Wujen and Little Dragon Tie the Knot

Wujen smiles "Not to worry, I'm a likeable fellow. Besides, I've said it before and I'll say it again, all you need is love. Besides, who is to say? I'm mortal now, but I may join the ancestors when my time here is done. Maybe I'll fade like the rest, maybe I'll be burnt out in some great conflagration of mana. Either way, I'm devoting my life to her for as long as she'll have it."

The spirit gives Wujen a long judging eye then says, "Not so sure her pop is going to agree. He's pretty traditional about things. He's disapproved of every man she's ever brought home, and I'm a hell of a catch. Sometimes love isn't enough."

Tatsuo laughs nervously and gives a playful punch in the spirit's shoulder. "That's enough, Kenta," says with a vague threat in her voice, "No need to dredge up the past. I'm going to be marrying Masaru and my father will accept it. Anyway, let's go."

Kenta shrugs and says, "Whatever you say. I'm just the taxi service. Follow me."

He cracks his knuckles and stretches for a moment then punches space itself so hard that a rift forms to the astral plane. Once Wujen enters the astral plane, he can easily recognize that Kenta is an extremely powerful spirit, the likes of which he's never seen before, much less summoned. His astral form is that of a massively long, wingless dragon and as he passes through the astral plane, eddies of mana swirl in his wake. Little Dragon seems like a little minnow compared to him.

The three of you zoom through the astral plane at speeds too fast to comprehend until you finally punch through the astral into an unknown metaplane that is apparently Tatsuo's home. Your astral forms become solid as you enter. On the other side of the portal lies a mountainous area with a needle-like mountain that juts into the sky, standing off in the distance. Tatsuo points to it and says, "That is the spire. If anyone challenges you to climb it, don't. It's literally impossible to climb."

Kenta pouts and says, "Sure tell him about ALL of the pranks we play on visitors. Steal our fun."

"We're not here to have him made fun of," Tatsuo scolds, "We're here to visit my parents. You've been plenty helpful. You can go on your way. Father should be able to see us back to the Prime."

With a shrug Kenta says, "As you wish, my dear," and vanishes.

Once he is gone, Tatsuo says, "If you ever get lost, the spire is visible from everywhere in this plane, so it should be a good way of figuring out your orientation. Anyway, follow me. My father's home is not far from here."

"I'll be honest, I sort of want to climb it just because it can't be done."

WuJen looks back at the way the massive spirit had gone "Well, now I know why a haircut was needed. I didn't expect to bring my body. That's your ex? I can't be jealous, I know time is a fairly relative concept for you, and you've been with me most of my life but...what is he?"

Tatsuo says, "Distance works a little differently here. You see how you can see the top of the spire? Yeah, despite that, it's actually infinitely tall. It's literally impossible to climb. Also the closer you get to it the more magic ceases to function so no funny ideas about flying up there. Even gods lose their powers if they get too close. "

She shuffles her feet a bit at the queries about Kenta. Still she answers, though she continues on her way to her father's home as she says, "Right... so how to explain this... You live on the prime physical plane, right? Well, that plane is kind of... weird... at least relative to the other metaplanes. Things like science and physical laws are strict laws that govern all of existence in your home world. On other metaplanes, they are more of... suggestions at best. Like the Spire over there. It doesn't look infinitely tall. You can objectively see the top of it. But trust me, it is infinitely tall. People have spent years scaling it only to find they'd barely left the ground once they give up and turn back around. Things just are different in the rest of the multiverse. Honestly, a lot beings think of the prime as kind of this weird black hole in the multiverse. You get sucked in there without warning by some wizard and you never know when or if you're going to return. And when it happens sometimes you come back much weaker than you left because of the way magic works over there. Or doesn't, I should say. The sort of things that pass as powerful beings over there are nothing in the great scheme of the multiverse."

Giving a brief pause, she glances over at the Spire to make sure she's going in the right direction before continuing, "So yeah anyway, Kenta's my ex and kind of a dragon god that lives in a coral palace under the sea in the prime. He goes by a different name among mortals. I know you're not much of a religious type so you may not have heard of him, but his worshipers call him Ryūjin. I think it's kind of a pretentious name to be honest. Anyway, I was sort of engaged to him when you summoned me. It's a long and messy story, but the short of it was we were having a bit of an argument when you summoned me away. I wanted children, he didn't. I broke off the engagement and as weird as it sounds now given what our relationship evolved into, I kind of saw you as my surrogate son. Not that that's how I see you now, of course. Anyway, this whole conversation is getting weird and uncomfortable so I'm just going to drop it if you don't mind, okay? Oh hey! Look! It's father's house!"

She points up ahead to a castle rising in the distance. At first it seems like a tiny structure, but as Little Dragon mentioned before, physical laws don't work here the same as they do back home and you end up approaching it a lot faster than it feels like you are. The tiny structure quickly stretches out into a monstrously large palace. A moat surrounds the entire  grounds and the walls seem to stretch as high as sky scrapers and as wide as a city. The path you are on leads to a drawbridge where a pair of drakes flank the entrance, guarding against intruders. They stand at attention, each holding a spear with a flag loosely hanging from it. They immediately recognize her and say, "Welcome home, princess. Your father will be happy to see you again!"

"Princess? I don't believe I ever realized you were a Princess before. Interesting. So how much trouble am I in, exactly?"

Tatsuo says to the guards, "Thank you, Brande. Thank you, Granir. This man is with me. Are my parents in?"

Brande says, "Yes, they should be in the throne room. "

As she leads Wujen into the castle, she says, "Well, it's not something I particularly advertise. You should be fine. Really. It'll be fine. Just be you and don't start a fight with my father."

She thinks about what she just said and then quickly corrects herself, "Okay, skip the part about you being you because you being you usually means starting a fight with people you disagree with. The important part is not starting a fight with my father. He can be a bit... unpredictable when he's angry. It should be fine. He'll know you're important to me so... well, it will be fine."

Tatsuo keeps repeating to herself that it will be fine, like some kind of meditative mantra as she escorts Wujen into the castle.

"Don't worry. I won't pick any fights. I'm sure your parents are as reasonable and wonderful as you are."

Tatsuo leads Wujen through the castle which, judging by the general size of everything in it, appears to have been made for someone a LOT bigger than a human. The doorways are multiple stories high and the chairs are large enough to park a truck on. It takes about 20 minutes for the pair to finally make it to the throne room. There, a massive, winged dragon is lounging on a bed of gold with a paintbrush in one hand and a canvas in the other. Nearby is an extra large watercolor set that the dragon appears to be using to paint the wingless female dragon lounging near him. "Hello, father," Tatsuo says to the dragons, "And hello mother. I see that you are still his favorite subject to paint."

The winged dragon turns towards her with a look of surprise, drops his art supplies and bounds across the stadium-sized room over to Tatsuo as he exclaims, "My darling little newtcake! You're home! It's been so long!"

Meanwhile, the wingless dragon is more reserved, but no less happy to see her daughter home. She calmly walks over and says, "Your father has missed you so, dear. Are you finally done with whoever it is that summoned you?"

Tatsuo nervously says, "Um... not exactly. Mother, father, this is Masaru. Masaru, these are my parents Io the dragon king and Queen Ephiot the eternal. Masaru here is the one who summoned me and has come to meet you both."

Io lowers his head down to Wujen and gives him a deep appraising look that is impossible to read. "You're the one who took my darling scaled angel away to the prime?"

Whispering aside to Tatsuo "Newtcake? You are definitely not going to regret having me hear that.". WuJen smiles at her, then bows to Io.

"Apologies, Great one. I was barely more than an infant at the time, and knew only that I could call friends to me to play. I promise I have never bound her against her will, and have always seen her and treated her as a true and loyal friend to be treasured."

Tatsuo glares at Wujen with a look that clearly says, shut up and be serious in front of my dad or he will eat you.

Io continues to stare down Wujen for what feels like an eternity, then says, "I see. And why have you come to my kingdom? It is no small task for a mortal to make his way here and though I am Io, king and father of all dragons, it is rare for those not of dragon blood to even know of my existence, much less seek an audience. So what is it that you, thief of one of my most prized children, would seek from the god of dragonkind? And more importantly, why should I allow you to live, knowing that when you leave it will result in once again banishing my most precious daughter to the prime?"

"I came to your kingdom to visit Tatsuo's parents. I am still learning my craft, as it is a life long journey and not a simple skill to be mastered, and so have not until this trip visited any plane but my own. I was...unaware... of your nature or stature in coming here, but all I seek is your daughter's happiness. Though it may cost me my very existence I came to ask her father's permission to wed her. My life has belonged to your daughter for some time, so you cannot take it from me, but rather you would be stealing it from her."

Io's eyes grow wide with rage. Ephiot and Tatsuo meanwhile give Io fearful glances. The roar that bellows forth from Io's easy-to-swallow-a-classroom-of-children-sized-mouth is so loud it shakes the walls and make's Wujen's ears ring, "WHAT?!"

He snarls at Wujen and says, "YOU, a MORTAL, DARE to claim one of MY children as a bride?!"

Ephiot places a clawed hand on Io's side and says, "Calm down dear. Let's hear what he has to say."

Io's head twists around to Ephiot and says, "She would have already BEEN wed were it not for this mortal's meddling. And to a fine man too."

"You hated Kenta," Ephiot replies.

"Well, at least he wasn't MORTAL," Io spits before turning back to Wujen and saying, "My daughter learned to be happy without her last fiance. What makes you think you're more important to her than he was?"

"Great Sir, I met Kenta. He is impressive to be sure. Your daughter is too. I'll claim her as a bride because she claims me as well, assuming you don't destroy me before the ceremony. Consider that she was engaged, though apparently not happy when I first summoned her. Do you honestly believe I was more capable of commanding her presence when I could barely walk or speak and had the mind of a child than I am now? Does it seem to you that I am so fearsome that Kenta would fail to challenge me if I were wresting her from him by force?"

"It's honestly incredible that I survived my early childhood at all, coming to my awakening as a magician as I did. While my methods are more formal now, I've never summoned spirits so much as called out to my friends whom, among my kind, almost no one else can perceive. Your daughter is not bound, she is my Ally, gifted as much of my own energy as I can spare to Grant her more freedom in my world than most spirits can muster."

"To answer your question, I believe she will be more happy with me because she is with me, and not him. I had no real power to hold her then, and would not do so now against her will even if I could."

Io takes a deep breath and says, "I must have time to speak with my daughter and wife privately. In the mean time, I suggest you think long and hard about what marrying my daughter would mean. And if you have not done so already, you had better acquire a ring appropriate for the occasion. The guards at the front gate can point you in the right direction if you need assistance. If you return empty handed or with any doubts in your mind about marriage, it will be better for both your continued mortal existence and your afterlife that you do not return at all."

"Thank you Sir. I shall do so at once, as it was my intention to ask permission first, before proposing and do not have a ring. It had been my intention to seek a ring to propose with together with her before formally proposing. I shall certainly seek your guards advice immediately."

WuJen takes his leave of the court, and heads to the front gate to speak with the guards.

"Hello. King Io has set me an unexpected task and suggests you fellows can assist. I need a ring appropriate for seeking the hand of the Princess in marriage. How can you help?"

The guards look at each other and glance at the spire. One says, "So there's this mountain over yonder. There's a city atop it that has the best rings around..."

The other guard barely suppresses a smirk.

"Right, so I should just go back inside and tell Io you want his daughter jilted at the alter. Wait here, I'll be back..."

The guards crack up laughing for a bit then the first one says, "Sorry. Local joke. Seriously though, a ring? What kind of ring did you have in mind?"

"One her father believes is worthy of Tatsuo's hand. He said you could point me in the right direction. I'm not opposed to climbing the spire, but I've been warned pretty strongly against trying."

The guard chuckles and says, "Yeah, that thing has no top. Well, it does, but the distance to it is infinite. No one is really sure how that works exactly. The only way to get to the city up there is by direct portal.

"But anyway, you don't need to go up there. There's better ways to waste your time. If you head straight, keeping the spire to your left side, you'll eventually come to a town called Bedlam. As the name suggests, it is filled with mad people and serves as a gateway to the metaplane of chaos. If you're in the metaplane of chaos, you went too far. You are looking for people who are crazy, but not TOO crazy, you got me? Now the crazy people will be everywhere in the streets. You're looking for the not crazy people who wall themselves in for protection within the city. Specifically an old guy named Udor Okron. He should be able to help you."

"Thank you. Also thank you for letting me know there is a way up there, I'll have to look in to that later, assuming I survive."

WuJen sets out to find Udor Okron.

It is a few hours walking before Wujen makes it to the front gates of Bedlam. As was mentioned by the guard, the town is in chaos, looking more like Arkham Asylum if it were run by the inmates than a town. There are people openly stabbing each other in the streets, buildings in constant flame and more than a few people who are just wandering about apparently seeing things that aren't there. While many of the beings here are races that Wujen recognizes, just as many are not. Some, he is not even sure are sapient.

Within the town are a handful of walled off sanctuaries. Though the walls are covered in graffiti, they are solid and tall. One or two have been breached over the years and the structures inside razed, but for the most part those within the sanctuaries are safe from the chaos outside. The only means of entry being a thick, vault-like steel door that prevents all entry.

Wujen practically trips over bodies as he wanders through the streets, trying his best to stay out of trouble. The first sanctuary he walks up to has "Okron Residence" carved above the door, though partially obscured by graffiti. As he eyes the door, he notices others eyeing him...

WuJen, seeing the bodies and the mayhem, pauses to cast Increase Reflexes on himself before entering the town.

Sorcery Increase Reflexes Force 8
WuJen carried out 12 launched of one d6 :

, , , , , , , , , , ,

Drain
WuJen carried out 12 launched of one d6 :

, , , , , , , , , , ,

Keeping a careful eye on the locals, WuJen knocks on the door to the sanctuary.