A Rub of the Lamp
"I wish to give you each a token of [my] gratitude. You need only say it." ~ Rashan, 7th Forge Lord
Kin
Kin is looking at Ma'neha and everyone else with a bit of uncertainty, since he doesn't know he can get wishes in this place.
Ma'neha will lean towards Kin, noticing his confusion, and say, "Um, well, Lord Rashan has just told us we may ask for anything, and he is a Djinn, so that means he can grant wishes."
"Anything?"
"Well..." Ma'neha looks hesitant and--
Kin steps forward and says, in Kin'Tuk, that he wishes for more strength.
Rashan nods and looks to Kin and simply says, "So be it." Kin instantly feels himself infused with life and vigor and strength as his muscles expand and grow, and he gains a permanent +4 to his strength stat.
Katsu
Katsu wishes for: A staff with meta-magic reach, breath of life. 5 times a day. Since Katsu already has a quarterstaff +1 , Rashan can just hammer that or something.
"So be it." Rashan would not take your staff, but would speak to the forge before stoking the fires until they burned a brilliant white. In a few minutes, the forge would produce a long platinum bar that Rashan would begin shaping and condensing. In time, he would take the shaped rod, and fashion the head piece. The staff looks like a brilliant platinum shaft, adorned with golden wrapped stems and leaves. The golden floral head would produce five golden buds each night as the moons rise, and upon day break, the buds would open into five glorious Rose's of pearl and diamond. When the staff is used, or at the end of the day, the flowers would disappear in a shower of shimmering rose petals that would turn to a glittering dust before vanishing. At moon rise, 5 new buds would grow in their place.
Katsu: Thank you, Rashan. *Bows respectfully*. Best. Loot. Ever!
Aysel
After Brummen shook his head at Mu, giving the thought further consideration and second-, third-, fourth-guessing himself, he slides over to stand next to Mu. Once he has Mu's attention, he'll comment lowly, "This isn't exactly the scenario we were anticipating, but maybe we should talk about it anyway. If you agree, I'll ask Rashan for his permission for a moment to do so privately."
Feeling the heat that washed from the burning star at the center of the domain of the seventh forge Lord, surrounding him like a physical weight, Mu felt the tiny feathered presence of Trinity stir in his breast pocket as Kin's wish-forged muscled form stepped back from the center of the room.
Turning his head in Brummen's direction as his friend slipped to the back and over to his side, Mu simply nodded as Brummen proposed his suggestion, before responding wordlessly through the Telepathic Bond that the Team leaders all shared. [Yes, I think that would be an excellent idea. Both plans and circumstances change, and I think we will regret it if we don't at very least discuss this opportunity. If Rashan is willing, a few minutes could help so very much.]
Brummen steps up and bows before Rashan. "Thank you for your generosity. This is no small boon, and I do not take it lightly. I would make a request before any wish, if I may. With your permission, I would like to speak privately with a couple of my comrades before we give any answer to you."
Rashan would bow his head in understanding, but it is clear that if you leave this place, the opportunity to gain this wish will have passed.
Brummen gives a nod of understanding, turns and gives Mu a significant look, then steps over to Aysel and takes her hand. "Will you come with me, please?"
"Uh, sure?" Aysel glances between the two men. "What exactly about the wishes are we discussing?"
Brummen doesn't verbally respond, but leads Aysel and Mu off to the side, still fully in Rashan's sights so as to not wander too far away. He taps his head to indicate that she should expect this conversation to be telepathic. Releasing her hand, he crosses his arms in an attempt to hide his nervousness. However, it is quite obvious to anyone looking at him that something about this conversation has him 100% nervous. (nat1 on bluff)
QSDragonLord: Rashan uses a Sense desires(Su) DC28 will save on Bru. If Bru fails, it acts as Detect Thoughts, but he can also focus on Bru to know his deepest desires. Being a Su ability, the casting and results will be unknown to anyone but Rashan. Sorry, but yall have his attention now. Lol
Lorien: No worries. Well. This is awkward. That was a good roll on the die. Will save 31.
QSDragonLord: Very well, he is unable to listen to your thoughts. He would do a sense motive on the group to see if they seem duplicitous. Otherwise, he doesn't try to intervene. Sense motive is a 27.
Lorien: I don't think that they would seem duplicitous. Bru's just super nervous. And I don't think Rashan would even sense that Bru is nervous about Rashan himself.
QSDragonLord: Very well then, he would give you your space.
[the following conversation took place via Telepathic Bond]
Brummen: "Um, well. Hm. ... Aysel, over the summer, I told you that I'd asked the Elves for help in finding a way to let you stay wherever it is that you wished to stay. And I told you what the Elves found. I also promised I'd keep looking for other answers. Well, Mu and I have found a couple of additional options that we've wanted to discuss with you. It's just.. well... the timing... Anyways. I would have liked to present the options and let you consider them for however long you needed, but circumstances being what they are.... Um. Anyways. One of the options is a Wish. It's possible, Rashan may be able to let you be wherever it is you wish to be. But... there might be potential side-effects...." *Brummen looks to Mu*
Mu: "Brummen is right. We have never stopped searching for a way to get you to where you wish to stay. I know the bracelet of Janni Jaunt that I gave you would help in a minor way, but it won't be able to get you home, if that is where you wish to go.
"Our first thought was to ask Katsu for a Miracle when he gained enough strength, and I think we've found a way to get him to the proper strength as soon as next week. But we do not know how the miracle will manifest itself. We also played around with other ideas, such as banishing you as an extraplanar creature back to your home plane, or searching for the Phase Tree in the FeyWild and sending you through that, and ever more options were discussed, but until today we believed the Miracle to be our best option.
"We had also thought about finding someone like Nixie to Wish you home, but binding an Outsider to your will immediately before placing your fate in its hands is a very dangerous game. I do not doubt that someone in Nixie's position would seek for a way to corrupt any wish that we would ask for, but today is different. This is a Wish that is not being coerced but given as a gift and that is far more rare.
"I know both Brummen and I are prepared to give our wishes to get you home, but that is not a decision that we can make for you. If you desire, we could wish that your curse is no longer a curse, but a boon. We could wish that you could control your curse and go where you want to go, and stay where you want to stay, at your will, and not the whims of fate.
"This could be your gift...."
Bru shifts ever so slightly when Mu mentions the thought of a miracle, but otherwise waits silently and still as Mu explains their findings. [Aysel's passive Sense Motive would detect that Miracle has heretofore been Brummen's preference of the solutions.]
Aysel shakes her head. "Use your wishes for yourselves. To be honest... I am afraid of what I would find if I went back to my world. My old home, my people may not exist. Besides, you all are my family, my home now. But being able to go, or stay as I want is a good idea."
Bru gives a nod. "Know also... if you want more time to consider, or to word your wish carefully, or even if there's a different wish you want granted right now but still refuse the use of one of our wishes, the option of a wish -- or praying for a miracle -- is still available later. It doesn't have to be done now. Or, likewise, if there's something else you desire to wish for, but choose to take Rashan's good will for this, we will help see your other wish through as well." Bru glances at Mu briefly as he says this. "We were prepared to ensure you could get a wish, if you so desired, before Rashan made his offer."
Nodding slowly as Aysel voiced her fears for her old home, Mu felt a twinge in his own heart as unbidden thoughts wandered back to the last moments that he had seen his old home and fully understood having a home that would be unrecognizable if he were ever given the chance to return.
As quickly as his heart had sunk before, Mu felt his heart rise twice as fast as Aysel claimed ownership of her new home and her new family and that hope gave him one more thought on the matter.
"It is true, that your people might not exist, but then again they might... Even if they were lost in the collapsing of your world, with a Wish you could bring back at very least one even if their body is destroyed. If they are alive then they could still be brought here with that same wish. I know it has been some time, but shortly after we silenced Dephora on Cyphergate, I offered you the very first boon that I had to offer anyone at all. The truthful answer to any three questions... that boon still stands though its source has changed. Also in the Altered Reality of Hyphantonar, when Katsu was granted the strength of his full potential by Destiny herself, I made a request of him that he did not have the time to grant until after the power that was lent to him had faded. I asked him to open a Gate and call the name... of Fikir. Although it has been some time, we can now once again make the same request of Katsu with regards to Fikir but only if their soul still resides within a mortal frame. If it does not... **Glances at Rashan** One of us could use our wish to ensure that a body to resurrect is created.
"I know we're your family, but you do not need to be the last of your tribe... Say the word, and I will ask Trinity to answer your questions telepathically. If we discoverer that they have passed on, then we can bring them back... If we discover that they are still alive, then we can make sure that they are no longer alone...
"But once again this is not a decision we can make for you. You will guide how this will go, and we will do whatever we can to aid the decision you make...
"Mu," Aysel turned a serious gaze to him, "I appreciate the offer, but I would rather be the last than take Fikir from Nature's embrace if that is the case. And selfishness will not separate her from her happiness if that is her life. That being said," her expression softened, "knowing if she was alive or would be nice. So, I think I would use my wish to keep me where I want to be. I'm just... not entirely sure how to word it, and from the sounds of things you two might with all the effort you've put in."
Brummen uncrossed his arms and shoved his hands into his pockets, glancing to the side and muttering something about Mu being the genius. He then paused and glanced back at Rashan. "Actually... If he's giving the wish willingly... You might not have to word it at all. We might be able to simply explain what happens, and then explain the desired result and let him word it. That way, we don't accidentally wish you stuck here on the Plane of Fire. Or...?" He looks questioningly at each, unsure of his reasoning.
Feeling his eyebrows furrow at the thought of dictating the proper wording of a Wish, especially when using one to alter a curse of quirk of unknown details, Mu hummed quietly to himself as he thought about the opportunity before them.
"Ha, I'm far from a genius, Brummen. A genius actually would have actually taken the time to think about the wording of a Wish like Aysel had mentioned.
"You are right in this, a simple explanation might be sufficient but if it is not, a simply worded wish might be better than a complex one. Perhaps this wording would work, 'I wish to be able to walk the Planes as easily as I walk through the forest, choosing to stay, choosing to experience, and choosing to wander all at my Will'...."
[private conversation still in progress]
Mu
"I wish that my ideals would stay in alignment with that of my goddess."
MakoSoldier626: (i.e. Mu is wishing that if his alignment is ever altered it would automatically tick back to Neutral. He could still be mind-controlled if someone tried, but the core values of his conscious mind would be steady. Mu would be wishing that he stays himself.)
QSDragonLord: Hmm. Essentially an alignment lock? That sounds doable. It would only be changeable by another wish, or a miracle.
MakoSoldier626: That sounds perfect!
Brummen
Lorien: Brummen *bows respectfully before Rashan* "That which I desire the most requires time and a process, and cannot -- or, perhaps, should not -- be obtained through a wish. So, instead, I would wish for the ability to see that desire realized -- I wish for the power and grace to help my people realize the peace we are pursuing."
QSDragonLord: Rashan would see potential ascension, but recognize that this is beyond his pay grade. Such matters are the work of Etaf, and in Rashan's eyes, Etaf's hand is already on Bru. If Bru doesn't understand this, Rashan would remind him that Etaf is known by many names in many worlds. It is Bru's job to recognize him.
Rashan would hear the wish, and after some moments of searching, tell Bru that what he seeks is not Rashan's to give, but he can give him some direction. He would then essentially "help" Bru's faith, and show him the path that he must take in his own walk with Kyrie/Etaf to achieve ascension.
Ma'neha
Solemnly, with almost a guilty look, Ma'neha turned away while his friends discussed and made their wishes. Then, with a sudden look of resolve, he walked to Rashan, eyes shining with something akin to defiance, and whispered something in Rashan's ear. Then he walked away, taking pains to not look any of his friends in the eye.
