Well, it's only mid-afternoon, but you guess you could make a snack in your ALCHEMY ROOM (since everything you use for cooking is also necessary for
alchemy POTION MIXING). You start to head that way through the hallway...
MultiversalInk wrote:
>See if you can do something about that ice wall.
..And then you notice the wave of icy stuff in GROZZY's room. Whoops. You go in to investigate and find your dragon buddy shooting fire at it. You apologize for the potion that's keeping it up and warn him not to touch it directly, and he nods. You go to the ALCHEMY ROOM anyway, and try to think of a way to get rid of the ice wall quicker. The UNPOTIONING SOLVENT only works on potions that have not yet been activated, such as the LUCK POTION, which has nearly dissolved, by the way. You retrieve a box of CRACKERS from a cluttered cabinet and start brainstorming.
Go on PesterMage and talk to those people.
If they have PesterMage, that is. And if PesterMage even exists.
Well, it's called MageCommune, but whatever. You totally lost your focus right after telling GROZZY you'd do something like that!
You go back out of the cave, going around the frozen wave..you're going to have to clean that up sooner or later. Anyway, from the hallway you enter another of the several rooms that make up your home and place of business, the GAMING ROOM. In addition to the computer desk, there is also one of each modern gaming system available. Your fair-sized library of games is kind of depressing to look at though, because you just aren't very good at video games and have never beaten a single one of them. You go straight to your COMPUTER, an average desktop, and open up MageCommune. You immediately have several people accosting you at once!
--imprisonedIncendiary [II] established communication with impeccableAlchemist [IA] at 14.40-- II: HEY ALCHEMIST... IA: Hello there my good friend.!
IA: How are you.? II: I AM HAVING...VERY GOOD FEELINGS TODAY.
II: TIDINGS OF EXCELLENT NEWS IN FACE OF AN IMPENDING DISASTER. IA: Oh, cool.! Because I just got all kinds of news there's disaster coming.!
IA: I mean, if our prophet buddy wasn't already dead sure of it.. II: HAHAHAHAAA... THE GOOD NEWS INVOLVES SAID DISASTER DIRECTLY...
II: IT SEEMS...MY 'CARETAKERS' SHALL BE DESTROYED IN ITS WAKE. IA: Whoa whoa whoa.. You're happy about that.? II: YES...I LOATHE THEM WITH EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING. IA: They're only trying to help people, though.. II: SURE...STUDY THE FREAK AND ALL THE WORLD BENEFITS.
II: YOU AND I BOTH KNOW THAT'S COMPLETE BULLS***.
II: D*** FILTERS ON THIS COMPUTER. IF THERE WAS EVER A TIME I WANTED TO CUSS,
II: IT'S NOW...FROM HAPPINESS. IA: Okay...well, um, anything else come to ya lately.? II: YES...YOUR HELP WILL APPARENTLY BE REQUIRED FOR MY OWN SURVIVAL...
II: THAT IS VERY GOOD NEWS...YOU AND UI ARE THE ONLY ONES I FEEL I CAN TRUST... IA: That's great to know.! I hope I always live up to that trust.!
IA: Anyway, speaking of, she's communing me now too.. II: BE MY GUEST...I JUST WANTED TO SHARE THE GOOD NEWS WITH SOMEBODY...
--unlikelyInscriber [UI] established communication with impeccableAlchemist [IA] at 14.41-- UI: Helloooo?
UI: Jjachob?
UI: I guess yooou're answering someone else right nooww.
UI: I'll wwait. IA: Hey there.. UI: Ah, patience pays off again! IA: Sorry, I was talking to II..
IA: I guess it's early evening there now.? UI: Indeed! And wwhat a fine moooon wwe have oouwwt toonight. IA: And that would, in turn, imply that you're communing to share another of your dream poems.? UI: Yoouu got it!
UI: Ahem...
UI: on theE GOldEn plEnAt And gOdlEn MOon
InhAbItants say It won't be soon
it won't be long until thEEnd
wheN EIght mOOndwellErs mUst dESCEND,
prEpArIng nOw tO sAve thIEr worlds.
fightIng Under folds Of tIme
UltimAtely spanning all clOUds and skAIs
Undermining the war, Undoing the harm
And thE UnEnding torment of the stars.
of skAi and Of earth Uberous begIn
All the Univerese shall depend
meanwhile, Under Oath,
thE sEvEn bEforE whispEr and scrEam
thEEnd, thEEnd, thEEnd, thEEnd.
UI: Okay, that's wwhat I wwrote doowwn. Makes aboouuwwt as much sense as uusuual. IA: I'll say..
IA: Sure seems interesting though.!
IA: It has a very chaotic rhyme scheme, which kind of matches the apparently apocalyptic subject..
IA: In fact, the 'end' sound is the only one I see rhyming all over the place there.. UI: Wwell thank yoouu. IA: Of course..
IA: Now, I'm about to talk to the people who contacted us a few months back, you remember 'em.? UI: Yeah. I'm still a bit confuused as to hooww they kneww wwhat wwoouuld happen befoore even a potent prophet. IA: Well, they said to keep one thing in confidence, in case it turned out they were right..
IA: They might have a way for some people to survive..
IA: But it's extremely risky and difficult for all involved.! UI: Obviously wwe shouldn't take that soort of option when mages are already wwoorking on a shield thoough, right? IA: I guess she hasn't told you yet....
IA: The shield won't cover most of the planet.. UI: SAY WWHAT!? IA: Yeah, it's supposed be confidential information right now but our hacker friend's been watching the government communications..
IA: She's always supsicious like that, and I guess it paid off.?
IA: They're trying to keep the news from getting out to avoid panic, but..
IA: The shield is a deflective shield, which means that what it deflects has to go somewhere..
IA: It'll already be caught in Hedron's gravity and we have no way of propelling it outward..
IA: And they might hang around for awhile but more will crash into them, and besides that too many would obscure the sun..
IA: So their plan is to...
IA: Save the..important people, and let the rest of the world feel the impact..
IA: Um, hey, hello.? Are you there.?
--unlikelyInscriber [UI] broke off communication with impeccableAlchemist [IA] at 14.45--
You have a sneaking suspicion that you shouldn't have told her that. Oh well...on to the business you got on here for.
--impeccableAlchemist [IA] bEstabglishedan communpesterIngcation with unavoidableEndgame [UE] at ^/&:.*$-- IA: Hello.? You there.? UE: Of course not, I was dead several millinea before you were born. IA: Err, I meant relatively speaking..
IA: In other words, the answer to the query I posed is yes.. UE: I know, I was just being sarcastic.
UE: Since you're calling us I guess that means I should spread the news. IA: What news is that.? UE: The news that we've got the e
--unavoidableEndgame was discon$%$%--[/spoiler]
Uh..that can't be good.
??log:
[spoiler]--eternalErratic [EE] began TROLLING impeccableAlchemist [IA] RIGHT NOW-- EE: HeYE WhAT'S uPf fUTURer DUdE?!? IA: Um, hi.? I was talking to one of your friends and he got disconnected.!
IA: (At least I think it's a he....) EE: It'ts LarighT i ThtiNK hI ss TUpid pet KNOckED ovER HiS cOMputer for AbOUT the fIFtieth TiME. IA: Oh, okay..
IA: Well, as I was trying to tell him,
IA: The meteors you guys mentioned are apparently very much on their way.. EE: rEaalLy? WhAT prOOf I sTHERE? hMm? IA: Well, it's been prophesied by at least one guy who's never wrong..
IA: And the dragons, who tend to have a sense of when disaster is on its way, are all agitated about something.. EE: OHh. ThIS i SvERY gOOd NwES. SiNCe You ConTaCted uS i CaNO Nl y a SusmE yoU're The LEader. IA: Leader of..what.? EE: YouL'l F iNd OUt L aTER. iT's Not SOmething You De cIDE aNyaWAY.
EE: eEXPeCT cONtaCT fROM EA sOMetIME in the NeARisH fUTUre.
EE: LiKE, TwEntY MiNeUtES or SOmETHing. HE's OUt EXPloring Right NOW. IA: If I may ask.... EE: HmM/? IA: What is it he's exploring, exactly.? EE: oH , jUSt THis OWRLD we'RE on. Wer'RE THINkING OF CaLiLING i T Hedron.
--eternalErratic [EE] ceased trolling impeccableAlchemist [IA] IN ABOUT FIVE MINUTES--
Well, it looks like you've got, like, twenty minutes or something to waste. What are you going to do?
Suppress his flamebreath with something really cold
You pull a flask of CHILL ELIXER from the BOMBKIND SPECIBUS. It has some of the properties of liquid nitrogen, namely being REALLY COLD, except that it's MAGICAL and thus can be much, much colder for much longer. You toss the ELIXER out of the flask in an arc, and it freezes a fair-sized layer of ice out of the water vapor around it, making a wave-shaped barrier of ice and CHILL ELIXER between you and GROZZY. He breathes fire at it, and it holds.
Well, this was great for a pause to think but you should have already had a plan! Besides, if he starts smacking it with his claws he could get seriously hurt by direct contact with the ELIXER, and you don't want that. Surely there's some other imaginable potion that would be useful in this instance...
Xindaris wrote:
>Use a Potion of Clarify Mind
Of course! You've got just the thing. You pull out a flask full of potion and one of the BOMBSLOTS, and pour the potion in, making an instant bomb. You toss the bomb over your icy wall and hear a chomping sound as GROZZY reflexively bites it. Perfect, now all the potion goes straight in his mouth. After a few seconds, he calms down and you go around to see him.
JF: Hey.! What's wrong, buddy.?G: (Grunt, turns to dirt floor)
G: (Draws circle with shapes inside) JF: Oh.! Yeah, that's our world isn't it.? Hedron.? G: (Calm nod, moves claw to the right of first picture)
G: (Draws image of explosion) JF: What.? Explosions.? G: (Shakes head, erases first image)
G: (Draws skull and crossbones) JF: Pirates.? But the pan-Hedronic coast patrol got rid of all the pirates like, thirty years before I was even born.! G: (Erases again)
G: (Draws a cloaked figure with a scythe) JF: Death....Hedron Death.? G: (Nods) JF: The world is in trouble, then, I take it.? G: (Nods) JF: Yeah, I know.. You remember that big-time prophet on the newscast.? It was like, five or six months ago.. G: (Pause to think, nods) JF: I guess he's right.. I think I know what to do though.! G: (Inquisitive headtilt) JF: Those people who talked to me a little before that..
JF: They said they had something that could save some people.. I should go talk to them.!
JF: Look, buddy, we'll get through this, alright.? G: (Comforted grunt)
Of course! Dragons always get generally upset when a big disaster is coming to Hedron, even when most people have no way of predicting it. They seem to have a sense of what's going to happen next.
Uh...what to do now?
You check on your STRIFE SPECIBUS, which contains only BOMBKIND as usual. BOMBKIND is the customary kind of POTION MIXERS, because they have long since discovered a multitude of LOOPHOLES and EXPLOITS with this particular kind. Namely, you can store INFINITE ITEMS in it that could conceivably be used as BOMBS, which includes FLASKS both empty and full. It also contains a PRACTICALLY INFINITE NUMBER of BOMBSLOTS, a special kind of MAGIC TECHNOLOGY that allows a POTION to be released in a GASEOUS FORM via BOMBS. You've got a few REGULAR BOMBS in there too, for good measure.
Yes, it looks like you're quite prepared. You leave the ALCHEMY ROOM, entering a hallway, and go down said hallway and open the door to what looks like a mid-sized CAVE. GROZZY is sitting on the ground in the back of the room. GROZZY is a FIRE DRAGON.
DRAGONS of YOUR WORLD grow to about three times the height of an average human when standing upright, and GROZZY is no exception. He is a red-scaled hunk of muscle with razor-sharp teeth and claws, and like most DRAGONS is also SENTIENT but unable to talk like HUMANS or any other humanoid race. Something has put him in a bad mood and he breathes fire in your general direction as you come closer. Thankfully, you are able to YOUTH ROLL out of the way of the attack. You must think of some way to PACIFY him!
>Make a potion to change genders. Work too well, and constantly switch genders every time someone says he/she.
You have already perfected several varieties of GENDER-ALTERING POTION. In fact, they are a quite profitable section of your MAGESITE. A lot of people order that kind of stuff online who wouldn't face-to-face! You are, however, personally disconcerted by the idea of it.
siguard wrote:
start working on the ongoing project your working on now, the cure for dramatic irony.
You're not sure that DRAMATIC IRONY is a thing, but you have been attempting to create a LUCK POTION for about the fifteen thousanth time. You go to the flask it's in, and...oh gash dangit.
It's turned PITCH BLACK. You quickly put a cork on it and then get to work making an UNPOTIONING SOLVENT. Nothing good will ever, EVER come out of a PITCH BLACK LUCK POTION.
There, solvent's mixed. It will have to sit for several minutes before it works on a potion this potent. The rumblings are getting louder, you should really get right to checking up on GROZZY. Wouldn't hurt to prepare first, though.
Remember your father's folly and how he ended up being consumed by the demons he sought to control.
You try to imagine your father as a fool who made a terrible mistake, but then you remember that demons don't exist in YOUR WORLD. It's entertaining, but not too flattering. Anyway, you don't know who your father was! Your earliest memories are of a VERY NICE ORPHANAGE that took care of you until you were old enough to become an ALCHEMY APPRENTICE.
MayorSillyBiscuits wrote:
>Flashback to times in the orphanage
Remember childhood love
>Have her secretly be relevant to plot
You recall a childhood FEMALE FRIEND who you shared something of a SIMPLISTIC LOVE with. She was a LUPERAN, and that was long before either of you learned the DANGERS OF INTERSPECIES MIXING. She's probably, like, forty-something now, but LUPERANS live much longer than humans. It would be really awkward if she turned out to be the mother of your BEST FRIEND or something like that.
You hear a rumbling noise from a nearby room. GROZZY sounds upset. Hmm.
That's probably not it. The young man frowns disconcertedly at the suggestion. It probably makes him uncomfortable that some of it might be accurate description.
You hope not to repeat your father's mistake of bargaining with wicked forces.
Faust...He gives an encouraging nod. That might be part of his name, or perhaps he just enjoys that he is no longer being given uncomfortably accurate insults...
siguard wrote:
Jachob Faust, Alchemist Extraordinaire. at least you would be if you actually paid attention to your mentor.
That's right! Your name is JACHOB FAUST, the 'j' is said with a y sound and the 'ch' is kind of a guttural sound but nobody can really pronounce it right so everyone just calls you "Jach" (pronounced like "Jack"). You are a MASTER ALCHEMIST* and have long since completed apprenticeship. In fact, you are PRETTY WELL OFF because you have embraced TECHNOLOGY, which most ALCHEMISTS are uncomfortable with. You have cornered the market of ONLINE POTION SALES by inventing it. You also post tutorial videos on MAGETUBE for POTION HOBBYISTS on how to mix simple healing potions and the like. You are really around forty-something; you look 13 right now because of an OVERPOWERED DEAGING POTION. You are pretty much addicted to NOT LOOKING YOUR AGE. You are also addicted to POETRY. Although you have embraced TECHNOLOGY, that really just means you use it; you know basically nothing about how computers work and stuff. You are nonetheless INTERESTED in it. Your MageMoniker is impeccableAlchemist and you somehow manage to simultaneously be enthusiastic and hesitant nearly all the time.!
What would you like to do now?
*-Actually, the techinical term for your occupation is POTION MIXER, as opposed to SUBSTANCE ALTERER, but ALCHEMIST sounds better to you.
A young man stands in a room. He's not technically young, but we'll get into that later. He's about 13 now anyway. He has dark hair and is wearing goggles of the sort a chemist might, and a lab coat too. Under the lab coat are just typical street clothes: Jeans and a t-shirt, the latter of which has a design of a bottle with some green liquid in it on the center. He is surrounded by flasks, test tubes, and bottles, all filled with various colors of liquids.
A question remains. What is this young man's name? Hmm?
