The Return of the Scarlet Empress IC

[Tavar]

Child

Child's grimace matchs Isa's, and answers.

"Pity. Thought he was bluffing, towards the end at least. He's just being an ass and kept leading me on.

Anyways, someone's targeting people who know about Us. There was a pouch with my Sign in the office, in addition to the wall. I'll try and get Skandi to reveal what's going on before he leaves, and he needs to leave now. If he stays, he endangers everyone in this fort. Did you get the other names on the list?"


Child's Thoughts

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Can't risk confirming anyone's suspicions. Did the Shadow know about Lookshy's decision? Why is she here, now of all times? And what's her name, dammit I should know this. I hope her mission isn't going to involve me: I have enough trouble with this, on my first vacation, too Dammit.

[Aevylmar]

Shrinking back into his human shape, Skandi turns from helping the bucket chain to drop by Aya's side for a moment, offering her bandages just out her reach. "Thanks for your help. If anyone tries to hurt one of them, please, stop them if you can and call me if you can't."

"I'm revealed as a Lunar and this is an Immaculate town. Lookshy isn't as big on religion as the Realm, and they may remember that I helped save them, but I still need to get out of here as soon as possible - but I need to wait until Rose is awake, find the archer..."

This is going to be a long day.

[industrious]

Fort Waypoint

The bucket brigade responds quickly, channeling their anger at being summoned for the second time in an evening.

When the flames finally begin to die down, Grass Lightening approaches the Dragon-Blood, the Solar, the Infernal, the Nocturnal, and the Lunar.

"Technically speaking, we should be arresting you or trying to kill you. But you helped us against the necromancer, and kept our buildings from burning down. Even if your actions caused them in the first place."

She glares at them, leaning heavily on her wooden cane.

"I still want all of you gone. Even if you're going to kill me and everyone in this fort for saying so. But get out. Take your demons, and your Princes of the Earth, and leave us ordinary people alone."

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She's speaking Riverspeak, and then Low Realm. She's pitched her voice so that everyone outside can here.

Charisma+Performance+Conviction: (8d10)[4][4][1][5][3][1][4][7](29). 10's don't count double.

That's hilarious.

[Aevylmar]

Skandi looks shocked, and speaks before Grass Lightning as if before a stage. "Not an hour ago we saved Fort Waypoint from a necromancer's undead army, which was attempting to raze this fort to the ground, kill you all, and steal your souls, and some of us are now cripplingly injured. We don't want to impose on your hospitality -" and for a moment there's an edge of outrage channeled into sarcasm concealed behind the plea in his voice - "But could we spend the rest of the night resting and tending to each other's wounds, at least, before we pursue him?"

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Making a Performance+Manipulation attack, backed by 5 motes, to convince her and anyone else in earshot that we are, by justice, owed considerable favors for saving their town, with a night's rest here among them, playing on her Compassion if she has any.

Base: http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3600700/
Specialties: http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3600701/
Stunt: http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3600702/
7 successes base, +2 specialty, +2/+2/+3 stunt.

[industrious]

Grass Lightening

"Is that a request, or a demand?"

But most of the people around her aren't on her side.

She looks her age. There are worn lines across her face. A crippled middle aged woman newly widowed and trying to step into her husband's role. And finding herself, though she has been loved and respected by his men, outmatched.

"...I want you gone in the morning. But then again, when Anathema are involved, what do our opinions matter?"

She walks away, hobbling, and vanishes alone into the darkness. A few moments later, a door opens and soon enough, closes.

[The_Snark]

"No. But easy enough to find out." Isa gazes at the ground, her obvious irritation vanishing beneath a pool of contemplative stillness. "Oversight wants that someone found. Need warriors to help once we find them. Would have been the Cleansing, but..." A faint shrug eloquently expresses the problem with that plan.

"So. Skandi and the others still planning to hunt down the necromancer?"

[Tavar]

Child

"Oversight is interested in this? That is bad. Skandi definitely seems interested, and a couple others were interested as well.
"

Halfturning, Child moves towards the door.

"We should probably return: you'll need to look after any survivors of your party, and I'll try and run a bit of damage control."

[Lix Lorn]

Sierra is standing on the very edge of the group, trying to be as quiet and unimportant as she can. By this point, this is likely pointless.

[industrious]

Sierra

Away from the others, and alone in the dark, Sierra tries her best to be invisible.

"I think you should join them. They could be...useful."

The voice resonates from behind Sierra, soft and seductive and sensual.

"No, no, don't turn around. We'll see each other soon enough.
"

"Don't be afraid, Sierra. I've got a good feeling about this."

When Sierra turns around, she sees only darkness behind her.

[Lix Lorn]

She tries to turn around of course, but nothing like fast enough.
And... she decides to listen. After all, what bad ever came from listening to the voices in the air?

[Illyceria]

Aya would make it a point that she did absolutely the barest minimum in both events, she would have argued it, but she was already straining the deception on what she was, so she nods and says nothing as she leaves. "Without an Inn I was planning on sleeping outside of the Fort anyway." She sighs and places her medical supplies back in its small pouch she would have to resupply it soon, "Quite unfair of her nonetheless, even after I said I would look after him. Ah well, this was short." She tilts her head and looks around, "I wonder where Child is at anyway."

Shaking her head she turns to the Lunar, "Your golden friend will come around on her own by morning I think. So for now she is out of danger." Tending to all of them was potentially dangerous, but if there was to be peace between the Clensing and this group then a small amount of kindness was necessary.

[The_Snark]

"Survivors." Isa hmmms. "Yes. Everything is dying down now. Time to go." But she makes no move towards the door, perhaps reasoning that it's safer not to be seen leaving together.

"Make sure to meet again before we leave," she adds just before Child opens the door."

[Tavar]

Child-Immediately after the Battle


"Right. Considering the way the fight ended, you'll probably need to help get your associates to the healers."
With that, he leaves, only realizing once he's out of the door that he never actually got her name....

Child-After the fire is put out.

He's helping some people drag debris out, so it can be dealt with later, missing most of Grass's request, though not Skandi's response. Coming up behind the self-proclaimed Lunar, Child rubs his eyes as if he's getting a headache.

"Skandi, are you really getting upset that people who are allied with your enemies, and who's allies you just assaulted and killed, aren't happy with you? And, if you're going to stay, what would we do with the Cleansing? They might not exactly be happy, even if you spared their lives. And since they seem to lack any mobile parties..."

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I think this justifies a second scene building that intimacy I mentioned.

[Incendius]

Penumbra mulls over what she just heard. It doesn't sound like these two are Dragonblooded, or at least followers of the Immaculates, if they were considering using the Anathema to track down the Necromancer. And, what was Oversight? They were obviously part of some sort of organization, but Penumbra didn't have the faintest clue what it was.

In any case, it seems like they all know where the Necromancer is going next. That will make things easy, and so Penumbra's task in the fort is done. She can easily pick up their trail later on, but now it is time for her to rest. The events of the day hadn't been particularly exhausting, but Penumbra likes to be in perfect condition, as often as she can. Its time to head off to the woods, make a camp, and get some time alone with her thoughts.

[Aevylmar]

Skandi

Skandi turns to Child with a sigh, speaking quietly to him.

"To be fair, they weren't our enemies until this morning, and we did save their lives. And we're only staying until such time as we are all capable of walking."

"As for the Cleansing? When they wake up, I'll ask if they want to join up with us. If not, they can go back home to the Realm or hunt that necromancer on their own as they wish."

"And I'm sorry for lying to you about who I was. I didn't think the real story would go over very well, and then people assumed I was working for Lookshy, and it seemed better to play along."

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The apology is honest. It wasn't a very heroic thing to do.

[Tavar]

Child

"Well, I'd be lying if I didn't know where you were coming from. Though, now that it's all in the open, care to share the next name on the list?"

[Illyceria]

After she had ensured that Rose's bandages were okay, Aya stands and moves over to the two members of the Cleansing, she had nothing to add to the conversation but at least she could try and make the injured a little comfortable. Taking a seat near the two Cleansing members Aya begins to check their bandages as well with a careful eye, her thoughts not really anywhere. Placed behind her and out of subtle reach of the Cleansing were their weapons fancy weapons. She really didn't want them getting up and causing more injuries on fanatic impulse, but she didn't want them totally defenseless.

"What a foolish world," she whispers to herself assured her patients were quite unconscious, "Everyone hurts everyone else, all the while darker malevolent beings attempts to drive a chasm between those who want to protect this foolish world." Wiping at her brow she leans back and sighs glancing to the sky.

[Aevylmar]

"All or nothing..."

Skandi glances around him without turning his face from the conversation. No-one's in earshot.

"He's heading to Nexus. The pair of names was Emerald Stormwrack and Rosacarnis Stormwrack, the same way Child of Steel and Ruby and Grass Lightning were paired. Emerald's a friend of yours?"

[Tavar]

Child
Child winces when he hears the name.
"Less a friend, and more an embarrassing hanger-on to other friends. Still, he or his friends don't deserved to be attacked.

If you don't need me any longer, I'll go help with the clean up. Hope you know what you're doing with those 2."

[Aevylmar]

Skandi

Skandi waves goodbye. "Take care. I don't think either of us wants to lose allies against who- or what- ever's behind this necromancer."

[industrious]

Besi

Ow.

Head...throbbing. A lot.

What the hell had hit her?

There was an archer...in the shadows. Somewhere.

She's still alive...for some reason...despite going against an Anathema.

Her weapons...out of reach. But she isn't tied up.

There's a girl tending Pell's wounds. In front of the weapons.

Where's her cousin?

[Guancyto]

Besi lays still until she can apprise her surroundings. The archer should have killed her, what stopped her?

As surreptitiously as she can, she continues to survey the area. Still in the fort. Unusual. Maybe the Lookshyans drove the enemy away?

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Dex+Stealth in concealing that she's awoken: (5d10)[1][4][6][1][9](21)
Perception+Awareness in having a look around: (7d10)[1][1][1][3][6][7][4](23)

[Aevylmar]

With Child gone, Skandi continues waiting for someone to wake up. Nearly alone, his smile is gone from his face. His eyes keep flicking to Rose, where she sleeps the sleep of one with serious injuries.

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Botched my awareness check. Someone, please, do something. :P

[Illyceria]

Aya sighs as she fiddles with Pell's bandages and she whispers softly to Besi, "If I were you, I'd do nothing foolish. You are surprisingly alive and I'd rather you stay that way." With that she leans back as if to admire her new handiwork. "That should do it," she says simply hands folded into her lap, her legs folded under her and she glances skyward. At least she hoped it was a trick of her slightly tense senses and Besi was still out but if not well... she'd see.

[The_Snark]

Once Child is gone, Isa permits herself to smile. It can't be denied that she takes some small pleasure in her layers of mystery, in watching others discover the shrouds of secrecy she wraps around herself and wonder: what is she really? She spends so much of her time pretending to be someone small—and it's not much of a pretense, truth be told—that it's nice to be seen as someone imposing for a change.

He doesn't even know my name.

After a minute to allow Child to distance himself, she leaves the little building, wrapps herself in a cloak of drab anonymity, and goes to see how many of her battered pawns are still alive.

***

Two. More than she expected. Skandi the Wolf shows restraint; why? Childhood memory tells her that a true wolf goes for the throat as soon as his foe is down. Fall, and the pack will make sure you never get back up.

Best not to test his mercy too soon. She stays hidden, watches, listens.

***

"Besi?" whispers Maren's voice; and there she is, sitting next to her cousin with a worried look on her face.

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Activating Underling Invisibility Practice until Besi wakes, then dropping it. If Aya sees through the Illusion, she'll ask about her cousin's injuries and generally give the impression that she's worried.

[Guancyto]

Her cousin was safe, presumably hiding when the battle turned out to be an astounding failure. There was a strange woman tending to her wounds, telling her to not do anything foolish.

Obviously not someone who had met or ever heard of her. "Maren." She slowly sat upright, feeling the pain of her wounds still. "Brave of you to come back."

[The_Snark]

Maren flushes, lowering her eyes for a moment. "Sorry," she mumbles. "I didn't... I wasn't sure if I could help, and it was over so fast."

"Besi, they're—" she checks herself as her voice rises dangerously close to a wail, going on in a whisper. "They're still here, Besi! Pell's alive, I think, but not awake yet. I don't know how badly he's hurt. What are we going to do?"

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It's Besi's turn to have her mind read!

Perception + Awareness: (10d10)[2][4][1][9][8][9][6][6][8][7](60)

[Guancyto]

Not badly enough, when I'm the voice of reason there's a serious problem, the thought comes unbidden before Besi starts to consider her situation.

Of course Maren didn't beat them all and get us out of this. A half-formed thought chides her for even thinking this might be the case, even if it had been a joke. Matsui almost down, Rose down, Skandi unharmed, archer still out there, Pell down- the train of thought stops suddenly, she is forgetting...

"We're going to get through this," she says quietly but firmly, feeling like she should reassure her cousin. "I'm going to need your help. Did you see the archer? Can you see it?"

[Aevylmar]

Skandi

"Besi's awake."

Skandi turns to look at the two of them, and then walks over to near Besi's bedside. His sword is sheathed, his hands are empty.

"Besi. I'm glad to see you pulled through." He scans Isa's face; the Sidereal illusion shows hm what it wishes him to see - family resemblance clear to the eye, if not too overwhelming. "Is this the fourth member of your Hunt? I don't believe we've been introduced. As your cousin may have mentioned, I am Skandi the Wolf, Chosen of Luna - or, as you'd term it, Ogre Anathema."

He holds out his hand to shake. Let's see how she reacts.

[Illyceria]

Aya glances to the new woman but gives her a simple nod. As long as no one was stabbing the other she was fine. And besides a family member? That most certainly was someone she could not deny having near.

Skandi's approach however caused her to tense up, the Lunar was an instigator and yet at least a sensible person. And his greeting to Isa was at least in good faith, no threat, no hidden agenda... well not one that she can tell anyway. "I have tended to all the wounds I could find, the unseen ones those I'm not sure of. So if you are feeling discomfort or pain I will attempt to deal those." She nods to Pell's still unconscious form. "I'm not sure when he will wake up, but none of you were seriously hurt." she glances to the Lunar and the newcomer with a curious look.

As to this unseen archer, she had to admit, she knew nothing of that. That person had not been with them it appeared.