«Plot» Nine says, "This is an R5 AQ to Learn Spell: Alter Memory!"
Dalton finishes his work in the shop and heads up to the second floor, heading into the room containing his lodge and settling down on the cot inside. He takes a few deep breaths then closes his eyes, his astral form lifts from his body and stands in the room. He turns around in place then steps forward, stepping into the metaplanes and into dwellers threshold.
THRESHOLD!
Unlike some AQs, the Threshold appears as a park with all kinds of swing sets and see saws and swirly slides, with little kids ranging from ages 5 to 9 running amuck. Some of them have sky blue eyes whilst others have very red fiery ones. The red eyed children begin attacking the blue, and then feast upon their flesh. It takes only a few seconds, and Dalton feels like he cannot do anything but watch during this, unable to move until all red-eyed children have killed all the blue eyed ones. Then, all the Red Eyes look up and focus their attention upon him while blood streams and guts drip from their fanged mouths. They speak, but some are not done swallowing yet, and thus makes their voices muffled, but what they say is definitely in unison. So much so… that it is able to be heard clearly, "After what has happened in the physical realm, do you have the will to go on?" The closest remains of a blue eyed child at the feet of one of the Red Eyes looks very much like the 7-year-old child that Dalton recently witnessed perish.
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Dalton (#8435) rolls Willpower + Astral Pool: 4 vs TN 5 for "Threshold test":
1 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 7 9 11 = 6 Successes
«Plot» Nine says, "Dalton has +3KP for this AQ!"
Dalton grimaces at the sight, but resolves that he cannot let it stop him "I seek knowledge, enough to make sure that I never run into another situation like that again. The more knowledge I have, the easier it will be to prevent accidents like that from happening again."
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Nine (#10584) rolls 1 (to Candi):
3
The red-eyed children all say, "Very well." in creepy unison, and then the green grass below becomes hazy, and it begins to take on a very translucent shade of soft blue, just like water… which it is… and, then, Dalton can feel himself being drug down into it by a swirling cyclone, as if someone had unplugged a very large drain underneath him. All of the children above are unaffected while he is brought down… down… into darkness!
Dalton struggles to try to control his descent into the whirlpool, not entirely comfortable with the idea of being at the whim of the metaplanes, fully expecting this to be a difficult quest he does what he can to try to be prepared for whatever comes next.
PLACE of DESTINY!
Dalton finds himself drug down into the blackness, but not drowning, for some reason. He is sucked down into a large drain tube and then is finally spit out after being washed through some curvy tubing into what looks to be a warehouse with only shelves and many boxes atop them. These boxes are all black and probably 2x4x12, made like cigar boxes with lids that lift up on one side. Also, in the middle of this warehouse, Dalton sees another image dressed in all black, face hooded from sight, but if he ever passes mirrors often in the mornings in RL, he would be able to realize that it looks… just like him!
Dalton shakes his head, a duel against himself, well, the first order of business is to figure out what the task at hand would be. "Hello, so, what are we doing here?" he calls out to himself.
Dalton's image looks over toward him, and then he shrugs a little before a very cute little blonde haired girl in a Survivor EYE-OF-THE-TIGER tee-shirt and faded blue jeans steps around a shelf corner from which she was previously obscured, and then she looks at the real Dalton. She has sparkling blue eyes. She asks cutely, "Can you guys help me find my red pen? All the boxes I checked have only pencils, and I want my pen… the tonic man said it was magic!" She looks hopeful!
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Dalton (#8435) rolls Magic + Astral Pool: 4 vs TN 5 for "Soaking S stun, that last roll was wrong, 4 ap, not 5":
1 1 2 2 2 4 4 4 4 4 5 9 11 = 3 Successes
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Dalton (#8435) rolls Magic + Astral Pool: 4 - 3 vs TN 5 for "Soaking S stun, that last roll was wrong, 4 ap, not 5 KP:1":
1 2 2 3 3 3 4 5 7 9 = 3 Successes
Dalton closes his eyes and opens his astral perceptions, looking closely through the warehouse to try to find the telltale traces of magic, seeking for the item that holds magical power in among the many boxes of mundane items.
The fake Dalton nods to the little blonde girl (who stands there looking back and forth between you two expectantly). The fake Dalton does not speak yet but does go about physically walking over to the black boxes and opening them up, looking inside, before he moves on quickly to the next one. It looks as if none of the boxes on the shelves have any tell tale signs of magic power, for some strange reason.
Dalton frowns slightly, and starts moving through the warehouse, still looking for the tell tale signs of magic that might be here, even looking over the girl in case she is hiding it in her pocket. He continues to move and scan, looking for any signs of magic.
The girl starts to follow the real Dalton around while the fake one is still doing the opening of boxes and wandering from box to box to box, etc. There are no signs of magic on the little girl, so she does not have it in her pocket even though that was a clever idea! There just seems to be no signs of any magic anywhere, just shelves and shelves of boxes, and many many shelves. Finally, the little girl goes to one of the shelves and picks up a box and then looks inside. She frowns, and then she turns and tries to hand the open box off to Dalton for some reason. "Still more pencils." She sighs.
Dalton reaches out to take the box and his hand passes through it harmlessly. He frowns slightly "Well well, thats interesting." before he starts moving with the speed of thought, running through aisles and moving rapidly through the warehouse, searching again for signs of the elusive magic pen.
Eventually, Dalton finds this elusive magic pen. It is in a box on a shelf where the little girl can reach it, and it is definitely very red. And, it bleeds the tiniest amount of magical power, very faintly glowing.
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Nine (#10584) rolls 2 (to Candi):
2 9
Dalton reaches into the box, trying to grab the magic pen, and since it is dual natured he is able to move it, strange thing that actually. "Miss, I found your pen, its right here." he does his best to pick up the pen and try to hand it to the girl.
Oddly enough, the physical component comes along with the moving of the magical one, and the physical plane box lid opens when the pressure of the magical pen is pressed against it, and Dalton is able to take the pen out and give it over to the little girl. She smiles up at him and takes the pen with a very joyous look plasted upon her girlish visage, "Thank you so much, Mister!" Then, she tries hugging him!
Dalton chuckles and tries to hug back, but of course, being an astral body he more than likely passes through the girl. "Its no problem, happy to help you find your pen." He looks around, trying to spot his double and see what he is up to.
She does have an aura that Dalton can somewhat feel even while passing on through, and she shivers a little bit if he does, but still seems quite happy with everything. Then, she backs away from him and runs off with, "Mommy, Mommy!!! The nice man found my pen!" The metaplanar double of Dalton stops looking through boxes when he hears the little girl say that, and then he POPs away from this place, disappearing in a very soft billow of smoke. Then, a very tall human woman comes around a corner to meet the little girl, and she wears all black. She has a noteable limp, and her hair is greasy, and as the little girl rushes toward her, she shouts, "Oh, No! Unclean, Unclean! Sadie, stay away!" Mom turns as if to try to hobble away, but the little girl is not really listening and still tries to make chase after 'Mommy'.
Dalton frowns slightly and starts to move after the girl and her mother. "Is something the matter?" he approaches behind the girl and her mother. Still unsure of what is going on exactly.
Mommy continues hobbling away from Sadie, but she seems much more slow than the little girl, despite her trying. The woman in black actually stumbles and falls while trying desperately to stay away from her daughter, who seems to be making ground, but there is space enough in which Dalton can catch up with her if he wants to. Though, he might know that he will not be able to stop her from moving, only able to interact with the pen up till now.
PLACE of FEAR!
And, when moves are made to approach the two, a sickening feeling begins stirring inside Dalton's being, as if he were becoming diseased. Approaching causes cysts like those found on lepers to start boiling up quickly upon his skin, looking yellow and infected and rotting… nasty.
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Dalton (#8435) rolls Willpower + Astral Pool: 4 vs TN 5 for "Soaking D stun, need 6 successes with Trauma Damper. KP:1":
1 2 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 7 8 = 6 Successes
Dalton looks down at his hands, but knows that the metaplanes are a place where not everything will be what it appears. He pushes his way forward, still trying to reach the little girl, despite the boils and cysts and other things that start to appear on his body. "Can I help you somehow." he coughs "What can I do to help clear up this problem."
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Nine (#10584) rolls 2 (to Candi):
1 1
PLACE of CHARISMA!
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Dalton (#8435) rolls Etiquette + Astral Pool: 4 vs TN 5 for "Resisting M stun, need 2 successes with Trauma Damper":
2 3 3 3 4 4 5 9 = 2 Successes
Dalton easily makes it to the little girl before she reaches Dear Mom, but Sadie seems to be unaffected, unlike Mom and Dalton, who are now lepers, and it really sucks, for them. :( And, it stinks, too. Sadie does stop when she realizing Dalton is chasing her down and asking about helping them about some problem. She looks confused, "But, there is -no- problem, just Mom!" Well, no one ever said metaplanar beings were exactly smart…
Mom looks up and keeps crawling away from the other two, looking at Dalton with a pitiful blue-eyed gaze, "There is nothing you can do for me… not now." She looks like she has lost all hope in those eyes. Oddly, though, a medkit seems to appear next to her out of the either conveniently.
Dalton looks at the Medkit, then the woman "Well, let me see what I can do for you miss, just let me check you over real quick." he moves over and picks up the medkit, then moves to check out the woman.
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Nine (#10584) rolls 2 (to Candi):
2 4
The medkit appears to be an Advanced Savior Medkit System with an injectible nanite package. Sadie watches the other two with wide eyes, but (thankfully) she does not move any closer to either of you two lepers…
"Unclean…" the Mom unit whines lowly but then stops crawling to watch what Dalton might do for her. Of course, even though the woman has all of the same skin lesions that Dalton has, he does not feel the pain anymore, but she looks to be suffering profusely. When the man attempts touching her, she sniffles inward once before whimpering outward, and then she just slumps.
There is no sign of breathing now, and it looks like the open wounds in her rotting yellow skin start to ooze red blood, it becoming sticky on the warehouse floor below. Sadie just STARES at this before sniffling inward and whining softly, "Mom… Mommy?!"
Dalton frowns, and does whatever he can to stop the bleeding, but its does not look hopeful for the woman, since she appears to be decaying right in front of him.
PLACE of SPIRITS!
The blood pools below the woman and her fleshy features begin sinking into her bony frame even more than they had before. Despite whatever trying Dalton is doing for the woman, it does not stop this process at all. However, the body -does- seem to start twitching despite its blood and tissue loss…
Dalton sets the medkit down and stands up, not sure what to do at this point. The metaplanes are a strange place, and he has no clue what to do next. He starts looking around for something else that might help the situation, growing a bit desperate.
Suddenly, the body stands up with the eyes changing to fiery red, and then the withered being floats forward quickly in a wraith-like fashion!
Dalton figures this would be a bad thing for him to ignore at the moment, so he focuses his will and mind on the mana energy that ties spirits to the planes, and reaches out to start to sever those binds, the spirit of course struggles against him, and it becomes a contest of whos strength can prevail.
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Dalton (#8435) rolls Conjuring vs TN 5 for "Banishing the Spirit":
1 2 2 2 3 4 4 4 = 0 Successes
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Dalton (#8435) rolls Conjuring vs TN 5 for "Banishing the Spirit KP:1":
1 1 2 4 5 8 9 9 = 4 Successes
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Dalton (#8435) has the Attribute Magic with the value '10 (9)'.
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Nine (#10584) rolls 5 vs TN 9 for "Omg, NO.":
2 2 3 4 5 = 0 Successes
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Nine (#10584) rolls 5 vs TN 9 for "Omg, NO. (KP1/5)":
2 3 4 5 5 = 0 Successes
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Nine (#10584) rolls 5 vs TN 9 for "Omg, NO. (KP3/5)":
2 4 4 5 5 = 0 Successes
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Dalton (#8435) rolls Conjuring vs TN 2 for "Banishing the rest of the spirit":
2 2 2 3 4 4 5 7 = 8 Successes
«Plot» Nine says, "Spirit has no chance."
Dalton hates to do this, but dead mother ghosts are probably not kind to thier children, so in front of the childs eyes he has to rip whatever essence is left of her mother from this plane of existance.
The wraith-like figure tries to attack Dalton with some talons that sprout from where its fingers had been, but it fails miserably as his skill and his magic come into play. Falling weakly to its knees, it still tries, but it is a few seconds and the being just bursts in bloody chunks… which disappear into the proverbial ether just after having exploded.
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Nine (#10584) rolls 2 (to Candi):
2 5
Sadie sits down on the floor of the warehouse, looking down, crying.
Dalton moves over next to the child, but avoids touching her, cause he assumes he still has leperous sores "I'm sorry, I did what I had to do."
PLACE of BATTLE!
Indeed, he does still have leperous sores. The little girl gets up, and her eyes turn red, just like the eyes of the Threshold Children who killed the Blue-Eyed Children. She uncaps and then brandishes her red pen (which looks quite sharp), and she bares some fanged teeth at Dalton with a deep demonic growl!
«Plot» Nine says, "Place of Battle. Feel free to draw whatever melee weapon from your person that you think would make sense for Dalton to use here."
Dalton steps back and takes up a defensive posture, his hands moving slowly side to side "Alright, now, we really don't have to do this ok…" he simply waits for her to make the first move.
The little girl seems unreasonbly unresponsive to what Dalton says, and she charges forward with monsterous fervor. The red pen glows astrally, seeming to have more magic power than when Dalton first found it in its box.
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Nine (#10584) rolls 5 (Place of Battle) + Combat Pool: 5 vs TN 4 for "Omg, Stabby.":
1 1 1 2 2 4 4 4 5 7 = 5 Successes
«Plot» Nine lets Dalton use both CP and AP up to skill rating in each pool.
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Dalton (#8435) rolls Aikido + Astral Pool: 4 + Combat Pool: 4 vs TN 4 for "Counterattacking":
1 1 2 3 4 4 4 4 5 7 10 11 = 8 Successes
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Dalton (#8435) rolls Aikido + Astral Pool: 4 + Combat Pool: 4 - 8 vs TN 4 for "Counterattacking KP:3":
1 4 9 10 = 3 Successes
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Dalton (#8435) has the Attribute Strength with the value '3'.
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Nine (#10584) rolls 5 (Sadie BODee) vs TN 4 for "Soak D Stun":
3 3 4 5 9 = 3 Successes
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Nine (#10584) rolls 5 (Sadie BODee) vs TN 3 for "Knockdown?! (Need 4 Sucks)":
1 1 1 2 3 = 1 Success
Dalton sidesteps quickly and grabs the extended arm with the pen knife, he twists and turns, using leverage to pivot her around and then kicking out with a leg while she is off balance, the kick strikes true, knocking the wind out of the girl. He lets go and steps back as she falls to the floor.
The little demonic-like girl yelps, and then makes vocalizes no more, other than gasping for Air…?! She clatters down to the floor and seems to be preoccupied right now with writhing and clutching at herself where she has just been kicked.
Dalton sighs and knows that it would probably be a bad idea to leave a demonic girl with a magic pen to hunt him down later… so he moves forward and kicks again, trying to knock her out, gee, isn't he nice.
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Dalton (#8435) rolls Aikido + Astral Pool: 4 + Combat Pool: 4 vs TN 4 for "Kicking a little girl in the head, well, demon girl!":
1 1 2 2 2 2 3 4 5 5 11 11 = 5 Successes
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Nine (#10584) rolls 5 (Place of Battle) + Combat Pool: 5 vs TN 7 for "Omg, Defense.":
1 1 1 1 3 4 5 7 8 11 = 3 Successes
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Nine (#10584) rolls 5 (Sadie BODee) vs TN 3 for "Soak S Stun!":
1 1 3 4 5 = 3 Successes
The demonic little girl gasps deeply and then hisses out at Dalton, "You, can… cannot…!", sounding as if in disbelief about something. Probably, it is due to the fact that Dalton is now able to interact with her red-eyed form when he previously could not with her blue-eyed one, maybe? Then, the kick comes swiftly, and she slumps more, her head wavering side to side dizzily, but she does not try to get up, not just yet.
Dalton shakes his head, this is just not his night, killing mothers and then beating up little demon girls. He moves in again with another kick, hoping this time to end this fight for good.
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Nine (#10584) rolls 2 (to Candi):
5 5
PLACE of KNOWLEDGE!
Finally, the kick comes, and the little girl finally just lays there, knocked unconscious. She does not move, and nor does she turn into a wraith, and nor does she have any leperous conditions like Dalton does right now. Now, Dalton finds himself completely alone inside the many-shelved warehouse, some boxes open and many still closed from the first endeavour. After trying to help the Mom unit and then kicking Sadie's ass, Dalton might get a feeling that he is more of a physical being now than the previous astral form in which he first was when all this started. Also, the adrenaline has caused his blood pressure to sky rocket, and his leperous skin (although not hurting) probably looks somewhat more aggravated than before.
Dalton looks around the warehouse, then figures he might as well get out of here. He starts heading for the closest exit, not sure whats going to be next on this quest.
There are no exits that can be found. As Dalton continues to search, this 'physical body' of his seems to continue having some major issues: breath quickening, heart racing, and light headedness. However, in each of the four corners of this building, Dalton -does- find an array of furniture as can be found in the 2070s-style Barnes and Noble. 4 chairs placed evenly around a coffee table.
Dalton struggles to remain clear headed, and heads back for the medkit, seeing as right now, his patient may be himself, he makes sure to take his time and not overexerht his ill body.
When Dalton gets back to where the medkit is, the young demon girl has been replaced with another chair (exactly like those that were found in the building corners) with the fancy medkit right beside.
Dalton settles down in the chair, and places the medkit on his lap, opening it up and placing the sensors on his own body, looking for whatever he can to deal with his own illness at this point.
The book store chair is quite comfy, being soul-sucking furniture. You know, the kind from which you never want to get up and just stay there. And, after the medkit has been all connected and set into action, it begins to tell Dalton in a sexy female robot voice, "Meditate, son, Meditate."
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Dalton (#8435) rolls Meditation + Astral Pool: 4 vs TN 5 for "Need 4 successes.":
1 2 2 4 4 4 4 5 5 9 10 = 4 Successes
Dalton looks down at the medkit, and sighs, then closes his eyes and tries to calm his mind, focusing on a single thought, and letting everything else wash away.
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Nine (#10584) rolls 2 (to Candi):
3 4
PLACE of MAGIC!
This seems to work well, actually, and all of the leper sores start to clear up, and all of the vital problems seem to go away… calmness coming to this physical-like form. Wouldn't it be lovely if things worked like this in real life? Anyway, serenity fills Dalton before the medkit speaks again, "Focus… Center… Yourself…"
«Auto-Judge[Mew!]» Dalton (#8435) rolls Centering + Astral Pool: 4 vs TN 5 for "Need 6 successes":
1 2 4 5 5 5 9 11 20 = 6 Successes
Dalton focuses his mind, calming himself and concentrating as if he was trying to prepare himself for a magical task, seeking an inner balance and a razor sharp mind.
CITADEL!
Success comes, bringing balance. Our metaplanar traveler can definitely feel physical wellness and an invigorated body and sharp mind. Finally, there is a feeling as if the medkit in his lap is falling apart.
Dalton opens his eyes and looks around, trying to see whats going on around him.
Everything looks black and white (or shades of grey) without color, except for one thing. Right in his lap, Dalton finds 5 different credsticks, there being one of every credstick 'color'.
Plastic, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Ebony.
Dalton reaches down and picks up the credsticks, looking over each one carefully one at a time, not really sure what to make of this.
When Dalton reviews the plastic credstick, he realizes it represents the basic info concerning what he needs to know about Alter Memory throughout the fine print, and then each new card presents even more information.
However, there -is- a side effect! For as Dalton reviews these, something happens, and he will find himself unable to remember most of what just happened here during this astral quest. He will remember The Threshold just fine (with the Red Eyes and Blue Eyes), but each stick causes one place after he was brought down through the enormous drain… to be memory wiped. This goes on until the first place he can remember begins with him sitting in a chair with a medkit telling him that he must "Meditate, son, Meditate."
Everything else is… gone.
Dalton studies each of the sticks, making sure he has all the information down before he stands up and looks around, after a moment he figures he has what he came for, and closes his eyes and focuses on leaving the metaplanes, taking a step forward and returning to his body.
------ MAIL: Dalton -------
[N--] 1 ( 455) From: Nine Sub: R5 Learn Spell Alter Memo
1 From: Nine At: Thu Jul 29 02:37:58 2010 (Conn)
Fldr : 0 Status: Unread
Subject: R5 Learn Spell Alter Memory AQ
When he awakes, our hero will find that there are 5 credsticks without chips inside them upon his chest, an insightful token that has passed through the planar ethers from the metaplanes into this world. It looks like all 5 credsticks have been glued together in order from Plastic to Ebony, and they are obviously not useful for electronic transactions. They do not even have any corporate logo(s), but they feel like they hold wealth in magic.
