* Max chuckles a bit as the others exit the map room. "Alright, Tia. 
You've played capture the flag before, right?"
* Tia nods. "I think so!"
<Max> Do you remember how to win?
<Tia> Umm, trample the other team?
* Tia wags her tail hopefully.
<Robin> ( *cracks up* )
* Max chuckles. "Well, I suppose that's one way, but it's not how 
you're -supposed- to win. Let's see. Well, let's keep it simple. You 
know that the Drow have the Pick, right? And that it's very important?"
* Tia nods. "I think I heard someone say that, yeah!"
<Max> Well, we can't let them keep it, or they win. So, in order to 
win, we have to take the Pick from them, and get home with it. 
Understand?
* Tia nods. "Yup!"
<Max> Okay. Now, we have something they want, too. It's also our job to 
keep them from getting it.
<Max> If they got that, they'd win, because they're already at home. 
Got it?
* Tia nods. "But who has the flag?"
<Max> "Flags", in games like this, are like 'it' in tag. They can 
actually be anything. They're the things you have to get home with to 
win. The Pick is the enemy "flag", so we have to get it and get home 
with it. This, *pulls out the Onyx* is our "flag". I'll be carrying it.
<Tia> So we want both of 'em, right?
<Max> Exactly! And we don't want to let the bad guys have either one.
<Tia> Oh, I get it! That sounds like a fun game!
<Max> They have the Pick right now, so we're going to take it away. ^_^ 
But this is a sneaky game. Just smashing the bad guys won't win it.
<Tia> Sneaky? Okay. I'm bad at sneaky, though.
<Max> There's a lot more of them than there are of us, and we're going 
into their base. This is a fun kind of sneaky; you just have to follow 
instructions and stay with us. This kind of sneaky involves going into 
a strange place where they can't see us and sneaking in while there.
<Max> When we fall out of that place, though, there will be bad guys 
who can see us. Being sneaky then isn't about hiding or moving quietly 
- it's about smashing anyone who's seen us. Can you do that? Smash 
anyone who sees us, or is in our way?
* Tia looks a little puzzled, but she nods. "Okay. Does it matter that 
I knock over things a lot?"
<Max> Not at all!
* Tia jumps up and claps. "I can do that!"
<Tia> Just tell me what to do!
* Max smiles. "See, the plan's really simple. Be sneaky in that secret 
place for as long as we can. Then, when we're out of it and we say so, 
we run really fast towards where they've got the Pick, and make anyone 
who sees us or is in the way very squashed. If there are too many 
behind us, we just keep running, and I'll make them fall down or stop."
<Tia> Ooh! I can run really fast! I can do that!
<Max> Good! But don't go too fast; everyone has to stay together. But 
you know that already, right? We have to stay together?
<Tia> Yup! Stay together!
<Max> You're staying with me, Will, Patrick, and Seylin. Alcinoe and 
Kenji are going to go play a different game when we get in there, so 
don't worry about them. They're going to be smashing lots of bad guys 
while we go get the Pick. So just stay with the rest of us.
<Max> Now, this last bit is important, too: When I say to, you need to 
come running over and touch me or someone else. We're all going to hold 
hands in order to win the game and come home.
* Tia nods. "Okay, I can do that too!"
* Tia claps. "I can't wait to play!"
<Max> It's going to be a little bit; we have to make sure we're all 
ready with everything perfect. We wouldn't want them to win because we 
went in without being ready, right? That'd be like taking finals 
without studying.
* Tia nods emphatically. "
<Tia> Yup!
<Tia> What do I hafta do to get ready?
<Max> Hm. I don't rightly know, actually. We'll go over the plan a few 
more times, make sure everyone understands what they have to do, of 
course... We'll ask Istvan and the others when they get back, see if 
there's anything you should do, okay? If not, you can help me, perhaps. 
I'm going to be doing something pretty boring, though.
* Tia nods. "Okay! I like helping!"
* Tia tugs on Max's sleeve. "Hey, can we go watch the brawl now? I 
wanna see!"
<Max> Oh, the brawl's all over. They're just cleaning up the mess, and 
bringing Alcinoe and Kenji back so they don't get in any more trouble.
<Tia> Aw, over already? That's no fun.
* Max wobbles up and down with Tia's tugs. Good thing his Book goes up 
and down iwth him.
<Max> If we do this right, though, Tia, it'll be as big a coup as 
putting Sherincal on a preservation slab. *grins with impish glee*
* Tia looks utterly blank. "Coup? Preser-wha?"
<Max> Er, as wonderful a trick as what I did to Sherincal. Got her body 
on a magic table, so it won't rot; I'm still not sure if it's alive or 
not, and I want to find out.
<Max> Sorry, that wasn't really relevant. I just really like it. It was 
quite clever, if I do say so myself. Pity it has to be kept a secret. 
But it does.
* Tia 's skin seems to turn a little gray. "She might still be alive?"
<Max> No, no. She's trapped, like I told you. She's not going anywhere. 
She's as good as dead. Better, really. No one, not even a god, can make 
her move again. She's gone, as long as I have this. *pulls out that 
blue diamond to illustrate, then puts it away again*
* Tia nods, remembering. "Why do you still need the body?"
* Max looks a little embarassed. "Well, there wasn't supposed to -be- a 
body left over. I was really quite surprised."
* Tia scratches her head. "What do you mean?"
<Max> So I want to study it, see if I can figure out where my 
miscalculation was. And I don't want it rotting while I do that. It'd 
smell pretty bad. I'll bet Sherincal would stink even more than usual.
<Max> The spell should have trapped her body as well as her 
soul...instead, it seems to have just trapped one. Kind of like trying 
to scoop out chcolate chip ice cream, and only getting the chocolate 
chips.
<Max> You don't want the ice cream left behind to melt, do you?
* Tia shakes her head. "Ice cream tastes better before it melts."
<Max> Exactly. 
<Max> Only in this case, it's not to eat. Because that'd just be gross.
* Tia nods and makes a face.
<Max> Anyway. Got any questions about the plan to take the pick from 
the drow?
* Tia thinks for a moment. "Umm, so we sneak, run, smash bad people, 
take the Pick, hold hands, and go home?
* Max gestures, and the sound of a bell going "Bing-bong!" in the 
universal "That's right" sound goes off. "Perfect!"
* Tia claps and cheers with a wall-shaking roar.
* Max laughs happilly at Tia's exuberance, glad he's not actually 
touching the floor, walls, or ceiling.
<Tia> I'm ready!
<Max> Well, let's wait for the others to get back, so we can figure out 
what everyone has to do so we can make sure we win. ^_^
* Tia nods. "Okay, sure!"