15[20:10] <@VoxPVoxD> The sun sets on Nexus. Xia Lan meets up with Tsuka at the bottom of the hill. "How was the meeting?" 15[20:11] <@VoxPVoxD> How does Stranger approach Ephiselle? Does he catch her for a word as the meeting's breaking up, or is their meeting already planned? [20:12] 4He'll have already planned it, but will either make a courtesy stop over on her side of the table himself or have a messenger do it -- whichever one seems more polite in the circumstances -- just to say drop a platitude or two about how he's looking forward to it and make sure they're still on. [20:12] 14He'll have already planned it, but will either make a courtesy stop over on her side of the table himself or have a messenger do it -- whichever one seems more polite in the circumstances -- just to say drop a platitude or two about how he's looking forward to it and make sure they're still on. [20:14] 13Don't say 'a lot better than the last one,' don't say 'a lot better than the last one...' "...productive, I think. And only a little concerning, which is nice. And some actual things to prepare that aren't all 'hurry up and wait'..." 13Xia Lan smiles over to Tsuka. "And how was training?" 15[20:17] <@VoxPVoxD> In that case, she'll thank him and say the same. Ephiselle insisted on a relatively early meeting, because she keeps very late business hours. Her personal offices are near the bottom of Sentinel Hill, overlooking the Parko. They could be meeting there or in a teahouse or restaurant nearby. Where are they heading? [20:18] 14Stranger will prefer a teahouse he hasn't been to before, both to keep this meeting above-board and "public" (even if they end up paying for the whole top floor for thirty minutes) and to try some new tea. [20:18] 5 Xu Sim puffs on his steambreather - Scion of the Sevenfold's cartridge in place - on the way back to the lair. What flavor? 15[20:19] <@VoxPVoxD> Tsuka's still in his work clothes, though he has at least left his armor behind. The Dawn Guard rank patch does not go with the Green Apples uniform at all. "It was good! There was a chestnut gallery but everyone was a professional." 15[20:23] <@VoxPVoxD> Xu Sim takes the first one out of the box. It has a pleasant, grassy flavor. [20:23] 13Xia Lan: "That's good to hear. No injuries or anything past normal scrapes and cuts?" 15[20:26] <@VoxPVoxD> There's a teahouse across the street that Ephiselle favors; she suggests the one next door, which isn't as expensive and where they don't know her usual. It's still very expensive, as all the places in this part of town are. It's called "Jasmine". Stranger feels eyes on him as he approaches. 15[20:28] <@VoxPVoxD> Xu Sim puffs. Mmm... this is very tasty... reminds him of some very fine hashish. Oh. Oh. 15[20:30] <@VoxPVoxD> A man at a window table in the teahouse next door is watching him, subtly, while making notes in a little book. Stranger makes him for one of Ephiselle's people. [20:30] 14Stranger is doing his slightly-too-precise blind man act with his cane, and represses the urge to hum a tune of some sort. He does, however, "miss" the teahouse the first time, going almost all the way past it before turning and ah, yes, there it is. This gives him more time to assess the man at the window table. [20:31] 5Excellent. Truly excellent. How brilliant, using hashish in the steambreather? Who would have thought of such a thing? 15[20:34] <@VoxPVoxD> Tsuka: "No, Keldar had us doing Big Gateway all afternoon. It was kinda fun. Have you really never met this woman before?" [20:35] 13Xia Lan: "No, never. How long as she been doing this?" [20:35] 13Has* 15[20:36] <@VoxPVoxD> Stranger sees a thin man, who'd be better built if he ate more. Hard to tell at a glance whether it's illness, drugs, or distemper that eats at his appetite. He's in a sour mood, but not about the job. He's no savant but he's a professional. [20:38] 14Well, it would be rude to go over and make conversation ahead of a meeting with his boss, so Stranger will just nod in his direction as he enters, and seek out the owner, who should have prearranged accomodations. 15[20:41] <@VoxPVoxD> So he does. Stranger's led to a booth out of sight from the windows and the bar, but with a clear line on both the front door and the door to the kitchen. Ephiselle, already there, looks up and smiles. "Good evening. First pot's already on its way. Leiguanyin. Have a seat." [20:43] "Good evening, councilor. Thank you." 14He'll settle reasonably, either directly across from her or at a wide angle so they both watch their corners. "Your man out front could use some work on his tradecraft, if that's the trade he's in." [20:44] "A bit too overtly grumpy." 15[20:44] <@VoxPVoxD> Ephiselle: "Mmm. We all have our bad days. But there is such a thing as too open a tail. He didn't give you any trouble, I hope?" [20:45] 14Stranger: "Oh, none at all. Perfectly polite." [20:47] 5Xu Sim winds his way back to the lair in the evening air of Nexus, the cloud following him along as he goes stopping only to buy some fish heads from a beggar. When he arrives back at the hideout, he tosses the Twice-Refined Princess and Mhaka a fish-head apiece. [20:48] 5When he arrives, he proceeds to his workshop, where he carefully sets the polished wooden box on one of the rough-hewn side tables. He furtively glances about and produces the letter again from within the folds of his white robes. Puffing on the steambreather, he gives it another, careful look - carefully examining her handwriting - alongside her original response to his invitation [20:48] 5- to see what, if anything, it might reveal. [20:49] 14Stranger: "I'd say I was hoping our first chat like this would be under better circumstances, but given the nature of our current predicament, I'd like have to just settle for different ones. The loss of Pellicia has been...felt hard." 15[20:49] <@VoxPVoxD> Tsuka: "I dunno. At least as long as I've been in the city. She was playing the night I came to town." 15[20:50] <@VoxPVoxD> Ephiselle: "Yes. It has." [20:50] 13Xia Lan: "...huh. I guess our paths just never crossed?" 13She glances at him. "She any good?" 15[20:50] <@VoxPVoxD> The tea comes. Ephiselle will pour herself a cup. 15[20:52] <@VoxPVoxD> Tsuka: "Yeah, she's not bad. She's not you, obviously, but." [20:53] 13Xia Lan: "Hm." 13Could be worse, then. "...and the Unfeathered thing?" [20:53] 14Stranger will do the same. "I want to get out in front of our current deadlock and reiterate that despite having to carry Baillie, I'm no less committed in theory to the next Evening Master being chosen by the allies of the departed one. Assuming, of course, that a nomination is forthcoming soon." 15[21:00] <@VoxPVoxD> Tsuka: "Well she's, you know." The two of them walk past a crowd of young women who turn to watch them both go. Tsuka lowers his voice. "She's a 14beastman." [21:00] 5Xu Sim hums to himself in satisfaction, folding up the letter with a flourish, before slipping it back into his robes, right next to Stranger's own Page. Patting the Twice-Refined Princess on the head in satisfaction, he leans back to consider his options for the evening. [21:04] 5Xu Sim makes his way back into the main study, which Xia Lan has evidently conquered in the name of ancient law-books. He examines their spines with some interest - picking up and closely inspecting one here and there, before replacing it in whatever pile of hellish political-learning she had arranged for herself. 15[21:05] <@VoxPVoxD> Ephiselle: "Of course. We were hoping a new Evening Master could take a firmer line with the Guild. But with the expanded Judiciary, and the new Office of Civilities, the city is naturally becoming more resistant to their influence. So we need to agree an evolved position on what our new colleague's role ought to be." [21:08] 13She studies him for a moment, then turns her focus back to the road ahead. "...not a bad gimmick, then." 15[21:08] <@VoxPVoxD> Tsuka: "I mean. She is obviously feathered." [21:08] 14Stranger: "I'd prefer we have a spymaster who uses his web of connections and array of influence for the benefit of the City, but that would require a Council less...adversarial than the one we currently have. Even so, there is nothing stopping us from going into business for ourselves." [21:08] 5Once Xu Sim digs through the surface layer of her current research, though - he begins setting aside a small pile. He searches for more of the poem or song that Sevenfold Scion had recited at tea, scanning through illuminated scrolls, delicately preserved hymnals, a carefully preserved pamphlet printed on birch-bark... [21:09] 13Xia Lan: "Sacrifice you have to make for the reference, I guess." 13Also if you want to make a blistering callout, maybe, but that's probably not on the other Xia Lan's mind. [21:10] *14Stranger: "I'd prefer we have a local, Nexus-consolidated business magnate who uses his web of connections and array of influence for the benefit of the City, but that would require a Council less...adversarial than the one we currently have. Even so, there is nothing stopping us from going into business for ourselves." 15[21:11] <@VoxPVoxD> By now the sun's gone down, and only the blue lanterns hanging between the buildings light their way. A pair of shirtless men whistle and wave down to Xia Lan and Tsuka from the balcony, which Tsuka studiously ignores. [21:12] 13Once, she would have flipped them off and cursed them out; that was a lifetime ago. She walks a bit faster, though. 15[21:13] <@VoxPVoxD> Ephiselle: "What do you envision?" 15[21:17] <@VoxPVoxD> It takes Xia Lan a minute to register the song they hear as they round the corner. 15[21:17] <@VoxPVoxD> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nljpuvnNreg [21:17] 14Stranger: "We stick to our tacit agreement with the Guild and don't touch anything they've still got in the city -- they've pulled out a lot of their assets as it is, and we don't even need to snap up what they've left behind. To start with, we'll need something small, agile, freewheeling; ideas people, mainly, from the business community. Second sons and daughters who elder siblings [21:17] are inheriting the family trade, and have had to start their own outfits. Inventors. Certified business failures. Maybe a homeless person or two." [21:18] "Most of them are probably stupid, snakes and slavers, but we can't be picky right now." [21:19] "We let them know precisely what the situation is: that the Guild is in retreat, and the previous Emissary, for better or worse, is gone. This is a moment to freewheel, throw things at the wall and see what sticks." [21:20] "Chances are it'll all be academic in a few weeks anyway. What do we have to lose, besides a 'friendship' with the Guild?" [21:22] 13...she's good. 15[21:24] <@VoxPVoxD> Ephiselle: "To go into business, you're saying?" 15[21:27] <@VoxPVoxD> Xia Lan seems to appreciate the music more than most. As the two of them approach, they see people throw coins in her guitar case, but hardly anyone stops to listen. [21:29] 14Stranger: "There are resources we can throw behind them, and there are ample opportunities in the city even now without any sort of executive, brand-new-day action on our part that Nexus's business community could be more effective in what they're doing. All we're missing is someone who has the credibility to launch this, would actually believe it can work, and isn't otherwise totally [21:29] unfit for office." [21:29] 14Stranger: "There are resources we can throw behind them, and there are ample opportunities in the city even now without any sort of executive, brand-new-day action on our part that Nexus's business community could be more effective in what they're doing. All we're missing is someone who has the credibility to launch this, would actually believe it can work, and isn't otherwise [21:29] totally unfit for office." [21:29] 13She'll stay a ways back, to start - what's she look like? [21:30] 14He pauses. "...And if such a person doesn't exist, we can invent one." 15[21:36] <@VoxPVoxD> Xu Sim's studies turn up almost nothing. Pablum and vaguery. He's about to lose hope when his eye falls on an offhand reference at the bottom of a very delicate liturgical scroll. This points him back to a book he'd already read, and on a second read he finds what he was looking for, completely misunderstood by whichever ancient redactor put this text together. Buried in the history of a wicked Anathema's hubristic demise in the ashes of the Deliberative is a fragment of the intonation she recited against the encroaching Wyld marches as the borders of Creation rolled back, their caretakers absent or negligent or mad. It begins, roughly, the same way. Hold your breath. Make a wish. Count to three. 15[21:37] <@VoxPVoxD> Ephiselle ponders this over her tea, which is very good, if strong for a green. "Credibility is the sticking point." [21:38] 14Stranger: "We'll have to begin immediately. Some things can be backdated, others explained away, but we've got a very limited window. It would be better if our chosen 'Evening Master' already had a headstart in the community somehow." [21:38] "But not too much of one to be malleable to the Guild or the old guard." 15[21:40] <@VoxPVoxD> Xia Lan sees a woman dressed in work clothes, duller than her plumage of violet and blue. Her chest is a searing orange, and in the brief moments where she opens her eyes Xia Lan can see they are too. She's picking the guitar with sharp black claws. [21:40] 5Xu Sim produces a brush to make a copy of the passage, right away. 15[21:40] <@VoxPVoxD> Ephiselle: "There's always Beal." [21:42] 14A slow smile spreads across Stranger's face. "Oh, I like that." 15[21:44] <@VoxPVoxD> Ephiselle: "I understand when he heard about poor Brueghel's fate, he smiled for the first time in twenty years." [21:45] 13...you know, she started on this path with the intention of being furious, but the closer she's gotten, the more difficult that's been. To Tsuka: "I want to hear another song before we talk." 15[21:46] <@VoxPVoxD> Tsuka looks over, sees her face, and nods. [21:47] 14Stranger: "So he's a crank, he has experience with the office, he's probably bored out of his mind and would relish a chance to screw with people. Sounds like just the ticket." [21:47] 14Stranger: "So he's a crank, he has experience with the office, he's probably bored out of his mind and would relish a chance to screw with people. Sounds like just the ticket." 15[21:48] <@VoxPVoxD> Ephiselle: "You should buy him a drink sometime. If you enjoy Thalevar's ranting the two of you will get along famously." [21:56] 14Stranger: "I suspect he should hear the plan from me, anyway. I'd like to set up a small set of delegates or attaches who might help Beal hit the ground running, if he's been as out of it as I would be after retiring from this place. Nothing official, just some people that the both of us trust. Do you have objections to me widening the circle on this to Thalevar? We might need his [21:56] people." 15[22:01] <@VoxPVoxD> Xu Sim copies the text painstakingly, including both the dated ligatures of the text as well as the odd musical notation. Across these histories he's able to piece together, if not THE complete text of the poem, then A complete text of the poem. The text itself is a simple series of intonations about 'pure imagination', held together with a peculiar and complicated harmony he has great difficulty reproducing or even imagining in his mind. He'll need more time with this... 15[22:03] <@VoxPVoxD> His studies of the Wyld-Shaping Technique and the ancient masters of the Deliberative are, in a word, depressing. Here are legacies of men and women who died fighting their closest friends, who were consumed by their own madness and were put down by animals, who in their desperation and solitude brought about their own ends, advertently or not. As they died, their knowledge was lost, and unimposed-upon, the bordermarches marched onward, drifting inward decade by decade. 15[22:04] <@VoxPVoxD> The Wyld-Shaping Technique is held up as a paramount example of the divine genius lost in the Deliberative's fall, or, of the horrific and unlimited depravity the Anathema reduced the world to. [22:04] 5Excellent. This is a topic for further research, further study, further collaboration. 15[22:05] <@VoxPVoxD> To raise mountains, palaces, armies, nations from pure chaos. To make anything from nothing. What greater power is there than this? 15[22:05] <@VoxPVoxD> The histories have no answer. 15[22:12] <@VoxPVoxD> Xia Lan's next song isn't one of Xia Lan's. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzaJt5Ccd5I 15[22:13] <@VoxPVoxD> Ephiselle: "No, I expect he'll enjoy this." [22:17] 13She's still into the craft, but this one doesn't hold her as well as the first. She really is good - and, from what it seems anyways, her act isn't just setting the Unfettered Xia Lan up to be a punchline. When the song closes, she'll beckon to Tsuka and walk over to the Unfeathered, throw in some coins to the case. "Got a moment?" 13says Xia Lan, with hopefully enough of a smile and a gentle voice to convey that she is [22:17] actually interested in the answer and not trying to bully the other Xia Lan offstage. [22:17] 14Stranger: "Excellent. Nothing about this should be in the purview of the Dawn Sergeant, so I don't think we need to widen the circle quite that far yet. And if fairness, I'm still not quite sure what it is I wouldn't be telling him. You will put forth Beal next session?" 15[22:21] <@VoxPVoxD> Ephiselle: "I think with both me and Thalevar making the case Gen will come around quickly. Yes, yes I think this works." [22:23] 14Stranger: "Excellent. And who knows. Maybe something will actually come of this above and beyond stability and a good public campaign." 15[22:25] <@VoxPVoxD> Xia Lan looks up, surprised then startled then panicked them stone-faced. "...sure." [22:27] 5Xu Sim takes notes on everything he can in these books. He does not take pains to conceal them - in fact, he makes one copy for his workshop and leaves another copy among Xia Lan's books, along with a terse note - "We should discuss this." 15[22:28] <@VoxPVoxD> Where does Xia Lan lead the Unfeathered? Do they talk right there? [22:31] 13After a quick glance - the other Xia Lan is infuriatingly unreadable - she'll just ask. "Mind talking here? Or would you rather somewhere else?" 15[22:34] <@VoxPVoxD> The Unfeathered: "If there's gonna be a scene I'd rather have witnesses around. If not we can go inside." [22:35] 13Xia Lan: "Inside's fine, then. I - realize this is kinda sudden." 13She rubs the back of her neck sheepishly. [22:36] 14Unless Ephiselle has other business, Stranger will settle his part of the tab and bid her good night. 15[22:37] <@VoxPVoxD> That suits her fine. [22:39] 5It is much later that Xu Sim finds himself alone in his workshop - even Princess lies outside, bored - as he inscribes sigils in the floor in wax and ink. Hashish-steam hangs heavy in the air. A handful of flickering candles provide the light - Xu Sim has extinguished the lanterns he typically uses. A few rays of light stream in under the door. [22:43] 5At last, the circle is prepared. He activates his strange little Page. "Stranger-Visits-Heaven." 15[22:45] <@VoxPVoxD> The Unfeathered leads Xia Lan and Tsuka into the, uh, establishment. People are drinking and dancing but the light is low enough that nobody gives the three of them a second glance. Seems the Unfeathered has been here a while. There's a quiet room with a bedroll and a loose stack of parchment on the floor, and some buckets to sit on. "So." [22:49] 13Xia Lan: "So!" 13There's a brief bit of silence. "...when'd you start?" 15[22:49] <@VoxPVoxD> The Unfeathered: "Singing, busking, or using this name?" [22:50] 13Xia Lan: "All of 'em, honestly. You were pretty good, I thought." [22:51] 14Stranger taps the back of his neck inconspicuously while walking. "Xu Sim. How is the handshake this evening." [22:52] "The hour grows late and I need your counsel to help me do something of which you disapprove, as effectively as possible." [22:53] 14... "I disapprove of a lot of things, Xu Sim. Are we talking about improper dinner etiquette or, say, summoning outsiders?" 15[22:53] <@VoxPVoxD> The Unfeathered: "I guess I was about 13 when I started playing. Started playing for money a couple years later. Someone gave me the name about four months ago and it stuck." [22:54] "Summoning outsiders, of course. There's a war coming, in case you haven't heard." [22:54] 14Stranger sighs. "Where are you?" [22:55] "At home," 5he responds. [22:57] 14Of course he's doing it in the damn house. Probably hasn't even put down towels. [22:57] "I'm on my way." [22:57] 13Xia Lan: "Where are you from, if you don't mind me asking?" 13She glosses over the identity of whoever gave her the name; that can be dealt with later. Or not at all, depending; she hasn't decided yet. 15[23:01] <@VoxPVoxD> The Unfeathered: "Upriver. My hometown's too small for the maps. Might be gone, now, all I know, with the raksha." [23:01] 14Stranger will very loudly put on tea when he gets back in lieu of shouting "I'm home," or "I'm back," which almost seem too familiar for a hideout beneath a condemned building. [23:01] 14But one suppose it HAS become a home, now. [23:02] 5The door to the workshop opens, and Xu Sim's face emerges from the darkness within. "No need to creep about, you know," 5he suggests. [23:05] 14Stranger: "I need to be drinking something before we talk." [23:06] 14He is pouring himself a cup of tea at this precise moment, however. [23:06] 14So: "What's the plan?" [23:07] "Erymanthoi, I think. To watch my back, mostly. Not good for much else, except eating," 5a contemplative shrug. [23:08] 14Stranger: "Ah." 14Well at least we're not talking named demons. [23:08] 13Her smile falters a bit there. "I'm sorry," 13she offers, uselessly. "...do you want a drink? Get something sent over to us?" 13She looks to Tsuka. "How about you?" [23:09] "I thought about some Neomah, to help keep an eye on things around the city. But I don't think they'd be much help spying on -" 5oh "anyone you don't already have a close eye on, doubtless." [23:10] "Is it just going to be us for it, or have you asked Keldar along?" 15[23:10] <@VoxPVoxD> The Unfeathered: "I'll drink." 15[23:11] <@VoxPVoxD> Tsuka shrugs. He seems as dubious about this as Xia Lan is coming to feel. [23:11] "I think even if it went loose that the two of us should be able to handle it without Keldar." [23:12] 13Xia Lan: "Host's choice. We're interrupting her evening already," 13she says. Please be something extra alcoholic. 15[23:14] <@VoxPVoxD> The Unfeathered: "I like the corn mash they have here." [23:15] 14Stranger: "That doesn't mean I wouldn't rather have him do it instead. Fighting and killing things is unpleasant." [23:15] 13Praise the Sun. [23:16] "I could have sworn he was around here, somewhere," 5notes the sorcerer. "I don't know what he's up to, though." 15[23:17] <@VoxPVoxD> Soon everyone's drinking whiskey that'd be overpoweringly sweet if it didn't burn like tar. [23:18] 13After a swig or two, and with a bit of a buzz: "Your show tonight. That the usual?" [23:19] "Keldar?" 5asks Xu Sim, pressing a spot on his chest. 15[23:19] <@VoxPVoxD> The Unfeathered: "More or less. Kind of a low-energy night." [23:20] <@Ferrinus> 12There's a moment's delay before Keldar's voice comes through. Sounds like you're catching the end of a conversation: "-next one. ...yeah?" [23:20] 13Xia Lan: "...walk me through a high energy night. You don't have to sing it, just, lists?" [23:20] "We're summoning blood apes! Want to watch?" 5Xu Sim's enthusiasm is... infectious. [23:22] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Oh, can you do a bunch at a time? Knew a lady who was always trying to figure a way." [23:22] "Oh. No, I just mean the one. But there will be more later," 5 he explains, sheepishly. [23:22] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Ah, that's still good. Where at?" [23:23] "At home. No sense putting anyone else at risk." [23:24] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Ah, I got some stuff to pick up anyway. I'll be there - uh, remind me, you gotta start at midnight or end there?" [23:25] "Ends." 15[23:25] <@VoxPVoxD> The Unfeathered: "Genie in a Bottle is a mainstay. That plays every night. If I'm feeling the slow jams, there's the stuff you heard tonight. If people want energy I can veer towards stuff like Toxic. I play by ear mostly. You have to when you don't know who's coming or going when. Sets are for stages." [23:26] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Hmm, shit. Well, I think I can make it. See you before eight, hopefully-" [23:27] 13She nods, knowingly. "Anything too - crude?" 13Xia Lan does have an image to uphold, after all, even if no one could possibly confuse the two. Even setting aside the feathers, they don't look much alike, right? [23:27] <@Ferrinus> 12It's not actually that much later when Keldar arrives at the hideout. He jogs down the stairs, fills a mug with water, and then looks around before peeking into Xu Sim's laboratory. 15[23:29] <@VoxPVoxD> The Unfeathered: "If I worked blue they'd let me work inside instead of out." [23:30] <@Ferrinus> 12What kinda setup he got? [23:32] 5Quite a sight meets Keldar and Stranger's eyes. There's a large, flat brass basin on the floor - Xu Sim often fills it to conduct his sorcery, its mirrored bottom and the thin skein of, presumably, water across its surface casts eerie flickering lights and shadows on the walls. [23:33] 13Xia Lan: "...you know when I heard you were a thing I was mad? And then - every subsequent thing has just..." 13She shrugs, helplessly. "They told me someone was violating the civilities, what with me being an Emissary of Nexus." 13She watches the Unfeathered carefully. [23:34] <@Ferrinus> "You know," 12says Keldar, leaning a grand daiklave against the wall near the door, "I never see you with any of these things. You got 'em following you invisibly or anything?" [23:34] 5In the dim light of the sanctum it's difficult to see, but Xu Sim has inked out a series of intricate geometric designs - circles, septagons, and so forth - in concentric and overlapping patterns; the impression is the ripples in a pond after skipping, or dropping, a stone into still water. [23:35] "I was framed by an infernalist, you know. For the death of Novak the Shepherd. It's a little silly to admit, but this is my first time attempting it." [23:37] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Seriously? Had you pegged for someone waist-deep in this stuff. Way some people tell it, demons're the whole point of sorcery." [23:38] "Not for any grand theosophical argument,"5 with this, a sidelong glance to Stranger-Visits-Heaven. "It just hasn't come up." [23:39] 14Stranger has left the pot out on the range, and occasionally dips out to refill. "Sorcery is just an array of means to power and demons are one of the cheapest ones on offer." [23:39] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Never needed the security? Don't see you with any elementals either." [23:40] "I'm close with the Tiger of Nexus," 5he points out. [23:42] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Must've had a cushy spot before then, too. Anyway, blood ape's a great starter. Pretty much what you see is what you get." [23:43] "Well, then let's see what we get," 5suggests the sorcerer. He grins, then casts a cupped hand downwards, spilling out a handful of crushed herbs, reagents, and sorcerous trinkets into the brass mirror-pan. 15[23:46] <@VoxPVoxD> The Unfeathered: "You want me to pack up?" [23:46] 5Xu Sim, thundering: "Abase yourself, weapon and instrument! Submit yourself, shape and glider, fragment all - I am Xu Sim! Behold my performance of the ancient Axiom! I approach the asymptote, I grow vast! Erymanthus, I call you to Creation!" [23:47] 14Stranger finishes his tea. Just in case. [23:47] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar seems to be a pro at watching these. He's made a mug of coffee when Xu Sim began the incantations, and worked his way through some sort of one-player card game as the hours have passed and midnight drawn ever closer. As the witching hour actually approaches, he's standing with his blade at hand, completely alert. [23:49] 13Xia Lan, horrified: "No, no! You're fine!" 13She centers herself. "...Logistically speaking, I might need to charge you to stick around in order to make it stick. Eighth-dinar a year sound fair? So long as you continue to, uh, not sell yourself as a representative of the council... can't figure why they told me about you otherwise..." 15[23:51] <@VoxPVoxD> A fissure opens in the floor of the sanctum, teacups rattling with the force of the rupture. Sickening green light spills forth from the crack as it winds around, gradually widening as a huge, desert-hot simian monster pulls itself up from the earth, screaming with exertion, fangs bared, spurred shoulders bristling with exertion. 15[23:51] <@VoxPVoxD> When the erymanthus has fully extruded, the cracks zip up and vanish as if they'd never been there. 15[23:52] <@VoxPVoxD> The ape's bloodshot and hateful eyes meet the sorcerer's. 15[23:52] <@VoxPVoxD> The ape blinks first. [23:53] "Erymanthus, delight of delights! Listen to me, for I am attired in wrath." 5Xu Sim reaches out and gently boops it on the nose. 15[23:53] <@VoxPVoxD> The Unfeathered visibly relaxes. "That's it?" [23:55] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar watches the thing for a moment. Then: "Nice." [23:56] "Excellent work." [23:56] "Gentlemen," 5booms Xu Sim, "Behold!" [23:57] 5He clears his throat. "Thanks." [23:59] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "You gonna do the workshop thing? Hammer out one a night?" [23:59] "There's some pickled fish if you're hungry. Harm no dog, cat, or man, save with my permission. Clean up after yourself. Do you have any questions?" 5Xu Sim asks the blood ape. 15[00:00] <@VoxPVoxD> The ape: "What are your terms?" [00:01] 5Xu Sim glances at Stranger. [00:02] "I need a bodyguard, until we have triumphed in a terrible battle against a great host of Raksha, in about three weeks. Now, if you can do more than that, I can do more for you." 15[00:03] <@VoxPVoxD> The ape's jaw works. He snuffles and snorts like a horse. "Master." [00:05] 5Xu Sim smiles with all the grace of a cat. 15[00:05] <@VoxPVoxD> NEXT TIME: The sound of drums