Scene #4233: Meeting with the 'Outlander'

Owner	Pose
Lise	To Lise, it's Shade's eve on Undine's day and she's in the ring finishing up some training with dummies placed in a few areas in a land that looks quite mountainous with a castle wall in the distance. She twirls her spear and makes one more strike to the dummy and lets out a few soft huffs. "They should be here shortly, Fairy." her young voice speaks out to what she believes may be a personless room. "If we are to get back and save the Holyland, I am sure they would be the ones to assist." Twirling her spear and setting it upon a small hook on her back, she gives a slight smile, "At least, I can feel some of home in this place. Even if it isn't."
Staren	Staren walks in from the doorway, pausing briefly to look around at the terrain. "Hey, you figured out how to use the Ring! So, I think other stuff will be understandable too... ah, I'm Staren, of the Free City of Lazlo. I research problems for the Union." He approaches her, smiling and extending a hand to shake.
Fiora Laurent	The Ring doesn't disappoint, with its ability to recreate virtually any sort of locale, even if it's as simple as something from memory. Into this particular projection strides Fiora, one arm tucked behind her back, while the other remains at her side, but concealed by the cape along her shoulder. Her footsteps click a bit, as she's wearing some light armor on her legs, as well. Not to mention the sword sheathed at her hip. She could, if she wished, perhaps pass as someone from Rise's world, rather easily. "Good evening. I believe we've introduced ourselves. But, regardless, please call me Fiora." She bows her head, after. "I am an ally of the Union cause. And thus, any cause it would deem worthy."
Tomoyo Daidouji	As Lise puts away her spear, there's some polite applause from the observation stands! There stands Tomoyo, a video camera hanging around her neck as she softly claps her hands together. "That was amazing," she calls out before descending into the Ring proper. She's quite bundled up in a warm-looking pink hoodie with white fur trim and a pair of black thermal pants. She looks rather tired, but the happy kind of tired. The kind that comes after you've been doing something fun and productive. "It's good to meet you in person Miss Lise~ I'm Tomoyo Daidouji," she says, before quickly adding, "And you as well Fairy." Even if she can't see it, Lise was talking to it, so it must be around here somewhere!
Nerevarine	A form materializes in the stands, surrounded by starbursts of violet energy, swirling rapidly around the figure until it fully appears. There in the stands... well, /stands/ the Nerevarine. He runs a hand through the plume of his helmet, shaking off a lump of pristine white snow. Flexing his hands, he takes a look around. Some new faces here to put to voices. He calmly makes his way down the rows until he arrives to stand before the others. Compared to Fiora's his armor is slightly heavier, an acceptable compromise between light and heavy. It is also no less flashy than hers, admittedly in a more strange and alien way. The frowning face on Talis' helmet seems to observe everyone else with muted disapproval, while also disguising whatever expression its wearer holds. "Talis Indoril, Nerevarine and Hortator if you believe in superstitions." His voice is even raspier in person!
Lise	Apparently she was not alone in this venture, Fairy's company non-withstanding. She turns around a bit towards the door and stands only to give a small little curtsey of her own. "Greetings." she smiles as something starts to materialize, visible motes of light coming from her head as a fairy comes into view. "It's good to meet you all in person, I just did not expect an audience so soon." she looks between the three others present and towards Fairy, then back at the outstreched hand, a tilt of her head of confusion. "We have, Fiora, however it is good to place voice with face for future references." then a turn to Tomoyo and a smile is given, "Shade's blessing, Tomoyo." Fairy even curtsey's in mid air at the greeting. A turn is given towards Staren, "You fix the problems the Union encounters?" she questions, as the violet energy catches her eyes, turning towards the Nerevarine. "I see, a pleasure, Talis." she gives another curtsey to him. "Princess Lise of the Kingdom of Laurent." she points towards the castle in the background, "And where we stand would have been the mountain path towards my Kingdom. It's good to see you all."
Staren	Staren shrugs at the comment about an audience being sooner than expected. "I wish I could say that," Staren says when Lise seems to have misheard his subtle wording. "Sometimes I help do that. But often I do not have the right skills or tools to fix them. Hopefully, others do. Thus 'research the problems' is perhaps a more apt description. Should we encounter a problem that requires the sussing out of a complex concept, like the precise workings of gravity, I eagerly dig into such things, in hope that I can devise tools or find key information to help others."
Tomoyo Daidouji	Tomoyo returns Fairy's curtsy with one of her own! Well, as close to one that she can approximate while wearing pants. "A good evening to you as well~" she says softly, looking around at the holographic mountain pass. It's quite nice, but... "... would have been? Did something happen to your kingdom?" she asks, immediately sounding concerned.
Nerevarine	Talis looks to his left, then his right. He tries to mimic Fairy's gesture of greeting, and it's passable. Not good, but passable. He grumbles sullenly behind his helmet. Standing straight up after his curtsey, he clears his throat. "I didn't know you were royalty," he says. "Not going to send me on a long and drawn out errand, are you?" The elf crosses his arms. The kingdom of Laurent, as envisioned by the Ring, isn't bad. From what he's read it must be something like parts of Cyrodiil. The Nerevarine makes quiet, and less clumsy greetings to Tomoyo, Fiora, and Staren, with the third in particular getting an extra grunt of recognition. "The... scientist I've heard on the radio so often."
Lise	Lise nods towards Staren, "I see, so you are more of an advisor or the one who looks for the solutions or someone to provide a solution." she nods before turning towards Tomoyo, "Mmm. I know not how many times I have stated but it's okay. I was not at the kingdom, working with my fellow Amazons for training. After the session, I was going to train Elliot, my little brother, but he went missing. I scoured the castle for him, only to find him cornered by a pair of clothed beings." She sighs, "They told him that I had the wind going to prevent Mother from coming from the heavens to visit with him, and then... then..." she clutches her hands around her spear... "Elliot shut the wind off... and the two beings told me that I should be worried about my Father, King Joster." that grip gets tighter and she turns to look at the castle in the background... as it goes up in flames. "I rushed to the throne room to find him... find him..." she sniffles. "Fallen."
Fiora Laurent	"Hmm." Fiora seems none too pleased by this explination. "Regicide. A detestable crime. What was the nature of these assailaints? Were they assassins, from a rival country?"
Lise	She turns towards Nerevarine and sniffs, shaking her head, "No, I... I'm not going to send you out on a drawn out errand. It isn't my way. Had I my amazons here..." she shakes her head... "Yes, I am... was..." she shakes her head... she turns towards Fiora and shakes her head, "I think they were..." she looks back towards the castle and shakes her head, "spies from a neighboring kingdom... they knew about my father's blindness..."
Staren	Staren shrugs. "I do take the field, but there are stronger fighters." He listens to her tale. "Oh dear." Some part of him thinks 'This is what happens when you tell people about an afterlife you don't have clear contact with', but he fights the urge to speak it. Regicide? What's important is that this girl has lost her father. "I'm sorry. I hope that you can find your brother, at least. I hope that I can help you learn to navigate the Multiverse, but for finding him... You need a seer or something."
Lise	"When the wind fell, the enemy released sleep pollen and ... my army was devastated." she sighs, the memories dredging back up, "It... it was all my fault... I didn't read the wind right... and Mana was ebbing.. a..." she starts to sniffle... then a few tears hit the ground. "I left the castle... and the wind returned." she shakes her head "Father mentioned the Holy Priest in Wendel. That's... where I ended up here." she shakes her head and turns around, a light smile... forced. She turns towards Staren, and nods... "I... I appreciate it. After Mother passed from delivering Elliot... I took over most of the matronly duties and training..."
Nerevarine	The elf considers for a moment Fiora's idea. "You might be onto something... but. The mockery was very blatant," says Talis. "The assassins I'm used to would've been more subtle. In and out with no evidence. Whoever did this to you, wanted it to hurt." He places a hand to the chin of his mask and begins to pace. "Otherwise, they would've tried to kill all three of you. You, your father, your brother." "Staren may be right, on the matter of finding your brother. Is there anyone you know who would hate you enough to do this? Old enemies? Exiled rivals?"
Fiora Laurent	Fiora is, of note, showing some concern. But the murder of a king, and a helpless one, at that, has her rather.. on edge. "And a hostage as well. No doubt they did not plan on a fair fight, from the start. And.. given what you say of your defenses, and from what I can see.. It was a plan that was long in the making."
Staren	Oh boy. The story just keeps getting sadder! Staren doesn't know what more to say. Would hugging her be appropriate? Eventually he settles on asking: "What do you plan to do, once you do find your home again?"
Lise	"How Navarre spies got into the castle... or even knew of my Mother in the first place..." she shakes her head and Fairy is even looking sad, until Staren's question gets her. She pauses slightly and looks between Fairy and Staren and the others. "I need... I need to find Elliot and save him... and speak to the Holy Priest about the Mana Holyland." Fairy perks, "Mmhmm, we have to save the Mana Holyland. Mana is draining from the world and it's affecting my home... and the elemental spirits!"
Nerevarine	"That sounds very serious, o--" He corrects himself, as /this/ outlander is royalty. The elf clears his throat, something that, judging by the timbre of his voice, happens very rarely. "Princess. Especially if the underworkings of your world are anything like mine. Something like that would be disastrous for Nirn. What's so important about this priest, if I can ask? It sounds to me like there's something that's causing this problem, if only because I have experience with world-threatening disasters. What could a priest do for you that you couldn't do on your own?"
Staren	Staren nods. "Well. I can't help you get home 'till we know where it is, but until then... Let me fill you in on the strange place you've found yourself!" Staren extends a baton that he wasn't holding before his hands started moving, and points at a window a few meters across with a starfield on the other side, and a sphere a meter-or-so across that the room projects for him "The Multiverse is a giant hollow world, composed of bits and pieces of countless others. Bits and pieces of other worlds -- like cities, countries, continents, or even whole worlds if they're flat -- merge into a surface that's a patchwork of multiple worlds. For instance, there's a place called the Strait of Americas where, for some reason, repeated iterations of the continent of North America from Earth have unified in a chain." The view from the window zooms in on one tiny, tiny, /tiny/ part of the globe, until you can see the shape of North America's landmass repeated a few times with ocean on either side. "Now, when part of a world unifies, the rest of the world unifies /somewhere/ in the Multiverse, but maybe not in the same place. This apples to people too. The Earths these Americas came from... where are the rest of them?" The globe zooms back out and Staren points at random spots with the baton. "Maybe here? Maybe here? Here? Who knows. Point is, they're out there /somewhere/. Um... follow me so far?"
Lise	Both Fairy and Lise look at Staren with a strange gaze. "What strange sorcery is this?" the Princess backs up slightly as the field changes into Staren's model. "I... I really don't understand this, are you saying that the kingdom was... " she looks around, searching for the right word and failing... "I don't know..." she frowns a bit, looking at the copied image everywhere. "Are you saying my world is part of your world... and his world... and her world?" as she points to Nerevarine and Fiora... Fairy slightly perks up, "And what does this do for the Holyland? Is... is it not going to dry up anymore?" she questions, a worried bit in her voice, "If... if this merging has taken place... will my home... and Mana be saved?"
Nerevarine	"I have to admit," begins Talis. "I didn't think it was as complicated as all that. Now that someone's actually laid it all out in front of me, it makes me realize how grand the Multiverse really is." Hmm. And to think that there are places on his world alone that have never been seen! On the matter of Fairy's question, though, he defers to Staren. The scientist is the one here who's devoted so much time to understanding the Multiverse. He's just a bitter old warrior.
Staren	What strange sorcery is this? Staren blinks. "You had to talk to give the room orders, right? I don't, I just think them. That's a topic for another time, though!" He smiles. "It's more like /all/ our worlds are part of this Multiverse. We usually use the word 'unified', ie, 'your world has unified.' What it does for stuff like the holy land, I'm not sure exactly. I would make an educated guess that any way you could reach it before will still work, but there might be additional ways to reach it, as well." "By the way, all that stuff I said about gravity isn't about how it works on the surface. I have no idea what's going on there. It /is/ how gravity works in the Void, though, which brings me to..." Staren makes a vertical swipe with the baton and the multiverse is shown to be hollow, with lots of tiny (well, at this scale) galaxies inside it. "The inside is what we call the void. Entire worlds and bigger assemblies of worlds and stars and what-have-you unify in here." The window zooms in again, all the way down until it's zooming in on the area near a single star, as it comes close Earth is revealed. "The void is filled with stars and planets going around them, as dictated by gravity. Many people come from worlds like this. Special ships that go very fast can be used to travel between such worlds, even without warpgates. Which brings me to warpgates..."
Fiora Laurent	"The workings of the Multiverse aside." Fiora speaks up again, "What happened to you, indeed, is a tragedy. I will confer with my own monarch, with regards to its implications. I certainly am not going to lie, and say I am not doing this for something similar to my own benefit. To aid someone in retaking their kingdom would be quite the task. One that would greatly enhance my House's standing. But at the same time, my honor compels me to do so, as well." A brief moment of deliberation. "Ask, and I will lend my sword to this task, when I am able."
Tomoyo Daidouji	Tomoyo had been listening patiently all throughout, of course. She's the sort to hover in the background until her input is really needed. And now it does seem to be needed. "Staren," she says kindly. "You're coming on rather strong~ These two," she gestures at Talis, Fiora, and Lise. "Are from a world where empirical science hasn't even reached my world's level, let alone yours. Gravitational theory is a bit much to start on, don't you think~?" She then looks to the likely confused trio and bows her head. "He gets like that. I hope you don't mind." As she rises up, she offers Lise a gentle smile. "I'm sure your world is just fine, in spite of merging with the Multiverse. In fact, I think that things will work out better than fine." She gestures around. At the other Unionites, at the Ring, at Njorun in general. "Because you have friends out here. People who will help you make everything right, in any way they can. So please, if you're feeling lost or in need of aid, reach out to us. Okay?"
Staren	Staren finishes his explanation. He's better at exposition than comforting! Although, maybe that's not saying much, given how few seem to understand. "Warpgates... You've seen some by now, structures that you walk through and they lead to somewhere else. Whatever process causes unification also causes them to appear. Why they appear in the places they do, and don't appear in others, nobody knows. Artifical gates can also be built. It used to be every gate could take you to any other, but the system was damaged in a war long ago, and now warpgates only go to other nearby gates. In fact, the area that the Union and Confederacy have influence over is only a tiny piece of the whole Multiverse..." As he speaks, the view has zoomed back out, and the Multiverse-sphere closed up again. A fine grid appears, and the view zooms in to one grid square. "We call it Sector 0, well, by we I guess I mean mapmakers and scientists. Colloquially, this and the slice of void under it are 'the Multiverse' people know." He turns from the window to Lise and rubs the back of his head awkwardly. "But uh... You see the scale of the problem of 'find a specific world that unified somewhere' now. If you were seperated from your world... It's just too big to wander around looking. We're gonna have to find a shortcut or trick or /something/ to narrow down our search area." He looks at the others.
Nerevarine	"No, outlander," says Talis to Tomoyo. "I don't mind. If anything, it's just a preface for what I'm sure to encounter soon, but that's a different story." He stops pacing. "But, thank you. I /was/ starting to get lost." "I can help, if you need me. I groan and complain about everything, but I need to be more useful. And..." He looks at Fiora. "If my country would let me, I'd love to take a page from her book and enhance /my/ House's standing. So there's that." Another clearing of the throat. "But, yes." "Everything will seem overwhelming for your first few weeks. I've been here a few /months/ and I still get lost from time to time. Take your time and know you aren't alone."
Lise	Lise and Fairy both have a deer-in-headlights look towards Staren as he continues his explination and soon, Tomoyo and Fiora are there to lead a way. "Y... your scholary knowledge is impressive but I'm afraid that I ... I'm not advanced enough to know that or understand most of it." she shakes her head only to turn towards Fiora. "Then I shall call on you when I can. Mayhaps you can follow me into Wendel when... and if... I can get to it. I am sure the Holy Priest will be glad to know I have found allies. In return, I will offer my spear and training if you are of need." She turns towards Tomoyo when she speaks, "No, he's a knowledgable scholar, even if I don't understand it. Perhaps the libraries of my Kingdom when I can recover it will benefit from it." she gives a slight nod, and a brief smile. "Thank you, Tomoyo, your heart belies your age." she reaches over and pats Tomoyo's shoulder, before turning at Talis, "Perhaps I will use your blade as well. I do not have an army anymore and with my task and Fairy's task, we have to start over." she looks around, "I could use you all at my back to find Elliot as well."
Staren	Staren slumps, and his ears splay and his tail droops. "Not much good to researching problems when I can't communicate my findings worth a damn, is it..." he mutters, then sighs, tossing the baton carelessly behind him. Then he straightens up. "I do mean to help, but I don't know what to do right now... Perhaps... I dunno, it's a long shot, but perhaps the more we know about your world, the better chance we have of finding it? What is this 'mana holy land' and why is mana draining from the world?" Then he has another thought, "Wait a second!" He points at Fairy. "These magic spirits you spoke of... Shade and Wisp! Is there by any chance a magic spell to locate them? If we know which way to go, we can find your world! Or if we can communicate with someone there..." He starts pacing back and forth. "Oh, I just don't know how anything /works/ in your world! There /must/ be something we can use to find it..."
Nerevarine	"Do they have temples, Shade and Wisp? Would there be spells the faithful use to transport them /to/ those temples? If not temples, then places of worship like sacred grottos or... glades, or some such?" He is of course thinking in his own world's terms, but if he, Fiora, and Lise all come from worlds with similar technological sophistication, perhaps there are more similarities? It's a start, anyway. He ponders further. "Are there pilgrimmages devoted in their honor? Acts of devotion that attract their attention? Perhaps if we can't get you to them, we could get them to come to you."
Staren	Staren looks at Nerevarine. "Hey, there's also the reverse! Some gods have rituals you can do to 'sacrifice' stuff and send it to them, right? If Shade and Wisp have something like that, we could sacrifice a tracking beacon to them and follow it!" He's excited. The scenario seemed hopeless before, but now they have so many /ideas/!
Lise	Fairy eeeks a bit, "Ah... yes.. Shade, Wisp, Salamander, Undine, Dryad, Jinn, Gnome, Luna. The eight Elemental Spirits of Lise and Mine's world. They govern certain elemental entities. Night, Day, Fire, Water, Wood, Wind, Earth and the Moon. They also are charged to protect the eight Mana Stones that have the eight elemental benevodons sealed in them. Sealed when the Mana Goddess created the world with the Sword of Mana. With mana ebbing from the world, I had to take shelter in Lise to continue my quest. We were both on the way to the Holy City Wendel to speak with the HOly priest about this..." she sighs and looks between them... Fairy continues, with Lise looking on, "They don't usually get worshipped at least. I... I haven't left the Mana Holyland before." Lise shakes her head in response before Fairy continues, "The Sword of Mana is... a very powerful implement, the Goddess shaped the world with it. But... the Priest will know more about the 'legends'..."
Staren	Staren listens, then tilts his head forward slightly. "So, back to square one." He resumes pacing. "There must be some trick we can use to find it..." He looks to Lise, "Say, why is mana ebbing froim the world, anyway? And where is it going?"
Nerevarine	"That's a good question, outlander. Personally, I think there's a thief involved--or, at the very least, something other than a natural occurrence. I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow, so I need to get some rest. In the mean time, Princess, I would look into Staren's question while you look for this Priest of yours. And... speaking from experience, if your religion has an evil figure, an adversary, I'd try to think back to lore that mentions him, or her." He makes as if to leave, then offers her that same clumsy curtsey that Fairy offered him and the other Elites. "Mercy, Mastery, Mystery." With that, he's on his way out.
Lise	Fairy shakes her head, "I'm... I'm unsure right now, mayhaps something is happening, but.." It's at this point Lise yawns a bit, "Shade must be saying it's time." she comments, both of them looking towards Staren. Fairy speaks up one more time as she starts to fade out, "I believe the Nerevarine may have a good idea. I'm going to go rest inside of Lise's head for a while, I will try to find out what may be going on." she yawns a bit... Lise yawns again... Lise shakes her head, "I shall do so, Talis. May Shade look over your rest." she comments before turning to Staren, Tomoyo and Fiora. "I shall contact you all over that... radio again. For now, I believe I shall try to take up that Kingdom's offer for a room. This... Canterlot."
Staren	Staren nods. "I'm sorry we couldn't be more help... I hope we can solve the problem, but we just need..." he makes a grasping-at-air gesture, "We just don't have enough pieces of the puzzle yet." Staren hmms. "Canterlot. Ah, yes..." he rubs his chin. "I dunno, visiting Equestria -- that's the kingdom, Canterlot's the city -- might be better done when well-rested. It's, uh, it's a... It's an interesting place! But a bit shocking at first. On the other hand, maybe it's better to go there while too tired to care and just" he gestures as if pushing a giant wheel while walking towards the exit, "rollll with it."
Lise	Lise gives a slight nod... "My apologies... we will find the answer together I beleive, but right now, Shade is calling for all his people to sleep and I'm not one to argue with the Spirits." she gives a brief smile, "I shall make my rest in one of the many rooms again in this large kingdom and I shall visit this Canterlot another day." she tilts her head a bit, "Shocking? You can explain that to me tomorrow if you would like. For now, I believe it's time for rest. To know that I have allies amongst this kingdom will put some of my fears at ease.."
Staren	Staren nods and smiles, "I dunno if I should spoil the surprise! It's nothing bad though. If this Luna's Equestria is anything like the one I've been to, it'll be a very friendly place. Good night, Lise. May your sleep be pleasant and untormented by dreams of your recent past." Beat. "...Actually if that's a problem, you should talk to Luna about it, she might be able to help. I'll see you later..." The changes he made to the simulation are reverted, and he heads out the door.
Fiora Laurent	Fiora nods, "So be it. Rest well." She bows her head, again, as she too moves to leave.
Lise	As everyone leaves, Lise stays behind for a few moments, looking towards the castle in the far off distance. "Elliot." she takes the tie out of her hair and looks up. "Mother. Father. I'm in a strange land with strange people but I have allies now. I will find Elliot and I will save Laurent..." she closes her eyes "Watch over me please. I don't think I can do this without you two..." She stands there a bit longer, whatever breeze being emulated in this mountainous path billows out Lise's hair... "This wind doesn't speak... but it shall lead me into the right direction. Thank you Mother..." Lise ties her hair back and heads out... "What was that word he said? Oh. End simulation." she speaks into a small box... the entire field returning back to the normal visage it once was as the Amazon leaves in the direction of the residental area.