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Planeswalkers

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GoldenHouou

antagoonist
Dominaria
Madra, The Talon Gates


"Of course I'm afraid of them," Lance said, rolling his eyes. "You'd be a fool not to be. A single Praetor could wipe the floor with all ten of us, Planeswalkers or not. As for my face, I'm sorry to say, but the approval of little pixies is not something I strive--or even care--for."

Thayshia glared at Lance, her wings starting to flare up. It was clear she was seething, yet she managed an amused half-smirk anyway.

“Hah. There you have it, folks!” She cheered, throwing one hand in the air theatrically. “The weensy angel is wetting his pants, and that’s why he’s giving up on a whole plane just like that! Glad we got that clear and outta the way, otherwise I might’ve actually thought of you as worth something.” Her face fell into a scowl and her eyes became two glaring slits as she almost whispered: “As for my size...”

She gathered all the patience she had to keep herself from clawing out the angel’s eyes. “Out of all the things, you decided to attack it. Ran out of things to pick at and went with the obvious choice? How cute. Too bad I hate cute, sissy-boy.” The flames around her grew along with her anger. "Never insult my height again unless you want the hairs of your ass roasted and force-fed to you, fuckface.”

She really didn't care about the shit going on with the archon after that, all she knew that she had finally found out who she hated more, the skank or the wannabe angel. So she was content to just watching, her small form almost ablaze as the others almost started another fight right then and there.

Rckaird found that none of the people present seemed capable of understanding what he was doing, from the sounds of it. They all talked as if no law bound them – as if they were free to do whatever they willed. They were exactly the kind of beings that caused chaos and unrest. They were teetering on the line separating the foolish from the malevolent, and should they ever cross, Rckaird believed he needed to do more than just slap their fingers as he had been doing up until now. He was surprised to see even the lionin believing himself to be free of law through an excuse of the Multiverse being too large – its size did not matter. He would bring peace regardless. Rckaird did not shy from a challenge where the reward was for everyone to live without the fear of crime. The archon had ages ago stopped heeding whatever came from the woman’s mouth, and the faux angel’s attempt to talk him down he found amusing at best. For him to actually be so petty as to get caught up on the term he used… very well then.

“It would seem some clarification is in order for those of you with simpler minds,” he spoke as he turned to Lance, looking past the lionin in front of him as if he wasn’t there at all. “I am the Judge, and I am the jury. I am the executioner, and I am the law itself. This was a duty appointed to me by the worlds themselves, and by each and every people who needed salvation. My name is spoken with praise in many a world by people thankful for being rid of crime and fear, and it is knowing that people like that exist, that they are helped by my actions that I will continue to carry out my duty, no matter how many heretics or ignorant fools set themselves above the rules and attempt to stand in my way.”

He raised his blade, its surface reflecting light for a fleeting moment before he sheathed it and stood still once more.

“I will stay, for it is my duty to do so. But I will not bend the law to allow for heretics to roam free and pass halfhearted judgement over the innocent. If the priest will not realize his place, I am forced to remind him of it." He looked down at the priest. He hoped that would not be necessary, and actually partly believed it would not be; if the priest truly served good as he claimed, then his name alone should have made him realize his mistake and seek to never repeat it again.
 

storymasterb

Knight of RPGs
“I am the Judge, and I am the jury. I am the executioner, and I am the law itself. This was a duty appointed to me by the worlds themselves, and by each and every people who needed salvation. My name is spoken with praise in many a world by people thankful for being rid of crime and fear, and it is knowing that people like that exist, that they are helped by my actions that I will continue to carry out my duty, no matter how many heretics or ignorant fools set themselves above the rules and attempt to stand in my way.”

"But then what is the 'law'?" Morgana replied coldly. "Is it what the 'worlds' declare it to be? Is it your code? Is it adaptive to circumstances, or is it absolute? Do you forgive those who steal if they had no other way to feed themselves? Do you forgive murder if it is done in self-defense?" She paused. "You have already proven yourself intolerant, archon. For every person who praises your name and deeds, I imagine many more cower in fear of your absolute judgment, cold and uninterested by circumstances."

"I do not approve of your beliefs nor your attitude, Rckaird," Rimuel said. "You say we are of 'simpler minds'. Bullshit. I know your type. You believe your morality is absolute, and all who stand against it, no matter their reason, must be punished. I would never wish the horror of Phyrexia upon anyone, archon, but believe me when I say you would fit well into that hell. You're as uncompromising and ruthless as New Phyrexia. And if you continue to try and impose your rigid morals upon us, we will not stand for it."

"I have met people like you," Morgana said. "I never once found them praised and worshipped. I found them despised and feared, oppressing those around them with the terror of death. Some believed in a morality like yours. Others believed in the rule of power, that the powerless fall into despair, while the powerful win greater and greater glory. Either way, I cast them down and broke them. You say you are praised, archon. How would you know? You believe your purpose is ordained by the worlds themselves. I believe that you are deluded and unwilling to accept the opinions of others." She paused. "How terrible would your ideal be if realized? A world of silence and fear, where no-one challenges anyone for fear of retribution. That's not an ideal world. That's Hell."

She considered. "If you travel with me, archon, then be warned. If you try to force your judgments and beliefs upon me by force, I will answer with force. And I would be glad to see one less fanatical zealot trying to impose your sort of judgment upon the worlds."
 

Kamotz

God of Monsters
Lance laughed loudly, almost uncontrollably, to the point that Claire and Jareth (standing beside him) were becoming uncomfortable. "Thank you, archon. I haven't laughed so well in a long time. Not even the pixie was so amusing. Ah." he wiped an imaginary tear from his eye. "Thank you. But let's be serious for a moment, shall we?"

"I think he was serious," Claire said.

Lance laughed again and sighed. "Ah. Even better. Which worlds are the ones you say have entrusted themselves to your spectacular judgment? Because I can't quite recal ever hearing your name on any of the myriad worlds I've travelled between. And I've travelled quite far."

"Touch the priest again, and I will remind you of yours," said Jareth. He crossed his arms over his chest. "You've currently attacked nearly as many of us as that orochi. For all you speak of defeating chaos, you seem to be its harbinger."
 

niedude

Don't forget to grin
Dominaria
Madra, The Talon Gates

Everyone seemed to be calming down, a very good thing considering the tension in the atmosphere. Some already began formulating plans and suggesting a search on this very plane; not exactly what Gibrael would have thought of but the angel’d made his point.

It was due to this mutual, unspoken understanding among planeswalkers to move on over initial mistrusts that Gibrael failed to mind Rckaird moving behind him. He was paying all his attention listening to Lance and trying to remember all of what he knew about this small continent to notice Rckaird’s ominous feelings and fatal intentions. Only when the archon began unsheathing his sword did the priest snap back into reality.

A great, searing pain almost crippled Gibrael, as a violent pour of white mana filled with violence and… malice, a will to hurt, to punish him, flooded the priest. This was odd. Very odd! White mana rarely hurt him, even when cast by the most evil of souls. The Dawn Elemental he was fused with further transformed his own powers to the point white mana touching him usually became a part of himself pretty much automatically.

The archon introduced himself: Rckaird Ironclad… Judge of the Multiverse? It was hard to tell. His hearing wasn’t at its best at the moment, and the powerful slash to his chest only made his confusion worse. He felt them both be swallowed in light, at first most emanating from Rckaird’s sword, but then from Gibrael’s own wound. The Dawn Elemental was quick to act, doing its part in preventing any real damage and healing what little of it there was, so thankfully, the attack did much less than the archon probably intended. When the light faded, Gibrael was already standing, although panting slightly and looking at the archon, completely unsure of what to make of what just happened. In the midst of the confusion, the priest’s robes moved on their own, arranging layer after layer of silk over the gash and covering it up.

It was for this reason that he failed to speak up during the proceeding argument. But some words did garner his attention, particularly so those of Jareth, the imposing lion man. He was as wise as he was strong, or so it seemed, but he advocated for freedom and natural law, failing to see that freedom of choice had to be accompanied by those who punish those who abuse it. It’s not like he didn’t even consider the possibility of “too much freedom”, as he’d drawn a line on where one’s power of choice ends, but he did not justify just what happens if that line is crossed.

It intrigued him. Theoretically, Jareth was not that far off. Gibrael himself followed a dogma that was not all that different, he simply had another role in the chain of society. While Jareth seemed to want to preserve freedom of choice by defending it, Gibrael wanted to preserve freedom and good by correcting the path of those who strayed. He didn’t kill or punish, he helped. He held no grudges and no malice.

Unlike the Judge.

The suggestion of splitting up came up, again, and to both Yuu and Gibrael this seemed like the perfect idea for now.

“Yes, let’s split up,” Yuu interrupted, fed up with this whole drama.
“ If this,” she gestured to the group, referencing the fighting, “continues, I’ll kill you all myself just so I don’t have to listen to you all anymore. That said…”

She walked gracefully through the entire group, stopping only when she was at Lance’s side.

“I’m with this one. He… intrigues me,” she admitted rather matter-of-factly. She tried to gaze at his eyes the way an astronomer gazes at the stars, drawing maps of patterns and making conclusions about the nature of things from them.

As for Gibrael, if his initial admiration for Jareth hadn’t been enough, the way he stepped out to protect him just now, threatening Rckaird to not try attacking him again, had sold him. Sure, the lion had pounced on him earlier, but he’d attribute that to faulty judgement. He’d probably assumed he was going to attack that elf the same way Rckaird’d attacked Claire, when in fact he was just expressing himself… with mana.

“And I’m with Jareth. There are many things I want to discuss, and I think we can both learn from each other.” Gibrael’d walked right in front of the leonin, and even though he barely reached his chest, he puffed his own chest out and looked the man on the… mane. He tried to look him on the eye, but the damn thing stood in the way every time the lion inhaled. Well, at least his breath wasn’t... that bad.

And then, Gibrael remember something. A legend about the Talon Gates being… the remains of, what was it now, a whale? No, much more powerful and imposing. Wasn’t there a battle fought here? Damn… Wait, was he remembering things right? The remains of… a god! That was it! The remains of an otherworldly god!

“Lance, was it? Tell me, did you notice anything on those rocks where you fought the orochi? A particular taste on the mana there, a weird formation… anything at all? Those peaks have quite the story behind them, though I can’t exactly recall what. And we can’t exactly ask around, either. The habitants of this continent are not the friendliest of peoples.”
 

Gentleman Skeleton

Well-Known Member
"I've heard stories about those gates," Thamien replied. "A very powerful dragon lives in there. I've heard tales of it. Smart as a whip, charismatic, dangerous. We'd best steer clear, gods know if it's still in there." His attention turned toward Jareth. "Perhaps a few extra noses could aid you in tracking the trail of that serpent." With the wave of Thamien's hand, a cyan cloud of energy appeared. From it emerged a small pack of wolves, dark blue cysts dotting their bodies and covering their eyes. "Simic trackers, born without eyes but they're bred to have exceptionally powerful senses of smell. Once we find the end of his trail, we might be able to re-open his bridge find out where he went." The wolves moved between the walkers, gathering their scents to exclude their trails from their mind.

Thamien took a seat on a rock as a teapot and teacup appeared in his hands. As he poured a cup of tea for himself. "Can I offer anyone here a cup of tea? It's my own special blend, enriched with green and blue mana." He looked around, no one seemed interested. He took a sip from his cup. "No takers? It's not poison, I promise. I think we all just need to have a seat and take a load off. If we rush this, we'll end up going in the wrong direction and our trail will go cold. We just need to let the wolves do their work." He once again turned to Jareth. "That includes you, leonin."
 
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Kamotz

God of Monsters
"That's a well and good idea, if this orochi 'walker is your primary concern," Lance said, flicking something from beneath his nails.

"He has a point," Jareth rumbled, his voice deep. "I'm still wondering why we were drawn to Dominaria. There would certainly be better planes to set a trap on. And what was it that called us here?"

"Who cares?" Claire snapped, flinging her arms wide. "We were attacked! We should be finding that scaly, four-armed coward and making us some orochi steaks!" She crossed her arms over her chest. "Who cares about the 'why'? The fact is that he did!" She jabbed her thumb towards Thamien. "I'm with the elf on this one. Let's get moving and catch this scaly pr*ck."

Claire closed her eyes for a moment, focusing, hoping to find a lingering trace of the orochi 'walker's trail. But her eyes snapped back open and she spun around to the rest of the group.

"I can't--" she struggled to find the words. "I...my Planeswalking...it's gone."

"Gone?" Jareth wondered. Was such a thing even possible? Nothing too terribly strange had occurred between arriving upon Dominaria and then--discounting the battle with the orochi. But Claire had barely been involved, no more than the rest of them. The only thing that seemed unusual was Rckaird's watery attack on her, and-- "Damn."

"You!" Claire snarled, spinning around to face Rckaird. She obviously had come to the same conclusion. Her fists were already burning red-hot, and flame was already billowing around her form. She shot forward. "You did this to me! You arrogant, condescending-"

Surprisingly, it was Lance who barred her path. He placed a hand against her chest and stopped her cold with a stare. The other hand was held toward Rckaird, in case the archon decided to impose his own little brand of moral conformity at the moment.

"Much as I believe I'd enjoy seeing you dismantle the archon, I don't believe he's the culprit," Lance said, his voice low. Claire brushed his hand away and straightened, calmed for the moment, it seemed. But flames still swirled around her.

"Has to be," she snapped, pointing accusingly. "He's the only one who did anything all weird-like to--"

"Except that none of us can Planeswalk at the moment," Lance interjected. That stopped Claire in her tracks. Lance looked to the others. "Go ahead, try." And no one could. "This has nothing to do with the orochi or the archon. This is something different."

"What has the power to stop ten Planeswalkers?" Jareth muttered, more to himself than the others. He'd seen many great and awe-inspiring forces in his travels, but to block the innate abilities of all ten 'walkers present...that was not something he'd experienced before.

"I believe we're about to find out," said Lance, glaring inland into the distant sky. He made a face, a strange mixture of frown and toothy grin. "I'd heard they'd returned, but I never thought they'd come settle here in Madra." He chuckled. "But I guess that's why the area's inhabitants are so well-behaved."

Jareth stared off too, feeling with his sixth sense moreso than his eyes. He felt an enormous presence moving towards them--no! It was more than one. It was several. Five separate essences that were all still one and the same. He would have raised an alarm were it not for the fact that he sensed no hostility from them.

"But what are they?" he wondered aloud. He'd never felt such a domineering presence; complete and totally in control. Full of ancient power, but new and young and bright.

The figures began to take shape in the sky, growing dots of color against the bright blue, shimmering bright and vibrant, almost glowing with power. They moved with tremendous speed and effortless grace, slicing easily through the air.

"They're what you'd always expect to find when dealing with plane-wide powers and presences," Lance said with a smirk. He gazed up at the nearing figures and could now make out their shapes. Long, sinewy bodies; bright, glistening scales; and enormous, wide-sailing wings. "Dragons." He didn't draw his sword, but kept his hand by the blade's hilt nonetheless.

Jareth bristled and grit his teeth. "I've seen dragons. Fought them. But none that felt like these," he growled.

"That's because there are none like these," Claire answered, following their gazes. "If I'm guessing right, these are more than simple dragons. These things are basically gods. Old beyond measure. Older than almost anything else."

Lance nodded, and spoke a single word in reverence. "Primevals."
 

niedude

Don't forget to grin
Talon Gates
Madra
Dominaria

The elf, supposedly still believing the orochi was hiding somewhere on Madra, summoned some sort of specialty breed of tracking wolves. Claiming they’d be able to chase a prey through different planes, should they be capable of hopping dimensions, he was all but certain he had found a solution. Yuu was all but so certain.

When the wolves approached to catch a scent of the walkers, Gibrael tried petting them. The more he lived with nature, the more intrigued by it he was; without limits, rules and overseers, they could do anything they wanted, and often ended causing more trouble than they should. However, the taste of evil was rarely ever present... It bore the question of why creatures tainted by nature, such as the vampires, werewolves, and other abominations so common throughout Innistrad became so unquestionably evil under their influence.

Unlike him, however, Yuu was much more tense. When the wolf began sniffing at her robes, she kicked him in the snout. She knew better than to trust drooling creatures who could do nothing but trust their savage nature... She could tell, even without soul or mindreading magic, that that wolf wanted nothing more than to have her as his next meal. Well, this may have come as somewhat of a shock, but Yuu had no intention of becoming rabbit stew anytime soon.

So she just cut the beast’s head off.

“Next time something tries to eat me, I’ll do a lot worse,” she threatened as she cleaned the mist-like aether seeping from her blade and sheathed it.

"Except that none of us can Planeswalk at the moment."

“What?!” she shouted, surprised. She proceeded to try to hop back to Innistrad for a second, nearly burning the ground when her frustration at failing to manifested as burning mists flailing wildly around her.

“What is the meaning of this?!”

“So, is this what this was all about? An elaborate trap to keep us contained?” Gibrael said, addressing the group as a whole. “Well, I’m certainly glad it was this particular plane, even if I’m in the wrong continent. Best place to be trapped should be one’s home, but...” His face got a lot stiffer. “I’m not all that comfortable with having my powers stripped from me at a moment’s notice without no warning and explanation. I was barely even aware that my situation was as widespread as it is, but it is apparently that much reversible?”

Gibrael took a few steps down the beach and sat down on a small rock protruding from the sand. “That does hurt one’s confidence.”

The conversation was cut short. Gibrael felt the vibrations in the air, and the taste of ancient mana permeating the heavens, slowly descending upon them. When he turned back around to put his fears at rest, he could only see the blazing trail of red mist left by Yuu’s sudden propulsion through the skies.

“Is she going to do something we’ll all regret?”

When Yuu saw those beautiful, fascinating, awe-inspiring creatures flying towards them, she could not contain the burst of excitement. One needed but to look upon them to realize how powerful these creatures were! She did not know how old they were, or exactly how powerful really, but look at them! Dragons! And from the timing, they too were connected to all of this!

And there was yet to come the day when Yuu would forsake the opportunity to get acquainted with new, powerful, red-aligned creatures (naturally, all so she could replicate them from the aether later.) She was not going to attack –not yet, anyway. She was impulsive, but not outright stupid. If they turned out to have the same appetite as that wolf from before, though, then she’d have to deliver the very same punishment. Even if beheading an ancient dragon did entail a great degree more technique.
 

Kamotz

God of Monsters
Things were tense as the five dragons neared, flying low over the Madran coast towards the Planeswalkers. They moved with speed and swiftness belied by their immense size, but there was no hostility in their approach. Their flight was smooth, crisp and perfect; with barely a flap of their enormous wings; it was as if the air itself bent around them and knelt to their direction.

"Well aren't they something," Lance muttered, he tried to play cool, but he was clearly nervous. Beings like that, dragons like that...it wasn't something brushed aside so easily. These were dragons with power beyond mortal comprehension. Not beyond Planeswalker comprehension, of course, but that didn't make it any less impressive. In fact, understanding their power as he did made Lance all the more apprehensive about their impending arrival.

Jareth, on the other hand, was bristling, fangs bared, shoulders raised. He gripped the Behemoth Sledge tightly in one hand, the other hovering over his grappling hook. He knew dragons, fierce beasts, natives of Jund; the ravenous killers that took his sister. He would take no chances with these dragons, regardless of how docile they seemed.

Claire was excited; she'd met few dragons. Ravnica was home only to Mizzet and his small clones, but that was all. They'd been hunted to extinction otherwise. They were also rather rare on both Zendikar, Lorwyn, and Mirrodin, the other three planes she'd spent most of her time on. On each plane she'd seen only one or two distinct breeds of dragon. But these five that approached were all different, a dazzling array of colors and shapes.

The first dragon she laid her eyes upon was a huge blue one with shimmering-smooth scales. It was sleek and smooth, flawless and unmarred, with a dream-like quality to its presence. Several rows of red fins ran down the length of the dragon's back and neck, and its wings shimmered with deep red-and-green scales. It was adorned in gold and precious stones around its neck, wrists, and fingers. She could see reality bend around the dragon, trailing off in dream-like whisps.

Next landed a massive red dragon, with scales that glowed a fiery brilliance in the dance of sunlight. It was a more physical creature than the blue one, more heavily muscled, with a longer, thicker tail. It was crowned with a pair of backwards-sweeping horns. Its wings and scales seemed more battered; scarred, with evidence of deep old wounds. It was also less ornately-decorated than its companions, with only a trio of leather loops and beads around its neck.

Her eyes then found the green dragon. It was hugely barrel-chested with long, sweeping, sickle-shaped wings. Its limbs were short but strong, and its jaws were massively muscled, with a pair of protruding and interlocking fangs at the front. A row of small, sharp ran all the way down from its neck to the end of its long, thick tail, which itself had several fins. Like its blue compatriot it was highly decorated in gold and precious gems.

The black dragon was long and whip-like; thin and sleek. Its limbs were small, but ended in wickedly sharp claws. Its teeth were narrow, but razor-edged. Its scales were large and smooth, and alternated between reflecting all light and absorbing it, each at different times, so that it appeared to be shifting in and out of existence. It too was adorned in gold, though less than the others. But it was also adorned with sharp steel spikes, bonded to the heavy-thick scales. It gave it a rather menacing appearance.

Finally there was what Claire could only assume was the white dragon (for if the other four dragons were of the first four colors, she could only logically reason that the fifth was a dragon of white mana), but it was not exactly "white" beyond the scales on its belly and its glowing eyes. Its scales were almost gold, while those around its head took a reddish hue and a long row of black spines ran down its back. Its arms were massively muscled and its tail was adorned with wide fins.

The five dragons settled in a circle around the Planeswalkers, they showed no hostility, but it was clear that they would not allow the 'walkers to leave until they heard what the dragons had to say. If they said anything at all. For the moment, they simply gazed down at the assembled 'walkers with their inscrutiable, piercing gazes. All the while, Jareth continued to bristle. Claire was still staring in astonishment and fascination. And Lance, while calm and collected, was obviously uneasy.

"Who speaks for you?" asked the blue dragon. The question caught most off guard, but Lance already knew the sh*t storm it was about to stir up.

"We all speak for ourselves, good dragon," Lance said with a sweeping bow, switching on the charm. "Believe me, that is not a can of worms you want to open."

"We are aware of the wurm that appeared," said the dragon, who lowered its neck to gaze closer at the group. "But were unaware you had opened its can."

Lance snapped up, taken aback. His mind worked quickly, trying to figure out whether or not the dragon knew the saying, or might actually mistake them for the ones who'd summoned it. "That's not at all what I-"

"Be calm, Planeswalker," interrupted the red dragon. "The Lady Intet was merely attempting humor. She has not, however, quite yet mastered sarcasm."

The huge blue dragon drew back and shook its--her head. "It is of no fault of my own if this small man cannot grasp the context of my levity."

"You'll forgive me for being on edge," Lance challenged. He knew better than to cow to a dragon; they respected only strength and powe: of any sort, be it intelligence, wealth, or cunning as well as the physical--but dragons admired power. "I fought off several unwelcome threats this last half hour, and your sudden arrival was not without concern."

"Only you fought these threats?" the black dragon asked, its voice almost challenging, almost as if it was trying to illicit a rise from the assembled Planeswalkers.

"I speak only for myself," Lance said with a smirk. "But indeed, I alone fought the enemy Planeswalker."

"Why have you come?" Jareth demanded with a growl, stepping forward. He no longer reached for the hook, but his hammer was still held at the ready. "Are you the ones who called us here?"

"Indeed we are," said the green dragon, coiling down to meet the lion's glare. "Though we had hoped you would be called to our location rather than this desolate corner of the empire. But as you know, navigating the extra-planar realms is haphazard at best."
 

GoldenHouou

antagoonist
Dominaria
Madra, The Talon Gates


They truly were all fools.

The more each individual member of the group spoke, the more convinced Rckaird became of that fact. They were all simple minded just like he had though, not being able to see how noble his goals were. They did not understand the beauty of the world he sought to build. They were so unable to see the world through a different point of view that they immediately cast a view not of their own as something “evil” and “wrong”. They were so afraid of change – even if it would have been for the better – that they’d rather stick with chaos and uncertainty than allow someone to guide them to a better tomorrow. Was it pride? Were they merely too prideful to admit being wrong, to follow the lead of another?

Rckaird didn’t have much time to think on that any further when wolves were summoned into their midst. He recognized the creatures and so did Gshir, though the latter still let out a slow, steady growl as the canines approached as if to warn them not to get too close. Rckaird himself merely stood, completely absorbed in a rather… strange sensation that overtook him for a passing second. Something was wrong. And the moment Claire spun around towards him and screamed that she couldn’t Planeswalk he realized what it was.

He couldn’t, either.

“What the fuck is this?!” Thayshia screamed from some distance away, still shooing away the wolves that tried to sniff her, apparently having noticed the same lack of ‘walking power within herself. Fuming, she made flames burst from the ground in front of her, effectively also scaring of the unwanted furballs. She didn’t like any four-legged creature bigger than her (which pretty much meant she liked none of them as you’d be hard pressed to find any creature smaller than her) and would not hesitate to crisp herself a canine meal should the wolves ignore her warnings. Hey, it was just fair! Creatures like that tried to make lunch out of her all the time, was about time she got a bite back at them too. Stupid mutts…

Well at lest they aren’t-

A huge shadow was cast over her, and the second she heard the beating of enormous wings, her eyes widened.

-Dragons. Oh, hell no!

She spun around in an instant, her entire body surrounded by a small shield of fire. Dragons. Out of all the creatures in the Multiverse, they had to get surrounded by a bunch of dragons. She could not deny their strength nor their majesty of their form, but regardless – or maybe even because – of that, she couldn’t stand them. She had almost been killed by a few of them more than once. And while that alone wasn’t bad enough to warrant the creatures eternal hate from the small fairy, the fact that most of them had almost killed her on accident did. Stupid, humongous pieces of shit, why couldn’t they never watch where they were flying, much less where they were stepping?!

One of the shitheads attempted humour. Thayshia laughed dryly. For an ancient, almighty being, that one sure seemed lame. They all did. And yet, she found herself backing away just a tad every time they spoke, found herself tensing with every breath they took.

Well, all the way up until she learned they had been the ones who called them here.

“The hell?!” She shouted, eyes fixed on the green one that seemed to be the closest. “You called us here and then couldn’t even make sure we arrived in the right place?! You know the amount of shit we’ve been through because of that?! You-”

Rckaird cut the small fairy off as he decided to raise his voice as well, his hood turned to face the same dragon as Thayshia. He didn't waste words like her however, uttering nothing but a simple question of “For what purpose did you summon us?”
 

niedude

Don't forget to grin
Dominaria
Madra, The Talon Gates

At full power and flying inside a burning coment, Yuu was still unable to keep up with most of the dragons - who simply flew by her without a problem. She wasted no time chasing them, displaying the sensational ability to stop completely in mid air, then “kicking” the air she was in and propelling herself in the opposite direction, back to where the others all stood.

She was in love, truly. Not only was their power tangible, they were all so graceful. And beautiful. And majestic… She could not take her eyes of them. When they landed, she was unable to hold herself, and simply buzzed around each of the dragons like an annoying fly.

Gibrael was in awe, unsure of how to react to the dragons’ appearance. He treated them with utmost respect, as one should in the presence of beings as mighty and wise as these, and carefully listened to their explanation.

It was due to the immense innate respect he had for these beasts that their actions shook him so. Not only did one of the dragons appear… somewhat too nonchalant, wasting time with an attempted joke when the situation called for no such thing, but the casual relationship between, at least, the red and the blue dragon made them seem both more approachable and much less awe-inspiring. Indeed, one should never meet their idols.

This behavior was completely disregarded by Yuu, who had now focused her attention on the red dragon, the one who interrupted the blue one (surely this was a sign of its hierarchical superiority!), and playfully poked at its scales. The dragon seemed to be tolerating her for now, even if it was obvious by its shallow growls and threatening looks that he was none too pleased with her incessant prodding.

“In that case,” interrupted Gibrael when the dragon announced of their responsibility with the summons. “does it mean that Orochi was summoned here the same way as us, and attacked without warning or cause? I find that a little hard to believe.”

This whole situation was confusing and nonsensical, but the Orochi’s actions in particular were the most outrageous. The only explanation for this turn of events (the summons, the attack and the subsequent intra-planar trap) only made some sense if it all tied back to the snake.

For the moment, the Primevals seemed benevolent enough. Such was obviously not the case of the other planeswalker. The rapid ambush, set out with creatures not just summoned but physically transported from other planes, made the attack nearly impossible to have been performed instantaneously without prior set up.

This, among other suspicions, only led Gibrael to the uneasy conclusion that the Primevals were allied with the orochi; or that, alternatively, the snake had foreknowledge of their plans all along.
 

storymasterb

Knight of RPGs
Dominaria
Madra, The Talon Gates


Morgana's hand fell to the hilt of her sword at the sight of Thamien's wolves. She did not fear the Simic Combine, not with her power. But she disliked them. Though the abilities they had given her had been useful over the years, the fact remained those gifts had been given without her knowledge. To know the half-elf had consorted with them in some manner did not ease her distrust.

Rimuel glanced around. Something wasn't right. He observed as Claire confronted Rckaird, and her words stunned him. He immediately tried to grasp into the ether and walk between worlds, but as she said, it was gone. Beside him, Morgana tried the same, and also failed.

"What is this?" he murmured aloud.

"Something powerful," Morgana answered. "And something new. I've never encountered anything capable of something like this before." That in itself was terrifying. They were used to always having an escape route. If confronted by something too powerful even for their myriad abilities, they could jump into the worlds and escape. But now, whatever had taken that escape from them had the group at its mercy. The two looked around, trying to spot whatever had done it. And then they came into view. The five creatures soaring towards them from the horizon.

"Dragons," Morgana snarled. She had met dragons, and she had fought them. She had been to Jund, and faced them there. On several other dark and distant planes, she had confronted dragons and had fought them. Even with her enhanced physical abilities and command of magic, all had been gruelling, tough battles. Were these the beings who had snatched their power to Planeswalk away? If so, how, and why?

"Dragons," Rimuel repeated with an air of awe. He had more rarely seen dragons. There were some on Mirrodin, but they were few and far between. He had once fought one, but that had been a Phyrexian nightmare, dragged into the hell of compleation and set loose on the world as an insane terror. These beings were different. That much he could tell. Pinnacles of strength, and age. They were ancient beings, yet their age had not seemed to weaken them. As the dragons descended and encircled them, he regarded them at a closer distance, admiring them for their grace and apparent power.

Morgana was not so easily impressed, nor was she amused as Lance spoke up.

"I speak only for myself," Lance said with a smirk. "But indeed, I alone fought the enemy Planeswalker."

"And while he speaks only for himself, I shall speak for myself and say that while he confronted the Planeswalker, we were busy dealing with that Planeswalker's host of minions," she snapped. "I wish to know, are you the ones who have taken our power to Planeswalk? If so, why?" She paused. "And perhaps more importantly, why have you summoned us here? Your accuracy aside, I wish to know what urgent matter stirred you to gather us on this plane."
 

Kamotz

God of Monsters
The green dragon eyed them carefully. She let out a derisive huff, which had the unintentional effect of sending Thayshia spiraling out of the air and into Claire's shoulder. The pyromancer hissed and brushed her away. If Thay was so insistent on not being treated like a glass statue, then Claire would treat her as she would anyone else.

"Watch it, pixie dust," Claire growled, her eyes still glued to the dragons. The great beasts still hadn't divulged their motivations for summoning so many Planeswalkers.

The dragons craned their necks down and glared into the little Planeswalkers that had challenged their intentions and implied hostility. The black dragon bristled, but it was the red dragon that spoke first, snapping his teeth and half-breathing fire.

"If we had wished to do you harm, you would not be standing here discussing it so peacefully," he growled. He reared back, settling his weight on his hind legs. "Your issues with this snake 'walker were entirely of its design."

"Then why call us?" Claire growled low. "And why call him?"

"What Numot has failed to explain to you," the blue dragon, Intet, began, sending a scolding glare the red dragon's way. "Is that we did not intend to call you." She swept her claws towards the group of 'walkers. "Nor did we intend to 'trap' you here. Our intent, as it were, was to lure our enemies to us and deal with them in our own way."

"And what way might that be?" Lance asked with a half-smirk.

"Decisively," the golden-white dragon answered. "We have been plagued by a coalition of Planeswalkers, making incursions into our kingdom and enslaving our people. Dominaria is not the gem it once was."

"It's now just a pillaging ground for you Planeswalkers," Numot, the red dragon, snapped.

"We've done nothing of the sort," Jareth growled.

"Forgive Numot, he is wounded by the devastation," said the green dragon. "And Oros's blood calls for vengeance." She stopped and stared at the rest of the dragons. "We all want our people and subjects to be free of this torment."

"So you sent this signal out into the Multiverse, calling all Planeswalkers to your trap?" Claire snapped, flinging her arms wide. "What if the ten of us had actually come to you? Would you have attacked us too!?"

"Pah," the black dragon scoffed, his scales and metal spikes grating against one another. "You think us animals? We may be young dragons, but we're aware of where we spread our wings."

"Then why keep us here?" Jareth asked. "We're not your enemy. We have nothing to do with this at all."

"Would you like to?" asked Intet, lowering her gaze to the Planeswalkers. "We can prevent Planeswalkers from leaving, but to do so for any sustained period is exhausting."

"You'll find that even now, if you push hard enough, you'll be able to 'walk from here," said the black dragon.

"Teneb is right," said the green dragon, glancing to the black one. "We can only sustain this for a few more minutes at best, and we only continued so that we might find you and speak with you."

"What do you mean?" Lance wondered, feigning indifference.

"We cannot follow these Planeswalkers beyond the plane of Dominaria," said the green dragon. "I am Vorosh, the Hunter. I would like nothing more than to chase them down and slaughter them. It burns me, but I cannot."

"We would ask you to enact vengeance for us," said Oros, scales shimmering in the midday sun.

"And in return?" Lance wondered, eyes gleaming.

"We would be heavily in your debt," Intet answered, eyeing him warily. "All of Dominaria would be in your debt. And all of Dominaria would be made to know it."

Lance laughed, mind racing with possibility. His existence thrived off the growing favors and debts accrued; of leverage gained over others; of appointments and long-kept dates on far-away planes. To have Dominaria, the gem of the Multiverse, indebted to him...it was too great an opportunity to pass up.

"I think I have some time opening in my schedule," Lance said. He adjusted his leather coat and ran a hand through his hair.

"Perhaps then you might find this snake-'walker of yours," Oros said, his voice rumbling low. He craned his neck to look over to the Talon Gates, and Lance swore he saw the dragon shudder. "Whoever it was, it was not of the Planeswalkers that have so recently plagued Dominaria. We have no conflicts with snakes."

"Though perhaps they have garnered other allies since last we dealt with them," Oros offered.

"So he had nothing to do with you?" Claire said, narrowing her eyes. She'd been called away from her efforts in Lorwyn for what? For a dragon's errand? This wasn't her fight. Her fight was on Shadowmoor If it weren't for them, she'd still be there, still trying to free Ashling, still...loosing the battle. And probably dead. As much as she hated to admit it, the sudden call of these Primeval dragons had likely saved her.

And she was no stranger to running a dragon's errand.

But Jareth was. And while these dragons were a far cry from the slaughterers and tyrants of Jund, they were still dragons; and their benevolence could turn to malice in an instant. He knew better than to trifle with such beings.

"And how can we be sure what you say is true?" Jareth asked, his arms crossed over his chest. "We have only your word against an un-present accused. Hardly a fair trial."

"Find them, and ask them for yourselves," Intet offered with a shrug and a wave of her hand. "We care not for what you do with them, only that they remain far away from Dominaria and leave us in peace."

Oros and Numot bristled and growled low. It was obvious that not all the dragons were so dismissive of the Planeswalkers.

"I hardly see how this is any of our concern," Jareth muttered, more to himself than the others. "There are billions of planes, billions of affairs. Should we intrude and disrupt the order of each and every plane? It is not our place to dictate the every course of every event."

"So you sit and do nothing?" Lance wondered, fire dancing in his eyes. "Make no forays? Learn nothing new? The entire Multiverse is open to you, but you shun it?"

"No. But I do not throw myself blindly into every conflict I can find," Jareth snapped back.

"What you might concern yourselves with is when other Planeswalkers do just that," Claire said, pointing to the lion-man. "When its Planeswalkers, who else but other Planeswalkers can find out what's going on?"
 

storymasterb

Knight of RPGs
"I hardly see how this is any of our concern," Jareth muttered, more to himself than the others. "There are billions of planes, billions of affairs. Should we intrude and disrupt the order of each and every plane? It is not our place to dictate the every course of every event."

"So you sit and do nothing?" Lance wondered, fire dancing in his eyes. "Make no forays? Learn nothing new? The entire Multiverse is open to you, but you shun it?"

"No. But I do not throw myself blindly into every conflict I can find," Jareth snapped back.

"What you might concern yourselves with is when other Planeswalkers do just that," Claire said, pointing to the lion-man. "When its Planeswalkers, who else but other Planeswalkers can find out what's going on?"

Rimuel frowned. He was not inclined to fight for these dragons, he could attend to more pressing concerns than that. Every distraction left Mirrodin deeper and deeper in Phyrexian corruption, and his people closer and closer to extinction. He didn't have time to spend scouring the myriad worlds in the name of dragons, whose word was the only evidence they had. It was a waste of time at best, and he could think of much better things to attend to. He turned away.

"I am sorry," he said to the others present. "But I have a more pressing matter to attend to than this. My home still lies in ruin, and monsters still preside over it... while that is the case, I must strive to save my people. I cannot be distracted from that cause, not until Mirrodin is free and the threat of New Phyrexia removed." He prepared to step away and into the worlds, towards his goal once again.

Then a hand touched his shoulder, and he glanced back to see Morganna stood there. The knight gazed at him chillingly, as ever quiet and grim.

"You're not concerned about the orochi?" she asked.

"If he comes after me, I can protect myself," he said, shrugging away from her. "I'm no defenseless infant. Besides, if he was also a Planeswalker, it will be difficult to find him. It could take years. I cannot spare that time, not while Mirrodin rots and dies."

"And who is to say that you might not find something to aid you by pursuing the orochi and this group of Planeswalkers the dragons speak of?" Morganna replied, catching his attention. "The wurm may well have been a summoned creature, but the surrakar were not. I can summon men from the aether, conjure soldiers to my side to fight in my name and perish for my cause. But they are not real. Not like the surrakar were. You want to find a way to bring an army to Mirrodin, an army of all the worlds? Perhaps the orochi has found such a way. And if he has, then you could take it from him. But we may have to track down these other Planeswalkers." She turned back to the group. "I won't stop you from leaving, Rimuel. But think about it. By doing as the dragons request, you may just find what you are looking for. And to have the beings of this plane indebted to you... wouldn't that benefit your quest too?"

"Why are you doing this?" he asked. "What interest do you have in making me join this wild goose chase?"

"I have my reasons," the knight mused. "In any case, I'll do as you ask," she called to the dragons. "I will find these Planeswalkers and see that they trouble you no longer." She glanced across the ranks of the others, to Lance in particular. "I will stand with you, Lance of Goldnight." Crossing to stand near him, she glanced around at the others. "Who else will join us?"

Rimuel was silent as he regarded the angel and the knight. It was none of his concern. Jareth was right, was it the right of a Planeswalker to interfere on every world which they trod upon? And besides, there was no guarantee that the orochi was even with the group who plagued Dominaria, or that he possessed some way to call beings from one world to another. That he would derive any benefit from this quest at all. And yet, there was a chance. Even if it was fleeting and small, he felt like he had to chase it. In the name of his people, and his home. He imagined them for a moment. A small group of Mirrans, terrified, surviving only by the grace of the Praetor Urabrask, hiding from the nightmare which was Phyrexia. For their sake... could he set this chance aside? When it might at least open the path to their salvation?

"I will join you," he finally said.
 

niedude

Don't forget to grin
“For no other reason was I given this power,” Gibrael said, addressing the dragons, “than to extend my aid to any whom so need it. Doubly so if their ails were caused by men who abused the gift I – we – possess. My light is at your disposal, noble dragons.”

As he finished his speech, Gibrael lowered his head and crossed an arm over his chest in respect. With the sort of power these dragons possessed, they deserved all his respect, especially now that their actions proved just.

“I assume these planeswalkers are strong?” interrupted Yuu, addressing the dragon that so far had done most of the talking. “Cause if so, I will most definitely be looking forward to it.”

Yuu could not contain her anger and gritted her teeth together. She still felt irreparably humiliated with the ease with which her Tatsumasa had been rendered useless. That was one of her strongest dragons, and it had been affected by her Planeswalker spark nearly as much as she herself had, so it also held some emotional significance. Right now she felt like she could do nothing to calm herself down except to slaughter that damn orochi down; if not him, then at least someone of comparable strength.

“You would help us with this simply to test your strength? That is your cause?” Gibrael intervened, drawing closer to Yuu. “All of the help we can gather is appreciated, but surely your motives must go deeper than that! Don’t you feel influenced by the pull of morality?”

The rabbit woman didn’t take kindly to this pestering of morals and motives, especially in her already bothered state. It was a surprise that nothing dropped dead when next she spoke:

“My morals are unbothered the actions of others – so long as they don’t cross my own. My motives involve the ecstasy that bathes me with every drop of blood I spill on this blade,” Yuu slowly unsheathed her blade in a way that didn’t clear whether she was being aggressive or not. “My passion is represented in the beautiful crimson of my flames. So no, cleric, I do not feel my actions are influenced by your selfishly defined sense of morality.”

Yuu stopped to savor the beautiful sound of perfectly tempered steel sliding on the carefully polished metal of her sword’s sheath, even licking her lips as she did so.

“What I can’t deny is a great opportunity to test my powers and grow even stronger. Now, if we are all sorted out with our own internal struggles and petty squabbles, can we please proceed? I believe it has been close to half an hour without me murdering something, and that just makes me uncomfortable.”

Gibrael quietly heard what the flame sorcerer had to say and stifled his own need to stoop to her level and deal the same type of punishment she delivered for her own pleasure, but he refrained from doing so. The group had been torn by infighting enough already, and the while most had settled down for now, the presence of the dragons could completely alter the outcome of a new feud.

Still, he now knew there was yet another member of his group he had to keep his eyes on. Yuu’s pleasure for devastation had been unsettling enough during the fight with the surrakar, but her newly discovered lack of morals made her case even worse. She was a dangerous ticking time bomb, just like half of the people here. He couldn’t help but fear if he hadn’t been given more than he could handle…
 

GoldenHouou

antagoonist
Dominaria
Madra, The Talon Gates


Thayshia couldn’t stifle her laughter anymore. The dragons were actually beseeching them for help. Now how precious was this? Almighty hunters, lords of the sky, reduced to hapless little lizards needing aid in catching their prey. It was an opportunity not unlike this that Thayshia had been waiting for her entire life; a chance to get back at those scaled freaks for all that they had done. Now the trouble was, which would be the sweeter revenge; to refuse them flat out and leave them to their own devices, no doubt eventually getting help from someone else, or graciously taking on the task and leaving a handful of those bastards indebted to her? What if she never required their aid, what if she never needed them to pay off the debt? It was instant gratification versus a favor she might never need to have them return, and her personality dictated she’d choose the former.

Unlike Thayshia who was still lost in indecision, Rckaird wasted no time stepping up and announcing his stand on the matter. Walking closer and raising his hooded face, he gave a court nod up at the beasts.

“I do not exact “revenge” for any reason,” he rumbled, his voice calm and clear, “But if it is justice you seek, I will offer my blade for you. I will see to it that these ‘walkers do not disturb the order of this plane ever again.”

Thayshia scoffed. Justice, revenge… same difference. The only difference was that the other carried a finer name. Really, the Archon deciding to offer his help made Thayshia consider opting out even more, as did the fact that apparently, Lance and Claire were on the same side. How grand. Now all that little crusader group needed was that idiot of a priest, and those she loathed the most would all be present. No, she found it much better to side with the lionman on this one; it was not their fight, not their place to interfere. She would not be talked into it like Rimuel had. She had nothing to gain from this.

She had just stepped forward ready to announce as much, when the bickering between Gibrael and Yuu caught her ears. At first she didn’t care; it seemed nothing but a repeat of what had happened with the two knights earlier, but then she heard the magic words and found herself unable to ignore it all anymore.

“…a great opportunity to… grow even stronger….”

Those were the only words Thayshia bothered to pick out from the conversation, but they were more than enough to make her reconsider her stance, even if it seemed like the annoying priest was going to be part of the group as well. Strength was something Thayshia did find useful, and true enough this was a great opportunity to kick ass and take names while also getting her revenge. It wasn’t a bad deal by any means.

She fell silent for a while, arms crossed and her small head filled with thoughts. It wasn’t like she had any unfinished business to attend to, well, unless you counted selling the blade she had acquired this morning. But that could wait, her servant would take good care of it no matter how many days passed, and an opportunity like this most likely wouldn’t appear before her the second time. Very well then.

“Alright,” Thayshia finally breathed as she looked up at the humongous creatures, arms still firmly crossed across her chest. Though her voice was firm and so was her expression, her body was leaning slightly away from the dragons, ready to take flight or fight back if need be. You never knew with those beasts. They were animals, no matter how much they denied it.

She turned to the gathered group and rolled her eyes. “I’ll join your little teaparty. Just don’t get in my way.” Turning back to the dragons again she added: “But you scalebags better keep your word. I will expect you to return the favor, and all Dominaria will burn if you choose to refuse.”

With that she turned back to the group again and growled. “So, what, you just going to stand around all day?”
 

Kamotz

God of Monsters
Dominaria
Madra, The Talon Gates


The red dragon lowered its gaze down at Thayshia, nearly going cross-eyed in an attempt to get a better look at her.

"Hrumm," Numot muttered, and a snort of air sent Thay spinning heel-over-head backwards. "I didn't even see you there. If you wish to lend us your aid," he let out a throaty noise that sounded almost like deep laughter, "we would certainly not object."

"Bah," the black dragon scoffed. "Depending on Fae to aid us? Isn't it bad enough that we cannot deal with this on our own? Now we must consort with pixies as well?"

"When this 'pixie' can do what we cannot, then it is our only option," the shimmering-blue Intet pointed out, pointing a claw (that alone was more than ten times Thay's size) towards her.

"So where do we begin?" Jareth asked. He crossed his arms and frowned, drumming his fingers against his bicep. "To your knowledge, the snake-walker is not among your enemies - but who are they? And does he somehow connect to them?

"From what we know, we believe they hail from Shandalar," Intet explained. She shook her head and neck and sent a ripple of motion through her flashing scales. "We have attempted to block their incursions into our world--"

"How?" Claire interrupted.

"With very powerful magics. Difficult magics," Vorosh, the green dragon, said.

Intet grumbled, irritated with being interrupted. "But even with our magics, they continue to arrive. This led us to suspect Shandalar."

"A plane constantly in flux. Moving constantly and throughout the Multiverse with no set pattern or orbit," Lance said recognizing the plane's name, all with the same bored smirk.

"You would likely have to know its exact location in order to prevent their arrival. Blocking the path to Dominaria through the Eternities," Claire muttered, more to herself than any of the others. She'd heard only tidbits of information on the hard-to-find plane, mostly from Izzet League scholars and students of the Multiverse.

It was a strange fact, but only a very few non-planeswalkers knew about the existence of other worlds and planes beyond their own. Most of the individuals she had encountered believed her to be crazy until she proved them otherwise. In short, there was very little sharing of information between the planes; most of it was gathered and distributed by Planeswalkers as they traveled. Some gathered troves of information across various planes. And Ravnica was perfectly situated to serve as a hub - of sorts - for Planeswalker meetings and meldings.

And the Izzet League was particularly intrigued by them. Claire, in her loyalty to the League, had provided them with as much information and exploration as she could.

"Has anyone ever been to Shandalar?" Jareth asked. He was beginning to appear more comfortable with their new arrangement and seemed - to Claire, at least - the voice of reason. She knew well how volatile and impulsive she could be - those were some of her favorite qualities. But they weren't always conducive to meticulous planning and group problem-solving. Even with her League work, she was always an act-first/think-later kind of woman.

It was good to have a calm, level head around. Especially in a group like this.

"Once. By accident," Lance said offhandedly. He glanced out to the sea, watching the Talon Gates. Claire recognized a calculating glint in his eyes, a wary amusement, and something...more. "And I didn't stay very long. It was only later that I learned what I'd done."

"Only in records," Claire said with a sigh. She ran a hand through her fiery hair, absently brushing off burning embers. "From what I know, you kinda' have to just stumble across it or hope to cross into its path in the Eternities." She played with a little ball of flame between her fingertips. "There are enchantments Planeswalkers can use to tie themselves to Shandalar - or even specific places there - or create a beacon to find it again."

"Can you follow these enchantments?" Numot asked, gazing down with glittering blue-red eyes. Claire didn't let the dragon's gaze intimidate her, and glared back with equal fire. Of the five dragons, she liked Numot and Intet the most.

"They're calibrated - attuned - to their specific Planeswalkers," Claire answered, shaking her head. "We'd each need our own tether to follow it." She looked to Lance. "Are you sure you never created one?"

"It was my first Planeswalk," Lance answered with a shrug. "I wasn't quite sure what was going on. I wasn't much aware of the volatile nature of the Multiverse either, so didn't concern myself with not finding Shandalar after I left. Then again, I haven't had much desire to look for it since."

"Well we need to find it now," Jareth rumbled, frowning. And Claire nodded her agreement. "I would like answers as to why we were attacked, what the Planeswalkers are gathering dragons for, and whatever else is going on."

"I thought you didn't like to interfere," Lance said with a chuckle. "Goes against your policy of following a 'natural course', right?"

"It doesn't mean I don't like to know what's happening," Jareth countered. "Because should something warrant my involvement, I'd rather not go in blindly."

Lance just shrugged and chuckled.

Claire's mind raced as she tried to determine the best way to locate a route to Shandalar. There was no way to simply "go" there. They could leap into the Blind Eternities and search for a thousand years and never find it. And without Shandalar, they were missing a crucial piece of the puzzle as to why they were attacked, a question Claire demanded answered.

And on top of it all, a deep inner yearning called for her to find Shandalar - a strange world, a strange plane, different, ever-changing and flowing and oh-so unique. It filled her with a sense of brilliant wonder and urgency.

She smiled to herself. That was her blood showing through. Always searching, exploring, seeking-out. That's what it meant to be born to Zendikar--

"Wait, that's it! Zendikar," she blurted out, drawing the strange looks of everyone there. She would have blushed if she wasn't so excited by her own understanding.

"You'll have to explain, I'm afraid," Intet said.

"Just. Gimme--just," Claire could barely contain her thoughts, and certainly couldn't vocalize them at that moment. So she took a steadying breath. "Shandalar is unpredictable, right? That's just its very nature. Unpredictability. If you look for it, you'll never find it. That's not hyperbole. That's fact. Unpredictability is built into its existence. It's everywhere and nowhere until you look for it. And then it's not there. It will never be where you look for it. That's the very set of principles it's founded upon. It's a quantum anomaly."

"Helpful," Lance drawled in his condescendingly sarcastic sort of way. "Interesting, I'll admit, but I fail to see how this makes finding it--"

"Easier?" Claire finished, smirking. "Because once you understand the quantum dynamics of a plane like that you can beginning trying to work around it. Watch." She held out both hands, spaced slightly apart, and lit them with flame. "Like flows to like. Whether it's fire or water, or even planes. And that's no more true than with entropy. With chaos. It's the natural state of things: disorder. Leave things alone for a while, without interference, and everything breaks down and succumbs sooner or later."

"And Shandalar is a plane with its foundations rooted in the idea of chaos," Intet said, understanding beginning to dawn upon her.

"Unpredictability," Claire continued, nodding to the dragon. "You can always predict the unpredictable to be unpredictable. That's its only constant." She looked around, hoping everyone was following her train of thought. "And unpredictable will be drawn to unpredictable - like drawn to like."

"Hence, Zendikar," Lance finished with a smirk. Though it was not his sarcastic bored one, but amused and - perhaps - impressed.

"It's not that Shandalar will be in any close proximity to Zendikar," Claire explained. "But Zendikar's volatile nature will draw a tangible link between them if we look hard enough."

"I thought you just said looking will never find us Shandalar," Jareth said. He was clearly much less comfortable with all the talk and explanation.

"Not on its own, and not from here, you're right. But..." Claire said, and licked her lips. Her eyes danced with excitement and fire. "But on Zendikar the rules are different. Gravity shifts, and flows in different directions. Reality breaks down, or at least weakens. We should - at least in theory - be able to 'look through' the quanta around Shandalar."

"Unfortunately, this trail of discussion seems ready to lead us towards Zendikar," Jareth rumbled. "It is a path I am none to eager to follow."

Claire made no reply, merely frowning. Even Lance cut away his mocking tone for a dark furrowing of his brow. Neither of them were eager to return to the chaotic plane either.

"And why is that?" Teneb asked, challenging them.

Jareth growled low, baring his fangs, and spoke a single word that sent shivers down Claire's spine.

"Eldrazi."
 

storymasterb

Knight of RPGs
Dominaria
Madra, The Talon Gates


"Eldrazi," Morganna echoed, the word a bitter curse. "I have fought them." She remembered the chittering horde on Zendikar, abominations led by abominations. And those were only the grunts. The expendable fodder of the Eldrazi. She had glimpsed far worse beings sometimes. Spied them across the horizon as she wandered that plane. A floating island wreathed in eldritch forces. Great titans, lords among the Eldrazi. Against them, a lone Planeswalker would be helpless.

Even a group such as this would be helpless.

Rimuel was grim and quiet. He had encountered the Eldrazi too. Their presence on Zendikar had not endeared him to the idea of returning at all. And yet, as the Auriok thought, the path seemed to lead only there.

"Have you ever been to this Shandalar?" he asked Morganna.

"No. I've heard mentions of it from other walkers now and then, ones who found themselves there by accident, but I've never reached it. I don't have the time to try in any case," she replied. "I'll assume you haven't either."

"Of course not."

There was a brief silence. "Tell me, Auriok, if we go to Zendikar, are you prepared to fight Eldrazi?"

"I've done it before. I'll get by," he retorted. "I've seen the worst of Phyrexia reborn. After that, you'll excuse me if little chills me with dread."

"Of course," she said with a chill smirk. "In any case, it seems the trail leads us there." The smirk turned bitter suddenly. "Sooner than I thought I'd go back there."

"Why? Do you have some trouble on Zendikar?"

"The last time I was there, I managed to alienate some people," the knight replied dismissively. "I couldn't care less for their opinions of me, but should we run into them on our little quest, I doubt they'll take kindly to seeing me." She glanced back to the dragons, regarding them. "If we do run into them and they attempt to make trouble, I'll deal with them."

"I doubt they'll even be alive to run into us, considering the state of Zendikar these days," he deadpanned.

"True," Morganna observed. "But you'll find that people can be remarkably tenacious in hell. Those survivors on Mirrodin are a testament to that, Auriok." He looked at her, unsure whether it was a compliment or not. Catching the glance, she continued. "I mean them no disrespect. In all honesty, I have fought with your people in the past."

"You did? What happened?"

She was silent for a moment, before replying. "I alienated them." The knight looked at her hand, sparks of light dancing with motes of shadow around it. "Something you will come to appreciate if you witness my tactics, Auriok, is that I come to be hated by people quickly for fighting as I do. But if that is the price I must pay to keep a few more lives from sliding into the abyss of death, I will pay it."

Leaving that conversation behind, she turned to the discussion regarding Shandalar. "If we must pass through Zendikar on the way to Shandalar," she offered, "I know the terrain, as well as it can be known there. I can do little about the movements of the Eldrazi, since I doubt I left much goodwill towards me among the population the last time I was there. But if we are lucky and the terrain hasn't changed too much, I should be able to find us an easily defensible position, which we can hold against the Eldrazi while you do... whatever you intend to do to find Shandalar."
 

GoldenHouou

antagoonist
Dominaria
Madra, The Talon Gates


Thayshia was very close to flying up and sticking her staff through one of the dragons’ eyes when they dared utter the word pixie and keep toppling her over with their stinky breath. Who did these lizards think they were? They were the ones pitifully trapped in their home, unable to protect it, unable to chase after those that sought to wreck their land. It didn’t matter how many thousands of times her size they were; they were nothing but prisoners. The walls of their prison might’ve been far apart and their ceiling high, but it did not change the fact that they could not leave. Dominaria was their birth place and in time it would turn into their grave. That’s all there was to it. She, she was different. Free. Free to do as she pleased wherever she pleased. It wasn’t difficult to see who had the upper hand here.

Didn’t change the fact she was pissed off, though.

So pissed, in fact, that she barely listened when the others burst into their little theorizing session. She caught all the important parts; Shandalar, the constantly moving plane she had never visited, and… Zendikar. Thayshia turned slightly, scoffing as she saw Claire explain her theory. She was probably wrong anyway. Everyone seemed to trust in her theory however, and Thayshia did have to admit it didn’t sound… impossible.

She rolled her eyes. Probably just a lucky guess.

Rckaird, still standing a bit further away, was instantly intrigued at the mention of both his homeplane and the Eldrazi. He knew of those creatures, and had fought them before. After all, out of all the planes he had visited, Zendikar was the one he had spent the most time in. It was his homeplane, and its constant state of chaos needed order more than anyplace else. It was also the plane where his name was the most famous. He had helped countless of people and cities there, and though the plane itself was still in chaos, he had brought order to the people, at least. Naturally he hadn’t mended the entire, huge plane, but he had changed it for the better, and the people held him in high regards for that.

Of course, there were also those who cowered upon the mention of his name. But such was the fate of fools and rebels, those who did not care for the common good and only sought to fulfill their own needs.

After Morgana had offered her help, Rckaird contemplated speaking up. He knew a multitude of cities and towns indebted to him, and he had spend so many years wandering around the plane both before and after gaining his spark that he knew the terrain well – well, like the woman had said, as well as it could be known, at least. He decided not to mention any of that however. He didn’t find it particularly important to mention at this point.

Instead, what he really had to offer was knowledge of the magic that dwelled there. His family had been scholars, and since a very young age he had been dragged along to try and find the secrets of the ancient civilizations. He knew the places where magic gathered, and he knew the locations of all the ruins. He knew where magic was strong and where it was weak, and he knew when the balance would shift. Some of the old ruins still held power – such was proved when he had gained his spark. He still remembered that day; he remembered the artifact they had found, and he remembered its power. If he were to start looking for a link to Shandalar, he would start there.

“I have a suggestion as to where to head first,” he finally spoke up. “It is the place where I gained my spark. A holy place of old, filled with powerful magic. It is probably buried now, and the place where it stands has probably shifted. I do believe however, that it is possible for us to track it down. I have done it before. I do believe that the place will, at the very least, give us a clue on how to proceed and where to look further.”
 

niedude

Don't forget to grin
“They hail from Shandalar…”
To Gibrael and Yuu both, Shandalar was a place none of them knew - or had even heard of. Gibrael had just gotten his planeswalker spark years ago and he’d spent most of the time since then staying on a dedicated number of planes tending to the people there; either healing the sick or… cleansing the unrighteous. His lack of knowledge on these things was understandable.

Yuu, on the other hand, felt diminished for what should be the umpteenth time, and she wasn’t taking all this particularly well. During the previous battle, she already had suffered the fiasco of having her dragon spell countered and used as fuel for an offensive spell. She was the one that used her own creations as fuel for her spells. That was her gimmick. Instead, this damn orochi went and beat her at her own game. The humiliation was made unimaginably worse by the fact that this man was from the exact same plane as she was: Kamigawa, and seemed to be able to use the same magics she did, only by tapping different colors of mana. Now her inexperience was made to show when she did not know of either Shandalar or Zendikar… She decided, then and there, she had to get out more.

Thank the kami for Claire’s outburst and technobable: her overexcited speech had effectively distracted Yuu from her self-bashing.

"Shandalar is unpredictable, right? That's just its very nature. Unpredictability. If you look for it, you'll never find it. That's not hyperbole. That's fact. Unpredictability is built into its existence. It's everywhere and nowhere until you look for it. And then it's not there. It will never be where you look for it. That's the very set of principles it's founded upon. It's a quantum anomaly.”

“It’s a what?” Gibrael queried, his voice low, knowing perfectly well he wasn’t being heard.

“Once you understand the quantum dynamics of a plane like that you can beginning trying to work around it.”

“Quantum… mechanics?”

Gibrael was completely lost. Yuu just stared on, wide-eyed.

Claire had pretty much lost the both of them in her speech, but Intet and some of the others seemed to be keeping up with her (or at least, pretending to.) It wasn’t until the phrase “Like flows to like” had been repeated enough times that Gibrael finally understood the basic principles.

“Oh, so it’s kind of like magnets?” he said in complete innocence, oblivious to the fact it’s the difference in positive and negative charges that make a magnet work, and not what the metals have in common. Wrong in theory, correct in practice, one could say.

“Regardless,” Yuu interrupted. “These Eldrazi seem strong enough to have all of you cowering in fear, so I take it they must be several times stronger than the wurm we just fought. This is good. If we learn to defeat them - or perhaps, even summon them - we will be one step closer to defeating the Orochi the next time our paths cross. And believe me, I do not intend to let that damn freak have his way the next time we meet.”

Yuu’s excitement mirrored Gibrael’s fear. He had a tough time with the wurm as it was, all he did was defend. If the others, who showed no signs of fear when fighting it, were now reacting like this at the very mention of the Eldrazi… Well, it obviously made him uneasy. He did not fear death, as there was very few things that could maw him fast enough before he could tap into his… other side and simply heal himself… But his cleansing magic was slow and single target, and took quite a bit out of him. Maybe it was time to try out new avenues of attack, after all...
 

Kamotz

God of Monsters
“I have a suggestion as to where to head first,” he finally spoke up. “It is the place where I gained my spark. A holy place of old, filled with powerful magic. It is probably buried now, and the place where it stands has probably shifted. I do believe however, that it is possible for us to track it down. I have done it before. I do believe that the place will, at the very least, give us a clue on how to proceed and where to look further.”

Lance regarded Rckaird with a raised eyebrow. It was the most the archon had said with his head not shoved up the confines of his own ass, and thus it was a much more clear-sounding string of words than anything he'd said before. Lance let out a little chuckle despite himself.

"It's a start," said Claire, half-scowling. She wasn't eager to be relying on the archon anytime soon, it seemed. If only she wouldn't scowl so much; she'd be much more attractive--even with the buildup of soot and ash. "We might be able to find it. And it might work. But I wouldn't be surprised if the Eldrazi already found it. Places like that, ancient and powerful--that's the sort of stuff they look for. And somewhere where a Planeswalker ascended? They're drawn to that sort of Multiversal...stuff."

"We know nothing until we try," Jareth rumbled, again the voice of reason and patience. That attitude of his might have led one to see him as more of a big pussycat--anyone else, maybe. But not Lance. Not someone who could pierce the veils of temperance and restraint to see the beast within.

And make no mistake--Jareth was indeed a beast in more than body alone. Lance felt the stirring of his darkness, his beast...his Passenger. Lance recognized ferocity--however bridled it might be--when he saw it.

“Regardless,” Yuu interrupted. “These Eldrazi seem strong enough to have all of you cowering in fear, so I take it they must be several times stronger than the wurm we just fought. This is good. If we learn to defeat them - or perhaps, even summon them - we will be one step closer to defeating the Orochi the next time our paths cross. And believe me, I do not intend to let that damn freak have his way the next time we meet.”

He recognized madness as well.

"Onward into the valley of death, then. Shall we?" Lance said, his voice as smooth and dark as spilled blood. And he couldn't help but smirk at the chuckle that rose up from the space behind his eyes.

"Zendikar is a tough place to walk to," Jareth said. He turned up to the dragons and fixed them with a stare. "Would you mind?" It was not a question.

Yes. There was fury and ferocity in the lion indeed.

"It is done," Oros said, without a gesture or motion or movement from him or any of the others. "You may leave at any time."

"You all can walk to Zendikar alone if you want and end up in the Roil, or you can follow me," Claire offered with a shrug. She didn't even glance back; she just slipped into the Blind Eternities.

Lance accepted her offer without a word and followed the trail she purposefully left behind.

===

Zendikar. It was a world so wild and reckless that Jareth almost lost himself there once before. It would have been all too easy for him to descend into the wilderness, throw off the trappings and pretense of civility and truly, genuinely, be a thing of fury and power. He could have become something...

New.

But he had restrained himself. Because that--losing the soul to impulse--would have accomplished nothing. And so, with the Eldrazi on the rise and so beyond his scope of power to do anything against alone...he had left. Returned to Alara, to Naya, to protect his people and provide guidance after the chaos of the Conflux.

How strange it was to be back. He could already feel the call.

"You made it," Claire said, looking back as the group came through. They made the small, outcropping of cliff a bit crowded. The pyromancer gestured to the city below, one of the very few in all of Zendikar. "Welcome to Affa. Largest city in Akoum."

"I thought we were looking for the archon's house?" Lance said with a laughing look to Rckaird.

"We can," Claire muttered. "But Zendikar is so volatile that tracking it down on our own would take months or weeks at best. Unless we have a guide. In which case we'll need to hire one from the League of Anown."

"And they reside in that city?" Jareth growled, not eager at all to return to confined spaces.

"No," Claire said. "But that's the place to start looking."
 
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