Porcelain Child/SessionEighteen

Where monks bath
<onine> Down at the riverbank, the small group of monks quickly work out an order of bathing and guarding. The young men and women unashamedly shrug off the simple brown robes and go about the business of cleanliness and the achievement of.
<onine> The other group take positions in a rough semi-circle around the shore, watching the woods with intent eyes and sharp ears while the Dragonblood Orihime watches on, abstaining from both.
<onine> Pazu is moving around a little further down river with a bowl, searching for something.
<onine> Satisfied that things are under control, Orihime approaches Vana and Magpie. "You are not bathing?" She looks at each of you. "You I can understand... but the child is... well, filthy."
* Magpie looks at her reproachfully.
<Magpie> She had almost decided Orihime was a kindred spirit, based on their not taking baths.
<Magpie> "I'll have you know, I just had a -very long- and -wet- bath."
<onine> "Of course you did. I suppose it*IS* a mortal's right to be covered in filth."
<Magpie> "So, do you like being an Immaculate?"
* Vana removes her boots and sits to the side of the river, dipping her feet in. She doesn't feel up to intervening, figuring Magpie can handle herself.
<onine> She looks down her nose at you with a fair hint of bitterness in her lava-gold eyes. "It is the path that*chose* me. That is enough -" She notices Vana. "Upriver!"
<onine> Orihime points a short distance upriver of the mortals.
<onine> Of the mortal monks that is...
* Vana blinks in confusion, but obediently moves to the indicated spot.
<onine> Orihime watches Vana and shakes her head in dismay. "What on earth do they teach their highborn in Lookshy. I really wonder why the Empress didn't just...” she cuts herself off remembering that there is still a little girl next to her. "Have you nothing better to do?"
<Magpie> "I heard that you 'contracted an alliance' with Nellens. Do many people join the Immaculate Order because they made friends?" Magpie is all innocent curiosity.
<onine> You get the fire-aspected glaring that even Anona has not yet set aside for you. She stalks off upriver, a little around the bend.
* Magpie drifts after to join Vana, looking satisfied.
* Vana looks just as tired as she did this morning. "Sure you don't want a bath?"
<Magpie> "Yes. I think I won against Orihime, too."
<Magpie> A good day for Magpie.
<Vana> "Mmm. Good."
<onine> Pazu seemingly finished what he was doing pads up to you.
<onine> "Child, I have something special for you." He has a hint of an amused smile on his face.
<Magpie> "Really?" Magpie perks up. Presents were always good.
<onine> He kneels down to your height and offers you a bowl.
* Magpie looks into the bowl.
<onine> The bowl is full of various seeds of varying size.
* Magpie takes the bowl, and cautiously picks a seed from it.
<Magpie> In an experimental spirit, she takes one and chews it slowly.
<onine> "Do be careful child! That is millet you are holding. Though I do not think that this selection is sufficiently angry." He smiles, pleased with his joke.
<Magpie> "Ohhh....-this- is millet."
<onine> "That is right."
<Magpie> "No, I guess it couldn't break out of that barn. At least, not without a lot of help."
<onine> "I would expect not!" Pazu laughs
* Vana watches with mild interest.
<Magpie> "Is it edible? Millet, I mean."
<onine> "Oh very much so. Often villagers and farmers will eat it to conserve rice when the harvest is poor so that they may have enough to send for export. Travelers may also find millet particularly useful when rations grow scarce - indeed we too have utilized it in our long vigilance here."
* Magpie nods, and adds it to her mental list of emergency rations.
<onine> "Though its taste is somewhat inferior to rice and just about everything else that one would see fit to eat.”
<Magpie> "Not onions," says Magpie, with feeling.
<onine> "Well, perhaps not onions."
<onine> "Though a sufficiently well-made soup can be lovely."
<Magpie> "Mmm." Magpie is skeptical. Though perhaps Tara could do something with it...

Where archons tread
<onine> Meanwhile, further north, a somewhat confused Anona, Yengo and Magistrate travel sourthwards trying to find their missing companions - some of them at least.
<onine> You continue south for some time, eventually reaching a small river. River is a generous word for this, its more just a large stream, probably travels a winding path south before emptying into the main river (that Magpie fell into). Thus far, you have heard no further word from Vana.
* Yengo picks his way along at the rear of the column, still preoccupied about the construction site they had stumbled across. Was it a part of this, or an entirely different problem...
<onine> Morning is breaking at last, and the Wolf's tail has finally gone, the period of grey light just prior to dawn that seems to leech all colour from the land and even conquer shapes. Armies often march into battle in this period - Attacking from the wolf's tail it is sometimes called.
<onine> Dawn is after all the best time to strike, whilst your enemy still sleeps and is unprepared.
<onine> Keeping an army at readiness for an attack with every dawn is taxing on men physically, mentally and emotionally and it can only be done for so long before moral breaks.
* Anona scowls at the rising sun, out of habit. Stupid sun and stupid early rising!
<onine> It rises unabated to spite you.
<onine> You spend a small portion of the morning following this stream, then you make Perception+Awareness rolls!
<Yengo> "We should run into them sooner or later..." (aha)
<onine> As you walk along the shore, you hear a birdcall. This in itself is not strange, however, you have not heard any birdcalls since you crossed the mountains, beyond the incessant cawing of Magpie's feathered vermin.
<Anona> "Listen... is that a bird?"
<onine> The Magistrate cocks his head a little. "I thought I heard one. Why?"
<Yengo> "Nothing..." He shrugs.
<Anona> "Well, we haven't actually HEARD any birds. Other than Magpie's..."
<Yengo> "Maybe a sign things aren't so bad over this way?" Yeah, right...
<onine> "Keep your senses honed either way."
* Yengo becomes more alert. Relatively, anyway.
<onine> You continue along and the river bends around to the left a little. There is a large cluster of rocks that obscures the river around the bend. Tucked not so carefully amongst them you see something that looks like brown cloth, and the water nearby steams a little.
<onine> Like blur, a shape darts down from the tree above, landing behind Yengo. In a flash it wraps its arms around his shoulders and a pair of red blades are pressed against his neck, held like scissors ready to cut his head of like a child picking a flower. A bearded flower.
<onine> You feel the body press up against your back and you can feel heat radiating from it, and the slight smell of fire and coal tingles in your nose. The cut never comes, but a voice rings out. "Stop! One foolish move and your friend becomes shorter."
* Yengo is struck dumb by the speed of the whole event and wisely decides not to struggle for now.
<Anona> "Oh, I don't know that I'd object, he's kind of tall, you know..." Anona remains still, nonetheless.
<onine> From the other side of the now 'occupied' Yengo, Anona and the Magistrate can see a pair of molten eyes glaring savagely back at them over Yengo's shoulder.
* Yengo 's eyes are rather riveted to the edge of the blades.
<onine> The woman with the jade against Yengo's neck is fairly short, with short-cropped red-hair and pink flushed skin that you can see a fair amount of where you can see past Yengo. She is either scantily clad, or not clad at all.
<onine> Only Yengo hears a sharp intake of breath which is released when Anona makes her smart remark, and he can feel her grip loosen, if only slightly.
<onine> "Please." The Magistrate says softly. "Do not be hasty, we do not intend any maliciousness upon you this day."
* Yengo speaks very slowly and very carefully. "He's telling the truth. We're only passing through."
<onine> "You talk like men." She hisses. "More lost fools from the caravan I gather?"
<Yengo> "Caravan?" Maybe it's a right answer, maybe a wrong one.
<onine> "Who are you?! No tricks."
<onine> The Magistrate steps forward. "I am Mnemon Diamandus, of the magistracy, these are my remaining Archons, Anona..." He gestures at Anona.
<onine> "And the one you hold so intently is Yengo, and I would much appreciate his continued service - with his head."
* Anona bows her head slightly. "And we aren't quite lost, although I'll allow we might be fools..."
* Yengo feels drops of sweat beginning to sting his eyes. "So would I. Believe me, tricking you is not on my list of good ideas at the moment."
<onine> "A Magistrate?!" She asks, eyeing the badge of office pinned to his burgundy cloak. "It is certainly high time... "
<onine> She carefully releases Yengo.
* Yengo takes a few steps away, carefully rubbing his throat as he turns around.
<onine> The woman is as obviously a fire aspect as she is obviously naked. She moves past you and pulls on the brown clothing left in the rocks without caring about your gaze upon her body.
<onine> "Sesus Orihime. Immaculate Order." she pulls the robes closed and ties the belt. "Did you say your name is Yengo?"
* Yengo nods, still a little shaken by the whole ordeal. On the whole, though, he's emerged rather more intact that he did from the last similar incident. "Yes."
<onine> "I think we have something that belongs to you..." As she says this a small group of monks quickly move in from around the bend in the river, but she waves them to relax.
<Yengo> "I'm pleased to meet you, though I wish it could have been in a different way..." he rubs his neck again. "Oh?"

A break put in here for fun
<onine> In the mean time, Magpie and Vana have heard the birdcall, which had the monks moving quickly into the woods, and those in the water going*under* it for cover.
<Magpie> "It's just a bird!" she tells the vanishing monks. She looks up at Crow, thinking of missed opportunities...
<Magpie> Though in that case, it really would have been more of a caw.
<onine> Pazu calls you to hush. "That is a warning call child, we are perhaps in great danger..."
<Magpie> "Oh." Magpie glances in Vana's direction, picks up a couple sharp rocks, and scales a tree to perch next to Crow.
<onine> You are up the tree in time to see the naked Orihime release Yengo and don her clothing again.
<Magpie> That way, she could drop on top of the monster and choke him to death!
* Magpie gasps. She drops her rocks and drops down from the tree, and pelts forward. "YENNGOO!" she shouts, as she flings herself at him.
<onine> You are clinched for the second time in as many minutes.
<Magpie> "Yengo! I dropped into the river and then there was a mongoose and lots of monks and I think it's the abbot and there's so many monsters and I'm -so- glad to see you." Magpie gets out in one long gasp.
* Yengo stumbles back a step in surprise before hugging the girl back, giving her hair a quick tousle. "I'm glad we found you," he says simply and quietly.
* Yengo can barely digest the stream of information and just nods, figuring Vana will fill in the blank spots.
<onine> Orihime mutters "How insipidly sweet this display is."
* Magpie gives him another choking hug, along with an ear-splitting grin.
* Anona blinks in confusion. "Buh."
<Magpie> Magpie pointedly ignores Orihime, and, Anona being unwise enough to announce her presence, is the next subjected to Death by Magpie.
<onine> "Well." the Magistrate smiles. "One of our five lost children."
* Yengo glances at Orihime. "Well, it's a more pleasant greeting than I got from you," he points out.
<onine> Vana comes around the rocks and nods with a slight smile, a little relieved that they have been found.
<onine> "If you want pleasant, you're looking at the wrong person Archon."
<Anona> "Ack! Hey, Magpie, I'm kind of wanting to USE that leg...!:
* Magpie lets go of Anona- some residual instinct indicating to her it would be unwise to choke the Dragonblooded to death, and stands back a little to survey everyone. Somehow, she has found cause to look enormously pleased with herself.
<Yengo> "So I see..." He resists the urge to spar with the Dragon-Blooded further - she seems just the type he loathes the most.