Story Nine- A Farewell To Lemonade, Part Five

<HollyhockGod> Either way, I wanted to apologize for missing last week- very remiss!

<crusher_bob> Bwah?

<Alexa> Tut tut.

<HollyhockGod> So, the recess ends!

  • Meon calls the court to session.

<Ebba> Meon was bribed with knowledge of soap operas, wasn't he?

  • Meon may have been slightly moved.

<Meon> But only a little bit!

<Meon> Let the ritual commence.

<RyanSherbrig> (This is only because the Powers of the Dark seem to be above loving actual… um… humans. Okay, that actually makes a fair amount of sense.)

  • Maliq pulls chalk out of her hair.
  • Maliq draws on the floor some more.

<HollyhockGod> Her circles are terribly unprofessional.

<HollyhockGod> More like squiggles!

  • RyanSherbrig casts a critical eye.
  • Maliq chants.

<RyanSherbrig> ("/me loans Maliq a compass.")

<Maliq> Yu me gua guai hen gue zhao newton cu me…

<HollyhockGod> Melangell, still chained to the ceiling, begins to moan softly.

<HollyhockGod> Light begins to pour out of her eyes, ears, nose and mouth.

<Ebba> Melangell's mouth? Or Maliq's mouth?

<HollyhockGod> Melangell's mouth.

<Alexa> "Er, is that supposed to happen?"

<Ebba> "That seems unusual."

<HollyhockGod> The light takes on a sickly green color and begins to steam.

<RyanSherbrig> ("Yes, it lacks the normalcy of the mouth-apocalypse, doesn't it?")

<Maliq> Hear me, Emerald Seer! Your mistress speaks!

<HollyhockGod> "I hear you, my lady," says Melangell's mouth.

<Maliq> "The body which I have given unto you stands accused of committing murder seven days in the past. Do you see?"

<HollyhockGod> "I see. This body, foolish and intemperate, allowed itself to be fooled by an elementary trick by a child of Harumaph."

<Ebba> (Wouldn't Melangell's Auctoritas normally protect against such indignities?)

<HollyhockGod> The unseen face shapes itself the green cut-out of a grin.

<RyanSherbrig> (That's the magic of High Summoning. And Alchemy.)

<RyanSherbrig> (At high enough levels, anyway.)

<HollyhockGod> "Her stupidity rivals anything I have seen within this Creation. I find myself amazed that I was able to find space inside this brain to occupy."

  • Maliq giggles.

<Maliq> Perhaps you'd like to tell us of any other violations of the law the Domina may have committed at some point?

<HollyhockGod> "Objection!" shouts Marley very quickly. "Not relevant to the matter at hand."

<Meon> I must agree.

<Meon> Although I would have been very interested to hear of such matters.

<Maliq> Then I have no further questions.

<HollyhockGod> Melangell's body falls limp against her restraints.

  • Maliq walks back into the stands, whistling to herself.

<Meon> Dominus Sherbrig, you were also willing to present testimony?

  • RyanSherbrig prepares his own geometric constructs, which look much more impressive than stupid Maliq's.

<Alexa> ("Go Ryan! Go Ryan!")

  • Maliq whispers, "Sure, use a picture you copied out of a book."
  • RyanSherbrig speaks ancient words of power that couldn't possibly be approximated by alphanumeric characters.

<Maliq> I think I heard that one on TV once…

<HollyhockGod> Unspeakable mouths sprout from every imaginable surface!

<HollyhockGod> Except for the unconscious body of Melangell because Ryan is considerate.

<HollyhockGod> "Aaaaa…. the famoussss Courrrrt of Locusssst."

<Alexa> (The mouths leap out and eat everybody. The end.)

<HollyhockGod> Only if you run out of SMPs.

<RyanSherbrig> (What are the odds of that?)

<RyanSherbrig> (How many do I have left again? 2 or so?)

<HollyhockGod> Something like that.

<Alexa> (What else do the mouths say?)

  • RyanSherbrig spends 2 SMP for grudging compliance!

<RyanSherbrig> (I always have AMP and DMP and RMP)

<RyanSherbrig> "Watcher! Answer the questions of this court pertaining to the matter under investigation."

<RyanSherbrig> ("And don't eat anybody except Maliq. She, obviously, can defend herself.")

<HollyhockGod> "It ssshall be done."

<RyanSherbrig> "Now. Giving an unbiased testimony, what actually occurred on Melangell's ship which lead to the death of Anna, Water's Regal?"

<RyanSherbrig> (Whoops, some of Ryan's pettiness made it IC. Good job, Maliq.)

<Fiona> (Nothing could possibly go wrong with annoying Envy, right?)

<RyanSherbrig> (But nobody worries about annoying the Immortal Master of High Summoning. Sigh.)

<HollyhockGod> "Eye will sssshow the Courrrrt exactly what occurrrrrred."

<HollyhockGod> Everyone in the room finds themselves suddenly eyejacked into Melangell-vision!

<HollyhockGod> You see Ataulph flying through the air as you chase after him.

<HollyhockGod> He's ducking and weaving and avoiding your pointy cutlass.

<HollyhockGod> He turns himself into a bird!

<HollyhockGod> He turns himself into a blue whale!

<HollyhockGod> He turns himself into Lord Entropy!

<HollyhockGod> He turns himself into a cloud!

<HollyhockGod> Then he disappears behind the prow of your ship and you're forced to make a quick turn.

<HollyhockGod> Then you see him up on the deck and he's turned himself into Beauregarde!

<HollyhockGod> So you stab him good!

<HollyhockGod> Ha ha ha ha!

<HollyhockGod> Then there's shouting and some idiot with a deep voice grabs you.

<HollyhockGod> Normal function of your sight restores itself.

<HollyhockGod> "That issss the corrrect and trrrrue orrrder of eventssss," speaks the Watcher.

<Ebba> (What were Ryan's summoning limitations, again?)

<RyanSherbrig> (1 point in Limited Knowledge, so every now and then, a summoning will have abilities or restrictions I wasn't totally aware of.)

<RyanSherbrig> (But I don't have the 'whoops, lost control!' one. Or the 'Need to sacrifice babies every now and then' one.)

<RyanSherbrig> (For example, I didn't really expect that eyejacking. Good to know!)

<HollyhockGod> "Based on this evidence," declares Marley, "I would argue that my client's belief that Lady Beauregarde was a disguised Excrucian was both reasonable and understandable."

<HollyhockGod> "A Lord or Lady of this Earth," argues Deuteronomy, "should be able to see past the reasonable and the understandable and arrive at the truth where the safety of others is at stake."

<Meon> Hm.

<Meon> Is there any other evidence to present?

<Ebba> (did we have anything else?)

<Meon> Then the time has come for judgment!

<Ebba> (How about asking about the message from the Excrucian that got Baalhermon to show up?)

<Meon> Irrelevant!

<RyanSherbrig> (Ask it!)

<Fiona> (I thought we did a couple of sessions ago?)

<Meon> I am prepared to accept that the message came from an Excrucian drawing Lord Baalhermon to the scene to witness the crime, but that doesn't affect the legality or wisdom of the Domina's actions.

<Meon> Jury, present your verdict!

<HollyhockGod> "We find," cry the Powers of Medan, "that the defendant is guilty of aggravated foolishness in the face of deadly peril to herself and her Estate."

<Meon> I note that you say nothing of the charge of murder. Very well, it can be thrown out.

<Meon> With that in mind, I shall pass judgment.

<Fiona> (Dramatic pause!)

<Meon> Melangell Thorpe, Duchess of the Four Winds, in order that you may learn caution, I sentence you in Lord Entropy's name to a year and a day of enforced silence.

  • Meon presses his hand upon the seat of judgment, leaving five bloody prints.

<HollyhockGod> Melangell remains unconscious.

  • RyanSherbrig wonders if cheering would be inappropriate.

<Meon> I guess one of you can tell her when she wakes up.

  • Meon shrugs.

<Meon> This session of the Locust Court is closed.

<Ebba> (And I thought she would get death, so that you could bring in your new idea for a Water's-Regal?)

<Ebba> (Or did you change your mind?)

<HollyhockGod> I can already replace the Water's-Regal since Anna is dead.

<Ebba> (Yes, got mixed up.)

  • Marley pats Ryan on the back, gingerly.

<Marley> I suppose that could have gone much worse.

<Ebba> "Hopefully a year's enforced silence won't make her any more insufferable than she already is"

<Elizabeth Eliza> I was considerably worried about what would happen. Ryan, Marley, thank you for offering my Sister your aid.

<Elizabeth Eliza> I know she's given you no cause to want to help her.

<Alexa> "Thanks for helping out, Marley."

<Marley> Hey, I at least get paid for this job. Not much, but enough to cover airfare, in any case.

<Alexa> "I was going to ask if you needed a lift."

<Ebba> (We have this whale we need to oppress…)

<Marley> It's cool; I brought my pale horse.

<Marley> And I suspect the winds will be still tonight.

<Alexa> "Have a safe trip, then!"

  • Maliq eyes you coolly as she leaves the courtroom.

<HollyhockGod> Then she trips over her own feet.

  • Alexa snickers.
  • RyanSherbrig doesn't even pay attention to her.

<HollyhockGod> Any further business?

<Alexa> (Who's still here?)

<HollyhockGod> Anybody you feel like catching.

<RyanSherbrig> (/me encourages other people to do stuff, as he still feels kind of guilty for hogging the spotlight these past few sessions.)

<Ebba> "We should probably go to meet the new Power of Water"

  • Alexa whispers to Ryan while looking at Elizabeth, "So, are you going to ask her out?"

<Alexa> "Yeah, we probably should."

<HollyhockGod> "Indeed," says Lukas, catching the tail end of this conversation.

<HollyhockGod> "I think that in view of this victory (I mean semi-victory) a celebration is in order!"

<Alexa> "Excellent idea!"

<HollyhockGod> "And each of you shall be our guests of honor."

<Alexa> "We should see if we can catch Marley before she rides off, then."

  • Alexa heads for the door.

<HollyhockGod> "I'm sure she'll show up sooner or later. She always does."

<Ebba> (She has some variant of the boots of being there?)

<HollyhockGod> And indeed, some days later, you receive a very fancy invitation to a masquerade ball to be held in their Chancel.

<HollyhockGod> Well, she's Death.

<Alexa> "Cool. So, directions? Shall we follow you?"

<Alexa> (Oops.)

<HollyhockGod> Not related in any way to my failed attempt at starting a mask-themed PbP campaign.

<HollyhockGod> Nevertheless, that concludes "A Farewell to Lemonade."

<Alexa> (Cheers!)

<HollyhockGod> Next week: a masked ball! a duel! Melangell attempts to communicate without speaking while covered head to foot!

<Alexa> (A duel?)

<HollyhockGod> Ho ho ho!

<Ebba> Maybe she will take up interpretive dance.

<Ebba> Or, if she has enough Aspect, learning sign language should be pretty easy.

  • HollyhockGod tries to think of a costume without hands.

<Alexa> (So which Chancel is the party at?)

<Ebba> A cloud, a whirlwind, a big pile of money.

<Fiona> (Maybe she'll go costumed as an Aaron's Serpent?)

<HollyhockGod> I keep forgetting who their Imperator is.

  • HollyhockGod needs to use Imperators more.

<Alexa> (Lukas is Melangell's and Liz's N-brother, right?)

<RyanSherbrig> Death was the words and frost angel, right?

<HollyhockGod> Yes, It's Death-Words-Frost and Moon-Fortune-Candles.

<HollyhockGod> N-brother?

<Alexa> (Nobilis-brother, sorry.)

<Alexa> (As opposed to born-of-same-parents brother.)

<Alexa> (On the Chancel Aleph wiki, Melangell's entry suggests Dukkha is their Imperator.)

<HollyhockGod> O-ho.

<HollyhockGod> That works, I guess.

<HollyhockGod> I was thinking that their Imperator was Skandha, but that's basically another name for the same guy./

<Alexa> (Presumably you have notes somewhere? :))

  • HollyhockGod has changed the topic to:

<HollyhockGod> Only about important things!

<Alexa> (Ha!)

<Alexa> (Like how many character points we now have?)

<HollyhockGod> Good question!

<Ebba> Looks like 9 more than we started with.

<Ebba> Looks like Alexa has 3 unspent.

<HollyhockGod> Just go ahead and buy Aspect 7!

<HollyhockGod> You know you want to!

<Ebba> I have 2.

<HollyhockGod> And update your character sheet on nobilis.me, since I kindly made you a whole website for silliness.

<Ebba> I think Fiona has 2.

<Ebba> Ryan has 4.

<HollyhockGod> I still need a Fiona-based story.

<HollyhockGod> Fiona, you gotta gimme some plot hooks!

<Fiona> What do we need to do to be able to update our character sheets there?

<HollyhockGod> Or I guess there's always flower rites.

<HollyhockGod> You should just be able to register and do it.

  • Alexa has quit (Ping timeout)

<RyanSherbrig> Mmmm. You would think Flowerings would actually be a fairly significant estate in terms of the war, subject to quite a few Excrucian attacks.

<HollyhockGod> It's hard to flower rite Flowering.

<HollyhockGod> It would make your life difficult.

<Fiona> I've been slowly acquiring Rebirth, too, but we've already done that story.

<RyanSherbrig> A Flower Rite would be interesting. Haven't had one of those, yet.

<RyanSherbrig> Maybe on Resolve? Or Fire?

<HollyhockGod> You need an archnemesis!

<RyanSherbrig> Although I agree Fiona should get some spotlight, so fie I say on your 'logic' and not flower-riting Flowering.

<HollyhockGod> Maybe the insect queen.

<HollyhockGod> Munch munch!

<Ebba> Or possibly rebirth, since there isn't a noble to protect it right now.

<Fiona> (Ebba: except me - I have it as a secondary domain.)

<Ebba> (Exactly.)

<RyanSherbrig> Hmmm, was Fiona the character without bonds?

<Fiona> Yes. they should probably be to her Familia (individually), and probably to a place that isn't the Chancel.

<RyanSherbrig> The Insect Queen attacks the Boston Arboretum!

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