A Dream of Quiet (IC)

[Recaiden]

[Pyrus, Orchid, Amelia - Landdin Steet]
The caught mortal laughs uproariously, shaking his head in amazement at Orchid. "Does it look to you like I value my life very highly? I'll take it if you insist, but I'd really prefer if you could get this head case to let go of me." A flick of the eyes back to Pyrus. "But I think he enjoys trying to put 'proper respect' in me far too much."

As for faces to memorize, there's the tough guy Pyrus is holding up and threatening. There's a pair of thin scars down the left side of his face, and has bright brown eyes.
There's a kid watching from a 'safe' distance towards the edge of the tunnel. Maybe ten years old, a boy holding a plush toy tyrant lizard and smiling.
There's an old woman who looks faintly sad and disapproving, wearing a tattered dress and carrying a cloth bag in one hand.
There's also a woman in white silk hiding behind a pushcart where fruit is sold, creeping along with it and looking between Amelia and Pyrus, and then ducking totally under cover when Amelia spots her.

[Preacher's Corner]

The crowds disperse wholly. Only a single withered old man who had been here to hear Raziel before remains to listen to the conversation.

[Tavar]

Wing
It's said that a soldiers life is 9 parts boredom, one part pants-wetting terror. Mercenaries are much the same, except they raise the ratio in favor of terror. Personally, I've had enough of that as it is, though if it comes to it I'll look into joining up with some company.

Wing pauses, looking at the truly outrageous hat for a moment before continuing.
Was that English? And TvTropes at that? Can't very well go and ask them, though. Just remember the hat, and try and find later.
He does stop to pick up a discarded pamphlet. After all, it seems like the preacher might know something about this whole situation as well.
And you can pick up a surprising amount in a market. Maybe it's different here in Gem, but up near Chiaroscuro the markets are at most half concerned with selling actual goods. The other half is selling information, or just trading news.

[Leliel]

"Oh, hi Kendik. Sorry, bard trouble seems to have cut the sermon short.

Speaking of bards..."

Raziel turns to the troublemaker in question.

"Interesting response, there. I may not be the best at telling when I am lied too, but I consider myself an expert when it comes to logic-something you seem to either fail forever, or are too flabbergasted to respond."

"So, just out of curiosity: <Who the hell are you, really?>, saying those last words in English with emphasis.

[Rhyvurg]

Orchid makes a slight strangling noise, which is several steps less obvious than bursting out laughing in the middle of the street. He coughs and manages to reclaim a little dignity, before repeating, "Am I incorrect sir? I only know a few of the technical names, from serving a Dynast once before..." More misleading kissing-up. He's not looking for a job, however... "<Motorcycle, and shall we ditch the crowd?> If I'm wrong, perhaps I could ask you to correct me while we negotiate?..." He glances at the mortal, who has proven more useful than expected already, and more suspicious. Honestly, he has no use or desire for slavery, but it's a great excuse to separate Pyrus from the observers and discourage anyone from drawing too much attention.

Melodies Within Fog 'tugs' gently at Orchid's mind, and simply conveys Amelia is here, receiving a mental nod in return. Neither knows what to do with that yet... But it's comforting to Orchid to know that his sister is at his back. Hopefully she'll understand that the slavery thing is a trick, since he doesn't want to have to try and explain that to a former Laplander.

"<Yeah...let's go. I figured English and something from TV would weed out a fake.>" He drops the fool and grabs his spear (just in case) off his ever-present bike, still following at his heels.

[aetherialDawn]

"<Yeah...let's go. I figured English and something from TV would weed out a fake.>" He drops the fool and grabs his spear (just in case) off his ever-present bike, still following at his heels.

"Ah, thank you sir." He follows after Pyrus... While he might prefer to pick a meeting place himself, that wouldn't fit the 'scene' he's trying to project, and it's never a good idea to go directly against a Fire-aspected Terrestrial anyway. He doesn't particularly pay attention to the mortal, though, except to ask Melodies to check if the man is a Yozi-cultist; he can't do much else except to try and memorize the face of the suspicious - or just suicidal - man.

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Perception + Socialize against his attempts to hide it to spot a potential cultist. Or non-attempts, as it may be. I love Melodies and his 'paying attention for me' thing.
(5d10)[7][3][5][1][1](17) 1 success... Well, at least I'll spot him if he's not very tricky, but a little too likely for me to get a false negative. Oh well!

[Recaiden]

[Wing - Preacher's Corner]

"I see." The woman shrugs, "Well, this is Gem. A bit more than half, I'd say, in concession. You may well be right, though. Perhaps I don't talk to the right people."

The hat, like the city it is contained in, is truly outrageous.

[Preacher Man - Preacher's Corner]

The newly named mortal smiles. "It's no trouble to me. I'll hear you speak again another day. Good luck, sir." He bows slightly and turns away.

[Pyrus, Orchid, and Amelia - Landdin Street]

Melodies will detect no hint that the man might be a Yozi cultist. In fact, he seems vehemently anti-Yozi.
"Where are we going, master?" he inquires sarcastically, following after Orchid.

[Rhyvurg]

Pyrus spins around, smoke coming from his mouth and his eyes glowing like coals. "Unless you want to see how much pain a man can feel before he dies, leave now."

[LauWren]

There's also a woman in white silk hiding behind a pushcart where fruit is sold, creeping along with it and looking between Amelia and Pyrus, and then ducking totally under cover when Amelia spots her.

Amelia weighs her options and decides that it's worth seeing who that is. Orchid seems to be getting along with the other guy okay, and even if he doesn't, someone who thinks it's a fine idea to ride a motorcycle through the streets probably isn't going to be that hard to find once you know his face.

She moves through the crowd, trying to blend in to keep out of sight, and seeing if she can get a better angle of sight on the woman. Or on her tracks, at the least.

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Perception+Awareness to locate the woman in white and see her clearly.
Dexterity+Stealth to hide from the woman in the crowd.
Forgot to roll and can't edit in, they'll be in the OoC thread.

[Recaiden]

The man bows to Pyrus. "I would relish the opportunity to learn such a thing. But I fear my master might take exception to your attempt." He shows no fear.

By the time Amelia gets a line of sight to the cart again, there is no sign of the woman. On the other hand, no one seems to be paying attention to Amelia either.

[aetherialDawn]

The man bows to Pyrus. "I would relish the opportunity to learn such a thing. But I fear my master might take exception to your attempt." He shows no fear.

"I suspect strongly that I may have been wrong to even try... Follow or don't, I'll know where to find you when this is over if I still need to." His words are somewhat more clipped; hopefully, if even Pyrus's abilities of intimidation don't work, just leaving the mortal will do. Orchid is starting to get extremely tired of the mortal, as he manages to be as annoying as the most crass of demons. Vehemently anti-Yozi in addition to anti-Dynast explains why such a man is willing to live in Gem, at any rate, if he has such convictions...

He's lying, of course, about knowing where to find the man, but if he truly needs to, he could give a description, so nobody needs to know that.

[Recaiden]

The man nods and bows again to Orchid. "As you wish. I shall attend to mine own business and meet you again later, master. Farewell, citizens." He turns and attempts to leave.

[Rhyvurg]

"<I sense a great disturbance in the force. Also, I hate that guy. So, a fellow Earthling eh? Can you throw fire at stuff to? Because I can totally do that. Also, apparently I'm rich as hell here, which is awesome.>"

[Tavar]

[Wing - Preacher's Corner]

"I see." The woman shrugs, "Well, this is Gem. A bit more than half, I'd say, in concession. You may well be right, though. Perhaps I don't talk to the right people."

The hat, like the city it is contained in, is truly outrageous.

Forgive me for asking, but what's your name? And, if you are a merchant, what do you sell?

[Drascin]

"Oh, hi Kendik. Sorry, bard trouble seems to have cut the sermon short.

Speaking of bards..."

Raziel turns to the troublemaker in question.

"Interesting response, there. I may not be the best at telling when I am lied too, but I consider myself an expert when it comes to logic-something you seem to either fail forever, or are too flabbergasted to respond."

"So, just out of curiosity: <Who the hell are you, really?>, saying those last words in English with emphasis.

((Ah, inter-PC telepathy))

At first, Drake laughs, and waits for the group to go away, simply keeping his eyes on the man. But when people finally disperse and the corner is no longer being watched, Drake's expression turns into a sarcastic smirk. After all, knowledge of English, knowledge of TVTropes, and now getting this - this proves it well enough. "My, truly? <Because I would think an Earthling with such a "mastery of logic" and who seems to be acquainted with TVTropes would know why it's probably not the best of ideas to work for goddamn Cthulhu, man>" he says, frowning heavily. He's happy to have found out that he was not, in fact, hallucinating it all - unless he's also imagining this, of course, can't rule that out - but the fact that the only other person around with Earth knowledge is a Yozi cultist is enough to put him on edge. I mean, hell, the demon armies are already dangerous enough without someone giving them ideas about rifles and squad tactics he thinks.

He only hopes this won't have to come to calling down a hit squad on this man. Right now, he's the only link Drake has to Earth... but what should be done always comes first.

[aetherialDawn]

"<I sense a great disturbance in the force. Also, I hate that guy. So, a fellow Earthling eh? Can you throw fire at stuff to? Because I can totally do that. Also, apparently I'm rich as hell here, which is awesome.>"

Walking down the street, Orchid continues to discuss with the dragonblood whose name he doesn't yet know. He can fix that later, first things first. Besides, he'll ask by the time they get where they're going.
"<Heh, he does grate, doesn't he? No idea who he is, though. And yeah, California... It's been a while...>" He pauses and tries to think of a safe answer - telling the truth would be off-putting at this point, demons tend to be, but lying is out of the question. "<My powers are mostly intellectual right now. I'm not sure how much I can tell you without getting int, uh, trouble, but I'll let you know if I can. I'm still working on the material-wealth thing, of course. So you're a Dynast, then? Or Lookshy?>"
Telekinetic force is intellectual, right?

[Recaiden]

"I'm Jana. I sell clayworks and pottery." The cart is indicated. Presumably, it would be full of pottery if opened and inspected.

((You can delete posts by opening the edit menu, Dawn.))

[Rhyvurg]

"<Dynast. So, you got a place to stay? Because I have a mansion.>"

[LauWren]

Amelia shrugs and goes off to catch up with Orchid and Mr. Ostentatious, not quite catching the dialogue.

"<Howdy,> Orchid."

[Rhyvurg]

Pyrus turns around. "<Hey....Oh, hello. Name's Pyrus. Care to take a ride on my hog?>"

[aetherialDawn]

"<Yeah, I'm fine. Bit of a secret - for now - since I don't want any thugs thinking I'm rich because I was talking with a Dynast.>"
Well, finding out his name was simple. He supposes he ought to introduce his sister, too, however.
"<This is my sister, Amelia. Well, sister from Earth. We're not actually related... Uh, here, in Creation, I mean.>"

In the back of his mind, he's trying to keep track of what Pyrus knows so far. Telling him too much might be inconvenient if he's pious about the Immaculate Order, but the chance to talk to another Earthling is too much to refuse... Right now, though, it sounds like Pyrus has taken well to the life of a Dynast, which can be fixed - especially if that motorcycle means that he misses Earth, since it's simple enough to make a few amenities as a bribe - maybe even a business.

Hopefully, walking out of the main crowd and not riding down the street singing means that nobody is paying too much attention to the odd language; they're just discussing in High Realm, obviously, to the average man.

[LauWren]

"<No, thanks. I like walking.>" You never know when one of the kids may recognize me.

[Rhyvurg]

"<So, perhaps we should go somewhere more secluded and figure out what's going on. Because I've been worrying someone here is going to figure out I'm not...this guy I'm inside of.>"

[Leliel]

((Ah, inter-PC telepathy))

At first, Drake laughs, and waits for the group to go away, simply keeping his eyes on the man. But when people finally disperse and the corner is no longer being watched, Drake's expression turns into a sarcastic smirk. After all, knowledge of English, knowledge of TVTropes, and now getting this - this proves it well enough. "My, truly? <Because I would think an Earthling with such a "mastery of logic" and who seems to be acquainted with TVTropes would know why it's probably not the best of ideas to work for goddamn Cthulhu, man>" he says, frowning heavily. He's happy to have found out that he was not, in fact, hallucinating it all - unless he's also imagining this, of course, can't rule that out - but the fact that the only other person around with Earth knowledge is a Yozi cultist is enough to put him on edge. I mean, hell, the demon armies are already dangerous enough without someone giving them ideas about rifles and squad tactics he thinks.

He only hopes this won't have to come to calling down a hit squad on this man. Right now, he's the only link Drake has to Earth... but what should be done always comes first.

(Sorry if that was metagaming. In real life, I can detect poor logic from a mile away)

Thankfully for Drake, none of the horrible things he's imagining occur to Raziel. For all of his unreadable expressions-a symptom of what Earth would diagnose as Asperger's Syndrome-he was actually panicking a bit that the a strange man would reveal himself to be an assassin, or somesuch.

And now, he discovers a man who also possesses memories of Earth! One with absolutely no link to the Yozis!

A wheezing laugh escapes from Raziel, which slowly mutates into hysterics. "Aha...and you said my mind was broken. You said that I was being used. You said that my memories couldn't possibly be true. Well, who's been wrong now, Corona? Who's been proven wrong now?!

"YOU HEAR THAT, BRILLIANT UMBRAL CORONA?, he screams at the sky in Old Realm. "DID YOU JUST HEAR THAT CONVERSATION? WELL, GUESS WHAT? I. AM NOT. INSANE!!!

Slowly but surely, he calms down from his victory speech...and suddenly becomes aware of his audience.

"<Oh. Umm, s-sorry a-about that. My, ah, memories of th-this life have a b-b-bit of a, shall we say, a l-life of their o-own.>

"<If you've, ah, heard of A-Abyssals, I-I'm kind of like that, o-only the p-previous, um, incarnation of mine uh, still, ah, exists. In my head. Sort of.>"

[Drascin]

...okay, that was worrying. Seems like the guys is rather insane. This does not bode well for my chances of being sane myself, Drake thinks inwardly, managing to not sigh. At least-

...wait.

What in the infinite layers of the Abyss did the man just say?

Oh, ****. Did he really say that? "Like abyssals", but working for the Yozis?

Infernal. Mother****ing. Deathknights. Unclassified, unknown, Infernal goddamn Deathknights! Right on his face! Danger, Will Robinson!

Oh come on. This was supposed to be my first field mission! ...man, I'd wonder if someone up there hates me except I work "up there" Drake thinks, a bit despaired. Well, he could be lying... no. He's too euphoric right now to lie convincingly, I'd say. And it makes sense with the face disruptions that've been around. Still... this man doesn't seem entirely evilcrazy. Perhaps he can be convinced to get away from infernal intrigues.

Worth a try, even if it's a longshot, Drake thinks, idealistic but pessimistic as usual. You never attack anyone until every other option has been exhausted. Drake's Earth version grew up on Kenshin and Spiderman, after all.

"<That... is not exactly something you probably want to go around talking about, if by Abyssals you mean Deathknights. It's not going to make you many friends, being like them. Going around being an Omnicidal Maniac isn't what you'd call a great ice breaker. Really, if you hadn't said it in English I'd have started running already befor the lynch mob arrived>" Drake says, serious, but a tad sardonic, keeping a poker frown to not let all the train of thought he's had during the past second reflect on his face.

[Leliel]

"<Can't say I can argue with you there,> Raziel admits, his rational mind returning somewhat. <And really, I'm not supposed to be telling you this-if it wasn't in English, my other mental passenger would probably be screaming at me right now.>"

Thankfully, Raziel was taught about the so-called "supernatural lottery", and it takes about two seconds for him to realize that the other man has no idea what a Coadjutor is, Exalted or not.

"<Oh, um yeah: A Green Sun Prince's Exaltation doesn't fly free like a Solar's does-it's actually carried to us by demons, who merge-not posses-us in the process. Some of us gain more of the demon's personality in the process, and the resulting demi-personality is called an Unwoven Coadjutor.>

"<To tell you the truth...mine is kind of a bitch.>"

[Recaiden]

There are enough languages that even the people who speak High Realm will assume it's something else.

...
...
Raziel will just away every secret he can lay his hands on, won't he?
It's a very good thing no one can understand what they overhear.
Well, except for the shouting at the top of one's lungs, which is quite comprehensible.
Kendik turns back around, and decides he should just keep walking away. He knew Raziel was a bit cracked but this is a bit much to stay around for. Later, at the market, he may be more reasonable.

[Tavar]

Wing barely made it to the corner before the street-preacher began yelling, but more importantly there was definite English being thrown around, and mentions of Earth. Okay, this was definitely something to look into.

Well, Jana, good luck on your prospects. I think I just got something better than news. Goodbye.

Heading back up the street, Wing tries to remain unobserved as he gets closer to the two others from earth. Better to listen, then try and join in.

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Stealth:(9d10)[4][6][4][10][2][8][10][1][6](51)

[Drascin]

"Green Sun Prince"? That's what they're called? So, they're under Malfeas, then...?

No, making Exalts is not something that the Malfeas he's read about would think. And that title isn't something he'd think on his own. It sounds like something someone would name something to appease Malfeas - "no, sir, they're just Princes to your kingly magnificence, ohgodpleasedon'tblowmyfaceup" kind of deal. So Malfeas is probably in on it, but the mastermind has to be someone else. Mmmmhh...

"<So... they sew a demon on your frontal lobe kind of deal? Um, ew>" Drake says. "<So, let me get this straight: you're serving what if the stories I've learned are correct are horrible Lovecraftian beings, they sewed a demon into your skull... you haven't given them the finger why, exactly? Do they have some control over you?>" Drake asks, straight on. "<I mean, I'm no sorcerer or anything - which is actually kind of annoying, I would have made a goddamn good sorcerer, I think - but my incarnation in this place was a servant to one years ago before he ran, and what I got was that demons are tricky bastards and the less you work with them, the better>"

Indeed, Drake is still keeping his "I got reincarnated into a normal mortal bard" story, for now. No reason to reveal he's Exalted too until the man shows he's, well not an insane demon-worshipper.

[Leliel]

(OOC: You're going to see a reference to the Great Curse here. It should be noted that Raziel was told it's an inherent part of Celestial Exalted, a counterbalance against mental influence by inciting the Limit Breaker into an emotional frenzy unable to be controlled by anyone, especially himself. Which is why you should never take "Creation 101" from the Ebon Dragon.)

Drake's question is an interesting one, in that it has an answer of both yes and no.

Unfortunately, this interesting semantic debate is cut off by the fact that the question sounded an awful lot like a slight against the Silver Forest.

Suddenly, Raziel grows rather quiet, and his expression goes unreadable again.

After about five seconds, he comes back, more than a little irritated.

"<'Horrible, Lovecraftian monsters', huh?>"

"<Well, I hate to burst your comforting view of the world in terms of good and evil, but the Yozis I serve are kind, giving masters who forgave us for our ultimate failure and cowardice, because they saw potential for heroism within us. They specifically programmed fifty shards to seek out people who could have been Solars, but failed because they were mortal or because they understood that they would face insurmountable odds. Through their servants, they created a perfect aide and confidant, providing words of comfort and succor to us in out times of emotional distress. Through their Second Breath, they rescued us from a dystopic and miserable existence as just another mortal to be used and crushed like some plaything of the gods and the Dragon-Blooded. And finally, they gave us the ability to control the inherent madness of the Exalted by acting in accordance to their wishes, staving off the all-devouring dragon that lurks within each of us, and so allowing us to be better rulers then the Anathema of the First Age could ever be.>"

"<So, if you wouldn't mind, I would enjoy it if you took your half-witted arguments and->"

Thankfully his rant is cut off by a newly-awakened Corona, who can tell even without speaking the language that someone seems to have hit a nerve.

Raziel rubs his temple a bit, and takes a few deep breaths.

"<All right, sorry about that. It's just that Lord Szoreny took me in at my darkest moment, and I have a duty to defend and serve him.>"

[Drascin]

"<Ah. So they just lied to you out of their ass, then>" Drake answers flatly. "<But while I'm just a little bard here, and a little psych/education student back there... I don't think I'm the one making half-arguments, here. Surprising to see such illogic in someone who just berated me for forgoing logic for a bit of a poetic misdirection before>" Drake sighs. He doesn't really expect it to sink in, but he has to say it. "<Because to me, as an outside looker, that stuff you're telling me? Sure as hell sounds much less like forgiveness than like near-stereotypical cult recruiting. Find someone in their moment of weakness, promise them safety and certainty, give them something to make them feel empowered under you, convince them that everyone else is lying so their trust in you forms an exclusive and closed feedback loop... psych 201, really>" he says, locking eyes with Raziel, not giving an inch.

God dammit. Yozi deathknights. And manipulated into fanatical soldiers. Yeah, this sounds downright Ebon Dragon - the twisting of words is evident. The demon spy is "a friendly advisor", the fueling of hatred is "forgiveness", and the shoveling around their heads is "to remove the madness of Exaltation". God damn. These guys have got Scientology beat.

Well, at least it does all but confirm the mastermind behind the thing. No Yozi save the Dragon would be able to come up with something like that, much less manage it to go through. And if what he's read about the Ebon Bastard is correct, this guy would then get inevitably backstabbed in the future.

Not if I can help it, he thinks. Poor bastard got ****ed around plenty enough. If Drake has any say in this, he's not going to get ****ed more.

He then closes his eyes, and sighs. "<But I don't think we're going to convince each other. Not until you actually see for yourself - you don't have any reason to believe me right now, after all. But if you're really going to help the Yozis, I can't help you. I'm not going to help kill the world. So we should probably cut this conversation now>" he finishes, serious, his voice gaining a certain sharpness.