The Sereni-Tree, the Immortals, the Octagonal Order, and the Harbringer of Darkness, Part 2
POSTED BY: TheRealMe
UPDATED: Thursday, December 21, 2006 13:42
VIEWED: 27358
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This is Thread 53 of the adventures of the Sereni-Tree!
For “The Guide to the Clubhouse / Treehouse / Sereni-Tree Threads”, telling our story and providing links to all such threads:
http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=11&t=11877
Early in this next link is the very long post containing “TheRealMe’s Guide to the Sereni-Tree, V6”. This post is a description of the ship and crew, the latter of which is out of date.
http://fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=11&t=20521
The latest, updated crew list is early in this thread:
http://fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=11&t=22611
Following is a summary of our previous thread, located at:
http://fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=11&t=24123
The Sereni-Tree has come to the planet Zanzibar, colonized long ago by new age mystics, fantasy role-players, and Renaissance Faire enthusiasts. Our Heroes came looking for some of the giant, fire-breathing space chickens that the Zanzibarbarians have bred instead of horses to be their mounts. However, they have become entangled into something else.
The planet has been conquered by eight immortal magicians of terrifying power. They seem to be without morals or compassion, and rule through might. They are casually ruthless with “mere humans”, and are constantly bickering with and backstabbing each other. Alatariel seems to be leading a breeding program where she combines genes of humans with other creatures, creating odd-looking chimeras and unspeakable abominations, all of them as toys to her. One of these creatures is the “Special Project”. The Immortals seem frightened of their leader Arinda, who has the power to control their minds even if she cannot permanently harm their bodies. Jadehand has theorized that the Immortals are kept alive by removing their souls and putting it into soul jars. So, unless the jars can be located, they cannot be slain, and if harmed they regenerate at a frightening rate. However, Wisp may have found a way around that.
Adelle the Burner (Orange) – Fire, Smoke, Energy; has summoned lava dragons with riders
Alatariel the Lurker, of the Black Tower (Black) – Communication, Transformation, Illusion; breeder of monsters.
Arinda of the Silver Eyes, the Empress (Violet) – Mind Control, Knowledge; ugly and vain.
Karg the Bloody (Red) – War Magic; gigantic warrior encased in armor. Not yet seen.
Krysta the Whisperer, the Ice Queen (White) – Cold, Ice, Water; recently slain by Wisp???
Magnus the Maker (Gold) – Crafter of Magical Items. Not yet seen.
Ouroborous the Infinite (Green) – Life, Plants, Animals, Earth, Stone; floats, likes snakes, worst backstabber of the bunch as he plots against all his fellows.
Zorander the Storm Caller (Blue) – Air, Wind, Storm, Weather; killed by Sir Devan once, and looking for payback. Not yet seen.
Opposing the Immortals and protecting the normal humans is an organization of knight-magicians, the Octagonal Order:
Sir Devan - Old, white-haired, bearded mentor in the style of Obi-wan Kenobi. Found Wisp. Led the capture of Krysta in a Wards Major.
Sir Elaine - She is temperamental and wields a greatsword with much skill. Helped capture Krysta.
Sir Fesai - Has light, flexible armor and a halberd. Least of the Order. Recently frozen to death by Krysta.
Sir Kei - Large, super strong, cheerful slayer of monsters. Summons armor and weapons to him. Unburdened by great intellect.
Sir Luc / Lucretia. - She can locate other Knights. Friend to Kei, who annoys her greatly.
Sir Morgana - She is very cautious. Leery about both Wisp and 13. Helped capture Krysta. EDIT: Baroness of Fairhaven.
Sir Wil - Lightly built; extraordinary archer. Found the chimera 13. He helped capture Krysta.
Sir Not-appearing-in-this-film aka Sir Up-for-grabs - The eighth Knight of the Octagonal Order has not yet been identified. Perhaps a vacant position. EDIT: It seems we have a candidate for the eighth knight.
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Yes! Hello, good to meet you, i've forgotten what we're here for. Oh, thats right, we've come to help! To assist you in any way you need it.
But in the meantime, would you have such a thing as a foot-spa?
*SR rolls eyes*
Isn't sanity really a one trick pony, anyway? I mean all you get is one trick, rational thinking! But when you're good and crazy...ooh hoo hoo hoo... the skys the limit!
http://www.myspace.com/seryndippyt
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Previously on...TREE
Quote:
Originally posted by LightMeDark:
"Regards, sir. I'm called LMD. Fine weather you're having."
"We don't rightly care what yer called."
The silence left behind as that gravelly voice falls away roars in El's ears as his blank stare meets the openly hostile expression worn by the older man seated on a rocking chair that's ceased rocking.
"Paul, you ter'rizin' friendly folk again? Shame on you!"
LMD stifles a laugh fed by the astonished look on Paul's face directed at the woman who has just walked out from the open door off the porch.
"Don't mind Paul, dearie...old fool. LMD you said? Name's Sally, and right glad to have ya. There's some food to be ate on the table if ya care to."
"I'd be pleased and honored, Sally. Perhaps I could be of some help around here after, in compensation?"
The look of anger Paul aims at Sally is quickly masked with a smile when he notices El's noting of it.
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In a computer lab on the Sereni-tree, McQ the cyborg awakens from a temporary hybernation as he regenerated his circuits. His backup energy source has kept him functional during this hybernation and switches on his primary power...
starting primary energy cells....normal
primary memory....normal
backup memory....normal
standard weapons....normal
alert status....nomral
searching additional status....complete
duration of hybernation....unknown
"Hmm..." McQ says to himself as he stands up to summons the dimly lit room. He finds his rifle on a nearby desk and retrieves it, then checks to make sure it's loaded and operational. He decides to leave his rifle and find out how long he's been out for. Leaving the computer lab to find some assistance, McQ learns that most of the ship is empty.
"Where is everyone?" he asks aloud and continues to search the ship for whomever may still be aboard.
O Captain, My Captain? (or the other way around)
-----------------------------
The official Court Jester of the Mythical Land that is Iowa! Woohoo!!
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OOC: point of clarification. SR, Seryn and Snarky have been banging on and through the door of the secret keep of the octagonal order. They left the Baroness' castle a long way back.
Scorpion Regent
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*hopes everyone will finish their complicated and convoluted businesses on Zanzibar in time for the annual SereniTREE Christmas party.*
Serenity,
President of The Juggled Gosling Chatroom
Bride8
http://callmeserenity.livejournal.com/
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Sir Luc throws her head back in agony. Her hands claw towards the ceiling. Her scream becomes less human sounding more like a recording played at high speed.
Wisp looks at the syringe in his hand with a mix of shock and wonder. He expected some sort of side effects but not so soon.
Looking closely at Sir Luc, Wisp can now see that her veins are bulging and lumps travel along them like her blood has been replaced by marbles.
Suddenly the screams stop and Sir Luc’s arms drop to her sides. She slowly raises her head and looks around the room. The others gasp in shock as her gaze falls upon them, for her eyes no longer contain pupils but instead a kaleidoscope of colours. Orange, Black, Violet, Red, White, Gold, Green and Blue.
On the Sereni-Tree orbiting Zanzibar, McQ’s sensors are flooded with an electronic scream, bringing him crashing to his knees. Then it is gone. Gingerly scanning all frequency to find its origin, McQ finds nothing but static.
On Zanzibar, Sir Luc stretches her neck to each side until it cracks, then smiles a small smile, “What a rush.”
The page interrupts Sir Devan. “The gate sir…” he says, his eyes never leaving Sir Luc.
Sir Devan waves his hand absently at the page, “Yes, Yes, just answer it...”
Sir Devan levels his stare at Wisp “What have you done...?”
“I’ve saved you...” Wisp says his grin faltering as he holds up the syringe as proof.
“Have you really? But at what cost...” Sir Devan looks sadly at Sir Luc as she holds her hands up to the light, examining them like they were new to her.
OOC:Wisp let me know if that was what you had in mind. If not, I can edit it. I have a bit more to show off her new found powers, I'll post later.
_______________________________________________________________
"Got a headful of lightning
And a heart full of rain
And I know that I said
I'd never do it again
Oh and I love you sweet baby but I always take the long way home."
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On the planet Zanzibar, in the hidden fortress of the Octagonal Order:
BEGIN OOC:
Ummm… Okay, so how to fix this…. I went back and did a bit of reading of the previous thread. Okay, so SR does NOT want to be at the castle of the local Baroness. It looks to me like SR wants to report to the Octagonal Order that the local Baroness in the (other) Castle is hiring someone to search for the Dream Stone, and that the Stone is in the possession of the Chancellor of the Empress Arinda, Immortal Sorceress.
END OOC
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The 3-foot-tall butler scurried ahead of the determined figure behind him. Sir Morgana of the Octagonal Order was taking long, slow strides, her head down, lost in her own musings. Whatever disaster was happening down in the vault of the techno-heretics, she trusted Sir Devan to handle it. But a knocking at the gate? Who even knew of the hidden gate’s existence?
Only a select few.
The small butler stopped, immaculate in his tuxedo. For all of his rushing about, not a hair was out of place, not one bead of perspiration touched his face. He bowed deeply. “Baroness Morgana of Fairhaven, I present to you our three new guests.”
Morgana was a tall woman, with a pale face and raven black hair. She was still dressed in the same black leather armor that she wore when Krysta was captured. At her throat she wore a brooch displaying an octagon. Various weapons dangled at her sides. She was tired and annoyed when she addressed the newcomers. “Very well, then, exactly what…” Morgana stopped, surprised, and pointed directly at Scorpion Regent. “YOU! After all these years, you have FINALLY returned! And… and… Hey! You broke our gate!”
OOC: Again, Morgana is not to be confused with the local baroness, who, as 13 and Seryn once showed us, is a cow who needs to be bitch-slapped. Morgana is the baroness of a different place.
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In the Sereni-Tree gym:
Ace thrust her practice blade forward, confident of a winning blow. But Deuce twisted at the last moment, even while falling, rolled, and managed an adequate parry. Then, Deuce executed a back flip that allowed her to regain her feet, and she adopted an effective defensive stance. Ace pressed the attack, but her smaller, more agile opponent parried with first one, then another of her blades. There seemed to be no way to get through.
Ace realized that even were she was fully recovered and at the top of her form, she would have trouble taking out Deuce. How did Deuce become so skilled, so dangerous? The last Ace remembered, this youngest of the Brides was an acrobat, a dancer. Nothing more. Nothing dangerous. Nothing threatening.
But apparently, that time was more than 30 threads in the past.
A buzzer went off, ending the practice session. Deuce was smiling, sure of herself, confident in her abilities.
That was different, too.
“Not bad,” Ace allowed.
Deuce tossed her a towel. “Not bad, huh? Right! I positively kicked your butt!”
Ace scowled as she wiped the sweat from her face. “Not bad,” she repeated.
Ace had to do something about this situation, but what?
Ace, Bride1
Deuce, Bride2
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Quote:
Originally posted by safeat2nd:
On the Sereni-Tree orbiting Zanzibar, McQ’s sensors are flooded with an electronic scream, bringing him crashing to his knees. Then it is gone. Gingerly scanning all frequency to find its origin, McQ finds nothing but static.
McQ tries to stand, but stumbles at first. Whatever it was he heard for only a moment, affected his balance. Using a nearby wall in the corridor for support, McQ manages to stand up and again checks all frequencies for the noise he heard moments ago, yet still finds nothing.
"Hmm..what in the name of virus-infected microchips was that??" he says to himself amid the empty corridor and continues in the direction he was going. "Is anyone still onboard this God-forsaken ship!?" he calls out to anyone who might hear him.
O Captain, My Captain? (or the other way around)
-----------------------------
The official Court Jester of the Mythical Land that is Iowa! Woohoo!!
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