The Gathering of Whitecrest

[HalfTangible]

Amerah chuckled at the Shushan's challenge, as he men behind her made to draw steel. She raised a hand, and they slowly put their blades away.

"Oh, but I'm not so different. The true difference is that I won, and that I will not settle for merely controlling a single part of my great peoples. In fact, we may yet again learn to work with the empire.. During our peace talks, the empress whispered much directly into my ear.."

With a small gesture to her ear, she slowly walked over to him. With her hands in the air to indicate she wasn't going to do anything harmful, she whispered to him quite closely.

"I will have a full review of your codex of law, military records, and details on your long and short term expenditures over the last decade within a fortnight, so that I might hold your rule to it's initial decree some one hundred years ago.. If I find it to be up to par, we might be great friends. Otherwise, you had best hope the warriors of your clans are as obedient to you as they once were to the great, all powerful Emperor Dejan. They do say the seeds of rebellion tend to spread much like a wildfire, after all."

With that she stepped away, waiting to see his reaction.

---

Hours later, in the darkness of her room, Amerah hears a voice. She was just settling down by her desk to write a letter, her guards positioned on all entrances to the room.. She tenses, flipping the sheet of parchment over.

"He wasn't supposed to like it. Nobody likes being called out as a perversion of what they're supposed to be.. A bastion of order, unity, and justice for the empire.. Pah. With how the other clans speak of the Shushan, they seem too weak and too poorly liked to hold any real sway. Yet he enforces his will none the less over the clans, and tries, though it may not work out, to use them as puppets. I think a populace should serve on devotion to their crown, not fear or tradition. Come, join me in the light of my candle lest I get an early start on the road home."

For a few moments, Shushan did not react at all. He simply stared at her.

Then, he slowly clapped. "Impressive."

He stopped. "I would call it 'intimidating', but it rings hollow. Your name is nothing but traitor- nay, deserter to Avakonia, to Dejan. They wouldn't give you a toilet." He growled. "Whatever authority you once carried has been lost. You have no access to our records, nor Avakonia's of us."

"Try again, and this time with something you might actually be able to pull off."

---

"Light holds no more security from the Satsujin." Still, she emerged. Much like Shushan, this figure wore thick robes colored a deep black. Her hair was black, and in the candlelight her eyes sparkled an emerald green. She was too young to be Mumei, perhaps, but she clearly meant to represent her, and any Satsujin was dangerous.

"Loyalty. Justice. Unity. 'Earned'. Pretty words. I wonder if you mean the same thing I do when you speak them."

"Though I presume," The figure said quietly, placing her hands on her hips, "that your plan was not insulting Avakonian loyalists, nor listening to Satsujin philosophy on word choice. I come on behalf of Mumei, to bargain."

---

The Captain nodded. "My apologies Daimyo," he began, trying to imitate what the, well Daimyo, had said, "Follow me through, it is not too far." The Captain took the lead, occasionally glancing behind, with a few other guards flanking the group to ensure the crowd didn't move in on them too much. Very soon, they had arrived at the main venue.

"Gratitude." Shushan nodded to the Captain. "Now, where is your... king?"