15[20:11] The sky was dark for fifteen minutes. People scarcely had time to panic and point at the now totally violet sky where the red star once hung. Most of Nexus's citizens, deep underground, never knew at all. 15[20:13] And then, rising like an awful dawn from what remains of Firewander, it streaks across the sky, on a trajectory known only to its new master. 15[20:13] Where goes the Eye of Balor? [20:13] 5Xu Sim streaks through the smoke and dust rising from the blasted districts of Nexus, illuminated here and there by violet beams of the setting sun piercing here and there through the haze. Atop his dust devil, the sorcerer wheels south, careening through evacuated plazas and marketplaces strewn with ash and broken twisting rosebrambles. He glances behind him as he sets an evasive [20:13] 5course towards the city's southern wall. [20:15] <@Ferrinus> 12They had other problems. Keldar's been enforcing the peace and nipping disorder in the bud with the bloody-minded air of a man who really does not have time for this bullshit, and that'd be bad enough if the only means by which he could fully interact with the world around him weren't his sword. As is, miscreants, rabble-rousers, and pick-pockets who happen to spark Keldar's sympathies [20:15] <@Ferrinus> 12merely wind up conscripted, indebted, or imprisoned; others get literally disarmed or completely run through as allowed for by local ordinances. This sort of thing's only slightly Keldar's fault - he's harder to recognize without his armor or his mien of narrative relevance, and several people only realize they're not just mouthing off, fleeing from, or trying to bribe a generic Guardsman [20:15] <@Ferrinus> 12or mercenary when there's already been a flash of red-spattered gold in the air. 15[20:15] Ballare has already convened her remaining officers, and with them Stranger Visits Heaven, wearing his own object of dread and foreign power. She snaps her fingers rapidly as if to rekindle her own thoughts. "We need arrows, we need gunners, we need... I can't remember their NAMES-" [20:20] 5Xu Sim jukes this way and that, clutching the Eye of Balor - the twice-stolen star that fell and rose again, as he scans keenly for the once-Emissary whose eye it once was. "Old fool," 5the doctor mutters smugly to himself as he wheels about an ancient, half-toppled obelisk. [20:22] <@Ferrinus> 12Later, Keldar takes up a place to rest near the main meeting-table of the Nexus defense coalition. He slowly draws and releases breaths, essence suffusing his body as he sits cross-legged on an unused cot and stares stonily forward at the hilt of the daiklave planted in the floor before him. 15[20:22] Xu Sim is followed hard upon by the being who still answers only to Emissary. The sorcerer's riding-storm is matched gust for gust by a floatilla of cobblestones ripped from the earth and left suspended in the air for just long enough to bear the city's dead-and-risen god forward step by terrible step. 15[20:22] "YOU ARE IN CONTRAVENTION" 15[20:23] The Emissary's voice carries from edge to edge of the city's formal jurisdiction. All in the city, above and below, can hear it. [20:23] 14He has spent the last six hours being healed by the excellent and precise hands of Vissi D'Arte's order, and while doing so, studying the Sol Ring. [20:23] 14Stranger-Visits-Heaven was hoping not to have to use it so soon. [20:24] 13Xia Lan's eyes flutter open in whatever hospital bed she's found herself placed in. Medical tent, something more permanent - is there anyone with her as she wakes? [20:24] 14But does the Sun ever stop moving across the sky? No? Then why should he, or anything else? [20:24] <@Ferrinus> 12It's been a few hours when the Emissary's voice rings out and Keldar's eyes snap open. He mouths 'the fuck?' to himself as he snatches Terminus up from the center of the military tent he's squatting in and then darts out towards the noise. 15[20:26] Tsuka sits beside her, his arm in a sling. He doesn't notice she's awoken. [20:26] 13Xia Lan: "...where am I?" 13She feels better than she has in years. In a manner of speaking. [20:26] "I am the law!" 5Xu Sim bellows back, rather philosophically, at the top of his lungs. He hopes the creature can hear him over the wind. To make sure, he makes sure the Codex can hear it, too. [20:28] 14Stranger closes his eyes as his shoulders tighten. A deep mental breath, then evenly: *> 15[20:28] Tsuka starts. "You're awake! This is the infirmary. The raksha almost killed you but you pulled through." [20:28] <@Ferrinus> 12Is the chase approaching or departing? If it's the former, Keldar will make for high ground, leaping from balcony to rooftop in hopes of intercepting. If it's the latter, uhh... well, he'll still probably try to get higher for a better view, but what he'll really need is some means of following, like an emas or easily-bullied sorcerer. [20:29] 5Xu Sim now wheels around through the embankment of one of Hollow's most ancient aqueducts, a structure that's spent the last thousand years shielding camps of vagabonds from the rain. Xu Sim holds his breath, all but daring the Emissary to plow through it. [20:29] 13Xia Lan: "Why am I here?" 13Something about her tone is off. "And who else was wounded?" [20:30] "Don't say words you're gonna regret, don't let the fire rush to your head, I've heard the accusation before -" 5Xu Sim is reciting some sort of poem; the characteristic howling wind of the dust devil is audible in the background. [20:30] 13She props herself up to look at Tsuka. 15[20:31] Tsuka: "A lot of people. The fighting is bad. Stranger and Keldar were hurt. Stranger's up with the generals, I don't know where Keldar is." [20:35] "And how many dead?" 13She adjusts whatever bandages are left - Xu Sim's work was undoubtedly excellent, and she's had a full rest, so who knows how much is left. 15[20:36] Tsuka: "I... I don't know." As if on cue a stretcher covered in blood-spattered cloth is carried by the tent, in full view of Xia Lan. [20:41] 13Gritting her teeth: "I need to speak with Xu Sim." 13She stands, looks around for her weapons, and adjusts her armor before stalking off, not giving Tsuka a second look. [20:42] 14A voice in both their heads: [20:42] 15[20:43] Tsuka follows her. "I'm supposed to keep you here until someone can check on you." [20:45] 13Xia Lan: 13She will stop, at least, and turn. "Surely someone should be checking on you - your arm's broken." 15[20:46] "I'm fine," says Tsuka dismissively. "You got run through. I heard there's some kind of faerie curse affecting people she personally hurt." 15[20:46] He reaches out with his good arm to grab her shoulder. "Come on." [20:47] 13Xia Lan: "Never better." 13She shrugs him off. "Which is more than I can say for the dead." [20:49] 14Stranger will give Ballare a significant look before he departs. "The gentry don't take this city. The undead don't take this city. No matter the cost." [20:49] 14Then he goes with whatever soldiers she will release to him, leaving her to interpret him however she sees fit. 15[20:50] Tsuka: "What's the plan?" [20:50] <@Ferrinus> 12There's some kind of dust cloud, and an awful red glare behind it... Keldar, currently perched on a rooftop, narrows his eyes and leans forward. [20:52] 5Xu Sim continues reading his poem into the Codex as the dustdevil whirls around another pillar of the ancient aqueduct as the Emissary slams through a portion of the stonework behind him, losing ground in the chase but picking up speed most ominously. [20:55] 13Xia Lan considers. Then: "That sounded like something breaking. How do I get out of here, and find out the damage he's - the Eye!" 13She picks a direction at random and stomps off. 15[20:58] Tsuka grits his teeth and follows her. [20:59] "I can talk about his medical priorities after I find out how much work we'll need to repair... whatever he's doing," 13she explains. "It sounds horrendous." [21:00] 14To Tsuka, and the line: [21:00] 14We did not need this now. 15[21:02] Tsuka: [21:03] 14Stranger might have had a joke about that phrasing previously. Now, he just has a terse: 15[21:06] Keldar peers through the dust and witch-light and sees Xu Sim holding the Eye of Balor in his clasped hands, riding the storm south and leading the Emissary on a mad, destructive chase through the city, heading ever southward. [21:06] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Well, that ain't right." 12He makes his decision and tightens his grip on his sword, immediately pacing sideways along the rooftop he's on before hopping, to the next, and then the next, and then one upwards, and then- [21:11] 14Stranger's following with long, loping strides -- longer and faster than his usual gait, almost like something's pushing him forwards -- but he has to stick to the streets. [21:11] 14Still, he manages to at least keep pace with Keldar. 15[21:14] The Emissary roars: "WEEPING SORE! EVERY STEP YOU TAKE WITH STOLEN PROPERTY DAMNS YOU FURTHER" 15[21:14] But the wind is too fast for him. [21:16] 14This isn't going to end well. [21:17] 13Of course it isn't, have you seen-- [21:18] 5Xu Sim now approaches the southern bastions of the city, erected by the first inhabitants of Nexus to pile up the rubble to defend themselves from the plains raiders and reinforced, bit by bit, every day since the catastrophe that laid the city low thousands of years ago. Xu Sim nearly toys with the Emissary, giving him a chance to catch up. The Emissary plows through this wall too, [21:18] 5sending chunks of cobblestones and debris flying. Xu Sim continues southward. [21:19] 5Looming before him, the only thing south of Nexus, is Akasha - the Wailing Wall. Xu Sim glances back at his pursuer with a savage grin. [21:20] [21:25] 14Damn these streets! Stranger is able to take something of the lead now as they start losing buildings for Keldar to jump between, due to the grand destruction the outer fringes of Nexus have experienced. But they're still trailing behind. [21:25] 14To Xu Sim: [21:26] 13That makes two of us. She's still struggling to keep up with Tsuka, though, so there's no time for it. [21:26] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar, through the codex: "Don't fight the goddamn Emissary, you complete-" [21:27] 14Tersely: [21:27] 14Tersely: [21:28] 5Xu Sim flies right over the Wailing Wall and lands on the other side. He simply laughs at whatever startled hobgoblins or thralls are camping there and ensures that the Wall is standing between him and Balor, as he draws a line in the sand with his toe and takes a deep breath. [21:28] [21:28] [21:30] 5Xu Sim laughs his high, chattering laugh through the Codex and at the slumbering Wall. No driver to constrain it, no pilot to command it. [21:32] [21:35] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "He's the original Emissary of Nexus and laws against robbery get enforced real straightforward!" 15[21:36] "INGRATE AND INFIDEL!" The Emissary's voice is all but drowned out by the terrible sound of the Wailing Wall, but those still within the city limits hear him clearly. What Xu Sim does is see; a warm splotch of red light forms at the center of the wall like a molten core, and then it ruptures like a popped cyst, spraying molten metal everywhere as the titan, masterless, yields to 15[21:36] the fury of the fallen king. [21:37] 14Stranger: [21:38] [21:58] 5Reality begins crushing in where Xu Sim was standing. "I've seen this one before," 5he notes, before moving with such impossible grace as to have never been standing in that one spot - quickly reduced, for an instant, to a pool of gibbering burning madness in the Tapestry - in the first place. With a winning grin, he taunts Balor with his own Eye. [22:09] 5Xu Sim then somersaults forwards and jabs forward with a rabbit-fast open palm strike. [22:13] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar's been basically dashing in the wake left behind Stranger's clumsier but ultimately more consequential motion. Now, as the glowing red hole in the Wailing Wall approaches and the war between prince and sorcerer erupts, the Dawn Sergeant pulls a shield out of his grand daiklave and begins a disciplined, head-down, bulwark-forward charge. [22:14] 14Stranger strides onto the field -- well, more like stalks. "BALOR! As one of the duly-appointed Emissaries of Nexus, I would have words. This doesn't need to end this way." [22:16] "Xu Sim, stop hitting him. We can work something--" [22:22] 5Xu Sim actually snarls at the sight of the Dawn Sergeant and Stranger-Visits-Heaven. "I don't need you!" [22:22] "He's an idiot. And he's slapping you, not using sorcery. So surely we can--" [22:31] 5 As if to punctuate Xu Sim's argument with Stranger, he's nearly flattened by a teleporting rock. [22:32] 14Stranger stares at the rock. To 'the Emissary': "Are you even going to talk to me?" [22:33] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar overtakes Stranger, his sword gleaming as the almost-trivialized Dawn Sergeant finds himself in his element. "Xu Sim! Drop the damn eye!" 12He's charging both sorcerer and raksha lord - how do either seem to respond? [22:40] "It's property that I've recovered, from the city's attackers, and I name it my rightful spoil and badge of office!" 5Xu Sim replies. [22:42] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "You can recover everything you like, but it's clear where it came from and whose it is. Drop it or drop!" [22:44] 14Stranger: "HE IS AN ENEMY OF THE CITY OF NEXUS. HE IS NOT THE EMISSARY. YOU STRIKE AN EMISSARY AT YOUR OWN--" [22:48] 14This behavior was at least understandable when this creature was duly consecrated by law as The Emissary. Now it's simply betrayal. [23:05] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar strikes at an emissary. But it's a small-e emissary, and it's just at, right? It's a neat little move - a bump with a flat of the shield that ends up bending Xu Sim's wrist awkwardly, followed by a flip of the daiklave that sends the Eye of Balor sailing in a burning crimson arc up, over the sorcerer's head, and a few yalms westward. It lands in the sand, probably with a [23:05] <@Ferrinus> 12small explosion that sends red crystals spiking upwards or similar effects. [23:06] "Fool!" 5Xu Sim spits, explosively, his eyes all-but popping out of his skull. [23:06] <@Ferrinus> 12Now the Dawn Sergeant's between Balor and Xu Sim. He turns between one and another, shield up. "All right, all right, it's out of play for the moment, yeah? In a moment we can sally over and pick it up and dust it off." [23:06] 14Fool. [23:09] 14There's a disappointment in his voice when Stranger snaps his fingers and says: "Everything stops." [23:11] 14Stranger: "I wasn't clear before, and that was a mistake on my part. But I will not be having Emissaries theiving from city-historical defenders, city-historical defenders murdering Emissaries, and Dawn Sergeants attacking their fellow councilors while I am legally and duly obligated to care about the fate of Nexus." [23:11] "So none of you get the Eye, until this is sorted." [23:11] "How did you...?" 15[23:12] A thin white line draws itself around Stranger, beyond which everything is refracted, opaque, and still. The sky above is a sunless, pitiless white. [23:12] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "The fuck?" [23:12] 14Stranger: "I can, and will, ask you the same. Sergeant." [23:12] 14To 'the Emissary': "Are you willing to talk now, or does this need to continue?" [23:14] 14He sounds older than he did when he was storming here, full of piss and vinegar and fire and fury. [23:15] 14Stranger's response to Keldar gave the heavy impression that any further conversation on this would take place AFTER this crisis was resolved. For both their sakes. 15[23:16] Xia Lan and Tsuka crest the last ridge to see the dome, far brighter from the outside than within. They can barely make out Stranger, Keldar, Xu Sim, and the Emissary inside, but the awful red eye of Balor shines like a beacon in the deliquescent dirt all the same. [23:16] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar shakes his head to himself. "I don't want the damn eye. I want this sorted." 15[23:16] Keldar seems to be locked in combat with Xu Sim, while the Emissary's hand curls imperiously and Stranger's fingers are mid-snap. [23:16] 14Strannger: "Then our offices align." [23:17] "Moron! Brute! Imbecile!" [23:17] "Thief! Traitor! Oathbreaker!" 15[23:17] Tsuka: "...huh?" [23:17] 13Xia Lan comes in preparing to yell at Xu Sim for - well, a lot of things, actually, but nearly trips in surprise when she sees what's going on. Then: "Well, this solves at least one of my problems with him." [23:18] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar, frowning at Xu Sim: "Alright, listen, pal-" [23:19] 13She then wanders over to simply... pick it up. "I'd been speaking with Elegba, in a dream. He was going to give it to me, but then SOMEONE -" 13she glares at the shimmering form of Xu Sim inside - or are those Stranger's robes? She's pretty sure that's what Xu Sim looked like, last time she saw him. [23:19] "Someone. Took it from him. And now here we are." [23:21] 14Over the Codex: 15[23:22] The Emissary ignores Stranger, Keldar, and now Xu Sim, thrusting his arms at the barrier itself. It vibrates and ripples, and for a moment it looks as if it's going to shear, but the vibration builds and builds even after the Emissary throws his hands up in frustration, rattling bones and rupturing blood vessels. 15[23:26] The feedback is agonizing, but not damaging. 15[23:26] "What treachery is this?" [23:26] 14Stranger doesn't realize his lips bleeding until he's done talking. "Satisfied?" [23:26] *14lip's 15[23:26] Tsuka, who for all his graces is not fast on the uptake: "...what is that?" [23:27] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar grits his teeth, his anima flaring as he pushes Entreaty into the shockwave of Balor's power. He ends up digging a furrow through the sand with his feet, but remains standing, even though besides the daiklave and thunderbolt shield he's just got generic cloth fatigues and a bandanna on. "Couldn't tell you." [23:27] "We are all in time out." [23:27] "Literally." [23:27] "Because clearly we're incapable of conducting ourselves properly." [23:27] 5Xu Sim says nothing, glowering at the other three men. [23:27] 13She finally glances back towards Tsuka. "The Eye of Balor. We have it now." 15[23:27] Tsuka: "...!!" 15[23:28] "We can use it to kill the raksha!" [23:28] "And more importantly neither of those maniacs do." 15[23:28] "We can win the war right here, right now!" [23:30] <@Ferrinus> "Emissary," 12says Keldar. "We don't have to do this. Right? Eye's yours. There was some confusion in the war but we've got it sorted." [23:30] 14Stranger: "His name is Balor." [23:31] 5Xu Sim says nothing. [23:31] 13Xia Lan simply stands there, considering. She rolls it back and forth in her hands. [23:32] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Not like he's told it to me. Point is, I don't want to have this fight and none of us need to. Except I will need to if we can't figure this out, all right?" 12His voice tightens slightly here, and it sounds like he's pleading with the old warlord of the Crusade. [23:33] 14Stranger: "And no matter his service to the city, he is a non-citizen guilty of interfering with an Emissary on his official duties and is required to prove ownership of the Eye in a court to have it released into his possession. Unless we waive that legality, which we have the authority to do under law, by our discretion." [23:34] 14To Xu Sim: "Where did you find it?" 15[23:34] Tsuka: "...Xia?" [23:35] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "You can't tell me he's not a citizen. Better claim to it than either a' you." [23:35] 14Stranger: "The law doesn't care." [23:36] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "'fraid he does, heh heh." [23:36] 14Stranger just shakes his head. [23:37] 5Xu Sim: "Not that it is any concern of yours, who borrowed that ring without permission from someone who borrowed it with my permission -" 15[23:38] The Emissary: "This barrier is beyond stone and light. Raw fiat." [23:38] "From me-" [23:38] 14Stranger ignores Xu Sim's discourse on property rights (how it's HIS property, right?). [23:39] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Frankly I think Xu Sim's got a case here, but that's a different conversation." [23:39] 14To Balor: "That is the job." 15[23:39] He turns back. "This is an unlawful forfeiture of property. At least one." [23:39] 13Xia Lan then pockets the Eye and starts walking towards the south. Away from Nexus. 15[23:40] Xia Lan has about ten paces of Tsuka gaping at her back before he follows. "What is it? What's the plan? Are you looking for a vantage point to use it from?" [23:40] "But the Eye of Balor was in the hands of Elegba the Saffron Sultan. It is, of course, one of the objectives of the enemy attacking the city. I claimed it, as is my right, as spoil of war - and to keep it out of the hands of the City's enemies." [23:42] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar's eyes flash. "Elegba had it?! That little shit. How'd he manage it?" [23:42] 14Stranger: "He has a point. And the 'unlawful forfeiture of property' you claim is not against the Dogmas. You need to make an argument, at most generous, that this is an obstruction of trade." [23:43] 13Xia Lan: "I'm not sure why I was here at all, really. Killers, thieves, and lawyers." 13She's still walking as she talks. [23:43] "But it's irrelevant. You are not the Emissary, yet you have been clearly acting in that role for some time. Which puts you in violation of the Fifth Dogma." [23:43] "None may falsely claim the council's name or sanction." [23:44] "So I am unsympathetic to a claim advanced on civilities." 15[23:44] The Emissary tilts his head. One wonders what expression he's making under the mask. [23:44] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "You know, Stranger, you keep saying that, but while the new Council picked up a bunch of new Emissaries it never actually fired the last one. Frankly I'm not sure if it can." [23:45] 14Stranger: "If the Council cannot maintain continuity of position, then you are not the Dawn Sergeant, and you should stop pretending you're the law here." [23:45] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "'course it was important for the defense of the city to be seen to while the original was, uh, on sabbatical, but you can't talk to this guy like he's some lay citizen. He might've been supplemented but he wasn't replaced." [23:46] 14Stranger: "There was a discrete and actionable leave of absence from the office. It was addressed in a legal and forthright manner." [23:46] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "By taking on scabs, yeah." 12'Scab' is, of course, a term of endearment in Nexus. "But that doesn't automatically knock out the original guy." 15[23:46] Tsuka: "Xia? Xia what are you doing?" [23:47] 14Stranger: "So it is your position that the expansion of the Emissary to multiple office-holders grandfathered the previous, then-dead office-holder back into the office's ranks. This does not seem defensible." [23:48] "We were appointed specifically because Balor had abandoned the city. First by death, then by petulance." [23:48] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "I'm saying there's not even a 'back'. The-- fuck, we can clear this up right here." 12He turns to the masked man. "Did you quit? Are you quit? You our Emissary or not?" [23:48] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "I'm saying there's not even a 'back'. The-- fuck, we can clear this up right here." 12He turns to the masked man. "Did you quit? Are you quit? You our Emissary or not?" 15[23:49] The Emissary: "Of course I'm the Emissary." [23:49] 13Xia Lan pauses. "Were you not going to leave with me? I can't imagine staying in Nexus, of all places. You may stay, if you'd like. Den of iniquity that it is and all." 15[23:50] "You're the Dawn Sergeant? I could have sworn you had freckles." [23:50] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar misses a half-beat. "I'm new." 15[23:50] Tsuka: "What? We can't just leave. People are counting on us!" [23:51] 13Xia Lan corrects, gently: "Nexus residents should not have counted on me." 13She laughs, high and airy. [23:51] 10Jai's made good time. He's no small distance away from the city, more than halfway towards the raksha camp. He'd taken a long look back when the shouting started, that terrible voice they must have heard on the Blessed Isle. But he stuck to the mission. When he looks back, and sees an uncanny light shining forth from the city... his resolve wavers. He tries to reach Stranger on the Codex. No answer. [23:52] 14Stranger: "Pellicia, Dawn Sergeant was murdered by Mori Nogare, and replaced by Keldar, the Tiger of Nexus." 15[23:52] To Keldar: "You brought her murderer to justice?" 15[23:53] Tsuka: "You ARE a Nexus resident! You're a citizen! You're a hero!" 15[23:53] He grabs her by the shoulder again. [23:54] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Even odds on that one. We had him surrounded, and he either escaped by magic or blew himself up." [23:56] 13She suddenly grows angry. "Don't touch me -- you -- ugh!" 13She can't seem to pull her arm free. "Let me go!" [23:57] 14Stranger: "He used the Wyld Shaping Technique to escape. He is in the wind." [23:57] "So to speak." 15[23:57] Tsuka pulls his hand away as if burned, though it's his own grip that's far hotter than it has any right to be. "what's gotten into you?" 15[23:58] "You can't just turn you back on Nexus. This is your home! You fought for it. You almost died for it. We need you." 15[23:58] "I need you." [23:58] "Her death is what convinced the Council that succession was necessary. That, and Brueghel." [23:59] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Brueghel first, I believe. Bunch of us got sworn in as new emissaries, then I took over Dawn Sergeant when we lost Pellicia. But, uh, how about you?" 12This to the man in the mask. [23:59] 07The small, chittery voice at his shoulder. 10Jai makes a face. "Yeah, you're right. Let's turn back. This feels wrong, all of a sudden." 10As it happens, retracing his steps will be the easy part. [00:01] <@Ferrinus> 12Whoops, scratch that last part, I missed his answer. [00:01] 13Xia Lan: "You - I," 13All the rage immediately flies out of her. "Oh, shit, what was I doing? What am I doing?" 13She pats her pocket to find the comforting weight of the Eye of Balor. "I - maybe you'd better hold it, or something." [00:02] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar gestures vaguely. "So like I said - he's the Emissary, obviously. Got the mask and everything. And the Eye's his property, and the connection of private property to the Second Dogma -- don't make me go through it, everyone knows that." [00:02] "...have I done nothing but insult you and the city since I woke up?" 13And Xu Sim, but he deserved it. [00:02] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "We can drop the bubble, dust off and pass along the Eye, and everything's hunky dory. Chalk up everything before that to the fog of war." 15[00:03] Tsuka: "You're probably just shaken from the fight. Let's go back." [00:03] 14Stranger closes his eyes. "Has he been acting as 'the Emissary.'" [00:03] "Or has he been pursuing personal grudges and leaving the entirety of the work up to us, since his return?" [00:03] 5Xu Sim, at last: "Keldar. Sooner or later, you will face the fact that the Nexus you grew up in is gone and will never return." [00:04] 14To Balor: "Are you willing to return?" [00:04] "Are you willing to swear to it?" [00:04] 13Xia Lan: "Let's go. And quickly, I don't know what the Hells that bubble is. Other than awfully convenient." [00:04] "Are you willing to be the Emissary of Nexus again, in step with us who remain, and enforce its laws? And not fly off for weeks at a time?" [00:05] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "He went right at Cethleann's forces earlier! And if he's not doing enough for your tastes, well, that's an internal matter. Doesn't just get him fired automatically if he's drunk off his ass fo-" 12Keldar hears Xu Sim, and rounds on the man. "The hell it is! It's still standing." 15[00:05] The Emissary: "I am nothing but my word, and Nexus is nothing but me." 15[00:05] "I will swear this until all is dust." 15[00:06] Tsuka: "Okay." [00:09] "I reject the authority of this creature, a pretender to power," 5Xu Sim states flatly. 15[00:10] The Emissary: "All power is pretension. If you can dispel the illusion, do so." 15[00:10] "Otherwise you're just a boor talking in the theatre>" [00:12] 5Xu Sim's icy glare is fixed not on the Emissary, but Stranger-Visits-Heaven. [00:14] 14So Stranger-Visits-Heaven makes him swear, and consecrates it with the power of the Sun. Then he snaps his fingers again, and time reasserts itself. [00:19] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar listens in, and shrugs to himself, nodding faintly at nobody. He releases a breath as the bubble of fractured time vanishes, glances over his shoulder, and then feels his blood run cold as he realizes the Eye isn't where it landed. 15[00:19] Xia Lan and Tsuka hurry for the city, and make their way over its walls and into its ruined outskirts. They pass Lookshyans, Dawnsmen, and the restless dead. Something makes the hair on the back of Xia Lan's neck stand up. They head for the congregation of officers and mustering soldiers, but it doesn't seem to get any closer. The sky above darkens, and it gets so terribly cold. 15[00:20] Emerging from the now swirling frosty mist like a bad dream is the great and hideous visage of the Mask of Winters. [00:20] 13Oh, fuck. 15[00:20] "My, my." 15[00:20] "What have you got there?" [00:20] 14He notices the Eye is gone. 15[00:21] The road around her is now so dark her face is only illuminated from below by the hateful red of the Eye. [00:21] 5Xu Sim scoops up a few handfuls of sand - full of the Emissary's blood and effluvia. [00:22] 14He frowns. [00:22] 13Xia Lan: 13Her voice is badly shaken. [00:23] 14He spins to Balor. "Go! Xia Lan waits with your Eye! We will follow!" [00:23] 13To the Mask: "That's, ah. Recently retrieved property." 15[00:23] The Mask leans down, hands on his knees as an adult might reckon directly with a toddler. 15[00:24] "Give it to me." 15[00:24] NEXT TIME: The Enemy Within