Masks and Monsters
Eleventh Day of the Second Month 294 AC
"My lord would take ill to the intrusion upon my mind for my secrets are not mine to offer up," Nuri's clipped words cut the air like a knife and leaving heavy silence in their wake, broken only by the faint clink of the sellsword reaching for his blade. He might not have caught the implication of mental intrusion, but there was nothing wrong with Liomond Lashare's capacity to read a room teetering on the brink of battle. Not that Nuri was expecting to fight a battle alone given the shadow scouts on their tail, but...
The man before her froze, not in fear or shock, nothing so
human. For a moment there was simply nothing behind his eyes.
If Naria had been other than what she was perhaps she would have been gripped with fear or lost her way, but she was one born of flame speaking from anger that burned true beneath the pretense. "A shield upon an envoy is not an invitation to strike a blow unless you are minded to face their master's hosts entire. Rest assured that what you have done now and whatever recompense you may or may not be minded to offer will be reported in exacting detail."
"You are quick to offer threats," the words were deceptively soft. The sellsword had not taken his hand off his weapon and Mia's fingers were curling in the beginning of a spell.
"That was merely a statement of fact, to clarify our positions here,
kaelos," Nuri proffered the honorific with a slight softening of her tone, just in case there was some way to salvage this.
"We... Are... Masters... of More... than Slaves." The words rolled over Nuri like an avalanche, no louder than she had been speaking, but a thousand times heavier in the mind. Yet whoever,
whatever was talking to her it did not
feel like an attack, more like deliberately shifting a mask to allow another to catch a glimpse underneath, a courtesy of sorts.
"Slavery is a matter of perspective, like alliance, enmity...
food," the incarnate replied, keeping her balance and her lie as best she could. She privately regretted not shifting into a rakshasa under a glamor. She had been expecting mortal servants, not
this.
"You and yours would find no advantage in seeking influence so close to the Heart, consider the warning to leave your recompense for the earlier probe." The tone was almost human again, she could even recognize what might be weariness, but she did not think whatever possessing entity had been present moments ago had departed. "Seek harmonious turning where paradigms meet..."
For one horrified moment Nuri thought she had been transported elsewhere without her two companions, the crimson draped room replaced with the rustling green of the forest at night, a clearing and an altar. Then she recognized that she was still on the divan though she could no longer see it beneath it.
An illusion, the incarnate recognized. She was being shown where to go, without intruding on her mind. Did that mean this being couldn't break her protections, or had it simply chose not to try in light of her threats?
"Seek out the Anointed One for we have no need for that which your masters feast upon, but you will not find it here." Souls, he meant souls, Nuri was reasonably sure. She was not sure what to make of the notion that there were none to claim here. Did that mean all their 'merchandise' was previously bound, or perhaps that they did not have souls at all?
What do you do?
[] Go to the meeting place disguised as servants of the Bloodstone Emperor
[] Wait to see what Xor and Kira find first
[] Write in
OOC: There was a lot of psionics flying around but there was no one here with relevant knowledge skills, and while substituting Arcane equivalents can work that produces really high DCs.
