2015.02.04: The Children's Crusade 1

The Children's Crusade (Part 1)
Two months after her mysterious disappearance, the fate of Hilimaz Harkness is finally revealed...by her children. After escaping the Umbral Realm called The Nightlong, Maz's daughter seeks out her father, hoping to enlist his aid
IC Date	February 4, 2015
IC Time	Morning
Players	Velok, Maz, Misa
Location	The Nightlong / The Domus

Begin Log

Velok dreams...the following scene unfolds before his eyes.

"Mara-dhatu has fallen at last."

So proclaims a female voice, in the sightless darkness of your dreamscape. British accent. Mostly RP, but already you can sense some familar Estuary. The dropped t in dhatu, for instance.

A young man's voice answers in return, strictly RP in contrast. "Hmmmm. We both knew it was just a matter of time, sister dear. I suppose this means Mother has failed."

"It was a fools errand to begin with...without her, we have nowhere else to go."

"Tut tut. Not entirely true. We can evade the Baroness and her forces for a while yet. Almost indefinitely."

"Hmmmph. ALMOST. And what sort of existence would it be for us? And what of Mother. You and I both know she still lives. But just as we're not powerful enough to maintain the realm, neither

are we up to the task of taking on the Baroness. Of securing Mothers freedom at long last, of reclaiming that which has been taken from her...taken from us."

"Huh. Speak for yourself, sist..."

"It's time to bring Father into the equation." the female suddenly interrupts.

"...I was wondering when you'd finally admit to it. I know you know the way out of here. Back to Mother's world. Back to where he is."

"We'll have to be quick about it. Once we act, the Baroness will suspect what we're up to. She may not know we plan to bring her here, but she'll ultimately suspect. And assuming he can

even tip the balance..."

"That's our Father you're speaking of, Ekateria. Do have faith. The man is....formidable."

"The man YOU'RE thinking of, Jonas, is not the one we must bring back. Ours has been a world of illusions and memory. I'm not even certain he'll believe me. What if he doesn't come?"

"He will. He must. Real or not, Father is still the same man, at his core, as the one who raised us. Who taught us right from wrong. Who trained us in the ways of the Wheel. And..."

"...he'll come for Mother's sake, if nothing else, yes. I see where you're going with this."

"Right then. If we are in agreement, when shall we move?"

"Now."

"Right this second?"

And then suddenly the blackness fades, replaced with a craggy, almost desolate landscape. Nearly bereft of color, washed out with greys, like looking thorugh a smokey piece of glass. Down a

windswept hill, dotted with scrubby grasses and trees, with a huge dropoff into the ocean. Towards the water run two teenagers, sixteen or possibly seventeen. The images are hard to make

out, but they seem curiously familiar. The girl, with her platinum blonde hair, is curiously dressed in what appears to be a private school uniform: skirt, mary janes, stockings, blouse and

jacket. The male, with his touseled brown hair, is dressed only in rough denim trousers, otherwise barefooted, with an elaborate bow strapped to his back.

"You LITERALLY meant right this moment, I see!" he calls out.

She continues running at a breakneck pace with him, responding, "Carpe Diem, brother dear! As Father would always say! Act not with rashness, but with committed certainty! That, and I

believe we have an immense army of Bandersnaches in pursuit!"

Indeed. Off in the distance, dozens of squat, orc-like creatures, with hooked beaks and clawed hands make their way in inexorable pursuit, chasing after the pair, as they continue on

towards the edge of the cliff.

"I hope you know what you're doing then!" Jonas calls out.

"I'm figuring it out well enough as I go. We're close though! But I'm afraid we're going to need to buy ourselves some time."

They slow and turn to face the oncoming forces. "I was hoping you'd say something like that, Kate." Jonas says with a feral smirk. Unslinging the bow from around his torso, he pulls back

the bowstring, an arrow of pure, scintilating force snapping into place. He lets the string loose and the arrow flies forth, skewering at least three of the twsited creatures before

disipating. He lets fly with another arrow, and Ekaterina holds out her hands, weaving them in the air as she hums. When the arrow strikes it's target, it has been magickally "juiced",

exploding with tremendous force. The girl then makes a slamming motion with her fist towards her feet. The ground ahead of the creatures sudden trembles and lurches, as if a very localized

earthquake suddenly strikes, tearing a gaping, ten foot chasm across.

"Come on! Lets go...that won't stop them, but it buys us just enough time!"

The pair start to dash again, and the ceatures let ropes fly across, building an impromptu rope bridge with frightening, supernatural speed, eventually crossing the chasm with great

alacrity. Brother and sister make it at last, to the edge. Peering down, the ocean is a frigthening distance below, angrily churning against the sharp and jagged rocks of the shore.

"Alright. This...this is where it gets tricky. I need you to trust me on this Jonas. We need to jump..."

The army is suddenly a minute or two away from falling upon them.

Jonas shakes his head. "No time. I'm afraid this is all up to you, dear sister. I'll buy you time. Keep them from following you at any rate."

"What? Jonas, don't be mental! I need you to come with..."

"Go!" he calls out insistantly. "Besides, we both know I'm far better in close combat than you. It has to be me." He strides off, out of your vision, but you can still see his shadow. One

that starts to twist and reshape itself into a curiously canine configuration. There is a loud, demonic snarl, followed by the tearing of flesh and gnashing of teeth, along with what sounds

like horrific pig squeals.

Ekaterina can barely tear her eyes away. Wills herself to run the remaining distance, and then executes a perfect swan dive into the ocean.

It takes a long time....too long...for her to slip past the grey, silvery waves, and it is with no small amount of luck that she avoids the rocky shoals. She forces herself to swim

downwards. Gills grow on her neck, giving her the extra air she needs, but it's still a tremendous effort. A dive that never seems to end, but ultimately she does spot her target. A royal

blue sphere, crystaline and shimmering, a ball of energy. It gets harder and harder to push her way towards it, almost as if gravity is reversing. It takes an increasing amount of effort

and will on her part to claw her way through the water towards it. Her vision starts to swim and blacken around the edges.

"Just a little closer..." she thinks. "Just a little closer....alomst there....almost there..."

Everything starts to go black.

<<Velok wakes up with a start>>

There is a sudden knocking at the door.

Waking up with a start is a curious thing, though not exactly unfamiliar to the man. His torso springs up, letting the sheets drape down off his body as he pants. His eyes wide

open, blinking over and over and clearing the sleep from his sight. His mind racing as he tries to process his dream. "What, is that supposed to be me?" He asks quietly, talking to himself

or some other invisible start. "Usually those dreams are supposed to end in death if they're me, but that one happened out of my vision. You girls are losing your touch." The sudden

knocking snaps him back to reality, his feet sliding out of the bed and lifting himself up. Knocking on the door means it's not Misa, already eliminating suspects from the list of who might

be knocking. On his trip to the bedroom door he collects his shorts, sliding them on. He doesn't have much of a problem leaving the rest of his sculpted body visable when he pulls out into

the living room, already looking at the door. Blue eyes find the elaborate bow hung on the wall next to the entrance way, but he doesn't reach out to grab it. Instead he leans in and pulls

at the door, opening it slowly to peek at who's there.

And as you open the door...there she is. The girl of your dreams. Well..the girl FROM your dream, at any rate. Leaning against the doorjamb, trembling, and dripping wet. As real and as

solid as any other person in the world. And you can make her out so clearly now, see the details that were lacking, tenous within the dreamscape. She's tall, willowy. Not quite as tall as

you, but close. With a shoulder length mane of plantium blonde-near white hair. There is still a tiny bit of coloration to her skin, her Indian heritage ever the more washed out than her

Mothers. But if there was any doubt as to whom this might be, they are erased when she opens her eyes to regard you.

The same luminous blue as your own.

"Father..." she says softly, almost silently mouthing the words, as she gasps for air. She reaches up to her neck, realizing her problem, having forgotten to remove the gills. Starts to

make a groaning noise, as if chastising herself for her stupidity, before falling forward at last, apparently passing out.

Velok's eyes widen the moment the door is open enough to show the woman standing there. He doesn't slam the door shut or anything, instead freezing in place. Eyes scan down her body

then back up, taking in every detail he can imagine. Shock, at least, when his eyes reach hers and lock within her gaze. His lips repeat the word when he hears it, marred with confusion.

Reactions quick his hand leaves the door, arms reaching out as she falls forward to catch her. He braces as she slumps, holding her up just enough. "Alright..." He breathes out, looking

down over the woman's back. "I was wrong. You girls are definitely stepping up your game.." He chastises his avatar. Five strength is plenty to lift her up, one arm underneath her back and

the other notched underneath her knees. Velok turns, carrying her over to the sofa and lying her down, kneeling down next to the sofa. Fingers reach up to her neck and he shakes his head.

His head dips down, his lips pressing once against the side of her neck on the gill. Voiceless he whispers, heated air coating the gills as he forces them to disappear, coaxing her

body with Life and unweaving the presumed effect to bring her back to normal and return her breathing.

The effect seems easier than usual to weave. You're already familiar with the pattern. Certainly parts of it are very familiar. The gills retract back into smooth flesh. But it's almost a

good ten seconds before she suddenly gasps, shooting up on the couch, and coughing up water, spitting it out. It takes her a while to catch her breath entirely, and when she does, she

curses out in a loud voice, her RP accent receeding, to an oh-so-familiar Estuary tone of voice. "Bloo'y fuck'in hell!" Before she can continue, she coughs again, and then glances in your

direction, before blushing furiously.

"Sorry, Father!" she murmurs, more out of instinct than anything else.

More coughing, but it's clear her lungs are clearing. She closes her eyes and focuses, and you can feel the touch of Life magick weaving around her, taking care of the worst. Another ping,

and she starts to shake off, all of the sea water suddenly disappating, her clothes and body bone dry, even her hair nicely styled.

She glances out at her fingers and mutters, "Damnit! Chipped a nail." You have no idea what she's talking about, her polished nails look perfectly fine.

She turns to you, blinks, and glances at you disbeliving, as if looking at you for the very first time. "Oh...oh Goddess. It's you. It's...it's really you, isn't it?" She starts to move

forward, as if to hug you, but suddenly stops herself.

Very rarely do you get to hear any accent from England at all in Prospect, yet here is somoene on his couch sounding /awfully/ familiar. The last time he hears someone like

that...suddenly Velok shakes his head, the thought too painful to even think of. He just stays kneeling at the couch, looking over this woman's body, looking for any sort of recognizable

feature. Someone he might have met before, anything. His eyes though, as she looks at him, and hers. Amelia, the original owner of that very distinct blue, looking right back at him as if

in a mirror. "Father..." He repeats, though this one is said with a little more voice to the breath. He seems to almost be 2-3 seconds behind currently, following her gaze down to her nails

after she does. Fifteen+ years, surely he looks far younger than she's used to. "Sweetheart, I can't be your father." Velok responds finally, though when she goes to hug, she can almost see

his body responding, his arms about to go out to hug this...person back. As if his body was fully prepared to hug and comfort on instinct, recognizing something about her. "I might...look

like him, but this is just a dream. In reality, you're far too old to be my father. Also far too beautiful to be any sort of genetic offspring close to my own." Convinced, Velok is, that

this is still just some trick his avatar is playing on him

Ekaterina just stares at you for a prolonged moment. And then suddenly snorts, and starts to softly laugh, "Oh Goddess. There's that self-effacing flirtatious modesty. You are terrible,

Daddy." With that, she takes a deep breath, and reaches out to take your hand in hers, still maintaining eye contact.

"Alright. Look, I'm going to get straight to the point, because I know this must be a tremendous shock for you. My name..." she twitches her lips as she pauses, a habit she picked up from

her Mother, before continuing. "My name...is Ekaterina. Ekaterina Amelia Harkness-Caelius. A mouthful, to be sure. And I am very much your daughter. Not...from the future, as it were, but

from another place. Dimension if you will. Time runs very differently in Mara-dhatu." She crosses her legs, very ladylike, as she straightens up. "To be perfectly honest, I WAS expecting

YOU to be older. Goddess, you barely look older than Jonas. But...ah. Like I said. Time...runs different. But I need you to believe me. I need...I need your help, to be absolutely blunt

about it."

The cracks in Velok's disbelief start to show. That moment on his face where he both believes, and disbelieves in what's going on. There's a lot of things that are similar, however.

The pattern, the eyes, the accent, the way she holds herself, and then her name. His eyes widen again as he hears the name. There's no reason why this would be something his avatar makes

up. No lesson really to be learned here, no torturous plan. This isn't part of his history, and he's never had a dream like this before. But the one thing that really gets him, over

everything else, is that laugh. Her mother's laugh. His lips twitch into a little smile, and he rests back on his knees. He starts to nod, listening to her story and finally, fully smiling

when she mentions that she expected him to be older. Slowly Velok reaches out, his hand taking Ekaterina's and softly holding it. "Okay."

The door to the Master Bedroom opens with noise, Fearless's head poking out from between the crack as she peers into the living room, trying to figure out what's going on, bright

blue eyes matching the other two occupants. Velok's head turns and he looks at Fearless, then back to the woman he's with. "I want to believe you, and I want to help you, but I

need..something." He furrows his brow. He believes this is reality at this point, yet it could also be a very well designed trick, and he's spent plenty of time with Misa to know that

tricks are right around the corner. She can see his mind racing behind his eyes, scrunching his face just a fraction like she's no doubt seen countless times as he searches for that

question to ask that only those closest might know. Maz would know, their children might know, and then he finds it. "Why is your middle name Amelia?" He asks, blue eyes scanning back up to

stare intently into hers.

Ekaterina starts to open her mouth to answer, but all of that immediately goes out the window when she spots the ocelot.

"EEEE! Fearless! Oh my gosh, it's you!!" She practically leaps off the sofa, and bounds over to the familiar, scooping her up in her arms and starts to coo over her, rubbing her behind her

ears, and snuggling up like she's just been reunited with her most beloved pet. Assuming Fearless allows this, of course. But if so, she is nuzzling warmly, and murmurs, "Of course you'd be

here too. Silly me." She then glances around and starts to ask. "Oh! Does that mean Mu...oh...no...wait. Sorry." She walks back, Fearless in her arms. Sits back on the couch, and looks over

to you. Smiles tenderly. Forks out two fingers, and runs them almost too casually across her face, framing her eyes, like she's doing some weird version of the watusi. As if that is the

only answer she needs to give. Still, she adds, "You and Mother both thought it appropriate. Neither of you had any reason to think the eyes would carry over on their own but..."

The sudden burst of energy catches Velok by surprise, leaning back so she can leap off the couch and run towards the cat. "Mraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaow!" Fearless screaches, looking to dart

away but being quickly caught up in Ekaterina's hold. Claws come out when Velok raises his hand towards the cat, the struggle from the feline ceasing and claws retracting. There's still

trepidation, and it's only after MUCH cooing and fawning that the tiniest purr gives off. Yep, Ocelots purr too. Size of cat notwithstanding. "Mu?" Velok asks as Ekaterina walks back and

plops down, the man's face strained with curiousity. As she starts to explain, Velok starts to relax.

The weight of the situation hits his shoulders and he sinks just a little, eyes lowering to regard the couch in contemplation. Finally he inhales, nibbling at his lower lip.

"Ekaterina..." He whisperes, giving a tiny bit of a snort. "You were absolutely named by your mother..." He murmurs, starting to smile a little when he looks back up to her. The smile fades

back to where it was as he inhales again. "I'd like to help you but I don't...know if I can. Another dimension, another Maz, another...me..." His voice stays strong, albeit a little shakey.

He lets out a little sigh. "What would you need me to do?" He asks, unsure now.

Misa kneels down and peeks out from behind the bedroom door after Velok has engaged the other individualon conversation for a few moments, peeking out with her good eye while on her knees

to get a quick view of the room, marking the positions of whoever is present mentally before moving back behind the door jam for cover. Unseen just for now is the knife held in her hand at

teh ready for if she needs to act.

Ekaterina is still fussing over Fearless, nuzzling and making smoochy noises. Clearly, she and Fearless go way back, or at least they do in her mind. "Actually, I was named by you. Mother

wanted to go with Anamola, but she never could say no to you." She gives Velok a knowing look at this. "And Jonas, of course, you named him as well. I mean, naturally, you would, he and I

are twins, of course." She blinks. "Ah...um...not..not that you would have known that. Sorry. Didn't mean to suddenly drop that on you, Father."

After a short pause, she slowly shakes her head. "Another dimension yes. Another you, yes. Another Maz. No. The same Hilimaz Harkness. The one who came from here. I...I don't know how long

it's been for you, so I'm sorry if this is really painful. It could have been days. Weeks. Maybe years? But she...there's so much I need to tell you, but the most immediate thing you need

to know...is that there was an accident. She was in her sanctum, and there was a terrible accident. One that took her away from this world. And when it happened...." she chews on her bottom

lip, hiding her face behind plantinum bangs. "She was pregnant with us."

She goes still for a moment, looking around, peering curiously this way and that. Her eyes alight on the master bedroom door, and she suddenly calls out. "No use hiding, Muqin Misa.", using

the Chinese honorific for mother. "And you can put down the knife too, please." She suddenly turns to Velok and giggles. "Oh my Goddess, yes! She's here too, isn't she? This is...this is

so..."

Her stomach suddenly grumbles. LOUDLY."

"Oh...gosh. I am hungry. Seriously, I am just blinking starving. How about breakfast, yes? Can I please make us all something to eat?" And before anyone can give permission, she suddenly

hands Fearless over to Velok, heads into the kitchen, and starts going through the cupboards. And wouldn't you know it, she knows where everything is kept. Well...for the most part.

"Damnit, now where'd the teapot go?"

This is all quite a bit for Velok, even if most of him currently believes it. There's always going to be that small part questioning things, as is to be expected. "Anamola?" He

asks, nodding slightly. "Probably for the best." He murmurs. The thought of her being a twin doesn't really bombshell Velok any more than 'Surprise you have a daughter from another

dimension' would. "An...accident." Velok says, brow creasing after his response. His voice grows a little quiet as he thinks. "It's been almost two months, since she left." Left, not disappeared,

revealing a bit of a mindset within the man. All of it is quite a lot to process, enough that it takes him a little to process the part where she was pregnant, with the woman in front of

him and some other. It's all very surreal, the man still thinking when she calls out towards Misa. His eyes follow her towards the door, then bounce back and forth between it and Ekaterina.

"You know Misa?" He asks, sounding a bit...relieved.

Fearless is dumped in his lap and he just continues to sit, watching her as she bounces out of the couch. Finally he stands as she starts food, looking back to the door. "Ekaterina,

it's only been a couple months for me, but if she was pregnant with you, and you're...that's at least 15 years." Making HER the Amelia and HIM the Rory. How about that. "What about me? If

she needs help and I'm over there, and we're together, then why aren't you going to your...father...?" Which, if Maz was already pregnant, makes Velok the father, which hurts his brain.

Misa slides the knife from her hand to hold it by the blade. Her body relaxes as she steps out, though anyone who knows her well would know this is simply her luring an opponent off guard,

ready to throw the knife at a moment's notice. Her eyes move quickly back and forth between Velok and the girl, mouthing a "what" to him, having missed most of teh conversation up until

this point as she had imediately went for the knife on waking.

"Hey sugar, watcha gonna make?"

Ekaterina gets to work within the kitchen, clearly familiar and at home in it's confines. "Brekkies, of course, Muqin! You like your coffee extra Irish-y here as well?" she replies, in a

light and breezy tone. In a similar vein, it's hard to tell if she's honestly letting her guard down around Misa, or if it's a facade. Regardless, in short order, there's bacon cooking, and

potatoes, and suddenly all sorts of muffiny things start appearing, suggesting more than mere mundane cooking is taking place. But in the middle of scambling eggs, she appraises Velok,

quietly giving him a look. It's clear that she catches the "left" part, but merely displays a tiny, sympathetic smile at this. "Oh Father..." she breathes out, and shakes her head

goodnaturedly.

As she continues with making breakfast, cutting holes into thick slices of toast, she explains. "Well of course I know Muqin. She raised me and Jonas too, you know." Pauses a beat, and then

half laughs. "Well, no, YOU wouldn't....know. Sorry. This is actually more difficult, keeping straight in my mind than I thought it would be." She then muses, "Two months. Gosh! I...well I

don't know what exactly I was expecting. I knew it would be different, and I knew there would be some issues with time not being quite...synched up? Time works...differently in the

Nightlong. And that effect was even more pronounced in the confines of Mara-dhatu proper." She pauses, and starts to motion with the whisk in her hand, "Though I always DID wonder why

Mother never seemed to age all that much, if at all. It's...hard to tell if...". And whatever it was she was going to say just sort of drifts off, as she continues on with making eggs.

To Velok's last question, she smirks, glancing down as she pours the eggs to cook. "I AM going to my Father. My REAL Father. Um...again, I'm sorry. It's very complicated. While time isn't

in our side, we do have a few days for me to explain it all. Me passing through the nexus took a lot of energy and effort. There's some...metaphysical resistance that needs to disappate,

before we can head back into the Nightlong. It's difficult to explain, beyond that.

Velok catches the look of curiousity and the mouthed question in his eyes, looking back to Ekaterina. Muffins appearing, the gills. The magic in general so easily done within the

confines of his sanctum. He turns and immediately starts to explain to Misa, repeating everything he was told while the food is prepared. The dream, the knocking on the door, the other

dimension, Maz...disappearing, being pregnant, the daughter...everything. When his explanation is done he looks back to Ekaterina, explaining how Misa helped raise her too. For some reason,

Velok just starts to smile wide. "If Misa helped raise you, then you probably have no less than three knives somewhere under your clothes, and knew how to fight before knowing how to

speak." He teases, perhaps not ENTIRELY serious, though also curious. He puts Fearless back down and starts to walk around the couch. "Tell if what?" He asks to follow up, glancing once to

Misa. His cheeks turn red when she mentions her real father, looking back to Misa again for the time being. Finally he starts to walk into the kitchen, around the counter median and near

Ekaterina. Suddenly he reaches out, not hostile, trying to wrap his arms around the woman from behind in a full hug. A hug she was seeking from earlier, yet now given while she cooks. "She

didn't age, but you did. Why...now? What's going on?" Quite a lot of words, like Nightlong, that he doesn't recognize at all, but seems to believe.

Misa raises an eyebrow. "I think she's wonderin if she'll age at her speed or our speed?" she asks, not at all clear how this stuff works really. She does take notice at the ease at which

the woman does her magic, showing a little less skepticism as she watches.

Misa can't help but break into giggles at the mention of Velok being the real father, even nudging him with her elbow. "You dog you." she teases. If this girl really was raised by Misa then

Misa has no reason to pull her punches. "I was prolly there when they made you." she laughs sitting down. "Close enough to bein Muqin for me."

She studies the girl carefully looking her over for weapons, which she wouldn't let the girl leave home without obviously. "Though I'd be surprised I'm still around that long..."

Ekaterina snorts, "Oh please, Father. I'm so over knives." She removes her blazer, and starts to roll up the sleeves of her school blouse, revealing a couple of throwing daggers stapped in

thin leather holdsters to the underside of her forearms. Ones that might be very similar to a kind Misa would be handy with. She smirks playfully at this. To the "Tell if what" remark, she

seems to not even hear it.

She DOES respond rather positively to the hug, turning around in Velok's arms and returning it very tightly, burying her face against his shoulder. She gives a bit of a shudder, the pent up

anxiety and fear she was holding back finally bleeding out at long last. Another minute passes and she lets go, recomposed just a bit, looking up into Velok's eyes. A deep breath, and then

she says. "There is a very long backstory I would need to tell you, in order for everything to have context, to make sense. Otherwise, if I try to explain to you that Mother appears to have

finally succumbed to the machinations of the Baroness, and that Jonas and I need your help to rescue her..." she stops short. "Oh. Huh. I suppose in a roundabout and very surface level way,

THAT explaination makes PERFECT sense. Anyhow, just trust me when I say that I will explain it all to you, both of you, in exacting detail? Just...after breakfast."

She blushes furiously at Misa's mention of "being there" and clears her throat. "Ah. Yes. Well. It's not like you flaunted your...um...your sexuality around Jonas and I all the time, but

eventually, we clued in on just how...ah...varied, creative, and passionate the three of you could be and Oh God, PLEASE do not make me ruminate on the fact that you all actually have sex."

She turns away and mutters, "It's all terribly...dreadfully embarassing and icky." She pauses a beat and then murmurs, "I mean, not that I'm...I mean, I've had some experience. There was a

girl at school who...but..I mean we didn't..." She coughs. "Er...well..not like Jonas. Oh God, that boy has at least two or three litters of pups somewhere out there. As soon as he was a

man, there must have been a line of Furies out the door." She clamps a hand over her mouth and groans.

"Damnit! I absolutely do not know when to shut up!" She busies herself by setting the table, pouring juice, laying out eggie-in-the-basket, sausages, bacon, etc."

[Velok uses magick to check on Ekaterina: Well, her pattern certainly seems to match. It is what you would intuitively expect of your own daughter, a blending of your own pattern and Maz's

while remaining wholey unique, so by that metric, it's good. There's no illusion as far as you can tell, but there is something...off...about her. It's hard to put your finger on it.

Something out ofphase, something that just doesn't seem quite...real. It could be a side effect of her passing through, there's definitely some sort of strong Umbral resonance of some kind,

tinged with Entropy, that clings to her at present. It could also be related to the fact that, if she's telling the truth, she pretty much spent more or less her entire life in another

Umbral Realm of some sort, and Reality may be having a little trouble dealing with her sudden existence. You feel a mindshield on her too....one that utilizes techniques that only you, or

someone who intimately understood how your mind worked, would be able to duplicate.']

"Life in Mara-dhatu was...shall we say, blissfully trouble free. That...was perhaps one of it's biggest problems." She glances over at Velok and shakes her head for a moment, snerking. "Oh

Daddy. I can't blame you for checking, I suppose." giving him a knowing look. "Well, can we at least sit and eat? I don't know about you, but I could really do with a few minutes of

normality right now."

---

End Log