[19:11] After sunset, the air thick with smoke and the red star bearing down from above combine to make Nexus feel like a warzone. People are uneasy, too - the Dawn Guard, with vital support from Nessun Dorma's legion, have instituted a curfew in the city. [19:12] 14Well. This is all properly fucked. [19:12] 13It's less than ideal. [19:13] <@Ferrinus> 12There's no way a curfew squares with the Dogmas. [19:13] 14Being dead or party to severe civil unrest does tend to inhibit trade. [19:14] 14Quite frankly, there are very few things actually unable to square with the Dogmas if the people whose job it is to square them don't want to hard enough. [19:14] *14want them to [19:15] Under especial guard are the heroes of Akh Afah Amphitheatre, seen so often in the company of the powerful, many of whom are known or suspected to be Solar Anathema. They recover from an assassination attempt being watched over by city militia ostensibly safeguarding the bank across the street. Around dusk the Dawn Guard is supported by soldiers of the Seventh Legion. Later that night [19:15] they're relieved and replaced by a squad of the hulking aetherochemical armor of the Gunzosha elite. [19:16] They've never wandered this far from Sentinel Hill before. [19:17] 14Interesting. [19:18] 14Not quite illuminating, but at least interesting. [19:18] 14Probably not great conversationalists. [19:19] About four hours before midnight the chirurgeon and nurse - who also can't go home - ladle soup out for everyone. It's not much, and full of the bitter herbs you typically feed the convalescing. The nurse pulls a face with every bite. "None of this would've happened if the Emissary was alive," says the doctor. [19:20] "Perhaps," 14says Stranger with only a slight shortness of breath. "Or perhaps it would have just happened slightly differently. Thank you again, doctor. And you, nurse." [19:20] <@Ferrinus> 12As poor as low as Keldar's regard for current goings-on, he's got little to do besides rest, get his breath back, and make sure that the wounded are staying still enough to recuperate. "Might've happened, sure, but it would've ended different." [19:21] 14Stranger: "Nothing ever ends." [19:21] 14The blind man: "I thought only lives did, once. Now, I am not so sure." [19:21] "Khelendros has never backed out of a bill. Mind you, who knows how long that'll last if they change the Civilities." [19:23] 13Xia Lan: "Khelendros?" [19:24] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "My commander. And it'd take a hell of a lot before Ninth Orchard decided a contract with the city wasn't worth honoring." [19:25] 14Stranger: "He's made of sterner stuff than most. Or sturdier." [19:25] The doctor: "Oh, no! He might not be allowed to." [19:25] 14He almost comments 'No driftwood in that one' before wondering if that might be mildly racist. [19:25] "I heard that the Council is thinking about conscripting the mercenary bands." [19:26] 14Stranger: "Ha ha ha ha!" [19:26] "Is that not what you heard?" [19:26] 14Stranger: "That's excellent!" [19:27] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "They'd have a hell of a time doing that. Who's gonna enforce it, the other bands they haven't conscripted yet?" 12He shakes his head. "No, if they're smart, or at least listening to someone smart, which they are, they'll just shore up the Dawn Guard with the best companies like they're doing." [19:28] 14Stranger: "That's why it's excellent. Proof of demand." [19:28] The doctor gestures in the direction of the front windows. "I heard it was the Lookshyans' idea." [19:28] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "What?" [19:28] 14Stranger: "Of course it would be." [19:28] "That's how they do things out there, you know. Everybody's a soldier or a slave. Or both." [19:29] 14Stranger: "Oh, I doubt it's so much about ideology." [19:29] 13Xia Lan: "Is it." 13She sounds less than enthused. [19:29] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Oh, the conscription. Yeah, I wouldn't put it past 'em. But it won't come to that." [19:29] "They would get greater control over the conscripted mercenaries, you see." [19:29] "Given that they're being paid a higher market-rate." [19:30] 14The blind man sighs. "Rather ambitious of them, to be so blatant. But that is Lookshy I suppose." [19:31] Outside, a gust of wind kicks up dust and grit from the street, clattering like hail against the windows. [19:32] ...but among the random clatter is a single repetitive noise, almost of a kind, as if someone had taken one pebble and tapped it repeatedly against the glass. [19:32] 14Is that normal on Nexus nights? [19:32] 14Ah. [19:33] 14Mildly: "Well. Someone should investigate that." [19:33] 14A stretch and a sigh. "Sadly I am but an injured old man..." [19:33] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar makes a thoughtful face as he slowly stands, finds his sword, and backs up toward the window. He'll sort of stand on his toes and half-turn such that he can look sidelong through one while being ready to shield his eyes. [19:35] 13Xia Lan blinks confusedly at Stranger, before moving to back up Keldar should a move be required. [19:36] Keldar peeks and sees-- nothing. The impression of motion in the darkness. It might just be the smoke. That's the easiest explanation since this is a second-story window. [19:38] 13Xia Lan looks over his shoulder, seeing the same. [19:38] "Must've been the wind." [19:38] 14Stranger's face twitches. "It was not--" [19:38] "Sun damn this bed rest." [19:39] Left alone and idle, Stranger realizes: that must've been a bird. [19:39] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "It wasn't the wind. What it was, is someone who wants us to go out and check." [19:39] 14He sighs and leans back against the pillow. "It was a bird." [19:39] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "What?" [19:39] "Let her in, when she gets here. Or, if not her, her agent." [19:39] 13Xia Lan: "What?" [19:40] 14Stranger: "Surely I've mentioned before that I'm seeing a Chosen of the Moon." [19:41] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Aren't they mostly feral?" [19:42] The same is often said on the Isle of the people of the River Province. [19:43] <@Ferrinus> 12Yeah well the difference is that the River Province knows what's up. [19:43] 13Xia Lan: "I've never met one before." [19:43] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "I saw one. The good news is the retreat was sounded before my unit engaged." [19:44] A moment later, the same tap-tap-tap. [19:44] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar sighs and reaches out to open the window. [19:44] "'Aren't they mostly feral.' You know, you can ask her that when you meet." [19:46] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Hey, I know what I saw. It was taking bites out of entire formations." [19:46] 14Stranger: "Oh, yes, and you use a sword to similar effect. Or would if you could." [19:46] "I think I apprehend the problem." [19:47] Keldar opens the window, and a harried, molting raven cocks its head at him. [19:47] 14Stranger: "Come in!" [19:48] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar keeps his sword held by the scabbard in his left hand as he releases the window with his right, and doesn't take his eyes off the bird. [19:48] 13Performance envy. Tragic. "Hello," 13she says to the raven. If Stranger is pulling her leg, she'll look like a fool, but that's a small price to pay for being polite. [19:49] The raven flaps and flusters a bit before it flies into the room, before it tumbles to the ground, billowing into a somersaulting boy that stops just short of the low table where the soup and bread are set. Without preamble the boy tears off a chunk as the doctor screams and the nurse grabs the ladle as if to shoo him off. [19:50] 13Is he wearing clothes? [19:51] 14Stranger: "Everybody calm down." [19:52] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar's still watching, steely-eyed, in case this is a ruse and the boy's about to turn into a spike-covered tiger or something. [19:52] 14That's not how this-- [19:52] 14Oh, whatever. [19:52] 13Xia Lan: "I am calm." 13She sounds irritated, though -- friendly hello, and all that happens is a child flies in to eat their food? Rude. [19:53] 13Her arms are crossed, and hands well away from the hook swords at her sides. Not defenseless, but not aggressive either. [19:54] The doctor: "He just- I need a drink. Excuse me." [19:54] The boy, who Stranger knows is called Qaile, speaks with his mouth full. "Bye." [19:55] 13Xia Lan: "Excuse me?" [19:55] 14Stranger: "Entirely understandable. Nurse, if you would join the good doctor, there will be less for you to be compelled to testify to afterwards." [19:55] 14When they are gone: "Qaile! My boy. How's the wife?" [19:56] Qaile: "Don't know. Haven't seen her in a bit. How's the tea?" [19:56] 14Stranger: "I meet it every morning. Something to strive for." [19:57] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "...so what's going on here?" [19:58] 14Stranger: "I asked for a discreet investigation of the situation surrounding Bastian's homeland of Deguo. I suspect this involves that. But perhaps not entirely." [19:59] The nurse leaves, disgusted, but she takes the little cake with her before anyone gets a piece. Qaile looks after it mournfully. He's got feathers either braided into or growing out of his hair, and he's wearing the sort of rough, fibrous clothing you see on people from further east. [19:59] 13Xia Lan watches this 'Qaile' with curiosity. "I hope your investigations are more discreet than your entrances." [19:59] He looks expectantly at Keldar and Xia Lan. "I'm Qaile." [19:59] <@Ferrinus> "Keldar," 12says Keldar. [20:00] 14Stranger: "Entrances are meant to be noticed." [20:00] 13Xia Lan: "The Unfettered Xia Lan." 13She affects a slight curtsy. [20:02] Qaile looks from Solar to Solar in turn, finally settling on Stranger. "They're all safe, right?" [20:03] 14Stranger: "They're good people. Occasionally despite themselves. I can, and have, trusted them with my life." [20:05] Qaile: "Okay. The good news first. There's peace in Vaneha." [20:06] 14Stranger: "There's a reason I generally ask for the bad news first instead. How hideous a peace?" [20:10] "Don't tell me the snakes won." [20:10] 5 Xu Sim's eyes snap open, twist one way and the other, and the sorceror sits bolt-upright.  "Where am I?" [20:11] 14Stranger: "Where do you want to be?" [20:11] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Woaahh! Easy, you took a few serious beatings earlier." [20:12] 4Drolly: "Nothing some time in the barrel won't fix." [20:12] "At this rate I'd settle for one of the pleasure-palaces of the far Southern barbarian reaches." [20:12] 14Drolly: "Nothing some time in the barrel won't fix." [20:12] 14Stranger: "Overrated, I hear." [20:14] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar looks back to Stranger: "Lizards, I thought." [20:14] 13Xia Lan: "They are. Welcome back, Xu Sim. How are your wounds?" 13She's still listening to the conversation, but turns her focus to the newly awakened Xu Sim. [20:14] 13Not that she's a doctor, but she could call for one. [20:15] 14Stranger: "They vary, but most exhibit the mien of snakehood." [20:15] "Slithering, pronounced fangs, venoms. Etcetera." [20:15] Qaile: "It's better than the war was. I guess we'll see how long it lasts. Anyway, the Ambassador had to stop off somewhere but she should be in Nexus in a day or two." [20:16] "I feel remarkably better. In fact -" 5 He rises, stretches, and peers around the room with an odd look on his face. [20:16] 14Stranger blinks. "Oh. Oh! Good." [20:17] "What happened to me while I was asleep? Thank you for your help, all of you, but - what happened?" [20:17] Qaile: "Who's this?" [20:17] 14Stranger: "We got our asses kicked and house-arrested." [20:17] "He's an alchemist." [20:17] 13Xia Lan: "...not all of us got our asses kicked, but yeah." [20:17] "A sorcerer and physician, as well. And you are?" [20:18] Qaile: "I'm Qaile." [20:18] 14Stranger: "He's Qaile." [20:18] 14It's pronounced 'kale.' [20:18] 13Is there also a Quennen [20:18] "I'm a scout mostly. That's my part." [20:18] "Xu Sim." 5 He gives a short bow. [20:18] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "...he a Lunar?" [20:18] Qaile snorts. [20:19] "No, listen, you don't understand. I feel much better - this is terrible news!" [20:20] "I've been cured of the honey-maze. I think." [20:20] 13Xia Lan: "Wh- I don't follow. Isn't that...?" [20:20] Qaile takes the opportunity of Xu Sim's outburst to eat much more bread. [20:20] <@Ferrinus> 12To Keldar's credit, the mercenary's tone of voice made it clear that he did not expect to be answered in the affirmative. "You're not giving me enough credit, doc. I went to pretty great- alright, not that great." [20:21] 14Stranger with a slight edge: "He is a friend who is assisting me in work relevant to our cause, as a direct favor to another of our kind." [20:22] "Remember what we deduced? The final stage of the honey-maze sees its victims waking and dreaming minds come apart from one another. Either I've completely succumbed, and my imagination is more banal than I can imagine, or something else has happened. And I can't be sure what it was!" [20:22] 14Stranger sighs. [20:23] "As long as you're sure it's not the former." [20:23] "Immaculate theology would posit that my senses long ago were fatally deceived." [20:24] 13Xia Lan: "It would posit a lot of things." [20:24] Qaile: "So about the raksha horde--" [20:24] "Rouseau Jaq was a fool of a philosopher anyway. Qaile, please continue." [20:27] Qaile: "It took me a day to fly over the breadth of the army, south to north. Then I kept going until I saw the tower of Tuwangste, in Guowang Shan." [20:27] 14Stranger pauses. "That's bad." [20:28] Qaile shakes his head. "It's not good." [20:28] "Guowang Shan is the capital of Deguo," 14he says to the others. [20:28] "But the tower still stands." [20:28] 14Stranger: "That's...good? Difficult to tell at this juncture. What defends it?" [20:29] "Nothing. The raksha just moved on." [20:29] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Hmm. Anything else they seem to have ignored?" [20:31] "They're motivated to fulfill their prophecy, the rest is just collateral." [20:31] 14Stranger sighs. [20:31] "So there's no point even going in for a rescue, is there." [20:31] "They're cutting a path through the kingdoms. There's a furrow of raw Wyld behind them, growing lakes and hedges and a smoking golden mountain in the middle of the plain. They cut through everyone - Deguo, Ortolan, Kirribilli, the ones whose names I can't remember. The raksha horde walked through every army. Half of them march under the queen's banner now. Half of the ones who didn't [20:31] are dead." [20:31] "There's barely enough people left to pull bodies off the fields." [20:32] 13Xia Lan: "...someone should tell Bastian." [20:32] "From what I've seen and heard, they've cut through everyone but Highland and Mahalanka." [20:32] 14Stranger closes his eyes. "'Queen.' Let me guess." [20:32] "Mistress of the honey-maze. Wields a lance." [20:33] "Or, more colloquially, a 'stinger.'" [20:33] "Sings to you in your sleep. I didn't want to stop flying because I wasn't sure I'd wake up if I settled down." [20:33] "A lot of people haven't." [20:33] 13With sudden recognition: "...his friend, the one who attacked him in the theater." 13Right? [20:33] 14Stranger: "Faerie bees on the march. Drones and masters." [20:35] 14To Xia Lan: "Seems likely." [20:35] "This is going to--" 14'Going to bee.' "We'll find this difficult to break to our friend." [20:36] Qaile: "Yeah. That's the medium news." [20:37] 13Xia Lan: "It gets worse?" [20:37] 14Stranger closes his eyes. "Fantastic." [20:37] "Go on." [20:37] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "The hell else is there?" [20:37] 13Of course it does. It always gets worse. [20:38] "One of the things I had to do was shadow the army so I could project its movements. It's almost on a beeline to Nexus but it went off course a bit until it was due north of the city. You know Sijan?" [20:39] 14'Beeline.' [20:39] Qaile seems impervious to the pun. [20:39] 14Stranger: "Yes." [20:40] "The army was within sight of Sijan but it ignored the city. Thing is, Sijan's surrounded by shadowlands. More lately. The whole army camped out in full view of Sijan one day, and then marched off at dark, into a shadowland." [20:40] "I didn't follow. That wasn't part of my job. But I stuck around." [20:40] "Two dawns later, the army marches back out." [20:40] 14Stranger: "Into a shadowland." [20:40] "Took me two days to cross it this time." [20:41] 14He closes his eyes again. "And how many skeletons did they walk out with. [20:41] " [20:41] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Out of the same one?" [20:42] Qaile: "I don't know, I'm not a dreamspeaker. It didn't look like they were using them as shortcuts. I know some scouts do that. Stupider ones than me." [20:42] "They came out about a day's journey from where they went in." [20:43] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "This doesn't scan. Faeries and ghosts, they're like opposite poles." [20:43] 13Xia Lan: "...is that a fact?" [20:44] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Shouldn't have wanted to go in there, should've shriveled up if they had. Right? I'm not imagining this." 12He looks to Xu Sim. [20:44] 14Stranger: "Were they reinforced like they were when they conquered cities in Creation or not?" [20:44] 14To Keldar: "It doesn't matter if you think it shouldn't have happened. At best it's a question for another day." [20:44] Qaile: "They were reinforced. Ghosts and corpses among them." [20:44] 14Stranger nods. "Of course." [20:44] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "That's fucked." [20:45] "There's proper Chosen in the army. Sorcerers and dreamspeakers." [20:45] 14Stranger: "I think it goes without saying we have a choice." [20:45] "That choice is this: we leave Nexus -- flee in the dead of the night --" [20:45] "Or we go on war footing." [20:47] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Dreamspeakers?" [20:51] Qaile: "You know. Ghosts and bone charms. Always carrying mushrooms." [20:51] 14Stranger: "I had hoped for more time to ingratiate ourselves with the council. To do this right." [20:52] "But at this point our options are to leave, or stand." [20:52] "And save this city. Without the Emissary." [20:53] 13Xia Lan: "Out East, they worship the dead, and in the more rural parts, the dreamspeakers commune with them in trances. It became slang for anyone with power over the dead - traditional priestesses, those who can See, and even just. Necromancers." [20:54] 5 Xu Sim strokes his mustache, impressed with Xia Lan's recollection. [20:54] 14Stranger: "And doing this quick, the wrong way, means killing people." [20:55] 14He opens his eyes. "Because we have neither the time nor, frankly, the patience to convert all those who need to be converted by words." [20:57] "I can't imagine it's hard for someone with your silver tongue to convince anyone not to become a thrall to the Rakshasa." [20:57] 14Stranger: "Shockingly, some people hate us on principle." [20:57] 13Xia Lan: "Some of us are popular still." [20:57] "And others because we represent an existential threat to their own power." [20:58]  [20:59] 14Stranger: "Additionally, I can't be everywhere at once. Neither can Xia Lan. We have...a lot of work to do." [20:59] 14He pauses. "It really is too bad we don't have more time at this, and that sending for Mud and Straw would take too much of it." [21:00] 14Stranger waves a hand. "This is a First Age city, in part. Surely there's something in all this noble wreckage that can help defend it." [21:00] "Like those shards we found in the Emissary's body?" [21:00] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Maybe there was, but you'd have a rough time finding something useful that hadn't been pried out of the walls and sold a century prior." [21:00] 14Stranger nods. "And that sewer system." [21:01] 14To Keldar: "Perhaps. Perhaps not." [21:04] "I can make many clever things, but I don't know much about war. What can I do?" [21:05] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Cure the honey-sickness so half the city doesn't turn on us the moment the raksha get in spitting distance?" [21:06] 14Stranger: "That would be an excellent start." [21:07] "Sensible. I don't have the time or ability to treat everyone individually. I wonder if I could distill a cure into some form of elixir." 5 He sits on the edge of his bed and notices an odd honey-clot, perhaps in a jar, sitting at the bedside.  "What's this, now?" [21:07] 14He slams a fist against the wall. "We want traps! We want impediments! We want someone making the road from two leagues outside of Nexus to its front gates as inhumanly difficult for an army to pass through as possible!" [21:07] "We need a corps of engineers." [21:07] "In addition to an army." [21:08] 14To Keldar: "You're not going to like this, but we need to make allies of the Lookshyans, too." [21:08] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Anyway, with every Chosen and mercenary company in Nexus I think we've got a good a chance as any of throwing the Raksha back as any. We just need to make sure Lookshy's either subordinated to us or out of our hair." [21:09] 13Xia Lan: "...sounds like a job for me, I guess? I'm not sure where else I could help out." [21:09] "I'm not even 'known' anathema. Might be a good bet?" [21:11] 14Stranger: "I will speak to Old Selin, at least, and see if he has any ideas about defending the city and the outskirts." 15[21:11] <@VoxPVoxD> Qaile: "The Ambassador's supposed to be trying to marshal support from the Silver Pact. She didn't sound optimistic." [21:11] 14To Xia Lan: "Seems reasonable. You may wish to look into commissioning morale-raising concerts, but only for those who join the defense...alignment. Whatever we call it." [21:12] 14Speaker shakes his head. "She is right not to be. Many of the Pact will side with this Queen." [21:12] "Perhaps they are not even wrong to. But I cannot." [21:13] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar, to Xu Sim: "You coughed that up when I was working on you. It was about to float away, I had to catch it out of the air." [21:14] 13Xia Lan: "Concerts for Nexus... I'll see who I can pull in for that. It'll be convincing people it's a necessity that's the tricky part." [21:15] 14Stranger: "I suspect it won't be." [21:15] "Not if we can blame the Queen for the Emissary's death." [21:15] 14He looks around the room. "To be clear, at this particular moment I don't care about the truth." [21:15] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "There's one other thing that may or may not be a resource... the cabbage merchant." [21:15] "We need to pin it on the army marching on this city." [21:15] 13Xia Lan: "Mmm." 13Thinking, now. "Can't come from us. I can handle that, then." [21:16] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Brueghel's still got him under observation. Maybe he wakes up with Emissary powers tomorrow and saves us all. Or at least is as good as, I dunno, another couple sorcerers." [21:16] "I wonder if the Raksha are coming to take him back with them or something. Maybe they think of this as a rescue mission." [21:16] 14Stranger: "If he can weaponize cabbage he's worth four divisions." [21:17] "We've got no shortage of that lying about." 15[21:17] <@VoxPVoxD> Actually... [21:17] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Be nice if the same wer true of grain." [21:17] 14A cabbage shortage? Really? [21:17] 14When it rains... [21:18] "Good thing not all of us have Qaile's appetite." [21:18] 14To Xu Sim: "Doctor, don't be an asshole." [21:19] "I'm impressed! Where is it all going?" [21:19] 14Stranger: "How much natural body energy do you think it takes to change shape?" [21:20] 13Xia Lan: "Less than you'd think." [21:20] "To what, now?" [21:20] 14Stranger: "He was a crow when he came through that window." [21:21] "All questions have answers, as it turns out." 15[21:22] <@VoxPVoxD> Qaile: "What's the news in the city? I'm still scouting here." [21:23] 5 Xu Sim returns his attention to the strange clot. He begins gathering up the doctor's supplies - it's clear now that this is some sort of infirmary. A perfect place to perform some investigations and experiments. [21:24] 14Stranger: "Emissary's dead. If you hadn't heard." [21:25] 13Xia Lan: "Chaos, dissarray, people wondering if anything will ever be the same again. The usual." 15[21:25] <@VoxPVoxD> Qaile: "I heard. You can see that star from everywhere, you know." 15[21:25] <@VoxPVoxD> "Everywhere I've been, anyway." [21:28] 14Stranger: "Good to hear. At least it's not merely a local phenomenon. That means if we put in a call to gather here to outriders, they have something to guide their march." [21:28] 14He sighs. "Not that we have many markers to call in." [21:29] 13Xia Lan: "Whatever remains of Bastian's people...?" [21:29] 13She has the decency to look sheepish. "Just a thought." [21:29] 14Stranger:"They're fighting for the enemy now." [21:29] 14Stranger:"They're fighting for the enemy now." [21:29] oh whatever [21:30] 13Xia Lan: "If any of them - you're right." [21:31] 14Stranger: "Bastian is going to take this the hardest. I'd like him to be kept in an administrative role as much as possible, but that will be up to him." [21:31] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "General question: what've we got on the other three armies?" [21:33] 5 Xu Sim begins by gathering supplies, humming quietly to himself: A magnification lens, various powders, water and alcohol. One of Keldar's cold iron charms. A long-dead, dessicated insect from the folds of his scorched robe. 15[21:33] <@VoxPVoxD> Qaile: "Three?" 15[21:34] <@VoxPVoxD> "I only heard about two." [21:34] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Should be three, one per direction. Course, that probably means the western one's a ways away." [21:36] 14Stranger: "I suppose we should also solidify, then, our position on asking the Realm for help." [21:36] "The Guild would be in favor; everyone else will oppose." [21:37] 13Xia Lan: "Any help is good help, I think." [21:38] 14Stranger: "I would agree, but many in this city would not." [21:38] "At least not without a plan to turn on the Realm afterwards." 15[21:38] <@VoxPVoxD> Qaile: "I only know what I've heard, and I've only heard of two armies. One of them is the juggernauts rolling up through Harborhead, huge stone men and rebellions. The other is the Crimson Tide." [21:39] 14It wouldn't be Creation if it were peaceful. [21:39] "Another question, has anyone seen Twice-Refined Princess?" 5 His experiment prepared, the alchemist begins. The lack of a full lab is frustrating but easy enough to overcome with some clever substitution and Xu Sim's depth of knowledge. He mixes ginseng, crumbled tea leaves, a flake of iron, some rice wine - using a candle to heat it by turns. [21:41] 14Stranger: "I have not looked. I'm sure she's fine." [21:41] "She seems...hardy." [21:44] 5 Xu Sim laughs a single chopped laugh that sounds almost like a bark, itself. Using a knife, he slices off a piece of the honeycomb and carefully deposits it a teacup. He daubs one end of a writing brush into his concoction and carefully drips a single drop of it onto the... throatwax? [21:49] 13Xia Lan: "The Crimson Tide...? Did someone name themselves after the actual crimson tide in the southeast? Strange name for an army." 15[21:50] <@VoxPVoxD> Qaile: "No, no. The Crimson Tide is the army. The Dreaming Sea rose up and marched." [21:50] 13Xia Lan: "What." [21:51] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "So that's one through Harborhead and one out of the Sea? Means we're missing... the north, if you assume that the western raksha think one sea's as good as another?" [21:51] 14Stranger: "Most of the time things happen very slowly, but sometimes they happen very fast." 15[21:51] <@VoxPVoxD> Qaile: "Search me." [21:51] 13Xia Lan: "No, wait, go back, the Dreaming Sea rose up and marched?" 15[21:51] <@VoxPVoxD> Then: "Oh, wow." 15[21:52] <@VoxPVoxD> "If there was an army coming from the North... you don't think it crossed paths with the Bull?" [21:53] 5 A stray flake of reagent drifts past Xu Sim's nose. Snatching at a kerchief, he sneezes - leaving behind a stain of honey on the kerchief. Curious. [21:53] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Might of done. My guess was that the west had run afoul of the Realm... but that makes as much sense." [21:53] 14Stranger: "Would be nice if he lived to tell about it." [21:53] "Twice as nice if it made him angry." 15[21:56] <@VoxPVoxD> Then Qaile looks at Xia Lan: "Yeah. You didn't hear that here?" [21:56] "A dreaming sea? Bleak Ardua married a dreaming sea, according to the dancer's dream. And one of the fae was alone, as I recall it" [21:56] 5 Xu Sim, affecting the demeanor of the fae-ridden 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." [21:57] 14Stranger: "More and more it seems we have been cut off from news of the outside world, in favor of Nexus's own problems." [21:57] "More and more that seems intentional." [21:57] 5 Continuing:  "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." [21:57] 13Xia Lan: "...I have no idea what's going on." [22:03] "That promise is everything that is going on." [22:03] 14Stranger leans back against his pillow. "The name of the Emissary is Balor. That is important." [22:03] "It is important because it informs what is to come next." [22:04] 5 Xu Sim nods somberly. [22:04] "He was betrayed by his four greatest generals." [22:04] "You may recognize the number four." [22:04] "It is the number of the Directions." [22:04] "The traitors are coming home." [22:06] 14Close to sneering:"Bleak Ardua. The 'king' in 'cobalt.' He and his were destroyed by the Empress. She did do good things for Creation, if with a lack of constance. His armies, ruined by the Realm at its height, could not find their way home -- not without Balor's Star. And so they joined the ocean, and came in and out with the tide." [22:06] 14Close to sneering:"Bleak Ardua. The 'king' in 'cobalt.' He and his were destroyed by the Empress. She did do good things for Creation, if with a lack of constance. His armies, ruined by the Realm at its height, could not find their way home -- not without Balor's Star. And so they joined the ocean, and came in and out with the tide." [22:06] fuck this part 2 [22:07] 14Stranger: "The tide has come in for good now." [22:07] 14Stranger: "Because guess whose star hangs up in the sky?" [22:08] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Sure about that one? I'd swear the Dreaming Sea was always there and Ardua just fled back through the Inland." [22:10] 14Stranger: "Well, we can sort that out easily enough. You can just ask Bleak Ardua's soldiers as they descend on this city." [22:10] 13Xia Lan: "Rather not." [22:11] "So. Urgency, then." [22:13] "The word of the hour. Of the minute." [22:14] "This is strange," 5 notes Xu Sim as he examines the honeycomb and his own mucous, straightening up. [22:14] 14Stranger: "I should hope." [22:15] "It's inert - though outwardly identical to the honey produced by the Honey-Maze. And my head is full of it." [22:15] "The magic has left it." [22:15] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Then where'd it go?" [22:15] 13Xia Lan: "Disgusting." [22:17] 14Singing softly: "Home is where you are / Home is where I want to be / Wherever you are / You can come home to me" [22:17] 14Speaking: "Where do you think it went?" [22:20] "I'm not sure. It could have gone back to its mistress, it could have evaporated." 15[22:21] <@VoxPVoxD> You'd probably want subjects whose bodies are also producing honey to compare. [22:23] 5 Of course.  "I'm feeling great. Do we have any reason to stay here? Did you... pay them?" [22:25] 14Stranger: "Stop being an ass." [22:25] 14He shifts in bed. "Our first goal is to secure our release without starting a street fight." [22:26] "Urgency, my dear friend, is the word! And I don't want release - I need to get back to the hospital they've arranged for me. I need to conduct more experiments!" [22:27] 13Xia Lan: "...is that a euphemism, or...?" [22:27] 14Patiently: "You need a release because the same people keeping us under house arrest are the people who have arranged your new hospital." [22:27] "Euphemism? ... Yes, well, then I don't need release, just a transfer." [22:28] 5 He glances out the window.  "Are those gunzosha? Are they here for us?" [22:28] 13Xia Lan: "One imagines. I can get you out, if necessary, but I'd rather not." [22:29] "That's not an invitation to test me, by the way." [22:29] 14Stranger: "No. They're here for the fine tea and the privacy." [22:29] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Dorma demands an explanation for what happened earlier today and wants to take us into custody. We definitely don't want to humor him." [22:29] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "I told 'em he can arrange to meet us personally tomorrow." [22:29] 14Stranger: "Actually, now we do." [22:29] 14Stranger: "We need Dorma." [22:30] "That's what I'm saying. He can take me into custody, custody is where all my work is right now." [22:30] "We need Dorma more than perhaps anyone else in this city, except the Dawn Sergeant. And we need that secretary too." [22:39] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "We need Dorma to fuck off, is what we need. Or else forget everything he's ever learned of his religion." [22:40] 14Stranger: "His religion includes killing this army coming up on us." [22:40] "'Anathema' doesn't just mean us." [22:41] 13Xia Lan: "More pertinent question... can we save Nexus? I've grown to like this place." [22:41] "I'll happily serve as a hostage, if I can continue my work to cure this plague. My work is only possible through the Dragonlord's support, anyway." [22:41] 14Stranger: "Do you want to hear yes? I can say yes. I can even mean it." [22:41] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "We've got a better shot than he does. Don't get me wrong, if he was willing to stop melting down every time a different one of us lit up it'd be good to have a bunch of gunzosha on our side." [22:42] "I can also say we'll be dead otherwise, and mean that too." [22:42] 14To Keldar: "You think this is a meltdown?" [22:42] "This isn't a meltdown." [22:42] "This is politically savvy." [22:43] "His harderliners are calling for us in chains so they can chop off our limbs, put us on hallucinatory weeds and shove us in an asylum until our bodies give out." [22:43] "Preferably they'd turn us to fucking stone." [22:44] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "And where are those guys right now?" [22:44] 14Stranger: "Talking shit to the Dawnguard." [22:44] "Maybe second thoughts on serving as a hostage," 5 The sorcerer adds, contemplatively. [22:44] 13Xia Lan: "Here, and fine. They'll regret it when the attacks come, but that's cold comfort." [22:44] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "No, I mean - no one's in charge of Dorma here in Nexus. Maybe he's concerned about getting his ass kicked back in Lookshy, and has to send magic reports or something." [22:44] 14Stranger: "We have a forest to navigate here. We don't have a map, but we know what forests are." [22:45] "We also know you don't burn one down while you're inside of it." [22:45] "Then we deal with that." [22:46] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "The point is that no one's forcing his hand but him. He's throwing his weight around because he thinks it's the right thing to do and no one's stopping him." 15[22:46] <@VoxPVoxD> If you need a clue as to the Dragonlord's thinking, there's always his assistant who might have orchestrated a city-destroying assassination attempt on you! [22:46] 14You stay out of this, Storyteller. [22:47] 14Stranger: "Then that's even better." [22:47] 5 Maybe splitting up isn't a good idea if that assassin is still on the loose. [22:47] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Now, maybe his fear is, he'll have a mutiny on his hands if he doesn't keep fucking around with us. Certainly some of his people are willing to take matters into their own hands. But no soldiers is better than treacherous soldiers." [22:47] 14Stranger: "You know what's worse for your reputation than not catching some Chosen of the Sun dicking around in your social circle?" [22:47] "That's right: it's dying like an asshole to a bunch of raksha." [22:48] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "I was gonna say dying like an asshole to a bunch of anathema." [22:48] "Then you'd have been saying the same damn thing." [22:48] "But not all anathema are created equal, in the minds of the Hunt." [22:48] "We're the prize kill." [22:48] "These shitheads? This far inland they're supposed to be breakfast." [22:49] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Raksha ain't anathema. But what I'm saying is, there's one of him, and he has some soldiers, and a few of those soldiers are pretty good. The math would be different in Lookshy, but we're not in Lookshy. And, frankly, stepping daintily around this guy's religion is probably gonna hurt our war effort." [22:50] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Like when we're actually lining up next to the banners, Nexus is gonna have to know they're being led by us demons, and feel good about it." [22:53] 14Stranger: "Well. I suppose the main question is whether Dorma will stand on doctrine as much as you will." [22:53] "Because Raksha are Anathema." [22:53] 13Xia Lan: "They're close enough. We can speak to the differences between us and them. Show cause for opposition. Or... we can show that we care about the people of Nexus more than anyone else bothers to." [22:53] "Whether that fool's church recognizes it officially or not." [22:54] "What we need is to rally the people around us, in a way that doesn't directly threaten Dorma or bring every legionary in Lookshy down on our heads the moment the Raksha are dealt with." [22:55] 14Stranger: "Rallying the people is more or less illegal." [22:55] "The Civilities have seen to that." [22:55] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "We can't do that without keeping the fact that we're walking blasphemies secret, and, frankly, if I'm up against the biggest raksha army since the Contagion I want an archdemon on my side." [22:56] 13Xia Lan: "What, not a fan of populism? 'We are many, and they are few,' so come support us against the foreign menaces." [22:56] 14Stranger: "They've lost the stick to punish us with. It's a good opening." [22:58] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "The Emissary's meant that there's not been a lot of need for Nexus to exercise its rallying against foreign invaders muscles. Which just goes to show you about charity, I guess." [22:58] 13Xia Lan: "No Emissary, no justice. No justice, no peace." 15[22:58] <@VoxPVoxD> The Emissary also meant they never really needed to adequately fund and staff the Dawn Guard for a city of this size and importance, a fact which has yet to suggest any possible negative repercussions. [22:59] "That cabbage-vendor is turning into something. It could be a new Emissary. It could be something else. I hypothesize he is some sort of reincarnation of Balor." [23:00] <@Ferrinus> "Maybe he should've charged us..." 12Keldar shrugs to himself. "Either way, we're on the way out of it already. Once the Guard's properly integrated with the Apples and a few other companies of repute, we'll have the beginnings of a real military, and then we can explain the stakes, start taking recruits..." [23:00] "Can you train recruits in a matter of weeks?" [23:01] 14Stranger: "We cannot rely on the cabbage vendor. If he Exalts, more power to him." 14Stranger pauses. "And more pity." [23:01] 13Xia Lan: "...could be worse." [23:02] "It could always be worse." [23:02] 13Xia Lan: "It could." [23:02] "That's not a market hook." [23:04] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar considers the problem. "...maybe? We'll have a lot of mercs to start with, and whoever we can pull from the surrounding little kingdoms. Every demon and elemental the city's sorcerers can summon." [23:05] "No, which is why we speak about justice, fairness, and solidarity. 'Hooks'. We support that which supports people. Simple." [23:05] "There is another possibility to consider, besides total war or our own cowardly, intelligent, escape." [23:05] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "But, basically, the lot of us are stronger than Lookshy and for sure enough to bring the fae to heel, and Nexus likes winning." [23:06] 14To Xu Sim: "Speak." [23:07] "The Raksha have a specific objective. They want to return to the place, you know the one, from their songs. Maybe everyone can get what they want. Aside from, I suppose, the nations that were already destroyed. Or we could sabotage their attempt and leave them with no purpose." [23:08] "The philosophers say that war is a means to an end. Perhaps this is true, even for the faerie." [23:08] 14Speaker: "The place they want to go -- the heart of Firewander?" [23:09] "Because you have to get there somehow." [23:09] "By walking." [23:09] "We need to learn more about what they are trying to do, if we want to understand how to defeat them." [23:09] 14Stranger: "You're not wrong. We also need to get right to defeat them." [23:09] 14To Keldar: "Which means you need to become sp [23:10] 14To Keldar: "Which means you need to become supreme commander of all forces in Nexus and the surrounding areas." [23:10] "Are you up to that?" [23:10] "Glad it's not me," 5 mutters the doctor. [23:10] 13Xia Lan: "Stranger things have happened." [23:12] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar takes a deep breath through his nose. "Probably. I'm considerably better practiced when it comes to small unit tactics, cover and concealment, that sort of thing." [23:13] 14Stranger things indeed. "Can you learn?" [23:15] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Already working on it. I've been picking Khelendros's brain and thinking a few things over." [23:16] 14Stranger: "Good. Make him your proxy or drive him out." [23:17] "I will go to work on Pellicia. I would rather she helped us." [23:17] "She's a good woman." [23:26] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "She's cool." [23:26] "While you're studying the One Thousand Correct Actions, perhaps you could give me some input about possible weapons of war I could help construct. I have some in mind already... We could also investigate whether there are any war-manses in the city that might still produce Iron Thistledown. I can make more, but not enough to matter." [23:27] 14Stranger: "But if she has to go, she has to go." [23:27] "That's where we are right now." [23:28] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Khelendros is no slouch, though, and the less I'm doing logistics the more I'm actually killing things. Could be a network of people like him is what we end up leaning on." [23:28] 14Stranger: "Will he accept that?" [23:29] "...Are you willing to do what it takes if he doesn't?" [23:30] <@Ferrinus> "Khelendros isn't a moron."12Keldar, to Xu Sim: "If we even had one of those Thistledown ballistae we'd be in great shape, but I'm not too optimistic about any piece of Hollow coming in handy. What I'd love is a proper daiklave, honestly." [23:30] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "But we should be taking a magic accounting of the city as soon as we've got the ability to, generally speaking. Every sorcerer, every god, every Chosen..." [23:30] 14Stranger: "Neither is Pellicia." [23:30] "You didn't answer my question." 15[23:31] <@VoxPVoxD> Rumor holds that there's some buried sections of the city manses so dangerous that nobody's properly explored them. [23:32] "Ah, daiklave, yes... You see, I had envisioned a glass globe, filled with noxious vapours that reduce the blood to froth! But daiklaves... are nice." [23:33] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Your idea is probably better than mine, doctor. Maybe I can find a daiklave somewhere." [23:35] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar, to Stranger: "I'm not sure what you're envisioning. Khelendros is a good commander, and it might be that I'm not so much better a commander than he is that it's worth my not being at the front. But if I am, what, him going insane and firing me if I make the wrong suggestion?" [23:38] 14Stranger: "No. You're going to kill him if he's not willing to make the Apples stand with us, or work productively under you." [23:38] "Just as I'm going to kill Pellicia if she prevents us from mounting a legible defense." [23:38] "We're no longer in good boy season." [23:40] "Creation is more important than this." [23:41] "They're coming for Nexus, not Creation." [23:41] 14Stranger: "Functionally there's very little difference." [23:42] "If an army of the Enemies of Creation can drive to Nexus and absorb the force strength here, there's very little to prevent a turn westward and a drive to the Blessed Isle." [23:43] "And frankly, if they topple Nexus after slaughtering their way through three Directions, they've made their claim on Creation already." [23:45] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "You're taking us down a weird avenue, Stranger." [23:45] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Like, am I gonna kill you if you betray Nexus in some bizarre way? For sure, but why did I just have to say it out loud?" [23:47] 14Stranger: "Because you're honest in front of your mandate." [23:48] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "I think this stuff is best worked out in the moment." [23:48] 14Stranger: "I think the moment is best when supported by very careful and specific planning." [23:49] "And we're fucked if we don't have careful and specific planning." [23:49] "Unless someone's got five powersuits lying around that are tall as half the city." [23:50] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "I hear those things are absolutely miserable to wear." [23:52] 14Stranger: "Considering we have none, then you have two choices: bring Khelendros in line, or kill him. If he is as good a man as you represent, and you're as good a man as you represent, that should be easy. He might even still think he's commander." [23:55] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "He might still be commander, like I told you. Khelendros is Chosen. I'd put him up against Dorma any day of the week." [23:58] 14To Keldar: "What if we put you up against Dorma?" [00:00] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "In terms of command? He might have the edge, at least for the moment. Question is, what's better - Khelendros sticking daggers in a map and me in the field, or vice versa?" [00:00] "Surely you're the lead-from-the-front type?" [00:01] 14Stranger: "That's up to you. But my inclination is that it's you handling both, with him as your aide de camp." [00:01] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Yeah, but that gets harder as you scale up." [00:01] "But your job is to make sure he's involved, or he's out." [00:01] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Either way, I'll obviously be doing whatever ends up proving optimal. Come on now." [00:01] 14Stranger nods.