SJE/Session36
Exalted Session 36
Session 36 - The Great Gem Kettle Shortage
The 5th Day of Calibration (cont.)
As evening falls, Orchid's whirlwind brings the Circle back to Gem. The Captain immediately sends a Junior Watch member scurrying off to the palace to arrange an appointment with the Despot for the morning. Rav is desperately worried about the prospect of an Authochthonian invasion of the South and firmly believes that the Circle should be taking action now. The rest of the Circle is more cautious or complacent, however.
Brand's main concern seems to be that he didn't get to play with the Authochthonian's cool toys as much as he'd wanted. He consoles himself by locking himself away in the watchtower and, with Alana, conducts yet another dissection on the remains of the being that they now know to be ROU No Sense Of Irony. They find the Soulsteel construct's nameplate, confirming its identification, and make some study of the soulgem in its forehead. They recognise this as being similar to those worn by Unhesitatingly Loyal Weapon and Excessively Righteous Blossom and speculate on whether the rest of the Autochthonians wore similar gems beneath their strange black armour.
Elsewhere, Shizu (the Exalt Formerly Known As Jak<tm>) has, with characteristic caution, broken into the Paragonese embassy, with spying in mind. She observes Demi-Prefect Shania at her meditation and, breaking into her stuff, finds an orichalcum seven-section staff, jade bracers and other goodies which Shizu somehow resists the temptation to steal. Perhaps, though, this is less a testament to her caution than it is a result of her sudden eerie certainty that a curse has fallen upon her merely for opening the Demi-Perfect's treasure chest. Quieter than a sigh, she slips into the ambassador's office and watches over his shoulder as he writes a report on recent developments in Gem. It lists the Circle by name, with a brief description of each ("Captain Ibrahim - a drunken oaf who can be bought for a cask of wine; Jak - last seen pursued by Master Tanaka, it is unknown how he escaped") and goes on to discuss the "sorry state" of the city's defences. It seems that Paragonese spies have infiltrated the army supply depots and adulterated Gem's supplies of firedust. Shizu snatches this page as evidence and makes a quiet exit.
1 Ascending Air
Calibration is finally over and Realm Year 769 has begun - the year of the Great Gem Kettle Shortage! The Circle gathers at the watchtower and heads to the palace to tell the Despot how the threats to Gem stand.
The Captain reports to the Despot on the Authochthonian's 'annual requirement' for 10,000 tons of orichalcum. This is an unrealistic figure - it is likely that such an amount could not be produced in a single year across the whole of the South. Rav, in particular, is worried that they may turn to conquest rather than trade to meet their needs. Unless they can be persuaded that, if the required orichalcum cannot be found at all, their best course is to leave Creation and return whence they came, the only choice may be a pre-emptive strike.
The ambassador's letter is handed over and the Despot tsks at his mistake in writing it by hand - printed material is so much easier to deny as a forgery. Discussion turns to the zealous efforts the Watch has been making in the Captain's disaster reclamation effort. It seems that not all citizens have been quite so keen to have their possessions reclaimed. Complaints have reached the palace... After the meeting the Captain dashes off to sort this problem out. The first priority, of course, will be to find someone else to take the blame.
The rest of the Circle drops by for tea and biscuits with Auntie. Auntie did arrange elevenses with Master Tanaka yesterday. It seems that he's still rather upset with the circle - it seems that our actions have offended him. Shizu wonders if there's some way we might make it all up to Master Tanaka. Orchid's acid suggestion that "We could try ceasing to exist, that might satisfy him..." is dismissed when Auntie mentions the Fire Ruby of Gem, which was stolen by the Black Mouse a week before Calibration. Its continued absence is most vexing to the Immaculate Master - perhaps if we could recover it for him?
Orchid briefly discusses the now-defunct state of Gem's magical wards with Auntie. The two of them plan to get together with Mother Sahlak and resolve this as soon as possible.
Back at the watchtower, the Captain talks to the man he left in charge of the disaster reclamation project. It seems that the Watch have become moderately over-zealous in following the Captain's order to reclaim as much iron as possible to fend off any Balorian Crusade. The Watch has forcible established a de facto monopoly on kettles and cooking pots. With his keen eye for finding a scapegoat, the Captain orders his flunky to find a clerk who can complete the paperwork on the receipts and take full responsibility for this "vital defence project". Inexplicably, neither Shizu nor Alana are keen to accept this great honour on their return from the palace. The Captain makes a mental note that they both need teamwork training (“Now, it’s a very difficult job and the only way to get through it is we all work together as a team. And that means you do everything I say.”).
Brand heads off for some investigation of the army supply depots and finds plenty of evidence of tampering. He begins to put together the connections he needs to root out the Paragonese spies.
Orchid, a mean look in her eye, drops by the Captain's office but he forestalls whatever she was going to complain about by chucking her a bag full of his ill-gotten "reclamation funds" and telling her to get the Department of Thaumaturgy fixed up (it's been in something of a state after an unfortunate firewand-related incident). The Captain heaves a sigh of relief at killing two birds with one stone - he's laundered some of his loot and managed to fob Orchid off. Orchid isn't too unhappy, though, as she'd actually been coming to ask the Captain to get her Department fixed up. She's happy to let him think he got one over on her. She tucks the money away, happy that she has signed nothing and that no paper trail connects her to the Captain's dodgy scheme.
Shizu tells all to the rest of the Watch about her involvement in the theft of the Fire Ruby (see Session 16). She is sure that Dashing Hare is the real culprit. The Circle spends the afternoon calling upon their contacts and learn that Dashing Hare, under the alias Lord Valdar of the Western Isles has been cutting a swathe through the more impressionable young noblewomen of Gem. He was last seen in the Emerald Bower, the scene of Shizu and Orchid's last abortive attempt to track him down, with Lady Catalina, a child of the noble family which holds Gem's salt monopoly.
In plain clothes, Alana and Orchid go to visit Lady Catalina. It seems that Catalina is engaged to Lord Valdar - she pronounces herself "giddy with joy". As Catalina waxes rhapsodic about her lover, however, Orchid takes a cruel delight in puncturing the young girl's dreams. Orchid reveals that she knows 'Valdar' very well indeed, including that attractive mole he has just above his... ahem... and she knows all his romantic patter, too. Catalina is heartbroken, but Alana and Orchid manage to get her to reveal that she was planning to meet Dashing Hare in just an hour's time at the city gates. She was to bring some portable valuables and they were to elope together. Alana stays with her to "comfort her", handily making sure that Catalina cannot slip away and warn her lover, while Orchid commandeers a fast horse and heads back to the watchtower for reinforcements.
Returning to the watchtower, Orchid updates the rest of the Circle on the situation and suggests they hurry down to the gates.
ORCHID: "So. Who's good at planning ambushes, then?"
RAV: "I am an ambush..."
Down at the gates, Brand is the one who spots Dashing Hare - his fatal mistake was to look honest, too honest for Gem. Spotting the net closing in, Dashing Hare tries to leap on his camel and make a quick getaway, but Rav, who had been right behind him in the shape of a rat, shifts back to human form and brings him down. The arrest draws the attention of the common folk of Gem, though, who recognise the Captain and surround him. A mob quickly gathers, denouncing Captain Ibrahim as the Pot-Snatcher of Gem and demanding that the receipts they were given be honoured. The rest of the Circle, frankly, sees this as his just reward, and leaves him to it, hustling Dashing Hare off into custody.
Back at the watchtower, Dashing Hare produces the earrings that he stole from Orchid and tries to flirt her to his side, claiming that he could not bear to sell those earrings, as they were the only reminder he had of her beauty. Orchid is coldy unimpressed - she's heard far better attempts than that - and just sneers at him. Seeing that seduction has failed him, Dashing Hare tries to bribe his way out of trouble, offering to lead the Watch to the Fire Ruby of Gem and to the Dynast's Diadem, if only they will let him out of this cell. This also fails, with Orchid and Brand now very much in the mood to use more... robust... methods of persuasion. They are restrained, however, by Alana & Shizu's inconvenient sense of compassion. Alana, though, does allow Catalina to 'happen by'. Catalina pounces upon her faithless lover, trying to scratch his eyes out.
Even after this, he won't talk until Shizu, half-joking, suggests that if he doesn't want to say it, he could always mime it. This clearly unsettles Dashing Hare. Smirking, the rest of the Circle steps out, locking the door behind them as Shizu goes on to wonder aloud why everyone in Gem has such a problem with mimes. "After all, I've met the god of mime and he seemed okay - he taught me this..." Shizu's simple demonstration is the final straw for Dashing Hare: "It's in the Bell Tower! For the gods' sake! Just keep her away from me!"
Brand, Rav and Alana head off to the Bell Tower. Orchid volunteers to keep an eye on Dashing Hare, particularly once he has been stripped to show that mole as conclusive proof of his identity. She is distracted from her ogling, though, and more than a little disturbed herself by Shizu's sudden apparent enthusiasm for mime, though, as the young night caste again wonders aloud exactly what the problem is between the people of Gem and mimes. Surely someone here must like them. Shizu's suggestion to Orchid that it might have been the sort of thing that went on behind closed doors in House Sahlak draws an icy response: "I. Have. NEVER. Mimed."
It is, perhaps, fortunate that Orchid is interrupted before she can fully respond to Shizu's subsequent suggestion - that Orchid might like mime if she tried it and that the two of them could go somewhere private to try a bit of miming - as the Captain returns to the watchtower, angry mob in tow. Orchid and Shizu emerge from the interrogation rooms to find the Captain has firmly barricaded the front door against the "Pot Tax" rioters outside. Shizu unwisely quips that the Captain has been particularly devious lately, "cunning like a mime." This foolish insult triggers Captain Ibrahim's limit break, sending him into a berserk rage.
"RAARRRGGGHHHH! Ibrahim SMASH puny ninja!" He roars, striking out at Shizu with his smashfist. Shizu narrowly dodges and dashes away up the stairs, the Captain charging after her. An acrobatic flip around a corner of the spiral staircase gets Shizu out of the Captain's sight for a few precious seconds, allowing him to activate Blurred Form Style and leap to a hiding place among the rafters. The Captain, with no other target for his rage, pounds his smashfist into the floor of the stairwell, shaking the entire building and producing a spiderweb of cracks right out to the exterior wall.
Meanwhile, Orchid has a cunning plan. She dashes into the Captain's office and gathers together as much booze as she can find - which is rather a lot - perhaps alcohol can soothe the savage beast. Great lumps of stone, broken loose by the Captain's furious blows, rain down, smashing open a wine cask and leaving the corridor awash with cheap plonk.
Outside, Brand, Rav and Alana have returned with Dashing Hare's loot and are dismayed to find the watchtower barred against them and a "Pot Tax" riot in progress. As they are doing what they can to restore peace, they see and hear the tower being shaken by the Captain's blows. Rav immediately changes into eagle form and heads for the roof, where he gets in through a skylight.
In the stairwell, Shizu realises that she must distract the Captain before he brings down the entire tower. She drops down from the ceiling and desperately parries and dodges the Captain's renewed assault upon her. Orchid performs one of the elegant katas of Dreaming Pearl Courtesan style to soak wine up with her gown, heading up the stairs to lay a trail which will hopefully lead the Captain down to the calming, boozy delights below. And Rav, hurtling down the stairwell, transforms back into his human shape and smashes into the Captain, hurling him away from Shizu. The two of them, a ball of flailing limbs, crash down the stairs towards Orchid...
To Be Continued...
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