15[20:34] None of the people up on top of that mountain are there for the same reason. The rebel civilians are huddled in foyers and entryways meant for the weighing of heavy decisions, seeking shelter, and some sense of certainty as their world's ripped from them yet again. The men who led them, each of whom has lost contact with their secret patrons, are now under a kind of arrest, as their 15[20:34] saviors and adversaries weigh what's next. Arguably the two of *them* aren't even here for the same reason, it seems. 15[20:38] And for the Dynasts and dissidents who came, first from the Blessed Isle and then from Abalone, defiant and prolix, the question of why they're here and what they're to do hangs in the air, for it's their will on which all the others' fates rest. The army at the door is hobbled and stymied, but not broken, held back by civilians, sailors, and a rebel monk who doesn't know how much her 15[20:38] dream and doom have both come to pass. 15[20:39] "What's the plan, then?" asks Stranger Visits Heaven. Since evidently it's not immediate, cathartic, brutal justice. [20:39] 14Piu might have already left to begin prosecuting her arm of it: the isolation, ambush, and murder of Cathak Budokan. But possibly she's still hanging around here. 15[20:42] Her boys are in the wind, but the wind is blowing towards her. The front is rolling back gently. [20:43] 14As for diplomacy...that's up to the diplomats. And, uh, Zhangyu. [20:43] 14They'll have a much easier time at the table with Budokan's successor than the man himself. 15[20:43] How is Zhangyu holding up, anyway? Been awfully quiet. It's been A Lot. [20:48] 6This is all a headache. It's been a Time, but... he's alive, so that's good. The rest of the group is alive, even if Stranger is... new-ish? Not sure how that works. [20:48] 10Daizo contemplates the spinning Lathe, because it's easier to look at than the blank-yet-piercing gaze of Stranger. There's going to be more killing before the day is done, no doubt, but... "We stop Budokan before he burns everyone in this camp alive, and then, then we try to find common ground to put these people back together." [20:54] 07Dryas: "Their war is over. But there are a few lingering questions." 15[20:55] Rikai glances from Gu Len to Stranger, neither of whom can or do meet his eyes, before Dryas speaks. "Such as?" 15[20:56] For just a moment it looks like Stranger's about to shout over top of Rikai or Dryas again, but she just draws in a long, slow breath. 15[20:59] Outside, Piu's looking at a cliff-cut balcony lashed with rain, or perhaps standing on it depending on her mood. She can see the everburning bonfire of Budokan's rampant anima as he rides up and down the stalled line on that burning horse that looked preposterously too small to support him. The otter-slick masses of soldiers and Temida's militia, supported by the last of the elementals 15[20:59] under Daizo's command, hold the line. Ratel and the others are down there too, though their role is hard to parse. They didn't get involved in the fighting, not on the side of genocide or treason. 15[20:59] Piu marks a figure climbing the cliffside. Those are Caedus's shoulders under that cloak, she's certain. [21:02] 07Dryas: "Your hedges. Their hedges. I wouldn't be surprised if there was someone in Budokan's camp. The jade-born. The people here. And then, the little matter of production and resumption of the tribute." [21:02] 07Dryas: "Bearing in mind certain particular difficulties associated with the political and military situation..." [21:03] 14She was crouching on the balcony; now she'll stand. [21:04] 14Has to preserve her essence. This is going to be her most difficult fight yet. [21:04] 14And she just got done staring down the Empress a couple hours ago. 15[21:04] Oh right, that did happen, didn't it? It's been a long fucking day. 15[21:07] Rikai is about to say speak again, but Gu Len pre-empts him. "It sounds like the initiative is yours, Lady Dryas. Will you speak on our behalf with the colonial government? I'm afraid they might not listen to me or Brother Rikai. Or even, regrettably, our golden savior here." 15[21:08] Stranger: "Oh, I don't know about that." [21:10] 10Daizo's also looking a little aggrieved. "To hell with the jade mine, somehow that's the least important thing here. We tracked you to that underground chamber, Rikai, and those little one-eyed weirdoes named you as the foreman. That place is the key to our entire mission out here." 15[21:13] Gu Len smiles. "I don't want to put words in my brother's mouth, but nor am I his keeper. Her Imperial Majesty was very particular about her audiences." 15[21:14] Rikai: "Does it matter right now?" [21:16] 07Dryas: "What do you mean, Brother?" 07she asks, addressing her own brother, Daizo. 15[21:17] Caedus's climb concludes; Piu can see his jade tonfas just peeking out of the corners of his sleeves. Gloved hands snake past them to support Piu's weight, reflexively. "What got you?" [21:18] 14Piu: "Nasty cave-in leaving the -- I can't believe I'm saying this -- Empress's egg chamber." [21:18] 14She gives him a kiss that breaks just before it lingers. 15[21:19] Caedus returns it, letting her break the kiss but slow to let her go. "Did she, uh... hatch?" [21:20] 14Piu: "Yes, then flew off somewhere in a snit." [21:20] "Mission technically complete, I suppose." 15[21:21] Drily: "Great. We can all go home, then." [21:22] "We'll have that conversation with Ratel when we must. Before then..." [21:23] 10Daizo: "Look at it this way, Dryas. It seems quite unlikely, to me, that Her Majesty simply selected the nearest sorcerer as the guardian of her ritual site." [21:24] 07Dryas taps her chin with her fingers, one-two-three, lost in thought. "Do we expect her to return here?" [21:24] "Who else is involved? If not Rikai, then who was she holding audiences with?" [21:25] 07Dryas glances to the quiver of silver-barbed godslaying arrows: "You don't suppose she would have? With those... anarchistic ruffians?" [21:26] 10And, in a much lower voice to Dryas: "My sorcery tutor is still en route. We need to find out as much about this as we can before she rolls it up for herself and shuts us out." [21:27] 07Dryas, quietly: "Her and what army? She can treat with us." 15[21:28] Rikai: "Brother Gu Len is being florid. She was hardly in a state for audiences. She barely spoke to me. except to give orders. Certainly she had nothing to do with those squalid corpse-defilers. Her Imperial Majesty was singularly focused on the work before her." [21:30] 07Dryas: "To gain the... The Sun?" 15[21:31] Rikai: "Quite the opposite. The fate of the Realm depends on unshackling earth from Heaven." [21:32] 07Dryas: "Why?" [21:37] 10Daizo: "I can take a running guess at the why—to confound the Chosen of Heaven and stop their meddling. But I fail to see how blanketing the land with her anima could accomplish this." 15[21:37] Rikai: "Because they have turned the Dynasty against itself, polluted our Immaculate Order, and defied their own Mandate to play god and kingmaker." 15[21:38] "I don't believe that was her intention." 15[21:39] Stranger: "Then what was her intention?" 15[21:39] Rikai: "I can't be sure." 15[21:39] Stranger scoffs. [21:43] 07Dryas: "This device requires frequent... intervention? Maintenances?" 15[21:46] Rikai: "It requires power. Long ago, in the Age of the Golden, the dragon lines were cultivated to allow places like this to be capable of great feats of earth-moving. But those networks decayed over time. The Empress's anima expansion allowed us to put the Lathe to more work than it had been in centuries, more than centuries." 15[21:46] "Ironically, it was her own enlightened soul that fueled our successful rebellion." [21:47] 07Dryas: "Can it be moved? For example, if there was another great manse that was... backed up?" 15[21:48] Rikai: "I... don't know." 15[21:48] "Maybe." 15[21:48] Gu Len: "You sound as if you have a place in mind." [21:50] 07Dryas: "If I did, I would be terribly indiscrete to say where it was." [21:55] 10Daizo's pretty sure he knows what place Dryas has in mind. "I'll speak to Caxi about the matter of relocating it, sooner rather than later." 15[21:55] Rikai looks about the room with visible unease. "I suppose that's your prerogative. The initiative is yours, after all." 15[21:57] He looks in Daizo's direction at Caxi's name, but doesn't give voice to whatever thought it prompted. 15[21:57] Stranger: "Are we done here, then?" [21:59] 10Daizo: "I think so. The next step is up to Piu and her squad." 15[22:01] Stranger: "They're going to expect someone leading the parlay on behalf of the survivors here. I don't think that's what Lady Piu is planning to contribute." [22:08] 07Dryas: "I will take on that role, to resolve this crisis." 15[22:09] Stranger: "I'm at your service, Lady Dryas." [22:15] 07Dryas: "Thank you, Seiri. The first priority, of course, is bringing an end to this destructive and regrettable conflict." 15[22:20] Daizo makes his way down through the rain to the Prolix & Terse. Ratel isn't there, she's out in front with Temida. Sadako and the twins are with the survivors on the mountaintop. He finds Caxi at Garnet's bedside. The latter is under blankets, ashen and sweaty, but awake. She looks like she's in the grips of (or recovering from...?) a long illness. 15[22:25] Meanwhile the appropriate banners are flown, and gongs rung, and parlay squares up at the gates of Cinder Hearth. Budokan is stamping and snorting, a pillar of fire from head to toe that causes the rainsoaked earth to shimmer and steam. He's flanked by his lieutenants, Cathak Shiroi the senior officer and commandant, and Peleps Grenseal, the junior officer and Gu Len's brother (and 15[22:25] thus, Budokan's own son). Thus far, mediation between them and Temida's rebel militia has fallen to Ratel, but Dryas will take the reins shortly. 15[22:25] "How are we playing this?" Stranger asks her as they descend the mountain. [22:37] 07Dryas: "Pin most of it on the deathknights, create an opening for Grenseal and Sheroi's ambition to do the rest. Reunite the smallfolk, allow Gu Len and Rikai to face a tribunal on the morrow. By then, Budokan is out of the picture and we find an arrangement between the rest that works to get things moving around here before some ghoul like the Moray returns." 07A pause, as she looks over Seiri. "What do you think?" 15[22:41] Stranger thinks it over as they head down. "I think it's a sound plan, assuming you've got the measure of the lieutenants. That's the challenge in trying to step back and play people off each other, right? You need to be damn sure you know which way they'll bounce." 15[22:42] "I haven't even met them, so I can only be as confident in the plan as you are." [22:45] 10Daizo offers up a silent thanks to all the powers of Creation, Heaven, and Hell. "Lady Garnet. It's a relief to see you still with us." 10To Caxi: "There's been some developments, but the situation is in hand for at least the next, ah, half hour." [22:46] 07Dryas: "We spent less time down there, so it is harder to speak with great confidence. But, we will wring out what we will wring out." 15[22:50] Stranger: "That we will, Lady Dryas. And if sun comes to moon, you won't need silver arrows to put them down." 15[22:51] Caxi: "That long? A remarkable achievement." 15[22:51] Garnet smiles weakly. "Daizo. You're well. How are the others?" 15[22:51] "How are the children?" [22:55] 07Dryas: "I think they will all find a way to be reasonable." [22:55] 10Daizo closes his eyes and a pained expression crosses his face. "The children are safe. Gu Len and Rikai's ritual succeeded, however. It chose Seiri. Or Stranger vists Heaven, as she wishes to be called for the moment." 15[22:56] Stranger: "I pray you're right, Lady Dryas. But the heart has reasons that reason doesn't know." [22:56] "I wasn't there when it happened, but they told me she was staring down a deathknight when it struck." 15[22:56] Caxi and Garnet, in unison, with very different emotional valences: "What??" 15[22:57] Garnet: "Is she okay?" 15[22:57] Caxi: "Her?" [23:02] 10Daizo: "She's been blinded, just as they predicted their candidate would be. Not that it seems to bother her." 15[23:02] Dryas and Stranger cross the muddy thoroughfare of Cinder Hearth, greeted by Ratel, who has the Prolix & Terse's stoutest sailors at her back. Her flamepiece is holstered, but her hand rests against its mother-of-pearl stock and strokes it like a pet. "Dryas! Thank the dragons. Is everyone okay? Who's your friend?" [23:04] 10Daizo: "After Dryas routed the deathknights… she would have killed Gu Len and Rikai with her own hands, had we not intervened. She sounds almost like an entirely different person now." 10Not entirely. The steel was there, just sheathed. 15[23:05] Caxi: "Is she stable? The Anathema can be quite mad." [23:05] 07Dryas: "Nearly everyone, yes." 07she glances at Seiri. "There's a lot to explain. Working backwards: a pair of deathknights in disguise tried to slaughter the children up there. Szalony gave her life to stop them, Seiri here... was blinded in the course of events. The deathknights are no more. In any case, the struggle is moot." [23:07] 07Dryas: "The arcane ritual they Gu Len and Rikai were attempting was not a success. In fact, the two betrayed each other in their own way. They're still alive, surprisingly." [23:08] 10Daizo: "We talked her down. I turned her own words around at her. I won't say it's my proudest moment, but it was effective." 15[23:09] Ratel listens attentively, and is about to respond before she registers what Dryas said about the woman accompanying her. She gives Seiri a second look. "Are you alright, Seiri?" [23:09] "Morals aside, Rikai and Gu Len are no use to anyone dead. Yet." 15[23:09] Stranger: "I'm fine, thank you, Commodore." 15[23:09] Ratel: "Good, that's good. Would you stay with the sailors here. Boys, make sure she doesn't get lost, okay?" 15[23:09] Ratel motions Dryas away from the squad with a jerk of her head. [23:10] 07Dryas falls right in. 15[23:11] Ratel: "I'm really glad you're here. We could really use the Cynis touch. But, uh..." Her voice drops in volume. "I don't think the pity play is going to fly. Crippled orphan or no crippled orphan. I'm gonna send her back to the ship." 15[23:13] Caxi looks like she's aged a decade in the last sixty seconds. Garnet: "What about the Empress? Did you kill her?" [23:13] 07Dryas: "Where we're going, she won't need eyes to see. Sharp ears and a sharp tongue will serve well." 15[23:17] Ratel: "You understand what's at stake here, right?" 15[23:17] "It's not just this mine. It's not just these people's lives. It's whether we can ever go home again. Whether there'll be a home to go to." [23:18] 10Daizo: "I don't think we'd have been able to. Just the spiritual pressure emanating from her… You were already unconscious, but I was the only one who could even stay standing, much less lift a hand in defiance. " [23:19] 07Dryas: "I do not intend to be frivolous?" 15[23:19] Garnet: "Did she at least explain herself? Why she abandoned her people to squat in a hole?" 15[23:22] Ratel gives Dryas a searching look. "...okay." 15[23:23] "Let's get out there, then." [23:23] 07Dryas pauses - then nods. "Commodode," [23:23] 10Daizo: "Pure megalomania. The thrones of Heaven sit empty, she said—I believe she intends to claim them." [23:24] *Commodore 15[23:25] Caxi laughs weakly. Garnet is more serious: "We can't allow that to happen." [23:27] 10Daizo: "For my part, I have no intention of standing idly by while she dyes the sky red with her anima or whatever damn-fool plan she believes she can pull off." [23:27] "If that's treason, call me a traitor. If that's rebellion, call me a rebel." 15[23:28] Caxi: "Gladly, and proudly."