15[20:15] <@VoxPVoxD> The Princess Crimson is a gracious hostess, and despite her choleric attitude she admits Stranger and his attendant without complaint. What do the patrons of the tea-house see as the two of them enter the building, hot and cramped with a narrow path through the life and up to danger? What do they intend to bring back out with them? 15[20:16] <@VoxPVoxD> In Floodwater at night, the danger has settled, leaving Xu Sim and Blossom to set to their work. None of the others are around just now, all scattered on their own grim business. But there remains much to see and do. What do the alchemist and the priestess aim to draw from Nexus tonight? [20:17] 14They see Stranger-Visits-Heaven, the man who has disguised not himself, but all his friends: a man becoming, in some small but growing way, part of the current public life in Nexus, despite there being so little known about where he came from, or where he goes. And hopefully as they see him, they pay less attention to the actual, realer physical dangers that sweep in with him. [20:21] 5Xu huddles over a huge contraption of glass, silk, and wood. Surrounding the contraption are a number of glass tubes, with small bamboo doors controlled with simple strings and levers. A loud buzzing sound has been ringing from his laboratory for several days.  [20:22] <@Ferrinus> 12Flanking Stranger-Visits-Heaven is some kind of bodyguard - a large man garbed in black and brown, his lower face obscured by a wrap of dark cloth and the rest of his head shrouded by a hood. An old sword hangs across the man's back, its blade treated as to not to catch or reflect the light, and the man's body is covered with dark cloth and dark leather in equal measure. This could [20:22] <@Ferrinus> 12be any one of a number of mercenaries, sellswords, or assassins who for political or financial reasons isn't willing to reveal his allegiance. [20:22] <@Ferrinus> 12At least a few of the guards can guess that Stranger's second has a rough voice and is quite surprised at the present of Tepet troops in the heart of the city, though. [20:24] 7Blossom has been waiting for the others to return. In the meantime, she's been carefully drawing interlocking mandalas in a corner of the main workroom to test her understanding of Essence flows imparted by the Black and White treatises, and practicing the exacting phrases and hand gestures required by formalized sorcery. [20:24] 14Stranger is...pleasantly imperious. His smile isn't strained, not quite, but he clearly knows where he is going and intends to go there without being detained, waylaid, harried, or annoyed. [20:24] 5From time to time, Xu manipulates these levers, trapping individual bees for additional experiments. He has exposed them to permutations of the Five Elements, dissected them, carefully examined them. At present, he has brought in a few cheap bells and is examining their response to sonic stimulation. 15[20:27] <@VoxPVoxD> The stairs up to the second floor are flanked by the same odd pairing as the front door - one guard bearing a House Tepet tattoo, and one guard who is plainly a local Guildsman. They admit Stranger and his bodyguard without objection. He made his point outside. [20:27] 5Judging from his reactions to whatever substance these bees excrete, these bees are surely extremely dangerous. That means that devising the secret of these bees could be the secret of his political rehabilitation. [20:29] 14Stranger smiles and sweeps upward. He's mentally counting the guards -- how fortified is this teahouse? [20:34] 5It’s on a break from his studies that Xu approaches Blossom in the midst of one of her mandalas. He says nothing, waiting until she is finished. “Do you have a moment?” 15[20:37] <@VoxPVoxD> There are about a half-dozen guards, well-equipped and plainly well-trained, visible on the first floor. Combined with what Keldar and Judge espied on the rooftops, there's at least twenty men not counting whatever awaits them upstairs, which turns out to be: 15[20:38] <@VoxPVoxD> A man in fine clothes - one guesses this is the high-ranking Guild boss 'Saul' - suspended by his throat a few inches off the ground in the right hand of a beautiful woman clothed in flowing, long-sleeved robes that flutter in a bitter wind. 15[20:39] <@VoxPVoxD> There are another two-dozen men - split here in halves against each other, Tepet on one side and Guild on the other - staring each other down around them. [20:39] 14Stranger: "Mmm." 15[20:39] <@VoxPVoxD> Everyone but Saul turns to look at those coming inside. [20:40] 7Blossom straightens up, carefully examining her work. "What do you need?" [20:40] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar's eyes are seen to widen, then narrow. [20:40] 14Stranger: "How is the honey blossom tea here?" [20:42] “I want to take some time to compare notes, if you have some time. I have been working with the bees… what have you been working on?” [20:44] 7Blossom: "Basic theory. I was only initiated during my Exaltation." [20:44] "And learning Death of Obsidian Butterflies, of course." 7She adds. "There's an army on the march." 15[20:45] <@VoxPVoxD> The woman lets Saul slip through her fingers, and he crumples to the ground wheezing. She affixes a brilliant smile and a searching gaze on Stranger. "Would you care to find out? I suppose it's not too late to have a conversation." [20:46] 14Stranger walks over to a table where a kettle sits, lifts the lid. "Can't walk. Too late to run." 14Cold. "Better crawl, Saul." [20:51] “There is. But our political situation here is one obstacle to defeating it. And there will be more armies if we don’t resolve that situation. You have courtly training, don’t you?” [20:51] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar, silent as yet, glances around the room, flexes his wrists idly, and ultimately crosses his arms at the prospect of tea. He won't be sitting down. 15[20:52] <@VoxPVoxD> She'll snap her fingers and one of the Tepet guards will send for a hot kettle and three cups - the intention is plainly for herself, Stranger, and Keldar to sit. Saul is helped to his feet by Guild men and looks on balefully, not daring to interfere yet. [20:53] 14Stranger sits down. "So. You are aware, in the abstract, who I am, I trust." [20:54] 7Blossom tilts her head. "What do you mean by that?" [20:56] “Nessun Dorma wants my head. And it’s not even personal anymore! He’s prevented me from doing anything more than puttering around in here. I’m accused of being Anathema, but that’s an accusation we could all face soon enough." [20:57] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar's unmoved by the three cups. He's not breaking bread - or leaves or whatever, as the case may be - with the Tepet. In theory, the man's seething rage is neatly hidden by a veneer of anonymous professionalism, but in practice the eyes are too narrowed, the fingers of one arm digging too tightly into the bicep of another. This is someone who is, at the moment, replacing the [20:57] <@Ferrinus> 12satisfaction of physical action with either total absorption into some private calculation or, perhaps, some scene vividly imagined. [21:00] 14Stranger, of course, will drink, confident that this woman's side-eyed glances at Keldar mean she has sufficient respect for his presence to avoid poison. [21:00] 7Blossom: "Still? I thought you'd convinced him you had been betrayed." [21:00] 14And if he's wrong, well: he knows the best doctor in the city. [21:00] 14They'll know Keldar. [21:03] “He wanted to kill me because he thought I’d killed his friend. He’s going to kill me because I’ve been identified as a demon.” [21:03] “I’ve tried to walk that back, but I don’t have a way to make sure. And if we beat the fae army, we are going to face the same problem all over again.” 15[21:04] <@VoxPVoxD> The woman inclines her head, giving both Stranger and Keldar long looks as they settle in, or refuse to. The corners of her lips twitch into a smile and curl into a sneer in subtle vacillation. She's a wary woman, a proud woman, and Stranger gets the unmistakable sense that she considers this place - this work, whatever it is - beneath her. "Names, first. I owe you mine. Niobe, Chosen of House Tepet. I may know you, stranger, but I owe you the courtesy of letting you speak for yourself." 15[21:08] <@VoxPVoxD> Both Keldar and Stranger can see as she serves herself tea the glitter of jade beneath her delicate sleeves. Fine and wondrous bracers cover her arms from wrist to elbow. Keldar recognizes immediately that she's wearing an artifact, a set of what savants call "perfected kata bands", which are to the martial artist what a daiklave is to the swordsman. [21:09] 14Stranger sips. "I, as you know, am Stranger-Visits-Heaven. This is Caul Third-Mountain, my second." [21:09] <@Ferrinus> 12God damn it. [21:09] 7Blossom: "What kind of proof does he think he has?" [21:10] <@Ferrinus> 12Which god? Hell, why not Sol himself? Keldar might as well start getting used to the idea. Still, those'll be a pleasant surprise for Judge, if nothing else. [21:10] 14His eyes flicker upwards to where the Guild man stands. "But of course, not all the parties have been introduced. You don't seem eager to join us, Saul." [21:11] “When I received… whatever this power is… there was another man there. Piotr. His forehead burned with a brand like mine - same shape - but it was green. He was a very powerful sorceror. I think he framed me with the death of King Novak - but also caused me to be reported as possessed by a demonic force.” 15[21:11] <@VoxPVoxD> "A pleasure," says Niobe. "A genuine pleasure. In this city there's so little that we might call dignified, but this - here, now - is an opportunity to defy that." She offers 'Caul' a thin smile. "But it's an opportunity we owe it to ourselves to live up to." She concentrates on her tea rather than Saul as Stranger invites his response. [21:14] "Green..." 7Blossom doesn't know what that means, but all the speculation it encourages is alarming. Everyone knows that Hell is lit by a green sun. "Well, there you are. The foul Anathema framed you as one of his kind in order to throw the virtuous off his scent." [21:15] 7Blossom: "If you're asking what we should do when the Fair Folk are at the gates and our solar Essence shouts our nature to Heaven, then actions always speak louder than words. If he isn't convinced we're not demons by fighting to save the city from Chaos, then we'll probably have to kill him." [21:16] “Do you really think it will be that simple?” 5Xu is skeptical. [21:17] "Oh, I hate this -- are we speaking frankly? Of course we are. We have no reason to lie. I hate this city. It's not the people -- I love people. Fundamentally. I hate this city. I hate the stench of it, the way it looks, the way it tastes. I hate what it stands for -- I hate what it says about what happens to our minds when our bodies gather but our hearts wall themselves off. I would [21:17] that I were done here, but I am not. Neither, I suspect, are you. It's the people, you see." 4He sips the tea again. "So." [21:17] "Oh, I hate this -- are we speaking frankly? Of course we are. We have no reason to lie. I hate this city. It's not the people -- I love people. Fundamentally. I hate this city. I hate the stench of it, the way it looks, the way it tastes. I hate what it stands for -- I hate what it says about what happens to our minds when our bodies gather but our hearts wall themselves off. I would [21:17] that I were done here, but I am not. Neither, I suspect, are you. It's the people, you see." 14He sips the tea again. "So." [21:18] 7She shrugs. "Ten Thousand Dragons Rule The World. I don't have any experience in stopping a Wyld Hunt." [21:18] <@Ferrinus> 12Man, thinks Keldar, Stranger's really bending over backwards to butter this Dynast up, isn't he. [21:20] 14That's the workflow. 15[21:21] <@VoxPVoxD> Saul, for his part, says nothing, settling into what is supposed to be the seat of power in the room. He watches. [21:22] “In the meantime. I’d like to be able to at least show up to the battle, without the Judge caking my face with makeup or forcing me to wear some ridiculous disguise. If I can complete a cure by then, could you help me, uh, ‘present’ it? Or demonstrate it, to whichever of the ten thousand prattling dragons are in charge of this place?” [21:24] 7Blossom: "Certainly. The Council of Entities at least has reason to trust us." 15[21:26] <@VoxPVoxD> Blossom and Xu Sim can hear, up above them, over the chattering of the rattlewhales, the scrabbling and whining of a stray dog at the door. [21:27] 7Blossom checks the windows first. This isn't some kind of trap, is it? 15[21:28] <@VoxPVoxD> The murderholes reveal a shaggy white dog, a muddy terrier, with a gold sash around its neck. There's something wedged in that sash - a scrap of parchment? [21:29] 7Hmm. Alright then. She'll open the door and examine what the extremely cute messenger has brought them. [21:30] 5Xu rushes to the door. The Twice-Refined Princess murmurs. [21:31] 5He throws it open, snatching a bit of sausage that Mud and Straw had no doubt been saving for later, and presenting it to the ragged creature. 15[21:32] <@VoxPVoxD> Niobe nods. "Just so. We are servants first, and served second." 15[21:32] <@VoxPVoxD> "In that spirit... what service do you believe we can be to one another?" 15[21:33] <@VoxPVoxD> The dog scampers in, eating the sausage greedily, letting Blossom take the message from its neck. It is a bit of parchment. It's written in a very fine hand - an invitation? [21:35] "It concerns me." 14Stranger runs his finger around the rim of his teacup. "The extent to which the Guild, and by extension, your honored selves, are polluting an already polluted politics. I can tell, for instance, that as I am both drinking your tea and am still ambulatory you and-or Saul -- that the Guild and-or House Tepet -- do not view poison as the proper balm for every burn. [21:35] And yet." [21:36] "And yet, here we sit." 15[21:38] <@VoxPVoxD> It invites, specifically, Xu Sim and Excessively Righteous Blossom to join Dragonlord Nessun Dorma for a late supper to discuss matters of dire import in a context of assured (the callipgraphy is bold here) safety. Blossom notices that this callipgraphy matches the hand that prayer strip was written in. 15[21:38] <@VoxPVoxD> It invites them by name. 15[21:41] <@VoxPVoxD> Niobe watches Keldar from over the rim of her teacup. She drinks with a princess's comportment - this is the kind of training the Scarlet Dynasty affords its best selves. "Mmm. I confess that in a distasteful place, needful business has a way of imparting further bitterness. Like medicine mixed into a cloying cup of tea. But I am mindful, as ever, of necessity. And I value... honesty." 15[21:42] <@VoxPVoxD> "Honesty is the duty of those who'd stand for the many against the few. Because the truth is what the few despise, in that moment." [21:43] “How did that dog get here?” [21:43] 14Stranger: "The truth will not save you, Niobe of House Tepet. Trust me on that account. I've balanced it before." [21:43] 14He pauses. "But I know something that might." 15[21:44] <@VoxPVoxD> Niobe: "Please." [21:44] 14He motions for her to lean in so he can whisper in her ear. [21:45] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar stares coolly back, but doesn't hold Niobe's eyes for long. He's apparently some sort of security detail, after all, and so keeps looking around at the others in the room. Let's see, one two and that's him down, quarter-turn and that'll be the second guy.... [21:46] 5Xu examines the collar for a moment. It seems rather out-of-place. 15[21:48] <@VoxPVoxD> Niobe leans in. [21:49] 14Stranger quietly: "Every Guild man save Saul in this teahouse dies. You and yours leave this putrid city tonight ahead of the Wylding armies closing on it, and you tell your masters the Guild betrayed you on the eve of the great war with the Faerie-men the Scavenger Lands have seen in, oh, pick a number of years. Pick an era. We get Saul. You get this offer, not him, for one reason: [21:49] you sat down to talk. He will get to listen." 15[21:54] <@VoxPVoxD> Niobe breathes gently before drawing her head back. "I hate it here. This much is obvious. But what you ask..." [21:57] 14He continues: "Do you know what the moon-things are? The beasts that stand astride the edge of civilization, one foot in the Wyld, one foot in...well...Nexus, honestly. The Anathema of Luna, Niobe. The animal men; the snarling, vibrant, transformative face of untold millenia of anger. I heard once of a swan woman, a creature blessed from the lunar verge with that grace, that beauty. [21:57] But have you ever met a swan? Have you ever gotten a swan angry? Have you recoiled from that mess? I have. [21:57] "Not three weeks south of here. Then I hurried on. 15[21:57] <@VoxPVoxD> The collar is out of place... it's not a collar at all. Xu Sim unfolds a piece of glittering golden silk, like a handkerchief, which had been folded around the dog's neck. Both of them can see that the weaving is very fine - unnaturally fine, even - but Xu Sim can see the true marvel - embedded in this gossamer fabric, something between a cobweb and a memory, are threads of orichalcum - six fine threads in all worked into the weave. As the cloth moves in his hands it glitters like the sky at dawn. [21:57] "That is what is coming. You serve no master from the underworld." [21:58] "You deserve a different death than the bee. The claw. The beak of a swan. Many, many unknowable years from now." [22:00] 7Blossom turns to Xu Sim with a curious expression. "Do you remember the, the little servant Nessun Dorma had?" 15[22:00] <@VoxPVoxD> Niobe's face curls. A breeze ruffle's Stranger's hair. "I... do... hate it here." She permits herself a baleful look in Saul's direction. [22:01] 5Xu gasps as the gold thread unfurls in his hands. He runs it across his fingers, the back of his hand, he holds it up, he offers it to Blossom to examine - he laughs. “Oh - who?” [22:01] 14No, dear, don't spoil the surprise. He leans in again. "A choice, Niobe. And an easy one." [22:04] 7Blossom: "I don't think he told me his name- he didn't speak much. He gave me a prayer strip I thought was written by Dorma but... it's in the same hand as this, and now that I look at it again it couldn't possibly have been him. Nessun Dorma wouldn't have calligraphy this elegant." [22:05] 7Blossom: "And it has my name... my real name, I mean. What's that you've got there?" [22:08] “How would his manservant know your name? … A strand of orichalcum. One of the Magical Materials. Rather rarer than jade.” [22:11] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar takes a step forward. "Hang on." 12He leans in slightly. "The poisoning. Whole reason we're here." [22:11] 14Keldar... [22:11] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "They just... go?" [22:11] 14To Niobe: "Your part in the poisoning is what?" [22:14] “So you think we should accept this invitation?” 5He continues to run the strand back and forth between his hands, feeling its surprising heft - much heavier than gold or steel or stone - and of course, it’s stronger than any of them. 15[22:18] <@VoxPVoxD> Saul steps forward here. "Not so fast. You're not getting the story from her. I want to say my piece too." [22:18] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar half-turns, tilting his hood and raising a brow. 15[22:19] <@VoxPVoxD> Niobe: "It speaks." 15[22:24] <@VoxPVoxD> Saul: "First of all -- first of all -- the Astrologer is fine. She's not hurt. She's not going to die. My orders are to keep her under because she's insane. Second, the only reason we're doing this at all is because of her suction on my boss. I mean, come on. You think I'm gonna drug a Councilor? I got to live in this city. She doesn't." [22:24] <@Ferrinus> 12Is 'her' Niobe? 15[22:25] <@VoxPVoxD> That's who Keldar sees Saul pointing at. 15[22:25] <@VoxPVoxD> Niobe's face is frozen. She looks at Saul like he's something she'd have to wipe her feet of before stepping inside. [22:26] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "What's she got on him?" [22:28] 7Blossom: "I have no idea how he knows. But if he knows, and he's making the point of an environment of guaranteed safety... I don't think we can afford not to go." [22:29] “Then we are agreed. I hope the food is worth it at least." 15[22:30] <@VoxPVoxD> Saul: "I DON'T FUCKING KNOW! Can you believe that? Fifteen years I've been working - good years, loyal years - and this bitch rolls into town and suddenly I'm out in the cold. I'm on the outside. Fifteen years! All I get now are orders. They trusted me. And now what." 15[22:31] <@VoxPVoxD> "And then she strolls in here, and she treats me like shit? Fuck you." [22:31] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "See, that makes - you people even know this is goin' on? Generally? Like, one step above whoever's one step above you, they even know you're pullin' this?" 15[22:32] <@VoxPVoxD> Saul: "The fuck should I know?" [22:32] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Fair enough. One other thing, then - how long've you been doin' this?" [22:32] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Since the Emissary went down? Little before? Long before?" 15[22:33] <@VoxPVoxD> Stranger can tell that the air grows heavier as Saul rants. There is tension in this room - though its precise character would yield only to attention. 15[22:33] <@VoxPVoxD> Saul: "Six weeks. It was before the Emissary died. It's got nothing to do with that." [22:34] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Got anythin' to do with, like... grain storage?" [22:35] 14Stranger just watches. At one point he gives Niobe a sympathetic look. A sympathetic shrug: and you were so close. [22:37] 14To Saul: "And you're just going to sit here and insult me like this." [22:38] 14To Saul: "As if I don't already know about Zutu." 15[22:38] <@VoxPVoxD> Saul starts to answer Keldar but peers past him at Stranger. His eyes narrow. [22:38] 14To Saul: "Oh, no, continue shitbird. Tell me of the multitude of problems you think you have." [22:39] 14His empty eyes narrow: "Then add ten thousand more." [22:40] “While we are getting ready, let me tell you a couple things about this orichalcum…” 5Xu adds in a loud voice as he rifles through his belongings for a relatively unstained robe sufficient to wear to something like this. 15[22:40] <@VoxPVoxD> The air hangs heavy with portent. All their work, all their planning, all their care and struggle converge on this crucial turning point: 15[22:40] <@VoxPVoxD> How nice are Blossom and Xu Sim dressing? [22:41] 7As nice as the wardrobe she fled with allows. A late supper gives her just enough time to get her hair Did. [22:42] 5The best Xu can do is a white robe with some saffron embroidery, though it’s heavily worn. [22:44] 5A pair of loose, matching linen pants and a pair of salvaged shoes complete the ensemble. [22:44] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Sorry, Zutu, that's the, uh... that's the hostage his people had to take to carry out this lady's plan?" 15[22:44] <@VoxPVoxD> From beneath the feet of the Chosen in the Princess Crimson, music is playing. Someone's at the guqin, and playing very fine. Niobe's head sways gracefully to the music. 15[22:44] <@VoxPVoxD> It's soothing music. [22:46] 14Stranger leans forward: "You don't think you're the only Guild man in this town, Saul. You know you're not. So riddle me this, you stupid, miserable little bug: I have the ear of two Councilors. Between the three of us, how many Guild men do you think we can scrounge up to do your job better?" [22:46] 14Stranger: "How willing are you to bet they like talking to you more than they'll like talking to me?" [22:46] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Sorry, the... job of poisoning a Councilor on Tepet's orders?" [22:47] 14Not helping. [22:47] <@Ferrinus> 12Of course he's not helping. Keldar's giving Stranger an askance look, actually standing slightly between him and Saul, now. What's this guy's problem? 15[22:48] <@VoxPVoxD> Blossom and Xu Sim find themselves traveling to palatial apartments in the heart of Nexus, high and far from the rivers, where they began when they set the fires. Council Tower is visible from here, as is the heart of Firewander. Elegantly dressed servants usher them inside, to the first and largest room of Nessun Dorma's suite. His back is to them, hands planted on a table before a window. He's bent over in thought or sorrow. 15[22:49] <@VoxPVoxD> Saul's startled by the force and ferocity of Stranger's threat. He looks around, hastily recalculating. "...keep talking." [22:50] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Hey, you keep talking. We haven't even got the whole picture here. Grain, remember?" [22:53] 5Xu scans the room as he steps forward, but he does step forward.  [22:53] 7Blossom's fairly sure she'd recognize the little man if she saw him again. Fairly sure. Is he here? 15[22:55] <@VoxPVoxD> There are no guards in the room, and no sign of anyone else in here besides the two of them and Nessun. There's a tattoo visible on his neck in his loose dinner finery. The doors to the other rooms are closed, however, and the servants that led them in back out quietly, closing even that door. 15[22:55] <@VoxPVoxD> Nessun: "This is not how it was supposed to happen." 15[22:57] <@VoxPVoxD> He stands, and in his full height shadows the two of them against the light coming in from the Nexus night. "These are not the battles I'm here to fight." 15[22:58] <@VoxPVoxD> He turns to face them, his face a mask of hard-won manners. He affects a bow. [23:01] 7Blossom returns the bow wordlessly. Politeness costs nothing. Impoliteness, on the other hand, gets you a thwack with a big stick from your comportment teacher. [23:02] 5Xu returns the bow as well. “Thank you for your understanding." 15[23:11] <@VoxPVoxD> Saul: "Yeah! See, you're on it. The granary. Kratz is a tying vote and she's the one nobody'd miss if she just didn't come out of her tower for three months. It's really simple." 15[23:11] <@VoxPVoxD> "I mean, it's not, but it is." [23:11] 14Hissing: "Is this what 'nobody' looks like to you?" [23:12] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Riiight. Okay." 12He looks over to the seated Dynast. Does she even look like she wants to say anything? 15[23:12] <@VoxPVoxD> Saul: "Look, man, you weren't in town when we made this call. We don't budget for heroes." 15[23:12] <@VoxPVoxD> "Not in Nexus we don't." 15[23:13] <@VoxPVoxD> Niobe is watching. Not Saul, not Stranger, but Keldar. "May I speak?" she asks him. Him, specifically. [23:13] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar waves an encouraging hand . 15[23:14] <@VoxPVoxD> The guqin player below has started another song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M4gca_uLB4 15[23:17] <@VoxPVoxD> Niobe: "Well, first I have a question. An open question. Anyone with an idea, or the idea of an idea, please." She looks directly at Saul. "What conceivable reason would we have to care about your property rights? What part of this, as you've claimed to understand it, benefits us? What merits the effort? What merits the risk? Are you so petty as to imagine your interests and mine align? That they so much as coexist?" 15[23:18] <@VoxPVoxD> "You are vermin." [23:18] 14Stranger is ignoring her. He is instead glaring at Keldar. [23:18] 14The deal was there. [23:18] 14The deal was done. [23:18] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Well... yeah. Right? Seems to me if you knock half the Council over that makes Nexus, and the whole region, that much weaker relative to the Scavenger Lands. Don't it?" [23:20] 14And now they're going to leave Saul's Guild infrastructure intact and deal with the fallout from this. Because a Dragon-Blood and her House retinue wiping out a Guild wetworks cadre is one thing. The reverse? That's quite another. 15[23:20] <@VoxPVoxD> Nessun: "I can't claim credit for my understand. It was, as all my life's lessons, beaten into me. In its way." He looks at Blossom and not Xu Sim. "I'm told that you are, the both of you, Anathema." [23:20] 14There will be questions. [23:20] 14They made the planto avoid questions. [23:20] 14Who, just who the fuck, is House Tepet to this man, to inspire this pigheaded foolishness? 15[23:21] <@VoxPVoxD> Niobe: "Who profits, though? Do you see the Guild fearing the hand of the Imperial City, here? It wasn't Nexus that beat the Dragons back. Was it?" [23:22] 14Stranger, with an air of defeated resignation: "What did I say, Niobe." [23:22] 14He said: "The truth will not save you." 15[23:23] <@VoxPVoxD> Niobe: "It's not myself I aim to save." 15[23:23] <@VoxPVoxD> "I am here, gentlemen, as a favor." 15[23:23] <@VoxPVoxD> "I am here on behalf of this pit." [23:23] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "There are a lot of swords here. Lots of trade. I dunno the specifics, but if Nexus slides straight into the river, is that likely to help the Scavenger Lands or hurt 'em?" [23:23] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "The hell you figure that?" [23:24] 7Blossom: "And so?" 7Her hands are concealed in her sleeves and she speaks noncommittally. 15[23:24] <@VoxPVoxD> Nessun: "Simple observation. I suppose... in hindsight... I might have known. But I lost myself, and my judgment." 15[23:28] <@VoxPVoxD> Niobe: "When Nexus falls -- and it will -- it isn't the Realm who will pick it apart. Oh, no. You said it yourself. These are Scavenger Lands. You should be fearing the little powers of the Threshold. Great Forks. Lookshy. What remains of Thorns. All the little kingdoms in between. The petty river-gods beyond the reach of justice. They will devour you, you greedy, stinking thugs." [23:29] 14Stranger: "Well. Congratulations, Saul." 15[23:29] <@VoxPVoxD> "I am here, on behalf of the Council, to see the Council stand together as the city falls around it. I am here, on their request, at their debt, to do what we have determined is necessary to see it stand." [23:30] "I am pleased that you've regained it." 7She notes. 15[23:30] <@VoxPVoxD> "Now, gentlemen. I absolve Saul of his stupidity. He is a mongrel, and his world is very small. But did you -- either of you -- think for one moment that this was about grain?" [23:31] 14Stranger: "Niobe, you poor child, I've told you but one lie tonight." [23:31] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar scoffs. "Who on the Council? How does screwing with the Civilities and keeping votes in deadlock to the city's benefit?" [23:31] "That lie was this:" [23:31] "My name is Stranger-Visits-Heaven." [23:31] "But his?" [23:31] "His is Keldar." 15[23:33] <@VoxPVoxD> Nessun accepts this quietly, and then: "Come. Dine with me." 15[23:36] <@VoxPVoxD> The three of them sit around a table set for four. Soup is brought in when Nessun rings a bell, though he hesitates, looking at the empty place. "How did you learn what you've come to learn?" he says after the first course is brought in and the servers depart. [23:40] “Ours has been a wide-ranging investigation. But… are you familiar with the honey-sickness spreading through Nexus since the death of the Emissary?” [23:41] *rewind sound* [23:42] 14Stranger: "Well. Congratulations, Saul." 15[23:43] <@VoxPVoxD> Nessun: "In passing. Bubo's wife is a physician and she has kept him well apprised." 15[23:43] <@VoxPVoxD> "It's not something I can fight, though." [23:44] 14It's Keldar's show now. [23:47] “I hope to devise a cure soon. But regardless. The poem came to our attention through careful sorcerous examination of these selfsame bees. We learned of the encroaching Fair Folk from a rider escaping the destruction of the northern kingdoms.” 15[23:51] <@VoxPVoxD> Niobe: "It'd take more than the threat of a knife at my throat to tell you that. Give me a reason." [23:52] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar says: "Whole sword?" 15[23:53] <@VoxPVoxD> Niobe: "Cuts the same way." 15[23:53] <@VoxPVoxD> Nessun: "But why?" 15[23:53] <@VoxPVoxD> "Why now?" [23:54] <@Ferrinus> 12The mercenary turns to face her full on. "Lady, we're here on the Council's behalf. We're fetching heads, okay, attached or otherwise. Maybe, MAYBE this is the most ridiculous and improbable misunderstanding imaginable, right, and the one hand just doesn't know what the other's doing, whatever, and this all gets worked out." [23:55] 14Doubtful, though. She was just about ready to flee the city. [23:55] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "But right NOW it looks like a cadre of foreigners are sneaking in and using force to sabotage the city at a really friggin' delicate time. What do you think happens?" [23:56] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "I'm like, whole way here - the Guild? The GUILD? That's insane, this is practically their damn capital, why would they - but if this is, like, some fuckin' imperial plot, suddenly it's easy." [23:57] “Who can say for certain? But…” 5Xu takes a considered sip of the soup. “If I were to speculate, perhaps the death of the Emissary has created a power vacuum.” 15[23:57] <@VoxPVoxD> Nessun: "In Nexus or among the Raksha?" [23:58] “Why not both?” [23:59] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar turns away. "My friend and yours, Saul, he's a victim of circumstance. These fine folks, they're just unlucky. There's just this one - small - problem. That needs-" 12he turns back, and there's something terrible in his stance, in his eyes. "Fixing." [23:59] 14Stranger just stares at the kettle. 15[00:05] <@VoxPVoxD> Niobe's face betrays no fear, but she does soften. "Brueghel and Hayle. Friends of the family." 15[00:05] <@VoxPVoxD> Saul: "No fucking way-" 15[00:05] <@VoxPVoxD> Niobe: "Shut him up or I will." [00:06] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Nice. Nice. And how's this supposed to save the city? What're they giving you to do it?" 15[00:06] <@VoxPVoxD> Nessun struggles not to slurp his soup. "Well... what do you make of that?" [00:14] 7Blossom: "The death of Balor of the Terrible Gaze is a good reason for his queen to invade." 15[00:14] <@VoxPVoxD> Niobe: "Breaking the Council deadlock now ensures that they have the weight of majority to strengthen their position after the Emissary's death. It takes more than will for the Council of Entities to contravene the law. Do you know why? I'm guessing you do. And that's why the Council is confined by protocol even as it attempts to remake itself." [00:15] 5Xu Sim dabs at the corner of his mouth with a napkin as Blossom says this. 15[00:15] <@VoxPVoxD> Nessun: "What?" [00:16] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Right, right, so. Keeping the council standing and saving the city from itself and suchlike actually, actually, just means putting more weight to the words of... those two guys. Have I got this right?" [00:16] 7Blossom: "I examined the body. The creature called the Emissary was once the raksha lord known as Balor of the Terrible Gaze. The iron thistledown that brought him low was still embedded in his flesh." 15[00:16] <@VoxPVoxD> Niobe: "You might instead look at it as undermining the position of Udelph and Pellicia." [00:17] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "What'd they do wrong?" 12This seems like an honest question rather than a rhetorical one. [00:17] 14... 15[00:18] <@VoxPVoxD> Nessun: "..." 15[00:18] <@VoxPVoxD> "Who else knows?" [00:20] 7Blossom frowns. Something is wrong. "You should have. I had a full and faithful report sent to you." [00:26] 14Stranger leans over in his seat to murmur something into Keldar's arm, almost: "The Councilors all knew. He told them. Two of them told her." [00:26] 14Hopefully the context is clear. [00:26] <@Ferrinus> 12Confusion flickers briefly across the mercenary's face, clearly evident for all that it's just his eyes and the bridge of his nose that's visible through his garb. 15[00:28] <@VoxPVoxD> Keldar knows before Niobe opens her mouth. Pellicia, Udelph, and Kratz formed a bloc within the Council chafing against the Dogmas and Civilities as well as the raw political inertia of Nexus to install something resembling functional public service. Food, medicine, a public watch. They were met in turn by an opposing bloc led by Hayle, Brueghel, and Gen. Ephiselle and Halevar abstained from these conflicts. 15[00:31] <@VoxPVoxD> So it follows thus: a public service that exists against the law - and importantly against the interests of the Guild - stymied the consensus-building that the other three councilors pursued. Given the stress of the Emissary's death, the ability of the Council to act swiftly was judged paramount, and it's clear which bloc was willing to fight harder for that majority. 15[00:32] <@VoxPVoxD> It does leave one gaping hole, though, in Keldar's mind: [00:32] 14Here's a funny thing: 15[00:32] <@VoxPVoxD> Why are these three Councilors planning around the fact of the Emissary's death - in advance of it, even - rather than attempting to avert it? [00:32] 14You don't end up needing a tiebreaker, with three people running the show. 15[00:33] <@VoxPVoxD> That is an excellent point. [00:33] 14Which, aheh, cuts both ways. 15[00:33] <@VoxPVoxD> Nessun: "To me? There must be some mistake. I wouldn't have-" 15[00:33] <@VoxPVoxD> "Master." 15[00:33] <@VoxPVoxD> "Forgive my tardiness." [00:34] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar puts a hand to his head, turning briefly away from Niobe as block after block falls into metaphorical place. 15[00:34] <@VoxPVoxD> The little man totters in in fine green robes, sitting in the space saved for him. He blows on his soup delicately to cool it before acknowledge the two Anathema. "Good evening," he says. [00:34] 14Stranger sets his cane across his lap. Not long now. 15[00:34] <@VoxPVoxD> He smiles at them, but his dark glasses betray nothing of whether it reaches his eyes. [00:36] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar paces a bit, raising his other hand to point an index finger slowly at Saul, then at Niobe, then off towards Sentinel Hill a few times, as though slowly taking attendance. "That... well. Hmm." 12He clears his throat. "Well." [00:37] <@Ferrinus> "Just, uh. One more, I guess, before I'm satisfied here." 12He looks over. "Sachin. Tepet Sachin. He's a relation, right? Brother, cousin, maybe? Husband? All of the above, given you're Dynasts?" [00:37] 14So that's what this is about. [00:37] 14No wonder this woman has to die. [00:38] “Now, ah, where were we?” 15[00:38] <@VoxPVoxD> Niobe: "Nephew." [00:39] "Good evening..." 7She trails off. [00:39] <@Ferrinus> "Ahhh. Well." 12Keldar reaches up and pulls away his hood, looking Niobe right in the eyes. "Cute kid." 15[00:39] <@VoxPVoxD> Nessun: "Bubo, did you receive a report from this woman? One meant for me?" 15[00:40] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo: "Oh! Yes. Yes, I did. Fascinating reading. Why do you ask?" [00:42] “We were wondering who else might know about the true identity of the Emissary.” 15[00:43] <@VoxPVoxD> When Niobe attacks, she doesn't reach out with her hand. She doesn't channel Essence through her bracers. She stands with her fingers curled around the teacup. 15[00:44] <@VoxPVoxD> Nessun: "Why was I not informed of this?" 15[00:50] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo: "Ah... forgive me, Dragonlord. I receive so much correspondence, of incredible import, on your behalf. And your own work is as ceaseless as it is taxing. We have an understanding, do we not? I tell you what you need to know and I handle the rest." 15[00:51] <@VoxPVoxD> Nessun: "You don't think the identity of the most powerful being in the entire Direction merited my attention?" 15[00:51] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo: "Your interest, certainly, but not your attention. What would you have done with it? What will you do now?" 15[00:52] <@VoxPVoxD> "You are a man of action, Dragonlord, and the Emissary's nature - fascinating though it is - is not actionable." 15[00:52] <@VoxPVoxD> "It is simply the case." 15[00:57] <@VoxPVoxD> Nessun puts his soup bowl down hard enough that some of it spills onto the table. "Bubo this is unsatisfactory. Nothing I have been doing would have been slowed down by you telling me this. And, knowing it, and navigating this city with that knowledge, I might have noticed things I missed because you judged it beneath me. I value your judgment, Bubo, but we must remember who is the master and who is the servant." [00:57] “It was simply the case, perhaps.” 15[00:57] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo: "Yes, Dragonlord. Of course, Dragonlord. I hope you'll forgive this lapse." [00:58] 7Blossom eyes the interaction between master and servant with interest. Hmm. A minder from Lookshy, here to keep the dragon in his course perhaps? 15[01:00] <@VoxPVoxD> As the soup is carried away, Bubo says: "To answer your questions - forgive my impertinence - I suspect that the Emissary's identity is known to the Council of Entities, as well as anyone they wished to tell. I do not believe it to be common knowledge, or even uncommon knowledge - the laws of Nexus are a curious beast indeed." 15[01:01] <@VoxPVoxD> "In fact," says Bubo, as they bring the fish in. "It's an interesting philosophical question." 15[01:02] <@VoxPVoxD> Nessun: "Bubo, is this really the time for one of your digressions?" 15[01:02] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo looks down. "...perhaps you're right. Forgive me." 15[01:03] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo: "Now, as to actionable information, I have news." 15[01:03] <@VoxPVoxD> "War tidings." [01:04] 5Xu Sim clears his throat. “Actually, if it wouldn’t cause undue delay to things, I’m curious about your philosophical question.” 15[01:07] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo looks up from the notes he's produced from... somewhere. "Another time." 15[01:07] <@VoxPVoxD> "I've been able to confirm that there is a great fae army coming down through the Hundred Kingdoms. They're cutting west and south - reports have them passing by Mahalanka and Highland, and laying waste to Thon, Wutian, Pirayana, and Rora." 15[01:08] <@VoxPVoxD> "An army whose ultimate size grows by the day, as Wyld mutants fall in step behind the ishvara's banner." 15[01:08] <@VoxPVoxD> "Regrettably, this is the only one of the four armies which is not impeded." [01:09] 7Blossom: "There are four, then?" 15[01:09] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo: "Yes. Are you familiar with the tale of Balor?" [01:09] 7Blossom: "We asked Omphaloskepsis about it." 15[01:10] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo smiles: "He has a wonderful tea service, does he not?" [01:10] 7What? Oh, yes, there was tea. Blossom had been distracted. She nods politely anyway. 15[01:11] <@VoxPVoxD> "You're aware, then, of the great armies that met under Balor's banner to destroy Creation at the dawn of the age. Aware of the four generals who stood behind him until the Empress herself engineered their treason." 15[01:12] <@VoxPVoxD> "Each of them persisted in the Wyld to this day. And each of them leads an army to Nexus as we speak. Only one of them has attained anything like Balor's old might, but the others are great and terrible all the same." 15[01:12] <@VoxPVoxD> "However, they are -- as I was saying -- impeded." 15[01:15] <@VoxPVoxD> "An army of siege weapons comes up from the South, rebellions rising in their wake. But their route cuts through the Dozen Seas, which are a stronghold of Realm satrapies. I'm given to understand that Great Houses Cathak and Regara are particularly invested in the area." [01:16] 7Blossom's lips twitch slightly. 15[01:17] <@VoxPVoxD> "From the Dreaming Sea there are riders and beastmasters and strange magicians. But their route cuts through the domains of a powerful Lunar Anathema, a lair without a name. He will not let them pass easily." 15[01:17] <@VoxPVoxD> "And from the north... well. The warmasters of the winter folk seem to have stumbled directly into the path of the Bull." 15[01:17] <@VoxPVoxD> Nessun Dorma snorts. [01:18] 7At this, Blossom openly laughs. 15[01:19] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo permits even himself a small smile. "Sometimes fate is kind." 15[01:22] <@VoxPVoxD> "However the ishvara poses an existential threat to the entire Direction all on its own. Even if all the other armies were tidied up -- which is already only a remote possibility -- the raksha forces arrayed against Nexus would dwarf the standing militia by a factor of ten. They could fight Lookshy to a standstill on material alone. Nexus will fall if it is unaided." 15[01:23] <@VoxPVoxD> "And I have figures..." he rifles through his notes. "At the current rate we can expect the ishvara to reach us in approximately three weeks. There is word of harrying armies in their wake, but reports are terribly unreliable in the Wyld, which the land the ishvara cuts through is." 15[01:24] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo looks up. "Questions?" 15[01:26] <@VoxPVoxD> Nessun won't talk with his mouth full, so Xu Sim and Blossom have the floor. [01:27] 7Out of politeness, she directs this question to Dorma even though everybody knows Bubo will answer. "Would Lookshy aid Nexus?" [01:28] “Do the reports speak of their objective?” 5Xu Sim ponders the rose, mounted under glass in his laboratory. [01:29] “…Or why they spared Highland and Mahalanka?” 15[01:31] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo: "Lookshy will not abandon Nexus, but there is the looming concern of pressure from the V'neef mercantile fleets should Lookshy mobilize in full. There is not enough material to fight two wars in earnest at once. It will be a matter of some negotiation, I expect." 15[01:33] <@VoxPVoxD> "As to their objective... the ishvara has not thus far consented to parlay. It destroys all that stands against it and ignores all that does not. I'm told they're given to singing, though. Something of a dirge. It describes the moment of Balor's betrayal and defeat, which happened here at the dawn of the age." 15[01:34] <@VoxPVoxD> "'They began at the rivers when they set the fires'." 15[01:35] <@VoxPVoxD> "Mahalanka is subject to sorcerous working which rendered it invisible to the ishvara. Highland, alone of the Hundred Kingdoms, bent instead of breaking. It was a moment of admirable forethought on the Regent's part, it seems." [01:36] “Has there been word of any particularly ruinous heroes, beasts, engines, so forth, among the army?” 15[01:36] <@VoxPVoxD> "The ishvara's?" [01:36] “Yes." 15[01:37] <@VoxPVoxD> "Ah. Now that is an interesting question." 15[01:37] <@VoxPVoxD> "One pecularity of the ishvara is that it is, or conceives of itself, as a queen of traitorous heroes." 15[01:38] <@VoxPVoxD> "There are a number of raksha nobles of particular note and might, but more interestingly... a number of Chosen have been seduced into the ishvara's ranks as well." 15[01:39] <@VoxPVoxD> "Outcaste. Anathema. Little Chosen." 15[01:39] <@VoxPVoxD> "Very peculiar." [01:39] “Ordinarily that would be a shaky foundation for a monarch,” 15[01:39] <@VoxPVoxD> "One would imagine." [01:40] “You mentioned a philosophical question.” 15[01:40] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo's face tightens. "So I did." Another course is brought out, some heavy meat stew. 15[01:41] <@VoxPVoxD> "Have you considered, doctor, the implications of the laws of Nexus in the wake of your understanding of its Emissary's nature?" 15[01:41] <@VoxPVoxD> Nessun is looking through Bubo's war reports himself as he eats, frown deepening. [01:43] “Such a series of precepts could, perhaps, be used by a Faerie creature to anchor itself in Creation, wouldn’t it? Or do you mean, the specifically contractarian nature of the Nexus civil state?” 15[01:43] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo: "What I mean is... we're to understand, yes, that the laws of Nexus flow from Balor. That they are an assertion of his being, and that some portion of him lives on in them." 15[01:44] <@VoxPVoxD> "From this, we look at those laws, these Dogmas and their corollaries, and we can surmise..." 15[01:44] <@VoxPVoxD> "...that even in remaking himself, Balor thought very little of humanity." 15[01:44] <@VoxPVoxD> "It paints a dim picture, does it not, of what he expected of us?" [01:45] 7Blossom: "And we lowered ourselves to his expectations." 15[01:45] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo: "Just so." 15[01:45] <@VoxPVoxD> "It leads one to wonder..." 15[01:45] <@VoxPVoxD> "...could we do better, now, in his absence?" 15[01:45] <@VoxPVoxD> "Is there room to ask something more of ourselves than he did?" 15[01:46] <@VoxPVoxD> "Is this a call for something higher?" 15[01:46] <@VoxPVoxD> "From a certain perspective..." Bubo says carefully. "...one might consider this a golden opportunity." [01:47] 7Blossom: "I firmly agree." [01:48] “As a matter of fact, this is a good time to bring this up. Dragonlord Dorma, I would greatly appreciate any assistance you could give me on another step of my investigation…" [01:48] "The philosophies of the Guild will lead to ten thousand rats deserting the ship while the rest drown. Nexus must become better if it is to survive at all." 15[01:48] <@VoxPVoxD> "Half a million," Nessun Dorma murmurs. "The main of its army. Bigger every day." He looks up. "Hmm?" 15[01:49] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo sits back. It's evident on his face that he finds what Blossom says very pleasing indeed. [01:49] “… Once I have made some progress on synthesizing a treatment for the honey-sickness, I would greatly enjoy the opportunity to speak with a man currently under house arrest, if I am to understand… The cabbage monger. I believe his name is Surik?” 15[01:50] <@VoxPVoxD> Nessun nods. "He's in the care of the Councilor responsible for health. Hayle, I believe?" 15[01:50] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo: "Yes." [01:54] “Well. I would quite appreciate that.” 15[02:02] <@VoxPVoxD> NEXT TIME: Kingslayer Cunning