15[20:06] Once he came upon the fish swimming through the air, tracking a route to Nexus was easy. 15[20:08] Wide-frilled fish in dazzling colors reflect the lightning as it dances among the treetops, a long and crooked middlemarch tracing the raksha army's path from the Dreaming Sea all the way to the capital of the Scavenger Lands. Black Winds Howling comes, and the storm follows him. 15[20:08] How does he travel through the rain-soaked night? [20:10] 10Jai runs. It's always been a freeing experience or him, now more than ever. Behind his back lies a heap of trouble in Thorns; ahead of him, an even bigger, possibly flaming, heap of trouble in Nexus. But for now, he's running. 15[20:11] The Centered Circle comes out of the deepest recesses of old Hollow to find an Undercity fraught with panic. Buckets and buckets of rainwater are being passed through the sewers in troughs, gutters, and simply passed from hand to hand by the able-bodied and the trustworthy. The fresh water is precious as the natural intake from the rivers grows increasingly putrefied by the dead of 15[20:11] Thorns. 15[20:18] They've just returned from the mythic isle of Thran, finding a legacy of unfathomable power, much of which fell to ruin by the hand of its caretaker. But Xia Lan left holding an object as mysterious as it is storied: the lost Sol Ring. [20:21] 13It still hasn't really sunk in, what she's holding. I mean, it's - she's been thinking about it. She's looked at it. She's holding it in her hands. It still doesn't feel real. [20:22] 14Well, hopefully it starts feeling real soon. We’ve got work to do. [20:22] 14They’ll decamp to some medical tents or some such -- place with privacy, medical professionals, and which Tsuka can visit them in. [20:23] 13She sent him a message as soon as they left -- she did promise, after all. 15[20:23] Jai hasn't seen his... friend? mentor? boss? in almost a week now, since he decrypted that message and went rogue. But he's sure he's close. Just over that ridge is the river, and that's this way -- the world wavers in front of his vision like he's getting dizzy, and he's disoriented as the savagery of the storm is intercut with the cold stillness of a foreign sky. Suddenly even staying 15[20:23] upright feels fraught, let alone navigating a path forward. [20:24] 13As soon as they left Thran, that is. [20:25] 10Jai: "Haa... haa.. haa..." 10Maybe he should have hidden himself in one of the handful of carts going towards the city, rather than the stream heading away. 15[20:28] Xia Lan and the others hear a crash as a cart falls over outside, and then Tsuka bursts into the tent, sweating and trailing smoke behind him. He grabs Xia Lan without a word and holds her tight before letting go to pant "What happened?" [20:29] 14Stranger: “Met a rock man. He gave us a gift.” [20:29] 5Xu Sim barely wobbles as Selin reports the dire situation in the Undercity. But that is what he must handle next. "Can you keep going?" 5he asks Seven. [20:30] 14Stranger: “You might have seen him leaving the premises.” [20:30] 13Xia Lan hugs back, until he pulls away. "Thran's gone, now. Or. The tower is. But." 13She holds up the gift. "Are you familiar with the Sol Ring?" 15[20:30] Seven nods. "Do you need to rest?" 15[20:31] Tsuka: "No, what is it?" [20:32] 14Stranger: “Power. And risk.” [20:32] 10He takes a moment to recenter himself, catch his breath, and look around. The bad part about running is that you can get too focused on only what's in front of you. But, he didn't break his legs or get turned into a candy or whatever it is Wyld zones do to you if you're unlucky, so hey, it all worked out.  [20:32] 13She takes a deep breath. "Hand-forged by Theion, the Empyrial Urge, King of all Creation, first among the titans overthrown. Malfeas, maybe. A mantle for the office of the Unconquered Sun." [20:33] "It's bad news." [20:33] "It's -- I thought it was fictional. Not a myth, just straight up not real. And there it was. And now, here it is." [20:33] "And good news." [20:34] 14He sits down on a cot. "It might save us." [20:34] 13Xia Lan: "We just need to make sure it doesn't - well. You know." [20:34] "Soon," 5he nods. "If we don't see to the water, we may as well give your liege everything he asks and more without so much as a discussion." [20:35] 14The Ambassador slinks into the tent, having finally procured some sort of snack. "Darling, I -- oh, hello Tsuka." 14Out of deference to Xia Lan, it's not 'Oh, hello Tsuka." [20:35] 13Thank you. 15[20:35] Jai navigates the nauseating blend of frenetic color and pallid, ashen landscape with the fluidity of a native. No terrain is an obstacle to one such as he! He climbs a tree to get his bearings, and sees the dead and the raksha in pitched battle over the corpse-thick Yellow River. Spirits flying to and fro, skeletal and hobgoblin archers and slingers filling the sky with projectiles, 15[20:35] and over top of it all are cascades of shimmering violet energy breaking against a bulwark of thunderbolts that cross in the sky like bones. 15[20:35] In the distance, is that-- it is. 15[20:36] Looming over the undead cannonade is the thing itself, Thorns's terrible master, the Mask of Winters. [20:36] 10Jai: "Things just got a whole lot more complicated." [20:39] 10He goes over the dossiers and reports in his head again, then smacks his forehead with the heel of his hand. Of course! One of their favored deathknights is mixed up in this too. Idiot! Baka! Always consider all the factors! 15[20:39] But there, beyond the battle lines, the streets and spires of Nexus itself. He's home free if he can get past or around this mess. What's his plan? [20:40] 14Unless Tsuka has something to say to the Ambassador beyond returning her greetings, she'll shift into a housecat and curl up on Stranger's lap. 15[20:41] Tsuka just sort of nods to the Ambassador, still terribly distracted. "...what?" [20:41] 5Xu Sim will lead Seven - or more likely, allow himself to be led by either Selin or Seven - to the fountainhead, itself. As they proceed, he speaks quietly - "I don't know what to make of what we saw in Thran. Or what we, I, Urza, did, or didn't." [20:43] 13Xia Lan lists off on her fingers. "Nourishes the righteous. Annihilates the profane. Passage into heaven. And gods below the Unconquered Sun cannot defy you." 13She shakes her head. "And I need to figure out how to get it to do these things--" 13How long do they have? What, like an hour? [20:43] 14Stranger: "Technically, you need to figure out how to get it to do one thing, and then we bluff." [20:43] 13She smiles weakly. "That's so much better." 15[20:43] Seven and Selin keep pace. Selin offers, "The rain's doing its part to help. We're drawing a lot of fresh water in that way. But if it keeps up we're going to have to start preparing trouble. Cholera and all the hell else." [20:44] "Though knowing how to annihilate the Mask, just burn him out of Creation, would be nice." [20:44] "One step at a time, here, I'm still not sure this thing won't destroy our friends." [20:45] 14Stranger: "We'll have to test that eventually. I'm confident the maker used a standard definition for what it burned. The Unconquered Son would be very displeased if they didn't." [20:45] "Though that could still burn some of our friends." 15[20:46] Seven: "...there was much there I didn't understand. What was it like for you?" 15[20:47] Judging by their infallible sense of time, the circle has about an hour and a quarter before the Mask's, aheh, deadline. [20:48] 13Xia Lan: "I would rather we didn't, if at all possible." 13She'll set the ring on a table, take a look at it now that she's not fleeing from a dying land. [20:49] 14Stranger: "Under no circumstances can we give the Mask the impression that he can just take it from you." [20:50] 13Matter-of-factly: "Well, he can't. I won't let him." [20:51] 10Jai focuses. Then he *really* focuses, scanning the encampments. The best way to pass through unquestioned would be a disguise. But as who, or indeed, what? 15[20:51] The ring is an unblemished, perfectly circular band of purest orichalcum, about seven ilms in diameter. [20:51] 13No inscriptions? No warnings against its use? [20:51] 14Stranger: "Then you'll need to learn how to wear it and use it. Let's clear the perimeter of any of our undead allies and try it out." 14There shouldn't be any in the hospitalier company anyway. [20:53] 5Xu Sim listens to each of his companions as they move through the Undercity. "That's good, Selin, but it means we're in a race against time whether or not the Mask withdraws. Cholera we can treat, but the water could carry worse..." 5now, addressing Seven: "Flashes of another life, memories of another Chosen, Urza in this case. He labored for so long to make all of that, for good [20:53] or ill, before it simply passed into dust," 5Xu Sim sweeps his arm through the air, sighing. 15[20:53] Jai takes in the whole universe of battle up and town the banks and balustrates of Nexus's northern docks. There's surprisingly few unharrassed travelers. The road is cordoned off and only the most insane and desperate merchants risk a naked river crossing. There are no medics and couriers as the battle before him is a grinding slaughter of mindless or enslaved corpses and thralls. 15[20:53] The line is all but involate, with Thorns touching the southern bank of the river, technically outside city limits but still well short of the breadth of the river, and the minions of Cethleann lining the north bank. 15[20:54] There's almost nothing he can do! But wait... rising from the river, there, almost invisible against the churn, a raft of bone with fae-touched mortal thralls lashed to it. 15[20:54] That's insane. He couldn't possibly-- 15[20:54] Could he? 15[20:57] The Sol Ring is totally unmarked. 15[20:57] Seven: "It seems a waste." 15[20:59] The main intakes where the water of the Yellow River runs into the Undercity are at the northern edge of the sewers, drawing in fouled river water to fill its sewers and canals. Thirsty people are being held back from the toxic water by a detachment of Keldar's Dawn Guard. The atmosphere is getting heated. [20:59] 13Exhale. "...no other way to find out, hm?" 13She shakes her head. "If we ever create unbelievably powerful artifacts, make sure we leave instructions and warnings." [21:00] 10It's a bad situation all around, but time is of the essence here. He considers the possibilities. "Chii~" 07A worried sound from within his cloak. "Hey, Shiki. Hold on tight. When we get into the camp, do everything you can to stay unnoticed." "Chi, chi." 07She sounds doubtful about the whole endeavor. [21:01] 14Stranger: "Does putting my name on it count as a warning?" [21:01] 13Xia Lan: "...yes." [21:02] 14Stranger smiles grimly but says nothing else. [21:03] 10Jai drops from the tree and creeps up towards the river. He flattens himself against the ground, closes his eyes, and then re-opens them as a fae-blood. Or close enough to it, anyway. [21:06] "A terrible waste. It makes me wonder what the point-" 5Xu Sim rounds the corner to see the situation. "Back! I am Xu Sim and back, I command!" 5he surges through the crowd to the guard. "We shall make the best of this," 5he affirms to the crowd. 15[21:08] The crowd parts for Xu Sim, hero of the city and banisher of the honey plague, who approaches the great grates grating on the greats. [21:10] 14The perfidy of this narration! 15[21:10] Jai staggers to the waterline with the dazed cadence of a raksha thrall. It should be as simple as diving into the river and letting himself get caught. Which still sounds insane, but a plan's a plan. [21:10] 13Xia Lan: "Well. All right. Seven and Vladok ought to be far enough away, so... Tsuka, Stranger, I'm going to put it on." [21:10] 10He stays low and looks for a "safe" place to cross. A few moments later, he leaps into the spray and foam. Swimming for "freedom". Better to try and put one over on the dead than the fae, though. [21:10] 13She slides the ring onto her wrist and breathes. Inhale, exhale. Focus. [21:11] 14Stranger closes his eyes and runs a protective hand over the Ambassador's back. 15[21:11] The air lightens. Everyone breathes easier. [21:12] 10Immediately after, he realizes just how crazy that is. This isn't a day at the beach! He's tossed around like so much flotsam. 15[21:16] Tsuka: "...are you doing that?" [21:17] 10He keeps his head above water, though., and doesn't get clobbered by any of the other jetsam in the river, which takes some doing. 07Tiny claws dig into Jai's neck. [21:17] 5Xu Sim takes another step past the guards, giving a careful smell at each interval. He doesn't play it up for the crowd, like some tinpenny shaman looking for a big payday might do. He works his moustache to and fro beneath his fingers, rolling the tips of the coarse hair against itself as he ponders the situation. [21:17] 14Stranger begins rhythmic, meditative breathing. In his lap, the Ambassador falls asleep. [21:18] 13Xia Lan: "Yes, that's - that's the ring. It mostly just feels... nice." 15[21:20] Jai gets into the chaotic, foul-smelling river, weaving between the limbs and weapons of the pitched battle happening on the way down to the riverbed. With care and precision, he's able to end up snared in a skeletal oarsman's net and dragged onto a raft of lashed femurs with three other vacant, green-eyed thralls, who smile limply at him. The skeleton pinches Jai's throat roughly, 15[21:20] checking for a pulse, and then drags him to the center of the raft where a part of skeletal arms emerging directly from the center of the raft lash him down. [21:21] "Not what I expected from an artifact of unknown but great power, but... preferable to some alternatives." 15[21:21] Tsuka: "Is that all it does?" 15[21:21] "I thought you said something about the profane. Should we try it on the undead?" [21:22] 13Xia Lan: "Not in the histories. So." [21:22] 14Stranger: "Trying the power of the Sun on the undead is likely to lead to some expected and rather dire outcomes." [21:22] "I should hope so, at least." [21:22] 14His eyes are still closed. 15[21:23] Xu Sim studies the waterworks and finds the grates physically choked with the rotting and bloated remnants of the drowned dead. The water pressure is pushing them through the grates an ilm at a time like a massive sausage grinder. [21:23] 13Xia Lan: "We should find out, before the meeting with the Mask. Is there like - ugh, not an infirmary for them, but like... a mechanic's shop for undead?" [21:23] 5That's delightfully disgusting! [21:24] 13It can't be just this, not with everything she's read. 15[21:25] In his head a plan comes together, of sealing the grates like tiny dams and widening the grates at the other end of the city, allowing the healthier water from the Grey to flush the fouled water from the system and out into the Yanaze. The canals above will grow stagnant and choked with the dead, but the water down here will be usable again in half a day's time. [21:25] 14Stranger: "We're in something of a taker's bind, here." 14That's a regional expression, probably meaning something akin to damned-if-you-to, damned-if-you-don't. "We don't test it on the undead, we don't know what it does. We DO test it on the undead, then the Mask of Winters will know for certain ahead of time that we have it." [21:26] 14...There is someone who almost certainly knows precisely what Sol's Ring does, but Stranger has no interest in letting him out. [21:26] 14Assuming it's even that simple/. 15[21:27] Tsuka: "Some of the Dawn Guard have... they call it Dancer. It's a set of leg and hip bones that move around on its own. They play games with it, try to make it jump over things. Chase it around. To blow off steam." 15[21:28] "One of Xu Sim's magicians salvaged it." [21:28] 14Stranger: "That sounds morally clean." [21:28] 10After being posted to occupied Thorns for several months, you get used to being close to the dead. Nothing to do now but enjoy the ride. Feignign having your eyes glaze over is trickier than it sounds, so he just recites a couple of Immaculate sutras in his head until the words become meaningless. (They were always pretty meaningless.) [21:28] 13Xia Lan: "...sweetheart. Tsuka. Take me to this... thing." 13She doesn't sound angry, which is the worst part. [21:29] 5Xu Sim blinks a few times as he realizes what's being squeezed through the grates. "Seven, look at this," 5he says, gesturing at it. "I think if we can block this off, we can flush it down the Yanaze with water from the other side. But the... plug... you don't think it'll try to stop us from doing that, right?" [21:29] 14Stranger will accompany. The Ambassador will be left to doze. 15[21:31] Jai keeps his lips sealed against the water, which still slops aboard regularly, and feels the crash as the raft beaches onto the shore. Then he's slapped senseful by a bony hand and dragged to his feet. The four prisoners are marched unsteadily up onto the docks where Thorns is encamped, all of them unchained as they're presented for inspection by a huge, translucent monster of a man 15[21:31] with bone-white skin and huge hands dominated by long, sickly yellow nails. He rubs his chin as he inspects them. 15[21:33] Seven looks terribly fascinated by the grisly display. "It takes a tremendous amount of force to crush and liquefy even a quite decomposed body like this. Remarkable. What? Who is 'it'?" [21:36] 07You'd have to be paying really close attention to notice the dark blur that scampers away from the prisoners. Even then, you'd probably mistake it for a rat. 15[21:36] Tsuka leads Xia Lan and Stranger to a dimly lit disused section of the Undercity, close enough to the surface that the storm rages audibly above. There, a handful of off-duty Dawn Guardsmen stand in a rough circle around an animate pelvis, which is currently leaping over and dancing around a growling dog who just can't quite get their teeth around its tantalizing legs. [21:39] "Just concerned about hungry ghosts, zombified fingers, that sort of thing. Is this the sort of stuff you have to work with often? Do you not mind it? Or do you work with more, ah, hygenic ghosts as so forth?" 5he says, leaning closer to give it a look up-close. and holding the frock of his robe over his mouth and nose. [21:39] 14Stranger: "Everybody leave. Except the leg." 15[21:39] As Xia Lan approaches, Dancer skips a step, missing the landing on a leap and staggering aside with a jerk. Over a matter of minutes it slows until the dog easily takes hold of it and begins to shake it apart, going wild until everything's fallen away from the tibia in its jaws, and then as the bones disintegrate one by one until a thin film of ash remains. [21:39] "Oh for fuck's sake." [21:40] 13Xia Lan: "Um." [21:41] "Did the ring do that?" [21:41] 13Xia Lan: "...it did." [21:42] "I'm suddenly incredibly glad I didn't try this around Seven." [21:43] 14Stranger: "We're reckless, not stupid. I'd get a chain to wear it around your neck. Or keep it on your finger unattuned. Either way, if you attune it around the Mask, he'll feel it." [21:44] *wrist 15[21:44] Seven eagerly picks a few clumps of rotted meat from the grates and puts them in tiny vials. "I mostly work with the dry kinds. The more waterlogged they get the sooner they fall apart. It's been ages since I had to do much with pieces, there's so many intact corpses to use." [21:44] 13Xia Lan: "Hopefully he'll recognize what it is on sight and we don't have to resort to that." 15[21:46] Finally, the beastly man gets to Jai, pausing to inspect his cheeks. He gets real close, stinking of sulphir and liver, and his nostrils flare with a big sniff. [21:48] 14Stranger: "Some don't learn what's hot until they touch the fire." [21:48] "Prepare for that." [21:48] 10Do your best impression of a pithed-out husk that's just been drenched in foul river water.  [21:49] 13Inhale, exhale. "I can be." [21:49] 10Jai: "Buhh." 10Brilliant! The disguise of your career! [21:50] "You're quite at ease with it. And talented, from what I've seen," 5Xu Sim notes, approvingly. He takes a step back to appraise how he'd set up some sort of floodgate in this area to hold back the tide. It would take something of great, grate strength no doubt. [21:50] 14Stranger: "It's categorically unsafe to test any of its other powers inside the city. Are you prepared to learn on your feet, and smite the Mask without regard to the safety of myself, the Governor, or anyone else at parley?" [21:51] 13She watches what remains of "the dancer" blow away in the wind. "...make sure Seven isn't there. I don't -- Xu Sim would hate me." 15[21:51] Apparently satisfied at last, the beastly man takes Jai firmly by the shoulders and walks him away, as revenants drag his three raftmates somewhere he can't see. Only belatedly does it occur to them to scream. [21:51] 14Stranger: "I'm sure we can make certain they're busy elsewhere." [21:53] 10He'd suck in air through his teeth, but that would spoil the facade. But the worst thing that ever happened to them probably happened long ago. [21:53] 13Xia Lan: "You were safe. The Ambassador was safe. I can't think of anyone other than the Governor and the Mask who could be there -- unless. Um. Hopefully Octavian is busy." [21:54] "I am not interested in poking that particular bear." 15[21:54] Jai is ushered into a lean-to whose open side faces the city. Inside is a low bench where five healthy and alert fae thralls are chained together. The beastly man sets Jai down and a skeleton locks manacles around his ankles, making him one of the six bound there. "Now! Only one more suitable subject is necessary. Then we will proceed." He starts to laugh, and the laugh bubbles into 15[21:54] a full-throated cackle that continues for over a minute until he abruptly chokes and coughs. A wet beetle is hurled from the recesses of the beastly man's throat to land directly on Jai's cheek. 15[21:54] "Eugh." [21:55] 10Don't blink don't react don't blink don't react 15[21:56] Seven: "You're not so bad at it yourself. A dedicated scholar can't afford to be squeamish." 15[21:57] The beastly man reaches out and gingerly catches the beetle between two thick yellow fingernails, and pops it back into his mouth. He chews thoughtfully. [21:58] 10Subject? Proceed? Is this some kind of experiment? Springing himself from the manacles will be trivial, but this would be a great opportunity to gather more information. 15[22:00] "Well! Don't any of you move. Ahaha! I jest. If you possessed the werewithal to escape, you would surely know that the effort would doom you to a grisly and protracted death." He looks up and down the row of them. "It occurs to me that none of you are lucid enough to understand me. I'm basically just talking to myself, aren't I?" 15[22:00] "Hmm." 15[22:01] "Well, don't tell my daughter! It's a surprise!" He offers the center thrall a jaundiced, theatrical wink, and then strides bulkily away. [22:01] 10Jai: "Guh." 10They should give me an award. [22:02] "Chii." 07A low chitter from the shadows. [22:06] 5Xu Sim: "Absolutely. There's often so little difference between medicine and poison, for instance. I suppose that's part of what made the waste of Thran so, well, wasteful. What was the point of all that ambition, all that power? All of it cast aside." 15[22:07] What do Xia Lan and Stranger do now? [22:08] 14Stranger wants to get some rest in before the meeting with the Mask. [22:08] 14Preferably within range of Sol's Ring. 15[22:09] Seven looks thoughtful. "I suppose we let Urza's son decide, and Urza's son had decided long ago that the place was not worth saving." 15[22:09] "Your friend is very stern but he seems often moved to do the soft-hearted thing." [22:10] 13It takes a moment for Xia Lan to be - pulled from her stupor, more or less, and dragged back to the tent. She clutches close to Tsuka the whole way, if he's coming with. 15[22:10] He'll spend the time with her. This is meant to be his rest shift anyway. [22:10] 10Jai looks up, still outwardly displaying a perfectly empty expression. Information is one thing, but time's wasting. He decides to not be here when the bug-chomper comes back.  [22:15] 10First half of the plan: Success. Now for the second half: getting out of this armed encampment. Jai looks around to make sure no one's looking, pries a rusty nail from the wall of the shed, and in his hands it's as good as the finest set of picks. The manacles spring open. [22:15] "Stranger!?" 5Xu Sim barks in laughter. "He's quite a contradiction, isn't he? He's a very pious man, holds himself - and the rest of us - to this enormous standard, but then he's all quite flexible about it all. If you just heard about him, you'd think he was unflinching, resolute, holier than ten monks. But that's not really who he is." 15[22:16] Seven: "Good. People who aren't willing to go back on their word when needs must are useless." [22:17] 5Xu Sim pauses a moment longer. "Then again, he may not be sure who he is. I think he's had some big surprises on that subject since your - showed up." 5a momentary gesture around his head conveys the sense of the two sides of the Mask. [22:17] 13Whispering: "I love you. I know I don't say it enough." 15[22:17] Seven: "What do you mean? You think he serves the Mask as well?" [22:20] "Oh, I hadn't thought of that. I don't think so. But the Mask seemed to know him. And not his ancient incarnation, like I remember Urza - HIM. It's like how his name, that he uses today, was on the walls of the passages to Thran." 5He takes a few steps back. "We'll need mortar." 15[22:21] Tsuka takes Xia Lan's hand in his. He almost burns to the touch. "I love you too," he whispers back after an extended pause. [22:23] 13<3 [22:23] 14Stranger's out of hearing range already. There's been something purposeful and haggard about him ever since he's come back from Thran. [22:23] 14An odd hardness set in his face. 15[22:23] Seven nods and helps Xu Sim work. [22:23] 14Preparing for perhaps the final meeting. [22:25] 5Xu Sim claps his hands a few times. "Listen up, everyone! We are all going to work together on this!" 5He begins by establishing spaces for admixture, for stockpiling, and all the rest. Thirsty Nexans pile rocks and stones and Dawn Guards fetch bags of lime from the works above. [22:25] 13She tries to get a read on what's bothering Stranger. Something about his past, maybe? But - even at the best of times that guy's unreadable. [22:26] 13Back to whispering sweet things to her boyfriend. [22:27] 10Jai ducks out of the shed and into the nearest shadow. His form shimmers, and where the fae-blooded youth stood is a dried-out walking corpse, reeking of mold and dust. [22:29] "CHI." 07A flat refusal. "C'mon. It's still me," 10Jai whispers in a voice like tombs opening. "Just for a little bit." 07And reluctantly, the sable scampers back up Jai's back and conceals herself in the cerements of the dead. [22:32] 14Well, it's at the very least clear what he WANTS her to think is bothering him. [22:34] 5Xu Sim clasps his hands together for a moment, grins a little cheekily to Seven. "Let us begin." 5With that, he sets to work - not quickly, but slowly, slowly, slowly. He combines the lime and the dust and his own spit and one of the necromancer's own blonde hairs and he stirs it gradually. It forms, it firms, and the thirsty and tired Nexans hurl their stones into a great dam to [22:34] 5hold back the tide, a dam held together by the mortar Xu Sim and his beloved made. [22:38] 5As Xu Sim works, the sigil on his brow glows brighter and brighter, until it shines through the Undercity in a swirling mandala of sheer power. Nothing is left to chance. [22:39] 10Jai staggers off into the night, learning as he goes from the revenants he passes. Before long, he has the gait down, and the occasional stutter-step motion of a real walking corpse. He's even hailed a couple of times and manages to parrot back a response he overheard. All in all, things are looking up.  [22:39] 5Xu Sim is no singer, but the people of Nexus have their work-songs, and they sing them as rock. After. Rock. Finds. Its. Place. [22:42] 10Well, maybe those months in Thorns weren't wasted after all. Maybe this is what I was being trained for? 10No. No way. Dark Star couldn't have plotted this all out… could they? 15[22:44] Jai is able to weave through the undead without drawing attention from any of their overseers. Soon he's broken free and is in the darkened and rain-slick alleys of Nexus proper, the beating commercial heart of the city. He finds... no one. The streets are bare of people, the buildings vacant and dark. It's like a ghost town. [22:45] 5Before long, the work is done. Xu Sim turns to Seven. "Now, I will rest-" 5And his lips find hers in an embrace. He closes his eyes and who can say how much time passes? To the people of Nexus, it would not seem much. To Xu Sim, at least, it seems much longer. 15[22:46] Seven joins him in it gladly. 15[22:46] The hour passes. Stranger and Xia Lan are refreshed, though the passage of time has given them no more certainty or clarity of purpose. [22:46] 14That's fine. [22:46] 14It's time. [22:47] 14Stranger will make it to the bank of the Yellow River first. [22:49] 10Creepy. By some measures, this is the greatest city in the world. Seeing it abandoned feels wrong, ona deep level. 10Feels like home, after the battle.10 He lets the disguise slip, the plan having succeeded.  [22:51] 13Xia Lan will hang behind Stranger - she can be the element of surprise. [22:53] 14Don't insult the Mask like that. [22:53] 10Jai walks the streets and thoroughfares, deadly silence as his only companion. Where could you hide the inhabitants of an entire city? [22:53] 14He'll stand when they're all there. It should be him and Xia Lan, though possibly Ballare will want to come. [22:53] 13She can be the element of not having to become a beacon of annihilation. [22:54] "Chi!" 07Well, one companion.  [22:54] 14She'd better be ready to embrace that if this goes sideways. 15[22:54] Jai can see that in many places, particularly the poorer areas he moves through, the city was hastily abandoned. He's able to find trails that lead to the canals, slowly swelling with corpses and putrid water. He ducks close, and he sees one of the drainage grates that bleed the canals into the sewer system are being abruptly sealed with bricks... from the inside. Is that singing? [22:55] 13She is. She's just - not thrilled about it. [22:55] 14Stranger doesn't have the tea with him this time when he sets out for wherever the Mask is on this river. [22:57] 5Some moments later, at least - "I can't stand the thought of you in pain," 5he explains. "I don't know what the future holds. But I won't let it bring... that." 15[22:58] Seven: "You're very kind. But I'm no stranger to pain. Don't protect me at the expense of achieving our aims." 15[23:00] Jai also finally hears voices around him. Sharp, terse calls in Riverspeak by soldiers wearing full-body matte white armor, wielding weapons not of bronze or iron, but true steel. Lookshyans? Here? [23:03] 10Ehh?! What?! He was just about to bend down and talk to the grate like a damn fool. 15[23:03] They seem to just be passing through. Jai could try to stay out of sight or he could follow them to see what their deal is. [23:03] 13Xia Lan's sweating, as she makes her way to the Mask. The - she got the Sol Ring off, after an internal struggle. Shouldn't she keep it on? Isn't she the best person for this? Can she risk its theft? 15[23:03] Or just walk up to them, if he's feeling daring. [23:04] 13It's - she's going to talk to someone about this later. But now is not the time. [23:04] "Our aims? We have... more than one?" 5Xu Sim feels a little foolish. 15[23:06] Seven: "To save the Direction. To be free of the Mask. To uncover all the lost wonders of Creation and fashion new ones to match! To know everything!" [23:06] 10Jai does a reasonably good job of scurrying up a pipe and takes up a position on the roof. He'll follow them from up here for as long as there's rooftops he can jump to. 15[23:06] Seven stops, realizing she's gotten a bit carried away. "Er." [23:07] 14Instead of setting up the tea set on the rock near the Mask, Stranger will just stand on it. 15[23:07] Jai's able to follow the Lookshyans a fair way by rooftop, until he comes to a neighborhood that looks like it burned down. It must've been in the fighting. On the ground below, the rain's washed ash and rubble off the remnants of a sign that reads SPICE NOODLE. [23:07] 5Xu Sim laughs and seizes her again. "All of it!" 15[23:09] The Mask of Winters makes an offering of bones to the wind and the storm and the lightning turns violet, raking the rivers and disgorging more and more reluctant dead. As Stranger and Xia Lan arrive, he stops, arms akimbo, and allows all of his joints to break and reverse themselves, letting him bend forward at the waist without turning around to bow to the two Solars with his beatific 15[23:09] face forward. [23:10] 14Stranger: "Mask." [23:11] 14He gets a polite, abbreviated bow. 15[23:12] The conversation between the Lookshyans is lifts up through the rain. "Any sign of it?" "The lieutenant's gone mad, there's no lone revenant wandering the streets of Nexus." "Check again!" "I'm freezing!" "Do you want that our report to the lieutenant? To the Dragonlord?" "Alright, alright." "Besides, who says it's from Thorns? You've seen how close Xu Sim is getting to that 15[23:12] necromancer." "Disgusting creature." "Maybe that's the best he can do." "Any port in a storm, I guess." "Even a clammy one." 15[23:13] The Mask's voice carries clearly through the storm. "Will you accept a bit of shelter?" [23:13] 10!! 10There's one of the names he was hoping to hear. [23:14] 13Xia Lan bows from just behind him, bracelet visible on her arm. [23:14] 14Stranger: "Only if the levees break." [23:16] 10Jai's blood freezes at that last voice. 10They… they haven't turned, have they? To the Mask's service? No way. 15[23:17] The Mask: "As you wish. Have you done what you set out to do?" 15[23:18] The Yelllow River no longer flows into the Nexus Undercity. The running water is far weaker than it was before, but it runs clean and soon the people of the city will slake their thirst, albeit at a stricter rationing. [23:20] 14Stranger: "That's a larger question than the scope of our current negotiations." [23:20] "I've set out to do a lot of things." 15[23:20] "I suppose so." [23:21] 14Stranger: "I appreciate what you done for us. I thought I should say that, before this begins." [23:21] *you've [23:22] 10Jai skulks his way back to the city gates. "Wonder if Spice Noodle was any good," 10he muses to the silent streets. It's been, well, a while since his last proper hot meal. The hunger is starting to cut through the disgusting river smell, even. [23:23] 5Xu Sim takes a deep breath as it becomes apparent that the water crisis is at least mitigated. "Wait, what time is it?" 15[23:24] Seven: "A few minutes to dawn." 15[23:25] With this worrying information Jai heads back north, from rooftop to rooftop, able to get to the inner docks and see across the pool. He sees past wind and rain to the sight of a dignified older man being bowed to and bowing, in turn, to the Mask of Winters. Behind that old man... is that... why, it's the Unfettered Xia Lan! She bows too!" [23:25] "Your master hasn't called you, and my companions haven't called me." 5He places a hand on his hip to verify the Codex page is where it should be. It is. 15[23:26] Seven: "I'm grateful for it. I so rarely get to see you without someone looming over us." [23:26] 14Stranger still has the Codex on him, though he hasn't called anyone on it recently. [23:26] 10Jai's heart skips a beat.  [23:27] All right. This is no time to get star-struck. [23:27] 13Isn't it, though? [23:27] 5Xu Sim: "Too bad there isn't anything but mushrooms and water, or I'd invite you to breakfast somewhere." [23:28] 5Continuing: "I am curious, though, do you have memories like the ones I have of Urza?" 15[23:29] Seven: "Nothing so clear or so moving. I have fragments. Images. Sensations. But the circumstances of my Choosing are rather different." [23:29] 10Actually, it's time to get very star-struck, as the Unfettered Xia Lan has just picked up a stalker. Jai's going to see if they return to the city, and if they look like they are, he's going to set up a little ambush interview. 15[23:29] The Mask: "And I appreciate what you've done for me." [23:31] "I understand if you prefer not to speak of it," 5he replies. [23:31] 14Stranger chuckles. "I'm sure." [23:31] "You want to hear about the deal I'm making?" 15[23:32] "Very much." [23:32] 13We love the deals, folks. [23:33] 13Xia Lan is still nervously fiddling with the presently deactivated Sol Ring. [23:34] 14Stranger: "With highest honors and respect as a savior of Nexus, you're going to leave. We'll stand by previous deals with your people. We'll maintain a diplomatic presence with Thorns. We'll even come visit. But you're not going to step inside this city's walls, and you're not going to sack the city. And I say that in something akin to friendship." 15[23:34] The Mask: "Or else what?" [23:35] 13Is that a cue? [23:35] 13She looks to Stranger for confirmation. [23:36] 14Stranger: "Or else we fuck around and see what happens." [23:36] 13Another nervous adjustment. [23:37] 10Jai almost finds himself toppling over the wall he's hidden himself on, leaning so far over it to listen, even though he doesn't need to. 15[23:38] The Mask turns to face Xia Lan. "Go on. Show me." [23:38] 13This is a trap. [23:38] 14He nods to Xia Lan. Let's see what happens. [23:38] 13This is a trap, and she's going to attune it again, because... what else can you do when called on it like that? [23:39] 14It's not a trap. It can't kill him unless you tell it to. He's not a hip bone and a leg. [23:39] 14And he's curious. 15[23:43] Seven sits on an upturned bucket of concrete. "If I try, I remember... water. I remember drowning, where there's no sign of land." 15[23:45] Xia Lan's anima swells with the ring's power. Stranger breathes freer. The revenants and skeletons and spirits whirring around the docks stagger and slow around them, quickly moving away and restablizing when they've found a safe distance. The Governor, behind the Mask, looks weak and ill. 15[23:45] The Mask steams gently with what looks like glowing white steam. "Go on." [23:45] 5Xu Sim: "I haven't told anyone this, not even Stranger or Xia Lan, but when I was back in Firewander, in the ancient palace, I felt judged. Judged by people who had no business, by small, stupid, cowardly..." [23:46] 14Is he asking us to test the Ring on him? 15[23:46] Or to power it up, maybe. The clear takeaway is he expects a further demonstration. [23:46] 14To Xia Lan: "Start small. Work your way up." [23:48] 10Whoa.10 Admittedly, Jai doesn't know a lot about artifacts, but that must have some real power. He's pretty sure they arne't in league with the Mask now, at least, so his plans for the ambush interview are de-escalating. [23:51] 5...Xu Sim uncurls his fists and sits down on the ground in front of Seven, back to the passage wall, looking up at her. "Sometimes I wonder if all that history is hanging above, just waiting to look up, before it crashes down on my head. That's why I let the Son sacrifice Urza's works." [23:51] 13Xia Lan's very new to this entire -- increasingly terrifying, unbelievably powerful ring. She takes a breath. [23:52] "Ah, it's just a load of Immaculate dogma, right?" 5he furrows his brow again. "I've got some other ideas that'll put all of it to shame, no doubt." 15[23:54] Seven: "You are not Urza Planeswalker." 15[23:56] Xia Lan focuses and ignites her anima, trying to draw power from the Sol Ring to demonstrate mastery of it. Her entire body thrums with power. It's exciting, it's delicious. It burns blazing white. She's so overjoyed she doesn't realize she's screaming. She doesn't see the light pour from her eyes, her mouth, and the way the skin of her hand that touches the ring starts to smoke. [23:58] 14As the Ring flashes: "And if you're wondering what mitigates my offer -- I insisted it go to her. Not the sorcerer; not the warlord. And not me." [23:59] 14He steps forward on the rock as the light overtakes them. "Imagine what Stranger Visits Heaven might do with it." [00:00] 10No!10 Without thinking, Jai's leaped from his high perch. 10What're you going to do, throw a bucket of water on her? [00:02] "No. And good thing, too. In the end, all that power didn't save him," 5muses the sorcerer bent on acquiring as much power as possible in a bid to save himself and his friends. 15[00:04] Seven: "He seemed lonely." 15[00:04] "He lived in that tower alone. He had to build himself a son." [00:06] "Seems a little egotistical," 5he chuckles. [00:09] "Regardless. How strange a world we live in that we should find one another like this. But I'm glad of it, of that strangeness," 5Strangeness might be putting it gently 15[00:09] Seven: "A little ego is attractive..." [00:10] 13She doesn't even notice as the sun forms upon her forehead. This is - we are - this power belongs to us. A wave of her hand with the Sol Ring, a scream towards a group of skeletons, we can USE this, we ARE this, and the Mask is our only real foe. Xia Lan turns to him in the aftermath, Sol Ring thrumming with power around her wrist. [00:11] "In spite of dressing like a mendicant, I cannot justify being a humble person," 5he points out. 15[00:13] Xia Lan focuses and brings forth the power deep within her, the power she's earned, the power she's owed-- it swells and bursts from her in a torrent of fire, and every sighted being in the vicinity has to shield their eyes. When their retinas permit, their vision settles on near total stillness. The Mask is there, his cloak singed and shredded, his armor caked with ash. The Governor 15[00:13] behind him is on his knees, his eye sockets scored black as smoke comes out of his ears. 15[00:13] But that's all. [00:14] 14Stranger: "Will that do?" 15[00:14] The other undead - the skeletons she aimed at, the revenants running up and down the docks, the spirits above, even the undead churning the river and keeping the raksha at bay - are simply gone. 15[00:14] Not even dust remains. 15[00:14] There's a few seconds dazed silence before Cethleann's army, now unimpeded, begins to surge across the river. 15[00:15] NEXT TIME: Streets of Rage