To Gain the Spark IC

[whoiam]

"Dinner," 'trix suggests. "Good meat should not be wasted."

[AmberVael]

Typhae

Typhae crosses her arms as the two leave, and her wings stretch out behind her rather proudly, giving off a somewhat haughty appearance. Once they're gone, she quiets and calms down a bit, listening to the various opinions offered.

"I agree that we need to do some investigation and divination for evidence,"
She says, nodding to the angel.
"We need to know we're not just targeting a decoy. It would be unfortunate to think we did our job only for it to turn out that we completely missed the target.
"Plus, I really don't have any reason to trust those two. They showed up out of nowhere, gave no evidence, and left. Before I do something, I want to know it's actually achieving what I want to accomplish."

[Ryuuk]

Serah

"Of course you're not, a weapon like that is surely just for self defense." Serah turns to the image, the winged woman's words in mind. If whatever is behind this can tilt the wheel, odds are a pair of murderers, an arcanist and someone that mortals can trust might be of some use. At the very least, they can serve as a distraction. "Well, we could just go check."

"I pay a lot of attention to the prime, I was made to do so, to be honest. I've actually heard Mr. Luixi's name whispered among mortals before." With a few gestures, she makes the image start moving. "Funny thing, really. If he's the same Luixi I've heard of, he's some sort of royal barber..." The image draws the scissors and comb, getting to work on an invisible head. "You've gotta hand it to him, he's really gone up in the world."

[AmberVael]

Typhae

"A barber?"
Typhae brushes some of her liquid hair aside, scooting over to look at the image more closely, curious.
"Not really what I expected. But if you think that's him, going to him and checking would be the most straightforward way of finding something out. I don't really have any objection to it."

[shadowedsoul]

Before any of us work together some ground rules need to be laid out. And some of you will need to convince me that you'll abide by them.
Calebros glances at Serah as he finishes.
First and foremost, we're going to need some rules in place to prevent random violence among each other. In addition, on the off chance that we find something of value, knowing how to divide up the rights to it ahead of time will make everything much more efficient.

[Barbarian MD]

Gram grunts in acknowledgement of the suggestion, even if he's not in the least excited about this arrangement.

"Hrmm. If necessary, I can - arhm - place a bind on each of us to - hrmn -ensure our pact, - ahm - but I expect you would have to - aroom - willingly receive the binding."

Spoiler

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I have discern lies, and possibly zone of truth, at will. If we all failed our save on purpose...

[Ryuuk]

Serah

She shrugs. "It's the only lead we have at the moment. At the very least, I'm sure that there is a Vincent Luixi that can put a sharp blade up to a ruler's head and walk away with his blessing." The image bows, looking rather proud.

"Really? You're worried about me? You're the only one that's drawn steel against us." She meets Calebros' glance with a knowing smile. "There seems to be some underlying bias here. I'm insulted, I haven't even reached for a weapon. Really, I think I've been rather cooperative."

She hops off the table, her hands still behind at her back. "...but fine. If you feel that you can trust in an arrangement planned by a devil more than a demon's word, so be it. If you're still not satisfied, I'll just take my lead and be on my way."

[AmberVael]

Typhae

Typhae seems quite amiable to Serah's suggestion, and then pauses as Calebros and Gram bring up the idea of rules and pacts. She frowns and shakes her head.
"I'm not interested either. Rules just make getting where you want and need to go that much harder. Even if you make them, I will have no intention of abiding by them at all, and there's really nothing you can say on the issue that will change my mind."

She nods towards Serah.
"If she goes, I'm going with her. So far, she seems to be the most reasonable and knowledgeable of any of you, and the only one with a lead on the whole thing. And if you're not interested with working with her just because she's a demon, then that's really your loss."

[Barbarian MD]

Hrmn. I was referring to a pact not to - hrmm - kill each other.

[whoiam]

"We have no bias against demons."

We have no real knowledge of demons. Still, any travelling companion that annoys an Archon is good to have if we must travel with an Archon.

"Do the rest of you posess the capacity to teleport? We do, but are unsure if we could carry all of you along with us. Some location details would be required from that one" 'trix could not remember having been introduced. "for us to make such a journey accurately."

[AmberVael]

Typhae

"I have no reason to trust you."
Typhae points out to the angel.
"Maybe I'll need to kill you at some point. Or the devil. Or maybe you'll need to kill me. I'm not going to swear any pact around it."

[Barbarian MD]

Gram answers the aberration's question: "I can.

"Hrmn. I have forgotten my manners. I am Gram."

Spoiler

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I'm going to reduce the number of un-intelligble vocalizations I write for Gram. I'm trying to convey a very slow manner of speaking, akin to Treebeard in Lord of the Rings, but I imagine people are beginning to find it annoying.

In answer to Typhae: "Very well."

And it is a good thing that I do not sleep.

[Ryuuk]

Serah

The succubus sits on the table as the winged woman defends her case. She looked rather proud of herself, closing her eyes and nodding at the praise. "Thank you, its so rare to have someone at your side."

"I see your point, with the gears turning as they are, there's really no way of knowing what will need to be done. However, if we're planning on working together, I think we can all agree on trying to be helpful, at least, even if real trust may be beyond our reach. There's some powerful forces at play here, after all, we might not last long otherwise." She nods to the chitinous, motherly being. "As I said before, I was made to keep an eye on the prime, for me, distance is meaningless."

"Gram, is it? A pleasure, my name is Serah..." She stands firmly on the ground, and looks up to the towering warden. "Shall we try to follow the figures example?"

[Barbarian MD]

Gram nods.

"If I allow prejudice to kill me, I shall have failed in my task to defend Celestia."

[whoiam]

"We are 'trix - Dominatrix, Hive Kraken, if you wish to be formal. You all heard our motivation. If we succeed, our race lives. We would tolerate a trillion of each of you if such was the price."

If we were watching someone else saying those words, we would probably consider it amusing. It always is when it is some other species on the line.

Perhaps we should have spared a few of them in the days before.

Too late.

"If you would not mind, Serah, we think the easiest way to move on is to pick a target location from your memory of this... person... and his country. Somewhere secluded, ideally. We can hide well enough given a chance to prepare, but it would be difficult to avoid notice if we were to materialise in the center of the town square."

[AmberVael]

Typhae

"I am Typhae- and personally, I have links to almost every plane and location in existence, so if we need to get somewhere, I can take care of it."
Typhae says, with a bit of a confident and proud smile.

"You're welcome, Serah. And I know how hard it must be to find someone you can trust-"
Here, she lapses into abyssal, making a short quote:
[Even an ally can carry a dagger to put in your back. Only trust who you know absolutely.]

The quotation is somewhat modified, however, perhaps purposefully. The popular phrase runs closer to trusting no one, because you only know yourself fully. Typhae's reinterpretation is interesting, because it follows the same logic, yet ends with a different conclusion.

She nods in agreement with 'trix.
"If you can give me a location with enough detail, I should be able to get us there in a moment."

[shadowedsoul]

You may call me Caleb.
The young man says, walking to the Archon and the Demon.
I would be remiss in my duties if I did not at least look into this, and as it seems the only one who knows where he might be is the temptress it looks as though we'll be traveling together for the time being.

[Barbarian MD]

Gram is still standing, legs planted, arms now crossed, throughout the discussion. To each name in turn Gram gives a slight nod of acknowledgement as he commits the name to memory.

Spoiler

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Would any knowledge (planes or religion) checks reveal anything about anyone? Speaking of: If you know anyone that's assaulted Celestia in the past 300+ years and survived, the name of Gram and his Signature Crest might ring a bell.

"Dominatrix, in the future I would learn more about your race. But for now, perhaps it would be best if we were off." He turns pointedly to Typhae and Serah.

[Ryuuk]

Serah

Serah simply smiles. She'd gotten two strangers to support her views, had a devil follow her rules and had been the one to offer peace to an archon... she loved this. This could be the start of something truly interesting.

"Very well then. If memory serves, Mr. Liuxu practiced his trade in the kingdom of Sewaney, our best bet is somewhere in the capital. To be at least a bit subtle, we should land on the city's outskirts." She slowly nods to herself, looking down. "Is that enough for you to work, Typhae?" She snaps her fingers, making the image on the table disappear "Or would you prefer I scout out a proper landing first?"

[AmberVael]

Typhae

"That should be fine. And I can make it so we won't be seen."
Typhae slips out into an open space, her wings beginning to unfurl around her, stretching out as she prepares.
"If we've got nothing else to do before hand, I can go ahead. Just gather close when you're ready."

[Barbarian MD]

Gram steps in close, trying to huddle his bulk for her sake.

[whoiam]

Scythes retracting and folding against her back, 'trix also moves in close.

We do seem to be surprisingly good huddlers.

"It is not as though we have equipment to check."

[shadowedsoul]

Calebros follows the lead of the two larger beings.
I am ready.

[Ryuuk]

Serah

Serah joins the others. "Full speed ahead then."

[AmberVael]

Typhae

The wings of Typhae stretch out further, unfolding and multiplying. She gestures in a circling motion, her body following the movement in prelude to a greater dance.
"My wings are many, but rarely seen."
Anyone familiar with magic can tell that her words are more than an explanatory phrase- something about it, the precise method of her speaking it and the resonance it seems to have with the wings spread around her speaks of something more. At the words, her wings curl around the group in a permeable, translucent boundary, a shell of water made of countless streams.

Typhae then redirects her gesture, throwing her arm out dramatically, speaking once more.
"Yet they pass over everything."
The group instantly feels pulled, as if they had grabbed hold of something far away and were drawing themselves to it. The landscape passes by in a blur, and in a moment more, they are precisely where Serah described.

Spoiler

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First, casting Invisibility Sphere from my Beguiler list. Second, Greater Teleport from Sorcerer list.

[Barbarian MD]

Gram immediately drops into a stance. Simultaneously, he reaches for his weapon and concentrates a stream of magic through the hilt into his yet-sheathed blade. Every sense is alert to danger: sight, sound, smell.

Spoiler

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Pearl of Black Doubt. True Strike. See Invisibility is still up.

EDIT: Oh, and since it's 24 hours, I suppose I should mention: detect scrying.

[industrious]

Spoiler

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No scrying detected

You find yourselves in one of the capital city's back-alleys. Filthy water runs down the tin roofs to drip onto Gram's head; the stench of decay and sin surrounds the area. Cramped together in the narrow space, you can see the exit onto a wider street, where various shabbily-dressed people scurry about, none of them looking anybody in the eye.

[AmberVael]

Typhae

<Where do we go from here, Serah?>
Queries Typhae telepathically, letting her voice spread to all the other members of the group as she keeps up her shroud around them.

[Ryuuk]

Serah

Not the most glamorous side of the city, but one that reminded her of home, she had to admit. <Well, now we have to get creative. The only thing I'm sure of is that there was a Vincent Luixi that served this city's courts when I last passed by here.> Those that where cramped against her wings now have a bit more room to move. <If this cities has any semblance of order, there should be records for this sort of thing. We could also try to find a first hand source, but given Luixi's trade we might be in the wrong side of town.> When the entrance of the alley is clear, a wingless version of her steps out of the globe, stretching. As in the clearing, she seems to be a young, human woman with black hair. <Regardless, we're not going to find him cramped in a corner. If any of you can take more... mundane... forms, we might have an easier time. Best case scenario, we're looking at a few hours of mingling with humans.>

<I could get to work while you decide what to do. Just tell me where I'll be able to find you, I doubt this alley will be as pleasing an hour from now.> She leans against the wall, legs and arms crossed.

[whoiam]

"We have three choices really. We, as in I, not we, as in we. We are not used to mixed group pronoun choices. Anyway. We have three choices: To sneak, trusting to the darkness and the chitin to get us to somewhere. To hide, and wait for a signal that we are or are not needed. Or to locate a length of chain, and pretend we have been captured and tamed. None of this place's inhabitants would know better."