Part MMMCCCXXII: Spark and Tinder
Spark and Tinder
Thirteenth Day of the Twelfth Month 293 AC
There are worse things than youthful enthusiasm to see in one's messenger, though that is not to say you will let Luang make his journey without as much help as you can grant. Reaching into the recesses of dreams not your own you remember how to work magic upon intangible spirits without fail and upon it you grant blessings of eloquence, insight and good fortune much to his delight.
At the end however when you seek to veil the deed from the eyes of all but the most skilled mages with a touch of blood bound wishcraft, the fire spirit flinches back but not in fear. "I can't... please," there is revulsion in the voice, but also an edge of desire he struggles to contain. "Blood is powerful, your blood more than any I have seen, but we fear to fall from its poisoned sweetness."
"To become oni?" Lya asks fascinated, before filching herself when she realized she may have struck a sensitive subject.
"Yes," the spirit nods an arc of sparks falling from its ethereal feathers. "Oni hunger for blood, for flesh, for sensation."
From the tone of his voice you suspect it is more a matter of oni giving in to temptation that the kami share, but you are not here to pry into such matters and from her expression it is clear Lya has no desire to make the spirit uncomfortable either. You invoke the spell without blood, instead drawing on the wellspring of power you discovered in Lyceos and send the hearth keeper on his way.
To keep the blessings you have bestowed upon him Luang must remain manifest which draws quite a few amazed looks and gasps once he is out in the street behind the inn, but no one is minded to bar his way. Now all you have to do is wait and watch the house. With the ability to translocate impeded, you should be able to trap the mages inside once their mummery is done. If nothing else the Lady Xue would be tempted to use divination to verify if the visit from a kami marks some new layer of treason and once she starts looking into the matter the truth should float to the surface as surely as an unweighed copse in the canals.
Next to you Tyene starts. "Ning managed to get out of her immediate entanglements, though not without having to knock out two guards." From her expression it is clear she is as frustrated with the limitations of the spell as you are, but it's the most news you can get remaining in place.
"At least she didn't kill anyone," Rina says worriedly. She looks more upset at the prospect of wounded Yi Tish guards than battle with the Golden Company mages, though you cannot say you don't see why. The guards would have been deceived to their fate.
Heartbeats tick by, stretching out into minutes, and all things told you are inclined to take no news as good news until a flash of crimson light from the east window and the rumble of a distant shockwave sends you rushing to look. It seems the Golden Company had a second string to their bow. The mansion of Xi Tung, Keeper of the Steel Gate, is burning.
Dany spits out a curse in black tongue of demons. "That was the officer whose guards threw Ning out when she asked him to take her to court, isn't it?" She only half-asks. "I bet there are people shouting they are doing it in her name of something of the sort out there, Golden Company mages, or maybe even Shugenja who threw their lot in with the Golden Company..."
You cannot tell at this distance, but from the way the fire is spreading it is clearly unnatural. If Luang had been invited into Lady Xue's presence at once there would have been just enough time for her to work a single divination. Can you afford to wager on that chance now?
Reading your expression with the skill of long habit Ser Richard speaks up for the first time since you had seen the false vision. "I think we should deal with the sorcerers in the townhouse while we still can, Your Grace. The general and his lot can deal with the fire and whoever's causing it, but if we miss the ones inside they could give warning to the Company."
"I could summon a storm to deal with the fire," Lya notes. "It's overcast enough that it would not be too blatantly a work of magic..."
What do you do?
[] Surreptitiously deal with the disturbance at Xi Tung's mansion
-[] Write in
[] Attack the townhouse seeking to capture or kill the Golden Company mages as swiftly as you can
-[] Write in
[] Write in
OOC: To be clear, Viserys suspects it was Ning not getting killed or captured that set off the contingency at the colonel's mansion, since he doubts there are contingencies for random kami flying in with information.
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