Virtual Reality (RP)

[Zyardran]

Jane, now  curious to see what just happened, looked around. She decided to stay close to Joey and Chip, seeing as se had no idea what else to do.
"Now what?"

[Jenkar]

Yu'zsc looked at the reptilian figure, figuring out that  this was most likely James. Hmm.
Before he could answer, a giant figure appeared, and moved to the garden. Since he was already headed there, he finished his small trip, sitting next to Sky, listening calmly to the explanations. Hmm, magic associated with my elements is easier.. interesting.
As he was mulling over this, he saw the polar's destruction. The colours, so out of place, so... powerful. Entrancing, even after the portal disappeared.
Eventually, he turned his head and saw his two prospective companions next to him. "Still interested in going to the forest? I have quite a bunch of stuff i want to do before trying to understand what happened, and going back home. Also, maybe we should check on the oracle guy, he doesn't seem to be doing well.."

[Silver Emerald]

Aurora stood, listening intently to their counselor once he had arrived. Too, the kitsune mused, 'Good thing I can hear better...' She even flared her tails slightly at one point, trying to reach the latent power she could sense...though whether she was apparently attuned to magic from being a magic user (which was both cool and scary to think about) or from being a kitsune (who, to her understanding, were naturally perceptive of this) she honestly wasn't sure. She stiffened slightly as the Oracle approached and tapped her watch, but relaxed immediately after, glancing to the device on her wrist and wondering what other strange powers it held...

Once he had concluded, Aurora was among the first to raise a hand-paw to question further, but it appeared that he had become distracted; she followed him out to the garden and witnessed a spectacular and catastrophic failure, having to dive out of the way when he stumbled back. 'It's gone?' A look to above the plants, even when squinting, did indicate that the rift wasn't there. To be completely honest, her feelings about this were mixed (in addition to the shadowy burden of not having much experience as...well, herself); for now, hope for the future and concern for the injured-looking Oracle took over. She approached him, along with another (though shadier) vulpine-like participant whom she didn't immediately recognize.

The Oracle coughed a few times, staggering to his feet and closing his eyes. ". . ." He was silent for a bit. "...I'll be fine. However...with this tampering that has gone on, there is a distinct problem with the realm and a rather critical error with my memory...I cannot be of as much help as I would like." He continued, addressing anyone in the groups who would listen, though every word appeared to cost him dearly: "...this is one of 13 Pillars of the realm...there are 12 Shards, each among its element's greatest treasures...given only with confidence by an elemental ruler, expected to pass back through my hands...retrieve the Shards for this Pillar of balance...please, do so before the repercussions of what happened here become uncontrollable..." So saying, he made his way back to his throne...retrieving a slowly rotating wheel from behind it, he peered into it, occasionally spinning it, muttering to himself and attempting to put his own mind back in order...

[Timdood3]

Joey was aware of Jane and Nile both gravitating toward him.  This would be a good time for him to take up a leadership role if he wanted it.  He wasn't sure he did, but the people needed some direction.

"You heard the man.  Twelve Shards, we need them.  How we'd convince these 'elemental masters' to hand them over I'm not so sure, but we've got to try, right?  I'm sure at least some of us want to go home."

Spoiler for Joey gave a slight pause, communicating with Chip:

Are we included in that?

He raised his voice for all to hear.  "What I propose is this:  Chip, Jane, Nile, Aurora and myself go west and gather the Shards from the kingdoms of Fire, Gravity, Water, Air, Aether and Earth, in that order.  The Kingdoms of Light, Life, Time, Darkness, Entropy, Darkness and the other one are left to the others in whatever splits they want.  We have nearly enough people to cover all elements with one person, so as long as a group intends to cover at least as many kingdoms as they have people, all should go fine."

[Zyardran]

Jane, hearing her name, simply perked up.
"Groups?" She was confused now. Walking over to Joey, she whispered in his ear.
*Whisper*
"What's the deal with groups?"

[Timdood3]

Not knowing why Jane was whispering, Joey merely lowered his voice slightly.  "It's just more efficient that way."

[Arum]

"Claibourne should group with you four, his destination is Etheria. Mivlya and I will be heading north, to the Kingdom of Light and the frozen north, so we'll take care of the Shard of Water if we find it there. We will also pass through the Desert of Time, so we may search there. Yu'zsc, you and your group were planning on heading to the Forest of Life. You could take a small detour through the Marshes to see if you can find the Shard of Death, too."

James remains silent for a moment, and then continues.

"The Shard of Darkness and Shard of Chaos appear to be the most difficult to attain. I propose we leave the Shard of Chaos for the last, as the gate is there and could have unpredictable effects on us."

[Zyardran]

Jane just sighed. She didn't feel comfortable with such big groups. But she couldn't complain, if this was the only way to get home, she'd just have to go with it...

[Jenkar]

"Hmm, I wonder what the repercussions he spoke off would be..
We have to take into account that we know little about this land, its cultures, ect. Danger probably awaits us along the way. I'd be extremely wary of going into the dead marshes or the chaos triad (you're right about the gate) until we've got a better hold of our respective magics..
I'd suggest going north, as there's an oasis - where might meet a tolerable amount of people - going through the desert or the volcano sounds dangerous, and the mountains or a kingdom might not be the most welcoming environment to total foreigners to these lands. There we'd be able to learn more about the world, i'd think. And that will be valuable in... persuading the leaders to hand the shards to us."
As Yu'zsc finishes his last sentence, the particles of his body ripple slightly. Still not perfectly under control, and a lot more... primal than what he expected.

[Lunaris]

Izabelle stood listening, leaning back against one of the pillars of the shrine. Now that they were out of the facility, she felt free to twirl her knife in her hand like she was used to doing in situations she wasn't comfortable with. She glanced back and forth between the others as they debated about alliances, though she had no desire to voice her opinion. Her gaze lingered on Sky for a moment too long, and she felt a blush spread across her cheeks. She quickly looked down at the ground, brutally embarrassed. Stupid... no emotions, remember?

[Arum]

James notices the killer hanging by the pole, a little distanced from the fractured crowd. She is staring at the ground, for lack of better place to look, and her cheeks are tinged red.

Ah.

Quietly slipping away from the discussion, James leans on the other side of the pillar.

"I know what you are. My question is, am I able to hire you if I should require?"

[Lunaris]

Izabelle jumped a little. She hadn't realized there was anyone close to her. Idiot. You should've noticed James wasn't among the other people. She turned to look at him, though the look in her eyes wasn't exactly a nice one. "Hire me? You better have some good reason for asking."