Acumin Under Attack [Private - Glingal, Leath & Duncan]

[Lichen]

Leath had been here all day, having arrived in Acumin in the midmorning. As the brightening receded into night and the attack began, Leath discovered himself outside the tavern. Unfortunately, something else also discovered him outside the tavern. It wasn't much of a threat, considering as small, dwarven zombies are more cute (if rotting can be construed as cute) than frightening, and it's soft flesh was ripe for arrows to stick into. The undead dwarf roared at the sight of the elf and raised his axe in a fearsome fashion. As he roared, the pale and rotting creature managed to dislodge most of his lower lip, which became entangled in his beard and hung from it like some sort of gruesome ornament. With his axe upheld and his lower lip missing, the dwarven zombie lumbered towards Leath, ready to attack him.

The sight that reached Glingal's eyes was frightening, to say the least. There were undead everywhere, killing, breaking things, and generally lumbering around looking for something violent to do. One of these lumbering undead happened to spot the dracon as he was moving through town, and turned towards him, a menacing glear in it's empty eye socket. The skeletal dracon flexed it's wings as it turned and opened it's lower jaw to emit what was probably a "arrgh I'm going to kill you" roar. It ended up sounding much like the crackings and scrapings of bone... rather disturbing, but not overwhelmingly scary. The unarmed and mildly pathetic skeleton tried to fly its way over to the living dracon, but managed instead to make a few pathetic hops, now lacking the membrane that made flight possible. Animation could only do so much...

Duncan had arrived in about the middle of the day, and spent the day investigating as to the cause of the destruction. He soon learned that it had been a horrible fire that was both blessing and curse... it had wiped out the pox, which had plagued the village for eras, but had also wiped out almost all of the town. He was still investigating in some of the ruins when his acute senses picked up something watching him. There was nothing there, however, that his eyes could pick up... but his mind could detect a tangible aura of maolvence, aimed directly at the mystic himself.

OOC: Sorry for the assumptions, Leath & Duncan - just wanted to move along If anythings wrong there or too assuming, please PM me and let me know. I may not be the moderator of this thread in the future, FYI - either Snake or Windhaven may be taking it over.

[Duncan Sythe]

OOC: No problems, a small liberty with my location if you don’t mind. I assume it’s feasible to say I left my horse and other items at the tavern – I’ll do some IC stuff covering that when I’m officially allowed through the gates.

IC:

Putting down the bit of charred wood he’d lifted Duncan’s eyes narrowed, rubbing his half-gloved hands together to rid the leather of the dust and grit he looked around from beyond the remains of the building he’d been in. That was if you could call the charred remains that seemed to intermingle a single building. Uneasily, given the fact he couldn’t see the origin of the feeling that was creeping up and down his spine like a lump of ice down his back, Duncan stepped out into relative space beyond the building.

Now dressed in his grey military uniform for the sake of appearances the Mystic had put one of the lighter grey cloaks he had about his shoulders. The Katana still at his hip and the heavy green woollen scarf that covered the scars on his neck attempting to keep off what chill there was. Looking around again those blue eyes narrowed further as he still detected no physical presence, all right, perhaps time for another plan.

Hands kept away from a sword since it was probably of little use against whatever it was if he couldn’t see it – unless it was simply invisible – Duncan got the feeling he needed to work fast. Since for all he’d learnt about the strangeness surrounding fire and its benefits nothing had been mentioned that would explain this. Not that such things needed explaining Duncan considered darkly as he attempted to relax his mind, shoving away emotion into the void. Just being himself was enough to bring terrible things upon whatever place he happened to be in and more specifically upon himself, he only had to be remotely near trouble for some of it to seep into his local area.

His tongue went across both lips as Duncan worked towards Meditation, his immediate act upon reaching it being to scan around him through the abilities of the essence plane, searching the filter it put upon the physical world for the Vis form of whatever was looking at him or for spells, for something to tell him exactly why he kept getting goose-bumps. Duncan didn’t think he scared easily but he knew as well as any other Mystic that there were tricks that could make even the bravest man run in fear, so just what was toying with him?

Definitely it was toying and toying made Duncan…uncertain if not nervous, if he’d known what it was then he’d merely be irritated but not knowing made him go beyond his normal state of quiet half-arrogance into worry, just for now at any rate. If he knew how to deal with something, even if it was only a theory, then he was happy, not even knowing what was studying him was a rarity.

So he looked around for the source of his unease, because short of something with a reversed Mysticism spell it had to be visible as Vis, everything had energy of some kind, a combination of the essences and Ara that made it what it was. It was only – to Duncan’s knowledge – through a Mystic divination that you could mask even that.

[Leath]

Leath had been at the tavern in the first place because he had to find food and water for him and his horse. He had been searching the city all day, and only now, hours later, Leath had spotted a source of refreshment. His horse, Dya, grew very tired from the journey through the city, so Leath walked rather than rode to the tavern, holding the reigns and walking slow with the horse.

"I never did get to drink that tea," Leath said to Dya as they trotted, "I was stuck waiting there so long! What a pain! And then I forgot where you were... and by the time we were at Primus I had forgotten all about getting tea there! Oh, yes, but cousin Gildor got tea. He gets everything. I've decided, Dya: when we're back at Zinn, you shall remain my pet, not Gildor's!"

Leath had continued ranting until they approached the door, and stood there, right beside a rather prickly plant. Dya stood beside him, and Leath kept on talking,

"So, I shall order tea for me (Elven Tea to be exact!) and I'll see if there's any horse food for you. We still have some, but that shall be for the road."

Suddenly, what seemed to be a dwarf soon appeared before Leath and Dya's very eyes. Leath didn't think of this as a threat until he saw the axe suddenly appear as quickly as the dwarf. Leath had a bright idea. He nocked an arrow with his bow, and jumped onto Dya.

"Go Dya! We'll ride away, and I'll shoot at the dwarf while on you!" Dya reacted by running away down the road, and it seemed that Leath's robe was stuck to the prickly plant. The plant was so strong that it had held Leath back, but Dya kept running into the darkness. Terrified, Leath aimed quickly at the dwarf and shot.

It seemed that Leath was once again not going to have a sip of his Elven tea.

[Glingal]

Glingal raised the blade of his sword to his brow and closed his eyes for a quick second. The crimson scaled dracon had not believed in any gods to date but he hoped that if they were out there they would hear the prayer that he was reciting in his head. If it was not answered the act of praying and believing in a higher being calmed him. He still feared his death but the prayer moved him one step forward to being able to accept it.

When his foe came within range he held out his sword and put one foot a strides length behind the other , thus giving him more stability . His muscles tensed as he eyed the undead searching for any weaknesses. He calmed his shaking hands and steadied his sword as he hardened his heart from the emotion of fear. Glingal waited patiently for the other dracon to make the first move. He waited for a opening in the enemies defences , he waited for a chance to live past this battle.

[Windhaven]

OOC: I truly apologize for the delay, between my trip home and Alleria going down, I have taken longer than I would have liked to post. If any of you did not receive the PM I sent you, I will be taking over this thread for Lichen. Please feel free to send emails or PMs with any questions you might have. Thanks for your patience and good gaming.


IC: After being unhorsed in such an odd fashion, Leath struggled to line up the head shot. His robe still caught in the shrub, impeded movements that otherwise came easily. As he released his arrow, Leath watched as it buried itself into the dwarfs left cheek. Miraculously he was able to make the precarious shot. The normally fatal strike however proved to cause nothing more than to jerk the dwarfs head with the impact. Continuing on his course toward the young elf, the pierced dwarf raised its axe above its head and let out guttural battle cry.

With the recent events and the new proximity of the undead dwarf, Leath realized that this was no mere dwarf, but something unnatural. He however had no time to ponder the matter any further as the rusted axe blade rushed down to split him in two. Without hesitation Leath dove to the side, and was relived as he heard the tear of fabric. He was free of the infernal plant that had nearly cost him his life. As he rose to his feet, he was shocked to find that he could rise no higher than a crouch and a quick glance to his right gave him the answer as to why. Pinned between dirt and dull steel, lay the needled edge of his robe.

Glingal stood poised, awaiting the first strike of the skeletal dracon before him, and he didn’t have to wait long. The dracon, having very little understanding or concern for tactics, continued its collision course with its flesh and blood kin. It appeared the creature meant to pounce on Glingal or tackle him. With the animated dracon closing in, Glingal would have to think quickly and react quicker. Otherwise he would have first hand knowledge as to the existence of gods.

What Duncan saw on the essence plane was shocking. Arcane energies seemed to surround him, flooding the plane with their distinct taint, death. Whatever it was that was out there, it was not trying to mask it’s aura but instead seemed to be flaunting it, reveling in its own perpetuation. Although the strength of the aura or auras did not seem exceptionally strong, their wide spread presence was never the less imposing. As Duncan continued to contemplate the cause and meaning of such an effect, the feeling of watchful eyes upon him never ceased. Apparently whatever it was that was doing the observing was content to do just that. ‘Hopefully,’ Duncan thought, ‘it will stay that way.’

[Leath]

OOC: Sorry if the post seems too short... I'm being constantly distracted at the moment...

IC: Leath's robe... pinned to the ground. Leath was immobile. A supernatural dwarf was attacking. His horse was gone. And most of all, he hasn't eaten at all that day, a very unhealthy situation. This just wasn't Leath's day.

My robe is stuck... Leath thought to himself, Which makes me stuck. That means... I must... Get rid of my robe and run for safety. Embarrassing. Quite embarrassing. I will have to change into my other robe... And no one better be watching!

Leath took off his green robe, and now had nothing else on. He quickly grabbed his grey robe, which was all rolled in a ball and tucked in the green robe's pocket. He wrapped the grey one around and made a quick run for it.

[Duncan Sythe]

Not ideal but then these situations never were for Duncan, he’d just have to play it by ear and see what happened. Certainly something was toying with him or waiting and observing, it had filled the area with one of those strange auras that seemed to flutter around things like undead, demons, plain simple evil people. That sort of group. Obviously they were waiting for something but what? Surely he’d see the cause if he waited so wait he would have to do.

Staying in Meditation Duncan kept looking around him, not moving from the relatively open space he’d found, waiting for everything else to come to him. There was no reason to trap himself, he’d just wait for things to play themselves out. No swords here, not yet, he didn’t really need to play with physical given what was going on…unless it turned out to be something he could cut with a sword.

“The dice are rolling.”

He murmured quietly as he continued to twist around foot after foot, trying to make out something beneath the general death essence that was permeating the essence plane. For although he wasn’t on the astral completely he could see the filter as it were, the dim glows of the weaves that tied everything together on an Arcane level, somewhere there had to be more than just this dim black haze though. Even if it was obvious the eyes were trying to disturb him he refused to be goaded and walk away or run, he’d stand and wait.

[Glingal]

Glingal tensed his muscles as the creature lunged forward. His instincts possessed his every movement. The dracon quickly sidestepped to the right and swung his large sword from left to right hopeing for a crippling hack into the skeletal remains that were leaping into the path of his swing. If this approach didn't work he was ready to jump back to dodge the next attack from the beast.

Even as he was in the process of making this hit successful Glingal was still planning his next attack. He had to stay one step ahead , and to do that he was playing out all possible situations in his mind. For now he was just sizing up his opponent and seeing its capabilities . This is why he chose to take a defensive stance and to concentrate more on not getting hit than to hit his opponent. He could only hope that these thoughts were not his last.

[Windhaven]

OOC: I must apologize for not posting sooner. I am back from work overseas and got to spend time with my wife this past extended weekend for the first time in six months. Please excuse my putting Alleria on the back burner and I hope you understand. Also, you might have noticed the Acumin Under Attack, Part Two - All Participate thread. Please feel free to post there, but I will also let you know OOC when you have cleared my thread. Good luck all, you¡¦re going to need it.

IC: Leath's plan was a bold one. The quick disrobing and redressing would have been a difficult task had he just been pinned down as he was, but the added threat of the undead dwarf looming overhead made it extremely risky. Realizing that his options were limited and believing his quick action would offset the risk, the raven haired elf slackened his body and slipped out of his deep green robe. His plan would have been a total success if it weren¡¦t for the lurching reach of his undead attacker.

As Leath slid out of his entrapping robe, the undead dwarf released his telath bound blade and tried to grab hold of the quick witted elf. Unfortunately for the dwarf, Leath was as quick of action as he was of thought. Diving away from the rotting hand as he exited the robe, the brown eyed elf rose stark naked in the half moon light. Due to his quick evasion, he had not been able grab the spare robe and found himself weaponless and nude standing a mere six feet from the unarmed dwarf. Unsure as to if he should fight or flee; Leath watched as the dwarf regained its composure and set its gaze on the gray skinned elf. Leath was about to flee when the undead horror came at him only to collapse lifelessly after having traveled but a few feet. Hesitating, the young elf wondered why his attacker had fallen and more importantly, if it was now safe to retrieve his clothes.

The unarmed skeletal dracon was no match for the reach of a bastard sword. As Glingal sidestepped to the right, the undead dracon charged clumsily past and into the path of Glingal¡¦s arcing blade. With the sounds of crunching bone, a stinging numb vibration made its way down the sword and into Glingal¡¦s crimson scaled hands. The bite of it almost caused him to drop the blade, but the adrenaline from the present threat wouldn¡¦t allow it.

Lying on the ground was the skeletal dracon. Its pelvic bone was streaked with a web of cracks and looked as though it might fall apart under even the slightest pressure, That was not enough to stop the beast however as it attempted to claw its way toward its living brethren. Although the undead dracon posed little to no immediate threat, Glingal could not allow it to continue on and perhaps find an unsuspecting victim. Raising his broadsword up as if it were an executioners axe, the emerald eyed dracon prepared for the coup de gras he was about to deliver. With the skeleton within range, Glingal stepped quickly to its side at brought the sword down with extreme force into the base of its neck. Without flesh or muscle to slow the blade, the vertebrae splintered and shards of bone exploded out. Glingal heaved with the effort put into the lethal blow and kicked the beasts severed skull aside for good measure. He didn¡¦t know what was going on, but it couldn¡¦t be good. Setting off for the tavern, Glingal hoped to find answers.

So it wanted to play the waiting game, well Duncan could play too. Staying ever vigilant in his reading of the auras around him, the blue eyed human waited for whatever was lurking out of range to come closer and unmask itself. Patience and time were ever present in his meditative state. Neither the coolness of the evening, nor the fait sounds of battle carried on the breeze could distract him. He was a seeker, seeking the source of the permeating evil that surrounded him, and would not leave and put himself in a compromising position by doing so. He would wait and let whatever it was come to him on his terms.

One thing started to trouble the experienced psionic however, was that the aura he felt was different than that of undead he had felt in the past. It was more, potent. Scanning vigorously amid the sea of black energy, Duncan was surprised by his new revelation, for as he thought it, two red pulsing embers flickered open approximately ten feet directly in front of him. The pulse was slow and steady, and came in double taps like the beat of a heart. As the eyes continued to beat before him, the white haired psionic was amazed as the death essence all around seemed to draw into the pulsing eyes, concentrating around them

Unsure as to what he was dealing with, Duncan watched as the last bits of dark essence sucked into the dense pool about the eyes. As the last bits joined the rest, the pool began to take form. It took the shape of a hooded figure clothed in wispy black essence. After gathering itself, a black tendril that on a human would have been an arm, raised and pointed directly at the master psionic. Immediately Duncan felt a rush of despair come over him. It washed against his vis threatening to penetrate deeper into his soul. One thing was now made very clear; this being was not of the physical plane.

OOC2: Leath and Glingal are clear of this thread and I am glad to see that you have already started posting in stage 2. I apologize for cutting it a little short, but with the new developments, I did not want to tie you down here. You both are more than welcome to post in closing or leave it as is. Duncan, I would really like it if you would stay, however you should too move onto the stage 2 thread as well. If you don't mind back posting, I would like to finish your encounter. I will be able to post more frequently now, so it should not take too long. Again I apologize to you all for my extreame delay and I hope you understand or at least don't hold it against me. Take care all and I hope to mod you again some time.

[Duncan Sythe]

OOC: No problem at all, we can happily continue this and I'll post in the other thread too (Of course if I die here things become different )

Duncan shook his head and grimaced, he was on the defensive...clearly fighting some sort of necromancer although exactly how good he hadn’t got a clue. Given he’d never read a book on the spells either he didn’t know exactly what the Necromancer had done—if it was a necromancer—but he could guess, he had things that turned him into Psionic essence so it was blatant that the necromancer could do it with death essence too.

The spell being cast on him now though, it had to be some kind of mental spell, possibly a fear causing thing of some kind, he didn’t exactly know what but knowing what didn’t matter; he could feel the effects down to his bones.

Staggering backwards the Mystic gasped and struggled for control of the Arcane, a sword didn’t wouldn’t be effective against whatever spell the being had woven or against the being itself; he had to force himself to cast a spell if he was going to keep going.

After all he couldn’t dispel what had already been cast on him, it was a part of his Vis now, moulded into him and disrupting his thought, he had to stop the opposition from casting anything else though…
Thinking as quickly as possible Duncan decided on simply lobbing something back in return, he couldn’t concentrate enough to work any sort of defensive ward like Spell Nullify or Absorb to deflect any more spells but he could simply throw a large blast of energy at the thing to try and equalize things; after all it had to have a mind, it had to have at least some Psionic energy in its being to think, anything that had an extent of conscious thought had that—unless it was a pawn, in which case the spell would hopefully rebound up the bond to its controller, either way it would have some effect, it had to or Duncan was just going to be overwhelmed by whatever the thing cast next.

Without much finesse given his mental state the Master Mystic pulled wildly at Psionic Essence from it’s plane, channelling it across the essence plane into the physical—into himself—so that he could let the Arcane reaction turn it to mana when mixed with his Vis. All in all he pulled around the level of an Adept, far more than was really needed for Psionic Orb, more along the lines of Psionic Shock and released the evoked energy, aggressive, chaotic Psionic mana with no real coherency at the thing ahead of him, aiming to distract and stun it long enough for the despair he’d had cast on him to ware off, long enough for him to recover if only for a little while.

[Leath]

OOC: I'll just have Leath get his clothes first

IC: Leath, now robeless, grew cold, and shivered and shook. He saw his grey robes and other assorted items, and decided he should get those before fleeing somewhere. Streaking wasn't an option for Leath, especially when there was no new moon.

"What a wonderful day I'm having..."

Leath grabbed his belongings, and wondered what happed to the dwarf and what had become of his horse. His robes fit perfectly, but he still needed to get his green one. That would be tomorrow's task.

OOC: Ok, I'm leaving this thread now... bye all! (for now anyway!)

[Windhaven]

Maintaining his focus and coherence despite the peeling sensation of despair, Duncan mounted a counter attack in hopes of regaining an advantage over his attacker. Whatever it was that had been cast against him was strong enough for the master mystic to realize that if left unchecked, he would soon be lost to the overpowering sensation washing over him.

As arcane energies were gathered and molded for the defensive strike, Duncan was brought to the limits of his ability to focus, straining under the effort of his task. It was not usually this hard to manipulate arcane energies, but with the nagging pull of a sorrow that grew exponentially in intensity, even the simplest tasks would not have come easy.

Duncan released the super charged Psionic Orb at the form of death essence before him and with it were his hopes of regaining some form of control over the situation. With its release, the murky black form threw both "arms" forward to brace for the impact. The effect of the collision pushed the shade back as the psionic blue orb exploded into a dazzling display of blue and black shards.

Simultaneously with the explosion, the relentless wave of despair dissipated, giving Duncan's psyche a much needed respite. Unable to fully take advantage of this break in the enemy's attack, the white haired mystic knew that he needed to press his own attack should he wish to take the advantage. The essence before him would not stay stunned for long and every moment that passed was a moment lost.

[Duncan Sythe]

Jerking as if struck Duncan felt suddenly more aware, his eyes narrowed towards the opposition, whatever it happened to be, and he focused himself on the task at hand. A slow, nasty smile grew on his features…it could be hurt by Psionics could it? Well if what he used could hurt it, he’d keep on hurting it. Either the thing was more powerful than it had originally seemed and had been planning to toy with the Mystic or it had made a mistake, either way Duncan was not about to let it refocus, he was going to capitalise on his success.

A quick spell first, another Psionic orb, or more a set of several, drawing a large portion of Essence again Duncan allowed it to meld with his Vis and then split the mana, splitting the weaves of Arcana, more difficult but not beyond a Master as he attempted to create another three Psionic Orbs in quick succession, striking from three different directions around the being as he used the last portion of the mana he’d created to attempt to form a defensive spell.

It was true that Rebound was not the easiest spell Duncan knew, in fact next to the likes of Absorb and Memory Wipe along with some of his own creations it was one of the more difficult ones but it would do what he wanted it to do, if he managed to cast it then he wouldn’t have to worry about the next spell the other side used.

The Mage’s eyes were closed as he focused on what he was about, having closed the second he’d seen the result of his first orb, allowing himself to do what he did from the Astral Plane rather than the physical, viewing things carefully with an Arcane direction.

He took the mana, firstly altering the shape to create a shield of sorts aligned between himself and the black being, then he conjured the energy shield into existence on the physical plane proper, not a mere mana object but a fully fledged presence. Meanwhile he was continuing to use a third mana shaping technique to attempt to change the nature of the energy, adding an excess of Vis to the mana to depolarize it, making it…not unstable but certainly different, a kind of Arcane mirror of sorts. The end result, hopefully, would be causing any spell directed at the Mystic to be rebounded, as the spell’s name said, back towards the caster at the same power it struck…

Of course it was true the thing might not feel despair but any amount of arcane imbalance, especially mana, entering an object’s Vis caused some sort of reaction, it wouldn’t be a nice surprise for the enemy even if it didn’t get affected quite the same way.

For now though Duncan had to leave it at that, by now if all had gone well the Psionic Orbs would have struck, the shield would be up and the other side would probably have retaliated…he only hoped he’d worked fast enough, if something hadn’t gone well then the table fell down the stair case and turned over again, so to speak.

[Windhaven]

Beads of sweat formed about the master psionic's brow, as the quick succession of spell creation tested his limits. He weaved essence and vis togather franticly in an attempt to gain a solid upper hand over his foe. The dark form that loomed before him seemed idle and if his previous attack had stunned the creature, Duncan did not want to give it a chance to recover. Still unsure as to the true strength of the foe before him, wisdom taught the arcane marked human not to take any foolish chances.

With three partitions of essence drawn and molded, the mage let loose his continuing assault, sending the orbs out to surround the death's essence and attack from three different directions simultaneously. As the the orbs flew out to prepare for the strike, a fist sized ball of intense darkness formed in front of the midsection of the dark essence. The depth of the absolute blackness of the ball was straining to look upon, even in this state of astral perception. Looking into it caused a "sucking" feeling to overwhelm the beholder. Starting with his eye's and spreading into the base of his skull and down his spine, Duncan felt as if all were to be lost to the void before him.

Tearing his gaze from the it's direct focus on the object, the mystic continued his work with the last partition of essence he had drawn for his defense. With the realization that his advasary was not out of the fight yet, Duncan continued to sculpt his shield of rebound. With interest as to the outcome of his assault, the wizened human watched as his psionic orbs closed in on their target, but at the same time as they were nearing their destination, the fist sized void that had been brought about by deaths form, began to circle it with incredible speed. Seeing only a blurred caccoon of emptiness, the mystic watched as his orbs melted into the strange form.

Bewildered, Duncan continued to observe the caccoon once again become an orb before the dark essence. unnervingly however, the orb was no longer the size of a fist, but now closer to four fists in size. A refreshed sense of uneasiness swept over the master psionic, but experience and battle tested resolve forced the continuation of his shield building. Interweaving the vis and essence into the spell came more naturally than he had expected as it seemed the imminent danger before him only helped to clear his mind and focus it's direction. As he finished the spell, he noticed that the void had left it's creator and was speeding toward him. Bracing for impact should the shield fail, the master psionic waited in bizarre anticipation, curious as to how the two magics would react

As the void collided with the shield of reflection, Duncan could see and feel his shield being sucked into the orb. Yet as the orb pulled the draping protection from around him, it slowed greatly in speed. And when the well crafted defensive barrier was nothing more than the fringes of vis infused essence, miraculisly the orbs direction reversed. The shield had worked although not exactly as planned, but with the orb redirected toward it's creator, Duncan watched with fascination. The death's essence that had proved so manevolent, took up it's previously viewed defensive posture as the void slammed into it. It's defenses however were too week to stop the ball of intense absorbtion and as the orb connected with it's master, both imploded into each other freeing the immediate astral plane of the pungent taint of death. Questions flooded Duncan's mind but only one could be answered, there was no longer an immediate threat present, but for how long it would remain that way, was unknown.

OOC: Well I think this will wrap it up so that you can continue to move forward in the story line with no doubts as to what happened to you. If you want to post in closing, be my guest and I apologize if I took any liberties with your reactions that you feel might have been out of charachter. PM me if you have any further questions, take care, and I hope to RP with you in the future.