15[20:03] In a distant land, atop a magician's tower, the circle stands before a crucible and its guardian. 15[20:04] So far, Urza's son has proven genial and cooperative, with the exception of what it sees as its commitment to keep the crucible from falling into the wrong hands. Into anyone's hands. 15[20:07] Xu Sim has just begun to examine it, with its consent. What do the others do? [20:07] <@Ferrinus> 12This is a nice tomb. Sure would be a shame if an enterprising adventurer's party were to come by and raid it. But no, actually, it'd probably be a huge waste of effort and Keldar earnestly hopes Xu Sim can just trick this golem into giving away its inheritance instead. [20:08] 14Stranger thinks he's growing to understand the golem, who is much more than simply a golem. There's a significant...mental block, there. An emotional block. Stranger thinks he needs to move past it in order to fully embrace the future he deserves -- and he certainly needs to move past it if they're to take control of the tower. [20:08] 14Stranger will continue to talk to the Son; the Ambassador will lounge about nearby in her housecat form. [20:08] 13Heck, I wouldn't trust us either. A bunch of hooligans just showing up randomly after - Sun, two thousand years. [20:11] 14Stranger: "Why do you think it is that you won't forgive yourself for Urza's death?" 15[20:13] The Son: "There is perhaps nothing to forgive. I only know what I have done. I don't know when or how or why. Am I a sinner?" [20:16] 13Xia Lan, if not prevented from doing so, starts to examine the symbols that line the room. Do they mean anything? Well - okay, they must, or they wouldn't be here. But do they mean anything that she can understand? [20:16] 14Stranger: "If you are, then you have agency. You are more than some reticulated lump of silver and steel, made to move on its own, made to imitate life. If you are a sinner, then you are the thing itself, not its facsimile -- you are truly his son. So the question is: do you want to be a sinner?" [20:16] 13She tries very hard to ignore the temptation to pet the Ambassador, who is a person, despite being also a cat. [20:17] "Because a sinner chooses. That is the relief against which sin is defined." [20:19] 14The Ambassador purrs as she rubs herself along Stranger's leg, and then suddenly she's shifting form again -- this time to silver-tailed doe from the forests of the Scavenger Lands. She prances to and fro a bit where the Son can see her, then trots in a wide arc around Stranger. [20:19] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar also observes the decor, though his eye is more utilitarian - how many of those symbols are going to shoot lightning bolts at us or disgorge demon slaves if things turn violent in here? [20:23] 13She looks to Xu Sim. "The earth itself bends the knee in worship -- this. Is a lot." 15[20:25] Urza's Son: "I was chosen-for. That is what the Chosen are chosen for." [20:26] 14...Does he mean the Exalted, there? 15[20:26] One assumes. It's an odd turn of phrase. [20:27] 13Xia Lan, still to Xu Sim: "Do you remember any of this?" [20:28] 14Stranger: "At the very least you chose not to answer my question. Which is your right. We are Chosen as well, if I don't mistake your meaning -- but where we come from, we are Chosen of something, not Chosen for something." 15[20:29] "Urza was Chosen. Urza chose for me. I am chosen-for." [20:30] "Ah. Do you reject choice, then? Do you believe yourself unworthy of it -- or alternatively, it unworthy of you?" 15[20:33] Urza's Son: "There is no worthy or unworthy. I have no choice. It is simply true." [20:37] 14Stranger: "You sell yourself short. I don't think you do so by accident. I suspect you find it more useful for me to believe that you're a construct of unbreakable logic, reason, order, and command, because if you are, then I'll eventually get frustrated and go away. But you dodge my questions too well for me to actually believe that." [20:37] 14He looks around. "Why do you hate this place so much?" [20:37] 13I mean, have you read these walls? [20:37] 14Stranger has not. [20:37] 13Wait, no, nobody else has time for that. But you should. Not. They're bad. [20:39] 14The Ambassador will trot up and nuzzle one of the Son's hands. [20:41] 13...Xia Lan should have petted her when she was a cat. 15[20:41] The Son runs its cold fingertips over the Ambassador's brow before its hand closes into a fist. "It's a waste." [20:42] 13Xia Lan: "A - how?" [20:47] 14Stranger nods solemnly, looking about the room as he speaks. "I think I hate it as well. I've seen what it keeps, down in the room with the pipes and the pods. I felt...revulsion. Then I got in the glass elevator and came up here anyway." 14His gaze returns to the headless Son. "At the very least we owe you an explanation of why we're here, and why we're so desperate. We come [20:47] from the city of Nexus. It is not Calibration in Nexus; we have managed to find our way to the Isle through more desperate means." [20:47] "Are you familiar with the walking dead? Are you familiar with the Fair Folk?" 15[20:48] "In principle and in passing." [20:48] 13On watching Keldar puzzle over the engravings around the room, Xia Lan takes pity. "Prayer strips, I think. Reverence, yet command over the land." [20:49] 5Xu Sim nods gravely. [20:50] 14Stranger summarizes, briefly and clinically, the circumstances that led to the Battle of Nexus and where the forces stand now. "And so the Mask of Winters wishes all the places like this in our city for his own, and he will take them unless we are creative, brave, and lucky. And then past him, the Fellowship of the Rose wishes to unmake the whole of Creation, down to the lowliest [20:50] housecat, and it wishes to strike a major blow for this in the city we're sworn to protect. So, we are here, and we are running out of time." [20:53] 5Xu Sim, murmuring to Seven: "If Urza died here, do you have a way to find out anything about it? I'm sure if there was still a ghost around we'd have discovered him by now..." 15[20:53] Seven: "I've been searching, but I can find no trace." [20:59] 5Xu Sim: "Xia Lan, can you help me with a matter of art history, again? I recall your assistance before, with that ancient song, was most valuable." [21:00] 13Xia Lan: "Of course, of course. Let me take a look." [21:05] 5Xu Sim: "In fact, Seven, it was a song you had mentioned to me." 15[21:07] Seven: "Mm?" [21:12] 5Xu Sim pauses to clear his throat, and recites a stanza of the ancient song in a stentorian Old Realm, perhaps as if it were a poem rather than a song, per se: "If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it / anything you want to, do it / want to change the world? / there's nothing to it" [21:15] 13She looks for a long time, pausing abruptly to - Sun, that can't be right - who MADE this. Then: "So. Um. This should be a - like a temple. First age, obviously. And at the center was, well. A statue to the patron god." [21:15] 13She glances over to the Son. 15[21:15] Urza's Son glances back. Presumably. [21:16] 14Stranger: "I would not ask you to fight in our war, of course. I wouldn't ask you to sanction it or even stick around for it; those portals I spoke of can send you any which way across Creation. I just want to impress upon you the seriousness of our quest here. We're not searching for secrets for secrets' sake, and we have no dreams of conquest. This is a mission of survival, for [21:16] us." [21:17] "I thought you deserved to know." [21:18] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar gives Xia Lan a perplexed look for a moment before looking over to the living statue and then mouthing a word to himself once or twice. "Waaait- hah! That's good." [21:18] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "But then why silver?" [21:18] 14A small smile quirks the edge of his mouth. "And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't trying to guilt you just a little bit." 15[21:19] "What here can save you?" [21:22] 14Stranger: "Maybe nothing. But it's the last card we have to play, and we're out of time. There were six other places we could have gone, but we came here, to you." [21:22] 13Xia Lan: "They're the god of this place. I - oof." 13She gets back to her feet, having been kneeling to examine some finer details. 15[21:23] The Son: "I don't fight." [21:23] 14Stranger: "I'm not asking you to." [21:24] "I just thought you deserved an explanation." 15[21:24] "Thank you." [21:25] "You're welcome." 14Stranger looks away. "And now I have to figure out how I'll bluff the Mask." [21:26] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar, to the others: "Yo, hey - hey, I get it. I'm a genius. He's not the son. He's the son." 12Of course, you can't really hear the difference. "You know, like with four arms? Hey?" [21:27] <@Ferrinus> "Or, like, this place's?" 12Here, Keldar is forced to turn to the actual genius and ask the pop star. "That's what's going on? It's like if this workshop had its own Most High?" [21:33] "Is that why he's incomplete?" 5Xu Sim ponders. "He doesn't know, and so, cannot fulfill his purpose - yet." [21:34] 14Stranger turns to the other three during the lapse in the conversation with the Son. "Doesn't know what?" [21:34] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Was he supposed to have a face? More hands? What's a wizard's tower's sun look like?" [21:34] 13Xia Lan: "Maybe. It's - these are hard to parse, and there's a lot of references to stuff that was probably clear at the time that I don't recognize." [21:36] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar nods slowly, perfectly masking the fact that he wasn't able to get it at all. [21:37] 14Stranger glances between the three excited faces. "What have you found? What doesn't he know? He's standing right here, after all." 15[21:37] "It seemed rude to interrupt. You have no more privacy than I do." [21:41] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar waves Xu Sim and Stranger over to explain. "Look, it's a languages thing. He's talking Old Realm, right? But if this were Riverspeak, he'd say son, which sounds nothing like soah fuck it actually works in both tongues." [21:41] 13Xia Lan turns and bows. "I'm sorry, I was thinking out loud while reading, well." 13She gestures to the various symbols, words, and illustrations decorating the chamber. [21:41] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "The point is, you can be somebody's male kid, right? Or you can be the highest of the gods and our patron. Practically the same character." [21:42] 5Xu Sim, breaking it down: "You're to be a god of this place, Son. That's your purpose. That's why you're still incomplete" [21:42] 13To the Son: "This is - it's a first age temple, kinda. But where the statue of a god would go, you are. In short." [21:43] 14That makes things. A lot. More complicated. 15[21:43] The Son: "What is the sun meant to do?" [21:43] 14Stranger: "Endure. And shine by enduring." [21:43] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Sort of... reign? Win at things?" [21:44] 13Xia Lan: "Help people, and allow others to help them." [21:49] 5Xu Sim: "Warmth and light to pauper and prince alike. Enough to burn the skin and nourish the field." 15[21:49] "These are difficult to reconcile." [21:49] 13Xia Lan: "The Sun often is." [21:50] 5Xu Sim: "That's why it rises, and sets, and is occasionally eclipsed." [21:50] 14Stranger: "It keeps its own counsel, while inextricably tied to the world around it. It is unmistakably itself." 15[21:52] Seven is silent. 15[21:53] The Son: "You tell me that I am to become something no one fully understands." [21:54] 14Stranger: "Among all the burdens of living, that is one of the least remarked upon. But yes." [21:56] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Well, just that you were supposed to be. And, uh, Urza? Must've been doing what you'd call an idiosyncratic take on the god since you're not even the usual metal." [21:59] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "So, like, you even wanna be the representative god of an abandoned tower? Seems boring." 15[22:00] "I am bored. But what you propose is contradictory in its aims and ends." [22:01] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Who's proposing? We were just describing a particular god - and pretty off the cuff, too. If you wanna live up to that example I'm sure there's real theology we could dig down into." [22:02] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "But, you know, gods. They're around, sure, but plenty of us have better shit to do." [22:03] 5Xu Sim: "This is the time to preach it," 5he points out. 15[22:03] "You are proposing. This is an endeavor to make me abandon my post in aid of your plan to save your city." 15[22:03] "I have not forgotten why you are here." [22:04] 14Stranger: "Does you abandoning your post even help us, now? If you're the god of this place?" [22:04] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Right, but, the way I see it you don't have much reason to be here and don't actually like it. Whether you were supposed to be a divine effigy's kind of an unrelated question - unless all you care about is what you're supposed to be." 15[22:04] "What else?" [22:05] 5Xu Sim shakes his head and strikes his hand through the air for emphasis. "We are asking you to take up your post." [22:06] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Uh... hanging out? Drink- no, that's probably out. ...reading?" 12He glances over at the sorcerer, who seems to be making a conflicting suggestion. [22:06] 13Xia Lan: "You can't worry about what you were supposed to be. It's - if that's all you do, you just. Think about what you aren't living up to. What you could have been. It's miserable." [22:09] "The Sun brings the day and nourishes all life. It casts its rays on boddhisatvas and pigs alike. But its brilliance shatters the darkness," 5Xu Sim suggests. 15[22:10] "Would the Sun help you?" 15[22:10] "Has he?" [22:10] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "And... he empowers men to win battles he doesn't fight himself." [22:10] 5Xu Sim: "He doesn't 'help' us. He Chose us." [22:11] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Yeah, see?" 12He taps his forehead, which lights up with a fiery orange sunburst. "Bonafide Chosen right here." [22:11] 13Xia Lan: "'He has raised me from the pit, and set me high.' An old First Age lyric, but fitting." 15[22:12] "Why were you Chosen?" [22:12] 14Stranger: "The Sun spends his days -- literally, his days -- arcing across the heavens, reveling over Creation. He helped us, but he does not hold us. He made us help ourselves." [22:13] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar considers the question. "Guess 'cause I was a great warrior, but a great injustice'd put my back against the wall." [22:13] 14Stranger: "To give a voice to the voiceless. To redeem a great evil." [22:14] "To have the power to save others from disease and wickedness," 5Xu Sim suggests. [22:14] 4The Ambassador watches intently, in her swan form now. [22:14] 14The Ambassador watches intently, in her swan form now. [22:16] 13Xia Lan: "The Sun gave me a chance to save myself, and save others. He came to me, and called me one of His best." 15[22:19] "The Sun marked you out for prowess and virtue. The Sun raised you up with power above the weak and against the wicked. But you have come here because this power is not enough. And you seek to fashion me into a new Sun to call you Chosen again and to grand you still more power." 15[22:19] "Do I understand?" [22:20] "It is your choice. You could do so, and help us save many lives. Or you could leave, and do as you please. Or we could leave, and whatever becomes of us would soon become of you as well, no doubt." [22:20] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "I mean, I'd be satisfied if you just stepped aside, or went off on vacation. And the power here's just the fruit of what the Sun gave Xu Sim ages ago." [22:21] 13Xia Lan was about to say something, but instead just glares daggers at Keldar. [22:21] 14Stranger: "We've asked contradictory things of you, expressed conflicted beliefs, and confirmed only the desperation of our own situation. You're asking us to choose, but in the end, you're the one who's going to have to do it." [22:22] <@Ferrinus> 12Xia Lan's treated to a 'whaaat?' expression for her trouble. [22:22] 14For his part, Stranger looks morose. 15[22:24] The Son brings its face level with the swan's. "You trust them?" [22:25] 14The swan settles its wings with a wiggle, then dips its head in a deep nod. 15[22:29] Urza's Son turns its back on them, resting its hand lightly on the crucible. "I don't want to be this tower's caretaker anymore." 15[22:30] It takes the orb up in its hand and the whole room thrums with power. "So I declare myself its master." [22:30] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Uh-" [22:30] 13Um. [22:30] 14Stranger walks over to the Ambassador and rests his hand on the back of her head as she returns to her human form. His hand ends up on her shoulder. 15[22:31] To the others: "I will give you two hours before I bring it down forever. Do good with what you have at hand and what you care to seek out." 15[22:31] "That is what you were Chosen for." [22:31] 4He nods. [22:31] 14He nods. [22:32] 5Xu Sim blanches. Centuries of labor. [22:32] 5Down the tubes. [22:32] 14Stranger did ask him to make a choice. And a choice has been made. [22:33] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar's face goes through a few expressions but settles on 'determined'. "More than zero. Son - can you give us directions? Tell us the locations of weapons or material stashes, warstrider hangars, whatever else?" [22:34] "Farewell, then, Son." 14Stranger begins walking for the glass elevator. [22:38] 13Xia Lan bows to the Son for what she assumes is the last time. "I'll keep you in my memories." 15[22:39] Urza's Son holds the (its?) crucible out, and a wire frame model of the entire complex weaves itself out of thin strands of light. [22:39] 5Xu Sim's face twists. "To watch over this place... You'll cast it into destruction?" 15[22:39] "I don't want to watch over it anymore. But you have convinced me that it is mine. So I offer you to take what you can before I do what I wish with it." [22:40] 13Xia Lan: "Can we return? If we find ourselves able to? I'd like to see that, if we survive." [22:41] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Would you want anything in exchange for not blowing it up? Could come in handy later." [22:41] "Blowing it up is the point." [22:41] "We should make haste." [22:45] 5Xu Sim, ashen-faced, approaches the Son. "Will you show us what the Lenses see?" 15[22:45] Without relaxing its grip, the master of Urza's Tower allows Xu Sim to approach and touch the orb. [22:46] 5Xu Sim does so, hurrying in an undignified manner. [22:57] 13In fairness, aren't most of the things he does -- not being catty when there's an actual cat around, wait shoot she's a bird now-- [23:01] 14Stranger seems to think of something as he reaches the elevator, squeezes the Ambassador's hand, and confers with her for a moment. Then they both walk over to the Son, waiting for Xu Sim to finish. 15[23:05] Xu Sim's mind envelops the entire complex - from the top of the tower to the base of the mine. His skin thrums in time with the barrier around the plateau, his heart beats with every pulse of the plant's core, his consciousness sizzles along every meridian Urza Planeswalker drew when he fashioned this place from fallow earth. It's all so overwhelming... but the only way out is through. 15[23:08] With incredible focus Xu Sim draws out the heart of this place's greatest treasure, spinning slowly in place among a vault of impossibly beautiful jewelery. 15[23:08] https://i.imgur.com/MXcYyBQ.jpg [23:15] 5Xu Sim's entranced eyes widen in awe, astonishment, and - not fear, not exactly... [23:19] 5No, it's fear. [23:20] 14Stranger: "Do you intend to survive this tower?" [23:20] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Well? Where to, we're on a clock here." 15[23:20] The Son: "I have no choice. I cannot be destroyed." [23:20] 14The Ambassador: "Do you wish to leave this isle?" 15[23:21] "Yes." [23:21] 14Stranger nods. "Then in two hours time, we will be waiting for you, at the portal." [23:21] 14Then they're moving with the rest. [23:24] 5Xu Sim moves out at a brisk jog towards the jewelry vault. He's rather pale. [23:25] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar's right with him. "What're we looking for, here? How big?" [23:26] 13Xia Lan hurries after the group, after a long look back to the Son. [23:26] 13Son of Sun. [23:27] "The Sol Ring. It was, uh," 5Xu Sim is sweating a little. [23:27] "Well, we want something powerful, right?" [23:28] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar, nodding: "Yeah?" [23:28] "Oh, well, this isn't. It's a pathetic bauble, really," 5he explains. [23:28] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar skids to a stop - and then is forced, somewhat embarrassingly, to pick the pace back up if no one else follows suit. "So what the fuck?" [23:29] "Ha! Ha! No, it's terrifyingly powerful, actually," 5he offers by way of clarification. [23:30] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Okay, what's it do?' [23:30] 13Xia Lan: "It's, ah. Oh." 13She's gone pale. "The. It's real?" [23:30] "Don't worry about it, Keldar," 5he offers. "Let's just get to the vault, quickly." [23:30] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar turnsto Xia Lan, now. "What is it?" [23:31] 13Xia Lan: "No, hold the fuck on, you can't just drop The Sol Ring on me and --" 13she's running. [23:31] <@Ferrinus> "What," 12says Keldar, with increasing exasperation and between bellows-pumping strides, "is, the, Sol Ring!" [23:32] 14Stranger and the Ambassador are running as well. "Whatever it is, I argue that when we achieve it, Xia Lan holds it." [23:32] "She knows what it is and she's more...reliable...than the three of us." [23:32] 5Xu Sim grits his teeth. Probably better not to have said a word. "It's a symbol of office for the Sun. Not the Son, here, but the Sun, out there." [23:33] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Yeah, so's my forehead at the moment. What do we hold over the Mask's head after we pick this thing up?" [23:33] 13Xia Lan: "It is, perhaps, the most powerful thing I have ever heard of in my life, and I thought it was an exaggerated thing in texts until literally just now." [23:33] "Gods cannot defy you. Entry into heaven. And Sun knows what else." [23:33] "Annihilates the profane, nourishes the righteous," 5Xu Sim is running faster on the smooth floors of Thran and looking back, or to the sides, as necessary - [23:34] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Up to and including a deathlord?" [23:34] 13Xia Lan: "Gods." [23:34] "Up to and including Cethleann the Crooked Lance, you mean?" 5Xu Sim replies. [23:35] 13Xia Lan, even more forcefully: "Gods." [23:36] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "My assumption was that the Mask's worse than she is - but 'gods' means nothing, I've seen gods you can crush in one hand!" 12Puff, puff. "Great news, though. How hard's it to use?" [23:37] 13Xia Lan: "I am -- " 13huff, "you -- anything lower than the fucking Unconquered Sun." [23:38] 13This is the most cusses anyone has heard from Xia Lan since approximately ever. [23:38] 14Stranger: "...Good lord." [23:38] 13Wait, no, there was that time in First Age Keldar's tomb. She scandalized Tsuka. [23:38] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Huh, yeah? How often?" 15[23:39] One wonders why she most often feels moved to curse in remnants of the First Age. [23:39] 14Stranger: "That's probably the wrong question." [23:39] "The right question is almost certainly: what's the cost?" [23:40] 14How close are we to this thing? [23:40] 13Xia Lan: "They Cannot Defy You." 13She stumbles, rights herself. "Like I said. I thought someone had made it up as some kind of joke." 15[23:41] The group arrives at a vault which opens as Xu Sim approaches. It's full of precious gems and jewelery of a craft beyond compare. Countless styles, materials... a storehouse of the beautiful. [23:42] 14Stranger has no desire for baubles. The Ambassador gives them an appraising eye, however -- is there anything else beautiful AND useful here? 15[23:43] No, nothing in here is practical. It all exists for its own simple sake. [23:43] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar's got the same thought. We're not only limited to one thing, so... aww. [23:43] 14Ah well. [23:44] <@Ferrinus> 12In that case, it's time to resort to finely-honed adventuring instincts. Keenly sizing up value to weight ratios, Keldar fills pouches and knapsacks. [23:44] 13Oh my Sun we do not have time for this. Where is the Sol Ring. [23:44] <@Ferrinus> 12Oh, Keldar can basically move at full speed while scooping up valuables. He's a pro! [23:45] 13That was not my primary concern. [23:45] 14She'll still swipe a white and black gemstone of proper size to be fashioned into earrings. They'll make good conversation pieces. ...And a necklace, if there's one about. [23:48] 14And ooh, what's that... [23:49] 14Stranger shakes his head and hands her the drawstring purse he usually uses to carry his teaset, but which he brought empty on this journey. [23:49] 5Xu Sim spurns most of it. Most of it. [23:49] 14His main concern is on the ring. [23:50] 5Xu Sim stares at the Ring on its pedestal. "Xia Lan, then? Truly unfettered." [23:50] 14Stranger: "I think it best. If she doesn't object." [23:51] 14He doesn't say it, but part of this is for Xu Sim's own good. It spares him having to carry the weapon that would kill Seven's lord. [23:51] 14Seems awkward. [23:51] 13Whispering: "If I should fall from grace with the Sun," 13as she reaches out. [23:52] 5Xu Sim would relish the chance to do it himself, if he could be sure that the Mask is all it would destroy. [23:52] 14Clear eyes, pure hearts, gods choose. [23:52] <@Ferrinus> 12How big is it? Can we just carry it out? 15[23:53] It's big enough to fit on Xia Lan's wrist. Against the rest of the finery in here it looks almost plain. A humble gold band. [23:53] 14That's how they get you. He touches the Ambassador on her shoulder as she appraises a gem. "Time to go." [23:54] <@Ferrinus> 12Ah, so you can just sort of pull it out of that cabinet thing it was floated over? "Sweet. Should Xu Sim not have dibs there?" [23:54] 5Xu Sim looks through it with a jaundiced eye. What is Seven doing? [23:55] 14Stranger: "This is more important than 'dibs.'" [23:56] "Xia Lan, you have heard the tales about who forged the Sol Ring, right?" [23:58] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar rolls his eyes. "Yeah, okay, 'more important than dibs'." 12He turns to Xu Sim. "Seriously, it's your ancient hold. But if you're cool with it..." [23:59] 13Xia Lan: "It's - I'm not using this around you," 13she says to Seven. "I don't know what will happen and I don't want to find out." [23:59] 14And this is why she gets the ring. [00:00] <@Ferrinus> 12How many hours remain of our two? 15[00:00] Point five. 15[00:00] Seven nods. "We haven't got much time." [00:00] 14Stranger: "Back to the Gate, then." [00:01] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "No one can think of a way to buy the tower off that guy, can they? Probably not worth the shot." [00:01] 14The Ambassador: "It's not for sale. Moon above." [00:04] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Could just be for trade." 12He doesn't press the issue, though; the actual trip back would take up dangerous amounts of time if it weren't a sure thing. [00:04] 13If she thought hard enough about, actual literal steam could shoot out of Xia Lan's ears. No, seriously, she can do that. 15[00:05] Everyone gathers at the base of the mountain, Urza's Son among them. "We require some distance for safety." [00:05] 14Stranger stands with a hand on the Gate. [00:05] 14Strike the above. "Base of the mountain." Right. [00:06] 5Xu Sim looks a little morose. [00:07] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Seems a shame." 12He doesn't bring up all those, uh, people-shaped simulacra in tubes somewhere in the mountain's guts. [00:07] 13We can't save everyone. As regrettable as that is. [00:07] 14Stranger's glad it didn't come to using them. [00:07] 13Surely that is what Keldar was talking about. 15[00:08] On the way, without looking back, the Son crushes the crucible in its silver hands. It shatters into fine powder, falling through its fingers like water. Behind them, above them, slowly and silently, Urza's Tower falls to dust. 15[00:08] https://i.imgur.com/jMmnY2O.jpg [00:09] 14Stranger keeps an eye on the Son, but he's not sure what he expects to see. No face to emote with, and the silver god keeps his own counsel. [00:09] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar releases a low whistle. 15[00:09] Amid the blowing sand and smoke, a glitter catches the eyes of Keldar and the Ambassador. A dragonfly, carved from fine crystal and glowing within with a tiny mote of blue fire, watches them go. Its wings bat the dust away as it clings to a jungle vine. [00:10] 14The Ambassador's cat-eyes narrow at it. 15[00:10] The far tower still stands, for another time. [00:10] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar makes a face, then nudges Xu Sim and subtly points the bug out. "Yours?" [00:11] 14Stranger, oblivious: "Let's get back to Nexus, and send the Son on his way." [00:11] 13Xia Lan: "What?" 13She'd been watching everything fall to dust. [00:11] 5Xu Sim squints out. "I haven't sent any messages," 5he mutters. [00:11] "...yeah. And - I want to get a better look at this." [00:11] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "I mean, like, yours from ten thousand years ago?" [00:12] 13Xia Lan: "Two thousand," 13automatically. [00:12] 5Xu Sim: "No. It's... not my style." 5He looks tired, mostly. [00:12] 13Properly, it's one thousand nine hundred sixty something, I think, but I'm not going to look it up right now. [00:13] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "I know that, actually, but I just wanted to reach for a bigger number." 12He nods to the sorcerer, looks around one last time, and just continues the march back to the portal. [00:13] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "What are we going to tell the Mask? Just wave the thing in front of him? Mention we've got it?" [00:13] 14Stranger: "We'll let Xia Lan and Xu Sim examine it first. Figure out how to use it, if we had to. Then we'll build our plan around that." [00:14] 14He'll be the last one through the Gate back to Nexus. Presumably the Son will be second to last. [00:14] 13Xia Lan: "I'm absolutely not wearing this or letting it off my person unless it's necessary. Just. Cautionary." [00:15] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Well, they'd better do it quick. I could take a look, too, I'm pretty good at figuring this stuff out on the fly - although that might be the last thing you want for something that powerful." [00:15] 13If she has anything to say about it, Keldar doesn't even get to touch this thing. But that's not solely her call. [00:15] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "But we better be able to turn it on and point it at the Mask, so that we can credibly say we can, so we can get that fucker off our backs." [00:15] 14Stranger: "Again. I don't think its potency as a weapon will be the problem." [00:17] 13Xia Lan, just before she steps through: "Gods." [00:17] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Hey, I believe you about its potency. But if we can't unlock that potency it's even worse than not having it, 'cause Thorns has all the more reason to invade." 15[00:17] The Son gets out immediately, without looking back, towering over Selin on the far side. [00:17] 14Fair enough. Stranger will come through last, and shut the Gate. [00:18] 14To the Son: "I made you a deal, I think. Or perhaps only the suggestion of one. But I'm holding myself to it." [00:19] 14He gestures around the room. "There are six other Gates here. Where would you like to take your first step under the true Sun of Creation?" 15[00:19] "Thank you but no. I will move under my own power." [00:19] 5Xu Sim looks back a last time at Thran. Such a waste... 15[00:19] "Perhaps we will one day meet again." [00:20] 14Stranger arches an eyebrow. "You're going to walk through the battle lines?" 15[00:20] "I cannot be harmed." [00:20] 14Again, fair enough. [00:20] 14Stranger Visits Heaven: "It was an honor to meet you, Son. Until we meet again." [00:20] 13We'll meet again, some sunny day, don't know when... [00:20] <@Ferrinus> 12Talking like that gets your eventual cause of death written down as "suicide" by the Dawn Guard, but, hey, it's his funeral. [00:21] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar does give a respectful nod to the simulacrum ere it departs. "Have fun." [00:22] 13You're thinking of "I am invincible!" the last known words of a "Boris Grishenko," of some unspecified northern stronghold, probably apocryphal to scare recruits. 15[00:22] So it goes. [00:22] 14Instead of saying anything, the Ambassador swirls into swan form, then bows, spreading her wings wide. 15[00:22] Selin asks Xu Sim, "Was it worth it?" [00:22] 13Xia Lan shows him the Sol Ring. [00:23] 5Xu Sim looks haggard. "Was what worth it?" 15[00:23] Selin: "Losing a night's sleep, I suppose." [00:24] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "I say it was. I tell you what, Stranger, I wasn't sure we had any recourse besides digging in and hoping the Mask was only moderately insane, but if the ring's half of what they say it is then this's really paid off. Good thinking." [00:24] 14Stranger looks very tired. "Thank you, Keldar. And thank you for not letting me compromise in the face of the Mask." [00:24] 5The corner of Xu Sim's mouth twitches a little. Maybe the ex-god's got a point. [00:25] 13Xia Lan: "The Son is free. And we might have our trump card. It's worth it." [00:25] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "You were right to bring it up. Would've been real unpleasant if we found the Isle of Thran after Xu Sim's kid got bored, disintegrated it, and left." 15[00:25] Selin: "Is that who that was?" [00:25] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "I'm being metaphorical." [00:26] "Indeed. But Xu Sim deserves better than to be called Urza." 14He looks to Selin: "How much time do we have left?" [00:26] "Until the parley." [00:26] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "And we miss any emergencies topside?" 15[00:26] "Hour and a half, I'd guess." 15[00:27] To Keldar: "Not topside. We've got a problem down here, though. All the dead in the rivers are polluting the water supply..." [00:27] 13Xia Lan: "Ughhhh. No rest for me tonight." [00:27] 5Xu Sim glances at Seven. "That's another hour before the Governor would have reason to know you're m-" [00:27] 14Stranger nods. "I'm going to meditate and try to get my head right for this parley. Find me in an hour." [00:30] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar frowns. He looks to Xu Sim. "Can we do something about that?" 15[00:30] NEXT TIME: Abdication