The Court of Citrine Chains

[Sticks]

Quiet Gale sighs in relief, nodding his approval at the gathered Chosen's agreement.

He starts to rise, then pauses at Saffron's question. He settles back down and says simply "I am an agent of the All Seeing Eye. My loyalty must be to the Realm first and foremost. With the Empress missing and the Regent spending his time...indisposed...my agency needs to keep up the appearance of impartiality. By interfering, I could be seen as favoring one house over another, which would compromise the Eye's neutrality and likely end my career as an agent...you can understand why I did not lead with this information."

[Sticks]

A light rain has fallen by the time the newly minted circle of Chosen leaves the tea-house. The quiet, friendly patrons all give knowing nods as the Exalts make their way onto the steaming bricks. Eagle-eyed members of the group notice cudgels, knives and other easily concealed weapons on the other patrons; it seems Gale did not meet them alone.

There is a moment's hesitation as Moss orients the group in the proper direction, and in that time Echo's Palanquin-bearers approach. The four sturdy servants bear between them an elegant cherry-wood conveyance gently littered with cashmere pillows in delicate shades of pink, cyan and teal. The rain seems to have not touched the chair, its open top protected by four large hand-held wax-paper umbrellas. The servants lower the chair for Echo, then set off at a relaxed pace. True opulence is never in a hurry.

The path to the House of Cheerful Bounty is not long, as the heron flies, but it takes some time as the markets are re-opening after shuttering for the rain. In the hazy damp heat of the morning sun, the streets and alleys boast all manner of sights, sounds and smells. A western shadow-puppet show catches the attention of children, weaving a morality tale of wicked, over-reaching gods and the Dragons who tamed them and set order to the world. Pots of rice and meat sizzle and bubble with enticing spices, men and women alike line up for professional touch-ups to their makeup, made to run in the drizzle.

Before they reach their destination, the circle will pass through the lamplight district, always dry and quiet, but filled with the quiet hum of commerce at work. Here the serious-minded and scholarly go for clandestine meetings where they will be seen, but their conversations will go unheard by prying ears. Following that is the Jade Octagon, a public park of famed beauty where discreet black-helms silently patrol for sleeping vagrants. The laughter of children always drowns out the scolding of their tutors and servants as the young patricians tumble down grassy slopes, staining their elegant students' robes. Often the children don't even notice the cursing of retired laborers snatching their tackle-boxes away from the youths' flailing legs, their quiet morning's fishing in the many ponds disturbed by the childish display of merriment.

Indeed, it will take a good slice of the morning to cross all that, longer if anyone has business on the way, but who would begrudge a dragon's indulgence?

Spoiler: OOC

Show

If you have any interest in stopping at any of these locales or investigating the city, please take the opportunity to do so here.

[Ascension]

Morana moves at a deliberate pace, tracing a path around any puddles or patches of mud which might linger in the way with more diligence than grace. She'd had a feeling there would be rain today, and her own furled umbrella is held firmly beneath one arm. If anyone tries to engage her in conversation before the circle is out of mortal earshot of the teahouse, she will deflect, falling back on well-worn small talk if pressed: The anecdote about the time her third cousin's fiancé (an Exalted patrician weary of condescension from the Dynastic family he intended to marry into) ruined a gala with ensorcelled wine might play well with this crowd.

As the odd little Hearth gains distance from the teahouse, she starts paying attention to the businesses lining the street. As they pass a makeup artist's stall, she pauses and snatches up a hand mirror, holding up an imperious finger to forestall any protests from any shop girl or queued patron.

"I am not waiting in a line, regardless," she says, matter-of-factly, "but you can hardly expect anyone to queue up for your services without checking first to see if they need them."

In actuality, she's entirely unconcerned with her (basic, but flattering and durable) makeup; rather, she uses the mirror to quickly check behind her for too-familiar faces from the teahouse or suspicious movement in the crowd or on the rooftops. Simultaneously, she reaches out through the earth under her feet, uncanny senses allowing her to parse every subtle vibration nearby and filter out the unseen amidst the seen. If Quiet Gale... or anyone else... is having her and her fresh-minted allies tailed, she would like to know.

Spoiler: OOC and Roll

Show

So, I'll commit a mote to All-Encompassing Earth Sense, automatically alerting Morana to "a hidden danger or concealed character out to medium range as long as they are on the same surface, or no more than one range band above on structures or scenery resting on the ground, such as a roof or a tree branch." She's also going to make a visual check. Since this is a somewhat hasty glance-around rather than a slower approach, I'll roll Finesse + Awareness. If All-Encompassing Earth Sense would apply to someone but they're hidden flawlessly due to magic, this roll will contest their stealth with double-8s; if we have a tail but they would not be picked up by Earth Sense (because they're airborne, for instance), I'd like to apply the roll against them, but it would not be magically enhanced.

Without further ado:

Spoiler: Finesse+Awareness

Show

Finesse (3) + Awareness (3) + Stunt (2): (8d10)[10][5][8][5][5][4][9][10](56)

[Sticks]

The girl at the stall cuts off her protest at once. It is unwise to quarrel with a dynast at the best of times, and doing so while she's already busy with customers would be even more unwise.

Morana sees many of the usual sights of the market in her brief glimpse of the mirror, but no tails, obvious or otherwise. The pulse of magic through her feet into the earth tells her much about her surroundings, from the pickpocket lifting a man's purse while her friend reads tiles on an upturned rice-bale, to children hiding from an irate fruit-vendor, sticky juice running down their faces as they eat slices of stolen melon. None of the faces in the crowd are those of the patrons at the tea-house, and if anyone is acting suspicious, it does not seem to have anything to do with her or her new companions.

It seems as though Quiet Gale is extending them trust, at least for now.

[pfm1995]

Sae steps out of the teahouse with the heavy-shouldered mien of a man already resigned to getting rained on, even if it hasn't quite happened yet. He strides through the street with his hands in his pockets and makes no effort to avoid the muck and effluvia of the street or the early-morning crowds stirring it all up. When a mortal lad, busy staring at the women advertising a store across the street, bumps into him, he waves off the bowing and scraping with barely a glance. He'd be called merciful, if his expression didn't make it very clear he didn't consider punishing the boy even slightly worth his time.

The very, very observant may notice that he leaves the encounter just a little bit lighter.

Four blocks later and no fewer than six people have bumped into Cynis Belar Sae. Each was let go with nothing but a grunt of acknowledgement, but by now even the dullest of observers have realized that something is afoot. Inside his pockets, Sae's too-long fingers run over and over chits carved of soft woods, reading their stories even as his nails carve new ones.

Then, seemingly remembering that he is working with other people, he slows his pace to let the palanquin draw nearer to him. When he does, he speaks in far too casual a tone for the subject matter at hand.

"It's not uncommon for children with the blood of dragons to be kidnapped for profit - certainly more common than the Eyes or their lesser cousins would have you believe - but this matches virtually none of the usual patterns for that kind of work. Our ingenue is too politically well connected. Those kinds of flesh peddlers have a deep aversion to that level of risk. Still, in the interest of leaving no stone unturned, I've sent some old friends to ask some questions in the waterways and smuggler's docks. If she tries to leave the Isle on anything less than a Dynastic barge, they will know and soon thereafter I will too."

He pauses, apparently thinking.

"If help was hired for the kidnapping itself, I may be able to track them down as well. But that will take time, and I would like a look at the servants first."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Sae's Contacts primary merit putting in work.