[ We find Our Heroes walking the tunneled-out path to Dumathoin's Deep. One there, they hope to secure the onyx crownpiece to the Pick of the Titans, thereby ensuring it doesn't fall into the clutches of evil. ] [ It's a rather long tunnel, however, and there isn't much scenery to look at. So there are only two things to do on the trip; talk and brood. ] [ Alcinoe and Patrick have apparently selected to brood. As for the rest of you -- let's see. ] [ Session Start! ] * Max floats along, quite excited to be getting to see this onyx piece. That is, if the speed with which his quill moves through his Book and the tenor of his voice when he tries to get more information about the artifact are any indication. * Istvan stomps through the tunnels, looking even surlier than usual. He hasn't been speaking much thus far on the trip. * Tia follows along behind Istvan looking somewhat concerned. "What's wrong, Isty?" * Istvan nearly growls back at Tia, but realizes it's Tia, and lowers his hackles a bit. "Angry. Old wounds getting opened up with all this." * Tia pats Istvan reassuringly on the shoulder. "Don't be angry, Isty! We'll fix it!" * WillS clanks forward at the rear of the party, creating a nice echo in the tunnels everytime he steps. * Seylin is quiet, possibly because 'most everyone else is, too. Appreciate it, Tia. But it shouldn't need to be fixed. Shoulda been over'n done with fifteen years ago. * Tia nods. "Still, better late than never, eh?" * Tia grins. * Istvan scowls for a moment... then glances at Tia and forces a grin. "Yeah, Tia. Better late than never." *reaches up; ruffles Tia's hair* * Max smiles, trying to be cheerful. "That's silly. Nothing ever is permanently fixed, just like nothing's ever permanently broken." Everything takes constant work. Even things that seem set in stone. I cannot be sure that Sh--er, that, um, my projects are finalized, even when they're done. You always have to keep constant tabs on them, or be improving them. * Istvan rubs his neck. "Doesn't really matter, anyway. This ain't about my demons. It's about making sure the damn drow don't get their hands on this thing." Indeed. And maybe learning a little in the process. Hm... I wonder if the onyx would be a valid recepticle... I'll have to guage the harmonics and test them against the other spell for resonance interferance. The onyx was supposedly the heart of an elder earth elemental, if that helps... not that earth elementals have actual hearts. Oh? Interesting... I've never actually studied elementals per se, well, except as part of the standard survey courses. Can you tell me anything about the other pieces, and how they were constructed? I might be able to model the effects of each individual piece, and their accumulated powers as they're joined together. * Tia beams as her hair is ruffled, then continues walking along with her tail wagging. * Istvan shakes his head. "Don't know too much about the rest of it... only know that about the onyx because it was the one 'missing' piece." All I know is that it's powerful enough to carve out canyons, carve new cavern paths between canyons, and destroy canyons. Oh. Hm... and that's what it does when complete, right? Yup. s'why it was broken up in the first place... makers realized that it was too powerful to risk it fallin' into the wrong hands. You always have to wonder: If they decided it was too powerful after creation, why couldn't they have decided that before hand? Clearly, they didn't think it all the way through, or were desperate enough to need it at least once. * Istvan shrugs. "Dunno. These were prolly some damn powerful wizards. Maybe they didn't think anyone could actually steal the thing from them." Oh, that's right, they only broke it after someone almost did, didn't they... Anyway, Tia is right. Dwelling on the past won't accomplish anything, unless you plan to learn from past mistakes. Just keep a hopeful outlook that maybe you'll get or do some good in the future. ^_^ * Istvan nods. "If you're powerful enough to create something that powerful, you're probably pretty confident in your tower's security system." * Istvan eyes Max. "Optimism's never been my strong point." Yeah... I mean, I like to think mine's pretty secure, but it's just a house, in the end. Though my new--er, next lab is going to be much more secure. I recently found the variable I was missing in my Equation of Divine Interfearance - I had to rename it because of what it postulates - and I am fairly certain that the balancing points will be optimal for obviating the need for the obfuscations of the powerful entities - both for benign and malign purposes. ... so your house will be god-proof? * Max pauses. "Well, it's not really optimism, so much as deciding you're not going to let little...disappointments... " he trails off, getting less cheerful and a bit upset himself, "...and lies, even if they mean well, well, you can't let them get to you. You just have to do something about them." He clears his throat. "That's what I'm trying to say. You have to just do something about it." * Max blinks. "Hm? Well, maybe, as a side-effect. But never doubt that they're powerful, so I wouldn't count on it. Just a theory at the moment. I need to clear the air, so to speak. It's like trying to see the stars on a cloudy night." * Istvan rubs his temples. "A bit too complicated for me. I'll stick to making pointy things and hitting people with them, thankyouverymuch." * Max chuckles. "Yeah. You are definitely good at that. Speaking of, I might want to commission some work, later. A little after we get back." * Istvan raises an eyebrow. "Wouldn't think a mage would have much use of my talents, at least for personal use." No, not for me, personally. I'm thinking of crafting bodyguards, or something similar. Mostly as an experiment, but if it works, I'd like to be able to make use of them. My original source only yielded one set, you see. I've still got a good bit of the original - miscalculation on my part - so I may as well experiment with it. ... you mean like golems? Sort of. They're both simpler and more complicated. Less magic, but they're more fragile and require an original template. What's the point if they're fragile? Easier to make? Much. It's only a complicated spell, not an entire process. Though it costs more, personally, for what you get, the total cost is, in the end, less. And they have more varied abilities. I'll show you, when I make the next two. Though they won't want armor and will wield two staves for me. So what're you gonna need from me? Weapons? Armor? * Max nods. "For the other model I'm templating from." He pulls out a small blue gem that he studies a moment before putting it away. "I've not figured out how to make this one cast spells, yet, so weapons and armor are the best bet." * Istvan eyes Max. "... odd template, that." Useful, though. The information I've gotten from the first trial has already been invaluable. In fact, it was the first trial that enabled the ... well. It wouldn't have worked without the first one. Though I'm still annoyed that it wasn't complete, that particular miscalculation enables the further experiments, and I don't think the end result is any different. * Istvan shrugs. "Just be careful." * Max nods. "Very. Were that first attempt not so...pressing, I'd have taken even more precautions than I did. I will be very careful." * Istvan nods. Anyway, that has nothing to do with the onyx or the pick. Though if I can model the onyx, I should be able to model her sword, and maybe use that as a power conversion matrix so they can cast spells using my own power... hrm... that bears some investigation... * Max turns to a page labeled "Mathematical Magic", and begins scribbling more notes and equations into it, labelling his newest bit "Theorem of Arcane/Divine Conversion via Similarity Matrix". * Istvan stares off into the distance as he trudges on. "Istvan the Optimist... that'd be pretty funny, actually..." * Max smiles quietly, stealing a glance at Istvan at his comment. [ And so they walked on. Session end! ]