Skyside 5

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Pursuing KABAL]

Electra frowns at the line about the demons. That's not a good sign.

"I'm wondering about this line about demons. If they're involved somehow, that might explain Anika's presence there, and why she didn't seem to care about the drugs." Logically, anyways. Electra's forgetting that Kirk probably still doesn't know who the shapeshifter is beyond someone from VIGIL, though he can probably infer as much.

"Well, whatever we do, what are we going to do with this thing?" She gestures towards the car. Keeping it is probably a bad idea, but the sentient security system is going to rat them out to the car's owner if they get it back, she's sure, especially since it's magic. Trouble all the way around, most likely.

[Shadowcaller]

[Pursuing KABAL]

"Just leave me?" The voice in the radio suggests. "You're wanted already. I can't rat you out more than you already have by pulling that stunt. All those people saw you, your wanted posters are going to be in every street corner. This entire city will be looking for you."

Now there is a loud THUD on the roof of the car. "GUYS! Could you let me inside?! Flying after a car is exhausting!" Oh.

[Gullara]

[Pursuing KABAL]

((By the way, we figured out what kind of car it is. ))

"Leave it?" Kirk laughs. "Nah, nah. This is a nice car. You don't just find these on every street corner. Besides, why waste a perfect opportunity to stick it to these pieces o-" Kirk is interrupted by Anika. He looks across at Electra. There is not extra space in this car.

Either way, he does pull over and pops the door up. Presumably Anika is going to assume her humanoid form again.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Pursuing KABAL]

Electra looks back at him, raising an eyebrow as Anika interrupts. No, there is definitely not enough room for three people in this thing, especially with Electra's armor. If Anika could shift into something smaller, like a rabbit or something, there might be enough room then, but only just. Once Kirk's pulled over, she'll pop her own door and pop up on the other side of the car, more to keep a look out for any KABAL stragglers than anything else.

[Shadowcaller]

[Pursuing KABAL]

"Just make sure that you don't get any blood on my interior when you die, I heard that elf blood is awfully difficult to clean up." The voice replies.

As Kirk stops the car, there is another loud thud, Anika managing to land on the streets near the in a cat-like fashion. "Phew." She slowly gets up and dusts off her clothes. "I'll tell you, this vehicle has no handle space." She remarks as she bends over to peek into the car. "And it isn't very spacious either-"

"Is that a hobo? Why are you letting it enter? Shoo it away! It's touching my exterior with its dirty fingers!"

The druid blinks. "Who was that?"

There are some people staring at them, but they don't appear to be members of KABAL. Just curious bystanders.

[Gullara]

[Pursuing KABAL]

"A nuisance. Don't mind it. It's all bark and no bite." Kirk waves his hand dismissively. If he wants to keep this car, he may have to look into that. But that's a problem for later. "Let's not talk here. Fly over to the alley on the next block up. It'll be better than the side of the road."

Provided there are no protests, the trio should have relocated. Now they're not simply sitting out in the open. "So might I ask what exactly Vigil is looking for?" Kirk starts.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Pursuing KABAL]

Electra seems glad for the venue change. That blasted car is going to attract more attention than they want or need, but that's a different problem entirely. Once they're safely in the alley, she'll eye Anika curiously and nod at Kirk's question.

"I'd like to know what KABAL's beef is with VIGIL. This isn't the first time you folks have gotten mixed up with them, from the news reports, but unlike us, you're not any sort of competition to their business. But perhaps in answering my associate's question, mine will become clearer, so please, enlighten us."

[Shadowcaller]

[Pursuing KABAL]

"Right, right." Anika replies and then shifts into falcon form, flying to the position indicated by Kirk.

She returns to her elf form and looks between the two. "News feed? Already? Geez, well then you already know half of the story. We got contacted by a, uh, contact and when we came here to investigate, we got attacked. We managed to fight off KABAL but since then we've been investigating KABAL's activities as they've been up to some pretty shady, potentially dangerous, stuff. This whole drug deal for instance. They're being pretty secretive about it apparently." She explains. "So, why're you here? Don't tell me MERC gotten involved in the drug trade since that would look pretty bad for you."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Pursuing KABAL]

Electra shakes her head, raising an eyebrow at Kirk, before replying.

"No, we were curious what they were carrying, but the drugs weren't our objective. We're here investigating the same incident you are, it sounds like, though for different reasons. Some of the people involved somehow managed to involve some of our members involuntarily at a distance. We're trying to figure out exactly what happened and how it was done." If Anika was present during the fight KABAL had with the cultists, she's probably more than aware of them managing to turn people to stone. Even if she wasn't, her commanders would be very lax indeed not to have briefed her about it. No need to mention names, though she can probably guess who was involved involuntarily.

[Earl of Purple]

Street of Slavers --> Noble Estate

Rahilda, if she's required to give the same information as the harpies, will explain that she is from a small, hidden village in Outside, protected by mnemomancy and illusion; due to the defences, she won't be able to find her way home. She was sold by somebody she knew, but can't remember how she knew them, nor their motivations. She's also a little distracted, and occasionally turns to nothing to make an exasperated remark. Those with magical sight will see a wizened old woman wearing an old-fashioned dress and carrying a yew walking-stick.

The owl-harpy is a little drowsy, and keeping her fully alert is difficult in the day time. Her nest was high in the branches of a redwood tree, located in a vast forest. She was snatched by opportunistic pirates who abseiled down from their flying ship at midday, when she was fast asleep and felt herself safe. She doesn't know how old she is, exactly, but estimates she's about nineteen winters long. Her name is Moontalon.

The vulture-harpy had her nest on a large spire of rock in an arid desert. She was captured after following a sky-whaler's ship, when they hurled a net over her as she fed on their latest kill. She thinks she's about twenty, but has no way of telling for certain. She goes by Carrion.

The osprey-harpy was caught by traditional fishermen, at sea, when a storm forced her to seek shelter upon their ship. She lived on an island before that, with a nest half way up a cliff. She remembers twenty-three monsoon seasons, including the one that led to her capture. She names herself Stormwing.

The harpies will prefer raw meat, except Stormwing, who likes fish. Rahilda would prefer vegetarian meals. None of the group will try to escape just yet, Rahilda is too distracted catching up with her grandmother, whilst the harpies are easily distracted by meat. Moontalon's too sleepy, Carrion too enamoured with the idea of regular food, and Stormwing thinks there's going to be something that will stop her simply flying away, and wants to determine what it is before she attempts to flee.

[Gullara]

[Pursuing KABAL]

"Basically Kabal is making our life hard. They're not exactly our focus here, but they've insisted on injecting themselves." Kirk says. Bunch of bastards that they are. "Specifically, they're trying to smear us while also trying to take out the people we need to talk to."

[Shadowcaller]

[Pursuing KABAL]

"There is all sort of crazy rumors going around. The more frequent story I heard is that you 'gorgon queen' was going around killing innocents. But I know that's all saber****." She waves her hand dismissively. "Anyway, what sort of people are you guys looking for?" She had a sneaking suspicion, but the question was how much she could tell people from MERC. She didn't know all that much about their organization frankly.

[Recaiden]

The elder crow will end up in the Art Department. It seemed like she had a bit of potential.
The younger? Well, they honestly don't need more than one crow. But probably it will help to compare them.
The peregrine will be treated a little more carefully, unique and useful as he is.
But all of them more or less vanish into the system.

Raw meat is available for them - easier than cooking - though fish is not. Rahilda is welcome to ignore the (cooked) meat among the vegetables and rice, but vegetarians are, in the owners' opinion, frivolous and not to be indulged.

After telling them that much, Moontalon can sleep and wait for the night shift. The handler who bought them thinks well of her. Owls are cute and she's not causing trouble. The cells are spacious (built to contain someone much larger than a harpy) and fairly cozy. But the doors are locked.

Carrion is asked in more detail about the whalers' ship, anything that might identify it.

A ship sets out to look for Stormwing's island, but as for Stormwing herself, she's asked about other harpies. When she would see them, how often she was alone. She's right that there are things to keep her just flying away, but how does she plan to discover it without at least witnessing an escape attempt?

Rahilda is seen by a particularly drab woman, one of the Nais, who is wearing a pair of goggles that shine like flashlights and also seem to let one see ghosts, as she looks right at the probably-grandmother. "You must be her grandmother. I don't suppose the mnemomancy was any less effective on the dead? And what keeps you following her around?"

[Earl of Purple]

Noble Estate

Vegetarians who pick the diet for health reasons, Rahilda would agree with. In her case, sometimes she feels the last moments of the meat she's eating. A minor side effect of her mystic abilities. Stormwing will also go for the raw meat, if fish aren't available.

Moontalon will sleep, quite comfortably too. She won't try the door for a while, not till shortly before sundown when she wakes up.

Carrion says the whalers smelt of blood and death- she describes the scent as being 'very tasty'. It's quite large, though she doesn't have much experience to compare it to. The captain was a dwarf with red hair and a mithril spike for his left leg, which is probably more useful information than what she remembers of the ship. She also remembers him and his crew as being cruel, as they teased her with entrails and threw one of the whalers overboard after he was accused of theft.

Stormwing didn't see other harpies often; there were about ten harpies she knew of living on either the same island, or a neighbouring one, but they were pretty territorial and mostly stayed out of each other's way to avoid fighting over the same fish. Every full moon there was a gathering to discuss what was happening nearby, with fishing boats, smugglers, leviathans, wyverns and anything else that affected everyone living on the islands.

"Hah! Of course the mnemomancy works on ghosts. I helped set it up. Though, uh... I can't remember how I did it. As for why... Death is boring. And I may have made a promise I can't wiggle out of. For seven generations." The last bit is whispered, so Rahilda doesn't pick it up. Hopefully the goggles also give the ability to hear ghosts, otherwise Nai may have a bit of difficulty replying.

[Recaiden]

A mithril peg leg sounds fairly distinctive. They'll make inquiries, see if that dwarf's been seen in Skyside's docks or any of the cities in the nearest desert. Possibly Carrion's come a long way to arrive here, but probably not. That's all they need from her at the moment, and she can get started on the regimen of being poked and prodded and studied that they're here for.

The googles give one the ability to see sounds made by ghosts, which is nearly as good.
Nai answers after a little bit of delay piecing the word-shapes together.
"At least you set it up rightly, then. As for death, you're quite right. I try not to spend much time there. Could you tell me more about Rahilda's...and your? abilities?" Although at least one Nai is currently bodily trapped in an afterlife, so that death-avoiding isn't exactly working out.
While asking that, she leads Rahilda on to her cell. She'd like to speak to the grandmother more about that promise, and other things she might not want overheard, and asks for elaboration if she can manage to separate the two.

Ten harpies! That's good news; there are spares out there if something might happen to these. They'll have to see if they're all ospreys (or at least similar fish-eagles) out on the islands, whether it varies regionally, by individual, or not really at all. The handler has another question. "What do you think you're going to do, Stormwing, even if you do get out of this place?" Do they know she's plotting escape most of all, or do they ask things like that to everyone?

[Earl of Purple]

Noble Estate

A red-headed dwarf sky-whaler with a mithril leg named Stiehl Shieldstone is the captain of The Sky Wail, which left yesterday headed for its usual hunting grounds. It's expected back in a month, or they could chase it down fairly easily. The ship is noted to be rather old, and whilst it is fast enough to catch sky-whales, that doesn't need to be particularly fast. Mostly it needs endurance over speed.

"Rahilda's quite inexperienced, yet. Young. She can summon ghosts, if she knows who she wants. She can open herself up for possession, or close herself away to fight possessors. That's harder. And she can awaken natural spirits, imbuing non-living items with rudimentary sentience. I can't do any of that. Spirits can't bind spirits. What I can do, though, is remember. I have many names I can give to Rahilda, and if she lets me, I can guide her through her magic, teach her new skills, tricks and spells. Plus I'm a ghost. I can walk through physical things, I'm not affected by gravity and most people can't see or hear me. I don't have a natural scent, but I'm magical. I can be tracked that way." Tracking a ghost is easy for those that know what they're doing, and most wards and defences take them into account.

"Go home. Be free. Be far from here, amidst these small spaces and low caves." Being a sea-dwelling flying creature, Stormwing is used to wide open spaces, with nothing but the odd island between sky and surf. She's always glancing up, looking at the tops of walls and above, checking out where any defences might be- though she doesn't know what she's looking for, nor how it could be hidden.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Pursuing KABAL]

Electra glances at Kirk, and sighs. No sense in beating around the bush, here, it seems.

"The cultists KABAL attacked recently, when some of KABAL's number got turned to stone. They did something we weren't aware was possible, and we need to understand how it was done and whether they were targeting our 'gorgon queen', as you call her, or whether it was a coincidence. I was with her in Riverside when it happened, and it freaked both of us out." Electra isn't thrilled to reveal even this much, but perhaps a bit of honesty will get them further with Anika than continuing to dance around the subject. VIGIL was involved in the incident, after all. Perhaps they have some information they can share.

[Gullara]

[Pursuing KABAL]

Kirk smirks. Gorgon queen. Dena would like the sound of that. "That about sums it up." Is all he adds right now. If Anika knows anything, that should be enough to explain. But will she be forthcoming?

[Ashen Lilies]

[Street of Slavers]

New customers!

A small noble entourage proceeds through the market, coming in from the direction of Old Skyside. The heart of the procession is a tall, richly decorated sedan, held aloft by twin dark-skinned slave boys in outfits even more provocative than the ones inhabiting the cages; each wearing only an intricate construction of black leather and lace, which serves to lift, emphasize and adorn, rather than conceal. Lounging in frothy waves of blood red lace is an exceedingly voluptuous woman, clad in a lush velvet robe that flows like a shiny, silky flood over hills of excessive curves, spilling out of her body like an overstuffed armchair. Stalking at the side of the sedan is a tall, dark-haired woman who has the look of a bodyguard around her, despite the impractical stilleto-heeled boots and the tightened leather bodice that seems much more concerned with emphasizing her bosom rather than allowing her freedom of movement.

All in all, a rather blatant display of excess and gross over-indulgence. As expected.

The procession heads to GIRLS first, Lucretia looking over the wares with interest.

[Shadowcaller]

[Pursuing KABAL]

As she suspected then. Anika nods, suddenly smirking. "I happen to know a lot about that cult actually. We took in a refugee, a old 'friend' of mine in fact, that's the leader of it." She couldn't help but to brag a bit. "But, uh, she never said anything about no gorgon. That is one of those snake women, right? I've only seen pictures." And those weren't pretty.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Pursuing KABAL]

Electra frowns slightly. She suspected Anika knew more than she let on.

"Something like that. She has snakes for hair and can turn things to stone by looking at them. As I understand it, she was cursed, and used to be a drow." Kirk can correct this if she's wrong. Her expression is one of someone who is less than amused. "Your friend's cult somehow managed to channel our member's stone gaze.
They're either playing dumb or didn't know what their members were up to. In either case, we'd like to talk to them and find out which it is."

[Earl of Purple]

Street of Slavers- New Customer

The procession is unusual, and attracts a few stares from passersby and guards, as well as those slaves able to see the procession, hoping that they aren't going to ever be on display like that. Everybody gets out of the way, and rather fast; this street is relatively safe, as any caught stealing quickly find themselves in a cage.

The girls in GIRLS are uniformly young, the eldest in her late twenties, the youngest mid teens. They wear nothing but a set of underwear, usually picked to compliment their natural colouration. The moment they enter, the man behind the counter immediately sits to attention, though he doesn't move. He's a young man, about nineteen, with blue eyes and blond hair.

The oldest girl is a twenty-seven equivalent elf, with snow-white skin, long silver hair and grey eyes, tall and slender, wearing black. The youngest is a fourteen-year-old half-orc with dark skin, large green eyes and short black hair. There's a female kor with white-grey skin, white braided hair and pale grey eyes; she's about nineteen, and has a series of white geometric lines tattooed within a rhombus shape upon her stomach. A skinny seventeen-year-old mouse faunus, with tanned skin, blue eyes, light brown hair and a long mouse tail. A pair of drow/elf hybrid twins, aged nineteen, with grey skin, white-streaked black hair on one and black-streaked white hair on the other, and deep black eyes. A pallid grimlock girl with no eyes sniffs the air cautiously when they approach, her long nose twitching; she has fine grey hair, and looks to be in her teens. Other girls, too, these are just a selection. There's goblins, gnomes, halflings, orcs, humans, dwarfs, elves, drow, and a few hybrids, many half-human.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Street of Slavers]

The drow/elf twins catch Lucretia's eye. Maybe she just has a thing for twins? Either way, Lucretia moves in, stepping out of her litter to take a closer look.

[Street of Slavers - Meanwhile]

A thin vertical slash of line opens in a nearby alleyway. It rotates into a large rectangle, which briefly presents a view of the interior of a stone tower before a tall elf steps out into the alleyway and the gateway closes. The elf has long silvery hair pulled sharply back in a severe bun. She's dressed in a rather austere fashion, a high-necked, slender gown in dark green so deep as to appear nearly black, embroidered in silver threads which form an orderly lattice that marches up her sleeves and up the bodice. She walks into the market, casually slipping into the crowd.

[Earl of Purple]

Street of Slavers- Lucretia, GIRLS

They are pretty unusual, given the normal antagonistic relationship between elves and drow. Plus the rarity of twins in such long-lived peoples adds another layer of desirability, to those that care. Probably expensive, but they are half-price, too. They gaze out at Lucretia, shivering under her gaze and glancing nervously at each other, and her entourage. They really hope not all her slaves are forced to wear such evocative outfits as Lucretia's bearers; unless they, and the palanquin, are left outside. In which case they don't have a clue as they can't see outside from where they are situated.

Jasper, the shopkeeper, approaches somewhat cautiously, and bows deeply before straightening. "They are unusual, aren't they? Only elvish twins we've ever had. We've had half-elves before, and half-drow, but they are usually half-human as well. As a result, they are the most expensive individuals we have for sale. Even at half price, one is worth more than the un-adjusted price of the next most expensive slave." It's a friendly warning, though by the look of Lucretia, she could probably buy everybody in the store, Jasper included, and call it small change.

Street of Slavers- Meanwhile

The shops are all fairly homogeneous, in that all deal with slavery in some form. There's tattoo parlours, and body modification specialists; ironmongers selling chains and weights; locksmiths selling collars and manacles; tanners selling whips, collars and paddles; and the big shops, the ones selling people. Four stand out, amidst a mix of other, smaller establishments. The big four are GIRLS, which specialises in young, attractive humanoid women; MALE, which sell the male counterparts to GIRLS; Exotic, selling those too large, small or oddly shaped to fit in the other establishments, and finally The Orphanage; not quite a shop, it doesn't display what it has on offer, yet it has remarkably few requirements for those looking to adopt a child, and most of them monetary.

Despite her obvious wealth, she is not once mugged, nor does anybody try to pick her pocket, sell her snake oil or any of the other, myriad distractions which usually plague wealthy loners stalking Skyside's streets. In fact, besides the obvious slaves outside nearly every establishment, displaying the wares or services available inside, everyone is well-dressed, well-fed and generally wealthy-looking, although a significant portion of those perusing the market are disguised in some way. Even the patrolling guards wear smart uniforms with well-maintained gear.

[Recaiden]

Noble Estate

A red-headed dwarf sky-whaler with a mithril leg named Stiehl Shieldstone is the captain of The Sky Wail, which left yesterday headed for its usual hunting grounds. It's expected back in a month, or they could chase it down fairly easily. The ship is noted to be rather old, and whilst it is fast enough to catch sky-whales, that doesn't need to be particularly fast. Mostly it needs endurance over speed.

"Rahilda's quite inexperienced, yet. Young. She can summon ghosts, if she knows who she wants. She can open herself up for possession, or close herself away to fight possessors. That's harder. And she can awaken natural spirits, imbuing non-living items with rudimentary sentience. I can't do any of that. Spirits can't bind spirits. What I can do, though, is remember. I have many names I can give to Rahilda, and if she lets me, I can guide her through her magic, teach her new skills, tricks and spells. Plus I'm a ghost. I can walk through physical things, I'm not affected by gravity and most people can't see or hear me. I don't have a natural scent, but I'm magical. I can be tracked that way." Tracking a ghost is easy for those that know what they're doing, and most wards and defences take them into account.

"Go home. Be free. Be far from here, amidst these small spaces and low caves." Being a sea-dwelling flying creature, Stormwing is used to wide open spaces, with nothing but the odd island between sky and surf. She's always glancing up, looking at the tops of walls and above, checking out where any defences might be- though she doesn't know what she's looking for, nor how it could be hidden.

Well, it would be simple to just wait for him to come back in a month. But a month is a long time. So much can happen! Better go chase him down as soon as possible. Three warplanes are sent out. They needn't be out very long; going quickly is enough. Simply fly out, blast the whaling ship with plasma cannons till everyone aboard is definitely dead, come on home. Easy. As if.

Nai nods at the list of standard ghost facts. Animating objects, that's something they didn't expect. Very interesting. "And you may as well help, since you're stuck with her family for quite a while. How did that end up happening? She voiced some suspicions you weren't really ever her grandmother."

"So you haven't exactly thought it through. Not surprising."
The obvious defenses were guards at the gate in and walking around atop the outer wall.
But the place looks fairly unprepared to defend against aerial attack (or escape) in particular.
And the doorframes are unusually thick, concealing something within them. Though Stormwing might not be familiar with human buildings to realize that.

[Earl of Purple]

Noble Estate

The Sky Wail might be hard to find; there's several enchantments to make it easier for the vessel to creep up on sky-whales; notably, it absorbs most frequencies of sound and the crew are practised at being as silent as possible. It's not invisible, however, even if sonar and radar find it harder to pin the vessel down. It's also not particularly agile, suspended underneath a vast balloon of sky-whale oil and propelled by a pair of vast turbines. It is fairly heavily armed, with harpoon-cannon at the vessel's prow to hook a whale, and several old flak batteries to defend against pirates, dragons and environmentalists. The hull won't withstand many blows from the plasma cannons, and the balloon will prove easily flammable, and full of lighter-than-air liquid. If the balloon is ruptured, the whaling ship will plummet to the earth as the crew try to evacuate with a mix of hot-air balloons, gliders, parachutes, and microlights. The evacuees will continue to return fire, though now they're using a vast array of pistols, muskets, crossbows and the odd assault rifle, depending on individual preference.

Awakening the sentience of objects was mentioned in the store, I believe. And animating them isn't possible; talking to them, and using them as spies and informants, is. "Rahilda never knew me. Not as a person. She doubts our relationship because my relationship with her mother was strained. She didn't understand the Deal, and wanted her sister back. My daughter never liked to talk of me, so all Rahilda knows about me, is what I've shared. Not all of it." And grandmother died before Rahilda was born, meaning she was not available to meet... Until Rahilda was fourteen, when her magic started to manifest and she first noticed the old lady-ghost hanging around her house and following people around. "Ah, the Deal. I made it with a witch. Well, with the unicorn powering the witch. It granted me fertility, three names I could call upon, and the ability to see in the dark. I gave it my second daughter when she reached puberty, and promised to protect my family for seven generations. I'm not expecting more grandchildren, but the daughter I sacrificed lives. She is bound to the unicorn." Which they probably want more information on.

Guards are obvious, and Stormwing knows about guns. "Cannot plan what do not know. You Grounded Ones are cunning, smart. What I do if I escape is not important until I have. If I do." Stormwing doesn't note the doors. The only doors she's seen close up are the caged bars of a slaver's ship and the flimsy wooden hinged barricades aboard the fishing boat that caught her. And these ones. She's also doubting she will escape, fully aware she doesn't know enough to avoid defences and contingencies. Even the mind-control enchantment on her collar would stop her, and she's not aware of that.

[Ashen Lilies]

Street of Slavers- Lucretia, GIRLS

One of Lucretia's slaves accompanied her inside. The other stayed outside with the sedan chair, along with the bodyguard, who is keeping watch to make sure her lady's property, human and otherwise, isn't going to go and get stolen.

Noticing the reaction of the two girls, Lucretia gives them a smile that can only be described as 'hungry'. Her eyes give off a demonic gleam which isn't helped at all by the pair of gracefully curving horns that swoop up from her forehead, making her look at this point more monster than human.
"Where did you find such exotic specimens?" She asks lustily.

Street of Slavers- Meanwhile

Not stealing from Geneviève would be what's considered "a smart plan". Geneviève doesn't actually have any pockets, or even anything loose at all that looks like it can be easily grabbed, but anyone who places their hands where they shouldn't would soon find themselves without hands. Geneviève mixes into the crowd a while longer, feeling the flavor of the crowd, listening to this conversation and that, letting herself be led by the natural currents and eddies of moving people. She had become skilled at reading the ebb and flow of human thought, long ago. On the individual scale first, learning the moods of the generations of archmages who had kept her in a cage - finding their flaws, discovering their vices. How like architecture it had been - remove a few key pillars, watch the whole structure come tumbling down. Even more so once it had been not one man, but a court, a city, a nation. How satisfying to watch it crumble. She'd never paid much attention to the intrigues of the Winter Court, when it had still been at its height. Her work had been too important to afford such distraction. Now it seemed such a wonderful game, watching these mortals scurry around like ants. And what better thing to do with an anthill, than give it a good swift kick?

Once she's had her fill of the 'atmosphere', Geneviève eyes the storefronts, looking for a likely opportunity. Ah. She ducks into EXOTIC, sweeping into the entryway with an arrogant purposefulness.

[Gullara]

[Pursuing KABAL]

As she suspected then. Anika nods, suddenly smirking. "I happen to know a lot about that cult actually. We took in a refugee, a old 'friend' of mine in fact, that's the leader of it." She couldn't help but to brag a bit. "But, uh, she never said anything about no gorgon. That is one of those snake women, right? I've only seen pictures." And those weren't pretty.

[Pursuing KABAL]

Electra frowns slightly. She suspected Anika knew more than she let on.

"Something like that. She has snakes for hair and can turn things to stone by looking at them. As I understand it, she was cursed, and used to be a drow." Kirk can correct this if she's wrong. Her expression is one of someone who is less than amused. "Your friend's cult somehow managed to channel our member's stone gaze.
They're either playing dumb or didn't know what their members were up to. In either case, we'd like to talk to them and find out which it is."

[Pursuing KABAL]

"So what's it going to take to get us a chat with your friend then?" Kirk says, just laying it out there. That's what they want, and Anika is either going to help them out, or she's going to want something.

[Shadowcaller]

[Pursuing KABAL]

"She isn't really my 'friend'." Anika claims with air-quotes. "I mean, she used to be but that was before she crazy and got into this cult-thing. So, if she is planning some crazy gorgon-related schemes, you can go and talk to her. I'd hate to have to interrupt my thing up here though." She pauses, considering for a moment. "I think you ought to give me a good reason why."
She raises one of her overly long eyebrows at them.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Pursuing KABAL]

"Let's put it this way: if someone found a way to channel your ability to shape shift and used it to attack someone else without your knowledge or consent, and afterwards, you were being blamed for it despite not being involved in any way beyond that, wouldn't you want to find who was responsible and figure out how they did it so it couldn't happen again?" Electra's tone is somewhere between understanding and annoyed. "The only reason we want to speak with your 'friend' is that. We're trying to help one of our members."