as Cyrus
<HollyhockGod> Facts about space:
<HollyhockGod> Space is far away.
<HollyhockGod> Space is empty.
<HollyhockGod> (Except for the parts with stuff.)
<Immanuel> Nah, space is all around us.
<HollyhockGod> Space is quite cold.
<HollyhockGod> Yes, but Space is not.
<Immanuel> Except near stars!
<HollyhockGod> And finally, Space is hard to get to.
<HollyhockGod> So it is of note that yesterday saw the final launch of the space shuttle Atlantis.
<Immanuel> I was considering Topology as an estate.
<HollyhockGod> As you wish, Vadne.
<HollyhockGod> Final in the sense that nobody has heard from it since.
<Miranda> Pff. I prefer my space-shuttle launches to be the product of consensual reality.
<Immanuel> I prefer air ships, myself.
<Immanuel> Or, failing that, rail guns.
<Miranda> As long as it's not Atlantis.
<HollyhockGod> Where did Atlantis go? Nobody seems to know, or at least that's what the news tells you if you watch it.
<Miranda> OK. So. As good PCs, we should be investigating this, right?
<Immanuel> …Do we get news in our chancel?
<HollyhockGod> Dan exists, so you do.
<Cyrus> Hurray!
<HollyhockGod> Never fear, I shall give you a reason in good time.
- HollyhockGod weaves his plots and schemes.
<HollyhockGod> In any case, all transmissions from the space shuttle have ceased, and attempts to locate it via telescope have not succeeded.
<Immanuel> Also Hospitality.
<Cyrus> Hospitality has ceased?
<HollyhockGod> Feel free to comment on this as you please while I spool up the entrance of our first plot NPC.
- HollyhockGod draws chalk circles.
<Immanuel> No, as a Power. His wrath is legendary.
<Cyrus> "That's kind of weird. Is there a Noble in charge of that stuff?"
<Miranda> "Huh. Three of them? Apollo managed to make it though the whole program without losing one man in space. AND Gemini. AND Mercury."
<Cyrus> "Shuttles? Space? Exploration?"
<Immanuel> "Is this going to go all Event Horizon? It is, isn't it?"
<HollyhockGod> There is a ring on the red Chancel phone.
<Immanuel> It is dragon-sized.
- Immanuel picks it up
<Immanuel> "Hullo?"
<HollyhockGod> "Greetings, yes," says a worried but sultry voice. "Is Lord Bridges available? This is, um, this is Seeds speaking."
<Immanuel> "Lord Bridges isn't in right now, Lord Fire speaking."
<Immanuel> (Shit, I should've gone with something more colorful like Doge).
<HollyhockGod> "Yes, I, well, I need to find D… Bridges rather quickly. Something has come up that requires his attention."
<Miranda> "Probably, Cyrus. Not us. I hate that stuff. There was a flower rite a long time ago about how tin-foil can't count as a shield because it's not tough, but they need it to keep apart from harm in space… it was a long story, rather soured me on the whole thing…"
<Immanuel> "Well, if you can get a hold of him we'd be quite relieved since he's MIA at the moment."
<Miranda> (<Keanu> DOGE THIS! </Keanu>)
<Immanuel> (It was Trinity actually!)
<HollyhockGod> "I… maybe I should tell you."
<Miranda> (Pedant.)
<Cyrus> "Yes, tell us!" /snoop
<Immanuel> (HOW DARE YOU… oh, yes.)
- Immanuel hushes Cyrus
<HollyhockGod> "Did you hear about the missing space shuttle? There was something of his on it that I… left there, and it's gone missing now, too."
<Immanuel> "I'm on the dragon-phone!"
<Immanuel> "And who is that We're speaking to, may I ask?"
- Immanuel uses the royal We. He rolls like that.
- Lafing Cat has joined #lastmiracle
<HollyhockGod> Dan snatches the phone!
<HollyhockGod> Dan, you need to grab that phone immediately.
<Immanuel> "Careful, Dan; it's strong enough for a man, but made for a dragon."
<Miranda> Plot: Seeds.
<Immanuel> "Oh, Dan just showed up, you're in luck."
- Lafing Cat is now known as Dan
- Dan grabs a phone immediately!
<Immanuel> I was double-checking his story, obviously.
<HollyhockGod> "Oh, Dan," says Moirileen, "I needed to talk to you. Do you remember that baby we made?"
<HollyhockGod> "I've… lost it."
<Dan> "How could I forge… wait, what? Where?"
- Immanuel is trying to eavesdrop, poorly
<HollyhockGod> "Oh, on the space shuttle. You know how it is, it's a convenient way of getting things places."
<HollyhockGod> "But now it seems to have gone missing with our baby on it."
<HollyhockGod> "And I, well, I need your help to find it. Not being able to fly, I mean, which is why I needed a space shuttle in the first place."
<Dan> "You can't contact anyone on the shuttle?"
<HollyhockGod> "No, all transmissions have ceased. Didn't you see the news?"
<HollyhockGod> I assume everyone else is either listening over Dan's shoulder, or possibly has tapped all the Chancel's phone lines?
<Dan> "I've been kind of busy recently, so no."
<Immanuel> Literally over his shoulder in my case.
<Dan> Stop breathing on me. >_>
<Cyrus> Cyrus imbues the sound from the phone with the free-flowing nature of quicksilver, letting it reach his ears!
- Immanuel fist bumps at the mention of flying.
<Immanuel> Claw bumps. Whatever.
<HollyhockGod> "The Atlantis has vanished on its final flight. No traces of it have been seen since, and I don't have any way of finding it."
<Cyrus> (How big is Dragnuel anyways?)
<HollyhockGod> "But you should be able to get up there easily, right?"
<Immanuel> (Fairly large.)
<HollyhockGod> I assume he's the height of an elephant.
<Dan> Not the size of a yeddim?
<Immanuel> (African or Indian?)
<HollyhockGod> Whichever is bigger.
<Immanuel> Indian!
<HollyhockGod> As big as that.
<Cyrus> (Gotcha.)
<Immanuel> http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h61/23Skidoo_2006/6146c713.jpg is hanging over your shoulder
<Cyrus> (Has Immanuel put any thought into becoming an Aaron's Serpent?)
<Immanuel> (I don't know, they don't actually breathe fire, do they?)
<Cyrus> (Presumably no one's going to stop them.)
<Dan> (Did we establish that I could bridge to things I knew what they were, even if I didn't know where they were?)
<HollyhockGod> Well, you know where space is!
<HollyhockGod> You can just let the bridge extend out in front of you to sidestep the range issue.
<Dan> "Anyway, I'll come pick you up. You know where it was last heard from, yes?"
<HollyhockGod> "Yes, I've got all the coordinates for its planned trajectory… and where it was supposed to go on my little errand."
<Miranda> (Isn't it against the code of the Aarons' Serpents?)
<HollyhockGod> Attention, duelists: Dan has set you all up on a group date!
<Dan> "Where were you sending our child anyway?"
<Cyrus> (Hurray!)
<HollyhockGod> You are going to have to babysit his kid so he can get his groove on.
<Cyrus> "Child?"
<HollyhockGod> "Oh, just a little place in the asteroid belt."
- Miranda sits up and folds her paper.
<Cyrus> (Oops, missed that line.)
<Miranda> "Wait, what?"
<Cyrus> (Or I think I thought "baby" was metaphorical.)
<Cyrus> (Whichever it might be!)
- Immanuel wasn't paying attention
<Immanuel> "Did someone say babysit?"
<Dan> "I really would like to be a part of his life, by the way."
<HollyhockGod> "Well, I was going to show them to you once they'd sprouted but… now's a good time, I guess."
<HollyhockGod> "Anyway, talk later. I'll be waiting outside."
<Dan> "All right… and yes, Cyrus, I'm a father."
<Dan> "Well, I was also the mother at the time."
<Dan> "It's one of those complicated things."
<Cyrus> "It… sounds like it."
<Miranda> "What? Dan, you've been a Noble for like… two weeks! You're too young to have kids in weird miraculous ritual ways!"
<Immanuel> "I knew that auction would come back to haunt us."
<HollyhockGod> How many miraculous ritual babies has Miranda had?
- Miranda grinds her teeth, ineffectually.
<HollyhockGod> Immanuel, don't answer that question.
<HollyhockGod> I just don't want to know.
<Immanuel> (All of them.)
<Cyrus> (Her Estate is pretty good for birth control)
- Miranda uses/is protection.
<HollyhockGod> Now! You must solve tonight's A-plot, before Dan loses a baby and we have yet another lingering grief subplot.
<Dan> "I'm making up for lost time, what can I say. Anyway, I'd appreciate your help, but this is technically a personal matter, so I won't be bothered if you don't."
<Dan> (Also, I've been a Noble for like, a month at least. >_> )
<Miranda> (It was hyperbole. I was using Aspect to make it sound shorter than it actually was.)
<Immanuel> (Jeez, are we in comic time? I thought it had been a few months.)
<HollyhockGod> (He's been making good time! He's gone straight from reliquary-hacking geek to goddess-impregnating deity!)
<Cyrus> "Sure, why not, I've got nothing else to do. Been trying to lure a Hound of Tyndalos to capture but it's hard to find the right bait."
<Miranda> "First of all, this is by definition a family matter.
<HollyhockGod> Many pantheons judge your status by that measure alone!
<Miranda> "Secondly—wait, Cyrus, you're luring what?
<Immanuel> "Have you tried a time cube?"
<Cyrus> "I had to leave my pets behind, I'm trying to find new ones."
<HollyhockGod> You can keep Dan's monster baby!
<HollyhockGod> Now, seriously, space.
<Miranda> (Daaaan, porrtaaaaaal.)
- Dan bridges to pick up Moirileen, and then surfs into space on an air-tight turn of the century period bridge!
<Dan> +covered
<HollyhockGod> You are now in space.
<HollyhockGod> There are EXITS to the NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST, UP, and DOWN. You do not see a SPACE SHUTTLE.
<Immanuel> Xyzzy
<HollyhockGod> God mode on.
<Dan> How is this different from normal? >_>
<HollyhockGod> Exactly.
<Cyrus> (Do we have air? Do we need air? *has Hard to Kill 2 and Immutable*)
<HollyhockGod> You don't and you don't.
<HollyhockGod> Obviously there's air in space. How else would angels breathe?
<Immanuel> Get SPACE SHUTTLE WITH POWERZ
<Dan> I do, I think.
<Cyrus> (Hurray!)
<Dan> Hah.
<Cyrus> "So there seems to be a lack of spaceship."
<Miranda> …don't they need air?
<Miranda> …I could have sworn there was a Gift…
<Cyrus> "Is this another illusion?"
<Miranda> "No. This is space. Not, as advertised, the final frontier, but space nonetheless."
<HollyhockGod> Sure, but there's air in space, obviously.
- Immanuel wonders if he should make space a worthy and terrifying opponent.
<Cyrus> "I meant the lack of ship."
<Miranda> Last time you did that you killed the guy.
<Miranda> "No."
<Miranda> "Aether is perfectly breathable, except for about fifteen minutes when they turned it off for Michaelson-Morley."
<HollyhockGod> I'm not giving you more illusions after all the complaining you did last time.
- Dan opens up his laptop and trys to tracert the space shuttle.
<HollyhockGod> I had to buy a new Socratic method after my old one broke.
<HollyhockGod> I don't know what that does, but the space shuttle is over that way, says the computer.
<Immanuel> It was all a dream.
<Miranda> "Dreams aren't illusions either, exactly."
- Dan goes that way, as the computer says.
- Miranda winces, remembering a long-ago ear-chewing-out when she'd made that mistake with Dreams present.
<HollyhockGod> It plots you a convenient course to a pleasant little asteroid with a large cave in it.
<Dan> "Moirileen, is this the asteroid you were sending our child to?"
<HollyhockGod> "…no, this is an awful hole. No plants or anything."
<HollyhockGod> "I had mine all set up for life forms, with furniture and so forth."
<Miranda> "Wait, Moirileen? You had a kid with Moirileen?!"
<Dan> "Why did you think she was here?"
<Miranda> "Sorry. Catching up."
<Miranda> (I missed "bridges to pick up Morileen". *sheepish*)
- Immanuel wonders who named her Moirileen.
<HollyhockGod> "It's kind of what I do," Moirileen points out. "I've had kids with most people. I'd have had a kid with you by now if you weren't so careful about cleaning out your hairbrushes."
<Immanuel> "I don't use hairbrushes."
- Cyrus edges away from the suddenly-creepy lady.
- Miranda smirks, remembering that Cyrus is poisonous to the touch.
<HollyhockGod> She isn't creepy! She just… really likes having magic monster babies.
<Cyrus> (Cyrus is a magic monster baby! He's aware it's creepy!)
<HollyhockGod> "You interest me strangely, zoo-keeper!"
<HollyhockGod> Anyway, there's a cave.
<Dan> (She should also really like bridges now, if that miracle stuck.)
<HollyhockGod> Oh, Dan, what she and you have is something special.
<Dan> Hah.
<Dan> "So, who's up for some spelunking?"
<HollyhockGod> That doesn't change the fact that Cyrus has totally awesome DNA and she absolutely has to make a baby with him.
<HollyhockGod> By stealing his toenail clippings if necessary.
- Cyrus makes sure not to shed any feathers, backed up with Aspect if necessary.
<Miranda> (Does he have actual DNA? Or just one helix of biological gunk and then another half of it a big ineffable white light, inscribed in Enochian?)
<Dan> (Depends on whether we're in the prosaic or the mythic at the time)
<HollyhockGod> She's Seeds. If she can have sex with it, she can have its baby.
<Cyrus> (Probably depends on mythic/prosaic split.)
<HollyhockGod> And probably even if she can't. It's her thing.
<Cyrus> (Makes sense)
<HollyhockGod> Now, investigate!
<HollyhockGod> You've flirted enough!
<Miranda> (We were investigating! Er. After a fashion)
<Cyrus> (So there's a cave?)
<HollyhockGod> There is indeed a cave. And… claw marks.
<HollyhockGod> Immanuel, these claw marks seems draconically familiar. But, um, quite a lot larger than you.
<Immanuel> Oh, dear Me. Space Immanuel?
<Cyrus> "Big brother of yours?"
<Immanuel> "It may be me, from the future. He's here to help."
<Immanuel> (He is not here to help.)
- Miranda rolls her eyes and pulls out a flashlight.
<Immanuel> I have Dragoning 1; do I determine anything useful?
<Miranda> "Oh, come on, you big babies."
<Immanuel> "Says you, woman. We're not all invulnerable, you know."
<HollyhockGod> You determine that this is the lair of a very large dragon.
<HollyhockGod> Doubtless a tremendous hoard rests inside.
<Cyrus> "So the dragon stole the space shuttle?"
<Immanuel> "I'd do it."
<Miranda> "Believe me, there is no-one on this Ash with a more acute consciousness of your intrinsic vulnerability."
<Miranda> "If you want to stay in Venice…"
<Immanuel> "And that is why you will be standing in front as we meander through this no doubt dragon-infested space lair."
<HollyhockGod> Down the tunnel, your keen ears detect a sound.
<Immanuel> Good thing this is dragon-sized, or I'd have to guise to fit.
<HollyhockGod> It is the sound of a mountain-sized dragon having a party with a human-scale person.
<HollyhockGod> You hear the clinking of forks and the sound of things being poured out of bottles.
<Cyrus> "Well sounds non-hostile. Which is probably good."
<Cyrus> "Unless they're toasting our destruction or something."
<Dan> "Only probably?"
<Dan> "Always the optimist."
- Immanuel prods Miranda
<Immanuel> "Fortune favors the bold. Get moving!"
- Miranda advances.
<Miranda> "Fortune doesn't assist the bold, she just favors them in the sense that she feels they're kinda funny."
- Immanuel slinks behind her the way only an Indian-elephant-sized, candy-apple-red Italian dragon can.
<HollyhockGod> You discover:
<Miranda> (I thought you were African-elephant sized?)
<Immanuel> (No, Indian.)
<HollyhockGod> A) The god of all Dragons sitting atop a hoard the size of Asia.
<Immanuel> Since when is there a god of dragons?
<HollyhockGod> B) A young and very drunk fellow sitting at a feast table opposite the dragon and enjoying himself a great deal, bedecked in fancy but slightly askew regalia.
<Immanuel> Also, chromatic or metal? Or gem.
<HollyhockGod> C) The space shuttle Atlantis, sitting atop a mountain of gold.
<HollyhockGod> He's black.
<HollyhockGod> The dragon, not the guy.
<Miranda> (Ahh. I went off of "Whichever is bigger".)
<Immanuel> (Indian is larger.)
<Immanuel> (Pedant. /pedant)
<Dan> (I want a pedant pendant.)
<Immanuel> I immediately challenge him to a game of Choice of the Dragon.
<Immanuel> I'm assuming it's a him. It could be a her. Or an it.
<HollyhockGod> He uses a Domain miracle to cause you to lose.
<Dan> (How young is very young?)
<Immanuel> It's single-player!
<HollyhockGod> The fellow? I suppose he's around Dan's age.
<Cyrus> (He's very good at it!)
<Dan> (Dan's not very young; he's like 36.)
<Immanuel> More importantly, if he's the god of dragons, shouldn't I have his cell number or something?
<HollyhockGod> "Guests!" cries the fellow. "Join us, do!"
<HollyhockGod> (Younger than that, then.)
<Dan> "Is that our son?"
<HollyhockGod> You were not previously aware of a Power of Dragons. Now you know better!
<Immanuel> "Well, I didn't want to tell you like this Dan…"
<Immanuel> This is an outrage!
<HollyhockGod> "…no," Moirileen admits, sizing up the dragon-god for gestation purposes.
<HollyhockGod> "Ours is a bit smaller than that."
<Miranda> (No, the internet confirms that African elephants are larger than the Asian elephants with their wimpy-looking ears)
<Cyrus> "Hello, sir!"
<Dan> "Excuse me, sir, I believe you have my child and I would appreciate his return."
<Miranda> (Can't he take a Wound to resist the Domain miracle?)
<Immanuel> Then I have been deceived.
<HollyhockGod> (I refuse to believe that that exchange actually happened, so no.)
- Immanuel immediately switches the populations of Indian and African elephants to make himself retroactively right.
<HollyhockGod> "NO!" says the dragon-god, instinctively. "WAIT, WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?"
<Immanuel> "Hi."
<HollyhockGod> The other fellow continues to beckon you to the table with a bejeweled rod, inviting you to sit and have some delicious food.
<Immanuel> "Nice Hoard."
<Dan> "My child," Dan says, heading towards the shuttle.
<HollyhockGod> "DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING, TINY THIEF. YOU'VE COME TO STEAL, HAVEN'T YOU?"
<Dan> "I've come for my family."
<Immanuel> "He can make a convincing claim of ownership despite being a deadbeat dad."
<HollyhockGod> "Oh, don't let's go on about thieves," says the other fellow, who takes time to introduce himself in the meantime as Christopher Ebba, Power of the Heavens.
<Cyrus> (Ack, GMPC alert! :P )
<HollyhockGod> No one else will GM my PCs… so I had to!
- Immanuel plays both dragons.
- Dan does not stop moving towards the shuttle.
<HollyhockGod> The dragon-god, ignoring Immanuel's attempt to play him, stretches out a sky's-worth of wing to cover the space shuttle from Dan.
- Dan bridges around the wing.
<Immanuel> (You mean a ceiling. There is no sky here.)
- Miranda nods politely to Christopher.
- Cyrus does the same.
<HollyhockGod> "And this is Eldest Abadon, god of all dragons. Please don't touch the hoard; he dislikes it."
<Cyrus> "Sorry to crash your party. We were just… in space, you know. Like you do."
<Miranda> "Also, you guys did kind of abduct an American icon. Kind like to have that back. Would be nice. Just saying."
<HollyhockGod> "THIEF!" cries the dragon-god. His wing crashes down to break upon Dan's windpipe.
<Immanuel> (Christopher, huh? Are we caught between the Moon and New York City?)
<Miranda> Yeah. I'm shielding the windpipe.
- Dan destroys the ability of local space to connect him and the dragon.
<HollyhockGod> "YOU CANNOT HAVE WHAT IS MINE! ALL MINE!"
<Immanuel> "Greetings; we're the Familia Praxael. We have come in search of one of Dan's by-blows."
- Immanuel says this ignoring the violence about him.
<HollyhockGod> "Please, please don't make an issue of this," says Christopher. "He really can't be reasoned with about the hoard. Now he won't be able to talk sense all night."
<HollyhockGod> "And it was turning out to be quite a good partnership…"
<Immanuel> "Partnership?"
<HollyhockGod> "Well, I asked him to help me steal the space shuttle, since it was so heavy."
<HollyhockGod> "I really didn't mind letting him keep it."
<Miranda> "Why did you steal the space shuttle?"
<HollyhockGod> While you are having this conversation, Dan and the Eldest are playing unstoppable force, immovable object in the background.
<Immanuel> "You stole it because it was heavy?"
<Miranda> "And where are the astronauts?"
<HollyhockGod> "Oh, to destroy the space program, you know. I like to keep the heavens mysterious."
<Miranda> I designate Dan as my shield target.
<Miranda> "Dude, this is the last shuttle, it's over anyhow."
<HollyhockGod> "It was all right to have space travel back when people cared about it, but frankly these days mortals don't give it the respect it deserves. So, I stole it."
<Immanuel> "It was on its final mission, you know. You've probably attracted more attention."
<Cyrus> "What did you do with the people inside?"
<Miranda> "Yes, well… have you harmed the astronauts?"
<HollyhockGod> "I calculated that it would ruin the idea of manned spaceflight for decades."
<HollyhockGod> "What? Astronauts? Oh, those guys. I think I dropped them somewhere. Alberquerque, maybe? I was already pretty drunk."
<Dan> (Is he actually hindering my ability to get into the ship?)
<HollyhockGod> His wings are sky-sized, so it's a problem.
<Miranda> (Dude, Affliction?)
<HollyhockGod> He's knocking your bridges down pretty effortlessly.
<Immanuel> Turn his wings into bridges!
<Dan> (Is he piercing my "I can always find a way" Affliction?)
<Dan> (Oh, I guess that's out, not in.)
<HollyhockGod> A way out.
<Miranda> And he's doing this without actually hitting Dan?
<Dan> (Never mind!)
<HollyhockGod> Sure, I mean, he's got wings big enough to blot the sky.
<HollyhockGod> That's a pretty good tool for Blockade Movement.
<HollyhockGod> And Dan's auto-bridges are only level 4 anyway.
<Miranda> So he's taking Level-5 aspect actions to block Dan?
<HollyhockGod> That's a reasonable conclusion.
<Miranda> Remind me how we turn the sight on?
<Cyrus> (Dragon-Aspect is good Aspect.)
<HollyhockGod> Persona.
<HollyhockGod> Specifically, Persona 0.
<Cyrus> "Was there a baby in the shuttle?"
- Immanuel has 0 Aspect. =*(
<Miranda> Sight on.
<HollyhockGod> Christopher thinks about this. "I… do not recall seeing a baby."
<HollyhockGod> Moirileen interrupts: "It would have looked like a sealed metal box."
<Cyrus> "That's weird… oh, nevermind."
<HollyhockGod> "Oh, well, there were lots of those. Must be the right place."
<HollyhockGod> The Sight confirms that this fellow is a rather large dragon!
<HollyhockGod> Who loves to protect his enormous hoard.
<Miranda> Can't I detect miracle use?
- Immanuel flies up to Abadon's ear.
<HollyhockGod> I don't recall the Sight including the ability to spot exact miracle levels.
<HollyhockGod> Although you can see him as an inveterate shielder.
<HollyhockGod> Bond: Not the hoard. Never the hoard. (5)
<Immanuel> "You know, you're not doing a very good job of showing off Dragonhood in front of the softskins," Immanuel whispers.
<HollyhockGod> "DO NOT SEEK TO PRESUME UPON YOUR FORM, PITIFUL WORM!" roars the Eldest.
<HollyhockGod> "This was such a nice party a minute ago," moans Christopher.
<Miranda> (Not levels, but use.)
<HollyhockGod> I guess?
<HollyhockGod> I mean, you can see he's using miracles just by looking at him.
<HollyhockGod> Mostly the Sight lets you follow distance miracles back to the caster.
- Immanuel is getting angry.
<Immanuel> So, these are Noble-level right? "God" is so vague.
<Cyrus> "Could we trade you something for the shuttle?"
<Miranda> "Right. Christopher, I'm kind of pissed about the shuttle thing as an American, but on the whole, if the astronauts are safe, it's just not my problem and I have much bigger concerns at the moment. However, we need the kid back."
<HollyhockGod> Yeah, he's Power of Dragons.
- Dan puts a Persona miracle on the dragon's wings—they now connect to the shuttle. >_>
<HollyhockGod> The dragon yells something about thieves trying to rob him and then offering gifts, while Christopher says "Well, I certainly don't see why not, but now you've got him riled."
<HollyhockGod> He makes a gesture that indicates that the Eldest is not entirely compos mentis.
- Cyrus is fairly certain he was already riled.
<HollyhockGod> Dan grabs a wing and lets it be his bridge down to the shuttle.
- Immanuel ponders.
<Miranda> "Near as I can tell, this is a mess of your making. So either do something about this, or I guarantee people will find the heavens less awe-inspring."
<Miranda> "You know."
<Miranda> "On their daily commute."
<Miranda> "Through the space-bridge."
<HollyhockGod> The Eldest, seeing this, lets out a breath of lightning to sear Dan.
<Miranda> "OW!"
<Immanuel> "Lightning? Pfeh."
<Miranda> "Fuck!"
<Cyrus> (Could I use a Sacrifice of Mercury to get rid of the hoard's ability to drive him crazy?)
<HollyhockGod> Miranda finds herself electrocuted.
<Immanuel> (How so? And of course not, I'm gonna purify him.)
<Miranda> (I'm assuming that was enough to hurt me but not enough to override redirection.)
<Dan> (Shouldn't there be no path between him and me to breath me? I thought higher miracles only won if they directly conflicted.)
<Immanuel> What a sad display this is.
<Dan> (Breathe on me.)
<HollyhockGod> I don't think anything will override redirection unless they actually try to do that.
<Immanuel> Immanuel is going to try and purify the dragon's mind of his scale cancer or whatever it is that's making him so unreasonable.
<Miranda> (Since he's attacking you, it's a direct conflict)
<HollyhockGod> Your miracle was getting you to the shuttle; his was to flambé you. They don't conflict.
<Miranda> (Electrocute, not flambé)
<Dan> (No, earlier I destroyed local spaces's ability to connect us.)
<Miranda> (We have an answer to "flambé")
<HollyhockGod> It's all the same when you're a pile of ashes.
<HollyhockGod> Anyway, his miracle overrides that one, too.
<Miranda> (It's not the same when you're palling around with the incarnation of flambé.)
<HollyhockGod> Miranda, you can see the Bond on him—his hoard-protecting power is going to be incredible.
<Miranda> Yeah. Christopher had better get off his butt.
- Cyrus points to his earlier question.
- Immanuel , still hovering near the (other) dragon's head, breathes a gout of purifying fire right into his brain.
<Miranda> (Cyrus: you'll need to override the Bond.)
<Miranda> Also, do I take damage?
<HollyhockGod> I don't think it's doing anything, Immanuel.
<Immanuel> Level 7, greater enchantment of purity and burning on my fire breath, strike 2.
<HollyhockGod> Yes, you've got a Deadly Wound.
<Dan> Hrm. I'll pump some DMP into my space destroying miracle, it's now level 7.
<Immanuel> Post-miraculizing?
<HollyhockGod> Between his Affliction of being a raging beast and his hoard-protecting Bond, I'm not sure that that's going to work.
<Miranda> Are you sustaining two miracles at once?
<Immanuel> Well, it's still a gout of flame directly to his frontal lobe…
<HollyhockGod> I think he's using one miracle and sustaining another, although I'm not sure that it's his turn.
<Dan> I'm very unsure how turns are going on.
<HollyhockGod> I suppose there is that.
<HollyhockGod> I shall institute strict turn order!
<Cyrus> (so how does one override a bond? I thought it was afflictions that generated an auctoritas? though I suppose I'd have to overcome that too)
<Dan> Bonds give him free strike and/or mirraculous edge
<HollyhockGod> Afflictions have Auctoritas and generate miracles, and Bonds grant Strike.
<HollyhockGod> The turns shall go: Immanuel/Cyrus/Dan/Miranda/Christopher if he feels like it/Eldest
<HollyhockGod> That said, it is becoming apparent that the Eldest is one scary hoard-guarding mofo.
<Immanuel> Immanuel doesn't afraid of anything.
<HollyhockGod> Possibly not the best at other things, but twinked for that.
<Dan> (Also, aren't Sacrifices instant, rather than something you'd sustain?)
<HollyhockGod> You'd have to sustain it if you want it to keep holding back miraculous attacks.
<Dan> (Ah, gotcha.)
<HollyhockGod> Otherwise it's just a thing, such as can be ignored by miracles.
- Dan nods.
<Dan> Makes sense.
<Miranda> (Miracles don't always ignore things, of course, especially at low levels, but… yeah.)
<HollyhockGod> Anyway, Miranda's tactical Sight reveals his Bond for protecting the hoard, and her having been flambéd indicates that his breath is some kind of Greater Creation of Things That Be Awful.
<HollyhockGod> Quite possibly some kind of Gift.
<Immanuel> I thought he hated Gifts.
<HollyhockGod> I suspects he dislikes Gifts as a second option when robbery was the first one.
<Immanuel> What is he, some kind of lowly mugger?
<Immanuel> Harrumph, breathing fire onto his brain was me trying to avert the violence!
<HollyhockGod> In any case, Miranda's skill at assessing enemies suggests that charging into this one headlong is an excellent way to get killed.
<Cyrus> Makes sense
<Miranda> So, stop charging headlong at this guy.
<Miranda> Although isn't his brain incinerated now?
<HollyhockGod> I suspect it just hurt.
<Immanuel> I was already in position, technically.
<Immanuel> Well, you're The Decider.
<Immanuel> Re: brain roasting?
<HollyhockGod> Let's call it a Deadly Wound saying "My brain is full of hurt."
<Immanuel> Huzzah!
<Cyrus> (so my turn?)
<HollyhockGod> Sure, go ahead.
<Cyrus> Cyrus stares at the dragon, and glows fiercely. He radiates an aura of angelic might! The dragon feels that this is a powerful individual that is worthy of respect. "Look, just give us the shuttle. We are willing to trade for it!"
<Cyrus> (Activating Glorious Gift. Can I activate Friend to Monsters here?)
<HollyhockGod> Dan?
<HollyhockGod> I don't see why not.
<Cyrus> (Okay, I'll do that and spend 3 DMP for 5 Strike, since I don't know what I'm up against)
<Dan> (Which miracles did I actually manage to do, before we switched to firm turns.)
<HollyhockGod> Never mind, let's just let Cyrus resolve this with his angel powers.
- Dan is ok with that.
<HollyhockGod> The Eldest, temporarily mollified by your prettiness, reverts to a low growl, "And what do you offer in return, tiny thief?"
<Dan> (Why do we want the shuttle? I just want my kid.)
- HollyhockGod does not advise fighting against a Power with a deadly offensive Gift and an applicable Bond.
<Cyrus> (Oh right.)
<Cyrus> (Hell, Cyrus will take the spaceship for himself)
<Cyrus> (It's cool!)
- Cyrus tries desperately to think of something.
<Cyrus> "I'm an alchemist. Is there something you'd like me to turn into gold?"
<Dan> ("The sweet loving of Mrs. Seeds.")
- Miranda looks to Christopher.
<HollyhockGod> "Everything."
<Miranda> (Heh. Gold asteroid.)
<Cyrus> (How big a Treasure miracle is it to use the Book of Elixirs to make the asteroid gold? >_>)
<HollyhockGod> …6?
<Immanuel> "Psst. Don't turn the air to gold, thanks."
<Cyrus> "Alright. I'll need a few minutes and for everyone to close their eyes so they don't see my secret techniques! Gold asteroid, coming up!"
- Cyrus does alchemy.
- Immanuel doesn't even pretend to close his eyes.
<HollyhockGod> The secret technique is Use Magic.
<Cyrus> (It's a useful technique!)
<HollyhockGod> The Eldest rolls around a bit on the golden floor, shifting a heap of coins the size of a skyscraper.
<HollyhockGod> "I suppose this is an even trade," he growls.
<Cyrus> "Excellent!"
<HollyhockGod> He tosses the space shuttle at you. You dodge like it ain't no thang.
<HollyhockGod> Nobilis, people!
<Cyrus> *Sacrifices the weight of the spaceship and goes to tug it back home with them*
<HollyhockGod> Moirileen, feeling like she hasn't done much this story, jumps in and retrieves her box.
<Cyrus> "Sweet, I have a spaceship!"
<HollyhockGod> With careful clicks, she opens it to a sound of pressure releasing like boxes do when you open them.
<HollyhockGod> A cloud of pink spores floats out and surrounds her. She strokes them maternally. "Hello, darlings. Did you miss me? Look, it's your daddy!"
- Dan waves, a little weakly.
<Cyrus> (Oh god, parasprites.)
<Cyrus> (We need a banjo!)
<Dan> "They're cute, for monsters. Do they speak?"
<HollyhockGod> "Such pretty babies," Moirileen coos. "They live inside people's hearts and promote the growth of empathy, eventually forming a great chain of beneficial social relationships in which to reside!"
<HollyhockGod> "And sooooooo cute."
<HollyhockGod> "But they only speak the language of love."
<HollyhockGod> This is the most embarassing baby you have ever had.
<Cyrus> "Huh, that sounds pretty cool actually. Do they later burst out of the people's chests or something?"
<Miranda> "You know you ought to return that, right?"
<Cyrus> "Hey, I bought it fair and square!"
- Miranda sticks a thumb at three billion dollars of US government property.
<Miranda> "Trafficking in stolen goods."
<HollyhockGod> "What? That's awful! No, they just promote love and understanding, and possibly promote a line of stuffed animals."
<Dan> It's also the least embarrassing baby I've ever had!
<Cyrus> "Christopher would just steal it again if they sent it out again, right?"
<Cyrus> "So I'm just saving them the bother."
<Dan> "Well, A lot of fathers want their kids to make the world a better place, at least mine are more or less assured to do so."
<Miranda> "Christopher messed with us, I'd rather he have to bother."
<Miranda> "And they won't send it out again, anyhow."
<HollyhockGod> "That's right!" points out Christopher. "You might as well keep it."
- Miranda does her best Harrison Ford. The ark belongs in a museum!
<Miranda> "The ark belongs in a museum!"
<HollyhockGod> "That's why I put it in one!"
<HollyhockGod> "But then you meddling kids came and took it back out!"
<Cyrus> "We can put it in one of our museums. We have those, right?"
<Miranda> "A hoard is not a museum."
- Miranda technically speaking, cares more about thwarting Christopher's plot than the actual disposition of the shuttle.
<Cyrus> "I don't think angels have hoards? We have… panoplies, maybe?"
<Miranda> "Venice has hoards."
<HollyhockGod> Can you even thwart such a lackadaisical plot?
<Cyrus> "Regalia?"
<Dan> Regalia is correct, I believe.
<Immanuel> "Paraphernalia?"
<HollyhockGod> I vote for a compromise plan: SPACE ELEVATOR.
<Dan> As a bridge, I approve of this plan.
<HollyhockGod> It's a bridge, it's an elevator, it's a simple of the magical potential of space.
<Cyrus> "We can always stimulate the space program later if we want."
<Miranda> (He abducted a national symbol! He's like Carmen Sandiego, but with a dragon.)
<Cyrus> (Cyrus just really wants a spaceship. He'll probably park it somewhere and live in it)
- Dan decides to enchant the space shuttle to be a bridge between the space program of the past and that of the future.
<Miranda> (?)
<Dan> (I have no actual plans for that. I just like enchanting things.)
<Cyrus> (It could be a handy thing to have around!)
<HollyhockGod> Honestly, unless somebody else feels like lifting the thing, Cyrus can do what he likes with it.
- Cyrus may well Anchor it later.
- Immanuel eats the space shuttle!
<Cyrus> :(
<Immanuel> No, no, carry on.
<Miranda> "It belongs to somebody. They stole it. You ought to return it."
<HollyhockGod> In any case, I sense that nobody really cares about the space shuttle, so I declare the problem solved.
<HollyhockGod> In some way.
<Immanuel> I think it should be returned actually but am not greatly concerned
<HollyhockGod> Now you must discuss the fate of Dan's spore babies.
<Immanuel> "Well, they're not infesting my heart, I'll tell you that much."
- Cyrus would rather not be infested, and half-suspects this is some plot to steal his DNA.
<Cyrus> If we are out of earshot, Cyrus suggests giving one to the dragon in hopes of improving its attitude
<HollyhockGod> Once I was a Noble
<HollyhockGod> On Earth I'd laugh and play
<HollyhockGod> Then Ms. Moirileen came down and stole my DNA
<HollyhockGod> Then she had my babies
<HollyhockGod> To kill it is their fate
<HollyhockGod> They fly around Creation and they shout EXCRUCIATE
<Dan> Let's raise them properly and then unleash them on Earth. Unless they're already mature. In which case, let's just do the second thing.
<Cyrus> (That was impressive.)
<Miranda> "They're your kids, Dan. It's your decision. And Morileen's, of course."
<Miranda> (I cared more about the space shuttle. :) )
- Cyrus isn't sure what to do with a pleasantly hegemonizing swarm.
- Dan attempts to teach his floating spore kids how to dance in patterns.
<HollyhockGod> Spore dance!
<Miranda> OK, and done?
<HollyhockGod> I think so.
<HollyhockGod> You saved the space shuttle! Kind of!
<HollyhockGod> And Dan had babies.
<HollyhockGod> And Cyrus didn't. Yet.
<Cyrus> Yay!
<Miranda> Yet.
<Dan> I like my kids.
<Dan> I think I'm going to replace one of my Bonds with them.
<Immanuel> I don't; fie on your kids!
- You are now known as Rand Brittain
<Rand Brittain> Dan's kids fly into your heart.
- Miranda is now known as ADamiani
<Rand Brittain> RABU RABU BRIDGE
<ADamiani> Thanks, Rand. That was nice. And plotty.
<ADamiani> Though I totally think we coulda taken 'im
<Immanuel> Ditto.
<Rand Brittain> Some things should be scary even for gods!
<Cyrus> Four on one is hard odds.
<Immanuel> Maybe megalith wasps.
<Rand Brittain> Meanwhile, the Eldest uses Persona to revoke Immanuel's dragon status.
<Cyrus> But we probably would have taken some nasty Wounds doing it
<Immanuel> Don't be absurd, it's an Affliction, Auctoritas!
<Rand Brittain> Sufficiently powerful area attacks are actually probably the best way to kill Miranda.
<Rand Brittain> Because she'll take her own wounds plus other people's.
<Cyrus> Makes sense.
<ADamiani> You only let me actually shield one of them.
<Rand Brittain> That's still dying twice as fast.
<Rand Brittain> Ah, well!
<ADamiani> Only if I don't block the attacks with a shield.
<Rand Brittain> The moral is, don't fight dragons in their lair, because Dragon's Lair Obtenebration.
<Cyrus> It's a pretty cool way to model that!
<Immanuel> He doesn't have Obtenebration. You're thinking of Lasombra.
<Rand Brittain> Next up, hopefully, more Actuals!
<Cyrus> Indeed!
<ADamiani> Yay!
<Immanuel> An Actual what?
<Rand Brittain> Indeed.
<ADamiani> Next week, gentlemen!