text / un: starkov

[peasant]

the good news first: rhys and i found the princess of kilnan in the castle and woke her. she's with us right now. the castle was designed to protect her against her mother's soldiers trying to force her back home, which is why it's been so tricky. it's meant to alert remi — her uncle, and the wizard we came looking for — to any unwanted guests, which would be us.

the reason he hasn't come to greet us is that he's asleep. aureliah — the princess — should be able to talk her uncle down before he throws us all out into the mud. he's trapped behind an entrance sam's group found, but aureliah should be able to unseal its magic.

i think more of us should be there when it's opened, just in case something goes wrong with the orb.

the bad news: the orb's name is phyllie. remi made a deal with her and fed his own arcane energy to her in exchange for curing a curse that was placed on aureliah and her mother, but something went wrong during remi's bargain and that energy was transferred from the orb to aureliah instead. that's the reason she has her uncle's magic, and why her mother is so eager to use her daughter as a weapon against kilnan's neighboring countries.

the queen thinks kilnan will be better protected if she can force her daughter to learn war magic. it sounds like remi has been searching through dimensions to find the "right world" (for him and aureliah to hide? we don't know what he meant) but the orb has been draining him of his energy.

from what aureliah said, he feeds "phyllie" monthly. the princess and i think that's the price he's chosen to pay for keeping the curse at bay.

the worst news: i don't know what will happen if we break the bargain remi has made, but i'm sure it can't possibly be anything good. aureliah's life force was given to her by the orb, and the wizard who cast the curse in the first place was killed in the war. so that's a dead end, but maybe someone has a better solution we can offer remi once he's awake.

[ as per this npc thread! feel free to threadjack and hop around threads here to your hearts' content. ♥ ]

Comments

Text. un: Sabriel.Abhorsen

[bindsthedead]

How long has he been sleeping? We might need to wake him up soon, in order to avoid the Orb trying to feed on the mages among us- it's tried to feed on one of our number already.

As for the curse... We have several magic-users among our number, we COULD try to lift it ourselves. Especially if Remi explains how it works.

[peasant]

he wouldn't let aureliah fall under a sleeping sickness if he was awake, so — weeks? i'm not sure. when we found aureliah's footsteps, they looked old. it's not unusual for remi to sleep for days, apparently, but this doesn't sound like his usual pattern.

have you worked with curses before? all i know about this one is that it was meant to kill aureliah in childbirth to prevent the queen from having an heir.

text; un: stardust

[shadysided]

What if

[There's hesitation, partly from lack of speaking up before now; she's used to being quiet around big crowds, anyway. But also, because she's not sure how others will react to her saying her knee jerk reaction.]

What if we feed the orb something from us instead, in exchange for letting this girl and wizard go free from its deal with them?

We do those stupid personal goals so we can use the orb's power later.

Maybe some of us can give up that power to even the scales a little.

[peasant]

i haven't known many people willing to give up power to save someone else.

[ it's a similar idea to what alina had posed to the princess, only — alina isn't so sure she can trust most people as far as she can throw them. certainly not where surrendering power is involved, either. ]

text; un: s.wilson

[unclesam]

yeah, everyone better be on board with the fact that we're not sacrificing the girl to get shit done.

so, we gotta wake the wizard. our own were able to replicate magic from gyeongje. maybe they can help lift the curse. maybe we can dripfeed the disco ball little morsels from a lot of people to buy ourselves some time, if necessary. maybe that'd be a long term solution to buy the people here free and keep the girl alive and safe, too.

text; un: Sabriel.Abhorsen

[bindsthedead]

I don't think it's a viable long term solution- if only because Remi will need to cede ownership in order for Viveca to get us out of here. If that happens, his bargain will be terminated- so we need a solution that doesn't involve it continuing indefinitely.

text; un: eleven

[savingthrows]

I talked to it. a little. I can try again.

[ Hesitation. Then: ]

I can feed it. but it wants a lot.

[peasant]

i'm not so sure that's safe. what if it doesn't let you go this time? what happens if we can't wake you up from whatever sleeping spell it's causing? you shouldn't have to put yourself in danger.

[ after a stilted pause, ]

there are a lot of powerful people here. we could feed it our own energy, but ... i'm worried what will happen if the orb grows stronger because of us.

text; un: finn

[hatejakku]

I'll be there.

I'm not sure feeding it is the best idea. It looks like it could have seriously hurt Eleven. But if we have to, I'll try to help with that, too. If we can just get it back to the station, maybe the Commander and Viveca will know how to take better care of it.

[ And he kind of wants to contact Alina privately to get a head start on a plan to protect the Princess from everyone else in case things head south but... he's trying to lean on trust here. ]

[peasant]

thank you, finn.

if we're being honest, i think trying to feed from people is what it's doing now with the sleeping sickness. that would explain why we've all been dragged into those strange dreams, wouldn't it? and if an entire country isn't enough to feed it ... i don't know how much it would take before it's satisfied.

too much, i think.

text ↪ un: 朱

[blackfire]

（ brb, the nosy infomoddy spy asshole is just availing himself of the rest of these public conversations, la de da. ）

Is there anything that would prohibit Remi and Aureliah from coming with us on our return to the station? It may be an attractive option beyond the scope of his customary powers if hiding is truly his intention. Perhaps it is something we could offer them, should everyone agree.

（ the orb would then, necessarily, come along for the ride given its bond to remi and the princess.

alternatively: kill the queen. but he isn't going to say that publicly — if he were to decide that stood as the best course of action, he would simply find a way to do it. or so he thinks, because #ninjashit. ）

text

[bindsthedead]

We're not in control of the station's teleport mechanism and can't talk to Viveca while we're away from the station. There's also the problem that we're teleported back only when we've truly taken possession of the Orb.

Also, given the station is meant to contain the orb and keep anyone from using it, I think it's likely that there are safeguards designed to keep unauthorized people out that we don't know about.

text. un: barnes.

[starer]

The orbs want to be a whole. They're more powerful that way. So we make another deal.

The orb gets to come back and be with the ones we've already got. In exchange, it needs to guarantee the safety of Aureliah and Remi. Find them somewhere her mom can't reach.

[peasant]

honestly, that's the best idea we've had so far. i think you're onto something.
do you think the orb will really agree to those terms, though? after what it did to eleven ...
it sounds like it's more preoccupied with taking whatever it can from us.

[spacedisaster]

I think this is the best plan of action. Feeding it ourselves will only cause troubles in the long run for everyone, it's not sustainable.

I still have my potion, if you need it. As for her mom...are we sure the Queen is still alive? I'd say this place has been abandoned for years.

un: aragaki

[petsthedog]

he's lookin for somewhere to run to with his niece right
what if he just joins us
the station'll take them away from kilnan
and then he can help us find the other orbs too
the kid can stay safe on the station in the meantime

that way we ain't gotta worry about messin with the deals

[peasant]

but what happens when he has to relinquish the orb?
he will have to, eventually, for it to be used to undo our regrets. i don't think viveca would let us bring them onboard otherwise

[ there's always the possibility of not using this orb for their own regrets at all, in this case — a possibility she's more than fine with, but one she knows better to voice on a public network. ]

text; un: kozuki.oden

[hannyas]

if she doesn't want to go home then she shouldn't have to!! we have to make sure of that! what if she wants to go and see the world... worlds? with her uncle? shouldn't we help them with that?

[ today on: all the stuff about arcane energy is too much for yamato who skips all of that in favour of deciding that anyone who wants to escape their shitty parents is Valid and should be supported

but also: ]

back home, some powerful swords can suck the energy out of you if you're not stronger than them. what if we just train the princess so she's stronger than the orb and it can't take anything back?

[ there are good ideas on this post... and then there's this. ]

[peasant]

[ oh... this is so impassioned it's difficult to ever doubt its sincerity. alina is strangely endeared. ]

thank you, that's what i said.
i promised her she wouldn't have to go back. if we can find somewhere for her to be safe, we can lead her and remi there.

[ as for the rest of it: ]

remi has been training her in using magic. does that count?
i'm not sure we have to time to make her even stronger than she is. we would be stuck here for months.

text; un: alenko

[majorbiotic]

I think we're all in agreement that whatever we decide to do, Remi and the princess need to get out of this alive. This can't go the same way as the first mission.

I think a lot of people have said this too, but getting Remi awake is the best first step in this. If we have to feed the damn orb to make that happen, we'll work something out between everyone who has powers. I volunteer.

[peasant]

as long as you're sure about volunteering.
i've seen what it did to eleven when she tried to reach out to it.
with enough of us there to feed it, we might not run into that same problem.

Text | Un: Star-Lord

[spacedisaster]

[ There's so much going on and the lack of decent sleep plus being constantly on edge is doing Peter no favors. This whole mess with the orb reminds him far too much of Ego for his own liking. But he tries to appreciate Alina's efforts before giving his opinion. ]

Ey Alina, great job discovering all this information, I'm sure it wasn't easy.

I think Bucky's idea is the most sound. The orb wants to be whole after all, and being together with the others means it's not going to run out of power.

Trying to collectively give it power is an ill decision, the orb takes more than we can give, and it's not sustainable even as a short-term solution. It will only mean more people in danger and the orb getting stronger, probably demanding more power or more deals.

This castle has been abandoned for more than just a few weeks, if you ask me. Do we even know if the Queen is still alive?

[peasant]

it wasn't too difficult. and i had help.

[ will she ever learn the art of accepting compliments? not likely. ]

the queen has been sending soldiers and something called dreamwalkers to try to take aureliah. now, whether she's still even awake ... i don't have an answer for that.

the orb takes more than one person can give on their own. as a team, we might actually stand a chance.

text; un: majortom

[winscenario]

I'm sure I'm just parroting what everyone else has said so far, but using anyone in our group to feed the orb isn't a good solution. It's what Remi's been doing and look how things are, around here.

I agree with Bucky's suggestion; strike a new bargain with the orb, offer to take it back to the station to be reunited with the other orbs, if in exchange it will let Remi and Aureliah go free. Sacrificing them just so we can get our hands on the orb just isn't an option, and I'm fairly sure most people in our group will agree with that.

So there has to be a middle ground. We have something the orb wants. Surely if Viveca and the Commander have managed to store the other orbs, they must be able to store this one safely too. Though this does raise the important question on how many orbs can we gather until they're too powerful for any of us to be able to keep them under control.

That said: I'm not magical, I have no powers or abilities to help with that. But as long as one of our goals is to ensure the safety of Remi and Aureliah, then I'll help however I can. If an extra pair of hands will help, then I can be next to that entrance along with everyone else.

[peasant]

the way i see it, having an extra pair of hands certainly can't hurt anything. if the orb is this hungry and searching for more energy, i'm worried about what it might do if the princess gets too close.

i know it's not the most exciting duty, but i would appreciate it if you could keep an eye on her. just in case.

as for the rest of it ... yelena tried asking if it wants to be whole, and its answer was "not yet". it keeps insisting on being fed. we might have to sweeten the deal more than offering it a place among the other orbs we've collected.

text; un: mccoy

[homeostatic]

I'm with Jim. We're not sacrificing Remi and Aureliah, and neither are we sacrificing anyone else.

That said, if folks are going back in, they're gonna need a way out. This "Phyllie" could take the mass presence of trapped orbers in its near vicinity as an invitation to a buffet.

We also need a method to coordinate between those sleeping and those of us that remain awake, if we plan to try and wake this wizard at the same time. Has anyone made actual contact with him, yet?

[savingthrows]

I couldn't reach the wizard, but I could reach... phyllie. if I can take them through the void... I could be with them, but not sleeping. I could talk to the sleepers and the people who are awake.

text; un: kovacs

[kovach]

Of course the orbs have names now.

[ these things keep getting more personalized with every mission. the magic aspect isn't much in his territory, but he can at least grasp the priorities in this. ]

Last time, when Cheri tried to use the orb on me, it wouldn't let her. Wouldn't lay a metaphorical hand on me. As long as some deal's in place, it honors it.

But, at the same time, it had a deal with Cheri and it didn't follow through on one command because it interfered in its deal with us, which means ours triumphs whatever it's got going on elsewhere.

There's a chance, if someone talks to the orb, to use that to our advantage. Ball might be more in our court than we realize. Use that to keep the kid from getting hurt too.

[laviny]

This one is absolutely willing to attack us, though.

text | un: goodvibes

[aurable]

I spoke to Remi.

[ short and to the point ]

I might have an idea.

[peasant]

you did?

[ embarrassed by her surprised parroting, she quickly fires off: ]

how? no one has been able to get past that door yet.
i'm listening, though. any idea you and remi came up with is worth trying.

text; un: p.derolo

[whitestonelives]

I have an idea.

I have a cloak that can absorb and store magic. What if we charge the cloak with powerful magic - any sort of powerful arcane energy - and I discharge it to feed the orb?

[peasant]

if we combine drift's sword and your cloak, maybe the energy will be enough to return what was given to aureliah. did you have anyone in mind for charging it?