15[20:08] <@VoxPVoxD> The heroes and masters of Nexus are set to gather at noon today, in the old Deliberative hall at the heart of Firewander, beneath a golden dome that hasn't been safe for man or beast since the dawn of the Scarlet Dynasty. Everyone's been reassured of its safety. Before then, the centered circle has a morning to prepare. What preparations do they make, and what do they need to know to make them? [20:10] 13Has there been word from Firewander since the last night? Official reassurances are one thing, but is there any word on the ground? [20:11] 14Stranger dresses in the outfit the Ambassador tried to make him wear last night, and she dresses in a slightly more professional court gown for the negotiations. She makes sure to slide Talkative, her moonsilver dagger, into the special sheath nestled in the small of the dress's back, right behind the sash. Stranger just brings his walking stick. 15[20:11] <@VoxPVoxD> Thorns and Highland's armies have both been billeted and drilling in uninhabitable Wyld Zone for the entire week since the last Council meeting. 15[20:11] <@VoxPVoxD> That's pretty strong evidence. [20:11] 13Huh. Well, how about that. [20:12] 4 von Hrolfus needs to ensure his retainer is around, to spy and snoop and generally apprise of him of what's going on underneath the currents of the proceedings. [20:12] 5 Xu Sim has spent the evening preparing a shimmering, alchemical jewel for Nessun Dorma - a token of recognition, with a small slot for a portrait, coin, a slip of paper or a medal perhaps. When shaken or disturbed, shimmering flakes appear, like cherry blossoms or snowflakes. The effect is rather sentimental. [20:18] 14Before they leave, however, Stranger steps...aside, perhaps, into the realm of the fountains. [20:20] 13Xia Lan, for her part, wears a simple but elegant long-hemmed peach dress, her two new swords, gifts from Vladok, strapped to her sides. Little flowers cover their hilts and add to some floral decorations on the dress while not impeding combat - should it come to that. Her hair is tied back in a way it hasn't been for a long time, but she's managed to make it look significantly friendlier. That's the hope, anyway. Tall, light, [20:20] and friendly, just like the way they say it in the romance novels. 15[20:20] <@VoxPVoxD> The other question for the group to settle: how will they arrive? Together? Individually? On foot? By chariot? [20:21] 4von Hrolfus would prefer to arrive together, a show of unity and force. [20:21] 13Together seems like the smart play, if we can manage it. The mode of transportation makes no difference to Xia Lan. [20:23] 5 Xu Sim doesn't possess any truly powerful, or unusual, means of approach, so he suggests none. He is dressed, again, in the flowing white robe - presently spotless and carefully laundered. [20:24] 13That's new. [20:34] 14Stranger greets Bubo warmly in Vladok's (Selin's?) strange and peaceful realm. He brings some breakfast with him, if Bubo hasn't eaten, along with some tea, and together they go over what the plan is for the meeting at the Deliberative hall in Firewander. It's impressed upon Stranger that it's more important to both their aims that he not be seen than that he see -- so should he find [20:34] 14himself in a position to be made, he will abscond. Stranger agrees with both Bubo's conditions and the logic behind it...and tells the diminutive fugitive that he hopes to meet him again soon. Preferably later in the day. [20:34] 14There is much to discuss. [20:35] 13Are there any objections to arriving together, on foot? We don't really need any sort of vehicle. Well, together except for presumably Keldar, who one assumes is with his troops. 15[20:39] <@VoxPVoxD> Going once... 15[20:39] <@VoxPVoxD> Going twice... 15[20:42] <@VoxPVoxD> The circle, sans Keldar, ventures forth. The road to Firewander is long and crooked, navigating between cordons around smoking craters in the street (evidence that the Emissary has dispensed his newfound justice recently). As they come up on Firewander, they feel the breath of a cool breeze, refreshing and fulfilling and far too sweet for the city. [20:44] 14Stranger's hand tightens around the Ambassador's. He dislikes the Wyld, and hates going into it. [20:44] 4von Hrolfus sniffs the air suspisciously. 15[20:46] <@VoxPVoxD> It smells like a fine spring day deep in the River Province. Bastian knows it well. [20:48] 5 Xu Sim strolls through the Firewander bordermarch, relaxed. It would be a foolish army indeed that would try to interfere with the Circle. [20:48] 4von Hrolfus' hands reflexively clench into fists. [20:49] 13Lot of fools around, though. Xia Lan still keeps a spring in her step, but her hands keep drifting to the hook swords as if to verify they're still there. 15[20:53] <@VoxPVoxD> The circle continues through Firewander, over uneven roads and beneath the watchful eyes of two-headed crows. Banners line the streets, bearing the crests of Nexus, Lookshy, Thorns, and Highland. Every fifth flag is an unadorned golden banner. [20:54] "If any of you happen to notice a honeybee, please snatch it up carefully and wrap it up for me," 5 notes Xu Sim. 15[20:57] <@VoxPVoxD> Soldiers of every nation begin to fill posts and camps on the roads leading up to the golden dome; Thorns and their impervious dead, Highland and their imperturbable confidence in their own sorcery, Lookshy in their sealed armor, and the Dawn Guard, here on Pellicia's goodwill and Keldar's guarantee. [20:57] 14The Ambassador rolls her eyes at Xu Sim's request, but Stranger nods. 15[20:58] <@VoxPVoxD> The circle gets salutes from the Dawn Guard as they pass. 15[20:58] <@VoxPVoxD> Xu Sim also gets salutes from the Lookshyan army. [20:58] 14He murmurs to the Ambassador: "Large enough party for you?" [20:59] 14She murmurs back: "Too large by half. How do you intend to control the room?" [20:59] 14He grins and pecks her on the cheek. "My natural good looks, and charisma. And some help from my friends." [20:59] 14She rolls her eyes again. [21:00] 5 Xu Sim acknowledges the salutes with a somewhat sheepish expression on his face. [21:00] 4von Hrolfus beckons his batman closer, leans down and whispers something into his ear as they walk. The man bows slightly and slows down his pace, falling slightly behind the rest of the party. [21:00] 13Xia Lan flashes a dazzling smile towards any saluters. Behind that, she's nervous. Lot of troops here. 15[21:01] <@VoxPVoxD> At the doors of the Deliberative hall itself, the circle is greeted by Dawn Sergeant Pellicia, in deep conference with Lookshy's sorcerer and Keldar. [21:01] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar's decked out in full armor, and the regalia of the combined Dawn Guard/Ninth Orchard peacekeeping force: a green and black armband around his left arm, and a blue-and-gold badge on his breastplate depicting the crest of Nexus backed by the rising sun. His hair's held out of his eyes by what appears to be a freshly-laundered and carefully tied-off black bandanna. The rest of [21:01] <@Ferrinus> 12his circle is treated to a steely nod as they come into view. [21:02] 14A good moment to take a discreet look around, if Stranger can separate himself from the entourage. Keldar's presumably checked for traps and ambushes, but it doesn't hurt to see the sights. [21:02] 14This is a historical landmark for their people, after all. Such as their people are. 15[21:02] <@VoxPVoxD> Someone begins announcing the Solars as they arrive. Their various retainers and the Ambassador aren't called out. [21:04] 5 Alongside Xu Sim trots the tiny and horrible Twice-Refined Princess, by the way. She's been washed as well, though perhaps you wouldn't tell from looking. 15[21:05] <@VoxPVoxD> No one stops Stranger from going anywhere except inside. Apparently Pellicia has insisted no one actually enter the building until she knows everyone is here. [21:06] 14The Ambassador looks far less nettled than Stranger would have expected by the lack of announcement for her. But then, she's not officially here, is she? [21:07] 13Seems sensible, so long as someone's actually checked the inside. Someone probably has. Just nerves. [21:07] 14...He's uncertain. He squeezes her hand and slides off to wander about the grounds with a keen, appraising eye. [21:07] 4von Hrolfus casts a wary eye about, half expecting an ambush. 15[21:17] <@VoxPVoxD> Stranger pokes around. There don't seem to be any ambushes or hidden traps set up. There is an air of unease permeating the ranks of the fourfold armies standing here, because no one in the rank and file fully understands or trusts whatever sorcerous undertaking is protecting them from mutation here in the heart of the Wyld zone. [21:18] 13That's fair. [21:18] 14Wise of them. If there are no secret ways in or out of the structure that he can pick out on a brisk walk around the perimeter, he'll return to the Ambassador's side. 15[21:19] <@VoxPVoxD> Ah, about that. [21:20] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar certainly doesn't. Best he could offer his troops was the assurance that he'll be able to detect immediately if something's amiss, and is willing to go in first. 15[21:20] <@VoxPVoxD> There is a secret way out of the structure. In the garden on the eastern side of the dome there was once a hall of statues, tumbled and crumbled all around them, dedications worn away by wind and Wyld. But one of them is eeeeever so slightly askew from the relentless grid pattern of the columned walk through the garden. There's a draft coming up from beneath it. A hidden tunnel! [21:20] 14Oh my. [21:21] 14Does a path have to be cleared in, or can he slip through? 15[21:22] <@VoxPVoxD> It doesn't look like it opens from this side. Or if it does, Stranger can't immediately see how. Certainly he's not strong enough to try to brute force it. [21:26] 14Stranger makes a mental note of where it is in relation to the rest of the structure and completes the circuit, returning to the Ambassador's side. [21:26] 13How's the crowd of notables? Any names Xia Lan doesn't recognize from previous run-ins? 15[21:27] <@VoxPVoxD> Not unless Xia Lan can't keep the names of the seven remaining Councilors straight. As Stranger rejoins the group, the circle hears the final arrivals: the Thorns delegation. "The Governor of Thorns! Scion of the Sevenfold! Hunter in Darkness!" [21:27] 4von Hrolfus nods to Stranger. "Find anything?" [21:27] 13She's at least that competent. [21:29] 14Stranger, quietly: "Secret passage out the back. Can't open it elegantly from this side. Keep your eyes open once we're inside for the other end of it." [21:31] 14He'll communicate this to everyone one by one, but when he pulls Keldar aside: "There's a secret passage in from the statue garden. Would take extreme brute force -- or more knowledge of the hall than I have -- to open from the outside, but..." [21:32] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Interestin'. Hopefully not relevant. No sign of who's been using it?" [21:32] 13Xia Lan nods carefully, displaying no other sign of having heard Stranger. She'll take a look - but hopefully one of the others spots it, because this isn't really her area of expertise. [21:33] 4von Hrolfus' eyes flicker briefly in that direction, before moving back to where they were before. 15[21:34] <@VoxPVoxD> Pellicia climbs the steps, holding what looks like an enormous conch shell in her hands. When she speaks, her voice fills the square. "Everyone here today knows the risks we face, and what has brought us all together. Now we will enter this old hall, from a lost age, to forge the accord we will use to beat back the coming invaders. We have sworn to uphold the trusts of our commands and our nations. And we will swear, to a man, not to break the peace we establish here today." [21:35] 14Stranger: "No one's used it in a long, long time. But I might rotate some sentries over that direction anyway." [21:35] 14A nice speech from Pellicia, but he perks up at the mention of a sworn oath. The Ambassador glances over at him as well. [21:36] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar'll spare a pair of men to take up a position within line of sight of what Stranger describes, ask 'em if they saw anything untoward later. 15[21:36] <@VoxPVoxD> With that, Highland's sorcerer raises his huge purple sleeves, and with a dramatic gesture bids the great golden doors to part. And with a gust of wind, they do just that. [21:37] 14Tell them to run for help and sound the alarm if they see anyone trying to force it. Anyone strong enough to open that passage isn't going to be slowed down by two sentries. 15[21:38] <@VoxPVoxD> As the doors open, the diplomatic envoys enter. First the Council, then Lookshy, then Highland, then the circle, then Thorns. [21:39] 4"A fine occasion to wipe out the leadership of all that oppose the abominations all at once.." [21:39] 14To Bastian: "I'm not sure even the Emissary himself could take us all. Especially not here, where we don't have to worry about the people of Nexus getting hurt." [21:40] "No, if there's to be death, it will come from within." [21:40] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Starting shit here'd mean instant death for basically anything that walks. Important thing's the actual agreement." [21:40] 14Is Pellicia actually forcing the groups to swear an oath as they enter? 15[21:41] <@VoxPVoxD> No; the implication was more likely that everyone will be forced to swear to uphold the final agreement. [21:41] 14Ah well. [21:41] 13Thorns last is... hm. [21:42] 14The Ambassador leans over to whisper in Stranger's ear: "Entering next-to-last, darling?" [21:42] 14Stranger whispers back: "Let them have this one." 15[21:43] <@VoxPVoxD> The fivefold council proceeds through a high and vaulted hall of gold and white marble. Great and faded frescos line the walls, depicting long-forgotten battles and concords. Their boots cross tiled mosaics depicting great heroes and old gods. Cracked and broken pillars hold up the shattered remnants of crystal lamps no one can reach to light. But the air is bright, and the breeze is sweet, so the solemnity of the place carries no stagnant air. [21:44] 14The paranoiac in him nags that allowing Lookshy and Highland in the Hall with the Council without their presence, even for a few moments, is dangerous; Stranger tells that paranoiac that this is what Bubo is for. He'll keep an eye on the Council. [21:44] 14The paranoiac in him is somewhat new. 15[21:46] <@VoxPVoxD> Corridors split off from every side of the main hall, running away and out and around and up and down via sweeping staircases. But the main hall is on a simple, gentle incline upward, terminating at another pair of enormous golden doors, one wide open and the other flat against the ground, visibly ripped off its hinges by some ancient violence. [21:47] 14The Last and Most Fatal Congress of the Solar Deliberative. [21:47] 13Xia Lan looks around for faces she recognizes, even in long-forgotten memories; the doors give her pause. This is... an auspicious location, for this sort of council. [21:47] 5 Xu Sim notes this and that, looking for inscriptions or ancient bas-relief. [21:50] 5 ...And perhaps, other signs of geomancy, or items of power, or secret passageways. [21:51] 4A place for abominations. [21:51] 14Stranger feels right at home. [21:52] 14The Ambassador, however, wilts a bit. There's a history here, and it's not one that was particularly pretty for her people, either. [21:53] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar wonders who it was that last walked out the day that door was destroyed. [21:53] 14Seems a fair bet it wasn't anyone bearing the crest of the Sun. [21:56] 5 Xu Sim's brow furrows, and his jaw sets, as he enters the chamber. Someone else's bad memories... His own? [21:57] <@Ferrinus> 12As Keldar eyes a mosaic, he slows in his step and frowns to himself for a moment before shaking his head and moving on. 15[21:57] <@VoxPVoxD> The hall gives way to the central chamber. Hundreds of seats of gold and marble ring the high domed room in terraced layers surrounding a central dais. Many of the seats are chipped, cracked, or totally broken. Every seat is equal in size and prominence, save the remnants of the throne at the rear-center of the Deliberative hall, split in jagged thirds by some monster's vast and horrible claws. [21:59] 4von Hrolfus' eyes shine in the reflection, his eyebrows burrowed. "A foul display of opulence. This much gold is far too much to waste...it should been melted down and used to circulate currency for constructive purposes." [21:59] 14My god. [21:59] 14My SUN. [21:59] 5 Xu Sim scoffs to himself at the devastation, whether wrought by age or fell beast. [22:00] 14Stranger slips away from the Ambassador, leaving her to find their seats with the rest of the Circle, and wanders the room with milky eyes wide open. [22:01] 13Xia Lan eyes that throne with an academic's interest. What in Creation could possibly have done such a thing to such a throne? [22:02] 5 Xu Sim: "Keep an eye out for anything bearing a hearthstone - I think there may be one nearby. Don't remove it from this place, it's what keeps the Firewander from plunging deeper into the Wyld." [22:07] 13She raises an eyebrow at the throne, finally, before tearing her eyes away from it. Are there sections for each delegation, or are they seating themselves? 15[22:08] <@VoxPVoxD> Looks like it's first-come first-served. Lookshy and Highland are already sitting down, and the Council has taken the chamber's highest seats, surrounding the broken throne. [22:08] 14Stranger wanders the contours of the room for a few moments, then up through the aisles, weaving between the golden chairs. [22:08] 13Xia Lan moves to have the Circle seated as close to the throne as is reasonable. Something unconscious. [22:09] 14Then he returns to the center, which did not hold, and up onto the dais. This stone. This gold. This memory of the end of the world. Yes, oh yes. He knows where that door in the statue garden leads back to. And he knows why it never opened, even in the face of death. Especially in the face of death. [22:10] 14But he is not so foolish as to walk right over to the secret panel over the dais and stand on it. Not in this encore. [22:12] 5 Xu Sim spurns the center. "A bunch of petty trappings of power. They thought themselves so righteous... they thought they could judge..." 5 He collects himself. "Goes to show, doesn't it?" [22:12] 14He turns about the room, unsteady-seeming for a moment, and then finds his anchor: the Ambassador of Night and Day, uncomfortably seating herself wherever the Circle is sitting down, her eyes following Stranger with no small concern. [22:12] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar'll place himself at, pretty much, the dividing line between the Council's position and that of his Circle. The Dawn Guard take up places such that they flank and frame the Council, watch the door, and so on. [22:13] 14Whatever moment of indecision or mania came over him passed, and he smiled gently, somewhat ruefully, and took his seat beside her. 15[22:13] <@VoxPVoxD> In the end, everyone is seated in a sort of loose semicircle, nobody taking the seats with their back to the door. The Council at the center, with the circle and Lookshy to their right, and Highland and Thorns to their left. [22:13] 13Xia Lan raises an eyebrow to Stranger, but says nothing. [22:13] 4"It does goes to show. Perhaps if they'd focused less on displays of power, they'd still have some today." [22:14] 5 Xu Sim claps Von Hrolfus on the back and smiles wanly. [22:14] 14The Ambassador, relieved, says nothing. It's a conversation for somewhere other than this cursed place. 15[22:15] <@VoxPVoxD> The meeting begins. People pass the conch around to introduce themselves, and to get a feel for the shell's magic: whoever holds the conch can be heard clearly by everyone, and spoken over by no one. [22:17] 14What is the protocol? Are only Solars and Council-members introducing themselves, or does the Ambassador get a moment with the conch as well? [22:18] 13Times like this makes Xia Lan glad she came unaccompanied and with a confidence in her public appearance. 15[22:19] <@VoxPVoxD> Nobody who reaches for the conch refuses it. The informal protocol seems to be that the large delegations of Highland and Lookshy have appointed specific speakers - Prince Regent Mori Nogare and Dragonlord Nessun Dorma. But all three of the Thorns envoy introduce themselves, as does each member of the Council. So whether or not the Ambassador introduces herself is up to the circle. [22:20] 14It's important to both Stranger-Visits-Heaven and the Ambassador of Night and Day that she be formally introduced, though for different reasons. Stranger wants her on the record to establish that the Circle has powerful friends -- and greater numbers -- than are present in the room. The Ambassador, on the other hand, wants it known that the Silver Pact had a presence at one of the [22:20] 14most important summits of power in an age. [22:21] 14It will take significant convincing to stop her from taking the conch, and to keep Stranger from encouraging her. [22:21] 13Xia Lan is in favor. [22:23] 14Then she takes the conch when it is her turn and introduces herself as, "The Ambassador of Night and Day, Chosen of the Moon, priestess of Luna, and envoy of the Silver Pact." [22:24] 14When any commotion there might be to such an announcement dies down, Stranger takes the conch and bills himself as simply, "Stranger-Visits-Heaven." [22:24] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar doesn't mind. He's introducing himself, of course - as a Green Apples mercenary, as an ally and partner of the Dawn Guard, as an enforcer of Nexus's Dogmas and, of course, as a member of the Centered Circle of reborn Solars. Pretty much in those words and that order, too. "I'm here to see Nexus survives and thrives in the face of what's coming for it." [22:24] 13Xia Lan: "The Unfettered Xia Lan." 13Listing your own accolades is gauche. [22:27] "Xu Sim." 5 The dog on his lap whines quietly. [22:28] 4“I am Baron von Hrolfus, of Deguo. I’m here to represent the interests of survivors and what is left of my country.” 15[22:33] <@VoxPVoxD> The Council introduces themselves last, and Pellicia last among them. "As the presiding officer of this summit, I'll hold onto this. I trust we'll be able to behave enough not to need it." [22:33] 13That's... some trust. [22:35] 5 In this room, if someone has something they want to get off their chest - or into someone else's chest for that matter - that conch isn't likely to do much to stop them from it. 15[22:39] <@VoxPVoxD> First is an intelligence report on the military state of play, outlining both what's coming and what everyone has to work with. The troop numbers of the raksha are hazy, because there's a lot of fluctuation between losses on the way and thralls and converts as the armies press deeper. There is a strong sense, though, that given the numbers still in Nexus, even including Keldar's ambitious plans to train and conscript civilians and the returning mercenary population, the raksha will vastly outnumber them. [22:40] <@Ferrinus> 12Outnumber, perhaps, but not outclass. [22:42] 13Worrying, still. [22:42] 14These were the conditions we were working under from the start. [22:42] 5 Ancient proverb: the thicker the hay, the easier the mowing. Not that Xu Sim has ever mown hay in his life. [22:43] 13There's little doubt that Our Troops will kill more of Their Troops than they kill of ours; the difference is whether we'll have anyone left to celebrate such a difference. 15[22:43] <@VoxPVoxD> Dorma: "I can draw more soldiers and materiel from Lookshy, provided we reach an agreement satisfactory to the High Command. We should be able to mobilize a third of our officer corps and commit two additional dragons of infantry, along with another two corps of Gunzosha elites." [22:44] 13Such a disparity. 15[22:45] <@VoxPVoxD> Nogare: "We should expect that a headless raksha army will lose control of its thralls; we can recover a lot of people who should be fit to hold a spear or be put to work in the city's defense." [22:46] <@Ferrinus> 12Is there indication that the raksha hosts won't reach Nexus simultaneously? 15[22:46] <@VoxPVoxD> Governor: "And every mortal man and woman who dies a slave to the raksha will rise an ally of Nexus." [22:47] 14We might want to define that particular obligation further. [22:48] 14'What dead do the Thornsmen get to claim' seems like something to keep a very careful eye on. [22:49] 13Xia Lan: "An ally of Nexus forever, then?" 15[22:49] <@VoxPVoxD> Dorma: "Lookshy will not accept wanton necromancy of the war dead." [22:50] `4 To the Governor: "Rise in what way? Will they be enslaved?" [22:50] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "You putting them back to sleep once the fighting's done?" [22:50] 13Well, they have her pointed question well in hand. [22:51] 4"Is it possible to raise them, but give them independence of thought and will? To restore them, at least mentally, to what they were before?" [22:51] 14Regarding Bastian's point: "Even if it were, it sounds too strenuous to spare time on in the thick of combat." [22:51] 13Xia Lan: "We're defending a city, not delving new depths in necromancy." [22:53] 14To the Governor: "I would note that before we take this conversation much further that it is entirely appropriate and meet for this body to consider zombies, ghouls, ghasts, ghosts, revenants, and other reanimated beings as war booty on your ledger for the purposes of spoils and final treaties." [22:54] "We would be sensible and fair to reduce your post-battle claims for every soldier you add to your forces." [22:54] 4von Hrolfus: "The bodies and souls of the vanquished dead are not property." 15[22:54] <@VoxPVoxD> The Governor waves a hand. "Any surviving dead can offset our share of the spoils. But we cannot raise the dead gently, and death itself is irreversible. And, further, we should not allow mere sentimentality to tie our hands as we fight for our survival." [22:54] 5 Xu Sim rolls his eyes at von Hrolfus' rather parochial proposition. [22:54] 14Stranger: "Well, if we take that tack then I suspect the Governor will have little more to discuss." [22:56] 14An amusing thing to contemplate: 'surviving dead.' [22:56] 4von Hrolfus has little leverage here, and keeps his peace for the moment. [22:57] 13Xia Lan: "We are, somewhat regrettably, not in a position to take that stance." 13She glances to von Hrolfus before looking back to Stranger. "That is the only sensible way forward that I can see, regarding their participation." 15[22:57] <@VoxPVoxD> One of Dorma's entourage murmurs in his ear. "Moral questions aside there is also a practical problem with such egregious perversion of life and death. The creation and spread of shadowlands would aid our enemies as surely as ourselves, and leave the land uninhabitable afterwards. If the battle ends and Nexus is a city of the dead it will scarcely matter whether we have won or lost." [22:57] 4von Hrolfus' only response is to tap his fingers tersely on the table. [22:58] 14Stranger: "As usual, the Dragonlord is correct in his assessment." [22:58] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Bodies are just bodies and we can count 'em as loot. Ghosts are another story, and if you mean to bring those back we won't see 'em enslaved or held past the duration of the war." [22:58] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "It's true, though - no sense in defending the city with means that'll blight its land regardless." [22:58] 14He turns to the Council: "What is the stance of the Dogmas and Civilities on the creation of Shadowlands in the city?" 15[22:59] <@VoxPVoxD> Governor: "I must respectfully disagree. A shadowland is not the Wyld. It can be inhabited, it can be reshaped, it is a livable space, albeit a dangerous one. What is at stake is greater than life and death - it is the very truth and coherence of Creation itself!" [23:00] 13Xia Lan cannot stop herself from rolling her eyes. 15[23:00] <@VoxPVoxD> Pellicia: "Shadowlands arise from large-scale violence, which is forbidden by Dogma." [23:01] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Plus being unable to leave the city after sunset'll do a number on trade." 15[23:01] <@VoxPVoxD> Hayle: "Necromancy itself is not illegal per se but the Emissary has always disrupted any acts of sorcery or darker magic that might disrupt the integrity of Nexus." [23:04] 5 Xu Sim pets the dog panting silently in his lap. [23:04] 14Stranger nods at Pellicia and Hayle's assessments. To the Governor: "Frankly, it seems to me that any activity by your armies or your officers within Nexus walls risks interference from the Emissary, whose interpretation of the law is now...more oblique, than it was previously." [23:04] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "To what extent can you guarantee that your magic won't give us shadowlands where regular old warfare wouldn't?" [23:07] 14Stranger, to Pellicia: "We move for a recess of 10 minutes to discuss the question of Necromancy within our delegations." [23:07] 14Hopefully he gets a second from Dorma. 15[23:08] <@VoxPVoxD> Scion speaks up, her voice as faint and pale as her appearance. "Our magic can contain and shape Shadowlands as we see fit. Given the time and the means we could shrink them to nearly nothing, or spread them in one direction and retract them in another, moving them away from the city if needed. But no matter what, people will die. Shadowlands will form." 15[23:08] <@VoxPVoxD> Nogare: "I second Stranger's motion." 15[23:08] <@VoxPVoxD> Dorma: "Thirded." [23:08] 14Well then. 15[23:08] <@VoxPVoxD> Pellicia: "We'll take a ten minute recess. Please try to keep it to no more than twenty minutes." [23:09] 14When they've huddled up: "My opinion is that we need to get these Thorns necromancers as far from this city as possible, and that we can argue for them doing so in a way that serves their interests." [23:09] 13Fair enough. Xia Lan will follow wherever Stranger wants to lead -- she doesn't want it to be her responsibility to ensure no one's listening in. [23:10] 4 "My opinion is that Thorns needs to be burned to the ground. My people will be turned from slaves of the raksha, to slaves of that disgusting abomination. I do not wish to fight for that." [23:10] 14The Deliberative Hall should have private committee rooms off the main hallway. [23:11] 14To Bastian: "I agree about Thorns, and I am sympathetic to your plight, Bastian, but it's not one that comes with a lot of leverage right now. We're not in a position to fight the Thorns delegation without weakening ourselves significantly, and they're not going to just go away." [23:11] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "My guess is that lady's telling the truth. It'd be unreal if the territory around Nexus doesn't get speckled with at least some magical bullshit. Too many people are dying under too many weird circumstnces to avoid it." [23:12] "So the name of the game is mitigation." [23:12] 13Once they're secure: "We literally cannot stop Thorns from where we stand. Only delay them, weaken them, and hope to show them the error of their ways later. With weapons." [23:12] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "I agree that Thorns should be on the front line if possible and that all its magic needs to be aimed out of the city. If we can get them to minimize shadowland growth the way they say it'd be great." 15[23:13] <@VoxPVoxD> Klaus, Bastian's man-at-arms, discreetly attempts to get his attention in the private room. "My lord." [23:13] "There might be other options as well. For example, if we came up with enough salt - I mean, an enormous amount of salt -" 5 Xu Sim gesticulates as he speaks. [23:13] 4"Do shadowlands grow organically? I-" He turns around. "Yes?" [23:13] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Besides that, I like just deducting every body they walk away with from their ledger. Huns are a different story. Ain't gonna watch any of my see-through soldiers march glumly off to the west after this." [23:14] 13Xia Lan: "Can we keep them honest on that count? They seem uniquely suited to hiding ill-gotten gains." [23:14] "Enough salt to pickle an entire ocean of fish," 5 he continues, "Maybe we could use that to mitigate the effects, at least in the City and on its outskirts." [23:14] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Frankly, I dunno. You think you could spot something like that, Xu Sim?" [23:14] "My proposal is this: we guarantee Thorns a full share of the spoils at the table once the war is won, from the start. Then we point them in a direction -- for the sake of Bastian's people, let's say west, north or east. Their contribution is to harry, harrass, undermine, and sabotage the Fair Folk army arriving from that direction however they see fit. They are permitted to keep whoever [23:14] and whatever they kill in addition to their war bounty." 15[23:15] <@VoxPVoxD> Klaus: "Sir, you asked me to keep my eye on the comings and goings of the meeting. I've come to report that I've seen the leaders of the Lookshy and Highland delegations conferring in private. I couldn't get close enough to overhear them without arousing suspicion." [23:15] 4von Hrolfus: "Conferring in private...together?" [23:16] 14Stranger: "Then, at first opportunity once the battle for Nexus is won, we betray and destroy them." 15[23:16] <@VoxPVoxD> Klaus: "yes." 15[23:16] <@VoxPVoxD> *Yes. [23:16] "...We don't say the last part out loud." [23:16] "Ghosts? Yeah, they're easy to spot," 5 Xu Sim acknowledges. [23:16] 13Xia Lan: "That's a remarkably optimistic view of the battle for Nexus and what remains in the aftermath." [23:16] 14Stranger: "We can't operate off of any other." [23:17] "We can't count on being able to crush Thorns. We can ensure they don't cheat, and plan for the aftermath of that... but I don't know that we can count on crushing them immediately." [23:17] 4von Hrolfus: "Thank you Klaus. Anything else?" [23:17] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar blinks. "Pretty sure that means we're at immediate war with Thorns, then. I don't like it." [23:18] 14Stranger: "As I said: first opportunity. It may not come for some years." [23:18] "But back to the salt. Maybe we can make some sort of arrangement, deduct the salt costs to mitigate the shadowlands from the spoils. And we stockpile some here before the battle, so we can try to avert new shadowlands from forming." [23:18] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Oh, well, first opportunity. Then they still get to leave with a bunch of extra bodies AND a full share of the spoils. Don't like it." [23:18] 13Xia Lan taps a finger to her lips. "...understood." [23:18] "I don't like it either. It might be the best of a bad situation." [23:18] 14Stranger is proposing that Thorns become the next objective in our quest log, not that we actually attack the Governor's forces as soon as we beat the Fair Folk. [23:19] 4Assuming Klaus has nothing further to contribute, he's dismissed and instructed to keep observing. "Did you hear that?" [23:19] 14To Keldar: "Do you have a version of this war council that ends with them not getting full spoils, not getting more bodies, and not getting the opportunity to drop shadowlands in Nexus?" [23:19] 4"My man has just informed me that Lookshy and Highland have been meeting together on the sly." [23:20] "Cethleann has proven most seductive to the necromancers and undead; at every encounter with them her forces have increased rather than diminished. Setting the Governor against her might end with her being strengthened yet again." [23:20] 13Xia Lan: "...I was going to be a bit less direct, but --" 13She looks to von Hrolfus. "Does he know on what purpose?" [23:20] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Yeah, your original idea. Count the bodies they walk away with against the loot the rest of us are splitting, demand they shrink or erase any shadowlands that appear in the wake of the fighting, and don't let 'em walk off with a single proper ghost." [23:20] 4von Hrolfus: "He does not. I think he's learned his lesson about being too direct from what happened last time." [23:21] 14To Keldar: "My problem with that original plan is the leash it gives them. What if they just decide to go full-tilt on turning Nexus into Thorns, in the middle of the battle?" [23:21] "We have a fight on two fronts." [23:21] 13Xia Lan: "Well. Okay. Lookshy, Highland, this is better than Thorns being involved, but..." [23:21] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "They can't actually turn on and betray us 'cause we're all gonna swear a compact when the negotiations are done, right?" [23:22] 13Xia Lan: "Spoken like a man who's never found a loophole." [23:22] 14Stranger: "Oaths are strong and powerful. But we are talking magnitudes of power above a mere curse of poor luck." [23:22] "The Governor swears the oath -- whose says that his liegelords aren't comfortable making him break it?" [23:23] "At the very least the Lookshyans and Highlanders serve thrones, not the Underworld." [23:23] "As above, so below - there are thrones in the Underworld as well." [23:23] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Guess I figure that if all three of Thorns's anathema have to eat the sun's spite at once, it means their actual backstab attempt goes to shit somehow." [23:24] 14Stranger: "Additionally, if the Fair Folk legions do have powerful necromancers in their retinue, any Shadowlands inside our walls might become as tunnels to the invaders. No matter how small." [23:24] 14To Bastian: "Did you man say where they were meeting?" [23:24] *your [23:25] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "I can't imagine anyone with the fair folk stacks up to Thorns, and Shadowlands don't appear instantly. No, if there's real reason to believe that Thorns will literally turn on us mid-battle we should be ejecting them right now. Otherwise, I wanna deal with them in a way that lets us wash our hands after." [23:25] "Leave them all the bodies they like, require them to pay salt to prevent new Shadowlands from forming within a league of the walls of the City, call it a day," 5 suggests the sorceror, perhaps unhelpfully. [23:26] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "'All they like' is just asking for something ridiculous. I think we can bang out an exchange rate." 15[23:26] <@VoxPVoxD> According to Klaus's report, they're in one of the mirror-galleries that lets sunlight into the windowless halls of the building. Guards posted on either exit. [23:26] 14Stranger: "Shadowlands do not form immediately, true. But consider if we fall to siege." [23:26] 4von Hrolfus: "Wash our hands of what? Who cares if we turn cloaks on monsters?" [23:26] 13Xia Lan: "An exchange rate on bodies?" [23:27] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Right, like so and so bodies is such and such pounds of salt or works of shadowland-shrinking magic." [23:27] 14To the Ambassador and Xia Lan: "Would you two like to crash this Lookshy/Highland meeting of minds?" [23:27] 14The Ambassador: "Absolutely." [23:28] 13Xia Lan: "How crashed do you want it?" [23:28] 14Stranger: "Don't chip the furniture, but let them know you were there, and we'd like an invitation in the future." [23:28] "Are we talking a quiet ear informing our strategies, or down in flames?" [23:28] "Ah." [23:28] 13She considers. "Centrism. Hm." [23:29] 14Stranger: "Think of it as a united front against the dead assholes." [23:29] 13She raises an eyebrow to the Ambassador. "A moment before we go?" [23:29] 14The Ambassador: "Let's talk as we walk." [23:30] 14Stranger, to Keldar and Bastian: "You're the generals here. I'll defer to you on policy. But I still think letting Thorns set up inside the city -- no matter what assurances we can extract -- is a mistake." [23:30] "So, what, a pinch of salt for their pound of flesh?" 5 The sorceror is spitballing now. [23:31] 13Xia Lan: "Fair enough." 13She slides next to the Ambassador. Before they exit the room: "How subtle do you want to play this? Because I could leave a note on their table and they'd never know who sent it, but that strikes me as against the point." [23:31] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Something like that. We can work out the math once we get an okay on the general idea. But yeah, I think we can treat with them basically straightforwardly - and make sure they buy off any of the environmental damage they cause, and do all their fighting outside the city proper." [23:31] 4von Hrolfus: "Nexus is a stinking fester of vice regardless of what happens, but it does not deserve Thorns. I agree." [23:31] 14The Ambassador: "No, we were asked to make a point. Let's do that. I don't think it's a coincidence Stranger sent a Solar and a Lunar." [23:32] 13A dazzling smile. "Well. Let's go make an impression, then." [23:32] "It doesn't matter if they fight outside the city, just let them focus their necromancy outside the walls. Fighting outside just gets them in the way of the weapons I will be constructing." [23:33] 14Stranger sighs. "I'll consult with Selin about anything that can be done, architecturally, to reinforce the city against shadowlands. I'm not particularly hopeful, but the man has surprised me before." [23:36] "Salt. Salt. An entire ocean of salt." 5 Xu Sim taps his finger on the desk a few times, then pounds it - hard. [23:36] "Without Balor's Star to guide him, his army grew lost in retreat, and fell to the deserts in the south east!" 5 He recites [23:37] "We've solved the salt problem. I think." [23:37] 14Stranger: "Nothing about pickles, I hope." [23:37] "Ardua Hundred Reeds!" 5 he exclaims, as if the answer is obvious. [23:38] "The Dreaming Sea rose where they fell," 5 he completes the thought. [23:38] "We can figure out how to move the water later. But its the salt we need! The salt from the Dreaming Sea! We'll have all the salt we need, if we defeat them," 5 he explains. [23:41] "Oh, this is a relief. Here I was thinking, I'd have to come up with some sort of salt refinery and work it to ruin in the next week." [23:42] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "You want to... what, refine it from the corpses of the water raksha?" [23:42] "Something like that, yes. We'll demand it from them, terms of their surrender, or we'll seize it from their retreating horde. I'll come up with something, maybe with Nogare's wind-wizard." [23:43] 14Stranger: "...Selin is working on getting the old machinery, the underworks, back up as well as he can. The sewers." [23:43] "There might be some overlap here." [00:07] 14He hands the two notes he's penned off to Xia Lan and the Ambassador before they go. They read in full, with nouns slipped in and out as necessary: "We have known each other now for some time; long enough for respect to bloom. And we have enough respect that when our man spied you disappear behind closed doors with your opposing number, we did not follow or interrupt. But should [00:07] such extracurricular council be held in the future, we should like invitation, for we did not take up similar council with Thorns. Signed, [a circle]" [00:08] 14The circle itself is not inked; it is an impression made upon the paper. [00:09] 13Xia Lan collects the note, reads over it briefly, and moves to deposit it in its proper location. She covers it with another trip around the hall - examining each and every face on the walls - and casually tossing the letter on the seat it needs to go to, when the time comes. [00:09] 13This is not her first rodeo. 15[00:12] <@VoxPVoxD> When the recess ends, after a scant half an hour, Dorma and Nogare have new messages from the centered circle. Their faces are inscrutable, Dorma's behind his helmet and Nogare's behind his affect. 15[00:15] <@VoxPVoxD> NEXT TIME: The Red Death of the Mask