Return of the Scarlet Empress II - Nothing on My Back...

[industrious]

Stormwrack

"Sure, we could do that. I could call down the Calibration Gate right now, and send us all to Yu-Shan in the blink of an eye. And then while we're at it, we can light a beacon proclaiming your Solarship to everyone in Yu-Shan, and throw an enormous party in your honor where an Old Man can slip you a nice dose of poison so you choke on a fishbone and die."

Emerald is very matter of fact with his hypothetical. There's only a twinge of sarcasm throughout the whole spiel.

"Or I can get you there in five days on a boat, where you won't have to worry about being mobbed by overly friendly gods or backstabbed by false friends. It'll be better, safer, and a nice sea voyage will help everyone relax. You'll be better prepared for whatever happens in Yu-Shan, and if you ask me questions while we're on our way, I might even answer them, since you apparently don't trust us. I blame Lunar propaganda."

[Aevylmar]

Skandi stops dragging the sword and sheaths it before turning to Stormwrack, eyebrow raised. "You just talked about how your boss would poison her just to see her die, and you're blaming me because she doesn't trust you? What's next, claiming that the reason the Immaculate Faith is out to kill her is because one of us told the truth to the Old Man's face?"

[industrious]

Stormwrack

"I'm saying there's a reason why you don't get nearly as many Wyld Hunts in the East and that there's a reason why Ma-Ha-Suchi is a household name. There are bloody awful excuses for Sidereals and in theory there is such a thing a decent Lunar. But you lot like to say we're all bad eggs."

Being unable to lift himself up had not, apparently, curbed Stormwrack's tongue.

[Aevylmar]

"Well, yes, of course we do," Skandi points out as he sits down, leaning against a wall. "The only time Sidereals come near members of the Silver Pact is to lead Wyld Hunts at them, so we don't exactly have any proof that non-bad-eggs exist. And now you're trying to defend your organization as good because it murders us less often than in some other places?"

He rolls his eyes. "For that matter, Ma-Ha-Suchi being a household name is better support for your propaganda team than for ours - if I was actually spreading Lunar propaganda, I'd be talking about how great the not-savage elders are, and the only thing you'd hear about Ma-Ha-Suchi would be the enormous stretch of Creation he keeps the Raksha out of."

[Ifni]

Eris remains crouching in the corner of the dock, searching methodically for the elusive invisible deathknight, but listens with interest. It's always useful to hear how people justify themselves.

"Child blamed Lunar propaganda, as well," she notes to the air. "I'm not quite sure why you all seem so eager to envisage me as a wide-eyed pupil avidly drinking in tales of Evil Sidereals from a manipulative Lunar teacher. Projection, perhaps?" She looks over her shoulder to grin at Stormwrack. "I can tell when people are lying to me. The corollary is that I can also tell when they're not."

"If you're surprised I don't trust you - give me one reason I should? One not based on facts not in evidence, like you don't get nearly as many Wyld Hunts in the East." She tilts her head, eyes widening slightly in spurious thoughtfulness. "Did you say the same to Dace, perchance?"

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Pokepokepoke, being a jerk, testing out various possible buttons to see if any of them get a reaction.

[industrious]

Stormwrack

"No, but look how cuddly you are with that other Lunar here. Choir of Bells. Real shining example of the Silver Pact, him. Look how you don't want to tell us about him. Your nice little 'musical friend.' I wonder how you met that marvelous specimen, and all the things he's told you about us. I'm at least honest about what the dangers are before she gets to a place."

Emerald sticks a cigarillo in his mouth, lights it with a thaumagurtically covered twig.

"And we're also the only organization in Creation that actually is looking at helping Creation as a whole. Yeah we bloody disagree about how, and the Bronze are a bunch of old bleeding scum who've been sucking at the teat of power too long. But at least none of us think we should destroy civilization. Or sell people to the raksha like your friend Bells does. Or oh yeah - bleeding **** animals."

[Aevylmar]

Skandi glowers at Stormwrack. "I met my "musical friend" when he was helping me storm a Raksha freehold that had been sending out raiding bands against miles of Creation. Along with a third companion, we killed six noble Raksha - any of whom could have taken your head, most without even trying - and several dozen commoners, and enthralled the rest such that they were used as weapons against the other Raksha of the region. If you doubt me, I will swear an oath bound by Eris that what I say is true."

His expression changes mercurially back to his normal grin. "This is an average week for members of the Silver Pact. Most common Raksha are weak, but well-trained and well-equipped, they can reach the power of a Terrestrial legionnaire. Cataphracts are born with power on a level with Zhou, and only get stronger and stronger. There are three hundred of us, and more than two hundred spend their lives on the border, holding back the Raksha. Anyone remembered what happened the only time we were beaten? Total collapse of your ****ing civilization, I think?"

The expression is sharper, more fixed. "And you say that you're the only organization dedicated to helping Creation? My "friend" would kill to achieve his goals, without mercy, without compassion, without honor. But his goals are the same as mine: The protection of Creation."

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Yeah, Stormwrack touched a nerve. Also, the stuff about the Raksha is completely accurate. Official sources consistently underestimate them; starting Cataphracts can actually wipe the floor with starting Solars.

[Tavar]

Child

Putting the mask and robe back in the hidden cabinet, Child hesitates for a moment, then takes out a sheet of paper and an inkwell.

Emissary,

Given your past stance, I doubt you want to do business with the Bureau. But someone targeted your city, and not simply the overt display. Someone manipulated the rebellion, and I feel there is a deeper game going on.

I have no hold over you, nor do I wish one. But I fear what would happen should someone else obtain one, especially ones from Greener pastures. I cannot promise aid, but if you ask, I shall try.

Oh, and you may wish to keep an eye on divine visitors. At least one seemed very interested in your mask.

Chosen of Mars, Child of Steel and Ruby

Leaving the note with the mask and Robe, Child motions for Lix to follow him out. They've spent enough time here: the others will be waiting. Never enough time...

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Not sure if this is the smartest thing to do... but it doesn't seem stupid.

[The_Snark]

Sifu:

I am alive and well, despite recent unrest in Nexus. The assignment from Oversight is not yet complete, and the Convention on Wood has requested assistance with a Thorns-related matter. I write this letter because I do not know how long it will be before I return to Yu-Shan, and there are two things you should know urgently.

The first is that the Yozis may have fashioned their own Exalted. Child of Ruby and Steel encountered one the day before yesterday, a woman who called herself the lady Aya and claimed she was Chosen by the Endless Desert and her brethren. She bore a caste mark in the shape of a silver hourglass, and insisted she was not akuma, that she retained her free will and had rejected her old masters. I judged her sincere when I met her, though I cannot rule out the possibility of a clever infiltrator or a deep-cover agent, but her existence is troubling regardless. If she is truly something new, she is not unique. Others like her will remain loyal. Yozi agents have been active in Nexus of late, and perhaps elsewhere in the Scavenger Lands.

One such agent, a man named Primal Elegance, has been traveling the Confederation of Rivers in the guise of a playwright, mostly recently in Nexus and Lookshy. I am told he was killed yesterday, but it may be worth investigating to see if his influence lingers.

The second is a puzzle, an Exalt who shone like the night and displayed a caste mark I have never seen:

He died in the fighting before I could discover more, but I heard a name mentioned. Does the phrase Nocturnal Exalted mean anything to you?

Isa


She lays the quill to rest, finally. There. Emerald Stormwrack can demand any oath he likes, but it won't keep word of this evening from Chejop Kejak's ear. And yet...

There's a lot left out of that letter. Isa has never lied to her teacher before; not on purpose, not about anything that matters. Some things she omits purely for the sake of brevity, while others she would rather explain in person. But the rest... She promised not to tell anyone about Burning Waters, no way around that. But she can't blame it all on that - she's not sure how much she really wants to confide. Stormwrack obviously fears what Chejop Kejak would do if he discovers Exalts with a penchant for tying the Loom in knots, and she can't deny that it worries her, too. Better to introduce the idea slowly.

But she can't make herself feel happy about it. He trusts so few people already, and it would be so easy to lose his trust. Just one mistake. Even if he never discovers it, she knows.

Well. Nothing to be done about it now. She'll just have to face this when she returns to Yu-Shan.

Isa feeds the letter to the room's single square candle, careful not to burn her fingers or extinguish the light.

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Using Superior-Entreating Memorial Style to send this to Chejop Kejak, then heading for the docks.

[Maugan Ra]

While the others discuss and argue, Zhou follows Shadow's directions and picks up the unconscious and invisible Typhon, stowing him below deck on the Lucky Starr. It's not an easy thing to tie up someone when you can't see them, but he compensates with an over-abundance of ropes and chains until the Deathknight practically looks like a cocooned insect. That done, he heads back out onto the docks where they can await the arrival of the others, just in time to catch the last few exchanges in the conversation.

"That's an average week for quite a few other defenders of Creation as well, Skandi. None of us support the Raksha." he says tiredly, taking a seat and letting his legs dangle freely over the side of the boat. "But just fighting the Fair Folk is no guarantee that you're a good person, just sane. Look at the Scarlet Empress, for example."

[industrious]

The Docks

The expression is sharper, more fixed. "And you say that you're the only organization dedicated to helping Creation? My "friend" would kill to achieve his goals, without mercy, without compassion, without honor. But his goals are the same as mine: The protection of Creation."

As Isa, Child, and Lauren approach the docks, this is what they hear.

[Ifni]

As Zhou moves to join her - and finds Typhon rather promptly, clearly she'd been looking in slightly the wrong place - Eris puts a hand on the Fire Aspect's arm. "Let me check him for weapons or anything else, before you take him?"

She quickly runs her hands over the invisible shape, closing her eyes as she maps out the way he's lying. She checks his hands first, then belt, boots, sleeves - anywhere a knife might be easily kept or concealed. Once she thinks she's found anything there is to find, she pats him down again, feeling and listening for anything out of place - the crackle of paper, for one.

That done, the Eclipse listens to the exchange, with a faint quizzical smile. A few motes of Essence heighten her senses - they both believe what they're saying. Interesting. Not that she'd thought otherwise, but still... interesting.

As Zhou re-emerges, she sheathes her daiklave and walks back over to her sister, lifting her up as gently as she can and carrying her over to the junk. It sounds almost as if he speaks from experience, with the raksha... Something to look into, later. "Zhou, will you take Firada and find her someplace to rest? Enlightening as this conversation is, I should stop by the Guild Tower if I'm going -"

She glances around at the sound of footsteps.

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Eris had been explicitly looking for Typhon for several posts, not just talking - I just didn't want to assume. I am fine with Zhou taking care of it, though.

If a roll is needed for searching Typhon,
Perception+Investigation (6d10)[8][6][9][2][8][1](34)
Possible stunt: (3d10)[1][9][6](16)

Something is telling me I'm not going to get to visit the Guild Tower I have a backup plan (grab random person off street, terrorize them into delivering an encrypted letter for me), so please let me have at least one more post before we leave Nexus, but while Eris would really like to know if her Contact is alive, it's not strictly necessary.

[Tavar]

Child hears Skandi's comment, and can guess the direction of the conversation. Now, he could just ignore it, after all he's not really part of the conversation. Or he could make a dig at Skandi.

It's really no contest.


"Yet you criticize the Fellowship that it would do the same."

He spoke as he steps on the boat, taking in the scene. Emerald doesn't look good, but no one seems too concerned. Black....Eyes? Shadow was also here(and he really needed to get better with names). He didn't really like the Ghost-borne, but he didn't dislike him. And Fallen Star did say Wayang thought highly of him. And Emerald seemed to dislike him. Certainly a mark in his favor.

" No body. Did the opponent get away?"

[industrious]

Eris

There were at least three knives on his person that she could find. One was nearly the size of a short sword, the other two barely three inches long.

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1 die stunt.

[Ifni]

Moments earlier:

Eris takes all three knives, examining them for special features or distinguishing marks before sliding them into Elsewhere via her pockets. She can study them more carefully later.

Now:

"Hello, Child. I think Skandi's point is that when you're devoting significant resources to killing the people defending the world from the raksha, while claiming to protect Creation, you might want to rethink your strategy. And that contrary to Stormwrack's beliefs, your Bureau is not the only organization striving to help the world - at least if keeping it safe qualifies as helping." The little Solar shrugs. "Which seems fair enough to me, as an external - if not disinterested - observer."

For a moment her smile is slightly pensive, and slightly wry, as she glances at Stormwrack - but at Child's question, it becomes a smirk. "The Ambassador of Thorns is chained up in the hold, under a sleep spell. Your colleagues decided that taking him to Yu-Shan was preferable to handing him over to the Pact, when it was phrased that way."

"Find anything interesting in the Council Tower? Did the reinforcements get there all right?" She peers past the Chosen of Battles, looking for Lauren and Isa. She'd been hoping she had a little more time before they arrived, but - well, she has a backup plan if necessary. Since she's likely to be pressed for time in any case...

The Eclipse sits down on the low wall next to the boat-shed, extracts her writing-case from her coat, and unfolds it. Selecting a narrow brush, a sturdy grade of paper, and a plain black ink, she begins to write as she listens.

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Using Letter-Within-A-Letter Technique, writing a report to Anaxos Ro. She's figuring if she has time she'll run over to the Guild Tower and drop it off, it'll be quicker than explaining everything; if she doesn't have time she'll bully some random citizen of Nexus into taking it. Of course if he's dead this is unnecessary, but apart from the cost of LWAL it also won't do any harm.

The surface letter is just saying she has to leave Nexus in a hurry and granting Anaxos Ro power of attorney to handle the sale of her apartment. The hidden message has a pretty complete description of everything she knows about what happened in Nexus tonight - I will probably touch on the highlights in a later post.

[Lix Lorn]

"Does the Emissary's mask count as interesting?" says Lauren dryly. "What about some random goddess trying to claim she was the emissary?"

[Tavar]

Child

He gives a short snort of laughter.
"Lunars don't protect Creation from the Fairfolk at large, any more than Sidereals do. The Scarlet Empress, with the Realm Defense Grid, protected us. Cowed them. Everyone else's efforts can support hers, but it was only support.

And generally, well, we don't support killing the Lunars. Not directly, at least. The Realm, that is something we support, and the Realm, well, it's policies come into conflict with the Lunars, even dismissing the religious grounds. But the Realm protected Creation from many threads. It's legions held back minor incursions. It's monks held ravenous gods in check. It isn't perfect. It isn't nice. But neither are Lunars. And we could work with the Realm to defend Creation."

Child shrugs.

"I don't know how long that will last, though. The Realm was tearing itself apart before, and now it looks to by trying to bleed itself to death. Who knows what will come next?

There were a couple things of interest in the tower, yes. Not sure if they're important yet, but certainly interesting."

[industrious]

Emerald

His eyes widen at Lauren's presence.

"You."

He bares his teeth, clenches his fist.

"Bring Sierra back. Now."

[Lix Lorn]

Lauren blinks.
"...what? I... I can't. Even if I would. It isn't that easy."

[industrious]

Emerald

Emerald snarls at her.

"Like I'm going to believe that. You were happy enough to leave her at Waypoint. Change back or you're going in the hold with Typhon."

"And Child, that's Bronze talk. The raksha wouldn't have godsdamned invaded in the first place if the Old Man hadn't killed the ones keeping them back. The Realm is a **** substitute for the Deliberative. And now it's crumbling, your leader is old and would be senile if he ever was lucid, and Yishie's going to have to pick up the pieces when it all crumbles before him. Bravo."

Black Ice Shadow

"These," he says quietly, uncaring if any hear him. "Are internal matters. Politics. We all desire for Creation to continue. And we should not reveal our troubles to outsiders."

[Tavar]

Child

"Keeping them back? Like Wyldhand? Or the Crusade before that?

You know the impetus, why the Old Man acted. Is it better to be safe, and diminish, or roll the dice, with the world on the line, and precious little chance of victory, but be greater in that chance? I've yet to see a Gold answer that without dismissing the possibility of failure. You think I don't know things are crumbling? There's a reason I don't follow Him anymore. But I don't see your position as any better."

Glancing at Lauren, Child narrows his eyes as he looks back to Emerald.

"What are you talking about? Is she some danger to the mission?"

[industrious]

Emerald Stormwrack

He's yelling now, foam and spittle exiting his mouth as he lies on the deck.

"Be safe and diminish? You call this safe? There was never going to be safe. We were going to roll the dice no matter which direction we chose. We had at over three thousand years before things got to the point where we have to choose, and now it's been less than two thousand and Creation's gone to absolute bloody ****. That's the Bronze, Child! Cheaper, poor quality, and it breaks if you sneeze at it."

He looks at Lauren, and his voice subsides in volume, if not in anger. It's a more controlled fury; his voice becomes quick, clipped.

"Lauren is a personal matter. None of your businesses."

[Lix Lorn]

"And it's something I have no control over, and you don't look like you're in any shape to be demanding anything from me." says Lauren, quite put out by his inexplicable seeming hatred of her.

[Maugan Ra]

"Or, and here's a stunning thought, you could stop arguing over a disagreement that's two millennia old and long stale." Zhou says dryly. "Especially in front of outsiders."

[industrious]

Emerald

He pinches his nose, exhales, and some of the anger seems to go with it.

"Zhou is right." there is a grumbling from a certain black-clad fellow in the corner that goes ignored. "This isn't the place for this."

[Maugan Ra]

Zhou chuckles. "My sympathies, Shadow. For whatever it's worth, you're rapidly proving yourself the most likeable and competent of all these fine folks."

He pauses. "Stormwrack gets bonus points for banishing the demons that were about to eat my face, and loses them again for being a cantankerous drunken bastard. And I mean that in the nicest possible way."

[Ifni]

"I was finding the discussion quite informative, actually," Eris says, looking up from her lap-desk. She blows across the parchment, and folds it up. "But we'll have five days to talk about whatever topics strike our fancy, I suppose." Her lips twitch slightly. "Hopefully we can refrain from throwing each other off the boat."

The little Solar stands up, tucking her writing kit back into her coat. She glances at Stormwrack. "Lauren is Sierra's second-self, alternate face, something akin to the more-than-disguises you Sidereals wear. This I know because she told me, Stormwrack; I don't know what you think she is. And she's not lying, when she says she can't easily return to being Sierra."

"None of you have lied or even told half-truths, actually, in this conversation; everything everyone has said has been what they've truly believed." She shakes her head slightly, with a faint smile. "Isn't that a worrying thought?"

"Anyway. I have a letter I need delivered. If everyone else is ready to depart, just give me a few minutes to find someone to carry it." She pauses, and looks at Lauren and Child. "Did reinforcements show up to the Tower?" Either way, if the akuma comes back for a second try, that could be unfortunate - although it seems a glaring vulnerability, if the mask actually matters. One that should have been exploited before.

There's little enough she can do about it. And little enough reason left for her to care. But Anaxos, if he's alive - one reason, maybe.

[industrious]

Emerald

"Being drunken implies that you can't drink. I'd like to see any of you match drinks with me. Given the contents of this boat, that'll probably happen one night."

"And you can't blame me for being paranoid about Sierra. Nice girl turns into a killer like her, I'm not thinking this is voluntary."

This, it appears, is as close to an apology as Stormwrack gets.

[Ifni]

"Yeah, baiju isn't my beverage of choice. And as for Lauren - sometimes what you need is a killer." She glances at Lauren, the corner of her mouth turning slightly upward. "You think Sierra would've enjoyed this evening? Although she was helpful, at the play."

Eris draws a length of bloodstained periwinkle silk from her coat pocket and cuts a piece free with her knife, wrapping it around the letter before tucking it into an envelope from her supplies. She's not very familiar with sorcery, but perhaps Anaxos can do something with the blood as an arcane link.

She looks at Child and Lauren, wondering if they'll offer an answer to her question before she leaves.

-----------

The letter, folded in the Eclipse's hands, is on first reading simply a polite and rather legalistic missive, advising Anaxos Ro that she has found it necessary to depart the city on short notice, and requesting that he arrange the sale of her apartment and see the proceeds deposited in her account with the Guild.

But between the lines, between the ink and paper, in the images and recollections words shape in a mind -

She knows Anaxos Ro. She's known him for half her life, since a meeting in the Undercity, between the White Rose of Thorns and a young Guildsman newly posted to the city. And the Prince of the Earth's little mortal clerk, fading into invisibility beside her sister, watching and listening and recording every detail of their agreement.

He'd tried to bribe her, not very long after that; she'd taken his money, of course, and then smiled at him a few months later, when his attempt at blackmail had fallen rather flat with the discovery that her sister had known all along. She'd held no grudge; he hadn't been trying to betray her to the Mask, after all, or weaken the Resistance, only to gain an advantage.

He'd never given them anything for free or cheap, and he'd deliberately stayed well clear of the inner council, for his own safety and theirs. But he'd been willing to smuggle weapons in and refugees out, he'd saved scores of people from the darkness - and when she'd desperately needed a way out of Thorns, he'd kept his asking price to something she could pay, even though it meant risking his own life.

Ruthless, yes - you have to be, to rise so high in the Guild - but not an evil man.

And she'd paid back his investment many times over, in the manses she'd helped him find, in a decade of favors given and traded. He'd helped her learn how to live in a world of sunlight, and she'd showed him the lies and the secrets, behind people's eyes...

She knows Anaxos Ro, and he knows her. And from the sparse legalistic language of her letter she builds structure out of old references, and in-jokes, and shared memory, to speak meaning to his mind alone.

The truth of the night. Descriptions of Elegance, Burning Waters, the two akuma and what she'd seen of their powers, and an explanation of the silk wrapped around the letter. The play, the mind-control, the subverted mercenary troops. Her belief that Waters was most likely a dupe, and that in any case the rebellion was set up to fail by infernalists whose intent was to shatter the Scavenger Lands. The possible link to events in Lookshy. What she'd done to bar Nexus from aiding Thorns, and the nature of the Charm. Her exile and its terms. The imminent arrival of Lookshy troops. Her assessment of Risa, mentioned as a still-trustworthy mercenary commander, and the members of the Cleansing still in the city.

The Midnight Queen will be seeking someone competent to explore possibilities for social reform in Nexus, provided she survives the night. This may be something you wish to involve yourself with, as an opportunity to influence the future of Nexus, and perhaps to win Ephiselle's gratitude, as by her sworn word she must find someone. This rebellion reveals a weakness, and Elegance's intent was that the city's response should crack the flaw wide open; I would rather see it repaired. I must leave, so I warn you of the danger, and offer you what information I have to hand.

A gap, then, in the flowing brushwork, a space where the words are only their surface meaning - and then she goes on, to tell him about the Sidereal Exalted, about the nature of Symphony of Chimes. What follows is information you could die for knowing. But they know that I know, and if they know you received my letter they'll suspect, whether I actually tell you or not - so I choose to offer you knowledge, with which to arm yourself. If you would rather not - skip the next paragraph.

As well as the Solar and Lunar Exalted, there are the Chosen of the Maidens...

She doesn't tell him about Typhon. She's not the only one in the world who can read truth. Better he has no idea of her involvement, and can truthfully testify to that. Nor about the Emissary's mask, although she does describe the rebels' focus on the Council Tower.

The signature is just a signature: Untimely Orchid. Perhaps the last time she'll sign her name that way.

[The_Snark]

Isa slips through empty streets and alleys like a ghost, unseen by the few who dare venture out into the city streets at this hour, on this night. She is in no mood to be followed and accosted again.

The docks are dark at this hour, the gloom pierced only by the occasional hanging lantern. The Lucky Starr is not one of the ships carrying a light, but she can hear familiar voices, rising and falling in the sound of argument and probably carrying further than their owners intend: Skandi's normally-carefree voice lowered to a near-growl, Stormwrack's habitual scorn a little sharper than usual, Child's controlled annoyance, Orchid's cool precision. Despite herself, she hangs back a minute, listening to tones of voice rather than words.

Until somebody - Stormwrack - starts shouting. Time to intercede? Luckily, the discussion has died down by the time she reaches the ship.

"Everybody here?" Isa calls softly by way of greeting. The first thing she notes is the presence of a fellow Reckoner; reinforcements? The agent they're supposed to retrieve? She doesn't know Black Ice Shadow very well - she doesn't know anyone in her division all that well - but he's supposed to be an expert on the Underworld. Seems awfully easy, but he would be a natural choice for a mission to Thorns.

The second thing she notes is the blood on Emerald Stormwrack's clothes. That earns a raised eyebrow. "What happened? I know he's very annoying, but..."