15[20:20] The route back to camp is slower and more awkward with your main guide incapacitated by Hell Poisoning. But between them, the Fangs and Friends don't have any issues making it back to camp. They proceed in silence for a time until, when the camp is almost in sight, Sadako asks, "What's a way to say what happened that isn't going to scare anyone?" [20:21] 14Piu: "Oh, I don't think there is one." [20:21] "I think we opt for scaring them." 15[20:22] Sadako purses her lips. You can see the muscles in her jaw work where the demon-lizard's breath burned holes in her face as it hit her coming in and going out. "Okay." [20:22] "Scaring them is good." [20:23] 14Piu: "You still might want to cover up so they don't mistake you for someone they should attack, though, babe." [20:25] 6Zhangyu grimaces. "Yes, that is a... concern." 15[20:25] Caxi's fallen asleep leaning against Daizo; Garnet scowls out at the regular procession of basalt spires as it retreats behind them into the mist. The sun is well overhead now; it's probably mid-late afternoon. [20:26] 14Piu: "At the very least, we will need to move quickly. Sister," 14this to Dryas, "you'll need to get yourself in front of the Legionnaries' captain as soon as possible." [20:27] 14Have we sent any sort of messenger ahead? 15[20:27] Sadako leans forward and lets her long black hair fall in a shroud over her pale, thin face. Luckily she took that hit dead center, and her arms are basically unblemished. 15[20:27] That's a question for the sorcerers. [20:27] 14Because if our sorcerers can handle that one, the commodore should be made aware that we're coming in hot and will need support. 15[20:27] Did someone ask? [20:27] 14Piu would've. [20:27] 6Zhangyu, too. [20:28] 10Sure, Daizo's got enough pep in him for a Messenger. What would you like it to say? [20:29] 14Give her a correct assessment of about when we'll arrive and tell her to meet us with a cadre-in-force at the docks, while the men stand prepared to hold the jadeclad. War position. [20:30] 14Uh, and phrase it as more of a request. Ratel's a big girl; she can figure out how to do that without starting a fight. [20:30] 10Naturally.  [20:30] 07Dryas unwraps the eye-coverings -- her face may show signs of the burns and when she opens the eyes, they are bleary at best. [20:34] 10After a little back-and-forth with Piu, a winged cherub will speed ahead of the barge. Hopefully it doesn't catch Ratel at a bad time.  [20:35] "Do we think Suris has any cards left to play?" [20:36] 14Piu: "Surely she has something. It would be easiest if she's simply fled, but I doubt we're so lucky." [20:36] 07Dryas: "Beg for mercy and appeal to our greed by offering us something better than what others would give for her head." [20:39] 6Zhangyu: "Do you think she would? It, ah, doesn't seem like her." [20:41] 07Dryas: "She's playing a long game. She thought she could trick us before, she'll just try the same trick again. This is how people who think they are very clever end up the property of my house sometimes." [20:41] 10Daizo: "Heh. Care to make an educated guess about the extent of Takoye's holdings, Dryas? Did Suris bet the farm, as it were, on this expedition?" [20:43] "One wonders how much mere wealth would have meant to them had they succeeded." 15[20:43] They'll find out, presumably. There's a bit of a kerfuffle at the docks as Ratel and another woman in jade armor are having a firm-but-polite not-an-argument; the parrot on the black-haired woman's shoulder is eyeing the blue jay on the Commodore's shoulder with birdy suspicion. Each of them has soldiers behind them; the parrot-shouldered woman has several dozen of the Realm's best 15[20:43] worst legionnaires, while Ratel has Caedus, the twins, and a half-dozen sailors. [20:43] 14Is Dryas in a position to take point here? 15[20:43] They hail the incoming raft in unison. [20:43] 14Piu can sub in. [20:44] 14Also, in a condition. [20:45] 07Dryas gives a jolly wave. "Hail!" 15[20:46] Ratel: "There, you see?" 15[20:46] The Legionnaire captain: "I count one head short." 15[20:46] Ratel: "So let's let them explain." [20:47] 14When they finally arrive, if there's a medic present, she will wave them to Sho: "Doctors! This man needs care. He also needs to be placed under close protective custody, in case Nellens Suris makes an attempt on his life." 15[20:48] The captain scowls at the engineer's pale, prone body, but snaps her fingers. Two nurses in leather armor and white hats hup out from a nearby supply tent with a stretcher between them. 15[20:49] To the raft: "Who's in charge?" [20:49] 6Uh, we are? Like, what? [20:49] 14Piu glances to Dryas. Is she in the right headspace for this? [20:49] 07Dryas nods. "I have good news and bad news." [20:49] 14Excellent. 15[20:52] The Captain squints. "You're one of the Cynises, right? Wing Captain Tepet Sijo." 15[20:55] Tepet Sijo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wanJQC5KAfo - Just take what you need and leave the rest... but they should never have taken the very best. [20:59] 14Can Piu take Ratel aside while this is happening or is this all hinging on Dryas and Sijo? 15[21:00] It'd be very conspicuous. But it's not like they've got weapons drawn on them. [21:00] 14Let's wait, then. [21:02] 07Dryas: "Cynis Dryas, indeed. The good news is that the tunnel to Hell at the bottom of the excavation is sealed. The bad news is that a demon possessed Ragara Takoye and destroyed him, after nearly destroying the rest of us." 15[21:02] Now hands go to weapons. [21:02] 14Piu: "A demon we have it on witness information and belief that Ragara Takoye willingly served." [21:03] 6One of those things is significantly worse. [21:03] "Alongside his confederate Nellens Suris." 15[21:09] Sijo looks from Dryas to Piu, face set in a hard line. 15[21:09] "Take it easy. Take it easy. Take it easy," contributes the parrot. [21:09] 14Piu doesn't move and her face doesn't flicker as hands go to weapons. "Excellent. It's good to be in the presence of Legionnaries who understand the seriousness of the charges and the situation. Sho witnessed these events and will testify to them; he was not a collaborator. He was, in fact, meant to die with us. We were sent in there to eliminate us." [21:09] "The Four Fangs are too potent a force for that." [21:10] 07Dryas nods. 15[21:11] The Commodore: "You won't find finer in the Direction." 15[21:12] The Captain: "...we'll settle this in open air. Get Suris." A team of legionnaires complies. 15[21:12] "Come in into the camp. No reason to square up at the docks." [21:13] 6Nothing finer th- wait, what? [21:14] 14She's right. We'll have a better chance fighting on land if it comes to it. [21:15] 10Daizo gently shakes Caxi a bit. "Wake up, hon, we've landed. Suris incoming." 15[21:15] Caxi groans gently, but she forces herself to attention. She looks exhausted. 15[21:15] At the center of the camp, laborers look up from their work and crowd around the periphery of the scene at unfolds as Nellens Suris produces herself from inside the main tent, flanked by stern legionnaires. Her face lights up when she sees the expedition that left this morning return mostly intact. "You returned! What were your findings?" 15[21:16] "...where is Takoye? Where is Sho?" [21:16] 6Also, what were your findings? [21:16] 14Piu: "Takoye's dead. Sho's in protective custody. You stand accused." [21:17] 07Dryas: "We found your ticket to the top, a soul in search of answers, a heart in search of power. Gervesin, the grieving lord, messenger soul of Ligier, the green sun, fetich soul of the demon city." [21:17] 6Well that's a whole thing. 15[21:18] Suris's lip quavers. "Takoyaki...?" [21:18] 14Before she can continue: "Takoye's a heavy sleeper. When cannot wake him, as you couldn't last night, you pour water on him in his own bed. I know that, and I know everything after that." [21:18] *When you [21:19] 14Once again Piu regrets not being able to drag Takoye back here. They deserve the collapse into backstabbing recriminations, not pet names and quavering lips. [21:20] 07We can at least say we tried. [21:21] 6Uh, can you? [21:21] 07Ask Daizo [21:21] 14Not many hearths have the heart or the stones to try a combat exorcism on Ligier's top guy. [21:22] 10Daizo's armor has more than its fair share of splotches of blood, and of fluids that were definitely never human blood. "He turned on us. Fused with the demon. Attacked us. " 15[21:22] She runs a hand through her hair, which has been recolored to match her cloak in the hours since you saw her last. She's tearing up. "What...?" [21:22] "Gervesin, the Grieving Lord." [21:23] "Don't believe us? Sho saw it all. He nearly died for your Takoyaki's treachery." [21:23] "He may yet die." 15[21:24] Sijo scowls. [21:24] 14Piu: "It's not any consolation, nor should it be, but we brought Takoye specifically as insurance for a situation such as this. The demon didn't care. He saw Takoye not only as expendable -- he delighted in destroying him." [21:24] "We attempted an exorcism." 15[21:24] Suris: "I don't... I don't know what to say. I'm stunned." [21:24] "Daizo was able to at least wound the creature in Hell." [21:26] 10Daizo: "Yes, I can't imagine he's too happy with me. Or the part where he's buried under a thousand tonze of stone. Your gateway is sealed, Suris. " [21:27] 07Dryas eyes the legionary captain. "We need not conduct ourselves like a bunch of squabbling fishwives. I propose a court-martial." 15[21:28] Sijo points at Dryas. "Now that is wisdom from Lady Dryas." [21:29] 07Dryas: "Sijo, you were not present, and you seem an honorable sort, and besides you are in command of the garrison, so I suggest you stand in as Magistrate." 15[21:29] The figure in jade armor, wearing a shawl made of something, tenses up in the back. She takes a couple of steps forward, such that she's visible just over Dryas's shoulders. [21:30] 07Dryas: "Or... wait." [21:31] 07Dryas: "No, nevermind." 15[21:32] Sijo: "That's not really within the bounds of my training... but I can hear the evidence, assuming it's not too technical." [21:32] 07Dryas: "Then a tribunal." [21:33] 07Dryas: "The Commodore, yourself, and this one, who is sworn to silence?" 15[21:33] Sijo: "Who is she?" [21:33] 14A full trial? Better than a fight, but longer. [21:34] 07Dryas: "In truth, I cannot say. An outcaste we encountered in a forlorn place." 15[21:35] Suris: "I... I will submit to the wisdom of my peers. I have nothing to hide. My soul is pure." [21:35] 14Suris probably has grounds to object to Garnet in light of the fact that she could just as fairly be called as a witness, but Piu's not about to mention that. [21:35] 07Dryas: "She is of significant moral authority. If she, and the Commodore, assent, then let it be so." 15[21:36] Garnet starts to push past the hearth to the front rank. [21:39] 07Dryas falls quiet and looks to her Hearth. [21:40] 14If it's time for this card to get played, it's time. [21:41] 07Is she about to pull rank? [21:43] 10Daizo moves subtly to obstruct Garnet's path. "You don't need to do this," 10he murmurs. "We're done, Suris is defeated—" [21:53] 10 In fact, he'll turn and face Garnet. "Suris is just one woman, vile as she may be. If you expose yourself here—what does it serve? When you reveal yourself, and I know now that this is a matter of when, and not if, you must do it in a place and at a time that truly matters. Not in this sordid affair." 15[21:54] Daizo can hear her teeth grind behind the veil. But she relents. 15[21:54] Sijo: "...good. I'll get everything set up. Reconvene in an hour?" 15[21:55] Ratel: "Who is guarding the accused?" 15[21:55] Sijo: "My people can handle it." 15[21:56] Ratel: "If she's an infernalist, that means she's probably a sorcerer." 15[21:56] Sijo: "Don't worry, ma'am, we've hunted sorcerers before, and they had places to run." [21:57] 10Daizo: "I'll stand watch with Sijo's squad, Commodore, if it would ease your mind." 15[21:59] Ratel: "It would, yeah. You sure you don't need rest? Sounds like you had quite a time out there." [22:01] 10Daizo: "I've still get oil to burn. Caxi needs rest more than I do." [22:03] 07Dryas pulls her hearthmates in close. "This is our best chance to propose a deal. If she can give us something that we want more than her head. Is there anything? Her notes? Takoye's materials?" [22:05] 07Dryas: "Or she gives up her co-conspirators?" [22:06] 07Dryas thinks. "I'm going to find out." [22:06] 10Daizo: "Notes and materials? Yes and yes. Everything they have on the Mnemon Shower, at a minimum. I think it'd really further my understanding of Garnet's condition." [22:07] 14Piu: "That sounds sufficient. I think Garnet really wants to brutally execute her, though. I have no qualms giving her her life, but it can't be the sort of 'you become our shitty moron' deal we might have handed Takoye." [22:07] 07Dryas makes her way into Suris's tent, then. She doesn't make any effort to stop anyone else from joining her. [22:09] 10Daizo: "Yeah. Absolutely. Garnet'd have my head now too, if Dryas tried to pull that crap." [22:11] 14Piu isn't really trained to do professional come-to-Empress moments, and she's done the dangerous bad-guardswoman routine on Suris enough. [22:13] 10A bit later, and Daizo's taken up his position alongside the Legionnaires. He's also gotten Current back to a corporeal state, and the hydraulic sentinel certainly adds to the impression that Daizo is a guy who knows his shit.  15[22:14] Dryas is alone with Suris in one of the smaller tents huddled against the eastern wall of the camp's fortification. She's conspicuously reading the Thousand Correct Actions of the Upright Soldier as she enters. "Oh! Lady Dryas. I didn't see you there." [22:14] 10Oh come ON. 15[22:16] The soldiers ooh and aah appropriately, and pepper Daizo with questions, like "Where'd that come from?" and "So this place is really cursed?" and "Do you know the captain?" and "Do you know the General?" [22:18] 07Dryas: "Lady Suris. I assure you, as an initial matter, that whatever you tell me here will be respected and held in confidence as necessary. I'm sure Sijo is enough of a professional to hold me to that. I wanted to offer you a chance." 15[22:19] Piu's able to move around the camp fluently. Work's pretty much stopped, as you might expect when one of your bosses is dead and the other is about to be put on trial, so there's a bit of a festive atmosphere, with laborers singing songs from their homelands, gathering around cookfires, and so on. Sho's woken up! He's clearly still quite ill, but he's lucid as well. 15[22:22] Ratel's just glad everyone made it, and awaits a full briefing once the matter of Suris is settled. Piu is treated to a scene of Seiri freaking out when she sees Sadako's burns. Sadako's about to protest that she's fine, but when Seiri finally pulls that helmet off and says, "Come back to the cabin, get in bed. Let me take care of you. Oh, baby... oh, no. Does it hurt?" then Sadako 15[22:22] suddenly starts acting a lot more pained and woozy. 15[22:22] Suris closes the book gently. "A chance for what?" [22:23] 14Haha. Ah, youth. [22:27] 07Dryas: "In the event you are found guilty, your death is certain to be painful, infamous, and shameful. I am offering you a respite from one, two, three, or perhaps all four." 15[22:27] Suris: "You listed five things. I guess we're taking guilt for granted?" [22:28] 10Summoned him on Old Mionzi (terrible place, don't go there); not exactly cursed, and the danger is buried now anyway; Sijo? No, does she treat you well?; The Roseblack? We met once or twice in passing when I was adopted into the House, but no more than that. She's made a hell of a name for herself, hasn't she? [22:29] 07Dryas: "You desire to go from here and live as a free woman, without an obligation or care in the world?" 15[22:29] Suris: "Wouldn't you?" 15[22:29] "Look. None of this was supposed to happen. No one was supposed to be in danger. But they kept fucking up, and now Taki is dead, and everything is ruined." 15[22:30] "Can you unfuck it? I'm very dubious. Why would you even try?" [22:31] 07Dryas: "I want to believe that there are some things that can be un-fucked. The thought that things are un-fuckable is gratifying to me." 15[22:32] Suris: "A lot of things are unfuckable. Guys who are really into board games for example." [22:34] 07Dryas: "People make mistakes. Fall in with the wrong crowd. Get a little greedy and then find themselves in over their heads. It happens. But it doesn't have to be the end of everything." 15[22:34] The guards keep pestering Daizo until Caxi approaches, at which point they all stand straight at attention. "You're a bit overqualified to be a bailiff, aren't you, darling?" 15[22:35] Suris, skeptically: "Okay..." 15[22:35] "Where is this going?" [22:37] 07Dryas: "I am giving you a chance to make me an offer. I know Takoye had others he was working with. I know that Mnemon Shower accepts jugs that we've found all over the Direction." 07Dryas struggles to remember one other thing... [22:40] 07Dryas: "Are you working with Giramande, the Cupreous Physician, the Warden Soul of Ligier?" 07Dryas takes a step closer. "Put something on the table in return for your miserable life." [22:40] 10Daizo: "You got me. I'm mostly just here for Ratel's peace of mind. I don't think Suris is likely to actually try anything." 15[22:41] Caxi: "You're rightl she's more trying than she is one who tries." 15[22:41] *right; [22:44] 10Daizo: "Mhm. Look, I'll leave Current here just in case, and we can let these fine women and men of the Legion relax." 15[22:44] Suris: "Alright alright alright! Look. If you can guarantee me safe passage somewhere with baths, and safety once I'm there, I can give you a conspiracy of collusion between Hell, Skullstone, the Guild, the Lintha, and House V'neef. And I'll throw in the shower. Deal?" 15[22:46] Caxi: "Eminently sensible." [22:46] 07Dryas scoffs. "A fabrication." 15[22:47] Suris: "I'm telling the truth!" [22:49] 07Dryas: "Proof?" [22:51] 10Daizo: "I try. Let's be off, then." 15[22:52] Suris: "I can arrange a meeting with V'neef's head of household that you can observe from a distance. I'll get plenty out of her when I tell her what's gone wrong and who's to blame. I can explain how Skullstone is trafficking in Anathema with the Lintha and the Guild for profane metallurgy. I can tell you how they're planning to use Brightwork as a staging point for an invasion of 15[22:52] the Realm." 15[22:53] Current swirls in assent. A couple of laborers applaud, as if it were a dance. Daizo and Caxi are heading back to the ship? [22:58] 07Dryas steps back, thinking carefully. "Safe passage, to a place with baths, and safety once you're there, for that." 07She hums to herself. [22:59] 10Sounds like a plan. [22:59] 14Is it? Is just letting her walk a proper plan here? [22:59] 14Garnet won't be happy. [23:00] 07I think our dear brother Daizo means he intends to see his beloved back to the ship, 15[23:00] Once Daizo and Caxi are alone, she says: "Dryas saw me purging Sho's chakras. So. You probably don't have to worry about discretion at this point." 15[23:01] Then she flounces onto the cot and groans. [23:02] 10A pained expression crosses Daizo's face. "Is there anything she won't stick her damn nose into?" 15[23:04] Caxi: "Well, I bet she wouldn't have fallen for Piu's tainted cocaine." [23:04] 10An extremely ironic snort.  [23:05] "I'll talk to her and find out how much she thinks she knows." [23:05] 07Dryas: "We must have won you over, if you have gone from believing we would have fallen down there to thinking we will keep you safe from Skullstone, Hell, the Lintha, V'Neef, and the Guild." [23:06] 10Then his tone turns more serious. "As for myself, though. I know exactly how much I don't know." [23:07] 07Dryas: "I will discuss this with my Hearthmates." 07She sticks her head out of the tent-flap. 15[23:07] Caxi: "...yeah. Well, the offer stands, since Brightwork. I'm an open book, Daizo." 15[23:07] Dryas finds Current there, and legionnaires, and no one else. [23:07] 14Piu is probably loitering around the tent by now, maybe doing some light flirting. [23:07] 14Or she's elsewhere if necessary. 15[23:08] Oh, hey, Piu is there. 15[23:08] She was hidden behind a particularly broad-shouldered legionnaire for a second there. [23:08] 14Goals. [23:09] 07Dryas hisses: "Get the Tepets and get in here!" 07She swivels her head back around. [23:10] 10Daizo: "No matter where we go or what we do, the marks of hell are on everything we find. The gateway. This ship. Sigereth, back at the Saucer. Even Garnet's jar glows with the Green Sun's light." [23:11] 14Piu rolls her eyes and jogs off, which the boys also probably enjoy. [23:12] "Tell me what I need to do to master it. To be ready, to be prepared." 15[23:12] Caxi: "Define 'mastery'." 15[23:12] Suris: "So are you four, like, in charge?" 15[23:13] "You own a jadeclad and a Commodore?" 15[23:13] "What have you been up to?" 15[23:14] "A dead-ender rapist Commodore, but still. No shade: that's nice work." [23:17] 14Piu knocks. "Meeting time, says Dryas." [23:17] 10Daizo: "To begin with… To call up demons, bind, compel, and banish them. To know their ways and recognize their signs and the laws of Hell. Once I know that, I'll know more of what I don't know—" [23:18] 07Dryas just smiles tightly. 15[23:18] Caxi smiles weakly. "Well within your power. Now, go. Move. Shake. I bet you could knock the Pole of Water over from here, my love." 15[23:18] "If I'm asleep when you get back, you can wake me." 15[23:19] She's asleep before he leaves the room. [23:19] 10In an exasperated growl, still too quiet to hear through the door: "Are you fucking kidding me right now, Piu." [23:20] 10He clears his throat and composes himself before opening the door. "Meeting? All right. Back at Suris' tent?" 15[23:21] Easy enough to reconvene from there. Zhangyu is also there, Looming. [23:24] 07Dryas: "We've got an offer on the table. We should seriously consider it. She wants safe passage to someplace civilized enough to have baths, and surety for her life when she's arrived. In return, she claims she can give us the conspiracy." [23:25] 14Piu: "What, is she offering that old bitch in House V'Neef? Hell, I can give you To. I bet she doesn't even know who she actually serves." 15[23:25] Suris, blandly: "She serves Heaven." [23:25] "Hahaha." [23:26] "Anyway, this sounds a whole lot like 'no punishment.'" 15[23:27] Suris: "I lost my life's work and my husband. What more do you want?" [23:28] 07Dryas pushes through: "Skullstone, Hell, the Lintha, V'Neef, and the Guild..." [23:29] 14Piu: "I'd give even odds that the lady outside in jade armor would start with your tongue." [23:30] 07Dryas: "An invasion of the Realm, staged from Brightwork..." 15[23:30] Suris holds her tongue, reasoning that anything more she says can only get her in even more trouble. [23:31] 10Daizo: "I practically had to put Garnet in a headlock to keep her from marching out and blowing all of these pretty plans to shit." [23:32] "She's not going to stand idly by while we ship Suris off to Wu-Jian or… wherever." 15[23:33] Suris: "I'm sorry, you've got a Commodore wrapped around your finger, but you can't keep one mute Outcaste on a leash?" 15[23:33] She's not very good at tongue-holding. [23:34] 07Dryas: "If she gets a confession out of To in front of Garnet and a Legion wing-captain, it'll be all we can do to stick to the original plan." [23:35] 14Piu: "You think this half-wit can fool To?" [23:35] "Well, be my guest trying. I won't be in the room for it for obvious reasons." [23:37] 14Piu's private opinion is that letting her on the line with To is a straight-up disastrously stupid idea -- the only worse thing she can be than incompetent is actively malicious. [23:39] "But if you want my vote, up or down on this deal, my vote is: let Garnet have her." [23:39] 10Daizo slams his palm down on a rickety camp table, shattering it into splinters. "You have no idea who she is or what she represents to us, and frankly that information is worth more than your entire life right now, Nellens Suris." 15[23:39] Suris starts to respond to Piu before Daizo lays down the law. 15[23:39] :I [23:40] 14Piu: "Let her learn, in her final moments. Let her fuck around and find out." [23:41] 10Daizo: "In favor." [23:41] "Opposed?" [23:42] 07Dryas raises her hand: "We need to think." [23:44] 10Daizo: "I'm thinking about what's really important here, and what's distractions and sophistry." [23:45] 10Daizo gets in close to Dryas and whispers "She's already given you the most valuable information: that the conspiracy is real, and half of how to roll it up." [23:46] 14Piu: "She's as dedicated to Ligier as she was to Takoye. Maybe more so. We can't just let her walk. If the punishment is armed guard back to a Realm prison that yes, has baths, that's fine by me. But it cannot be so long and farewell." [23:47] 07Dryas: "We would have to keep her ourselves. It's for the Garden. And it's not enough for us to know. Putting it out there to someone Ejava trusts is nearly as valuable as putting it into Ejava's own ears." [23:53] 10Daizo, still whispering: "So figure something out. We make it look like an exile that's as good as death. Strand her on a deserted island and then one of your ships picks her up a few weeks later and brings her to this wonderful place with the baths, but the important part here is that we don't have the Scarlet Fucking Empress's twin sister thinking we're being soft on infernalists and risking blowing her own cover to prove a [23:53] point." [23:54] 10Fuck. Did I just— [23:56] 07Dryas: "We wouldn't want anyone to have such an impression." 15[23:57] NEXT TIME: Two Steps to Hell [23:58] 07Dryas glances at Piu expectantly. It's lewd. It's ready to go. It's right there.