I saved this quote from Sarpedon (Rob) because it's so true:
(711) Sarpedon: It's called "Method Gaming" GM.
(711) Sarpedon: You ask yourself, "What's my motivation?" Then you hit them with 12 mind flayers.
In this episode, we discover some nice secrets...
(705) Demiurge: Okay, during your stops you trade goods and services. Cookie turns out to be an asset, as she was a hairdresser for several years, and is popular amongst the ladies during the stops. :)
(705) Demiurge: hehe
(707) Imhotep: (A talkative hairdresser, who could have figured it?)
(711) Sarpedon: (So Cookie actually pulls her weight. Cool.)
(705) Demiurge: (If you can think of other clever ways to barter, let me know)
(707) Imhotep: (Dude where do you find these pics?)
(707) Imhotep: (Imhotep makes a sign, "Will build you a long lasting tomb for food.")
(711) Sarpedon: (Hmm, we can take on cargo for delivery. RivEx."
(711) Sarpedon: (Lol!)
(705) Demiurge: (Plus on the Riverworld, it's possible to have repeat business!)
(707) Imhotep: (Who knew Imhotep could be so valuable in the afterlife?)
(705) Demiurge: Okay, during a stop Imhotep gets into a conversation with a man called Edison.
(707) Imhotep: (This should prove interesting...)
(705) Demiurge: He mentions that he has been experimenting with the grails.
** (707) Imhotep becomes extremely curious... **
(705) Demiurge: "Obviously, I can't break into it or damage it. But I tried something."
(705) Demiurge: He pulls out one of the firelighters. "I put one of these into it, closed it up, then put it on the grailstone for charging."
(707) Imhotep: "And what happened then?"
(711) Sarpedon: (That is interesting. Never considered it.)
(705) Demiurge: "It exploded. Not the grail. It wasn't damaged. But when I opened the grail it burst. It killed me."
(705) Demiurge: "So I kept experimenting."
(705) Demiurge: "I discovered that if you use a spent firelighter, one that has been all used up, something interesting happens."
(705) Demiurge: "The case bakes away, and leaves you with this."
(711) Sarpedon: (lol)
(705) Demiurge: He unwraps a small piece of cigarette paper. It's a small amount of metal. "I believe it's iron, and copper." Not much. About the size of a BB.
** (707) Imhotep eyes the copper intensely. **
(707) Imhotep: "That is something that we could find a use for, if available in high quantities."
(711) Sarpedon: (Put about 9000 together and we'll get one decent sword.)
(705) Demiurge: (You start doing some math in your head. Everyone gets a new firelighter about every six months.)
** (711) Sarpedon hurries over at the mention of iron and copper. **
(705) Demiurge: (There are many of the spent ones lying around, though most of them get thrown in the River.)
(707) Imhotep: "That would take far too long to collect, but we have time. Perhaps if we started collecting them now..."
(707) Imhotep: "Did it explode if the firelighter was empty?"
(711) Sarpedon: "What news, my friend?"
(705) Demiurge: (No, the volatile parts were apparently used up.)
(705) Demiurge: (That should have been in quotes. Edison talking.)
(707) Imhotep: "Most interesting, Sarpedon. There may be a way to collect small amounts of copper, and something called 'iron.' It might take years to get amounts of some use, however."
(705) Demiurge: (If you were stationary, and regularly got people to turn in their used lighters, it would take less time. If you were in a large community. But that's not too possible on the move.)
(705) Demiurge: (You have heard of iron and steel and other alloys, from talking with engineers of later years.)
(707) Imhotep: "We can begin saving them, however. Something else may come to pass."
(711) Sarpedon: "That is news of note. My friend, we have one thing in abundance, and that is time."
(705) Demiurge: (I am assuming that you have talked with many people and learned a lot about the later history. Especially with Imhotep's "curious" disad.)
(707) Imhotep: (Imhotep doesn't believe most of it, though.)
(711) Sarpedon: "I have used iron, though it was not as useful as bronze, though much harder. I see that it is still difficult to gather enough to make a decent blade." He laughs.
(707) Imhotep: "With metal tools, it would be possible to shape stone."
(705) Demiurge: (Maybe a spear tip)
(711) Sarpedon: "And leave a monument to our glory?"
** (711) Sarpedon laughs again. **
(707) Imhotep: "No, perhaps something of more use to the walking dead."
(707) Imhotep: "Tougher shelters."
(705) Demiurge: (Maybe a few nails.)
(707) Imhotep: (A massive ram for the front of the boat...)
(705) Demiurge: As you discuss things, Bill walks up casually and mentions to Sarpedon quietly. "I know you saw me. I think we need to talk about it."
(711) Sarpedon: (Copper helmets, iron spearheads, heck, tools to make better weapons or more tools.)
(711) Sarpedon: "Then let us speak, Bill."
(711) Sarpedon: "I have no secrets."
** (707) Imhotep is momentarily distracted, thinking of massive quarries and large building projects. **
(705) Demiurge: "Well, maybe I do. Let's go away from the others. Did you tell Imhotep? I know you two are tight. Do you want to bring him?"
(711) Sarpedon: "That depends on your intentions."
Bill: "How about somewhere out of hearing distance, but within sight of the River, where we can be seen."
(711) Sarpedon: "I keep my own counsel. Half-gods do not need to bother mortals with trivial matters."
** Bill looks nervous, like he knows he shouldn't be doing this. **
** (711) Sarpedon glances at Imhotep. "Bill and I must converse. Do you wish to join us, my friend. His words may be of interest, but I dare not speak for any but myself." **
Bill: "Anyway, let's not say anything too close to...." he glances toward the grailstone.
** (711) Sarpedon gives him a blank stare when he looks at the grailstone. **
(711) Sarpedon: (He's playing this one VERY close to his hairy chest.)
(711) Sarpedon: (Actually, hairless chest. My bad.)
(707) Imhotep: "I will join you, if you seek my counsel. Gwynefra, take this bead. Collect the used firelighters for me."
Bill: (No, your chest is hairy. Just your face is hairless. All your other hair is intact.)
(711) Sarpedon: "Lead on, Bill."
** (707) Imhotep looks questioningly at Sarpedon, but follows anyway. **
(711) Sarpedon: (Hehe, no depilatories for the entire bod?)
** Gwenefra looks and smiles, "Is that metal? Where did you get metal?" **
** (711) Sarpedon takes his spear with him, of course. **
(707) Imhotep: "I will tell you later, do as I say, child."
(705) Demiurge: (Yeah, it makes Kazz look kind of odd. Hairy neanderthal bod, kissably smooth cheeks.)
** (707) Imhotep smiles a fatherly smile at Gwynefra. **
** Gwenefra makes a humph noise at being called child, since she is now 14. But she does as you say. **
(707) Imhotep: "She is a willful girl, but they all are at that age."
** Gwenefra has entered the moody, hormonal stage. **
** (711) Sarpedon nods, having once had children of his own. **
(705) Demiurge: (You reflect that there are no more children, just teenagers. A few more years you won't even have those.)
(711) Sarpedon: (You mean the stage women are in all their adult lives?) :o
(705) Demiurge: You meet Bill out in the tall grass.
(711) Sarpedon: "Now, you seem eager to speak. Do so. We listen."
** Bill sighs. "Okay, here's the deal. I will tell you a little. I'll answer questions within reason. But I am not going to betray the project. I just ask that I be allowed to stay with the group." **
** (707) Imhotep looks puzzled. **
** Bill smiles curiously, "First of all. Where did you get metal? You weren't supposed to have metal here." **
** (707) Imhotep smiles. **
(707) Imhotep: "It is something to be revealed later, depending on if I am right or not. A few more days may reveal more."
Bill: "Right about what?"
Bill: "Okay, first of all. Yes, I am a spy. I am basically one of many sent to monitor the overall project."
(707) Imhotep: "How to get copper, of course. Copper is a very important metal. My people used to die to protect copper mines."
(711) Sarpedon: "We suspected that this was some petty game of the gods, toying with the lives of mortals. It is ever thus."
(711) Sarpedon: "Even the gods need spies? How interesting."
** (711) Sarpedon looks unimpressed. **
(707) Imhotep: "May we know the purpose of this project?"
Bill: "Well, let's get one thing out of the way. I don't know what gods exist, but they are as distant and mysterious to us as they are to you."
Bill: "Hmm. I guess the best answer is 'because we can' " He smiles. "Let me ask you something."
Bill: "Imhotep. Your people had a belief. You believed that at the end of a person's life, his heart is weighed against a feather to determine his virtue. Right?"
** (711) Sarpedon waits for Imhotep's response. His view of the afterlife is...clouded by the circumstances of his death and his half-divine heritage. **
(707) Imhotep: "At the end of life, one journeys to the afterlife. Things are buried with him to help him on his way. His body is prepared for the journey, all of the parts are left with him, for who can say what the gods will judge one on?"
Bill: "Well, I am sure that you have met many people in your life that you knew would be judged poorly. I know you don't have a god's wisdom, but there are some people you know will have to answer for many sins."
(707) Imhotep: "Such as Goering?"
(711) Sarpedon: "And the Ro-man."
** (711) Sarpedon also includes Achilles, Agamemnon, and especially Patroclus. **
Bill: "Good example. Now let's say you had the ability to give everyone a second chance to live a virtuous life. To save them from damnation. Wouldn't you have to do it? Wouldn't you consider it your ethical duty?"
(707) Imhotep: "You mean the ones who were unworthy?"
Bill: "It's funny. The second chancers got it closer than anyone."
Bill: "Well, we can't judge the worthy from the unworthy, can we? We don't have that wisdom. We have to bring back everyone."
(707) Imhotep: "We?"
Bill: "Well, not me personally. The ones in charge."
(707) Imhotep: "Those in charge? Are they like you?"
(711) Sarpedon: "That is silly. Death does not necessarily make one regard life as precious. Bullies, thieves, and murderers might see it as a chance to continue in their callings."
(711) Sarpedon: "As we have seen."
Bill: "They might. Or they might not. Give a man a century, and he may change. He must be given that chance."
(707) Imhotep: "Is that why we are here? Were we found lacking in virtue?"
(711) Sarpedon: "Did you ask them if they desired such a chance? The Ger-man seemed to long for death, or at least oblivion."
Bill: "We have devices that can read a person's wathan and determine their level of ethical development. But we can't determine who you will be tomorrow."
Bill: "We brought back everyone. The just and the unjust alike."
(707) Imhotep: "And what is wathan?"
** (711) Sarpedon finds that notion puzzling. He was a king, demigod, and warrior. He fought for what he believed was proper. How could he be lacking in virtue? **
** Bill considers. "A 'wathan' is an extra-physical force that lives and grows in symbiosis with highly-developed lifeforms." **
Bill: "Without a wathan, a being might be intelligent, but would have no sense of self. No real self-awareness."
(707) Imhotep: "It is a soul you describe."
** Bill nods. "That's a good enough term. Albiet inexact. The founders of the Riverworld project installed wathan collectors on earth in 97,000 BC. The wathans of the dead were collected and stored, then brought here." **
Bill: "The wathan stores the image of the physical body, as well as the person's memory and personality."
(711) Sarpedon: "So we are not real, only shadows of the living."
Bill: "No. We are real. Our body images were read, and new bodies were created for us. Any flaws or damage was corrected, of course."
Bill: "This is a physical world."
(707) Imhotep: "So... Let me summarize... We are here, to live and attempt to attain virtue..."
Bill: "The wathan can't operate on its own. You remember learning about computers? The wathan is like the software, and the brain is the hardware it runs on."
(711) Sarpedon: "I perfect copy is still a copy, not the original."
Bill: "Your body is a copy. Your wathan, your soul, is yours. You are still you."
Bill: "Anyway, I would like to stay with the group." He looks at his feet, slightly embarrassed. "I... I don't want to leave Cookie."
(707) Imhotep: "And what will happen when all achieve virtue?"
(711) Sarpedon: "So then I am truly dead and this is Hades. Honestly, it is rather pathetic. Sort of like the bumblings of a curious but rude child with the power to change things to his liking--petty, gross, and ultimately empty."
(711) Sarpedon: "A better question is what happens if some never achieve it."
(707) Imhotep: "The answer to both will prove enlightening, I am certain."
Bill: "You are too attached to your old body, Sarpedon. Your actions and thoughts are what are important. You're obviously not dead."
Bill: "I'd... rather not say. I'm not too clear on the details, myself. But some people won't make it, I am sure. Like you said, Sarpedon, some people won't change and don't want to."
(711) Sarpedon: "If you insist, but I cannot help but resent this mockery of life. I'm sure the rest of your 'toys' would agree with me."
Bill: "Well, the Ethicals, the rulers of this world, have only the best intentions for humanity, I'm sure."
(707) Imhotep: "Ethicals?"
(711) Sarpedon: "Consider that when, not if, some refuse to attain virtue, that consigns the rest of us to eternal stagnation. What happens when it all ends? What happens when the gods tire of this game? What happens to the pawns?"
Bill: "Again, I don't know the details."
(711) Sarpedon: "If these are their best intentions, I shiver at the thought of their worst."
(707) Imhotep: "What can you tell us of those who rule here?"
** (711) Sarpedon spits on the ground. "Ethicals! Hah!" **
Bill: "They are human, like me. They are the 12 who proved most worthy."
Bill: "We were all. raised on a place we called the Gardenworld"
(711) Sarpedon: "Worthy? Who judged them so? Who gave them power to decide the fates of millions?"
Bill: "As I said, we have machines that can determine ethical development."
Bill: "They can read your wathan."
** (707) Imhotep laughs at the thought of a soul-reading machine. **
(711) Sarpedon: "And if these machines are flawed in some way, like a tiny crack in a spear shaft...what then?"
Bill: "Not for me to say. Any plan can go wrong, I guess. You just have to do your best and hope."
(711) Sarpedon: "When do we meet these 'Ethicals?'"
(707) Imhotep: "Sound advice, when plying unknown waters."
(711) Sarpedon: "Where is their Olympus?"
Bill: "Anyway, as for me, I was born on earth in 1970, and died of pneumonia at the age of two. I lived on the Gardenworld for a few centuries while the Riverworld was being prepared."
Bill: "So if you are wondering where everyone below the age of six is, there's your answer."
Bill: "Well, I won't say anything about how to find the Ethicals. I said I wouldn't sabotage the project. Though I will say that we suspect that someone high up is trying to mess things up."
(711) Sarpedon: "And why would someone so ethical do such a thing?"
** (711) Sarpedon 's voice drips with sarcasm. **
(707) Imhotep: "Indeed? What evidence would point to such a thing?"
(711) Sarpedon: "You may tell your masters that I find their creation to be a shallow joke."
Bill: "They didn't tell me. Just that I should keep my eyes and ears open. We think that he may have contacted some of the riverdwellers to on his behalf."
Bill: ("act on his behalf")
(711) Sarpedon: "I would say this to them myself, but you say it is forbidden lest it imperil the project. So be it."
(711) Sarpedon: "Again, a shallow joke." Sarpedon crosses his arms. For him, the discussion is finished.
Bill: "So.. is there a reason you are headed upriver? Or is it an exploratory mission, as you've said?"
(707) Imhotep: "Let us leave it this way: It would serve no purpose to cast you aside, Bill. Perhaps we may have questions later that you can answer, therefore, you may still accompany us."
Bill: "All right. Thanks."
(711) Sarpedon: "Bill, when I was more than just a shadow of a living thing, I was a hero. Heroes do not stand still and let their beards grow."
(711) Sarpedon: "I have no wish to visit the sea at the end of the river. Therefore, finding its source is the only other option. There. That is the explanation you seek."
(707) Imhotep: "I seek to explore the river, as I have said. Where I am from, the river Nile was life, and sometimes it was explored."
(707) Imhotep: "We knew of course the sea was downriver, and often explorations were lead upriver, sometimes to surpising results. New resources were discovered, such as limestone quarries."
Bill: "That's okay. I don't mind travelling and exploring. And you guys are a good bunch."
(705) Demiurge: (Actually Tom Mix said that downriver ended with an underground tunnel, and smashing death.)
(707) Imhotep: (Yes, but I'm not mentioning that to him just yet.)
(711) Sarpedon: (Exactly. Why bother? Mix seemed like an honest guy.)
(711) Sarpedon: (That and NOBODY except Junko seems to have been to the end of the river.)
Bill: "I can't really be too judgmental about whoever is sabotaging the project. I'm betraying it myself. I shouldn't be telling you what I've been telling you."
(705) Demiurge: (Well, Junko saw the source. Tom Mix saw the end.)
(707) Imhotep: "Will it matter that much that what little you have told us is now known to us two?"
(711) Sarpedon: "We do not judge you for your honesty, only for your blind adherence to the whims of your masters. Tell us of this Gardenworld."
(711) Sarpedon: (Sorry, by "end of the river" I meant the other end--the source.)
Bill: "If I were blindly obedient, I would have left, and told everything by now. I think I am starting to go native."
(711) Sarpedon: "Left? Hah! Where could you go? This place has no end or beginning, it seems."
** Bill smiles. "I have a device in my brain. I can kill myself with a thought, and wake up in headquarters tomorrow." **
(707) Imhotep: "That does not sound a pleasant fate."
(711) Sarpedon: "What is this 'headquarters'? What is it like?"
(711) Sarpedon: "And you have not described Gardenworld."
** (711) Sarpedon is becoming irritated by this series of revelations. He feels as though it is a giant insult to all the poor wretches who are trapped here. **
Bill: "It's nice. A little sterile, I'd say. Gardenworld is what it sounds like. Pastoral, peaceful. Though we had areas where we could live and immerse ourselves in the culture where we were supposed to have lived. I still miss my DVD collection."
** (707) Imhotep looks puzzled. What are DVDs? **
(711) Sarpedon: "Send me there. Perhaps my kingdom remains."
(711) Sarpedon: "And perhaps there are Acheans (Greeks) to kill." He smiles coldly.
Bill: "Gardenworld is another world away. The headquarters is at the head of the river. But I'll say this. It's not designed to be easy to get to."
Bill: "We call it the Dark Tower. Because that's what it looks like."
** (711) Sarpedon listens intently. **
(711) Sarpedon: "Is it guarded?"
Bill: "Guarded? No. Just very hard to get to."
** (711) Sarpedon sighs. **
** Bill sighs, as if losing some internal battle. "Fine, I'll help. I'll go renegade. But I don't think I will be much help. I've told you most of what I know." **
Bill: "First of all, there are some metal deposits on this planet. But you have to know where they are, and dig though a lot of grass and dirt, and I don't know where they are."
(711) Sarpedon: "One we spoke with lived briefly at the head of the river. There are demons there. Is this true?"
Bill: "Demons? No. They are the titanthrops. They were never numerous and they died out about 50,000 BC. Let's just say the gods experimented with making a really massive humanoid species, and it was a failed experiment."
Bill: "Most of them live in the first 20,000 miles of the River."
(711) Sarpedon: "Twenty thousand miles?" The Lycian king is openly astonished.
** Bill smiles. "Their people died of flat feet. When you are an 800 pound biped, it hurts to walk far. They weren't able to migrate easily, and any climate change was disaster." **
Bill: "As a result, they are very territorial. Junko probably resurrected in the middle of some kind of turf war."
** (707) Imhotep thinks dying of flat feet is a very foolish thing. **
Bill: "Anyway, they are used to cold weather, so they were resurrected up in the north, near the head of the river. The Dark Tower is at the north pole."
(711) Sarpedon: "How far away are we from the head of the river?"
Bill: "No idea. We're in a temperate zone, but that's all I can say. The river is winding and zigzaggy."
** (711) Sarpedon nods. **
Bill: (You have met enought people and talked to know about arctic, temperate and tropical areas.)
(711) Sarpedon: "Then we have a long journey ahead. We should dress warmly." He laughs expansively.
(711) Sarpedon: "When I caught you talking to your grail, what were you doing?"
(711) Sarpedon: "I thought you were mad."
Bill: "Making a standard report. It just gets entered into the computer like all the others."
(711) Sarpedon: "And that song you were singing. That is some language, correct?"
Bill: "Song? Well, I was speaking the Ethical's language."
** (707) Imhotep ponders the implications of a language made up by people who think they are the most ethical. **
(711) Sarpedon: "If you were not alive at the end of the world, how did it end?"
Bill: "As far as I am aware, it didn't. 2015 marked the end of the first phase of the Riverworld project. Anyone after that will be in phase two."
(711) Sarpedon: "What is phase two?"
Bill: "The same thing, really. Just for everyone after 2015."
(711) Sarpedon: "What year is it in the world of the living?"
** Bill considers. "Ummmm.... late 2300s?" **
(711) Sarpedon: "You aren't sure or you aren't willing to say. Either one is acceptable."
Bill: "I'm not sure of earth time. It's 7 A.R. That's the important date now."
(711) Sarpedon: "My last question: why do those from 2015 and later receive a different world? What sets them apart?"
(711) Sarpedon: (Omit from 2015. Should only be later than. My bad.)
Bill: "Mostly just space considerations. By the time we got to the 20th and 21st century, the population of the earth was enormous."
(711) Sarpedon: "Oh, and why are there no infants? Were they judged too virtuous to be of use in this game?"
Bill: "I already said, anyone aged 6 or younger was sent to the gardenworld. They hadn't had a chance to live on their own, so they were raised by Ethical standards."
(707) Imhotep: "Very strange. The hour grows late, Bill, we will be missed soon. We should return, and see to the crew."
Bill: "Yeah, it's almost dinner. I'm hungry."
(711) Sarpedon: "I did not hear that part. I am sorry to make you repeat it. Imhotep is correct. We would not want your masters noting your long conversation with us. We will keep your secret safe."
(711) Sarpedon: "Thank you for trusting us, Bill."
(711) Sarpedon: "We will not abuse that trust."
Bill: "Thanks. I don't want Cookie knowing, especially. If things change, and people find out things, I may tell her. But I don't want her to think of me differently."
** (707) Imhotep laughs. "Perhaps it would be best not to tell her something you do not wish the entire human race to know." **
Bill: "She's not that bad. Her voice just carries well, that's all."
** (711) Sarpedon joins Imhotep in laughter. **
(711) Sarpedon: "It certainly does carry--through two decks!"
(707) Imhotep: "That it does."
(707) Imhotep: "Come Sarpedon, my appetite has returned with a vengeance."
(705) Demiurge: (You all return. The grailstones fire off, and charge your grails."
(705) Demiurge: (Well there you go! The Riverworld was created by religious nuts!)
(707) Imhotep: (After a while, Imhotep catches Sarpedon by himself.)
(707) Imhotep: "Sarpedon, we must speak of this. How much of it do you believe?"
(711) Sarpedon: "Away from the grailstones, my friend."
** (711) Sarpedon leads him away. **
(711) Sarpedon: "Let us dine in comfort and privacy."
(707) Imhotep: (Thought we were away...)
(711) Sarpedon: (Heh, I'm Method Gaming!)
** (711) Sarpedon is motivated by paranoid hunger. **
(707) Imhotep: "My thoughts are thus: I do not know if I believe any of what he said. But he believes most of it, I think."
(707) Imhotep: "He would have us believe that he is on our side now? What else would a spy do when caught?"
(707) Imhotep: "Still, I believe he will be useful, for such tidbits as we may gain from him."
(711) Sarpedon: "I agree. Much of what he said seems silly. Surely beings gifted with so much power would do something more...selfish. Instead they create a giant shadow theater in an attempt to see if their toys might act differently. It's degrading for the toys and reflects poorly on the gods, if they can be called such. It makes the intrigues of Zeus and his fellow immortals seem noble by comparison."
(711) Sarpedon: "Still, some things matched what your specter said, namely the date of the end being a code for the spies--and the existence of the spies themselves."
(705) Demiurge: (If it's true, then you are reminded of the Mysterious Stranger's claim they they are arrogant. And he said he would see the Riverworld place in the hands of the Valley dwellers.)
(711) Sarpedon: "If you see the ragged man again, will you tell him that they suspect a saboteur?"
(707) Imhotep: "If the ultimate goal were to drive people to virtue, would there not be something done to steer people towards it?"
(705) Demiurge: Make an IQ roll?
(707) Imhotep: "I believe that I will. What he has said has turned out true so far."
(707) Imhotep: (Who, me?)
(705) Demiurge: Sure.
(711) Sarpedon: "Agreed. Their efforts at shaping the world to make it safer failed. People still murder, rape, and plunder without the benefit of metals."
(707) Imhotep: [ 3d6 ] -> [5,4,5] = (14) IQ 12
(705) Demiurge: (Yeek!)
(705) Demiurge: (Sarpedon can try)
(707) Imhotep: (Imhotep the idiot.)
(705) Demiurge: (It's not super important.)
(705) Demiurge: (Oh no! Sarpedon disappeared!)
(707) Imhotep: (Yipe!)
(705) Demiurge: (Like the pic I put up?)
(711) Sarpedon: (Hang on.)
(707) Imhotep: (Patroclus' revenge!)
(711) Sarpedon: (Actually, I don't get the pic since I don't watch Kim.)
(707) Imhotep: (I don't really understand the graphic, to be honest.)
(705) Demiurge: Aw, okay.
(711) Sarpedon: [3d6] -> [3,1,5] = (9) IQ 11
(711) Sarpedon: (Heh! Brilliant for a guy who never went to school!)
** (707) Imhotep is still distracted by thoughts of metal tools turning stone into lasting monuments. **
(711) Sarpedon: "Imhotep, perhaps they have tried to steer the toys. Consider the Second Chance idiots. If that is the case, how can they continue with the farce since they have altered the outcome? If it were not such a poor joke and upon us, I would enjoy laughing in the faces of these Ethicals."
(707) Imhotep: "You think those fool preachers are the tools of the Ethicals?"
(711) Sarpedon: "Perhaps. Bill mentioned that of all of us, they were the closest to 'getting in right' as he put it."
(707) Imhotep: "Then that may be. There is one fact overriding all, though, and that is genuine or not, Bill wishes us to believe that he is on our side."
(707) Imhotep: "And I for one am not convinced. I may never be. We do not know for sure what or who these Ethicals may be, if they even play the games that he described."
(707) Imhotep: "But, we will consider Bill a resource for now."
(711) Sarpedon: "Yes. A resource, but not a friend."
** (707) Imhotep laughs. "There are few enough of those already, Sarpedon." **
(707) Imhotep: "Perhaps the Night Pharoah will illuminate the matter a bit more. It is wise to consider his counsel with the same precautions that we give Bill's."
(711) Sarpedon: "Have you wondered why they chose us?"
(707) Imhotep: "Yes, I have. But neither has given a clue to the answer."
(707) Imhotep: "Bill chose you because you saw him do something difficult to explain."
(705) Demiurge: (Maybe he has a device that detects PC glow.)
(707) Imhotep: "The Night Pharoah, I cannot even begin to guess."
(707) Imhotep: "Perhaps tonight's rains will bring some answer."
(707) Imhotep: "In any case, I do not believe that I am the only one the Night Pharoah has visited."
(711) Sarpedon: "Perhaps."
(711) Sarpedon: "I agree. As Bill mentioned, he is contacting others of like mind. I wonder who they could be?"
(707) Imhotep: "I wonder what he will think of Bill's revelation, and turn of face?"
(707) Imhotep: "Let us turn to more practical matters. I have given willful Gwynefra the task of collecting all the used firelighters that she can find. When the grail fires next, perhaps there will be some more metal."
(707) Imhotep: "Let us go and see how she has fared. Or if some boy child has swayed her from her task."
(711) Sarpedon: "She is of that age. You are a good father to her. I wonder how many firelighters we can place in one grail? Perhaps Edi-son will tell us."
** (707) Imhotep grins. "I intend to find out myself, naturally." **
(707) Imhotep: "If one used firelighter produces a small ball of metal, what should many do?"
(707) Imhotep: "Also, perhaps some of these other implements may change properties, such as these things called 'scissors.'"
(711) Sarpedon: "Yes! I had forgotten about them."
(711) Sarpedon: "They might yield more or different metals."
(707) Imhotep: "I believe that to be the case. We shall know soon enough."
(707) Imhotep: "I think I see Gwynefra, let us collect the firelighters."
(705) Demiurge: (So are you guys ready to retire for the night?)
(707) Imhotep: (Yep, it's late....)