IceAndWave/SmallLiesAndLargeExplosions

Small Lies and Large Explosions

In which a weakness is noted, a tale is told, and a messenger discovered...

The 27th Day of Resplendent Fire, Realm Year 763

The sun sinks below the western horizon, the night thankfully not heralded by a series of explosions that would demolish the wall that surrounds Icehome. Walking back from the Palace of the Oligarchs, with a guard of honour of soldiers, Cassia and Sian enter the Broken Honeypot, looking to rest after a long and eventful day.

Venia relaxes with her basic accounting book and pen, laying atop her canvas (i.e.: Diamond) a few stacked empty plates on the table and a bottle of wine open on the floor.

Cassia disappears into her room, having been somewhat distracted on the way back, while Sian is particularly tired; miserable sleep, tiresome summoning, various stresses. He is not going to bed while he's still capable of staying awake, but he intends to relax, at least. He offers a tired wave, snagging the bottle as he sits on the other bed.

Venia waves back. "How'd it go? Save the city and all such sundry details?"

"Mhrm." He locates a glass as well, pouring himself a drink.

Diamond lays in a deep sleep, the wine and the pain-induced fatigue having rendered her thoroughly unconscious. Sian does his best to not pay attention to her.

Venia idly looks through the book and practices some of the math involved, drawing little diagrams on Diamond's skin with a long-plumed quill. "Good. Any complications I should know about?"

Sian does lift an eyebrow at that, though doesn't comment. "Not really a complication, but... we found Iron Gull, and removed the spider controlling him. He's resting now."

"What of the other two?"

"Should be being arrested in the near future."

"Mrm. They going to be damaged by the spider removal?"

"They shouldn't be removing them until I get there."

"That was not the question. I would feel bad if Cassia's first drunken fling winds up paralyzed."

"If they were removed without knowledge of their working, then yes, damage could result."

"Mrm, good. Now I know what to go for if we encounter any spider-controlled killers."

Sian frowns lightly. "You knock them out or kill them like you would any other person. I won't have you crippling people, Venia."

"I can kill them after if it makes you feel better."

Sian waves his hand, obviously not in the mood for this, "You know what I meant."

"Knowing a weak point to go for makes us less likely to be crippled or die. I admit I fail to see a reason not to fight to the best of my ability."

"Fine, whatever. Do what you like." He frowns again, and downs the rest of his drink.

Venia shrugs. "In the end, I usually do... sorry. About dragging you into this."

Sian just ignores this. "You changed her bandages, put on a new poultice?"

"Yes. Got her a little bit of a painkiller, washed the wound down quickly between poultices."

"Good. There are more in my pack if you need them." Another glass of wine is poured.

Venia nods, wiping away at the ink on Diamond's back with a warm washcloth.

Sian just sips his drink in silence, staring at nothing in particular.

Some time later Sian rests on his bed, unsleeping and unwilling to, and Venia dozes soundly in her bed. A bright flash of orange light fills the room for a few seconds followed instantly by the massive *whoomf!* of an explosion that rattles the walls and windows, and shakes the dust from the roof in small streamers.

Sian is of course at the window a few seconds after this, trying to see what has happened.

Venia starts up, nightgown in disarray and pointing the wrong end of a sword at Sian. She yelps and drops it a moment after, picking it up by the handle this time and following him to the window. A blazing fireball, the mortally wounded remnants of the airship that was stationed above the Palace of the Oligarch, crumples slowly and begins to descend into the city below, passing out of sight of the window in a few seconds.

Venia breathes, "I think we missed something..."

"Then we should go find out what happened." Sian doesn't wait for her, grabbing his jacket and heading downstairs. She drags the strap back up over her shoulder and vaguely considers what to do with Diamond, eventually shoving her under one of the beds. While it's admittedly been a while since she's needed to ninja-outfit-change, she's still fast, and soon follows Sian down in a stunning red number, hand lightly bandaged.

Out on the summer streets of Icehome, Sian & Venia get to see the burning remains of the airship complete its deathdive into the city streets adjacent to the Palace. Alarm bells peal out across the streets, and the few people within the walls who hadn't been woken by the explosion are roused by their ringing. Illuminated by the orange light of the flame Sian sees something in the air close to the conflagration, what looks like a figure in white robes riding, of all things, an eight-foot-long wasp of demonic aspect.

"Somebody owes me a good night's rest. I didn't sign up for panickey people and firemen not walking around shirtless."

Sian frowns deeply at this, ignoring the comment. "Demons. Look."

"Didn't sign up for them either. Whose fault is it?" Venia looks.

The airship crumples against the streets, setting houses and businesses and people alight, the intense flames burning through the wooden flooring of the summer streets and spilling wreckage into the lower level of the city. The demon-rider hovers over the inferno, whether savouring its handiwork or looking for something is unclear at this distance.

Sian starts towards it, hauling his javelins up a bit higher on his shoulder for easier access.

Venia thinks a minute, then flares her anima, running and springing off Sian's shoulder to land on the roof of one of the houses. She picks her way towards the flyer from there.

Shouts of alarm from the people surrounding the flames who see the demon get the guards to stop rushing to help with the fire and instead unhook their crossbows. With a series of musical twangs hails of quarrels are fired into the air at the beast, most of them missing, but one striking home. The rider curses and guides its mount away, prismatic blood dripping from the wound as it disappears into the night sky.

Sian grimaces at this, but continues on, locating a guard and starting to help with the fires. Water pumps are carted along the streets, their well-oiled mechanisms soon gushing hundreds of gallons of water onto the roaring flames, as the well-drilled populace fight to control the blaze.

Venia leaps down and gives him a kiss on the cheek of encouragement, mentioning she's returning to the Inn to make sure nothing happened with the diversion.

Sian just nods, working away at a pump.

The guards and the citizens, now that the demon has been driven away (obviously the demon caused the explosion), work smoothly together. Multiple hoses are unrolled, and the burning building and streets are drenched with water, driving back the consuming flames and filling the air with hot steam.

Cassia pokes her head out of the room door, right into Venia's face, blinking in surprise then "Venia!" she exclaims excitedly

"I... yes. Me." Venia blinks back, just as surprised, "Sian's fighting the fires, I came back to check on our captive..."

Cassia steps back from the doors "...How is the fire? It was pretty bad when I was in it..."

"It's bad but they know what they're doing... wait. In it?"

(Read Cassia's adventure here...)

Cassia hesitates then nods.

"Explain. Thoroughly."

"...I was in the palace. I wanted to see if there was anything else interesting in Iron Gull's room. It wasn't hard to get in there. While I was in there, I was disturbed by someone in black robes... I hid. He went over to the desk... opened a hidden compartment then a lockbox that was hidden in there. He pulled out a small iron ring, then hid it and left..."

Venia drums her fingers along her arm, putting on her, "I am obviously aware of what is going on and am merely judging you by what you tell me" face.

"I followed him up to the top of the palace... then suddenly! there was a great bird of flame... it slammed into the airship... set it all aflame!" Cassia excitedly pushes her hair back from her forehead, revealing several sootstains, "The black-robed man was standing in the middle of the roof when a figure all in white appeared... Oh, he was riding on the most beaufitul thing... Like a wasp! But large enough to ride on ...!"

Venia flourishes with a "get to the point and make me a happy Venia because we both know the sort of things that happen around an unhappy Venia" gesture.

"...The man in black started to give the white-robed man on the wasp the ring... so... I took it! I spirited along the roof, grabbed it from them then leaped into the airship as it fell! I rode it down to the street! the the man on the wasp was looking for me! but the guards drove it off with crossbows! Poor wasp... so then I waited for the airship to burn a hole through the street and ran back here through the winter city!"

"Did you see either of their faces?"

"...The black-robed man looked terrible after I took the ring! like a ghost! ...which I guess he might have been..." Cassia frowns, "...I didn't see the man in white's face. His hand was so pale though! Almost white!"

"I see. Can either of them identify you?"

"...I don't think so." Cassia answers the question she never really considered until now.

"So, what you are telling me that while engaged in thieving, you encountered an important cultist who knew where a hidden artifact of some import was, followed him to where he met a powerful sorcerer who took down an airship, took what they wanted, and rode a flaming airship into the ground."

Cassia nodnods then, "...I was spying, not thieving!"

Venia shrugs, "The most important part is that for the moment, you have gotten away with it. The ring, please?"

The impromptu fire crews get the blaze under control, its spread is checked and although the buildings the flaming airship landed on are destroyed, the remainder of the city is safe. The pumping crews slow down from their frantic pumping and one of the guards, who recognised Sian comes up to him, "Thank you for your help, sir. We can take it from here. Icehome knows how to handle fires. Get some rest."

Sian nods a little to the man, and wipes away a bit of the soot that has settled onto him, before making his way back to the inn.

Cassia smiles happily then reaches into her pocket, and pulls out a small velvet bag, which she gives to Venia.

She opens it. "Where'd you get the bag?"

"It was in there, in the box."

"So the black-robed man took the bag, too."

Cassia nods. [which would have been in the dialogue, hadIceAndWave/I/ remembered it til now]

Venia pours the ring out into her hand, looking it over carefully. Not that she'll figure out what it is, but curiousity compels her.

"...It's such a boring looking ring."

"What ring?" Sian wanders in, and discards his filthy shirt.

Cassia exclaims, "That the sorceror on the beautiful demonic wasp wanted!!"

"Cassy here was looking for something to steal because she was bored, and managed to be in the right place to not only disrupt the plans of the sorceror, but ride a falling airship." Venia tosses the ring to him. "I'm not sure if they can find her yet, but it's worth considering."

Sian catches it without much effort, wiping his face off with a towel, and then eyeing the item. It is a plain iron ring, the dull metal scratched and worn in a manner that intimates great age. Beyond that there are no markings or adornments of any kind. He turns it around a bit, trying to see beyond the physical.

To Sian's occult-tuned eyes the ring seems to ooze a black chill, spilling down over his hands and numbing them slightly. As he looks harder, a sense of someone, or something, looking back pervades his mind and, for a moment Sian finds himself unable to let go of the ring. Then he does, and it falls to the floor with a dull clank.

Venia packs a protesting Cassia off for a cold bath! She returns some time later, dress clingy due to being splashed.

Sian is staring at the ring when Venia returns, towel draped loosely over his shoulders. He doesn't look particularly happy about whatever he sees.

"Well?" Venia asks.

"It's... not good."

"It's an iron ring that was wanted by death cultists. I could have figured that out. What's it DO?"

Sian gives her a deeply annoyed glare. "It lets you talk to someone. I don't know who, so don't ask, but I presume it is one of the cult leaders."

"Useful. And probably not something they're going to hunt us down over." Venia draws Diamond out from under the bed.

Sian looks even more annoyed at this. Fearsome Sian.

"I was trying to keep her safe. You remember how everything shook."

"Somehow I doubt that." He picks up the ring, using his towel as a buffer between him and it.

Venia shrugs. "It's true, though more in case someone was coming for her."

"Mm." He studies the item for a moment, then puts it into a drawer for safekeeping.