15[20:21] The hearth huddles at the mouth of the alley, cornering the shabby, wild-haired man who tried to flee them as a dog. The transformation was so sudden he hasn't fully stood up; he regards the four of them with wary eyes from an arms-out crouch that could just as easily fall back to four limbs as settle onto two. [20:21] 4Piu is...bringing up the rear. Still kind of gingerly. But wow that guy is poor and ugly. [20:25] 10Daizo's hands are open. "We're not looking for a fight. Just to talk." [20:26] 6Zhangyu's just ahead of Piu, arms crossed. He's not exactly trying to look intimdating, but he's not trying to look welcoming, either. 15[20:27] The man speaks Seatongue with a native accent, but not the native accent of the locals. He's from some island, Zhangyu observes, but not this one. "What od you want?" [20:31] 6Zhangyu blinks, looks around at the lack of understanding, and translates to the rest of the group. Then he repeats Daizo for the man - "We're not looking to fight. Just to talk." [20:31] 07Dryas, cheeks ruddy from the pursuit, is practically gleaming. She's quite pleased with herself at this, and though she keeps one hand on the grip of her flamepiece, she holds her other hand in the air in a sign of reprieve. 15[20:31] The bum's eyes narrow. "No one just talks." [20:34] 10Daizo's caught his breath. He wipes a bit of sweat from his forehead. "Tell him we want to know why he's been following us, and for how long. He muttered something about the Wyld Hunt, but I don't think we look particularly like a kill team." [20:35] 07Dryas nods at Daizo's suggestion. "And maybe he's seen a blood ape around town?" 07she muses. [20:35] 6Another quick translation. Then: "Not many dogs turn into people, either. You were following us. Why, and for how long? We saw you back at the arena." [20:35] 6The second he gets a chance he's teaching one of these assholes Seatongue so that this never happens again. [20:36] 4You're not getting Piu back into a classroom! [20:38] 10There's a persistent dull pain in Daizo's back, and only one way to deal with it right now. Perhaps exposing himself as a freak might put the Anathema slightly more at ease… but at what cost to his own dignity? [20:41] 10Best to just grit your teeth and bear it. 15[20:46] Dryas can tell that this man is either deeply committed to his appearance or naturally squalorous. She can't tell the last time he's bathed or groomed or changed his clothes. From the angles his eyes take she can tell he's looking past them, as if expecting additional assailants to be taking up positions just out of sight. [20:48] 4For what it's worth, under no circumstances is Piu obstructing any kind of exit he'd want to make. She's leaning against an exterior wall well out of the way of his fastest path past them. When was the last time that man bathed??? 15[20:48] Zhangyu's basically-earnest scowl gets him to stand up a bit more straight, switching back to High Realm. "You aren't a Hunt. Who are you, then?" [20:50] 6Oh thank goodness he doesn't have to translate anymore. [20:50] 4Piu blinks at the sudden shift. Well, she's glad she didn't say anything particularly insulting out loud now! [20:53] 10Daizo lets out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. "We're… well, it's complicated." 10He looks to Dryas and Piu in turn. One of them probably has the better taxonomy for this. [20:54] 4Instead: "Dragons, can you imagine how much trouble I'd be in if I was on a Wyld Hunt and decided to get my ass kicked by a Golden Anathema for fun? ...No offense." [20:56] "You aren't here to kill us, either." 07Dryas speculates, perhaps a little hopefully. [20:58] 07Dryas, continuing: "Therefore, our relationship is rather ambiguous. For now." 15[20:59] The bum: "I don't know you. Realm, but not Navy. Different houses, no uniforms. Nobody seems to be in charge. But people die around you. Important people." 15[21:01] "And you made me from a crowd. How is that?" [21:01] 4Piu: "I mean...one volcano god is hardly people. And we didn't kill him!" 14How much does he know...? 15[21:03] "Hamoji, his chosen, your own high priestess. All dead since your ship came in." [21:04] 14He knows enough. [21:04] 10Daizo won't correct the Anathema about the Feathered One's survival. It's still dicey anyway. [21:05] 14One supposes it isn't precisely fireworks-making to deduce that they might have had something to do with that crone's death. [21:07] 6Zhangyu: "It's complicated," 6he echoes Daizo. [21:09] 07Dryas: "It is said, 'Death may come from any quarter at any time. No-one is safe.'" [21:11] 10Daizo: "As to how we spotted you, well. How was it again, Dryas? 'Too well-trained for such a mangy mutt', something like that?" [21:12] 10We've got to get her off of this fixation with death.  [21:13] 14It's fitting and mature for the hearth's leader to be so focused. [21:13] 14Piu can't say that out loud, of course. [21:18] "Something like that, yes," 07Dryas affirms vaguely. [21:19] 4Piu: "I mean...it's a look you chose." 15[21:19] "What is so 'complicated'? Who do you work for?" [21:19] 4A kind-of giddy laugh. "Oh, so many people!" [21:19] 07Dryas' eyes flicker in Piu's direction for an instant. [21:22] 10Daizo: "We were originally asked to accompany a Dynast for assistance with a private family matter. Conditions on the ground since we arrived have made things significantly more complciated, however." [21:23] 10Daizo: "Our presence on Hamoji the day of the festival was nothing more than an unlucky whim of Heaven." [21:23] 4Piu: "House, Hearth, the silly monks, naval command structure, LOCAL command structure, really you guys have it good!" [21:24] "Perhaps you can answer some of our questions now, Nameless One?" 07Nameless though regrettably not odorless [21:25] 6Zhangyu: "As we said. Complicated." 15[21:26] The bum: "You asked me why I was following you and I told you. What else do you want?" [21:27] 10All right, Cynis Deals, show us what you've got.  [21:29] 10Daizo: "Do you live in that garbage heap, or…" [21:29] "Sorry. I'm sorry." 10He's tapping his two index fingers together in embarrassment. [21:29] 4Piu, brightly: "Who do you work for!" 15[21:30] The bum makes a face at Daizo. "I work for myself." [21:30] "I thought… your people… led armies… ruled nations… 14things like... that." [21:30] 4Just as chipperly: "And who do you serve!" 15[21:31] The bum scoffs. "My people." [21:31] 4Piu shrugs at Dryas. "I'm good." [21:32] 10Daizo: "Aren't they?" [21:32] 14Odds are he's got a mentor or direct superior somewhere. These Anathema probably work person-to-person...master-to-apprentice. Can appreciate that. [21:33] 10Every five fifth years, the Silver Council meets in the dark of Calibration and plots the downfall of the Realm, after which they disperse through the lands, sowing chaos and destruction. It's known. [21:33] 14Hopefully there aren't too many more of them around. One's dangerous enough. [21:35] 6Hopefully any others - if they are here - don't also look and smell like garbage. [21:35] 14Add even one more Silver Anathema to the party and we won't be around long enough to smell them. 15[21:36] "What do you know about my people, big man? You mean the people under the sign of the moon, yeah? Strangers to me, all of them, Chosen by the whim of She who is a stranger to everyone. My people were the sons and daughters of Etua, burned to the ground and enslaved to your people to grow sugar. And when the blight came, and the sugar didn't grow anymore, neither did anything 15[21:36] else. And your people left my people to starve." [21:36] 10Daizo knows… rather quite a lot about the supposed properties and origin of the Anathema. But almost nothing about their society.  [21:38] 10Daizo: "…I see." 10Etua, Etua, where has he read that before… [21:38] 14...All of the above is contingent on the Lunar answering 4Piu14's question, and Piu's player reading the channel properly. 15[21:42] To Piu: "No masters. None." [21:47] 10Etua. There were a few paragraphs devoted to the plantation debacle in one of the Western gazetteers, and a strong recommendation to give the entire island a wide berth. "I'm, ah." 10Daizo clears his throat. "I apologize for speaking so frivolously just now." [21:49] "I spoke from ignorance, and ignorance leads only to folly." [21:49] 10And worse.  [21:52] 4Piu: "I can respect that." [21:58] 07Dryas: "As for you, man of Etua - you could have kept running. If we were the Wyld Hunt, perhaps it would have mattered, and perhaps not. But what do you want from us? Our mission is not what ultimately concerns you, is it? Nor the death that follows us like a shadow? What is it, then, that you wish to learn from us?" [21:59] 4Such a way with words! [21:59] 07It's that Spiral Academy education! 15[22:05] The bum: "...perhaps you'll think I'm mad. Ah, but what would that matter. Tell me - when you saw me, was it me you were looking for?" 15[22:05] "Or were you watching for something else?" [22:08] 6Strictly speaking Zhangyu is pretty sure we were on the lookout for someone else, but a suspiciously astute dog is always going to raise some red flags. [22:10] 4Chipperly: "Different kind of beast!" [22:12] 07Dryas: "You mean in the Hamoji, just today?" [22:12] *Hinokuni 15[22:13] The bum shakes his head. "You chased me before that. What were you looking for when you first became suspicious of me?" 15[22:13] "What else is stalking you?" [22:14] 4This isn't Piu's information to divulge, 14mainly because she's not supposed to know it. And she's only barely more knowledgable than the cover. [22:14] 14Some sort of sorcerer...? [22:15] 10Daizo: "We think a sorcerer has tasked a blood-ape to follow us." [22:15] 14Yes, right. [22:15] "Who, exactly, is as yet unknown." [22:15] "And another," 07Dryas interjects. 15[22:15] "Another?" [22:16] "A man, a Westerner. With the symbol of Saturn on his brow." 15[22:16] "A-HA!" [22:16] 4Piu: "Fucking asshole." [22:16] 4Hurriedly: "Not you!" [22:16] "The Saturn guy." 15[22:17] "So you know." [22:18] "Know?" [22:18] 10Daizo: "He hasn't shown his face again since that night…" 15[22:21] "Many don't see them. Or they're made to forget. They hide even better than I do. They can be anyone. Beggars, scholars, princes. Always hiding, always plotting. Your Realm is run through with them like a corpse with maggots." 15[22:21] "The star-marked." [22:21] 14Piu nods. [22:23] 07Dryas, shocked: "Star-marked? You mean, this isn't just some insane Exigent running around?" [22:24] 10Daizo looks up into the night sky. "Do you recall, Dryas? We hypothesized that Chosen of Heaven, or perhaps instead Astral Anathema, might exist…" [22:25] 4Piu: "Fucked up if true!" [22:25] "Deeply fucked up," 07Dryas concurs. 15[22:26] The bum: "I don't know how many they number, but there are many. They are everywhere." [22:26] 10Daizo barks a laugh. No pun intended.  [22:26] 10Piu sure knows how to lighten the mood.  15[22:26] "In this very city I have seen the mark of Maiden Mercury." [22:27] "Two of them? This is getting out of hand," 07Dryas mutters. [22:28] 4Piu: "That's..." 4She snaps her fingers. "The one who makes the ships dock on time!" [22:29] 10Daizo opens his mouth, then closes it. Piu's got the essence of it. 15[22:31] The bum: "So you asked me what I wish to learn: I want to know everything you know about the star-marked." [22:32] 6Whatever you say, dog man. [22:33] 07Dryas: "A counteroffer, then: we share information on the subject. Perhaps in the future we contact you again, ....?" 07she gestures effusively regarding her ignorance of his name. 15[22:35] "My name is Makita of Etua. I will trade knowledge with you." [22:35] 4Much better than 'doglord' as a name! 15[22:35] "If you swear on your honor." [22:36] 07Dryas inhales for a moment. Rather presumptuous of this... She glances at her hearthmates. [22:36] 4Piu grins and nods. [22:38] 10Go for it. [22:44] 10Daizo is prepared to offer Makita a personal favor as a further apology for his rudeness, if it should be required to close the agreement. But as Dryas makes her pitch, it begins to sound like that won't be necessary. [22:47] 07Dryas clears her throat as plum blossoms begin flittering through the air around her. "On my honor as owner of the Falling Leaf, I, Dryas, daughter of Umora and great-great-granddaughter of the Scarlet Empress, the embodied font of honor and justice, swear by my honor as a member of the Imperial Dynasty to trade knowledge with you, Makita of Etua, fairly and in good faith." [22:48] 4Piu: "I'm down!" [22:48] 6Zhangyu just nods. [22:49] "Such pledge to bind the members of my sworn Hearth - Daizo, Zhangyu, and Piu, until such a time as it is revoked by mutual consent or death." 15[22:49] Makita seems almost amused by the drama of it, but he also seems satisfied. "And so I swear, on the ashes of my people." [22:50] 14Piu keeps her face carefully placid at that. [22:50] 07Dryas extends her hand. 15[22:52] Makita takes it. [22:53] 14Once we're sealed: "We might have something for you in the next couple days. This talk's got me reframing some conversations. We'll need some time to work it." [22:53] "And then you help us work it from the other direction." [22:53] "Right?" 15[22:54] Makita nods. "I'm not hard to find, if you know what you're looking for." [22:54] 4Piu: "Sounds good!" [22:55] 10Daizo: "What should we look for? Will you continue to appear as a dog?" 15[22:55] Makita: "Dogs eat better than poor men in Abalone." [22:56] 4Fucked up! [22:56] 14But true. 15[23:02] Daizo studies the Anathema they've just sworn a pact with, recalling his old training. What matches this man to the dog they chased here? It's obscured by the man's huge bushy beard, but there it is - a long, faded scar that runs the length of the man's exposed collarbone before arcing up toward his throat. The dog had a similar scar running up its chest and neck. [23:03] 10Daizo: "Very well. We'll be on the lookout." 10And what wound left that? Perhaps the two of them aren't, ultimately, that different after all. 15[23:08] So sworn, they leave Makita be. The sun's nearly set - where goes the hearth? [23:10] 14Somewhere we can talk. [23:10] 14Hearth to hearth. [23:11] 07Wise. [23:12] 10Back to the hostel, or someplace else?  [23:13] 14Hostel has ears. [23:13] 14Piu: "...Pick a direction." [23:14] "Pick a direction, we'll walk a number of steps I choose beforehand, that makes it random enough." [23:14] "We find a place that looks good, we talk there." [23:15] 07Dryas: "Leeward." 07Further inland might bring more prying locals but takes them away from Guildsmen and other Dynasts. [23:15] 14Piu: "Four hundred fourteen." [23:16] 14Where's that bring us? And more importantly, are we being observed or followed? [23:20] "There's a story that when a whim strikes the Maiden of Journeys, she'll unmoor her golden barque and let the wind carry her where it may. And yet she always winds up exactly where she needs to be." 15[23:20] From there, the nearest place it's suitable to talk is a sculpture garden containing several statues of Hamoji of different styles and materials - stone, wood, bronze. There are people around - the Tepet boys can tell that people take a fair amount of notice of this squad of richly dressed beautiful foreigners, but none of it seems knowing or particularly sinister. [23:20] 6We do get that a lot. [23:20] 14Well, that's probably not...too forboding. [23:21] 14Piu: "I intimated to the Anathema that I might have a line on something. You might have already guessed who it is." [23:21] "The monk." [23:21] "Given starchildren, a lot of things about him start to make sense." [23:25] 10Daizo: "It might explain some things… but if he has that kind of power, why would he give himself up to Ratel so readily?" [23:26] 07Dryas: "He might trust her carelessness the same way we have, that she won't look further?" [23:28] 14Piu: "Did he have much of a choice in the cirumstances?" [23:28] "He had just killed a high cleric." [23:29] "Perhaps this is his plan." [23:29] 10Daizo: "Mm. She did have a flamepiece pointed right at his skull. But he's had ample choice to make a break for it in the meantime. Why hasn't he?" [23:30] 07Dryas: "Keeping an eye on the expedition? But why risk it by murdering the priest and then confessing to it?" [23:30] 14Hopefully someone else will say it. Too on the nose from her. [23:32] 14...No dice. [23:33] 14Piu: "What if he's where he wants to be? He kills some priest, confesses, and suddenly we're looking to threats outside trying to kill him, instead of at him, since we now think we know what he is." [23:34] "Misdirection?" 07Dryas stares up at one of Hamoji's glowering icons. [23:35] "It'd be consistent with what Makita said about their methods." [23:36] 10Daizo: "So he must have some other objective in mind. If we assume that Sa—" 10*cough* "Mr. S and the man who attacked Sadako are the same person, what do his targets have in common?" [23:36] "It doesn't quite add up, to me." [23:37] "Teenage girls. Sadoko was one; Dusk's death released one to us." [23:37] 14Worth a shot. [23:39] 10Daizo: "Or… oh… I think I see now. Sadako was a warning. That this outside assailant was targeting us." [23:39] 4Piu nods. [23:39] "If not for her… special ability, she'd be as dead as Dusk right now, and we'd be panicked." [23:39] 14Piu nods. [23:39] 07Dryas: "Hence, literally, the warning." [23:40] 10Daizo: "That line about death coming at any time. You've been saying it a lot lately." [23:40] "Have you noticed?" [23:41] "I wonder if he didn't lay some kind of curse on you." [23:41] "It was a convincing argument," 07she replies. [23:41] 10Daizo: "…fair." [23:42] 14Piu: "At the very least, even if we don't have the Anathema remove Salim for us directly...it's information to trade. If we can confirm it." [23:43] 10Daizo: "There's some curses where the victim is convinced someone's following them, all the time. A second set of footsteps walking behind them, right in step with their own. Eventually they go mad, and…" 10Daizo clears his throat. "I'm sorry,, that was grim." [23:44] 6Zhangyu: "Something to keep in mind," 6he says dryly. [23:46] 07Dryas looks between the Tepets. "Do you two practice this routine? Maybe you should." [23:46] 14Piu: "He wasn't entirely wrong about how close we always are to the action." [23:47] 10Daizo: "Back to business. Is there some way we might be able to trick Salim into exposing himself?" 10Piu having said the name, Daizo will dispense with the Mr. S business. [23:49] "If he works like us, it just means making him exert himself. There's no particular reason to think he does, though." [23:51] "He might lead us to more like him if we play it cool. Or we could feed him false information to keep a free hand elsewhere," 07Dryas speculates. [23:54] 10Daizo ponders. "We could also try to identify the other one Makita seems to think is in the city. Feel them out and play them off one another?" [23:54] 14Piu: "We're going to keep having to rub shoulders with him anyway. Ratel has him on some kind of work-release program, which is undoubtedly what he wants." [23:56] 10Daizo: "And then there's the Witch. I'm sure she knows a thing or two. How are the preparations for our hunt going, Dryas?" [23:59] 6Zhangyu: "...Ted's friend." [00:00] 07Dryas: "I've arranged porters, ponies, and - what?" [00:00] "The star-marked can make people forget them, yes? And Nn Tloc couldn't remember Ted's sorcerer friend." [00:00] 4Piu: "Ah fuck." [00:00] 14Piu: "Ah fuck." [00:02] "I'm going to have a bit of a smoke,"07 Dryas announces to no-one in particular. [00:05] 14Piu will try to stretch out, and then remembers why she hasn't been doing that. [00:07] 07Dryas: "And what's to be done about all these Anathema everywhere? Are things this bad everywhere?" [00:07] 14Piu: "Have to think so." [00:08] 6Zhanyu: "Or worse." [00:08] "Other than the volcano god getting aced, things have honestly been fine here for the most part." [00:09] 6Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play? [00:09] "Until they look around and decide they'll take a chance on putting Skullstone in charge? Like what happened between Nexus and Thorns?" [00:09] 4Piu: "I dunno about all that." [00:11] "Or if Bruiser Kang decides he wants more than just to be champion of the Hinokuni!?..." 07Dryas sighs. [00:13] "I wonder what happened to that Cathak who we were supposed to get instead of the twins. Wasn't he last spotted in Nexus, before…" 10Daizo waves his hands to indicate total chaos. "No chance we'll be getting any news out here." [00:13] 4Piu: "Khang's happy where he is. Weird as that sounds." [00:14] 4Piu: "Nexus is a stupid city anyway." [00:14] "I mean it's just true." 15[00:14] NEXT TIME: Tales from the Far Side [00:15] "I've heard some of the most salacious stories..."