So, Merlin’s got the mantle. The Caliber Institute security cuts in and teleports crisis-trained staff to their security posts, and visitors to safety bunkers. The institute itself is unmoored from reality, as observed by a helpful NORMAL HUMAN in the lobby.
Merlin, taking on the visage of a marble statue with golden cracks, receives his objective from the Watchtower of Order, and fucking leaves. Ursa and Nora follow at what they hope is a safe distance. Merlin though is mostly just serene and implacable, not causing any damage.
They first end up in the treasury, and Merlin makes his way through my following the flow of mana towards what must be a ventilation point. Cimimi tries to trick him on the way with the ol’ mimic chest trick, but he calmly Identifies her and just ignores the trap. She pops out anyway and tries to slow him down by clinging to his leg, though a combination of a Command from him and gentle persuasion from Ursa and Nora convinces her to leave them to it.
They head to a big column archway that’s on a big big coin, and though the treasury itself tries to swat at Merlin, he simply obliterates the hand, and Ursa and Nora must put it back to sleep with some soothing, calming Darude. The coin-floor tries to Midas Merlin, but he shrugs that off too, and heads through the arch. Ursa skips the trap by teleporting using Thunder Step, the loudest spell there is. It’s probably fine.
Through the gate, they find themselves in a seemingly endless redwood forest. Merlin decides a steed would be appropriate, and summons a big big scooter. He specifies to Nora that she should get on too. Nora tries to get some more info from him, and is told that the mantle will release him once he completes his objective. She also notices, as Ursa did earlier, that some of the cracks that appear when he moves are not healing.
Ursa smelled coffee upon arriving here, and has shifted into her Abadallion persona to try and track it. They learn via their Pipes of the Sewers that there seem to be no creatures here, but come across Emva and Cepheus, working at a decrepit computer to try and get a read on what’s going on. They have coffee. Ursa – now Ursa again – asks if she can take a flask to try and cure Merlin.
Merlin has travelled fast enough to have looped back around, and senses this. Passing Ursa, she jumps onto the steed as well, and catches up on proceedings. Sadly Merlin is NOT INTERESTED in the coffee.
He clears the fog with a gust of wind, and sees that the only point of interest in this whole ‘forest’ is the computer with Cepheus and Emva. Merlin pulls up and asks ‘Are you still using that?’
Cepheus apologises about the fact that he has to stop Merlin. He smashes the monitor with one fist, and unfolds himself to full Minotaur height. When Ursa and Nora try to dissuade him from this, citing the mantle’s promise to release Merlin at the end, Cepheus laments that they too must be in a contract with Order’s mantle, and says he’ll try not to do any lasting damage. He flips the table.
Roll History 