HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

[Reinholdt]

[Shark to Meet You]

"Tree immortality sounds more like dryads than elves. An ancient cross-breed perhaps?" Maria scribbles out potential possibilities in her notebook, making note of Elune's name so as to look it up later.

"Phyrexia?" Hmm... Hmmmm..." Maria hmmms a little more before she remembers where she's read the name before. "Oh yes. The plane founded by Yawgmoth approximately a decamillennium ago. Fascinating culture. Though many literary references to it are outdated and incredibly biased from a historical perspective, naturally occurring due to the inherent dangers in observing and chronicling their society."

[Rec Room]

Reinholdt heads on out to the surface where they shuttles rise and finds a good place to turn into a small blue cat for trailing purposes.

[Shadowcaller]

[Shark to Meet You]

Anika leans closer to Maria in anticipation as she ponders.
Come on, come one...

YES! There she had it!
Anika snaps her fingers together in celebration.

She wasn't sure what much of that meant yet but it was something.
"Oh, so you do know! Great!"

She holds up her finger. "But I gotta stop you there, dryads got deer booty. Ain't no way we're making off with that. And the tree was, uh, a gift from..." Come on Anika, you should know this. It's common knowledge. "-dragons." Yeah, that sounded right.
"But tell me more about phyrexia. What's this Yawgmoth fellow like? Is he evil? Since I've met some phyrexians and they look pretty evil to me."

[Morty]

[Rec Room]

Calm Reed is still standing there, hands slipped into the sleeves of her robe. She regards Ambrosia with a cool, scrutinizing gaze.

"I am not in a rush and I will answer what I can."

[Shadowcaller]

[Rec Room==> Seminar Room]

"Very well, follow me then." She gestures for Calm Reed to follow her and guides her to one of the nearby seminar rooms.
"Now, first of all, were you present during the dragon attack at vigil nearly two years ago? From what I understand it coincided with a storm that broke nearly every window in the entire base."
She asks once she's taken a proper seat with her tome.

[Ironsmith]

Skybase

Henry smiles, which hopefully isn't scary. He does have a way of making that toothy shark grin look mostly harmless.
"Oh, I think that'd be swell. I haven't wanted to press the issue since most people in the organization seemed to not be the fighty type. Or used guns." And guns are neat but generally aren't helpful for the kind of things he'd be investigating. And also he just doesn't trust himself with one.

[Skybase]

"Well, yes." Vlad shrugs. "Even I still use guns. But it's always good to have a backup option for when that eventually doesn't work. Or when you run out of ammunition."

At that point it's just a heavy piece of metal.

Vlad gives the box a little tap, before gesturing to a device off to one side, that resembles an oven with a pull-out table. "Toss your shirt up on there, I'll give it a scan, and you'll be ready to go within half an hour."

[Morty]

[Seminar Room]

Calm Reed's eyebrow rises slightly but she makes no other outward reaction to the question.

"I was there, but I did not participate. I was elsewhere in the base and by the time I could get there, the battle was over. I understand Commander Wenomir fought the dragon, as did Spako."

[Shadowcaller]

[Seminar Room]

"Do you know the outcome of the battle?" The scholar asks, being very careful with her questions now.

[Morty]

[Seminar Room]

Calm Reed can't quite guess why Ambrosia is asking her about it. Wouldn't the question be better posed to the commanders? Ambrosia's interest in dragons is well known, but something doesn't quite fit together here.

"The dragon was not defeated as such, but we were able to break the King in Rags' control over them. Then they departed in peace. It is my understanding that the dragon's identity is a secret."

[Shadowcaller]

[Seminar Room]

"I understand that the commanders spoke to the dragon afterwards but it seems I can assume you didn't overhear any of it then." Ambrosia let's out a small sigh. "But that reminds me. The person you're trying to find out more about, Blanche, spoke to them as well. But you must have known that already, right?"

[Keeper]

Skybase

”Well, yeah. But if I need to hit something far away I would probably just try to freeze it. Ghost perks.”
Henry makes finger-guns and trying very hard to be cool as he sticks the shirt onto the scanner.

[Morty]

[Seminar Room]

"I did not. The situation was somewhat chaotic and I decided I would not crowd the scene unless I was needed." Calm Reed looks down at Ambrosia with a pensive expression. "I did know that. She has been working with them more closely."

[Shadowcaller]

[Seminar Room]

Now that was exactly the kind of answer Ambrosia had been fishing for. "So what is it you're trying to find out about her then? Since I might be able to help. Finding information is my job after all." She offers.

[Morty]

[Seminar Room]

"I am investigating any possible ties to Magtok." Ties to Reinholdt as well, but she won't say it for now. "Your leader vehemently denying any such ties does suggest there may be none. Is he truly her father as I have heard?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Seminar Room]

That makes Ambrosia pause, she hadn't been sure just where this was going but it sounded like she was going right down the rabbit hole with this one. It sounded like the sort of misinformation her father loved spreading.
"Why are you investigating these leads? Is this an duty you've been assigned or something you've taken upon yourself?" She inquires, trying to wind the conversation back a bit before trying to make sense of the rest of it.

"Since I wasn't aware that Magtok posed a threat to vigil."

[Reinholdt]

[Shark to Meet You]

Maria is probably less bothered than she should be as Anika leans eagerly into her personal space. She's already in scholar mode, other considerations were unnecessary. "... Deer. And dragons. Certainly..." Maria's starting to suspect this particular Kaldorei may be less than reliable. But even the myths of a culture had value. Maria makes a few more notes next to her sketch which Anika can probably see by now.

"I am... not really specialized in individual persons as a study topic, but I believe he was some sort of highly qualified medical practitioner. The culture he cultivated was one of expansion and assimilation. Not unlike most dominant empires across history who conquer and colonize, though the technique is different. Similarly, whether the concept is seen as 'evil' largely seems wholly dependent on whether you are benefitting from it or not. I cannot speak as to how this reflects upon the individuals you have met. The drow are largely viewed as 'evil' for looks alone, but individuals have 'proven' otherwise. In so far as one can truly be evil or good with such nebulous, changing concepts. For instance, in some cultures it was considered 'good' to take your brother's wife to bed should he die to ensure her prosperity and family line. Other cultures consider that repulsive and if not 'evil' outright, at least distasteful and undesired. If you consider these Phyrexians to be undesirable, then for all intents and purposes, that qualifies as 'evil' in most cases. Whether the world will agree with you largely depends on who is writing the book."

It's probably Maria writing the book, honestly. She's written a few already.

[Ironsmith]

Skybase

”Well, yeah. But if I need to hit something far away I would probably just try to freeze it. Ghost perks.”
Henry makes finger-guns and trying very hard to be cool as he sticks the shirt onto the scanner.

[Skybase]

The machine whirs as the table is drawn back into it, the door on the front coming back up and clicking shut.

"There's got to be limits to that, but for the life of me I can't figure out what." Vlad frowns, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "...If you'd like, I could show you around a few of those, too. I'm not sure how effective regular guns would be on ghosts, but anything more specialized would probably rely on the same skillset."

[Keeper]

Skybase

"Well, it's like..." Henry cups his hands and a little will-o-wisp flame appears in them. The flame is cold, as one might expect. At the moment Henry is keeping it very small.
"So yeah I just kind of throw it? Not gonna do it in here, obviously. I try not to rely on stuff that might fall off my person if I had to use my powers." Henry's face lights up at an idea. "But do you have any cool spy gadgets? Or something that can help me keep moist without dumping water over myself every hour I guess." The latter is not nearly as exciting.

[Morty]

[Seminar Room]

"It is a private investigation." As before, Calm Reed feels a pang of doubt deep within, but ignores it. Surely she wouldn't have embarked on this quest if it wasn't worthwhile. "He is not a direct threat as of now, but all members must be... vigilant, if you will forgive me the word-play."

[Ironsmith]

[Skybase]

"Do I have cool spy gadgets? Ha! Does it snow in Moscow?" Vlad chortles, turning his attention to a large cabinet in the corner.

"...Oh, wait, you... hm. I'm guessing you've never been. The answer is yes. It does. A lot." Vlad notes, starting by producing a pink plastic bottle decorated in flowers. "For the moisture. I have a friend who swears by this stuff. It's designed for human skin more than sharks, but it couldn't hurt to try."

He then unfolds the cabinet, revealing a wide array of strange-looking firearms along the back, and a set of seemingly mundane items in the doors; umbrellas, suitcases, pens, watches... all the sort of thing one would reasonably expect Henry to carry on his person at least some of the time.

[Shadowcaller]

[Shark to Meet You]

Anika tries to move around so she can see what Maria is drawing. Only really half-listening as this woman seemed to have an extraordinary ability to make everything sound boring.
"Uhh... okay, is there like an expert on this I could talk to? Maybe someone who've had personal experience with them? Since I've had that and it wasn't pleasant. They tried killing me while I was just chilling out."

[Seminar Room]

So she admitted that much at least.

Though what honestly bothered Ambrosia more at the moment was that Calm Reed felt the need to excuse what just barely could be called a pun. Was she truly as joyless as she seemed? Since at least some of that had to be a facade.

But this was a digression, she needed to focus.

"What makes you say that he's a threat? Since you couldn't have heard it from Rein and he's his worst rival. Since if you could give me a better idea of why he's a threat I might actually be able to help you."

[Reinholdt]

[Shark to Meet You]

The sketch is already done, it's the thousands of notes in the margins that's hard to read. At least one of which seems to be remarkably accurate measurements of Anika's eyebrows.

"To what ends did they attempt their murder of you? Was it purely for their own satisfaction? Did they mistake you for someone else? Did they want something you had? Were they hungry?" Maria asks more questions! This distracts her slightly from the previous questions she asked but she hasn't forgotten entirely.

"I have not heard of any other member having any interactions or research with Phyrexia." Maria is probably the worst person to ask about other HALO members though. She knows that they... exist. She presumes. Their lives are below her personal interests. "... Wait, are you suggesting they've exited their home plane and entered the Nexus and are here now? That's... concerning. Or did they attack your home with the dragon tree?" Even Maria has to pause what she's doing and adjust her glasses a little. Only to finally realize Anika was behind her now, staring over her shoulder. Maria blushes, adjusting her clothes to be the least revealing possible as she turns to face Anika again, notebook closing for just a moment.

[Keeper]

[Skybase]

"Do I have cool spy gadgets? Ha! Does it snow in Moscow?" Vlad chortles, turning his attention to a large cabinet in the corner.

"...Oh, wait, you... hm. I'm guessing you've never been. The answer is yes. It does. A lot." Vlad notes, starting by producing a pink plastic bottle decorated in flowers. "For the moisture. I have a friend who swears by this stuff. It's designed for human skin more than sharks, but it couldn't hurt to try."

He then unfolds the cabinet, revealing a wide array of strange-looking firearms along the back, and a set of seemingly mundane items in the doors; umbrellas, suitcases, pens, watches... all the sort of thing one would reasonably expect Henry to carry on his person at least some of the time.

Skybase

"Hm...I thought skin moisture and being actually damp are different things but sure, why not?" It's not like it could hurt. Probably.
Henry certainly seems in awe of the cabinet of fancy gadgets and hidden gizmos.
"So um...what do they do?" He did just say that he didn't like to rely on things that he might drop if he turned incorporeal but that is a bit forgotten as he stares at the many options.

[Ironsmith]

[Skybase]

"Can't hurt." Vlad echoed Henry's thoughts. "Worst case scenario, it doesn't do anything for you and, oh, well, you've got some nice lotion laying around."

Vlad gestures toward the cabinet. "As for what these do? There's a lot. For instance, this..." He pulls out on of the umbrellas, "...is actually a radio broadcast device. It uses the length of the shaft here as an antennae, and this little button down here, that would normally be the release mechanism, also functions as a switch for tapping out morse code messages. There's also companion devices that can be paired to recieve commands from it, though those were mostly discontinued due to niche use cases."

[Murkus]

[Fourth Tower - Lab?]

Sticks bristles as Jim more thoroughly explains the situation, but he doesn't comment now. He certainly understands the boy's motives a bit better. Although he would not have stopped at simply barring the satyr from the mortal realm.

No, not by far.

The tall man is starting to get lost here. There seems to be a lot being thrown around about the world that Vax and Jaahlyn are both from. He's just not terribly familiar. What's more, Jaahlyn didn't answer his question, and neither lady answered his question as to why neverath is explicitly dangerous.

"So the situations might not even be related?" Sticks asks, regarding the woku's actions and apparent vagueness regarding explanation of motive. He looks at Vax. "Oh, bother. Well. Do you have some other way for us to trap this being that does not involve neverath? A suggested course of action, perhaps?" Since we're all talking so reasonably now.

Sticks isn't sure he's abandoned the idea of using neverath. He still doesn't even understand what makes it such a hazard to use. But his eyes do follow Jaahlyn when she steps out, and he glances at Jim. Maybe the lad wants to accompany her, for now, and let Sticks deal with Vax?

[Morty]

[Seminar Room]

"Are you unfamiliar with his history?" Calm Reed asks. "I was not here for most of his deeds, I admit. But all I have heard makes him a man to watch out for. He has clashed with Vigil in the past... betrayed them and undermined them. He might have turned out a new leaf but such things need to be periodically verified."

[Shadowcaller]

[Shark to Meet You]

Anika had to admit that this lady had artistic talent, since she had never seen anyone drawing her eyebrows that accurately.
"Exited... well, yeah, of course it happened here. I haven't been home in years. They were rude, mean and... just evil-y, ok? But the worst thing of all is that Ilpholin is one of them now, if you know who that is." She points at Maria. "You know who that is, right? Since she's housing a whole bunch of them in Riverside."

[Seminar Room]

"While I'm aware of all the rumors surrounding Magtok I don't think they necessarily prove anything. Though more to the point, how is this connected to Blanche exactly? Since while I know her mother and he has a relationship that doesn't exactly make them close and her biological father is... well, you saw his reaction." She gestures the way they came from.

[Gullara]

Lab

Jim gives Vax a look but chooses not to point out that half the arguing is happening because she can’t open her mouth without being condescending.
”This happened all because of a white-haired satyr. He’s a murderer and a predator and he won’t be bothering the mortal realm anymore.”
If his player recalls Jim was told his name but I cannot find it. Jim leans in and adds one thing whispered almost inaudibly in Sticks’s ear. Then he turns back to the group at large.
”The angel was called Shadow in Light, and appeared exactly as that. They were specifically investigating this world for this fey. And probably others; like I said they were clearly using me so I didn’t get the full scope of their duties.”

Jim holds up a finger.
”But there is something else. The woku never mentioned any of this. She just said ‘because of how you made me suffer’ and she knew about the fake vettir mask I used. Jaahlyn’s…other suggested that this could all be a ruse. An excuse for her to pull an elaborate prank on a mortal”

Lab

Vax would, if she looked it up, see that this particular angel is written in the fourth tower records. However, not much beyond their name is known about them. It is an unusual name for an angel however and the fact it's star isn't located near other angels suggests that it must be something of an outsider. Indeed, it's star is not visible from Elshar so it's overall pretty mysterious even for a fey.

However, since it is in their record it must have been interacted with at some point.

She would also know that the 'Other' Jim is speaking of must be Baphoreth who is known for being able to tell the future among other things. A fey of knowledge which is ironic considering the ignorance Jaahlyn is displaying.

Speaking of, the satyr is taking a deep breath after those heated words. Apparently her whole plan had been shut down and now they were doing something completely different? Fine.

"I'm just gonna... I need a moment."
Then she's going to walk straight out of the office.

[Fourth Tower - Lab?]

Sticks bristles as Jim more thoroughly explains the situation, but he doesn't comment now. He certainly understands the boy's motives a bit better. Although he would not have stopped at simply barring the satyr from the mortal realm.

No, not by far.

The tall man is starting to get lost here. There seems to be a lot being thrown around about the world that Vax and Jaahlyn are both from. He's just not terribly familiar. What's more, Jaahlyn didn't answer his question, and neither lady answered his question as to why neverath is explicitly dangerous.

"So the situations might not even be related?" Sticks asks, regarding the woku's actions and apparent vagueness regarding explanation of motive. He looks at Vax. "Oh, bother. Well. Do you have some other way for us to trap this being that does not involve neverath? A suggested course of action, perhaps?" Since we're all talking so reasonably now.

Sticks isn't sure he's abandoned the idea of using neverath. He still doesn't even understand what makes it such a hazard to use. But his eyes do follow Jaahlyn when she steps out, and he glances at Jim. Maybe the lad wants to accompany her, for now, and let Sticks deal with Vax?

[Fourth Tower Compound]

Vax watches Jaahlyn go, but makes no comment. She's had enough of the fey's disruptions anyhow.

"How to address issues with a spirit varies as substantially as the spirits themselves do. I'd benefit from further insight on the problem. It's possible this Shadow in Light could provide that. Having a name makes it very possible to contact this being, though it would take time to make sure we prepared correctly." Vax explains.

Of course, she's also clearly observed the impatience on display already. Best she give them something to mull over immediately. "Frankly, it doesn't seem to me that this woku actually wishes you any substantial harm. Embarrassment and inconvenience perhaps, but as I already observed, you're neither dead nor maimed. It's not unlikely if you'd acted with a lack of apparent concern the fey would have gotten bored with your lack of reaction and lost interest in you. Woku are capricious beings which often prioritize their own personal entertainment."

---

As Jaahlyn leaves the room, she'll just about run into Bontu in the waiting area. It seems he's been hovering nearby since they entered. "Ah! Miss, Jaahlyn, my apologies. I didn't expect-" Well, for anyone to burst out of the room, but that seems impolite to mention.

[Keeper]

Fourth Tower Compound

Jim does a few mental calculations in his head, but decides to comfort Jaahlyn when they're done. He can't exactly fault her for getting annoyed by the warlock's attitude.
"Well no, Sticks. She said she wanted me to suffer, and called me by details she'd only know about if she knew about Jay, the disguise I used. So yes, the question is if that was true, or just an exaggeration for effect." He shrugs.
"I don't think I'm good enough of a liar to be unbothered by being livestock. I should hope at least the fact that I have an easy means of undoing anything she hits me with dissuades her.
Shadows spoke to me in my dream when I asked to speak with them and we seemed to part on good enough terms. At least from my impression of them I do not think they would be angered by an attempt to make contact at least." Obviously preparations should still be made. But they didn't seem the FOOLISH MORTALS! type.

Skybase

Henry leans in curiously.
"Hm. Those are pretty cool. I don't think my work will involve sending secret messages much but I'm sure this will be cool for the field agents." Do they have those?
"You said you can work with ectoplasm? Do you have any sort of sensors for it?"

[Reinholdt]

[Shark to Meet You]

That name draws Maria's movements to a very sudden halt. It's subtle, perhaps cause she's usually got her head down and her hand is the only thing moving. But there's a certain recognition that's undeniable. A fear even?

After a moment longer than should be necessary, Maria seems to regain her breath. "A-ah, Ilpholin you say? Well, that couldn't have happened to a meaner sist- err, woman. Though the who hardly matters. They're in Riverside already? Oh dear..." That's quite the conundrum. Maybe Maria should petition Reinholdt to let her take all the books into her custody so she can escort them someplane else. Leaving now seems like a fruitful plan.

[Shadowcaller]

Fourth Tower Compound

"It's fine." Jaahlyn insists with more force than the had intended and pauses for a moment. "I... just need to cool down."
Then the satyr throws her hands in the air before walking off. "I was of no help anyway it seems."

[Shark to Meet You]

Did Anika just hear sister? Nah, impossible, this lady looked nothing like Ilpholin.

But there was something else she definitively heard!
The druid points at Maria. "So you know they're dangerous! I knew it! They're super-evil and we gotta save Ilpholin from them." She had her mind made up since it turned out she had been right all along. It was burden being this smart sometimes.
"So how do you un-phyrexian someone? Halo gotta have some gadget for that sort of thing, right?"