15[20:03] <@VoxPVoxD> The Centered Circle wakes one morning to a cloudless sky the fresh-bruise green of a coming storm. The sun is white and hot above. A summons finds them an hour after dawn. The entire war council is expected to greet the Lookshyan reinforcements due to arrive at midday. Scouts have seen them already in the distance; outriders report a tide of steel as the landship Final Word and two hundred Blooded officers drag a legion to Nexus behind them. 15[20:03] <@VoxPVoxD> How does everyone prepare? [20:04] 14Stranger gets his special kettle and a fresh walking cane, and makes sure his peasant robes are pressed. [20:04] 14Has Bubo returned from his work afield? 15[20:06] <@VoxPVoxD> A bare few hours ago, in fact. Bubo was due to return overnight. [20:06] 14Stranger will let him sleep. [20:07] 14He trusts that if there was a true urgency to the man's findings, he'd have woken Stranger. [20:08] 5Xu Sim has been perched on the roof of the hideout, the mangonel under a tarpaulin, as he practices his morning stretches and meditation. [20:09] 14One assumes the full Council will turn out to meet them. Have Stranger, Ephiselle, and Thalevar been able to drive through Beal's confirmation? 15[20:11] <@VoxPVoxD> Everything's gone through there. The hardest man to convince was ultimately Beal himself, who feared he was being reappointed just long enough to be blamed for the disaster that's surely coming everyone's way. [20:13] 14Has to be someone around to blame you, first. [20:14] 13The Unfettered Xia Lan is last to rise, and spends just the right amount of time (far too long) in her room considering appearances. She settles on a professional-looking yet still flashy red and gold outfit outfit, with epaulettes, wide cuffs, an ornate necktie, and all sorts of other bits and bobs. It's not her usual style, but then, neither is meeting with an army. [20:17] 5The sorcerer's calisthenics complete, he lies on his back to stare at clouds, as he considers the sort of letter he shall write the Dragonlord. [20:19] 14Stranger-Visits-Heaven, of course, cuts a simple, incredibly attractive profile in whatever nonsense he threw on this morning. Men have it so easy, he's told. [20:23] 13Did he at least put on tea for their breakfast? If she has to make her own, she will. [20:23] 14He did. [20:24] 14Both blackleaf and a milder green tea. [20:24] 14He also went out and got some bread and cheese, and will be puttering around the common room when everyone else emerges. [20:25] 13Then she at least gets to luxuriate in that blackleaf before the undoubtedly stressful events of the rest of the day. And, hey, toast and cheese, truly a breakfast of champions. [20:26] "Ah, good morning," 14Stranger says as he begins to lightly toast some of the bread over the tea fire. [20:28] 13Xia Lan: "Good morning, Stranger." 13Ah, a late night, judging by the tiredness around her voice. Not too late, though, big day today, nothing a cup of tea can't fix. "And a busy one too, for you," 13pouring out said cup. [20:29] 14Mmmm. "And for you...Councillor." [20:30] 5At last, Xu Sim returns to his room for a pot of ink and a brush, as well as the second of Seven's cartridges. [20:31] 5He sets up shop in the kitchen with the others, alternating between the steambreather, a bread crust, and a cup of the tea as he scrawls away. His penmanship is flawless. [20:31] 13Xia Lan: "Mmm," 13as she takes a sip. She raises an eyebrow towards Xu Sim's apparatus, but says nothing. 15[20:32] <@VoxPVoxD> This one tastes of lavender, but is most notable for the furious, billowing violet cloud Xu Sim exhales like a fashionable dragon. [20:32] 14To Xu Sim: "Good morning, good sorceror. What's the word?" [20:34] 5The doctor considers the question, withdrawing his stylus from the scroll for a moment. "An excellent question. The word is..." [20:44] 14Stranger melts a slice of cheese atop one of the toasting bread slices while he waits. [20:44] 5Xu Sim wafts the brush in the air impatiently. [20:45] "I'm not sure. What is the word? What is coming next?" [20:45] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar doesn't actually sleep at the hideout if he can help it - the furnishings of his apartment are, at this point, probably not as nice, but much more familiar. When it's time to form up and meet the next morning, he of course knows exactly what he's wearing, and is present in orichalcum and moonsilver articulated plate leading a full detachment of the Dawn Guard. [20:46] "Tenuous? Uncertain? Vague? Good heavens." [20:47] 13Xia Lan takes another sip and begins toasting her own bread, tea being her bulwark against sleep. "Precarious," 13she offers. [20:47] "I'll take 'good heavens,'" 14says Stranger, plating the cheesy bread. He brushed it with oil beforehand. Tastes good. Serves three. [20:50] "An alternative approach. A discussion of what is known, rather than what is not. 'Dragonlord Dorma, I am at this time prepared to report that, upon my investigations of the Thorns delegation and the Sevenfold Scion, that failure in the face of the Raksha armies is not an option they can countenance. I can further report that the Scion of the Sevenfold's talents approach my own in many [20:50] of my own disciplines.'" [20:51] 14Stranger: "Oh, you've tested her talents, have you?" [20:51] 5Xu Sim blows an enormous cloud of vapor in Stranger's direction. [20:51] 14Stranger chuckles and bites into his bread. [20:52] 14Once breakfast is finished, he's ready for a stroll down to the parade. [20:52] 5Xu Sim shrugs and, with a minor elaboration or two, signs and seals the letter. [20:52] 13A quick dip into her room to grab her swords and Xia Lan is ready, too. 15[21:01] <@VoxPVoxD> Nexus, lacking city walls, has no gates to greet its visitors. But huge crowds gather on the piers of Nighthammer to see the Lookshyans ford the Yellow in their steel thousands, the Final Word drifting over the surface of the river like a black toad. [21:02] 14Hrmph. [21:02] 14Keldar, presumably, is making a good impression with the Apples and the Dawn Guard. The collected Emissary should be doing the same. How are the other Councilors? Is Kratz here, and if she's here, is she sober? 15[21:03] <@VoxPVoxD> The Council of Entities is at the docks in full assemblage, along with the Governor of Nexus, in characteristic good temper, and Nessun Dorma, his mood plausibly foul. 15[21:03] <@VoxPVoxD> If Kratz is drunk she's hiding it better than she ever has before. [21:03] 14Presumably she doesn't need Stranger to tell her Bubo is back in town. He's been playing switchboard for them quite a bit, most likely. 15[21:04] <@VoxPVoxD> Soldiers and gawkers gather around - Keldar gets a cheer when he pokes his head out of the huddle; as does Xu Sim. Xia Lan and Stranger get whistles too. [21:04] 14Strange will serenely ignore the catcalls. [21:04] *14Stranger will serenely ignore the catcalls. [21:05] 5Xu Sim cranes his neck to see who else might have come out and blows a cloud of violet smoke. [21:05] 13Xia Lan does as well, though it does prompt her to look around for Tsuka. She assumes he'd be with the Apples, if he's here... 15[21:07] <@VoxPVoxD> Tsuka's back with the cadets in Parko Llana. There's still work to be done implementing Keldar's regimen. [21:10] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar won't be spending too much time in the huddle - he's got an important role to serve as the coolest and strongest of Nexus's Chosen, possibly Khelendros excepted. The Dawn Caste's standing tall, arms crossed, torso framed from behind by the moonsilver shape of Entreaty. Gotta be clearly visible to the approaching Lookshyans. [21:10] 14Well. Here we go. [21:11] 5Xu Sim spares the Dragonlord a second glance, noting his apparent displeasure. [21:14] 5But who knows what's going on, behind that mask. [21:15] 14He's probably petulant. 15[21:17] <@VoxPVoxD> The ship docks, needing to almost beach itself alongside the pier as the prow unravels like a flower, disgorging a metal ramp that cuts into the stone of the dock. A phalanx of jade emerges, a hundred strong. The officers salute. The Wyld Hunt salutes back. [21:17] 14If they're going to wheel and kill us all, now's the time. [21:19] 13Xia Lan's hands dance towards her weapons before returning to her sides. [21:23] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar has an internal debate over waving lazily or nodding sternly, but decides for now to just keep standing and watching. Presumably the Lookshyans have some kind of internal discussion to move through before addressing Nexus officially. 15[21:24] <@VoxPVoxD> The figure at the head of the phalanx reaches out and beckons Nessun Dorma. The two speak, Dorma towering over the new Lookshyan commander, away from the others. [21:25] 14How do the other Councilors look? [21:25] 5Xu Sim admires the enormous, terrifying weapon. Final word, eh? 15[21:26] <@VoxPVoxD> Grim. A few of them have plainly had the same 'if they ever wanted to massacre us all...' thought Stranger did, and the rest of them don't look any happier. How many would-be conquering armies does this make, now? Five? Six? [21:26] 14Why not make it seven, and a round baker's half-dozen. [21:31] 14Stranger straightens and brandishes his walking cane a bit more prominently, if not aggressively. If only to reassure the other members of the Council, the Emissaries should look strong. 15[21:32] <@VoxPVoxD> The new commander's helmet turns almost immediately to face Xu Sim, some thirty yalms away. [21:33] 13As Xia Lan watches the meeting between Dorma and the new arrival, something akin to worry flickers across her face, quickly replaced by the same bland interest she'd been projecting before. 15[21:37] <@VoxPVoxD> After what seems like ages of quiet conference the new commander steps forward and raises their arms to speak, but Dorma raises an arm to beckon them back. The posture is different now, informal. He puts an arm on their shoulder. 15[21:37] <@VoxPVoxD> Now the new commander looks in Keldar's direction. [21:37] 5Xu Sim strokes his mustache contemplatively. [21:37] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar looks back. Well? [21:39] 14Stranger isn't quite impertinent -- an impertinent Stranger would have winked at Ephiselle -- but his smile is reassuring. 15[21:41] <@VoxPVoxD> Suddenly the new commander spins around, grabbing the center of Dorma's breastplate with a bare gauntlet - they have no visible weapons. Dorma raises his arms in a placating gesture. [21:42] 14Lot of drama. [21:43] 13No visible weapons? That's... less reassuring than it probably ought to be. [21:43] 14Does he have hands? Does he have a head? Then he's smartly armed. 15[21:45] <@VoxPVoxD> Another moment passes like this before the new commander releases Dorma, who visibly relaxes once their back is to him. 15[21:48] <@VoxPVoxD> She removes the helmet, revealing a woman with white hair and a hard look on her face. Her breath steams like she's just stepped outside on a cold day. 15[21:48] <@VoxPVoxD> "You don't know me." 15[21:49] <@VoxPVoxD> "I won't mince words." 15[21:49] <@VoxPVoxD> "Nexus won't fall." 15[21:49] <@VoxPVoxD> There's a long silence before anyone's willing to cheer. [21:49] 14True, seems true, and contingently true. [21:49] 14Stranger is the first to clap. [21:49] 14It's not sarcastic. [21:50] 5Xu Sim applauds politely about two heartbeats after Stranger starts. [21:50] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Well, yeah." [21:50] 13Xia Lan joins them soon after, once she realizes that that actually was it. 15[21:56] <@VoxPVoxD> She walks toward the assembled delegation, saluting again. "My name is Vuol Ballare. I'm Dragonlord, with the General Staff, and commander of the Final Word. Where are we meeting?" [21:58] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar's assumption here is the Palazzo, although he wasn't in charge of actual event planning. He just needs to sustain a show of strength and run security. [21:58] 14We likely haven't rebuilt the tower yet, though we should get on that once we win. [21:58] 14So yes, the Palazzo. [22:00] 14He'll even communicate that. "We are provisioned and requisitioned to receive visitors at the Palazzo, Dragonlord Vuol Ballare. My name is Stranger-Visits-Heaven, and I am an Emissary of Nexus. Shall we?" [22:01] 14He'll answer her salute with a bow. 15[22:01] <@VoxPVoxD> Ballare gestures for him to lead on. Soon the assembled delegation, plus Dragonlord Ballare and five more red-jade-armored officers, make the trek up Sentinel Hill to meet in the Palazzo Vecchio. Everyone else stays in, on, or near the ship. [22:03] 13Xia Lan bows slightly to Ballare before turning to follow Stranger. He's gotten this covered so far, might as well let him keep doing it. [22:03] 14He will defer on security matters, of course, to Keldar. But he'll also attempt to keep as much of a separating wall between this new Dragonlord and the Dawn Sergeant wearing that particular armor as he can. [22:03] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar's along for the walk, though of course he leaves a contingent of guardmsen to, in his own words, keep the Lookshyans company. Once the Council's assembled, the Dawn Sergeant takes his usual seat, gauntleted fingers interlaced before him. [22:04] 14The Emissary only has one seat at the table, and Stranger is fine with Xia Lan taking it, while he and Xu Sim float about. [22:04] 5Xu Sim blows clouds of radiant steam and keeps his own counsel, for at least the moment. [22:05] 14If only because this means he can prod Xu Sim towards an open balcony. 15[22:08] <@VoxPVoxD> Once everyone's sat down, Ballare will begin speaking. "The plague is cured, one of our High Judges is dead, and Highland stole your dome and left town after murdering your last Dawn Sergeant, shortly after the old Emissary murdered the old Evening Master." 15[22:08] <@VoxPVoxD> "Am I underbriefed?" [22:09] 14Stranger: "Wasn't really 'our' dome, and the old Evening Master had it coming. Otherwise, no." [22:10] "Though it's worth noting that there's a reason you didn't see much of Highland on your way in. Such works come at high prices." [22:12] 13Xia Lan: "I would agree that is a fairly accurate summary of events." 13She looks abruptly exhausted, considering it all, before shifting in her chair. "It's been... an interesting time." 15[22:12] <@VoxPVoxD> Ballare: "Leaving you down one army, one dome, one Sergeant, and two pieces of shit. What's your battle plan?" [22:12] 14Stranger: "Again, mostly addition by subtraction. But I cede the floor here to the Dawn Sergeant and the Arsenic Handshake." [22:12] 13Xia Lan looks to Keldar, here. 15[22:13] <@VoxPVoxD> Ballare: "Which is which?" [22:13] "The man in the cloud is the one named after the poison." [22:14] 5Xu Sim nods. [22:16] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "I'm Dawn Sergeant Keldar, newly appointed. We're set up for the long haul, here - readying the undercity to be used as a bunker, hospital, and larder while preparing war machines that'll shred the raksha outside the city and a fighting force that can keep them at bay when they close." 15[22:17] <@VoxPVoxD> Ballare: "Glass bombs and thistledown?" [22:17] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "At least to start with. Xu Sim can go into the specifics there." 15[22:18] <@VoxPVoxD> Ballare squints at Xu Sim through the vapor. [22:20] "That's right. The glass bombs are of my own device." 5Xu Sim sets down the steambreather. "They shall deliver, through the use of a specialized mangonel, a deadly wind." 15[22:20] <@VoxPVoxD> "Poison?" [22:20] "The most lethal sort." 15[22:23] <@VoxPVoxD> Ballare: "Good. Dorma will see you squared away. I'm reabsorbing his Wyld Hunt and the Seventh Caduceus but in all matters of procurement and the common defense he will remain your focal point." [22:24] "As for the thistledown, I was given to understand that Lookshy might contribute some equipment, that its deadly flakes might shield Creation once again." 15[22:25] <@VoxPVoxD> Ballare: "Yes. We've got a pylon for you. I'll have Dorma bring you round to inspect it. Do you have facilities to receive it or will you be needing to stage from the Word?" 15[22:26] <@VoxPVoxD> Dorma, who is still in the room, says nothing. [22:26] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar looks to Xu Sim here. He's not sure how good a platform his own tomb is going to be. [22:32] "We'll be staging it ourselves." [22:33] 14We should, at some point, talk provisioning and lines of communication. It might be best from a presentation perspective if one of the other Councilors raised this point, because they've been excluded so far. [22:34] 14Stranger is examining the sitting Councilors for someone to signal boost. 15[22:36] <@VoxPVoxD> Hayle and Thalevar have jurisdiction. Udelph has nominal seniority. Beal has actual seniority. Kratz seemed the least offput by the Lookshyans. Gen and Ephiselle wouldn't want a signal boost in the first place. 15[22:37] <@VoxPVoxD> And the rest of you are the rest of you. [22:38] 14Gen's a liability and Ephiselle is most effective when no one knows anything about her, so both of those are fine. Stranger's instincts here are to throw Thalevar a bone to solidify that tie and tap Beal to make sure he knows this is a real job, with everything that comes with it. [22:39] <@Ferrinus> 12If it's time to launch into logistics, Keldar's well-equipped to start negotiating with Ballare as to who gets quartered where, how often communiques of what sort are run up and down the line, that sort of thing. What exactly do they need from Nexus? [22:40] 14The problem with that, of course, is making sure that Hayle, Udelph, and Kratz aren't underserved. Are any of those three chomping at the bit, or will they take Stranger pushing Thalevar and Beal here as a diminishment of their role? [22:41] 13Xia Lan's just listening, nodding, and doing very little interjecting - war preparations aren't really her expertise, and no one's proposing anything egregious, so there's not much for her to add. Hopefully she's at least coming off professional and not as a dilettante. 15[22:41] <@VoxPVoxD> "We intend to re-quarter our forces entirely on the Word. We need a large staff on board the ship at all times and have room for everyone. And quartering in Nexus presents a morale hazard. We will need food if the fight drags on." 15[22:41] <@VoxPVoxD> The Governor: "Do you like mushrooms?" 15[22:41] <@VoxPVoxD> Ballare: "No." 15[22:41] <@VoxPVoxD> The Governor: "..." [22:42] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Might be a problem." [22:43] 14Removing Lookshyan forces entirely to the massive barge solves some short term problems but also removes points of inflection for influence. 15[22:43] <@VoxPVoxD> Ballare: "The undercity larder." 15[22:43] <@VoxPVoxD> The Governor: "Yes. If you'd like to see our proposals--" 15[22:44] <@VoxPVoxD> Ballare: "We'll live." 15[22:44] <@VoxPVoxD> It sounds like a warning. [22:44] 13He does have that effect on people. [22:44] 14Stranger's eyeroll here is meant for public consumption. [22:45] 14You have to do a little thing with your head when you don't have visible pupils. [22:48] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Good to hear. Anything else you need from us straight away? Otherwise I just need to note that we're holding joint military exercises by the weekday in the central park and just to the east of the city, for when you're settled in." [23:00] 5Xu Sim resumes his steam-breathing. He is practicing making rings. Perhaps one day he will learn to make truly elaborate shapes, like a scale model of the Final Word, of the steam he breathes. [23:01] 14Stranger: "Logistically, I think we should tap some of the other Councilors and make this more of a multilateral discussion. To that end, I'd like to introduce Thalevar, the August Councilor of the Eclipse, and Beal, the Evening Master. Very widely speaking, they govern the docks of Nexus and the business of Nexus respectively, and will be best suited to coordinate provisioning and [23:01] mariner's rights." [23:02] 14He touches each man on the shoulder as he introduces them, and then he gets out of the way. 15[23:03] <@VoxPVoxD> Thalevar: "Yeah, so, one thing we need to settle up is your ship. Even docked lengthwise it's in the shipping channel." 15[23:04] <@VoxPVoxD> Ballare: "So go around it." 15[23:04] <@VoxPVoxD> Thalevar: "Yeah, that's fine, but boats that close in the river, you might see some bumps and scrapes. Can we count on you guys to accomodate?" 15[23:05] <@VoxPVoxD> Ballare: "I don't understand." 15[23:05] <@VoxPVoxD> Thalevar: "Repairs, lost hours. Overages from having to go around it." [23:06] 14Stranger represses a smile. 15[23:06] <@VoxPVoxD> Ballare: "No, that won't do. We'll move the ship." 15[23:06] <@VoxPVoxD> Thalevar: "Beg pardon, but where?" [23:06] 13Xia Lan keeps her face carefully blank. 15[23:07] <@VoxPVoxD> Ballare: "Go around the city and beach it on the east end, near where the road to town comes in." 15[23:07] <@VoxPVoxD> "That's how they do it in Thorns, is it not? With your Juggernaut?" 15[23:07] <@VoxPVoxD> The Governor: "...when the mood takes it, yes." 15[23:08] <@VoxPVoxD> Beal: "Outside city limits, you're saying?" 15[23:08] <@VoxPVoxD> Ballare: "Do you have a better idea?" 15[23:09] <@VoxPVoxD> Beal: "Seldom, if ever. We can trust you not to exploit your extralegal status?" 15[23:09] <@VoxPVoxD> Ballare: "You're talking about..." 15[23:10] <@VoxPVoxD> Beal: "Gambling, hospitality, duty-free trading outside the bounds of the Dogmas and Civilities but right on our doorstep." 15[23:10] <@VoxPVoxD> Ballare: "I don't understand." [23:10] 14Stranger: "Do you traffic in drugs, whores, or sports books?" 15[23:10] <@VoxPVoxD> Beal: "You see the potential, surely? A fully staffed and impregnable city respecting no laws but its own right next door?" 15[23:10] <@VoxPVoxD> Ballare: "..." 15[23:10] <@VoxPVoxD> "...I think we can restrain ourselves." [23:11] 14Stranger: "I apologize for the insult. But it was best delivered straight-forward." 15[23:12] <@VoxPVoxD> Ballare: "If I take offense every time human scum reaches out to me in fellowship we'll never finish this meeting." 15[23:12] <@VoxPVoxD> "We'll respect local ordinance." [23:12] 14Stranger, mildly: "As you say." [23:13] 13Xia Lan: "Then there's no further concern there?" 13She looks to Beal for confirmation. 15[23:21] <@VoxPVoxD> Beal: "I'm satisfied." 15[23:25] <@VoxPVoxD> Ballare, mildly: "It's raining." 15[23:25] <@VoxPVoxD> The Council can turn to look out any window and see rose petals fall like snowflakes from the sky. [23:25] 14Stranger: "Eventually it stops." 15[23:25] <@VoxPVoxD> The sky remains tornado green. [23:25] 13Xia Lan: "...that's new." [23:26] 14He's unperturbed by the rain's strange nature, or the sky. [23:26] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar frowns through the window. This mean anything to him? [23:28] 5Xu Sim erupts in a coughing fit as he springs to his feet, and the window. 15[23:28] <@VoxPVoxD> Outside, the alarum rings. Dawn Guard calling its sergeant. [23:28] 14Stranger: "She's early." [23:28] "This is good." [23:28] 13Xia Lan: "Is it???" [23:29] 14Stranger: "Why would we want to fight them all at the same time?" [23:29] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar frowns, pushes his chair back from the table, then stands. "Duty calls, folks. You'll have to proceed without me." 12He strides briskly out. [23:30] 5The sorcerer leans out a window to try to catch one of the petals. Has this raksha - would it dare - [23:31] 14Stranger will spend his time trying to soothe the remaining Councilors. And Ballare, too, but it's doubtful she'll need it. [23:31] 14Where's Dorma? 15[23:31] <@VoxPVoxD> Dorma's standing, hand straying to his hammer. [23:32] 14To Ballare: "My respect for you is only outshone by my respect for your relieved Dragonlord. In my opinion, you should loose him. We have some seven to ten days before this pays itself off, but there is work to be done." 15[23:34] <@VoxPVoxD> Xu Sim reaches out to touch the stray blossom, and clutches it in his hand triumphantly. When he brings it close to inspect it, however, he finds that he can't open his hand. It stiffens, tremors running up his arm as his skin turns green. [23:36] 13Xia Lan looks out from a window, trying to see what's happening in the streets -- what's going on down there? 15[23:36] <@VoxPVoxD> Ballare: "So it would seem. Ladies, gentlemen. Excuse me. Dragonlord." Dorma and Ballare suit up, encased wholly in jade, before striding outside. [23:36] <@Ferrinus> 12When Keldar steps outside, his caste mark glows orange-red on his brow and an aura of dawnfire ripples across the outline of his armored body. Flower petals that land on him burn away into dust as he strides through the streets. [23:37] 14Stranger's forehead lights up as he steps outside, after making sure the mortal Councilors are ushered downstairs into a fully enclosed room. [23:37] <@Ferrinus> 12Does there look like there's a source causing this, or a direction in which the rain is thickest? [23:38] 14To Xu Sim, as the hideous mutagens fall: "I think she likes me." 15[23:38] <@VoxPVoxD> Outside the streets are all but empty. Soldiers and civilians have taken shelter, hiding under eaves and beneath their shields. Some were unable to escape - on this street alone Keldar can see over a dozen humanoid figures wrought in vine and thorn, the delicate branchwork twisting in the shapes of human bones, human muscles, human veins. 15[23:38] <@VoxPVoxD> The rose rain falls indiscriminate. [23:39] 14Keldar's visible in the square below. Good man in a pinch. Stranger leans out over the balcony on his elbows. [23:40] 14Then he touches his ear and specifies, "Bubo." [23:40] 14The rose petals burn away in sunfire as they touch him. 15[23:41] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo's voice crackles. It's never crackled before. "Are you seeing this? Is Kratz alright?" [23:41] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar snarls at no one in particular. Then he shouts: "XU SIM? IDEAS?" [23:41] 14Stranger: "I've sent her to the Palazzo's basement. And yes, I'm seeing this. One second." [23:41] 14He connects Keldar and Xu Sim. [23:42] 14Back to Bubo: "Where are you? Are you inside?" [23:43] 13At the first glance of someone captured by thorns, Xia Lan sprints downstairs and out onto the streets -- are they covered by them? Or have they become them? 15[23:43] <@VoxPVoxD> 10The road up the eastern side of the hill bears only two living souls, a roan horse and its rider, who staggers and slumps like a drunk with the shocks of the horse's trot but her eyes are wide open and she's smiling. Her skin is ghost-white. Her veins green and visible. 15[23:43] <@VoxPVoxD> There's a now-familiar pressure building in everyone's chest. [23:43] "Keldar! We need Highland's sorcerer and anyone who has any control over the weather to blow this foul storm away!" [23:43] 14Good news for bad people. [23:44] 14Stranger, to all the solars and Bubo: "Someone's come calling out the eastern side of the city." [23:45] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar's about to shout a response, but remembers the codex. "Right. Know where he is - heading to Bastion now." 12The Dawn Sergeant stomps off, soon breaking into a run until he can find an emas bird or something to carry him the rest of the way. [23:45] 14Stranger: "I'm going to go talk to her." 15[23:47] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo: "Do you need backup?" [23:48] 14Stranger: "Yes. Honestly, yes. But I'm not going to ask you to sacrifice yourself." [23:48] "We should get together before, anyway. Just for an hour or two. I'll bring Kratz." [23:49] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar doesn't get more than two steps before the rider's appeared, though, and he stops dead. Instead he sends an order - at least two of his guardsmen are to bundle up completely, no exposed skin, and rush to Bastion in the Dawn Sergeant's stead to prevail upon the Nine Storms Fiend to deal with this. He's to be provided any reagant he needs. 15[23:50] <@VoxPVoxD> 10Xia Lan stares down the hill at the rider, and for a moment the rider stares back. Xia Lan's eyes fill to bursting with the sound of war drums. [23:51] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar himself rounds on the distant, mounted figure, looks to his allies, and then strides on towards it. "Hey!" [23:54] 14Stranger organizes the defense of the Palazzo -- lots of staying away from the windows, lots of checking the man or woman next to you -- then he heads to the basement and brandishes the symbol of moving sideways. [23:54] 14To the Councilors: "Creation isn't safe here, anymore. We're availing ourselves of the second option." [23:55] 14He snaps open the portal. To Kratz: "Your man's on the other side." 15[23:56] <@VoxPVoxD> In fact he is; he's literally right there. They fly into each other's arms. 15[23:56] <@VoxPVoxD> Beal: "Alright, alright, let's go. Someone can explain when we're safe." 15[23:56] <@VoxPVoxD> Ephiselle, mildly: "When will that be?" 15[23:58] <@VoxPVoxD> 10The rider throws her arms open in fellowship. There's a tiny pop audible in the horrible silence as she accidentally dislocates her own shoulders with the force of her greeting. "I am here! With a message. Of peaaaacccccccceeeeeeeeeee~" [23:58] 14Stranger: "You'll know when you're alive and you're no longer beholden to my trinkets. Let me figure out the food situation." 15[23:58] <@VoxPVoxD> As the rider approaches people can see that smoke is rising from the horse's back and flanks where the rider makes contact with it. [23:59] 13Xia Lan can't take her eyes off the rider. Music pulsing in her ears, all other sound shut out - nothing but her, the rider, and the song. 15[23:59] <@VoxPVoxD> Stranger successfully persuades the Council to walk through the keyhole into another world entirely. [00:00] 5Xu Sim staggers on his feet, swinging his hand as bits of the greenishness fly off of it into the air. Circling away from the window like a drunk, his eyes roll in his head as he frantically searches for a strange thing: a housefly. There's one sitting on the curtains, which he now addresses. "Scion of the Sevenfold: I'm sure you have noticed the deadly Wyldish rosepetals. Don't let [00:00] them touch you. Meet me aboard the Final Word." [00:00] <@Ferrinus> 12There's the sound of scraping metal, flowing liquid, and rapidly displacing air as Keldar draws Terminus from behind his back and ends up pointing a grand daiklave at the rider on the steed in one smooth motion. "End the rain and we'll talk." [00:00] 14Stranger will step out into the underworks of the city and find as good as provisions as he can muster. Preferably without mushrooms. Then he'll get a kitchen's worth of utensils. Then he'll step back inside to prepare it all. 15[00:01] <@VoxPVoxD> Above, the sky darkens. Petals stop falling to the ground as a great cyclone spins up into the empty sky, tracking slowly across the city west to east, sucking them up as it goes. People's eardrums pop as the air pressure plummets. [00:02] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar's eyes roll up briefly as he surveys this, then back down to the woman on the horse. He's pretty sure that wasn't her, but for the moment, it works. "...talk." 12He's still pointing a grand daiklave at her one-handed, which can't be easy. 15[00:02] <@VoxPVoxD> Giant wasps descend from the storm periodically to sweep up the petals that have already settled on the ground into great drifts the whirlwind can soak up. Awnings, signs, trash, abandoned objects, and hedged bodies all fly up indiscriminately into the wind. [00:03] 5Breathing into cupped palms, Xu Sim summons up one of his message-pixies - he sends it to Nine Storms Fiend with a message to prepare to counteract the Wyld-Weather, to avoid the rose-petals and Yu-Shan knows what else, and to await outside the Tomb of Cold Iron. 15[00:04] <@VoxPVoxD> 10The rider beckons: "Bring me the body! Bring us the 4Eye! It will be painless." [00:06] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "And in exchange?" [00:06] 14And so the message was: fuck you if you can't take the yoke. 15[00:07] <@VoxPVoxD> 10The rider: "PEACE!" [00:07] 5Xu Sim then whispers another spell - one he's learned from watching the selfsame Fiend - and flies out the window in a whirlwind, heading for the Final Word. 15[00:08] <@VoxPVoxD> From Xia Lan's perspective, everyone and everything freezes still. Her friends, her enemies, the wind and the screaming. Total stillness. Total silence. [00:08] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar narrows his eyes at the rider. He spins his grand daiklave in his hand and rests it point down before him, one hand still on the hilt. With the other he touches his ear. "Stranger, Xu Sim, Xia Lan - you getting this? Want me to repeat it?" [00:08] 14Stranger leaves the Council with their new, diminuitive wrangler -- still making out with his lady-live -- and carefully walks through the city, above and below, collecting a week's worth of food. [00:08] 13... 15[00:09] <@VoxPVoxD> A man in a white cape and a silver mask walks in from stage right of her peripheral vision. The rider, frozen herself, can track his movements with her eyes. [00:09] 14Most important is that no one but him is exposed to the rose petals. [00:09] 14So there's a lot of underworks shopping. [00:11] "Stall for whatever time you can, Keldar." 5Xu Sim whips through deserted streets, dodging tendrils of the whirlwind, at dizzying speed. This is even more terrifying than being dragged along by the Dragonlord and his Gunzosha. 15[00:11] <@VoxPVoxD> He places a hand on her shoulder, and she hears two men singing the same song, off-time, each one rising and falling against the other moment to moment like waves crashing in the dark, a blind struggle for primacy that never resolves. 15[00:13] <@VoxPVoxD> Time starts again, and from everyone but Xia Lan's perspective the Emissary has appeared out of nowhere with a sickening crack, standing behind Xia Lan. [00:13] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "She's offering, uh, 'peace' in exchange for the body and the eye. Three guesses whhhhhoooo boy." [00:13] 14When Stranger returns, he returns with a long table. Then he leaves, and comes back, and leaves, and comes back. When he's done, seven baskets of ingredients sit on one end of the table. [00:14] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar, of course, has just noticed the new arrival mid-sentence. He looks back over his shoulder at the Emissary, a questioning expression on his face. [00:14] 14He leaves them there for a bit, and walks off to set up a fire pit. Water comes from the fountains. Stones come from somewhere outside. [00:15] 14Once he's got the hot fire going and the table set up, he begins preparing the meal. [00:15] 14This is a social occasion for the Council. He's not minimizing the horrible nature of what's going on outside, but he is trying to make this an occasion for everyone to talk, and he does chat over preparing the first course: sashimi. [00:16] 14Ideally, by the end of this, everyone will know each other better. [00:16] 13Xia Lan looks vaguely ill. This is - this is a lot, to take in. ...is the Other Emissary still keeping his hand on her shoulder, now that time has started again? [00:17] 13...does he stand with them? [00:17] <@Ferrinus> 12If neither the Emissary nor the rider immediately move to strike or something, Keldar returns to the codex, muttering to the rest of the Circle. "We're being offered a deal here. Try to swear her to it or just tell her to fuck off?" 15[00:17] <@VoxPVoxD> Time started back up when he let go. He still stands behind her. [00:18] 13Then she wavers, slightly, but manages an impressive glare towards the rider. She doesn't respond to Keldar's question. 15[00:19] <@VoxPVoxD> Xu Sim finds Seven and the behatted Hunter in Darkness waiting for him at the Final Word, a dozen daiklaves pointed at them from all sides. What says Xu Sim? [00:19] 14The second course is paella. [00:21] "Stand aside and take us to the Pylon! Time is of the essence!" 15[00:22] <@VoxPVoxD> Here a voice speaks up that Xu Sim recognizes as Vissi D'Arte. "Trust them! They've got a plan! If you don't like it, I've got an indefinite medical leave you can take up with the General Staff back home!" [00:23] 5Power crackles across Xu Sim's brow - but his face cracks into a weary smile. "Chirurgeon! Bless you!" 15[00:23] <@VoxPVoxD> There's a tense pause before the guards relent, and the three Anathema are united. Seven hugs Xu Sim. 15[00:23] <@VoxPVoxD> But the embrace is brief, and her expression is intense when she pulls away. "Show me the weapon." [00:24] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar addresses the rider: "You want to deal, we can deal. But I need time to assemble my people and in the meantime you leave this city untouched." 15[00:24] <@VoxPVoxD> 10The rider: "I'm not touching you~" [00:24] 5He squeezes back, for a moment. "Take us there - immediately!" [00:25] 13Xia Lan looks to the other Emissary. Please tell me he has something for this. 15[00:25] <@VoxPVoxD> 10She laughs. The horse's knees quiver as it halts. Smoke rises. [00:25] 5(this last part - directed to the Dragonbloods) 15[00:26] <@VoxPVoxD> The Emissary: "YOU ARE IN CONTRAVENTION!" [00:26] 14That's not his name anymore. 15[00:26] <@VoxPVoxD> Tell that to his subconscious. [00:26] 14Bitch I might. 15[00:27] <@VoxPVoxD> 10The rider: "You~ are~ already deaaaaaaaaaaaad~" 15[00:31] <@VoxPVoxD> The Emissary: "Pin ta stramb firrathin!" 15[00:31] <@VoxPVoxD> 10The rider: "Pinad! Mela doul jin lok waratoro se!" 15[00:31] <@VoxPVoxD> The Emissary: "CASCISTI! GURU MA TRAN WENQURAGA METTAG!" [00:31] 14Fools. [00:33] 13...hopefully they're not talking about anything important, because yikes. None of this makes any sense. [00:35] 14While chopping fish: "Wait. Keldar. Get closer." [00:35] 14Still chopping: "Closer." [00:35] "Okay." [00:35] "Ah." [00:36] "Don't listen to that bullshit." [00:36] "It's a fake language. Tell Xu Sim and Xia Lan: it's fake. They're screaming at each other to avoid the silence." [00:37] "Don't let it into your mind." [00:37] "It's definitely gibberish. But maybe - maybe it -" [00:37] 14He let it into his mind. [00:38] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Alright am I telling this lady to wait for both of you to get here or are I, Xia Lan, and our boy the Emissary here on our own?" 15[00:38] <@VoxPVoxD> Xu Sim, Seven, and Hunter are ushered into a holding bay where they see a great black obelisk, covered in simple but abstract sigils. Lines and circles. [00:38] 14Stranger: "You are telling her to wait three hours. Relate it to sunset or some other permutation of the clock if you must. They like that." [00:39] "I will be there." [00:40] 5Xu Sim approaches it reverently. This is a piece of the ancient world, an answer to so many riddles, a fragment of incomparable power. Power that he could use to conqu-- Power that he will use to save the people. [00:41] 13Xia Lan shrugs it off, after a bit. This is nonsense. If Stranger's message gets through, it only confirms what she already thought, which is the best kind of message. [00:41] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Right." 12He raises his voice to the fae. "Wait here 'til moonrise and we can all talk terms. Don't worry, you'll have company." 15[00:44] <@VoxPVoxD> 10The rider: "We have the rest of our lives together." [00:44] <@Ferrinus> 12After peering a moment, Keldar mutters into the codex. "Here's the thing. I don't think this lady's body is gonna last three hours." [00:44] 14Stranger sighs. "Can you give me one hour." [00:45] "It's magnificent. We have to get it across town as quickly as possible. To the Tomb." 5He sighs, discontentedly. "Erymanthus!" 5he shouts, with a wave of his arm. And in a puff of smoke, there are standing two of the great demonic Blood Apes. [00:45] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Mmmm, probably. Two's pushing it. What's got you tied up, anyway?" [00:46] 14Stranger: "Resting. I've exerted myself recently. You want me fresh." 15[00:46] <@VoxPVoxD> "That's not enough. Not near enough to carry this!" Seven produces a green vial from inside her clothes, full of a bubbling fluid, and singsongs, "Come, my minions, rise for your master," [00:47] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Well, clock's ticking." 12What follows is probably a long, awkward, not-quite-standoff as the Dawn Sergeant keeps watch on, in a way, three emissaries. 15[00:47] <@VoxPVoxD> The vial burns and flares and a swarm of green motes spill forth, spreading on contact with air into small batlike shapes that spin and swarm around the obelisk, chewing through the metal rods that bind it and, with the blood apes' help, holding it steady and aloft. [00:48] 14Stranger could snap something off here about how much he knows the clock is ticking, but he doesn't. It wouldn't be helpful. [00:48] 14Instead he finishes preparing the sushi. [00:48] 14Then he goes and sits down. 15[00:49] <@VoxPVoxD> 10The rider: "Sit with us. Sit with us as equals." 15[00:49] <@VoxPVoxD> The Emissary: "You. Are not. My equal." [00:49] 14He eats two sides of fish, and then looks for Bubo. [00:50] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Middle of the street? I'll stand." 12He looks over at the Emissary, and, somewhat conspiratorially, says: "...can I have a word?" [00:50] 14The Exissary. 15[00:50] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo's sitting away from the others, a roll of paper in his hands, a little spider on its back four legs looking up at him with eight plaintive emerald eyes. [00:51] 14To Bubo: "Have you eaten?" 15[00:51] <@VoxPVoxD> The Emissary looks over at Keldar: "Here?" [00:52] 14Stranger's got a plate of the good raw fish if the answer is no. [00:52] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar shrugs. "We can walk a bit. I figure, we're waiting here anyway." [00:52] 14Hell, even if the answer is yes. [00:52] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar's not letting the rider out of his sight, of course, but he can go down the street a ways. [00:52] "Astounding," 5Xu Sim marvels at the idea of summoning some kind of spirit from a bottle. That's right up his alley. 15[00:53] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo: "A letter to the Director. Explaining everything. My initial involvement. My continued involvement. I can show him the stakes. It makes sense. He's going to hear something if it makes sense." [00:53] 14To Bubo: "Have you eaten?" 15[00:53] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo: "Just coffee." [00:53] 14He hands him the fish. [00:53] "Now - come along! Come on! Make way, make way-" 5Xu Sim hurries to the front of the motley group and gestures wildly at any crew or onlookers to get out of the way. 15[00:54] <@VoxPVoxD> The Emissary, for just a moment, sounds like his old self. "Let's speak freely, citizen." [00:54] 14Stranger: "Why is that the outcome of you searching for the Exissary's identity?" [00:54] "I'm trying that out." [00:54] "The Exissary." [00:55] "Seems petty, but sometimes petty is good." 15[00:55] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo: "Cethleann would appreciate the joke." [00:55] 14Stranger: "She will, in a few hours." 15[00:55] <@VoxPVoxD> "The situation is more complicated than I anticipated. I need access to the levers of office to resolve it." 15[00:55] <@VoxPVoxD> "With his family." [00:56] <@Ferrinus> 12Cool. Keldar does in fact walk away from Cethleann's proxy, and mutes and deafens his own page of the codex before talking. "First, not sure if we've properly met. I'm Keldar, new Dawn Sergeant. Long-time fan." [00:56] 14Stranger: "Well, that's incredible in and of itself." [00:56] 14Stranger: "Can you explain the complication?" 15[00:56] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo: "Not... legally." 15[00:56] <@VoxPVoxD> Then in a whisper: "14they're in the Nail" [00:57] 14Without visibly reacting: "Then eat the fish and contemplate the law." 15[00:57] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo eats the fish. "Oh, this is good." [00:57] 14The fucking Nail. 15[00:58] <@VoxPVoxD> The Emissary: "Mirim's son." [00:58] 14The Sun don't love you til He loves you. The Sun don't save you til He saves you. [00:58] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar nods. "Grew up here. Been away a few spells, of course." [00:59] 14To Bubo: "Do you understand what I believe in?" [00:59] "Largely speaking." 15[00:59] <@VoxPVoxD> The Emissary: "Speak freely, citizen." [00:59] "Speaking bigly." 15[00:59] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo, mouth full: "Humanity?" [00:59] "Indeed." [00:59] "Now." [00:59] "Do you understand what I don't believe in?" 15[01:00] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo shakes his head. [01:00] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "So my hope, of course, is to take care of this so as to save you the trouble. But if you've got any insight as to how to stop her from just hopping onto another ride, or what'll happen if she gets what she's looking for, I'd like to hear it." [01:00] 14He smears some fish in the spicy green stuff. "I don't believe in towers." [01:02] "So that will do what we do." 15[01:02] <@VoxPVoxD> The Emissary: "She's too far. I can't see her. She wants to kill you." 15[01:02] <@VoxPVoxD> "She wants to kill me but she can't." 15[01:02] <@VoxPVoxD> "Nothing can kill me." [01:03] "And they best hope that the fakest pieces of god-shit kill us before our eyes turn west." [01:03] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Well, she ain't gettin' me either. Why would she want... the body, or the eye?" 15[01:04] <@VoxPVoxD> The Emissary: "Proof of office. It means the war is over." [01:04] 14He finishes his fish and then turns to Bubo. "Do you know why?" [01:04] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "But would it be? Would she and her buddies just turn around and leave?" 15[01:04] <@VoxPVoxD> Bubo shakes his head again. 15[01:04] <@VoxPVoxD> The Emissary: "I don't know." 15[01:04] <@VoxPVoxD> "They may simply die." 15[01:05] <@VoxPVoxD> "Nothing else keeps them together." [01:05] "A Nail only protects one finger. But there are five fingers to a fist. And we're a dreadful goddamn hand." [01:05] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Would you suggest, then, that I scare those things up and hand 'em over?" [01:06] 14He pauses. "I've kept you too long. Go find Kratz. Big place. We can cordon off the part of it with your bed." 15[01:06] <@VoxPVoxD> "The others will die. But she may not. There is a word. Ishvara. It means irrefutable. She may no longer be able to die." 15[01:06] <@VoxPVoxD> The Emissary laughs. Keldar has never heard the Emissary laugh. "Of course not. I won't let you. They're my property." [01:06] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "They for sale?" 15[01:07] <@VoxPVoxD> The Emissary pauses to consider this. 15[01:07] <@VoxPVoxD> Finally: "Make me an offer." [01:08] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Just to, uh, calibrate my expectations, are we talking some body parts in a morgue somewhere or the stuff you're using to walk around and talk with?" 15[01:09] <@VoxPVoxD> The Emissary: "This is a rental." 15[01:09] <@VoxPVoxD> "You've seen my body." He points up. "And you've seen my eye." [01:11] 14Everybody's looking for something. 15[01:11] <@VoxPVoxD> 10The rider gets down. Now she leans up against a magnificent topiary piece cut in the middle of the street, a great rosebush perfectly clipped into the shape of a horse rearing back in pain. [01:11] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Hmm. Well, you know me, I'm a mercenary adventurer. Sort of stuff I've immediately got to offer includes silver, jade, and manpower... although, being as I'm anathema, that's a lot of manpower to put behind a quest or whatever." [01:12] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Whadda you want? I'd imagine some way to get your proper body going - but then that kinda defeats the purpose of dealing with her." [01:12] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "On the other hand it'd probably be good for the city in itself." 15[01:13] <@VoxPVoxD> The Emissary, simply: "I want her heart. I want you to cut out her living heart and hand it to me." 15[01:13] <@VoxPVoxD> "Not her. The other woman." 15[01:13] <@VoxPVoxD> "With the red hair." [01:14] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar looks around. I'm guessing that 'not her' is him dismissing the bod that Cethleann's currently piloting around - are there any redheads prominently visible? Does Keldar know what the real ohhhh. [01:14] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "One that appeared over the city and told 'em all to turn on you?" 15[01:15] <@VoxPVoxD> The Emissary: "Yes. You know her?" [01:16] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Only of her. But buddy, I would if I could. Her legions have been a pain in the River Province's ass for forever." [01:16] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "To be fair, I guess she did first save it from you, but come on." [01:17] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Anyway, she's been missing for years now." 15[01:19] <@VoxPVoxD> The Emissary: "You seem enterprising. I bet you could figure it out if you wanted to." 15[01:20] <@VoxPVoxD> "The prize is out there. You pick it up, it's yours. You don't, I have no sympathy for you." [01:20] 14Never did. [01:22] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar works his mouth around a bit, looks up at the sky: "You know, I bet I could do it. Just not in a week and change." 15[01:22] <@VoxPVoxD> The Emissary: "I can wait. We'll work something out." 15[01:23] <@VoxPVoxD> "You want to buy her off now?" [01:24] 14This gods-damned man. [01:24] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar blinks. "You'd hand your eye and body over for a promise? My indenture? You expect to ever get 'em back?" 15[01:25] <@VoxPVoxD> The Emissary: "She can't destroy them. They'll find their way back to me." 15[01:25] <@VoxPVoxD> "Someday." 15[01:25] <@VoxPVoxD> "Are you asking for a stake?" [01:26] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "And in the meantime you're stuck like this? The other thing I wanted to ask about was if there was some way I could help you, you know, get back together." [01:26] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Figure it'd be better for the city. And my job's security, after all." 15[01:26] <@VoxPVoxD> "That's the other half of the deal. If I eat one of them I can heal." 15[01:27] <@VoxPVoxD> "I don't particularly care which one." 15[01:27] <@VoxPVoxD> "But I don't need help with that." [01:27] 14It's true. [01:27] 14No one needs help to eat shit. [01:28] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Think I'm missing something. If you hand your eye and body over, and they just leave or dissolve into twigs or whatever, then you've got nothing to eat, haven't you?" 15[01:28] <@VoxPVoxD> The Emissary: "I don't expect she'll accept the offer immediately." 15[01:28] <@VoxPVoxD> "Feels like a trap, doesn't it?" 15[01:28] <@VoxPVoxD> "So I've got time." [01:31] 14In Keldar's ear: "My opinion is, this guy is an asshole who doesn't strictly lie. That's the quintissential nature of the comeback on Balor." [01:33] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar actually did turn off his codex here. He says: "So we let 'em close in, you claim one, we buy the rest off? And that leaves you... hmm." 15[01:35] <@VoxPVoxD> The Emissary: "You've probably noticed by now that this job isn't actually that hard. I don't need the Eye. It's just that it's mine, you see?" [01:36] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "When I first heard her offer, it sounded like it might head off the fighting completely. If instead it just means that it ends sooner... that's a little less appealing, both since it still leaves you weaker and leaves me, you know, insanely indebted." [01:37] <@Ferrinus> 12The dawn sergeant points. "I can arrange to feed you one of these fuckers, though, whether we ultimately buy the boss off or not. You stay in touch and we can arrange it." 15[01:38] <@VoxPVoxD> "Fairly indebted." [01:38] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "That too." 15[01:38] <@VoxPVoxD> "I like to think that fairness is always reasonable." 15[01:38] <@VoxPVoxD> "I think you do too." [01:39] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "You're not wrong there. Just got a soft spot for that superlative." 15[01:39] <@VoxPVoxD> "It fits the moment." 15[01:40] <@VoxPVoxD> "But by all means, think it over. The offer was your idea, after all. And I'm not going anywhere." [01:40] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "All right. So this thing -" 12He waves at the rider. "Won't be deciding anything for us in the moment either way. I'll tell her to fuck off... or, I dunno, that we've heard and are considering the idea. And I'll see what my fellows think about hunting the Empress down." [01:42] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Me, I figure that if we're starting the war either way we'd be better served finishing it, and it'd be silly to make you whole and then split you on another axis anyway." 15[01:42] <@VoxPVoxD> The Emissary: "Suit yourself." 15[01:43] <@VoxPVoxD> "I can handle the messenger." [01:43] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Ooh, yeah, about that. Can you leave the lady whose body Cethleann's in... you know, alive?" 15[01:43] <@VoxPVoxD> "You can handle the messenger." [01:45] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar essays a salute, and turns to approach and square up to the rider. he turns his codex back on as he approaches, muttering into it: "Got an offer from the Emissary that we want to discuss later. For now I don't think you need to worry about getting on scene - this is a messenger, not a diplomat." [01:46] 14Stranger: "And you trust this?" [01:46] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar, to the possessed woman: "All right, we've heard what you want - and we might be able to deliver. We'll need more time to decide than your steed can give us." [01:46] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "So release her. Begone. We'll talk in person - or through magic of our choosing, at least." 15[01:46] <@VoxPVoxD> "Seven days." 15[01:47] <@VoxPVoxD> 10The woman collapses to the ground, unconscious, bleeding green from the ears and nose. [01:47] 14All Stranger wanted was a couple hours. [01:47] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar swears to himself as he immediately drops to a knee, working to stabilize the woman. He'll probably have to show her to Xu Sim later. 15[01:49] <@VoxPVoxD> NEXT TIME: The Lion, the Witch, and their wardrobes