Okay! The time has come... [ ...FOR SESSION ONE! IT EVEN RHYMES. ] (Hee. That, and trying to get a handle on the magic system in Buffy. @_@) ( You're a poet and you didn't know it. ) ( Oh, the magic system in Buffy is easy. Every time you cast a spell, you get more addicted. Then eventually, you die your hair black and go and a rather pathetic rampage. ) (That'll be fun to watch Fury RP.) [ Ever since that night when you had the very strange dream, there's just not been a good night's sleep for you whenever you actually hit REM sleep and remember any of it, anyway. All sorts of fun visions! Usually of stuff of fantasy books, it feels like, but even the vivid dreams fade after a while. ] [ But, nothing eventful really happens for a good long while. Nobody descends from space to eat and/or kidnap you. Life is pretty normal. Until today, when the evening news reported a very bizarre development: ] [ The university was showing an artifact called the 'Terra Gospel', a very ancient but oddly well-preserved book. Two university faculty and the daughter of a third faculty member were found unconscious in front of it this evening. They're currently at the university hospital: breathing, but thoroughly unconscious. Comalike. ] [ The issue with this is... the photos of the three look familiar. If your memory for dreams is especially good, they look like people from that insane dream. Even if you don't remember, something in your mind tugs as "not right" when you see them. ] [ Of course, what you think of that is your own business... until you go to bed. No dreams. But... ] [ The three of you are just about to wake up. In what appears to be an inn room straight out of a Chaucer tale. The beds are comfortable but not much in terms of blankets. It's... quite hot. ] [ Presumably, none of you went to sleep in Cairo. So. RP START! ] ( Exposition takes coordination. Exposition, the game we all can play! ) * Lilith stretches langorously. Out of habit, she checks the other side of the bed. * Anne yawns and streaches, sitting up. "Dammit. Musta left the heater o.." Rgh... ( Soundtrack BGM Check! "Long Days of Rest", Wild Arms 3 ) * Anne looks around. ".. I better be dreaming." * Lilith sighs at the female voice and says without opening her eyes, "Did I say you could come in here? The books can wait." Huh, strange weath...?! er. [ Your beds are not big enough for two people comfortably, Lil, which you probably notice right quick. ] * Anne looks at Lilith. ".. screw dreaming. This must be a nightmare." [ Speaking of looking at: Descriptions are good! ] [ You're wearing whatever you sleep in, coincidentally. ] * Lilith sits up at hearing the male, blinking. She's clutching the sheet to her chest. Thin, almost bony shoulders and a prominent clavicle are all that's visible above it. Anorexia is fun! * Anne is a tall, pretty woman, with red hair and green eyes. She looks to be in her late twenties to early , and is in an adorable pair of kitty pajamas. ( *spittakes* ) ( Hey, she may be a bit bitchy, but she likes her kitty pajamas. ) ( Sorry. Haw. ) * Mitch sits up as well, very surprised, looking around. He's wearing very neatly folded, light blue nightclothes, and is moderately tall, with blond hair and green eyes. The heck? That's what I've been asking. * Lilith is also a tall, attractive woman, with sharp features and very few curves anywhere on her body. She looks like she might be in her late 20s... or 30s. She has reddish brown hair and hazel eyes, and is currently wearing a sheet. [ Now that you can see it: The walls are baked white adobe, with windows pointing to the north. It's a bit sunny, and the air smells of some sort of baking. There's bundles on top of trunks at the foot of your beds, and a ceiling fan whirls overhead, though there's no sign of electricity. ] Well, this is... just fascinating. Really. I wonder who to sue for wrongful imprisonment. ( TEH UNIVARS! ) (You'll be hearing from my lawyers.) My specialty is more civil law... * Anne pinches herself. [ There's a knock at the door. ] * Anne eyes the door, as if expecting it to jump out and attack her. ".. Who's there?" Voice: "Excuse me, but the master is requesting you come to the harbor! You need to leave while the tide is good!" * Lilith stares blankly at the door, then finally manages to raise one eyebrow. * Mitch blinks. "Who?" [ The knocking continues. ] .. Well.. uh.. Give us a minute, okay? Voice: "Please, lords. I must clean this room for the next guests! Your clothes were laundered and put on your trunks!" This is clearly the voice of a servant. Clothes..? * Anne decides to find those, because Pretty Kitty Pajamas are not the best thing to be wearing when you're kidnapped. * Lilith scowls. [ The bundles are indeed clothes. ] We're not going anywhere until we get an explanation. Get your ass in here and tell us what's going on. [ Anne's bundle is a white tank top, some khaki shorts, and a silk dress shirt. Very explorer-chic. Lilith's bundle is a white caftan and robes. Mitch's are a sort of Lawrence of Arabia getup. They all fit and are quite comfortable, as if they were tailored especially for you. ] * Anne looks for a place to get changed without giving Mitch a show. [ There's a dressing screen against the south wall. ] * Lilith clutches the sheet more closely to her chest. "Hey! Person behind the door! Tell us what's going on!" Voice: "I'm sorry, mistress, I don't understand the question. All I know is Master Teros asked for you to come to the harbor as soon as you arose." Who the hell is Teros? * Lilith opens her mouth again, then closes it and appears to sink into deep thought. [ The voice doesn't reply. There's a good chance the servant wandered off. ] * Mitch shrugs, and turns his back to the screen. "Ladies first." * Lilith mutters, and yanks the sheet off as she stands. (Toga! Toga! Sorry.) You go first. You're more.. err.. naked then I am. That I am. ( ... ) *** Retrieving #otherworld info... * Lilith grabs the indicated clothes and slides behind the screen. *** Todd changes topic to ' You go first. You're more.. err.. naked then I am. || http://www.chaoticblue.com/play/index.php?id=othworld' * Lilith quickly changes her "outfit." The sheet flies out over the top of the screen in a bundle. * Lilith comes out from behind the screen in her loose outfit, looking positively miserable. "Yeah, go change. I'm done." ( Heh. Kidnap her, throw her in with people she doesn't know, she takes it in stride. Put her in white cotton, and she freaks. ) * Anne goes next. Rather then tossing her PJs over in a bundle however, she folds 'em up. She dresses and steps out. "Geez. Fancy duds." (It makes my hips look huge!) ( You can't even see your hips. *pause* Oh, right. ) (It makes me look like a size FOUR. ;_;) * Mitch heads behind the screen, and takes a good minute or so to finish changing. He steps out, looking as sharp and organized as is possible for someone who's just unceremoniously woken up in a place probably several thousand miles from where they went to sleep. ( How dreadful. ) Voice (dopplering as he walks by): "JUst leave your things on the trunks, lords. I'll have them sent along after you." * Lilith considers, then shrugs and kicks her wadded-up sheet over by the trunk. * Anne frowns, but leaves her PJs on the trunk. Worst comes to worst, she'll buy a new pair when she gets back home. * Mitch sets his nightclothes on the trunk as well. [ The voice doesn't appear to be coming back. ] * Anne takes a risk, and opens the door. If she's eaten by a Grue, you'll know that was a bad idea. Okay. So we're trapped inside a Valentino movie and are supposed to be at a harbor. Right. (Misparsed as Tarantino. @_@) (Ha!) [ There are no grues outside the harbor. Your room appears to be on the first floor of what must be an Egyptian or Morroccan hotel. There's a courtyard with a fountain surrounded by some white tile. The sounds of a busy marketplace drift across from beyond the outer wall. ] [ Room! Not harbor. Harbor means water. ] ( BGM shift: "A Day in Agrabah" from the Kingdom Hearts OST ) If this is some kinda new reality show, I'm gonna be real pissed. I know I didn't sign anything... * Lilith shrugs and rubs her arms in obvious discomfort. "It's a dream. It's gotta be another wild dream." * Anne pinches Lilith. "Still think it's a dream?" * Lilith grabs her wrist by force of habit and squeezes hard. [ For the record, nobody's dreaming. You may, however, be feeling various degrees of pain. ] Er, hey... [ Your attempt to disbelieve fails. The gazebo approaches! ] (Ha!) [ Actually, it's the Voice, a short, swarthy man in a red shirt and cap, with white pantalons. He smiles at you in a somewhat frightened fashion. ] Man: "Ah... good morning, ladies and sir. Master Teros paid for everything, so there is no need to check out. I presume you'll want to get to the harbor as soon as possible." Err.. yeah. About that. Who the hell is Teros, why the hell are we going to the harbor, and where the hell are we? And for that matter, How the hell did we get here? And who the hell picked these outfits? The man looks even more frightened now. "A merchant! And you arrived here in one of his caravans just last night. Don't you remember?" He glances at Lillith. "They are for travelling across the desert. Without them you'd be in danger of heatstroke during the day." Well, that's why we stay inside! With air conditioning! * Mitch is standing quietly and thinking. The man frowns. "Air... what?" [ A voice rings out from across the plaza. "Faisal! You are needed in the kitchens!" ] * Lilith rubs the bridge of her nose. Judging from his reaction, the man must be Faisal. "I am coming!" He turns to you. "If you go the market, and follow the Street of Sea Breezes, you will find the harbor. I am sure Master Teros has answers to all your questions." Street of Sea Breezes? Huh. Wonder where the Street of Whisky is. (Hee.) * Lilith begins to pace. She's looking increasingly uncomfortable, with a faintly sick look inching onto her face. * Mitch snaps his fingers. "That's right. Did either of you see that report on the news?" Faisal gives Anne a sort of vacant smile. "I'm not sure, Mistress. Please excuse me." He bows a few times, then scurries off. 'bout the weird book and the comas, or about the German cannibel? * Mitch winces. "The book." [ For the record, it was also in the papers. ] Consider I mention it, it's pretty safe to assume I saw it. * Mitch nods. "Didn't the people look a little familiar?" *** Lilith has quit IRC (Ping timeout) ( Bwar. Pause. ) *** Illyria has joined #otherworld *** Illyria is now known as Lilith ( Need a recap? ) (Bitch bitch ISP.) (Please.) ( How far back? ) ( Restart ^_^ ) * Lilith shrugs. "Lots of people look familiar. What's the big deal? We just need to figure out what's going on and get home soon." Hmm... To the market, then? Yeah, sure. Wherever we need to go to figure this out and get home. And find whoever is responsible for this and punch 'em in the face. * Lilith grins at Anne. Slightly. "Kick 'em in the balls." Hey, you're assuming a guy is responsible. .. Okay, to be fair, he probably is. * Lilith nods. "It's likely." [ It appears to be easy enough to leave. Across the courtyard from the fountain is a gate guarded by two very large stereotypical Arabian toughs with cutlasses and turbans. ] * Lilith shifts her weight back and forth, then finally walks towards the gate. * Mitch shrugs, and heads towards the gate as well. * Anne heads for the gate, and ignores the big tough manly men. [ They don't try to stop you. What you see outside is... well, you must have seen Aladdin, and you really could feel as if you'd just walked into Agrabah: an old Arabian city that seems to extend infinitely far in every direction. Oddly, it slopes to the top of a hill in the center, where the sounds of the market are strongest. ] (The temple of Tash! Ride for Archenland!) * Mitch looks around for the Street of Sea Breezes. [ Presumably, that's at the market, which is a decent walk north of here. ] * Anne looks around a bit. "Woo. Quite the place. Where are we supposed to head again?" (Did we get shoes, or are we looking to avoid any... deposits on the streets?) The market, I believe... ( You have shoes. Mitch and Anne have boots; you have some sandals, and some cloth wraps for your legs. ) ( Well, Anne actually has adorable little explorer bootlets, not real boots. ) ( I feel overdressed. ) Well, let's get going. We'll run their maze and get out of it. * Mitch nods, and heads north. [ The walk through the streets is actually not terribly eventful, but quite crowded. The marketplace takes about what you might guess is a half hour of solid walking to get to, if only because of fighting off overeager merchants and through crowds. ] [ Once you're there, though... the market is at the top of the hill, and is immense. The hill's actually fairly high, and you can see all of the city below extending for what seems like miles. To the southeast is a broad avenue; it's unmarked, but the sea is visible below in that direction. ] * Lilith starts looking around despite herself at the merchants' offerings. It's rather... overwhelming. [ There is... *everything* here. Food, jewlery, clothing, horses, women, anything. In any direction. It's like a large, hot, smelly market. THink mall of America. ] Impressive... Anyone have any money left in their clothes? * Mitch checks. I don't usually keep cash on me when I'm sleeping. [ If you check your own clothes, Lillith, you actually discover a money pouch in the robes. It has some gold coins, some silver, and some bronze. Anne's shorts have some bronze in the pockets. ] * Lilith pats herself down and finds the stash. "Our kidnappers aren't entirely without their good points, it seems." Hm? Do we shop along the way? * Lilith jingles her coin purse. Never know what we might need. * Anne checks her own pockets and finds her stash. "Hm. Well, I am kinda hungry.." It may be better to wait and see what's going on, before we spend too much... If we run out and need more, we'll just get more one way or another. Confident, arn'tcha? * Lilith smiles knowingly. She does, in fact, look extraordinarily confident. [ The market is thankfully not so busy; the sun's a bit low in the east, so it must still be somewhat early. ] ...well, breakfast sounds good to me. * Lilith nods. "Hopefully we can find something that won't have us doubled over within an hour." * Anne looks for some sort of food stand. [ Oh, you'll have to be more specific than that. Or we'll be here all day. ] (Falafel is a moderately safe bet.) * Anne looks for a food stand that serves salad then. * Lilith looks for something light, vegetarian, with small portions, and unlikely to give them horrific food poisoning. * Mitch looks for...well, Lilith has the right idea. [ Those interested in the vegetarian option have to search a little bit; what you DO find is a shop selling red rice and beans in small wooden cups that looks relatively safe. ] ( Red BEANS and RICE. @_@ ) (And RED RUM!) * Mitch searches his clothing for cash. * Anne looks curious at the Red Delicious. [ Mitch is dirt poor. ] * Lilith haggles over the price, starting off with one bronze for three cups. * Anne waits to see how Lilith does before buying some. ( Roll a Mind check. Business skill applies. ) 2d6-2 * Atom rolls for Lilith (2d6-2) and gets 7. (Ew.) (Is the vendor male? ^_^) ( Flaunt your assests. For great savings. ) ( *snicker* No. most of the food vendors appear to be female. The men are hawking thinks like weapons and such. ) (Dang.) The vendor does not look impressed. Maybe she saw you were carrying gold. "Don't insult me, fine lady. One bronze per cup." * Lilith sighs. "Or two bronze for the three, and we call it a volume discount?" * Lilith smiles hopefully. * Todd frowns. She seems about to argue, when her daughter babbles something in a language which might sound a bit like Arabic, but even if you spoke it, you can't quite understand. She sighs and holds out her hands. "Two bronze. Only because you are friends of Master Teros." * Lilith beams and hands over the two coins, first making sure she grabbed the right type. Nice hagglin', Tex. * Mitch nods. * Lilith turns and stares at Anne. "'Tex'?" Should I call ya somethin' else then? [ You do indeed get your food. Which does come with a spoon. It doesn't taste that bad, actually, for something you picked up at a market stall. ] You'll call me Lilith. How appropriate. I'm Anne. * Lilith smiles. "That's what I thought when I picked it." I'm Mitch. (I'm Nabeshin. ...) (Don't mind me.) [ The market's starting to fill in with people, now; standing around is getting you jostled. ] Harbor? Sounds like a plan. * Mitch nods. * Lilith motions with her head to the large avenue seen earlier. [ Since most people are coming *from* the harbor at this hour, the walk down isn't so bad. And it's downhill, naturally. When you arrive, you see about 10 slips sized for caravels and other trade and long-distance ships. One slip, however, has what appears to be a submarine of some sort. ] [ It's very "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", in miniature. ] * Lilith stares openly. This...bodes poorly. This is.. odd. To say the least. You've gotta be kidding me. [ There's way too many people around in the street. A man in a white desert cape and wearing light tan clothes is leaning against the slip where the submarine is. He looks like he's waiting for someone. Most of the other slips are actually empty. ] You don't suppose... Well, this is stupid enough, already. Let's hop on the submarine! * Lilith waves her hand in the air in a vague "Yay for stupidity!" motion. ( I was unaware "Yay for stupidity" had it's own hand motion. ) (It does now.) * Anne walks over to the Moonlight Knight wannabe. "You Teros?" [ The man stretches and glances at Anne. Under the hood of the cloak he has light brown hair, and his eyes are a curious shade of dark gold. He looks to be in his mid-30's, but is pretty handsome and a little boyish for his age. ] Man: "That's right, I'm Eroles Teros. It's about time you three arrived." (*facefault!*) ( I knew it. ) (I'm missing something.) ( Yes. Don't worry about it. ) (Worry. Worry a great deal. @_@) ( Eroles was my character from the first OW runthrough. ) Okay. Care to tell us why the hell you've dragged us here? Eroles raises an eyebrow. "I didn't 'drag' you here. You were destined to show up here." He shrugs and stands up straight, picking up a sheathed sword from against the pier wall and buckling it on. "I made a fortune out of knowing such things, so." Destiny? What the hell are you talking about? Oh, we were DESTINED. Of course. Fate is sending us merrily through a grand adventure! What fun! ( *SNORTS as winamp busts out "Poco's Theme" ) * Mitch sighs. * Lilith walks up besides Anne and fixes the man with a sharp stare. So. Why did we go to sleep in our homes, in a completely different place, and wake up here? The man lets out a sigh. "I'm not in the habit of trying to force people to do what they want. But... you were probably dreaming about the 'otherworld', am I right? So you don't know which one's real. If you come with me, you might find some answers. Or you can wander around Iselia for a while until you run out of money." I can take care of myself just fine. How do we know what sort of answers you'll try to feed us? Not much of a choice. [ A shout rings out from the hatch of the submarine: "Hey, pretty boy! Have the other three shown up yet?" From the submarine emerges a rather tall and well-built woman wearing cargo shorts and a workman's shirt. Her hair is red and tied back in a ponytail and her face stained with grease; a huge wrench is slung across her back. ] Eroles shrugs at Lilith and gives her a faint smile. "Well, you're a tough one. You can make up your mind on your own, I think." He seems about to say more when he's interrupted, and looks back. "Yep. These are them, Drucilla. May I introduce Lilith..." He waves a hand at the women. "Anne, and..." There's a moment of concentration. "Mitch. Right?" (Drucilla. Oh lord.) (...) * Mitch nods slowly. ( That's how we reacted. Magellane! The fairys have come to steal my picnic basket! ) .. how the hell do you know our names? ( For the record, Cham cooked that name up, not me. ) (Just glad he didn't spell it with a 's'.) Eroles winks at Anne, and folds out his hand gambler-style, revealing a fan of tarot cards. "These told me. Well, alright. They told me you were coming. Some spies told me your names." He grins. "Half of looking psychic is just being well-informed." You're kidding me. * Lilith laughs a bit. "Impressive." Dru snorts and walks forward, extending a calloused hand. "Well, whatever. He talks a good game, though, don't he? I'm Drucilla Drogg." Anne Winters. (And now the vampire and the succubus chat by the submarine...) ( *snicker* ) Lilith Rousseau. I'm Mitch Silner. Eroles grins. "I know." He glances at Dru. "Is everything ready to go?" Where the hell are we going? Dru nods. "Basically. Just gotta fill the pressure tanks..." She glances at Anne. "Under the ocean. We're going to look for the Aqua Mirror." Of course we do! U..huh. And.. what the hell is that? Then we dance naked under the light of a full moon to summon pixies to bring us gold! Dru glances at Lilith. "Don't be daft. You have gold." You people do realize you're insane, right? I mean, I'm just clarifying. Eroles winks. "One person's insanity is another's fiction. Faisal certainly thinks you're insane. What IS 'air conditioning', anyway?" * Lilith squints up at the sun. "A blessing from heaven. There's a reason I don't live in Miami, you know." ( Of course. The second you stepped out into the sun, you'd catch on fire. ) ( *watches a cat walk by outside, walk right up to my house, and jump up on my windowsil* ) (Hi, kitty!) ( Eeek! ) ( I want a kitty. ;_; ) (Go catch that one!) It's a system that, basically, circulates air past coils of a chemical that remains very cold. Dru eyes Mitch. "Huh. Really?" She rubs her chin. "You know, if we could find something that kept its cold long enough, I might be able to..." She suddenly whips out a pad of paper from a pocket and starts scribbling things down. "See ya in the Angelfish," she mutters vaguely, walking into the submarine. ( Congratulations, you've just signed your own death warrants from experimental freezing. Everyone thank Mitch and start rerolling new characters now. ) ( Dru is inside the Angel. Oh dear god. ) Did I just do something bad? (AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH my eyes. Don't DO that, Atom.) Eroles coughs. "She takes after her father. Most likely whatever she's planning will end up as either a paperweight or an improvised weapon." She indicates the sub. "The Aqua Mirror is an ancient artifact... something terribly important that I have to find. If you help me, it might give you some answers about the 'otherworld'. So, if you want to come, you're welcome to." * Anne eyes the submarine. "And how safe is this thing?" [ It looks safe enough. It's floating, which in terms of boats is pretty much the key effect. ] * Lilith motions towards it. "You two go test it out." Er... No, no. I insist. You go first. Not a chance. I said it before you did. * Mitch shrugs, pauses for a moment, and then steps into the sub. The man in white shrugs. "Well, I'll say this. When a Drogg builds something, she or he builds it to last. If it's floating at all, you're pretty much guaranteed that it's safe. If it wasn't safe..." He pauses, then smiles embarassedly. "If it wasn't safe, it'd be not safe in a big way." Well, let's see if it collapses and kills Mitch first. Oh, well, that's terribly comforting. [ The boat does not sink, explode, take off with Mitch's leg still in it, or do anything but rock slightly. It's a little cramped... it IS a submarine... but otherwise, it's pretty normal. ] ( No aliens abduct him then? Hm. ) Well. Seize the day, as it were. * Anne follows Mitch on. [ c.f. previous stuff, but sub in Anne's name. ] * Lilith hems and haws and finally follows them. [ Eroles follows after Lilith, and the additional weight of four people does not seem to sink the sub. The inside is actually rather nice; there's a hatch room, and below that the central cabin, which is about the same size as your inn room was, with sleeping quarters behind and the bridge ahead. Apparently, it's bigger under the water. ] Hm. Your host sits down in a comfortable chair; the main chamber is actually a bit like a living room, including a little mini-stove and such for cooking food. Looks like this was intended for a somewhat long voyage. "Have a seat. Or if you're still tired, the women's quarters are on the left." * Anne looks at Mitch. "I never woulda guessed." ... What? * Lilith heads off for said quarters without hesitation. She's not a morning person. [ The quarters are actually pretty nice. There's two bunk beds of decent size, and two dressers. ] * Anne has a seat. She, however, is a morning person. * Lilith curls up on the bottom bunk, clutching her purse before she even vaguely wanders towards sleep. * Mitch shrugs, and sits down. [ I think we'll call it here. I gotta get ready. ] [ SESSION 1 END! UNDER DA SEA. UNDER DA SEA... ]