Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Stran Tannish]

In the third floor study of Stran Tannish, the magus pores over various tomes and folios, searching for the proper ritual incantations he needs. The floor is littered with discarded papers, and has many different ritual circles drawn on it already. He rubs his head and gulps tea that has long since gone cold, but continues in his research, knowing how important the results may be.

Downstairs, 12 year-old Serin Tannish practices his lessons with the assistance of his 9 year-old sister Carya, while their mother looks on. The little girl giggles uncontrollably as she floats through the air under the direction of her older brother. He sets her down gently on the plush carpet, and their mother lets out an audible sigh of relief; even though she's watched Serin exercise incredible control over his levitations many times over the last few years. He seems like a natural, and his talents grow every day.

Next door, in the training warehouse, Winks sits behind the bar. On the polished wood surface in front of him, lays a wicked looking curved dagger. A single tear makes its way down his green-gray cheek as he rests his hand on the carved handle of the weapon.

Out in the woods of the Grove, the dark elf Ret'indall stalks unseen through the foliage, tracking some of the most dangerous of prey. The demonic presence in the Domain has diminished - not least because of the drow's efforts - but is still in existence. Leading with his two swords, Ret follows tracks he'd found the day before, but nearly trips over an object he almost didn't notice until too late. Looking down, he sees buried in the soft earth what seems like a large golden plate. Sheathing his weapons, he pulls it out, careful not to cut his hands on the sharp edges, and realizes it has a very familiar, triangular shape...

[Tor]

The communications crystal in Stran's pocket chimes and a polite female voice asks, "NQS Headquarters to Master Tannish. Incoming portal request from Tor Savit. Will you authorize?"

[Stran Tannish]

Stran looks up from his studies at the sound from the communicator, and pulls it out of a pocket in his robe. "Sure, he can come through. A short break might be nice." He closes the tome he was perusing and waits for his friend's arrival.

[Tor]

A blue ringed portal opens a few feet from Stran and on the other side can be seen a comfortable, wood paneled office. Tor steps through a moment later and the portal closes behind him. Smiling warmly at his friend, Tor extends his hand, "Hi Stran! I figured since you were leading the research on the upcoming ritual, I would offer my help."

[Stran Tannish]

"'Leading' is a strong way to put it. More like doing all of it myself so far. A few people have offered their assistance, but not much has come of it. I do hope that you'd be able to help at least a little." Stran stands up from his desk and takes Tor's hand with a tired smile. "I've been consulting all the sources I can find on forms of magical and spiritual containment; however none of them seem to be strong enough to extend the existing ritual surrounding the ghost rock, let alone make the prison permanent. I'm not doing so great."

He points at his empty teacup, and it changes into a large stein which fills with ale. The Godot looks up at Tor, asking with a look if he'd also like a drink.

[Tor]

"Well, I'm on board and I'll do whatever you need me to." Tor politely declines the offer of a drink and begins pacing, a look of concentration on his face. "I'll admit I'm not the best at this ritual thing. Where I'm from we don't need rituals to do things. But I have done quite a few since I've been here. Have you looked in to demon containment rituals? Oh, and I know there are some for binding a force in to an object. Maybe one of those would be a good start point." His face lights up with an idea. "If we just want to re-do what we did last cycle, Zane has a recording of it. We can see if that can help."

He resumes his pacing, "We should get Andromache involved, she might be a good source of info and it always helps to have a Delphi on hand. Not sure if Daniel McCullin will help or if we want him involved. Lexi Gardae might be a good one to involve as well. Oh! And we might need those stupid crystals that were floating around at the last big gathering. Shamus might know more about where they got off to."

He grins a bit sheepishly, "Sorry, I tend to go in to rapid-fire thought mode when something like this comes along." A bit more seriously, he says "I still think the simplest answer is to will the Ghost Rock out of the Nexus. It's only here and effecting us because we let it do so. We bend the reality of this place to our wills all the time, we just need to do it as a collective this time."

[Stran Tannish]

"The problem with getting everyone to just will it out is that not everyone will want to. Danny is one example, as are Vlad and Randall. They helped last time, sure, but it was grudgingly. Also, not everyone can even wrap their heads around the concept of simply willing something to be or not to be, especially newer Avatars; and for something like this we need one hundred percent cooperation."

He takes a drink from his stein and sweeps his gaze over the various books and loose pages around his desk. "To be honest, I think the fewer people directly working on the ritual, the better. As the saying goes, too many cooks spoil the soup. Since you're not altogether familiar with rituals just let me tell you, the same principle applies here. I do like and appreciate help, but as I told Echo the other day, more in terms of resources than in actual assistance. As someone who's dealt very much with containing the forces of chaos, I'm taking this very seriously. And yes, I've considered demon-containment and energy binding. I keep coming up with the same results: not quite strong enough for what we need....maybe there's just something I'm missing."

[The Chaos Wolf]

...As someone who's dealt very much with containing the forces of chaos, I'm taking this very seriously...

At these words, a howl full of menace can be heard by most Avatars in the nexus, and particularly this domain...

[Stran Tannish]

The howl echoes throughout the Grove. Stran looks as if he's forcibly pushed back in his seat, and brings his hands up to cover his ears with a grimace of pain written on his face. When he forces his eyes open, the gold in his pupils is visibly shining and radiating outward.

Downstairs, Serin and Carya both cry out in pain and collapse on the floor. Stran's wife, Cressida, runs to her children and gathers them up, cradling them as if they were still newborns.

Nextdoor Winks jumps in fear at the sound, grabbing up his dagger and taking cover behind the bar.

Ret'indall, the drow, drops the large golden scale he'd been holding onto when he hears the howl. Drawing both swords, he turns in a complete circle, surveying his surroundings for any sign of the source of the howl. His keen senses tell him that all of the animals in the area have gone silent, terrified of whatever that thing was. What he sees a moment later chills him to the bone, and he immediately turns and takes off running, making no more noise than any other natural animal in the Grove. He'd been hunting them for months, but he's not fool enough to think that he alone can confront an entire demonic horde such as the one he just witnessed materializing deeper in the woods...

[Tor]

At these words, a howl full of menace can be heard by most Avatars in the nexus, and particularly this domain...

As the howl begins, Tor's Voidwalker spawns from nowhere to hover protectively over him. Tor's eyes narrow and his lip curls in to a sneer. Rather curtly he says, "You will excuse me, Stran. I'll be back soon." A nearby shadow reaches out and engulfs the Tocsin and his pet and they are gone.

[Stran Tannish]

Stran Tannish doesn't even notice Tor's departure. As the echoes of the wolf howl fade away, he finally pries his hands away from his ears and regains control of himself. The golden glow still radiating from his eyes, the mage's gaze turns to the open doorway to his study as he hears his children's cries from downstairs. Muttering a single word under his breath, he vanishes from behind his desk...

...and reappears in the living room standing over the rest of his family. He kneels down and puts his strong arms around them, rocking his children back and forth until their sobs recede. He meets his wife, Cressida's eyes, and she flinches slightly at the intensity of the glow that she sees there. After a moment, though, she nods to her husband. The two of them gently pull the children apart, and Cressida leads their daughter, Carya, into another room. Stran and Serin both stand, and with another muttered word they both disappear...

...and materialize next door in the training warehouse. Winks pokes his head over the bar, and sees the head of Godot with his hand proudly on his twelve-year-old son's shoulder. The goblin sticks his newly recovered dagger in his boot, and comes around to stand with them. Stran looks down at his son, then walks over to a large cabinet to the side, which opens at a gesture from the mage. Suspended in the center is a sheathed longsword, 5 gems twinkling in the crosspiece. He buckles the sword to his belt, picks up a satchel that was also in the cabinet, and walks back to Serin and Winks.

"Son, I've watched your talent in magic grow very quickly these last few years. You're on your way to becoming very powerful, and now it's time for you to begin putting your talents to a true test. You need to start helping Winks, Ret, the render and myself in defending our home here against the demons that we all know are still out there. That howl we heard was something from the Nexus that draws its power from chaos, just as the demons do, and you can be sure that they responded to it as well. The best way for you to help, is to use tools suited to your particular abilities."

He hands the satchel to Serin, who opens it and peers inside. A confused look passes over the boy's face, but quickly passes, to be replaced by a large smile. He slings the satchel over his shoulder and reaches inside with both hands to pull out two large metal spheres. Closing his eyes in concentration, the two spheres float out of his hands and begin circling around him. He lowers his hands and opens his eyes, and dozens of smaller spheres float out of the open satchel each taking up their own orbit around the boy. Stran looks at his son with pride written on his features.