I mean...we're getting high is the leading vote so...
Blaze of Glory (Exalted)
- Thread starter Guancyto
- Start date
- Fantasy
A Day of Fire 8
- Location
- In Your DNA
Making Steals run away from a pack of dogs feels at the very best a bit mean, but then she did take all your bombs and she'll probably be fine, dogs hate bombs right? Maybe it's the heady rush of power from suddenly pushing past your mortal limits, but you're really the only one who can pull this thing off.
Ten goes up to take a shot and you burst out from behind the wagon as all the mercenaries duck for cover, soaring up the side of the building and landing neatly on the lip of the roof. A cool exit somewhat spoiled by some panicked flailing as the weight of the chest threatens to push you back over the edge. At least it catches the attention of the people below as you stumble forward onto the roof and then twist to look at them, blowing hair out of your face.
"Hey Diamond!" you shout from your high perch, hefting the Chest over one shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Looking for this?"
You see arrows ready but trust in the faerie gift in your voice, the trilling notes just outside the range of human hearing that keep them from aggression, at least until Ten has made their escape.
The two of you stare each other down, him surrounded by rough killers, you empowered by the strength of ages (not that he knows that, not yet), and you realize for the first time that you have no idea what to taunt him with.
"Sadly, my eternal nemesis, you have failed!" you start. You're winging it but it doesn't need to be a powerful or compelling speech, you just need to keep talking. "You will remember this as the day that you almost caught-"
He stops questioning his own people and looks up, "who the hell are you?!"
...eh? What? He doesn't know? Either it's not the real Diamond or he just… doesn't know?
The Dreamer is laughing at you. In fact, you suspect he's laughing at you and Diamond both. Never spoke with him, did you?
Shut it! you fire back, what can you give me on this guy, anyway? It is, you realize, actually kind of hard to get under the skin of someone you've never met.
I never spoke with him either, the Dreamer says, still laughing, and the only reason I know who he is? Is because you do.
You file away this apparent limitation in the Dreamer's omniscience for later, you've got work to do!
"Oh this is great, I've taken apart your whole plan," you say with a manic smile, "and you don't even know who I am!"
The air sings with your words and Diamond's mercenaries keep going to draw their bows before your words catch them and they settle back to listen. It's a fragile peace you're weaving here, but as long as you fill the space with words it'll last for now.
"A little fey magic and a flair for the dramatic. It's not that hard to guess," Diamond replies with a smug smile of his own. "You're helping with Ten Feathers' latest revolution, I take it? I thought I'd ask for his help, but then I thought, nah, that doesn't end well. Nobody's ever worked with Ten Feathers and come out better for it. Either he wins and turns on everybody that made it happen, or he loses and does it anyway to save his skin."
Ten is exchanging fire with all those you didn't manage to catch in your conversational trap, their focus on trying not to die is pretty absolute but you can see a dark, dark look on their face.
"Come on Diamond,'' you huff, sitting down on the edge of the roof, "you really think I'd buy that? I know enough about Ten to know they wouldn't break the laws of Gem and revolution is pretty high up there as things you just don't do."
Diamond's laugh like a slap to the face, crashing through the roar of the flames and clash of steel.
"How precious! I can see you're young and while I respect your enthusiasm the lack of experience really shows I'm afraid. You must have been just a child the last time someone tried to wrest Gem free from the iron grip of the Despot, a lady with a heart of gold promised people a better future and with Ten Feathers at their right hand they seemed they might just pull it off."
A ball of flame spits out from where Ten Feathers is fighting, washing down the street. The mercenaries' bow arms tense, but the flames lick out before they reach them. You can feel the fey magic straining under it though, this ripple of the disharmony bouncing off the thin wall of civility you're using as protection. You glare at Ten Feathers, but they're already back to fighting their own battle. The lack of trust that you can handle this does hurt a little, but you'll talk about it later.
"You think you're going to get me over the fact Gem makes people compromise their morals you really don't know me," you say, watching the trigger fingers of Diamond's guards. They've backed away from Ten's redoubt and eased off the more Diamond and you talk, which is good enough for now. You just need to draw this out a little longer. "It's not all on one person to make things get better, they tried, that's enough."
Well, the Dreamer whispers in the back of your head I'm afraid there we disagree. You wave a hand in front of your face to shush him.
"If it had stopped there then I'd agree," ahh fuck how does he get to be so smug, it's betraying the laws of nature, "but then he wouldn't have become the Despot's Hound. No, for that Ten Feathers had to not just betray the people, he had to crush their spirit. The Despot's smart enough to know you can't cut the throat of every rebel or there wouldn't be a city left to rule. Instead Ten Feathers gave himself up as his instrument of control, knowing all the secrets of the people he'd fought against, vanishing the woman he'd called a partner and remaining as the boot stamping down on any embers of revolution that'd try to flare up. Using whoever else he could along the way."
'Oh bullshit' is your immediate thought. Interesting; I can show if he's telling the truth, the Dreamer offers and you shake your head. Well, I suppose if you refuse you've made up your mind already.
You like Ten Feathers a lot, they're spirited and full of passion. A bit violent, but not nearly as much as they pretend to be and if people think they're cruel then that's just one of their tricks working. Ten Feathers is a mystery and… you do have to acknowledge you love mysteries. Is this one you want to solve? Or does Ten deserve to just be Ten without you dragging up a history they clearly aren't interested in telling you?
[ ] Find out if Diamond is full of shit
[ ] Don't pull that thread
Your ears pick up the tension of a bowstring, something you're pretty sure isn't possible without Dreamer's help and with his gentle touch your attention snaps back to the scene. A bow nearly drawn pointing right at you, the thin thread of fey magic breaking apart as you're lulled into silence.
Diamond looks so pleased with himself, he's planned this. Has he worked the magic out? He does deals with the Fair Folk, it'd make sense he'd pick up a few tricks.
You have just a moment to get their attention again, then Misery comes bursting through the wall below, claw-rent robes fluttering around her as she focuses on punching the hell out of a Lion.
The words die in your throat, you aren't going to top that as a distraction.
[ ] Book it! Stick to the plan of splitting them up for defeat in detail.
[ ] Drop down to help Misery. She claimed she could deal with the lion, this doesn't quite look like that.
[ ] Help Steals. Either she's got the dogs under control or you've got an excuse to unleash a dog-pocalypse upon everyone watching.
[ ] Confront Ten. Help them fight, collar the bad guy and while you're there ask all the questions.
[ ] Let Dreamer Handle it. He wanted this, he should earn his keep!
Ten goes up to take a shot and you burst out from behind the wagon as all the mercenaries duck for cover, soaring up the side of the building and landing neatly on the lip of the roof. A cool exit somewhat spoiled by some panicked flailing as the weight of the chest threatens to push you back over the edge. At least it catches the attention of the people below as you stumble forward onto the roof and then twist to look at them, blowing hair out of your face.
Thankfully using this doesn't worry about encumbrance!
"Hey Diamond!" you shout from your high perch, hefting the Chest over one shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Looking for this?"
You see arrows ready but trust in the faerie gift in your voice, the trilling notes just outside the range of human hearing that keep them from aggression, at least until Ten has made their escape.
Perception 3 + Socialize 3 vs Perception 2 + Socialize 4 = 3 successes vs 3 successes. A standoff of motives!
The two of you stare each other down, him surrounded by rough killers, you empowered by the strength of ages (not that he knows that, not yet), and you realize for the first time that you have no idea what to taunt him with.
"Sadly, my eternal nemesis, you have failed!" you start. You're winging it but it doesn't need to be a powerful or compelling speech, you just need to keep talking. "You will remember this as the day that you almost caught-"
He stops questioning his own people and looks up, "who the hell are you?!"
...eh? What? He doesn't know? Either it's not the real Diamond or he just… doesn't know?
The Dreamer is laughing at you. In fact, you suspect he's laughing at you and Diamond both. Never spoke with him, did you?
Shut it! you fire back, what can you give me on this guy, anyway? It is, you realize, actually kind of hard to get under the skin of someone you've never met.
I never spoke with him either, the Dreamer says, still laughing, and the only reason I know who he is? Is because you do.
You file away this apparent limitation in the Dreamer's omniscience for later, you've got work to do!
Manipulation 3 + Presence 1 = 1 success. You just have to keep talking, but it's a shot in the dark as to what will make him mad. This might not end well.
"Oh this is great, I've taken apart your whole plan," you say with a manic smile, "and you don't even know who I am!"
The air sings with your words and Diamond's mercenaries keep going to draw their bows before your words catch them and they settle back to listen. It's a fragile peace you're weaving here, but as long as you fill the space with words it'll last for now.
"A little fey magic and a flair for the dramatic. It's not that hard to guess," Diamond replies with a smug smile of his own. "You're helping with Ten Feathers' latest revolution, I take it? I thought I'd ask for his help, but then I thought, nah, that doesn't end well. Nobody's ever worked with Ten Feathers and come out better for it. Either he wins and turns on everybody that made it happen, or he loses and does it anyway to save his skin."
Ten is exchanging fire with all those you didn't manage to catch in your conversational trap, their focus on trying not to die is pretty absolute but you can see a dark, dark look on their face.
"Come on Diamond,'' you huff, sitting down on the edge of the roof, "you really think I'd buy that? I know enough about Ten to know they wouldn't break the laws of Gem and revolution is pretty high up there as things you just don't do."
Diamond's laugh like a slap to the face, crashing through the roar of the flames and clash of steel.
"How precious! I can see you're young and while I respect your enthusiasm the lack of experience really shows I'm afraid. You must have been just a child the last time someone tried to wrest Gem free from the iron grip of the Despot, a lady with a heart of gold promised people a better future and with Ten Feathers at their right hand they seemed they might just pull it off."
A ball of flame spits out from where Ten Feathers is fighting, washing down the street. The mercenaries' bow arms tense, but the flames lick out before they reach them. You can feel the fey magic straining under it though, this ripple of the disharmony bouncing off the thin wall of civility you're using as protection. You glare at Ten Feathers, but they're already back to fighting their own battle. The lack of trust that you can handle this does hurt a little, but you'll talk about it later.
"You think you're going to get me over the fact Gem makes people compromise their morals you really don't know me," you say, watching the trigger fingers of Diamond's guards. They've backed away from Ten's redoubt and eased off the more Diamond and you talk, which is good enough for now. You just need to draw this out a little longer. "It's not all on one person to make things get better, they tried, that's enough."
Well, the Dreamer whispers in the back of your head I'm afraid there we disagree. You wave a hand in front of your face to shush him.
"If it had stopped there then I'd agree," ahh fuck how does he get to be so smug, it's betraying the laws of nature, "but then he wouldn't have become the Despot's Hound. No, for that Ten Feathers had to not just betray the people, he had to crush their spirit. The Despot's smart enough to know you can't cut the throat of every rebel or there wouldn't be a city left to rule. Instead Ten Feathers gave himself up as his instrument of control, knowing all the secrets of the people he'd fought against, vanishing the woman he'd called a partner and remaining as the boot stamping down on any embers of revolution that'd try to flare up. Using whoever else he could along the way."
'Oh bullshit' is your immediate thought. Interesting; I can show if he's telling the truth, the Dreamer offers and you shake your head. Well, I suppose if you refuse you've made up your mind already.
You like Ten Feathers a lot, they're spirited and full of passion. A bit violent, but not nearly as much as they pretend to be and if people think they're cruel then that's just one of their tricks working. Ten Feathers is a mystery and… you do have to acknowledge you love mysteries. Is this one you want to solve? Or does Ten deserve to just be Ten without you dragging up a history they clearly aren't interested in telling you?
[ ] Find out if Diamond is full of shit
[ ] Don't pull that thread
Your ears pick up the tension of a bowstring, something you're pretty sure isn't possible without Dreamer's help and with his gentle touch your attention snaps back to the scene. A bow nearly drawn pointing right at you, the thin thread of fey magic breaking apart as you're lulled into silence.
Diamond looks so pleased with himself, he's planned this. Has he worked the magic out? He does deals with the Fair Folk, it'd make sense he'd pick up a few tricks.
You have just a moment to get their attention again, then Misery comes bursting through the wall below, claw-rent robes fluttering around her as she focuses on punching the hell out of a Lion.
The words die in your throat, you aren't going to top that as a distraction.
[ ] Book it! Stick to the plan of splitting them up for defeat in detail.
[ ] Drop down to help Misery. She claimed she could deal with the lion, this doesn't quite look like that.
[ ] Help Steals. Either she's got the dogs under control or you've got an excuse to unleash a dog-pocalypse upon everyone watching.
[ ] Confront Ten. Help them fight, collar the bad guy and while you're there ask all the questions.
[ ] Let Dreamer Handle it. He wanted this, he should earn his keep!
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- Location
- St. Petersburg
Out of what?
She can also climb roofs. Dogs can't, but they can give the one trying a good boost!
That was precisely the reason I wanted to avoid meeting him; the less he knows about us the safer we are.
It stings a bit, though. Not in the least because he takes everything in too calmly for a man whose plans we supposedly ruined. That's some remarkable composure. Now I wonder if the fear Ten Feathers claims to have instilled in him was fake, or if the Diamond himself in front of us is fake.
Or if there were two of them from the very start. Wait, could it be? And if so, what are we dealing with, a double, a twin, some fae sorcery?
Everyone gets to be smug at us. First Misery, then Ten, and now Diamond? Insufferable! Next time we pull one over on anyone, we put on the maximum smug face just to get it out of our system!
Not best the time for the team cohesion to start fracturing.
[x] Don't pull that thread
[x] Book it! Stick to the plan of splitting them up for defeat in detail.
Everyone has their jobs. We just have to trust them to do it. And we have ours.
I don't think Diamond is lying. I wonder what Despot has told Ten to make them do a complete 180 and bring them to his side. I also wonder who the "lady with the heart of gold" was, and more importantly, what were her motives. If our life taught us anything, it's that nothing in Gem should be accepted at face value.
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The chest isn't worth much right now other than as a distraction. And Misery really does seem to need help. Lets have Sharell go be good to her friends. Because this might pull some heat off of Ten too. Steals seems like a cat, always lands on her feet so I'm sure she won't need help.
[X] Don't pull that thread
[X] Drop down to help Misery. She claimed she could deal with the lion, this doesn't quite look like that.
[X] Don't pull that thread
[X] Drop down to help Misery. She claimed she could deal with the lion, this doesn't quite look like that.
..that means bringing down all the aggro onto Misery. The chest isn't worth anything at all to us, but its BAIT.
Where we take it is where their main force will go. Thats why we're going up high to force them to disengage from everything else to get it, then we kip on down to clean up the individual duels.
A Day of Fire 9
- Location
- In Your DNA
The Lion and Misery are making an ungodly racket as they spill out onto the streets and it saves your skin. The Mercenary lets loose their arrow with a thin snap that you hear as clearly as if it had echoed out in a quiet room and the feathers of it kiss against your neck as you leap aside.
You feel the charm in your voice crack, coughing reflexively as it worms its way back to wherever it hides. It leaves an awkward silence hanging over the street and then an awful lot of shouting from everybody rushes in to take its place.
You're pressed down onto the rooftop so the next volley of arrows swish harmlessly overhead, but the heavy chest is still an issue and you drag both it and yourself further back so you've got some space to move. Misery and Ten are in a bit of trouble, but you're confident they'll handle it somehow just as long as they don't get overwhelmed. The best way you can help right now is to draw as much attention on yourself as possible.
Ten.
Ten's going to betray me.
It's an ugly thought, so ugly you're pretty sure it's not really your own. You've only known Ten Feathers a few days and clearly there's a lot left unsaid, but the idea they've been just using you feels wrong. Not only do they have more than enough to go to the Despot and ruin your day and they're holding off on it, but you have the prize so many have bled and died for attached to your chest and feeding you strength and Ten just let you have it.
No, if they're in this to use you up and burn you then they've chosen a crazy roundabout way to do it. And, you reluctantly admit to yourself, when they squeezed your hand it had felt warm and genuine. So no! To hell with Diamond, he doesn't know shit.
The arrows overhead are arcing higher now to account for the lip of the roof, coming down in a tinkling rain as the metal heads bounce off stone tiles. This isn't really the best place to work through this, even if you do have bullshit ancient ghost powers now.
You really need to stop putting the chest down, you think, gasping as you lift it back up onto your shoulder. The Dreamer enhancing your muscles only just enough that everything is still hard to lift feels like a bit of an intentional dig at your personal fitness.
It's not, he says in your head, voice a little amused, I can only work with what's there is all.
Totally a dig. You haul the chest to the edge of the roof and hop off, feet finding tiny gaps in the stonework for you to balance on as you jump across a gap as if it were nothing more than a small crack in the pavement. All it takes is a little power to turn a city you've spent years learning to traverse safely into something that you can flow through like a gentle breeze.
The deep booming yells of a lion that is not enjoying being punched in the face is drowning out a lot of the sounds of the blazing city but you can pick the jingling sound of chainmail chasing after you and the soft leather of Diamond's shoes on cobblestone. Success!
Fumbling into a pocket you take out your sling and press a metal bullet into the pouch. You don't even try to aim all that hard as you use the weight of the chest as leverage to spin yourself around, flinging it out towards Diamond and his troops and missing them completely, metal loudly knocking off stone and clattering down the street.
There's a yell and you finish your spin with a little flourish of your arm and run to the other side of the roof, skidding to a stop when you see it open up into a market area that's half alight, empty stalls woven from reeds and the willowy tree branches of the desert are barely able to hold your weight at the best of times, lugging around a chest the weight of a small child would be a disaster.
I may not be able to do much with your weaknesses, the Dreamer says just a little too huffily for your liking, but you have strengths too. One foot in front of the other and let's trust each other to keep us out of the fire.
The idea of trusting the Dreamer any further than you already have gives you a horrible case of the shivers, hands flexing into fists and straining at the very idea of it. But whatever malign thoughts the sickness is pushing onto you is beaten by something far more powerful. You really, really want to do this ridiculous thing because the bragging rights over Steals will be immense.
You hop off the edge of the roof just as you see the flash of steel spear tips rounding the corner and your foot finds a pole to balance on, that begins to bend and snap as you stand there marvelling.
Keep going! The Dreamer hisses, You don't get anything for inaction, exert yourself!
You stumble forward and catch your footing on a thin support for the stall's poles, it snaps and cracks under your weight but it holds at least until you move on and then it breaks apart like it's been smashed by an angry fist of a vengeful god.
Picking their way through the flames and coughing through the smoke, your pursuers can't see as well as you do nor move as quickly. So they don't see the small group of fighters already laying waste to the market, nor the one with a flame piece raising to take a shot with far too much blood already running down their face into their eyes. You don't even know what they're aiming at but there's no doubt they completely whiff it, the shot blazing though some of the markets debris and smashing into the wall of an aged shopfront that just can't take the hit and begins to collapse in on itself.
You're not going to pass up all those footholds! Running across a small waterfall of bricks and shattered support beams and straight towards the melee itself, an empowered leap launching you through the air and straight onto the best foothold you've had yet. Some unlucky soul's metal helmet shaped like a beetle head, only the first in a chain as you bounce between them thoroughly annoying both sides who swing at you with long spears that are just giving you another convenient foothold to use, one which you go right for.
Convenient footholds that move and as you plant a foot where a spear should be it's pulled back and you spill head first into the melee, body checking one a woman in a far less fancily styled helmet and smashing his shoulder with the edge of the chest, sending her down cursing bloody murder.
A Beetle Helmet man with a massive hammer comes swinging in and you dance back out of their reach, leaving him spinning on the spot from the over commit. You back right up into the hard metal of a chestplate and an arm grabs around your stomach pinning you in place. There's the sound of a blade scraping free of a leather scabbard and you try to twist free of their grip but they've got a really good hold. They've got a dagger that they go right for your throat with and in a last desperate attempt you raise your legs and kick out to try find some purchase. A warm rush of energy flows down your legs and there's a blast of wind as your feet smash against the air itself, pushing the pair of you back and letting you slide out of their grasp as they're knocked over.
You don't even see your attacker amongst the confusing smoke and gleaming tips of Diamond's mercenaries spears as they pile right in to this messy brawl, a spear aimed for your chest cut short as you take another flying leap and flip right on out of there back up to the rooftops to the shocked gasps of a not insignificant few of them.
"Fae Witch!" someone cries and you'll take it, flicking back your coat and letting it fan around you.
"That's right mortals!" you say with an edge of a manic cackle that you hadn't meant to be there, but your nerves are shot from that far too close call. "Guards, take care of them for me!"
Then you run for it, happy that if only a few of them buy it that'll be enough for it to be an almighty mess. Smoke's burning your lungs and all this leaping about is magical and fun but it's also absolute hell on your knees. You're wearing down and you're going to need a solution soon, you think as you take another roof leap and almost twist your ankle, going down in an undignified sprawl.
"Looks like you could use a hand." You look up, not for the first time today, into the smiling face of Steals Kisses.
"You pick the worst timing, I looked so good a moment ago," you groan, taking the offered hand. "Guess you stopped being trapped."
"I used Ash to escape the dogs just like you said," she says proudly.
"But you're clean." Well, as clean as she ever is. Not a spot of ash on her.
"Well," she grins, "let's not find those dogs again, because they're going to be really mad about how I used it."
You can't help but chuckle despite yourself. "All right, I've got an idea. You've still got some of my bombs?"
"A few!"
"Right, this'll take some twine and we'll need to scrounge up some more scrap, they're not far behind but we can make this work…"
...
Your name was one you'd earned in a gutsy tale of misadventure, but mercenaries being mercenaries they just call you Rash. Diamond might have pulled you out of the gutter and he might be paying you a good bit of money but he hasn't been paying you to chase damned roof pixies around, or whatever these girls are. Your sword's already wet with the blood of some idiot who took you for a fair folk and all the taunting is really getting on your nerves. But you're closing on them now, they might be quick but you've got stamina on your side.
You catch a flash of the one's coat as they take another roof, and you let fly an arrow. You don't see the result but you know you've finally got them when you hear a loud "FUCK" from the roof above and a heavy thud on the cobblestones before. Sounds more like a clang, even. You and five of your buddies and Diamond round the alley to see that the roof pixie has dropped the big prize. The big prize! But…
"Boss," you snap your head back to Diamond, "it's open. Just a crack. Fall must've jostled it loose."
Diamond looks absolutely dumbstruck. "What, that's all it took? After all the…" he starts swearing uncontrollably, which is a bit out of character for him but after all the hats he's dropped on the ground for this thing it seems completely reasonable to you to be pissed that a nice drop from a high height would do it. That was your first idea, anyway.
You and yours go to take a peek inside to see what the treasure that everyone was fussing about was, when Diamond shouts, "Wait! It can't possibly be that simple, it's a trap-"
Your partner has already opened it, and inside is a mess of wood spheres and scrap metal and other bits. Too late you dive to the ground as-
BOOM
A whole barn's worth of roofing nails and sharp metal turns the alley into a pincushion and all those unfortunate enough to be near it don't do much better, groaning men writhe around on the ground all around you. You've gotten lucky, only taking a few to the legs as one of your comrades had eaten the brunt of nails that were meant for you. You reach for your quiver, but it's been knocked to one side and the arrows all spill out onto the ground with a great clatter.
"Ouch, embarrassing," one of the roof pixies says from above swinging something round and round to her side. "If they're this bad at fighting maybe you should've picked them for brains instead, Diamond."
Diamond swears as the pixie snaps her arm out and your vision goes dark.
You are Sharell Zenteno. And Diamond in Your Knapsack is awfully low on goons right now.
What's your play here?
[ ] Kill him?
[ ] Kill him.
[ ] Kill him!
[ ] You had probably best kill him, the Dreamer notes.
[ ] What? No! If Ten gets to do this, you get to do this. "Confess your crimes!"
[ ] It's a mess right now, just restrain him and do this when everyone's back.
[ ] Straight to the Despot! There will be no messing about.
[ ] Wave Crashes Against the Rocks did ask you to find him, you can really prove to her you did that.
[ ] Other (Write-in)
4 Archery + 2 Dexterity + 1 Archery Spec = 4 successes. Matches Sharell's standard DV, but Sharell has a Distractions specialty in play here. Not good enough!
You feel the charm in your voice crack, coughing reflexively as it worms its way back to wherever it hides. It leaves an awkward silence hanging over the street and then an awful lot of shouting from everybody rushes in to take its place.
You're pressed down onto the rooftop so the next volley of arrows swish harmlessly overhead, but the heavy chest is still an issue and you drag both it and yourself further back so you've got some space to move. Misery and Ten are in a bit of trouble, but you're confident they'll handle it somehow just as long as they don't get overwhelmed. The best way you can help right now is to draw as much attention on yourself as possible.
Ten.
Ten's going to betray me.
It's an ugly thought, so ugly you're pretty sure it's not really your own. You've only known Ten Feathers a few days and clearly there's a lot left unsaid, but the idea they've been just using you feels wrong. Not only do they have more than enough to go to the Despot and ruin your day and they're holding off on it, but you have the prize so many have bled and died for attached to your chest and feeding you strength and Ten just let you have it.
No, if they're in this to use you up and burn you then they've chosen a crazy roundabout way to do it. And, you reluctantly admit to yourself, when they squeezed your hand it had felt warm and genuine. So no! To hell with Diamond, he doesn't know shit.
The arrows overhead are arcing higher now to account for the lip of the roof, coming down in a tinkling rain as the metal heads bounce off stone tiles. This isn't really the best place to work through this, even if you do have bullshit ancient ghost powers now.
You really need to stop putting the chest down, you think, gasping as you lift it back up onto your shoulder. The Dreamer enhancing your muscles only just enough that everything is still hard to lift feels like a bit of an intentional dig at your personal fitness.
It's not, he says in your head, voice a little amused, I can only work with what's there is all.
Totally a dig. You haul the chest to the edge of the roof and hop off, feet finding tiny gaps in the stonework for you to balance on as you jump across a gap as if it were nothing more than a small crack in the pavement. All it takes is a little power to turn a city you've spent years learning to traverse safely into something that you can flow through like a gentle breeze.
The deep booming yells of a lion that is not enjoying being punched in the face is drowning out a lot of the sounds of the blazing city but you can pick the jingling sound of chainmail chasing after you and the soft leather of Diamond's shoes on cobblestone. Success!
Fumbling into a pocket you take out your sling and press a metal bullet into the pouch. You don't even try to aim all that hard as you use the weight of the chest as leverage to spin yourself around, flinging it out towards Diamond and his troops and missing them completely, metal loudly knocking off stone and clattering down the street.
There's a yell and you finish your spin with a little flourish of your arm and run to the other side of the roof, skidding to a stop when you see it open up into a market area that's half alight, empty stalls woven from reeds and the willowy tree branches of the desert are barely able to hold your weight at the best of times, lugging around a chest the weight of a small child would be a disaster.
I may not be able to do much with your weaknesses, the Dreamer says just a little too huffily for your liking, but you have strengths too. One foot in front of the other and let's trust each other to keep us out of the fire.
The idea of trusting the Dreamer any further than you already have gives you a horrible case of the shivers, hands flexing into fists and straining at the very idea of it. But whatever malign thoughts the sickness is pushing onto you is beaten by something far more powerful. You really, really want to do this ridiculous thing because the bragging rights over Steals will be immense.
You hop off the edge of the roof just as you see the flash of steel spear tips rounding the corner and your foot finds a pole to balance on, that begins to bend and snap as you stand there marvelling.
Keep going! The Dreamer hisses, You don't get anything for inaction, exert yourself!
You stumble forward and catch your footing on a thin support for the stall's poles, it snaps and cracks under your weight but it holds at least until you move on and then it breaks apart like it's been smashed by an angry fist of a vengeful god.
Picking their way through the flames and coughing through the smoke, your pursuers can't see as well as you do nor move as quickly. So they don't see the small group of fighters already laying waste to the market, nor the one with a flame piece raising to take a shot with far too much blood already running down their face into their eyes. You don't even know what they're aiming at but there's no doubt they completely whiff it, the shot blazing though some of the markets debris and smashing into the wall of an aged shopfront that just can't take the hit and begins to collapse in on itself.
Dexterity 3 + Athletics 3 + Urban Traversal 1 + Excellency 4 = 1 success
Okay so being amazingly good doesn't mean it works all the time.
Okay so being amazingly good doesn't mean it works all the time.
You're not going to pass up all those footholds! Running across a small waterfall of bricks and shattered support beams and straight towards the melee itself, an empowered leap launching you through the air and straight onto the best foothold you've had yet. Some unlucky soul's metal helmet shaped like a beetle head, only the first in a chain as you bounce between them thoroughly annoying both sides who swing at you with long spears that are just giving you another convenient foothold to use, one which you go right for.
Convenient footholds that move and as you plant a foot where a spear should be it's pulled back and you spill head first into the melee, body checking one a woman in a far less fancily styled helmet and smashing his shoulder with the edge of the chest, sending her down cursing bloody murder.
Sharell's face planted into combat and everyone's rolled super bad for initiative!
Initiative
Beetle Head Helmets: 4
Boring Normal Helmets: 3
Sharell: 3
First Group: Dex 3 + Melee 3 + 1 Size = 2 success
Second Group: Dex 2 + Melee 4 + 1 Size = 4 success
The first misses. The second gets to press her and would hit! But she's got charms at her back still you can see below.
Against two battlegroups it's going to suck for Sharell to fight, but you can't just leave combat unless you can just Monkey Jump up and away, which she can making it the best charm oh my god.
Combat over in one round, Sharell isn't sticking about!
Initiative
Beetle Head Helmets: 4
Boring Normal Helmets: 3
Sharell: 3
First Group: Dex 3 + Melee 3 + 1 Size = 2 success
Second Group: Dex 2 + Melee 4 + 1 Size = 4 success
The first misses. The second gets to press her and would hit! But she's got charms at her back still you can see below.
Against two battlegroups it's going to suck for Sharell to fight, but you can't just leave combat unless you can just Monkey Jump up and away, which she can making it the best charm oh my god.
Combat over in one round, Sharell isn't sticking about!
Sharell sinks 2 Initiative for an extra Evasion so they miss.
Sharell moves a range band up!
A Beetle Helmet man with a massive hammer comes swinging in and you dance back out of their reach, leaving him spinning on the spot from the over commit. You back right up into the hard metal of a chestplate and an arm grabs around your stomach pinning you in place. There's the sound of a blade scraping free of a leather scabbard and you try to twist free of their grip but they've got a really good hold. They've got a dagger that they go right for your throat with and in a last desperate attempt you raise your legs and kick out to try find some purchase. A warm rush of energy flows down your legs and there's a blast of wind as your feet smash against the air itself, pushing the pair of you back and letting you slide out of their grasp as they're knocked over.
You don't even see your attacker amongst the confusing smoke and gleaming tips of Diamond's mercenaries spears as they pile right in to this messy brawl, a spear aimed for your chest cut short as you take another flying leap and flip right on out of there back up to the rooftops to the shocked gasps of a not insignificant few of them.
"Fae Witch!" someone cries and you'll take it, flicking back your coat and letting it fan around you.
"That's right mortals!" you say with an edge of a manic cackle that you hadn't meant to be there, but your nerves are shot from that far too close call. "Guards, take care of them for me!"
Then you run for it, happy that if only a few of them buy it that'll be enough for it to be an almighty mess. Smoke's burning your lungs and all this leaping about is magical and fun but it's also absolute hell on your knees. You're wearing down and you're going to need a solution soon, you think as you take another roof leap and almost twist your ankle, going down in an undignified sprawl.
"Looks like you could use a hand." You look up, not for the first time today, into the smiling face of Steals Kisses.
"You pick the worst timing, I looked so good a moment ago," you groan, taking the offered hand. "Guess you stopped being trapped."
"I used Ash to escape the dogs just like you said," she says proudly.
"But you're clean." Well, as clean as she ever is. Not a spot of ash on her.
"Well," she grins, "let's not find those dogs again, because they're going to be really mad about how I used it."
You can't help but chuckle despite yourself. "All right, I've got an idea. You've still got some of my bombs?"
"A few!"
"Right, this'll take some twine and we'll need to scrounge up some more scrap, they're not far behind but we can make this work…"
...
??? 3 + ??? 2 + Dreamer Help 4 = 4 successes
Your name was one you'd earned in a gutsy tale of misadventure, but mercenaries being mercenaries they just call you Rash. Diamond might have pulled you out of the gutter and he might be paying you a good bit of money but he hasn't been paying you to chase damned roof pixies around, or whatever these girls are. Your sword's already wet with the blood of some idiot who took you for a fair folk and all the taunting is really getting on your nerves. But you're closing on them now, they might be quick but you've got stamina on your side.
You catch a flash of the one's coat as they take another roof, and you let fly an arrow. You don't see the result but you know you've finally got them when you hear a loud "FUCK" from the roof above and a heavy thud on the cobblestones before. Sounds more like a clang, even. You and five of your buddies and Diamond round the alley to see that the roof pixie has dropped the big prize. The big prize! But…
"Boss," you snap your head back to Diamond, "it's open. Just a crack. Fall must've jostled it loose."
Diamond looks absolutely dumbstruck. "What, that's all it took? After all the…" he starts swearing uncontrollably, which is a bit out of character for him but after all the hats he's dropped on the ground for this thing it seems completely reasonable to you to be pissed that a nice drop from a high height would do it. That was your first idea, anyway.
You and yours go to take a peek inside to see what the treasure that everyone was fussing about was, when Diamond shouts, "Wait! It can't possibly be that simple, it's a trap-"
Your partner has already opened it, and inside is a mess of wood spheres and scrap metal and other bits. Too late you dive to the ground as-
BOOM
A whole barn's worth of roofing nails and sharp metal turns the alley into a pincushion and all those unfortunate enough to be near it don't do much better, groaning men writhe around on the ground all around you. You've gotten lucky, only taking a few to the legs as one of your comrades had eaten the brunt of nails that were meant for you. You reach for your quiver, but it's been knocked to one side and the arrows all spill out onto the ground with a great clatter.
"Ouch, embarrassing," one of the roof pixies says from above swinging something round and round to her side. "If they're this bad at fighting maybe you should've picked them for brains instead, Diamond."
Diamond swears as the pixie snaps her arm out and your vision goes dark.
You are Sharell Zenteno. And Diamond in Your Knapsack is awfully low on goons right now.
What's your play here?
[ ] Kill him?
[ ] Kill him.
[ ] Kill him!
[ ] You had probably best kill him, the Dreamer notes.
[ ] What? No! If Ten gets to do this, you get to do this. "Confess your crimes!"
[ ] It's a mess right now, just restrain him and do this when everyone's back.
[ ] Straight to the Despot! There will be no messing about.
[ ] Wave Crashes Against the Rocks did ask you to find him, you can really prove to her you did that.
[ ] Other (Write-in)
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[X] Kill him.
Don't act like we are an Exalt, we can still be easily killed.
Don't act like we are an Exalt, we can still be easily killed.
- Location
- St. Petersburg
Sharell is quite a skilled pole dancer.
Laughed through the entire update; I suppose wanting to one up Steals is as good a reason to sell your soul as anything. It's a shame she wasn't there to see it, but then she also didn't see us landing face first between two hostile groups, so it's all good. (That near-botch on 11 dice... ouch!)
Diamond is a valuable witness and a scapegoat whom we can pin most of the loose ends on... if the others cooperate. Rough him up and incapacitate him if you have to, but don't kill him. We still don't know what the deal was with his double; making the mistake of thinking he is out of the way because we've seen the body may cost us.
[x] It's a mess right now, just restrain him and do this when everyone's back.
Make sure to shut him up and knock him out.
I don't know if I want him going to the Despot... he might know a bit too much about the Guild's dealings. Then again, we can probably still edit Cheshago's notebook to make him look responsible. Hrm.
But the thing I want to find out most is why Red Sands cooperated with him.
Misery said he wouldn't, so what does Diamond know that we don't?
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[X] It's a mess right now, just restrain him and do this when everyone's back.
We're detectives not executioners, restrains him and bring them to someone who can actually do their job. Plus I agree he would make a very fine scape goat for whatever bullshittery we got involved with.
We're detectives not executioners, restrains him and bring them to someone who can actually do their job. Plus I agree he would make a very fine scape goat for whatever bullshittery we got involved with.
It was actually really close to Sharell having a bad time here, since she also completely whiffed her join battle roll. Thank goodness for Monkey Jump Technique
- Location
- In Your DNA
No joke, getting caught between two battlegroups with low initiative and without the ability to effectively disengage is the nightmare scenario for Sharell. She might have still gotten away without the Dreamer because these are not the best of mercenaries by a long haul, but it would have hurt.
- Location
- United States
[x] Wave Crashes Against the Rocks did ask you to find him, you can really prove to her you did that.
We still have other friends to worry about. And at least one lion is on the loose. Probably. Even if the crimes thing is so very tempting.
[X] It's a mess right now, just restrain him and do this when everyone's back.
I do love the names for these two groups though. Boo, boring helmets. You don't make a good name for yourselves like that. They clearly need to learn some marketing tricks from their opponents.
[X] It's a mess right now, just restrain him and do this when everyone's back.
I do love the names for these two groups though. Boo, boring helmets. You don't make a good name for yourselves like that. They clearly need to learn some marketing tricks from their opponents.
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A Diamond in Your Knapsack 1
- Location
- In Your DNA
The pair of you lay into the few mercs still standing and after the shock of the explosion and with your substantial height advantage it's a decidedly one-sided fight. You go for the ones with weapons drawn first, smashing into their limbs with the heavy sling bullets and leaving them rolling around in pain.
Steals Kisses flicks one of her knives out beside you and you spin and let the Dreamer guide your hand, releasing your sling bullet so it flies through the air and knocks off her knife, flinging it into the thigh of one Mercenary while bouncing off to smash right below the helmet of another, painfully bruising an eye.
"Well that's just cheating," Steals huffs as she waits for you to not have a sling bullet ready before throwing her next knife. There's no one left who is really a threat anymore, you're just bullying whoever is left until they give up and lay down in defeat.
"Right?" you agree, nodding furiously. "It's so good, you missed me running across a group of mercenaries helmets earlier. Perfectly, with no accidents at all."
Steals gives another little huff and narrows her eyes at you, but you return with such a smug smile she seems to buy it and gives you a friendly punch on the arm as she tucks her knives away, work done.
It stings a bit, and you don't dare risk a punch back, she might explode. Instead you pick your way through the fan of downed fighters towards Diamond at a leisurely pace.
He's sporting a few spots of blood on his clothes from the nail bomb, but it's just scratches and it's obvious to you he's just faking something worse. There's still that steely confidence in his eyes too, not the paranoid man you'd heard Steals describe. Is this the double? There's a trick going on here for sure, you'll just have to dig a little more to find out what.
"Ah," he says, affecting a pained voice, "Please could you ju-"
You shut up with a boot to the face and wave for Steals to come over and tie him up. If he does have a plan it'd be stupid to stay here and let him carry it out, better to keep him subdued until you're ready to deal with his attempts at needling you.
You've done well, but it really would be best to kill him. I can help work out his plans just fine without having to deal with the seeds of betrayal he's laying, Dreamer says as if that's just a perfectly reasonable suggestion. You fold your arms and shake your head slightly and he doesn't put any further fight for his plan beyond a small sigh. You're fine with that, long as he follows your lead you don't mind if he's a bit annoyed about it.
"We done?" Steals says as she binds his hands with leather cords she's pulled from a pouch, winding them into loops around fingers and wrists and then pulling and tying a firm knot so his hands are completely entangled.
"We just have to hope the others did okay, it'll be best to handle this when we're all back together," you say, "congratulations on your first successful Diamond heist."
"First?" Steals laughs. "Even with your bullshit powers I guess you don't know everything."
...
The city is still a mess and you can't run the roofs with Diamond in tow, but between your enhanced senses and Steals up on high directing you it isn't too difficult to wind around the danger and back to the rat infested Temple at the Eatery. Tiny beady eyes watch you from the shadows as you go about tying Diamond to a chair, making sure you aren't going to cause any trouble while Niall is away. You've encouraged him to stay away for all this and hopefully he'll never find out the full story of what you've been up to or the lectures about taking care of the one life you have will be endless.
Ten is late to your rendezvous, with freshly-applied bandages to some nasty arrow cuts - apparently a sustained shootout with a large number of goons will take a lot out of them. When you ask them about it, they brusquely say they'll be fine.
The Dreamer notes before you can even ask that you have no medical expertise whatsoever, so no, he really can't give you anything to help. You protest, but you had declared someone dead by accident before so you can't really argue too hard.
Misery takes even longer to arrive and her normally-immaculate clothes are an absolute wreck. She takes a detour to her room to change and as she comes back in she's drinking some kind of strange purple liquid out of a vial. You suspect she's going to be exactly as chatty about it as Ten is about their injury.
"We resolved our disagreement," she says. Yup, that's pretty much what you expected. Also as you expected, Misery lights up like a firefly sanctuary under your investigative vision. Yes, she's very suspicious. This is not news.
"Was that the part where your flesh disagreed with his stomach, or your fist disagreed with his face?" Ten asks, leaning against a wall.
Misery holds up another one of those purple vials in her fingers and shakes it in Ten's direction, who scowls and says nothing further.
"I thought you said you could handle the lion?" Steals says from her perch on a pew, legs kicking back and forth as Leviathan lies below waving their paws to try to attack her boot laces.
"I thought I had an understanding with them, but apparently even a lion can swallow its pride for enough coin. It's a resolved issue, they won't be bothering us again," she says as she adjusts a fresh shawl around her neck, wincing from the arm movements.
"Wow, it seems everyone hates you. You really have the worst luck," Steals says and shies back quick when Ten Feathers flashes her a death glare.
Huh.
Well as much as you want to poke that sore tooth, you've got more important things to do. As Misery tosses Ten the vial you go to slap Diamond awake. You haven't taken out the gag yet but you've got Ten's bullshit crime sense now, so unraveling Diamond should be easy as a-
You do a double take at him.
"Ten!" you say urgently, "Ten, his crimes!"
Ten sniffs at him, looking at his face.
"No," Ten says, their scowl deepening as they see it too. The man you've got in the chair is innocent. Well, mostly. "Fuck, no. He had all the right body language. He knew too much to be a double. He must have found a way to hide from my senses, or some technicality that got him a stay of execution, or…"
"Or it's not the real Diamond," you say heavily. "What happened to the other one?"
"Gone," Misery says, "got caught between me and the Lion, they're gone."
"Oh, well, you deal with the dead a lot," you say, feeling dirty actually using that phrase unironically, "can you call them here?"
Misery shakes her head.
"No, I meant it when I said gone. I know a dead body when I see one and that one was all wrong. It was more like cutting the strings to a puppet than the severing of a soul."
You know a lot more about this sort of thing now and a soul and a body aren't something that can easily exist apart. It isn't like he can hide his soul in things, the Dreamer had tried that and his body is definitely gone for good. No when it comes to soulless creatures moving about, you only have one place to go and it isn't a pretty one.
You press a palm to your forehead and grind against it, speaking through gritted teeth. "He made a faerie duplicate of the Chest. The hell does that do to a person?"
Steals looks between the three of you and then rolls her eyes. "They were both fake Diamonds? That's just overdoing it," she says, just absolutely disgusted.
"It's not a person then," Ten Feathers says, still grimacing from the taste of Misery's potion. "A Behemoth that's shaped like him."
"Behemoth's are huge engines of destruction," Misery says, "he's a little short."
"And you don't know Raksha half as well as I do. The huge monsters are popular, but they could be a hurricane, or a poisonous lake or simply a man. If they want to be. It's just a little too boring for most of them. They prefer something with a bit more style."
"So a smaller behemoth-esque creature. A homunculus you might say," Misery says, looking at her nails.
"I'm so glad you're here to prove there's things even more annoying that Raksha," Ten growls, "you want me to correct you on a few things if that's what we're doing?"
"Is Diamond one of the Fair Folk?" you say even as Dreamer clicks his tongue at you for asking silly questions. You can work the answer out yourself but right now a distraction will keep those two from picking at each other. The Fake Diamond will be so much harder to deal with if you all start arguing now.
"In the Guild? No, he'd never last without being found out. They're paranoid about that sort of thing. But nothing stops him trading with them, as long as he makes good on his debts."
"Well he really fucked this one," Steals scoffs. "Half the city on fire and he didn't get anything out of it. I'd have his boots for a bag of sand if we'd ever met."
"Still got the chance," you say, "we work with what we got, let's get the Behemoth up."
"Homunculus," Misery mumbles.
"Don't care, Behemoth's more fun to say."
...
Splashing water on them doesn't work, nor some rather cathartic punches to the arm. In the end you rouse the fake Diamond by taking your iron key from the necklace around your neck and slapping it across their cheek. That wakes them up with a hiss, writhing on the ground to get away from the metal.
If I may, the Dreamer interjects, as a man who's conducted a few interrogations in his life, it's important to have a plan so you don't end up meandering.
The Dreamer's "expertise" in the subject is not really something you want to think about right now, but he's not wrong.
How do you want to do this?
What's your objective? (One is locked in, choose TWO more. You may have the opportunity to ask more later, but you're trying to stop the war so you're on the clock here!)
[*] How do we stop the fighting? (Locked in due to previous choices - Sharell won't not attempt this)
[ ] Why did the Guild War go hot? Why here, and today of all days?
[ ] Where is the Real Diamond and what's he planning?
[ ] Where is Dreams of Red Sands? What's he doing from here?
[ ] What assets does Fake Diamond still have that you could make use of?
[ ] Where's Cheshago's Soul? Why did he have to die?
[ ] How did they find out about the chest?
[ ] What was their endgame here? Is it still possible?
[ ] Why have the Fair Folk gotten so involved in this? What do they stand to gain?
[ ] Other (Write-in)
What's your angle? What do you offer?
[ ] He's not getting much in the way of clemency, but maybe he can angle for a nice cell instead of getting his head cut off.
[ ] He's really not getting clemency, but maybe he can angle for getting his head cut off instead of staked out in the sun for a week.
[ ] Play to his feelings of betrayal - Real Diamond left him holding the bag, time to get revenge.
[ ] Play to his feelings of betrayal and offer (slight) clemency - Real Diamond left him holding the bag but he hasn't actually committed any of those many many crimes, if he plays nice he just might get to keep his head.
[ ] No Mercy. He's a fey creation, so he helps you or you give him back to them.
[ ] Other (Write-in)
Who do you want in the room for the interrogation? (Choose as many as you like or none to do it solo. Well, as solo as you can with the Dreamer in your head.)
[ ] [Interrogation] Misery
[ ] [Interrogation] Ten
[ ] [Interrogation] Steals
A lot's gone unsaid lately. Who do you want to clear the air with later? (Pick One)
[ ] [Clear Air] Misery
[ ] [Clear Air] Ten
[ ] [Enthuse About Bullshit Powers] Steals
Steals Kisses flicks one of her knives out beside you and you spin and let the Dreamer guide your hand, releasing your sling bullet so it flies through the air and knocks off her knife, flinging it into the thigh of one Mercenary while bouncing off to smash right below the helmet of another, painfully bruising an eye.
"Well that's just cheating," Steals huffs as she waits for you to not have a sling bullet ready before throwing her next knife. There's no one left who is really a threat anymore, you're just bullying whoever is left until they give up and lay down in defeat.
"Right?" you agree, nodding furiously. "It's so good, you missed me running across a group of mercenaries helmets earlier. Perfectly, with no accidents at all."
Steals gives another little huff and narrows her eyes at you, but you return with such a smug smile she seems to buy it and gives you a friendly punch on the arm as she tucks her knives away, work done.
It stings a bit, and you don't dare risk a punch back, she might explode. Instead you pick your way through the fan of downed fighters towards Diamond at a leisurely pace.
int 4 + Investigation 4 = 5 successes.
He's sporting a few spots of blood on his clothes from the nail bomb, but it's just scratches and it's obvious to you he's just faking something worse. There's still that steely confidence in his eyes too, not the paranoid man you'd heard Steals describe. Is this the double? There's a trick going on here for sure, you'll just have to dig a little more to find out what.
"Ah," he says, affecting a pained voice, "Please could you ju-"
You shut up with a boot to the face and wave for Steals to come over and tie him up. If he does have a plan it'd be stupid to stay here and let him carry it out, better to keep him subdued until you're ready to deal with his attempts at needling you.
You've done well, but it really would be best to kill him. I can help work out his plans just fine without having to deal with the seeds of betrayal he's laying, Dreamer says as if that's just a perfectly reasonable suggestion. You fold your arms and shake your head slightly and he doesn't put any further fight for his plan beyond a small sigh. You're fine with that, long as he follows your lead you don't mind if he's a bit annoyed about it.
"We done?" Steals says as she binds his hands with leather cords she's pulled from a pouch, winding them into loops around fingers and wrists and then pulling and tying a firm knot so his hands are completely entangled.
"We just have to hope the others did okay, it'll be best to handle this when we're all back together," you say, "congratulations on your first successful Diamond heist."
"First?" Steals laughs. "Even with your bullshit powers I guess you don't know everything."
...
The city is still a mess and you can't run the roofs with Diamond in tow, but between your enhanced senses and Steals up on high directing you it isn't too difficult to wind around the danger and back to the rat infested Temple at the Eatery. Tiny beady eyes watch you from the shadows as you go about tying Diamond to a chair, making sure you aren't going to cause any trouble while Niall is away. You've encouraged him to stay away for all this and hopefully he'll never find out the full story of what you've been up to or the lectures about taking care of the one life you have will be endless.
Ten is late to your rendezvous, with freshly-applied bandages to some nasty arrow cuts - apparently a sustained shootout with a large number of goons will take a lot out of them. When you ask them about it, they brusquely say they'll be fine.
The Dreamer notes before you can even ask that you have no medical expertise whatsoever, so no, he really can't give you anything to help. You protest, but you had declared someone dead by accident before so you can't really argue too hard.
Misery takes even longer to arrive and her normally-immaculate clothes are an absolute wreck. She takes a detour to her room to change and as she comes back in she's drinking some kind of strange purple liquid out of a vial. You suspect she's going to be exactly as chatty about it as Ten is about their injury.
"We resolved our disagreement," she says. Yup, that's pretty much what you expected. Also as you expected, Misery lights up like a firefly sanctuary under your investigative vision. Yes, she's very suspicious. This is not news.
"Was that the part where your flesh disagreed with his stomach, or your fist disagreed with his face?" Ten asks, leaning against a wall.
Misery holds up another one of those purple vials in her fingers and shakes it in Ten's direction, who scowls and says nothing further.
"I thought you said you could handle the lion?" Steals says from her perch on a pew, legs kicking back and forth as Leviathan lies below waving their paws to try to attack her boot laces.
"I thought I had an understanding with them, but apparently even a lion can swallow its pride for enough coin. It's a resolved issue, they won't be bothering us again," she says as she adjusts a fresh shawl around her neck, wincing from the arm movements.
"Wow, it seems everyone hates you. You really have the worst luck," Steals says and shies back quick when Ten Feathers flashes her a death glare.
Huh.
Well as much as you want to poke that sore tooth, you've got more important things to do. As Misery tosses Ten the vial you go to slap Diamond awake. You haven't taken out the gag yet but you've got Ten's bullshit crime sense now, so unraveling Diamond should be easy as a-
You do a double take at him.
"Ten!" you say urgently, "Ten, his crimes!"
Ten sniffs at him, looking at his face.
"No," Ten says, their scowl deepening as they see it too. The man you've got in the chair is innocent. Well, mostly. "Fuck, no. He had all the right body language. He knew too much to be a double. He must have found a way to hide from my senses, or some technicality that got him a stay of execution, or…"
"Or it's not the real Diamond," you say heavily. "What happened to the other one?"
"Gone," Misery says, "got caught between me and the Lion, they're gone."
"Oh, well, you deal with the dead a lot," you say, feeling dirty actually using that phrase unironically, "can you call them here?"
Misery shakes her head.
"No, I meant it when I said gone. I know a dead body when I see one and that one was all wrong. It was more like cutting the strings to a puppet than the severing of a soul."
Int 4 + Occult 3 = 3 Successes. The training paying off!
You know a lot more about this sort of thing now and a soul and a body aren't something that can easily exist apart. It isn't like he can hide his soul in things, the Dreamer had tried that and his body is definitely gone for good. No when it comes to soulless creatures moving about, you only have one place to go and it isn't a pretty one.
You press a palm to your forehead and grind against it, speaking through gritted teeth. "He made a faerie duplicate of the Chest. The hell does that do to a person?"
Steals looks between the three of you and then rolls her eyes. "They were both fake Diamonds? That's just overdoing it," she says, just absolutely disgusted.
"It's not a person then," Ten Feathers says, still grimacing from the taste of Misery's potion. "A Behemoth that's shaped like him."
"Behemoth's are huge engines of destruction," Misery says, "he's a little short."
"And you don't know Raksha half as well as I do. The huge monsters are popular, but they could be a hurricane, or a poisonous lake or simply a man. If they want to be. It's just a little too boring for most of them. They prefer something with a bit more style."
"So a smaller behemoth-esque creature. A homunculus you might say," Misery says, looking at her nails.
"I'm so glad you're here to prove there's things even more annoying that Raksha," Ten growls, "you want me to correct you on a few things if that's what we're doing?"
"Is Diamond one of the Fair Folk?" you say even as Dreamer clicks his tongue at you for asking silly questions. You can work the answer out yourself but right now a distraction will keep those two from picking at each other. The Fake Diamond will be so much harder to deal with if you all start arguing now.
"In the Guild? No, he'd never last without being found out. They're paranoid about that sort of thing. But nothing stops him trading with them, as long as he makes good on his debts."
"Well he really fucked this one," Steals scoffs. "Half the city on fire and he didn't get anything out of it. I'd have his boots for a bag of sand if we'd ever met."
"Still got the chance," you say, "we work with what we got, let's get the Behemoth up."
"Homunculus," Misery mumbles.
"Don't care, Behemoth's more fun to say."
...
Splashing water on them doesn't work, nor some rather cathartic punches to the arm. In the end you rouse the fake Diamond by taking your iron key from the necklace around your neck and slapping it across their cheek. That wakes them up with a hiss, writhing on the ground to get away from the metal.
If I may, the Dreamer interjects, as a man who's conducted a few interrogations in his life, it's important to have a plan so you don't end up meandering.
The Dreamer's "expertise" in the subject is not really something you want to think about right now, but he's not wrong.
How do you want to do this?
What's your objective? (One is locked in, choose TWO more. You may have the opportunity to ask more later, but you're trying to stop the war so you're on the clock here!)
[*] How do we stop the fighting? (Locked in due to previous choices - Sharell won't not attempt this)
[ ] Why did the Guild War go hot? Why here, and today of all days?
[ ] Where is the Real Diamond and what's he planning?
[ ] Where is Dreams of Red Sands? What's he doing from here?
[ ] What assets does Fake Diamond still have that you could make use of?
[ ] Where's Cheshago's Soul? Why did he have to die?
[ ] How did they find out about the chest?
[ ] What was their endgame here? Is it still possible?
[ ] Why have the Fair Folk gotten so involved in this? What do they stand to gain?
[ ] Other (Write-in)
What's your angle? What do you offer?
[ ] He's not getting much in the way of clemency, but maybe he can angle for a nice cell instead of getting his head cut off.
[ ] He's really not getting clemency, but maybe he can angle for getting his head cut off instead of staked out in the sun for a week.
[ ] Play to his feelings of betrayal - Real Diamond left him holding the bag, time to get revenge.
[ ] Play to his feelings of betrayal and offer (slight) clemency - Real Diamond left him holding the bag but he hasn't actually committed any of those many many crimes, if he plays nice he just might get to keep his head.
[ ] No Mercy. He's a fey creation, so he helps you or you give him back to them.
[ ] Other (Write-in)
Who do you want in the room for the interrogation? (Choose as many as you like or none to do it solo. Well, as solo as you can with the Dreamer in your head.)
[ ] [Interrogation] Misery
[ ] [Interrogation] Ten
[ ] [Interrogation] Steals
A lot's gone unsaid lately. Who do you want to clear the air with later? (Pick One)
[ ] [Clear Air] Misery
[ ] [Clear Air] Ten
[ ] [Enthuse About Bullshit Powers] Steals
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- Location
- United States
[X] Where is the Real Diamond and what's he planning?
[X] What was their endgame here? Is it still possible?
[X] Play to his feelings of betrayal and offer (slight) clemency - Real Diamond left him holding the bag but he hasn't actually committed any of those many many crimes, if he plays nice he just might get to keep his head.
[X] [Interrogation] Ten
[X] [Clear Air] Misery
[X] What was their endgame here? Is it still possible?
[X] Play to his feelings of betrayal and offer (slight) clemency - Real Diamond left him holding the bag but he hasn't actually committed any of those many many crimes, if he plays nice he just might get to keep his head.
[X] [Interrogation] Ten
[X] [Clear Air] Misery
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- Location
- St. Petersburg
An erroneous line break.
This kind of vote might work better if you assigned a task to it. As it is, the tally won't know which questions "Ten" and "Misery" correspond to.
Wait, we took Leviathan to the rat temple? And he prefers to play with Steals' laces?
Quick, poke him with the iron key! The Diamond was a cat all along!
Well, duh. A conman won't be offering you to pick from legitimate options if they can avoid it.
For a moment there I thought he developed a way to possess vessels, and could be either of them, but I guess working with the Fey magic works a lot better and agrees with the established facts.
What is this option about; the adventure we sent her on before or something?
...I want to clear the air with Ten, but I don't know if it would be constructive. Maybe it would be best to just put the trust in them and hope for the best?
If he is innocent, why not let him go in exchange for helping us get the real Diamond? He'll be free of his contract (if he's bound by one), and do whatever. What do we gain from throwing him in the cell? Is he a danger to anyone by himself, when not furthering the real Diamond's plans?
Would it go against our - or Ten's - moral fiber or whatever they use to determine if Justice was served?
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We realised there isn't really anything unresolved with Steals, taking your things is something Sharell just expects her to do, so we gave that as a light fluffy option if you want it instead of digging into the other two.
- Location
- St. Petersburg
Of the questions, I think, these ones may be of interest.
I think what Diamond is planning and their endgame are redundant? Or is it asking about different aspects of their plan? The Guild War question may be connected to it too.
I am concerned about Dreams of Red Sands and the possible involvement of the Underworld and the Fair Folk. Not sure if the latter have any agenda other than the usual one... whenever there is conflict there are deals to be made and souls to be gained. The Handsome Merchant didn't want to get too entangled in the entire affair.
[x] Where is the Real Diamond and what's he planning?
[x] Where is Dreams of Red Sands? What's he doing from here?
[x] Play to his feelings of betrayal and offer (slight) clemency - Real Diamond left him holding the bag but he hasn't actually committed any of those many many crimes, if he plays nice he just might get to keep his head.
[x] [Interrogation] Ten
[x] [Clear Air] Misery
Let's check the Underworld angle, and see what Misery isn't telling us.
I would have expected "how to stop the fighting" would be connected to "where is the real Diamond", since he's paying.
I think what Diamond is planning and their endgame are redundant? Or is it asking about different aspects of their plan? The Guild War question may be connected to it too.
I am concerned about Dreams of Red Sands and the possible involvement of the Underworld and the Fair Folk. Not sure if the latter have any agenda other than the usual one... whenever there is conflict there are deals to be made and souls to be gained. The Handsome Merchant didn't want to get too entangled in the entire affair.
[x] Where is the Real Diamond and what's he planning?
[x] Where is Dreams of Red Sands? What's he doing from here?
[x] Play to his feelings of betrayal and offer (slight) clemency - Real Diamond left him holding the bag but he hasn't actually committed any of those many many crimes, if he plays nice he just might get to keep his head.
[x] [Interrogation] Ten
[x] [Clear Air] Misery
Let's check the Underworld angle, and see what Misery isn't telling us.
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[x] Where is the Real Diamond and what's he planning?
[x] Where is Dreams of Red Sands? What's he doing from here?
[x] Play to his feelings of betrayal and offer (slight) clemency - Real Diamond left him holding the bag but he hasn't actually committed any of those many many crimes, if he plays nice he just might get to keep his head.
[x] [Interrogation] Ten
[x] [Clear Air] Misery
[x] Where is Dreams of Red Sands? What's he doing from here?
[x] Play to his feelings of betrayal and offer (slight) clemency - Real Diamond left him holding the bag but he hasn't actually committed any of those many many crimes, if he plays nice he just might get to keep his head.
[x] [Interrogation] Ten
[x] [Clear Air] Misery
- Location
- Vermont
[X] Where is the Real Diamond and what's he planning?
[X] What was their endgame here? Is it still possible?
[X] Play to his feelings of betrayal and offer (slight) clemency - Real Diamond left him holding the bag but he hasn't actually committed any of those many many crimes, if he plays nice he just might get to keep his head.
[X] [Interrogation] Ten
[X] [Clear Air] Ten
The most important option I feel like looking at here is how things are going with Ten. They've burned through a lot of partners over the years, and we really, really shouldn't leave them to stew.
[X] What was their endgame here? Is it still possible?
[X] Play to his feelings of betrayal and offer (slight) clemency - Real Diamond left him holding the bag but he hasn't actually committed any of those many many crimes, if he plays nice he just might get to keep his head.
[X] [Interrogation] Ten
[X] [Clear Air] Ten
The most important option I feel like looking at here is how things are going with Ten. They've burned through a lot of partners over the years, and we really, really shouldn't leave them to stew.