GLoG

[quillpleasant]

The Challenge

Nathair doesn't do anything to prevent the elven child from absconding- he's already taken their mountain, anyway. In fact, with that secured he has no real reason to stay here. He could easily just leave, prize in hand, but...

But how would it look if he backed down so easily? And without the object he had actually come here for? Not to mention how amusing their talk of killing him is. If only he could resist proving them wrong.

"Would you believe I'm just trying to impress a girl?" he smirks, slowly beginning to circle around Asami and Sophie. He moves with the slow poise of a cat stalking its prey. "I thought such an item would be amusing. It's a trifle, really. But I don't like to go back empty handed, and the other parts of me have..." He pauses, as if looking through distant eyes. "Already succeeded in their own missions, so it'd hardly do to be the weakest link, now would it?"

He holds out his hand, palm up. "The ring. Isn't it your job to keep kids safe?" he asks, his red eye narrowing at Sophie, "Surely you know that handing it over is the best way to make sure nothing bad happens to them." It is, funnily enough, a bluff. Nathair would very much prefer not to hurt any children, even one as infuriating as Asami.

[[brackets lover]]

[The Challenge]

"Right, I understand," Asami says solemnly, "But if its all the same to you, he targetted me specifically, brought up one of my school rivals to try to get to me. So, I'd like to teach him a lesson myself."

As Nathair circles around, Asami doesn't move her head at all, not even to keep her eyes on him. She stood with a stalwart posture, a fearlessness and overwhelming confidence in her eyes. When Nathair finishes speaking, Asami grits her teeth as a raging storm of flame begins to swirl around her body, her fists clenched tightly. Sophie may be able to draw parallels between this rampant aura and that of the exaltation, both similar expressions of divine power. In Asami's case, though, her body is more like a vessal created to store a godly mind.

Capitalizing on Nathair's intention to negotiate, she turns to him and takes a quick step back, rapidly running forth while shouting as solar energy cackles in her trail. At the peak of her momentum, she jumps towards Nathair and delivers a superman punch, the force flying forward like a train as her energy culminates into an explosion mimicking the force of a naval mine.

[Halae]

[Playdate]

"...Well, you're both wrong, but still within reason." Braon shrugs, momentarily redirecting her attention to Trick exclusively. "And this is also the part where I mention that I only need to understand the motivation, not be experiencing it personally myself, in order to use it for enchanting. In case that's where your head was going."

"Anyway." Braon straightens, holding her child up against her shoulder as the girl starts fussing again. "Yes, it's possible to give the created spirit an understanding of the world around them; it's almost a requirement, in fact. For instance, the desire for freedom I put in that rock wouldn't have chosen to blow it up if it didn't think doing so was necessary to escape. And of course, it waited until there wasn't anybody around to get hit with the shrapnel, because believe it or not I'm not that much of an as-" Braon catches herself as Niamh starts crying, gently patting the infant's back. "...Jerk. Not that much of a jerk." She amends quietly.

[Playdate]

Sophie's mouth quirks with amusement as Braon corrects herself after almost swearing. She's not naive enough to believe everyone mellows out when they have children... but Braon seems to be one of them.

"What happens to the desire now that the rock is gone?" she asks. She could try seeing it herself but it's better to let Braon explain.

[Playdate]

"I'd guess that it dissipates; each of the smaller shards of the rock doesn't have the cohesion to hold onto the emotion properly, so it just kind of falls apart," Trick says. She's clearly trying to guess here, based on her own understanding of magic, and is looking to Braon the way an interested student would look towards a teacher.

[Ironsmith]

[Playdate]

"That's not quite how that works." Braon corrects, with a small smirk. "Spirits aren't really physical beings. If I were to take that rock and cleave it in two, it wouldn't be like what would happen if someone were to cleave you head in two, where part of you is in one half and the other in the other, though both very likely very dead."

Niamh fusses a little in her mother's arms, as though picking up on the morbid comparison despite not really understanding words yet.

"No, see, the spirit is in the rock. All of the rock, not just a hollowed-out little chamber in the middle or a bit here or there. If you take an enchanted rock and break it in half, you end up with two rocks that are under the same enchantment, not two rocks under two different ones... though I suppose if you did that and then kept them separated long enough, they'd probably develop a few distinctions sooner or later." She looks over at the little crater where her demonstration was a few minutes ago. "So the only real solution for getting out of the rock is to have no more rock to be tied to. That spirit is still out there, continuing to do what it wants to do... which, at this point, would be roaming wild and free, purely for its own sake. It's not going to eat anything, or pick any fights, or really do anything to the rest of the seen world, because it doesn't have any reason to care. I expect if anybody ever sees it again, it will be some hapless spirit-snaring sorcerer trying to trap it in a bottle or something, at which point he'll lose the bottle and it'd serve him right."

[Morty]

[The Challenge]

"No-" Sophie isn't quick enough to stop Asami's punch. She's used to superpowered children but she wasn't expecting that. Swearing under her breath in French, she can only witness the result of the blow.

[Playdate]

"The way you say 'sorcerer' suggests it's distinct from what you do," Sophie points out. The spirit will just float in the ether forever... presumably Braon's homeworld is full of such spirits.

[quillpleasant]

The Challenge

Nathair narrows his eyes as flames begin to flicker around Asami. This from the kid who claimed to not have any magic? As she prepares for the attack, he has time to brace himself, glancing between her and Sophie. "Listen, Asami, you don't have to do that. I really wasn't going to-"

Although he was expecting the attack, he didn't realize it would be that powerful. The explosion hits him with enough force that a normal person would be blown to pieces. But Nathair- is also blown to pieces. He explodes in a red cloud, chunks of his body raining down around the charred grass where he stood.

But the red isn't blood, and the pieces rapidly move together, flowing back like water, and in just a few moments he's standing there, looking none the worse for wear. It's a front- he was actually wounded by the punch, thousands of his nanobots melted by the heat of the impact. But he's made of millions.

"Good effort, kid. You're lucky I'm not not a normal human, or you'd be a murderer." He tilts his head to the side. "You know, you're pretty strong... how would you like to get even stronger? The place that perfected me could make you into something unbelievably powerful. You'd be welcomed, if you're interested." There's no hint of deception here- he's genuinely impressed by Asami's strength, and offering what he believes to be a fantastic deal.

In all this, he's become completely distracted form Sophie. He doesn't even bother to look in her direction.

[[brackets lover]]

[The Challenge]

Asami takes a step back as Nathair reforms, clenching her right fist tightly for an all to long moment before relaxing her muscles. "Con-man who threatened innocent children tragically murdered by vulnerable orphan. I'm sure I would never live down all the bad publicity," says Asami with contempt, the flames still burning around her slowly dissipating. She sighs deeply and relunctantly responds to Nathair's offer, "Yare yare daze... fine. As long as there are things like you around I'll need all the strength I can get. I'll hear you out on this, at least."

[Morty]

[The Challenge]

"I'd be wary of accepting any such offers," Sophie says from behind Nathair. How did she get there so quickly and quietly? And where did this shotgun she's pointing at him come from? "They tend to come with a hidden price tag. Especially when they come from someone you just defeated."

[quillpleasant]

The Challenge

"I never said anything about publicity. If you're not ready, killing someone will eat you up from the inside out." Nathair's voice is almost sad. But that emotion quickly fades upon seeing that Asami is willing to listen.

"Up until recently I was lost. My head was full of doubts, guilt, fear, self hatred. I was weak, drifting through life without meaning." He closes his eye, a peaceful smile crossing his face. "And then I was lucky enough to be exposed to the glistening oil. It changed me- made me more powerful than I could have ever imagined. I'm part of a family now, a connection far stronger than blood. All the fear faded away, replaced by true purpose- to share this gift with the world. There's nothing else like it." For the first time in his entire life, Nathair is genuinely happy.

Blinking, he nods at Asami. "You're far stronger now than I was before. If you were compleated... you'd be like nothing this world has ever seen." A phyrexian god would be able to spread the cause like no other.

But then there's this annoying woman with the gun. Without looking away from Asami, a feathery ripple passes through Nathair's body and a second copy of him steps out of his back. Now there's two Nathairs, one facing in either direction. The second Nathair steps towards Sophie, holding up the palm of his hand towards her gun.

"Who's defeated? I just don't see the point in fighting someone when this could be resolved in a mutually beneficial way." His mouth splits in a toothy, horribly wide grin. "But if you're so eager for violence, go ahead, shoot me. Show the kid how a real hero dies."

[[brackets lover]]

[The Challenge]

"I am wary," says Asami affirmatively, not exactly bothering to look at Nathair as she talks to him, "The oil made it so you're no longer capable of complex thoughts? Or is that a reaction specific to you or something?"

Asami tilts her head down and closes her eyes, raising a finger to her chin in deep musing, "But the fact of the matter remains, knowledge is everything. Can you introduce me to an inteligent member of your faction?"

[Morty]

[The Challenge]

"Oh, I'm not eager to start a fight. But I am very willing to end one." Sophie's gun doesn't budge, but neither does she fire. "I've heard this sort of pitch before. From cult leaders. It sounds like you were taken advantage of and now you seek to do the same to others, without knowing it."

[quillpleasant]

The Challenge

Nathair's pleasant expression freezes at Asami's words. "On the contrary, I've never been more aware. But since you ask, yes, I can introduce you to others." He jerks his head at Sophie. "But I don't want anyone like her tagging along. Come to Riverside and I'll find you there. And come alone, or I'll never show up." Sure, it sounds like a sketchy ambush, but it's not like Asami couldn't easily defend herself if he did try to kill her.

Meanwhile, the second Nathair rolls his eyes at Sophie. "Don't take me for a fool. Cults can't deliver on what they promise. But the oil delivers and then some." In a flash, both his arms shift into six foot cleaver blades, glinting menacingly.

"There's tangible benefits, as you can see. I've never felt more in control since..." His voice falters. "Doesn't matter. All that matters is spreading the good word of perfection."

[[brackets lover]]

[The Challenge]

Asami incredulously raises an eyebrow at Nathair, turning to Sophie. "I wouldn't waste words on this thing, adult-san. Notice how its body morphs, like alien sludge? I'm inclined to believe there's not a brain in it. Or, if there is, its a cheap imitation with its wiring reworked to fit a specific purpose."

She pauses and side-eyes Nathair, talking down to him, "I do not care what you want. She can tag along if she wants, and we will go together now. Those are my terms. But, no matter what, i'm not just letting you leave."

[Morty]

[The Challenge]

Sophie can't help but smile a little. Teenage obstinacy proves useful in this instance.

"You haven't met the right cults. Many of them offer tangible benefits upfront. It's only later, when you're too deep to back off, that the bill comes due."

She seems to be speaking from personal experience, and the blades don't even make her flinch. She does lower her shotgun, however.

[quillpleasant]

The Challenge

Nathair smiles in genuine amusement at Asami's barbs. "I'd recommend you look up the definition of a hivemind. I've no need of a brain, or any organs. They'd just be dead weight." He shakes his head condescendingly. "And you're in no position to be making demands. Come to Riverside alone if you want to become something greater, or stay here in the dirt." He doesn't bother arguing with her about him leaving- if he decides to go, there's nothing she can to do stop him.

As Sophie lowers her gun, the second Nathair relaxes, his blades morphing back into hands. "This power is worth any price. But see? There's no reason we can't talk things out in a civilized way. Let it not be said that I'm unreasonable."

His two bodies both step backwards, merging into a single Nathair as they touch. "Well, this has been refreshing, but I should be going now. But to prove my benevolence, I'll allow you to keep that ring."

[[brackets lover]]

[The Challenge]

Asami doesn't say anything further to Nathair, only giving a cold look towards empty space as he doubles down.

Once Nathair makes clear his intentions to leave, Asami's eyes glow and the air warps around her, dirt rising under the strain of the pressure of her sheer power. She holds her hand out towards Nathair, light gathering in the palm over the course of a few seconds before culminating in a destructive, holy beam of pure vapourizing power aimed at Nathair's chest.

Immediately after firing the attack, Asami curls her fists and crouches into a fighting stance.

[Halae]

[Playdate]

"That's not quite how that works." Braon corrects, with a small smirk. "Spirits aren't really physical beings. If I were to take that rock and cleave it in two, it wouldn't be like what would happen if someone were to cleave you head in two, where part of you is in one half and the other in the other, though both very likely very dead."

Niamh fusses a little in her mother's arms, as though picking up on the morbid comparison despite not really understanding words yet.

"No, see, the spirit is in the rock. All of the rock, not just a hollowed-out little chamber in the middle or a bit here or there. If you take an enchanted rock and break it in half, you end up with two rocks that are under the same enchantment, not two rocks under two different ones... though I suppose if you did that and then kept them separated long enough, they'd probably develop a few distinctions sooner or later." She looks over at the little crater where her demonstration was a few minutes ago. "So the only real solution for getting out of the rock is to have no more rock to be tied to. That spirit is still out there, continuing to do what it wants to do... which, at this point, would be roaming wild and free, purely for its own sake. It's not going to eat anything, or pick any fights, or really do anything to the rest of the seen world, because it doesn't have any reason to care. I expect if anybody ever sees it again, it will be some hapless spirit-snaring sorcerer trying to trap it in a bottle or something, at which point he'll lose the bottle and it'd serve him right."

[Playdate]

"The way you say 'sorcerer' suggests it's distinct from what you do," Sophie points out. The spirit will just float in the ether forever... presumably Braon's homeworld is full of such spirits.

[Playdate]

"I'm guessing that, unlike the sorcerers of my homeland, it's more along the lines of a mage who draws on spirits for their power? Or is it more of a catch-all term for an arcanist of sorts?" Trick asks, still clearly quite interested, and appreciating that Braon seems to have much less vitriol to her when playing the role of a teacher. Yes, she's still clearly someone that's got issues, but if this isn't a comfortable position for her, it's at the very least a relatively friendly variation.

[Ironsmith]

[Playdate]

"Well... kind of, yeah." Braon shrugs, bouncing Niamh on her knee. "Enchanters like me make spirits to do things we want done; Sorcerors just use them. It's much less energy-intensive and more... accessible." She grimaces, a hand going to her sternum subconsciously as she explains. "There's a lot of spirits of all kinds around at any given time, you see. There's the ones Enchanters make on purpose, and then there's legions more that just sort of come into being by accident, just from people living their lives and going about their business. Most of them aren't 'big' enough to do much of anything on their own, but a Sorcerer can give them all directions to work with, and when you've got hundreds of thousands of anything pushing in the same direction, something is going to happen."

Braon flips her hair back out of her face and continues. "It's a very different discipline from Enchanting, though. My uncle use to refer to it as 'dead magic' because the emotional bit just isn't there. You put forward a task, spirits volunteer, and it gets done exactly the way you want it, no fuss, no self-discovery, nothing." She frowns. "Or at least, so I gather. I've never really tried to do it myself. But the few Sorcerers I knew were insufferable, all 'arcane theory' this and 'emergent data structures' that. I think they like using words like that to try to make the rest of us feel stupid in comparison. Pricks."

[Morty]

[The Challenge]

Things were going altogether too well, so now it's time for violence again. Sophie has never met Asami before but she's clearly too belligerent for her own good.

"Stop that," she says, the tone of her voice changing as her eyes glow gold again. She's now speaking with a divine authority that makes people stop and listen, even if they don't obey. "This is not a place for fighting. Do either of you want children to be caught in the crossfire?"

[Playdate]

Braon seems more willing to take her uncle's word on this topic than Sophie would expect. And her description of sorcerers as arrogant isn't necessarily trustworthy, given how she tends to assume everyone is looking down on her. She lets Trick ask the questions for now. She's the one with a background in magic.

[quillpleasant]

The Challenge

Considering Asami's last attack, Nathair was half expecting another one. The moment she starts gathering power he backs away, raising his hands in a defensive posture. The moment the beam of power is released, his hands morph into a heavy mirrored shield, blocking the attack. It's not without suffering damage though- as the light fades, his shield has become melted and twisted by the blast. With a pained grunt, he shakes himself, the shield's remnants transforming back into seemingly unharmed arms.

Well, he can only absorb so many attacks, since a portion of his nanobots are lost each time. And Asami is undoubtedly powerful. But if all her attacks take so many seconds to build up, he can outpace her with ease. Growing his blades, he begins to stalk forward-

Then Sophie's command stops him in his tracks. He slowly turns his head to look at her, eyes wide and dangerous. Between the god child's aggressive insolence and this holier than thou guardian, he's getting fed up. More than fed up. There's nothing he wants to do more than cut them both down, to grind their bones into powder...

He stops, gritting his teeth. She's right. There's no point to a conflict here, and the glory of phyrexia won't be helped by the accidental murder of innocents. His blades vanish, and his form grows slightly fuzzy around the edges as his nanobots hum, lifting him off the ground until he's hovering a good ten feet in the air.

"You should teach that one some better manners, before she does something she can't undo," he says mildly to Sophie, not even glancing at the child. Then he rockets off, accelerating as he heads for the open sky.

[[brackets lover]]

[The Challenge]

Asami is prepared to continue fighting until Sophie gives her command. Of course, Asami is given pause, opening her mouth to respond. However, before she can get a word in, Nathair begins taking to the air. So, this actually put Asami in a bit of a disadvantage as she has no real means of pursuit but to keep her eyes on him. Thus, she attempts to make it so she can continue keeping her eyes on him, said eyes glowing once more and beginning to empower themselves to peer through any obstacles in her sight so she can focus on Nathair no matter how far away he goes. To buy some time while she focuses this power, however, she instanteously summons a fast-traveling spark serving as a supernatural counterpart to a rocket-propelled grenade. Of course, she was aiming based on where she expected Nathair to be based on his current flight path. And being a quicker attack, its potency would be compensatory lower.

As the missile flies, Asami half-attentatively responds to Sophie, "Let's talk about it later, I can't let him get away."

[Halae]

[Playdate]

"Sounds like most of the wizards from my homeland," Trick sneers, which is a rather uncommon expression on her face. She's normally quite collected about things from her adventuring past, "I once had to protect an entire gaggle of wizard students as part of a job; they spent the entire time we were there asking leading questions about using magic by feel instead of rote, all but mocking me for it. As if they had the only 'legitimate' magic and I was just a pretender."

"I can respect the wizards for their ability to extract magic from math, but when I'm objectively the only one accomplishing anything, they really need to learn to shut up and accept that they aren't as good. Had to keep them from getting eaten, even, and I was damn tempted to just not given the hell they were giving me."

[Ironsmith]

[Playdate]

"Unbelievable." Braon rolls her eyes and lets out a heavy sigh. "The nerve of those jerks. I'll bet they pulled the 'oh no I'm just curious' act on you, too, didn't they? Like it's not the most transparent thing since glass was invented." She scoffs. "Or did they try to claim they were trying to help? That one's especially rich. Like, they're not even trying to hide that they think they know how to do your job better than you do, and it's fu- it's absolutely bloody ridiculous."

Braon tugs at the front of her shirt amid her infant daughter's fussing, and after a few moments of adjusting, returns her attention to the conversation. "How you managed to put up with that is anyone's guess. I probably would have blown up at them. Not necessarily literally, but, you know, options open."

[Morty]

[The Challenge]

A quick assessment of the situation leads Sophie to the obvious conclusion that telling Asami what to do will lead her to her doing the exact opposite. As such, a different strategy is needed.

"I can't follow you and I most likely can't stop you. But I do question why you're pursuing an enemy with unknown capabilities to somewhere you won't have backup... but he might have it."

[Playdate]

"Few people are as arrogant as youngsters who believe they know something you don't." This is a topic that seems to connect all three of them, amusingly enough. Some experiences are truly universal. "In my old life I mostly dealt with people without much education... but I got much the same treatment when I had to work with university students sometimes."

[Halae]

[Playdate]

"Ah, teenagers and twenty-somethings. If only they got out into the world right away, because clearly they know everything, and it's only when you're older do they stop knowing everything," Trick's tone is extremely dry, and speaking from an immense amount of experience with stupid kids, "I'm hoping none of our kids are that kind of arrogant."

[Ironsmith]

[Playdate]

"Yeah. Thank Adea none of us were ever like that and they couldn't possibly inherit it from us." Braon mutters, adjusting her grip on Niamh.

...

"So remember how I kind of implied an Enchanter's power comes from self-awareness?" She quips, unable to maintain a straight face. There's no follow-up to that statement; she's too busy giggling at her own joke.

[quillpleasant]

The Challenge

Nathair wasn't really expecting Asami to be this persistant- and as such, the light grenade flies true, curving into his flight path and detonating. The blast sends him spinning off course until he manages to right himself, his form rippling as he compensates for the damage.

Wow this kid is annoying. And he definitely doesn't want her tracking him- that could cause problems later. It seems like the best option might really be to give her what she wants.

Still hovering, he lifts up his left arm, and it rockets away further into the sky, a replacement swiftly growing in its place. Of course, the magic prize he stole from the elven child is embedded in the jettisoned arm, so now all he needs to do is make sure it's not followed. Nathair suddenly dives, dropping like a stone back down towards Asami.

As he does so, his humanoid form melts into a silvery spindle, increasing in speed as if he plans to impale her. At the last moment it shifts into a billowing net, reminiscent of a cuttlefish, trying to engulf and grapple her. It's not meant to be lethal, just to prevent her from continued attacks.

[[brackets lover]]

[The Challenge]

Asami remains still as the spindle approaches her, her focus broken and eyes returning to normal. She shoots a cold stare at the approaching projectile and miraculously moves out of the way as it gets too close for comfort. Thus, the net falls to the floor, Asami following up by stomping on it with one of her shoes, flashes of purple and pink lights immediately shining on "Net"hair. All the while, she takes a moment to respond to Sophie, "Because I wanna eliminate all my enemies as fast as possible so I can go back to enjoying my childhood."

[Morty]

[Playdate]

"If these boys take after me at all, they'll be relentlessly poking their noses into other people's business. I hope Trick can counterbalance that a bit," Sophie adds, in a similar self-aware vein.

[The Challenge]

"So instead of letting him go and being ready for another encounter, you chose to pursue a fight you have no guarantee you can win," Sophie points out.

When Nathair counter-attacks, she doesn't raise her gun. Instead, the next time he strikes against Asami, she'll raise her hand, which causes a burst of hellfire trying to prevent him from doing so.

[quillpleasant]

The Challenge

Asami's shoe stomps have an effect, although perhaps not the one she intended. The net wiggles with laughter before it disperses and reforms as Nathair once more, shaking his head amusedly. "Oh come on, that's hilarious. With your light up shoes too!" And he doubles over with a peal of laughter.

Before just as quickly shooting out an arm, the hand morphing into a long metallic tendril that whips out, trying to bowl her over. But Sophie's hellfire blast knocks the attack away, and he turns to her with a snarl.

"You know I'm not going to hurt the kid. I have no such compunction about you." His other hand comes up, fingers joining and shifting into the barrel of a machine gun, which sends out a spray of bullets. These bullets are themselves composed of nanobots controlled by Nathair, and will home through the air to seek out their target.