Nikink/PoA768DescWood24
Back to Promise of Ages
24th Descending Wood
Jade Wisdom makes all those still awake a lovely cup of tea, and then they all bed down for the night after a long exhausting day.
Scarred, however, trudges through the streets of Nexus, trying not to get lost. As 3am rolls around he staggers into the 7000-Pleasures Teahouse. After a brief talk with Madame Wang, he is led to Taros, who explains that the morning would have been sufficient, but he has some people he would like Scarred to meet. Scarred then asks for lodgings and is granted a small but comfortable room. He then drinks himself into a stupor...
Morning comes along bright, warm and muggy.
On the yacht the trio feed the ex-slaves. They decide that building a stretcher for Cousin Rosa would be the best idea to transport her to Taros. Once this is done, they begin the long walk to the Teahouse.
Jupiter only know what's happened to the tied up guards... d'oh!
Scarred is woken by the dulcet tones of Madame Wang announcing that Taros will see him now. He groggily gets himself ready-ish, and has hair of the dog to wake himself up. Taors is in a well appointed office with a man and a woman.
The man is about 5'10", lean and well muscled but with plain features. He has short, darks hair and a stubbled face. He looks as though he's from the Realm and is wearing quite reasonable clothing. He carries himself with confidence.
The woman is red-haired, wearing grubby clothes over her slim, yet buxom frame. She seems a bit ditsy.
Taros greets Scarred as Cynis Adoc, and introduces the man as Baos Gap and the woman as Incomparable Hammer. A Dawn and Twilight Caste respectively. Taros invites Scarred to join their incomplete Circle. Scarred is, however, slightly horrified at the sheer concentration of Aweso... I mean, Anathema in the room, and chooses to think it over. He then takes his leave.
On the way back to the yacht, Scarred runs across the Lunars, Jadeborn and ex-slaves all heading to the Teahouse. Saying nothing of his offer, he turns around and joins them in delivering the girls to Taros.
Upon arrival at the Teahouse, they go to the rear entry (giggity) and are met by Ragara Tanro who leads them inside. Phinnae and Jade Wisdom are directed to take the still unconscious Cousin Rosa to the Infermary. The Physician there, welcomes them and examines Rosa.
They bid farewell to the girls. Savvy is somewhat saddened by this.
Jade Wisdom decides to get the rest of his belongings from the warehouse. He switches off his White-Jade Tree Gemstone and becomes supernaturally fast. He races to the warehouse through the crowded streets.
Phinnae decides to stay with Cousin Rosa, so Taros allows her to stay in return for being an on-call security guard for the duration.
Some hours later Jade Wisdom returns with his meagre belongings. He finds Taros and asks what the Solar knows about the Wujin-Shi Tea Company. Taros can only say that they operate mainly out of the South of Creation from An-Teng through to the the Lap and along to Harbourhead. This is an extensive area for one company, thus they must have Guild ties, and an interest in slavery is not unexpected. After reporting this to Phinnae, he runs back to the yacht, catching up with Savvy and Scarred before they get there themselves.
Midday-ish...
At the yacht, Savvy recalls that she is still quite injured herself, and figures she will need many days of rest to recover. While she is healing, and bored, Jade Wisdom offers to teach her about Creation in an effort to keep her entertained.
Soon thereafter, Cousin Rosa awakens from her coma. She is surprised to see Phinnae standing over her, all covered with silvery tattoos and bearing a giant silver bow.
...---^---...
Savvy, Scarred and Jade Wisdom cough at each other uncomfortably about the tied-up-guards-problem. After a moment's consideration, Jade Wisdom is directed to lock the men below decks. Out of sight of casual passers-by... They ignore the men's cries for help, pretending that they are still unconscious during the transition to cells. The trio all whistle nonchalantly... this task complete, they start to discuss the logistics of a four month river journey with crew to take care of. They soon realise they do not have the skills or aptitudes for this. Yay for Taros.
Back at the 7000-Pleasures Teahouse, Rosa explains to Phinnae that the last thing she remembers is a bright silvery light aboard the yacht. Phinnae then explains, poorly, her plans to find, free, avenge and reunite their family and the Tolinyan people. She doesn't mention her tattoos or exaltation or bow... Then she wanders off to find Taros, leaving Rosa to sleep some more. After wandering lost through the Teahouse for a while, Phinnae is found by Madame Wang, who leads the way to the Solar. As she enters the office, Phinnae sees the strange man and woman leave. They mostly ignore her, and she them. After a small discussion Taros agrees to provision the journey (yay for Phinnae thinking of such a request!) despite her rudeness and lack of any social graces. She then decides to head back to the yacht. After wandering lost in Nexus for a while, she decides to fly instead, and finds a darkened alleyway in which to become a condor.
On the yacht, Jade Wisdom asks the injured Savvy what to do about the guards now they are safely locked away out of sight and their cries for help are muffled. This leads to a conversation between the guards, the Solar, the Lunar and the Jadeborn in which the guards' loyalty to the Realm is proven unshakeable by the Anathema Demons direct from Malfeas to Devour the Souls of the Impure and Unworthy. Jade Wisdom offers them money, but this too is spurned. Scarred points out there's very little the men can do, as they are a long way from any Realm reinforcement. This is agreed upon and the guards are set free.
Savvy then returns to bed and Scarred and Jade Wisdom practice Drunken-Fu. Once again, the Solar proves much more skilled at this than the lowly Artisan. Phinnae flies down and changes back to human and interrupts the martial practice with the news that Taros has agreed to help provision the journey. This is seen as good news!
Night falls.
Phinnae flies back to Cousin Rosa. Thinking about what she knows about Solars from her travels and the small time with her Lunar mentor, ad the legends from her native island, Phinnae concludes that all Solars are glowing demons out to steal the power of the sun for themselves, and one day, if enough Solars exist, the sun itself will be extinguished, and thus, while individual Solars may be ok as people, collectively they spell the Doom of Creation!!!
(Botches are fun)
Once again with her Cousin, the Lunar tries to get information from her about her time in slavery. Some would say this is callous. Rosa does tell of being sold in the city of Dragon's Jaw in An-Teng, and mentions that she saw Matrina there. "Who?" asks Phinnae. "Oh yeah! My sister! I knew that!" :) Ever compassionate, Phinnae informs Rosa that her favourite pet rat is dead. Rosa is a little upset by this. Then, taking her leave to allow the grieving process to continue unabated, Phinnae cheerfully says "I hope you don't get eaten by pirates on the way home!"
Rosa is more upset.
Phinnae is... socially inept.
After waiting outside for Rosa to sob herself to sleep, Phinnae then re-enters the room to watch her... creepily.
Back to Promise of Ages
