15[20:05] Up to now, every step in the plan had gone off flawlessly. Insinuate herself with Lena, switch the tainted coke out for the pure, and get them alone somewhere private. And she continues to work swiftly and skilfully, but Piu's plan has one more moving part than she has limbs. What goes through her mind when Lena's scream cuts through the washroom, out the curtained window admitting a 15[20:05] tender evening breeze, and back into the party behind them? What's her next move? [20:05] 14Finish the job, first. Then she's got an idea. 15[20:06] What, also, goes through the minds of Daizo, Dryas, and Zhangyu, when their reveries and rages are similarly pierced by that woman's terror-struck cry? [20:08] 10We only just 10got10 here— Daizo can make the connection between Piu and Lena stepping out and a sudden anguished scream as well as anyone who knows what Piu's side business it. [20:10] 6Well, that probably isn't going the way Piu planned it. Hope she's got an exit plan, because there's no way to hide any of that. [20:10] 07Dryas is on her feet in an instant, but then - hesitates for a moment. She radiates calm outwardly, but her serene face might be betrayed by her fingers, which are gripping the Princess's chair (throne?) with white tips. [20:11] "Cuir a ’choire air Taigh Iselsi. Agus thu fhèin." 14Piu lets the scream end, and Lena take breath for another, before-- [20:11] 14Snap. [20:11] 14No pause, no checking of pulse, she knows she's done what she needs to do. What's the window/balcony situation in here? 15[20:12] The revelers begin to freak out, save for those who came in on the Defiance and those who can see the poise and control Cynis Dryas radiates. [20:13] 10Is, even. The Commodore and Dryas are already on their feet as well, it appears— "Sadako, I'm still going after Seiri. Follow if you want." 15[20:14] There's an open window in the powder-room, and lacy curtains fluttering in the breeze blowing in. It opens onto a small courtyard garden. 15[20:15] Caxi snaps her fingers to beckon Sadako over. "You go ahead, darling. I need a favor from Sadako." [20:15] 14Piu's going to launch the body through window, with the window still closed, so it tumbles out to the courtyard below. [20:17] *14Piu's going to launch the body through the window so it tumbles out to the courtyard below. [20:17] 10Daizo barrels through the crowd, all but the most panicked revelers parting before him (and those panicked ones he'll shove aside), then pushes past the curtain to backstage.  [20:18] 14And as Lena goes over the ledge and down into the courtyard, Piu marches grimly over to the remain lines of poisoned cocaine...and does them all. 15[20:22] Daizo bursts through the curtain and follows lamplight to loom in the doorway of a tiny dressing room, where the burly wedding singer is perched on a stool, rifling through a big travel chest full of what look like narrow, stylishly-bound books of different colors and ages and levels of care and languages on the spine. Seiri, who had already looked up with a start at the scream, gives 15[20:22] a little yelp when Daizo barrels into view. 15[20:22] "Master Daizo! Is everyone alright?" [20:25] 14When people start to arrive to investigate, they'll find 4Piu stumbling out into the hall, trying to scream herself, mostly succeeding at a choking wail -- because she's going into anaphylactic shock. [20:27] 6Zhangyu hurries towards the scream - he's reasonably sure what happened there, but he'd like to know for certain, and the closer, the better. [20:29] 10Daizo: "The Commodore's going to check out the situation. I wanted to make sure you were all right—Lady Garnet and Sadako were worried too, seeing you talking to a stranger for all that time. Um. Just what are you doing back here?" 15[20:30] Zhangyu pushes through the crowd forming around the powder room, from guards to looky-loos dignitaries to skeletal servants who are trying to wriggle bonily through the crowd without dropping their canapes. He sees Piu, pale, sweating, frothing at the mouth, just before she collapses into the arms of the first guard at the scene, who calls in Seatongue for a medic. 15[20:32] Seiri giggles nervously - the situation became very tense very suddenly! "Well you know how if you see a bard play, sometimes after the show they set up a little table and sell music for a while. Lady Garnet loves to sing and she has a lovely voice, so I thought an album would be a nice gift to cheer her up." [20:32] 6He's not a medic, unfortunately, but to his amateur eye that doesn't look great for your health. 15[20:33] The wedding singer's eyes widen as he looks up at Daizo, and then keeps looking up and up until their gazes meet. Daizo, not speaking Seatongue, doesn't understand him, but the tone is very 'hey there's nothing untoward happening here, don't be mad at me giant flaming man'. [20:35] 4Piu looks like she's dying. She can't breathe, her throat has swollen up, and the seizures are punctuated by vomit dribbling from her lips all over her beautiful sexy clothes. 14This is what we train for. The vomit's a nice touch; you always appreciate help from the actual toxin. 15[20:35] The Commodore bursts onto the scene not far behind Zhangyu, and she penetrates far deeper into the crowd by dint of shoving, kicking, and brandishing her giant flamepiece around. "PIU!" [20:36] 4She only gets dull, glazed over eyes back, looking up at the ceiling. [20:37] 10Daizo looks nonplussed. "Is that all? Now I feel like a fool, rushing back here." T10o the singer: "You, er. Forgive my bluntness, but you have the air of a disreputable man about you." 15[20:38] Ratel wrests the assassin from the guard's arms with little resistance, holding her steady, taking her pulse. "She's going into shock. Get out of the way. GET OUT OF MY WAY OR THEY WON'T NEED A MEDIC THEY'LL NEED A MOP--" 15[20:39] The crowd parts and Ratel drags Piu away from the powder room. Guards are blocking off the door, to little effect since of course Lena's not actually inside anymore. 15[20:39] The wedding singer gives Daizo a searching look, expression uncertain. 15[20:42] Finally, he stands, and says in Northern-accented High Realm: "No worries, boss! Like I was telling your daughter, I'm not really that kind of act - I play other people's music, and other people's music is what I got." 15[20:42] His voice is a bit high-pitched given both his size and how he sings. [20:44] 10Daizo: "Um, er. It seems we're both under some misconceptions. Miss Seiri isn't my daughter. More of an aide-de-camp."10 Okay, so why am I treating her like— 15[20:44] Ratel brings Piu into the ballroom and lays her on top of one of the tables, sweeping all the lovely crystal glassware onto the floor to shatter. She cleans Piu up, makes sure her airways aren't blocked. Without looking up: "Get over here!" 15[20:45] Caxi wanders over a moment later. 15[20:45] "Oh, no. Oh dear Piu..." 15[20:45] Ratel: "It's poison. It's got to be poison, right?" 15[20:45] Caxi: "I believe you're right." [20:45] 14Well, let's see how Caxi plays this. Hopefully she's interested enough to commit to the bit. [20:46] "Let's start over, shall we? Temet Daizo, with the party on the Danaa'd's Defiance." 10Is any of this additional commotion audible in the dressing room? [20:46] *Tepet 15[20:46] Probably not from this far back unless Daizo is using special sensory magic to keep tabs. [20:48] 10Not at the moment. He's assuming the others have the screaming situation on lock. 15[20:48] The wedding singer: "Oh, I apologize. My name's Cardelin, but on stage I go by Mockingbird. Anyway, I was just trying to find something her friend'd like. She was just about to tell me what this Lady Garnet's into when you came in to check on her." 15[20:49] Seiri, who looks even more uncomfortable for some reason than she did a moment ago, looks up at Daizo for guidance. 15[20:51] Caxi checks Piu's vitals, and cranes in to sniff her breath. "Mmm." She drags a fingertip over the residue beneath Piu's nose and rubs it over her gums. "Mmmmmmmm. I believe Piu is a hapless victim of an attempt on Lady Lena's life." 15[20:52] "Cocaine, cut through with arrow frog venom. The youths call it a 'hot shot'." [20:52] 10Daizo: "I'll leave you to it, then. Pardon my sudden intrusion." 15[20:52] Mockingbird: "...take it easy!" 15[20:52] Seiri looks down at the floor 15[20:52] . 15[20:54] Word ripples through the crowd around the door as more guards come to try and break it up - these guards are far ruder and more forceful than the ones Ratel pushed through, and have short swords drawn to make sure the hapless nobles crowding around the scene of the incident get the point. 15[20:54] They even point their blades at Zhangyu if he refuses to back off. 15[20:54] Ratel: "What's the antidote?" [20:55] 10Daizo backs out or the small dressing room. Returning to the hall… Well, shit. 15[20:55] Caxi: "Bufo's Folly, a powerful narcotic made from the extract of another jungle frog. I'm afraid I'm fresh out." [20:55] 6He'll back up a bit, but he wants to keep Piu in his eyesight if at all possible. Not interfering, just watching. If he can't, he'll retreat to let Daizo know what's happened. 15[20:55] "Fear not! I think Piu will recover. She's a very strong girl." 15[20:56] Ratel: "We're not losing anybody. You understand me? I don't care what it takes. Piu lives." 15[20:56] Caxi: "Why, Commodore, I--" 15[20:56] Ratel: "Don't fuck around with me." 15[20:56] Caxi: "...as you wish." 15[20:58] Zhangyu can loom around Piu directly in the ballroom, where Ratel and Caxi have her laid out on a table. This is the tableau Daizo sees, as well as seeing that Lady Garnet has relocated to beside Princess Lapis, to stay within reach of Caxi, who in the absence of both Seiri and Sadako is holding the jar in something that could pass for a medical bag. [20:59] 14She's been gradually easing back on the worst of the symptoms; no more need for heroic displays now, just difficulty of breath and keeping some of that spittle and foam flowing. [20:59] 10Daizo rushes to tableside. "Mela's breath…" 10Good job chasing after a musician while your hearth-siister's been assaulted. 15[21:00] The announcement reaches the ballroom now that Cynis Lena has been found dead in the courtyard below. [21:00] 14She debates whether or not to give Daizo a wink. No, he's demonstrated how comically poorly he keeps confidence, especially when startled. Endearing some of the time, but a liability right now. [21:00] 14Piu is thankfully spared having to react to that news. 15[21:01] Lapis has come to peek at Piu, looking mortified. "It looks bad... they'll have sent for the Abbot." 15[21:01] Garnet stands behind Lapis, her veiled face unreadable. She says nothing. 15[21:03] Caxi: "Piu will require rest and attention, but I believe the worst of it is over. She should only get better from here." [21:04] 10Well. Daizo's not that stupid. The news about Lady Lena throws everything into sharp relief. His momentarily shocked expression is replaced with an impassive one.  15[21:06] Caxi looks up at Daizo as he approaches. "Everything alright on your end?" [21:08] 10Daizo: "Yeah. Got worried over nothing. Well… there was something, but I'm not sure what to make of it yet. It can wait." [21:09] 07Cynis Dryas bursts into the courtyard where Lena lies a bloody, mangled mess. "Lena! Lena!!" 15[21:11] Lena landed on the paving stones just shy of one of the awning-shaded sofas that ring the outside of the courtyard, ideal for lounging on and contemplating the fountain at the courtyard's center. Her face is pretty well smashed against the stone, and her neck's been savagely broken. Blood pools gently around. 15[21:12] Caxi: "Where has Dryas gone?" [21:14] 6Zhangyu looks around - he lost track sometime after the scream. Things have been a little hectic. [21:15] 07Dryas kneels in the blood - which, through magic, does not stain her party dress - and stares silently down at her dead relation. The tears which well up from her eyes bead up and roll down her cheeks without leaving a trail or even smearing her makeup. 15[21:15] Pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth... [21:16] 10Daizo: "She was here when I left, lost track of her in the commotion. Perhaps she went to the courtyard to see the body?" 15[21:16] The fall was brutal, but still, Lena ought to have been able to survive that, unless she was already incapacitated... the foam around her lips gives it away. She was poisoned, and then fell - or was pushed? - in her intoxicated state. [21:17] "…if they were close, we might want to give her a minute or two." 15[21:17] Dryas here something scraping and groaning nearby. Looking up, something is pushing against the lining of the nearby sofa, as if an animal had gotten stuck in it and wasn't sure how to get out. [21:18] 07Dryas looks up at what is making the sound from the sofa, walks over towards it. 15[21:18] Then the leather splits open, and a man's bald and knobbly head emerges, ringed by a tonsure of black hair and matching bushy eyebrows. His bare pate glistens in the torchlight. 15[21:19] The rest of the man crawls out, short, fat, and greasily nude, his flat and tight like a taxman's smile. He flops around for a bit like a slimy newborn. 15[21:20] Inside the ballroom, the air grows cold and mist starts to creep along the floor. A man's voice, high and cold, asks, "Where is my Queen to be?" [21:21] 14They're really just going to leave her out here on this table, huh. [21:21] 07Dryas staggers back in horror and shock. 15[21:22] The bald man in the courtyard pulls himself to his feet, soles still slick with... something... as he struggles to stay standing before he looks down at the corpse and then dangles his hand (among other extremities) for Dryas to shake. "You must be the next of kin." 15[21:22] Abbot of Infirmity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9bZm8y2Ne0 - ...but they're tightwads, and they're cheapskates, and they'll never give a dime to you. 15[21:24] In the ballroom the hearth looks up to see another man, rail-thin and tall, with curly dark hair throwing shade like underbrush over a face that's half smooth and shining like a half-healed burn, and half worked over with scabrous, snow-white growths and dry, craggy, leprous skin. 15[21:25] Without further preamble he lurches forward and sweeps Lapis into a protective embrace, cradling her head as Ratel had done to Piu just a moment before. Lapis looks somehow the worse for wear. 15[21:25] "Sssh, my pet. All will be well." [21:26] 14Eugh. [21:26] 6Creepy. [21:26] 07Dryas stares in horror at this creature but decides to answer its ghoulish question regardless. "P-p-probably not? She has closer kin abroad...?" 07Even Caxi may be closer, by the Realm's law? Dryas would need to consult a family tree. 15[21:27] "Good enough!" The slimy little man belches. "Scuse me. You kill her?" 15[21:27] "Not a judgment, just. Makes my job easier." [21:28] 10…………… well, where there's smoke, there's fire. And where there are well-behaved walking dead in fezzes, there's likely a necromancer. 15[21:28] Once Lapis is security in his arms, he looks up at the others. Only one of his eyes is visible - barely - behind the wrinkled and rotting flesh. The other is entirely masked by blistery sheen. "Ah. Guests." [21:28] 07Dryas: "Of course not! ... What is your job? Some sort of furniture salesman?" 15[21:30] The fat little man: "Why? You buying? Cause I can let go of this whole set for ten - no, you know what, I like your face - 8 koku. And that's real whale leather!" 15[21:30] Conspiratorially: "You grease up and climb inside, it's just like the belly of the real thing." [21:31] 10This poor princess. Piu at least got a 10good-looking10 necromancer. 15[21:31] Ted... 15[21:34] The man holding the Princess gives the rest of the hearth a courtly bow, or as courtly as he can while not releasing his grip. "I am a humble Knight, and sometime Prince. At least until my lady love ennobles me, her nation, and mine." A bone-dry kiss on the cheek for Lapis. "You are Dynasts?" [21:35] 07Dryas: "I can't take a damaged set, unfortunately. What is your name? I am Cynis Dryas." 15[21:35] The Abbot: "I'm the Abbot. Here to officiate the wedding. Which I'm guessing you got invited for, if you didn't kill her. Am I wrong?" [21:38] 10Daizo says mildly, "That's correct. And how shall we address you?" [21:39] 07A foreign clergyman who sleeps in the nude? "About which part?" 15[21:39] The leper: "Knight will suffice. Sir Knight, if you're of courtly disposition. In a few days... Your Majesty." 15[21:40] Abbot: "Seeing as you already told me you didn't kill her, and I've got nothing but your word either way, I guess you can consider this a formal invitation to lie again." [21:41] 07Dryas: "But I didn't lie the first time." 15[21:42] Abbot: "Whether you accept the invitation or not's a separate question. I still invited you to lie." [21:45] 07Dryas: "I, and the rest of the crew of the Danaa'd's Defiance, are here as wedding guests. Perhaps you've heard of our Commodore, Peleps Ratel?" 15[21:47] The Abbot's snicker breaks into a laugh which boils over into a cackle that lifts wetly all the way to the ballroom, alongside the hideous throat-clearing gray loogie he turns and hocks into the open rent in the sofa he climbed out of. Then: "Yeah." 15[21:48] Then he finally squats down by Lena's corpse, prodding her with his damp fingers as his bare ass almost scrapes the cobbles. [21:50] 07Dryas: "Excuse me! That is a Princess of the Earth, to say nothing of my blood relation. What are you doing, poking and prodding her so?!" 15[21:50] Caxi: "...if I might, Sir Knight, and your Highness, I believe we should take our ill friend back to our ship so she might recuperate." 15[21:51] Knight: "Oh that will be quite impossible. Quite impossible. A terrible accident has transpired - perhaps a murder! - and she is our sole surviving witness. She can recuperate in her suite in the palace, for questioning when she feels fit." 15[21:51] Abbot: "If you didn't kill her, someone did." 15[21:52] He leans in real close and sniffs at her mouth and nose. [21:52] 14Well. Interesting to meet who really runs the place. Anyway, she's feverish not unconscious, so a groady dead guy sniffing around deserves some sluggish shuddering. 15[21:53] The Abbot: "Did your blood relation make any pacts or bargains with nephwracks, necromancers, or other purveyors of death deferred?" 15[21:54] The Knight does indeed lean in close to study Piu - he smells like a flower pressed between the pages of a book and left to rot to dust. But at least the sharp-nailed fingertip that traces her sweat-slicked throat is bone dry. 15[21:54] "Yes... the Abbot will see to her." [21:54] 10Daizo: "I must object, Sir Knight—Lady Caxi is by far best equipped to treat a patient in her own surgery…" 15[21:54] "What a pity. I was hoping to have a proper party." [21:55] 10This isn't going to work, is it. [21:55] "Someone like you, you mean?" 07Dryas sneers, perhaps presumptuously. "Regardless - how on earth should I know? And upon what grounds do you investigate her death? She is a Dynast of the Realm, and the Ten Thousand Princes of Earth shall hold their own investigation and bring their own justice to her death." 15[21:57] The Abbot: "Look, I don't wanna be here any more than you do. This is my night off. I was specifically told I could sleep through the party. But no, this lady comes to me with a message to send and then two hours later she's dead? This is my night, now." 15[22:03] The Knight looks up at Daizo with an intensity that makes the skin tingle at the back of his skull. "Mmm. Well she's free to work as much as is needed here. We'll make whatever accomodations are required. But she cannot leave, I'm sorry." 15[22:04] Caxi: "That will be plenty suitable, Sir Knight. If you'll excuse me, I'll go examine my cousin. My late cousin." [22:04] 14This is inconvenient timing. Inconvenient enough to make Piu regret she took the window she was offered. But there was no way to know, and frankly, slavers deserve to die. 15[22:04] Knight: "Unnecessary. She's being seen to." [22:04] 14Window. Heh. 15[22:04] Ratel: "Seen to?" [22:04] 10Eeurgh. Just being looked at by this man makes him feel unclean. We have got to get Lapis out of here… if we can.  15[22:04] Knight: "By the Abbot himself. There is no finer investigative mind on the island." 15[22:04] The Abbot makes a noise that, by sound and smell, could be either a belch or a fart. [22:06] 14The biggest question mark here is if Caedus and Tephen are smart enough and quick enough to know they should already be moving. [22:06] 14Caedus is, and Tephen doesn't seem like a slouch. Hopefully they're aware of the situation already. [22:07] 14Inconceivable that they wouldn't be. [22:09] 07Dryas bristles. "As a member of House Cynis and the Scarlet Dynasty, I formally object to your handling her at all, much less in such a... state." 15[22:10] Caxi: "...let's take Piu to her room, then. If that's alright with you, Sir Knight. Your Highness." 15[22:10] The Knight sounds a bit bored. "If you insist. Do send word promptly once she's in a state to speak." 15[22:11] The Abbot: "File a report with my ass, then. Listen, when you die this bad, you're supposed to leave a ghost. You're supposed to leave two ghosts." 15[22:11] He points at Lena's wrecked corpse. "None ghosts. Zero." 15[22:11] "Suggests they were claimed." [22:11] 10Daizo: "Of course." 15[22:12] Anyone have anything they want to do before carrying Piu into her suite? [22:14] 6Nothing on Zhangyu's end. Just carrying Piu to her room, or helping with that. [22:16] 07Dryas, suddenly hesitant: "Wait. You mean any kind of deal with anyone who... claims your ghost?" [22:16] 10Daizo will leave a message with a (living) servant for Seiri letting her know that everything's "under control" and where to find them, once she's done putting together her songbook. 15[22:16] The Abbot: "Could be. Most likely scenario, anyway. You know something?" [22:18] "I know not to buy your furniture," 07Dryas replies. 15[22:19] The suite laid out for Piu is nice and airy, with a big four-poster bed that's neatly made even though it saw active use quite recently. Sadako's already sitting in the corner silently when they enter, and soon Piu is alone with hearth and crewmates. 15[22:21] The Abbot: "You get high with her before she died?" [22:21] 14Piu will spit out the last of the foam and the vomit on the sheet, and sit up. "Well, shit." [22:23] 07Dryas: "Of course." 15[22:23] The Abbot: "Well, she was poisoned, at least partially. So if she's here and you're there, that means she got poisoned and you didn't. Leaves a very narrow window for the poisoning." 15[22:25] Daizo feels an uncomfortable presence in the room, and as he tries to focus his spiritual attention his gaze is drawn to the silent Sadako in the corner. 15[22:25] Ratel: "Piu! What happened?" [22:27] 6Zhangyu: "Are you all right?" 6Stupid question. What with the poison and all. [22:27] 14Ah. Right. Ratel's here. "I fucked up. I fucked up!" 14We're going to have to vamp here. "I should have known the coke was laced!" [22:27] "Or at least, like, tried it first." 15[22:28] Ratel: "Fucking Cynis animals. You should have let me follow you in. This never would have happened." [22:29] 14So. The Knight and his Abbot are going to know it was Piu within...hours? Possibly minutes. That's what killing with the True Rune of Life and Death on your hand will do. That means she has to concoct a story where it was her that did it, but there's exculpatory evidence. [22:29] 14Fucking necromancers. [22:29] 4Distraught: "It was my coke. I wanted to impress her." [22:29] "I bought it from a guy on the docks..." [22:30] 14Tephen is going to need to do some work spinning up a cutout. 15[22:30] Caxi: "Why don't we let dear Piu rest a bit, Commodore? Get her wits about her?" [22:30] 4Piu here turns on the waterworks a bit, along with the unladylike hork-vomit coughs of the last of the residue in her throat. 15[22:31] Ratel: "No, we need to know the story now, so we can stick to it when those Skullstone freaks come asking." [22:31] 07Dryas: "If that is how the poison was delivered." 15[22:31] The Abbot: "Yeah, maybe she had a separate barrel of poison she stuck her nose in." [22:32] 10Daizo mutters something and the flickering flames and embers surrounding him die out. So Sadako can project her own spirit to keep watch for ghosts? Seems like a reasonable guess.  15[22:32] Caxi: "I think she's more likely to produce a story we can work with if she's had some time to rest." 15[22:32] Ratel: "It's not hard, we just need to know--" 15[22:33] Caxi, sharply: "You know what's even easier? Taking no for an answer." 15[22:33] "Leave her alone." [22:33] 4Piu: "It's alright!" [22:33] 14Gods, Caxi, we don't need this fight right now. 15[22:33] Ratel bristles. 15[22:33] Ignoring Caxi, she looks at Piu again. "What happened?" [22:34] 6Zhangyu glances over to Daizo, but he's quickly back to looking at Ratel and Caxi argue. 15[22:35] Dryas and the Abbot are joined now by a retinue of serious-faced guards with swords drawn, as well as the crown princess and the leprous Knight himself. "Abbot! Good news?" He glides over to stand behind the Abbot, casting a long and crooked shadow over the corpse. He spares Dryas barely a glance. 15[22:35] The princess is holding his hand - or vice-versa. [22:36] 4Piu: "I-- ahuh, huh -- I got the coke from this guy on the docks; I went looking for something to party with because I thought, hey, it's a wedding, we need a gift, and he said he was a wholesaler. Said he had an in with the guards. So I did the bit he cut for me, and it was fucking, great. Bought two packets. Brought just enough for like, six real lines to the rehearsal, since I [22:36] didn't have time to cut it. Wanted to impress Lena and since she did almost all her coke with Dryas, I offered to use mine. So we put down these huuuuge lines and we do them...and Lena staggers back, convulsing, and I scream because she goes back and falls out the window, and then I feel my throat close up and I can't scream anymore." 15[22:37] Caxi turns her back on the whole affair, but something about the way she tosses her short hair is oddly comforting to Piu and Daizo both. It says, Lena's ghost is taken care of. [22:39] 10Daizo: "Arrow frog venom is paralytic—acting especially on the lungs. Some have compared it to drowning in dry air." 15[22:39] The Abbot stands, still nude and shiny. "Good news is, she's dead. Bad news is, she's not talking. No hun, no po." 15[22:40] The Knight: "How irregular." [22:40] 07Dryas takes a step back to look at these two men interact. [22:41] 10This is Daizo giving Piu a little room to maneuver—after all, a drowning woman is often confused for some time after their rescue. [22:43] *4Piu: "I-- ahuh, huh -- I got the coke from this guy on the docks; I went looking for something to party with because I thought, hey, it's a wedding, we need a gift, and he said he was a wholesaler. Said he had an in with the guards. So I did the bit he cut for me, and it was fucking, great. Bought two packets. Brought one of the packets to the rehearsal. Wanted to impress Lena and [22:43] since she did almost all her coke with Dryas, I offered to use mine. She took the whole packet it, said it was hers now, and added it to what she already had, which sucked, but what was I gonna do? Then she cut these huuuuge lines and we do them...and Lena staggers back, convulsing, and I scream because she goes back and falls out the window, and then I feel my throat close up and I [22:43] can't scream anymore." 15[22:43] The Abbot: "This here is Dryas, kin to Lena. Off the Defiance." 15[22:44] Now the Knight turns and bows. "My dear lady." His bared teeth are clean and white and small and sharp. 15[22:44] Knight of Ghosts and Shadows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg5rETAne6k - It ain't done with smoke and mirrors. [22:45] 07Dryas, displaying exactly the correct amount of deference a Dynast might show to a courtly, but untrustworthy, barbarian lordling of Skullstone: "Cynis Dryas. I am quite afraid you have me at a disadvantage...?" [22:45] 10To Caxi: Is that what Sadako was doing? 15[22:46] Caxi shrugs her shoulders like she's wriggling out of a nightgown. Maaaaaybe. 15[22:46] Ratel: "Shit." 15[22:47] The Knight: "My dear, I am the Knight of Ghosts and Shadows. You can call me whatever you want." [22:48] 14To Caxi: Thanks, babe. I need Samperson here immediately, if you can. Ratel can't know and I can't leave. 15[22:49] Then the Knight adds: "But I can't say you are wrong to be afraid." [22:51] 10Daizo: "Do you think you'd know the guys' face if you saw him again? Take your time remembering, a lot's happened. Is still happening." [22:51] 4Piu: "I -- I think so. Maybe. There's so many just, random guys..." 15[22:53] Ratel: "It's better if you can't." 15[22:53] Caxi scoffs at this and strides out. 15[22:53] Ratel presses her lips together. [22:54] 4Plaintively: "I'm sorry." 4She actually is. 15[22:55] Ratel: "None of this is your fault." [22:55] 10Daizo: "She'll be back. She's probably just gone to get a tonic to flush any of the remaining traces of poison out of your system." [22:55] 4Piu lies back and smiles faintly. "Thanks." 4She sighs. "I'll stay here for whenever their Abbot guy comes around." [22:56] 10Daizo: "I'll keep watch. If this Abbot guy is an ything like his employer, he's going to be a real piece of work." 15[23:00] The Abbot waves his hands. "Hey! You wanna eyefuck something there's a dead body right here!" 15[23:00] The Knight sighs, and the air whistles through the ripples and warps of his mouth. "Of course. How inattentive of me." [23:02] Dryas"When will her remains be remitted to the local Immaculate temple?" [23:02] 07Dryas: "When will her remains be remitted to the local Immaculate temple?" 15[23:02] The Knight: "When we are done." 15[23:03] To the Abbot: "She was dead before she hit the ground." 15[23:03] The Abbot: "How do you figure?" 15[23:04] Knight: "Look at her neck. That's not an impact break. She landed on her head. All that damage is to her skull, her collarbones, her ribs... the neck was already broken. It gave perfectly, like armor built to crumple to eat an impact." 15[23:05] Abbot: "So someone got her." 15[23:05] Knight: "The other girl from the powder room. Talk to her." 15[23:06] Abbot: "Yeah, I'll get to it." 15[23:06] Knight: "Do it promptly." 15[23:06] Abbot: "Prompt my fat ass, kid. I'll get to it." 15[23:07] Abbot adds, "You've got your own shit to squeeze out. Keystone's due in the morning." 15[23:07] Knight groans. 15[23:08] "Clean this up. Let her cousin send for the novices. Where did that stupid bitch go?" 15[23:08] Abbot points behind Knight. 15[23:08] Knight looks up. "Oh, good. I don't need to repeat myself. Do you need a tarp?" [23:09] 10Good to know that the dead can be total assholes just as much as the living. [23:11] 14Piu is not looking forward to what she's going to have to do to repair her relationship with Dryas after this. 15[23:11] Just then, someone enters Piu's suite. A sailor from the Defiance. There's some friction between the crew in their opulent suites and the guards, who have them under a kind of house arrest. Scowling, Ratel stalks out. [23:12] 14Maybe her hearthsister will simply solve all the problems for her with that bow of-- [23:14] 07Dryas leaves without a word. 15[23:14] A minute or two after Ratel leaves the suite, Samperson stalks in, wearing a little fez, a little vest and no other shirt, and big billowy pants. "Piu!" [23:15] 14Piu: "Hey. I'm fine. For now. Things are moving quickly." 15[23:16] Samperson looks from Daizo to Zhangyu: "You're all secure?" [23:16] 07Dryas will make her way back through the palace to wherever the rest of the Defiance's crew are. [23:17] 14She will pull him in for an embrace and explain very succinctly, without using Iselsi-compromising language, what she needs him and Tephen to do: invent a patsy drug dealer with ties to the local guard with a bunch of coke and arrow frog poison on him when the law comes calling. 15[23:18] Samperson nods with the air of someone having recieved a serious but not particularly onerous task. [23:18] 10Daizo looks up. "Oh, Mr. Samperson. You look dapper today." [23:18] 6Zhangyu nods, but doesn't listen in to the conversation afterwards. Less he knows the better, as far as he's concerned. 15[23:18] Dryas comes into the suite to see Daizo, Zhangyu, and Samperson around Piu's bed, with Caxi facing the vanity and Sadako sitting quietly in the corner. [23:19] 14She'll almost give him a kiss before they break but...vomit and poison foam breath. So no. This should be fine, though. She owns Caedus, but Tephen? He owes both of them a lot more. [23:19] *14owes Caedus [23:19] 10But yeah, any conversation after that goes in one ear and out the other. He already clumsily tilled the ground with Ratel, time to leave the planting to the experts. 15[23:19] Samperson kisses her anyway... but briefly. Then he's gone. [23:20] 07Dryas shoulder-checks Samperson on the way in, and glares at him for a moment. 15[23:20] Samperson stares back, but doesn't break stride any further than Dryas already made him. [23:20] 14Piu will have wandered over to the water by now, trying to rinse the taste of, well, failure out of her mouth. 15[23:20] Caxi: "Piu's going to be alright. How bad is it out there, cousin?" [23:22] 14She knows. Piu isn't going to patronize her. "You can take the revenge on me you want. I fucked up." [23:24] 07Dryas holds up her hand as Piu speaks and walks past her, to Sadako. She half-circles her ward and leans in a bit to her personal space to see if there is some sort of dwarf concealed in her hair or something. [23:24] 14Piu doesn't say the above until the all-clear is given. 15[23:24] Sadako looks up at Dryas, mouth shut in a :I expression. [23:25] 10Daizo: "Don't disturb her. She's keeping an eye out for ghosts." [23:25] 07Dryas points at her mouth, as if to say, 'is someone hiding in there?' 15[23:25] Sadako nods slowly. [23:26] 10Oh Dryas. Do not. [23:27] 07Dryas seems actually kind of relieved: "The first thing they tried was looking for Lena's ghost. But for some reason. It did not appear." 15[23:27] Caxi looks up from the vanity, holding a cocktail shaker, both rims crusted with sea salt and a simple abjuration painted on the outside in Old Realm. "Sadako, darling." 15[23:28] Sadako scurries forward and, unless Dryas or someone else intervenes, vomits something glutinous and glowing white directly into the shaker, which Caxi then firmly clamps shut, beating it from above to seal it like a Pangu bartender. [23:29] 10Daizo: "…and I thought the legendary Ghost-Eating Technique was metaphorical." [23:29] "I met the Abbott downstairs, and the Knight. The second thing they deduced was that she was dead before she hit the ground. In fact, in addition to being poisoned by cocaine immediately after I had done cocaine with her, they could tell that her neck had been broken." 07Dryas simply stares daggers at Piu. [23:29] 14Piu isn't about to brag about how clean the kill would be for taking out a powerful dynast in earshot of a huge party, especially since she didn't actually get away with it. But if not for these necromancers, she kinda of would have. 15[23:30] Sadako rinses her mouth out with wine from a crystal decanter and then swallows. 15[23:31] Caxi: "Without a ghost to interrogate all they have is evidence. What are they going to do - take her to court?" [23:32] 14Piu: "I'm not in a position to deny anything. Like I said, I fucked up. I forgot about the necromancers and they arrived at a bad time. ...It was quick for her." 14She's not apologizing for the act itself, just getting caught. [23:33] "These are barbarians, Caxi," 07Dryas hisses. "In fact, they are probably worse than just barbarians. You can't believe how disrespectfully they treated Lena, and myself." [23:33] 14Piu: "I'm going to find out." [23:34] 07Dryas actually turns away when Piu speaks. "We will speak about this when we are back at sea." [23:34] 14Probably fair. 15[23:34] Caxi: "What did you learn about the Skullstoners? Their 'Knight' seems quite dreadful." [23:36] 07Dryas: "Yes... Their disrespect for each other is our asset with them. Ill-disciplined and degenerate." 15[23:37] Caxi: "Then it's to our credit that, unlike them, we are collegial and unified." [23:38] 6Mmm. [23:38] 14Iselsi Piu, Apex Predator -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8zp2VFnyg8 [23:40] 07Dryas laughs bitterly at Caxi's remark. [23:40] 07Dryas: "Where is Garnet and the Commodore?" [23:41] 14Piu: "Commodore's to the crew lodging." 15[23:41] Sadako: "Garnet's in the washroom here. The Commodore went to go yell at some palace guards." [23:41] 6Zhangyu: "Always fun." 15[23:41] The washroom door is behind Piu's bed; it's currently closed. [23:42] 10Daizo's rubbing his temples. "Collegial. Unified. Whatever." [23:42] 14Getting the impression she doesn't like us -- well, Piu -- very much. 15[23:42] There's a gentle knock at the suite door. [23:42] 14Piu will head back to bed. [23:43] 07The glass! 15[23:44] Seiri's voice is muffled by the door. "Master Daizo?" [23:44] 10Daizo, in a low voice: "The question we should all be thinking about right now, though, is how the f—" [23:44] "Hold that thought." [23:45] 10Daizo's going to slip out of the room as gracefully as possible and talk to Seiri in the hallway. 15[23:46] Seiri looks half-panicked, her arms wrapped tightly around the gently pink book in her arms like it's a teddy bear. "Is Lady Piu alright??" [23:46] 14Weakly, from bed: "I think I'll be fine. Thanks, Seiri." 15[23:47] Piu can see just a snatch of the relief on Seiri's face before Daizo shuts the door. [23:48] 10Daizo: "She's not in any imminent danger. Caxi's been taking care of her and Sadako and I have been keeping watch—she just needs a little rest, is all. Is that your songbook for Lady Garnet?" 15[23:48] Seiri nods. 15[23:49] "Mister Mockingbird was sure she'd like it." 15[23:49] She leans in close and shows him the cover. "Look at the name!!" she whispers excitedly. [23:49] "He does seem to be a very insightful man. What's it called?" 15[23:50] The cover of the album depicts a beautiful woman in an abstract countryside, where the earth is dark and loamy and the sky is spotless and pink. The title reads, in Low Realm, An Idol's Hands are the Devil's Playthings, and the cover is signed, To my biggest fan - the Unfettered Xia Lan. 15[23:50] https://i.imgur.com/o9gftEh.jpg 15[23:52] Back in the room, Sadako asks, "So, uh... now what?" [23:54] 14Piu: "Now I have to entertain an abbot." 08[23:55] "Oh, it's lovely." 10Should be illegal for a mortal to own, but Azure's never passed any icon laws, so what are you going to do.  "Piu did say there was a traveling musician in the Scavenger Lands with that same name. Mockingbird really gets around." 15[23:56] Sadako: "I can't tell what 'entertain' is a euphemism for." 15[23:56] Caxi: "'Lie to', darling." [23:56] 14It's important to get the preposition right. [23:56] 07Dryas: "Our immediate concern is ensuring that they don't decide to slaughter us once the Keystone - yes, that Keystone -comes into port tomorrow morning. Or try to blackmail us into becoming their pawns in return for their silence, which would undoubtedly be worse, and may be more likely." 15[23:57] Caxi: "There's a powerful shikari nearby who owes us a favor we may be able to call on for help." [23:57] 14Piu: "They're businessmen, and you're an excellent administrator. This could be an in for the Garden." 15[23:58] Seiri: "He's so sweet! He didn't even charge." 15[23:58] "I think he really felt for Lady Garnet." [23:58] 07Dryas: "I cannot do business with people who do not respect me." 15[23:59] Caxi: "Or who at least fail to respect the name." 15[23:59] "Still! We'll have time to discuss this - and Daizo should be a part of it too, once he's done playing den father." [00:00] 14Piu bites her tongue. Dryas already is, of course, with that contract from Nn Tloc. [00:00] 14But this isn't the place for it. [00:03] 10Daizo: "I'm sure she'll appreciate it. I had the completely wrong idea about that fellow. Perhaps we can send him a gift before we leave, if there's time… " [00:03] Hrm. 15[00:04] Seiri nods vigorously. "Lady Garnet is staying with Sadako and I, right? I'll just bring this back to the suite and then show it to them when they're done in there. Have a good night, Master Daizo!" [00:05] 10Daizo: "Sounds wonderful. OK, see you later~" [00:08] 10Back in the room, Daizo sits down heavily. "Sooner or later we need to decide if we're going to formally bring her in on all of this… skullduggery." 15[00:08] When Daizo re-enters, Caxi shuts the door behind him. "Ah! Perfect timing, my dear. I was just about to tell them about the Immaculate we found who was attacked by Furia." [00:08] "I can't keep closing the door on her forever." [00:08] "WHAT?!" 07Dryas exclaims. 15[00:08] NEXT TIME: That's a Moray [00:09] 10Yeah, that whole thing with Furia kind of got lost in the shuffle there for a little bit, huh? 15[00:09] Luckily Caxi's always got her eyes on the prize.