Mir Fnar

[*AniKai]

The Bookworm #3

Alice's navigation crystal has no clue where the tiefer world, Palpatur, could possibly reside. The only directly familiar connection seems to be the Ethereal Sea, which doesn't help much, the sea being infinite.

'Na', a world with four suns, and inhabited by amphibians - surface's mainly sea... might be interesting to visit that someday.

'Lambrose', a mercantile world... remains seen if Maelfina manages to get any information about that. Could possibly be the easiest route if one or other merchant happens to know about it.

'Acton-Reva', a world of militaristic lycanthropes – probably best to just forget about that one.

'Found'. Now, that's a strange one. Seems that anything and everything whatsoever which is lost elsewhere in the multiverse ends up in that gray, snowy realm. The Gatekeepers could prove too problematic...

And then a number of other places, mostly primes. Primers though are notoriously clueless about everything. Best to forget that "option".

[*AniKai]

The Bookworm #4

- "Lucky me, or not so lucky, in way... There's a certain method to trace what plane is in close conjunction with some other. The bad part is that most of it requires lengthy study of planar events. And even worse it gets when one intends to try predict what'd be the next probable conjunction and with what. It's so much easier with planes you're already familiar with *sigh* – so very much easier. Hmn, maybe I can refine a somewhat more manageable procedure..."

After a while parts of Mir's library begin to gradually resemble more an arcane laboratory, the woman going 'shopping' here and there, returning with a piece of equipment or a trinket of some sort, just to go visit elsewhere and to return with something else altogether... And not just once, or twice, The Tangerine Queen soars the skies of Sigil - to return not long after.

[*AniKai]

The Lyrics...

And she sang, working the magics and the tools... the song having nothing to do with what she was doing... (()).

Night is near, beginning ending
Dawning dark the skies are sending
Cry of black and cry of sorrow
End of light and end of morrow
From without the night is calling
From within the night is mauling
Single sign of darkness dawning
Wretched light of darkness morning

Evil hears and evil watches
Evil knows and evil judges
Brings to bloom the darkest flower
This will be the darkest hour
From the dust and soil awaken
spirits lost and souls forsaken
They will rise from over yonder
They will fly and they will wander

Through the flames I see them coming
Through the flames I see them longing
They have come to end the living
Unforetold and unforgiving
They are here, they crave, they hunger
With the damned the nights grow longer
Twisted limbs and twisted faces
Demons from the darkest places

But have no fear, I've come to save you
Trust in me that's all you can do
I lay to rest your fear and worry
Come to me! Come on, let's hurry!

This is where you find your ending
Welcome to a death so mending
You try to scream, your life is dimming
cause I'm from beyond hells and doom I'm bringing!

[*AniKai]

Planar Tools...

Â… upon completion the device didn't look much other than a pile of linked and interconnected iron rods, each of which had their surface intricately carved with softly and barely noticeably glowing runes.

But when assembled, which took a good couple hours, the rods formed an archway, a strange “door frame” of some sort with some of the runes dimming out and others flaring into brighter glow. And as moments passed, thin streaks of soundless electricity begun jolting between arch's runes, momentarily resembling an electric spiderweb across the space between the rods. A low hum begun rising as the lightning streaks gained intensity... and with a dull “whoomp” the hum ended, the jittery web solidifying into an image of a far away place...

Mir grinned softly giggling, gazing through the gateway as a gentle breeze from the other side billowed her hair. Her theory was proven and the device she had constructed worked just perfect. She had no real idea where to she had opened the gateway and although she was curious, she decided to dismantle the archway for now – she could assemble it again later, and calibrate the runes to less random destination...

[*AniKai]

Research...

What Maelfina told me about Vorgazar's situation drove me back to my books, although quickly it became clear that I was missing a few key pieces from my library about the subject – as a matter of fact, pieces which I had yet not even acquired. And that made me briefly wonder how Mashanie was proceeding on his own “quest”. Smirking I dismissed any concern from my mind though. Knowing him, he'd find troubles, but he'd also would weasel out of them... as was so very usual to him.

Modifying magic, enchants, and bending the original purpose to serve a different purpose without recreating the whole mess... I slumped for a while to sit on a couch in my library, deep in my thoughts. I wasn't truly interested in the results nor purpose of such action, but instead I was curious about the process itself. It all was on theoretical level oh-so-clear to me, but the practical side of it... Maybe I should go have a chat with my old friend again, the raven haired goddess of the Weave. Finding her shouldn't be terribly difficult – it never was.

[*AniKai]

Art Deco

Been intending beautify Alice's interiors for a while, and the carnival a bit ago gave a nice opportunity for that – Mashanie and I found merchants with furniture, and one who was selling various plants from flowers to tall trees. We chose a number of the nicer plants for Alice and a few different kinds for our home environment.

About a week after the carnival I came across an artist, Aki (if I recall the name right from further past), a painter of landscapes and such. A nice mountain landscape “Mistbound Mountains” caught my eye, and upon hearing she makes paintings also on order, I decided to order couple seascapes in larger scale. Turned out that she's also a masseur, which in turn made me think about the possible future prospect of mine and thus I offered her a job on Alice along lines of being an artist and a masseur.

Aside Aki, I had earlier the day offered another kind of a job for Anna, a newcomer to Sigil, but seemingly a nice lass and energetic, too. Not that Bronn, the cook at Alice, would be overworked right now, but never know what will happen, and therefore I hired Anna as his assistant.

Oh, and Fargul gave me his whole recipe repertoire to be delivered to Bronn. The passengers and crew of Alice are going to have some culinary curiosities indeed.

[*AniKai]

More Employees... and Magic Unwound ((music: music))

I managed to get couple more employees for Alice...

But then it was time for me to depart yet again. I had already made a gateway twice between Karasuthra and Toril so the third was but a matter of aligning the planes into conjunction by sheer will alone. And in moments it was attained, the gateway flared into existence after telling reality the necessary runes of adjoining various points in space-time.

I emerged at a lone mountainside, above me the vast blue, below an immense drop... but yet I felt at peace for the spot was of my choosing.

-- “We have matters to discuss”, I uttered smiling into the wind.

And not long thereafter I heard a giggling voice state, “we have? Oh my, what a beautiful scene!”, the voice that of my old friend, Mystra.

-- “Yes, we have, this time a bit more serious than before, aye?”, I smirked.
-- “And you keep saying we're serious. What is it?”, she asked chuckling, her raven black hair billowing in the wind.
-- “I need assistance on how to morph enchantments”, I stated nodding.
-- “Really? Splendid. How did you come up with such a question?”, she chortled teasing.

I stared Mystra a moment wordless, then bursting laughing.

-- “Just a hunch. I might need such be done in the future. I know on theoretical basis how and what to do, but the mechanics elude me for now”, I replied widely grinning.
-- “You do? Tell me, you made me curious. How to attain such?”, Mystra smirked.

For a while I stood there dumbfounded, the theory crystal clear in my mind, but the words for it were not yet invented. I glanced at her with 'you know what I mean' expression on my face, frowning, which made her burst laughing in turn.

-- “What do you need me for?”, she asked.
-- “W.... huh? To tell me what to do”, I replied boggling.
-- “Bend the magic to comply. Just how much have you forgotten? Tap your innermost, for what you ask is something you've done in daily basis before even meeting me, isn't it?”, she answered, “Magic isn't carved into stone. Tap to it. Feel it. Touch it. Breathe with it. And then let it loose”, she said, vanishing with an apologetic nod.

[*AniKai]

Hirelings and Plans

Gotten again nice additions to Alice's crew, the latest being Vale, an ex-Harmonium whom I hired as one of the guards for voyages. If he decides after one voyage to extend the contract to be permanent, I might consider him as “guard captain” - he has certain demeanor which speaks of years of experience even if he doesn't say a word along such lines.

Now I just need to sort out entertainment... Musicians? Dancers? As much as voyage on a spelljammer can be exciting in itself, can't deny the fact that more mundane arts might put ease into mind for people not accustomed to planar travel with a living ship.

Alice's interior needs still some work too. We definitely need a garden, and maybe a little zoo, which though could be arranged while en route – catch something exotic from places we'll visit. Decorations need to be put on high priority too – if not for any other reason than to make Alice pretty for the sake of herself and the crew.

[*AniKai]

Office at Lady's Ward

Bought an office at Lady's Ward as “travel agency”. Can't have people scurrying all around the city in attempt to find me, can we? Now need to hire someone to do the paperwork... and a couple able handed bouncers to throw Takers to ditch. Those bloodsuckers aren't going to get a single jink from me without expending more jink in attempt than it's worth.

[*AniKai]

Trickles of Voices

It was a soft baritone, a voice which carried curious familiarity with it, a genderless sentient voice without body to speak with. A recollection of unusual visages beneath surface of words which carried no meaning – like a dream, haphazard, random, and surreal. It was not madness, it was slumber, I thought, to be soon awakened. Where, why, and by whom? And what was to be awakened?