BountyOfTheSeas/Session9

BEGIN CHAPTER 9
The Solars Zeleny, Callidora, and Verdant Waves have just pulled themselves from the sea on what was, until a few hours ago, the private beach of Lao the Gilded, local slave trader and member of the Black Snakes, a crime syndicate running throughout the West.
Now, however, the slaves are free, Lao was last seen disappearing beneath the waters beneath his barge, and the island's ownership is in serious question.
<Zeleny> "What happened to Irisa?" Zeleny asks.
The hearts of the victorious heroes, however, are still burdened by the fate of their comrade and erstwhile employer, Irisa...
( Z: #komondorsrule )
<Callidora> "She's with God now."
Zeleny pauses. "What does that mean? Is she dead, and some godling scooped up the soul?"
<Callidora> "What are you talking about?"
Callidora appears totally confused at Zeleny's response.
<Zeleny> "Where is Irisa?" Zeleny repeats his question patiently.
Callidora "Her mother took her."
<Callidora> "At least, I think it was her mother. I suppose she might have sent some other God to do it."
<Zeleny> "Ah. That's fine then."
<Callidora> "I don't know about that."
Verdant sighs.
<Callidora> "I never did figure out all the intricacies of the relationships between the Exalts and the Gods."
<Callidora> "In any event, she's safe for now, but I wouldn't be too shocked if she shows up again."
Zeleny shrugs. "We have work to do, regardless." He begins to walk up the beach to where he left his men and his newly-freed slaves.
<Callidora> "What about you guys? Did you manage to kill Lao?"
<Zeleny> "Pushed him under the barge," Zeleny replies briefly.
<Zeleny> "Ordinarily that is fatal, yes."
Verdant follows after Zeleny. "Yeah, work to do..." he says sadly, looking at the setting sun.
Callidora Trails after the others, a little disoriented.
The scene on the beach is just organized enough to avoid the label 'utter chaos,' but only just.
Many of the slain have been laid out in preparation for burial services, but there are still bodies lying about haphazardly. Some of the slaves are mourning loved ones amongst the fallen.
Zeleny's crew seem mostly to be too tired to attempt any semblance of discipline; the few that aren't attempting to goad the slaves towards productive action are lounging around the beach in the setting sun, or washing off the blood and sweat of the day's battle in the surf.
Verdant closes his eyes and sighs.
(Mistyped - that should be "the few that aren't lounging/washing/etc. are attempting to goad the slaves towards productive blah blah blah.")
Zeleny stops by the body of a young woman. Her eyes stare blankly up into the sky, and a young man kneels weeping next to her, holding her hand. He puts his hand gently on the young man's shoulder for a moment before moving on.
<Zeleny> He turns back before he had walked more than a few steps to add quietly. "She was very brave." He remembered her. His heroine.....
<Zeleny> "Did you see what happened to Pyhrra?" Zeleny asks suddenly, looking at Verdant.
Verdant looks at Zeleny, tired. "Never saw her."
The young man, tears running unchecked down his face, looks up at the sea captain, anger burning in his eyes. "Just like that? Just like that, you turn and forget about my Ellene? Was this part of your 'glorious rebellion,' you... you..."
He hangs his head, sobbing uncontrollably.
Zeleny crouches down beside him. "I do not forget her. I do not forget any of them."
<Zeleny> "It is a great and noble thing she did, a great and noble thing she fought for."
"I..." He chokes back more tears. "I never even had a chance to tell her how I felt... she never knew, and now...."
The young man rounds on Zeleny again. "How can this be noble?! Look at her! Look at all of them! This is horrible!"
<Zeleny> "It is horrible," Zeleny agrees. His face is cast into shadow, the bloody sun setting at his back. "But not more horrible than what awaited them. Their destinies are their own now. And yes, that is worth fighting for, or even dying for."
<Zeleny> "Ellene knew that."
Salas Toad gently rests a fatherly hand on Zeleny's shoulder. He looks down on both the youth and his captain with an expression of sympathy.
<Zeleny> "I know it."
Verdant walks away, sullen.
The young man looks down at his fists, clenched tight in front of him. "I should have been there for her... it should have been me..."
<Zeleny> "But it was not. And now, you have another choice before you. What will you do now, with the free life she fought for you?"
He says nothing, squeezes his eyes shut and turns away from the captain.
Zeleny stands, and leaves the young man's side, turning away from the moment of unexpected empathy. He had been that boy, once....though he had never had the chance to weep. The ribbon around his wrist flutters in the wind.
Salas, looking uncomfortable, tries to address Zeleny without looking directly at him. "Sir, the men are waitin' for your orders."
<Zeleny> "Yes." And Zeleny, his imperturbable front back in place, strides off to give them.
As Verdant walks, an ex-slave lying in the sand cries out, grabs hold of the hem of the Solar's bedraggled robes.
Slave: "You! I saw you - you were the one, the one with the magic!"
Verdant turns to face him as if waking from a dream.
The slave's leg has been mangled, apparently from the blow of a large hammer or club. It has been tended to, but whoever did the mending was obviously versed in merely the rudiments of battlefield medicine.
The slave's voice breaks with a desperate mania. "You can heal me! I saw you do that-" He gestures towards the ruined front of Lao's compound, where black glass still litters the ground. "Please, I beg of you!"
Callidora Walks up, speaks as gently and soothingly as possible.
<Callidora> "Just relax, It'll heal faster if you rest."
<Callidora> "By the time we get you home, I'm sure your leg will be just fine."
Verdant looks at the crippled man, tears in his eyes, mixed with...fear? "You look to me for answers I cannot give, powers I do not have." His voice becomes quieter, a mere murmur. "And I fear the price of learning those answers. What in blazes am I supposed to do?"
The slave, desperate not to acknowledge Verdant's confession, begins shouting at Callidora. "Are you insane? I'll never walk again!" Tears leak from the corners of his eyes. "What kind of monster are you, to say such things?"
Callidora Getting a little impatient, but still trying t o be comforting "You're just delerious from the wound. It'll heal fine in a few weeks."
The injured man looks disbelievingly at his mangled knee, then back at the oddly-dressed stranger addressing him.
Callidora speaking old realm, feeling somewhat superior "Where the hell is Zel? Somebody needs to calm these ignoramuses down."
<Callidora> (that was adressed to V, btw)
(Duh.)
<Callidora> (you never know)
(A passing tiny god, however, hears it, is momentarily confused, then files it away for future reference. Three millennia later, flipping through old memories as it sits astride a throne of gold built for it by a tribe of primitive worshippers in the ruins of the Second Age of Man, the now-powerful god has a small chuckle over it, and resumes picking his tusks with a human femur.)
Verdant looks at Callidora in shock. His eyes narrow, and he snarls as he raps the back of Callidora's head with his staff.
Verdant speaks in Old Realm, "Slippery slope."
Callidora shocked
Callidora says the old realm equivalent of 'what was that for?', seemingly more hurt than angry.
Verdant continues to speak in Old Realm, "To place oneself above another is a perilous thing. It is easy, too easy to become complacent, to become too sure in ones superiority," he says, turning, "until one no longer values the lives of one's 'lessers'. And then you wake up one morning, and find you've become a monster."
Callidora oldrealm "What in the name of are you talking about? These injuries are nothing, these ignorant peasants just don't know, because they've never seen a real battle!"
Callidora o.r. "I'm surprised at you, arn't you a scholar? Don't tell me this is the first time you've been in a fight?"
<Verdant> "Do you remember the First Age?"
<Callidora> "What the hell does that have to do with anything?"
<Verdant> "Ever considered that the stories the Dragon-Blooded tell about our kind have a grain of truth to them?"
<Callidora> "So I've been told."
<Callidora> (that was "through clenched teeth")
<Verdant> "Let's just say...it's a very large grain."
Verdant sighs, looking at Lao's mansion. How much time does he have?
<Callidora> "Funny, but I don't recall having killed any innocents or ignored any suffering recently. Perhaps you've got something you'd like to get off your chest?"
<Verdant> "Your implication being?"
(Cat fight!)
<Callidora> "My implication is, you don't make any fucking sense! I try to calm down the peasants - maybe I'm not very good at it, but I tried - and you start lecturing me about the old realm."
<Callidora> "What the hell did I do wrong!"
Callidora by this point, Callidora is on the verge of tears. She had thought of Verdant as one of her friends.
(-Human- friends.)
<Verdant> "Oh, right, you were looking to 'calm these ignoramuses down'. Look around, and see how badly off these ignoramuses are, and realize that they more likely than not have a better future than they did yesterday."
Callidora She might look small, hurt, and vulnerable, but with her emotions, an aura of wavering blue light was flowing out from her body."
<Verdant> "As soon as you stop caring, it's amazing what atrocities you can do. I know...because.."
Verdant 's voice falters.
Callidora visibly crying, totally confused. "But I do care! Why don't you think I care!"
Verdant places a hand on his forehead. "I know...because my predecessor went that route. And I have his memories."
<Verdant> "He was a brilliant doctor, and a sorcerer almost without compare. He came up with wonders of medicine and cures for all kinds of diseases....and to do that, he conducted experiments...on people..."
Verdant pauses, his face showing his fear. He looks at Callidora, tears in his eyes. "and when an experiment didn't go as planned, he'd chalk the subjects up as a loss. A 'sequence', nothing more, and he'd kill them by the dozens..."
<Verdant> "And the horror of it is, I can see how he became that way."
Callidora The light suddenly stops. Callidora seems to swallow, and her anger vanishes.
Callidora her body language shifts, she becomes comforting.
<Callidora> (sorta)
<Verdant> "First a series of animal experiments, then he'd try on humans...and eventually, he stopped seeing the need for animal testing..."
<Callidora> "I....I'm sorry."
<Verdant> "Then, sooner or later, someone would die...and he'd be sorry about it...the first time..."
<Verdant> "But through the ages, slowly, surely, he saw too much death to care anymore..."
A broken piece of seashell bounces off of Verdant's shoulder.
<Verdant> "Eh?"
Callidora walks up, gives Verdant a hug
The injured slave, still furious, hefts another piece of detritus. "What the hells are you two talking about!"
Verdant replies in Old Realm, "Uh...um, Important...uh...stuff..." Clearly his mind is still having to switch gears, between the seashell and Callidora hugging him.
(Quick check - would the slave know Callidora is Anathema, too? I can't remember.)
Callidora ignores him. "Its OK, you'll see. Everyone changes, right? The bad things might not come again - if they do, you'll be ready.)
<Callidora> (well, she just glowed, and he probably saw her jumping around like a maniac and taking arrows in the gut, so yeah.)
<Callidora> (Although he might think she's a water aspect DB if he's never seen a real DB's anima)
<Callidora> (the parenthesis in my last "me" post was supposed to be quotes, btw)
Slave: "You demons! You... you monsters! You make us fight for you, and then you can't even..."
He hurls the small piece of driftwood. It sails over Callidora's head.
Slave: "Well, I'm free now! Lookit me, free as a bird WITH ONE WING."
Callidora "C'mon, let's go."
Callidora Tries to lead Verdant away by the arm.
Callidora the very observant might notice a confused expression on her face.
Slave: "You demon BITCH!" He ineffectually flings sand at Callidora's back.
Callidora doesn't respond, or even notice really.
Verdant follows along, confused.
Callidora leads him back to the ship, lost in thought.
Roused by their fellow's shouts of defiance, the other wounded slaves along their path call out to Verdant and Callidora, defying them to perform miracles of healing, or suck out souls, or any of a multitude of other supernatural feats.
The Brilliance rests at the docks of the slave compound, along with the three other slaver ships that were captured during the rebellion.
On board, Niehan and Salas wait while a skeleton crew maintains watch. Callidora and Verdant approach, having finally left the shouts of the slaves behind them...
Zeleny has organized burial teams for the dead mercenary guards. The remains of the dead slaves are laid neatly along the beach. The mercenaries who surrendered are locked in a tiny jail used for slave-breaking (someone had a sense of humor).
<Zeleny> Zeleny himself still seems to be elsewhere.
Callidora tries to lead Verdant someone where no one would so much as think about asking him to medic,
Callidora Then goes off to look for Zeleny.
Zeleny is staring down into the faces of three dead men. "No one knows their names," he tells Callidora simply as she approaches.
<Verdant> "Um, Callidora..." The words finally come out right after she leaves. A moment's consideration of his location and how tired he is, and Verdant decides to get some rest...
Callidora "Save your Essence. The injured people are freaking out."
<Callidora> "They seem to think the injuries won't heal correctly unless we perform some ritual or something."
<Callidora> "I'm not sure, I don't know much about worship in this area."
Zeleny glances at her briefly. It was obvious she was not raised among mortals. "Several are missing limbs. That doesn't heal."
<Callidora> "You're kidding?"
<Zeleny> "No."
<Callidora> "Why not?"
<Zeleny> He replies a trifle impatiently, "your parents, if they did not see fit to allow you to live among humankind, could at least have divulged some general deatils. There is a reason mortal means 'to die' in all the languages of Creation."
<Zeleny> "Several may die of infection. These are serious matters, Callidora. Their wounds are serious. There consequences to battle. This is not a flighty court of the gods."
Callidora it takes a moment for that in particular linguistic detail to register. Callidora's was not much of an etymologist...."
Zeleny doesn't think much of the gods, it is clear. He sighs...."Would you tell Salas Toad I am ready to begin the funeral?"
Callidora is still sort of taken a back....
<Zeleny> "I will tell him."
Callidora my parents....they always tried hard, how the hell were they supposed to know mortals are different?
Callidora No, she meant....
<Zeleny> "Some elementary attention paid to the world around them, perhaps!" Zeleny snaps back.
Callidora shaking "Pardon me, I'm going to go lock myself in the padded room with Verdant."
<Zeleny> "If you wish. The funeral will be held over there- " he points, "if you wish to attend."
<Zeleny> He leaves her there, standing by the bodies.
Callidora wanders off, absent-mindedly dives into the water, to the surprise of several crew men, who did not understand how anyone could be so relaxed around the sea.
Zeleny tells Toad that funeral will soon begin, and he gathers the others, so that at last, Zeleny finds himself addressing a crowd of every mortal living on the island- save the imprisoned mercenaries.
<Zeleny> Zeleny stands at last in front of the crowd, scarred face solemn. Some are sullen. Others are eager. Even the wounded are here for this, skeptical and angry as they are; at least they live. Zeleny begins, as always, with the eulogy for the dead. He speaks of heroism, of sacrifice. "They had courage to fight, the honor to fight for themselves. And we will remember it." He rasps the last bit out- torn by some great emotion.
<Zeleny> More softly: "We will remember Ellene, and her grace in the darkness. We will remember Old Yan, and we will remember that he beat that old mule in a drinking contest. We will remember Kayla..." and Zeleny continues, listng the names of the dead, as he reaches down to immolate them in golden flames.
<Zeleny> As the names of their dead are called, freed slaves nod, tears shining their eyes. Somehow, in between shouting orders to his crew, organizing burial teams for the dead guards and discussing matters with his lieutenant, he had spoken to many of the survivors, and learned what he could of the dead. He concludes, "And we will remember six fallen heroes. None know their names, but we know they died. For us. *We will remember.* "
<Zeleny> "Men are not born to be slaves. Men are not born to be cattle, yoked before their fellow men. And here, you have proved it." He pauses, his clear, fine voice carrying easily over the distance. "Lao the Gilded, with his snakes and serpents and vile appetites...his kind are not invincible, AND YOU HAVE PROVED IT!" Zeleny shouts.
<Zeleny> "Now the time comes for new choices, and new paths in our garden. Decide what you will do with the future you have chosen for yourselves." And Zeleny leaves them there, walking over the graves of the dead guards, whose corpses he had not been able to muster the strength to burn.
<Zeleny> He returns to the Brilliance, and does what he normally does after a funeral- he stands on the foredeck, and stares out at sea. It was full dark by now, of course, though Zeleny's recent essence channeling cast a yellow glow about him.
From the prow of the ship, Zeleny could see the shadow of the crowd, still standing solemnly on the beach. One by one or in pairs, they slowly disperse, to sleep under the stars in the warm night, or in simple lean-tos constructed from parts of the slave compound.
Zeleny watches them, and does not sleep.
Callidora Callidora lies on the sand perhaps twenty or thirty yards into the water.
Callidora her eyes sit open, her face impassive as she stares up at the moon.
The pale light filters down through the water above her, greating ever-shifting, dappling patterns across the tranquil sea-floor.
Callidora She sits, trying hard to imagine herself as the wife of some peasant.
Callidora she imagines drowning herself in agony at her existence. Yes, she ought to be drowned now.
<Callidora> Those thoughts kept Callidora company as she spent an exhausted, sleepless night.
"Envoy Callidora of the Red Coral Pavilion."
Callidora snapped upright to regard the voice.
Squirt, Most Esteemed Messenger God of the Inestimable Court of Remembered Coral, comes to attention floating a few inches in front of Callidora's plain face.
He looks a lot like a seahorse.
Callidora her eyes were raw from crying, her skin looked dull in its nakedness, and her hair floated behind her like a tattered train - which would have been interesting, if any mortals had been around to see a problem with this.
Callidora 's spirits raise. "Hey, squirt! How ya been!"
Callidora grabs the God and gives him something aproximatinga nuggie.
Squirt: "Quite well, Mistress. I have been sent to verify the veracity of your veritable mission."
<Callidora> (fuck, what the hell was her mission anyway?)
Squirt: "...verily."
(...does it really matter?)
Callidora "I am most happy to report that I have met up with the other Sunchildren, and that we have formed an alliance!"
Callidora "Just today, we......"
Callidora searches for the right word
Callidora Conducted a raid on the headquarters of Lao the guilded, who was taking slaves improperly!
Squirt: "Splendiferous. Most exemplary. The Chancellor will be simply stunned... speechless."
Callidora "The slaves are making ready to board our ships as we speak!"
Callidora wasn't sure if "stole" or "liberated" was the right idea here.
Callidora "Indeed, and I have contacted the most Excellent [Irisa's Mom], fabled Dreamweaver!"
Callidora "And reunited her with her daughter, Irisia."
Squirt: "And what of the most marvelously maligned Mistress Irisa, whom the Court has heard was most heinously heisted from her hotel?"
Squirt: "Er... Mistress?"
Callidora "Yes?"
Callidora "you can expect thanks from [Irisa's Mom] shortly, no doubt."
Squirt: "I have come just today from the Water Court of Pearly Glory, and we had not yet received word of Mistress Irisa's anxiously awaited arrival."
Callidora "Well, no doubt [Irisa's Mom] needs time to groom her daughter for the trip. I imagine her servants must be in quite the tizzy, awaiting t heir master's a rrival!"
(Kenami, dammit.)
<Callidora> (sorry!)
('sokay.)
(I don't understand your last message. Kenami belongs to a different Water Court than yours; I didn't make it clear, but what I meant by my last message was that your court hasn't heard that she's arrived at Kenami's court yet.)
<Callidora> (oh, let me try again.)
<Callidora> "Well, you know how news can run slowly sometimes."
Squirt looks dubious, insomuch as its possible for a slightly anthropomorphic seahorse to do so.
<Callidora> "Well, why don't you get in contant with Kenami? I sent a message to her on the day we rescued her daughter, no doubt she'll have prepared a response by now."
Squirt: "Shall I open a clear and confidential current of communication with Kenami's Court, Mistress? I fear furiously for the flighty Mistress Irisa."
<Callidora> "Certainly! Send our most trusted ambassador immediatelly!"
<Callidora> "I eagerly await news, be sure to send me a message as soon as our ambassador is done with his mission."
<Callidora> "For now, what are your orders?"
Squirt: "No need; I can invoke the information immediately."
<Callidora> "Will I have an oppurtunity to return home soon?"
<Callidora> "Excellent!"
With a flash of his tiny tail, Squirt begins to swim in a vertical circle.
The eddies of water begin to coalesce into a glowing portal, a face-sized disk of light floating gently in the currents just above the sea floor.
Squirt ceases his Charm and float expectantly beside the portal.
In his surprisingly deep "messenger" voice, Squirt speaks the name "Kenami" into the portal.
Callidora giggles at the voice. She missed this.
A blue-green face swims into view in the portal. The features, inhumanly beautiful, are more than reminiscent of Irisa, but without the gentle touch that must have come from her father.
Kenami stares at Callidora for a moment, then nods in recognition. "Ah. Callidora, I presume?"
Callidora "Your grace...."
Callidora "I trust your daughter is well?"
Kenami is silent, her brow furrowed. "My daughter? She is not with you?"
<Callidora> "What? Your grace...."
Kenami: "At last news, she was victim of my enemies, and you were in pursuit."
Callidora "What!"
Kenami: "What has happened, Callidora?"
Callidora "Your grace, when I sent you my prayer, I was at that time with your daughter, trying to free her from a Deathknight!"
Callidora "After my prayer, Irisa vanished into mist. I presumed you had come to claim her."
Kenami: "Prayer? Callidora, I never received a prayer... into mist? Oh no..."
Callidora "My prayer! I sent it with sacrifices! It must be there, check your backlog!"
"Callidora, I don't receive many prayers; I have too many enemies to risk censure from the Bureacracy."
Callidora "Some God must have claimed her! The only other Essence channelers were my comrades and the Deathknight, and he was quite busy battling at the time."
"Indeed, that can be the only explanation. And I fear I know who may be responsible."
Callidora stubborn. The prayer was issued, the sacrifices were made. I know of no force that can stop a God from h earinga prayer."
"I assume you invoked the ties of blood to call for Irisa's rescue?"
Callidora "Of course...."
Kenami: "And you say she vanished into vapor..."
Callidora "Yes....."
Kenami: "My brother, Unoau... he may have answered the prayer, on the basis of the blood linking him to her."
<Callidora> (roll to know who that is?)
<Callidora> (Or ask her.)
Kenami: "Unoau... is no longer part of this court, Callidora. He has been unstable for too long, and finally a faction of the court rose up and banished him from our midst."
Callidora "Do you know where he resides today?"
Callidora "And what domain he governs?"
Kenami: "...he holds me partially responsible, for failing to use my influence to save him. I am sad to say that today, I count Unoau among my enemies. I can point you towards the Demesne he holds, but I must warn you that it lies inside a Wyld zone."
Kenami: "I fear that the Wyld can only have made him more unstable than he was before."
Callidora "That should not be a problem, great one. But tell me - what is his nature? What does he govern?"
Kenami: "He is a god of the fogs and mists, Sun-Chosen, a being of deception and misdirection."
Kenami: "He is powerful, and I fear the worst for my daughter."
<Callidora> "Well, we will do what we can. Some of my comrades can be quite persuasive. Others of us can be quite...'persuasive' "
Kenami's ghostly image is not reassured. She looks glumly at Callidora as she gives her thanks in the formal manner of the Water Courts.
Callidora "We will set off at once."
Callidora "wait...."
Callidora "We are capable, but we are somewhat burdened."
Callidora "We need to find a home for a great number of mortals."
Callidora "And we have lost our weapons."
Callidora "If you could help find us a good home for some....enthuastic supporters of the cause of the sun,
Callidora "Or perhaps arrange for us to be issued some minor weapons from Heaven's Arsenal, that might help."
Kenami looks even closer to despair. "Kind Callidora, you know as well as I that I have no sway in the Heavenly Bureacracy. And as to mortal homes..."
Kenami: "No, I cannot see how I might help with that."
Callidora "Well have no fear, for we shall be armed with the weapons of faith!"
Kenami looks thoughtful.
<Callidora> (is that my cue?)
Kenami: "Now that I consider it, though... there may well be some small aid I could render in order to arm you. I'm afraid I have not the sway to procure arms directly, but I shall put you in touch with my court's local representative for our region's shipwreck gods."
Callidora nervous. "This will not incur the wrath of *the* shipwreck God, I hope?"
Kenami smiles slightly, for the first time in the conversation. "Rest assured, I can ensure that he won't miss a few small items."
Callidora "Oh good! I shall go to meet the representative immediatelly!"
(Can't go immediately. He's too far away.)
<Callidora> (well, she gives me the info or whatever.)
Callidora "Anything else?"
(You'll have to sail to Kenami's Water Court to meet him, which (thankfully) is at least close to Unoau's Demesne.)
Kenami: "May the Unconquered Sun guide your hands, young one."
<Callidora> (roger)
Callidora "May your water alwyas run pure, your grace."
Callidora The images ripples and floats back into water. Callidora turns to face Squirt, grimly.
Callidora It seems I won't be seeing home for quite some time, old friend.
<Callidora> (err, that was in quotes)
Squirt bows to Callidora as the portal dissolves into currents of light. "If you'll pardon, please, our presence is presently and pressingly... er... needed. Elsewhere."
<Callidora> "Tell Neira I miss her, tell her to be careful."
Squirt: "Currents always at your back, Mistress."
Callidora with a wry smile "And tell my family not to let themselves catch any infections!"
The tiny god looks confusedly at Callidora, then zooms away at high speed into the gloom of the evening waters.
(...aaaand scene.)
Callidora the Moonshines on the dark water
Callidora a sailor sits half napping at watch.
Callidora whose going to attack now?
Callidora he tips forward and out of his hamock in surprise, as a slight woman leaps out of the water and onto the deck with a splash.
Callidora the woman, oblivious to the soldiers surprised looks, walks to the captain of the Ship's 'wizard', so to speak.
Callidora The door opens with a thud.
Callidora the woman remembers her earlier chat with the Sorceror, and notices her nakedness.
Callidora Quietly, she opens his 'closet' and pulls out of one of his robes. He doesn't have very many,
Callidora well, the Wyld should be able to provide them some decent clothes, at least, she thinks
Callidora pulling on the oversized garment.
Callidora the woman stalks soundlessly over to sit on the foot of the bed.
Verdant sleeps peacefully, his breathing slow and regular.
Callidora She looks at him, wondering what the properly human thing to say is at a time like this.
Callidora a dim memory of her mother flashes through her head.
Callidora loudly "Good morning, sweet heart!"
Verdant awakens with a start. He sits up to look groggily at Callidora. "Muh? Morning all ready?" A moment's use of Essence tells Verdant the time. "No, it's the middle of the night..." Abruptly his eyes widen.
<Verdant> "Uh, Callidora, why are you in my room in the middle of the night?"
Verdant gives Callidora another glance. "And why are you wearing my robe!?"
Callidora surprised "What should I be wearing?"
Callidora stands up, holding the robe "Should I take it off?"
<Verdant> "Well, for starters, clothes that aren't mine and...erk..."
<Verdant> "You are wearing something underneath, I presume?"
Callidora starts to lift the robe "No, I don't mind though; just me a minute to get your robe off."
<Verdant> "What!?"
Callidora There's a gasp outside the door, Callidora lets the robe fall back down as she listens for a moment
Callidora raises her finger to her lips, shushing Verdant
Verdant puts his head in his hands.
Callidora dashes out quickly, grabs ahold of a young sailor, eavesdropping.
Callidora "What are you doing out here!"
Sailor: "Er..."
namednick (Immaculate@ip70-186-49-208.ma.dl.cox.net) has joined #exalted1220
<Callidora> uh, hi?
<Callidora> Nik?
namednick is now known as Immaculate
<Callidora> not Nik
<Immaculate> my bad.
<Callidora> Anyway, back in character.
<Callidora> "Don't be eavesdroppingon affairs of state!"
The sailor, in a remarkably crafty maneuver, slips out of the shirt by which Callidora was holding him, and flees down the ship's hallway.
Callidora admires the manuveur
<Callidora> (Is the shirt clean?)
(Not really.)
Immaculate has quit IRC (Quit:)
Immaculate (Immaculate@ip70-186-49-208.ma.dl.cox.net) has joined #exalted1220
Callidora walks back in Verdant's room. "Now, what were we doing?"
Callidora "Oh, yes."
Callidora "I just had a little chat with Kenami."
Verdant says, quietly, "That's a very good question, Callidora, what were we doing?"
Callidora "Apparently, Irisia has been abduced a *second* time, now by her somewhat unstable brother, Uoaeu.
<Verdant> "What, another God-blood?"
(Uncle, not brother.)
Callidora "No, Kenami's brother, the god of mists and fog.
<Verdant> (I know, I was just running with it)
<Callidora> (I know)
(I know.)
Callidora His mind was always a bit unclear, of course
<Verdant> "So Irisa's uncle then. Wonderful."
Callidora "And living in the Wyld has not done anything to improve matters."
Callidora "So, we're going to meet Kenami and hopefully pick up some equipment near the Wyld Zone."
Callidora "Then we'll have to find Uoaue's demense and rescue Irisia once and for all."
<Verdant> "So, now we have to go into the Wyld to collect Irisa?"
Callidora "Yeah, so, you should probably start warding the ship. I guess I'll go talk to Zel and see how soon we can be there. Ok?"
<Verdant> "Callidora?"
Callidora ready to head out the door
Callidora "Yeah?"
<Verdant> "Can you skip to the part where you explain what you're doing here?"
Callidora "Oh, should I have had a messanger tell you?"
Verdant blinks at her.
Callidora "Well, next time"
<Verdant> "All right, never in all my life have I encountered the polite way to handle this situation."
Callidora Wanders out and catapults out into the moonlight.
<Verdant> "So," Verdant turns to face her, only to find that she's gone.
Callidora the robe falls to the deck of the ship, as she flies off to meet Zeleny at the brow of the ship.
<Verdant> "I'm pretty sure I haven't been drinking."
Callidora alights a foot behind Zeleny.
<Zeleny> He turns.
Callidora decides to try a different approach. "Captain."
Callidora Sees Callidora standing bolt upright and somber.
Callidora I've just had news from court
Zeleny nods to her. "What is it?"
<Zeleny> "News?"
Callidora Apparently Irisa did not make it home, after all.
Callidora She has been abducted by her Uncle, Uaoeu, the God of Mists and Dreams
<Zeleny> "Ah."
Callidora "And is now presumed to be held at his Demense in the Wyld."
(Unoau.)
Callidora "We will have to retrieve her fairly promptly. I believe I have secured a pledge of some equipment from Kenami, but otherwise, we're on our own."
<Verdant> "No, I know I haven't been drinking, I'd remember that. I must be dreaming. Vividly." Verdant pinches himself. "Or perhaps not. Well, whether I'm dreaming or not, I'm not going to get much more sleep anyway, so I think I'll go see if I can take watch, I'm sure someone will appreciate it."
<Zeleny> (brb)
Verdant stands outside his room, looking at the clothes in front of him, one eyebrow twitching.
<Zeleny> "We have responsibilities."
<Zeleny> "Where is this uncle?"
Verdant picks up his robe and places it back in his room. "Suddenly getting drunk sounds a lot more appealing than usual."
<Zeleny> "In the Wyld?"
<Callidora> "He lives in a Wyld zone near Irisa's homecourt, its about X Units from here."
<Callidora> (I have no idea.)
(Hold up, lemme check the map.)
<Callidora> "Presumably, yes."
<Zeleny> "What expedition do you propose?"
<Callidora> "Well, I guess we find a place for your crew, who I doubt could survive the wyld, and then the three of us go in and try to talk him into giving us Irisa."
<Zeleny> (brb again)
<Callidora> "Holding her is totally illegal, if we say we've been sent by Heaven to reclaim her, he'll probably believe it."
<Callidora> (brb too then)
(Oh, sorry. The Wyld Zone, as well as the Court where Kenami lives and Unoau used to live, are coincidentally near the island home of the slaves liberated from the Burning Rain. Remember them? Still aboard the Starlit Waters, presumably slowly chugging towards Hoark?)
<Callidora> (back)
<Callidora> (I guess I tell Zel)
(You wouldn't know that, I don't think. But if you could cross-reference it with a map, or Monk...)
<Callidora> (V, you want to come in?)
<Zeleny> "And you expect to conversation to do it?"
<Callidora> "Well, think of it this way."
<Callidora> "He lives in a Wyld Zone. He probably doesn't get many visitors."
<Callidora> "Most of those he does are his servants."
<Callidora> "He'll assume we're far more powerful than he is. He might be right - we are the chosen of the Gods, after all."
<Zeleny> "He has- rescued, not kidnapped, now that I think of it- a Solar Exalt."
<Zeleny> "Do you believe Irisa is uncapable of handling herself in this situation?"
<Callidora> "A drugged Solar Exalt, who is now being held in a Wyld Zone."
<Callidora> "She may be afraid to go through the Wyld."
<Zeleny> "She cannot be kept drugged indefinitely. This smells of godly politics. Why should we be involved? I have other concerns. Hundreds of other concerns."
<Zeleny> His gaze strays to where the former slaves slept on the beach.
<Callidora> "Godly Politics? A Solar is incredibly powerful, think about the good we can do rescuing her!"
<Callidora> "You need help, Zeleny! Three Exalts rescue a hundred slaves - how many will four rescue?"
<Zeleny> "She is one individual. An individual who should be competent to rescue herself. Supposing she needs rescuing."
<Callidora> "She's held againist her will. How is she any different than a slave?"
<Zeleny> "You assume she is held against her will. She vanished- rescued, at your request, as I understand it- from the 'deathknight's' hold."
Callidora rapidly losing respect for Zeleny's decision making abilities. "I prayed to Kenami, invoking Irisa's blood tie."
<Zeleny> "Hm. Well."
Callidora "Prayers can not be 'stolen' easily."
Callidora "Only another relative of Irisa's could of heard the prayer."
<Zeleny> "I wouldn't know," Zeleny replies indifferently. "It is true Irisa could be very useful; and I am not indifferent to her plight." Zeleny perhaps say that with much passion, however. "But decision will have to wait for the morrow."
<Zeleny> "Something must be done with these people, and I will not abandon them to be victims for the Guild."
Callidora "Very well."
<Zeleny> "What happens to them....largely depends on them, but I must give them what aid I can. I owe them that."
<Zeleny> "Have you spoken to Verdant?"
Callidora "Yes, he agreed with the idea."
Verdant walks on deck, somewhat groggily.
Callidora "Oh, can you spare any clothes?"
Callidora sees him coming. "Pardon, Verdant is a bit touchy on this subject."
Callidora hurridly leaps overboard.
<Zeleny> "Did he. Hm. He is a Wyld-Warder, I understand...he will know how to go about sailing a ship into chaos."
<Zeleny> (sorrY)
<Zeleny> (didn't scroll down)
<Zeleny> "Verdant."
<Callidora> (I guess you just said that to him, then =) )
Verdant turns to Zeleny, his face concerned. "What was that?"
<Zeleny> "Callidora. She wants to rescue the lady in distress, and sail to the Wyld."
Verdant looks at Zeleny for a moment, blinks, and then says, "Huh. Wasn't dreaming it then."
<Zeleny> "She said you agreed."
<Zeleny> (er. you know about ten lines up. *Zeleny perhaps does not say that with much passion....)
Verdant turns and leans his back on the railing. "That's perhaps a bit strong a word, I had other concerns on my mind at the time."
<Callidora> (we knew)
<Zeleny> "What concerns? Has something else come up?"
<Verdant> "Let's just call it...a personal matter."
Zeleny blinks. "If you wish."
<Zeleny> "So. Do you agree?"
<Callidora> (Good thing ya didn't give her the wrong idea here Verdant =P)
<Verdant> (Oh, like you're the one to talk. I lost count of how many wrong ideas you gave Verdant >:p ) "Yes, actually. Though my concern is how to, shall we say, fit it in our schedule?"
<Verdant> "If we are to change this world, we will need all the allies we can get, and Irisa, as one of us, would be an invaluable ally."
<Verdant> "Conversely, allowing one of the Sun's Chosen to be kidnapped or what-have-you only encourages others to try the same."
<Zeleny> "Is there really a chance of a rash of those?" Zeleny sounds slightly amused.
<Zeleny> "This man lives in the Wyld. Tell me, Wyld-warder- how foolish would it be to sail into it?"
<Verdant> "You know what I mean, captain. We are, in essence, new players on the gaming board. Those in power wish to stay in power. Given our abilities, we are a threat that must be either eliminated...or controlled."
<Verdant> "Captain, I've gone with more than one of your ideas that I thought was more than a little foolish. And yet they've worked so far."
<Verdant> "Yes, I grant that sailing into the Wyld isn't the wisest of moves, but what choice do we have? Abandon one of our own kind?"
<Verdant> "What if the situation was reversed, and she was here with us and those former slaves were the ones kidnapped? What would you do then?"
Zeleny shrugs. "I would rescue them, of course. But Irisa is far more capable than any of them. Your point is taken, however. I will agree to this."
<Zeleny> "But. I will not endanger my crew, and my first responsibility is to the safety of the freedmen. Much depends on their decisions on the morrow."
Verdant nods. "Your ship, captain. I understand."
Verdant pauses. "Ah, I take it Callidora spoke with you?"
<Zeleny> "She did. She wasn't wearing any clothes," he adds.
Zeleny gives Verdant a careful evaluating look. "Is there a story behind that?" he asks needlessly.
Verdant looks Zeleny in the eye. "I suspect as much, but I'm afraid I don't know it."
<Verdant> "I can't help but notice you're rather calm about such things."
<Zeleny> "Callidora is...." Zeleny struggles for a moment. "Callidora. She's hardly human." He shrugs.
<Verdant> "Hmm, I suppose that does explain much."
<Zeleny> "It was news to her that men and women did not regrow lost limbs." And then, surprising himself, Zeleny laughs.
<Verdant> "You're kidding." In spite of himself, Verdant can't help but chuckle.
Verdant finds his chuckle fading into a frown, and sighs. "I don't think the newly freed like me."
<Zeleny> "Oh?"
<Verdant> "One of them wanted me to heal his leg. He'd seen me invoke the Death of Obsidian Butterflies, and figured I could heal his leg. But that's not how it works, though try telling him that."
<Verdant> "And when I couldn't do anything for his mangled limb, he and others took out their pains by shouting at me. And I was too befuddled to do a bloody thing."
Zeleny frowns into the distance, as he grapples with a memory. "But...isn't it true that there were once Twilight physicians who could perform marvels?"
<Callidora> (Yeah Verdant. If your "Dad" was here, *he* could have healed those people. He was such a nice boy....)
Verdant sighs. "Yes. My predecessor, the one who held my spark, was one of them. And, to put it bluntly, the Immaculate Order's stories aren't all fabrication."
<Zeleny> "A terrible individual, this healer?"
<Verdant> "To achieve those marvels, he...used up...countless human test subjects...'sequences' he called them."
<Zeleny> "You fear to become him."
Immaculate has quit IRC (Quit:)
Verdant nods.
<Verdant> "I can see in my mind's eye the slippery slope he traveled to become what he was, and it scares me how easy it is to become a monster."
<Zeleny> "Any power invites corruption." Zeleny moves restlessly across the deck. "And yet, without it....you were helpless today before that man's injury."
<Verdant> "A quandary."
<Verdant> "In avoiding that corrupting power, I do nothing and thus fail. But to succeed, I must risk becoming that monster, and dooming the world to another dark age once more."
<Zeleny> "You will not become your predecessor. Not as you long as you continue to believe in ...the pain, the reality of others. As for dooming Creation... " Zeleny laughs, hoarsely. "This is already a dark age."
<Verdant> "It is indeed. Look around you, captain. What good is all our kind did in the First Age now? What is the point?"
Verdant sighs. "I originally came up looking to take watch. I don't think I'll be able to get much if any more sleep before the morning."
<Zeleny> "I couldn't sleep either." Zeleny looks down at his hands. There is dried blood under the nails. "So. Let's talk."
Verdant self-consciously looks at his hands. No blood drying on them, but they are blood-stained nonetheless.
<Verdant> "Oh, I was sleeping, until I got a wake up call that I'm still trying to figure out."
<Zeleny> "Callidora?" Zeleny asks knowledgeably. Then, after a brief hesitation. "I do not wish to meddle, but... the monster you remember, the demon of the First Age.. He no longer exists. Your fear you will in time become him- that is fear of a spectre. " Zeleny looks up suddenly, his gaze sharp. "What is real is what you do now."
<Zeleny> "And if now you do less than you could do...you just extend the monster's grasp to the present."
Verdant nods at Zeleny's question, then listens.
Verdant chuckles half-heartedly. "Great, become the monster, or let him affect the world anyway. Talk about a rock and a hard place."
<Zeleny> "You speak as if there were inevitability. There is none. I advise you...Help as much as you can, and let the future come as it will. You can do no better than that."
<Zeleny> A wry smile lights Zeleny's face suddenly. "There. I am done with the pontificating."
<Verdant> "Fair enough. As a note, if you see Callidora, please tell her I need to speak with her."
<Zeleny> "If I see her, I will. Though perhaps you will see her first."
Verdant raises one eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"
<Zeleny> There is a glint of humor in Zeleny's eye, but he replies smoothly, "No reason at all."
<Verdant> "Come on, captain, spit it out."
<Zeleny> "She seems to like you." He shrugs. "And she said you were touchy about your clothes..."
<Zeleny> "And the two of you terrified poor Donnel..."
<Verdant> "Donnel? How'd he get in this mess?"
The deckhand's terrified eyes peek from around nearest mast.
("...the nearest mast.")
<Zeleny> "He happened to, ah, overhear a snatch of conversation."
<Callidora> (to ships have more than one mast?)
<Zeleny> (unless they're very small ships)
<Zeleny> (and even then, at least two, I think)
Verdant groans. "I suppose that explains why there was a shirt next to the robe I found outside my room. For the record, that was not my doing."
(It was a guess, really. But I think the Brilliance is big enough to have more than one mast.)
<Zeleny> "She seduced you?" Zeleny is as expressionless as usual, but again, there's that look in his eye...
<Zeleny> "I assumed," he adds, just to torture Verdant that much more.
<Callidora> (Hey, maybe he seduced Calli, huh? Ever think of that!)
<Verdant> "Captain, I'd like to think you know me better than that."
<Zeleny> (No)
(Heh heh heh!)
<Zeleny> "Oh. You seduced Callidora, did you? I admit to surprise."
<Verdant> "Do I need to repeat my last statement?"
<Zeleny> The corners of Zeleny's mouth tremble, and he at last breaks into the grin he had been hiding. "No. But it's fun to tease you. You take yourself very seriously, you know."
Verdant grumbles. "Perhaps." Then his expression softens. "Though Callidora certainly doesn't."
<Zeleny> "No," Zeleny agrees. "That she does not."
<Zeleny> "You cherish a tendre for her?"
<Zeleny> Zeleny wonders, as he asks the question, whether the Night caste still lurked nearby. He glances down at the water.
(Cherish a what?)
<Zeleny> (does he have a crush on her)
(Psh, fancy-pants college-talk...)
<Zeleny> His eyes narrow as he catches a glimpse of pale flesh. "Verdant, look-"
Verdant shifts uncomfortably.
<Verdant> "Why do you-hmm?"
Verdant turns to address what Zeleny is looking at.
<Zeleny> As Verdant nears the railing, Zeleny adds "I think I just saw her." He moves swiftly, and as Verdant looks down into the black water, he grabs his ankle and sends him tumbling over the side.
<Zeleny> As the Solar lands with an enormous splash, Zeleny looks conscience-stricken. "Forgive me! An accident."
Verdant barely has time to emit a sound that lies somewhere between a squawk and a shout before he hits the water.
Callidora is lying curled up on the sand at the bottom of the beach
Zeleny rather smugly decides to give the two lovers privacy, and departs belowdecks.
Callidora apprently getting some much needed sleep. A few brightly brightly colored fish regarindg her curiously.
Callidora And that's, ugh, all she's got to say for herself.
Verdant sinks down before he has a chance to recover his wits and his balance. He glares upwards at the ship, blurbling a mental message to himself.
Verdant shakes his head, then with a start notices Callidora.
Verdant takes off his robe and places it as a blanket over Callidora's sleeping form.
Callidora the robe starts to floatup to the top of the water
Verdant buries the edges of the robe underneath the sand to anchor it.
Callidora kicks a little.
Verdant rolls his eyes and adjusts the blanket's location and anchoring.
Callidora sleeps
Verdant looks at Callidora's sleeping face.
Callidora it looks tense. Her worry lines are quite well defined.
Verdant glances around, making sure there's no one else around. Then he places a peck on Callidora's forehead, before heading back to the surface.
(Quick! Let's kill something, or my testosterone levels are going to drop to dangerous levels!)
<Zeleny> (let me just say: Awwww.)
<Zeleny> (give Verdant a cookie)
<Callidora> (A giant octopus attacks?)
Verdant climbs his way back up to the deck of the Brilliance. his pants and shirt are of course, waterlogged.
Zeleny is not in sight to wreak vengeance upon.
Verdant hears Donner making some lewd comment about his missing robe. Verdant turns to face him. "Oh, Donner, do you recall what I did to the captain of the Burning Rain?"
Donnel: "Er... Donnel, sir."
<Callidora> (donnel!)
Donnel stands rigidly at attention. "And... yessir. Sorry, sir. Won't happen again."
<Verdant> (whoops, Verdant wouldn't have made that error [Eidetic memory] )
<Callidora> (I bet he's standing rigidly at a ttention)
<Callidora> (sorry)
<Verdant> "Good. Are you on watch?"
(No prob.)
Donnel straightens further. "Yessir. The Captain went belowdecks."
Verdant nods. "I'll take over, get some sleep."
Donnel salutes. "AYE, sir."
Verdant takes watch, occasionally looking in a somewhat wistful manner at the dark waters...but only when he's sure he isn't being watched.
<Zeleny> "Verdant!"
<Zeleny> Zeleny strides across the deck from the hatch, trailed by a somewhat nervous young woman named Shore.
<Zeleny> "Pyhrra left a note," he explains, no trace of mirth to be found now on his face.
<Zeleny> He indicates Shore.
Verdant starts at Zeleny's voice, turning to face him, arms folded across his chest.
Shore bashfully hands the crumpled note to Verdant Waves, not looking him directly in the eyes.
Verdant takes the note and reads it, careful to keep from getting another dunk in the water tonight.
"Dear friends..."
"I regret that I cannot stay on any longer. New information about Parn has come to my attention, and I cannot safely let this wait, lest I lose any hope at all of finding him."
"I pray that you can all forgive me - and that we may meet again, under happier circumstances."
"May the Sun watch over you..."
"-Pyhrra."
<Zeleny> "Damn her," Zeleny whispers. "She could have waited- a day even. She could have saved men's lives."
<Zeleny> His hands balls into fists. "We will save Irisa, if we can."
<Verdant> me looks at the note, his face unreadable. "Obsession is never healthy," he says, simply.
<Zeleny> "No."
<Zeleny> He turns, and walks away.
Verdant sighs. "Hey, captain."
Zeleny pauses; turns his head slightly. "Yes?"
<Verdant> "Given that our Dawn is not longer with us, and that I doubt that was the last battle we'll have to face, I'd like to learn how to fight. Hand to hand, like only we can."
Shore gazes, wide-eyed, from one Solar to the other.
Verdant looks at Shore. "If I might ask, how did you get involved in this?"
Zeleny nods. "We will train together." He sighs suddenly, releasing something the explosive tension that had boiled up within him. "Our enemies have become more powerful"
Verdant thinks of the creature clad in soulsteel. "Indeed."
Shore blushes. "I... Lady Pyhrra was going to be my... mentor."
<Zeleny> "She has abandoned you as well."
<Callidora> (Don't you know another woman warrior?)
<Zeleny> (No.)
Verdant raises one eyebrow. "Your mentor in swordplay I presume?"
The young woman becomes defiant. "She had a reason! She told me about Parn, told me how important it was that she find him!"
Shore turns to Verdant Waves, takes on a air somewhat too haughty for a young lady standing on the deck of a stranger's ship wearing nothing but a nightgown. "Lady Pyhrra was teaching me many things."
<Zeleny> "And what will you do now?"
Her haughtiness evaporates instantly. "I- I don't know."
Shore: "I'd like to, um... to stay on with your crew, Captain."
<Zeleny> "In what capacity?"
Shore: "Um... I could..."
Dell appears from out of the shadows of the ship's deck. "Sir? I could teach her how to be a... uh, cabinboy."
<Callidora> (how come it couldn't be the peeping tom! =P)
Verdant sends a sidelong glance at Dell, having a bad feeling about how he said "cabinboy".
<Verdant> Another option, captain, is that I will most likely need an assistant when it comes to warding the ship.
Dell studiously avoids looking at Verdant or Shore, keeping his gaze fixed on the captain.
Zeleny looks at Dell with some slight surprise. He hadn't realized the boy had cared one way or another about Shore.
Callidora a splash is herd farther down the ship.
<Zeleny> He turns back to Shore. "It seems you a choice then. Dell is willing to teach you, and Dell is a fine seaman for one so young. Or, if you wish, you study warding."
Verdant turns in the direction of the splash.
Callidora walks up. She hold's Verdant's 'blanket' about her shoulders as it drips on the deck."
Verdant grimaces momentarily.
<Zeleny> "You ah- lended - her your robe?"
Callidora Looks around at the assembled montage.
("She stole it!")
Callidora costume party?
<Callidora> err,
<Verdant> (Oh, THAT'll go over well.)
Callidora "costume party?"
Zeleny grimaces and glances back at Shore. "Despite the example of these two, this is a disciplined ship. Dell will inform you of pay, leave schedules, and so on, regardless of your decision."
Verdant sighs.
Callidora "Hey, arn't you Pyhrra's adopted kid?"
<Zeleny> "Pyhrra has left." Zeleny is suddenly frigid again.
Verdant sighs again. "Those that came in late, such as you, might want to read this." He hands Callidora the note.
Shore looks from Verdant to Dell, who gives her a quick wink. She curtsies daintily to Verdant Waves. "Thank you for your offer, kind sir, but I believe I would be better suited to work on the ship." She faces Zeleny. "And thank you, Captain, but I won't require pay. The room and board is already more than I can ask."
<Zeleny> "As you wish." Zeleny nods. "The men may be uncomfortable. Report any harassment to me."
Dell grins his lopsided smile. "Leave 'em to me, sir. I know how to handle 'em."
Callidora looks up. "Hey! That's right, she was training you to be a Dawn, like her?"
Shore looks uncomfortable at the implication.
Shore: "I... Lady Pyhrra was very kind to teach me a variety of skills."
Callidora "You wanna come train with me, instead?"
Callidora Clearly thinks this would be a fun idea.
Zeleny , frankly, looks appalled by the idea.
Verdant chuckles ruefully and sighs.
Shore is clearly overwhelmed by the choices she suddenly finds herself faced with. "Um..."
Callidora is of the opinion that Zeleny looks appalled at too much these days.
Zeleny glances at Dell imperatively.
(Ha ha!)
<Zeleny> (just when you're around, dear)
Dell: "Right! Well, we'll just go get her set up then, shall we?"
Dell gently leads Shore by the forearm. "Right this way, get you back to the women's quarters..."
Callidora "Hey, that's where I'm going too!"
Callidora "Gotta grab my clothes. Can't go about naked, right?"
Callidora follows the pair off, gives Verd a little wink as they leave.
<Zeleny> "You seem to," Zeleny mutters.
Callidora leans down and whispers something in Shore's ears.
Callidora the three walk off, Dell forming a plan to get Shore away, Callidora wondering how much she can mess with Dell in good consciece, and Shore slightly confused at the whole thing.
Unbeknownst to the men and women of the Brilliance, powerful forces watch them through the night. Distant enemies, dubious allies, and bored deities all lurk in wait along the Tapestry's threads of Fate...
END CHAPTER 9