A Dream of Quiet (IC)

[Rhyvurg]

"They tried, they weren't up to it. And you, strange how?"

[Recaiden]

[Outside]
"Ah ain't strange, sir. Just don't want nobody running around my street cutting folks up. People got no sense a duty these days. And you kid say you didn't even see 'em!" He waves his arms a bit, frustrated, and glares down at the decapitated body with distaste.
"Dat's a bit much too, no?"

[Inside]
Masque sips greedily at the water, draining the cup, and draws a plague mask from her robe to fit over her face.
"Much thanks. I suppose I should explain more to you. Yes."
"You know about Oblivion's General, anything?" She shakes her head a little, 'no?'.
"You know about Thorns, anyway? He's not like that. He doesn't care about Creation. But he's been ordered to. No choice. To obey and wage war on the lighted world."

[Drascin]

As Pyrus is outside interrogating the witnesses, Drake appears from a door and approaches the woman, back in his Sparrow "costume" (as Abyssals are inside Fate). Sadly without the hat - he has to remember to have Pyrus replace it. Yes, he has money enough to buy a boat full of hats, but it's the principle of the thing.

"I see. And who would be so powerful to order the mighty First and Forsaken Lion around?" he asks, sitting down and giving her a small smile. "Oh, don't be so surprised. I am not a holder of such a sublime Exalted power as my friends, but you know, I have pretty sharp ears. I think that's why they still keep me around" he winks, passing himself off as a cocky nonexalted - probably a godblooded, many of them take to the role of Exalted lieutenants after all. He knows perfectly well, of course - but they want the Abyssal blabbing, and people are always so hasty to correct people who act like they know everything...

[Rhyvurg]

[Outside]
"Ah ain't strange, sir. Just don't want nobody running around my street cutting folks up. People got no sense a duty these days. And you kid say you didn't even see 'em!" He waves his arms a bit, frustrated, and glares down at the decapitated body with distaste.
"Dat's a bit much too, no?"

"For them? No, not by half. Come inside, you look thirsty."

[Recaiden]

[Coming Inside]

"Sure. Thank ye sir." The two follow along, not wanting trouble and wanting something to drink.

[Inside]

"He Who Holds In Thrall. The Neverborn." She shudders and looks away. There is nothing more to be said, and memories (and Resonance) are threatening to overwhelm her.

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((Being away for the weekend, update possible but unlikely. Not an excuse not to post. ))

[Tavar]

Wing looks puzzled.
"The Neverborn? What are they? And, why were you running from them?"

It almost looks as if he's going to continue, but he closes his mouth, questions obviously boilinhg from within.
and what did you mean before?

[Recaiden]

[Inside]

"You? Don't know. I forget. How different. Dead Titans. Ghosts of...Primordials? Yes. You do know? Who made reality. Yes?" She breaks into more coughing, and looks deep into the empty cup with a look of terrible sadness.
"I wasn't. I run ...for them. They made...well. Hehehe. The Lion marches unwilling. But he does march. He. And his armies. Will make a horror of this land. It deserves otherwise." Masque smiles then, an expression as deep in happiness and peace as the other wasn't.

[Leliel]

[Inside]

"You? Don't know. I forget. How different. Dead Titans. Ghosts of...Primordials? Yes. You do know? Who made reality. Yes?" She breaks into more coughing, and looks deep into the empty cup with a look of terrible sadness.
"I wasn't. I run ...for them. They made...well. Hehehe. The Lion marches unwilling. But he does march. He. And his armies. Will make a horror of this land. It deserves otherwise." Masque smiles then, an expression as deep in happiness and peace as the other wasn't.

For Raziel himself, he couldn't understand a word that was being said...except for "Neverborn". He knew that word in a hundred languages, it being fairly important to "not getting yourself and the rest of reality killed". As well as the others' confusion.

"Neverborn....the Dreaming Dead...

"There was no Underworld at the dawn of Creation, you see. The concept of undeath had never crossed the minds of the Primordials, as they never saw the need for it. They could not be killed permanently, only had their identities reset.

"But...when the Solars came, they knew how to kill a force of nature. It wasn't easy, of course, but somehow, those Titans who did not surrender were destroyed utterly.

"Utterly...except for their souls.

"Lethe could not wash their memories away, as that had never been a part of it's purpose. But neither could Oblivion, the Void, devour them utterly, because they had invested so much into their world that it tethered them to itself, creating create cathedral-tombs of soulsteel and obsidian. As they settled as close as they could to the Mouth of Oblivion, their memories wove a copy of Creation into existence, a melancholic and beautiful realm where the souls of those who neither desired Oblivion or Lethe could tether themselves also, resisting the gentle pulls of either....

"But the Neverborn, the broken souls who even now began to release their thoughts into this facsimile, could not exist among their new subjects. They had become trapped in their soulsteel crypts, too strong to be broken down and finally consumed by Oblivion, but also too strong for their spirits to break out of their protective egg. Caught eternally at the moment of their own death, they desire nothing more than escape from their torment...

"And they believe the only way to do this is to destroy what binds them from passing on-Creation."

EDIT: (He's speaking Low Realm, so that as many people understand him as possible)

[Recaiden]

[Inside]

The deathknight nods, and speaks up in Realm to answer. "You know much. For one of the living. Your words are yet strange. Makes one wonder. Blasphemies and Madnesses." She sounds suspicious; the Neverborn do not speak as clearly about the Yozi as in reverse.

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If Raziel is instead speaking Seatongue, disregard the above, as she does not understand it.

Then they turn again to Wing. "You have questions. Ask them." He receives a smile, and can't help but appreciate it.

[Leliel]

[Inside]

The deathknight nods, and speaks up in Realm to answer. "You know much. For one of the living. Your words are yet strange. Makes one wonder. Blasphemies and Madnesses." She sounds suspicious; the Neverborn do not speak as clearly about the Yozi as in reverse.

"It's because we're afraid of them. Better for your direct lieutenants to know as much as possible about your undead, omnicidal cousins.

"...Wait. You don't know about the Green Sun Princes? I thought both we and Abyssals were a Primordial group project."

[Tavar]

Wing
Refilling the empty cup, thinking over the information. It's fascinating, really. He'd always been interested in history, and this place combined a long, vibrant history with mythological supernatural powers. But he quickly pushes it aside. There'll be time later to learn more of the lore, after this crisis has passed.

Especially after some of Raziel's comments.

"Wait...what? Your bosses are working to kill the world? Or was this in the past?

Do you know anything more about Lion's plan? And, I guess, more importantly, what do you want, and where are you going to go from here?"

[aetherialDawn]

"...Wait. You don't know about the Green Sun Princes? I thought both we and Abyssals were a Primordial group project."

Orchid stirs from listening at the sidelines, collecting information - mostly that of the Deathknight, but evidently his Malefactor companion is better informed than he thought... Were all of the spiritual facet of the Reclamation informed of their spiritual, dead allies/foes as well? Something to test later, perhaps.
"Quiet, Raziel. Those details, not even in Old Realm, nor even in this place, at least without wards... But yes, lady Abyssal, we are better informed than most. The lore is distasteful, but we must know what we are to avoid bringing back to them, after all. I imagine that if we are spoken less of, it is because we are a more eclectic lot." His words are somewhat cold with distaste not fully concealed.
He turns to Wing and shakes his head. This requires immediate defusing, certainly - in English, he explains a little. Enough, hopefully.
"<The Neverborn were never bound in the same way the Primordials were. They were the only ones who could capture the Exaltations that were changed to make our own, or so I'm told. I've never worked with servants of the Neverborn, nor do I really intend to. Even this... separate Abyssal makes me want to stay far away.>"
"<Our efforts have the Raksha and Neverborn as common foes with the rest of Creation; our masters are the ones who made the world, and they've never made effort or had desire to destroy it.>"
"<Their desires are to have, someday, a world that would be capable of having them back. Not a dead one, nor an unmade one, nor one reduced to cinders or any such nonsense. Laurel's method is one I don't approve of, since even if it works it will do too much harm...>"

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Yes, "they've never made effort or had desire to destroy it." is false (Three Spheres Cataclysm. Graceful Wicked Masques even implies that the intent was to destroy all Creation, and that SWLiHN was unable to succeed, but that also greatly overstates the actual impact, so take it with a grain of salt.) Orchid doesn't know that.
And yes, "a world that would be capable of having them back." is technically true yet rather misleading. The propaganda is written by the Ebon Dragon; truths that are more twisted than lies are one of the old standbys for him. The Yozis don't want a Creation that would take them back - they want a Creation hellish such that they can manage to get back in.
And the only reason they don't want a Creation of cinders is because they couldn't take revenge on cinders.
But again... Orchid doesn't really know that yet.
Or realize that he just might have slightly insulted a Lunar's bondmate!

[Drascin]

Has to be said, Drake maintains the facade admirably despite the urge to sigh.

"<You know, I was intending to act dumb for a bit so that she explained her perspective. Now that she knows we know stuff she won't think it worth the effort>" he points out, a bit sardonic, in English. "<Also, for Onyx's benefit, feel I should quickly point out, before we get back to the important stuff, that the "never tried to harm the world" thing is rather relative. They did make a pretty damn good couple of tries>"

"...well, it seems some of your information is not as much of a surprise to my patrons as I'd expected, miss Flowers" he smiles, congratiating. "Though now the question is, where do you fall in all of this? You are obviously not quite on-board with this Lion's forced plan you mention, at least"

[Recaiden]

"Yes. It is inevitable, you know." A look of doubt and concern crosses her face, followed by pain, and she glares at Raziel. "Well would be done. To go to Oblivion and see. For yourself. Could they....?"
Taking up the refilled cup, she drains it in one gulp. "No substitute. For blood. But nice."
"He wanted, needed to delay. Then we came. Peerless necromancers, artisans of weapons, walkers in the Sunlit world. He needs not wait. Only somehow to kill Gem. Drag the whole mountain chain into the Underworld. March a million dead up."
"I'm..." She hesitates, looking lost. "Not one of his now. Be I by him caged. I yet hear only the Dead Titans' words."

[Drascin]

Drake puts a hand on the Abyssal's shoulder, looking concerned. "Uh, Masque? Stay with us, alright? You're drifting off"

Damn, so the plan is not send the army and let the bloodshed turn the place into a shadowland, but rather turn the mountain range into a shadowland first and then use that to attack Gem.

Plan "Move Gem Itself The Hell Out Of Dodge" is winning points by the minute.

[Tavar]

A flash of...jealousy-protectiveness-worry flows through Wing, directed at Drake, Orchid, and Masque, leaving him confused, and worried. This was the second time it happened around Masque, and there wasn't a reason, as far as he could see. Something to look into, then.

"How is he going to make a shadow land there? I thought you needed lots of deaths to make a shadowland, and there's aren't that many people up in the mountains. And, you didn't answer, what do you intend to do?"

Wing pauses, almost waiting for her to answer, but then launches into another question instead.

"And, before, you mentioned that you had 'seen' this place, and also seen terrible things in our futures. Are you able to be any more specific?"

[Recaiden]

Masque turns an looks up at Drake, wondering. If he's not Exalteed, would they mind much if she ate him? Best not to try yet. "Of course."

"It's not so. A small...beachhead? Made by spells and machines. In the mountains. Then kill the city. Gem goes, and all the lands around. Like dominoes."

"I will end. My masters' suffering. What I've seen?"
"A machine, high on a mountain, opening a door to the underworld, that Gem may fall through it.
A great mechanical warbird, catching human prey in these peaks.
A dynastic palace will lie in ruins at your hands.
When the Laplanders rebel, the response will break restraint, and a sea of blood will overwhelm the Penitent's influence; he will be a beacon not of Earth, but of Void.
There will be a great fire, here in the south, surpassing any such thing before it, and all of it shall be for you seven. Wait. One is missing. Are you? Hiding her?"
"I see other things, less sure. I see the Empress again on her throne. I see a new disease, worse than the contagion, yet it kills no one!, sweeping the land. I see the Yozis dying."
Masque shivers and looks down, eyes squeezed shut.
"No more."

[aetherialDawn]

Orchid is rapidly growing tired of foretold doom. It's not the sort of thing one expects to encounter often enough to grow tired of, but there's a dearth of pleasant prophecy. At least Drake was polite enough to be informative.
"All of these prophecies..."
Still, there is information to be gleaned from what the Neverborn plan. And he sees no reason to consider himself indebted to one of his hateful cousins. There are people more deserving of care.
"...No. I am not inclined to trust anyone who can count the Neverborn their masters so directly, I am afraid. Not without need greater and more immediate than this. I'd rather I keep counsel without you for the time being." And forever after.

The whispers of prophecy are not to be disregarded.
Orchid snaps back, I am aware. They are to be refused, undone, and remade to fit a brighter image, in this case. What if we simply give the Realm more food than it can use and goad them into civil war on their own island, unwilling to commit troops to the Lap? For that matter, if this is a prophecy of dominoes, then...
"<Save Gem, and save the world? Whatever you may think of the designs of Hell, we would support such a goal.>" There is a certain focus upon Drake - and a more philosophical undercurrent, daring him to come up with a reason to refuse - but the statement is universal.

The fact that the Deathknight seems as disturbed by her prophecy as anyone else is something Orchid is trying very hard to ignore.

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I'm probably going to need to spend a willpower point to keep suppressing my Compassion like this. Orthodoxy telling you that they're not the ones you ought to care for is all well and good, but immediate pain is hard to ignore. (Until I get Cosmic Transcendence of Compassion.)
Regardless, rolling to see if I can suppress Compassion without accuring Limit... (4d10)[2][2][8][1](13) Nope, managed to get a success. Close though.
Spending 1wp, gaining 1 limit. 9/10 and 1/10 respectively.

[Drascin]

Drake, on his end, has leaned against a table and is taking notes on everything Masque said. He has a good memory, but hey, the wording in these things is important, better not take the risk of misremembering. He should know, he's technically speaking an oracle himself.

He looks sideways at Orchid when he speaks in English, though. There's a certain distrust there, but also decisiveness. "<Don't know if it's that simple, man. It's unlikely that everything will converge into Gem. And you know full well I'm not exactly a fan of the Yozi.>" He then sighs. "<But people's lives are more important than philosophy. We can argue about this all later. Right now, yeah, I'm full in with plan Save Gem. I may have a couple ideas already, in fact. Need to do some studies in their usability first, though>"

He then sits down and looks straight at Masque. "That all doesn't really seem very heartening, miss. But you know, mostly, what we need to know is, are you on the side of trying to save the world, or not? My patrons here have very definite views about that, you see, and don't quite truck with all that "everything is doomed forever" stuff". Drake grins a little. "It's more about punching entropy in the face and taking its lunch money than accepting it, see. That's what being human is about, I guess. Guess that would be why these Neverborn hate humans' guts so much. We just never know when to quit, and are harder to take out than roaches" he winks. He makes it sound so... simple. Not easy, but simple, as if it was obvious. No hesitation. But then, struggling forever to keep the world going is something a Sidereal must be resigned to, after all.

[Leliel]

"...Perhaps."

The thousand-yard stare returns.

"Though...if you ask me, all things die. So, while Oblivion is something I fear...you have to wonder, is it the worst thing to happen to the world, ending? As far as I know, your mind ceases to be as well, so a few people might regard it as Nirvana-the transcendence of the self, and the removal of all limits. Eternal peace.

"...But enough of my ramblings."

...Sometimes I worry about you. I really do.

[aetherialDawn]

"Raziel... Later, nevermind." Orchid is too agitated, with a Deathknight here in the room and one already dead. He'd expected more of a feeling of... justice, perhaps, from seeing an Abyssal fall, but no matter. Only the Ebon Dragon seemed truly serious about treating the Underworld as possible allies, and his word is worth little.

"<I'm sure that Creation has other problems not found in Gem, but it's hardly as if we could fail to save Gem and still save Creation. Besides coincidences, there have been more than enough prophecies accruing here to worry me. I really don't know what to do with this Deathknight. So long as she's loyal to the Neverborn, she's a liability at best... Although she doesn't seem to be too directly dangerous, either. Yet.>" He leans against a wall; it makes little difference, the presence of a Deathknight makes him uncomfortable, and a seat would hardly assist with that.
If he knew the reactions Masque is inspiring in Wing, Orchid would likely choose words with somewhat more care... But as it is, he's irritable after recent combat, and the nagging feeling from Melodies and his instruction that the Abyssal here means that he's not actually done fighting.
"<So then, what do we do with our deathknight?>"

[Recaiden]

"Oh yes. There are worse. But me? I get my strength back. Then I go. To the Mouth of Oblivion. Your world is. Not important. To me. I won't save it. I won't hurt it. I won't bother." Masque shakes her head at Drake. He is both wrong and far too flippant about it. Then she smiles, just barely visible, as she remembers something.
"Oh. They have great hopes. Of your going home. Faraway." She doesn't know why, but it's there. And to Orchid, turned and sighing.
"As you ask. Give me blood and water. I will bother you no more. When your need greater and immediate comes. Oblivion will be. Waiting for you."

Whether he's done fighting is a question up to the circle. But given the state of the Deathknights before, it's likely not something about which he needs to worry. She is in little state to fight back half as well as the other did.

[Rhyvurg]

"Speak for yourself Miss. I plan to live forever."

[Drascin]

Drake is worried by the Neverborn knowing of Earth, but he's more worried about the woman in front of him right now.

"Wait, let me see if I'm getting this right. You asked us to save you so the other Deathknight didn't kill you, and we did - and now you plan to throw yourself into the Mouth of Oblivion, thereby getting killed anyway. Can I ask you what the point in running from the other Deathknight was, then, if you just want to die?"

[Recaiden]

The deathknight holds up a hand. No, stop, you have it wrong. "No. I don't go in. I go to look. And speak to my masters. He would bring me back. To the Thousand. To wage war on Creation. When I see the true goal. In the Labyrinth."
"Maybe you will live forever, like us. But I think it will be other. In Oblivion's embrace. Prove me wrong."
She stands up suddenly.
"I will be back. They need you. To clear the way. But first." She turns to look between Raziel and Orchid.
"You. Green Sun Princes, are called? Tell me. All you know. About the Neverborn." It is not a request. If Hell has one fragment of truth of the Void not clear to her, it must be had.

[aetherialDawn]

... Orchid has to wonder, briefly, if she simply doesn't know the hatred and fear most of the Primordials feel for the Neverborn. Regardless, prophecy or no, he owes her nothing more than enough to make her depart peacefully.
"The Ebon Dragon is the exception rather than the rule. In honor of your prophecy, and no more... The Yozis now blame the Solars for cracking reality in their mad attempts to obliterate what should not even die. But they blame the Neverborn for opening the Void. Is that true? I believe it to be. But I shan't be questioning your masters about it any time soon."
There are other secrets... The Primordials understand the unstoppable love for Creation that the Neverborn must feel, and demons who bear ghostly slaves know the lesser secrets of ghosts and Fetters. Doubtless there are terrible secrets discovered in the deep laboratories of the Daybreak caste or the Deathlords, but they are specific - horrifying perhaps, but not even the common sorts of necrotech use such discoveries. Or perhaps they do; Orchid knows of necrotech, but he has not even heard of one in Malfeas who knows the methods of necrotech.

Adorjan is perhaps not truly disturbing to the Primordials for forgiving her destroyers; at least not only for that.
She is disturbing for relinquishing her ties to Creation.

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All information filtered through a healthy supply of Orchid's Brainwashing To Subvert Compassion 4 to the Yozis Primordials.

Summary:
He knows the outside layer of things, mostly, plus some Yozi-relevant theories.

Knows that necrotech exists. Doesn't know how it works.
Doesn't know things only the Deathlords/Daybreak Caste researchers know, obviously.
Knows how ghosts form, although not causally - he knows that they are bound by fetters, which hold them out of Lethe. He doesn't know exactly why Fetters work, just that they work. It's not really his area of expertise.
Is fairly sure that Creation, as a whole or perhaps even only as an ideal, is the Neverborn's Fetter. There might be others.
[NotCanon]Believes that they cannot relinquish it the same way that they Yozis cannot, Adorjan being an exception.[/NotCanon]

[Leliel]

"...I know as much as he does, honestly."

"As I said before, I've heard...from a secondhand source, mind...that it was the Ebon Dragon that initially planned the capturing of the Solar shards and their renewal, but it was the Neverborn who carried out the deed. We were a 'planner's tithe', as it were.

"But before you leave...

He strides over to the Abyssal.

"You've been acting increasingly...eccentric...since after we saved you from Sentinel.

"Is this your version of the Great Curse? I've felt divine madness before, but you seem as if it's constantly affecting you.

"If you tell me, I can help. I don't know how, but Orchid and Beheris were there when I first fell to madness, and I don't know what I would have done if they weren't there to calm me. I can try to do the same, if you want."

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And thus, the Compassionate way of learning about Whispers.

Raziel knows about the Labyrinth, but thinks it's simply a cave system the Neverborn use to establish temples. Other than that, he knows the same as Orchid, except for the existence of necrotech. He's clueless, there.

[Tavar]

Most of the discussion goes right over Wing's head. He knows the underworld exists, and that the Deathlords are some sort of powerful entity from there. That's about it, though.

Honestly, at the moment he's more interested in the Abyssal herself.
"Why do you serve your masters? What hold do they have on you?

As for blood, I'm not sure if we can help you."

[Recaiden]

"No. The Void is eternal." Keep in mind that although she says this fervently and with total belief, it is not necessarily true.

Masque pauses for a moment, well and truly confused by his next question. "Great Curse? Whatever do you-" She trails off, and her eyes unfocus, looking through Raziel at something faraway, and evidently horrifying: her pupils grow wide, and what little colour remains in her skin drains away.
When she jerks back to the present, she seems steadier, speaking in real sentences, though quick and clipped, the tide of the Neverborns' will having receded for a few moments.

"No. That is gone from us, replaced with better chains. Which is part of why I serve them. So long as we exist, death follows us, willing or not. And you know that Exaltations are eternal. Even if I wished to, they cannot be defeated:"
"There is no escape from the all-consuming mouth of the Void."
"It is written in the stars that the living shall never triumph over the Neverborn." She repeats those two understandings quietly, struggling through the doubts the other Exalted present.

"As for the other, I hear them within my mind, and see their dreams overlaying the whole world. I know their ways better than I know myself. The times when I am left to myself and my surroundings are...few. In the Labyrinth, anyone can hear to them, but for us, the whispers are forever."

A nod to Wing, and a smile.
"That is why. I suppose I will go. Find some for myself then."

[Tavar]

"No chain, no trap, is perfect. They can always be broken, or turned upon their setters."

Wing pauses, and then his face hardens:

"If you mean to kill men and women to get this blood, I don't think you'll have long to worry about that. How much do you need, and how do you intend to get it?"