654/Falling into the Multiverse

Falling into the Multiverse
Date of Scene:	22 September 2014
Location:	Nyahmaas
Synopsis:	A new world has announced its presence to the multiverse at large and has invited noteables from all corners to come and see what they have to offer in hopes of gaining allies.
Cast of Characters:	11, 307, Blurr, 541, 560

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Marrik (541) has posed:
    The city of Wilhelm was young enough that technically it hasn't been completed; but it had been decided that the Concord could not afford to wait any longer, and so it had been made open to the rest of the Multiverse. Its main street, paved with cobblestones, was emptied of the usual traffic, relegating people who actually lived here to take winding back ways or to cut through the unfinished outskirts to get to where they needed to be. After all just because representatives from several apparently major guilds are waiting to see these people from 'out there' doesn't mean the whole town can grind to a halt.
    If any show curiosity the people both in uniform acting as guards stationed along the main road and the crowd itself seem to follow European lines with a majority of the grown men wearing beards of one form or another. Their clothes, varied in color and style, mostly settling on a Napoleonic feel, seem well enough off that either the poor are being kept away or the general quality of life is quite well in spite of the countryside's lackluster appearance. The mood seems upbeat even with the major disruption to traffic. The observant may note shinki sized creatures, tiny people dressed in little tunics flying around on dragonfly wings, flitting here and there both through the crowd and to the people in uniform. Curious, and possibly important, or maybe not.
    Past an octagonal obelisk at the center of the central plaza was a three story building that, if not the town's capitol, looked important enough to deserve not only the dozen uniformed types lined up out front, but also six people standing just in front of the main entryway wearing nearly identical black cloaks. If anyone bothered the only real difference other than cut to accommodate the wearer's body type was that each wore a different clasp; a stylized flame, water droplet, gemstone, wavy white lines to represent wind, a green leaf, and a bronze gear.
    Standing slightly in front of the robed group was a man dressed in a white three piece suit trimmed in gold. His hair, what little of it remained, along with his neatly trimmed beard were as grey as his eyes and he gave a kind smile as those that answered the call were lead in his direction. Those that decided to explore a little seemed to be allowed a little leeway but given the open path, guards, and waiting notables it would seem rude to outright ignore them.
    The first test the locals seemed to have; if the outlanders reacted to an open invitation and layout that had a clear 'please go here' design in ways the locals would.

Allyn (307) has posed:
Having decided to go see what this new world that'd invited folks to come visit was all about, Allyn as usually decided to wander around in his wolf form. He glances around as he wanders along the path that had been layed out for them, seems someone went through the trouble of pointing them to where they needed to be, so he wasn't going to go off of it. He does stop a few moments here and there though to sniff at things, but not long enough to be told to move along of course.

Metal Man (11) has posed:
Metal Man does not hide what he is for the most part, well okay that's a lie he's got a brown ragged cloak on he figured it would be for the best till he got a feel for the place after all. He after all is a warmachine even if Wily gave him the choice to leave after he was created, that was the world to Metal Man. Being allowed to enact choice was a imporant thing to Robot Masters really.

"Humm a curious ... word."

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    A world with plenty of magic, if Marrik is any indication, is what Shirou's expecting to find. He wasn't expecting tiny fairy-like beings, european aesthetics or cobblestone roads, but it's along that road that he's walking. Shirou's dressed unlike ANY of the locals, and he's feeling rather self-conscious about it.

    Blue jeans. Plain 'ol modern shoes. A white shirt with steel grey sleeves. Along with his red hair and amber eyes, well... he sticks out pretty well...

    Emerging into the central plaza after quite a walk, he halts to examine the tall obelisk and the rather elaborate building nearby....

    And he spots the figures in robes. "This is where Marrik's from? I wouldn't have guessed if he hadn't said anything." So there are six guilds, and this world clearly has some much more open stance on magic than he's used to.... maybe he can learn something here!

Blurr has posed:
    If Shirou is feeling self-conscious about not being dressed like any of the locals, well he's got nothing on Blurr. The Cybertronian arrives via orbital jump from a ship in orbit, a blue streak of light piercing through the sky and down toward the ground. He transforms, his body folding in on itself until he's in his....less intimidating vehicle form upon touching the surface, and makes his way toward the city where Marrik is supposedly from.

    He quickly scopes it out from a distance before joining the others. Who else is here? He recognizes Shirou, who had helped him with the Swarm on Cybertron, and Allyn, whom he had also met before. For now, he just waits to see what the locals have planned.

Marrik (541) has posed:
The giant wolf attracted notice, but after initial confusion a man wearing a green cloak clasped with a gold leaf stopped in front of the Allyn-wolf and quirked an eyebrow. "A shifter, curious." His tone suggested surprise and more than a little curiosity. "You'll be well to find a less� Local form, or if you can a way to make a different coloration that may help." A small bow before falling in slightly to the left and behind.

As Allyn entered the plaza area his escort found a spot in the crowd that was now looking on to see if more were coming.

Metal Man drew curious looks, and more than a few open stares. Leaf pin wearers might be heard whispering, with a single theme in the mix, 'a� Construct with a soul?' One of these people would get a sharp elbow from a guard standing next to them, but none would impede his way.

Shirou's examination of the Obelisk rewarded him with a view of runes on all eight sides, then one of the black cloaked men spoke up. "The eight Aspects of our world." A deep voice and as he moved a slightly curved scabbard could be seen at his hip. "Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water for the elements of the body." It must have been a trick of light, but did the flame that was his cloak pin move? "The other for are of the spirit; Nature, Aether, Mind, and Will." He looked Shirou over carefully and offered a hand, "I am Ervin Cartwright of the Protectorate of the Black Sands, and representative of Conflict and War."

Ervin gestured to the other five black cloaks. "Miri Shafton of Artifice and Knowledge," His hand moved from the cogwheel pin to the water drop, "Galvin Sykes of Transport and Sanitation." Next was the rock pin, "Tom Pert of Mining and Construction," another gesture to the wind-pin holder, "Dave Carter of Weather and Communications, "Then finally his attention to the person wearing the leaf pin. "And that is my wife, Emily Cartwright, of Forests and Medicine."

Ervin's hand felt solid, strong, and though not crushing it was a firm grip. "We are of the six major guilds allowed freedom to roam throughout the Concord, and we welcome you," his hand let go of Shirou so he could look to Metal Man and Allyn. His reaction to Blurr seemed to be no reaction at all. Rather than react he joined the five other guild representatives as the building's doors were pulled open.

Most of the locals though are not so calm. A few have seen cars before, open buggies drawn by magic pulled from the air and bounced along at a brisk twenty miles an hour. Blurr? Several were fascinated and curious, others immediately pushed their way to get to the back of the crowd, but there was a lot of talking, not whispers this time. Outright talk, asking what 'it' was.        The white clad man that stood with the guilds merely cleared his throat and spoke with a on augmented voice that carried through the town. "There will be Order! Please, friends. This is�. Merely one of the representatives we asked for." He calmly walked up to Blurr and seemed to try searching for the door to help this vehicle's driver out. "I am Sven Crenshaw, appointed overseer of this town and I give you welcome. Please, you may leave your�." A frown then, "car? Apologies, but if this is a car the descriptions we have heard do not do it justice."

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn tilts his head as the man stops in front of him and then he gives him a nod as he's told that it might be a good idea to change into a less local form of animal. He ponders for a few moments, well there's a few things he has the option of, but for now, he supposes. He shifts back to his human form then, he wondered if that would have been the best idea. He looks back towards the man that spoke to him, "This would be better, hmm?" and raises an eyebrow, though its not unfriendly.

As they are introduced to the guild people he bows to them all in turn and then tilts his head at the woman that is introduced as of the forests, "The frorests hmm? I like forests." he chuckles some and then glances around a few more moments.

Metal Man (11) has posed:
Metal Man takes a moment to pull back his hood and looks at the pone how say it. His helmet is strange there's a buzz saw mounted into the forhead like an ornament and he has a faceplate but hie eyes look right at them for a moment.

"Our maker and his rival only agreed on one thing, that we should have souls."

He says nothing else at this point and he looks about at them for a moment longer and he tilts his head at Blurr noticing the transformer.

"So your the ones who invited us here yes. I have my interal weapon systems diarmed at the moment as an act of good faith. So food and drink?"

He pulls his helmet off and it tucked under his arm, he looks human enough.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "Emiya Shirou." Shirou reaches out to clasp the offered hand. "Union Ally... and amateur magus." This is added as an afterthought, given how bad at it he is, he'd rather not create misunderstandings. He does blink at the strange way the flame pin catches his attention, but it's more spread out towards the surroundings and the others as they're introduced.

    For all he's dressed oddly, Shirou's not an idle man. His hands are a bit rough from lots of tinkering, he's well-muscled and shows all the signs of someone who works out regularly - just not body-buildery. Is such a person really a magus?

    "It's my first time seeing a world with so much magic out in the open. This is an awesome city!" The fluster around Blurr nearby does catch his attention, though.

    Shirou would sweatdrop if that was physically possible. He does make a sort of frowny expression though. Uh-oh?

Blurr has posed:
    Blurr listens to the introductions, slag, these people have long-aft names. And then everyone seems to talking about him, calling him an 'it', and all that. Fortunately he's used to that. But when Sven comes up to the window, he will notice that there actually doesn't seem to be anyone in the car, at all...

    Oops, it seems he forgot to activate the holoform. So now Sven gets to watch as what appears to be a teen-aged boy simply seems to materialize out of nothing, and is suddenly standing next to him. "Nice to meet you, Sven Crenshaw." The boy says. "I'm Blurr. And actually leaving my own body is something I'd kind of rather -not- do." he says with a grin and a wink.

Marrik (541) has posed:
"We have a few that specialize in changing from one to the other, it will be educational to see if our ways are similar to your own." Emily smiled warmly to Allyn before she entered the building. A few mutters of 'lupine' and 'chimera' can be heard if anyone has good hearing, but it is only a low murmur from a scattered handful.

Metal Man got stared at. Sven swallowed before approaching, "Apologies for any unfamiliarity but if you would not mind, maybe a brief talk later? How many of your kind are out there, your creators-x He caught himself and coughed into his fist when the robot master removed his helmet, "apologies, I don't mean to be rude. We should expect peculiar sorts when we put out an open invitation. Be sure that you are welcome and will be shown every courtesy," a momentary pause before asking, "forgive me but what sort of food do you take?"

Then suddenly Blurr went from unoccupied to," Sven stumbled back a pace before catching himself, "Goodness! Ah." Experimentally he reached out to try touching the hologram. "And you manifest this for our convenience?" He sounded skeptical til another leaf pin left the crowd to whisper in his ear, something about souls and projections and it seemed to put Sven in a better mood just as something Shirou said caught his attention. "Mister Shirou," the man's voice softened as he walked from Blurr to budding Magus, "I hope you find wisdom here, though there has been talk of how, ah, compatible our magics are with other places. Talk for another time though, for now," he gestured to the open doors and the soft sounds of inoffensive and utterly forgettable music designed to fill dead air.

Inside and past a receiving area was a wide open hall, apparently designed as a showpiece area and taking up most of the building's interior by going from ground floor all the way to the roof with only walkways and exterior rooms left for any 'normal' business that needed conducting. Why was all that space needed? Carriages, small boats, and even a car that looked like a close cousin to Stanley's steam driving cars of the early twentieth century hung by hair thin strands and slowly rotated so from any point an observer could see the whole without needing to move.        At the ground floor were displays of pottery, jewelry and art to sit side by side with guns, swords, and other tools of war. The guns looked to be flintlock single shot weapons, but the information plaque described it as 'drawing energy from the shooter and capable of firing twenty shots a minute and able to down an armored razorbeast in two if the shooter was skilled.'        in the center of the displays of war and peace was a dozen chairs, quickly reduced to just enough for the visitors and guild representatives to sit on either side of a long table that had platters of finger foods; sandwiches mostly but a few fried things small enough to be snapped up.

Ervin looked at the assembled guests as he took a fried cheese stick. "Before talks begin proper, I must ask if any here are aligned with the Confederacy. It will not do if only one side of the greater conflict has voice here."

Blurr has posed:
    The avatar is indeed actually solid, composed of a matrix of some sort of hard light substance. The avatar nods. "Yeah, it's a projection I often use to interact with people your size." he explains.

    Blurr himself remains outside while the holoform follows everyone else inside. He could just deactivate it and re-activate it in the destination room, but this would just look more -normal- to the locals, at least. The young-looking avatar sits down at the table and peers curiously at the food. Er, it looks like food, anyway. And it seems people are eating it. Though it doesn't exactly matter, since he can't eat that kind of food, anyway.

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn smiles and nods to Emily and then enters with everyone else, so there are those here that can shift too, interesting know, but that is for later too. He takes a seat whever he finds room when everyone sits. He then eyes the food for a few moments and takes a few bits here and there. He doesn't want to seem rude afterall. He waits quietly and listens as people begin speaking.

Metal Man (11) has posed:
Metal Man says "If you like, I am here to talk. Thousands but I was made by one of the two men who created the first of us. I am known as Metal Man, I doubt you want my production code as well. YOu may refer to me as Metal if you wish."

he seems to be looking about for a moment looking t the various arrivals and he seems to pause at Shirou and narrows his eyes.

"So your back eh Shirou?"

Metal Man may have missed the memo but it's clear he seems to know of Shirou in some way while Blurer gets his attention for a moment.

"So this world is curious to me...it doesn't seem to confirm to certain things I expect from worlds like this...in my experiance. As for Feds? I am an Confederate Operative."

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "It wouldn't be very enlightening. I'm not formally trained so I only know a few things." Shirou answers modestly, but he nods firmly and gratefully, heading in as invited. The magic has him relaxing.

    Though hold on a moment, talks and representatives? Nobody told him he was a diplomat. Shirou's face pales. Is he doing something UTTERLY WRONG by being here? Wait, if so, where's the formal Union envoys? It can't be Blurr, can it?

    No, he'd better come out straight and say this.

    "wait a moment... voice here? There's no official diplomats here, are there?" he glances over at Blurr's projection rather nervously. He's not sure about Allyn...

    And then there's Metal Man. Shirou regards the robot with wary and suspicion. "We just met." Though this brings back a prior naggling feeling. People were familiar with Fuyuki... meaning... "...Don't tell me... there's another me out there...?!" Blurted stupidly for all to hear. Shirou slaps his own cheek a moment later, and shakes his head, then tries again. "Emiya Shirou. I'm pretty sure this is our first meeting." He does sound a bit upset, though.

Marrik (541) has posed:
"Ah," Ervin bowed to Shirou and Metal both. "This is good, and it means we may continue on to business. We thank you for showing, and honoring our request for no arms at this meeting." Then, with a gesture, the floor seemed to be opened to the other five guild members.

Galvin's throat cleared, "Actually I was interested in these what you call warp gates. The broadcasts we have heard five us a good idea of how they function but is it possible to block them, preferably without harming anyone going through? We have noticed several and they are making our people understandably nervous."

"Agreed." Ervin spoke when his colleague finished. "For the time being there are guards stationed at each gate as we find them to warn of traffic, but it is an inelegant solution at best."

Miri's laughter was light as her attention turned from the wine glass she had been given, "Metal Man," Her accent might be mistaken for Russian if it were a more twentieth century earth sort of world. "In spite of our home's current state we were once," A gesture by both hands moving apart from each other, "More than this. Ours is the first generation that was born after the war ended and while records are at best fragmentory there is proof at one time we had built constructs such as yourself." Yet no talk of how they were treated. Wine sip before she added, "I will admit wanting to see how you work, but this is simply a generalist meeting to see if working relations can be established. I trust I am not overstepping by being curious."

Eyes turned to Shirou and first one guild representative coughed, then another before a girl with a drink tray cleared her throat. "Wine Mister Shirou? Beer? Cider?"

Sven chuckled soft. "Don't worry, this isn't 'hammer contracts and treaties out'. Instead think of it more as 'we wanted to see people who specifically aren't diplomats, feel the neighbors out, try getting a few facts before anything is put to table." He tugged at his beer before taking a mug of cider and sipped. "Good crop this year, better than has been in a long time. Is there anything you wish to ask us?"

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn ponders the question of if there was anything that they wanted to ask of the guild members and he ponders for a few moments. Then shrugs a little, he's a shifter, so it is only natural such a question would pop into his head, "How is the hunting for game around here? and how would one go about getting permission to do so?" Yeah, he's always thinking with his stomach it seems.

Metal Man (11) has posed:
Metal Man says "Ah I see they never told you did they? Ah well then I shouldn't say more but yes I know you and your home in Fuyuki."

He seems to indicate he does not think well of the city, nothing against Emiya.

"As I said the name's Metal Man."

He looks back to his hots now and seems to be in a good turn.

"Ah so you guys baically had a fall without nuclear weapons or some analog of? Your forunate you can bounce back faster really."

He pauses at the lack of mentioning how they were treted.

"The treatment of my kind on my world? Has lead to uprising and alternate futures I have seen ... the treatment of my kind leads to the world being reduced to ash."

He will take food if he's offered.

"I understand you are not of my world so I can't judge by those standards."

Blurr has posed:
    "Block the warpgates without hurting anyone who's going through? I'm not sure that's possible." Blurr shrugs, the avatar sitting back in the chair. "You'd just have to make sure no one is using it at the time. Why are people nervous? Don't they trust your military, or whatever?"

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    THAT gets Shirou relaxing. No need for huge diplomats? Good. "The warp gates that appeared 'naturally' can't be shut down. You can block them with gates and post guards, and if the gate's tight enough then nobody's getting through without your say. Lots of Warp gates are artificial ones someone added to the big network. You have full control over those if you can put one up." Shirou answers simply. "Restricted access so the warp gate will only work at all for the right people. I can get you to some people who know more about it." Shirou offers in a friendly tone.

    But then Metal Man's all but confirming what he thought. Oi. "... Wow, you're amazingly straightforward..." Almost disturbingly so.

    "That's a relief. I'm exactly that. Um... cider, maybe? Whatever you'd recommend. Just please keep the alcohol low." he's really bad with alcohol. He's only barely of an age to drink a tidbit with some supervision!

Marrik (541) has posed:
Tom nodded approvingly at Allyn's question, "Given our world it is a fair question, but other than tainted creatures and chimera the new things wandering in seem like the game we're used to for the most part."

Emily raised her hand and cleared her throat to call attention to herself. "Our guests likely will need a brief explainer on the subject." Tom nodded and indicated that the floor was hers. "During the War," somehow she managed to make the capitalization audible, "those that served the Blackened Hand had found a way to weaponize the naturally occurring miasma that comes from negative emotions, echoes from brutal crimes, and other ill deeds to form a self sustaining type of spirit that can, with a touch, infect and twist animals and plants away from their true nature." A pause and frown at something that crossed her mind. "It is what turned the tide back against us, corrupting if not outright killing the chimera we had created to balance the tide, and those that fell were raised against us." A thoughtful nod before her attention turned and she looked to Allyn with mismatched green and brown eyes. "It is something that we must still fight, so have a care if you go hunting our lands. One of my people will educate you or any others of the signs to look for if you wish to explore freely.

ervin grunted at Blurr's question. "Less a matter of trust and more some of these open in the heart of several countries, which has the local leaders demanding my people do something about it. Given in a war where different factions can call on armies that could swallow worlds I had hoped there would be a way to at least temporarily slam the door. Doesn't surprise me things can't be that simple." He lifted a beer mug in salute and drained it in one go. Except Shirou gave a more complete picture, "That is actually going to make people less uneasy. Far simpler to be willing to think of them as gateways for trade if you can control the turnpike leading into your lands."

Miri nodded, "Agreed. Though we will understand reluctance for the two factions to work together, my guild has asked that I make a formal request any findings your people make while sitting the ruins be shared. We lost centuries of progress in a relative eyeblink, and at least a few of us would like that back."

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn nods as he listens to the answer to his question and then frowns when Emily better explains things, that seems to have caught his attention, at least a few keywords have anyway. He raises an eyebrow and tilts his head at Emily ian animal like fashion, "Some animals and plants have been infected?" he ponders for a few long moments, "Would it be able to to infect someone who is more animal than they are human?" that has him a little worried and he frowns a bit more, not liking the sound of that more and more. "Yes, I would like that to learn what signs to look for and if I may, I offer my help in restoring the balance that has been displaced by tainted creatures."

Blurr has posed:
    "Well, don't they know that slamming them shut while traffic is coming through will annihilate said traffic from existence?" Blurr points out. "I say just stick with the border patrols. If anything problematic comes through, your military can deal with it, and if they can't then they can always ask the Union for help. Someone would be happy to assist, I'm sure."

    At the mention of any and all information being shared, he just shrugs. "Of course, it's your territory, and all." Which is not entirely true. It would depend on -what- exactly is found.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    What a depressing explanation of old events. "Turning a curse into a trump card." He doesn't really want to think about that. It's bad enough just hearing their explanation. Envisioning it? Wow. Ugh. No. He doesn't want to. Though he does ask, "Are the corrupted beasts that widespread?"

Metal Man (11) has posed:
Metal Man says "Best way to be, dancing around it wastes time an energy."

He goes quite content to let Shirou stew about things? Or is he's got no want to a tyotall jerk he's laso mnow listen to the story for a moment and humms for a moments.

"So emotional slag more or less. I understand, information is power or so they say."

Marrik (541) has posed:
"Several of the Chimera are quite human; centaur, naga, met, and were. All have subspecies fallen." Emily's voice was momentarily saddened at the thought. "This is why we want both factions. The Concord itself will want to remain neutral, but we are allowing member states to choose for themselves on the stipulation one member of the concord not be allowed to attack another save through trial by champions."

Galvin grunted, "Reports of corrupted beast has dropped since the world changed, and while many theories have been swapped hither and ton it mostly seems agreed that the fact we landed in a high magic area has helped to turn back the effects." Every other representative stared at the man as if he grew a second head. Galvin merely shrugged, "We handle the relay lines and there tends to be operator conversations in the metadata."

Tom chuckled, "I will say no matter how the States fall between you two, the multiverse will give us a chance to get out of this mess."

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn nods to Emily and Galvin and still frowns a little, well, things seem to be handled or at least getting that way. It'll be interesting to see anyway. "I myself am neutral more less. I'm not aligned with either the Union or Confederacy." It's the way of nature afterall." he chuckles a little at that.

Blurr has posed:
    Pff, these people were planning on aligning themselves with the Confederacy and the Union, -and- expected them to share intel at the same time? As -if-. Didn't they realize this was a war? Blurr suppresses an exasperated look. Sure, they could get some help with internal or external problems, but information is a completely different story. "Right then, guess we'll just have to see how that plan works out for you all..."

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "That sounds like a recipe for disaster." Shirou states bluntly and a little heatedly. Allow a bunch of member states to be at complete odds with one another? Yeah, he's in Blurr's camp. "...Unless... wait a moment. Contest by champions?" Consider Emiya SHirou curious at least. He's never heard of waging war in such ways!

Metal Man (11) has posed:
Metal Man litens for a moment and tkes note hummm for a moment.

He listens and nods to the plan it seems sound enough he'll have to relay this back to the Confederacy and he will. This ws something at least noting to the hither ups at this point.

"Like a Gundam fight? I see."

Marrik (541) has posed:
Emily seemed slightly put off, "I'm sorry, that seemed like how these specific sites functioned. Control changing hands based on combat by a few as opposed to armies killing eachother." Her expression seemed wilted. "We have too many things that need doing and too few people for proper armies." Ervin reached over to pat her gently before she sighed. "I just realize we need help, each ruling body will want to go a different way, and to be blunt the concord can't corral everyone in line all at once. One or two, fine. Ten? Not happening, and there will be attempts to gain favor. So what do we tell them?"

Galvin shrugged, "There are other options, and so far no rush. Just let them come and go until a greater consensus can be reached."

Sven took another sip of his drink, "Go in peace and live well."