methods and tools

[onwhatwingswedareaspire]

The gate opens in an small space. Through a doorway ahead is a mid-sized room, scattered with chairs. One wall, directly across from the doorway to the incoming gates area, is made of some clear material. On the other side of it is another room, with a metallic floor raised slightly above the first one's, with a half-dozen complex diagrams and space for many more.

The way into there appears to be through a decontamination room to the left. There is a door on the right into the rest of the base. Embedded in the wall to the left is the door to the outgoing gate area.

Both rooms are windowless and otherwise minimally decorated.

(Observant guests may note that the gravity is about a third of what they are used to.)

Comments

[meletiti_entelecheiai]

A light flickers, and suddenly a projector activates. The illusion of a man, dressed in a red suit, appears in the middle of the room, eyes closed and a look of concentration on his face.

(This is entirely feigned. The hard part of alethics is almost always in the design of the spell, not the casting.)

For a moment, he simply hovers there, unmoving.

Then the room - unblurs, sharpens unnaturally, every edge picked out in a glaring color not of this world. The light fantastic reaches out from him in curlicued fractals, cracks in reality growing like writhing vines to the edges of the room.

When they reach the floor and walls and ceiling, they seem to lose coherence, the light rushing across the Boundary of the room in a wave of unlight, a computerized grid appearing momentarily.

"Within this space, may the Truth be known to all.

Blur. Blur. Blur. Blur. Blur.

Five times blur and then hold."

/.[[Transmission] [Truth] [Connection] [Truth] [Reception]] [Blur]./ ->
/.[[[Communication] [Outward]] [Truth] [Connection] [Truth] [[Communication] [Inward]]] [[Chaos] [Distortion]]./ ->
/.[[[Communication] [[Momentum Ephemeralized Reified] [Symmetry Ephemeralized Reified]]] [Truth] [Connection] [Truth] [[Communication] [[Momentum Ephemeralized Reified] [[Symmetry Ephemeralized Reified] [Void Reified Ephemeralized]]] [[Possibility Ephemeralized] [Warp Ephemeralized]]./ ----

And Aisilian vanishes, replaced by an image of a tower, reaching to the skies, phantasmal clouds around its base and stars about its tip. A tower of Babel. A tower in slow, tumbling ruin, beautiful arches formed of crumbling masonry and spires of exposed iron and blue crystal, caught in mid-fall.

Incoming Gate

[onwhatwingswedareaspire]

Thorn, Lena, and Tyche are standing near the gate, ready to greet arrivals and direct people. (Thorn looks rather amused by something.)

Re: Incoming Gate

[dotted_lines]

Steve steps through the portal. He takes a step, and his feet push him upward more strongly than he is used to. He trips, then falls, slightly slower than usual, before catching himself against a wall.

Re: Incoming Gate

[ambrovimvor]

Anda steps through the gate, takes an extra step quickly, and eyes the rather showy tower.

Linsa steps through the gate, and promptly stumbles and would fall if Anda did not reach out very quickly (too quick for standard human reflexes) and grab her and steady her.

Warding

[onwhatwingswedareaspire]

On the other side of the decontamination shower is the diagrammed room, with a flexible up-ramp to it. (This will change to a steeper up-ramp and a down-ramp as wardings proceed.)

Re: Incoming Gate

[kaolinandbone]

Lioncourt steps through the portal and continues walking as if she were on earth, seemingly oblivious to the lighter gravity. She spares a single glance for the tower before being directed onwards to the diagram room.

Re: Incoming Gate

[onwhatwingswedareaspire]

Thorn goes to make sure that he is alright.

Re: Incoming Gate

[mountains_themselves]

Raezenoth floats through the gate, completely uncaring of the gravity difference.

Once through, he looks at Thorn. "I have another person I would like warded."

Dotted Lines, Thorn, Anda, and Linsa

[onwhatwingswedareaspire]

"I hope you're not hurt," Thorn says (she sounds mildly concerned). "We should have warned people about the gravity."

Re: Incoming Gate

[scatteredstars]

Lena greets Lioncourt with all courtesy.

"You are one of the first people to be warded, since you presumably want to get back to your guests. If you wish to get ready, the decontamination is through the door to the left. Our warders will be arriving shortly."

She then proceeds to briefly explain the procedure. (From the decontamination area you go into the far room, walk over to a free circle with people by it, and stand in it when they tell you to. There will be small quantities of blood, please try not to be alarmed.)

Re: Warding

[kaolinandbone]

Lioncourt takes up a position outside the circle and waits.

Re: Dotted Lines, Thorn, Anda, and Linsa

[ambrovimvor]

"Yes, are you all right? It's weird here."

(Linsa looks concerned as well)

Re: Incoming Gate

[calledtoventure]

Ahrotahn heard there was a thing happening. She comes to participate.

...oh cool, nonstandard gravity! This party is great.

Re: Incoming Gate

[scatteredstars]

"Hello," Tyche says. "The gravity change is a bit jarring, isn't it."

She is fiddling with a device in her hands. "The basic blueprints are almost done downloading; this should be ready by the time you're warded."

Re: Dotted Lines, Thorn, Anda, and Linsa

[dotted_lines]

"I'm fine! I just wasn't expecting it. Hi Thorn, Anda, Linsa! Uh, gravity not working is usually a bad sign, is it supposed to be like this?"

Re: Dotted Lines, Thorn, Anda, and Linsa

[onwhatwingswedareaspire]

"Mars just has lower gravity," Thorn says. (She makes a complicated face, and then continues). "it is normal."

She gives them an abbreviated form of the directions, and, having checked that he is alright, returns to directing people.

Re: Incoming Gate

[onwhatwingswedareaspire]

Thorn's immediate question is: "Do you have a way to get them here?"

Re: Incoming Gate

[mountains_themselves]

"Not by myself. But I can likely find one soon enough. Leaf or his mother would be fine - I can inform her that a gate is going to open before it does. She has already agreed to being warded."

Re: Dotted Lines, Thorn, Anda, and Linsa

[dotted_lines]

"Oh, neat, another planet! I hadn't realized other planets would have weird gravity. See you!"

He wanders off toward the antechamber, pausing to see whether Anda and Linsa follow.

Re: Incoming Gate

[onwhatwingswedareaspire]

"Very well," Thorn says. "Does she have much interdimensional contact? Vectors the virus could travel through are our first priority at the moment."

Re: Incoming Gate

[mountains_themselves]

"Not as of yet, but I foresee that will change soon." Pause. "It is important that she be warded because she is my acolyte. Which means that if she were infected, the virus could use her to kill me, and then ascend to godhood."

Re: Incoming Gate

[scatteredstars]

Zahi smiles at her. "It doesn't seem like the fact that we were on Mars got conveyed very well, but at least someone likes it."

Re: Dotted Lines, Thorn, Anda, and Linsa

[ambrovimvor]

Anda and Linsa make faces at the point where blood is mentioned.

"Thanks for the warning on that, I'll talk to you later."

They follow Steve.

"There is an Ancient photograph of Mars in our library. From one of the machines they made to make pictures of things in in outer space. " Anda remarks. "It is very neat. We are lucky to have it, there are not a lot of those left."

Linsa says, "The library keeps it under glass to protect it. It's been there for like three generations."

Re: Incoming Gate

[onwhatwingswedareaspire]

Thorn blinks. "Yes," she says, "that is a good reason. We can certainly fit one more person. Let us know when you have arranged transportation."

Re: Incoming Gate

[mountains_themselves]

"Yes."

Off Raezenoth goes, to arrange transportation.