NODE: Kingdom of Discord - Exploration

NODE: Kingdom of Discord - Exploration
Date of Scene:	16 July 2014
Location:	The Homeworld
Synopsis:	With some help, Fayt explores one of the many spires of the Kingdom of discord, and gets an idea of what exactly is going on in the node
Thanks to:	Abstractum.net for GMing
Cast of Characters:	Tomoe, 73, 319, 347, 353
Tinyplot:	When They Return

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Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
Opening the drawbridge via its lever is simple, though only Fayt can actually do it, and it opens out onto a bridge. The bridge is stone, parapets like a castle interspersed with the occasional high, arching delicate tine. It's steady, and has a good handrailing, but still. A thick, heavy wooden castle-styled door marks the end of the bridge, set into the side of the opposite tower. But the opposite tower is only a few feet wide. Still, only door available.

Heading through this door does not take Fayt into a tower. It takes him out of a DIFFERENT tower. Presumably, his own, here; a plain-looking, practical sort of spire formed with blue and black-tinted stone. There's a massive array of spires in the distance, connected to this one by a complex web of bridges. Fayt finds it quite simple to navigate to any of these nearby.

Surrounding spires are strange, themed in weird ways, but clearly themed. One is made of pure steel and styles itself after a car engine, one is a bright pink with many soft angles, another appears to be made of flesh and dripping a gross black substance down its openings... And yet more are still stranger! There's many around here.

Down below, in the strange, cloudy space below the spires, you can see a strange, soft red glow that pulses irregularly and chaotically, like the lights of lightning...

Fayt Ravus (319) has posed:
Right, go time!

Fayt pulls the lever, and makes his way across the bridge. Once he's outside the tower and looking over the bridges. Fayt takes a slow look at the horizon, before turning to look at the others, who've hopefully follwoed him inside. "So... erm... last time I was here, I didn't really get any good answers on what I should be doing. didn't even find anyone really. The one thing I do know is each of those towers out there is basically a kingdom onto itself so..." he frowns, "Where should we go first?"

Laer (353) has posed:
"No, no no no." Laer says, even as she follows along after, Nyarie in her hand. "That's not how it works. We're not supposed to be the hero, you're supposed to be the hero. We have our own stories if we wanted to guide it!" Not that she'll stop anyone else from giving advice, but she was here to get a story and write it, not to make it up herself.

She will, of course, be embellishing.

Frederica (73) has posed:
"So this is your home, hmmm~?" Frederica asks, pushing her way impatiently inside once Fayt opens the door. It's frustrating to her, these doors that can't be opened by anyone the Node doesn't belong to. She's not used to timid Fayt having to take the lead in anything, so naturally she'd already attempted to enter his Node before he could do so.

She peers around with some interest, taking note of the bizarre spires in the distance. She glances back, peering up at the relatively boring tower of Fayt's. "Not your home, not really." she comments. But for some reason she equates this chaotic land of spires with Fayt's own home... which of course she's never actually seen. What's really weird is, if this isn't Fayt's home, it's somehow a reflection of the timid chaos mage.

That doesn't bear much thinking about. "So, no idea where to go or what to do. Well, we need to find the Pures. There's likely to be some, right?" she suggests, sounding the very voice of reason. "I'd say we'll have to find the most unpleasant tower. The most evil one. Probably something totally black. And then burn it to the ground." she grins, slightly malevolently.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is here to help Mr. Stuff Getter, but it's been some time since she was last here, after all, which leaves the Iron Lily concenred about things. She looks over at Fayt for a moment and she thinks about what he's said.

"IF we have no idea pick one at random and go I say."

she looks over at Frederica amd gave her a bit of grind as she did.

"That's logical, and don't be so sure in Kirito's node it has me not making assumptions."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
"Right!" Nyarie is saying to Fayt alongside Laer. "I mean, what sort of pinball hero just goes along with things! A story should all be the hero's fault." Wait, fault?

Shinrin is very condemning! "We need to at least investigate these towers more thoroughly before we make any snap-judgements of arson, you know." The medallion says to Frederica.

"I dunno, sounds like it could be fun, if these guys can do this sort of rennovation they can probably rebuild fast!" Tizona is casual and enthusiastic. "But yeah, pick one at random if you wanna, I say."

Maugris seems on their side. "Fayt, you need to do these things proactively." There's a wide variety of towers available for him to pick! He just has to pick, of course; one could search by all sorts of standards!

Fayt Ravus (319) has posed:
"Hmm..." Fayt frowns a bit. "Well I'm pretty sure we wouldn't want to run into any pures without talking to the locals first... alright then." He turns around, pointing to the tower that looks like a car engine. "We start there, see who's inside, hopefully they'll try to talk to us rather than kill us." with that said, he walks off towards the tower.

Frederica (73) has posed:
Frederica breaks into a grin at Shinrin's reaction, then an outright laugh as her Abstractum condemns random arson. Frederica takes her powers extremely seriously and the thought of damaging 'innocent' targets is so anathema to her that she didn't intend anything by the comment. Shinrin's condemnation doesn't affect her at all, which is a marked contrast to what normally happens when the device rebukes her.

"Okay okay~!" Frederica giggles. "We investigate the evil nasty black spire, or whatever colour it is, and THEN we burn it to the ground!" she agrees playfully. She nods to Fayt's suggestion, still grinning. "Good idea. We don't approach the nastiest towers first. You said you didn't talk to anyone here yet, so we can change that now!" she says, approving.

Laer (353) has posed:
"Yes, exactly." Laer eggs on her abstractum, cheerily agreeing with it. "You need to fail spectacularly to start so that you can angst about it later before finding redemption and living happily ever after with one of the girls from the opening chapter."

She'll pause for a moment.

"Not me."

That said, she'll follow along to the tower of engineuity.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe :says "HJumm a curious point there. EIther way Fayt you need to stop being so passive they are right."

She looks to Federica and no she laughs a bit at her. It's hard to really stay down about her friend really. She makes ready to go and she falls in with the otherss heading for the tower.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
The HOTRODDER SPIRE gushes ominous flames from its exhaust pipes as Fayt heads towards it, its engine rumbling ominously! As Fayt himself enters, he'll find its interior matches the exterior. It's a mix between some kind of garage and the interior of a car, leather and metal and concrete and piping, with huge engine parts churning away at the environment! The spiure has dozens of floors, all of them in complex configurations with esoteric magical purposes!

Oddly, though, something's out of place. There's a massive section that seems to intersect with the influence of another tower. The pink, softer tower that was neighboring this one appears to have some of its aesthetic intruding in here. What look like a princessy bed with a nice elegant little table you'd expect to find in a victorian mansion at the foot of it.

Occasionally, the intruding environmental element will crackle with sudden bursts of arcing red lightning.

Hmm.

Fayt Ravus (319) has posed:
As he enters the tower, Fayt grabs his goggles and slaps them on over his eyes, he can't scan, but he can certainly take notes.

Inside, Fayt takes a slow look around, putting a hand up next to his mouth as he calls out. "HELLO? Is anyone in here? We're from a neighboring tower, we'd like to talk a bit if possible!" He loosk back at the others. "not sure they can hear us over the engines. If there's anyone here to start with. Hmm..."

Then he spots the bed. slowly, his head tilts ot the side. "Funny, that looks like it's from a different spi-GAH!" He jumps back a bit as it suddenly arcs.

Carefully, he inches back up to near where the infuence joins with the rest of the tower, though not too close, he'd rather not get hit by that! His head slowly tilts to the side as he looks it over. "This worringly reminds me of surge buildup..." He looks at the others. "Anyone here really good at sensing magic?"

Frederica (73) has posed:
"Cute." Frederica notes. It's hard to say if she's being sarcastic or if she genuinely believes a pretty pink princess bed is an aesthetic to be admired. She reaches up to her hood, pushing it back and fluffing her twintails forward across her chest.

She blinks at the arc of eenrgy, but doesn't freak out quite as much as Fayt. Then again, he knows more about this sort of thing. "Surge buildup..." she repeats, a bit of worry creeping up on her. She shakes her head. "Psychic energy, sure. I can't sense magic though." she admits willingly enough. "This isn't my specialty." she shrugs. The only way she can tell what this is, is if she's first reduced it to ashes and slag. And that... well, she's not going to do that.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is looking at the hotrodder spire for a moment wondering just what she's going to find in there. It's like Monster Garage the building form the look of it. She takes a moment ot notice something else doesn't seem right here. What's going on with the dangerousl pink bit in here?

"This doesn't seem to be right this doesn't look like it should be here. Any ideas on this?"

Laer (353) has posed:
This looks more than slightly odd, certainly, not exactly what Laer had expected when she'd set foot into the place, but while she can't precisely SENSE magic she's certainly an expert on it in its various forms. Well, some of its various forms; maybe not in precisely this form.

"Nyarie, what do you think?" She'll ask as she looks rather closely at the problematic lightning, leaning in, not too worried about getting a little zapped if it comes to that.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
There's a loud, long, sustained sort of grunt-like greeting. Barreling down the stairs, wreathed in fire, a three-wheeled motorcycle gushing massive flames out of huge tailpipes and with an ostentatiously huge engine bared dangerously skids to a stop in front of the group. The man on top of it is some sort of cross between a wizard and a biker, a stout fellow wearing sunglasses and a thick white beard that drapes over a leather jacket studded with enchantment and metal.

"'Ey." A dismissive grunt to the group. "Wha'." He prompts Fayt to speak with a short rev.

Maugris speaks, dryly. "No wonder this is a kingdom of discord, if all the towers have these sorts of rulers. I imagine the conflict between them must be unbearable."

Nyarie says, regarding that strange aesthetic intrusion, "Doesn't mesh with the story. We ought to get rid of it!"

Fayt Ravus (319) has posed:
Fayt... blinks, this happens a few times as what he's looking at fully registers with him. "..." Eventually he shakes his head clear. "Right, Hello. I'm Fayt, I'm from teh really plain looking spire next to this one? Anyway, I..." He pauses as he looks over at the bed again... which is sparking in a very un-bed-like fashion. "Well, for a start I've noticed that seems to be from a diferent spire... and it doesn't seem to be here peacefully. Do you know what's going on with that?"

Frederica (73) has posed:
As a biker wizard bursts onto the scene, Frederica draws herself up to her full height. It is, admittedly, not an impressive height. She makes up for it though, looking down upon the wizard with disdain. Not contempt, but with a clear aloofness that screams 'not impressed'. She doesn't even flinch as the bike skids dangerously just in front of them.

Once she's milked the aloofness for all the cred it's likely to give her, she spoils it by opening her mouth. This is an admittedly common occurrence with her. "I wonder if the surges have always been here, or if this is the crisis we're here to deal with?"

It would be a perfectly dignified thing to say, admittedly, had Frederica said it contemplatively. She's too uncertain though, and that uncertainty's plain in her non-assertive question.

Laer (353) has posed:
Laer will stare, meanwhile, at the wizard biker. Biker wizard. Either way, she can't say she necessarily approves of the sudden twist in the story towards urban fantasy.

"We're here to clean up these streets, and restore order to this place! And by we, I mean him. You should acknowledge him as the rightful hero here to save you from the intruding pretty princess bed. Also from the lightning. I bet there's a sword or something around here that can deal with it, right?"

She may have forgotten she's not in her own node where making crap up works a bit better.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
"Mmm." Fayt doesn't get a name or much of a greeting from the man. Not even a name! "Not here makin' worse?" He seems very terse. It's not clear if he can actually speak in long sustained sentences or not. "It's shit." He says, plainly. "Tryin' clear these out." He revs his bike again and it glows with sudden, intense blue light! The whole structure seems to rumble and brilliant red lights spark and flash around the bed before it disappears.

It leaves the hostile red lightning, which lingers and sparks all around the area of the bed. The biker swears offensively for a short while about it, but seems to think it's normal.

Frederica, on the other hand, will find it quite obvious what's going on here! Sort of. She can detect, at the very least, a substantial psychic clash - two minds trying to overpower each other - which is presumably having a MAJOR detrimental effect on reality in this world, if those red arcing lines of magic are anything to go by. The precise effects, though, remain a mystery!

Fayt Ravus (319) has posed:
"Definatly not interested in making things worse. You've seen what's going on below the clouds outside? That storm? I'm trying to figure out what that is." Shielding his eyes as the bike starts to glow.

Once things settle down again, fayt glances at where the bed was, before turning back to the biker. "So, is it just the one spire causing you trouble? Or have others been bleeding in?"

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe she looks for a moment as someone or something comes to say hello. She sess the man now okay so it's not a self aware engine? More like a metal album cover really there.

"Greetings sir."

She's starting to get the idea on somethings abotu this world. She looks Fayt as she stars trollling for information. She is often just the meat and muscle and she's cool with that however.

"Hummm this bleed between towers, I wonder..."

Frederica (73) has posed:
Frederica frowns, squinting slightly as if suffering from a headache. Her ability in Trance is miniscule, but she can feel mental energy on a large scale. On a huge scale, actually. For her to sense it at all, if it's not directed at her, it'd HAVE to be huge. She can tell the Biker Wizard isn't the source. The energy's directed at something, something that's not them. Looking over at the invading bed, she can well imagine what it might be.

"I think..." she begins, then wets her lips and tries again. "I think someone's trying to take over this reality." she says, probably into a nice dramatic silence. She can't SENSE that, but she's reading between the lines. Making an educated guess based on what she does sense. "It's not like minds battling, unless they're like the minds of ... well, of gods. But something's directing power everywhere, and it ... feels like it might be like psychic energy." she says.

Annoyed somewhat, her head beginning to ache, Frederica narrows her eyes and stares at the back of Fayt's head. "You asked if anyone could sense MAGIC." she reminds him, taking out a small piece of her annoyance on his undeserving head. "I'm not anywhere near as good as my siblings, mind-to-mind, but this thing is strong enough for me to feel something." she adds, perhaps softening any sting with this further admission.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
"Don't care." The Biker says to Fayt, presumably regarding the strange energies under the clouds. "Bigger things dealin' with." He rumbles his way down the stairs, presumably so the others can follow. "Always other spires pushin' in. Gotta keep territory." He spits rudely as they encounter what looks like a massive human heart, still beating, blocking up the hallway. More swearing, and more revving as he tries to disenchant the intruding structure. As it dissolves away, more red arcing light is left behind.

"Man, looks like you're guessing right if you're thinking what I'm thinking, Tomoe!" Tizona says, brightly. "This whole conflict might have something to do with it, you know! Seems pretty chaotic and discordant if ya ask me."

Fayt Ravus (319) has posed:
Fayt nods, slowly. "I see..." he then pales a bit as the heart shows up. "That's likely from the meat spire... ick." As ZZ the Gray goes back to work. Fayt looks to the others, "Hmm... We might want to go check the other spires at some point." and then back to the biker. "So... if they're pushing in, are you pushing back? Your neighbors saying anything or is it just random bits of their stuff invading all the time?" Going by what Fred just mentioned, he's starting to get an idea of what's going on.

He really, REALLY hopes he's wrong about what's going on.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
"Mmm." That's a vaguely affirmative-sounding response to Fayt there when he asks if the Biker is pushing back. And then, "Lotta dumb yelling." Yeah, looks like this guy might not be much better, Apparently the chaotic exchanges between these spires are both intentional and universal! But noticably they all seem to come from Chaos Magic of some sort, Fayt has already recognized that electrical effect.

Hmmm. Now that's something to wonder. What WOULD happen in a world populated exclusively by chaos mages in constant conflict with each other?

Fayt Ravus (319) has posed:
Fayt frowns.

Yep... that's a MASSIVE spell surge building up below the clouds isn't it? and all the spires are feeding it.

Fayt actually shudders a bit, his own magic is worrying at the best of times, and that's him, alone. Now everyone's got it, and that was a lot of spires out there...

Fayt quickly shakes his head clear, can't panic, not yet anyway. "Right... open warfare then, you know who or what started the whole thing?" A pause then. "Also, any major threats out there? or just anything unusual in general?"

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
Yep, that's a world-sized spellsurge alright.

"Three." The Biker says. "Collector. Anyone without minimum whole tower, kills 'em. Splitter. Anyone works together, kills 'em. Dissonant. Anyone with a taller spire, kills 'em." This guy is actually kinda rude as he rumbles along, it seems like he doesn't much like talking, like he wants the conversation over quick.

This may be why his bike has been slowly accelerating the entire time.

Fayt Ravus (319) has posed:
"I see... Well, I'll leave you to your work then." Then with a frown, Fayt turns around and makes his way back towards the exit. "Right, better get back to my spire, I have some thinking to do."