World Tree MUSH

THEN:
    The city has a dreamlike quality. It is a cone with myriad streams of quicksilver-colored water that flows downward to the edge and into an all-enshrouding mist. The water itself flows from the mouths of statues of alien deities that hold up various portions of the city's varied architecture. Overhead the sky is strange and wandering, filled with the light of other days and other possibilities. The bridge that Syd and his fellow envoys crossed was made of starlight and whispers, and the avenue they walked to reach the palace at the summit was composed of jade hands and wrists clasping one another. The citizenry seem to be figments of imagination, unreal clashing features shifting when one blinks or looks away.
    Syd leads the way, greeting the passers-by as the envoys are led by the imposing looming forms of crystal and gleaming iron cataphractoi to what's been called the Hall of Thought.
    The interior of the hall is darkness, the ceiling the night sky of some unknowable world. Entering the center of the strange space, a light shines and illuminates Syd and company. 

NOW:
    The doors to the Hall of Thought burst open and shatter with a thunderous cacophony as Syd makes his escape!

THEN

Itana el-Zayl is not with Syd. She doesn't *do* teamwork.

She showed up for the sole purpose of shopping, though as she deals some coin to a vendor in exchange for something or other, she's clearly not comfortable about it. Cities make Itana tense, and city-dwellers make her want to crawl out of her skin. She is completely oblivious to the goings-on in the Hall of Thought.

Itana would have no place there. Itana can't read.

NOW

Itana is saddling up her Chocobo and getting ready to make her way out of this wacky conetown of stars and wonders when there is an earth-shattering kaboom.

"What in," she starts with a hiss, reaching for her bow on instinct. It takes her a second to realize what's happening - someone is escaping. Maybe they have the right idea.

    THEN:
TMillia Rage had only just left the small town of Harmony Crossing in her wake, the Post War Administration Bureau director taking to the vines to see if she can find a way back to her home.
    She isn't so lucky, this time.
    Coming across a city like something out of a dream was not in her plans. Her boots carry her down the streets as she warily eyes the dreamlike almost imaginary denizens as she wanders the streets until she spots... A man who seems very out of place.
    Syd Fortis has the quality of being Very Real about him in this land of make believe, and she watches him enter the Hall of Thought, curious what he could be doing here, but not moving to intervene.
    NOW:
    Millia HAD been gearing up to leave, to once again start her wandering, when those doors come crashing open. This immediately draws the blonde's attention.
    "That can't be good." It's an idle comment to the OTHER person who seems all too real here; Itana and her chocobo, as Millia adjusts her fur cap.
    "... My hair is standing on end..." She mutters more to herself than anyone else, but that's no idle comment as she shifts into a readied stance, as though gearing up for conflict at any second.

THEN:
    Syd's only companion was a stout curvy woman wearing diaphanous robes, freckled pale white skin awhorl with shimmering silver tattoos that seemed almost alive. Syd stood quiet while the woman addressed the darkness.
    "Esteemed lords and ladies of Astiluth Eternal. I am Beatrix Fortis, Lunar Exalt and envoy of the Eight Nations of Autochthonia. This is my husband Syd Fortis, savant of the-"
    The woman was interrupted by an imperious voice. "WE KNOW WHO -HE- IS: THE BREAKER OF INFINITIES." A face made of flawless diamond adorned a shadow that stepped carefully around the circle of light that encompassed Beatrix and Syd. "And *we are the Adversary..." The face changed to one of featureless glimmering silver "The Advocate..." and next one of brilliant gold "The Adjudicator..." then one of five colors of jade "The Audience..." and finally one of steel polished to a mirror sheen "...and The Auditor."

NOW:
    Syd clings to the head of a great feathered lizard with moonsilver markings as the city comes alive with hostility. Animate jade hands grab at the feet of those who are Real, including the taloned feet of the tyrant lizard. Syd shouts, more to his wife than to Millia or Itana. "Make for the bridge!"

    THEN

Itana is shopping for stuff she can use to kill Golbez. Or find Golbez. Or get to wherever he is once she does find him.

Look, there are a lot of steps in Itana's revenge plan.


    NOW

Itana is definitely real. With a glance aside, she assesses Millia quickly. /She/ seems real enough, too. "Mmhmm," she murmurs as she belts her quiver at her hip and takes her bow in hand as she hops into her chocobo's saddle.

The huge yellow terror bird immediately warks in shock as stony talons rake at its limbs. Itana widens her eyes and jerks her reins with one hand, but the chocobo's yellow plumage is already bloodied in a couple places by the time it can dance into a rare spot of clear flooring. "I knew this was a bad idea!" she curses, but acknowledges Syd with a glance and a sharp nod before giving her chocobo a nudge with her heels. "Go!"

The bird doesn't need much prompting. It gallops for the bridge. As it runs, Itana turns around in the saddle and snaps off an arrow with a bark of, "Angarag!"

The arrow zips towards those talonious hands, and explodes into a huge billow of fire as Itana tries to blow away any pursuit en route to the bridge.

    Of course Millia's hair would be on edge here. It's been on edge essentially since she entered the city but couldn't place why... Now... Now that man who seems so Real comes bursting out of the Hall of Thought with his companion- now in her animal form, although Millia does not know that- come busting out causing all sorts of commotion.
    This seems... Like an excellent time to leave.
    Time to get to the bridge.
    Itana has a head start with her riding bird but...
    As soon as Millia breaks into a sprint, she's fast.
    She's aaaaalmost as fast as the chocobo as she goes rushing after, reaching hands up into her short, shoulder-length hair.
    In an instant her hair flares out behind her, much longer and trailing after her as she makes a clean break for it as hands reach out for her, a beat too slow.

NOW:
    The four-legged cataphractoi thunder through the city streets, chasing after the Real people. Javelins of lightning crackle through the air as Millia, Itana, and Syd are harried through suddenly cramped streets devoid of the dreamlike citizenry. Beatrix, in her tyrant lizard form, crashes into the side of a building, throwing Syd, skidding across the jade hands as her flesh warps, changing into an enormous jumping spider that clambers and jumps across the architecture. Syd is caught fast by the hands in the street, struggling to his feet as they grasp at his armor.

THEN:
    Syd opens his mouth to speak, but his wife gently nudges him with an elbow. "I joined the expedition specifically for this reason." She hisses at him. Regaining her composure, she addressed the darkness once again. "Lords and ladies, we've come to ask for your help."
    "Your husband is accused of egregious and unforgivable crimes against the lords of chaos." That was the voice and face of the Adjudicator. 
    "HE HAS BROUGHT SHAPE TO THE UNSHAPED." The Adversary. "PRINCE BALOR HAS DEMANDED =JUSTICE=, AND WE AIM TO EXECUTE IT.'
    Beatrix's eyes narrowed for a moment, then she turns to Syd and shoves him the way they came. "**Run**."
    And he did, bringing the great hammer to bear against the unseen doors with a thunderous strike.

Itana, no longer chained to the past, reaches for another arrow even as she spurs her chocobo in retreat. It's not an easy task. She can't exactly escape things faster than the speed of light. A lightning bolt sears dangerously close; another grazes her and leaves her twitching and trying her best to curl up in a pained ball in the saddle, her thigh scorched by the near-hit.

"I would like an explanation!" she snaps towards Syd, but before she can get it, the hands are grabbing at him and the tyrant lizard is down. The rider clicks her teeth in momentary frustration. She keeps getting drawn into these things and it puts her no closer to killing the man who killed her people.

    /So be it./

"Run!" she urges her chocobo before toppling to one side in what seems like a graceless flop out of the saddle - until she rolls and lands in a crouch, bow sweeping forward dramatically. Her arm blursas she releases several arrows, one after the other. She's aiming for jade hands.

Not the hands near her. The hands near Syd. She's trying to smash enough of them to bits that he and his lizard companion can get up.

"Hurry before more of them grab you!"

    "I'd like some answers too."
    That would be Millia trailing up the rear, hair flowing behind her as she flees the cataphractoi. But no sooner than Itana tumbles out of her saddle and starts firing for the jade hands hounding Syd, Millia swerves her course.
    Right for the archer.
    Taking a tumbling roll to the ground, her hair fans out, before taking on the form of a multitude of razor sharp saw blades- slashing and buzzing at the hands reaching for Itana while she's crouched and firing.

    Syd gets to his feet with help from Itana, relieved the short hands of the law are no longer grasping his arms. "I created a world from formless chaos and they're angry about it." He sounds exasperated. He runs with them, using subtle magic to render the force of his feet as sledgehammers to the stone fingers and hands.
    As they approach the bridge, new problems emerge as the sounds of the cataphractoi's hooves are joined by the groaning of toppling buildings as the alien statuary animates. Their steps cause the world to quake and roil as they too make for the bridge.
    The silver-patterned spider leaps to rejoin the group, shuffling her features around to become a feathered therapod, not dissimilar to the chocobo. With a smooth motion, her mouth snags Syd by the collar. To Millia and Itana she says "Hop on if you'd like."
    The bridge of starlight and whisper looms ahead, a rainbow in the mists surrounding the city.

"/Created/ a world?" Itana echoes with a sharp blink and a glance at Syd. "--Explain later. Right now, we escape."

Itana's chocobo didn't go far; it's dodging jade hands up ahead, circling back towards her. "I have a ride," she assures the shapeshifting... whatever she is, before darting back to leap into the huge terrorbird's saddle. The bird rears with a loud wark and falls into a swift formation with Syd and mount.

The thundering steps of the cataphractoi don't make things any easier. With a nudge of her heels, Itana urges her chocobo for the bridge and again cranks herself around in her style, Parthian shot-style. An arrow at her string, she squints and takes aim at one of the approaching statue-creatures. "Sanchir," she murmurs before flicking her arm shockingly quickly.

An arrow should have little impact on something made of stone or steel. This one isn't trying to pierce - it's trying to /smash/ with an immense force. There's a ripping *BOOM* as the arrow breaks the sound barrier, aimed centre-of-mass on the animate statue.

    That... Definitely sounds like something that will need explaining.
    But now is not the time for it.
    Right now, Millia is back into a full tilt sprint. She's not even winded as she breaks for the bridge with the others. Her specialty is close in fighting, and right now does not seem like the moment to stand ground and really do that with the entire city proving to be so hostile as she hops on the... Giant moonsilver tattoo'd spider when offered.

    Itana's arrow hits true and the statue collapses as its chest explodes backwards, scattering rocks across the shifting cityscape.
    As they beat feet across the ephemeral bridge, Beatrix grouses loudly. "I told you it was a trap!"
    "I don't think it was a trap!"
    "You always see the best in others!"
    "Can we argue when we're not being chased by an *entire* thrice-damned city?!"
    The situation stops when they all finish crossing the bridge, the power of Astiluth Eternal, unshaped monster, ending at that boundary. The borderland is shifty, resembling a grassland of rolling hills with scrubby trees. Here it is twilight compared to the strange daylight of the city.
     Syd sits himself down in the dry grass with a big sigh. "I'm deeply sorry you two were caught up in all this. I owe you some explanations and I'll explain as best I can." He glances at the pale woman who is his wife.
    She snorts. "*I'm* going to see if there's any dinner to catch here that won't turn you inside out when you eat it."

Itana beats feet. Well, her chocobo does. As they sprint into the clear and the action fades to a low ebb, she's still looking back, alert for danger pursuing them.

Finally, the little party comes to a half. With a huff, Itana slides to her feet, then sinks to a knee in the grass, bow over her shoulder. In the low light, she unclasps her cloak to better tend to the burn on her thigh. A potion helps.

"I'm listening," she encourages with a glance up at Syd as she applies the potion to her injury like a salve.

    Eventually Millia, too, comes to a halt. Slowing her pace to join the group as they convene for a moment of respite in the aftermath of the horrorterror of an entire dream city coming to life to attack.
    "I should have known something was up." She says blandly as she runs her fingers through her golden hair and it recedes back to shoulder-length for her.
    "My hair was standing on end since the moment I walked into that place." She says, eyeing Syd a little coolly. "I'm listening, too."

    Syd tousles his dark hair, glancing at the two women. "After visiting some other worlds, I realize that my own universe's history seems... insane."
    "A very very long time ago, the gods rebelled against their titan creators, creating an army from us mortals to fight. Stars died, worlds burned, countless souls were snuffed out. And we lost."
    "So we gathered up whomever we could into a rebel titan and fled the Spiral of galaxies. We've been hounded by the titans' armada for... forty-three hundred years? Some of us came up with a plan to escape the titans by creating a new world entirely. And that's where I come in. I wove a world from the unformed chaos of the Wyld and it *really* pissed off the locals we didn't know existed before."

It doesn't take much for Itana to care for her injury. The potion's in an unmarked bottle; it seems like it's her own concoction. By the time Syd's finished that chunk of the explanation, the woman's corking the potion again, the burn wounds no longer in evidence.

She flops to a cross-legged seat in the grass and glances at Millia, momentarily curious at the sight of her hair flexing and shifting like that. Then it's back to Syd, not quite understanding, but at least following the narrative.

"I will not pretend that I am a master of how worlds work. But at least you came out of this alive."

    "That sounds complex." Millia puts it delicately, crossing her arms under her chest.
    "This 'tree' and the worlds that abound are still fairly new to me." She admits. "So I won't pretend to understand either. But at least *we* got out of it alive." She says.
    

    Syd nods solemnly. "I appreciate both of you helping me escape." He gives them both directions to reach Home, should they want to visit it. 
    He gets to his feet. "Ah, I should go find my wife."