Agents of the Sidereals

[Jerthanis]

The midday sun blazes down on the deck of the Sapphire Edge as it sails deliberately through the near-Western waters on a path towards the An-Teng tributary. Bronze skinned sailors scurry about, attending to various labors of the ship. The wind roars all around, the sails snap and writhe violently in its grasp.

Each of you have been instructed individually by your various contacts with the secret puppeteers behind the Scarlet Throne that a task of grave importance must be accomplished now that a certain Artifact has come back into their possession. You have each been told that when the ship reaches its destination, you will meet with a team, acquire the artifact, and bring it to Bluehaven, the hidden Island base of the Demon Pirates of the West; the Lintha.

The last several days have been almost maddeningly quiet, save for the creak of the timbers and the howling of the wind. You may have noticed each other as Dragonblooded and exchanged pleasantries, or you may have seen fit to hide your nature.

Anyone out on deck might find their gaze drawn to the horizon. It's well known that the horizon at sea is deceptive... seeming as if there's something just out of view... an island, a monster or something stranger... Experienced sailors know that in most cases, there is nothing but the waves. Still, the speck you might see stays unwavering on the horizon at a point astern, just slightly to the Starboard side...

[GrayWatch]

Marad fed tidbits to a restless Graham in what served as the ships mess. Being so confined on board a ship ill suited either of them. He ached to get off this little toy bauble, not least because he had rapidly discovered there was no such thing as privacy on board.

Not for mortals and unimportants like him anyway. He'd very nearly had his implants spotted early in the cruise.
The thought turned him to consideration of the rest of his fellow passengers.

The Sesus was clearly Dragon-Graced, the markings of her stong breeding made any other outcome unthinkable. He didn't know what to think about her yet. The family had a reputation as warriors, but she didn't seem the type. He hadn't caught her given or house name yet, but he was beginning to suspect he knew what they were. If he was right it would be...ironic.

The Ledaal, who he was given to understand was married to the V'neef, presented a bit of a puzzle. She had the markings of a strong blood line, and was very likely exalted for it. Beyond that he didn't know much. There was nothing terribly overt about her.

Her husband though, seemed to be a worryingly intense man. Very clearly a scholar, and his bloodline showed clearly on his face. He had suspicions about this one. If this assignment did indeed include other specialists this man may well have hidden depths. Seemed bookish. That could mean a lot of things.

The other V'neef was just as clearly from good blood but there was something...off about her. He didn't know what. She just made him vaguely uneasy.

Finally there was...Jin? He thought it was. She was, if anything, more out of place than him. Her complexion suggested she hailed from sunnier parts, so maybe from Chiascuro? This one he was sure had some secret. The group appeared to be mostly dragon-graced, with the exception of him and this Jin woman. He was faking it, not that it was hard, his family had spent nearly 3 months clandestinely going through the family tree to figure out how the hell Terrestrial blood had made it's way into his veins, so that left her the odd one out.
Doubtful that she's the lone mortal in a group of Exalts. Almost certainly not. Something else. Undercover supervisor maybe? That had to be it, those Star-Chosen or whatever their proper name was would have to be insane to just threaten him with death for discovering them, give him a job out of the blue then send him to god only-knows-where, and just hope he wouldn't scarper.
He'd have to give more priority and weight to that one's 'suggestions'...at least until he settled on a plan about what to do in a long-term sense.

[Arcanoi]

Fiona hated the sea. It wasn't just the creaking, leaking, cramped ship or the flying salt or the vulgar sailors and their leering eyes. Fiona had learned rather quickly that she got seasick if she stayed on deck. Even a glance at the roiling waves caused her stomach to mirror their efforts. But she hated the salty rat-infested confines of the underdecks even more. Dragons, how she hated the sea.

And it was so boring. Fiona had tried her hand at Gateway once. It had been a pretense, of course. The handsome young Cathak had been so very eager, and when she suggested they play, he had jumped at the suggestions. Though she found the game itself an insufferable bore, she had nevertheless been entertained by the man's efforts at keeping his eyes on the board and off the neckline of her dress. Sea travel made her think a game of Gateway might be a relief from the monotony.

So she huddled on the steps up to the forecastle, trying to hide under a cloak and her riding dress, a practical cut, blue fringed with black. She'd seen the crew, and the other 'guests' aboard the ship. There was the cute Ledaal, who she'd seen making disgustingly sentimental eyes at the utterly stale-looking V'neef, and the other V'neef (How many V'neefs were there on this Dragon-cursed ship? She'd met the woman herself all of once, at a disappointingly tame Mnemon Gala, and the woman was scarcely older than herself) looked interesting if Fiona felt like playing dangerous. She grinned. She always played dangerous.

There were also a pair of mortals who stuck out, for not being crew members. A studious southern woman, whose features conjured a few memories of the ambassador from Thorns. Now that was a man! Seven feet tall and well in proportion. There was another odious little man skulking around the ship. She'd caught him staring at her a few times with a quizzical gaze.

She sighed, settling in on the stairs for another few hours of misery before clambering down to her minuscule cabin with its accoutrements fit for a baseborn Nellens merchant or beggared Tepet widow. She'd asked if the captain had any V'neef vintages somewhere, and gotten some bootswill piss not fit for watering cattle. Alchohol wasn't going to make this voyage any easier. Dragons-damned ship.

[Ganurath]

Jin, despite having spent most of her adulthood in the more arid regions of the world, wasn't entirely out of her element on the boat. Granted, it took some time to get a feel for it again, but all the trips she had taken in and out of Lookshy had been by water. By now, she had gotten used to the boat's gentle rocking, at least so long as the storm mothers were kind.

She hadn't given the other members of the group too much thought. There were two V'neefs, one of which was married to a Ledaal. The husband seemed studious enough that he might have the information neccesary for star charts on himself or his wife. The other V'neef was unlikely, however. She'd only ask if it was practical to use, of course.

The other two aroused some interest in Jin. The Fire Aspect was a powerful woman, both in bloodline and in personality. Every once in a while she'd give her a look as though she were reminded of something, but Jin didn't think much of it. Jin would have remembered a client with her complexion, and she didn't seem the sort to need to turn to Neomahs for a night of passion. On the other hand, she didn't have a decent selection out at sea, and although she never tested it she was confident a Neomah's illusions could neutralize the apparent motion of the ship.

The man... Jin thought he was a fellow mortal initially, but the more she thought about it the less it made sense. No mortal hoped to compare to a Terrestrial without some form of magical aid, and her newfound associates didn't seem the sort to make the mistake of overspecialization. Between her thaumateurgy and what she guess was V'neef sorcery from the husband, such talents were superfluous. Perhaps a plant within the group to make sure the V'neef didn't offer Jin the carrot before she earned it?

In any event, Jin had opted to be on deck when opportunity allowed. She'd prefer waiting until the evening before checking the stars of her staff back at home tending to her estate, but that didn't mean she wouldn't get a feel for the deck. Finding an area that would be dry long enough to chart their fate would be important, especially since the spot also needed to be out of the way of the crew.

The redheaded Exalt as at the front of the ship, so she decided her inspection would be better suited at the stern. Being careful not to disrupt the crew, Jin gave the rear of the vessel a casual appraisal. Dry enough from the look of it, and it should be clear in the evening. She found a spot near the rear of the vessel that wasn't in the way, observing the sky to see how much her view was disrupted.

[Jerthanis]

Mirages spring forth from the water near the horizon, the flowing waves, the rocking boat and the sun on the water makes phantoms appear and shift. The eye is dazzled and the horizon is obscured. Still, Jin's gaze continues to fall on this black speck. It's too small to be the sails of a ship and too large to be anything but the largest of whales.

And since when do whales stay surfaced for many minutes at a time?

[Drascin]

As the camera rolls into view, Maryn is leaning on starboard, next to Melara, looking forward impatiently.

"You would think that a cabal of beings who work with Yu-Shan would have a faster means of transport available" he mutters, annoyed. It's not that he didn't like the sea. It's just he disliked the stupid creaking boat, and he disliked delays.

The rest of the passengers had also been a motive of growing impatience. Yes, it was obvious several of them would be part of the "group" they'd have to "meet after arrival" - for being supposed to be master puppetteers sometimes these "Sidereals" forgot completely about being subtle. So many Dragonblooded in such a little boat? Hah. But problem is, of course, that chances are that not ALL of them are, and so Maryn can't just go and confront them directly - seriously, they should have been told who was and wasn't an ally, so they might as well start planning instead of wasting the time spent on the stupid gods-damned boat.

He sighs, realizing he's doing it again, and touching his wife's hand apologetically. "Sorry. I'm just annoyed".

With that, his mind turns to his analysis of said other people, if only to keep his mind moderately busy.

The woman in grays was obviously a mortal, obviously a scholar, and she carried herself with a lot of self-assuredness. An erudite or a thaumathurge, perhaps. Maryn does not for a second wonder about the appropiateness of a mortal like that in the group - an erudite would be better equipped to deal with many problems than most, that much was obvious.

The Fire-aspect woman was as skittish as a wood spider, and looked about as much good company as one - that is, not at all. A vapid little courtier - even here he can't get away from them, Sol damn them thrice. She's probably here as "public relations" for the group, however, so he manages to bite down his tongue - exasperating and utterly depressing as it is to even think about it, he can't argue that most idiot simpletons are more quickly manipulated by a pathetic little display of peacock feathers than actual logic.

The other man also looked skittish, but in another way - he seemed to be suspicious, rather than simply unable to keep his wits. Looked like another mortal. Perhaps an investigator - he had all the demeanor of someone who would love to dig into your skull for information soon as he saw you if he could.

And then there was... wait. Su? Here? Oh Incarna above... how did Su get into this? Maryn doesn't doubt even for a second she's here for the Sidereal business. Mother, control freak that she is, would not be letting her only necromancer so far away from her sight unless highly pressured to - such as, say, by artificially engineered circumstances. He can about guess how she'll take his presence here, and he facepalms slightly, sighing again.

"I do not know which of the people on this boat are to be our 'group', but I'm not liking our prospects all that much, dear" he says, turning back to the outside of the ship, resigned, to distract himself from the inevitable. He can't help but notice the black speck, which instantly makes him curious, and turns his exasperated expression into his usual focused frown. "Melara. Do you see that?". It certainly doesn't look like a ship... Maryn squints. Sun in his eyes, he can't see a thing, which only contributes to his irritation.

EDIT: ninja'd by Jerthanis. Adding data on ST's post.

[horngeek]

Melara stands next to her husband, looking at him. "Well, anything faster might attract attention to us that they don't want."

She tilts her head. She didn't like the delays any more than her husband did- but she knew they probably did have good reasons for it.

On the other hand, putting several agents on the same boat... like her husband, Melara was dubious of that decision. Not very subtle at all.

As her hand is touched, Melara smiles. "It's all right. This is a bit frustrating. And you're probably as confused as I am as to how your sister got involved."

Then came the question about what was out there. "Yes, I do. Looks almost like a craft of some kind... do you think I should get my bow?"

[Ganurath]

Jin looked over her shoulder at the chatting pair, seeing that she wasn't the only one who found the not-whale to be cause for concern. She turns her eye to the oddity on the horizon, holding herself steady with a tight grip on the aftcastle's rear wall as she turned her mind to the most basic of geomantic techniques. It would be interesting, she thought, to see if it was effective at such a long range.

Using Essence sense. It's described as not needing components, so I'm not sure if it needs the lab Resource cost of other Apprentice Arts, but if so I'll use two motes from the Plethora Essence to pay for it.

Difficulty 1:
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]
[roll7]
[roll8]
[roll9]
[roll10]
[roll11]
[roll12]
[roll13]
[roll14]

[Jerthanis]

In the depths of the ocean in front of her, Jin sensed titanic Essence energies flowing each way with the currents and tides... but amidst them was a smaller channel of the energy. There was in fact an active essence in the direction of the speck, and it appeared to be growing closer.

As the speck approaches, its details resolve into that of a ship... but at the angle it was traveling at, it should have been supporting full sails. Instead, black and silver banners flew from its short masts. Still, without sails it cuts the water violently, churning water around it white.

A passing sailor notices the intense gazes and follows them. "Eh, wutcha see'in?" he says in Low Realm. When his eyes fall upon the black banners, he visibly pales, even under his deeply tanned skin. "Dragons protect us." He prays.

[horngeek]

Melara looks at the sailor. "Who is it? A band of pirates of some sort, I'm assuming?"

[Jerthanis]

"Worse" he cries. "Lintha..."

As he says the words, a muttering silence falls over the deckhands as they abandon their tasks. The moment of stillness ends as the Aft becomes crowded with people jostling for position to see the vessel in pursuit.

"Git outta th' way! Clear space! Captain on Deck!" comes the yell from behind the sudden swarm. The Captain, a man seemingly with more scars than skin on his face named Righteous Gull kicks his men out of the way. Striding to the railing he produces a spyglass and trains it on the distant ship.

..."Aye." He says quietly, "Lintha follow us." He spoke in low realm for the benefit of his crew, but no one could miss the word 'Lintha'.

"They feed their victims to their tamed sharks! We'll be dead for sure!" came one shout, "Nay, they'll 'et us themselves!" came another. Righteous Gull shouts them down. "It don't befit sailors of the Realm disgrace themselves in fronta Dragonbloods... Ye'll come back as a dung beetle in the next one if ya die right now."

The captain then looks to Melara and Maryn, the closest, most obvious Dragonbloods to the Aft section and says, "It will be a simple process" he switches to a fine, unaccented High Realm with no trouble. "We will present them with our cargo and lay down arms. If they're not in a killing mood, they'll leave us unharmed." he shudders, "Of course, if they are..."


(I say closest and most obvious because Maryn is wearing jade robot armor and Fiona is on the forecastle stairs, down and foreward of the position of the crowd.)

[horngeek]

Melara scowls. "There are four Dragon-Blooded here. Do you really think the Lintha will find easy pickings here?"

She turns to Maryn. "I'm getting my bow."

As soon as this has been said, she starts running back towards their cabin, picking up her bow and quiver, then starting to run back.

As she runs back, she looks to see if the ship has gotten any closer.

[Arcanoi]

Fiona looks on with worried eyes as the crew stops their monotonous scurrying about the ship and clusters at the aft of the ship, converging on the mortal scholar. Her worries begin to grow at the crew's shouts of terror and and the captain chastisement. Much as she liked the political battlefield, she wasn't much for the swords-and-arrows variety, and while words could be dangerous, there was seldom a danger of amputation in the ballroom. Her fears were reinforced when the spunky Ledaal sprang down into the ship's decks and emerged carrying an obscenely large jade bow.

Never-the-less, she had found that there was a time and a place for words on the battlefield. She stood up and steadied herself, finding the clarity of excitement suppressed her seasickness quite magnificently, and walked over to the aft of the ship, steps flaring slightly, as though it was a pleasant evening stroll in a nice quiet garden she walked towards, rather than a battle.

"Now, now, darlings," she called as she approached. "Lets not do anything hasty. Lets see what our friends," she motioned an arm towards the ship as it grew growing distressingly larger on the horizon, "have to say."


Activate White Veil Form, 4m Personal motes spent.

[Jerthanis]

By the time Melara returns, the faces of the crowd have turned stony.

"I'm sorry," Righteous Gull says, "My men, they aren't willing to take up arms. They're saying we'll be killed for certain if you oppose, and I'm partial to agree with them. Decorated admirals, great Dragonblooded heroes lead their warships against the Lintha and win few victories. We are but a small cargo ship and have few weapons... we'll hide you so your personal effects won't be stolen, but we can't say the same for that extra cargo you added at the last minute. We beg you not to resist, you gamble with our lives if you do."


He's trying a Charisma + Presence roll to convince you to go along with his crew's surrender.
(appearance 1, remember to modify your MDVs) EDIT: Do dice rolls only work on the Dice Rolls subforum? If so, how do I link their results? Well, for now I used the test page and got 3 successes, unlikely to be a convincing statement)

[Drascin]

((Actually, Maryn had left his armor in the cabin together with his bow. Given its low mobility penalty, it's only about a minute to don it, so I figured if trouble came I could go down and dress up. Still, it's kind of hard to miss that these two are Dragonblooded))

((EDIT: Also, apparently, my whole assumption that these guys would be actual pirates, by their name, seems grossly inaccurate and everyone knows that. Hence I'll edit the whole thing if you don't mind))

Maryn scowls at hearing the summation. "Pirates, then. Tch. The pirates themselves are manageable, but we have nothing that could fell their worm" his voice is sharp. "And they are unlikely to react positively to finding Dragonbloods on board".

He then nods at Melara. "I'll go with you. It is likely I will need my armor". When they arrive, Maryn starts donning his battle suit, while indicating her wife to go before him. "Keep an eye on them". He emerges from the deck fully armored a few moments later. He feels like screaming and ripping out the mast. These people are dead, and he's almost certainly not powerful enough to stop it - leave themselves to the mercy of Linthan pirates? Might as well soak them in blood in a den of Erymanthois!

Must keep composure

He manages to say nothing, though Melara can certainly get a feeling for his blood boiling. It's just so frustrating

[GrayWatch]

Marad scrambled on deck, Graham hastily taking off into agitated circles about the masts. He had heard the word "lintha" mentioned. It was not a word he was happy about. He arrived just in time for the Captain's little speech and the Ledaal's response.

He winced. He agreed in principle, but acting only on principle was the method of fools. Seek always to properly understand your standing before action. Running up to the gunwhale he squinted at the oncoming ship.

It flew as though pushed before a storm, yet raised no silk to the winds, and cut the waters. Odd. Very odd.

He wracked his brains for anything he knew about the Lintha and about their habits. In the mean time with a brief arm wave he sent Graham gently coasting out behind the ship, and far above, to see if anything might be spotted from a much higher vantage point.


Okay trying to make a...probably intelligence+lore roll to know more about the Lintha, and what we might be expecting from a fight like this and using Graham to get an eye-in-the-sky view to see if I spot anything unusual...or relevant at all.
Aside from acting as an adorable essence battery the 3 dot familar background allows me to coopt one of my familars senses so long as it remains within 100 yards. It's unclear whether I use my stats or it's so I'll present both. I would assume mine since it seems to imply it's still my competence, just from a different vantage point.
Mine
Perception +Awareness=5+4=9 die
[roll0]
Graham's
Perception+Awareness=2+3=5 die
[roll1]
Intelligence+Lore=3+2=5 die
[roll2]

[Jerthanis]

Marad tries to recall information on the fighting tactics of the Lintha, but can only remember unsubstantiated and often contradictory rumors... that they eat their victims and never leave a single one alive, leaving you to wonder how the tale ever got started... or that they enslave and castrate them to sell as slaves... castrated slaves not being overly common in port cities. Nothing useful.

But looking through Graham's eyes gives a startling amount of information. From the vantage so high the bird can see shadows underneath the water ahead of the boats, and ropes and chains pulled taut cast off the front of the vessels... something is down there, and it looks as if it's pulling that massive boat.

[Ganurath]

Jin pulls out her favored combat equipment, holding her mace in her right hand and her Yasal crystal in her left. She examines the yellow gemstone almost warily, weighing her options in her head as she examines the ship they were on board. Her Erythanoi could get lost among enemy ranks if they summoned demons as well. Still, she could always summon another, and it never hurt to experiment...

I'm going to make an Occult roll to see what sort of knowledge Jin has about demons and Lintha. In particular, Jin's trying to remember if the demons Lintha use are weak enough that she could bind any with her Yasal crystal, as well as whether or not they use Blood-Apes like her.

[roll0]

Also, as stated above, she draws her combat gear, mace and Yasal.

[GrayWatch]

As a grim and sort of despairing silence settled over the crowd watching the dark ship approach.

Marad, staring a bit more bleakly than the rest, knowing what he did, eventually spoke loudly.

"I once spoke with a sailor who survived a Lintha attack, by hiding in a sailcloth. He spoke of... horrible things, but, I remember he spoke of ships with no sails, towed by great...things, beasts? demons? something else? beneath the waves." he shuddered, not needing to fake it. Those shadows had been huge.

"Of course, we are fortunate in that we are guarded by the paragons of the Empire, whatever their temporary disagreements on strategy in this matter. I am sure, forearmed with their prodigious knowledge they will awe us with their due skill in dealing with this matter." he said, his voice suddenly much brighter and brittle as glass.

After a moment Graham wheeled about and returned, settling upon his shoulder.

[Jerthanis]

Jin recalls that Trimiezliums, also known as Infernal Worms are a type of Sea Monster theorized to be used by the Lintha, though reports are sketchy at best. Trimiezliums are comparable in strength to Erymanthoi... the Blood Ape currently bound to the Crystal. She may need to release the Blood Ape to bind it, but it can be done.

The Lintha don't generally use Erymanthoi to Jin's knowledge, but the Lintha are known Yozi worshippers, and may turn to their side if it believes they're likely to win.

[Ganurath]

Jin smirks to herself, holding the crystal up to her mouth as though to whisper to it. While she does do this, the purpose of the gesture is more to prevent her lips from being read as she addresses her Blood-Ape associate in Old Speak. {Tell me, how much of a period of loyalty outside the crystal would the promise of a feast upon a Trimiezelium buy? I have an idea to turn a pitched battle into a massacre to our favor.}

[Jerthanis]

Dry chuckles emanate from the crystal, {The flesh of the Trimiezlium would be amusing to gorge on, but I've seen Kimberry's body drown sections of Malfeas, seen my Brothers torn to shreds by their rending teeth and I will not leap into these waters for any of your promises. My loyalty goes always to those with power... if you can turn this to a massacre in your own favor, I would naturally follow your dictates. Until then, I will stand aside.}

[Ganurath]

Jin nods, turning her attention to the progress of the ship. No, the chariot, and the demons that pulled it. {I have a couple ideas, both of which involve catching a Trimiezelium in my Yasal crystal. None of them require anyone go overboard, meerly that I get close enough to one of the fiends to touch them, likely as a counter to their attack. That means you'd both be outside the crystal and outside of combat, once the fighting was done in any event, until we could dispatch the prisoner on the shore, which is why I inquire.}

[Drascin]

"Shadows under water...?" Maryn frowns, thinking. That calls a memory from a little book at the Heptagram...

Suddenly, it strikes him, remembering the page, and the illustration of exceedingly ugly and huge lamprey beasts. Trimezlium. The Linthas are rumored to use Infernal Worms as engines. Mere demons, if strong ones... and that means he can deal with them.

He turns to Melara and the captain. "They aren't beasts. Those are demons towing the boat. I will deal with them. Captain, be ready for getting away at the topmost speed this boat can handle" his voice is back to cracking like a whip, now that again he sees the way to deal with this. "Be ready in case of boarders. Melara, get the other Dragonblooded on board together" and with that, soon as everyone seems ready, he jumps off the side of the boat, mentally calling upon the spirit bound within his Yasal crystal for the ability to run on air, and launching forward skimming the waves. Thank the gods for servomotors. He wouldn't last half the distance before his heart called for a truce without the armor supporting him, and he knows it perfectly well. As he approaches, he activates the cloaking device with a subtle motion - he's trusting in the shimmering of waves and the near-transparency to protect him from the eyes of the pirates until it's too late. He's not precisely keen on fighting alone, and in fact there is quite a bit of his brain telling him about the thousand ways this could go wrong.

But logic is a Sorcerer's duty. He must keep calm and think clearly - and do this so that people on the boat aren't horribly massacred. This is the best option. So he pushes those thoughts back as he runs.

[Ganurath]

Jin glanced up at Maryn's realization, then glances at her crystal. {It seems the Dragon-Blooded has a more efficient alternative to my plan. Still, the usual arrangement in the event of boarders remains an option.}

Moving toward the starboard side of the ship, Jin calls out in High Realm in the hopes that the Sorceror was still in earshot, speaking in High Realm so that the other Dragon-Bloods would be aware of her agenda. <They're coming in at an angle. If you remove the closer Trimiezelium first, that may throw them off course before they can adjust. I'll stand ready to neutralize the second fiend if it attacks the ship.>

[Jerthanis]

The captain nods awkwardly, "Aye, hop-to boys, prepare to turn into the wind on my mark. We're gonn' run for it." the sailors begin moving about their tasks as one.

And Maryn is over the side of the deck, racing among the waves. He approaches close enough to begin his Sorcery without being noticed, at about the current midpoint between the ships.

Here's about where I should call for Join Battle rolls, but since Emerald Banishment is a special, 0 tick shaping action, and the Lintha didn't spot Maryn through the cloak, they won't really react until the sorcery takes place, so instead make your Essence + Willpower opposed roll against the first Worm and see if it succumbs.
[roll0]

[horngeek]

Melara nods, and heads around the ship. "All of the Dragon-Blooded, get together! We might be able to take out their method of propulsion, but we still need to be ready in case of boarders! Get on deck, please!"

That said, she heads back to the deck. "All right. Now... just in case."

She looks to see if anyone sees her husband.

[Drascin]

Okay, then. I'll use my 15 motes of Personal Essence (10+5 to casue the demon a -1 enalty on his roll) for this, in order to prevent my Anima from flaring at least until I go for the second one.

12d10

[Jerthanis]

Maryn is now engaged in a battle of wills with one of the two demon-worms pulling the ships.

Upon entering this duel, neither one can move from their spot without forfeiting the struggle entirely, so great is the mental focus required.

When one of the two worms pulling their ship goes limp in the water, a cry rouses on the other vessel, its voices shouting, "Sorcerer!"

Like a military drill, the pirates scramble across the deck of their ship, severing cords and unlatching chains... it appears they are in the process of loosing their dogs, and incredibly, several individuals are attaching loose chains to their bodies... it seems like they plan on riding that thing.


Here is the join battle roll of the Infernal Worm not being banished
[roll0]
This is the Lintha boarding party, they will need to free the creature before it can begin to close the distance.
[roll1]

[horngeek]

Melara quickly reacts. "TO ARMS! Boarders incoming!"

Fitting her words, she quickly takes up a stance, and glaring at the Lintha, nocks an arrow to her bow. Those pirates would not gain control of this ship. Not while she was alive.

Rolling Join Battle

[roll0]

[Drascin]

((I don't get to actually Join Battle until after the spell is finished, correct?))

Gah.

The texts had said the Trimezliums were intelligent beasts - much like Erymanthois looked bestial and stupid but were in fact possessed of average intellect. He had not expected the sheer spike of animalistic, predatorial instinct coming from the monster. It nearly shook him away just now, and he hangs to his clutch on the creature's soul only barely. And to add to the trouble, the pirates are heading out...

That's unimportant. Focus. Focus on its mind. Feel it, huge as it is. Get your hand around it. he lashes himself back into the contest of minds. He had been distracted before, and it almost cost him. It would not happen again.

Feel it... and then crush it

Maryn's retaliation is swift - he trusts his armor's cloaking systems and the difficulty of seeing anything with the shimmering of the sun on the sea to keep him outside of the view of the Linthas, so he devotes his full attention to the battle of minds, sending a powerful lance of will back at the creature to gain back the lost terrain.


[roll0]

[Jerthanis]

((I don't get to actually Join Battle until after the spell is finished, correct?))

((Yeah, but each opposed roll is a 3 tick action, that roll will count for your next one, but I'm going to rule this as the rest of the battlefield 'joining an ongoing battle' with you acting at tick 0 with the first opposed roll. So if anyone rolls 4 - 6 successes, they would act between your first roll and your second... if that makes sense.))

[Arcanoi]

As the situation spiraled inevitably towards violence, the sorceror disappearing and the foolish Ledaal urging a call to arms, Fiona tried not to scream in disgust at the husband and wife's impulsive rush to violence. She had little doubt that she could have had the Lintha captain wrapped around a finger within moments. But the Ledaal kept shouting.

Fiona fought down the urge to pale at the woman's words. ALL of the dragon-bloods? What did the woman expect her to do, strangle one of the crewmen and beat the Lintha to death with his corpse? Once the subject of enormous worms from the seas of Malfeas was broached, she quietly decided that she was not qualified for this fight, not in the least.

Hoping her other erstwhile companions were consumed with the spectacle of the approaching doom, Fiona headed for the underdecks. She would take the captain up on his offer of concealment if the others were to foolish to do likewise.

[Ganurath]

{The Sorceror seems to have properly thrown their momentum. If he manages to remove both of the creatures, we'll still follow the standard arrangement.} So saying, Jin began to move toward where she'd be in a better position to intercept the active Worm, focusing on drawing power from the Blood ape in her crystal. As the power flows through her, she gives Melara a glance before addressing her in High Realm. <I don't know Low Realm, mind telling the crew that the Blood Ape I'm going to let out is on our side?>

Principle of Motion, -5m, -1wp, -2DV, 6 ticks

[roll0]

[GrayWatch]

Marad groaned inwardly, and slipped into the stream of scurrying sailors. He didn't want to be here, the people were crazy and everyone was going to die.

He thought desperately. Lintha pirates, and two of his countrymen seemed eager for violence. The other had, quite reasonably in other circumstances, retreated below decks, and would presumably take shelter unless the Lintha burst in upon her. He didn't think they could win this fight, at least not straight out.

But perhaps some event might give them advantage, or at least see them clear. He would never be able to capitalize upon it if he hid below decks, and there was little he could do until it came time for boarding actions anyway... not that he would do anything brash of course. Experience had long since taught him that life is far easier when you are far underestimated.

With this is in mind he slipped smoothly from the flow of people to scramble up the center-most mast by the pegs inserted for just this very purpose, keeping the bulk of the mast between him and the approaching ship, to obscure him from sight. Near the cross-arm he tucked himself into a folded sailcloth, and gripped the cross arm from below, in case some sailor decided that it needed to be unfurled at the last minute. He would rely on Graham's eyes to keep track of the situation.


I assume since I can't DO anything I don't roll join battle unless we get boarded.
If you want it regardless:
Join Battle= Wits+Awareness=7
[roll0]

And I'm tucking myself into the sailcloth in an attempt to establish stealth.
Stealth+Dexterity=10
[roll1]
And thanks to familiar rating and sense-sharing this should have no effect on my senses.

[Arcanoi]

I suppose I should roll stealth as well, forgot.

[roll0]

[Jerthanis]

The Infernal Worm not transfixed in a struggle continues pulling the ship, drawing slightly closer.

Moments later, the final chain is severed, and the Infernal Worm pulls itself free, a half dozen Lintha pirates in tow, dragged along by the chains which bound the demon moments before. The Lintha pirates skim the top of the water, seemingly wearing enchanted footwear that prevented their sinking below the surface, thus appearing to be dragged across the water in a standing position atop the waves. At the same moment, Jin draws on the power of a Demon to infuse herself with alacrity, Marad files himself away in the cloth and Fiona slips belowdecks.


Demon's opposed roll to not get banished:
[roll0]

EDIT: Jezmus, stupid lucky demons. 7 on 7! Still, you draw even in the struggle.

This brings us to tick 5, where Merela acts... there are six Lintha 'skiing' on the water towards your ship, maybe around 30 left on the ship which is now drifting on momentum and will swiftly fall behind. Next tick, the third resisted roll will occur. Tick 6 will also involve the Worm making essentially a dash action to move adjacent to your ship, then tick 8 will be the next time the Lintha themselves act.

[horngeek]

Melara frowns as she studies the Lintha pirates. I need to take them down to size a bit before they get here...

Taking out three arrows, she studies them, and nods. Good enough. Death comes for you, Lintha.

She nocks the first arrow to her jade bow, her essence infusing it with a deadly poison. She takes aim- and fires.

The second arrow is nocked to the bow, and a second poisoned shot is sent towards another enemy, poisoned death flying towards him.

And a third joins the other two in flight, half of the Lintha pirates now targeted by the Wood Aspect's poisoned arrows.

Right. Let's hope this works, eh?

Flurrying three arrows towards three of the pirates. First Archery Excellency is being applied, with two bonus die to the second and third shots. Dragon-Graced Arrow is being applied to all three shots as well, giving me a quite respectable Damage 4L/action, Toxicity 4 poison, penalty -0.

I'll roll the damage dice that are gained based purely from Strength and the powerbow. You'll have to roll the ones from threshold successes, I think.

Any stunt die are to be spent on hitting if any shots would miss without them. If they don't make a difference to whether I hit or not, they should go to damage, to the shots that cause less damage.

First Shot
To hit: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

Second shot: [roll2]
Damage: [roll3]

Third Shot: [roll4]
Damage: [roll5]

[Jerthanis]

The arrows fall and some of their targets fall with them. ((we'll resolve total damage on this tick before the Lintha act, but there's at least one tick worth of action that doesn't depend on it, so I'll move on to that tick for now.))

The sea monster reaches the side of the ship and rears its terrible gaping maw, cresting the surface properly for the first time. It looks like an enormous, oily, murderous eel. A thin, taper-like tongue juts from a perfectly circular mouth filled with rows and rows of cruelly jutting, serrated teeth. As the monster flexes, the teeth rotate like saw blades within the creatures gullet. It gestures and flails wildly.

Maryn may also act on this tick, still engaged in a battle of wills

[Drascin]

It's hard to keep calm with the other worm heading towards the ship. Melara's on there. Maryn has full confidence on his wife's ability to defeat anyone on land, but on the sea... things are different.

Late. Late. Late.

This has to end. Now. Maryn keeps pushing forward, stabbing into the worm's brain bit by bit.


Alright then. Time to roll wills. Come, gentlemen, and let's laugh together at the World's Most Useless Sorcerer!

[roll0]

Welp, 4 successes. Statistical average at least. If the worm also gets statistical average, I win. But what's the chance that that happens?

[Jerthanis]

[roll0]
It occurs to me that I should be giving you stunt dice for your mental struggle rolls, you get one more success, bringing it up to 5 for this roll.

[Jerthanis]

A subsonic pulse travels through the water as the space occupied by the Infernal Worm as it ignites in a burst of green fire that leaves no shadows. With the demon consigned to return whence it came, Maryn can once again focus on the battle.


Roll Join Battle and give yourself four motes or one willpower back for successful stunting

[Drascin]

And as Maryn feels the will of the Worm finally letting up, he unconsciously does a crushing motion with his hand - and as his fingers close, the form of the monster shatters. For some, this might have been cause for satisfaction. For Maryn, it's cause of self chastisement, as it's already a lot later than it should have been done according to his personal standards.

Done. I'm coming, Melara he thinks as the ashes vanish.

With that thought, he starts running at his top speed back to the ship.


Thanks for the stunt dice. Otherwise, I'd have failed for yet another turn. You're a lifesaver :smallsmile:. I'll choose the four motes. They'll allow me to go and spend 20 motes on banishing the second worm to reduce its pool by two.

Rolling Join battle, then.
[roll0]

[Jerthanis]

The Lintha loose themselves from the chains, leaping from the trailing chains to land on deck as the body of the demon impacts the boat along the starboard side, sending a spray of ocean water up along the railing.

The pirates draw their cruel, barbed Auzhian swords as they land on deck, sea spray still landing around him. He smiles cruelly at Melara, "You're not the sorcerer, are you, dragon?" One of the injured Lintha pulls the arrow out of his forearm, trying not to betray an iota of pain. He almost succeeds, but his eyes are bloodshot with poison and breath comes to him raggedly.

"No? I suppose you know where they are." They menace with their weapons.


Here are their Str + Athletics rolls to clear the railing from the demon's back. Failures will need to climb up next action. Their flurry is Jump -> Ready Weapon.
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]


One fails to jump from the demon to the ship's deck, but not only does he fail to do that, he fails to grasp the railing as well. He tumbles headfirst into the briny sea below with a sudden scream, where he's dashed against the ship's hull by the demon's body. He takes 3 bashing damage from the impact.

[Jerthanis]

The Trimezlium begins to wrap its chitinous body around the hull of the boat. Its monstrous tail emerges from the water on the port side of the boat, flopping down onto the deck itself, flattening a screaming sailor under it. The tail fits grotesquely well into the mouth of the beast. The undulating motions near the joining indicate that it is in fact swallowing its own tail... using the rotating teeth as a winch to pull the entire ship into its vice. Where once the timbers creaked, now they squeal in protest as it begins to squeeze the breath out of the ship all at once.


The creature is attempting a Clinch attempt to squeeze for damage against the ship itself. Object damage works slightly differently, in that objects have hardness equal their soaks, but all damage dice go through as health levels lost. I couldn't find an example of ship hull integrity, so I'm saying the ship has health levels of 20/40 damaged/destroyed and soaks 14 bashing, which in a clinch is 7.
[roll0]
This roll deals 7 Health Levels of damage to the ship. Two more hits like that and it'll start taking on water.


Jin may react simultaneously to the creature. Melara will act moments later. (We're on tick 9, Melara will act again on tick 10, Maryn on 11 and Lintha again on 13)

[Ganurath]

Jin shifted her footing as the tail slapped on the deck, keeping herself steady in anticipation of an attempt to capsize the vessel. She watched the Worm in anticipation, pointing her Yasal crystal at the boarding Lintha. {The boarders are your meat. Start on those nearest the archer.}

Holding position, releasing the Erymanthoi reflexively, and I'll Aim at the Worm for 1 tick.

[Jerthanis]

The fresh sea air turns fetid with shocking suddenness as the Blood Ape begins to form its physical body out of raw Essence before you. As its face formulates, its eyes narrow with cruelty at the Lintha.

"A feast of Kimberry's incestuous spawn? Loved even fallen so far? I spit in your mother's body." It says in Old Realm, "This is for all the Brothers she has slain."

Materialize is a Simple charm, so the monkey madness will commence on tick 15

Tick 10 commences and Melara can go, as well as Jin if 1 tick is enough to aim for.

[Ganurath]

<The Worm is mine!> The High Realm shout would have been intended for the Sorceror if she knew he was in earshot, but her mind was focused more on the task at hand. Moving swiftly across the deck, careful to avoid splintering floorboards, Jin comes to a halt adjacent the ring formed by the Worm.

With a triumphant smirk, she holds the back of her Yasal hand to the creature before snapping a backfist at its soaked hide, golden tendrils of energy arcing out of the crystal begging for contact with her demonic victim. {Your twin got off easy.}

It's enough to get the Worm to DV 0 for a grapple, and not so much that an action is wasted on a banish. ICly, it's the former that's of concern to Jin. Dex 4, Aim 1, no dots in Martial Arts means -2 for mortals...

[roll0]

Also, I'm not sure if I'd get the +1 Accuracy from a Punch, but if so, open the spoiler. I don't want seeing the roll impacting your decision.
[roll1]

[Jerthanis]

Jin's hand finds the demon's flesh easily and the creature is powerless to resist the draw of the Yasal Crystal and Jin's unshakable will. In a sucking vortex of green light, the beast is trapped.

Remember to mark off a point of temporary willpower in sealing the demon... also, remember you can't put your own Erymanthoi back in until the Worm is out. It has the charm Landscape Travel, but likely won't let you use it without some serious cajoling and/or browbeating. Oh, and if you used your own motes for anything yet, you can take 2 back for a successful 1 die stunt

[GrayWatch]

Marad let out a shaky breath as the demon vanished with a flash of light, and a spray of rancid oil.

Definitely not a normal mortal.

This left the Lintha on board, combating an archer and...whatever this "mortal" was. Presumably their sorcerous friend would be back soon, but perhaps now would be an ideal time to score some brownie points with the group. If his suspicions played out true it might be wise in the long run.

He slipped quietly out of the sailcloth and flipped up onto the crossbeam. On silent feet he quavered for a moment to gain his balance before slinking into back to the mast.

He braced himself for a moment then launched off the mast with his feet. His body twisted in mid-air and his arm crooked sharply, before he fell out of the sky in a vicious elbow drop, like the wrath of Mela.


Surprise Attack Elbow Drop! I feel like a B-list wrestler.
Accuracy=Dex+MA+Weapon Bonus+ Excellencies=5+5+1=11 die
(11d10)[10][5][8][3][4][7][8][6][8][2][2](63)
Since I don't know their soak I'll leave you to roll damage apply threshold w/e.
Before any successes on accuracy I roll only 2B though.
Spending 4m to supplement the actual damage with Death From Nowhere Method (doubles levels of damage applied in Step 10, non-obvious)

[Drascin]

As Maryn's running takes him above the boat, though, the thaumathurge takes advantage of the Worm's halting and imprisons it in a Yasal Crystal. The sorcerer nods - that had been a very clean removal. They could deal with the imprisoned demon later.

So now, for the Linthas.

Maryn takes his bow from his back, and takes aim straight for their heads below him, his eyes narrowing, and his anima bursting in a burning green flare and a twister of green birds in the middle of seemingly air (since his actual body is still invisible). The power flows to his hand, and charges the arrows as they are nocked into the intrincate jade bow.

One. Two. Three. Four

One by one, the arrows leave the bow like small green meteors hurling downward, each aiming to a different pirate.


Using Swallows Defend the Nest. Three motes allows me a flurry of four Archery attacks at my full dice pool. Then I'll use the first archery excellency for two motes on each arrow as a reflexive action to increase my accuracy by four dice. Total motes spent, 11.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Jerthanis]

Death rains from the skies on the Lintha, those that didn't see the attacks coming gasp in pain as the tops of their shoulders and sides of their necks suddenly sprout arrows while those that manage to have caught sight of the telltale flicker as Maryn repositions step back, flicking their wide-bladed swords this way and that, catching the fragile shafts between them expertly.


first, reflexive Perception + Awareness rolls vs Difficulty 3 Cloaking Device to not be taken by surprise by the aerial assault. Those who fail will have DV 0 vs the attack. In order:
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
Okay, only the first one appears to have been taken entirely by surprise.

[Jerthanis]

because of soaks and dvs, the final damage rolls are, in order, 9, 7, 7 and 10 damage dice.
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

Unfortunately, 10s don't count twice on damage rolls, but this is enough to bring the first target to incapacitated.


Not quite so aware of his surroundings thanks to the poison burning away at his nerves, the first target doesn't see the arrow coming and finds himself surprised with an arrow jutting out his throat from behind and above. He collapses to the ground. None of his fellow boarders escape unscathed, unable to deflect the tremendous assault more than marginally.

Meanwhile, the Captain, upon seeing both Trimezliums have disappeared, shouts to his crew, "Full sails! Turn to the wind! We're off!" and every sail deploys at once, casting the deck in sudden shadow and a noticable lurch indicates the boat is fully in motion now.

[horngeek]

Melara takes aim at the Lintha, then releases two arrows, at different targets.

Urgh. Can't get stunt inspiration at the moment, sorry. >.<

Flurry of two shots at two different pirates- probably the ones Maryn then does 5L to later or something.

First Shot: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

Second shot: [roll2]
Damage: [roll3]

[Jerthanis]

The Lintha begin the defensive pattern of swishing steel, their expertise at the skill of swordplay enhanced to superhuman levels by the strength of their blood and the power of Essence.


They'll remember they have Excellencies this time, and pay 4m for 4 extra dice, on which successes add to their DVs.
[roll0]
[roll1]
Wow, poor guys... the one who got all the successes in the world was the one who would've been missed anyway, and the other gets hit anyway for enough damage to kill him.


Under the barrage of arrows, one of the Lintha flits his sword to the right when the arrow comes on his left, then blocks left when the second whizzes in from the right and he is bowled off his feet by the impacts, where he lies in a growing pool of blood.

[Jerthanis]

The remaining three Lintha on board survey the damages they've taken already and the most injured one address the others in Seatongue. "Capture that Yasal Crystal and get back to the boat, I'll hold the Archer until you get underwater."

The one holding the railing slips between the rails rather than climb over them, sliding on the blood-and-seawater slickened deck to assault Jin, the other injured Lintha attempts to slip around to flank the unfortunate mortal.

Meanwhile, the last one attempts a desperate assault on Melara, swinging with wild abandon and pouring Essence forth to guide his blows even as blood loss hazes his vision.


First of all, Stamina + Resistance for the still poisoned one.
[roll0]

Second of all, the poisoned, rail slipping Lintha prepares to catch the Yasal crystal if Jin drops it while the only Lintha still 'lightly injured' attempts two attacks.
[roll1]
[roll2]

Finally, the injured one attempts three strikes with his Auzhian against Melara, spending copious essence in the process.
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]

So firstly, the poisoned one takes an additional Lethal this round, rather than 'just' bashing, leaving him at 2L/action tox 4 to deal with and with his first -2 filled with lethal. Second of all, the attacks just barely miss Jin as she blocks them.

Finally, the third, desperate attacker misses Melara by exactly the same margin until the third attack swings wide and the blood-slickened grip comes free, launching the blade spinning to lodge into the mainmast.


Jin also barrels down from the sky onto one of them on this action. They didn't see you coming, this is your surprise attack, so that's all threshold successes. They do soak 11B, so I'm pretty sure you still deal Essence minimum on your Elbow drop.

[Ganurath]

((Marad=/=Jin))

{No more patience.} After having barely deflected the Lintha's attacks, thanks in no small part to her mace's enchantment expanding the effective area it protects, Jin takes to the offensive. Calling upon the supernatural energy roiling within her weapon, Jin exploits the positioning of her attackers to lash out at both of them in an unnatural flurry, lashing at her attacker before bringing the backswing to bear against her flanker, repeating the process along multiple arcs for good measure while using the weight of her Yasal as a modest counterbalance.

I'll be using 6 of the 9-10 extra actions from Principle of Motion (not sure how many, depends on whether it counts base Willpower or current Willpower for determining quantity. All attacks will use the Fierce Blows called shot, imposing a -1 external penalty in exchange for +3B damage, hoping that between that and Piercing I can do more than minimum. Stunt dice are to be directed to improving the accuracy of attacks aimed at the attacking Lintha.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]

[Jerthanis]

Their desperation turns to shock, then terror as Jin moves with blinding speed. They put everything they've got into their defense.

They're going to spend 3m to enhance each parry, draining their reserves.
first three are the slightly less wounded attacker
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
second three are the slightly more wounded flanker
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]
oops, I mixed up which one was more badly hurt.

Looks like you hit your attacker three times for threshold 1, 1 and 2 (despite stupidly good excellency rolls), and the flanker twice with thresholds of 2 and 3. They soak 7B vs Piercing tag, so with your 8B + str + threshold - 7 should - 3, 3, 4 vs attacker, and 4, 5 vs flanker.

[Jerthanis]

One of the two Lintha is knocked to the ground by one of the blows, and as the mace comes down a final time it cuts short a wordless prayer to Kimberry. The other is reeling from the glancing blow he endures when a blur falls on him from above, striking the Lintha with enough force to stagger him. He falls against the ship's railing and it seems to be all that's holding him up. He looks off the side of the ship to the waves as his only hope of survival.

But as he stares, the foul presence of the Erymanthoi looms behind him, and its claws decend.


flurries 2 attacks, buying one success on each roll with the 2nd excellency.
[roll0]
[roll1]


The Lintha sags in its grip and it begins gnawing on the fresh corpse. Only one Lintha remains, the one who lost his sword and who almost struck Melara. Surveying the destruction which the Dragonblooded wrought on his brethren he speaks, "I will not bow my head to lesser creatures, I would accept none of your foolish mercy." He makes no move to run, staring defiantly. (which brings us to Maryn's action)

[Drascin]

And as the man says this, Maryn is landing, gracefully, dismissing his camouflage, and standing behind the enemy - he had panicked for a second there when it looked like she had been stuck, but she was alright, which is such an incredible relief.

Then he speaks. The voice resounds in the helmet, but the tone is so dripping with disdain it seems to almost solidify in the air. Maryn, for all his snappishness, is not a cruel man, but the tales of the Lintha are wellknown. Cannibals, murderers, rapists, heirs to a demonic heritage and enjoying its horrid impulses, scourges of the seas. It would be a favor to the world to remove him, for all those that this... man, to call the wretch something, had certainly killed before.

"And I thank you for that. I wouldn't be able to strike an enemy that surrendered"

And with that last word and a chirping of the birds of essence surrounding him, suddenly an arrow leaves the bow in a flash of green, perforating the brain with utmost precision and kiling the man in an instant. Maryn is an expert surgeon, after all.

Then he lowers his bow and approaches his wife. "Are you alright?". It's not hard to spot how his voice goes a bit softer whenever he speaks to her. Assuming an affirmative answer, though, he will look around, scanning wether others have been wounded in the fight.

[Jerthanis]

Only one of the sailors appears to have been wounded, but his state seems soon fatal. Having been crushed beneath the falling tail of the massive demon, he seems to have progressed now into the late stages of shock. Otherwise, the crew seems uninjured, though shaken.

If Jin wants to do something extra in this scene she can, though Marad can act first if there's something he's got in mind. Otherwise, the ship can escape the Lintha, what with their propulsion being temporarily crippled.

[Ganurath]

Jin took a moment to examine herself for bloodstains, wiping what gore was on her weapon off on a clean spot on a Lintha corpse. She had had a plan for the Worm, but she considered it unlikely that the Sorceror had a second camoflauge and a second banishing in him. She glances toward the wounded sailor, then turns her head toward the Dragonblooded couple and addressing them in High Realm. <If either of you are healers, that sailor requires medical attention.>

Then, she glances over her shoulder at the Erymanthoi. {Fallen foes only, if it wasn't already clear.}

[Jerthanis]

After tearing the final strip of flesh from a dismembered arm, the Erymanthoi sighs contentedly and tosses the meager scraps to the wind. He looks around to those sailors brave enough to watch in horror, and grins widely.

It looks around at the other bodies regretfully. "It's feast or famine, so long in your service and not a drop of blood, now more than I could possibly consume."

He looks to Maryn, "I assure you, Sorcerer, I am bound in service to this one, it's all the same to me, but it may cause her some... consternation... should you banish me."

"I see you've invited a guest into my living space... master. Does this mean a... reprieve... from the gem's confines?"

[Drascin]

Indeed, Maryn sees the man hurt, and dashes forward, acknowledging Jin with barely a nod as he runs past. It takes his expert eye barely a second to notice that this man is extremely damaged. And Maryn doesn't have the materials to perform a decent surgery on him right here. Blast it all to Malfeas. Still, he can at least close the hemorrhages and set the bones back. With a mutter, he raises two fingers, the tips of which start shining brightly with a green hue, and he starts running it all over the sailor's body with the utmost concentration, closing all important wounds both internal and external. Some of the scratches are left, but nothing threatening or bleeding.

As he finishes, he sits back, tired and sighing. "And next time you see a dragons-damned huge demon coming, jump aside, you supreme idiot" he grumbles to nobody in particular (as the sailor is certainly still unconscious), getting up with a bit of dizziness. That was a pretty hefty chunk of Essence he just spent, and he's not quite the most resilient man.

He turns towards the captain. "He will live. I do not have the resources necessary for a full diagnosis and operation, but his life is not in danger" he says, snappishly, as he walks past and back towards Melara.

The Erymanthoi speaks to him, though, which makes him stop. His face can't be seen under the mask, but the impatience is obvious. "Yes, I know. I am not that much of a halfwit". He turns to Jin. "I am carrying a spare Yasal Crystal myself. As I assume you are here on behalf of the stars as well, I am willing to lend it to you. I doubt the sailors would work all that efficiently with a blood ape snarling on their necks". Yes, after all that fighting and adrenaline bath, Maryn just isn't in the mood for stupid Sidereal games. So he says it straight on, in a fashion that only those "on" it would be able to understand. Most of the deck would probably just interpret it as weird talk between weirdo thaumathurges.

((Using Wound-Closing Touch on him for twelve motes and 1 willpower, healing 6 lethal damage levels. He probably still has two or so levels filled with lethal, but those are just skin wounds and stuff, correct? Maryn would rather not spend himself fully in case of any other trouble. Or in case we need to repair something in the ship as well))

[horngeek]

Melara, frowning, walks over to her husband. "Well. We're lucky that we only had one serious injury..."

[Ganurath]

Jin stows her now clean mace, or at least clean enough that blood won't drench her robe. {An invitation implies that the Worm had a choice in the matter. As for your quarters...}

Jin turns her eye to Maryn, letting his wife say her piece before speaking. {You make a fair point. If yours if of the lesser capacity, I'd say that a simple trade of crystals would be reasonable, especially since you've already proven more able to dispose of the Worm than I. If you're lucky, you may even persuade it to be useful.}

Jin then glances over her shoulder at the Erymanthoi once more. {I suggest you finish your meal before the fear you inspire leads to hostility.}

[Drascin]

Maryn takes his helmet off, sighing from the tiredness, as he faces his wife. It's obvious from his face he's exhausted, but still unrelenting. Melara knowing him as she does, she probably knows perfectly well he will refuse to rest at all until everything is settled and decided unless downright smacked into it. He nods. "Indeed, we are lucky only one man was severely injured. Especially after I almost botched that banishment like an amateur" he chastises himself dismissively. And lucky that the injury wasn't you. When I thought that man had hit you, I felt my blood go away he thinks privately.

Jin's words bring him back to reality, though. "Doubtful. Here" he throws the crystal at her. It is indeed a very big, high-quality crystal ((basically, yours is Essence 2, this is Essence 3)). "Just get your demon in it and return it to me after we get the Trimezlium on land and destroy it".

He then looks around. "Anything else?"

[Jerthanis]

The Erymanthoi pauses, cocking his head, "Ah, such an exquisite room... I am honored to be housed so generously. Perhaps someday I may... repay the favor. Should I be returned to Malfeas, and you find yourself there, I would be honored to offer you a similarly generous accommodation."

His words are magnanimous, but his tone falls one step too far into saccharine. Still he lumbers over on all fours and bows his head to Jin's touch, unresisting as she pulls him into the gem.

The captain sighs as the Lintha corpses are wrapped in spare cloth for patching the sails. "We'll need to burn them... if any of you are priests I'd appreciate it to have you say a few words." he looks as if he's going to spit on the corpses, then appears to think better of it. "Lintha are deadly in life, but death won't improve their dispositions... best not have their ghosts coming back for revenge."

Buckets of water are lined up near a crude raised platform upon which the bodies are carefully lined up. Using pitch, used straw and several other improvised materials, the funeral pyre for your five enemies is erected.

[Arcanoi]

As the noises of combat die down from above, and no horde of blood-soaked Linthan boarders spews down into the innards of the ships, Fiona resolves to ascend back to the deck. In addition, she surmised, if that the demon-worms tried to break the ship again, as she had heard through the agonized creak of timbers, anyone below-decks would die. Never-the-less, she ascended slowly, taking care to remain out of sight as much as possible.

Ascending the final steps and peeking out into the daylight, Fiona is indeed surprised to find her companions standing relatively unharmed and the only evidence of pirates being five corpses set ready to be cremated. "Oh, Darlings! I'm so proud of you!" her voice resounds across the deck, altogether too care-free for all the death that had been dealt. "I'm glad I underestimated you!" She seems to dance onto the deck, artfully avoiding the bloodstains with a face-spanning smile on her face.

[GrayWatch]

Marad for his part, slumped up against the gunwale and watched all this occur keeping quiet about the fierce ache spreading throughout his body. Perhaps leaping from the top of a ships mast was a poor idea in retrospect. Landing on his elbow had been a worse one.

Getting up he stretched a bit and staggered back below decks to ponder what he had learned. No mere coincidence the sorceress and spouses presence. The apparent mortal's acquiescent response confirmed his nature.

So, on a mission he knew almost nothing about with people he knew very little about...
He had a pressing need to be drunk.

[Ganurath]

Jin stows the larger crystal in her bookbag after sealing the Erymanthoi, pushing her spectacles up on her nose upon realizing just how far the momentum of her flurry had tugged them. <It was tactics as much as skill that won the day, I think. I can only hope are future victories are so decisive... I'll have to look into it later.>

With that being said, Jin makes her way belowdecks, intent to add the day's events to her journal... Perhaps investigate into the role the man who aided her is intended to play.

[Drascin]

"If I end up in Malfeas, I will have plenty of more pressing concerns, believe me. But thanks for the offer" Maryn answers the ape sarcastically as Jin binds him back.

Seeing as how his looking around doesn't reveal anything more that's urgent, though, he allows himself to relax slightly - which makes the flock of birds around him visibly perch on his shoulders as he talks to his wife. "Done, then. However, I must stay away from anything important until my anima calms down. We did not save this boat so I can sink it". He half-smiles, mellowing a bit. "I appears I will need to stay up here for a while".

He's completely ignoring the Fire-Aspect that just reappeared, though.

[Jerthanis]

The captain approaches again, having attended to his underlings' labors conspicuously closely while the Erymanthoi was free. The blazes are taking the bodies now, and after some discussion, the men decide that none of them are capable enough to speak words to lay men to rest, and settle on respectful silence.

"We're making good time away from the pirates, but this course change throws us off our previous bearing. We'll have to tack into the wind before we can return on our last vector... we're looking at maybe another day added to our arrival time."

There's a commotion from the stairs, a young man appears, who may have been called a boy a mere summer or two previously. He was hauling something behind him out of the cargo hold. He deposits it ungently on the deck and says, "This was the only thing I could carry from down in the hold, if you want me to bring the rest I'm going to need some help." The object he has placed on the deck is a large piece of wooden luggage which seems plain and unadorned except for what look like gold latches and hinges.

Righteous Gull misses a beat and then shouts at the kid, "What business do you have manhandling our guest's cargo!?", interestingly, he speaks in High Realm to the boy. He grabs him by the scruff of his neck.

"B..but you said to bring all cargo on deck... that we were surr--" he is marched up to Fiona, where the captain throws him at her feet. Righteous Gull is flushed violently, but seemingly more with embarrassment than fury.

"Apologize for interfereing with her belongings. Beg for mercy." he demands.

[Arcanoi]

Now that was startling, reflected Fiona as she the sniveling wretch of a man hauled before her. The boy had touched her luggage, and she'd had mortals flogged for that before. But as much as she loved to see men beg, a little bit of wisdom from Auntie Alon filtered through. "There's opportunities in everything, darling." And indeed there were.

["Oh, Captain. There's no need for that."] She places a hand under the boy's chin and kisses him on the forehead. [Color="Red"]["Thank you for getting my bag, darling."] But Dragons aid me, if you touch my bags again, you'll lose both hands. She flashes a dazzling smile at the captain, not at all reflecting the itch of revulsion she gets whenever she sees his face. Sometimes scars made a man more attractive, more.... primal, like the one that cousin Denovah Avaku sported. She'd always been disappointed when he never showed up to any Galas. But Righteous Gull's face was more akin to a high-speed carriage collision.


Social attack against the crew to build an intimacy of Respect.
Manipulation 5 + 3 dice from Appearance + Presence 5 + 1 die from Legendary Breeding + 1 die from Gem of Seduction + 4 die from First Excellency = 19

[roll0]

Personal: 10/16

Peripheral: 47/49 (2 committed)

[Jerthanis]

The Captain breathes a sigh of relief, "Truly the nobility of house Sessus is like an ocean with no bottom." he notices the younger man entranced by Fiona and snaps his fingers sharply behind his ear.

"My brother was not blessed with a life informed of the Immaculate doctrines, so sometimes he fails to understand proper respect."

It's shocking to hear these two are related. The young man may not impress a veteran of the social courts of the Isle, but for his class and station, he practically glows. Standing opposite each other, the resemblance is present if you look for it. Righteous Gull may have been beautiful once himself.

Something nags at the back of Fiona's mind... at first she cannot place it, but turning her eyes on the case once again, it occurs to her that her own luggage hadn't been in the Cargo Hold, but tucked away in her quarters.

This isn't her baggage.

As Fiona looks closer, the box is deeper and less wide than her own; more plainly adorned. the captain apologizes again, "I'm surprised it never made it to your cabin, I remember a courier in Sesus garb dropped it of just before we cast off, I assumed it had been delivered to your room, I saw the courier depart afterward."

[Arcanoi]

The thought was disturbing. Who else would be carrying such a bag on the ship? Her own attendants had departed nearly an hour before the ship had left, so what was this bag, delivered by a mysterious courier in her own colors doing in the cargo-hold? Curiosity overwhelmed any sort of cautionary urgings from the back of her mind, and she resolved to open it. It took quite a bit of effort to conceal a mischievous smile. She glanced around the deck, eyes centering on the sorcerer, still shrouded in his anima banner, which took the peculiar and amusing shape of a flock of birds. She had been looking forward to having a civilized conversation with him. Maybe she could even get a few laughs out of it.

She picked up the out-liar bag and drifted over to the railing where he stood, stepping wistfully and swinging the bag softly, face all smiles. <"So, Cousin, what brings you out to the West on such an adventure?> Of course, she was quite sure she knew what forces had propelled the placement of no less than four dragon-bloods on the same ship, but still, she needed something to break the ice, and she wanted to get the man's measure.

[Drascin]

Maryn's distaste is likely to be obvious to his wife in his agriated expression as he sees what the captain does. This is what the populace takes the Dragonbloods for. Petty, pathetic tyrants that will flog you for touching their belongings. It would be saddening if it wasn't so infuriating.

By the time the captain says the "beg for mercy" line, Maryn is more or less ready to intervene yet again - if the woman has the valor to so much as suggest the kid should be punished for following orders to the letter he's getting in there and smacking the stupid out of Seagull. And in any case, Maryn hasn't forgotten at all that if anyone should be asking for forgiveness - which nobody really is, but he's more or less given up on getting people to understand that - it should be the captain himself.

Thankfully, the woman prefers to make a pass at entrancing the sailors instead. Which prompts an eyeroll so massive at the obvious theatrics that Maryn ends up practically looking at the sky. In order to prevent his mood from souring further, he decides to look towards the sea for a while, and turn his back on the deck. He needs to calm a bit, but it's hard with the burst of adrenaline still running through his veins and his anima licking at him with its significative itch. "Arrrgh. Truthfully, sometimes..." he begins speaking, apologizing for his outbursts to the only person he really opens himself to, his wife...

..when Fiona approaches and speaks from behind, interrupting him. Even before he turns, the change in Maryn's expression from "this is so stupid" to "oh for... Dragons give me patience or I'm going to kill someone" is extremely hard to miss, particularly as the railing creaks from both Maryn's grip and anima suddenly intensifying. The kingfishers chirp in accusing annoyance as well.

Then Maryn turns. There is enough annoyance (half from the untimely interruption, half from the mere existence of Fiona) in his narrowed eyes to freeze the Southern Sea, though he speaks not too loud so as to prevent the whiole deck from hearing.

"I am not your cousin. And if I am not mistaken, you know full well why I am here. Spare me the sophistries" he says dryly.

[Arcanoi]

Fiona struggles mightily to keep a sadistic grin off her face. Habit takes over, and she pouts slightly, as though hurt. <"Oh my, dear. Are you always so cold to strangers? I'm afraid I might have to burn my anima just to keep away the chill. Despite your obvious dislike of courtiers, I can fathom no reason for such a frank judgement against mine own person."> She makes a tsk-ing sound. <"I would have thought a man so apparently devoted to truth and knowledge would take a womans true measure before judging her so harshly. She winks, enjoying the obvious annoyance evident on the Sorcerer's face.

She reaches the railing and leans against it, placing the wayward baggage before her. She leans over with a quizzical glance past Maryn, to glance at Melara. <"Does he do this to all strangers, darling? Is he always so frigid?> As though planned, the pose seems to emphasize her curves rather acutely.

[horngeek]

Melara looks at the courtier. <"He's annoyed. Probably by the captain's actions. Neither of us like it when people assume we're petty tyrants.">

[Ganurath]

Elsewhere on the ship, Jin opted for the latter of her options thanks to her writting hand still needing some time to adapt to the gentle rocking of the vessel. She had some questions for her fellow mortal, ranging from the basic items like his name to the more complex that would require she keep an eye out for eavesdroppers before discussing.

As she searches, she muses over the possibility of conversation with the Erymanthoi. It doesn't take more than a few seconds' thought, however, before she decides against it, especially with the crew having mentally associated her with the Blood-Ape. Shaking the thought out of her mind, she continues her search.

[GrayWatch]

Marad emerged from below decks with a bottle of something that more closely resembled vinegar with grapes in than actual wine and sauntered over to the Dragonblooded, before swallowing another gulp. He didn't get drunk particularly easily

Settling into a comfortable slouch he stared at what looked to be a storm brewing a bottle, between Dynasts no less. The fact that the sailors couldn't understand their words would make their squabbling no less obvious. Still he didn't feel like actually interfering. Maybe a slightly more subtle diffusion?

Taking a long swig he placed the wine bottle down and walked, over to the Dynasts.

"A little help returning your bag to your quarters my lady?" he said, as he swept into three florid bows to each present DragonBlood in the conversation, each just a hair short of proper deference.

[Arcanoi]

Fiona could not help but turn to shoot the mortal interloper a wrath-filled glare. She had been having fun, and she'd been sure she was about to build up to something spectacular. She quickly got her features under control, however, and on the heels of that, realized there was little she could do to continue this conversation for the moment. The less the sorcerer thought of her, the easier it would be to tie him in knots. So she had to play the waiting game.

The dragons-damned mortal was drunk on the same piss that the captain had offered her when she had boarded. Had she been capable of mutilating him then and there, she might well have. As it stood, that would hardly earn her any respect. Whether the mortal realized it or not, he had her in a corner. And she hated being in corners. She turned to the greasy, ape-ish man, smile back on her face, practically glowing. "Oh yes, thank you, dear. That would be most kind." She lifted the bag and handed it deftly to him and walked towards towards the belowdecks, and her cabin, lazy stride scarcely betraying the boiling rage within.

[Drascin]

Fiona struggles mightily to keep a sadistic grin off her face. Habit takes over, and she pouts slightly, as though hurt. <"Oh my, dear. Are you always so cold to strangers? I'm afraid I might have to burn my anima just to keep away the chill. Despite your obvious dislike of courtiers, I can fathom no reason for such a frank judgement against mine own person."> She makes a tsk-ing sound. <"I would have thought a man so apparently devoted to truth and knowledge would take a womans true measure before judging her so harshly. She winks, enjoying the obvious annoyance evident on the Sorcerer's face.

She reaches the railing and leans against it, placing the wayward baggage before her. She leans over with a quizzical glance past Maryn, to glance at Melara. <"Does he do this to all strangers, darling? Is he always so frigid?> As though planned, the pose seems to emphasize her curves rather acutely.

"I am afraid you have that backwards. You prove yourself with actions. And everything you have done for the whole journey is annoy the crew and act like a little vain peacock. Then instead of accepting your dragon-granted duty, you ran away, leaving mortals and other dragonblooded to fend for themselves. If anything, I am being excessively kind" Mayn says, despectively. Even as Fiona leans, he pays absolutely no attention, keeping his eyes directly on hers in chastisement- in his own list of attraction priorities, vain egocentric annoyances like this one rank somewhere below amoebas, and so Fiona could look like Luna herself and still elicit no reaction, since she doesn't really register in his brain as potential interest (truth be told, until Melara came around, everybody among the Dynasts had pretty much assumed Maryn was asexual. There's actually Dynasts - mostly the ones who haven't seen them together, given it's hard to miss how Maryn's diamond eyes turn into cotton when he looks at her - who still don't believe he's so much as touched his wife and it's just a lie by the V'neef matriarch to assure the Ledaal that there are heirs incoming).

Thankfully, first Melara and then Marad intervene. The mortal takes the insufferable lizard away, which is quite the relief - and Maryn grins sardonically as she goes, having a couple guesses as to what she's feeling. If nothing else, his annoyance seems to have been a bit quelled, and he grabs his wife's hand softly even as he keeps looking out to the sea and grinning. A good thing with the both of them being Wood Aspects is that they are immune to each other's aura - Maryn is already a bit clumsy with showing affection, he doesn't need any more handicaps. "Ah, but now I feel I owe that man now for saving me from a thoroughly boring conversation, dear. I will need to find some way to repay him later"

[GrayWatch]

Marad gripped the bag carefully and with a respectful nod to the remaining Dragonblooded turned to follow Fiona, fighting hard to keep a smirk of his lips.

Quite aside from the excellent view he was now enjoying the little spat amused him. The sorcerer was easily roused, and the woman had as much pride as a peacock.

He ducked his head slightly as he crossed the threshold of the door, though there was no real need. He doubted he would have clipped the lintel if he tried.

"So might I ask why someone as clearly blessed and prestigious as you is traveling such a ah...eminently risk-laden path, madame....?" Marad ventured, carefully eyeing the swaying woman before him. Normally he'd just enjoy the view but now he was looking for a slight...stiffening, a pause...anything. People always reacted. Not necessarily overtly, but always reacted.

He also wondered what on earth was in the damn case and gave it a slight rattle. Odd that it had been taken up first...


Trying to figure something out (more about Fiona) is Investigation +... Charisma? Manipulation? Intelligence?
Guessing what's in the case is Investigation + ...?

[Arcanoi]

Fiona stiffened. The wretch was talking. The oafish toad was talking to her. Despite herself, she simply failed to conceal her rage, stiffening up in a rather unladylike manner. At that point, she figured she could probably beat the man to death, probably in five or six punches. She could hide the body in the cargo-hold... her breathing slowed.

"My... brother has a certain fondness for the An-Teng. He is living there now, and I had thought to visit him. I had not suspected that we would run into such... resistance. I had thought the waters of the Realm safer." She sincerely hoped this disgusting man was not part of the Society's or their allies' expedition. And she certainly wasn't going to tell him anything anyway. If he needed to know something, someone would have told him already. "What about you, dear?"

[Ganurath]

Jin rounded the bend ahead of the pair, about when the Fire Aspect mentioned the resistance they had encountered. She smirked in initial satisfaction upon sighting her quarry, but decided against interrupting. Partly was because she was curious as to how the man would respond, but also because she was curious about the load he bore... Where had it come from?

Still, they could answer that in time. For now, gauge the man's reaction.

[roll0], Appearance 2.

[GrayWatch]

"Ah, I'm afraid it's all business for me. Family business really, some brash family member got in a little over his head and I have to smooth things over. Can't let the name down after all. I'm sure you know how that can be, honored Sesus... Fiona was it?" he lightly supplied, taking a stab in the dark over the given name and airly ignoring the subtle signs of anger, though taking the slight precaution of falling back enough to be out of easy reach, Sesus sometimes had a nasty reputation that way.

She certainly fit the description of the stories he had heard back in the Palace, but he couldn't be sure.

In any case he was somewhat more concerned about the case. Something small in it from the feel of it, but too small to account for it's heft. The rest of the weight seemed to be one with the case. A number of nasty scenarios sprang to mind, most concerning concealed blades, spraying poisons and enraged insects.

"Well I hope you enjoy your stay in An-Teng. What's left of the trip too of course."

[Arcanoi]

Fiona nodded, flashing a reaffirming smile that did not at all reflect what she felt over her shoulder. Thank you, and yes, Sesus Alon Fiona." Strange, she didn't remember telling him her name. As she walked the rest of the way down the hall, the other mortal guest appeared at the end. Dragons, did these mortal hunt in packs now?

She stepped up to the girl, quite miffed at the whole affair and the concept of mortals in general. "Excuse me, dear, but I must be getting to my room. I'm afraid all the days excitement has rather fatigued me."

[Ganurath]

Jin blinks in surprise. Less that the Fire Aspect was speaking to her and more what she was saying. Fatigued... By running down the stairs? Either she missed something of interest, or the woman had arrogance to match her breeding. Still, needed to be polite, especially with a Fire Aspect. <...My apologies, I didn't realize.>

<If you don't mind my asking...> Jin moves so that she isn't obstructing the Fire Aspect's path, but still facing her so that she may speak. She had to step lightly with the Exalt, but with her benefactors she couldn't afford to leave any unusual details be. <...Does the cause of your fatigue have to do with the contents of that case?>

[Arcanoi]

The girl's social bumblings were almost cute in their acuity, but never-the-less, Fiona was growing quite irritated. She really did want to know what in the bag, and assuming the contents were interesting, she would rather the others didn't. <"Of course not, dear. Why, all that was in this bag when I packed it were some smallclothes and undergarments, as well as a few more intimate items I'm sure you have little interest in. But if your fascination remains, all you would have to do is ask, and I'm sure I'd loan you one."> She flashed a wicked, knowing grin at the girl. <"I'm afraid Sea travel simply doesn't agree with me."> She motioned to the merchant to follow her as she walked past. She was nearly to the squalid cell of a room she'd been assigned, and there was little further chance for any other mortals to ambush her along the way, for which she silently thanked the Dragons.

[Ganurath]

Jin tilted her head at Fiona's mention of intimate items, as well as the implied offer. Given the sort of commissions she did to get started in thaumateurgy, such an offer held little sway over her. Something seemed off about it all, but she decided not to pursue the matter into a noble's unmentionables. <I'll stick with my Neomahs, although I thank you for the kind offer. I'll be pursuing conversation with the Sorceror if you...>

Jin gave the man an appraising glance, then flashed a grin before turning toward the stairs. <...or your intimate item wish to speak with me.>

[Arcanoi]

Luckily for the mortal girl, Fiona was well versed in being assaults on her sexual sensibilities, and did not flinch. The jealous and the ignorant always assumed that promiscuity meant you didn't have standards. And did she really say Neomah? Much as the experience was interesting, exhilarating even, definitely something to try at least once, Fiona found the companionship of beings born of women far more comfortable. And as she understood it, the price of summoning was rather unpleasant.

She walked the rest of the to her room quickly, opening the door and taking the bag from the merchant. She thanked him again, and closed the door. She stepped away from the door, counting to thirty, and peeked through the keyhole to ensure that nobody was standing on the other side of the door. Satisfied that the merchant had left, she sat down on the one squalid chair in the room and placed the bag on her lap. She found that all the fuss over the bag had indeed imparted quite a bit of anticipation of its contents. Holding a breath, she undid the latches and opened the bag.

[Jerthanis]

Within the case is a small silverish black cube resting on a velvet padding like a piece of fine jewelry. On one surface of the cube is a series of images cut into tiny segments. The tiny segments seem to be able to be shifted one at a time into different positions. Currently the images form no noticeable pattern.

Also in the case is a piece of paper folded into thirds. On the inside surface a letter seems to have been written; it reads:

My dear friend Jilat,

I came across this chest in the family vault. I was astounded it had gone unnoticed so far, though it required ingenious diligence to unearth it. Such a relic must be of the Anathema, and can only be exceedingly dangerous. I trust you will know what to do with this powerful magic device.

Peleps Lotal

You also find a series of engravings around the inside rim of the box's lid. They are carvings of Old Realm symbols.

[Arcanoi]

Fiona cursed. She knew she should have payed more attention to her Old Realm lessons. She scrutinized the cube again, looking for any other sort of details her first survey might have missed. She didn't know what to make of the letter, or why a Sesus-clad courier would have delivered such a bag to the ship. Staring at it in frustration, she decided, in a rare moment of caution, to not fiddle with the device, instead intending to approach the sorcerer at some point and procure his aid with the device. But not now. She would wait until they got to shore. If there was -anyone- else who seemed nearly so competent or likely to know about magitech, she would approach them first, if only to spite the sorcerer for his parting remarks. She placed the cube back in the bag, and crumbled the letter, throwing it into the fireplace. As a precaution, she took some of her undergarments from another bag an placed them into the bag over the cube. It never hurt to make your lies as true as possible.

That done, she placed it next to her other bags and left the room, locking the door. Maybe she would go searching for the other V'neef. The woman had been strangely absent of late.

[Ganurath]

Upstairs, the thaumaturge sought out the V'Neef Sorceror. She had never properly introduced herself or learned his name, and it would be rather awkward not to have at least passing familiarity with one another when they swapped the crystals back. Upon emmerging to the deck, she glanced about for signs of the sorceror... As well as possible causes for Fiona's fatigue.

[horngeek]

Melara looks at her husband. "So, what do you think the job's going to be, anyway?"

[Drascin]

For all response, Maryn shakes his head. His anima seems to be fading, too, thankfully - the surface of the deck was starting to creak entirely too much and the railing basically was there just by the grace of the Dragons already. Remember to fix it tonight.

"I don't have the slightest idea, dear. But given the chosen operatives, and how these "Star-chosen" work, I'm expecting something exceedingly convoluted that could have been resolved quickly but they allowed to fester too much. And more than our fair share of fights to solve it" he sighs. As Melara certainly knows, while he's entirely confident in his knowledge and sorcery he's still not too sure of his combat abilities.

[horngeek]

"Well, if it comes down to a fight, I'll probably be doing most of the front-line work, it seems."

Melara chuckles.

[Drascin]

Maryn half-smiles, giving his wife a soft kiss. "Not alone if I have any say on the matter, however"

[horngeek]

She kisses back. "Thank you. And it'd be a good opportunity for you to get some more practice with your archery, right?"

She grins at her husband.

[Drascin]

Maryn chuckles ever so slightly. "Merciless as ever. I will try to not dissapoint, sifu" he jokes softly. He then goes to pass his arm around Melara's shoulders in a tender gesture... which prompts him to notice that he's still encased in twenty-five kilograms of cold alloyed jade, so he stops and sighs. "I should probably take the suit below deck already"

((If Jin wants to interrupt, this is a good time, before Maryn heads down for a few minutes to leave the armor in his quarters))

[horngeek]

Melara chuckles. "Then when your anima's calmed down a bit, we might see about having some time to ourselves at some point."

She smiles. "How does that sound to you?"

[Ganurath]

Jin's brow furrows at the words of the couple. While she wasn't the socialite that Fiona was, she knew enough about tact and keeping secrets... She wouldn't be surprised if one of the Star-Chosen was on board right now, watching them. She moves so that she isn't blocking the Sorceror's passage, but so that he still needs to recognize her presence to get by. {I was hoping to get introductions out of the way, but if I overheard you correctly we also need to talk about what's appropriate to speak of within earshot of the deck crew.}

[Drascin]

As Maryn's going to answer Melara, though, Jin approaches. He looks back at her, his expression going back to his more usual perpetual scowl and steely look. "Ah, Thaumathurge. Good to see you again" he says, giving a relatively polite greeting with his hand. "Perhaps. But there are no sailors around this side of the deck, as you may see. And I do not believe we were speaking loud enough for anyone except someone with a decisive interest in snooping" The "such as you, it seems" part is omitted in the interests of politness. Yes, Maryn can be halfway polite with people he doesn't despise. "Not to mention the fact that anyone with enough knowledge to understand what was said already knows why we are here in any case" he adds, in a low voice.

[Ganurath]

Jin nods in understanding, the man made a fair point. Still, anything Sidereal was going to make the woman more than a little edgy. She takes the man's hand, making the handshake quick to avoid an incoming anima bird. <Fair enough, I just don't want any of us getting in trouble. My name is Jin, by the way. Jin Sahkin.>

[Drascin]

"V'neef Maryn, sorcerer of the Heptagram" Maryn answers, shaking her hand. She might notice that he said his rank as sorcerer instead of his status as Dynast, as is more customary. "And a small leak to people incapable of understanding is unlikely to get us in further trouble than we already are by virtue of our task itself" he adds with a sardonic half-grin.

[GrayWatch]

Marad flustered about in the hall for a bit, not quite sure what to do with himself now that the woman and her mysterious case had vanished into the room and the mortal had turned and walked off. After a few moments more he swung by the mess and swiped a few slices of salted meat. Graham was likely to be feeling a bit petulant about having been left to flit about in the spray. He tended to get cranky when there weren't any thermals for him to take advantage of so it was good to have a little something to bribe him with.

On stepping out onto the deck he DID manage to have a pleasant little surprise though. The bottle of wine, sour as it might be, remained upright and unspilled. He took a sip and walked out on deck, casually moving close to the be-armored sorceror, his wife, and, it appeared, a newly arriving mortal. Not quite close enough for conversation, but it was a secluded area of the deck, better for bringing his skittish hawk to heel. Whistling listlessly and eyes scanning the sky, he idly waved the meat into the air, he waited for his mosphid to return.

[Ganurath]

<Fair enough, I've just been a bit skittish lately...> Alexi glanced at the newly arrived mortal warily, then turned back to Maryn. <If you or your wife need anything, I've got some rituals to attend to. Restore my usual Blessing, maybe a Divination if I have the chance... Typical tasks of my trade.>

Jin takes a half turn to leave, in case there was more to pursue. <Later, then?>

[Drascin]

Maryn nods. "Do try to keep your nerves controlled, lady Sahkin, then. It is unbecoming of a student of the higher arts to allow himself to show nervousness" he doesn't actually sound chastising when he says this, though. he then gives a decently-polite gesture of goodbye. "See you rather soon, then"

As he watches the woman go, Maryn turns to his wife again. "Good to see we are not the only competent people in this enterprise". Then he picks his wife's hand again gently, smiling. "However, now that interruptions are finally finished and my anima seems to have finally calmed down... I do believe I will take you on your previous offer, my dear".

And with that, Melara and Maryn will probably head down to their cabinet, so Maryn can get out of the armor and they might enjoy some well-deserved time together, therefore ending the scene for them...

[Ganurath]

Jin will have departed ahead, indeed to pursue the rituals she had mentioned, barring further interruption and taking time between for meals.

[Jerthanis]

(Sorry if this is cutting you off, the scene seems mostly concluded)

After a few more days at sea, the ship comes in sight of the port city of Dragon's Jaw. Resting at the mouth of a great river, and hosting an extensive and complex dock system which extends out so far into the bay that it seems like a second city left afloat, with entire buildings coming and going with the tide.

The Sapphire Blade pulls up to an unoccupied stretch of port and instantaneously is in an argument with the Inspections and Customs officer on duty.

It is easy to glean from the conversation even if you don't understand Riverspeak that a new crackdown on smugglers is in force and to disembark and unload, the ship and all her passengers must wait for inspector crews to examine for contraband. The captain is reassured that the inspection crews are all booked only for the next seven hours still, and that's when the argument begins.

You were each told you would meet your team in this city. Even though you all may have suspicions as to the rest of the team based on your activities on the boat, you may wish to access a contact who knows more about your specific mission to be sure.

Your specialized training upon acceptance into the Sidereals' inner circle has trained you in spotting the telltale signs of one of the secret Waystations dedicated to the order's chosen, and you're each certain you could find your way there... if only Customs would let you off this boat...


For reference, this is what the first age runes inscribed on the inside of the case look like.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee215/bretdibble/firstage.jpg

[horngeek]

Melara sighs, holding her husband in her arms. "Well, this is annoying. What do they think we have, some infectious disease?

...not much to be done about it."

[Drascin]

Maryn, on his end, is wearing his trademark intense scowl as he looks at the people ashore.

"Tsk. Bothersome and useless. What is the use of a smuggling check that you announce with seven hours of ahead time?" he says, despective. "It's not like it's not easy to find a way to get it on the very keel below the boat, where no mortal customs officer would think to look, with barely a few minutes of early warning. Or simply chuck whatever it is down into the sea and then retrieve it at night with a simple waterbreathing device. Or a thousand other ways I do not know because I'm not a trained smuggler"

He looks around slightly, lowering his voice. "So I'm wondering if there is more about this than it is being said. Perhaps some questions are in order, dear"

[horngeek]

Melara's eyes narrow. "It's entirely possible, yes. In which case, we do need to be careful."

[Jerthanis]

The argument lasts a good fifteen minutes until finally jade passes between them. The indignation drains out of the Customs officer's face to be replaced by a false geniality as he slips the finger of jade into his sleeves.

"Welcome then, to Dragon's Jaw, good business to you." And with no further circumstance, he and his guardsmen tramp off down the docks.

Righteous Gull stamps over to the Dragons on deck, "Now I remember why I hate An-Teng so much... almost can't afford NOT to do dishonest business here." He mumbles angrily, looking at the retreating back of the officer. "Locals have been getting more and more disrespectful towards the Realm... I swear, they'll regret this when the Empress comes back."

With that, you each have your run of the city. It's a trade port with everything you'd expect in such a place. A new city, some of its buildings seem more like reinforced shanties than actual buildings and the transition between floating dock and land-based structure is hazy, as some portions of the city are built on stilts over salt marshes. Much of the business here is in bulk commodities, grain, rice, textiles, and slaves.

Which is why the Antiques and Curios shop nestled between two tanneries could be nothing else but what you're looking for.

[Drascin]

Maryn clicks his tongue with distaste, his scowl intensifying even further. "Ah. So it was a mere matter of forcing a bribe out of us by forcing the captain's hand with the prolonged stay. Explains a lot, though I suppose I should not be all that surprised. Utterly disgraceful. In any case, let us head out, Melara" he says simply, preferring to not dwell on the wretch of a customs officer more than strictly necessary. As the two start walking, Maryn turns his head slightly and looks at Jin, who is undoubtedly nearby for the disembarking. "Since we are certainly heading to the same place, lady Sahkin, you should come with us as well. I'm sure you understand I am remiss to lose sight of you in this wretched port, given you have something valuable of my property on yourself". And with that, they head out, searching through the streets for a while, until they come to find the antique shop.

"Subtle" is all Maryn says, exceedingly sardonic, as he sees the place. "Well, let us go inside". And so he enters without further ado.

[horngeek]

Melara chuckles. "Funny. I was about to say the same thing myself."

[Ganurath]

Jin does indeed follow along with the pair, giving her pack a downward glance. {Hear that? Your rent isn't cheap.}

[GrayWatch]

Marad sauntered off the ship, with a tote bag over his shoulder, and Graham winging away to find lunch. Some small animal was in for a bad time of it. He was debating getting a room at a local inn for the night, because by any three gods your cared to name he was going to have a night on a soft bed that didn't smell like sailor, so he figured he might as well bring an overnight bag just in case.

The sorcerer and company were making a beeline towards the meeting point. For his part he intended to take his time. He did chuckle slightly at the store front though. Cute.

He would have to be very polite and proper in front of so many antiques after all, and certainly would have to watch his step among all the curios that would never fit in elsewhere. Perhaps someone in his mysterious new employers/blackmailers had a sense of humor after all.

In either case he thought he would find his footing before submitting to the ah...tender mercies of his new friends.

Whistling slightly he wandered off towards the center of the city. He had a few acquaintances who he might chance to meet in this port city.
Failing that, there were other ways to ind the lay of the land.


Trying to use my 3 dots in Connections(Intelligence) to find out more about the current state of affairs in the city and surrounding area. Dirty politics, more-illegal-than-usual-for-An-Teng businesses, the who's who and what's what of An-Teng right now basically.

[Arcanoi]

It was quite an act of willpower for Fiona to not sprint off the ship and kiss the ground. And once she had crossed the gangway and reached the shore, she was quite glad she had not. The port of Dragon's Jaw looked as wretched a hive of scum and villainy as she'd ever seen. Of course, she'd been to the Imperial City, so she doubted that Dragon's Jaw was any worse in actuality. She had actually seen the port from a distance once before, private pleasure jaunt down to Salt-Founded Glory with some minor Ledaal scion whose name utterly escaped her at the present. She did recall that he had been in the Vermillion Legion, an officer, and that he had been quite wild time, even by her own standards. He hadn't been very sophisticated, but that had hardly mattered.

She truly did wish they had landed at Salt-Founded Glory instead of this wretched place. Then she might have taken her bags and looked for a hotel, gotten a few hours at a spa, slept on an actual bed for a few hours, perhaps called up room service for a few hours, and then, and only then, headed for the Society's meeting place. As it stood, she had little choice but to head for the quaint-looking antique shop. She was quite annoyed to see that the Sorcerer and his wife, as well as the naive little mortal, were heading for the same place. Not that she hadn't suspected as much, but still, a girl could hope. So she set off at pace for the antiquary, suppressing her reluctance, glaring heavily at any of the drunken, vulgar sailors who stared a bit too long.

[Jerthanis]

The interior of the antique shop is dimly lit and extremely dusty. Rows of amoires run around the shop, broken up by furniture, vases, and even a piano. Some of the merchandice is of fine quality, but most seems like it's just worthless junk. Motes of dust float in the air, illuminated by the sun through narrow slats in the wooden walls.

The shop seems deserted, but some light spills through a doorway in the back. As you wait, eventually someone emerges. "Welcome." He says, "Is there anything you're looking for in particular?"

He stops then, noticing the features that could only indicate well bred Exalts and proceeds with more caution, "Ah, what an auspicious meeting. Truly I must be blessed to receive so many of the Princes of the Earth at once." he bows shortly, and folds his hands in a gesture of accomodation, "What can I do for you?" He looks at each of you expectantly, even at Jin.

I'll try to compile a summary of the things you discover, Marad, and post them in the OOC thread in the same post I figure out what exactly Jin would've learned from her divinations.

[Drascin]

Even as he keeps his frown outwardly, Maryn sighs inwardly. And what should they even tell this guy now? Was he a true contact, or just a poor sap who didn't have any idea of who he was working for? I swear, it seems that someone took all sense from the heads of these Star-chosen and filled the void with bad detective novels, he thinks, irritated. Was it really so hard to give their agents some actual data to work with?

"You could say we're rather interested in the stars at this present moment, and wondering what you have for us about such" is all he says, though.

[Jerthanis]

"Ah, you must be here to pick up the water crystal brazier."

He reaches behind the counter and produces a shallow bowl, nearly invisible it's so clear and unblemished. Distortions appear as it catches the light, casting reflections of light on the walls as if it were reflecting off a large volume of clear water, like a bath or pool. These shapes of light reform into the symbol of the All Seeing Eye, modified as it is to indicate those aware of the hand of the Sidereals.

He smiles genially and puts the crystal on the countertop neutrally. "I am called Jilat, can I prepare you some tea?"

[Ganurath]

Jin glances at Maryn, curious as to his reaction. Unless there was something she had missed, he was likely the most informed individual among them regarding operations. She reaches to scratch the back of her head with her left hand, directing her palm toward Jilat. When his eyes fall on her, she'd allow her mark as... What was the term the Sidereal had used? Eye of Heaven? Whatever it was, she allows her mark to show long enough for Jilat to recognize it before pushing it back once more.

<I believe that we can take the time to stay and chat, give time for my fellow mortal to catch up.> Jin then turns her attention to the Dragon-Blooded she stood with. Something on the ship had been messing with her memory, and she wouldn't be surprised if the Dragon-Blooded knew something she didn't. <Unless there is a matter that I'm not aware of, of course.>

[Drascin]

Maryn's frown grows more pronounced, but he does not protest. It's not to his liking entirely, to waste the afternoon around tea, but it's plenty likely that this man is another agent, or even a Sidereal himself, so it might be possible to get some information from him.

"Yes, I suppose so" he says grudgingly. "We barely know our way around this city in any case".

[horngeek]

Melara looks at the man. "Tea would be fine, thank you."

[Jerthanis]

Jilat leads the way into a comfortable room in the back, better lit and less dusty. Low couches and cushions lie in a circle near the middle. He serves up tea, offering his best tea bowls for appreciation and steeping the tea with all ceremony. In the meantime he discusses trivia with you all, fashions in the Imperial City, the local price of salt, other distracting issues. Finally, after everyone has their tea he asks, "By the way, I was told to expect a package delivered by your hands, do you have it?"

It's been almost an hour, since Jilat delayed at Jin's request, so Marad may appear when he desires to.

[Arcanoi]

Fiona had rather begun to enjoy the quaint little tea party that the man was putting together for them. It was nice to see another mortal besides the train wreck that was Righteous Gull showing proper respect. She was slightly disappointed to hear from their mortal thaumaturge that the other mortal from the boat was going to be joining them as well. She had hoped that she had seen the last of the skulking toad. But she still found her mood rather upbeat. Indeed, this sort of small talk was her stock-and-trade, and even the rather limited and demure talk of the latest fashions was enough to throw her back to better, more civilized times. The tea was a bit bland and smelled of lower quality than she was generally used to, but it most certainly was better than anything they had had on the ship. When the talk of packages came up, Fiona glanced at the old-realm inscribed bag, which she's decided to bring with her as opposed to letting one of the sailors or corrupt customs agents steal it.

She put the bag on the table and flashed a rather dazzling smile at Jin as she did so. Then she turned back to the shopkeeper, maintaining the smile. "Is this what you're looking for, darling?"

[GrayWatch]

Some odd hour later Marad strolled along the docks, humming thoughtfully to himself. Curious news indeed. Laxhander dead, and a curiously mid-directed investigation on-going. A political stink in the making certainly, but what really concerned him was the degree of interest the Strap was showing.

Something about this stank, the inordinate interest, the assassination of a relatively well-liked public official with the full backing or at least appreciation of the Realm and it's Dragonblooded hosts. Something was up, he just didn't have enough to be sure of what.

Still he was late and past late for his meeting, and he thought they would have stewed long enough by now. He entered into the little antiques parlor and cast about the dusty room for anything particularly interesting.

[Jerthanis]

Jilat hears the shopfront door open just as Fiona produces the object, he nods, saying, "Indeed, that could well be what I was expecting," he excuses himself to go answer the door, leaving the group alone with their tea and baggage.

Marad sees basically a run down antique shop, even more poorly lit with the fading sun. A beam of light cuts the darkness as the door at the back opens. Jilat welcomes him and asks, "Are you with the straggler? They mentioned there would be one more..."

The baggage looks fairly normal from the outside, but it's clear it is important in some way.

[Ganurath]

While Jilat is away, Jin eyes Fiona warily. She was clearly a Terrestrial, but she apparently had access to information that they did not... Perhaps because she had the most talent for deceit? That she had kept the information from the others was cause for concern for her. <An interesting device. Did they tell you anything about it that we were to know, or do they not want one hand to know what the other is doing?>

[GrayWatch]

Marad blinked, starting slightly. He hadn't seen the little man come in.
"Er, yes. Something like that." he muttered, glancing about the room.

Most of it was just junk but here and there across the room were examples of the taxidermists art. So many little glass eyes. He felt as though they were all staring at him. It was distinctly uncomfortable.

Suppressing a quick shudder he demurely followed the man into the tea room, seating himself beside the 'mortal'.

[Jerthanis]

The case lies open in the middle of the circle, Old Realm writing circling the inside of its frame. Within rests the Greyish-silvery cube with its shifting sides. Jin immediately recognizes the device is made of Starmetal.

Anyone who can read Old Realm gets essentially nonsense from the case's writing... "Sa Gobu Xu Mokebu Sidu Nohu Cheyidedu Sa Denebu Doyu Mota Piunechi Mibafu Pucheduba."

Jilat returns with Marad, "Yes, now that we're all here, I can pass on what I have been told." He settles again after serving Marad the remains of the tea.

"I've been told that the future of An-Teng holds strife... an uprising is in the makings, and the Realm can't afford to lose the income we generate here. An uprising would take the complacent legion by surprise, but they outnumber the local standing army five to one before accounting for their superior training and equipment. The Peleps legions are at sea in the area, hunting for Bluehaven and can be recalled within days as backup. There is no reason such an uprising could possibly succeed. Still, the fates are cloudy on the issue, and the lack of perfect assurance is not enough to please our mutual friends. Whatever chance they may have, it must come from unknown allies. The Sidereals have their... ah... suspicions in the Lintha. Those pirates have had a toe dipped in An-Teng for a long time now."

Anyone who wishes to may roll Intelligence + Linguistics to attempt to decipher meaning out of the Old Realm.

[horngeek]

"So, the Sidereals want us to finish this uprising before it starts. Do we get to know who they think leads the upcoming rebellion, or do we have to find that out ourselves?"

[Drascin]

(Let's give it a shot. [roll0])

"I see. Yes, some kind of demonic influence seems likely, if fate itself is confused as to the probable results" Maryn says simply, glad that all that nonsense is finally out of the way and they're finding out why they're here. "Linthas are indeed a possibility - demonic aides are not outside of their grasp, as we have seen ourselves" But it is most odd that they would marshal enough resources in one port to turn the tide that much. Linthas are pirates, not military people, and even in a victory they would spend an inordinate amount of resources to defeat such a force. Something here doesn't fit he thinks to himself.

[horngeek]

Melara sighs. "All right. What do the Sidereals know about the situation?"

[Jerthanis]

"The Sidereals..." Jilat hesitates. "They believe the vital part isn't preventing the revolt, but in ensuring its failure. It may be within your power to commit to reparations, install new leaders and calm tensions for now, but will my countrymen stay calm for five years? Ten?"

He shakes his head and swallows, "If An-Teng is in rebellion, it will rebel. There's little anyone can do to stem a tide. That, at the least, is something the Sidereals believe to be true about this situation. Accepting that, we have to be sure the Realm won't lose one of its largest sources of income."

"About the puzzle box, I was told that if you find yourselves on Bluehaven, to activate the device in the cave of Ng Oroo."

Maryn, after focusing on the sequence of coded Old Realm manages to glean that it is a cipher... with each component of a single word changed to an alternate character. Furthermore, he deduces that each character is replaced by it's "opposite"... the character most distant from each individual character in a linear sequence. Thus "the = da" would be shifted to "Sa" instead. It's an easy cipher and Maryn can quickly reproduce the entire message: "The one who opens this box releases the seventh soul of Kimberry into Creation."

[Ganurath]

"If." Jin takes an appraising sip of the tea, in an effort to give herself something to do with her body that wasn't showing how annoyed she was with Fiona's deception. "The assumption is that An-Teng is in rebellion. Since outside influence is a reasonable assumption, it's only natural that the antagonistic third party would be inciting rebellion in addition to supporting it."

Jin sets the teacup down, a sly smile crossing her face as the pieces fall into place. "It may not fit the style of the Sidereals, but revealing the demonic influence behind the rebellious intentions would do well to ensure loyalty, even if the feelings of rebellion aren't entirely fabricated. Provide tangible proof that betraying the Realm is betraying Creation, as it were."

"That being said, the Sidereals seem to have a plan in mind of their own..." Letting her gaze fall upon the writing on the container, Jin pushes her spectacles up her nose. "That you would open the box if we find ourselves there... How would you know if we've arrived there?"

Appearance 2 Investigation Attack! If I had remembered Investigation could be used in social combat, I probably wouldn't have spread out the social attributes so much. Still, I don't recall him being described as any sort of good looking, so all I need to worry about is if it's information that we aren't supposed to know. Well, that and getting a decent roll.

[roll0]

[GrayWatch]

Marad ticked over the new information in his head and found it fit. Prince Laxhander was dead as An Teng prepared for open rebellion. Laxhander was far and away the biggest voice of support in favor of the Realm in most of An Teng, and furthermore, lord of the shore-lands.

In one quick move whoever had done this had cut off the majority of internal dissent once the violence seething-just-below the surface erupted, and snarled most logistical paths, activities and what-have-you of any counter-move.
Not a master-stroke precisely, but still clever. The next logical step would be to run interference between the local legion commander and the Satrap, exacerbating their relationship to hinder Realm activities as a whole.

Odd that pirates would be so conversant in political intrigue, and precision assassination.

Marad sipped his tea before diffidently offering his opinion.

"Would it? Forgive me, but to say that knowledge is a double-edged sword is an understatement. The source of information can as often as not be more important than it's actual validity. If we, or more accurately my esteemed Dragonblooded countrymen were to reveal 'demonic influence' behind the stewing rebellion as you suggest, it would be immediately dismissed as propaganda and taken as a sign of weakness on behalf of the Realm for having to rely on such. Worse, it may close their ears to the same truth leaking in from sources they would otherwise trust." Marad flashed a diffident grin around the room.

[Jerthanis]

Jilat's brows furrow for a moment, then widens his eyes in embarrassed surprise, "Oh, I am sorry miss, I didn't mean that I would open the box if you arrived at Bluehaven, but that you should take it with you, and in case you find yourself there, to open it in the cave."

He looks to Marad, "You're suggesting that if the information were distributed with enough subtlety to the right parties, that the people would turn to the Realm for protection?" He rubs his chin in thought. "Perhaps... but I don't know if this falls under the Sidereals' projections..." He looks mildly uncomfortable.

[GrayWatch]

"A bit more than that" Marad replied, sipping at his tea. "Knowledge easily gained, especially knowledge of this sort of importance, is easily distrusted. Best of all if they discover it for themselves, or are subtly led to discover it. Failing that, best to have it 'accidentally' revealed as something the Realm sought to keep quiet. Hmm...yes. The glorious Realm, dutifully trying to save An Teng from their demonic corruptors, keeping silent about the insidious beasts to prevent a general panic, even as they suffer the slings and arrows of those they would save."

[Drascin]

Maryn stays silent for a moment, looking at the box with half-closed eyes and a piercing gaze.

"What is this Ng Ooro cave you mention?" he asks, snappish. What the hell was this thing? Maryn would hope it's just a fake, but... yeah, right. And Malfeas is filled with Gummi Bears. But why in blazes would the Sidereals want to do something like that?

[Ganurath]

Jin nods her head in thought. That made... A bit more sense. Still, there were questions that needed answering, and it was unlikely that this middle man had all of the answers. Pulling out the larger Yasal crystal, she gives Maryn a knowing glance before addressing the occupant in Old Realm. {I require information critical to both of our well-beings. Would you happen to know anything of value about the seventh soul of Kimberry?}

She then gives Jilat a polite smile, reaching for the teacup once more. "Don't mind me, I'm just checking what sources of information are on hand."

Whether the roll would be Lore or Occult, the number of dice for knowing stuff on her own is the same. She'll also hit her Blood Ape with an Investigation attack to see if he knows anything of worth. She'd also ask Jilat about books, but her modifier with a flurry would be wretched.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[Arcanoi]

"More than that, we need to know everything about the current situation. We need to know the agendas of the local rulers, and well as the Satrap. It would also be in our best interests to get acquainted with the commander of the Legion garrison. When the time comes to stamp out this rebellion, before or after it begins, I would think to do it with all the swords the Realm can muster at our backs. We need to set ourselves up as trustworthy, or..." She smirks. "Worth the risk, to all parties, and information should then come to us. We need know the local game, and we need to find out who's playing the system for the Rebellion's benefit. And lastly, we need to know all we can about the Lintha, their logistics, and their strength of arms. The first step to proper counter-insurgency is information." She takes on a contemplative expression for a moment. "To those ends... on the morrow I should like to go to the Satrap's palace." She turns to Maryn, eyes glittering with mischief. "Perhaps you or your wife would like to join me, Cousin?" She turns to Jin. "And I think I shall need a retainer as well, if only to appear respectable. She pauses You." She points to Marad. "Were sent on this mission for a reason, though at the present it quite escapes me. I assume you have some sort of relevant aid to offer. Busy yourself with it." She turns back to Jin, Jilat, and Maryn. "Now, my dear, well-studied colleagues. If you would care to enlighten us as to your knowledge of the Lintha, as well as anything you recall about the situation here in An-Teng."

[Jerthanis]

The Eyrmanthoi growls, {I know nothing of Kimberry's seventh soul, it's identity and traits are beyond this one. Still, an artifact which can allow a 3rd circle soul out of its prison? Unbelievable. If it were true, it would be well buried in the darkest corner of Yu-Shan, not paraded about in the place it's most likely to be lost and put to use.}

Jilat nods at Fiona's summation, "Very well said. It is... difficult for me to understand my countrymen at times. Still, our pride is hurt every day a giant sits on our chest, tells us what's good for us and takes a tenth of our labor." He clears his throat awkwardly, "You're welcome to my modest accommodations if you wish, or I can direct you to somewhere else you might find a room if you prefer... in spite of the looks, there may be a location or two within the city able to serve you a fraction as well as what you may be used to."

[Ganurath]

Jin simply nodded at Fiona, then Jilat, keeping her smile from breaking too wide as she pulled her journal out of her bookbag. Shifting teacups around to make room, she sets the book on its heel and holds it shut and upright between her hands. "This journal has everything I know. With the three days I had to choose my loyalties, I studied all the threats that resources were readily available on. The book is also enchanted..."

Her hands part, and the book opens to show hastily written yet organized notes on the Lintha pirates, ranging from common knowledge to tactical speculation, even going so far as to cite who theorizes what. "...Specifically, to open to whichever page is most relevant to the desires of the person opening it. I also have basic notes on major cities and satrapies, so we'll have something on An-Teng. I don't remember off the top of my head, but there may also be material relating to the Lintha cave and our starmetal cage."

Jin then suddenly slaps a hand down on the binding, holding up a finger of objection. "This is a journal in more than one way, though, so I'll do the page turning. Fair enough?"

[Drascin]

She then gives Jilat a polite smile, reaching for the teacup once more. "Don't mind me, I'm just checking what sources of information are on hand."


At this, Maryn smirks slightly even as he recalls from memory everything the obscure tomes had to say about this stuff. "{Wordplay intended, I presume}".

However, his mild good mood is cut off by Fiona. "Firstly, I believe I told you to not call me cousin" he says dryly. "Secondly, my desire to visit the Satrap ranks around my desire to have a Storm Serpent choke me to death, but leaving you unsupervised at a court for too long might prove catastrophic to our task, so I am forced to come" the distaste in having to play politics is extremely obvious in his face - from his expresion, he might as well be saying he has to dive into a pile of cow manure to find a needle.

He listens to Jin speak later, though. He does a dismissive gesture when she mentions maybe having something about the cave. "I can fill you on that. Ng Ooro is the Linthas' greatest manse and their most sacred place. They say it's the central brain to their living island, and that their main prophets go in there to become enlightened by communion with Kimberry. I believe the implications for this upon our task are extremely obvious".

"{Sidereals are in this}" Maryn says in Old Realm. "{So that something should be in the vaults of Yu-Shan tells nothing about how likely it is that the artifact is an original - they would have access to such an original. However, I would have to wonder what they would win by such a chaos, so it is likely true that it is not and is merely a ploy. They know full well we are capable of deciphering such a childish cipher, and that we know Third Souls can't theorethically be summoned outside of Calibration. What we need is to know what plot it is. They might even be counting on our disbelief}" he sounds mighty irritated. Wheels within wheels within wheels. The concept of subtlety and simplicity seemed to dissappear when dealing with sidereal tasks, always. Sigh.

[horngeek]

Melara frowns. "{Maryn, I'm afraid my knowledge of demon-summoning is, essentially, nothing. Partially because I'm of the opinion they should be kept in Hell... but what are the conditions for summoning a Third Circle demon, under normal circumstances? Maybe this... artifact... would allow them to be subverted.}"

[Drascin]

Maryn nods. "{That's why I said theorethical, dear. I have seen far too much to dismiss anything as impossible. But then, fact remains about why the Sidereals would give us something that unleashes what is basically an unstoppable overdemon. Given how they fight to keep demonic intervention on the world to a minimum, you would think it would be the last thing they'd lose from their sight}"

[horngeek]

"Hmmm... {It's probably all part of The Plan.}"

Melara looks at Maryn. "{Don't you think?}"

[Ganurath]

Jin takes a deep breath, listening to the couple talk. While she was able to work with them, she was beginning to form a theory as to why the Sidereals didn't think Maryn would be helping Jin with the Third Trial. {While chaotic and unconventional in battle, my notes indicate that among themselves the Lintha are surprisingly disciplined, at least as a culture. Putting aside the summoning being a demonstration of power over their patron, chaos itself could be the objective.}

After a moment, Jin shrugs and sips her tea. "Of course, that's all relating to an off hand contingency for a hypothetical. Shall we focus on the matter at hand?"

Jin closes her journal and opens it again, revealing notes holding general knowledge of An-Teng. "Hmm... Between religion and military, I can see how the feelings of rebellion built up. Could have been prevented, though. Passive campaigns to convert away from the local deities, getting tourist Dynasts off their rears to defend against the invaders..."

Jin suddenly becomes aware of herself and smiles sheepishly. "No offense intended. Just observing how badly the Sidereals seem to have procrastinated."

[Arcanoi]

One of the benefits, Fiona had learned, of her distinct coloring, other than that it, along with other factors, made her eminently noticeable, was that, when she started to flush with rage, it covered it up nicely. So when her fellows began speaking in Old Realm, she was rather grateful for it. She caught some of it. The word 'Lintha' was spoken several times. But beyond that, she missed most of it. And this angered her rather intently. She most certainly did not like to be left out of what, as far as she understood, was her own war-planning, since none of the others seemed to have any impetus for thought at the moment.

"Yes, well, cousin. I assure you, I can prove quite convincing when it comes to politics. But if you do insist..." She flashed the sorcerer a smile. "Now, please. Much as I would love to waltz into the political waters of An-Teng uninformed, and much as I enjoy playing the catastrophe, it could possibly be, as my dear cousin warns, inimical to our goals."

[Ganurath]

"If I may..." Jin picks up her journal, slowly standing up as she shifts around the table to a spot where, after setting down the book, it would be easy for her to read the contents of the journal, which was flipped to the pages on An-Teng. "Are you familiar with Riverspeak? It's only information out of books, but unless Jilat collects local articles for ease of reference or something similar..."

[Arcanoi]

"Yes, Riverspeak is fine. Hmm.." Fiona mulled over the tome. A lot of information and not much substance. "You said it opens to whatever information you like? Start with the Satrap. I need his name, House, other ties, and anything on his dealings and plans. Likewise for the Garrison commander. I have a plan to win the Garrison to our cause, but it wouldn't do for me to go in uninformed. I personally have no doubt of my abilities, but my esteemed colleague's poor heart might not be able to take the strain." She flashed another grin at Maryn. "It would also be puissant to get similar information on the appointed local rulers. That should allow us a decent start."

[GrayWatch]

"There are no local rulers. Or at least not right here anyway. Laxhander was assassinated a short while ago, and the Satrap is scrambling to find out who was responsible. Investigation isn't going too well though. Either outside influence or internal resistance to following his commands is just resulting in merchant interests needing to make larger bribes." Marad said absentmindedly.

The bit about the artifact had been interesting, but this talk about palaces and politics was boring him again. Now he was trying to balance his tea-cup on edge, so the whole thing would spin about on it's rim and neither spill nor tip over. The trick was to get just the right amount of liquid in the cup. Perhaps he needed a little less. He fiddled with it for a bit, tipping it just a little more and watching expectantly. The cup wobbled for a moment and began to tip until he caught the descending rim with his finger. Definitely a bit too much in there. He took a very small sip and tried again. Better.

"The fact that he hasn't handed over what is technically a military matter over to the Legion commander, nor requested the aid of his Dragonblooded agents in such a delicate matter is probably indicative of their relationship, though I didn't look into them specifically." he murmured. He chewed his lip for a moment. The cup was holding at the right angle, but was wobbling a bit too much for his liking.
"I suppose in the absence of the Empress either he or Regent Fokuf would be responsible for appointing a new Prince...in former it marks an unprecedented expansion of power, both as a position and personally. In the latter it would probably be a sign of weakness? I'm not quite sure how high society would interpret that one. What do you think Mistress..." he frowned for a moment. The cup wobbled once and held still, balanced on it's edge.

"Ah, forgive me, I do not believe I caught any of your names?" he said, looking up with a pleased half-smile on his face.

[Ganurath]

Jin had closed the book to open to the requested entry when Marad had begun speaking. Keeping the book shut the entire time, she finds herself mulling over his contributions. After he's done, she quietly opens the book to a personal journal entry she made while on the ship. While she won't read it out loud, Fiona (and anyone else who cares to look that knows Riverspeak) would easily be able to read it.

Entry:It's been a full day since the Lintha hit us. According to the stars, Joga is going to take up gambling, then swear it off shortly after. No sign he steals from me, though, so I won't worry about it. The slave girl that does the cooking and cleaning is going to have a miscarriage. None of my employees showed signs of being the father, so I don't need to fire anyone. If none of the other slaves did it, I'll have to do some research for a new chart when I get back.

Having a hard time engaging the Dragon-Blooded. The V'neefs are polite, you'd hardly think they were of the family if not for their Aspect, but it's difficult to approach them. Fiona makes a point of throwing her status around in the instances I do interact with her. I'll have to point out that we're supposed to be allies later, preferably after I (and possibly that skittish little sneak) have done something to put my/our achievements on the level with her or the V'neefs. She may not see us as equals, but is a modicum of respect too much to ask?

Endnote: Entertaining the thought of a Dragon-Blooded treating me as an equal. The attentions of the Sidereals have apparently given me delusions of grandeur.

[Drascin]

"Hmmm... {It's probably all part of The Plan.}"

Melara looks at Maryn. "{Don't you think?}"

Maryn sighs. "{That is entirely possible. But from what little we have seen of Sidereal planning procedures, that does not exactly fill me with confidence, dear}".

He mostly ignores Fiona - the woman is obviously trying to annoy him. And much to his chagrin, it is working. He can feel his exasperation grow - the fact that soon he will have to be in company of politics and not blow them up multiplying the effects of her annoyances a thousandfold. Dragons, what did I do to deserve this?

Marad's summation, however, calls his attention.

"V'Neef Maryn, Sorcerer of the Heptagram" he answers. "And I see. That is indeed fairly telling. It would seem that either the Satrap's efforts are but half-hearted distractions, or the rebel sympathizers have far more grasp of the high levels of the hierarchy than we expected". Which is only going to make tomorrow's visit harder and more annoying. And likely "accidented". Grumble.

[horngeek]

"Ledaal Melara, graduate of the Cloister of Wisdom."

[Ganurath]

Jin turns her attention to Marad once more. "Jin Sahkin, Master Astrologist and Adept Thaumaturge in Demon Summoning, Enchanting, and Geomancy."

[Arcanoi]

Fiona still wasn't quite sure who the uppity, disturbingly well-informed, as well as unfashionably late, mortal was, but as her eyes caught the entry in the journal the other mortal had just opened, she was annoyed to find that she suspected she knew exactly who they thought they were. They thought they were important. And while mortals often were important, she had long ago decided that it wasn't rightly there position to make such an assumption. The Sidereal's disappointingly, at least in this instance, blunt maneuvering was, as the entry she suspected the girl had wanted her to read said, breeding a certain bit of hubris into the rather impressionable mortal girl. And while Fiona wasn't particularly dogmatic, she had known quite a few Immaculates who would have had fiery words with the girl.

She leaned over to the girl, placing a graceful hand casually on the girl's shoulder and whispered into her ear. "As adorable as your childish heresies are, you might want to be a little bit more careful with who you show your diaries to. Even the most innocuous Exalted rose has thorns sharper than any mortal sword."

Fiona debated simply ending the girl there, a slight undercurrent of unseemly anger threatening to surface in a simple pushing gesture that would send her palmed needle into the girl's neck with a pulse of infectious essence that even the hardiest mortal could not hope to survive. But she regained her composure in a short moment. She looked up at her other mortal comrade, the one who seemed to have more pertinent and useful information. "Sesus Alon Fiona," She said, straightening and removing her hand from the girl's shoulder. "Quite pleased to meet you, dear. To whom do I owe such a bounty of information?

[GrayWatch]

"Nellens Marad, merchant adviser to my house if it please the Dragons." he replied without thinking.
He tactfully ignored her comments to the apparent-mortal. Thaumaturge or no, he suspected she was more than she seemed. It wouldn't do to get caught between those two later.
"Ah Sesus Alon Fiona, I should have guessed. They still speak of you in the Palace. In any case might I inquire how you think the upper crust of Realm society would view the Satrap passing the appointment of a new Prince up to the regent, were such a thing to happen?"

[Arcanoi]

Despite a valiant effort, Fiona wasn't able to keep the revulsion off her face. Dragons, the Sidereals sent a Nellens on an expedition of such import? It was as though the man was trying to find ways to make her hate him explicitly. And she knew the standards of the Palace were low, but low enough to let a mortal Nellens in? But that gave her pause. She supposed this well-informed cretin might possess enough low cunning to get him through such an ordeal, if only because of his lack of importance to others. That might also explain his ability to gather information. And might make him useful, much as she was loathe to admit. She quickly replaced her expression with a more neutral tone. "I think we're far enough from the Imperial City to speak candidly of the Regent's competence. Were the Regent's handlers foolish enough to do such a thing, it would likely have caused a revolt in An-Teng even if one wasn't already brewing, and if not that, uproar amongst the members of the court. Much as it would be interesting, I do not believe that a political struggle to see which House gets to appoint the new Prince would assist our goals. For now, I think we will have to go on the assumption of two Princes for the moment."

She takes a contemplative expression for a moment. "Scion, Laxhander wouldn't happen to have been the most supportive of the Realm's continued presence in An-Teng, would he?"

[Jerthanis]

Jilat nods, "Laxhander was the Realm's greatest ally in these parts." he nods, "His death is suspicious. If you were to find his killer, you might find hints to the conspiracy."

"His death is a bit of a complicated matter, his responsibilities would normally fall to the shoulders of his wife's mother, but as a Prince, he stands outside the normal Matriarchal structure. If the Scarlet Empress were not... indisposed, she would have legitimacy and the Satrap would act in her stead." Jilat begins putting away the tea tables, cups and so forth.

"Now, there's some debate over whether his jurisdiction falls under his mother's control, his wife's mother's control, split between the other princes or held by the Satrap as would have rightly been the case five years ago."

"His mother is Eilensei and lives in the Palace with Namolin, Laxhander's widow. Namolin's mother, Joli Thrice-scarred lives at her Estate in the city."

[Jerthanis]

Each of you finds suitable arrangements for the night. Jilat promises a ferry to the City of the Steel Lotus on the morrow. Early the next morning, you each board a large paddle driven barge. It rides high in the water, and glides quickly, apparently returning to its home berth in the capital city.

A few short hours later, the City of the Steel Lotus looms ahead, an opulent city built with the wealth and vanity of an entire nation behind it. A starker contrast could not be drawn between the dirty, utilitarian mess of Dragon's Jaw and the mother-of-pearl colored gem of this city. Each of you have probably heard of its large districts nearly exclusively dedicated to supplying Dragonblooded guests with anything they could want... if you haven't experienced these opulent districts firsthand.

Towering above it all stands the Palace of the Threefold Magnificence... the seat of the local Principality. If you hadn't experienced the mansions common to the Blessed Isle, this may have impressed you. Still, your business isn't there for the immediate moment. For now you turn away and make your way to the relatively modest estate of the Satrap.

Stepping over the threshold, you feel the eddies of essence around you shift and change. You immediately recognize this as a Manse. Around the courtyard, you see other individuals milling about... perhaps 15 or 20. Each seem to be waiting impatiently. As your group enters, the gentle murmurs of trivial discussions quiet and eyes turn your way. Even this serves your ends nicely as the attention of the majordomo is drawn as well.

She approaches your group and speaks in a low voice to allow privacy and says, "Princes of the Earth," a quick, deferential bow, "Your arrival is unheralded, but I imagine you seek an audience with the Satrap?" She gently eases your group out of the entryway and explains, "The Satrap is understandably very busy at the moment, may I ask what you require? It may be in my ability as a steward to fulfill..."

[Drascin]

After some rather undignified grumbling (since he really doesn't want to do this - it probably required a bit of poking by his wife to get him out of bed today), Maryn joins the group in the ferry together with Melara. Today, though, he's not wearing his power armor, nor his usual work trousers and shirt - but the sober scarlet and gold trimmed robe of a master of the Heptagram. Have to say, for being so short, he can actually look quite imposing - though part of it is probably the "annoy me and DIE" frowning look in his face. Plus also probably the six feet tall muscular mica statue walking protectively behind him while having a hammer that looks heavier than the whole sorcerer resting on its shoulder. All in all, he's the perfect image of the classic Realm sorcerer.

When they arrive to the palace, he has no problem shooting the stares back with a stare of his own. Dragons, back into these places. He'd prefer to storm Malfeas than do this. Well, we do what we must, distasteful as it is.

As the Majordomo comes, though, he stays silent at first. Let's see if the annoying Sesus could put her money where her mouth was.

[horngeek]

Melara smiles, as she looks at her husband. She knew how annoyed he was by these things...

She was in a formal dress, of the latest style of the Realm at the time she left- after all, they were meeting the governor.

[GrayWatch]

Marad smiled slightly, humming an inane, repetitive little tune. He was dressed in silks of muted colors, appropriate for the occasion he supposed, but a little worrisome. Things always tended to get rather boring on occasions where he had to wear these. At least in his official capacity.

Still he was rather looking forward to his time here. Palaces always had such interesting contents. Now if only he could find an opportune moment to break away...

As the steward spoke he cast a ranging eye over the assembled group. He was tempted, but it would not be appropriate to speak out of turn.

[Arcanoi]

Among the many things that Fiona had learned through her time was that subtlety was often wasted. She turns on the majordomo, affected disgust "Is this how visiting Dynasts are treated in An-Teng? First, my ship is waylaid by pirates! Weak, thin-blooded Lintha, of all things! Do you not patrol your own waters? And then to be greeted in such a discourteous fashion? You should be ashamed! Now," She says, turning away from the seeming to dismiss the majordomo, her gaze scanning across the room, before snapping back to the woman. "My cousins and I require the Satrap's time and his ear. Unless you keep either, though preferably both, in a jar, we will be seeing him presently."


Social attack, Manipulation + Presence + 1 die from Breeding + 1 die from Gem of Seduction

[roll0]

[Jerthanis]

Her mouth splits into a genial smile, even as her eyes narrow shrewdly, "If your issue is with the Navy and its diligence, I must offer my sincere apologies, as this humble one is unable to adequately serve to your needs. If you would permit me send word to the garrison commander, I believe General Shuri is even in town on business at the moment."

She spends 1 willpower to avoid caving to harsh words, knowing a sterner reprimand will follow acquiescing so readily. She attempts a deflection, attempting to convince you that other avenues will prove more fruitful. Appearance 3 Manipulation + Performance
[roll0]

[Ganurath]

Jin watches and listens the exchange intently, holding her hands behind her back and making sure not to stand ahead of the Dragon-Blooded in the group. While she wanted the respect of the others, she understood the importance of appearances. It wasn't just compensating the trip's lack of access to proper means of tending to hygiene that Jin had spent two hours cleaning herself up, after all.

This courtier, while making an effective point for purposes of dealing with the complaint Fiona had raised, was rather obviously trying to divert them from their goal. She pushed the argument's content out of her mind, and focused on the deliver, analyzing the woman's mannerisms. If she were called upon to contribute to the exchange, she wanted to be able to do so effectively.

It's a Performance attack, so I'm assuming it's hitting all of us. Jin's Dodge MDV is 6 unmodified, -1 from Appearance difference and (I'm assuming) +2 from Virtues to overcome the attack even if the -2 penalty from the Study action she'll be taking against the courtier is applied.

[Jerthanis]

It's a Performance attack, so I'm assuming it's hitting all of us. Jin's Dodge MDV is 6 unmodified, -1 from Appearance difference and (I'm assuming) +2 from Virtues to overcome the attack even if the -2 penalty from the Study action she'll be taking against the courtier is applied.

Yeah, the attack is directed at everyone. It seems like your Conviction would carry you through. If you're engaged in your Study action before her social attack, you could reasonably respond now at +3 dice as per an aim action. That is, assuming no one else wishes to butt in immediately after her statement.

[GrayWatch]

And she was off again. The Sesus had airs about her and a tongue that dripped acid. The maidservant or whatever was being obstructive for some reason. He didn't really care. If he needed to get in she wasn't exactly going to stop him, so none of this really mattered to him. Boring in fact.

Casting about for something to busy himself with he grinned. He had found a tassel. Standing a little apart from the group, with only half an eye on them, he begin to idly bat at it. It jingled. Someone had concealed a little bell in it. He smiled widely.
jinglejinglejinglejinglejinglejinglejinglejingleji nglejinglejinglejinglejingle...

MDV of 6 to flat out ignore her argument

[Drascin]

Maryn waves a hand irritably, completely dismissing the argument. "Yes, yes, we do intend to talk to him later. But we are here for the Satrap. You did your gatekeeper role already, so you're off the hook, now let us through" he says, impatient.


(Don't expect to get through - I'm mostly adding a bit of pressure to lower her DVs so Fiona can deliver a killing blow, really. Manipulation+Socialize plus the 3 dice from Study)

[roll0]

[Jerthanis]

The majordomo gives a scathing look at Marad as he engages in inanity. Her look seems to say "If this retainer wishes to make a fool of himself, let him." She very abjectly turns away from him, ignoring his presence completely. No eyes remain upon him.

She sighs when she hears Maryn's intrusion, "Very well, if you must continue to insist, I won't stand in your way, but the Satrap WILL send you away if he hasn't the time... and it will be on my shoulders." She begins to lead you towards the double doors of the Manse when the rest of the crowd takes notice. A disgruntled murmur arises as they see you begin to be ushered in.

"Hey! We've been waiting hours! What gives them the right to be seen ahead of us?" yells one robed individual, a balding, stick thin man with the markings of an An-Teng local about his face. A chorus of agreement follows in his wake. "If they are seen and we aren't, there will be hell to pay!"

A Manipulation + Presence roll to intimidate the Majordomo[roll0]
She spends another willpower point, leaving her jaded to natural mental influence for a scene.


A spark of pure annoyance crosses her features, "I cannot promise that, now get out of the way, the Satrap will see you when he sees you!" and she sternly leads through them. Her look communicates that she is done dealing with them genially.

It seems as if the crowd is far from placid now, but you're able to ignore them and meet with the Satrap immediately.

[Arcanoi]

As the majordomo finally assented to ushering them along, snapping some sort of remark about a retainer. And then she saw the Nellens. He stood off to the side, an expression of inane enjoyment on his face as he played with a tassel. Like a domesticated feline. Or a small child. Fiona's rather modest self-control utterly failed her as she stared incredulously. She had known Nellens were mentally weaker than the other houses, but to be saddled with such unstable assistance was more belike to a curse. She sincerely hoped that amongst the wits that seemed to have deserted him was his ability to speak. His opening his mouth might well prove disastrous in the Satrap's esteemed company. What the Sidereals might have seen in the man utterly escaped her.

Mastering herself, Fiona flashed an irritated glance at the malcontent natives as their figurehead speaks. There was such utter arrogance in these people, to compare themselves in any manner to the Dragonblooded. They should have been begging her pardon for likely having entered the court through the same door as she. The voiced threat nearly drove her to retaliation, but she fought down her anger and joined the majordomo as they moved through the hall. She turns to the woman, her affected offense all but gone. "It is good that you have seen reason, darling. I assure you that no punishment shall fall on your office. Now please, dear girl, lead on, and let that rabble not bother you."

[Jerthanis]

The woman continues to lead the group deeper into the Manse-estate. The sound of falling water wafts up from below the tile under your feet. You feel a pleasant chill, welcome after the mugginess outside. It's not a large complex, and it isn't long before the Majordomo opens a door to reveal a lounge with a long, flat desk in the middle. Sitting on one side of the desk is Ragara Soras Jor, unmistakable in his robes of state, thin face and short black hair. Across from him sits a tattooed man, bare chested, with lime-dyed hair.

On your entrance, the two of them stand up. The rough looking customer looks apprehensive, while the Satrap seems simply agitated. "Blossom, I told you I wasn't to see anybody until I sent for you. Isn't that what I said?" He grinds through in an entirely muted tone of paternal disappointment.

"I'm afraid they were... insistent. I thought..." She is cut off as he waves her off. "Enough! Attend your other duties, I'll speak with you later." He turns to the assembled group and says, "So, you've come to see me about something? I hope you aren't wasting my time, my plate is rather full at the moment."

[GrayWatch]

Marad hid a quiet smile. It wouldn't do to be seen sniggering.

"I can rather imagine. However our business shouldn't take too long. Or at least mine shouldn't. I'm here on behalf of the Nellens family. Several of merchant interests we have by way of House Cynis have gone uncharacteristically silent lately. Most of them located in Salt Founded Glory, and a few other provinces in the Shores territory, all strictly small time but it adds up. Initial attempts at contacting them have run into a brick wall. By all accounts they've simply disappeared. Normally I'd take this up with the distinguished Prince Laxhander but I take it he's rather...indisposed?

Regardless I'm requesting aid in my work, or failing that, at least access to shipping and taxation records for select cities and villages within the Shore province. I'll not get in your hair overmuch.

Surely you distinguished gentlemen can spare but a moment or two to draft up a securit clearances if nothing else?"

All this he asked with a curious air, polite, and respectful but firm. The air of a mortal to a dragonblooded, but a mortal too important to be summarily dismissed, and all while looking curiously at the tattood man.

[Perception + Investigation] for the tattoo'd mans racial background
4+5=9
[roll0]
[Manipulation(for blatant lieing)+Presence]
3+2=5
[roll1]
both plus or minus any stunt die you decide to dole out

[Jerthanis]

The tattooed man appears to be an An-Teng native, his skin tone, the angle of his eyes. He's Tengese, but some of his tattoos appear reminiscent in design of pirate groups, and though you can't be certain, they remind you of tattoos you saw on the raiders you faced just a few days ago.

The Satrap listens patiently to Marad's request then nods, "I can understand your desire for haste in this matter, and if they've disappeared as entirely as you claim, their fate may be dire indeed." his expression turns stern, "I'm surprised my assistant didn't resolve this matter herself. If you were to write the accounts of the interests in question, names, manifests, so on... she could have the relevant tax information duplicated and sent to your office within a day or so."

He looks to the others, "I wouldn't make the assumption such a distinguished group would present themselves here as representatives of House Nellens, so I can't imagine that's all you came for."

The tattooed man says, tentatively, "Should I go... or?" and the Satrap shakes his head, "No I don't want you to go, just wait."

He's rolling manipulation + presence to conceal that he doesn't believe you, and is trying to deflect you in such a way that you'll be forced to reveal your lie.
[roll0]

Oh yeah, Appearance 3

[GrayWatch]

Marad's face froze momentarily at the slight. Then broke into a wide grin.
"Of course. An excellent idea. Ashamed I didn't think of it myself really." he said giving a formal bow and backing towards the door. "With your Eminence's pardon, I'll meet with your assistant and resolve the matter myself."

With that he backed out the door and took a sharp left, wandering down the hallway.
Let's see, large building, a manse. Doubles as living and working quarters but not overlarge. Satrap probably lives near the center, but as a place of living it almost certainly has a kitchen...
An idea began ticking over in his head. He smothered the grin, but somehow he was certain he wasn't going to be bored.

After a ew wrong turns and mistarts he eventually found what he was looking for. All he had to do was follow his nose.
Pausing for a bit, he began to deliberately hyper ventilate. Not long after his skin had a slight flush to it.

Then he rushed into the kitchen, bursting in noisily. Half a dozen or more heads snapped 'round to look at him.
"The Lord Regent is entertaining a guest in his private quarters. Mistress Sesus Alons Fiona." he panted leaning on one counter. "They were getting on very well and one thing led to another and..." he babbled on before seeming to gain control. His eyes snapped open in false shock at what he was saying and he quickly seemed to gather himself.

A...Anyway they've requested three bottles of rice wine, enough qat to last the evening and... and... here he closed his eyes, and let his lip tremble for a moment before saying in a somewhat weaker voice "and two live geese."

As though desperate to finish before he could be interrupted with question he snapped forward and said, somewhat more confidently "Quickly quickly now! I'll take the rice wine if I have someone to guide me. Mistress sent me straight here from the regents office. The qat and....other things can follow as they become available!"

[Jerthanis]

The head chef, a doughty woman with pasty skin and a rotund body grunts and says, "Plucked or not?" without missing more than a beat. The wine is assembled and placed on a delicate silver tray.

After some fussing with who is to accompany you, many hoping to catch a glimpse of one or the other in a tawdry position, you set off with a mousy looking blonde servant girl. She leads you through the complex, which is as small as you surmised. Past the study the hallway curves in on itself, forming a spiral staircase centered around a sort of perpetual waterspout that the Manse itself seems to be built towards. Halfway up the staircase, the girl stops, indicating a door. She crouches perhaps a little too close as she pulls the door open, craning her neck for a peak inside.

She seems disappointed with the room turns out to be empty. It is a comfortable room, richly appointed, with tidy, ordered shelves full of scrolls, and a bed which hasn't seen much use of late. A Daiklaive hangs on a simple iron rack near the bed.

"Are they not here?" the girl squeeks, "Should we go looking for them?" She looks on the edge between disappointment and trepidation.

[GrayWatch]

Marad silently cursed to himself. Small building or no he'd expected the Satrap's room to at least have an ante-chamber. Some sitting room where he took his breakfast privately perhaps. No matter, no matter, the ball was in play and a fumble could spoil the whole game now.

He closed his eyes for one long heartbeat before snapping them open once more.

"I'm sure they're just taking a somewhat....circuitous route here. Easily distracted, romantic trip through the garden, beautiful vistas. They're both people of class and taste and all that. Though Mistress Fiona tends to have to re-hire most of her staff every time a, ah, similar outing is ruined..." he said, slowly, carefully as though he were talking a man back from the edge of a precipice.

He stared blankly into the room for a bit and made a show of looking down the hallway and listening closely to the air before turning back to the serving girl.
"I'm going to be honest dear, you want no part of this. Make up whatever juicy rumour you can imagine. I assure you it's true. If not here, then at least in one of m'lady's escapades." He gently took the wine from her hands. "Run back to the kitchen and tell them to hold off on the rest for another...let's say 20 minutes? I'll just set everything to rights in here."

With a wink he slipped lightly into the room, and, quit invisibly discarded his identity as he did so. It felt a little like a cool wave from the top of his head to the soles of his feet, and everything felt...smoother.

He made a show of closing the blinds, dimming the lights, setting out candles in unobtrusive, but accessible locations and the like, setting the wine bottles down in strategic locations. One on the low table, between two glasses, another within arms reach of the bed, a third left sitting on a shelf.

And of course, getting a good look at what sort of reading material the Satrap favored these days while he was leaning in close.

Activating Trackless Walk Style and Observer Awareness Method as he enters the room.

Per+Awar to get an idea about the assorted names on any labeled scrolls Marad can see as he sets up the room. Probably a...1 die? 2 die penalty for doing this while zipping about the room? I'll assume 1 for now. Feel free to correct me later.
Per+Awar=9-1=8
[roll0]
And Observer Awareness requires a Per+Lar roll
Per+Lar=10
[roll1]

[Arcanoi]

This time, Fiona managed to suppress her horror at the Nellens' decision to speak. Fighting down bile, she managed to endure through the rest of his speech and the Satrap's condescending retort. The Nellens managed to extract himself with a great deal more grace than she had expected, and she silently thanked the Dragons as he left, though for a moment she reflected darkly on what sort of havoc he might wreak through the palace. But she shouldered that away as the Satrap turned back to the remaining members of their party.

"It is not, your Grace. I, unfortunately, am here on a much similar purpose. I have the pleasure of being Sesus Alon Fiona, and my aunt has sent me to take a rather personal hand in the rumors of unrest here in An-Teng. I was likewise tasked with attending the Prince Laxhander, but I was unable to acquire knowledge of his whereabouts. Several natives actually had the temerity to laugh when I asked. I was later forced to wash my hands of them in a manner rather unsavory for all involved parties." She smirks for a moment. "As it stands, however, I absolutely must speak with the Prince, or if he is indisposed, with his mother, at the earliest opportunity."

She sighs for a moment. "I must be frank with you, your Grace. House Sesus' mercantile interests are extremely important to us, given the rather limited quantity that we possess, and we would be quite aggrieved were they to be disrupted on any sort of lengthy basis. My house, my dear Auntie Alon, and I personally," She makes a point of roaming her eyes over the Satrap,"Would be most grateful any assistance you could offer to this effect. If it is necessary, House Sesus would be delighted to offer any of its... assets to aid you in the maintenance of order in your delightful satrapy."


Activating Auspicious First Meeting Attitude against the Satrap.

Flurrying an Attack to get information on Laxhander and a Seduction attempt.

Manipulation 5 + Socialize 5 + 3 Dice from AFMA + 1 die from Breeding + 1 Die from Gem of Seduction - 1 die from flurry = 14

[roll0]

Manipulation 5 + Socialize 5 + 3 Dice from AFMA + 1 die from Breeding + 3 Dice from Gem of Seduction - 2 dice from flurry = 15

[roll1]

Essence
Personal: 14/16 (0 Committed)
Peripheral: 47/49 (2 Committed)

Mental Defenses
Dodge MDV 4
Parry MDV 3

[Jerthanis]

The scrolls Marad reads over seem to be labeled with names of companies, districts and a few Great Houses. Those which are laid out seem to indicate tax records. A little separate from some of this is a scroll labeled "Shuri", the general of the Legion stationed in An-Teng. The scroll labeled "Ragara" appears to see a lot more attention than the others, judging by its wear.

Marad is confident no one is here to see him. The mousy servant apparently had duties to attend to.

In the meeting downstairs, Soras Jor looks reserved for a moment. He nods at the tattooed individual and says, "We'll conclude our business later, Jorgen." he waits until the other man skirts the assembled Dragons and disappears out the door.

"The esteemed Prince Laxhander died some time ago. He took ill rather suddenly and some suspect foul play. It saddens me to be the bearer of such news, but the living do the labor of the dead. I would avail you my services under such conditions normally... but I suspect the three women closest to Laxhander are each opportunistically looking to seize the power of his seat. I cannot move while the three of them stand poised to invoke the customs of their forebears to stymie my efforts. Laxhander's killer has yet to be found. I can't help but think how... convenient it would be if one or all three of them, his wife, his mother and his wife's mother, were to be found guilty of regicide." He sighs, "A shame they don't have motive, or a rumor may have already started."

"Of course, this all presupposes you needing Laxhander's consultation on some business matter. I obviously maintain control over the normal functions of a Satrapy, albeit with a nearly treasonous General, more interested in lining his pockets than in following my decrees." He scoffs, "The Ledaals conspired to put him in place to facilitate exclusive deals on Tengese exports and it's all I can do to level the playing field for the rest of the Great Houses' interests." He smiles, "If you wish to discuss the interests of Sesus more personally, I would be glad to discuss a... partnership. I'm quite sure there are a great many Sesus assets to discuss."

[GrayWatch]

Marad ceased his ministrations to the room and turned to the room once more.

The tax records could wait, important though they were, indeed records in his private room rather suggested some nefarious goings on, he'd rather stick to what he could feasibly look over in hurry.

He paused, his hand hovering over the scroll. Careful. Satrap. Big power. Big target. Must take precautions against people like him.

He focused for a moment, drawing power from one of the stones grafted into his flesh. His mind flicked lightly about, seeking out the tiny hosts through whose eyes he could briefly glimpse, and moving from one to another, seeking unusual vantages, preferably within the walls themselves, perhaps hidden partitions of compartments would be better revealed from such a vantage.

That done he draws power from the other and views the room once more. This time with his own eyes, albeit enhanced as they were.


Using Spider Eye Stone to look through the eyes of nearby spiders, trying to see if there might be any within hidden compartments or rooms ,or within the walls and posessing a vantage point to see such.
The stone works on all spiders and spider-shaped creatures (including Grass Spider Elementals and Spider Demons (Anuhules) Lunar exalts in spider form etc. etc. 10 yard radius.

Then using Gem of Wise Discernment is mostly useful for identifying people, and/or seeing through disguises but also has the property of allowing me to see through illusions, should there be any present.

This is all diceless and...I believe using a hearthstone's power is reflexive?

[Arcanoi]

Fiona smiled slightly, keeping her expression demure. "Oh, my. I see now why your subjects are so disagreeable. Indeed, this is quite a tragedy." She lowers her eyes for a moment, before lighting them on the Satrap. But if you were to assist me, I'm quite sure that my task could be completed in a manner most satisfactory to all parties. Do you mind if I sit?" Without waiting for an answer, she moves to the chair vacated by the tattooed man. She glances behind her. Maryn, Melara, darlings. I'm aware that you're very busy, but perhaps you'd like to stay awhile? I'm sure the Satrap's hospitality will be simply... delightful." This time, her grin returns in full.

[Drascin]

Maryn does an irritated, impatient gesture with his hand. "Yes, yes, might as well, with the situation being like it is things are going to take a while anyway". Dragons, a flutter of the eyes and he's already undressing her with his eyes? Pathetic. This is what passes for a Satrap?

No, his grandmother would not appoint an useless man to a post of power. He never saw her much, thank the Dragons, but the few times he could see her, she was utterly terrifying, better at plotting than higher demons themselves, always the fattest, most ruthless spider sitting in the middle of her web. If this man is here by her decree, he is smarter than he looks, period. Can't underestimate him.

[Jerthanis]

Marad searches the room again from the perspectives of the humble crawling arachnids, eyes which lead him to a concealed crawlspace. Within is a bizarre array of items, a jade chalice, a necklace of fine gemstones, a sample of qat in a small wooden coffer... all relatively valuable. Also within is a leatherbound book.

The Satrap nods, "Consider me at your service." his eyes flicker over the assembled group, "Please, take your seats, I'll send someone to the kitchens for some refreshments."

He busies himself near the door, the servant looks a little confused before scurrying off. Soras Jor returns to the table and inclines his head towards Fiona, "So... you say the Sesus interests are in jeopardy? If you provide me with the details, I'd be happy to help however I can."

[GrayWatch]

Marad's grin stretched a mite wider.

With hurried movements he snatched up the scrolls labeled "Shun" and "Ragara" and began to skim through them with half an eye, as the rest of him of set about finding the entrance to that crawl space. That book needed examining.

The rest of it he dared not take just yet.


Perception+Investigation to find the crawlspace entrance:
5+4=9
[roll0]

[Ganurath]

At the invitation for a seat, Jin begins calculating. Her social encounters tended to involve less of meetings to discuss trade deals and more undermining the Cynis prostitution monopoly or improving the odds of children Exalting. She was a mortal, not even a patrician, and she was among Exalts being hosted by a Satrap. While the Satrap busied himself at the door, the thaumaturge looked to Fiona for a visual cue. She could probably make a guess, but it'd be better to know the standards of her "employer" to avoid going against any previous precedent.

I'm guessing Intelligence+Socialize to recall from previous encounters to remember proper conduct for a retainer from previous work with Dynasts.

[roll0]

[Drascin]

All this caution, of course, only irritates Maryn further, who shoots Jin a glance. He's never been one for the "mortals are so inferior and stupid and must not talk unless spoken to" rules of most dynasts. "You're a practicer of the high arts and an equal at this table. Stop acting like a servant" he says, severe and annoyed, as he sits down besides his wife.