Allamorph

[QUOTE=The Blue Jihad]Character roster from Melee to Brawl? My thoughts in no particular order: Marth stays. Roy gets the boot.[/QUOTE] [FONT=Arial]I dunno. Roy's good training for Marth. It's like having a natural speed handicap. [QUOTE][I]Game & Watch gone.[/I][/QUOTE] I think he is. Jays, did I hate that character. [QUOTE][I]Mewtwo and Jigglypuff stay. //snip// Ganondorf stays. Though with original move-set instead of Falcon clone. :bawl:[/I][/QUOTE] [I]Agreed.[/I] He needs to be able to use that sword that they so tantalizingly had him swinging in his victory sequence. That would rock. Besides, not only was Warlock Punch insanely slow, but Roy's Counter was an instant death sentence to it, no matter the damage. Anytime I saw G on the field, I swapped out to Roy. I can't say much about other newcomers. My only stipulation is that they not be crappy. [quote name='Desbreko][COLOR=#4B0082']About Marth, I doubt they'd ditch him because of Ike.[/COLOR][/quote] You never know. Online play for me will probably be a no go unless I mooch. I'm poor and utilitarian, and because of strict schedules in regard to my major I have no job. I takes what I can gets. So wait, they [I]named[/I] that tactic? I always just thought of it as down-dodging. [quote name='The Blue Jihad']I'd probably still put the fear of Allah into you.[/quote] Alla, heh.[/FONT]

[quote name='Desbreko][color=#4B0082']Here's to hoping they don't screw over his moveset. :animeknow[/color][/quote] [FONT=Arial]Here's hoping he's still there. What with Ike being on the crew-list, I fear they got rid of him. I guarantee I've logged less hours than any of you. :( My learning curve is pretty high, though so that makes up for lack of time.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Well, my roommate went and ever-so-nicely locked me out of our room while I was in the shower, which meant that I missed my 11:15 class today and now have some time to kill. So naturally I thought I'd start writing something. Nathan says hi.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Boy, do [I]I[/I] feel special. I dunno, though. You sure you wanna sell me off? I mean, what would you [I]do[/I] with me, anyway? (Assuming, of course, that I don't get lost in transit.) Oh, and it wasn't just [COLOR="DarkRed"]SunfallE[/COLOR]. [COLOR="DarkRed"]Aaryanna[/COLOR] chaining [COLOR="DarkRed"]DB[/COLOR] to [I]anything[/I] is kinda disturbing in its own right.[/FONT]

[quote name='SunfallE][COLOR="RoyalBlue"][FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"] Besides, if I didn't have Rach... I'd be tempted to buy him myself. :catgirl:[/FONT'][/COLOR][/quote] [FONT=Arial]That creeps me out [I]so[/I] much.....[/FONT]

[quote name='Desbreko][color=#4B0082']The setting, players, and options really determine the atmosphere of the game, though.[/color][/quote] [FONT=Arial]Ehh. Rather, changing the settings changes the atmosphere. Aceburner nailed it. SSB is nowhere near as fun without the zaniness. Besides, half of player ability is improvisation, not just moveset mechanics. If you can still win with the entire stage against you, I have more respect than if you straight-up beat me PvP only. And you don't have to be in a tourney to see crazy combos. We's be doin' that all the time. :p [QUOTE][I][COLOR=#4B0082]Regarding the open tournament, I've thought about doing something similar when I get SSBB and I also thought of doing it when I first got SSBM. The thing that stopped me, though, was that Link, Mario, and others always have similar move sets as in the previous games. So people tend to stick with the old characters they know instead of jumping in with a completely new character and [i]really[/i] not having any clue what they're doing. For example, you can bet I'd use Link in such a tourney and spin attack my way to victory.[/COLOR][/I][/QUOTE] But would it be fun? Or would it just be stroking your ego? (The aforementioned hallmate invariably confuses the two.) They're bound to be similar, but then I'm probably starting out on Pit just because I like his options. Later I'll switch back to Ike. You and I feel the same about the free-for-alls. Unfortunately, I don't have the regular access that would allow for such all-around fun, so I'm reduced to mastering Marth, with whom I have now eliminated the threat of being Meteor Smashed without using Counter. Yeah. (Provided, of course, I don't just do something utterly stupid.) Still workin' on the wavedash. Owning my own copy would help with that, though.[/FONT]

[quote name='AzureWolf][COLOR=green']I haven't taken astronomy in ages, so correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the location (not the phase) of the moon responsible for high and low tides?[/COLOR][/quote] [FONT=Arial]The moon's location and phase are tied together. A full moon occurs when the moon is on almost the exact opposite side of the Earth from the sun (a lunar eclipse happens when the alignment is perfect), and a new moon when the moon is between the Earth and the sun. When the three bodies are aligned in either way, the gravitational pull from the sun is combined with the pull from the moon, and we have more extreme tides. When the moon is half-full (waxing or waning), its pull offsets the sun's pull because it is forming a right angle with the sun and the Earth, and so we have less noticeable tides. So both are true. (^_^) As for pwning, I don't know that I can say anything. The difference in physical/mental prowess is ultimately up to the individual author, so what have we. All I can say is that werebeasts appeal to me more; I could write a story in which lycans hold the superiority, but that would be my interpretation. Of course, I also like the whole were-shifting at will deal, if that says anything. (Thank you, [COLOR="DarkRed"]Roxie[/COLOR].)[/FONT]

[quote name='Charles']Join my RPGs if you want to save OB.[/quote] [FONT=Arial]You're trying [I]so hard[/I], man. I'm really sorry we're all such sticks-in-the-mud. :animesmil But seriously: what kind of publicity do we have?[/FONT]

[quote name='Desbreko][COLOR=#4B0082']With default settings Smash Bros. has always been more of a party game but if you use the right match rules it's perfectly suitable for tournament play.[/COLOR][/quote] [FONT=Arial]Well, yeah. I know this. [quote name='Aceburner']but I always thought of Melee as ... an "It's Saturday night! Let's go play Melee!" Type of thing.[/quote] This was my point earlier. Yes, SSB can be set up for tournaments. Naturally, if you pull the right set of options with the right group of people, you could even turn Animal Crossing into a tournament. That's not the thing. The [I]atmosphere[/I] of game is what's different. I'm going to be a lot more serious playing Halo, Unreal Tournament, Need For Speed, and stuff like that than I am about SSB, simply because of, as I said earlier, random stupid stuff. It's the same reason I still play Kirby: Air Ride every now and again?which could [I]also[/I] be tournament-compatible...with the right set of options. But I'm much more liable to collapse into an uncontrollable giggle-fit with Kirby or SSB because the type of fun I'm having is different. However... [quote name='Desbreko][COLOR=#4B0082']That's as clear as I can make it, and this is getting off topic, so that's the last I have to say about friends lists in here.[/COLOR][/quote] Agreed. We all get that the online feature is less-than-desirable. We know. Time to leave it bloody alone. SO anyway, one of my hallmates is [ironically] holding an open tourney as soon as he gets his disk. It'll be great; no one will have clue #1 what's going on, and to the best improviser goes the spoils. Yee-haw![/FONT]

[quote name='Clurr][FONT="Arial"']Uuumm, I see a 404,....[/FONT][/quote] [FONT=Arial]Yeah, normally I'd go back and fix that, but since the [COLOR="DarkRed"]Clurr[/COLOR]-pwnage was so good, I'm just going to leave it. And Chuck Norris may be on par with God, but I know his sole weakness. [CENTER][IMG]http://www.jakeehrlich.com/Review/FusiounManual.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] It's like Samson. Cut off his [facial] hair, and he's powerless. (It also beats Bruce Lee at defeating Chuck Norris, so that's two images with one stone. Win.)[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]You guys are boring. Stop all the one-uppage and think outside the para-digg-em. Now, all your image are belong to [URL="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb//6f/Rust-flake-macro.jpg/800px-Rust-flake-macro.jpg"][B][COLOR="Blue"]rust[/COLOR][/B][/URL][/FONT].

[quote name='AzureWolf][COLOR=green']...like those kindergartners who think they are special because only they know where a useless rock is.[/COLOR][/quote] [FONT=Arial]I sense some past resentment buried in that thought. Were you mad that they didn't tell you where it was? ;) It's also possible that no one new is coming because no one knows we're here. Besides myO, where all is OB advertised?[/FONT]

[quote name='indifference][COLOR="Indigo"']...I was holding back since Adrian's first thought would be to go and start killing off the vampires to get the Count's attention,....[/COLOR][/quote] [FONT=Arial]Or you could, you know, make Adrian even more agitated by his not being able to find any vampires to kill. Works up the blood rage, and what. :animesmil[/FONT]

[quote name='James][color=#606060']As far as online play with SSBB...I personally don't favor online for this title.[/color][/quote] [FONT=Arial]Neither do I, but more because of the intended audience. The SSB series is basically an upper-tier goof-off game. Sure, people will end up making tournament play out of it, but I don't think the game was designed to be as competitive as any of the games for xBox Live or for PS2 ? or even as competitive as Strikers Charged. I find it quite hard to do serious versus gaming while random silly crap keeps happening all over the place (take the NintenDogs item, for instance, or the pitfall). Also, I [I]will[/I] agree with [COLOR="DarkRed"]Blue[/COLOR] on one item: since online is available, a friends option should have been added. I sincerely doubt nine- and ten-year old kids will be jumping online looking for a hardcore match (although what do [I]I[/I] know? :p), and losing a match in a minute-and-a-half flat is probably not what they're ready for. A friends list would allow not only for consistent, fun gaming, but also for the ability to keep some control over the atmosphere of the game. That said, I am looking forward to Meta Knight and Pit, and especially Ike. ([I]Fire Emblem[/I] ftw. Always.)[/FONT]

[quote name='2007DigitalBoy][COLOR="DarkOrange"']...and I've got a sh*t-f*ck*ng-*ss load of sh*t to do for school that's making my tear my own brain out of my ears. [/COLOR][/quote] [FONT=Arial]I feel ya, man. Same thing's happening on my end...sans the expletives. :p I am beginning to hate Music History. Stupid six-page research papers on a bloody [I]song[/I]. Gah. If I get time, I'll toss something in sometime.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial][CENTER]Monty Python FTW.[/FONT] [IMG]http://edward.oconnor.cx/2006/01/The_Spanish_Inquisition.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER]

[quote name='Fyxe][size=1']I think that the comparison was more on the lines of "werewolves transform once a month" and "women menstruate once a month." ;)[/size][/quote] [FONT=Arial]Good logic, but then that would mean werewolves transform because they failed to get pregnant for that cycle. [CENTER]:p[/CENTER][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Werewolves, for me, by virtue of being less stereotype-abused. [quote name='Gavin][SIZE="1"']...arguing over which fictional race of immortals is better seems a shade too close to pointless for me.[/SIZE][/quote] Aye, but here most of us are just spouting our preferences. I mean, the thread could just as well be Sherlock Holmes versus Mata Hari. Some go for one, some go for the other, and the [I]uneducated[/I] just don't care. (I jest.) From what I've seen, most vampires are portrayed as mere bloodsuckers, preying upon vulnerable humans, and rarely are they even dignified with tangible personalities. There are a few pleasant exceptions, such as the members of the three Courts as portrayed in the Dresden Files, but by and large the only emotions given to vampires are those manufactured by and to better sate their permanent lust. It's almost as if there's an unspoken rule that all traces of a person's original mind must disappear when they become a vampire. To that end, there is a sexual element to vampires. It stems basically from their insatiable lust. Offhand, I don't think I can produce any better information, but it is definitely there. Werewolves in fiction tend to have more of a human personality?probably because they're still mortal?so they have more of an empathetic draw for me as persons torn between their human and animal halves. Also, we aren't just limited to wolves here; although lycanthropes are typically associated with wolves, they can be any type of animal, which gives us a good deal of variety and diversity in the crossover animal characteristics. I can and do enjoy both when I am able to do as I please with them, but as I said, werewolves are generally more convincingly and more creatively played, so I go with them. One final thought: [quote name='Fasteriskhead']Werewolves are metaphors for menstruation.[/quote] Ummm...I don't quite follow.[/FONT]

[SIZE="1"][align=justify]I?d known the café was history as soon as I?d seen the flames. Wood architecture plus fire is not a healthy combination, and petrol certainly doesn?t help anything. But I?d been on duty, so it had been my job to herd the rest of the customers out of the place?not that many really wanted to stay, but you never know who might get the bright idea to take some compensation with them. I?d remembered the liquor almost too late, and I?d barely cleared the building myself when it had exploded, the shockwave of superhot air throwing me violently down into the street. I?d recovered almost instantly, but in my disorientation I hadn?t felt the car coming from my left as I?d leapt to my feet. Thankfully, my quick reactions had turned the collision into a mere grazing, but the impact had left my right side numb, and I?d limped gamely home as quickly as possible, darting into alleys and backstreets to avoid the stares of other, normal people. Alejandro had met me at the door; his senses must have told him I was coming. I?d fallen into him, my head still reeling from the blast, mumbling how he shouldn?t be up. He?d only responded with a reproving look. I?d flinched at his embrace as sudden pain had shot through my shoulder; the blow from the car must have dislocated it, and the daze of the explosion combined with my adrenaline must have kept me from feeling it until now. Noticing my injury, my brother had reached a hand up and gently reset the bone, and I?d clutched at him, hissing a mild curse through my teeth, hot tears stinging my eyes, my nails digging into his back. Then the room had spun?. I wake on the couch I?d left my brother lying on this afternoon. A large Ziploc bag filled with ice is resting on my head; it hasn?t been there long, since there is barely any condensation on my skin. I guess I?ve been unconscious for maybe a half-hour or so. Holding the ice-pack to my forehead with the heel of my hand, I sit slowly up, gingerly stretching and testing my muscles. Aside from my shoulder, which is still a little sore, I feel fine, and thankfully my head no longer seems to think that Up is sideways. I?m still a bit groggy, but I know the feeling won?t last long. I hear Abuela moving around in the kitchen. Mother is with her, fussing at her again for some reason or other. I tune out their voices; Mother has a knack for finding things to fuss about, and I am not in the mood for arguments, mine or otherwise. Besides, I know Abuela will win, whatever it is. She has a patience for my mother that I do not. Abruptly, I realize that I reek of smoke. I get up and head to the back of the apartment for a shower and a change of clothes, and to see what damage has been done to my hair.[/align] ---------------- [FONT="Arial"]OOC:I apologize for being so long gone. My road is rough and bumpy right now, but I'm not down yet. I'll touch on the flyer next post.[/FONT][/SIZE]

[FONT=Arial]Hey. Nice to almost-meet ya. :p [quote name='Redemption][SIZE="1"']So how is the quality of the RPGs being posted? Does it stack up to what you knew of the past RPGs posted in OB?[/SIZE][/quote] That depends. See, I don't really look at these things as RP[B]G[/B]s, [I]per sé[/I]. Survivor was a game, and so was the Death Card series (on #4 now), but for the most part I see more story than game, and so I refer to them only as Role-Plays. I wonder sometimes how we get off calling our stuff the 'higher quality', when most times a simple game, with quick-fire objectives and easy-to-follow storylines, are what the 'new kids' really want. I mean, not everybody on the site is as gung-ho as some of us are about crafting works of art, and not everybody knows how to go about that crafting even if they [I]did[/I] want to. In that respect, I wouldn't attribute the differences between our work and theirs to [U]quality[/U] so much as I would us being in a different echelon altogether. Not necessarily better, just different. But to get back to your question, I have noticed a story-quality spike recently. If you look just at the first page of the Arena Square, eight of the current top eleven are great stories, so that alone tells you something. I can't say much for the other side, what since I don't usually go for that sector and since I haven't exactly seen many get off the ground lately. [QUOTE][I][SIZE="1"]What do RPers want these days? What elements of an RP do you look at before signing up?[/SIZE][/I][/QUOTE] To the former I can say nothing. However, I will note that the tendency in those created is to be somewhere in the sci-fi or fantasy genre. I think [COLOR="DarkRed"]Raiha[/COLOR] tossed out a kind of fantasy satire-ish thingummy, and I'm not quite sure how to classify Shinigami Dance.... I look for direction and the possibility for depth. If I can see a good opening for a history with the story then I'll see if a character occurs to me, and I tend to shy slightly away from those "image required" RPs. It actually takes me significantly longer to pry a personality from a photo than it does to create both a mind and a body from scratch, and usually what I see is either hard to find or wearing very little clothing. (You have no idea how many mostly-naked Latinas I had to sift through for my character in This Is Earth?and that was [I]with[/I] Google's SafeSearch on. deviantArt was a whole 'nother can 'O' worms. :animeangr) Usually, if I can't see anything by about thirty seconds after reading the first post I'll stay clear; I don't have any business where I have no muse, and the other players won't miss me. [QUOTE][I][SIZE="1"]When you look at signing up to an RPG, does it matter who posted it?[/SIZE][/I][/QUOTE] It does in the end, though I'd rather that not be true. Although I read pretty much everything non-anime/manga related in the Inn, it usually turns out that the ones I get interested in are by the same group of people. [QUOTE][I][SIZE="1"]As an RPG writer, do you write for your audience (prospective RPers), or do you write a story that you want to personally want to roleplay and hope others find it interesting?[/SIZE][/I][/QUOTE] I'll answer this one in the future tense. If I ever decide to attempt running my own, I'll tailor the quality and detail to appeal to the strong writers, but the plot and genre will be what they will be. After all, Originality has just as much draw as does the twisted Familiar. Naturally, if I don't find the story appealing to me, I'll scrap it. No sense running something I don't even like. [QUOTE][I][SIZE="1"]And, have you ever given thought to what consequences (both positive and negative) your RPs have on your audiences' lives?[/SIZE][/I][/QUOTE] Well, not RPs. (I don't have any yet. :p) Still, if I can help someone else nurture their own writing talent by watching me, then I feel a small sense of victory. Later -A[/FONT]

[quote name='XxWigglesxX']I love to talk and i love anime, so i thought this would be a fun place to be :)[/quote] [FONT=Arial]Oh, it is. Trust me. I'm not too sure how many bubbly people there are (Sandy comes to mind...), but as long as you don't let the general reticence bother you, this is a nice place to be. ...or you could pester the PM boxes of random people. That's always fun. :p[/FONT]

[quote name='Yono']Don't want to sound mean or anything... But you kind of sound like a cold person[/quote] [FONT=Arial]Naw, I've talked with her a smidge...and if anybody's cold, it's me. And I'm a right friendly guy. :p[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial][I]WOO-HOOO!!![/I] [U]Yeah[/U], bay-bee! That was awesome! (I'm jumping right now; forgive me if I misspell something.) Okay, for those of you who are staring at the screen going "ri-i-ight", that was the [I]Díes írae[/I] and the [I]Offertorium[/I] from [I]Masses for the Dead[/I], an old mass sung in the Gregorian Chant style somewhere back between 450 and 1450 AD. (You did use the [I]Offertorium[/I], right Rach?) I got hit with the idea during Music History while my professor was noting how, in the old cathedrals, the acoustics would amplify regular speech to the point of raucous noise, but chants somehow managed to cut through the noise and carry over the entire cathedral, which is why they were developed for use with song and scripture. The illusionary 'noise' parallel hit me so hard I almost yelped, and fortunately I had a copy of the [I]Díes írae[/I] in front of me (translated, it means Day of Wrath), so combined with the mention of Berlioz's use of it in his [I]Symphonie fantastique[/I], that whole deal kind of just clicked. When I told Rach?I knew he at least would know what I was going on about?he was the one who added the purifying angle and made the whole idea amazing. I was being dense though, so it took me a while to connect the dots. (Of course, I totally expect someone to say "That was it!?", but at least we can get on with it now, right?) The key to the whole thing was that the [I]Díes írae[/I] united the Death Gods' minds in order for them to be able to break free of the illusion; if I'm being redundant, I apologize. So have fun with that!,....now that I'm not controlling it anymore. [I]*whew!*[/I] Seriously, dude, that was one of the best posts I think I've seen you make. [INDENT][INDENT][SIZE="1"]Solid.[/SIZE][/INDENT][/INDENT] [RIGHT][INDENT]Solid![/INDENT][/RIGHT] [CENTER][SIZE="3"]Solid!![/SIZE][/CENTER] Loved the FX. No joke. W00t! (^_^) [/FONT]

[QUOTE=indifference][COLOR="Indigo"]Well I don't miss so consider yourself zapped. Anyone can see that you're using Rev as an excuse to get out of posting. And to distract from the fact that you really are clueless. lol Anyway, both of you get the show on the road. Instead of poking each other about posting. Honestly, for the rest of us to post, other than perhaps rev or DB... It's too much of just us and no one else. [/COLOR][/QUOTE] [FONT=Arial][SIZE=1][I]*whimpers pitifully in corner*[/I] I'm trying. I want to. I see it in my head. It wants to become words. Arg, papers, and arg, classes, and arg, marching band, and arg, Vicky's RP that also need to post in, and arg, stuff I'm supposed to be doing for Doublehex, and arg, I just want to [I] slee-hee-hee-heep![/I] [center]:([/center] (...and arg, too many bloody ideas.)[/SIZE] [B]Edit:[/B] Okay, I give. [COLOR="DarkRed"]Rach[/COLOR] knows what to do now; follow his lead.[/FONT]

Nathan stood in the center of the hall, motionless, his eyes closed. His right hand hovered inches from his scythe, holding back the corner of his blazer, where it had reflexively snapped to the instant his companions had vanished. His entire body was relaxed; if anything in the hall so much as moved, Nathan would kill it immediately. An alternate dimension? Nathan doubted the possibility. He had done interdimensional traveling before, and he knew what the process felt like. No matter the method, nor who might be initiating it, he had always been struck by the sensation of glass shattering around him, enveloping him in a liquid so cold it would unfailingly cause him to snap his eyes open and suck his breath in. There had been no such sensation this time. This time it was as if a heavy shroud had been suddenly cast over his mind, dulling his senses, cutting his spirit off from the rest of the world. But what had caused it? Just has he had felt no evidence of spatial travel, so he had not even noticed the incoming trap. If he had, he most certainly would have attempted to counteract it. He had had no such chance, though. It had just happened; no warning, no danger signals, no nothing. Nathan racked his brains for something, anything that fit the situation, but every trick or spell he knew of could be reversed if halted quickly enough. The more he thought about it, the less he was certain when he'd first felt the sudden change. Suspicious, he cycled backward in his mind to the point just after he'd finished his conversation with his familiar. Nothing had been out of the ordinary...and then there was their flight; that was clean...they'd arrived at the Count's estate without incident....a blond woman had ushered them inside, past rows of little vampire children......wait.... –Oh, clever. He couldn't remember how many children had been in the hallway. How many pairs had they passed on the way in? Had there been forty? Or only four? Come to think of it, that woman had flashed a peculiar smile when Adrian had accepted the invitation into the manor. Could that be it? Could they really have...? They had, hadn't they? They'd walked straight into it. It hadn't been the anteroom where the trap had been activated, it had been the hallway; and it wasn't that he had stopped feeling his companions all of a sudden, it was that the sensory deprivation had been a gradual process. Because he had still been able to see the others, he hadn't been thinking about feeling them, taking their presence for granted, and it was when they had vanished that he?d first realized the trap. His arm relaxed, and his blazer fell back into place. Things made a bit more sense now, he decided. There were no parallel universes here; there were no alternate realities, no 'purgatories'. It was all much simpler. He looked up as the shadowy form of a Wraith began to ooze its way out of one of the walls. Nathan watched it calmly, sizing up its intentions, evenly returning its soulless stare though he could not see its eyes. It seemed he?d be getting the chance to test his theory rather quickly. Free of the wall, the Wraith appeared to pause and study the shinigami in return. Part of its form tilted slightly to one side, almost as if it were puzzled by Nathan's nonchalance. It shifted forward and emitted a sharp, tentative screech, then fell back and studied Nathan a moment more. Gaining no discernible reaction, it screeched again and charged, the shadows of its body roiling in anticipation. Nathan?s gaze dropped. "Bull," he said quietly. The Wraith passed straight through him. It was an illusion: this realm of the bizarre, the creatures it contained, the room he was standing in; even the Count hadn't truly been before them, though Nathan didn't doubt the vampire's existence. In fact, he had to give the man a fair bit of credit, since the beauty and the danger of the illusion lay in that it was rooted in the real. He could feel it now. The air was thick with it; it bore heavily down on him as it strove with his spirit, willing his senses to submit to the lie that it whispered to his mind. Despite his knowledge of its presence, he couldn't completely break free of its grip, and though the furious screams of the Wraith had all but faded, the walls of the mansion remained. He needed to find the others. Closing his eyes again, he focused on tuning out the persuasive ministrations of the illusion, extending his senses in search of his companions. It was difficult, and fighting off the illusion cost him a considerable force of will, but at last he managed it, picking them up as little more than bare flickers on the fringes of his mind. They were all fighting, striking at shadows, unaware of the shroud that had been pulled over their eyes. He sensed their confusion, their fear at the sudden isolation. He had to reach them. He had to reunite them. Drawing on his reserves of power, he stilled himself, using all of his focus to hold the illusion at bay. His mouth opened, and his voice rose in a chant, his power letting it cut through the incessant noise of the illusion as he directed it to find his friends. He hoped they remembered the old ways. ---------- OOC: All right, Rach. Your ball.