15[20:31] <@VoxPVoxD> The Sun's Chosen seem to have evaded the worst potential consequences of the attack and standoff at the amphitheatre, but there still more problems than solutions. They reconvene in pairs at their hideout in Floodwater: Stranger and Bastian, Xia Lan and Keldar, and Xu Sim and his patient. The latter pair is ushered into an adjacent neighborhood where Xu Sim's made some arrangements to be met by people who help him guide the man walking the last steps of the honey maze to safety and rest. [20:32] 14The hideout is looking good, if a bit...earthy. Homey. Humble. He's unsure how young nobles might react to it. [20:32] 14Everyone does get their own room, however. [20:33] 4von Hrolfus is at ease. He’s been in the trenches. 15[20:33] <@VoxPVoxD> What's the current disposition of the place? Xu Sim and Stranger have had the most influence since Mud and Straw was called back north to the Great Levee Project. 15[20:33] <@VoxPVoxD> And, what's on people's minds as they reassemble? [20:35] 14Stranger has never been much of a decorator, but he's fashioned the common room much like a tasteful, low-key teahouse. There's a wide communal fireplace along one wall, built in the -- he believes -- Southern style, allowing it to act as a hearth and a cooking fire, with different intensities at different ends depending on what is being burned, and at what heat. [20:35] 4There’s a lot running through von Hrolfus’ head. Primarily: what has the fae done to the Fatherland. And second: well, there’s the whole immortal thing. [20:36] 14In fact, his very first act upon returning is to ascertain that there's still some life in the coals of the stove in the corner, to stir them up, and to put on a kettle. [20:36] 12Keldar's frustrated - frustrated that Nexus is in such a sorry state, that Lookshy's capitalizing on it, that it's simply not justifiable to throw down and expel or destroy the interloping Wyld Hunt as yet. Doesn't Pellicia see she's just letting the city slip further...? But he might as well hear his fellows out. [20:38] 14He spoke at great length and on any subject Bastian wished to discuss on the walk back, but now that he is home his mind turns back to all his various plates spinning in the air. The Cathak boy, the projects in Floodwater -- projects he now needs to find someone to collaborate with on rather than the excellent Mud and Straw -- and his greater designs. The ones that stretch beyond [20:38] 14Nexus. [20:39] 14They will require allies and friends. He already has one such person in the Ambassador (to understate things). Hopefully this secretary, this Bubo, is another. Hopefully the boy is another still. And of course, there are his colleagues here -- but they don't have the...difference in perspective that interests Stranger. [20:39] 13Xia Lan is surprised to see the others free - she'd have thought the Hunt would have kept them longer. Once the others start filtering back in, she's at ease enough to retrieve the novel she was reading before they went to the play and continue where she left off in the common room. Close to the fire, of course. Some things just stick with you. [20:40] 14There are, after all, many ways to visit Heaven, and come back stranger. [20:40] "Ah! Xia Lan. There you are. Tea?" [20:42] 13Xia Lan: "Yes, please! What kinds do you have?" [20:43] 4von Hrolfus has his hands clasped behind his back, and paces about with his brows furrowed. [20:45] 12Keldar leans a carefully-chosen iron sword against a wall. "So they just let you back out?" [20:46] "Well, let's see here." 14He busies himself with a small rack he's put a short distance from the stove, against the wall, each of which holds parcels of leaves in different states of preparation. "I need to restock, I think. What I have on hand is Forest Blackleaf, which is strong and bitter but flavorful with a kick; or a nice Greengrass blend that's not quite medicinal, but mild [20:46] and soothing -- good for relaxation. What are you in the mood for?" [20:46] 14To Keldar: "Oh, no. Of course they didn't." [20:46] "There were conditions." [20:47] "This was a...get-to-know you sort of arrest." [20:47] 13Xia Lan: "The Greengrass, I think. What were the conditions?" [20:47] 4von Hrolfus stops pacing, and turns to face Keldar. 1“I was not aware that the Wyld Hunt was in the business of offering amnesty to abom- to anathema." [20:47] 14He puts Forest Blackleaf on for himself, and Greengrass on for Xia Lan. Ah, the simple luxury of many kettles. "They are not," 14he says to Bastian. [20:48] "The Wyld Hunt, I suspect, has offered us nothing." [20:48] "Nessun Dorma's secretary. This Bubo character. He was the one who secured our release -- and, I'll wager, engineered our capture." [20:48] "He wants a meeting." [20:48] "With all of us." [20:49] 14He gently stirs the water, then drops the lids on the kettles. "Do we know anything about this man, save the obvious?" [20:50] "I must confess I did not pay him much attention until tonight." [20:50] 12Keldar: "Wait a minute, how does a secretary engineer the release of three anathema? What'd your guards actually say when they were letting you out? What'd Dorma say?" [20:52] 14Did the guards say anything? [20:52] 14Stranger: "That's a very good question. Nessun Dorma wasn't present to rule on the matter." 15[20:52] <@VoxPVoxD> Stranger doesn't recall any guards. Bubo ushered them out personally. [20:52] 1“So this man, Bibus- he is, in effect, Dorma’s superior?” [20:53] 14Stranger: "And Bubo walked us personally to the door." [20:53] "No. Absolutely not." [20:53] 12Keldar: "Maybe they were just scared to hold you. I mean, you came on your own, which means the question of what'd happen if you decided to leave on your own had to be hanging over 'em." [20:53] "That's what makes all of this so...interesting." [20:53] 14Stranger: "Fear is not what I got from the disposition of the secretary. And we were not held by anyone else. We could have walked out, if we so chose." [20:54] "I suspect Bubo respects that we did not." [20:54] 14Stranger: "...How is our intrepid Dawn Sergeant?" [20:54] 13She sets her book aside; it's business time, not recreation. "I've never seen him before today. It feels like we should have met before - someone of his status, and all - maybe he's new in town?" [20:55] 12Keldar: "Doesn't want to lock horns with the Wyld Hunt in case they call her bluff." [20:55] 14Stranger sighs. "Understandable. How badly did you upset her?" [20:57] 12Keldar: "Not nearly as badly as this should upset her. You should've refused 'til they reworded their arrest as an invitation." [20:57] 14The tea is steeping quite nicely. He walks over to the kitchen area -- it's a rather open design plan, but like most full-service teahouses, the common room does have a preparation area and a bar -- and grabs two cups. "Refused what?" [20:57] "Arrest?" [20:58] "Should I have cut them down in the streets? That was rhetorical. I would not have done that." [20:58] "Besides, they did not bind us. We were not restrained." [20:58] “They were very accomodating." [20:59] "And I am not in the business of setting norms for the Dawn Sergeant or her men, especially not without her input." 14The cups seem clean. "I am fond of Pellicia, but I do not work for her." [21:00] 14Stranger leans forward, smilingly slightly at Keldar. "If you want to build a Nexus independent of the Wyld Hunts and the Lookshyans, thought -- it sounds like perhaps you should." [21:00] *though [21:01] 12Keldar: "Refused arrest, yeah. They wouldn't have actually gone for it." [21:02] 13Xia Lan: "Risky bet to play like that. Doesn't look good to the public, either." [21:02] 14Stranger: "I'm not going to bet the health of bystanders on my reckoning of what or what not a Wyld Hunt is prepared to do." [21:03] "And Bastian is right. They handled the situation appropriately. Were I to refuse them, I would have done it later, out of the public eye. For any number of very good reasons." [21:03] 12Keldar: "They're the ones making the bet. You let 'em get away with it and they'll just creep farther and farther." [21:03] 12Keldar: "Give 'em an ilm, etcetera." [21:03] 14Stranger: "Absolutely correct." [21:04] "But it is not my place to set public policy for the city. And 'rule by fiat of Essence: Do As Thou Wilt' is very certainly a public policy." [21:05] "And cutting down a Wyld Hunt in a public place with no Emissary to stand in judgment is most definitely setting it." [21:05] 14He walks back over to the fireplace. "There is a right way and a wrong way to do this, I feel." [21:05] 12Keldar: "This is a free city! Not being arrested by foreigners is already the public policy. You either uphold it or let 'em change it." [21:05] "And the right way most certainly involves violence, worry not!" [21:06] 13Xia Lan makes a face, but says nothing. [21:06] "You will most definitely have to throw these people, likely bodily, out of the city -- else make them timid such that this is unnecessary." [21:06] “Your emissary is dead. Law is administered by those with the power to enforce it." [21:06] 14Stranger: "But you, I recall, stood by and did none of the things you ask me to justify not doing." [21:07] 12Keldar: "And like I told Pellicia, we've got that power. A dozen of the second greatest mercenary companies in the Kingdoms make their homes here." [21:07] "Because it was not the proper place, nor was it the proper time." [21:07] 14Stranger pours Xia Lan a cup of tea. "Now that," 14he says, "sounds like a more promising line of inquiry." [21:07] "Bastian is right." [21:08] 4von Hrolfus makes a face.1 “You would rule with mercenaries?" [21:08] 14Stranger: "No. I would have you turn mercenaries into rulers." [21:09] 12Keldar: "The Dawn Sergeant's empowered to contract mercenaries to aid in the city's defense." [21:09] 14To Bastian: "You wish to return to your kingdom, yes?" [21:09] "You must do so in power." [21:09] “If there’s anything left of it." [21:09] "You will need, I think, an army." [21:10] 4von Hrolfus bristles.1 “There already is an army, and i would never raise arms against it." [21:11] 13She takes the cup gratefully, and sips it gently, considering options. [21:11] 14Stranger: "Oh? Are you certain? Will you be off in the morning, then, content that when you arrive in your homeland, it will be the thing you love? That you will not need to struggle to make it right?" [21:12] 14He pours himself his own cup. [21:12] 12Keldar: "What's goin' on in his homeland, anyway? What was it, Deguo?" [21:12] 14Ah. Bracing. [21:12] 4von Hrolfus:1 “That is the problem. I do not know." [21:13] 12Keldar: "So what makes you think anything is, just that guy showing up and exploding? What brings you out here, anyway?" [21:13] 14Where is Deguo, geographically? Could Stranger call in a favor from the River Province Silver Pact and get at least a flyover? [21:14] “At the…entertainment. There was a man. A good friend of mine, who claimed disturbances back in the Fatherland. He attacked me, and when I defended myself he collapsed into…nothingness. Was this a hallucination? A trick? I do not know.” [21:15] 12Keldar: "Seems like even odds that's just a fairy picking a thought out of your head. Like when you pretend to find a drachma behind a kid's ear." 15[21:15] <@VoxPVoxD> Deguo huddles in the hills and valley surrounding the mouth of a river that runs down to Sijan. Its principal neighbors are Highland and Peregrine. [21:16] 14Stranger: "The thing about that trick is that you still have a drachma." [21:16] “I hope that this is the case." [21:16] 4von Hrolfus: 1“But I cannot know for certain until I see for myself." [21:16] "The faerie could have been twisting things towards any number of ends -- but it is wholly prudent to be concerned about the thing it is twisting." 15[21:17] <@VoxPVoxD> Four weeks by caravan, two weeks by river and caravan, three days as the crow flies... if he taps his contacts in the Silver Pact Stranger could have a full report in as little as a week. [21:18] 14That is what he will do, then, provided Bastian doesn't strike out for home in the morning and make all of this moot. [21:20] “As for what brings me here…” 4He spreads his hands.1 “Curiousity. A desire to learn. And to bring that knowledge back home, that we may better establish our strength.” [21:21] 5 Xu Sim huddles for a moment in the spartan discomfort of his laboratory. Haphazard shelves are filled with jars, phials, sacks, and boxes of reagents, unguents, and ingredients. A roll of bandages and a sack of cheap iron trinkets occupy a pair of truly decrepit armchairs. [21:21] 14Stranger pauses for a moment, sips his tea, then nods. "That is admirable." [21:21] 14He will send a missive to the crows tonight. [21:22] "One week," 14he says to Bastian. "Ten days at the outside, but I think one week. I can at least let you know the state of your Fatherland in one week's time -- even if no one returns the messanger." [21:23] 5 The laboratory itself is devoid of purposeful adornment, but a tall visitor would have to duck her head to avoid hanging charms, trinkets, chimes, mirrors, and one or two thuribules. In one or two of the mirrors, you might spot a shining six-winged cherub out the corner of your eye, flitting back and forth behind you. [21:24] 13Xia Lan, to von Hrolfus: "How are you holding up, by the way? You've had... an eventful day." 13She takes another sip of tea. Hits the spot. [21:24] 5 A simple cot - linen and bamboo - stands to the side of the chamber. The center chamber is occupied by an enormous, and terrifically heavy, stone table. Upon the table are a number of candles, a great brass shield, and a variety of mirrors, decanters, and crystals. The cot is occupied by the fevered man of the Honey-Maze. [21:24] 14Stranger: "My word. Yes." [21:25] "Do you have any questions?" [21:25] "We don't have all the answers -- but we might have some." [21:26] 4von Hrolfus blinks. 1“Well…to be honest I hadn’t been thinking much about it. My thoughts have been consumed by home, but I suppose I must adjust myself to what I now am." [21:27] 5 A third entity paces the room: Twice-Refined Princess, the sorceror's dog absolutely repulsive (but strangely adorable). She presently chews upon an enormous dead centipede, its legs and body the thickness of a toddler's fingers and arm, respectfully. [21:27] “I suppose my main concern is to not be imprisoned or killed by those that hunt anathema?" [21:27] 14Stranger: "Yes, the Wyld Hunts -- you know what they are?" [21:28] "This one we've just encountered is a bit...different than most of their like." [21:28] "As I assume you've gathered." [21:28] “They hunt abominations and maintain order. That is all we know.” [21:29] 12Keldar: "They not Immaculate up in Deguo?" [21:30] “Our traditional customs involve ancestor worship. But religion is not a major part of life for most." [21:30] 5 Xu rings a dinner bell - it formerly belonged to his enormous but departed friend, Mud and Straw - and calls out to the lair's hall:  "I'm to be conducting sorcery for the next several hours; if you want to watch you'll have to stay quiet. Otherwise please don't bring a pack of war-Yeddim through here just because you got bored!" [21:31] 12Keldar: "What kinda sorcery!" [21:32] "I'm going to delve the dreams of the Honey-Maze and see if I can't diagnose and reverse the mental component of the plague!" [21:32] 12Keldar's still got his hands clapped around his mouth. "That gonna summon a monster or anything!" [21:33] 13Xia Lan takes von Hrolfus's comments and Stranger's responses with polite nods; the man seems all right, considering. Lucky. [21:33] 14Stranger, raising his voice: "Noted, Xu Sim. Glad to hear that you, too, are safe from the Hunt." [21:33] "I hope not!" [21:33] 14It would be unmeet of him to roll his eyes, so he doesn't." [21:34] 14Stranger, still half-shouting: "I take it you don't want to come out and explain that?" [21:34] 12Keldar: "Alright!" 12He lowers his voice and turns back to the others. "So anyway... this secretary who let you out maybe under his boss's nose wants to meet us all?" [21:34] 14This is said in perfectly good humor. [21:34] 14He expects a 'no.' [21:35] 5 The Doctor merely cackles. Good-naturedly. [21:36] “How many of you are known to be anathema, to them?" [21:41] 12Keldar: "Dawn Sergeant knows I'm a Dawn, aheh. ...which I am, incidentally, don't know if anyone told you." [21:41] “What is a Dawn?” [21:41] 14Stranger: "I am, of course. To more or less anyone who would care to know." [21:42] 5 The Doctor decants the first phial - of quicksilver - into the brass shield. It slides on, thickly, forming a thin grey layer across the surface of the ornamental shield. [21:42] 12Keldar: "We're Solar Anathema. Phases of the sun." 12He taps his forehead, where an orange-red sunburst flickers warmly for a few moments. [21:42] 12It's visible straight through the black headband he's wearing. [21:42] "Now that we know the disposition of the Wyld Hunt at our doorstep -- or at least the disposition of the man who has subverted it -- it's much more useful an appellation than it is a curse." [21:42] "And please. We are the Chosen of the Sun." [21:43] 13Xia Lan: "If I was publicly known, I wouldn't be performing." 13She takes a sip of tea. "Still, I got an invitation same as the rest of you. So it's not as secret as I'd like." [21:43] 14Stranger: "Solars, if you must. But we are not Anathema." [21:43] 4von Hrolfus:1 “How do I find out what I am? All I know is I felt this intense heat radiating through me, and I instinctively knew what to do. But i understand none of it." [21:43] 12Keldar: "You could use a mirror." [21:43] 14Bastian should be back to dim by now. [21:44] 4von Hrolfus: 1“Is that the classic ‘Nexus humour’?” [21:44] 14Stranger: "Concentrate on the front of your forehead, and focus on the very thought of justice. Then exhale." [21:44] 14Stranger is walking him through flashing his caste sign. [21:44] 12Keldar: "That's Nexus pragmatism and derring-do. But you got the eclipse, if I remember right. Dot inside a circle." [21:44] 5 Next, he carefully places brands of sage and hemp into a burning brazier. The Doctor carefully dips a long stylus into the mercury and artfully sketches out the very cot that his patient rests upon. He reaches over to the sleeping man and plucks a single hair from his head, which he also drops in the brazier. [21:45] 4von Hrolfus slams two fingers against his forehead and tries to trace anything across the skin. He breathes out heavily. 1“Is this working?” 15[21:45] <@VoxPVoxD> What's the dancer dreaming of tonight? [21:47] 5 The dancer dreams, oddly enough, of sitting up in his cot and speaking with a Learned Physician, Philosopher, and Magician from a far-off land -- strangely enough, the Physician is actually a small dog in a white coat with a strange mirror on its forehead that barks and yelps its statements in perfectly understandable Riverspeak. [21:47] 14That's up to Bastian. [21:49] 5 The dog:  "Good morning." [21:50] 4von Hrolfus gives up after a while, frustrated.1 “Never mind. To more practical concerns: how do you prevent the innate taint of abo- of the peculiar afflictions your- our - kind face from taking you over?" 15[21:50] <@VoxPVoxD> The dreaming dancer looks haggard, haunted, drugged. But he takes the physician's nature and wisdom in stride. "I think there's something terribly wrong with me." [21:50] 14Stranger throws back his head and laughs. [21:50] 5 In the laboratory, the mercury shimmers, revealing the scene to any who might care to watch such dreadful things. [21:50] 14The old man shakes his head and sips his tea. "Do you feel different? Do you feel possessed? Do you feel like a man apart from yourself?" [21:51] 12Keldar: "Those are probably made up." [21:51] “No." [21:51] 5 The dog:  "Oh dear. Well, let's begin the examination. Show me your tongue. Aaaaaaa." 5 The dog pants in mimicry. [21:51] 14His laughter turns into a gentle smile. "That is because you are not." [21:51] "You are you." [21:52] "You have been changed as much as if you had been struck by lightning and granted the ability to play fiddle." [21:52] "Could you play the fiddle before? No! But who is playing the fiddle?" [21:52] 14He gestures at Bastian with his cup. "You are." 15[21:52] <@VoxPVoxD> The dancer says aaaaaa. His tongue is scratched and stained red, the mouth of someone who ate fistfuls of berries straight off the bush, thorns and all. [21:53] 13Xia Lan: "You are your best self. That's what - that's how it was put to me." [21:53] "That is what this gift is. It is a difference of degree, not of kind." [21:53] 14He gestures at Xia Lan. "And she would know. She spoke to Him herself." [21:54] 4von Hrolfus. 1“No offense, but we have all heard the stories. Of the Solars going mad and destroying the world." [21:54] 5 Doctor Dog:  "Very disturbing. Tell me: do you feel different? Do you feel possessed? Do you feel like a man apart from yourself?" [21:54] 14Stranger: "Of course we have. It is worth considering who was telling them." [21:55] 4von Hrolfus looks at Xia Land curiously. 1“Oh? What did he say?" [21:55] 12Keldar: "Yeah, it's all Immaculate bullshit. Useful if you need to sound scary." [21:55] 12Keldar: "Well, maybe not for you, cause you're a 'Deceiver'." 15[21:55] <@VoxPVoxD> The dancer: "Oh, no. Oh, gods, no. Mirah. I have to see Mirah. Please. She has to forgive me." [21:55] "Perhaps it is different in your Fatherland; perhaps you have never been defeated in war. But where I come from, we were the dirt trod underfoot. Our history was at the whim of our betters. When a war is won, the victors do not just win the present. The past and the future are won too. [21:56] “Excuse me?" [21:56] (to Keldar) [21:56] 4von Hrolfus laughs. 1“Trust me, we know of defeat. The bitterness is all that drives us." [21:56] 12Keldar: "There's different kinds of Solar Anathema. You recognize 'em by their marks and their deeds. The Deceivers, the Blasphemous, stuff like that." [21:57] 14Strangers: "We are Deceivers, both of us. I am of the Eclipse caste as well." [21:58] 13Xia Lan: "I told Him to let me die in peace. He called me His daughter." 13She looks chastened. "It was a long day." [21:58] “What differentiates us from the others?” [21:58] 14Stranger: "Then you know what it is to be called unvirtuous, without merit." [21:58] "Ah." [21:58] "We are the oathsmakers." [21:59] 5 The canine chirurgeon:  "You must rest. Tell me, for what must Mirah forgive you?" [21:59] "Those of the Eclipse are the diplomats of Heaven and Hell. It is graven into our very sign: the unity of the Solar -- us -- and the Lunar Exalted. You may not have met the Lunars. They are the Chosen of the Moon. The Silver Pact." [22:00] 14He shrugs. "They also wish to destroy civilization as it exists. They have their reasons. They're nowhere near as barbaric as they let on. They were our confidants and mates once, you see. And in defeat they suffered..." 14Stranger pauses and doesn't finish the sentence. "They suffered." [22:00] "Let's leave it at that." 15[22:01] <@VoxPVoxD> The dancer: "After opening night, there were these girls from the audience and we had the honey. Mirah doesn't even know. I didn't tell her and I can't even look her in the eye. The sky bursts with fire." [22:01] “What does this mean for me? I am free to choose and live my own life yes? I am not bound by any of these oaths?" [22:01] "Our purpose is to bridge the gap between all the various peoples of Creation -- and to defend them against the Outsiders. Fair Folk. Demons. Creatures like the one you were so accosted by." [22:02] 14He chuckles. "Oh, my apologies. You aren't bound by oaths." [22:02] "You bind with them." [22:02] 12Keldar: "Hypothetically, yeah. In practice you're on an entire religion's shit list." [22:03] 1“But with the Empress gone…” [22:03] 14Stranger waves a hand. "The Empress was never going to save anyone." [22:03] "It will be interesting should she return, however." [22:04] 14He finishes his second cup. "You seem to have many questions." [22:04] "Perhaps it is better you learn at your own pace." [22:04] "Rather than us dumping all this on you at once." [22:04] 14He places the cup down near the leaf rack. "Would you like to see your room?" [22:04] “By that I meant - the position of the empire is weak. They feud amongst themselves, and perhaps do not have the resources or will to chase the likes of us down as they had before?" [22:05] 5 Medical Mongrel:  "You must abstain from the honey. It is truly perilous; you ride a gossamer dragon." [22:05] “Which could have something to do with our meeting with the man Bibus.” [22:05] 14Stranger looks to Keldar. This is his area of expertise. [22:08] 12Keldar: "We've probably got less to fear from the Realm than we would have twenty years ago, in absolute terms. Of course, they're a lot more desperate now and pretty much the entirety of Creation is close to if not in their reach - I was nearly killed by a dynast the day I lit up." [22:09] 12Keldar: "But, I mean, our immediate problem isn't even the Realm. It's Lookshy. Practically the same reason to fear us and about the same response, although Dorma in specific seems to be hesitant about it." [22:09] 14Stranger: "It would be unwise to put too much faith in the kindness of these strangers, however. Which is why someone should bolster the Dawn Guard." [22:10] 12Keldar: "Hey, Pellicia knows where to find me. She doesn't think she has the food, let alone the funds." 15[22:10] <@VoxPVoxD> The dancer: "They all abandoned me. Elegba tended his pretty gardens behind walls of love and law. The warmth burned from Brokkr's heart. Bleak Ardua married a dreaming sea. I fought alone. I surrendered alone. I rule alone." 15[22:11] <@VoxPVoxD> "But they haven't forgotten. They recall how we came to that place. And they'll come back. They can't break that promise. No one can." [22:12] 14Now Stranger does roll his eyes, not that it's easy to notice considering they're milky white. "All she and you need are a good negotiator." [22:12] 5 Man's Best Friend, M.D.  "Yip! Yip! And yet you stoop to parlor tricks to pave the way?" [22:12] 13Xia Lan: "I was just there." [22:13] 5 Pooch Physician:  "Who made the promise?" [22:15] “If there is to be a new order of things in Nexus I would be happy to offer my services. And I would hope those services would be repaid with help for my country’s requirements." 15[22:15] <@VoxPVoxD> 10The dancer's voice has grown serene, thoughtful. "Vindication is only fair to the vindicated. We all did. The Lion, the Arrow, the Titan, the Bellringer. We stood fourfold and the Eye blinked. But in dying he outlived us all." [22:16] 12Keldar: "Well, you could've vouched for me a little louder. But she might not be wrong - she might not be able to afford what the Apples can do as of now." [22:16] 12Keldar: "'course, if the city were to commit convincingly enough to long-term renumeration..." [22:18] 5 The mutt's tail stiffens and curls straight up.  "And now, too, this dancer shall outlive you. I shall banish you, and he shall abjure you. Speak your name and begone, raksha." [22:19] 14Stranger: "I could help you out with that. But I get the feeling Bastian could just as well -- if not better, if I've got your measure, van Hrolfus. You are far more comfortable around soldiers than I. And you have a love for justice." [22:21] 4von Hrolfus isn’t sure what to make of that last part. Justice is people knowing their place. But he lets it slide. 1“Yes. Certainly." [22:25] 14Stranger: "Anyhow. I have business elsewhere. Signals to send; favors to ask. Please, Bastian, make yourself at home." [22:25] 12Keldar: "The secretary - when's he expecting us?" [22:25] “Thank you.” [22:28] 14Stranger: "He is not. I am arranging the meeting. He waits on our word." [22:28] 12Keldar: "Hmm. Well, I'm not against." [22:29] 14Stranger: "The questions to my mind are ones of security. Where, and with whom present." [22:29] 13Xia Lan: "Later than sooner, if we can. I've got an appointment I can't miss." [22:29] "You are more experienced in these matters than I, and I suggest we make the decision as a group." [22:30] 14To Xia Lan: "Of course. It will be a few days at the least, I expect." [22:32] 12Keldar: "He didn't say much about what he wanted or who he wanted to bring, did he?" [22:33] 14Did Bubo provide any conditions before they broke for the evening? 15[22:35] <@VoxPVoxD> None. Pretty open-ended assignment. [22:35] 14Stranger: "He did not. I got the impression that he's a very adaptable man." [22:36] 14The silver-haired man places his cup in the kitchen's washbin. "But I would prefer not to insult him by bringing an army." [22:36] 13Xia Lan: "Definitely not suspicious. Just a regular human there." [22:37] 12Keldar: "Well, what the hell, let's just pick a noodle bar somewhere. ...maybe a mediocre one so I don't regret it too much if it gets destroyed in a scuffle." 15[22:37] <@VoxPVoxD> 10The dancer reclines in bed, as if ready to settle off to sleep. "No." 15[22:37] <@VoxPVoxD> "You speak it." 15[22:37] <@VoxPVoxD> Xu Sim startles from his concentration, his patient stabilized, calling out a name. [22:38] 14Stranger chuckles. "As you wish." [22:41] 14Unless anyone else has questions for him, Stranger-Visits-Heaven will step out with two things on his mind: [22:41] 14First, making contact with his people in the Silver Pact. [22:42] 14Second, finding a thoroughly mediocre -- but still acceptable! -- noodle bar. [22:42] “What is a noodle?" [22:43] 12Keldar: "What the fuck." [22:43] 13Xia Lan: "What?" [22:43] 4von Hrolfus: 1“I’m sorry. Have I given offense?" [22:43] 14Stranger pauses on the threshold, having heard this, and wisely just keeps walking. [22:44] 5 The doctor leaps four feet back from the quicksilver-laden shield in a single motion, scattering a handful of crystals, which shatter on the floor with a clatter:  "Apis Regina! Bellringer! Cethleann of the Crooked Lance! Dunchess Primrose! Keeper of the Sixfold Throne! All of you!" 5 His dog barks for emphasis after each exclamation. [22:44] "In alphabetical order!" [22:44] 13Xia Lan: "What do you eat? Like. Soup. Have you heard of soup?" [22:44] “Of course! What an idiotic question." [22:45] 13Xia Lan, patiently: "What's in soup?" [22:45] "Sausages." [22:45] "Sausages and...?" [22:45] “What do you mean, ‘and’..?" [22:45] 5 The sorcerer clasps both hands over his mouth and leans against a wall. He searches for a brush and a blank parchment. [22:47] 12Keldar's just staring at Bastian, trying to figure out where to begin, when he hears the commotion from Xu Sim's laboratory. He snatches his sword up from its place against the wall and darts down the corridor, only to be vaguely disappointed when there's no aberration looming up from the table. [22:47] 13Xia Lan raises a finger to begin to lecture von Hrolfus, before turning to follow Keldar. My Sun, man. [22:50] 4von Hrolfus strides behind. [22:51] 5 The doctor is not much different - his eyes are somewhat less focused than usual. In a quiet but sheepish voice:  "That may not have been completely wise. I have brought the patient back from the brink, but their hold over me has increased." [22:51] 12Keldar turns an accusing look the patient's way. 15[22:51] <@VoxPVoxD> The patient is sleeping peacefully. [22:52] 14Stranger has already strode out into the night. [22:52] 12Keldar: "Frankly, that seems like a bad trade." [22:54] "As a physician, one must take these risks from time to time. But we have learned something: the honey-maze is not unoccupied. And something else besides: a measure of the fae's intentions. They are without a doubt the most pressing threat to this city." 5 He upends a sack on one of the armchairs, spilling a mess of iron trinkets onto the floor. He presses one to his forehead and begins... [22:54] ...wrapping it in place with a bandage. [22:55] "Further, I have learned much more of this disease. I may have to learn more still, to fashion a true cure." [22:56] 13Xia Lan: "You are -- there had to be a better way." 13She's not a doctor, but come on. [22:59] 12Keldar: "Can you tell me which one gets here first, and from which direction?" [22:59] "No sense second-guessing it now. On the bright side: I am more confident that the Anathema are not afflicted with a curse that inclines their bodies to treachery and bends their senses to wickedness. Because something like that is the symptom of the second stage of the illness. Thanks to my carefully attuned senses, that much is clear." [23:00] “What a relief." [23:00] "Who arrives here first is a military question for military minds. But they intend to keep a promise, to return to the place those afflicted describe in rhyme." 15[23:03] <@VoxPVoxD> They began at the rivers when they set the fires. [23:04] But as the ancient poets describe, we didn't start the fires; it's been always burning since the world's been turning. Anyway as everyone knows the world doesn't turn and the ancient poets were opium-addled idiots. 15[23:04] <@VoxPVoxD> Not that there's anything wrong with that. [23:05] 14Meanwhile, Stranger eats some tasty garbage noodles. [23:05] 4von Hrolfus chews on them glumly. 15[23:06] <@VoxPVoxD> The shop where Stranger arranges the meeting has the unassuming name of Spice Noodle. It's the sort of cramped small restaurant with a long line from outside the building up to the counter at lunchtime, but at the dinner hour a balcony with tables overlooking the park opens up. Stranger and Bubo are able to secure the entire balcony for a private party on Lookshy's coin. How do people arrive? Are people armed? Dressed up? [23:06] 4To be without a sword is to be naked.  [23:08] 14Stranger arrives first, of course, to settle things with the proprietor and, presumably, Bubo. He is carrying his cane. [23:08] 5 Xu Sim's forehead is marked by a small headband, holding in place a flat iron coin. He carries no weapon or tool, only a small bag making a snuffling sound. [23:09] 13Xia Lan has her hook-swords strapped to her back. She's got a nice coat on and a fairly swanky outfit aside from that, which hopefully conveys her lack of violent intent. [23:09] 14Classic Xu Sim. [23:09] 12Keldar's dressed much as he was at the play, though he's brought a heavier and blacker blade this time around. He gets there a little late and grabs himself a bowl so overloaded with meat and eggs and vegetables that it's doubtful whether there are actually noodles in there. [23:10] 14Stranger sort of lied. The noodles here are really good -- they're just good in that quick-made, trash fast food kind of way. [23:10] 14Such that if they destroy the place, so long as the three short-order cooks survive, they'll be back up and running immediately. [23:12] 14The tea, however, is probably garbage. 15[23:12] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo was there when Stranger arrived, but it's not clear where he got to as the other Chosen begin filtering in. Then after they're all sitting down and their food is served, he appears pushing a tea trolley and wearing the square black hat that's a sort of informal uniform among waitstaff in the Province. [23:12] 14If there is any. [23:12] 14We all make sacrifices. [23:12] 14Drolly: "Ah. The tea we ordered." [23:13] 5 Xu Sim orders two portions. The first, which he slides under the table, is full of fatty meat. The second - a rather curious affair - is loaded with citrus fruits, and he spices it himself from a small pouch he retrieves from the bag. [23:13] 4von Hrolfus just stares, wondering at the pointless apparent subterfuge. [23:14] 14Pointless apparent subturfuge is the essence of diplomacy. [23:15] 12Keldar takes no notice of the servant. He's alternately eating and talking about the one time he got to sit at the bar at which a famous noodle chef was working. Okay, "alternately" is a lie. 15[23:15] <@VoxPVoxD> "Good evening." Bubo takes the hat off as he sits down. "I'm sorry I wasn't here to see you in. My name is Bubo, I've met some of you already. It's my pleasure to make all of your acquaintances formally." [23:15] 4von Hrolfus: 1“Why- never mind.” [23:16] 14Stranger: "Should I try the tea?" 15[23:16] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo: "I wouldn't recommend it." [23:18] "Who are you again, then?" [23:18] 14Stranger's grimace manages to turn into a grin. "I will trust you, then, and hope this isn't a metaphor." [23:19] “Dorma’s assistant." 15[23:19] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo: "I'm majordomo and aide-de-camp for Dragonlord Nessun Dorma, Defender of the Faith, Seventh Legion." [23:19] "Bubo," 12says Keldar, as if trying out the name. "So what do you want?" 15[23:20] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo: "Unanimity." [23:21] 12You can see Keldar silently mouthing the first two syllables there. "...yeah?" [23:23] 14He's a hard man to read. As always. 15[23:25] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo: "I'm afraid that the present circumstances demand it. Any disunity - any disharmony - will fester and spread and doom us all. You all have some understanding, I think, of the principal threat facing the city. The Province. The Direction." [23:26] 12Keldar: "Buncha raksha armies?" [23:26] "The promise is the threat. The armies are a means to an end." [23:27] 14Stranger: "Those are all different things, in fairness." 14But the fullness of his attention is... [23:28] 4von Hrolfus: 1“Has this threat engulfed my homeland?" [23:28] 14The man keeps his eye on the prize, it must be said. [23:30] 14...Conversationally: "What sort of tea is this?" [23:30] 14He reaches for his own teacup, staring at Bubo with milky eyes. 15[23:30] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo nods. It's not clear who at. "They don't march alone. They're taking thralls from the lands they cut through. Thon has fallen, Deguo holds on by a thread. Highland prospers." [23:31] “Then I must return to help immediately." 15[23:31] <@VoxPVoxD> To Stranger: "That isn't tea. It's more like a lamp than a teapot. You'd be drinking camphor, more or less." [23:32] 14Mock surprise: "Oh my." 15[23:32] <@VoxPVoxD> To Bastian: "Your homeland would be ash and thorns before you saw the palaces at Guowang Shan again." 15[23:34] <@VoxPVoxD> "You will do the most good for your countrymen here." [23:35] 12Keldar: "Do you have... reports? Maps? Logistical information? Do you know where everything is, what's getting here first?" [23:36] 14You're asking about tactics. This man is talking strategy. [23:36] 4von Hrolfus slams a fist down on the table. 1“It’s my home, dammit. What good are my powers if I can’t use it in defense of the Fatherland?" [23:36] "That is not what he is saying." [23:37] 14Stranger's eyes, however, are still on the 'tea kettle.' 15[23:38] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo folds his hands. "I understand your concern, Baron von Hrolfus. To have seen only a glimpse of what's befalling your home, and to feel powerless at such distance... but you are not powerless. You can defend your nation. And you will. From here." [23:38] “And pray, how?" 15[23:39] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo: "By saving Nexus and breaking the back of four raksha armies at once." [23:40] "Ask where knowledge comes from before asking where it's going." 14Stranger shifts in his seat, then turns and looks over his shoulder before turning back. "That's what I've been told before." [23:40] 12Keldar: "See I was thinking it'd be smarter to get 'em before they could join up." [23:43] 14When he looks over his shoulder, he taps his cane around to find and retrieve something that has fallen. His napkin, that he swept off the table a minute earlier. [23:49] 5 Stranger may have competition for anything that fell off the table. Twice-Refined Princess is rolling on the napkin, leaving a faintly greasy stain behind. 15[23:49] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo shakes his head. "We studied that. Any army you rode out to meet the raksha with head-on is vastly more likely to face defeat and thrall than one you could fortify at this position. For instance, were you to ride northeast to meet Cethleann and her Chosen as they ride south from Deguo, you would face not only the raksha rebellion but the entire nation of Thon and a goodly half of Deguo itself." [23:49] 14Well that's fine. The napkin is not the point. In fact, it gives him extra time to look confused -- and to look. [23:52] “Why would- are you saying half the country has fallen?" [23:53] 14He doesn't see much of anything, though. [23:53] 14But there has to be something there. [23:54] 12Keldar looks skeptical. "We wait here and we face all that times two or three, don't we?" 15[23:54] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo: "Half the country is lost to dream. Even when you win, when you face the raksha here, some of their soldiers will be thralls carrying their old banners, thinking they're dreaming of glory and vengeance." [23:54] 14Well, if he can't see them-- [23:55] "Are they thralls to the honey-maze, itself?" [23:55] 14Stranger: "I suggest, in the interest of comity, brotherhood, and good relations, you tell us what the hell is out there. Right now." [23:55] "Because they're better than I am. And I'm good." 15[23:55] <@VoxPVoxD> To Keldar: "Yes. But here we can prepare. Here we have the resources to marshal within the city. And here we have a cause that can unite people of every nation." [23:57] 12Keldar: "Here we have a siege, maybe. Ever been in one of those?" [23:58] "There may be other options, other military options. After all, the Emissary's old skin was full of, what would you call it... weapon-waste..." 15[23:58] <@VoxPVoxD> To Stranger: "In eleven seconds, an assassin is going to attack Keldar. She's going to miss. Her arrow is going to strike the teapot and ignit--" The teapot shatters, sending a column of smokeless green flame into the sky. The arrow, buoyed upward like a bird on an updraft, ricochets implausibly off the noodle shop's hanging sign. It drags a tail of flame behind it, hitting a stack of crates across the street. No. Not the crates. Someone behind the crates is pinned to wooden scaffolding by their own arrow. [23:59] 14Stranger: "Forewarned is let's do this." [23:59] 12Keldar: "True. We get some of those iron cannons, thTHE FUCK?" 15[23:59] <@VoxPVoxD> NEXT TIME: Ninjas attack! 15[13:04] <@VoxPVoxD> It's before lunchtime, on one of those early spring days where it rains in fits. There's a lot of weather like that in this part of the Threshold. The clouds are tinged red by the star they obscure, and people are still talking about all the bad news that keeps trickling in: the fall of Thon, the mysterious absence of Council proclamations, the increasing visibility of Lookshyan soldiers in the city, the honey and its prisoners, and of course, the death of the Emissary. [13:17] 14Lookshy. An ironic name, really. 15[13:21] <@VoxPVoxD> Stranger woke up this morning to the sound of a steady drip-drip-drip on the polished stone floor of the hideout. There's a leak somewhere, hard to see and hard to patch because the place is earthenwork. Mud and Straw's a genius, but it's hard to figure out how to handle maintenance now that he's gone back north. [13:23] 14Unhelpful, too, that Xu Sim's experiments are so...active. [13:23] 14Far too much wear and tear on a building they've only been in for what, a few weeks now? [13:23] 14If that? 15[13:24] <@VoxPVoxD> Probably. It's been scarcely more than a month since the Emissary died. [13:25] 14Well, Stranger's course is clear. [13:25] 14He walks out to the common area and puts on a kettle of water for tea. [13:26] 14Stranger restocked yesterday, but he'll stick with the Forest Blackleaf as he sits down to think. [13:27] 14Doesn't seem to be anyone else about at the moment, so he has the cozy area to himself...and that drip. [13:27] 14Once he's finished his cup, he's decided it's time to do something about that. [13:32] 14First things first: he needs to locate the guildhouses. All good craftsman are in guilds, and only some of those guilds are in the Guild. [13:32] 14He'd prefer not to draw their attention yet again so soon after the incident with Cathak Tsuka. [13:34] 14The main question is how to find those, without having to go through the Guild itself. Because that's a bit what it's there for. 15[13:36] <@VoxPVoxD> Guild guildhouses tend to hang their shingles in Nexus's prosperous and fast-moving downtown. Local carpenters, masons, and so forth keep smaller, private practices sprinkled throughout the city's residential neighborhoods. Higher-end (and more expensive) contractors set up in the rich neighborhoods flanking Parko Llana while humbler folk work in the neighborhoods at the foot of Sentinel Hill. 15[13:37] <@VoxPVoxD> Chosen craftsmen (which is to say, almost exclusively, dragonblooded craftsmen) virtually all work for the Guild, and the ones that don't tend to head private practices downtown. But you never know. You can find anything in Nexus, so they say. [13:37] 14Humility is a virtue -- but an even better virtue is its closest brother, discretion. [13:37] 14Stranger will start in Sentinel Hill, then move on to Parko Llana and, if absolutely necessary, finally venture downtown. 15[13:47] <@VoxPVoxD> Stranger spends a fair bit of the day, into the afternoon, looking around for people who might be amenable to his work. It's an all-but-impossible needle to thread, though: people in the working-class neighborhoods hate the Guild and the Anathema both, people in the richer neighborhoods don't mind Anathema but Stranger realizes most of them are angling to get bought out by the Guild, and the contractors downtown hate the Guild fiercely, don't care about Anathema, but wouldn't be caught dead in Floodwater. [13:48] 14So it goes. But the search is worth it. 15[13:51] <@VoxPVoxD> Downtown is where he finds his best lead, from the apprentice working under a stern Earth Aspect master mason who's been tapped to screen prospective clients. How oblique is Stranger about his parameters? Would a socially inept teen be able to tell that Stranger wanted someone who didn't want to sell out, wasn't repulsed by the poor, and isn't frightened by the risk of association with Anathema when there's a Wyld Hunt in town? [13:52] 14That depends on how trustworthy and virtuous Stranger finds the teen. 15[13:57] <@VoxPVoxD> He seems too earnest and frankly dense to be duplicitous. Stranger sees him thumbing a locket stuck on the end of prayer beads. It only takes a brief conversation to identify him as a mama's boy, gone into the workforce out of necessity because his father passed. Not the kind of worker Stranger's after, but, the kind of kid Stranger can trust won't fuck him over. [13:58] 14Then he is more than willing to be as indiscreet as necessarily up to just before the point of actually saying the word 'Anathema,' or identifying himself directly as one. 15[14:02] <@VoxPVoxD> The boy: "Oh, no, sorry. I don't think I can help you. That's quite a conundrum, sir." A half-grin, memory-spurred. "I guess there's always Old Selin. If you can find him." [14:03] 14That raises an eyebrow. Selin is a rather common name -- but 'old?' Old coots that have been run off for their eccentricities are far more promising than young bucks trying to make their name. [14:03] "Old Selin, hmm?" 14Stranger pauses as if thinking about it. "How old?" 15[14:05] <@VoxPVoxD> "Oh, I don't know. Master Fahad calls him Old Selin, and Master Fahad's over a hundred." [14:05] 14Stranger supresses a smile. Yes, that's old enough to almost certainly have exalted blood in him. [14:06] "Say I did want to find Old Selin, then. Where would I begin?" 15[14:07] <@VoxPVoxD> "When Master Fahad wants to hire him, he usually goes to the River Temple around evening bell. But it's raining, so he might be in the Undercity too." 15[14:07] <@VoxPVoxD> "Old Selin's a bum," says the kid with the confident obliviousness of someone who doesn't realize how rude that is. 15[14:08] <@VoxPVoxD> "They give out dinner at the River Temple." [14:10] 14Bless his heart. He's a good boy not to have opinions about bums. [14:10] 14Stranger thanks him for his time and tips him, then begins planning the rest of his day. 15[14:13] <@VoxPVoxD> The River Temple is a joint monument to the three river mighty river gods who make their home in Nexus, the Maiden in Yellow, Grey, and Great Yanaze. Naturally, it's built right where the rivers merge. And there's dozens of ways into the Undercity, usually at streetcar junctions or along the canals. [14:14] 14Ah. Grey. Memories. [14:15] 14...Time to look for the soup kitchens, then. 15[14:19] <@VoxPVoxD> They're not hard to find. People ranging from the elderly to families with children eat at the temple. It's one of the bigger crowds Stranger's seen since coming to Nexus. Rare for so many people to mill around in one spot. 15[14:21] <@VoxPVoxD> It's not quite evening bell yet, so people are standing around, or sitting around. There's talking, and laughing, and some music, a couple scuffles, and a whole lot of quietly looking up at the temple waiting for the bells to chime. 15[14:21] <@VoxPVoxD> Big tureens are being set up under awnings on the temple steps, and there are huge lidded baskets lining the square in some effort to corral the trash. 15[14:22] <@VoxPVoxD> The rain's thinning out. What's Stranger's approach? [14:22] 14Stranger probably looks poor enough that he can just blend in with the lines. 15[14:30] <@VoxPVoxD> While the rain is thinning out, it is still raining, and you'd think that this many people, at least some of them would be exposed to the rain. But standing in line Stranger notices he's stopped getting wet. He looks up to see broad canvas sheets taut like sails, bending the wind above everyone's heads and blowing the rain into the canal, the gutters and the alleyways, and... into the inexplicably open windows of the Guild bank across the street from the temple. [14:32] 14A water bank? [14:32] 14He's heard of the concept in the South. [14:33] 14But the climate here should render that, ah. Unprofitable. 15[14:33] <@VoxPVoxD> No, a regular bank. With like... papers and ink. [14:33] 14How odd. [14:33] 14He didn't want to get involved with the Guild as such, but... 15[14:33] <@VoxPVoxD> The bank's closed, so nobody's inside. Whoever opens up tomorrow is going to find the second and third floors all but ruined. [14:34] 14Now there's a trick. [14:34] 14A bit on-the-nose, however. There will be repurcussions for the soup kitchens -- even if they're mostly petty ones. 15[14:35] <@VoxPVoxD> Someone else is looking up at the bank windows, further ahead in the line. An old man in a knit cap, with a long, shaggy beard obscuring his long, thin neck. [14:37] 14Stranger is now guessing that the whole 'guild-hating' thing is what got through to the young lad in his apprenticeship. [14:38] 14He will not approach until after the man has gotten his food, and preferably he'll hang around long enough Stranger can get his as well. [14:38] 14Soup kitchens can have excellent food, are noble enterprises, and he HAS spent all this time in line. 15[14:40] <@VoxPVoxD> The food here is good! A lot of people knock temple food because it's free, but, those people have never had temple food. Stranger gets a bowl of some kind of vegetable stew and a piece of bread. [14:41] 4Now that reminds him of home. [14:41] 14Now that reminds him of home. [14:41] 14...Gary's home, at least. [14:43] 14Once Stranger's gotten his food -- where's the old man? 15[14:43] <@VoxPVoxD> Stranger sees the old man sitting in a circle with several other old men in the light of temple lanterns. One of them unpacks a bag of polished stones and sets them out on the ground between the men as they eat and argue. [14:44] 14He will walk over, then. Is there any obviously clear place to sit, if he wishes to invite himself in? And what's the deal with these stones, so he doesn't get blind-sided by some obscure riverman honor game? 15[14:47] <@VoxPVoxD> The old men are spaced out enough that there's places Stranger could sit without invading anyone's personal space. It takes him a moment since there's no board underneath, but he soon realizes that those polished stones are (fairly abstract) Gateway pieces. They're talking about a board position. [14:51] 14Ah, Gateway. The preferred game of geniuses, real and imagined, for ages. [14:51] 14Stranger has never given it much time or thought. How does the board position look? 15[15:01] <@VoxPVoxD> It's a mess. White has no good moves that Stranger can see, while Black's position is commanding. But the more he looks at it, trying to figure out how to win, the more precarious Black's position seems. Any of the obvious moves open Black up to devastating counterplay and a huge loss of material and position. [15:05] 14Stranger: "Storm's coming." [15:06] 14Does he pass the eye test enough to just sit down without a challenge. [15:06] *14? [15:06] 14Stranger: "I wouldn't bet on Black." 15[15:07] <@VoxPVoxD> Unless Stranger's bought more expensive-looking clothes than he wore into Nexus, the only thing that'd mark him out is the sword, if he's wearing it. Humble as it is, Stranger could eat for a month off what he'd get for selling it. [15:08] 14He's not carrying a sword. He's carrying a cane, which they might be able to identify as splitting into a sword. [15:08] 14And he hasn't washed the clothes in awhile. 15[15:09] <@VoxPVoxD> Then Stranger's probably fine. He gets the sense that this is pretty informal. [15:12] 14He'll take a seat that's a respectful distance from the others -- not too close, not too far. What's his prospective guess at Old Selin up to? Has he already finished his stew and bread? 15[15:16] <@VoxPVoxD> Old Selin eats like a bird, picking at his food slowly while he argues with the others. Everyone else is trying to figure out Black's winning move, while Old Selin picks apart their strategies by outlining counterattacks. [15:17] 14Stranger is content to watch, then. He's not equipped to engage in a battle of strategic wits with the old man -- at least not at Gateway -- and he somehow doubts the man would be all too impressed by a know-it-all showing up like this anyhow. 15[15:25] <@VoxPVoxD> The man Stranger suspects is Old Selin proposes a counterattack that gets the other men all conferring among themselves. This is when he notices Stranger. "Hello. It's nice to meet you." [15:26] 14Stranger slightly bows his head. "You as well." [15:26] "A Gateway player?" 15[15:27] <@VoxPVoxD> "Sometimes. It gets people talking." 15[15:27] <@VoxPVoxD> "You?" [15:27] 14Stranger shakes his head. "Sadly, no. It was not a respected pursuit where I grew up." 15[15:29] <@VoxPVoxD> "You're never too old to learn something new." [15:29] 14The silver-haired man smiles. "True." 15[15:34] <@VoxPVoxD> "Where are you from? I haven't seen you around before." [15:35] 14Stranger: "I haven't been around much. I grew up on the banks of the Grey. Merchants, we were -- fishermen, mainly, but we had our fields to tend to as well. Stiff competition. Never went hungry, but routinely went poor. Gateway was...a Guild game." 15[15:37] <@VoxPVoxD> "That's the power of geography. Here, this game is one of the few things in Nexus the Guild doesn't own." [15:38] 14Stranger nods and takes another bite of bread. When he's no longer speaking with his mouthful: "This is my first time up this way, however. I've been staying in Floodwater. Getting by. Doing well enough for myself, though still between work." [15:39] "I like it there." 15[15:39] <@VoxPVoxD> "It's nice. Bit quiet for my taste." [15:40] 14Stranger nods again. "That's a good thing. When you want noise, you simply take a walk." 15[15:41] <@VoxPVoxD> "True, true. What brought you out here? I hope it was the food. The food's worth it." [15:41] 14Stranger: "No, the food merely convinced me to stay. Best soup kitchen I've eaten in, and I've eaten in a few. What brought me up here was a problem I had." 15[15:42] <@VoxPVoxD> "Oh?" [15:42] "A problem with, oh, let's say, certain gentlemen." [15:42] "They run a bank, among other things." 15[15:42] <@VoxPVoxD> The old man's mouth is full now, so he just nods for Stranger to continue. [15:43] "But they don't run Floodwater. They have very little interest in it, frankly. I'd like that to continue." [15:43] "Floodwater belongs in banks. Banks don't belong in Floodwater." 15[15:43] <@VoxPVoxD> "Ha!" 15[15:44] <@VoxPVoxD> "Well, that's simple enough. There's nothing to sell there, and no one to sell it to. Keep the property values down, and you'll keep away the people who care about property values." 15[15:44] <@VoxPVoxD> "What's the saying? The river goes where the water flows." [15:45] 14Stranger: "But no one knows when the Batcave closed." [15:45] 14He elaborates: "It was a teahouse." [15:46] 14Stranger: "I'd say anyone who wanted to make life better there -- they'd have a tough balancing act to pull off." [15:46] "New, useful building, without making it attractive to..." 14He waves a hand in the direction of the Guild bank. "You know." 15[15:47] <@VoxPVoxD> "Sounds like you'd want some construction work done." [15:48] 14The silver-haired man nods. "Some. Discreetly. Good work; constant work. No money in it. Better things than money." [15:48] 14Stranger: "A roof, a community. Food. I won't guarantee it's up to this standard, but cooked with feeling." [15:49] "And a challenge." [15:49] "You know what they say, after all." [15:49] "You're only in trouble if you get caught." 15[15:51] <@VoxPVoxD> "Ah." 15[15:51] <@VoxPVoxD> "You represent somebody?" [15:52] 14Stranger: "Myself. And Tepali, the local elder. We had a carpenter -- built a bridge, a fine bridge -- but he had to go away. Go North." 15[15:54] <@VoxPVoxD> "This sounds like something we should discuss further, out of the rain. You have a place?" [15:55] 14Stranger: "That I do. Do you like tea?" [15:55] "It's my only affectation." [15:55] "Leaves are cheap when you grow them." [15:55] 14He'll perhaps wait until they're away from the group before asking that. [15:55] 14No need to hurt the man's street credibility. 15[15:56] <@VoxPVoxD> "I like tea. It's like Gateway, it's a good pretext for conversation." [15:56] 14Wise man. "Very true." [15:56] "...I never told you why I left the river Grey." 15[15:57] <@VoxPVoxD> "It's only my business when you decide to tell me." [15:59] "It is your business straight-away, and it pertains to mine. A man came to town, from very, very, very far away. He killed my cousins, their wives, their children. I could not gainsay him. I could not defeat him." 14Stranger pauses meaningfully. "And then I could. I went from powerless, to powerful -- and in a very real sense, I still remained powerless. But now he cannot live in a [15:59] world with calenders...and that village is safer without me." [16:00] "I tell you this in case it makes you uncomfortable. Such a change in a man." [16:00] "I tell you freely I would understand if it did. It has made me." 15[16:01] <@VoxPVoxD> "You think power changes people?" [16:01] 14Stranger: "I think it is the only thing that changes people." 15[16:01] <@VoxPVoxD> "Maybe you're right. I've always thought it just makes them more themselves." [16:06] 14Stranger: "I think people will be good if you let them, and people will be bad if you make them. But many wise men see the obverse." [16:07] "But I also think wealth is a particularly insidious form of coercion." [16:08] "Which brings me back to this." 14Stranger gestures at the flooding bank as they pass it. "This is virtuous. But I strive for a place where it is not necessary." 15[16:11] <@VoxPVoxD> "Still, to see this and to have your first instinct be to help them. If we're to get philosophical, we might say that the tendency of virtue is to obsolete itself, and the tendency of vice is to stand fast and multiply." 15[16:15] <@VoxPVoxD> "People call me Selin. What do they call you?" [16:16] 14Stranger: "Trusting your first instinct is not the same thing as virtue. My first instinct was to find good tea. It could well be said to have also been my vice. And these all fit within your parameters -- but the trick, as I see it, is to enslave your vice, twist it, and then see that it multiplies. All the lives I've ever saved, I've saved over rich men's tea." [16:17] 14Stranger: "I am Stranger-Visits-Heaven. Hopefully you know me neither by my name, nor my works. There is no such thing as good publicity." 15[16:21] <@VoxPVoxD> "I'm not familiar. But I try to stay out of other people's business when I can. The Sun's especially." [16:22] 14He grins. "Wise man." [16:22] "Want to know my secret?" [16:22] "So do I." 15[16:22] <@VoxPVoxD> Selin snorts. "So it goes." 15[16:23] <@VoxPVoxD> "What sorts of projects are you thinking of?" [16:25] 14Stranger: "Invisible things, to start with. Sewer projects. Underground works. Keep the waters down to manageable levels, but do not drain the place such that passersby might actually think of moving in to this brand new real estate. Alleviate flood season, for starters. There are very old, very ruined sluices, gates, and waterways to work with already -- high level things. A good [16:25] challenge, I'd think, especially if the people living there are covering for you." [16:26] 14Stranger: "After that, community housing. Community workspacing. Things that are useful to real people, but, aheh, anathema to investors -- little privacy, little individuality, little resale value. Not shiny, but built for-purpose." [16:27] 14Stranger: "Finally, and most tenuously, direct above-ground infrastructure improvements. This is the most delicate of tasks, because it is the most visible and the most likely to be seized and turned into a toll serivce." 15[16:27] <@VoxPVoxD> "There are things we can do, if we've got the community behind us. But I should warn you, I can't do anything with the underlying architecture. I can redirect, I can siphon and sluice and shuffle, but the really old stuff is off-limits." [16:27] 14He grimaces. "As much as I love fucking up the Guild's day, I'd prefer they remained too stupid to notice us." [16:28] 14Stranger: "That's fine. Is that a council-level dictat or a mere fact of the architecture?" [16:28] "I try to stay as unfamiliar with Nexus law as possible. It makes me more pleasant to be around." 15[16:29] <@VoxPVoxD> "Closer to the former." [16:30] 14Stranger: "I have no problems with you setting your own limits on that front, both in general and with specific reference to Council Law, but if you see an opportunity to change something that you cannot change, do not hesitate to ask me what I can do to help. Because I have the power to bend ears, when I put my will towards it." [16:32] 14He hesitates. "The last project is actually an offer, coupled with a personal request. We have a...common house in Floodwater. A hostel, if you will. For me and four other people like me. They do not all perfectly share my values, but they do not directly oppose them, and the five of us are a very potent power. I might not feel confident to make this offer alone -- but I am not [16:32] alone." [16:33] "The offer is a room in this hostel, with everything that implies. You get a key, you pay no rent, you come and go as you please, you fend for yourself for food but the larder is usually stocked." [16:34] "The request is that you plug a damnable leak we have somewhere in the upper crawlspace." [16:34] "And other minor upkeep." [16:35] "Obviously, you're not a cleaner, and while I don't think any of my colleagues are so rude as to demand such, feel free to deal with any requests from them as you see fit. I'll cover for you, so long as you're not being an asshole." [16:35] "Or, if you prefer the streets, or some other venue, it is yours." [16:36] "...But when you get a free moment, I would still ask for help with the leak." 15[16:39] <@VoxPVoxD> Selin considers this all. "I'll help, certainly. But I don't think I can accept your offer of lodging, though it is kind. You said there's a leak?" [16:40] 14Stranger: "Drip drip drip." [16:40] "It's a...high-intensity domicile." [16:40] "We have a sorcerer." 15[16:40] <@VoxPVoxD> "Ah, so that's where Xu Sim's staying." [16:41] 14He laughs at that. [16:41] "Yes. Yes it is." [16:42] "Everyone seems to know Xu Sim. How very complicated it's made our lives." 15[16:43] <@VoxPVoxD> "He's sharp, if inconstant. I had a friend like him a long time ago." [16:44] 14Stranger: "His inconstancy is more boon than bust, I think. But it does make things interesting."