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-:19 [ST] The harried survivors of Ghan, the Dragonbloods at their head, make their way across the dark, rolling hills that seperate the two cities.  The wailing of infants, scarcely muffled by their masks, splits the air, and the entire group moves with a marked lack of subtlety.
-:20 [ST] In the far distance, over the horizon, the weird, intermingled glow of Legion the Hekatonchire and the fires that consume Ghan is still visible.
-:21 [ST] The light plays over Talek in strange ways as he crests the hill to return to the group, followed by the massive form of the Kri.  The creature holds the Swift Rider in the tines of its enormous antlers, and looks less than pleased.
-:23 [Talek] Talek looks drained. "Someone feed this poor creature some essence" he says, and goes into a tent to collapse
-:24 [Kalan] Kalan reaches out a hand, and a sparks of essence- nearly his last- fly from his hand, turning the Kri's horns ruddy with heat.
-:26 [ST] Broken Granite gives a low rumble, inclining his head so that the Swift Rider tumbles free. "I am no... beast of burden." He growls. His eyes are shining garnets, winking in the flames. "You would do well to remember that. To keep your bargain."
-:28 [Kalan] That is amusing. "I think it wants more essence," Kalan says idly to Keshin. He had no more to spare.
-:30 [ST] "It was agreed. I can take it from these," the massive creature tosses its head to indicate the ragged huddle of Ghanites. Aram did not survive the trip out of the city, torn asunder by a trio of Legion's tentacles. No one leads them, now.
-:31 [Kalan] "We keep our bargains, elemental," Kalan replies coldly.
-:32 [ST] "Fine, you big crybaby," Jorj says jovially.  The loss of his hand has made him more manic than ever. He's probably compensating.
-:32 [ST] A spasm of indecision and agony crosses his face as he reaches out with the stump instinctively before stopping himself and placing his good hand on the Kri's muzzle.
-:32 [ST] A burst of essence flows into the creature and it rumbles as it is sated.
-:37 [Kalan] Kalan glances at Talek. "Can you carry them?" he asks, gesturing at the Ghan survivors.
-:39 [Talek] "I will carry yoouuuuuu wherever youuuuuuu willlll gooooooo " Talek sings in a bad imitation of a bad melody. He's clearly half asleep
-:41 [ST] Jorj looks at Talek sidelong and shakes his head. "He was always like this after our spellcasting exercises. No restraint at all. He'll go wander in any forest he finds in this state, lay amongst the roots, eat grass. I can take us back... with the last of my essence." He glowers. "At least, whatever this thing didn't eat."
-:41 [ST] "I shall accompany you," the Kri growls. "The bargain."
-:43 [Kalan] Kalan glares at Talek in annoyance. It is a measure of his control that he hears a particularly high, off-key note with no more than the flattening line of his lips. "Then do so. The Ghanites as well."'
-:43 [Talek] At his old friend's offer of martyrdom, Talek rouses. "Its fine, its fine" he mumbles grously "I got it !"
-:45 [Talek] He lifts his hands and goes through the motions of the spell in a slow, exaggerated fashion. A cyclone of pine needles swoops the ensembled multitude up. A few of the Ghanites inform each other "I am alarmed!" as they tumble head over heels before being rudely deposited at their destination
-:46 [Kalan] "Quickly," Kalan tells Jorj. "Before I can no longer hold myself responsible for my actions."
-:47 [ST] Borne aloft by the sorcerous cyclone, the group of refugees makes good time, the countryside rolling along below them at a rapid clip. Those villages that they pass are as desolate and untouched as they were on the way to Ghan, only a day ago. Yet even with the power of the storms itself bearing them along, the distance between the cities is great, and so the darkness has burned away and the sun climbed in the sky by the time the massive cyclone whirls to a stop outside Kushan's walls.
-:48 [ST] Atop the ramparts of multicolored stone, figures in heavy armor can be seen patrolling. Defenders.  Smaller figures moving among them look down and begin to wave at the returning troops. The city, it seems, is intact.
-:52 [Kalan] A tightness in Kalan's chest loosens. The Abyssal had not yet succeeded in her goals, at least. He allows himself a small smile, thinking of the softness of Matara's arms, and sleep-
-:53 [ST] "I never expected to see this place again," Avaku says quietly.
-:53 [ST] Jorj slaps him on the back. "Don't worry, I'm sure it's still not very impressive."
-:54 [ST] And then, the peacefulness of the arrival is shattered by a piercing, wailing scream from beyond the wall.
-:57 [Kalan] Kalan sucks in a breath, leaning forward. "Take us inside, land us!"
-:57 [ST] As the scream continues, Talek recognizes it, having spent the most time with its owner: Tansy.
-:59 [Talek] "Oh for Dragon's sake, its just Tansy. They probably told her they were out of opium."
-:00 [Talek] "Or she detonated your Warstrider's essence collector and we'll all be Wyld Mutants by this time tommorow." He shrugs, and the tornado crashes into a courtyard near the scream.
-:00 [Kalan] Kalan gives him an acid look. "You've forgotten the Abyssal making its home in our encampment?"
-:00 [Talek] "I am excited!" one of the Ghannite kids squeels gleefully
-:01 [Talek] "Another ride!"
-:02 [ST] The strange conglomeration settles to the ground in the courtyard of the Shatterspear manse, the storm winds vanishing at last and strewing Ghanites throughout the crowd.  This only increases the pandemonium in the courtyard, which is a rushing tangle of startled soldiers and moving bodies.
-:02 [ST] The Dragonbloods shoulder themselves forward, finding a scene more harsh than the one Talek predicted.
-:03 [ST] The warstrider kneels in the center of the courtyard, Tansy's tools fanned out around it in a complex pattern.  The woman herself lies near it, shrieking, both her hands twisted lumps of muscle and shattered bone down to the elbow.
-:04 [ST] Across the courtyard lies the crumpled form of Silken Whisper, his body broken.  He is breathing with difficulty due to the shard of Tansy's opium pipe that juts from his chest, piercing his lung.
-:04 [ST] Dirn, the slave soldier, lies dead in the dirt nearby, his neck sharply cocked to one side.
-:04 [ST] All around figures mill and murmur.  No one dares to draw near to the shrieking Tansy.
-:06 [Kalan] Kalan supposed the woman could not meddle in matters beyond her ken without consequence forever. "What happened here?" he asks sharply, pushing his way through the crowd when the startled mortals don't move quickly enough.
-:06 [ST] A dozen shouted answers from the gathered crowd wash over Kalan
-:07 [ST] "-son of a bitch-"
-:07 [ST] "-some monk-"
-:07 [ST] "Dragon-Blood, he broke Tansy's hands and-"
-:07 [ST] "Silken Whisper tried to stop him-"
-:07 [ST] "Broke Dirn's neck with a single blow-"
-:07 [Talek] Talek rushes forward and reaches into the ground to pull forth his medicinal herbs. A few sad looking weeds strive to pull forth from the dirt before they crumple down dead "Dammit, out of essence!"
-:08 [ST] "-monk. Some Immaculate with the Hunt-"
-:08 [ST] "Deled!" someone shouts suddenly. "Peleps Deled!"
-:11 [Kalan] Deled. He had heard of the man. Kalan stares blindly at the maimed Tansy. An cold rage washes over him. "Where?"
-:12 [ST] Beauty makes her way to the front. She's looking slightly more collected than the rest of them, but not much more than that. "He wanted to see Mara and Matara, but they're meeting with Prince Sajet. We told him that and then Tansy laughed at him, and... after, he left."
-:15 [Talek] Talek grabs a heating tool from the ones arrayedaround the warstrider and sears Tansy's bleeding wounds shut. The searedflesh makes her arms  look more a mess but at least shewouldn't lose any blood
-:17 [Talek] He desperately looks at Whisperandthe assortment of t ools before him in desperation. "God dammit!" he curses at the useless engineering tools
-:17 [Kalan] Kalan nods. "He will be dealt with," he says, as Tansy's shrieks ring in his ears. He feels a sudden savage impulse to silence her himself, before he quelches it. He waves Beauty away with an abrupt gesture, and walks to the dying man, staring down at him
-:18 [ST] "I... am not afraid..." the monk coughs. His voice sounds horrific, choked. Streams of smoke exit his mouth from the still-burning bowl of Tansy's pipe. "That man... is monstrous..."
-:21 [ST] The Kri sticks its wizened head through the startled crowd, snuffling at the mortally wounded monk. "This one's essence stirs at the point of awakening... but he shall shortly die. Perhaps you will allow me to consume it."
-:21 [Kalan] Kalan stands in a widening pool of Silken Whisper's blood. Abruptly conscious of this, he walks to the man's head, kneeling down, careful to keep his trousers clean. He lays a hand on the man's shoulder. He had been one of his, however briefly. "What of your religion now?" he asks, out of perverse desire to rub salt in the wound.
-:23 [Kalan] He shoves the Kri away.
-:23 [Talek] Talek looks at Kalan. "Deal with that bloody elemental"
-:23 [ST] "He stains it... not I.  I would... rather die as I am, than live as he is. Exaltation is... wasted on him. Perhaps it is all wrong, but I know.. I have at least acted well. Tansy... do not let her die."
-:24 [Talek] Talek puts one hand around the pipe and pushes essence into it. The wood twists and bends like metal.
-:24 [ST] "Easy, Zip. Easy, easy," Beauty says as the little fire sprite flickers around her, trying to calm him. "You're too brave to be scared by all this, aren't you?"
-:25 [Talek] "Your essence is awakening, eh?"
-:25 [Talek] "Guess we'll have to keep you alive then."
-:25 [Kalan] "Talek has her in hand," he tells the dying man, though the woman faced a hard life now in the Crippled Legion and perhaps it would be better for her if she died.
-:26 [Kalan] He lays a hand on the knife at his belt. "Shall I end it quickly for you?"
-:26 [Talek] The wooden pipe twists to f orm a patch of skin. Within his lungs, the stem twists into lung tissue
-:26 [ST] Whisper reaches up, digging his hands into Kalan's collar. Before he can speak, he gasps as Talek's strange essence manipulations wash over him, changing him from the inside out.
-:27 [Talek] Green essence pulses into his veins, cleansing the infections which surely entered his body
-:28 [Talek] Talek grabs an essence compass Tansy was using and rips out the hardwood needle, then pushes it into Whisper's body. "From a tree that no longer exists. Hard as bone. Irreplecable."
-:29 [ST] His breathing begins to slow, to grow regular, and the monk's face contorts in confusion.  Having accepted death, feeling it draw away from him now leaves him almost bereft. "I... live..."
-:30 [Talek] "Hope you're worth it" he says, sounding bored, although he's sweating salty sap
-:32 [ST] The crowd rustles with excitement, confidence.
-:32 [Kalan] Kalan glances at Talek, though he shouldn't have been surprised. There were few Wood aspects in the Cathak legions to snatch a man back from death. He claps Silken Whisper on the shoulder. "Where is Raven?"
-:32 [ST] "This development startles me," a voice from the back speaks up.
-:33 [Kalan] Kalan stands and turns slowly, hand reaching for his direlance.
-:33 [ST] "Gone..." Whisper says, struggling to sit up. "Matara said there had been a message about her, but none of us have seen her in days. Truthfully, I never particularly noticed the child..." He looks over at where Tansy lies on the ground, nearly insensate.
-:33 [ST] "Please, surely you can do something for her."
-:35 [Talek] "You save one life, and then they get demanding."
-:37 [Talek] Seeing that no one laughs, he continues "I closed her wounds. There's nothing I can do for her hands, not now anyway. Maybe someday I will make her some new ones."
-:37 [Talek] "For now, what she needs is some opium, if there's any left."
-:38 [Kalan] Kalan nods, his icy mask slipping back on. "Beauty! Fang-leader Tevak!" he shouts. "See that they're taken back inside and made comfortable."
-:39 [ST] "I will see to it," Beauty says. She has to kneel to take Tansy under the arms, pulling her to her feet. "It's all right," she comforts the woman much as she did Zip. "It'll all be all right." Whisper can barely stand, but Tevak similarly gets him to his feet and takes him within.
-:40 [ST] The miasma of recent violence still hangs over the courtyard, marked by Dirn's corpse. He never had a chance to draw his new blade.
-:42 [Kalan] Kalan glances at a woman with the branded cheek of a slave imported from Chiarascuro and the shaved head of Kushan's newest soldiery. "Had his people any special funerary practices?"
-:43 [ST] "I... I can find out, sir."
-:45 [Keshin] "Let's let them deal with it.  We should get after this man, before he reaches Matara."
-:45 [Kalan] "Do so. If not, he will be burned as a Legionaire." He waves her away.
-:45 [Talek] Talek sighs and looks at Kalan. "We need to find out if Deled is still here. And if his reputation is accurate, you need some essence. I don't think he'd kill us, but the odd broken bone wouldn't surprise me"
-:47 [Kalan] "Mara can handle Peleps Deled," Kalan says dismissively. "The others are not our first concern; nor is Deled. He is here; his kind follow Anathema like maggots festering in a corpse. We need only wave the appropriate creature in front of his nose."
-:48 [Keshin] Keshin shrugs.  "Still, we could help there, do more than we can here."
-:49 [Kalan] He nods sharply to Keshin. "Very well. Let us join Prince Sajet." He glares at the corpse at his feet. "We need to know who Peleps brought with him."
-:50 [ST] Beauty returns, not seeming to notice that some of Tansy's blood is still on her face. "Things have been quiet in the city since your departure... until today. First the fog banks rolling in, then Sajet's urgent request for a meeting, then Deled." She frowns, and looks even more ugly than normal.
-:51 [Talek] "speaking of anathema" he sighs "Do you want to investigate our eye pecking f riend?"
-:52 [Kalan] "We need to hear Mara's report before we take any action." He glances at Beauty. "If Raven shows up again, keep an eye on her, but take no action."
-:53 [ST] "Very well, sir," she salutes crisply.
-:53 [Keshin] "Fog?  Is it unusual weather for here?" he asks, thinking of the fog that attacked his ship a few days ago.
-:54 [ST] "Yes... and it seems to have settled along the waterfront.  There have been reports of strange noises, people disappearing... and no ships have come into port since it arrived last night."
-:55 [Talek] Talek grimaces
-:59 [Keshin] "Something like that attacked the ship I arrived on.  The people who are reporting from it - a chill feeling?"
-:00 [ST] "Yes..." Beauty says uncertainly. "Striking Spark and Mara seem to have similar thoughts."
-:00 [Kalan] "More demons," Kalan growls.
-:01 [ST] Leaving Avaku and Jorj to manage matters about the Shatterspear, and dumping a horde of Ghanites on an already stricken garrison, the three Dragonbloods make their way through the city atop three hastily arranged horses.
-:02 [ST] Business as usual continues, although the streets seemed hushed yet agitated.  Whispers about the fog, about the slaves now walking free, ring around every corner. Not every eye turned to the Dragonbloods is friendly, or even properly deferential.
-:03 [ST] The gates to Sajet's sprawling estate are garrisoned with Defenders and a healthy measure of Black Lions and slave soldiers. The group is ushered in without delay, and the guards report that Deled has not been seen.
-:04 [ST] Scarcely have the Dragonbloods entered the grounds than they spy Mara and Matara, walking with the bloated prince between them on the way to the gates. They're going somewhere.
-:06 [Kalan] Kalan fights the smirk that threatens to cover his face when he sees them together. He moves to intercept them. "Matara. Wife. Prince Sajet. We are returned."
-:07 [ST] "Kalan-" Matara breathes.  She'd heard his voice, of course, and known he was alive, but she'd never expected to actually see him again. It feels so unreal.
-:07 [ST] "Keshin, Mnemon Talek.... husband," Mara says sharply. "How fortunate that you have returned."
-:08 [ST] "Ahhh... yes, noble Princes of Earth," Sajet says, rubbing his hands together. "I have been informed by the Chief Quartermaster that I should visit the storehouses in the western part of the city... ahhh.. but perhaps you Princes of Earth could go in my stead?"
-:08 [Keshin] Keshin rides behind, keeping silent, eyes searching around them.  He had been hostile before, no reason to think he wouldn't attack them now.  He nods to Mara as she mentions him, but keeps back from the conversation.
-:11 [ST] He trails off as he notices something in the Dragonbloods' expression, but it's Matara who speaks first.
-:11 [Kalan] Kalan smiles at Matara, enjoying the pleasant way she said his name. He ignores his wife. No doubt she already regretted his safe return, and the corresponding diminishing of her authority. He turns instead to Prince Sajet. "What's happening at the storehouses?"
-:11 [ST] "What's wrong?"
-:11 [ST] "I do not know, o Prince," the corpulent pseudo-sovereign replies. "I was told by Grandidi to come personally."
-:15 [Kalan] "And you have it in mind that we will spring the trap instead?" He shrugs. "I have no objection."
-:15 [Talek] Talek settles into a plush chair and puts his muddy jade boots up on the finely carved conference table. "Well, I think you ought to go" he says jovially
-:15 [Talek] "In fact, as a doctor, I must insist upon it. The exercise will do  you good."
-:16 [ST] "Well.... uh... surely... Grandidi can be trusted." Sajet stammers. "Cynis Matara and Ledaal Mara were going to accompany me... er... ah... would you like to join them?"
-:19 [Kalan] "They can report on the way," Kalan agrees.
-:20 [Keshin] Keshin smiles.  "I doubt its a trap.  But even more reason for you to go instead of us.  If nothing else, the problem at the docks is more pressing.  But have you seen a new Dragon-Blooded around?  Apparently he attacks some of our hunt just now."
-:21 [ST] "There is precious little to report, husband," Mara says. "Aside from the arrival of the fog this morning, the city has been as sedate as possible. I take it your own adventures were rather more... interesting."
-:21 [ST] Matara turns her head sharply to look at Keshin, "What?"
-:23 [Kalan] "Peleps Deled is in the city. He maimed Tansy, slaughtered Dirn, and nearly killed Silken Whisper," Kalan says briefly.
-:23 [Kalan] His voice tightens as he speaks. He'd never even met the Immaculate, and Deled was already destroying all his pleasure in his return.
-:24 [Keshin] "He asked after you.  But apparently he has run off somewhere else rather than heading to meet you.  He would have made it before us I think."
-:25 [ST] "Deled..." Mara rolls the name around. "A thoroughly unimaginative character. Murderous, as well. Someone wanted me to write a biography of him, but I declined. He has killed training partners before, other Dragonblooded. His own family pushed him into the Hunt to get him off the Isle, release his aggression... but he's supposed to be serving in the South. I do not know why he is here, or what he might be doing."
-:28 [Keshin] "Is the Storehouse mission urgent?  We should not spread ourselves if we can help it, at least staying in groups that could handle him if necessary."  He pauses a second before remembering the relative rankings in the Hunt.  "Or at least that is my advice."
-:29 [Kalan] "He is here to kill Anathema, of course. It is the way he channels all those urges of his the Immaculates forbid he indulge otherwise." Kalan's voice isn't light enough to mask the bitterness.
-:30 [ST] "Grandidi acted as if this were a measure of some importance," Mara says. "It arrived only moments before you. I think we should hasten after it. Deled... will make himself known shortly enough. Those who must indulge always do."
-:30 [ST] The look she tosses Kalan is obvious and ugly.
-:32 [Kalan] Kalan ignores her small gesture with the easy indifference of authority, however temporary. It left a bad taste in his mouth, but he had just realized Deled may be his superior in the Hunt. "He is a Dragonblooded, and this is the Wyld Hunt. He will remember that," Kalan says in a frosty way. No one save his own fanatics would follow Deled.
-:33 [Kalan] "I concur. We will go to the warehouse, and let the Peleps gnaw his own way after us."
-:37 [ST] Shortly afterwards Prince Sajet's carriage arrives.  He boards the contrivance as the Dragonbloods mount up again, and the entire procession moves swiftly through the streets towards the warehouses on the eastern side of the city.
-:37 [ST] Distantly, the fog bank that clings to the piers is visible whenever the road climbs.
-:38 [ST] The storage facility itself is surrounded by a low, thick wall, atop which Defenders and others can be seen patrolling.  A timbered gate swings open to admit the procession.
-:39 [ST] A score of tall grain silos rear up within the small compound, lined up in precise rows, and behind them are low buildings for the storage of other goods and foodstuffs.
-:40 [ST] As the Dragonbloods reign up and a pair of attendants help usher Sajet from his carriage, the quartermaster strides up, General Grandidi at her elbow.  The woman has a harsh, severe face, a tortoise shell plug sticking through the bridge of her nose. Her dark hair falls to her shoulders.
-:40 [ST] She bows. "Prince Sajet. Princes of Earth. Thank you for coming. I hope you understand the urgency of this request."
-:45 [Kalan] Kalan draws his horse up beside her. "That depends entirely on what you have to show us."
-:47 [Talek] Talek yawns
-:48 [ST] "This way."
-:49 [Kalan] Kalan follows her swiftly, letting Prince Sajet trot, huff, and puff to keep up. His fat face was flushed red with perspiration already.
-:50 [Kalan] In such small ways the Dragonblooded amuse themselves and render their service tolerable.
-:50 [ST] She leads the Dragonbloods and Sajet past a pair of guards and between the row of silos, turning to make sure they have not been followed. When at last they stand beneath a section of the compound guarded only by Defenders, she says simply, "Watch."
-:50 [ST] Leaning forward, she pulls a lever on the silo before her, opening a door through which grain can fall into a nearby trough.
-:51 [ST] Instead of grain, however, what emerges is a reeking flood of offal, blood, and still-writhing maggots. Even in the open air, the stench is incredible.
-:51 [ST] "They're all like this," she says dully. "Almost everything we have stored, ruined. The city will starve in days."
-:52 [ST] "Now, you see why only you could be allowed to see this."
-:55 [Talek] Talek duly retrieves his essence scrying goggles and puts them on.
-:56 [Kalan] "Yes," Kalan says expressionlessly. Now he knew what Raven had been doing. He glances at Mara, accustomed to his partnership with her, and looks away again.
-:56 [ST] Threads of dark essence creep through the mass of gore. Definitely necromantic work of some kind.
-:56 [Kalan] "Is there food to be had in the countryside? How many can fishing sustain?"
-:57 [ST] "How long?" Mara says sharply.
-:57 [ST] "With the stores we have, a few days... fishing can supplement it, but with the fog, no one wants to get in a boat. It is unwise to trust it... as for the country side... there may still be stores there, in the evacuated villages, or perhaps they too have been destroyed."
-:58 [Keshin] "I thought you said you cleared the land, to try to limit the food supply for the brainwashed horde."
-:59 [Talek] Talek raises his goggles. "There may be a way."
-:59 [Talek] "This is the work of a Necromancer."
-:00 [ST] "We have scoured much of the land between here and Ghan, yes, but there remains much in the northern arc as yet untouched. We don't have the resources to burn the entirety of the country at once, even if they do."
-:00 [Talek] "No Dragon Blooded, except perhaps Mnemnon and the Empress herself, is powerful enough to undo what has been done here."
-:00 [Talek] "But many Demons know how to unwork Necromancy." he says it with glee
-:00 [Talek] "I could not bind a Demon powerful enough to do so."
-:01 [Talek] "But I could summon a lesser demon to serve as a messanger, and perhaps he could contact one of his superiors. Of course, you would have to be willing to offer the Demon something in return."
-:02 [Talek] "Then perhaps, the city could be saved. If you had an offering, of course."
-:02 [ST] Prince Sajet simply stares at the horror before him.
-:02 [ST] "So eager to truck with demons, Mnemon," Mara says. "As if we haven't seen enough. I wonder what you might know about that?"
-:03 [Kalan] Kalan ignores him, face white and strained as he stares at the destroyed heaps of grain. The smell of it lingered in his nostrils, and he could taste the revolting mess on his tongue. It turns him savage. "I congraulate you on your stewardship, wife."
-:05 [ST] "As I congratulate you on the liberation of Ghan, husband," Mara says cooly, but something troubled ghosts across her face. "You were the one who accepted this beast in the first place, let it walk among you. I have heard what you thought about the other one, the Maiden..."
-:05 [ST] At that, Sajet starts
-:05 [ST] "Ahhh... the Maiden.... you... Kalan, you didn't hear anything about her in Ghan, did you?"
-:06 [Talek] "No situation which involves storehouses full of maggots is something I am EAGER to come across. But we are williing to do what is necessary to fight the forces of darkness"
-:08 [Keshin] Keshin shudders.  "Perhaps this works from the top down?  There maybe something edible left under or behind this mess.  You should set someone to dig through this.  Someone expendible I guess.  The ex-slave soldiers could handle it perhaps?  They are no longer so necessary."
-:09 [ST] "There are few I would expose to this," the Quartermaster says. "The panic would swallow the city within hours, rather than days."
-:10 [Talek] "Well, I suppose we could always fry the maggots. "
-:10 [Kalan] Kalan glares at his wife. He's about to snarl some demeaning comparison between her and the Abyssals, when a memory stirs. "I campaigned with an Outcaste in the South. She could cast spells that would quicken a harvest- ripe food in hours rather than months. Have you heard of this magic, Talek?"
-:13 [Talek] "Certainly, Jorj used to use the spell to fill the bedrooms of our friends with wheat while they slept"
-:14 [Talek] "Such mighty magic might feed as many as twenty people."
-:15 [Talek] "But an entire city? Perhaps if I had the Hearthstone from the Imperial Manse. Perhaps not"
-:17 [ST] "This is a disaster," Sajet moans. "The city..."
-:19 [Kalan] Kalan nods grimly. He cuts off Sajet with a gesture. "Your people are going to relean farming, then. Do not annoy me unless you wish to join them sweating in the sun." He frowns. "They need soldiers to protect them...but we need that harvest, regardless of the risk." He looks at Sajet measuringly. "Where do your nobles keep their 'secret' stores of wheat?"
-:19 [Keshin] "Can we do anything to support more with the fishing?  Perhaps bribe a minor elemental to herd schools of fish to our boats?"
-:19 [Kalan] The aristocracy inevitably kept a little insurance for themselves, in his experience.
-:20 [Talek] "You had better go make a deal with the Demons in the harbor first"
-:22 [ST] Sajet shrugs miserably, "The city's stores are managed by the Grain Families. These are the fruits of their slaves' labor, paid for by the city itself. No others keep agricultural slaves... they are base..." He looks up ruefully. "But there may be some small stores of imported foods on individual estates... I cannot say."
-:22 [Keshin] "We need to do that anyways.  There won't be enough in the harvest."
-:22 [ST] The quartermistress nods at Talek's comment. "It may be possible, if we could fish again. But as it is..."
-:24 [ST] "There may be grain still in the Grain Families' country estates. Higara, Brewli, Nashad... no... ah... Nashad was burned..." The waste of it pains him, now.
-:24 [Talek] Talek cuts her off. "As it is, the city starts to starve within a few days.  They wait for the rioting and weakness of hunger to set in. Then they  come in and murder us to let the horror of our deaths fuel their machines"
-:27 [Kalan] "Sajet. You have some sort of celebratory dinner tonight in honor of the Grain Families. Ask them for the grain; and when they refuse, take the leaders or their heirs hostage to squeeze it from them." His smile is withering and razor-thin. "Nashad excepted. Mara, you will organize the harvest teams and command the soldiers protecting them; the rest of us will deal with the demons."
-:28 [Kalan] He looks at the others. "Are there any objections or additions?"
-:28 [ST] Sajet nods, swallowing heavily.
-:29 [Talek] "Does the city have any magical defenses?"
-:30 [Talek] "Artifacts? Wards? Anything?"
-:32 [ST] "The Implosion Cannon on the Shatterspear," Mara says. She seems to have no objection to Kalan's orders, realizing their necessity. Let him stay here and bang the Cynis's brains out if he wants - the girl would be sorry. "Those things we have scavenged. Other than that, nothing."
-:33 [ST] Grandidi coughs. "I do not think I can gather enough of the Black Lions to effect this extortion and capture. We will require usage of slave troops."
-:35 [Kalan] "Very well." It was nothing to Kalan. "See to it that some among the Black Lions participate in the harvest; and some among the new legions help squeeze the families. Has the rabbit I took to Ghan be of any use?"
-:35 [Kalan] It takes the mortals a moment to realize he means the Kushanite slaverowner.
-:37 [ST] "Kyros has begun to convert some of the more pliable of the families," Grandidi says. "Of course, many of them just think he is mad, and are loathe to free or arm their slaves."
-:37 [ST] "Still, he has helped more than he has hurt. There's precious little one can say that about in this city at the moment."
-:39 [ST] "One of the last ships to come in carried a message from the Slug," Matara suddenly recalls. "A promise that more troops were coming, along with more aid. Vague, but reassuring." She pauses for a moment. "I guess."
-:40 [Kalan] "The Peleps are attempting to rid themselves of Deled." He gnashes his teeth. "I hope they have sent others as well." Deled was precious little use for anything but slaying Anathema, and was wasteful with his troops flushing them out.
-:42 [ST] "I think them just as likely to try to assume control," Mara says. "Peleps cannot resist trying to install itself atop any operation. Much like Cathak."
-:45 [Kalan] Kalan shrugs, ignoring her poor, envious barb. "They are useless for anything but naval action. I will remind them of that, if they forget."
-:46 [Kalan] He did not think it likely so ambitious a House would send a force worth reckoning. "Is there anyway for you to track the demons to their source, Talek?"
-:51 [ST] "Surely he would have done so by now," Matara says. There isn't a trace of suspicion in her voice.
-:52 [Talek] Talek rouses from his stupor. "Their source? Malfeas."
-:53 [Talek] "I suppose if I  could study a piece of the demon I could examine its biological structure for any unique bindings left by the Summoner, but I don't promise anything"
-:54 [Talek] "But you'd have to kill it first."
-:56 [ST] "DemonS, most likely," Mara says. "The fog bank is enormous... it seems to extend out for miles. Whoever is summoning them has taken off the gloves."
-:59 [Kalan] "Then we'll whittle it down." Kalan looks at the quartermaster. "We're done here. See to it that word of this doesn't leak out. Kill those who discovered it if you have to."
-:00 [Talek] "It may be the Dragon of the Mists, a 2nd Circle Demon, who was Lord of Dreams until his mind was destroyed by a Solar Warrior"
-:01 [ST] "D-do as he says," Sajet tells the Quartermasterstriss firmly.
-:01 [Talek] "Perhaps summoned by a might Sorceror, presumably an Anathema. Or it could be a vast array of the squid we saw earlier."
-:02 [Talek] "Perhaps somone stumbled upon a cache of them from the First Age. or perhaps they have been dilligently summoning them for months."
-:03 [Talek] "If they are Eristrufa I could perhaps dismiss one or two."
-:03 [Talek] He shrugs
-:03 [Kalan] "We'll kill them. Fast, easy." Well, for the more experienced among them, at least. He glances at Matara, his lips curling in a smile when he sees her looking at him.
-:04 [ST] "In any case, I shall return to my estate... ahhh... General Grandidi, if you would accompany me..." Sajet bustles off. "I wish you good fortune in your hunt, Princes of Earth."
-:04 [ST] Matara almost blushes. "Yes. We've fought worse."
-:06 [Kalan] "We should rest a few hours, before embarking," he says, still looking at her with that smile. It annoyed Mara. "Those of us from Ghan need to recover essence."
-:07 [ST] "Yes," Mara agrees, seeming not to notice the glance. "You should also prepare a full report, that we might know what we're up against."
-:09 [Kalan] Kalan hisses with annoyance, but he cannot deny the justice of this request. "Very well. Let us return to the Spear."
------
-:19 [ST] Kalan sleeps deeply for the first time in what feels like years, Matara's head pillowed on his chest.  Several floors below, oblivious, Zip darts around Beauty, telling his tales. She looks at him with an upraised eyebrow, but has long since learned not to bother asking questions.
-:19 [ST] Kalan awakens with a start. There's something not right in here... something off, although the drawn drapes and the presence of Matara suggest anything but.
-:22 [ST] "Am I... interrupting something?" the whisper seems to come from the darkness all around.
-:24 [Kalan] "A delightful nap," Kalan answers,drawing slowly away from Matara. His eyes dart around the room as his hand inches under the covers for the direlance leaning against the headboard.
-:25 [ST] "A little more than that, it seems," a pair of eyes, glowing feral yellow, appear in the corner. "I hope you haven't forgotten me, Cathak Kalan. It has been years."
-:27 [Kalan] Kalan's fingers, about to dig into Matara's wrist, stop. His stomach twists, and all of a sudden he feels like vomitting. It had been like this the first time, he recalled. A visit as he slept. "�Yes,�" his hisses back, quietly so as to avoid waking his bedmate.
-:29 [ST] A figure moves forward into the light.  A young woman, short, dark, dressed in furs and leather, her short, dark hair shrouding her almost pixie-like face. Outcast in her Bloody Glory.
-:29 [ST] "I come from my master, the Mask of Winters. An official emissary."
-:30 [Kalan] "I've suspected your hand in this," Kalan says. He eases from the bed, and Matara murmurs, reaching for the warm spot on the bed he'd vacated. He wishes devoutly he were not naked. " Why are you here? You'll get nothing from me," he blusters, hatred rancid in his voice. He had done that the first time, too.
-:31 [ST] "I seek nothing from you, Kalan..." the Outcast hisses. "Save the truth. What is happening here? Where is the Maiden?"
-:34 [Kalan] He had attacked her then, and she had humiliated him. She'd caressed his stomach, whispered about his entrails hungrily. He still had the scars. Now he stands there, reaching for his direlance when he speaks the Maiden's name. "The Maiden? I would have thought your spy Raven could inform you," he spits.
-:35 [ST] "Raven? I do not know who you speak of..." Her teeth flash in the dark. "None of your games, little dragon, or I'll tickle your belly again. The master seeks the Maiden's return. Speed it, and none need hear of your treachery."
-:38 [Kalan] Kalan chuckles softly. "You think you can threaten me with exposure? My own folly accomplished that. Raven, the Abyssal bitch from Higara. The Maiden disappeared there; I can only assume she acts to hasten your master's invasion."
-:39 [Kalan] He could call Zip to him; blind the Outcast, stab her in the throat with the direlance before she could shriek his crime. It had worked with with the Anathema in Ghan.
-:40 [Kalan] He eases forward.
-:41 [ST] "You're a fool, Kalan," she prowls the room like the beast she is. "And I have only met one man who was a greater coward, and I ate his heart not once but twice. I do not know why you think the Mask responsible for events here, whatever they may be, but I know you will serve. Find the Maiden. Tell me what has happened to her, and what is happening here, or you will sorely regret it."
-:46 [Kalan] Kalan wants to laugh, but he can't risk waking Matara . So instead he only smiles, showing his teeth. "Are his servants so incompetent? There is an army of Malfean-corrupted slaves and zombies on the march for Kushan, accompanied by war machines and Vermin. The Raven corrupts our food supplies here. The Maiden disappered near Higara as a vast dead machine was born."
-:47 [Kalan] "I know no more." His hand shoots out curls around Tongue of Flame, flipping it in front of him.
-:49 [ST] Something flickers across the Outcast's face. "If what you say is true, know that the master is not responsible. He does not seek war with the Realm.  Why not allow me to come openly, as an emissary? Do you think your fellows would... like me?"
-:49 [ST] Her teeth, Kalan notices now, are stained with blood here and there.
-:52 [Kalan] "Your master is wise enough to keep the beasts chained outside the door, 'emissary,' and feed them their meat there. You are not fit for human company."
-:56 [ST] "That's not what you said last time we spoke..." she purrs. "You were more agreeable with my teeth at your throat. But have it your way. I will not expose myself to the others. I will watch. I will wait. I will be here, Kalan. Do not disappoint me... for you will not be the only one who suffers."
-:56 [ST] Her gaze falls upon Matara like a physical thing.
-:59 [Kalan] He watches her ravenous eyes.He remembers her claws slicing...The saliva that had dripped from her mouth. He shifts involuntarily, hiding the Cynis from her view. "Tell me, beast, are you...hungry? You must be. So much meat about, so much you're forbidden to eat."
-:00 [Kalan] His voice is smooth, persuasive, so soft. He stalks forward, trying to suppress the fear that rises from him like stench.
-:00 [ST] "I can control myself... unlike you..." She almost salivates.
-:03 [Kalan] He reaches out a hand, caresses her jaw. Forces himself to touch her lips. She almost snaps his fingers off. He doesn't allow himself to react to the touch of drool. "There is worthy prey here. Worth hunting. He would give you such a chase..."
-:06 [ST] "Yesss...." Her eyes snap open. "But I would be punished.  The master... you... seek to trick me. Why set me against your own ally?"
-:08 [Kalan] He touches the tip of her fang, letting a drop of blood fall, and she inhales the smell of his blood like the monster she is. "Why concern yourself with that? He tastes of salt and sea....he will lead you to your sister." He leans close, to whisper intimately in her ear, "He'll �crunch� in your teeth. Dragonblooded are the juciest meat."
-:09 [Kalan] An ugly crosses Kalan's face as the Outcast sways, her face creased in thought. His soldiers were avenged.
-:09 [ST] She shudders visibly, a monstrous creature seized by instinct, knowing better, unable to resist. "Give him to me," she hisses. "Tell me NOW."
-:14 [Kalan] "He was in front of the barracks. He smells like salt. Track him, dog." He grabs her hair and draws her close to him. "And say nothing of me, yes? Or I will never feed you such choice prey again."
-:17 [ST] She pulls away violently, growling. The room seems to darken for a moment, there is a flicker of motion, and then she is gone.
-:18 [Kalan] Kalan stumbles, nauseous with disgust. He wipes the hand that touched her on the bedcovers. He would kill her, if Deled didn't. For what she had done. For what she made him do.
-:19 [ST] Matara sleeps on, seemingly oblivious.
-:20 [Kalan] He climbs back into bed, and stares into her face. He kisses her shoulder gently, testing her reaction, and when she does not shudder, or yank herself away frm him, or wretch, he thinks himself safe.
- -----
-:33 [Kalan] Kalan arrives on the docks with Matara the next day. The fog is so thick here he can hardly see a dozen yards, and dock workers move like ghosts through the white mists, disappearing so wholly from view it as if the mist is swallowed them up.
-:35 [ST] There are few workers, even the highest pay being insufficient to get many into the swirling fog. Over half a dozen men disappeared yesterday, and rumors say more have vanished since.
-:35 [Kalan] He is fully armed and armored, defying wisdom in his heavy red jade armor. His skin is still pink from the bath; he had nearly scrubbed himself raw after his adventure in Ghan.
-:36 [Kalan] Zip hums cheerfully around his head, blazing in the fog like a beacon. Matara is as stolid and silent as ever at his side.
-:36 [ST] Ships loom like distant hulks in the mist, bobbing up and down on the waves.  A few can barely be seen anchored out in the harbor beyond
-:38 [Talek] Talek also bathed, but is in an irritable mood after an  unforunate encounter with a bottle of cologne. The troops give the floral smelling sorceror a wide birth
-:39 [Talek] He squints through his goggles. "oh, dear."
-:39 [Talek] "nineteen, twenty, twenty one, twenty two, oh for god's sake"
-:39 [Talek] "Kalan, there are a lot of Demons out there.
-:40 [Talek] "I'm not sure this is entirely wise"
-:42 [Kalan] "How difficult were these things to destroy, Keshin?"
-:44 [Keshin] "If these are the same that I fought, they were awkward, but not so dangerous as other things we have done.  Two or three at once anyway."  He grimaces.
-:46 [Keshin] He had a different solution to Talek's problem.  Bathing was somewhat pointless when you were just going out to fight immediately afterwards.  He had slept as much as he could instead, although his armor had been meticulously cleaned.
-:47 [Kalan] Kalan grows softly. "We'll bring some Defenders." He wouldn't be sad to see them die. "Do these things have any weaknesses?"
-:49 [Keshin] "They burned quickly, although, ah, that was what caused most of the damage to the ship."
-:49 [Talek] "Twenty nine, thirty" talek continues counting.
-:50 [Talek] "You could get catapults and fling fire at them. An engineering solution"
-:50 [Talek] "You're not going to beat them off with your bare hands.  There are too damn many. "
-:54 [Kalan] Kalan calls a fire to the tip of his spear, and it streaks outward, blossoming into a firey rose in the distance..
-:56 [ST] From offshore, there is a deep bellow.  The mist begins to heave and swirl, coalescing and darkening into a hideous vision, a many-limbed knot of tentacles, a thrashing mass that is all arm and claw and saw-tooth sucker.  Dark eyes shimmer on each of the tentacles.
-:56 [ST] The thing gives a high, piping cry of alarm, surging towards the shore.
-:56 [ST] A moment later, five other demons solidify, trailing after it in a V
-:57 [Keshin] "If we try something like that, we will have to be careful to not damage the docks too severely.  Thats what we are trying to save.  Of course, we could try to lure them into a concentration, on a ship say, and burn that quickly.  Pitch or oil prepared there maybe?"
-:57 [Kalan] "Catapults," Kalan repeats as he stares at the charging creature, his direlance ready in front of him. He ignites into a firey blaze, heat and flames rising from him like a second suit of clothes.
-:57 [Kalan] "Oil floats- throw a bunch onto the water, and ignite it...."
-:59 [Kalan] He shifts suddenly as he moves into the defensive stance of Five Dragon Style.
-:00 [ST] Matara falls into a similar, if sloppier, stance, her Reaper daiklave sliding forth with a smooth hiss.
-:02 [ST] The creatures come forward through the air smoothly, seamlessly, their barbed tentacles raking furrows down the docks as they come.
-:02 [Kalan] Kalan jumps onto a post as the first mist demon reaches the dock, letting it spends its strength smashing against the smooth wooden planks he had occupied moments before.
-:02 [ST] One reaches behind it almost idly as it advances, splitting a dockworker in half.
-:04 [Kalan] He falls against it like a burning star, direlance raised to scythe across its back. He grabs a chain dangling from a loading machine  to swing back around and slam hard as a meteor into the second as the first screams in agony, flames curling on its back.
-:06 [Kalan] It seems to dissolve around him even as he burrows through it, flesh blackening and then fading to insubstantial mist
-:07 [ST] Kalan's first attack drives a flaming spear of agony deep into the knot of tentacles, causing a dozen eyes to burst from the heat.  The thing reels back, shrieking and batting at itself.  The attack on the second is somewhat less harmful but no less impressive - the blade of the spear scythes through a trio of tentacles, turning them to mist, sending them to the docks to flop and clutch uselessly.
-:08 [ST] Matara moves in smoothly behind Kalan, targeting the demon most heavily wounded by his assault.  As the creature's thrashing tears free a group of barrels from a nearby deck, she hurdles them, using them to propel herself up in a graceful leap.  She comes down in a flurry of slashes.
-:10 [ST] Gravity bears her relentlessly downward, and her daiklave descends through the thing as smoothly as her body descends through the air. She lands with a crash, splintering a circle of the dock around her. A moment later, a font of tarry blood splatters across her armor as the creature falls into the sea, still twitching. One down.
-:15 [Keshin] Keshin stalks forward, inserting himself infront of the demon closest to Talek, buying the archer room.  The daiklave swings down, slamming the tentacles to the dock, disrupting its motions more than damaging it.  The tentacles were hard to get off once they had you, he remembered.
-:19 [ST] Nevertheless, Keshin's strikes succeed in doing some damage to the creature, shearing off several limbs. The grotesque tentacles flop and twitch among the refuse of the docks.
-:19 [ST] Screams split the air as those few workers here flee for their lives, dropping tools and wages in their haste.
-:20 [ST] The demons seem to vibrate, their forms blurring and multiplying, dozens of tentacles becoming hundreds, filling the air around the Dragonblood's with a wall of claws and snapping teeth.
-:25 [ST] A nest of thrashing tentacles swallows Matara, buffeting her wildly.  One slips through the seam between her hip and her breastplate, carving a deep, seeping trench.
-:28 [Kalan] The demons tentacles snap greedily forward, and one chuffles greedily as it sees how slow the Dragonblooded is to dodge, only to suddenly howl as Kalan suddenly becomes a sheet of flame, and the tentacles pass through him, lashing at each other in their agony.
-:28 [ST] Keshin bats away the first of the tentacles swarming at him, but a second and a third buffet him, and the fourth rips a chunk from his calf almost eagerly.
-:30 [ST] Kalan is almost fast enough.  Only the last tentacle grazes him, and barely, a pair of delicate barbs carving a small trench across his forehead.
-:31 [Kalan] Kalan reforms in midair in the midst of them, bleeding from his forehead, and spins downward in a righteous spiral of fiery condemnation, severing a tentacle neatly.
-:31 [Talek] Talek bends backwards and watches two tentacles sail over head. He waves to them, and a third hits his hand. "ow!"
-:40 [Kalan] A tentacle slams haphazardly through the air, propelled with terrible strength. Kalan evades it with ease, leaping upwards in a pillar of flame, and it slams into the base of the mast of the ship behind him. The mast breaks with a creaking noise, following slowly forward. Kalan lands on the mast and pushes it off it, and the tenatcles swarm after him, tearing the mast to shreds in his wake.
-:41 [Kalan] They leave themselves vulnerable, and as they busy themselves with a piece of wood, Kalan stabs his direlance into their midst, impaling one satisfyingly through its eye. His momentum carries him deeper, pushing the spear down and through.
-:43 [Kalan] His eyes widen in dismay as the tentacles make a hole for him, and he suddenly falls straight into their midst.
-:46 [ST] Matara must fall back on the defensive as a horde of tentacles sweeps over her, gnashing and clutching.  One darts beneath her armpit, burrowing deep, spiking its way into her side, and when it withdraws, it is dripping with her blood.
-:46 [Keshin] Keshin hunches slightly, but accepts the blows, gathering himself for an attack to finish the demon.
-:47 [Talek] Two tentacles leap for Talek from either side. He leaps over  them, and they tie each other in a knot, struggling fiercly until they look at each from the eyes on their  tops, realize what they're doing, and unravel themselves in  disgust
-:48 [Kalan] The tentacles lash back and forth in the water where he fell, and it suddenly boils, and their limbs lash through hot steam. Kalan rises from the water, concealed by his own hot mist, and lashes about him in a devestating rain of fiery blows.
-:49 [Kalan] They scream and writhe as their tentacles are scalded.
-:51 [ST] Kalan's vicious counterattack blasts directly into the heart of one of the creatures, igniting it in a brief fire flower.  The thing lurches backwards through the air, fanning its tentacles in distress, before crashing into the mast and sail of a docked ship, setting them brilliantly ablaze.
-:51 [ST] The second gives a high, bubbling scream, sinking beneath the waves as blow after blow rends it asunder
-:57 [Keshin] Keshin jumps over the sweeping tentacles of the demon he had been fighting, disengaging, to kill the one bothering Talek.  Matara would be fine with Kalan nearby, and it would be easier for Talek to take out the one he was leaving behind than the one swarming over him.  Reaching it, he unleashes a swift flurry of blows, his sword trailing wisps of flame.
-:01 [ST] Keshin's furious assault literally rends the demon limb from limb.  Its tentacles fly back over the docks in sprays of gore, one smashing against the side of a merchant sloop hard enough to crumple it.
-:10 [Talek] Talek yawns abit, still  drowsy from the opium. A demon rears up out of  the mist to grapple himand he puts out four of its eyes with four well placed arrows. It falls backwards into the sea
-:12 [ST] The last of the eristrufa kicks backwards, drawing several yards out into the mist... and gives another piping cry.  A moment later, the noise is returned tenfold, and more shapes can be seen forming from the mist.
-:17 [ST] "More on the way," Matara warns, her voice thick with pain.  Her hand on her daiklave doesn't tremble, but most everything else does.
-:17 [Kalan] Kalan breathes heavily, landing on a broken, creaking bit of plank. "We need a better plan," he admits. "One involving lots of oil."
-:18 [Keshin] "A temporary retreat to gather oil would be good.  I wonder if that necromantic sludge burns well."  He grins slightly.
-:19 [Kalan] Kalan smiles. "It deserves testing."
-:20 [ST] Matara moves backward as rapidly as she is able, eyeing the mist in front of her warily.
-:21 [Talek] Talek walks up and shoulders his bow. "Seeing these Eristrufa fight reminded me of something about these demons: They aren't very smart."
-:21 [Kalan] "Oh?"
-:21 [Talek] "They pretty much do exactly as they are told. "
-:21 [Talek] "If  they were ordered to barracade the docks,  they will barracade the docks."
-:22 [Talek] "But, perhaps we could conduct fishing from a spot a few miles down the coast?"
-:22 [Keshin] "Still, it would be much more productive if we could get these boats out."
-:22 [Talek] "We won't be able to move any serious cargo without the docks, but a little light fishing might be possible."
-:23 [Talek] "Perhaps we could push them back temporarily somehow and evacuate the boats trapped here?"
-:25 [ST] As the group tactically retreats, the creatures do not advance beyond the perimeter of the mist.  Just leaving the area of the docks seems to remove their ire.  They fan the surface of the surrounding buildings for a moment with their tentacles before withdrawing.
-:25 [Kalan] "These don't just prevent us from fishing. They're blockading the port- reinforcements can't reach us. No doubt that's why Peleps arrived and no one else did."
-:26 [Kalan] "They need to be removed. Talek, is there some substance that is repulsive to them?"
-:28 [Talek] "You can burn them. They don't much care for garlic, and they taste good in lemon and olive oil." he shrugs
-:29 [Talek] "Nothing the thr-four of us do is going to get rid of more than a few. I could create wards that would push them back, but t hat would take months."
-:31 [Kalan] "Smear the harbor with flamable substances, explode barrels of garlic above their head- we need to at least try."
-:31 [Talek] "One of Lookshy's airships could bomb them out, or the Imperial Manse could destroy them from afar. But we have neither. Somebody went through a great deal of work summoning these, we ccan't remove them all in a day"
-:32 [Talek] "The garlic will not harm them, they simply don't care for the smell."
-:32 [ST] Leaning heavily against a wall, Matara seems to notice Talek's response and bear it silently. Her blood runs down the facade the building.
-:32 [Talek] "If we have word that reinforcements will be arriving on a specific day, we might be able to get rid of them long enough for  the ships to come in."
-:33 [Talek] "But you'd need a lot of garlic. Fire would get rid of them for good, but what do we have that burns readily?"
-:34 [Kalan] Kalan glances at Matara in concern. "We can use the garlic to herd them closer to a specific place within their bounds- a ship, perhaps. Load it full of oil and catch it on fire- perhaps the sludge can be of use, as Keshin suggested. If not, we have the firedust Negazzar sent."
-:35 [Talek] "Kalan, we need to be realistic. I don't think reinforcements are coming. We shouldn't throw all the city's cooking oil at this damned calimari to clear the way for some admiral who is probably still back in the Realm, having his uniform tailored"
-:35 [Keshin] "If the garlic fails, one of us could lure them to a ship by running to it, and fighting them there.  You saw how they reacted to intruders."
-:37 [Kalan] "Peleps came from somewhere, and I don't give a damn if the people here need to roast their food instead of frying it." He reaches out furtively to touch Matara's shoulder as her head sinks, and his hand comes away wet with blood. "Telak, have you the essence to see to Matara and Keshin?" he asks tersely, staring at his hand.
-:39 [Talek] "Where the hell is Peleps, anyway? I want to talk to him and find out who sent him and whether we actually  have any reinforcements"
-:40 [Talek] "We can't afford to have one of the Realm's finest warriors wandering around like a hurt puppy because our  engineer was rude to him"
-:40 [ST] "No sign of him... last... I heard..." Matara says.
-:41 [Keshin] Keshin is squatting against a wall, using his blade as a prop, to take some pressure off his mangled leg.
-:44 [Talek] "And no, I can't work any more damned miracles. "
-:45 [ST] "Where did they come from?" Matara wonders. "They've been after us from the beginning."
-:46 [Talek] "The Wood Dragon has given enough. The land here is sick, and fights me when  I try to draw strength from  it. I can feel the living things here dying. Do you know what it feels like when a place starts to die? Do you damned Fire bloods know the pain  of the land? Of course not." Talek's meanness is starting to break and he's becoming hysterical
-:47 [Talek] "Its too much  Kalan. We're done. We *have* to find Peleps and figure out what's going on, and why no one is sending us any  reinforcements, or if the realm's been attacked, or what."
-:48 [Kalan] She was too damned young for serious combat, Kalan thinks, ignoring the all the other young soldiers who'd died under his command at one time or another. Talek was too green, though he supposed it was too the good he didn't speak of the bloody harvest with too much affectionate familiarity, as he seen among wood aspects a time or two. He closes his eyes briefly.
-:48 [Talek] Talek is breathing heavily and turning quite a deep shade of green
-:48 [Kalan] "Very well. Talek, you are in charge of locating Peleps and wringing this information from him. I suggest diplomacy."
-:50 [Kalan] "Keshin. Are you fit for duty?"
-:50 [Talek] "Oh is that right? I was thinking I might challenge him to a duel!"
-:51 [Kalan] "Quelch those thoughts, then," Kalan says, not in a humor for sarcasm.
-:51 [Keshin] "I will serve.  But I am not fit to serve well."
-:52 [Talek] "I should make you a splint. And we need to do something about Matara"
-:53 [ST] "I can still fight," She insists. The wound in her side has split open, spilling a long streak of blood down her leg. "You don't have to worry about me... so much."
-:54 [Kalan] The fires of Kalan's anima have guttered away to little more than sparks now. "You were gored, and you need rest. I'll take her back to the base." Kalan reaches out to her, and in spite of her protests she slides against him with a wordless gasp of pain.
-:55 [Kalan] "Keshin, I'd like you to test the sludge, and return to the Spear."
-:56 [Kalan] He sighs, and a breath of air puffs around him, making Matara flinch as his anima flares about his feet . �Peleps, where the hell are you?
-:56 [Kalan] The wind tears the message away.
-:56 [Keshin] Keshin nods, grimacing as he levers himself to his feet.  "Where should I meet you when I return?" he asks over his shoulder, as he hobbles towards the storehouses, using his magnificent daiklave as a crutch.
-:57 [Talek] Talek trails after Kalan, concerned. "I had better see to her. I still ahve some mortal medical  supplies"
-:58 [ST] A few moments later, the message returns: �Where I might begin to undo the great sins you have worked on this city, whelp.
-:01 [Kalan] "Meet me in my office. I'll be gathering supplies-" Kalan stiffens as Pelep's message returns to him. His first impulse is to indignantly point out that he and Peleps were of an age, but he squashes this impulse, only repeating it to the others.
-:02 [Kalan] "He may be killing slaves. Damned if I know what else he could mean. The ��fool�."
-:03 [Talek] "What? Well, ask him to come in and meet with us in your office."
-:03 [Talek] "We can talk. If he won't come, ask him if he's afraid to meet you."
-:03 [Kalan] Kalan grits his teeth. �Will you come to the Spears to face me?
-:05 [ST] �In due time, when I may sweep away your inequity and your violation of the doctrine in one fell swoop. There are many in this city who agree with me, who have not forgotten the blessed hierarchy of the Dragons.
-:08 [Kalan] �Coward.
-:09 [ST] �In due time. Hesiesh is not the dragon Daan'd is, but you would do well to learn his lesson. In due time.
-:10 [Kalan] There seemed to be little more to say, and he had wasted enough essence. "We'll be facing armed insurrection from the Kushan parasites, lead by Deled."
-:10 [Kalan] Hurry, my beastly little ally.
-:12 [Kalan] He smiles, savoring the thought of the Outcast tearing out the heretic's throat.
-:15 [Talek] "What?"
-:15 [Talek] "Oh......"
-:16 [Kalan] Matara whimpers a little as his grip becomes too tight, and he kisses her head apologetically, relaxing. "Savoring our future victory," he answers briefly.
-:20 [ST] When the two Dragonbloods return to the Shatterspear, Vash is waiting in the courtyard for them with a message as troubling as it is simple: report to Mara in the conference room immediately.
-:21 [Kalan] Kalan nods, relaxing his grip on Matara so she can put on a show of good health in front of Mara. "At once," he agrees.
-:22 [Kalan] They would have words, of course, about who was reporting to whom.
-:23 [ST] Matara's wounds have mostly closed when she arrives in the conference chamber, so she doesn't bleed on the plush chair. Much.
-:23 [Kalan] Kalan's  head is tilted arrogantly upwards as he enters. His armor is crusted with blood- Matara and mist demon's - and there's a distinct odor of roasted calamari hovering in the air around him.
-:24 [Kalan] "Report," he says, still standing, as Mara opens her mouth.
-:24 [ST] Mara looks up as the Dragonbloods seat themselves, her face pale and drawn. She gestures for Kalan to shut the door, and when the deed is done she begins to speak, heedless of his posturing.
-:25 [ST] "There has been news from the Blessed Isle via Infalliable Messenger from House Ledaal. I wish Keshin were here for this, but there is no time to hold back the news."
-:26 [ST] "The estate of Sesus Nagezzar was broken into last night.  It is in ruins.  Much of it is burned or destroyed.  The Slug's body was found, flayed beyond recognition, nothing but a lump of meat. He was killed. He was assassinated."
-:26 [ST] "Under these circumstances, I believe we can expect no further aid from him."
-:28 [Kalan] Kalan waits calmly for the blow to drop.
-:30 [Kalan] Kalan finds himself looking at Talek, a sour taste in mouth. The Slug had many enemies...Mnemon prominent among them. "I am sorry to hear it," he says. He is surprised to discover that he means it. Who would have that the bloated obscenity of a Dragonblooded would prove himself the better of so many of his peers?
-:31 [ST] "I trust I do not need to elaborate upon the consequences this has for our mission. Our primary benefactor is gone. Our only hope at this stage is to find another."
-:32 [ST] "That, or somehow stand on our own."
-:33 [Kalan] Kalan lays his knuckles on the table, frowning down at the table. "It is not hopeless, alone. Few have stood off many before, and won." He laughs softly. "But we would be fools to embrace such a course. We need the patronage of one house or another, or the Immaculate Order itself, if we can find sweet enough words."
-:33 [Talek] Talek isn't listening. He's trying to mend Matara's wounds, but with more concern than artistry
-:34 [ST] "The Slug... dead..." Matara says stiffly. "Without him, I wouldn't be here. I guess none of us would." She sounds unsure as to whether this would be a good thing or not.
-:35 [ST] "That is all, for the moment, unless any of you have questions. Kalan... I would speak with you. Alone."
-:37 [Kalan] Kalan lifts an eyebrow. "As it happens, I have words for you as well. Very well." He touches Matara's shoulder in brief farewell, and leaves her to Talek's ministrations with a muttered, "Do the best you can."
-:39 [ST] As the others are ushered out, Mara sits down on the edge of the conference table, close enough to Kalan that he can feel the unpleasant nimbus of ozone and crackling lightning that surrounds her.
-:39 [ST] "Very well, Kalan. Your words first, I suppose."
-:41 [Kalan] Kalan sinks into the comfortable chair Matara had just vacated. "You're in an unpleasant mood," he observes.
-:42 [ST] "We will discuss why in a moment," she says sharply. "There is blood on the upholstery. The Cynis cannot fight. You shame her by taking her into battle almost as much as you do by taking her into bed." Electricity shimmers around her, causes her elegantly-looped hair to grow frizzy for a brief moment.
-:45 [Kalan] "I didn't want to stink up another chair," Kalan explains. "She fights well enough; she is just getting the baptism of blood that turns out our soldiery in a month rather than a decade." He smiles at her slowly, the indolent, lazy smile that he has used to anger her of late. "It is not her fault, or mine, you have been unable to find your own lover."
-:46 [ST] "Believe me, husband. You are more than enough to last a lifetime. Who could match your accomplishments?" She treads over old, bitter territory.
-:50 [Kalan] "Well, not your next husband," he reflects. After his death, she would be have to make do with someone from a minor branch. Most likely someone much her junior.
-:51 [ST] "Enough, Kalan," she snaps, sounding tired. Perhaps he's hit a sore spot. "This solves nothing. What do you wish to speak to me about?"
-:53 [Kalan] He studies her, candlelight shining red in his eyes. It was like her to give up flaying him so quickly. Finally, he admits in a low voice, "I had a visitor last night. The Outcast. From Thorns."
-:55 [ST] For a long moment, she only stares at him, aghast, and then, she blurts, "So it's true, what they said about you in the Deliberative? History repeats itself..."
-:56 [Kalan] He stares at her. His face whitens. "...the Deliberative?" he whispers.
-:58 [ST] "My news to you. The message from Ledaal also informed me of an argument on the floor of the Deliberative. Mnemon was in favor of a response against the Mask of Winters for the actions he has taken here. Cathan Cainan stood against her, and they say he was within a heartbeat of becoming the emperor then and there." She pauses.
-:59 [ST] "And then Mnemon informed the Deliberative of your treachery in Thorns, and your presence here.  Cainan and House Cathak have been hurled into utter disgrace. Ledaal totters on the brink, pulled after them. And our daughter's prospects for marriage have been annulled, her life destroyed by your shame."
-:59 [ST] He can see now that tears are rolling down her face, silently.
-:00 [ST] "So yes. I am in an unpleasant mood."
-:00 [Kalan] No. No. He was the disaster of his house. He buries his head in his hands. "How....?" he croaks out. "How did that - demonmonger-"
-:01 [Kalan] No Cathak would have said a word. They had too much to lose.
-:01 [ST] "She has ears everywhere, they say. Someone must have heard. Enough. Perhaps the Deathlord himself told her. How am I to know? It does not matter. What matters is that she knows. They all know."
-:02 [ST] "You have destroyed us, husband."
-:04 [Kalan] Kalan sits there, absorbing the enormity of it. The taste of ashen despair is in his mouth. The whole world knew his shame now, and the Realm- the Realm was in the hands of that.....
-:05 [ST] "Mnemon does not control the Realm, not yet. If she did, we might have some hope of salvation. Instead, they all scrabble and fight over the pieces, while we wait here. While we wait to die."
-:05 [ST] "I fear we are going to die here, Kalan. Aran will be left alone, shamed. I never wanted this."
-:06 [Kalan] It was true. He had destroyed them. Everything he had ever served, everything he had ever....loved. "What is Cathak's response?" he asks in a low, dead voice.
-:09 [ST] "None, yet," she says. "Cainan was jeered from the floor. They say he will retire. He is finished. The House will most likely quietly declare for Mnemon. As will Cynis. As, it seems increasingly certain, will Ledaal. Ragara opposes her, as ever. The others are more ambivalent."
-:11 [Kalan] "They could weather this, if they tried. Look them all in the eye and damn them to hell for hypocrites. Show them up with campaigns in the Threshold and shame the others into action..."
-:13 [ST] "They haven't the strength. Cainan was always unbowed on the battlefield... but this public blow to his honor he could not endure. He is shattered. The others... too fearful to take the helm. Mnemon will try above all others. Perhaps she thinks to use events here as a springboard to popularity. That, at least, might save us."
-:14 [Kalan] Kalan spits. "A hollow victory. I thought my house stronger than this. Was  I sent any word?"
-:16 [ST] "No."
-:16 [ST] The silence in itself speaks volumes.
-:17 [Kalan] Kalan stares for a long while at the empty hearth. "It wasn't my fault," he says at last in a whisper. "Thorn's defeat."
-:19 [ST] "Wasn't it?"
-:20 [Kalan] "They had some tactical knowledge they wouldn't have had otherwise," Kalan admits. "Not enough that it would have made a difference. Thorn fell...because of the Dragonblooded's unwillingness to defend it. More than the weakness of one man."
-:22 [ST] "So tell me, Kalan... is it better to betray the Realm to no effect?"
-:22 [ST] "Better yet, tell Aran. She is the one who will live with your decision, long after the war here sweeps the two of us away."
-:25 [Kalan] Kalan's lips thin. "And in a hundred years, when they write history books of the Empress's disappearance and the disgrace of the Dragonblooded, they will begin with my name. It will be a - synonym for traiter, disloyalty..."
-:27 [ST] "At least you will be remembered, Kalan. That is something." Her voice does not sound entirely unkind.
-:27 [ST] "I will not tell the others. There is no need. Let them fight by you with some trust, while they can."
-:28 [Kalan] Amid the bleakness, anger kindles, white-hot. He stands slowly, gripping the edge of the table. "They'll use me. Those...politicians in the Realm....scapegoat for their own weakness..ambition.." He's breathing heavily, and flames lick at his knuckles. "While the Threshold burns."
-:31 [ST] "They'll use all of us, Kalan. That is their way. Their purpose. But I know..." and there's something almost like pride in her voice, for a moment. "You won't go quietly."
-:32 [Kalan] "Dragons curse it all, better the Anathema than those creatures out of the deadlands! Can't they see that?" He's shouting now, and he brings his fist down heavily on the oak table. A long crack runs down the center.
-:34 [ST] "They see only the things they want, husband. The Realm is a fallen place... but it is all that we have. All our daughter will have. If our actions might secure it... even a small part of it..."
-:35 [Kalan] "Damn them all to hell, I'll fight for the Realm no longer." He had thought he was the empty Dragon, treacherous over foolish dabblings in slaves, but it was them, it was them, betraying the Realm from the Palace Sublime. A paper shell masking the greedy tigers.
-:36 [ST] "Will you run away, then? The Dragons had responsibilities long before the Realm existed."
-:37 [Kalan] To visit the Blessed Isle would be death, clapped in irons and then the executioner's star in any case. No. The Realm was nothing to him now. Aran...he imagines he sees her face wavering in the candle flame, and her reaches out for it, but it sputters out as his fingers touch it. Aran was lost to him.
-:38 [Kalan] "No," he says, cold as death. "I will make my stand here. I swore an oath."
-:38 [Kalan] At the point of Cainan's daiklaive, in fact, but he thought little of Cainan, shuffled from the stage like a foolish animal.
-:40 [Kalan] And he had nothing else. It was a queer kind of courage, that ashen despair, that iron bleakness, but it would serve.
-:40 [ST] "Very well. It may be that oath that saves you, in the end, even if it does not save this city." She rises. "I must get to work. The harvesting team for Higara is due to leave in only hours. I trust you can manage things here?"
-:42 [Kalan] "Yes. Remember. It's where the Maiden disappeared. Be wary."
-:43 [ST] "If I find her, I'll be sure to tell her to send word to you." She pauses. "The Outcast... what did she want? Your service? You to betray the Realm once more?"
-:45 [Kalan] "She was looking for the Maiden. If she is to be believed, all of this -" he gestures broadly, "-is none of the Mask's doing. She seems sincere enough, and she is too beastly a creature to decieve. As far as she knows, it is the truth."
-:45 [ST] In her burst of horror over the events in the Realm, she had forgotten to ask.
-:46 [ST] "Not the Mask's doing... I am... unconvinced. But it may not be solely his doing. The death of the Slug, so far from his realm, suggests otherwise."
-:46 [ST] She looks at him for a long, pregnant moment. "And where is she now?"
-:47 [Kalan] He looks her steadily in the eyes as he answers. He was more civilized than the Outcast, and what man could not decieve to his wife? "She said she would be watching."
-:48 [ST] "Very well. I suppose there is nothing I can do. Nothing that would matter now. If you intend to betray the city, it will fall. If you do not, it will fall." Her voice is bleak; all hope is gone. "Keep your eye on her."
-:49 [Kalan] "To the best of my abilities," he says mildly, with a bow
-:51 [ST] She looks at him for a long moment as if she is going to say something more, and then she turns to go, closing the door quietly behind her.
-:52 [Kalan] Kalan turns back, sinking down into his chair. He remembers the night the Outcast first came to him. He remembers her demon-yellow eyes glaring at him from the darkness as she threatened him with ruin. Abandoned by his wife, his child a pauper...
-:54 [Kalan] He had only wanted save his honor. "What was I to do?" He whispers to the empty hearth, to his nameless enemies. "You would have done no different." He kicks a chair savagely into the wall, smashing it to kindling.
-:54 [Kalan] Then, he weeps.
-----
-<i>ST's Notes: The Outcast was an NPC from the Abyssals campaign, a servant of the Mask. Also a loose end to tie up, so I decided to use her in this adventure. Clever Tansy was my favorite NPC in this campaign. I'm abusive to my favorite NPCs. As for using Peleps Deled, come on, who could resist? It was Talek's call to have Jorj lose his hand. This wouldn't be insignificant!</i>

Difference between revisions of "DKDragons/SessionEleven"

Latest revision as of 18:29, 27 June 2012

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