Session Start: Sat Jan 05 19:52:24 2008 Session Ident: #lunar-iog2 * TheStoryteller changes topic to '-= Chapter 63.5: Catechize - Xenobia | Location: China, Changan Gate | Pool: 8 MXP =- http://storen.rpgcafe.net/IoG/' == Lude Start == * Niri heads off down the hallway, looking for the room where Mikel told her she would find Xenobia. She frowns, stalking through the corridors in an admirable imitation of Saki. Niri stumbles upon the laboratory of Xenobia much like Mikel did, covered in the runes upon the walls that contain magical experimentation. She's still sitting crosslegged on the pillow, although is slightly drained from the battle with the thaumaturge previous, and appears to be resting. * DooM_GazE is now known as DooM_Away * Niri makes a distasteful face as she sees the runes, not feeling too comfortable with the idea. She shrugs and squares her shoulders, turning to face Xenobia. "Hello, Xenobia. If you have a minute, I think we need to talk." The blonde haired and black robed sorceress opens her eyes and stares at Niri, half disinterestedly, before standing to her full height and folding her hands beneath her chest. "I feel like I already know the subject of this little 'talk'." Oh? Maybe you could tell me then. Might make things faster. * Gayo is now known as Gayo|Gone * Niri crosses her arms and attempts to look intimidating, without much success. [Xenobia] Did Mikel send you? Huh? Heck no. No one sent me, I make my own decisions, thank you very much. But I'm not exactly happy how you handled things with Mikel. Granted, he gets some pretty whacked out ideas into his head at times, but from what I hear, you were pretty darn presumptuous. And I'm still not too happy about the whole tied-up-and-being-whipped thing. [Xenobia] Well, I'm not apologizing for my methods. He was dangerous... [Xenobia] I thought at first his dragon power was like the fiends and couldn't take any chances. [Xenobia] Turns out my little curse will likely help him reach an even greater pinnacle of power, power I want you to use to save this nation. ...Power YOU want US to use? Listen, we came here to help you guys, but we're not here to be ordered around, you know. We're going to stop Leah, and we're going to do it our way. If you were trying to help Mikel, that's great, but there's a little thing called asking permission first. [Xenobia] Haha, forgive me, Niri. But ordering around is what I'm good at. There's a reason I'm here, to understand foreign magics for our survival. * Lucca is now known as Lucca-away * Lucca-away is gone (Semi-afk. Stats and armor upgrade calcuations.) [Xenobia] So when a bunch of foreigner show up with extreme powers, how can I not try to order you around? ...I certainly don't follow your logic. * Niri sighs. "Look. Leah is my responsibility, and that's why I'm here to stop her. We need to bring her back to herself in order to complete our mission." To that end we'll work with you, but listen - don't try to hurt my friends and don't try to mess with them like you did with Mikel. It may be how you work, but it's not how my people work. I'm willing to try to understand your people, but there are some lines you don't cross. Xenobia eyes Niri's face. "I find it strange that you are lecturing me about relations. Just how removed are you from your ancestry?" * Niri shrugs. "I have no idea. Didn't know I had any connection with the Vile Tribe at all until we showed up here. Even so, the only proof I've got is my appearance, and that weird security machine you've got." Never heard any stories about it at all. I mean, I know my mom has some funny ancestry, but Dad's side always seemed pretty normal. [Xenobia] Hmm.. your blood feels weak to me, but it's definitely there. You might be a part of the old splinter tribes... who went to the moon. That'd make sense. We didn't even know there were any of the Vile Tribe on the Blue Star - the stories say they were the forgotten ones who lived on Lunar's dark side, out of the grace of the goddess. [Xenobia] I don't know what became of them. It was formed of a fraction of our people who took a flying vehicle in ancient times and followed Althena's palace that also flew towards the moon. [Xenobia] This was a schism that occured in our history following the Great Wars and aftermath that caused us at first to become what we are today. [Xenobia] In fact, you foreigners resemble the old bodies... * Niri shrugs. "Lots of stuff happened back then that I don't really understand. Mostly I don't think it matters much today." She begins to rub ehr chin, realizing something she had overlooked before. [Xenobia] Could it be you are descendants of those who went to the Moon, and that pillar of light 20 years ago was a symbol of your return..? Pillar of light? First I've heard of that, but something big definitely happened twenty years ago. It'd take a while to explain, but yes, we're among those who returned from Lunar. Well, I didn't, I was born on the Blue Star, but my parents were heavily involved in all of that. My mother is Lucia, Althena's follower, and my father is Hiro, who saved Lunar from Zophar. [Xenobia] The land began to grow like never before after that omen, the ices that forced us to make domes melted away. It was a frightening time for we, who had lived forever in the frozen wastes of before. [Xenobia] I was born around that time as well, and some say that's why I have the powers that I do. Oh? Like what? And why does that supposedly give you the right to order us around and mess with our magic? [Xenobia] I have the connections to blood of the Vile tribe. I can use these sanguine curses and boons to both help and punish those whom I share a tie with. That includes you as well... [Xenobia] The rituals I performed to Mikel allowed me to affect him with an artifically created connection. [Xenobia] Why did I mess around with you? I was curious of course, and secondly... it's hard to explain -- [Xenobia] Have you ever felt as if you can recall a former life...? Not so much. My current life is as much as I can handle, really. By the way, that artificially created connection? You're not to touch it ever again, understand? Not without Mikel's permission. And I'd better not catch you trying to mess with my blood, either. Xenobia smirks. "I took the connection and loooped it around onto Mikel's two halves. Now I've connected their blood to each other. It's quite an interesting experiment." [Xenobia] But this Althena you mention... for some reason it gets me very angry. Maybe you had issues with her in a previous life. You wouldn't be the first. But my attitude is this - past lives are good to know about, and interesting, but they don't really matter when it comes to the here and now. If you let yourself be chained to your past and your actions dictated by it, you're just asking for trouble. You don't get it, either. Mikel's not a guinea pig for you to experiment on, okay? Interesting or not. [Xenobia] I'm done with that boy. I obviously misjudged his interests. How so? Xenobia just laughs quietly. [Xenobia] If you can ask that question, then you probably know the answer already. He's a mental slave of that dragon already -- who am I to compete? [Xenobia] I gave him a lesson on power, and that's all there is. * Niri rolls her eyes. "Oh please. Mikel's way too loyal to her for you to hold much interest. Besides, beating someone really isn't the way to win them over, not where we come from." * Niri sighs. "Listen, I don't want to be at odds with your or your people, but can we come to an agreement? If we're going to work together, I want some kind of truce between us, something I can count on. Will you promise not to mess with us any further?" [Xenobia] All I'm promising is to get you an audience with the Emperor. If he trusts you, then I have no choice but to do so. [Xenobia] So until then, at least, it's a truce. All right, I guess I can accept that. But if you try anything else...you'll find out that I can be a lot scarier than Mikel, his dragon, or Leah and all of hers put together. * Niri attempts to look fierce. It might have comical results, if not for the blade sheathed at her side and Tanan's armor around her. As it is, it's not terribly effective. Xenobia raises an eyebrow, glowing with a slight blood-red aura. * Niri stubbornly just returns her gaze. [Xenobia] If you're as scary as you claim, then I suppose this Leah will be a simple matter for you. ...Of course she will. I'm Niri Salyan. My dad is the greatest adventurer of our time, and Leah is my best friend. I can't fail her, and I can't let down my dad either [Xenobia] I won't interfere in your blood fued, but don't betray our people as she did, or I will promise you that I will have no mercy. It's not a- *Niri sighs* Look, never mind. Just so long as we understand each other. I'd better get back to see if the emperor is ready to meet with us. We don't have much time to waste. Xenobia looks dismissively at Niri. "Get your comrades together and we'll leave shortly. The dragons will definitely attack again before sundown." * Niri nods and walks out the door, heading back to rejoin her companions. Xenobia just looks away, ticked off for some reason even she can't quite explain. A truce for now... the enemy of my enemy is my friend, as they say. == Lude End == Niri gets 100 bonus points for ticking her off Session Close: Sat Jan 05 21:00:00 2008