[X] [Viper Style] Weakness Unveiling Eye - By studying and interacting with an opponent, Rena can understand flaws in their stance or techniques. With that understanding, a more specific application of venom with Nerve-Crippling Strike can accentuate the defect, allowing her to disable techniques she identified a flaw in. This is a demanding technique which requires uninterrupted scrutiny to use.
[X] [Graceful Willow Style] Elegant Rooted Stance - The willow is not uprooted by the gale. With effort, Rena can stand or run along things too slender to support her, and can only be knocked down by superior techniques practiced by hostile martial artists. Additionally while exerting herself in this way, her garments will never be dishevelled or left out of place for any reason, unless she consciously wishes it.
[X] [Fume Serpent Style] Chaos Coaxing Trick - The wyld can be lulled and bargained with, as one might sedate a hive of bees with a puff of smoke. With the proper ritual actions or negotiations with creatures of chaos, Rena can influence the Wyld and wyld-polluted land. She can reshape it as a minor wyld creature can or influence how it manifests. With greater difficulty and strenuous effort, she can cleanse one area by moving the pollution elsewhere, or shield small areas from a wyldstorm.
[X] [Viper Style] Weakness Unveiling Eye - By studying and interacting with an opponent, Rena can understand flaws in their stance or techniques. With that understanding, a more specific application of venom with Nerve-Crippling Strike can accentuate the defect, allowing her to disable techniques she identified a flaw in. This is a demanding technique which requires uninterrupted scrutiny to use.
[X] [Graceful Willow Style] Elegant Rooted Stance - The willow is not uprooted by the gale. With effort, Rena can stand or run along things too slender to support her, and can only be knocked down by superior techniques practiced by hostile martial artists. Additionally while exerting herself in this way, her garments will never be dishevelled or left out of place for any reason, unless she consciously wishes it.
[X] [Fume Serpent Style] Chaos Coaxing Trick - The wyld can be lulled and bargained with, as one might sedate a hive of bees with a puff of smoke. With the proper ritual actions or negotiations with creatures of chaos, Rena can influence the Wyld and wyld-polluted land. She can reshape it as a minor wyld creature can or influence how it manifests. With greater difficulty and strenuous effort, she can cleanse one area by moving the pollution elsewhere, or shield small areas from a wyldstorm.
Also, as mentioned in the Charm text, she can also protect small areas from things like wyldstorms or heavy wyld pollution by shunting the energies that would be changing the area around her to somewhere else nearby, thus giving her a crude form of protection against heavy wyld influences like a heavy wyldstorm or a dangerous bordermarch.
Could this 'shunting' be used to effectively herd light yet widespread Wyld pollution into a much smaller yet deeper 'pool', in one sense quarantining it and in another concentrating it to allow greater miracles?
Could this 'shunting' be used to effectively herd light yet widespread Wyld pollution into a much smaller yet deeper 'pool', in one sense quarantining it and in another concentrating it to allow greater miracles?
Could this 'shunting' be used to effectively herd light yet widespread Wyld pollution into a much smaller yet deeper 'pool', in one sense quarantining it and in another concentrating it to allow greater miracles?
Theoretically, yes. In practice, that's a demanding use of the technique and - like fire - it wants to naturally spread, so unless it's very light or there's some native wyldlife owning the place you're pushing it to who can take over the job of holding it in, it'll probably spread out again as soon as Rena stops actively trying to control it (which may happen when she passes out, if she pushes herself too far or tries to concentrate it too densely).
But it can definitely be used to make small areas of safety or compress the borders of a wyld zone in somewhat. And working with Blue - who also has native ability to influence the wyld - can be used to do more.
[X] [Viper Style] Unfolding Fang Practice - The fangs of the viper are hidden away when not in use. It is hard for unobservant onlookers to notice if she carries a form weapon of Viper Style. With effort, she can banish and recall such weapons from the state of existence known as 'Elsewhere', precluding their discovery by anyone else. This technique is compatible with Disturbed Snake Stance.
[X] [Graceful Willow Style] Elegant Rooted Stance - The willow is not uprooted by the gale. With effort, Rena can stand or run along things too slender to support her, and can only be knocked down by superior techniques practiced by hostile martial artists. Additionally while exerting herself in this way, her garments will never be dishevelled or left out of place for any reason, unless she consciously wishes it.
[X] [Fume Serpent Style] Needy Ember Offering - Imbuing an object with a little flame of desire, Rena greatly elevates its perceived value in the eyes of others. While the flame remains alight, the weak-willed will do nearly anything to get their hands on it and even stronger wills will over-pay. However, when the flame dies out, it leaves ashen disgust in its wake; the less valuable the object, the greater the disgust and resentment.
[X] [Viper Style] Unfolding Fang Practice - The fangs of the viper are hidden away when not in use. It is hard for unobservant onlookers to notice if she carries a form weapon of Viper Style. With effort, she can banish and recall such weapons from the state of existence known as 'Elsewhere', precluding their discovery by anyone else. This technique is compatible with Disturbed Snake Stance.
[X] [Graceful Willow Style] Weeping Branches Technique - Channelling her essence into her garb and hair, they move around Rena like a living thing. Deadly blows that think they found her will often turn out to merely have hit a flowing sleeve or passed harmlessly through her hair. Loose flowing garments and the use of implements such as ribbons or fans will accentuate this effect. Even if not dressed suitably, when she calls on her anima it serves to protect her.
[X] [Fume Serpent Style] Cinders-and-Smoke Homunculus - Granting a little bit of will to the smoke from a fire, Rena calls a vaporous creature from the fumes, not-quite-elemental and not-quite-wyldlife. These creatures last only as long as the fire they were born from, and obey her without question. They are physically weak, but subtle, able to obey relatively complex commands, and nearly invisible when not directly illuminated.
[x] [Viper Style] Unfolding Fang Practice - The fangs of the viper are hidden away when not in use. It is hard for unobservant onlookers to notice if she carries a form weapon of Viper Style. With effort, she can banish and recall such weapons from the state of existence known as 'Elsewhere', precluding their discovery by anyone else. This technique is compatible with Disturbed Snake Stance.
[x] [Graceful Willow Style] Elegant Rooted Stance - The willow is not uprooted by the gale. With effort, Rena can stand or run along things too slender to support her, and can only be knocked down by superior techniques practiced by hostile martial artists. Additionally while exerting herself in this way, her garments will never be dishevelled or left out of place for any reason, unless she consciously wishes it.
[x] [Fume Serpent Style] Needy Ember Offering - Imbuing an object with a little flame of desire, Rena greatly elevates its perceived value in the eyes of others. While the flame remains alight, the weak-willed will do nearly anything to get their hands on it and even stronger wills will over-pay. However, when the flame dies out, it leaves ashen disgust in its wake; the less valuable the object, the greater the disgust and resentment.
Well, I think the voting has slowed down a lot and nothing is neck and neck, so I might as well call things now.
For Viper Style, she's picked up Weakness-Unveiling Eye.
For Graceful Willow Style, she's picked up Weeping Branches Technique.
For Fume Serpent Style, she's picked up Cinders-and-Smoke Homonculous.
In conclusion, she's a martial artist sorceress who's studied your moves and can shut them down once she sees a flaw in your style, she's really annoying at dodging things and wears her hair long and flowing clothing to be even more annoying, and weird sinister things made of smoke and soot and embers answer to her and serve as her spies.
So, in conclusion, she hasn't given up being a villainess.
Content warning; explicit content under the tagged spoiler block.
The trip back from the ruined temple was not an easy one. You were black and blue the day afterwards, and Blue was in even worse state as the wounds of his battle with Zed took their toll. But you couldn't take the time to simply rest, because you were too close to the Elemi temple. The men from the university were going to release Zed; it was only a matter of time. You didn't want to be close to them when that happened.
As a result, you set off the next morning with the guide Zakiya and the two soldiers, and keep away from the major paths. You're aching and saddle-sore from just this relatively simple path, but Zakiya leads you safely away from the main road. You stop at the Demon's Gullet - a name that now poses new questions as to where it came from - because you won't be crossing at the bridge. Instead, you descend down the slopes, leading your mounts, and pause for the night there on a little islet surrounded by running water.
You sleep incredibly well, with water on either side and vegetation on the slopes, and in the morning you're in far better shape than you had been the previous night. The vegetation here is something you can draw strength from, and you find the climb up the scree and loose rubble easier than the descent had been.
Amigere is relieved to see you when you get back to the tower of pink crystal, and he's been working on securing firedust for breaking the door. He has excuses to make as for how things are not quite ready, but you are far too exhausted to get on his back about it. You just about manage to give instructions to him to procure certain things for an ad-hoc shrine for your new goddess, and then you collapse in your tent and sleep for damn near two days.
Once you're rested, back on your feet, and are feeling like you're not just a mess of bruises and aches, you can properly review Amigere's work. There's some evidence that he really stepped up the pace after you got back. When the - beautiful, graceful, deadly - cat is away, the mice will play. But since things are now mostly in order, you don't have to get catty with your darling birdman. He gets to avoid being eaten for at least one more day.
Well, avoid being eaten in the predatory sense. Uh. The literal sense. Whatever. You know what you mean. And so does he.
"You're a gal of quite some appetites," Jarida Dal informs you, sitting cross-legged in her shrine as she drinks cheap wine. "And this booze is trash."
"You don't have to drink it," you inform her.
"I really do. You know how long I've gone without wine? Even this horse piss is better than nothing."
Well, that's not a position you're exactly unfamiliar with. After all, you're drinking the same wine. So you offer her a libation, by which you mean you refill her cup with sour, resinous Cahzori wine.
"How long're we gonna be in this shithole?" she asks. "I mean, by Cahzori standards. Place has really gone to hell since I was free. Zorpearl's at least a bit better, but from what you've said to your chaotic toyboy and your shifty birdman, you're not gonna stay there."
"No, I'm not," you admit. "The current ruler and I didn't… exactly see eye to eye."
"You tried to scam him? Or pick his pocket?"
Goodness, your new goddess has a low opinion of your moral probity. "No, of course not. It's more that he wanted me to become his mistress. Shortly after feeding his former mistress to an enslaved water elemental he keeps in a tank. I turned him down, and he didn't take being rejected all that well."
Jarida Dal lets out a cackle. "So mebee you've got a reason. That don't sound like a job with long term career prospects. Still maybe safer than keeping a raksha as a toyboy."
"But much less fun," you inform her seriously, before taking another sip of wine. "Though while we're at it, do you have any idea of what's behind this locked door?"
The old goddess looks you up and down. "Funny thing is, that was a mystery back in my time. And the Elemi weren't too much fans of breakin' open the old ruins. Not after that ghul plague… oh, it'd be three hundred years ago or so? Mebee four hundred. Some damn fool treasure hunter who already had a taste for human flesh cracked open the seal of some ol' tomb-tower, and got hisself a deal with a powerful ol' ghostie that weren't too happy about its rest being disturbed. Then there was a corpse-eater cult, and you know how that kinda story goes."
"Yes," you admit. Corpse-eating for power; how uncivilised.
"Don't get yerself eaten by corpse-beasts if there's some locked inside there," she tells you, in probably the closest the mean old woman can get to a genuine warning.
"We have plenty of firedust for just that purpose," you tell her.
"Good. Burn the dead. It works. How're you for salt?"
"Enough for a warding ring around the entrance. I'm not some dabbler," you tell her. "I know what I'm doing."
She downs her wine. "I swear, if you get tricked by a hunk of a night-haunt who tells you he loves you and you klutz your way into setting him free, I'm leavin' and let yer witchy curses do what they may."
You don't really have a comeback for that. Because you don't want to offend your new, tipsy divine patron, of course.
After another day of preparation, your people are ready for the door burn. Wet clay is positioned to contain the firedust in the places it is required, and the local alchemist-engineers have explained at length the various principles for the placement of the god-pleasing patterns of firedust. You didn't understand their logic, but you do have them on contracts that mean they only get paid if this is successful and in the end that's not dissimilar in terms of end results.
But of course, you're sure to praise them and tell your workers you appreciate everything that they've done and that when this work is done, everyone will be heading back to Zorpearl out of the ruins. Which certainly gets you a cheer all around. Here in this pink crystal structure, everyone is tired and uncomfortable and sick of ruins rations.
With a last round of prayers for Jarida Dal, in her aspect as a goddess of luck and fortune, most of the people retreat away from the door, and even you pull back to a safe distance. There is a lot of volatile firedust here, and now there's going to be flame around them. You watch as the lead alchemist-engineer carefully, reverently attaches length of smouldering rope to the end of a very long pole, and just as carefully pokes at the trail of firedust with the rope.
What happens next is very, very quick. The firedust catches, and the heat is something physical. And more than the heat, the very air itself is suddenly thin, like you were up in the mountains of the north. The reflected light starts off orange red, but then the main charges catch and it simply turns white and you can do nothing but screw your eyes closed, breathe through the wet cloth over your mouth, and wait for it to be over.
Something heavy falls. And the light dims, down to a cherry red glow.
Wheezing, coughing, you glance down the corridor and see that the door has fallen out of its frame, and all around it the pink crystal has denatured to something sooty grey. And it is far, far too hot to go anywhere near it. That is why you have hirelings to toss the dry earth onto the nearby fires and smother what you can.
"Well," Amigere says, blinking his bird-eyes. "That was… intense."
"I thought you said you'd done that before."
"Oh, I have, I have, but," he shakes his head muzzily, "it doesn't stop being a shock to the system."
"I think I can see how." You take off your mask, which is already dry, drink some water and then dip it in the water again so it's easier to breathe. "I suppose we now have to wait for the heat to cool down."
"And keep an eye out for murderous ghosts."
"Oh yes. That." You certainly didn't forget about that.
The anticipation is physically painful. Your skin prickles and your breath catches in your chest. You force yourself to sit down, borrow a smidge of firedust as a lighter for your teapot, and make yourself tea with some of the leaves that remain. It is a hearty, peaty pine-smoked blend from the northern Blessed Isle and it helps your nerves while you wait.
For a moment, you think you see something in the smoke. When you look closely, it seems to whirl into shapes. Shapes that are almost alive, shapes which act like the Odat wolfhounds of younger days when they saw one of the family. But the moment is gone, and you are too tense to think about it further.
And then it is time.
You are of course the first through the door, into the baking heat. The fires have done damage, but the entire apartment did not catch alight and for that you are grateful. And you behold what is there.
There is nothing in the world that causes as many problems as money.
The lack of it has been a perpetual bane in your life. It was a problem back in Cherak, from your childhood onwards, and right now in Cahzor it's an even greater problem. One would think that an excess of wealth therefore would leave one carefree, but no, that isn't true. When one lands in good fortune and garners some wealth, it just results in new novel problems.
But then again, that is the world the gods rule. All you can do is try to ensure that you are subjected to the suffering that comes from a profusion of wealth compared to a paucity, because the problems of excess are usually much more novel and enjoyable.
These thoughts come to mind when the firedust cracks the ancient door, and you get a look at what you found.
This is the bitterest of ironies; there are vast sums of money in the sealed-shut apartment. Colossal sums. Someone, long ago in the Shogunate got their hands on a fortune and hid it there behind the solid door. It was a large apartment with strong security, so you have to assume that the owner must have been wealthy.
What makes it so sour is that nearly all the money there is Shogunate paper scrip. The fortune died with that ancient empire. There is no jade backing it, nowhere to redeem it. The idiot who locked herself away in that apartment to meet her end put all that security into something that's worth far less than it should have been.
It still has value. That is the only reason you don't burn it all in a fit of towering rage. The imperishable paper they made their money from has its own value, and each note has a strip of jade alloy woven into it. Hair thin and low purity for the common notes; nearly pure and the width of a finger for the high denomination ones. Extract all the jade from the cases and cases of notes here and sell the paper too and you still wouldn't have a talent, but it's not nothing.
And the truth is, the cases that contain the money are quite possibly more valuable than the money. They're good quality, solid Shogunate-made security cases. And then there's the inks in the notes, worth something to an assayer or an alchemist.
There's still jade, still Shogunate items, still that good suit of armour. As you sit in the outer area of the sizable tent you share with your boyfriends, you know you've been luckier than many other scavengers in these ruins. And...
"Rich! Rich! We're rich!" Amigere breathes, as he lets ancient coins pour through his hands. There were lower denomination coins, and those are worth more than their face value, because within Cahzor old Shogunate coins are worth more in trade than adulterated coins of the latter days of this city. Some of the mercenaries even wear old coins threaded on hoops around their necks, as a token of good luck and a way of being able to pay their ransom if taken hostage.
You let Amigere get away with that misplaced 'we' because for all your bitterness, things have gone well enough that he's definitely getting a bonus for this. So he's technically not entirely wrong. "Yes we are, darling."
"Things are just wonderful," Blue declares. He doesn't know what is going on, but since Amigere is happy his tiny pretty mind considers what is going on to be for the best. "And look at this artwork. And these trinkets! I would like to see you in some of these clothes, Amigere!"
"Well, would you-"
It is an interesting prospect, but something for later. What you are interested in are the other things. The papers, the documents, the little relics of the lost era. You have already begun to reconstruct what happened here. In the last days of the Shogunate, as plague wracked the land, the inhabitant of this expensive apartment - a Luso Adamito, of Gens Luso - retreated to it and locked it down. He took a fortune with him, expecting to emerge wealthy in the aftermath. But you have found his diaries. His lover was already sick. The Contagion killed them both - and their servants too.
You read the diaries, trying to find everything you can. Adamito was a sorcerer, whose notes early on ascribe his sustained good health to the astrological blessings of good health he had beseeched from the gods. A spell of good health would be an incredible find. Maybe it is hidden somewhere in here. And from the letter heading of the paper, you believe him to have been an important figure in the Cahzori Bureau of the Environment, so perhaps there is something about locations where their weather-workers would have operated from which might have been forgotten about.
From the jade and the other goods, you reckon that in the Cahzori markets once you've paid Fahd his taxes you'll be making a small profit from this expedition if you can get everything back safely and without any delays or any new costs. But in these papers, you have the hope that you can find something for the next job, something that will hopefully be a long way away from Zorpearl and that man and his desire to have you as his mistress.
Your fingers tap against the table. You're not going to have enough money after this to pay for more time at the Cerulean Lotus. And that means you'll not have access to the cool air. You don't think you'll want to spend time in Zorpondam and the stink of the lake in the heat. A place of your own somewhere in Cahzor really would be useful.
The sound of Amigere's chuckle doesn't distract you at first, but then other sounds follow and they're more interesting. Your eyes land on the pair of your boys, Blue straddling Amigere's lap and lavishing kisses on his beak. Well, glad to see someone is having fun. But you have financial matters to think of. This is your credit in the eyes of the jansi you have to think of, and if you don't pay them back, they won't just socially shun you. There's not a jansi you trust. And-
"You're working too hard," Blue calls out.
"Yes, I am," you retort snippishly. "Because it has to be done."
"You should relax more," he insists.
"Yes," Amigere says, with a chuckle. "We've just made a huge haul. We can take one night off."
No, you very much can't and frankly you expected better of him. Blue is an idiot, but Amigere should be aware that while there is a fair amount of value here, when you account for local taxes and expenses and risk, you're a lot less comfortably off than you might have hoped. Stupid Shogunate paper money. If only you could break time with your sorcery, you could go back and spend all this. But this is something that cannot be done. Time is a chain around the ankle of the cosmos, and all the power of the wyld cannot reverse its flow.
"Darlings, I have to work. The last thing I want is for that asshole Fahd to cheat me."
"But we want to congratulate you," Amigere whined.
"I want to congratulate both of you," Blue added, so very clearly proud of himself.
You are good. You are strong. You can put your willpower over and above your own desires. Even if it is very hard. Like them. Dammit. "Boys," you say. "I really do need to get things done tonight. You can get started without me."
They take that as permission.
Argh, that wasn't as firm a denial as you meant. And you should have told them to go elsewhere. You don't need two handsome boys distracting you. Stupid sexy young men.
You try very hard to ignore the scene in front of you. You're sober, hard-working, and disciplined. Your will is iron. Who cares that your boyfriends are quickly moving beyond a sloppy make-out session right in front of you? No, your will is jade, your spirit is iron, and you are deeply deeply fascinated by the diary of a man dead for seven hundred years.
Deeply fascinated.
Full attention.
The next time you look up, Blue is shirtless. There is always something almost feline about the way he stretches out and the muscles ripple under that lean form. His hips move from side to side as if he's dancing, and in a sense he is, as he rubs up against Amigere who's trying to get his own loose undershirt off over his beak.
"I can feel how tense you are," Blue murmurs, rubbing his glossy black hands over Amigere's chest. "You've been working so hard to keep our lady happy. With all that horrible firedust, too."
"Yeah," Amigere agrees, finally getting the garment off. His eyes are bright and focussed only on Blue, in a way that makes you feel like more of an outsider. You're not sure if he remembers you're here. When Blue is close like that, it can be hard to remember what else is around you.
"Let me take care of you, then. Let me do everything."
"Y'sure? Because you were hurt and-"
Blue laughs. "I'm fine. I'm all healed up. It's not like I'm human."
"I suppose not. Do you want to-" He grunts in surprise as Blue tilts back and pulls him up into a close embrace, holding him close, but that noise quickly turns into a chuckle that is nearly a giggle. "Oh, you!"
You lower your eyes and intensely read more of the diary, or at least stare at the words on the ancient paper. You'll need to make sure you preserve it. Yes, preserve it. It's been away from the sun, but the sun imposes time on the world and so things fade and dry out under its light. And, uh. You'll need to copy it. And make sure it's recorded. And isn't lost. And. Uh.
The murmuring of the two of them has led to the agreement that the floor is fine, and you distinctly hear more cloth hitting the floor between the sound of the kisses. Next time you raise your eyes, Amigere is flat on the floor, wriggling out of his loose pantaloons. His head is aligned towards you, and so when you look between his legs you can see how hard he is, how eager. Blue has one hand around him, and is slowly stroking him as he kisses one of Amigere's hands. His dark hair falls around him, and his back is bent over so you can see his spine and back muscles shift underneath.
Maybe you swallow. Just a little bit.
"Lie back, my love, my companion," Blue whispers in a tone you would more associate with courtly love stories. "And let me attend to you."
"Yeah," Amigere agrees. He kicks the last of his clothing off, and his hands are on Blue's sides, rubbing against those tasty lean muscles that flex as he shifts side to side. Sitting up slightly, he cups the other man's face fondly. Blue bears him back down, but only after he grabs one of the cushions for the chairs and positions it behind Amigere's head.
"My lady, join us," Blue coaxes you.
"I'm busy," you almost squeak, and try to stare back down at your work again. But you can't even fool yourself - a voice that sounds a lot like Sei observes in your head - and of course your eyes are drawn back up, just as inevitably as their little play moves onto its next act.
For Blue takes Amigere in his mouth, lying between his legs, and the two of them are positioned so you can see everything. Amigere makes cute little cooing noises, joined swiftly by little breathy gasps. Oh, Blue always knows what he is doing with that. You're very fond of his services there, and you've already seen that your handsome prince takes his delights with both men and women. Carefully, almost reverently he licks at Amigere's sensitive head, keeping the stimulation low and slow at first. He doesn't want to bring this to a quick conclusion. He wants to draw this out.
Amigere lets out a shivering gasp, and reaches out with a hand to hold onto Blue's forearm, the other gripping the pillow under his head.
But you are watching from the outside. Blue knows what he is doing, and his orange eyes are locked on you as often as they are locked on Amigere. It is a performance. A performance he is putting on for you. His eyes are hungry, needy.
You can see he wants you, needs you, longs for you to join in. You swallow, feeling how dry your throat is. The softness, the velvety feeling, the taste and smell; he is sharing an echo of them with you.
You take a mouthful of wine and lower your eyes, intently trying to focus on your reading without listening to the noises. Without listening to Amigere's little gasps and happy little grunts and the wet sounds that Blue is making for him.
Swallowing again, you can smell the star anise scent of Blue, mixed with the more human manliness of Amigere. Your birdman is making half-vocalised pleading noises, but Blue keeps up the slow, gentle stimulation, not proceeding. And now he's working his way up, kissing Amigere's belly, his navel, his own garments melting back into the substance of dreams so he can lie face to face atop Amigere.
Goodness, you're getting all hot and bothered. And you need something to do with your hands. Something that isn't… that isn't what you want to do with them, because nothing more will get done this evening if you give in.
Rising, you find your little teapot and light the fuel under it. Some tea would be nice, for everyone, and since you're getting distracted you're going to have to stay up later for it. You measure out the amount for four cups, using the older leaves - no good using some of your depleted supply of fresh tea - and put it on.
Behind you, you can hear Blue's chuckles, Amigere's sighs, the sound of kisses and sighs. Your hands are shaking slightly by the time it comes to add the leaves. Oh, Blue and his games. His - you glance back, and see that the kissing has passed and he is once more between Amigere's legs - his games.
You pour out two cups, and bring them over to the boys. "For you two," you say, trying not to stare too much. "I'll just put them on the table over there. Don't knock them over, or I'll be very irked with you."
Blue says something that's probably a thanks, but his mouth is full.
"Th-thank you, Meira," Amigere gasps. "Are you sure-"
"I told you, darling, I have to work." You stoop down, ruffle Blue's hair, and then you pick up your notes and the teapot and not-quite-flee to a place of relative safety, where you'll be less distracted. But the warmth lingers in you, and even bitter tea cannot quite clear the dryness from your mouth.
Outside, by lantern light you are free of that - ahem - pair of not-so-little distractions, and you can you get back to work.
"Look at you," Sei mutters, from just behind your ear. "Being all chaste. You really must be ill."
"It wasn't easy," you admit. "But-"
"But?"
"I'm worried." The words are painful. "I… I don't want to stay around here any longer. I can't waste time. Even in the arms of my darlings."
"You're scared. Of Zed."
"Yes." Yes, actually! You are scared of the demon lord. From the rumours you've heard, he probably hasn't been freed yet. You haven't heard news that Haldun Farran has gotten into the temple yet and you know how the Cahzori gossip. But you know it is only a matter of time.
"Good. If he gets you," Sei licks your ear, "I don't. And that would be awful."
He is gone, and the fear he has made you admit to does help you put the thoughts of your boys out of mind. You have important things to focus on. Like Amigere's notes on the mutterings among the men. And of course, how to maintain and manage as much of your well-gotten gains as humanly possible.
It's an awfully good thing that you're you and thus the contract you drew up with Fahd was very much in your favour. But maybe you should add some tax avoidance in with your tax evasion.
Article:
How Generous Are You To The Men?
[ ] [Gifts] Not at all. They're being paid already, aren't they?
[ ] [Gifts] Extra Rations and A Reward. For working out in the heat, you'll make sure everyone gets to eat and drink well on the way back, and there's the promise of some rewards when you sell this treasure. [Gain 2 Debt]
[ ] [Gifts] Share the Wealth. You've got a lot of money you need to get back to Zorpondam, and you damn well want to buy their loyalty. Even if your wallet groans at paying half-again for your mercs in prizes and bribes. [Gain 6 Debt]
Unfortunately, the exigencies of the situation in Cahzor means that the tax has to be paid on the removal of the salvage from Zorpearl, not on sale. And you're certain that you'll get a far better price in Cahzor than you will selling things locally. Thus, handling tax requires that you go more into debt to pay off the salvage tax now, in the hope that you'll get it all back to Zorpondam where it'll hopefully cover the tax and the expedition cost.
What Do You Do About Tax? [ ] [Tax] Pay the customary amount for salvage; half of anything made of jade or precious metals, and grant the ulinke first pickings over the rest What nonsense is this? Of course you're not going to give away more of your hard-earned findings than you have to!
[ ] [Tax] Tax Avoidance. Your talent at Smiling Siaka Style means the salvage contract you drew up is unusually generous - and there are additional clauses that Fahd might not have understood but which reduce your liability even more. You'll still be paying a significant amount of the jade, but that'll guarantee you get to keep everything else. [Gain 20 Debt]
[ ] [Tax] Tax Evasion. Lying and legerdemain can reduce your tax burden even more. A little bit of jade moved off here, a Shogunate trinket hidden there. Free money, no consequences. Well, unless the ulinke finds out, in which case he'll try to feed you to his water elemental crocodile and will probably send mercenaries after you. Which he will be able to hire because you have a lot of money on you. [Gain 10 Debt]
[ ] [Tax] Take A Bad Deal for the Jade. The price you'll get here for the jade will be awful. There isn't the money to pay its full value. But it is an option - to liquidate your salvage in Zorpearl and be able to dismiss your hirelings and travel light back to Zorpondam, not having covered the cost of the expedition but with the Shogunate secrets close to hand. [Subtract 10 Debt]
Yay! An update, they're rare and far between yet they always deliver. A fresh of breath air, that nsfw scene was really cute. Zed's arc was awesome and I'm excited to see what you've planned for next.
[X] [Gifts] Extra Rations and A Reward. For working out in the heat, you'll make sure everyone gets to eat and drink well on the way back, and there's the promise of some rewards when you sell this treasure. [Gain 2 Debt]
[X] [Tax] Tax Avoidance. Your talent at Smiling Siaka Style means the salvage contract you drew up is unusually generous - and there are additional clauses that Fahd might not have understood but which reduce your liability even more. You'll still be paying a significant amount of the jade, but that'll guarantee you get to keep everything else. [Gain 20 Debt]
The best possible deal considering this vote in a vacuum is -10 Debt (fuck the workers/sell the jade right now), which still leaves Rena with 6 Debt and expends all the finances gained from this expedition. The worst possible deal is adding +26 Debt for a total of 42 Debt and hoping we get back without any trouble and sell the treasure for more than that, which seems wildly hopeful.
So I think what we need to do here is:
1) give the workers a bonus that seems generous but doesn't hurt is much; they don't actually expect full shares of the findings because that never happens, but might get resentful to the point of treachery if we act like their actions helping us get a 'huge' payout doesn't deserve some kind of reward;
2) Play the tax evasion game to the full because our treasure is not so big we can be confident it will cover the price of a full tax but it definitely is worth more than we will get being gouged on site.
[X] [Gifts] Extra Rations and A Reward. For working out in the heat, you'll make sure everyone gets to eat and drink well on the way back, and there's the promise of some rewards when you sell this treasure. [Gain 2 Debt]
[X] [Tax] Tax Evasion. Lying and legerdemain can reduce your tax burden even more. A little bit of jade moved off here, a Shogunate trinket hidden there. Free money, no consequences. Well, unless the ulinke finds out, in which case he'll try to feed you to his water elemental crocodile and will probably send mercenaries after you. Which he will be able to hire because you have a lot of money on you. [Gain 10 Debt]
This is very likely to end up in the ulinke coming for us, but he's a Bond villain and were a Bond villainess soI give us even odds and the confrontation will be fun.
This results in us having a total of 28 Debt before getting back to the city; I doubt our treasure will get us back into the black but as long as it's worth more than 22 Debt we're still better off than if we just went maximum profit right now with no long term thinking. I'm personally hoping for it being worth around 30 Debt, which would get is just above the red line at the cost of having a new enemy.
[X] [Gifts] Extra Rations and A Reward. For working out in the heat, you'll make sure everyone gets to eat and drink well on the way back, and there's the promise of some rewards when you sell this treasure. [Gain 2 Debt]
[X] [Tax] Tax Avoidance. Your talent at Smiling Siaka Style means the salvage contract you drew up is unusually generous - and there are additional clauses that Fahd might not have understood but which reduce your liability even more. You'll still be paying a significant amount of the jade, but that'll guarantee you get to keep everything else. [Gain 20 Debt]
[X] [Gifts] Extra Rations and A Reward. For working out in the heat, you'll make sure everyone gets to eat and drink well on the way back, and there's the promise of some rewards when you sell this treasure. [Gain 2 Debt]
[X] [Tax] Tax Evasion. Lying and legerdemain can reduce your tax burden even more. A little bit of jade moved off here, a Shogunate trinket hidden there. Free money, no consequences. Well, unless the ulinke finds out, in which case he'll try to feed you to his water elemental crocodile and will probably send mercenaries after you. Which he will be able to hire because you have a lot of money on you. [Gain 10 Debt]
... yeah, okay, Omi has me convinced, I'm up for a gamble that we've got something in the region of 20-30 Debt here.
[X] [Gifts] Extra Rations and A Reward. For working out in the heat, you'll make sure everyone gets to eat and drink well on the way back, and there's the promise of some rewards when you sell this treasure. [Gain 2 Debt]
[X] [Tax] Tax Evasion. Lying and legerdemain can reduce your tax burden even more. A little bit of jade moved off here, a Shogunate trinket hidden there. Free money, no consequences. Well, unless the ulinke finds out, in which case he'll try to feed you to his water elemental crocodile and will probably send mercenaries after you. Which he will be able to hire because you have a lot of money on you. [Gain 10 Debt]
[X] [Gifts] Extra Rations and A Reward. For working out in the heat, you'll make sure everyone gets to eat and drink well on the way back, and there's the promise of some rewards when you sell this treasure. [Gain 2 Debt]
[X] [Tax] Tax Evasion. Lying and legerdemain can reduce your tax burden even more. A little bit of jade moved off here, a Shogunate trinket hidden there. Free money, no consequences. Well, unless the ulinke finds out, in which case he'll try to feed you to his water elemental crocodile and will probably send mercenaries after you. Which he will be able to hire because you have a lot of money on you. [Gain 10 Debt]
[X] [Gifts] Extra Rations and A Reward. For working out in the heat, you'll make sure everyone gets to eat and drink well on the way back, and there's the promise of some rewards when you sell this treasure. [Gain 2 Debt]
[X] [Tax] Tax Evasion. Lying and legerdemain can reduce your tax burden even more. A little bit of jade moved off here, a Shogunate trinket hidden there. Free money, no consequences. Well, unless the ulinke finds out, in which case he'll try to feed you to his water elemental crocodile and will probably send mercenaries after you. Which he will be able to hire because you have a lot of money on you. [Gain 10 Debt]
[X] [Gifts] Extra Rations and A Reward. For working out in the heat, you'll make sure everyone gets to eat and drink well on the way back, and there's the promise of some rewards when you sell this treasure. [Gain 2 Debt]
[X] [Tax] Tax Evasion. Lying and legerdemain can reduce your tax burden even more. A little bit of jade moved off here, a Shogunate trinket hidden there. Free money, no consequences. Well, unless the ulinke finds out, in which case he'll try to feed you to his water elemental crocodile and will probably send mercenaries after you. Which he will be able to hire because you have a lot of money on you. [Gain 10 Debt]
A minor gift for our team isn't too expensive, and makes it less likely that one of them will sell us out (say, by revealing to a certain Bond villain just how much of his tax we're dodging).
And tax evasion is both profitable and an inherently funny crime, so that's a must for me.
[X] [Gifts] Extra Rations and A Reward. For working out in the heat, you'll make sure everyone gets to eat and drink well on the way back, and there's the promise of some rewards when you sell this treasure. [Gain 2 Debt]
[X] [Tax] Tax Evasion. Lying and legerdemain can reduce your tax burden even more. A little bit of jade moved off here, a Shogunate trinket hidden there. Free money, no consequences. Well, unless the ulinke finds out, in which case he'll try to feed you to his water elemental crocodile and will probably send mercenaries after you. Which he will be able to hire because you have a lot of money on you. [Gain 10 Debt]
This results in us having a total of 28 Debt before getting back to the city; I doubt our treasure will get us back into the black but as long as it's worth more than 22 Debt we're still better off than if we just went maximum profit right now with no long term thinking. I'm personally hoping for it being worth around 30 Debt, which would get is just above the red line at the cost of having a new enemy.
No, it has to be worth more than 30 debt. 30 debt is their worth here.
The taxes on it, with our creative accounting, are 20 - if we sell it here, we get enough to pay them plus another -10 debt. So the sell price here is 30.
