15[20:07] A congregation of powers from throughout the Direction rises in its defense, swearing their blood and treasure to fight as one against the coming raksha invasion. It wasn't easy, and it wasn't pretty, aside from Xia Lan, but what they have brought together hopefully no one will tear asunder. [20:07] 14Wow. The Ambassador gets no respect. 15[20:07] Needed to modify both prior clauses. [20:07] 14Wow. [20:10] 13Unbelievable. No respect. 15[20:10] Now for the hard part: mustering Nexus, its residents, and its occupiers into something that can survive an invasion or a siege. To that end, multiple issues demand the new Emissaries' attention, from long-standing engagements to mysteries to the bare fact of their new jobs. 15[20:10] What comes first? [20:12] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar's ready and rarin' to ransack what's probably his own preincarnation's tomb. He just needs to make sure that mercenary coordination and militia training is ticking along smoothly enough that it can last a couple days without his direct supervision. [20:13] 14For Stranger, what comes first -- after seeing the Ambassador off later that evening, because for all the pomp and drama of her exit from the Deliberative, of course she stuck around for one last haute cuisine dinner with Stranger uncomfortably dressed up -- is a general checking-in with his particular allies, starting with Tsuka, then Old Selin, and then Bubo. [20:13] 13We probably ought to check on the guy whose job we took. Do we know where the former (imposter?) Emissary is? [20:13] 14Following that, he'll be more attentively pursuing what he's already put Bubo up to: research and investigation into the state of the former Emissary. 15[20:19] The former Emissary, who really needs a more concise name, has been sighted out and about enforcing justice in the same nasty, brutish, and short way he dispensed with Brueghel. It's not uncommon to wake up to smoking craters in the street or smears of viscera across the stone that used to be transgressors against the Dogmas and Civilities. [20:20] 14Something will have to be done. 15[20:20] But what is to be done? [20:20] 14Especially since this creature is no longer under color of law. [20:20] 13Then... we ought to stop him. Possibly with violence. [20:20] <@Ferrinus> 12Are they consistently transgressors against the Dogmas and Civilities? 15[20:20] It's true; now the Emissary works under the same bloody red that bathes the whole city from Balor's star. [20:21] 14Stranger will approach by two prongs: the first is to research the actual legal process by which to prevent the creature from enforcing the city's Dogmas and Civilities, even if he is doing so under 'proper' interpretations. 15[20:21] Well... it's hard to answer that. It's not like the former Emissary fills out paperwork for the people he annihilates. Needless to say it is legal, or appears so! [20:21] 14This is the prong of lesser importance. It barely matters. [20:21] 14The second prong is to figure out the why and how -- the material circumstance -- surrounding the creature. [20:22] 14Only then will we be able to proceed, and craft the legal reasoning for whatever it is we decide we wish to do to resolve the situation. [20:22] <@Ferrinus> 12'cause if it's thieves and rioters and so on who are getting pasted, well... good? Keldar'd hate to have to enforce the Dogmas against... well, against Balor, right? It'd certainly be a problem before he got himself properly kitted out. [20:22] 14It's the principle of the thing. [20:23] 14And everyone else should definitely go get kitted out. [20:24] 13Well, if Stranger is sure that he can handle the Emissary investigation without any backup in case things go awry. [20:25] 14Stranger's made friends and frankly we're not prepared to fight this creature anyway. If he fucks up it's best that the rest of the new Emissary team is not present. [20:26] 13...like, really sure. One hundred percent. Because hanging out with the terrifying Keldar, the... disagreeable Xu Sim, and, well, Tsuka's okay, is not exactly Xia Lan's idea of an enjoyable afternoon. [20:27] 14If she'd like to send Tsuka down there alone with them, well. Keldar can probably do a decent enough job protecting him. [20:27] <@Ferrinus> 12It's probably early morning on a weekend that Keldar sets to begin the actual expedition. By the time the sun's risen, he's already set up right outside the door of the Tomb of Red-Hot Iron, carefully arranging the contents of a knapsack and utility belt of sorts while also fiddling with the straps on a suit of custom-fitted plate armor, one that seems to have been thinned and and [20:27] <@Ferrinus> 12cut out slightly so as to minimize its ability to trap heat. [20:27] 14Not that it'll be his priority. [20:27] 13When you put it like that, she's got to go. [20:28] 14It's also Stranger's opinion that she should get familiar with her new swords and that, frankly, it'd do her some good to hit something that isn't him or Xu Sim. [20:28] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar's got a bandolier of throwing knives and what appear to be three different swords - iron, steel, and silver, just in case. Some weird supplies in his pack, too - lodestones on string, bits of colored powder, sparkly little marbles which have been alchemically treated so as to shriek if they fall a great enough distance at a time. [20:28] 14Regardless of how much either party might deserve it. 15[20:29] Then two questions present themselves: who is Keldar bringing, and where does Stranger go first? [20:30] 14Stranger goes first to the kitchen to grab his kettle and two bags of tea, then to the corner Floodwater bakery for a loaf of bread and some jam, and finally, via sapphire amulet, travels to Bubo's current fountained hideaway. [20:31] 14It's fairly early the morning after the Deliberative summit, and he wants to touch base with the man quickly. [20:31] 14As well as have breakfast. [20:31] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar should have Xia Lan, Xu Sim, and Cathak(shh!!) Tsuka. If he didn't have a trio of Chosen to call on there'd be a much larger team assembling, but with this kind of firepower on hand he doesn't need the small army of footmen, machinists, occultists, and haulers that ventures like these usually call for. [20:32] 13On the day of the tomb raid, Xia Lan is dressed in an outfit she hasn't worn in a long time. It's low quality, and loose-fitting, looking more at home in the desert sands than the streets of Nexus or a tomb below them, but its simple design doesn't inhibit her movement in the slightest. She's got her hair tied back away from her face, and the paired hook swords Before and After strapped to her back. There's a little pouch and a [20:32] flask on her waist, and she moves with a quiet menace. [20:32] <@Ferrinus> 12There is a small support team of Green Apples and professionals that Keldar's worked with before gathered outside the tomb with food, medical supplies, and so on, but they aren't meant to follow the Chosen inside; they'll stand ready to either receive injured people staggering out of the tomb or coordinate large-scale looting once the place has been deemed safe. [20:33] <@Ferrinus> 12Well, 'looting'... no need to strip the jade out of the walls if they're Keldar's walls. Still, Keldar imagines there'll at least be a few objects he wants to drag up out into the open, eventually. Gotta get the Guild to give that light fixture back, too. [20:33] 14Might want the jade to make purchases through the Guild, to be honest. [20:33] 14Best to be prepared. 15[20:37] Keldar, in preparation, gets the invoice he wanted from the Guild, a list of supplies and valuable materiel the Guild hopes to see recovered. In addition to any surviving personal effects (for their families, you see) and if possible their corpses, there's also an array of expensive and magical objects that Keldar and co. are free to make use of but also expected to return if found. [20:39] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar goes over these with his assembled Chosen compatriots. "...and two suits of normal armor, not unlike what I've got on here. Frankly I don't have high hopes for gettin' those back intact, but keep your eyes peeled." 15[20:40] Stranger finds Bubo in the hall of a hundred fountains, rubbing his hands by a small fire burning in a stack of papers laid on the stone. [20:41] 13Xia Lan: "We'll see. We're free to use it until the tomb is cleared, yes?" [20:41] 5 Xu Sim isn't paying much attention to what Keldar is saying, but instead is pacing about, muttering softly to himself, deep in thought. [20:42] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Yep. Conceivably after, but they'll want something in exchange." [20:42] 13Xia Lan: "Hmm." 13Peeling armor off a corpse and repurposing it as your own is distasteful, but so is tomb raiding. 15[20:43] In addition, the Thresold Company and its factor have produced for Keldar and his cohort a crystal of flecked blue and black quartz. Keldar's used things like this in the past, the sort of half-formed hearthstones that come out of damaged or ruined manses. This one will provide, for a time, inoculation against the elements. [20:43] <@Ferrinus> 12The mercenary looks around. "Typically I'm a pretty good authority on basically anything that you can find down inside one of these, and maybe being the reincarnation of this particular demon king gives me a bit of an edge. But I'd trust Xia Lan over me when it comes to traps and navigation, and Xu Sim 'bout any magic down there, so their word goes if there's no time to discuss." 15[20:44] Bubo looks up as Stranger enters. "Good morning." [20:44] <@Ferrinus> 12How's the hearthstone work? Does it only protect its holder, or a radius around them, or...? [20:44] 13She nods politely at the praise, but doesn't reply. [20:45] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar's saying this for his own benefit and for Tsuka's, mostly. He's shown up, right? 15[20:46] According to the Guild it's an involuntary localized phenomenon. As soon as its under the pressure of elemental extremes it will reactively emit a protective bubble about fifteen yalms in radius. Typically these things are good for about two days of constant use. Keldar's been assured this one is fresh. [20:46] 14Stranger: "Good morning to yourself." 14As good as it gets these days. "Toast, jam, and tea?" 15[20:47] Tsuka is here. He's got his fancy steel swords and his Green Apples lamellar. From his face, he's trying to look Very Businesslike. [20:47] 5 Xu Sim will take a moment to evaluate the crystals. [20:48] 5 To be precise, he actually passes them to the Twice-Refined Princess, who sniffs them warily. [20:48] <@Ferrinus> 12Excellent. Keldar'll hold onto the hearthstone, though he's ready to toss it if need be. He addresses the fire aspect: "Kid - what've you got when it comes to controlling heat or fire remotely? Can you carve us tunnels and such?" [20:49] 13Xia Lan makes a face at the dog, but quickly wipes it off, returning to a blank mask. 15[20:50] Tsuka: "...no, nothing like that." [20:51] 5 After a moment, Twice-Refined Princess starts licking the crystal and then takes it into her mouth. 15[20:52] Bubo: "Oh, that would be lovely, thank you." He gestures at the fire. "My correspondence has started igniting almost before I finish reading it now." [20:52] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar nods. "Mmm, right. Well, hopefully shouldn't make a difference - we need to ford a sea of flames, this thing's supposed to be fresh." 12He idly tosses and catches the hearthstone. "Anyone got anything they want to say or need to clarify before we dive?" [20:52] "Give it here, sweetie," 5 asks the sorceror in a tone of shockingly genuine deference. The dog doesn't immediately give it up. "Give!" 5 he repeats, gently. [20:52] 5 The dog does so at last, reluctantly, strings of drool hanging off of it. Xu SIm doesn't seem to notice and passes it to Xia Lan. "It's only got about six hours left." [20:54] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar blinks and turns, briefly glaring at Xu Sim as if this is the sorcerer's fault before turning his gaze off into the distance. "Seriously? The fuck would they - teach me not to check myself." [20:54] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Well, six hours is still pretty good, depending on how deep this actually goes. Anything else?" [20:54] 13She nearly drops it, but passes it to Keldar without comment. She does look around for something to wipe her hand on before settling on her pant leg. "Wonderful friends you have there." 15[20:54] Tsuka: "They're trying to cheat us? To trap us down there?" [20:55] 14Stranger, as he puts on a pot with fresh fountain-water and begins slicing the bread. "Is that an ominous sign, or a figment of nervous feeling?" [20:56] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Coulda been cheated themselves. This can't be an actual attempt to sabotage us - they need us here. Need me, certainly, for the next couple months." [20:56] "Hopefully if there's some effect down there, I can neutralize it in under three hours." 15[20:56] Bubo: "Arguably it's a good sign. On the one hand, the Directorate is still clearly furious about my acting beyond my brief. On the other, I'm still getting correspondence." [20:56] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Either way, this thing's a freebie - I was ready to do without." 15[20:57] Tsuka nods. Has Keldar been to inspect the Tomb or his new foundry since signing the deal? [20:57] <@Ferrinus> 12Just the outside, and as much of the entry chamber as is visible through the door. [20:58] 14Stranger: "Upside, they know where to find you. Downside, they know where to find you." 14The bread goes on the kettle stand around the kettle itself, warmed, flipped, then browned and flipped. The jam goes into two spare teacups, with butter knives for spreading. 15[20:58] Bubo: "At this rate I estimate it will be three weeks before I'm reinstated in full. Maybe a bit more, circumstances what they are." [21:00] <@Ferrinus> 12Unless there's anything of special note that Keldar or his underlings may have discovered from that exterior observation... I think we're ready to dive? [21:00] 13Let's rock. [21:01] 14Stranger: "I'm not going to ask you to do anything particularly special to interfere with that, nor am I going to ask you not to send disclosures about what we learn together to your superiors. You might even mention me -- though only me -- if you think it will help you rather than harm you." 15[21:01] No, I think we're good. That question was just to gauge how the laborers in the foundry will react to seeing Keldar. In this case, it's with the stoic focus of someone trying extra hard to look like they're working because the boss is on the shop floor. [21:02] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar flips 'em a lazy salute as he leads his team forward and down. It hasn't really sunk in for him yet that he technically owns the foundry as well as the tomb, and so he hasn't really meddled with affairs topside yet. 15[21:03] Bubo: "Ohh, I don't think the Director will be expecting much of field work from me for some time." [21:03] 5 The foundry workers seem healthy and hale, naturally, as befits workers of their station? [21:04] 5 No mutations, beyond the usual perhaps, or other unusual conditions? [21:04] 14Stranger: "I'll interpret that as good for me, and ominous for you. I brought an elderberry and blackberry jam. More blackberry than elderberry, I'm told." 15[21:04] Yeah, these guys look fine. [21:04] 13That's a relief. [21:05] Indeed. [21:05] 5 Indeed. 15[21:06] Bubo: "It's not bad for me. I will miss it, though. I was the last man senior enough in the Manse to insist on field deployments. Now those are all under the remit of the other Divisions. Still... I can't argue the security implications." [21:07] 14Stranger: "Oh, I said ominous and not bad for a reason. Omens generally mean danger. Danger can, properly channelled, be a good thing." [21:08] 14Munching on a jammed toast, checking the tea, which is his usual Forest Blackleaf on this bag: "Which brings me to what I'd like to seriously discuss." [21:08] "You are aware that the entity formerly known as the Emissary has been stripped of the color of law, I take it?" 15[21:08] The Tomb of Red-Hot Iron admits Keldar and cadre through its now-open doors. The heat is stifling, but bearable, and the ruddy glow illuminates the foyer, filled with frescoes: a figure covered head to toe in glorious armor, bearing sword and shield in a battle stance. A figure wearing that same armor, sans helmet, sans shield, wielding his sword in both hands while his long hair flows behind him. The figure standing on the head of a serpent, blade embedded in its skull. There's a lot of this. 15[21:09] Bubo: "So I've heard. Congratulations on the promotion, by the way." [21:10] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar scratches his chin as he surveys the decor. "Hmm... nice." 12Then he proceeds - marking entrances, searching for traps, that sort of thing. [21:16] 14Stranger: "It wasn't one I requested. And it has the potential to be quite limiting." [21:16] 5 Xu Sim produces a blank parchment and begins taking notes on the frescos and so forth. Any detail that catches his eye. [21:17] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar moves at an impressively brisk pace given how visibly thorough he's being - stopping very few steps to waft at the air, toss some sand or powder in a random direction, or produce a collapsible pole with which he taps on the floor ahead of him. [21:17] 13Xia Lan looks around, taking special interest where she'd put traps if she was making this kind of thing. Not a very scientific examination, but it's worked before. 15[21:17] Keldar's really good at this. He's able to lead everyone around the cleverly disguised pressure plates leading to what look like pressurized steam vents, AND the gem-encrusted frescoes that get violently superheated if someone tries to pry the rubies out... and sees himself, almost occluded by slag in the one damaged-looking part of the room, a square panel with a tiny outline of a hand on it. He's seen First Age ruins with things like this, before. You put your palm on it and it identifies you. Hard to say if it still works without trying it. [21:18] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Hmm... wonder if this thing can read a guy through a gauntlet. Everyone, brace yourselves." 12He puts an armored hand against the wall. Should nothing happen, he'll remove the gauntlet and try again. 15[21:20] Keldar tries it, and nothing happens. Then he takes his gauntlet off, and his hand burns briefly as the panel flares red for just a moment. There's the sound of something grinding in the distance and then everyone hears a voice, including the guards out in the hall. 15[21:21] "WHO DISTURBS MY SLUMBER?" [21:21] 14Stranger, pouring the tea: "Were you able to make it to the meeting at the Deliberative?" [21:21] 5 Xu Sim makes a note of this. [21:21] 13Someone's cranky. Xia Lan's hands flit to her swords, but she doesn't yet draw them. [21:23] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar sucks a breath in briefly and flexes his fingers, then clears his throat and raises his voice as he replaces the gauntlet. It's pretty funny for the learned to hear Old Realm spoken in a Nexus accent: "I'm Keldar, the Tiger of Nexus and owner of this tomb!" 15[21:24] The voice itself is high and aristocratic, speaking Old Realm in a more subdued version of the accent you get from ancient Anathema in Immaculate morality plays. But the echo and the reverberation combine to make it sound more imposing. 15[21:24] Bubo: "I was there. I spent most of my time shadowing the Dragonlord. Habit, I suppose." [21:24] 14Stranger grimaces. "So I gather you saw our note-delivering fiasco." 15[21:25] Bubo: "I did. How were things from your caucus?" [21:26] 14Stranger: "Divided." [21:27] "Let's say that your office was not precisely wrong about us those many years ago. But I think I have things managable for the moment." 15[21:27] The voice in the room: "You are my heir. This tomb is yours by right of incarnation, but not right of conquest. To claim it and its treasures you will have to prove yourself worthy to stand in the line of Lados, the Oathkeeper. Turn back now unless you will see this trial to the end!" [21:28] 5 Xu Sim underlines three times: "LADOS, THE OATHKEEPER" 15[21:28] Bubo: "Are you satisfied with the consensus?" [21:29] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar scratches his chin. He turns to look at his compatriots to check if anyone is mouthing anything desperately to him. If not, he turns back and claps both hands around his mouth to amplify his voice: "I will!" [21:29] 14Stranger sips his tea. "For the moment. Furthermore, I am satisfied that I can control it." 15[21:30] The voice in the room (Lados?) is crisp. "Going forward, there will be no need to shout. The Tomb of Cold Iron can hear you perfectly well." [21:31] "Can it hear others, I wonder?" 5 Xu Sim whispers. 15[21:31] "Yes." [21:31] 13Xia Lan cracks a smile that she quickly returns to her seemingly bored, casual stance. [21:31] <@Ferrinus> 12In Riverspeak: "Cold iron, eh?" 12In Old Realm: "All right." 15[21:31] The voice: "Your first test: open this door!" [21:32] <@Ferrinus> 12Which door's this? 15[21:34] Bubo: "The Council boxed themselves in to do the same to you. That decision might yet doom them." 15[21:36] The entranceway gives way to a corridor at the far end from the entrance, which itself terminates in an iron door that glows orange. A crowbar, bent nearly double from heat and pressure, lies on the ground before it. [21:36] 14Stranger: "Not a satisfactory outcome." [21:37] 5 Xu Sim approaches it rather carefully. Presumably, it is quite hot. Is there any sign of a heating element? 15[21:37] The door is marked with three spheres, each embedded with an icon: a mote of flame, a sword, and a diamond. Above them are engraved an elaborate scale. 15[21:37] If Keldar touches the spheres he'll find that they drift about in the red-hot iron as if it were liquid. [21:38] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar ambles up to it once he's satisfied that the tiles before it aren't pressure plates or what have you. He then inspects the hinges, any sign of a lock or handle, that sort of thing. [21:38] 13Puzzle locks? Hm. 15[21:39] There are no visible hinges. It looks like the door will split in half and each half will slide into recesses in the wall. [21:40] 5 No heating element immediately apparent, Xu Sim instead examines the spheres, and the scale accompanying them. Surely it can't be too complex, for a brute like Keldar to use as a test. [21:41] 14Stranger, munching a toast: "So what did you learn?" 15[21:42] Bubo: "I suppose given what you were putting up with you couldn't spare an ear for the fracas at the other end of the hall. The Dragonlord attacked the Prince of Highland." 15[21:42] Bubo sips his tea. "Punched clean through his armor." [21:47] 14Stranger pauses as he brings the cup to his lips, and then sips. "That's not good." [21:47] "That we didn't hear it, that is." [21:47] "Primarily." [21:48] "Well, the voice said that the tomb had to become yours by right of conquest. Knowing you, the sword of might must surely dominate the gem of prosperity and the flame of knowledge." [21:48] "Not to put too fine a point on it," 5 he adds, sketching the symbols out on his parchment. [21:48] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar hmms to himself and pushes the spheres around a bit just to test how they move. "That's what I'm thinkin', too. Let's see, how about..." 12He puts prosperity on one side of the scale, knowledge on the other, and then shifts might straight up until it's replaced the central hinge or whatever it is that the scale swings on. 15[21:48] Bubo: "Everyone was eager as could be to leave the building when the pact was sealed. Not much time to mingle. I trust it goes without saying that everyone's terrified of you." 15[21:49] Nothing happens. [21:49] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Uhh..." 12Might on one side, the other two on the other? [21:49] 14Stranger: "Many think that an enviable position. It's far more nuanced and precarious than they think." [21:50] 14He sighs. "This means my initial impression seems correct: while the Thorns delegation remains the most distrusted, they still seem to know precisely what they want and are doing very well at getting it." 15[21:50] The door opens! The voice intones, "A champion knows that wealth and wisdom are nothing without the strength to fight for them." 15[21:50] Beyond is a long corridor, and a sound like rushing water. [21:50] 14Stranger: "I don't like that, given the preceding example of Thorns." [21:51] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Mighta been overthinking this. Alright, let's see..." [21:51] 13Xia Lan: "Classic." 15[21:51] Bubo: "In my experience, people will give monsters a lot of leeway as long as the monsters are honest." [21:52] 14Stranger won't do him the disservice of noting that this observation doesn't solely apply to Thorns. [21:52] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "...hmmm. Recognize that anywhere." [21:53] 13Xia Lan stiffens. "Yeah." [21:53] 14After finishing another piece of toast: "My main concern now -- and I suspect it should be yours, given the threat he directly poses to the Council -- is the disposition, whereabouts, and ah, legality, of the former Emissary." [21:53] <@Ferrinus> 12The mercenary cracks his neck from side to side and rotates one shoulder and then the other. "Get ready." 12Then he proceeds forward. [21:54] 5 Xu Sim follows the other two, searching the walls for signs of frescos, inscriptions, engravings, anything at all that might tell something more about the time it was built than the man for whom it was raised. 15[21:55] Bubo: "Yes... I've been working on that. He's very hard to locate, still, when he wants to be. Whoever -- whatever -- he is, he possesses the Emissary's knack for translocation." 15[21:55] "The Emissary emeritus? The Emerissary?" [21:55] 14Stranger laughs at that. [21:56] 14As to the substance of the comment: "Yes, that's going to be quite difficult to deal with. Almost impossible to finish him in a fight unless he overcommits. I dearly hope it doesn't come to that." [21:56] "He is apparently remaining...consistent...with his enforcement of the Dogmas and Civilities. Even though he is now a vigilante." 15[22:00] Bubo: "That is unfortunately true." [22:01] 14Stranger cleans up once breakfast is finished. "I'm going to take the dishes back home, and then I'm going to start investigating our previous candidate for the position. The cabbage-monger. I should like you to join me, if you feel up for it." 15[22:02] The three Solars and one Dynast venture further into the tomb, where the noise gets louder and louder until all can hear it for what it is: a crowd gone wild. The tunnel (low-ceilinged; the top of Keldar's hair actually brushes against the ceiling if he doesn't duck a bit) stretches for yalms and yalms until it opens into a room that feels comparatively much cooler. They feel grit scrape beneath their feet. [22:04] 13Maybe she should have kept up appearances. 15[22:05] Bubo: "I'm not opposed. I'll need a disguise... any preferences as to the nature of your companion?" [22:05] 5 Xu Sim leans down to grab a handful of the grit. He rolls it around in his hand. [22:06] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar puts his left hand around the top of the scabbard at his side - the one in which his ordinary, though exceptionally-made, steel sword hangs. He takes several steps out into the sand, plants his foot square, and looks around. 15[22:08] The tunnel gives way to a wide, round arena, the floor thick with sand stained dark. The air in here is so cool compared to the tunnel that a huge breeze rushes toward the delvers as they get closer to the entrance, blowing sand in their faces. Everything is high and bright and loud - the crowds are just impressions, shadows and smears of color on the walls, but they're massive. It's as if the four of you are here to perform for Wyld mutants, or mountain gods. They might be giants, even. [22:08] 14Stranger sighs. "Any sort of male. I'm likely already developing a reputation as a valet for my female companionship." 15[22:10] The voice: "Here is where I made my fortune. A humble slave, a refugee, who won the right to fight for his liberty. Days and nights I fought, until the Sun found me for a higher purpose. But it was here, too, that I proved my worth to Him." [22:10] 5 Xu Sim is lost in thought. [22:11] 13Xia Lan clenches a fist, but says nothing. She checks her back to ensure her swords are still there, and keeps an eye out for motion separate from the illusory crowd. 15[22:11] A bell rings, and the vast doors on the far side of the arena swing open. A giant strides out, fifteen fulms tall if he's a head, face obscured by a black iron helmet styled with the horns of a ram, entire body save a single massive sword arm obscured by a full-body cloak, black and gold. 15[22:12] "This was my first test. The road to liberty. The road to Royalty." 15[22:12] The bell rings again. "Have you the strength?" [22:13] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar squints up at the huge figure. He shifts his weight slightly, making sure his collected dungeon-crawling tools are secured enough to survive a few fights to the death. In Old Realm: "The men and women who came in here ahead of me, maybe weeks ago - they get this far?" 15[22:15] Bubo leaves and returns a few minutes later, dressed as a filthy, addled beggar. "Friend of paupers that you are, I think this is the face that inspires the fewest questions." 15[22:16] Bubo pauses, and adds in a voice like a hinge in need of oiling, "Ready to go, boss." [22:16] 14Stranger nods. "Works for me." [22:17] "...Don't call me boss." [22:17] 14He returns the tea set to the Floodwater hideout, and then will meet Bubo at a place of their choosing. [22:18] <@Ferrinus> 12As the giant approaches, Keldar's caste mark lights up red, and the radiance of the dawn begins to ripple and crackle around the outline of the mercenary's body. He draws and releases several deep breaths. [22:21] "Keldar," 5 Xu Sim breathes quietly, "How long have you known those Guildsmen who gave you the crystals?" 15[22:22] The crystal has dimmed, incidentally - not from failure but because here the Temple is habitably cool. 15[22:22] *the Tomb [22:23] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Not long personally. Only started dealing with the Threshold Company after this Emissary business started." [22:23] 13With a flourish, the Unfettered Xia Lan grabs her paired hook swords and spins to take a position next to the Dynast, prepared to defend him should the need arise. That's definitely what she's thinking. [22:24] "Oh," 5 Xu Sim notes, seemingly more interested in this detail than the enormous monster confronting the four of them. [22:29] 14Their first order of business is a contemplation of the estate of the former Evening Master. 15[22:31] Stranger and Bubo meet at said estate, which is under indifferent Guild guard. "You gonna sneak in or you gonna pull rank?" the filthy man asks him. [22:31] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar sees what Tsuka's up to and dashes forward to complement it, getting right under the sword arm even as it lifts itself to try to fend the fire-aspect off. Forced to divide one blade between three - soon to be five - the giant's badly put-upon. [22:32] 14Stranger: "Oh, I'm pulling rank. I want put a toe in and see how the ripples go. As for you, it's to your discreation. Meet me in the antechamber if you take discretion." [22:32] *want to 15[22:32] Bubo nods and backs into the alley. [22:33] 5 Xu Sim falls into a defensive posture, to meditate upon the giant. [22:37] 14Stranger, tapping his stick, will walk right up to the front gate. [22:39] 13Xia Lan follows quickly after Keldar and Tsuka, catching the giant in between their strikes and spinning, weaving, ducking to find better angles. Old times. 15[22:39] The Guild guards cross their arms as Stranger approaches. The one on the right, a scarred woman with close-cropped white hair: "What seems to be the problem?" [22:41] 14Is the gate closed? 15[22:42] The gate is open. 15[22:42] Actually, Stranger's pretty sure it wasn't a moment ago. 15[22:42] He doesn't remember it opening. [22:43] 14Stranger, mildly: "There is no problem, my lady. I'm going inside." 15[22:43] Guard: "On whose authority?" [22:44] "The Council's. Your Overfactor's." 14He points at the gate. "Your own, it seems." [22:44] 14He's pointing with the stick. 15[22:46] The guards look down at the gate. The silent one starts. The other one: "I'm going to have to run this up the chain. Do you mind waiting?" [22:46] 14He waves generously, and while he waits, assesses the property from the outside. [22:48] 14Stranger hasn't given his name, and is interested to see how this goes. 15[22:55] The guard sends off a courier. About thirty minutes pass before the same courier returns, ghost-pale, to whisper in the guard's ear. 15[22:55] The guard stands at attention. "Sir! You should have said something, sir! Obviously as the Emissary an inspection is your prerogative, sir." She steps aside, as does the other guard. [22:56] 14After a few moments, the corner of Stranger's mouth is twitching. He leaves around ten minutes to take a constitutional, he tells the guards, and circles the estate. Then he's back, smiling. [22:58] "Yes, I could have," 14Stranger says. "I was making a point, in these trying times: always check. Trust, if someone makes a claim, but verify. If I had claimed to be Emissary, would you have let me in? Ponder that. I think not. You have done good work here." [22:58] 14He sweeps past. "Shout if you need anything," 14he says over his shoulder. 15[22:58] "Sir, yes, sir!" [23:00] 14Once inside, Stranger will leave the door obviously ajar but walk at least a room in before looking around for Bubo. The man's had a chance to do his own once-over, surely. Good for trust, so long as he hasn't decided to hide something...but Stranger trusts Bubo, and perhaps more important, trusts he'll be able to tell precisely when the estate was tampered with. 15[23:02] The Ram holds his sword out and it glows white, and a moment later the room fills with ghostly flickers of whirling blades. Tsuka and especially Xia Lan are put on the back foot. But when he lowers his head and charges for Xia Lan, she nimbly flips out of the way, leaving him standing where she was a moment ago in a cloud of kicked-up sand. "Hah! Sloppy..." 15[23:03] Stranger finds Bubo stacking ledgers and papers on the expansive dining-room table. Little jewelery boxes are at one edge of the ledgers, at risk of being pushed off the table onto the floor if Bubo's not careful. [23:04] 13Not her finest moment - she wasn't expecting such a nimble attack from a giant. No injuries, at the least, and it looks as though Tsuka is fine, too - Keldar and Xu Sim having had the good sense to prepare properly. She's irritated with herself, but ready for another go. [23:04] 14Stranger: "I tried to instill a respect for protocol while I was out there. Thank you for the gate." [23:04] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar's eyes widen slightly as he notes just what a close call that might've been. He can't let that coin get flipped again. 15[23:05] Bubo: "See anything you like outside?" [23:07] 5 Xu Sim is about to valiantly interpose himself between the giant and Xia Lan when - where did she go? All the way over there?? Damn. [23:07] 13Not her first rodeo. [23:07] 13Wouldn't be her first literal rodeo, either. They have pretty lax standards for who they let perform at those. [23:10] 14Stranger: "The guards were both my type." 14He glances at the desk. "More importantly, the way they're guarding this place says to me that their superiors have ransacked the place, but they've stayed true to their mandate, and we're looking at a scene that is relatively undisturbed from the last time we'd have expected it to be disturbed. No interloping looters." [23:13] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar draws his sword back, holds his palm forward, and draws in one breath. Then he explodes into motion, leaving a burning after-image in the air behind him as he sets upon the Ram with unbelievable speed. One strike into the leg sends the giant staggering, another in the back sends him doubling backwards, and then the flurry blurs together such that it's almost impossible to [23:13] <@Ferrinus> 12follow. There's a general impression of a spiral or corkscrew motion. 15[23:13] Bubo: "About what I figured, too, what I've seen in here. Lot of things touched, not much taken." 15[23:14] "These papers... if they were serious they'd have taken all of this to pore over, look for irregularities, use as leverage..." [23:14] <@Ferrinus> 12Roaring like a man possessed, Keldar's eventually found some ten feet in the air, having half-run and half dug his way up along (through?) the Ram's back. The pattern of his attack can be tracked post facto by the glowing red-orange contrail that the man's sword left in the air, describing an ascending spiral that dips in and out and and out of the giant's spine. [23:15] 14Stranger: "Given that the interlocutors were Guildsmen, my suspicion is they're already very familiar with the contents." 15[23:15] Bubo: "Still. There's a procedure, you know?" [23:15] 14Stranger: "True enough." [23:15] <@Ferrinus> 12Above Keldar - above the entire arena - a glowing, armored warrior bearing sword and shield spins a massive blade in one hand before pointing sternly down at the Ram, who doubles over and dissolves into motes of light. [23:15] 14Stranger: "I'm going to wander for a few moments. Get a layout in my head." [23:16] 14He is professional enough not to put on a pot of tea when he meanders through the main kitchen. [23:17] <@Ferrinus> 12As Keldar falls into a crouch on the sands, his totemic representation kneels down over him, sword thrust into the soil and shield to the side. As Keldar stands, the icon dissolves into a less intelligible pillar of fire, warm red at the edges and white-hot at the core. He says: "Wew, lads." [23:17] 5 Xu Sim makes a new note in his travelogue, in the spidery runes of Riverspeak: "LADOS, the BREAKER OF OATHS, was a COWARD deserving of contempt and destruction." 5 He waves the parchment around in the air once or twice [23:17] 13Xia Lan gapes, open-mouthed. Her swords slip a little, but she doesn't sheathe them. "You just--" [23:18] 13She tries again. "Just like that?" 15[23:18] Lados: "Yes! Well done! A strength unmatched by any in Creation!" [23:18] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "All in the wrist. What was that before, Xu Sim?" [23:18] 5 Xu Sim nods, self-satisfied. He begins a new page. [23:19] "Oh, absolutely nothing," 5 Xu Sim responds, while shaking his head and jabbing at the note he has begun writing. [23:19] 5 The new page reads as follows: The architecture in this Tomb, such as the spheres on the first door, and much else about it, indicate that it was constructed during the Shogunate period. 15[23:20] Tsuka's got sweat running down his face. The heat didn't bother him, but the exertion shows. "How did a magical construct do all of that?" [23:20] 5 It continues: This is incongruous with the notion that this was a tomb built for a Solar with the intention of empowering his reincarnation, since according to Immaculate dogma the Solars were destroyed and never meant to return, except as hunted Anathema. [23:21] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Must've been put together by a hell of a magician. You all right?" 15[23:21] Tsuka: "Yeah, I'm fine. You need a minute?" [23:21] 13Xia Lan: "Bullshit all in the wrist. That was fucking great." 13She sheathes her swords, realizes what she's just said, and repeats herself. "Uh. No way all in the wrists, that was amazing." 15[23:22] Tsuka's eyebrows go up. [23:22] 5 It concludes: That means that this Tomb was not built BY Lados the Oathkeeper, but FOR him. Hypothesis: This is a trap designed specifically to ensare any reincarnation or other wandering Solar. 15[23:22] After a moment: "You're one to talk. You backflipped over his sword arm!" [23:23] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Heh. No, you're right, also important to lift with your back- alright, alright, you don't need to give me that look. I knew something like that'd take a lot more than one well-placed blow, and it just came to me that I could... sequence 'em like that." [23:23] 14The walk takes Stranger some three and a half minutes. [23:24] 14It's enlightening. [23:24] 5 Xu Sim thrusts the paper at the others before stretching. "Yes, truly quite a feat of martial prowess. No doubt the final secrets of this Tomb shall soon be yours. [23:24] " [23:24] 14Which is to say, his forehead is glowing when he returns to Bubo. [23:24] <@Ferrinus> 12The mercenary stretches. "And actually, I could use a bit to get my breath back, but not if it costs us climate." 12He reaches into his belt and produces the hearthstone. It look like it's working at the moment? Is the arena dissolving or whatever? [23:24] 13She looks to Tsuka and relaxes ever so slightly. "...didn't think I'd make it," 13she says. "Then I just. You know. Reacted." [23:27] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Very economical. I couldn't have done it." [23:28] 14First words re-entering the front rooms: "How attracted were you to the late Evening Master? Catalog your answer to that question, don't tell it to me, and then keep it in mind when you proceed into the master bedroom. There is a nude over the bed." [23:28] 14Then: "The estate has been trivially burgled. Expensive cutlery and finery boosted, books in the library flipped through. What you'd expect." 15[23:29] Bubo: "Shame no one took the painting." [23:29] "It is. Because we will, in fact, be proceeding into the master bedroom: our robbers did not locate the bolthole under the rug." [23:29] 14Stranger grimaces slightly. "It is tasteful, at least. For certain tastes." 15[23:30] The arena's gone quiet, but stays cool. The light dims a bit. But there doesn't seem to be anything stopping or pressing you on. [23:30] 13Xia Lan: "Couldn't do it against every attack, though that'd be nice. Never get hit again." 15[23:30] Tsuka: "We'd be too eager to fight if we forgot what getting hit feels like." 15[23:30] "My uncle told me that." [23:30] 14The master bedroom is likely on the top floor, meaning a panic room underneath a rug would lead to a secreted-away nowhere space in the floorplan of the floor directly below. How well does the architecture bear this out?" [23:31] 13Xia Lan: "Your uncle's wise." 15[23:31] That's about right. The stairs between the second and third floors are five steps longer than between the first and second. [23:32] 14Well now. [23:32] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Getting hit just keeps my temper up. Anyway, let's pause here an hour. The voice can let us know if it disagrees." [23:32] 14Before Stranger opens up the bolthole, he'll open a window. He did tell the guards to shout if they needed anything. [23:33] 14And it is getting musty in here. 15[23:33] A mild scoff echoes throughout the room. "Take your time." [23:33] "Tell us about yourself, voice," 5 suggests Xu Sim. "Do you speak for Landos the Oathkeeper?" 15[23:34] "Lados." [23:34] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar doesn't miss a beat as he pulls what looks like dried beef jerky out of his pack and then puts the pack down to use as an impromptu seat. He'll offer some to anyone who looks interested before speaking in old realm to address, one supposes, the ceiling. "Yeah, who put you here?" [23:34] "My profuse apologies, Voice," 5 notes Xu Sim with a wan smile, as he crumples the insulting note from before. 15[23:34] Bubo clears his throat loudly when he follows Stranger into the master bedroom. "That's a, hrm. That's actually quite a nicely done variation on the original icon. Venus on a half shell." [23:35] 14Stranger: "I prefer turtle, personally." [23:35] "But the man simply wasn't my type." [23:35] 13If they're pausing, Xia Lan will keep limber with some stretches. She never used to do these mid-run, but, well, you get out of practice with these things. [23:36] 14How easily does the bolthole open? 15[23:37] It's pretty heavy, but working together Stranger and Bubo can shift it. It was airtight, which you can tell because there's a pop as the seal as broken and because none of that foul smell worked its way into the room before now. [23:37] 14Well then. [23:38] 14Stranger will open the rest of the windows. 15[23:38] Lados: "This tomb was erected in my honor by my blood brother's descendant, Saint-of-Wolves." [23:39] 14The smell of rotten cabbage should be distinct from that of a corpse. Hopefully they're experiencing the former. [23:39] 5 Xu Sim's brow furrows. [23:40] 5 That would be consistent with the evidence, but contrary to the hypothesis. [23:40] "Which of the Daimyos did Saint-of-Wolves serve?" 5 he asks. 15[23:42] This smell is a human foulness, but not precisely death. More the scent of someone living in their own filth. [23:43] 14Well, easily the worst possible outcome. 15[23:43] Lados: "Saint-of-Wolves would never bend knee to the Usurpers! He built this tomb with the aid of Lados's friend and confidante, exiled to the Underworld by the usurpers." [23:43] 14Stranger will wrap a clean rag from somewhere on this level around his nose and mouth. 15[23:44] Bubo chokes a bit. "Should I fetch an elemental?" [23:44] 13After going through what she remembers of calisthenics, Xia Lan eventually just sits down cross-legged. More stretches later. "Who's the friend?" [23:44] 14Stranger: "If you think it necessary. I should like not to attract attention." 15[23:46] Lados: "Why, my dearest confidante! My one true love! The great sorceress Eresh Nin, Clad in a Raiment of Wonder!" [23:47] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar's eyebrows rise as he tears half a strip of jerky off with his teeth. "Wrhmf-" 12gulp. "What happened to her?" 15[23:49] Lados, sadly: "Hunted and hounded by the Usurpers. She had to seek refuge in a dark place where no power could touch her." [23:51] <@Ferrinus> "Rip," 12says Keldar. "How long ago?" 15[23:51] Lados: "Long ago..." [23:51] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Mmm. So, hey, different topic - what happened to the last group to come through here?" 15[23:52] Lados: "They failed the second trial! Sneak-thieves and scoundrels all." 15[23:52] Bubo: "Eh, forget it. What's one more sewer?" [23:53] 14Stranger: "Hopefully we continue to live in a world where that remains rhetorical." [23:53] 14After a few moments, he'll press onwards and downwards into the suck. [23:54] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "...but got through the first? Even though none of 'em was me?" [23:55] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "What I mean to ask is, why'd you let 'em try?" 15[00:00] Lados: "High duplicity! They forced the door open and scattered the Ram's light. But they could not outsmart the second trial, oh no." [00:00] 13It takes a moment for Xia Lan to place the name, but when she finally does, she starts, sits bolt upright. "Eresh Nin, Clad in a Raiment of Wonder?" [00:00] "I'd heard the former. Never - the title. Not that one." 15[00:00] Lados: "Yes...?" [00:00] 5 Xu Sim passes his parchment. [00:02] 13Xia Lan: "Sorceress queen of the north. That Eresh Nin, yes? Everyone bewitched appearing with her kiss on their cheek as a sign?" 15[00:02] Lados: "There can be no other!" [00:03] 13Xia Lan: "...how much do you keep up with news from the outside?" 15[00:03] Lados: "My charge is simple. I am to guard the tomb. No more, no less." 15[00:06] Stranger and Bubo descend into a pit that smells of human refuse and expulsion. It's little more than a crawl space, mainly full of boxes, but it doesn't take long to find the stained bedroll, empty, with what must be dozens of tiny glass phials piled up on an equally filthy blanket. The smell from the phials is an aggressive chemical note that cuts almost pleasantly through the filth. [00:06] 13Pointless, then. Well. Maybe not, but... cruel. "Nevermind." 13More to herself than anyone: "Wonder and tears." 15[00:07] Tsuka: "New song?" [00:07] 14Stranger will take a quick look around, make sure the evidence he can find is in fact moveable, and then relocate it all upstairs before shutting the crawl space. [00:08] "Hm?" 13She looks to Tsuka, surprised, but quickly covers it. "No, just... some new information fitting with old scrolls. But when you put it that way, maybe." [00:09] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar finishes drinking some water from a circular metal flask. "Ahh. So, voice, suppose we get through here, find my old stuff. What happens to you then?" 15[00:10] Lados: "If you master the tomb, then you are the tomb's master. What happens to it and its contents is your prerogative." [00:10] 14Stranger collects the phials. To Bubo: "Stay back. Don't touch the bedding." [00:11] 14In fact, he just waves him towards the hatch out, and when he himself has egressed, closes it behind them. [00:12] 13Humming, she reaches into her pouch to pull out a worn notebook. "This is as decent a place as any to write one." [00:12] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Tomb can't use any of that red-hot iron on stuff outside its walls, can it? There's an army of fair folk bearing down on us." 15[00:13] Lados: "If you want to know technical details of the manse, feel free to ask away once you've earned it." [00:15] 13Xia Lan notes down a few phrases that have been stuck in her mind since she entered. Reaching out, grasping for a fleeting memory... A light that burns these scars of old... I'll live. I'll become all I need to be... [00:15] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Fair enough. Say, just how close a match are you to my actual, uh, ancestor? They copy his mind somehow or just do their best at representation?" [00:16] 14Well, that's rude. 15[00:16] Lados: "Honestly, Keldar." 15[00:16] "How would I know?" [00:16] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "You know, that's a good point. Very good point." 15[00:19] Bubo peers at the phials. "Medicine?" [00:20] 14Stranger: "Perhaps. Let's get a look at them in the light." 15[00:21] Bubo: "I'll say this. The smell recontextualizes the painting. That's high art right there." [00:21] 14Stranger would roll his eyes if it were visually effective. [00:21] "Keldar, what do you have in that pack, anyway?" 5 asks Xu Sim. "While we're taking a break." [00:21] "My suspicion is that it wasn't him shoved down in that damn hole." 15[00:22] Bubo: "Our cabbage merchant?" [00:24] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Collapsible pole, iron filings, jade shards - all five colors, natch - lockpicks, crowbar, rations, water, flint and tinder, water filter... you know, whatever I might need." [00:24] 14Stranger: "If you were a morally-bankrupted bureaucrat, who else would you keep wallowing in lockup in his own filth, mitigated by only the most expensive option with the least amount of dignity attached?" [00:24] "How do you think this proto-Emissary -- should it be the same creature -- became so angry?" [00:25] 14He shakes his head. "I'm getting ahead of the evidence. But it is a darkly compelling hypothesis." 15[00:25] Bubo: "At Brueghel in particular. Mmm." [00:25] 13Xia Lan: "Huh. Collapsible pole, never had one of those before. Smart, though." [00:25] "I know you used it earlier, but I honestly didn't even think about it." [00:26] 14Stranger: "But if I'm right, we, perhaps, have good news and bad news. The bad news being that the creature that is the Emissary become such in a fulcrum of abuse and disease." [00:26] "And the good news being that, for such mortal things, there can be reparations and a cure." [00:26] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "The ole ten footer. 'course, back in the day I had to make do with branches and such half the time. Nowadays I can get 'em made custom." [00:27] 14He shrugs. "Or perhaps I'm wrong and it was Brueghel that got shoved down there. But the man looked fairly hale just before he died." [00:27] "Let me see your water filter," 5 suggests the sorceror, who unpacks his own little bundle of reagents and herbs. [00:27] 13Xia Lan: "We used to throw rocks at stuff that looked suspicious," 13she offers. "Either it triggered from that, or whatever the mechanism was had rotted away and we didn't have to worry." [00:28] "Let me ask the two of you a question, while we're waiting," 5 suggests the doctor. [00:28] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Oh, yeah, rocks are an old standby. Hard to put the right kind of pressure on the floor with 'em, though." 15[00:30] Bubo: "Yeah, I don't think he was ill." He sniffs the phial. "Embalming fluid?" [00:31] 13Xia Lan: "Eh. Never dealt with anything high class enough to need anything else. One time, found a place, only trap was a breakaway floor, had to spell out the name of the owner to get to the goods. Previous raids did most of the work for us, chucking rocks took care of the rest." [00:32] 14Stranger takes a cautious sniff, while examining one of the other phials. [00:33] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Ah, yeah, robbing people and robbing tombs are only vaguely related skillsets. In my business quiet and elegance are luxuries while thoroughness is key." 15[00:34] Lados: "You rob tombs?!" [00:34] 13Xia Lan: "Not in a long time." [00:34] 13She sounds sad. [00:34] "You're not wrong. That's embalming fluid." [00:35] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar pauses. "...would that be a problem here?" 15[00:35] Bubo: "Bizarre." 15[00:35] "Er." 15[00:35] "Weird." [00:35] 14Stranger puts the vial down, eyes narrow. "There are other uses for embalming fluid than the obvious." [00:35] "But." 15[00:36] Lados: "How have you fallen to such iniquity! You are heir to champions, to saviors, to heroes! The pure-hearted and righteous." [00:37] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Buddy, they call these the Scavenger Lands for a reason. What you might call the recovery of artifacts is an entire industry." [00:37] "You didn't call it that, just now," 5 butts in Xu Sim. 15[00:37] Lados, indignant: "I might not!" [00:37] 13Xia Lan: "I mean, I stopped for a reason. Present company excluded." 15[00:38] "A Chosen of the Sun, reduced to common knavery. Shame! Shame and disgrace!" [00:38] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Yeah, well, you can't rob the forgotten dead. I'm an adventurer, and digging old hearthstones or amulets or whatever out of ruins is half my business." [00:38] "How long was the cabbagemonger out of our sight? A month? We're looking at about that much filth, especially given sickness -- but why not take care of him? And phials of embalming fluid? Did he drink them?" [00:38] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Makes you feel better, though, that was before I got the second breath." [00:39] 14Stranger: "Filth and embalming fluid, to me, are the wages of Thorns." 15[00:39] Bubo wrinkles his nose. "Anagathic?" [00:39] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Since I Exalted and got back into town it's been all fighting for freedom and raising armies." [00:40] 14Stranger: "In a perverse sense, that is the deal on offer from unlife." [00:40] 13Xia Lan: "The Sun lifts all of us up, even the lowest of the low." 13A quote comes, unbidden. "'He has fixed his sign in the sky / he has raised me from the pit, and set me high.'" 15[00:40] Lados: "Ah! So you have turned from your wicked ways, ennobled by divinity, to raise arms against the vicious man, the blackguard, the panderer and the profiteer. Good man." 15[00:42] Bubo: "Using necromancy to draw out the moment of death and keep someone alive... wicked, wicked and dangerous. But effective..." [00:42] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "You know the Dragon-Blooded still rule a lot of the world, right, and our kind get the short shrift? I'm gonna need every edge I can dig up, maybe literally." [00:42] 14To Bubo: "Indeed. You are aware of the provenance of the former Emissary, yes? The Red Star?" 15[00:42] Bubo: "I am." [00:42] 14Stranger: "Then we have a contradiction." [00:43] "Everything about this 'anagathic,' this manner of filth -- drawing out the moment of death -- this all fits the previous conception of the Emissary. The corpse of Balor." [00:43] "It does not fit our cabbage monger." 15[00:43] Lados: "Well, rest assured, should you master the tomb, you will find my legendary armaments, the Equinox Braves!" [00:43] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar's brows rise. "Go on." 15[00:44] Bubo: "Perhaps he was made to fit." 15[00:44] "I'd check the Loom myself, but..." [00:45] 14Stranger: "Long odds on that. Embalming fluid freezes the subject in time, yes? That's the metaphor. Why would you infect an unripe vessel shitting itself all over your bolthole?" [00:46] "It's possible they found a way to square that circle. But no blooming Emissary should have had that creature's power. That was a mature being." [00:46] "That said, whatever made that mess was alive." [00:46] "So our contradiction remains." 15[00:46] Bubo: "We could always ask the Emissary." [00:47] 14Stranger: "We're not approaching that thing without very careful legal research into every single word we intend to say." [00:48] 14After a pause. "Also, technically, I can guarantee the Emissary doesn't have an answer for you." 15[00:51] Bubo: "Heh." 15[00:52] Lados: "My sword of orichalcum, my shield of moonsilver! Inscribed with the ancient oaths of the righteous. Endowed with Royal authority!" [00:53] 13Xia Lan: "Royal...?" [00:53] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar looks somewhat speculatively down at his left hand, flexing it as he does. "I see. Lados was a prince or emperor or somethin'...?" [00:53] 14Stranger grimaces. "More questions. Few answers. We should get a medic up here to diagnose the bed." 14Under normal circumstances Stranger would prefer Xu Sim -- but sending for a doctor from Dorma's camp might be the right play here. 15[00:54] Lados: "Royalty! The chosen of true divinity! You are all of you Royalty, whatever throne you claim or ignore. It is not just your duty. It is your being." [00:54] 14Specifically, it would be away of communicating Thorns's involvement to Dorma without the awkwardness -- and accompanying rage -- of going up and telling him. [00:54] 14It would simply...filter up the chain of command. 15[00:54] "'Determination overcomes domination. This is the one law of Royalty.'" [00:54] 14In exchange, they would get to know the nature of the disease. Yes, Stranger likes this. [00:55] 13She snorts involuntarily, but pretends she hasn't. Let Keldar keep talking to the voice. "Tsuka. Is this your first tomb dive?" [00:55] <@Ferrinus> "I see," 12says Keldar, again. He looks between Tsuka, Xia Lan, and Xu Sim, making the kind of face you'd expect a Nexus native to make in light of that kind of talk. 15[00:57] Tsuka shakes his head. "Right out of secondary school, I was shikari on a hunt that cornered a Lunar anathema to her tomb." [00:58] 14Stranger leans out the master bedroom window and shouts down to the guards: "Hello! Up here!" [00:59] 13Oh, right. Dragon-blooded. Awkward. Carefully: "What happened, then?" [00:59] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Whoof. You fight 'em directly?" 15[01:00] Tsuka: "..." 15[01:00] The guards: "Sir?" [01:01] 14Chipper: "Change of plans! I've shouted because I need you. Specifically! I need you to quarantine this estate, and send for the Dragonlord's Seventh Caduceus. I will be remaining inside. Tell your masters the Evening Master has left us a rude and dangerous present, and they will be fully briefed per our arrangement once the medics have cleared me. And do NOT come inside!" 15[01:01] "S-sir?" "Right away, sir!" [01:01] 14How many of them run off? 15[01:02] Just one. [01:02] 14Excellent. Don't need to make examples. [01:03] 14Stranger ducks back inside. To Bubo: "I'm going to stick around as a measure of good faith, and to properly seed the information I want seeded regarding Thorns. You can stay around for a check up, but I suspect we were properly circumspect down there such that you're not sick." [01:04] 13Ah. So it went like that. She turns towards him, elbows on knees, sitting cross-legged, watching him until he chooses to either speak to what happened or say he doesn't want to talk about it. 15[01:05] Tsuka looks away when Xia Lan leans in, but only briefly. He looks her in the eye when he says, solemnly: "We killed her." [01:06] 13No judgement in her voice: "Who was she?" [01:07] 5 Xu Sim, perhaps for the first time, realizes why Stranger has delegated Cathak Tsuka on this mission. [01:07] 5 He gestures at Keldar to pass the damn water filter, already. 15[01:10] Tsuka: "She was a skald. Stirring up trouble in the satrapies. House Cathak sent a legion to stabilize everything and hunt her down." [01:14] 13Xia Lan: "What was her name?" 13She has a different notebook out, now. A distant part of her feels cruel, digging through painful memories like this - but someone has to remember, and she doesn't trust anyone else to. 15[01:14] Tsuka watches her shuffle through notes. He waits for her to be ready. 15[01:15] "People called her White-Winged Dove." [01:16] 13Xia Lan: "Tell me about her. What you can." [01:16] <@Ferrinus> 12Filter's Xu Sim's if he needs it. [01:17] 13She's quieter, has moved closer to Tsuka. This isn't a conversation for spectators. [01:19] 5 Xu Sim starts fiddling with the filter and a small phial. A pinch of firedust, peel of orange, some spirits... 15[01:19] Bubo: "I'm going to press my contacts. There's actually a colleague of mine in town at the moment. I bet she knows something." [01:21] 14Stranger nods. "Feel free to use me to the extent you can use me to access the things she knows. Not my allies. But me." [01:21] "And it doesn't need saying...but stay sharp. There's something else going on here." 15[01:23] Bubo: "I appreciate the distinction, but other people won't." [01:23] 14Stranger: "Then that puts the onus on you, doesn't it?" [01:24] "It's a responsibility and a trust. But your business hasn't become Keldar's business." 15[01:25] Tsuka: "She was only a couple of years older than I was. About my sister's age. She was... she was kind. She talked about love a lot. But whenever she did, everyone got angry." 15[01:26] Bubo: "I understand. I just want to emphasize that in certain circles - if you'll forgive the expression - you are held as a synecdoche for your associates. It's not a fair opinion, but it is the prevailing one." [01:26] 13She writes down what he says, nodding in understanding. Go on is unspoken, but present. [01:27] 14Stranger grimaces. "And I thank you for it. But I am not entirely unaware of the way this world works." [01:27] "Sometimes, I'm just trying to change it." [01:27] 13Belatedly, she wonders if she'll need separate books. After the tomb, maybe. And... a conversation with the Ambassador? Did they know one another? [01:28] "So you do what you need to do, with the virtue and the vice with which you need to do it, and we'll read the field as it falls." 15[01:28] Bubo: "Fair enough." [01:28] 13Hello, girlfriend of my- ally. I know how one of your kind died. This is an extremely normal conversation to have. She'll have to think on it more when she's out of here. [01:28] 14He leans against the window and looks down at the courtyard. "Fair enough is all I ask." 15[01:28] "I'll be in touch." Bubo is gone. [01:29] 14Stranger stares up through milky eyes at the Sun. "Fair enough." 15[01:30] NEXT TIME: Bardam's Metal