OOS 96

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Out of Session Chats
OOS 97 →

 Korrinoth 10, the party is traveling toward Eddelton to retrieve Concludion. It occurred between sessions 41 and 42. It is preceded by OOS 94; it is immediately followed by OOS 97. It occurs concurrently with OOS 95.

## Transcript

K?r ??, I??id? ??er's ?ind???pe:

*Teer loses consciousness and awakens- no, not awakens, comes to rest(?) in a place that is both familiar and unfamiliar. A small, cozy room, naturally grown in the way that elves like to, its grain a complex dance of light and dark veins.*

*Teer sits on a simple bed, unmade, pillows and blankets perhaps appropriated to make a blanket fort. A desk, cluttered with the chaos of a child's creativity. Shelves upon shelves of small trinkets and toys- most wood, displayed to show a marked advance in proficiency in craft and care.*

*The wooden door, painted a wild but faded hue, stands ajar to a dark hallway.*

Teer:

*Teer doesn't move, as if scared that the room around him will disappear when he does so. He stays that way for a while, on the edge of the bed, trying to fix the place around him in his mind.*

*The longer he sits, the more he notices the grief that still hangs over his memory. It doesn't really make sense to him. Evelynn is alive.*

*Finally shaking himself, he stands and opens the door.*

Gloom:

*The hallway beyond stretches in both directions, an impossible number of doors set at random along both sides, in all shapes and colors and materials.*

*To the right, the hallway grows darker, deeper into a subtle red haze. Rotting vines and roots push through the dark striations of the wood into the hall, until it ends at a doorway choked with decayed vegetation*

*To the left, the dark bands lessen but do not entirely disappear, the doors are more evenly spaced, but still a myriad of colors. The passageway ends in a dark oaken door silhouetted by gently flickering pale blue light emanating from beyond it, dim but bright still in the dark hallway.*

Teer:

*Teer stares down the right hallway for a while, uneasy. 'Always go left in dungeons,' he thinks to himself, and then heads towards the oaken door.*

Gloom:

*As he approaches the Oaken door, he can see that it's surface is marred with ragged gouges- clawmarks perhaps?*

*A sonorous hum can be heard from beyond, not uniform, but too soft to discern what it actually causing it.*

*Teer:*

*Teer traces his hand over the marks on the door, and summons his sword, though he keeps it at his side. His mind wanders briefly to donjon, and he has to remind himself that this one really is just a dream.*

*He gently opens the door into the room.*

Gloom:

*The room beyond is not cozy, but seems lived in. A couch sits in the center of the room, facing a large display showing two humanoids engaged in some kind of dramatic argument in the rain. A low table in front of the couch has several dishes- all different shapes and sizes- coated with the crumbs of a wide array of substances. A familiar, but not too familar, blanket is draped over one end of the couch, pillows at the other.*

Akaros:

"Oh, you're here." *Akaros says, a shadowy, vaguely humanoid form with obvious draconic pronouncements, his proclamation carrying a tinge of surprise.*

Teer:

*Teer simply stares for a moment.*

"Yes. Hello. ... Is this where you *live?*"

Akaros:

*Akaros hesitates, then responds*, "Yes, after a fashion."

Teer:

*Teer looks around the room.* "Where did you get all this?"

*He picks up a remote, inspecting it with confusion.* "It couldn't have been built from my memories, so it had to come from you, correct? Is this what your horde looks like?"

Akaros:

"Oh uh, yes? I guess?" *Akaros seems uncertain* "I suppose it must be."

Teer:

*Teer looks at him.* "Is something wrong?"

Akaros:

"No," *Akaros says*, "Yes? Maybe. You're not supposed to be here, he said you wouldn't be."

Teer:

"Wha - Who did?"

Gloom:

"It means me," *Another voice says.*

Teer:

*Teer tries to locate the voice.*

Gloom:

*Another Akaros emerges from another room- this one is more defined- almost a proper humanoid form- Dark skin, with sharp, angular features. Two or six- it's difficult to focus- pale eyes, tinged violet and without pupils beneath a wreath of horns that cascade into a long ropy mane of black hair. The man stands a head and a half taller than either Teer or the Apparition of Akaros.*

Akaros:

*The actual manifestation of the Ascendant Dragon of Destruction smiles at Teer, a fanged, toothy grin, and he says*, "Yes, these things belong to me, after a fashion. They somewhat show up on their own- Formed from half-remembered thoughts of long ago. Welcome to my room, metaphorically speaking, in your mind."

Teer:

*Teer takes half a step back, and grips the broadsword at his side a little tighter. He glances from the apparition to the new Akaros.* "Why... are there two of you."

Apparition:

"I-He-" *The Apparition starts, but the Avatar holds a hand up.*

Akaros:

"I'm the true Akaros, the one that you speak with out there," *He waves a hand upwards*, "Or, at least as much of me as I'm able to express. This," *He indicates the apparition*, "Is your perception of me. Everyone you've met who's registered at all has a room here, each occupied by how you perceive them. It's kind of a trip, I'm sure."

Teer:

*Teer glances back and forth from one Akaros to the other. He finds himself trying to draw comparisons between the two, trying to figure out where his perception ends and the truth begins.* "That's one way to describe it, I suppose, yes." *His stance does relax, however.*

Akaros:

"Anyway yeah we mostly just hang out here, play Xbox, watch romcoms," *True Akaros says*. "It's not the worst existence." *He looks somewhere in the middle distance.*

*He shakes out of it*, "Anyway, I'd be careful. Some things in there are best left alone." *He indicates the open door.*

Teer:

"What do you mean? It's my mind, isn't it?" *Teer picks up a plate and prestidigitates it clean, then another one.*

Akaros:

"If you truly fear nothing," *Akaros says, tilting his head to the side and fixing Teer with a studious gaze*, "Then I'm sure you will be fine."

Teer:

*Teer gazes back at Akaros, until he feels the need to look away and continue stacking the plates.* "There's no need to be cryptic about it."

Akaros:

"Look at how you think of me," *Akaros says, gesturing to the apparition, which has almost begun to take on more definition, somehow*, "A weak, shadowy nothing, barely a threat to anyone, **and yet**."

*The dragon holds up a hand, his dark robes falling away from his arm. He slowly clenches his fist, and the room convulses as Teer feels a constricting from both without and within. Only a moment passes, and Akaros drops his hold.* "I do not mean to make you suffer, I am sorry, but if, to you, I am nothing..." *He looks toward another door in the room, a scintillating oil-slick shot of color on a black iron barricade* "...something that might be nothing in actuality may yet be ruinous."

Teer:

*Teer takes a step backwards again, and finds himself suddenly dizzy, not sure whether to face Akaros, his apparition, or the black door.* "I never... I never thought you were nothing. I..."

"You and Ephemera. You're both ancient. You're giants, even if you don't hold the power you used to. I'm glad that you're both with the party. But it's so much easier to forget how small I am by comparison, than to think about what happens... later..."

*Teer looks back down the hall he came from.*

"I'm going to see what's behind the other door. I can handle it." *He starts to make his way out.*

Akaros:

*Akaros steps forward, placing a surprisingly gentle, yet firm, hand on Teer's shoulders, Impossible eyes flashing in warning.* "Don't," *he urges*. "You're... not ready. Not yet. I will take you through that door myself when you are, but..."

"Please."

Teer:

*Teer studies Akaros' face, trying to focus past the blur of eyes. He reaches up and squeezes the dragon's hand ever so briefly, before sliding it off his shoulder.* "...I'm sorry."

*He moves back.* "You can still come, if you want, but I'm not going to leave this alone."

Akaros:

*Akaros frowns*.

 "Good luck."

Teer:

*Teer spares a glance at the other Akaros, who has become even more of a confusing silhouette, and then leaves the room.*

Gloom:

*The hallway beyond seems to stretch even further than it did before, the door choked with gnarled rot a small dot in the distance.*

Teer:

*Teer makes his way steadily, calmly towards the end of the hall. 'I can do this. He's underestimated me before. Whatever it is, I'll handle it.'*

Gloom:

*The door seems to loom large as Teer approaches it. The roots are thick but brittle with decay- they crumble to nothing as he pushes through. The door itself is a rotted slab of thick wood, occasionally crackling with familiar red energy- the demonic corruption similar to that which had taken hold of Harbinger.*

Teer:

*Teer hesitates briefly before touching the door, seeing the clear corruption. Akaros' warning lingers, but he shakes it off and pulls it open.*

*To whatever may wait inside.*

Gloom:

*The door crumbles in Teer's grasp, revealing a dark, gloomy hole of natural earth and stone. As his eye adjust, he sees an armored stone form lying on its back, its prone body pinned between two great boulders. Its head- not a true face but an empty, fractured helm of elvish make hangs limply as the passive face of a nameless Ondo 'ar Thond Tira unit stares back at him.*

Ondo:

"*You.*" *His own voice rasps harshly at him.*

Teer:

*The scene takes Teer off guard at first. He knows his troubles with being buried, but he didn't expect to see it from this perspective, from the outside.*

"Yes, it's me," *he begins, steeling himself.* "Are you me? Or a different unit?" *He lifts his sword just enough to let the glow cast against the other warforged, hoping to find an ID number.*

Gloom:

*The unit sits unmoving, the glow of the sword illuminates Teer's own serial number, though it's difficult to see- at some times it appears as if it's been clawed out, somehow.*

Ondo:

"We are us," *His voice rasps*. "We are

the same."

Teer:

"Oh? If that was my perception of Akaros, then I'm assuming you're my perception of myself. Which is apparently..." *he pauses to inspect the scene.* "A half dead, incredibly unsettling robot." *His words hold more confidence than his voice.*

Ondo:

"Aren't you?" *Ondo does not - **cannot** - seem to move as he speaks.*

Teer:

"Maybe," *says Teer, inspecting the stone to see if there's any way of shifting it.* "Although people seem to like me alright."

Ondo:

"We help them. They like themselves, and we help them."

Teer:

*Teer presses against the stone with his weight - it presumably does not budge.* "Yes. Yes I suppose."

Ondo:

*Indeed it does not*

"What else is there to like? What are we?

We are nothing.

We are a tool.

An intelligent tool trained to appease others."

Teer:

*He falters against the rock, thinking hard.* "I don't... know. They... "

"I have emotions," *he says defensively.* "They want me to have emotions. To want things for myself."

Ondo:

"It makes it easier for them if we do. It lets them think of us as one of them. Someone just helping out.

Not a tool. Not a slave. A friend."

*A moment of silence*.

"But we know the truth."

"Or... maybe you've forgotten.

Maybe you allowed yourself to forget

Standing with borrowed strength.

Feeling with borrowed emotion.

Living on borrowed Time."

"But

I

Still

remEMBer."

Teer:

"Remember **what**," *Teer asks angrily.*

"I'm going to get my roots back. And then what would you have me do? Leave? What's that going to accomplish?"

*He gestures to the expanse of rock weighing down on the other him.*

Ondo:

"It would accomplish nothing." *The voice says*

"Because."

*There is a faint crackle of red energy at the edges of Teer's periphery. In a moment of vertigo, his vision swims and as it clears he finds himself lying prone, wedged between two boulders, looking up limply at himself, unable to move*.

*He watches his current self collapse and crumble to dust as he remains trapped in the earth. His own voice rasping in his ears:*

"We never really left the hole."

Teer:

*Teer doesn't have breath to quicken, but he feels his core flare like wildfire as he desperately tries to move against the wall of rock. He's suddenly not sure what direction the exit was. His sword isn't in his hands anymore. He can barely see what's in front of him.*

Gloom:

*His body does not respond. It is merely dark. He can smell the rot of fetid earth and his own body.*

Teer:

*'Please please please please no please, can't move, don't be real, it c̵a̵n̴'̴t̵ ̷b̴e̴ ̵r̷e̴a̵l̶,̵ p̷l̸e̷a̶s̶e̷,̸ ̴w̶a̸k̴e̷ ̸u̷p̸.̸'*

*He tries to focus his thoughts but they're running faster than he can catch them. 'Not again, have to g̵͒̆e̷͒́t̴̟͝ ̵̓́ȍ̸͝ǘ̶͍t̵̎̐ ̵́͂-̵͙͠ ̷̢͑A̶͊̉k̵̝͊ä̴́͒ṙ̷̠o̵̱̔s̵̱̾.̷̛̊ ̸͖͂A̶̞͝k̷̢͑a̴͔̅r̵̞̾ó̷͙s̶̬̾ ̵͓̀ṕ̷̃ĺ̷̡e̶̒͛a̸̡̔s̴̲͝e̵̋̏ are you there, were you r̶̃͠ê̴̄á̴͒ĺ̴̯ ̸̼̍-̷̍̈ ̵͍̏B̷̍̓è̶lxari - Meyrin - anyone'.*

Gloom:

*The darkness closes in, and there is nothing but blackness for what seems like an eternity.*

*Or 900 years.*

*Or a day.*

*Or but a moment.*

Akaros:

"Teer, you have to take my hand." *Akaros stands in the darkness, reaching forward to a broken and unmoving Ondo 'ar Thond Tira.* "You must."

Teer:

*Teer feels a shadow of relief to hear his voice. 'I c-can't. I can't m̴o̷v̵e̴.' He thinks in Akaros' direction.*

*He bids the dead roots in his arm to lift up, even so.*

Gloom:

[Make a Wisdom check]

[With Original Teer's wisdom score]

[18]

Gloom:

[Teer remembers he is Teer. Roll a Charisma Check with Current Teer's Charisma]

Teer:

[Nat 20, 25]

Gloom:

*Teer moves.*

*His hand swings forward and finds purchase in the dark, and Akaros pulls him up out of the earth and into the hallway outside the rotted door.*

Akaros:

"You're alright. You are safe." *He says*.

"Not all reflections are fair."

"Or honest."

Teer:

*Teer is looking around wildly, as if confirming everything about his surroundings. He grabs hold of Akaros' arm, where normally he would the cloak, then after a second lets his hand fall.*

"H-How do I know what's real? I... No, no, this is real. It has to be real." *He pulls back and leans against the wall.* "I'm sorry."

Akaros:

*Akaros does not respond for awhile, waiting and watching. He is not smiling, but his presence is not cold.*

"It's not real, but it's not **not** real." *He shakes his head.* "I suspected, but I didn't know."

Teer:

*Teer is motionless, but his mind is only just slowing down.* "Know what?" *he manages.*

Akaros:

"What you would find." *He says, then, looking down the hallway, towards his own door.* "What I would find...."

Teer:

*Teer looks up, confused. Then he remembers that he has to tilt his head in order for people to realize he looks confused.*

"What door did you open?"

Akaros:

"...Sometimes reflections are unkind."

Teer:

*Teer nods shakily, leaning his head back. After a short silence, he says,* "You know. I'm here if *you* ever need to - want to talk about -"

"You're part of the party. And you see basically everything that I go through. So you're welcome to.... talk about... things, if you..."

*Teer puts a hand up over the eyes of his mask.* "I'll stop."

Akaros:

"I... Appreciate that," *Akaros says, smiling a toothy smile.* "So uh.... Do you want some hit points or do you wanna play Halo?"

Teer:

"I don't think I can... look at everyone right now. What's Halo?"

Akaros:

*Akaros' smile turns into a grin.* "Yeah let's go play Halo." *He grabs Teer's arm and pulls him towards the dimly lit couch-lair.*

Teer:

*Teer lets himself be pulled back into the other room, and sat down on the couch. He stares at the television.* "How do we reach the screen from here?"

Akaros:

*Akaros looks at him, momentarily confused.* "Oh, right," *he says*. "Romcom hour is over, Copycat, let's fire up some Blood Gulch."

*Akaros proceeds to provide Teer with a crash course into video games.*

*later*

"...Anyway we never got the chance to ask Andy if he knew any aliens. I mean he was from space right?" *Akaros devours a slice of pizza, having appeared at some point between map changes.*

"I bet he knew aliens. I bet it was exactly like this all the time."

Teer:

"Well, there *were* quite a lot of schematics for weapons like this contained in the iPad," *Teer says, but he sounds unsure.* "Isn't Meyrin an alien? Shouldn't they look like her and her... moon stuff?"

Akaros:

"Oh huh."

"I hadn't thought of that."

Teer:

"Hm. Perhaps there's more than one kind of alien though. Andy didn't look like anything Meyrin would create."

*Teer tries to focus mostly on the glow of the screen as it depicts the strange scenery and flashy graphics. It's much more transportive than DOOM.*

*When the next round ends, Teer speaks up, not fully looking away from the game.* "Ah, Akaros... In case I forget to say it before we go back."

 " ...Thanks."

Akaros:

*Akaros doesn't meet his gaze, but smiles slightly in a way that says 'really, how did we get here, anyway?'.*

"...Yeah."

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