15[20:33] <@VoxPVoxD> It's a rainy day in Nexus. Today, for the first time in months, a rare books and curios shop right on the road into Firewander hangs an Open shingle. How did Xia Lan find out? Did she have someone keep a lookout? Did she check herself? [20:37] 13The Fanclub was supposed to let her know if they'd heard anything - she's let them know about her interests, which gets her leads every now and again - but this time, it's simply her own wanderings that lead her here. Never stop looking, after all. It's a beautiful night for a search. 15[20:44] <@VoxPVoxD> At night, in the rain, Nexus is as pretty as Nexus gets. Everything reflects the light of the lanterns, glowing in the mist like a procession of spirits. 15[20:44] <@VoxPVoxD> http://i.imgur.com/CsIwZh1.png 15[20:47] <@VoxPVoxD> Xia Lan finds herself at the last crossroads before the city yields to the capricious, lethal Wyld taint of Firewander. There, nestled in a tall wooden building wedged between two ancient abandoned First Age tower blocks, glowing with ember-red lantern light within, is the address Bamaz gave her. All else she knows is a name. 15[20:47] <@VoxPVoxD> What's her move? [20:50] 13Is there a bench nearby? It's a nice night, and the rain feels good - let's just sit for a bit. See who frequents this place. Also, what's the name of the shop? Does it have one? 15[20:51] <@VoxPVoxD> There's no bench, but there is a long stone fence across the street, low enough to sit on. In nicer weather you'll typically find people sleeping on it. [20:52] 13Then there Xia Lan will sit for a while. People-watch. Relax. 15[20:53] <@VoxPVoxD> No name on the store, no sign of what it sells, and aside from the Open shingle, no sign it's a store at all. A place like this typically aims at two clienteles: people who know exactly what to expect and people who have no idea. 15[20:55] <@VoxPVoxD> Xia Lan sits and watches. She doesn't see anybody. This time of night, this part of town, in this kind of weather, that's what you'd expect. [20:57] 13Hmph. People around here have no sense of adventure. She wrings her hair out underneath the closest overhang and steps inside the nameless shop. Better hope Bamaz got the address right. 15[20:59] <@VoxPVoxD> It's incredibly warm inside, and Xia Lan has to navigate some very narrow and high shelves to get out into the open area, which is still cramped. There's a strong smell of smoke but the air is clear, like someone smoking a pipe in another room. 15[21:00] <@VoxPVoxD> There's no counter, and no shopkeeper. Xia Lan looks around until her head almost knocks into a small gong hung between two scroll cases. There's a little hammer on a hook beneath it. [21:03] 13Might as well do this the polite way first. "Excuse me? Hello?" 13she calls out. Before she joined Ruby Reds, she grew to hate the sound of these things. [21:03] 13She'll give it a minute before she actually hits the gong. 15[21:06] <@VoxPVoxD> Despite its size, the gong when struck emits the kind of bass you feel more than hear. Afterwards, there's the sound of a creaking door upstairs, and then an old man's voice, with a deep Northern accent, croaks through a brass horn hung in the corner of the room. "Name?" [21:08] 13Xia Lan: "Unfettered Xia Lan." 13She pauses, unsure. "Vladok sent me," 13she adds. 15[21:09] <@VoxPVoxD> "Vladok." 15[21:09] <@VoxPVoxD> "Vladok didn't send you." 15[21:09] <@VoxPVoxD> "Someone sent you to Vladok. Who?" [21:13] 13She turns bright red. "I - ah. Bamaz sent me. I'm sorry, I always mess up introductions..." 15[21:18] <@VoxPVoxD> The voice groans, long and low and gravel-lined, fading bit by bit as if someone was groaning with every ounce of their breath and couldn't summon the strength to breathe again. It stretches out for what feels like ages, growing fainter and fainter until it just slips out of hearing. That moment, a door bangs open, bell jingling, and that same voice says, "Unfettered Xia Lan." [21:21] 13Xia Lan: "That's me." 13She heads through the open door. Is it dark in there? Should she grab a light? 15[21:22] <@VoxPVoxD> In order to trace the voice to its source, Xia Lan has to look down. A tangle of hair and smoke meets her at the door, a face with wild coal-red eyes and beaded horns and a wild mane of hair and beard that enshrouds all his body but his long, knobbly limbs. The long pipe clenched between the mouth that must hide somewhere in the depths of that beard is billowing thick red smoke. It smells of meat and cinnamon. 15[21:22] <@VoxPVoxD> He looks up at her. "Say it again." [21:26] 13Xia Lan: "Say what again? I'm the Unfettered Xia Lan, and I'm here because Bamaz sent me." 13She wrinkles her nose at the pipe smoke - she can only tolerate it when she's the one smoking, really. 15[21:27] <@VoxPVoxD> "Little flame," he says, turning his back on her but not shutting the door behind him. "Bamaz is a coward." 15[21:30] <@VoxPVoxD> "So he sends you. Unfettered Xia Lan." The strange creature draws out the name, dragging every syllable. [21:30] 13She pauses before answering. "It was the price I paid, yes." 15[21:30] <@VoxPVoxD> "For what?" [21:34] 13Xia Lan: "Something worth it." 13She smiles. "Forgive me, I can't go telling my prices to everyone." 15[21:35] <@VoxPVoxD> "Duplicitous! Bamaz must have liked you." 15[21:35] <@VoxPVoxD> "So what have you brought for me?" [21:36] 13Xia Lan: "A favor. Bamaz claimed that was what he owed you, and I would serve in his place." 13She shifts slightly. "He was... sparse, on details." 15[21:37] <@VoxPVoxD> "He lied to you." 15[21:37] <@VoxPVoxD> "He didn't owe me a favor. He owed me a name." [21:37] 13Xia Lan: "...ah." [21:41] "...when you say 'owed you a name...' what is that, exactly?" 15[21:44] <@VoxPVoxD> "He told you nothing?" [21:49] 13Xia Lan: "It was a favor for a favor. For some reason, I believed that." 13She's starting to shrink away from Vladok - nothing brings humility like making mistakes. 15[21:50] <@VoxPVoxD> "The name. Your name. Anyone's name, their mark in fate's ledger. Bamaz owed me this. A fair bargain, like for like. And he begged, he begged to be spared the price. To pay in some other way. I refused, and now he has fled to escape his debt and deceived you, little flame, into owing it in his place." [21:51] 13Xia Lan: "..." 15[22:00] <@VoxPVoxD> Vladok sits on the top step, here, which brings him exactly eye level with Xia Lan. He looks at her expectantly. [22:01] "...well, this is going to be a bit more difficult than I thought. And here I thought I was through being swindled once I left Zoatham." 13She shrugs, self-deprecatingly. "So. What's giving you a name mean, and how do I get you one? I made a deal, I guess." 15[22:05] <@VoxPVoxD> "There are ways you can kill someone without spoiling their name. You could get someone to sign it away freely. You could steal one. All of the ways you can get hold of something precious that doesn't belong to you." [22:06] 13Xia Lan: "'Spoiling'?" 15[22:07] <@VoxPVoxD> "When someone dies, their name is stricken from the ledgers of fate. No good anymore." 15[22:07] <@VoxPVoxD> "But there are ways." 15[22:07] <@VoxPVoxD> "What needs to happen will happen. The kiss takes care of that for you." [22:09] 13Xia Lan: "I'm going to keep repeating phrases you say until I understand everything. The kiss?" 15[22:12] <@VoxPVoxD> Vladok holds his hand out. There's a spike of pain in Xia Lan's forearm. She sees a puncture wound, fresh and cauterized, with a tiny cinder white and smoking at its center. "A devil's kiss. A parasitic piece of the pure, hot black flame. Granter of the Art. Mark of a contract." [22:18] 13She rubs her wrist calmly, not letting the pain show through. "So. I have to get you a name. Can't be 'spoiled,' has to be mine to give somehow... any other restrictions you want to throw at me?" 15[22:21] <@VoxPVoxD> "You have until... dawn. Dawn is enough time." 15[20:40] <@VoxPVoxD> [22:12] <@VoxPVoxD> Vladok holds his hand out. There's a spike of pain in Xia Lan's forearm. She sees a puncture wound, fresh and cauterized, with a tiny cinder white and smoking at its center. "A devil's kiss. A parasitic piece of the pure, hot black flame. Granter of the Art. Mark of a contract." 15[20:40] <@VoxPVoxD> [22:18] She rubs her wrist calmly, not letting the pain show through. "So. I have to get you a name. Can't be 'spoiled,' has to be mine to give somehow... any other restrictions you want to throw at me?" 15[20:40] <@VoxPVoxD> [22:21] <@VoxPVoxD> "You have until... dawn. Dawn is enough time." [20:56] 13Xia Lan: "Mm. No, I don't think so." 13She idly checks her nails. "That's an awfully heavy restriction, and something tells me Bamaz didn't get the same time limit. Why?" 15[20:57] <@VoxPVoxD> "Bamaz skipped town. Do I look stupid to you, little flame?" [21:02] 13She looks him up and down silently. Then: "We both took him at his word, and here we are. But I'm not Bamaz." 15[21:04] <@VoxPVoxD> "That's right. You're not Bamaz. You're going to get me a name." [21:12] 13Xia Lan: "You're really hung up on that part, huh. No, I'm not, at the very least not tonight. So let's talk alternatives." [21:16] "Option one, we both laugh off this hilarious misunderstanding, and presumably go track down Bamaz at the next opportunity. Unlikely, but I'm trying to be an optimist these days. Option two, you give me time to work. I'm not leaving town. You get your name. Option three... how are you with fiddles?" 15[21:25] <@VoxPVoxD> "You would bargain with a demon? Such iniquity from a little flame that's leapt from the Sun's brow." [21:34] 13Xia Lan: "Well, I didn't haggle with the last one I met, and look where that got me." 13She shrugs. "And when you deal in particular goods, you get less particular about the circles you run in." 15[21:55] <@VoxPVoxD> Vladok leans back, exhaling a huge billow of red smoke as the pipe dangles lazily from his upturned mouth. 15[21:55] <@VoxPVoxD> Eventually: "Make me an offer." [22:01] 13Xia Lan: "I was serious. How are you with fiddles?" 15[22:02] <@VoxPVoxD> "Bad. Do you sing?" [22:02] "I do." 15[22:02] <@VoxPVoxD> "Do you drink? I only sing drunk." [22:04] 13She grins. "Do I." 15[22:05] <@VoxPVoxD> Vladok: "When or where?" [22:07] 13Xia Lan: "Right now." 15[22:07] <@VoxPVoxD> Vladok: "Impossible. Who will judge?" [22:25] 13Xia Lan: "Shoot. Judging, right. Then I'll take the 'where' - you ever hear of the C.I.O.?" 13She describes a club about halfway between her current hideaway and Vladok's place. It's not her normal kind of place, but she could get it booked easily. Playing a secret show that's also a drinking duel ought to be right up their alley - they usually cater to a much rowdier crowd than her shows normally draw. Proving that she can [22:25] hang will be fun. 15[22:26] <@VoxPVoxD> Vladok: "No, but I don't need to. Give me two weeks." [22:30] 13Xia Lan: "Then we have a date." 13She takes one last look around the place. "I'll leave you to prepare, then. May the best singer win." 15[22:30] <@VoxPVoxD> "One last thing." 15[22:31] <@VoxPVoxD> "If I win, the terms will be that you owe me your name." [22:31] 13Xia Lan: "Then I guess I can't lose." 15[22:32] <@VoxPVoxD> There's a sound like someone punching a bag full of rocks. Vladok is laughing. 15[22:32] <@VoxPVoxD> "Good then." 15[22:32] <@VoxPVoxD> He waves a hand. "I'm done with you now." [22:34] 13She waves a goodbye over her shoulder as she slides through the maze of shelves towards the exit. "Nice guy," 13she says to herself as she steps back out into the rain. 15[20:48] <@VoxPVoxD> The days leading up to the circle's meeting with Bubo are busy indeed. Xia Lan's mail has backed up, Keldar's burning with the entrepreneurial spirit, and he's enlisting Stranger's help. 15[20:48] <@VoxPVoxD> Where does Keldar approach Stranger, and where does Xia Lan read her mail? [20:49] <@Ferrinus> 12Does Stranger habitually hang around the Circle's base camp in Floodwater? [20:53] 14He does, generally in the common room sipping tea when he's there. [20:53] 14If he's not sitting by the fire, he's usually not far: taking a stroll around the district, or light-heartedly bickering with the strange old homeless man he's brought to the neighborhood. [20:54] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar comes barreling in one day, then, dressed in his usual walking-about-town leathers and holding a sheaf of grubby papers. "Ah, just the man I wanted to see. Listen, you any good at math?" [20:55] 14... [20:55] 14He finishes his current sip and sets down the book he was reading. "Fashionably so." [20:55] "...Which is to say yes, but I keep quiet about it." [20:55] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Great. You reasonably current on the Civilities governing defense funding?" [20:57] 13Xia Lan picks up her mail from the PO box once a week - she used to do it more often, but she's just been so busy lately. Once retrieved, she'll read and respond to letters from the common room. It's nice to just sit out, sip tea, and read about how great you are in a semi-public place. [20:59] 14Stranger uncrosses and recrosses his legs. "Yes, and to the extent that I am not, I can quickly become so." [20:59] "Is this about the Green Apples?" [21:04] 13She makes sure to sort the letters from official club members to the top - they've got special stationary to send in their letters on. [21:06] <@Ferrinus> "Okay." 12If there were any plates and cups and so on on the table Keldar'd probably be sweeping them aside to make room, to the point that they'd be teetering precariously on the edge, but I'm sure Stranger keeps a cleaner house than that. So it is that the mercenary starts putting sheafs of what might be butcher paper down. Looks like they've been scrawled all over with crabbed [21:06] <@Ferrinus> 12charcoal. [21:07] <@Ferrinus> "What I want," 12Keldar says, "Is for the Green Apples to join and support the Dawn Guard. For, like, the span of this raksha crisis at least. Problem is, they probably can't afford us." [21:08] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "That means I need to sell both Khelendros - that's my commander - and the Council on a contract that pays big eventual returns but starts out with the Apples effectively making the city a generous loan." [21:09] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "I've been lookin' around the public records to try to figure out what kinda budget the city's actually got for this in the first place, and for precedents in similar past situations, and so on, but I want at least another pair of eyes before I move forward with it." [21:11] 14Stranger does keep a cleaner house than that, due to the last three or four times Keldar needed a workspace. [21:11] <@Ferrinus> 12I'm calculatin' here. [21:12] 14Stranger: "Mmmm. Sensible. I take it, then, you're thinking about a...long-term pricing structure." [21:12] "More canvas to paint on, as it were." [21:13] 14Precisely what documents are these, then? [21:13] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Yeah. Problem is making the sharply increasing slope towards the end convincing." [21:15] <@Ferrinus> 12A bunch of them are just hypothetical, not-in-legalese-yet contracts in which Keldar experiments with different pricing structures or wordings of agreements. Others are the contracts by which the Dawn Guard has leased other mercenary companies in the city's past, especially from times of strife and scarcity if Keldar was able to find any. [21:15] <@Ferrinus> 12It looks like you can't just walk out of the archives with those, so you're stuck looking at Keldar's transliterations. [21:15] 14Oh my. [21:17] 14He'll begin to puzzle through them, then. First things first is to figure out what's the closest precedent: which mercenary deal closest matches the size of the Green Apples, the sort of work being contracted, and the context in which the deal was struck. Obviously there are no 'the Emissary died' deals on the ledger, but tumultuous raksha crises should suffice. [21:17] <@Ferrinus> 12Close observation reveals that Keldar actually knows what he's doing here, but these things could always get more airtight. [21:17] 14You can't throw a stone ten years in any Direction without hitting one of those. 15[21:19] <@VoxPVoxD> Xia Lan's got a fair bit of mail to read. Fans with words of encouragement and admiration - and concern, from the letters dated after the incident at the amphitheatre - alongside the usual drawings, poetry, and marriage proposal after marriage proposal. She's almost at the bottom of the rolled scrolls when she catches the faded smell of jasmine. Aha! One of the scrolls at the bottom, scented and sealed with wax. It's a command performance! By "The Empress Inscrutable, Papali Pali". [21:23] 14After establishing precedent -- he'd prefer three or four deals to look at here, really, but even one great match might be too much to look for -- he'll scan the others for anything interesting. Specifically, legal tricks, creative accounting, odd clauses that can be interpretted a few different ways...and hopefully, HOPEFULLY, Keldar was mindful enough to note not only the signatories [21:23] 14and guarantors, but the preparers. [21:24] 14There are, after all, a number of exclusive artisans that deal in contract law in Nexus. [21:24] 13Keldar and Stranger are also in the common room, yes? She'll ask them, then: "Have either of you heard of an 'Empress Inscrutable, Papali Pali'?" [21:25] 14Stranger looks up and blinks. Is this a history question, or is this one of those popular musical numbers with the youths today? He thinks a moment. [21:28] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "So first, right, a hundred years ago, when the - eh? Doesn't ring any bells." [21:30] 14Stranger, after a moment: "I've never heard of her, and in the context of that specific title -- 'Empress' -- I would have. It is...reserved, after a fashion, for a certain other monarch in a much more central land. Someone would have made issue of it, were she extant in the River Province." [21:32] 13Xia Lan: "That's what I'd have thought. Lot of effort for a prank, though..." 13It wouldn't be the first letter requesting or indeed demanding she perform for a specific audience, but usually they don't claim to be royalty. [21:33] 14He shrugs. "Perhaps it's some sort of traveling act, or stage name. They generally don't send House hunters out here to go after dancers and bards." [21:35] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "What's she want?" [21:37] 13Xia Lan: "A command performance." 13Does it say where or when? [21:38] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "What's it pay?" [21:38] 14Stranger gives Keldar a look. [21:38] 14To Xia Lan: "Well, be safe, whatever you decide." [21:38] 13Xia Lan: "The payment is that you get to perform for royalty." [21:39] "Also, that your head remains attached to your shoulders, depending on the royalty." [21:39] 14Stranger: "Not a particularly convincing threat." [21:39] 14He pauses. [21:39] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Seems like one more to ignore, then." [21:39] 14Then he frowns. "I just thought of the sort of Empress who would not be in the history books, and would not be impressed by the Realm's disapproval." [21:39] "The sort that is a raksha." 15[21:40] <@VoxPVoxD> None of that information's in the letter. All it has is a return address and a point of contact: Vavariko Tatariko, Seneschal to the Empress. [21:41] 13Xia Lan: "Well, there's a contact listed here. Maybe they'll be able to tell me who exactly is requesting my appearance." [21:43] 05Xu Sim slowly rolls an enormous barrel down the back alleys and gutters of the sewer district. He finally arrives at the door to the lair and begins knocking impatiently. He does not look well; his face is sallow and one of his eyes is a little droopy. [21:45] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "I'd ignore it. Only encourages 'em." [21:46] 05Xu Sim: "One of you discourteous wretches open this cursed door immediately!" [21:46] 13Xia Lan: "I'd take ten of these before I get another poorly written letter proposing marriage. Like, gods, you're the first one to think of it, let me just leap into your arms. Keeps it interesting, you know?" [21:47] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar looks between Stranger and Xia Lan. [21:47] 14Stranger just blinks and rests his chin on his hand. [21:47] 13Xia Lan will get the door. She's already up, having thrown several marriage proposals into the fire. [21:48] 05Xu Sim stands at the portal, with a fifty-gallon barrel beside him that he has apparently rolled into place. "Now, help me get this inside. I don't think it will roll through."05 It's immediately clear that the barrel is not empty. [21:49] 13She steps back awkwardly in surprise. "Xu Sim! You- ah. I don't think I can - Keldar?" [21:50] 14Stranger leans forward on his chin. [21:51] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar sighs, stretches, and saunters off to the door. Shortly thereafter he's walking back in, barrel in both arms. "Where to?" [21:51] 14Stranger: "Not here." [21:52] "In the kitchen, please. There is a kitchen in here, right?" [21:53] 14Stranger's smile is a bit strained. "Yes. Over there. Behind the bar, through the swing-door. What is that, if I might ask?" [21:53] "Liquor?" [21:54] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Hup," 12After a few moments, there's a thump as the barrel's set down. "Yeah, what's in there?" [21:54] 05Xu Sim follows along, removing his boots along the way. The barrel gives off a terribly salty, briny smell, a hint of fish. "Brined fish." 05He pries open the lid, flooding the house with the strong smell. [21:55] 14Oh there is going to be quite a smell. [21:55] <@Ferrinus> 12Mmm, mmm. Keldar asks: "What for?" [21:55] 14Stranger: "And why have you brought brined fish." [21:55] 13Xia Lan stifles a retch and flees back to her room, fanmail forgotten. [21:57] "Thank you, Keldar." 05With a bit of struggle, the alchemist shimmies his way up the barrel and carefully lowers himself inside; displacing a few silvery, marinated riverfish and some thick green salty liquid. He sighs contentedly as he settles in, moving his body back and forth to get comfortable. [21:57] 14Stranger closes his eyes and slowly, slowly, sinks back into his chair. [21:58] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "But-" [21:58] 14Eyes still closed: "Will you be needing us to check in on you." [21:58] "In your barrel." [21:59] 13Xia Lan peeks her head out: "Can someone please fetch my mail. I- maybe I should just go see this Vavariko now?" [21:59] "Tell me, Keldar: what dispells the taste of honey faster than a brined fish? Careful meditation in here, combined with the fact that I haven't had anything to eat or drink for the last 3 days, should go a long ways to overcoming the honey-maze." [21:59] 14Stranger, eyes still closed: "That might be best, Xia Lan." [22:00] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Well you coulda at least poured some off first. I think we had some pork chops around somewhere..." [22:00] <@Ferrinus> 12The mercenary waves a hand vaguely. "Whatever. I still need to figure out the best pitch to make, here." 12He heads back to the common room table. [22:01] 14Stranger will hand Xia Lan her mail if she really wants it, before coming back to the common room table and grimacing in the direction of the kitchen. [22:01] "This way, Stranger," 05Xu begins peevishly, "I can participate in some of these planning discussions a little more carefully. And Keldar-" 05a hand extends from the barrel grasping a fish - "please help yourself. There's enough for everyone in here, I think, ha!" [22:02] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Well it's too late now. Who knows where you've been? Keep an ear open if you know anything about contract law, though." [22:02] "Who is Vavariko?" [22:03] 14Stranger: "An aide for some fictional empress. Or at least one from very very far away. Have you heard the name?" [22:05] 13She takes the mail gratefully and speaks through the closed door. "Or the 'Empress Inscrutable, Papali Pali,' for that matter." [22:13] "Vavariko Tatariko," 05he repeats in a somewhat unsettled, singsong patter. "I heard the name in the plague tents. Might be a glassblower? Something like that. Why?" [22:14] 13Still through the door: "They're my contact for a command performance. Do you remember anything specific?" [22:16] "Nope." 05Xu leans back in the sludge. [22:17] 14Helpful. [22:18] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "I'm tellin' ya, you either ignore 'em outright or send back a drawing of a middle finger. No one gets actual command performances here." [22:20] 13Xia Lan: "Heck, I'm playing a small show in like two weeks where no one'll know it's me, maybe I can make a name for this kinda thing. I'm into it, honestly." [22:21] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar shakes his head to himself and returns to his figures. [22:21] 14Stranger is back to staring at the contracts, but glances up one more time. "As you please. Let us know if you wish to have an escort. Or backup." [22:22] "Or a brined fish," [22:23] 13Xia Lan: "Absolutely no on the fish thing. Backup, if someone who isn't fish-scented is free, would be welcome." [22:23] 14He half-looks back over his shoulder. "Do you just plan on...sitting in there? Talking?" [22:25] "I have some work I want to get done while I marinate. Before you leave, Xia Lan, I think you had mentioned some sort of demon. I will graciously ignore your comments about my medical treatment and perform some research about this demon." [22:27] 13She's about to interject with getting a feel for the venue being more important, but that's something that she'll need to do herself. "Vladok was his name. I don't know much more about him - I found his place at--" 13She gives an address. "But, knowing them, it might not be there when you look." [22:34] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "What kinda demon?" [22:39] 13Xia Lan: "Bearded guy, short, really messy, honestly more hair than face. Kind of hunched. Had a bookstore with a maze of shelves leading to a cramped area that I guess was the main shop, deals in names, pretty rude. Challenged me to a singing contest with a drinking accompaniment." [22:40] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar scratches his chin, frowning. [22:41] 4Bastian re-enters, a frown likewise on his face. [22:42] 14Stranger: "Ah! Greetings, Bastian. Please, don't mind the smell." [22:42] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Mmmmnope, dunno. Wasn't purple from top to bottom with shark's eyes, was he?" [22:42] 14The air smells very heavily of fetid brined fish. [22:43] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "...with the hair obviously a wig? Yeah, that wouldn't work either." [22:43] “But...why?" [22:43] 14Stranger: "Xu Sim is brining in the kitchen." 14His tone is polite, but weary. [22:43] "Mind or don't, I've got to marinate all day." 05Xu Sim is submerged, up to his chin, in a barrel of brined fish. "What drives the taste of honey from one's mouth faster than brined fish? Nothing, that's what. Simple principle of sympathy." [22:44] “Is he to be eaten?" [22:44] 13Xia Lan: "please stop talking about the fish barrel" 13She sounds ill. [22:45] 14Stranger: "Not by me." [22:46] 4von Hrolfus strecthes his arms and yawns. 1“I had not realized I was so exhausted. Did you all experience a similar…draining upon exalting?" [22:47] 05Xu Sim mutters from his barrel in Bastian's general direction. "impertinence... impudence... insolence..." [22:47] 14Stranger: "Something of the sort, yes. But before you go to bed -- come over here. Keldar and myself are reviewing contracts for the Green Apples. By these deeds, we will secure power in this city for you and Keldar to do your deeds. And then perhaps raise you an army, if necessary." [22:47] 13Xia Lan's voice comes from behind her door: "I nearly died in the desert. I didn't have the chance to get tired." [22:48] “For…me? Why would anyone here accept my authority?" [22:50] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "They wouldn't. But when Nexus gets back on his feet you might be able to hire a proper army of your own or something." [22:50] “Who are these Green Apples?” [22:50] 14Stranger: "Hopefully it won't come to that. But if it does, it pays to prepare early and often." [22:51] 14He'll let Keldar field that one. [22:52] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "The Ninth Orchard Company. The mercs I run with." 15[22:52] <@VoxPVoxD> Jercs. [22:52] 13Nice. [22:52] 14Well played. [22:54] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: [22:54] 4von Hrolfus eyes tighten briefly in an expression for distaste. 1“People who fight for no cause but money." [22:54] 4*of [22:55] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Exactly. The idea is to make sure the Dawn Guard turns to the Apples for additional security first, so we can keep the city ticking along." [22:55] 4“And when this army of abominations comes along? What incentive do mercenaries have to not just simply flee?" [22:57] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Uh... money? You just said. We've stood up to raksha before." [22:57] "Stranger, you're quite the charmer. Likeable sort. Clever with people... I propose we try summoning this Vladok character for a chat. I don't mean through sorcery, of course, to be clear - well, I do, but not in a binding ritual (which probably wouldn't even work)." [22:57] 14Stranger will motion to Keldar. "You two should be fine. If you wish me to look over the papers before they're formally submitted, I will, of course, but I have every faith in Bastian here -- his schooling will have given him sureness in these matters beyond his years. And I worry about..." 14He glances towards Xia Lan very briefly. [22:58] 13Xia Lan's door. She's still behind it, to keep the scent away. 15[23:00] <@VoxPVoxD> It's not going to work forever. This place is only so well-ventilated. [23:00] 4von Hrolfus shakes his head. “The problems on relying on those who do not fight for a higher cause - an ideology, a nation - is that they value their lives above all else. Should these abominations be a greater threat than expected, how do you expect to hold your men together?" [23:00] 05Xu Sim, to Stranger: "To summarize a huge amount of information, at the time of my Second Breath, I confronted the creature Giramande, the Cupreous Physician, warden soul of the Green Sun." [23:01] 14Xu Sim's proposal gets his attention. [23:01] 13She'll have to flee eventually, but she's got a destination in mind. Hopefully the place won't stink by the time she returns. [23:01] 14This would still be helping Xia Lan out, but from a different angle. And frankly, he has to stop thinking of her as a child. She is a Chosen, as strong as he. She'll be fine. [23:02] 14So, in his infinite patience, he decamps from the common area to...the kitchen. [23:02] 14With his tea. [23:02] 14He's still close enough that should Keldar and Bastian need him, all they need do is raise their voicce. [23:02] 4He hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath all this time, exhaling sharply and then carefully gulpin air in through this mouth. “Good god that smell IS awful!" [23:02] *14voice [23:02] 13Xia Lan: "Isn't it just?" [23:04] "You are learnèd enough to be familiar with Ligier, I trust? The Green Sun of Malfeas, fetish soul of the King of the Yozis?" [23:05] 14Stranger: "Of course." [23:07] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "It's just fish, man, c'mon. Anyway, take a look at this precedent-" [23:07] "A creature of black stone, brass, and of course the Green Sun. In any case - and when I have finished putting my own library back together I welcome you to examine it yourself - the Shogunate era histories make no mention whatsoever of Giramande the Cupreous Physician." [23:08] 14He'll entertain the pickling man. "Oh? I'm unfamiliar with that name." [23:09] 4“-who will be paying for training? Food supplies? Do we just give them gold and let them scrounge off the city? What if we have to march into the wilderness to face what’s coming?" [23:09] "I think it has taken some pains to conceal itself. It was at the heart of the plot to frame me for the murder of Novak, the good friend of Nessun Dorma and the reason the Dragonlord has several times tried to pound my head into the cobblestones." [23:11] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Thought of that one already. You divert these funds here, and claim these others which are technically..." 12Keldar's assembled a ton of notes and written up a few rough, hypothetical contracts, and you've got to give Nexus this: it's put a lot of thought, over the years, into the logistics of fielding mercenary armies. [23:11] 14Stranger is reasonably certain Xu Sim didn't actually commit that crime, but still feels that occasional twitch of suspicion one gets when a crazy man in a vat of brinefish denies killing a man. [23:12] "But as I said, the histories do not speak much of Giramande and neither will I, for the moment. I believe he is a newcomer, perhaps fashioned from hatred and steel by Ligier's own hand. But: in the time of the Shogunate, the warden soul of Ligier was known to be Sondok Who Stands In Doorways." [23:12] 4“-and presumable the pay will be prorated based on date of joining? Then there’s the question of leave and sick pay-" [23:12] 14Strangers eyebrows arch. [23:13] "Stands in Doorways. That's a modest sounding appellation. Usually that hides great power." [23:13] "It's an obnoxious habit, to be sure. In or out, don't just stand there like a slack-jawed peasant!" [23:15] 14Mildly: "You should tell him that. Or her that." [23:16] "Perhaps I shall. Regardless: I believe, one sorcerer here in Nexus came to know truly know Sondok. She bore children and the family grew. I don't have proof, but I think Xia Lan's acquaintance, Vladok, is directly descended from this coupling." [23:19] 14Stranger narrows his eyes, briefly trying to work out why the sorceror mentioned Giramande the Cupreous Physician at all if--no matter. "Sounds like quite the runt." [23:20] "You'd think it'd have more interesting things to do." [23:23] 13Xia Lan: "Seems gross, frankly. Little troll of a man." [23:23] <@Ferrinus> 12Once he's seen to both Stranger's and Bastian's most immediate questions and criticisms of the proposal, Keldar gathers all his papers together, re-pockets the charcoal pencils he's been working with, and heads back out into the city. He's going to bend the ear of the Ninth Orchard's commander, proposing a lucrative (should the city actually survive into the next year) partnership [23:23] <@Ferrinus> 12with the city guard and offering the services of one or two skilled negotiators on top of that. [23:26] "Even truly disgusting things have their uses," 05Xu Sim offers helpfully. [23:26] 14Stranger leans his chin on his hand again. "Most indubitably." 15[23:30] <@VoxPVoxD> NEXT TIME: Hurl, Interrupted