Cross Effects- The RP

[Aiden]

Were Valda a mere mortal woman in mind she would probably be cross-eyed behind her glasses by now. At least it had given her the necessary time to finish the second blueberry muffin that she had purchased. She was actually starting to feel full now with the mana in her system, which was a new sensation entirely, but it was such a small amount that food was still on the agenda.

The hunger would never really fade completely as she was now.

Finally she swallowed her treat and made the motion of a circle in the air in front of her. "All well and good, but is that a yes or no to my question?"

[Bloble]

"I... whoa..." Luka, being less resilient to epic tales than Valda, was a bit more awed. It was one thing to hear about familiar tales, like the Hero's eternal fight against the Monster Lord, but the talking skeleton had spun a story of a completely new world, enrapturing the boy like someone caught reading an engrossing book.

So instead of him speaking, the water in his glass began to swirl, eventually leaving its confines altogether and morphing into the form of a small, almost hand-sized woman who seemed to be constantly shifting, her liquid blue hair caught between shades of sea green and her teal body lacking the fine details of a human.

"Why are you still moving?" she asked the skeleton.

"Undine, what are you-?"

"Quiet, boy," she snapped. Luka immediately shut up.

"I am an elemental spirit who has made a contract with this fool of a Hero," she said. "I've existed for thousands of years, and in that time picked up a thing or two about Necromancy, Raised One. Your story speaks of impossibilities. The art of animating bones or a dead body is not unknown to us, and amateur necromancers can easily call up the spirits of the deceased, but even the greatest cannot do a perfect, binding resurrection. A plague that causes deceased to rise would be impossible without a magical component, and even then an average person's mana supply would only be able to sustain their form for a day or so, which certainly isn't enough for it to be any use in a protracted campaign."

Luka was getting paler by the second, but Undine ignored him and his feeble protests, continuing to speak.

"The greatest necromancer in our world once turned herself into a zombie, and she only lasted for a scant hundred years before her emotions faded and she became little more than one of her own constructs. This is without mentioning the several people's worth of mana that she had to consume every day to keep herself animated. You should be starving for it more than the sealed goddess over there, but you're rolling in the stuff."

[Aiden]

Valda raised an eyebrow at the elemental being that rose from the glass of water. Then she poked at it with her finger.

"Have you considered, perhaps, that magic functions differently where he comes from?" she asked while pushing that finger into the water construct. "Or perhaps that the environment he is native to contains ambient sources of mana that the shells are somehow set up to draw from? Or, perhaps, that a greater power was responsible for it? In the age before my... current situation, there were gods over death who could bring the dead back to life, create souls and and make the living deathless. They could grant such power to whatever mortals they so pleased, and take it away."

[Bloble]

"The idea of ambient mana is certainly possible, but an army that vast would deplete the land's energy much too quickly to be sustainable, barring any large, permanent fixtures that could provide a continuous stream of mana. Even in our world, those are rare." Undine said. "Furthermore, we must assume that between worlds there are common factors. The necklace from the Lich's world worked on Luka, and his mana potion suited you just fine, so there is a connection, at least in the underlying mechanics. There may be regional differences, but the base should be similar, if not the same."

She continued without missing a beat. "Now a god is one thing, but a mortal King doing the equivalent of a miracle is different," the spirit said. Valda's finger passed right through the water elemental, spreading apart the liquid that had been used to construct Undine's body but otherwise doing nothing. "A god can do many things. A mage or powerful sorcerer can do less. However, all those activities require an expenditure of energy."

The water quickly reformed, bringing Undine back. "As you are now, it's easy to see that you require vast amounts of mana to use your powers, whatever they may be. Before that situation of yours, did you do everything you wished without any cost, or did you simply possess so much energy that the cost was one you could instantly pay without thinking about it? To me, the second seems like the most ideal answer. If a god did indeed create the Scourge, then they must be constantly drawing power from said god simply to stay alive."

[Elf]

Gabriel raised his eyebrows and folded his arms across his chest and smirked.

He said, "Alas, such mystical contracts would be wasted upon me.  It would not stick due to my unusual nature."

If he knew anything about Fey he'd be trying to make me promise to help him.  Luckily, Downy Reed knew anything about his kin.  Still, the man needed to be stopped, and this wasn't the job left to a crusading hero.  This needed a more subtle, discreet touch from someone who was comfortable from working in the shadows and not afraid to spill his own blood.

He'd leave this circle for last. 

******

Forest raised her eyebrow and asked, Why should I let you in, Crow tapping upon my window?  Will I have your word that you won't eat all the people staying here?

Admittedly, she was slightly jealous.  As far as super powers went, turning into a crow was pretty bad assed.

******

"Yare, yare, you're such a task master," he said with a sigh before combing through Rin's thick hair.

******

Lancer headed for the kitchen surprised to see a little girl in the wheelchair and some dude with white hair.  He pointed to the guy and asked, "Who the fuck are you?"

[Alice]

Rin smirked. "While I'm definitely glad you're back, that doesn't mean I'm going to cut you any slack." Plus, she had to somewhat admit, it was going to be nice to have someone else work through her hair for a change. Especially when it was Archer.

***

Perhaps coming here was not the best decision on my part after all. With a sigh, the psychic adjusted his spectacles and turned to the Irishman.

"'Who the fuck' I am is Thomas Hale, an acquaintance of the young red haired lady in the other room, Ryoko. From what I can tell, something just occurred here of a supernatural and troublesome nature. Could you perhaps either fill me in or just direct me to Ryoko herself?" 

[Aiden]

"The idea of ambient mana is certainly possible, but an army that vast would deplete the land's energy much too quickly to be sustainable, barring any large, permanent fixtures that could provide a continuous stream of mana. Even in our world, those are rare." Undine said. "Furthermore, we must assume that between worlds there are common factors. The necklace from the Lich's world worked on Luka, and his mana potion suited you just fine, so there is a connection, at least in the underlying mechanics. There may be regional differences, but the base should be similar, if not the same."

She continued without missing a beat. "Now a god is one thing, but a mortal King doing the equivalent of a miracle is different," the spirit said. Valda's finger passed right through the water elemental, spreading apart the liquid that had been used to construct Undine's body but otherwise doing nothing. "A god can do many things. A mage or powerful sorcerer can do less. However, all those activities require an expenditure of energy."

The water quickly reformed, bringing Undine back. "As you are now, it's easy to see that you require vast amounts of mana to use your powers, whatever they may be. Before that situation of yours, did you do everything you wished without any cost, or did you simply possess so much energy that the cost was one you could instantly pay without thinking about it? To me, the second seems like the most ideal answer. If a god did indeed create the Scourge, then they must be constantly drawing power from said god simply to stay alive."

"In my true form, in my own realm," Valda continues while... well, poking at the Undine repeatedly because it was always fun to see water-related things get interfered with, "there was essentially no cost. I was a self-sustaining system that required no input and what was in my nature to will was how the world must be. I was perfect."

She punctuated the last word with a particularly hard poke, and by taking the last bite of the muffin. After swallowing she sighed.

"And the things that I could do would be fundamental changes in their own right; they were permanent changes to how things were, if they were not instantaneous. Some magic can, in fact, produce such closed systems even when performed by mortals, at least where I come from. So it is possible that minimal amounts of energy where he comes from would serve as a catalyst for such things without requiring further inputs of energy after. The initial investment creates a pattern that continues on its own from there."

With the glasses, and the business casual, and the firm tone of voice, she sounded and looked every bit like a stern instructor.

[Arch-Magos Winter]

Forest raised her eyebrow and asked, Why should I let you in, Crow tapping upon my window?  Will I have your word that you won't eat all the people staying here?

Admittedly, she was slightly jealous.  As far as super powers went, turning into a crow was pretty bad assed.

I can promise such as long as I don't get too angry. Draining them to death has... nasty consequences in my case. I promise to try and contain my hunger Kinswoman. Call me Jack. And I don't eat people. Do I look like some werewolf or monster?

I ruffled my feathers, preening myself slightly. No wonder birds do this, it's like getting a nice itch scratched out.

Well, my mistake. I guess I am a monster, and more monstrous than some in a few ways. But I'm not some retarded fresh blooded jackass high on his own power. I can keep my fangs to myself if needed.

[YOLF]

Were Valda a mere mortal woman in mind she would probably be cross-eyed behind her glasses by now. At least it had given her the necessary time to finish the second blueberry muffin that she had purchased. She was actually starting to feel full now with the mana in her system, which was a new sensation entirely, but it was such a small amount that food was still on the agenda.

The hunger would never really fade completely as she was now.

Finally she swallowed her treat and made the motion of a circle in the air in front of her. "All well and good, but is that a yes or no to my question?"

"It's an 'I have absolutely no idea'." Sir Bonesington replied. "There is a chance I could make it back to my place, but I can't reliably open a portal to somewhere I haven't been before, no matter how much I know about the location. That, and extra-planar travel travel might be somewhat beyond me."

Bonesington was not expecting a very complex response from Luka, given how dazed he seemed to be by the story, so he was somewhat surprised when one of his contracted spirits, whose name he caught from Luka before he was interrupted, made herself known through the water in the boy's glass, introduced herself, and began questioning him on the nature of what animated the undead of the Scourge while citing examples of her own experiences with necromancy.

The lich listened attentively as Valda joined the argument and shared her opinions and knowledge on the matter with Undine. Most of what they said did not correctly describe the undeath he was familiar with, or even the Lich King himself, but what was revealed amid the lines of the exchange greatly interested him, so he contented himself with listening a bit longer. He chuckled at Valda's explanation of her latest theory, looking every bit the stern lecturer. Well, that one she had gotten completely right.

"There seem to be a few misconceptions here. So let me clear them up. Complete resurrection - perfect restoration of the self from death - is impossible. That was not the aim of the plague either. The aim was simply to kill people and raise their corpses as a vicious and completely loyal fighting force, which it succeeded in doing. Did you think every measly ghoul was like me? No, intelligence and free capability for thought was something only allowed to a handful of the undead. As I told you, the plague was magical in nature, and it was by means of the Lich King's vast, dark powers that it came into being." He said, addressing Undine.

The blue lights that were his eyes narrowed.

"A simple mortal sorcerer is the last thing the Lich King was. But just as the Scourge was his creation, he was created by the demon lords of the Burning Legion, who empowered him. He is no god, and although they may seem like miracles, his feats were nothing if not his own ingenuity and power at work. It is true that corpses raised by a necromancer or dead spirits he has summoned must ordinarily be sustained by his mana. But the plague of undeath makes it a different matter." Bonesington then looked to Valda.

"Miss Valda has it right. The undeath that the Lich King created is an autonomous, self-sustaining closed system that imitates life as a renewing source of mana. And it achieves this through the means of binding a soul to a corpse and faking its animation, tricking the body into believing it is meant to be alive. Even in death, the connection between the flesh and the spirit is strong. It is a matter of taking advantage of it to create a delicate machine that will not stop once the initial kick is given, fueled by its own functions. One that is free of the limits that burden true life."

He left unsaid that the stronger the being one is trying to raise or the stronger you are trying to make them as an undead, the more power the initial spark requires. He smirked to himself then concluded his answer.

"My undeath, however, is slightly different. We liches are fueled by the sheer potency of our souls, locked in a pattern created by magic. It allows our power to expand beyond what mortals can achieve, and makes damage to our bodies close to meaningless."

It wasn't entirely true. He could completely remake his body so long as his phylactery was intact, but not by any means did it make him immune to physical harm. He supposed he should feel bad for leaving that part out, but he didn't.

A gentlemen has his secrets, after all.

[Elf]

"I think its just you being lazy," Archer replied as he began to brush through Rin's hair.  "I think you enjoy having someone who will willingly almost cater to your every whim and want to abuse it."

He was grinning though as he finally got her hair brushed out.

*******

Well, if you can't keep your fangs to yourself, it won't end well for you, Forest replied as she opened up the window with a tiny smirk.

To Connor she said, "This one needs my help.  Don't worry, I'll get him out of here."

To the Crow she sent, I'm Forest, come in and behave yourself.

******

"Things of a troublesome and supernatural nature are always going on.  You're in bloody Law Unto Herself's stronghold.  I'd be worried if something supernatural wasn't going on," Lancer replied.

[Arch-Magos Winter]

Well, if you can't keep your fangs to yourself, it won't end well for you, Forest replied as she opened up the window with a tiny smirk.

To Connor she said, "This one needs my help.  Don't worry, I'll get him out of here."

To the Crow she sent, I'm Forest, come in and behave yourself.

Right, don't blame me if this looks a little sketchy -

As soon as I hopped inside, I... well, shifted. Feathers turned back to clothes, and into hair, beak receded into the nose and mouth, talons into my hiking boots - something I recommend for any Gangrel or vampire in general, get a good pair of shoes, nice thick soled ones. You'll end up doing a load of walking, and though you're dead, good ankle support is always nice.

Brianna once said the whole process looked, and I quote - "Like one of those creepy animorphs covers but this time with sound effects and not fast enough."

I can't blame her. This would probably look like a real horror show to anyone not used to it. Feels a little funny for a bit too, not to have a third eyelid or other things after changing back.

"And I didn't need to be invited in, you know, but thanks anyway." I said, eyeing the mick and the girl in the bed... attractive that one. All that blood, so tasty, just laying there. The Beast rattled its cage just enough to let a little bit of it leak out of my body, a flash of hunger stirring it. "Just heard some Kin had set up in the area, and I need a bit of a favor - little vitae to keep me going for a few more nights so my usual source can recover. I'd rather not get mugged to feed again."

Even with my own supernatural toughness, that'd hurt. Bastard had brought out the brass knuckles. 'course, I left him nearly dead in a back alley so I suppose it was a fair trade.

[Alice]

Rin huffed a bit, almost entirely at the insinuation that she was indeed lazy. "Well, you aren't exactly objecting, you know. Besides, who wouldn't enjoy having someone cater to their every whim?" A cat-like smile creeped onto her face. "Besides, I think a part of you enjoys it." She turned to him as soon as he finished brushing through her hair only to find what was, as far as she could see, some confirmation of that.

***

"And you would presume me to know such a thing? I have been to this world a few weeks now, and while I do indeed have some familiarity with the strangeness of this world, you can hardly expect me to know everything. I was aware of Law Unto Herself being an influential figure, but I was not aware that this was her home, or that strange occurrences were the norm."

A rather dark smile passed Tom's lips, and his glasses seemed to gleam with an uncomfortable light. "Of course, I could simply rip all this information straight from your head, but I was under the impression that such a thing was rather impolite. Of course, I could certainly make that breach of edicate if you so desire. I highly suspect Ryoko would be rather displeased with me, especially doing such a thing to someone she seems to have... oh, what is it called? A crush on? But indeed, what she doesn't know can hardly hurt her, now can it?"

[Bloble]

If it was possible for it to happen, Undine seemed to pale. The eddies that swirled inside her makeshift body stilled at Valda and the skeleton's words. Her reply took some time to come out, and when it did, she seemed almost regretful.

"...so you've reached the perpetual stage. I should have guessed."

"The what?" Luka asked, still kind of zoned out but trying to follow along nonetheless.

"Exactly what Mr. Bones here described," Undine said. "In his world, necromancy must be far more advanced than in ours, since they've managed to make self sustaining undead. Even the greatest of the Artiste family could only begin to approach perfect sustainability in their creations, and that was by sacrificing efficiency and ability."

"The Artiste? Like La Croix and Chrome?" He rattled off two names completely unknown to the others.

"Yes," Undine nodded. "To you, they were powerful opponents, but I suspect that as necromancers they would be vastly inferior to those who joined this Scourge. The idea of breaking out of the cycle of life and death rather than simply stalling or temporarily reversing it was so blasphemous that even the Monster Lord wouldn't stand for it. It's part of why the Art was banned in the first place. Though the probability of it being real was thought to be infinitely small, there still existed the possibility that it could have progressed far enough to create beings like yourself, Mr. Bones. And that... was something neither our Goddess nor her opponents wanted to see happen. In our world, the threat of the Undead never grew, because it was nipped in the bud before it had the opportunity to plant its roots."

She turned to Valda. "As for what you said... fair enough. I'll concede the point. When it comes to magic, our world is rather juvenile. The last truly great human mage I can recall lived a few hundred years before this child was even born, and monsters tend to stick to traditional spells rather than attempt research into new ones. And our Goddess... well, she never really bothered to explain the intricacies of her abilities."

"...I feel like you're insulting me somehow," the boy muttered morosely.

Undine smiled. "If you wish, you could try to learn a few spells once you get back home. There are a few of capable casters in the Monster Lord's castle, though getting them to teach you would be an exercise in futility. I suspect, for one, that the old fox knows more than I about this topic, even if she hardly mentions it."

[Milbunk]

Downy Reed
Roof of Apartment Complex

"Such a shame, you could have been much more useful. But I'm afraid if we have no reliable way of forming a contract then there's no point in our alliance. I hate to leave things up to chance you see. However I also cannot allow you leave either, your abilities are far too unique to be ignored.

One of the perks of being such a skilled caster as Downy was the ability to cast most spells in just the mind and it was quite handy for preparing surprise attacks such as the one he was about to do.

'O חסרי מנוחה אלה'

"I will admit it has been quite some time since I've met a being as interesting as you have been but I've grown tired of our talk."

'להתעורר מתרדמת נפשך'

"Therefore goodbye."

Gabriel did not know it but Downy had been secretly storing the corpses of both monsters and man, they would be quite useful for his incantations after all.

Directly above Gabriel's head a portal emerged and with it a torrent of flesh and bone meant to drown his opponent in a sea of death. How would he respond to such an attack?

[Aiden]

Valda nods along once when her question is answered. It was unfortunate that the portals were so... limited in that sense, compared to the ones she faintly recalled from her own world, but that was fine. She had asked out of obligation to Luka, not because she was in a rush to leave.

And the water creature's words made sense; in her world magic was a pulling down of higher laws into the lower world of mortals, the accessing of symbol-truths to make it so things had to be one way and not another. Symbols like herself, once upon a distant aeon, before mortals grew proud and thought themselves her betters.

Thought she could be reproached.

It was an unacceptable, disagreeable proposition. And yet here she was, accepting it without any other option. And to think that this Luka had fought such prideful beings, weaker or no, was... a possibly helpful revelation.

She looked to Luka once more. "That you have defeated them without their sorcery already speaks of how little you truly need it. By all means I could aid you in learning, but do not forget what power you already have over them. You are their better."