LOG: Intrepid Journies: City of Jellyfish - Deep in Shadow
***Begin
On A Beach, The Intrepid Four Gather. Molly, Martin, Morgana and Robin.
Molly appears suddenly, grasping Martin's hand.
Molly has arrived.
RPG: The Trump contact ends.
Martin grins at Molly, "There, you are no longer a trump virgin." he winks.
Martin and Morgana actually came to the beach in a motorboat which is moored off shore. Martin had the foresight to bring a cooler and a couple of beach chairs while they waited for Robin and Molly to call. The sky is constantly changing color, that's the strange part about this world and there are living shells on the beach which move every so often. The beach is pink and grey.
Morgana finds the little shellfish creature on her left hand is getting wobbly, so bends down to release it on the sands.
Molly beams at Martin. "First time for everything!" She starts to look around, a little disoriented.
Robin steps back from Morgana, bows again. "My lady, I am in your debt," he says, still blushing rather intensively. He is somewhat glad to turn toward Molly and greet her: "My lady, a pleasure to have your company once more, if I may say so."
Morgana offers Molly her hand, a look of serene studiousness on her face. "Well met. May I offer you the Selkie's protection?"
Martin nods at Molly, "You did great." He rises out of his chair. "Molly, this is my cousin Lady Morgana, she is a Priestess of Lir. I am not certain you have met."
Molly turns to Robin with a smile. "Master Robin! It's certainly a joy to see you again." She turns to Morgana, taking her hand. "Pleased to meet you. Again, I believe, though it's been a while." She blushes, still smiling. "Oh, I think I've heard of this sort of protection. By all means."
The fissure of magic happens when Morgana's hand touches Molly's. "There," she says, "It is done. I am afraid I am non-traditional in this; I have never kissed anyone who is not family."
Martin grins at Molly, "This will help you to breathe underwater, because where we're going, you'll be glad of it. What we're doing is going to meet with the Cnidarian Ambassador. He wants to meet more 'two legged beasts' before completely signing off and he wanted to meet Morgana when I mentioned her. Their city is quite impressive but I'm afraid we won't have a lot of sightseeing time as Benedict needs this army ASAP."
Robin listens attentively, nodding. "Of course, my lord. I am sure that his Highness is most eager to proceed as soon as is possible."
Molly looks at her hand and wiggles it a little before looking back up at Morgana. "Well, that's perfectly alright, Ma'am. I'm not a stickler for traditions." She turns to Martin. "I understand our priorities. I'm just glad I can help."
Martin explains, "While we shift a bit more, I'll put you two in more comfortable clothing for the deep. I had a thought that we could go down into it in an airtight carriage, kind of like a submarine pulled by whales. Don't worry if you have no clue what I'm talking about. This is tech, it's like what Begma could pull off."
RPG: Martin declares that he has the Adaptive Shifting (PAT-AS) gift:
RPG: Martin declares that he has the Expectations of Form (PAT-EF) gift:
Molly gives Martin a wide-eyed look of wonder and excitement. "I understand pulled by whales!"
Martin tells Robin, Molly and Morgana. "The Cnidarians are not like us, they don't communicate like us. They communicate through use of lights, music and empathy. Now when we go there, it is fairly high biotech so I can provide us with communication equipment but try to be simple when you speak, ok?"
"Simple," Robin echoes. He looks, perhaps, even more uneasy about this than about the whole business of a submarine pulled by whales. "I shall strive to do so, my lord." Presumably he's not striving yet. One may hope, at least.
Molly says, a little twitchy about it, "It's not going to be like there's voices in my head, is it? I've had enough of that to last a while."
Morgana asks Molly, with singular interest, "You've had voices in your head?"
Martin shakes his head, "No, I'll give you something to attach to your ear, it's kind of like an exterior hearing aparatus." He explains. He indicates the boat. "Lets get on the boat to get this show on the road, yeah?"
Molly sighs with relief and nods to Martin. She tells Morgana, "Aye. Twice now. It wasn't pleasant either time."
Robin bobs his head. "Of course, my lord. After you, my lady; my lady."
Morgana nods, and heads along back to the boat, remembering to retrieve her end of the cooler, "I should be very interested to hear more about it," she tells Molly with all due earnestness as she climbs back aboard the boat.
The boat is your typical motorboat. It's fairly lowtech as tech goes but there is definately a motorboat. Once everyone is comfortable Martin directs Molly, "Think you can steer it forward while I shadowshift?" Martin puts one foot on the engine and starts yanking a chord to get it to kick into gear. "Should be enough gas in this thing." he mutters under his breath."
Robin takes a seat, eyeing the whole contraption dubiously. He does not look especially comfortable on the water, and appears somewhat puzzled at the prospect of a boat without either sails or oars. Several times he leans forward to peer over the bow, as if waiting for a whale to surface there at the end of a tether.
Molly follows along after Morgana, giving Robin a little head-duck of a bow. "You would? One of them tried to make me kill someone. I think the other wanted to be friends, but I...got scared and killed it." After boarding the boat she goes forward, feeling her way over the controls. "I think I can manage this."
RPG: Molly challenges a difficulty of 6, using her Wits plus STY-PI BEG-SP. Molly succeeds.
Sputter, Sputter! Vrooooom! The engine starts, the controls don't seem to be that difficult. Martin remembers to pull up the anchor before the start too. He settles down. "Now...uh, not too fast!" he warns. "Don't forget to hold on to something." He mentions to Morgana and Robin.
Robin's certainly doing that. The sound of the motor makes him jump a little, and he glances around quickly before satisfying imself that all is in order. "Is our destination far from here?" he asks, raising his voice just enough to be heart.
Morgana is already holding on. Her knuckles aren't even white!
Molly says to Morgana, speaking back over her shoulder as she settles into steering the vehicle with a huge grin plastered over her face. "I killed the thing that was sending the voices. I can tell you all about it later, if you'd like? But no they didn't seem divine. One was outright evil." Vroom! Whoosh! She now seems utterly enthralled and happy at the vehicle's wheel.
Morgana calls back, "Yes, I should like that. Thank you." Then she ties the shawl around her a bit more securely and gets down out of the wind.
Satisfied that Molly has control of the boat, Martin settles back and lets the wind flap through his hair. "It'll take a few hours at this speed. Don't worry, we've provisions in the boat." He can now concentrate on shadowshifting completely, moving them forward. First things first. He focuses on the clothing alterations. They pass quickly, and Martin is awfully good at keeping control. Pretty soon, both Molly and Robin have wetsuits. The motorboat actually has windprotection so that helps a bit. Martin mentions, "Don't worry, we'll find your other clothes on the way back."
RPG: Martin challenges a difficulty of 6, using his Wits. Martin succeeds.
Robin, if anything, looks even less impressive in a wetsuit, being short and slender to start with and now having his clothes underline that a bit further. His suit does appear to have retained the sunset-red hue of his previous garb. "Very good, my lord!"
Molly glares at Martin. "You'd better get 'em back. Me Mum gave me that coat, and it was my uncle's before a seamonster ate him!"
Once the wetsuits are shifted into existence the world starts to quickly change about you. At first, subtle things change in the sky and water. As you go further into shadow, you notice that the vehicle adapts as the world around becomes less and less familiar. The air seems to get thinner and all of a sudden, you are surrounded by water. Luckily, the boat has an airtight seal that forms over the top when Martin presses a button on a panel near the engine.
Martin is too concentrated on shifting them to answer anything else at the moment. He sweats a little. Martin is so intent on Shadow Shifting that he doesn't notice when a mysterious card falls out of his pocket and skitters to the floor.
A card that looks suspiciously like a tarot card and falls face up. Brand's image on it.
"Martin..." Morgana says, reaching for the card.
Morgana pauses, "Oh." She peers at it.
…See Brand’s Live journal for what happened Next…
Martin eyes the mall people, "er, yah. Lemme get this engine started again." It seems to have died since Brand's appearance. He gets up and puts a foot on the motor so he can yank a chord to pull it to life again.
Brand has left.
Morgana asks, "Couldn't we switch to something that isn't encased in air?" In a way that suggests that would be vastly more comfortable. "A proper carriage, perhaps?" Then with interest, "Have you been in Rebma, Addison?"
Martin nods, "I was working on that when we were moving forward. Molly, lets go forward slowly, get the hell out of this mall." He sits back down as the engine vrooms to life again. "Hi Addy. You stayin?"
Morgana supplies helpfully to Addison, "We are seeking a nation of jellyfish."
Molly 's brow wrinkles at Addison's sadness, and she offers him a little hopeful smile before heading back to the boat's wheel. She says as she turns, "I won't tell Chaz I saw you like this, Addy. In case you wondered."
Addison is still staring at where Brand was and then pulls his eyes away. "Er, yes, sorry. Hullo, Lady Morgana. I was in meetings all day in Rebma. And I think I'll go along to the nation of jellyfish if you don't mind. I mean, I really just meant to ask Martin if he had a giant vacuum cleaner, but now that I'm here..."
Robin says, ever polite, "What a pleasure it is to have your company once more, my lord. I hope that all goes well with you."
The boat starts going forward again and the mall faces start to fall behind them. Martin starts to concentrate again and nods, "I don't have one today, but one could be found, I'm sure. Stick around, there's soda in the cooler."
Addison adds, "But you all have to look at my back now, so I suppose that's punishment for someone."
Morgana wonders, "What did you want with a giant vacuum cleaner?"
**Martin had to disconnect missed part of the log**
Morgana asks Addison, "Are you talking about the pollutants in the Black Water?"
"I am talking about the Soulive Trench," Addison says and he slurps Martin's soda. Slurp. With a slurping noise. Slurp.
The world spins and changes around you quickly now until finally you glide into a small pretty reef bed. Waiting for the party is a posh looking carriage drawn by small whales. It looks far more comfortable than the tiny submarine. It does look like you will have to go out through the manhole in the bottom into the ocean, however.
You are still underwater.
Morgana nods as if this makes tremendous sense. "Oh, good..." she pauses and looks at Addison, offering him, "Take my hand."
Martin takes a deep breath. "There's our ride." He sighs in relief. "We can go at a much liesurely pace in that. We're not far."
Robin is, understandably, reluctant, eyeing the water outside as though it were a hostile predator. "Was this vehicle perhaps dispatched for us by our hosts, then, my lord?" he asks, slightly puzzled.
Addison attempts to drain the soda at boy speeds with one hand while taking Morgana's hand with the other.
Morgana explains to Addison with a fissure of magic, "It is the Selkie's kiss... but without the traditional touch of lips."
"Yeah," Addison does it around the mouth of the can, "Mostyn has done this to me before a few times."
Morgana nods her hand, and withdraws her hand.
Martin nods, "Yes, they did." to Robin. He smiles at Molly, "You are an awesome driver, you doing ok?"
Morgana murmurs, "And it is done." Gladly, she heads for the ocean outside the submarine.
Molly looks out at the carriage and the whales. She puts her hands out against the submarines's enclosement and leans to get a better looks. She's almost giddy. She turns back to and asks, "How long does that last anyway, Lady Morgana? Is mine still fresh on me?"
Morgana says, "So long as you are with me, plus one day."
"Very good, my lord," Robin says, somewhat distractedly. With Morgana departing, he certainly is not about to let a Lady go out on her own, and he follows her, although the observant might note that he is holding his breath.
Morgana turns and smiles over her shoulder, leading the way out, "You have nothing to fear from the water itself."
The easiest way out, of course is through the manhole in the bottom.
Morgana is already out! And looks quite like the fish-back-in-water. She makes her way to the carriage.
Addison dives after Morgana through the manhole. He's dressed for underwater travel, and he is starting to get the hang of this water thing. He is no where near as graceful as she is, but it does the job.
Molly says to Martin, "Thanks. I'm doing fine. I needed this!" She turns towards the manhole, looks at it, shrugs, and follows along.
Martin abandons the submarine and follows the rest to the posh looking carriage.
The whales don't have reins. Martin scratches his head. One of the whales looks back at them as though waiting impatiently.
Morgana settles into her seat, looking at the whales as pleasantly as one looks at newly-met companions.
Robin is almost completely lacking in underwater grace, but he soldiers on without complaint. It does take him a bit to loosen up enough to breathe, but one can only go without for so long.
Morgana waits for Robin to gain confidence in her breathing and asks him, "Have you ever done much diving before?"
Martin stays near Molly to guide her to a comfort zone underwater.
Addison squishes next to Morgana in the carriage. Squish. Perhaps way too close in the carriage space-limited space.
Molly seems entirely surprised when she does not drown horribly. She then allows Martin to hurry her into the carriage, so as not to upset the impatient whale, as it just does not do to have a whale angry with you.
"No, my lady," Robin says, politely. "My only experience previous to this was quite brief, I fear. I do not swim well."
Morgana asks, "Experience underwater or experience breathing water?"
Morgana may be ever-so-slightly surprised to hear Robin has never done much diving, despite his evident discomfort.
Once everyone is settled the whales take off! There are what appears to be some kind of seatbelt to strap one into the carriage to stop you from floating off.
Addison messes with the little weird holy symbol he is wearing around his neck before he lets it drop and yawns and enormous Addison yawn.
Morgana is all properly strapped in, with the easy grace of nobility born to ride in such carriages, watching with interest outside the carriage, and not seeming to mind a little Addison-squishing. "What is that around your neck, Addison?" She wonders.
Robin admits, "Both, my lady. I was once a guest of the Ambassador and the Lady Ula at the Embassy, if you will excuse my saying so."
The first thing that you notice as the whales take off is that they do indeed seem to know exactly where they are going. The world is so blue! So very blue and unpolluted and such brilliant colors! The scenery is fantastic and everything is big and spongy. Schools of fish swim by in their happy go-lucky way. You are carefully pulled through the water in such a way that it might be the whales are purposely moving to let you sight see the beauty of this world. In the distance you start to see a lot of different colors flashing about in the sea, but once you get closer, you start to notice that those colors are attached to the bulbous heads of the most beautiful jellyfish you have ever seen. Swarms of them just flittering about here and there. Then suddenly the whales dive you down through into a deeper area of the ocean through the colorful jellies as they blink different colors at you.
Martin fishes something out of his pocket. "Here." He gives one to each party member. It is a little slimy looking slug like centipede. Its legs are kind of sticky. Put this up near your ear. "It will help you communicate." He explains. Down, down,down you go, perhaps he's just trying to distract you.
Addison nabs the little AUM between two fingers and peers at it. "It's called an AUM. It symbolizes the ultimate infinite reality of the entire universe made of creation, preservation and destruction."
Morgana gazes at Addison, thoughtfully, with something very personal in her gaze. "I hope we may speak soon, alone, Addison," she murmurs. But she quiets to take in the scenery.
Molly gets snagged by the yawn, and follows suit, stiffling her yawn behind spread fingers. She asks, "What sort of person is Lady Ula, Master Robin? I was supposed to speak with her on..." She trails off, "On something that doesn't matter anymore." She looks to Addison, waiting for his answer to Morgana, but turns and takes the little slug from Martin, looking at it curiously.
Morgana takes her slug and does as directed with absolute faith.
Addison peers at the worm. He then dangles it over his open mouth like he's going to eat it for a moment. The worm twitches between his fingers.
"She is, as you might expect, a fine and gracious lady," Robin says, examining the slug curiously before fitting it to his ear. He emits a small strangled shriek when the tentacle part becomes evident, and thereafter is quick to apologize: "I beg your pardon. I had not expected that."
As you slow down you see the big balloon like structures in the chasm below. They are bulbous and huge just like the heads of jellyfish but clearly structures not living. You are coming to a slow stop to a ram where there is something waiting for you. Something decidedly not so pleasant looking that the pretty swarms of fish above. This creature has a huge bulbous head that is moonshaped and nearly translucent blue jelly. It is encased in some kind of moving coral armor and one of its 100 foot long tentacles is wrapped around a trident. What might be curious is that the huge creature has a symbol of Lir dangling from its armor. Male or female, who can tell?
There is a simple call as its head becomes a bright blue color, "GUESTS!" it booms out.
Addison stuffs the insect in his ear and makes a face belying his opinion on sticking worms in his ears.
Martin says, "You see a giant this In Armor with a trident "pics.livejournal.com/rta_martin/pic/0001d2bq/s320x320""
Molly momentarily watches Addison apparently tormenting his communication device before putting the slug to her ear and turning to Robin. "Oh, I'm certain she is. Undoubtedly."
Martin mentions... "I think that's him. Er. Remember. Simple words."
Morgana murmurs, "She is, indeed, a fine and gracious lady..." She peers.
Addison peers at the armoured jelly fish and then says, "Cor... how interesting is that!"
Molly gawks. "I...Oh! Oh, my! And...so blue!"
"Simple words. As you say, my lord," Robin says. "Ought we not to greet him?"
The whales set you down on the ramp and it is easy to swim off of the carriage. Martin unhooks himself and gives the Ambassador a bow. "Ambassador, it is Martin, and I have friends."
The Jellyfish booms out. "Friends? Not Food?"
Martin nods. "Er. Friends." he motions to his companions. "Come."
Morgana comes forward once motioned forward.
Molly echoes, she can't stop herself and it comes out in a squeak, "Not Food!" She moves forward. Hesitantly.
Addison repeats after Molly, "Not food! I hardly have any meat on me at all. Which you can actually see for once!"
Robin waits until the others have disembarked before doing so himself. "Hello!" he says to the large armoured jellyfish, speaking slowly and loudly.
The Jellyfish peers at Morgana. "Lir." he says once. "Is Lir here?" he asks Martin in a deep voice that might not be translated very well through the strange biocreatures. His armor shifts and moves as he does.
Martin points at Morgana, "Morgana, Priestess. Rebma" to Addison, "Addison. Knight. Begma" to Robin, "Robin, Knight. Lyonesse", "Molly, Lady. Begma." he looks to the Ambassador. "All live to protect Rebma and Amber. To be friends as we said."
The jellyfish's tentacles crackle through the water, some kind of electric light.
The jellyfish floats in the water, looming. "Tasty Friends" comes out of the translation. His bulbous head flashes little colors. They are warm and friendly colors.
Addison peers at the Jellyfish with great curiosity. The sort of Begman curiosity that ends with something exploding.
Morgana speaks up then, "Lir is here, for Here is the Sea."
The jellyfish is very interested in Morgana suddenly. "The Sea is Lir. You speak to Sea?"
Morgana steps forward, "I speak to Lir in prayer, and He answers in dreams."
A tentacle flips out and seems to float near Addison and at the same time, another near Molly. "Begma. What is this?" It's hard to tell if it is actually looking at anyone in particular.
Robin, for the time being, remains quiet. Watching and listening, rather than speaking up.
More of them can be seen in the distance now, as their bulbous head starts to light up in the sea. Before they weren't curious. Now... they start to come forward.
Molly cheerfully watches the electric crackling. Until the jellyfish calls them 'tasty'. Then she whimpers very softly. She looks at Addison, expecting the Actual Begman to be better able to answer the Jelly's question.
Suddenly switching attention back to Morgana it intones, "Speak to the Sea." as though he expects her to do so now. Another tentacle finds its way to Robin.
Addison clears his throat and says, "The Republic of Begma is my home. It's a... er... it's a land of great tall buildings and great airships from far away."
Jellyfish asks, "What is Air?"
Morgana considers the great Jellyfish, then says, "I will pray. What do you pray for?"
Jellyfish says to Morgana, "Food. Life."
Morgana nods, and asks, "Friendship?"
Morgana adds, "Unity?"
Robin, although he's obviously nervous and uneasy, is careful not to shy away from the jellyfish's tentacle. "Hello," he repeats, and, "Friend."
Addison thinks. That is a good question to ask, actually. "It is like... very very very thin water that people can breathe. But above the water. Outside of it."
There is a pause, "Friends. Yes. Enemies around us. Eat young." it sounds almost sad. "You." it says to Robin. "What is Lyon..." it can't say the rest of it.
Molly offers, "Air makes bubbles?"
Robin says, in the same slow-and-clearly-enunciated manner, "Lyonesse. It is my home."
Morgana tells the jellyfish, "I will pray." But she seems to mean to let the others finish introducing themselves first. "After hello to friends."
As the jellyfish speaks you see that it changes colors from time to time emmitting emotion perhaps with each word spoken. There is also a kind of sing song to its words. "Begma. Lyon..ess. Rebma. Amber. Friends. Not Food. Pray." to Morgana, "I pray with you."
Addison does not pray.
Martin keeps quiet as if he knew the Jellyfish would be terribly interested in Morgana.
Molly at least gives silent thanks that the Jelly admits they aren't food.
The tentacles just float around you, crackling every so often. They don't touch you but if you look closely it looks like they are tiny barbed wires in there.
Morgana lifts her chin then, and speaks, "Father Lir. Thank you for your Gifts. For the Sea. We seek the Signs. We seek peace and unity with Your people...." Her sentences are simple and brief, with pauses in between.
Morgana continues, "... We have come from far away. From Rebma, land of Lir's Chosen, to meet these noble people. Your people. They fear the stranger who hunts the young. We feel the dark creatures who hurt us and our friends. Let us be one. In our hearts. In our faith."
The Jellyfish becomes a soft blue as Morgana speaks. "Lir. Lir. The Sea Father. We protect." Its tentacles start to fall away from the party, not so close and threatening. "Martin. Martin asks for us. We come. For Lir." It seems to move a little closer to Morgana but then stops as though not wishing to hurt her though it seems to want to touch her with its tentacles.
Martin tries to mouth, "No touch!"
Morgana concludes, heartfelt, "Thank you, for bringing us to these far-flung brethren in faith. Amen." She needs no warning. She smiles at the jelly and holds her hands open before her in the supplication to prayer, but closes them together at the 'amen'.
You hear a gentle music in the current, some weird notes from the others that are still at a distance. It can't be translated but is no less beautiful.
The jellyfish moves up a tentacle towards Morgana's hand as though it means to touch her hands, not yet touching.
Morgana cannot join in the words, perhaps, but raises her voice to sing -- wordless, she finds the notes though not the meaning except in spirit. Her voice is as pure as her faith, though not particularly trained.
Robin remains quite still; he isn't about to reach out to the tentacles, although he is striving as best he can not to shy away from them, either. This looks to be somewhat difficult for him.
Addison is standing there, arms crossed (for he has no pockets at the moment), and watching what is going on.
Martin stands near Addison. Everything seems to be going ok. At least, no one has tried to eat them yet.
Molly starts looking at the tentacle that floats near her while Morgana prays and sings. She watches it sway and float there, and it must be entirely too tempting for her, and for some reason that may not be clear even to her, she reaches out to touch it, one gently questing finger. Her hand jerks back hard and she bites down on what is quite clearly a strong string of curses. She tucks the hand between her knees and groans.
The Jellyfish says. "Lir is praised. 100 will go, fight. Led by command. I go, to speak for we. Plege to Blood of Lir. Deep Queen."
Addison looks a little alarmed when Molly hurts herself and asks, "Mol? What's up?"
Morgana nods, "My Mother's Sister. Martin's Mother's Mother. The Deep Queen. Daughter of the Daughter of the Daughter of Lir."
"Blood of Lir, Sea father." The Jellyfish bellows. "Rebma, Amber, Lyon .. ess. Begma! Welcome." He swivels his great bulbous gelatin head all around.
Molly looks up to Addison, guilt all over her face. And pain. "Well, I went and touched a bloody jellyfish, didn't I?" She mutters, shaking her hand out and narrowly avoiding sticking her fingers into her mouth. "It was pretty, and I was curious." She chuckles a little through gritted teeth.
Addison reaches out to give Molly a friendly consoling hug before he remembers he is not wearing a shirt. "And I believe they are galvanic in their way."
Martin nods, he seems happy with the number. That's like getting 100 giants.
***Robin had to disconnect. But he stays with us until the End IC. He is Robinly.***
Molly grins at Addison, automatically hugging a bit before the awkwardness of the situation strikes her. "Seems like galvanics, aye! But that alone wouldn't have hurt this much."
Morgana asks the one they are talking to, "What is your name?"
Addison pulls away from his school chum's wife. "I'm not much of an expert in all things jellyfish, not really knowing much about them. But clearly they are not to be mucked with."
The Jellyfish speaks a highpitched sound, like many sea creatures would In answer to Morgana's question about his name.
Martin says, "I suspect that does not translate down to Joe."
Molly grins at Addison. "Seem's we're getting our effort's worth, though. Ouch, this smarts!"
Morgana asks the jellyfish, "Will you be ready to follow Martin on the long journey home?"
The Jellyfish says, "Yes. Follow Blood of Lir to Deep Queen."
Morgana says, "I will see when you come. I will bless the host of one hundred."
Addison just watches, now separate from Molly, and folds his arms over his chest again.
Lights flash blue in the Jellyfish's head, indicating contentment. "Come. Soon."
Morgana nods, "Yes." She smiles, "Many will pray with us."
**And End
On A Beach, The Intrepid Four Gather. Molly, Martin, Morgana and Robin.
Molly appears suddenly, grasping Martin's hand.
Molly has arrived.
RPG: The Trump contact ends.
Martin grins at Molly, "There, you are no longer a trump virgin." he winks.
Martin and Morgana actually came to the beach in a motorboat which is moored off shore. Martin had the foresight to bring a cooler and a couple of beach chairs while they waited for Robin and Molly to call. The sky is constantly changing color, that's the strange part about this world and there are living shells on the beach which move every so often. The beach is pink and grey.
Morgana finds the little shellfish creature on her left hand is getting wobbly, so bends down to release it on the sands.
Molly beams at Martin. "First time for everything!" She starts to look around, a little disoriented.
Robin steps back from Morgana, bows again. "My lady, I am in your debt," he says, still blushing rather intensively. He is somewhat glad to turn toward Molly and greet her: "My lady, a pleasure to have your company once more, if I may say so."
Morgana offers Molly her hand, a look of serene studiousness on her face. "Well met. May I offer you the Selkie's protection?"
Martin nods at Molly, "You did great." He rises out of his chair. "Molly, this is my cousin Lady Morgana, she is a Priestess of Lir. I am not certain you have met."
Molly turns to Robin with a smile. "Master Robin! It's certainly a joy to see you again." She turns to Morgana, taking her hand. "Pleased to meet you. Again, I believe, though it's been a while." She blushes, still smiling. "Oh, I think I've heard of this sort of protection. By all means."
The fissure of magic happens when Morgana's hand touches Molly's. "There," she says, "It is done. I am afraid I am non-traditional in this; I have never kissed anyone who is not family."
Martin grins at Molly, "This will help you to breathe underwater, because where we're going, you'll be glad of it. What we're doing is going to meet with the Cnidarian Ambassador. He wants to meet more 'two legged beasts' before completely signing off and he wanted to meet Morgana when I mentioned her. Their city is quite impressive but I'm afraid we won't have a lot of sightseeing time as Benedict needs this army ASAP."
Robin listens attentively, nodding. "Of course, my lord. I am sure that his Highness is most eager to proceed as soon as is possible."
Molly looks at her hand and wiggles it a little before looking back up at Morgana. "Well, that's perfectly alright, Ma'am. I'm not a stickler for traditions." She turns to Martin. "I understand our priorities. I'm just glad I can help."
Martin explains, "While we shift a bit more, I'll put you two in more comfortable clothing for the deep. I had a thought that we could go down into it in an airtight carriage, kind of like a submarine pulled by whales. Don't worry if you have no clue what I'm talking about. This is tech, it's like what Begma could pull off."
RPG: Martin declares that he has the Adaptive Shifting (PAT-AS) gift:
RPG: Martin declares that he has the Expectations of Form (PAT-EF) gift:
Molly gives Martin a wide-eyed look of wonder and excitement. "I understand pulled by whales!"
Martin tells Robin, Molly and Morgana. "The Cnidarians are not like us, they don't communicate like us. They communicate through use of lights, music and empathy. Now when we go there, it is fairly high biotech so I can provide us with communication equipment but try to be simple when you speak, ok?"
"Simple," Robin echoes. He looks, perhaps, even more uneasy about this than about the whole business of a submarine pulled by whales. "I shall strive to do so, my lord." Presumably he's not striving yet. One may hope, at least.
Molly says, a little twitchy about it, "It's not going to be like there's voices in my head, is it? I've had enough of that to last a while."
Morgana asks Molly, with singular interest, "You've had voices in your head?"
Martin shakes his head, "No, I'll give you something to attach to your ear, it's kind of like an exterior hearing aparatus." He explains. He indicates the boat. "Lets get on the boat to get this show on the road, yeah?"
Molly sighs with relief and nods to Martin. She tells Morgana, "Aye. Twice now. It wasn't pleasant either time."
Robin bobs his head. "Of course, my lord. After you, my lady; my lady."
Morgana nods, and heads along back to the boat, remembering to retrieve her end of the cooler, "I should be very interested to hear more about it," she tells Molly with all due earnestness as she climbs back aboard the boat.
The boat is your typical motorboat. It's fairly lowtech as tech goes but there is definately a motorboat. Once everyone is comfortable Martin directs Molly, "Think you can steer it forward while I shadowshift?" Martin puts one foot on the engine and starts yanking a chord to get it to kick into gear. "Should be enough gas in this thing." he mutters under his breath."
Robin takes a seat, eyeing the whole contraption dubiously. He does not look especially comfortable on the water, and appears somewhat puzzled at the prospect of a boat without either sails or oars. Several times he leans forward to peer over the bow, as if waiting for a whale to surface there at the end of a tether.
Molly follows along after Morgana, giving Robin a little head-duck of a bow. "You would? One of them tried to make me kill someone. I think the other wanted to be friends, but I...got scared and killed it." After boarding the boat she goes forward, feeling her way over the controls. "I think I can manage this."
RPG: Molly challenges a difficulty of 6, using her Wits plus STY-PI BEG-SP. Molly succeeds.
Sputter, Sputter! Vrooooom! The engine starts, the controls don't seem to be that difficult. Martin remembers to pull up the anchor before the start too. He settles down. "Now...uh, not too fast!" he warns. "Don't forget to hold on to something." He mentions to Morgana and Robin.
Robin's certainly doing that. The sound of the motor makes him jump a little, and he glances around quickly before satisfying imself that all is in order. "Is our destination far from here?" he asks, raising his voice just enough to be heart.
Morgana is already holding on. Her knuckles aren't even white!
Molly says to Morgana, speaking back over her shoulder as she settles into steering the vehicle with a huge grin plastered over her face. "I killed the thing that was sending the voices. I can tell you all about it later, if you'd like? But no they didn't seem divine. One was outright evil." Vroom! Whoosh! She now seems utterly enthralled and happy at the vehicle's wheel.
Morgana calls back, "Yes, I should like that. Thank you." Then she ties the shawl around her a bit more securely and gets down out of the wind.
Satisfied that Molly has control of the boat, Martin settles back and lets the wind flap through his hair. "It'll take a few hours at this speed. Don't worry, we've provisions in the boat." He can now concentrate on shadowshifting completely, moving them forward. First things first. He focuses on the clothing alterations. They pass quickly, and Martin is awfully good at keeping control. Pretty soon, both Molly and Robin have wetsuits. The motorboat actually has windprotection so that helps a bit. Martin mentions, "Don't worry, we'll find your other clothes on the way back."
RPG: Martin challenges a difficulty of 6, using his Wits. Martin succeeds.
Robin, if anything, looks even less impressive in a wetsuit, being short and slender to start with and now having his clothes underline that a bit further. His suit does appear to have retained the sunset-red hue of his previous garb. "Very good, my lord!"
Molly glares at Martin. "You'd better get 'em back. Me Mum gave me that coat, and it was my uncle's before a seamonster ate him!"
Once the wetsuits are shifted into existence the world starts to quickly change about you. At first, subtle things change in the sky and water. As you go further into shadow, you notice that the vehicle adapts as the world around becomes less and less familiar. The air seems to get thinner and all of a sudden, you are surrounded by water. Luckily, the boat has an airtight seal that forms over the top when Martin presses a button on a panel near the engine.
Martin is too concentrated on shifting them to answer anything else at the moment. He sweats a little. Martin is so intent on Shadow Shifting that he doesn't notice when a mysterious card falls out of his pocket and skitters to the floor.
A card that looks suspiciously like a tarot card and falls face up. Brand's image on it.
"Martin..." Morgana says, reaching for the card.
Morgana pauses, "Oh." She peers at it.
…See Brand’s Live journal for what happened Next…
Martin eyes the mall people, "er, yah. Lemme get this engine started again." It seems to have died since Brand's appearance. He gets up and puts a foot on the motor so he can yank a chord to pull it to life again.
Brand has left.
Morgana asks, "Couldn't we switch to something that isn't encased in air?" In a way that suggests that would be vastly more comfortable. "A proper carriage, perhaps?" Then with interest, "Have you been in Rebma, Addison?"
Martin nods, "I was working on that when we were moving forward. Molly, lets go forward slowly, get the hell out of this mall." He sits back down as the engine vrooms to life again. "Hi Addy. You stayin?"
Morgana supplies helpfully to Addison, "We are seeking a nation of jellyfish."
Molly 's brow wrinkles at Addison's sadness, and she offers him a little hopeful smile before heading back to the boat's wheel. She says as she turns, "I won't tell Chaz I saw you like this, Addy. In case you wondered."
Addison is still staring at where Brand was and then pulls his eyes away. "Er, yes, sorry. Hullo, Lady Morgana. I was in meetings all day in Rebma. And I think I'll go along to the nation of jellyfish if you don't mind. I mean, I really just meant to ask Martin if he had a giant vacuum cleaner, but now that I'm here..."
Robin says, ever polite, "What a pleasure it is to have your company once more, my lord. I hope that all goes well with you."
The boat starts going forward again and the mall faces start to fall behind them. Martin starts to concentrate again and nods, "I don't have one today, but one could be found, I'm sure. Stick around, there's soda in the cooler."
Addison adds, "But you all have to look at my back now, so I suppose that's punishment for someone."
Morgana wonders, "What did you want with a giant vacuum cleaner?"
**Martin had to disconnect missed part of the log**
Morgana asks Addison, "Are you talking about the pollutants in the Black Water?"
"I am talking about the Soulive Trench," Addison says and he slurps Martin's soda. Slurp. With a slurping noise. Slurp.
The world spins and changes around you quickly now until finally you glide into a small pretty reef bed. Waiting for the party is a posh looking carriage drawn by small whales. It looks far more comfortable than the tiny submarine. It does look like you will have to go out through the manhole in the bottom into the ocean, however.
You are still underwater.
Morgana nods as if this makes tremendous sense. "Oh, good..." she pauses and looks at Addison, offering him, "Take my hand."
Martin takes a deep breath. "There's our ride." He sighs in relief. "We can go at a much liesurely pace in that. We're not far."
Robin is, understandably, reluctant, eyeing the water outside as though it were a hostile predator. "Was this vehicle perhaps dispatched for us by our hosts, then, my lord?" he asks, slightly puzzled.
Addison attempts to drain the soda at boy speeds with one hand while taking Morgana's hand with the other.
Morgana explains to Addison with a fissure of magic, "It is the Selkie's kiss... but without the traditional touch of lips."
"Yeah," Addison does it around the mouth of the can, "Mostyn has done this to me before a few times."
Morgana nods her hand, and withdraws her hand.
Martin nods, "Yes, they did." to Robin. He smiles at Molly, "You are an awesome driver, you doing ok?"
Morgana murmurs, "And it is done." Gladly, she heads for the ocean outside the submarine.
Molly looks out at the carriage and the whales. She puts her hands out against the submarines's enclosement and leans to get a better looks. She's almost giddy. She turns back to and asks, "How long does that last anyway, Lady Morgana? Is mine still fresh on me?"
Morgana says, "So long as you are with me, plus one day."
"Very good, my lord," Robin says, somewhat distractedly. With Morgana departing, he certainly is not about to let a Lady go out on her own, and he follows her, although the observant might note that he is holding his breath.
Morgana turns and smiles over her shoulder, leading the way out, "You have nothing to fear from the water itself."
The easiest way out, of course is through the manhole in the bottom.
Morgana is already out! And looks quite like the fish-back-in-water. She makes her way to the carriage.
Addison dives after Morgana through the manhole. He's dressed for underwater travel, and he is starting to get the hang of this water thing. He is no where near as graceful as she is, but it does the job.
Molly says to Martin, "Thanks. I'm doing fine. I needed this!" She turns towards the manhole, looks at it, shrugs, and follows along.
Martin abandons the submarine and follows the rest to the posh looking carriage.
The whales don't have reins. Martin scratches his head. One of the whales looks back at them as though waiting impatiently.
Morgana settles into her seat, looking at the whales as pleasantly as one looks at newly-met companions.
Robin is almost completely lacking in underwater grace, but he soldiers on without complaint. It does take him a bit to loosen up enough to breathe, but one can only go without for so long.
Morgana waits for Robin to gain confidence in her breathing and asks him, "Have you ever done much diving before?"
Martin stays near Molly to guide her to a comfort zone underwater.
Addison squishes next to Morgana in the carriage. Squish. Perhaps way too close in the carriage space-limited space.
Molly seems entirely surprised when she does not drown horribly. She then allows Martin to hurry her into the carriage, so as not to upset the impatient whale, as it just does not do to have a whale angry with you.
"No, my lady," Robin says, politely. "My only experience previous to this was quite brief, I fear. I do not swim well."
Morgana asks, "Experience underwater or experience breathing water?"
Morgana may be ever-so-slightly surprised to hear Robin has never done much diving, despite his evident discomfort.
Once everyone is settled the whales take off! There are what appears to be some kind of seatbelt to strap one into the carriage to stop you from floating off.
Addison messes with the little weird holy symbol he is wearing around his neck before he lets it drop and yawns and enormous Addison yawn.
Morgana is all properly strapped in, with the easy grace of nobility born to ride in such carriages, watching with interest outside the carriage, and not seeming to mind a little Addison-squishing. "What is that around your neck, Addison?" She wonders.
Robin admits, "Both, my lady. I was once a guest of the Ambassador and the Lady Ula at the Embassy, if you will excuse my saying so."
The first thing that you notice as the whales take off is that they do indeed seem to know exactly where they are going. The world is so blue! So very blue and unpolluted and such brilliant colors! The scenery is fantastic and everything is big and spongy. Schools of fish swim by in their happy go-lucky way. You are carefully pulled through the water in such a way that it might be the whales are purposely moving to let you sight see the beauty of this world. In the distance you start to see a lot of different colors flashing about in the sea, but once you get closer, you start to notice that those colors are attached to the bulbous heads of the most beautiful jellyfish you have ever seen. Swarms of them just flittering about here and there. Then suddenly the whales dive you down through into a deeper area of the ocean through the colorful jellies as they blink different colors at you.
Martin fishes something out of his pocket. "Here." He gives one to each party member. It is a little slimy looking slug like centipede. Its legs are kind of sticky. Put this up near your ear. "It will help you communicate." He explains. Down, down,down you go, perhaps he's just trying to distract you.
Addison nabs the little AUM between two fingers and peers at it. "It's called an AUM. It symbolizes the ultimate infinite reality of the entire universe made of creation, preservation and destruction."
Morgana gazes at Addison, thoughtfully, with something very personal in her gaze. "I hope we may speak soon, alone, Addison," she murmurs. But she quiets to take in the scenery.
Molly gets snagged by the yawn, and follows suit, stiffling her yawn behind spread fingers. She asks, "What sort of person is Lady Ula, Master Robin? I was supposed to speak with her on..." She trails off, "On something that doesn't matter anymore." She looks to Addison, waiting for his answer to Morgana, but turns and takes the little slug from Martin, looking at it curiously.
Morgana takes her slug and does as directed with absolute faith.
Addison peers at the worm. He then dangles it over his open mouth like he's going to eat it for a moment. The worm twitches between his fingers.
"She is, as you might expect, a fine and gracious lady," Robin says, examining the slug curiously before fitting it to his ear. He emits a small strangled shriek when the tentacle part becomes evident, and thereafter is quick to apologize: "I beg your pardon. I had not expected that."
As you slow down you see the big balloon like structures in the chasm below. They are bulbous and huge just like the heads of jellyfish but clearly structures not living. You are coming to a slow stop to a ram where there is something waiting for you. Something decidedly not so pleasant looking that the pretty swarms of fish above. This creature has a huge bulbous head that is moonshaped and nearly translucent blue jelly. It is encased in some kind of moving coral armor and one of its 100 foot long tentacles is wrapped around a trident. What might be curious is that the huge creature has a symbol of Lir dangling from its armor. Male or female, who can tell?
There is a simple call as its head becomes a bright blue color, "GUESTS!" it booms out.
Addison stuffs the insect in his ear and makes a face belying his opinion on sticking worms in his ears.
Martin says, "You see a giant this In Armor with a trident "pics.livejournal.com/rta_martin/pic/0001d2bq/s320x320""
Molly momentarily watches Addison apparently tormenting his communication device before putting the slug to her ear and turning to Robin. "Oh, I'm certain she is. Undoubtedly."
Martin mentions... "I think that's him. Er. Remember. Simple words."
Morgana murmurs, "She is, indeed, a fine and gracious lady..." She peers.
Addison peers at the armoured jelly fish and then says, "Cor... how interesting is that!"
Molly gawks. "I...Oh! Oh, my! And...so blue!"
"Simple words. As you say, my lord," Robin says. "Ought we not to greet him?"
The whales set you down on the ramp and it is easy to swim off of the carriage. Martin unhooks himself and gives the Ambassador a bow. "Ambassador, it is Martin, and I have friends."
The Jellyfish booms out. "Friends? Not Food?"
Martin nods. "Er. Friends." he motions to his companions. "Come."
Morgana comes forward once motioned forward.
Molly echoes, she can't stop herself and it comes out in a squeak, "Not Food!" She moves forward. Hesitantly.
Addison repeats after Molly, "Not food! I hardly have any meat on me at all. Which you can actually see for once!"
Robin waits until the others have disembarked before doing so himself. "Hello!" he says to the large armoured jellyfish, speaking slowly and loudly.
The Jellyfish peers at Morgana. "Lir." he says once. "Is Lir here?" he asks Martin in a deep voice that might not be translated very well through the strange biocreatures. His armor shifts and moves as he does.
Martin points at Morgana, "Morgana, Priestess. Rebma" to Addison, "Addison. Knight. Begma" to Robin, "Robin, Knight. Lyonesse", "Molly, Lady. Begma." he looks to the Ambassador. "All live to protect Rebma and Amber. To be friends as we said."
The jellyfish's tentacles crackle through the water, some kind of electric light.
The jellyfish floats in the water, looming. "Tasty Friends" comes out of the translation. His bulbous head flashes little colors. They are warm and friendly colors.
Addison peers at the Jellyfish with great curiosity. The sort of Begman curiosity that ends with something exploding.
Morgana speaks up then, "Lir is here, for Here is the Sea."
The jellyfish is very interested in Morgana suddenly. "The Sea is Lir. You speak to Sea?"
Morgana steps forward, "I speak to Lir in prayer, and He answers in dreams."
A tentacle flips out and seems to float near Addison and at the same time, another near Molly. "Begma. What is this?" It's hard to tell if it is actually looking at anyone in particular.
Robin, for the time being, remains quiet. Watching and listening, rather than speaking up.
More of them can be seen in the distance now, as their bulbous head starts to light up in the sea. Before they weren't curious. Now... they start to come forward.
Molly cheerfully watches the electric crackling. Until the jellyfish calls them 'tasty'. Then she whimpers very softly. She looks at Addison, expecting the Actual Begman to be better able to answer the Jelly's question.
Suddenly switching attention back to Morgana it intones, "Speak to the Sea." as though he expects her to do so now. Another tentacle finds its way to Robin.
Addison clears his throat and says, "The Republic of Begma is my home. It's a... er... it's a land of great tall buildings and great airships from far away."
Jellyfish asks, "What is Air?"
Morgana considers the great Jellyfish, then says, "I will pray. What do you pray for?"
Jellyfish says to Morgana, "Food. Life."
Morgana nods, and asks, "Friendship?"
Morgana adds, "Unity?"
Robin, although he's obviously nervous and uneasy, is careful not to shy away from the jellyfish's tentacle. "Hello," he repeats, and, "Friend."
Addison thinks. That is a good question to ask, actually. "It is like... very very very thin water that people can breathe. But above the water. Outside of it."
There is a pause, "Friends. Yes. Enemies around us. Eat young." it sounds almost sad. "You." it says to Robin. "What is Lyon..." it can't say the rest of it.
Molly offers, "Air makes bubbles?"
Robin says, in the same slow-and-clearly-enunciated manner, "Lyonesse. It is my home."
Morgana tells the jellyfish, "I will pray." But she seems to mean to let the others finish introducing themselves first. "After hello to friends."
As the jellyfish speaks you see that it changes colors from time to time emmitting emotion perhaps with each word spoken. There is also a kind of sing song to its words. "Begma. Lyon..ess. Rebma. Amber. Friends. Not Food. Pray." to Morgana, "I pray with you."
Addison does not pray.
Martin keeps quiet as if he knew the Jellyfish would be terribly interested in Morgana.
Molly at least gives silent thanks that the Jelly admits they aren't food.
The tentacles just float around you, crackling every so often. They don't touch you but if you look closely it looks like they are tiny barbed wires in there.
Morgana lifts her chin then, and speaks, "Father Lir. Thank you for your Gifts. For the Sea. We seek the Signs. We seek peace and unity with Your people...." Her sentences are simple and brief, with pauses in between.
Morgana continues, "... We have come from far away. From Rebma, land of Lir's Chosen, to meet these noble people. Your people. They fear the stranger who hunts the young. We feel the dark creatures who hurt us and our friends. Let us be one. In our hearts. In our faith."
The Jellyfish becomes a soft blue as Morgana speaks. "Lir. Lir. The Sea Father. We protect." Its tentacles start to fall away from the party, not so close and threatening. "Martin. Martin asks for us. We come. For Lir." It seems to move a little closer to Morgana but then stops as though not wishing to hurt her though it seems to want to touch her with its tentacles.
Martin tries to mouth, "No touch!"
Morgana concludes, heartfelt, "Thank you, for bringing us to these far-flung brethren in faith. Amen." She needs no warning. She smiles at the jelly and holds her hands open before her in the supplication to prayer, but closes them together at the 'amen'.
You hear a gentle music in the current, some weird notes from the others that are still at a distance. It can't be translated but is no less beautiful.
The jellyfish moves up a tentacle towards Morgana's hand as though it means to touch her hands, not yet touching.
Morgana cannot join in the words, perhaps, but raises her voice to sing -- wordless, she finds the notes though not the meaning except in spirit. Her voice is as pure as her faith, though not particularly trained.
Robin remains quite still; he isn't about to reach out to the tentacles, although he is striving as best he can not to shy away from them, either. This looks to be somewhat difficult for him.
Addison is standing there, arms crossed (for he has no pockets at the moment), and watching what is going on.
Martin stands near Addison. Everything seems to be going ok. At least, no one has tried to eat them yet.
Molly starts looking at the tentacle that floats near her while Morgana prays and sings. She watches it sway and float there, and it must be entirely too tempting for her, and for some reason that may not be clear even to her, she reaches out to touch it, one gently questing finger. Her hand jerks back hard and she bites down on what is quite clearly a strong string of curses. She tucks the hand between her knees and groans.
The Jellyfish says. "Lir is praised. 100 will go, fight. Led by command. I go, to speak for we. Plege to Blood of Lir. Deep Queen."
Addison looks a little alarmed when Molly hurts herself and asks, "Mol? What's up?"
Morgana nods, "My Mother's Sister. Martin's Mother's Mother. The Deep Queen. Daughter of the Daughter of the Daughter of Lir."
"Blood of Lir, Sea father." The Jellyfish bellows. "Rebma, Amber, Lyon .. ess. Begma! Welcome." He swivels his great bulbous gelatin head all around.
Molly looks up to Addison, guilt all over her face. And pain. "Well, I went and touched a bloody jellyfish, didn't I?" She mutters, shaking her hand out and narrowly avoiding sticking her fingers into her mouth. "It was pretty, and I was curious." She chuckles a little through gritted teeth.
Addison reaches out to give Molly a friendly consoling hug before he remembers he is not wearing a shirt. "And I believe they are galvanic in their way."
Martin nods, he seems happy with the number. That's like getting 100 giants.
***Robin had to disconnect. But he stays with us until the End IC. He is Robinly.***
Molly grins at Addison, automatically hugging a bit before the awkwardness of the situation strikes her. "Seems like galvanics, aye! But that alone wouldn't have hurt this much."
Morgana asks the one they are talking to, "What is your name?"
Addison pulls away from his school chum's wife. "I'm not much of an expert in all things jellyfish, not really knowing much about them. But clearly they are not to be mucked with."
The Jellyfish speaks a highpitched sound, like many sea creatures would In answer to Morgana's question about his name.
Martin says, "I suspect that does not translate down to Joe."
Molly grins at Addison. "Seem's we're getting our effort's worth, though. Ouch, this smarts!"
Morgana asks the jellyfish, "Will you be ready to follow Martin on the long journey home?"
The Jellyfish says, "Yes. Follow Blood of Lir to Deep Queen."
Morgana says, "I will see when you come. I will bless the host of one hundred."
Addison just watches, now separate from Molly, and folds his arms over his chest again.
Lights flash blue in the Jellyfish's head, indicating contentment. "Come. Soon."
Morgana nods, "Yes." She smiles, "Many will pray with us."
**And End