[X] Path of the Three-Eyed Hunter: Beware the inescapable viper, she who sees without light. Rena gains Life-Hunting Eye. The Path of the Hunter will focus Rena's Viper Style Charm development on utility effects like tracking and perception - such as seeing without light and following the trail of someone she injures. Additionally, she will also gain a focus on the metaphorical 'digestion' of her foes.
[Exalted] The Dragon's Spite
- Thread starter EarthScorpion
- Start date
- Mature Fantasy
boo600
Ego sum egredietur tempestas.
- Location
- Texas
- Pronouns
- He/Him/Hungry
Still, I think that sums up why we should be sneaky- we aren't going to necessarily win a straight-up fight. So let's focus on not getting in them in the first place!
ESPECIALLY since sneaky kills are better for soul-enslaving.
ESPECIALLY since sneaky kills are better for soul-enslaving.
Vote closed; Path of the Jade Fang wins.
Already 2k into the next update.
Already 2k into the next update.
Arc 2: XIII. Over the Hill, Cahzor
XIII. Over the Hill, Cahzor
You dream of home.
You have crossed Creation in your flight from the persecution you have suffered, and the ancestral lands of the Odat family are still the most beautiful place you have seen. High in the mountains of northern Cherak, your fortress lay close to the old border, where two glacial valleys met. The mountains were always laden with ice; the streams and rivers were cool meltwater. Even in the height of Fire it never grew too hot, and in the colder months the land was beautiful, sleeping under a white veil.
The proud princes of the Realm call the Ferem families a gaggle of rustics, and sneer at your homeland's fashions. What would they know? They live in the fat, safe Blessed Isle, where the winds are gentle and one might as well just toss seeds on the ground and come back a few months later for the harvest.
Cherak is not like that. Even in the south, the winds leave the pines stooped and there's always the risk of early snowfall bringing tragedy to the one rice harvest a year. Northern Cherak was never tamed; not like the coastal regions, where every square kilometre where there's soil is devoted to crops and where the sea is a patchwork of white sails fishing and harvesting kelp. But you grew up in a little enclave of domestication in a wild landscape of pines and rock and snow.
And now your memory of home is tainted. Ruined. Because the knowledge of how it ended poisons your recollections. If you think of the gentle terraces where crops grew, protected by walls from the winds, then you know that the Immaculates will have burned your many-coloured flowers and sprinkled salt upon the ground. The tall walls of the Odat fortress were scarred and crumbling last time you saw them, torn into by the elemental beasts unleashed on you. The underground chambers where you made such fascinating discoveries into the nature of the soul will be collapsed, and the doors bound with iron.
As you fled, you saw the fires through the windows. They burned your library! And you couldn't stop them! You couldn't save your books! Those books you so carefully gathered, defying the prohibitions on illustrations - and on many more things - and spending a fortune to track down! So many secrets you hadn't got around to exploring; encrypted notes you hadn't yet decoded!
It hurts. It hurts to watch everything you care about burn. And now the flames are advancing on you, except these fires wrap armoured figures. You stand upon a parapet, the bitterly cold wind whipping your hair. Their eyes unjustly accuse you.
You jolt awake with a yelp. Unfortunately, that's enough to headbutt Amigere in the beak.
"Ow!" you exclaim. He makes a similarly pained noise. But you came out worse. Beaks are hard. "Did you pinch me?"
"You sounded like you were having a nightmare!" he says defensively, voice slightly muffled.
You rub your eyes. They're gritty with tried tears and sleepdust; your brow is damp with sweat. Oh well. You can forgive him for that, you suppose. It's better than letting that go on any further. You always have nightmares for a few days after feeding your dreams to Sei.
The pre-dawn air is still chilly. It's been getting colder at night as the mountain path climbs and climbs. Perhaps that's why you dreamt of home, of all places. You wriggle up against him, twisting your head around to kiss him. "Yes. I... I was." You let out a sigh. "Hug me."
"Was it bad?"
You nod. "Yes," you say, in a tiny voice.
It's been two days since you struck down that goddess, stole her power and left her cowering in her misery and defeat. You're healing. Healing like a dragon-blood should. It's not just the wounds from the silly goddess, either. You're coming back into your former strength. The meditation in that shaded grotto seems to have done you good. That and the healthy living and the exercise (both physical and bedroom) and… well, not just sitting in a ship's cabin, feeling sorry for yourself and getting drunk on cheap, sour wine.
You still can't truly walk long distances without it hurting too much, but it doesn't seem like it was only a week ago that you were limping sullenly from your cabin to the deck and back again. Your dragon-blood has stirred to life, and it is certainly making itself known.
Why couldn't it do earlier, though? The heritage of Sextes Jylis can't be controlled, but it feels awfully unfair that it seems to expect you to not take a few months to relax. Well, maybe years. Decades. Urgh, when you put it like that, it almost seems like it's your fault for being so out of shape, so obviously that whole chain of thought is a red herring.
Enough of these morbid ponderings. The deyha say that you should reach Cahzor-upon-Dam before it gets too hot for the horses. Just a few more hours and you'll be free of the stink of the hyenas.
Hopefully they have good food. Food, baths, wine, and pretty boys; the things needed to release all the stress from an exhausting week.
The hill road levels out, then starts to descend again. The day is heating up, and you wipe your brow on your sleeve.
An awful stink been growing for several hours now. It's terrible. It's metallic, with hints of sulphur and rotting seaweed. As an accomplished and unquestionable sorceress who has worked with others who work in the arcane arts, you speak with expertise when you say that it smells like an alchemical spill.
And then you come around a bend, and down the rugged mountain track, you see it. The vast wall of yellow stone. Back in Cherak you had seen the ruins of the dams of antiquity. The ancients loved to build them, to tap the rich dragon lines that run along the great mountain rivers.
But compared to this monster, the Cheraki dams were tiny things.
This is a mountain built in the way of a river; in every way a rival to the great dam at Rising Lotus in the Blessed Isle that you have seen paintings of. It is broad enough that a fortress lies atop it, and a town sprawls along the walkways and gantries that spill over its lip. Suspended houses are roofed with rusting scrap and canvas; sheets of old metal form perilous gantries between the reinforcing struts of the dam. And the main body is overgrown, though not through nature's efforts. There are trees and fields on top of this dam, worked by tiny figures! Madness! If the buildings weren't enough of a clue of the sheer immensity of this structure of antiquity, the sails of the wheeled landships at the port on the far southern side of the damn paint all the picture you need.
On the western side of the dam lies a vile, stinking tarn trapped within a broad valley. The water is slick with the pollution of forgotten ages; it is red in places, black in others and oil-shimmer where you can see the half-broken wreck of an ancient ship. Near the edges of the valley it is so shallow that the landscape is a marsh where nothing truly lives, and black birds cry mournfully, their voices audible even from this distance. There are tiny settlements down there, built on poles to get away from the toxic mud. You wonder how many of the people who dwell down there see their thirtieth birthday. There's another port there, and paddlebarges unload their loads onto great hoists that lift up to the town atop the dam.
"Yes," Amigere says, "that stink is the Little Nam." He's leading your pony on foot.
"It never get any better," Awwal says, twisting back on his pony. He's pulled back his headscarf, letting his tawny hair blow freely so he can cover up his nose. "You haven't smelled it before, lady?"
"No," you say, copying his gesture and pulling up your sandscarf to cover your nose. If you had any perfume left, you would spray it to try to distract from that stench. Well, you certainly won't be staying here too long. The only reason people live here, you assume, is that the toxins burn out the sense of smell with prolonged exposure. "What happened here?"
Awwal shrugs. "'Tis said that it's an ancient curse on the land."
"Not a curse," Amigere says. "It's the dam. From what I've heard, until a couple of hundred years ago, the Little Nam still flowed past the dam, and it was drinkable back then. But it stopped flowing and the lake turned sour."
"Oh," you say, "I see." You've heard of such things. Probably a mix of silt in the dam mechanisms and the land drying out. If there's no flow out, the water is just evaporating from the lake. Leaving behind whatever it's carrying. You peer down over the drop, taking note of the bands of brightly coloured minerals around the edge of the lake. "Mine run-off, I'd wager. And other things. I wouldn't drink that water."
"You'd be right," Awwal agrees. "In Cahzor-upon-Dam, they boil it in the sun and gather the water-fumes within the dark of the dam. It is quite a wonder, it is said. This city is water-rich compared to most of Cahzor."
"Most of Cazhor?" you ask.
He gestures ahead. "Wait. And see. I would not ruin it for you."
"Amigere," you pout.
"Oh no, no, I think he's right." The bird-man's eyes dance with merriment as he glances back at you. "I can't wait to see how you react."
The deyha pick a path around the curve of the hillside, leading down to the broader, sand-choked ancient road that connects to the top of the dam. That's the longer route that the sandship would have taken. And on the east, you see, as you rise up over the heights of the dam before descending down to its level...
... Cahzor!
Cahzor, called by some the Dowager-Empress of the Fire Mountains, Cahzor Once-Mighty, Cahzor who you remember tales of its legendary wealth being told when you were a girl a century and more ago.
Cahzor is not a city, you realise at this point. People said that it was, and they were wrong. Cahzor is a valley. Cahzor is a landscape. Once you knew a half-mad demonologist - you gave sanctuary to her, at least until she helped you crack the cipher in the Kuza ruins - who claimed that she had once been to Hell and seen a city so vast that nowhere you looked was not brass spires and black stone towers, under a green sun that cast no shadows. She had lost her mind, of course, but the sight of Cahzor brings her tall tales to mind.
For Cahzor is the valley to the east of the dam, a sea of sandy stone and dusty roads and ruined towers shepherded between the defaced giant statues that line the walls, each one - Dragons! - a mile in height. Their heads are above the level of the dam; there is nowhere you can stand in this city-landscape without seeing them. To build statues of one's self that so dominate the landscape is... well, genius, honestly. You wish you'd come up with it.
Yet someone carved off the faces of the statues they did not decapitate, and not one remains intact. Whosoever wrought these icons has been forgotten by time through the efforts of long-ago men - because you can see scrubby trees growing out of the neck stump of one of the vast statues.
And the city down below, watched over by its faceless guardians, is built to a colossal scale. A glimpse of a distant landship, sailing along a raised highway, tells you how terrifyingly massive the structures in the centre of the city are. There are apartment blocks - Dragons, are those only apartment blocks? - taller than the Odat fortress. There are sparkling, jagged glass towers just like Chiaroscuro, but the buildings of yellow stone cluster around their waists like children around their mother. And even when the buildings are lesser in their scale, there are so many of them, sprawling across this broad valley.
"Dragons," you breathe, and the two very mean boys snigger at you.
How old must this city be? You have seen Chiaroscuro on your trip south, and though the glass that shimmers in the heat down below is no match for those shattered spires, this city is so vast that you could likely lose the jewel of the Delzhan within it. How many souls must dwell here?
You ask Amigere that, and he shakes his head. "Look again," he says, gesturing down. "Look for the green."
You don't see it at first. And then it's horribly clear. It's like one of those meditation books where you empty your mind until you see the image. Those scattered few patches of green aren't gardens or parks.
They're fields.
And if they're fields, then this is truly not a city. This is a ruin. A parched ruin that sprawls across an entire valley, where settlements squat among the decay. You pull out your telescope, and take a closer look.
So many buildings; windowless, vacant. Dead. Down in the valley, where the heat haze shimmers as thick as water, the grand towers are half-devoured by the sand that's blowing up from the endless deserts to the east. The only people you see are tiny ant-like figures, clustered around what little vegetation there is. The canals are dry and only sandships sail there; the riverbed now only carries sand up from the expanse.
Amigere grins at you. "Takes many people by shock the first time they see it," he says. "Cahzor used to rule these mountains, you know. Few hundred years ago, it was the big power, not Gem. But that was all settled when Gem crushed the last Cahzori army. Ha." He throws back his head and crows. "Makes my heart feel all warm and tingly, to think about how this place lost everything. Couldn't happen to anyone more deserving!"
"You don't like the Cahzori?" you ask him.
"Not much." The birdman shrugs. "You can't trust them. Never met one who isn't in on some scam, they worship strange gods, and down in the valley, they'll cut your throat for the blood if they're thirsty."
You look at Amigere dubiously. You're pretty sure that you would have heard if all the Cahzori were blood-drinking cannibals. Tales of such a nest of ghouls would have spread. "Awwal," you ask the deyha man riding to your right, "is that true?"
"I wouldn't know," he says, shifting his position on his poney. His tawny eyes meet yours, and you regret not having the chance to get to know him as well as you would have liked. "I've never gone down into the valley. Only occasional supply runs to Cahzor-Upon-Dam. It'd be easier if we could go to Cahzor-Grand-Bazaar, but, well…"
"But what?"
Layan laughs a barking laugh from behind. "Damn ferals work for the Sugun," she says, her hyena loping forwards. "We could crush them, of course, but orders are orders and we're not picking an unprofitable fight with a bunch of deserters."
You doubt that's the full truth. "Where's Grand-Bazar?" you ask.
"Down in the valley," she says. "The other big sandship port. It gets the trade from the Burning Sands, so that's how it survives. It and this place are the only ones with any plunder worth speaking of."
"Mmm." Yes, there's no way that the band you saw could take this fortress town up on the dam, and you have to assume that this other place they speak of is as well defended. You wonder how that lines up with your map.
Still, that's something to be concerned of. One of the mighty lords of Cahzor has a bunch of deyha working for her, does she? Well, that's not good if they control any of the areas where your map says there are sites. You'll want to stay clear of that.
Layan shakes her head. "Worthless piles of stone," she says, looking over the valley. "Whole place has been picked clean by the vultures. No money left in Cahzor. No water nor food, and the slaves are a bunch of straggly thirsty rats. We'd be doing them a favour if we grabbed them, we really would." Her ugly flat face twists into a sneer. "Pointless."
There is a child playing a thin, wailing set of bagpipes where the road passes past the fortress gate on the northern approach. A few coppers rest in the clay pot in front of him, that sits between his stumps. There are guards at the gate, but they recognise the deyha - at least for what they are - and you aren't stopped.
The streets of Cazhor-Upon-Dam are packed warrens, crammed perilously tight. Sandstone structures nearly touch as they lean in together, forming nearly-tunnels that add the stink of humanity to the awful scent of the poisoned lake. Unwashed bodies, shit and cooking all form a fug to the air that's so thick you could nearly chew it. The ground floors of most buildings are small taverns or takeaway places or workshops, and the lines between the three are blurred.
Fortunately, people don't jostle you in the streets. Giant hyenas serve wonders for clearing a path, and the other deyha - the one you didn't bother learning the name of - kicks a man in the face so hard you see a flash of flying teeth when he shows too much interest in the baggage strapped to the mules.
"This place is awful," you say to Amigere, leaning in. Among the clammer of the town, no one is likely to overhear you. "Where's a half-way civilised place to stay? We'll need to find a place where we can leave the baggage when the deyha go."
He tilts his head, pulling his hood up higher to cover his features. "Last time I was here… well, over in Jasmine Heights, things are better and a lot of the richer families have annexes they rent to travellers. Otherwise… there's the sandship docks on the far side of town."
"Hmm." You glance at a paint-splattered wall, and notice that there's an image of Sei there. His eyes seem to move, tracking you as you ride past. What an awful show-off familiar he is. "Maybe."
"What's your intent here?" he asks. "If you're looking for a sandship south, the docks would be the best place."
You're not - that's the thing. You need to head down into the valley. And it won't just be you. You're going to need an expedition, with supplies, and preferably specialists. Including mercenaries, but you've already seen some here. The docks aren't necessarily where you want to be - or maybe they are. There are likely to be travellers who might have interesting skill-sets there, but it puts you away from the main part of the city.
"Ah," Amigere says slowly, looking you up and down. "If you're paying - and you think you can afford it, well. There's always the Cerulean Lotus."
"The what?" Your brow wrinkles. "That sounds like a brothel, with a name like that." Ridiculous. To think you have to pay for pretty men to fall at your feet, feed you grapes and lavish you with their attention.
"No… well, not primarily. I'm sure they'd find someone for anyone who paid. But no, it's right by the palace. Part of the same complex, I think? Regardless, it's ancient. It's a casino and a hotel and I heard it only stays in business because it's where the rich sorts from the Realm who are heading down to the Deep South stay. I've only been even into it once, but it's so much colder than the rest of the city. I think they have ancient air pumps working there."
"Hmm," you say, as behind you in the street two women fight over a claim of short-changing. "Interesting."
You dream of home.
You have crossed Creation in your flight from the persecution you have suffered, and the ancestral lands of the Odat family are still the most beautiful place you have seen. High in the mountains of northern Cherak, your fortress lay close to the old border, where two glacial valleys met. The mountains were always laden with ice; the streams and rivers were cool meltwater. Even in the height of Fire it never grew too hot, and in the colder months the land was beautiful, sleeping under a white veil.
The proud princes of the Realm call the Ferem families a gaggle of rustics, and sneer at your homeland's fashions. What would they know? They live in the fat, safe Blessed Isle, where the winds are gentle and one might as well just toss seeds on the ground and come back a few months later for the harvest.
Cherak is not like that. Even in the south, the winds leave the pines stooped and there's always the risk of early snowfall bringing tragedy to the one rice harvest a year. Northern Cherak was never tamed; not like the coastal regions, where every square kilometre where there's soil is devoted to crops and where the sea is a patchwork of white sails fishing and harvesting kelp. But you grew up in a little enclave of domestication in a wild landscape of pines and rock and snow.
And now your memory of home is tainted. Ruined. Because the knowledge of how it ended poisons your recollections. If you think of the gentle terraces where crops grew, protected by walls from the winds, then you know that the Immaculates will have burned your many-coloured flowers and sprinkled salt upon the ground. The tall walls of the Odat fortress were scarred and crumbling last time you saw them, torn into by the elemental beasts unleashed on you. The underground chambers where you made such fascinating discoveries into the nature of the soul will be collapsed, and the doors bound with iron.
As you fled, you saw the fires through the windows. They burned your library! And you couldn't stop them! You couldn't save your books! Those books you so carefully gathered, defying the prohibitions on illustrations - and on many more things - and spending a fortune to track down! So many secrets you hadn't got around to exploring; encrypted notes you hadn't yet decoded!
It hurts. It hurts to watch everything you care about burn. And now the flames are advancing on you, except these fires wrap armoured figures. You stand upon a parapet, the bitterly cold wind whipping your hair. Their eyes unjustly accuse you.
You jolt awake with a yelp. Unfortunately, that's enough to headbutt Amigere in the beak.
"Ow!" you exclaim. He makes a similarly pained noise. But you came out worse. Beaks are hard. "Did you pinch me?"
"You sounded like you were having a nightmare!" he says defensively, voice slightly muffled.
You rub your eyes. They're gritty with tried tears and sleepdust; your brow is damp with sweat. Oh well. You can forgive him for that, you suppose. It's better than letting that go on any further. You always have nightmares for a few days after feeding your dreams to Sei.
The pre-dawn air is still chilly. It's been getting colder at night as the mountain path climbs and climbs. Perhaps that's why you dreamt of home, of all places. You wriggle up against him, twisting your head around to kiss him. "Yes. I... I was." You let out a sigh. "Hug me."
"Was it bad?"
You nod. "Yes," you say, in a tiny voice.
It's been two days since you struck down that goddess, stole her power and left her cowering in her misery and defeat. You're healing. Healing like a dragon-blood should. It's not just the wounds from the silly goddess, either. You're coming back into your former strength. The meditation in that shaded grotto seems to have done you good. That and the healthy living and the exercise (both physical and bedroom) and… well, not just sitting in a ship's cabin, feeling sorry for yourself and getting drunk on cheap, sour wine.
You still can't truly walk long distances without it hurting too much, but it doesn't seem like it was only a week ago that you were limping sullenly from your cabin to the deck and back again. Your dragon-blood has stirred to life, and it is certainly making itself known.
Why couldn't it do earlier, though? The heritage of Sextes Jylis can't be controlled, but it feels awfully unfair that it seems to expect you to not take a few months to relax. Well, maybe years. Decades. Urgh, when you put it like that, it almost seems like it's your fault for being so out of shape, so obviously that whole chain of thought is a red herring.
Enough of these morbid ponderings. The deyha say that you should reach Cahzor-upon-Dam before it gets too hot for the horses. Just a few more hours and you'll be free of the stink of the hyenas.
Hopefully they have good food. Food, baths, wine, and pretty boys; the things needed to release all the stress from an exhausting week.
The hill road levels out, then starts to descend again. The day is heating up, and you wipe your brow on your sleeve.
An awful stink been growing for several hours now. It's terrible. It's metallic, with hints of sulphur and rotting seaweed. As an accomplished and unquestionable sorceress who has worked with others who work in the arcane arts, you speak with expertise when you say that it smells like an alchemical spill.
And then you come around a bend, and down the rugged mountain track, you see it. The vast wall of yellow stone. Back in Cherak you had seen the ruins of the dams of antiquity. The ancients loved to build them, to tap the rich dragon lines that run along the great mountain rivers.
But compared to this monster, the Cheraki dams were tiny things.
This is a mountain built in the way of a river; in every way a rival to the great dam at Rising Lotus in the Blessed Isle that you have seen paintings of. It is broad enough that a fortress lies atop it, and a town sprawls along the walkways and gantries that spill over its lip. Suspended houses are roofed with rusting scrap and canvas; sheets of old metal form perilous gantries between the reinforcing struts of the dam. And the main body is overgrown, though not through nature's efforts. There are trees and fields on top of this dam, worked by tiny figures! Madness! If the buildings weren't enough of a clue of the sheer immensity of this structure of antiquity, the sails of the wheeled landships at the port on the far southern side of the damn paint all the picture you need.
On the western side of the dam lies a vile, stinking tarn trapped within a broad valley. The water is slick with the pollution of forgotten ages; it is red in places, black in others and oil-shimmer where you can see the half-broken wreck of an ancient ship. Near the edges of the valley it is so shallow that the landscape is a marsh where nothing truly lives, and black birds cry mournfully, their voices audible even from this distance. There are tiny settlements down there, built on poles to get away from the toxic mud. You wonder how many of the people who dwell down there see their thirtieth birthday. There's another port there, and paddlebarges unload their loads onto great hoists that lift up to the town atop the dam.
"Yes," Amigere says, "that stink is the Little Nam." He's leading your pony on foot.
"It never get any better," Awwal says, twisting back on his pony. He's pulled back his headscarf, letting his tawny hair blow freely so he can cover up his nose. "You haven't smelled it before, lady?"
"No," you say, copying his gesture and pulling up your sandscarf to cover your nose. If you had any perfume left, you would spray it to try to distract from that stench. Well, you certainly won't be staying here too long. The only reason people live here, you assume, is that the toxins burn out the sense of smell with prolonged exposure. "What happened here?"
Awwal shrugs. "'Tis said that it's an ancient curse on the land."
"Not a curse," Amigere says. "It's the dam. From what I've heard, until a couple of hundred years ago, the Little Nam still flowed past the dam, and it was drinkable back then. But it stopped flowing and the lake turned sour."
"Oh," you say, "I see." You've heard of such things. Probably a mix of silt in the dam mechanisms and the land drying out. If there's no flow out, the water is just evaporating from the lake. Leaving behind whatever it's carrying. You peer down over the drop, taking note of the bands of brightly coloured minerals around the edge of the lake. "Mine run-off, I'd wager. And other things. I wouldn't drink that water."
"You'd be right," Awwal agrees. "In Cahzor-upon-Dam, they boil it in the sun and gather the water-fumes within the dark of the dam. It is quite a wonder, it is said. This city is water-rich compared to most of Cahzor."
"Most of Cazhor?" you ask.
He gestures ahead. "Wait. And see. I would not ruin it for you."
"Amigere," you pout.
"Oh no, no, I think he's right." The bird-man's eyes dance with merriment as he glances back at you. "I can't wait to see how you react."
The deyha pick a path around the curve of the hillside, leading down to the broader, sand-choked ancient road that connects to the top of the dam. That's the longer route that the sandship would have taken. And on the east, you see, as you rise up over the heights of the dam before descending down to its level...
... Cahzor!
Cahzor, called by some the Dowager-Empress of the Fire Mountains, Cahzor Once-Mighty, Cahzor who you remember tales of its legendary wealth being told when you were a girl a century and more ago.
Cahzor is not a city, you realise at this point. People said that it was, and they were wrong. Cahzor is a valley. Cahzor is a landscape. Once you knew a half-mad demonologist - you gave sanctuary to her, at least until she helped you crack the cipher in the Kuza ruins - who claimed that she had once been to Hell and seen a city so vast that nowhere you looked was not brass spires and black stone towers, under a green sun that cast no shadows. She had lost her mind, of course, but the sight of Cahzor brings her tall tales to mind.
For Cahzor is the valley to the east of the dam, a sea of sandy stone and dusty roads and ruined towers shepherded between the defaced giant statues that line the walls, each one - Dragons! - a mile in height. Their heads are above the level of the dam; there is nowhere you can stand in this city-landscape without seeing them. To build statues of one's self that so dominate the landscape is... well, genius, honestly. You wish you'd come up with it.
Yet someone carved off the faces of the statues they did not decapitate, and not one remains intact. Whosoever wrought these icons has been forgotten by time through the efforts of long-ago men - because you can see scrubby trees growing out of the neck stump of one of the vast statues.
And the city down below, watched over by its faceless guardians, is built to a colossal scale. A glimpse of a distant landship, sailing along a raised highway, tells you how terrifyingly massive the structures in the centre of the city are. There are apartment blocks - Dragons, are those only apartment blocks? - taller than the Odat fortress. There are sparkling, jagged glass towers just like Chiaroscuro, but the buildings of yellow stone cluster around their waists like children around their mother. And even when the buildings are lesser in their scale, there are so many of them, sprawling across this broad valley.
"Dragons," you breathe, and the two very mean boys snigger at you.
How old must this city be? You have seen Chiaroscuro on your trip south, and though the glass that shimmers in the heat down below is no match for those shattered spires, this city is so vast that you could likely lose the jewel of the Delzhan within it. How many souls must dwell here?
You ask Amigere that, and he shakes his head. "Look again," he says, gesturing down. "Look for the green."
You don't see it at first. And then it's horribly clear. It's like one of those meditation books where you empty your mind until you see the image. Those scattered few patches of green aren't gardens or parks.
They're fields.
And if they're fields, then this is truly not a city. This is a ruin. A parched ruin that sprawls across an entire valley, where settlements squat among the decay. You pull out your telescope, and take a closer look.
So many buildings; windowless, vacant. Dead. Down in the valley, where the heat haze shimmers as thick as water, the grand towers are half-devoured by the sand that's blowing up from the endless deserts to the east. The only people you see are tiny ant-like figures, clustered around what little vegetation there is. The canals are dry and only sandships sail there; the riverbed now only carries sand up from the expanse.
Amigere grins at you. "Takes many people by shock the first time they see it," he says. "Cahzor used to rule these mountains, you know. Few hundred years ago, it was the big power, not Gem. But that was all settled when Gem crushed the last Cahzori army. Ha." He throws back his head and crows. "Makes my heart feel all warm and tingly, to think about how this place lost everything. Couldn't happen to anyone more deserving!"
"You don't like the Cahzori?" you ask him.
"Not much." The birdman shrugs. "You can't trust them. Never met one who isn't in on some scam, they worship strange gods, and down in the valley, they'll cut your throat for the blood if they're thirsty."
You look at Amigere dubiously. You're pretty sure that you would have heard if all the Cahzori were blood-drinking cannibals. Tales of such a nest of ghouls would have spread. "Awwal," you ask the deyha man riding to your right, "is that true?"
"I wouldn't know," he says, shifting his position on his poney. His tawny eyes meet yours, and you regret not having the chance to get to know him as well as you would have liked. "I've never gone down into the valley. Only occasional supply runs to Cahzor-Upon-Dam. It'd be easier if we could go to Cahzor-Grand-Bazaar, but, well…"
"But what?"
Layan laughs a barking laugh from behind. "Damn ferals work for the Sugun," she says, her hyena loping forwards. "We could crush them, of course, but orders are orders and we're not picking an unprofitable fight with a bunch of deserters."
You doubt that's the full truth. "Where's Grand-Bazar?" you ask.
"Down in the valley," she says. "The other big sandship port. It gets the trade from the Burning Sands, so that's how it survives. It and this place are the only ones with any plunder worth speaking of."
"Mmm." Yes, there's no way that the band you saw could take this fortress town up on the dam, and you have to assume that this other place they speak of is as well defended. You wonder how that lines up with your map.
Still, that's something to be concerned of. One of the mighty lords of Cahzor has a bunch of deyha working for her, does she? Well, that's not good if they control any of the areas where your map says there are sites. You'll want to stay clear of that.
Layan shakes her head. "Worthless piles of stone," she says, looking over the valley. "Whole place has been picked clean by the vultures. No money left in Cahzor. No water nor food, and the slaves are a bunch of straggly thirsty rats. We'd be doing them a favour if we grabbed them, we really would." Her ugly flat face twists into a sneer. "Pointless."
There is a child playing a thin, wailing set of bagpipes where the road passes past the fortress gate on the northern approach. A few coppers rest in the clay pot in front of him, that sits between his stumps. There are guards at the gate, but they recognise the deyha - at least for what they are - and you aren't stopped.
The streets of Cazhor-Upon-Dam are packed warrens, crammed perilously tight. Sandstone structures nearly touch as they lean in together, forming nearly-tunnels that add the stink of humanity to the awful scent of the poisoned lake. Unwashed bodies, shit and cooking all form a fug to the air that's so thick you could nearly chew it. The ground floors of most buildings are small taverns or takeaway places or workshops, and the lines between the three are blurred.
Fortunately, people don't jostle you in the streets. Giant hyenas serve wonders for clearing a path, and the other deyha - the one you didn't bother learning the name of - kicks a man in the face so hard you see a flash of flying teeth when he shows too much interest in the baggage strapped to the mules.
"This place is awful," you say to Amigere, leaning in. Among the clammer of the town, no one is likely to overhear you. "Where's a half-way civilised place to stay? We'll need to find a place where we can leave the baggage when the deyha go."
He tilts his head, pulling his hood up higher to cover his features. "Last time I was here… well, over in Jasmine Heights, things are better and a lot of the richer families have annexes they rent to travellers. Otherwise… there's the sandship docks on the far side of town."
"Hmm." You glance at a paint-splattered wall, and notice that there's an image of Sei there. His eyes seem to move, tracking you as you ride past. What an awful show-off familiar he is. "Maybe."
"What's your intent here?" he asks. "If you're looking for a sandship south, the docks would be the best place."
You're not - that's the thing. You need to head down into the valley. And it won't just be you. You're going to need an expedition, with supplies, and preferably specialists. Including mercenaries, but you've already seen some here. The docks aren't necessarily where you want to be - or maybe they are. There are likely to be travellers who might have interesting skill-sets there, but it puts you away from the main part of the city.
"Ah," Amigere says slowly, looking you up and down. "If you're paying - and you think you can afford it, well. There's always the Cerulean Lotus."
"The what?" Your brow wrinkles. "That sounds like a brothel, with a name like that." Ridiculous. To think you have to pay for pretty men to fall at your feet, feed you grapes and lavish you with their attention.
"No… well, not primarily. I'm sure they'd find someone for anyone who paid. But no, it's right by the palace. Part of the same complex, I think? Regardless, it's ancient. It's a casino and a hotel and I heard it only stays in business because it's where the rich sorts from the Realm who are heading down to the Deep South stay. I've only been even into it once, but it's so much colder than the rest of the city. I think they have ancient air pumps working there."
"Hmm," you say, as behind you in the street two women fight over a claim of short-changing. "Interesting."
Article: Where Do You Stay?
[ ] You don't care. You just want to collapse - and not spend very much money.No. No way. You do care. You deserve nice things.
[ ] The Algari House, right by the sandship dock on the southern edge of the town. You remember it being name-dropped as where your ill-fated ship south was going to dock, and your dull captain seemed to consider it tolerable. You might be able to meet other travellers, but it'll be dull and out of the way of the bazaar here.
[ ] You'll take Amigere's suggestion, and lodge in one of the dwellings that advertise themselves as traveller's rests. You can probably find one that is tolerable. You're sure you can browbeat whoever you grace with your presence to wait on you and find out more about what you're looking for, but it'll be in the heart of the city and noisy.
[ ] The Cerulean Lotus, which huddles in the shadow of the fortress of the lords of this city. The sound of the ancient cold-air pumps are audible from some distance away, keeping the stench of the lake away from this place. Built in richer times, and half-empty. Lovely and well-situated, yet expensive and might draw attention.
When Amigere Asks You If You're Planning to Stay Long, What Do You Say?
[ ] Yes. Bring him in on the secrets of the map. He's a self-proclaimed scavenger lord, and for all that he clearly isn't one of the most prosperous, he might be useful while you investigate it. He might only be a dalliance, but you might as well make him useful than merely in the bedroom.
[ ] Only until you have your strength back. He doesn't need to know about the map - but maybe you can take advantage of him (in more than one way) while you prepare for an expedition down into the valley. He's only a dalliance, and you don't yet trust him with something this precious.
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- Pronouns
- They/Them
[x] You'll take Amigere's suggestion, and lodge in one of the dwellings that advertise themselves as traveller's rests. You can probably find one that is tolerable. You're sure you can browbeat whoever you grace with your presence to wait on you and find out more about what you're looking for, but it'll be in the heart of the city and noisy.
[x] Yes. Bring him in on the secrets of the map. He's a self-proclaimed scavenger lord, and for all that he clearly isn't one of the most prosperous, he might be useful while you investigate it. He might only be a dalliance, but you might as well make him useful than merely in the bedroom.
So far, Amigere's been pretty reasonable with us. He's not just a pretty face, so... let's make this an almost-equal partnership.
Almost, of course. The Dragon Blood definitely means we're the senior equal partner.
[x] Yes. Bring him in on the secrets of the map. He's a self-proclaimed scavenger lord, and for all that he clearly isn't one of the most prosperous, he might be useful while you investigate it. He might only be a dalliance, but you might as well make him useful than merely in the bedroom.
So far, Amigere's been pretty reasonable with us. He's not just a pretty face, so... let's make this an almost-equal partnership.
Almost, of course. The Dragon Blood definitely means we're the senior equal partner.
BungieONI
Seven gremlins in a trench coat
- Location
- Lickwidget
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] The Cerulean Lotus, which huddles in the shadow of the fortress of the lords of this city. The sound of the ancient cold-air pumps are audible from some distance away, keeping the stench of the lake away from this place. Built in richer times, and half-empty. Lovely and well-situated, yet expensive and might draw attention.
[X] Only until you have your strength back. He doesn't need to know about the map - but maybe you can take advantage of him (in more than one way) while you prepare for an expedition down into the valley. He's only a dalliance, and you don't yet trust him with something this precious.
So I'm rather curious what's wrong in the state of Georgia around here and I think a hotel eye's view of one of the central governing bodies will be a nice link into Cheraki high society and what's up around here with some nice swaning socialite oportunities. As for our bird boy I can see both but want to see how ES writes a Rena who is using a dude and really leaning into her follies.
[X] Only until you have your strength back. He doesn't need to know about the map - but maybe you can take advantage of him (in more than one way) while you prepare for an expedition down into the valley. He's only a dalliance, and you don't yet trust him with something this precious.
So I'm rather curious what's wrong in the state of Georgia around here and I think a hotel eye's view of one of the central governing bodies will be a nice link into Cheraki high society and what's up around here with some nice swaning socialite oportunities. As for our bird boy I can see both but want to see how ES writes a Rena who is using a dude and really leaning into her follies.
- Location
- Library
[X] The Cerulean Lotus, which huddles in the shadow of the fortress of the lords of this city. The sound of the ancient cold-air pumps are audible from some distance away, keeping the stench of the lake away from this place. Built in richer times, and half-empty. Lovely and well-situated, yet expensive and might draw attention.
Well, look, if we want power and influence, it would be good idea to commingle with rich and powerful and rich. We might also be able to get some clues or useful information from better-learned traveler from Realm.
Did I mention rich?
[X] Yes. Bring him in on the secrets of the map. He's a self-proclaimed scavenger lord, and for all that he clearly isn't one of the most prosperous, he might be useful while you investigate it. He might only be a dalliance, but you might as well make him useful than merely in the bedroom.
There is no reason to not start making him into a useful henchman and temporary lieutenant. Until we find someone with more supernal power. If he start acting suspicious, we will feed him to the (not)cat. Not the first henchman who served as fearie food, when they turned less than 100% reliable.
Well, look, if we want power and influence, it would be good idea to commingle with rich and powerful and rich. We might also be able to get some clues or useful information from better-learned traveler from Realm.
Did I mention rich?
[X] Yes. Bring him in on the secrets of the map. He's a self-proclaimed scavenger lord, and for all that he clearly isn't one of the most prosperous, he might be useful while you investigate it. He might only be a dalliance, but you might as well make him useful than merely in the bedroom.
There is no reason to not start making him into a useful henchman and temporary lieutenant. Until we find someone with more supernal power. If he start acting suspicious, we will feed him to the (not)cat. Not the first henchman who served as fearie food, when they turned less than 100% reliable.
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- Location
- Vermont
[x] You'll take Amigere's suggestion, and lodge in one of the dwellings that advertise themselves as traveller's rests. You can probably find one that is tolerable. You're sure you can browbeat whoever you grace with your presence to wait on you and find out more about what you're looking for, but it'll be in the heart of the city and noisy.
[x] Yes. Bring him in on the secrets of the map. He's a self-proclaimed scavenger lord, and for all that he clearly isn't one of the most prosperous, he might be useful while you investigate it. He might only be a dalliance, but you might as well make him useful than merely in the bedroom.
I get the feeling that he's planning to screw us over, and not in the fun way, but that's not a problem. We're healing up, and we're much scarier than he thinks we are. In the mean time, let's see what we can get out of him. If he's obedient, wonderful. If he's not, we'll know how to pull his heart out through his pockets.
[x] Yes. Bring him in on the secrets of the map. He's a self-proclaimed scavenger lord, and for all that he clearly isn't one of the most prosperous, he might be useful while you investigate it. He might only be a dalliance, but you might as well make him useful than merely in the bedroom.
I get the feeling that he's planning to screw us over, and not in the fun way, but that's not a problem. We're healing up, and we're much scarier than he thinks we are. In the mean time, let's see what we can get out of him. If he's obedient, wonderful. If he's not, we'll know how to pull his heart out through his pockets.
[x] You'll take Amigere's suggestion, and lodge in one of the dwellings that advertise themselves as traveller's rests. You can probably find one that is tolerable. You're sure you can browbeat whoever you grace with your presence to wait on you and find out more about what you're looking for, but it'll be in the heart of the city and noisy.
[x] Yes. Bring him in on the secrets of the map. He's a self-proclaimed scavenger lord, and for all that he clearly isn't one of the most prosperous, he might be useful while you investigate it. He might only be a dalliance, but you might as well make him useful than merely in the bedroom.
[x] Yes. Bring him in on the secrets of the map. He's a self-proclaimed scavenger lord, and for all that he clearly isn't one of the most prosperous, he might be useful while you investigate it. He might only be a dalliance, but you might as well make him useful than merely in the bedroom.
[X] The Cerulean Lotus, which huddles in the shadow of the fortress of the lords of this city. The sound of the ancient cold-air pumps are audible from some distance away, keeping the stench of the lake away from this place. Built in richer times, and half-empty. Lovely and well-situated, yet expensive and might draw attention.
[X] Only until you have your strength back. He doesn't need to know about the map - but maybe you can take advantage of him (in more than one way) while you prepare for an expedition down into the valley. He's only a dalliance, and you don't yet trust him with something this precious.
[X] Only until you have your strength back. He doesn't need to know about the map - but maybe you can take advantage of him (in more than one way) while you prepare for an expedition down into the valley. He's only a dalliance, and you don't yet trust him with something this precious.
- Location
- Earth
[X] The Cerulean Lotus, which huddles in the shadow of the fortress of the lords of this city. The sound of the ancient cold-air pumps are audible from some distance away, keeping the stench of the lake away from this place. Built in richer times, and half-empty. Lovely and well-situated, yet expensive and might draw attention.
[X] Only until you have your strength back. He doesn't need to know about the map - but maybe you can take advantage of him (in more than one way) while you prepare for an expedition down into the valley. He's only a dalliance, and you don't yet trust him with something this precious.
[X] Only until you have your strength back. He doesn't need to know about the map - but maybe you can take advantage of him (in more than one way) while you prepare for an expedition down into the valley. He's only a dalliance, and you don't yet trust him with something this precious.
- Location
- Columbus, OH
[X] The Cerulean Lotus, which huddles in the shadow of the fortress of the lords of this city. The sound of the ancient cold-air pumps are audible from some distance away, keeping the stench of the lake away from this place. Built in richer times, and half-empty. Lovely and well-situated, yet expensive and might draw attention.
[X] Yes. Bring him in on the secrets of the map. He's a self-proclaimed scavenger lord, and for all that he clearly isn't one of the most prosperous, he might be useful while you investigate it. He might only be a dalliance, but you might as well make him useful than merely in the bedroom.
We're built to steal souls and impersonate people. The best targets for that are the sort of people who already have what we want. Besides, you have to spend money to make money.
[X] Yes. Bring him in on the secrets of the map. He's a self-proclaimed scavenger lord, and for all that he clearly isn't one of the most prosperous, he might be useful while you investigate it. He might only be a dalliance, but you might as well make him useful than merely in the bedroom.
We're built to steal souls and impersonate people. The best targets for that are the sort of people who already have what we want. Besides, you have to spend money to make money.
[X] The Cerulean Lotus, which huddles in the shadow of the fortress of the lords of this city. The sound of the ancient cold-air pumps are audible from some distance away, keeping the stench of the lake away from this place. Built in richer times, and half-empty. Lovely and well-situated, yet expensive and might draw attention.
[X] Only until you have your strength back. He doesn't need to know about the map - but maybe you can take advantage of him (in more than one way) while you prepare for an expedition down into the valley. He's only a dalliance, and you don't yet trust him with something this precious.
Amigere is still an unknown quantity, thus until more is known, he remains in the dark.
[X] Only until you have your strength back. He doesn't need to know about the map - but maybe you can take advantage of him (in more than one way) while you prepare for an expedition down into the valley. He's only a dalliance, and you don't yet trust him with something this precious.
Amigere is still an unknown quantity, thus until more is known, he remains in the dark.
mothematics
How wide is the concept of "you"?
- Location
- the bottom of a coffee cup
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] The Cerulean Lotus, which huddles in the shadow of the fortress of the lords of this city. The sound of the ancient cold-air pumps are audible from some distance away, keeping the stench of the lake away from this place. Built in richer times, and half-empty. Lovely and well-situated, yet expensive and might draw attention.
[X] Yes. Bring him in on the secrets of the map. He's a self-proclaimed scavenger lord, and for all that he clearly isn't one of the most prosperous, he might be useful while you investigate it. He might only be a dalliance, but you might as well make him useful than merely in the bedroom.
We need an ally. Also, CASINOS
[X] Yes. Bring him in on the secrets of the map. He's a self-proclaimed scavenger lord, and for all that he clearly isn't one of the most prosperous, he might be useful while you investigate it. He might only be a dalliance, but you might as well make him useful than merely in the bedroom.
We need an ally. Also, CASINOS
[X] The Cerulean Lotus, which huddles in the shadow of the fortress of the lords of this city. The sound of the ancient cold-air pumps are audible from some distance away, keeping the stench of the lake away from this place. Built in richer times, and half-empty. Lovely and well-situated, yet expensive and might draw attention.
[X] Only until you have your strength back. He doesn't need to know about the map - but maybe you can take advantage of him (in more than one way) while you prepare for an expedition down into the valley. He's only a dalliance, and you don't yet trust him with something this precious.
[X] Only until you have your strength back. He doesn't need to know about the map - but maybe you can take advantage of him (in more than one way) while you prepare for an expedition down into the valley. He's only a dalliance, and you don't yet trust him with something this precious.
Imrix
Periodically Malevolent QM
[X] The Cerulean Lotus, which huddles in the shadow of the fortress of the lords of this city. The sound of the ancient cold-air pumps are audible from some distance away, keeping the stench of the lake away from this place. Built in richer times, and half-empty. Lovely and well-situated, yet expensive and might draw attention.
We are a hedonistic evil sorceress, of course we're going to the swankiest place!
Besides, maybe we can enslave someone useful.
[X] Yes. Bring him in on the secrets of the map. He's a self-proclaimed scavenger lord, and for all that he clearly isn't one of the most prosperous, he might be useful while you investigate it. He might only be a dalliance, but you might as well make him useful than merely in the bedroom.
He owes us, and he has useful talents for this sort of thing. We'll need help to study this map anyway, and as help goes we've already vetted this one.
We are a hedonistic evil sorceress, of course we're going to the swankiest place!
Besides, maybe we can enslave someone useful.
[X] Yes. Bring him in on the secrets of the map. He's a self-proclaimed scavenger lord, and for all that he clearly isn't one of the most prosperous, he might be useful while you investigate it. He might only be a dalliance, but you might as well make him useful than merely in the bedroom.
He owes us, and he has useful talents for this sort of thing. We'll need help to study this map anyway, and as help goes we've already vetted this one.
LaRed
Are you stupid or something
- Location
- Mou Ikkai hell
[X] The Cerulean Lotus, which huddles in the shadow of the fortress of the lords of this city. The sound of the ancient cold-air pumps are audible from some distance away, keeping the stench of the lake away from this place. Built in richer times, and half-empty. Lovely and well-situated, yet expensive and might draw attention.
[X] Yes. Bring him in on the secrets of the map. He's a self-proclaimed scavenger lord, and for all that he clearly isn't one of the most prosperous, he might be useful while you investigate it. He might only be a dalliance, but you might as well make him useful than merely in the bedroom.
[X] Yes. Bring him in on the secrets of the map. He's a self-proclaimed scavenger lord, and for all that he clearly isn't one of the most prosperous, he might be useful while you investigate it. He might only be a dalliance, but you might as well make him useful than merely in the bedroom.
[X] You'll take Amigere's suggestion, and lodge in one of the dwellings that advertise themselves as traveller's rests. You can probably find one that is tolerable. You're sure you can browbeat whoever you grace with your presence to wait on you and find out more about what you're looking for, but it'll be in the heart of the city and noisy.
[X] Only until you have your strength back. He doesn't need to know about the map - but maybe you can take advantage of him (in more than one way) while you prepare for an expedition down into the valley. He's only a dalliance, and you don't yet trust him with something this precious.
[X] Only until you have your strength back. He doesn't need to know about the map - but maybe you can take advantage of him (in more than one way) while you prepare for an expedition down into the valley. He's only a dalliance, and you don't yet trust him with something this precious.
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- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] The Cerulean Lotus, which huddles in the shadow of the fortress of the lords of this city. The sound of the ancient cold-air pumps are audible from some distance away, keeping the stench of the lake away from this place. Built in richer times, and half-empty. Lovely and well-situated, yet expensive and might draw attention.
[X] Only until you have your strength back. He doesn't need to know about the map - but maybe you can take advantage of him (in more than one way) while you prepare for an expedition down into the valley. He's only a dalliance, and you don't yet trust him with something this precious.
[X] Only until you have your strength back. He doesn't need to know about the map - but maybe you can take advantage of him (in more than one way) while you prepare for an expedition down into the valley. He's only a dalliance, and you don't yet trust him with something this precious.
[X] The Cerulean Lotus, which huddles in the shadow of the fortress of the lords of this city. The sound of the ancient cold-air pumps are audible from some distance away, keeping the stench of the lake away from this place. Built in richer times, and half-empty. Lovely and well-situated, yet expensive and might draw attention.
[X] Yes. Bring him in on the secrets of the map. He's a self-proclaimed scavenger lord, and for all that he clearly isn't one of the most prosperous, he might be useful while you investigate it. He might only be a dalliance, but you might as well make him useful than merely in the bedroom.
[X] Yes. Bring him in on the secrets of the map. He's a self-proclaimed scavenger lord, and for all that he clearly isn't one of the most prosperous, he might be useful while you investigate it. He might only be a dalliance, but you might as well make him useful than merely in the bedroom.
What's our money situation like? I assume we can afford the expensive place and still hire some mercs later.
[X] The Cerulean Lotus, which huddles in the shadow of the fortress of the lords of this city. The sound of the ancient cold-air pumps are audible from some distance away, keeping the stench of the lake away from this place. Built in richer times, and half-empty. Lovely and well-situated, yet expensive and might draw attention.
[X] Yes. Bring him in on the secrets of the map. He's a self-proclaimed scavenger lord, and for all that he clearly isn't one of the most prosperous, he might be useful while you investigate it. He might only be a dalliance, but you might as well make him useful than merely in the bedroom.
[X] The Cerulean Lotus, which huddles in the shadow of the fortress of the lords of this city. The sound of the ancient cold-air pumps are audible from some distance away, keeping the stench of the lake away from this place. Built in richer times, and half-empty. Lovely and well-situated, yet expensive and might draw attention.
[X] Yes. Bring him in on the secrets of the map. He's a self-proclaimed scavenger lord, and for all that he clearly isn't one of the most prosperous, he might be useful while you investigate it. He might only be a dalliance, but you might as well make him useful than merely in the bedroom.
You certainly don't have unlimited money. Far from it.
Decisions have consequences.
- Location
- Spain
[x] You'll take Amigere's suggestion, and lodge in one of the dwellings that advertise themselves as traveller's rests. You can probably find one that is tolerable. You're sure you can browbeat whoever you grace with your presence to wait on you and find out more about what you're looking for, but it'll be in the heart of the city and noisy.
We can meet interesting people in the Cerulean, but that's not the priority right now- We need recruits. And i rather doubt our founds are enough to recruit the people who hang around the Cerulean.
[X] Yes. Bring him in on the secrets of the map. He's a self-proclaimed scavenger lord, and for all that he clearly isn't one of the most prosperous, he might be useful while you investigate it. He might only be a dalliance, but you might as well make him useful than merely in the bedroom.
We can meet interesting people in the Cerulean, but that's not the priority right now- We need recruits. And i rather doubt our founds are enough to recruit the people who hang around the Cerulean.
[X] Yes. Bring him in on the secrets of the map. He's a self-proclaimed scavenger lord, and for all that he clearly isn't one of the most prosperous, he might be useful while you investigate it. He might only be a dalliance, but you might as well make him useful than merely in the bedroom.
boo600
Ego sum egredietur tempestas.
- Location
- Texas
- Pronouns
- He/Him/Hungry
[X] You'll take Amigere's suggestion, and lodge in one of the dwellings that advertise themselves as traveller's rests. You can probably find one that is tolerable. You're sure you can browbeat whoever you grace with your presence to wait on you and find out more about what you're looking for, but it'll be in the heart of the city and noisy.
[X] Yes. Bring him in on the secrets of the map. He's a self-proclaimed scavenger lord, and for all that he clearly isn't one of the most prosperous, he might be useful while you investigate it. He might only be a dalliance, but you might as well make him useful than merely in the bedroom.
More information for the minion should be good. If he betrays us, we'll take his soul.
And let's save SOME of our money- mercenaries are more minions!
[X] Yes. Bring him in on the secrets of the map. He's a self-proclaimed scavenger lord, and for all that he clearly isn't one of the most prosperous, he might be useful while you investigate it. He might only be a dalliance, but you might as well make him useful than merely in the bedroom.
More information for the minion should be good. If he betrays us, we'll take his soul.
And let's save SOME of our money- mercenaries are more minions!