Return of the Scarlet Empress III - The Lookshy War

[Ascension]

Braga's eyes drop to the wards, examining them more closely in light of the head thaumaturge's claims. They don't follow the tradition he practices, or indeed any of the styles he's most familiar with (But then, what are the chances that the 'Commanding Teacher' would ever willingly associate with practitioners of an Immaculate-approved warding art?), and for a brief moment he experiences a distinct falling feeling, wavering on the edge of terror, as he considers the possibility that they might not be functional wards at all. But no, the Erymanthus is waiting patiently. Contrary to the assumptions of particularly lazy occultists, even First Circle demons are individuals, and it is distantly possible that patience comes naturally to this particular Erymanthus, but that possibility seems distant enough to be safely disregarded. He takes a breath to center himself and allows his inner Essence to breathe as well, letting a faint tingle of power radiate outward from his lungs, spreading reassuringly throughout his body.

As Braga regains his focus, old memories return to him as well, and his mind, moving once more with its usual speed and clarity, begins forging connections between various fragments of recollection and understanding. The structure of the army thaumaturge's warding circle (which is, in fact, functional, if a bit distorted) draws from an old, old tradition... definitely pre-Usurpation, but that in itself is not excessively unusual. Many old traditions have survived shockingly well in more insular pockets of the Threshold. No, what really draws the sorcerer's attention is the way the warding ritual is being executed. Constantly renewing the lines of a ward of this type in the manner the thaumaturge describes is a precaution meant to contain demons of the Second Circle.

"Where did you learn your demonology?" Braga asks the thaumaturge. That question is perhaps not as pressing as several of the other issues at hand, but he is genuinely curious as to the answer. The compiler of any source material that would actually teach techniques for dealing with Second Circle demons through thaumaturgy would, in Braga's reckoning, have to have been a powerful Exalt, a high-ranking demon cultist, or a fool, and likely mad as well in any of those three cases. If this army thaumaturge's chosen text or tradition includes any beckoning rituals to actually call demons of the Second Circle in addition to its instructions on how to contain them, it could be a very, very dangerous thing to leave in the hands of mortals.

He waves off the question, though, shaking his head free of hyperbolic worries. There'll be time for that conversation later. As far as he knows, the threat of unbound Second Circle demons running rampant through the countryside is still hypothetical, while an unbound Erymanthus most certainly is crouched in front of him, its blood-stench permeating even through the wards and the whole tent's pervasive smell of alchemical unguents.

"You're right that those wards should hold another six hours, but the precaution of constantly renewing the lines is only necessary if you're trying to contain a demon of the Second Circle. Under the current circumstances you aren't just wasting unneeded effort, you're increasing the likelihood of error. How long can your people continually redraw those lines before one of your assistants makes a mistake? It's waiting to find out."

He scowls, unable to keep his distaste for the thaumaturges' work from showing.

"What made you call up this thing anyway? How were you planning on using it without the authority to command it?"

[DeafnotDumb]

Spoiler

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Bright Shard clasps the woman's hand warmly, with palpable relief. There's hesitation as she's asked to provide a name, the nervousness of a woman used to hiding.

The trap has been baited. Now, it's time for a bit of recreational paranioa and make sure that you're not the one being tricked.

Possiblity number one is that you're not talking to the real Commander - so far, this is a kind and generous woman, not a prickly pineapple. So, check the time, and remember it, and later find out if Fire Orchid was absent around then. If she wasn't, someone in the camp must have noticed their Commander doing something.

The second possibility is that she's the commander herself and she's tricking you or using you. Well, she should be! That's the bait. But it's worth working out what she wants from you... and if she says it's nothing, then you've either got one of those one-in-a-million mythical 'decent marks' or she's got a plan.

Possibility three is that you've pulled this off perfectly and everything's going to go perfectly to plan. Hah, no. But perhaps you've got a good start.

"Bright Shard is what I'm used to being called." She risks. "So if you could use that... but the name I was born with was Gherin Bright Shard." She bites her lip. it's a good choice: a weak bloodline and diminished family that few know of. "I don't use it, though, in case my... nature brings shame on them. But maybe if a Kharal Anathema can walk into Lookshy..."

She stops, uncertain. "...So, what do we do now?"

Time to be tested, perhaps.

Spoiler

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Spending 1 mote to know the precise time.

[The_Snark]

Shadowboxing

This is true. She just wishes it weren’t also what he would say if he didn’t trust her, and wanted to cross-check her reports with others. It’s good sense to ask for complete information, of course - how would she know if his other sources lacked some small but crucial piece of information? She wouldn’t have batted an eye at this a few months ago... and they’re discussing the Gold Faction’s plans now; on this subject they agree.

Still. That little seed of doubt bothers her.

"Chuzei Kharal Zhou, his wife and several others newly sworn to the city were assigned by Lookshyan intelligence to find and eliminate an Anathema general rumored to be marching on the city," Isa begins, starting from the time she entered the story. He almost certainly knows this much, but - completeness. "All of these others are also Anathema, or closely linked to them: one Solar masquerading as an Air-aspected outcaste, most likely a Night; one young Changing Moon Lunar, also disguised as an Air Aspect; one Air Aspect who I'm fairly sure actually is a Terrestrial, but who has a blood relation to the Lunar; and of course Skandi the Wolf, who did not bother to disguise himself at all." There is no need to tell Chejop Kejak that this unlikely assembly is no coincidence. "I'm not sure who's responsible for this arrangement yet; I didn't have a chance to investigate before leaving the city."

She pauses briefly to review the events of the journey in her mind; anything of note? Aside from taking the measure of her traveling companions, not really, and she can share that if he asks about any of them. Her staff deflects a blow aimed at her sternum - it isn't hard to defend herself at this speed, even while talking.

"We traveled east via skyship," she continues, "searching for signs of the target from the air. Two days ago, we were shot out of the sky and engaged a force of Thornsguard led by deathknights - the Black Hand Upon the Throat of the World, the Maiden of the Mirthless Smile, and... Typhon, the Mask's ambassador." There's little point being coy about Black Ice Shadow here, to Chejop Kejak, but old habits die hard. You do not endanger another agent's cover, not when he's a place like that. (And it's theoretically possible that someone is spying on her dreams.) Given that he probably still has custody of Typhon, the slight pause should tell him all he needs to know. "We were able to force them to retreat into the Underworld without losses, but it was a near thing. I can give you more observations on that battle now if you like, or send a written report in the morning."

She retreats a few paces, avoiding an attempt to grasp her hand and draw her into an armlock It's not a subtle style, the one her teacher is showing her, but she can imagine how this might play out if he weren't going slowly to show her the forms. Its strikes are simple, direct, and brutal. It has no need for subtlety; speed and power suffice.

"That battle drew the attention of nearby scouts, who made contact and invited Kharal Zhou, Kharal Ireva, and myself - in the guise of Tepet Xet - to parlay in their main camp. Their leader is the Anathema we were sent to find: Kharal Fire Orchid, a Zenith Caste with a fully trained legion at her back. She has stated her intent to march to Lookshy and catch the Mask's besieging forces between her army and the walls." She launches into a series of measured counterattacks, so that she can observe her teacher's defenses. "She is also... very hostile towards the Immaculate Order and the Realm. The Gold is in contact with her, but I don't know any of the details."

[industrious]

Isa

Some of her blows slip past Chejop's guard - the style is weak in defense, it seems, and Chejop allows the staff to brush against his skin before he moves to counter the next blow.

"I will want that report come the dawn," he says, shifting his weight, resettling into a new stance, a new form, a different style. This one seems far better suited to defense, and Chejop's exaggerated movements seem to snake around Isa's defenses; his hands brush aside wood and flesh to continue forward, sliding and skating slyly by.

"But for now...tell me about the symbol you showed me in Yu-Shan."

Braga

"We don't!" he gasps out, belatedly realizing the implication of his statement. "The Commander! She does it! She stares at it and commands and the creature listens! Standard procedure whenever someone shoots up a red flare!"

The earlier segments of Braga's barrage also catch up to him.

"And I learned my craft from the great Three Stars* himself! I am no village occultist!"

*Braga has not heard of such a person.

Spoiler: Jade Lotus

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"For now?" she repeats. "For now...we can't do anything about Lookshy itself. We cannot yet walk into its gates openly, cannot see the monuments to the battles and campaigns of the distant past. But we can prepare for the day when we come upon the Mask of Winters and break his power, and we can train ourselves to be heroes."

"Have you ever killed a man? Or a woman?"

Zhou and Ireva

She smiles at their banter, their story, and is silent. Lost in memories, at least for a time. Slowly, a wicked smile appears on her worn face.

"Jan was so proud of his darling child - his first real son. I was younger then, newly promoted, and when Jan put you in my care for an evening..."

She continues with the story, in which the infant Dragon-Blood apparently got into all manner of mischief, and then

"...And when he lowered the scanning visor on the warstrider, down tumbled the little Zhou!"

They ride for some time, before they reach a vast cleared area in the middle of the woods. With great deliberate speed, the aged Solar dismounts.

"Here," she murmurs. "The battlefield was here. Do you see it?"

Spoiler

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Perception+Awareness or Perception+War

Spoiler: difficulty 2

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The clearing contains some small indents, small holes in the ground perhaps a handspan across. Some of them contain rubble.

Spoiler: Difficulty 4

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The pattern of the grass has grown in such a manner that you can nearly see the men who charged and trampled on it, even after all this time. The twists and turns of the soil show the advances and retreats of the soldiers.

Spoiler: Difficulty 7

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From the positioning of the soldiers, the tactics used...this must have been quite an old battle - First Age, or maybe the Early Shogunate. But even though the trees have grown in, you can see that this had once been the site of a great melee. This was no ordinary battle - this land had been seen as immensely valuable at one point or another; here in the middle of nowhere.

The Importance of the Tattoos

Skandi sees what the others cannot. What the others should not.

The Silver Pact has its secrets, and this is the first. A way to communicate with perfect stealth, to warn and to invite, to declare and to request. A series of carvings in rock and moss and stone and grass, indistinguishable from a wild animals' trail. A language that no human could speak or write down.

Clawspeak. The language that no outsider could be taught.

Skandi sees the markings and he reads the message: an instruction, a command, one of the few the Pact can agree upon. An old phrasing, from the first

The Unblooded is to tell her Story and be given her Form. One must stand for her, and one will scribe. Praise She Who Is Ever-Shifting, that it may be so.

The message continues, giving a time and a place.

[Maugan Ra]

Zhou tolerates the ribbing and the embarassing stories with an air of long-suffering patience, the very picture of the younger generation putting up with the eccentricities of his elders. He occassionally responds to a remark or mutters something vaguely rebellious, but for the most part he is happy to leave this banter to his wife and cousin.

When they arrive at the clearing, he dismounts with slightly less grace than his cousin, before turning experienced eyes upon the beaten earth. Battle is a messy and chaotic affair at the best of times, inevitably leaving its mark on the surroundings regardless of what occurs between the clashing armies, and with practice one can pick them out even years later and reconstruct some semblence of what occured.

"I see... something." He says quietly, studying the open space. "There, that disturbance... battlelines striking each-other for a protracted period. maybe? And there, that's a charge into someone's flanks, though I can't quite tell which side would have done it..."

He frowns. "A sizeable clash, it looks like, not some simple skirmish. But... I can't think of what they might have been fighting over. There's no natural resources nearby, and it's not exactly a major trade route..."

[Aevylmar]

Skandi, Versi, and Braga

It is not until some days after her arrival in camp that Versino sees Skandi in his own person, walking calmly through the streets of the camp to approach her and her father as they walk back from a supper.

He nods politely to both of them. "Braga," he says. "Versi."

Looks directly at Versi. "Do you have a moment? There's a private message I'd like to pass on to you."

[Ifni]

Through The Travail of Ages

His first real son? In contrast to what? Bastards? Nephews? There might be an interesting little insight into Lookshy culture, in that word, if she knew how to interpret it.

Ireva grins at the stories, laughing softly but delightedly at appropriate points. Behind her smile and her occasional questions, she drinks up the memories - the insights into Lookshy and Zhou's upbringing and Fire Orchid's past - like rain on the leaves of a parched plant. Her heart aches with wistfulness, for the lack of her own such stories, and with the long yearning: family, home, children...

Still, she remains alert for signs of trouble - or signs of twitchiness from her unfamiliar horse, more likely if less dangerous. And as they ride she considers the Kazei, and wonders.

If she had been like this the first night, she could have had my sworn loyalty for the asking. All her hopes of family fulfilled, and so easy to slip back into the role she'd played for another charismatic Exalted leader, who'd raised an army from nearly nothing. Maybe it's better this way; she thinks of Xet, and suppresses a wince. She suspects it was not Isa who chose Ireva's cousin as her cover, and didn't it work well to deflect suspicion? And yet defaulting to distrust toward her own kin feels... wrong, unfair, as if she'd be losing something far more precious than safety.

But here and now... which is truth, that night or this morning? Either? Both? She'd been able to read Fire Orchid's emotions; the Zenith had not struck her as very manipulative, although that might just mean she's skillful enough to fool even Ireva's Charms.

Option 1: She is a master manipulator, nothing she says or does can be taken at face value... but then why would she try to alienate me, that first night? For my own good, to try to lower my expectations? To make me look unreliable to my allies, by ensuring I would report an impression that disagreed with their own experiences? But if the latter, why change tack now, why swear to so much more than what I'd asked for? I still do not see how this serves her interests, short or long-term...

Option 2: What I read from her that night was real. Her current behavior might be a facade, an attempt to correct course, which at least makes sense from a self-interested perspective - maybe one of the Gold talked to her afterward, suggested a more conciliatory approach. But she shouldn't be able to hide her true feelings that well...

Could it be today that's her usual personality, and the first night just an aberration, a flashfire eruption? Fury, grief, hatred for an Immaculate, contempt for anyone who'd defend her... all that might provoke unconsidered words, might make a general snarl, We don't need fancy words, and we don't need any special knowledge. If you want to help, all you need to do is march, follow orders, and fight. Might make her meet I want to help, I want you to be able to go home, I want your family to be my family too, and the path to that future runs through your victory with You are a fool. Maybe.

Ireva had learned early to smile and bow while swallowing rage and hate and grief; she's coming to understand that it's hope and love and trust that slide past her defenses like a knife in the night, that betray her to rash action and ill-advised confidences. But Fire Orchid was raised like Zhou, never to know weakness, never to show weakness. If she were a Fire Aspect, would you count it so strange, that she could smile while calling you a fool and try to bend your mind to her service one night, and the next day treat you like a friend or kinswoman, and swear an oath to uphold all your hopes, unsolicited?

Ireva thinks on that question as she rides, hands loose on her horse's reins, letting it follow Fire Orchid's mount.

... yes, actually, I think I would. Maybe it's all explainable, maybe she's starting at shadows, but... this feels off. And the camp was full of creatures of darkness. Some external influence...? She hadn't shown the Kazei her Mind-Cleansing Gem...

Another thought drifts up from the depths, a slow cold current.

Or maybe it's not external. A dramatic change in personality after a night's rest, from scornful and angry and controlling, to calm and wise and willing to listen. What would people think of you, Ireva, if they'd met you for the first time that night in Nexus?

... she is a Solar too. All the Celestial Exaltations...

Someone watching closely would see the Eclipse's shoulders tense; would see her hands on the reins tighten (causing her horse to skip briefly forward), before she forces them to relax.

... if it is the same for her as it is for me... is it the same for others too?

But Isa showed no sign of recognition, when Ireva described the incident in Nexus, offered hypotheses as if the knowledge were wholly new to her - and while Isa is very good at hiding what she thinks, surely she wouldn't have lied about this.

Is it different for different Exaltations? Even if the residue is similar, the power is different, and the nature of the Exaltations, from what Stormwrack said... perhaps they affect human minds in different ways... I should ask Skandi, if the Lunars know of anything like...

Oh.

Do the Lunars know of a twisting in their Exaltations, that can transform them into something alien? Of course they do; she'd even wondered about a connection when Skandi first explained the danger. Raging psychotic monsters - Chimeras - essentially real Anathema... But they have a means to control it, through the tattoos - might that offer hope for others, as well?

Hypothesis: that the residue builds over the life of the Exaltation, corrupting the soul bound to it through some strange resonance, and dissipates with the soul at death. This is why Lytek doesn't think it can have any effect; because he only sees the taint when it is small and quiescent, and no Exalt of the First Age let him study their Exaltation in situ, and since the end of the First Age there have been few opportunities. The progressive deterioration is why Arkadi changed as he did. Perhaps why Chejop changed as he did. For Lunars, it makes them into inhuman raging half-beasts, and shapeshifting accelerates it. For Solars... self-righteous, contemptuous, certain of their authority, and stress triggers episodes. For Sidereals... jaded? Complacent? Hidebound?

Divine law declares that Solars rule, Stormwrack had said. A gift of power, meant to make men and women into ideal kings and queens... and meeting a human soul, forcing it into an archetype of authority and virtue, and then further, distorting it until it breaks. Lunars, gifted with animal nature and shapeshifting power to serve as Stewards of Creation, who if they use that power to its fullest extent become maddened monstrous parodies of beasts. And Sidereals... Viziers... what is the archetype of a seer and advisor gone wrong?

She thinks of Isa's smiling face, in that office in the Forbidding Manse of Ivy, and feels a little sick.

She has Zhou and Isa to ward her, to help her if what happened in Nexus happens again. Fire Orchid has... no one, now. It's still only a guess, only a thought - but worth remembering, she thinks, and worth staying close.

The older Solar's words break her out of her reverie. The Eclipse slides down from her horse, looping the reins around her hand, and studies their surroundings, not quite sure what she's looking for. This clearing was a battlefield, presumably, from Fire Orchid's instructions earlier - bones? Rusted armor? The sun is still shining, and there are birds chirping alarm-calls from the trees, so whatever happened here, it couldn't have been too bad or too recent, not enough to shadow the face of the world.

At Zhou's words she stares at the ground for a moment longer before giving up; whatever traces of ancient tactics are written in the shape of the land, she cannot read them. But for the rest... she looks curiously at Fire Orchid, wondering if she'll supply an answer.

Spoiler

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Ireva's firing Mastery of Small Manners as they ride to try to get a sense of Fire Orchid's motivations in the scene / emotional state (if her Manip+Socialize/2 is 3 or lower - but if I remember correctly it worked the first night).

A big chunk of Ireva's theorizing about the Great Curse is totally wrong, of course, and I have no idea OOC if Fire Orchid's behavior the first night was tied to Limit Break, but the pattern seems close enough that she would think about it as a possibility.

And here is my terrible Perception+huh? roll: (2d10)[1][5](6)
EDIT: "Look! A tree!"
That would be a botch, although I suppose I could roll a stunt die

[Ascension]

The Thaumaturges

The Solar. Yes, she might be able to command unbound demons. How, Braga can't be certain, but it seems well within the power of the Sun-Chosen. That doesn't, however, excuse leaving the thing in the care of the dangerously incompetent. "Standard procedure," the man says. Has the Commanding Teacher been lucky, or has she already lost thaumaturges to this practice?

"This isn't how it should be done," he states bluntly, "There are rites and rituals to be observed... there are reasons why demon binding is a formulated process, and why it should be left to the Exalted."

He turns to the lead thaumaturge, projecting clear disdain.

"I've never heard of the 'great Three Stars,' but you may have heard of the academy in which I learned my arts. I was trained in the Heptagram itself, under the guidance of the most potent sorcerers of the Realm. My art derives directly from Silur's school, and from the sorceries of Mela and Brigid before her. My right to command demons was won before history began, when the blood of Dragons was shed to win the Primordial War, and sealed by the oaths of surrender the Yozis swore to the Exalted. I know how these things should be done, and this isn't even close."

His eyes narrow. He clenches a fist.

"I don't really care what you and your Commander can do. That it has worked for you so far is immaterial. This isn't right."

He approaches the Erymanthus itself, coming as close as he can to the beast without violating the wards around it, glaring daggers at its perverse form. It takes all his restraint not to strike the beast, not to pour raw Essence into it until its corporeal shape chars, cracks, and falls away.

"Do you have any Dragon-Blooded Outcastes in your troupe?" he asks through clenched teeth.

Braga has gotten the sense that Karal Fire Orchid is not one to be easily dissuaded from any course of action. Even by far better speakers than himself. As much as he hates it, there seems to be only one way to address this travesty.

"If so," he forces himself to say, "send them to me. If not, send your Commander. If you simply must call demons..."

This is it. If he says this, there'll be no going back.

"You need to learn how to do it properly."

Skandi

Braga regards the approach of Skandi the Wolf with some degree of caution. The life he wanted for Versino... peace, safety, a good education... has been falling apart ever since he and his girl met that man (and the Lookshyan "Man of Illusion," but the latter isn't conveniently available to despise). After her recent paranoid outbursts, and her new habit of wearing wings... it seems almost like he's on the verge of losing her entirely. But he can't blame her for wanting to spend time with Skandi... however rough-edged he might be, the Northern barbarian is of her kind. If Braga's going to stay in Versi's life, he's going to have to learn to make some concessions... learn to tolerate the barbarian's company.

So it is that he quickly replies, "Of course we have time," to Skandi's question, with all the hollow geniality a Dynastic upbringing can teach.

[DeafnotDumb]

Spoiler

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Ah, that question. Jade breathes in deep, letting her unease at risking discovery stand in for unease at death. "No." She says. "And..."

How will the Lookshy commander react to a refusal to fight? The sensible thing would be to agree to follow any order. But what she said to Zhou hadn't been untrue: murder just wasn't her style. It never had been, not even in self-defence. So far she'd been lucky enough to leave bandits with scars or mislaid memories at worst, nothing more.

"I won't go out to kill for you, Commander." She says, a little afraid. But with firm conviction nevertheless: the commander would dismiss a coward but might at least give respect to a firm pacifist. "I mean, I'll go out into the battlefield if I'm needed. I'll bring water and supplies and carry the wounded and mend the machines and, if our enemy attacks me or our comrades, I will defend us with deadly force if I must. Maybe I'll kill people then. But I won't go out as a soldier, if you see? Not with intent to kill."

Inspiration strikes.

"Not until I can stop lying, stop pretending, and I don't need this little line to mean something. I... hope you understand. It doesn't make me a very good Lookshyian, but I've never been that anyway." She smiles weakly. "Like I said, my heroics are... of a stealthier kind."

[Inspector Valin]

Skandi, Braga and Versi
Versi looks between Braga and Skandi, frowning at the Lunar's arrival. Skandi had been notable by his absence for a little while now. She'd barely noticed, focused on her own concerns, the marching and keeping an eye on Braga (if he wanted her to or not). She and Skandi hadn't really had a chance to talk for a little bit. And a private talk.... the young Lunar glanced behind her, sighing. Skandi wasn't one to talk on that, but she could guess what he was going to say.

"If it's about the wings, I'm just planning to keep them until I can put my disguise back together. I know this isn't subtle, but being able to fly away could be useful if something goes wrong about here."

Sometime Earlier
Versi crept through the camp at night, scowling at her own decision. It was stupid. She shouldn't risk angering Chuzei Zhou, let alone the still distant Fire Orchid who'd already been wound up over their situation. She shouldn't even be here still. Lookshy had plenty of defenders far more capable than her and Braga, they'd come to the wrong place. This wasn't their fight and getting mixed up in... whatever this was could only make things worse.

But that was it. Versi didn't understand this situation. There were massive gaps that still didn't make sense, possibilities and facts that she couldn't form into a clear explanation of what had been going on. How this mission had come about, what the intent of their little group was, and the exact intent of that strange older man whose name she still didn't know. She had too many puzzle pieces, and could barely even glimpse the picture. Braga wouldn't listen to her, Shard was compromized, trying to explain this to Shimoko was risky in the extreme. And the other four... as much as she wanted to trust them had ultimately become one more mystery Versi couldn't understand.

She couldn't work out the answers to all of this, not for sure. But she had to try and explain herself. Just... in case this whole thing was just one long trap that they were all merrily marching straight into. She could see the light still emanating from Fire Orchid's tent. Lifting the flap gently, she coughed as she stepped through.

"Kazei, ma'am? Can we talk?"

[Aevylmar]

We have time. Of course. The possibility of Braga ever interpreting a private message as meaning, say, not including him - well, that never crossed his mind.

"It isn't about the wings," he says, talking jovially as they move to a quieter place. "Well, not directly. It's about the fact that we'd rather like it if you could have your wings appear and disappear without good odds of your melting into a puddle of slime."

[industrious]

Spoiler: Jade Lotus

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"Mmm."

Fire Orchid's lips thin out considerably. When she chooses her words, they come out one at a time, each syllable drawn through prison bars of white ivory and gates of pale thin flesh.

"This isn't a joke, Ayesha," she says, moving closer, eyes narrowed. "I have neither the time nor the inclination for your little games."

Versino

"Hmmm?"

The grey-haired Solar nods as her eyes gaze upon the Travelers'.

"Hello little Anathema," she says with a tired smiles and a weary humor. A wrinkle at the corner catches the light from Kharal Fire Orchid's forehead just so. "And please. If you're as young as your father tells me, you can call me Fire Orchid."

She gestures towards one of the cushions, as the older woman puts the final touches of sealing wax on the scroll.

The Thaumaturges

The man's mouth opens. Closes. Opens again. Perfectly in time with each change, the leader takes a step back, shrinks in a little on himself.

No thaumaturge did not know of the Heptagram.

"No, sir," he manages to squeak out. "I'll send a messenger to her directly, sir!"

The time between the messenger leaving the tent and the arrival of the Commander passes slowly. Everyone is tense, frozen, sweat beading down their foreheads. IN the middle of the circle, the demon runs a thick brown-pink tongue across his lips, the appendage languishing over each millimeter of flesh.

"Chozei," the voice of the Commander says behind him. "Is there a problem with my thaumaturges?"

Through the Travail of Ages

"They came ten thousand strong," the aged Solar says quietly. "This forest was not here then; it was a great plain and there" she points into the distance "was a great manse, a fortress forged of gleaming alloy. The defenders held for as long as they could, but were overrun; the manse was taken and sacked; the dead were left to rot under the gaze of the Sun. Five, maybe six hundred years ago."

Kharal Fire Orchid walks towards the clearing as if it were a temple; she takes the surroundings in with reverent gaze, and nods.

"I was here."

[Ifni]

Through the Travail of Ages

"Your Exaltation wasn't bound away from the world, then," Ireva says quietly, walking over to join the other Solar, but halting a respectful step away. "I remember fragments of the First Age, and what history and legend call the Great Uprising. But not what came after, until this life."

She looks around, trying to see what Fire Orchid sees - but there is only a pleasant forest clearing, quiet in the morning light. What would it be like, to stand once more in the chamber where Arkadi died?

Dragons willing, I'll never know. Let that past bury its dead.

"Your past incarnation was among the defenders, Kazei?" It's a guess, but held for as long as they could suggests a certain sympathy, and they came ten thousand strong... doesn't sound like she was with the attackers, at least.

Five or six hundred years ago - the Uprising was earlier, from what she's heard. The founding of the Scarlet Dynasty, the defeat of the raksha, maybe?

[Ascension]

The Thaumaturges

"Kazei," Braga acknowledges, saluting the commander, a bit more crisply than the last time he did so. His resolve almost falters as he faces her, though... her manner is intimidating, to say the least. He does not relish being forced to question her, but he can hardly deny that there's a problem after he's had her summoned here.

"Their understanding is incomplete, ma'am, but that is not the problem," he begins. "The problem lies with your... Well, with your policies, ma'am. With all due respect."

His eyes drop to her feet. He can't do this looking straight at her, he simply can't. He tries to remember what it was like in the Realm, where even the mightiest generals know to defer to graduates of the Heptagram on matters of demonology, but the truth of the matter is that no great generals consulted with him then. This uncomfortable experience is wholly new to him. The words come, but haltingly and artlessly, the confidence he had shown in speaking with the chief thaumaturge having entirely evaporated.

"Relatively safe handling of demons... and it truly is only relatively safe, mind you... depends on careful observation of certain rites and rituals... and I mean sorcerous arts, not thaumaturgy. Nor, well, nor Solar magics either, ma'am. It's written in the surrender oaths of the Yozis. If you really think you need to call demons, it ought to be done correctly. Through sorcery."

He forces himself to look at her again, trembling a little with anticipation of what he might see in her face.

"I can teach you. And it would be safer, more reliable, and longer-lasting than this crude thaumaturgy."

The Lunars

Braga sighs internally. This again. This superstitious paranoia of Versino turning into a beast, or now a "puddle of slime."

"And why is that supposed to be a threat?" he asks, unable to keep a tinge of annoyance out of his voice (and unable to keep that voice from interjecting into the conversation), "There's no record of such occurrences in the writings of and about Stewards of the First Age, none that I have found. Why would the Chosen of Luna be imperiled by their own powers? I still say that's the kind of story Immaculate missionaries would invent to keep townsfolk scared of 'bestial Anathema.'"

[Aevylmar]

Skandi presses his hands against his temples.

"Braga," he says. "Do we need to get Ireva and have her use her lie-detection charms and oathbinding? Because I'm perfectly willing to if it will get you to please trust the person who is a Lunar now, and who has been a Lunar for a great many years, and who has talked to Lunars old and young, over records that may or may not have been altered in the last several thousand years."

He sighs.

'"More to the point, that was a danger which Versino has been offered a way to solve. The message I'm passing on is this is this. The Unblooded' - that's you - 'is to tell her Story and be given her Form' - that means go through a ritual summary of your life and whatnot, and then be given magical shaping-protection tattoos. 'One must stand for her,' - that's me - 'and one will scribe.' That's the other Lunar, the Loremaster, whomever that may be."

[Maugan Ra]

Through the Travail of Ages

"They came ten thousand strong," the aged Solar says quietly. "This forest was not here then; it was a great plain and there" she points into the distance "was a great manse, a fortress forged of gleaming alloy. The defenders held for as long as they could, but were overrun; the manse was taken and sacked; the dead were left to rot under the gaze of the Sun. Five, maybe six hundred years ago."

Kharal Fire Orchid walks towards the clearing as if it were a temple; she takes the surroundings in with reverent gaze, and nods.

"I was here."

"No burial rites?"

It is, perhaps, a strange thing for Zhou to focus on, out of all the myriad possible implications in Fire Orchid's story, but it is one that resonates with him all the same. Respect for a dead opponent is one of the key virtues drilled into graduates of Lookshyan academies. It is a tradition born of both Honour and pragmatism - no one benefits from the land behind their army being overrun by a horde of hungry ghosts,

"Six centuries ago, near the founding of Lookshy... I cannot think what foe might have campaigned in such a fashion." He murmurs softly, half to himself. "Wyld Barbarians, perhaps? Certainly there would be plenty, in the wake of the Crusade..."

[Inspector Valin]

Versi, Braga and Skandi
Versi acted as she often had these last few days. She stayed silent, watching the two adults converse and thinking to herself. The young Lunar looked between the two of them as Braga interjected, frowning slightly as she shook her head. She waited for Skandi to finish what he'd come here fore, his message from the Silver Pact, before speaking up, looking towards Braga, her tone...gentler than it had been recently. This situation was serious, in more than one way. "I did feel something, when I... shifted, I guess. Kind of like a spark, a little bit of essence inside of me, but distinct from me, growing stronger each time. Weak for the moment, but..."

Versi broke away from her train of thought, humming to herself briefly before looking back to the Wolf. "That's what the tattoos are for. To stabilize that, right? Dampen the Exaltation a little, make shifting as many times as I want safe?" It fit the theory and had been what she'd assumed both from Skandi's past descriptions and her own experiance. Looking down towards the ground, Versino chuckled a little. "And they come complete with a debt to both you and the Lunar who affixes those tattoos. Because that safety amounts to saving my life, and that's how Lunar society works. Always honour your debts." The last few statements are not questions exactly, Skandi had outlined the basics of Lunar debts before, but the young traveller looked up towards her Elder, curiously. She needed to know that she'd understood this.

Versi and Fire Orchid
"I... don't really know how old I am, ma'am. But thank you."

Versi took the seat, smiling slightly nervously at the word Anathema. I'm not that. Not even like that. No matter who says it, or how it's meant, it's not true. Still, no sense in getting worked up about it. The other matter was weighing on Versi's mind. "I just... " The youth sat there for a while, not able to progress past that easily. But after a few seconds, and a deep breath, she begun. "There's some strange things about our mission out here. And I wanted to try and explain some of them to you. Because they might be important."

Versi closed her eyes, the young Lunar visualizing people and events as they had played out. The briefing, their time aboard the Frostwing. One thing after another that in retrospect had left her ill at ease. "Our mission was set up by an older man, I think. I call him the Justicar. His hair was a little grey here and there, but he still seemed very confident. He didn't tell me or Braga about Tepet Xet's presence. Before our mission out here, I accused Bright Shard of being Anathema directly to him, describing shape-changing magic she'd used that dwarfed Terrestrial Sorcery. He didn't react even a little to that, he still sent her on the mission and didn't seem to care about this point. I'm as sure as I can be that Bright Shard reports to him, and through him to whoever sent us out here. And I'm pretty certain that Tepet Xet is also some sort of spy. Perhaps working for the Justicar, or at least known to him."

The young Lunar frowned, closing her eyes whilst thinking back. Braga had laughed off her earlier theory, and Versi still had no proof Sidereals even existed beyond Skandi's word. Best to take this a step at a time. Slowly, she brought a hand up, straightening her unkempt hair as she continued. "She was talking to Ireva after the battle. Both of them were speaking Old Realm fluently, out of earshot of the others. Xet claimed in the past that she hadn't studied enough to learn even the basics of the Immaculate Styles... but she's familiar with the tongue of the First Age? And can speak it like she's a goddess herself?" Plus there was the fact that she'd had an easy chance to kill Versi and hadn't taken it... but that was something even now the young warrior was a touch embarrased about to confess to easily. Though Fire Orchid might detect a slight reddening of Versi's cheeks as the memory crossed the young Lunar's mind.

[DeafnotDumb]

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Ahha, how very interesting. She was into something big here! So, how to proceed?

Well, first step, don't ask "Ayesha who?" That was kind of a giveaway. Try to work out from context who this woman is.

Powerful enough to have the Commander at her beck and call, and mysterious enough to constantly play games with her. Probably willing to kill, from the context of the conversation. Almost certainly not an inferior and - bless heaven! - likely a woman who regularly engaged in strange behaviour. How to react?

Jade is not a strong woman, but in a situation like this the physiology is far more important than muscle. Softly but suddenly, the grip of Shard's hands within Orchid's stiffens, no longer the grateful petitioner but the stern superior. The Commander sees the scales fallen from Shard's eyes, now hard and flinty and unamused, and the conwoman nods the mildest concession. Not a private conversation she mouths.

Play along. She commands.Plausible deniability.

She undoes the grip, finally breaking the commanding grip and becoming Bright Shard again, searching for something to write on. She pulls out a bamboo scroll and a carving knife, and etches out a brief message. Hm. Wasn't there some stories about the power of names...?

"I have a message for you. If that's okay?" Bright Shard apologizes. "It's from a friend like... me."

She hands over the scroll. 'DON'T SPEAK MY NAME TODAY' is written on it. 'Ayesha' taps the message with the hilt of her knife and hands it over, indicating the start of a hidden conversation and her irritation at the commander's faux pas, and waits with sharp eyes that do not match the rest of her face.

[Ascension]

The Lunars

Braga bites back a bitter question about just how and why Lunar oral history is supposed to be superior to written records in reliability, given all the faults of human memory, when Versi surprises him with confirmation that she has in fact felt the effect that Skandi keeps talking about. That raises a whole crop of new questions, of course... if Lunar Exaltation is truly flawed, when and how did it develop that flaw? Do similar dangers lurk in other Exaltations? Could all the tales of Anathema have a grounding in fact?

No, he can't go that far. To accept that would invalidate all his choices since meeting Versino, and all the secrets of the oldest lore, all those ancient whispers of what the First Age of men had been like before it fell into darkness and into death. So the Chosen of Luna have a problem. It must be of more recent vintage... perhaps even the fruit of some terrible scheme to justify the villification of the Anathema.

This subject calls for further research.

In the meantime, he finally contents himself with silence. Versi is asking the right questions... he raised her well enough for that.

[Ifni]

(The following conversations occur the evening of the day that Xet and Fire Orchid exchanged oaths)

Confession

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It had been a peaceful walk through the camp until a woman had descended on top of him like a sack of very clingy potatoes. Zhou is a handsome enough man that this is not an unprecedented occurrence, but it is certainly bizarre when that woman is apparently Bright Shard.

"Dear Chuzei," she trills, "do I have something to tell you!"

There's something... off here. Whoever it is looks like Bright Shard, to be sure, but it's somebody who's copied the looks and forgot to put in the manner. Where Bright Shard has a personal space that barely goes past her skin, this woman's is large enough for her to risk throwing an arm around her commanding officer's shoulder. Where Bright Shard's femininity is quiet and shy with the rare bubbly giggle, this one is as expansive as one of those expensive Realm perfumes that can invade neighboring countries. And, of course, the voice is wrong. Far too boldly cheerful. All in all -

The woman notices her arm on the Chuzei's shoulder, retracts it, and all of a sudden becomes Bright Shard, shy, diffident Dragonblooded, once again.

"I think we should probably do this someplace private?" she asks. "And you can get your wife to test my statements, if you want. Is she nearby?" The woman cranes her head, looking for the man's better half.

"No," Zhou says slowly, gradually dispelling the tension that had gripped his entire frame at the sudden ambush. "She's taking care of something else right now. But I suppose I have a few moments to talk."

He crosses his arms and studies the... well, what precisely she is remains up for debate. "Not many places one can expect privacy in a military camp. Even a tent pretty much relies on the politeness of your neighbors. Unless you want to find the perimeter of the camp, the best solution I have is to keep your voice low and walk while you talk."

Bright Shard nods and entwines her arm with Zhou's as she walks along. "You'll have to pardon me," she says. "I'm not too used to confessing, so expect a few slips here and there." Carefully, she leads the Chuzei away from his quiet walk to the louder surroundings of the heart of the camp, where their conversation will struggle to be overheard.

"Well," she starts, "you've probably worked out that I'm a spy." It had taken rather some consideration before going with this, but... there was lying to protect your skin, and there was lying to the line of defense against the Mask. Doing the latter risked eventually failing at the former. Without the bulwark of Lookshy against his invasion, the Scavenger Lands would be... unpleasant.

This meant that, well... she had to be careful. To try and deceive the Chuzei about nothing important. It meant not lying, as such, but saying the truth in such a way that no one would draw the right conclusions about her.

"I currently work for the man whose appearance I assumed on board the Frostwing," she says, "the one who made your face go into a really funny expression." She smirks at him. "I know him as Ren Xuhuan. He commanded me to spy on this group - I took that as an order to test and probe you, see how good and loyal a Chuzei the Anathema-lover was, pardon the hypocrisy. That bit was my own initiative: he was much more interested in Versi and Braga."

She navigates him around a fire, where some soldiers are being more boisterous than soldiers usually are, and glares one off with the information that this is her honey. "I'll imagine you'll want to contact him right now," she murmurs, "but before you do listen. One: I used to have a Jade Chakram before he took it and replaced it with the weapon of a Solar: hardly helpful. Two: I received barely more briefing than what you told me as my Chuzei. And three: I'm a far better saboteur than a spy. At first I thought his orders were an excuse to send a saboteur to destroy this general without actually saying so, but I'm suspecting he just wished to be rid of me."

She shrugs. "This doesn't mean he's a traitor to Lookshy, I'll admit. A freelancer in this game often gets burned for whatever reason. Feel free to confirm with him who I am... but please give me warning before you do. I don't trust him..."

She stops and takes her arm away. They're standing in the shadow of a tent, just two friends, perhaps two lovers, perhaps two comrades, having a quiet little chat. "...which puts me at your command, I suppose, Chuzei. Do you think you have any use for a irredeemable liar with utterly perfect hair?" She holds up her hands. "No rush. This must be rather sudden for you."

"Hmm," Zhou says thoughtfully. "Typically, one would not say 'I am an irredeemable liar' when trying to get someone to trust you. Well, unless you were shooting for the 'surprisingly honest' angle, anyway."

He sighs. "Still, that makes an unfortunate amount of sense. To me, Ren Xuhuan is known as Teresu Xan, a member of the intelligence directorate. His actual name is probably something else entirely. From what I've seen of him, I can easily believe that he would press-gang an outsider into working for him. What his aims are... well, I have very little hope of working those out, and frankly he's been irritating enough that I've stopped caring and am back to using my own initiative for a lot of thing."

At this point he sweeps his eyes up and down the self-proclaimed spy in an assessing fashion, lips quirking slightly as he notes that the comment about the hair was actually accurate. "Well, if we're shooting for honesty right now... what can you do? I'm assuming some level of craftsmanship, since trying to pass yourself off as one without knowing anything at all seems slightly foolish."

The spy shrugs. "Irredeemable liar is what I am, Chuzei, in the same way as being a soldier makes you a killer. How we use these things is what makes us good or bad - otherwise, it's just what we do." In answer to Zhou's question, she gets out something from her robes, a series of brightly coloured tubes.

"These are the flares the army uses," she says. "They signal ambushes or advancing enemies. Red for Anathema, white for Immaculates, various other combinations for other things... and the green one is only to be lit once a password is given and I still don't know what it does." She puts the tubes back away. "That, I hope, demonstrates my pickpocketing abilities and how a good lie can get people to tell me what I want. What else..."

Her finger taps her chin. "This army is organized among standard lines - Fangs, Talons, what have you, with a changing location for their armoury. Quite safe. They're short on metal for arrowheads and the like, but they're good on money and food... which is odd, because nobody seems to be seeing enough foraging or supply carts for what they get. The commander is much loved and respected and probably misses her husband very much: I do have a plan that involves impersonating the man and using that to unbalance her..."

She trails off, getting a good, long look at where Zhou's expression is headed, and clears her throat.

"... so, not that plan. Are we cooperating with her now, or...? Because I've heard she loathes Immaculates, and that and the white flare makes me very worried for the state of our prettiest Immaculate. Courting is difficult with a headless woman."

She frowns.

"What else? I can change to look like whoever I want, pick a pocket or open a lock with ease, make passable forgeries, hold a crowd attentive or angry or sad with a tune or a word, meddle with memories and seduce whoever I like, if I don't mind the attention. I'm also generically fabulous," she finishes with a smile. "And, yes, craft, though it's more of a hobby than a calling. I'm not very good at humility, though. It would just be dishonest."

She smirks. "So, that's what's been happening with me. What frenzied adventures have you gotten up to?"

"Oh, the usual. Negotiating with powerful people, trying to get them on-side for saving my city and then the world, that sort of thing," Zhou says simply. "Xet should be fine. She's had to swear a binding oath not to harm or undermine this army or Lookshy, but in return the General has promised not to harm her or work attack the Realm. Which is probably about the best we can hope for, really."

A pause. "On which note... yes, we're cooperating now, and I know that's in violation of our orders. Several reasons for that one, most notably being that this army is en route to support Lookshy against the Mask and we need every bit of help we can get. There's also the fact that, well... whatever name she uses here, the General was born Kharal Fire Orchid of Lookshy. Family is... kind of a big thing back home."

He crosses his arms again, a thin smile on his face. "Moving past that... you aren't Dragon-Blooded, are you." It's not really a question. "It hardly matters to me, since my wife and the General are both Solars and I apparently have two Lunars under my nominal command already, but it would be good to know the truth."

The spy nods understandingly on the subject of family. Her experience with relatives, it says, has not been pleasant.

"Truth? My dear, I did mention the irredeemable liar tag, didn't I?" Shard holds the expression for three seconds before shrugging. "Solar," she states, trying to work out if it's Versi or Ireva who's the other one. "I glow gold. How did you end up marrying an Anathema? That sounds..." her nose twitches. "... like a hideously bad play, honestly."

"But back onto the all-devouring subject of me... how much of this do you wish to share with the rest of the group?" She shrugs. "It might cause division, or distraction, and Xet, I note, is certainly spying for the Realm in some fashion... too truthful would be unwise. And, perhaps more importantly..." her fingers drum out a little tune. "... I tend to have to plan on the spot in my job. I won't be able to come to you for verification. So is there anything I should try and avoid doing, up to and including the obvious? I'd hate to cause a big explosion only to realize you wanted one no more than ten meters in diameter."

She holds up a finger to forestall his opinions. "As for my line... spy and saboteur yes, but not an assassin. I simply wouldn't be good at it. I'd advise you go to the wolf for that."

"Politics, more than a play, really. We were in Yu-Shan at the time - very pretty place, buildings literally built of gold and Orichalcum, the whole works. Anyway, a member of the Bureau of Destiny told us under truth-detecting Magic that Lookshy's fate would be considerably improved if we got married." Zhou looks embarrassed for a moment or two. "I... may also have needed a way to dodge the consequences of being rather rude to several divinities of rather intimidating power. Interesting discovery - gods can actually be kind of *******s, if they decide they don't like you."

He shrugs. "The rest of the group knows most of this already, to one degree or another. So, I don't much care how much you share with them. As for Xet..." Here his smile is actually rather close to a smirk. "There is rather more to Tepet Xet than is apparent to even your discerning eyes. I'm not honestly that concerned about her spying... other possibilities, sure, but on that one I feel fairly safe."

"That does lead neatly onto the next answer though. I'm quite sure there will be other spies in this camp - you don't get an army this large without someone unreliable slipping in somewhere, or otherwise observing it. So, as a general guideline, try and find out who that is and who they are reporting to. Some evidence would be nice as well, no I don't care if you have to steal it so long as it's genuine. Try to avoid burning anything down or doing anything that would seriously hamper the army as a whole, or if you must, make sure there's either a solid justification behind it or no proof that we were responsible."

"I..." Shard's face goes through an interesting number of expressions as she hears the story behind the marriage, starting from confusion and circling around the whole gamut before ending up at confusion again. "... see."

Apparently these people had been through rather more than she'd anticipated. She should probably not underestimate them. Therefore, she should take on the role of slightly overwhelmed Chozei, which apart from the 'Chozei' bit wouldn't need any deception.

She rubs her lips together in thought. "Do you ever feel," she confesses, "that you've just wandered on stage at the tail end of the third act of a very long play, only you haven't got a script or a cue and you suspect that half of the actors are working to different lines anyway? Because I do."

She breathes in deep, reestablishing her usual irrelevance. "Well, it's good to hear that my affections for dear Xet were in good taste. Is it against army etiquette to ask for courting tips? As for your orders -"

She grins, and pulls in close.

"-soon, prepare to meet Rising Echo, superb pickpocket, marvellous thief and decidedly subpar spy. If they don't attract the attention you want I am somebody's monkey. Not sure whose. Probably the Empress's, the way things are going."

She taps around her feet for a moment, business conversation exhausted. "So... Yu-Shan? I have to hear what that is like. It is decididly unfair that you got to do and I did not." She wags a finger. "Decadence is much more suited to Lookshy outcasts than Lookshy captains, I'll have you know."

"Yu-Shan." Zhou confirms with a nod. "City of the Gods and all that. As it turns out, when people are powerful and don't need food or sleep, they become rather obsessed with politics. Well, social maneuvering, rumour-mongering, all that. And apparently one of the biggest factors in that game is 'who has the nicest palace'."

He shakes his head. "It was very beautiful, but by the Dragons, it was a pit of snakes. We had people who claimed they would love to help against the Mask, but were afraid it would get them accused of treason. It's probably a good thing we left when we did - I might have burned the place down out of sheer irritation otherwise."

A chuckle. "Still, you probably could get there yourself if you wanted. There's a gate not too far from Lookshy. Of course, it's guarded by a squad of giant lion made out of Orichalcum, who appear to basically be the magical police force. I know you said you were good at sneaking, but..."

He trails off, and surely the Lookshyan officer is too straight-laced to be honestly baiting her like this...

Shard raises and eyebrow. When this does not prove sufficient for her purposes, she raises it further. "Really, Chuzei?" she manages. "On me? Now that is blatant manipulation without even a whiff of Hesiesh's smoke to help you along. A nest of vipers should have prepared you better than that - you must have got out right on time."

She sighs and stretches. "Ah, Yu Shan. How grand you make it sound. Well, when the Mask is gone, my treatment means I no longer have much tying me to Lookshy..."

and then there's a sudden right angled turn into a different topic, forcing Zhou's gears to jump to keep up.

"...unlike you, officer I-married-an-Anathema-no-mind-control-I-swear. I'm thinking you and your wife will need more than my cooking lessons to get a good impression from your family, let alone the city. Please tell me you've got a plan there."

"Of course I have a plan. Unfortunately, I get the distinct impression that telling you about it will only encourage you to start making suggestions." Zhou says dryly. "Also, that's thoroughly personal business, and I do remain your superior officer on paper at the very least."

"My dear Chuzei, I will find out," Shard lines out. "The question you want to ask yourself is: do I want her to find out via me telling her, or do I want to find out through explosions, drink, drama and far, far too much lying? I am already in the position of giving your wife cooking lessons so she can impress your family. Finding more from there will not be difficult."

"Ireva was a resistance fighter. She knows how to resist interrogation," Zhou responds blandly. "And if she wants to tell you, that is her decision. Seeing as we didn't exactly write our plans down anywhere, having one of us tell you is about the only way you're going to find out."

A pause. "Which, I reiterate, is not something you should be trying, as it is none of your business. Beyond simple courtesy, I am a scion of Hesiash and a veteran military officer. Prying into my personal life is an excellent way to get yourself set on fire. Or for me to make sure all your alcohol explodes, whichever seems more convenient at the time."

Bright Shard pouts. "I knew there was a reason I preferred not to tell people my plans," she mutters, and frowns as a series of words sound off in her left ear, silent to everybody else. She takes a moment to listen, head cocked to the side.

"If you'll pardon me, Chuzei," she says, "I think that was your wife calling. Was there anything else you wanted to speak about before I go?"

Zhou shakes his head. "I'm sure I'll end up regretting this conversation to some extent," he says dryly. "But no, that is all."

In Sake Veritas

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In the falling shadows of early evening, Ireva wanders between the neat rows of tents. Fire Orchid's troops are efficient and well-organized, and the evening camp has taken shape with remarkable speed, although fires are still being built and trenches are still being dug. It's been a long day on a short night's sleep, and it's not over yet, but at least it's been an improvement on the previous day.

She'd sent the message a few minutes earlier: Shard, Ireva here. I just escaped from sword practice: want to continue your Riverspeak lessons? Sake provided. Meet me at the command tent.

It is not long before there is the sound of running feet from near the command tend, hastily slowing to a respectful crawl just before the corner. Bright Shard turns into view, greeting Ireva with a smile and a wave.

"Hello," she says in accented Riverspeak. "Sake, yes? Should I teaching... be teaching cooking also?"

She frowns. "Also, also, also..." WIth a sigh she switches to Low Realm.

"What's 'as well' in Riverspeak?" she asks, reaching for the Sake. Ah, if only she had a game to play while learning this - that would make memorization much easier...

"Teke," Ireva answers in Low Realm, "but the sentence structure is a bit different, as well." She holds the sake bottle away from Bright Shard, with a teasing grin. "Let's go find somewhere to sit down. We can build a fire, if you think you can actually make those military rations tasty."

There's not much privacy in the camp, but still, a Solar - or two - sitting on her own is unlikely to be bothered. Ireva waves off a few invitations to join fireside groups with a smile and a quick chatter of Riverspeak; Shard can follow about a third of it.

The Eclipse eventually finds a relatively open spot near one of the woodpiles, pulls a couple of logs over for them to sit on (not small logs, either - the diminutive woman is surprisingly strong, at least if you don't know what she is), and hands Shard the sake bottle as she begins to assemble a pile of kindling and sticks for a fire. The paper label wrapped around the bottle is... written in Riverspeak, unfortunately.

"How has your day been?" Ireva asks slowly, in simple Riverspeak, as she extracts a flint and steel from her pockets and begins trying to start the fire.

"Has been..." Shard starts, stealing the words from Ireva before frowning and having to think up her own. "...excited. Lot of talking, looking, of, of, of...." Shard winces, and lets out a string of Riverspeak names of vegetables and cooking utensils in what is a very polite series of curses. "Pardon my," she says, and negotiates with a nearby soldier in pidgin Riverspeak and Realm for their pots and pans. After having satisfied the woman that she'll get a share of the meal, she returns to the conversation, putting the pan on the fire to preheat.

"...busy!" She exclaims at last, keeping back from speaking Realm through sheer force of will. "Busy with a lot of talking and looking and searching. How was yours? Did you talk to..." Shard's eyes dart as she searches for the riverspeak for 'Commander' and then meekly surrendered. "...big vegetable?"

Ireva laughs out loud. "I would love to see her face if you called her that," she says in Low Realm, and then switches back to Riverspeak. "I spoke with the Commander, yes, in the morning and a little later in the day. Busy day for me as well."

She takes out her ration pack and sets it near the now-happily-burning fire, with a faintly hopeful look at the pan, and then sits down on the other log.

"You are a very interesting person, Bright Shard," she says, in fluent High Realm. "I heard a bit about your chat with Zhou earlier today - mostly, admittedly, by eavesdropping on gossiping soldiers. And after that fight with the deathknights, well, I think we both know what the other is." She smiles, and pokes the fire with a stick. "But inveterate curiosity is one of my besetting flaws, and I think we might have that in common."

"So, if we wanted to make this lesson more interesting... want to play a game? I'll guess something that I think is true about you, and you can tell me if I'm right or wrong, or choose not to answer. If I'm right or you don't answer, you have to take a drink. If I'm wrong, I have to take a drink. And then you get a turn, same rules. Or you can go first, if you like." She grins. "And we keep going until we run out of sake or one of us calls a halt." She leaves unmentioned, for now, the extra bottles of sake in her pockets.

The shy, diffident Bright Shard looks at the drink and, with surprising speed, takes it and slathers a bit of sake onto the pot before setting it on the ground between the women. Then she grabs the military rations and, with evident distaste at the contents, begins disassembling it and throwing the choice bits onto the pot. Soon there is a popping stir fry right next to the game.

Shard takes the bottle and takes a small swing. "Not Dragonblooded," she says in timid High Realm, safe from the surrounding ears. "That's... correct."

She points at Ireva, remembering the details. There's only two options here, and since there's no visible fangs or fur... "Sun child." She guesses in Riverspeak, and pushes the bottle along.

The woman's slim and small, and Jade can make her waste time on obvious questions. This shouldn't be difficult at all.

Much, much later, hungover Future Jade will look back and curse sober Past Jade for her foolishness, but such is life.

Ireva smiles, and inclines her head to the other woman, and takes a swig.

"Yes. The term is Solar Exalt," she says in the same language, and then switches back to High Realm, keeping her voice soft: "You as well." She pushes the bottle back to Shard. Start with easy questions, to put her at her ease, let her think she has the situation under control.

The thoughts going through Shard's mind are initially the same, but her earlier conversation with Zhou rises in her memory and raises a few flags. This is no mere diplomat - this is a woman who has travelled to Yu Shan and, apparently, engaged in a marriage for the purpose of prophecy and politics. Treat her as if she was better than you.

And from that, remember the adage - the best fears not the second-best but the amateur, for they have no idea what the fool will do.

Hm....

Shard gives attention to the food before returning the drink, letting her mind work over the information she has. What would surprise, be different... Thorns past too touchy, marriage too confident...

There has to be something.

"Not an only child." She murmurs. It's a safe bet, given the family dynamics of practically everywhere, and will give her a chance to think of something truly workable in the meantime.

Ireva blinks, and studies the other woman more closely. Of everything she could have asked she chose to go with that? She's either fishing, or... she has some hint of Ireva's background. The latter wouldn't be too hard, if she's been talking to Skandi or Zhou. If she's from a Realm satrapy, or the Isle, herself...

Interesting.

She nods friendly acknowledgement to the other woman, murmurs, "That's right," and takes another swallow of sake.

"Your service to Lookshy is not by your own choice," she says after a moment, in High Realm.

Jade hides her frown. Has her delaying action accidentally touched a nerve? Well, the only thing to do is to go with it and see what she can find out, and hint supernatural investigation skills while pleading supernatural luck...

Then there's how to answer the question. This is one of the few where the answer of Bright Shard, spy, would differ from that of Jade Lotus, conwoman. The simple thing would be to refuse the drink, speak, and let her disguise defeat the truth telling ears... but there is something sacred about these games to those who've lived on the streets. A compromise, then. Only one, diplomat girl - you'll have to give something in return if you want another.

Bright Shard remains tight-lipped and then, with an enigmatic smirk that is unlike the woman, picks up and drinks. She does not elaborate whether it is an admissible or a refusal to speak.

"Family," she speaks again. The drink seems to be loosening her up. "E... E... strangered to them. Separated from them." She smiles lightly. "Lonely carrot."

"Carrot, really? Damn, I thought I'd at least rate a comparison to a shallot." Ireva takes the bottle, studies the label for a moment, and then drinks. "Good guess, though."

It really is rather good sake. She's glad she stocked up before leaving Nexus. It's amazing what people will say when alcohol has loosened their tongues, and there seems to be a certain prideful resistance among certain Guildsmen to the prospect that a five-foot-tall woman might outdrink them.

And no denial, good. She was already fairly sure of that from the results of her truth-reading back in Lookshy, but now Shard knows that she knows. And her answer suggests a certain commitment to honesty in this interaction. Well, all right, that last part might just be wishful thinking.

So what's Lookshy's leverage, to force a Solar to serve them? Blackmail, threats to Shard or those close to her? Maybe step away from this for now, try to determine more of her history...

"You grew up in a satrapy of the Realm," she guesses, and this one is truly a guess.

Shard nods her head and pushes back the bottle, downing more. She hopes that the other woman is starting to feel the effects, because she knows it's not long before she will. Surely... she's smaller than even than Jade, and probably without the same appetite.Yup, no problem there.

Family, family, where to go... the food, first. A burnt meal does no one any good. From her robes the conwoman produces a small bottle of spice paste and adds it, stirring with her left hand while thinking on the question. Anathema, left in Thorns, pretending to be a Dynast...

...that might be something. Jade rarely pretended to be a Dynast when other options were there, and Ireva had mentioned some sort of surname. A mask often told you something about the face that wore it.

"Dynast." She guesses. It's a loan word, and Shard corrects the Riverspeak-free sentence into something more educating. "From a Dynast family?"

So not from the Isle itself. That... could be good or bad. Ireva goes over to offer a hand with the food - "Do you need flour? Other spices?"

At Shard's question, she picks up the bottle and takes a drink, but offers no response. Of course, that's essentially as good as an affirmation in this context. There wasn't any scorn or hatred in the word Dynast that she could hear, but Shard might just be good at hiding her feelings.

If she's asking these questions... maybe she hasn't talked to Skandi or Zhou. Maybe this is all new deduction. Am I that obvious? She suppresses a faint shiver at the thought. The sake is providing a pleasant warmth, like a banked fire, but her head still feels clear, for the moment.

Shard had said earlier that she'd served Satrapy Dynasts, but could that be trusted? A skilled cook, a singer, a crafter better than any Lookshyan sorcerer-engineer, a master of disguise... She'd known the constraints on an Immaculate of the second level. But she'd also known how to cook Realm street food. Poverty, or wealth? What had she left behind, when she left her home, and had that departure been due to her Exaltation or something else?

There is an... edge, to Shard, buried beneath the shyness and eagerness to please. An audacity, as well, as shown by her attempt to pose as Teresu Xan. A woman of many masks. Is that something she learned as a Solar, or something that predates it? In some ways, Shard reminds her achingly of lost friends in Thorns, names only she now remembers - but is that because she grew up in the same sort of environment, or because she became a fugitive after her Exaltation?

Take a guess. Worst case, you have to take a drink and she feels more confident.

"You, on the other hand, grew up in poverty," she says blandly, watching the other Solar for a reaction. If her first guess is wrong, if Shard's family was wealthy and she was forced to leave them behind, there will surely be at least a little resentment or outrage there. Or amusement, depending.

Shard shoos away the amateur from her food, feeling her head at once tightening and lightening. She risks a glance over to see how the drink is affecting Ireva, but the damnable woman seems to be sitting up fine. What, three sips, and this? It was potent drink...

The head is getting worse. It is as much to alleviate this feeling as to admit to the truth that Shard takes the drink and sips it. It's probably not so bad - she was planning to stick close to the truth anyway. She can always create a teenager adoption from rich Dynasts later if she likes...

...urgh, why would she think that would work? Drat the drink. She needs a surprise, now.

The problem with Jade's mind, from the viewpoint of her opponents, is that it freewheels, flicking through random ideas until it finds one that looks interesting or workable and applying it right now. Through the drink, Jade recalls an offhand comment Zhou had made about Xet, how there was more to her than Shard could see... it might mean something...

"You know Xet," she risks, handing back the bottle with confidence. Project confidence, that was the thing. "From before."

Before what? is the question on Ireva's lips, but that's a question that reveals far more than it asks. Does Shard suspect she knew Xet before her Exaltation, or simply before that morning in Lookshy? So instead she shakes her head, not in denial but in surface amusement, and takes a swig. "Can't answer that one either, sorry."

The Eclipse hears her voice slurring faintly, and exaggerates it for effect; the sake is starting to get to her, but it won't hurt to pretend to be more impaired than she really is. Shard clearly has a higher tolerance than certain Guildsmen, or maybe is just more stubborn.

Shard jumps off from Ireva's drink, taking it as an admission or at least a chance to talk about her favourite Immaculate. "Like her," she croons. "She's smart. Great hair. Like..." She frowns, trying to think of the right vegetable. "...seaweed! Pretty seaweed!"

Ireva is almost absolutely certain this is the drink at work. It'd better be, for Shard's romantic hopes to have any prospects. She eyes the pan dubiously, noticing that the bottle of spice paste is still trailing red dust into the pan from where it's loosely held in the other Solar's left hand: "Does it really need that much spice, Shard? As for my guess..."

Shard opens her mouth to object that the spice is fine, and then notices the bottle and yelps. Then the smell of burning comes to her nose and she yelps again, and with a cry of "Pause the game!" turns her attention absolutely to the food. Several minutes, one begged slip of milk and a neat expenditure of Essence later, the meal is saved, and certainly much better than military rations they would otherwise get. Shard hands the owner of the pans their portions and settles down to listen.

Cut off, Ireva takes the time to consider as she helps the other Solar carry the food over to the neighboring fire. Grew up in poverty, but likes fine clothing and speaks High Realm like a noblewoman. She had done something impressive enough to cause her to Exalt as... what? Her anima had not flared throughout that battle. Not, by all appearances, a leader of armies, or an orator of blasphemous truths. She might be one of the Unclean, more skilled than any Lookshyan sorcerer-engineer, or a Deceiver... certainly the way she tries to solve her problems is by deception. But Ireva knows what skills come easily to her, and Shard strikes her as far more spy than diplomat. If she had grown up on the streets, and Exalted as one of the Wretched...

"Even before you Exalted, by the standards of the lands where you lived, you were an outlaw," Ireva says - but there is no accusation or disapproval in her voice, rather warm amused respect and recognition. "A crook, a con-woman, a shyster. And a bloody good one."

And let's see where this fishing expedition goes.

The drink has worked its way through the conwoman's head. "Bloody good." She agrees, aping the diplomat's Riverspeak, and goes for a swing. It is rather deeper than her initial conservative attempts. Companionably, she slides closer to Ireva, taking the excuse to steal some food of her plate. "Was.... was.... was... biggest vegetable there was." She winks.

Part of Jade's mind is still working fine, though. Asking more on Xet directly was probably a dead end, given the silence. She could go back to family, or ask indirectly....

"You," Shard triumphantly exclaims, "think Zhou is pretty!"

No, Jade's brain protests. Concentrate.

"Very pretty!"

If you keep this up we're gonna go get a new body, see if we don't!

"Very, very pretty!"

Well, sod you too.

Ireva puts a companionable arm around Shard's shoulders, and picks up the bottle to drink deeply with the other hand. "I doooo," she assents solemnly, nodding. Remembering to exaggerate the slurring is getting easier and easier. Or perhaps just less necessary.

"Must've made things... eashier. Easier. When you Exalted, I mean. Already outside the law." She swallows a mouthful of food. "Mmm. This is really good."

So then she left the satrapy - probably a step or two ahead of the Cleansing - and came to the Scavenger Lands. But didn't spend enough time there to learn the language... did she go to Lookshy seeking wealthy marks, or safety? Did she not know about their support of the Cleansing?

"Lookshy caught you... breaking their laws, or just being a Solar. Offered you a chance to work for them, avoid punishment. Right?"

Jade reaches for the drink, picks it up, and then realizes that she's still playing the game and having more would be an admission. She shakes her head. "Employed." She says, her disguise making the words buzz with truth. Depending on how you stretch the definition, it's not too far from it. Threats count, right? "Can still drink?"

She looks at the bottle. "Don't think Xet is pretty." She says. "No, no, is pretty. Just not important next to..." her hands spread, and after stumbling with the tongue she switches to High Realm, which is always interesting when belted out drunkenly. "...smartness. That woman can talk. Most people can't. Talking means thinking, thinking means doing - and dancing, that was great! We were the biggest vegetables!" She collapses into a fit of... not giggling, like Shard would do in the past, but laughter.

She takes a sip and hands back the bottle. "Youuuuuu...." She concentrates. "....goooooot marr-ied to Zhou by Xet!"

Somewhere inside that skull, Jade's brain covers its metaphorical face with its metaphorical hands and sighs.

"Can still drink," Ireva affirms, handing the bottle back to Shard. "You remind me of a friend of mine... long time ago." She listens, leaning against the other woman, as she expands on Xet's estimable qualities in flawless - but very slurred - High Realm. "Dancing is good. I'm no good at it, though. Maybe dancing lessons, too? Zhou likes dancing..."

She laughs out loud with Shard. "Big onions, both of you. Lots of layers. Never tried marinating Xet in sake... maybe we should. She didn't marry us, though. Er, conduct our marriage, I mean..."

All right, you are definitely starting to get a bit tipsy here, feigned drunkenness for Shard aside.

"No more game," she says decisively. "Unless you want to keep going. Can keep drinking, though. Can tell stories. You must have some good stories. Could find Zhou and Xet?"

"Zhou." Jade agrees. "Xet."

Ireva stands up, pulling Shard to her (rather unsteady) feet, and the two Solars stagger off into the night, sake bottle dangling from Ireva's hand.

[Ifni]

A Brief Moment of Sobriety

Spoiler

Show

Twilight catches Kharal Zhou momentarily alone in his newly-pitched tent, his wife gone off to attend to some errand or listen to the soldiers by their cookfires. Someone else catches him there, too. A shadow passes noiselessly across the canvas of the tent, and a moment later a slim figure in silk robes steps inside. Tepet Xet regards him carefully... except, no, she isn’t Xet at the moment. Her expression, her body language, the way she stands, all uncharacteristic for the flamboyant Dynast; this is Isa’s careful reserve on display.

"Do you have a moment to talk, Kharal Zhou?" Lookshyan rank goes unmentioned, another telltale sign.

Zhou looks up from his work at the interruption, nodding slowly once he sees who it is. In his lap is his armour, being carefully polished to clear away the marks of battle and long travel. It has been quite some time since he last did this, and in truth the Jade plates hardly need it, but he's always found work like this an excellent method for clearing one's mind.

"Of course," he says evenly. "I would like to apologise for that little display back at the command tent. My family has always been... strong-willed seems the most polite way to say it, and whatever else she is, Fire Orchid is definitely one of our blood. I'm honestly kind of surprised she was willing to bend that far."

He shrugs. "Still, what was it you needed?"

Isa makes a little gesture of negation. "No need to apologise; the fault wasn't yours. I appreciate the sentiment."

She seats herself cross-legged on the ground across from him, folding her hands in her lap. "I would like to know what passed between you and my teacher in Yu-Shan. We did not discuss it in detail, but it’s come up twice with Ireva, and." She stops, starts over again. "Your wife would find it very awkward, I think, if I asked her to talk about this; I suspect you would find it less so."

"Yes, I can see why she might not want to discuss that."

Zhou sighs. "In broad summary? We met with someone bearing your face and your name, who was probably Chejop Kejak. My wife knelt at his feet and thanked him for slaying her predecessor - you know she still has nightmares about the things Arkadi did? After that, at his prompting, we presented the closest thing to a plan that we had for the future, laid out all our reasoning and asked what he thought. At which point, your teacher called us fools, insisted that my wife was actually an ambitious monster who could never be trusted, and bound her under a magical oath to not resist if you, Isa, decided she needed to be executed."

One hand tightens around the edge of his armour, but that is the only sign of emotional reaction to what he's saying. "I'm leaving out a few bits - I called your teacher a sanctimonious bastard, he threatened to destroy my ability to form new memories - but that's about the sum of it."

A humourless smile. "Needless to say, I'm none too fond of your teacher right now."

"I can imagine," Isa agrees, her tone neither condemning nor sympathetic. She pauses, fingers laced tightly together in her lap, and after a few seconds continues - "There are many insults that could be leveled at him, but I would not say sanctimonious is among them. He demands as much of himself as from others - usually more."

"The threat is odd, though. I would not have guessed - " She breaks off, shakes her head. "Sorry. I didn't come here to argue with you."

How much to say to him? How much further to ask? She weighs her options; Zhou may not be as sensitive about this topic as Ireva, but he certainly isn’t unconcerned. She doesn't want to give him false hope or false disappointment. A little of each, maybe.

"Might I ask what that plan was? In brief summary, anyway."

"In summary? We cannot stop the Solars from reincarnating - there is not, and possibly never can be a second Jade Prison. With that in mind, purging any who Exalt within the Realm's reach simply ensures that eventually, the only Solars of any experience are beyond that reach, and likely opposed to the Realm as well."

"So since killing the Solars isn't going to work long-term, our suggestion was instead to control them. The Immaculate order has teams of Exalted that know what the Anathema can do, can spot the signs of them working their magic, and have the combat strength necessary to put them down if required. So... track them down and forcibly recruit them, rather than slaying them. Keep them under watch, either putting their abilities to work for the good of the Realm or at the very least not outright opposed to it. If there never will be a way to remove the Solar Exalted from play again, then at least you have them under control and possibly instilled with a pro-Realm attitude depending on the circumstances, rather than out in Creation unwatched and doing whatever they please. And... if a second Jade Prison or the like becomes feasible, then you have them all isolated and surrounded by their assassins already."

The Fire Aspect shrugs. "There are probably holes in the plan, specific variables we were unaware of when we made it, but it seemed like a place to start. Something that your teacher could analyse and provide feedback on, point out the flaws and add his own touches to it as required. At the least, he had challenged us to come up with a plan, any plan, and that was the best we could come up with on a limited timescale."

Isa listens attentively; a close observer might be able to read faint signs of surprise in her body language. Forced recruitment, control, contingent assassins - not the sort of plan she would expect the Fire Aspect to devise, or at least not the terms she’d expect him to use. She wonders if it was couched that way deliberately, so as to clash less with Bronze sensibilities. Possibly.

"Risky," she notes. "Force and control do not strike me as ideal tools when dealing with Solars. They were made to shatter chains and exceed limits; it’s their greatest strength and their greatest flaw rolled into one. But then, I suppose one could level similar criticisms at the current policy."

"I'm not familiar with details, but I understand the Gold are undertaking a vaguely similar plan, substituting the Cult of the Illuminated, Church of the Shining Ones and other such organizations for the Immaculate Order and the Realm." She shrugs. "I imagine there are differences in approach, but." But the Bronze Faction has already observed and rejected this stratagem, in part.

Zhou nods. "Oh, I know. Ireva came up with the ways to make it sound better, ways to frame it for the recruits as an opportunity rather than a burden. She's the diplomat, not me, and we lose a lot of the nuance with a brief summary as it is."

He sighs. "And yes, I will be honest, I can see how the proposed ideas might just end up developing in the direction of a... reestablished Gente system or something, if the Dragon-Blooded and the Solar they work with find some form of common ground over a period of time. Honestly, as final outcomes go, that one doesn't sound too bad to me. I don't know what the Solar's were like in the old days, beyond nightmares and myths, but I'd like to think that having to earn their way to the top of a power structure through merit and good character would leave them in a better place than just Exalting and finding you have an entire family of Dragon-Blooded sworn to serve you."

"It's possible," Isa acknowledges. Trying to make sure that only people of good character rise to the top is not simple, but that problem is one any long-lasting organization faces.

She rises smoothly to her feet, looking down at Zhou. "Thank you for answering my questions." But she doesn’t leave, and a moment later speaks again.

"... It is within my authority to request that a recently deceased soul be reborn into a life destined for Terrestrial Exaltation. Should your wife should die during this campaign - by my hand or any other - I will request this for her, and see to it that her sister knows where she might find Ireva's reincarnation." She bows formally from the waist. "Small consolation, I know, especially for you; but she is owed that much."

"Don't take this as a judgment, one way or the other. It isn't. You can tell her, if you think it would be a comfort, or... not, if you think otherwise."

At that, Zhou... twitches. For a moment there is a sudden spike in temperature in the tent, before the Fire Aspect controls himself once again.

"If Ireva dies at the hands of an enemy... well, small consolation, as you said, but I suppose it would be something." He says at last, his voice deliberately flat. "If she dies at your hands, though... I trust you understand that my response will not be quite as controlled."

"Understandable," Isa says, a little coolly. Burning Waters is not actually dead, she reminds herself. It is not fair to blame Zhou for his part in a death that didn’t really happen. But he doesn’t know that, and it could have happened so easily, and here she is working alongside him and trying to be civil anyway. Does it not even occur to him? "I will make arrangements to ensure she is taken care of, regardless of what happens to me. This is not a bribe."

She bows again, somewhat more formally this time, and turns to go.

"Wait," Zhou says suddenly. The Fire Aspect hesitates for a moment, then sighs and sets his armour aside. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so sharp. It's... hard for me to remember, sometimes, but I know this has to be hard on you as well. Whatever I think of your teacher, whatever our differences in philosophy... you've been an ally, maybe even a friend, and I've not been honoring your actions properly."

The Sidereal pauses on the threshold, turning back to look at him. "... I accept your apology," she says eventually, her expression loosening a little. "Thank you. I would like to be Ireva’s friend. If I can't... there are worse things to pray for than fair enemies, I think." She bows a third time, more shallowly, and somehow it comes off as more genuine, not an attempt to put distance between them. "Good night."

[Ifni]

What Shall We Do With A Drunken Solar?

Spoiler

Show

The sound comes from the direction of the campsite's heart, a wobbling warbling that bounces about the tune without ever quite hitting it.

''The children of Hesiesh each make love exactly the same
But whhhhhho cares when they allll set you aflllllame?''

Bang, bang, bang goes the half empty sake bottle, right on tune. There's an attempt at overcoming laughter that doesn't quite work, and then the next lines come singing out as Bright Shard wobbles into view, half-carried and half-supported by Ireva.

''Daana'd has girls who are fierce and choppy
Strooong seas ahead, wet and sloppy!''

There's a clearing of the throat and then the chorus is prepared.

''But Dragons are as Dragons do
Somewhere there's a Dragon for... Xeeeeet! We were talking about yooou!''

Isa - Xet looks briefly very surprised at the sight of the pair, letting the tent flap drop from her hand to hang free. The Dynast's usual amused smirk slides onto her face just a second later.

''Zhou! Xet!'' Ireva carols happily. She pulls Shard toward Xet, letting go of the taller Solar once Xet is close enough to catch her. She waves the sake bottle triumphantly, nearly clocking Shard. ''We have singing! And stories! And sake!'' She pauses to shake the bottle again, and frowns. Insufficient sake. This is a concern. With a flourish, she produces a second bottle from her sleeve. ''Lots of sake!''

She maneuvers into the tent - somewhat unsteadily - far enough to bump into Zhou, at which point she promptly wraps her arms around the Fire Aspect.

Luckily for Zhou's tent, Shard is not a heavy woman, and Xet is a bit stronger than she looks. She manages to catch and steady the Solar without stumbling backwards into one of the tent poles. One sniff, and -

''I don't believe you got all of that out of one bottle,'' she accuses. ''I think you must have found a lake of sake. And you didn't think to invite me before you went swimming? I'm crushed.'' As if for emphasis she leans back, letting Shard's weight force her a step towards the tent.

Shard attempts to stand up straight, this normally very simple operation rendered complex by suddenly reluctant and uncommunicative legs. Moving around, away from and towards her support of Xet - in any direction, that is, but up - she mouths 'I was tricked' and followed it up with. ''One bottle. Big bottle! Three bottles worth of one bottle!''

''One bottle,'' Ireva nods solemnly. ''Best sake. From One Wide... One Eyed Wonshop. Wong's shop. Wineshop. In Nexus.'' She waves the mostly-empty bottle helpfully, narrowly missing Zhou's nose. The label has peeled off, but to the observant eye, the Riverspeak letters etched on the side are informative, and somewhat alarming.

Shard pauses.

''Maaaybe one lake,'' she admits, and giggles. ''Talking to the Chuzei? Done that myself. He's so... got a stick right up there.'' She notices the object of her conversation, and waves shamelessly and cheerfully. ''Chuzei!''

"Standard issue for all Lookshyan officers," Zhou says dryly, supporting his giggling wife with an air of vague bemusement. "In extremis, we are trained to remove them so as to have something with which to thrash our enemies."

Ireva looks rather nonplussed at this statement. Her brow scrunches as if she's trying to figure something out, slowly and through an alcoholic fog. After a moment she seems to give it up, and relaxes - or collapses - into Zhou's supporting arms with a contented sigh and a faint giggle.

''Not talking,'' Xet says, summoning as much dignity and hauteur as one can while supporting a drunk (and trying not to laugh). ''Quarrelling. The poor man's been practically wasting away with no-one to lecture or shout at him. Someone has been neglecting her wifely duties.'' She directs a mock-glower at Ireva, who blinks innocently back at her. ''So out of the goodness of my heart, I've taken it upon myself to save their marriage by doing her quarrelling for her. And maybe keep him from provoking the commander until she has somebody executed, too - you know how Fire Aspects can get. A side benefit of my altruism.''

Zhou snorts at this. "Indeed. So altruistic is she, that she didn't even wait for me to expose my dire lack of scolding before taking it upon herself to contribute. Just wandered right in off the street and started. Truly, I don't know what I'd do without someone watching out for me like that."

Shard tries to pat Xet on the shoulder and ends up rubbing her ear. "Glad you're alive," she admits. ''Saw the white flare and thought - boom! Caught! Chop!'' Over the Immaculate's shoulder she pouts at Zhou, and mouths 'no fighting the big vegetable' for some reason. Perhaps in her drunken state she is terrified at the thought of enormous carrots.

''Been saving marriages a lot?'' Shard asks, slurring. ''Sounded like you'd break them more often. Is easy to break marriages - they do it all by themselves. Silly things. No point.'' She shakes her head at the strangeness of the world. ''But good of y... y... y... Xet to help. Do know them well, after all.''

''Political marriages,'' Xet muses, ''tend to be less fragile than that. Or perhaps they just come pre-broken, so that nobody really minds if someone makes herself at home in the cracks.''

She steps back into the tent, half-carrying Shard in with her. ''I'm glad I'm alive too. Did I thank you for that yet? I don't think I did.''

A part of Jade that is still working amid the drink notes that Xet does seem to know the happy couple, or at least about their marriage, but it is drowned out by a storm of mental fog as the conwoman tries to work out what the Immaculate is referring to. Eventually she just gives up and shrugs, letting herself be dragged boldly along. This is fun!

''Anytime,'' she slurs. ''Wasn't no thing. What did you think of the big vegetable?'' She looks at Xet's baffled expressiion. ''You know... vegetable. Big person, very loud, commands armies? How she? Never met.''

She looks around herself, trying to work out which parts of her surroundings should be moving. ''Wara'a we going?''

''Prickly,'' Ireva murmurs. ''Like one of those... spiky fruit things. From the South.'' She shuffles back from the doorway to let Xet and Shard in, and then reaches out to pull the tent-flap closed. Still clinging onto Zhou's arm, she attempts to sit down gracefully; it only takes a couple of attempts.

''Not... easy to break, though.'' She frowns at Xet, then focuses on Shard. ''Your marriage broke? Like noodles? All by itself?'' She sounds very sympathetic.

''Wasn't married,'' Shard shakes from somewhere on the floor. The spy-slash-crafter has evidently given up on locomotion. ''Is stupid. Nonsense. Be warrrrrrrrned.'' She waves her hands out towards the married couple. ''Yoooou maaaake noooooo seeeense.''

''We make sense!'' Ireva returns indignantly, resting her head comfortably on Zhou's shoulder. ''We are perfectly sennnsical. What... noodle marriages you seen, then? Parents? Or part of criminal carro- career?''

She waves a wavering finger in Shard's general direction, and giggles. ''Bloody good. Got any stories? From being the biggest carrot?''

Shard loudly shushes any mention of the criminal career, completely ruining any chance it might go pass unnoticed. ''Am respectable woman.'' She insists. ''No stories or carrots. One hundred pineapp - percent innocent.''

... You have to admire the straightness of the face, if nothing else. ''Tell her!'' the conwoman protests to the two dragons, falling back on the old instincts of deny, deny, deny. ''Am very innocent. Not like her. Am!''

'I'm afraid it's true,'' Xet confirms, having maneuvered the fallen Shard so that her head rests in the Dynast's lap. ''Perfectly innocent, perfectly respectable, and perfectly boring. Such a shame.''

There is a stuck-out tongue in response to this apt description.

''You know, I think I have to admit defeat,'' she goes on. ''I've been racking my brain, trying to think of a vegetable'' - her lips quirk into a bemused smile - ''to compare our dear commander to. But I don't think I've ever encountered a vegetable that quite captures that air of menace, loathing, and murderous hatred. I am at a loss for words. For the first time in my entire life. I'm not sure what to do about that. Do I kiss you? Challenge you to a duel? Firewands at dawn, I think that's Chiaroscuro custom...''

''A druian.'' Shard sleepily comments in Rivespeak. ''Smells terrible. Worst stink in world.'' There's a pause as she considers the vegetable in question. ''Best taste, though.''

She shifts her head in the lap. Hopefully there's not going to be a kiss - the evening is perfectly nice as it is. She closes her eyes, and her conwoman brain makes a suggestion. ''Be someone else,'' she says. ''They won't hate you then.''

''You can still be you around me,'' she reassures, shifting further into her pillow. Mm. This was nice.

Xet is amused. Shard doesn't realize how plausible the suggestion is... probably. ''Alas, I'm afraid the mysterious disappearance of the local Immaculate might raise more worries than it settles. Particularly after we've gone to such lengths to secure my safety.'' Perhaps she'd better check. She listens, opening her mind to the tangle of Shard's thoughts.

''Druian, all right,'' she murmurs, one hand playing with the other woman's hair. ''Since you've supplied me with the proper metaphor, I suppose you're forgiven. I don't think I want to try tasting the Commander, though.''

The machinery of Shard's mind is a tangled mess - some gears spinning free, as smooth as if gilded with silk, while others whirl about with all the abandon of a gleefully spinning child, rotating on the spot and falling down with a cheer. Fishing through fog, Isa can detect flashes of thoughts that seem distinct from what she's been able to grasp earlier, stuff that's the unalloyed mind of the woman behind Bright Shard. In this current mood, it might be possible to reveal answers otherwise disguised.

The conwoman snuggles closer into Xet's lap, and the entire thing skips with a flash of contentment. A sentence is stopped before it can go past her lips, a reflection on how, by the side of another liar, there's no need to pretend you aren't a pretender.

''Marinade her,'' Shard mumbles. ''Everything's good in a butter marinade.''

''Sake marinade,'' Ireva corrects, sleepily.

''Butter,'' her cooking tutor repeats. ''Good for stringy meat.''

''Sake, Xet? Zhou? Is very good.'' Once more the bottle describes a chaotic meandering loop, threatening Zhou's ear. ''Better than butter.''

The Eclipse sits a little straighter, pulling herself up against Zhou and attempting a look of righteous temperance at Shard. It comes off rather cross-eyed. ''No more sake for youuu, carrot. Too much marinade. Or was too much flour? Hmm...''

Xet waves off the offer. If one bottle shared between them is enough to knock both Ireva and Shard flat like this, she'd probably better avoid it. Besides, drunk-people-watching is more fun when you're sober yourself. ''I don't think marinades are the solution. If I tried, she'd have her army of... maize? Is that the tall pointy one that grows in fields? I'm not a cook - her army of maize chop me up for stew. Is there a vegetable like that? Some dreadful carnivorous thing out of the far East, perhaps, hunted and served only by the greatest of warrior-chefs?''

Eating Xet, Shard thinks. Ireva was right - you'd have to cook her in alcohol. The Immaculate wouldn't have it any other way. ''Carnivorous squash.'' Shard provides in answer to the question. ''Local Scrivenger... Scavenger legend. Gets up at night and tries to eat you.'' She giggles. ''Not very good at it. Mostly just gnaws at your foot-'' she demonstrates a little on Xet's lap, attempting to tickle the woman with her hands ''-but you get enough of them and they can smother you. Become fertilizer.''

Drunkenly, the woman considers this legend for a while, staring up into the stars. ''Scavenger Land legends are strange,'' she concludes eventually.

''Evidently. What's the point of a legend like that? It ought to be something like, like, a man-eating strangler squash, or behemoth potatoes. Something to keep kids indoors at Calibration. Or scare them out of your vegetable patch, anyway.''

''Behemoth potatoes.'' Shard considers. ''They'd be like moles! Burrowing underground. You'd only see them when you saw the leaves...'' drunkenly, her mind tries to figure out how to edit those out and make for a more stealthy bomber vegetable. ''...could replace them with... hm.''

''Could give them flowers? Camouflage. Look all pretty, crouch down to smell them, WHAM! Behemoth potato.'' Ireva considers this for a few moments.

''... what's a behemoth? Aside from 'big'?''

''Like baiting fish, only in reverse,'' Xet muses. ''Hmm. Do potatoes normally have flowers?''

She considers Ireva's question. ''... good question. It's not a very precise word, I think it's mostly used to describe anything big, scary, and hard to figure out. Giant hell-monster that isn't a proper demon? Behemoth. Giant Wyld-thing that isn't one of the unshaped? Behemoth. It's the Wyld Hunt's equivalent of the file marked miscellaneous.''

''Mmmm.'' Ireva considers this. ''Big, scary, hard to figure out... cities count? Yu-Shan, Lookshy... makes sense.''

Her wandering stream of consciousness fixes onto this new direction. ''What cities you been to, Shard?''

''Potato cities,'' Shard murmurs. ''Giant, hollowed-out travelling potato cities roving underground, hunting down the lesser vegetables, preyed on by the parasites of the brussel villages. Hm.'' She breaks off from her internal vision to consider the question. ''Lots.'' She answers. ''West, south, east, Isle. Not the North. Too cold. No vegetables.''

The conwoman frowns. In her drunken brain, this means that she is now owed the answer to a question. ''How long you two known each other?'' She asks. It's unclear as to what combination of Xet, Ireva and Zhou she is referring to.

''Isle? What was it like?'' Ireva sounds rather wistful. ''Don't remember it properly...''

At Shard's question, the little Eclipse raises a hand and begins folding down fingers. ''Lookshy to here... one week. Yu-Shan and walking to Lookshy... one week. Nexus to Yu-Shan... one week. Er.'' She stares at her hand, and wriggles her fingers. ''... some weeks. And plus Nexus.'' She tilts her head up to plant a kiss on Zhou's cheek. ''Best sparring partner.''

Shard's brain slowly and surely does the maths, carefully putting together the numbers through fog.

''Two months?'' She asks, more disbelieving than she'd been on the subject of behemoth potatoes. She shakes her head. ''Toooo sooooon. Maaakes no seeeeense.''

She tilts her head up at Xet. ''Wouldn't marry you after two months,'' she explains, and then frowns at Zhou. ''Certainly wouldn't marry you. Two months. Is that normal?''

Xet claps a hand to her heart in feigned distress. ''Oh! Such cruel words. All my hopes and dreams, dashed to pieces upon the floor of the tent. Must I wait three months? Or - heaven forbid - four?''

''She does think you're pretty,'' Ireva offers helpfully. ''Pretty and smart. Hair like seaweed. Told me so.''

''Is pretty.'' Shard agrees, fiddling with hair. ''Don't care too much for that, though,'' she adds honestly. ''Jus... Jus' using her for her personality.''

As far as Shard's mind says, this seems roughly correct. The drunken memories of Xet's conversation are much more lively than the memories of just Xet. The Frostwing song and talk feature notably.

''What you using me for?'' She asks. ''Or you two - why you using each other?'' Below the drunkenness, a pair of conwoman's ears sluggishly try to perk up.

''Saving world,'' Ireva says matter-of-factly, ''very important.''

(Family, almost as true an answer, she holds guarded, even on half a bottle of shochu.)

''Politics?''' Shard asks. ''Yu-Shan?'''

''Lookshy and Yu-Shan and politics and hugs," Ireva answers with a firm nod, although it's not entirely clear what she thinks she's replying to. ''What you using us for? Besides Xet's personality?''

In response, Shard waves a lazy arm at the Chuzei. ''Told 'im,'' she slurs. ''He can tell you.''

''Oh, saving the world, fascinating,'' Xet laughs. ''I'm afraid my motives seem much shallower by comparison - amusement and curiosity. You are a much more interesting person than you seemed at first glance in Lookshy.'' She catches Shard's fingers as they try to twine through her hair. ''Careful now, didn't we learn our lesson about playing with my hair last time...?''

Shard grins upwards. ''Bad student,'' she excuses herself. ''Is the sake.'' A memory glacially floats across her mind, and she frowns with the weight. ''Never did design a new dress...''

''Should make Xet new dress,'' Ireva nods. ''Stop reminding druian about husband.''

There's a pause as, with the absolute best of intentions, the idea wobbles its way through Shard's head and hits an inadvisable number of creative nodes. The crafter rolls off Xet's lap and within reach of her personal bag, where she grabs a needle, thread and several cuts of cloth. Then she stands up, and, with a certain look in her eye, advances on the Immaculate with a suddenly steady stride.

Xet looks slightly alarmed at the sight of the needle. She holds her hands in a ritual gesture to ward off evil and couturie, or at least delay it. ''What exactly is that for...?''

''Sewing!'' Shard exclaims, drawing out long swathes of green shades, and without any further warning descends on the hapless Xet. The needle and thread flash in the campfire reflection with deadly speed that feels more appropriate to a foe than friend, the crafter attempting to murmur reassurances while drunkenly failing to hold her customer still. The green fabrics explode in a flurry of drunken Essence, and the woman moves so fast that her arm goes beyond a blur and into pure invisibility, needle practically screaming from the air friction -

- and then Shard stumbles back, looking immensely pleased at her handiwork: an amazing, almost shining hair ribbon curled on itself to resemble a spiky durian fruit, though thankfully perfumed closer to a cherry blossom. A quick tug of the thing reveals that the crafter has somehow, with drunken misunderstanding of the impossibility, worked Xet's hairwire into the design to replicate the spikes. Getting it off is not going to be a simple exercise.

Shard frowns at her work, leans forward, and moves one of the spikes ever-so slightly. ''Now it's perfect,'' she says, and very happily falls face forwards.

Fortunately, Isa manages to restrain her reflexive response to sharp objects directed at her head. She holds still as best she can as it becomes clear the woman isn't going to be refitting her robes while she wears them, or trying to peel them off. Her hair should be safe enough.

Probably.

She holds herself very still, mindful of her clothier's drunken state; she doesn't need any impromptu ear piercings, thanks very much… When Shard settles back and pronounces it done, she removes a small hand mirror from a pouch at her belt - of course Xet carries a mirror with her at all times - to inspect herself, looking halfway between amused and aghast.

''Dare I ask,'' she asks (evidently yes), ''what sort of vegetable I am now? Pineapple?''

''Druian,'' Ireva says happily. ''Pretty druian. Smells nice, too. Cherry blossoms in springtime.'' She detaches herself from Zhou and meanders over to inspect Shard. ''Is she asleep, do you think?'' She touches Shard's shoulder gently.

''What, the I-hate-you-and-want-you-to-suffer fruit?'' Xet peers at the mirror closely. ''Vegetable, sorry. I thought that one belonged to the Commander. Am I supposed to try and give this to her, or replace her, or...?'' She glances down at Shard, and pulls her back into her lap, shaking the con woman in hopes of rousing her. ''No no, no sleep yet. You have questions to answer! Am I merely a druian to you? Do I not deserve a vegetable of my very own?''

''I said onion,'' Ireva says thoughtfully. ''Lots of layers. But doesn't smell good, 'cept when you cook it... mm. Caramelized onions.'' She is lost in a reverie for a moment, and then taps Shard's shoulder again. ''Onion, too. Criminal mastermind. Trickster. Before Extalt- Exall- being Solar, even. Not sure why working for Lookshy, wasn't her choice...'' She grins up at Xet. ''Your charming personality? Must be...''

Her voice drops, and she adds, ''Was right about Be someone else, they won't hate you then, though.'' The little Eclipse sounds a touch morose.

The alcohol is certainly helping free her tongue, but partly that's just an excuse. It's pleasant, to be in a situation free of tension or fear, where she doesn't have to guard against the flare-up of anger or offence, to just relax and chatter of unimportant things... and to be able to blame indiscretion on the sake, that too. Of course, some discretions - like Isa's true identity - remain important, even now.

She shakes her head, and then looks back up at Xet, smiling again. She taps a finger to her lips in consideration - or that seems to have been the idea, even if she misses by quite a considerable margin. ''Could be starfruit? Is very bright. Center of attention. Tart, but not bitter. Or dragon fruit, since dragon... has spikes, like druian. Pretty colors.''

She stumbles back over to Zhou. ''Could be dragon fruit, too - but more like chili pepper. Fiery. Warms you all the way down to your toes. But one of the sweet kinds.''

Xet makes a suspiciously giggle-like sound. ''Aww. Sounds like somebody's got a taste for spicy foods...''

''Depends. Not like Shard can make,'' Ireva replies with rather more honesty than tact - but she is smiling, as she leans against the Fire Aspect. ''Zhou -'' she looks up at her husband, ''- said Lookshyans like spices. So have to learn. Bought some in Yu-Shan, for gift. And do like... fiery pepper. Very much.'' Zhou gets a proper hug at this, not just a one-armed one. ''Very very very much. Best.''

She looks back over at Xet. ''Like you too,'' she says firmly. ''Not a druian. Best starfruit.''

She considers the half-conscious (?) Shard, still smiling. ''An' like her. Fun to talk with. Cooks best food, made you pretty druian. And smart. Can't hold her sake, but asks good questions.''

Shard rises sleepily, piecing together the parts of the conversation heard through her nap. ''Good vegetable.'' She explains to Xet. ''Smells terrible, but tastes like the best thing in the... best ever.'' Frowning, she tries to apply metaphor. ''Like... Immaculate smell, but not stern, more... friendly and funny like, in taste. Even friendly with a Solar...''
She turns and gazes distantly at Ireva, and then equally distantly at Xet. Behind her eyes, drunken wheels attempt to turn. ''You are a terrible Immaculate,'' she says.

She pauses to stick her tongue out at Ireva. ''Can hold great sake,'' she says. ''An' never said I didn't choose Lookshy. Lookshy fine.''

Ireva taps her fingers together for a moment, frowning as she tries to remember, but then nods slowly. ''Is true. Never said. Just wouldn't answer. And lied back in Lookshy, when said you were honored... mmph. Good to know. Was worried, worried they'd forced you into it somehow... Glad you're fine.''

She wobbles over to try to put an arm around Shard's shoulders. It is not clear whether this is meant to be supportive, or for support. ''And Xet'sh a good Immaculate. Fight monsters. Protect the world. Resist obliiiivion. Like Sheks... Sheshtes...'' Her attempts to enunciate 'Sextes Jylis' failing, she looks briefly frustrated, and then throws up her hands. ''You know. Dragons.'' She waves in Xet's general direction. ''Listens to people. Even Solars, 'n Lunars. Not the only one, neither. Good druians... ''

''... so you like Lookshy? What's it like? Hehe... looksh like likes Lookshy...'' The Eclipse extracts her tongue from its tangle, and pokes it out at Shard in return. ''Didn't get to visit much. Just outer ring, and one night.''

''Lookshy.'' Jade mutters. ''Better t'n the Realm. But too ra-ra. Military this, sword that, dull dull. Gens are better than Dynasts, is about all.''

She delves back towards Xet's lap, depriving Ireva of her support. ''Sleep now.'' She mutters. ''Long day.''

Ireva looks mildly put out, but only for a moment, before half-falling contentedly back into Zhou's arms. "'Kay. More Riverspeak less'ns t'morrow. An' cookin', an' dancin'...'' She yawns. ''Was nice, though. Should do this again sometime. Nice to be able to just... talk. Not hide.''

''Wasssh your real name, Shard? Didn't want to tell me earlier. Is't embarrassing?'' She considers for a moment, and grins, her voice growing teasing. ''Bet it's embarrassing. So the question is, izzit embarrassing like 'Number Seven Daughter', or embarrassing like 'Perfect Perfumed Petal of Purity'...''

The Eclipse yawns again and adds, almost too quietly to hear, ''Can be you around us, too. 's safe.''

Jade drifts off into sleep, too deep into the dreamworld to reply, but not to think. Thoughts flash through her mind like afterimages in a thunderstorm... a memory of Blessed Isle street theatre, compared to the plain streets of Lookshy... superior Dynasts and superior Gens standing side by side, smirking, overshadowed by one aged, refined sword of a man with salt and pepper in his hair - Immaculates preaching to internal jeering, and shouting and hunting her down with the red demon-dog eyes of a nightmare in the making - a ceaseless litany of dancing names Bright Shard Rising Glory New Cloud Tepet Hong Jade Lotus Kharal Sesus Hu Gao Wen all for some reason accompanied by the overpowering smell of aged tea leaves, attached to the warm and harsh memory of a plain wooden block...

In Xet's lap, Shard wriggles over and a bit closer into her pillow. ''G'ni'ht.'' She yawns, and goes to sleep.

Xet's amused smile fades a little as she recognizes the telltale transition from conscious thought to dreaming. That's a bit annoying; she wasn't planning to stay here all night. She moves a hand to shake Shard's shoulder, hoping to rouse her before she's all the way under - no luck.

''She's out,'' she murmurs, halfway between frustrated and amused. ''I suppose I'll be carrying her back to her tent, wherever that is. Either of you happen to know?''

Ireva blinks slowly. ''Um. Should be close, since Zhou's her chushei. Chuzei. Right?'' She looks up at her husband, seeking confirmation from a Lookshyan - and sober - source. ''Could let her sleep here, we go find her tent. Not 'speshully attached to this one, 'n I can still walk. Could do with a bit of fresh air.'' She smiles at Xet. ''Can tuck her in before you go.''

''If you don't mind moving,'' Xet acknowledges, beginning the process of extricating herself. ''I expect her tent's rather smaller than this one. Just how much did she drink, anyway? Is she likely to remember this tomorrow?'' She glances up at Ireva. ''Your hints about her, for instance? I couldn't tell whether she honestly missed that, noticed and didn't care, or did a very good job of covering her reaction.''

Ireva picks up the mostly-empty bottle, and stares at it. The level seems to be going up and down, so she hands it over to Xet. '''Bout half this. Didn't teach her all Riverspeak yet... 's shochu sake, not the ordinary kind. Stronger. Mortals drink in shots, not bottles...'' She snickers quietly, but then grows more serious. ''Don' know how much she'll r'member. Hopef'lly most of it. Trying to prove... can open up, can let secrets go, an' not die for it. Don't have to hide always.'' She eyes Xet, smiling rather loopily. ''Wasn' expecting the druian hairdo... need a hand getting it down? Very pretty though...''

''An' small tent's okay. 'll just have to cuddle up close to Zhou. Ter'ble sacrifice.'' She grins up at her husband.

''Ah - yes, actually.'' Xet raises a hand to her hair cautiously. ''I don't know what she did with the razor wire I had woven in here, but I don't want to try sleeping on it. You can probably get a better look than I can, even with the mirror.''

The next few minutes involve a certain amount of muttered multilingual cursing on Ireva's part, as she learns that even with the cast-iron liver of a survivor of Thorns, half a bottle of shochu noticeably impedes one's fine motor control, especially when dealing with razor wire. ''Why'd you put razor wire in your hair, Xet? Thought we'd left hair-pulling behind a while back...'' She hisses, and sucks a sliced finger; when she returns to her task her skin gleams with a faint gold-metal sheen. ''Shouldn' need Charms to be a hairdresser f'r Dynasts...'' But despite the grumbling, she manages to disentangle the spiked and coiled ribbon without serious damage to either Xet or Shard's creation.

''Should keep it,'' she muses as she regards the final result, ''is very pretty druian.''

''Why wouldn't I put razor wire in my hair?'' is Xet's answer. ''Sadly, some people seem to believe that having long hair is an invitation to pull it, at least when you're fighting. I could cut it short instead, but I like this better. Besides, you never know when you're going to need to garrote someone... That's the best part of fancy outfits, you know - lots of room for concealed weaponry.'' (Up close, her three hairsticks look suspiciously like sheaths for small stiletto knives.)

''I normally undo my hair at night... I suppose we can see what it looks like in the morning.''

Ireva twitches at you never know when you're going to need to garrote someone, suppressing the reaction a moment too late. Too much shochu. She manages to stop I'd rather you use a blade before it gets out, though. Fortunately.

''Have a fancy outfit,'' she says instead, proudly. ''Magic outfit. Lots of pockets. Can hide a gran' daiklave in there. Can lend it to you sometime, if you like. Can do veils and hairclips ‘n those things too. No razor wire though.'' She hands the ribbon to Xet and looks around a little aimlessly, before heading back toward Zhou and the tent-flap. She almost trips over Shard on the way, and reminded, crouches down to slide the other Solar onto one of the bedrolls. ''Should we go now, d'you think?''

''No more, you'll make me jealous. Unless you can tell me where to find a magic tailor who can make me one of those.'' Xet assists her, the task made easier by the fact that Shard's shoulders are resting on her lap already. ''There. You might want to take a blanket with you, in case hers aren't large enough for two.''

Ireva nods. ''Good. 's a good plan.''

''Took my am'let from the deathknight I killed... might find more in Thorns, I guess. Else... need orc- oricalk-'' She pauses, and frowns. ''Sun metal, ‘n star metal.'' She eyes Shard. ''She's a magic tailor... faster an' better than Lookshy sorcerer-engineers, she said, an' was telling the truth. Maybe could make you one.''

She clumsily pulls a blanket up over the Night caste, before bundling the spare blanket up in both arms and staggering back to her feet. ''Could leave her a note, I guess? Shard, you fell asleep, we swapped tents for the night?''

''Oh, I'm sure she can figure it out on her own,'' Xet says, her voice entirely too innocent. ''It'll be fun. Mind you don't leave behind anything you wouldn't want her rifling through, though...''

''All in my pockets,'' Ireva says, sounding rather self-satisfied, and then droops a little. ''Always... keep it all with me, so don't lose so much, when I have to run. Just apartments, gardens, people I knew...'' She frowns, in what looks like a mixture of sadness and mild annoyance. ''He broke my door, and all my screens, my paintings. Guess it doesn't matter, had to leave anyway, and brought the seeds... not the same, though.'' She yawns. ''G'night, Xet. Don' suppose you know where Shard's tent is? Guess we can ask somebody...''

''More easily than I could,'' Xet agrees. She tilts her head a moment - ''Try due east; low-ranking officer's tent, not very well pitched.''

Ireva nods once more, head bobbing a little jerkily. ''G'night, Xet. Sleep well. Good dreams.'' Guided by Zhou - who has been a silent amused observer to most of this - she departs into the night.

''Good night,'' Xet echoes, making no move to follow just yet. Give the pair of them a bit of space before she leaves. She gazes down at Shard... or Jade Lotus... or whatever her name is; that was the name that stood out strongest in the woman's thoughts, the one she associated with herself, but she wouldn't be surprised to find that even Jade Lotus is only an alias. She'll keep thinking of the Night as Shard for now, she decides, until she's given another name. Take her as she presents herself. (Though Isa suspects the disguise has been eroding since they left Lookshy, aided and abetted by alcohol. But who knows? Maybe she planned these layers into Bright Shard from the beginning.)

Her shoulders slump a little. Being Xet isn't normally that tiring; but after the jarring switch from talking with Zhou to talking with Ireva and Shard, maintaining an air of levity while knowing that at least two people could see through it... she feels drained. Time to get a decent night's sleep, if she can.

[The_Snark]

The symbol - ah. That symbol. She wonders why he wants more now, when before he had only warned her that this was not to be spoken of...

She gives way before the attack, taking time to assemble her thoughts. What can she safely tell him? Not everything - not that Burning Waters still lives - and not the meeting in Yu-Shan. He would be so disappointed... A not-too-gentle rap to her elbow calls her attention back to the lesson; this new style is harder to predict, using misdirection and precision movement rather than sheer speed and force. One of the so-called soft styles, although not as passive as some examples. Right, she can't tell him everything, but she can share somethings. She almost had, back in Yu-Shan...

"His name was Burning Waters," she begins, turning aside a blow and moving into a counterattack before he can slide around her parry. Staying on the defensive just gives him a chance to find another angle, try again. "He was one of the leaders of the Nexus revolution. A populist, I think, a demagogue. I never did find out whether he was aware that his co-conspirators were infernalists." A brief pause, and then - "I cared about him. More than I ought to, before I even knew his name or who he was. I saw him on the street, and - felt a connection, just like that."

She shakes her head. "I thought it was some sort of sorcery, at first. Played along with it, tried to figure out what he wanted from me. But I don't think he knew. When my cover was breached, he... took it badly. Ordered me killed, accused me of enchanting him. I think he was honestly caught off-guard."

Her voice is relatively composed, all things considered, but it isn't that hard to read the hurt underneath.

[Aevylmar]

Skandi moves his hand in an ambiguous manner. "That is what the tattoos are for, I understand. But you only owe me the favor. Loremasters are a special case; they don't require repayment, because they aren't acting as people, they're acting as the Voice of the Lunar Community, and they get paid in status by the entire Lunar Community. If they do you favors afterwards, though, you'll owe them for those."

He pauses. "I should warn you, *getting* the tattoos hurts. A lot."

[Inspector Valin]

"That's not what worries me."

The young traveller looked downward at her hand, flexing each finger one by one. It was... all too easy to imagine they were claws. Vicious, sharp as metal, enough to tear through skin and bone. Shaking her head to clear it, she met Skandi's gaze a second time. "Ms Ireva made it sound like this whole thing was inevitable. She told me this story of a Lunar who had to cross dangerous territory and risked it just for a chance with a Loremaster. That's what I thought the issue was. If I didn't do what you said, get those tattoos, avoid shapeshifting, join the Silver Pact, I'd turn into some kind of crazed beast. A monster killing people without thought or reason. An... Anathema, for want of a better word."

Versi chuckled, her mind turning to another 'Anathema' briefly. She shook her head at Skandi. "But that's not the whole truth, is it? The danger's from shapeshifting. That's it. If you don't shape-shift, there's no danger, no risk of the transformation getting out of control, no tattoos are necessary. Even doing it irregularly could be safe." Versi's train of thought was obvious now, the young girl frowning at the barbarian prince. She brought her hands upwards, gesturing to her face. "If my spell fails, I can explain wearing the armour. I can explain the spell to make it look like Jade. I couldn't explain tattoos like yours. If I'm ever seen without a disguise again, everyone will know exactly what I am." Versino's tone was shaking a little. She was trying to sound strong, but... this was obviously a cause for fear with her. As much as the prospect of becoming some kind of unknown monster

[industrious]

The symbol - ah. That symbol. She wonders why he wants more now, when before he had only warned her that this was not to be spoken of...

She gives way before the attack, taking time to assemble her thoughts. What can she safely tell him? Not everything - not that Burning Waters still lives - and not the meeting in Yu-Shan. He would be so disappointed... A not-too-gentle rap to her elbow calls her attention back to the lesson; this new style is harder to predict, using misdirection and precision movement rather than sheer speed and force. One of the so-called soft styles, although not as passive as some examples. Right, she can't tell him everything, but she can share somethings. She almost had, back in Yu-Shan...

"His name was Burning Waters," she begins, turning aside a blow and moving into a counterattack before he can slide around her parry. Staying on the defensive just gives him a chance to find another angle, try again. "He was one of the leaders of the Nexus revolution. A populist, I think, a demagogue. I never did find out whether he was aware that his co-conspirators were infernalists." A brief pause, and then - "I cared about him. More than I ought to, before I even knew his name or who he was. I saw him on the street, and - felt a connection, just like that."

She shakes her head. "I thought it was some sort of sorcery, at first. Played along with it, tried to figure out what he wanted from me. But I don't think he knew. When my cover was breached, he... took it badly. Ordered me killed, accused me of enchanting him. I think he was honestly caught off-guard."

Her voice is relatively composed, all things considered, but it isn't that hard to read the hurt underneath.

Chejop Kejak

Abruptly, her mentor stops the drill; folding his arms to his side. He pinches the bridge of his nose, shakes his head slightly.

"Isa," he says slowly, every syllable revealing his age, his long-torn suffering. "Do you...not trust me any more?"

Spoiler: Jade Lotus

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"Then what, she says softly. "Are you playing at? You want her dead as much as I do."

Versi and Fire Orchid

"I see."

Kharal Fire Orchid interlaces her fingers adjusts her seat to be more comfortable.

"You've voiced a lot of suspicions, right now. But I can't do anything with them. What are these people planning? What are their goals? I can't be on my guard against every breeze on the wind, Versino."

Through the Trevail of Ages

She snorts at Ireva's comments, lets loose a peel of laughter.

"Did I say 'my Exaltation'? I was here, six centuries ago. This...this was the site of the Seige of Utam; this was where a remnant of the Seventh Legion of the Shogunate took their first fortress. Sun, I wish I could bring all my officers here, even for a little while..."

She walks through the fields of old with reverence. "I knew I fought in this battle when I first read of the tactics used. See - here, and here - the beginnings of the adaptation of the traditional Lookshyian tortoise formation..."

The aged Solar breaks off abruptly.

"Come. Let us pray here, in this ancient place, where our forefathers stood and fought and died. Let us remember their courage, and their bravery."

The Art of Sorcery

The Commander listens to his commentary closely; nodding along with him until the end.

"Chuzei," she says at last. "I have a legion to run and manage. I have tactics to evaluate, plans of engagement to draw up, maps to study, and troops to drill. I have neither the time, nor the inclination to learn sorcery."

"Can my men learn it, or are you volunteering your own skills?"

[Maugan Ra]

Through the Travail of Ages

Zhou hesitates for a long moment, then shakes his head. "Prayer is for temples." He says quietly, looking over the surrounding terrain with distant eyes. "At one time or another, our ancestors have fought and died over just about the entire East. I honour their memory and their sacrifice, but not like this."

There is an unusual degree of solemnity in his voice as the Fire Aspect continues. "I live as they would want me to live. I study the lessons they learned, build upon the foundations they laid down, draw my sword against those who would violate the codes they lived by. That is how I honour my forefathers. Not through words whispered to an empty field."

He turns back to look at Fire Orchid, voice calm but resolute. "You may have walked here once, Kaizai, but that was in a different time, a different life. Do not drown the accomplishments of today beneath the tides of yesteryear."

Spoiler

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So, I think this is one of the first times that we've actually had cause to see Zhou's spiritual side. This is coming from my understanding of the Immaculate Philosophy/Faith, which regardless of which sect you belong to universally speaks against getting caught up in ancestor worship or similar ideas. It's the sort of thing that happens when you have a verifiable system of reincarnation to point to as an answer to 'what happens when we die'.

I'm hoping that Fire Orchid will recognise where those beliefs are coming from (as this kind of spiritualism seems pretty common in Lookshy from what I understand) rather than get personally offended.

[DeafnotDumb]

Spoiler

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'Asheya' is not impressed by this fragrant disregard for the safety of spy speak, but she relents with a hard-eyed glare. Behind those eyes, Jade's mind grinds down the possibilities and ends up with only one name - Xet, the hated Immaculate.

Try to test the theory. There could be any other number of despised women that Jade simply hasn't heard of. "The woman is a little more protected than optimal." She says calmly. "Even the Solar diplomat and their backup aside. Thus the secrecy. This will be done, Commander, but it will be done correctly. Calm deeds succeed where rash ones fail. Your husband would want slow success over fast failure."

See if the mention of a Solar dredges up a reference to Ireva, or the husband brings a rant against Immaculates. And there are ways she can shift the Commander's memories, if subtle actions do not work...

She takes back the scroll, hoping that the message on it is memorized, and prepares for a reaction.

[The_Snark]

Well, that was - direct. She's surprised, though maybe she shouldn't be, because it's always been on the back of her mind, the possibility that he already knows all the things she's trying to keep from him, and she's widening this rift between them for nothing...

"I don’t know," she admits, candidly. "I..." She has to stop to piece her thoughts together, her mind all awhirl. In a way this is a relief, she doesn't like keeping secrets from Kejak, but it's so sudden, she's not quite sure what she wants to say or how to say it. "Your duty comes first. It's who you are; I know that, I've always accepted it. Admired it. You do what you think is right, no matter the cost. But - " She gives him a swift unhappy look, though it's not at all clear (even to her) whether that unhappiness is directed at him, or at herself. "I think maybe the only reason I found that easy to accept was that I was never one of the people who was hurt along the way, before."

And then, before she can stop it from slipping out (does she want to?): "Do you still trust me?"

[Ifni]

Through the Travail of Ages

She snorts at Ireva's comments, lets loose a peel of laughter.

"Did I say 'my Exaltation'? I was here, six centuries ago. This...this was the site of the Seige of Utam; this was where a remnant of the Seventh Legion of the Shogunate took their first fortress. Sun, I wish I could bring all my officers here, even for a little while..."

She walks through the fields of old with reverence. "I knew I fought in this battle when I first read of the tactics used. See - here, and here - the beginnings of the adaptation of the traditional Lookshyian tortoise formation..."

The aged Solar breaks off abruptly.

"Come. Let us pray here, in this ancient place, where our forefathers stood and fought and died. Let us remember their courage, and their bravery."

Ireva shrugs, apparently unabashed, still smiling. "I guess the price of guessing is you sometimes guess wrong. I'm... glad you found this place, Kazei, and that it holds meaning for you."

She falls silent as Zhou speaks - and as he speaks, she seems to grow somehow even more quiet, more still, an absence of reaction that has its own weight.

She waits for a moment to make sure he's finished, and then looks to Fire Orchid. "As for me - your ancestors are not mine to claim, Kazei. My children's, maybe, someday, but not mine. We might have common heroic forefathers, further back in time - but not the heroes of the Seventh Legion."

Her voice is calm, even. Acknowledging a fact.

"But I will gladly pray remembrance with you, if you wish. For all our fallen, and their courage." She steps toward Zhou, looks up to meet his dark eyes. An inadvertent smile curves her lips. "You're right about not drowning the present in the past, but... you helped me realize, love, that there's strength to be drawn from the past, even when it's a bitter draught."

Her gaze turns back to the other Solar. Trying to measure us, are you, Kazei? She waits - wrapped in that calm, in the memory of names carved on no gravestone - for Fire Orchid's response. To Zhou's answer, to her overture. (And it seems... apposite, that a word for reaching out also means the first movement of a longer performance.)